Quiet Moments
Corneria City, Corneria
Remains of The Tydrier
Charon and Falco walked to the food
line to await their turn for whatever they had to offer. "I sort
of feel naked without my hat," remarked Charon.
Falco looked at him. "Yes, you
do. At least you have fur up there," smiled Falco. "I always
thought you were bald."
"At least I have fur to keep me warm,"
Charon retorted. "Hollow bones don't keep heat I don't think."
"I will remember that," Falco said.
"Just watch yourself, buddy. I'm gonna get you back….after I fill
my stomach."
"That will never happen," Charon said.
Falco looked at Charon, showing a
face of disgust, then bursting in a fit of laughter. "At least one
thing is the same; I still can't beat you in a game of insults."
Falco said.
"And here I wasn't even trying," smirked
Charon.
Falco groaned as a cook scooped up
some beans and put them on his platter. Falco nodded his thanks and
moved on down the line. Charon received the same. The both
of them arrived at the chef that was serving out the meat. "I will
take one medium please," Falco said.
The chef picked through the meat and
slopped the piece on Falco's platter. "Blood rare if you please,"
Charon said.
Both the chef and Falco looked at
Charon, in the state of shock. "What? I like my meat bloody.
One of the few things that remind me of home," said Charon, defending himself.
Peppy's ears perked up with the mention of a blood rare steak, but when
he turned around, he couldn't see anyone. Must have been imagining
things, thought Peppy, not many creatures like their meat blood rare, but
what am I talking about, I don't eat meat.
Charon and Falco sat on the curb near
a vacant building. Charon thoughtfully chewed a piece of his meat
as he looked at where The Tydrier once stood. "You know, I don't
think we will find any survivors in all of that rubble, just bodies," Charon
said.
"I think you are right, Charon,"
remarked Falco. "I can't believe that the forces of Venom would do
such a thing."
"Neither did I," said Charon.
"I thought Andross had better judgment against these sorts of actions.
I was wrong. This will only cement the alliance we have been seeking
with the outer fringe territories."
"Or keep them out of the war," suggested
Falco. "Fear is a powerful ally with Andross. This could have
been the whole point of this attack, to keep others from joining with Corneria
to stop this mad ape."
"I wouldn't put it past him, then,
if that was the whole point, but the carnage, Falco," Charon said, standing
up. "Countless injured, probably five thousand dead, all to help
Andross to seize power. The Lylat System will not have Andross as
an Emperor now; some will fight him until he is dead. Fox is one
of those creatures. Heck, this whole team will fight to the end."
Falco nodded in agreement. "Speaking
of which, don't you think we should find the rest of the team?" asked Falco.
"Yeah, I guess you are right," conceded
Charon. "Can't be much of a team without the others. Here,
give me your plate. I will throw them away."
Falco handed Charon his finished meal
and stood up himself. Charon walked away looking for the nearest
trash incinerator. Falco stretched, not looking forward to dig through
the rubble of The Tydrier. He was a pilot, not a creature of manual
labor. Though, he admitted to himself, this was one of those times
he just didn't care. He was not callous against his fellow Cornerians;
he just felt his services were better used elsewhere, like in his Arwing,
shooting down the many pilots that Venom threw at the StarFox team and
maybe the lucky laser blast, from his fighter, to kill Andross, once and
for all.
"Falco?" someone called.
Shaking his head from his dreams,
he looked around to see who had called his name. "Falco? Is
that really you?" said a familiar female voice.
Then Falco recognized the voice, it
was Fara. "He ran to her and hugged her tightly. "Watch it,
Falco, Fox might become jealous," Fara said, jokingly. "Where have
you been? We though you were crushed under all that falling debris."
"Long time to tell the story," said
Falco. "Where's the rest of the team?"
"Right over there, across the square,"
Fara said, pointing in the general direction of where she was talking about.
"Great," exclaimed Falco.
"Now the team is back together."
Fara and Falco walked across the square
to where the rest of the team had set up their make-shift camp. "Look
who I found," Fara exclaimed.
The rest of the team looked up and
their faces brightened. All of a sudden, Falco was barraged by the
many questions that were coming from his teammates. "How'd you survive?"
asked Peppy.
"Where were you?" asked Fox.
"How come you never tried to contact
us?" asked Slippy.
"STOP!" Falco yelled. "One at
a time. Sheesh! Who do you think I am? General Pepper
at one of his staff meetings?"
Everyone laughed at this joke.
"So, where is Charon? I thought he was with you," asked Fox.
An idea formed in Falco's head, though
he had to be careful. "He didn't make it," Falco said somberly, lowering
his head make sure that the crack of a smile wasn't visible.
"Oh no," Fara exclaimed, tears welling
up in her eyes.
"I tried to grab him from the falling
debris, but it was too late," Falco said. "By the time I looked over
to where he was there was a ton of debris on him and more coming down."
One by one, the members of StarFox
lowered their heads, silently giving memoriam to their fallen comrade.
Slippy produced Charon's hat and knife, a single tear rolling down his
smooth cheek. "HEY! Why all the long faces?" someone asked.
Peppy looked up and saw the Garnagian
native smiling at the team. Then the rest of the team looked at Charon,
and then looked at Falco. Falco slowly inched his way, away from
the team, hoping that no one would notice. "Falco. I thought
you said Charon was dead?" Fara asked.
"Dead?" Falco stuttered, looking
a way out of this mess he created. "I never said he was dead, did
I?"
Charon glared at Falco. "Falco,
what were you doing before I came here?" asked Charon.
"Umm, nothing really, just telling
what had happened. That is all," said the nervous avian.
"So, does that explain the lowered
heads and somber atmosphere just now?" Charon again asked.
"Oh, alright," conceded Falco.
"I was trying to play a rib on them until you showed up."
Falco looked at his teammates,
"But I did save his life from the falling debris."
"That he did," admitted Charon.
"If it wasn't for him, I would have been one flat Garnage."
The atmosphere broke and the rest
of the team started giggling, the laughter rang across the square.
Falco and Charon went through their whole ordeal. Falco embellishing
a bit on the storytelling, while Charon tried to keep the facts straight
from his blue feathered friend. "Well, I suppose we should get back
in helping dig through the rubble of The Tydrier," suggested Slippy.
Fox looked around and saw the numerous
citizens from Corneria City coming by the droves, offering their assistance
where they could. Fox could only stand back and be amazed that in
times of crisis, creatures could put aside their differences and help each
other come through this time and need. "I don't think they need our
help here anymore," Fox said. "But if you wish to continue helping,
I am willing and able. I just think that our services will be needed
elsewhere very soon. Knowing Pepper, he will want to get into contact
with us as soon as possible for a counterstrike against the forces of Andross
and Venom."
The StarFox team nodded their heads
in silent relentlessness. One by one, Fox, Fara, Falco, Peppy, Slippy,
and Charon silently walked away from the scene of hope and hopelessness.
They couldn't help, but wonder how this once proud city will cope with
the tremendous loss of a stable of Lylatian economy and business, plus
the numerous dead.
***
Two days later
Small village on Papetoon
The communicade from General Pepper
finally came, along with some news from the disaster of The Tydrier.
The first estimates were that four thousand were dead, most from the people
going inside The Tydrier to help those inside during the initial collision.
Law enforcement, fire fighters, and the local magistrate seemed to take
the worse losses. Almost an entire station house was wiped out during
The Tydrier falling down on top of itself.
The StarFox team could only bow their heads and
silently pay their respects to those that they themselves helped, knowing
full well that it could have been them injured or even worse, dead.
"Now, I hope you all know what this next mission entails, StarFox," explained
the General.
He knew he was talking to deaf ears. StarFox felt a kinship with those that protect Corneria and put their lives on the line. Finally, Fox snapped out of his trance. "Yes, General," said Fox, solemnly. "We will know what to do."
"I know you are taking this hard,"
consoled Pepper. "Let this moment in our history fuel the fact that
no one is and ever will be above taking other people's lives just to meet
their means in a meaningless act of cowardice. Remember these people
as you take out Andross and his bedamned fleet. I am sure the creatures
and their families that lost their lives will thank you for bringing Andross
in to justice, but I feel with your own personal vendetta against Andross,
that will probably never happen. Just make sure that you do kill
him, but I know you will."
"You can count on that sir," Fox said,
standing up. "You can count on the StarFox team to take the fight
to Andross."
"I know that you will. Good
luck." With that, General Pepper signed off.
"Well, you heard the General," Fox
said, rallying his team. "We have to bring back Andross' pelt to
bring justice back to the Lylat system."
"Either that or his skull on a pike,"
chimed in Charon.
The team nodded at this statement
and headed off to their fighters.
***********************************************************************************************************************
As we all know, 9/11 brought us closer as a nation,
through the television, the radio, and through the Internet. Some
of us cried, became angry, or just sat in stunned silence. I myself
worked at a casino in Las Vegas and the air was not jovial of people winning
their fortunes on the blackjack tables, but it was quiet. The employees
and patrons alike sat and watched the television, looking for some word
of joy and/or hope that will bring this event to a close, but not matter
what, it never will.
Some of us looked for an escape of this tragic event,
but I rather face it head on. Through this story, I hope to convey
the message that this will never happen again. Some say it did happen
again. Pearl Harbor is an example. It may or may not happen
again, but I hope to GOD up above that we, as the human race, will go through
this tragic event that happened on September 11, 2001 and become stronger.
Only through the resolve of this great nation will we persevere to even
greater things.
WE WILL NEVER FORGET!