Blue Fire
Broken
Lights in the office had been dimmed, making the fine print hardly visible to the eye, yet clear to a special device used for viewing top secret documents. The evidence was sufficient, no matter how desperately he wished it to fade. Halfway down the first page appeared the name of a man who had been absent from his son's life in order to serve a dictator whose main goal was eliminating lives from an already embattled universe.
This angered Fox, but there wasn't anything he could do other than accept it like any other job. You've done your best. Defended the innocent. Defeated the enemy many times before this.... Can't win 'em all. You've done your duty, now it's time for that extended leave of absence... The worst part of it was that Falco had spent the past few years dedicated to defending Corneria—he didn't deserve being tossed to the curb by those guards, but the General had his reasons, however idiotic they were—
"Fox, is everything okay?"
He turned on his desk lamp to full brightness then looked up at Peppy who had startled him.
"Yeah....I'm all right,"
"Then what are you doin' with those pills? Hope you're not thinking of killing yourself over this?"
Fox looked down into the palm of his left hand and saw the mound of tablets he must have dumped there while his brain was in a haze. An open bottle was in the other hand, completely empty. Also was a glass of water on the desk to his right. Quickly, he shoved the pills back inside the container and grabbed the cap off the desk then twisted it on tightly, leaving just one pill in his hand, and he popped that into his mouth then washed it down with the glass of water.
"Kill myself?" After swallowing the double-strength pain-reliever, he chuckled, maybe a bit too rigidly. "Why would I do something like that?" Another chuckle, again, too stiff.
When he looked back up, Peppy's eyes were dead on him, didn't even crack a smile as he sat down in the seat on the opposite side of Fox's desk.
"This ain't the end of the world, my friend. We've done our part as a team. We made a difference.....a good difference. You know, your father used to say that after you win one war there's always another to take its place, but the circumstances change from one instance to the next. Y'know, I just can't help bein' kind of worried about this personal attachment between you and Falco,"
Fox leaned on the desk with his paws stressfully pressed on his forehead.
"Peppy, please..."
"Me and your father were close...I can actually say I loved the guy...respected him,"
The hands came down immediately and the anger flared. "You're saying I don't have respect for Falco?"
Brief pause.
"Well, sometimes—"
"What!"
"Fox, calm down now. All I'm saying is you might've done better had you been upfront with him about your feelings, and I think you shortchanged him when you assumed he'd be better off at Synthesis Two,"
"I told you why that was necessary."
"He's a big boy, can take care of himself. He'll eventually find out about his dad, and whether you think so or not, he'll be the one to deal with it. I thought you of all people would've realized that—"
The speakerphone buzzed, breaking Peppy in mid-sentence. Fox then tapped the button that opened the intercom.
"Fox! Get in here. Now!" General Pepper came through with a striking force of rage, so strong it rattled the phone's casing. After that, Fox looked at Peppy, who appeared to know what was about to happen by the unsettling glint in his eyes.
Fox had to answer, no other choice.
"Yes, sir."
Soon as Falco walked in the front door, he stopped to savor all that he'd worked hard for, knowing it was no sure thing where he'd be tomorrow, just hoped he wouldn't end up one of those rags to riches to rags again stories. This home of his had been his first purchase after defeating Andross in the first Lylar War. It was small but very neatly kept, and Katt had fallen in love with the place when she first visited, promised to help him keep things clean and she had done that very well. He wasn't at all looking forward to telling her how likely it was that he wouldn't be able to stay there, certainly not after being fired—would have been different if he'd quit.
A few minutes after getting in, he realized how hungry he was and prepared a sandwich, sat down in his comfortable dining room to eat, and washed it down with an ice-cold quart of beer. Once finished, he sat down his couch, legs outstretched, put his head back and tried closing his eyes.
Ding
A message light illuminated on the com. Probably his former team leader. Sure as hell didn't want to hear from him, didn't want to have to look at his face again.
The communications center sat on an end table on his left next to the couch. All he had to do was reach over and tap the red button to answer it, and the screen would pop up, then the message would play. But he just couldn't do it. Didn't want to. Had no desire,
"Shoot!"
He answered. The screen came up and the words blinked in green:
::::urgent transmission from Zoness::::
He remembered the promise to call Katt soon as he was finished with the meeting, and sighed with relief.
::::message start::::
A face appeared,
"Falco? If you're there...well I hope you get this, it's been a long time..."
He sat up and looked at the screen in haunted surprise when seeing the blue feathered falcon who he hadn't seen in the last ten years.
"Son, I want you to know I've been thinking about you. I mean that. There's not much time, so I'd better make this quick. I believe there's something you don't know about me. I'm not such a bad guy. After all these years I've been working hard at trying to change but it's much easier said than done. I know you can't forgive me for things I've done in the past, probably not for what I'm going to do, I don't expect you to understand it now, but maybe one day.
We're Avians, son. The freest form of life in the universe and some are jealous of that but you should be proud every inch. Sure, there's some of us who are very bad but I can say that about every species in existence. I'm telling you this because we're about to face one of the most brutal times you or I have seen in our lifetime. I can't tell you about it now, but soon enough you'll know why....."
::::flashing::::signal interference:::::
::::fuzzy picture/sound flashing::::lost signal::::::
:::::end transmission:::::
The man hadn't been much of a father but he sure was an outstanding magician. Had a great disappearing act. His last whereabouts were unknown, he never called, didn't write. Seeing his face over the private interstellar network was kind of like looking at a new invention—amazing, but its usefulness unproven. For the most part there was no reason to believe him because so far he'd never been truthful. This time would be no different. It couldn't even be believed when he said Avians were the freest form of life in the universe...no Avian was really free. They were burdened with a duty to the Lylat System, lauded for their great flying and hunting skills, recognized for their brilliant technological advances and the discoveries of many natural resources. It was an Avian who stepped down from the department of Cornerian Defense in order to put General Pepper into power. Ironic now that the General had banished his best Avian pilot from the base.
No other incoming transmissions were available. Falco then picked up the dial pad and keyed in a number but received nothing more than a dead signal. Subsequently, he entered another series of digits, bringing up the Private Interstellar Information Network. In the forefront was General Pepper, standing in his office at headquarters, but this time he was flanked by members of the Lylat Planetary Council.
:::::Attacks are eminent. Trogon has armies encoded with an ancient predatory gene. His first targets have been Vulpine, about seventy percent. Reptilian assaults stand at around twenty. Seven percent are feline. The rest are nomadic species. We must rout these Avians. They're quickly moving toward an invasion on Corneria. We'll need all of our back-up forces on this mission. Two units near Macbeth have already been disabled, and unfortunately, Star Fox is inactive. We'll have to do everything in our power to save the innocent and eliminate the enemy army. Good luck, soldiers.
::::::end transmission:::::
A white line moved across the screen then faded to a small dot before the picture went black.
"Damn you, Fox!"
He got up and slammed edge of the couch with his fist.
"Oh man....Katt....!"
The dead signal had been her number, and when he dialed it a second time, the sound of an empty connection brought chills back up his spine. Thinking of what he'd been through earlier, the disgruntled hawk grabbed his jacket out of the closet then headed to the door in a heated rush.
