Blue Fire

Perfect Timing

Zoness

Inland Corridor

            "That was good. Very good."

            Rick caught the nod of his superior then fell in quickly behind the driver's seat.

            Leon wrapped up the elements used to start the fires then strapped in, knowing Wolf was an expert at his own Wolfen II, nevertheless hell behind the wheel of a hovercraft.

            "Lock in tight, young man," Leon gave fair warning to Rick just before the vehicle shot forward like a guided projectile then peeled around a corner like wind shear.

            "We've slowed their plans significantly," Wolf had his eye on the road, a hand on the wheel, the other hand holding a premium quality stogie as pre-celebration. "Now we'll head further inland, and we'll wait...wait for her to come." The anticipation in his voice disclosed vagary. However, his true intentions remained obscured.

            He wants Katt....but for what? What's so important about capturing Falco Lombardi to Wolf? It's Fox McCloud he wants. Perhaps Falco's capture could lead him to Fox? Then what will he do with Katt?

            In the meantime, their leader marked the exact location of her infamous fighter, the Cat's Paw, with a red X on his map of the region. Leon had his suspicions over Wolf's sudden infatuation with the woman who stole one the most expensive ships from his treasured fleet after escaping his prison so many years ago. She had also led Fox McCloud into the landings at Venom City on that day, and the loyal son of Lylat successfully wiped out an entire brigade, including the trainees led by Wolf. Rick was the only other survivor in the entire squadron, and Wolf had narrowly escaped. Yes, this was the woman inherently responsible for the patch over his eye; the grudge must have finally grown into an obsession with revenge.

            "Ten miles," He breathed heavier, bearing down on the accelerator and made a turn off the main road and into a heavily wooded area near the mountains. "We'll get there soon. Leon, I take it you've got devices to keep her under control this time?"

            "Yes, sir." the stark-eyed chameleon answered, nervously watching as the vehicle skinned bark off a few trees. His stomach curdled even worse when his leader briefly took an eye off the road to stow the cigar. He could only wonder what Rick must have been feeling as he was pinned in the cramped space of the back seat.

            As they came closer to the edge of the mountainside, the trees became even more dense and more than enough times Leon saw his life ending at the hands of his superior, however, he said not a word, knowing he would have gained a more horrible death if pissing off Wolf at the wrong time. For every time they sliced through the narrow spaces, he closed his eyes and swallowed hard. The last time he'd checked the hovercraft's display it was somewhere above the top speed indicator. Hearing the branches snap especially crackled his nerves.

            "Gentlemen, we've arrived!"

            The vehicle slid into the dirt and spun around before coming to complete stop. Leon breathed again.

            Not far away from where they parked was the carnation pink former Wolfen with its nose buried halfway into the rocks and the cockpit hatch open. Wolf had a gleam in his eye then, almost as though he imagined the real woman strapped helplessly inside of the customized fighter, no matter how obvious it was that the ship was empty.

            "Looks like our pink lady had a little accident,"

            And we narrowly missed one or two ourselves.....

            Wolf walked up to the ship and patted the hull near the tail where he approached. "No wonders she couldn't fly out before those birds arrived."

            He soon got up to the cockpit and did a standard check of the console which included a scan of the embedded data recorder from which he could retrieve information, which was the way he'd kept tabs on Katt's every move over the years and it proved effective, for her whereabouts in that ship often gave him advanced warning of the Star Fox team's arrival.

            "Then, sir, do you think she'll still try coming here? Perhaps she'll try getting out another way."

            Wolf poked his head up from the cockpit and looked down at Rick.

            "She knows she'll be caught if she tries heading back to the city. Plus, this is her only means of communication for the moment. I'm sure she'll come here in order to contact Star Fox, then I'll have her....we'll have her, right where we want her..."

            "Sir? I think I just saw something."

            Rick's sudden remark shifted the attention toward a spot in the distance where there was a gap in the foothills. Wolf jumped from the side of the tattered ship to the ground then took a few steps forward, and Leon fell in behind him, sighting something yellow and blue that went away as fast as it had appeared.

            "I don't see anything." said Wolf.

            "I did," Leon acknowledged meekly, not wanting to make his boss seem visually challenged, although it was a fact. "Looked like an Avian. I saw the wings. Maybe that's one of their hideouts."

            "Hmm. Now it's a matter of if they've spotted us before we spotted them. Rick, go over to the craft and bring me the scope. I'd like to get a closer look—"

            No later than it took for the scope to be retrieved and put into his hands, a long fiery arrow whizzed by his head and scorched the brittle ground that it had pierced behind him, and he immediately turned about right along with Leon and Rick, all three suddenly finding themselves surrounded by many members of an exotic bird tribe.

            "Mubo edo melo, oei we feev!"

            The huge cockatiel-looking creature at the forefront of this tribe, loaded another flaming arrow into his bow, and Wolf raised his hands in surrender before giving Leon and Rick a slow nod to do the same.

            "What the hell's this, jungle speak? Leon, what did he say?"

            "It's an ancient language, Sir. Dino, I believe. And he said if we dare make one move, we'll all go...poof."

            Thank God Leon knew the language fairly well, yet it didn't save him or the young soldier from being taken hostage, and his efforts to keep them from being separated from their leader had failed miserably. Such failure left him trapped in a pit without much else other than this knowledge and a young soldier who paced nervously in front of him.

            "Please, settle down, Rick. I beg of you."

            "I can't," The boy continued on his nowhere trek, his arms crossed, his legs shakily moving him back and forth. "What are they doing to him? They'll kill him."

            Leon sat with his back against a rock wall, his legs stretched out, and his tapered tail rolled out to the side. "Not likely. Wolf doesn't break easily. I can almost assure you it'll only be a matter of time before he finds a way out of whatever hole they've put him in, and then we'll take over."

            Rick finally stopped in his tracks, but his arms remained folded, and he shuddered slightly because the place was rather cold and damp. "But he doesn't even speak their language. You do!"

            "So, this is true."

            "Well, how can he convince them to spare him if he can't even communicate with them?"

            "He will."

            "You sound so sure."

            "That's because I know our commander better than you. I know what he's been through and I can attest that he's survived far greater odds than this. I'm the master of disguise..."

            "I thought you were the master of torture, sir,"

            "Well, yes, that too. But Commander O'Donnell is a master of peace just as much as he is at war. Give him a little while and he'll have those insidious creatures tamed like his own parakeets."

            Rick faced Leon and finally brought his arms down to his sides. "The commander owns parakeets?"

            "Two. Lovebirds, actually. Given to him just recently by a fortuneteller when he visited on one of our distant planets. Lovebirds. Good fortune. They go hand in hand."

            "He believes in things like that?" Rick scrunched his feline nose.

            "Yes... And you've got a point there, Richard. He doesn't seem the type to believe in the supernatural and all that, does he? But then again, now as I come to think about it...it all makes perfect sense..."

            "What, sir?"

            "Lovebirds. The male is named Lupin, the female is Kitty. I never would've guessed it until now."

            They disbursed monumental silence as Leon contently understood the side quest of this mission, yet he could tell Rick remained confused.

            "I don't get it."

            Leon had only two words. "You will."

            The young soldier started pacing again. "All I know is that since we're all in here, we can't do anything about the Avians advancing on Zoness out there. Didn't the commander say we have to save this planet or all is lost?"

            The one thought on Leon's mind then was of what would happen if Trogon was successful in taking Zoness, then how quickly the monster would send out his troops to overtake Venom.

            "Lieutenant Powalski, I don't see how Commander O'Donnell expects to accomplish the goal now."

            "He's contacted our special forces."

            "Without two-way?"

            There was nothing else for Leon to say except when he looked up at Rick, he noticed the kid had stopped again and was looking back at him with a deeply engaging stare.

            "The scope," said Rick. "He twisted it, and he pressed something before putting it back into the hovercraft..."

            A smile broke across Leon's lips as he got up on one knee. "You're observant. That's a good thing," He then slipped a hand underneath his jacket and revealed just a little of something that luckily their captors did not confiscate. "We will get out of here,"

            Rick's eyes widened. "A taser..."

            "Shh. Not one, but two. I've got a few other things up my sleeve as well. The oldest trick in the book, boy. It won't take much to get those guards in here once we make a little noise. Together we'll take them down and we'll be free.

            Our leader was sent here for a very special purpose, to complete a mission that no one else in this entire galaxy could possibly achieve. Especially not that miserable Star Fox from Corneria. You see how quickly they were chased out of here. Because obviously, they were no match for Trogon's predator armies. Of course, it would be beneficial if they'd come back, that way I could complete my personal mission of wiping out that annoying bird, Falco Lombardi."

            Leon stood and handed over the other weapon to Rick.

            "What do we do first, sir?"

            "Do your best bird call. Make it high and loud."