Chapter 12: When Patience Isn't a Virtue

The explosion immediately vaporizes the insect attackers in a blinding blue flash. Peppy shields his eyes from the light, then looks down at the newly formed crater.

Peppy continues to shield against the intense light, but constantly peeks to see if Fox had made it out. As the flash settles, Peppy begins to lose hope that Fox could have survived the blast.

"No! Fox can't be dead! He just can't!" yells Peppy, slamming his fist onto the dashboard. After a few seconds his scanner picks up movement below. Pep looks down to the busted-up Arwing. Just then, the glass of the Arwing's cockpit swings open and Fox immediately dashes out and up the wall of the crater.

Peppy sighs in relief. "Fox is ok! Thank God!"

Fox had heard Peppy over his com and continued to run across the desert plain. The sound of buzzing was getting closer. Several more Trilac appear out of nowhere and race toward Fox from the other side of the crater. Fox looks back, stops, and waits for the team of Trilac to cross the pit. Once they are all over it in crossing, Fox takes hold of the watch on his left wrist.

"Sorry Arwing, but I have to. At least you won't be alone on your journey!" Shouts Fox, who then presses the button. Instantly, Fox's Arwing explodes taking the deadly Trilac warriors with it.

Peppy: "Nice work Fox! Relax, I'll handle the rest."

Fox: "Pep! This is no time to relax, I need cover fire!"

Peppy: "Don't worry Fox, I'll help ya!"

Peppy swoops down at a few incoming bugs and opens fire, wiping them out. There was no way Peppy would let Fox get hurt! Meanwhile, Fox ran as fast as he could, not even daring to look back. The only way he could get out of this one was to just get out of there as soon as possible. But just when it all seemed like it was gonna work, the ground started shaking.

"What the-?!" Fox jumped to the side while keeping up his running pace. He quickly looks back to see a giant Trilac burst out of the ground, narrowly missing him. Fox presses the communicator button on the side of his white helmet. Fox narrowly dodges an another attack from below.

Fox: "Pep, I've got problems! They're coming out of the ground!"

Peppy: "What? Fox, are you ok?"

Fox: "No I'm not ok! Can't you do anything?!"

Peppy: "If I fire near you, you'd be killed! Wait, do you have your blaster?"

Fox: (reaches into his holster, which he temporarily forgot) "Oh yeah! Thanks Peppy! Remind me to kick myself for forgetting later, but for now just keep me covered and I'll take care of my self over here!"

Fox takes out his blaster and fires a shot behind him while still moving, hitting a Trilac between the eyes that had just made a lunge for him. The bug flies back with the still burning hole in its head. Fox then jumps up, runs backward, and shoots the other bugs that had just arrived. He kisses his blaster and turns toward the way he was heading.

"Ha! Now this is how you exterminate bugs!" exclaims Fox, keeping his blaster in hand. The ground shakes again, and much to Fox's dismay, a gigantic centipede-like monster emerges in front of him.

"Holy heck!" yells Fox, jumping onto the air while the thing makes a horrible screeching noise. Fox grits his teeth and decides to take down this road block.

"Oh no, I am NOT gonna die! I still have to marry Fara! FIRE FOX!" screams Fox as his body is encased in flames, still in mid-air. A second later, he rockets forward and through the new danger. It lets out an inhuman wail and falls to the ground as Fox lands on his feet, smiling in triumph. He dashes again, while his Guardian Arwing fires it's last bomb at another group of buggers that would have otherwise caused Fox major trouble.

Just when he began his sprint to safety, the ground shook again. This time one of the smaller ones came directly from beneath and grabbed his leg.

"Oh so that's the way you want it huh? Eat Reflector!" Fox activates his projectile reflector, which also sends an electrical current through anyone he's touching. The monster wails in pain and lets him go. Fox was ready to run again, but soon found himself surrounded by several giant mantises.

Peppy was still busy shooting any oncomers to keep them from attacking Fox and Fox was surrounded by several of those attackers. Fox clenched the handle of his blaster tightly as the insect killers circled him slowly, keeping a good eight feet between them and their target.

"If I go down, I'm not going alone..." Fox barely whispered what he feared was the most likely outcome. He then heard the sound of an engine, and almost fell over when something heavy fell behind him. He hears the squeal of a dying bug and looks behind him to see a 50 foot tall Mobile suit standing there. Fox's face lit up as he immediately recognized who and what it was.

"The X-Wing! Jason!"

The team circling Fox had all looked up at the metal giant and were ready to jump. Just as they were about to, the hatch in the chest opened and out of it emerged Jason, blaster in hand. He took aim at the bugs and shot them quickly with the rapid-fire blaster shots. Fox quickly ran up to the cockpit.

"Jason! Ha ha! What took you so long buddy?"

"Sorry Fox, some of those damn Trilac got past our fire and got too close to the evacuating base. We had to take care of that first, but the Raidens can handle the rest of it on their own now." explained Jason.

Fox crosses his arms as he sits in the extra seat behind Jason. "Oh, so me out here trying to defend myself wasn't important enough?"

Jason smirks and simply says, "I knew you could handle it." A transmission comes in with Crystal on the screen.

Crystal: "Jason, have you rescued the StarFox Team yet?"

Jason sat back down and spoke. "Yes Crystal, and I think Peppy saw me pick up Fox; he's heading back to the Great Fox."

Crystal: "Good, now get back here so we can nuke that mountain!"

Jason gets up and leans out the open hatch. "No need, I'm gonna take care of it!"

Jason clenches his teeth and lifts his hand up, aiming at the mountain. After a second to charge, a beam of energy blasts out of his arm and strikes the tall mountain reducing it to rubble.

Jason laughs maniacally and yells toward the leveled mountain. "That was for Tunnel!" Jason dives back into his seat while a swarm of the enemy comes toward him. The hatch closes as they surround the X-Wing.

"Heh, excuse me while I kiss the sky!" yells Jason as the engines roar back to life, their exhaust burning their transgressors. Jason's Mobile suit X-Wing rockets into the air, getting a good view of another wave of enemies already dispatched from the now non-existent mountain. Crystal's voice rings on the communicator.

Crystal: "Oh fine Jason, be a show off..."

Jason and Fox forget the troubles of the moment and laugh at Crystal's sarcasm. After the brief repose, they get settled and focus on the task at hand.

"Wow, that's a lot of bugs." says Fox, stating the obvious in a simple manner.

"Yeah, but don't forget the ship your in!" Jason takes hold of the control sticks and activates the Double-Buster rifle. "Now Fox, should I use this or do you prefer some other method?"

Fox shrugs. "It doesn't matter to me, just blast the damn cockroaches."

Jason's transformed X-Wing lowers the beam cannon, aiming it in the direction of the Trilac's attack force. Jason grins and starts to laugh a low, grim laugh, waiting for the right moment to open fire. When they are in his sights, he shouts as if they could hear him.

"Now, feel the wrath of the Galactic Special Forces!!" Jason pulls the trigger releasing the gigantic beam of his X-Wing's Double Buster, wiping out everything in it's path. After a few unnecessary seconds of firing, Jason lets go of the trigger, shutting off the beam. The ground where the enemy had stood was now completely devastated and devoid of life.

"Why is it that when I fight, I truly feel alive?" Asks Jason, philosophically. After a moment to look at his work, he transforms his ship into fighter mode and blasts off toward the Destroyers.

-

Meanwhile on the Stardestroyer, the Eagle Sonata, Storm Eagle paces back and forth in the bridge.

"How much longer till we reach our destination?!" Storm's patience was wearing thin. Every minute that his Master was in danger seemed like an hour. Time was progressing at a snail's pace to him.

"Sir, we'll be arriving at the Ordonicor system in approximately seven minutes." responds a Coyotebot.

Storm shouts back, "Well alot can happen in seven minutes!"

"Oh Storm, relax! Commander Jason can survive a measly seven minutes without us." Shouts a voice familiar to Storm.

"Well, if it isn't Crush Crawfish!" says Storm, his voice becoming uplifted.

Another rebuilt and upgraded reploid runs up next to Crush. "And likewise me, Overdrive Ostrich!"

Storm stands with an air of joy about him. "Ha ha! So the Three Inseparables are together again!"

Crush wipes a pretend tear from his face with his giant metal claw and says, "This...this is just so touching! GROUP HUG!!" The Crimson Crawfish grabs Storm and Overdrive and gives them a giant metal crawfish hug, picking them both up and setting them down again.

"Crush, you're still one of the strongest reploids I know!" Says Storm, laughing as he said it.

"They don't call me the Destroying god of the Seven Seas for nothin'!"

"This moment is so sweet I'll need to brush my teeth afterwards!" yells Overdrive, just being released from the hug.

Storm looks at Overdrive. "But, you don't have any teeth my friend. You have a beak."

"Overdrive, your talons may be sharp but you're as dumb as a rock when it comes to witty remarks." laughs Crush. Overdrive Ostrich just looks in some other direction to hide his embarrassed expression.

"You aren't an expert on wit either, Crush. On to more important topics..." Storm tried to maintain his dignified self.

Overdrive cuts him off, already knowing what was most important at the moment. "Yeah, yeah. We came along on this cruiser to help out the Commander."

Storm nods.

Crush rose his claw in front of his face. "Yes, to help the Commander! We, the Three Maverick-teers shall fight to defend our Leader!"

"All for one, one for all!" shouts Storm in his noble voice.

"To protect to world from devastation!" cries Overdrive, raising his fist into the air. A still silence follows that sentence as everyone looks at Overdrive. "Uh, heh heh...I mean, let's get down...to funkytow-"

"Just shut up." says Crush quickly. "Another outburst like that and I pinch that neck of yours in half." Crush opens and closes his right claw in front of Overdrive's face, the metal blades making a refined 'shiiiing' sound. Overdrive gulps down nervously.

Storm puts his hand between them. "Now, now Crush. He may still have some glitches but he is still out friend. We may need him for this mission anyway."

Overdrive nods hastily.

Crush waves both claws in front of him. "Heh, oh come on guys! You know I'm only kidding! I kid because I love." Unfortunately the sudden claw movement made Overdrive jump and dash behind Storm.

"Kidding...right...heh heh." says Overdrive tensely from behind Storm Eagle.

"Oh quit fooling around you two, we've only a few minutes to be ready!" says Storm, trying to act annoyed by his companions actions.

Overdrive stands up straight. "All right, let's get ready to kick ass and take names!"

"Finally, something from your voice processor that makes sense!" says Crush, throwing his claws up to exaggerate the sentence.

-

Ann opens the sliding glass door of her apartment and walks onto the balcony. At home, she has no need to keep her illusion of a human disguise on so she switches to her true form. The chill of the breeze blowing does little to affect her as her mind dwells on other thoughts. She rests her hand on the stone railing around the balcony and looks outward to the starry night sky.

"What am I doing" She mutters to herself, looking down at the shimmering lights below. "Like he'd ever really love me. I'm stupid to even think that. He's not being honest with me, not at all! He has to be that guy I saw in that base. It only makes sense."

She takes a deep breath, lifting her gaze a bit to see the edge of the shimmering lights below. "I'm not being totally honest about who I am eitherbut I'm honest with my feelings, and that I know for sure. So maybehe's honest with his feelings for me? I mean, he probably has reasons to keep his identity a secret, but beneath all that he could be being truthful! Jamesor is it Jason? Oh, what's in a name anywaysoverrated compared to who you are.

Resting her head in her palm, she continues to speak to herself, thinking wistfully. "What is it you do exactly? What is life like for you? I've had my share of excitement, but I'd love to have seen what you have. But thinking about that just makes me realize I couldn't hold a candle to that. You deserve better than me. God, this is so depressing"

She closes her eyes, trying to hold back her tears created from the feeling of hopelessness. "I'm not meant to be happy; I don't really belong with anyone. I'm alone; I'm meant to be alone." Just as she lowers her head to place it onto her arms on the railing, she feels the small object around her neck. It jingles almost inaudibly, but still manages to catch her attention. She takes the silver cross, the one James – no, Jason – gave to her. It did remind her she wasn't alone, because she had the proof right there. That simple gift held so much for her, because it was given as a gift from the heart.

She looks at it, wiping the tears from her eyes and whispers, "Thank you Jason."