Chapter 5: Betrayal
The next day finally came. Everybody came to the academy early so they could see their results on their written test. Sky boasted with his group for getting the top grade. Following him in rank was Trixy, then Kyle, then Mark, then Haley, then Jackie. They were in the top six.
"Great! We get to take our flying test first," shouted Sky happily. "I'm also the team captain!" He then turned to the other five. He grinned at his friends, then looked at Kyle and Jackie, his grinning face turning into a serious one, one of disgust. "You two better stay out of my way. I'm the one who's going to be accompanying Star Fox in Katina."
"Fat chance of that happening, Skyler," protested Jackie. "Remember the last time you took your flying test a few years back?" Sky just glared at her, then stormed off with the rest of his friends to the airfield. Jackie was right though. She knew about his screw up with the jet he was in. He flew in-between two buildings and both of the wings came off as he was attempting to go through one of the rings. He had to make an emergency landing and failed the test. Not to mention he had to pay for the damages on the buildings and jet, which left him in debt for well over seven months.
I was a rookie back then, he thought to himself. There's no chance that's going to happen again. I've got the top grade, and I intend to keep that.
Peppy, Slippy, and Falco came to witness the flying test while Fara and Jamie remained with Fox in the hospital. They came down the hallway, met up with General Pepper, and saluted.
"Glad you three could make it. I was hoping Fox would come, but I see that he hasn't recovered enough to even be let out of the hospital," Pepper sighed. "That was quite a beating he took."
"I just wish we knew who did it so I can wring that guy's scrawny little neck," growled Falco as he clenched his fists.
"Or guys'," stated Slippy. "Fara told us that there were four guys. She didn't know any of them."
"Never mind that for now. We have an exam to supervise," interrupted Peppy. All four of them walked to the students as they saluted to the General and Star Fox.
"Each of you will be in teams of six with a team captain. You are going in the rank that you received your written exam scores in. We're starting with the top six in your class," explained Pepper. He turned to the team that was ready to get into their jets. He saluted to them and they saluted back. "Good luck to you all. Remember that in order to pass, your teams has to shoot down all the bogies in the area. You as an individual have to shoot down at least fifteen. There are one hundred in all. You must also pass through all ten rings in the area while fighting."
Sky, Trixy, Kyle, Mark, Haley, and Jackie hopped into their jets and took off. Sky started giving out orders as his team obeyed. After about fifteen minutes, Kyle, Sky, Mark, Jackie, and Haley had gotten their minimum requirements in for the bogeys and rings while Trixy was just about to the minimum with both. Just then, four large jets started flying to the testing area.
"Who the hell are they," yelled Falco, spotting the jets. Peppy, Pepper, and Slippy looked in the direction Falco was looking in. Peppy squinted his eyes to get a better view and his eyes widened a tiny bit.
"It's Star Wolf! Why are they here," cried out Peppy. Peppy, Slippy, and Falco quickly went to the Great Fox, which was thankfully nearby, and hopped into their Arwings. In the mean time, Star Wolf was attacking the young cadets. They were attacking with all their might. Sky was focusing on Leon, but the chameleon quickly somersaulted and started shooting at the Doberman. Trixy and Haley were double-teaming Pigma. Jackie was locked onto Andrew. Wolf got on Kyle's tail and started shooting at him. Kyle did a somersault and locked his lasers on Wolf.
"You'll have to do better than that to defeat me, buddy," yelled out Kyle.
"Kyle!? What the hell are you doing here," exclaimed the surprised Wolf. Kyle's eyes widened a little and he shot his laser at Pigma instead, who was nearby.
"B-Brother!? What are you doing here!?"
"Fulfilling Andross' will: the conquest of Corneri-aaaahhh!!!! What the-" Wolf looked at his radar to find that Jackie was shooting at him like crazy. His shield gauge was at 21% now. "Damn vixen!"
"Mess with one Cornerian, you mess with all of them," Jackie yelled out. She charged up her lazer and aimed it at Wolf. Suddenly, someone shot at her left wing repeatedly and it broke off. She shot her lazer and missed, hitting a nearby building. Luckily, there was no major damage. Her jet started leaning toward the left and falling toward the ground. She looked on her radar to see who shot her. "Damn it, Sky!! I'm on your team! Why did you shoot me!?"
"I'm the only one who's going to get the glory around here, Orwall!! Not you, not your boyfriend, and definitely not that punk Fox!! I'm glad my buddies and I took him out of commission!"
Just as Sky said that, the three members of Star Fox arrived in their Arwings and started shooting at Star Wolf. The four quickly retreated after taking heavy damage. Jackie made an emergency landing on the field and got out. The other jets and Arwings landed nearby her and they hopped out of their aircraft. General Pepper went over to Sky, Mark, Trixy, and Haley with eight Cornerian soldiers right behind him. The soldiers came up to the four and grabbed them by the arms, one soldier per arm. Pepper then glared at the cadets.
"I'm ashamed of you four," he started, "taking out Fox when we needed him most, hacking into the Venomian data base without permission, and shooting at one of your own wing men!"
"Ahem, wing women," corrected Jackie. Falco couldn't help but chuckle. Peppy elbowed Falco in the stomach again just as hard as last time to shut him up.
"Whatever. You four are permanently suspended from the academy and are as of now under arrest for one count of assault, one count of attempted murder, and two counts of treason! Soldiers, take them away!" The soldiers obeyed and went toward the four. They grabbed the four ex-cadets, but they broke off and ran out of the area. Sky stopped, turned around, and glared at Jackie with pure hate.
"You'll be sorry you ever crossed us, Orwall!! Whether it be by us, or Star Wolf, or even your father, you will be sorry," Sky threatened. He then caught up with the rest of his group. Jackie's eyes widened as she heard those words. Her eyes then turned from surprised and scared to angry and full of hate. Slippy noticed this change, but decided to say nothing about it for now. General Pepper turned to Jackie and Kyle. Jackie snapped out of her little angry trance and faced Pepper. She and Kyle saluted to him.
"Jackie Orwall and Kyle O'Donnel. I would be honored if you assisted Star Fox on Katina in their upcoming mission."
"Woah, woah, woah, time out," started Jackie. "I thought you said you'd only allow one pilot to go, not two."
"We need all the help we can get, and you two are equally skilled. You are as of now the top two of your class. Besides, I don't think you're serious enough to go by yourself with the rest of the team yet, Jackie."
"Not serious enough!?" She thought for a minute, then took her pocketknife out of her pocket. She grabbed her low ponytail with one hand just under the hair band, and put the blade of it above the hair band with the other hand. She then cut off the ponytail and put her pocketknife away. Her hair length was now just under her muzzle. Peppy, Slippy, and Falco looked at her wide-eyed. Pepper and Kyle's jaws dropped in shock. Ten years of growing her hair out cut off in ten seconds! "It was getting in the way anyway. Now am I serious enough for you, Pepper?"
"Uhh...umm.Good luck to both of you!" He went to the other students, still shocked at what he just saw. Jackie then turned to Kyle and the rest of Star Fox and cocked an eyebrow.
"What?"
The next day finally came. Everybody came to the academy early so they could see their results on their written test. Sky boasted with his group for getting the top grade. Following him in rank was Trixy, then Kyle, then Mark, then Haley, then Jackie. They were in the top six.
"Great! We get to take our flying test first," shouted Sky happily. "I'm also the team captain!" He then turned to the other five. He grinned at his friends, then looked at Kyle and Jackie, his grinning face turning into a serious one, one of disgust. "You two better stay out of my way. I'm the one who's going to be accompanying Star Fox in Katina."
"Fat chance of that happening, Skyler," protested Jackie. "Remember the last time you took your flying test a few years back?" Sky just glared at her, then stormed off with the rest of his friends to the airfield. Jackie was right though. She knew about his screw up with the jet he was in. He flew in-between two buildings and both of the wings came off as he was attempting to go through one of the rings. He had to make an emergency landing and failed the test. Not to mention he had to pay for the damages on the buildings and jet, which left him in debt for well over seven months.
I was a rookie back then, he thought to himself. There's no chance that's going to happen again. I've got the top grade, and I intend to keep that.
Peppy, Slippy, and Falco came to witness the flying test while Fara and Jamie remained with Fox in the hospital. They came down the hallway, met up with General Pepper, and saluted.
"Glad you three could make it. I was hoping Fox would come, but I see that he hasn't recovered enough to even be let out of the hospital," Pepper sighed. "That was quite a beating he took."
"I just wish we knew who did it so I can wring that guy's scrawny little neck," growled Falco as he clenched his fists.
"Or guys'," stated Slippy. "Fara told us that there were four guys. She didn't know any of them."
"Never mind that for now. We have an exam to supervise," interrupted Peppy. All four of them walked to the students as they saluted to the General and Star Fox.
"Each of you will be in teams of six with a team captain. You are going in the rank that you received your written exam scores in. We're starting with the top six in your class," explained Pepper. He turned to the team that was ready to get into their jets. He saluted to them and they saluted back. "Good luck to you all. Remember that in order to pass, your teams has to shoot down all the bogies in the area. You as an individual have to shoot down at least fifteen. There are one hundred in all. You must also pass through all ten rings in the area while fighting."
Sky, Trixy, Kyle, Mark, Haley, and Jackie hopped into their jets and took off. Sky started giving out orders as his team obeyed. After about fifteen minutes, Kyle, Sky, Mark, Jackie, and Haley had gotten their minimum requirements in for the bogeys and rings while Trixy was just about to the minimum with both. Just then, four large jets started flying to the testing area.
"Who the hell are they," yelled Falco, spotting the jets. Peppy, Pepper, and Slippy looked in the direction Falco was looking in. Peppy squinted his eyes to get a better view and his eyes widened a tiny bit.
"It's Star Wolf! Why are they here," cried out Peppy. Peppy, Slippy, and Falco quickly went to the Great Fox, which was thankfully nearby, and hopped into their Arwings. In the mean time, Star Wolf was attacking the young cadets. They were attacking with all their might. Sky was focusing on Leon, but the chameleon quickly somersaulted and started shooting at the Doberman. Trixy and Haley were double-teaming Pigma. Jackie was locked onto Andrew. Wolf got on Kyle's tail and started shooting at him. Kyle did a somersault and locked his lasers on Wolf.
"You'll have to do better than that to defeat me, buddy," yelled out Kyle.
"Kyle!? What the hell are you doing here," exclaimed the surprised Wolf. Kyle's eyes widened a little and he shot his laser at Pigma instead, who was nearby.
"B-Brother!? What are you doing here!?"
"Fulfilling Andross' will: the conquest of Corneri-aaaahhh!!!! What the-" Wolf looked at his radar to find that Jackie was shooting at him like crazy. His shield gauge was at 21% now. "Damn vixen!"
"Mess with one Cornerian, you mess with all of them," Jackie yelled out. She charged up her lazer and aimed it at Wolf. Suddenly, someone shot at her left wing repeatedly and it broke off. She shot her lazer and missed, hitting a nearby building. Luckily, there was no major damage. Her jet started leaning toward the left and falling toward the ground. She looked on her radar to see who shot her. "Damn it, Sky!! I'm on your team! Why did you shoot me!?"
"I'm the only one who's going to get the glory around here, Orwall!! Not you, not your boyfriend, and definitely not that punk Fox!! I'm glad my buddies and I took him out of commission!"
Just as Sky said that, the three members of Star Fox arrived in their Arwings and started shooting at Star Wolf. The four quickly retreated after taking heavy damage. Jackie made an emergency landing on the field and got out. The other jets and Arwings landed nearby her and they hopped out of their aircraft. General Pepper went over to Sky, Mark, Trixy, and Haley with eight Cornerian soldiers right behind him. The soldiers came up to the four and grabbed them by the arms, one soldier per arm. Pepper then glared at the cadets.
"I'm ashamed of you four," he started, "taking out Fox when we needed him most, hacking into the Venomian data base without permission, and shooting at one of your own wing men!"
"Ahem, wing women," corrected Jackie. Falco couldn't help but chuckle. Peppy elbowed Falco in the stomach again just as hard as last time to shut him up.
"Whatever. You four are permanently suspended from the academy and are as of now under arrest for one count of assault, one count of attempted murder, and two counts of treason! Soldiers, take them away!" The soldiers obeyed and went toward the four. They grabbed the four ex-cadets, but they broke off and ran out of the area. Sky stopped, turned around, and glared at Jackie with pure hate.
"You'll be sorry you ever crossed us, Orwall!! Whether it be by us, or Star Wolf, or even your father, you will be sorry," Sky threatened. He then caught up with the rest of his group. Jackie's eyes widened as she heard those words. Her eyes then turned from surprised and scared to angry and full of hate. Slippy noticed this change, but decided to say nothing about it for now. General Pepper turned to Jackie and Kyle. Jackie snapped out of her little angry trance and faced Pepper. She and Kyle saluted to him.
"Jackie Orwall and Kyle O'Donnel. I would be honored if you assisted Star Fox on Katina in their upcoming mission."
"Woah, woah, woah, time out," started Jackie. "I thought you said you'd only allow one pilot to go, not two."
"We need all the help we can get, and you two are equally skilled. You are as of now the top two of your class. Besides, I don't think you're serious enough to go by yourself with the rest of the team yet, Jackie."
"Not serious enough!?" She thought for a minute, then took her pocketknife out of her pocket. She grabbed her low ponytail with one hand just under the hair band, and put the blade of it above the hair band with the other hand. She then cut off the ponytail and put her pocketknife away. Her hair length was now just under her muzzle. Peppy, Slippy, and Falco looked at her wide-eyed. Pepper and Kyle's jaws dropped in shock. Ten years of growing her hair out cut off in ten seconds! "It was getting in the way anyway. Now am I serious enough for you, Pepper?"
"Uhh...umm.Good luck to both of you!" He went to the other students, still shocked at what he just saw. Jackie then turned to Kyle and the rest of Star Fox and cocked an eyebrow.
"What?"