Disclaimer: READ THIS!!! I do not own any of the StarFox characters or any
other names that are Nintendo related or found in any of the StarFox games.
CHAPTER 4 Work to Be Done
It was three days later; Fox had taken Krystal out to a couple of clothing stores and let her pick out some new threads. She seemed to like clothes that resembled the uniforms worn by the Starfox team. She wasn't a fan of the 'in thing' attire; it was possible that she wanted to look like part of the group, to blend in. Black T-shirts, vests, some short shorts, and khakis were what she had chosen and she really did look good in it.
They were prepared to take the Great Fox to Slippy's father's shop. Fox forgot a lot about Slippy's father, his name was Trent according to his memory; it's been a long time since the last time he's seen him. Trent's shop was located on the outskirts of the Middle district, it didn't look like the kind of place for Class A repairs but looks can be deceiving. For a huge machine shop with several hangers of different sizes the place looked rather run down, Trent depended on his reputation of good service more than the pretty face he could put on his business. The Great Fox lifted off from where it was docked at the HQ Cornerian Army and maneuvered into one of the largest machine shops. The hanger was bustling with technicians and other mechanics; when it was in the middle of the shop four large machines clipped large circular bolts about five meters in diameter onto the front, back, and all four sides of the ship. Six electrodes looking a little like giant forks shot out electric beams which immediately immobilized the ship. ROB shut down all systems on the Great Fox which would allow the technicians and mechanics to get to work as soon as possible.
Everyone including ROB this time rode the platform down onto the floor of the hanger, a lot of the employees would give a nod to the team, and several could have been looking at Krystal. Slippy stopped a pit bull and asked him where his father was, the dog told him that he was on his way here now and would be arriving shortly. Just then Trent pulled up on a transport, and smiled when he saw his son, Fox's memory was completely jarred and he immediately remembered everything about him. Trent was very big and very muscular for a toad; he was rugged looking and his hands were stained with grease. He was a lot larger than Slippy that was for sure and his voice was a lot deeper which made it look like he wasn't Slippy's father at all.
"C'mere ya little runt," Trent called to Slippy, who was already running up to him. Slippy threw his arms around his father, "How've you been sport?"
"I've been great dad, how's the shop doing?" he asked.
"We're doing fine, your mother's up in the office so make sure you go and say hi," Trent let his son go racing up the stairs in the back of the hanger to the office.
"So Fox, finally feel it's time to get this flying scrap heap a real makeover," Trent said.
"Yea I've actually been meaning to do some work on her earlier, but I wouldn't have been able to afford anything worth while. Did Slippy contact you on what I would like to have done?"
"Yes he did, I have everything planned out and I have ready anything else you would like to do with her."
"Ok sounds good, I'm leaving you with Slippy he'll be in charge of everything that else that goes down. I would like to have both mine and Falco's Arwings repaired and any possible upgrades installed. Falco wants to know if it would be possible to anything regarding additional or increased fire power on her. Oh yes one more thing," he said quietly so Krystal wasn't able to hear, "I want you to build me another Arwing, since I'm planning on making recruitment."
Trent raised his eyebrows, "Damn boy Slippy never mentioned any of this! Ok I'll do all this for you because I'm a nice guy, and you're lucky I grew up with your father. Just one thing, weapons I don't touch you'll have to talk to one of my technicians who has some background in armaments and military hardware." A raccoon wearing some dark orange shooting glasses was walked by the staircase. "Hey Scott get over here a minute!" Trent called out to him; he looked over to Trent then casually walked over to him and the group. "This is the guy I was telling you about he'll handle your any of your laser or cannon upgrades you need.
Fox shook hands with Scott before yelling to Falco. "Hey Falco get over here a minute!" Falco was slow to respond; he didn't like being treated as errand boy or pet even though he wasn't. "You wanted guns right? Well here's the guy to talk to, go and flirt." Falco also shook hands with the weapons expert, and walked over to the front of the ship describing what he would like to see done."
"Who is this by the way?" Trent said looking at Krystal who was standing behind Fox unlike Peppy who was off putting around somewhere probably picking up thing and looking at things he shouldn't.
"This is Krystal she is a very good friend of mine," Fox said introducing her.
Trent pulled a rag out of his back pocket and wiped off his hands which were stilled covered in grease. "How do you do?" Krystal said laughing inside to herself.
"Yea I know what you're thinking; how can I possibly be Slippy's father?" Fox snickered to himself; Trent said the same thing to every new person he met. "I'm a hell of a lot bigger than he is and I definitely sound quite different than he does. Pretty sure that he got all of his physical features from his mother, and his mechanical talents from me. But his voice, that's a story; he must have been around five or six when it happened. The boy was always very mischievous, much like Fox at that age, mischievous, but not to smart; well he found some new engine coolant on my desk, and he kind of.drank it." At this point Fox couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter, Krystal looked over her shoulder at him absolutely baffled; Trent started up again. "The surgeons were able to pump all of that junk out of his system before it was able to do any serious damage to him, but there was no saving his vocal chords. They were shot beyond all repairs, it's almost sad; that got rid of all his curiosity for trying new things, especially drinks." Trent let out a sigh and shook his head with a smile on his face; no matter what he was still very proud of the boy he had raised. Krystal still stood there with a look of disbelief on her face.
"Well.I uh. suppose that does explain a lot." She said looking over at Fox who was still snickering at Slippy's young misfortune.
A whiny voice spoke out from behind Trent "Dad! Are you telling that story again? C'mon you embarrass me in front of everyone I know!"
"Bah! Get a sense of humor Slip!" Trent said back to him.
"Slippy I'm leaving you to take care of everything that goes down in here from now on; I've got a promise to keep," Fox said to Slippy before turning to Krystal who was looking at him curiously.
Fox and Krystal said their goodbyes to Trent and the rest of the team before exiting the Great Fox's hanger and borrowing one of Tents hover cars.
"I haven't driven in a long time, it's all been flying around, shooting things, and fighting, hopefully I haven't lost my touch." Fox said to Krystal, as they were walking over to one of the more expensive cars.
"What exactly do you have in mind for keeping your promise?" Krystal asked him.
"Well there is this place Peppy took me once when I was eighteen, it's almost like a museum dedicated to the exploration and science of the universe. I think it called The Celestial Sciences and Planetary Archives. So typically we're going to try to find this planet of yours."
The ride there wasn't bad; Fox could still almost drive as almost as good as he could pilot. Krystal was constantly making comments on how he was having such a hard time finding where to go even though it was his home planet. After about the third time of stopping and asking for directions, Fox had finally found his way to the archives. The place was very old, but it looked new because it was a place of such historical importance. The structure seemed to be made out of a marble like material and was decorated with emblems which stood for different planets in the Lylat system; Venom of coarse was not included.
Celestial Sciences and Planetary Archives was even larger on the inside than it looked on the outside. There were individual computers with holographic projectors, large bookcase looking shelves that reached the fifty foot ceiling, and were piled with data disks containing information. Buzzing around the giant bookcases were hovering robots which would fetch data disks and bring them to the computer at which they were requested. Fox went up to the front desk and paid admission for two. Krystal noticed on the inside of his vest that Fox still carried his gun with him.
"Do you carry that thing with you everywhere you go?"
Fox looked down seeing that his blaster was a little exposed from his vest and quickly zipped it up. "I like to think of it as insuring public protection," he said with a nervous smile. "Here take a look at this," Fox said moving a chair for Krystal to sit down at in front of one of the computers. "Ok what you've got here is basically a giant search engine, try typing in the name of your planet and see what comes up. If you think it's what you need, select it and a drone will bring it here for you."
"Convenient," she said
"It is, isn't it? Here play around for a bit and learn something I gotta step outside for a minute to make a phone call."
"Ok try to get back before I end up screwing something up though."
Fox gave her a wink, walked out the front door, and sat down on a bench next to the entrance. He flipped open his PDA and made a hailed Peppy from it.
"What's wrong Fox, lost again?" Peppy said when his face appeared on the PDA
"No we made it ok, call Falco and Slippy over so they can hear too," Fox replied. It wasn't long before Slippy and Falco's faces popped up next to Peppy.
"What do you want Fox? You're tearing me away from my work," Slippy whined.
"You mean your dads work right?" Slippy's eyes narrowed, "Alright listen up I want to know all of your opinions on this. As you all know, there are four members of the StarFox team and only Falco and I are active pilots."
"What's your point? Falco asked seeming uninterested.
"I'm getting to that, I don't think we'll work well with only two pilots, I would like to have at least three and I want to know what you would think if I asked Krystal to join.
There was a silence between everyone; they looked at each others facial responses. "Sure I'm all for it!" Slippy said.
"Well we'll have to train her and all, but what the hell I don't see a problem with it," Peppy said nodding his head, Falco still remained silent.
"What do think Falco?" Peppy said over to Falco
"You just really like her don't you, I'd rather recruit someone who has some background in flight combat," Falco said
"Well yes that is part of the reason, and she must have some background in flight since she was able to pilot that Sharp Claw transport with out crashing, but I don't doubt she's had any combat experience though," Fox replied.
"Fine then do what you want, you ARE the captain," Falco said before walking off.
"Peppy tell Falco I said thanks; and we're going to need a uniform in her size, a pair of wings, a gun, and tell Trent we'll need that Arwing in six days."
"I think I see where you are going with this, birthday present I assume?
"Exactly!"
"I hope she says yes."
"I hope so too," Fox said closing his PDA and walking back into the building. He saw Krystal still sitting at the same computer where he had left her, but this time she had a disappointed look on her face.
"You don't look very happy with what you found," Fox said putting his hand on her shoulder.
"What I found was absolutely nothing except this," she said holding up one data disc.
"Let me take a look at it," she handed it to him and he stuck it into the drive, basic information about the planet came up. It's climate, the organisms that had lived their which was only Krystal's race. After that the records just stop, almost as if the planet ceased to exist, and its original location was nowhere to be found. Krystal removed the disc and shoved it into one of the pockets on her black vest as she and Fox were walking out of the building.
"I'm sorry you couldn't find anything today; it just takes time, something will happen and you'll find it," Fox said putting a reassuring arm around her. Krystal still said nothing and looked at the ground. "Hey," he staid stopping for a moment and picking her head up to look her in the eyes, "Just never lose faith."
She smiled then hugged him tightly, "As long as you're here to help me, I won't"
"How cute, he found himself a girlfriend," it thought quickly making its way, yet blending in with the bustling crowd on the street walk. The figure was dressed in black attire; it was a long trench coat that reached down to the back of its legs. The coat was also included a hood which it had pulled over its head concealing its identity. "Alright, keep cool almost there," Fox and Krystal were walking side by side; making them both an easy target; "Wait for it, wait for it, aaaannnd NOW!" It bumped hard between Fox and Krystal, causing Fox to lose his balance, and knock Krystal over.
"Hey watch where your going you prick!" Fox called out to whoever knocked Krystal off her feet and helped her up at the same time. "Why do you take something like that?"
"I dunno," she said brushing herself off, "it's just a common thing nowadays for people to be so thoughtless." She looked down at her vest and felt inside the pocket; her fingers came out the bottom of a hole about four inches wide. "Hey, my disc; that bastard stole it!" Fox whipped around quickly hoping to catch the thief but to no avail, the mysterious pickpocket was nowhere to be seen.
CHAPTER 4 Work to Be Done
It was three days later; Fox had taken Krystal out to a couple of clothing stores and let her pick out some new threads. She seemed to like clothes that resembled the uniforms worn by the Starfox team. She wasn't a fan of the 'in thing' attire; it was possible that she wanted to look like part of the group, to blend in. Black T-shirts, vests, some short shorts, and khakis were what she had chosen and she really did look good in it.
They were prepared to take the Great Fox to Slippy's father's shop. Fox forgot a lot about Slippy's father, his name was Trent according to his memory; it's been a long time since the last time he's seen him. Trent's shop was located on the outskirts of the Middle district, it didn't look like the kind of place for Class A repairs but looks can be deceiving. For a huge machine shop with several hangers of different sizes the place looked rather run down, Trent depended on his reputation of good service more than the pretty face he could put on his business. The Great Fox lifted off from where it was docked at the HQ Cornerian Army and maneuvered into one of the largest machine shops. The hanger was bustling with technicians and other mechanics; when it was in the middle of the shop four large machines clipped large circular bolts about five meters in diameter onto the front, back, and all four sides of the ship. Six electrodes looking a little like giant forks shot out electric beams which immediately immobilized the ship. ROB shut down all systems on the Great Fox which would allow the technicians and mechanics to get to work as soon as possible.
Everyone including ROB this time rode the platform down onto the floor of the hanger, a lot of the employees would give a nod to the team, and several could have been looking at Krystal. Slippy stopped a pit bull and asked him where his father was, the dog told him that he was on his way here now and would be arriving shortly. Just then Trent pulled up on a transport, and smiled when he saw his son, Fox's memory was completely jarred and he immediately remembered everything about him. Trent was very big and very muscular for a toad; he was rugged looking and his hands were stained with grease. He was a lot larger than Slippy that was for sure and his voice was a lot deeper which made it look like he wasn't Slippy's father at all.
"C'mere ya little runt," Trent called to Slippy, who was already running up to him. Slippy threw his arms around his father, "How've you been sport?"
"I've been great dad, how's the shop doing?" he asked.
"We're doing fine, your mother's up in the office so make sure you go and say hi," Trent let his son go racing up the stairs in the back of the hanger to the office.
"So Fox, finally feel it's time to get this flying scrap heap a real makeover," Trent said.
"Yea I've actually been meaning to do some work on her earlier, but I wouldn't have been able to afford anything worth while. Did Slippy contact you on what I would like to have done?"
"Yes he did, I have everything planned out and I have ready anything else you would like to do with her."
"Ok sounds good, I'm leaving you with Slippy he'll be in charge of everything that else that goes down. I would like to have both mine and Falco's Arwings repaired and any possible upgrades installed. Falco wants to know if it would be possible to anything regarding additional or increased fire power on her. Oh yes one more thing," he said quietly so Krystal wasn't able to hear, "I want you to build me another Arwing, since I'm planning on making recruitment."
Trent raised his eyebrows, "Damn boy Slippy never mentioned any of this! Ok I'll do all this for you because I'm a nice guy, and you're lucky I grew up with your father. Just one thing, weapons I don't touch you'll have to talk to one of my technicians who has some background in armaments and military hardware." A raccoon wearing some dark orange shooting glasses was walked by the staircase. "Hey Scott get over here a minute!" Trent called out to him; he looked over to Trent then casually walked over to him and the group. "This is the guy I was telling you about he'll handle your any of your laser or cannon upgrades you need.
Fox shook hands with Scott before yelling to Falco. "Hey Falco get over here a minute!" Falco was slow to respond; he didn't like being treated as errand boy or pet even though he wasn't. "You wanted guns right? Well here's the guy to talk to, go and flirt." Falco also shook hands with the weapons expert, and walked over to the front of the ship describing what he would like to see done."
"Who is this by the way?" Trent said looking at Krystal who was standing behind Fox unlike Peppy who was off putting around somewhere probably picking up thing and looking at things he shouldn't.
"This is Krystal she is a very good friend of mine," Fox said introducing her.
Trent pulled a rag out of his back pocket and wiped off his hands which were stilled covered in grease. "How do you do?" Krystal said laughing inside to herself.
"Yea I know what you're thinking; how can I possibly be Slippy's father?" Fox snickered to himself; Trent said the same thing to every new person he met. "I'm a hell of a lot bigger than he is and I definitely sound quite different than he does. Pretty sure that he got all of his physical features from his mother, and his mechanical talents from me. But his voice, that's a story; he must have been around five or six when it happened. The boy was always very mischievous, much like Fox at that age, mischievous, but not to smart; well he found some new engine coolant on my desk, and he kind of.drank it." At this point Fox couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter, Krystal looked over her shoulder at him absolutely baffled; Trent started up again. "The surgeons were able to pump all of that junk out of his system before it was able to do any serious damage to him, but there was no saving his vocal chords. They were shot beyond all repairs, it's almost sad; that got rid of all his curiosity for trying new things, especially drinks." Trent let out a sigh and shook his head with a smile on his face; no matter what he was still very proud of the boy he had raised. Krystal still stood there with a look of disbelief on her face.
"Well.I uh. suppose that does explain a lot." She said looking over at Fox who was still snickering at Slippy's young misfortune.
A whiny voice spoke out from behind Trent "Dad! Are you telling that story again? C'mon you embarrass me in front of everyone I know!"
"Bah! Get a sense of humor Slip!" Trent said back to him.
"Slippy I'm leaving you to take care of everything that goes down in here from now on; I've got a promise to keep," Fox said to Slippy before turning to Krystal who was looking at him curiously.
Fox and Krystal said their goodbyes to Trent and the rest of the team before exiting the Great Fox's hanger and borrowing one of Tents hover cars.
"I haven't driven in a long time, it's all been flying around, shooting things, and fighting, hopefully I haven't lost my touch." Fox said to Krystal, as they were walking over to one of the more expensive cars.
"What exactly do you have in mind for keeping your promise?" Krystal asked him.
"Well there is this place Peppy took me once when I was eighteen, it's almost like a museum dedicated to the exploration and science of the universe. I think it called The Celestial Sciences and Planetary Archives. So typically we're going to try to find this planet of yours."
The ride there wasn't bad; Fox could still almost drive as almost as good as he could pilot. Krystal was constantly making comments on how he was having such a hard time finding where to go even though it was his home planet. After about the third time of stopping and asking for directions, Fox had finally found his way to the archives. The place was very old, but it looked new because it was a place of such historical importance. The structure seemed to be made out of a marble like material and was decorated with emblems which stood for different planets in the Lylat system; Venom of coarse was not included.
Celestial Sciences and Planetary Archives was even larger on the inside than it looked on the outside. There were individual computers with holographic projectors, large bookcase looking shelves that reached the fifty foot ceiling, and were piled with data disks containing information. Buzzing around the giant bookcases were hovering robots which would fetch data disks and bring them to the computer at which they were requested. Fox went up to the front desk and paid admission for two. Krystal noticed on the inside of his vest that Fox still carried his gun with him.
"Do you carry that thing with you everywhere you go?"
Fox looked down seeing that his blaster was a little exposed from his vest and quickly zipped it up. "I like to think of it as insuring public protection," he said with a nervous smile. "Here take a look at this," Fox said moving a chair for Krystal to sit down at in front of one of the computers. "Ok what you've got here is basically a giant search engine, try typing in the name of your planet and see what comes up. If you think it's what you need, select it and a drone will bring it here for you."
"Convenient," she said
"It is, isn't it? Here play around for a bit and learn something I gotta step outside for a minute to make a phone call."
"Ok try to get back before I end up screwing something up though."
Fox gave her a wink, walked out the front door, and sat down on a bench next to the entrance. He flipped open his PDA and made a hailed Peppy from it.
"What's wrong Fox, lost again?" Peppy said when his face appeared on the PDA
"No we made it ok, call Falco and Slippy over so they can hear too," Fox replied. It wasn't long before Slippy and Falco's faces popped up next to Peppy.
"What do you want Fox? You're tearing me away from my work," Slippy whined.
"You mean your dads work right?" Slippy's eyes narrowed, "Alright listen up I want to know all of your opinions on this. As you all know, there are four members of the StarFox team and only Falco and I are active pilots."
"What's your point? Falco asked seeming uninterested.
"I'm getting to that, I don't think we'll work well with only two pilots, I would like to have at least three and I want to know what you would think if I asked Krystal to join.
There was a silence between everyone; they looked at each others facial responses. "Sure I'm all for it!" Slippy said.
"Well we'll have to train her and all, but what the hell I don't see a problem with it," Peppy said nodding his head, Falco still remained silent.
"What do think Falco?" Peppy said over to Falco
"You just really like her don't you, I'd rather recruit someone who has some background in flight combat," Falco said
"Well yes that is part of the reason, and she must have some background in flight since she was able to pilot that Sharp Claw transport with out crashing, but I don't doubt she's had any combat experience though," Fox replied.
"Fine then do what you want, you ARE the captain," Falco said before walking off.
"Peppy tell Falco I said thanks; and we're going to need a uniform in her size, a pair of wings, a gun, and tell Trent we'll need that Arwing in six days."
"I think I see where you are going with this, birthday present I assume?
"Exactly!"
"I hope she says yes."
"I hope so too," Fox said closing his PDA and walking back into the building. He saw Krystal still sitting at the same computer where he had left her, but this time she had a disappointed look on her face.
"You don't look very happy with what you found," Fox said putting his hand on her shoulder.
"What I found was absolutely nothing except this," she said holding up one data disc.
"Let me take a look at it," she handed it to him and he stuck it into the drive, basic information about the planet came up. It's climate, the organisms that had lived their which was only Krystal's race. After that the records just stop, almost as if the planet ceased to exist, and its original location was nowhere to be found. Krystal removed the disc and shoved it into one of the pockets on her black vest as she and Fox were walking out of the building.
"I'm sorry you couldn't find anything today; it just takes time, something will happen and you'll find it," Fox said putting a reassuring arm around her. Krystal still said nothing and looked at the ground. "Hey," he staid stopping for a moment and picking her head up to look her in the eyes, "Just never lose faith."
She smiled then hugged him tightly, "As long as you're here to help me, I won't"
"How cute, he found himself a girlfriend," it thought quickly making its way, yet blending in with the bustling crowd on the street walk. The figure was dressed in black attire; it was a long trench coat that reached down to the back of its legs. The coat was also included a hood which it had pulled over its head concealing its identity. "Alright, keep cool almost there," Fox and Krystal were walking side by side; making them both an easy target; "Wait for it, wait for it, aaaannnd NOW!" It bumped hard between Fox and Krystal, causing Fox to lose his balance, and knock Krystal over.
"Hey watch where your going you prick!" Fox called out to whoever knocked Krystal off her feet and helped her up at the same time. "Why do you take something like that?"
"I dunno," she said brushing herself off, "it's just a common thing nowadays for people to be so thoughtless." She looked down at her vest and felt inside the pocket; her fingers came out the bottom of a hole about four inches wide. "Hey, my disc; that bastard stole it!" Fox whipped around quickly hoping to catch the thief but to no avail, the mysterious pickpocket was nowhere to be seen.