Chapter Thirteen: "Division Three"
Falco found that he was extremely grateful for the ten days' worth of silence throughout the galaxy that followed the destruction of the second bio-weapon. His three teammates had helped him celebrate his heroic efforts by letting him sleep as much as he wanted. In the end he had escaped Solar's heat zone with only a minor concussion and a few stitches from his close encounter with the seatbelt latch, and if anything he found the fact that he had received greater injury from a safety mechanism rather than a tool of mass destruction overly amusing.
He had, however, received quite a shock when Celestra re-appeared on the fifth day covered in bruises, scrapes, and surgical tape. The amazement of the entire mercenary squad only multiplied when she told them that Anilora and Bill had been just as injured on Fortuna, and their minds were blown when she finished by announcing that Reivin and Wolf had once more slipped through their hands. On the positive side, though, all three of them had survived the encounter--Celestra and Anilora's wounds had been nicely dressed and Bill's knee would be able to support his weight in an additional couple of days.
The Great Fox docked at a minor spaceport on an Aquas moon called Kairo with the end of the eighth day to restock their food supply and other such goods. As the nebula rose on the tenth day they were back in space again, hovering between Aquas and the seventh planet in the system, Zoness. Bill contacted them later that afternoon with a report that Anilora and his fleet had won a rather large skirmish just outside of Fortunan airspace, driving the primary Venomian force all the way back to Sector X combat zone, Zoness, and Macbeth. At this news Celestra became visibly more reserved and was found brooding all through the night.
Falco knew better than to go to her at that time; he knew perfectly well how the subject of her home planet and the memory of the massacre she so narrowly escaped in her childhood haunted her. Hers was a past that only she could sublimate; the demons she harbored within were ones only she could overcome.
But he visited her regularly in the deep darkness of night when he was certain she was asleep, if only to be certain that she was alright, and he grew to pity the expression of torment on her face.
~~*~~
Slippy didn't sleep well that night, and naturally he was the first of the mercenaries to enter the control room with ROB. In another two hours he had managed to coast them further in the direction of Zoness on three mugs of coffee, assuming that General Pepper would order them in the direction of either Zoness or Macbeth. He was subconsciously running diagnostics on the five Arwings when a distress signal accompanied by a priority one transmission hit him all at once. The signal was emanating from nearby Zoness; Slippy connected to the transmission at once.
"This is Slippy Toad of the mercenary unit--"
"--Star Fox, yeah, yeah, that's great, hon," came a low, husky female voice impatiently. "Listen, I wouldn't come to you guys if my situation wasn't urgent, but I saw your cute little cruiser on the radar--"
Slippy choked on a mouthful of coffee and ended up dribbling a bit down his front. "Katt?" he gasped out. "Katt Monroe?!"
Katt crossed her arms across her shapely chest and smiled through her mane of pearly-white hair, sapphire eyes sparkling with mischief. The eighteen-year-old feline had been Falco's steady love interest for the past two years or so, but about eight months previous she had taken off in a rage for some unknown reason. Katt's pale pink fur helped her stand out quite more than was needed, for even without such a beacon she was known for being seductive, sly, and undeniably beautiful. "In the flesh, sugar. Been quite awhile, hasn't it?"
The youngest mercenary found he suddenly had lockjaw.
"Cat got your tongue, Slippy?" she taunted with a laugh that sounded very much like a soft purr.
Slippy shook himself and mumbled something incomprehensible as he switched on the all-ship intercom. "Everybody, er--that is to say--er, I mean . . . get up. And, er . . . briefing room . . . now." Without really knowing he was doing so, he re-aligned the ship, moving it into a glide in the direction of Zoness. During this time Katt chuckled to herself and studied her well-manicured nails with a meticulous interest. "I'll just wait for you to get your little friends up and decent, shall I?" she offered softly.
With a brusque nod, Slippy turned and exited, leaving the transmission to hold until their congregation was together.
Only ten minutes later he had successfully gathered the well-rested crew in the briefing room, grouped them more-or-less in front of the visual screen, and rewarded them with a pot of black coffee for their presence. By that time another transmission had filtered in to Slippy from General Pepper's cruiser Vortex Four.
"I'll warn you guys now," the toad began, swiveling his baseball cap backwards as he surveyed them from the helm. "This may come as rather a shock." Placing Pepper's call under temporary wait, Slippy re-located the Zoness transmission and, quite suddenly, the mercenaries and Celestra found themselves staring into the smug face of Katt Monroe.
The reaction was instantaneous; Fox gave a great snort into his coffee mug and ducked under the round wooded table to hide his laughter, Peppy's nose twitched uncontrollably and his eyes narrowed, but Falco toppled right out of his chair and onto the floor, sputtering, a faint red tinge spreading across his beak. The avian's mug clattered to the floor, drenching the carpet, and ROB moved to clear away the mess, having been told by Slippy to expect something of this nature to occur.
Katt grinned wickedly and ran a hand through her shimmering hair as the mercenaries fought to re-orient themselves. "A pleasure as always, boys. It really has been too long."
Falco smoothly slid back into his chair and kicked his feet up on the table, leaning the chair back onto its hind legs and fighting to conceal his swiftly deepening blush. "Hey, Katt, great to see you! You look as gorgeous as ever."
From her familiar seat upon the windowsill, Celestra scowled deeply and shifted onto her feet. She hated admitting it to herself, but she could no longer deny her attraction to Falco and rather felt she had some claim to him. Crossing her arms and clearing her throat loudly, Celestra asked, "Excuse me; I don't mean to sound rude, but who the hell are you?"
Everyone in the room seemed to remember she was there at the time; as one the mercenaries and Katt glanced her way. Celestra set one foot to tapping loudly, boots responding to her annoyance, and with the specter of murky grey and green Zoness lurking out the window behind her, her silhouette seemed much more ominous than they could ever recall seeing it.
The feline blinked once but recovered her sugary tone in the span of three heartbeats. "I'm Katt Monroe, an affiliate of Division Three of Arspace Technology, an operating base of Zoness." Then, to Fox, she added, "When did you pick up a female mercenary? That's just adorable!"
Fox was spared the inevitably embarrassing answer as Celestra piped in, "I'm no female mercenary; I'm Celestra Marquette, Pepper's number one assassin. And I'll also be much obliged if you can see fit never to refer to me as 'adorable' again."
Katt's eyebrows lifted delicately, accenting her luminous sapphire eyes. "I see! Well, Miss Marquette, I can say with all honesty that, being an employee of Arspace since the age of fifteen, I have never heard of you."
Celestra studied the woman watching her smugly from the G-Diffuser screen with mounting dislike. The seemingly casual answer was actually something of a challenge, one that the clever assassin was only too eager to accept. "Oh, is that all? I've been an assassin in Lylat since the age of thirteen. And, I apologize, but 'Miss'? Dear, we're not in kindergarten anymore, let's try to act a bit closer to our age."
An expression of disgust found its way through Katt's sweet facade, as though she had just swallowed a great gulp of sour milk. Meanwhile the Star Fox members were frequently glancing back and forth between the two as though witnessing a very exciting, fast-paced tennis match. The signal from Pepper's starship bleeped impatiently again, causing Slippy to flinch in alarm. "Er, ladies, let's wrap this up, shall we? Pepper says he hasn't got much time, and his information's urgent." Before any more arguments could break out he connected to the Vortex Four communications, and General Pepper looked around at them all, smiling jovially.
"I do hope you're all rested?" he began conversationally, and Fox nodded his assent. "Very good. I've just received intelligence that the entire third division of Arspace Technology has een usurped by one of the several Venomian squadrons that Captain Anilora's men drove back from Fortuna a day or so ago. Thankfully one of our ambassadors was on assignment to Aquas when this occured, and she should be meeting with us shortly to explain the situation--"
"Already here, General," Katt broke in smoothly, clapping her hands together in a businesslike manner. "Right, boys, here's the breakdown--three days ago I departed Zoness under the General's orders to aid in the construction of our newest weapons outpost on a secluded island in Aquas' western hemisphere. Yesterday one of Captain Anilora's top lieutenants informed me that the primary Venomian attack force had been driven back to the three planets north of Solar, and strongly suggested that I return to help defend my planet."
"Looks like that went well for you," Celestra murmured to herself, and Katt glared at her poisonously before continuing.
"Obviously the Venomians pressed in too quickly for retaliation on my part, but I have been detailing weak points in their defense around the complex." A small blueprint grid of the Arspace building criss-crossed the screen in the corner of the room, and they focused their attention on it. "I could reclaim the complex by myself if it weren't for the supply depot and enemy tankers; they're within half a mile and would capture me before I could complete the mission."
Peppy leaned forward and refilled his coffee mug. "Do you have an estimate of their numbers?"
"Can't be more that one hundred between both locations," Katt assured him with a smile. "Nothing you boys can't handle."
"What if we try our hacking gig again?" Slippy suggested to Celestra. "If we can put Metgiacon through the floor, we're more than a match for some supply depot."
But Celestra was shaking her head before he had even finished speaking. "Everyone in the galaxy has heard of our initial strike by now; Andross will have smarter guys on our tails this time around, and we can't risk Great Fox getting hacked."
"So we use the direct approach," Fox mused to them, leaning forward and linking his fingers together. "We hold up Division Three until they surrender it, then we drive them back."
"And if they stand and fight?" Peppy asked him.
Fox seized the coffee pot and refilled his mug, letting the steam waft up into his face. "Then we take them all out."
Falco was still goggling avidly at Katt, who made a rough purring sound deep in her throat and winked at him. Celestra, now more than a little annoyed, whisked out a switchblade and sent it flying in his direction, where it thudded and wobbled ominously for several seconds embedded in the table millimeters from the hand clutching his new mug. Katt scowled dangerously at the female assassin; Falco, however, seemed to remember than she was there yet again and offered her an apologetic gaze.
General Pepper delicately cleared his throat. At that time, his G-Diffuser started buzzing. "Excuse me, I have another call . . . " The next thing they knew, another face had joined Pepper's and Katt's on the screen--that of Captain Anilora. The hand that Wolf's teeth had mangled now bore only the scars of the injury, and the battle fire burned more intensely than they had ever seen it.
"Do forgive the interruption," he began, and none of them missed the eagerness in his voice. "General, with your permission, Bill and I would like to lead the fleet into battle at Sector X combat zone." As he finished his eyes shot to Celestra, sitting on the windowsill at the back of the room, and they grinned excitedly at each other.
Pepper shuffled with a few papers in front of him. "The situation if you please, Gilraen."
Yet another detailed map popped up on the coordinate screen above the mainframe; various blips and space structures were labeled beside the outline of the Arspace compound. "As you can see, one of the rogue Venomian squadrons was overlooked as we departed Katina three days ago. They have gathered on the outermost rim and are barring our shortest route to Titania." The southernmost sectors of the combat zone magnified, and Anilora continued. "Avoiding the impending fight is possible, but would cost us at least another twelve hours."
General Pepper carefully perused the grid, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "What do you believe to be the best course?"
Instead of answering the question outright, Anilora merely said, "In this stage of the war, can we afford to give Andross half a day?" Again he glanced back to Celestra, and this time she smiled more broadly and nodded her approval. Falco happened to glance up at the same time, and a finger of jealousy licked his insides.
A slight pause followed, then Pepper said, "A valid point as always, Gilraen. Follow your good judgment--get in touch with me as soon as you may."
"I will," Anilora promised, and then he turned his attention upon Celestra one last time. "Luck to you as always in your endeavors, Celestra. I should like to contact you when my fleet has broken through to Titania, if I may."
"Always an honor, Gilraen," she responded honestly, and with a bow and a grin of purest pride, Anilora departed.
"My army is laying in wait on western Fortuna," Pepper exclaimed. "I trust the six of you together will have little difficulty in reclaiming Division Three?"
"Count on it," Fox assured; behind him, Celestra nodded detirminedly. The general saluted them all and also left.
"Well," Katt began again, stretching languidly. "I'll send out my current location and wait for you boys to join me, shall I?" Brushing a stray strand of hair out of her lazy, luminous eyes, Katt gathered her gear and made to leave, turning back only to say, "Can't wait to see you, angel." Then the screen went blank.
An explosion of laughter rocked Falco from all sides, and he collapsed back onto the carpet, beak now a livid shade of scarlet. "I'd forgotten she used to call you that!" Slippy shrieked.
"Angel!" Fox taunted, and the pair dissolved into giggles.
A door slammed hard behind them, without a word, Celestra had gone.
~~*~~
When Great Fox had at last come into orbit around Zoness, the mercenaries met in the docking bay, preparing to launch. To their dismay Celestra was no present, and of course Falco was unanimously nominated to locate her. She was in her room, and when he entered to speak with her he was immediately sorry he had.
"Er . . . Celest?" Falco began timidly, poking his head into the room. "Our departure time was ten minutes ago."
The female assassin was laying on her back on the bedspread covering the twin mattress, dressed in her flight gear and combat boots, but her utility belt lay forgotten on the floor beside her knapsack. She did not look up when he spoke, but continued to study her fingernails with keen interest. "Then you should have departed ten minutes ago."
Against his better judgment the avian slipped into the room and quietly closed the door behind him. "We were waiting for you."
"You're wasting your time."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm not going."
Falco hesitated for a few seconds before asking, "Why not?"
Celestra was no longer feigning interest in her nails now; quite the contrary she was glowering at Falco and her fists were clenched. "I refuse to be seen fighting alongside that uppity prima-donna, nearly as much as I refuse to witness your relentless drooling over her throughout the mission. Therefore, I am not going."
Falco sat on the edge of the bed and said softly, "Katt and I have not been together in a long time. I'd have thought you'd have realized by now that I like you." As he finished he settled one hand upon hers; in the blink of an eye she had pulled away and leapt to her feet. "Come on, Celest, she was hitting on me in front of everyone! How was I supposed to act?"
"Like you cared about me and had forgotten about her!" Celestra said, voice rising as she rounded on him in barely contained fury.
Now Falco sprang to his feet, anger consuming him. "You know I care about you--what, do you need me to sing it for you?"
"No, Falco, in fact, I'm at least ten times more secure than you are!" She was shouting now, and her eyes seemed electric in her mounting rage. "At least I'm mature enough to be faithful in this relationship!"
"Oh, so now you're innocent?!" cried the avian. "Excuse me--who was snogging Captain Anilora, like, fifteen minutes ago?"
"DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT!!!"
A ringing silence fell, and Falco felt a wash of shame as Celestra stood there, panting and literally shaking with fury. It was a line he had not meant to cross, but in the heat of the moment Falco had let all of his hatred explode. He nearly trembled when she spoke again, for her voice was quiet, icy, and venomous, a promise of vengeance.
"Gilraen Anilora is the most valiant, courageous man I have ever known," she whispered, and a look of purest nostalgia crossed her face then. "And he is twice the man you could ever hope to be."
Falco sat down heavily, insides now resembling cold, molten lead. "You . . . you can't mean that."
Celestra clasped the utility belt around her slender waist and set her hands firmly on her hips, smirking in defiance. "Oh, I'm pretty sure that I do. And you can't look me in the eye and tell me that I have no reason to say it."
The avian opened his beak to speak, but no sound came out. Celestra's smirk widened into a knowing, mocking smile, and she left.
~~*~~
The five of them converged within an open hangar, standing resolutely side-by-side and gazing out at the toxic remnants of the once-proud seventh planet, Zoness. It was a bleak, desolate place; like Aquas, there was more ocean than land, but what had once been clear, pure water was now little more than a sluggish, sickly metallic green jelly that bubbled and glooped with a myriad of unknown and undoubtedly deadly toxins. Very few areas of land dotted the surface, great chunks of a pale rock no more than three or four miles in area at the largest. Strange birds with spindly claws and leathery wings soared on the thermals carried up from the poisonous fumes, and every so often a sort of mutant admura broke the surface, snapping at the birds, and dove down below again.
"I've only passed through here twice before," Fox began quietly, transfixed as he stared down at the churning gelatin. "That was about two years ago."
"I remember," Falco offered. "We were partners in the Adamant Confrontation and passed on our way to Macbeth. The conditions have worsened since then."
Celestra sighed and hugged herself. "Nuclear waste from Area 6 Defense Station and Bolse Defense Outpost has been dumped here for years. Bill and I spent half a year here participating in negotiations with the citizens to gain support on the construction of Division Three. While we were here we witnessed the complete planetary meltdown. I was fifteen."
"Katt's Arwing is emitting a private signal for us," Slippy cut in, monitoring the blips on a handheld computer tracking system. "We're within range of sight, I think; yes, look, just there." Pointing at one of the more insignificant islands he brought to their attention a miniscule glimmer that could only be a Zonessian Arwing.
"Let's rock and roll," said Fox, and they boarded their spacecraft and descended slowly to meet with Katt.
"Glad you could make it," she greeted them when they had finally landed and joined her. She was wearing the official uniform of Arspace Technology, but she had artistically ripped and torn it so that it framed her womanly curves suggestively; Celestra snorted and elbowed Falco in the ribs when she caught him glancing sideways at the feline. "Have we got a plan?"
"I'm thinking hit-and-run," Fox explained, cramming his hands nervously into the pockets of his flight jacket. "We can split into two teams of three; one group can help get Arspace Division Three back, and the other can destroy the supply depot so their exports won't make it to the army supply base on Macbeth."
"Demolition crew," Celestra muttered, and she, Slippy, and Peppy shared a snicker.
"Right, I'll split us up, and we can get started . . . Slippy, Falco, and Katt, you guys save Arspace--"
"What's the matter, Fox?" Celestra asked loudly. "Are you more scared of her than you are of me? If so, your fears are clearly misdirected."
"I'm cuter and your little friends don't want to get me angry," Katt teased, smiling up at the much taller avian.
Very surprisingly it was Slippy who first came to the assassin's defense, saying, "I'm one million percent positive that Celestra would tear you apart, Monroe."
"Much obliged, Slippy," Celestra acknowledged, and instead of giving Katt the satisfaction of knowing that she was hurt Celestra slipped a hand into her flight vest, approaching Slippy and extracting something that she placed into his outstretched hand. He studied it and looked up at her questioningly, and in response to his confusion she offered only, "It'll get you inside without incident. Demolition crews don't need things like that." Then she looked over her shoulder at Falco, who was still standing too close to Katt for the assassin's liking. "Do what you want, Lombardi--either way, I still get the more fun job."
"Okay, that's settled," Fox stated, looking very out-of-place. "Let's rendezvous back here when everything's been taken care of."
They made to board their Arwings again when Celestra caught Katt clinging to Falco, deliberately smirking at the assassin. Celestra grinned at the immaturity of it all and whispered under her breath, "I'm above your pointless masquerades, Monroe. You can have him if he means that much to you."
For the first time in several years she allowed herself to think softly of Gilraen Anilora, even going so far as to permit a flare of anxiety to well in her chest for the next time she spoke with him. Falco caught the expression of nostalgia upon her face again as they parted ways, and cast his eyes away in jealousy and regret.
~~*~~
Slippy was still fuming a bit at Katt's behavior when he settled back into his Arwing, readying to sneak into the usurped Arspace compound. The respect he held for Celestra and her work had grown considerably over the past few weeks, particularly after she had dashed headlong into a rescue mission for her best friend, and now he felt strangely as though he must defend her. It wasn't a secret that she and Falco were something of lovers of late, and just witnessing Falco's re-awakened interest in Katt made Slippy angry and frustrated.
The three of them took off in a tight-knit V, Katt leading, and the youngest mercenary had to fight hard to sublimate a massive gagging reflex when he laid eyes upon her Arwing.
It was pink.
Division Three was crawling with Venomians, but the island on which the complex had been built was very large and they had no trouble finding a place to land. A long knife was belted at Katt's hip and she was unholstering a pink laser pistol; Falco was setting the frequency on a long, narrow electron rifle, and the pair of them looked expectantly at Slippy, eager to see the technological mercenary's newest weapon.
From a pocket in his flight jacket Slippy whisked out a miniscule laser gun, no more than four inches in length. Falco sputtered in disbelief and Katt burst into a fit of high-pitched laughter.
"Come on, Slip, get serious! What is that?!"
Slippy shrugged his shoulders and re-pocketed the tiny weapon with a mischievous grin. "I named it the Aggravator." He gave a playful wink and added, "Size isn't everything, you know. Wait until we see some action; you won't have a sarcastic thing to say."
The pair of mercenaries fell into step behind Katt as she crept through the shadows, wending her way stealthily in between piles of debris and the pale rocks that were customary upon Lylat's seventh planet. There's a titanium gate around the back of the complex; it fences in the radioactive testing plant. It's probably a lot less guarded than, say, the main gate, so I think we should just scurry on back and give it a try."
The trio reached the highly-fenced area and crowded around the entrance door, only to find it was bolted and locked tightly from the opposite side. Falco hefted the electron rifle to blast out the incumbersome thing, but Katt's ears twitched in warning and she stepped in front of him.
"Use your head, angel. This door's made of adamantite, the strongest constructive substance known to Lylat." As a demonstration she scratched her well-manicured claws down the side of the door, smiling grimly when she left no marks. "We'd need a high-frequency proton rifle and no electron rifle to make progress on this thing, and even then it would take more time to melt through than we've got."
Falco sighed and ruffled his feathers in agitation. "Alright, okay, you've made your point. Now how do we get in?"
"Allow me." The youngest mercenary picked his way forward between the feline and the avian and rummaged about in yet another pocket of his flight jacket, brandishing a rather unremarkable pewter key about four inches in length. It was strung by a rather fine chain of pale silver, and the only accent that kept it from being perfectly plain was the glittering diamond set into its miniscule handle.
"Is that a key to the compound?" Katt pressed him, curious.
Slippy shook his head, now grinning. "Better: it's a key that unlocks any lock." He worked it gingerly into the offending lock, sensitive ears picking up the sound it made as it magically transformed to best fir the components within. A few moments later the tumblar slid aside; the bolt lifted, and they slipped into the isolated radioactive area. "Celestra lent it to me; she said Captain Anilora gave it to her after we escorted his fleet through Sector Y combat zone."
Falco's beak screwed up in recollection; the avian cursed Anilora and all of his selfless actions, then cursed himself for thinking so negatively. A second later he realized he had just missed most of what Slippy was now suggesting, and proceeded to shake his thoughts back into the matter at hand.
"--Easier if you two could flank me while I make a run for the upper levels, because they'll have us marked if we all bust inside, okay?"
Katt had folded her arms defensively and was glaring up at Falco as though something had just occured that she did not approve of; in spite of himself, Falco answered, "Gotcha, Slippy."
"Thanks, Lombardi," hailed the toad, flinging the chain protectively about his neck and bringing forth the dwarf of a gun Aggravator. "You're the greatest." Then he flattened himself against the nearest wall, motioning for the pair to flank him, and Falco took up his electron rifle and nodded for Slippy to be off.
"And why did you just agree to let Slippy enter the compound alone?!" Katt shrieked in disbelief as soon as their third party had run off.
"Oh, is that what I did?" Falco asked, letting loose a pair of shots to draw attention away from his fellow mercenary as warning sirens rent the air. "Let it go, Katt. Come on, it's Slip! The little guy's more dangerous than an admura in a cage!"
~~*~~
Two flights of stairs later Slippy had crested the landing that undoubtedly led into the heart of Arspace Division Three. Wild laser fire was taking place in the fenced-in compound below now, and the technological mercenary could pick out the loud 'tsew-tsew' sound of Falco's rifle and the subtle 'blip' sounds as Katt's pistol came into action. Confident that the duo could prevent any unwanted company from following his trail, Slippy inserted the mystical key again and gently eased the heavy adamantite door shut behind him.
He was standing in a pitch-dark hallway, breathing heavily as his non-physical body struggled to return to a state of normalcy. Edging forward, both hands clutching his tiny weapon like a secret agent, he crept down the hall, wincing every time his boots clacked against the floor and wishing he had a pair like Celestra's. With every step he felt certain that the Division's usurpers would come swooping down upon the resonating noise, and when he had at last reached the first perpendicular hallway he was quite surprised no one had.
The wristwatch communicator he wore bleeped twice; Slippy shrieked in alarm and punched a few buttons. "What do you guys want?!"
"Lovely to hear from you, too," came Celestra's voice from the device. "Where are Falco and Katt?"
"Outside giving me cover," Slippy whispered back, side-stepping the right-hand corner and glancing the opposite way as he moved forward. "I insisted on coming in alone; it'll get done quicker this way and I got tired of their constant bickering."
The assassin chuckled. "Well, we've got everything under control at, er, what's left of the supply depot--"
"'What's left of it'?" Slippy repeated skeptically.
"Fox and I got a tad bit trigger-happy," Celestra explained delicately. "Anyway, get a move on so we can all head back to Great Fox--the real action is in Sector X combat zone, and that's where Gilraen and Bill are." With that, the signal was terminated.
It was slow going from then on; the silence pressed in upon the young toad like dead weight and the continued lack of presence served to make his sense of hearing extra-sensitive, so that eventually his ears began to play tricks on him. Naturally when he began hearing voices beyond the wall to his immediate right he expected they weren't really there.
"Hello?" he muttered sheepishly.
A hush came down in the room beyond, then someone must have scrambled closer because he heard, "Who's there?"
Excitement flooded into Slippy's chest, for he knew he had just stumbled upon the room full of Arspace hostages. "My name's Slippy Toad, and I'm a mercenary for General Pepper. I'm here to set you guys free--if you can point me in the direction of the door."
"I could tell you where the entrance is, but you'd never be able to locate it from out there," the voice explained. "The Venomians have cryogenically sealed the door from the inside, so there is literally no external entrance."
Slippy didn't feel disappointed for long; quite the contrary he was relieved to be speaking to a group of people who were undoubtedly on his high intelligence scale. Cocking back the Aggravator he asked, "Can you get everyone to clear away from the immediate area without drawing attention? I have a more direct approach I can try." From the interior of the room the muffled sounds of people moving frantically aside could be heard; Slippy turned and backed away from the wall several feet and leveled his miniscule weapon.
It was as though he had thrown a grenade at the wall; the hallway exploded around Slippy and the laser gun and engulfed the air with heavy curtains of smoke. The laser wave that erupted from the end of the barrel did not only sear away a small portion of the offending wall, but blew out an enormous ten foot by ten foot hole through the plaster. Somehow through the amazing kickback Slippy managed to keep his feet, and gradually the clouds of thick grey smoke evaporated, exposing the room beyond.
And perhaps ten armed Venomian soldiers.
Slippy couldn't risk firing again and harming the Division Three hostages, but without the use of the Aggravator he was completely without weapon. Decision made, the toad pocketed the gun and fled, hoping the Venomians were dense enough to follow so the Zonessians had the opportunity to escape. As he glanced back over his shoulder frantically and discerned that they had taken the bait, a wave of relief washed over his insides and he turned a corner, running back the way he had come.
Flinging the adamantite door back and straining the hinges, Slippy clasped the railing dependently as he heaved for breath. He could flee back down the stairs to Falco and Katt, but the sounds of battle still rose up from the compound below and it was possible the three of them would be overrun. He kicked the door shut, letting the deadbolt catch, and tested the strength of the powerful handle. He was confident the thing could hold his weight, at least for a short time, so he fumbled with the chain at his neck and inserted the mystical key into the lock again. Listening with all his might for the pursuing enemies he positioned himself behind the door, and at the last moment tugged it open, snagging the key up into his hand.
The Venomians barreled through the open door; unable to so quickly reverse their forward momentum they all smashed into the guardrail and careened over, tumbling down two flights of stairs to crash into the concrete floor below. Slippy just had time to clench the chain firmly between his teeth before he, too, flew headlong over the railing, but his hands clutched the door handle with all his strength. His chest slammed hard into the protective grate encompassing the landing; a groan escaped his clenched teeth, but the handle held fast under his weight.
For several awful seconds he hung there, sweating and straining, before he realized the near impossibility of hauling himself back over the grate to safety. Celestra, Fox, and Falco could accomplish it in a pinch, but the technological mercenary had little more chance of doing so than flying without an Arwing. Flexing the muscles in his arms Slippy attempted the foolish action; he succeeded in lifting himself perhaps six inches before his strength gave, leaving him helplessly limp far from the ground.
A pair of rough hands grasped at his wrists, and Slippy glanced up in fear. A young coyote stood there, smiling down at him, a troupe of Division Three technicians flanking him. Together they pulled him up and over the ledge, and he sat there panting, key clutched tightly in one fist again.
"Nice firepower," the coyote acknowledged happily, dusting his uniform with a meticulous eye and gazing down at Slippy admiringly. "Is that our new model Cricket X-4?"
"No," Slippy replied slightly breathlessly, accepting the coyote's hand up and securing the chain again about his neck. "It's my own design, though I must admit the idea came from seeing one of those a few weeks ago. I named it the Aggravator."
"Carbon-based with argon filaments?" the coyote asked him, motioning for them all to start down the stairs in the direction of the compound.
"Sure is, but I couldn't find a second filament to neutralize the smoke output. Other than that, it's flawless." As an afterthought Slippy added, "By the way, Katt Monroe and a colleague of mine are securing the perimeter."
They came to the bottom of the first flight, pausing only to ensure their safety before moving on. "I'm glad she's alright; when she didn't turn up we feared they'd killed her." Then the coyote grinned. "We find if you add traces of neon, the smoke lessens considerably."
Slippy grinned back. "I hadn't even though to try that!" Extending his hand he added, "I'm Slippy Toad. Glad to know you're all okay."
"Keil Ford," replied the coyote, accepting the hand and shaking it merrily. "Chief engineer of Arspace Division Three. The Venomians spoke of Star Fox coming; we hadn't dared believe it was true."
Before Slippy could dismiss those fears a shrill whistle rent the dank air; the Arspace members and Slippy flattened themselves quickly against the stairwell banister, and Keil's eyes perused the sky anxiously.
"What's that?" asked the mercenary quietly.
"The air-raid sirens," Keil murmured back. "Looks like you brought more company than you realized."
Slippy sprinted the last stairs and into the compound with Keil hot on his heels; someone shoved the pair of them roughly against the fence and lasers pounded down around them. Falco melted out of the shadows and pointed upward as Rage of Macbeth, SpiritNova, and Nebulafire assaulted the sea of swarming Venomians.
"Oh," Keil offered sheepishly.
~~*~~
They all stood together outside the enormous complex, the four mercenaries, the two technicians, and the assassin, taking in the scorched ground and little brush fires from the skirmish. Division Three had seen better days, they unanimously decided, but the day was won and they had lost no lives.
"We will rebuild," Keil assured them, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "When the Venomians are driven back and Andross has nowhere in the galaxy to run, we will all rise and take back what's ours."
Celestra smiled softly at Falco and wrapped an arm about his waist; Katt scowled venomously at the avian, but he only smiled down at the assassin and slung a wing about her shoulders. Fox and Peppy whistled at their companions, voicing their urge to depart. Slippy turned to join them aboard the Great Fox, but Keil stopped him short and pushed a small vial into the mercenary's hand.
"What's this?" Slippy questioned him.
Keil smiled, gratitude gleaming in his eyes. "Neon filament for your little wonder of a gun. The next time I see you use that in action, I expect a bit less smoke."
Slippy clenched the vial in his fist and clapped the coyote on the shoulder. "Thank you. Take care of yourself, Keil--I'll be looking for you when we've won the war."
"And I you."
The cruiser departed Zoness and was back in orbit an hour or so later. It was around the same time that Captain Anilora, Bill, and the Katinan fleet won at Sector X combat zone and drove the primary force all the way back to Titania, the outermost reaches of the realm of Andross.
Falco found that he was extremely grateful for the ten days' worth of silence throughout the galaxy that followed the destruction of the second bio-weapon. His three teammates had helped him celebrate his heroic efforts by letting him sleep as much as he wanted. In the end he had escaped Solar's heat zone with only a minor concussion and a few stitches from his close encounter with the seatbelt latch, and if anything he found the fact that he had received greater injury from a safety mechanism rather than a tool of mass destruction overly amusing.
He had, however, received quite a shock when Celestra re-appeared on the fifth day covered in bruises, scrapes, and surgical tape. The amazement of the entire mercenary squad only multiplied when she told them that Anilora and Bill had been just as injured on Fortuna, and their minds were blown when she finished by announcing that Reivin and Wolf had once more slipped through their hands. On the positive side, though, all three of them had survived the encounter--Celestra and Anilora's wounds had been nicely dressed and Bill's knee would be able to support his weight in an additional couple of days.
The Great Fox docked at a minor spaceport on an Aquas moon called Kairo with the end of the eighth day to restock their food supply and other such goods. As the nebula rose on the tenth day they were back in space again, hovering between Aquas and the seventh planet in the system, Zoness. Bill contacted them later that afternoon with a report that Anilora and his fleet had won a rather large skirmish just outside of Fortunan airspace, driving the primary Venomian force all the way back to Sector X combat zone, Zoness, and Macbeth. At this news Celestra became visibly more reserved and was found brooding all through the night.
Falco knew better than to go to her at that time; he knew perfectly well how the subject of her home planet and the memory of the massacre she so narrowly escaped in her childhood haunted her. Hers was a past that only she could sublimate; the demons she harbored within were ones only she could overcome.
But he visited her regularly in the deep darkness of night when he was certain she was asleep, if only to be certain that she was alright, and he grew to pity the expression of torment on her face.
~~*~~
Slippy didn't sleep well that night, and naturally he was the first of the mercenaries to enter the control room with ROB. In another two hours he had managed to coast them further in the direction of Zoness on three mugs of coffee, assuming that General Pepper would order them in the direction of either Zoness or Macbeth. He was subconsciously running diagnostics on the five Arwings when a distress signal accompanied by a priority one transmission hit him all at once. The signal was emanating from nearby Zoness; Slippy connected to the transmission at once.
"This is Slippy Toad of the mercenary unit--"
"--Star Fox, yeah, yeah, that's great, hon," came a low, husky female voice impatiently. "Listen, I wouldn't come to you guys if my situation wasn't urgent, but I saw your cute little cruiser on the radar--"
Slippy choked on a mouthful of coffee and ended up dribbling a bit down his front. "Katt?" he gasped out. "Katt Monroe?!"
Katt crossed her arms across her shapely chest and smiled through her mane of pearly-white hair, sapphire eyes sparkling with mischief. The eighteen-year-old feline had been Falco's steady love interest for the past two years or so, but about eight months previous she had taken off in a rage for some unknown reason. Katt's pale pink fur helped her stand out quite more than was needed, for even without such a beacon she was known for being seductive, sly, and undeniably beautiful. "In the flesh, sugar. Been quite awhile, hasn't it?"
The youngest mercenary found he suddenly had lockjaw.
"Cat got your tongue, Slippy?" she taunted with a laugh that sounded very much like a soft purr.
Slippy shook himself and mumbled something incomprehensible as he switched on the all-ship intercom. "Everybody, er--that is to say--er, I mean . . . get up. And, er . . . briefing room . . . now." Without really knowing he was doing so, he re-aligned the ship, moving it into a glide in the direction of Zoness. During this time Katt chuckled to herself and studied her well-manicured nails with a meticulous interest. "I'll just wait for you to get your little friends up and decent, shall I?" she offered softly.
With a brusque nod, Slippy turned and exited, leaving the transmission to hold until their congregation was together.
Only ten minutes later he had successfully gathered the well-rested crew in the briefing room, grouped them more-or-less in front of the visual screen, and rewarded them with a pot of black coffee for their presence. By that time another transmission had filtered in to Slippy from General Pepper's cruiser Vortex Four.
"I'll warn you guys now," the toad began, swiveling his baseball cap backwards as he surveyed them from the helm. "This may come as rather a shock." Placing Pepper's call under temporary wait, Slippy re-located the Zoness transmission and, quite suddenly, the mercenaries and Celestra found themselves staring into the smug face of Katt Monroe.
The reaction was instantaneous; Fox gave a great snort into his coffee mug and ducked under the round wooded table to hide his laughter, Peppy's nose twitched uncontrollably and his eyes narrowed, but Falco toppled right out of his chair and onto the floor, sputtering, a faint red tinge spreading across his beak. The avian's mug clattered to the floor, drenching the carpet, and ROB moved to clear away the mess, having been told by Slippy to expect something of this nature to occur.
Katt grinned wickedly and ran a hand through her shimmering hair as the mercenaries fought to re-orient themselves. "A pleasure as always, boys. It really has been too long."
Falco smoothly slid back into his chair and kicked his feet up on the table, leaning the chair back onto its hind legs and fighting to conceal his swiftly deepening blush. "Hey, Katt, great to see you! You look as gorgeous as ever."
From her familiar seat upon the windowsill, Celestra scowled deeply and shifted onto her feet. She hated admitting it to herself, but she could no longer deny her attraction to Falco and rather felt she had some claim to him. Crossing her arms and clearing her throat loudly, Celestra asked, "Excuse me; I don't mean to sound rude, but who the hell are you?"
Everyone in the room seemed to remember she was there at the time; as one the mercenaries and Katt glanced her way. Celestra set one foot to tapping loudly, boots responding to her annoyance, and with the specter of murky grey and green Zoness lurking out the window behind her, her silhouette seemed much more ominous than they could ever recall seeing it.
The feline blinked once but recovered her sugary tone in the span of three heartbeats. "I'm Katt Monroe, an affiliate of Division Three of Arspace Technology, an operating base of Zoness." Then, to Fox, she added, "When did you pick up a female mercenary? That's just adorable!"
Fox was spared the inevitably embarrassing answer as Celestra piped in, "I'm no female mercenary; I'm Celestra Marquette, Pepper's number one assassin. And I'll also be much obliged if you can see fit never to refer to me as 'adorable' again."
Katt's eyebrows lifted delicately, accenting her luminous sapphire eyes. "I see! Well, Miss Marquette, I can say with all honesty that, being an employee of Arspace since the age of fifteen, I have never heard of you."
Celestra studied the woman watching her smugly from the G-Diffuser screen with mounting dislike. The seemingly casual answer was actually something of a challenge, one that the clever assassin was only too eager to accept. "Oh, is that all? I've been an assassin in Lylat since the age of thirteen. And, I apologize, but 'Miss'? Dear, we're not in kindergarten anymore, let's try to act a bit closer to our age."
An expression of disgust found its way through Katt's sweet facade, as though she had just swallowed a great gulp of sour milk. Meanwhile the Star Fox members were frequently glancing back and forth between the two as though witnessing a very exciting, fast-paced tennis match. The signal from Pepper's starship bleeped impatiently again, causing Slippy to flinch in alarm. "Er, ladies, let's wrap this up, shall we? Pepper says he hasn't got much time, and his information's urgent." Before any more arguments could break out he connected to the Vortex Four communications, and General Pepper looked around at them all, smiling jovially.
"I do hope you're all rested?" he began conversationally, and Fox nodded his assent. "Very good. I've just received intelligence that the entire third division of Arspace Technology has een usurped by one of the several Venomian squadrons that Captain Anilora's men drove back from Fortuna a day or so ago. Thankfully one of our ambassadors was on assignment to Aquas when this occured, and she should be meeting with us shortly to explain the situation--"
"Already here, General," Katt broke in smoothly, clapping her hands together in a businesslike manner. "Right, boys, here's the breakdown--three days ago I departed Zoness under the General's orders to aid in the construction of our newest weapons outpost on a secluded island in Aquas' western hemisphere. Yesterday one of Captain Anilora's top lieutenants informed me that the primary Venomian attack force had been driven back to the three planets north of Solar, and strongly suggested that I return to help defend my planet."
"Looks like that went well for you," Celestra murmured to herself, and Katt glared at her poisonously before continuing.
"Obviously the Venomians pressed in too quickly for retaliation on my part, but I have been detailing weak points in their defense around the complex." A small blueprint grid of the Arspace building criss-crossed the screen in the corner of the room, and they focused their attention on it. "I could reclaim the complex by myself if it weren't for the supply depot and enemy tankers; they're within half a mile and would capture me before I could complete the mission."
Peppy leaned forward and refilled his coffee mug. "Do you have an estimate of their numbers?"
"Can't be more that one hundred between both locations," Katt assured him with a smile. "Nothing you boys can't handle."
"What if we try our hacking gig again?" Slippy suggested to Celestra. "If we can put Metgiacon through the floor, we're more than a match for some supply depot."
But Celestra was shaking her head before he had even finished speaking. "Everyone in the galaxy has heard of our initial strike by now; Andross will have smarter guys on our tails this time around, and we can't risk Great Fox getting hacked."
"So we use the direct approach," Fox mused to them, leaning forward and linking his fingers together. "We hold up Division Three until they surrender it, then we drive them back."
"And if they stand and fight?" Peppy asked him.
Fox seized the coffee pot and refilled his mug, letting the steam waft up into his face. "Then we take them all out."
Falco was still goggling avidly at Katt, who made a rough purring sound deep in her throat and winked at him. Celestra, now more than a little annoyed, whisked out a switchblade and sent it flying in his direction, where it thudded and wobbled ominously for several seconds embedded in the table millimeters from the hand clutching his new mug. Katt scowled dangerously at the female assassin; Falco, however, seemed to remember than she was there yet again and offered her an apologetic gaze.
General Pepper delicately cleared his throat. At that time, his G-Diffuser started buzzing. "Excuse me, I have another call . . . " The next thing they knew, another face had joined Pepper's and Katt's on the screen--that of Captain Anilora. The hand that Wolf's teeth had mangled now bore only the scars of the injury, and the battle fire burned more intensely than they had ever seen it.
"Do forgive the interruption," he began, and none of them missed the eagerness in his voice. "General, with your permission, Bill and I would like to lead the fleet into battle at Sector X combat zone." As he finished his eyes shot to Celestra, sitting on the windowsill at the back of the room, and they grinned excitedly at each other.
Pepper shuffled with a few papers in front of him. "The situation if you please, Gilraen."
Yet another detailed map popped up on the coordinate screen above the mainframe; various blips and space structures were labeled beside the outline of the Arspace compound. "As you can see, one of the rogue Venomian squadrons was overlooked as we departed Katina three days ago. They have gathered on the outermost rim and are barring our shortest route to Titania." The southernmost sectors of the combat zone magnified, and Anilora continued. "Avoiding the impending fight is possible, but would cost us at least another twelve hours."
General Pepper carefully perused the grid, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "What do you believe to be the best course?"
Instead of answering the question outright, Anilora merely said, "In this stage of the war, can we afford to give Andross half a day?" Again he glanced back to Celestra, and this time she smiled more broadly and nodded her approval. Falco happened to glance up at the same time, and a finger of jealousy licked his insides.
A slight pause followed, then Pepper said, "A valid point as always, Gilraen. Follow your good judgment--get in touch with me as soon as you may."
"I will," Anilora promised, and then he turned his attention upon Celestra one last time. "Luck to you as always in your endeavors, Celestra. I should like to contact you when my fleet has broken through to Titania, if I may."
"Always an honor, Gilraen," she responded honestly, and with a bow and a grin of purest pride, Anilora departed.
"My army is laying in wait on western Fortuna," Pepper exclaimed. "I trust the six of you together will have little difficulty in reclaiming Division Three?"
"Count on it," Fox assured; behind him, Celestra nodded detirminedly. The general saluted them all and also left.
"Well," Katt began again, stretching languidly. "I'll send out my current location and wait for you boys to join me, shall I?" Brushing a stray strand of hair out of her lazy, luminous eyes, Katt gathered her gear and made to leave, turning back only to say, "Can't wait to see you, angel." Then the screen went blank.
An explosion of laughter rocked Falco from all sides, and he collapsed back onto the carpet, beak now a livid shade of scarlet. "I'd forgotten she used to call you that!" Slippy shrieked.
"Angel!" Fox taunted, and the pair dissolved into giggles.
A door slammed hard behind them, without a word, Celestra had gone.
~~*~~
When Great Fox had at last come into orbit around Zoness, the mercenaries met in the docking bay, preparing to launch. To their dismay Celestra was no present, and of course Falco was unanimously nominated to locate her. She was in her room, and when he entered to speak with her he was immediately sorry he had.
"Er . . . Celest?" Falco began timidly, poking his head into the room. "Our departure time was ten minutes ago."
The female assassin was laying on her back on the bedspread covering the twin mattress, dressed in her flight gear and combat boots, but her utility belt lay forgotten on the floor beside her knapsack. She did not look up when he spoke, but continued to study her fingernails with keen interest. "Then you should have departed ten minutes ago."
Against his better judgment the avian slipped into the room and quietly closed the door behind him. "We were waiting for you."
"You're wasting your time."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm not going."
Falco hesitated for a few seconds before asking, "Why not?"
Celestra was no longer feigning interest in her nails now; quite the contrary she was glowering at Falco and her fists were clenched. "I refuse to be seen fighting alongside that uppity prima-donna, nearly as much as I refuse to witness your relentless drooling over her throughout the mission. Therefore, I am not going."
Falco sat on the edge of the bed and said softly, "Katt and I have not been together in a long time. I'd have thought you'd have realized by now that I like you." As he finished he settled one hand upon hers; in the blink of an eye she had pulled away and leapt to her feet. "Come on, Celest, she was hitting on me in front of everyone! How was I supposed to act?"
"Like you cared about me and had forgotten about her!" Celestra said, voice rising as she rounded on him in barely contained fury.
Now Falco sprang to his feet, anger consuming him. "You know I care about you--what, do you need me to sing it for you?"
"No, Falco, in fact, I'm at least ten times more secure than you are!" She was shouting now, and her eyes seemed electric in her mounting rage. "At least I'm mature enough to be faithful in this relationship!"
"Oh, so now you're innocent?!" cried the avian. "Excuse me--who was snogging Captain Anilora, like, fifteen minutes ago?"
"DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT!!!"
A ringing silence fell, and Falco felt a wash of shame as Celestra stood there, panting and literally shaking with fury. It was a line he had not meant to cross, but in the heat of the moment Falco had let all of his hatred explode. He nearly trembled when she spoke again, for her voice was quiet, icy, and venomous, a promise of vengeance.
"Gilraen Anilora is the most valiant, courageous man I have ever known," she whispered, and a look of purest nostalgia crossed her face then. "And he is twice the man you could ever hope to be."
Falco sat down heavily, insides now resembling cold, molten lead. "You . . . you can't mean that."
Celestra clasped the utility belt around her slender waist and set her hands firmly on her hips, smirking in defiance. "Oh, I'm pretty sure that I do. And you can't look me in the eye and tell me that I have no reason to say it."
The avian opened his beak to speak, but no sound came out. Celestra's smirk widened into a knowing, mocking smile, and she left.
~~*~~
The five of them converged within an open hangar, standing resolutely side-by-side and gazing out at the toxic remnants of the once-proud seventh planet, Zoness. It was a bleak, desolate place; like Aquas, there was more ocean than land, but what had once been clear, pure water was now little more than a sluggish, sickly metallic green jelly that bubbled and glooped with a myriad of unknown and undoubtedly deadly toxins. Very few areas of land dotted the surface, great chunks of a pale rock no more than three or four miles in area at the largest. Strange birds with spindly claws and leathery wings soared on the thermals carried up from the poisonous fumes, and every so often a sort of mutant admura broke the surface, snapping at the birds, and dove down below again.
"I've only passed through here twice before," Fox began quietly, transfixed as he stared down at the churning gelatin. "That was about two years ago."
"I remember," Falco offered. "We were partners in the Adamant Confrontation and passed on our way to Macbeth. The conditions have worsened since then."
Celestra sighed and hugged herself. "Nuclear waste from Area 6 Defense Station and Bolse Defense Outpost has been dumped here for years. Bill and I spent half a year here participating in negotiations with the citizens to gain support on the construction of Division Three. While we were here we witnessed the complete planetary meltdown. I was fifteen."
"Katt's Arwing is emitting a private signal for us," Slippy cut in, monitoring the blips on a handheld computer tracking system. "We're within range of sight, I think; yes, look, just there." Pointing at one of the more insignificant islands he brought to their attention a miniscule glimmer that could only be a Zonessian Arwing.
"Let's rock and roll," said Fox, and they boarded their spacecraft and descended slowly to meet with Katt.
"Glad you could make it," she greeted them when they had finally landed and joined her. She was wearing the official uniform of Arspace Technology, but she had artistically ripped and torn it so that it framed her womanly curves suggestively; Celestra snorted and elbowed Falco in the ribs when she caught him glancing sideways at the feline. "Have we got a plan?"
"I'm thinking hit-and-run," Fox explained, cramming his hands nervously into the pockets of his flight jacket. "We can split into two teams of three; one group can help get Arspace Division Three back, and the other can destroy the supply depot so their exports won't make it to the army supply base on Macbeth."
"Demolition crew," Celestra muttered, and she, Slippy, and Peppy shared a snicker.
"Right, I'll split us up, and we can get started . . . Slippy, Falco, and Katt, you guys save Arspace--"
"What's the matter, Fox?" Celestra asked loudly. "Are you more scared of her than you are of me? If so, your fears are clearly misdirected."
"I'm cuter and your little friends don't want to get me angry," Katt teased, smiling up at the much taller avian.
Very surprisingly it was Slippy who first came to the assassin's defense, saying, "I'm one million percent positive that Celestra would tear you apart, Monroe."
"Much obliged, Slippy," Celestra acknowledged, and instead of giving Katt the satisfaction of knowing that she was hurt Celestra slipped a hand into her flight vest, approaching Slippy and extracting something that she placed into his outstretched hand. He studied it and looked up at her questioningly, and in response to his confusion she offered only, "It'll get you inside without incident. Demolition crews don't need things like that." Then she looked over her shoulder at Falco, who was still standing too close to Katt for the assassin's liking. "Do what you want, Lombardi--either way, I still get the more fun job."
"Okay, that's settled," Fox stated, looking very out-of-place. "Let's rendezvous back here when everything's been taken care of."
They made to board their Arwings again when Celestra caught Katt clinging to Falco, deliberately smirking at the assassin. Celestra grinned at the immaturity of it all and whispered under her breath, "I'm above your pointless masquerades, Monroe. You can have him if he means that much to you."
For the first time in several years she allowed herself to think softly of Gilraen Anilora, even going so far as to permit a flare of anxiety to well in her chest for the next time she spoke with him. Falco caught the expression of nostalgia upon her face again as they parted ways, and cast his eyes away in jealousy and regret.
~~*~~
Slippy was still fuming a bit at Katt's behavior when he settled back into his Arwing, readying to sneak into the usurped Arspace compound. The respect he held for Celestra and her work had grown considerably over the past few weeks, particularly after she had dashed headlong into a rescue mission for her best friend, and now he felt strangely as though he must defend her. It wasn't a secret that she and Falco were something of lovers of late, and just witnessing Falco's re-awakened interest in Katt made Slippy angry and frustrated.
The three of them took off in a tight-knit V, Katt leading, and the youngest mercenary had to fight hard to sublimate a massive gagging reflex when he laid eyes upon her Arwing.
It was pink.
Division Three was crawling with Venomians, but the island on which the complex had been built was very large and they had no trouble finding a place to land. A long knife was belted at Katt's hip and she was unholstering a pink laser pistol; Falco was setting the frequency on a long, narrow electron rifle, and the pair of them looked expectantly at Slippy, eager to see the technological mercenary's newest weapon.
From a pocket in his flight jacket Slippy whisked out a miniscule laser gun, no more than four inches in length. Falco sputtered in disbelief and Katt burst into a fit of high-pitched laughter.
"Come on, Slip, get serious! What is that?!"
Slippy shrugged his shoulders and re-pocketed the tiny weapon with a mischievous grin. "I named it the Aggravator." He gave a playful wink and added, "Size isn't everything, you know. Wait until we see some action; you won't have a sarcastic thing to say."
The pair of mercenaries fell into step behind Katt as she crept through the shadows, wending her way stealthily in between piles of debris and the pale rocks that were customary upon Lylat's seventh planet. There's a titanium gate around the back of the complex; it fences in the radioactive testing plant. It's probably a lot less guarded than, say, the main gate, so I think we should just scurry on back and give it a try."
The trio reached the highly-fenced area and crowded around the entrance door, only to find it was bolted and locked tightly from the opposite side. Falco hefted the electron rifle to blast out the incumbersome thing, but Katt's ears twitched in warning and she stepped in front of him.
"Use your head, angel. This door's made of adamantite, the strongest constructive substance known to Lylat." As a demonstration she scratched her well-manicured claws down the side of the door, smiling grimly when she left no marks. "We'd need a high-frequency proton rifle and no electron rifle to make progress on this thing, and even then it would take more time to melt through than we've got."
Falco sighed and ruffled his feathers in agitation. "Alright, okay, you've made your point. Now how do we get in?"
"Allow me." The youngest mercenary picked his way forward between the feline and the avian and rummaged about in yet another pocket of his flight jacket, brandishing a rather unremarkable pewter key about four inches in length. It was strung by a rather fine chain of pale silver, and the only accent that kept it from being perfectly plain was the glittering diamond set into its miniscule handle.
"Is that a key to the compound?" Katt pressed him, curious.
Slippy shook his head, now grinning. "Better: it's a key that unlocks any lock." He worked it gingerly into the offending lock, sensitive ears picking up the sound it made as it magically transformed to best fir the components within. A few moments later the tumblar slid aside; the bolt lifted, and they slipped into the isolated radioactive area. "Celestra lent it to me; she said Captain Anilora gave it to her after we escorted his fleet through Sector Y combat zone."
Falco's beak screwed up in recollection; the avian cursed Anilora and all of his selfless actions, then cursed himself for thinking so negatively. A second later he realized he had just missed most of what Slippy was now suggesting, and proceeded to shake his thoughts back into the matter at hand.
"--Easier if you two could flank me while I make a run for the upper levels, because they'll have us marked if we all bust inside, okay?"
Katt had folded her arms defensively and was glaring up at Falco as though something had just occured that she did not approve of; in spite of himself, Falco answered, "Gotcha, Slippy."
"Thanks, Lombardi," hailed the toad, flinging the chain protectively about his neck and bringing forth the dwarf of a gun Aggravator. "You're the greatest." Then he flattened himself against the nearest wall, motioning for the pair to flank him, and Falco took up his electron rifle and nodded for Slippy to be off.
"And why did you just agree to let Slippy enter the compound alone?!" Katt shrieked in disbelief as soon as their third party had run off.
"Oh, is that what I did?" Falco asked, letting loose a pair of shots to draw attention away from his fellow mercenary as warning sirens rent the air. "Let it go, Katt. Come on, it's Slip! The little guy's more dangerous than an admura in a cage!"
~~*~~
Two flights of stairs later Slippy had crested the landing that undoubtedly led into the heart of Arspace Division Three. Wild laser fire was taking place in the fenced-in compound below now, and the technological mercenary could pick out the loud 'tsew-tsew' sound of Falco's rifle and the subtle 'blip' sounds as Katt's pistol came into action. Confident that the duo could prevent any unwanted company from following his trail, Slippy inserted the mystical key again and gently eased the heavy adamantite door shut behind him.
He was standing in a pitch-dark hallway, breathing heavily as his non-physical body struggled to return to a state of normalcy. Edging forward, both hands clutching his tiny weapon like a secret agent, he crept down the hall, wincing every time his boots clacked against the floor and wishing he had a pair like Celestra's. With every step he felt certain that the Division's usurpers would come swooping down upon the resonating noise, and when he had at last reached the first perpendicular hallway he was quite surprised no one had.
The wristwatch communicator he wore bleeped twice; Slippy shrieked in alarm and punched a few buttons. "What do you guys want?!"
"Lovely to hear from you, too," came Celestra's voice from the device. "Where are Falco and Katt?"
"Outside giving me cover," Slippy whispered back, side-stepping the right-hand corner and glancing the opposite way as he moved forward. "I insisted on coming in alone; it'll get done quicker this way and I got tired of their constant bickering."
The assassin chuckled. "Well, we've got everything under control at, er, what's left of the supply depot--"
"'What's left of it'?" Slippy repeated skeptically.
"Fox and I got a tad bit trigger-happy," Celestra explained delicately. "Anyway, get a move on so we can all head back to Great Fox--the real action is in Sector X combat zone, and that's where Gilraen and Bill are." With that, the signal was terminated.
It was slow going from then on; the silence pressed in upon the young toad like dead weight and the continued lack of presence served to make his sense of hearing extra-sensitive, so that eventually his ears began to play tricks on him. Naturally when he began hearing voices beyond the wall to his immediate right he expected they weren't really there.
"Hello?" he muttered sheepishly.
A hush came down in the room beyond, then someone must have scrambled closer because he heard, "Who's there?"
Excitement flooded into Slippy's chest, for he knew he had just stumbled upon the room full of Arspace hostages. "My name's Slippy Toad, and I'm a mercenary for General Pepper. I'm here to set you guys free--if you can point me in the direction of the door."
"I could tell you where the entrance is, but you'd never be able to locate it from out there," the voice explained. "The Venomians have cryogenically sealed the door from the inside, so there is literally no external entrance."
Slippy didn't feel disappointed for long; quite the contrary he was relieved to be speaking to a group of people who were undoubtedly on his high intelligence scale. Cocking back the Aggravator he asked, "Can you get everyone to clear away from the immediate area without drawing attention? I have a more direct approach I can try." From the interior of the room the muffled sounds of people moving frantically aside could be heard; Slippy turned and backed away from the wall several feet and leveled his miniscule weapon.
It was as though he had thrown a grenade at the wall; the hallway exploded around Slippy and the laser gun and engulfed the air with heavy curtains of smoke. The laser wave that erupted from the end of the barrel did not only sear away a small portion of the offending wall, but blew out an enormous ten foot by ten foot hole through the plaster. Somehow through the amazing kickback Slippy managed to keep his feet, and gradually the clouds of thick grey smoke evaporated, exposing the room beyond.
And perhaps ten armed Venomian soldiers.
Slippy couldn't risk firing again and harming the Division Three hostages, but without the use of the Aggravator he was completely without weapon. Decision made, the toad pocketed the gun and fled, hoping the Venomians were dense enough to follow so the Zonessians had the opportunity to escape. As he glanced back over his shoulder frantically and discerned that they had taken the bait, a wave of relief washed over his insides and he turned a corner, running back the way he had come.
Flinging the adamantite door back and straining the hinges, Slippy clasped the railing dependently as he heaved for breath. He could flee back down the stairs to Falco and Katt, but the sounds of battle still rose up from the compound below and it was possible the three of them would be overrun. He kicked the door shut, letting the deadbolt catch, and tested the strength of the powerful handle. He was confident the thing could hold his weight, at least for a short time, so he fumbled with the chain at his neck and inserted the mystical key into the lock again. Listening with all his might for the pursuing enemies he positioned himself behind the door, and at the last moment tugged it open, snagging the key up into his hand.
The Venomians barreled through the open door; unable to so quickly reverse their forward momentum they all smashed into the guardrail and careened over, tumbling down two flights of stairs to crash into the concrete floor below. Slippy just had time to clench the chain firmly between his teeth before he, too, flew headlong over the railing, but his hands clutched the door handle with all his strength. His chest slammed hard into the protective grate encompassing the landing; a groan escaped his clenched teeth, but the handle held fast under his weight.
For several awful seconds he hung there, sweating and straining, before he realized the near impossibility of hauling himself back over the grate to safety. Celestra, Fox, and Falco could accomplish it in a pinch, but the technological mercenary had little more chance of doing so than flying without an Arwing. Flexing the muscles in his arms Slippy attempted the foolish action; he succeeded in lifting himself perhaps six inches before his strength gave, leaving him helplessly limp far from the ground.
A pair of rough hands grasped at his wrists, and Slippy glanced up in fear. A young coyote stood there, smiling down at him, a troupe of Division Three technicians flanking him. Together they pulled him up and over the ledge, and he sat there panting, key clutched tightly in one fist again.
"Nice firepower," the coyote acknowledged happily, dusting his uniform with a meticulous eye and gazing down at Slippy admiringly. "Is that our new model Cricket X-4?"
"No," Slippy replied slightly breathlessly, accepting the coyote's hand up and securing the chain again about his neck. "It's my own design, though I must admit the idea came from seeing one of those a few weeks ago. I named it the Aggravator."
"Carbon-based with argon filaments?" the coyote asked him, motioning for them all to start down the stairs in the direction of the compound.
"Sure is, but I couldn't find a second filament to neutralize the smoke output. Other than that, it's flawless." As an afterthought Slippy added, "By the way, Katt Monroe and a colleague of mine are securing the perimeter."
They came to the bottom of the first flight, pausing only to ensure their safety before moving on. "I'm glad she's alright; when she didn't turn up we feared they'd killed her." Then the coyote grinned. "We find if you add traces of neon, the smoke lessens considerably."
Slippy grinned back. "I hadn't even though to try that!" Extending his hand he added, "I'm Slippy Toad. Glad to know you're all okay."
"Keil Ford," replied the coyote, accepting the hand and shaking it merrily. "Chief engineer of Arspace Division Three. The Venomians spoke of Star Fox coming; we hadn't dared believe it was true."
Before Slippy could dismiss those fears a shrill whistle rent the dank air; the Arspace members and Slippy flattened themselves quickly against the stairwell banister, and Keil's eyes perused the sky anxiously.
"What's that?" asked the mercenary quietly.
"The air-raid sirens," Keil murmured back. "Looks like you brought more company than you realized."
Slippy sprinted the last stairs and into the compound with Keil hot on his heels; someone shoved the pair of them roughly against the fence and lasers pounded down around them. Falco melted out of the shadows and pointed upward as Rage of Macbeth, SpiritNova, and Nebulafire assaulted the sea of swarming Venomians.
"Oh," Keil offered sheepishly.
~~*~~
They all stood together outside the enormous complex, the four mercenaries, the two technicians, and the assassin, taking in the scorched ground and little brush fires from the skirmish. Division Three had seen better days, they unanimously decided, but the day was won and they had lost no lives.
"We will rebuild," Keil assured them, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "When the Venomians are driven back and Andross has nowhere in the galaxy to run, we will all rise and take back what's ours."
Celestra smiled softly at Falco and wrapped an arm about his waist; Katt scowled venomously at the avian, but he only smiled down at the assassin and slung a wing about her shoulders. Fox and Peppy whistled at their companions, voicing their urge to depart. Slippy turned to join them aboard the Great Fox, but Keil stopped him short and pushed a small vial into the mercenary's hand.
"What's this?" Slippy questioned him.
Keil smiled, gratitude gleaming in his eyes. "Neon filament for your little wonder of a gun. The next time I see you use that in action, I expect a bit less smoke."
Slippy clenched the vial in his fist and clapped the coyote on the shoulder. "Thank you. Take care of yourself, Keil--I'll be looking for you when we've won the war."
"And I you."
The cruiser departed Zoness and was back in orbit an hour or so later. It was around the same time that Captain Anilora, Bill, and the Katinan fleet won at Sector X combat zone and drove the primary force all the way back to Titania, the outermost reaches of the realm of Andross.