The New Enemy
Disclaimer: Star Fox, its trademarks, characters, etc. are owned by Nintendo. I do own, however, this story, and other characters that don't exist in the game.
Episode 3: Gear Up
General Pepper was arranging some papers on his desk. "Damn, when will these things stop?" he muttered to himself. He's getting tired of filing the paperwork. Suddenly, an alarm was given off. "A message huh? Who could that be?" He pushed a button, opening the monitor in front of his desk. The person from the other side suddenly yelled out.
"General Pepper, sir! Titania base is under attack! Some sort of creature with appendages appeared meters away. They're in groups, and the have projectile attacks! Our tanks tried to stop them, but we couldn't! Their numbers suddenly grew, and we couldn't hold them longer! We need help!"
"Huh? Wait! Can you give details, I," he asked quickly too, but the communication was cut off. "This is bad… I've heard about aliens in Titania, but a flock of them…?" He then pushed a button and spoke out, "Bring me Captain Sanders."
It wasn't a matter of time before the captain entered the room - a black ram with frightful eyes, wearing green military uniform. "What is it sir?" he asked with salutation. The dog general saluted back.
"I received news that our base in Titania is being attacked by aliens. Tell me, are the graduated cadets, the new soldiers, trained for this kind of matter?" Pepper asked firmly. He was hoping for helping the soldiers in Titania. Sanders just shrugged his shoulders.
"I am well aware that the new soldiers are trained for combat," he replied, "but even so, sending them to a difficult post is a sudden experience for them."
"What about the four students… the ones whom you assigned as Squad Falcon during their training?"
"You mean Shade Lord, Stanice Emmy, Jon Lucas Charles, and Jacob Laurence?"
The general nodded. He was pleased from their records. These four have shown excellent performance, especially during team missions. Of course, they can also handle solo ones. "I'm interested in those four… I suddenly got that peculiar feeling… that feeling when Fox McCloud also graduated… especially to that black wolf with holding something…"
"You mean Shade Lord is actually like Fox McCloud? That's odd," the captain replied. "Ahem… Anyway, I know these four are the top cadets, but still, they might not be able to handle this kind of mission."
"Don't worry," Pepper assured him, "Star Fox will aid them, as well as our troops. I should also send Star Wolf along, but that's up to Fox's decision. Wolf O'Donnell and his two partners are on Star Fox's discretion."
"Drat… You're no fun…"
Panther grumbled as he asked Fox about something, but he got a no as a reply. "Why won't you accept my offer? It won't be difficult! You'll just stand there beside the basket of fruits and smile! Or… am I a bad painter?" He suddenly gave a gloomy face, making Fox worried.
"Um… well, it's not that you're a bad artist… I mean, I admire your work!" he replied as he grabbed a canvas holding Panther's recent art. His words were vague from being sarcastic or true. "It's just that I don't have the time for it! I have to brush my skills as much as possible, you know!"
The black feral cat just smiled back and nodded, "Oh well, I guess you're right. I'll just look for somebody…" He then picked up his canvas and palette, and started to bug another crew residing the ship. Fox faintly heard him saying "Falco… Falco, Can I interest you in art!" and the bird replying "You selling me those trash! Maybe some other… Ooh, what's that pic! Naked Lady Cat in Black! Growl!"
"Well, I guess I should head to the training area," he sighed after hearing those two conversed about the picture. He headed to the training room of Great Fox, where he wished for some short sniping test, Arwing flying test, and some short punching and kicking. As he entered the place, he saw Wolf sitting on a bench, on shorts, lifting a dumbbell with his right arm. To the other side was Krystal, trying to lift some saucers from a table. He thought to himself, "I got a feeling Great Fox won't be the same like before…"
"Hey there, Fox!" Krystal called out faintly and quickly while she focused harder on her activity. "Go up! Go up!"
He was about to approach her when all of a sudden, as he set foot on the blue floor of the training area, he felt that his body suddenly gained weight. "Okay, what's the deal, people? What's with the increased gravity pull?"
"I like to sweat when training, pup, and lifting heavy objects is a good idea on becoming sweaty… and being beefed," Wolf grinned back. "Oh, Krystal also asked agreed on the added gravity pull so that she can train her telekinetic powers for moving objects… heavy objects!"
"Ouch… I know you're a beef, and you're only wearing shorts to reduce the weight you're carrying and to feel comfortable, but how come Krystal can stand even with this high setting, and she's wearing her armor for Peppy's sake?" Fox growled as he tried to stand up from the floor. He was able to get up, but he felt like he's carrying loads of weight.
"Fox… Gravity Control Boots…" Krystal replied again quickly. The six dish saucers she was controlling lifted off a few inches from the table, but it still wasn't enough.
"Oh forget it!" he growled back as he walked away from the room.
"Hey fox cub, don't tell me you don't workout!" Wolf teased him as he started lifting two dumbbells. "Remember, you won't beat me in terms of physique if you don't get some exercise!"
"Right, right… whatever," Fox just shrugged. He then saw Slippy passing by and entering the room. With interest, he looked back. "Um… Slipster, what are you going to do?"
"Just watch!" he smiled back. Well, he's wearing Gravity Control Boots, but with a different design. He flicked his hand, and dance music started to play. He then strutted, giving his boots some dazzling light effects. "Yahoo! Dancing Gravity Control Boots are finally done! Here's a workout for me, finally!" Fox dropped his jaw from what he just saw.
"Hey, looks like the frog's doing it!" Wolf laughed as he watched the toad while continuing his weightlifting. "Hey Fox, you better do what he's doing! At least he's burning some fat!" Krystal suddenly lost focus from what Wolf said and laughed. The vulpine, however, steamed up.
"DO I LOOK LIKE SOMEBODY WHO HAS FAT TO BURN!" he furiously yelled as he approached Wolf, with trouble of course thanks to gravity, and poked at his chest repeatedly. "DO I LOOK FAT!"
"I wasn't referring to you as fat, you broomstick! It's analogy… Slippy is to burning fat as you are to building physique," he explained, making Krystal laugh more.
"Sheesh! I don't want to be your rival anymore if you want me to compete against your body," Fox reasoned out as he sighed out. "Anyway, I was actually hoping for some training… I usually do that when I'm free."
"So your exercise is basically just shooting around targets?" Krystal, after picking up some broken dishes, asked for confirmation.
"Yep!" he replied with gleam. "Now tell me, big bad wolf, do I workout?"
"Hmm… are you sure you're already doing work?" Wolf asked as he stood up to do some lifting at a different angle. "Let me see… you're just standing there, waiting for targets, then you run around, and you blast the targets… And don't you dare add the Arwing test flight! You just let your butt sit and have fun! I don't see any part of workout there, pup…" Fox, again, became silent and shy. Krystal laughed again.
"Oh forget it!" he grumbled as he put on his Gravity Control Boots. "Slippy, I'll just dance… I'm being laughed by two heartless canines…" Slippy, Wolf, and Krystal laughed again. "Add the amphibian to the list…" Fox shrugged. He started to do some stretches and some curls. He then declared, "Okay, I'm sweaty! This time, I'm doing workout!"
"Good… so when will I expect you to lift weights on a high gravity setting?" Wolf asked as he lifted heavier dumbbells, making Fox sigh more.
As he was continuing his newfound routine, Peppy made an announcement. "All right guys! Prepare yourself! Pepper called in and we're on a mission! We're heading for Titania! Huh? What? You want to try talking here? Okay…" All of a sudden, a new disturbing voice was giving an announcement. "Um… I am the great Leon! I am a reptile, and I can blend with my background! My favorite color is green! I like mangoes dipped in milk! I also have… oh… this thing is on? Oops…!"
Wolf stopped weightlifting. He was now wiping himself with a short towel. "A mission, eh? Looks like fun…" He was then heading towards the shower.
"Yeah… yeah… whatever… Hey!" Fox growled. "I am the leader here, so I'll take the shower first! Grr… at least don't take my towel!" He followed Wolf quickly inside the changing room.
"Boys will be boys," Krystal thought as she shook her head.
Pretty fun, eh? I knew it all along!