Star Fox Alliance: Chapter 6
"Hey Fox, I received confirmation from Pepper on the military staff who were tortured on the Dagger." Falco said.
Falco, Fox, Beltino and Peppy were on the bridge, going through records of recent Venomian attacks, writing post-mission dossiers and researching the identities of the prisoners.
"Good." Fox said, getting up out of his chair. He walked over to Falco and looked over his shoulder.
"I got one of particular interest," Falco continued, "Tinan Ilescarde, wanted on a charge of level 2 insubordination, another charge of grevious bodily harm… Her rap sheet's longer than my tail feathers!"
"What species is she again?" Fox asked, looking intently at her picture.
"Part fox, part wolf." Falco replied.
Fox grimaced. "Great, just what we need."
"Yeah," Falco said, "I hear that because of their unstable breeding, their hormone levels go off the charts."
"You hear correct." Fox replied. "And because of that exact reason they are highly sought by alpha males of both foxes and wolves."
Falco whistled. "Sounds like old Foxie's got himself an alpha female."
Fox let his tongue slip momentarily. "But I already…"
Falco whirled round and stared at him.
"What was that?" He asked.
"Nothing." Fox blushed.
In the med lab, Star Wolf and Slippy were asking ROB questions about the prisoners.
"What's the worst injury?" Slippy enquired.
"All three males were beaten badly, and there were several broken ribs between them. However, they will all live." ROB replied.
"Good." Wolf sighed. "What about the females?"
"They have both sustained extensive injuries. However, they will heal quickly because of the injected solutions, and they have no apparent signs of sexually transmitted diseases. And as you are probably aware, breeding is impossible between the warm-cold blooded barrier."
"This is too strange." Leon said. "As a cold-blood myself, we never find mammals attractive. Avians, Reptilians and Mammals never look at each other in that way. It's the one law of nature that is seemingly never broken."
"Not true." Slippy said, shaking his head. "Avians and Mammals get along reasonably well in terms of romantic relationships – i.e. Falco and Katt."
Leon's interest suddenly perked. "Falco has a female admirer? I'm already forming the taunts in my head."
Wolf was deep in thought. "We've missed the point of this conversation," he said, frowning, "there was a mammal somewhere on the Dagger. Someone who had an 'interest' in warm-blood females."
A microspeaker started bleeping. "One of the patients is regaining consciousness." ROB said in his monotone voice.
On the bridge, Fox received a message from ROB.
"Falco, Peppy, Beltino." He began. "Ilescarde has woken up. You guys need to go and arrest and question her."
"Fox," Peppy began, "she's just been held captive and-"
"I know," Fox cut him off, "but we have no choice but to follow procedure. If you look at the rap sheet she's wanted for three counts of GBH. We can't just accept current circumstances and leave her alone."
After a moment, Peppy nodded and left the bridge followed by Falco and Beltino.
Fox sighed. He hated this job sometimes. They were very close to Corneria now. It filled the viewscreen, and Fox could see the satellites and ships buzzing around the atmosphere. It was late, and he was tired, hungry and drained. It was already 11PM Corneria time, and they were landing in little over an hour, then, squads and squads of police would come and greet them and the people they had rescued, then he would have a 2AM meeting with Pepper.
"Ugh! I hate my job!" Fox moaned, yawning.
"I hate your job too." A voice said from the doorway. It was Krystal.
"Hey," Fox greeted her, "I thought you went to bed."
"No." Krystal replied. "Not really tired. Besides, you need help landing this brute in the docks."
Fox didn't bother to disagree, as he did need help. The Great Fox was difficult to land. Krystal walked over to him and sat on one of the armrests on his chair.
"Is Ilescarde dangerous?" She asked bluntly.
"To us, no. To the general public, yes." Fox replied. "That's why Pepper wants us to bring her in."
She leaned against him. He could tell that she was completely unsatisfied with his answer.
"I take it that that particular answer was useless to you." Fox said, frowning.
"I meant dangerous to us. Our… friendship." She replied.
"What, you think she'll become my best friend in the whole of the Lylat system in the next hour we have her on board?" Fox replied, frustrated. Krystal could see her questions were not appropriate now.
"Fox, you're getting wound up." She said, planting a kiss softly on the top of his head. "You're tense and annoyed."
"Yeah, 'cos you and I both know what's going to happen." He growled.
Krystal finished for him. "Pepper's going to offload her onto us."
An hour later, Fox, Wolf, Panther and the prisoners of the Dagger were in landing bay seven. Krystal was already being escorted by police to HQ, where she could deliver dossiers and all the paperwork and then meet Fox for his 2AM meeting.
"Wolf, Panther and I are going to Corneria General, stay here with Ilescarde." Fox ordered. Ambulances had arrived to ensure the safe transport of the other four prisoners.
"Sure." Wolf replied. The doors of the ambulances closed and they headed out to the hospital. Then he was left alone with Tinan.
He looked at her, and she looked at him.
She spoke. "I wonder what's going through your mind." She said in a smooth, silky voice.
"You wouldn't want to look through my thoughts, sweetheart." He replied in a gruff I-don't-think-you're-worthy-of-my-time voice.
"Yes," she replied, "'cos you're Wolf O'Donnell. The supposed 'arch-nemesis' of Lylatian hero Fox McCloud. You know the people of Corneria just think you're friendly rivals, roaring through the sky in spaceships, creating a pretty laser display. I know better."
"Oh really?" Wolf growled. He was sick of people judging him, thinking they knew everything there was to know.
"Yeah. And Star Wolf. And their victims."
Wolf was puzzled. "What victims?"
Tinan looked at Wolf, tears blurring her vision.
"High and mighty Lord O'Donnell." She hissed. "You were obviously in charge of that attack, seeing as you're so chummy with Andross." Wolf tried to reply, but there were no words to excuse himself from that particular crime. "You let those slimy sons of bitches rape me!" She screamed, absolutely hysterical now.
Wolf slowly lifted her muzzle with two fingers, looking directly into her eyes.
"Now listen sweetheart," he began, his tone icy, "when I was second in command at Venom, any rapists were handed to Leon for torture practice. I had any rapists slaughtered like the snakes they were." His tone changed, and he spoke louder. "But then, Andross fell. And when he fell, so did I. Very few respected me, and lots of people were raped. Not always physically! They were raped of their dignity!" He snarled, "And I was forced to kill..." He moved even closer. "Every... Last... One."
It was ten minutes to two when Fox got in to HQ. Krystal greeted him at the door. He was growling and yawning form lack of sleep.
"Hi." She said, smiling at him.
That smile lifted it all away. Fox was ready to meet Pepper.
The meeting was uneventful. Except just at the end, Fox's nightmare came true.
"I was thinking…" Pepper began.
"We'll take her." Fox said, resigned to defeat. "But remember General, Team Star Fox is not a crèche."
Outside the room, Fox walked away, Krystal tagging close behind him. She put a hand on his shoulder and he turned around.
"I'm proud of you, Fox." She said, smiling at him. "You were able to just accept the way things were going to be in there."
"Thanks." He smiled.
The hall was empty. Even if it was packed with people, the two foxes would not have noticed. They were lost in their thoughts, both facing each other.
"When the time comes, don't hesitate. Just act."
Fox put his arms around her waist, and she put her hands behind his head. They leaned towards each other, and their lips met in a soft kiss.
They pulled back. Krystal slowly opened her eyes. She sighed contentedly.
"Fox…" She said.
"Yeah…"
"Sleep next to me tonight." She said, resting her head on his chest.
Yeehah! Chapter 6 up an' runnin'! That took me a while, over 2 hours in total. But next, we begin the HOSTILE TAKEOVER trilogy! But first a request. I'm really thirsty, and the only thing I can drink are reviews. 5 would quench my thirst…And ten will get you a real treat…If you guys and girlsgive me ten reviews the Katt gets a major look-in in the story! You know you want to! R&R – Cerberus