One last moment of peace for the Starfox team before they jump into the fire once more. Oh, and don't worry - Fara is most definately not sitting the rest of this story out. We'll be seeing much more of her shortly.
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Chapter 19: One Good Meal
We're going after Papetoon? Fantastic. After being there firsthand for so long, it'll be nice to see that place restored to its former glory. As much glory as sand and rock can be anyway. – Fox


After a lonely breakfast due to the rest of his teammates having already finished eating far earlier, Fox spent the rest of his morning to himself. He borrowed a book from the library and read it in the gardens. As noon rolled around he walked back to the mess hall, deciding to wait around and talk to his team at that point about what Pepper told him.
As expected, the mess hall was rather busy by this time. By his best guess he counted some 30 people all sitting around, eating and talking happily, ignoring the fact for the moment that they were currently at war. He walked up to the self-service bar and decided on a simple ham sandwich and soda before turning around, searching for anyone else on his team. His gaze wandered around, finally spotting Peppy and Fara sitting together at the far side of the room.
The two pilots said their greetings as Fox walked up. As he sat down, Fara smiled and said, "So, sleepyhead here finally decided to get up, eh?"
He smiled back, taking a good look at her. He pushed the thoughts of how pretty she looked out of his head as he replied. "Very funny, Fara. I'll have you know that I've been up for quite some time now." He noticed the empty trays in front of his teammates as he started on his own. "I see that you've already eaten. Been here long?"
"Just got done myself," said Fara, shaking her head, having noticed the extra attention. She didn't think too much of it though. "I've been watching the engineers some of the morning and decided to grab a bite to eat."
Peppy put down the datapad containing the latest newspaper as he responded. "I've been here a bit listening up on the latest gossip and reading the paper."
Fara looked intrigued as Fox continued to eat. "Oh really? What's going around on the grapevine?"
"Not too much. A couple of the security pilots are egging one of the guys to ask out someone he knows from the guards here on base. She's real cute from how they're describing her."
Fara laughed, remembering some of the previous attempts of the base staff trying to find dates, her thoughts wandering back to the vulpine across the table in the process. "We have a few lookers around here. The only problem with us being such a tight knit community is that word spreads rather quickly."
"I know the feeling," said Fox as he put down his sandwich for a moment. "We had no real privacy at all on Papetoon."
"That is an understatement, my friend," groaned Peppy.
"Fortunately we had our own rooms at least. Or else I doubt all of us would be still be here." Fara giggled, prompting Fox to continue. "I'm serious."
"Sounds like the making of yet another silly TV comedy - four guys and a cave, or something along that line for a title."
The three pilots laughed for a moment, Fox asking another question as they quieted. "Anyway, have you two seen the rest of the crew today?"
Peppy shook his head as Fara spoke up. "Slippy's been watching the engineers work most of the morning from what I hear. At least he's been there while I stopped in to talk with them earlier. I think he has the makings of an engineer."
"Doesn't surprise me in the slightest," commented the hare, thinking over some of the things that Slippy had constructed over the past few months. "He's always been interested in what makes something tick."
Fox laughed. "More like always taking things apart to see what makes them tick. He does have a knack for those things though."
Peppy nodded. "That he does. He'll make a great mechanic or engineer some day."
"Assuming we all survive this war," said Fara glumly.
Looking into the eyes of his teammates Fox said, "We'll survive this war. Trust me on this." He was deadly serious with this statement, almost daring the others to contradict him.
"Glad to see you're confident about it," said Fara, not too sure about their chances of winning. "There's still a ton of ground to cover before we can claim victory."
"Overconfidence can lead to disaster you know, Fox," said Peppy.
"I know. We will win this though."
The threesome remained quiet after that, their silence broken by Falco suddenly walking up to their table. "Heya, Falco," said Fara kindly.
"Afternoon." He looked over at Fox as he sat down, a tray in one paw. "Hey, Fox, when are we going flying again? I'm getting restless just sitting around here in the base."
The vulpine sighed. "You've been out of the air for less than a day and you're already complaining?"
He looked cross as he responded. "Yes I am. You have a problem with it?"
"Falco, my friend," started Peppy, "you need to remember that there are quiet times even in war. Enjoy your free time before you aren't able to."
Falco scowled as he started eating the sandwich he brought with him. "Quiet you."
"I can see who got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," smirked Fara.
Fox forestalled any response by speaking up. "Falco, as usual, you're no conversationalist. However, I have some news that I guarantee will make you all somewhat pleased."
"Did you run into Pepper?" asked Peppy, interrupting. "He was looking for you this morning."
Fox nodded. "That I did. And it concerned our next target to abolish the opposition on. We're going to Papetoon."
The team cheered quietly, and even Falco looked pleased for a moment. "Good. I've had enough of dodging rocks to last a lifetime."
"We all have. It'll be nice to visit a planet for a change, even if it is the one we just vacated."
"Asteroids are just part of the natural flotsam of outer space," said the hare thoughtfully. "They're also part of what might have been a planet had circumstances been slightly different."
Falco groaned yet kept quiet over Peppy's latest reflection on his views of the universe. At that point Slippy walked up, bringing his own meal from the bar. "Hey, everyone," he said tiredly.
Fox noticed his teammate's less than energetic mood as everyone else greeted him. "Hey, Slip, you look pooped. Not sleep well last night?"
Slippy shook his head as he sat down. "No, I just spent most of the night helping out the engineering crew. That Arwing is an amazing piece of machinery from the inside."
"That it is," said Fara appreciatively.
"They wanted me to let you know that their work is finished by the way. We'll be able to fly them as soon as they get fueled up." He bit slowly into his own sandwich before continuing. "That reminds me - have you learned where we're going today?"
"I have some good news on that," said Fox with a grin. "We're headed back home to Papetoon."
"Now that is excellent news." Slippy leaned back in his chair and yawned. "Sorry. I guess I was working a tad too late into last night."
"No problem." Fox looked over his team. "Crew, it looks like we'll be getting ready for launch shortly, so prepare yourselves."
"This will be fun," said Falco in a far more jovial mood than he was just a few minutes ago. "The lizard scum won't know what's coming to them."
"Looks like this might be the easiest stage of our assault, so enjoy it while it lasts." Fox looked Fara's direction as he continued. "Fara, I take it you were checking up on the engineer's work as well earlier, right?"
She nodded. "Yup. I have trust in their skills though, so I don't need to pay too much attention."
"Good. Okay guys, let's work our way up to see the General and see if we can surprise—"
Fox's thoughts were interrupted as Pepper's voice came over the loudspeaker. "This is General Pepper speaking. Will the Starfox team please report to my office immediately. That is all."
The vulpine sighed, slightly upset at what he had just heard. "And yet another good idea ruined."
"It's like Pepper is always keeping an eye on us," commented Peppy, glancing at the security camera embedded into the ceiling.
"It sure seems that way, doesn't it?" joked Fara.
Fox looked over his team as he stood up. "Oh well, let's get going. We have a planet to take back."
Fara stayed seated for the moment, wishfully looking at the others. "Enjoy yourselves."
"We will. Don't get too bored without us."
The foursome deposited their trays as they walked off, nobody noticing that the usually hungry Slippy hadn't finished his meal.


The four pilots walked into Pepper's briefing room, the General surprisingly waiting for them to come in. Noticing that only four people walked into his room, he commented, "Isn't Fara with you as usual?"
Fox shook his head as he sat down. "We were taking with her earlier when you called, but I guess she decided not to come as she isn't actually flying."
"Well, no matter. Knowing her she's watching in her own way." Pepper cleared his throat before continuing, pulling out his remote as usual. "Okay everyone, today is a big day. Not only are the Nova Bombs fully operational based on their original designs, but this will be the first planet you're going to take back for our side."
The team looked pleased to hear that what Fox said to them before was true. "Thanks for letting us go after Papetoon so early in the war, General. This means quite a bit to us."
Pepper smiled. "I knew it would. Anyway, compared with other locations we'll be sending you to in the near future, this should be an easy day." He pointed the remote at the screen behind him, pushing a button. "As you already know, this is the desert planet of Papetoon."
The team laughed, confusing the General as to why. Peppy was the first to recover his composure. "I don't know about you, but that looks like a news broadcast to me."
The canine wheeled around in his chair, staring at the screen where a local station was currently showing the planetary weather. He glanced down at the remote he was holding, pushing a different button upon it. The screen darkened for a moment, switching to a moving image of Papetoon from space. Shaking his head in dismay, he turned back around, ignoring the snickers from the rest of the room. "Anyway, this is Papetoon. As you no doubt know from your time upon it, there isn't much of a military presence on the planet."
Fox spoke up to correct the General. "Actually, sir, I beg to differ. As it is, if you don't mind, we might have some insider information on what might be viable targets down there."
Pepper looked annoyed, not used to being interrupted. "So, Junior, what you're trying to say is that you know a better way to accomplish your mission than the military intelligence that has access to a spy satellite that sits near the planet and that has been watching this place for some time?"
The vulpine looked unsure of himself for a moment, but quickly regained his composure as he knew he had the upper hand as far as the happenings on Papetoon. "General, don't take this the wrong way, but due to our living on Papetoon for the last year and a half we've compiled quite a few targets that would've been worth our time to destroy had we had the proper materials."
Fortunately for Fox, the General was more than willing to listen to a reasonable suggestion. "Your request makes sense, Junior." He stood up, passing his remote over. "You're pushing your luck though, so don't disappoint me."
He smiled. "Thank you." Walking up to the screen, he flicked the remote like Pepper did the other day, producing a pointer. He turned back towards the General and asked a question. "Is there some way I can get a topographical map?"
"Yes," replied Pepper with a nod. "Shot three I believe."
Turning towards the screen, he punched the buttons on the remote, changing the shot to one of a map of the planet's surface. He looked impressively at the screen as he said, "Nice detail there. Far better than the drawn maps we had access to anyway." Turning back around, he continued with his speech. "Now, guys, you all remember what we've said in the past, right?"
"If we only had a bomb we could stop this madness once and for all?" asked Peppy in a serious tone.
"Exactly. And we now have far more than a single bomb – we have four."
"And we have an easy way to get them from target to target."
Falco smiled with glee. "We're finally gonna blow these damned lizards off our planet for good."
Fox looked pleased with his team's attitude and began pointing out goals as he talked. "That we are. Okay, guys, you should already know our goals – destroy any spacecraft that might be sitting at the three planetary spaceports, demolish the four hardened bunkers that are garrisoning the troops controlling the planet, and find some way to contact the resistance and let them know that the planet is theirs again."
"All in a day's work," said Peppy with a grin.
"Pepper, do you have any other goals for us, or do you think we have the planet covered?"
The General thought over Fox's plan for a moment as he stood nearby with his arms crossed. "You have everything planned out it seems. Although I do have one thing to add – we have a troop transport on its way towards the planet. Their destination is whatever spaceport you want it to land at. Their objective is to help reclaim the planet from the ground, and to eliminate any pockets of resistance they might find."
"Good idea. Getting into ground combat is something I nor my team had any plans for."
"Don't worry, Junior, I know. You were hired as pilots, not ground troops. Just let them a call when you're ready for them to land. Anyway, I'll have that mission data uploaded to your computers. You four are dismissed unless you have any other questions."
Fox shook his head, as did the rest of his team. "We're good here, General. We'll see you when we get back." Placing the remote back on the table, he worked his way out of the room, his teammates following. "Let's go guys. We have a planet to restore back to its former glory."


Meanwhile, Fara had just left her quarters, the door to her room closing behind her softly. "'Knowing her she's watching in her own way' indeed, General," she muttered under her breath, unhappy at what he had said while she'd looked in on the briefing. In a way though she was glad that she didn't attend, as she had a feeling that Fox wouldn't have been as blunt with Pepper had she been around. After making sure that the door to her room was locked, she walked off to the nearest elevator.
Passing by the rooms to the rest of the team, she wished she could join them as they continued their conquest of Andross' troops. She lowered her head sadly as she thought back to just a few days ago and the incident that ended her chances to help out. She reached the elevator as she continued to think, pressing the call button without a second thought. To her surprise it opened seconds afterward, revealing the Starfox team. Recovering her composure quickly, she smiled and asked, "Going down?"
Fox smiled back, having noticed the displeasure on her face just moments before. "There's always room for the team." The group moved back, allowing her access.
"Thanks." The door closed once more, the elevator continuing its journey downward.
"So, Fara, we missed you at the briefing. Something wrong?"
She shook her head as she quickly thought up an excuse. "No. I was just double-checking the Arwings before your flight. Besides, you didn't need me at the meeting anyway as I'm not currently flying."
Fox frowned, disagreeing with her statement. "Fara, you know that your opinion is always useful at these meetings. Besides, we're just a tad behind the times as far as knowledge of the system goes, so your information would help us all."
Fara took a good look at Fox's face and realized that he was telling the truth, not trying to simply cheer her up. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll make sure to join you on your later briefings."
"Good to hear." The elevator came to a halt, the double doors opening up to reveal the engineering bay and the Arwings that they contained. As the team walked out, Fox noticed that Fara wasn't following. Turning around he said, "See you later. Don't let Pepper keep you too busy."
She laughed. "Pepper? Keep me busy? Never. Say hi to your friends on Papetoon for me." Pausing for a second, she realized something else that needed to be said. "Guys, I just remembered something you might find useful now that they're working. I've found that while the Nova Bombs explode upon hitting something, you can detonate them early by shooting at them. I doubt Pepper told you this little tidbit."
Fox rolled his eyes, getting tired of all the things that the absentminded canine hadn't told them. "No, he didn't. Thanks."
"Glad I could help. And enjoy your flight."
The doors closed, leaving her alone for the moment. Sighing, she turned towards the lone panel and made sure the doors wouldn't open behind her. Pushing what seemed to be some kind of code into the call buttons, she said to the empty room, "Hey, Fay, it's me."
"Just a second, Fara," replied a female voice over the speaker system.
A few seconds later the entire back end of the elevator split apart, revealing what looked to be a large sized science lab. The place looked to be in complete disarray. Each of the half dozen tables were littered with partially completed devices, assorted pieces of junk, and more paperwork than one could imagine. Fara looked around the white walled room exclaiming, "Don't you ever clean this place?"
As she walked into the lab, she heard laughter from off to one side. Turning toward the sound, she saw Fay, the same white furred canine that Fox ran into a few days ago. As she unbuttoned her knee-length lab coat, she said in a happy, upbeat voice, "Fara, you know very well that we rarely clean this place up. It's not like we ever have visitors. Well, short of you and the General anyway."
Fara walked among the tables, picking through what looked interesting as Fay followed. "That's an understatement." Dropping what looked like some kind of armored wristband back on the table, she turned towards the canine. "Is Miyu around in this mess somewhere? She said she had something for me to see."
"I'm here," said a gruff sounding voice off to one side of the pair. Walking from behind a triad of bookcases that had even more junk piled on them, along with the books that should be there, appeared the source of the voice. Miyu was a tall, tan furred lynx, her fur marked with black highlights in a multitude of places. With long purposeful strides she approached, holding what looked to be a standard issue military blaster in one paw. "I'm glad you could come," she said in a militaristic tone as she towered over the vixen. "As I said earlier, I have something to show you." She held out the blaster she was holding, handle first. "Take a look."
Fara accepted the silver and black weapon, first making sure that the safety was enabled before looking it over. At first glance, she assumed it was nothing more than the basic weapon that everyone was allowed to carry on base. A closer look however revealed the differences. She looked up thoughtfully after a few seconds and said, "Well, there is a bit more bulk over where the energy clip goes in, and there's some additional heft to where the firing mechanism is, so I'm guessing you've upped the firing capability somehow."
"Nice detective work," said Fay, her blue short-sleeved shirt and skirt swishing around as she walked to another table. "You get a cookie for your efforts."
Fara giggled at the canine's remarks as Miyu shook her head at her fellow scientist's immaturity. Straightening her green toned military camouflage, she said, "You've noticed most of the changes, but there's something else. Keep looking."
Fara nodded as she looked over the blaster once more. Finding nothing else visually different, she grasped the gun in her right paw like she was about to fire it, pointing it at the far end of the room. "I don't see..." She paused, feeling something different where her thumb normally rested. Drawing the gun back, she looked closer, finding a small moveable panel with an unlabeled toggle switch beneath.
Miyu smiled like a teacher would to their student. "Good job. Now, if you'll just pass that back for a moment, I'll show you what it can do." Fara complied with the request, handing over the weapon. "Now, you know about the standard issue blasters we all get – rapid fire capability, lots of ammo, but unable to do any real damage to more armored targets. Like an Arwing for example."
"I love this part," smirked Fay from behind her, knowing what was going to happen shortly.
The lynx ignored her companion as she continued. "Not too pleased with the original design, we decided to make a few modifications." She walked to the far end of the room, stopping near a shielded enclosure. "Fay, if you would do the honors."
"Sure thing, boss," she remarked as she moved over to a terminal, pushing some papers out of the way so she had clear access to it.
"Watch and learn, Fara. All you have to do is flip the switch, wait about five seconds for the gun to charge, then fire as usual." As the lynx spoke, she followed her own instructions. The blaster let off a slight chirping sound, letting her know the weapon was ready. "Now for the fun part."
Inside the shielded room was a small sized plastic container, presumably once used to hold some of the junk scattered around the room. After taking careful aim Miyu fired, lancing through the specially configured shield designed to allow the shot. The energy bolt struck the container dead on. It promptly exploded, the small chunks harmlessly striking the shield nearby.
Fara looked on with awe as the remaining pieces settled to the ground. "Wow. There's nothing left."
"And another vile container succumbs to our efforts," laughed Fay.
Miyu groaned, once again displeased with her partner's childish attitude. "As you can see, this is now a rather impressive weapon."
"What kind of recharge time are we looking at here? And what's the drain on the battery?"
"Roughly 4.2 seconds between shots and about 20 to a clip. Then again you're looking at enough firepower to put a dent in an Arwing's hull with each pull of the trigger." Miyu clicked on the safety as she talked, checking the power level of the battery as she did so.
"Nice work. When are you going to roll it out to the staff?"
Fay shrugged from the end of the room as the lynx formulated an answer. "We're not quite sure. We'd love to decrease the power consumption before upgrading everyone's firepower, so only time will tell." She brushed some speck of dust off her military uniform as she turned in Fara's direction. "In the meantime however, I'm giving this blaster to you. You'll get more use out of it than I will in here."
Fara looked shocked. "Surely you could give this to someone else – the General perhaps. I'm just as grounded here on the base as you are at the moment anyway."
Miyu's tone grew more serious for a moment. "Fara, you know very well that you're a damn fine pilot. Even though you don't have a ship right now, you know that you'll get a chance to fly again." She all but pushed the blaster into the vixen's paws as her tone reverted to normal. "Besides, Pepper already has one of these guns, as does all of security. We made sure about that to keep him happy."
Fara sighed, accepting the weapon. "If you insist." She looked at the blaster, trying to figure out how to carry it as her holster was currently occupied by her regular gun. "By the way, is this registered with the base's security systems?"
Fay laughed as Miyu shook her head. "While your gun isn't exactly registered, it won't set off the alarms unless you actually fire the thing. Well, short of here anyway."
"Pepper learned that the hard way," giggled Fay as she continued to laugh. "Remember when the intruder alarms went off last week? That was the General testing out his new gun in the shooting gallery."
"The old coot either forgot or didn't take our word for it. We told him to take it to security the first day." Miyu shook her head as she remembered the incident.
Fara finally gave up searching for a suitable hiding spot and just stuck the gun inside her belt underneath her flight jacket. "I only have one problem you two – the security office won't exactly like it if I register a second weapon with them. And it's a tad hard to get to the Arwings as there is a weapon scanner installed right as you step out of either elevator."
Miyu looked thoughtful. "Good points. I guess you won't be able to take it with you on any flights. At least until you can think of a good explanation anyway."
"Call it a birthday gift or something," joked Fay.
Fara glanced over at the canine and grinned. "That will go over well I bet." She looked back to Miyu as she continued. "Well, unless you two have something else to show me, I have a few other things I should be doing today."
The pair shook their heads as the lynx said, "Possibly something else in a few days for you, but nothing right now."
She nodded in response. "Thanks again you two. You keep my days here rather entertaining to say the least."
Fay laughed. "We try. Talk to you later."
Fara waved as she pushed the button to call the elevator, glad to have spent some time with the pair. "See ya."