A simple warning before you start this chapter - it's a long one. It's an important one however, as it sets a few things in motion that we'll see a bit further down the line.
Also, incase you haven't noticed, I've broken 100k words. I want to thank each
and every one of my reviewers, as I couldn't have done it without you. And thanks
as always to those who read this fic as well. Hopefully you've enjoyed reading
it as much as I have writing it.
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Chapter 21: The Transport Horizon
I worry about Fox some days. While it's nice to see he dislikes violence
as much as I do, he also leads a team whose goal is to slaughter anything in
sight that goes against its goals. – Peppy
"Where are those shots coming from?"
"I have no idea. Keep looking."
In the meantime, the two Arwings had reached the spaceport, and to their surprise,
found it far better protected than their prior targets. The pair was currently
being assaulted by some unknown assailant. They hadn't encountered any
airborne targets yet, but if either of them found that unusual, they were too
occupied to think about it.
Fox's computer display suddenly lit up, catching a glimpse of their target.
"I found him. Oldest trick of the book, that punk." Boosting away
from the spaceport for just a second, he quickly turned back around, bearing
down on one of the hangers from the side. Just before crossing the hanger entrance
he cut his engine, letting his momentum carry him as he pointed his craft towards
the inside, opening fire with his blasters. The small, dual-turreted tank hidden
within took only a few shots before exploding. As he righted his Arwing the
turret tumbled behind him, coming to rest a few feet outside the hanger.
"Nice work," complimented Peppy.
Fox grinned as he remembered his final test in the simulators a few days ago.
"Thanks. I remember someone else using the same plan recently."
"Ah, yes." Peppy looked down at his sensors as another half-dozen
tanks rolled into range. "It seems we've upset the local garrison.
I count six more tanks heading our direction."
"I see them," he replied as he moved into position to engage. "I
wonder how many of these things Andross has access to on Papetoon."
Peppy debated the answer for a moment as he approached firing range. "Judging
by how many we've engaged so far over here, it looks like they've
been holding back until now."
Based on the debris scattered around the spaceport, Fox had to agree. "It
sure seems like it." He opened fire on the tank, causing it to explode
into a ball of flame.
The next vehicle in line rolled over the remains of its ally, firing as it did
so. The bolt of energy sped harmlessly past Peppy's Arwing as he dodged
out of the way. The hare responded by returning fire, destroying another tank
in the group.
Their little victory was short lived however, as the transport they were supposed
to be guarding came on the com line, heavily broken up by static. "This…Horizon…under
attack…Repeat…need assistance…"
Fox cursed as he went vertical, his boosters glowing brightly behind him, Peppy
following his maneuver quickly. "Shit. I was wondering why there were
so few fighters around here."
"A simple reason and a difficult solution to follow up on after the fact."
Shaking his head, Fox kept quiet over his friend's thoughts. Instead,
he tried to contact the transport. "Horizon, this is Fox. We'll
be there shortly."
Static once again filled the pair's ears as the transport responded. "Roger…hurry…"
The seconds ticked by as Fox wished his Arwing would go faster. He knew he should
have kept better watch of the craft as it descended through the atmosphere,
but he just assumed that any remaining defenders would be more interested in
him instead of a simple transport. Unfortunately he was wrong in this instance,
and it looked like it was going to cost him.
The two Arwings could finally see the transport in the distance as they approached
it from below. It was not in good shape. More than three dozen fighters were
assaulting the much larger craft, while the Horizon was valiantly defending
itself with only a pair of turrets. As Fox watched, one of the four engines
on the transport exploded in a ball of fire, throwing the ship off course for
a few seconds before the pilot could compensate.
"Damn it," cursed Fox quietly. Quickly formulating a plan in his
head, he said, "Peppy, fire a Nova Bomb towards the aft starboard side
of that transport. I'll put one on the aft port side. We'll fire
at them when they get close to get them to explode. Just make sure that the
Horizon is outside of the blast area. Hopefully that'll get rid of most
of the fighters."
"Understood," replied the hare. "Ready for your signal."
Changing frequencies, Fox told the transport, "Horizon, keep a somewhat
straight line and don't turn back whatever you do. We're going to
drop a pair of Nova Bombs in your wake to get rid of your attackers."
"Roger," responded the exhausted sounding pilot, the overall signal
much clearer due to the closeness of the craft.
Quickly predicting where the Horizon would be in a few seconds, Fox lined up
his shot. "Let's do this, Peppy. Fire!"
The two Nova Bombs launched from the Arwings and streaked through the atmosphere,
the balls of energy far brighter than even the desert sun. The enemy fighters
ignored the weapons of their demise as they continued to swarm the transport.
As if the pilots had a mental link with other, they fired simultaneously, their
initial barrage striking the bombs dead on.
As designed, they detonated, the shockwave from the displaced air rocking the
damaged transport. To the nearby fighters however, the blast was dramatically
more effective. The hostiles in the blast radius disintegrated as the explosion
engulfed them while everyone else nearby was flung like a top, most suffering
critical structural damage in the process. The Arwings shuddered as they passed
through the turbulence, but remained unharmed.
Fox did a quick count of the operational hostiles as he moved into position
to attack whoever remained. Dodging a falling craft that was missing both its
wings, he found his answer and told Peppy his findings. "Only nine enemies
left for us to take down the old-fashioned way. Nice shooting."
Peppy laughed. "Old-fashioned indeed. Nice plan."
"Yeah." Fox shifted in his seat, making sure he was comfortable
once more before issuing his attack order. "Let's take it to them."
"Roger." Peppy peeled away from his teammate, blasters firing as
he targeted the nearest enemy. Fox quickly followed suit, engaging one of his
own.
The pair quickly eliminated their targets, the fight all but taken out of their
opponents after they lost more than three-quarters of their numbers in a matter
of seconds. As the enemy craft either exploded from blaster-fire or tumbled
down towards the planet after taking critical damage, the pilots noticed two
craft suddenly break off and head towards the atmosphere as fast as they could.
"Should we chase them down?" asked Peppy as he engaged his current
target.
Fox shook his head as he watched the two speed off. "No, let them go.
We've done enough killing for one day."
"We still have a few targets more to clear out down below you know."
"I know." Firing his blasters, Fox's final target exploded,
debris raining to the sands below. "A pilot's work is never done.
You finished over there, Peppy?"
The hostile the hare was engaging exploded from a well-placed shot to the engine.
"Mission accomplished. Now to follow the Horizon down."
Fox had another idea however. "Peppy, why don't you provide escort
for the transport. I'll clear out anything that remains down below."
"Understood. Give me a call if you need anything." The hare boosted
off towards the Horizon.
"I will. You do the same if you need it." Changing direction back
towards the spaceport, Fox kicked in his boosters, his Arwing quickly speeding
off out of sight.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the depths of space, a squad of lizards had stumbled
upon what they had been searching for the last few hours – one of Corneria's
coveted spy-probes. The oddly shaped oblong device sat motionless in space,
trying to remain oblivious to the happenings around it.
The officer in the group grinned when he heard the report from his subordinate
that the probe had been found. Knowing that his team would be well rewarded
by the destruction of the device, he gave the order he had been waiting to say
all day. "Destroy that probe."
"Yes, sir." The lone lizard that found the device opened fire on
the probe, the rest of the group converging on the officer, eager as he was
to get back home. The lizard looked shocked as instead of the probe exploding,
it suddenly came to life, desperately gathering and transmitting information
in its final moments.
The officer looked at the operational probe and quickly grew worried. "All
wings," he barked, "destroy that device!"
The group of twelve converged upon the probe, every craft firing their weapons
in an attempt to obliterate it. In a matter of seconds the thin armor of the
probe gave way, the device exploding into a small fireball. "Target demolished,
sir," said one of the lizards.
The officer calmed down, glad to be rid of yet another obstacle in their conquest
of the galaxy. Worried that Andross might view the probe activating as a failure
of his mission, he said, "About damn time. None of you saw that probe
become operational, correct?"
One of the simpleminded lizards didn't take the hint as he replied, "I
did, sir, as did—" His comments were interrupted as the officer
suddenly opened fire on his craft, the shots missing him by only a few feet.
The officer tried again. "As I said before, none of you saw that probe
operational, correct?"
The group quickly realized the correct answer. "Yes, sir," was their
collective response.
"Good." He couldn't believe the stupidity of the naive pilots
he had on his wing. "All craft, return to base."
Back on Papetoon, the Horizon was on final approach to the spaceport. "Arwings,"
started the commander, "this is the Horizon. Are we cleared for landing?"
Fox swooped around the spaceport, having enough time to make one final pass
before the transport landed. He surveyed the destruction below him as he replied.
"Looks clear down here. Mind the mess though as you land."
The pilot looked out through the canopy at the devastation the Arwings had caused
while the commander looked over his shoulder. "Looks like they had a very
nice reception waiting for us here as well, McCloud. Nice work."
"Thanks."
"We'll be down in a minute. Horizon over and out."
Fox changed frequencies as he spotted Peppy circling the transport. "Did
I miss anything out there?"
The hare stretched as best he could in the confines of the Arwing. He had been
sitting far too long in one place to his liking, and he knew that it would only
get worse as they traveled farther out with each assault. "Nothing at
all, thankfully."
"Good." Completing his pass over the spaceport, he turned towards
the Horizon's expected landing spot. "Thinking on towards our final
mission, what do you think is the best way to contact the resistance here? Short
of landing at one of the former slave camps and talking to the locals anyway."
"I'm not sure, Fox, but that's going to have to wait for just
a bit."
The vulpine sounded concerned as he came back on the line. "Oh? Why?"
"Nothing to worry about. I just want to check up on the crew inside the
transport before we move on."
"Good idea." While he watched, the Horizon came to rest on an unobstructed
part of the main runway, its thrusters shutting down in a puff of smoke. "I'll
keep watch up here then."
"Roger. I'll get back with you shortly." The landing gear
on Peppy's Arwing deployed as he approached the ground. Finding a debris-free
spot a few yards away from the transport, he brought his craft in for a smooth
landing. He quickly hopped out, giving no more than a wave in Fox's direction
as he walked towards the Horizon as it opened its main hatch.
Upon exiting his craft, the first thing Peppy noticed was the oppressive heat
bearing down on him from the sun above. While he was used to it from his time
on the planet, it made it no more of a shock to go from a climate controlled
70 degrees in his Arwing to the 110 degrees or so it was currently in this desert
summer.
Shielding his eyes from the sun, he turned and waved towards Fox, letting him
know he was fine. Looking over the many scorch marks on the Horizon's
hull, he walked towards the craft. "I just hope the inside looks far better
than the out," he muttered to himself. As he neared the transport, the
main hatch on the side opened, the hull folding downward to turn into a gangplank
of sorts.
Peppy watched as dozens of troops quickly filed out of the Horizon, all of them
jogging past his position as they surrounded the craft, guns pointed menacingly
towards the sky and any piece of debris that looked like it could hide a hostile.
Waiting for a minute to make sure his path was clear, he walked into the ship.
The lioness commander greeted him with suspicion as he entered. "I take
it you're Peppy Hare?"
The hare nodded slowly, responding as he did so, ignoring the pair of soldiers
that he heard follow a few steps behind him. "My skills and knowledge
are at your disposal, madam."
A smile appeared the gruff looking exterior of the commander for just a moment
before returning neutral once more. "I see we have someone who speaks
as well as they fight. Most unusual." She looked to the back of the transport
for a moment as her ears picked up some sound of sorts. "But enough of
the talking. You're here to help, and help our medic needs. Come on."
She motioned for him to follow as the lioness quickly walked towards the back
of the ship.
Peppy had heard the same sound that the commander had heard – one of a
creature howling out in momentary pain. Following the commander, he looked around
the ship. A quick glance around told him what he needed to know – this
was designed to be a transport and nothing more. Sporting no amenities short
of seats and handholds, this vessel's purpose was to simply carry a large
number of troops from place to place quickly.
Walking into the last chamber at the rear of the craft found not only the source
of the pain, but the probable cause as well. In the center of the room on the
floor was a gray furred wolf that looked like he had been too close to some
kind of explosion in the transport. A large, burnt out section of the back wall,
near where the engine that detonated earlier, seemed to be the probable cause.
Peppy blanched as he looked at the condition of the soldier. Large sections
of his fur were either charred or burned completely, giving the wolf a very
disheveled look. Currently tending him was a male canine, his medical bag sitting
open next to him. Looking at Peppy with a harried glance before going back to
his patient, he said, "I hope you're the help the commander said
was coming."
"I am. Although I think your teammate there is beyond my knowledge."
The medic gestured towards the side of the room, where a half-dozen soldiers
of varying size stood. "Are you trained in treating minor to moderate
burns with the latest treatment devices?"
While he wasn't exactly current with Corneria's latest medical advances,
he doubted that too much had changed. "That I can do."
"Good. Pardon the mess as you work. There's another medical kit
just outside this room as well." He quieted down as he continued to try
to save his current patient.
Peppy took another glance at the injured wolf as he gathered the nearby emergency
medical kit. From his mostly untrained eye, he could tell that the creature
was clearly not going to make it unless they got him to a better medical facility.
Or else he'd need a miracle. And neither were in abundance on this near
wasteland of sand and rock.
"Then again medics are considered miracle workers," he muttered
to himself as he came back into the room, med kit in paw. He noticed something
that his initial glance missed the first time around – a once tan blanket
draped in the corner of the room, obviously covering someone, or what used to
be someone. Blood spots were visible in multiple locations, making his guess
rather accurate. Shaking his head sadly at the loss of a life, he looked once
more at the injured wolf before setting down his kit and getting to work on
the other wounded soldiers.
Fifteen minutes passed, then thirty, as Fox waited anxiously in
his Arwing on the roof of one of the few structurally sound hangers left in
the area. It allowed him to conserve fuel, while still being able to have advanced
notice on any incoming craft. He yawned loudly, wishing that he could do something
interesting instead of just sitting around.
From his vantage point, he watched as the soldiers broke off into groups of
what looked like 10 each, each team scouring through a different part of the
spaceport. The teams came back one by one with surprisingly usable equipment,
ranging from smaller hover-based equipment lifts to a few hoverbikes that invoked
some memories from missions past in Fox's mind. Other groups deployed
the equipment and transportation they brought with them while a few individuals
attempted repairs on the ruined engine. Trying to keep himself entertained as
best he could by listening to the chatter between the teams, he stifled yet
another yawn.
As the 60-minute mark from when Peppy landed neared, Fox became extremely restless.
Contacting the transport, he said, "Horizon, this is Fox. Is everything
okay down there?"
To his momentary surprise Peppy replied to his hail after a few seconds. "Fox,
Peppy here. Could I have you come down here for a few minutes before we leave?"
The vulpine quickly became concerned over the unusual request. "Sure.
Anything wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," reassured the hare. "I'd just
like to show you something."
"Okay. Be down in a minute." Still pondering over Peppy's
odd communication, Fox searched for a suitable spot for his Arwing near the
transport.
Elsewhere, Andross was sitting inside his control room as usual,
waiting for one of his lizards to deliver something to eat. In the meantime,
he was looking over the inner workings of his latest plan to finish off Corneria
once and for all. He seemed pleased for once as his plans were beginning to
fall together. All he had to do was wait.
All he seemed to do nowadays was plan and wait.
His headset came to life as his staff tried to contact him. "Andross here,"
he said gruffly.
"Emperor, this is control. I have some good news for you."
The ape smiled. "Finally. I'm listening."
"I have two things for you, sir. First off, our scouts have reported that
one of Corneria's probes has been destroyed."
"Excellent. What's our fleet status there?"
"Approximately 80% of the fleet that you requested is currently there
and ready for combat. ETA on the remainder is less than ten hours."
"Good." Andross made a quick mental calculation in his head. "That
gives those fools some seven hours their time before our fleet is fully assembled.
We'll see how well those blasted Arwings stand up against the might of
the Venomian fleet."
The advisor kept silent for a bit, listening to another conversation as it crossed
his board. "That leads me to my other topic sir – we've acquired
the data you've requested on the Nova Bombs."
Andross' eyes opened wide with shock for a moment as he thought about
the implications of what he'd just heard. "Now that is some good
news. Tell me the details."
"Yes, sir. From what I've been able to gather so far, two fighters
on Papetoon were nearby when the Arwings fired. Surviving the explosion, they
realized that the data they had was far more valuable than fighting a losing
battle. They ran off and contacted our fleet nearby."
"Blasted cowards," he growled. "I'm amazed that they
didn't get shot down as they tried to flee."
"According to them, it seems that the Arwings allowed them to escape."
Andross kept quiet at that remark, trying to think how he could exploit that
inherit weakness in Fox's attitude. "Interesting. That fool McCloud
just caused more problems than he can imagine due to his kindness. Have that
information sent to me immediately."
"Yes, sir."
"Anything else to report?"
"No, sir."
"Good." Andross' stomach suddenly rumbled, souring his good
mood slightly. He decided to get that problem solved quickly. "One last
thing – find out where my lunch is and tell him or her to get over here
with it. Andross out." He sat back in his chair, smiling with glee as
he now knew a weakness of the great McCloud. He just needed a way to exploit
it.
All he had to do was think up a new plan. Something which he was doing quite
a bit of as of late no thanks to McCloud and his cronies.
Somewhere at the other end of the system, a light was blinking. While one little
flashing light might not mean much to some, this light in particular meant quite
a bit to those who deemed it necessary to blink at a time like this. This light
was connected to a little used computer console inside a base. Corneria Base.
This was no ordinary light though. It had a simple, yet powerful purpose –
to let anyone on duty know that one of the spy satellites had been destroyed,
and that it had transmitted some interesting data that needed to be looked at
immediately.
Unfortunately the pair that was currently on duty in the command center never
saw that blinking light. Normally a light flashing was a very easy thing to
notice. But when there's something on top of the light being considered,
that made it nearly impossible. The object in question was nothing more than
a file folder, filled with a few reports for Gary and the General to read when
either of them next came in. The staff there thought nothing of the folder's
placement as that terminal was never used by anyone while they were around.
If the folder was never there, then they would have seen the blinking light.
If they saw the light, then someone would have known about the destruction of
the probe, and the information about the fleet that would be bearing down on
them shortly.
Then again, the only pilots who could do something about it weren't available
either.
Looking like he's done this all his life, Fox McCloud nimbly jumped out
of his Arwing onto the cement surface of the spaceport. After making a quick
check of his craft, he walked the short distance to the transport, passing by
multiple soldiers who gave him nothing more than a glance and a nod in greetings.
He entered the ship, almost running into the commander in his hurry to find
out what exactly Peppy called him down here for. "Good afternoon,"
he greeted with a nod.
"Afternoon yourself," said the lioness as she returned the greeting.
"And another one of the Arwing heroes comes and visits my command."
Fox shook his head, forestalling any other unneeded comments about what he and
his team were doing for the system. "No offense, but I'm just as
much of a hero as your soldiers here are. Remember, they're doing the
hard work here on this planet today. Not us."
The commander smiled for just a moment, wondering if the entire Starfox team
was just as modest as these two. "If you insist. Your partner is waiting
for you in the back of the ship." She pointed the way, waiting for him
to go before walking off the transport to check something with her crew.
"Always the hero who can't do any wrong," muttered Fox quietly
as he walked through the ship. Reaching the rear of the craft quickly, he saw
Peppy and what looked to be the ship's medic conversing quietly outside
the rear chamber.
The hare waved as Fox approached, a tired look on his face. "Afternoon
,Fox. Sorry to make you wait like that."
"No problem." The medic walked into the room behind him, leaving
the two alone for the moment. "What's up?"
Peppy leaned up against the nearest wall, closing his eyes to try to restore
some of his strength. "I've just gone through a half hour that I'll
never forget."
Fox cocked his head in confusion and concern. "Care to explain?"
"I just know that I'm not cut out for hospital work." He opened
his eyes and noticed the confused look in Fox's face. "Sorry, I'm
just tired. I just spent the last half hour with the medic in here trying to
save someone's life." He looked down to the floor in dismay. "We
failed."
Fox's eyes rose in shock. "What happened?"
The hare waved Fox into the room, walking in himself as he did so. "Remember
when we saw that engine explode on the transport? It sits right near the corner
of this room." He pointed out the burned out section of room, exposing
melted steel and wiring. "There were two soldiers sitting in that corner,
doing nothing wrong short of being there. One died instantly from the explosion.
The other we tried to perform a miracle on."
Fox blanched, imagining what it would have been like to be there. He looked
over at the medic, who was currently in the middle of the room trying to clean
up the place, then saw a once tan blanket lying on top of what he assumed were
the bodies. A look passed over his face, a look of resolve and determination.
One that Peppy never liked seeing on his face as it meant that he was going
to do something very unusual in just a moment. "I want to see them. I
want to know everything you know about them."
As expected, the hare wasn't pleased to hear what was just asked of him.
"Why?"
"So I have a visual memory of what happens when we fail a mission like
this." His look turned to one of anger. "So I have a memory of who
Andross has killed when I get out there and kick his ass once and for all."
Sometime during the conversation the commander had returned, silently leaning
against the wall inside the entrance of the room. The three others looked over
in momentary surprise as she spoke up. "I'll tell you what I know,
but it isn't much. Daryl, if you would do the honors."
The medic nodded as he moved towards the blanket. "Sure thing, Ayne."
Peeking under the cover, he turned back towards the pilots. "Are you sure
you want to see this? This isn't exactly pretty."
Fox nodded grimly. "I do." Peppy nodded silently, having already
seen what was underneath when he helped move the body there in the first place.
Taking grasp of the blanket, the canine pulled it down, exposing a wolf from
the waist up. He was an older gray lupine, his fur burned off in large chunks.
The expression on his face showed that his death came slow and painful, but
that he fought for every minute he had left. The lioness quietly said what she
knew. "This older wolf was a loner, but he did his job well. O'Donnell
was the only name he went by. Not even I knew his first name. He was a faithful
soldier though, and had possible leadership potential. I and the rest of the
crew here will greatly miss him."
The medic chirped in with a medical overview. "As you can clearly see,
loss of life occurred from massive external and internal burning due to the
explosion taking place right next to him. Your teammate and I tried our hardest
to save him, but in the end we simply didn't have the facilities needed
nearby."
"Poor guy," said Fox as he closed his eyes in remembrance. "Horrible
way to go."
"Agreed," said Peppy sullenly. He stood there, debating on another
of his sayings, but realized that it would be completely unacceptable considering
the circumstances.
"Cover him up if you would," said Ayne as she looked upon the body
sadly. "And let's get this over with."
"Okay," replied Daryl. "I'm not going to reveal much
more than the face on the other due to extensive injuries."
"Go ahead," said Fox as he steeled himself for what was to come.
He was not prepared for what he saw though as the blanket dropped, revealing
the victim's head and shoulders.
It was Fara.
Or at least someone who looked remarkably close to her.
"Wow," Fox said in shock as he stared at the vixen's face.
"Frightening resemblance isn't it?" asked Peppy quietly, knowing
exactly what the vulpine was thinking. "Darker fur though, and a different
curvature of the snout. But it sure resembles her."
Fox stared long and hard at the face, making sure he wouldn't forget the
pain she must've gone through. He wondered what he would do if he lost
any of his comrades, especially Fara, in combat as the commander went over the
details. "This young vixen had a ton of spunk for her age, and while she
was hard to control at times, she always knew how to make us laugh when we needed
it. Her name was Rynn. I think she would've done well had she been given
more time in this world."
The medic covered her back up, unable to look at the friendly face any longer.
"Rynn here was sitting directly in front of the explosion when it occurred.
According to the rest of the crew here she died quickly. But not fast enough."
He shook his head sadly. "Loss of life occurred from massive internal
injuries from flying debris for the most part."
Fox turned around and slammed his fist against the metal wall. "Damn it,"
he said quietly. "One little mistake costs us this – our first fuck
up in this war." He turned towards the commander and looked her in the
eyes. "Why didn't you call for us sooner?"
Ayne held Fox's gaze wearily as she replied. "We called for you
as soon as we first spotted them. They simply came out of nowhere. Our best
guess is that they had some kind of dampening field around them, keeping us
from scanning them as they approached."
Peppy came up behind Fox, putting a paw on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort
him. "We're not perfect you know, Fox. We all make mistakes. These
things happen."
The vulpine shrugged off the paw as he leaned against the wall, sighing as he
did so. "Unfortunately, everyone thinks we can do no wrong. The entire
system's hopes are lying on our shoulders right now."
"Look at it this way," said the lioness, trying to see what she
could do to improve the mood of Fox. "We've lost a total of two
soldiers out of two companies of sixty apiece. Not even the best military commanders
can boast results like that."
"You don't understand," said Fox as he looked towards the
commander, unable to believe what he was hearing. His mistakes had just killed
someone. "We screwed up. We got two of your crew killed in the process.
We—"
She cut him off with a wave of her paw. "No. You saved our lives out there.
If you hadn't been there, we would all be dead by now." She grew
quiet as she heard her headset come to life. Listening for a moment, she responded
by saying, "Understood. We'll be there shortly."
"What's the news?" asked Peppy.
"My troops have located a working communications tower, and it seems like
it has the ability to transmit planet-wide. Do either of you know what frequencies
the rebellion groups might use on this planet?"
The two pilots looked at each other and shook their heads. They looked back
at the commander as Fox said, "We were relative unknowns as far as the
rebellion went. We got most of our missions through an empty building in the
middle of one of the smaller towns. We rarely met anybody, much less talked
to them."
The four worked their way out of the transport as Ayne asked, "You were
part of the rebellion here? Interesting. Any code words you might of used when
leaving or receiving messages?"
"There were a few." Fox wasn't exactly in the mood to go over
his experiences as a rebel, so he kept quiet as to that part of the question.
Peppy spoke up from the rear of the group. "Don't forget that news
article from a few days back, Fox. It made the news here, so odds are somebody
would know about us."
Fox nodded. "Good point."
The group left the craft, everyone feeling the effect of the desert afternoon
heat immediately. Fox shielded his eyes from the sun and wondered just how late
it was back on Corneria. He'd forgotten to check the chronometer insider
his Arwing as he landed, but he guessed it would be roughly the same time back
home based on long he'd been on this mission already. And he still had
more work to do, even though he wanted nothing more than to go home and cool
himself off in the shower in his room. "Ah, the desert heat. And here
I thought we'd never have to go back to it."
"At least not this quickly anyway," said Peppy as he tried to find
some sort of shade.
The commander got the directions to the tower and led the way along with a dozen
of her troops as protection. Trying to gather some information about the pilot's
experiences on the planet, she asked, "So, if you don't mind answering,
what was life like as a rebel?"
Fox shook his head, not wanting to go over his experiences, and frankly tired
of trying to prove to everyone that he wasn't a hero after describing
them. Fortunately for him, Peppy spoke up. "Nothing too exciting. We blew
up a few buildings, killed some lizards, and basically raided more convoys than
we could count. You couldn't imagine just how many of the basic necessities
we returned to their rightful owners, at least as far as the planet went anyway."
"Sounds like you've had all the fun," said Ayne, almost wishing
for the life that these two had. While she had enjoyed her life in the military
so far, it was a limited one thanks to Corneria's policies about the war.
As it was, this was the most action she'd seen in months.
Fox finally decided to speak his mind. "Not fun. Dangerous. With as many
missions as we did, I'm surprised we haven't gotten ourselves killed
yet. Personally, flying is safer as far as I'm concerned."
"No offense, but I'd much rather have my feet on something much
more stable any day of the week."
Fox shrugged. "To each their own."
The large group reached the communications tower quickly, everyone climbing
to its upper floor. The room was a cross between a control tower for anyone
landing in the area and a communications room for a good chunk of the planet.
It looked like it has some modifications to it from Andross' forces, giving
it not only the power to reach the entire planet, but interplanetary access
as well. A pair of soldiers was looking over one of the terminals as they entered,
saluting as they saw their commander.
Ayne saluted back. "I take it this is the terminal for planetary communications?"
The pair nodded. "Yes, ma'am. It's received a few upgrades
beyond the standard configuration, but the basics are still the same."
"Good." The commander walked up to the terminal in question and
activated it, setting it up for the pilots to use. "McCloud, do you want
to do the honors?"
Fox groaned. "Lovely, another speech. This is becoming a habit it seems."
"It's good for you," chuckled Peppy. "It'll prepare
you for all the speeches you'll be doing once we win this war."
"Very funny."
Ayne passed a headset to Fox, who put it on after a moment's thought.
She pointed to a switch on the console as she said, "Flip this when you're
ready. Hopefully we'll get some kind of response quickly from the locals,
as something tells me you'd like to get back home."
"That is an understatement, unfortunately. Saving the galaxy is a busy
job." The lioness smiled at the joke for a moment while Fox debated on
everything that needed to say. Collecting his thoughts, he continued. "Okay,
I'm set."
"Tell the world what you think."
Fox shook his head as he turned around and stared out into the desert around
him. Giving one last thought about what he was going to say, he flipped the
switch on the console and started speaking before he lost his nerve. "Good
afternoon, everyone on Papetoon. Well, at least it's afternoon to anyone
who's at the same part of the planet as I am right now. This is Fox McCloud
speaking, leader of the Starfox team."
Ayne listened into her headset while Fox talked, passing along a thumbs-up to
the vulpine indicating that the communications were working properly. "We
hail from planet Corneria," he continued, "which used to be the
only planet still outside Andross' clutches. Starting right now, that
has changed. As you may or may not have known, Corneria has decided to attack
Andross' rule over this solar system. So far, I'd like to think
we've done rather well."
As Fox continued to talk, Peppy walked up to him and said quietly into his ear,
"Let them know where we are."
He nodded as he continued. "For those of you who haven't traced
down this signal yet, we're currently located over at Papetoon Planetary.
Corneria has provided some troops to help wipe out any pockets of lizard resistance
you might encounter as you fully reclaim this homeland as yours. So if you need
them, you're more than welcome to either ask in person or by communication.
Although, after the numbers we killed earlier today, I can almost guarantee
that there isn't much left."
Fox glanced around the room for a moment, half expecting the consoles that indicated
incoming communications to light up. He then realized that it just wouldn't
happen unless he did a few other things first to gain the population's
trust. "Now, I realize that you think this might just be one giant trick
by Andross and his cronies to get what little resistance there is on this planet
to come out. So, time to pass a few tidbits around to those that would recognize
them."
He took a breath as he remembered a few things about the missions his team did.
"First off, for those that get the rebellion paper, you might remember
a photo of a group of four standing in victory over a bunch of lizards in a
transport a few days back. Those four are the current pilots of the Arwings,
all under employment of the Cornerian Military. That's me in the middle
of the shot."
He paused for a moment, letting that tidbit sink in to those listening. "And
for those who didn't see the paper, you might know me as my code name
that our team has used here on Papetoon for many a month – Desert Cobra.
If that name doesn't convince you that I am who I really am, well, nothing
will." Fox paused again, watching as some of the terminals in the room
sprung to life as people attempted communication with the starport. Soldiers
moved quickly to take the calls as he kept his speech going.
"Interesting. Judging by the calls we're suddenly receiving, I see
that my code name is still known in these parts. It's nice to be remembered.
Anyway, to those who have forgotten, this is Fox McCloud, part of the Cornerian
Military, and I'm signing off. May you enjoy your newfound freedom as
much as I have in giving it back to you. Wish us luck as we continue our conquest
to recover the rest of the system."
Yawning after giving so long of a speech, Fox took off the headset, dropping
it back onto the console. He looked around for Ayne, surprised that she wasn't
standing nearby. Instead he found Peppy, who had taken a seat at a console next
to him. "Have you seen the commander?" he asked. "I want to
get out of here."
The hare pointed towards the far end of the room. "The troops had her
take one of the first calls personally."
"Odd." Fox watched as the lioness stood up and walked their way.
"Are we done here?" he asked as she neared.
Ayne shook her head. "I'm sorry, McCloud, but the main resistance
faction here wants to see you in person. When that happens, they'll give
the all clear to the entire planet."
Fox groaned, upset at having to stay even longer. "Lovely. How long before
they get there?"
"A half hour or so. Fortunately for you they're nearby."
"Good. Now to wait."
