This chapter is brought to you by somebody who's done a wonderful commission piece so long ago for me in the Starfox fandom. Whenever I needed a bit of a push to move forward, this piece of art provided the perfect inspiration. Take a look at it here:
www.deviantart.com /view/3677098/
Note the extra space in the middle of the link. I needed to put that there to dodge FF.net's filters. And as the saying goes - it looks far better in person. A bit of the image got cut off in the scanner as well.
And to cerebral-ultimate - no, that wasn't the Wolf that most people know.
More like his father, or somebody closely related. In short, it gives me a rather
good reason to bring Wolf's little team into existence if I choose to do so.
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Chapter 22: The Resistance
I hate speeches. I really do. I also hate being the focus
of everyone's hopes. I'm just one person doing his job, nothing
more. Sure, that job involves saving the entire system, but that's not
the point. – Fox
The time passed quickly for everyone as they prepared for the arrival of the
resistance members. As it was nothing more than a simple meeting to confirm
that the pilots and troops really existed, no special plans were made other
than just being available. The Starfox team decided it would be best to be in
their Arwings, not only to show that they were the pilots in question, but for
protection as well incase something went wrong.
Both Peppy and Fox were currently sitting in their craft, awaiting the signal
letting them know when the others would arrive. "The joy of waiting,"
mused the hare.
Fox yawned inside his cockpit, trying to catch some shut-eye. The fact that
he was keeping his craft cooled down wasn't helping matters much. "I'm
surprised you aren't trying to take a nap or something."
"Unlike you, Fox, I can't sleep everywhere. The Arwing is a nice
craft, but it is not comfortable enough to doze off in."
The commander's voice suddenly interrupted their conversation. "All
troops, this is Ayne. Situation update – six hoverbikes have been spotted
approaching from the west. Keep your weapons down but have them ready if you
need them. These should be our friends incoming. Ayne out."
"Finally," said Fox. Popping the cockpit open, he stood up, looking
into the late afternoon sky as the cool air wafted out of his craft. Glancing
towards the sun for a moment, he guessed there was a good hour or so of sunlight
left. Straining his eyes, he could barely see a dust trail in the distance,
being created by the approaching craft. "Time to look your best, old hare.
I see them coming."
"Thanks." Peppy followed suit, opening his cockpit as well. He stood
up and stretched, giving himself a quick shake to fully revitalize himself.
He then proceeded to say something that struck the vulpine as odd. "Fox,
are your shields up?"
He already knew the answer to that question without looking. "No. Why?"
Peppy wouldn't give much of an explanation, which worried Fox greatly.
"I'm not quite sure. Something's nagging me, and I think it
has to do with our approaching friends."
"You've never been wrong before. I hope you are in this instance
though, but I'll still raise the shields." Pushing a button on his
console, Fox heard a faint hum as the Arwing's defenses sprang to life
around him.
The hare followed suit. "Same here, Fox. Same here."
The pair of pilots stood tall and proud as the six hoverbikes approached. The
compliment of troops around the transport waited, their rifles held with military
precision over one shoulder, ignoring the heat. The bikes came to a halt about
a hundred feet from the transport, Ayne walking out of the vehicle as they dismounted.
Fox looked over the six as they approached, guns at the ready. They were a very
mismatched group at first glance. A tan furred male tiger walked at the front
of the group, eying everyone with suspicion. A striped zebra and a dark brown
badger followed right behind their leader. The last three were composed of a
heavily armed canine, carrying what looked to be a small missile launcher and
a rifle, and a male and female vulpine, both armed with rifles as well.
"Nice looking group," commented Fox to his partner.
"Agreed," said Peppy. "Talk about heavily armed for what is
nothing more than a simple mission to verify who we are."
Fox watched as Ayne moved past her soldiers, walking towards the group with
only a pair of guards as protection. Unlike the six, the lioness and her group
had their weapons holstered. "This doesn't bode well."
"Ayne knows what she's doing," said the hare. "Besides,
that group is vastly outnumbered and outgunned if they try anything."
"We'll see what happens. Just be ready for anything."
"Understood."
The commander had left her headset transmitting, so her soldiers and the pilots
could hear everything going on around her. "Good afternoon everyone. My
name is Ayne, and I'm the commander of this group you see around me. We
hail from Corneria as part of their military. As you can see, we are clearly
not part of the lizard scum that used to inhabit this planet."
"You can never be to sure in this day and age," growled the tiger
as he gestured with his rifle to prove his point. "You mess up just once
in this position and you find yourself dead."
"I see what you mean." She looked at the weapon the tiger was holding
menacingly, eying it for a make and model. "You can put that gun down
you know. We're all friends here."
"Nervous?" The tiger seemed to be enjoying the feeling of being
in control.
"No," replied the commander, her face neutral as she attempted to
keep the situation under her control. "I just worry about your people
and the ones under my command. That weapon of yours going off suddenly would
bring down the house so to speak."
The pilots watched and listened to the banter between the two, trying to figure
out where exactly this was going. "Something's wrong," Peppy
said. "This is supposed to be a simple recon mission. They're drawing
it out far more than they need to."
"Agreed," said Fox. His mind was on other things as the two leaders
continued to talk. He knew something was completely wrong with this entire speech
as well, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it.
"A credit for your thoughts?" asked the hare, noticing the silence.
"Give me just a second." Fox looked over the group of six, trying
to figure out what he thought was disturbing him. Ignoring the leader for the
moment, he looked over the others. The zebra and the badger were eying the crowd
warily, their weapons held so they could be used at a moment's notice.
They looked to be nothing but guards for their boss. The canine was clearly
the heavy weapon expert and nothing more. That only left the two foxes. "Peppy,
ignore the leader for me. What's your opinion on the group as far as their
roles are?"
Peppy stayed quiet as he looked over the six, his years being an advantage as
far as being able to judge the character of a person. "The badger and
zebra are definitely guards. Notice their stance and how they keep their weapons
aimed at different sides of their boss, giving the best angle of fire."
Fox continued to watch the two vulpines in back. They both seemed to have an
indifferent air about them as they glanced around, but he could tell that they
were taking in everything they saw and heard. He even thought he saw the male
of the pair wince for an instant as the leader said something that he missed.
"I agree with you on them. Go on."
Peppy continued his diagnosis of the group, although he still couldn't
figure out why Fox wanted his opinion. "The badger looks to be the gung-ho
type, based on his weapon of choice. If I had to make a guess, he's used
that missile launcher of his before, and he's not afraid to use it again.
And if his teammates suddenly duck, I'd say it was time to worry."
Fox had to laugh over his friend's choice of words. "I just hope
this doesn't come to that," he said seriously. "What about
the last two?"
The hare took a good look over the last pair. They were both of average height
and build, covered with dark red fur. They simply stood there, looking around
at their teammates and at Ayne. "Nothing too special about them. They're
not guards of any sorts, and they aren't armed any differently than the
basic weapon of choice for the rest of the group. It looks like they're
simply along for the ride." He paused for a moment, realizing what he'd
just said. "Which makes no sense whatsoever."
"Exactly. Which one of them is the true leader then?"
"So that's what you've been getting at the entire time."
Peppy looked closely over the pair as he silently wished that Fox would get
to the point quicker some days, instead of beating around the bush. "Without
knowing anything else about them, or their actions, I'm going to take
the biased answer unfortunately. My guess is on the male."
"The biased answer indeed," said Fox with a laugh. "Why would
they be deceiving Ayne then?"
"Protection. Never reveal yourself unless you have to, especially when
facing the unknown."
"I see your point. Time to get this little charade over with as I want
to get back home." Waiting for a quiet moment down below, he changed who
he was talking to on his headset and said, "Ayne, this is Fox. We need
to talk, now."
The commander noticed the urgent tone in his voice and politely excused herself
for a moment, her guards following. "What is it, McCloud?" she asked
in an annoyed tone, not pleased as to how this meeting was progressing.
"To put it bluntly, you aren't talking with the leader."
"What?" she exclaimed as she turned towards Fox. Her expression
changed quickly as she figured out what he was getting at, her tail sweeping
back and forth in anger as she stared at the rebels. "Those vulpines in
back, acting all inconspicuous, right? Blasted little…"
Fox could clearly see that she was furious, even at this distance. He tried
his best to calm her down, knowing that her survival could be at risk if he
didn't. "Ayne, don't go berserk on them. They're being
careful, that's all."
"Like hell I won't. Which one of them is the boss?"
"Unfortunately, I don't know for sure."
"More of a hassle for them then. Thanks for the info. Ayne out."
With all the grace of a lioness stalking her prey, she turned and stomped back
towards the group. When it became clear that she wasn't going to stop
at the supposed leader, the guards made a move to stop her. Roaring, she shoved
both of them out of the way, the badger dropping to the ground from the blow,
while the zebra stumbled yet stayed upright. The canine took one look at Ayne's
face and wisely decided to stay out of her path. The two foxes, realizing that
they were the goal of the commander, stayed still while the other four pointed
their guns at her back. Her guards stood some distance away, unsure of what
to do. "Which one of you is the leader here?" she bellowed.
The tiger quickly grew upset at being ignored. "I'm the leader you
pompous—"
He quieted instantly as Ayne suddenly spun around, her blaster in one paw, pointed
directly at his head. It happened so quickly that nobody had any idea how she'd
drawn her weapon. "If you seriously think that you're the boss,"
she hissed, "then you are the sorriest bunch of rebels I've ever
laid my eyes on. You couldn't talk yourself out of a wet paper bag."
Ignoring the weapons pointed at her, she holstered her own, turning back around.
"Now I'll ask you again as I'm sick and tired of you wasting
my time. Who is the leader?"
The male fox put up his paws, an apologetic look on his face. He spoke in a
calm voice, trying his best to cool everyone down. "My name is Rif, and
I'm leader of the entire rebellion here on Papetoon." He smiled
as the female came to his side, putting one arm around him. "This cutie
here is Rhene." He ruffled her headfur for a second before a more serious
look passed over his face. "Look, I apologize for my partner's actions
before. I never knew he would turn into such a temperamental hothead."
Glancing around to his team, he gave the order to stand down. "Guys, drop
your weapons. We're with friends here."
Ayne crossed her arms as she heard the sound of weapons returning to their holsters,
ignoring the fact that she could have been easily killed during her confrontation.
"Now we can get down to business. What's with the screwing around?
You can clearly see we aren't with that damned bastard Andross."
"I find that I tend to live longer this way. Unfortunately I've
lost quite a few of my so called doubles since the war started, so I've
had to do this." The fox looked towards the setting sun, shaking his head
as he realized just how much time he'd spent here so far. "I can
tell that we've wasted enough of your time. Let's get this over
with."
"Finally, somebody who sees things my way. Come on, I'll show you
around." She turned around, walking towards the rest of her troops. Everybody
followed, listening in on what she had to say. "You can clearly see the
transport we're approaching. Total soldier compliment is 120. We have
ground transportation for about half of our crew right now, and we can move
the ship easily enough if need be."
"Nice compact ship," said Rif as he looked over the transport, his
gaze coming to rest upon the one destroyed engine in the rear. "Looks
like she's seen a battle on the way down though."
The lioness nodded. "That it did. The two Arwings, on your left there,
saved our lives thankfully."
Rif took a good long look at the craft in question. The Arwings sat there in
the late afternoon sun, speckled with the sand and dust that covered nearly
everything on the planet. The two pilots stood proudly in their craft, looking
over everything nearby. Pointing at the closer of the two Arwings, he asked,
"So that's Fox McCloud in there, correct?"
Ayne looked over where the vulpine was pointing. "That's him in
the fur. Shall we pay him a visit?"
"Considering that's what I'm here to do, let's go."
The group turned towards the Arwings, looking over the craft as they approached.
"We're on our way, McCloud," said Ayne quietly into her headset.
"I see you," responded Fox. "It'll be nice to meet my
so called boss after all this time." He looked around, noting how relaxed
everyone seemed to be now that the resistance members had turned friendly. The
soldiers looked completely at ease, a few of them chatting with each other now
that things had turned friendly. A few others were still going over the destroyed
engine, but it looked like they had given up on any chance of repairs for the
time being.
Suddenly his computer yelled at him, indicating that his shields had taken a
hit. Concerned, but not seeing any kind of laser fire, he was about to run a
diagnostic when the computer screamed again, this time recording the hit on
a different side of his Arwing.
It also figured out what exactly was striking his craft. Some type of small
metal projectile had impacted against his shields at great speed.
Something that would describe an old school sniper rifle, almost undetectable
due to do a lack of an energy trail from more conventional weapons.
Something that could still be available on this semi-backwater planet if one
looked hard enough.
His computer complained once more as it took yet another bullet. Having no other
recourse at the moment, Fox yelled into his headset, "Sniper! I repeat,
sniper!"
That shout brought everyone to an uproar. Fortunately the soldiers were well
trained as they promptly scattered to any defensible position around them. The
resistance members and the commander sprinted towards Fox's Arwing, ducking
under one of the wings for cover, the vulpine quickly readjusting his shields
so he didn't vaporize the group. The communication lines were surprisingly
quiet as everyone waited for orders, other than the obvious mission to search
for the aggressors.
Ayne did her best to keep everyone calm. "If anybody has any answers on
where those snipers are, give me a yell."
Everyone stayed quiet. As did the shooters.
"I can launch and possibly find them with my sensors from above,"
suggested Peppy.
"Do it. Kill them if you find them. Collateral damage is acceptable if
it happens."
"Yes ma'am. Launching now." Dust and sand scattered everywhere
as Peppy kicked in his engines, getting off the ground within moments.
In the meantime, Fox closed up his cockpit, knowing that the plastics his viewing
area was made out of probably wouldn't absorb a bullet if his shields
failed. He just felt safer somehow doing so. Hooking up to Peppy's Arwing,
he used its sensor readings in addition to his own in a desperate bid to find
the hostiles shooting at him.
Despite Ayne's attempts to restrain them, the resistance members down
below were searching for the snipers as well. Each member had pulled out an
electronic binocular and was using them to scan the nearby rooftops.
Suddenly the last thing that any commander wanted to hear was yelled over the
coms. "Soldier down!"
Ayne cursed silently before telling her troops, "Everyone inside the transport,
now! The snipers have every advantage out there!" Her soldiers quickly
complied with the order, hustling back into the safety of the craft. Seconds
later there was nobody outside short of the six resistance members and Ayne
and her two guards, all hiding under the relative protection of Fox's
Arwing.
There were also three dead bodies left behind, their crimson blood leaking onto
the desert sands.
"We now know that there are three of them out here," said Ayne grimly
as she surveyed the carnage.
Fox's computer blared at him again, indicating that the snipers had resumed
attacking his Arwing. He watched his shield indicators drop as he continued
to take hits. "Guys and gals, the shields on the Arwing don't seem
to be designed to take ballistic weaponry like this. You're going to lose
your protection shortly as I'd like to avoid being killed. No offense
down there."
"None taken because I don't blame you," said Ayne.
Rif suddenly spoke up as he ducked back behind the wing on his side. "I've
found a target. 268 degrees by 3 degrees vertical."
The canine nodded as he ducked underneath the engine, coming to where the fox
was. "I'm on it boss." He poked his head out for a moment
to acquire a visual of the target. Looking over his shoulder, he asked, "Collateral
damage is fine by you, correct?"
Ayne nodded, angered by the loss of her soldiers. "You can take out half
this starport as far as I'm concerned."
"A female after my own heart," he commented with a smile. He hefted
his missile launcher into the air, double checking the weapon before firing
it. "Fire in the hole!" he yelled as he set the weapon onto his
shoulder, stepping far enough into the open so he had a clear line of fire.
Setting up the shot in a matter of moments, he squeezed the trigger, rapidly
ducking back as a sniper round impacted near his feet.
The missile shot out the launcher, white smoke trailing along behind it as it
sped towards its target. The target in question was the rooftop of a storage
building. As the missile neared, Fox thought he saw somebody attempt to run
to safety.
It wasn't going to happen though as the missile found its target. The
resulting fireball engulfed the front top part of the building, parts of roofing
material and anything that was still stored there hurtling into the air in burning
chunks. The group cheered as they watched the carnage from their location.
"That's one down," said Ayne quietly.
"I've found the second," said Peppy. "Engaging to your
southeast."
Everyone looked in the direction indicted as Peppy made a single pass. The hostile
was shooting from the top of a vehicle hanger. Or at least was once a hanger
as the hare made short work of the building's roof. It took only a few
shots before the hanger, which wasn't designed to resist blaster fire,
crumbled in on itself, a small fire visible in the debris.
"Nice shooting," said Fox. "No rest for the weary though as
I've picked up the third. Check your display."
"I see it. Moving on." Gracefully Peppy swung his Arwing around,
bearing down on his final target, which was using some smaller storage containers
off to one side of the spaceport as cover.
This lizard wasn't going to go quietly however.
From Fox's vantage point, all he saw was a missile suddenly clear the
smaller containers and speed towards the incoming Arwing. Peppy simply didn't
have the time to even think about dodging before the missile found its target.
The explosion engulfed his craft completely as he vanished behind the larger
buildings in the area.
"Peppy!" yelled Fox. Completely forgetting the others below he began
to go through the preflight sequence in a near panic. "Peppy, please respond!"
Static was heard over the com lines for a few seconds before resolving into
his friend's voice. "I'm okay, Fox," said Peppy weakly.
"Thankfully, the shields held."
Fox sighed in relief. "Good to hear. I thought I almost lost you."
"Not that easily." The hare's voice turned angry all of a
sudden. "On the other hand, this little pipsqueak of a lizard isn't
going to remain for much longer." Boosters glowing brightly behind him,
Peppy turned and dove towards his target, firing recklessly instead of his usual
well-placed shots.
The others watched as the Arwing came back into view, firing constantly. His
shots widely missed their target, striking anything nearby. A few open containers
exploded as they were hit, and a building shuddered from missed shots. Not caring
in the slightest, Peppy continued his wild assault.
Fox quickly grew worried at this sudden change in attitude from his more reserved
and calculated teammate. "Are you okay, Peppy?" he asked in a concerned
tone.
The hare stayed silent.
"Shit," Fox cursed to himself. Hoping that his friend would simply
calm down after he eliminated his target, he continued to watch through the
sensor data the Arwing was transmitting. The lizard had panicked after firing
his only shot from his missile launcher, and was currently running from building
to building just trying to find some kind of cover. Fox watched as the lizard
came to a halt next to an old fuel container, ducking underneath it for protection.
There was only one problem – it wasn't empty.
Peppy noticed this fact through his sensors, much to the lizard's dismay.
The hare fired continuously at the container, stopping only when it exploded
into a fireball, taking out the creature in a blazing inferno.
"Nice work," said Fox, hoping that Peppy would revert to his normal
self quickly.
The hare continued with the silent treatment as he turned and approached the
landing zone.
"Ayne," said the vulpine, "I've lost contact with Peppy."
"In more ways than one it seems," she responded. "I've
seen this before in some soldiers – first combat jitters when faced with
a near death situation."
"That would make sense if we hadn't been through incidents like
this before." He sighed, greatly worried about his friend. "While
I doubt it'll happen, be prepared to run if he starts firing on anything
else."
"Will do."
Everyone watched as the hare accelerated for a moment, passing over the transport
at a high rate of speed. He slowed, making a wide, banking turn as he approached
once more. Fox checked over his shield levels, satisfied to find that he could
take a few shots without being in too much danger. "Come on, Peppy,"
he said to himself. "Snap out of it."
The hare came in low as he neared, looking like he might attack. The Horizon's
upper turret tracked the Arwing as it came into view, the gunner inside knowing
that he might have to defend himself. Fox held his paw over the final buttons
in the launch sequence, ready to jump into flight if he needed to.
Retro-rockets blazing brightly, Peppy passed over the transport by only a couple
of yards, quickly slowing to a landing a few feet from the other Arwing. Fox
looked over to his teammate, who promptly closed his eyes and slumped back in
his seat. Cursing, he powered down his craft, waiting only for the muted hum
of his systems to quiet before popping open the cockpit and leaping to the ground
below.
"I'll send some soldiers to keep an eye out on you," said
Ayne as Fox sprinted to the other Arwing. "We're going inside to
get everything over with. Thanks for all that you've done."
The vulpine only waived his paw in response as he reached his destination. After
tossing a small rock against the Arwing to ensure that the shields were down,
he flicked a hidden switch that caused a small ladder to fold out on the side
of the hull. Climbing it, he opened two small panels just underneath the cockpit,
revealing the manual release handles for it. Pulling both simultaneously, the
cockpit opened upward with a hiss. Taking one look at Peppy's exhausted
face, Fox asked, "Are you okay?"
"What do you think?" replied the hare quietly without opening his
eyes. "I lost control out there. I…I've never had anything
like that happen before."
Fox felt odd consoling what he always considered his mentor. "Peppy, things
like this happen. Ayne suggested—"
"No offense to her or her experience," interrupted Peppy, "but
her ideas have no merit in this situation." He raised his paws, rubbing
his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up. "We've been in far worse,
Fox, and you know it."
"You're right. You're always right." He grinned as he
watched the last vestiges of the sun vanish behind the horizon. "How about
a combination of factors then?"
The hare opened his eyes and looked into his friend's concerned face.
He still couldn't believe that he had just fallen apart like that. There
had to be a good reason, but the answer was something he did not have for once.
"That's a possibility. As far as days go, this was rather the problematic
one."
"That is an understatement."
Peppy looked past his friend at the happenings behind him. Not only were there
a pair of soldiers watching to see if Fox needed their assistance, but there
were a pair assigned to each of the corpses still lying on the landing area.
The rest of the crew had split into groups of three, and were currently investigating
every single building and storage area to make sure a repeat of what had just
occurred wasn't going to happen. Ayne and her entourage had vanished into
the communications tower, and were hopefully finishing the mission. "I
hate to sound like I'm complaining or something, but can we go now? I'm
in desperate need of some time outside of this Arwing."
Fox smiled. "Now that's something that I can agree to. One second."
Flipping on his headset, he asked, "Ayne, do you need us any more, or
can we depart?"
The commander was slow in responding as she was in the middle of another conversation.
"McCloud, your team is free to go. Papetoon is as safe as it's going
to be for right now thanks to your efforts. Now we just need to get rid of the
few stragglers that remain on the planet, and that's far outside of your
mission requirements."
"Good. We're leaving then. You know how to contact us or Corneria
in general if you need further help."
"That I do. I thank you both again for your assistance. Without you we
would not all be here right now. May your recovery of the galaxy be as successful
as this attempt was."
"Thanks. Fox out." He ended the communication without a further
word. Smiling, he told Peppy, "We're clear to go. Let's get
the hell out of here."
Peppy smiled weakly back. "About time. I'll follow you out."
Fox nodded as he climbed back down the ladder, closing it up as he reached the
bottom. "I'll be ready in a minute." Turning, he jogged back
to his Arwing, practically vaulting into his craft as he was so overjoyed to
finally get back home.
The Arwing almost leapt off the ground as Fox kicked his engine to full power
as soon as everybody vacated the area. Peppy followed right afterward, both
craft going into formation as they charged through the atmosphere.
They both heard the voice of Rif as he told the entire planet of their success.
"Attention all citizens of Papetoon, this is Alpha One. As you might have
heard earlier, Papetoon is ours again. Therefore, to put it into code words
that you're all expecting to hear, let me put it this way. Project Papetoon
One is complete. I repeat, project Papetoon One is complete. The mission is
a success thanks to a pair of outstanding pilots from Corneria, whose names
are Fox McCloud and Peppy Hare. Our hopes and dreams lie on these pilots as
they continue to return the entire system back to their rightful owners. Give
your prayers to them in your hearts. Alpha One, out."
The two Arwings escaped the planet's atmosphere and entered the blackness
of space, both pleased to hear the kind words from Rif. Setting the computer
to chart a course back to Corneria, Fox had to say one last thing on his mind
that had been troubling him somewhat. "Peppy, I have thank you for something
today."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Your suggestion to keep my shields raised saved my life earlier. I owe
you one."
The hare stayed quiet for a moment before saying anything. He sounded almost
worried when he finally responded, thinking that this might have been the reason
behind him falling apart like he had. "I'd thought you say that.
The odd part though is…" He grew quiet again, concern growing in
the vulpine quickly. "This will sound strange to you, Fox, but it felt
like somebody told me to make sure the shields were up."
Peppy's announcement came as a shock to Fox, as while he had said some
strange things and suggestions to the crew in the past, this was the first time
the hare had tried to explain any of it. "Now that really is strange.
Is this the first time you've heard these suggestions?"
"Fox, I can tell exactly what you're thinking – I'm
not crazy. You remember the other times I've said unusual things out of
the blue? Those were along the same lines, but this time it was more of a direct
telling. I…I really can't explain it."
The two Arwings continued to hurtle through space as Fox debated on where to
take this conversation. "Well, Fara did jokingly ask if you were psychic.
Maybe you are."
Peppy refuted that statement quickly. "No. I've just had these feelings
of things over the years. I can't tell the future or talk to the dead
or anything like that. Just a feeling of what to do. Short of this time anyway."
He paused again for a moment. "It felt like someone was talking to me."
Fox tried to remain as unconcerned as possible, but he was worried about his
friend's sanity. "Interesting."
"I'm just as confused about this as you are. I probably shouldn't
even have told you this as now you have something else to worry about."
"No, it's good to hear. It explains a few things at least."
Peppy sighed. "Can I ask you not to tell anyone else about this conversation
though?"
"Sure, no problem. Something tells me that Falco and Slippy…"
Fox stopped suddenly, realizing that he had forgotten about his injured teammate
so many hours ago. "I had completely forgotten about Slippy in all the
excitement. I hope he's okay."
Peppy was just as shocked as Fox was. "Wow. I'm glad I'm not
the only one who's had that incident slip their mind."
Fox looked down at his computer, the screen indicating that the flight plan
had been ready for some time now. "Let's go home."
"Agreed." After a few seconds, the two Arwings accelerated and jumped
to near lightspeed, their forms disappearing in a blur of light.
