And the story continues. For those of you wondering just what exactly Andross had planned, you're about to find out. And it ain't pretty. Best of all, for those Fara fans in the audience, she's about to leave the sidelines and make a comeback for a while. Why? You'll have to read on.
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Chapter 23: Home Is Where the Problems Lie
That little speech of Peppy's really worries me. While I trust him at what he said about it, I wonder if there isn't some part of him that's a little crazy. At least we're home. I need a shower and a good night's sleep badly. – Fox


It was well past nightfall Corneria time when the pair finally landed, both nearly exhausted and wanting nothing more than to get a bite to eat and to drop off to bed. They also knew that there was no chance in that happening. They had been in discussion with the base for the last few minutes, finding out that their injured teammate was for the most part fine. The pair still wanted to see him though.
Stepping off the last rung of the fold out ladder on his Arwing onto the metal floor, Fox looked around to see if he could find somebody from the engineering staff. As luck would have it, Cyrus was already on his way over. Eyeing the Arwings for any kind of damage, he greeted the vulpine. "'Tis looks like your craft are in fine shape tonight. Did the new design on the Nova Bombs hold up well in battle?"
Fox nodded. "That they did. I need to lodge in one complaint though."
The badger tilted his head to one side, giving the pair a confused look. "Your ships look to be in perfect health, my lads. What 'tis the problem then?"
Fox shook his head as Peppy walked up. "Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with the Arwings. Just a comment about how the shields work. They're rather weak against ballistic type weapons, like small-arms fire."
Now Cyrus was definitely confused. "Lads, nobody uses ballistic weapons in his day and age. Everything is energy based nowadays. Those types of guns were banned years ago due to them being environmentally unsafe compared to your average laser pistol."
"Tell that to the lizards who were using Fox's head as a sniper target," said Peppy.
The badger quickly grew concerned over that fact. "'Tis not good to see that fact come out like that, but 'tis a known problem."
"A known problem?" exclaimed Fox incredulously. "My head was almost blown open like a melon and it's yet another design flaw?"
Cyrus raised his paws to quiet down the vulpine. "'Tis not a design flaw, more of a design limitation. The shields do a very good job defending against energy weapons as the power of the shot is shared amongst most of the shield grid. This allows the shields to not take as much of a hit as multiple areas have taken only a bit of damage."
"A sound design move," said Peppy, understanding the badger's reasoning. "Why make the defensive systems work harder than they need to?"
"Exactly," nodded Cyrus. "Against ballistic firepower though, and this includes missiles as well, the shields have to work to keep the weapon from getting through. The shield grid simply cannot work together in this instance. So one portion of the shields are greatly reduced with each hit, forcing the system to work much harder to compensate for the damage. It can be adjusted to defend better against ballistics or energy, but not both. That requires a far more massive shield system than can be fitted onto these Arwings."
Fox opened his mouth to argue, but quickly realized that there was nothing else that could be said or done about it. "I guess you're right. It doesn't make me feel any safer though."
"But like I said, lads, nobody uses ballistics anymore, so there isn't much to worry about."
The pilots turned to leave. "Thanks for the info," said Fox. "I'd love to stay and chat, but we have an injured crewmate to look in on. And then a date with the General if I had to make a guess."
Cyrus nodded. "Aye, that you do. Although the General wanted to see you as soon as you landed. Not anytime afterward."
Fox smirked as he said, "Then we haven't landed yet, if you get my drift."
Thankfully for them the badger knew exactly how demanding Pepper could be some days and was more than willing to help them out. "Aye. Just don't take too long."
"We won't." The pair waved as they walked off. "Catch you later."


A quick elevator ride later found the two pilots walking into the medic bay, eager to see their injured pilot. Upon arriving however, they realized one thing rather quickly – Slippy wasn't there.
Devan was currently on duty this night, the hare waving to the pilots from the side office. He stood up and came over to them, a datapad in one paw. "Evening, folks. What can I help you with?"
"We were looking for one of our pilots," said Fox as he took one last look around the room. "His name—"
"Slippy Toad, right?" interrupted Devan. "Amphibian about shoulder height, abnormal green complexion, came in here real sick about early afternoon?"
The pilots smiled. "That's him," said Fox. "Although the green skin is rather normal for him."
"Judging by how he looked when he came in, I doubt that." The medic shook his head as he realized that the pilots were more than likely in a hurry. "Sorry, he's not here right now. We felt that him getting plenty of rest in a more comfortable bed than the ones we have here was a good idea."
"What's wrong with him?" asked Peppy.
Devan glanced at the datapad he was holding for a moment. "Nothing more than a simple bout of an acute infection caused by the influenza virus."
Even Peppy stayed quiet at that statement, as his knowledge was surprisingly limited in the medical area. "Care to translate for us non-medical types?" asked Fox.
"Sorry. Basically the flu. One of the engineers he was working with last night came down with a less severe version of it yesterday. I sent him back to work." He looked at the pad again. "Methinks I should have kept him another day."
Fox looked glum for a moment as he realized that he would be without a pilot for a bit. Fortunately, he could call upon Fara, who he guessed would be more than happy to get back in the cockpit. "Lovely." He looked at the datapad that Devan was once again glancing at. "What's on the pad that has you so interested?"
The medic looked up. "Oh, this thing? Remember that wristband I used the other day? It's connected to the medical bay here, and to this device. It allows me to keep an eye on everyone hooked up on one." He looked at it again, pushing a few buttons. "Incase you were wondering, your pilot is currently awake and in his room. I told him to get to sleep early though, so I don't know how late he'll be up. It is highly unlikely that you'll catch what he has if you're only there for a little while."
"Thanks," said Fox. He turned to leave, but then realized that he had something else to ask. "How long do you expect Slippy to be out of action?"
Devan debated on that answer for a moment before saying anything. "Good question. He was in pretty bad shape when he came in, so I don't expect this to be over with that quickly." He shrugged as he gave his opinion. "Best guess is two or three days, even with the latest in Cornerian medical technology."
Fox nodded. "Thanks again. Gotta go." Waving to the medic, the pair left, working their way to their friend's quarters.


"So then there were three," said Peppy as the pilots walked down the plain white hallway. "I take it that you're putting Fara into the empty pilot's seat, right?"
Fox nodded. "She'll be glad to get back into the skies again I'd imagine."
"I'd assume so. She looked quite depressed when we ran into her earlier."
"No kidding." Fox remembered the very moody look Fara had on her face for just a moment before she realized that the rest of the team was in front of her earlier in the day. It was not an expression he liked seeing on anybody. In the meantime though, he had other things to worry about as Slippy's door loomed by the both of them. Pushing the call button on the door panel, he said, "Slippy, you awake? It's Fox."
Their friend's voice sounded exhausted through the speaker. "Yeah, I'm up. Door's open."
The door swished open, admitting the pair. They walked in, staying near the doorway, noticing the toad buried underneath the covers on the bed. "Evening, Slip," said Fox.
The toad smiled weakly. "Hey, guys."
"You look like hell."
Slippy coughed for a moment, letting everyone know his opinion with a groan. "I feel like I've been run over."
"What happened?" asked Peppy. "You looked somewhat exhausted earlier, but I didn't expect this out of you."
"I'm…I'm not quite sure. I remember getting into the Arwing this morning, but…everything after that is just a blur."
Fox looked at his sick friend, feeling sorry for the toad. While he was rarely sick himself, he could relate with the few times he had fallen under the weather. "Well, Slippy, I'm glad to see that you're okay at least. Unfortunately, Pepper's been looking for us from what we hear, so we shouldn't delay him any longer."
"Okay. Guys, I'm sorry about all of this."
Fox shook his head. "Don't be. These things happen. Besides, Fara will be more than willing to take care of your Arwing in the meantime. You just concentrate on getting better."
"I will." He coughed again, silencing him for a moment. "Kick some Andross tail in my absence, okay?"
The pilots laughed. "We will," said Fox. "Just to let you know, Papetoon is ours again." He waved. "See ya."
The pair turned and left, leaving their sick companion behind as he tried to get some sleep.


As the mess hall was only a few doors down, Fox and Peppy decided to make a quick stop and pick up a bite to eat before their meeting. As expected, the place was completely empty short of the lone cook for the rare late night orders. Neither was in the mood for a full meal, so Fox just picked up a random muffin while Peppy acquired an apple from a pile of fruit.
Taking their newfound meals with them, the pair walked back to the elevator, munching on their food as they went. "Slippy looks terrible," commented Fox around a bite.
Peppy nodded as he swallowed his mouthful. "The common cold, when mutated multiple times from different carriers, can quickly turn into something that can knock down the strongest of defenses."
Fox rolled his eyes once more at his friend's words of wisdom. "Once again I'm amazed at your ability to think up sayings like that on the fly."
They reached the elevator at that point, both of them going in and watching the door close. Peppy pushed the button to travel upwards as he said, "It's a skill that takes many years of practice, my friend." The elevator moved upwards as he continued. "Slippy looks like he'll be fine though in a few days. It'll just take time."
"As advanced as Cornerian medicine is, it can't stop things like the flu." The elevator came to a halt, both pilots quieting as they awaited the door to open up for them.
To their surprise, it didn't open right away. Instead, they were startled to hear Fara's chipper voice sound over the speaker in the control panel. "Evening, guys. How goes the war?"
Fox smiled upon hearing Fara's voice. It was something he'd missed, even though he'd never admit it. "The war has gone well so far," he said happily. "Papetoon is now ours once again."
"All right!" she exclaimed. "I knew you could do it, even without a full compliment of Arwings."
"Thanks."
"Excuse me, you two," interrupted Peppy. "We do have a meeting to get to you know. Is there some reason to this idle chitchat here instead of in our rooms?"
"Fine then," chided Fara, "don't let me congratulate you." She paused for a moment, giving the pair a chance to wonder why she had suspended the elevator ride. "I bring some unsettling news to you both – Pepper's pissed off something fierce right now."
"Well, that's not good," said Fox as he looked over to his teammate. "I wonder why?"
"Considering it came just after a mission," commented Fara, "it leaves me with little idea as well. What, did ya kill something or someone that you shouldn't of?"
Fox looked glum, the deaths of the soldiers coming back into his mind. "Yeah."
Fara's cheerful voice changed to a more sodden tone quickly. "Ouch. I won't keep you then. Good luck, and if you want to talk afterward, I'll be in my room. By the way, there's a trashcan in the first room on your right. Nobody's inside, and it's right behind the door."
"Thanks," said Fox.
Without another word, the elevator doors opened for the pair, allowing them to move on to the meeting with much more dread than they had before.


"Good evening, Starfox team."
The two pilots had arrived at Pepper's briefing room. He had surprised them both by actually being there before them for once. With a neutral tone and showing no facial expression at all, he continued what he had to say after the pair sat down. "Looks like Cyrus kept you a bit downstairs."
Fox nodded, not wanting to explain his delay as the General was clearly not in his usual jovial mood. He changed his tone to one more serious than usual as well. "That he did, sir."
"I'll have to talk to him about that," he said mostly to himself. "I said immediately, and I meant it. No matter." He looked both pilots in the eyes as he continued. "I have a few things to say tonight, but I'll keep it short as no doubt you have other things to do. First off, congratulations on the recovery of Papetoon. While this is only the first planet out of many in the system, this shows that you're more than capable of doing what needs to be done."
Both pilots smiled at the approval, knowing that they deserved it. "Thank you, sir," said Fox. "It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it."
If Pepper had any comments of his own he didn't reveal them to the team. "Needless to say, I'll need you, Junior, to do another interview like last night after this. For my second point, your teammate Slippy is doing as well as can be. You might want to pay him a visit afterwards to check up on him."
Fox worked hard for a moment to keep from laughing. "We'll do that, sir."
"Good. Now for my main point." He paused as he clasped his fingers together, making sure he had the pilots' attention. "I hear that things didn't go as well as they should have on Papetoon. I don't ask much from those under my command, but I do expect one thing from them – discipline as far as following orders and common sense goes."
The pair clearly realized where this was going to go, but they kept quiet as Pepper continued to talk. "Because you were both doing things other than your lone objective of guarding that transport, a total of five good soldiers lost their lives today."
Fox sensed that the General was done with his thoughts for the moment. He decided to interrupt him with the correct answer. "Two, sir."
Pepper grew angry and confused at the same time, knowing that there wasn't any room for debate. "There were five soldiers killed," he said quietly, as if warning the vulpine to keep quiet.
Fox simply wouldn't take the hint. "Two that are directly our fault, sir."
Pepper grew enraged at how Fox wasn't able to understand such a simple concept as basic numbers. "There were five soldiers killed!" he yelled, putting great emphasis on each word as if the vulpine were deaf.
Peppy winced as he shrunk back in his seat, having a very good idea as to what was going to happen in just a few moments.
Fox for the most part was a very calm and polite person. He was the type that would sit and listen to your complaints and do whatever was needed to solve them. However, when things were said about him, his character, or those that were under his command that were untrue, or if things happened around him that offended him greatly, odds were that he would go ballistic doing something about it.
This was one of those times.
Fox stood up and began yelling back at the General with such suddenness, and with such force, that it left Pepper momentarily stunned. Which was a good thing, as otherwise the shouting match that would have ensued would probably have knocked down a few walls before abating.
"There were two soldiers that were killed while the transport was undefended in the air! That was directly our fault! The other three were a result of sniper fire while we were grounded as we waited for the resistance members to come visit the Arwings! As it was, if it wasn't for Peppy here, you'd be looking at me in a body bag right now! On top of all that, I went and looked at the soldiers that I got killed, to make sure that I wouldn't forget their faces! I know what I did wrong!" Thoroughly disgusted with the General and with what he'd just done, Fox dropped down onto his chair with a huff.
Pepper sat there, absolutely stunned that he had just been yelled at by a subordinate. He raised a paw, clenched it into a fist, took a deep breath, and prepared to give Fox the biggest verbal thrashing of his life. Before he could say anything though, images of this exact same scenario, except with Fox's father sitting in front of him, flashed through his mind. Yelling at the older vulpine never accomplished anything, short of raising his blood pressure. He realized that yelling at the younger one wasn't going to do any good either.
Instead, he swiveled in his chair, staring at Peppy, his gaze boring right through him. "Is this true?" he asked quietly, knowing that the hare wouldn't hide anything from him.
Peppy blinked a few times, shocked that the pair hadn't started the worst shouting match of all time. He had seen this happen before with James, and it was something he expected to see again today. "It's all true, sir," he responded after a few seconds, hoping that this wouldn't escalate further.
Pepper closed his eyes and sat back in his chair, debating on what to say to the pair. The seconds ticked by as time itself seemed to slow. Finally, his eyes opened as he looked at both of the pilots. "Get out," he hissed in a near whisper.
Fox spoke up, trying to apologize as he realized just how bad of a position he was now in. "Sir, I can…"
The General interrupted him with a wave of his paw. "Get out," he said again. "I'll deal with you later," he added almost as an afterthought.
Not wanting to anger the canine further, the pilots stood up and left his office as quickly as they dared.


"That went well," said Fox quietly once the door had closed behind them. The pair hurried back to the elevator, wanting to be anywhere but where they were right now.
"You do realize that you need to learn to control your temper, Fox," said Peppy bluntly. "That attitude is going to get you killed or worse one of these days."
Fox grumbled as he looked at his friend, the hate just pouring out of his voice. "I've been shot at in my Arwing, had my head used as a target, watched others die around me, and I've just yelled at my boss. Are you going to give me the fifth degree as well?"
Peppy almost lost his cool at that point as they entered the elevator. He also knew it was still Fox's rage talking, and not his usual self. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he responded. "Fox, listen to yourself. Taking your anger out on me, or anyone else that you know, will cause nothing but hardship for you and those you call your friends."
The vulpine turned and smashed his fist against the wall as the elevator descended to their quarters. "Damn it!" he cursed. It took a moment, but finally he sighed, his common sense kicking back in again. "You're right, old friend. As always."
Peppy was pleased to see his teammate calmed down, but there was more that he had to say. "You need to find a better way of getting rid of your anger, or you need to stop blaming yourself for everything that happens so you don't create it. It just isn't good for you."
"I know. It…it's just so hard some days. So much has happened so far in my life, so many hardships to overcome." He sighed again, taking a moment to think over his short life so far. "It's like the whole universe is against me some days."
Peppy smiled weakly. "But you have friends, comrades, all who are willing to help you. Use them, talk to them. Don't let your problems stack up like that."
The elevator slowly came to a halt. "I guess if I didn't have the entire system watching over me, watching my every mistake, I could just take these missions as what they are and not worry so much."
The doors opened, allowing the two pilots to exit. They walked down the hallway as they continued to talk. "But think of the rewards, Fox. You'll save millions of people, people who would be damned into a life of eternal slavery if it wasn't for you."
Fox shrugged, not sure what to think. "Yeah, I guess."
The pair reached the door to Peppy's room, the hare turning and opening it up. "Just sleep on it. You'll feel better in the morning. I hope that this whole thing will have blown over by then as well. Good night."
"'Night." Fox looked around the empty hallway for a moment, debating on what his friend had said. Thinking back to what Fara had mentioned earlier, he decided to pay her a visit.
Still upset at his outburst at the General, he passed by his teammate's rooms before reaching Fara's. He only got as far as touching the call button to let her know that he was there before her voice chimed in over the loudspeaker. "Hey Fox, come on in."
The door slid open at his request, allowing him to see Fara's room for the first time. While it looked like the same standard room that the rest of them had, she had made some slight modifications to it owing to the fact that she had been there much longer than the rest of them. A more comfortable looking bed resided near the entrance, sticking out into the room, while a small nightstand with a book on top sat next to it. The fold-down table that was underneath the plasma TV on the wall had been converted to a standard desk with multiple drawers for storage, and a second one was being used as her computer desk. On the top of that desk was a different looking computer than the standard model, and next to it on the floor was a full-length mirror.
Sitting at the computer was Fara. She swiveled around in her chair, grinning as she realized that he hadn't crossed the threshold into her room. "I don't bite, silly. Come on in."
Fox was about to enter when he noticed that Fara wasn't dressed in the standard military garb. Instead, she was wearing a fuzzy dark purple robe, wrapped tightly around her. A pair of slippers poked out from underneath, matching the color of her outfit. Her grin turned into a smile as she noticed his wandering eyes. "You like?" she asked.
The door finally swished shut behind Fox as he walked in. Words simply had no meaning as he stared at the carefree vixen in front of him. He squashed any thoughts of her attractiveness though, as during a war was not the time to be asking your fellow pilots out. "It's just that it's not exactly standard military issue. It does look good on you though."
She laughed. "Standard military issue my tail." Fara gestured around the room as she continued. "Go sit down somewhere, take a load off. What's on your mind?"
Fox debated on sitting down at one of the spare chairs in the room, but decided on the bed in the end. He plopped down on the covers, the springs squeaking slightly to accept his weight. He propped up his head with his arms as he said, "Well, I seriously screwed up this evening. I got into a shouting match with our boss."
Fara giggled. "You're not kidding. You're lucky to be alive at this point, much less still employed here."
"I thought so," he said with a sigh.
She took a good look at Fox, noticing how unhappy he looked. Fara found it almost funny how the roles were now reversed from earlier in the day. Now he needed the cheering up instead of her. She sat back in her chair for a moment, swinging her feet back and forth, as she debated on what to say. "Is everything you, well, yelled at Pepper true?"
Fox nodded. "Yeah." He grew upset for a moment as he realized something, looking angrily towards the vixen. "So you do spy on him all the time. Do you do the same to us?"
Fara threw up her paws in innocence. "I've told you before, there are no cameras or anything of the sorts installed in anybody's room. And because I can get into the security system, doesn't mean that anybody can. In covering my tracks, I've made the entire system far more secure than it ever was. Only I or the people who are supposed to monitor the cameras can get in now."
"All right." Fox seemed unconvinced, or simply didn't care at the moment as he had too many other things to worry about.
Fara looked at Fox's bummed out expression and figured out what she needed to do. "Fox, I'm not a psychiatrist or anything, but I've learned over the years that it helps to listen to one's problems." She smiled. "In other words, tell me about your day."
Fox looked up, trying to read Fara's face as to what her overall motive was. He just couldn't at this point though, and she seemed sincere enough. "Everything?" he asked.
She nodded. "Everything. The night is still young, and I don't have anything else to do."
He looked into her face once more in confusion, but his hesitation as to what he should do dissolved as he saw her smile again. "If you insist." And so he did. Starting with their first approach to Papetoon, and continuing through his day, Fox told her everything. He covered how he felt when he noticed that Slippy wasn't responding, to his feelings when he used the Nova Bombs, to the events that covered the Horizon's attack and landing, and how he had looked on those that had lost their lives. He also told her of his feelings when he became a sniper target, and then when others still died around him. Eventually, he concluded with his little discussion with Pepper just recently.
The entire time Fara just sat there, watching over Fox as he talked. She was impressed that he was bearing his soul like this, as she expected Peppy to be the mentor of the group based on what little she had seen of everybody. She made a mental note to talk to Peppy afterwards, as he really needed to know what Fox was telling her as she doubted that the vulpine had done anything like he was doing to anyone else on the team.
In the end though, it was clearly good for Fox to open himself up like this. His mood lightened considerably as he talked, a smile even appearing upon his face a few times as he neared the end of his tale. Finally, he finished, a good twenty minutes later than when he had started. The pair sat there in the silence, each trying to figure where to take this conversation from here. Fox was the first to speak up again. "So, what do you think?"
Fara scratched her head for a moment as she decided on what to say first. "I have a couple of things to tell you. First, I can clearly see that you needed to open up like this. There is a marked difference in how you are presenting yourself to me than when you started this."
Fox agreed with her. "Yeah. I feel better somehow. I just can't explain it, nor can I figure out why I told you all of this instead of Peppy or someone else. I've only known you for like two days now, and here I just dumped my problems and worries right into your lap."
She laughed. "I have that effect on people some days."
He laughed back, feeling relieved to do so. "Well, it definitely helped. I almost feel like a new person."
"Just keep in mind that we're all here to help you. And that's your second tip." She smiled. "Although I wouldn't try this on Falco. He doesn't catch me as the listening type."
"Knowing him, he'd smack me around after a minute or two of something like this."
They both laughed at this point, knowing that Fox was correct. As they quieted, Fara had one last thing to say. "Last tip – things happen around you that you, nor anyone else, can affect. You also can't save everybody in the system. Death happens. You just have to accept it."
Fox sighed. "You're right." His expression changed to a grin. "You know, you're really starting to sound like Peppy. He said some of the same things earlier."
"That's not good. The last thing I want to become is that old coot." She giggled, which quickly turned into a yawn. "If you'll pardon me, I think it's time to catch up on some beauty sleep. Unless you have something else to say, I'll see ya in the morning."
Fox picked himself up off the bed and stretched, thinking about what else he needed to say. "Thanks for your time. By the way, if you didn't already know, you're going to be taking Slippy's place for the time being. So no more off time for you."
She smiled, forcing herself to stay put so she didn't jump around in excitement. "Thanks. That means a lot being able to get back into the skies again. I promise I won't have another event like the one a few days back."
"Good to hear. We don't have any other spare Arwings in the base, so we can't lose another."
Fara shooed him out of her room, grinning at his so-called joke. "Get out of here, silly. See you tomorrow."
"Night." Fox walked off, working his way back to his quarters. Thinking back to their discussion, he was amazed that he had opened up to Fara like that even though he'd only known her for a matter of days. It was good for him though, as he felt much better just being able to let go of his feelings and worries like that. The best part was that she seemed to enjoy the company, and as far as he was concerned, that was a good thing, even if his mind was preoccupied by the war.
Fara on the other hand, was in front of her mirror, combing through her headfur as she thought about what had just transpired. While she was impressed that Fox had said what he had to her, she found that the male population had a tendency to be open to her in a very short amount of time. Whether that was her personality or the fact that she was a rather attractive vixen, she really didn't care as it had led to some interesting conversations over the years. However, she thought that Fox was quite the cute vulpine – something that she hadn't noticed of anybody else in some time.


A short time later, Gary walked into the command center to do his usual update on the spy satellites scattered throughout the system. Celine was currently on duty, and he gave her a nod in greeting as he saw her. The lynx stood up and stretched, powering down the screen to her terminal, ready to go on her break as she always did when he came around this late at night. "Have you seen my weekly report, Celine?" he asked kindly, interrupting her.
She turned, pointing to the folder in question, which currently sat upon the console that he used to access the satellites. "It's right on your terminal, sir. Shall I go take a break as usual?"
Gary nodded as he moved to acquire the folder. "Go right ahead." He picked it up, and was about to look through it when he noticed the blinking light underneath. Quickly growing concerned, as he knew what the light meant, he asked, "Celine, has anybody noticed this flashing light over here?"
The lynx looked over. "No, sir. If they did, they haven't told me about it. Why?"
Almost in a near panic now, he sat down and powered up the computer, typing as fast as he could to figure out what details that light told him. Without turning around, he asked another question. "Celine, this is important. How long has this folder been here like this?"
She noticed the worry in Gary's voice and realized that something was dreadfully wrong. "It's been there since my shift started, sir, that much I know. As to before that, I have no idea."
The computer quietly finished the startup sequence. The monitor changed to display the data that the satellite had recorded before it met its demise. The cheetah stared at the images on the screen, realizing that they contained information that doomed their entire existence on Corneria. Trying to control his racing heart, he said quietly, "By the Creator… Celine, call Pepper for me. Now."
She looked over at what Gary was staring at with dread, but couldn't see what was on the screen from where she was. "What's wrong, sir?"
Gary wasn't forthcoming on an explanation as he was still trying to comprehend everything that was incoming from what little data that he'd received. "Call Pepper, please. I'll let you know later."
Celine sat down at her terminal before she remembered something. "The General is currently doing an interview for the news stations, sir."
"Interrupt him. I don't care what he says; he must see this now."
She looked over her terminal in fear, knowing that Gary has never acted this strange before. Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, she complied with his request. "Yes, sir."


It did not take long for Pepper to stomp his way into the command center once he got the call. "This better be damned important," he said angrily as he looked Gary's way. "This evening has been nothing but problems so far."
"It's about to get much worse," said the cheetah as he waved Pepper over.
The General worked his way over to his second-in-command, looking over his shoulder at the display once he arrived. Moments later he cursed, all the other problems in his day meaningless compared to what he was looking at. "Is this data for real?" he asked, knowing that he knew the answer to this question already.
Gary nodded. "All the security codes check out. The worst part is that I don't think that this is the entire force either."
Pepper found an empty seat nearby and dropped into it unceremoniously. "All our work is for naught, as none of us realized that Andross might be holding something big in reserve."
Celine meanwhile was still sitting at her post. Giving up on the hope that her senior officers would just tell her what was going on, she decided to take a chance and ask. "Excuse me, sirs, may I ask what exactly you are looking at? What has you so worried?"
The two males looked at each other for a moment in indecision, Pepper nodding with his approval after a moment. "Come here, Celine," said Gary. "I'll show you." He punched a few keys on the keyboard, causing the display to change to a system-wide overview of their spy probes.
"What you're about to see is not to be told to anyone," said Pepper. "Understood?"
"Yes, sir," replied the lynx as she approached. "I understand."
Gary pointed at the screen. "Here's the short version. About two years ago, due to a possible threat from Andross and for other security reasons, we made a modification to the probes we once used as a detection system against pirate attacks."
Celine nodded. "The Galactic Intruder Detection System, correct?"
"That's the one. It had a far greater use though – they are designed to spy on the planets they are stationed near, and anything in space nearby, while maintaining a stealth configuration. Thanks to them, we had some early warning against Andross' attacks when they first started."
The lynx looked confused as she thought back time wise. "Correct me if I'm wrong, sir, but I don't remember any warning given to the planets at all."
"That's because there wasn't," said Pepper quietly.
"What?" asked a stunned Celine, growing outraged at what she had just heard. "I have family on Katina that I could have warned!"
Gary sighed, expecting her reaction. "And I have relatives on both Macbeth and Katina. They weren't told either for one simple reason – we couldn't."
"From my understanding," said Pepper, "as I wasn't commander of this base back then, was for a rather simple reason. What would be the point? The Lylat system is a peaceful one. We have hardly any defenses, nor a standing military. A message would have caused nothing but panic. Besides, where would the citizens go?" He sighed, thinking back to times past. "The former General resigned about three months into the war due to that decision and the feelings of deep regret he had afterward."
The lynx dropped her head as she understood Pepper's point. "You're right. I take it you knew about the attack on Corneria far in advance as well, correct?"
"That we did," replied the cheetah with a nod. "Fortunately for us though, Andross thought that we would tell the citizens about the impending attack, as he sent in that battleship far slower than its known top speed. The extra day of practice gave the Starfox team all the training they needed to fight back."
"But what's the problem now, sirs?"
Gary turned around and punched in a few keys before responding, not at all pleased to see the data that the probe showed once more. "One of our probes was attacked. As a desperation move, the programming has it scan everything in the area and transmit it before it's destroyed. The data it recorded is the problem. Take a look." He showed her a graphical representation of what they knew.
Celine gasped as she looked at the collection of warships. On the screen were three battleships of the same type that had attacked Corneria just days earlier. While they and the dozens of fighters each craft sported were extremely dangerous, it was the vessel in the center of the group that looked to be the most problematic.
The ship looked almost impossibly huge, dwarfing the other craft nearby with its mostly circular appearance, bristling with weapon mounts of all shapes and sizes. As the scans weren't completed on the craft before the probe was destroyed, no exact details were listed, but it looked like it was capable of taking down the battleships surrounding it simultaneously with little problem. "That thing is huge!" exclaimed the lynx. "What are we capable of doing against that?"
Pepper looked up from where he had been sitting quietly in grief. "My dear, I have absolutely no idea. The Arwings were flat out not designed to attack something of that size."
"Should I assemble the team, General?" asked Gary.
"No," Pepper responded, shaking his head. "Let them sleep tonight. They'll need any advantage they can get in this battle."
"Okay. Shall I have the engineering bay fire off a few probes to see what additional data we can acquire?"
"Do it." He stood up, looking around the room with a sigh. "And may the Creator have mercy on our souls in this upcoming battle."
Gary and Celine looked at each other worriedly as Pepper walked off, knowing that the fate of the entire war could very well be determined by this single battle. Seeing what little faith their leader had on the outcome of this fight before it had even started didn't help in the slightest either.