Ever have one of those weeks where you just don't feel like writing at all? That's what my mood as been as of late. While this is a short chapter, don't worry - things are going to pick back up very soon.
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Chapter 28: Another Mission, Another Meeting
By the Creator, how did the Starfox team pull this one off? Unfortunately, it's only gone from bad to worse based on these reports. What am I going to do now? – Pepper


As expected, Pepper was stunned as he looked over the data that the Arwings had gathered. Gary peered over his shoulder, the two of them trying to comprehend what exactly had happened. Amazingly, the two probes that had been tracking the hostiles as they originally approached many an hour ago had survived the conflict, their continuous data being used as a supplement to what they already knew.
Which ultimately wasn't much.
They, along with the Starfox team, were currently assembled in the General's meeting room. The pilots had the honor of sitting there quietly while Pepper tried to figure out where to start this mission debriefing.
He finally looked up from his monitor, moving it to one side so his second-in-command could continue to look at the readouts. "How exactly did this happen again, Junior?"
Fox groaned, upset at having to explain himself even though all the data they had was freely available for them to look at. "That's what happened after the Negator was destroyed, General."
"And incase you missed that little part," interrupted Falco, "that damned thing almost took the four of us out with it."
Pepper nodded, not in the mood to argue with the avian's tone of voice. "Yes, I've gone through the Arwing's logs already. They do agree with what you've said."
"But how do we stop that thing?" asked Fara. "That's not exactly the best thing to have floating around the system."
"A good question," said Gary as he looked up from the monitor. "And a question we simply don't have an answer for right now. That's for the scientific community to figure out, not us. At least it's nowhere near any orbital paths of any planet in the system."
"Lucky us for once," muttered Falco.
Fox shook his head at his teammate's remark as he asked, "Is there anything else you need from us, sirs? My crew and I are in need of some R and R after today's little excursion."
"You're done for now," said Pepper. "Go take the rest of the day off." He stood up, the team wasting no time in doing the same. "I have two things to say before you leave though. You've done a wondrous job today. This single mission has wiped out what looks to be a huge portion of Andross' fleet, and will hopefully be the point that which he cannot recover from. It has also shown that when you put your minds to it, you can simply accomplish anything you want to."
Smiles and grins passed from teammate to teammate, everyone extremely proud to hear such kind words. "I think my whole team will wholeheartedly agree when I simply say thank you for saying that to us. We do what we can, and we'll do our best to continue onward to victory in the coming days."
The General simply nodded at that statement. "The only other thing to say is far smaller – I'll need you later, Junior, for yet another media conference. I'll call you later. Other than that, you're free to go."
"Will do. Crew, I think a celebration is in order. Let's go." With a nod or a wave to their boss, the pilots left, thoughts of a party running happily through their minds.


The Starfox team arrived in the mess hall not too long after that, looking for an entertaining afternoon either by the others on base or via a drink or two. Fortunately for them, Pepper had secretly let a few talkative members of the base know of their accomplishments, and in return had gathered quite a crowd for the pilots by the time they arrived. Many cheers were given for their victory against overwhelming odds, and the team was forced to boast about their accomplishments many times over a meal and a few drinks.
While the average person would just smile and nod while the pilots talked about their war stories, the people assembled around them were genuinely interested, as most of them were directly associated with the Arwing project in one way or another. Any glory and successes the team had were also in part to the skill of the ones who had designed and built the craft in the first place. It also inspired the people who flew the standard patrol craft, as they thought that with enough time and training, they too might be the next McCloud in the skies.
The best part though, was that it showed that the team were all real people, people who had concerns about who they were protecting, people who had problems and feelings as well, instead of acting how the average fighter jock was portrayed in your mindless action flick.
The four spent far longer than they should have in the mess hall, but with the staff constantly coming and going, as they came in and left to do their duties, it never took too long to have a fresh set of people to talk to. They didn't have any other plans for that day, as the General had clearly decided to let the team have the rest of the day off, so they lavished in the praise of the personnel.
In the end though, it was Pepper himself oddly enough that ended their enjoyment, as Fox was called to the media room upstairs to do another interview with the media. Pausing only long enough to suggest to his team to spend some time checking up on Slippy and to watch over the avian, as once again Falco had digested too much alcohol in a matter of hours, he was off. He made a mental note to visit his sick teammate afterwards as well.
As he worked his way upstairs, Fox had a few minutes to himself. Thinking back to the mission, he realized that in all the excitement, he hadn't asked who had saved his hide earlier in the day. He grinned as he guessed that odds were that it was Falco who had done the deed. Knowing him, he would be gloating that he had helped their fearless leader, as the avian would put it, live through another day.
While Pepper and Fox had an entertaining conversation with the media upstairs, the rest of the team was in Slippy's room, checking up on their sick teammate while watching the interview on TV. The toad was doing far better than yesterday, as he was up and around instead of buried under the covers like before. The medics still wanted him out of action for at least another day though, so there was no chance of seeing him flying the next day. Instead, the team kept him occupied by describing the day's events.
At the same time, Fox was once again in the media spotlight. While the interviewers seemed interested and impressed by the amazing victory the Starfox team had today, they spent most of their time talking about their concerns over the sudden appearance of a new star inside the system. While Pepper promised that there was nothing to worry about, and that they were doing everything in their power to get rid of it, it didn't seem to relieve their concerns much. In the end, the General made sure that the interview ended with a high note, letting everyone know that Andross had been dealt a severe blow by this victory.
Walking out of the media room, pleased with the resolution of the meeting, Fox began to run down his mental list of things that he needed to do. As the list was rather small, he decided to start with the first one on the list.
A short elevator ride later, he found himself back on the 6th floor, footsteps muffled by the carpeting beneath him. He walked up to Slippy's door, pushing the call button as he said, "Hey, Slippy, it's Fox. You got a moment?"
"Door's open," was the toad's response from inside.
The door slid open quietly, allowing Fox to see inside. A quick check revealed that the rest of the team had left, leaving Slippy alone for the time being. As it was, the room's occupant was currently ignoring the newcomer, as he had his face buried in the computer at the far end of the room. "Glad to see you're up, Slip," said Fox as he walked inside, wondering if his teammate was feeling better, or if he was just hiding it make him not worry as much. "What's going on?"
Slippy spun around in his chair, blinking his eyes to refocus his vision. "Nothing too exciting. Pepper's put out a general request to the scientific community to see if they can figure out what exactly needs to be done to get rid of that celestial body that appeared in the aftermath of your battle. I figured that since I had some free time, I might as well take a look."
"Nice to hear that the best that we have are looking in on things."
"Thanks." The toad stood up and stretched, breaking out into a yawn as he did so. "I'm just glad to see that you're still here after that battle. I was looking over your flight data as well, Fox. You know you barely made it out alive today."
Fox nodded. "Tell me about it. We've been through worse though." Remembering that this was related to another one of his things to do, he figured he might as well ask. "Since you're been checking up on my fight earlier, do you know who saved my hide at the end there?"
Slippy thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Sorry, no. I've only had the chance to look through the data provided by your Arwing and the probes nearby. I haven't looked at the others yet."
"No problem. I'll just check with the crew." He took a good look at his fellow pilot and tried to gauge his health. "How you feeling?"
"Pretty good for the most part. I still have the occasional cough, but the medics don't want me to be in the skies until I'm fully cured."
"Good to hear. Don't worry, we'll leave a few planets for you to help us conquer." The two pilots laughed for a moment at the joke. "Well, I might as well let you get back to work. Catch up with you later."
Slippy nodded, sitting back down in the nearby chair. "You four be careful out there in the meantime, okay? We've had nothing but very close battles so far, and sooner or later our luck is going to run out."
"I know." Fox stood there quietly, knowing that while he agreed what his friend just said, he knew that many of the battles so far have had their share of close calls. Far too many to be attributed to the skill of the pilots under his command. He knew that he would be completely devastated if something happened to any of his friends, no matter the conditions around him at that moment. "Don't worry, Slip, we'll be careful. You just concentrate on getting better."
"Will do. See you around." With a wave, Fox turned and left, one thing knocked off his mental to-do list.


Meanwhile, on the other side of the system, things were anything but peaceful. Once Andross learned that his invincible armada had been anything but, he had gone into a furious rage, lashing out at anybody and anything he could get his paws on. But as everything inside his control room was rather valuable, and that killing another of his advisors was inadvisable from a tactical standpoint, there was very little he could bring his anger down on.
Short of the new conference table that one of his guards had brought in earlier in the day.
The dull gray plastic table lay in tiny pieces at Andross' boots, looking nothing like its original form. No piece larger than his fist was visible on the floor, anything bigger destroyed by either his physical or mental prowess.
No plan of his had worked so far. Every attempt to destroy the Starfox team had ended in dismal failure. Even when he was assured of victory, it was snatched away from him like a child's toy. He was beginning to run out of ships to simply throw at the pilots, in the off chance that they might succeed.
But their luck couldn't hold out forever.
One of these days, Andross' own good fortune would return. One ship had already been shot down on the first day of the counterattack. One more could easily be the event that tipped the scales back to his side.
He just had to figure out how to do it.
Sitting down upon his usual seat by his many monitors that watched over his empire, he began to plan. He was always planning.
He also needed a new desk.