Chapter 4
Fox woke up, he could here noises down the hall. It sounded as though it was coming closer.
" Commander Feral there isn't anything out of the ordinary here." Professor Hackle said.
" I still have to check Hackle. Now get out of my way!" Commander Feral shouted.
" Lieutenant, please, stop your uncle before he wrecks my house." Professor Hackle said.
" Uncle, try to stay calm. We don't want to damage his home." Said the Lieutenant.
Fox got up and straightened the bed up quickly. He had a feeling he didn't want this Feral guy to see him. Fox looked around for a place to hide. But if this guy was looking for something then hiding wouldn't help much. Fox looked out the window and got an idea. He ran over to it and opened it. Fox jumped out the window and closed it again.Themn he went around the corner so he wouldn't be seen. He heard them enter the room and search it.
" Commander Feral, you're making a mess of my things! Do you know how long it's going to take me to put all that away again!" Professor Hackle said, sounding very annoyed.
" This was the last room and not a thing." Feral said.
" What did I tell you Commander? There is nothing here. I'm not hiding anything. Now I would appreciate it if you would just leave."Professor Hackle said. Fox heard footsteps of one person leave.
" I'm sorry about my uncle. He gets carried away sometimes." The Lieutenant said, then Fox heard more footsteps that faded away.
Fox chanced a peak into the window. He saw Professor Hackle standing in the room, alone, scratching his head. Fox waited a moment longer, then he opened the window. This got Professor Hackle's attention. He saw Fox climbing into the window. He looked confused, but relieved. Fox gave him a small smile. Professor Hackle walked over to Fox and helped him back in.
" When did you go out there?" He asked.
" When I heard yelling I figured it was time to get out." Fox said.
" I don't think it would be safe for you to stay here. Maybe the SWAT Kats will let you stay with them." Professor Hackle said. " I'll call them and ask."
He then left Fox alone. Fox stood there a moment then looked at the mess on the floor. It was a pile of clothes, hangers and several boxes. Fox felt a little guilty about the mess. He walked over to the pile and started putting things away. He started with the clothes. It actualy didn't take as long as he thought it would. Fox was putting the last few boxes away whenProfessor Hackle returned. He had a surprised look on his face.
" Fox, thank you for picking my things up." Professor Hackle said with a smile.
" Well, it's the least I could do after you helped me." Fox said.
" Well, the SWAT Kats are going to take you to stay with them. You will be safe with them. They somehow got your ship back to their hanger without being seen. "Professor Hackle said. " Here's you shirt. I've cleaned it up for you."
" Thank you." Fox said taking it from him and putting it on.
Fox just thought about how happy he was to still have his pants on. It would have been embarrasing if he had been seen out there with out them.Professor Hackle left Fox in the room alone again. Fox looked under the bed and found his boots. He put them on and sat down on the bed. He wondered how things would go from now on. He wondered if he would ever get back home again. Fox didn't know how long he was sitting there before T-bone showed up. He took Fox out to his jet, Fox climbed in and they took off. Fox noticed how smooth it flew.
" Wow, this thing flies great." Fox said, T-bone smiled.
" This 'thing' is called the Turbokat. Razor and I built it ourselves." T-bone said proudly.
" Well you two did an excelent job." Fox said.
" Thanks. By the way who built your ship?" T-bone asked.
" Our Arwings are built on my home world Corneria. They're standard issue of the Cornerian Air Force. We were able to get the latest models, fairly cheap, beacuase of the several times we saved Corneria. But they never stay standard with my friend Slippy around. He's an excelent mechanic, but his piloting skills could use some work. He upgrades everything as much as he can without taking anything away from the quality of the ship. He also builds a lot of our weapons." Fox said.
" Well, Thats interesting. What a wierd name though." T-bone said. " Is he another uh, what are you any way?"
" I'm a fox, what irony huh? I am a fox and that's my name. As for Slippy well he's a frog. If my picture of the crew survived the wreckage I'll show you. There are two other members of my team." Fox said, looking to the sky and spacing out for a minute.
" Hey you still there?" T-bone asked in a joking tone.
" Huh, oh I was thinking about my team. They must think I'm dead. Falco must really be suffering." Fox said.
" Falco? What is he?" T-bone asked.
" Falco is a Falcon. He's a pretty much the show off of the team. Always strutting his stuff, showing off his skill, he's got that basic 'I'm the baddest dude in the universe' attitude. He also likes to mess with my head and pull pranks on me when he has nothing better to do. And he's actually left the team before and then returned when we got paid a decent amount for the first time in a long time." Fox said.
" Sounds like he's a real pain in the tail." T-bone said. " Why do you put up with him?"
" Because he's my best friend. I've always been able to count on him when I needed him the most. I only got stuck here because I told him I could handle it. He's really a kind-hearted guy, he just has a tough outlook because of his past. In reality, he's like a brother to me. I would never forgive myself if something ever happened to him." Fox said.
" Wow, you seem to have a lot to deal with. What about the last person. You did, say there was two more right?" T- bone asked.
" Yeah, there's one more. Her name is Krystal, She's a vixen. She joined our team after I saved her on a planet call Saruia. She's been a great addition to the team. She has some pretty good skills with a blaster, and the Arwings. There used to be another member but he retired. His name is Peppey, he's a rabbit." Fox said looking up at the sky once more." He was on the team when my father was the leader. Then I became the leader and he stayed on."
" What happened to your father?" T-bone asked.
Then there was silence. T-bone knew that had to be a touchy subject if he didn't say anything. T-bone could hear Fox take a deep breath.
" My father died, a long time ago. He was betrayed by a member of the original StarFox team. The man who betrayed him was hog named Pigma. He was a terrible swine. He's dead now. I, in a way, had a hand in his death, but that's the past. Somethings are better left forgotten in the threads of time." Fox said softly.
" I'm sorry, for making you think about that." T-bone said.
They soon landed in the hanger. Fox looked around. He could see his Arwing, it wasn't as bad as he thought. Fox saw Razor, without his flight suit, working on something. He walked over to the Turbokat.
" Hey there. How are you feeling? Did T-bone try to see how many G's you could take?" He asked.
" I'm feeling much better thank you, and no he didn't." Fox said as he jumped out of the Turbokat.
" Well there's your ship. Would you like some help repairing it?" Razor asked.
" Sure." Fox said.
" Oh, by the way my real name is Jake, and his is Chance. We had to tell you our alias' last time." Jake said.
Fox nodded then walked over to the remains of his Arwing. He leaned into the cockpit, then reached under the seat and opened a small compartment. Then he pulled out a couple of pictures that were some how still intact. Fox leaned against the ships frame, fingering the pictures. Jake walked over to see what he was doing, while Chance changed out of his flight suit.
" What do you have there?" Jake couldn't help but ask.
" One's a picture of me and my crew, the other, the last family picture that was taken of me with my parents." Fox said, Then began pointing everyone out. " First there's Peppy, he's retired; that's Slippy, a killer mechanic; Falco, the ace pilot after me of course; and Krystal, our newest member."
Fox didn't see Chance standing next to him. He then pulled up the family photo.
" This is me when I was a kit, my mother and my father." Fox said. He then tucked the pitures away and looked at his ship. " Well let's get started by removing the totaled, unrepairable things."
With that he and Jake went to work on the Arwing. Fox was surprised of how quikly Jake caught on to the ships build and design. Fox had a feeling his Arwing would be repaired in no time.