"Alright, now that I've laid the problem out before you, who's with me?" Bryan asked, sitting in his office. Tommy and Dean had taken position on either wall, leaning on it, while Kasey sat on the desk, Mei and Ivan took the two chairs.
"Since I was little I always wanted to go into space… ah, hell, count me in." Tommy said.
"Alright, there's one."
"I still don't trust those Youkai…" Mei mused, her arms crossed as she rested her boots on the table, typical Mei. "Mei, for the last time. They - are - not - demons. Just space creatures. Not that that helps really…"
Mei sighed. "Well… as the only Medic here… someone is going to have to patch you up. I'm in." Her grin had gotten wider, telling Bryan that there was another reason as to why she was going. The same childish grin he had gotten from Tommy.
"I'll go. I can make famous Russian stew for Cornerian people!" Ivan added shortly after Mei. Bryan held back a sigh. "That's everyone but you Dean. You in, or out?"
"Hell, someone has to save your asses."
Kasey and Bryan shared the same smile as their phone rang.
(With Jason)
"That should do it." Jason said, whipping his hands of grease on his jeans, looking over at Michelle as he did so. "What do you think, will it fly?"
"Dunno, only those two fox things can tell us." She said, giving him a gap tooth grin.
"Right. Well, Krystal is around here somewhere. I'll go find her."
Jason found Krystal sitting in the kitchen with Amy, drinking coffee.
"We seem to have a lot of the same drinks on both of our planets. Though I must admit… your way of getting milk seems a little barbaric." He heard Krystal finishing up. Amy suppressed a smile.
"I think we got that craft up and running. Wondered if you would be able to fly it."
"I can try. Dunno how it'll handle after the water damage." Krystal said, following Jason out.
Jason and Michelle watched as Krystal sat in the cockpit of the machine. They took a step back as the canopy came down and sealed itself around the driver. A moment later a sonic boom sounded as the main engines powered up. Soon after the Arwing was just a blur as it took off towards the horizon.
Michelle and Jason's jaws were dropped when they noticed this.
"Well, I'll go call Bryan." Jason said, walking towards the house as Michelle nodded and began picking up her tools.
(Ten Minutes Later)
An entire convoy of DCTU cars pulled in front of Jason's house and soon they had the agents standing in the back yard. "All right, where is this Erwing thing?" Tommy said, crossing his arms in disbelief. "It's Arwing, and Krystal should be back with it soon." Jason said, shrugging.
No longer than a moment later the area was filled with a strong wind as the ship landed and Krystal popped out. "Works as best as it could. I couldn't hit the highest speed, but Slip can fix that when we get back to the Great Fox."
"Did you try and get into space, just to make sure we can get through without you crashing?"
"I got to the same altitude that I was at when I had the failure. Seems fine to me."
"Alright guys, you know what this means, we'll be heading out soon." Bryan said, turning to his team.
"Problem." Krystal spoke up, raising a single finger. "We can't fit all of you into the Arwing. We need to get the Great Fox here, which means figuring out what we added to the Arwing to shield it do the force here, and finding a large enough landing spot for it."
"Which means some sort of large field… but we'll also need security because when that thing comes it will attract some attention." Bryan pointed out.
"And we'd run it normally, except for the fact that we'll be getting on that ship." Kasey added. "No problem. That local navy base holds lots of soldiers. We could have twenty of them pull security. All we need is a parameter." Tommy pointed east, towards the base.
"Alright, but what about a field. We'll need a large one, won't we?"
"Not too large. The Great Fox is humongous. It's just rather large."
"Depending on who you talk to." Kasey said, looking at Krystal out of the corner of her eye.
"Can we get an estimate on how large it is?" Bryan asked. Krystal looked around for a moment. "Alright… Jason's house."
"That's it? We could land the thing here." Tommy scoffed.
"You didn't let me finished. Jason's house… five times over. Stacked four times up. And that's just a minimal."
"Krystal… I don't know what huge is where you come from, but around here, that's a freaking Naval ship!" Kasey exclaimed, looking wide eyed at the blue fox.
"I didn't think it was that large…"
Bryan rolled his eyes. "Alright so were talking… what about that baseball field a little over four miles from here? That seems like it'll fit it. We'll just need some more security since it's a wide open area. No walls."
"Sounds good." Everyone agreed.
"Alright, now, lets go over the Arwing and see what's jamming our… jammer."
(Forty Minutes Later)
"Alright, so it looks like this is our solution to the problem." Michelle said, holding up a somewhat large plastic piece.
"And that would be?"
"Looks like a part from a microwave."
"Our microwave?" Amy's brow twitched.
"Now honey it's a matter of a planet's safety. Besides, I took it from our neighbor's too." Jason reasoned. Amy just sighed. "Oh well."
"How do you figure that is?" Bryan asked, watching Michelle put the piece back.
"My guess would be that it counteracts the signals being sent from Microwave receivers. You know, kind of like cell phone interference." Tommy said, receiving looks from everyone. "What? Hay those magazines really teach you something, learn to read them!"
"I don't read American magazines." Ivan responded.
"I still can't believe you use Microwave receivers here. Corneria left those in the dust ages ago. Even poor people don't use them anymore."
"Nice to hear…" Jason's tone was smug.
"Alright, now that we know this, how do we get it to the Great Fox and get it attached so that they can land?"
"Simple, we find the world's biggest microwave, and teleport it up." Tommy answered.
"Oh, from local smart guy to dumb ass in seven seconds." Kasey said. Tommy just gave her a look.
"You shouldn't need a large one. Maybe if we attach four of them, the combined power should be enough to let it pass through safely." Krystal said, fishing through a few of her pockets.
"Alright… what next?" Jason asked, looking at the others.
"Well, if I could get some coordinates for that field I can lead them there." Krystal answered, pulling out a small object that opened and projected a green version of earth. Bryan had pulled out a GPS system and was finding the field.
"Here." He said, reading them off to her. A moment later everyone could see a live picture of that field. Little kids were playing a game on it.
"Way cool." Kasey said to herself. Krystal hit a button and a few symbols flashed on the screen. "Alright. I'm going to head up there after we get the parts we need. I'll help them set it up. Fox, do you still have your PDA?"
"My what?"
"One of these." She said, waving the little box at him. Fox nodded. "Yah I found one in my box."
"Alright, we'll make sure it works while they find the parts we'll need."
"And while they do that, I'll make some calls. How long do you think it'll take for them to get here?" Bryan asked.
"Well… what time is it?"
"Seven at night. We have twenty four hour rotations."
"So does Corneria. We should be here by… ten your time tomorrow morning."
"Alright, land at the field. We'll make a marking or something."
"Sounds good." Krystal said, leading Fox into the house.
A moment later Bryan turned to everyone else.
"Alright. Get all your gear in your units and get them ready to go. We reconvene at base at seven tomorrow morning. We will have a quick brief and maybe a quick breakfast. Stock your units with as much as you can. Carbines, large machine guns. Hell, as many pistols as you can too. I want our armory basically cleaned out. Including and RPG and heat seekers. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!" Everyone chimed in unison.
"When your done gearing up, go home, see your kids, wives, husbands, get a good nights rest. And be ready for action tomorrow. Understand?"
"Yup."
"Sure thing boss.
"Yes."
"Ready to action."
"Alright, DCTU, move out!"
(The Night)
"Krystal just left." Jason said, sliding onto the couch next to Amy. "You do know I'm going with them… right?"
Amy nodded, setting her cup down. "But I'm worried. What if you don't come back?"
"I will, don't worry."
"You can't promise that. You can't see the future."
"Why wouldn't I come back? So what, it's a battlefield. I worked with DCTU for how long? Came home to you every night, didn't I? Then we got married. Now I have absolutely no reason not to come back. I'll always be here for you, Amy, always."
Meanwhile outside, Fox was setting back up the satellite comm link.
"Great Fox here." A female voice came over the radio, this one was Krystal's.
"Hey there Fox-boy. Heard your gave the guys a scare. Lost your signal and everything. So how's earth?" A pink cat questioned him.
"Who are you? I don't remember you in any of my pictures."
"Sorry, forgot about the whole memory loss thing. I'm Katt. You'll remember me in enough time. No ones ever really forgotten me before. Feels kind of weird. Listen, Peppy said to tell you that we will be arriving at that field at around Nine-Fifty-Four, earth time. I gotta go, Falco's in a grumpy mood again. See you in a day." The last thing Fox heard before Katt signed off was Falco in the background yelling out 'I am not grumpy!'. Fox had to smirk.
'Somehow, this just seems normal too me."
(A/N: By the way, the DCTU units consist of three Ford Expeditions with the police flashers and siren, and three Chevy Tahoes same set up. They also have two back up units, both of which are Tahoes. They're all black with the letters DCTU Unit printed in bold white lettering on the back and DCTU printed on the sides.)
(Next Morning - DCTU Base)
"Alright. Today's agenda. Simply check your gear. Get in your cars and we'll convoy over to the site. Once upon the 'Great Fox' we'll meet with the crew and discuss how we plan to handle the situation. Depending on how long the flight to Corneria is we'll either be getting there with enough time to meet the General, who you will all address as if he was a General here, and have a quick press conference shortly after to tell the people of Corneria our purpose on their planet. And please, guys - no 'we come in peace jokes'. That does mean you Kasey." Kasey scowled at Bryan's comment. Smirking, he continued. "After that, we'll meet at our temporary base of operations which will most likely be our house unless they give us another base to operate out of. Now it's my understanding that there are paved streets there, however, be prepared to do a lot of walking just incase. We may not be able to drive our cars there, and if they don't have an available Taxi or shuttle for us, we'll be walking to the Military base. Everyone understand?"
He got nods all around.
"Alright, Jason called this morning. The Great Fox will be landed at about Nine Hundred Fifty-Four hours. It's about nine o'clock now. Military Security is in place and I've been told that a small crowd has been attacked by their presence. So be ready. With that said, Krystal told me that we'd be able to drive right up the ramp and into the Great Fox… I'm not sure so we'll have to wait and see. We'll pull up and form a small corral around the meeting spot. We'll have a quick chat with the Fox Team and then we'll board. And that's it. Dismissed." As everyone was gathering their things Bryan spoke up again. "And so help us god Kasey you make one 'we come in peace' joke." He sighed.
"Why do you keep looking at me and saying I'm going to do it?" She questioned, setting a large black bag into her unit and fixing her sun glasses. "Because we all know you will." Mei said, shutting her passenger side door. Kasey sighed. "Fine, whatever."
And with that she got into her unit and started it up. Just as Jason and Fox pulled up.
"Ready to go you two?" Bryan asked. Both nodded. "Alright, I loaded up the extra Unit with some stuff. You can drive that. Just fall into line somewhere." Bryan said, getting into his own unit.
(Landing Zone - 9:57)
"There seems to be a large military presence here for no apparent reason. What's going on here I have no clue." A news reporter stated, looking directly into the camera before it zoomed out to show the military personal all standing still, the M4 Carbines in their hands.
"Wait a moment." The reported said as the camera panned up to show the Great Fox landing in the field. "It seems like there is some sort of Alien Space Craft is landing here at the field. What is this, some sort of alien invasion?"
A little father into the field from where the reporter was reporting, a large crowd had formed around the military barrier. All of which watched the Great Fox land in the field and shut down it's main engines.
A small path was made as a two quick bursts of a siren made everyone turn to see a line of seven SUV's pulling up to the scene. The quick burst was followed by a four second siren as a few people failed to understand what was going on. The flashing police lights from the seven units grabbed more attention as military personal moved aside to allow the vehicles to pass before quickly filling the gap again.
A the vehicles came to a complete stop, lights still running, at the back of the Great Fox, just as the bay was lowered.
Krystal greeted the all the base of the ramp.
"We made it though just fine." She said, shaking a few hands with agents. Ignoring random people screaming things at her.
"What the hell are you!"
"Is that tail real?"
"Can I have your number?"
Bryan nearly laughed at the last one.
"Alright, just pull your vehicles up the ramp and into the bay. We set aside enough space for them to be parked in. Then we'll all meet in the lounge. You'll meet the team and learn more about our mission. Sound good?" Krystal said, leaning on Fox a little. Getting nods everyone got back into their cars, while Fox and Krystal just walked up the ramp.
"How does it feel to be back home?" Krystal whispered into his ear.
"Feels… normal… right."
"That's good." She said, giving him a peck on the cheek while the ramp was raised. Both foxes herd 'Aww's' coming from the crowd. Fox blushed.
Hearing the engines being turned off and the sound of the lights dieing down, both foxes met up with the team. "Right this way." Krystal said, leading them through the rusted halls of the Great Fox.
They soon found themselves in a somewhat large room. Filled with a couch, TV set, some gym equipment, and a few other things that didn't really ring any bells with the DCTU Agents, or Fox for that matter.
"Alright guys, here we are, the Star Fox team. Falco's over there, Peppy is in the recliner, and Slippy is behind ROB over there doing some upgrades." Krystal said, motioning to each of the crew.
"Youkai!" Mei yelled out again, startling Peppy.
"Damn it Mei." Bryan said under his breath. "They are not Youkai, nor are they Hanyou!"
"Youkai? Hanyou?" Falco questioned, looking at Krystal, then Fox. Both just shrugged.
"Sorry. Japanese is a language spoken on earth. Youkai and Hanyou mean Demon and Half Demon." Kasey answered his question.
Falco just nodded.
"Sorry. Uh, That's Kasey, Mei is over there, Ivan is behind her, Dean is to my left, and Tommy is right behind Kasey. Jason is off to Tommy's right. I'm Bryan." The leader stated, pointing a thumb to each of his team members.
Most of the Crew nodded, except for Slippy who seemed to be just engrossed in what he was doing. Bryan watched as a moment later he was shaking his head as if something wasn't working right. Bryan looked behind him at Tommy who only nodded, walking over to meet Slippy.
"Try this." He heard Tommy say and a moment later ROB sprang to life.
"How did you do that?" Slippy asked looking up at him. Tommy just grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know." And with that, they both broke off into a conversation about technology and what can be done with it.
Falco and Dean were just shaking their heads.
"Great! Now there's two of them." Dean said, Falco nodded.
"And I thought one was bad."
"Now there's two of you." Mei pointed out.
"Shit." They both muttered at the same time before staring wide eyed at each other.
"Great." Bryan moaned.
"Alright… well, why don't I show you all to your quarters and then we'll get down to business. We'll be arriving at Corneria in about a day." Krystal said, stalking off down one of the halls. The team followed quickly after her.
(Fifteen Minutes Later)
"I can't believe I'm sharing a cabin with you." Mei moaned after finding out that she was bunking with Dean. "Not my fault. 'Lets all pick numbers'. Isn't that what you said?"
"Enough!" Bryan yelled out, stopping in the hallway. "Now we do it my way. Mei and Kasey, take cabin two. Dean and Tommy, take cabin three. Me and Jason will take cabin one, and Ivan will take Cabin four. If you don't like who you're with, get over it."
When Tommy was about to open his mouth to protest Kasey stopped him.
"You heard the chief."
"Alright, we are all going to meet at the briefing room, and then we'll head out to the trucks to put our stuff away."
(Briefing Room)
The room itself looked newer than the rest of the ship and it was bathed in a pale indigo blue. There was a circular table in the middle along with the glass center that had a single white beam of light coming from it to the ceiling.
"Alright, now that we're all here, lets get started." Peppy said, sitting down.
"Sounds good. What do we know so far?" Bryan asked, leaning forward a little and folding his hands in front of him on the table.
"Ok. The main attack ship itself is about as large as this ship. It has a huge hanger, five times the size of ours." As Peppy spoke, the white light disappeared and the image of a ship appeared in it's place. It rotated as stats and identifications surrounded it.
"The Cornerian Army estimates that the hanger itself holds upwards of sixteen thousand smaller attack ships. The CA launched an attack on them a little over three days ago. All of our ships were whipped out and all of our laser attacks along with Nova Bombs didn't make it even close to their force field. We discovered that it was electrical, meaning that our stuff can't even get near it before they all go dud."
Bryan and Mei nodded, taking in the information. Mei was having a hard time not pushing her seat back and resting her feet on the table.
"Ok. What else do we know?" Kasey asked, finishing up her notes.
"We also know that when our assignment came up, it was because one of the CA ships had a rather old pistol on board. That thing still fired the old lead bullets. It made it through the field and hit the ship."
"So basically, it of matter of caliber size and how much we have. So we're talking big guns." Dean piped in, writing down some possible calibers they could use on his note pad.
Peppy only nodded.
"Another problem will be that our main Arwing pilot as amnesia." Slippy acknowledged Fox's problem. "I'm just fine." Falco replied with a smirk.
"Not you." Peppy countered. "Slippy said 'main'. Not the biggest ego."
"Ouch." Bryan mused as he wrote the last sentence into his notepad.
"Bite me." Falco responded to everyone.
"Alright. So we know that we're going to need bullets and anything not guided by electrical components. So that means that our HSMs are out. But RPGs are still good." Tommy spoke after a moment.
Bryan just nodded in acknowledgement.
"That also means we can't use the M1A." Mei concluded.
"Yah we can, we'll just have to aim it ourselves." Tommy said, tucking the pen behind his ear.
"Alright. So now we know our enemy, who's our allies?"
"Hold on. We have one more enemy. It's unconfirmed, but… knowing how they are. Another Mercenary team may be working with this threat. They are Star Wolf. I'll have some folders sent to your room so you can review and learn about their members. They probably have no clue you're here, so we can catch them by surprise should they show."
Bryan nodded, writing 'Star Wolf' into his notepad.
"As for Allies… we've got the Cornerian Army and that's about it. Not many other forces seem to want to get involved in this one."
"Doesn't seem like we have many to help here… I think are best bet is to get in and destroy their base from the insides out. Fuel chambers or something." Kasey said, looking at the ship's hologram.
"Maybe. We don't have much to go on as far as the ship's inside." Slippy proclaimed, eyeing certain entry points for the ship.
"As I was saying, as for your allies. You'll be working closely with General Pepper. He gives us most of our assignments and for the most part can be easy going. Though this situation may change that slightly. We're do for a conference with him in a few minutes. He may have you working with another General or a Black Ops force. He'll most likely have them taking orders from you if that's the case."
"And we all know who Bryan loves to bark orders." Mei mused with a smirk.
"Yah, yah."
"Anyway, with that out of the way, what are the plans for the rest of the time on the ship?" Asked Falco.
"We'll we have a day. Guess we could use it to get the weapons and stuff unloaded. Show them off a little. We'll grab some lunch later, and then we'll just do some tune ups on our units according to Corneria terrain. We can use all those times to get to know everyone else better too." Bryan said.
"You sure you have paved roads?"
"Yup. We still keep them in great condition too. Some of the enthusiasts tend to like some other models of transport. A good portion of them have wheels so…" Slippy trailed off, knowing that he had made his thought known.
"Alright. So now what?"
"Guess we just wait for the General to contact us. Should be long now."
While they waited, Bryan went over the notes he had made. He scribbled a few of them out and wrote some new ones in. Forming the battle plan already.
Alright… nothing with a chip in it.
He was started when he looked up to see the same old war dog looking back at him.
"You seemed busy." Pepper stated.
"Yah, sorry, sir." Bryan gave a sheepish grin. Setting his pen down.
"Please, no sir. As it stands right now we are equals. We are in great need of help and I'm not about to push my luck."
"Understood. Just custom on Earth to do that. Anything you prefer to be called?"
"General Pepper will do fine. How did every thing go?"
"We got the best we could get General. They couldn't spare much since Earth appears to be at war with a few of it's own. How ever according to Earth's leader along with a few others I've talked to, they have as good as a reputation as Star Fox. If not greater." Krystal was standing as she spoke arranging some papers.
"I thought you said there were six of you…" Pepper stated after counting the number of people in the room.
"I had an old friend I used to work with. Wanted to tag alone. He's the one who saved Fox and Krystal."
"Ah. And who would that be?"
"Me, sir. Names Jason."
"You saved two of my best? I believe that I owe you a debt."
"No debt. Please, no debt. I was merely doing my civic duty."
"Well, fine. As it stands right now you'll be arriving in a day or so. Krystal, when you arrive, please, show them the way to the Cornerian Base. Will you be taking a taxi? Or should I send some Cornerian transport officers?"
"No need. We have our own." Kasey said, flipping through a paper for a moment.
"What will you be taking, so I can warn my security troops ahead of time."
"Uh… I have a picture somewhere…" Mei said, fishing through her pockets. She took out her wallet and pulled a picture out. It was her standing in front of her unit.
"They look like this. All of our units are black and have the letters DCTU on them. we have about, what… seven?"
"Yah." Bryan answered.
"Ok sounds good."
"General, we'll have some weapons with us. We'll use them to help train some of the troops with them so that we'll have some back up on the mission. Is that ok? Or is security restricting it?"
"Hmmm… tell you what, bring them, but keep any automatic weapons in your vehicle until ones you're in the lock up garage or at the shooting range. Any side arms, like blasters can be kept on your hip in a holster. No where else."
"Uh, sir?" Krystal spoke up.
"What is it?"
"They don't carry blasters like we carry them. Theirs are different."
"How so?"
Bryan detached his sidearm from it's holster. Ejecting the clip and removing the extra bullet from the slide only after making sure the safety was on.
"This is an earth version of your blaster. You probably have different makes and types of blasters. This is a standard issue to all of my agents. It's a Colt 1911, slide action, semi automatic. It's a gas operated variation so the kickback isn't too bad. This is the only weapon we will be carrying with us at you base. Everything else we'll keep in the trucks."
"Ok, I'll allow that and only that."
"Sounds good to me." Bryan said, putting the bullet from the slide into the clip and jamming it back into the weapon, pulling the side back and putting the gun back into it's holster.
"On top of that, when you get here you'll have to stick with Star Fox until you get to my office. I have some Cornerian Army ID's ready for you along with public ID's so that local police forces will leave you alone since I doubt you have a Cornerian tag on your vehicle."
"Too true."
"Now with business taken care of. How are you doing Fox?"
"I'm ok. I've got a slight headache and can't remember a few things… well most actually. But it's coming back to me."
"Good to hear. Can you still fly an Arwing?"
"Haven't tried yet. Have to hit the simulator later."
Pepper was silent for a moment, looking off to his left.
"I must go, I have a meeting to attend. See you all soon. Pepper out."
"Star Fox, out." Peppy said, shutting down the communication system. The white beam retook it's place in the center of the table.
"Alright guys. Lets start getting things ready."
(Hanger)
Bryan looked over at Falco hearing a whistle coming from his direction. He say the pilot approach. "I like that thing." Falco stated, seeing the size of the sniper rifle Bryan had in his hands.
"One of my favorites too. Infra-Red scope with a thirty-seven digital zoom and a ten plus optical zoom. That things can spot a fly from almost four miles away. It's really accurate too, carries seven bullets to a clip, including one in the chamber." Bryan said, holding up one of the bullets. The bullet itself was a fifty caliber.
"That thing is huge."
"Can make a head explode at over seven thousand feet." Bryan said with a smile as Falco handed back the rifle. "What else you got hiding in there?"
"Dean's got a couple of large machine guns. Why don't you go check those out?" Bryan said, motioning to Dean who was pulling random boxes from his car. "I just might." Falco stated, stalking over in that direction.
Bryan shook his head with a grin while he pulled out a M4 Carbine. He checked the sights and began to dissemble it. "Looks like everything is in order. Just need to replace the gas ring, seems a little corroded."
Bryan looked over at Mei as he heard the sound of a guitar being strummed.
"You brought it with you?" He asked, propping a foot on her bumper as she sat in the cargo bay of her unit.
"Don't see, why not. Music is a universal language after all."
"Yah. Shinjitsu no uta."
"I'll say." She concluded. Putting it back in it's case. "Hay, which should we use?" She said, holding up two RPGs. "Red tipped. It'll have that extra punch. Plus it looks cooler." Tommy said as he looked at the two while he put the last of his boxes on the cart.
"Yah. I agree with him."
"Hay, who brought the mounted guns?"
"I did!" Kasey called out. "Also brought the tracking ones, but I don't know if they'll do much good."
"One can wait." Bryan said. He looked over and found Fox disassembling one of the Carbines. "You're doing that like a pro." Bryan said, watching him put it all back together.
"I don't even know how. I'm just moving my fingers over the weapon. They're doing the work on their own. I hate this part. I know how to do something, I just don't know how I know it."
"What a paradox." Bryan sighed.
"Wow." Bryan heard Krystal gasp. He turned around to see Jason unfolding one of the M1As. It was a huge gun and it's caliber was immeasurable, all you could really tell anyone about it was that it was huge. The bullet was the size of a compact grenade that was launched from a M4.
She looked over Jason's shoulder as he set up the computer to work with it.
"See, now all we would have to do if it was loaded was use our finger to just point and shoot. It's an awesome weapon." Jason pointed to the green recitals on the screen. He dragged his finger across them and they glowed red. Then he dragged his finger across the screen and Krystal watched the weapon change it's position to point at where he had aimed. The camera mounted on it provided a view of what they were aiming at. He pushed one of the buttons and the words 'Weapon Shutting Down' flashed on screen. A moment later, the weapon folded in on itself and closed up.
"Works well in crowed areas." Bryan mumbled.
"Yah, won't do friendly fire. It recognizes it's allies. I have to add these guys in later tonight and anyone else working with us." Tommy said, taking the laptop from Jason.
"Lunch is ready. Report to the café." Peppy's voice came over the ship's speakers. Everyone nodded, grabbing the carts and making a quick stop at the armory before continuing on.
(Café)
"Yah, and then this one runs head on into the Arwing." Falco said pointing over at Slippy. Everyone was laughing. "Yah. Well if someone hadn't left out that cart that wouldn't of happened!"
"You left it out!" Falco protested, still laughing.
"Mph, you thing that was bad? What about that time that Bryan crashed his unit?"
"Come on, Kasey! Not that story again."
"It's a classic! The road was completely open and you just somehow managed to hit the only thing in it!"
"In my defense I was rushing to a scene and I was still a rookie! I didn't have the skills I have now."
"What skills?" Dean said, looking at Bryan though the sides of his eyes.
"The ones that whip your ass up and down the shooting range."
Laughter filled the room again as Peppy and Ivan came out of the kitchen.
"Eat up guys." Peppy said, setting plates down. Ivan did the same before coming back from the kitchen with a large pot in his hands.
"He didn't…" Mei whispered to Bryan.
"He did…" Bryan replied.
"I make famous Russian stew for team!"
Falco took a look at it for a moment before shrugging and pouring some into a small dish.
"Falco I'm now sure you would want to…" Mei began. It didn't stop him, he tried a little bit and made a face before.
"This is excellent! You guys gotta try this!"
Mei and Bryan stared wide eyed at him. "You're not kidding are you?"
"Nope. It's really good."
"Well there you go Ivan… you ever want to leave DCTU you can become a chef for Star Fox." Kasey said, sitting back in her chair.
Bryan just shook his head before taking a small portion of everything set out before him.
And with that, the meal commenced.
(After Lunch)
Mei sat in the REC hall. Falco was a few feet away, switching through random channels on the TV and the rest of the team were in another corner talking amongst themselves. She pulled her guitar from it's case and after a little fine tuning she played a cord.
It wasn't long before she was strumming away, not noticing that everyone was watching her.
"See that's the good thing about our team. We all have our personal things that each make us appeal to the rest. Mei has her music and heritage. She always has an amazing story or legend to tell, and lets face it, she's a great musician." Bryan whispered to the Star Fox team members around him.
Fox looked at Bryan. "Is that so?"
"Yup. Kasey's got her cars. Tommy has his technology. Dean has his weapon's knowledge. Ivan has his cooking skills, and Jason is the family man. Always has stories to tell about his wife Amy."
"Hmmm, what about you?"
"Well… I'm just loyal."
"Said like a true leader."
(Four Hours Later)
Fox found himself in his own quarters. Looking around at memories lost. He found a thick book and opened it to find some pictures. After flipping through it he found another one of him and Krystal, however in this one he had a small kid on his shoulders.
He looked up when he heard the door slide open.
"Hey. See you found your photo album." Krystal said, scooting on the cot next to him.
"Hay Krystal, who's that?" Fox asked, pointing at the kid.
"You don't remember him do you? Fox, that's our son."
"Our son…" Fox trailed off. "How could I ever forget something like that… Why didn't I find any pictures of him in my box?"
"It must of burned up in the crash. You had a copy of this one, you never put it in the black box, you had it taped right on your canopy so you could see it whenever you few your Arwing."
A moment after pondering this, Fox was surprised when Krystal suddenly threw her arms around him. Fox noticed she was sobbing.
"I was scared, Fox! When Peppy told me we lost your vital signs I was scared to death! And I didn't thing… what if you had been shot down, then I would of followed you to death, but what about James Jr.? What would happen to him. I was so worried, Fox… I thought you were gone for good…" She trailed off. Fox began to soothe her.
"It's ok… we're ok. We're both here, and we're both alive. Krystal, I'd never leave you just like that. I promise."
Fox kissed her gently on the cheek.
"Come on, why don't we get some sleep for the rest of the trip." He whispered into her ear. Only to realize that she had dozed off on her own.
Fox shut the lights off and fell into a deep sleep.
(Next Morning)
Kasey stretched a little as she stepped into the main halls of the Great Fox.
A bell tolled over the speakers followed by ROB's mono-tone voice.
"Docking procedure complete. Welcome to Corneria. Current Conditions are Clear with a ambient temp of eighty-four degrees. Have a nice stay."
"Nice Pjs." Bryan said coming up behind her. She nearly fell backwards. Bryan was already dressed. He wore some blue jeans and a red shirt. His light jacket was over it and the neon gold DCTU lettering reflected a little on the hall walls.
"Come on, get dressed, everyone else is ready to go." He said, turning his back. Kasey nodded to herself before getting back into her room and changing.
(Hanger)
In the hanger everyone else finished packing up a few weapons and equipment to show the troops and General Pepper. As the cars started up one by one Dean revved his engine.
"Uh, who wants to ride with who?" Bryan asked as Fox shut the back of the cargo door.
"Why don't me and Krystal go with you since you're leading the way. Falco can go with Dean, Slip with Tommy, and Peppy can ride with Ivan."
Bryan shrugged. "Alright guys, moving out." He called as all seven vehicles pulled down the docking bay and onto the streets.
"Looks like they knew we were coming." Bryan said as he watched two police cars block off an intersection as random civilians stared in awe. Bryan and his team had started out with their lights on, but now that he saw police blocking the streets he almost turned them off.
Almost meaning that he was reaching for it before he saw the struggle out of the corner of his eye.
The police had made a barricade to keep people out of the streets as the DCTU rolled towards the Army Base. However, it looked like one fur wasn't to happy with their presence.
"Hold on guys. Quick pit stop." Bryan's voice came over the radio.
"You see it too?"
"Yah, eleven o'clock right. The struggle. How many cops are trying to stop him?" Mei.
"Looks like five to me. What, he on some sort of steroids?" Bryan asked.
"Probably. Looking to assist?" Kasey responded.
"You know it."
Bryan flicked his siren switch so that it made a quick burst before he pulled to a stop in the middle of the street. He approached the police trying to pin down the fur that was yelling loudly.
"Those humans will send us all to hell!"
Bryan helped them hold him long enough to get some restraining device on him.
"Thanks. Looks like he doesn't like you guys too much." One of the cops said to him.
"I'm used to it. Names Bryan."
"Lt. Moran." The cop replied.
"Stop struggling." She said, hitting the suspect in the back of the head.
"See you around Lt." Bryan said, getting back into his unit.
"Clear. Moving out."
"Copy."
Fox looked over at Bryan. "Can I use that thing for a second?"
"Yah. Push and talk." Bryan responded, tapping the button.
"Hay guys, where's Katt? Wasn't she here yesterday?"
"Yah," Falco replied. "She left right before we landed on earth. Made her way here, she'll meet us at the base."
"Alright."
Fox set the radio back in it's clip. "Katt? Who's that?" Bryan asked, craning his head a little to see around the corner. Only to find that cops had already taken it over.
"A freelancer. Also her and Falco have a 'thing'." Krystal said with a smirk, looking out her window. "A thing? Oh, boy."
"Hay guys, how much further?" Mei asked.
Krystal grabbed the radio. "Just a little further. No more than four minutes."
A can behind them revved its engine a little, almost like it was snorting.
"I hate going so slow. Can't we just speed?" Mei came over the radio again.
"Nope."
"Fine."
In fact, it only took three minutes to get to the main gate. The guards did some sort of salute and let the vehicles pass. When Bryan shut his flashers down everyone else followed suit. Getting out they all stood by the entrance to the base.
"Alright, everyone listen up. DCTU and Star Fox alike." Bryan said, stopping in front of the doors.
"We're going in this together. All body parts attached, all lives intact. We make a pact, a promise, right here right now - that that's how we'll end this. We all go home in one peace, and together."
"Agreed!"
"Good, Krystal, lead the way."
Krystal moved upfront of the group, walking down the long halls towards the elevator. Bryan had to suppress another grin as random heads stuck out doorways watching everyone pass. They all got onto the elevator, and headed for Pepper's office.
They stopped behind Krystal who knocked lightly on a door. After a moment a voice that everyone recognized as "Pepper" told them to enter. They filed in one by one.
"Ah good you're here. It's good to finally see the men and women who have volunteered to help us through such hard times. Please, any favors during or after this battle, never fear to ask. I can always pull some strings."
"I doubt that will be necessary. But thanks for the offer." Bryan stated, holding up a hand.
"I don't believe that I ever did get your names. If there's anything you have, like a service nickname or something, I would like to know that too. It'll go on your military ID's." Pepper said, sitting behind his desk once again.
"So just same them like first name, nickname, then last name?" Mei asked, slightly confused. Pepper nodded.
"Well, ok… Mei "Hanyou" Ling."
"Tommy "Hazard" Cord."
"Dean "Hot Head" Markley." Kasey chucked with amusement seeing Pepper raise a brow at Dean's nickname.
"Kasey "Major" Montel."
"Ivan "Marcov" Lem."
"Bryan "Tobias" Daniels."
"Jason "Hawk-Eye" Bourne."
Pepper nodded, adding the last of the names to the computer. "Alright, after the meeting you'll just need to hit the reception desk and grab your ID's. Now, I'm sure that you were brief on Star Fox?"
"Yes. We also received several folders full of information on Star Wolf, the ship that is the threat, and the threat itself." Kasey said, nodding her head. "And we figured you would want these just to check in on our qualifications." Mei said, handing over several folders. All of which were DCTU profile and service records.
"I notice that Mr. Bourne is not among these." Pepper said, setting the records down on his desk.
"Because, up until recently, Jason was not an active team member. He left for a little while following a large raid in which a man held several children hostage. Rest assured though, if you wish, I can have one on you desk soon." Bryan said, Pepper shook his head.
"No, no. These are good enough. Now, as far as the threat. What, in your professional opinion, do you think we can do about it?"
Kasey looked at Bryan who nodded. "Well, from what I have read and my understanding from field reports and a very detailed briefing, it looks like they are using some sort of EMP Pulse electrical field to disable all of your weapons. I check some of the files I was given and it appears that most of your weaponry is based off of plasma, and electronic bio-meters. Even a few nanomachiens. The EMP field would take care of everything except for the plasma. As far as that goes, I'm leaving that up to a strong outer hull or a secondary shield." Bryan rambled, flipping through a small notepad he had in his pocket. He flipped it closed.
"I believe that if we batter it with a few high caliber weapons and maybe a few rocket propelled grenades, that we would be able to blast a hole in the secondary field and possibly disable the EMP field. From there we have two options."
Kasey took over. "Option One: Our team lands on the ship and does a sweep. Taking anyone that wants to surrender, killing those that don't unless they are unarmed."
"Option Two: We still land on the ship, but instead of doing a sweep, we take out what we see under "black light". Meaning complete and total stealth. We make our way to a fuel cell or engine room use a C4 or Platinum charge, run like hell, and blow the place from the inside out."
Pepper seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Which of those methods do you feel will be most affective?"
"Well, my team is trained for just about any combat method we're going to need. But giving the circumstances, I'd say a stealth approach will be best. It minimizes the threat to my team, along with Star Fox and anyone else there at the time, and will be most affective." Bryan stated, going over the facts in his head.
"Wait a minute! I'm not too fond of that idea." Mei spoke up quickly and quite loud.
"Well, I'm open to suggestions." Bryan said, looking at her by tilting his head up since he was in a chair.
"Look, you've known me for how long? 4 Years in service, twenty total? Then you know that sometimes I would like to think that a person's only mistake would be who they work for. There could be people aboard that ship that were threatened, maybe even kidnapped to work there. We can't just blow it all to hell!"
"Alright… so then what?"
"Why don't we combine the two… we split into two teams. A mix of Star Fox and DCTU. One team makes the sweep, capture anyone willing to give up. We have a transport ready. Team two heads to where ever they can place a charge. Get it ready. That way team two won't be taking as much fire since team one will distract everyone else. That way, we save as many 'innocent' people as we can."
"Oh, I like her." Krystal whispered.
"The bottom line being, can you make it work?" Pepper asked, eyeing the commander in front of him. "I bet. We've got seven people on our team. And four ground from Star Fox… that's eleven. I say we split them eight and three. Stealth will be the three and assault will be the eight. Krystal will go with Team Two since she has that bio-sweep thing going on. Fox will probably want to go with her. I'm the explosives expert here so I'll take team two also. Everyone else will take team one. Shoot'em up and capture'em. Any objections?"
Not getting any Bryan nodded. "Good."
"Alright. Go grab your ID's, while here on Corneria those will give you the same powers as the local police forces too. Oh, also! Grab your house keys while you're there. We'll give you a map and some equipment that the military uses." Pepper smirked. "Now go, get out of my office. Go and see what Corneria has to offer."
Bryan nodded, opening the door and once again, they filed into the hallway and headed for the main desk, following Krystal.
After obtaining their ID's they headed back for the garage. The found a Cornerian Soldier standing near Bryan's unit.
"Sir, I have been guarding your vehicle, sir!"
Bryan nodded, giving the soldier a polite smile before climbing in and starting it.
"Hope you gave him a nice big tip." Mei's voice came over the radio.
"Hush you."
"Bryan, can we make a quick stop before we get to the house? It was my understanding that me and Fox would be staying with your guys in the house to act kind of like your tour guides until we're called to duty."
"Uh… sure Krystal, where do you need to go?"
"It's not far. Just follow my instructions."
Bryan grabbed the radio.
"Lights on guys, quick detour."
"Copy that. Where we headed?" Kasey asked, Bryan could see her talking into the radio through his rear view mirror.
"I dunno, Krystal asked."
"Good enough for me."
After following her instructions, they stopped in front of a rather large blue house.
Krystal stepped out of the car and made her way to the door. Bryan followed her as did Fox. The others got out of their cars, but stayed back, leaning on the hoods and talking to themselves.
Krystal stuck a card key into the slot and pushed the door open.
"Krystal? Fox? That you?" A voice came from deep within the house. A moment later a husky dog entered from a corner door. "Hay it is you guys. James!" He yelled out. A moment later a little fox came right down the stairs, running right to Krystal.
"Mommy!" He yelled hugging her tight.
"Hay baby… James listen for a moment ok?"
"Sure Mommy, what do you want?"
"While me and Daddy were away saving Corneria again, he had a slight accident. There are certain things he doesn't remember now, do you understand?"
"What doesn't he remember?"
"Well dear… he doesn't remember this house, or who we are. He's learning as he goes, and he'll eventually be back to normal again." Krystal said, giving her child a quick hug again.
"That's ok! Come on Daddy, I'll show you how to make a bed and brush your teeth!" James said, pulling Fox up the stairs.
"Cute." Bryan mused.
"Sorry, Bill Grey, I don't believe we've met."
"Bryan Daniels. We haven't. I was called to help with the new threat."
"Ah. Well, are you guys back for a little while, cause I need to report to base. Get a good briefing."
"Yah Bill, thanks for watching him."
"Any time. See yah."
Bryan nodded his goodbye and then a moment later he heard Mei yell out.
"Inu Youkai!"
"I'm telling you, it's like clockwork." He sighed. Krystal giggled. "I'm just going to go grab some things. Why don't you go save Bill?"
Bryan nodded, walking out the door.
"Mei stop chasing him! He's not a demon! I swear to god if you don't stop accusing every moving creature on this planet of being a demon I don't know what I'll do!"
Mei stopped running in her tracks. "Sorry. Just wanted to get some good luck. You know how it is."
"Yah, yah. Rubbing a dog demon's ears is good luck. I know. Just don't do it here."
She huffed, heading back to sit on the hood of her car. "Alright."
"Thank you! I promise I'll make it up to you later. Just stop chasing the locals around!"
A moment later Krystal, Fox, and James came out the front door. Kasey was the first to notice him. "Well hello there. And what's your name?"
"I'm James McCloud." The little fox said with much pride. Krystal smiled at him.
"I'm Kasey. You're cute."
"I like her Mommy. She's nice."
"Well that's good. You'll be seeing a lot of her."
Bryan took the bags that Fox was holding and loaded them into his unit.
"Alright guys. Lets get moving."
"Mommy what are those?"
"Well, their called SUVs. People on earth drive them around all the time. But these ones are different. You know that sound that police cars make? These ones do that to."
"Cool, can I try?"
"How about when we get to the other house, ok? I'm sure Bryan or Kasey would allow you to play with them."
"So long as its in park." Kasey said to Bryan who smiled and nodded.
With that, everyone got into their units, and headed for their temporary house.
(New House)
Whoever had picked out the house must have known that they would have seven cars since the drive way was rather large. The Garage itself was under the house, allowing them to drive down a small ramp and into a place that looked like a small parking garage. A little elevator was their entrance from there, and it looked like it was only operational via the key cards they had been given.
"Don't worry about losing your keys." Krystal said, taking two bags from the back of the unit. "If you do, once you enter the house it kind of recognizes your bio-metric reading. Unlocks all the doors for you. But you have it be in it's system first. I'll show you how to add it when we get in."
Bryan took the bags from her. "You worry about James, me and Fox got these."
(Inside the House)
After everyone had picked out their room arrangement and Krystal showed them how to add themselves to the reader, and after Kasey saying 'You didn't tell me that thing was gonna bite me!', they were settled in the living room.
"Alright so now what? We don't know how long it's going to be before we're called to action." Dean said, leaning back on the couch next to Mei. Bryan was a little ways off sitting near a coffee table with a disassembled rifle on it.
"I don't know. Think of something." He said.
"I hate being idle like this. You think we could help out the local police forces or something?" Kasey huffed, sitting down with a glass of water in her hands.
"Leave it to you to want to work on your day off." Tommy's sarcasm wasn't much appreciated by Kasey at that moment. "Yah well, technically we're not having a day off. We're still on call. Twenty four hours a day."
Tommy rolled his eyes. "Sure thing, Kase."
"Know what?" Bryan asked, putting the final piece of his rifle back together after changing out some of the components. "Why don't we go out and get a bite to eat. Learn a little bit about this place and it's culture. Talk to some of the locals, you know, stuff like that."
"Sounds good to me." Kasey said, looking to the others for approval.
"Alright. We can fit, what - five to a unit comfortable. There's twelve of us… so we'll take three. Four in each."
(Local Restaurant)
"I'm surprised we don't draw so much attention with these cars."
"Guess they just like us, Kasey." Tommy responded.
Bryan just laughed to himself, looking in the rear view mirror to see the other two drivers.
"Hay uh guys… we might have a problem. What happens when we run out of gas?"
"Yah that might be a problem."
Krystal looked over at Bryan, hearing the complaints over the radio.
"What do these run on anyway?"
"Gas, it's a form of fossil fuel."
"Fossil fuel, huh? I bet Slippy could build either a transformer or put something into these cars to make them run on Cornerian fuel supply."
"Think he can pull it off? And even then, how would we pay for the gas? Only thing we got is earth cash, I don't think they'll take that."
"I thought Pepper told you… everything is all set with that. The military is paying for everything. Gas, food, water, everything!"
"They are… well, lets not go crazy."
"Besides, right now you guys are like the up coming heroes around here. Most of these people will probably give you stuff for free anyway." She added a moment later.
"Alright." Bryan grabbed the radio.
"Tom, Slip, listen up. Think you guys could build something for us?"
"Yah, what do you need boss?"
"I need something that will turn either Cornerian fuel into fossil fuel, or something put into these cars so that they run on Cornerian fuel."
After a moment. "Yah, we can do that. Just give us a day to draw up some plans."
"Sounds good. Go ahead and work on it."
"Alright, we'll start when we get back. If we run these things non-stop, we should still get two or three days out of them. We should be done by then. Well use three and three so that if we do run out, we still have about four other good units."
"Sounds good. Now can we get out and get some food, I'm hungry." Bryan complained over the radio. They had pulled into the parking lot not long after the conversation started.
After sitting at the table they each ordered drinks and looked through the menu for good looking food.
"All this stuff looks really good." Kasey said, setting her menu down. "I just can't choose."
"I've never heard of most of this stuff and it all just looks so good."
"Right… anyway, how long do you think it will take for us to get called out?" Tommy asked, looking from his boss, to Fox, and then the drooling Kasey.
"I don't know. Could be anywhere from five minutes, to two weeks. It just depends when they need us." Bryan answered. "By the way Kasey, I'm proud of you."
"What's that?"
"You've made it the entire time with out a singe 'we come in peace' joke."
Kasey growled at him. "Yah, yah. Just don't cross your fingers."
"Are you ready to order?" The female cat asked them. Everyone except the Star Fox team nodded, though non of them really looked up to see what the 'waitress' was wearing. "Katt? What are you doing here?"
Katt grabbed a chair from a nearby table and sat down with them. It was only then did Bryan notice the combat boots and vest.
"Pepper said you guys were around town. I just looked for your cars."
"Told you we stick out." Tommy mused to himself.
"Neko?"
Katt looked over at Mei. "Uh… no, Katt."
"Neko." Mei said again.
"Hai, Neko." Bryan mumbled.
"Uh no… I'm Katt…"
Bryan shook his head with a grin. "Sorry. Mei's from a place called Japan on earth. They've got their own language. Neko means cat."
"Oh… uh… okay."
Bryan just chuckled. "I know. We're a weird bunch."
"So Katt, you ever come here before? What's good?"
"Well… I would recommend…"
(The Threat's Base)
"Everything is going as planned sir. Our attack should commence within the next two days."
"Very good. You are dismissed."
"One more thing, sir. We may have a slight problem."
"Pray tell, what is it?"
"Well. It seems that General Pepper has enlisted the help of some earth people. They have brought their own weapons. Sir, I fear these people greatly."
Big Boss turned to look at a women in the corner of the room. She flipped a card over, followed by two more.
"I see two death cards."
"We will deal with them as they come. For now, ready the troops. We will be attacking soon."
(Back With The Gang)
"That was really good." Ivan said, sitting back from the table a little.
"Alright, lets pay for the bill and get going. Tom and Slippy can get started on the changer and we can ready the rest of our equipment."
When the real waitress approached to take their plates, Kasey asked for the bill.
"No worries dear. Everything is already paid for." She said politely, taking the plates from the table.
"Easiest bill I've ever paid." Dean said with a smirk, grabbing his jacket.
"So, what is this place really like? You don't seem to have much crime around here." Mei observed, seeing the clear streets and nice furs.
"The locals are really nice. We rarely have crime around her. However, this also leads to problems with other planets who get fed up with our 'happy-go-luck' lives. That's where Star Fox gets most of it's employment from." Katt stated, looking around.
"Yup." Krystal agreed. "Katt, why don't you come back to the house with us? No doubt you're going to want to help us with the upcoming fight."
"Alright."
Bryan opened the door to his unit when he heard a shrill scream.
"Help!"
More out of instinct then anything else, he raced towards the yelling female.
"I said, give me that!"
It seemed to be a struggle. "Someone, call the police, I'm being robbed!"
Without much thought Bryan tackled the black fox that was robbing the woman. There was a brief struggle in which Kasey and Mei managed to help the female to her feet and safely away.
Bryan stood up after being pushed away by the fox. Now he turned around and had some sort of knife in his hands. He noticed the weapon on Bryan's hip.
"Go ahead, draw it. I want a fair fight."
Bryan didn't bother, and after a moment the fox lunged. Bryan dodged to the right, grabbing the passing arm he swung it hard. Making the fox land on his back with the knife now in Bryan's hand.
He clicked it in before slipping it into his jacket pocket, just as the police were arriving.
"Just not your day, is it pal?" He asked, lifting the beating animal onto his feet, holding his arms firmly behind his back, and handing him off to the police officer.
"You just seem to rack'em up cowboy." The cop said, it took Bryan a moment to realize who it was. "Ah, Ms. Moran."
"What did this one do?"
"Tried to rob that fur over there. Then pulled this little sucker out." Bryan said, handing over the knife.
"You didn't even draw you blaster on him? Lucky bastard. If that was a local cop and he pulled a weapon on him, he'd be dead. We've got a sort of zero tolerance policy and that kind of thing."
"I see."
"Thanks for the help." Moran said, putting the fox into the back of the car. Purposely hitting his head on the side. Her partner laughed. Bryan pretended not to notice.
Going back over to his friends, the victim was leaving, giving her thanks to the officers and agents.
"Alright. Lets get back to the house."
(In The House)
Tommy and Slippy were in the makeshift garage, drawing plans and making parts. Bryan himself had disassembled another rifle and was cleaning it out, Krystal and Katt were helping him.
Krystal kept taking glances over at Fox and James who were talking to each other. Slowly, Fox was learning more about his life. If anything, he would be back to normal by the end of the week… she hoped.
"Anyone known what time it is?" Kasey asked a few hours later.
"It's about one in the morning. I'm off to bed." Krystal yawned. Fox had brought James up a little while ago, and everyone assumed that he had gone to bed right after. Peppy had gone to bed not to long after they returned to the house.
Falco had fallen asleep on the couch while Slippy and Tommy were still hard at work. Ivan and Mei had finished running inventory on all the weapons they had bought with them and Dean was putting them away.
Bryan and Katt were still doing the rifles. He set his down before watching as Katt finished putting her's together and checked the sights.
"You've done a lot. You seem to handle those like an expert."
"Well, I was a weapons specialist." Katt stated, putting the rifle down on the table.
"Oh yah. That's cool."
"Listen, there are some things you need to know about the team."
"Hmmm?"
"Well for one thing, we have all had things quite hard. We may seem like we don't care from time to time, but, in truth we really do. Falco over there hides behind the bad ass act. In truth, he still harbors a lot of hate. Before he was with Star Fox, he was in a gang. His brother was in it too. One day that gang wanted his brother to kill a traitor. Problem was that his brother loved that traitor. He refused and they killed him. Falco was never the same again. And Krystal? She's the last surviving member of her planet. Andross whipped the entire place off the map. Fox's mother and father were killed by Andross. His mother in a bomb, his father after six years of torture. Peppy was tortured too, he still holds the scars. Though he stays strung for the sake of the team. Slippy himself, well, lets just say that Slippy has a few issues." Katt was silent for a moment.
"What about you?" Bryan asked.
"Well… I few years ago my mate was killed. It was before I met the team. They killed him right before my eyes. We were the last surviving members of our clan. Now I'm all that's left."
"Seems sad, and lonely." He noticed Katt looking at Falco again. "You like him don't you?"
Her blush was visible through her fur. "I'm not that obvious. Besides, he would never return my feelings."
"Well, you never know. I'm off to bed, night."
"Yah, night."
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A/N: This has to be the longest chapter I've ever written in one sitting. 30 pages! 30! I didn't even cheat and beef up the font either!