Foreword:
Alright; before I begin, I gotta say a few things for clarification. But first, I should probably say that none of the following is absolutely necessary to read the story, so if you really don't want to bother yourself, then skip ahead to the actual writing.
This is my first fanfic; I don't mean that as an excuse, but rather just as something that seems relevant to say somewhere in the Author's Notes. So…there's that.
I already have the next several chapters written, so for at least a few weeks expect updates fairly rapidly; like, once a week or so, providing y'all want them. And speaking of reviews (kinda), I appreciate any and all feedback, but I prefer the kind that has a point. In other words, I'd rather have a "This story sucks because…" than a "This story sucks." Same thing with the positive reviews, although I don't really expect too many of those anytime soon.
And as far as the models and tech and stuff go, I based them off SFAdv's, so use that game's overall look as a reference. In other words; sorry, but no banana yellow jumpsuit for Slippy.
That should be it for now.
StarFox: The War Within
Part I: Discovery
In a distant corner of the Lylat System, largely unfettered by modern strife and tribulation, an isolated planet breaths a sigh of relief as its source of torment and destruction is destroyed…
A single entity rockets towards the globe's atmosphere and descends into the clouds, only to reappear minutes later…
It approaches another, larger artificial construct and vectors in closer…
Chapter 1: Return
Exhaustion.
If there was one word to describe what this particular being felt, it could only be exhaustion. Exhaustion of the body, exhaustion of the mind, even exhaustion of the spirit. It was taking everything he had left in his panting, bruised up form to simply stay awake.
The past few hours were more or less a blur to him; dozens of images he could vaguely recall, but not explain. Everything seemed to happen so quickly, so suddenly, that he was having trouble connecting the events that actually happened between the few occurrences he did remember. He had experienced the full spectrum of emotions capable to a living being, ranging from extreme anxiety to joyous elation, burning hatred to overwhelming relief, all the while running solely on a seemingly bottomless supply of adrenaline.
Unfortunately for the subject in question, even this almost endless source of energy had to leave him eventually. The full force of fatigue had just hit and was already beginning to affect even the most basic functions. His eyes blurred, his reactions slowed; he was beginning to go numb in several places. Luckily for him, he had performed his current action so many times before, he could do it blindfolded. Lucky, because due to his weariness, he practically was.
He slowly pulled back on the control stick, leveling off his battle-damaged space-faring fighter with a large set of bay doors which, after a few seconds, parted on their own to reveal a sizable berth beyond. The small craft glided soundlessly into the opening and settled in the middle of the nearly empty docking bay; the massive gates behind the smaller ship gradually beginning to return to their original positions, creaking and moaning against their tracks, a result of years of neglect and disrepair. The dull thud created by their closing reverberated throughout the ship the fighter had just landed in, followed almost immediately by a sharp hissing sound as the bay re-pressurized.
"He's been in there for over ten minutes now; think he's okay?"
"I'm sure he's fine; and after what he's been through, I don't really think we should rush him any."
"I guess not…I dunno, maybe I'm still just a little nervous from…well, you know."
"Andross? Indeed; that was interesting, wasn't it?"
"Ugh," the first speaker said, his speech faltering for a moment as he was affected by recent memories, "Terrifying is more like it. I don't even get how he came back in the first place."
"I'll admit, that confused be a little bit as well," the second figure replied, sounding more mature and experienced than the first, "But…I've learned that some things are better left unknown."
"Yeah," the first person sighed, "You're probably right."
The dull metallic hallways hummed with the background noises of a large spaceship, generated by the thousands of internal systems running inside the walls. It was within one of these light gray corridors that two figures waited, as they had for the last several minutes since their new arrival in the Hanger, just on the other side of a safety door. Both were slightly below average height, and while they shared this one characteristic, they didn't have many other similarities.
One, the elder by at least a few decades, had a calm look about him, as if the pilot of the fighter's absence didn't affect him all that much. He wore a long jacket, which with his height could almost be considered a trench coat, and a dull red, almost brown shirt and pants underneath. His demeanor was misleading though; the hare's indifference wasn't due to lack of concern for the pilot, rather, it was because he was confident that nothing was wrong with him, and that his delay was due to purely mundane reasons.
His companion, on the other hand, wore his true emotion right on his stubby, work jacket sleeve. The toad's worry was easily readable, and he had taken to pacing an in attempt to calm himself; something that the elder found ironic as it was usually the older crowd who performed the action. The various mechanical tools on his belt clattered together when he turned and began to slowly walk in the opposite direction, something that the hare eventually began to grow tired of. He rolled his eyes and breathed out, turning to face the slightly shorter toad, who had stopped as soon as the former had sighed.
"Alright Slippy, alright; let's go check on him."
The addressed instantly grew happier as he replied, "Thanks, Peppy."
I just hope he doesn't see this as offensive, he thought of interrupting whatever the pilot was doing as he walked up to the docking bay door and pressed the access switch, causing a small red light located above the door to blink on and off a few times as the ship's computer gauged the pressure of the hanger. Finally, it turned green and, accompanied by a tone, the door slid open, and Peppy finished his thought, after all, he's definitely earned the right to take it easy for awhile.
The hare strode into the docking bay, followed closely by Slippy, and up to the fighter that had arrived ten minutes before, grabbing a step ladder from its secured place on the wall used exactly for his intended purpose and placing it next to the small craft. As he climbed it and peered into the clear, triangular cockpit though, he inhaled sharply, nearly losing his balance and hearing what could only be described as an 'eep' from Slippy below him. There, in the cockpit of the fighter, was Fox McCloud, slumped forward against the left side of the glass that Peppy had just looked in, motionless.
"What the…?" he whispered under his breath, trailing off without finishing the phrase.
For a moment, it looked like something terrible had happened to the vulpine inside; it was dead quiet, he refused to even budge a little; for all intents and purposes, he could've been unconscious at the least. This was the way it seemed until, upon closer inspection, Peppy noticed a small patch of fog growing and shrinking on the glass next to Fox's mouth. The thought that he was merely resting had never occurred to the hare, and it surprised him as much as his initial reaction had surprised the toad. "Wait a minute…hey Slippy, it's okay," he said, chuckling a bit as he spoke, "He's just sleeping…er, Slippy?"
Slippy was nowhere to be seen. Peppy swept his gaze around the hanger, but he couldn't see who he was looking for at all. Assuming that he might've run off somewhere in his apprehensive state, afraid to see what 'horror' had befallen the immobile fox to make the older being gasp like he had, the hare decided not to press his investigation further; the toad tended to disappear whenever something bad or even in the least bit frightening happened, but he always showed up later.
Peppy sighed and turned back to the dozing vulpine considering his options for a second. I could just leave him here for now, he thought, but we wouldn't be able to contact him quickly if we needed to… and sleeping in that position can't be comfortableHe pondered this for a few more moments before deciding. Ah, he's gonna hate me for this.
He steadied himself on the step ladder and knocked on the cockpit a few times. The hollow thumping sound it made could easily be heard throughout the silent hanger, but when this didn't work, he tried rapping the part of the window where the fox's head was, with a lot more success. Fox awoke with a start, coughing and rubbing his bloodshot eyes before he looked sleepily to his left at what had caused the interruption in his previously peaceful slumber. He muttered a few words, but due to the cockpit between them, the one on the outside couldn't hear anything that was said. Peppy made a signal with his paws and mouthed the word 'open,' and, after a few seconds of delay due to his tired state, Fox flipped a switch on the control panel in front of him, opening the angled glass screen.
"Hey Pep…" he repeated, "What's up?"
"Well, until a few seconds ago not you." Fox gave the humored hare a weary grin. "I've seen a lot of things in my life, but I've never seen a pilot fall asleep in the cockpit."
The vulpine's grin faded as he showed a genuinely surprised look and responded, "Was I really sleeping?" After receiving a nod he continued, "Wow, I guess I didn't…realize how…tired…I…was…." As Fox was talking, he began to doze off again, but Peppy caught him.
"Yeah, looks like you still don't. How about you get out of this thing before we have to drag you out?"
Fox nodded and, with a little help from Peppy, half-climbed, half-stumbled out of the cockpit and down to the metal deck of the Great Fox. At the sound of his boots hitting the steel, Slippy immediately popped out from under the wing of another nearby fighter where he was hiding and, at the sight of his friend/captain walking, snapped out of his juvenile worry. Peppy soon wished he had stayed in his hidden corner however, once his shrill voice filled the room.
"Fox! You're okay! We thought something was wrong, but you're fine and-"
He was cut off by the stern look Peppy shot him, followed by the hare placing a finger over his mouth, a fairly recognizable signal for 'shut up.'
Slippy fell silent and watched as Fox, without even acknowledging him, trudged across the docking bay floor, towards the door that led into the rest of the ship. He looked back at Peppy, who was fishing out Fox's backpack from the bottom of the cockpit and, after finding it, descending the step ladder and following Fox out of the bay. Slippy, still not quite grasping what was happening, quickly ran up to Peppy's side.
"What's wrong with Fox?" he questioned as they left the hanger.
"Nothing really," Peppy responded in a slightly hushed tone, "Probably just a little tired."
They watched as the fox slowly made his away through the hallway and approached the elevator doors…which he then proceeded to walk right into with a thud. His head jerked back and his posture straightened briefly, and he just stood there with a confused look on his face, as if he had expected the doors to open by themselves.
"Ok," Peppy said in surprise with a hint of humor, "Very tired."
He jogged quickly over to where Fox was standing and activated the elevator for him, to which Fox muttered a 'thanks' of sorts and crept into the lift, followed by Peppy, with Slippy staying behind and returning to the docking bay. The latter was the resident mechanic, and, while he was interested as to what was going on, he figured the sooner he analyzed the damages on Fox's fighter, the sooner he could begin the actual repairs, which were ultimately more important than his curiosity.
After the doors closed, Peppy pressed a few buttons and the elevator hummed to life, beginning its short ascent. Within a few seconds of understandable silence between the lift's two occupants, it reached the designated floor and beeped once before slowing and coming to stop. The doors opened and Fox lurched forward, making his weary way down the corridor towards his private quarters. He stopped in front of his door and hesitated, and for a second Peppy thought he would have to enter Fox's code for him, too. After a few moments of standing absolutely still though, he pressed a few buttons on a keypad next to the door, and with a quiet click, it slid open. Fox stumbled the last few meters into his room and, without further thought, fell down onto his bed and into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Peppy watched from the elevator as Fox's door slid shut, chuckling to himself and punching a few more buttons on the elevator control panel, causing the lift to close and continue its ascent. It reached the top of the ship a few moments later and opened to a short hallway, which dead-ended into a pair of somewhat larger-than-usual doors. He walked through these doors, which did open by themselves as the hare neared them, and onto the bridge of the Great Fox.
It was a decent sized, roughly circular room; large enough to seat four or five comfortably, but small enough so that no one was ever more than five meters or so from a wall. In front was a large view-port that stretched around the forward half of the bridge, along with a variety of consoles and seats for Peppy and Slippy. Towards the back was a slightly raised platform, where Fox had his command station/revolving chair, next to which were the heavy automatic doors.
Peppy sighed and, after leaning Fox's backpack against the wall next to the doors, sat down in his usual spot, bringing up several color-coded pictures of the ship and its various components on his console. Almost every section of the ship was either yellow or orange, reflecting the poor condition of the vessel. Well, the old girl has certainly seen better days, Peppy thought to himself as he leaned back and scratched his grey-furred chin. He was about to further investigate the carrier's status, when a small blinking light and a faint beeping caught his attention.
Glancing over at Fox's chair, he noticed they were coming from the small terminal on his armrest. Peppy walked over and sat down, entering a few commands before the beeping and flashing stopped as a window popped up on the terminal screen and several lines of text appeared:
INCOMING TRANSMISSION
SENDER: GENERAL PEPPER
RECIEVER: STAR FOX TEAM
SUBJECT: MISSION COMPLETION AND DEBREIFING
HOLD TIME: 15:37
Peppy watched for a moment as the bottom number continued to increase before suddenly realizing what it meant. He quickly pressed another button on the chair and spoke uncharacteristically frantically into a small grille next to it.
"Slippy, get up to the bridge right now!"
After a few seconds of delay, a slightly tinny sounding response came.
"Why Peppy, what's going on?"
"There's no time to explain, just get up here now."
"Alright, I'll be right there."
Regaining his barely lost composure, the hare quickly made his way over towards the back of the bridge where a neatly assembled collection of metal parts and appendages sat against the wall. Activating a console behind the jumble of steel, Peppy entered a couple of remote commands, and the mass of parts appeared to almost assemble itself into a tall, whitish-grey robot. As soon as the machine appeared to be 'on', he gave his orders to it verbally.
"ROB, began start-up procedures and prepare to record the following transmission."
After receiving a cold, metallic 'affirmative', Peppy returned to Fox's chair and waited for Slippy. The toad scrambled through the bridge doors a few seconds later and Peppy activated the com connection.
The holographic projector clicked on, and a flat, static-filled screen was projected in the air near the front of the room. A moment later, the image cleared and revealed a middle-aged hound dressed in a crimson general's uniform, sitting behind a desk in a modest looking office. He was furiously typing away on a desktop computer and didn't seem to notice that his previously blank screen in front of him now showed the bridge of the Great Fox. Peppy, holding respect for the General's (and their employer's) rank, let this go on for a few seconds before politely clearing his throat and speaking.
"Ahem…General?"
Pepper, as the name sign on his desk read, pressed a few more keys and looked up at the camera. "Ah, Peppy my friend; it's good to finally hear from you. I was beginning to think that you wouldn't answer."
"Yeah, sorry about the wait," Slippy responded, "We were…uh…"
"Repairing Fox's Arwing, sir." Peppy finished, glancing with a slight bit of reproach at the toad.
"Ah, well, that's understandable." said Pepper. He looked around the picture of the Great Fox's bridge and continued, "Speaking of Fox…I see he's not currently with us; I take it he's preoccupied with something important?"
"Yes, he's sle…" Peppy caught himself. Telling Pepper that their leader missed his call because he was sleeping probably wouldn't look too good. Not to mention the General had already been on hold more than fifteen minutes. So he coughed and finished, "He's in recovery." Which is technically true, he thought.
"Of course; I believe he's earned a little down time. Anyway, you'll have to forgive my straight-forwardness, as I'm expected in a meeting in a few minutes."
"Not a problem General, go right ahead," Peppy replied.
"Good. I called to let you know that according to some long range surveillance, your mission was a success, and that your payment is being transferred as we speak. I would like to congratulate the Starfox team on another stellar performance."
Slippy was internally ecstatic, and couldn't suppress the grin the sprouted on his face as he heard of their contractual fulfillment and subsequent monetary gain. But Peppy noticed something different about Pepper's tone of voice, preventing him from sharing the toad's initial feelings.
"That's great General; but it's not the only reason you contacted us, is it?" he questioned.
"As perceptive as always Peppy," Pepper chuckled before becoming a bit more serious, "But…you're right. To put it simply, I wanted to ask you about another possible contract. However, the details are still a little unclear, and I'd rather not disclose anything over the com system that could be intercepted."
Peppy waved his hand, "Say no more, just name the place."
The General gestured to the room around him, "My office here on Corneria should suffice. Let's set the meeting for two days from now?"
"That sounds perfect," the hare responded, "We could use the time to make some repairs and rest up."
"Excellent. I've already cleared your ship for passage in the Norda Pass through Meteos, so that should speed up your return trip a little. I'll talk to you…hopefully all of you, in a few days. Pepper out."
The faded gold furred hound tapped a key on his computer and the projection turned into static, an action mirrored on the other end by Peppy doing likewise with the vulpine's laptop-like console as the bridge fell quiet. The silence was soon broken, however, by ROB's monotonic voice booming out across the bridge:
"Unidentified Arwing Fighter Class ship approaching, bringing up image on bridge Heads Up Display."
A digital box appeared within the bridge window, showing a close up of a small fighter craft, almost identical to the ship Fox had flown in previously.
"Hm, Falco's back," Peppy stated.
"Yeah, I was kinda wondering what happened to him after that last battle with Andross," said Slippy.
Peppy and Slippy had been able to witness that final battle through the same technology that allowed them currently to zoom in on Falco's Arwing. They had seen how Fox had almost been swallowed, ship and all, by the massive face of the horrendously deformed simian Andross, and how Falco had intervened at just the right time to save him. They had also seen the massive explosion that resulted from the final, fatal barrage from Fox's fighter. After that however, Peppy and Slippy lost sight of both Arwings; Fox's had later shown up on approach to the planet, while Falco's had seemingly disappeared altogether.
Peppy's eyes narrowed a bit as he suddenly realized something odd about how ROB had worded his announcement. Unidentified? "Wait," the hare said cautiously, "Slippy, did you key in the Falco as a friendly?"
"No," Slippy replied slowly, recognizing what Peppy was thinking, "I thought you did."
As if to confirm their worries, the Great Fox's alarms sprang to life, piercing the air with sirens and bathing the bridge in red warning lights. ROB's metallic voice was barely heard above the overwhelming noise.
"Warning: Unidentified fighter approaching primary docking bay, presumed hostile."
"No, ROB, he's…he's a…" Peppy was having trouble concentrating while trying desperately to cover his over-sensitive ears from the commotion. "Just turn off the alarm!"
"Error, unable to deactivate proximity alarm, suggest alternative request." ROB replied.
"What! What do you mean 'error'?"
"Unable to deactivate proximity alarm, suggest alternative request." the robot repeated.
"It must be a glitch," Slippy yelled over the deafening sound.
"Why can't you deactivate the alarm?" Peppy shouted at ROB.
"Unable to deactivate individual alarm units, total alarm system termination required to deactivate current alarm." ROB answered, still maintaining the same constant monotone despite the clamor.
"Fine; just shut the whole damn system down," Peppy commanded with frustration.
Almost instantly after he had said this, the alarms shut off and the bridge lights returned to their usual dull white color. Peppy and Slippy both breathed a sigh of relief and slumped back in their seats, the former's ears ringing slightly from the audio assault. After a few seconds they glanced at each other and the toad swiveled his chair around to face his console, chuckling as he began to type.
"Well," he said, "Chalk up another system that needs replacing."
"Indeed," Peppy replied somewhat tiredly, "I just hope the payment from this mission is enough to cover everything."
Slippy was about to agree, but got cut off by a new voice on the bridge.
"Hey, you guys gonna open the doors or what?"
"Hey," Peppy responded through the com with a hint of anger in his voice, instantly knowing who it was and intentionally replying in a semi-sarcastic manner; it was the only way he remembered getting through to the owner of the voice when he used to live on the Great Fox, "How about you try knocking next time."
"Yeah Falco, you could've a least let us know you were coming," Slippy added.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Falco replied mockingly, "I guess I shouldn't have assumed my buddies would keep my ID data handy. Let me in."
Peppy rolled his eyes and mumbled something to himself before pressing a button on the touch-panel in front of him. This was shortly followed by a faint rumbling from below as the hanger doors re-opened.
"Well," Slippy said with a slight smirk, "At least we know one thing's not broken around here."
The hare shook his head and replied, "No kidding; I think we'll always be able to count on him to stay the same."
The pair got up and headed through the bridge doors towards the lift, but Slippy stopped short at the threshold, realizing they had forgotten something. He looked back at ROB and said, "Hey Peppy, what about the security system?"
"Don't worry about it Slip," Peppy called back from halfway down the hall, "There's not another ship around here for sectors, and besides, I'd rather not risk the alarms going off again due to some other 'glitch'."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Slippy replied as he ran to catch up with Peppy who was already waiting inside the elevator. "Hey, you think that alarm woke up Fox?"
Peppy laughed a little and hit a few buttons on the lift's control panel. "Judging by how he looked coming in I doubt it." The lift closed and began its controlled descent towards the Great Fox's docking bay level.
"Hey Gramps, what took ya so long?"
Falco jumped down from the cockpit of his fighter and strode up to meet Peppy midway to the door of the hanger with a smirk on his face. "Arthritis actin' up again?"
"I may be old, but I can still turn you right around and kick your sorry tail off of this ship." Peppy replied, the anger from the alarm fiasco still showing in his voice. The veteran's tone softened however as he offered his hand and continued with a sigh, "But…it's good to see you again Falco."
The blue-feathered avian seized the hand and gave it a firm shake, his tone also becoming more serious. "You too Peppy."
Just then, Slippy came hesitantly through the door and walked over to where the other two were talking, unnoticed. He fully expected the reaction his presence would get around Falco, but he still felt compelled to at least say 'hello' to the avian. At a lull in the conversation he coughed discretely and braced himself for what he knew was coming.
"Hey, Slip-up!" Falco exclaimed, turning his full attention to the toad, "How's it going?"
Slippy cringed as he heard the nick-name he hadn't been called since Falco left the team a couple years ago. "Fine," he replied quietly, eyes lowered, any hope that Falco had changed gone out the airlock.
Falco frowned as he noticed the volume of Slippy's voice. "Oh c'mon, you can't honestly say that and sound and look like you do," he said, seemingly concerned. "Aren't you happy to see me?"
"Of course," Slippy replied, and he was. Falco had always been a close friend to Slippy; he knew the avian didn't mean what he said when he made fun of him, but after awhile it got annoying. And sometimes it actually hurt. Oh well, Slippy thought to himself, a smile returning to his face, it could be worse.
"Alright then," Falco said, giving him a friendly slap on the back and almost sending the diminutive toad to the deck. "Now that that's outta the way, you guys can help me carry my stuff."
He turned back to his Arwing and grabbed a duffel bag out of the bottom of the cockpit; being a head or two taller than the others in the hanger, he didn't need a step ladder like Peppy had earlier. While reaching for the bag, he flipped a switch in the cockpit which opened a decent sized cargo compartment along the bottom of the nose/body of the Arwing. Falco tossed the duffel bag towards Slippy and reached back into the newly revealed compartment, picking up the suitcase that was stored there. He was about to head for the door but before he could get a step off, he heard a clattering noise and noticed Slippy pinned to the deck by the duffel bag.
"Sorry 'bout that lil' buddy," Falco said, laughing as he bent down and removed the strap from around the toad's neck. Slippy immediately shot back up, panting and gasping for breath. He looked at the avian angrily.
"Jeez Falco, whadya got in there; pipes?"
Falco flashed a grin and replied slyly, "You might say that." Before Slippy could question him further though, Falco resumed walking towards the hallway, suitcase in one hand with the duffel bag strapped around his shoulder.
Peppy and Slippy caught up and after a short elevator ride, arrived on the second floor. As they walked down the corridor, Falco spoke up again, "I trust nobody's screwed up my room or anything while I was gone?"
"Of course not," replied Peppy as they arrived in front of his room's door. "Everything's just like it was when you left."
"That's good," Falco responded, typing in a few digits on the keypad, "I had just gotten it the way I liked…"
He trailed off as the door slid open and revealed…a perfectly clean room. There were still signs of Falco's former presence in the form of pictures and posters, but other than that it was absolutely spot-free. The single bed was made, the pictures and small trinkets the avian left behind were all arranged perfectly on the dresser and desk, and the various placards and posters were all hung and taped at perfect angles. It was, in a word, clean.
"What the hell did you do to my room!" Falco exclaimed, looking furiously at Peppy.
The hare didn't seem to notice the avian's anger as he replied, "Oh, that's right, I took the liberty to clean up a fewthings."
Falco felt like tearing the ears off the elderly rabbit, but another question popped into his head.
"Wait," he started, still seething, "How did you get in there in the first place? I don't remember giving you my code."
"Oh be sensible," Peppy retorted, "Your code wasn't that hard to figure out; it was one-one, one, two-zero, two-zero, right?"
Falco's eye's widened as the hare recited his code, apparently from memory. "How did you know that?" he asked incredulously.
"Heh, even I knew that Falco," Slippy dared to chime in, "It's the numerical translation for Ka-"
"Alright, alright, I'll just change it then," Falco cut in, feeling himself begin to turn red and eager to get off the subject. He found his relief as he realized he had missed someone in his homecoming. "Hey, where's McCloud?"
Peppy smiled and pointed to the door across the hall from where they were standing, "He's sleeping; you should've seen him coming in."
"Sleeping?" Falco said, not quite believing that the former 'Hero of Lylat' would be so tuckered out after one, albeit tough, fight. "Andross was hard, but not that hard. I mean look at me; I'm fine."
"True," Peppy replied, and then, recalling the information he retained from monitoring Fox's movements and progress on the mission, continued, "But you weren't running around on the planet for the past week and going the last three days without sleep."
"Yeah, I guess that would do it," Falco admitted, nodding and making a mental note to ask the vulpine about the whole assignment later. Then, to his surprise, he let out a long yawn. "Hm, guess I was wrong about that fight…you guys don't need me for the next eight or nine hours do you?"
"Nah, I was actually just about to retire myself," said Peppy.
"Well we all know that," the avian chided, his trademark quick-wit showing no worse for the wear of his being absent from the Great Fox, "I think what you meant was 'I'm tired.'"
"I know, and I said that I…" Peppy began and then stopped, catching on to Falco's joke. "Oh, very funny birdbrain."
"Heh, I thought so," he replied before finally entering his room, throwing his hand up and calling back over his shoulder, "Night y'all."
Slippy responded in kind and Peppy just mumbled something about kids and respect. The two returned to their respective rooms and the hallway fell silent.
Falco set his luggage down on the floor next to his bed and took off his leather flight jacket throwing it on the dresser. He went about in this same haphazard manor with the contents of his suitcase for a few minutes before setting his other bag on the bed and unzipping it. He reached in and carefully removed the first object which, when halfway out, closely resembled a long slender pipe, as Slippy had suspected earlier. However, as the avian pulled the rest of it out, it became clear that the object in question was used for something much different than plumbing.
Yup, Falco thought to himself with a childish grin as he pulled the sniper rifle fully out of the bag, always travel with company. He looked through the scope and, after adjusting a few knobs on it, placed it back in the bag. The interior of the duffel bag was interesting in design, consisting of a metal shell and a few racks; ideal for the safe storage of long-barreled weapons, but heavy. After checking the other equipment to make sure nothing was damaged by the earlier incident with Slippy, he shoved the bag under his bed and lay down on top. Falco sighed as he placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. It's good to be back.
And so the last living entity aboard the Great Fox fell into the rejuvenating unconsciousness of sleep, both of the returning beings in particular appreciating the safe respite the ship granted. The lights of the vessel, both internal and external, dimmed and the humming lessened, and the whole craft took on a look and feel similar to those housed within; sleep.
Eight hours passed this way, without any interruption. Until…
"Target within range; initiate auto-docking procedure?"
The computer's metallic but friendly-sounding voice sounded throughout the small shuttle. After receiving a 'yes' from the solo pilot, the old, rickety ship began to shake and rattle slightly as its engines powered up in preparation for positioning and docking. As it approached the rear hanger of the Great Fox, a smaller, auxiliary docking bay located just above the main engine array, half up the ship, the doors mysteriously began to open without input from the pilot. Any person with even a fleeting knowledge of a large ship's security system would've found this at least a little odd, but the inexperienced pilot didn't give it a second thought. The small craft glided into the bay and hovered for a moment before slowly settling down on the metal floor with a heavy clang.
5 Minutes Earlier
The bridge of the Great Fox was silent; the only source of audible noise being the faint humming of the ship's internal systems. ROB was the only presence in the room; he stood completely motionless against the wall next to the bridge doors, hooked up via cable to a port in a console nearby. The slit near the top of his head that normally served as ROB's 'eye' was dark, and the whole robot had a look of sleep about him. Then, suddenly, his 'eye' snapped on, and his previously slumped chassis straightened up.
"Unknown ship approaching the Great Fox, personal freighter class, no armaments detected, presumed neutral."
A few seconds passed in the otherwise empty room before he spoke again.
"Unidentified ship within docking range of auxiliary hanger, no landing requests detected, initiating alarm sequence."
A few more moments passed and for awhile, nothing happened. Then, ROB's monotonic voice broke the relative silence again.
"Alarm system manually deactivated, seeking alternative method of alerting crew."
Once again the bridge fell quiet, and once again, just a little bit later, his conversation with nobody broke the tranquility.
"All crew members currently engaged in standard nocturnal rest procedures, all crew members request no interruptions, assuming control of the Great Fox, initiating communications with unidentified craft."
This time the bridge didn't return to silence, as immediately after ROB finished saying his last word, he made a strange buzzing sound, ending with a sharp snap, courtesy of some internal malfunction.
"Error detected, shutting down."
He slumped forward and his eye turned dark once again. The bridge returned to its former hushed state, interrupted only by the constant, almost inaudible, humming.
The auxiliary docking bay was about a third the size of the main hanger, able to carry roughly two or three ships, depending on the amount of space they took up. It was also substantially thinner than the primary docking bay, forcing the three ships, had it been full, to line up in a column. But, at this current moment, there was only one, newly arrived shuttle in the hanger and for a minute or two, it simply sat there, statuesque.
Then, the hatch on the side of it hissed open, casting a shaft of light into to the otherwise dark bay. A silhouette appeared in the doorway, seemingly hesitant to leave the sanctuary of the transport for the uncertainty of the relatively massive Great Fox, stopping on the edge of the frame and perked its ears as the being became tenser. This uncertainty passed soon enough though, as the figure jumped down from the elevated hatchway, and landed on the metal deck with a pair of quiet 'clicks'.
For a moment, the figure stood in the near pitch blackness of the hanger, unmoving and weary of the darkness surrounding it. Then, after a faint rustling sound, a soft, bluish light sprang out from the end of a stick-like object in the silhouette's hand, surrounding its owner with a bubble of illumination. Now able to see clearly, the figure cautiously made its way to the door at the end of the hanger; its tail twitching at every unknown sound or groan the Great Fox made. It paused in front of the door, and was apparently confused as its hand hovered over the keypad, unsure of what to press. After a moment or two of hesitation, the figure pressed a button, seemingly at random, and was rewarded with the sliding open of the door.
The lights of the hallway were still dimmed, but they provided enough light that the mysterious light source the figure was carrying was no longer needed. She, as it was now obvious the silhouette was female, deactivated the light and held the short, thin stick loosely at her side, unwilling to part with it for the time being.
She was about to step out into the corridor and begin searching for someone to talk to, when a burst of static from the in-ship com system caused her to jump back into the bay with a muffled gasp. A high-pitched yet tired sounding voice echoed out of the hidden speakers.
"Hey, I'm about to engage the omni-drive; if anyone's awake down there, you should probably hold on to something. Not that anyone is of course…" The voice spoke the last line a bit quieter and trailed off.
The unknown figure peered carefully out from the doorway of the hanger, as if expecting to be attacked at any moment. She had never heard or known of a PA system, and wasn't sure what to make of what she had just experienced. With a flick of her wrist, the object she was carrying extended into a full-fledged staff, decked out with gold trails running the length of the dark blue shaft. One end was the same cylindrical prism she had used for light earlier, and the other was equipped with a similar looking gem, encased in a sharp, almost spear-like head. The figure seemed to take comfort with her newly revealed weapon, and slowly stepped back into the hallway, staff at the ready with the business end braced out in front. However, once again, her first steps into the corridor were interrupted, this time by a physical force rather than a verbal.
The Great Fox seemed to fall totally silent for a second, causing her to pause in midstep, and then it suddenly accelerated to extreme speeds, throwing the unsuspecting figure on her back with a yelp. She tried to recover, but the extreme g-forces pinned her to the floor and against the bulkhead. After a few seconds of panic, however, the late G-Diffuser system kicked in, allowing the bewildered figure to slowly rise to her feet.
The hallway seemed to have a grudge against her, scaring the living daylights out of the figure twice within a minute of her arrival. Her determination prevailed though, and she continued down the hallway, step by shaking step, each making a quiet 'click' as her sandals softly tapped against the floor. At the opposite end of the corridor was a large, open room. The figure headed towards this, hoping it might contain someone she could talk to, or at least something that would tell her if she was in the right place.
She passed a few doors without further incident, but as she approached the lift, it opened, causing her to jump back and crouch, staff head pointed at the now open elevator shaft. The figure visibly relaxed however, as she saw a short toad trudge out of the doorway and head away from her, towards one of the doors near the end of the hallway. The toad didn't seem to even notice her, despite the fact that she was only a meter or two away. She stared at him for a moment and figured, at the least, he wasn't threatening, and called out in a soft, accented voice.
"Excuse me…"
The toad didn't seem to notice so she cleared her throat and tried again, slightly louder this time.
"Um…Excuse me…"
The toad still seemed oblivious to her presence, so she walked forward a few strides and tapped it on the shoulder, beginning her previous line again. "Ex-"
Whatever trance the toad was in previously was instantly broken, as the second she tapped him on the shoulder, he jumped and spun around to face her. His face read pure terror as he realized she wasn't someone he was used to seeing on the ship and, before she could say anything, he pulled out a strange device from his belt. In his confusion though, he lost his grip on it, and began juggling it, trying desperately to regain control of the object while the 'intruder' attempted to calm the toad down.
"No, no, its okay, I'm not going to hur…"
Somehow during the toad's fumbling, the device went off, and bright blue bolt of energy shot out and struck her in the bare left shoulder. She instinctively clutched her right hand over the impact and watched for a split-second as arcs of electricity bounded across her body before blacking out.
5 Minutes Earlier
"Why am I always the first one up, I do everything around here, never get thanked, always…"
Slippy mumbled to himself as he left his personal room and walked across the hallway to the lift, his eyes bloodshot and barely open. Once inside, he pressed the 'bridge' button and almost fell asleep standing up while waiting for the elevator to reach its destination. He was jerked awake as the elevator arrived on the top floor and the doors parted. Once on the bridge, Slippy gratefully sat down in his chair, and powered up the main console from hibernation. The screen snapped on and immediately displayed a text box.
UNKOWN SHIP IN AUXILERY DOCKING BAY
PERSONAL FRIEGHTER CLASS
TIME ELAPSED SINCE ARRIVAL: 1:19
Slippy, in his sleep-deprived state, didn't bother to read this message, only seeing it as something blocking his reason for getting up so early. He closed out of it immediately and began typing in the sequence to start up the means by which they would cover the immeasurably long distance from Sauria to Corneria; the omni-drive.
The omni-drive transportation system was a way to travel extremely long distances in short periods of time, making it essential for almost any type of practical space travel. However, such technology did have limitations; the most noticeable of which were its long charge up times, large fuel consumption and tremendous size, making it mountable only on larger capital ships and freighters. As the Great Fox began charging up the necessary energy for the jump, Slippy activated the ship's com system spoke in a weary voice.
"Hey, I'm about to engage the omni-drive, if anyone's awake down there, you should probably hold on to something. Not that anyone is of course…"
Why do I always do that, nobody's every awake before me, I'm always the only… Slippy continued griping to himself. He waited about a minute for the gauge to turn green and activated the omni-drive system. The Great Fox seemed to die for an instant, the silence even covering the near constant background humming, and then the stars in the view-port on the bridge turned into streaks of light as the carrier accelerated and attained incredible speeds. Slippy was pushed back in his cushioned chair and tightly gripped the hand rests. It took few moments before the G-Diffuser, a G-force nullifier of sorts, caught up with the velocity of the ship. As soon as it did, and his task completed, the toad got down from the chair and stumbled back to the elevator, eager to get the day over with. He entered the lift and was about to press the hanger floor button, but stopped and pressed another when he realized he had forgotten his tool belt in his room.
Slippy, still groggy, was completely oblivious to the landing of the freighter. Had he been fully awake, he would've noticed the message that he deleted without reading on his computer. Had he been fully awake, he would've noticed that ROB didn't activate himself when Slippy, a crewmember, entered the bridge like the robot was supposed to. Had he been fully awake, he would've noticed the light blue vixen that appeared to his left when he exited the elevator. But of course, he wasn't fully awake, and thus didn't catch any of the signs that something out of the ordinary had occurred.
Therefore, he was extremely surprised to feel something tap his shoulder on the way to his room.
Slippy stared, wide-eyed and mouth agape, at the crumpled form of the vixen he had just stunned...literally. He forgot about the blaster he was juggling, and it clattered to the ground, about the same time as the stranger's staff. It took a few seconds to register what had just happened, but when it hit him, he took off running to his leader's room, which was only a few doors down the hall towards the lounge.
"Fox!" he screamed, pounding on his door and glancing back at the unconscious body. He repeated his exclamation a few times and after getting no response, tried Peppy's room, back near the lift.
"Peppy! Hurry up! I think I did something! Pepp…" the toad stopped as the door slid open, revealing a tired looking, definitely annoyed Peppy dressed in a bathrobe. His annoyance dissipated though, when he realized that something had to be really wrong for Slippy to get this worked up.
"Slippy, calm down; what happened?"
The toad began rapidly spitting out an incredible amount of incomprehensible words before being cut off when Peppy placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Never mind; just tell me where."
Slippy pointed a few meters down the hallway. Peppy followed Slippy back into the corridor and saw the prone body of the vixen, still unmoved from where she went down and Falco standing over her, dressed the same as the day before, just as surprised as Peppy. The hare slowly walked over to the recently awakened avian and soon all three were standing above and behind the body, trying to figure out a number of questions that came to mind.
The one that probably popped into all of their heads first was why she was dressed as she was, with a top that just covered what was necessary and what could only be compared to a loincloth around her waist, both of a strange, almost tribal design. These were accented with a pair of shoulder plates and forearm guards of the same pattern, along with a pair of necklaces; a choker style around her neck with a green gem in the center, and a more ornamental one around her forehead containing a red gem. The 'outfit' was completed with a couple of tattoos on her upper arms and thighs, and a few bands around her tail. All and all, it wasn't exactly the standard fare as far as traveling clothes go. Falco nudged her head with the toe of his boot and let out a low whistle as it rolled over to the side without resistance.
"Jeez Slip, you knocked 'er out cold."
"I-I didn't mean to," he stammered in response, "She just kind of…surprised me."
Unknown to the trio standing above her, the vixen had just snapped out of her unconsciousness, roused by the moving of her head. She heard the voices before opening her eyes, and wisely kept them shut, already trying to gauge their distance and height.
"I think I recognize her from somewhere."
She heard one of the figures speak the words, followed by a few questioning lines from his companions. She also noticed an ever-so-slight change in the other two's voices as she assumed they turned their heads to look at the first speaker. Taking a chance, but needing to know of her surroundings if she planned to escape, she opened her eyes slightly into small, barely noticeable slits. Her assumptions proved correct as she saw three beings standing in the top of her vision, their heads turned towards each other in conversation.
On the left was the short toad she recognized as the one who had used that stunning device on her, and next to him, in the middle, was a slightly taller grey hare, apparently the oldest of the group by at least a couple decades; the last, right-most being was a much taller, blue-hued falcon. She also noticed the last carried another one of the strange devices on his belt. Before she could consider her options though, the avian on the right casually looked over towards her, and did a double take as he spied the small slits on her previously closed eyes.
"Hey, guys…she's up."
His companions both turned to look at her, and she reacted, bringing her knees up against her chest and planting her hands on the deck. Before any of the observers could do anything, the vixen pushed off backwards with her hands and kicked her feet out over her head, planting one in the face of each of the hare's startled friends, chosen because of the threatening devices they carried. Using the momentum generated by this, she continued the reverse somersault, landing smoothly on one knee and taking off down the hall. Unfortunately, she was running straight towards the dead-end lounge, and the three behind her were blocking the way back to her ship.
Falco, half-expecting this as soon as he saw the being's eyes open, recovered quickly and in the blink of an eye un-holstered his blaster, flicked a tab on it turning it to stun, and targeted the fleeing stranger. Just before he fired though, he felt a hand on his forearm push it down.
"Don't worry about her," Peppy calmly said, "There's no other way out."
The running female was about to enter the large open room she had seen earlier when a door slid open to her left. As soon as she saw from the hallway that the larger room had no other exit, she stopped and quickly doubled back to the newly opened 'route', expecting to be hit with another bolt of energy at any time. She burst through the threshold and tripped over something, falling to the floor with a gasp.
20 Minutes Earlier
Fox's emerald eyes snapped open.
For an instant, he couldn't remember anything. He didn't recognize the room he was in, he didn't recognize the bed he was on, he didn't recognize the clothes he still had on, and he didn't recall how he got there.
Then, it all flooded back in a torrent of memory. He remembered the mission; the planet, the first landing, the final battle, Tricky, Andross…
"Krystal…"
The word escaped his mouth with in a whisper as the cognitive reboot washed over his brain. He recalled the first time he saw her, suspended in midair in a transparent prism; how he had just stood there on top of the Krazoa Palace, slack-jawed at her sheer beauty. How it had lasted for a good twenty seconds before Peppy had interrupted and brought him back to reality. He remembered finally rescuing her from her imprisonment after over a week's worth of unbelievably harsh sacrifice and effort, how he had saved her from falling into the depths of the Palace, how as he grabbed her hand to haul her up from the edge they locked eyes, and how that moment seemed to last forever. Finally, with a wave of despair, he remembered searching desperately for her after the fight with Andross, and how he had left the planet without her, how the unfamiliar pain he felt surpassed even his exhaustion.
Fox lay in the same spot that he had fallen in eight hours ago for another five minutes, racked by remorse and regret. He felt that he wanted to get up, but his body just seemed unresponsive. Why bother? he thought, content to just lay there; the emotional aspect of his mind having completely taken over. Slowly but surely though, his logical side began to claw its way back into power and,after awhile, and simply put, he eventually realized that he had to move on, and that, even though the circumstances of their meeting were extremely coincidental, he would most likely never see her again. This thought got him moving, and he slowly pushed himself off of the bed. He sat on the edge for awhile, still unwilling to give up his previous thoughts. But just like before, he came to the conclusion that he had to move on.
He stood up and let out a long, deep yawn, stretching his still-weary body. As he crossed the short distance to the bathroom, he heard a faint and distant 'clang' that also gave off a slight vibration, like that of a ship landing in the hanger. Fox shrugged it off though, assuming that it was just another of the many random sounds that the old carrier made.
After entering the bathroom, he turned on the shower unit and undressed, hopping into it a minute later and feeling the warm water flow through his rusty-orange fur, washing away days of dirt and grime. As he was soothed by the stream of the shower, he again got lost in his thoughts, about what had happened, and where they were going next. He lost track of time and it wasn't until about ten minutes later that a faint knocking and, through the walls and water, what sounded like a high-pitched voice snapped him out of his mental wanderings.
The fox turned off the shower and dried himself, changing into a new set of the same clothes he was wearing before, consisting of comfortable green pants and a T-shirt, and the sleeveless white flight vest, with the Star Fox logo in pin form on the left side, which he was never seen without. He casually ran a hand through a curiously white streak of fur on his head, which ran from a point just above his eyebrows, thickened between his ears, and thinned again to a point midway down the back of his head. He braced his arms on the counter and gazed at the mirror, as if something would happen if he stared at himself for long enough. Finally, a small smile crept onto his lips and he shook his head, clearing the final vestiges of the thoughts and memories that had been attacking his brain since he awoke.
Oh Foxy, he thought to himself as he threw the towel onto the nearby rack and turned to exit, the smile still plastered on his face, Looks like ya finally caught a glimpse of lov-.
Fox left the bathroom and opened the main door to the hallway, but stopped both his motion and his thought when he heard the quick footsteps of someone running by. His grin faded and instinct took over as he flattened himself against the wall next to the door, tensing as he heard the footsteps coming back towards his now open room. Knowing that the person was heading his way, and realizing from its frantic footfalls that it wasn't a member of the crew, he waited patiently until just the right time, and stuck his foot out into the entrance way. He was rewarded with something solid striking his out-stretched leg and a bluish figure falling into his room. Fox immediately leapt upon the stranger and pinned it down by forcing its arms to cross themselves over the person's neck, further immobilizing it with his knee on its abdomen as he kneeled low on the other.
Even before he recognized the intruder by sight, he recognized the feel of her wrist as the one he had pulled up from the edge back on Dinosaur Planet. The intruder seemed to realize this too, as she stopped struggling and silently looked back up at Fox. They stared at each other speechless for a second, green eyes on blue, before something clicked in his mind and he found his voice.
"Krystal?"
So, for better or for worse, there ya go. Like what you see? Let me know by dropping a review. Don't like what you see? Let me know by dropping a review. Kinda undecided? Lemme know why…by dropping a review. (I had to do something other than the usual 'Please R&R'.)
I am going away for a week or so on Spring Break, so any who're interested in the story (Hey, a kid can hope, can't he?) will have to wait for a while before the next update; sorry.
And thank you for committing the time to read this; I really honestly appreciate it.