Disclaimer: I don't own StarFox or any of the characters…so nobody has to sue right?
Chapter 2
In the Mechanics bay Falco and Slippy were fixing the G-Diffusers on their Arwings. They never used to work together often because Slippy didn't like Falco using all of his tools and making different alterations to the ships but since Falco's return a little over a year ago Slippy didn't mind Falco working on the ships with him, besides Falco never did anything on them, all he would do was talk and tell Slippy stories about his adventures from when he flew solo, and truth be told Slippy preferred it that way.
"So I was being chased by at least a hundred Venom Army grunt ships" Falco started.
Slippy then rolled his eyes and smiled. "Then what happened Falco?" Slippy asked.
Falco was sitting in the cockpit of his Arwing as Slippy worked on the underside of the Arwing.
"Can you hand me that wrench Falco?" Slippy asked, as all that could be seen from the cockpit was Slippy's hand and feet sticking out from underneath the Arwing.
Falco then looked down to try and see a wrench anywhere in the mechanics bay. A wrench was on the floor near Slippy's feet but was to far for Falco to grab it and he was too lazy to hop out of the cockpit and pick it up and then give it to Slippy and then have to get back into the cockpit again seeing as it was the only place to sit down in the mechanics bay.
"Nope, sorry buddy can't see one" Falco said sliding back comfortably into the seat of the Arwing.
"Well can you look for one?" Slippy asked aggravated.
"I would…but if I recall you don't like me using your tools Slip" Falco said coolly.
"Geez Falco your such a pain" Slippy said sliding out from the underside of the Arwing and grabbing the wrench on the ground.
As he disappeared underneath the Arwing, Falco then began to continue with his stories.
"So there I was being chased by hundreds of Venom Army imperial ships," Falco said.
"I thought it was a hundred 'grunt' ships," Slippy said sarcastically.
Falco then leaned over the cockpit. "It was a lot then" he said.
"But I thought you said they were…" Slippy started.
"As I was saying" Falco continued.
"So they chased me over sector X all the way to sector Y and then I took em all out when I flew back through Meteo" Falco said proudly.
Slippy then continued to work on the ship ignoring Falco.
"I then had to escape the blast because it caused a chain reaction…" Falco continued.
"Hmm…" Slippy said comically aggravated as he continued to work on the ship.
"Why do you think Fox kept all that stuff in the box?" Slippy then asked sliding out from underneath the ship again.
Falco lent out over the cockpit again. "The stuff from the war?" Falco asked.
Slippy then stood up. "Yeah, it just seems a little weird that he kept it here and not on the Great Fox" Slippy said dusting his hands off.
Falco hopped out of the Arwing. "Well maybe he didn't want it to be damaged or anything" Falco said stretching.
"Look at the Great Fox now" He continued. "Its in a million pieces and floating through space never to be seen again" Falco said walking towards the hallway.
Slippy was a little annoyed with Falco's negativity towards the Great Fox but he shrugged it off.
"Well I'll miss it" Slippy said removing his hat patriotically. "It was a mechanics dream," Slippy as he watched Falco through the hallway.
"And a wallets nightmare" Falco said to himself quietly.
"What…" Slippy asked quickly.
"Nothing" Falco quickly rebutted.
"Im going to grab a coffee from the café" Falco said.
Slippy Turned back to the ship "But were not finished on the ships yet" He called after Falco.
Falco continued to walk through the hallway. "Yeah I think that Café's still sell 'Chips' Falco laughed as he continued through the hallway.
Slippy walked over to the Arwing and picked up his wrench. "Stupid Falco" he said aggravated.
Mean while some where in the Cornerian base.
"Fox…Fox, where are you Fox" Krystal called as she walked endlessly around the Cornerian base in search of Fox.
She then walked out side onto the grounds. "Fox, are you out here?" she called again.
"What's all that noise?" a Cornerian soldier yelled from the inside of the base.
Krystal turned around a little embarrassed. "Oh, im sorry if I disturbed you, I was looking for Fox McCloud, have you seen him?" She asked politely.
The soldier scratched his chin for a moment or two and then looked around while he thought.
"Im sorry miss I don't know a Fox McCloud…" he concluded.
Krystal then was about to go back inside the building.
"Uh, but the Katina second in Command Bill Grey has taken the rest of the day off for a meeting with a StarFox Team official at the Café Husky" he said as she walked passed him.
Krystal then looked back towards the soldier. "A StarFox Official?" she said raising an eyebrow.
She then thought about it for a moment.
"Did your Commander give you a name or a description?" She asked intrigued.
The soldier thought for a moment.
"Umm not really…but the word is he got the new high score on the Cornerian Training Circuit, apparently he fought in the Lylat wars as well" The soldier said.
Krystal then smiled slightly. 'Fox' she thought to herself.
"Thank you" she said to the soldier as she walked passed him.
Krystal then made her way back to the main room where Peppy was sitting again waiting for Krystal to get Fox so they could visit General Pepper in hospital.
"Found Fox yet" he asked as Krystal walked past him.
"He's at a meeting with Bill Grey, we might have to see the General a little later than expected Peppy" Krystal said.
Peppy then got up from his seat. "Grab your coat there at the Husky Café" Peppy said walking towards the door.
"How did you…" Krystal started but Peppy cut her off.
"Did they use the 'Commander to StarFox Official' excuse to get time off from the base" Peppy asked picking up a pair of keys.
"Yes…" Krystal said raising an eyebrow.
"But the soldier said they were in a meeting" she said suspiciously. Peppy then walked through the door.
"My dear a 'meeting' with Fox McCloud and Bill Grey is code for, hey lets go get a coffee and go gallivanting or whatnot" Peppy said grumpily as Krystal followed him through the hallway.
Down at the Husky Café
Fox and Bill had been reminiscing about their days at the Cornerian Army training days. Fox had met Bill on their first day at the academy. Bill had been transferred from the Katina Academy because of his high recommendations and skill. Fox was one of the high-ranking soldiers in training at the Cornerian Academy and a real all rounder. Through his time at the Academy he scored well in combat, flying skills, tank skills and weaponry and some mechanical knowledge. Overall Fox was a high rank. Bill on the other hand was incredible at almost everything. Not only being a master mechanic he often blitzed the training courses and weaponry courses. Bill and Fox had met when they were paired off against each other in the Medal of Corneria challenge. The challenge involved running through an obstacle course destroying as many targets as possible then having to fly a standard Cornerian ship with low powered lasers in a dog fight duel. Before Bill had met Fox he had never lost a dogfight.
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"On your marks get set…Go!" General Pepper yelled as he fired a shot into the air.
Both Fox and Bill began to run through the obstacle course armed with standard blasters.
The first section of the course was fairly simple; the only obstacles were a few barricades and floating droids. Bill began to move out ahead of Fox in the race.
"Gonna have to do better than that buddy" Bill called as he jumped over another barricade.
Fox then jumped over the barricade after Bill. Fox then managed to close the gap between himself and Bill.
"You were saying?" Fox said confidently.
Bill growled as the two of them reached the next section of the course.
The second section was a massive empty field with the ships in sight way off in the distance on an enormous concrete platform.
"Seems easy enough" Fox said. Fox and Bill then bolted down the field in the direction of the planes.
Suddenly hundreds of assault droids began to appear as if from nowhere. Fox armed his blaster and began to fire upon the advancing droids. Fox began to slowly move forward through the sea of Droids. Everything seemed to be going okay.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Until that is when the droids began to fire back at Bill and Fox.
Fox and Bill yelled, as the laser shot were becoming more accurate and increasingly overwhelming. Fox began to dodge and maneuver through the waves of laser fire. Bill on the other hand took another approach, even though he couldn't move as fast as Fox could, he picked up a droid and used it as a shield.
As Bill ran with the droid through the field, his droid shield began to fire randomly around him, its targeting system confused because of the close proximity.
Fox looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that Bill was getting closer to the ships. Fox then managed to take out most of the droids that were near him, giving him enough time to formulate a plan. Fox then had an idea. He charged his blaster to maximum power and then began to run towards the army of assault droids and jumped into the air. As Fox began his decent towards the army he fired his charged blaster shot. Because the droids were in such proximity it caused a chain reaction of explosions, destroying every single assault droid in the field.
Fox landed on the ground with a thud.
"Ouch…" he groaned as he climbed to his feet.
Fox looked over to see how far away the ships were. His eyes widened when he saw Bill climbing into one of the Cornerian fighters.
Fox bolted towards the remaining ship as Bill took off. As Fox neared his ship, Bill circled the sky waiting for his prey.
Fox hopped in and took off almost instantly. 'All right…now it gets serious' he thought to himself as he began to ascend in altitude.
As Fox began to search for Bill through the clouds a shower of green lasers began to wiz past him. Taking evasive action he barrel rolled out of the way. Bill followed him and kept the barrage of laser fire hot on Fox's tail.
"Hold still Fox!" Bill yelled through his intercom.
Fox then flew his plane up through the clouds with Bill still close behind. 'Gotcha now' Bill thought.
'That's right…follow me to the sky' Fox thought as Bill followed him towards the clouds.
Fox then boosted his ships and erupted through the clouds. Bills ships followed not to far behind. As soon as Bill reached past the clouds he began to fire wildly where he thought Fox would be soaring in the sky.
"Where'd you go?" Bill asked not really expecting an answer. The skies were quiet and seemed eerily still.
"Surprise"
"What?"
Fox then appeared from behind Bills ship with blinding speed and began to fire rapidly onto Bills ship. The volley of laser fire bombarded Bills ship into a critical state. Bill then began his descent towards the ground, frantically trying to think of a plan to get him out of this predicament.
"Its over Bill" Fox called through his intercom.
"Its not over yet" Bill retorted.
The two ships then flew close to the ground at breakneck speed. Fox began another volley of laser fire but Bill was acting like a cornered beast, and no one can really tell what a cornered beast will do. As Bill zoomed through the fields surrounding the base, he was unable to shake Fox.
'Think, C'mon think' Bill thought. Until he saw Fox ascend slightly above his own ship. A smile crept across Bills face 'Perfect' he thought.
Bill then slammed on the brakes and slowed right down so that he was now behind Fox. Bill then fired his own lasers at Fox, almost destroying his ship.
"Dang it!" Fox yelled.
Bill then began to relentlessly hound Fox. No matter how much Fox tried to shake Bill from the sky, Bill was now about two steps in front of Fox.
Bill then began to ready the ships blaster canon.
"Any last words Fox" he said proudly.
Fox had to think fast; at this range he wouldn't be able to maintain the ships integrity if he was hit. He tried to swerve left to right to loop the loop to a vertical U turn, away from Bill, but to no avail he just followed him as if Fox had a second shadow.
Fox then had a brilliant idea. He vertically soared through the sky, and just as he planned Bill followed still firing lasers. Fox was dodging them by inches in the sky. A normal plane can maintain vertical altitude until about 4000 meters before the engine stalls and falls to the ground. Fox and Bill were flying at 4500 meters.
'Just a little further' Fox thought as his dashboard was lighting up like a Christmas tree.
"Ive got you now Fox…" Bill started until his engines began to stall and his ship completely shut down.
"Oh No!" Bill cried as he began to fall to the ground.
"Perfect" Fox said
His ship also stalled and fell to the ground but as it did, fox, waited for the right time to restart the engines.
Fox had done this many times before with his father, it was almost a game to them.
Bills ship was falling like a stone, while Fox was now armed and ready to shoot Bills ship from above. Fox smiled as he took the final shot.
When the dust finally settled, both Bill and Fox hopped out of their planes.
"You're a strong pilot Fox…where did you learn to fly like that," Bill said extending his hand.
"My dad taught me," Fox said smiling from ear to ear.
"Well I spose if I had to be beaten by any one…im glad its by you Fox McCloud".
Fox grinned again. "Thanks Bill, that means a lot coming from one of the best".
The two friends then walked into the Husky Café.
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"So how long has Krystal been on the team?" Bill asked interested as he picked up his coffee.
The question snapped Fox out of his memory flash back.
"Umm a little over a year now" Fox said taking a sip of his coffee.
"And you've liked her for how long?" Bill asked smiling behind his coffee mug.
Fox began to chock and splutter on his coffee.
"Bill…w...were not" Fox coughed out. Bill began to laugh.
"Okay whatever you say Fox…" Bill sniggered.
"Will ya just drop it Bill" Fox said blushing slightly.
Fox then began to look around the café. He noticed that almost everyone else in the café was starring at him and Bill.
"Hey Bill" Fox whispered. "What's going on?" He continued.
Bill then looked around the room.
"It's because were in uniform" He said.
"A lot of the soldiers during the invasion were infected and caused a little bit of trouble before you stopped them" Bill said lowering his voice.
Fox looked at him puzzled. "What kind of trouble" Fox asked.
"Well there was the Cornerian Soldiers setting fire to half the city, chasing the civilians out of the city, destroying almost everything and letting more Aparoids into the city" Bill said.
"Why didn't you do anything about it Bill?" Fox asked reaching for his wallet.
Bill then reached for his. "Well I was with the Katina Force removing the stations from around Venom" Bill said proudly.
Fox then rolled his eyes. "Anyways we'll have to…" Fox started before Bills radio communicator interrupted him.
Bill picked up the communicator and began to listen to the orders that were being barked from it.
Bills eyes shot open. "Fox im going to have to go there's a problem" he said almost jumping out of his seat.
"What is it?" Fox said standing up.
"I can handle it" Bill said as he ran out of the café.
Fox stood dumbstruck at what had just happened before the waitress walked in front of him.
"Are you picking up the tab sir?" she asked.
Fox then looked at her for a moment then grabbing some cash from his wallet.
"here" he said handing her the money.
Fox then began to walk to the door, but as he did Krystal and Peppy walked in.
"Fox" Krystal said as they walked in.
"Fox were going to be late" Peppy said angrily as he grabbed both Fox and Krystal and ran outside.
"I was just about to…" Fox began. "Slow down Peppy…" Krystal also started
. "There's no time" Peppy said as they bolted out the door.
After a short drive to the hospital and then a long wait for clearance Fox, Krystal and Peppy were finally able to see General Pepper in his hospital room.
"How are you old friend" Peppy asked the old general as his ears perked up while lying in bed.
General Pepper rolled his eyes towards Fox and Krystal.
"Im feeling tired and old" The old hound dog groaned.
"Oh your not that old general" Krystal said kindly. General Pepper chuckled.
"Your too kind young one" he said towards Krystal.
Pepper then groaned again.
"So how has the medication been treating you?" Fox asked.
"Painfully Fox" Pepper said.
Fox then placed a hand on General Peppers shoulder.
"You'll be back on your feet in no time general" Fox said with a smile.
General Pepper smiled grimly, but then he cringed in pain. General Pepper then turned to Krystal and Fox.
"If you two wouldn't mind I have to talk to Peppy about an important matter" Pepper coughed.
"Sure thing General" Fox said as he and Krystal walked out the door closing it behind them.
Peppy then looked back to General Pepper.
"What was it you wanted to talk about General" Peppy asked.
"That's just it" General Pepper coughed.
"Im not going to be around forever Peppy" Pepper started.
Peppy the relised what Pepper was saying.
"I'll have to think about it General…im not sure if Fox would be able to run the StarFox Team on his own" Peppy said.
General Pepper then sat up in his hospital bed.
"Peppy…eventually Fox will have to do things on his own" Pepper said as Peppy hung his head in concern.
"He will be a great leader on his own…just like James was" Pepper concluded.
Peppy then let out an exhausted sigh.
"I know…I know, its just ever since Jimmy died, I assumed the position of his mentor" Peppy said.
Pepper then groaned slightly.
"I want you to seriously consider what I am saying to you Peppy…you're a senior member of the StarFox Team, you were one of the highest ranking officers back in the day and you have more experience than I do…I couldn't imagine anyone more suitable for the role of General of the Cornerian Army" Pepper said.
Peppy thought about it for a moment or two. "I'll have to sleep on it" Peppy said. Sitting down next to General Pepper.
"It's a big step," Peppy added.
"One that im sure you will take in your stride" General Pepper said smiling.
Back in the hospital lobby
Fox was sitting down with Krystal around a coffee table.
"They've been in there a long time" Fox said as he leant back in his chair.
Fox's expressions were worried and depressed. Krystal watched Fox as he leaned back 'He looks like something is really troubling him' Krystal thought. Krystal then began to feel Peppy's thoughts from inside General peppers room.
"Peppy has to make a big decision," Krystal said closing her eyes.
Fox then snapped out of his worried trance and turned his direction towards Krystal.
"What's the decision he has to make?" Fox asked concerned.
Krystal remained silent and sat with her eyes closed tight.
"Im not sure…" she finally said. "But its causing Peppy to stress" she continued.
"Hmm, well don't let it get to you" Fox said with a slight smile. "Im sure Peppy will make the right decision," he said.
Peppy then walked I through the hallway. Fox and Krystal got up from their seats.
"What's up Peppy?" Fox asked.
Peppy then adjusted his glasses.
"The General needs his rest" Peppy said.
"So how is he feeling?" asked Krystal.
Peppy then sighed softly. "Just like he said…and old dog" Peppy said no louder than a whisper.
"Don't worry Peppy, he'll be back on his feet in no time" Fox said.
"Now how's about we take the rest of the day off and enjoy ourselves," Fox said smiling.
Krystal watched as Fox smiled. It didn't seem genuine, it seemed as though it was a forced smile, to make everything seem as though it was ok. Krystal then placed her hand on Fox's shoulder. Fox looked back at Krystal. Their eyes locked together, hopeing to see support in the other eyes.
"That sounds like a good idea Fox" Krystal said smiling just as Fox was.
As if time had stopped Fox and Krystal seemed as though they were off in their own little world. Krystal didn't realize that she still had her hand on Fox's shoulder and Fox hadn't realized that both he and Krystal were walking very close together. Their little world was interrupted by Peppy chuckling to himself. Fox looked back at Peppy.
"Uh, just a touch of the cough" Peppy said quickly.
Fox then lead the three of them out of the hospital, so they could begin to have a day off and try and relax.
Cornerian/ Meteo Space.
"This is Bill Grey reporting for orders, ship identification 'Greenie II' what is the current situation?" Bill said over his intercom.
"Thank goodness support has arrived, Andross supporters and Cornerian rebels have formed alliances" a voice said over the intercom.
"What are their motives" Bill asked.
"We don't know sir, it seems to be a random based attack on the Cornerian fleets…should we call for the StarFox Team sir?" the voice reported through the intercom.
Bill then thought back to when Fox had saved them. He had done it so many times. "Negative soldier we can take em" Bill said into the intercom.
"Okay sir we'll follow you in, two supporters on your wings and theirs, awaiting your orders" the voice on the intercom said.
"Okay I think I see em, Lets do it Buddy YeeHaa!" Bill yelled excitedly as he flew towards the battle that was taking place in and around the Cornerian fleet.
Bill flew his Greenie II fighter ship into the fray and began to fire upon the Cornerian rebels. The ships were moving around like fly's buzzing around the countryside. Bill flew like an ace as his wingmen followed, destroying the enemy ships one by one. "Follow me in" Bill yelled into his intercom. The reinforcements followed behind Bills ship and began to clear out the rebels that were attacking the fleets.
After what seemed like hours of a intense battle the rebels began to thin out and retreat from the fleet.
"YeeHaa, we did it Boys!" Bill cried triumphantly. He could hear the reinforcements clap and cheer over their intercoms.
"Okay lets support them back to the base" Bill said taking his position at the head of the fleet.
The fleet and reinforcements began to move out through space. A smile crept across Bills face.
"Fox himself couldn't have done better" he said as he led the ships through space.
Well what did everyone think, yeah I know It seems a little slow and the dog fight scenes could be a little better, so um yeah if anyone wants to help me write this show, give me an email we could work something out.
Next Time of StarFox: The Next Battle
We'll see the team take what they believe will be a day off…or will it, and what's with all this stuff in a box that Fox is keeping, will Krystal be able to help Fox with his reminiscing and will they become something more? And will Peppy become General?