"Now entering Cornerian orbit," ROB announced as Great Fox dropped out of warp. The ship was much too big to enter the atmosphere, so the team would need to take their Arwings as transports.
"Okay, team. Report to the hangar," Fox ordered. The team exited the hangar with practiced efficiency. All except Peppy, who stayed at his post. "You too, Peppy. We need you."
Peppy glanced at him. "No you don't. I'm not racing."
Fox shook his head. "No one said you had to. I want you to be there for the briefing, though. You'll be able to figure out a way to help with this mission if you know what's going on."
Peppy didn't move for a second. Then he sighed. "Okay, Fox. But I'm getting too old for this stuff."
Fox just smiled. "I could order you to go. I am still in charge here!"
Peppy shook his head. "I can relieve you of that power if I think you're making a decision that would adversely affect the team."
Fox gave him a weird look. "Telling you to attend a mission briefing would adversely affect the team? You are still a member, aren't you? And if you are, it's mandatory for all team members to attend mission briefings. And if you're not a member of this team, then what are you doing on my ship?"
Peppy chuckled. "Taking up space that would otherwise be collecting dust." Fox rolled his eyes at that. Peppy smiled. "I'm going, I'm going."
Fox patted his friend on the back, and they left the bridge.
"General!" a voice called behind him.
The General turned toward the source of the voice, his paws behind his back. "Yes, Lieutenant?"
"Great Fox has just entered orbit, and we are tracking five Arwings coming our way."
Pepper nodded. "Good. See that their path is cleared of traffic. I'll be down to greet them"
"Yes, sir."
Pepper left the room, and took the lift down to the lower level. He walked down a short corridor, and entered the CSF main hangar.
A moment later, five Arwings began decent onto the tarmac. Pepper glanced up, shielding his eyes from the afternoon sun with a massive paw. The small craft touched down, and each one's canopy almost immediately lifted open. Fox was the first to hop out, and he approached the General.
"Afternoon, General," he greeted. Suddenly he grimaced. "Damn, it's hot our here!"
Pepper smiled. "Yes, well it would be for someone who's been floating around in a climate controlled ship. It's only 80 degrees."
Fox whistled. "Yeah. Way too hot." The other members of the team came up to the pair, showing signs of the same discomfort. Even Slippy, who had no insulating fur whatsoever, was wiping sweat from his brow.
"Well, shall I show you what we've been working on?" Pepper raised his eyebrows in inquiry. The others gave various acknowledgements. "Okay, then. Come with me if you will." He performed a rather rigid about face, and led the team into the hangar. Personnel were abound, carrying a wide assortment of tools and parts.
Fox had not seen this many people in the hangar since the Arwing project. "Wow. They're really busting out for this thing."
Pepper nodded. "This has been our top priority since before the Aparoid invasion. When that happened, we put the project on hold, obviously. But as soon as we were able, we began working on it again. This project has yielded advances in many areas, not just transportation."
Slippy spoke up next. "Like what?"
"The Hyperbikes are much smaller than fightercraft, yet we are forced to squeeze the same amount of power into the smaller space," Pepper explained. "Miniaturizing the weapons was rather simple, and the shields didn't need that much improvement, either. Our most difficult task was the engine. The Hyperbikes we were sent by the XGRA committee were equipped with engines that were much more efficient than our own designs, and they were very surprised to hear that our technology wasn't up to snuff. These engines produce incredibly high output for their size and weight." He walked over to a table with a 6-foot long metal tube. It was something every member of the team knew. "This, as you know, is the bulk of the Arwings' engine. You can't lift it, and I would rather you not try, you'd probably end up rolling it off the table."
The team chuckled at that, and Pepper continued his explanation, walking over to a smaller, squarer metallic object. "This is a Hyperbike engine. Same output as the Arwing engine. Try to lift it."
Falco smirked. "I got this." He gripped the engine, and lifted, struggling somewhat, as the object came off the table. He set it back down. "Not bad... probably the heaviest thing I've ever tried to lift, but it's not impossible."
Fox smiled and shook his head. "How did I know you were going to make it sound like it was no big deal?"
Pepper nodded. "I will remind you again. Same output as the Arwing engine, nearly half the weight. This makes everything with the Hyperbikes possible. If the engine wasn't this light, or this small, the machines would be unfit for racing. Now, lets go see your bikes."
Fox was stunned. "Bikes? As in more than one?"
The General smiled and nodded. "Yes. We built four of them." He gave a coy smile at Peppy. "We figured Peppy wouldn't want to race one himself."
Peppy chuckled. "You got that right."
Pepper nodded. "But, your team could really use a pit chief. Someone to oversee the team on the track, and guide them away from hazards, or hostile racers, or something like that."
Fox smiled evilly at Peppy. "So you don't get out of this mission after all, Peppy!"
Peppy sighed. Why'd you do this to me, Pepper?
The group came up on some rather strange looking two-wheeled machines. They were almost two-wheeled Landmaster tanks, without the large front cannon. The front fender was pointed, with two angled headlights right next to each other. Further back, the jagged angles continued. Just behind the front wheel on either side, were blaster mounts. Behind that, a computer console, and a completely flat cushion. On either side of the computer console were rearview mirrors. A smooth transparent canopy was slid forward, part of it hanging over the front wheel. It also appeared to be raised slightly higher than it would be when closed.
Krystal eyed the flat cushion with distaste. "We practically have to lay on our bellies to get into these things."
Slippy noticed the steering assembly. "Yeah, and you have to turn the bike by tilting the wheel sideways. How does that work?"
General Pepper shrugged. "I don't know how it works, Slippy. I simply know that it does." He glanced around, and saw the head of the engineering team. "But perhaps your father can answer your question."
Beltino Toad approached the team, pushing his glasses further up his face. "Good afternoon, Starfox team. Quite amazing machines, yes?"
The team nodded. Slippy was beaming. "Dad? You're working on this, too?"
Beltino laughed. "But of course. I am the head of Cornerian Military Research and Development. Did you have a question, Slippy?"
Slippy nodded. "How does this thing turn? You have to turn the wheel sideways."
Beltino nodded. "You don't have to move the wheel much. The machine is designed to turn when the rider tilts it one way or another. You take the turns by leaning into them. The bike's inertia carries you around the turn, and when you come out of it, you simply right the bike flat on its wheels again. It's a very simple principle. Although, we added our own special touch to make the bike handle even better."
Slippy cocked his head. "What's that?"
Beltino smiled, and patted an angular blue blade near the rear of the vehicle. "A modified G-diffuser. As far as I know, no one else has this technology, and because of how well it worked with the Arwings, we decided to try it on the Hyperbikes. We have yet to see how much good it really does outside of simulations. We're hoping you and your team will be able to test them on a real track."
There was something about these machines that was eating at Fox as well. "How can something that touches the ground move so fast? The wheels generate friction still."
Beltino smiled and shook his head. "Not these wheels. They are rubber mostly, but they are equipped with a friction reducing surface that activates when the bike gets up to speed. You need friction for the bike to accelerate, but once it's moving, and the plasma engine takes over, the wheels do nothing more than guide the bike."
"But how is turning possible, if the tires don't grip the track?" Slippy was trying not to be completely confused.
Beltino was still quick to answer. "The friction reducing material is only on the flat center line of the tire. The sides, which would be the part that comes into contact with the track when turning, is only grip, so the machine can take corners."
Fox suspected that Beltino had torn apart one of the original machines himself to reverse engineer everything. He seemed to know an incredible amount about them. Fox inspected the rest of the bike, and discovered that, among the myriad of logos and emblems that covered the vehicle, his name was present as well. He touched it, somewhat surprised to see that this was, in fact, his machine.
Beltino chuckled as he saw Fox absorbed in the fact that his name was emblazoned on the machine. "I see Fox has discovered that this is his bike!" Fox was still staring at the vehicle, not noticing that anyone had said anything. "Now, if the rest of you will do some looking around, you will all find your machines as well. Peppy, I have something for you." He walked over to a table, with Peppy in tow, as the rest of the team looked for their bikes. Beltino picked up a strange looking device, and strapped it to Peppy's head. A small protrusion went over his ear, and another stuck out to the side of his muzzle. Finally, a small transparent eyepiece hovered centimeters from his left eye. The other half of the strange apparatus was a flat pad that was glossy black on the front, as if it were a video screen. Suddenly, the unit powered up, as Beltino touched a switch on the side of the panel.
"Okay, Beltino, I give up," Peppy said, trying to comprehend the device's function. "What's this thing do?"
Beltino chuckled. "This, Peppy, is a monitoring device, to keep you in constant contact with your team's Hyperbikes. It has an audio/video transmitting and receiving circuit, which will allow you to see and hear your team members, and vice-versa. Each Hyperbike is equipped with cameras to show a rear view, a forward view, and the riders' face. The pad is the interface. You can switch camera modes, and communication with your team, while they're racing. I would advise you to study track layouts when the race season starts, so that you have as much information at your disposal as you can get. If something happens on the track, it's your responsibility to tell your team, and knowing where they are on the track in relation to where a hazard is would be invaluable."
Peppy nodded. "Doesn't sound so hard."
Falco eagerly jumped onto his bike. "So when do we get to drive these things, huh? I wanna see what we can do with them!"
All the other team members shook their heads. Pepper finally spoke up. "We have a simulator set up for you to run through basic operations. You will be able to ride them, but not at their full speed, yet. These things will take a lot of getting used to, so you'll be training for some time before we allow you to race, depending on your performance."
Ever the responsible leader, Fox was more concerned with their deadline. "How much time do we have before the season starts?"
"One month," Pepper said simply. "We have already announced the formation of a new team, and registered the team name and sponsor with the XGRA committee. What we don't have registered are the individuals. We'll take care of that when your training ends."
Suddenly a large door on the other side of the hangar hissed open, and several people in bright orange jumpsuits approached the group.
"Who are they?" Fox eyed the newcomers warily.
Beltino groaned. "That's SpaceDynamics' engineering team. They've been trying to take control of the project since day one, but the General wouldn't have it, since most of the funding is still coming from the Cornerian government."
One of the SpaceDynamics guys came up to the team, while the others hung back. The brown lynx approached Beltino, and grinned at him, as Beltino's gaze narrowed. "Are they ready for the simulators?"
"We've finished briefing them" Beltino seemed to be trying to keep his tone neutral. "But it's up to them if they are ready to train or not."
Fox sensed the tension, and extended his paw to the SpaceDynamics engineer. "Fox McCloud, leader of the Starfox team. And you are?"
The lynx took Fox's firmly and shook it a few times. "Aegis Garner, head of SpaceDynamics Research and Development. Glad to finally meet you, mister McCloud."
Fox let a glimmer of a grin cross his muzzle. "As am I. This is my team." He indicated each of them as he said their names. "Slippy Toad, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Krystal."
Aegis shook each of the other team members' paws, with the exception of Krystal. He brought her paw to his muzzle and kissed it gently, bowing slightly to her. Much to her relief, Krystal sensed nothing more than gentlemanly kindness in the gesture. She smiled at him. "A pleasure to meet you all." The lynx stepped back, and took up a more businesslike stance. "If your team is ready, Fox, we would be happy to escort you and your machines to the simulators, and begin running through basic operations."
Fox nodded. "That would be great."
Aegis smiled. "Very well. Follow me, please. Mike, can you have the team take the Hyperbikes to the simulators?"
A rabbit nodded. "Right away, boss." Several members of the SpaceDynamics team began walking the machines to the other side of the hangar, following loosely behind the Starfox team and their escort.
A/N: Sorry this update took so long. I hadn't been on the computer much at all, and then I got StarCraft from the library, so I've been caught up in nostalgia for a few days. It's one of my favorite computer games, so sorry I haven't devoted more of my time to you guys. I know the story is a little slow right now, but it'll get better once the races start. I'll make sure of that! But it's going to be much longer, so the updates won't be as frequent. But thanks to those of you who've been reading so far. One more chapter of boring explanation, and then we'll get into the good stuff, I promise.