Chapter 9: Shortlist

Each of the planets that orbited Lylat had their own qualities that distinguished them from the rest. Corneria was a haven of modern cities, with four listed on the system's top-ten largest metropolises. Conversely, Sauria was abundant in lush jungles and unexplored ruins. Aquas's surface was covered 97 percent in seawater, while Titania was nothing but desert. Most sane people avoided planet Venom and its toxic environment. They also rarely ventured to the arctic wastelands of Fichina unless they needed to.

With such a diverse assortment of worlds, it was easy for people to overlook Papetoon. Much of the planet was rocky frontier, with few charms to draw in commerce and tourism. The main reason anyone would ever think about Papetoon was because it was the birthplace of Star Fox's legendary captain, Fox McCloud. So, it made perfect sense that the squadron picked this planet to test their aspiring recruits.

Katt sat on the hot-pink nose of her Catspaw. The sun bared down on her, making her sweat in her flight suit. She eyed the other pilots parked around the barren flatland. Including herself, there were 20 coveting a place on the Star Fox team. Katt was surprised that so many had made it this far through the recruitment process. Either she was up for some stiff competition or Falco had severely low standards.

She recognised a few faces from past jobs. Some were friendly or at least neutral towards Katt. A couple of ships she remembered firing a laser at. Hopefully, their pilots weren't holding a grudge. A girl needs to get paid and mercenaries worked in a harsh industry.

One of the other pilots approached Katt. She eyed the white monkey carefully. From his nervous gait and expression, Katt didn't suspect much from him. He certainly didn't look like he was coming to hit on or intimidate her like plenty of the other men seemed to consider doing.

"Excuse me, miss?" the monkey spoke. Katt raised her brow at him. He cleared his throat softly. "Um… hi…"

He looked young; the youngest out of anyone present. How he got invited to this assembly, Katt could only wonder. "Hi," she replied coolly.

"Yeah… Hi," he said again. Ooh, boy. Now Katt really hoped she wasn't about to turn down some kid working up the courage to ask her out. "Um… Sorry to bother you. But I… I was wondering if I could ask about your starfighter?"

Katt's brow lifted again. This was a spin into a better direction. She glanced over her shoulder to her baby. "Yeah? What about it?"

The monkey took her response as permission to step closer to the ship. "Is that an Invader class III you've got there? I thought it looked like one. But now that I'm standing here, I can see it has a few modifications."

Katt smirked. "You've got a good eye. Customised this bad girl all by myself."

"Really?" The monkey's eyes widened. "Wow. The class III is an old model, but I reckon the thruster upgrades would make it as fast as the other ships here."

"Ha! My Catspaw can fly circles around those piles of junk." Katt preened the fur on her neck. "She might look old, but her spirit burns as young as mine does."

The monkey knelt to inspect the ship's underside. "It could if you've upgraded the G-Diffusers too." He glanced up at Katt. "How did you get your hands on a Venomian starfighter?"

"My last ship got wrecked during the war," Katt smirked. She petted the Catspaw's hull. "The people who used to own this were nice enough to give it to me." In fact, the Venomian soldiers, who had captured Katt at the time, had been so nice that they completely failed to stop her from taking it during her escape with Falco and Fox.

"She's a beautiful ship," the monkey got to his feet. He brushed the dust from his hands and held one out. "My name's Dash."

"Katt." She shook with a smile. "You seem to know quite a bit about starfighters."

Dash beamed. "I know quite a bit. I've made my own modifications to my Monkey Arrow, over there." Katt followed his finger to a fighter that, true to its name, was shaped like an arrowhead. The blue-and-white paintjob somewhat resembled the Arwings that Star Fox used.

"Planning to make an impression with the bodywork?" Katt teased with a crooked smile. "Star Fox is looking for someone who has real skill for their team, though. How well can you fly?"

Dash shifted uncomfortably, avoiding her direct gaze. "Well, I… I haven't got a lot of experience… I'll admit." He scratched the back of his head. "But I was the top student in my class back at the Academy; and I've flown solo on a few contracts since then."

"Huh. Cream of the crop, you say?" Katt nodded. It wasn't much to put on a resume, but Star Fox proved that you didn't need years of experience to teach the armies of Venom a lesson or two. "You thought about flying for the military, instead? You'd get a more stable career with them than this."

"I thought about that… but I wanted to give this a shot first," Dash chuckled uneasily. "I'm… kind of a huge fan of Star Fox. I mean, who isn't? They're heroes, after all."

Katt smiled. "Yeah. That they are."

"After I heard about what happened to Captain McCloud, I felt like I had to do something. I wanted to help." Dash kicked at a stone by his foot. "I know that applying for a spot on the squad is a long shot. I'm amazed that I even made it this far. But still, I thought I'd do my best and see how I go."

"Well, kudos to you for putting yourself out there."

"Thanks." Dash gave a weak smile. "What about you? What brought you out here?"

Katt threw her arms behind her head. "I've got some history with the team," she said nonchalantly. "Suffice to say, I'm here for personal reasons. Buuuut, the current captain of Star Fox isn't taking volunteers onboard, so I'm going to play by his rules to get in. Let's see him say no when I outshine every other pilot who he's got his eye on."

"You seem pretty confident."

"I'm just a girl who knows what she wants and has every intention on getting it," Katt said with an easy shrug.

The roar of large engines drowned their conversation. All the pilots looked up as the Great Fox made its descent. The dreadnaught touched down, throwing up a thick cloud of dust. A murmur of anticipation hummed through the crowd.

"Looks like our potential employers have arrived," Katt remarked.

Dash chewed his lip as the dust settled. "Hey, Katt? I've been thinking about this interview stage since we got here. Do you think it's odd that there are so many of us out here with our fighters?"

He had a point. Katt did find it strange that Star Fox would call so many pilots out to Papetoon. Even with the market as thin as it was, the most Katt had ever competed against for one contract was ten mercenaries. Clients who shortlisted usually only interviewed two or three. "Maybe," Katt answered. "Why do you ask?"

"I think there might be more to this thing than testing our individual skills," Dash frowned. "Star Fox has had the same members for over eight years. A lot of other mercenaries in Lylat either work alone or only team up for a short time. I think with this many pilots, they plan to find out how well we work together."

That wasn't too farfetched of a theory. Star Fox did place a lot of value in their teamwork. They had a familial bond that had seen them through countless tough missions. Deep down, Katt had always been a little jealous. "You might be right. But so what?"

"If they want us to work as teams, maybe we should start here." Dash turned to Katt, becoming anxious again. "Look… I know we just met and all… But would you be okay with teaming up with me for this? We both want to join Star Fox. We could help each other do that."

Katt watched the ramp extend from the Great Fox's hangar. That didn't leave her with much time to consider Dash's offer. On one hand, cooperating might give her an edge if everyone was pitted against each other. However, this could also be a ploy for Dash to lower Katt's guard and take her out when her back was turned. She peered into his cyan eyes. Her suspicions melted away the more she read into them. Fortunately, the job notice stated that Star Fox was looking to fill two positions. This could work in both their favour. Katt took Dash's outstretched hand and shook it.

"Sure," she smiled. "You watch my back and I'll watch yours." Dash grinned brightly. 'But if you stab me there, be ready for a world of hurt.'

They separated before Falco Lombardi and Peppy Hare arrived on foot. "Alright! Gather 'round," Falco called abruptly. The 20 pilots clustered before them.

Peppy thanked everyone for their interest in the job and for flying so far for this interview. As he went through the dull details about Star Fox and how they operate, Katt's attention drifted to Falco. He slouched with his hands shoved into his pockets. His eyes caught hers and widened, then narrowed. Katt waggled her fingers in coy greeting.

'This wouldn't be happening if you had just taken up my first offer,' she smirked. Falco looked away in a huff. 'Same old Falco.'

"Now," Peppy stated. "To start with, we'll split you off into five teams of four. Your goal is to eliminate each of your opponents by securing a missile lock on them. Live ammunition and laser weapons are not to be used during this exercise. The boundaries for the battlefield have all been wired to you, so please upload them into your navigation systems."

"Shouldn't need to say any more than that," Falco said as he crossed his arms. "Group up and take your ships to 35,000 feet. The test starts when we tell you."

Katt paired up with Dash straight away. She then called over a bear and bulldog who were eyeing each other and made her offer. With their team now formed, they each returned to their starfighters and established their comm links. Ten minutes later, the pilots all flew at level with the Great Fox. Katt inspected the map displayed on her monitor. A red circle highlighted the boundary four kilometres wide with the Great Fox in the centre. There was also an altitude limit within airplane range.

"Attention, everyone," Peppy called over the radio. "I'll say this again: lock a missile onto your opponents to eliminate them. If a lock has been successfully made onto your ship, you're to land at the meeting point and wait for the test to finish. We'll be monitoring everything from here."

"Spread out and bring your A-game," Falco said, "because this test starts now!"

All five teams scattered from the Great Fox. Two began to chase after the other groups right off the bat. Katt's, however, followed Dash away from the fighting. "We should start off by letting the other teams weaken each other first," he had suggested during take-off. "Then we can use our numbers to our advantage later."

It wasn't a fun strategy, but Katt saw it was a smart one. She sided with Dash while their bear friend showed quiet indifference. Together, they outweighed the dog's proposal to dive straight into the battle and prove their skills. "You want to play hero?" she told the guy, "Go ahead. You'll be on your own though." He grumbled over the comm link but stayed in formation.

After a minute, their waiting game reached its end. One of the other teams flew towards them. Only three of their ships remained in the air. Katt's squad scattered to face them. An alarm warned that she was being targeted.

"Oh, hell no," she huffed. Katt rolled and wove her ship to evade the lock. Once she had flown past her attacker, she turned fully around. A reticule appeared on the Heads-Up-Display in her eyepiece, fixating onto the green ship. Its pilot tried to shake her, but she knew all the tricks she saw and could match them.

A second warning blared. Katt hissed in annoyance. She had almost secured the lock. "Guys, I'm being targeted."

"Don't worry," Dash answered. "I see the guy behind you. I'm making a lock on them."

"Thanks, sweetie," Katt smiled. If her pursuer felt pressured like she might have been, that would buy her a few extra seconds. A ping signalled that her missile had locked successfully. Katt immediately made a half-loop and watched upside-down as Dash chased the orange ship tailing her.

"I'm clear," Katt called in. "Thanks again, Dash. I could give you a big hug for that."

"Could you maybe help me catch this guy instead?" he replied. "He's kind of hard for me to lock onto."

Katt steered the Catspaw to follow him. "Sure thing, partner."

Falco and Peppy stood on the bridge. The projector displayed several video feeds on the mock-battle raging outside. One team was wiped out within the first two minutes. Most of the others had lost at least one pilot each. ROB kept track of everyone's weapons systems and sent alerts to each ship that had been tagged.

Only one team still held onto all four of its members. They appeared to have chosen to hang back and let their competition wear themselves thin. It wasn't to Falco's taste, but he acknowledged the tactical sense. His hard glare lingered on the reddish Invader among the group.

"I can't believe you brought Katt into this," Falco grumbled.

Peppy gave him a stern, sideways frown. "She's a gifted pilot, Falco. Of course, she'd make the shortlist. I don't see what your problem is; other than the fact that Katt likes to ruffle your feathers."

"And how do you expect the team to function with that going on 24/7?" Falco waved his hands irritably.

"With you finding some other way to deal with that than always taking the bait." Peppy returned his attention in time to watch Katt perform an Immelmann turn over a pilot pursuing her. She then turned the tables on them, chasing after the ship alongside one of her teammates. A red cross flashed over their display of the orange starfighter, indicating that it had been tagged.

"Fifty percent of the pilots have been eliminated," ROB reported.

A smirk glinted in Falco's eye. "Alright! Now we get to the fun part." He switched on the comm link to the remaining pilots. "Listen up, everyone. Get ready to feel the heat. Because this match is now a free-for-all!"

"A what?!" Dash exclaimed as soon as he heard the announcement. An alarm rang from his onboard computer. "Katt, I'm being targeted!" By the bulldog who had just been on their side five seconds ago!

"Me too," she growled. The bear's ship fell right behind hers. "Try to shake them. I'll switch us to a private channel." Katt veered towards the right with the bear hot on her tail.

Dash dived sharply. The bulldog followed him. What kind of jerk turned on their teammate at the drop of a hat like that? Dash made a sudden somersault. His G-Diffusers dampened the gravitational force pressed against his body, but the centrifugal force made him want to hurl. His manoeuvre did the trick. Now Dash was behind the dog.

"I'm safe, Katt." For now, at least.

"Great. Leave that guy for a minute and come help me out. The bastard behind me is nimbler than he looks."

"Got it." Dash cancelled his missile lock and broke the chase. The dog flew off into the other direction, now probably confused as to why Dash wasn't following him anymore.

As soon as he caught sight of the other two ships, Dash began locking onto the bear. He was too far away for his guiding system to fix a lock. However, Dash could see the bear lose ground on Katt now that his attention was splitting. Katt then did something spectacular. She spiralled her Catspaw into the reverse direction and repeated the manoeuvre soon after. The bear shot straight past her. Now he had both Dash and Katt behind him.

Dash's system locked first. "Target eliminated," a robotic voice announced over the comm link.

"Got him!" Triumph rushed through Dash's veins as he pumped his fist.

"See ya, traitor!" Katt taunted. The bear's ship began to descend. "Okay. The other guy is on his way. Let's take him out and go after the rest."

"I have an idea. You pretend to chase me, and I'll fake getting eliminated. When that dog comes after you, I'll circle back, and we'll take him out together."

Katt grinned through her camera. "I like the way you think."

"Going to have to make it look convincing," Dash smirked. "Try to keep up."

However, Katt was already flying behind him. "Start dancing, monkey boy." Dash began to sweat. He wasn't sure from her tone whether she was still playing along or not.

He made a hard turn to the left. Katt followed him easily. Dash performed an Immelmann turn to bring himself up and around. She copied the manoeuvre as though she had read his mind. He threw in a barrel roll and a somersault. Katt kept up without him gaining distance. 'Wow, she is good at this,' he shivered.

"Nice flying, Dash," she remarked. "Now play dead in three… two… one."

At her word, Dash brought his fighter into a steady line. He reduced his speed as Katt flew away. The dog's ship cruised nearby. Dash watched him chase after Katt as he angled his Monkey Arrow downward. Good. He took the bait. Once he dropped to 32,000 feet, Dash began to follow the other two.

"I'm in position," he told Katt.

"Stay there and keep it casual. I'll bring him to you. Watch out for anyone else who wants to join in. You're still coming up on radar as alive."

"Think that dog has noticed yet?"

"If he hasn't, he sure is about to."

In hindsight, that was the gaping hole in Dash's plan. Fortunately, it seemed the bulldog was relying more on his eyes than his equipment. Katt brought their target around. Once they were over Dash's head, he pulled up and accelerated. Dash got in close and began aiming. Katt somersaulted at his mark to join him. The dog flew around like a madman, eventually escaping Dash. However, Katt's missile finally locked.

"You bitch!" the dog snarled over the radio. "You and that damned ape cheated!"

"That was just a little side-act for you. If you had kept an eye on your radar, you would have seen through it." Katt laughed at his fury. "And if you think I'm a bitch and he's an ape, you should probably get your eyes checked."

Dash was horrified by the stream of obscenities the bulldog threw as he flew off to land. He checked his radar. Including Katt and him, there were still six pilots left in the air. "Who do you want to take on next?"

"Wanna go fishing and see who bites first?" Katt suggested. She didn't give Dash any time to answer, for she took off towards the remaining fighters without him. It didn't seem like she had any fear. Next to her, Dash felt like a tin of tuna ready to eat. A shiver ran down his spine.

"I am so glad that we're working together," he muttered under his breath.

Aboard the Great Fox, Falco and Peppy watched the battle dissolve into chaos. Even with the number of pilots cut down, it was impossible to watch every single fighter at once. ROB recorded everything for them to review later, but Falco kept his eye on a few contenders. To his chagrin, Katt was among them. Meanwhile, Peppy took notes on anyone who turned against their former teammates as soon as Falco flipped the rules. That was nearly half of the lot, unfortunately. That'd earn them a hard fail on the Pigma test.

"I can't help but wonder how many of these guys I could take out all by myself," Falco sighed.

"Under the conditions set for this battle, I calculate an 87.9814 percent probability that you would defeat a maximum number of six pilots before you are eliminated," ROB replied.

Falco turned a foul glare to the bucket of bolts. "Bullshit! I could take out at least eight!" If it were a fight that he could use lasers and bombs in, he'd make that an indisputable ten.

ROB's visor blinked red. "Executing FLIC Response Protocol."

"I thought I fucking told Slippy to change that name!" Falco snapped, knowing full-well that FLIC stood for Falco Lombardi's Inferiority Complex. That smartass's program, which made damned sure that ROB would never argue about Falco's flying skills, was also supposed to run as silent as the void of space.

"He did," ROB replied. "And Fox changed it back."

"That bloody prick!"

"You might want to take a look at this, Falco," Peppy spoke up. "Katt's up to something interesting."

"Do I really need to care what Katt is doing right now?"

"Yes. That's the point of this whole thing. Now shut your beak and watch. See who's flying next to her?" Falco noticed the second starfighter soaring alongside the Catspaw. It bared the same colours as an Arwing. How cute. "Those two were teamed up at the start of the battle," Peppy explained. "They're still working together."

Falco's brows raised. "Who's that other pilot?"

"Dash Bowman," ROB answered. The monkey's face appeared on the projector. "Ranked top student in the Cornerian Flight Academy last year. Operated as a freelance pilot since graduation. Professional experience primarily consists of low-risk escort and reconnaissance contracts. Completed a bachelor's degree in engineering at the Cornerian Republic University two months ago."

"Busy bee," Falco whistled. "Not much experience as a pilot though."

"Yet, he must be doing well if Katt's working with him," Peppy mused. They continued to watch the pair weave and chase after the lone wolves flying around them. It appeared they were fond of using each other as bait, then hitting their prey with both ships once they were frazzled by the first shot locking onto them. Peppy glanced at Falco. "I think we have our pilots."

They weren't doing terribly, he'd admit. However, Falco still wasn't convinced. "Let's see how this plays out."

It quickly came down to four left in the air. The last two pilots had noticed their rivals' teamwork and decided their best chance of surviving was to pair up as well. It worked to upset Katt and Dash's tactics, but only for a short while. Going from newly formed teams to every man for themselves probably burned the other pilots out, while Katt and Dash had shared the burden this whole time. After a few minutes, the latter pair were all that remained.

"What do you say?" Peppy asked. "Want to call it in now?"

"Not yet." Falco opened the comm link when he saw the two ships cruising smoothly. "Don't stop now! This battle keeps going until there's only one left!"

"A bit harsh, don't you think?" Peppy frowned.

"Nah. I want to see how well those two fight on their own." Falco smirked, particularly towards the knockoff Arwing. "Let's see how that monkey fares when Katt's going for his throat."

Dash had expected as much, though he had still hoped against it. This was it. He had managed to make it to the last two pilots standing. Now he had to fight against the person who had gotten him this far. "Katt… I…."

"Hey," she said with a smile in her voice. "Don't worry about it. Just give me your best shot."

Strangely, Dash chuckled. Her easy manner towards this whole situation made him feel a lot better. "Thanks. You, too."

Katt then flew behind Dash's tail. "Now start running."

He didn't feel better anymore. Dash hit his thrusters to full speed. He channelled all his fear through his yoke in the vain hopes that it would make the Monkey Arrow faster. Meanwhile, Katt hunted him with maniacal glee.

End note:

This was originally one chapter that ended up split into two. I blame how much fun I had with writing the dialogue.