Chapter -6- Dirty Job, but someone's gotta do it.
The group ran. What else was there to do? When a 90 ton fire-breathing dragon was confused and angry and probably had an upset stomach ontop of everything else, you didn't stand around to make chitchat. The group dashed off, back the way they came. Their footfalls caused splashes and despite cliché movie problems, not a single one of them fell.
Fara Phoenix wasn't about to become the damsel in distress again, it was Krystal's turn to get trampled or something. Or even Fox, didn't that guy ever need rescuing? Falco would be the first to try and list off about 25 different times that Fox needed help but right now, the point of their situation was clear. They all needed help.
As they ran, Fox lifted his left wrist, speaking into the gauntlet. "To ..anybody! We've got a major problem on Fortuna. Whoever can get here and save our sorry tails first gets a cookie!" his words were labored, panting into the communicator. But his calls went without an answer.
The group made it to the tank, quickly running behind it, then climbing underneath of it. This was Fara's suggestion, having a feeling the thing would snap down and crush the tank before it went after them. At least if they were underneath it and it picked up the tank to try and eat it, they'd be able to run again.
The panting trio gave pause, watching through the tank treads as the confused, angry Dodora hunted around for them. It could smell them, as they were still downwind, but it didn't see them or hear them. It stopped infront of the tank, leaning down to nudge the metallic beast with it's nose.
"If that thing doesn't get away from my tank, I'm going to fire a bolt right up it's shnoz," Fox muttered. Fara placed a paw over his mouth, beating Krystal to the exact same thing, her paw covering Fara's paw, both of them keeping Fox completely silent.
Suddenly the Dodora inhaled. Fara gasped and whispered, "Oh... hell no... hold your breath!" And no sooner did Fox and Krystal take a breath of air, the Monarch Dodora gushed a massive ball of fire out over the tank, which shielded the trio underneath, although they didn't escape getting partially singed. Everyone kept their head down, but the Dragon was already winded from chasing them upstream, so the fiery breath was short lived.
"Now what, since you're the expert on this thing? In the tank or run again?" Fox grumbled.
Fara shook her head, adding, "Wait. I'm no expert but it can smell us and we're not dead yet, so it's gonna probably pick the tank up with it's mouth. If it does, we run. If it doesn't, it'll get bored and walk away, we'll get in the tank, you can figure it out from there," she continued, crossing her furry digits, hoping for the latter.
But perhaps her words cursed the group. The Dodora leaned down, scooping up the tank. But with it's mouth full, it wasn't able to see them, let alone breathe fire and that was Fara's cue to shout. "GO!"
The team dashed across the nearest field and into a patch of trees, hurrying through the wooded area and into the thick brush. Hopefully the berries and flowers on several of the bushes would be enough to mask their scent. It worked. The Dodora spit out the tank, which landed unceremoniously upon it's side and followed suit, but stopped short of the woods, sniffing the air and stomping it's massive feet in frustration. The tank had been cast aside 200 yards behind the beast, causing Fox to curse again, under his breath.
Krystal slugged him in the shoulder, saying, "Behave, we're not dead yet. Look, it can't find us." Her reminder of that fact was accented by her pointing at the confused, bewildered dragon, who's body slumped to the ground, after spinning two or three times, the way a dog might circle their spot before laying down in the middle of a floor.
"Jeeze, is it going to just wait for us?" Fox said, peering out through the foliage with a dispassioned frown. He really hated the fact that his tank was dropped two stories onto it's side. Damn Dragon, how did it even get from Fara's Fortuna to this Fortuna? "It has no right to be here," Fox said, his eyes panning over the massive beast.
"I don't think it wants to be here," Fara said with a soft frown. "It's mating season, if I'm not mistaken. It's not going to find any mates here, so from what I understand, they get really violent when there's no females with whom to copulate," She explained.
"You sound like an expert on them to me," Krystal said with a slight grin.
"Yeah, well. It's pretty common knowledge. They're the second largest animal in Lylat. And by far, the most aggressive," She added. "I know StarFox fought one once, and shoved a ton of firepower down it's throat and up it's tail. I'm just not sure how this one got here," Fara said, looking down at her blaster. It wouldn't put a scratch on this thing.
"What's the largest?" Krystal asked.
"Warp Whale," Fara replied. This got an expression of confusion from both Fox and Krystal so Fara just shrugged, taking the time they were stuck in the woods, by explaining. "It's a whale that scientists are trying to learn more about. It lives in Sector Y, in our universe. Lot of sea-creatures that evolved to live in space in sector Y, but this thing can go in and out of Linear space, so we call it the Warp Whale. Very nonaggressive," She told them.
"Sector Y sounds fascinating, Fara!" Krystal peeked back out at the Dodora who was on it's haunches, stairing at the forest. It wasn't going anywhere. "What else does Sector Y have?"
"Space fairing birds, jellyfish, mantas, schools of lesser fish-like creatures, it's very beautiful. They usually don't leave the nebula, but the nebula... is big. You could fit hundreds of Venoms and Cornerias inside," Fara said, glancing back at the Monarch Dodoria, shaking her head.
"We need the tank," Fox finally said. "We've gotta kill that thing and get that black box out of it. So ... you two stay here, I'll make a run for it, cool?" As much as they wanted to argue about how splitting up to confuse the thing would be a great idea, no one argued with the team leader. Fox crept out of the brush, turning back to Fara and asking, "What's it's weakness?"
"It can't see you if you hold still," She said, pausing to think of what else. "Fire into it's mouth, it'll go right down it's throat. It's freakishly weird, but the more you shoot it's tail and mouth, the shorter the throat and tail get. If you can get the head back down to nearly touch the body, it becomes immensely vulnerable to attack. But with a tank, it'll be difficult. I suggest we leave it alone," She said.
"Black Box Data Recorder? Information that might get you home to save your system from a very pissed off, revenge lusting, hell-bent Andross?" Fox reminded her, causing her to close her eyes and sigh. Krystal patted the girl's shoulder, saying something Fox couldn't hear to better comfort her about the situation. Fox then turned back to the massive dragon... and the tank far beyond.
Fox tried going around the backside of the dragon, to stay away from it's massive head. He couldn't have done something dumber. The beast immediately shifted it's weight, re-wrapping it's tail around itself, which swatted the tiny vulpine halfway across the field. He rolled several times, laying in the middle of the grass, motionlessly. It caused Krystal's heart to leap into her throat and Fara to gasp, but due to her telepathic abilities, Krystal knew he wasn't dead.
Fox rolled over onto his stomach, groaning and sitting up on his knees. He glanced over his shoulder, but the dragon wasn't paying any mind at the moment. For the first time, he noticed pint-sized white wings on it's back. They weren't very large and it made him wonder if they got bigger with age or something. They didn't look big enough to fly with... but it might have been possible... Or if they weren't evolved yet or... Goddess only knew. He began creeping again, heading for the tank, but it was still a full two hundred yards beyond the Dragon's massive slumbering form. It was almost as large as GreatFox, if the booster and bridge was removed.
Several buildings chasing him and blowing fire at him wasn't a pretty thought, and yet the thing was right there, just twenty meters away. McCloud still wasn't spotted and so he decided to sprint the rest of the way. No sooner did he bolt off, the Dodora lifted it's head, it's towering body and massively craning neck causing the head to give chase before the body got to it's feet.
In the background he could hear the girls screaming for him to run. But he already was running. Thing is, he knew what had to be happening for them to be screaming like that. He didn't even have to look. The towering shadow that engulfed him, stretching all the way up passed the Land Master was enough of a hint. He heard the massive beast take another large breath, and it's next breath would be too hot to handle.
That's when he heard blaster cannons. Hot, blue plasmatic pulses of energy rushed passed him, slamming into the Dodora, causing the dragon's fiery expulsion to be rescinded. He was just a few hundred feet now, when a massive explosion from behind threw his body forward. He felt himself rise up, lifted on the hot air from behind. He glanced down, feeling his feet separate from the planet's surface.
The explosion was so powerful, Fox felt himself being tossed, end over end. His feet lifted up into the air and he could see the ground beneath him. The Tank was only another two hundred feet now, and he hurtled through the air towards it. A small part in the back of his mind wondered how fast he was being thrown through the air. Would this get him to the Land Master more quickly? Fortuna rose up to meet the vulpine, or at least that's what it seemed like.
He slammed into the ground, throwing his body into a roll to ease the impact. When he came to a stop, his body was numb and he was afraid to lift his head and look at all the bones that were probably sticking out of his arms and legs. He lay motionless on his back for a moment, now stairing up at the treads of his tank, several feet above his head, the tank still on its side.
His wrist communicator crackled to life and a familiar male voice was heard. Not again..."Get up, pup. You're not allowed to die, unless it's by me, now get up." Wolf O'Donnell. Why'd this guy come back? What did Fox do to deserve Wolf's return. No cronies this time? Fox had to wonder on that question for a moment, still half dazed. Did Wolf recieve his distress communication?
Fox groaned again, sitting up and glancing at the wrist communicator. Wolf either didn't have a holo-projector or didn't have his activated, because the communication was audio only. Wolf's fighter swopped by, once more, adding another volley of blaster fire to the Dodora's head without hurting it. Now how was McCloud going to get his tank back on the treads? He scampered about it, climbing in through the hatch.
"How do you kill this freak? This scumbag really needs to die," Wolf groused to himself, regardless of the channel being open. "All right, new plan. I'll keep you alive, you kill this thing. Now, if you wanna set up some sort of payment, I'll send a missle down it's throat and blow it up from the inside out, how much money you got, McCloud?"
"Plenty, but you're not going to see a dime," Fox growled. He booted the computer systems inside of the tank, chiding it to hurry. After the green light, he punched the boosters on the bottom, forcing it to roll over, back onto it's treads. "So you should probably leave and I'll handle this," Fox added, patching the communication through to his Tank's comm system.
"Shit, McCloud. I know what bank you put it in, I've always just taken what I want when I want it. Yeah I know, you got insurance on your money, so do I. Stupid. Hm, I haven't done that in years," Wolf said with a hint of foreshadowing, just to tease the vulpine.
"How old are you again, Wolf?"
Wolf's singular gaze rolled. "My early 30's, Fox. I heard that Krystal isn't even considered an adult by Cornerian standards," Wolf said with a chuckle. "Rockin' the cradle, there foxy? Cradle robbing doesn't net as much of a return as what I do for a living. Then again, you are just a pup, really. So I guess she's about your age, in a... metaphorical way."
"Will you just LEAVE?" Fox snapped.
"Watch your tone with me, kid. I wouldn't wanna have to take ya over my knee and tan your hide," Wolf snapped back.
"Look, if you want to help, aim your blaster fire for the mouth and the tail," Fox explained, adding, "The more firepower you give it, the shorter the neck and tail get, then you can hurt it. It ate the probe, we need to rip it open and get to it's stomach."
"You talk to much, shoot the tail and mouth, got it." Wolf pulled into a loop, planting a missile directly into the dragon's maw. The neck expanded for a moment before shrinking. Obviously it took the missile's explosion without blowing it's throat apart. Wolf then pulled about, working on it's head again.
"Be careful, O'Donnell! We need that damn blackbox," Fox shouted.
"Bah, what's so important about it?" Wolf said, concentrating another set of blaster shots on the Dodora's weak spot. "Does it have incriminating evidence of you porkin' a minor? Maybe you should have waited until next year when she's legal, Foxy."
"Will you just grow up?" Fox was exasperated, now. He was tired of Wolf's bull and the fact that the jerk was hanging around all of a sudden really bothered him. "If you must know, it has information that will stop all of this craziness going on, so either help us or get out of here," He sneered at the lupine.
"Gee, Fox. I'd love to help you out and give a damn about everyone getting their asses handed to them by the powers that be, but I just don't seem to give a damn about everyone else," Wolf replied. "So what's in it for me?"
This time it was Krystal on the comm to step into the conversation, "All right, boys. That's enough. Wolf, there are two Fox McClouds in this dimension now, that's where this Dragon came from, the other side. So you get to have less Fox McClouds in your world. Fox, you need to work together with Wolf if you're going to get that black box back, he's not here for his health, he's here to show you up and make sure he keeps you alive so that you have no choice but to apologize to your sister. You impressed him once, years ago, but now you have to reprove yourself. Wolf feels you're underneath of his skill," She explained over the communication patch.
"Wow, she's smart, McCloud. Found yourself a woman with a perceptive brain, eh? Damn right, I feel you're underneath my skill," He said with a snicker.
"All right," Fox said, interrupting Wolf's ego. "There' two of us and one of him, we should be able to beat him, we've got him outnumbered."
"Wow, you did that hard math all by yourself, hero?" Wolf replied. "I've got this thing under control, Fox. Get your rubber gloves and X-ray, so we can hunt this thing's carcass for your precious box, when I'm done."
"Shut up, dammit. For once, just... give it a rest," Fox said, narrowing his eyes, gazing into the view screen, dodging another breath of fire that scorched the ground all around him. Fox charged his blaster, joining in on pounding firepower into the Monarch Dodora's face.
Suddenly the injured Dragon turned and began to run the other way. It took 500 yards in a single step, easily out running the Land Master. It's massive body disappearing into the distance. "GET IT," Fox shouted. "It's getting away with the black box, we've got to find it!"
"Fox, let's just take a break," Fara said, stepping into the communications. "Relax, we can track the black box by it's transponder... and GreatFox Satellite photos will be able to find this thing no matter where it goes," She continued.
Fox's head slammed back against the headrest with a sigh. It was getting away and Wolf was still hanging around. The worst of every situation that he could think of was happening today. He was just glad that Fara didn't die earlier that morning, in the snow.
Wolf's fighter eased to the ground, venting hot steam from the engine and landing gear hydraulics. His canopy lifted and the narrow gaze of his singular eye squinted down at Fox's LandMaster. A smirk touched his muzzle, no words spoken.
"Hey Cyclops," Fox said without so much as thinking about it.
"Hey there, small fry. What the hell was that thing and where did it come from? Andross is dead, so we know it wasn't some BioWeapon from his old ass," Wolf replied with a confident and almost friendly tone. He was only too happy to get into a battle of wits with McCloud, either way.
Fox eased up from the Tank's hatch, to return Wolf's glare. "Like I said, it's not from this world. It's got our damn blackbox and if all this bullshit keeps happening and the world gets torn apart, you're not going to have any business left," McCloud reminded him.
"Shut it," Wolf snapped. He paused then added, "if I thought this bullshit you're doing bares no importance on me and business, I wouldn't have given enough of a rat's ass to come and see what's going on."
"Rat's ass? Why Wolf, what's with the racial slurs towards rats? I knew a good Rat fighter pilot once who could probably backslap you without giving it a second thought," Fox said, grinning to his rival. Wolf shook his head, leaning back in his fighter seat, putting his legs up over the dashboard, crossed at the ankle.
"What now, hero?"
"Stop calling me that," Fox said with a sigh. "I'm doing a job, same as you. I don't got no medals like the other Fox," McCloud said, flipping the lupine off then sitting back on the hull of his Tank, waving for the girls to come out of hiding.
Fara and Krystal sauntered out of the bushes like a couple of Amazon beauties, causing Wolf to turn for a second look. He'd seen them on the mountain in winter weather gear and such, but now that they were wearing shorts and a leotard with vests that accentuated their curves, he had to at least take a look.
"Nicky McCloud?" Fox said, noticing that the lupine was still looking over his shoulder, down the side of his hull, at the approaching females.
"That's Nicky O'Donnell as far as you're concerned," Wolf replied. "Besides, I'm sure she'd give Krystal a spank-test, with you locked in a closet, forced to watch through a window, just to make you feel inadequate." Wolf then smiled, seeing Fox's reaction... A mister 'wannabe toughguy' smirk. It couldn't have made Wolf happier. Infact, it was a look so classic, he thought about taking a picture just for his Fiancé.
"Whatever, you're not wearing a band on your left hand, maybe you didn't notice, because you're left eye is out, Wolf." Fox grinned, adding his own little spark into the rebuttal.
"Ooo, look at me," Wolf said with a chuckle. "I'm bowled over by your wit, McCloud. I've totally been owned, now let's get this damn box and get out of here. Before your women fall in love with me. And I don't care if they are women, I'll beat'em off me with a bat, so Nicky doesn't kill'em."
"Boys!" Krystal shouted, her stony scowl melting into a grin of amusement. "Shall we get started? We need to split up into groups to search faster. Can we pull this off, Wolf?"
"I don't have a back seat. Your fennec can ride on my wing, I won't drop her if she has good balance," O'Donnell replied nonchalantly. The air of confidence exuberated by O'Donnell was enough to turn off both women, but they would rather he had confidence in his flying than to be unsure and inadequate.
Fara approached the Wolven, without so much as thinking about it, climbing up onto the wing and reaching down to her boots, turning on the magnetic gravity setting. Her boots clung to the wing with a thunk, the fennec pulling out her high-definition binoculars. "Ready, let's get this show on the road," She said.
"She's spirited. Why can't you be as cool as her, McCloud?" Wolf said with a smirk.
"Without boobs, you won't think I'm as cool as her, no matter what I do," Fox said, turning to Krystal. "Well, let's get this show on the road. In the tank, they'll be our eyes in the sky." He then turned back to Wolf's ship. "Fara, you better get a parachute. Let me get one out of the tank, I don't trust him not to drop you," he added, reaching into the LandMaster's supply cargo for the chute they used on the probe's main body, out in the snow. He packed it into the backpack and tossed it to her.
"I hope it's not torn after using it to drag a piece of machinery for several miles," She said with a grin. It probably was, but it was better than nothing. Krystal climbed into the Tank, followed by Fox and they turned the vehicle about, heading for the blip that seemed to be moving across the Planet's surface, far up ahead. Wolf also lifted off and the race began.
Fara knelt down on the wing to reduce drag resistance, the breeze blowing through her fur, causing her tail to whip about in the wind, behind her. She looked into the binoculars, watching Fox far below, then glanced back at the Canopy, Wolf O'Donnell keeping his airspeed low, to match the Tank's high-rolling speed.
The Dodora was running for the hills, so to speak. It had already crossed several rivers and a plethora of hills. While any fighter could outrun it, the Tank was what caused Wolf to have to stay at a slow chase speed. The Dragon couldn't run forever and that's what they were counting on.
Within an hour of solid chase, the blip on the tracking module suddenly came to a stop and they closed in on it rapidly. Had the dragon suddenly decided to just come to a stop? Fara lifted her High-Definition goggles back to her eyes, but couldn't see the Dragon in view. They were almost on top of the signal but still no sign of the Monarch Dodora.
Once they passed over the signal, Wolf looped back around, hovering the area like a vulture. Fox pulled to a stop in the tank and his next statement caused Fara and Wolf to exchange confused glances.
"Oh...shit."
"What's wrong, Fox?" Fara asked, trying to look through her binoculars to see what Fox was concerned about. She couldn't really locate anything out of the ordinary. It looked like he was stopped infront of what appeared to be a crater in the ground, the dark blotch of ground difficult to discern. She couldn't make out what it was, replying into her wrist communicator, "What is it, something happen?"
"It's...," Fox sighed, "..Shit."
"What is it? What's with the cursing, Mac? Just tell me what it is."
"I just told you what it is!" Fox exclaimed. He gave Fara a moment to think about it but Wolf was far ahead of her. Was it because all men think alike? Is it because women are too dainty to think about something as obvious as the fact that the Dragon crapped out the blackbox and they were going to have to dig through it to find the thing? Fara didn't even realize what McCloud was none-to-subtly hinting at.
Wolf groaned. "The friggin' beast crapped out the black box? I don't get my paws dirty unless it's in blood or for money. So this one is for you guys." He brought the Wolven back around for one more loop before lowering his landing gear and settling a few yards from the Tank. Fara deactivated her boots and approached the tank, quickly realizing the seriousness of the situation. Wolf wasn't cracking a joke, the Dragon really did digest the black box and the box was burried in a pile of excrement, causing her to sigh.
This was going to be the butt of everyone's jokes for the next five years or more. She finally lifted her wrist comm back to her lips and said, "That black box is nearly indestructible, right? Just blast it out of there," She said, shaking her head.
Fox, however, was against the idea. "I don't wanna take the chance of damaging the digital data recorded on there. A blaster shot's electromagnetic yadda yadda might hurt the information recorded on there. Slippy taught me that a blaster on a computer might fry the hard drive, even if you don't hit it directly. It's gonna have to be done the old fashion way."
"I could have saw this coming on Sauria, with all the dinosaurs. Lord knows," Wolf said, shaking his head, "It's been on those dinosaur movies in two situations, but this... I didn't see this coming."
"All right. Paper, Rock, Scissors?" Fox asked.
"All present, let's vote," Wolf quickly said. "If you want the Hero to do it himself, say AYE." He raised his paw, his fingertips brushing the top of the canopy and his cry of the word "AYE!" was mirrored by both Fara and Krystal. Fox balled his fists up at the mutiny and climbed from the Tank, stomping across the field to the towering pile of waste.
"I'm going to need a shovel and gloves. I don't know what sort of bacteria I'm confronted with and I don't need to get sick with something my body can't handle," McCloud said, trying to maintain his serious tone. Really, he was pissed. He didn't want to do this and he didn't want everyone to laugh at him over this. But this blackbox was crucial. This was the lowest of the low and his stomach and will? Well, they remained unshaken, but this was a blow to his pride.
"That's it, Fox," Wolf cackled. "Humbling mission huh? King turd of dung mountain? You're sister is going to absolutely love this."
"Shut...up. Take your top lip, to your bottom, and shut it," Fox growled. His eyes returned to the Dodora's waste, clinching his paws into fists again. The pile was taller than he stood, and because it was so recently ingested, he could only hope the box was near the surface of all of this. "This is so stupid. I can't believe... of all the things," McCloud said, his ears laid flat, his temper flaring.
He could have just flattened the stuff like a steamroller, using the LandMaster, but washing every little nook and cranny of the treads and frame would take forever and until they got every iota, it would cause the flight deck to reek horribly. No, he had to actually hunt through this stuff. But Goddess-knows, he did not want to do so.
"We don't have all day, dammit!" Wolf snapped, really just egging him on, so he could see the poor bastard wading through an 11 foot, towering pile of ... Wolf's thought was sidetracked suddenly, when the sky opened up. Another bolt of plasmatic energy lanced out from the heavens, striking in the center of the field, only a few hundred meters from where they all stood.
The force of the energy discharge knocked Fara and Fox to the ground. Krystal nearly fell over, herself, but instinctively crouched low, her footing not lost. Wolf gripped his flight stick with one paw and a brace bar in his cockpit, using his other paw. A statistical readout of numbers and letters was displayed to his brain, inside of his bionic optic implant.
"The energy that thing displays is outrageous," Wolf shouted. "It makes a Cornerian City power plant look smalltime. If that thing hits one of us, no one's going to survive it," he continued. The systems of his ship were fluttering, but due to the EMP shielding, they didn't fry.
"Slippy needs to analyze one at close range, if you ask me," Fara cried, sitting up and brushing grass from her fur. "I'll go out there and dig up a soil sample," She then turned to grin at Fox, "No pun intended, Mac," then continued with, "And we can bring it back to GreatFox for the Toad's to checkout."
Fox groaned at the slyly worded phrase, walking back to his Tank to retrieve two shovels. There were a total of three in the hold, used for digging the tank out of any unforeseeable jam, and there were also a set of dynamite sticks. But he wasn't going to use those, because the mess would be everywhere. He tossed one shovel to Fara, as well as a bucket with a lockable lid, then grabbed a shovel for himself.
He waited until Fara was working on digging into the charred ground, before he turned back to the pile, half wishing the damn energy bolt hit the crap. He shoved the spade into the disgusting stuff with a squish, then pulled out a heap of it and threw it on the ground. This was going to be a very long afternoon. "I -so- hate you guys, right now," McCloud muttered in a half-angry, half-helpless voice. It was a dirty job, but... this takes the cake.
Fox Junior's Arwing shuttered. The energy bolt that lanced across the inky void, struck Venom, this time. It was his job to monitor them, and so far, there had been several on every planet in the system... except for one. Sauria was the only planet to actually repel the plasmatic blasts, which struck the Force Point energy shield and caused the bolt to angle off, into space, dissipating several hundred miles out, fizzling into nothingness.
His system didn't have a planet Sauria, and not knowing anything about it's magical properties really made him currious. Actually, the Krazooa were very technologically advanced and because the energy patterns emanating from two ForcePoints on the planet's surface matched the energy from the bolts, it caused the planet to be protected from the celestial strikes. Somehow, he wondered if that was the key.
Pulling up the Slippy indigenous to this Lylat, on his communicator, he decided to pose the question. "I've noticed everything is completely susceptible to these energy strikes... except for Sauria. There are two points on that planet, one in a volcano, one in the tropical area, that emanate a duplicate power level of the same ... whatever it is we're facing out here," He said. "What I mean is, it's the same energy, just dispersed over the planet. Can we harness it or dig up whatever's on that planet to use?"
"I'm afraid not, Fox Junior," Came the screechy voiced reply. "Last time that happened, the planet tore itself apart. We can study it, since it's in a controlled environment, but we can't steal the spell-stones, as they're called." Slippy was glad to see there was something good coming out of everything, but taking the spell stones wasn't going to happen.
Fox then opened a patch to his doppelganger's nephew and his mate. "Are you guys checking out the readings the Arwing's sensors are getting? It looks like that planet, Sauria, has some sort of protective barrier around it, that's made of the same form of energy as these bolts that keep plaguing everything," He said.
"I've not been paying attention, Fox. What's the lowdown on it?" Kit asked. He pulled into a tighter formation, Snowy taking the other side, so that it was a triangle. The formation, known as delta, was one that Kit and Snowy naturally assumed, being military, as well as Fox Junior, who used the formation often, himself.
"It's the same energy in the same form, just controlled to a sort of bubble, acting as the atmosphere," Junior explained, hoping the planet held some answers. It was one of the furthest planets from Corneria and Fortuna, putting the trio on the opposite end of Lylat from where Fox, Fara and Krystal were working with Wolf O'Donnell.
"Let's go there," Snowy chimed in, shifting her weight in her fighter seat. She was excited to finally get to see Sauria, having never visited the planet, before. She'd been told it was beautiful and with all the brochures popping up in the Cornerian and Katia Captiol Cities, about developments under construction, she had seen little tidbits that made her eyes 'bigger than her stomach', so to speak.
"Agreed. What's the next move, Cap'?" Kit said, refering to Junior by his rank. Snowy punched in the coordinates to Sauria, anticipating the order. Fox did indeed give the order and they changed course, rapidly heading for the Dinosaur Planet. It's mystical powers were the answer to all of this, he just knew it.
(next)
Chapter -7- Parables, Riddles, Answers.
