Chapter Two
"Wake up! Wake Up! C'mon, man! We don't have all day!" A groan was heard from inside Leon's room.
"Quit kicking the door," he said hissing. "Alright, alright, I'm up, go 'way." Before he had even finished the sentence I had started walking towards Panther's room. It was only 4:50; I awoke before my alarm went off then threw on my still damp clothes and packed my few belongings in my sling-sack. Panther's room was around the next hall. I walked briskly there and as I turned right, I was surprised to see him outside his door leaning against it, ready to go!
He must have known that I was surprised because he smiled and said, "Panther knew you'd probably wanted us up by now so Panther got up before five."
"How long have you been up?" I asked thinking he'd been up way before five.
"Just fifteen minutes. Panther got packed and is waiting to leave!"
"Me too. Why don't you go down to the lobby and check us out? The room number I was in was 412. Leon's not up yet, guess I'll—" Suddenly my stomach let off a loud growl reminding me I had only eaten two kid-sized snacks the night before. "I was going to say that I'd head back to Leon's room, but I guess…" I trailed off scratching my head.
"Just think if we beat the guy on Katina, we'll end up at Tavoka! Then we wouldn't have to eat this junk!" Panther reminded me.
"Yeah, but all the same we should get something to go. I'll head on over to the dinning room. Got any money? I just realized I used up a lot on parts yesterday." There was no paying each other back in my team, because we all stuck together and shared it not to mention we only really used it for necessities.
"Oooh, you got parts? Can't wait to try the ships now! They've needed parts for a long time!" he said while digging in his pockets and pulling out a few folded bills.
"Yeah, I figured we needed an upgrade for our fight today."
"Is that what you were doing yesterday? You smell like rain. Is it still raining?"
"Probably. It shouldn't slow us down. See you in the lot," I said turning towards the dinning area.
"Get me a krumpt while you're there," he called after me.
"Good idea," I called back. A krumpt was basically a buttery roll filled with vegetables and lots of meat. It'd be convenient for eating on the run. I got one for all of us and just as I was heading out of the nearly empty room only filled with a few early birds, can you guess who just happened to walk in?
Sandra. What fun. She saw me and bounded over.
"Why hello there, Wolf," she said smoothly and grinned that flirty smile. "What are you doing?"
"Leaving," I said shortly, brushing her as I walked briskly towards the exit of the dinning room. Oooh, that was harsh, and I loved it! But that didn't throw her off as she raced after and walked beside me.
"Why you up so early? Going somewhere?" she said while grinning up at me.
"That's not really any of your business, now is it?" I snapped. She didn't even flinch; she just continued walking as if I didn't even say anything.
"I'm heading over to Katina! I hear there's a little war going on over there."
"Where did you hear this from?" I asked as if interested in the topic.
"Oh, I heard it from some of my guys who heard it elsewhere," she responded casually waving her arm around.
"Huh. Because I heard it was on Macbeth."
"Are you sure?" she said with an edge of panic in her voice. "Isn't Macbeth kinda far?"
"Nah, not really. And no wonder they got it confused; the two planets look similar."
"Well, if you're sure…"
"Yeah, totally. See ya." I walked away heading downstairs towards the aircraft lot smirking. I saw Leon ahead of me and caught up with him. Now all three of us were at the door leading out into the lot. But we weren't all that eager to leave at the moment, because the rain had increased during the night and now fell like heavy bucket loads.
Panther crossed his arms slowly and tapped his boot impatiently saying, "Panther wishes not to wet his fur! It takes hours to dry!"
"Yeah, yeah, quit complaining. Let's see…here!" I said pulling out the umbrella the security guard had given me from my sling-sack.
"Thanks," Leon and Panther both said reaching for it, but once again I pulled it out of their grasp saying,
"It's for me! I already got wet once!" I pointed to my damp clothes. "I'm surprised I didn't catch cold!"
"You're still wet so why not keep one of us who's already dry, dry? Like me, I don't even have fur to keep me warm!"
"Boo-hoo to you Leon! At least it doesn't take you long to dry off!" Panther retorted.
"Enough bickering!" I growled. "Here!" I said smacking the umbrella into Panther's stomach as Leon glared at me. "What? It makes more sense if you think about it." We stepped cautiously outside under an awning still dry. All at once we bolted towards our ships, hopped in, started them, and took off easily escaping the planet's atmosphere heading towards Katina while quietly munching on our krumpts.
"Nya, can't wait to beat those losers!" Leon said breaking the silence. "Now we'll finally get the respect we deserve!"
"Can it air-head! This is probably going to be difficult. I don't want to see either of you bending. And don't get cocky with me! Keep focused. It's not much longer now. When we get there get into formation eight."
"Yes, Wolf," Panther and Leon said seriously. We rode on in silence again for a while. I had to admit, upgrading the Wolfen's was a good idea; they were flying more smoothly then they had in months.
"I also put in new radar equipment. It'll help with any sandstorms we might encounter." I informed them. "Is everything working well for you guys?"
"All's well."
"Yep."
"Alright! There it is," I said pointing at Katina through the glass in my cockpit. "Let's go!" We sped up entering the rough, rocky planet. Unfortunately there was already a heavy dust storm going on, but Leon and Panther had already formed together in formation eight which when we flew along, looked like a triangle with me at the lead. This enabled us to stay close by without ruining any air currents, kind of like birds flying in a V-shape. It actually helped us to fly faster and more efficiently. I looked about me from what I could see through the sandstorm, and noticed that there were already so many fighters roaming about and Solar had just barely risen. I recognized a few ships from various planets such as Titania and Aquas and of course Corneria. We spotted the "bad guys" easily because they were all alike. In fact they almost looked like…
"Don't they kinda look like Aparoids?" I said remembering the battle I had with my teammates and Star Fox a little over a year ago.
"Yeah, now that you mention it…" Panther said rubbing his chin, then firing at two more of them.
"Nya, what does it matter? Let's find the boss!" We sped along and slew the enemy droves. The battle was more intense as we continued our course and other ships were left behind. Suddenly, the storm subsided and we were able to see much more clearly. There was only one other ship that had gotten so far besides ours, and as I looked at it, it looked oddly familiar.
"Isn't that a Cornerian ship, an Arwing?" I muttered to myself. I could only hope that it wasn't that stupid Fox guy who always made me look like the bad guy and probably never thought once what life was like for me and my teammates. The ship obviously spotted us as it suddenly sped up, towards us while blasting a few more bogies.
"Well look at who it is!" A familiar voice emerged through my intercom. "It's the circus!" I frowned at that and looked through into the Arwing's cockpit. Aww man, it was one of Fox's friends, that bird. Now what was his name? Oh yeah. Falco Lombardi.
"What do you want featherhead? You're in our way!"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you wanted your butt creamed by these guys so badly!" Geez, what a jerk. I didn't respond. See? I'm usually good about controlling my emotions. But Falco usually let his feelings get the better of him.
"You're boring me; I don't have time to talk to the likes of you," I told him with a half closed eye.
"Yeah, well, at least I don't have to constantly avoid the space cops! Don't you belong in jail or somethin'?" Ooh man! He never stopped!
"Where's your friends birdie-boy? Got tired of them again? You can't seem to hold on to your friends can ya?"
"Good one Leon!"
"Nya, nya! Thanks Panther!"
What Leon said seemed to make Falco mad. He didn't do anything really, but you could just tell by the way he got real silent. Then I decided to say something back at him. "You do realize what the award is for beating the boss right? Enrollment to Tavoka. What? You got bored of the Cornerian Air Force or somethin'?" Whoop. There goes the bird's blood pressure. Ha! Man, he totally deserved it, the way he and his teammates always treated us!
He looked clearly disgusted as he tried to say, "Alright, knock it—"
"Look at the little birdie! Panther has never seen him so upset before!"
"Aww, I think he's blushing!"
"We finally paid him back what he deserves!"
"Nya! Soon he will call us heroes! How does that feel looser?"
I let Panther and Leon canter back and forth insults until I thought it was time to move on. When I looked over at Falco his face was twisted both in anger and did I detect a hint of sadness? "C'mon, let's go. We can't sit around talking to this peacock all day can we?" Of course when they heard that I called him a "peacock," they started laughing harder than I ever could imagine.
"P-peacock!" Panther could hardly control himself. "Panther must remember that for next time!" Then he and Leon started all over again. I, myself thought it was somewhat funny, but I remained sober and again looked over at him. He tried looking mad, but I could tell he was trying hard not to cry. I zoomed ahead, past Falco who was in front of us all, and put on my retros.
"I don't to wait all day for you two hyenas!" I yelled, then zoomed forward leaving them behind. What? I wasn't all bad, even to my rivals. The two stopped laughing and were following silently behind. I also noted on my radar that Falco was moving forward, but obviously not with us; he had traveled along far to the left.
We continued on, and man were there a heck of a lot of thugs to beat! I dodged, barrel rolled, U-turned, everything I could to avoid all the space-like bugs, but still received a few hits. They were swarming around us like bees and man was it crazy! I panted a bit from the heat that had collected in my cockpit from Solar's rays as it rose higher and from the effort I used dodging and blasting the bugs. Somehow we left them behind and continued flying over the rocky, dusty terrain. Something blipped on my radar, just as I noticed it for myself. It was a lone ship, resting miles below us with a figure sitting on its wing. It didn't look like it was having problems so I flew on, and as it grew closer I took notice of the signature printed on the side of the ship. It was just a large fancy "T". "T" as in "Tavoka"? I wondered.
An incoming call came on the intercom: "Hey, who are you three?" The voice asked. I slowed down my ship so I wouldn't race past the guy sitting on his ship. Panther and Leon followed suit.
"We're team Star Wolf," I responded.
"Ah, yes, I know of a Star Wolf. I hear you have large bounties on your heads." Damn! Was that how everyone recognized us!? What was that, like, my third reminder that I had practically the entire universe looking for me!? I didn't answer.
He continued. "I work for the Tavoka Air Force Academy, and I'm quite pleased with the three of you; no one's ever gotten this far before!"
"Why are the people at Tavoka giving out a reward of enrolment to the school and Katina not offer anything?" I said as I slowed my ship down to a stop. I've been wondering about this for a while. I knew Katina didn't have any Air Force, but only a few bases for mercenaries and pilots to rest at.
"A good point. We are good friends with Katina and they asked for our help, and of course we accepted. But many of our best pilots were away for a training mission… and Katina felt bad asking other young warriors to help them out with no reward… well, let's just say we were the ones that ended up giving a reward."
"Any idea what the boss is, and why he's here?"
"Nope. No clue," he said standing up on the wing of his ship, placing one hand on his hip and the other at his eyes blocking out the harsh light from Solar. I could make him out more clearly now that he was standing; he was a middle aged lemur. "Just parked myself here this afternoon. I was waiting around hoping a skilled fighter would come this way, and I found three! Oh, yeah. The name's Rick by the way. Sergeant Rick." I was about to ask another question but he cut me off. "Questions will come later. Just come back out safely! Good luck!" he said waving an arm. I blinked at him for a second then sped off, Panther and Leon right behind me.
"That was…interesting," Panther noted about our encounter.
"Yeah, well, let's keep moving," I told them. I suddenly realized that the falcon wasn't anywhere to be seen. Must have been left in the dust. I also thought it was peculiar that there was almost no monsters to shoot.
"Must be getting closer, no?" Leon commented.
"Yeah, guess so. Wait! What's that?" I pointed out into the distance as a large building or factory of sorts loomed closer.
"That would be where we are supposed to go, is Panther right?" Nobody said anything. As we got closer, I saw the large, threatening doors slowly unfold waiting for us to enter. Not slowing down, we entered and found ourselves in a tunnel that was pitch-black. I flipped the switch that turned on my Wolfen's headlamps that were located on the underside of all four wings. They were tiny, but illuminated the whole place. The tunnel went on for quite a while but we never saw anything pop out at us. Finally we emerged in a large, and well lit room. I turned off the lamps as did the other two. There was no one in the room—yet—but I noticed a large hole in the ceiling leading somewhere. The room resembled the Aparoids' queen's lair, but was much larger and brighter. I've never actually been where the queen had been located, but had seen it on broadcastings and such.
"Spread out," I told the two. "And don't let your guard down for a second." They nodded and gritted their teeth as they flew around the room grasping their throttles hard. All we could do now was wait.
We waited, and waited, and how long I didn't know. We constantly kept looking up and waited for the boss to show itself. This was the correct place, right? All of a sudden, a huge roar snapped us to attention. We all looked up as we saw a metallic bug-like head with pincers emerge from the hole. The body appeared next—a rather long body with hundreds of legs. So the monstrous boss was a centipede. It roared again and started firing lasers from its mouth.
"Let's go! Start by taking off its legs!" I commanded. Instantly we started zipping around the beast, hacking off a few legs here and there all the while avoiding the monster's attacks. We were doing really well, when all of a sudden—
"Panther! Look out!" I quickly looked up to see Panther quickly flying away, but got snatched up in-between the centipedes' fangs.
"Yargh!" His ship didn't snap in two—our ships were stronger than that—but it was taking heavy damage. I sped over to the front of the creature and started charging my next shot. I aimed right at one of the pincers, and even though it was dangerous due to Panther being so close, I let go. A small explosion occurred as the pincer fell off and Panther put on his boost and sped far away in the corner of the room.
"Stand by!" I ordered him, just as another little explosion went off as his other fang fell to the cluttered floor. The monster roared in agony and, without warning, whipped his tail around which smacked into me and pushed me hard into Leon.
"Guh!" A lot of scraping of metal was heard as we untangled our ships from each other. I rubbed my head, which I had bashed into the side of my cockpit and found blood on my glove. I wiped the blood away best I could because it was dripping into my good eye. I raced underneath the centipede and started shooting at its sensitive underbelly. It curled up, and just floated there tight as can be. Leon had started a charge and waited for it to uncurl. As it stretched out slowly again, I started knocking off the remaining legs as Leon let go of his charge, which was aimed at the weak joints on its neck. I followed up with rapid fire of my own until the head fell off. The body hovered for a second before it fell into many pieces alongside its other parts that lay scattered on the floor. We ourselves waited for a while, silently breathing.
"Ah… good work team," I said while licking my muzzle because the blood was now traveling down my face in little rivulets. "Everyone ok?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Panther's ship has taken a beating!"
"Right, well, the boss is defeated and I still don't know how he got here or who made him, so let's head out—"
"Oh, I believe I can tell you who made him!" A voice bellowed out, echoed and re-echoed around the large dome-like room we were in. Looking up at the sphere in the ceiling I saw a brown ship fly in. "So let me see who the victors…are…" the guy in the ship trailed off after seeing us. Wait a minute! I knew that voice!
"Andrew!?" I blurted out.
"Wolf!?" he blurted back.
"What the—what the fuck was that all about!?"
"What was that!? What was that for!?"
"Panther wants some answers!"
"Huh? I thought you were dead!"
"SHUT UP!" I yelled silencing everyone. I looked over at Andrew Oikonny who was looking at all three of us with large, bugged out eyes. He obviously wasn't expecting us, like I him. "Did you make that!?" I snapped, pointing down to the disassembled centipede.
He glanced down to where I was pointing at. "Yeah, so what? It was fun."
"What!? Fun? Why did you even make it in the first place?"
"Oh, I have my reasons," he waived an arm around casually as if it were no big deal. "One of them was, well kinda a tribute to the Aparoids."
"Huh?" we said again. He made no sense! Bashed in the head too many times!
"And another reason is to tell the universe that Andrew is back and in control! Bwahahahahaha! Oh yeah! Not to mention I'm once again leader of Venom! Ehehehe!"
"Yeah, yeah, we already know."
"Shut it, lizard lips! You will learn to respect me!"
"What? Oh, I'm sorry. I guess you didn't realize that you're not on our team anymore! We're not gonna listen to you!" Andrew must have realized that I was going to come after him, because he darted through the hole with the three of us behind. He had gotten a head start and Panther was lagging behind, not to mention now my head had started to hurt and I was seeing a few sparks in my eye.
"Ehehehe! Can't catch up? What losers!"
"You're gonna regret this Andrew!"
"Am I? Well, I'll be back!" Aaaannnnddd… he was gone.
"Why do bad guys always have to say that?" wondered Panther. I laughed at that lightly then shook my head. I sighed.
"Let's head back," I told them when suddenly in the distance I saw a Cornerian ship leaving Katina, heading out into space. Hoo-ha! We did it all by ourselves! I wondered what he and his little buddies would think. Who cares! We found the place where Sergeant Rick was parked and landed nearby. He darted over to us as we climbed out of our ships.
"Wow, you're back! So did you beat him?"
"Obviously or we wouldn't be back!" Leon said crossing his arms.
"Uh-huh," he gave a slight smile and let it pass. "Yeah, well, I saw another ship fly off outta the factory. Wonder who it could have been?"
"Don't know," I lied. "Couldn't get a good look at him." Sergeant Rick suddenly turned to me and glanced at the large gash on my head.
"Oh, man, you're hurt! Vicki! Hey Vicki! Vicki's our nurse," he explained. A large tank rolled up and a nice looking golden retriever stepped out. She walked over and looked up at me with large, hazel eyes full of concern. Darn! I wish people wouldn't look at me like that! Her hand reached up to touch the cut.
"No, I'm fine. It's not that bad," I said brushing her hand aside but she flipped hers around expertly and instead grabbed my wrist.
"Come on, sir. If it's not cared for, it could get infected," Vicki said with a small smile and pulled me along to a tent that had been quickly assembled. I could hear Panther and Leon snickering behind me, because they probably detected a hint of romance in the air. Yeah right! Totally not my type! What sort of a wolf would date a dog anyways? Alright, I'll admit, she was pretty with those long silky ears…and she made me feel somewhat flustered but…no way! She sat me down and started cleaning my wound. I didn't say anything because I really didn't want to start a conversation…and not to mention she was concentrating so hard…
Suddenly a bottle filled with some purple liquid spilled over onto the floor.
"Oh, I am such a klutz!" she cried stooping over and sopped up the liquid with a rag.
"Are you new?" I asked. She paused with her wiping and answered me.
"Can you tell?" She looked up at me again, now with a worried expression.
To put her at ease I told her, "No, no, I was just wondering." Crud! I had started a conversation. Great. Now where would it lead to?
"I always wanted to do something to help others. I always was good at it when I was a kid but now I don't know…" she trailed off still looking worried but almost had tears in her eyes.
"Don't worry! You're doing a great job!"
"Am I?"
"Yeah, totally." Oh great. This is so not where I wanted it to lead. Now I looked liked a goody-goody with a soft side who was complementing her! I decided to change the subject to something more…professional in the hopes she would forget the mistake she had just made.
"So do you think Tavoka is really going to accept all three of us?" She stood up and continued dabbing something on the cut. I winced inwardly as the medicine stung.
"Oh, yes. I don't see why not. You guys were so cool." Oh, Vicki, don't start complementing me! If this went on she probably would look at me expectantly and wait for me to ask her to dinner or something.
I muttered, "That's good," nodded and remained silent. She went right on working until she strung a bandage around my head.
"There, I think that does it." She stepped back to admire her handi-work. I stood quickly and when I did so, she looked anxious. "Not so fast! You could get dizzy!"
"I'm fine," I told her again. "Thanks a lot."
"No problem. I'll be around if you need me." Then she turned back to her belongings and packed them up. I stepped out of the tent into the blindingly bright light, noticed two mechanics looking over our ships, and stepped into one of the other tents. Except…I didn't see any of my friends in there, and when I had entered everyone looked up at me.
"Uh, wrong tent. Sorry." I turned to go but—
"Wait." I turned back around. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am General Ram, the general of Tavoka Air Force Academy." The incredibly large built ram, though skinny, stood to shake my hand and I accepted it. "We all are extremely pleased what you and your teammates have done. And Katina's people as well! But enough of all the small talk, we need you to sign some documentations for us if you wish to be a part of Tavoka's Air Force. You do don't you?" I nodded. "Well, this would be easier, but we need to discuss the bounty on your heads." I remained silent looking at him. He stared back at me for a minute then continued. "There are three options for you. You can either spend a very long time doing community service, spend some time in jail, probably for four to eight months, or have part of your paycheck taken for about a year. It's up to you, but choose wisely; this affects your teammates as well, though I'm pretty sure you all don't want to go to jail do you?" He smiled slightly.
"I'll…what percentage would be taken out of our paychecks?"
"Let's see, about thirty I believe." Man, that was a heck of a lot!
"And will we be attending the school during that time?"
"Oh, yes. But we'll need to figure out where you stand level wise." I looked confused. "Our students are ranked by level, starting at one and goes up to fifteen. Those at level fifteen get to go on special missions that require more skill, can take better and harder classes, are paid much more, the benefits go on."
"Gotchya. Well, I think I'll take option three." The people in the room who were probably super intendants or something nodded and pulled out a chair for me. As I sat down, someone handed me an electronic pen and those who sat across from me pushed a floating device in front of me, which looked like a screen.
"This will take a while. We'll inform your friends what's going on, as they'll need to sign as well." Three people stood up holding more pens and screens, then left probably to give to Panther and Leon. Guess it was just me and the big shots! I thought as I bent forward to start signing.
It was about two hours later when I finished. I stood up, stretching my spine and cracking the tight joints in my neck. Everyone else had already left. I left the screen where it was and walked outside. Solar was still shinning, but a few clouds had rolled over which emitted a slight breeze, which I was grateful for once again, because those tents sure can get awfully stuffy! I headed slowly over to where the group was and found them sitting on chairs and logs they had found. They had gotten a fire going and over it was a large pot, which produced many delicious odors. My friends weren't there yet, but I continued to walk at a snail's pace. Someone from the group spotted me and stood up waving their arms. Sergeant Rick turned around for his back was to me.
"Hey, Wolf! Come join us! Bet you're hungry huh?"
"Of course he is! He just completely bulldozed that space scum! Wolf! Tell us the story! Tell us what happened!"
"Boy he's a quiet one."
"Don't worry, he'll talk soon enough."
"No, that's a good thing! I don't tolerate talkers in my class!"
I walked over to Rick who had moved over on the log he was seated at, and sat down next to him. My black nose was instantly filled with whatever was coming from the pot. I was so hungry! I hadn't had a proper meal for a wolf as large as me for about…five days. Someone who was closer to the pot sent around a large bowl and spoon. The meal turned out to be a stew of some kind. But I didn't bother to try to identify the strange objects that floated around in it. I would eat just about anything now! But before I could even insert my spoon in the bowl, they started in again.
"So tell us what happened!"
"Yeah, how'd you beat it? My cousin tried, but couldn't even get in the building." These folks wanted the information from the best source—me—and couldn't wait for the papers to come out which would probably lie or stretch the truth. Sheesh. Suddenly I realized that Vicki was seated in the circle too.
She spoke up and said, "Leave him alone just for the night. I'm sure he's hungry and tired from today. How's your head doing?"
"Uh, fine." (I had actually forgotten about it.) My sensitive ears picked up on a few snickers that were muffled. VICKI! I yelled silently at her in my head. Don't start up with me again! She didn't get the message (of course) and smiled at me before she continued eating. I myself was eager to try some, but once again couldn't as the lemur leaned over and whispered in my pointy ear.
"Looks like a lady's interested in ya. And so soon! C'mon, tell me you're interested!"
"No," I said flatly trying to shut him up. He shrugged and went back to talking to a teacher next to him. I glanced up and saw a few guys grinning at me. I ducked my head as my face flushed slightly, but it went by unnoticed. Thank goodness for fur! I turned back to my food for the third time and took a bite. I was amazed by how it tasted! A whole rush of flavors entered my mouth, savory and just a bit spicy. I hadn't had anything so good in years! I quickly polished off my bowl as another was sent around. My stomach could probably hold about five bowls of the stew and I guess the others knew it too, for they kept sending it around till I was full. By then Leon and Panther were seated, and on their third bowl.
Dusk had started, but still everyone continued talking. I remained silent because Leon and Panther could only find places away from me. I turned to look at Leon who had been looking over at me. He gestured in Panther's direction and I turned to look. Of course, he got wedged by two girls. I looked back at Leon and rolled my eye. One by one, people from Katina and Tavoka turned and left waving good-bye, and thanking us all. By the time most of them had left, night settled in and stars littered the clear sky, free of sandstorms. General Ram stood up.
"Come on, all of you. Time to head back home." A large safari-like van pulled up. "We'll all head back to the ship now." And everyone scrambled on it to find the best spot. The three of us found a place seven rows from the back and we sat together in a line, Panther being seated next to me on my left. Before we started I noticed that the three ships had already been moved. I also took notice that Vicki was seated behind me. The engine started up quietly—must be new, I thought—and we were on our way, the wind in our faces. I tried not to move that much, as to not draw attention to my self from Vicki. Rick who was two rows ahead of me, turned around and winked. Damn! Would you stop it!? I sent him another one of my silent messages. But the ride went on without incident. Vicki was busy talking to someone she knew. I sighed and put my hand on my chin and my elbow was resting on the base of the van. It wasn't an exasperated sigh, but a content one. I stared out at the vast plains, ignoring the chatter going on around me. As we rolled by, I noticed the factory we had battled at. It looked silent except for some security and police officers that were patrolling around. I looked at them and thought it's going to take some getting used to, not constantly running away from the police.
Ten minutes later, we jerked to a stop at one of the largest mother ships I had ever seen. A ramp had been dropped from the side, and everyone in the van jumped out. My friends and I walked towards it together. As soon as we entered the ship, I couldn't help but notice how everything was so new and spacious. There was a large window to the left of us, and many chairs placed around the area. A few people were seated there, waiting for the ship to take off. We stood off to the side, not knowing where we belonged. General Ram stepped up to us.
"We'll be at Tavoka in about two hours. You can do as you please until then, either washing up, or resting in the common room. Showers are upstairs, and the common room is down the hall," he said pointing up first, then to his left, our right. "And if you're still hungry or need something, don't hesitate to ask Sergeant Rick."
"Alright, thank you sir." I could tell he was pleased that I already called him "sir." He was being easy on us tonight, I could tell. He was probably going to be a real strict leader. He nodded then saluted—we saluted back—then turned on his heel and left. We stood there for a moment before heading upstairs. It's not like we needed it, mind you, but we wanted to appear especially clean to meet everyone, especially to those at school. The washing room had six private showers, which were also very spacious. We each stepped into separate ones and started them up. Man, what another luxury! I thought as the warm water sprayed all over my tense body. I remembered not to get my bandage wet as I tilted my head to the side. Imagine Vicki doing it all over again! The others would surely believe I did that on purpose!
We finished, and then dressed quickly, walking down the red-carpeted hallway more slowly. Panther yawned lazily rolling out his pink tongue and revealed his sharp fangs while stretching. "Is this not delightful?" he asked.
"Mmm, yup. Sure is," Leon responded twisting his torso so it produced a satisfying "pop." "Ahh," he commented.
"Don't get too cozy," I warned them. "This isn't going to last long!" Leon, who was beside me, pushed me and I stumbled off my straight course.
"Looks like Wolf here did get too cozy, as usually he wouldn't have swayed off course!" He and Panther laughed as I playfully knocked the upside of his head with my hand. We never really let people see this side to us; teasing and having fun, but the hallway was deserted so I guess we felt somewhat giddy, talking and laughing. When we headed for the common room, we fell silent instantly. As we walked in, we saw everyone already there playing mind-challenging games, or talking. A few teachers were even grading their student's work.
We headed over to an empty large blue couch and sat down. I glanced down at the table that was in front of us and noticed three green buttons that were embedded in it. I knew what they were and leaned over to press one. The e-paper popped up as the transparent screen floated a few inches above the table. An e-paper was like a newspaper, except it didn't use paper. No one made newspapers anymore, but I've heard about them. I scrolled the cursor on, not finding anything interesting. I was about to hit the button again to close it, but an article caught my eye. "Heroic Team Saves Katina." I actually found it amusing they didn't put my team's name in the title, leaving it a nasty little surprise for those to find out, especially that Fox guy! Ha! I bet his feathery little friend had scurried off to tell his precious leader what happened. Either that or he was so embarrassed with not being able to beat the "bad guy" that he flew off. Pah! Who cared? I thought as I closed the e-reader not bothering to read it. I settled back in the overly plush couch and waited. I must have dozed because I was suddenly aware of Leon shaking me a bit. I stood up with everybody else as Rick walked over to us.
"The ship's landed, although it's a bit dark," he added looking outside a nearby window. Sure enough, Solar had faded. "Shall we meet your new home?" He gestured us along. As we stepped off the ramp again, I took notice of a few things. The planet we had just landed on was hot and humid, probably their summer month. Second, the planet's gravitational pull was stronger then other planet's I had been on. And third; all three of us couldn't stop looking at Tavoka Air Force Academy. It was huge! Everything was all brand new and laid out spaciously. Even at this late at night, I noticed that the buildings were all in different colors. The ones with most of the lights on looked like dormitories.
They led us on to a more narrow blue building. As we neared, the doors slid open easily and stepped inside. Just like the outside, the hallway was real narrow, but long. On the left and right all the way down the hall were desks with receptionists waiting. General Ram seemed to appear out of nowhere and waived away all but Sergeant Rick. Now what? General Ram brought his legs closer together and straightened himself to appear taller. I could hear Sergeant Rick shuffle a bit behind us. I blinked and stared patiently at the General, waiting.
He cleared his throat and said, "Once again I'd like to thank you all for what you have done. That was a true sign of bravery and I'll be expecting many more victories from you three." He paused before going on. "Tomorrow's going to be a busy day for you; lots of testing and such. So I expect you to rest up, you'll need it!" He then started to chuckle. "Ahem. Tonight I'll have someone take you to your temporary rooms. You'll stay there until we figure out what level you're at. And someone will wake you because I will still be working tonight and sleeping in! Pah ha! The hardships of being a general!" He started to turn, but glanced back at us. "Is that all you've got? Don't you have bags or luggage?"
"Uh, a-hem." My voice needed to warm up. I hadn't said a word for a long while. "Yes, they are still on our ships."
He then bellowed out which surprised us because it was so loud and the hallway was so tiny, "I'll have someone bring it up to you no worries! Just follow Sergeant Rick and goodnight to you all!" Before we could say anything more, he turned quickly and strutted away. We ourselves turned and waited for Rick who was still in some kind of shock.
"Right then, follow me." He led us on past all the large tables to an elevator. He hit number eight and almost instantly we were there.
"Wow, pretty fancy elevators," Panther murmured. But Rick didn't wait for us, and sped down a blue-carpeted hallway, like the color of the building. No one was in sight, which was a little eerie, but it didn't bother me. He reached a door that already had our bags placed on the floor outside of it, punched a code, and stepped right over our luggage, leaving us to stoop down and grab it. Of course we couldn't say anything; he was our superior.
"Good night men!" he called out happily and was gone as well. The three of us stood there in our room for a moment, taking it all in. There were four beds two on each side, and the same blue carpet from the hallway, four chairs and one table and a—
"Humongous bathroom!" Panther noted instantly. "Wow, Panther can see every beautiful strand of fur with these mirrors and lightings!" Here we go! I thought.
"Nooo, bad Panther! Don't start in on the bathroom! We all know how long you take in there, right Wolf?" I nodded. "So a simple rule—let Wolf and I go first. Then you can take as long as you want." I snorted a bit. Leon was right.
"How about this? I go first; I'm the leader," I raced in there jokingly kicking Panther out, but Leon wouldn't let me close the door.
"Nooo, my idea! I go!" We were both pushing at the door, not giving up. Still playing, I released my hold on the door and Leon sprawled in on the floor. Panther and I started laughing like crazy. He stood up, a little sheepishly, and said, "Alright, you win," and left. We eventually all got ready and naturally started to fight over the beds. Once that was settled we climbed in and started talking about our day, laughing and still teasing each other.
I glanced at the clock that hung on the wall (which was also blue!) It was already one in the morning! "Time for bed," I told my team. "Who knows when they'll want us up? Could be five a.m., could be nine a.m."
"Right, right," Leon said stretching as we all settled in. "Nice beds, aye?"
"Yeah, totally," Panther agreed.
I myself turned over and closed my eye.