Author's Notes: I had a strange feeling about this chapter. I almost felt like it didn't fit or if I used the same word over and over again. I feel like I did something wrong, but I don't know why. It might be due to the insecurities of introducing so many new characters that you lose any sort of concrete foundation, but hopefully that's not the case and you still enjoy it.
I don't want to keep you with my ramblings though, let's begin.
~
Avaluuk
~
"Board us?" Tyler repeated in a voice blanketed with insecurity. "How can they do that? You can barely fit five in here before it becomes too crowded." The wolf glanced once more at the back airlock, which was about the same size as a common Cornerian elevator.
"It's simple really, but I don't know why they'd make themselves so vulnerable." Alex commented. "99% of the time, boarding requires both of us to co-operate, they obviously don't want to waste us so I guess there might be a mix-up or something."
"What are we going to do? Try and escape?" The ocelot questioned. "Maybe we can make a break for it and try to reach someone else's territory for protection."
The protection that the small cat spoke of was merely an agreement that different station owners accepted, that usually summed up to 'I leave you alone, you leave everyone in my land alone' idea which had been around long before any of them existed. For instance, it was considered wrong even among the worst of pirates and thieves to take a ship out while it was near the station, unless of course that target had hostile intentions. But at the relatively long distance they were from Avaluuk, they were lucky the frigate hadn't already blown them to pieces.
Alex shook his long head. "Na, if we try to run we're dead for sure… I don't think we can do anything but allow them to board us." He slammed the control panel in frustration.
After he had done this, the ship began to vibrate a slight bit, and the lights flickered along with the strange sense of movement. The now frightened blue jay turned to his passengers. "Listen, we're going to let them come in. I don't want any trouble, and I don't want any fighting. Hopefully they're looking to see if we have any valuable resources, but they'll leave once they figure out it's just a routine transportation job." The bird cut the power to a mere five percent.
The nearby frigate silently rotated in a position adjacent to the lesser ship.
"I can't just stand around here while you let these guys waltz right into our ship!" Victor yelled, his harsh voice ringing in everyone's ears.
"There's nothing else we can do!" Alex returned. "And besides, the ship belongs to me."
"Oh yes there is!" Victor switched the main control system over to his seat and began to move the ship. With the right engaging procedure, a co-pilot had just as much control over the ship as the main pilot, however, the main pilot needed to switch the controls over in order for it to work.
"No you don't! I'm in control of this ship! Not you!" The small bird was no match for the larger copilot, but he still managed to force him out of his seat and up against the wall. "And I say we stand down!"
Alex pushed, Victor shoved. The two fought in a battle of both planning and upper body strength. One was always gaining or had a slight advantage over the other but never reaching an end.
Amidst the fighting and tension, Tyler stood by, not knowing what to do and completely unwilling to interlope. Agent Rotte however, made his move; he grabbed Victor from behind so that he couldn't move without the agent's agreement. He then spun around, and used the force of his movement to throw the suited individual onto the hard metal floor, knocking him into submission. "Alright alright, I give." He said, knowing full well that the canine could've used more force to catapult him down if he had desired.
Dazed, Alex thanked 'Wyatt' for intervening before he returned the main piloting seat. "Alright then, we'll allow them to board. Nobody do anything stupid ok?" The whole crew nodded in resolved acceptance.
Agent Rotte leaned close to Tyler and whispered in his ear. "They're about to board, stay calm and just let things move along naturally. And when you see things turn out unexpectedly, just go with it." The confused lupine had little time to fully understand Weiler's cryptic message.
In about a minute's time, the two ships were locked together, there was no way out now, it was far too late. The ship members all stood side by side, as a common sign that they meant no harm. Their knees wobbled, their tails vibrated, and Tyler could hear his heart pounding in his head.
"Now listen, that door will open very soon." Alex said, softly gesturing towards the airlock of doom. "Don't speak unless spoken to, don't make eye contact, don't sneeze, don't smirk, don't cough, don't laugh, don't blink-you know what, don't do anything that might draw a speck of attention to yourself."
"But what if my eyes start to hurt?" The shaking ocelot asked raising one of his paws up.
"Ok ok, you can blink, but count to six before doing it again."
And so, Tyler and the others stood still in front of the airlock, waiting for it to open and have who knows what walk through. This whole thing was botched, it had to be. What if this encounter turned out to be the anti-climactic end to the whole operation? What if behind those doors was a band of brigands ready to storm them once it flung open? There were many things going on in his mind then, but none of them were in any way positive. He jolted as he saw one of the lights above the door come on, meaning that someone was now in the chamber set between the ships. He held his breath as his eyes froze. He watched the door slide open in a clean, smooth motion.
Out from the newly opened chamber walked three Lylatians two of them armed. They headed not towards Alex, who had stepped up to meet them in greeting, but towards Agent Rotte, who was waiting for them with arms folded.
"Well well Wyatt, you weren't kidding when you said you'd get me a ship." Said the nearing raccoon, half smiling at the comforted canine. "I only expected it to look like… a ship instead of a garbage compactor."
"Wya…. You're in on this? You bastard! How could you!" Alex attempted a violent swing at the agent, but was countered by the two soldiers who had followed the new arrival. "I'll get you back for this, don't doubt me! I don't know how, but one day I will get you back! Even if I have to hunt you down through the smelliest bogs in all of the Lylat I will find you and when I do I'll steal your shi-" The airlock door closed, sealing his presence away from the others. The door slid open again, and another group of soldiers came inside to take the rest away.
"Now take those two." Agent Rotte demanded to the soldiers as he pointed at the remaining crew members. They went over to the other side of the airlock without struggling like their captain, but they still growled and snarled at the agents for betraying them.
Tyler couldn't believe it, and that was exactly what Agent Rotte wanted. How nice that he had set it all up so that Tyler could play along. Although it would've been nice to know this beforehand so that he didn't have to switch gears while driving.
"You can stay here a moment and get acquainted with my friend here, Mason, he's a nice guy. I'll be waiting inside the main ship."
"Sure thing Wyatt." The half-raccoon said before turning to face Tyler. "Let's see then… you must be…"
The lupine was very confused about what just happened, and with good reason. It was not because he couldn't piece it together, but because he was far too unsure at this moment about anything or anyone. He was sure that Alex was supposed to take them to Avaluuk, but in his planning, Agent Rotte had arranged for a different method to be pursued. But he still had to play along with the scheme, no matter how convoluted it became. With a sudden switch over like this, he needed time to think, but time refused to be on their side.
"Susi… just call me Susi."
"Alright Susi, you got any skills?"
"What kind of skills?"
"You know skills. Are you a good fighter? Pilot? Janitor? C'mon what's your specialty?"
"Well, I'm good with explosives." More appropriately, Tyler had experience with disarming explosives.
"Explosives…" The half-breed raccoon almost hit the ceiling when he jumped up. "Hell yeah! I like the sound o' that! Wyatt sure knows how to pick 'em!" Mason gave Tyler a hard pat on the shoulder.
Tyler's ears fell at the loud sound of Mason's explosive voice. "He does…"
"Y'ever been to Avaluuk Susi?"
"No, I have no idea what it's even like there."
"Don't worry 'bout it. As long as you stick close to me, you'll be fine and no one will wanna mess with you. I'm Mason by the way; partial proprietor of Avaluuk Station, that just means that there are a few others who think it's theirs and won't stop until their FAT, GODDAMN PAWS CONTROL EVERY DAMN INCH OF IT!" Tyler was nearly pushed back by the strong force of the yelling.
"I can see you're really angry at someone."
"Angry? No… no I I… I sometimes go off on 'em like that. We don't fight anymore if that's what you thinking. We're kinda like buds now ya know? Except we still get under each other's fur from time to time, but we're just havin' fun."
Tyler simply nodded, he was afraid to say anything else.
"Alright, enough speaking about Avaluuk, I'm sure you're dying to see it. If you don't mind, Susi, I'll let you step over here to see what my glorious ship has to offer."
Leaving the cold, bland, transportation vessel, the two entered a much larger and more open ship, which seemed to be running on more than a skeleton crew. The walls were mostly colored a dark brown, and they looked somewhat worn, the imperfectly spaced lights above echoed energy throughout the curved shape of the frigate, almost warming the lupine on the inside whenever he stepped by one of them. Judging by the internal state and design, it was most likely around ten years old.
"Funny story this ship. It was stolen during a training exercise. They counted on it to test the limits of their radar ranges; they also counted on it to come back once it left that range." Mason said with a snicker. As Tyler followed, he looked towards the side to see a mostly defaced Cornerian logo, but it was an older one which had not been adopted for quite some time. "It's got two main cannons so powerful we need a generator for each one. We also have enough supplies to last near four months if needed, but of course that's more of a precaution than anything; we don't usually take her too far from Avaluuk, but we sometimes make exceptions."
Mason led Tyler to a small door which had the word 'brig' carelessly painted over it. "This is where we keep our prisoners, at least until we find something to do with them." He pointed at the door.
Muffled insults and curses could be heard from behind the dark gate. "We'll find a good place for them to work, we treat our prisoners well."
"Let's move on." Mason urged with a lurching quick pace.
"Ah, yes, the war room." They both approached a large, circular, open space. "We're not at war with anyone, so we don't use it that much." Mason glided his paws across the disabled metal display table. "I think your friend might be waiting for us."
Before long, they met up with Agent Rotte at the grand window, which was actually a display screen made to look like a window, but at least it was a beautiful view of… well space. "So Wyatt, I think I owe you a little something now, considering you landed me both a ship and a specialist."
"Right you are Mason. We'll talk a little more about it once we're at a secure location."
"Why not now? If you can't tell me while I'm on my own ship where can you tell me?"
"That's not what I meant. I mean that such a discussion requires a few drinks, and preferably for us to be alone."
For a second, Mason's looked in a way very anxious. "Well, I guess I owe it to you…" He then laughed, completely reversing the mood. "Heh, that sounded really dirty…"
"How much longer is this going to take?" Tyler demanded like a pup being driven to a theme park.
"It'll be a while Susi, sorry, but we can't just head straight towards Avaluuk, after all, you never know what you could run into with a route like that."
~X~X~X~X~X~
Tyler stood in awe as he watched the long tunnel extend from the station and onto the side of the frigate. It was a grand sight to see the circular tube from the massive station connect with a similarly great ship. Avaluuk was even larger than he had foreseen, with a main cylindrical structure about three hundred meters lengthwise, as well as two massive triangular fins spreading outwards from the center. It was painted a dark yellow, and its exterior was poorly worn.
"Looks beautiful, doesn't it?" Mason asked, standing beside the window next to Tyler.
"Yeah its huge… how did you build it?"
"Build it? No no, it was an abandoned research outpost that was hit hard by a solar flare. After they figured out that an empty station was bound to be fought over, they just left it; no military intervention, nothing. So, a few small factions started to fight for control, and when only a few were left, they decided to share it instead of destroy each other."
The ship jerked back, and the frame creaked.
"Well Susi, I think it's time." Mason motioned for Tyler to follow him. They arrived at a the same airlock where they boarded Alex's ship, where Agent Rotte and a few others stood in waiting.
"We're locked."
"Gotcha." Mason pressed a button and the door flew open. They stepped into another room, and Tyler felt his feet stuck to the floor for a second. Behind them, the airlock door closed, and in front of them, another opened. It was a long, white tunnel, similar to what you'd see on a commercial airline. Tyler followed as everyone began to walk the length of the long tunnel.
"Now since this is your first time here, I think it's best to warn you. The artificial gravity's slightly higher that what you're used to on Corneria, so if your legs start to hurt at least you'll know why. And if you find it hard to tell when you're tired it's because we produce a lot of blue light."
The group neared the final stretch. "DAMNIT!" Mason yelled, looking out of the side window. He could see a ship only slightly smaller than his docked in the other main bay.
"What?"
"It's that WORTHLESS ASSHOLE WARLORD GREY! He thinks he can come in here like he owns the damn place! And I don't mean his division I'm talking 'bout the whole thing." Mason increased his walking speed. "When I see him I'm gonna… I'm gonna… talk to him or something." He calmed himself down.
When they arrived at the front door, Mason ran off as soon as he could down the entryway stairwell.
When Tyler stepped down from the tunnel and onto the actual station, he was amazed at the incredible sight of it all. It was huge, and there were things everywhere. Near him over to the right was where smaller ships were kept; he saw the ship that used to belong to Alex hover towards an open spot. To the left was a large collection of things. There was a restaurant, personal rooms, a training court, and a whole assortment of other places. Currently, Tyler stood at the lowest level at the center of the station, his eyes starry as he tried to grasp the full immensity of the structure; it was like an indoor city.
Avaluuk looked much larger from the inside, mainly because much of it had been hollowed out and moved somewhere else. But even with the seemingly superficial change in the mass distribution, it only made everything visible at once.
"Mason, where are you headed?" Asked Agent Rotte.
"I need to find Lord Grey, Wyatt, he should be- DAMN it!"
Up on a platform above them entered five Lylatians who all looked to be full of themselves. "Mason, I didn't expect you to be back today." Said the foremost member in a biting sneer.
"Grey! When I get a hold of you, I'll let you watch as I turn your mangled intestines into my very own art project!"
"NOT BEFORE I TIE YOU UP AND POUR HOT ACID DOWN YOUR THROAT UNTIL YOUR STOMACH IS FRIED AND YOUR EYEBALLS HAVE BEEN REDUCED TO DUST SO THAT I CAN USE YOUR GUTS AS MY OWN BLOOD DRENCHED SHAMPOO!"
"Nice try, but YOU DON'T USE SHAMPOO!" Mason violently returned.
"Oh yeah? How would you know?"
"Your sister told me!"
Warlord Grey jumped down from the ledge and onto the same floor. Tyler could tell something was going to happen between them now and he didn't want to be in the middle of it.
"AAAHHHH!" Mason charged him.
"BLUGHGHAAAAA" Grey charged Mason.
Instead of clawing each other when they met, instead they grabbed each other in what looked like to Tyler's surprise to be a friendly hug.
"Ah, how you been doin' bud?"
"Not too bad, not too bad. Just returned from picking some valuables up." Mason pointed to Alex's old ship and then to Tyler.
"That's nice." Grey began to approach Tyler to examine him, but Mason swatted him away. "He's with me, you mess with him, you mess with Me."
"Alright, geez you're overprotective. What does he do?"
"ENOUGH Grey."
"Fine, fine. You're just as feisty now as when we were fighting for this facility."
"Where's Overcharge at?"
"Back at his room, probably trying to come up with a new name."
The two fell into laughter as if they were brothers. They spoke to each other for a couple more minutes while Tyler went on a limited exploration run with his eyes.
"Hey Susi."
"Yeah?"
"Grey and I are gonna head over to the bar and catch up, do you wanna join us?"
"Actually, I'd like to get myself acquainted with my surroundings first, if you don't mind."
Mason looked disappointed. "Alright then, feel free to join us at any time. Hey, just so you know, I have a room reserved for you and Wyatt, so if you feel like taking a nice little nap..."
"Thanks Mason." Tyler waited until he turned his back. "You're a real pal."
~X~X~X~X~X~
Agent Rotte stepped out into the hallway. Tyler was leaning on the opposite wall, waiting for him.
"So, what did he say?" The lupine asked, curious as to what the answer would be.
"He said he'll fight Freeman as long as we can get the others to help too."
"Good, we'll need more firepower if we want to take him down." The two began to pace past each other, exchanging verbal sentiments.
"He says that Warlord Freeman poses a danger to Avaluuk, which is why he's willing to aid us. If we can get all of Avaluuk to join together, we'll have a better chance of eliminating him."
"Warlord Freeman seems to be dealing in real high end stuff; we're talking about stealing advanced technology. But if that's true, why would he be interested in McCloud?"
"He probably sees McCloud as a threat; I wouldn't be surprised if he's willing to take out any private contractor that falls within his radar. He probably wanted to take McCloud down before he got hired to do the same job we're doing. That's why he understood what you were looking for."
"Which means that if we are able to pose a significant enough threat to him then that'll save the trouble of having to search for him?"
"Sounds right."
"Wyatt, do you think he knows we're looking for him?"
"No, we haven't any impact yet. But once we start to move Avaluuk, he'll see us coming long before we see him."
"Where the hell do we start?"
"Come on, I thought you were supposed to be a detective."
Tyler's ears drooped as he looked down at the floor in shame.
"Ask around, pretend to make some friends. There's a stray chance that some of them know something about where Freeman is. So what if we don't get to do everything? Once our objectives have been fulfilled, we no longer need to hang around."
"I just want to get the job done and take Freeman down."
"And to do that, you'll need the entire station to unite first. Which means that's part one in our plan. Once everyone's ready, then we'll lead the warband to take Freeman down."
"So, who do we have to navigate around?" Tyler asked.
"We need to gain the support of the station's rivals one by one, which won't be easy by any stretch since they seem to be friends and mortal enemies at the same time. If you can impress them, I'm sure they'll join us, but that's easier said than done."
"Yeah… and unfortunately for us, it's hard to say."
~X~X~X~X~X~
Author's Notes: Hey guys, I just wanted to tell you how lucky you are for finding this story and that you should totally be at my feet worshiping my every grand gesture of storytelling, but I'm too humble to request something like that. Instead, I would like to imagine you all to be a privileged few, whom by an erudite choice has made it their weighty responsibility to cultivate their minds in due favor of a mor- ok I can't do this anymore. Also, in no way did I mean for this Grey to have any relation to Bill Grey, who is a real Star Fox character.
So, blue lamp, you guys are awesome, whatever bye…