AUTHOR'S NOTE: Don't worry. This is NOT the second half of the story. Since I wanted to include both the Battle of Katina and the Incident on Fichina in my "Middle of the War" part of War Stories, this shorter part acts as a bit of a bridge and a build up to the second part, and will give an emotional set-up for what will happen next. By the way, at this point, it will really help if you've read my previous story, "Cubs," a lot of which is referenced in this story. And as a side note, yes I know that, in the game, you can't go to Katina and Fichina (you have to pick one). But don't you want StarFox to, anyway? I think yes. Say hello to Wolf again for me. We've missed him.
-Hello, My Nemesis-
The entire world reeked of shit, and fumes, and death, and decay. A spider's web of lightning tore across the acid green sky amongst black clouds that choked out the sun. The soupy, oily myrtle-colored seas churned like the bed sheets of a child in the throes of a nightmare.
The night was hot as hell.
It was fitting for Zoness, which had become a hell brought to life.
In an event that was considered the formal beginning of the Lylat War, the Venomian Army had launched a surprise attack on Zoness six months ago, essentially crushing all of the Cornerian Defense Forces after three weeks. Corneria formally declared war in response to one of their colonies being invaded. In response, Andross ordered the commencement of Operation: Water Rot, in which the heavily populated Eastern Ocean of Zoness (along with the hundreds of islands and stilt-cities within its boundaries) were intentionally polluted with billions of tons of crude petroleum oil and toxic waste. The result had turned nearly an entire half of the once-paradisiacal island-dotted planet into the diseased, rotting wasteland of the present. The billions of unintelligent (along with hundreds of millions of intelligent) life that swam in the seas of Zoness died horrible, poisoned deaths in the toxic oceans, the stench of their decaying bodies mixing with the fumes of the oil and poisons in the water to produce a horrible odor that made it moderately dangerous to breathe the air outside. The fumes created storms and clouds that suffocated the planet, not only trapping the odors but trapping heat as well, making for an almost constant, unbearable swelter that only propagated the stink.
Though he wasn't necessarily bothered to a great deal by the moral implications of poisoning an entire world, and thus most of the life on that world, it did seem to Wolf like an awful waste to go to all of the trouble of conquering a planet, only to systematically defile it.
Slouching on the luxurious sofa that dominated the center of the plush room, glancing out with disinterest at what once was a probably breathtaking ocean vista; Wolf gave off a sigh of boredom as an industrial oceanic freighter sailed through the choppy seas towards the dozens of offshore weapons platforms and depot stations that had been constructed in the distance. Their current residence had once been the Archimedes Hotel, one of the most posh and expensive hotels on Zoness. The hotel was located in the heart of Dreiberg, the capitol of Zoness' Eastern Ocean region, a city mounted entirely on a network of huge stilt structures that spanned nearly fifty kilometers long. The Archimedes had been converted into the administrative headquarters and command officer's barracks for the occupying Venomian Army. Team StarWolf had graciously been given one of the hotel's presidential suites, a lavish room with four queen-sized beds, a full kitchen and a luxurious common room all decked out in grey carpets and dark green walls.
After StarWolf's air campaigns over Macbeth and Zoness and their heavy participation in the Battle of Aquas, the Venomian mercenary team had been stationed in a standby role at the Archimedes for the past month during the Easton Offensive. Unlike the bombed-out, nearly ruined stilt-cities of Aquas or the complex megacities of Macbeth with their networks of resistance cells, Zoness was relatively peaceful, mainly because the inhabitants had been scared stiff by the implications of Operation: Water Rot. The native enhydras, also known as sea otters, were fearfully cooperating just to prevent their species from going extinct, nearly two billion having already died in the oceans. The other inhabitants, land dwellers on the islands, were far too few to ever hope to stand up to the Venomian forces.
Which meant that the past month had been one of total boredom, in which Wolf had been forced to sit back in this same room as news of the failing offensive came back and command continued to neglect deploying them. Since one needed a respirator or rebreather to go outside, Wolf had been essentially cooped up in the hotel.
For the entire month.
Wolf thought he might shoot the next person that came through the door, just to create some excitement. Looking around, no one else seemed to be as bored.
Andrew Oikonny sat in his red and yellow flight suit at the other end of the couch, typing a message on his comlink, possibly to another female officer that he hoped to sleep with. Andrew had no shame when it came to bringing up the fact that he was Andross' nephew, whether it was getting preferential treatment from command staff or getting sexual favors from female officers. Of course, Andrew's lineage didn't amount to jack shit in the cockpit, and he was doubtless the least skilled pilot in StarWolf. Every day, Wolf found it progressively harder to restrain himself from hurting the whiny little bastard.
At a table behind the large sofa, Pigma Dengar sat typing a field evaluation on his portable personal computer. Pigma always did any paperwork that StarWolf was required to file, regardless of the fact that he almost always gave himself more credit in the hopes of getting more money. Pigma's accounts of every other StarWolf member besides himself were dead true, so Wolf didn't care that Pigma inflated his own resume. Wolf had grown to respect Pigma somewhat in the past two years, despite still harboring some disgust towards him for his betrayal of James McCloud, whom Wolf had idolized as a fighter and as an enemy before Andross had killed him. Pigma did have a bit of flying experience, and he was a devious, ruthless tactician, even a little more so than Leon and Wolf themselves. Despite this, Pigma was clearly blinded by his own self-interest, and Wolf trusted the pig about as far as he could throw him. Given that Pigma weighed about twice as much as Wolf, this wasn't very far.
At the far corner of the room, patiently standing next to the kitchen counter was Leon Powalski, building a triangular tower with kabufuda cards. In a slow, measured movement, Leon placed the first two cards of the seventh level of his card castle down, withdrawing his hands and giving a stoic smile that the castle remained standing. Leon had barely changed at all in the time since StarWolf's formation, still unpredictably ruthless and cold towards everyone but Wolf. Leon shared Wolf's scorn for Andrew, however he seemed to have developed a certain understanding with (or at least an understanding of) Pigma that Wolf didn't have. Where Wolf couldn't quite remember Leon ever really speaking to Andrew in a social context, he did occasionally share a few words with Pigma. But Wolf remained Leon's only real friend, and the same could be said vice-versa.
As far as Wolf himself was concerned, he didn't really have a right to complain. He had both fear and respect amongst his peers in the Imperial Venomian Army, considered one of the best fighters in and out of the cockpit, and didn't have to worry about the bureaucracy or the chain of command that the rest of the Army dealt with. StarWolf reported only to General Maximillian Zaius, the strategic commander of the invasion force, or to Andross himself, both of which always gave them the most vital of assignments and paid them handsomely. Of course, that was until a month ago. Why StarWolf hadn't been deployed to assist in the offensive, Wolf couldn't figure out. The rumors that a reformed Team StarFox had appeared only made Wolf more anxious and impatient.
All sorts of things, from rage to boredom to anticipation had built up inside Wolf, and there was no outlet for any of it. If Andrew got on his nerves in this state, Wolf doubted his own ability to control himself.
"A penny for your thoughts," a slightly high-pitched voice inquired in a cold monotone.
Wolf didn't even have to look around to know that it was Leon sitting on the armrest of the couch.
"Wolf has thoughts?" Andrew teased slightly from the other side of the sofa.
"Fuck yourself, chimpo an' stay outta' my business!" Wolf snapped, baring his teeth, "You're not part 'a this conversation!"
Andrew swallowed nervously, his face a little pale.
"God, Wolf, it was just a joke…" Andrew covered nervously.
"Ya' see me laughin'?" Wolf demanded.
Andrew shook his head quickly, looking very small.
"Then it wasn't a very good joke, was it?" Wolf retorted, raising his eyebrow.
"I guess not…" Andrew whimpered, looking back down at his comlink.
A moment passed, and Wolf looked over his shoulder at the chameleon sitting on the armrest to his side.
"What's wrong?" Leon asked.
"What do ya' think?" Wolf replied with a growl, "We're just wastin' away here."
"Try being patient," Leon said bluntly, "Don't get worked up over something meaningless."
"Hard not to when there's nothin' else ta' focus on," Wolf rumbled, "It's like we're useless right now."
"It doesn't have to be a bad thing," Leon shrugged.
"What?" Wolf demanded in an angered tone.
"Remember what you said to me about understanding myself?" Leon inquired, "If I can't change who I am, don't worry about it? Just try to see the value in what is happening, Wolf. There is no such thing as a good time or a bad time, there's just time. It all just plays a part in what's to come later."
"What?" Wolf repeated, now somewhat confused.
Leon blinked for a second.
"There's this story I remember about a Zen master and a little cub," Leon said, "There's a little pup and on his 14th birthday he gets a speeder bike. And everyone in the village says, 'How wonderful. The cub got a bike.' And the Zen master says, 'We'll see.' Two years later the cub falls off the bike and breaks his leg. And everyone says, 'How terrible.' And the Zen master says, 'We'll see.' Then, a war breaks out and all the young males have to go off and fight... except the pup can't, because his leg is broken. And everybody in the village says, 'How wonderful.' And the Zen master says--"
"We'll see," Wolf interrupted, remarking sarcastically, "Great story Leon; real insightful."
"It means that you can find a purpose for everything, and that nothing is permanent. Yes, you might feel bored and useless now…" Leon shrugged. A moment later, a beeping communications transmission sounded on the holoprojector in the center of the room.
"…But we'll see," Leon remarked, giving off a rare smile.
Wolf looked from the holoprojector, to Leon and back again, scoffing.
"You planned that," Wolf said almost mockingly.
"We'll see…" Leon remarked.
"Cute. You gonna get tired 'a sayin' that?" Wolf asked, getting up from the couch, grabbing his long brown duster and slipping his arms into the sleeves.
"We'll see," Leon repeated.
"Cut it out!" Wolf growled gently, laughing a little bit, "You're startin' ta' piss me off."
Leon became silent and regarded Wolf with a surprisingly warm look. As soon as Wolf's eye met Leon's, the chameleon's face reverted to its default blank coldness.
Andrew put his comlink away and got up from the couch, and Pigma closed the screen of his computer, scooting his chair back to get out of it.
The buzzing of the suite's doorbell sounded, contrasting with the dull beep of the holoprojector.
"Somebody get the door. Damn, we're gettin' all sorts of attention now," Wolf muttered, then bared a claw towards Leon and menaced, "Don't say it."
Leon flashed Wolf another smile.
Pigma waddled to the door with a grumble, pressing the button to allow entry. Wolf stared over his shoulder as the doors slid apart, and a metallic black skeletal droid with an insectoid head stepped forward into the suite.
"Oh, great," Wolf grumbled slightly.
"It is a pleasure to see you, too, First Lieutenant O'Donnell," IG-N 96 intoned in his scratchy, sophisticated voice as he strode into the room.
"It's Commander now," Wolf corrected gruffly.
"Statement: Please forgive me," the droid remarked, "It's simply so difficult to tell; it does not appear that a promotion has improved your manners to any degree, despite any skill you may have developed."
Wolf rolled his eye and let the remark slide. His occasional dealings with Andross' sarcastic emissary droid were always a chore. For whatever reason IG was here, Wolf hoped it was short. At the same time, he couldn't help but get some satisfaction out of their verbal squabbles.
"Inquiry: Are you going to answer that transmission, Commander O'Donnell, or just stand there listening to the ring all day?" IG-N 96 inquired haughtily.
"Shut up, IG," Wolf snapped, "System on."
"Receiving transmission," the holoprojector responded.
The cone-like display lit up, projecting a flickering image above its peak. After a moment or two, a vague rectangular shape of grey polygons approximating a face appeared, with diamond-shaped orange eyes and an angular black mouth.
"Team StarWolf," the face said in a digitally-altered voice.
Everyone in the room, including IG-N 96, kneeled and bowed their heads in reverence.
"Your Highness," Wolf rumbled in a subdued tone.
The true face and voice of Emperor Andross was no longer broadcast or seen by anyone but the closest military advisors and government ministers. The official excuse was for security purposes, but rumors abounded that Andross had been assassinated and replaced by General Zaius or someone else. There were other rumors that Andross was performing some sort of experiment or procedure on himself. They said he was trying to become a god.
Either way, this digital representation was all that Wolf had seen of Andross for the past few months.
"The assault on Katina has failed," Andross' digital voice hissed.
Well, you know why that is, Wolf thought to himself. Bulldog and Husky squadrons may have been able to hold off the regular cannon-fodder pilots of the Imperial Venomian Starfleet, but StarWolf would've slaughtered the Cornerian Army units guarding his home planet of Katina. Whoever it was that didn't deploy StarWolf on Katina, he hoped they were being executed for their failure.
Wolf resisted the urge to scratch the space behind his left ear, where the strap of his eye patch was slightly irritating the bottom corner, but he knew better than to move or speak unless directly spoken to in the presence of the Venomian Emperor.
"A new enemy has appeared. One that could affect the progress of the war," Andross warbled, "Team StarFox."
Some of Wolf's hair stood on end. His heart rate increased with anticipation.
"What is your wish, My Lord?" Wolf inquired, stifling his excitement.
"Intelligence indicates that the Cornerian Fleet is massing at Sector Y. We expect that they will invade Aquas fairly soon. StarFox has been sent alone to recover the Cornerian Defense Outpost on Fichina, and to locate and destroy our weapons research station in Sector X," Andross instructed, "Team StarWolf will prevent StarFox from retaking the Fichina outpost. You will intercept and destroy StarFox."
"By your command, Your Majesty," Wolf responded, grinning. His muscles tensed with pleasure.
"StarWolf will be acting independently on this assignment," Andross said, "The Nostromo-class space cruiser Lone Wolf is at your command. You will be alone aside from the Lone Wolf, your Wolfens and the forces we have guarding the hostages at the outpost. Our intelligence regarding the current movements of the StarFox mother ship Great Fox is at your disposal, as well as the information we have been able to gather regarding the members of Team StarFox."
Wolf couldn't have asked for anything better.
"Your Majesty," Wolf inquired expectantly, "Who's leadin' Team StarFox?"
"The son of James McCloud: Commander Fox McCloud," Andross answered curtly, "Do not fail me, Wolf O'Donnell."
The grey, polygonal face disappeared as the transmission ended.
Wolf rose to his feet, a grin full of sharp teeth on his face.
He'd been waiting for this day for more than two years.
He finally had an enemy, a worthy opponent to take down. Or at least he hoped.
"I wus wonderin' when I'd get to see ol' Peppy again," Pigma chortled deviously.
"We're in the big leagues now, Wolf," Leon remarked.
Wolf couldn't think of anything to say. His mind was racing. The thought of being in the cockpit and facing down the best that the Lylat System had to offer…it was Wolf's dream come true. He clenched his fist tight, his grin smoothing out into a roguish smile.
"The Emperor has put me at your disposal, to assist you and act as the robotic operator of the Lone Wolf, since I doubt any of you have much experience at the helm of a capital ship," IG-N 96 informed them.
Wolf's smile disappeared as he looked over at the droid's insectoid head and thin yellow photoreceptors.
"Trust me, Commander O'Donnell, the idea of spending my time trapped on a starship at your command is just as offensive to me as it is to you," IG responded, "Personally, I would rather jam a fork into my power socket, however my programming does not permit me to self-terminate."
"I'd be happy ta' do it for ya'," Wolf shrugged, "What're friends for?"
"Response: That may be one of the most clever, and yet most predictable things I have heard from you, Commander," IG retorted, "Do you have any more, or was that little gem at the limits of your capability?"
"You got no idea what th' limits a' my capability are," Wolf snarled, "Maybe ya' should consider that, and th' fact that I'm the only one on this team that knows anythin' about mechanics or electronics. If you get damaged, I'm th' one that's gonna be messin' around inside you."
"Once more, Commander O'Donnell, your logic and harshness prove surprisingly unsettling. To some extent, I must admit to an almost paradoxical admiration amongst my disdain for you," IG-N 96 replied.
"Maybe the fact that ya' like me a little is what makes ya' hate me so much," Wolf smirked.
"Response: That was somewhat insightful, Commander. Likewise, I am beginning to think that you may enjoy arguing with me to some level, as well," IG sent back.
Wolf's smile deepened a bit.
"I'll never tell," Wolf huffed.
After a moment of IG and Wolf staring at each other, Leon piped up and directed, "IG, show us the information on the Great Fox's movements."
"As you wish, Lieutenant Commander Powalski," IG-N 96 replied, approaching the holoprojector and pressing several buttons.
The projector flickered for a while, and then projected a large display of the entire Lylat System, stretching out almost three meters wide.
At one end of the display was Venom and the other planets of the Verona Sub-System; at the other end was the Cornerian Sub-System. Near the center, glowing almost rose-colored was the red dwarf star Solar. Over at the Oesté Sub-System, from the brownish planet of Katina stretched a bold blue line, with a dotted line that stretched to the Kragg Sub-System planet of Fichina.
"Currently, the Great Fox is progressing at maximum warp towards the Kragg Sub-System," IG explained.
"We'll never reach them in time," Leon explained, "Oesté is closer to Kragg than Triton is. At maximum warp, they could be there in what…three days?"
"Approximately," IG answered.
"Wait a minute," Wolf argued, "You're not thinkin' in astronomical terms, Leon. At Katina's current position, Oesté's right in between it and Kragg. Ya' can't go at maximum warp through a star, or even past one the size of Oesté. Tha' gravity would interfere with the warp drive an' tha' safety systems would slow the ship down ta' sublight speeds. An' the straightest route leads 'em past Solar… which we control. They'd have to go the other way, towards Corneria, then curve around a bit to avoid the blockade at Solar."
"That is correct, Commander O'Donnell," IG agreed, "I would speculate that such a route would take them approximately five days at best speed."
"Now, what we can do," Wolf explained, "Is much simpler. At Zoness' position around Triton, we could take a straight shot right behind Solar towards Kragg. Ain't that right, IG?"
"Such a route is within the secure zone of our control. Depending on the precise vector plot we chose, such a route would take us perhaps four to five days at maximum warp," IG informed.
Wolf gave off a single grunting laugh.
"We should get there around tha' same time as they do," Wolf nodded proudly, "Start packin' up ta' leave. We're goin' huntin'."
Everyone nodded and began to gather their belongings. Wolf stood still, staring out towards the hellish landscape of Zoness, the defiled vista leaving him un-phased. He could practically feel the pilot stick in his hands and hear the screaming of engines, the rush as he flew his Wolfen in battle with Fox McCloud.
Wolf had wanted to face James McCloud, his idol and childhood hero, his entire life, only to have it snatched away from him by Andross' ruthlessness.
He had been forced to wait for what seemed like an eternity to face James' son.
He prayed that Fox McCloud had grown into some pale imitation of James, an enemy worthy of the challenge.
Either way, he was going to finally live his dream of becoming the best in all of Lylat.
"Don't disappoint me," Wolf growled softly.
He turned on his heel, his duster swirling after him with a swish of his tail, and prepared to leave.
The entire galaxy zoomed by at twice the speed of light, giving off a fantastic light show as thousands of stars streamed by like a rain of laser fire all around the ship. In comparison to the visual feast viewable out the huge panoramic window on the bridge of the Great Fox, the bridge itself was filled with nothing more than the sounds of silence. The vague hums and beeps of the computer workstations were barely audible to Fox as he reclined in the faux nerfskin upholstery of the Great Fox's captain's chair, gazing outside as the universe streamed past.
ROB-64 sat quietly at its workstation, plugged into the USC socket that allowed the robot to single-handedly operate the ship, Fox being the only living thing on the bridge. Slippy was down in the hangar deck, repairing his Arwing from the damages it sustained over Katina, while Falco was napping in his quarters. Peppy was also in his room, apparently having a hologram conversation with his daughter, Lucy.
Fox looked away from the relativistic warp outside, down to the armrests of the captain's chair. The armrests were well-worn, with slight impressions left by elbows larger than his.
Fox's father had sat in this same chair. He often found himself wondering the things that might've gone through James McCloud's mind as he sat where Fox now sat. How his father would've done something, and how different things must've been back then.
James McCloud founded the original StarFox at age thirty, after eight years in the military and three more years of traveling throughout Lylat to learn as much as he could about fighting and everything else. James McCloud's StarFox had lasted for nine years before his death, during which he became a renowned hero throughout Lylat.
Fox had re-formed StarFox at age eighteen, after barely two years at the Cornerian Flight Academy and two more years of training with Peppy Hare after his father died. And now, Fox was trying to fight an interstellar war, something that his father never had to worry about.
Things had gone well for Fox so far, surprisingly well, but he still couldn't silence that voice in the back of his head asking, who do you think you're trying to fool?
James McCloud would've found fighting in the Lylat War difficult. Fox was trying to do it at almost half James' age, with less than half his experience and with a bigger team to manage. Sure, they had skill, but other than Peppy, they were all just a bunch of kids.
His father had skill, too, a lot more than Fox. And that didn't stop Andross from killing him.
Fox wanted to be an optimist and believe that maybe they might be able to make a difference and do some fraction of what his father could've done to help, but there was a part of him that wouldn't allow it.
Because if someone were to ask Fox, "How do you expect this to end?" his answer remained the thing that scared him the most: He didn't know.
They were in uncharted territory, making things up and improvising as the unknown future, the entire galaxy it seemed, shot towards them faster than the speed of light.
What would come next? Fox didn't know.
How would it end? He didn't know.
Would he survive it? He didn't know.
With a slight hiss, the automatic doors of the bridge slid open, and Fox looked over his shoulder to see a grey and white-furred leporid in a red and black flight suit under a long white Team StarFox coat. Peppy Hare locked eyes with Fox and smiled crookedly, walking across the metal floor and taking a seat at a nearby computer workstation, turning the chair to face Fox.
"How's Lucy?" Fox inquired with a smile.
"She's good," Peppy chuckled warmly, "Still on the Dean's List. She's frustrated because she needs six more classes to graduate, and they're only letting her take five this semester, so she's going to have to wait a year before she can move on to graduate school."
"God, she's twenty, you'd think she could be patient after skipping a few grades. How many years until I have to call her Doctor Lucy?" Fox remarked lightly, smiling.
Peppy laughed, his shoulders and his long erect ears shaking slightly, his eyes glistening with pride.
"Well, let's see…" Peppy mused, looking down at the floor for a moment, "For a PhD in astrophysics… about six to eight years, I guess."
"Jeez… Astrophysics… If she's got any trouble finding a job after that time, we should give her a call if we need someone to replace ROB," Fox trailed off, making light of it. In truth, in the back of his mind he wondered if he, and the rest of Lylat, would last eight years, or if the war would destroy them all.
As Peppy continued to smile, Fox posited, a bit more tenderly, "How's Vivian?"
Peppy looked back at the floor for a moment, his smile shrinking but not quite going away.
"The doctors still can't quite figure it out. They say it's something with her lymph nodes…and her kidneys and her liver," Peppy said distantly, "All of those organs are what filter toxins and particles out of the blood and protect the body from disease, so they think there's something in her blood that's damaging it. It's not… painful, and they're pretty sure it's not cancer, but… they just don't know."
"Is she getting worse?" Fox inquired.
Peppy shook his head, sounding a bit less restrained, "No, her condition's pretty much the same. They say that's a good sign. They just need to run some more tests."
"Send her my best," Fox said quietly, not sure of what else he could say to comfort Peppy.
Peppy nodded.
"Anyway," Peppy began, only to get cut off awkwardly by Fox with a placid, "Wait a minute. Before you get started…"
"What?" Peppy asked, his brow furrowing. The rabbit's nose twitched slightly.
"I've got a question about my father," Fox intoned quietly.
"Go for it. I'm all ears," Peppy shrugged with a wink and a gesture to the long grey ears standing erect over his head.
Fox gave a short, nearly silent laugh, then inquired, "At home, he was always so laid-back and relaxed. Even when we argued, I was always the one yelling, he just seemed to get kind of stern. He never lost his cool, it was like he always knew what to do and how to react. So my question is, when you and my dad were on an assignment… Was he always cool like that? Did he always know what to do?"
Peppy gave a crooked smile.
"Why do you ask?" Peppy inquired.
Fox's green eyes looked down in hesitation before coming back up and locking with Peppy's brown ones.
"It's just… I feel like I've just been getting lucky all this time. I haven't really known what to do. I've just done the first thing that came to mind because deep down I'm scared shitless that I'm going to die, and there's no time to think. And it's just been blind luck that I've gotten this far, it's not like I actually know what to do," Fox explained, "And I wanna know if my Dad was different."
Peppy chuckled before he answered, "Fox, your dad was a master of playing it cool under pressure. Back in the Army, we used to call him 'Frosty'. It was just a talent of his. But after years of flying with him, and being his best friend, I realized that he was just as scared as the rest of us. He didn't always know what to do. It's just that he knew more. And that sort of comes with experience. But, most of the time, he went with the first thing that came to mind, just like you. You'd be surprised how accurate your first instinct can be. So, don't worry about it, Fox. You're doing fine, better than anyone has a right to expect you to. He'd be proud of what you've done so far."
Fox breathed and nodded, accepting what Peppy had to say.
"So… what is it you wanted to tell me or show me?" Fox asked.
Peppy's face became sterner, and he swallowed briefly.
"There's something we've got to talk about, so that you're prepared to face it. Things were moving kind of fast before, and we were lucky not to have to deal with this during the offensive, but now that it's over, I figure we're overdue, so we'd best be ready," Peppy said cryptically, pulling out a circular holodisk.
He got up and inserted the holodisk into the computer at the workstation, then pressed a few buttons on the computer console.
On the ceiling, the holoprojector display flickered to life, and suddenly a three-dimensional image was projected in front of Fox.
It showed a still image of rather grainy holocam footage, from an aerial traffic camera on Zoness. In the image were four distinctive star fighters, with four bladelike wings in the formation of an X and a horizontally split fuselage like the open mouth of a hungry monster.
"Oh," Fox growled, "Them."
"Yeah. Them," Peppy confirmed.
"Andross' personal hit-squad," Fox remarked bitterly.
"That's right," Peppy nodded, "They're an elite flying unit, each member hand-picked by Andross. They're not attached to any specific army or commander, and they answer only to Andross himself. Which means they can and will be deployed anywhere. That means they're very good. Those fighters of theirs are special, too. From what General Pepper and the Commonwealth Security Bureau have been able to gather, their performance is comparable to the Arwings. Slippy's dad thinks they were reverse-engineered from the prototype Arwings that Pigma, your father and I were flying when Pigma betrayed us. So they'll be a lot more difficult to take down than the snubfighters we've faced so far. From Beltino's observations, and from general Venomian design style, they're probably faster than our Arwings, with more powerful lasers. Probably means that the Arwing can beat them in terms of maneuverability and shield power."
"Well, that's good to know," Fox sighed.
"They're older than our version of StarFox, but it seems like they were developed specifically to counter us, down to the pilots themselves," Peppy informed.
"Really?" Fox remarked sarcastically, "With a name like StarWolf I never would've guessed."
Peppy gave Fox a look, then pressed a button.
The hologram changed to another holocam surveillance image. This time, the four star fighters were on the ground. The image zoomed in to show a quartet of figures walking away from the ships: an obese pig, a lumpy-figured ape, a lanky chameleon and a scruffy-looking wolf with an eye patch.
"We know that Pigma is a member. He was probably reserved a spot by Andross right after defecting, the bastard," Peppy cursed.
"If we ever see them, I'm going straight for him," Fox growled.
"Not before I get a piece of the son of a bitch," Peppy mumbled, "The ape's been confirmed as Andross' nephew, Andrew Oikonny. From what the CSB has on him, he's only had a year or so of flight training, so he's probably the weak link. More than likely put in as a propaganda tactic."
"So Slippy should concentrate on him, I'm guessing they're sort of evenly matched," Fox mused awkwardly.
Peppy nodded.
"As far as these other two, we don't have very much aside from rumors. The chameleon is Leon Powalski. He's apparently the second-in-command of StarWolf. There's evidence to suggest some sort of personality issues or mental instability," Peppy droned.
"He and Falco should get along just fine," Fox smirked, and Peppy gave a quick snort.
"Finally, there's the leader…" Peppy trailed off.
Fox looked over at Peppy, and saw him swallow and stare downwards, blinking a few times.
He seemed to be thinking or remembering something.
Before Fox could ask, Peppy continued, "His name's Wolf O'Donnell. We don't know too much about him, except…he's good. He's very good. I think we'll all need to watch out for him."
It was almost like Peppy was making an effort not to talk about Wolf O'Donnell.
"People have said a lot of bad things about these guys, Peppy," Fox murmured, "They say that they were part of the first wave of troops on Macbeth, and they bombed whole sections of Wayland just to kill civilians. That they helped out with the execution squads all over the city. They say that they helped out with Operation: Water Rot, and that they took out two Acropolis-class ships on their own at Aquas."
"That's what they say," Peppy answered quietly, "Which is why I think we should be on our toes. Especially with us traveling without the fleet, we're vulnerable. That makes it a lot more likely that we're going to run into these guys soon."
"I want you to tell Slippy and Falco what you've told me. Tell them about our recommendations on who should concentrate on who, as well," Fox instructed.
"You got it, Fox," Peppy nodded, getting up from his seat.
Peppy's boots clicked on the metal floor as he walked towards the door.
"Peppy," Fox said, stopping him.
Peppy stopped, turning around and looking at Fox, whose eyes were locked squarely on the hologram.
"Is it true what they say?" Fox hissed, "That he had something to do with my father's death?"
Peppy responded firmly, but in a reluctant tone, "Fox… you know what Pigma—"
"I'm not talking about Pigma," Fox cut off.
Peppy followed Fox's gaze, to the one-eyed wolf leading the group of enemy pilots. Peppy cleared his throat hesitantly.
"He fought your father…And he was there when it happened," Peppy answered in a hoarse, quiet tone, "That's all I know."
Fox's hand tightened into a fist, and fire burned in his eyes as he swore, "He's mine."
The shit's about to hit the fan. I'm excited. The more reviews I get, the faster I write. See you guys on Fichina.-TU