Arrival and Briefing
Set in drift a small ways away from Cornerian orbit, the Great Fox moved slowly through space. Within it were all the active members of Star Fox, plus one visitor. And Star Fox was currently in an awkward spot.
Under normal conditions, there were a total of four active pilots on the roster at all possible times. Fox McCloud was a man who stressed the basic idea of two-covers-two, where each member of the team could at least count on one wingman if the team ever divided in combat. The only time Fox ever let up on the rule, to date, was the time after Falco left at the end of the Titanian Incident. At the time the team was in too dire financial straits to even consider hiring a new member. Work flow was stagnant, anyways.
But now there was this moment in time. Falco was gone again. Thankfully, thought Fox, as he looked at his current team and guest in the ships dining room, it wasn't because of differences. Falco wanted time off to spend time with Katt and Fox wasn't about to deny his best friend a chance at actually expressing his feelings. Whereas Fox was shy, Falco was just arrogant, and moments like this where rare. Fox knew Katt would kill him if she ever got news that he said no to Falco actually wanting to spend time with her.
So for now then the flight roster was down to two regular members of the team. There was Krystal of course, and Slippy. Fox couldn't join them because of a blasted broken leg that he got from being slightly careless during a ground operation. For all the powerful medical technology Corneria possesed, growing bones back still took a cast and aggravating amounts of patience. These circumstances meant one irregular member was filling in for him, that being Miyu Lynx, an old friend who tended to work alone unless Fox asked nicely. Their guest was Fay Spaniel, a long time friend of Fox's that upon getting news of Miyu being around insisted she make a visit.
"So," said Fay, looking at Fox and then at his leg, while she sat down at the breakfast table. "How long do ya have that cast?"
"Maybe a month," said Fox, patting the blue cast roughly. "Hopefully no more than a month."
"He won't let anyone sign it because he doesn't want to be reminded of it," said Slippy, smiling at everyone after he'd taken a bite of his food.
"Come on Slippy, don't tease him too much about it," said Krystal, frowning at the toad. "We're lucky it's just a cast."
"You are," said Miyu. She didn't talk too much.
'Well, at least I told the General to be more discerning with jobs for now, now that we have only three pilots," said Fox. He leaned back in his chair. "Which means we won't get much work at all for a month. Falco chose a fine time to take a break. Maybe I'll blame him for this."
"Katt will if you tell her," said Krystal, smiling.
"She won't throw a lamp at him though for it, and I want her too," said Fox.
"At least we get to see Miyu," said Fay.
Miyu just raised her eyebrows.
"Come on, Miyu," said Fay, rolling her eyes, "You can let some words come out every so often."
"I guess," said Miyu. Fay just sighed.
As odd a situation the team was in, Fox was relieved to feel that there was still the friendly atmosphere of family on the Great Fox. He figured he could tease Falco about all this peace and quiet and how the avian would ruin all of it when he came back. Fox caught Krystal looking at him with a smile next to him, and he smiled back. She was clearly happy he was at peace despite the leg.
"Captain McCloud."
The familiar voice of ROB 64 broke out over the Great Fox's intercom system.
"Yes, ROB?" Fox called back. "What's up?"
"Transmission incoming from General Pepper. It's an urgent transmission, sir."
The team looked at each other for a surprised moment, before cleaning up and heading for the bridge.
The first thing Fox always looked at when the general's hologram appeared on the bridge was his expression. It was a indicator of how serious a request he had for the team. The expression could range from pleasant—an easy mission that the General knew would be a breeze for the team—to serious, which meant that whatever request he had would pose a challenge.
The expression General Pepper had was almost as bad as his expression when he called in the team to save Lylat in that fateful war years ago. The General's jaw was rigid, and his eye's bore into Fox's with intense focus.
"Your quick response," said the general, "does my heart wonders, Fox. Truly."
"That bad, huh?" said Fox.
"That's putting it mildly," said General Pepper. He fetched a handkerchief from his uniform pocket and wiped his aging brow. I have a job of the utmost urgency, Star Fox. And I need to see you all in person before I can tell you the full details. I assume that Falco is still absent?"
"Yes," said Fox.
"And your leg?"
"Still broken," said Fox.
That fact more than the first caused the General visible discomfort. "Still," said the general, "your presence is needed, Fox, I'm sorry to say. I know that you don't want terribly stressful missions during such an odd time for your team, but I need your team here."
Fox nodded. "We'll do whatever we can, General."
"Good," said the general. "I'm sending you coordinates now. My ship is there. Make all haste to that that location."
ROB beeped. "Location confirmed. Some distance into the Outer Rim."
Fox frowned.
"I know you must have questions, but please," said the general. "All due haste. Pepper out." And the hologram winked out of existence.
"I have a bad feeling about this," said Miyu.
"There's something more than monosyllables," said Fay.
"He's not usually like this," said Krystal, also perturbed. "Pepper's comfortable giving us mission directives over hologram. What's going on?"
"Something so bad he needs to see us in person," said Slippy. "Moreover, why the Outer Rim?"
"The Cornerian Military has a handful of outposts that far into the rim, but nothing major. Just small installations. Whatever's going on isn't the normal pirate problem or Androssian remnant," said Fox. He turned to Fay. "I think it would be best if you'd leave Fay. I don't want to put you in any danger."
"Nah," said Fay, giving Fox a grin. "I'll stick around."
"Have you ever seen combat before?" said Fox, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.
"C'mon Fox, I rarely get to see you guys anyway. Besides, I'm not stupid and know my way around a blaster a little bit. Protection, and all that."
Fox sighed. It figured he would lose this argument. But Fay was right. She could be a ditz, but she wasn't an idiot. "Fine. ROB, plot a course for that location, quick as you can."
The trip to the Outer Rim was a stressful one. Slippy worked on his gadgets, Fay talked to Miyu—or rather talked at Miyu—and Fox chatted with Krystal in her room while the two vulpines went through stretching routines together to take care of stress. These sessions got Fox a little blushy still, but they worked wonders to making him relax. And being with Krystal was always a joy.
"What kind of military installations are in the Outer Rim?" said Krystal, laying her hands on Fox's legs as she worked out some kinks.
"Like I said, smaller ones. The Cornieran Government isn't keen on being surprised again by outside enemies like the Aperoids. But I doubt that's what is going on here," said Fox.
"Why do you say that?" said Krystal.
"If there was anything seriously dangerous approaching one of those installations, we'd know by now. Something tells me this is bigger than that."
"Which makes you all the more worried."
"It does," said Fox. It was his turn now to loosen the kinks in Krystal's legs. He did it carefully as always, red on his cheeks. "What do you think?"
"I'm like Miyu. I don't like this," said Krystal, sighing in relaxation as Fox worked his magic. "Something's wrong. I trust the general, so it's not him that's making this odd. Though I've never seen him so stressed. You've known him longer than I have. His expression worried you too, didn't it?"
"It did," said Fox. "General Pepper's a cool customer when it comes to crisis management. He'll look serious, but not nervous. He's seen the absolute worst now twice, and the situation on Sauria wasn't exactly a cakewalk. Whatever's going on, it's bad."
"Well," said Krystal, now taking Fox's head in her hands and laying it on her lap, "all we can do is wait, hmm?"
Fox blushed, and nodded.
The trip took a while, but they arrived at the destination.
From the bridge, the team could see the General's ship. It was a Light Frigate, used for quick travel and some military operations. It was big enough to have just one docking bay, and it bore the Cornerain military insignia proudly. It was called the Dauntless.
Next to the Dauntless was a behemoth of a ship.
It possessed a modern, sleek design that blended with military functionality. It had four fins, two at port and starboard, one at the top and one at the hull. It's body was large enough to posses a myriad of decks, and it's many docking bays were clear to see. Star light shined off it's metallic hull, making it look almost ethereal in the darkness of space. No light shown from any of it's portholes. Finally there came a moment where the starlight was bright, and the name of the ship was visible.
"No way," Slippy whispered. "That's the Balthazar!"
"One of the ships of the Science and Research fleet," said Fay, awe in her voice as well. "Along side the Gaspar and Melchior! I never thought I'd see them."
"No wonder the General was worried," said Fox. He studied the ship and found it unnerving. The Balthazar was the largest of the fleet, a veritable mobile super-laboratory and the pride and joy of any egg-head on Corneria. Fox remembered the day the ship was launched; he and his father were guests of honor for all the celebrations. To say the least the ship was very important. Fox imagined it as a hub of activity. To see it silently drifting and completely dark felt wrong and even creepy, and Fox wondered what they were getting into.
"Something went wrong," Krystal whispered.
"Very wrong," said Miyu, narrowing her eyes. "Those ships are pretty secure."
The comm system beeped. Upon Fox answering it, General Pepper's hologram appeared again. He looked just as nervous as before.
"As you can see, Star Fox," said the General gravely, "the situation involves rather important assets."
"An understatement," said Miyu.
"Indeed," said General Pepper. He cleared his throat. "Come aboard the Dauntless immediately, please."
As if the General's mood wasn't forbidding enough, the mood on the Dauntless wasn't any better. As soon as the team—sans Fay—stepped out of their Arwings the tense atmosphere hit them like heavy ordinance. Crew looked at them as they passed by, and while all of them handled it well, Fox noticed that Slippy began to shift his eyes around. When the team was alone in a corridor, Slippy whispered to Fox.
"Something really bad's happened, Fox," said Slippy. "Really, really bad. It's not just my nerves."
"What do you mean?" Fox said.
"Let me tell you a secret," said Slippy. "You know my dad is pretty high up there in research, right? He's worked on one of the S&R ships before. The Gaspar. The ships are incredibly important to Corneria, heck even Lylat as a whole. Multiple scientists from different planets work on them."
"What are you trying to say, Slip?"
"They wouldn't call us if something went wrong," said Slippy, frowning. "Dad told me the procedure, with no exceptions, is to send Special Ops to any situations onboard the ships. Not even we get to help. So much of what is happening on these ships is either private research are bounded with so much confidentiality or red tape that even breathing a word to the outside world would get you in trouble."
By the this point the entire team paused to listen, and all their faces were grim.
"Noted," said Fox, now continuing the walk to the bridge. "Very noted."
The mood aboard the bridge was worse. The General talked to the ships captain, a Maine Coon with a crisp captain's uniform. General Pepper turned to face the team when they entered, and though he looked happy to see them, be also looked haggard.
"Your speed is incredibly appreciated, Star Fox," said General Pepper. He wiped his brow again.
"What's going on, General?" said Fox. "Pardon my haste, but seeing the Balthazar dark and drifting tells me that something went really wrong."
"Time is of the essence," said Pepper. He folded his white gloved hands behind his back, assuming his posture as one of Corneria's most storied leaders. "The Balthazar went dark a day and a half ago. All three Wisemen are aboard the ship. We have no idea where they are."
The term "Wisemen" didn't ring a bell immediately for the the team but for Slippy. His eyes bugged out. "Wait, ALL three were aboard the ship? And they're missing?" he shouted.
"Back up," said Krystal. "I've heard that term before. Those are the three best scientists in Lylat, right?"
"Yeah" said Slippy. "In the scientific world they're pretty much gods."
"Mr. Toad is not using hyperbole,' said General Pepper. "The Wisemen constitute the three most important scientific assets Lylat has. To have all three missing is not only unusual, it's disastrous."
"Give us the timeline, General," said Fox.
General Pepper nodded. "A day and a half ago, the Balthazar went dark. We knew something went wrong when the ship failed to relay a status update to us. Protocol strictly states that a status report must be sent on the hour, and when a report is missed, we look into it immediately. We demanded a response. We received none."
"As the Balthazar is the largest ship in the fleet, Cornerian Research and Development wanted me on the scene as soon as possible. I took this ship and two elite teams of our finest Spec Ops. We found the ship like this, dark and drifting. I relayed this information and deployed the first team."
The General fell silent for a moment.
"Fifteen minutes after deployment, we lost contact with that entire team. Their HUDs displayed a fire fight with unidentified combatants. We sent another team. We lost that one in ten minutes."
Fox swallowed. Cornerian Spec Ops were the finest soldiers in the Cornerian Defense Force. To lose an entire squad that fast was unheard of.
"We aren't dealing with pirates, Star Fox," said General Pepper. "Something's aboard that ship. I had to call you. There's no one left to ask."
Fox took another peek at the Balthazar, drifting silent as the grave nearby. It felt wrong to see such a ship completely dark, when it should be alight and bustling with activity. Considering all that the General told them so far this mission was not only dire, but a kind of mysterious that Fox loathed. He hated sending his team into combat with lacking intel.
"So this is a ground op," said Fox, turning back to the general. "Infiltration in a way. Go inside, find survivors, solve the mystery?"
"Putting it simply, yes," said General Pepper. "I want to find as many survivors as possible and find what could cause this. Of course, the complicating factor is that there are three VIP's on board that ship, and R&D will tell you they take priority."
"The Wisemen," said Krystal.
"Exactly," said General Pepper. "Allow me to show you the dossier. I won't be sending you unprepared, should you decide to accept this, Star Fox. This way, you can recognize them. And information here might make them easier to find."
General Pepper pressed some buttons on the ship's Holo-table, bringing up a file. Touching it, it split into three separate files. He touched the first file.
The picture of an old Great Horned Owl, with orange eyes alight with experience, knowledge, and quiet compassion greeted the team. In the photo he wore a finely tailored suit, indicating wealth and taste. The name beneath the photo read "Doctor Isaac Barnes, Military Psychologist."
"Ah," said Fox, smiling a little. "I've met Dr. Barnes before. Really nice guy."
"I'm not surprised. He's always been fascinated by you and your team, Fox," said General Pepper.
"I've read a bit about him," said Krystal. The Vixen's mental powers gave her a fascination with psychology, and Dr. Barnes was a name that always turned up in her curiosity-fueled reading. "He's a miracle worker, from I've read."
"Dr. Barnes is a man that believes strongly in the mental well-being of soldiers. He's been an incredible asset in all mental-health programs, and practically a saint with veteran programs. The man knows more about treating Shell Shock than anyone. It's his life's work," said General Pepper. "Needless to say, he's very valued by Corneria."
The next file reveled a Lab with brown fur and nervous yellow eyes. He wore a polo and slacks under a white lab coat, and just from looking at him the team could tell that he wasn't a social butterfly. Slippy recognized him first.
"Doctor Jefferson Bultman!" said Slippy. "The prodigy weapons scientists. He's only twenty-five years old and he does what he does. My father's worked with him from time to time."
"Nerd," said Miyu with mirth and no real malice. Slippy just gave her a look.
"Slippy isn't exaggerating, Miss Lynx," said General Pepper. "Bultman is perhaps the greatest weapons scientists yet produced by Corneria. And thankfully he's got no signs of mania like a…certain simian that will go un-named," and here the General cleared his throat. "It's ironic he's meek, considering the field he works in. Now, the next individual."
The next Wiseman was a pheasant like Falco, but with grey plumage. His eyes were green and they seemed to study everything. The team felt more like specimens than people under the photo's gaze. His sharp suit and lab coat gave the man an imposing appearance; he was professional to the point of being intimidating.
"Doctor Joseph Heidegger," said General Pepper. "Biologist. The Research Fleet carries non-military scientists as well, as the ship has state-of-the-art facilities. Needless to say, he's a very intense man."
"I've met him before too," said Fox, remembering a time when he got coffee with Dr. Barnes and Dr. Heidegger. Barnes was chatty and polite, with Heidegger quiet and observant.
"You're lucky," said General Pepper. "The man is almost a recluse. Anyway, these are the three Wisemen. I wager that Mr. Toad knows there is something wrong with this picture."
"The three can't be on the same ship," said Slippy, folding his arms and deep in thought. "Dad told me that too."
Fox narrowed his eyes. "So the ship goes dark, and before that they were already breaking protocol? I don't like this, General."
"What makes this worse," said General Pepper, massaging his brow, "is that I can get no answer from R&D as to why all three were onboard the ship."
"Why?" said Krystal.
"Evasiveness," said General Pepper. "R&D is it's own department. And they can be as secretive and opaque as any military department. I'm doing my digging, Star Fox."
One of the top three rules for Fox with his team was this—never make it political. He helped Corneria's interest when they aligned with his ideals. He never wanted any part in departmental warfare or any operation that involved political gain over the general well-being of Lylat. He wanted his home safe. That was everything.
"General," said Fox. "I want your solemn word that we aren't marching into any red tap here."
"You have it and more," said General Pepper. He stared at Fox's leg and his crutches, and then looked him in the eyes. "Let me handle whatever happens, Fox. I want survivors safe and sound and men and woman returned to their families. But what I need from you is your confirmation of whether you can help. I know your leg presents a problem, but you're the only person I feel comfortable turning to, now that Spec-Ops failed." The hound sighed, and his professional demeanor dropped to reveal simply Pepper, a man who'd been a family friend to the McClouds and one of the people Fox could say he admired. "Can you help us?"
As soon as the General said that, Fox's mind was alight with the beginnings of a plan. he looked to Miyu, then to Krystal, and then Slippy. And the pieces snapped into place.
"Yes, General," said Fox, nodding confidently, "We can."