Chapter Sixteen

Directing Directorate

For a moment, James just stared at the flickering hologram of Argus Phoenix. The fennec stared back, appearing no more pleased with the instructions he was giving James than the vulpine was in receiving them. "I'm sorry James. I assure you, the agents have been briefed, and you will be in complete control of this mission."

James bit his lip, trying to formulate a more diplomatic response than the one that was forming in his head right now. "Sir, I don't mean to be rude but...you do realize why your friend in the Federation government agreed to this, right?"

"Yes James," Argus replied, the sound of the sigh escaping his muzzle crackling across the subspace carrier wave. "At least this way you won't end up accidentally shooting each other."

"Sure," James answered with a snort. "That makes me feel a whole lot better."

There was an awkward pause, then Argus appeared to straighten up. He tapped a few buttons off screen and said, "I've sent you a secure datapacket. It'll have the location where you're supposed to meet with the agents, as well as names and descriptions so that you'll be able to recognize them. I'm sorry again James, but this is how it's going to have to be."

"Understood, sir," James said, setting his face in a practiced mask of professionalism. "We'll get it done. McCloud out." He cut the transmission, then leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. "You gotta be kidding me," he muttered. Can this mission go five minutes without the Feds sticking their noses in?

Behind him, Vixy perked up and asked, "I don't get it. What's the problem here? We'll be in control of the mission, it just means we have a couple of extra bodies. Right?"

James turned to look at his team. He didn't feel like explaining it to Vixy, so he glanced at Peppy before opening the datapacket on his phone. Peppy nodded and said, "We're in control because that way, if this all goes sideways, the Feds will be able to blame us, and not their own Security Directorate."

"Oh." Vixy frowned. "So we're the scapegoat."

"Basically," Peppy confirmed, looking none too pleased about hearing the words out loud.

"You can't blame them," Archer said. When everybody glared at him he held up his hands and added, "I'm not saying I'm happy with the situation, I'm just saying from the perspective of the Feds it makes sense. They've already been embarrassed twice, the last thing they want is a third incident involving the Arwing."

"My heart bleeds for them." James shook his head. "Fucking politics," he spat.

The room they were in, a small apartment that Argus had arranged for them to be able to use as a base of operations, remained quiet. The only noises came from outside, with the hawking of street vendors, the horns of passing cars, and the hustle and bustle of the people of Eladard City. A light rain pattered on the windows, tapping against the safety plastic. Finally James stood and reached for his coat and EP-37. "Well come on, we better not keep these agents waiting. Besides, not like any of the leads Argus provided us with have panned out thus far. And I'm sure these agents time is far more valuable than ours."

Peppy chuckled, and Vixy and Archer stood up and grabbed their gear. James led the way out of the apartment and back into the streets. He checked his phone, looking at the map and the pinging dot that indicated where they were supposed to meet the agents. It was far enough away that they'd need to take a train.

Glancing up for a moment James took stock of the city. Eladard City's skyscrapers reached far into the atmosphere, with several of them piercing the low hanging rain clouds in the sky. At a basic level they reminded him of Corneria City, but where the buildings of Corneria City were often transparent, and had a clean, efficient design, and welcoming bases, these towers made looking upwards feel oppressive. The city was built on multiple layers, having been raised and rebuilt more times than even the Eladardians could count. In fact, the sulfurous river that flowed through the center of the city had had to have its elevation raised twice to keep it consistent with the city.

The train station was a few meters ahead. James sidestepped a pile of garbage that had been left uncollected, his nostrils flaring at the scent of rotting food. He looked to his left and realized it must have been from a nearby restaurant selling the local variation of fish and chips. After James and his team had moved away from it, a scrawny Eladardian child ran behind them and scooped up the bag, then bolted towards a nearby residential block. James sighed and glanced at Peppy, "Eladardian charity?"

"Looks that way," the hare responded, shaking his head. In a time when technology could povide for the needs of an entire population, it seemed criminal for a society to choose not to.

Next to the hare, Vixy said, "These people have a lot to learn about building a free society." Peppy barked out a laugh. Vixy glanced at him, confusion in her eyes. "What?"

"Vixy," the hare said, "They might call this place a republic, but it's as corporate owned and run as Argelia. Trust me, these people have never known a free society, and they probably never will."

"Noted." Vixy glanced at James, and the two of them shared a smile as they descended into the subway station. "Is he always such a pessimist?"

"Only when he's away from Vivian," James explained.

"Ah." Vixy nodded. "He's a lot like you then?"

"What do you mean?" Both the fox and hare looked at her.

Grinning from ear to pointed ear, tail wagging behind her, and eyes filled with that peculiar brand of vulpine mischief, Vixy said, "You both get grumpy when you can't drain the pipes."

"True," James admitted, wagging his own tail as he said it, not so much as a blush on his face.

"Disgusting," Peppy replied, looking even grumpier than usual. Behind them, keeping an eye on the crowds of people passing by the three other Star Fox team members, Archer just chuckled and gave Peppy a playful shove as they lined up for a train, none of them noticing the surveillance camera as it swiveled to keep them in range.

Surveillance images were always grainy. Vesper had never quite found an answer as to why. The technology existed to make them crystal clear, and yet for some reason they remained just a bit staticy. It was something he was curious about, more than anything. It didn't make a difference in his work however. He had learned long ago how to filter out the unneeded, the unimportant, from both his vision and his thoughts. He could see all that he needed to see.

Since their arrival on Eladard, Vesper had been keeping an eye on the Star Fox team. They were proving quite fascinating. He'd gathered all the information he could find about them, and had spent one of his usual sleepless nights pouring over the data, getting to know each and every one of them as well as he could. What he'd found was a truly astounding level of potential. Potential, however, is not the same as ability. Not yet at least. And thus far, they seem little interested in the shadows where I live.

Vesper smiled at the sight of the lynx, Archer, giving the hare, Peppy, a playful shove from behind. The vixen, Vixy, had been exchanging crude barbs with her friends, and Archer seemed amused by Peppy's reaction. The surveillance didn't capture audio of course, but Vesper was more than proficient when it came to lip reading. What a wonderful sense camaraderie. You just don't see it in my side of the galaxy.

Judging by the direction they were heading they were on their way to meet with the agents from the Federation Security Directorate that had landed yesterday. Another smile. They were here because of a little behind the scenes politicking from Cedwyn Llewellyn. Vesper had never met the man, but he knew that the snow leopard's influence within the Federation was vast. More vast even than that of the current sitting Federation president. A point which probably drove President Farris mad in his private moments. If it were my guess, Llewellyn will be president himself one day. Of course, what Cedwyn didn't and couldn't know, was that Vesper had greased the wheels of his request.

When Star Fox had first arrived Vesper had assessed their capabilities. They had the talent and raw intelligence, but they lacked the technology to see the web he had woven, and thus be ensnared by it. He'd been a bit too subtle, as it turned out. In point of fact, Vesper had expected a Security Directorate operation, not a mercenary one. So, when his contacts in the Federation government reported to Vesper that Cedwyn had made his unusual request of the Security Directorate, it had been a stroke of superb fortune. And so, like Killik-Thulu, spinning his web of deceit and treachery, Vesper had gotten those same contacts to ensure that a team was sent in. I'm almost disappointed in how easy that part was.

Star Fox was getting off the train, heading towards the little tavern where they were going to meet with the Security Agents. He brought up the files on the two agents. Both female, both canine, one Papetoonian, one Cornerian. One a collie, the other a labrador. Not that the species mattered all that much. However, Vesper found it typical of the Federation to send members of two species not often encountered on Eladard as "covert" operatives. Ah, well, you couldn't always have the smartest opponents, could you?

Vixy stepped off the train and wrapped her jacket a little tighter around her slender frame. It was times like these that she envied her friend Meryl's more voluptuous body. It certainly would have provided better insulation against the cold of an Eladardian night. "I don't get it," she said as she strode next to Archer. "Eladard is a volcanic planet, right?" The lynx nodded. "Then why is it so fucking cold at night?"

"Solar," Archer said, as if that explained everything.

Vixy arched an eyebrow and said, "I'm a pilot, not an astronomer. You're going to have to be a little more specific.

Chuckling, Archer said, "Okay. There are two suns in Lylat, right?" Vixy nodded. "Okay. Lylat is a blue-white, main sequence star. It burns nice and hot, but no so hot that it turns all our worlds to cinders."

"Right." Vixy remembered that from high school. "You know, I heard once that the number of habitable planets in our star system is, like, super weird."

Archer smiled as they started climbing the steps out of the underground station. "There's some theories out there that Lylat might be some sort of artificially created system of planets, but they're mostly bunk conspiracy theories. Either way, I wouldn't worry about it. None of it changes the reality that all our planets are habitable."

"Good point," Vixy said. Conspiracy theories could be fun, but she knew better than to take them seriously. Besides, Archer had a good point. So what if Lylat had been created through some artificial means? Some people thought that the Krazoa might have been behind it but, really, what did that change? It didn't make her more money, get her a better ship, or find her a good lay, so why worry about it?

"Alright. Now, Solar on the other hand is a red dwarf." They stepped back onto the surface, and Vixy felt another chill breeze come whistling through the streets, accompanied by the pattering of the night's drizzle. "Red dwarfs don't burn as hot as main sequence stars like Lylat. In fact, if it weren't for the natural greenhouse effect of the volcanic activity on Eladard, the place wouldn't be habitable at all. Or, at least, it'd look a lot more like Fichina than it does now."

"Okay." Vixy thought about it for a moment, comparing it against her high school science classes. She suddenly wished she'd paid a little more attention in them. "Then what about Venom? It doesn't have a natural greenhouse effect, does it?"

"Nope." Archer shook his head. "The green deserts on Venom are actually incredibly cold. The oceans, however, have a number of greenhouse compounds in them. Those compounds are what make the oceans there poisonous to most life in the galaxy."

"Then what about the Anglars?" Vixy asked, puzzled.

"Ah." Archer smiled and held up a finger. For a moment he looked almost like Peppy. Except that Peppy would have been lecturing her about history and politics, not science and astronomy. "You know what your appendix is, right?"

"Sure. It's the thing that got me out of school for two weeks," Vixy said, smiling right back. She dodged around a puddle on the ground, then took a look around. The city had changed as they walked. It looked a little more high class, and a lot safer. Looks could be deceiving though. While the people around them didn't look as dangerous, Vixy could see the armed police personnel walking around, all of them looking mean and suspicious. I guess the middle classes don't have to worry about each other, just about the uniforms with guns.

Archer noticed her gaze and nodded. "Briefing packet said that upper level neighborhoods are more frequently patrolled. Eladard is less worried about the lower classes than the middle classes."

"Why is that?" Vixy asked. To her it seemed like the people on the lower levels were the most threatening, the most likely to turn to violence as a solution to their problems.

"Because," Peppy said, looking behind him at Vixy. "The lower classes are too busy surviving to cause trouble, and even when they do, they're not all that organized. These people though have the time and means to get together on things, and an education to teach them what the rest of Lylat looks like. Combine those things, and you get true revolutionary potential."

"All those damn not quite rich yet people," James said with a chuckle. "We're a few blocks from the place. Keep an eye out, but don't drawn attention."

Vixy nodded, letting her hand drift a little closer to her EP-37. She refocused on Archer and said, "So, what's the deal with my appendix?"

"Well," Archer said, "No one quite knows what it does, because it doesn't do anything, but some have theorized it was used to process toxins in raw meat."

"So, it's a legacy item from our feral past?" Vixy asked.

"Bingo." Archer gave her a thumbs up. "The Anglars have a similar organ. Except it is doing something. It processes what we would consider toxins, and allows them to live in the oceans."

"Does that mean they could live in normal water if they had to?" Vixy asked, curious.

"That's the theory," Archer confirmed.

"Weird."

Archer shrugged. "Galaxy is a strange place. Weird is a good way to describe it."

"If you guys are done with the class session," James said, smirking at the two of them, "I'd like it if you could get your game faces on." James pointed up to the sign that read Silent Scales Tavern. "Ready?"

"Always," Vixy replied, giving an eager wiggle that was only half a shiver. "Besides, it'll be warm in there, right?"

"Eladardians are reptiles," James said, pushing open the door.

The heat and humidity hit Vixy like a wave. "Yeah. So, really warm," she finished for James. Walking into the tavern Vixy realized that the name, Silent Scales, had been about as ironic as irony could be. Loud, thumping music blared out of massive speakers, forcing Vixy and her companions to plaster their ears against their skulls. Vixy's nostrils flared at the variety of smells, a mixture of sweat, alcohol, and the leathery scent that seemed to follow saurian species wherever they went. It wasn't at unbearable levels, but it certainly didn't smell appetizing. Then again, plenty of people complain that foxes smell bad too, so I guess I shouldn't judge.

Glancing around Vixy spotted a pair of canines, a collie and a labrador, towards the back. There were other species here as well, some felines and simians, as well as a handful of amphibians. They all had the hard scrabble look of people who worked hard, then came to a bar to spend that hard earned cash. Their presence however helped make sense of why this had been the place chosen for the meeting. Despite the majority of the patrons being reptiles, the presence of other Lylatian species would allow Vixy and the rest of Star Fox, as well as the two Federation agents, to blend in and become just another part of the crowd. "See them?" Vixy asked James.

James nodded, his eyes fixed on the two canines in the back. He waved to them, and they waved back. "Come on, let's go say hi."

They made their way across the main floor, and Vixy found herself dodging two attempts by two separate people to grab her ass. It was times like these she was happy she had a gun, just in case. She noted that James didn't look too pleased either, and the third person to make an attempt wilted under his the male fox's molten gaze. Animals, she thought to herself. Why were men always so grabby when they got drunk?

Once she had maneuvered through the minefield of male hormones and scaled fingers, Vixy slid into the booth alongside James. Peppy and Archer had split off at a silent signal from James to sit at an adjacent table nearby, keeping an eye on the other patrons. It was a good tactic. Plus, the booth only sat four so...

"James McCloud," James introduced himself, reaching across the table to shake the agents hands. "This is Vixy Reinard, my newest teammate. Over there are Peppy Hare and Archer Lynx. Also teammates."

The collie smiled and said, "Gwen Holt, FSD. This is my partner, Janice Ki."

Vixy's ears perked at the familiar country drawl, and she smirked at the look on James's face. It wouldn't have been noticeable to many people besides her, but she could see the slight coloration of his cheeks that always came at first hearing a girl with a country accent. She tapped him with her foot beneath the table. He looked at her and she gave him the, Mission first, hit on her later, look.

James cleared his throat and looked back at Gwen. "Pleased to meet you. By the way, Papetoon?"

Gwen smiled. "Born and raised. Great Valley. You?"

"Suburbs around Dejima," James said. "Vixy's the same."

"Mmhmm. Explains that city accent," Gwen said, smiling softly. "Y'all are always speaking through your nose up there."

James smiled back, and Vixy felt his tail wagging against hers. Oh boy.

"Gwen."

Vixy looked over when Janice spoke for the first time. The posh accent she was sporting pegged her immediately as Cornerian. Grantham Isles, southern coastal regions if Vixy had to guess. The two of them must have made quite an interesting pair at parties with those two accents. "Yes Janice?" Gwen asked, glancing at her partner.

"Business first, wouldn't you say?" Janice said, her tone containing a subtle hint of admonishment.

"Sure." Gwen turned back to James. "My superiors have ordered me to cooperate fully, of course, Mr. McCloud."

"James, please," James corrected her, that dashing grin on his muzzle that Vixy knew always made a girl's legs go all to jelly.

"Alright James," Gwen said, returning that grin full force. "Now, as I understand it, you have someone who can fly that Arwing."

"That'd be me," Vixy piped up. "I was one of the original test pilots for the Arwing program. I know that fighter better than the people who designed her."

"Works for me then," Gwen said, tail thumping behind her. "Now, what do you need from us?"

"Scanning equipment," James told her. "Specifically, equipment that would allow us to scan the entire city."

Gwen and Janice looked at each other, and Vixy sensed they were having one of those silent conversations that consisted entirely of subtle eye movement and other physical cues. Gwen turned back to them, "We can help you with that. What are we scanning for?"

"I can't tell you," James answered.

Both women's expressions went dark across the table. They shared another one of those private, silent conversations, then Gwen looked at James. "Why not?"

"It's private. And I was told not to give up the information to anyone I didn't absolutely have to," James replied, his jaw set in that firm, stubborn line that Vixy knew all too well.

Gwen ran a hand through her long, brown hair, letting out a frustrated sigh as she did so. "Who told you that?"

"Argus Phoenix."

"I see." Gwen grunted, not pleased, but obviously understanding that there was nothing she could do about it. "Well, there's no reason I can't let you have access to our ship's scanners to do whatever it is you need to do."

"Good." James's muzzle immediately morphed back into a big, happy smile. "Then there shouldn't be any problem."

Gwen chuckled, and she said, "You're going to be a hard person to work with, aren't you James?"

James smirked, and replied, "I can be hard, yeah. But I promise I don't have anymore secrets."

Oh brother. Vixy thought to herself. Is this what Peppy feels like on a regular basis? Vixy could see the electricity start to crackle between the fox and the collie. She knew James could exercise a certain degree of self-control, but she had a feeling that when this was all over the two of them would be wearing out the springs in the nearest mattress they could find.

Gwen stood up and said, "Well, why don't we head back to our ship, get those scanners all fired up?"

James patted her leg to get her to move, and Vixy stood up. "Sounds like a great idea," James said. "Lead the way."

They started making their way out of the tavern. Just as Gwen and Janice walked through the exit, Vixy pulled James aside and whispered, "I have a bad feeling about this."

"About what?" James asked, motioning for Peppy and Archer, who had both stopped to see what was going on, to go ahead without them.

"Something about all of this feels...wrong, somehow." Vixy shook her head, trying to figure out what she was trying to say. The feeling had come over her on the way here. Somehow the presence of the Federation agents seemed a little too...convenient.

"How so?" James leaned forward, ears cupped in interest. To his credit he was giving serious consideration to her feelings.

"I don't know." Vixy shook her head. "Just...we get here and realize that we don't have a practical means to find the Arwing, because none of Argus' contacts are willing to help. Then, all of a sudden, we find out that the Federation is here and we can scan the whole place."

James frowned, and Vixy could tell that he was seeing her point. Sighing, he said, "Alright, fair enough. Considering we don't have any other options though..."

"Right." Vixy's ears drooped. "Forget I said anything."

James shook his head and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm glad you told me. I need to know what you know, otherwise I can't lead the team effectively. We'll be cautious, but I'm not willing to look a gift riding beast in the mouth."

"Understood." Vixy straightened and gave him a smile. "You and Gwen though? I'm sensing some interest."

James smirked. "What gives you that idea?"

"Come on," Vixy said, pulling him towards the exit. "She's got a rack that goes halfway from here to Macbeth, and she's got a country Papetoon accent. I know you well enough to know what gets you going."

"Point taken." James shrugged. "But don't worry. If anything happens, we'll be able to handle it. Right?"

Catching up with the rest of the group, Vixy smiled. "Yeah. We will."

A/N: Have you ever thought about just how many security cameras there are in your town alone? Probably not. But Vesper has. Creep.

Also, this will be the last update before Christmas! So Happy Christmas, Hanukka, Quanza, Festivus, and the Dawning! (I think I got all of them)

Vixy:...except a Christmas one shot.

Yeah. So it was an off year. I put out Lost Colony. (Check it out, it's cool)

Vixy: That's not Christmas themed.

*sigh*

Vixy: James and I were gonna smash.

Thank you Vixy.

See you guys after Christmas, and my best wished to all of you :)

-furfurfurfurfurfurfluff