Chapter 20: Skip a Beat
(The Living Area)
The team sat around in the living area, having just left Cornerian Airspace.
"The Gate's opening!" Peppy exclaimed as the emerald plane opened before the Great Fox.
"Great. Man, I do not miss having to fly from planet to planet." Falco sighed, scratching his bandages again, only to have Katt smack his hand again.
"Yeah, though it did give us time to bond." Slippy said with a big grin smeared on his face.
"Who the heck would want to bond with you?" Falco snipped jokingly, causing Slippy to stick his tongue out at him and causing Katt to smack him in the head.
"Hey, ROB, what's the estimated time to Quanzan?" Fox asked, staring out the living area window into the deep expanse of space.
"Estimated time to Quanzan: 3 hours, 13 minutes." the machine voiced in reply.
"Even with the Orbital Gate, we still have time to spare." Falco verbalized as he heard the estimate.
"Well, the reason for that is, the enemy will know we're coming if we warp directly to them, Falco. At least this way, they won't know we're there until we're practically on top of them. With the warp gate out this far, we could be a caravan or something going to an entirely unrelated location." Peppy explained.
"Oh well, it'll give me some time to stretch my muscles again, after having some of it blasted away." Falco said, stretching. Katt looked concerned as he said that.
"Whatcha gonna do? Workout?" Slippy asked as Falco glided past him.
"Yeah, I'm gonna check out the rest of that rec room that we got. I suggest you do too, pudgy. Maybe that way, you won't be as much of a liability in every single mission." Falco said somewhat sarcastically, poking Slippy in the arm.
"Hey, at least I didn't get shot last mission! I even rescued the only survivor! I did more than you last time!" Slippy retorted angrily.
"It's bound to happen sometime, right? How about you make it two for two this time? Betcha you can't do it." Falco replied with a grin. He bore his fist into the top of Slippy's skull and quickly danced out the door as Slippy recovered and gave chase.
"Well, he looks better already." Krystal remarked, watching as Slippy ran after Falco.
"Yeah, well, that's Falco for you. He just doesn't die, no matter how hard you try. I would know, I've tried." Fox smirked, remembering back to their Academy days.
"You'll have to tell me." Krystal said, her interest piqued.
"Maybe in a bit, I'm somewhat interested in exploring the rest of the Training Room as well." Fox said, his attention drifting out the door.
"Yeah, let's go. It's a lot less fun here without those two, though I hate to admit it." Katt said with a smile, dipping her head in between Fox and Krystal's. "My arm needs a bit of stretching, too. I haven't moved it too much since it healed. Luckily, the doctors gave me some good stuff too before they left."
"Alright." Fox concluded, heading towards the doorway. "Hey Peppy, we'll be down in the Training Room."
"Ok, then." Peppy called back. "I'll be running checks and whatnot."
Fox, Krystal, and Katt then filed out of the living area. Shortly after, Peppy followed, heading to the bridge.
(Training Room)
Slippy and Katt had started using the target range, which had yet to be tested, while Fox went to the flight simulator with Krystal watching. Falco was on one of the treadmills, starting out with a jogging pace.
"So, aim down your arm like this, it'll be easier to shoot." Katt instructed Slippy as he aimed at targets down the range.
"Don't worry, I got this." Slippy said, his tongue poking out of his mouth as he aimed.
"You aren't going to be very accurate if you aim like that." Katt said, a tinge of aggravation on her voice as her suggestions were ignored.
"Just watch." Slippy said calmly, his eyes focusing down the expanse of the target field.
Suddenly, an aparoid-like figure appeared, causing Slippy to twitch.
"AAAGHH!" Slippy yelled, pulling the trigger. A large blast emanated from the tip of the gun as the toad fell backwards.
"See, I told you." Katt reminded, pulling Slippy onto his feet. Slippy only smiled and pointed after he got back up. Katt turned to see the aparoidian target missing half its torso while chunks of its legs fell to the ground.
"Bigger blast means I don't have to aim as well." Slippy said tauntingly.
"A LOT OF GOOD THAT DOES YOU WHEN YOU FALL OVER! NOW LET ME SHOW YOU PROPER FIRING ETIQUETTE!" Katt barked, forcing Slippy into proper firing posture.
Fox, meanwhile had just mowed down 500 enemies in an urban setting without sustaining a single shot on the flight simulator. Krystal clapped as he exited the cockpit.
"Good job, Fox." Krystal congratulated as he climbed down. "That's impressive, no wonder you're our leader."
"I always did like flying." Fox replied with a satisfied grin.
His ears perked up, however, when he heard a faint sound coming off from the distance. He turned to see Falco on the treadmill. He was no longer at a jogging pace now, but a brisk sprint now. Fox turned to Krystal, who was wearing the same concerned look he had.
"Falco, don't you think you should slow down a bit?" Krystal called out to the avian.
Falco however, was too involved in running. He reached down, and cranked the speed up a little higher.
"Hey, Falco! Don't wear yourself out, we have a mission in less than two hours!" Fox called out, louder than Krystal.
Falco jerked, as if he had been awakened from a trance, when he heard Fox yell.
"What? Oh….no… I'm fine." Falco reassured the two vulpines staring at him, breathing heavier. "Gotta….feel the burn….right?"
With that he cranked up the speed again, now at a full out sprint. This caught the attention of Katt and Slippy now. The two walked away from the shooting range to meet up with Fox and Krystal.
"He's going to hurt himself!" Katt exclaimed, watching the bird continually run.
"Hey, Falco! Don't you think you should stop now? You've been going at it for over twenty minutes now!" Slippy called over.
"I'm…fine! Why don't… you worry…about your shooting…technique…Slippy? It looked bad…even from…here!" Falco joked, continuing to run.
The group then started to walk over, determined to stop their friend. Just as Katt was about to voice another protest, Falco eyes dilated. He coughed out blood, and slipped on the treadmill, being thrown into the wall behind him. The group rushed over, Katt leading them. She propped up Falco against the wall, blood trailing from his mouth. He coughed into his hand, more blood pasting against his feathers.
"I told you, you idiot!" Katt yelled, concern clearly evident on her face.
"Nah, I'm fine. Guess, I did push it a little too far though." Falco remarked with a surprising calmness.
"You think?" Fox retorted, concerned as well.
"Guess that shot did more to me than I thought…" Falco thought aloud. Katt looked awe-struck when he said that. "Ah well, guess I'm done for today. I'm gonna head back up to clean up. You guys can keep going at it, though."
"Nah, we should be getting ready too. We should be within sight of Quanzan, anyway." Fox explained.
"Alright, then. I'll see you guys up there." Falco said, getting up. The team slowly started to leave the Training Room, except for Katt, who still looked dumbfounded on the floor.
Krystal noticed she didn't move as she reached the door, so she turned around and touched her shoulder.
"Katt, are you alright?" Krystal asked.
"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine, just in a bit of shock about what happened." Katt said, her voice wavering slightly.
"Ok, I'll meet you upstairs." Krystal said, still looking concerned. She slowly headed towards the stairs, giving Katt one more look before ascending.
Katt continued to sit on the floor, looking at a small pool of blood still on the floor from where Falco fell.
This is all my fault….
(The Living Area)
After Falco finished cleaning up, he joined the rest of the team in the Living Area. Fox waited for him to seat himself, then started to explain the strategy.
"Alright. As the General said, our main focus is the military base in the capital city of Girinja. They were maintaining open communications with Corneria until just recently, so now we have to find out why." Fox explained.
"Not to mention to find out what was so important about that carrier ship." Slippy interjected, remembering Dr. Menoway's words.
"Yeah, according to one of the soldiers on the Solsen Defense Outpost, that ship was the reason for the massacre there." Falco added.
"Right, so we're going to fly in by Arwing. We'll leave the Great Fox up here to keep an eye on things. We can't contact anyone in Girinja, even in town, so we're flying in there blind."
"Ok then. What's the outlook of the city?" Katt asked. Fox tilted his head towards Slippy, who quickly brought up a projection of pictures of Quanzan.
"The planet consists mainly of cliffs and wastelands. Some sparse forests pop up from here and there, but they are few and far between. This environment has caused the animals to develop some nasty self-preservation techniques. The populous of Quanzan has also been affected by this, having built up walls to protect their cities from the wilderness outside. This means we'll have to land inside the city if we plan on getting anywhere." Slippy explained, pointing out to the pictures on the display.
"Great, so this means we'll have to land directly in the heart of the problem!" Falco pointed out.
"Looks that way." Fox confirmed.
"That's not the half of it." Slippy continued. "In order to keep up with the evolutionary advancements of the native wildlife, the cities on Quanzan have become incredibly technically advanced. Since there is abundant mineral reserves in the cliffs and wastelands, a lot of the planet's economic value lies in its weapon production and research."
"OH, this is just frickin' perfect! Not only are we going to get blasted out of the sky, but it's gonna be done by the most sophisticated technology we've never even seen before!" Falco complained audibly.
"That is, assuming that there are hostiles down there. We don't know for sure what is currently occurring in Girinja. We'll have Krystal and Slippy analyze the area once we're in range, then we can decide a course of action from there." Fox concluded, turning off the display.
(The Arwing Hangars)
The team entered the hangars immediately after the briefing. They performed one last gear check, then proceeded to enter their respective ships. Peppy watched them all next to ROB, standing in front of the doorway. He noticed Katt moving particularly slowly, and proceeded to talk to her.
"Hey, Katt, you feeling ok?" Peppy asked, eyeing her behind his glasses.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Katt answered, looking off into the distance.
"Are you sure? You haven't been acting much like self since you got back from the Defense Outpost." Peppy reminded her.
"No, I'm ok, really." she assured him. She gave a quick glance at Falco, eyeing the bandage still evident on his chest. Peppy noticed this, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Katt, he'll be fine. That little incident in the Training Room was just him being stupid. You know that. You don't have to worry about him. He's strong and arrogant, you know that. He's not going to let some little scratch like that slow him down. It's not your fault he acts like a hot-head all the time." Peppy said with a smile.
"Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Peppy." Katt said with a smile. Peppy smiled back and walked to the entrance while Katt climbed up into her Cat's Paw.
She glanced out into the void of space as Quanzan slowly drifted into view. She sighed, checking all the ships systems to make sure she was ready for launch.
He might be fine, but I'm the reason he has the wound to begin with. I'm always the reason. I just keep hurting him…
Author's Notes: The hero has returned! Many ages have passed since he last left this kingdom, now he has returned, to strike down evil, in all its forms! :P Not really. Wow, and to think I used to feel bad about not updating for a week or two. What has it been, 2 years? 3? But, alas, I have not forgotten. I never really did. It's just that life caught up to me all ninja-like before I even realized it. I'll explain that next chapter in the Author's Notes, since that chapter is already halfway finished. I really do apologize, to my loyal fans especially. This means you; Forever Fades Away who is now Time Turned Fragile, the XBeat08, and Notfromearth7. I feel especially guilty for leaving you guys high and dry like this. Know that this chapter and many subsequent ones are to be dedicated to you guys. If not for you guys, I would not have enjoyed writing this story as much as I did, and thus, I thank you guys for remaining my ever loyal fans. Hopefully you have not forgotten about me and will see this. I hope to hear from you guys soon. Now, for the reviews!
P.S. I am now a liar about action coming up in the story. I know I had an idea back when I was writing this, and I know it had action, but I have since forgotten it. I remember parts of it, but, in order to make it fit in with the story now, I have to put in some extra chapters to make it all flow smoothly. I hope you guys will be impressed. :)
-Anonomys
2009-09-12 . chapter 19
i really like this story. you write very well, and the plot is fantastic. it's very hard nowadays to find a fic that's not a romance about fox and krystal. please update soon! the world needs authors like you! never give up! the night is always darkest right before the dawn! follow your dreams! i wish i knew some other inspirational crap to say. please update soon, and know that you have impressed yet another reader.
keep at it.
Hooray, I have impressed another reader. Too bad he made this review about 2 years ago. :( Hopefully you have not forgotten about this story either, and will see it in an alert or something. Thank you very much for the compliments. They are very encouraging and I always love the praise. And as for more inspirational crap, to quote Journey, DON'T STOP BELIEVING! XD I do plan to keep at it, by the way. Here's to finally adding another chapter!
-Lady Blue
2010-12-24 . chapter 1
Wath happen to the sorty. It was getting good. Don't give up alot of your fans won't to see wath happen. And it's not gust me there's other.
And your one of the dest on this net site. Don't give up this story is gust to good to not be finsh. :~(
Sorry about the hiatus. I did not exactly plan for things to work out this way, but life does things. Seeing as this review was relatively recent, I hope you enjoy seeing this update. I can't even fathom how you managed to find this story buried into the network. I guess you managed to find one of my loyal fans and found it through their favorites. That, or you actually took the time to sift through every story to find it. Either way, I'm glad to have another fan, and I appreciate the compliments. One of the best on this site. Now that's high praise if I ever heard it. Here's to another chapter!