Chapter 5:
After paying for the burger, Wolf and Miyu went to the street.
" So, briefing on the team?" she asked. Wolf looked at her and begun.
"Besides me, there`s two others: Leon and Panther." He said, as they begun to walk aimlessly. " Leon has been my friend since the original Star Wolf team. We`ve been blasting our way through Lylat since the Wars. He`s... relatively nice to people. Just don`t get on his bad side."
" Or else?" she teased.
" Or else you get a bullet lodged in your head." She recoiled a bit when he said that. " Quite a few people made that mistake, and the galaxy is a few people smartasses shorter because of it."
Miyu raised one eyebrow. Wolf cleared his throat. The sky was beginning to darken.
" Although, in your case, I think the other guy might be more of a problem."
"Why so?" she asked.
"His name is Panther, and he`s… a good pilot, but he tends to think he`s more of a ladies cat more than anything. It gets embarrassing sometimes. You`ll get used to it. Just be careful with his… approaches."
" I`ve had that problem before."
" Trust me, this is going to be much worse than any previous bachelor you might have faced."
She chuckled. He looked at his wrist. Leon and Panther should have arrived at the hideout by now. He should get his ship and go. He turned to Miyu.
" Listen, my ship isn`t docked in any normal docking port." She looked at him puzzled. " I can`t risk getting a photo taken, and there are many illegal ports to assure that that doesn`t happen. I`ll send you some coordinates in this thing." He took a small wristband-like device and handed it to her. She strapped it on. It was a small communicator. "When you clear the planet, go to that spot. I`ll be waiting, and then we`ll go to our hideout. Deal?"
" Deal. Do I need to pack?" she asked.
" If you want to. But don`t exaggerate, please." He said, looking to another direction: " I should go. I`ll be waiting for you."
With that, he jammed his hands in his pockets and walked away. Miyu observed him until he turned a corner. Suddenly, her wrist communicator flashed. In it, were the coordinates Wolf had talked about. They weren`t very far from the planet.
She thought about time. She wasn`t going to pack anything. She would go to her apartment and tell her landlord she would be away for some time, then she would say bye to Fay and head to get her ship back.
" Yeah, that seems like a good plan." She thought. She began to walk to her apartment. " How the hell am I going to talk to Fay about this?"
Even though they had been friends since they began to fly, Fay`s moral fiber was leagues stronger than hers. The white terrier was almost as good in flying as she was, but both of them knew Miyu was still the best between the two of them.
She entered the old apartment block. The place wasn`t shinny, but it still was a good home. She went up the stairs of the grey building. Her living space was in the same room as the landlord`s, a turtle. She knocked on his door.
The man wasn`t known for his speed, though. She waited some good ten minutes before the door finally opened and revealed the turtle. He wore glasses and a shirt decorated with various flower designs, but he was much, much taller than Miyu. He made a gruff face when he saw her.
" What, Miyu? You`re not going to pay me this month again?"
"No, Arnold. I came by to tell you I`ll be leaving for quite a while. If you would be kind enough to keep my apartment locked I would be grateful."
" And why should I do that?" he asked, crossing his arms. His tiny eyes were analyzing every small detail of her body. His gaze was one of the few things that could make her uncomfortable. "Your rent is late by a few months now."
Miyu took her time to think. He was right: her rent was late by three months. He could just tell her to hit the road, but she wanted to keep the apartment for her. Maybe she would need it someday. She thought about what she could use to influence him. His eyes moving through her body did tell her of something, but she was disgusted just by the simple thought of it. Instead, remembering the man who had just hired her, she set her eyes on his and began, dead-serious:
"I got a job, recently." She said, and his eyes became sterner. "A very good job, with a lot of pay. But this isn`t your normal job. Far from it. I`ll be heading around the system with the best of the best. These people won`t like it if I tell them that, because of them, I lost my apartment. They would like a lot less if I told them my landlord was on the verge of suggesting I pay with my body…" his eyes widened. He nervously shifted his feet and uncrossed his arms. " If you as much as take a single sock out of my apartment, we`ll come get you. And then I`ll take pleasure in separating your shell from your back… one nerve at a time."
He wa almost sweating cold. He stuttered a little:
"B…bu… but who are these people?" he asked.
"I can`t tell you. But do keep an eye on the news. You`ll hear about them today."
With that, she turned on her heels and went back to the stairs, leaving a dumbfounded Arnold behind her. She chuckled to herself. She liked making that threat. It had felt really, really good.
As she went down the stairs, she tapped on the device on her wrist, fidgeting with a few functions until she found the proper communicator. She dialed a number and waited for the call to be complete. Suddenly, a white terrier appeared on the screen.
Fay seemed to be a little out of breath. Her bow wasn`t perfectly aligned with her head, and she was huffing a little. She squinted her eyes a little, before finally realizing who it was.
" Miyu?!" Fay asked. She looked to someone outside of the screen and hushed something. She adjusted the bow on her head and turned to the screen again. "Hey! I thought you might have died on that ship! Don`t ever scare me off like that again!"
"Yeah, of course. You were so worried that you are spending precious time with Bill, huh? Hi Bill." She said
"Hi, Miyu." A male voice said, out of the screen. Fay did a sharp motion. "Ouch! What was that for?"
" For nothing , sweetie." Fay turned back to the screen. "You got me, Miyu. But why are you calling me?"
" Just to tell you I got a job opportunity a few hours ago."
" Really? What?"
Miyu bit her lip. That was enough for Fay.
"Miyu, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" she said, placing her face in her other palm.
"Is Bill still there?"
"No. He went to the kitchen. What happened?"
Miyu hesitated for a bit.
" I… got involved in a dogfight. With no one else than Wolf O'Donnell." Miyu paused for a bit. Fay`s jaw hung open. Her other palm came to cover her mouth. "Next thing I know, he pays me a burger and hires me to join Star Wolf."
Fay just stared at the screen. She gulped down.
" And what are you going to do about it?" she asked, her voice a little shaken.
" I`ll join them." She said. Fay blinked.
"Wow." Fay nodded. "Any other person would tell you you were under arrest…"
"But you are not any other person, Fay." Miyu smiled. "Don`t tell it to Bill, okay?"
Fay scoffed, but Miyu could still feel her nervousness. Fay wasn`t being as understanding as Miyu thought she would have been.
" Don`t sweat it, Miyu. I`ll be quiet. Besides, if they`re back, you are going to be news pretty soon."
Miyu laughed. She waved a goodbye. Fay did as well, and they broke communications. Straightening her jacket, Miyu looked forward, out of the door. It was time to get her wings back on…
00000
Wolf was talking to Leon on the comn. He didn`t seem very happy with the fact that they had a new member.
"And a woman, at that!" the chameleon said, throwing his arms in the air.
" You have a problem with that, Leon?" Wolf asked, his arms crossed.
"Me? No. But Panther is going to go absolutely nuts over this!"
"He`ll have to get used to it. She is a good pilot. You`ve seen her fly, Leon. She`ll make an excellent addition."
" This isn`t some attempt at looking like Star Fox, is it?"
Wolf stared at the screen. Leon immediately regretted his phrase.
"No, Leon. I could care less if Star Fox has a woman among their ranks or not. All I care is that their pilots are good. Anything else you want to talk about concerning my choice for members?" at Leon`s silence, he leaned back into his chair. "I thought so. I`ll be seeing you soon. She must be arriving."
Leon nodded and shut off communications. Wolf sighed and touched his non-existant eye. Sometimes the pain still bugged him, but he had gotten used to that. What scars stayed with him, though, were very deep and he doubted they would fade.
His radar pinged, warning him of a ship coming near. He adjusted his Wolfen and looked in the direction of the ship. It was Miyu`s Interceptor. One wing of the ship, the one he tore off, was being substituted by an ugly silver wing.
"Well, she won`t be using that ship for long."
The comn panel opened. Miyu`s lynx face stared at him.
"You ready to get going?" she asked him.
" Yes. We need to make up for lost time. It`s been almost a day. I think my people are worried I died or something along those lines."
" You? Dead? I doubt it. " she flicked a few switches on her side. He engaged the max throttle of his engine.
" Follow me. We`ll be ther in no time."
They both speeded in the direction Wolf had pointed out. Wolf looked with his eye patch at the screen. Even from the screen his eye patch gave off that her heartbeat was rushed and that her pupils were dilated. She was nervous.
" Are you nervous or anxious?" he asked. When she looked at the screen in mild shock, he simply tapped his eye patch computer. "It has it`s perks."
She chuckled, and her heartbeat dropped a little. He was satisfied to see that. She would need herself steady to face Leon and Panther.
In a few hours, they were arriving at the Sargasso Space Station. He looked at the screen. Miyu had calmed down a lot. He smiled
" We`re here. Ready?" he asked. She smirked.
" Hell yes."
He pulled the throttle down, and Miyu copied him. The stars around them slowed down.
" Welcome to Sargasso." He said, before both their ships stopped completely in front of the station. Miyu was wide eyed at it`s size. From the corner of his ear, Wolf managed to listen her voice say, in an awestruck manner:
"It looks like shit."
That managed to get a chuckle out of Wolf.
Not an easy feat.
He was impressed.