Chapter VIII- The first challenge
Fox arrived at the motel. Stopping his car at the parking lot.
Going into the reception, the electronic interface greeted him:
"Welcome to Just Sleep motel. We have rooms to let you sleep in! Please choose the services you wanted us to help you with. I'm in charge for the receptionist was taking a small break."
As the screen popped up: "Rooms, Inquiries, Rules and guidelines"
Fox chose the option rooms, and a couple of room numbers showed up on the screen:001-999.
"I'll choose 216." Said he."
The computer then processed a while, and said:
"Please step in. And we'll scan your face to recognize your bank account."
The machine processed for a while, then said: "Mr. Fox Mccloud. Identity confirmed. Please enjoy your stay. The fee will be deducted day by day during your stay."
He then walked up to his room.
When he walked up to the room, it really is not as good as he thought. It was only an ordinary area with an ordinary bed, a small table, a washroom with a medicine cabinet with a couple of painkillers, sterilizers, and Panadol pills.
"Well, this is pretty everything I've got."
When he put the laptop on the table, he opened it and discovered that there are five folded hearts that are hidden in the laptop. They are in red, orange, yellow, green and blue.
Fox immediately opened the first heart. The red one.
Inside it had a picture of a couple kissing. A piece of realistic art. However, when Fox took away the picture, inside was an electronic code. The type to unlock starships.
The side behind the picture wrote: "Are you ready to show your bravery to save your lover?"
He then knew exactly where he should go: the Coneria Spaceport. Where the ships are docked and are ready to run quick and smooth.
He then took the code, grab his coat, wore it on, and set abroad to the spaceport.
Arriving at the place he desired after an hour, who he saw is not an electronic interface. It is a living creature.
"Greetings! How can I help you!" Said he when he went to the reception.
"Uh, I wanted to get this..." Said he, as he took out his code towards the receptionist.
"Alright. Your ship is in the second area, 3rd floor. Have a nice day."
He then proceeded to where he should go. Then saw the ship when the electronic code showed that it was the right one.
The ship is a slender shaped, electro-force engine aircraft which reassembled the looks of the F-15 fighter. The ship powers itself by releasing particles then polarize it with a negative charge while also gives the back hull the same charge, releasing a huge force to push the ship forward by the repulsive force of the particle and the hull.
When he entered the cockpit of the spacecraft, there was a UCD (Universal location device) . He turned it on, the machine then responded to him.
"Hello. I hope that you are ready to save your lover. Please follow my instructions for the challenge. Maneuver the ship from the parking spot, then proceed to the location that we wanted to you to go to."
The UCD pinpointed a location, a satellite belt which is not too far from Coneria. But that location is quite dangerous and even an experienced pilot like Fox may end up crashing there. Plus, flying there is restricted. so Fox risks a factor of getting caught of flying in that area.
After arriving there without being seen, the device spoke.
"Are you ready to show your bravery to save your lover?" After pausing a while. The voice spoke again.
"Your objective is to fly back to Coneria with a special path. Be aware of police forces that are patrolling. Good luck. Setting coordinates..."
It was a beautiful scene seeing so many stars in the background. However, some asteroids in front of you may not be such a good idea. He had to fly through the field in the longest way plus it must be done within 5 minutes which is a 100km journey plus whooshing back to Coneria avoiding police forces. That means he needed to get to 333 meters per second, which is sonic speed.
"Will I do it? I may die." He thought.
But he cannot quit now. He wanted to save Krystal. He really did.
He looked at the photo of the two kissing again. He promised that he would make himself and Krystal the couple.
"It's now or never. Let's see what I still have after the Angular Blitz!"
He then pushed the throttle to maximum immediately. Plus making the craft rush through with the speed of 344 meters per second.
The first part of the route is really not that rough as Fox was not the center of the field yet. However, except those rocks, Fox have to avoid scavengers and diamond companies trying to find something good over there.
It was one minute, going at the speed of sound, 20km was flown. Fox tried to find for the fire trigger, but when he pulled the trigger, nothing fired out. This either is a reconnaissance craft, or a special one that has no guns to clear out the path.
"Will this be the end of me?" Thought Fox.
But this off guard had made him bump into a rock. The craft trembled, and lost control. Spinning at a clockwise direction.
Fox's pilot instinct is not gone yet. For he already pulled the handling stick to the anti-clockwise direction, trying to neutralize the spin, and when the device told him that he was off-course, he managed to get back to it.
"Goodness gracious!" Said he.
However, this antic had made him lost 10 seconds. And Fox had to hurry up.
Activating the overdrive, the craft flew at 150% sonic speed. However, Fox was in the most dangerous part of the asteroid field. He turned left, right and did a couple of barrel rolls even though it did not produce electromagnetic shields and his legs hurt. (At least he can rush through tight spaces.)
"You have one minute left and 20km from the destination!" Said the device.
Fox finally managed to go to the last of the asteroid field. When suddenly he saw a couple of Earth Federation "Vulture" starfighters that were issued from the Interstellar Defense Department of Coneria.
"No! Not the patrol units!" Said he.
As Fox's craft flew by, those starfighters turned on their siren lights. Chasing Fox back to Coneria.
"You have succeeded the task. Please break the UCD to get your reward."
Fox had succeeded. For now. He was being chased by a couple of starfighters. He ought to get rid of them. Or he will go to the Conerian prison.
The police seemed to have communication to the radio inside Fox's aircraft. As he heard: "You have reached the restricted zone of Conerian space-zone! Please immediately stop, and cruise with..."
Fox already put a couple of signal flares to those fighters, knowing that he will never go with them. He had gone so far, that he would not want to go to the police station and go to jail.
Fox pushed the engine to maximum and now it is flying at two mach. Piercing straight to the atmosphere, not knowing that the police who were chasing him had their computer systems paralyzed by the flares. (The flares are magnetized.)
Knowing that the cops are gone, and the craft had made its way back to Coneria, he was so happy that he pulled up.
He pulled up at 3 mach. With his legs made back of flesh and blood.
Fox immediately blacked out and bumped into the screen.
However, he regained his senses quite quickly. For when he blacked out and lost consciousness, his head bumped right on to the de-acceleration module. So the craft decreased its speed quickly.
That was when Fox had regained his senses. But when he regained them he saw that he was diving to a straight road.
Although he tried to pull up (again), it only decreased the angle of the craft flying to the ground, but did not do much. The plane crashed to the ground.
But luckily, that crash did not make the craft explode, but just made the computer systems fail. The craft is not usable anymore. But there was a fire lit at the engine compartment of the craft, which was very dangerous for the fire can lighten up the fuel section and make the craft explode into smithereens.
Fox, unaware of that, used his full strength to crack the UCD. But there was little to no avail. Finally, he went desperate and threw it to the window, the UCD broke. And a transmitting device fell out. Those that can enable a few seconds of visual from a certain camera.
But he had to hurry. For he had to get out of the craft before it explodes. Fox then tried to kick open the side window. But it failed. Fox then realized that he had brought his gun. So he fired at the window. Probably the bullet is in high incendiary. The window burst into pieces after exploding. Plus letting Fox escape from the craft.
After he escaped, he took out his laptop that he brought, he inserted the device into the USB port.
And there Krystal was.
In a well. She was floating on water that had been accumulated by the rain. She was talking something. She cried out:
"Fox, where are you? It's cold in here! Falco! Hyacinth! Save me, any of you..."
The recording then ended. Plus it appeared a group of numbers and letters with lots of blanks.
"That may be useful." Said Fox. As he tried to memorize the letters and numbers. But he can't.
A blue Nissan Skyline appeared at the road out of nowhere. It stopped in front of Fox in a drift.
Fox was worried that it was the government people. But who came out was a blue figure who is feather-ish. Wearing a pair of sunglasses.
That figure took off his sunglasses. It was Falco. With his distinguish mark of red around his eyes.
"Get in the car." He said.
"But..."
"Quit that talking. The starfighters are coming up. Come on in. This car has a demagnetizing device. You must get rid of the magnetic tracer they pinpointed you."
Fox then got in the car.
Falco said: "Fasten your seatbelts. Cause this thing is a real baby in speed."
As he stepped on the gas pedal, then went away. The craft? It exploded when Falco drove far. Releasing a huge bang.