Summer's Skye

Skye woke early as she did most mornings, even though today would prove to be fairly useless in doing so as there were no classes due to the recent holiday. However, with her parents being away on vacation on Papetoon, there was little to nothing that she could actually do other than sit by. Her small dormitory was just like any other student's, spare a few small posters here and there so that she did not have to stare at the bland, colorless walls every day. As she often did Skye looked into a small mirror located just above her nightstand. With a heavy sigh, the young canine reached into her tangled red hair, pulling free a pair of orange goggles that had become a permanent part of her attire since she began using her T-board for everyday travel. Her brilliant green eyes were terribly bloodshot due to the fact that she'd had a rather sleepless night as she tended to have thanks to a form of on again off again insomnia. It was tradition for her to go for a run every morning to keep up her slender, athletic build. Not nearly as curvy or flirtatious as the other ladies of her class, it was no real concern of hers how large her breasts or hips were, her body suited her just fine.

After a short shower the young lady walked back out into her room where she took time in the only place in which she had common ground with other females. After getting dressed she had donned one of her favorite suits; a top that only covered her breasts and shoulders, it was a shirt that had come into fashion with ladies her age in recent years. The orange and black half shirt was fitted with a single yellow star at the center of her chest, two small triangular holes just below the collar near each shoulder, revealed a mesh undercoat, while two similar but, larger cut outs displayed a good portion of her shoulders. The black and orange pants she wore were loose fitting, held to her sculpted hips by a pair of metal linked belts that crossed over one another. Her hands were covered by a pair of fingerless black gloves, each over the top of a hand warmer that reached to the crook of her elbow.

The one thing that she was quite unique about her attire was a necklace, an oddly shaped black leather belt around her neck fitted with a metal loop, from which dangled a small sliver plate in the shape of a globe with a lightning bolt striking it in two. As always her attire was finished by placing her goggles back over her head resting the lenses on her forehead while she brushed a bit of lint from her cream colored fur. Finally, she pinched back a handful of her dark red hair near the back of her head before wrapping it in a small black hair tie. Satisfied with her appearance even in the slightest the young canine picked up her board, wich was fitted with a small strap for carrying until she would need it, and slung it over her shoulder resting the board against her back as she exited her dorm room...

The academy had grown existentially since older times; consisting of six dormitory buildings, twenty-six hangers, and a twenty-eight story main hall. The other large buildings around the main hall, included a massive library, a rather large galley, an enormous Powerball Arena, and a fairly large gathering hall. Due to a recent wild land preservation act in the Accord, the entire grounds were covered with trees and flowers, the grass was always well manicured by the many different caretakers. She wasn't certain which it was that decided to work on a holiday, possibly an old cat named Smithy. She'd talked with the lonely old feline a number of times, he seemed to always talk about his family, and how his children had all grown and left home, most of whom had died during the Aparoid Invasion. She often brought him lunch when he was out taking his rounds of the grounds; this got her some rather hateful looks from many other young females of her class level but, a quick glance from her was usually enough to shut them all up. Instructor Lombardi often called her the toughest little bitch he'd ever met, something that she took to heart, it was one of the best compliments that she'd ever heard. Not fully certain where she'd go for the day, the young female made her way out to the streets. Even the streets of Corneria city had a habit of making a person feel tiny and insignificant. Massive buildings tended to glisten against the setting sun like they were made of so many precious stones. Having been banned from the school grounds some time ago, T-boards were heavily punishable if one was caught riding them within school grounds. However, once she made her way to the streets, Skye took a running start before whipping her T-board from her back and to the ground, where she then leaped onto the hovering vehicle, causing it to shoot forward.

With her goggles protecting her eyes from the biting winds, the canine rushed along the streets. Still unclear where it was she was headed, she knew that eventually she would find a place that would ease her mind for the day. Often enough she would spend free time such as a day away from class to visit her parents or to even do some personal training, but, today she had determined was a day to rest. Falco often told her that she worked too hard most of the time for someone that often failed at her flight tests, but excelled in her CQC training (closed quarters combat). It did seem strange to her that of all things flight was the least of her talents, but, it was something that didn't seem to bother her. She had a great grasp of most basic flight skills, but, advanced maneuvers escaped her. By the time her thinking had gotten back on track of where she was going, Skye found herself far outside of the city in a large, wide open plain that was once empty of everything spare nature itself. Though Notting Hill was the namesake for the entire surrounding area, the name itself was in part of the graveyard that rested at the top of a large foothill in the center of the plain. Skye quickly kicked up her board as she dismounted it, before swinging it around and onto the harness that held it to her back. Notting Hill was nice and far from the city, only the loudest of noises ever managed to make it out to the isolated area. It was literally the only part of the city where a person could go for a day of peace and quiet...

Being early Autumn, the grass was beaded with morning dew and the air carried a warm chill, nothing so terrible that her current attire could be deemed insufficient but, her body never really seemed to respond to cold the way others tended to. When others would claim that it was freezing out, nothing more than a tank top seemed to be enough shirt for her. Her small trek from where she'd stopped led her to a small resting spot that she used every so often. Someone had set up a very large boulder with a flat surface, while another smaller rock rested to either side of the massive stone acting as seats. Strangely the initials F.M and K.M were somehow very meticulously carved into the flat rock. After taking her seat, the young canine removed a small hand-held computer from her pocket that folded open before she set the device on the large stone table in front of her. A few of her classes required some type of normal work; essays, tests, all the work that any other school would ask of a student. Hours of peace were her rewards for being alone in such a place, as was the fact that her report, due after the extended weekend...

Skye sighed heavily, "Can't see the point to doing an essay on the Apariods..." She said leaning back and stretching her back, "...but it's done so...I could care less.

After a few moments, the canine's ear twitched toward a familiar humming sound far off in the distance; it wasn't too strange that there would be T-boarders out in this area. It was vast and open, there was plenty of space to simply ride. Eventually the sound became stronger and louder until she finally turned, only to see a streak of blue shoot by, as a strange T-board slid across the top of the stone table, leaving nothing of her small computer but a small mess of plastic and glass. Three more shot by before the canine scooped up the remains of the small device...

"Fifty pages ..." She gasped, "... fifty, god damned pages … gone."

Watching the four that had destroyed her hard work, the now enraged canine stood up and turned to the group. The figure in the lead suddenly seemed to scale his board up the side of a thick tree before managing to flip back over the group. It was a maneuver that she'd seen several times performed by professionals. Despite the incredible sight however, she watched on as the blue figure shot back toward her. Clearly his wasn't the fault of her hard work being destroyed, rather it was the three chasing after him. Skye slowly folded her arms over her chest and waited. Before the blue fellow could reach her she held out a single hand signaling for him to stop, which he did rather expertly sliding his board to a sideways halt before jumping off and moving around behind her. As if they'd seen a ghost, the three boarders chasing after the blue furred kid parted looping back around in order to stop. One look at the smug face of the black furred panther standing before her was enough to make her laugh...

"Robert Caruso," She scoffed, "so when did they let your sorry ass out of juvenile? You know you and your two..." She laughed at the tiger and wolf that were with him, "...well whatever you three are to each other. You all owe me a new Perso-com, and a fifty-page essay on the Aparoid Invasion."

The panther hopped off of his T-board, "And what are you gonna do about it?"

Skye smiled brightly, "Did I hit you so hard last time that you can't remember trying to crawl away? You know these two pussies never even tried to stop me?"

Robert took a step back toward his board, "You know what? Little cunt like you is eventually gonna find herself in a situation you can't talk your way out of."

Skye laughed, "Oh you mean … like your mother the night she met your dad right?"

"You're fucking dead Summer," The panther jabbed a finger at her, "mark my words, you are one dead bitch."

The canine sighed heavily as she watched three bullies speed off before turning around. The blue fox standing behind her was thig for a male. Not very muscular at all; his face carried very delicate features much more feminine than most males his age by far. His sapphire blue fur accented his jade green eyes, and the only real bit of hair he had was a strip of white parting the center of his skull. As he stood there the young male held out his hands, clearly offering her the Perso-com that he had...

"Sorry … bout that ..." He apologized weakly, "... he's sort of had it in for me since we were little...er. I'm the one that smashed your com though, so you should just take mine."

Skye shook her head, "Don't bother. I hate that asshole so much …" She said watching the three tearing off through the plain back toward the city.

"Was … all of that true?" The fox asked, "did you really beat him up?"

Skye chuckled, "Sort of … we have the same CQC instructor. He got a little..." She said squeezing her right breast in the palm of her hand, "... grabby, during our sparring match. So I … might have broken his arm," She laughed, "Instructor Lombardi thought it was funny as hell."

The blue fox thought for a moment as he dusted himself off, "Oh … if you're one of Falco's students I'm in luck. I just got placed in his CQC training myself. I'm …" He smiled bashfully as he rubbed the back of his neck, "... not very hands on. I have heard of you thought, you're Summer Skye aren't you?"

Skye shook her head, "Just Skye. Summer was just some sort of idiotic idea my parent's had at elaborate wordplay. You know, Summer's Sky. Dad used to say that it was because I reminded him of the summer time. It was dorky, but, that's dad."

The blue fox chuckled, "Abash she lays upon summer sky, with beauty grand and pure ..."

Skye cocked an eyebrow at the strange male, "Dad used to say that all the time."

The fox laughed, "Your father must love to read. That line is from my favorite play ..." He suddenly shook his head as he held a hand out to her, "... I'm sorry I keep forgetting my manners. I'm Marcus. I wish I could thank you for making those three go away. Like I said before, Caruso has had some sort of problem with me ever since my dad beat up his dad."

Skye smiled as she picked up her board, "Well, you can start by teaching me that drop turn you pulled off of that tree back there."

Marcus chuckled, "Alright … that sounds fair enough."

Several hours passed with the canine attempting the trick over and over, twenty or thirty times unsuccessfully. Finally, she stood on her board, some distance from the tree they decided to use …

"The trick is to cut your Air Coil off just before you level out with the tree, or wall, or whatever you're going to drop turn off of," Marcus pointed out, "that way when your gravitational sync kicks back on it'll think you're still on solid ground for a few seconds."

With a confident nod, the canine shot toward the tree; however, this time as she drew the board up alongside the tree's trunk. She released the throttle under her heel causing the board to stall, before driving her heel back down. She let out a surprised shriek as the board suddenly shot up the tree trunk leaving her behind roughly fifteen feet in the air. Marcus quickly rushed to her side as he watched her body fall to the thick grass. As he finally reached her he smiled shaking his head as he realized she was laughing inwardly before finally letting it out loud enough to hear across the plains...

"I … I think … I got it …" She said between laughs.

After a short laugh Marcus checked a small watch he wore, "Wow. I told mom I'd be home hours ago. If you're hungry … I do still kinda owe you one."

Skye smiled shaking her head, "No, but thanks. I've got a fifty-page report to rewrite by morning."

"I can help you with that." Marcus replied.

Skye sighed, "No, trust me you've done enough for me. I'll see you in CQC tomorrow Marcus it was nice talking to ya. Just try to stay away from Robert Caruso till then."

"Normally he'd have never caught me off guard like that," Marcus sighed, "I was distracted."

Skye nodded, "Good, then I'll see you some other time kid."

Each of the two of them sped off on their individual board, Skye herself rushed off toward her dorm, stopping only to pick up a bit of food from a favorite burger shack. Thought it wasn't a great practice to eat greasy, fatty, meaty foods, there were simply some habits that she didn't care to break. Actual desk work such as her essay always felt like being hit by a tranquilizer. It seemed like only a few hours passed before she was found by a white furred she wolf. Snow had actually been sharing the dorm with her since the first year she'd been in the academy. The lupine was just about the closest thing to what Skye considered calling a friend … even though they had little to nothing in common they seemed to find common ground no matter how different they were. Snow often voiced her sympathy for her canine roommate. She excelled in CQC to the point that she was the top of her class, and her book work seemed to be standard at best, but, where she seemed the most determined to achieve, she constantly fell behind. She was certain that Skye wouldn't even notice that she hadn't finished her essay until early the next morning …

… The Next Morning …

Skye woke and put together what she could of the report she had currently written; as late as she was she'd be forced to run to get to her first classes. It was strange this particular morning however, as every student she walked by seemed to be reading some sort of print out. Whatever the print out was, it seemed to cause everyone reading it to look back to her as she rushed by toward her class. Though she admitted to not having changed out of the clothes that she wore when she met Marcus, there was nothing that should have got her the kind of attention that she was getting. When Skye finally stepped into her history class, every eye in the room, even the black feathered avian that stood behind his desk seemed to all turn toward her., causing her to pat down her hair …

"Did I forget something?"

The raven standing behind the teacher's desk smiled, "No no. I was actually waiting to see you," He said holding up a copy of the print out that everyone seemed to be reading, "this report is amazing. It's informative, poetic, historically accurate. I had no idea you knew the McClouds. I really hope you do not mind that I printed out so many copies but this was truly something that people simply must read."

Skye shook her head, "No Mister Nevermore," She replied, "it's fine, I just wasn't expecting all of this … I didn't really get a lot of sleep last night."

"Well don't worry about that," The bird replied, "Mister Lombardi wanted to see you this morning anyhow. He claimed it was important … usually when he says so, it is. So you go ahead and meet him in hanger sixteen. I've already called to inform him that you'll be late, but, I will call to inform him that you are on your way."

Slowly leaving the room, the canine gave no one open time to stop her in order to ask questions about her report. With the thought that her instructor wanted to see her about something important caused her to sprint through the halls, not bothering to take the elevator the four floors down to the main lobby. Even though the hangers were located at the far end of the Academy campus, the young female made short work on a long run, as she rushed through the open grounds, not bothering to go around the fences that barred her path. Her jumping abilities had put her through more than one athletic competition, and easily caused her to soar over whatever fence barred her path, even the taller ones that required a short bit of climbing. Finally, after about a five-minute run, Skye ground her heels to a halt in front of the massive metal structure where a familiar blue feathered falcon stood with a communicator held to his ear …

"Never mind here she is," He said folding up the small communicator, "nice work on that report. Funny though, the part about the Semi-Sweet Extrapolation of Self-given Superiority sort of sounded like something that a familiar friend of mine may have said," He chuckled, "you know Marcus was home schooled since he was four? By none other than Professor Slippy Toad; but, that's not why I called you here." He said turning and heading into the empty hanger where he often held his CQC classes.

"Why exactly did you call me away from class?" She asked wiping the sweat from her brow.

Falco chuckled, "Someone here wanted to meet you. See this was originally his class, but, he and his wife had to take care of some business in Stygian. Something about a revolt against the current general. He hasn't officially taken the class back over due to some sort of legal matters. Still wants to meet you for good reasons though."

Following the avian into the hanger, it was easy for anyone to see why he would choose such a place for his classes. It was open, empty, and full of heavy training equipment. Far off at the very end of the room, a large bodied, chestnut furred fox worked over a massive heavy bag. His fists and feet both moved like nothing she'd ever seen before. Had the bag been a living enemy, there was no chance that it would have been living after long. Suddenly the muscular vulpine took a step back before spinning toward the target. The kick that landed sounded off like a gunshot actually causing the canine to cover her sensitive ears. Her heart instantly leaped into her throat, there was only one person in the entire Lylat system known to throw a kick that could spell instant death were it to connect. He stood stretching his neck before removing the black visor style shades he wore; finally turning around, Skye looked onto the face of the most famous mercenary of the mercenary age, Fox McCloud …

"Whoo …" He hooted at Falco, "… felt good to get that outta my system. I've been pent up in a ship for six freak'n days."

Falco laughed, "Yeah right, like you weren't using every minute of that time to …" He paused looking to Skye then back to Fox, "…entertain Krystal."

Fox laughed, "Falco you know as well as I do. I'm not the dominant one in our relationship; I'd never use the term rape against a woman but, in Krystal's case it's been a close call once or twice."

Skye paused in step, "No disrespect Sir but...fucking eww."

Fox laughed as he shook the girl's hand, "Nice to meet you too...Summer, right?"

Falco shook his head, "Skye."

"Skye then," Fox replied nodding in agreement, "I think I owe you a thanks for helping my son. He's not much of a fighter at the moment. I was sort of hoping that being surrounded by others his own age would help him learn a little faster. I talked to Falco about it. Did you really make Robert Caruso lick the floor mats of this hanger?"

Skye placed her hand over her smile, "Only two of them."

Fox chuckled looking to Falco, "Wow. You're right she does remind me of her," He said looking back to Skye, "listen. I've been hired by the Academy to pick out a group for Spec Ops training. So I'm going to be sitting in on this class for the next few weeks," He said handing her a clip board, "I'd appreciate you helping me look for general characters around campus to sign up. Obviously I can't be everywhere all at once, and I prefer only the toughest I can find when it comes to Spec Ops as I used to be involved in it myself."

"Viper Unit twenty-one, thirty-six," Skye replied, "tactical reconnaissance and intelligence."

Fox's eyes went wide as he looked to Falco, "I told you man. She eats, breaths, and bleeds this shit."

"In that case I'm looking for five individuals," Fox replied, "I need a mechanic, an intelligence officer, a combat specialist, and at least two first class pilots."

"Can I ask what exactly this is for?" Skye asked looking over the sheet of paper.

Fox laughed, "Course you can. Doesn't mean I can give you and answer but, you can ask all you want."

Skye looked over the list, "Hmmm..." She thought, "...I think I should warn you that I don't know a lot of people here."

Fox sighed heavily, "Look, this unit is a special project," He thought for a moment, "I'm risking a lot just saying anything to someone so young about it. This particular assignment is actually going to prove something about you too."

"Like what?" Skye asked.

Fox shook his head, "Not important, right now, I just want you to focus on getting me those names. If there's a problem with that I could always find another candidate to do this for me, after all it is Falco sticking his neck out for you here."

"No, no, no..." The canine replied shaking her head, "I just wanted to know everything that I could learn about this before I got in over my head. This shouldn't be too hard at all actually."

Fox smiled, "That's actually incredibly responsible of you. I like that. When you finish the list just hand it in to Falco, he'll bring it to me."

Skye nodded, "Sure thing, sir."

Falco chuckled, "Well, since you're doing this for Fox, go ahead and get outta here for the day. We're just doing paperwork for the day anyhow. Standardized testing sucks ass but, it's necessary..." He sighed, "...I guess."

Paperwork being the canine's mortal enemy, Skye was gone in what seemed like a flash. One of two of the required fields were a mechanic, and an intelligence officer; figuring she could kill two birds with one stone, she'd simply visit the R&D facility on the eastern section of the campus. Viewing the world through her goggles as the wind tore through her fur, a few miles was nothing at all to her T-board. It was one of her most valued possessions, the most up to date piece of tech she had, it had cost her more money than her education thus far. She may have been one of the worst pilots that Academy had ever seen, but, when it came to her T-board, she seemed to be a complete natural...

All of a sudden the young lady took a quick notice of the open space in front of her, which was no longer open as a short, barrel chested toad stepped in front of her. With a quick motion of her front foot, the board shifted, unfortunately, the only path left for the board to travel was into a large, brick planting pot that divided the walkway. The instant stop of the speeding board sent Skye through the tree's branches, when her body met the cement walkway, before rolling into the far wall of the building she'd been headed for. Her impact with the wall has left Skye in a seated position, for a moment she didn't move at all until a rather low tone voice caught her attention...

"...ey! You alright!?"

The canine shook her head as she came to, it was one of the lesser amounts of time she'd ever spent unconscious but, that didn't seem to concern her at the moment, "My...board..." She muttered.

The toad that stood over her pulled the western style hat from his head, "I'm really sorry but, that thing's totaled," He said pulling something from his bag, "look, take mine. I really should have watched where I was going."

Skye shook her head, "Look you don't have..." She paused as she looked to the folded up board, "...is this what I think it is?"

"Yep, Vortex..." The toad replied, "...relative of mine invented it so, I'll just get a new one tomorrow. Look, the infirmary is just down this way. I'm actually late to give a tour of the facility to someone."

Skye laughed, "Nice to meet you then."

The toad froze, "You're kidding right?" He laughed, "well shit on me," He said easily pulling the canine to her feet, "you must be Summer Skye. Name's Artimus Toad, most people call me Art."

Skye shook her head, "Skye please. I hate that first name."

Art laughed, "Really? How you think I feel about being called Artimus?"

"Fair enough, Art." Skye replied, "so where do you wanna start this tour?" She asked.

"How about the infirmary?"

Skye shook her head, "I've taken worse shots to the head trust me. Though to tell you the truth," She said rubbing her backside, "that fall hurt my ass more than it did my head."

Art looked the young female over, "Um, this is not meant to be disrespectful, but..." He motioned toward her, "...you always dress with so much...body exposed."

Skye shrugged her shoulders, "It's in fashion. That and it doesn't block off any movements in CQC why?"

Art laughed, "You'll find out when we enter the first class room. See, the more inclined a person is toward intellect, the more often their social life tends to suffer," He pointed out as they walked, "I actually did a study on it a while back. What I proved was that in most cases, the higher your IQ the longer a person seems to remain a virgin. It was an unorthodox study but, it yielded some...strange results."

Skye laughed inwardly, "I see what you're getting at," She smiled, "most guys like you aren't used to seeing a fit female body. Is that what you're getting at?"

Art nodded, "More or less."

Their trip around the campus seemed to yield nothing too great, apparently as she discovered, most people on this end of the campus tended to lean more toward studies than toward actual activity. Here the other end of the campus was already bustling with cadets engaging in small talk, games, whatever could pass the time between their courses. However, as Art decided to point out, cadets working on R&D were all under grants, which meant that if you fell too far behind your allotted GPA you would lose your grant and therefor no longer be able to afford your courses. Most of the time with her hands in her pockets, the young canine followed behind her guide; he pointed out what parts of the campus were for what, and where certain classes were used to do certain things within the military, but, of all things she was waiting to see the mechanics. Oddly, no matter where they went someone seemed to be asking the heavy set toad for some sort of advice. Until finally they came to the part of the tour that she'd been waiting for...

"Now, Uncle Fox said that this was a special tour," He said as they stopped in front of a large hanger, "most of the time no outsiders are allowed into this hanger, but, Uncle Fox and Aunt Krystal are never wrong so. In we go," He paused as he pushed the door open, "actually I'm glad you're here. This is a group of cadets that actually really needs a lesson in outside interferences."

Skye chuckled with a sigh, "Apparently, smart and horny isn't a good mix."

Art laughed out loud, "No, but, it's usually the case," He said bowing slightly, "ladies."

Skye smiled as she walked by, it was sometimes nice to be treated like a female, as long as such was not implied that she was weak or inferior. Upon enter the room however, she felt anything but as she could hear a number of metal instruments rattle to the ground in response to her entering the room. The hanger was no smaller than the one where Falco taught CQC, but, instead of nothing, this hanger was filled with a number of fighters. Skye instantly went wide eyed...

"Wow..." She said looking to an old gull wing class fighter, "...is that an RF-2G? I thought they were all decommissioned."

The orange furred feline that had currently been working on something beneath the ship seemed to simply have his eyes locked on her exposed midsection, wile a strange low-pitched squeal came from his agape mouth...

"Whoo hoo..." Skye chuckled waving her hand in front of his face, "...hello in there. Art I think we lost him."

The toad stood behind the cat and cleared his throat causing the feline to instantly leap back to life, "Yes!" He seemed to nearly scream, "this is the RF-2G Pegasus-SE. It was the very first fighter introduced by Arspace Dynamics into the Cornerian Navy, and was flown by personal militia as well as military personnel. It's engine could put out more than one point six hundred thousand pounds of thrust. The model was also the first to integrate the integral G-diffuser system into a stabilized flight environment . The weapons system was consistent of the first T&B H-1 Ion powered Laser system, and a standard T&B R-1000 smart bomb launcher. Most of them were flown stock, as personalization of the ships was deemed nearly impossible...furthermore..."

"Malcolm!" Art shouted, "this is what I meant about letting your mind wander. You don't even know what you're prattling on about," He laughed, "be honest you're not even listening to me right now are you? Just staring at the pretty girl. So what would you have to say if I were to tell you that she," He said looking to Skye, "was from the Lylatian Grant Society?"

Malcolm froze again as hie eyes moved to the toad, "She's...the...what?"

"She isn't," Art replied shaking his head, "but, look at all of you. One attractive female enters the room, and you all fall apart. I even see a few of the ladies in here that are having trouble," He shook his head, "I'm graduating in three weeks. I've been trying to teach you all to handle these kind of things but, apparently, you'll all just have to learn the rest on your own."

Skye took a look at the large cylindrical object that was on Malcolm's table, "That an NTD-FX1. Take that out of this ship?" She asked looking to the old fighter.

The cat smiled, "Wait, you know about the NTD series engines?"

Skye chuckled, "I'm no mechanic but if if flies or hovers I pretty much know everything on it or in it. They weren't the strongest engines but, they were a lot safer than the FX2 series."

Malcolm nodded, "Well the FX4 was pretty good but I think it had the biggest issues, that was why they trashed it for the FX-Z."

"Yeah but, they'll just bring out another one in a few years and make the Z useless too," She chuckled, "they need to just introduce interchangeable engines that way they'll all fit into the same fighters."

It was as he stood there that Art took out a small notebook before jotting something down on it, "Hmm...not a bad idea," He nodded, "ships with reverse compatibility toward older engine models. Has my vote."

Several more stations were visited before Art led Skye out of the room and to several more buildings. There were plenty of candidates for the mechanic that she was looking for but, sadly, none of the ones she met there stood out. Of all the crap that could have wasted her day, nothing came to her at all. However, something began to trail through her mind as she took to her new T-board; she had met someone that met the criteria that Fox McCloud was looking for, even if she hadn't noticed it. Shortly before setting down her stuff down for the night the canine jotted down the name of the first person on her list...Artimus Toad...