Chapter 25
Fox let out a long yawn, his mouth opening wide and long tongue curling back as he walked down the hallway towards the medical bay. Goddamn, he wished this day would end already. It reminded him of the long months of the Lylat Wars, where he could only steal a few hours of sleep at most at any given time. By necessity, he became a master at falling asleep fast and jumping back awake as needed. It wasn't so easy to do that anymore, now that he was older. Ah well… He supposed he could suffer a little longer through one more interrogation. This wasn't anything compared to the Lylat Wars or the Aparoid Invasion.
The door to the medical bay whooshed aside, revealing a stark white room with bright lights. The glare blinded him, his tired eyes blinking a few times to clear away the blurriness. As he waited for his vision to clear, the songs of chirping Cloudrunners filled the air, along with leaves rustling in the wind and the distant roar of a waterfall, complemented by the trickling of a brook, and the calls of Earthwalkers and Thorntails. The scent of wet dirt, fresh grass, and exotic flowers reached his nostrils.
Of course all of that was out of place for a medical bay, but Fox wasn't surprised by it. The entire far wall was a screen—a holo wall—that could be changed to display various scenes of nature from across Lylat, to create a more relaxing atmosphere for the injured and sick. Right now, it showed a scene from Thorntail Hollow on Sauria at dusk, accompanied by artificial sound effects and smells. Thorntails leisurely moved across the screen, munching on the grass, while the palm trees swayed in the wind and the water in the stream burbled past. Fox let out a sigh. It reminded him Krystal wasn't here.
Oh well, he still had a job to do.
He strode past the empty beds towards Sauria on the far side of the room, the walk taking a considerable amount of time. Given the Great Fox II used to be a full-sized Cornerian carrier, with a personnel capacity exceeding Star Fox's needs by thousands, many rooms on the ship spread out as massive, empty spaces. Fox didn't like that, given it drove home the loneliness of being in space without a big crew. He did have more company now, but Fara was on loan from the Cornerian Navy, and Falco was a free spirit, so both of them would probably leave after the mission was complete. Maybe them failing to get back the case was a blessing, in a way.
At the far end of the room, near the holo wall, Fox spotted three figures at the only occupied bed in the room.
Nail laid in the bed, blankets drawn over him with an oxygen mask over his face, his strange gray body suit laying across a table nearby. They'd torn it off of him so the auto doc could better heal his injuries. Fox had never seen anything like it, and Canma claimed it had saved Nail's life when he fell from several stories above into the river. Fox had told Peppy about it, and the hare had expressed some interest in seeing it.
Meanwhile, Canma sat in a chair off to one side, grasping Nail's hand, her eyes never leaving him. Red tinged her eyes, dried streams of tears visible on the fur below.
Fara sat on the other side of the bed, near the teleconferencing machine they'd used to interrogate Tadao. While she'd forgone coffee before, Fox noted she had a steaming cup nearby. She'd even gone to the trouble of setting up a coffee machine on a nearby nightstand. How thoughtful. As Fox took a seat, Fara smiled and passed him a cup.
Fox grinned. "Thanks." He took a drink, the hot liquid rejuvenating him.
"Peppy and Stan are talking about something on their end." Fara explained. "I'm waiting for them to call back."
Canma's attention remained laser focused on Nail, not acknowledging them. She seemed smitten with the mysterious canine, as the Thorntail Hollow scene continued to play out on the wall behind the pair.
"You chose the theme?" Fox whispered sideways to her.
"No." Fara shook her head. "Canma did. I remembered the sick bays on some of these ships had the holo wall feature, so I asked her if she wanted it on. She picked Sauria."
Fox grimaced. However, the theme reminded him he still had something to ask Canma, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. Finishing off the cup of coffee, Fox cleared his throat, hoping to get her attention.
She didn't react, remaining still as a statue, eyes still locked on Nail.
"Ahem… Canma."
Her ears rotated a bit, before her face turned to Fox. "Umm… yes, Fox?" She appeared confused, as if woken up from some kind of trance.
"Got a question for you."
Canma looked at the switched off teleconferencing machine, puzzled. "But what about your general, Peppy Hare? Don't you want him listening in?"
Even though he was a general, it sounded odd for Canma to mention it. Fox still wasn't used to thinking of him as one. "Nah." Fox shook his head. "This is a little more… personal."
"Personal?" Canma raised her eyebrow.
Fara's eyes fixed on Fox as well, intrigued by what he was about to ask.
Fox leaned forward, his palms pressed together. "So you said you're from the Diaspora system, right? Do you know anything about a Cerinian colony there?" He gestured to himself and Canma. "You know… Cerinians… foxes, like us, but strange colors? Like blue? And they've got telepathic powers?"
The gray vixen's face went blank, no movement on it except for her blinking a few times. Fox couldn't discern what she was thinking. "Cerinians, you said?" She said 'Cerinians' like she wasn't sure if she heard him right.
"Yeah."
"Blue foxes…" She appeared lost, shaking her head. "Are you joking? I've never heard of anything like that. Sounds ridiculous to me."
"Me neither… until a couple years ago." Fox gazed at the image of Thorntail Hollow on the wall. He remembered how he'd taken Krystal's staff out of the ground near that brook, in the midst of all the flowers. It was the first time he'd heard her voice, the subliminal message within the staff teaching him how to wield it within seconds. Even though it was only a recording, her voice had been so sweet and musical to his ears…
Standing up and walking around the bed, Fox pulled out his wallet and removed a picture, holding it out to Canma. Despite being relatively new, the photo was covered with creases and folds, since he'd pulled it out so much. It was a smaller version of the photo he kept on his nightstand, the one showing him and Krystal going hiking on Sauria together.
"She's Krystal," he said, as Canma took the photo from him. "I found her on Sauria, that planet behind you. She's a Cerinian. She lived on this ship."
Canma was astonished as she looked at Krystal. No doubt the blue fur color had taken her by surprise. "She used to be here? What happened to her?" Her eyes became laser focused on Fox, hanging onto his words.
"Cerinia was destroyed a few years ago. She thought she was the only survivor, until she heard about rumors of a colony in the Diaspora system." Fox clenched his fist, ears and lips curling back. "I let her go look for it."
Canma looked at him, a sad look on her face. "She was your mate?"
Fox closed his eyes, nodding. A year ago that question would've embarrassed him. Now it reminded him of what he'd lost. "We're not married yet, but we were thinking about when to do it." A tear threatened to come out of his eye. The last day he'd seen her kept replaying in his head, as he turned her loose into the great unknown. "I wanted her to be happy. She's told me so much about Cerinia, about how it's gone now, and she wants to see someone, anyone from her old planet… I thought it'd be good to let her have some time away, but she's been gone so long I'm worried something has happened to her." He clenched his fists.
Canma stood up, handing the photograph back to him. She seemed conflicted about how to reply. "If she went to Thaljista, do you want to know what I truthfully think happened to her, Fox?" A dark look crossed her face. "I warn you…you won't like it."
Fox's eyes hardened. Am I ready to face the truth? Do I want to know? He clenched his teeth. No, I won't hide from the truth. I have to own up to my mistakes. He nodded for her to continue.
"Okay… Don't say I didn't warn you." Canma cleared her throat, preparing herself for what she was about to say. "Thaljista's in the middle of a civil war. There's been a ceasefire on for the past two years, but it's still a dangerous place, especially if you're not a cat. Royalist units on our border don't mind breaking the cease fire to shoot at non-cats on the other side, even though Queen Kula ordered them not to. We've had to re-staff the whole border with cats only." She sounded tired as she recounted all of this, like it was a fact of life for her. Yet that made it more chilling, with how casual she recounted the details. "The Outer Territories are full of bandits, warlords, and outlaws taking advantage of the war to do whatever they please… destroying villages, killing, robbing and…" Her flat voice cracked as she clenched her jaw. "…enslaving. It almost happened to me a few times, because of my species." She cast a long glance at Nail.
Slavery… You didn't hear that word in Lylat much anymore. There wasn't much of a reason to even have slaves now, given current technology was so good at handling laborious, mundane tasks slaves would have been tasked with centuries prior. How backwards was Thaljista if slavery was still a thing there? Could that have been Krystal's fate?
Fox wiped a hand over his face, sweat beading on his fur. He wobbled on his feet, unable to stomach what he might have condemned Krystal to by letting her leave. Hands touched his shoulders, steadying him. Fox looked up to see Canma guiding him to her chair. He nodded his thanks as he sat, looking as his feet as he clutched his arms around himself, trying to stop himself shaking in terror. What could he do to save Krystal now? Was it already too late?
"I'm terribly sorry, Fox." Canma brought another chair around, sitting next to him. She put an arm around his back. "I wish I had good news for you, but nothing good is coming out of Thaljista these days. Hasn't been for a long time." She looked like she wanted to say more, but hesitated. Perhaps she thought she'd said enough already.
She was smart to stop there, since Fox had difficulty bearing what was said already. He almost wished he hadn't asked Canma anything about what was happening on Thaljista. A dull droning noise pounded in his head, repeating every second or so, making him feel like he had a headache. He rubbed at his head.
"…Fox, Fox…"
Did he hear someone, or was he imagining it? It sounded like his name…
"Fox…" Someone shook his shoulder.
Fox glanced up, seeing Fara there with a worried look in her eyes, Canma standing beside her. The two vixens glanced at each other before turning back to him. He could still hear the droning noise in the background. It was the ringing of the teleconferencing machine.
"Fox, are you still up for the… interrogation?" Fara and Canma exchanged an awkward look.
Oh, yeah… they were supposed to interrogate Canma, weren't they? He'd forgotten already. None of them looked like they wanted to do it now, though. Fox kept listening to the ringing. Peppy was waiting. They still needed to see if Canma knew anything about what was in the case or where it was going, although now that was the farthest thing from Fox's mind right now.
"Fox, I can handle the interrogation on my own if you aren't up for it." Fara said. "Maybe—"
"No." Fox raised a hand. "No, I have to do this." He refused to believe Krystal was dead or enslaved. She was tougher than that. But if he was going to go after her, he needed money to fund the trip. And if he was going to get money, he needed to get the damn case back. He couldn't sit out on this interrogation. Both his and Krystal's futures depended on it.
Fox stood up and walked to a nearby panel, pushing a button. The sounds of the Sauria scene vanished, while the smells dissipated. With one more button push, nothing remained behind Canma but a stark white wall. She glanced at the white, letting out a sigh. Fox didn't like making the peaceful illusion go away either, but they needed to remove all distractions for the interrogation. He resumed his spot near the teleconferencing machine, leaving Canma all alone by herself. She looked across the bed at Fox and Fara, almost like it was an impenetrable barrier separating them.
Fox pushed the answer button on the telecom machine, Peppy's image swirling back into view. While the tired-looking bunny smiled upon seeing Fox, the grin vanished when he had a closer look. Fox's eyes were red, his fur disheveled from the terrible news he'd heard. He did his best to put on a calm face though.
"Hey, Fox, are you all right?"
Fox clenched his jaw, nodding. "Yeah, let's do this," he said without hesitation. Best to dive headfirst into his work. It'd help put his mind at ease for the moment. Distract him.
"Umm…" Peppy awkwardly shuffled some papers on the desk of them. "Okay, if you say so…" He glanced at someone off-camera. "Stan says he's got questions he wants to ask Canma."
"Hey Fox!" Peppy's hologram shrank, making room for a second one. A white goat in a generic black suit slid his chair into the frame, the pixels swirling into focus. He looked perky and keen despite the late hour. "It's an honor to speak to the legend himself! You look tired, but don't worry. Me and Peppy will do most of the talking. You can sit back and listen."
He seemed friendly enough, although why had Stan been like a ghost during the first interrogation with Tadao? Why did he want to reveal himself now? And who was he, in reality? Peppy hadn't given out a title or anything for him. On the surface, he was only someone in a suit. He could be working for anyone. Was Tadao right to fear this guy? Then again, Peppy seemed to trust Stan enough to let him listen in, so maybe he was okay? Ugh… why did Tadao have to plant that seed of doubt?
"Shall we begin?" Stan asked.
Fox didn't know what else he should do. Shrugging, Fox moved out of the frame, taking his seat next to the camera.
Canma squared herself up with the camera, positioning her chair near Nail's place on the bed again, almost like she wanted him close by to defend her, even though he couldn't do much of anything in his current state. That moment of closeness and sharing of grief Fox and Canma had was gone. Now they were interrogator and perp again. He almost wished Peppy hadn't called back now.
"All right…" Stan settled back into his seat, getting ready for a long talk as he looked at his notes. "So you are Canma Nuya, the man in the bed is Augustine 'Nail' Strafer, and you are part of a special forces unit from Thaljista called Sentinel, trained to handle missions on foreign soil. You're fighting for the Free People of Azer against the Azerian Kingdom. The Separatists versus the Royalists." He glanced up from his notes. "Correct?"
Canma froze under the question, unsure of how to answer. Fox recalled she'd given him most of that information already after she'd sent her message to Thaljista, and he'd turned around and given it to Peppy, so he wasn't sure why she would hesitate. However, Nail's gray furred hand rose up from underneath his bedsheets, grasping her hand with a firm grip. The two of them locked eyes with each other, Nail's yellow eyes appearing sharp and alert for the first time since Fox had come into the room. He nodded at her, like giving her approval to speak.
Canma nodded back, looking at the camera. "Yes."
"And your mission was to prevent Star Wolf from obtaining a case from Corneria City's CDF base and selling it onto the Royalists, correct?"
Again, Canma looked at Nail. He nodded back again. She didn't look like she was used to being someone who did most of the talking.
She replied, "Yes."
"Care to go into more detail?" Stan asked.
She glanced at Nail again, before looking back at Stan. "Our intelligence division got word the Royalists were after a particular case on Lylat, and my superiors knew it would upset the balance of power on Thaljista. Sable was looking for local mercenary groups who could steal it for her. She didn't want the case's theft to be traced back to Thaljista. We found out she'd settled on Star Wolf, so we inserted some of our operatives within their group to keep an eye on things. The rest of us hung around on Fortuna as their backup."
Fox noted she'd already told that to him earlier. No new information. He'd already relayed all of this to Peppy after getting it from her. So she seemed to be choosing her words carefully, for some reason…
"Do you know what was inside of the case?" Peppy jumped in, his glasses shining in his desk light.
That got Fox's attention.
Canma's answer disappointed, though. "I don't know myself. Shuro mentioned it's extremely important, and it'd be horrific if the Royalists got their hands on it. Many would die, and there would be mass destruction."
Fox's mood deflated as he heard those words.
Peppy didn't seem bothered, however. "We'll know what it is soon enough." He sounded confident. "They're almost done checking the vault downstairs."
Fox raised an eyebrow. So either way, they'd soon find out what everyone was so desperate to get their hands on, huh? Canma herself didn't react much to the news. Maybe she expected it would be figured out eventually.
Stan resumed his questioning. "You mentioned Nail and Giichi were inserted into Star Wolf as spies, yes?"
Canma nodded.
"Did you have anyone else in Star Wolf?" Stan looked up from his papers.
Canma went quiet, grimacing. She cast an almost imperceptible side glance to Nail. The canine's head shook left and right, almost to where Fox wasn't sure if he'd seen it.
"No…" Canma avoided looking at Stan's hologram this time.
She looked uneasy. And it was notably the only time so far Nail shook his head no instead of nodding to any of the questions. Fox glanced back at Peppy's and Stan's holograms to see how they reacted, and noticed a furious expression on the hare's face.
Peppy cast a dark glare at Stan, before he jumped in with his own question for Canma. "So let me ask you this… You were aware Star Wolf was going to conduct a raid on my base, correct?" The hare leaned forward, gaze focused on her.
The vixen chewed her lip, still not looking at the hologram. "We… we were," she admitted with reluctance, clenching her jaw.
Another pause from Peppy, as he glanced at Stan. "So… If you knew their plans months in advance and you didn't want the Royalists to get the case, why didn't you tell us? Tell the CDF?"
Fox's eyes widened. All of the questions so far had been on the benign side, or things Canma had already admitted to Fox himself before, but that one was a hardball.
Canma blinked a few times, her face going taut.
"Why didn't you tell us our main base was about to get hit?" Peppy glared at her, leaning forward like he was towering over her. "You would've known when the theft was planned, right? Wouldn't alerting the CDF have been a much simpler way to complete your mission? We could have locked this place down and set a trap for Star Wolf before they arrived."
Sweat drops formed on Canma's face, her fists clenching, tail flicking behind her.
Good point. Now Fox wanted to know why she didn't alert the CDF. He spared a glance at Fara. Unlike Peppy though, her look was more of concern and questioning, instead of anger. Given the attack had taken place on her own base, Fox figured Fara would have been livid like Peppy.
Regardless, Peppy continued, his eyebrow narrowing. "Wolf detonated bombs that destroyed the central radar tower, plus a server building. Only the graveyard shift was working at the time, but five Cornerian soldiers lost their lives, and many more were injured. And Wolf shot Doctor Beltino Toad. He's lucky to be alive. Not to mention everything else that's followed in this theft's wake. None of it would have happened if you had told us what was going on."
Fox glared at her. Canma, be thankful Slippy is busy repairing the Arwings right now.
Fox had never seen Peppy get such an angry look on his face before, with how patient and understanding he usually was. "Stan told me earlier we're your allies in the Thaljistani civil war. We are supplying your side with weapons, supplies, and aid, and we have open channels of communication with you. You could have informed us about the situation, yet you did not. Why? Why did my men have to die? Why did Beltino have to get shot?" His harsh tone was even worse than when he'd berated Fox about losing to Star Wolf earlier.
Canma shut her eyes, shaking her head, her ponytail flapping behind her. She froze in her seat, withdrawing within herself. A long silence carried in the room, no one making a move, no sounds as Canma stared at the floor, not knowing how she should answer.
"Well?!" Peppy cried out. "Answer me!"
"Peppy," Fara spoke up for the first time, raising her hand as she stood. "Hold on." Everyone in the room turned to her, including the holograms of Peppy and Stan. "Listen… I'm upset Star Wolf attacked my base too," she said. "But can't you tell Canma wasn't the one to make these decisions? She was following orders, not giving them. It's not fair to blame her for what her superiors wanted to do. And if what she said is true, all of her superiors who came to Lylat are dead or gone now, except for Nail."
Peppy paused, his face softening. He hadn't seemed to notice how he was going off until now. Nonetheless, Peppy didn't seem to be in an apologizing mood, so he didn't say anything about his prior behavior. Could Fox blame him though, given the fallout he was dealing with right now because of this whole fiasco?
"True enough," Stan jumped in. "Perhaps we're being a little too hard on her."
Fox's eyebrows raised. He sure didn't expect Stan of all people to come to Canma's defense.
While confused by his gesture, Canma smiled at the goat's hologram, giving him a small nod.
Stan's hologram looked around at all the faces in the room. "Perhaps we should take a breather. The conversation's been getting a little heated. Maybe we should reconvene in about…" He checked his watch. "Half an hour?"
Peppy nodded. "Sounds like a good idea to me. Fara? Fox?"
They both nodded their approval.
"Okay, good. Well, see you in about half an hour. Bye for now." Peppy's and Stan's hologram winked out.
Yawning, Fox stretched out his arms, before he scratched behind his head. Checking his watch, he saw it was only a couple hours away from breakfast now. Maybe he could go to the mess and whip up something quick. Fara herself stretched her arms, yawning herself. Fox was about to get up and leave, but he glanced across the room at Canma again, giving the two of them an intense glare now that Peppy and Stan weren't on the line anymore.
"What is it?" Fara asked.
Canma couldn't speak for a few moments, as she struggled to get out what she wanted to say. "Um…I know I'm terrible to ask this Fox, after what Peppy brought up." She clutched Nail's bedsheet so hard it almost looked like she would rip it with the claws on her fingers. "But could you come to Thaljista? Fight for the Separatists? It's my home... The Free People of Azer need all the help we can get now. What is in that case will lead to death and destruction like never seen before on Thaljista. Even Lylat may not be spared from it."
Fox and Fara looked at each other, as if silently discussing what she said. Canma sounded earnest at least, about her plea… Though Fox still didn't feel sure about trusting her, after learning she was indirectly responsible for letting Wolf get the case in the first place.
"Almost every non-cat on Thaljista has Lylatian ancestry too. Think, Fox. Don't you want to protect Lylatians, no matter where they are? You might even have a long lost branch of your family there."
Fox winced. She was doing her best to tug on his heartstrings, that was for sure. Of course, he didn't know much of anything about Thaljista or its people. Everyone there was a foreigner to him, but when she put it like that—
"You at least want to find Krystal again, right?"
Damn, she had to pull that card, didn't she? Fox clenched his fist. Of course she'd bring Krystal up, after everything he'd told her. And yet he couldn't deny she was right. "I've wanted to go after her all this time, but I never could. I don't have the money or supplies for the trip. If I could, I would have already…" The excuse sounded pathetic as he said it, although it was all he had.
Canma's ears lowered, leaning more over Nail's bed. Damn, did she look depressed when he'd answered. Sure, he wasn't sure about her motives, and he didn't like how she was trying to manipulate him, but he didn't enjoy seeing her this way. She was desperate, and he could very well be her only hope.
Fox's communicator trilled. He saw he was getting a text from Peppy: Stan says we need to talk again, this time without Canma. Contact us from your bridge?
Ugh, what happened to our break? I'm tired and hungry, damn it. And now Canma's laying all this on me… Nonetheless, Peppy was his boss right now, so with a grumble he texted back a yes.
Good, Peppy replied. See you there.
~X~
Fox leaned back into the captain's chair on the bridge. He wanted to curl his tail around himself and go to sleep, but there was still work to be done, so he found himself sipping from another coffee cup. Fara sat off to his left, while holograms of Peppy and Stan hovered in front of him.
"All right, so what do you need to talk about?" Fox asked, sounding on edge.
Peppy smirked, bags under his own eyes. "Come on Fox, you don't need to hide it if you're irritated. I know you're tired. We're all tired, you know. You always did try to brush how you were feeling under the rug." He glanced behind himself, where Fox knew the window of his office was. "I can see the sun about to come up now."
"Sheesh, it's that late now?" Fox checked his watch.
"Anyway…" Peppy said, his smile fading. "Canma's hiding some stuff. She's not telling the entire story about Sentinel's mission. Corneria and the Separatists are allies. Why wouldn't the Separatists tell us if we were about to be attacked?"
Fox concurred. "Not only that. Something's been gnawing at me about Nail. I know I met him briefly back in the flight academy when I was still a teen, but I swear I've seen him more recently."
Peppy glanced at something off screen, pulling a file into view. "Hmm… Well, you can find canines similar to Nail all over Lylat. He's got a pretty generic fur color and facial structure. Maybe you saw someone who looked like him not too long ago and your memories are playing tricks on you. Déjà vu, you know."
Fox glanced around the bridge, as if searching for something. "No. It's been within the last couple of days, but I've been stuck on the Great Fox II most of that time." Fox stroked his chin, grimacing. "Damn it, I'm about to remember it but I can't get a fix on it…" He glanced around the bridge again, looking at where ROB was plugged in at the front of the room. "You know, I think when I saw him, it was in this room too."
"What?" Fara's eyebrows raised. "But that's impossible, Fox."
It sounded crazy to him too, and yet he couldn't shake the feeling. He glanced at the main screen. Fox's eyes widened, as he remembered something. "Hey, ROB!"
The robot spun around to face Fox. "What is your request, Fox?"
"Do you know the message we got from that Cornerian scout ship? The one with intelligence regarding the Retribution's old location near Fortuna?" Something about it seemed off now.
"Affirmative, Fox. I last played it for you one day, seven hours, four—"
Fox raised a hand to silence him. "Yeah ROB, I know."
"Hang on Fox…" Peppy raised an eyebrow. "We had a scout ship in the area that sent you intel on the Retribution?"
Fox jerked his head back to Peppy's. "Umm… yeah?"
"I don't know anything about that." He pulled up a hologram displaying the area of space around Fortuna, and typed in a few commands. Lines of data scrolled past, but a red box appeared. Peppy shook his head. "None of my guys around there reported anything about it. If they had intel, I would've been told about it by now, given how involved I am in this whole mess."
Fox thought he would have been surprised, but instead Peppy had all but confirmed the vulpine's hunch. Now it was time to put his theory to the test. "ROB, play the transmission from that 'scout ship.'" Fox said.
"Affirmative."
The main screen lit up, displaying an image of a Cornerian dog soldier, wearing the traditional blue and yellow helmet along with a gray jacket. Pointed ears stuck out of the helmet, gray fur showing wherever more of his body could be seen. He had a stiff posture, like he was some sort of mannequin or artificial construct.
"This is a message for the Star Fox team. Sir, we have new intel on the location of Star Wolf's mothership, the Retribution." The canine sounded almost as droning as ROB, the visor covering his eyes adding to the robotic impression. "They are docked on the dark side of Fortuna's moon Genma—"
"Pause," Fox said.
The gray canine's image froze in place. Fox stepped out of his chair to take a closer look. Though the visor of the helmet covered the top half of the canine's face, yellow eyes could still be seen behind the tinted glass. The ears, tufts of cheek fur, and muzzle shape all looked the same as Nail's too.
"It's him!" His eyes widened. "That's Nail!" Fox pointed at the image, looking back to Peppy and Stan.
Peppy glanced at the file he had on hand, and back at the image. His jaw dropped. "Whoa, you're right, Fox!"
Fox couldn't take his eyes away from the picture. This guy is in my sick bay. Could he be plotting something else even as we're talking now? He shook his head. "I knew Canma wasn't telling us the whole story about her mission!"
Peppy narrowed his eyes. "Sentinel wanted you to attack the Retribution, but they didn't want you to know it was them giving you the intel. Why?"
"Good question…" Fox's face scrunched up, turning back to Peppy. "You know, when I fought Wolf earlier, there were some weird things going on that didn't make sense at the time. Like the deal he offered me."
"A deal?" Peppy sounded like he couldn't believe it.
Even to Fox, it was weird recalling Wolf had done that. "Yeah. After Wolf shot down Slippy, he made me an offer. He said if we retreated, he would let us go and wouldn't chase us. He wanted the fight to end fast, and said he had something more important to deal with than us. Plus, for some reason he had most of his force on Fortuna, and he'd left the Retribution undefended. And as soon as I called off the fight, he sent most of his force back to Fortuna again. Maybe they were looking for something. Otherwise why would they be there?" Fox's eyes narrowed. "And there was an XTB-1400 that entered the fight midway through the battle. It was headed for Fortuna, and Wolf immediately went after it when he saw it. I have never seen him abandon a dogfight with me. When he went after the XTB-1400, he said something like 'are you saying they're inside that fighter?'"
"Maybe Nail and Giichi were inside the fighter?" Stan suggested.
"Possibly. And that also ties into how Canma said Sentinel's main force was waiting on Fortuna as Nail's and Giichi's backup. And Andrew's old base was where we picked them up too." Fox nodded. The dots were connecting now. "Star Wolf stole the case from the CDF base, and Sentinel stole the case from them. They wanted to use Star Fox as a smokescreen to make their final escape from Fortuna." Fox shook his head. Being used like that…it pissed him off. "Their plan must not have worked out in the end. That's why we found Canma and Nail in the state they were in."
"And they didn't want us to know about any of this either." Peppy stroked his chin. "Sentinel didn't give us any advance warning on Star Wolf's raid because they wanted it to happen, so they could take the case for themselves. If everything had gone according to their plan, they would've gotten away with the case scott free, and we would have never known they were here! We would've blamed Star Wolf and thought nothing more of it." Peppy shook his head. "Sneaky sons of bitches…"
And Canma has the nerve to ask for my help after all that! She wants us to fly all the way out to Thaljista to fight for the separatists. Those things she said about Krystal might even be more lies. Fox shook his head. Her organization had pulled the wool over their eyes once, and now she was trying to do it again. "I'll hand them over to you Peppy. Make them spill everything they know."
"Hold it!" Stan shouted, before he looked at Fox. "No, Fox. I think you should go along with her idea. Better yet, bring Nail and Canma back to Thaljista with you."
Wait, what?! Fox was about to shout something at Stan, but Peppy beat him to it.
"Huh?" Peppy's image turned to Stan's. "And why the hell should he do that? We know those two can't be trusted now!"
Stan smiled, unflustered by the hare's attitude. "This is a golden opportunity, not a trap. There's something big going on here, and we don't have the full picture yet. Fox…" The goat turned to him, a huge smile on his face. "You said Nail had a special suit that let him survive a fall of hundreds of meters into a river? And you saw what Canma's little device did, right? How it let her talk all the way to Thaljista in real time? You know how amazing that is, right?"
"You don't have to tell me." He recalled the scene on his bridge, seeing Nail's supposed father Gail on the other end.
Stan was giddy, laughing to himself by this point. "Can you imagine what other toys the Separatists have on Thaljista?! If you work for the Separatists, and do the same magic you do in Lylat, they're bound to let you in on lots of intelligence on what's happening on Thaljista. They'll have to if they want you to do your job effectively. And you can feed it back to us, and maybe we'll get a more complete picture on the story behind this whole case business, plus an eye on their technological capability. Canma's and Nail's network of contacts and associates on Thaljista alone could be an amazing treasure trove of information."
Peppy stroked his chin, as he appeared to be warming to the idea. "Hmm… It does make a little sense."
Fox's heart beat faster. He could end up going to Thaljista and be paid for it? Stan was right, this was a golden opportunity, in more ways than the goat realized. A smile was forming on his face, all of his fatigue melting away. "I'll do it!" he blurted out, his tail beating behind him.
"Wow, you sure did a one eighty fast, didn't you?" Stan laughed. "Thought I'd have to spend a little more time selling you on the idea!"
Fox's smile fell away, his tail settling down. Perhaps he shouldn't have been transparent with his emotions.
"So you're up for some overtime, huh, Fox?" Peppy gave a sideways smirk. "Well, if you're serious, you sure are going a long way from home this time, aren't you?"
True… We did go to the Aparoid Homeworld, but that was only for a few hours. This'll be the first time we'll be operating away from Lylat for an extended period of time. His eyes hardened. This is going to be a new kind of challenge for me. For Star Fox.
"Thaljista's a month away," Fox said. "I won't be able to stay in regular contact with Lylat. Can I expect any support or backup while we're over there?"
"I do have some men on the ground in Thaljista who you can get in touch with." Stan grinned. "OIC agents, like me. They can help you get your bearings, and they can be our intermediary. Communication will be delayed back and forth, but you can count on them. They've been passing along reports on a consistent basis for years."
The OIC… Stan is an OIC agent. Fox's eyes widened. Damn. And I thought Tadao was talking nonsense before. "I'm working with spies now?" An uneasy feeling trickled along Fox's spine. "I don't know about this cloak and dagger stuff…" The way Star Fox did things was never about subtlety after all. They went in, blew crap up, went home and got paid.
"You won't have to worry about a thing!" Stan waved off his concerns. "Our OIC agents'll be your intermediary. Feed the agents there whatever intel you get your hands on, and they'll pass it back to Corneria. If we've got directions for you, we'll send them to the agents and they'll pass them along to you." He leaned towards the camera, as if whispering. "Of course, you shouldn't let your Separatist hosts know what you're up to… It would be embarrassing, you know. Peppy, are you all right with this idea?"
Peppy twiddled his thumbs, as he thought it over. "Well… I'm not entirely sure about this plan yet, but I would like to know more about what's happening over there on Thaljista, and why they went to so much trouble to get that case. What do you think Fox?" Peppy turned to him. "You still wanna do it?"
Fox's ears folded back on Stan's explanation. He wasn't going to just be working for a client now, but spying on them too? And what about directions passed to him by the OIC agents? Would he be asked to act against the separatists too? He recalled what he'd told Tadao before, about how he did his best to be honest and not hide things. Was he going to have to go back on that creed? Of course this was war, but Fox never had to worry about betraying an ally's trust in order to complete his mission before… The idea made him uneasy.
But if you don't do this, you'll never get another shot at finding Krystal again. Canma's right, you know? He hated to admit it, and he knew she'd only brought it up to get him on board with her side in this war, but damn it, he couldn't let this chance slip away.
"Yeah…" Fox admitted with reluctance. "I'm up for it." He looked over at Fara.
Fara raised her eyebrows, as if she couldn't believe Fox said that. It raised doubt in his mind about whether this was a good idea, although the need to see Krystal again prevented him from asking her if anything was wrong.
"All right, good." Peppy nodded. "I'll get in touch with the Separatists and let them know you're coming to help. Head for the Beltino Orbital Gate over Corneria. I'll have supplies for your trip ready for you there, and I'll also have someone there to pick up Tadao."
Oh, yeah… Almost forgot about Tadao.
"Thanks for doing this, Fox!" Stan beamed. "I appreciate it! The OIC section chief in charge on Thaljista is Samuel Gold. He'll be in touch once you're planetside. I'll send word ahead."
Fox nodded in reply, although he wasn't sure why Stan seemed so happy about this. He kept his hands in his pockets.
"All right, Fox!" Peppy beamed. "Let's hope you get to the bottom of this, and that it's not as bad as Canma says! Good luck on your trip!"
"Sure Peppy, see ya!"
"Bye, Fox!"
Peppy's and Stan's holograms winked out. While Fox wasn't entirely sure what he was about to get himself into, at least he had finally earned a well-deserved rest. It'd be half a day at least before they could make it back to Corneria, not to mention the wait to load supplies and then pass through the gate itself. Plenty of time to catch up on that sleep…
"ROB…" Fox said, climbing out of his chair as he let out a long yawn. "Set course for the Beltino Gate."
"Affirmative."
Fox lifted up his shirt, scratching the fur on his side. His bed was already calling his name.
He started for the door, but Fara was there, barring the way with her arms crossed. "Didn't you agree too easily? You're okay with all of this?"
"Yeah, sure." Fox nodded. "You know how bad money is for me right now. I need this payday."
"Are you sure you're doing it for the right reasons, though? I don't know if the Fox McCloud I used to know would be comfortable working against a supposed ally."
The Fox McCloud she used to know? He remembered how they were back in the flight academy, and all the fond memories they had together… "They didn't say we'd have to, Fara. Just… information gathering." He'd almost said spying by mistake.
While true, it didn't seem to put her at ease. "I dunno… I've never been mixed up in the espionage world before. Feels like I'm crossing a line here."
Fox hesitated upon those words, but he offered a half-hearted smile and clapped her on the shoulder as he walked past. "Well, look… I'll tell Canma we're calling off the interrogation for now. Let's talk about it after we've had a good sleep and some breakfast, okay? Sound good?"
"I… guess?" Fara turned around to watch him as he passed. She too let out a yawn, revealing how tired she was herself. "Okay Fox… Guess we can talk about it later."
Fox let out another long yawn, waving back to her but not bothering to speak as he stepped out of the bridge. The softness of his bed sheets called to him, lending urgency to his steps. Something else rejuvenated his step as well...
Krystal… I'm on my way.