Disclaimer: Bucky 'O Hare created by Larry Hama, Star Fox is copyrighted by Nintendo.
Seconds had passed, yet they felt like hours, as Fox stared into the distance; his mind still processing what he was seeing. In front of him stood a young fennec vixen with bright green eyes, wearing a business suit consisting of a small white jacket over a pink turtleneck, a white skirt, and green leggings. An odd combination of colours, but one he knew all too well.
"Fara? Is it really you?" he said uncertainly, still unsure if he was seeing right. "Ha, long time no see Fox!" she greeted with a warm smile, genially glad that their paths had cross again. "Another old friend of yours?" Krystal asked teasingly, amused by the events of the day.
"Ahem, this is Fara Phoenix, heiress to Phoenix Corp and renowned test pilot! We flew a couple of times together." he introduced flatteringly, awkwardly adding the last part. "Hehe, I think we did a little more than just fly Fox!" Fara replied snarky, giggling at the situation he found himself in.
At this, Krystal gave him a curious look. " We used to date," Fox told him with his thoughts, something that most of the others had already figured out, judging by their knowing looks. "Well, it was a long time ago. I reckon we both have changed since then." Fara told him, sparing him from the teasing glance from the others. "Yes, I supposed we have! What've you been up to since we parted ways!" Fox told her understandingly, wanting to be on good terms with his old flame.
"I've moved on the world! Daddies finally retired; you're looking at the new president of Phoenix Corp!" she said proudly. "Really? That's great! Glad to hear your old man decided to take it easy for once, he certainly deserves it!", Fox told him in a joking manner, "I'm guessing that's the reason you're here right now?" he asked, more genuine in his curiosity. "You bet! Space Dynamics wanted us to collaborate with their new designs for our trans-dimensional visitor's retrofit. Speaking of, I'm guessing that would be you?!" she asked suddenly, switching her attention to Bucky and the gang.
"Huh. Oh, yes mam, that would be us!" Bucky said, switching his focus to the conversation in hand, "My name's Bucky O'Hare, and this is my first mate and pilot Jenny, gunner Dead-Eye Duck, combat specialist Bruiser Baboon, and our engineer Willy DuWitt! A pleasure to make your acquaintance!" Bucky introduced, respectfully saluting in behave of his team.
"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you!" Fara said, genially please to have meet them. "Me and my team have been looking forwards to meeting you! We have been eagerly testing every new piece of equipment design for your ships!" she informed them, some of her thrill-seeking attitude showing from her old days. To her, the opportunity to not only test but have a part in developing, technology from a completely different dimension was too much to pass up.
"We're glad to hear it! I'm sure our ships will be better than ever thanks to your team!" Bucky gladly complimented her, glad that his beloved frigate was in good hands. "Speaking of which! Hard to believe you are behind Miyu's new team! I didn't think working from behind was your style." Fox told her, all awkwardness between them having dissipated.
"Honestly, sometimes I have a hard time believing it! But it was my fate to inherit my father's position; I'm just glad I can do some good with it!" Fara shared with a smile, gleefully looking towards her team, "I miss the cockpit, I admit! But I know I found the right people to fill that spot!" she told him with confidence. "I know what you mean!" Fox could understand, looking at his own team with pride.
"Yes, speaking of, I don't believe I have introduced you!" she said, looking at the remaining members of her team. "This is Sheeply Vilakazi," she said gesturing to the blonde sheep Miyu had been telling them of, "And... huh, where did Bennett run off to?" she said, looking around for the final member of her flight team. "She was here a minute ago?" Fay told her with a shrug, looking around for a moment. "Huh, well I'm sure she'll turn up eventually," Fara said casually, not faced with her teammate's whereabouts.
"Well, you should probably get going! General Pepper was asking for you a few minutes back," she informed him casually. "Oh, thanks for telling us, Fara, we'll catch up some other time! It was nice to see you again!" Fox quickly told her, as he and the others rushed towards the control room. "Hah, Fox you haven't changed a bit." She said fondly, as she bid them goodbye.
Entering the command room, the group was greeted by a busy room, as everyone worked hard to analyze the situation. "Are you positive the data is correct!" Pepper asked one of the technicians, unwilling to leave anything to chance. "A-A-Affirmative sir!" replied the techie, stuttering as he rechecked his findings. Observing the interaction, Fox and the others quickly turn to find Peppy, spotting him to the side, checking to information next to the other officers.
"Peppy! What's going on here?" Fox asked, rushing over to his friend and mentor. "Fox, my boy! Glad you're back, we found him!" he greeted warmly, before switching to a resolute tone. "You sure! We got him!" Fox exclaimed in disbelief, hoping that finally things were coming to an end.
"Pigma's trail leads to this area," Peppy confirmed, showing an image on the main screen. It depicted a densely packed asteroid belt, a way off from the main sectors. A nature labyrinth for most large vessels, only viable for small craft to traverse, the ideal hiding place for someone running from the lay.
"Hah! Do you think you've found a safe place to run to? Do you think we're gonna give up and go away? Don't mess with us, Pigma!" Falco commented confidently, unimpressed by the place, having ridden through worse in his earlier years. "So, is it like an amusement park to a former gang member?" Fox correctly guesses, agreeing with his daredevil companion. "You know it!" Falco repaid with confidence, that it would be difficult, but he was sure even the others could manage to follow him in there.
"All right! This time we'll get that Core Memory from Pigma! Get ready, we leave right now!" Peppy declared mater-of-factly, getting off from his seat and marching towards the loading bay post haste. "Well, guess that means the resupplying is done! I guess this is it!" Fox said, turning towards his new friends. "This was your destination all this time, I can't ask you to join us out there! But, if you want to see this through the end, we would be more than happy to fly with you again!" Fox told them, saluting before he and his team left to catch up with Peppy.
"Well gang, what do we say to that," Bucky asked his crew, itching to go along, but knowing that his team came first. "We started this together, it is only fair we finish together as well," Jenny said, giving her opinion. "That overgrown ham tried to axe us, captain! I say we should return the favor!" was Dead-Eyes contribution. "Fox and the others helped us when they didn't have to, it would be right not to do the same!" Willy stated, with Bruiser shaking his help in agreement.
"Well, if that's what you all think. Then what are we doing standing around for? LET'S GO TEAM!" Bucky exclaimed, his team responding with a resounding "aye, aye's" as they gave chase.
Making their way to the loading dock just in the nick of time, only to find a confident Fox waiting for them by the ramp. "I knew you guys would come! I could tell you would see this to the end," he said with a smile, eagerly welcoming abord his ship. "Well, we very well couldn't just say goodbye without repaying your hospitality, now could we?" Bucky retorted, matching the vulpine's very own sass. "Hah, glad to have you aboard captain!" Fox said, sharing a laugh before entering the ship.
"Bucky, Jenny! A word please!" Captain LaFloo said, stopping them in their tracks, the seriousness in her voice letting them know it was something important. "What is it, Mimi?" Bucky asked his fellow captain, wishing to know what the matter was. "While I agree with you and your crew, I think it would be for the best if I and my crew stay here!" she said, her tone calm but certain.
"Are you sure?" Bucky asked, wanting to make sure she was sure of her decision. "Yeah! We would be more of a hindrance than a help there. Besides, someone has to make sure to look after this place while you're gone. If the toads were to attack right now, they would take us by surprise!" she told him, certain of her choice, "With that said, I would still like it if you could bring Felicia with you!" she added with resolute, unflinching in her request.
"What! Why! No, it would be beyond irresponsible to bring the princess into a potentially hazardous situation without her crew!" Jenny cried out, outraged and hysterical at the notion of allowing her princess and pupil into danger, she was still barely accepting of her position among the Screaming Mimi!
"Which is precisely why a called for you! I understand you were somewhat of a mentor for her, so I trust that you are more than capable of keeping her out of harm's way." She said, in a strange moment of complimenting the other woman, "Besides, if she is ever to grow and develop as a capable officer, she will need as much experience as she can!" she finished her argument, effectively shutting any thoughts the others may had have.
All except for Jenny, who could see straight through her arguments. "She wouldn't stop bugging you until you let her come, didn't she?" she asked flatly. "Yes, she did," Mimi replied, not even bothering to hide it. "Fine, tell her to come out from hiding and get in here already!" Jenny said, begrudgingly accepting the request. And as if on cue, Felicia dashed out from the corner and made a beeline straight towards the entrance, "Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!" she muttered rapidly as she rushed inside the ship. Jenny just sighed, this was going to be a long trip.
After listening to the situation, Fox retired to the lounge until they arrived at their destination. He wasn't terribly worried at the unexpected addition to their group, he HAD expected for the entirety of the crew to come with them after all. And while he hadn't spent much time with the young princess, he was confident Jenny and the other would have a handle on things. She seemed like a capable officer already, and he was confident she wouldn't be much trouble at all.
So, he decided to take the time to reorganize his thoughts. A lot had happened since they started on this venture, and he hadn't really had the chance to take it all in. Two new enemies had suddenly appeared out of the blue, one of which was keeping quiet while working with a known enemy, and the other was barely short of a complete unknown!
Taking a deep sigh, Fox calmed down enough to be rational. He could just rush into this one, the stakes were too high. So long as the Empire kept to themselves, the aparoids were their main objective, and finding Pigma was their key to having an upper hand. Not to mention finally bringing him to justice once and for all!
His rage was palpable, so it came as no surprise when a worried Krystal walked into the room and sat next to him. "You have something on your mind?" she asked, more as a courtesy than anything, as she knew well the answer. "Yeah, just thinking about some things," he replied in a joking manner, laughing softly as he shared a look with her.
"It's been some time since we started this. I'll be nice to put another chapter of our life behind," he said, vague enough for anyone else, but far more meaningful to the resident telepath. "You're thinking of Pigma." she said, clear a simply, no use mincing her words. "Yeah. He's been free for too long! It's about time someone brought him in!" he said, sounding far more passionate than before. Krystal merely grinned amusingly at him, pleased that he had shared such thoughts with her. Fox realised that she was looking at him, and embarrassing scratched behind his head as he looked for something else to talk about.
"So, the princess is coming along with us. That should be nice, she seemed to have become quite fond of her." he finally said, deciding to settle on it. "Yes, Felicia is quite the character! She became intrigued with my abilities during her stay, and I grew fond of her questions." she explained, recalling the few interactions she had spent with the young feline.
"Oh, you told her about that? I thought you were keeping close to the chest?" Fox asked, surprised she had opened up so much with her.
"Yes, well. She's a lot more observant than they give her credit for. She came directly to me and began bombarding me with inquiries." she admitted, laughing at the memory, "I actually look forward to spending more time with her!" she admitted, locking eyes with Fox again.
Once again in an award situation, it was Krystal how changed the subject this time. "So... how long did you know Fara for?" she hesitantly asked, her tone betraying her feelings on the matter. "Ah, I wondered how long until you asked that?!" he said, knowing it was just a matter of time. "Well...it's a long story..." he began as Krystal rested her head in her hands, propped up on the table, signaling that he wasn't gonna get out of it.
So, with a sigh, Fox began to tell her how they had met, "It's actually kind of funny, we met when I and the others stowed away on her family's transport. We needed to get from Papetoon to Corneria, and that had been the only way there. Unfortunately, her transport was boarded by Andross's Imperial Lizards in an attempt to abduct her. We managed to save her unharmed after a firefight." he explains, stopping to look back at the memory. "Not the weirdest I've met someone, plus Mr. Phoenix gave us first-class tickets for the remainder of the journey as a thank you. So, there's that!" he added with a chuckle, smiling her way.
Krystal for her part was fully engrossed in the story, listening to him attentively. Seeing this, Fox continues down memory lane, "The first time we flew together she was on a black Arwing over occupied Corneria. After bantering with me for a while, she dared him to chase her into Imperial airspace to test my combat skills. During the ensuing battle with Andross' forces, Fara's Arwing was shot and heavily damaged by an ion missile from the Attack Carrier and began to fall. Ejecting and waiting to be recovered was not an option, as Andross' soldiers were everywhere on the ground, and Fara would make an excellent hostage." he explained, adding more context to the story.
"So, in a risky maneuver, Fara ejected from the fighter while I collected her in midair, before finishing the Carrier with a Nova Bomb, saving her life for the second time," Fox told her proudly, grinning smugly over his past achievements. "Course, due to the loss of her fighter, she was unable to assist us in defeating the rest of Andross forces. Which let me tell you, she was not happy about!" he explained, laughing as he remembered the fuss she had caused.
Regaining his composure, he continued, "After that, we started to date. We continued for a while, but eventually, we started to thrift apart. We had different things to focus on, and she had her own life to think about." He said, his voice far more subdued as he thought back. "I guess I always knew it would last, at least we left on good terms." he finished off, a sad smile gracing his face.
Krystal meanwhile looked on with concern, for she could tell the pain remained. "Why didn't you ever bring her up?" she finally asked, softly yet meaningfully as she looked him in the eye. "Don't know. It's not usually something that comes up in conversation." He admitted, smirking her way before grabbing her hand. "Look, if you're wary I still have feelings for her, don't! That was a long time ago, I moved on, and my heart found someone else to love," he said, staring softly into her beautiful blue eyes with a smile.
Locking eyes for a while, the two finally faced away, heavy blushes on their face. "Thank you. For telling me all that." She said shyly, Fox couldn't help but find her adorable at the moment. "Anytime!" he responded simply, grinning her way with a heartfelt smile. "Well, I'll see you in the hanger bay!" she said flustered, smiling at him as she walked out of the room, looking back at him with one last smile before the doors closed.
Fox stared at the door for a minute, unsure on what to do, before burring his face in his hands as the thoughts raced through his mind. He glanced at his watch, there were still about twenty minutes left until he had to jump in the cockpit of his Arwing once again, heading into battle. It was almost hard to believe, soon it would come to an end, soon he would finally bring justice to the sins of the past, soon he could finally rest.
But there was one major thing that he couldn't block out of his mind, a gut feeling that something bad was going to happen on this mission. Fox remembered something his father used to say, " Never give up...trust your instincts." Fox could still remember him saying that, those nearly twelve years ago. No matter what happened, he would follow his dad's advice, he would thrust his instincts, no matter what this mission threw his way!
Finally, the time came, Fox walked into the hangar ready for anything the universe had for him. Unsurprisingly, Bucky was standing on the left wing of his fighter, his flight helmet under his arm. Further to the side, Falco had just closed his canopy and began the startup sequence, while Krystal smiled kindly at him as she got into her Arwing.
Getting into his own ship, he was strapping on when the mission objective came in from the ship's intercom. " Alright gang, listen up! Pigma's taken refuge in an asteroid belt. If you lose him here, you may never find him again. There are many aparoids in and around the asteroid belt, but you must fight your way through, capture or destroy Pigma, and recover the Core Memory." Peppy's filtered voice said loudly, his voice echoing about the room.
With all that said, Fox opened his comm channel saying, "Well, you heard the man people! We've got to seize it from Pigma at almost any cost." he told his teammates, making sure his message came through. "Almost?" Falco asked confused.
"Yeah. Almost, as in don't try to get yourself killed. Nobody needs to play hero out there, looking at you Bucky!" he said jokingly, lifting their spirits as they got ready for launch. A series of three beeps sounded and a green light blinked on the HUD signifying the lift locks being released from the wings of the Arwing. When the green light stopped blinking and stayed on, Fox punched the throttle and grinned as his head was pushed back against the cushioned headrest of his seat. The team followed him out and formed a row, with Falco on his right and Krystal on his left.
The Cornerian asteroid field soon began to come into view, with the team's scope still in the clear. "All ships move forward into the asteroid belt!" Fox said, a chorus of 'copy's echoing over the comms as the others followed his lead. Fox gritted his teeth as he pulled the controls in a hard left, dodging the first of many asteroids heading his way.
"Hey, was that..." Slippy said, raising an eyebrow at his radar, as it showed three blinking, motionless, yellow dots in front of them.
"It couldn't be... could it?" Falco commented as the objects came into view. Closer and closer, they drifted towards them, and yet they still couldn't truly register it. Because drifting ever nearing where the remains of ships, but not just any ships.
"Is that the Wolfen?" Falcon finally spat out, as he and the others stared in utter disbelief at the sight before them. Five Wolfen starfighters laid decimated, their pieces set adrift in a gruesome warning to any travelers of what lay in store for them.
"So, Wolf and his team that got destroyed?!" Slippy asked, uncertain and concerned, as he witnessed the carnage before him. "I'm sensing faint brain patterns. They abandoned ship!" Krystal rapidly intervened, informing them of the crew's fate, and calming some of their nerves. Except for Fox, who was deep in thought as he banked around another chunk of rock, " Something to cause even Wolf O'Donnell himself to abandon ship...something's got to be pretty tough to do that!" he reasoned, grimacing as he flew by the wreckage.
"Keep your guards up, team!" Fox ordered; he was getting a bad feeling about the place. A feeling that was well warranted, as not a minute later Krystal let out a warning. "Watch out! Something's out there!" she said, as a look on her radar revealed about fifty blinking dots moving straight for them. Thinking fast, the team performed evasive maneuvers and began firing into the onslaught of enemy targets.
"That stinking Pigma must have something planned..." Falco pointed out, struggling to avoid enemy fire. "Yeah, tell me about it," Slippy said back, struggling with his own pursuers. The same rang true for the rest of the group, so without many options, Falco was left to try to shake them on his own.
"Dang! These goons don't give up!" he said, mostly to himself, as his frustration grew. "Can't...shake 'em!" he complained, struggling to keep himself steady as the enemy bombarded him with hits.
Fortunately, help was on its way, as Bucky managed to shake off his pursuers and was making his way towards him. He flipped open a switch on the control stick and pressed a red switch twice. Two nova bombs flew from the nose of the ship and exploded in the middle of the armada, destroying most of them while the surviving ships spun out of control and crashed into the others.
"Thanks for lending me a hand back there." Falco thanked him, resuming his flight path by his side. "Don't mention it! Now come on, we need to regroup before more of them show up!" Bucky said, leading the way as Falco followed without snide regard.
Meanwhile, Slippy and the others were still dealing with their batch of enemies. "Why are these things chasing the Arwings?" he asked aloud, weaving and dodging around while Fox opened fire with his lasers into the continuing onslaught. "Keep pressing through," he said, mainly to himself, as he carried on with the assault.
"Roll! You've got to try rolling!" Peppy's voice desperately called out through the comms. Heading his advice, Fox did just that, rolling out of the way of the fire while delivering his own as soon as he had passed them. This seemed to do the trick, as the opposition began to dwindle, coming to a fiery demise. "Good shot, Fox!" Falco's voice said enthusiastically, having just arrived with Bucky in tow. Things seemed to be looking up for them, as the group began to make short work out of the stragglers.
Unfortunately, their good fortune was not meant to last. "Hey that's a weird meteorite... and it's heading this way," Slippy said in a panic, as meteorites with silver rings and red energy flowing around them were headed their way! Once part of the defense mechanisms for a Cornerian base, now were somehow infected by the aparoids and used against them.
"The enemy attacks are coming faster and more furiously than before!" Fox warned banking and rolling as hard as he could to dodge them. "Fox! I can't dodge them! I can't-" Slippy began to say, as a chunk of meteorite headed towards him. Acting quickly, Fox blasted it, but the debris and the shock from the laser shot knocked Slippy's Arwing around violently.
Looking on with baited breaths, Fox waited as Slippy's Arwing staled, then floated dead in space. "Slippy? SLIPPY!" Fox yelled into the comm, waiting for a response. "I'm here. My ship isn't starting, give me a minute." Slippy's voice came, static-filled, but still understandable. Using his skill in mechanics, Slippy wasted no time in trying to fix the problem. It was a race against the clock, as not only was the engine stalling but the oxygen system was nearly out; if he didn't hurry, he might never get to finish again!
Keeping as much composure as he could muster, Slippy reached for his lucky screwdriver in a side compartment and began to unscrew the panel in front of him. Setting it to the side, he began to work at jerry-rigging the wires, hoping to force the craft into a jumpstart. Grabbing a pair of wires, he quickly got to work, he knew it was a long shot, but it was his only shot.
Fortunately, fortune favors the bold, and with a lucky tug he miraculously managed to get the systems back online. "Yes!" he said to himself, moving back to his seat and reattaching the panel back in place, making sure to tighten the screws.
"Fox, can you hear me?" Slippy asked into the comm as he warmed the engine back up and brought the oxygen systems and radar back online. "Yes! Thank goodness! You alright?!" he asked, making sure his friend didn't have any injuries. "Yeah, I'm alright. But my Arwing isn't, I still don't have power! I need you guys to cover me." Slippy told them as he sat down in the chair, buckled himself in, and flipped down a rectangular door to the left of the HUD and console. "No problem, Slippy. Just don't take your time in there." Fox said in a joking manner, happy that his friend was alright.
Meanwhile, Slippy got right to work, getting a better look at the fried guidance and control chips. Slippy tapped a few of them with his hand, and they sparked, so taking a deep breath he grabbed some of the guidance chips and pulled them out. He glanced at the numbers and letters written on the end farthest from the metal link-up that provided power and re-inserted them in different slots.
He looked at his console, and it sparked slightly, before flaring back to life. "I'm back!" he said as he punched the throttle, and accelerated into the field just in time to help the others finish the job. "Gotcha!" he said, as he demolished several of the corrupted asteroids spinning towards him. "Woohoo! Nice shot buddy!" Fox called out, glancing around to see if he missed any.
Suddenly, squadrons of aparoids fighters appeared heading straight at Fox, causing his instinct to kick in and squeeze the launcher. The bombs detonated; the force so strong that his hull integrity went from 80 to 70 in an instant.
"Woah! That's a lot of ships shot down, Fox!" Slippy said slack-jawed, as he saw the field of debree that use to be their enemies. "Yeah, man! We can cut through these numbers easily!" Falco called out, upset that Fox had stolen his kill, and wasted one of their bombs. "Sorry," Fox called out apologetically, embarrassed at his impulsive decision.
"This isn't over, I'm detecting a big enemy presence!" Krystal suddenly called out, concern palpable in her voice. Suddenly, squadrons of three appeared, then seven dark blue aparoids that had a silhouette of a dragonfly, raining dark purple and green lasers down on Fox, the same kind of lasers from the Katina mission.
Fox held his breath and squinted his teeth as he blasted them into nonexistence when suddenly... "AAA I! Fooooxxxx!" Krystal screams reached him over the comm.
"Kry-Krystal!" Fox yelled, scared out of his mind, as he looked on in distress.
Author's Notes:
And we're back! The search for Pigma is in full swing, as our stakes continue to get higher. Now on to some concerns, I know some of you were worried about a potential love triangle drama developing, but don't. I have no plans to go down that path, the reason for Fara's inclusion. as well as Mimi's exclusion, will be revealed later on. As well as Felicia taking along, let's just say the Sauria arc will be interesting. But for now, the RnR is over, and our heroes are going to be put through the wringer.
Enjoy! ;)