Great Fox II
Within the bridge of the old carrier, the members of Star Fox and the Fire Birds, along with Agent Dortmund, were gathered around the holotable, which was currently displaying a map of the Lylat system.
"Alright guys," Fox began to explain, "From what we've seen so far and from what Krystal was able to glean from Bane's mind, these are all the planets he's been to."
The vulpine pressed some buttons on the side of the table, resulting in Sauria, Kew, Eladard, Papetoon, and Aquas turning red.
"That still leaves a lot of ground to cover," Fara stated.
The map changed to an image of General Pepper.
"Regardless, Miss Phoenix. You must track down and apprehend this bounty hunter, or failing that, terminate him. If he gets a map of Lylat and her worlds to his client, it could spell disaster for us all."
Nodding solemnly, Fox continued, "I've decided to have us split up into pairs. Fay, Miyu, I want you guys to check out Fichina. Fara, Krystal, check out Fortuna. Slippy, Amanda, you guys are headed to Macbeth. Peppy, Agent Dortmund, you guys will coordinate everything from here."
Turning to his second in command, the vulpine said, "Falco, you and me are going to Zoness. Word on the street is an old friend is hanging around Davenport."
Falco's eyes went wide and he opened his beak to protest, only for General Pepper to speak up again.
"I have put Corneria's defense fleets on alert and informed our garrisons on Katina and Titania. With any luck, this Cad Bane will be caught in the dragnet."
"I hope so sir, he's a slippery one," Fox replied.
"In any case, good luck to all of you. Pepper out."
After the bloodhound's hologram disappeared, Fox glanced around at his team and their allies.
"One more thing, guys. You should probably grab some jetpacks from the armoury. It'll be the only way to keep up with Bane on the ground. Any questions?"
When none came, Fox ordered, "Then man your ships. We have an outlaw to apprehend."
From there, the two mercenary teams boarded the lifts and descended to the Great Fox II's hangar. On the way down, Fox cast a sidelong glance at Falco.
"You should call her."
Falco let out a huff and replied, "How bout I don't and say that I did?"
Fox snorted as a smile creased his muzzle.
"If you don't call her, I will. And we both know that she's still sour about what happened on Titania."
Falco let out a grumble and then faced his leader.
"You owe me for this, Foxy."
Davenport, Zoness
Fox and Falco weaved through the crowds of one of Zoness' many tourist traps. Now that the planetary cleanup effort had returned the oceans from a sickly green back to their vibrant blue, places like Davenport that had experienced long periods of being ghost towns were now back to pre-Lylat War levels of business.
Nonetheless, the vulpine and the avian soon spotted a feline woman seated on the patio of a watering hole. She was mostly pink-furred with a white tuft on her forehead.
Clothing-wise, she was dressed in a yellow tanktop that showed off her midriff, jeans, and a black vest with orange accents.
After Fox and Falco sat across from her, Katt Monroe rested her head on her hand.
"Hmh," she purred in a sultry tone, "Your cowboy problem must be real bad if you're coming to me."
Falco leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms while Fox ordered drinks for the two of them, naturally, the least alcoholic thing on the menu.
"I'm glad you think this is a joke, Katt," the pheasant growled.
"No joke, hon," Katt retorted.
Fox chose that moment to interject himself into the conversation.
"Katt, we're willing to cut you in on the bounty for these guys."
The felid shook her head.
"You know, I still haven't forgotten about Titania."
Undeterred, Fox retorted, "I can only say I'm sorry so many times."
Fox held Katt's gaze for several seconds before the feline took a sip of her drink.
"Tell you what, hon," she said, "I'll think about it."
Fox exchanged a look with Falco and then left money on the table for their drinks.
"Let us know either which way," the vulpine said as he and Falco got up and left.
What none of the three realized was that some distance away on the roof of a hotel, Leon was peering down at them through a pair of binoculars. The lizard lowered them and then turned to Bane and Todo, the former of whom was leaning against the air conditioning unit.
"Looks like the Boss was right. Star Fox is trying to recruit Katt Monroe."
Bane swished a toothpick around in his mouth before asking, "What do you know about her?"
"Her and Lombardi used to be in the Hot Rodderz gang," Leon explained, "I've also heard rumors that they were more than partners in crime, though I take them with a grain of salt."
Bane took the toothpick out of his mouth.
"Regardless, we need to convince her that helping Star Fox is a bad idea."
"Oh, I can be quite persuasive," Leon crowed, a wicked smile spreading across his snout.
"You leave that part to me," Bane said as he flicked away his toothpick, "All you and Shorty have to do is send her my way."
….
Falco glanced out the passenger window of the hovercar he and Fox had rented while they drove through Davenport's suburbs.
"So Fox, what're we doing out here?"
"Checking up on a lead," replied the vulpine before pressing some buttons on the center console, bringing up an image of a sportive lemur with peach-coloured eyes.
"Gary Hoffman," Fox explained, "Uncle to one Algin Brian Hoffman."
"You think he knows anything?" Falco said with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll admit, it's a long shot. But we should still check it out. If we can get to Algy, it might make tracking Bane down easier."
After a bit of time, Fox parked on the street in front of Gary Hoffman's address and both him and Falco dismounted from the car and walked through the front yard and onto the porch, where Fox knocked on the door.
The two mercenaries could hear shuffling inside the house, followed by a lock being undone and the door opening.
Gary Hoffman weaved his short and pudgy frame around the door, closing and locking it behind him. The sportive lemur was clad in a blue plaid shirt, a white tanktop, and khaki shorts. A cigar was clamped between his lips.
"Whatever it is, I didn't do it," the primate said in a gravelly voice.
"We're not accusing you of anything," Fox replied in a reassuring tone, "Just wanna ask you some questions about your nephew."
Hoffman took a drag on his cigar and then blew the smoke towards Fox and Falco.
"I don't see any badges, so give me one good reason why I should talk to you."
Falco narrowed his eyes while Fox let out a frustrated huff.
"You can either talk to us now, or we can come back with Davenport PD," retorted the vulpine.
"And you can bet your ass they'll have a search warrant," Falco tacked on.
Hoffman raised an eyebrow, seemingly considering his options.
"Algin calls me at least once a week," the lemur murmured as he took another drag, "Haven't seen him in months though. Even if I had, I wouldn't tell you two paycheck hunters. Selling out my brother's son? What a joke!"
Falco practically turned red under his feathers.
"You Goddamn Androssian pig," growled the avian, "I'll bet you sold your little abode on Macbeth and bought this place for a steal before the cleanup."
"I don't have to explain myself to you, shithead."
Fox quickly moved in between the two before things could get more heated.
"That's enough, Falco."
Though he was visibly fuming, the pheasant turned around and began stalking back towards the car. Fox then turned back towards Hoffman.
"Thanks for your time."
The primate responded with a dismissive wave.
"Yeah, whatever. Get the hell off my porch."
"Gladly."
From there, Gary went back into his home and watched through the front window as the two mercenaries pulled away.
"Buttheads," he muttered.
"I'll say," came a voice from behind him.
Gary turned around and caught sight of his nephew, who was in the process of lighting a Zonessian cigar.
Shaking his head, the older lemur chided, "Algin, I told you I was coming by Sargasso in a couple of weeks."
"I know," Algy replied, "I took this out of my stash."
The younger lemur finished lighting his smoke and then did the same for his uncle. Both primates took a drag and then exhaled clouds of foul-smelling smoke.
"You were saying that you had something for me," Gary inquired.
"Yep, right this way."
Algy led the way into the kitchen, where a datapad rested atop the center island. Taking a seat atop a stool, the sportive lemur tapped a button on the side and brought up a hologram.
"I planted an Aquan Rabbit in our new pal's robot when we pulled that job on Papetoon," Algy explained as a series of strange, yet familiar characters appeared.
"Ancient writing," Gary mused.
"Yeah, to you and me," Algy replied, "But to Bane and Todo, it's a common alphabet. Aurebesh is what they call it, I think."
The younger primate pressed the button again, causing more familiar letters to appear.
"To us, this is the Cornerian Standard Alphabet. But to Bane, this is known as High Galactic. Apparently, only used by snobs, as he put it."
Algy pressed the button a third time, causing the so-called Aurebesh characters to appear over their Cornerian counterparts. His uncle's mouth fell open as the implications sank in.
"Holy shit," Gary murmured, "You could make a fortune selling this to an archeologist."
"That's the plan," Algy said as he stubbed the remains of his cigar out in a nearby ashtray.
"Of course, it'll need to be big enough to split five ways," the younger lemur tacked on.
Gary nodded in agreement.
"Fair enough. Star Wolf's always done right by me."
Algy clicked the button a fourth time, changing the hologram to a topographic map of Aquas.
"Me and Wolf have always suspected that there was more to Bane coming to Lylat than he let on to us. By the look of things, he's acting as a cartographer."
Gary stared in contemplative silence at the maps that flashed by his eyes.
"Damn," the older primate mumbled as he also stubbed out his cigar.
"I thought you said you ran into this guy on Sauria."
"We did," Algy replied, "Bane's being smart and not putting all of his eggs in one basket."
After a map of Zoness appeared, Algy shut the hologram down and turned to his uncle.
"Why don't you hang on to that for me? Things might go south."
"Sure thing," Gary replied as he opened a drawer and put the datapad inside.
The older primate then pulled his nephew into a hug.
"Good luck out there, Algin."
"Thanks, Uncle Gary."
Later
Solar was starting to set by the time Fox and Falco got back to the central area of Davenport.
"You should've let me at that asshole," the avian complained.
"Oh, that would be a great headline," Fox scoffed, "Star Fox second in command assaults a senior citizen."
Falco opened his beak to retort and closed it when he saw a familiar figure on the sidewalk.
"Fox," he whispered while pointing towards Algy.
Setting his sights on the sportive lemur, Fox replied, "Let's see where he goes."
The two mercenaries quickly grabbed a parking spot and then got out of the car, grabbing their jet packs from the trunk and setting off after Algy. For the next few minutes, Fox and Falco followed the primate from a distance.
Their charade came to an end when Algy decided to sneak a glance at a female chimp and spotted Falco in the throng of pedestrians.
"Son of a bitch," the lemur grumbled before reaching behind his back and drawing one of his machine pistols.
Algy fired a burst in the air, which resulted in everyone within earshot panicking and trying to flee. The lemur smirked as he weaved his way through the frightened pedestrians.
Then the sounds of retro rockets entered his ear. Throwing a glance over his shoulder, Algy caught sight of McCloud and Lombardi flying upwards with the aid of jetpacks.
"Shit!" cursed the primate, "Gonna need a new plan."
Spotting a male field mouse in front of him, Algy brought up his weapon.
"Gimme your key fob!"
The mouse blinked, clearly dumbfounded.
"Wha….?"
"NOW!" Algy barked, spittle flying from his mouth.
That seemed to do the trick, for the tourist reached into a pocket and tossed a black fob towards Algy. The lemur quickly elbowed past the rodent and ran up a line of cars while hitting the unlock button.
Finally, Algy was rewarded with the sounds of a car's unlock horn. A grin plastered itself across the primate's snout as he laid eyes on a black Virani Demon III.
"I've always wanted to drive one of these," Algy mused as he opened the door and planted himself in the driver's seat.
Algy quickly hit the starter button and heard the engine roar to life. Still smiling like a kid with a new toy, the lemur pulled out of the parking spot and then mashed the gas pedal to the floor, taking off down the street.
"Try to catch me now, buttheads," Algy snarked as he watched the two Star Fox members become small dots in the rearview mirror.
It didn't take Algy long to get out of the city and start speeding along a coastal highway. Bringing up his wristcom, the primate contacted Leon.
"Algy, what the hell is going on? They say shots were fired downtown."
"Guilty as charged," Algy replied, "Had to throw off Star Fox."
The chameleon let out an annoyed huff on the other end of the line.
"Did you lose them?"
Algy was about to reply in the affirmative when he caught a white and blue blur in the mirror. Looking over his shoulder confirmed to the lemur that McCloud and Lombardi were pursuing him in their Arwings.
"Negative."
"Well shake em. Bane's on his way to get you."
"Right. Algy out."
Up in the air, Falco saw the stolen car swerve across several lanes of traffic towards an off-ramp.
"Hey Fox, he's leaving the highway. Let's blast him when he gets off."
"Negative Falco. We'll try and run him off the road. I'd rather not be on the hook for damaging Zoness' infrastructure."
"Whatever you say, Boss," Falco replied before muttering, "Buzzkill," under his breath.
Back on the ground, Algy grit his teeth as an Arwing swooped past the front of the Demon.
"Bastards are trying to put me in the ditch."
The primate checked the car's nav screen and saw that there was a stretch of road ahead with ample tree cover. Smiling, Algy gunned the engine and sped along the highway. The two Arwings attempted to box the muscle car in, but had to pull up as the palm trees got closer.
Having bought himself some time, Algy put the car in autonomous mode and then opened the door.
"Hell of a joyride," the lemur remarked before throwing himself out of the Demon and into the ditch.
Algy rolled for a bit before coming to a stop on his belly. Glancing up, the sportive lemur saw the Arwings flying after the now driverless car. He waited for a minute or two before contacting Bane.
"You close?"
"Closer than you think, Shorty."
Algy rolled his red eyes as the sounds of a starfighter engine entered his ears and the trees started moving despite there being no wind.
Bane decloaked the Xanadu Blood a few feet off of the ground and then opened the cockpit.
"Get in, Shorty."
Algy needed no further prompting, quickly scrambling up from the ditch and squeezing into the Rogue-class fighter as best he could.
Bane quickly closed the canopy and reactivated the cloaking device before pulling up and flying back towards Davenport.
"Now to find Miss Monroe."
Later
Katt finished off the last of her drink and set the empty glass on the bar. To her surprise, there was already another drink in front of her.
"Compliments of the gentlemen in the back," said the tapir bartender.
Glancing over her shoulder, Katt caught sight of two very familiar men in a booth. Leon and Algy grinned and raised their glasses towards her.
Letting out a sigh, the pink feline turned back around and took some credit chips out of her vest pocket, quickly setting them on the bar.
"Is there a back door to this place?"
The tapir didn't miss a beat, quickly making the credits disappear into his pocket.
"Yeah, it's in the back."
"Thanks hon," Katt purred as she stood up and headed to the back of the tavern.
Exiting out into the cool night air, Katt made to leave the alleyway, only to spot a figure leaning near the entrance, arms crossed and head tilted downwards, just like a villain in an Ancient Western.
"Katt Monroe," the man said.
For her part, the felid scoffed, "O'Donnell's new buddy."
The alien merely shook his head.
"There's no friends in this business, little lady. Only associates."
Katt let out an annoyed huff and shook her head.
"Well regardless, what do you boys want from me?"
The gunslinger swished a toothpick around in his mouth before replying, "Whatever Star Fox has offered you, we'll match. And all you have to do is stay out of this."
Narrowing her blue eyes, Katt retorted, "No deal, hon."
Finally, Star Wolf's new ally tilted his head up and looked the feline in the eye.
"What's your angle?" he asked.
Setting her hands on her hips, Katt stated, "Straight and simple, cowboy. You've got a problem with Falco, you've got a problem with me."
The alien uncrossed his arms and stepped away from the wall. He then reached up and took the toothpick out of his mouth.
"That's unfortunate," he remarked before flicking the toothpick away and moving back his duster.
"For you," he added as he set his hand on his hip, right near a holstered blaster.
With her fight or flight instincts in high gear, Katt slowly started reaching for her own blaster. The alien meanwhile, drummed his fingers on his belt.
Breaths were taken in and out. Eyes narrowed. And then the moment of truth.
Blasters were drawn from holsters, one just a little faster than the other.
As he had done countless times before, Bane quickly brought his LL-30 up to hip level and fired, watching as the red bolt struck Katt in the shoulder. The felid went down with a pained cry.
With a grin, the Duros stalked towards the former Hot Rodder, quickly putting his boot on her fallen blaster and sliding it out of her reach.
Glaring daggers at the bounty hunter, Katt screamed, "You piece of shit! I'll scratch your fucking eyes out!"
"I think not, little lady," Bane casually replied while setting his weapon to stun.
"Consider this my first and only warning," the Duros growled while taking aim at Katt, "Stand with Star Fox, die with Star Fox."
Bane fired a blue stun blast at the feline. After she went limp, he set his blaster back to kill and twirled it around his finger before holstering it.
Meanwhile, Leon and Algy had entered the alley while Todo floated down from his rooftop hiding spot, landing beside Katt's unconscious form.
After a brief look, the techno-service droid stated, "She'll live."
"You a medical bot?" Algy asked.
"According to Mr. Bane, I am whatever he says," Todo replied with a shrug.
"Come on, boys," Leon interjected, "Let's get back to Sargasso. The Boss will be waiting."
With that, the group of outlaws left the alley and started back to their ships.
The Bossk Man's Recommended Listening:
Chasing Algy-Shakedown by Bob Seger
Katt vs Bane-The Bounty Hunter is Back by Kevin Kiner