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CHAPTER 43
A Beautiful Sea of Blue
"You're telling me right after I left, you got into a dogfight with some weird red fighters, and they were made of red goo? And Slippy says they might be AI fighters?" It sounded like a joke to Fox. This was the first thing that happened right after he left his team behind in Kinnor?
"That's right," Fara said back over the console. She was at her desk in her room in the Great Fox II, a concerned expression on her face.
"The war starting up again?" Fox knew Fara wasn't one to make jokes like this. He had only called to check in, like she made him promise before he left Kinnor.
"It's hard to tell. Razir hasn't said anything about retaliating. Not yet, anyway. I think he wants to talk to the Royalists first." Frustration crossed her face. "The problem is the Separatists don't trust us, and they won't share much info. All I know is they want us on high alert for the next couple days, like the rest of their military."
While relieved cooler heads were in charge, it reminded Fox of the awful risk he was taking by not being there. If this happened just one day after he left, what about the next day? Or week, or month? "Give me a call if you need me. As long as I've got my Arwing, I'll get there fast."
"Well, all right Fox." Fara frowned. "But I'd hate to take you away from your search."
"I know, but I couldn't forgive myself if one of you died while I wasn't there to help."
"You always were one to put the weight of the world on your shoulders, but careful. You might break your back." Fara laughed, getting Fox to smile too. "I think Katt will be okay. Her first time as squadron leader was shaky, but everyone's being supportive. Falco especially." That was good to hear.
Fox pressed a button. "Hey, I'm going to transmit some data your way. I need some analysis done." The button press transmitted the results of a scan he'd done on the things he purchased from Rossiro. "This diamond and this drug vial…Krystal may have handled these."
Fara's eyes went wide, looking over the data at the monitor next to the camera. "What? She's handling that garbage?"
Fox sighed. "I know, but I was told these items get used a lot in place of currency. It's a bartering economy. This may help me, though. There can only be so many places these things came from. If we trace them back to their sources, I can ask around those places. If she stands out like I do, it won't be hard to find out if she was there."
"I suppose that's true…" Fara trailed off, leaning back and rubbing her chin. "So you got confirmation she was in that town? Malquae?"
"People there remember her ship. And I got visual footage of her in Rossiro's shop, but she was traveling in disguise. Looked like she's using yellow fur dye."
"You're sure it's her?"
"When I showed a photo of her with blue fur, it riled up the locals. With that reaction, I'd be surprised if she wasn't using a disguise. The people said there were these 'blue angels' running around in the desert attacking towns, and they said Krystal looked like one of them."
"So there are Cerinians here after all? But they're violent?"
"I guess so." Fox grimaced. Why did he let Krystal come here alone? It was an awful idea from the start. "I've got to find her before she runs into them."
"But you said the last time she was in Kinnor was two and a half months ago."
"And they said around the same time in Malquae."
The thought was on both of their minds, although neither of them wanted to admit it. What if he was too late? Could he only be here to recover a corpse? Even so, whether she was dead or alive, it would haunt him for the rest of his life if he didn't find out what happened to her.
"Listen…just see if you can cross reference that data I'm sending you. Slippy downloaded Thaljistani topographical and geological data to the Great Fox II, right? Maybe cross reference the chemical data of the drugs and the diamond to find out where they've been." An exciting idea came to mind. "We could even see if Krystal has DNA or a fingerprint on them. We've got her data on file in the med bay's computers, right?"
"That's right!" Fara's eyes lit up, although her enthusiasm soon died down. "But you said you got these from a shopkeeper who said she hasn't seen Krystal in months, right? You know how fast DNA degrades in hot conditions?"
"Oh…" Fox frowned, his ears drooping.
She shook her head. "I'll give it a try anyway." She tapped at a keyboard offscreen, the clacking of keys coming back over her audio. It didn't take long for a result to come back, but Fara shook her head. "Sorry Fox… Only your DNA comes back since you handled it just now, and the shopkeeper's I guess." She tapped some more keys. "Nothing left to do but track the origins of these items. First the diamond. You know the lions?"
"Yeah, locals are big fans," he said sarcastically.
"Out there they're known as the Fallen Kings. One of the ways they finance themselves is selling diamonds mined through slave labor. Blood diamonds. A lot of those rocks make their way back to Lylat, with your typical jewelry buyer never being the wiser. It's most likely this diamond originated from one of those mines."
Fox's ears curled back. "Won't be easy for me to follow up on that one. Lions would probably shoot me on sight. How about the drug? Rossiro called it 'breeze'. It's from a turquoise flower called nasim that grows in humid regions on Thaljista. Can't be too many humid regions like that around here."
Fara typed away on her keyboard, frowning and shaking her head. "That may not narrow it down as much as you think. Growing nasim for drug production around there is pretty common. Cheap to set up, hardy plant, very good value for a small crop size."
"Damn…you're saying both of these leads are a bust?" Fox clenched his fist. "I oughta go back to Rossiro and wring his stinkin' neck."
"Hold on, Fox." Fara looked over her screen. "The vial the drug came in, are there any identifying markings on it? No government there to criminalize drugs, right? So what if that vial had an identifying brand? Whoever makes that stuff would want to get repeat purchases after all. Like candy in a grocery store."
Fox's eyes perked up on her saying that, as he let out a smile. "Oh, that business sense of yours." He took the small glass vial of breeze in his hands, looking it over again. Sure enough, he spotted a large star symbol with a smaller star to the upper right. Didn't seem to be much to go on, but… Fox held up the symbol to the camera. "Can you look this up?"
Fara gave it a curious look, before checking her monitor. "Najma Farms. Doesn't look like they're a big outfit. A bit close to the lions' territory, though."
"It's the best we can do right now, Fara. I'll check it out."
"Careful Fox. That nice shiny Arwing of yours may look like a nice shiny prize to the lions."
"Nothing I can't handle." He put on a cocky smile. "I've survived a lot worse in Lylat."
"Yeah but don't get too overconfident. You're also on your own out there. Good luck, Fox." Fara's image blinked out on the console.
Tadao finally looked out from behind the Arwing's seat. He'd been doing his best to stay quiet and hidden while the two of them talked. "We're going to a drug farm now?" the iguana asked. "Sounds dangerous. Only criminals run those things back in Lylat. Even Andross didn't like them. And what are the cats at the farm going to do when they see us? Me especially."
"You can stay with the Arwing again if you want." Fox hit some buttons on the Arwing's console, initiating the startup sequence. "I don't want bandits messing with it."
"No, I'll definitely go with you this time. I don't think they'll be as welcoming as they were at Malquae. Best you have me watching your back."
~X~
Fox flew the Arwing further west, soaring over the mountains and desert below. While grateful the Arwing could cover so much ground in such a short time, what would they do about fuel? Fox had packed some spare fuel cells, but the Arwing wasn't meant to operate independently for long periods of time. Might be worth scouting out if there were some place around here to get more fuel.
They passed over another mountain range, a green valley coming up into view. A river coursed its way through, which marked the border with lion territory. It was so strange seeing water plus a great deal of trees and greenery on a desert planet like this. There was another sea of blue besides the river: the turquoise nasim flowers used to create the breeze drugs. Farmers moved amongst the flowers, working the fields. Some of them stared up at the Arwing flashing past overhead. If he didn't know what those flowers were used for, Fox would find the sight beautiful to look at, almost idyllic.
Despite the peaceful scene, the lions close by made their presence felt. Along the river, it was like something out of a history textbook, bringing to mind centuries-old wars on Corneria. On the farms' side, a tall stone wall blocked off access from the river, with watch towers, bunkers, and mortars facing the water. Beyond the wall, anti-vehicle defenses like large caltrops covered the beach. On the lion's side of the river, barren sand and rock plus destroyed vehicles and craters marked the land, with more watch towers and lookouts hidden further back in a distant tree line, facing towards the farms. Several large figures manned the positions, Fox recognizing the lions' manes even from this far away. He could see the glint from a pair of binoculars looking right at his ship. It left an ominous, fragile feeling over the quiet valley.
Fox banked away from the river, deciding it would be best not to go into the middle of all that. Neither side appeared to have any weapons capable of endangering his Arwing, but he didn't want to take the chance.
"Hope you don't mind walking, Tadao." Perhaps it'd be best to land a good bit away where he knew the ship wouldn't be bothered.
"Ah, it's fine, I walked several miles a day while hunting for food on Fortuna," he smiled.
After concealing the Arwing in a small forested meadow and slipping their robes on again—this time dusted up some more per Rossiro's suggestion—Fox and Tadao started the long trek back to Najma Farms. They soon made their way to a primitive dirt track, marked by tires, hoof marks, and footsteps. While it was hot, at least the trees bordering the road helped keep them out of direct sunlight. They soon arrived at a stone wall encircling the fields of blue flowers they'd seen before, with a gate manned by a guard sitting in a basic wooden booth. A sign hung from the wall next to a gate, showing the same starry symbol that was on the bottle. This was it: Najma Farms.
The leopard guard wore a brown robe with a red beret, an old kinetic rifle with wood grips in his hands. Those types of guns were starting to get familiar now. He stood up when Fox and Tadao approached, a curious look in his eyes. However, once he got a good look at their faces, the guard abandoned his post and took off running down the dirt road past the open gate.
"Why'd he do that?" Tadao whispered.
Fox was just as surprised. Not a good guard if he just ran off like that, right? "It's weird, but let's keep going."
As they passed through the gate, they could see field workers' heads bobbing in and out of view from behind the flowers. A bobcat cub cut into a bulb on the stock of one of the blue flowers, extracting a blue liquid into a container. Probably the base of whatever they used to produce breeze. The majority of workers seemed to be bobcats, for some reason. Still nobody approached Fox or Tadao. But it wasn't like people weren't paying attention. Fox caught the cats stealing glances every once in a while, but as soon as they noticed Fox looking back they turned away. All the other guards were averting their eyes too.
What the hell was going on? This shunning was creepy as hell. He almost preferred the stares and insults they got in Malquae.
As they got closer to the center of the farm, the activity increased. More of those cow creatures—like the ones they'd seen outside Malquae— pulled giant carts along, their hooves digging into the dirt. The wagons were full of containers of that blue liquid they'd seen the child harvesting. But aside from trying to not run them over, the wagon drivers didn't look their way either.
When Fox and Tadao made it to the center of the farm, a large group of the cat farmers were waiting for them, along with the first leopard guard they'd seen at the gate. Again, most of them were bobcats. All of them stared at the two intruders in silence, a look of disgust on their faces.
An older-looking bobcat with shaggy, graying fur stepped forward. He wore a dark blue robe with little dust on it, indicating he didn't labor like the rest. The gray fur and pristine robes gave him a distinguished appearance. Steeling himself, Fox approached the elder bobcat, the two of them meeting face to face.
The elder stood quietly, appearing to wait for Fox to say something. What that was, he had no idea.
After half a minute of confused silence, the elder bobcat sighed and said, "Well, aren't you going to scream and curse at me like you always do?"
Fox cocked his head. "Um…why would I do that?"
"Because I know I'm late on my payments, and that's why you are here."
Fox and Tadao glanced at each other, both of them confused.
The elder's hard expression softened into a confused look as well. "Aren't you two with the Legion?"
"Legion?" Fox asked.
"Huh…" The bobcat looked between the two of them. "I thought all of you were with the Legion."
"All of you?"
"Non-cats. Almost every non-cat I meet works for them."
"You think you could start over from the beginning?" Fox asked. "We're not from around here."
"Forgive me, but I haven't introduced myself. My name is Yusuf Najma, and my family has run this farm for generations. Many of the workers here are my children and grandchildren." He indicated to the other bobcats standing nearby, ranging from middle aged to boys and girls. "This is our home, and we all work together to protect it and ourselves."
A large family business was not what Fox expected to see when visiting a drug farm of all places. A place like this in Lylat would have nothing but hardened criminals and thugs pointing guns at him. It was a shock, to say the least.
"Umm…" Fox was still getting over the surprise. "My name is Fox McCloud, and this is Tadao. We don't mean any trouble. I'm just looking for a missing person. What is this Legion you're talking about?"
"Maddox's Legion…" Yusuf's tone turned disgusted. "They're a mercenary company offering security and protection, but they're more like gangsters. Keep raising what they charge us without helping us watch the lions at the river. Almost every legionnaire I've talked to has been a non-cat, so I assumed you were with them. My apologies for jumping to such crass conclusions."
"It's all right," Fox smiled. He was curious to hear about this Legion, but finding Krystal took priority. "So about that missing person. Her name is Krystal, and she's a fox like me. A vixen. I think she may have come through here. She had one of these with her, and it had your logo on it." Fox held up the vial of breeze.
Yusuf held the vial, glancing at the bottom and confirming it was his. "Maybe she did, but we distribute to a wide area. It doesn't necessarily mean she was here. She could've picked this up from many of the surrounding towns."
Fox's ears lowered. He supposed that made sense. He took out the photograph of Krystal's Cloudrunner. "Have you seen a ship like this, though? It's her ship."
"Oh…what a strange-looking ship." Yusuf fished a pair of glasses out of a pocket in his robes, looking closer at the photo. "I've never seen anything like this. Almost like a bird or something. I did see a fighter fly past our farm about an hour or two ago."
"That was me," Fox replied.
The bobcat smiled and shook his head. "I have no idea how you offworlders can afford such things. Anyway, I do recall a few months ago a different fighter did fly over our farm."
Fox's ears perked up at that. "Did you get a good look at it? Was it that ship in the photo?"
"It was flying too high and too fast. I'm sorry." Yusuf handed back the photo. "I only remember it was headed into lion territory across the river."
Fox didn't like the sound of that. Krystal went into that awful place? But then Rossiro said that's where a lot of the blue angel attacks happened, so maybe she was investigating those. At least if she had her fighter, it would be easy to get in and out of there quickly. From what he'd heard of the lions' military, they couldn't afford to run an air force, and their AA was just as primitive as everything else he'd seen around here. No threat to her Cloudrunner, like his Arwing. Even so, Krystal would need to leave her ship to investigate like Fox was doing right now, and if she got caught by the lions while she was on foot…
"Young man, would you like to join us for lunch?" Yusuf smiled. "We don't get a lot of outside visitors, and I almost never have time to leave this farm, so it's always fascinating to me to hear more about what is happening outside of this valley. You can tell me more about this Krystal person too."
Fox wasn't too sure about that offer. He remembered what happened when the people at Malquae learned about Krystal's blue fur. Even so, Rossiro warned him about what accepting refreshments meant in the Outer Territories, so he nodded in approval.
"Excellent. Please follow us this way." He gestured towards a large straw roof held up by wooden poles, with multiple low tables and pillows to sit on underneath it. A group of servants were bringing out food as he spoke.
~X~
While Fox didn't know what to expect for food here, he thought it'd be better considering this was a farm. The pickings were on the unpalatable side: stale bread that leaned more towards the consistency of a rock than anything, meat that looked like it had been sitting outside for a day or two, plus some grimy rubbery vegetables he couldn't identify. Fox vaguely chewed on bits and pieces of things on his plate, but found it difficult to dig in without showing his gag reflex.
The workers scarfed down the food like it was fine cuisine, although their stomachs had probably adjusted to this diet. Not to mention hunger was the best spice, and they probably had a lot of it from working the fields all day. Tadao also didn't have trouble, a bit to Fox's annoyance. But then the lizard probably couldn't afford to be picky back in the Fortunan jungles.
"Are you enjoying your meal?" Yusuf asked.
"It's all right," Fox lied.
"You can tell the truth. It doesn't bother me," Yusuf laughed. "With what you've told me about yourself Mr. McCloud, clearly you get to eat better than us. You certainly have led an exciting life, assuming everything you say about yourself is true. I must admit, some of those things sound like make believe stories my grandchildren would create when they want to play games with each other. Like you saving all of Lylat with only your four fighters or finding Krystal on a planet of giant dinosaurs."
Fox sheepishly laughed. He supposed it would sound ridiculous to somebody who knew nothing about him or Star Fox beforehand. And even then he'd been careful to leave out the parts about Krystal having blue fur or psychic powers.
"Anyway, I know what we have isn't the best, but it's all we can afford after Maddox takes his pound of flesh." Yusuf's smile faded away.
"So who's Maddox?" Fox bit hard into another piece of rock-like bread. "How'd he get in charge of this Legion anyway?"
"I'm afraid I don't know. I've only ever dealt with his foot soldiers. Same for the rest of the farms around here. Maddox probably prefers not having anybody know who he is or where he came from. Harder to track him down and kill him that way, after all."
Fox frowned. Of course, he shouldn't be surprised. When it came to the morality of mercenaries, Star Fox was the exception and not the rule. What the Legion was doing to this family was awful, even if Fox didn't agree with what they were growing. All the same though, he had questions.
"You buy your food?" Fox asked, in between trying to eat a piece of stringy, dry meat that refused to tear in his sharp teeth. "Wouldn't it make more sense to grow some instead? You have a farm after all. Why not set aside a little land for it?"
Yusuf shook his head. "You would think, but it takes more time and energy than it's worth. Makes far more sense monetarily to grow more flowers for breeze instead. Growing food would be more expensive than just trading our drugs for it." He sighed. "Honestly, I wish it made sense to grow food here instead, like my father and grandfather before me, rest their souls, but sadly that is not how things are right now."
Wow, what a sad situation when drugs were the best option.
Yusuf continued to talk, descending into a bit of a rant. "It's been like this since those two stupid Azer siblings started their little hissy fit civil war ten years ago. Lions and mercenaries decided to make their own power grabs without the Azerian kingdom keeping them in check. Nobody's going to look out for us. Not even Thaal-Ja. I'm sure you've learned this by now, but out here the only law is 'might makes right'."
"I certainly have." He looked in the direction of the river, at the mountains in the lion territory beyond. "I hope Krystal is still alive out there somewhere."
"And I wish I could do more to help you with that." Yusuf took another bite from his plate. "I suppose my best advice would be to check some of the towns nearby. As you can see, we don't have starships to move product around, so we are stuck to more mundane delivery methods like those wagons. That jar you found probably hadn't gone far from here when she came across it."
"She had a rough diamond too." Fox pulled it out to show him. "I hear the lions use slaves to mine these?"
"Aha, that narrows things down a bit more. So you'd want to try a town where both our product and those diamonds would be used for trade. Likely one near the lion border. There are a couple communities like that which are willing to trade with lions. Probably in return for the lions not violently annexing them instead, or the lions are bribing whoever's in charge. Or both." Yusuf took a spare piece of paper out of his pocket, plus a pen. He quickly scribbled down a map, while marking some roads and villages, before folding it up and handing it to Fox. "I'd suggest looking around one of those places next. Hope you get lucky."
"Appreciate it," Fox smiled.
He was about to open up the folded paper to look, when the leopard guard from the front gate rushed underneath the straw roof. Fox didn't know what he wanted, but he was in an awful hurry, kicking up a lot of dust as he ran. "Mr. Najma! Some more foreign longnose bastards are coming up behind me!"
The guard either didn't notice or care that Fox and Tadao were in earshot. Was that what the leopard called them when he ran up the road the first time? Tadao had an amused smile when he saw Fox's shock. The iguana shrugged and took another bite, almost as if to say 'I'm used to this, but now you know what it's like for lizards in Lylat.'
"It's probably the Legion for real this time!" the guard shouted.
"Oh blessed Thaal-Ja…" Yusuf said, clutching the folds of his robes, before he looked at Fox and Tadao. "This is what I was afraid of when I saw you two. I was hoping they'd forgotten to come by today or something. It's best if the Legion doesn't know you're here." Yusuf pointed at a nearby barn with adobe walls and large wooden doors. "Just hide in there until they leave. I'll let you know when it's safe to come out."
"Is everything going to be okay?" Fox's hand drifted towards his blaster out of reflex.
"Don't worry about me," Yusuf smiled. "I don't want to drag you into my problems. Now hurry and hide."
Fox and Tadao rushed for the nearby barn that Yusuf indicated, getting out of sight behind the wooden door. Giant brown sacks filled the room inside, probably dried samples of the nasim flower liquid the farmers harvested earlier. It had a pungent odor. Fox didn't particularly like it.
Regardless, Fox heard the Legion rep long before he saw him.
"Yusuf! Yusuf! I know you're here! Where's our damn product?"
"I'm here. No need to shout," Yusuf said.
There was a gap between the wooden planks in the door large enough to peek through. Fox decided to take a look. The legionnaire shouting turned out to be a dog with sandy brown fur, probably a dingo going by the pointed ears and muzzle. A raccoon walked alongside him, carrying a kinetic rifle in his hands. Unlike most of the cats that wore robes, the two outsiders wore desert camouflage and combat vests. Their backs were turned to the barn door.
"You've only been paying half the drugs we're owed for the last three months," the dingo said. "We've given you more than enough leeway."
"You should already know that we won't have a lot of product until harvest a few months from now. I'm sorry, but until that time comes, I simply cannot spare you more. If I do pay you now, that will cut into wages for my hired workers and food for my family. My workers will desert me, and my children and grandchildren will starve. I won't have enough hands for the next harvest, and you'll end up losing more profit in the long run. Also you know we had a bad harvest a few months ago due to a lack of rain, which is why I'm behind right now. You would've seen how low the river was last year. What made it worse is the lions took advantage of the low water level to make more intrusions, and we've had to pull people away from field work to act as guards instead." Yusuf looked like he wanted to criticize the Legion for not helping with guard duty like they were supposed to, but he held his tongue. "We're doing the best we can here."
Fox had to give Yusuf credit. He sure was being calm about explaining the situation.
The dingo shook his head. "All excuses you've already told to other legionnaires who've come here. But I'm not as forgiving as they are. Settle your debt now, or there will be penalties."
"Then I suppose I shall have to take a penalty." Yusuf sighed. "What do you propose?"
"You only manage the farm, right?" The dingo chuckled. "No physical labor?"
"That is correct…?" Yusuf didn't know what that chuckle was for, but it probably wasn't good. "I may not labor like the others, but it is just as important that someone keeps track of the books and makes plans for the future."
The dingo's chuckles broke out into laughter. Suddenly, he grabbed his pistol out of his holster, decking Yusuf in the face with it, sending the bobcat tumbling down to the ground in a dusty cloud. The dingo leaped on top of him, drawing a machete out of his belt.
The bobcats standing around Yusuf cried out. One of the adults shouted "Father!", plus some of the younger children cried out "Grampa! Grampa!" with small whimpers. However, they all kept their distance, as the raccoon flagged them with the barrel of his assault rifle, their cries soon falling into silence.
"Bastard…" Fox hissed, drawing his blaster. Yusuf warned them not to get involved, but Fox knew too well what it felt like to lose a father. He didn't want it to happen to these people either.
"Don't worry, I won't kill him." The dingo pointed his machete at the back of one of Yusuf's legs. "But I suppose he won't need a foot then, if he's sitting all day with his books and his ledgers?"
Fox tensed up, holding his blaster at the ready. He didn't even have to say anything to Tadao, who already had his machete out. The vulpine just needed to leap into action, and the iguana would follow. The raccoon and dingo were still facing away from the barn. Their backs were wide open.
But before Fox leaped over the threshold, the raccoon spoke up. "Hey Oscar," he said. "Yusuf does have a point. You'll only make it harder for him to keep up with his payments if you do this. Maddox won't be happy."
"No, I think Maddox will be thrilled." Oscar laughed. "Don't you want to get a good commission for collecting the payment now?" The dingo put on a sick grin, licking the side of his blade with his tongue. "I'll cut ya in, man."
"He said he can't pay us right now, man." The raccoon rolled his eyes. "Why don't we just charge him some interest instead and collect after his harvest? Yusuf's done pretty good paying on time until now."
"You're too soft and trusting. I bet he's hiding plenty of his refined drugs from us." Oscar turned and whispered in the downed bobcat's ear. "Aren't you?"
"Please…" Yusuf begged. "I will accept paying extra interest after my harvest."
"Oh, you're no fun!" Oscar got his blade dangerously close to the back of Yusuf's left leg. "I think I'll be taking that foot now."
"Hey, stop it!" The raccoon said. "He already said he'd pay interest!"
"Come on man!" Oscar looked up from his hostage. "We may as well have a little fun along the way! Part of why I joined this outfit!" He turned back to the downed bobcat. "Now, let's hear how you scream." He held up the machete high.
But before he could chop the blade down, a shadow fell over him from behind. The crouched dingo looked up just in time to catch Fox's kick in the face, sending him tumbling off the bobcat and into the dirt himself. The dingo saw nothing but blue sky and clouds before Fox jumped on top of him and brought up his blaster. Meanwhile Tadao had jumped the raccoon from behind, pinning him face first into the ground with his machete resting on the back of his neck.
"He said he would pay you back later with interest." Fox growled. "I think your business is done here. Your partner certainly agrees."
"You…" Oscar was shocked, astonished to see a non-cat face. "A fox? Where did you come from?"
"That's not important." Fox reached over and picked up the dingo's pistol, taking it for himself. "You and your friend need to leave."
Tadao likewise pulled away the raccoon's rifle and threw it aside.
Yusuf picked himself up off the ground, shaking the dirt off of his clothes. "What in Thaal-Ja's name did I tell you?!" But he shouted at Fox rather than Oscar. "I warned you not to get involved!"
"Where did you get these two, Yusuf?" The dingo called off to the side from where he lay. "Hire up some other mercenaries to fight us? You remember what happened to those three farms down the river who thought they could fight us." A dark chuckle escaped his mouth.
Whatever happened to those three farms, the mention of it sent a pale look over Yusuf's face. "I swear I only just met these people!" He shouted back, talking fast now. "I don't know anything about them! Leave them out of it! Fox, let him up!"
"Are you crazy?!" Fox said. "He wanted your foot!"
"I would gladly give up my foot if it ensures the safety of this farm!" Yusuf shouted at Fox. "I'm an old man. I don't have much time left either way. But this farm is to ensure my children and grandchildren have a future!"
Oscar laughed again, in spite of Fox shoving the gun in his face. "So…your name is Fox, huh? You ought to listen to Yusuf. He knows his place. Won't be long before you learn the same lesson."
Fox growled. He would've loved to blow this smug bastard's brains out, but he didn't want to execute an unarmed man.
"Hang on a second." Oscar's smug smile turned to scrutiny, as he studied Fox's face. "That name…Fox. As in Fox McCloud?"
A chill came down Fox's spine.
"The boss told us someone like you might show up around here." The dingo's smile returned. "You were the one flying that fighter in the sky not too long ago, weren't you? With the shiny silver armor? It's not exactly subtle in a place like this, you know!"
What the hell was this? Fox didn't know anybody on this planet. He'd never been anywhere near here before. Nobody should know who he was! "Talk! Who's your boss and what does he want with me?"
A fresh round of laughter came from Oscar's mouth. "Oh, it is you! It is you! We're gonna be rich!"
"What you're gonna be is dead if you don't start talking!" Fox screamed in his face.
"Fox, please, let him up already!" Yusuf called out from the side.
Out of reflex, Fox spun around and snapped his gun at Yusuf. "You stay out of this!"
Before he could point the gun back at Oscar, sharp cracks and whistles filled the air around Fox. Bullets. A lot of them.
Forgetting about his hostage, Fox dived into the dirt, scrambling as fast as he could back for the barn he'd been hiding in before. The rounds hit the dirt around him, sending up little puffs of sand. Even once he was inside the barn again, several bullets pierced the wooden door, striking the wall as well. At least the adobe wall seemed thick enough to block the shots.
Someone else rushed into the barn behind Fox, the vulpine raising his blaster, but it only turned out to be Tadao.
The gunfire stopped and all was quiet for a moment, but then Fox heard an engine. It was getting louder. He peeked through one of the bullet holes in the door, seeing a rusty red pickup approaching from the dirt road leading to the front gate. The truck had a roll cage mounted around the outside, plus a large mounted machine gun in the back bed. The driver and the gunner both wore the same desert camouflage as the dingo and raccoon. A shield-shaped emblem on the door had a phrase on it in a language Fox didn't recognize:
Oculos Habemus Et Aures Ubique
The driver pulled the handbrake, sending the truck into a dusty sliding stop next to the dingo and raccoon, who both jumped aboard. Fox raised his blaster, but the gunner in the back spotted him, turning his huge gun around. Fox only just made it to cover behind the stone wall before another fresh barrage of bullets ripped the wooden door into saw dust.
The shooting ceased again, Fox hearing Oscar laughing from the truck. "Watch your back, McCloud! I'll be seeing you again soon!" The engine roared along with the sound of the tires spinning in the dirt, before the sounds became quieter.
Once he thought the truck was far enough away, Fox risked a peek outside. There was nothing to see of the retreating vehicle except for a cloud of dust. At least nobody appeared to have been hit. All of the cats stepped out from whatever cover they'd jumped behind when the shooting started.
Yet it was small comfort for Fox. He sensed he'd just made a powerful enemy, and he would soon be paying the price for it.