Star Crossed [an old and terrible Star Fox fanfic]

C11 - Talking Away

"Check the meteorite fields for Androssian forces before you move on. Sgt G," the memo from Bill said, signed off with the abbreviated rank and last name. It was a safety precaution... It wasn't the most strategic place Andross could put a good few ships, but that would make doing it quite the surprise. With that strategy in mind, the Great Fox, too big to traverse a field of space rocks, was set on autopilot to swerve around it.

"Star Fox, deploy your Arwings," Fox commanded. Falco, Slippy, and Peppy accompanied him to the hangars, where they each situated themselves in their respective ships. Fox adjusted the picture of his former family, and nodded, then flew out as the hatch on the Great Fox opened.

"See ya later, big guy!" Slippy waved off to their mothership.

"Slippy, it's our ship," Falco joked, "not our pet."

"It may as well be my pet," the frog retorted with a cheerful ribbit. "Worked so hard on it."

"Slip, keep an eye out, now," Peppy advised.

"Indeed. Everyone, keep an eye out," Fox reaffirmed.

"Hah. Gonna copy off everything he says, Fox?" Falco teased.

"Gonna make a snide remark to everything, Falco?" the amphibian team member made his quick reply.

"Well, damn! He got you there," Peppy chortled.

"Ey, you wouldn't have it any other way, wouldja?" the avian considered.

"Sure wouldn't, sweetheart," a feline face suddenly blasted through everyone's speakers, "but you've gotta tell me how to take off in this thing!"

"AND to turn your MIC SENSITIVITY down, Miyu, sheesh!" Fox yelped, as everyone else made their subsequent leaps, while Miyu's voice echoed to their own microphones.

"Ghah, sorry, sorry... there," the lynx now confidently said. Her Arwing joined formation, finding an adequate space between Falco and Peppy to get into. "Ah, hell yea! Star Fox! My ma would be so proud to see this!" she gleefully mewed.

"I'm proud to see it," Falco leaned into his mic to sweetly remark.

"Awwwe, stoppp," the feline's blushing, happy face flipped to view as she spoke.

"Refrain from using the team-talkin'-technology to be lovebirds, you two," Fox half-seriously scorned.

"Uh-oh, Foxy's being a fun-ruinerrr!" Peppy quipped.

"Peppy, you're the one who I expected to back me up on this!" McCloud surprisingly yapped.

"Not every old person resorts to scorning people. Leave that to the General," the hare rolled his eyes.

"And when're you gonna fetch a vixen, Fox?" Slippy chortled.

"Guys, let's focus on the matter at hand," Fox then answered, sighing. "Look for enemy forces. If you see them, you have my order to shoot," he re-explained.

"Ohh, so Foxy's giving orders now, huh?" Miyu chittered teasily.

"I betcha I'd be captain if he wasn't here," Falco quipped.

"I'm the oldest, remember, and still a damn veteran," Peppy countered.

"Psh. I think I'd be the captain," Slippy expressed.

"Such thoughts encourage treason," Fox made the obligatory warning. "But, like, Slippy, you wouldn't have a chance of being the captain of... anything, really."

The team seemed to laugh, except for the frog in question, who remained silent.

"Pfft. Cheer up, Slip, we didn't mean it," Falco said, after silence from the amphibian.

"You're captain of our hearts," Miyu half-teased afterwards.

"No, guys, I think he's shootin' at something," Fox then observed.

"Got him," Slippy satisfactorily said, as the bogey fly-like Androssian droid made a rather small explosion. "See? I'm the only one concentrating, here."

"Well, we're not seeing anything else yet," Peppy shook his head.

"So far," Fox resolved, "so good."

• • ● • •

"Look at them," Andross sighed complacently in his lair, staring at his computer's screen. Five small dots graced the map that was on display, flickering on the old monitor. "That new mutt of a sergeant probably told them to check those meteorite fields."

"Boss," Pigma chuckled, "is that even fair? Knowing where they are like that?"

"Oh, as if you care," the imperial primate rolled his eyes as he sat, checking his sleek personal-digital-assistant. "Besides, I'd argue it is. They obviously know where we are, all cozy here in Venom."

"That's the thing," Wolf growled, stretching. "How in Lylat's name are we supposed to be comfortable, as they obviously know where the hell we are? Shouldn't we, like, be hiding in the shadows somewhere? Giving orders from some discreet location?"

"We ARE giving orders from a discreet location, Captain," Leon rebutted.

"It doesn't matter whether or not it's a secret, which it definitely isn't," Andrew meanwhile countered. "What matters, Wolf, is that we are in the most secure place possible. I mean that literally. The entire planet is armed, and our defense satellite Bolse is state-of-the-art."

"Unlike the rest of this hellhole," O'Donnell rolled his eyes.

"Are you insulting our own base, Wolf?" Andrew spat.

"You call me Captain, monkey," the wolf glared back. "Me Captain! You Andrew!" he then said, pointing tenderly to himself, then making a few primal primate hollers and hoots. "There. Now you understand."

Andross stood. "I'm a damn monkey, too, O'Donnell. I don't appreciate that sort of blatantly speciesist rhetoric. Especially the species that is your Emperor, and MY nephew in particular," he huffed. "You tread on thin ice."

"...Yeah, alright," Wolf chuckled. "Sure. Can we just— like— get out of here, Emperor?"

"Yeh, it smells like crap in here," Pigma complained.

"Didn't you hear the Emperor? It's stay here or risk dying," Leon huffed.

"Leon... do you want to stay here with those conditions, or get out there and shoot some shit?" Wolf made some enthusiastic jazz hands as he proposed.

"When you put it that way, Captain... alright, I'm convinced," Leon shrugged.

"Uncle Andross? I think they're mutiny-ing," Andrew whispered.

The monkey leader facepalmed. "You know what? You're little more than schoolboys. The energetic, rowdy sort, at that. I should try to remember that. I order you to get out of my hair," Andross concluded. "Meet Star Fox at Fichina, where I'm planning our second official attack. Give them a good scare before they move on."

"SIRYESSIR!" Wolf barked, then cheered, as he finally got out of the rotting excuse of a planet called Venom. His team followed him, with Pigma happily chortling, and Leon slinking his way behind him.

"Uncle, c'mon... Can't I stay behind and watch over Bolse?" Andrew asked.

"Andrew, you know Bolse is controlled solely by our best AI. Go with your team. You will be fine, I assure you," the older primate assured with a trademark smile.

"Ughhh, fine," the younger monkey sighed, and reluctantly followed.