Star Fox: The Next Generation Chapter 1

[Showtime 1-1]

"Cliff... Cliff, shut up. I can't hear my own thoughts."

The team had easily outrun the incoming reinforcement fighters, and they were nearing Sargasso again. Thankfully, Krystal didn't talk about anything else.

"Nice job, Freya. I think your father will be pleased with the outcome of this mission."

Silver checked his instruments and noticed that the auxiliary hydraulic pressure was a little low. It controlled the landing gear extension, and without enough pressure, the gear would not come down.

"Hey, I've got a bit of a problem here. I'll have to touch down last."

[Kursed]

"i assume we'll have to manually pump the gear down?" Krystal asked.

[Tiberius]

Fox and Tiberius were already set for take off.

[Kursed]

Fox and Tiberius were already set for take off.

Kari and alexjumep into their arwings. "Ready!" They both said.

[Tiberius]

"Everyone. go ahead and launch. We'll meet up at the specified coordinates." Fox transmitted the landing coordinates to the other fighters and launched. Tiberius launched soon after.

[Showtime 1-1]

"i assume we'll have to manually pump the gear down?" Krystal asked.

"Heh, I wish. No, the pressure is bleeding off, meaning we have a fluid leak somewhere. The manual pump would be useless, but it's under your right foot if trying it will make you feel better."

Sargasso was looming into view as the warning light for Utility Hydraulic Failure blinked on. This had happened many times before, so Silver wasn't the least bit worried.

"Here's the plan. I'm gonna unlock the gear and it will fall into place." he said to his passenger. "I'll see if I can get it to lock down by accelerating and slowing down, then I'll bring the G-diffusers online to soften the landing."

[Kursed]

"Heh, I wish. No, the pressure is bleeding off, meaning we have a fluid leak somewhere. The manual pump would be useless, but it's under your right foot if trying it will make you feel better."

Sargasso was looming into view as the warning light for Utility Hydraulic Failure blinked on. This had happened many times before, so Silver wasn't the least bit worried.

"Here's the plan. I'm gonna unlock the gear and it will fall into place." he said to his passenger. "I'll see if I can get it to lock down by accelerating and slowing down, then I'll bring the G-diffusers online to soften the landing."

"Like you said it probably wouldn't help" krystal replied sitting back in the seat.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

"Cliff... Cliff, shut up. I can't hear my own thoughts."

"No, you shut up, butthead!" Cliff jeered at Silver.  "Yeah!" Attila added, flipping Silver the finger.

The two of them sang a few more times, then quieted down.

"Heh, I wish. No, the pressure is bleeding off, meaning we have a fluid leak somewhere. The manual pump would be useless, but it's under your right foot if trying it will make you feel better."

Sargasso was looming into view as the warning light for Utility Hydraulic Failure blinked on. This had happened many times before, so Silver wasn't the least bit worried.

"Here's the plan. I'm gonna unlock the gear and it will fall into place." he said to his passenger. "I'll see if I can get it to lock down by accelerating and slowing down, then I'll bring the G-diffusers online to soften the landing."

"Hey, what'sa matter, butthead?  Technical Difficulties!?" asked Cliff.

[Showtime 1-1]

Silver sighed.

"Just worry about getting your own ship back in one piece, you vulpinic half-wit." He replied, circling to let the others land first.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Silver sighed.

"Just worry about getting your own ship back in one piece, you vulpinic half-wit." He replied, circling to let the others land first.

"Hey, shut up, nitwit, you're the one who needs to worry about getting back in one piece!  And you better not hit our ships when you land in the hangar, butthead!" said Cliff, tempted to shoot Sliver.

"Nice to know there's no love lost between you two." Attila sneered.

"Race you back to Sargasso, Butthead!" Cliff replied to Attila.

The two of them raced to the hangar of Sargasso.

[Asper Sarnoff]

Wolf followed the four approaching crafts closely as thay rapidly closed the distance towards the space station.

For once, he was in a somewhat good mood. His contacts had reported the cruiser had been taken care off, and that the name "Starwolf" was now on everyones lips. He were sure he could avoid getting to much on the side of Malon to provoke a direct attack, all that could threaten him now was another influental crime lord. Someone he would deal with soon enough.

He let his mechanical eye Zoom in on the crafts, seeing Cliff and Attila opening their mouths, clearly locked into an argument over the intercom. He were in for a shock when he turned over to look at the Starcat tough, seeing the blue vixen sitting in the second pilots seat.

Krystal!?! What was she doing here?

He turned away from the window and started to make his way towards the hangar, summoning several guards with him as he went.

Odin was once again in the Dragon, following Kari and Alex closely. The friction of the air started to heat up the craft, and he upped the shields to protect it from overheating. He noticed the right secondary engine was running a bit lean. He had to fine-tune it as soon as he had some time available.

[Kursed]

"I don't think My Visit here will be a Welcome one Silver." Krystal noted having the strange feeling someone she knew had seen her.

[Showtime 1-1]

"Yeah, and you arrival won't be an elegant one. What did you expect?"

He watched his teammates alight in the space station's hangar, then tossed the landing gear handle down.

"Wolf might be your enemy, but he's civilized. I don't think you'll be too uncomfortable. Now hang on tight."

He used reverse thrust for a split second. The main gear clunked against it's stops from the rapid deceleration, which also pushed Silver into the seat straps. Then he shoved the throttles forward, accelerating the ship rapidly. The front gear strut clunked against it's latch under the G-force.

"Sounds good. I have three green up here. Now cross your fingers."

The G-diffusers flashed to life at a flick of Silver's finger, the wings swung forward and the ride smoothed out. With a kick of rudder, the big ship was lined up on the landing bay.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Cliff and Attila watched Silver land in the bay, as they were now working on repairing the damage on their fighters.  Not too much damage was done to their fighters, just a little bit, but nothing they couldn't fix.  "Buttheads!  They hardly made a scratch!" said Cliff.

The Sargasso Ruffians were unloading all the crates from Cliff's vessel.  A Ruffian Mechanic offered to help Cliff and Attila, so they let him help.

"Hey, Cliff!  You got some kinda kill switch on your ship?  I can never get it to start." said the mechanic to Cliff.  "You just gotta have the magic touch, like I do..." Cliff said, demonstrating by turning on his ship, then turning it off.

Cliff, Attila, and the mechanic were finishing up the minor repairs, and the mechanic said "Well...glad this wasn't too much work." and Cliff replied "Yeah...good thing there wasn't a bunch of manure spilled out into the cabin of my ship".  :wink:

[Asper Sarnoff]

The chatter of dozens of bootsoles against the metal floor suddenly echoed trough the hangar. Out of the hallways leading to the other parts of the space station streamed several armed guards, which in a matter of a few seconds had completely surrounded Silvers now landed StarCat. Every single one of them aimed at the canopy, at the person sitting in the co-pilots seat.

Wolf walked out onto the walkway leading over the hangar, looking down at the fighter containing Krystal.

"Krystal! Come out of the craft with your hands in the air! A single wrong move, and we WILL open fire!" He barked.

[Kursed]

"This is no way to  greet a woman, Wolf."KRystal said getting out with her hands up as he had asked.

[Showtime 1-1]

"PUT THOSE %$&@!$ GUNS DOWN!" Silver yelled at the armed guard of ruffians as the canopy opened. "IF YOU PUT ONE SCRATCH ON THIS FIGHTER, YOU'LL FIND YOURSELF TIED UP IN AN EXHAUST PORT!"

He busied himself with shutting down the engines and onboard systems, least a ruffian get sucked into a cooling duct and damage something important.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Cliff held his weapon high, sneering.  "You buttheads leave my Aunt Krystal alone!" he sneered.

[Asper Sarnoff]

(Fira's on a trip to New York, so I'll take control of Freya again for some time.)

"Stand down Cliff!" Wolf barked down at Cliff as some of the rufians changed their aim towards the red fox instead. "While Freya might be the leader of the team, you all answer to me."

Krystal was slowly making her way out of the cockpit and down to the floor. Each movement being followed by around 20 blaster muzzles.

Wolf could clearly see she had not expected such a hostile welcome. She might once had flown under their colors. But now, she were once again the closest to his archenemy. And dangerous in her own right if one didn't take precautions.

She jumped down onto the bulkhead, and was immediatly surrounded by a circle of ruffians aiming at her.

She was lead out of the way as Freyas Wolfen came swooping in trough the shield and was gently put down onto the hangar floor. The canopy opened up and Freya jumped down, letting out a silent whimper as her wounded leg took the brunt of the fall. She immediatly started to move towards the group of people around Krystal.

While Krystal had once been her friend, that was a long time ago now. She was the enemy now.

She looked up at her dad, which were looking down at her from the walkway above them.

"Good work Freya. Not only did you carry out the mission, but you also gave me the perfect hostage." Wolf said to her, loud so everyone heard it.

[Tiberius]

(I'd appreciate it if someone tells me these things...)

[Asper Sarnoff]

(I can assure you Tiberius, a rescue mission will be unnecesary, and futile for that matter.

I've got plans which will allow Krystal to escape in not to long anyway. Stay tuned!)

[Kursed]

Meanwhile on Sargasso.

"I see your hospitality has changed Wolf.." Krystal said making no sudden moments studying the area around her.

[Tiberius]

(deleted last post. the team lands on Katina.)

[Asper Sarnoff]

"Things have changed since last we meet." Wolf sneered. "Take her to the top security prison cell, place her in the containment field and put two armed guards on the inside, and two on the outside." He barked to his men before he once again spoke to Krystal. "I'll have a long talk with you later on. And believe me when I say it won't be a pleasant experience for you. Take her away!"

[Showtime 1-1]

Silver was a little disappointed that Wolf had taken Krystal's capture so seriously, but didn't think too much about it. She wasn't on his side any more, and that's that.

As the guards left the hangar, he took the chance to survey the damage to the StarCat. The forward missile rails were destroyed, and he found the damaged hose responsible for the loss of utility hydraulics. He also walked over to the big fighter's port-side ventral fin and painted on another "X", representing one more cruiser down. There were 72 Xs in total now.

As he turned away to get some tools, he heard a creaking sound from his ship. Looking back, he saw the nose landing gear slouch, then the nose of the StarCat clunked down to the floor loudly as the wheel strut gave over to gravity.

Silver then yelled a very loud obscenity, the magnitude of which is rarely matched.