"Please, Uncle Silly?"
"No," Slippy responded firmly as he continued to go over data readouts of the ship's status.
"Please?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
Krystal shook her head as she watched the interchange. Much as she'd anticipated, Sunset had immediately started begging everyone for an Ar-Wing of her own. Admittedly, she was still limited in language, but she'd been able to make herself clear rather easily. Thankfully, Krystal had been able to break free of her own siege of pleas rather easily.
"Mommy! Can I have wings?" Sunset pleaded, pointing out the view screen at the Ar-Wings Fox and the others were flying.
Krystal chuckled softly. "Sunset, even if I were so inclined to give you an Ar-Wing - which I'm not - I don't have any way to give you one. Not only won't I, but I can't, and no amount of pleading can change that."
Sunset pouted momentarily before perking up. "Then-"
"And I won't help you talk the others around either."
The resulting pout was absolutely adorable.
Once free of Sunset's attempts at wheedling her around, Krystal was able to watch her attempts at bringing the others around with amused tolerance. Her first attempt had been on Peppy, and his method of deflection was most inspired.
"Grandpa!" Sunset called out eagerly as she rushed towards Peppy. "Can I have wings?"
Peppy blinked in surprise and confusion. "Wings, Sunset?"
"Like you and Daddy have!" Sunset declared, pointing out at space.
Peppy paused as he parsed that, then smiled indulgently. "Oh, you want your own Ar-Wing?" Peppy clarified. When Sunset nodded eagerly, he chuckled softly. "Yes, I remember that feeling well. I remember the first time I saw Ar-Wings in flight..."
And so he had gone, segueing into a story of the past, Sunset becoming totally enthralled until she slipped into slumber. Realizing how she'd been thwarted, she'd confronted him again...only to be distracted by a different story. This had repeated several times until Sunset fully caught wise...and Peppy's counter stratagem was truly masterful.
"No!" Sunset interrupted as Peppy started to tell yet another story. "Don't want story! Want wings!"
Peppy let his face fall as he stared at Sunset. "You don't want my story?" he asked sorrowfully. "Well, I suppose it would come eventually." He sighed regretfully. "Younguns always grow up eventually. I knew it wouldn't be that long before you didn't need me anymore, outgrew the need for Grandpa. I guess I'll just...sit here idling my days away, missing the days you'd crawl into my lap for a story, wasting away..."
Sunset was on the verge of tears. "No Grandpa!" she wailed, throwing herself into his lap to cling to him. "Don't go! Need you! Love you!"
Peppy smiled warmly, returning the hug. "So you still want my stories?"
Sunset nodded desperately. Chuckling, Peppy broke into yet another tale.
After that, Sunset didn't ask Peppy for anything other than stories. Peppy managed to look inordinately smug whenever Sunset wasn't looking.
Sunset's discussion with Fox had been quite short.
"Daddy!" Sunset called out, running up to Fox in the Ar-Wing hangar. "I want one!" She pointed peremptorily at the Ar-Wing.
"Maybe when you're older," Fox replied readily without even blinking.
"Not maybe!" Sunset whined. "Want wings!"
"Would you like to go for 'no'?" Fox countered.
Sunset stared up at him. "...Maybe good."
Krystal had been nervous when Sunset had approached Falco, though. She knew Falco had a temper, and a foul mouth when roused. However, to her surprise, Falco was surprisingly creative when censoring himself around Sunset.
"Flock no!" Falco snapped the moment Sunset had asked him for 'wings'. "Fly me to the Alps, no! There is no way in Helheim a pupping three year old is being put into farting space! It is far too flying dangerous!"
Sunset stared up at Falco, her ears going back as her eyes started to water.
"Don't gimme that shingles!" Falco chided angrily. "You and I both know the waterworks is a big fake to get what you want and you yell and scream when actually upset!"
Sunset's expression turned to angry, and she spun and delivered a hard side kick to his shin with her hoof before toddling away.
"Yeah..." Falco whimpered as he clutched his leg. "Like that. ...fighting good form there, though."
And now it seemed Sunset had turned her attempts on Slippy, though he seemed to be holding strong against it. The 'Please?/No' exchange had been going on for nearly an hour, and Sunset showed no signs of stopping...while Slippy showed no signs of even being disturbed by it. Eventually, Sunset was the one who broke. "Why?"
Slippy smiled as he held out his data-pad, showing her the image on it. "This is the G-Diffusion system of the Ar-Wings," Slippy explained. "It's central to all its systems. Engines, shields, maneuvering, weapons, bomb dispersal...everything goes through it to some degree. But it isn't perfect. Sometimes the energy slips. Sometimes one of the systems it controls...blips. As such, there are safeties for all of them. However...one of the systems it controls is its primary function, controlling how the G Forces of the flight affect the pilot. You've read my science notes, so you can imagine what would happen to a pilot if that system blips."
Sunset shuddered. She could imagine. She'd seen what extreme G Forces could do to fruit. "Safety?" she asked hopefully.
"As I said, the blips only last a few moments," Slippy explained as he reached into a bag, pulling out his cybernetic leg enhancers. "But if that system blips, the Gs will force all the blood in the pilot's body into their legs, which can cause them to black out...or cause blood vessels to burst." Setting the leg enhancers down, he sat back and rolled up his pant legs.
Sunset stared as the metal prongs sticking out of Slippy's legs became visible. "Those...?" she asked, her voice now afraid.
"Surgically implanted cybernetic interface points," Slippy confirmed. "Hurts like the dickens putting them in, and anesthesia isn't an option since they have to link up properly to the nervous system so they can receive mental commands." Slipping his legs into the boot shaped enhancers, he focused. He gritted his teeth as a metallic clanking heralded the interfaces grasping the boots and locking them into place. "And because we had to get the cheaper models back when we got them due to being low on cash, they hurt like the dickens when we put them on. Fox got lucky, since his Dad sprung for the model that stays entirely within the leg when not in use. Falco and I...not so lucky."
He slowly stood up, balancing his weight on the boots. "These strengthen the muscles, bones, and blood vessels in the legs, allowing them to handle both a sudden increase in G forces and maintaining standard blood pressure should the system blip. All research shows this system prevents black outs in the event of momentary G-Diffusion System failure. Anything more than momentary, you're already dead." He turned to Sunset. "They don't make these in child sizes, and one of the requirements to legally pilot an Ar-Wing is to be of age to have these installed, and either get them installed or prove your biology doesn't need it. Some species don't." He glanced down at Sunset's hooves. "You might not, given the shape of your legs. But we can't get it tested until you're at least 12, when you're old enough to enroll in the Academy."
"Y-yeah..." Sunset murmured in a quiet voice. Krystal could see it in her eyes. She still wanted her own 'wings', but she no longer wanted them 'now.'
At that moment, Rob broadcast an announcement to the whole ship. "Message from General Pepper! Priority One!"
Slippy immediately leapt to his feet. "Krystal, hold onto Sunset!" he directed as he raced for the hangar.
Krystal quickly snatched up Sunset, racing for the hangar herself. Something big was going down.