//------------------------------// // The Team // Story: Beyond the Stars // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// "Okay, Slipstream, since you will seem to be staying with us for the time being, I have been unceremoniously tasked with showing you around our ship and all the neat little things about it," Falco said as he pulled up a hologram of the blueprints of the Great Fox. "Here's the quarters, here's the training area, and here's the hanger. There, everything you need. Now if you excuse me..." "Falco," Slippy said in an annoyed tone, getting the bird to let out a sigh as he cut off the hologram. He started to walk off and Slipstream followed after him, with Slippy walking beside her. "Don't take his aloof attitude personally. Falco seems to think that the more of a jerk he is the cooler he'll look. All it does is make him come off as a arrogant jerk." "Don't worry, I've dealt with somepony like that back when I was in flight school," Slipstream replied with a nod to Slippy. "Slippy Toad, right? The engineer of the StarFox team?" "Wow, you actually know who I am? I'm flattered," Slippy said with a smile as he rubbed the back of his head. "Of course. StarFox is essentially the heroes of space at this point for all the good they've done," Slipstream explained to Slippy, whose smile grew even wider. "So why didn't you recognize me, then? Because I'm fairly certain that you didn't punch any of the other members of the team in the face when you first met them," Falco asked in an annoyed tone. "To be fair, I punched before I thought. You have a very punchable face," Slipstream replied with a thin smile, getting Falco to scoff before he turned around. "I was looking over what was left of your ship and I've got to say that I'm amazed you managed to survive contact against the Ghosts in that piece of junk," Slippy told Slipstream, who gave him a baffled look. "Piece of junk? What I flew was one of the most advanced ships in the Cornerian army," Slipstream said with some heat, getting Slippy to put up his hands with an apologetic smile on his face. "I didn't mean to insult you. Again, the fact that you could fly so well in one of those shows just how skilled you are. But by our standards here at StarFox, those ships are a piece of junk," Slippy informed her, getting Slipstream to look at him curiously. "Well, even if you don't believe me now, you will after you get a chance to pilot a simulation of one. Good thing you were telling the truth earlier, though." "Why is that?" Slipstream asked, but before Slippy could answer Falco walked between the two. "Because Krystal can tell when you're lying, so if you were a spy or anything like that, we would have blasted you back into space," Falco told the mare bluntly, getting Slipstream to raise an eyebrow. "Krystal is our residential master of the martial arts and telepath. She's not only the best fighter out of any of us, but due to her mental abilities she's great at discerning if someone is friend or foe." "Hard to imagine that there would come a day when you'd admit there was somebody better at you then something," Slippy prodded Falco, who shrugged in resignation. "What can I say? If it was straight martial arts alone, I might have a chance, even with that staff of hers." "I thought that was a rod. And what do you mean straight martial arts?" "Collapsing staff. It's one of the few things she has left of her home world," Falco explained. "And again, Krystal is a telepath. You ever try to fight someone that knows your every move? It's practically impossible to fight her one on one. Also I think she's developing telekinesis, but I'm not certain." "Wow, that doesn't sound anything like I've read about," Slipstream muttered before looking up at Falco. "Would you mind telling me more about the team? I only know what I've read and that was a few years ago." "Alright, but there ain't much to say. I'm the most handsome out of the group, the best flier and all around the greatest shot in any world. Fox is alright, Krystal is Krystal and Slippy does machines. Peppy sometimes yells at me, but I've learned to tune him out." "Wow, you weren't wrong about him," Slipstream said to Slippy, who nodded with a smirk. "That is full blown arrogance." "Who's being arrogant? I was just giving you a brief idea of our team," Falco said defensively before he sighed in frustration. "Fine, I'll explain in full detail, so get out your notebook and write this stuff down." "Fox, as you know, is our leader during combat. It's what he does best. I'm a better pilot, Krystal's a better fighter and Slippy can drive a tank like nobody else, but Fox can do all of them exceptionally well. He's also great at making the right decision in the heat of battle. But he's all both a great guy and somebody I'd trust when everything's gone to hell. I'd probably follow him into hell if that's what it came down to." "What do you mean leader during combat? Isn't he your leader all the time?" Slipstream asked, getting Slippy and Falco to share a look and laugh. "Well, he used to be. But recently, whenever we're not in combat, we have kind of a...dual leadership," Slippy admitted with a small laugh. "What Slippy means is there's only one force in all of the galaxy that can make Fox bend over backwards and that's the blue vixen you met earlier," Falco said with a smirk. "She's his second in command, but sometimes we forget whose supposed to be in charge." "Not that it's bad though, Krystal's a really nice person and can often tell when we're getting too emotional in our decision making for our own good," Slippy added on. "Then of course you've got old Peppy Hare, who's SUPPOSED to be on retired leave right now, yet here he is back in the thick of things with us hoodlums," Falco continued on, opening a door for the group and leading them onto an elevator. "I know about Peppy. He was a legendary pilot back in the day and still continue to be one of the greatest navigators and tacticians in the galaxy," Slipstream added on, getting a nod from Falco. "And he still is. Don't let his age fool you, if you lower your guard against him in a dogfight he will shoot your ass out of the sky," Falco said with hints of respect in his voice. "His daughter is a teacher and is constantly trying to get him away from us. Nowadays whenever she calls it's just to yell at us for endangering him." "But the only time Peppy says he feels alive is when he's being shot at," Slippy added on with a laugh, which managed to get Falco to crack a smile. "I'm the ace pilot around here, as I already said. Not to mention that I'm pretty good with a blaster as well, if I must be humble," Falco continued on. "I've been Fox's best friend for who knows how long and only recently have lost my status as his most trusted ally. Thanks, Krystal." "Ah don't be like that, he still trusts you more than anyone else," Slippy replied, getting Falco to shrug. "Slippy Toad here and if you broke it, I can fix it. I've repaired everything from ships to tanks to the heart of a dying star. Don't ask. Aside from my dad, there's nobody in the stars that can match my engineering skills." "Yeah, just don't expect those same kind of skills to show up if you're every in an aerial battle," Falco butt in, getting Slippy to give Falco a look. "He's always the one with a daisy chain on his tail, screaming for one of us to save him. Honestly I've lost count of the number of times we've had to save you." "Shut your beak, Falco," Slippy said with some heat before calming down as he looked at Slipstream. "But yeah, I'm not the best flier. But I can hold my own in a ground battle, especially with a tank. You have to come by the hanger later and check out all the cool stuff we've got." "I will. Thank you for the offer," Slipstream said with a kind smile. "Krystal...what's to say about her that we already haven't?" Falco asked himself as the elevator opened and the ground stepped out to the ships sleeping and living quarters. "She's smart, tough, able to read your mind and incredibly capable in a fight, be it with a blaster or her staff, which is magic by the way. Something you two have in common." "Cool." "Like you mentioned, sole survivor of a doomed world, so don't bring that up around her. She can stop Fox from acting stubborn, which normal would take an act of god, but she's not quite accustomed with an arwing or landmaster yet," Slippy added on. "She's learned incredible fast, but the unfamiliarity is still there." "And then there's Rob, our navigator and robot best friend. He doesn't do much," Falco wrapped things up with a shrug. "Did I forget anyone?" "No, I think that's the entire team," Slipstream replied as she thought out the members in her head. "Unless there's a secret member that you guys are keeping from me." "Nope, I think we're good. So welcome to where we live, relax and bug the heck out of each other when we've been cramped up in here for too long," Falcon moved on, walking past a door and banging on it with hand. "This is our "guest" quarters, where you will be staying. It has a bed and that's it. Nobody ever uses it except when we have family on the ship. And by we, I mean Peppy or Slippy." "You don't have family, Falco?" Slipstream asked, getting Falco to look off into the distance without answering. "I guess Krystal wouldn't either and I think I read about the betrayal of James McCloud...geez, I'm sorry to hear that." "How bout we move on?" Falco said, changing the topic as he moved onto another door. "This is my room. Don't go in there, don't touch anything if you do go in there and don't break anything if you do touch anything." "Why would you warn me about those other things if you don't want me going in there?" "Because since I'll kill you for going in there, I figure you'll want to touch my stuff before you die," Falco said with a smirk before moving on. Slipstream cast a glance at Slippy, who rolled his eyes with a smirk. "This is my room here. Careful if you do come in, there's a lot of parts and spare pieces laying around," Slippy warned Slipstream. "I'm always tinkering with things. Helps me to calm down whenever we're in a bad situation or Falco tries to cook something again." "Why you little...you'd said that you'd never tell the team," Falco said in an angry whisper. "Slipstream isn't part of the team yet, is she?" Slippy replied with a coy smirk, one that made Falco seethe. "Moving. On," Falco said as he slammed a fist into the next room. "Peppy's. Filled with books, charts and dust. Nothing special. Krystal's room. Has a pond for meditation within it as well as sand. I wouldn't go in there. She will find out." "Mind reader. Right." "Fox's room. Few trophies he's one. Pictures of his family. Pictures of us. One of him and Krystal that he doesn't know I know about," Falco said in a bland tone. "Oh and sometimes it's also Krystal's room when he get's really down. Warning you in advance." "So wait, they...sleep together?" Slipstream asked nervously. "Well way to say it out loud and make it awkward for everyone!" Falco said in mock disgust as he threw his hands up. "Look at poor Slippy, you've scared him for life." Slipstream looked over at Slippy, who was not only not scared for life, but from his expression was starting to get tired of how Falco was talking. "Okay Falco, thank you for the tour and all, but I think it's time that I take Slipstream to the simulation room," Slippy said to Falco while placing a hand on Slipstream's shoulder, leading her away from the bird. "Are you sure? I've still got plenty of stories about all the times you guys needed me to save you," Falco called after them, but Slippy pressed a button to open the elevator and helped Slipstream inside. "So...what did you think?" Slippy asked after a moment of silence. "I think you guys are really interesting and that Falco has a few screw loose," Slipstream replied honestly, getting a laugh out of the toad. "Yeah, he does. But his skill is undeniable, so that's why everyone puts up with his attitude," Slippy said before glancing at Slipstream for a moment. "I'm still amazed by the fact that not only are you the first Equestrian pilot, but that you also survived an encounter with the Ghost forces. Pretty busy couple of days out in space, huh?" "Yeah, its been...something," Slipstream replied with a small sigh. "Trying to not let it all overwhelm me." "That's kinda what you have to do out here. Buckle down and not let everything get to you," Slippy agreed as the elevator dinged and the door opened. "You know I've only read about Equestria myself, but have never had the chance to visit. From what I hear it's so different than any other world out there. Filled with magic and strange beings the likes of which can't be found on other worlds. I bet it's amazing." "That's funny. I said the same thing when I learned about other worlds and planets out there," Slipstream replied with a smile, remembering the days back in school when she had to learn about the life out in space. "I wanted to be apart of them, to see them for myself. And now, with the Cornerian army, hopefully I can." "Haha, well you've chosen then faster route by being picked up by us. We visit new places all the time," Slippy said as the pair of them walked into the hanger. "It's just that most of the places we visit try to kill us ninety percent of the time." "Sounds like exactly what I signed up for," Slipstream said with a smirk, getting Slippy to roll his eyes. "You sound just like Falco. Alright, you've flown in...a decent ship, but let me show you the top of the line," Slippy said as he pressed a button on the side of the wall and turned on the lights to the hanger, allowing Slipstreams eyes to go wide with amazement. The arwings hung from the launch rails above her head, allowing her to get an upclose look at the ships. They were like nothing she had ever seen before. Their propulsion system was beyond anything she had seen or read about in a Cornerian craft, allowing the ships to fly just as fast in the vacuum of space or through rough atmosphere. With a glance she could tell by the wings that the ship was capable of making incredibly tight maneuvers, ones that she doubted she could pull off in her Cornerian fighter. "You get it, don't you?" Slippy asked Slipstream after watching her stare over the craft with an amazed look in her eyes. "You can tell right away what these bad boys are capable of and how much they outclass what you used to fly, can't you?" "I...yeah, you were right. Just from a glance I can already tell these arwings far surpass anything I've seen in the Cornerian army," Slipstream admitted with a sigh of defeat, before her eyes hardened. "But they're not the best craft I've ever seen fly. That belongs to that black fighter that shot me down. I've never seen anything like his ship or his flying." "You're not wrong. In fact, we ran into that guy and some of his forces a few weeks before we found you," Slippy admitted, getting Slipstream to look at him with surprise. "And that black fighter was there. Fox went to engage him while we told him otherwise and Fox got shot down." "What?" Slipstream asked in disbelief. "We got lucky that we were battling close to the ground, so Fox was able to eject, but it was a cold realization of what we were up against," Slippy said with a shake of his head. "You should have seen it when we picked him up. Falco was ready to never let Fox live it down, but then we had to save Fox once again from Krystal's wrath. Never seen her so relieved yet so angry at the same time." "I'm not surprised." "But anyway, yeah. That black craft is like nothing I've ever seen. It's like it's a mix between metal and magic," Slippy finished as he entered in the instructions for the simulator. "So we've been practicing almost non stop against the data we gathered from it during Fox's fight. But you won't be doing any of that. You'll just be going up against standard enemies, though if you do well enough we'll have you go up against data of some of our scarier foes." "Thanks for doing all of this, Slippy," Slipstream said as the cockpit to one of the arwings opened up. "It's nice of you guys to give me a chance. I know that I kinda was dropped on you guys out of the blue, but..." "Hey, this is the StarFox team. None of us here are professional or follow any guidelines. We fly by the seat of our pants and never look back," Slippy said with a smile. "And not to mention with how good these guys are, Fox has been talking about possibly recruiting another pilot to aid us. But you didn't hear that from me." "My lips are sealed," Slipstream said as she flew up to the cockpit, letting a smile cross her face as she grabbed hold of the flight stick, getting herself familiar with the buttons and controls for a moment before she let the cockpit close around her. "Now don't worry, I'm not here to see how well you know where everything is or anything like that. I'll talk you through those parts," Slippy said over the comms as the ship came to life and darkness filled the glass around her. "Once you feel you've gotten familiar with everything, let me know and we'll start the trial." "Alright Slippy," Slipstream said with some anticipation as a wicked smile crossed her face, instantly starting to get a feel for the ship. "Let's see what this ship can do." S|> "Geez, that's a big ship," Fox muttered to himself as he, Krystal and Peppy gazed up at the image upon the front screen of the colossal ship with the red markings on the sides of it that the group had pulled from Slipstream's downed fighter. "Not the biggest I've had to fight, but definitely the most menacing." "You think the ship is big? I'm looking at the fleet that they've got," Peppy said with a whistle. "They have more than enough ships to match the firepower of the Cornerian army and that's without that weapon they've got there in the center." "And that weapon is what concerns me," Krystal said in a nervous voice as she crossed her arms. "Any other force with a fleet that big would believe themselves to be invincible, but the Ghosts feel the need to have something like that on their side, then they must be far worse trouble than we realized." "Any idea on what the weapon does? Did her ships cameras get an more data on it?" Fox asked Rob, who shook his head a moment later. "Pilot was shot down moments later. No more images recorded." "Curses. Even with these new images and data we have little to go on," Fox muttered as he sighed and leaned back in his chair, his eyes gluing themselves to the black craft moments before it destroyed Slipstreams ship. He began to think back to their battle and how the ship had outmaneuvered him, but he also thought that if he had the chance to battle with it again... "Absolutely not," Krystal said, breaking Fox out of his thoughts and getting him to look back at her. "Reading my thoughts again?" Fox asked with a smirk. "I don't need to to know what you're thinking about. Didn't you learn anything from your last encounter?" Krystal asked him with a tone in her voice that Fox hated to hear. "I learned that when I attempt to get behind him he likes to roll before cutting his engines to get behind me," Fox replied, only to get a glare from Krystal in response. Before the two could continue their conversation, Peppy walked up to the screen with his eyes narrowed. "Hey wait a second, I recognize some of the markings on that smaller ship," he muttered while stroking at his moustache. "Yeah, those markings belong to a group of mercs that hang out in the Nebulan system. There's an old outpost that they've turned into a place for scum and villainy." "Then we have our heading," Fox said as he sat up straight in his chair, grateful that Peppy had cut off his argument with Krystal. "Krystal, go get Falco and Slippy, as well as Slipstream. Finally, after weeks of nothing, we finally get a chance to get back into the action." "Fine Fox, but we're not done having this talk," Krystal informed Fox as she left the room, getting a chuckle out of Peppy. "She doesn't let anything go, does she?" Peppy asked. "Nope. And now that we've got a lead on these Ghosts, I don't plan to let it go either."