The Great Fox slowly lowered through the atmosphere, coming in for a
landing. Four arwings followed.
"Hurry up you two!" Fox shouted over his shoulder, leaping over the
red-striped pole that crossed the road. The military guy monitoring who
entered the base looked annoyed, but was used to it.
"Coming coming...." Bill followed suit, then Falco.
"Shouldn't they card us or something to make sure we're allowed to be
here?" Falco hollered up to Fox.
"No. They know who I am."
"What about us?"
"I don't think they care." Fox braked one-footed, the wheels on his
inlines gripping the cement. Beside him, Bill stopped, and Falco finally
caught up, dragging a wheel to stop. "Besides you wanted a look around the
Great Fox didn't ya? I know my dad won't mind."
The Great Fox touched down slowly, engines turning off and cooling down.
Beside the dreadnought, the four arwings landed. A group of mechanics came
over and checked the four arwings over.
"Hey son!" James disembarked, grinning. 
"Hey dad!" Fox grinned back, skating up to his father. "How's pickings?"
"Decent. Seen better seen worse. Hi Falco, hi Bill."
"Hey Mr. McCloud." Bill said, tail wagging. He was rather fond of Fox's
father.
"Yeah hi." Falco grunted.
"Mind if I take them on a tour of the ship dad?"
"No problem."
"Thanks!" Fox grinned again, skating up the metal ramp and into the ship.
"Come on you guys!"
"I'm getting my workout for today.." Bill panted, following. "I need it
though."
"Same here. I don't see how Fox CAN'T be tired!" Falco replied, slowly
going up the ramp. "Let me get this straight. We can rollerblade inside
your dad's cruiser?"
Fox grinned. "Afraid so. It's hard to keep fit in space, artificial
gravity or not. So on top of lifting weights and playing raquetball, my
dad has been known for inline skating in the halls. I think he's got a
half-pipe and such in the upper docking bay, but I can't be sure."
Falco snickered. "I can beleive it."
"You spoil that kid rotten." Chided Pigma as the quartet walked across the
runway toward where their cars were parked.
"So?" James wanted to know. "Even if I did spoil him it's not your
business. Okay I dote on him a little. Hey he's my only kid. I have a
right to."
"Good point." Peppy remarked.
The forth pilot, Jake, rolled his eyes. He was the youngest of the group,
not as well known as the others, but still a great pilot.
crackle... "Hey Star Fox!" Cried the radio. A flight of fighters passed
over them, rolling in unison.
"Afternoon." James replied, grinning.
"Jake? I'll be danged!" Said another voice.
"Hi Genner."
"Hey we're heading for target practice. Any of you wanna come?"
"I will." Jake said, tail wagging.
"I have to talk to the General." James said with regret.
"I have family to visit." Peppy said.
"I've already made plans, sorry." Said Pigma.
"That's okay. Come on Jake!" Said the squad leader.
"See you guys later!" Jake ran back to his plane.
"Taking it up again so soon?" The mechanic blinked, closing the engine
hatch.
"Afraid so. Any problems?"
"Nope."
Jake frowned to himself, he wasn't familiar with the mechanic. Usually the
same four people serviced the fighter engines when the Star Fox team
returned. Oh well, maybe one was sick or something. He climbed into the
cockpit of his fighter and took off again, falling into formation.
An explosion rocked his fighter. He didn't have time to react as the
fighter pummled and hit the ground.
"JAKE!" James howled, and cussed loudly. "What happened!" He sprinted over
to the fighter, followed by Pigma and Peppy. Fox appeared and raced down
the ramp and toward the wreckage.
"He's alive." James said, crouching down beside Jake. The arwing had tried
to eject its pilot, but hadn't acted in time, only succeeding in getting
Jake OUT--and not to safety. He was sprawled on the grass, bleeding. "But
I think he's got a few broken ribs, and his left femur is shattered. Fox,
get a doctor!"
"Right!" Fox raced off toward the nearby tower, shouting at the people
coming out of it.
"G-diffuser engines don't just blow up." James remarked, watching the
ambulance pull away.
Beltino had arrived. He opened the engine hatch on James' plane, and after
a few minutes, spun to look at James. "DO NOT FLY THESE PLANES." He said
firmly. "They've been boobytrapped."
"Did you recognize those mechanics?" Peppy said slowly.
"No.." Pigma said.
"Someone is trying to kill us off." James said, anger flashing in his
eyes.
"Start with the mechanics then." Said Fox dryly. "And if they're not the
right ones, where the heck are the mechanics who usually work on the
arwings?"
"Good questions."
"Let me help you solve this dad." Fox said eagerly.
James sighed.
"Please? Come ON."
"I'll think about it, son."
"Okay..." Fox went back to where Bill and Falco stood, and started talking
to them.


James hated hospitals.
He walked down the hall, looking for Jake. He found his copilot in a
hospital bed, looking annoyed and like he was in pain.
"Hey James." He said, twisting to look at his team leader, not sitting
up. James didn't blame him.
"Hey. How you feeling?"
"Decent, considering I have three broken ribs. I'll feel better when I
get back into the air..."
James glanced at a nurse nearby. She shook her head somberly.
Jake pointedly ignored that. "I heard that someone sabotaged all the
planes."
"Afraid so. We're working on figuring out who though."
"Fine by me." He sighed.
"Fox wants to help..."
"Let him."
James was startled by how firmly Jake said that.
"Look, I know this is strange...but I think that 'spoiled brat' of yours
could be a serious help." Jake said with poor humor. "Ever since I met
Fox, I picked up that that kid was going to be something great in the
future...and hey, you got to hand it to him, he's great at solving
mysteries."
James agreed with that.
"Besides, he should be able to take care of himself. You've been
instructing him in self defense for years.
He kicks my tail when I spar with him. He'll be fine."
"I suppose you're right there."
"About him being good at self defense or about him royally kicking my
tail?"
"Either. Both."
They both laughed.
"I'll tell him he can help. Guess I don't have a reason to tell him no."
"Good, James. Give the others my regards huh? I'll be out here ASAFP. I
don't want to stay here any longer then I have to."
"Right. Talk to you later." James stood up and left.


Author: RINGSHADOW
Subject: Reciprocity, part 3
Posted: MAY 05, 1999 13:59

"Okay..." Fox was going through printouts. "Bad news, worse news."
"Find something already?" James noted. Fox had been at the computers and
such all day, but it was only the first day of the 'investigation.'
"Well, the mechanics that normally service the arwings were all found
murdered." Fox said slowly.
"My dear god!" Gasped Peppy.
"And as near as I can tell, the ones which rigged the planes weren't
mechanics, or CERTAINLY weren't ones that were registered with the base."
He rubbed a kink out of the back of his neck. "The bombs on the arwings
were a binary liquid."
"Look, I aced the other classes and failed explosives. What's a 'binary
liquid'?" Pigma asked, looking annoyed.
Fox shook his head. "Two liquids that are kind of like epoxy. You only get
a boom if they're mixed, and heat is applied. Seems the heat from the
G-diffuser engine was more then enough." He stood and began to pace.
"This stuff must be pretty rare." Peppy started. "If any has been stolen
we'll be able to find out..."
"Already did..." Fox singled out one of the shorter printouts. "Labtech
last month."
"How much?"
That earned him a dry look. "More then enough to make four arwings go boom
okay? 160 pounds, making for a 50 pound bomb in each plane including
circuitry and such."
Bill took the report. "Yeah, I've studied this stuff. But they only had
about five minutes, and surely we would have noticed if they were
installing 50 pounds of this stuff."
"True." Fox turned to his dad. "Any other new mechanics working on your
planes?"
James thought for a few moments. "Twice, but they were a while ago."
"There ya go. They've been working on this for a while then."
"This sounds pretty clean cut."
"HECK no, I still have no idea who did it." Fox said.
"Well, we all agree this was on a revenge basis, right?" Falco said
slowly. "Then whoever did this must be someone that...maybe James fought
against?"
"It's possible, but unlikely." Pigma said.
"It's something to look into." Fox replied.


Author: RINGSHADOW
Subject: Reciprocity, Part 4
Posted: MAY 08, 1999 10:27

"Jeez laweez. I didn't think we had gone on so many missions." Peppy
looked at the list.
Fox scanned down it, scrolling through it quickly. All had a slash through
them to show that they were completed. "Hmph. This idea was worth a shot
but may not work..."
The radio buzzed. "Afternoon, James."
"Hey, General."
"I'm sorry about Jake."
"At least he's alive." James muttered. The doctor's grim announcement that
Jake would never fly a plane again had been yesterday.
"Got a news flash for you."
"Go ahead."
One of the missions on the list started flashing, slash gone. Fox looked
at it in surprise.
"Seems our old friend Nero Jackson busted his way out of jail last month,
and is assumed to be right back in business with the local drug Cartels."
"How come you didn't tell me earlier?"
"I was just informed of this myself."
Fox put two and two together. "Any chance he's hooked into the
sabotaging?"
"That's what I suspect. Great deduction Fox."
"What do we do now?" Pigma wanted to know.
"Well, if Nero's out, and mad enough to sabotage the arwings once, he'll
do it again." Fox shrugged. "So we have to find him before he gets a
chance to."
"Obviously. But you don't just walk into the Cartel house and arrest
someone." Said Falco dryly, coming in with a mug of coffee in one hand.
"These are powerful people."
"All too true." He sighed. "And we still have to find those fake
mechanics."
"You do that. I'll see about getting you some information Fox." Falco
drank the rest of his coffee and shrugged his jacket on.
"How do you plan on doing that?"
This earned Fox a wry look. "I've been a gang member for five years, you
know. I've got a good knowledge of the streets, and I know some informers.
I'll do what I can, but don't expect too much at first."
"Okay, thanks."
Falco left.
"You let a gang member on the Great Fox?" Pigma said incredulously.
"Shut up Pigma. Falco's a good guy, just comes from the proverbial wrong
side of the tracks. Will someone please dig up Nero's file for me?"


Author: RINGSHADOW
Subject: Reciprocity, Part 5
Posted: MAY 11, 1999 14:06

Falco slowed his motorcycle, glancing around. Really, most of the gangs
would be hitting the streets in about an hour, but some were already on
their various beats, whether they be criminal gangs or speed gangs //like
Falco's group, the Vipers//. Also on the street already were various
informers, some for the cops, others for the gangs, some working both
sides.
"Fal!" Called a voice.
"Hey, Slider." He pulled up next to a curb and let the bike idle. "Listen,
is Ginger out yet? I'm in need of some information and she's the only one
I really trust, besides I know she'll have what I need."
Slider rubbed his chin thoughtfully, tail waving. A scruffy, street-wise
coyote, as well as a fellow Viper member, he was a good friend of Falco's.
"I think so. I know she's still on her beat saw her yesterday. Check
between our territory and the Two-Seven's territory."
"Right, thanks." Falco pushed away from the curb and headed for the
indicated area.
He soon spotted Ginger, a squirrel, and whistled to get her attention.
"Hey, Falco, haven't seen yo' in a while! Thought yo' were a Cadet now."
She said by way of greeting.
"To confirm that rumor, yes I am. But I need some info, Ginger."
"What on?"
"The local Cartels. Looking for a man named Nero Jackson."
She looked startled, then said in a low voice, "That's high risk info to
pass on. Ain't nobody s'posed to even talk about the Cartel, an' yo' know
that."
"I know, I know. Did you hear about that one SF team member getting
grounded?"
"'Course I did, I ain't dumb. I make it my job to know stuff, Falco."
"We think that this guy, Jackson, is connected. Broke out of prison little
over a month ago. Seems he has a vandetta against SF."
"A favor for a friend?"
"Yes indeed, I know the leader's son."
"Well ain't that nice, I like friends of friends." She smiled wanely. "K,
Falco. If'n you got the money you got the info. What you need exactly?"