Author: ARCA9
Subject: Vixey Starr
Posted: MARCH 01, 1999 14:39

Titania was not far from McBeth and Great Fox reached it by the next
morning. Fox was up early and ready to go. He got the rest of Star Fox out
of their beds and got them ready too. A cloud of endless sand blown around
over the arid landscape and hid Titania's surface. Fox got readings of
ruins of some sort but he was not an expert on that type of thing. Slippy
had been. Fox led the other the way as best as he could towards the place
where the faint signal was coming from. The sand swirled around them
leaving only a few feet of visibility.
"You guys still back there?" Fox asked.
"This sand is annoying." Peppy said.
"It's a good thing we cleaned out our filters." Falco agreed. "And I can't
see anything in this freaking sand."
"We are almost to the site of the signal." Fox said. "Suddenly Fox heard
his engine go out. Dang, my filters are clogged." He said. 
His engine sputtered back for a few seconds and then shut off again. Fox's
arwing lost altitude and headed down. Fox tried to pull out of the dive
but his arwing did not respond.
"Fox!!!!!" Peppy yelled.
"I'm coming Fox." Falco said.

The sand swirled out of the way revealing the sand below. There was a jolt
and Fox's arwing rose back into the air.
"Good job Falco. I owe you one."
"Wasn't me Fox." Falco said and sure enough Falco's arwing appeared beside
him.
"You have to clean out you filters more often on Titania." A voice said.
"Who is that?" Fox asked.
The name's Vixey Starr. The voice said.
"You're a girl." Falco said.
"You got a problem with that Falco?" Vixey asked. 
"No, no problem." Falco said.
"Now follow me." Vixey said. "I know where you can clean out your
filters." She said.
"Fine." Fox said. "But we'd better hurry unless we want to meet Andross
gefighters."
Vixey led them across the lifeless plains to a large cave half-buried in
sand. It was a large half fallen in temple.
"Follow me in. There's plenty of room." Vixey said.
"This is crazy." Falco said. "We don't even know if we can trust her."
"You don't have to come in Falco." Vixey said as she flew into the
entrance.
The first room was large enough to hold up to ten arwings, but it was well
protected from the wind. There was only a small opening to let the arwings
in. Vixey landed her arwing with Fox's arwing still on top. Fox unhooked
his hatch. He pulled off his helmet and climbed down. Vixey jumped out of
her arwing and landed lightly. Fox's mouth dropped open. 
Vixey was a tall red vixen. She pulled off her helmet and tossed her hair
out of her face. Fox snapped his mouth shut. "Are you hungry?" Vixey asked
throwing her helmet back into her arwing.
Fox shook his head and then noticed Vixey's hurt look. "It's not you, we
lost a friend here and we have to go look for him. We picked up a signal
somewhere around here." Peppy said.
Vixey looked a little shocked at the sight of him but then said. "You
wouldn't happen to be looking for a toad would you?"
Fox nodded. "How did you know that?"
"Follow me." Vixey said.
Vixey led them down a long hall into a well-lit cave. She moved to the
side of a bed. There was a toad lying in the bed.

"Slippy." Fox rushed to the side of the bed. "What happened to him." He
looked over Slippy's wounds.
"He landed, well crashed, right outside my cave. I had to pull him from
his burning ship. He's got very bad burns and a broken arm."
"Is he going to be okay?" Falco said. 
Vixey nodded. "I know a little something about medicine. He is going to be
fine but he needs bed rest for a least a week."
"A week." Falco said. "We can't wait around for a week."
"Then you can leave Falco." Fox said. "Go back to Great Fox if you want
but I'm staying here with Slippy. I mean if you have the room Vixey." He
looked up at her.
She nodded. "I have an extra room if you want to stay."
"Are going to stay or not Falco?" Fox asked.
Falco looked around and then nodded. "Sure."
"I'll show you the room you can use." Vixey said. "And I can get dinner."
Fox nodded. "I'm going to stay with Slippy."
Vixey led Falco and Peppy down one of the other tunnels. Fox looked at
Slippy. He was covered in bandages from head to webs. He was breathing
lightly. Fox hung his head.
"I'm so sorry Slippy. It's all my fault. If I hadn't dragged you to
Zoness this wouldn't have happened." Fox said.
"You can't change the past." Vixey said from the door.

Fox sighed and shook his head. "It's not just that. I let my temper get in
the way of my better judgement. A good leader never does that. My father
never did." Fox said standing up.
"Are you going to clean out your filters?" She asked. "I can show you
where my tools are."
"But Slippy." Fox looked back down at the toad.
"He'll be fine." Vixey said. "Don't worry."
"I can't not worry." Fox said.
"I know." Vixey said. "Come on."
He followed her out to the room where the arwings were. She pulled out her
box of tools and threw him a wrench. 
"I'll get this side." She climbed up on the arwings left wing and began to
unscrew it.
Fox climbed on the other wing and soon had the lid off. He pulled out his
filter and looked in shock.
"How did they get so dirty?" Fox asked. "I cleaned them just before we
came here."
"There's a lot more dirt and stuff in the air here." Vixey said. "I've
built my own filters for this planet. Since I live here I needed something
so my filter wouldn't clog every time I went out."
"Why do you live here then. I mean if its such a pain?" Fox asked.
"This is my home. I lived here before Andross destroyed it. I can't even
think of living anywhere else."
Fox though about that. "But there isn't anything here." He said.
"There are my memories." Vixey said. "Anyway where would I go? We're in
the middle of a war."
"You could fight." Fox said. "The Cornerian Army is always looking for
good pilots and it takes skill to fly like you did."
"It was nothing. I've been flying like that before I could walk."
"So have I." Fox said. But you are as skilled as I am.
How old are you now?"
"Seventeen."
"And you're younger then I am. It must come from you father. James was a
good pilot too."
"How do you know who my father is?"
Vixey looked uncomfortable for a second but then pointed to his jacket.
"Star Fox. Who else would your father be?"
Fox looked down at his jacket and then screwed the cover back onto his
arwing. "Is that a wolfen?" Fox motioned towards Vixey's wing.
She nodded. "I stole it from Andross once a while ago when they were
patrolling nearby. It's the best of Andross force though its not as good
as your arwings. I'd love to have a g-diffuser."
"I've seen wolfens being handled. In the hands of skilled pilots they can
be deadly." Fox said.
"Are you ready for dinner?" Vixey asked. "I let Falco in my kitchen. Will
it be edible?"
Fox smiled. "He's better at cooking then he is at being annoying."


"I take it that means it'll be good?" Vixey smiled.
Fox nodded and laughed. "Don't tell him I said that."
She nodded smiling. They entered the kitchen, which was a large room with
a fire and shelves filled with food. Falco was bent over something cooking
on the fire. Delicious smells reached Fox's nose.
"I can't believe I pulled this off with as little as was in this kitchen
but here it is." Falco said pouring the contents of the pan into bowls.
Fox took his and one for Slippy. He went to where the toad lay and fed
the meal to him. When he was done he ate his bowl. It was a sort of soup
made of some unknown meat and some vegetables that he recognized. Falco
had done it again. He really was a good cook. When he was done Vixey
showed him to the room where he was sleeping and then went to take care of
Slippy. Falco and Peppy were already in the room.
"You get that pile of blankets." Falco pointed.
Fox arranged the blankets on the floor into a bed like pile.
"What do you guys think about Vixey?" he asked.
"I have this strange feeling I've seen her before but I've never been near
here before." Peppy said.
"I don't think we can trust her." Falco said.
"She did save Slippy." Peppy said.
"As bait to lure us here. She probably works for Andross."
Fox lay down on the blankets.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we were in chains tomorrow." As Falco fell
silent Fox heard a noise by the door. He waited but did not hear it again.
Fox lay back and was soon asleep.

The next morning Fox woke up early and he left the room quietly. He found
Vixey tending to Slippy.
"You heard what Falco said last night." Fox said.
Vixey busied herself with Slippy.
"I can't control what he says." Fox said. "But I can apologize."
"I did not hear anything." Vixey said not looking up. "Slippy is doing a
lot better."
"Vixey." Fox protested.
Vixey stood up and left the room. Fox watched her leave and shook his
head. He made sure Slippy was comfortable and then went to find Vixey. 
There were lots of halls leading off from the main room. Fox picked one
and then followed it. The hall was dark but Fox felt his way along the
passage until he came into an open room. There were torches lit all around
the circular room.
Vixey stood in the middle of the room facing away from Fox. The torch's
light cast a strange shadow around Vixey making her appear to be black as
midnight. Before Fox could say a word, Vixey began to move her arms and
then her legs in a smooth controlled manner. Suddenly she kicked out at
the air. She began to fight as if there was someone else in the room.
Fox watched in awe. Vixey moved with grace and agility. She finally
stopped breathing hard.
"What was that?" Fox asked.
Vixey whirled around. "Just a fighting technique my father taught me." She
said.
"Can you teach me to do that?" Fox asked.
"If you want to learn." Vixey said. "It's not easy."
"How about you come up to Great Fox with us?" Fox asked. "You could teach
me there."
"And I can teach you here." Vixey said.
"Great Fox is vulnerable right now. We can't leave her out in the open.
Even with her cloaking system she'd be found by Andross' forces in a
week."
"I can't Fox. This is my home."
Fox looked at her and nodded. "If that's how you feel. We have to get back
to Great Fox. We'll be going tonight."
He turned and walked from the room. Vixey looked after him with sadness in
her eyes. She started to go after him. No he doesn't need to know. Its
better this way.


Author: ARCA9
Subject: Vixey Starr Part 3
Posted: APRIL 27, 1999 16:21

It did not take long to discover that the communication was out. Falco
volunteered to go and find Great Fox. Fox knew he just wanted to get out
of the cave and away from Vixey. When he was gone Vixey helped Fox put
Slippy in Fox's arwing. Fox strapped him down carefully making sure he
would not be knocked around on the flight back up.
"I wish you'd reconsider." Fox said to Vixey when they were ready to go.
"Corneria could use your skills."
"My home is here Fox." Vixey looked down. "It's all I have left."
Fox nodded one last time and then climbed into his arwing. He checked on
Slippy one last time. "Ready to go Peppy?"
"All ready here." Peppy said.
Fox turned his arwing and shot out of the cave into the swirling sand. He
angled upward through the unending sandstorm hoping to get out of it soon.
"Can't see a thing in this dang sand." Peppy complained.
"Just keep heading up Peppy." Fox said. "We have to get out of it
sometime."
"Not if we have anything to say about it." A voice said. "So this is where
you Star Fox have been hiding?"
Fox looked through the sand to spot five gefighters closing in. He banked
hard to the right to avoid them. They came in shooting. Fox grimaced as
the lasers made burns down his right wing.
"Get out of here Fox. Get Slippy out of here." Peppy said.
"I won't leave you Peppy. You can't handle them all by yourself." Fox
said. He pulled to the right and headed for one of the gefighters. He
locked on it and fire but the gefighter escaped with only a few burns.
Another gefighter came up behind Fox and fired. Fox spun out of the way.
Slippy grunted as the arwing shook.
"Sorry Slip." Fox said to his unconscious friend. He glanced back at the
gefighter on his tail. Suddenly it exploded. A wolfen flew through the
fire.
"Vixey?" Fox said with relief.
"None other. I picked up these guys on radar." She said. "I thought you
might need some help."

"Thanks Vixey." Fox said.
"Now get Slippy out of here. Peppy and I can handle this."
Fox nodded and headed out. Vixey banked left and headed back towards the
gefighters. Peppy followed just off her right wing.
"Watch your tail Peppy." Vixey said.
They shot past the gefighters. Vixey pulled around and tailed one of the
gefighter. He swerved but Vixey stuck to him like glue. She shot her
lasers leaving the gefighter without a right wing. It crashed into a sand
dune and exploded on impact.
"These guys are good." Peppy said. 
"They have to be." Vixey muttered to herself as she turned to followed
another gefighter. Vixey could tell the swirling sand was confusing the
pilots. They had slow reaction time. The probably could not see very well
through the sand. Vixey had taught herself to see the shapes of things in
the sand and that gave her an advantage. 
Another gefighter hit the sand and she saw Peppy take down another. She
turned to find the last gefighter. But it was nowhere to be seen.
"Are you okay over there?" Vixey asked.
"Fine. I got a small hit on my left wing but I'm okay." He said. "Let's
head back up to Great Fox."