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Post by 2gamers on May 22, 2011 12:07:52 GMT -5
Cornellia was the center of the Lylat system. It was home to headquarters for almost every military outfit and business in the system. As such, it was quite a busy place. Citizens traveled around in flying cars, which zoomed across the skyline. Buildings were in various sizes, from tall rectangles to abstract pyramids. In the middle of all of this, a floating platform served as one of the local airports.
Landing at the airport was an odd-shaped Arwing. The form resembled a manta ray, but the pilot was anything but. He was a bipedal walrus, one looking around his surroundings, as if seeing a familiar face after some time. It had been awhile since he had stepped foot on Corneria, particularly for another mission.
“Here we go again.”
Winston left his ship at the runway, choosing to take a taxi towards his destination.
“To the academy…”
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Post by Sage of Shadow on May 23, 2011 9:31:33 GMT -5
Ginger stood in front of the mirror and reevaluated her uniform. The training she received ensured that it was as in pristine condition as she could make it. The lynx pilot wanted to look so trim and proper because nearly immediately after her graduation into the Cornarian military she was given two orders. Firstly, she was to empty her room. Her roommates had already cleared out leaving Ginger scratching under her muzzle as to why she herself had dawdled. Was it the nostalgia rushing through her mind as she examined the eight bunk beds which was her home for so long? Was it the fact that the only thing that rushed her was deadlines?
“Well, whatever it is,” She whispered to herself, “at least I don’t need to go back home to nothing or sit staring at a wall awaiting an assignment.”
Shaking the thoughts of why they would assign her to a mission so soon out of her mind, Ginger picked up her duffel bag and pressed the button to open the sliding door for a final time. The lynx’s second direct order was to report to the street level of the academy and await the arrival of her commanding officer. According to the sergeant relaying the orders, she’d know the officer when she saw him.
Ginger passed through the barren hallways to the elevator. She rode it alone and then only when she arrived at the lobby level of the academy did she see Cornarians, but even then they were mostly higher ranking so she did not dare approach them for any reason. She walked through the automatic doors and took a seat on the handrail to the stairs leading from the street to the door. Laying her duffel bag aside, she sat looking at the passing cars before getting lost in her own thoughts.
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Post by 2gamers on May 29, 2011 14:00:49 GMT -5
After exiting the taxi, Winston took in the sight of the Cornellian Academy. It was a massive pyramid shaped structure, the many windows showing that few stuck around after graduation. Arwings were flying in the vicinity of the building, performing regular training exercises. In the back, the airfield was particularly busy with the preparation of a massive mothership, its design inspired by the legendary Great Fox.
It was here where his next, perhaps final, mission would begin.
Upon entering the academy, the walrus immediately recognized the main lobby from his early years in the academy. It was very blue: blue carpets, blue walls, even blue furniture. They definitely needed a decorator for this place. The one piece that stood out in the lobby was the giant emblem of the Cornellian Army. Though he could see much of his former home remained the same, not all of the memories were flooding back. For one, he couldn’t remember where the debriefing room was. According to the map, it appeared that many of the rooms were moved around.
“Grr, playing musical chairs with the layout,” Winston mumbled. “Can’t find a blasted thing…”
After wandering around for several minutes, he finally gave in and decided to ask for directions.
“Hey you,” Winston called to the red lynx pilot, “where’d they move the debriefing room?”
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Post by Sage of Shadow on Jun 3, 2011 12:20:44 GMT -5
Ginger turned her head to the speaker and noticed that it was a walrus! That’s a new sight for her. She’d heard about their strange skin, whiskers, and tusks which this one confirmed. Of the many different Cornarians she’d seen this one was certainly the… most unusual.
It took Ginger a moment to realize that this particular walrus was a superior officer and she jumped off the railing to snap to attention embarrassed at her staring.
“S… sir!” the lynx stammered, “I can lead you there sir!”
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Post by 2gamers on Jun 4, 2011 13:04:35 GMT -5
Winston watched as Ginger stared at him in utter wonder. She was a rather young feline, a recent grad from the academy perhaps. If that were the case, this would likely be her first true mission. The walrus was always encouraged to see more young blood in the fleets, more fresh minds. It was also nice that she addressed him as some sort of superior. Must come with age, he thought to himself. He had no idea that he actually was the commander.
“Well then, lead,” he said in a rather blunt form. It wasn’t out of disrespect; it was just the way Winston preferred to talk.
As they walked through the halls of the academy, more people were joining Winston and Ginger. Most of them had the exact same uniform as the lynx: that of recent grads. One fairly large fellow was a black bull, the name “Angus” emblazoned on his heart. He gave a nod to Ginger, apparently recognizing her from one of their classes. Others included Labradors, bulldogs, cats, and even a parrot. Winston was starting to realize that he would be the oldest person in the crew as evidenced by all the “sirs” he was getting.
It was starting to sink in that he would be the commander of this group.
“So, what do you all know about the mission?” he asked the group. As far as he knew, they were going to explore a new system of planets in search of missing research teams. The walrus was beginning to think that those “missing” teams consisted of young crewmembers partying on some exotic island.
Perhaps commander was too strong of a word. No, Winston was going to be the babysitter. Not exactly the last hurrah he thought he enlisted for.
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Post by Sage of Shadow on Jun 10, 2011 8:13:05 GMT -5
Ginger was amused by the sight in the briefing room. The lynx returned Angus’ nod and smirked at his insistence on showing off his finished tattoo over his firmly toned body. She gave a nod to Macaw the parrot whom situated himself in the back of the room as laid back as ever. The best part of it was the sight of the Walrus officer who appeared uncomfortable at the sight of the cadets. Ginger wondered why.
The lynx shrugged when the CO asked the question, “I have no idea sir.”
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Post by 2gamers on Jun 11, 2011 16:07:48 GMT -5
As the group entered the briefing room, Winston took a seat at the head of the table. As the cadets took their seats, another figure entered. Judging from his uniform and many badges adorning said attire, it was quite clear this was an officer of high rank. Winston recognized him from the letter. He was the admiral.
Admiral Fido resembled an English bulldog and stood about three feet in height. Nonetheless, he still had a fearsome face, one that no one would want to cross. Despite his diminutive stature, all the cadets stopped talking to listen to Fido.
“I need everyone’s attention to the screen,” he said in a hoarse voice. Age and smoking had apparently taken their toll. The projector formed a solar system before their very eyes, highlighting the planets Cornellia and an unknown planet outside the Lylat system.
“This,” the admiral pointed to the unknown planet, “is your destination. It’s an undiscovered planet. The scientists are calling it ‘Planet Alpha.’ They’ve sent several research vessels to study life on this planet, perhaps even intelligent ones. That was two months ago. We haven’t had radio contact since their arrival into the atmosphere. The same had happened to rescue teams sent to investigate. We suspect hostile involvement in both disappearances.”
Winston rubbed his whiskers as he pondered the circumstances. It appeared something had alerted the military that some sort of enemy was involved. Perhaps this wasn’t a case of partying kids he thought it would turn out to be.
“Your team will be the first we send with Arwings, in case there is something over there. I warn you however: This is purely a scouting mission. If you see the enemy, do not engage unless they seek to engage you. If you find the missing crews, you are take them back home. Commander Winston shall be your CO for this mission.”
So, Winston was leading this mission? He definitely should invest in reading glasses in the future. The mission itself seemed intriguing. Two crews on an unknown planet. A mysterious enemy lurking in the shadows of the galaxy. This could prove to be quite interesting.
“Are there any questions?”
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Post by Sage of Shadow on Jun 13, 2011 16:55:01 GMT -5
Ginger listened intently as did the other cadets for the most part either from sincere interest or from the desire to not anger Admiral Fido. In fact, Ginger imagined everyone’s jaw dropping with hers when the Admiral walked into the room for the briefing. This must be an important assignment. Ginger’s imagination sparked at the prospect of finding other intelligent life and she imagined in transit conversation would be devoted to this. The cadets were silent and awaited dismissal.
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Post by 2gamers on Jun 18, 2011 13:36:43 GMT -5
“Good,” the admiral said, hoping their lack of response meant the team understood the objectives. “Your craft are being loaded into the Star Fox. From this point forward, Commander Winston shall be assigning orders. Grab your things. You’re leaving now.”
With a loud “DISMISSED”, cadets scrambled out of the briefing room, leaving Winston behind. It wasn’t too bad: if he remembered correctly, the dorms were in the exact same place that he stayed in a long time ago. He marched up the stairway to the third floor, where his crew was packing the essentials they needed for this potentially dire mission.
Or so he thought…
The bull Angus was at the computer, downloading music to his music player. Aparently, he needed a special playlist just for this mission. Next door, a sky blue skunk, named Pina, was packing several bright colored space suits, wanting to looks fashionable on her first mission. Other cadets were talking in excited tones about their first great adventure. Winston didn’t like it; it was as if they were school children going on a field trip. This mission could be dangerous, especially considering the two teams that never returned. One would think they would take that into consideration as they talked about sandy beaches.
The walrus passed the young lynx’s room in his inspection of his crew. He turned his head to see what she considered preparation.
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Post by Sage of Shadow on Jun 22, 2011 23:29:48 GMT -5
Ginger triple checked her room in case there was anything she could forget to bring. So far, not including the clothes she currently wore, she only had a bag of clothing and her blaster. She circled around so many times she nearly made herself dizzy! As an Arwing pilot would she need anything? What would be provided? She had never conceived of going on a legitimate mission so soon after graduation. Sure she had promise but there was a fine line between knowledge and experience. Sure they could be intertwined, but that also have their own distinct factors. She listened to those near her, but that provided no help. Macaw was just comparing songs with Angus. With no word from the previous teams there was no telling what lay in wait for them in the uncharted region of space.
“Dang,” Ginger moaned, “Why do I have to make this so hard?”
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