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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kirby" data-source="post: 41607" data-attributes="member: 541">[align=center][size=x-large]Chapter 20Exile[/size][/align]"How did we let this happen!?!?" Fox yelled as he ran through the halls of the battered Great Fox.  The place was a mess.  The impact from the solar flare took a toll on the battleship as it seemed to sit in shambles in the middle of space.  Reco ran through the halls, along with everyone else, trying to douse fires, fix electrical surges, and patch up possible breaches in the hull.  The Great Fox went into chaos.  Reco pulled the pin on a fire extinguisher and pushed the trigger, foam shot out into the fire the enveloped his quarters.  Melton stood behind him and chucked an ice grenade to help sustain the flames.  Flames plumed over the two and splashed heat across their body.  The flames began to shrink more and more, and finally went out as Melton threw another ice grenade.  Reco took a look into his quarters; there wasn't really much of a room left.  The bed was charred, desk went to ashes, it was all gone.It didn't matter much though, he was leaving today, and Melton was going with him.Reco checked his watch:  1:30pm.  He needed to be gone by 1:30.  He made a motion to his friend and walked down the hall.  The hall became dark, so Melton and Reco turned on their flashlight to continue.  While they were walking, a large noise reverberated through the halls, and then the gravity gave out"The gravity sustaining generator gave out guys."  Slippy said through the watch comm., obviously."What section is it in?"  Reco said back into the watch.  He looked up at the sign above them:  Section B12, Section B13->, Section C^."Section C2.  Be careful, there's an air leak in section C4."  Slippy responded.Reco shined his light back to Melton, he was upside down."Let's get to that section, Melton."  Reco said to him."Alright, right behind you."  Melton responded.They both pushed on an object behind them to move forward.  The hall seemed to turn into a tube as it felt like they were falling.  The lights have been out for about 30 minutes now, and the halls felt like one of those scary movie scenarios.  Section C came into as Reco shined his flashlight on the ceiling sign.  Debris of different objects floated around in the halls now, and it became harder to push through the junk.  It also seemed harder to breath in these halls since the air was slowly being sucked.  Reco and Melton finally came across Section C.  By this time it was really hard to breath, it would be too dangerous to stay for long.  The generator room stood directly below the sign, and seemed to be the only place on the Great Fox with emergency lights.  Oh well, better here then no where."Alright, Slippy, we're at the generator room."  Reco said into the watch comm."Good," Slippy started. "Now look for the blue generator."Reco looked around.  You could expect for the 10 generators that were in here, there would be a lot of noise but only 1 generatorÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âthe backup generatorÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Âwas actually running, the room was next to silent.  Reco looked around with his flashlight to try to find the generator, but Melton found it first when his flashlight revealed the blue generator.  Both of them floated over to the generator to see a few wires out of place."It's just a few disconnected wires, we're on it, Slippy." Reco confirmed."Alright, just match the colors and you'll get the power." Slippy explained.Melton and Reco went to work connecting wires.  It was like an easy matching game.  Blue wire went to blue wire, black to black, red to red, the same process for every color in the rainbow and more.  Soon enough, all of the wires were twisted properly together, but the power remained off.  A few sparks flew on Melton, and he spun around scared, Reco stuck his hand out to stop him from a never ending spin."You're not going to die, Melton."  Reco said under his breath.  Melton looked over to him and chuckled."Yea, I knowÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦that just kindaÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦made me jump." Melton replied.  He was quick to change the subject.  "Why is there still no power to this?""I don't knowÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦maybe theirs a wire still out of place.  Let's find out."  Reco gestured back to the generators and dug their heads into the wiring, there wasn't any wire disconnected.  Reco turned upside down and looked behind the generator to see if it was still plugged into an energy source.  At that moment, a hammer floated past Melton's head.  He grabbed it and looked back at the generator."I wonderÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦" Melton mumbled.  He squinted at the generator, and gave it a solid blow with the hammer.  Reco jumped back up, still upside down and glared at Melton.  Before he could say anything, the generator gave a light purr, and then gradually built up to its mighty roar.  The generator came back to life, Melton landed on his feet, Reco landed on his head."Sorry about thatÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦justÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦followed a hunch."  Melton chuckled.  Reco groaned and stood up."Alright, just tell me next time, ok?"  Reco said."Yea."  Melton quietly replied.  The two walked out of the room and into the dark hall.  Reco checked his watch: 1:59.  Great, not much time to get ready now."The generator is back up, Slippy, what do want us to do now?"  Reco said into his watch comm., hoping he could just get ready to go."ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦Yea? He can?" Slippy said, he wasn't up to the comm. link; someone else was talking to him.  "Pack your things, Reco, you need to get out of here.""Roger."  Reco replied.  He checked his watch again:  2:00p.m."Let's get ready to get out of here, Melton."  Reco said over to his friend.  Melton nodded, and they both headed towards the hangar.  It seemed like 5 seconds before Slippy was screaming of the comm. link."Enemies inbound!  There are a lot of them!  Boarding Party!  Hang on!"  Slippy screeched.  Upon reaction, Reco was on the floor.  Melton followed the action a split second later.There was a large clanging noise, and the Great Fox shook, then another, then another.  There were 6 different times that the Great Fox was boarded by the Shadow Sword Army.  Reco and Melton stood up again and ran."They must be coming after you Reco!  Get to the Hangar, and get out of here!  This is your priority!"  Fox said over the comm. link.  He already sounded like he was being fired upon.  Reco and Melton wasted no time; they ran as fast as they could.They took a turn at section C3 to avoid losing to air and made another turn in section E14.  At E16 they heard several footsteps clattering in the halls.  Reco looked to the side and saw a maintenance door.  He punched in the code to open the door and jumped inside, dragging Melton with him.  He shut the door and looked at the map on the right wall.  It showed directions to the hangar, and all the possible routes to get there.  He analyzed the map, looking for the shortest route, there were so many lines that marked paths that it hard to see which lead to where.  Finally he saw a line that went from their door to hangar, with almost no turns."We'll take this route," Reco pointed to the path on the map, "and follow it to the hangar.  Once we're there, we'll get out using the modified Arwing Slippy prepared for us."Melton observed the map and saw the path Reco pointed out."Aren't we going to help Fox and the others?"  Melton asked.Reco looked to his friend.  There was a look of concern, obviously to the rest of the Star Fox crew.  He wanted to stay, but Fox gave him his orders, and honestly, escaping may draw the SSA from the Great Fox."I wish we couldÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â¦" Reco finally said, "But we have orders, and we may be helping this way."Melton sighed, but didn't fight about it.  He was pretty good at agreeing.Reco and Melton continued their journey down the twisting halls of the Maintenance Section.  Dark red lights helped them in not getting lost, or hitting a wall.  Every now and then, there would be footsteps, then some gunfire. But it all happened outside the Maintenance Section.  The SSA most likely was not aware of it.  Sometimes another map would be on the wall, and Reco would verify that they were following the right path.  Soon enough, the door to the Hangar came to view."Here it is."  Melton pointed out.  The two approached the door.  Reco drew the K1C3R 52 from his backpack."I'll go first, and clear the room.  Once I clear it, you go straight for the Arwing, ok?"  Reco said.Melton took a moment to register the thought.  "Alright, go ahead.  Be careful, alright?"  Melton's face expressed loud and clear:  concern, worry, fear.Reco nodded.  He pressed the button to open the door.  It revealed a dark room.  Lights were out, and a few places were sparking out.  With the K1C3R 52 at aim, he surveyed the room for a possible ambush.  There weren't any apparent signs of SSA soldiers.  Reco looked over and saw the entrance to the door in Lockdown state.  Did Slippy do that?  Doesn't matter, it bought them time."It's clear Melton!  Let's go!"  Reco shouted to Melton.  He nodded and came running.  Behind Reco was the modified Arwing.  It had a storage compartment underneath to hold Melton and some other supplies.  There was a large engine attachment allowing the Arwing to enter Light Speed for a short amount of time.  Just enough to safely get the planet they wanted to find refuge in.  Some added shield generators were placed on the wings to give Reco and Melton more protection on their escape.  The only downside was the fact that some weapons were sacrificed for the shield generator.Melton ran past the entrance to the hangar when it exploded.  Melton was tossed away from the blast and on the door.  He struggled to get up as the SSA started filing into the room.  Reco shouted and fired his gun.  It wasn't much help as the gun was only close range.  A soldier stumbled but got up on his feet and walked towards Melton.  Reco continued to fire hoping to stop the soldiers.  After a few shots the clip was empty.  Reco dropped his gun beside him and kicked a cart holding tools on its side for cover.  He peeked around the side of the cart and fire a bolt of light to try to hit the soldier, but missed.  Reco saw Melton get on his back to face the soldier standing above him.  Reco cried out and tried to fire more shots of light, but was forced behind cover from suppressing fire.Another explosion came from the hangar entrance.  Fox, Falco, and Krystal stood at the entrance, firing their weapons.  Most of the soldiers focused on the doorway and returned fire.  Reco looked back to Melton and the SSA soldier standing next to him.  Melton was now facing Reco, with a tear running down his face.  The soldier had his sidearm drawn and pointing at Melton's head.  Reco ran towards Melton.  He heard Melton utter his last words:"Take care of yourself."The gunshot was etched into Reco's mind.  His friend fell limp on the floor.  A pool of blood drowned the body.  Reco felt all of his emotions rush.  His sight went fuzzy, and then rage started to flood into his veins.Reco's eyes burst with lightning.  His hands glowed and room lit.  Everybody in the room flinched at Reco's reaction.  The Star Fox team knew what to do and dove out of the room.  Reco drew a sword from nothing made of pure light.  He swung at the soldiers with force and they vanished.  Reco looked to the soldier that killed his friend, and approached him.  The soldier showed no expression, but moved backwards in fear as Reco approached him.  As Reco drew closer, he drew another sword of light from him.  He leapt through the air, and with a few quick movements, the soldier fell apart.  Reco stood over the pieces of the soldier and then turned to his Melton.  He calmed down and the lighting from his eyes ceased.  He still wanted to take Melton.  He didn't deserve to lay here.  Reco picked him up and carried him to the storage compartment of the Arwing.  He gently place Melton down and looked at him.  His eyes were still open.  Reco closed his eyes and climbed into the Arwing.  He closed the cockpit and the storage compartment.  The airlock closed in the Hangar.  Fox, Krystal and Falco looked out the window of the door.  The last they saw of Reco was him bolting out of the Hangar and into space.Enemy fighters were immediately all over him.  Reco didn't focus on them though; he only focused on getting him and Melton out.  The shield generators were too powerful for the attacks that the SSA fighters were dealing.  Reco had a tear running down his eye as he flew onward.  His emotions were so mixed that he couldn't even feel the shaking of lasers hitting the ship.  He waited until he was far enough away from the Great Fox, and pressed the button on the controls for the Arwing.The Arwing, along with Reco and Melton, vanished.  The SSA ships around Reco exploded from the force of the Arwing's engines.Reco wouldn't be seen for years to come.[align=center][size=x-large]Epilogue[/size][/align]Rayne waited impatiently for their reports about the Light Caster's capture.  He sat at his desk, fiddling with anything he could get his hands on.  It's been an hour since the operation started too long, in his opinion.  By this time, he has already gone through 3 cups of coffee.  Constantly waiting for updates, keeping his eyes focused on the computer screen.One minute later, a soldier knocked on the door to his quarters.  He invited the soldier in.  In silence, the SSA handed Rayne a piece of paper, and silently walked out.  Rayne curiously looked at the soldier as he stepped out.  He then looked at the paper.  He read in fury as he came across the words "Mission Failure.  439 has escaped."  Rayne ripped the paper in two and slammed his hands on the desk.Little was he aware that the SSA soldier that handed him the paper was actually a spy for the Mushroom Kingdom.</blockquote>

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