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 Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:18 pm
Katina is a semi-arid world of the Lylat System, home to a garrison of Cornerian Defense Force fighter squadrons and to a number settlers who have set up shops and resorts and clubs. Despite containing less water than Corneria, Katina shares a similar climate and environment to its sister planet.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 3:23 pm
Distance To:
Solar: One page leaving/one page entering
Fichina- two pages entering/leaving
Zoness- One page entering/leaving
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Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 11:00 pm
The skies of Katina were dark, and quiet. No crafts were leaving now, not if rumors had reached the planet that Papetoon was the site of a massive space battle. One might not be surprised by this knowledge, unless they considered that there had not been but minor skirmishes between individual fighter ships since the Aparoid Invasion had been halted years before. The planet had fully recovered since then, including the economy.
So the bar Marcus McCloud was drinking in had been around since before then, as had the bartender now refilling Marcus's drink. Alcohol in this part of the galaxy was weak, and Marcus was barely inebriated. Just enough for his mood to have mellowed, in fact. "Hmph," he mumbled, bitter for the moment. He downed the drink and slapped his shot glass on the counter. "Another."
"I think ye've had yer share, boy-o. Ye want to be able to drive out of here," he said, his accent not Katinian in origin. He was from MacBeth, if his burr of an accent was any indication. "This is no night to be caught unawares, either."
Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" He was clearly skeptical. But, these days, after all this time alone hunting his former teammate and his companion, hadn't taken so much as to make him permanently bitter and frustrated, but the drink wasn't helping.
"Because of the violence spilling over from the Alhena forces. Don't go spreading it around, because ye kinna be sure who ye can trust, but that Station is as corrupt with criminals as most prisons." The old sheepdog had been leaning in, but now he stood up straight and away, he seemed to turn his attention elsewhere. "Ye'd better be on yer way, boy-o. No more drinks here."
Marcus stared after the bartender, but the old sheepdog did not look at or speak to Marcus after that. The young blue fox eventually sat up and ran a paw over his face, muttering a pep talk to himself. "You've led Star Fox for cripe's sake. Why are you wasting time here instead of finding your friends and rejoining them?"
"Because you're not sure if they'll take you back now after you suddenly left them. And because you can't let go of Raptor and Pandora, even if you wind up here, with no leads and no friends," he answered himself. He stood, laid a credit bill on the counter top, and strode out the front door, shaking himself to sober up.
As the lights that lit up the causeway washed over him, he found himself with a new drive, even without the insipiration to direct him. He broke out instantly into a sprint and stopped suddenly with his feet together and legs crouched only to spring back into motion as he jumped ten feet in the air to land atop his Arwing, parked across the street from the bar.
He silently thanked his father for the years of training that allowed him to jump that high as he pushed the cockpit open and got it, firing the powerful craft to life. His eyes hovered over the fuel cells monitor and he refused to panic over how low it was. He was out of credits, not that they were accepted everywhere, and the only possesions he had to him were his Arwing and his clothes. Years of taking on no job but chasing Star Wolf and his former friend and rival, Raptor O'Donnell, had left his money depleting quickly, and now it had completely run out.
Marcus fired the down-facing thrusters and lifted up to a safe height before he ignited his rear thrusters for a burst of momentum, launching himself into orbit above the dry planet. As he reached the apex of his flight, Marcus flipped around the communication channels in a routine check and discovered something interesting.
"-at Alhena. Who is Lord O'Donnell that the Cornerian Defense Force wants him taken in so badly?" A moment's shock fell over him before he regained his senses and thought to check where the signal was originating from. As the system began tracing the transmission backwards, Marcus reclined in his seat, the Arwing almost skimming on the lower level of the atmosphere.
"So," Marcus mused to himself. "Raptor's with the Alhena Space Station. But if that old bartender is telling the truth, he might not know what he's already deep into. He might need help. But if I'm caught out there and recognized, I could be dragged in for trying to help him. What am I going to do?"
The computer was still tracing the origin of the signal, and Marcus wasn't going to make it even to Papetoon with his fuel cells as low as they were. He could try to hunt down an easy job with good pay nearby, but time might be of the essence, and there was no guarantee a job could be found. Besides, his safest bet would be to get in contact with Star Fox and have some credits forwarded to a local mechanic he could get refueled at. But that would mean he'd have to swallow his pride and his fear and contact the friends he'd left behind. Easier said than done.
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Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:59 pm
After his humbling chat with Blue, Marcus could no longer remember his good reason for ignoring his friends for so long. He knew he's had one at one time, it just didn't seem so valid anymore. He gave up the runaround effort after a while and simply sulked. There was nothing to do now, except to wait for Blue to show up in the Great Fox.
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:41 am
It did take some time, but the Great Fox came to Katina in search for Marcus.
"I think I can see his arwing." said Blue and the ship hovered over marcus's arwing.
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:57 pm
Marcus gave an excited whoop despite the impending doom of his comeuppance. "Blue! The Great Fox! Oh, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" he said, on the local channel, which only transmitted within half a dozen clicks. "Thank you so much for helping me here! Permission to board, Blue?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 1:11 am
"Of course, if you promise to clean all the corridors of Great Fox." said Blue teasingly to Marcus on the local channel.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 4:03 pm
Marcus blushed and scratched his head sheepishly with one paw. "Heh heh!" he chuckled nervously. "Of course! I mean, I owe you at least that much!" he said before breaking down into more hesitant laughter.
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:43 am
"That's good." said Blue and chuckled a little. She then opened the hangar so that Marcus could come in with his arwing.
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 3:38 pm
 "I'm wild, not evil." Kirit yawned, mentally cursing himself for not installing anything to keep him occupied during the time of space travel into the Youkai. Promising himself to install some kind of music player when he could, he let his ship drift towards Katina, deciding to dock and see what he could buy around this area. Despite what Cornaria called him, he was neither a traitor, nor a habitual thief. He had stolen the Youkai in vengeance...and though he'd never admit it, hot-blooded idiocy. He mentally slapped himself though, remembering what Cornaria had set up here. Their defense fleet. Hell, just by getting near this planet he had done something incredibly stupid. Still, he was drawn to this place, and he didn't know why. Just than, his stomach let out a loud roar. Oh yeah, that was why. He didn't have any food. He had plenty of emergency nutrients that he could survive on, but he kept those for just that. An emergency. Unless he was stranded for months in space, there was no way he was using those...and they tasted like...well...that's not the point. With a sigh, Kirit began to fly towards the surface, hoping to be ignored...in his stolen prototype racer/fighter.
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Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 3:52 pm
Marcus chuckled again, relieved that his friend had forgiven him, at least for the moment. As the hangar doors opened, he tapped the throttle gently and eased the Arwing into the Great Fox's bay doors. As he settled the craft down on the bay's floor, the Great Fox's clamps set the ship in plance and the doors closed behind him. When air reasserted itself into the craft bay and created an atmosphere to breath in, Marcus slid open the cockpit window.
He vaulted over the side of the Great Fox and winced as his leg muscles readjusted to bearing his weight. He'd been in the Arwing for too long, he knew, he needed to stretch his legs. Well, he could do that on the way to the main deck, the bridge of the ship where Blue probably was. As he started off walking towards the lift on the ship, he thought about exactly how long it had been since he'd last seen his friend. Too long, he thought. Years, he remembered, but how many? Two and a half, he realized after searching his memory for the current star date and the date he had set out on his own. Two and a half years, really?
It was completely possible, but it had actually felt much longer to Marcus, having spent most of his days doing legwork and his nights forcing his brain to try and make sense of all the clues, small and insignificant as they might be. Overall, it hadn't led anywhere useful and he had wound up on Katina, alone and worn out. Now, he had a chance to change that. Sure, being on the team again would mean compromise and not always getting his way. But Marcus McCloud had been getting his way for too long now, and it hadn't made him feel better yet.
The turbolift reached the deck level and opened directly to the bridge of the ship. Marcus's sleep deprived eyes widened at the sight of Blue, in her flight suit, a literal sight for sore eyes. He broke into a run and almost bowled her over as he crashed into her, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing tight. "Oh, Blue, I missed you, I really did! Tell me, how have you been and what have you all been doing all this time? And..where...are...the others, anyway? Blue, are you the only member of Star Fox left?" he asked incredulously.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 10:59 am
"I'm wild, not evil." Kirit looked around from the Youkai, his eyes narrowing and a growl rumbling in his throat at what he saw. Star Fox...Typical. Leave it to them, past or present, to be around when no one wanted them. Still, he had to be careful. Were they looking for him? Swallowing his apprehension, he turned on the Radio, to see if they were searching for him, or just wandering about.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 11:42 am
Blue wasn't really prepared that Marcus whould crash into her. At first she felt like barking at him, but then as he hugged him so did that feeling turn into a relievable feel. She immediatly answered Marcus's question.
"Not really, I got R.O.B. here helping out, but old man Falco surprisingly left to learn new pilots at the Cornerian academy. And the other two are visiting their parents." said Blue.
She was going to hug back untill she heard a radio transmission incoming. "Hmm... should one of us answer that, or will we let R.O.B. do it?" she asked her returned friend.
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 10:19 pm
Marcus was relieved that Blue didn't seem to feel abandoned, and at her request, he nodded the affirmative and started towards the panel. He would be answering any request of hers purely on apologetic reflex for a while. The blue fox depressed a button to receive the hail, and listened.
When the message had finished, he switched to another button on the computer panel, this one for returning hails, and spoke into the prominent microphone. "This is the Great Fox, Marcus McCloud speaking. Aello Kir, we're all doing just fine, here. Is there something I can help you with?" The transmission was directed straight to it's origin, not on a 'public' channel, but really, weren't they technically public channels?
Marcus turned to Blue. "What do you think a lone pilot with no ties wants with us?"
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Posted: Sat May 09, 2009 7:33 am
"I don't know. What could a lone pilot be doing here anyway?" asked Blue to Marcus with sarcastical eyes. For she herself didn't know why someone whould be on Katina, except if there was a job there to be done.
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