This story is a dedication and celebration to the story about the breaking of the sound barrier on Oct 14, 1947 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, by Brigadier General Charles “Chuck” Elwood Yeager, an epic and monumental moment in the advancement of scientific achievement and human endeavor. This story is largely influenced and inspired by the book-turned-movie The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. It was the end of the Second World War, the nations of the United States and Russia were beginning advancements in technology to break the sound barrier (equivalent to 761 mph at sea level atmospheric pressure, or Mach 1), which then led to the advancement of space travel which brought about the space race, the creation of NASA, as well as the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions which brought us further from Earth to the moon and planets and even the stars beyond our solar system with notable spacecraft satellites such as the Voyager spacecraft, which to this day, almost 50 years later, still beam back data about our universe to us now. The human race has always been one to experiment, succeed and fail in their experiments and for the large part learn from their experiments and failure to bring them to where they have come. On this 40th anniversary of the movie for The Right Stuff, I sit and wonder how in the world of Star Fox that moment came for them as well. A world where space travel is almost as commonplace as going to the grocery store, they certainly had a point where they were stuck on the ground, pondering their abilities to push the limits, and who the brave people to bring them out of the darkness of the past and into the brightness of the future would be. They too must have been the results of the evolution of 15 billion years of cosmic evolution in the form of the simplest element known as hydrogen evolved and grew and expanded and learned in the same way as we did. This is my rendition as to the first time when the Lylat System first made that vital and monumental leap in scientific advancement, and to finally conquer what we referred to as “the demon that lived in the sky.”
“We do not ask for what useful purpose the birds do sing, for song is their pleasure since they were created for singing. Similarly, we ought not to ask why the human mind troubles to fathom the secrets of the heavens... The diversity of the phenomena of Nature is so great and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking for fresh nourishment.”
― Johannes Kepler
~ * ~
“Those worlds in space are as countless as all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the Earth. Each of those worlds are as real as ours, and in every one of them there is a succession of incidents, events and occurrences which influence its future. Countless worlds, numberless moments, an immensity of space and time. And OUR small planet, at this moment, here we face a critical branch point in history.
What we do with our world right now will propagate down through the centuries and powerfully affect the destinies of our descendants. It is well within our power to destroy our civilization and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate to superstition or greed or stupidity, we can plunge our world into a darkness deeper than the time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian Renaissance. BUT... we are ALSO capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant for this planet to enhance enormously our understanding of the universe... and to carry us to the stars.
Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos, Episode 8 conclusion
~ * ~
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
--President John F. Kennedy, Address on the Nation's Space Effort at Rice University, Houston, Texas, September 12, 1962
Star Fox: The Defeat Of That Demon In The Sky
by
Leo Cuttridge
--Corneria Air Force Base, 46 years before the time of Star Fox, 17:26--
The sun shone bright upon the planet of Corneria on a mild autumn day as the air base was in relaxed activity. The war against a foreign power had come to a close two years prior and everyone found themselves in the midst of preparation and rebuilding from all that was spent and lost during the war. The expense and lives lost were great, but the end result was the removal of a tyrannical power whose aim to enslave and destroy all enemy planets and civilizations was top priority. This was a time for getting things back to normal, no matter how long it took. At the same time, scientists in the scientific community were abuzz with new ideas and experiments ranging from nuclear power to supersonic jet flight. Some of the experts in these new fields were those who had escaped the enemy countries under threat of execution and excommunication from their home planet and had defected to Corneria to share their wealth of knowledge to advance science and technology in a more peaceful area. While the experiments promised a lot in the realm of results, they also presented a huge amount of challenges and risk to the lives of those who tried to attempt them. A husband and wife team in the nuclear field had recently lost their lives in the very experiments they were studying on radiation and its effects. Charles McCloud rode his motorcycle past one of the runways of the air base at the speed limit, looking off to his left to see another experimental aircraft take off in an attempt to break the sound barrier. He then tuned in his bulky wireless radio into the air base's channels to listen in on the comms occurring between the control tower and the experimental aircraft. He had seen several versions of this jet plane take off in the last 6 months in an attempt to go faster than sound can travel, and every single person failed, resulting in a blackout of the pilot and a crash of the aircraft. He and his expecting wife Kari had seen the “town man in black”, the man who came to the housewives and sometimes families of the deceased to deliver them the bad news that their husband had died in the line of duty, a lot, having attended more funerals in his life than he could remember. He then rode into the parking lot of Chalmer's Diner a few miles away from the airbase, a small eatery out in the middle of the plains along the main highway. He set the kickstand on his motorbike down and softly got off it and into the diner, only a few people inside along with the manager and main operator, Scottie Chalmer. Charles held his wireless radio in his left hand while he walked into the diner, Scottie waving him over to the bar up front to have a seat, which he did. Charles then set the radio on the bar as he, Scottie and another sitting by Charles' side at the bar listened in on the Corneria Air Traffic Control. “Who do we have up for the chopping block today, Chuck?” Scottie asked. “I think it's Johnny McCain today,” Charles said. “Yeah, that is the poor sap up in line today,” a grey wolf named Silas 'Slim' O'Donnell sitting next to Charles said. “I hope he'll be okay, I drove along side him on the road as he was going down the runway on the way here,” Charles said. Scottie then reached under the bar and pulled out a photo of Johnny McCain, a short fat weasel in a flight uniform standing next to an antiquated propeller-driven plane when he graduated flight school some years ago. They all sat around and listened in on Charles' radio while Scottie gave a good luck cross to McCain on the photo. “Good luck, buddy.” She then poured some shots of liquor for Charles and Silas as they sat side by side at the bar, even taking a shot for herself as she stood on the other side with them.
--McCain to tower, approaching 0.95, all signs nominal, over. --Roger that, McCain.
Everyone couldn't help but sit still and listen intently as they sipped their shots of drinks, even a few in the rest of the restaurant getting up from their seats to stand close to Charles' radio.
--Approaching 0.97... craft starting to shake violently...
The seconds ticked by, feeling more like minutes of agonizing anticipation and hope for this brave pilot.
–....p-poooint... nine.... eeeeiiiiight....
Everyone gasped at the audible sensation of struggle being exhibited by the pilot, their hearbeats quickening as they sat still, hoping for the best, totally prepared for the worst if it should come. The audio from the radio started to become staticky as the rest of the feed began to sound garbled and distorted from the extreme speed. –...point... ni—aaaaggghhhhhhh--!!!
Another few seconds of random garbled radio transmission went by before they heard radio silence for a short time followed by a huge boom in the distance. The sound out in the distance brought everyone's attention to the sight of a fiery blast on the ground, the result of the experimental craft piloted by McCain having crashed into the ground, a black smoke cloud rising above it from the burning remnants of the craft. Everyone groaned and rubbed their eyes at the result, Scottie then taking the photo of McCain and placing him on the wall of the bar along with several other pilots who had lost their lives at Corneria Air Force Base in the pursuit of more and more speed. “Ugh... another one...” Slim said. “Yeah... may he rest in peace,” Charles said. “Well, here's another round on the house in memory of our departed friend,” Scottie said, pouring another shot of liquor for everyone at the bar. “Wonder how far they're willing to go with this stunt?” Slim said as he quickly gulped down his shot of booze as he sat next to Charles. “What do you mean?” Charles responded, holding his glass in his hands, slowly rotating the liquid in the shot glass and watching it swirl inside it. “Well... this fantasy of beating that demon in the sky, going faster than sound... I'm not sure that is something that was meant to be,” Slim replied. “Going religious on us there, Slim?” Scottie said, grinning. “Heck no... I'm just saying some things are meant to be and some things are not,” Slim replied. “I dunno what to believe anymore,” Charles said, lying to everyone around him. Deep down, he had this building sensation of wanting to be that one man to make it into the history books. He too was not religious, having grown up with a lot of science in his blood, but at the same time, curious about may possibly lay beyond in the realm of possibility. Deep down, he wanted to try the run with the Air Force's experiment. “You know you aren't the best liar or bullshitter, McCloud,” Slim said with a mischievous grin. “Whatever you want to believe that makes you sleep at night, wuffy,” Charles said with a grin and a playful punch to Slim's arm, making them both chuckle as Charles got up to reach for a ten-credit note in his pocket to Scottie. “Hey now... you only owe me four-fifty, McCloud,” the short and chubby platypus replied with a grin. “Yeah, I know, but you're worth it, hon,” Charles replied with a smile. “Y'know, you should be saving for that kid yer about to have,” Scottie suggested. “I got plans for that one, don't worry,” Charles replied. “And besides, you got your own kid to worry about too, right?” Scottie chuckled and smiled. “Sid will be just fine. I'm running a business that should he find interest in it, he can run in the future after I pass on.” “Well, I hope he does that very thing, Scottie,” Charles said with a grin and a wink. It was then that Sid, Scottie's three-year-old son came in to say hi to everyone. “What do ya think, kiddo?” he asked Sid. “You think you wanna run this place when you grow up?” “Yeah yeah! I like food a lot!” Sid replied with a joyous smile at Charles. “That's the spirit!” Charles said to Sid, giving him a high-five. “....okay, guy. You have a safe ride back home,” Scottie replied as Charles got up and headed for the door to get on his motorbike to head home.
--The McCloud residence, Corneria Air Force Base, 18:03--
Charles drove into the designated parking space for his base housing unit as the sun got closer to the horizon to set in the autumnal evening. The wind was calm and the heat gentle still. He propped up his motorbike with the kickstand as he got off it and walked to the front door. He was met by his wife Kari, a shorter arctic vixen with a slim build. She was wearing a white loose fitting blouse and standing in white slippers as her paws rubbed and rested of her most prominent figure... the dome of her belly. She was pregnant and expecting any day. She raised up her arms and reached out for Charles with a smile, hugging her husband softly and holding him for several seconds to cling to him. She could feel his stillness and his quietness as they stood quiet for many moments. “...we lost another one?” she asked worryingly. “Myeah... it was McCain this time,” he replied, softly breaking the hug and walking with Kari into the small house. There was then a small black sedan that slowly drove up the street to a house a few doors down on the opposite side of the street that grabbed their attention. The driver's driver opened and out stepped an elderly man, a tall black raven dressed in all black with a black hat that slowly walked up the steps to the front door of a house... the McCain's house. There were several other people along the street doing various things that stopped everything they were doing to watch what happened... and they all knew what was happening... even when Mrs McCain stood at the door, starting to sob and cry uncontrollably as she watched the tall dark man slowly approach her door, her two very young children standing confused at her sides. “No.... no! Go away! GO AWAY!” she cried out even as the man stood before her. They all recognized this so many times... this man had one purpose in town. He was the undertaker. He was the one to break the bad news to families of the recently deceased, and in a military town like this, they all knew he only had one thing to say: “Ma'am, I'm very sorry to inform you that your husband has died in the call of duty for our country.” Every married and engaged couple old enough that was watching who knew what was going on in the area, hugged each other close and held each other lovingly, thankful that it wasn't their home the dark graven man had to pay a visit to. But it also was a sign they were due to attend a funeral within the next week. This has happened 62 times before at this military town in the last year. Charles held his wife Kari close and held her for many moments after seeing this, thankful that they were together and alive and about to be with their unborn son about to come into the world. But as much as he was thankful for all this, a nagging feeling in the background of his mind had been bugging him for the majority of the last half year with the military experiment going on. He was confident that what they were trying to do was indeed possible. He knew that science and humanity could advance to a higher level of standard to change the world. But one question always entered his mind each time this happened... 'should I be the next one to volunteer?'
--One week later--
Johnny McCain's funeral went by as most others do, everyone in the town who knew him in attendance. Charles stood by his wife Kari solemnly as they watched the Missing Man Formation of fighter jets flying over the cemetery at the end of the service, saying final farewells to their departed brother in arms. They stood and watched Mrs McCain's reaction, the woman mostly silent and still the whole time as her children in their very young years sat on each side of her, looking around clueless at all of what was going on, so very young and wondering why they had to say goodbye to daddy one final time. After the funeral, most of everyone headed down to Scottie's Diner on the outskirts of town, everyone's conversation light and quiet as they ate and drank in remembrance to the recently departed. Charles and his wife sat alone slowly taking in a meal, other patrons sitting around in various corners of the diner. Slim could be heard off at the bar having a few drinks talking to Scottie as he sat next to one of the lead mechanics on base named Salvatore “Sal” Toad, a short frog whom was a good friend to Charles. “Y'know, I understand them wanting to make test runs on experimental aircraft out here,” Slim began, talking as Salvatore and Scottie stood on each side of the bar top to listen to him. “But you'd think after sixty-some-odd tries at something they would learn to find the time to throw in the towel.” “Now now, come on, Slim,” Sal said. “The AL-1 Bottlenose is quite an advanced air combat fighter with capabilities of going just faster than Mach 1. I know it can do it.” “That's as may be, Sal, but you're gonna find it difficult to find someone to fly it to achieve that if you keep losing anymore test pilots around here,” Slim pointed out. “Heck, we've lost half of the new arrivals that have relocated here in the last year because of that thing. Can it be done? Probably.” “Ah! So... after all that, YOU wouldn't give it a shot?” Scottie jeered with a grin. “I'd be game if the price was right... saaay... quarter million?” Slim said with a grin. Charles couldn't help but roll his eyes and shake his head as he listened in on the conversation taking place across the room, not at all surprised to hear of O'Donnell's bid for glory, as he was always known to be a sanctimonious opportunist. “Geez man, that's definitely gonna have to go in the 'we'll let you know' pile,” Sal said. “Yeah... along with all the junk mail,” Scottie said, chuckling as he walked away to tend to some customers in one corner of the room. “Yeah, well... that's MY thoughts on it,” Slim said as he got up, dropped some cash on the bar counter and walked out of the diner. Sal then got up and walked over to sit by Charles as he and Kari sat and finished off their meals. “Some things never change,” Sal commented. “Especially if your last name is O'Donnell, right?” Kari suggested. “Hehe... exactly. You oughta give the ship a try, Chuck!” Sal suggested, the words making Kari and Charles look at each other for several seconds. The look on Kari's face was largely unreadable, waiting on her husband to make a comment on the matter. Deep down, she needed her husband to be around for their son so they could have as close to a normal happy family life as they possibly could, but at the same time, she knew that Charles wasn't afraid of anything, and he was also highly confident in his capabilities, and she knew it well. She knew her husband was not one to turn down a challenge, so here she was right in the middle between wanting him to say yes or no. “I'll hafta see it sometime, yeah,” was all Charles said to Sal as he kept looking at Kari across from him. “Well, the next one should be ready in a day or two, and you can come by anytime to Hangar 31 to see it in person,” Sal replied as he got up and walked back up to the bar to give Scottie his bill and money, then walked out the door.
--Later that evening, the McCloud residence, 19:37--
Charles and Kari sat together on the couch in the living room as they looked out the front facing window that showed the setting sun. They sat together and had drinks while they held hands, Kari having sodas and juices while Charles very slowly sipped on a whiskey out of a glass. He normally could take a good mixed drink once an hour, but with all the talk that went on at Scottie's about the AL-1 from earlier... “...you've been sipping that same drink for the last three hours, love,” Kari said softly. “Oh...? I... hadn't noticed...” he lied. She gently rubbed her hand in his as she turned to him a little, leaning in to him to rest her head on his shoulder. “You're still thinking about that ship, aren't you?” He slowly inhaled, followed by a slow exhale. “...yeah...” She smiled a bit and leaned in to kiss his cheek softly, her hand still holding his lovingly. “I remember when I first saw you in the Academy... I was working as a waitress at the night club... You had just finished a combat flight exercise where it got tense, and you hopped out of your ship as I was walking by... and you looked over at me and grinned as you took your helmet off... the first thing that went in my mind was 'there is a man who is confident in what he does'... and he's cuter than hell,” she said, the last part making them both chuckle. “I also knew that you were the kind of man that knew exactly what he was doing and what he wanted and how he was going to get it... I knew it would do no good for me to try and convince you not to do something you wanted to do... soooo...” She then got up, turned towards him and then sat gently on his lap leg over leg, her baby bump resting happily between them as her hands went to rest his over her lovely dome. “Whatever you want to do is fine by me, mister. You just remember you have certain somebodies at home waiting for you... so you do your best... and be safe,” she said before leaning in to kiss his lips sweetly. Charles kissed Kari lovingly for many moments as he rest his hands over her belly with their unborn son. “I can't do what I do... and be safe at the same time, love. You know this,” he said softly, smiling up at her. She grinned and nodded slowly, leaning in to rub her nose against his softly, gazing deep into his eyes. “Well then... be lucky,” she whispered, tilting her head to kiss him deeply and slowly once more, the two of them holding close together for a long time.
--The next morning, Hangar 31, 08:22--
Charles drove his motorbike into the large hangar at the airbase early in the morning to check out this new high speed aircraft Sal was talking about. Once inside, he parked his bike along one of the walls near an office as he saw Sal and a couple of officers talking with him, one of them highly decorated. He had dressed in his flight uniform in the event that he decided to take the run after and overview of the craft. “Who is that?” the highly decorated officer, a leopard in his 40s said to Sal. “That is Captain Charles McCloud, one of our most decorated officers on base,” Sal replied. “He took down three dozen fighters in a dogfight single handed in the battle of Yokuta on the other end of the planet at the end of the war a few years ago.” “That is quite impressive,” the other officer, a young hound dog in his early 20s said. Charles placed his helmet on the handlebars of his motorbike and walked towards Sal and the two officers, recognizing one of them as a Sergeant and the other a Commander. He stopped and gave a proper salute to both of them. “Morning, Commander, Sergeant,” he said before turning to Sal and giving him a brofist. “So I guess this craft is what you guys are wanting to break the record, Commander John-Paul?” “That is correct, Captain. We appreciate you offering to at least take a look,” Cmdr John-Paul said with a smile. They were then met by another man, a tall ape with light brown hair walking in a white lab coat with a clipboard in his hand. “And this is the creator of the jet power of the craft, Doctor Andross. He is also leading a lot of other experiments we are hoping to implement in the near future.” “Good day, Captain,” Dr Andross said. “This jet definitely has the capabilities to do what we wish to achieve. We only require the right pilot to make it happen.” “It certainly looks quite fast, Doctor,” Charles said to Andross. McCloud looked over the ship and took in its amazing design, being incredibly aerodynamic and sleek to slice through the air with very little drag or resistance. He then grabbed a step ladder to climb up and peer into the cockpit and look over all the controls. “I take it this is loaded into a carrier and then released at high elevation.” “That is correct, Captain,” Andross replied. The Commander motioned Sal and his junior officer aside while Andross showed Charles the interior and controls and other features of the craft. “Sal... do you think he'll do it?” “I highly anticipate he will. He rarely turns down anything, especially when he thinks he can win,” Sal responded. “He's an incredibly optimistic man.” “I am having a really good feeling about this. Sergeant Pepper, are you prepared to take off in the event he agrees?” the Commander asked. “We are all ready to go, yes Commander,” Sergeant Pepper said proudly. Another couple minutes went by before Charles came back to Sal and the Commander and Sergeant Pepper, Andross following by his side. “I like what I see. Let's light this candle,” he said with a smile. “Hey Sal, you got any Freeman's?” he asked the amphibian, referring to chewing gum containing pepsin which pilots found beneficial as an antacid in high elevation and high speed. “Sure thing, Chuck,” he said with a smile, recognizing that phrase from him being an indicator as to when Chuck was about to get serious. “Gimme a stick and put it on my tab, a'ight?” Charles said. “You got a deal, guy,” Sal said, reaching into his pocket for the pack of gum and giving a stick of it to Charles as everyone made preparations for flight. Charles and Sal watched as Sgt Pepper went into a large propeller-driven tanker aircraft as Sal and Andross lowered the Bottlenose into a pit in the ground, then watched as the cargo plane rolled into position above it. The bomb bay doors opened underneath and the experimental Bottlenose craft was lifted up into it, being secured by personnel by quick release handles inside the cockpit of the Bottlenose to be released by the pilot at the right time. Once the ship was loaded, Cmdr John-Paul gave Sal, Sgt Pepper and Charles a proper salute, the three returning a salute to the Commander before Sgt Pepper and Charles boarded the cargo craft. Only minutes went by before the huge tanker was on the runway and taking off into the air, the skies clear, cloudless and cool in the crisp morning autumn air as they took off to make an attempt at history. When the cargo plane took off from the ground, it took 45 minutes to climb to around 35,000 feet to get to its required location to begin the drop. On the way up, Charles put his helmet on, checked his coms, gave a handshake to Sgt Pepper and then headed to the belly of the plane to get to the access door of the Bottlenose craft. His heart beat in a mix of excitement and nervousness as he lifted the door open and climbed inside to enter, his hands busy to applying the safety harness over him to strap himself into the craft before reaching to close the door shut. “McCloud to ground, I am in the craft, preparing for launch,” Charles said as he made final checks to the craft. “Roger that, McCloud. Release when ready,” Sgt Pepper said from the captain's seat on the tanker ahead of Charles. “Releasing in three... two... one...” he said, then tugged on the overhead release handle, the Bottlenose suddenly falling from the belly of the cargo plane and into the air. “Beginning stage one burn... now!” He waited for three seconds before flipping on the first stage rockets, the thrust coming on with a vigorous forward motion putting Charles into the back of his seat with a few Gs as he suddenly began to speed forward in front of the tanker, the Mach gauge on the center dash panel starting to rise above 0.3 and climb steadily. Everyone on the ground listened intently on the military band on their shortwave radios while Chuck went on his flight, Scottie, Andross, Sal, Slim and some others at Hangar 31 standing by in nervous, curiosity and hope. Two minutes went by before the Bottlenose reached Mach 0.6 and the acceleration began to diminish, prompting Charles to trigger the second stage boost from the next array of thruster rockets in the rear of the craft. “Stage 2... now!” Another rearward jolt as he watched the airspeed gauge jump up again, only a short time passing before it passed 0.85. His right hand held firm and steady on the control stick in the center of the craft, the ship flying steadily without any shaking or judders so far, the airspeed indicator finally getting into the 0.9 range when he switched on the final third stage of boost, one final firm jolt backwards as he held his concentration on the gauges... airspeed, elevation, horizon and azimuth indicators... he was intent on making this craft break the sound barrier, his mind and his determination completely in it. “Passing 0.95... I'm coming after you demon...” he said calmly into the coms as he watched his airspeed indicator slowly climb higher and higher towards the 1.0, the ride starting to feel a little shaky and soft vibrations ringing through the frame of the Bottlenose now. “0.96... starting to feel vibration...” The intensity of the vibration slowly grew the faster he went, his eyes constantly aimed forward with full concentration, the gauges for the engines all within normal operation with nothing approaching warning or abort levels. “0.97... getting shakier... having to mildly correct here and there, but I'm still going...” The sound or rapid repeating thrumming on the hull of the plane started to sound and get louder along with the shriek and whistle of the jet engines behind him, the ride becoming scarier and more violent as he kept going. “0.98... still going... getting very loud and bumpy...!” Charles was really starting to struggle physically and mentally as he maintained control of the aircraft, finding the challenge becoming more and more violent as the seconds ticked by, all gauges still reading normal, but slowly rising closer to warning ranges. “0.99...! So close...!” As he angled the aircraft slowly upward towards the heavens, he could see his tunnel of vision in the center slowly turning into a swirling black vortex surrounded by the blue of the atmosphere, the twin suns of Solar and Lylat Prime shining faintly in the blackness in positions that almost resembled eyes. The sight made Charles' eyes focus sharper, his brow curling as his heart and breathing quickened in pace. “Got you, you sumbitch...” He continued to push the craft to its limits for at least another minute, the sounds all around him loud and ear-piercing, the ride vibrating and shaking his body firmly in rapid succession, the brave fox continuing his battle with the demon... ...when on the ground, everyone listening to the radio broadcast heard it become faint and crackly suddenly heard a loud boom in the sky above them, the sound wave pushing through their bodies and shaking any loose objects nearby them, making them all gasp and look at each other in shock and awe, totally silent for many moments as they took in what they thought was going on. They thought they had lost Chuck... another victim of the Cornerian Space Force's experimental program to beat the sound barrier... what were they all going to tell Kari when they saw her next? Or worse, their son when he became of the age of understanding? Even the undertaker sighed and shook his head while slowly looking down to the ground as he stood next to his black sedan, his mind already preparing what he thought would be the bad news to deliver to Kari as well as preparations for Chuck's funeral... “...Hey Sal, I gotta register a complaint...” It was Charles' voice! Everyone gasped at the sound of it as Sal raised the transmitter of the radio to his face. “What's that, Chuck?” he asked, a bit of a grin on his face. “You built a nice plane, but the damn speedo is maxed out! It's pegged well past 1.0 and I am still climbing like a bat outta hell!” he said in an excited tone. Everyone began to cheer and shout out happily in bliss at the fact that not only Chuck was alive still, but that the record had finally been broken. History had been made, and they were there to witness it. “Well, you just throw it out the window and I'll put in a better one when you get back, you hear?” Sal said jokingly. “Congratulations, Captain McCloud,” Doctor Andross said into the radio. “I'm mighty proud to hear you have achieved this feat with our craft.” “We can definitely concur, job well done, Captain!” Commander John-Paul said into the radio as well. The cheers and celebration on the ground continued for several moments, even the sullen-faced undertaker was smiling and bursting into tears while laughing and sighing in relief at the event he witnessed. Slim was there too, and he let out a sigh and a shake of his head, feeling he missed out on this historic opportunity because he was being greedy... but he knew he only had himself to blame for that one. Even so, he smiled and looked up into the sky where Chuck was in his moment of victory. “It was a pleasure to be of service, gentlemen. This is truly spectacular,” Charles said as he smiled and looked out at the beautiful sight of the heavens as he approached 70,000 feet, his right hand tilting the control stick very gently to the right to execute a slow clockwise aileron roll. Almost a half hour went by before Charles lowered in elevation and brought himself back down to the ground on the runway at the air base, his hands shutting the jet engines off after touchdown as he slowly rolled in and approached the nearby crowd. Amongst the crowd was a married rabbit couple and their two year old son who was holding a toy airplane in his hand, waving it softly in the air in various patterns as he watched the Bottlenose roll by them. Mack and Christine Hare stood together as they applauded the return of their brave pilot as he came back alive from making history, Mack holding their son in his arms to get a better view of the Bottlenose as it rolled by. “What d'ya think, Peppy? Think you wanna fly one of those in the future?” he asked his son. “Yeah! They look so cool!” Peppy said with wide eyes and smile as he looked at the aircraft in amazement, the first time he had ever seen any such aircraft up close like this. “Hehehe Well you do good in school and try your hardest, and you will,” Christine told him. “Okay!” Peppy replied with great cheer, his hand holding his toy airplane out in the air and waving it around in a flying motion once again. Charles guided the rolling craft to a gentle stop out in front of Hangar 31 before he popped open the hatch and started to climb out, greeted by everyone with cheers and congratulations. He smiled and shook hands and gave hugs to everyone there as they celebrated their historic victory... then Sal came up and motioned Charles back into the hangar towards his bike. “Chuck, apologies, but umm...” “What?” he asked in concern. “We didn't want to report this to you in mid flight because we wanted you to perform your best and concentrate fully on everything up there... but as you were climbing in elevation on the way up to flight level, we got a call from the hospital... Kari went into labor,” Sal explained. That was all Charles needed to hear for him to quickly jump onto his motorbike while still in his flight suit, start up the bike, then tore off at high speed into Corneria City to the hospital, hoping he was in time to be with his wife for that special moment.
--Corneria City Hospital, 11:04--
Charles stopped into a parking spot at the front entrance to the hospital, shoved down the kickstand with his foot and shut it off quickly. He then hopped off and then ran into the front entrance of the hospital, where he was greeted by a familiar nurse that brought him back to the room where Kari was. The nurse was a tall and slender pink frog by the name of Jessi, who was Sal's wife. She gave him a tall smock to cover himself up in as they walked to the delivery room. “I heard you broke the barrier, Captain McCloud! Congratulations! What a day to do it too, huh?” she said cheerfully. “You got that right,” Charles said with a wide smile. He literally felt like he was flying on Cloud 9 right now, the day consisting of him making history AND his son being born. When they walked into the delivery room, they watched another nurse helping Kari lower her legs out of the stirrups, her belly flat now as she was panting slow and deep, smiling gently with tears streaked down her cheeks. She reached out with an arm to hold Charles' when he walked up to her side. “For someone so damn fast, yer so damn late,” she said weakly with a chuckle. Charles laughed and leaned in to kiss Kari on the lips lovingly as he stood by her side. “Hehehe I was otherwise occupied, sadly. I'm so sorry, sweetheart,” he said, tears starting to stream down his cheeks now as he chuckled. “I heard. Congratulations, flyboy,” she said happily, giving him another soft kiss on the lips. The doctor then came into the room from the wash room, their newborn son wrapped up in his arms as he walked towards them. “Good morning, Captain McCloud. Firstly, congratulations on your performance in the air today. That was a dangerous and magnificent feat you pulled off today that we will all benefit from,” said the doctor, a short chubby tanuki named Sanjay Singh. “And more importantly, congratulations, dad, because your son is here. Which would like to hold him first?” “She will,” Charles said. “Like she pointed out, I missed the birthing so she put in all the hard work.” They all chuckled as Kari nodded in agreement, then held out her arms to receive their son. The tiny little fox cooed and yawned adorably as he looked around at his parents in wonderment, his parents smiling and shedding tears of joy to feel themselves finally see their little joy for the first time. “He's adorable,” Kari said. “Just like his daddy.” “Daaawww... his mommy is far cuter,” Charles said. “Have you both thought of his name yet?” Dr Singh asked. They then looked at each other for a few seconds before Kari broke the silence. “I like that one we came up with the other day,” she said. “I do too,” Charles said, then turned his head to look at Dr Singh with a smile. “....James... James Dallas.” “James Dallas McCloud?” Dr Singh asked. “That's right,” Kari said. “Very well, I shall put that on his birth certificate and notarize it,” Dr Singh said before turning around and heading out of the room to leave Charles, Kari and James alone for a while. Some minutes went by before James then looked up and over at his daddy and smiled wide, his arms reaching out for him adorably. “Daaawww... here ya go, daddy,” Kari said with a smile, Charles taking James into his arms and holding him lovingly. Charles kept smiling with tears streaking down his cheeks as he watched his son, the tiny fox happily cooing and smiling as he rubbed and grabbed Charles' nose and muzzle softly. “Hey there, kiddo. I just made history today. And I have a feeling... you will also make history someday, too,” Charles said softly, bringing James in closer to hug around his dad's muzzle... and kiss his nose softly.
~ * ~
It is our fate to live during one of the most perilous, and at the same time, one of the most hopeful chapters in human history. Our science and our technology has posed us a profound question...will we learn to use these tools with wisdom and foresight... before it's too late? Will we see our species safely through this difficult passage so that our children and grandchildren will continue the great journey of discovery still deeper into the mysteries of the Cosmos?
That same rocket and nuclear and computer technology that sends our ship past the farthest known planet can also be used to destroy our global civilization. EXACTLY the SAME technology can be used for GOOD and for EVIL.
It is as if there were a god who said to us, “I set before you... two ways... you can use your technology to DESTROY YOURSELVES... or to CARRY YOU to the PLANETS AND THE STARS...
On this day 40 years ago, October 21st, 1983, the movie The Right Stuff came out on the silver screen based on Tom Wolfe's book about the space race. It told about the momentous and terrific event of Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier for the very first time in the Bell X-1 experimental aircraft, along with the following creation of NASA, and the space missions that followed it.
With Star Fox being very much in the space and aeronautical category, I have often wondered how they did it too... this is my idea of how it may have happened and who may have been involved. See if you can spot all the name references to many other famous people in our own scientific field. ;) I also put in some inspirations quotes that I thought would be appropriately relevant to this story as well.
If you like my writing, please fave, watch and comment and watch out weekly for new chapters~!
These stories have been largely influenced by my lifelong love for the Star Fox video game released in March 1993 as well as the Nintendo Power comic released in the February to December 1993 issues of the magazine as well as the development of the fan comic Star Fox: Alternative Training Methods by ladydino on FurAffinity. You can read her fan comic here: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/ladydino/folder/116...
