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You can read her fan comic here: https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/ladydino/folder/1166155/Comic-Alternative-Training-Methods/\n", "description_bbcode_parsed": "More is being learned about what happened on Papetoon, but some details still remain amiss... will the Star Fox team be able to solve it with everyone unharmed...?

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...
", "writing": "[center]~Star Fox: Miyu's Love~\n\n~Chapter 16 – Mystery On Papetoon: The Mine And The First Attack~[/center]\n\n\t--The Great Fox, Planning Room, 17:56--\n\n\tEveryone gathered back at The Great Fox after bringing the old woman back to the settlement after their discovery. Everyone sat around the big monitor awaiting to display all of the info they have discovered throughout the day.\n\t“Alright Fox, go ahead and start with your discoveries,” Peppy said.\n\tFox stood up and grabbed his camera and hooked it up to the monitor on the wall. “When you called in and told us about the flaysium pellet you dug out of the corpse, an old woman in the settlement knew everything about it. Apparently she is the last remaining survivor of a nearby forgotten and buried mining town. This is the recording I got of it and her story,” he started, playing the old woman's tale.\n\t“Omigosh, that is so sad,” Fay said with a tiny pout and limp puppy ears. Leo sat by her side and wrapped an arm around her and held her hand in his, smiling at her to help comfort her.\n\t“It is,” Fox said. He then switched from his video recorder to his camera and showed the pics he took. “Once we got around the remnants of the town, the old woman was able to guide us in the direction of the mine. Once we got over the hill, though, this is what he discovered.”\n\tThe monitor then filled with snapshots of the land surrounding the mine entrance, which was littered with many large vehicles that were stamped with the symbol for the Venomian Army. Many gasps and groans erupted in the room at the sight of the symbol. There were several mining bucket cars, along with a few drillers, a few bulldozers, and a large troop transport vehicle that looked like it attempted takeoff but only got a short distance off the ground before shutting down and crashing. All of the vehicles looked very aged, but they looked like they had been abandoned only for a short time. “It looks like Andross was here recently near the end of the war mining flaysium to power his ships.,” Falco said. \n\t“Would not doubt it. He would stoop that low and treat his soldiers like slaves to mine for this dangerous stuff,” Peppy said. “Did the mine entrance appear to be sealed or not?”\n\t“We had only just discovered this point when you called in, so we'll have to go back there to inspect it to know absolutely for sure, but judging by the looks of all these Venomian Army vehicles, I would say they broke in somehow and resumed mining operations,” Fox suggested.\n\t“Seems like we found the source of the pellets...” Amanda said. “Still have no idea who the hell is doing all this, though.”\n\t“True.... however...” Peppy said, tapping on his keyboard to change the display on the monitor to load up all of the x-rays and CAT scans of the beast they found in the Operations Center. “I think we will know what to do the next time they do attack.”\n\tAmanda then got up and pointed to the discoveries they made on the corpse, starting with the first two x-rays and CAT scan. “We were finding a lot of anomalies one would associate with a normal anthro bipedal person like you or me, but we couldn't make any connection between these signs and the fact that this thing was a huge brute. But then, just before we contacted you guys, something happened.” She loaded up a snapshot of her and Krystal in the examination room. “This was at 13:21 when we took out the pebble of flaysium from the subject's shoulder. We then sat around for a few hours trying to put all these pieces together, and then, suddenly, at 16:13...” She then played a two-minute video sped up to play only 3 frames per second, the two-minute video only taking 20 seconds to play their discovery... “Once the pellet had been separated from the corpse for a few hours, the corpse began to rapidly revert itself back to what he was...” They all watched the sped-up video to watch the corpse turn into a male raccoon, about 5'9” tall and a lightly muscled build, his entire body greyish and cold. “So now we know that anybody who gets shot with these things can come back to normal once the pellet is removed.”\n\t“Right,” Falco said. “But try telling THEM that while getting them to hold still as they're losing their mind.”\n\t“Well... yes, this is true,” Amanda said.\n\t“Were you guys able to identify this man?” Fox inquired, having a gut feeling what was going to be said next.\n\t“We did,” Peppy said. “Turns out this is one of the men that was at the tent city the last time it was occupied before evacuating it. His name was Sargent Dayson.”\n\tFox groaned and rubbed his eyes softly. “Ugh... I knew you'd say that.”\n\t“Why?” Peppy asked confused.\n\t“When we got to the settlement where everyone escaped to, there were two guards there. A Sargent Webbley and PFC Alton,” Bill explained. “They asked us if we had met up with Dayson when we got to the Operations Center, because he was the one they had run from the tent city and to the Operations Center to hail out the distress signal.”\n\t“He must've been shot in the shoulder on his way out of the tent city,” Slippy said. \n\t“Well.... in light of this event...” Amanda then went to a med box and emptied it out on the table, many inject-ease quick syringes with a tiny vial of red fluid in it came out. She then dealt out two to everyone. “These are quick-eject anti-radiation supplements that were developed by the Cornerian Army about a decade ago. Use one if you guys get shot by a pellet or if you feel like you are in an area with severe radiation and this serum greatly reduces the radiation poisoning.”\n\t“Oh joy... yet ANOTHER injection given by a large organization who says 'trust us! This is totally safe!' No offense to you of course, Amanda,” Falco said.\n\t“Hehehe None taken,” she replied. “I share your disgust with the big pharma monopoly.”\n\t“Alright, well... despite all this new info, we still have to inspect the mine and close it up if need be. We need to post guards all around the tent city and try to lure out the culprit as we try and get it going again. I think whoever it may be will try to take a shot at trying to see it coming back online, seeing how they have apparently been trying to stop it,” Peppy began. “And we'll have to do it at night since that's when all the attacks occurred. We will also have to come up with a rapid containment and treatment strategy.”\n\t“Totally agree,” Amanda said. “We need a place like a metal shipping container to hold anyone that has been shot so they can stay in there safely while they turn until they turn back. We will need to initiate a tranquilizer shot followed by one of those anti-radiation shots and a small shot of morphine, then perform as quick of an object removal as we can to minimize the absorption into the body.”\n\t“I like the sound of all this,” Peppy said.\n\t“I'll get out a Landmaster and bring over a few of those shipping containers over to the tent city,” Falco said “They're 12 feet tall, 8 wide and 15 long, so I think that would be more than enough for one person.”\n\t“Duuude I'll help!” Bill said.\n\t“Alright, you two along with Fox and Miyu will be on guard tonight working with Sgt Webbley and PFC Alton in getting the tent city back to normal,” Peppy ordered. “Krystal and Amanda, you will both be in the med wing hidden from sight and protected for when someone does get attacked. All reports show that there has only been one casualty per night, so.... fingers and ears crossed that it stays that way. Amanda, you will be the primary recovery medic, Krystal you will be backup in the event that Amanda gets hit too. She gets hit, you help her while she continues helping whoever.”\n\tKrystal nodded quickly a couple times, letting out a quick sigh showing her nervousness and bit of fright. Amanda saw it and then came over and held her hands in hers. “It's okay, I trust you,” she told the blue vixen. \n\t“O-okay. Thanks Amanda,” Krystal said with a smile.\n\t“Alright everyone, we're gonna do this tonight,” Peppy said. “In the meantime, we should send someone out to the mine and check it out,” Peppy suggested.\n\t“If I may suggest,” ROB said. “I would happily volunteer to head out to the mine. We are only checking to confirm if it has flaysium and uranium within, correct? Sending me would bring the least risk to anyone.”\n\t“That sounds like an excellent idea, ROB,” Peppy said. “And yes, to confirm, we are only checking the entrance to see if it has been opened up again and if the mine itself contains flaysium and uranium.”\n\t“Understood, Peppy. I shall head out now,” ROB said in his unmistakable monotone robotic voice.\n\t“Here's the patrol map I made to get there, Rob,” Bill said, holding the map in front of ROB's eyepiece scanner and camera. “The winds have been nil all afternoon too, so you should be able to follow our tracks all the way out there, but still.”\n\t“Thank you, Bill,” ROB replied. “I shall depart. I will report back when I have reached the mine,” he said as he began to walk off to the docking bay where they had a few of the base jeeps parked for their use. He then got in one, started it and drove off.\n\t“I'm gonna get some grub going,” Slippy said.\n\t“Alright Slip,” Peppy said. \n\t“I'm gonna go join the boys and help them out in the tent city,” Katt said, getting up to walk outside.\n\t“Fara, Fay, Leo... I guess just arm up and be prepared to go into action should you be needed,” Peppy said to them.\n\t“Sounds good, Pep,” Fara said. “Leo, you ever shoot a piece?”\n\t“It's been a while since I last used a firearm, but I have practiced,” Leo responded.\n\t“I'll get ya a sidearm and machine blaster,” Fara said to him as the three of them walked into the armory in the middle of the ship. \n\tAs the last few hours of daylight passed, Fox, Falco, Miyu, Bill and Katt helped in preparing the ten city with relocating four large storage containers at four different locations of the compound, one at each cardinal direction surrounding it, to be used as an emergency bunker for anyone that should be shot overnight during their security detail. They then updated Webbley and Alton on the plan and the emergency procedures should things so south.\n\n\t--The Flayura Mine, 18:43--\n\n\tROB drive double time to the entrance of the mine on the other side of the concrete pad covering the remnants of Flayura and got out of the jeep. He first started examining all of the abandoned equipment and vehicles surrounding the area with a powerful scan, showing that all of the power systems in everything was very much useless, their power cores having 8-9% power at an absolute best. Nothing determined to be of use to the team back at camp.\n\tThe robot then walked up to the entrance of the mine. “ROB to Peppy, do you copy? I've arrived at the mine entrance,” he said.\n\t“Copy that ROB. Is the mine entrance still sealed or has it been breached?” Peppy asked.\n\t“The entrance has definitely been breached,” he began. “The all-iron gate looks to have been moved in many different methods... being tugged on with a large vehicle and chain, plasma cutters, circular saws, laser blasters, even hacksaws. The cuts in the metal are bright and still sharp, showing little evidence of rust, suggesting the mine has been opened in the last few years. Even many of the retaining bolts in the rock wall have been pulled out at least a few inches and have been bent in the effort.”\n\t“Leave it to Andross to take advantage of a fuel source no one else is using, regardless of how safe it is or isn't to use,” Peppy commented.\n\t“Correct,” ROB replied as he walked into the cave, several lights and sensors active and looking throughout the cave. “Radiation readings relatively low, but still present.” He went about 100 feet into the tunnel until his sensors picked up more radiation coming out of a section of the wall to his right. “Detecting an enhanced signal of radiation coming from a minor lode about three feet behind the wall.”\n\t“Can you drill to it at all?” Peppy asked.\n\t“Can do,” ROB said. His right arm extended to the wall, a hollow drill attachment coming out and whirring to life as he began to drill into the wall. After a few minutes, he was able to bring out a core sample that was about five millimeters thick and four inches long. “Analyzing sample.” A few more minutes came by before the analysis came thru on Peppy's computer screen.\n\n\t[q]Rock sample composition taken:\n\n\t5 mm x 4 in sample taken, Flayura Mine, Papetoon, 100 ft depth, main \ttunnel\n\n\t64% flaysium\n\t29% uranium\n\t4% quartz\n\t2% iron \n\t1% trace other elements[/q]\n\n\t--The Great Fox, observation room--\n\t\n\t“Bingo,” Peppy said. “Well done, ROB, come on back to the tent city. The guys will need assistance setting up the detection spray system.”\n\t“Affirmative. Heading back now,” ROB said.\n\t“Copy all that. Thanks, Peppy,” Fox said on the comlink.\n\t“What's a detection spray system?” Leo asked.\n\t“Top secret, you understand,” Peppy said, raising a finger in authority.\n\t“Yes, Admiral,” Leo responded. Again, addressing appropriately under serious circumstances.\n\t“It's a pressurized hot water mixed with a UV dye and ultra fine particles of aluminum dust, along with an agent that makes it all soak into anything it touches to make it hard as hell to rinse off. Anything that gets hit by it can not only be picked up by a black light, but also by sonar,” Peppy explained. \n\t“Clever,” Leo said with a smile.\n\t“I think so, yeah,” Peppy agreed with a nod.\n\t“So even if we can't detain the suspect should they attack tonight, we are at least able to track them when they try it again,” Leo said.\n\t“You got it, my friend!” Peppy said with a smile. “I see you got some weapons just in case?” He pointed to a blaster pistol in a holster at his side along with an automatic rifle on a belt around his shoulder.\n\t“Yes sir,” Leo replied. “On Fara and Fay's recommendations.”\n\t“Well done, lad. You'll be just fine,” Peppy said with a calm voice and smile. Leo definitely felt calm being around Peppy, knowing he had leadership skills that went back longer than his own life.\n\t\n\t--Tent City, Papetoon, 21:07--\n\n\tWork went on at the tent city in a motion to rebuild after the recent events from the area. The surveillance system with the Detection Spray System along with sonar, spot lights with UV black lights as well as motion detectors were all set up around the boundaries. Webbley and Alton were given their instructions and procedures for the night as they performed guard duties along with Fox, Falco, Bill and Katt, with Amanda and Krystal hidden in the middle of the town for emergency medical instances. \n\tOnce the sun had set below the horizon, most of the crew began to occupy the tent city. The surrounding area was mostly barren desert with the exception of a small growth of trees and a small pond off to the east about one click away. Bill had brought several electric space heaters from the cargo hold of the Great Fox they had on standby charge in the event they were in stationed in desert climates overnight. The desert was a brutal heat land during the day, but due to lack of humidity, it got really cold at night. Sometimes down to near freezing temperatures. Fox, Falco, Peppy and Slippy recalled many a night on their exile on the planet years ago before the onset of the Lylat War when they lived out of a bunker in the hills on the other side of the planet, so they knew how to handle it.\n\tEveryone walked around the main office tent in the city, hoping to increase their chances of an attack, fully knowing that they were literally targets to be hit by their perpetrator, hoping to have it happen tonight instead of any other night. The mood in the camp was for the most part tense, yet alert and ready. Fay, Fara, Katt, Leo and Peppy sat over in the Great Fox on standby in case things get hectic and need assistance in the tent city. Peppy sat watching a multitude of cameras on the biggest screen in the planning room, at least 16 cameras all showing up picture-in-a-picture from multiple areas of the tent city. Leo entered the room with a big bowl of hot stew for him and Peppy for them to sit and wait. “Hey there, Admiral. Some dinner from the frog's mess,” he said, putting one of the bowls in front of Peppy on the table there.\n\t“Ooh mighty fine, thank you, Captain,” Peppy replied. The two of them sat down and ate together. “Slip does some mighty fine cooking, I must say,” he continued.\n\t“I agree,” Leo said. “Bill's not bad at all, too.”\n\tPeppy chuckled. “Hehe If you can get past his sexually suggestive titles, then yeah, he's a really good cook too.”\n\tLeo snickered as he took a bite of stew, remembering his reaction to Bill's special menu on Fortuna the time they went out there. “You got that right.”\n\t“Say Leo.... got a question for ya....” Peppy said after several spoonfuls of stew.\n\t“Yessir,” Leo replied.\n\t“When are you and Miyu gonna tie the knot?” Peppy said, bluntly yet softly.\n\tLeo froze for a few seconds, the words repeating in his mind for a bit, his face blushing as he smiled with his ears going straight back on his head as his mind flashed back on images of Miyu since that day he bumped into her at Chalmer's on that fateful evening. “Hehehe We uhh.... we... really haven't thought or discussed that at all, weirdly,” Leo said.\n\tPeppy smiled and placed his paw on Leo's shoulder and rubbed it softly, like a father to son. “You definitely should consider it, my lad. You two are the most amazing couple I have ever laid eyes on. And in my many years, I have seen a lot of people together. Most of the ones I see are the woman looking for a man to take care of them and be with them. But you and Miyu...” Peppy's smile widened as he closed his eyes, a tear falling from one of them suddenly. “You definitely see her strength and idolize her for what she is, doncha?”\n\tLeo smiled and began to tear up a bit too. “Y-yessir, I do. She's the most amazing woman I have ever met. She's my... my strong defending angel,” he said.\n\t“That is so rare to see in a relationship, a man looking for a strong woman in many ways, but you two pull it off so incredibly well. I'll be absolutely honest when I say you two are a stronger couple than I saw in Fox's parents or.... heck, even my late Vivian and I couldn't hold a candle to you and Miyu,” he said, proudly.\n\t“I just.... remember that night we bumped into each other at Chalmer's.... it felt like whatever Gods or Goddesses there may be planned that moment just for us... I still feel bad I ran from her in incredible nervousness then...” Leo replied.\n\t“Now now,” Peppy replied, patting his shoulder. “You're both together now. THAT is what's important. Forget about that part of the past, okay?”\n\tLeo smiled and sighed happily. “Yeah... you're right... onward and upward.”\n\t“Attaboy. Just one request,” Peppy added.\n\t“Hmm?”\n\t“When you both decide the day, come to me and make me your best man, okay?” Peppy said with a grin.\n\t“Absolutely. Would be our pleasure,” Leo said with a nod and a wide smile.\n\t“I've already promised the same for Fox and Falco and Bill whenever they get their duffs in order. Derpy kids,” Peppy said, turning his attention back to his stew bowl and eating more from it.\n\tLeo chuckled at those two words coming from a middle-aged man and continued to eat, watching the monitors. They noticed in one frame Falco was sitting on top of a barrel looking out in every direction... and then he reached to scratch over his crotch for several seconds. Leo snickered and pointed that out to Peppy. “Oh, classy, Falco,” Peppy replied.\n\tLeo giggled and grabbed the mic. “Watch this...” he said to Peppy before pressing the mic button. “Lombardi, come back.”\n\tThey watched as Falco jumped a bit at the sound of his name, his free hand reaching to push the talk button on his comlink as he kept scratching. “Falco here,” he responded.\n\t“How long is it, over?”\n\tFalco's eyes went wide, looking quickly over a 180 degree spread out in front of him, his hand quickly retreating from his crotch. “That a rather personal question, over!”\n\tPeppy and Leo chuckled for a couple seconds before Leo pressed the mic button again. “Nooooooo, ya big bird brain, I meant how long have you been sitting on that stupid barrel, over?!” Leo responded.\n\t“Oh! Umm, uhh, about an hour, over!” He replied rapidly.\n\tLeo pointed at the other screens where it showed Fox, Fara, Miyu and Bill at their posts giggling, along with Amanda and Krystal in the medical tent chuckling happily, the response making Peppy howl out in laughter, applauding, giving Leo another set of pats on the back. “Attaboy, way to keep him on his toes!” \n\t“Roger that, center out,” Leo responded quickly, the camera on Falco showing him looking around in confusion after all that.\n\t“Good job there, Leo,” Peppy said with a smile and a wink.\n\t“Thanks, Pepster,” Leo said smiling as well.\n\tSome hours passed by as the time ticked into the dark night, the temperatures falling rapidly and the crew out in the tent city starting to grab more clothing to cover themselves up for warmth one by one. Many of them were getting cups of coffee and caffeine stimulants to help keep them awake for the night while they were on duty. By 02:30 in the morning, they received an alert from the tracking system reporting of a heat signature off to the east where the oasis was, Bill and PFC Alton standing by that area, their rifles at the ready. They turned on their flashlights on their rifles and aimed them out into the darkness, swaying slowly from side to side.\n\t“Alton here, searching the area for signature source,” he reported into the mic.\n\t“Roger that, Alton,” Peppy replied, him and Leo still looking over the cameras intently.\n\tAlton and Bill moved out slowly through the dark for another minute, not seeing anything until the motion sensors went out into alarm. “WARNING! Object from the east being thrown into the camp!” ROB replied over the comlink. Alton and Bill looked behind them to hear glass shattering followed by the sound of immediate constant hissing and a white cloud emanating from the ground where they heard the glass shatter.\n\t“Bleach bomb in the center of the town, do not advance towards!” Bill reported. \n\tIt was then that Bill and Alton began to slowly back away from the source of the landing of the glass and back into the dark, then there was an almost inaudible sound of a silenced shot, then PFC Alton shouted out in pain as he felt a foreign object hit his right arm painfully. “OOOOWWW!!! Goddammit....”\n\t“Retreat to town! Set off detection spray system now!” Bill said as he grabbed Alton and pulled him inwards to the tent city just enough to get out of the way of the spray system, letting it douse everything within 30 yards get sprayed with the detection liquid, a mild snarling sound coming from the distance, and a mangling of what sounded to be words followed by it.... \n\t“Tao Cornerian jsim! Kxaj fcudok teojd'k rocedw ke 0ei!”\n\tKrystal in the medical tent barely heard the voice, and when she did, her eyes and jaw went wide in shock to what she heard.\n\tBill then grabbed PFC Alton and held him before him. “I'm fine, but were you hit??”\n\t“I think so...” He rolled up his sleeve to his right sleeve to reveal a puncture wound with blood oozing from it... along with a faint blue glow from within. It was then he began to panic, his heart and breathing speeding up in utter fright as he knew what was about to happen. Bill then immediately ran Alton to the east container while shouting into his comlink.\n\t“AMANDA, EAST CONTAINER, CASUALTY, GO GO GO!!!!”\n\tAmanda then sprung into action with her medical bag and ran from the medic tent to he east container, making it there in less than 30 seconds, Bill holding Alton's arm up while he was panting and screaming out in fear and pain at the shot to his arm. Amanda then knelt down by Alton and proceeded her care as best she knew how for the situation. “Administering morphine carpuject,” she said as she injected a vile of morphine into Alton's arm. This helped with his pain from the shot, but he was still frightened to death as to the effects he knew he was about to face. “Injecting anti-radiation supplement along side with tranquilizer dose,” she said as she fired off two more needles into his bicep.\n\t“Bill, hold him in place as best as you can while I dig this fucker out,” Amanda said.\n\tBill then went to hold Alton around his chest, holding his arm out towards Amanda. “Things will be okay, guy, just hang in there,” Bill said to him as calm as he could.\n\tAmanda then brought out a scalpel and performed four minor cuts away from the puncture wound to widen the opening, then went in with tweezers, grabbed the glowing blue pebble from his arm, dropped it in a petri dish, and closed it up. She then applied a quick sealing flesh binder gel to his wound and placed a gauze pad over it with tape. She then looked into Alton's eyes and held his hand and said, “If our estimates are right.... you'll be just fine.... are you brave?”\n\tAlton smiled and held her hand with a smile, even though he was still panting and shedding tears of fright. “I'll do my best, doc. Now.... GET OUTTA HERE!” he suddenly shouted, Amanda and Bill getting up to their feet and leaving the container box and locking the doors shut behind them, locking Alton inside for the time being. \n\tAmanda retreated back to the Great Fox as Peppy and Leo watched over the camera overlooking the interior of the East Container where they left Alton. They could see him sitting and laying back against one wall of the container panting and crying in fright, mumbling incoherently out to no one in particular. Amanda spoke into the mic aboard the Great Fox with Peppy and Leo as they watched Alton in the container. “Alton, this is Amanda, can you hear me?”\n\t“Y-yes... I'm scared... I don't want to die... I don't want to become evil...!” The poor man was hysterical and in total fright as he lay there alone in a locked metal box.\n\t“I know sir, but you are not alone. I'm going to be with you the whole time,” Amanda said soothingly.\n\t“Th-thank you... I... I wanna go home... I wann-- AAAAGH!!!” He said, the monitor onboard the Great Fox showed Alton's vitals via remote, his heart beat speeding up, body temp elevating and his blood pressure increasing as he began to convulse softly, his hands going for his heart as his upper body began to swell with muscle, his shirt quickly becoming tight around his chest, his legs swelling and making his pants tighter and smaller, his height getting taller as be began to transform, his body changing rapidly and becoming beastly just like the corpse they found in the Operations Center when they arrived.\n\tA few more seconds and his shirt began to rip all over, first his buttons snapping off then his arm sleeves splitting apart, followed by his pant legs and his back, his body becoming taller inches at a time, deep moans of pain escaping his maw as he cried out, the tears pouring down his cheeks, but his body remained very lucid and sedated, the tranquilizer holding him at check from becoming rampant and violent. Amanda, Leo and Peppy watched in horror as they watched him transforming on the camera. “Keep talking to him, Amanda!” Peppy cried.\n\t“Alton, I'm still with you. You are NOT alone. I am NOT leaving you. But I need you to talk to me, can you reply to me still?” Amanda said firmly into the mic.\n\tBy the time Alton was done transforming, he was a foot taller and incredibly muscular all over, his head engulfed in a mass of muscle all over his shoulders and neck, the pants and moans escaping from his neck sounding like growls and howls from a wild animal as he whined and whimpered, remaining sitting on the floor. Amanda looked over at his vital signs on the screen to her right, mild alarms going off showing his heart rate was 185 bpm, blood pressure at 165-120, body temperature at 105 degrees, his blood oxygen content at 82%, all very worrying signs in this new form, especially considering that they knew the heart and other vital organs weren't growing much along with the rate as the rest of the body did in this instance.\n\t“ALTON!!!! I need you to talk to me!!! Give me a thumbs up if you can understand me!!!” Amanda screamed in fright, knowing he may be on the verge of death, everyone finally seeing what the first corpse may have been feeling and going through just before he died. Alton remained sitting against the wall of the container panting with heaving slow breaths, his head looking up towards the camera, his eyes closed and mouth in a sad image of depression and fright, his arm shakily raising and giving a thumbs up to the camera. Leo, Peppy and Amanda sighed in relief at the sight, Amanda almost going into tears as she kept talking into the mic. “Excellent! You're doing amazing, Alton! Just keep communicating to me however you can. You WILL get through this,” she said to him.\n\tHe continued to breathe deep and slowly as he sat down, the tranquilizer clearly taking effect on him, his head nodding slowly as he suddenly smiled, giving another shaky thumbs up as he remained where he was. His vital signs remained unchanged, his body showing signs of deep sweating all over as his high temperature remained. He seemed at peace, even though in a brutish form, the morphine keeping him out of pain, the tranquilizer keeping him calm.... but the effects of Slippy's anti-rad concoction seemed to be in question at the moment as the minutes ticked by.\n\t“Alton, are you married?” she asked him. He took several seconds, but then raised him arm again in a thumbs up as he continued to pant deep and slow, his slow breaths sounding like gasping for air at this point. “Do you have any kids?” Amanda continued. He raised his arm again, this time two fingers sticking up. “Just stay with me, sir. You ARE going back to your wife and kids. I realize this must hurt tremendously, but please don't stop talking to me,” Amanda said into the mic. They could see him form a faint smile on his face and begin to nod as he continued to pant. He then raised his arm, and extend his fingers and thumb, then touched his fingers to his chin and brought his fingers forward, the sign language for “thank you,” his smile remaining on his face.\n\t“You're very welcome, Alton. Just keep communicating with me. I'm not letting you go, ever,” Amanda said into the mic, tears streaming down her cheeks as her eyes focused on the monitor. She had dealt with deaths in her profession, the wrost being those she witnesses pass under her care when she performed her best... she was adamant not to lose PFC Alton for this, no matter what. After about 15 very tense minutes that seemed like an eternity, she noticed Alton then raise his head up high as he breathed a deep sigh and smiled wide, his right arm pointing to his chest, his right index and middle finger mimicking a walking person, then pointing to the camera.... then dropping as he appeared to to slump to his left side towards the camera.\n\t“No.... NOOOO!!!! Don't leave me Alton!!!!” She screamed out into the mic. But then she saw his body start to become smaller, the radiation from the flaysium diminishing from his bloodstream as he sat there, his body slowly over the lapse of 5 minutes coming back to normal, the tall meerkat laying on the floor on his left side panting softly and gently, laughing and weeping tears of joy as he came back. Leo and Peppy watched and smiled with tears of joy as PFC Alton returned to his natural form as Amanda raced out of the Great Fox and towards the container, unlocking it and joining Alton softly, the meerkat smiling with tears down his cheeks and hugging Amanda happily. \n\t“Good.... we have info that we can use from here on out on this particular issue,” Peppy said. “Amanda, when you get Alton back here, review the footage ASAP and get some specifics to submit to the health community, just in case.”\n\t“Roger that, Peppy,” Amanda said through tears. “Bringing Alton into the medical wing of the Great Fox for monitoring.”\n\t“That is a-firm,” Peppy said happily. \n\tLeo sighed heavily and wiped his face in his hands softly. “Whew... at least we know what to do and what to expect.”\n\t“That's right,” Peppy said. “AND... whoever did that has been marked... so next time they come in... we'll be prepared.”", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "
~Star Fox:  Miyu's Love~

~Chapter 16 – Mystery On Papetoon:  The Mine And The First Attack~


\t--The Great Fox, Planning Room, 17:56--

\tEveryone gathered back at The Great Fox after bringing the old woman back to the settlement after their discovery.  Everyone sat around the big monitor awaiting to display all of the info they have discovered throughout the day.
\t“Alright Fox, go ahead and start with your discoveries,” Peppy said.
\tFox stood up and grabbed his camera and hooked it up to the monitor on the wall.  “When you called in and told us about the flaysium pellet you dug out of the corpse, an old woman in the settlement knew everything about it.  Apparently she is the last remaining survivor of a nearby forgotten and buried mining town.  This is the recording I got of it and her story,”  he started, playing the old woman's tale.
\t“Omigosh, that is so sad,” Fay said with a tiny pout and limp puppy ears.  Leo sat by her side and wrapped an arm around her and held her hand in his, smiling at her to help comfort her.
\t“It is,” Fox said.  He then switched from his video recorder to his camera and showed the pics he took.  “Once we got around the remnants of the town, the old woman was able to guide us in the direction of the mine.  Once we got over the hill, though, this is what he discovered.”
\tThe monitor then filled with snapshots of the land surrounding the mine entrance, which was littered with many large vehicles that were stamped with the symbol for the Venomian Army.  Many gasps and groans erupted in the room at the sight of the symbol.  There were several mining bucket cars, along with a few drillers, a few bulldozers, and a large troop transport vehicle that looked like it attempted takeoff but only got a short distance off the ground before shutting down and crashing.  All of the vehicles looked very aged, but they looked like they had been abandoned only for a short time.  “It looks like Andross was here recently near the end of the war mining flaysium to power his ships.,” Falco said.  
\t“Would not doubt it.  He would stoop that low and treat his soldiers like slaves to mine for this dangerous stuff,” Peppy said.  “Did the mine entrance appear to be sealed or not?”
\t“We had only just discovered this point when you called in, so we'll have to go back there to inspect it to know absolutely for sure, but judging by the looks of all these Venomian Army vehicles, I would say they broke in somehow and resumed mining operations,” Fox suggested.
\t“Seems like we found the source of the pellets...” Amanda said.  “Still have no idea who the hell is doing all this, though.”
\t“True.... however...” Peppy said, tapping on his keyboard to change the display on the monitor to load up all of the x-rays and CAT scans of the beast they found in the Operations Center.  “I think we will know what to do the next time they do attack.”
\tAmanda then got up and pointed to the discoveries they made on the corpse, starting with the first two x-rays and CAT scan.  “We were finding a lot of anomalies one would associate with a normal anthro bipedal person like you or me, but we couldn't make any connection between these signs and the fact that this thing was a huge brute.  But then, just before we contacted you guys, something happened.”  She loaded up a snapshot of her and Krystal in the examination room. “This was at 13:21 when we took out the pebble of flaysium from the subject's shoulder.  We then sat around for a few hours trying to put all these pieces together, and then, suddenly, at 16:13...” She then played a two-minute video sped up to play only 3 frames per second, the two-minute video only taking 20 seconds to play their discovery...  “Once the pellet had been separated from the corpse for a few hours, the corpse began to rapidly revert itself back to what he was...”  They all watched the sped-up video to watch the corpse turn into a male raccoon, about 5'9” tall and a lightly muscled build, his entire body greyish and cold.  “So now we know that anybody who gets shot with these things can come back to normal once the pellet is removed.”
\t“Right,” Falco said. “But try telling THEM that while getting them to hold still as they're losing their mind.”
\t“Well... yes, this is true,” Amanda said.
\t“Were you guys able to identify this man?” Fox inquired, having a gut feeling what was going to be said next.
\t“We did,” Peppy said. “Turns out this is one of the men that was at the tent city the last time it was occupied before evacuating it.  His name was Sargent Dayson.”
\tFox groaned and rubbed his eyes softly.  “Ugh... I knew you'd say that.”
\t“Why?” Peppy asked confused.
\t“When we got to the settlement where everyone escaped to, there were two guards there.  A Sargent Webbley and PFC Alton,” Bill explained. “They asked us if we had met up with Dayson when we got to the Operations Center, because he was the one they had run from the tent city and to the Operations Center to hail out the distress signal.”
\t“He must've been shot in the shoulder on his way out of the tent city,” Slippy said.  
\t“Well.... in light of this event...” Amanda then went to a med box and emptied it out on the table, many inject-ease quick syringes with a tiny vial of red fluid in it came out.  She then dealt out two to everyone.  “These are quick-eject anti-radiation supplements that were developed by the Cornerian Army about a decade ago.  Use one if you guys get shot by a pellet or if you feel like you are in an area with severe radiation and this serum greatly reduces the radiation poisoning.”
\t“Oh joy... yet ANOTHER injection given by a large organization who says 'trust us! This is totally safe!' No offense to you of course, Amanda,” Falco said.
\t“Hehehe None taken,” she replied.  “I share your disgust with the big pharma monopoly.”
\t“Alright, well... despite all this new info, we still have to inspect the mine and close it up if need be.  We need to post guards all around the tent city and try to lure out the culprit as we try and get it going again.  I think whoever it may be will try to take a shot at trying to see it coming back online, seeing how they have apparently been trying to stop it,” Peppy began.  “And we'll have to do it at night since that's when all the attacks occurred.  We will also have to come up with a rapid containment and treatment strategy.”
\t“Totally agree,”  Amanda said.  “We need a place like a metal shipping container to hold anyone that has been shot so they can stay in there safely while they turn until they turn back.  We will need to initiate a tranquilizer shot followed by one of those anti-radiation shots and a small shot of morphine, then perform as quick of an object removal as we can to minimize the absorption into the body.”
\t“I like the sound of all this,” Peppy said.
\t“I'll get out a Landmaster and bring over a few of those shipping containers over to the tent city,” Falco said  “They're 12 feet tall, 8 wide and 15 long, so I think that would be more than enough for one person.”
\t“Duuude I'll help!” Bill said.
\t“Alright, you two along with Fox and Miyu will be on guard tonight working with Sgt Webbley and PFC Alton in getting the tent city back to normal,” Peppy ordered.  “Krystal and Amanda, you will both be in the med wing hidden from sight and protected for when someone does get attacked.  All reports show that there has only been one casualty per night, so.... fingers and ears crossed that it stays that way.  Amanda, you will be the primary recovery medic, Krystal you will be backup in the event that Amanda gets hit too.  She gets hit, you help her while she continues helping whoever.”
\tKrystal nodded quickly a couple times, letting out a quick sigh showing her nervousness and bit of fright.  Amanda saw it and then came over and held her hands in hers.  “It's okay, I trust you,” she told the blue vixen.  
\t“O-okay. Thanks Amanda,” Krystal said with a smile.
\t“Alright everyone, we're gonna do this tonight,” Peppy said.  “In the meantime, we should send someone out to the mine and check it out,” Peppy suggested.
\t“If I may suggest,” ROB said.  “I would happily volunteer to head out to the mine.  We are only checking to confirm if it has flaysium and uranium within, correct?  Sending me would bring the least risk to anyone.”
\t“That sounds like an excellent idea, ROB,” Peppy said.  “And yes, to confirm, we are only checking the entrance to see if it has been opened up again and if the mine itself contains flaysium and uranium.”
\t“Understood, Peppy.  I shall head out now,” ROB said in his unmistakable monotone robotic voice.
\t“Here's the patrol map I made to get there, Rob,” Bill said, holding the map in front of ROB's eyepiece scanner and camera. “The winds have been nil all afternoon too, so you should be able to follow our tracks all the way out there, but still.”
\t“Thank you, Bill,” ROB replied.  “I shall depart. I will report back when I have reached the mine,” he said as he began to walk off to the docking bay where they had a few of the base jeeps parked for their use.  He then got in one, started it and drove off.
\t“I'm gonna get some grub going,” Slippy said.
\t“Alright Slip,” Peppy said.  
\t“I'm gonna go join the boys and help them out in the tent city,” Katt said, getting up to walk outside.
\t“Fara, Fay, Leo... I guess just arm up and be prepared to go into action should you be needed,” Peppy said to them.
\t“Sounds good, Pep,” Fara said.  “Leo, you ever shoot a piece?”
\t“It's been a while since I last used a firearm, but I have practiced,” Leo responded.
\t“I'll get ya a sidearm and machine blaster,” Fara said to him as the three of them walked into the armory in the middle of the ship.  
\tAs the last few hours of daylight passed, Fox, Falco, Miyu, Bill and Katt helped in preparing the ten city with relocating four large storage containers at four different locations of the compound, one at each cardinal direction surrounding it, to be used as an emergency bunker for anyone that should be shot overnight during their security detail.  They then updated Webbley and Alton on the plan and the emergency procedures should things so south.

\t--The Flayura Mine, 18:43--

\tROB drive double time to the entrance of the mine on the other side of the concrete pad covering the remnants of Flayura and got out of the jeep.  He first started examining all of the abandoned equipment and vehicles surrounding the area with a powerful scan, showing that all of the power systems in everything was very much useless, their power cores having 8-9% power at an absolute best.  Nothing determined to be of use to the team back at camp.
\tThe robot then walked up to the entrance of the mine.  “ROB to Peppy, do you copy?  I've arrived at the mine entrance,” he said.
\t“Copy that ROB.  Is the mine entrance still sealed or has it been breached?” Peppy asked.
\t“The entrance has definitely been breached,” he began.  “The all-iron gate looks to have been moved in many different methods... being tugged on with a large vehicle and chain, plasma cutters, circular saws, laser blasters, even hacksaws.  The cuts in the metal are bright and still sharp, showing little evidence of rust, suggesting the mine has been opened in the last few years.  Even many of the retaining bolts in the rock wall have been pulled out at least a few inches and have been bent in the effort.”
\t“Leave it to Andross to take advantage of a fuel source no one else is using, regardless of how  safe it is or isn't to use,” Peppy commented.
\t“Correct,”  ROB replied as he walked into the cave, several lights and sensors active and looking throughout the cave.  “Radiation readings relatively low, but still present.”  He went about 100 feet into the tunnel until his sensors picked up more radiation coming out of a section of the wall to his right.  “Detecting an enhanced signal of radiation coming from a minor lode about three feet behind the wall.”
\t“Can you drill to it at all?”  Peppy asked.
\t“Can do,” ROB said.  His right arm extended to the wall, a hollow drill attachment coming out and whirring to life as he began to drill into the wall.  After a few minutes, he was able to bring out a core sample that was about five millimeters thick and four inches long.  “Analyzing sample.”  A few more minutes came by before the analysis came thru on Peppy's computer screen.

\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRock sample composition taken:

\t5 mm x 4 in sample taken, Flayura Mine, Papetoon, 100 ft depth, main \ttunnel

\t64% flaysium
\t29% uranium
\t4% quartz
\t2% iron
\t1% trace other elements\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\t--The Great Fox, observation room--
\t
\t“Bingo,” Peppy said.  “Well done, ROB, come on back to the tent city.  The guys will need assistance setting up the detection spray system.”
\t“Affirmative.  Heading back now,” ROB said.
\t“Copy all that.  Thanks, Peppy,” Fox said on the comlink.
\t“What's a detection spray system?”  Leo asked.
\t“Top secret, you understand,” Peppy said, raising a finger in authority.
\t“Yes, Admiral,” Leo responded.  Again, addressing appropriately under serious circumstances.
\t“It's a pressurized hot water mixed with a UV dye and ultra fine particles of aluminum dust, along with an agent that makes it all soak into anything it touches to make it hard as hell to rinse off.  Anything that gets hit by it can not only be picked up by a black light, but also by sonar,” Peppy explained.  
\t“Clever,” Leo said with a smile.
\t“I think so, yeah,” Peppy agreed with a nod.
\t“So even if we can't detain the suspect should they attack tonight, we are at least able to track them when they try it again,” Leo said.
\t“You got it, my friend!” Peppy said with a smile.  “I see you got some weapons just in case?” He pointed to a blaster pistol in a holster at his side along with an automatic rifle on a belt around his shoulder.
\t“Yes sir,” Leo replied. “On Fara and Fay's recommendations.”
\t“Well done, lad.  You'll be just fine,” Peppy said with a calm voice and smile.  Leo definitely felt calm being around Peppy, knowing he had leadership skills that went back longer than his own life.
\t
\t--Tent City, Papetoon, 21:07--

\tWork went on at the tent city in a motion to rebuild after the recent events from the area.  The surveillance system with the Detection Spray System along with sonar, spot lights with UV black lights as well as motion detectors were all set up around the boundaries.  Webbley and Alton were given their instructions and procedures for the night as they performed guard duties along with Fox, Falco, Bill and Katt, with Amanda and Krystal hidden in the middle of the town for emergency medical instances.  
\tOnce the sun had set below the horizon, most of the crew began to occupy the tent city.  The surrounding area was mostly barren desert with the exception of a small growth of trees and a small pond off to the east about one click away.  Bill had brought several electric space heaters from the cargo hold of the Great Fox they had on standby charge in the event they were in stationed in desert climates overnight.  The desert was a brutal heat land during the day, but due to lack of humidity, it got really cold at night.  Sometimes down to near freezing temperatures.  Fox, Falco, Peppy and Slippy recalled many a night on their exile on the planet years ago before the onset of the Lylat War when they lived out of a bunker in the hills on the other side of the planet, so they knew how to handle it.
\tEveryone walked around the main office tent in the city, hoping to increase their chances of an attack, fully knowing that they were literally targets to be hit by their perpetrator, hoping to have it happen tonight instead of any other night.  The mood in the camp was for the most part tense, yet alert and ready.  Fay, Fara, Katt, Leo and Peppy sat over in the Great Fox on standby in case things get hectic and need assistance in the tent city.  Peppy sat watching a multitude of cameras on the biggest screen in the planning room, at least 16 cameras all showing up picture-in-a-picture from multiple areas of the tent city.  Leo entered the room with a big bowl of hot stew for him and Peppy for them to sit and wait.  “Hey there, Admiral.  Some dinner from the frog's mess,” he said, putting one of the bowls in front of Peppy on the table there.
\t“Ooh mighty fine, thank you, Captain,” Peppy replied.  The two of them sat down and ate together.  “Slip does some mighty fine cooking, I must say,” he continued.
\t“I agree,”  Leo said.  “Bill's not bad at all, too.”
\tPeppy chuckled.  “Hehe If you can get past his sexually suggestive titles, then yeah, he's a really good cook too.”
\tLeo snickered as he took a bite of stew, remembering his reaction to Bill's special menu on Fortuna the time they went out there.  “You got that right.”
\t“Say Leo.... got a question for ya....” Peppy said after several spoonfuls of stew.
\t“Yessir,” Leo replied.
\t“When are you and Miyu gonna tie the knot?” Peppy said, bluntly yet softly.
\tLeo froze for a few seconds, the words repeating in his mind for a bit, his face blushing as he smiled with his ears going straight back on his head as his mind flashed back on images of Miyu since that day he bumped into her at Chalmer's on that fateful evening.  “Hehehe  We uhh.... we... really haven't thought or discussed that at all, weirdly,” Leo said.
\tPeppy smiled and placed his paw on Leo's shoulder and rubbed it softly, like a father to son.  “You definitely should consider it, my lad.  You two are the most amazing couple I have ever laid eyes on.  And in my many years, I have seen a lot of people together.  Most of the ones I see are the woman looking for a man to take care of them and be with them.  But you and Miyu...” Peppy's smile widened as he closed his eyes, a tear falling from one of them suddenly.  “You definitely see her strength and idolize her for what she is, doncha?”
\tLeo smiled and began to tear up a bit too. “Y-yessir, I do.  She's the most amazing woman I have ever met.  She's my...  my strong defending angel,” he said.
\t“That is so rare to see in a relationship, a man looking for a strong woman in many ways, but you two pull it off so incredibly well.  I'll be absolutely honest when I say you two are a stronger couple than I saw in Fox's parents or.... heck, even my late Vivian and I couldn't hold a candle to you and Miyu,” he said, proudly.
\t“I just.... remember that night we bumped into each other at Chalmer's.... it felt like whatever Gods or Goddesses there may be planned that moment just for us... I still feel bad I ran from her in incredible nervousness then...” Leo replied.
\t“Now now,” Peppy replied, patting his shoulder.  “You're both together now.  THAT is what's important.  Forget about that part of the past, okay?”
\tLeo smiled and sighed happily.  “Yeah... you're right... onward and upward.”
\t“Attaboy.  Just one request,” Peppy added.
\t“Hmm?”
\t“When you both decide the day, come to me and make me your best man, okay?” Peppy said with a grin.
\t“Absolutely.  Would be our pleasure,” Leo said with a nod and a wide smile.
\t“I've already promised the same for Fox and Falco and Bill whenever they get their duffs in order.  Derpy kids,” Peppy said, turning his attention back to his stew bowl and eating more from it.
\tLeo chuckled at those two words coming from a middle-aged man and continued to eat, watching the monitors.  They noticed in one frame Falco was sitting on top of a barrel looking out in every direction... and then he reached to scratch over his crotch for several seconds.  Leo snickered and pointed that out to Peppy.  “Oh, classy, Falco,” Peppy replied.
\tLeo giggled and grabbed the mic.  “Watch this...” he said to Peppy before pressing the mic button.  “Lombardi, come back.”
\tThey watched as Falco jumped a bit at the sound of his name, his free hand reaching to push the talk button on his comlink as he kept scratching.  “Falco here,” he responded.
\t“How long is it, over?”
\tFalco's eyes went wide, looking quickly over a 180 degree spread out in front of him, his hand quickly retreating from his crotch.  “That a rather personal question, over!”
\tPeppy and Leo chuckled for a couple seconds before Leo pressed the mic button again. “Nooooooo, ya big bird brain, I meant how long have you been sitting on that stupid barrel, over?!” Leo responded.
\t“Oh!  Umm, uhh, about an hour, over!” He replied rapidly.
\tLeo pointed at the other screens where it showed Fox, Fara, Miyu and Bill at their posts giggling, along with Amanda and Krystal in the medical tent chuckling happily, the response making Peppy howl out in laughter, applauding, giving  Leo another set of pats on the back.  “Attaboy, way to keep him on his toes!”
\t“Roger that, center out,” Leo responded quickly, the camera on Falco showing him looking around in confusion after all that.
\t“Good job there, Leo,”  Peppy said with a smile and a wink.
\t“Thanks, Pepster,” Leo said smiling as well.
\tSome hours passed by as the time ticked into the dark night, the temperatures falling rapidly and the crew out in the tent city starting to grab more clothing to cover themselves up for warmth one by one.  Many of them were getting cups of coffee and caffeine stimulants to help keep them awake for the night while they were on duty.  By 02:30 in the morning, they received an alert from the tracking system reporting of a heat signature off to the east where the oasis was, Bill and PFC Alton standing by that area, their rifles at the ready.  They turned on their flashlights on their rifles and aimed them out into the darkness, swaying slowly from side to side.
\t“Alton here, searching the area for signature source,” he reported into the mic.
\t“Roger that, Alton,” Peppy replied, him and Leo still looking over the cameras intently.
\tAlton and Bill moved out slowly through the dark for another minute, not seeing anything until the motion sensors went out into alarm.  “WARNING! Object from the east being thrown into the camp!” ROB replied over the comlink.  Alton and Bill looked behind them to hear glass shattering followed by the sound of immediate constant hissing and a white cloud emanating from the ground where they heard the glass shatter.
\t“Bleach bomb in the center of the town, do not advance towards!” Bill reported.  
\tIt was then that Bill and Alton began to slowly back away from the source of the landing of the glass and back into the dark, then there was an almost inaudible sound of a silenced shot, then PFC Alton shouted out in pain as he felt a foreign object hit his right arm painfully.  “OOOOWWW!!!  Goddammit....”
\t“Retreat to town!  Set off detection spray system now!”  Bill said as he grabbed Alton and pulled him inwards to the tent city just enough to get out of the way of the spray system, letting it douse everything within 30 yards get sprayed with the detection liquid, a mild snarling sound coming from the distance, and a mangling of what sounded to be words followed by it....  
\t“Tao Cornerian jsim! Kxaj fcudok teojd'k rocedw ke 0ei!”
\tKrystal in the medical tent barely heard the voice, and when she did, her eyes and jaw went wide in shock to what she heard.
\tBill then grabbed PFC Alton and held him before him.  “I'm fine, but were you hit??”
\t“I think so...”  He rolled up his sleeve to his right sleeve to reveal a puncture wound with blood oozing from it... along with a faint blue glow from within.  It was then he began to panic, his heart and breathing speeding up in utter fright as he knew what was about to happen.  Bill then immediately ran Alton to the east container while shouting into his comlink.
\t“AMANDA, EAST CONTAINER, CASUALTY, GO GO GO!!!!”
\tAmanda then sprung into action with her medical bag and ran from the medic tent to he east container, making it there in less than 30 seconds, Bill holding Alton's arm up while he was panting and screaming out in fear and pain at the shot to his arm.  Amanda then knelt down by Alton and proceeded her care as best she knew how for the situation.  “Administering morphine carpuject,” she said as she injected a vile of morphine into Alton's arm.  This helped with his pain from the shot, but he was still frightened to death as to the effects he knew he was about to face.  “Injecting anti-radiation supplement along side with tranquilizer dose,” she said as she fired off two more needles into his bicep.
\t“Bill, hold him in place as best as you can while I dig this fucker out,” Amanda said.
\tBill then went to hold Alton around his chest, holding his arm out towards Amanda.  “Things will be okay, guy, just hang in there,” Bill said to him as calm as he could.
\tAmanda then brought out a scalpel and performed four minor cuts away from the puncture wound to widen the opening, then went in with tweezers, grabbed the glowing blue pebble from his arm, dropped it in a petri dish, and closed it up.  She then applied a quick sealing flesh binder gel to his wound and placed a gauze pad over it with tape.  She then looked into Alton's eyes and held his hand and said, “If our estimates are right.... you'll be just fine.... are you brave?”
\tAlton smiled and held her hand with a smile, even though he was still panting and shedding tears of fright.  “I'll do my best, doc.  Now.... GET OUTTA HERE!”  he suddenly shouted, Amanda and Bill getting up to their feet and leaving the container box and locking the doors shut behind them, locking Alton inside for the time being.  
\tAmanda retreated back to the Great Fox as Peppy and Leo watched over the camera overlooking the interior of the East Container where they left Alton.  They could see him sitting and laying back against one wall of the container panting and crying in fright, mumbling incoherently out to no one in particular.  Amanda spoke into the mic aboard the Great Fox with Peppy and Leo as they watched Alton in the container.  “Alton, this is Amanda, can you hear me?”
\t“Y-yes... I'm scared... I don't want to die... I don't want to become evil...!” The poor man was hysterical and in total fright as he lay there alone in a locked metal box.
\t“I know sir, but you are not alone.  I'm going to be with you the whole time,” Amanda said soothingly.
\t“Th-thank you... I... I wanna go home... I wann--  AAAAGH!!!” He said, the monitor onboard the Great Fox showed Alton's vitals via remote, his heart beat speeding up, body temp elevating and his blood pressure increasing as he began to convulse softly, his hands going for his heart as his upper body began to swell with muscle, his shirt quickly becoming tight around his chest, his legs swelling and making his pants tighter and smaller, his height getting taller as be began to transform, his body changing rapidly and becoming beastly just like the corpse they found in the Operations Center when they arrived.
\tA few more seconds and his shirt began to rip all over, first his buttons snapping off then his arm sleeves splitting apart, followed by his pant legs and his back, his body becoming taller inches at a time, deep moans of pain escaping his maw as he cried out, the tears pouring down his cheeks, but his body remained very lucid and sedated, the tranquilizer holding him at check from becoming rampant and violent.  Amanda, Leo and Peppy watched in horror as they watched him transforming on the camera.  “Keep talking to him, Amanda!” Peppy cried.
\t“Alton, I'm still with you.  You are NOT alone.  I am NOT leaving you.  But I need you to talk to me, can you reply to me still?” Amanda said firmly into the mic.
\tBy the time Alton was done transforming, he was a foot taller and incredibly muscular all over, his head engulfed in a mass of muscle all over his shoulders and neck, the pants and moans escaping from his neck sounding like growls and howls from a wild animal as he whined and whimpered, remaining sitting on the floor.  Amanda looked over at his vital signs on the screen to her right, mild alarms going off showing his heart rate was 185 bpm, blood pressure at 165-120, body temperature at 105 degrees, his blood oxygen content at 82%, all very worrying signs in this new form, especially considering that they knew the heart and other vital organs weren't growing much along with the rate as the rest of the body did in this instance.
\t“ALTON!!!!  I need you to talk to me!!!  Give me a thumbs up if you can understand me!!!” Amanda screamed in fright, knowing he may be on the verge of death, everyone finally seeing what the first corpse may have been feeling and going through just before he died.  Alton remained sitting against the wall of the container panting with heaving slow breaths, his head looking up towards the camera, his eyes closed and mouth in a sad image of depression and fright, his arm shakily raising and giving a thumbs up to the camera.  Leo, Peppy and Amanda sighed in relief at the sight, Amanda almost going into tears as she kept talking into the mic.  “Excellent!  You're doing amazing, Alton!  Just keep communicating to me however you can. You WILL get through this,” she said to him.
\tHe continued to breathe deep and slowly as he sat down, the tranquilizer clearly taking effect on him, his head nodding slowly as he suddenly smiled, giving another shaky thumbs up as he remained where he was.  His vital signs remained unchanged, his body showing signs of deep sweating all over as his high temperature remained.  He seemed at peace, even though in a brutish form, the morphine keeping him out of pain, the tranquilizer keeping him calm.... but the effects of Slippy's anti-rad concoction seemed to be in question at the moment as the minutes ticked by.
\t“Alton, are you married?” she asked him.  He took several seconds, but then raised him arm again in a thumbs up as he continued to pant deep and slow, his slow breaths sounding like gasping for air at this point.  “Do you have any kids?” Amanda continued.  He raised his arm again, this time two fingers sticking up.  “Just stay with me, sir.  You ARE going back to your wife and kids.  I realize this must hurt tremendously, but please don't stop talking to me,” Amanda said into the mic.  They could see him form a faint smile on his face and begin to nod as he continued to pant.  He then raised his arm, and extend his fingers and thumb, then touched his fingers to his chin and brought his fingers forward, the sign language for “thank you,” his smile remaining on his face.
\t“You're very welcome, Alton.  Just keep communicating with me.  I'm not letting you go, ever,” Amanda said into the mic, tears streaming down her cheeks as her eyes focused on the monitor.  She had dealt with deaths in her profession, the wrost being those she witnesses pass under her care when she performed her best... she was adamant not to lose PFC Alton for this, no matter what.  After about 15 very tense minutes that seemed like an eternity, she noticed Alton then raise his head up high as he breathed a deep sigh and smiled wide, his right arm pointing to his chest, his right index and middle finger mimicking a walking person, then pointing to the camera.... then dropping as he appeared to to slump to his left side towards the camera.
\t“No.... NOOOO!!!!  Don't leave me Alton!!!!” She screamed out into the mic.  But then she saw his body start to become smaller, the radiation from the flaysium diminishing from his bloodstream as he sat there, his body slowly over the lapse of 5 minutes coming back to normal, the tall meerkat laying on the floor on his left side panting softly and gently, laughing and weeping tears of joy as he came back.  Leo and Peppy watched and smiled with tears of joy as PFC Alton returned to his natural form as Amanda raced out of the Great Fox and towards the container, unlocking it and joining Alton softly, the meerkat smiling with tears down his cheeks and hugging Amanda happily.  
\t“Good.... we have info that we can use from here on out on this particular issue,” Peppy said.  “Amanda, when you get Alton back here, review the footage ASAP and get some specifics to submit to the health community, just in case.”
\t“Roger that, Peppy,” Amanda said through tears. “Bringing Alton into the medical wing of the Great Fox for monitoring.”
\t“That is a-firm,” Peppy said happily.  
\tLeo sighed heavily and wiped his face in his hands softly.  “Whew... at least we know what to do and what to expect.”
\t“That's right,” Peppy said. “AND... whoever did that has been marked... so next time they come in... we'll be prepared.”", "pools_count": 0, "title": "Star Fox: Miyu's Love - Ch 16 - Mystery On Papetoon - The Mine And The First Attack", "deleted": "f", "public": "t", "mimetype": "application/msword", "pagecount": "1", "rating_id": "1", "rating_name": "Mature", "ratings": [ { "content_tag_id": "2", "name": "Nudity", "description": "Nonsexual nudity exposing breasts or genitals (must not show arousal)", "rating_id": "1" }, { "content_tag_id": "3", "name": "Violence", "description": "Mild violence", "rating_id": "1" } ], "submission_type_id": "12", "type_name": "Writing - Document", "guest_block": "t", "friends_only": "f", "comments_count": "0", "views": "30" }