Fox winced as he pulled at his headset. Someone was being VERY loud on the comms.

Fox’s expression dampened a little at Kael’s follow up question. “My team’s been…busy, with their own endeavors.” Peppy’s taking over for Commander Pepper, Slippy’s doing technical work for Space Dynamics, Falco…well, the less said about him, the better. “The fact is, I don’t have a choice BUT-

This must be one of the newer colony satellites they built after the war. Fancy, and almost reminds him a bit of Corneria, if a little sterile. Following Kael inside, Fox takes a seat across his potential business partner. “Right, so, I’ll cut to the chase: the job is to guard this woman.”-

“It’s all good. I know what it’s like to have to walk far just to get from one room to another.” The joys of having a huge battleship all to yourself basically. Fox reclines against the elevator wall and closes his eyes. Might as well rest them a little after the flight.

Talk about a real gap in appearance to behavior. Maybe he was just nervous though? It’s not as though Fox hadn’t experienced this before, however. He offers Karl a warm smile and a nod. “Sure, that sounds great. Lead the way, I’ll be right behind you.”

Fox would notice it immediately, giving a small wave as he made his way over. “Hey! Nice to meet you, I assume you’re Kael?” He offered a gloved hand for a polite handshake.

And soon enough, a bright blue starfighter would arrive at the satellite’s garage. Hopping out of the cockpit, Fox looked for a sign of whoever was supposed to be greeting him. “Hmm…”

“Sounds good! Then, I’ll see you in a few hours.” With a click, the line closed. Fox would immediately head toward the garage to set off. The sooner he gets there, the sooner he can see if this K team will be up to snuff.

“If it’s the location on your ad, I’m actually not that far off. I think I can be there in a few hours, give or take.”

“Well, I’d call it a beautiful planet. A big blue ball with lush green forests, rows of mountains, and sprawling cities.”

“Works for me, would you be willing to meet at your headquarters? I’d rather not ask you to travel far unless you’ve accepted the job.”

“Well, as luck would have it I’ve been contracted to do some bodyguard work. Problem is, my usual teammates are off busy, and this is more than a one man job. So, I figured I’d seek out some extra help from other mercs who’re accustomed to that sort of job.”

Fox has to stifle his curiosity for the moment as he switched to full business mode himself. “This is Fox McCloud of Star Fox, I saw your ad online. Is your business still looking for work…?”

“…Huh.” He taps at the ship’s keyboard a few times, and decides to give this new potential worker a call.

He’s humming to himself while looking at a variety of help wanted ads.

“I doubt you would’ve unless you’ve been to Corneria.”

“Hm? Oh, Cornerian Breakfast.”

“Right, should probably get to moving again.”

He’s sipping on some coffee as he goes over daily news on his headset’s eyepiece.

He’s carefully cleaning his blaster, and various other gadgets. No better way to spend some downtime between missions…although getting a quick nap in is a close second.

He slowly peers over at the alien staring at him, before giving a slight wave.

(( I offer you... )) (( A very mean bird. ))

He's sipping some tea to start out the...afternoon. Even heroes can oversleep.

“Gotta say, maybe there’s something to this tea stuff.”

Mineu’s first taste of instant coffee did not endear him to the stuff. He decided that since @wearestarfox.bsky.social didn’t have time to make it, he would help him by brewing a real pot. —last night was a good night. We had no customers so I got to just sketch and listen to music

“Uh-huh. Well, wouldn’t want you to get rusty. Otherwise someone like me would catch you easily.”

“It’s credits, and to be honest I’ve never really checked. We don’t get many visitors from your quadrant. I could just give you a fight though, if you’re REALLY that bored. Doesn’t hurt to shake off the rust every now and then.”

“To be honest…even if I did? It’d probably only keep me out of the red for a month or two. Battleships aren’t cheap to keep.”

“I told myself it was the price of living in times of peace, but this is getting a bit ridiculous.”

“Even freelance work’s been looking pretty slow lately.”

I really gotta get these comms channels fixed. Nothing but the oddest conversations…

“So…babysitter, got it. Guess everyone needs a side gig.”

“So DK adopted, huh. Good for him! Always happy to see someone grow.”

Fox is currently really going to town on some coffee. This is his…third cup? Fourth? He’s starting to lose track.

"Anyways, back to work."

"Uh-huh..."

Fox just blinked a few times, before letting out an exasperated sigh. “Figures. Guess I’ll have to ask her next time I see her.”

“She did, huh?” His chuckles slow a bit as he looks a bit nervous. “What uh…what’d she say about me?”

“Fox McCloud, nice to meet you.” He offered a gloved hand to the taller vulpine. “Inspector, huh? I’m not under investigation, am I?” He chuckled.

“Really? Huh. Small galaxy, I guess. I don’t think I’ve heard her mention you before, Ms…?”

“That outfit…it uh, reminds me of a good friend of mine.”

“What the—“

"I really gotta beef up security. I don't know how all these strangers are getting onboard the Great Fox..."

"Uh-huh. I think I'd like to keep it that way."

"Why are people talking about...y'know what? I don't want to know."

Sipping on some coffee to start the day.

“Thanks, but I’ve got my own team to run.” He gently removed Bowser’s hand from his back. “Just remember, this isn’t permanent.”