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[img]https://i.postimg.cc/L5r26P82/Star-Fox-Final.png[/img]

[color=5edaf6]Level:[/color] 4 (30 -> 32/40)
[color=5edaf6]Location:[/color] Sandswept Sky
[color=5edaf6]Word Count:[/color] 859 (+2 EXP)
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The enigmatic woman’s words to Fox were short and vague, sparing in details, but helpful enough in that there were elements of danger in her listing that he genuinely wouldn’t have guessed on his own. Particularly, her mention of cold and radiation stood out to him in that regard, as well as her offer to assist them prior to her abrupt takeoff. Everything else seemed obvious enough that he or anyone else could have predicted or figured it out. Even her given directive fell firmly in line with the party’s initial surprise assessment; that their goal in fact lay at the peak in plain view. One of them, perhaps.

Something about that still seemed wrong, however. It was too easy, he thought. Not in the sense that he expected the path there to be smooth, easy, non-violent or direct, despite appearances of the latter. The problem he saw lay in not only the fact that it appeared that way to begin with, but also that they already met a willing guide and participant to their cause… in the war effort against Galeem. The burning crimson in her eyes made it hard to tell if she meant to lead or lure them, intentionally or not. Fox, fresh off of the influence as of earlier in the day, could speak to the more than likely absence of awareness in her. It was entirely possible that she had every intention of aiding them in the coming conflict, but equally likely that things could go wrong beyond her control by the time they got there. Thus, her insistence on seeing them there personally was to be heeded with cautious scrutiny.

With the woman’s summary departure, Fox paced back over to the van where the others were gathered, contemplating their next move while they deliberated on it. While Fox was a fan of getting the job done, he couldn’t help getting the same impression that they might be in some way ill-prepared, and a side venture or two along the way might do them some good. To the Twili imp's query, he answered, [color=5edaf6]“What we already knew. We’re on the right track...”[/color] He paused for a moment, glancing back toward the mountaintop, then to the Divine Beast, and beyond. [color=5edaf6]“But if we have anything else to take care of here, let’s do that first,”[/color] he said in agreement with the consensus (prior to knowing of it) to explore ahead of the main fight. [color=5edaf6]“Just be sure to watch our heading, and our footing closely as we go. I doubt we’ll be alone out here,”[/color] he finished, echoing the woman’s warning as he made to enter the van.

For the following stretch of the drive, Fox kept a constant eye looking out for any otherwise unseen dangers that might be upon them at a moment’s notice. As they soon found out, however, the first threat they would face lay in plain view. As the gang started to get a better look at the great camel, so too did they fall within its notice. Whether the red of its eyes was natural to it or by the light of Galeem, one could scarcely tell, but they bore an unmistakably unwelcoming intent. Even from a fair distance, the swelling of energy could be audibly discerned over the heavy sandstorm that they were passing through, and at the first sign of it, Fox threw open the van’s rear doors to get a full visual on the Beast, aided in small part by the targeting system in his eyepiece.

He didn’t get a long glimpse of it before slamming the doors shut a second before the lightning strike, but it was enough time to see what he needed to. Anyone else who was looking for it might find it as well. What he found was that it drew in electrical energy upward through its feet--from the ground and/or movement--to power itself and smite oncomers with… so someone smarter or more familiar with it might hypothesize seeing the same. To him, they were just big, glowing weak points [i]screaming[/i] to be shot at by any other like it he had seen in his lifetime. The only problem was he wasn’t sufficiently armed to considerably damage it himself--not without provoking some risk for a single hit (which wouldn’t discourage him from trying it if he saw the need to). While the question was going around about engaging the machine or not, he already had an idea about how to do that.

[color=5edaf6]“Double back!”[/color] He directed to Joker and gang. [color=5edaf6]“If we can get under it, and stay there, that may put us out of its targeting range. Six! This is Fox,”[/color] he called to the Courier over comms, knowing better than to prompt a response. [color=5edaf6]“You and the other fliers fan out. Keep its attention divided. And if you have something heavy to hit it with, aim for its feet.”[/color] At the end of his call, he turned his attention back to the rest of Morgana’s occupants, looking for confirmation--that they had heard his command and of their ability to somehow help see it through. [color=5edaf6]“The rest of you copy?”[/color]