Ch 1: Fallow You Until the End

1300 Hours, September 22, 2554 (Cornerian Military Calendar) / Command Post Alpha, Echo Halo, Linksis Dawn System.

"UGHAA!" a plasma bolt struck a raccoon directly in the chest. He dropped instantaneously, the MA5B fired as he flew through the air and onto the dirt.

"Man Down! Medic!"

"Keep firing! Don't let up!"

"Hostels left flank! Firing!"

"Changing Mag!"

"Reloading!"

"Another one down!"

"3 more coming left!"

"No! No! Behind that SG!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Running low!"

"What is that?"

"I don't care! It's not on our side! Take in out!" Sergeant Kaplan the wolf shouted. This new enemy was ruthless and did almost nothing but kill. It was the first ground engagement that Kaplan had been sent on to fight them. All he knew was that they called themselves, "The Covenant" and were a mix coalition between several alien breeds.

It was the first time he had ever seen them. Most were short and stubby others were slender and a few were taller yet, and very powerful. The tall ones were bigger then any of his team members and had a shielding of some kind. If you would fire at the shielding enough it would discharge and break but it was such an unfair advantage and waste of ammunition. Kaplan added another magazine into his BR55 Rifle. The ammunition counter on the display read a full 36 shells.

Kaplan and his Corneria fire team of once 30 now down to 26 were on the uphill side of a canyon. They had been ordered to defend what their commander: Commander Keeding had dubbed Post Alpha on a strange ring-like structure. It wasn't small the battle field was big. The ring could be a planet its self. This meant death if they were going to defend the post for that long and at the way this enemy fought them, he and his subordinates would probably not survive.

"Sir! We got enemy fighters coming in from the west! We gotta fall back!"

"Negative, we have our orders. We are defending this base at all cost!" the wolf shouted back at the soldier, "Keep firing!" Plasma bolts showered the ground in front of the sandbags and bunker. The air seemed to be alive with the tracers of his own weapons and glowing bolts of blue and green plasma.

"Look out!" Kaplan heard one of his squad members yell and point into the sky. There appeared to be a second sun. But instead of a yellow one, this sun glowed a bright white-blue and it was falling toward them.

"Out of the way!" another man shouted. The energy ball landed a great distance away but Kaplan could still feel the heat radiate against his fur.

"Take that thing out! Anti-armor, where in the hell are you?!?" the wolf barked. In another few seconds a bulldog came to bare a M19 SSM Rocket Launcher.

"One sec getting a lock. Firing!" the 102mm rocket blasted out from the barrel of the weapon, it circled in the air and rushed toward its target. The enemy vehicle hovered to the right in an attempt to dodge the rocket. But the lock had been acquired, the rocket tracked the target and rammed it square in the cockpit. The tank exploded in a beautiful blaze of yellow and blue-white flame, "Target down!"

"Take out those two flyers!" Kaplan commanded.

The bulldog looked into the sky and raised the M19 over his shoulder, "Got it!" in another second he achieved the lock. The rocket fired and sped to its target. The flyer didn't even know what had hit it. The brute power of the rocket was too much to withstand. The smoking fuselage of the flyer spun to the ground.

"Hey! Watch it!" a raccoon shouted at the Anti-tank gunner. It was too late though. The other flyer swooped down and picked him off just narrowly missing Kaplan. The bulldog's dead body was riddle with plasma scorching.

"We got… oh no," the surviving raccoon riflemen peeked over the sandbags wide eyed. No one let up their fire but they all looked. At the bottom of the hill were 4 more of the whale-like tanks, 9 small but fast hovering vehicles and 3 flying troop transports.

"Commander Keeding!" Kaplan spoke into the radio, "This is Fire Team Zulu. We are out numbered and are requesting immediate back up at Alpha Post!"

"Negative Fire Team Zulu. The Ripper has been engaged by a Covenant Flag Ship. Ground forces have been engaged in your area. You are to hold position and defend Alpha Post."

Kaplan stopped firing and stood wide eyed. Plasma bolts showered the ground and even through the air just to the left and right of him. He just stood there. He somehow knew he wouldn't get hit. Then he remembered were he was and his mission objective. There were only 20 left in his team alive, 3 of which were wounded and could not fight, "Grab all the weapons and ammo you can find we are disengaging. Evac the wounded and lets move," everyone jumped to their task.

"What about orders?"

"Forget them. This is more then just a war now. Let's move! Get into those LRVs!" said Kaplan. The fire team had 6 M12 Warthog Light Reconnaissance Vehicles. They had once been owned by a race that was now nearly extinct except for the odd straggler in space. As far as her knew there was almost none left. The LRVs were quick and were powerfully armed. The majority of the Warthogs were fit with 12.7mm machinegun. It was powerful and armor piercing. The other two were actually classified as M12G1 LAAVs but everyone just called them LRVs anyways. These weighed a quarter ton heavier then LRV with the machinegun but it made up for it with a powerful semiautomatic M68 25mm Gauss Cannon. It was good to an exceptional range and could take down enemy aircraft, ground troops, and even tanks.

Kaplan could still see faded symbol and letters that had once read UNSC but now it had been over covered with a round grid planet and a ring around it that read Corneria. These vehicles were less efficient then Corneria's but they were faster, tougher and more compatible to terrain, so the Cornerian Military and Defenses adopted the technology. Over all it was better then theirs.

"Let's go!" the wolf jumped into the passenger seat of the lead Warthog. The same raccoon rifleman climbed into the driver's seat. Some of the wounded had been put on the floor of other Warthogs since they could only fit a driver, passenger, and gunner.

"Where we headed?" the raccoon put his head down as plasma splashed on the paint of the vehicle. The gunner in the Gauss Cannon returned fire. The air around the cannon warped and twisted as each shell was compressed out of it.

Kaplan pointed forward, "Who cares?!? Not here!"

"Yes-sir!" the raccoon said it as if it had been one word. He stepped on the gas. The 4 tires of the vehicle spun for a moment and took off. The other 5 Warthogs fallowed.

"Commander Keeding, Sir. This is Sergeant First Class Richard Kaplan. We are aborting mission. Repeat, we are abandoning Alpha Post."

"You do not have clearance to do that! Repeat, you are to defend Alpha until further notice. Do you copy? It is important that we remain in control of that base."

"Affirmative I copy, but we are outnumbered and out gunned over 10 to one and rising. Sorry Command we're out of here!"

X

X

1600 Hours, September 23, 2554 (Cornerian Military Calendar) / Cornerian Military Complex, Corneria City, Corneria, Lylat System.

"These here are Grunts," General Peppy Hare tapped a pad in the briefing room. A holographic image floated above the large round table of the darkened room. The Starfox team sat around the table with the general at the head.

Fox had never seen anything like this before, not when he was on Sauria not when he was roaming the galaxy and not when he fought the Anglers. This thing was stubby and smaller then he was but it was still big enough to fight back. It was almost as wide as it was tall. It had a lot of mass to it too. The Grunt had what appeared to be as gas mask over his mouth and a large spike on its back. It was dressed in red armor and held a small weapon of some kind in a single hand. Fox scratched his chin, "Doesn't look like a big deal. Is that all our forces are up against?"

"These Grunts are the work horses of the Covenant. Though they aren't reported to be much of a challenge but they can be very dangerous in groups," The hare reported to the team. Peppy himself had once been a part of the Starfox team. When the team broke up he was promoted to the position of General of The Cornerian Military and Defenses. Peppy had a lot of combat experience and he long ago lost the ability to fly an Arwing with great skill. General was a good position for him after Pepper had fallen ill.

"And what's up with these weapons?" Falco said arrogantly. He slid a silver pistol across the table. Once it stopped moving Peppy picked it up.

"This is M6D Magnum…"

"Yeah and why are we using these? What was wrong with the Blasters?"

Peppy worked his paws over the weapon, "It is a lot stronger then the Blasters. Though you have to carry ammunition with you it's a lot more powerful and is an effective short to medium range weapon. It is equipped with a 2x scope and fires a powerful semi-armor piercing slug down range."

"And why are we using them?" Falco asked again impatiently

"These weapons were once used by a race called human. Though their technology wasn't superior to ours, their weapons are much more accurate and though not as efficient they are overall better in a combat situation. We adopted them when the Covenant destroyed them," said the hare.

"Huh, losers," said the avian.

"I don't know if you are aware Falco but this Covenant race has destroyed the humans. This is more then just a war. This is a war of survival…"

"A war of survival?" Krystal wanted to confirm what she had heard.

"Indeed, the Covenant is ruthless. We have tried to reason with them on several occasions but it just ends in our ships being destroyed or heavily damaged. They don't give up. They either hunt down to kill what they are after or they die trying. Even when we out numbered their space cruisers 3 to 1 they still fought back. In ground engagements they fight until they win or they fight until their very own death."

"So what do you want us to do about it?" the avian asked.

"Our translators have overheard the Covenant battle network say something about a weapon. A weapon of unimaginable strength and power, they called it Halo. We looked into this, Halo. From deep research over the crushed UNSC Battle Net we have the coordinates of this weapon. We need to take control of it. If Halo is a weapon and the Covenant gains control of it…"

"We're screwed," Falco cut him off.

The General maintained a professional standard, "Essentially, yes."

"Hmm," Fox grew suspicious, "are you wanting us to go get Halo?"

"Fox this is a universal matter. We are fairly confident that the Covenant has not acquired the location of Corneria…yet."

"What exactly are we looking for? A satellite? A key?" Fox asked.

"We have no other information on Halo except for the location. I don't know what you should expect. Now let's get on with this," the hare tapped another button on the keyboard. The image of the Grunt disappeared and another one of a taller and skinnier species came to view, "This is a Jackal. They are often posted as snipers. Many are a crack shot and use a plasma powered long range weapon of some kind. This weapon has a distinct blue tracer so if they do miss their position has usually been compromised by then. If they aren't posted as snipers they carry a wrist shield to hide behind. They aren't as plentiful as Grunts but when Jackal gang up they can create a wall with their shields overlapping each other."

"Hmm…" Slippy thought.

"And these," Peppy changed the image, "Are Elites. They stand around 3 meters tall. They are field commanders, very strong and extremely dangerous. They use a rechargeable energy shielding of some kind. It covers their whole bodies giving them an unfair advantage. Don't try to fight these hand to hand. You will lose."

"No kidding. Nine feet," said the bird.

The hare continued to brief the team of each of the each of the Covenant transports. When he was done with the information of the enemy he briefed the team on their mission, "We have a Cornerian Ship inbound to Halo right now. We lost contact with the Ripper as they entered the Linksis Dawn System. They have over 500 ground combat men but I'm afraid that won't be enough."

Fox's eyes widened. If Peppy had already sent 500 troops to find a simple weapon then this must be serious, "Is it that serious?"

"Yes, we have drafted all able citizens of planet Corneria. Who ever has not been drafted which are young children and women. They are on standby to evacuate the planet if the Covenant finds us. But right now the Covenant seems to be more interested in Halo," said the hare, "I refuse to let the Lylat System fall like Sol."

"Sol? Our sun?" said the toad.

The general explained, "Sol was the home system of the UNSC. Despite their best efforts Sol fell."

"Well team?" Fox asked, "Wha'da'ya say?"

"Hell yeah. I'm ready kick some ass," said the bird. He walked to Peppy and rolled the pistol back into his holster. Fox, Krystal, Slippy and Falco headed for the door of the dark room.

Peppy stopped them, talking to the vulpine, "I'm sorry I have to make you do this Fox. You're the only one I trust. The Covenant are nothing to fool around with and if they get even the slightest chance they will kill you."

"It's alright Pep. I'm not ready to settle down," the truth was that Fox hadn't even talked to Krystal about "them". Fox wasn't even sure if there ever had been a "them". He had just gotten her back from Starwolf a while back. He felt bad for sending her away in the first place but he now understood. They hadn't even talked that much so he simply thought that Krystal was still mad at him.

She probably was, and Fox could understand that. He was thankful for her choice to come back but he would have been mad if the tables were turned too. Fox would give her sometime to get comfortable with him again and hopefully she would come back around to her normal self.

Krystal felt betrayed by Fox. But inside she knew that he was truly sorry. But it was still awkward to talk to him. She had loved him, and he had broken her heart, now she was unsure of the vulpine. She didn't even know if he had ever loved her. The vixen read his mind time to time and he was often ashamed of himself every time that he looked at her. Krystal knew she still owed him so much.

He had saved her life and taught her everything she knows about flying. And she didn't want to leave him until she had at least repaid him that. Krystal knew he felt horribly guilty. He had once been able to make direct eye contact with her, but that had died. Now he just glanced at her a quickly turned away. She knew that he couldn't build the courage to look at her directly, not after what he had done.

"Hey Krystal. I'd like to thank you again for coming back to the team… cause you know," the vulpine felt guilty just talking to her, "you know… I understand now that you won't get hurt and that you can take care of yourself. And I'm really sorry for letting or… making you… leave in the first place. I can understand that you feel betrayed by me and don't want to be around me and if you even… hate me. But I really need your help for this next one. And I hope you know that I'm sorry for all that happened and if you stay on the team I won't let anything like that ever happen again. That was wrong of me. I should have known that you could…"

Krystal cut him off, "That was the longest apology that I've ever heard."

"Yeah, well you know… cause I am. And I'm gonna need all the help I can get for this next one. And I'm glad that you are still standing beside me even after all I put you through," Fox had kept it bottled up in his mind but this new mission scared him. He had never seen Peppy like that before.

Peppy was drafting people. That was something that had never been done before. That is what scared the most. Fox didn't know exactly what he was up against yet. The Aperoids had been basically drones, easy to predict and weak. Andross's troops were pretty much all morons. The Anglers were in a league of their own, but with his team he was able to defeat them. But the Covenant… Fox hadn't even fought with them and he was already afraid. That was another part that worried him. He had never been frightened by an enemy before. He had been intimidated but not ever frightened like this. Fox kept these feelings deep in his mind so Krystal wouldn't be able to pick them out.

He couldn't show his fear either. If his team's leader was afraid, they might loose confidence in the mission, "And you know, cause I feel really bad for what I did to the team and… to you and… well you know."

"I know you do Fox, and that's alright. I don't hate you. I will be with you as long as you need me," Krystal had a change of heart. Guilt now consumed her for making him apologize so much. It was his fault and he admitted his mistake and apologized for it. He was deeply sorry.

"Good, I mean… yeah. I realize that I took you for granted."

"I know you meant well Fox and that's all that matters to me right now."

"Thank you Krystal. And you know… if you ever need to talk to someone. I'll… I'll be… kicking around."

"Would you two shut up?" said the falcon, "We aren't done here. Save it!"

"Uhh sure," said the vulpine. The team walked down the hallway of the Military Complex. The Great Fox had been completely destroyed in a previous match with the Aperoids. Fox had ordered a new one of the exact same class and model. It sat on the largest of all the landing pads. The new Great Fox was a bright silver-white and looked almost the exact same as his fathers did except for some elegant black flashes on the hull. But besides that it was the same ship.

The team walked out of the complex and onto the large landing pad. The ship towered above them. It was such a beautiful day and it was hard to believe that the Lylat System could be exterminated. Fox spun around. The ground was rumbling, and behind him were two huge tracked vehicles moving toward the Great Fox. Behind those, were 4 smaller 4 wheeled vehicles. They moved up the ramp one by one into the shuttle bay of the Great Fox.

"Ok Fox, that's it," at the base of the Great Fox was the vulpine's old friend, Bill. Bill had been working odd jobs in and around the Military Complex. The dog tapped at his PDA. He wore complete a green camouflaged combative uniform. Fox noticed a black rifle slung around his shoulder, it was equipped with a scope too. The rifle looked rouge and what surprised Fox the most was that he had never seen one before.

"What are those?" Slippy asked Bill.

Bill laughed, "The ex-UNSC M808B Scorpion class Main Battle Tank. Way better then the Landmasters, the 90mm cannon is vicious! The cannon's range 10 times greater then the Landmasters main cannon. It moves slow but is heavily armed and armored. If you take a look you can also see a 7.62mm armor-piercing tracer round machine gun mounted on it. Like the Landmaster it can be piloted by one person. We're sending you two."

"And those?" asked the toad.

"They are what the UNSC had called Warthogs. We're sending you two with the 12.7mm machinegun and 2 with the brutal and personally my favorite 25mm Gauss cannon!" Bill said with pride.

"Gauss cannon?" Fox flagged down one of the drivers. The driver pulled over. The poodle in the driver's seat also had a weapon. This one was grey. Fox inspected the recon vehicle, "So it's a rocket?" Fox had always been a sucker for new weapons. They always interested him. He jumped into the back of the LRV and inspected the cannon.

Bill jumped up with him, "It's like a cross between a rocket and a bullet. It uses a powerful magnetic field to fire an explosive direct-fire projectile at sub-sonic speeds. You can crack more then 100 shots per-minute. Semi-auto!"

"Nice," Fox hadn't yet tried the weapon but had already fallen in love with it.

"You think that's sweet. The only thing that you guys have in your paws from the UNSC is the pistol," Bill flagged the driver forward. He and Fox got a free ride into the Great Fox. They held onto the cannon that stood in the back of the truck as it went up the ramp and into the Great Fox.

"Hey!" Falco waved down the last Warthog with his wing. The driver came and picked them up. Slippy himself was interested in the gun in the back so he jumped in. This type was the machinegun. Krystal climbed into the passenger seat. The LRV had no doors so Falco put his boot onto the edge of Krystal's seat and grasped the roll bars on top.

After all the vehicles were parked and secured to the ship, Bill led the team to their new armory. It was like a weapons palace. It was way more then anyone could ever dream of shooting. Bill unclipped one of the rifles. It was his job to brief team Starfox on their newly acquired weapons, "Ok you guys got a lot of choice of guns," Bill threw the rifle to Fox. The vulpine caught it midair.

Fox looked at the long black rifle. It was the exact same on that Bill had slung around his shoulder. He noticed a number just below the rise to the scope, "00?" he asked in question.

"That's the BR55 burst-automatic rifle. 9.5mm, 2x scope, 36 sized clip. The number is an ammunition counter. As soon as you slip a fresh magazine into the gun it reads how full it is," Bill grabbed another rifle and through it at the avian, "Same with this one."

Falco caught the rifle. It was a grayish weapon, "What's this?"

"That is the MA5B fully automatic rifle. You can see the ammo indicator on it too. Not as powerful or as accurate as the BR55 but its got a 60 sized mag for more fire, maybe a bit better for close range. Here Slippy catch," Bill passed the toad a gun. Slippy fumbled it is his hands for a moment then got a firm grip of it, "M90 8 gauge pump action shotgun."

"Cool," said the toad.

"Krystal," Bill handed her a gun, "M7 Submachine Gun. Fires small 5mm rounds at an amazing rate, best use for close quarters and with the info we have on the new enemy I wouldn't suggest that you use one at all. And the last two we got are the SA2 sniper rifle and the M19 rocket."

Fox and Falco immediately dropped their weapons, "Let me see that," they said it at the exact same time. Fox grabbed the sniper and Falco the rocket.

Falco looked over the rocket, "Are you kidding me!?! A double-barrel rocket launcher!?!"

"The scope on this sniper rifle is amazing!" Fox exclaimed.

"How did these humans get killed?" Falco lifted the rocket onto his shoulder and noticed the scope, "They had awesome weapons!"

"From what I heard," said Bill as he tapped at his PDA organizing information, "They were simply overrun."

"How many were there?" the vixen asked.

Bill didn't know the real number so he just gave a simple answer, "Lots. The UNSC could handle themselves on the ground but they were completely destroyed in space combat. The Arwings are all yours. You might not need them though. Anyway if you do, the Arwings are faster and more agile then most if not all Covenant Space Craft. So you'll have a good time with that."

"So are we ready to go and kick some ass or what?" Falco was impatient and already prepared for the fight against this ruthless new foe.

"Everyone is off the Great Fox and you are clear for departure. ROB has been installed to the system," said the dog, "Fox?"

Fox put down the sniper, "Yeah buddy?"

"Good luck," Bill shook his paw, "Be careful. You don't know what you're up against. This is serious. The Covenant doesn't take prisoners. They kill them. As always this is in your hands. So… give it to 'em."

"You got it!" Fox said as Bill walked out of the armory, down the ramp and retreated to a safe distance for the Great Fox to take off. The team put down the guns and secured them into their proper spots. Everyone looked at Fox as if he was about to do something, "What are you looking at me for? Let's do it!"