A/N: Alright, finally finished this, the second of two stories I plan to publish roughly simultaneously. To be honest, I got way more distracted than I should have, so sorry to you folks who knew I was planning this sort of thing for a while. But I digress, to those of my readers who want to know what's going to happen with my other older stories, there's nothing to get your feathers ruffled about, I'll be getting to those after these prologues are published. It's just a matter of finding/receiving proper inspiration. This double publishing thing (as far as I know) is going to be a one-time to rare thing.
First of all, my aim for this story is to be a little lighter in theme than my other story Fide Aeternum. So if you aren't that interested in that one then perhaps this might suit your tastes more. Secondly, this story might not be updated for a while since it has all my other projects competing for attention too, but since when has that been new if you're reading my stories heheh. But that's enough of my rambling.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox, which belongs to Nintendo. And in conclusion, please read, review, and enjoy.
Star Fox: Trepidation
By: Immortal Drake
"Exit warp," the command rang out through the ordered chaos that was the frigate's bridge.
The ship was the long slightly elongated blocky shape of a Cornerian Defense Force Frigate. The hull was a newly painted white, her weapons bays retracted and hangar doors closed for the moment. She had been commissioned as part of the Cornerian Federation's newest wave of ship designs, intended to act as part of a forward screen of firepower for larger craft. Her name, CFS Lylat Dawn.
Standing on her bridge was the newly commissioned Commander Winston Howe. He was an athletically built shepherd, with dark brown slightly shaggy fur. His triangular ears flicked back and forth, easily catching each individual sound and report of his crew at their various stations in a half-circle around him. His dark green uniform was crisp and clean, as was to be expected of an officer of the CDF. His newly acquired Commander's Badge glimmered on his chest in the light of the bridge.
"Exiting warp," was the reply of his helmsman, a blonde-furred vulpine, Lieutenant Alex Michaels if he remembered correctly. The Dawn exited warp quickly and smoothly under Alex's skilled hands.
"Excellent work Lieutenant," Winston said, receiving a quick nod of thanks from the vulpine as he looked out the main viewing screen. The darkness of space greeted him for the most part, though his eye was quickly drawn to their destination some klicks off. The CDF outpost station Outpost 11, the simple angled structure almost hiding the modest defense turrets that dotted its surface to keep away pirates and other small-scale threats. Granted, the station's weapons hadn't seen a need to be used yet, and the Commander hoped they'd never have to be, with the Outpost so close to Corneria.
"Sir, we have an emergency communication coming in on Channel Five, audio only," said the voice of his communications officer Alicia Rhodes, another Cornerian Shepherd, with light grey fur.
"Patch it through," he said immediately.
"Hello, is anyone there?" a woman's voice came through, any visual communication disabled, "This is Captain Lucia of the freighter Heaven's Prospect, we suffered a critical malfunction across multiple systems, we're dead in space out here."
"Ma'am, this is Commander Howe of the Cornerian Defense Force Frigate Lylat Dawn, what is your position?" Winston answered.
"We're about fourteen klicks away from Outpost 11, our transmitters don't have the power to reach that far," the woman answered.
"Hold on Captain, we're on our way," the Commander answered as he motioned for Michaels to head to the freighter's position as indicated by Rhodes, "What's your life support situation?"
"Thankfully that didn't give out," was the mysterious Lucia's answer with a semi-relieved huff, "We don't have the parts or expertise to fix this problem ourselves, any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated."
"We'll send over a team of engineers to assess the problem," Howe explained, "We can discuss a solution for the problem after."
As the freighter came into view, Howe was slightly amazed. The freighter was an older Bounty model, at least ten years old with its blocky shape and semi-rusty color, slightly exceeding the Dawn in length and tonnage. Small divots in its shape denoted various sections in the craft's modular design, allowing it to haul a multitude of different cargo. The freighter's upward sloped prow was facing slightly away from the station, with visible signs of wear and tear in the dents and small pits on the ship's hull. 'Looks like she's seen pretty hectic service,' he mentally remarked to himself.
"I'm getting a bad feeling from this sir," piped up the voice of his squadron manager, a black-furred fox named John Bale, a very recent addition to his crew, assigned with commendations from General Pepper himself. The Commander had accepted his presence quite readily, a recommendation from General Pepper having a lot of weight within the CDF.
"Ah, you're just being paranoid Bale, that hunk of junk looks ready to fall apart as it is," was Alicia's retort to Bale's statement, accompanied by a chuckle.
"It just seems fishy, a lone freighter this close to the Outpost, unable to reach out that far with hails yet we were close enough," Bale said.
"I think our engineers can handle themselves John, but we'll send a few marines down with them, to help with any grunt work," Howe intervened in the conversation before it could possibly become an argument. The Dawn was already close to docking with the freighter, the frigate lining up with the other craft's starboard side, between the Prospect and the Outpost. The slight shudder under his feet was all Winston needed to know the two were docked.
As the group of engineers and some marines readied to cross over between airlocks, they opened a transmission channel with the bridge, along with a video feed so that the Commander could see things first-hand, and also partially to assure Bale. Each marine was carrying a sidearm, a blaster pistol, not as powerful as a rifle but much lighter and more efficient in energy use. But then again they weren't expecting to be met with armed resistance, or any kind of resistance for that matter. The marines were mostly there to help with any heavy lifting.
"Captain Lucia, our team is ready, the seal is secure," Howe said to his counterpart through the channel.
"Excellent, thank you Commander Howe," was the mystery Captain's reply, "We're opening the way."
It would be safe to say that nobody could have seen it coming, but what awaited the assembled Cornerians wasn't the sight of a welcoming party of freighter crew. Instead they were faced with over a dozen blaster barrels on the other side pointing at them. Before the shocked Howe could order the docking seal broken, the armed pirates rushed through the docking corridor and onto the Dawn.
The marines tried to put up resistance, but stun bolts from the pirates quickly incapacitated those that did. The engineers from what Howe could see only put their hands on their heads and got down, trying to keep out of the line of fire. The video feed suddenly shifted as the marine whose helmet it was attached to was knocked over, pointing up towards the docking controls, the shepherd could only watch as more booted feet rushed onto the Dawn and further into the ship. The feed was soon cut, either by one of the pirates or simple damage from the fall.
Howe was quick to snap back to reality, he opened the ship-wide broadcast, "All hands, prepare your battle stations, we have boarders on the Dawn!" The alarm klaxon soon began sounding, ringing throughout the entire ship and bringing the Dawn's onboard marines and her other crew to alert. "Can anyone break the seal?" he barked to the bridge, only to receive a chorus in the negative, reporting the docking controls had been cut off from the bridge.
The bridge promptly exploded into motion, all the officers pulled out the emergency weapons available, holdout blasters and compact carbines. A couple spare tables were slid into place as makeshift barricades. Howe himself took cover behind his command console, and was soon joined by Rhodes, Bale, and Michaels.
The minutes seemed to tick by like hours, and it didn't help that the only thing everyone could listen to was the reports of the boarders' progress. They had already taken the docking area, and had quickly moved towards the Dawn's barracks and her hangars. Howe hoped that their fighter crews would launch in time. They were much too close for the Dawn's weapons to fire upon the pirate freighter.
"Commander Howe, this is Major Harrison, Squadron Delta is launching," the squadron leader's voice rang out over the comm. A small round of cheers echoed the Major's statement, and Howe could imagine the bulldog smiling a little if he could hear them.
"Give them what for Major, see if we can get them to back down by threatening their ship," Howe told the pilot.
"Be careful, they might have other surprises in store," Bale quickly added onto Howe's own statement, the shepherd nodding to the vulpine in thanks for the extra warning.
"Roger that," was Harrison's only response. Howe hoped the other squadrons would be able to launch in time, though from what he'd heard, the boarders were quite close to beating on the doors of the hangars.
"Commander, the boarders have breached Hangar One!" and just like that Howe's heart twisted in concern for his crew, the feeling only increasing when the hangar's signal went quiet. The barracks wasn't doing much better based on what he'd been hearing, and engineering had already gone silent, many systems reported being shut down such as the engines and weapons slowly going offline one by one.
"This is Hangar Two, we've got boarders coming in from Hangar One, and eyes on the freighter," this report piqued Howe's interest.
"What can you see Hangar Two?" he responded hastily.
"We've got movement, hidden weapons bays, and a hangar!" was the surprised reply from the engineer before the signal was suddenly cut, ending any further communication.
Howe muttered under his breath and clenched his hands into fists, cursing each and every one of the boarders to whatever hell would take them. "Commander, we've got hostiles heading your way," chirped one of the security stations near the Dawn's bow.
"I hate to lay on more bad news Commander, but the freighter is launching fighters," Harrison's voice hesitantly added on.
"Engage them Squadron Delta, give them no quarter," Bale quickly jumped into the conversation.
"Affirmative sir," Harrison answered, the signal cutting off as the Major likely turned it off to focus on fighting the other craft.
The sounds of combat soon rang through the sealed door to the bridge. Howe and everyone on the bridge soon readied themselves, pointing their weapons at the door. The controls soon sparked, signaling the door controls being sliced on the other side.
"Don't shoot!" cried the panicked voice of one of the marines sent to accompany the boarding party, a grey and silver wolf, Sergeant Casey if Howe was right. The source of his distress was quickly apparent; one of the boarders was holding the barrel of a blaster pistol to the side of his head.
The rest of the boarders filed in, escorting other marines and crewmembers in a similar situation to the Sergeant. As Howe got a better look at them he noticed they were a very rough looking bunch, makeshift armor in the form of polyfiber plates attached to various parts of their bodies over flight suits and other clothing was the norm. Wear and tear as also apparent in their gear, patches in clothing and obvious modifications and repair jobs on their weapons also seemed to be a common theme.
"Drop your weapons, or your friends get to meet their makers," the first boarder who entered spoke up, a scruffy wolf with dark brown fur and bright blue eyes. He pressed his weapon harder to the Sergeant's head to emphasize.
Howe looked over his crew, while each of the officers present had enough training to probably hold off the pirates that had just entered, there were likely more still to come from the pirate craft. He couldn't risk any more of his crew getting hurt, the shepherd taking the first step and dropping the blaster he had been holding where the boarders could see it. One by one, each of his crew did the same, the clattering noise filling the bridge.
The brown-furred wolf smirked, "Good, now, everyone together, go on, away from the weapons." Howe and his crew reluctantly got up from their positions, gathering together in the middle of the bridge, weapons left where they lay. Howe thought he was seeing things, but he was almost sure Bale had snuck a holdout blaster into one of his pockets before he got up. The shepherd decided to try to avoid drawing attention to Bale, quickly moving his gaze away from the vulpine.
"Good, now you Cornerian mutts get to wait for the Captain to get here," the lupine sneered, a condescending glare leveled at everyone present.
"Sir, we're getting pounded out here!" Harrison piped up over the still functioning comms, though nobody could answer him, "We've got three fighters dead in space, they're using EMP!"
"Sounds like the Captain's having fun," spoke up another of the pirates, a white-feathered parrot Avian, much to the amusement of the other rogues, a small chorus of chuckles going around. This got a growl out of Bale, though Howe's hand on his shoulder stopped the vulpine from doing anything rash.
"Shit, I've got one on my tail, can't shake them! Aagh!" Harrison's outburst was the last one to come as his comm signal sputtered out, though the display still showed him as alive, his backup life support activating as the rest of his fighter's systems shut down.
'The outpost has to see the blasts from where they are, why aren't they responding?!' Howe thought to himself as he looked between all of the pirates and their hostages.
"Alright, the Captain should be here any minute now," said the lupine, "All of you get together," after finishing his statement, he shoved the Sergeant towards the group, pointing his blaster at him. The rest of the pirates did much the same, their captives joining the bridge crew on the empty floor of the bridge, the pirates keeping their weapons pointed in the soldiers' general direction.
The crew of the Dawn didn't have to wait long as the door opened to reveal a small number of pirates and what no doubt had to be their Captain. To Howe's surprise, the Captain turned out to be a woman, and that he had to look up at her slightly despite not being a short man himself at six-foot even.
The Captain was a purple-furred panther, her muscular physique filling out her chosen dark grey flight suit almost enough to strain it, with only a bare hint of femininity visible in her frame. She moved with an easy predatory grace as she neared the crew, her gear clattering slightly as she went. He could spot polyfiber plates covering her limbs like the rest of her crew, but armoring her torso were what looked like welded together sheets of metal from a fighter attached to her front and back with leather straps. He could also see a visibly modified blaster pistol on her hip and glimpses of a blaster rifle on her back as she walked.
"Well, well, well, what have we got here boys?" the Captain said, her voice deep yet still feminine, one Howe recognized as the voice he had heard from the freighter, and he could finally put a name to her face.
"Bellatrix Bugosi," he couldn't help but speak up, recognizing the pirate captain of moderate renown that he'd gotten a few reports about in the past.
The feline turned to him, her expression instantly turning into a half-smirk, "Looks like someone recognizes me," she said as she strode over towards him and leaned down slightly. Putting a finger under his chin, thankfully with her claw sheathed, she pushed his head up until he was looking her in the eye, "No need to be so formal darling, call me Bella," she said, her tone a husky purr yet mocking at the same time in a way that made the tips of the shepherd's ears burn despite himself.
"What do you want here?" Howe heard Bale growl out, the tall pirate turning to face the vulpine, who she easily towered over, releasing the shepherd in the process.
She grinned at him, showing all of her sharp teeth, "Isn't it obvious?" she began, "This ship has the newest tech Corneria has developed, plenty of goodies for me and my boys. We just couldn't help ourselves," she concluded, the other pirates chuckling and grinning behind her.
Another chuckling voice cut the pirates off at the sound of it, one Howe immediately recognized as coming from Bale, much to his and everyone else's surprise, "That's too bad, you came all this way for nothing."
Howe's gut twisted as the she-panther suddenly seized the vulpine's uniform and dragged him off of his feet, glaring at him with sharp fangs bared, "I think you've got it wrong vulp, my men are in control of this ship, my men have you hostage, there's nothing you can…." Howe could see the Captain's eyes narrow and brow furrow, lips covering her teeth as she frowned, looking Bale right in the eye.
Slowly, almost as if she were reaching out to touch a live nova bomb, she reached and ran her fingers through the fur of the vulpine's face, which was already somewhat wet from both anticipatory sweat and panther spittle. Howe was thankful the vulpine didn't try to do anything rash like bite the large pirate, but he felt his jaw dropping slowly as the motion revealed a new fur color, an iconic red-orange color that coupled with the vulpine's bright green eyes exposed Bale's true identity.
"James McCloud," the shepherd heard the panther say, her tone similarly awed, and he wasn't sure but he thought he heard fear in her voice as well. Slowly Bellatrix lowered the newly revealed McCloud, then she started to chuckle as her grip tightened once more, a gleeful grin spreading across her face. "Looks like this prize has gotten even sweeter than we thought, for all your famed cunning, you sure made a stupid move McCloud," she said, her tone matching her expression.
To Howe's amazement, James didn't seem fazed, "I haven't even told you why I'm here yet Bugosi," a smile also spread across the famous mercenary's muzzle, causing the pirate holding him to waver once more. Surreptitiously, Howe saw the vulpine reach into one of his pockets, as focused on his face as the captain was, and her large frame obscuring him from the view of the other pirates, none of the assembled rogues seemed to notice the motion as after fiddling with something the shepherd couldn't see, James withdrew his hand.
"Captain, we've got incoming!" shouted a voice from Bellatrix' wrist comm, the panther looking at it in puzzlement. Not soon after, Howe heard his own ship's proximity alerts ring, and in his peripheral vision he saw something appear. Turning to look just like everyone else on the bridge, he could see a group of destroyers accompanied by the iconic Great Fox, all weapons trained on the Dawn and the pirate freighter.
A voice spoke up over the frigate's communications, one Howe recognized as belonging to General Pepper himself, "Pirate vessel, you are under arrest by the order of the Cornerian Defense Force for hijacking of a CDF vessel, surrender peacefully and nobody else needs to get hurt."
"Fat chance mutt," he heard Bellatrix bark out, "If you want us, you're going to have to take down your own with us!" Many of the other pirates shouted an agreement with their captain. "Alright boys, grab what you can and take them with us, we're bugging out," she ordered, the other rogues grabbing random members of the bridge officers as the panther's orders were relayed through the pirates' own comms. Howe spotted Alicia and Alex and some of the younger crew among those that were taken, though his attempted protest was met with a harsh blaster rifle butt to the muzzle that nearly sent him tumbling.
Holding his aching muzzle, Howe watched in frustration as the pirates filed out of the bridge, James held in Bellatrix' grip despite the vulpine's struggles against the larger feline. As the door closed behind the rogues, Howe hurried over towards a viewport to try and see what was going on.
At first, all he could see were some of the destroyers slowly maneuvering to get around the Dawn to have a clear angle of fire on her attacker, though he couldn't see much with the pirate freighter in the way. A shout from the other side of the bridge made Howe immediately head in that direction as a voice he recognized as belonging to Bellatrix crackled over the line.
"If you Cornerian dogs want your precious mercenary back safely, you're going to let me and my crew go," the panther's voice growled, Howe looking and seeing a group of mixed fighter craft hovering some distance from the Dawn's hull. He saw that the middle ship was a tad larger than the others, leading him to assume that that ship belonged to the pirate captain.
"Hold your fire, let them pass," came the grudging response from Pepper that was eavesdropped from the communication line, to much of the crew's chagrin judging from their mutterings that Howe could hear, though he was more focused on the small ships themselves as they started preparing to warp, spreading out to not buffet each other.
Right as the pirates' engines started lighting up to nearly blinding levels, a laser cannon blast shot into the formation, bursting amongst them and sending them shaking, the captain's ship catching the brunt of the energy, then abruptly disappearing as the panther's and vulpine's screams echoed through the comms.
The Dawn's comms soon went fully operational as the freighter undocked, the pirates fleeing away and warping as the Cornerian ships simply floated immobile. Howe himself couldn't describe in words what he'd just seen, someone had fired on the ship and who knew where it'd gone off to? He was so lost in thought that he started when he heard Pepper's voice again.
"Does anyone have a trace on that warp signature?" the bloodhound's voice cracked slightly, Howe not blaming the General in the slightest, the friendship between himself and McCloud a well-known fact. The silence that followed Pepper's statement was all the answer anyone needed.
A/N: Well, hopefully that was interesting. I remember there being something that didn't quite feel right here but I could never put my finger on it. Perhaps I am just worrying over nothing, or someone might find whatever it was and I can fix it.
Short Codex:
Polyfiber: A fibrous sort of armor developed by Corneria as basic body armor material for soldiers and police officers. It uses a special blend of fibers and a gel layer to absorb kinetic impacts and dissipate heat. In other words, it's Kevlar for energy weapons.
With all that said and done, I will see you all next time in the next chapter of Star Fox: Trepidation. And have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!