Star Fox: Invasion
Chapter 1
Space.
Out near Venom, on the far side of Lylat, space was vast indeed. Stars shone with brightness, this far out, the far edge of the Lylat system. Even Lylat's older sibling Solar was just a ruby in the far distance.
Nobody expects, of course, that someone will simply appear out of nowhere and attack.
And, yet, that was exactly what happened to the small force of Cornerian warships sitting in defense of Venom: A half-dozen, much larger ships sped into existence with the brilliance of a large white flicker and opened fire.
For their own sake, the Cornerian fleet commander reacted quickly. A half dozen fighters broke off and swung for the inner system at full speeds while the larger battleships turned to engage.
The Cornerians were decimated. All their attacks were doing no damage, nothing leaking through the enemy's shields.
The enemy vessels went to rapid fire, and the small, courageous Cornerian fleet was a mere memory.
Planetary Governor Dash Bowman glared as the doors to his office burst open. Two combat armored forms wielding heavy weapons- at least, he thought they were heavy weapons- strode through, followed by a tiger in a pitch black uniform.
"You are the authority here?" The tiger asked. Dash nodded, trying to place the accent. It wasn't one he could recall hearing, but still-
"My name is Commissioner Argrive. You will surrender to us, or we will simply work our way down the Government's chain of command."
"Who's 'us'?" Dash asked, forcing the question between grit teeth. The tiger frowned.
"Federal Foreign Intelligence Bureau of the Unified Authority Government. Now, will you surrender? I've no intention of asking again." Argrive arched an eyebrow questioningly as Dash growled.
"Fine."
"Good. Take him. Put him in Ashteroeth's brig against the locals good behavior." The two battlesuited marines cuffed Dash and hauled him away.
"I'll remember this, Commissioner, and I will end you." Argrive payed Dash's threat no mind.
"Remove him, and dispatch the courier. Inform the task force that our operations zone in clear." Argrive gazed out the window as the guards hauled Dash away.
Capitol Building,
Corneria City, Corneria
04:29
Peppy Hare glared almost accusingly at the black ships in the holo, glancing only momentarily at another display before turning his apparent ire back at the ships in front of him.
"Sheer force of will isn't going to stop them."
Peppy sighed at the gravelly voice to his left. "I know, old friend, I know. It's just..." he threw his hands up in frustration before gesturing at the display. "First the Aparoids, then the Anglar, and now this!"
"I recall hearing a recorded transmission of Falco, from the Aparoid invasion." There was a click and whirring as Pepper brought his wheelchair closer to the display. "I believe he said something like, 'One thing after another. This ain't ever gonna end.'" Peppy snorted at Pepper's comment.
"Almost prophetic, that." Peppy leaned back. "Where's Ricar and Beltino at? They ought to be here by now."
Pepper snorted. "Beltino's busy at the gate complex. Doubt he'd show up. And President Ricar was detained by the civilian staff over this-"
Pepper fell silent as the door opened, and a large panther in a navy blue suit walked through.
"Gentlemen?" Julien Ricar's tenor was gravelly, and Peppy forced himself to shake the sinister feeling the president tended to give a person.
"Mister President, we have an emergency. Roughly sixty hours ago, a force of unidentified vessels- mostly capital combat ships- appeared and assaulted Venom. Venom's sector of the network went dark shortly thereafter."
Ricar nodded. "I'm aware of that, General Hare. Is there any new information?"
"We've only got what basic scans they had, and it isn't much to go on. I'd asked Beltino to be here to help explain this, but-" Peppy threw his hands up in a small gesture of helpless frustration- "He's not here."
Ricar nodded, allowing himself the faintest twitch of a bemused smile. "I'd appreciate your assessment first, General."
"We don't have much, like I said. Half a dozen ships came out of nowhere, but there was a heavy particle surge prior to the arrival. At least two of the ships seem to be dedicated carriers, the others looked more like dedicated combat platforms." Peppy looked up from the half-scribbled notes he'd brought over from the Defense Command Building. "And we know that either they use a different form of shield technology, or its more advanced than ours."
Ricar frowned at that statement for a long moment. "Very well. Pepper, your thoughts on this?"
The old bloodhound frowned, bringing his hand up slowly to scratch his chin. "Not much needs to be said, sir. It's certainly an invasion, but who or why isn't something we know right now."
Ricar sighed. "All right. And what's the latest information your people have collected, then?"
Pepper rolled his wheelchair over to the holographic display. "As of noon yesterday, our unknown attackers had also assaulted and taken control of Titania. They seem to be content with that territory for the time being."
Ricar leaned over the display. "Why is that?"
Peppy cleared his throat. "Well, initially it seemed they didn't want to stretch themselves too thin."
"Initially?"
"It seems now like they were simply securing a staging ground for themselves. Long range scans indicate that, at the very least, ten more ships have reinforced the initial six." Peppy gestured to the area between Venom and Titania, where another ten icons had appeared.
"Given the nature of long range scanning technology, we have next to no information on half the new arrivals." Pepper admitted slowly, taking a deep breath.
Ricar grimaced. "Elaborate, please?"
Pepper gestured at the display. "We can confirm the arrival of at least one more carrier and four combat ships. The power signatures for the other five vessels are larger."
"I see." Ricar was silent for a moment. "The assembly is not going to want to hear this. We've been getting used to the idea of peace. Issuing an executive order to mobilize the military won't go over well, even if it is an emergency."
Peppy shrugged helplessly. "I've alerted the Star Fox team to this, and they'll be making a recon pass in the next few hours..."
"Good." Ricar turned to leave. "Once we've got more information, I'll have Beltino get in touch with you two and put together a technical briefing."
"Sir." Peppy stood at attention as the president exited the room.
