Disclaimer: Star Nintendo owns Fox, The Lylat System, and all other respective terms. White Dwarf, the Manta, and all other fan-created terms are owned partly by me. I would just loathe it if you were to use them (If anyone actually reads this) without my permission. That is all.

There were only three of them left; Solar's heat had burned out most of the other teammates. The sun was cracking down on her as well. The lava that bubbled beneath her was tearing down the Arwing's shield systems. At least ten thousand drones were chasing after her and her comrades. It looked like the end, like a gruesome end.

And the best she could think of was I hate sweat. I fucking hate it.

This was not surprising out of Mako Mitch, who was (not surprisingly) sweating profusely. Even now, the shark showed little regard of the future and even less fear. A machine mite jumped hungrily onto her uncovered fingers, probing to find a weak spot in her sand paper skin. As if nothing worthwhile was happening, she languidly flicked it off.

I hate those damn mites too. Gives me the jives.

Outside of this personal bubble, the drones started to advance on them. The little tiny 'squids' moved in masses, their hive couldn't even comprehend strategy. That didn't change much for our hapless trio. There were too many of them and every single fucking one was out of lock on range.

One of the fellow Arwings pulled back. It was a move you could spot a mile away: a U-turn. Mako looked to the side of the cockpit, remembering to keep her thumb on the boost button. Did he honestly think that the Arwing, standard as it was, could control fast enough to pass over the swarm?

Her other hand swiftly and calmly opened back up the communicator.

"Palker, that U-turn won't be fast enough to avoid the swarm…" Mako murmured with only the slightest hint of worry.

But it was too late; the senior pilot's fate was sealed. The Arwing was in the middle of its apex when the drones caught up with its pause. The tiny little squids latched onto him with systematic ease. Tiny little drills and pincers went to work, chewing up and destroying vital parts of the space jet. It only took a few seconds for them to take the thing down. Once a whole wing fell off, it was all over for Palker.

The jet struggled to keep altitude but eventually took a slow dive towards the lava, drones and all. The screams from the poor being were nothing less then a final cry for help. The Arwing hit lava and the screams were replaced by screeches… Then silence.

A flicker of a grimace appeared on Mako's face, before she returned to her usual apathy and focused on her own hide. A quick tap on the boost had kept her out of the 'danger zone' and leading onwards towards the mining base. By some stroke of luck, they could get out of this and destroy the enemy base by themselves.

Her teammate, however, could not feel the same.

"Mako, did you see that? Did you!? He was the last senior!" screeched Gryphon, the other novice on the team. It was obvious in the tone of voice that he was strung out.

At first, all she could do was give a smug smile to the eagle's panic. However, it didn't take long for the smug smile to disappear when she realized that she too was strung out, just desperately lying to herself to repress it.

Plus, his squabbling made some sense. They were both inexperienced in a mission like this, inexperienced in missions in general. The chances of them actually completing this mission were slim. The chances of surviving if they bailed had a realistic outlook

Cowardly? Yes.

Optional? No.

And that is how their future had started with a single thought, rather then ended with reckless bravery.

"Gryphon, I want you to bail. We're going straight up, zigzag motion. Hopefully, that'll confuse 'em"

There was a pause on the communicator but she could just feel the heavy pause that came with it. He needed more, more motivation. Even if it was an empty threat.

"Eagle-boy, if you don't make up your mind soon I'm going to just move out on you. Would you like that?" Harsh, but effective. Even Mako was impressed with her wits.

"No!" The answer rang loud and clear on the communicator. "I-I want to live! I can't go through this Mako! We'll die if w-"

She wanted an answer, not a sob story. "Get a hold of yourself, Gryphon! If we're going to do this, it's going to be now."

The conversation had ended on a bad start. They didn't know each other very well; Mako liked to keep to herself and Gryphon was a skittish young lad. Even so, it was time to play follow the leader and Mako was the visible leader.

A simple pullback on the steering controls and the plane started its curve upwards. For the drones, it only took a few nanoseconds to do the same. It was already proven that just pulling up wouldn't stop these little buggers.

Considering this, Mako took a hard left. Of course, the drones also took a hard left. Pulling into an even harder right, the mass of machines followed jerkily. This repeated on and on, with her killers following less and less accurately. By the time they had left the heavy stratosphere of the heat, the swarm was struggling to follow.

For a long time, this prolonged. At first, Mako was somewhat worried if Gryphon had gone fast enough to beat the swarm but was highly surprised to see him far ahead of her. This invoked feelings of jealousy, feelings that were rapidly repressed when she saw the swarm catching up to her.

"Mako…?" The voice was barely heard over her communicator. "They're pretty far behind us… m-maybe we should just use the boost and break out of the atmosphere…"

Good idea. Bad deliverance.

"Buddy, you have got to grow a pair" she retorted. A confused Gryphon stopped weaving the zigzag pattern and floated there. The hive saw this and started to push it, eager to get their hands on such fine metals.

Knowing what she did wrong, the novice slammed onto the boost button. They needed to get out of here, mission failed or not. Gryphon soon followed suit, with the drones closing in behind them.

The atmosphere's limits were just beyond their reach. She did everything, everything to get there, as soon as possible; to the point where even a barrel roll was an asset to survival. It almost dissolved to random bashing of the headboard. Whatever poker face she on before had turned into nothing more then sheer terror.

Fuck, why did she have to make a remark?

It started with a light rumbling that prolonged to an intense beating onto her Arwing. They had just hit atmosphere, and they had just hit it hard. The masses of drones started to close in… but stopped. If they were to leave Solar's atmosphere, quick shut down was in store. Even their small pathetic minds understood that.

They were in the clear. Better yet, they were alive. The pilots' spirits started to lift.

…

Alive to go back to Corneria and explain that all of their teammates had died and they chickened out of the biggest mission in history.

This dawning replaced the joy and gratefulness with depression and embarrassment. Yet they drudged on, their Arwings looking charred and worse for wear.

The silence between them was pressing, perhaps even choking. It sucked being a coward.

Mako sighed and put the fighter jet on autopilot. It already knew the way to Corneria, no need to waste energy. She slouched back in her leather seat, her long tail still being crushed by the small space of the cockpit. It reminded her to get a custom Arwing, sometime in the near future. The standards were awful on her tail.

Uncomfortable feelings aside, her hands tapped on the headboard idly. Her thoughts starting to wander… Yes, she would be hailed as some kind of survivor. The only two left on a major mission. Oh, but at the same time, she made a move that would even make Fox McCloud frown on her.

She wasn't much of a Cornerian Officer either…

"Gryphon?" She asked, wondering if he too was wrapped up in his thoughts.

"…Hmm? Oh, what?" Apparently so.

Mako took a deep breath. She was going to hate herself for suggesting this. "I think we should resign after we reach Corneria"

His reaction was unsurprising "What? Are you…? It's not like we did anything…" From the sounds of it, he was torn between saying no or agreeing whole-heartedly.

Finally, one side ruled out: "Maybe you will but I sure as hell won't"

A small smirk appeared on her face. Now, the more she thought about it, the better it sounded. Resign from the Cornerian Army, break off on her own… maybe be like Star Fox. A mercenary team. She could be the leader of her own little gang, in which she could choose what to do or not.

And then of course, there were no limits on alcohol. That was nice.

The two Arwings drifted closer and closer to Corneria. For now, it looked like a small blue dot in the horizon. It wouldn't take long for that to change.

"Well, you can go if you want to, I can just as easily tell them t-" began her soon-to-be comrade.

It was then that she made her strike. Now was the moment to choose her own destiny, to be her own god.

"Gryphon, what does a mercenary team sound to you?"

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