"Aieee!" The toad shouted as his fighter pilot was hit by the shot. He spun out of control and crashed into a building without being able to recover from his spinout.
"Slippy, I reckon you gave us drone ships the way we're crashing." Bill said as his plane careened out of control into the ground.
The fox continued to dodge through the blasts, occasionally shooting at the computer pilots. "I don't know. It's just a matter of moving around, making sure you don't get shot."
"Easy for you to say, fly boy. You're a natural at this." Bill said as he flew out of the mothership in a new ship. "Let's see you shoot down a few of these guys."
"No, you're a better shot than I am." He swerved through a group of enemies, one shot slicing through his wing. "Oh, I'm going down."
"Coming through!" The hare yelled as she flew straight into the group, her laser firing randomly, searing through almost half of the squad before the computer reoriented and shot her down.
Slippy zoomed out of the mothership in a new drone ship and blasted two of the opposing pilots before he was shot down again.
"Slippy Toad has been retired!"
"Drat!" The dog said, blasting several of the fighters with accuracy. He was alone on the field until Fox and Lucy were given new fighters. To make matters worse, he had one fighter left as well. If he died, they might not be able to complete the mission. "Hurry up!" The two planes flew out of the mothership, but a moment too late to help Bill. He had taken out eight planes, but he was finally hit. He tried desperately to crash into one, missing it by an inch. They were left with thirty fighters to fight. "Sorry, Fox."
"Bill Grey has been retired!"
Fox flew through the ranks of the ships dodging the lasers wildly. "Get them, Lucy!"
The hare let out a barrage of shots into the ships distracted by the vulpine's movements. "That's the way!" The hare yelled as they destroyed seventeen of the fighters in the barrage. One of the fighters got behind the hare and she was shot down before Fox could work on the last of the fighters. "Noooo!"
"Lucy Hare has been retired!"
Fox flew between the fighters, shooting away at them slowly, always careful to move out of the blasters range before it was too late. But the sheer disadvantage was just too much. After twelve minutes of being alone on the field, Fox was finally shot down.
"Fox McCloud has been retired! Final Score: Fox McCloud used three drones and shot down seventeen fighters. Lucy Hare used three drones and shot down twenty-eight fighters. Bill Grey used two drones and shot down thirty-six fighters. Slippy Toad used four drones and shot down twelve fighters. As most valuable pilot, Bill Grey is awarded 30 points and is an ace. Fox McCloud, being most skilled pilot, is awarded twenty points and is technically an ace. Lucy Hare is awarded fifteen points and is an ace. Slippy Toad is awarded seven points."
The teenagers climbed out of the fake cockpits. "Technical ace?" The hare laughed. "What a riot."
Slippy sighed as he climbed out and kicked the machine. "At least he got that."
"Don't worry Slips." Fox smiled at his friend. "You just got to have a little practice. I'm going to head home. I'll see you later." He walked out of the house.
[StarFox
Peppy Hare looked at the controls as they flew through space. They would make a quick stop at Sargasso, but then they would head straight for Venom. He didn't like it. Pigma couldn't be trusted, and the run in with the rookies had left him a little shaky. "I'm getting too old for this." He sighed as he watched the stars fly by. It didn't help that James wasn't paying much attention to his concerns at the moment. Of course, this mission did hit a nerve.
[StarFox
The Wolfens zoomed through space, three marks in the sky. "Wolf, what are we planning on doing?" The chameleon broke the silence. "The wolfens aren't capable of taking on the arwings. We can't hope to fight our way into the team."
"We're not going to fight our way in. We just have to prove ourselves worthy enough to join their ranks."
"Why do we want to join that team anyways?" The avian asked. "They're impressive, but we could do far better with some experience."
"They get the best missions. We would get the best experience with them."
A ship streaked across the sky, joining the ranks of the Wolfens. "Hey boys. How you doing, Falco?"
"What are you doing out here, Katt?" The avian asked as the image of the pilot showed up on his view screen.
"Just wanted to see my favorite pilots." She smiled, waving at the monitor. "Hey, Leon." She said coyly.
"We're headed to Sargasso Hideout. StarFox always gets their information from there before going on a mission." Wolf said, ignoring the cat. "At least, I am. Anyone can do as they wish."
"We'll follow you." Leon said proudly, saluting.
"Better than nothing." Falco said, laughing at the lizards salute.
"You don't mind if I tag along, do you?" The cat smiled, waving again at Wolf.
"If you want, but don't get in my way."
The four ships sped up, heading towards Sargasso.
[StarFox
He had to stay calm. Andross' actions may have hurt him, but they had not been meant to hurt him. Or anyone, for that matter. His wife had told him about all the advances that Andross had made in science, how it would help protect the planet and launch us into a new age of technology.
They had been testing a new reactor. If it had worked, it would have provided energy for a hundred years with barely any oil. Vicky had been the only one of his assistants on the planet at the time, so she helped him set up the experiment. Andross had pleaded that none of his assistants or colleagues be blamed for the effects of the experiment, but that wouldn't bring his wife back.
He looked around the room. The stealth situation was always randomly generated, and always tough. He needed to make sure he was perfect. He needed Pigma providing air support in case they faced resistance and Peppy was to stay in the Great Fox to send him his ship if he needed it. He looked around the room he had to cross next. It was empty of any boxes or columns. Nothing to hide behind and six enemies that could trigger an alarm. He unholstered his blaster, taking careful aim at one of the enemies. Just had to make sure he took them out without giving them a chance to register what had happened. He set his blaster to the stun setting. He shot one of the enemies, sending it sprawling to the floor, but he didn't get a chance to shoot another as one of them signaled an alarm, shutting off the simulation. "Damn."
"James, we are approaching Sargasso Hideout. What are your orders?" Peppy's voice squawked through the speaker box.
"You and Pigma stay on the ship and out of orbit. I'm going to take the prototype and see if my friend has any information that might be useful." James laughed as he walked out of the room. "I heard he has a daughter since the last time we saw each other."
[StarFox
The small ship landed outside of a building in the docking bay set aside for occupants of the planet. The reynard climbed out of the ship and started to walk towards the entrance of the building. A blue fox greeted him at the door. "James! It's so good to see you again. It's been what, nineteen years?"
"That's sounds about right. When are you going to move to Corneria like I've been asking you to?" James said, shaking the fox's hand. "Or to Papetoon, so I can have the great Archimedes as a neighbor?"
"You flatter me." The fox smiled. "Besides, I like it here. It's close to Cerinia."
"Alright…We'll I came to see if you could give me some info."
"Let's go inside. We can talk there."
[StarFox
"Sorry, James." Archimedes sighed, after hearing James explain the situation. "I haven't contacted Andross since the incident on Corneria. In fact, I don't think any of us have kept in contact with each other since the incident. The only way the Lylat government let me keep my research license was if I conducted my research here. At least no one cares if this place gets blown to bits. It keeps me from seeing Ruby and Krystal, but if any research can improve life, it just might be worth it."
"Nothing's worth losing time with your family." The pilot smiled. "Never give up on helping people, but time is precious. I always wished that I had spent more time with Vicky. After this mission, I'm retiring to spend time with Fox. Fly with him on weekends."
"Sounds good. Maybe I'll do that too. We are getting on in years."
"Message for Archimedes Sabina." A computer at one end of the apartment relayed. "Priority: Urgent."
The blue fox turned towards the computer and started to walk towards it. "Send it through."
A dog in a white lab coat appeared on the screen, a somewhat despaired look on his face. "Dr. Sabina! It's terrible!"
"Slow down a minute. I have a guest. The only reason I accepted your message was it was ranked urgent. Now, what do you want?"
"To tell you something I don't really want to tell you. But you have to know. Cerinia…it's been destroyed."
"No…" The blue fox murmured as James walked up to beside the screen.
"Do you have any information of somebody that might have survived. Anything at all?"
"Three ships and a pod left the planet just before the explosion. The ships were headed for Venom, while the pod was headed towards a planet very similar to Fortuna, especially in residents. Officially, it is considered to primitive for governmental intervention. We won't be able to check who's on the pod, since it'll have landed before we can catch it."
"No…" James muttered at the new information. "I'm sorry Archimedes."
"Don't be." The blue fox mumbled, not looking at the screen anymore as he terminated the conversation. "Hopefully, it was Krystal and Ruby that got away. It looks like you have your proof that Venom is up to something."
"It's not good enough to conclude anything. We have to determine whether Venom is a target or an attacker. I'll still have to go to the planet before I can make a report."
"Can you do me a favor then?"
"Anything, old friend." The fox said, adjusting his glasses.
"Let me come with you. If Andross is behind this, I want to be there when you take care of him."