Well…now that that extremely long-winded intro is finished…on to the dedication.
This fanfic is dedicated to the approximately 3000 lives lost in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 (I know it's late by two years, but pipe down). This fanfic is also dedicated to the men and women of the US Armed Forces who have given their lives fighting the war on terrorism.
- And finally…the prologue!
Prologue
- "Red over white,
- It's one last fatal scene,
- brought on by someone unseen,
- moving on their own"
Captain Gavin Howard of the Damocles Security Force walked into the massive Damocles Tower, located on the east coast of Corneria City. The tower was the tallest building in the city, a whopping 80 stories high. The building was built by Damocles Industries as a place where businesses could set up shop. Coincidentally, Arspace Dynamics, the main competitor of Damocles, had offices in this building. The rivalry between the two companies was more like a friendly one, instead of like the corporate wars on Macbeth.
Good thing too
, the leopard thought as he got into the elevator, Our Security Force is tough, but I wouldn't want to take on Arspace and Oberon at the same time.The Oberon Corporation were the corporate rivals of DI on Macbeth. The Corporation backed the Imperials, and had almost destroyed Damocles during the Lylat War. Only Starfox had managed to save the company from being annihilated.
5 minutes later, the elevator stopped at the 70th floor, and Gavin got out. He was now in the main offices that Damocles had on Corneria. He took his post at the metal detectors, and settled down Another monotonous day. He thought.
A few minutes later a bald eagle walked up to the metal detectors, placed a duffel bag on the conveyor belt, and walked off.
"Hey…" Gavin started "What's in the bag?"
"Computer parts." The eagle replied as he got in the elevator.
Gavin looked at the x-ray image, sure enough, the eagle was telling the truth. There were numerous computer parts in the bag, specifically RAM chips and a few motherboards. Gavin handed the duffel to an IS tech. "Here, store these somewhere after you take inventory." He said
"Sure thing." The tech replied as he walked off.
Gavin returned to his slouching position at the security console, and almost fell asleep, bored by his job. 15 minutes later he was shaken awake by the same tech. "Sir…you'd better come quickly"
Gavin followed the nervous tech to the inventory room for all the computer parts. The contents of the bag were on a table. The tech picked up an odd-looking box that was emitting a low beeping noise and had a blinking red light on it. "I have no idea what this is" the tech asked, "What do you think?"
Gavin looked at the box…and he suddenly made the connection. "Get everybody out…now!" he shouted as he rushed to throw the box out the window.
"Why…?" the tech asked
"There's no time to explain! Just evacuate the building!" Gavin said, but he almost knew it would be too late.
As people started beginning to leave, disaster struck
An Imperial Missile boat had stealthily crept its way to Corneria, and then, aided with beacons on the ground, fired two Apocalypse cruise missiles at two targets on Corneria. The first target, Damocles Tower. The missile had an altered trajectory due to Gavin's last act, but the missile still hit the 71st floor. The blast immolated much of the 69th and 72nd floors as well. As for floor 70, the offices were almost completely destroyed. Gavin never felt the blast that killed him, along with 20 fellow workers. All in all, the blast killed almost 150 people, but the worst was not over. The second missile hit the sensor grid control at The CDF military base, knocking out all long range sensors. 100 soldiers died in the blast, and the worst was still yet to come. Over 3000 people were still inside Damocles Tower, and some were trapped above the blast zone. Worse, structural integrity had been severely compromised by the missile.
As soon as the CDF commanders could ascertain what had occurred, General Pepper dispatched crisis teams to Damocles Tower to try and help people get out of the building. The General Pepper decided to do something further
"Recall Starfox, BlackWolf, and the Shadow Wing Beta Company." Pepper said "Their vacation is over."
The crisis teams were doing an okay job handling the evacuation of Damocles Tower, but they just didn't have enough time. Only 1 hour after the attack, the building began to show signs of collapsing. 30 minutes later, the building couldn't bear the stress, and it fell to the ground. About 1500 people were still trapped inside when that happened. The collapse released a pall of thick gray smoke that hung over the city like a death shroud.
Prince Victor Davidson was devastated by the news of the attack. He called an emergency meeting of all the CDF commanding officers inside the War Room at the Cornerian Palace.
"Okay, what do we know?" the Prince asked
"At 0900" Admiral Ken Collins said "An Imperial missile boat, using a stealth device, managed to slip through our defenses. Then it fired two Cruise Missiles aimed with help from ground based beacons"
"What happened to the ship" the Prince asked
"I engaged it and destroyed it" Vice Admiral Jason Gestahl answered proudly.
"Not a wise decision," Lieutenant General Ron Magnusson said "You should've captured it so we could've found out what the Imperials are up to."
"I don't see your forces doing anything, ex-merc!" Gestahl shot back
"Quiet!" Victor shouted, "… how bad were the attacks?"
"at least 1800 dead from the attacks, and over 400 wounded." General Pepper replied "With all due respect sir, if the tower was the only thing hit, I'd think it was a terrorist act, but the sensor grid control? That seems like a precursor attack to an invasion."
"What actions are being taken now?" the Prince asked
"Well, I've recalled Shadow Wing's Beta Company, Starfox, and BlackWolf from their leave on Zoness. They will most likely arrive within 12 hours. I've also sent a message to Mike Wilson on Macbeth apprising him of the tragic incident." General Pepper somberly replied.
"What about Shadow Wing's Alpha Company?" Admiral Collins asked
"I contacted them, but they did not respond for some reason." The General said "I don't know why"
"Well," Prince Victor said "continue with relief efforts, and wait for the three squadrons to come home." The prince rose and left the War Room.