"This is Officer Jameson, we have a group of civilians at the stadium, and we got fucking tanks attacking us! Someone help!" "This is Alpha…" "Damn it, lead is down, just hang in there, we are on our way!" "…Valkrie two-seven to the Brassbound, you got four Verham cruisers plus escort on your right flank!" "Mayday, Mayday, mayday, this is the Icarus, we are plummeting into the atmosphere and our engines are dead, I repeat!" Fox shut the radio off and cursed as the battle for Corneria raged before them.
"Fox, comm call from pepper." He glanced at the old grey rabbit as the man spoke.
"Rodger that, patch him through Peppy." The rabbit nodded as Fox spoke, tapping a key to bring up the holographic image of general Pepper. The saggy skinned brown canine never looked happy before, but relief could be seen on every line of his face.
"Star Fox! Where have you been?!" Fox sighed as he stood up from his command chair. He had never understood why Peppy had put him in charge, at only nineteen, it seemed insane.
"I'm sorry, we came as fast as the Great Fox could carry us. We were far out in the Galaxy for extreme condition training. Where do you need us?" General pepper instantly responded.
"The Capital, Andross's forces are swarming it under. They hit so fast, we weren't even able to get the senate off world." Fox nodded as the holographic screen split between the fresh sensor scans and Pepper's upper body.
"Alright, we'll drop in north of the peninsula, and sweep south along the coast and into the city itself. I would guess this attack carrier has their ground force commander on board, so this is our primary target. We'll hit any tank or infantry unit we see on or way, but this is our primary target. Looks like the enemy has heavy triple A so we gotta stay as low as possible. Rob, prep the ships, general." He nodded to the general as the comm line cut.
"Affirmative. All Arwings ready for launch." Fox grabbed his helmet rig and dropped it on his head. The eyepiece folded into place as himself and his three comrades rushed down to the hanger. He didn't bother doing a preflight check as the canopy lowered and he strapped in. the bay door opened as the catapults raised the four fighter to the ceiling of the hanger, just before slinging the craft out into space.
"All craft, open your wings and make sure your G-Diffusers are properly adjusted for atmospheric flight." Falco's voice followed Fox's as flame rose up past the shielding on his Arwing.
"I'm fine here Fox. We all know how to fly." Fox grunted as he glanced at the blue Avian, the red around his eyes blending into the flames. Even though Falco was the most technically skilled pilot, he always lost to Fox in simulated fights. Having been an ex-gang member, he was still very rough around the edges, and Fox had to admit that he didn't fully trust him.
"Slippy here, my Arwing is purring like a Kitten, Fox." Slippy's high pitched voice didn't even sound male over the radio. The short green amphibian needed special extenders on his feet to operate the rudder pedals. Although he was a below average pilot, his mechanical skills had become invaluable to the team. And unlike Falco, being one of Fox's childhood friends meant he trusted Slippy with his life.
"Just remember your training, and above all, work together, and we'll have nothing to worry about." Peppy's voice sounded much older over the radio. He was the only member of the team who had been there when Fox's father, James McCloud, had formed the team almost twenty five years prior. Peppy himself was a highly skilled pilot, but his age was already catching up with him, slowing his reflexes down. But, his experience had been valuable during their training and the few missions they had done, flying as Slippy's wing man to keep a close eye on the team's weakest pilot.
"Alright, keep the altitude below thirty meters, follow the terrain lines, and conserve the bombs for that carrier. Lasers and charge lasers only till we reach It." the four fighters lowered to just above ten meters off the water as they raced toward the land ahead of them. A single squadron of fighters veered off of their patrol route and angled toward them. Fox linked his laser cannons and opened fire. Five of the craft plummeted into the ocean as the others fired with him. He gently banked around behind a pair of the craft as Falco's cocky voice filled the airwaves.
"Oh come on Slippy! You already got a bogey on ya!" Fox blasted the two fighters and rolled back around, seeing Slippy juking and banking to dodge enemy fire. One well-placed linked blast tore through the craft, causing it to drop into the water.
"Thanks Fox!" Fox sighed as he brought his Arwing back on course.
"Don't worry about it Slip, just be more careful and keep a better eye on your six." Fox gunned his engines as he spoke. The coast flashed by underneath them as a warning alarm went off. A small column of tanks, only a dozen vehicles at most, were targeting their small flight. He pitched down slight and started firing, slowly bring the nose back up. His laser rounds tore into the tanks, blasting most of them apart. The two remaining vehicles were destroyed by the others as he raced through the hills, having more and more trouble finding a path that kept them under thirty meters. Suddenly, suburbs started shooting past beneath them as laser blasts and flack rounds ripped through the air. Fox saw an enemy armor group that had to be at least five dozen vehicles on one of the highways and opened fire. Green bolts ripped into tanks and APC's alike, tearing holes in the raised high way. His fighter finally ripped past as the building grew taller around him, turning into a downtown district. An enemy fighter ripped by above him, giving him his first clear view of the ship. It was shaped like a long delta, with two similarly shaped wings jutting forward from the rear of the craft. The small single man fighter also had two angled rudders, almost like smaller versions of the wings, connected above each of it's twin engines. Fox blasted it as someone shouted over the radio.
"Look Out! That building is collapsing!" Fox barely had time to register that it was Slippy's voice before he was kicking in the after burner and shooting under the skyscraper as it feel on the building beside it, rubble and dust falling all around him.
"What the hell did that? It was as if the whole building was pushed over!" Fox was startled by his own voice another pair of fighter arced in from in front of him. Falco blew them out of the sky before Fox could react.
"Hey, I cracked some of their comms. Keeping talking about the 'Garanga Mech'. Sounds like it's really big!" Fox thought for a second as he raced between the buildings, the structures already thinning out as he spoke.
"Alright, change of plans, Peppy, Slippy, hunt whatever that…." His words were cut off as a tram car was chucked high into the air, straight for his fighter, he pitched up, rolled over and pitched again, neatly dodging the long shaft of metal to see a pair of giant primate torso's on massive treads chucking cars, tanks, and anything else the massive claws could fit around. He charged his lasers and fired, watching the green ball of energy lance out and engulf one of the mechs, blasting it apart. Peppy's fighter swooped past Fox's canopy as he leveled out, blasting the other mech apart with standard lasers. "As I was saying, Peppy, Slippy, find the Garanga, destroy it, Falco, we'll hit the carrier." Fox heard Falco groan as Peppy acknowledged. Slippy and Peppy's fighters split off, back toward the city itself as Falco and Fox speed back over suburban neighborhoods.
"Fox, I got this one, get these guys behind me!" Falco had pulled ahead, chasing after a heavy bomber. Four enemy fighters had dropped onto his tail. Fox gunned his after burners again, fighting to keep up with the avian. Two of the craft detonated under his fire and he charged his laser again, waiting for a solid lock tone. A high pitched whine filled his cockpit and he fired, watching the last two fighters detonate in a ball of energy. "Well, I guess you're good for something, fox!" Fox rolled his eyes as they shot over a massive river delta, seeing the carrier in the distance.
"Falco, keep those fighters off me, I'll hit the carrier." The carrier looked like an old style boat hull, with a massive hanger attached to the port side and two massive missile bay's stacked on the starboard. The ship turned to face them as a voice spilled over the radio.
"Two fighters!? Bah, this will be so easy!" All of their Arwings had a small missile bay in the nose, generally armed with four Nova bombs, which were miniature nuclear far a standard sized missile went, they had a massive explosive payload capable of destroying several city blocks. Fox aimed at the hanger and waited for it to open. As soon as it did, he fired, watching the blue hued explosive disappear into the hold. The entire hanger burst apart as the bomb detonated, shaking the entire ship as it gunned it in reverse. He smirked as he waited for the missile banks to open. As soon as they did, he fired his lasers into them, setting off chain reactions in the dormant warheads within. He then shifted his fire to the small laser cannons along the bow, blasting a hole into the hull. Meanwhile, Falco finished off what remained of its escort fighters. "Who are these guys!?" Fox smirked as he responded.
"Don't you know? We're the new Star Fox Team!" and with that, he fired another Nova bomb into the hole in the hull and watched as the nose of the vessel split apart almost like a banana. What remained of the ship splashed into the ocean as he swooped back toward the city.
