This was my first real combat piece; I believe I had already re-written my first chapter at this point.
Forewarning, I have, as of this wrighting, NOT played any Starfox games so the characters might be out of personality.
(After the end of Star Fox: Assault and before Star Fox Command)
Fox piloted the Arwing along the edge of a remote planet at the far reaches of the galaxy.
He was here investigating a strange energy signal that, according to ROB's analysis, was Aparoid.
The world the signal was originating from was called Xena and was legendary for its perpetual storm cycle.
Luckily the signal was coming from a small island at the planets equator, ut of reach of the storm's wrath.
Fox was attempting this mission alone.
Or so he would have liked.
His Arwing could not jump to Hyperspace and because he felt bringing the Great Fox all the way out here just to investigate a small energy signal was a waste of time, he needed a small carrier to do the job.
The only problem?
The Carrier didn't have an auto pilot which, in layman's terms meant that the ship needed someone to "babysit" while he investigated the signal.
That would not have been fine if it wasn't for the person he had decided to take with him.
Falco.
Who was quite simply, not happy about it.
Why? he had had "plans" as he called them.
What those plans were, Fox didn't know, nor did he care, Falco was part of a team, which meant that some times he needed to "man up" and do things he didn't want too.
However right now Fox was considering weather it had been such a good idea to have Falco on this mission, due to how he was acting.
Like a five year old.
"Fox, do you know how long I've been waiting to catch up with Viper?
Five years, five, long years. Five years with no one to talk to but you, Slippy, Peppy, and a computer screen".
He had gone on like that for a good our not noticeing that Fox had shut off his communicator.
As Fox landed his Arwing in a jungle clearing, he checked his laser rifle to make sure the safety was off and he had a full cache of ammo. Life forms on this planet needed to be tough to survive and rumor had it they set the bar for "survival of the fittest" for the Animal Kingdom.
Thus, he double checked his laser rifle…for the third time.
Leaping out of the cockpit of his ship, Fox leveled his laser blaster at the
surrounding foliage, making sure that there were no large beasts sizing him up for there next meal.
He then took ought a small scanner and waved it back and forth.
The small device had been designed by ROB to detect the source that was generating the Aparoid signal. It also functioned as a motion tracker, detecting movement within five hundred yards of the user. According to the scanner, the transmitter was in the east direction so Fox set off at an easy pase, conserving his energy in case he got in to a fight.
As he struggled through the undergrowth, Fox reflected on the fact that bringing a machete with him would have been a rather good idea. The beacon was in the direct center of the island and as he got closer, the undergrowth grew even thicker.
Finally, Fox reached the center of the island and was confronted with a massive crater.
It was at least thirty feet deep and fifty feet long.
Reaching the center, Fox noticed a small, spherical, hand sized, object protruding from the dirt in the middle of the crevice.
As he reached down to pick it up, the scanner in his right hand began to vibrate and blare. Fox glanced at it and whipped out his laser rifle.
The radar was covered in red dots.
Fox scanned the edges of the crater with his scope, looking for the source of the blips. However, as quickly as they had appeared, they vanished.
Fox began to feel uneasy and turned on his communicator to contact Falco.
"Falco, I'm getting phantom contacts on my radar, scan the island and prep the drones.
Falco, still muttering about missing out on his free time, begrudgingly did as Fox asked.
As he scanned the planet he found nothing unusual, except…
"Fox I got nothing" Falco said
"Are you sure" replied Fox.
"No I mean nothing at all, there is no signal nothing where you ar-"
The line went dead in a buzz of static.
Fox placed the transmitter in his pocket, he didn't know how or why the connection had been terminated, but he had a hunch that he was about to find out.
His train of thought was momentarily disrupted by a laser bolt that stuck the ground right next to his foot.
His hunches were never wrong
The crater edge was lined with dozens of black Aparoid ground infantry. Hulking behemoths with canons fused where there hands should have been.
Fox cursed, they had him completely surrounded and could kill him without effort.
Pressing several buttons discretely on his wrist communicator, Fox addressed the intimidating crowd.
"Well that was a fine peace of work there sneaking up on me like that, care to tell me how you did it".
One of the Aparoids replied in a combination of squeaks and chirps, and then faded out of visible spectrum and back in, only to be shot by a fellow soldier behind him.
Fox was no genius, but he guessed that the soldier had said something he shouldn't have
And since he now knew that they had cloaking abilities, they would kill him.
But they didn't.
Fox was puzzled; they had to have been setting a trap for him, or some other pilot, but for what reason.
His question was soon answered.
As the roar of his Arwing on auto-pilot came within hearing distance, Fox noticed that several of the Aparoids were carrying EMP missiles.
They weren't after him, they were after his ship.
Frantically, Fox ordered the Arwing to break off and return to the Drop Ship but it was too late.
Two of the Aparoid soldiers let loose with there launchers.
The shipboard AI detected the incoming missiles, and proceeded to evade, returning fire with its large laser cannons, searing the ground around the Insects, turning them to burned and blackened husks.
Then all hell broke loose.
The rest of the Aparoids opened fire with there EMP launchers, releasing a wave of fiery that illuminated the jungle like breaking dawn.
Fox tried to stop them with his laser rife, but it was to no avail.
The Ship wobbled and crashed into the cannon.
As Aparoids streamed over the edges of the canyon, Fox did his best to hold them off the endless horde. But for every ten he managed to kill, twenty more of the black demons took there place.
As Fox was forced to back up to the Arwing he realized that he needed to activate the
self destruct system to prevent the Aparoids from learning how to fly.
As he turned, he saw that three of the insects had sprouted tentacles and were quickly integrating themselves in to the ship.
With a cry of despair, Fox let loose three laser bolt, cleaving the head off one of the Aparoids and striking another in the thorax, killing it instantly.
But the third quickly began download the Arwing's schematics, weapons data, and other vital files.
With a primal roar, Fox unsheathed his combat knife and began to slice the tentacles away from the ship, while simultaneously swinging his rifle over his other hand and blasting the Aparoid in the chest with a laser beam.
The Aparoid shrieked and fell back with a massive hole in its chest.
Fox reached down and activated his ships shields, knowing that at best. It would only slow them
Climbing into the cockpit, Fox retrieved a second Energy Rifle and activated the ship's self destruct.
Setting the timer for five seconds, Fox leaped out of the Arwing and raced toward the opposite edge of the crater knowing that he needed to get out of range before the detonation if he wanted to survive.
As Fox reached the other side, a huge explosion picked him up and threw him against the crater wall.
Turning, Fox saw there was only twisted metal where his ship had once been.
A massive roar shook the crater. Looking up, he saw that the Aparoid queen had come to see the assimilation of his ship.
And thus her failure.
Roaring again, the Queen slammed her foot into the remains of the ship.
And saw Fox.
Several words sprang to Fox's mind as he noticed this, most of which were extremely strong
From the way the solders were acting he could tell that she was ordering her to assimilate him; he hoped it wouldn't hurt.
Taking his laser rifles in both hands, Fox backed against the wall preparing for his final fight.
The First Aparoid moved forward hesitantly, Fox shot him withought blinking.
The Second and Third lumbered forward in a zigzagging pattern. Fox took them out with two shots.
Then a full twelve charged.
Fox leveled his blaster at them.
The four leading the charge, he felled with shots to the head, torso, and neck.
The rest he simply pulled a full-auto on.
Fox then braced himself preparing for the next wave.
And then every single Aparoid he could see leveled a laser canon at him.
The Queen had lost her temper.
Rather than simply assimilating him, she just going to kill him.
Fox felt nothing as he realized this, no fear or anger, just simple acceptance.
The first blast caught him in the shoulder, dropping him to his knees.
As he looked up, he saw the cannons of the many insects glowing like small stars.
He could hear the scream of the robot drones he had called for in the distance.
He knew they would not reach him in time
The insects fired
He closed his eyes.
Fox opened his eyes and glanced around.
All around him, the blasts from the cannons were suspended in place; the Aparoids were frozen and did not move.
Fox tried to stand up but fell back to the ground
He had no feeling in his arm and, looking down at it; saw that the laser blast had burned a hole clean down to the bone, and that blood was spurting out of it.
As he tried to fashion his flight jacket into a makeshift bandage, he noticed a small object at his feet. It appeared to be a small dragonfly, flitting around, while every thing else was frozen still.
Eventually it landed on Fox's knee and looked at him.
You have been chosen.
Fox jumped startled by the voice that seemed to come from no where.
He glanced around.
Down here.
He looked at his knee and saw the dragonfly.
"Wha-"
I am Silas the messenger, and I bring good news to you.
"I'm afraid that the best news that I could receive right know is that a medical ship is on its way." Fox said as felt himself growing faint from loss of blood.
The insect turned its head in the direction of the gaping wound and nodded.
It healed instantly.
Fox's eyes widened in amazement.
The dragonfly began to shine brightly and grow in size; eventually it resolved itself into the shape of a robed figure with glowing eyes.
You have been chosen to test your skill against the greatest heroes and villains in the Universe. If you succeed, you will be granted your heart's greatest desire.
.
Fox thought about this for a moment, the chance to prove that he was the most skilled individual in the Universe sounded tempting…but…
"I'm sorry" Fox said sadly "I have responsibilities, people that depended on me"
Sseam chuckled.
"I'm afraid you do not understand just how powerful we are"
He motioned at the many bolts of plasma that the Aparoids had fired at Fox.
Slowly, the bolts began to arc away from Fox until they were directed at the insects that had fired them.
"You will return at the exact moment you left in the closest safe location"
Fox looked at the Aparoids that surrounded him.
He looked at the massive Aparoid queen
And he realized that the Corneria Star Force needed all the help that they could get.
Sliding the two Plasma rifles on his back. Fox said
"I accept you challenge"
Sseam nodded, and everything went white.
Fox had no concept of movement or feeling, just blinding light that reverberated around him.
And he heard a voice say
"Welcome to the most brutal fight in the galaxy, Welcome to the Smash