Star Fox Redux: The Lylat Wars
Chapter 2: Mission 2- Into the Asteroid Field Meteo
The Star Fox Team continued their approach to the next battleground: the Asteroid Field known as 'Meteo'. The zone was unusually dense, with over ten thousand scattered asteroids throughout the region. Researchers from Corneria suspected that millions of years ago, there could have once been a planet within the region, but an unknown event destroyed the world, leaving behind only an asteroid field in its wake. Rich in minerals, Meteo was renowned for its precious metals and other resources, but this attracted the worst of the Lylat system: pirates, vicious brigands that hid away from the law within the uncharted asteroid belt. Even just navigating the belt without the threat of pirates was immensely dangerous, due to Meteo's depth and range of asteroids. Travelling through the Meteo belt was rare, even before the days of the Lylat Wars.
As the Star Fox Team slowly reached the edges of the Meteo belt, General H.D. Pepper called over communications. "General Pepper here! Do you read, Star Fox?"
"Loud and clear, General. Go ahead." Fox proclaimed, halting his team on the edges of the asteroid belt.
"I have just received word of your actions within Corneria City, battling against the two commanders of Andross' invading force. Very impressive, Star Fox! However, it will only get more difficult from here on out! Ahead of you is the asteroid field known as Meteo, a notorious pirate hideout, and the site of a number of battles against Andross' forces over the past five years or so. Recently, scouting parties have determined that the Venomian Army that Andross leads has deployed a utility spacecraft in the region to devour the belt's most precious minerals, and pave the way for his final push to claim the Lylat system. Watch yourselves in this place, Star Fox, as those asteroids aren't stuck in any orbital pulleys, so they move freely and if they strike each other... well, you could be in for a nasty surprise! And don't forget: the Sargasso Space Station is close by to Meteo, so pirates could be lurking in wait, preparing for an ambush. They're not your primary targets, but you'll be paid handsomely for disposing of any that cross your path." Pepper proudly boomed.
"Thanks for the heads-up, sir. We won't let you down!"
"Good luck, Star Fox. Pepper out!" The General's voice stopped as Star Fox continued their approach, entering the asteroid belt.
"It's quiet. Perhaps... too quiet." Peppy murmured, watching the rocks with a great sense of unease. As a veteran mercenary (and a Cornerian soldier before that), Peppy was used to the hit-and-run tactics often employed by the pirates hiding out at the Sargasso station, and the guerrilla movements easily utilised in areas such as Meteo.
"We're entering the asteroid field now. Turn on your scanners, guys." Fox directed.
Falco blasted ahead of the team. "Oh, pirates! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
"N-not helping, Falco!" Slippy croaked, an obvious sense of nerves echoed through his speech. Slippy understood he wasn't a great pilot, and he was now wading into an asteroid field notorious for criminal ambushes and "over-in-a-second" battles. Sure, he had the Star Fox Team at his back, but this wasn't the legendary crew of old; only Peppy Hare continued to fly with the team, as former lead pilot James F. McCloud had perished five years ago, and Pigma Dengar had defected and joined Andross' forces. This new crew was young and inexperienced, despite the natural talent that Falco and Fox displayed. While Falco had years of piloting and other driving skills from "the good old days" as the bird put it, Fox was massively less experienced, his only time with starfighters being his years in the Cornerian Flight Academy, which he had dropped out of- alongside Slippy and Falco (a year older than the fox and frog)- to form the Star Fox Team, only two years prior at age sixteen. Natural skill may be valuable, but even that needs honing and perfecting.
Falco continued to circle around the various rocks. "Ca'mon, ya dirty bandits! I've been waitin' to see what Sargasso boys can do!"
"Maybe there aren't any pirates-"
"Be careful, Falco! It's a trap!" Peppy barked suddenly.
Falco was ensnared on all sides by a squad of pirate ships. The fighters were designed and built by Macbeth Industrial, and recognisable by the classic 'Jolly Roger' (skull and crossbones) often associated with pirates painted on their ships' wings. Eight pirates charged the bird, but he dived through a blank file and emerged unharmed, as the pirates scrambled around the asteroids attempting not to collide with the rocks or each other.
"You guys go on ahead without me!" Falco grinned. "I'm taking these schmucks for a ride!"
In the heat of the moment, Fox snapped, "No way, Falco! Star Fox don't leave a man behind!"
"Foxy boy..."
"Um, Fox...?"
"Don't worry about me. I'm just havin' a little fun with these bozos. Now go on! I'll catch up!" Falco vanished deeper into the asteroid belt, with the eight pirates hounding him into the black void.
"That crazy son-of-a... Falco, fall back in line!" Peppy angrily barked over the communicator to no response.
"It's okay, Peppy. Falco will be okay..." the sound from Fox's voice was soft and defeated. He knew the dangers of going off alone like this, and yet he wasn't able to convince Falco to stick with the team. The three pilots continued onward through the asteroid belt.
For the next few hours, the mood was sombre, and the team's communications were null. They scarcely made contact with one another, either to comment on the lack of fighting, or the pirate ambushers likely waiting further within. Even so, all three of them shared the same thought: the odd silence. If this was a warzone, where were the participants? The wreckages of ships from days past and present? And where was Andross' advancement force?
"Hmmm..." Slippy mumbled over the communicator. "Maybe there isn't an invading force coming through the belt."
"Don't be so sure, Slip. Andross knows this field like a second home. If he wanted to use this run, he wouldn't just have his men slink lazily on through. He'd have them work like a well-oiled machine, picking their fights wisely and working around the rocks rather than storm the place like a bunch of wild apes."
Fox chirped up, as a small cluster of blips appeared on his scanner. "Eyes open, guys. We've got company!"
As they twisted around the asteroids, Star Fox quickly came under fire from Andross' advance party. Fox dived through a small patch of asteroids, attracting five fighters to follow him. Within the field, Fox swung to and fro around the rocks, swinging up and down to avoid them in the hopes of tripping up his 'pursuers'; one got too drawn in and collided with a meteor, shattering the space rock and scattering rock fragments across space. Up ahead, Fox was too busy looking back at the spectacle to notice that two meteors were about to collide in front of him. Managing to look back at the last second, the startled vulpine suddenly pulled up on his controls, throwing his Arwing upwards, as the two meteors smashed together and splattered off into deadly chunks of space rock. Another two fighters were distracted and decimated by the racing rocks, but the remaining two were unhindered and joined by another four ships.
"Dang!" Fox shouted. "These guys don't know when to quit!" Fox pulled on the brakes and turned his Arwing back to face his enemy. Sitting in the middle of a meteor circle, Fox waited for his prey to come into view, his fingers ready on the triggers. As the pursuing fighters closed in on Fox, the young vulpine fired upon them, blasting two to bits with a third one spiralling away to safety before crashing into an asteroid in a flash of fire. The remaining three dodged his fire, only to be jumped by Peppy and Slippy, who shot down the surviving pilots. "Thanks for the save, guys."
"There's no Star Fox without its lead pilot."
"You saved my butt back on Corneria; only right I return the favour."
"Any sign of Falco?"
"Negative, Captain Fox. Falco Lombardi is still MIA within Meteo." ROB chimed in from the Great Fox.
"Thanks, ROB. Keep an eye open for that hothead. You too guys."
"Sure thing, Fox!"
"Roger that."
Suddenly, a mass movement was detected on the team's scanners, two kilometres to their west. Chasing down the blip, the Star Fox Team arrived to discover a giant spacecraft armed to the teeth with three mining lasers and a frontal rock grounder, perfect for grinding through asteroids and mining the valued minerals present within the Meteo asteroid field. This was the utility ship the Venomian forces used for digging their way through Meteo.
"W-Whoa! That's one heck of a m-mining ship!" Slippy exclaimed in shock and awe as the mining craft cut through the asteroids, which bounced off its hull like rubber balls.
"You will not stand in the way of Lord Andross' march, Cornerian scum. I- Lieutenant Macaca- shall stop you with this Macbeth Industrial utility cruiser, simply known as a 'Meteor Crusher'."
Fox's face contorted into a predator's snarl, "A mining ship isn't suited for combat, bub."
"Then let's see whether your puny little ships survive against my Crusher." the pilot snobbishly boasted, powering up one of his mining lasers. Within just a few seconds, a purple ray of energy shot through the blackness of space, decimating a long mile of asteroids before fading out over a 500 metre distance. Star Fox barely had enough time to avoid the flash, as they bombed up and down to move out from the attack. "Clever like a fox, my ass..."
"W-Whoa!" Slippy spluttered. "I th-think we're in t-trouble here guys!"
"Calm yerself, Slippy. We'll make it through this. Fox, what's our move?"
"We need to disable those mining lasers. Take them out, and the ship's defenceless. Follow me, guys!" Star Fox rocketed forward towards the Meteor Crusher, ducking around the ship's lasers and frontal grinder to avoid damage. Locking onto the mining turrets, Fox and Peppy blasted it with standard plasma fire before zooming passed and reversing their motion to ready their next run-up. Meanwhile, Slippy swung beneath the Meteor Crusher and peppered its hull with his Arwing's fire before sliding up its stern and back down its deck with more fire. Something was wrong, however; a pattern of some sorts, the inquisitive frog noted. As his comrades opened fire on their target once more, that was when it clicked in.
"G-Guys! W-W-W-W-W-We-"
"Slow it down, Slippy! Get yer words out!"
Slippy took three quick short breaths before clearly croaking, "This mining ship is protected with shields! We can't put a dent in it!"
"He's right. Dang it! That laser's taken two rounds of quad-plasma fire, and hasn't cracked or anything!"
"So much for a mining ship not being suited for combat." Macaca chortled over open communications, mocking Fox's short-mindedness. The Meteor Crusher began to prepare another laser shot when suddenly, nine starfighters shot through the scene.
"Hey hey, pals! Don't mind if I bring some friends to the pah-tay, do ya!?" a familiar voice squawked over communications.
"Falco!?" All three Star Fox pilots exclaimed one after another.
"My friends would like ta meet 'cha, Venom scrub! Oh, they're real friendly types... the burnin' and pillagin' type!" An Arwing charged straight for the mining ship only to zoom up the side of its hull, as five of the pirate ships chasing him failed to spot ahead and ploughed straight into the side of the Meteor Crusher, briefly puncturing their shields.
"Damn... You're actually a little looser than I'd have expected from Cornerian pilots. No matter. All troops, Meteor Crusher is under siege. Engage enemies immediately." Macaca calmly announced over open communications. With that, a small platoon of Venomian starfighters cut into the asteroid field, distracting Slippy, Peppy and the remaining pirates, whilst also alerting more pirates to the battle who came to the aid of their 'allies', for lack of a better description.
Soon, a three-way battle erupted in the Meteo asteroid belts; the Venomian force under Lieutenant Macaca, consisting of about fifty fighters and his Meteor Crusher mining cruiser; the Star Fox Team of only four fighters and their mothership sat out of range away from the dense asteroid field; and the Sargasso pirates, five squadrons of about eight ships per 'fleet'. The pirates hounded Star Fox and the Venomians alike, splintering off their members from their main strike force and blasting them. Within about half an hour, the pirates had successfully scattered the Star Fox Team around the asteroid belt- with the mercenaries still flying down to sheer luck and tenacity- and had wiped out at least sixteen Venomian pilots, even tackling the Meteor Crusher at odd times. The scattered Star Fox rallied each other from across the asteroid belt, shook off or reversed the tables on their pursuers and regrouped back at the Meteor Crusher's location as it crunched through the asteroids, grinding the small planetoids of space rock into jettisoned pebbles that flew across the empty frontier, lightly tapping off the larger asteroids like a pinball game before darting back across and through the area. Star Fox peppered the cruiser with laser fire, zooming up down and around the Crusher's hull, scorching its plating and mildly alerting its pilot, who simply stated "You'll have to do more than that to harm this cruiser..." in a rather dull and bored manner.
As the pirates zoomed back into the field, so did the Venomian ships, who viciously blew eighteen pirates into dust and fire, jettisoning what was left of the outlaws into the cold dead void of space. "Vengeance for our brothers!", the Venomians cried over open communications, taunting the surviving pirates before proudly hailing service to Andross, the madman that led the war against Corneria and sent Lylat into a battlefront spanning its nine 'major' planets. As the one corps of pirates went off to engage the Venomians, the other tackled Star Fox again, this time only separating one fighter from the group: the average pilot Slippy, whose ship's shields had already taken some vicious blows before the continual onslaught from the pirates cut through.
"Uh oh!" Slippy croaked, sweat pouring down his head as his ship's armour plating was now being scorched by the ruthless pirates. "G-Guys, c-could use a hand!"
"What're ya doin', Slip? Ca'mon, pal!" Falco cried in exasperation to Slippy's antics. Always arrogant of the natural ace.
"I'm comin' for ya, Slippy! Hold on in there!" Peppy dove away and headed deep into the fields as Fox followed after him. The fox and rabbit were quick to come to the frog's aid and quick to assits, easily taking out his pursuers.
"Th-Thanks for the save, guys...", a mournful tone hovered in Slippy's voice, "b-but I think my Arwing took a little too much damage from those pirates. I'm gonna have to-"
"No need to worry, Slippy. Get yourself back to Great Fox and get your Arwing seen to. Me, Peppy and Falco will take things from here." The young vulpine boomed, reassurance and confidence in his tone. Slippy thanked his friend before slowly drifting away through the asteroid field and returning to the Great Fox.
"Like a father to his men. Heh! The irony..." Peppy curiously lamented before returning to the main battle with Fox leading him back.
As the fox and rabbit circled the Meteor Crusher once again, Falco attracted the attention of both Venomian and pirate attackers and led them out ahead of the mining ship. Opening communications, the Star Fox ace yelled "Yo, Macaca! I wanna see what those lasers o' yours can do!"
"You cannot fool me, dim-witted bird." Macaca calmly chastised the bird who follow before him.
"You callin' me stupid!? No one calls Falco Lombardi stupid! Ya hear me, ya dumb ape! NO ONE!" Falco then charged straight for the Meteor Crusher, which sat lazily within the open field, asteroids encompassing them like a cage.
"And none shall insult the intelligence of Lord Andross' will." Macaca readied all three of his mining lasers, locking them onto the Arwing that foolishly charged for him. All three lasers fired purple rays that quickly shot across the frontier, all three slowly conjoining and fusing to create one large beam. As they came within just a few tens of metres to the Star Fox Arwing, Falco bombed upward shifting his G-Diffusers to boost his speed, soaring over the mega-beam with ease and flipping over so that he faced the Meteor Crusher from the opposite angle. Meanwhile, the Venomian and pirate chasers were caught by the mining blast; of the combined forty fighters, only nine emerged unscathed, the rest were either vaporised by the powerful beam or had their engines blown. Of those nine, seven were Venomian soldiers, and the remaining two were pirates, who immediately broke off and called for a pirate retreat. Of the forty or so pirates that had emerged on the scene, only eight were leaving- their tails between their legs- as they all took off for the Sargasso Space Station for safe haven. The mining laser cut out over its 500 metre range and dissipated, allowing Falco to roll his Arwing back the right way and continue his charge against the Meteor Crusher. The bird smirked a devil's grin as he charged ever so closer to the Meteor Crusher.
"Bring it on, Macaca!" Falco barked, racing faster and faster towards his prey.
"Foolish bird."
Falco took a blast to the rear of his ship and began to tumble down through the asteroids. A hidden Venomian ship raced down to finish him whilst the bird tried to recharge power and fly to safety. As the enemy fighter chased down his victim and locked onto him, another Arwing swung through and peppered the Venomian craft with laser fire, detonating the ship effortlessly. Falco managed to right his ship and looked out to see Fox's Arwing zoom overhead. Falco scoffed to himself, annoyed that he let his guard down; a rookie mistake, and very sloppy. Still, he couldn't deny that it was a clean save. "Saved again... I guess I should say thanks..."
"Learn from yer mistakes, Falco, and you won't repeat them so easily now." Peppy counselled the ace, who responded with an audible scoff.
"Focus, guys. The fight's up here with Macaca and his Crusher, not between each other." Fox chimed in, charging up the side of the Meteor Crusher and peppering the mining ship's hull with laser fire. Peppy and Falco agreed to disagree and raced up together to tackle the Meteor Crusher once more. With the three remaining Star Fox pilots assembled above the deck of the Meteor Crusher with the pilot turning the laser inward on top of them. When Peppy questioned his leader as to why he was just on the main decking, Fox remained silent, his fingers gently resting on his thrusters. His bright orange fur (with white highlights) stood on-end all over the young man's body, his tail and ears shot about in anticipation. Sweat dripped down through the hair on his cheeks, and his green eyes squinted and twitched from straining as Macaca readied his lasers.
"Lost your nerve, Corneria? Have no fear; I shall end your life quickly." All three lasers awakened and blasted down upon Fox. His Arwing vanished in the violet explosion...
"FOX!"
"FOX!"
... and then a thick cloud of orange fire ruptured from the Meteor Crusher and an Arwing blasted through a dark plume of smoke. At the last minute, Fox had boosted up the deck towards the mining ship bridge, escaping certain doom unharmed whilst striking the Meteor Crusher with heavy force; enough that punctured the shields and cut straight through the spacecraft like cutting through paper. Fox regrouped with Peppy and Falco, who watched on as the vulpine took up a leading position.
"Fox, you are one crazy bastard! Looks like I made the right choice joinin' wi'chu guys!"
"Don't EVER do that again, ya crazy boy! Almost near gave me a heart attack! Stupid boy... Almost killed me twice, you McClouds..."
"Alright guys. Macaca and his Meteor Crusher are open. Let's finish this!"
"Wait!" the monkey bellowed over communications. "I-I underestimated you... Star Fox. H-How about this? I surrender... I admit defeat... I'm no match for your cunning..."
Macaca's cool and collected tone had turned into a nervous grovel. Fox almost accepted his surrender before Falco squawked, "You're not serious about listenin' to this joker, are ya Fox?"
Fox knew that Falco was right, to an extent. "Recognising us now isn't gonna win you any brownie points, Macaca. You've come too far to give up now."
"Humph... You're smarter than I gave you credit for... No matter. You shall still fall to my Meteor Crusher's lasers!" the ape's voice sharply rose into a thunderous shout as he readied his laser once more.
Star Fox charged ahead, corkscrewing along their path, zooming in and out between each other. One moment, lead pilot led the charge, the next the veteran, and the other the ace. As they traversed up the deck of the Meteor Crusher, they continued their corkscrew pattern before flying up the length of the bridge. On the sole command "NOW!", all three pilots dropped a smart bomb upon the bridge, blasting it into a devastating ball of fire.
"DAMMIT!" Macaca screamed. "I cannot believe I have fallen to this... this rabble!"
"See ya 'round, Macaca... Don't forget to write!" Falco quipped as the Meteor Crusher finally tore in two and cast off into the black space before rupturing into a chain of explosions.
With the Meteor Crusher destroyed, the Star Fox pilots were redirected back to their mothership to travel to their next location.
Meanwhile...
"Lord Andross, the Cornerian Army are beginning to push back our invasion force! They've halted the invasion on Corneria and are now mobilising across the Central Belt." a Venomian lizard screeched to a hologram of a large figure, who sat cloaked almost in shadow.
"This is troubling, commander. We had almost finally claimed the system..." A vile raspy strange voice boomed from the cloaked figure. Disappointment ran through his tone.
"One more thing, sir: the Star Fox Team has been sighted in the field."
The figure moved forward, unveiling the head of a wizened and aged snow monkey; crimson skin with white hair around the head and jaw. Sickeningly yellow eyes with red sclera, a devilish grin etched across his face. Both arms were augmented with a toxic mix of organic and synthetic material, with a node embedded within each palm. His chest held a beating monitor and fluxing respirator, taking away his need to beat his heart with blood or even breathe with his own lungs. His attire cast over him in deep purples, harsh reds and gold plating, presenting him like an emperor.
"Then counterattack, commander. And send our hired guns out to Fichina..."