Chapter 3: Operation: Nature Walk

October 24, 2361

230 hours

Fortuna

"Keep your heads down and wait for the green light!" Adder boomed. His team and Star Fox were inside a transport jet flying through a mess of flak explosions and anti-aircraft weapon fire that lit up the early morning. Their jet was flanked by several others. One veered so close that the pit viper-cobra hybrid could see the pilot. "NO! BACK AWAY! YOU'RE GETTING TOO CLOSE! YOU'RE GETTING TOO CLOSE!" he ordered, wincing from the whine of the boisterous engine. The pilot heard him and started moving away, but was hit hard by a flak bomb. Adder shielded his face from the explosion as the plane went down, some soldiers jumping out of the back with landing armor on.

"One minute to the drop-off! One minute!" the pilot shouted.

"Alright people, listen up!" Adder yelled over the engine as he turned to the teams. "Our mission here is to land and soften up the enemy before the strike force arrives. See that armor Ace gave you? Well it turns you into living bomb shell. When you jump, find a target and hit it. Ace, are you sure this armor will sustain the impact?"

"Have any of my inventions let you down before?" the albino shouted back.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Adder rolled his eyes. "Get your weapons ready. And Tallon, land on your stomach! We don't want that plasma thrower of yours to blow up on you!" Tallon nodded in affirmative. Everyone cocked their weapons. Fox had his two blasters ready, Krystal loaded her gatling gun, Marcus checked his laser rifle, Tallon repositioned his prototype plasma thrower, and Falco calibrated the sights of his SMG. Adder looked at his team. Ace got his two Uzi-32s ready, Brutus cocked his chaingun, Cris got her two carbines out, and Aloysius readied his two battle rifles, which he totted like mere pistols. Adder loaded his own weapon, a semi-automatic 40-gauge shotgun with a grenade launcher attached. The rounds weren't powerful due to the high gauge, but he preferred the unique, wide spread.

"TEN SECONDS!" the pilot shouted again. Everybody grew tense and looked at the red light. It flashed green. "EVERYBODY JUMP!"

Adder was the first to react and jumped out of the plane. The wind whipped by his face as he fell towards Fortuna's worldwide rain forest. Now to find a target, he thought. He spotted an SAM (surface-to-air) missile launcher hidden in the foliage, and dove for it headfirst. He looked back and the two teams were dispersing as they planned. Fox came up right next to him.

"NO! I TOLD YOU TO DISPERSE!" Adder screamed over the wind. "AUGH! NEVER MIND, HEAD FOR THAT MISSILE LAUNCHER!"

The two collided into the launcher, creating a fiery explosion that sent smoke and debris flying everywhere. Somewhat dazed, Adder closed his eyes. Being a pit viper-cobra hybrid, he could sense heat via two pits located under his nostrils. He found four survivors limping for safety. He aimed down the sight, and cut them down. The fourth one was running away and was almost out of range. The serpent leapt into the air, opened his maw- fangs extended- and bit into his shoulder; he let out a blood-curling scream. His venom's neurotoxins did their work, and the soldier lay on the ground dead in two seconds.

Fox came to his side and said, "Not subtle, but it's better than letting him get away, I suppose."

"Fox, get down and follow me," Adder whispered. "Tons of humans may have heard him and they'll swarm here in seconds. And take off your landing armor- it's gonna weigh us down." They shed their exterior armor and headed into the underbrush.

They walked for what seemed like hours through the foliage. Suddenly, Adder held up his hand- the universal sign for wait. He slit his tongue into the air and motioned in sign language, "I smell petrol. An enemy camp is up ahead." They went into a prone position and crept towards the scent. Sure enough there was an enemy camp, with a couple tanks there. Adder motioned for Fox to get behind the tanks. He flipped a switch on his shotgun, and launched a grenade with a muffled hiss.

The explosion was intense, sending shrapnel everywhere. The humans were all slaughtered, while Adder and Fox were safe behind the tanks. One was still screaming, "Aidez moi, aidez moi." Adder went up to him. The human was covered in shrapnel wounds, and was missing a leg. Fox, seeing this, looked away from the horrid sight.

Adder bent over the human and asked, "Do you understand me?" The soldier nodded in affirmative. "Sleep. And may whatever deity you worship have pity on you." He snapped his neck with one hand. "Better to die a quick death than a slow, painful one."

He turned towards Fox, who turned to face him, and lamented, "This is war Fox. Death is everywhere."

"Yeah, I guess so." Fox sighed. He looked at the tank. "What do you say for a ride?" Adder smiled at the suggestion.

* * *

To Marcus, the world appeared in a field of azure with organic beings shown as white. He stood up from the ruins of the flak tank he crushed with the landing armor. Great, a rain forest full of life, the vulpine thought. Finding targets is gonna be tough. He drew out his laser rifle, prepared to shoot at anything larger than a tree stump. He crouched underneath some fallen logs as he spotted a group of humans. A few dozen of them, however, appeared to be hovering off of the ground in a sitting positions. An armor column.

"Roland-op twenty-four, Roland-op twenty-four, this is Settler Company seven. I've got some alpha bearing north-northeast," he spoke into the comm. "Radioing my coordinates now. Over."

"Settler seven, this is Roland-op twenty-four," the radio-op replied. "We are sending in an arm strike, I repeat we are sending in an albino strike. Get out of the surrounding area now. Over and out." Marcus understood the message- artillery strike. He stood up and ran away from the area. He could hear rapid-fire cannon shots in the distance, and he dropped into a low sprint, and then crouched down to survey his work.

The artillery shots hit hard and fast, ripping apart the tanks in no time at all. Several seconds passed and Marcus saw some survivors. He attached a flash suppressor to his laser rifle and aimed down the sight. I don't need no scope, he thought. He shot each and every of the thirteen survivors in the head, every shot resulting in what looked like a spray of white material to him.

Marcus scanned the area for any remaining survivors before getting to his feet. Almost immediately, a machete was at his neck.

"Don't move," the human said. "You are now a prisoner of war." Marcus jumped into the air and did a bicycle kick into the soldier's head and heard the satisfactory crack of his skull. The soldier crumpled into the ground.

Novice. Figures, Marcus thought. He turned around and headed for the meeting spot.

* * *

Aloysius was not quiet when it came to combat. Not that it mattered to him anyway. He had already single-handedly taken down a squad of tanks. As the armored bat walked away from the smoldering ruins he totted his two battle rifles that would've been far too heavy for a regular man to carry. It was in times like these that he liked being more machine than organic.

He flew on his massive wings through the canopy of the jungle. Already afternoon. And right on schedule, he thought. He made an ultra-sonic squeak when he landed again, and he found several troops to his right when the sound waves bounced back. Showtime.

Aloysius snuck up on the rear guard and twisted his head around with inhuman strength. He savored the wide-eyed, shocked look on the soldiers face before he crumpled to the ground. The remaining soldiers wheeled around in surprise. Aloysius easily took down the next three but the last one reacted fast enough to fire at him. He merely stood his ground and faced him. The soldier emptied the rest of the clip into him as Aloysius casually walked toward him. The human's mouth was hung open in disbelief.

"Try aiming a little higher next time, and then you'd be a nuisance," Aloysius gloated. He grabbed the man's face and lifted him off the ground. He smiled behind the visor as the soldier made muffled cries for help. With some added pressure, he crushed his skull.

Another nearby squad heard the gunshots and confronted the monstrosity and all opened fire. They all emptied their clips on him. Aloysius still stood firm. Not even the eleven shotgun blasts and grenade shrapnel had pierced his armor.

"You guys just never learn," He holstered his battle rifles and activated his energy wristblades. He arched his back and roared as loud as he could.

The soldiers ran like hell for safety, some even abandoning their weapons, screaming in terror. He cut each of them off and sliced them all with his blades. He stood up from the mess and sheathed the wristblades with a hiss. The whole attack had taken two minutes. New record. Aloysius thought as he flew towards the rendezvous spot.

* * *

Krystal rose from the ruins of the flak cannon she hit. She hated the fact that she wasn't battling alongside Fox, but she knew that Star Serpent did the best they could for everyone's safety. She hoisted her gatling gun up and headed into the jungle. She waited for her eyesight to adjust to the darkness before pressing on.

The blue-furred vixen suddenly had the feeling that she was being stalked, and her feelings never let her down before. She wheeled around, but found nothing. Maybe I'm just tired, she was natural to feel a little fatigue after sleeping for only a few hours and walking for several miles. She resumed her pace. A branch snapped and she heard a muffled curse.

Krystal turned around and found a human like shape, except it was totally transparent. It opened fire on her. She took cover behind a thick tree trunk. Bullets were ripping through the bark, and soon enough, it would reach her flak jacket. She had to move, but that would put her directly in that… thing's line of fire. Things were looking grim. She took a blind burst, but she knew she missed after hearing the lasers piercing a nearby boulder.

Krystal leaned around the tree for another burst and found herself staring down the barrel of a rifle. Crap. she cursed mentally.

"Drop your weapon and put your hands behind your head," the transparent object ordered. Krystal did as she was told. "Now turn around." She turned around slowly. "Get moving you lit-!" Krystal looked back after noticing that the entity hadn't finished its sentence. The soldier was down on the ground with a bullet wound in his head, his transparency disappeared, while slowly gaining a black outline. Color filled in between the lines, and a human soldier in full body armor took its place.

Ace leapt twenty feet down from the tree branch and landed near Krystal. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "How did the humans get active camouflage technology? We've just developed it!"

Ace checked the human's armor. "It was made in 2345." Ace said. "It seems they have some tech we don't have in mass production yet. We need to tell Adder this. If they developed active camo, then there's no telling what else they've developed. Come on!" Ace crouched down and Krystal cautiously followed him.

"Come on, I won't bite," the albino joked.

"Think about what you are for a second," Krystal replied with a sigh. "Ooh, I'm getting that feeling we have company again. Get down behind those rocks."

* * *

Ace vaulted over a rock and took cover, getting out his Uzi-32's. He motioned for Krystal to set up her gatling gun on the rock. She took only three seconds to get the tripod deployed. Not bad. he thought. He closed his eyes and activated his heat-sensing organs. The pits revealed thirteen enemy soldiers in active camo. One was holding a rocket launcher. He relayed this info to Krystal via sign language. She nodded. The troops entered his range, not taking notice to the two Lylatians crouching down behind the boulders. Wait for it. Ace thought. They passed him. NOW!

Ace leapt over the troops. For him, time seemed to slow down. He fired both his Uzis, ripping through the soldiers and disrupting the active camo and making them visible, while doing a spiral in the air. The bullets traveled so much slower that their path was visible in a distorted line. Time went back in a regular pace and he landed on the ground and rolled behind another boulder. Krystal opened fire with her gatling gun, ripping through the soldiers and cutting the first one in half. Ace reloaded his Uzis and went back into the fray, firing at the remaining enemy soldiers. Soon the only things that moved were the overheated barrels on Krystal's gatling gun.

"Nice job," Ace commented. "Let's get going- double time. I don't want anymore enemy contact. Especially from these guys." Krystal folded up the tripod and followed Ace to the meeting point.

* * *

Cris crouched over the dead body of the once-cloaked and alive soldier. This body armor reads year 2321. The humans have better technology than we originally thought, she thought. She continued walking down through the foliage and stopped by a small creek. Blood was flowing down it, and a familiar roar filled her ears. Yep, that's Aloysius, alright, Cris thought. Never cleans up after himself. Not that he needs to. She spotted a camouflaged radar installation crawling with troops. Time to get to work.

Cris crept into the base without notice and hid underneath a search tower. She pulled out her two sniper carbines, reloaded them, and aimed through the scope of the one in her left hand. She fired through the heads of the ones in a watchtower. No one noticed her because of the silencers and flash hiders.

She then saw that a soldier spotted her and was about to raise the alarm. Cris grabbed him and pulled him behind a building. She grabbed the human's armpits and placed her foot on his back before shoving it downwards, breaking his spine as she hid the body.

Unfortunately another saw her do it, and shouted, "ALARME! ALARME!" Cris grabbed him from behind and pointed her other carbine at his head. The soldiers aiming at her lowered their weapons. She then snapped the neck of the soldier she was holding, but attracted a volley of fire in doing so. She leapt into the air and the shots hit the soldier. Time seemed to slow and, having abnormally fast trigger fingers, shot every soldier in the courtyard in the head, while at the same time doing a back flip onto a nearby one-story building.

Cris saw an air vent into the building and crashed through it, landing on the soldier below it and knocked him out. The soldiers inside drew their weapons. She flipped over a desk and took cover just as the bullets began pulverizing the sheet metal. She leaned over the desk and shot two soldiers, who dropped to the floor dead. She repeated this tactic a few more times, and cleared the room.

The white-furred vulpine then leaned her head against doors to determine where the op center was for the installation. At the middle door, she heard the steady whine of electronic equipment. Jackpot. she smiled with the thought. She reloaded her carbines.

She kicked down the door and fired at the radio operators, killing them all. A security camera caught sight of her and several klaxons rang as the alarm was raised. She had been discovered. Cris dropped a packet of C-32 onto the ground and set the timer for twenty seconds. She ran out the office building and out of the installation. Several machine guns fired behind her. A bullet hit her right arm, and she winced in pain, almost dropping her carbine. She got down onto the ground. 3-2-1.

The explosion was immense. The whole radar installation was engulfed in a fiery explosion that sent jungle creatures scurrying for safety. She looked back at the installation and found the whole thing eradicated. Good, but still not as good as Adder. Cris looked at her right arm. Blood was streaking down the wound, staining her white fur. She removed the bullet, cleaned the wound, and attached a bandage. Good thing I'm left-handed. Cris thought as she walked away from the wreckage. Dammit, I lost forty ULS credits on that stupid bet, now.

* * *

Tallon crouched down low as he watched the tank roll over the foliage. It clearly wasn't suited for the jungle, as its treads were tangled in the roots of a giant tree. He looked down. The plasma thrower Ace had given him was in his hands. Ace said that it only stung organic matter, and would be able to pass through a tank and leave it unscathed, but disintegrate everyone inside of it. I hope he's right. Tallon thought. He leapt in front of the tank and pulled the trigger. With a loud screech like that of the scraping of a knife against a chalkboard, blue, gaseous plasma began flowing from the barrel and jetted out through the tank. Sure enough, he could hear the person inside scream before being disintegrated. Well, whadda ya know, he was! Tallon thought. At least the humans were able to engineered one-person tanks. For some reason, he heard another scream, and crouched down.

He continued down the path and stopped. There was an empty Landmaster tank right there. The plasma jet must've accidentally gone through the Landmaster too. Whoops. Tallon grimaced having not mastered his new weapon yet and killing a fellow brother in arms because of it. The Landmaster was still in good shape, so Tallon got in (slightly disgusted by the pale ash that covered the seat from the soldier who preoccupied it) and drove it off towards a barracks that Adder told them was nearby.

Tallon hovered through the air, and took a look at the base and found the fuel depot deep inside of it. He decided that was his target, and headed on for it.

He drove the tank into the depot and started blowing up the unmanned tanks and jeeps, sending several repairmen running for their lives. He took them down with the coaxial laser machine gun. Several alarms rang, and soon enough, enemy tanks appeared on-scene. Their tank rounds didn't do much damage to the Landmaster's superior armor. He blew them all up with railgun shot each. Tallon drove the tank down the road and had a clear shot to the fuel drums. Unfortunately, the soldier with a rocket launcher a few yards away had a clear shot of him.

The rocket slammed into the tank, making electronic equipment go haywire. Tallon got out of the Landmaster and got his plasma thrower ready. He disintegrated the soldier, and his armor fell to the ground without a person wearing it. The Landmaster exploded behind him, knocking Tallon into the ground. He got out his parabolic grenade launcher out and stood up. The enemy tank was aiming at him, but Tallon fired the grenade before he did.

The grenade hit the fuel drums, causing an explosion that sent debris into the tank, ripping it apart like shrapnel to a grunt. Tallon ran as fast as he could towards the exit before a chain reaction took place. He could already hear explosions of other fuel drums in the distance.

Tallon got out of the base just in time. The whole square-mile of vehicles, fuel, troops, and supplies went up in smoke as the whole foundation of the surrounding land exploded. He resumed a normal pace, and headed toward the meeting spot. Hoo-rah! Tallon thought. Man, I could go for a hot meal now. He smiled to himself. Boy, dad's gonna be proud of me tonight!

* * *

The human soldier was in heavy fatigue. He had been running away from that iron-clad monstrosity for nearly five miles. He paused by a small river and got a drink. Something in the water caught his attention. He leaned closer to notice what they were- scales. Suddenly, a gigantic boa constrictor reached out of the water and pulled him in with a muffled scream. After the ripples subsided, bubbles began floating for the surface, followed by the body of the dead soldier.

Brutus climbed out of the river and got to his feet. So, that makes fifty-two men down today he thought. "Falco, get down here." Brutus ordered. The avian descended from the tree.

"Man, you didn't even give me a chance to shoot him!" Falco whined. "Before I climbed down, I saw some trees swaying in the distance. Something's coming fast." Almost instantly, he heard tank treads in the distance.

"GET DOWN!" Brutus yelled. A tank rolled out of the foliage and stopped in front of Falco. Brutus was about to fire a grenade into it when Fox poked out of the manhole.

"Don't shoot!" Fox screamed. "Friendly fire!" Brutus sighed out of relief. Fox climbed out, shortly followed by Adder.

"Fox, you are one…terrible…tank driver," Adder shot an angry look at Fox. "You almost ran over your teammate. And let's not forget when you almost drove us over that cliff."

"Yeah, Adder, ignore the seven tanks I blew up. Hey, Falco glad to see your feathers haven't been tanned by the humans yet!" Fox said. He playfully punched Falco in the back.

"Brutus, front and center," Adder saluted him. "At ease, old friend. Glad to see you're okay." Adder paused to observe the dead body floating down the river. "Wow. Not bad."

"Phew!" Brutus sighed, "Nice to see you're okay, sir. For a moment there I thought we were-" He was cut short as a gigantic metal creature burst through the trees, knocking everyone into ground.

Everyone looked up to see a gigantic bipedal tank. It gleamed with ceramic laminate armor, which covered its entire body, from its two, all-terrain legs and tripod-esque feet to a giant head-turret that had what looked like 20mm autocannons.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Falco said as he leapt to his feet and headed for cover. Everyone else did the same, trying to get away from the giant walking tank's line of fire. The mech fired a three second burst of plasma that kicked up molten glass when it hit the sand near the riverbank and sizzled at the trees they used as cover. First walking tanks and now plasma autocannons? Where do humans get this kind of stuff? Brutus thought. He launched a grenade at the monstrous mech. When the smoke cleared, the mech had fallen, but was succeeded by another one, which broke through the trees.

While Falco distracted it with his SMG, Adder leapt onto the head-turret and began shooting through the armor with his 40-gauge shotgun. The mech was down on the ground in seconds. He quickly did a back-flip and landed on another mech and repeated the process. Brutus started up the chaingun and waited for the barrels to spin at his preferred speed. Then he unleashed a barrage of lasers into another mech, knocking it back into the ground. Fox charged his blaster until it glowed red and fired the blast, blowing the head off of a mech, leaving the disk-shaped body and legs to dance about before collapsing to the ground. More and more mechs kept coming from the jungle; Adder, Brutus, Falco, and Fox were either overheating their lasers or running out of ammo.

"There's just no ending to these things!" Adder growled as he dropped another mech. "Run! Everyone!" Everyone ditched their cover and headed for the forest. Adder paused for a moment and then set up a bomb, but got hit in the chest. He fell to the ground, cursing the pain. Brutus stopped, turned back, picked up his commander, and dashed away before the bomb exploded, vaporizing the rest of the mechs.

After things quieted down, everyone gave attention to Adder. Thanks to his thick, scaly hide, the plasma bolt didn't go that deep. Any deeper and he would have been dead.

"Thanks, Brutus." Adder said, "I owe you one. I'm making my lasagna for ya when we get back on the ship."

"You're welcome." Brutus replied, grateful that his leader and friend was still alive. "But after tasting your cooking…no offense, but please don't. The camp's close now- we'll get you some medical attention and-"

"No," Adder said. "I'm fine. There are far more deadly injuries to treat than this one. I've been through worse."

"You don't need to remind be 'bout that part, sir."

The foursome continued on for a couple of miles and reached the camp at nightfall. The rest of Settler Company had set up camp. Tents and campfires were already there and the rest of Star Fox and Star Serpent were there. Krystal ran up to Fox and gave him a big hug when she saw him return. Fox returned the gesture.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Fox." she sighed in relief, "The rest are setting up camp now," She turned to Adder. "Most of our troops have returned safely, with the exception of two grunts. All members of Star Fox and Star Serpent are accounted for."

"Any major injuries among the troops?" Adder inquired.

"Not too many here, and they've mostly been treated," Ace stepped up and spoke. "However, we have been getting reports of cloaked enemy soldiers. Humans aren't supposed to have this kind of tech."

"We just encountered some mechs. Plus, they have plasma autocannons," Falco added. "We still have mechs AND plasma weaponry in research and development. How do humans get all of this?" Plasma weaponry was highly experimental within the Lylat system. Plasma weapons combined the unlimited ammo supply of lasers with the bullets intendancy to overheat as much. The only downside to plasma weapons was that the energy core had to be replaced every couple thousand shots, but that was a small disadvantage considering the fact that plasma didn't affect organic objects. That meant that a single plasma bolt could pass through whole buildings and even armor before hitting their target.

"Well guys, we can worry about this later. Go and get some rest," Fox and Adder said at the same time. They looked at each other for a moment, and then went to rest. However, Adder had bigger problems.

He went to the medical tent and found a soldier who had been heavily shot. Medics were crowded all around him saying things like, "He's not gonna make it."; "Damage looks bad."; and others Adder couldn't hear.

"Step aside, at ease soldiers," Adder said as he looked at the patient. "What happened?"

"He was hit by several plasma bolts," a feline medic answered. "We can fix the damage, but the patient's going through to much pain that he'll die from cardiac arrest. The IV drugs aren't doing any good."

Adder opened his jaw and extended his fangs. He took a drop of his venom and put it into one of the open blood vessels. "Just enough neurotoxin to relieve his pain, but far from a lethal dose," Adder nodded. Almost immediately, the patient's heartbeat slowed. Star Fox had been watching the whole thing.

"What's the deal with Adder?" Fox asked Brutus and Ace. "First he asks to be alone and doesn't care for anyone else, slaughters a whole battalion, then he goes and saves a guys life!" Brutus and Ace looked at each other.

"I'll tell 'em," Brutus said to Ace. He turned to Star Fox and motioned for them to sit down near the fire. Brutus continued when he sat down, "Adder used to be a very nice fellow and wouldn't have a care for the world and its sufferings. But first, I'll have to tell you about his childhood…"

Well. That was chapter 3, my first horrid attempt to mash everyone's perspectives into a single chapter. I have to say that I failed miserably in that regard. Things will start to kick off after chapter 5, though.

At any rate, I hope you guys and gals are still bearing with me on this. I do wish that you enjoy my story so far.