Author's Note: Here's the fourth chapter! I had a lot of fun writing this one. I simply made it into a movie inside my head as I wrote this! This chapter is focused fully on the action! Hope my action dialogue is keeping you guys detailed and interesting at the same time!

Once again, thank you Cpt. Fox for beta-reading and all of you who reviewed! I appreciate the reviews so don't stop posting them! It somewhat motivates me to continue!

I own none of the Star Fox franchise/characters but the OCs that are present or will appear in the future!

Chapter 4: Effort In Vain

The view of the planet Corneria up close is magnificent to behold. Like a rotating painting, it turned in a slow and steady pace as the night side of the planet slowly turned to greet Solar. The rays of the star appeared from the side of the planet, a magnificent view from space indeed. But soon, the still atmosphere was disturbed as a red spot came into view.

The lavender Wolfen's nose glowed a bright orange as it withstood the heat the atmosphere lashed out. Within seconds, the fighter broke through and entered the dark void. The vixen pilot searched desperately in her craft's cockpit, her green eyes darting from one area in space to another. She needed to find him and fast.

Soon, her eyes fixed themselves on a silver speck that reflected a bit of Solar's rays, letting out a small twinkle. Curious, she flew closer to the silver dot. As the dot grew and started to take shape, she realized what it was.

The Great Fox!

The blue vixen wasted no time and accelerated her Wolfen until the Cruiser appeared to be the size of a toy that could be fit into her hand to her view. She stopped her fighter and quickly noticed the guns on the Great Fox adjusted itself automatically and pointed at her.

She quickly tried to set a connection to the Cruiser and typed in the authorization codes and crossed her fingers, hoping the codes still worked after all these months. She bit her lips as she waited for the ship to respond to her codes. The vixen looked out her canopy and watched as the guns continued to move about but their direction still pointed to her.

Please work, please! She could feel the first droplets of sweat form on her forehead and quickly reached up with a wrist to wipe them away. Another moment later, a beep was heard on her fighter's com and she tapped to answer it.

The hologram popped up and the figure of Rob appeared before her.

"Authorization codes valid. Welcome, Krystal." The robot spoke out before his holographic form dispersed and the com link was automatically shut.

She let out a sigh of relief and guided her craft into the hangar. The back gates opened, revealing the semi-transparent and passive barrier that sealed the ship's atmosphere in the hangar. The vixen slowly entered it and landed her Wolfen on spot.

Wasting not a moment, she opened her canopy and the good old scent of the ship invaded her cockpit. Nostalgic as it was, she had no time to sit there and replay old memories in her head. She quickly jumped out and ran for the hallway, passing the sleeping quarters and the rec room before entering the bridge to see Rob handling the controls.

"Rob! Where did Fox go?" The blue vixen asked as she walked up beside the service bot.

Rob didn't give her an answer. Instead, he continuing to tap in keys and other buttons until the middle of the bridge flashed green and a holographic version of the planet they're orbiting appeared. A green dot appeared on the edge of the dark side of the planet, indicating where the Great Fox was currently at while a blue blink appeared on the other side of Corneria.

"He is currently at Space Platform Columbus at West Fifty-four point six." The service bot stated with his robot voice and turned to face Krystal.

She continued to stare at the hologram for a bit with calculating eyes, crossing her arms on her chest and slightly leaning her weight on her left leg. She growled, frustrated and worried. Fox could be fighting in vain right now and she's half way across the planet.

"Rob, can you get us to the station?" The sapphire vixen asked and the robot immediately started dancing his fingers onto the controls before turning back to answer.

"Affirmative, estimated time: half an hour due to damages in engines two and three. Engine one and four operational."

That did not help at all. Two out of four of the engines are down. They are probably damaged due to poor maintenance. Krystal paced back and forth for a quick moment, her tail swishing around nervously and her ears twitched.

"Get us there as fast as possible, Rob." She finally ordered.

"Roger."

IIIII

The Arwing did a barrel row to the right and deflected would-be fatal shots, before banking left and returning fire to the attacker. The green bolts of laser punched through the hull and came out the other end, one of them hitting the cockpit. The enemy craft burst into flames and sparks just a second after the laser's impact.

Fox panted as he watched the explosion fade away, he had shot down seven of the sixteen rogue ships but they seem to get harder and harder to shoot down as they were destroyed one by one. He never felt so tired before when it came to space combat, these enemies were veterans. He quickly jammed his controls to the right, his craft slanted and glided sideways, dodging twin red blasts. The blasts singed the edge of the Arwing's left wing.

"Damn it!" Fox growled, he let his guard down. He couldn't hold on much longer. He'd have to either take them all at once or request someone from Star Falco for assistance.

Wait… What about the military?! As soon as the thought entered his mind, he quickly tapped into the military frequency in the com. In an instant, Peppy's head popped up as a hologram. The Hare quickly recognized who called him.

"Fox!" The aged general blurted out, oblivious to the current situation due to the limited view of the hologram.

"Peppy, I could use a little help here! When can the military come and assist?!" Fox banked his fighter to the left as he spoke and dodged incoming lasers from the front.

"They're coming! ETA: Twenty! Hold on there, Fox!" Peppy could tell that the vulpine was struggling to keep from getting shot down, his face is now of seriousness and concern.

"Hours or minutes?! You left that out!" The orange pilot shouted as he did a loop and shot bolts of laser at another enemy fighter and ultimately destroyed his foe.

"Minutes! My goodness, how could you think of hours?!" The hare answered with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"I don't know." The vulpine managed to say before his fighter jolted forward and he accidently bumped his head to the front of the canopy. He looked behind him and spotted the one responsible.

The chaser wasted no time and continued to rapidly fire its red streaks at the Arwing, scoring a few hits and slowly deteriorating the shield.

"Fox!" The hare was extremely worried.

"Don't worry, old timer. I got this. I'll contact you again later." With that, the vulpine cut the channel out and focused his attention on his chaser.

The enemy fired again but this time, Fox was ready and without a second's delay, he easily dodged all the shots and reversed his ship's thrusters, slowing his Arwing down and watching as the chaser took the bait and zoomed past him.

He grinned to himself and let out a volley of green blasts at his adversary's tail, connecting with the fighter's engines and watching them blow up and engulf the craft whole in orange. He eased a bit for a moment before snapping back to alertness as the remaining fighters gathered together and charged at him.

The vulpine let out a smirk and did the same. He jammed the controls of the engines and thrust the blue fighter forward at a fast pace. He looked at the calculated distance between him and his targets.

Ten kilometers, he flicked open a small hatch on his right control stick, revealing a black button with a symbol of a bomb. He had to focus in order for this to be successful. If he did it too late, he will be engulfed by the explosion. If he did it too early, his attack would miss and he'd have to go back to dog fights.

Seven kilometers. The vulpine's thumb rested on the button. His heart started to pound faster as he prepared the last of the countdown. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through his body and all of his fur stood on end.

Five kilometers. The Arwing's engines are at its max output. Within the next few seconds, he'd release his final attack on his enemies, sweat poured down and soaked his clothes. This was it.

One. He quickly pressed the firing mechanism for the Smart Bomb and pulled both control sticks back as hard as he could. His Arwing arched up at a ninety degree angle, keeping at max speed and shooting out of the explosion radius. Fox looked back and watch as the bomb reached the formation of the remaining enemy fighters.

It exploded half a second later. A white flash covered the vulpine's vision and he turned away, shutting his eyes and held onto the controls as if his life depended on it. His fighter shook violently from the vibrations sent from the Smart Bomb he released but seconds later it ended just as soon as it started.

The vulpine checked his scanners and let a triumphant grin stretch across his face. It was a success. He looked back only to see the empty void of space behind him. All of the fighters were disintegrated by the explosion, leaving nothing at all.

He relaxed and leaned back against his seat. Letting out a sigh as his fighter continued to fly around the Columbus.

IIIII

Falco ran past a crossway of halls as blaster fire reigned all over the place. He wasted no time to return fire and heard the grunt from one of his pursuers, that was what he wanted to hear. He stopped and turned around and instantly pulled the trigger of his blaster, firing a burst of three.

The last gunner yelped as the three shots impacted on his left torso, left thigh and right shoulder, burning through his combat vest, fur and finally his skin. He dropped to his knees and let out his last breath before landing face down on the floor, dead.

The smell of burnt flesh is fresh and Falco grimaced at it. He quickly continued down the hall, holding up his right wrist and tapping in a few keys until a map of the station's interior displayed itself in front of him.

He was apparently two halls away from the main control deck. He studied the route for another moment and then tapped the key to cancel the map and rushed his way to his target destination.

As he entered the first of the two halls, the entire station suddenly shook violently and nearly sent the avian tumbling. He barely balanced himself and used the wall for support. No doubt his vulpine friend used a Smart Bomb, no other weapons could send such vibrations through space unless they're more powerful or as powerful as a Smart Bomb.

He wasted no time and sprinted past the two halls and reached the control room. He stood against the blast door for a moment, and pressed the side of his head against it, hoping to hear any activities behind the heavy door. Nothing.

He stepped back and looked around, there were blaster scorch marks on the walls and painted with blood, the floor was littered with bodies both Cornerian and pirates. He turned back to the blast door and pulled up the console that would open it. He entered the code that was given to him by Peppy and the door slowly slid away.

He pointed his weapon through the widening slit until the whole door was completely out of the way. He wasted no time and darted inside and took cover behind one of the control panels. Nothing happened. No blaster shots fired, no barks or other sounds. Complete silence.

The avian got onto his feet and looked around. The control room was empty, the only sound was the beeping from the coms section of all the stations inside the room. He walked towards it and noticed the security camera screens displayed beside the com station and his eyes widened.

On one of the many screens was a hangar labeled T-9, the avian noticed all the figures getting into their respective fighters and taking off one by one. This didn't look good at all.

"Oh no." Falco spoke out. He wasted no time and tapped in on the com, trying to get to his friend who was still out in space flying.

Soon enough, the vulpine came up on screen with a confused look on his face.

"Fox! They're coming out! Watch for enemy fighters!"

"Got it, get everyone off the station and quick! I have a bad feeling that they have something in store inside the place." The vulpine voiced out before he jolted forward. Fox looked behind him and forced the controls to the left before the signal cut.

"McCloud!" Falco shouted as the screen on the monitor stopped working. He punched the panel in rage and quickly left to meet up with Katt and Dash.

IIIII

The pink feline cautiously inched herself towards the door which lead to the brig. She held her blaster up and fixed her eyes on the door, scanning the area for any movement. She continued to slowly walk forward and hugging the wall until she reached it.

Katt did not come across any of the hijackers as she made her way to the brig, and it didn't feel right. There should have been guards standing and keeping an eye on their prisoners. Where was everyone?

With a deep breath, she accessed the control to the door and it slid open.

More than fifty heads turned to face the new arrival. Katt couldn't see well through the darkness but soon her night vision took place and she slowly made out who they were. Sitting and huddled up in groups were the station's workers. Their eyes stared her down with distrust and hostility.

"I'm not one of them, I'm Katt Monroe of Star Falco." She explained and the hostages' eased their gaze in relief.

"I'm Commander Talon." One of the hostages spoke out, he was a fit eagle with ice blue eyes. The avian officer stood up, his hands are bound behind him. "Did you take care of the hijackers?"

The pink feline shook her head. "No, there's no one. Not that I'm sure about the rest of my team."

"This doesn't sound good. Quickly, free us and let's get out of here!" The command walked up to the feline and turned and lifted his bound hands as high as he could from the back. Katt unsheathed a combat knife from her left thigh and easily cut through the bind.

Another ten minutes or so, all of the prisoners were freed and the commander continued to discuss a plan of escape.

"There should be some shuttles scattered throughout all the hangars. We might also need some weapons in case there were some hostiles still inside here." The eagle scratched under his beak as he planned.

The pink feline nodded. "My teammate is securing the armory. We should be able to grab some stuff there."

"Alright, let's move! Once we're armed, we will need to split up and find the shuttles, board them and leave the platform ASAP!" The commander barked at the crewmen.

"There was a shuttle near where we left our fighters, Commander." Katt informed. "I think you should board that one with us."

The avian commander nodded and signaled everyone to move out. Soon, everyone left the brig and headed towards the armory.

Not long later, the eagle raised his hand and everyone stopped advancing through the hall. They listened as faint footsteps were heard down the far corner. Katt readied her blaster and focused fully on the source of the pacing sound.

The footsteps grew louder but then Katt caught the scent of the arriving figure and grinned. She lowered her weapon and charged forward. Just as expected, a familiar blue avian emerged around the far corner and was struck down by the charging pink feline.

The feline playfully smiled at the stunned pheasant before she rolled off of Falco, leaving the blue avian laying there with a surprised look.

"Katt! What the hell!" Falco yelled. But despite the glar he gave her the pink feline laughed.

Soon all the crew men caught up to the two and they continued to the armory. The blue avian ignored Katt as seconds passed by. Letting out a sigh, she picked up her pace to match Falco's and looked at him but the blue avian stared straight ahead and avoided eye contact with her.

"Oh come on! It was a comeback for looking over me earlier." The feline reasoned but Falco didn't respond at all. Instead, he steadily picked up his pace and left the Katt behind.

She let out a sigh before catching up to him and gave in. "Fine! I'm sorry.."

That caught his attention and smirked at her. "Amazing, you finally said sorry for the first time in weeks." He laughed but was cut off when Katt punched him in the shoulder.

Not long later, they reached the armory. Dash was outside waving to them as the group rushed in and armed themselves. The commander picked up a rifle and waited for the others to stock up on ammunition and supplies.

"Are we ready to move?" The eagle asked. In response, most of them nodded without saying anything. Some replied with a 'Yes sir!' To that, the commander walked to the armory door and signaled everyone to follow him. "Let's move!"

IIIII

Fox spun wildly, avoiding heavy fire from five enemies giving chase. He quickly maneuvered his craft and made a sharp U turn, holding down the firing mechanism. Green built up at the nose of the Arwing and slowly turned red until the vulpine released the buttons. The red burst shot forward and took out three out of five.

The remaining two quickly fled and flew low close to the platform. Fox watched as they disappeared behind one of the docked colonization ships but quickly looked around for any certain ambush coming for him.

He then spotted one of the rogue crafts as it lazily flew and hid behind a piece of space wreckage. To his annoyance, the vulpine guided his Arwing towards the enemy's hiding spot only to be ambushed from the top.

Four shots were fired from above, two of them hit. One dented the top of the Arwing's nose and the pressure bent the metal in and trapped one of the vulpine's leg. Fox let out a growl as pain stung his left leg. The other shot scorched his right G-diffuser engine, rendering it useless.

"Take that! Fox McCloud!" Hissed the ambusher, a lizard in ragged piloting gear.

"Who are you?!" The injured vulpine demanded as he did a barrel roll to avoid another volley of red.

"Your worst nightmare." The reptile cackled and his fighter zipped vertically past the damaged Arwing, allowing the fox to see what type of craft he was up against.

The enemy was piloting a modified Venomian interceptor, the engines were much slimmer and the wings curved back and held two extra armed blasters. A sickly green outlined the front and backside as the rest was black. If it wanted to hide he wanted to hide and wait for the perfect ambush, he could just fly far away until the moment comes.

The enemy fighter made a vertical U turn and fired a flurry of shots upward, aiming for the underside of Fox's Arwing.

"Feel the fury of the Night Claw!" The reptilian pilot hissed out as he continued to pepper his victim from underneath. The vibrations of hits sent the vulpine crashing everywhere in his cockpit, bits of the controls flew out and some of the sharp edges sliced at him.

A piece of the panel the size of Fox's paw flew and jabbed into the vulpine's left arm, digging into his flesh and letting the blood spill out. His head made one last impact against the broken panel and left a gash above his left brow. He panted heavily as he held the wounded left arm with his good one.

"Fox! No!" Falco's voice shot out of the com, he looked down at the station to see the team staring up through a window.

"I'd love to keep on toying you but I must be leaving now.." The lizard informed with a sinister tone before he flew away. Where he flew at suddenly glowed green and everyone stared at it gaping.

Out of the blackness ripped a green hole and out came what appears to be parts of both Venomian and Cornerian ships mashed together. The new arrival did not look friendly as it readied its main gun at the station.

"Oh no.." Fox let out a whisper as the cruiser's gun charged.

"Mission failed, O' great heroes of Lylat!" The reptile hollered as he held up a trigger mechanism. The vulpine then realized what's going to happen and he quickly switched com to warn the people inside the station.

"Falco! Get out now!"

The lizard let out an evil grin and pushed the trigger button.

Each hangar started exploding one by one, some of the colonization ships ripped away and blew up, others were engulfed by the dock explosions. Fox started to feel dizzy as he realized he didn't put any pressure on any of his wounds, allowing blood to flow out of his body freely.

His vision started to blur but using the last of his strength, he looked down at the dock that Star Falco landed in. Out of the explosion came four ships. The vulpine let out a weak sigh of relief before his blurry vision turned to black.

"Fox!" The vulpine heard his avian friend call through the com. But at this point he was mere seconds away from unconsciousness.

"I got him." Came a familiar female voice and a sudden light vibration. He took one last ditch effort to open his eyes and saw a lavender craft towing his Arwing back to a familiar cruiser ship.

He let her name slip from his mouth out with the last breath he could manage before slipping into darkness.

"Krystal…"

IIIII

Author's Note: Aaaand there's that! This chapter was well over 3700 words! My chapters are slowly growing bigger. Anyway, I hope this chapter didn't disappoint you! I was actually going to extend this and make this event two chapters, but I decided to cut it short cause I'm lazy that way. :P

Again, I thank Cpt. Fox for Beta-Reading and the rest of you who reviewed! I've never expected to get so much positive feedbacks since chapter one! I love you all! xD

Also, I'm planning on the next story, it would revolve around Bill Grey and Fay Spaniel. Romance. The reason I decided on planning another story that talks about those two is because I can't get the feeling of the two hounds would make a damn good love story lol. Anyway, that story won't come out until later on, maybe when this story is either in its teen chapters or near the end of it.

Once more, I encourage everyone to review my story! Point out the bad and I'll try my best not to repeat the same mistakes!