War of the Melee Worlds
Chapter 4 – "The Cornerians are Coming!"
By Pelican (Pelican_13@yahoo.com)
About one hour had passed. The Cornerians had established a frontline base on the soil of the Mushroom Kingdom and were highly active, preparing for more arrivals and an invasion of the enemy kingdom. Hyrule continued to prepare for an imminent invasion and guard posts were established throughout the kingdom. Pop Star and Ripple Star both began arming men to fight and had also sent word to other planets in their solar system, such as Shiver Star and Rock Star. The Mushroom Kingdom had no knowledge of the Cornerian's actions this night but one lone scout of a nearby Yoshi tribe ran swiftly with the news to the nearest town. He spotted a village on the horizon. From his large proximity he could only make out a few buildings and a main road that ran through the village. He continued to run. He knew that potentially the fate of the Mushroom Kingdom rested on his endured feet. Although an athletic Yoshi to say the least, fatigue was beginning to set in. He started down the main road of the village and, although almost out of breath, began yelling.
"The Cornerians are coming! The Cornerians are coming!" he yelled warnings in the dead of night. "Get your army ready! The Cornerians are coming!"
The village was composed of about 10 buildings with shutters for windows, all of which were closed for the night. As the scout ran down the road to another Mushroom Kingdom city the light turned on in one of the houses. A senior toad with a long white beard opened the shutters to this window facing the main street.
"Shut up! We're trying to sleep!" He closed the shutter and murmured to himself, "Prankster, what's all this about Cornerians and what not." The village had no knowledge of the upcoming war.
In the skies over the throne city on Ripple Star four more Warp Stars were entering the atmosphere. They were piloted, or rather hanging onto them, were four waddle dees wearing green military camouflage. Their Warp Stars soon landed, or impacted, on the planet's surface. They each jumped off their Warp Star, having suffered no damage from the impact, and began to walk towards the capital city. Shortly after they were approached by a few armed waddle dees from the city.
"Halt!" the city waddle dees hailed, "Identify yourself!"
"We've come from Shiver Star!" the leader of the foreign team responded.
"We want to help!" another Shiver Star waddle dee called.
The two militias approached each other. All wore similar attire and were armed with Star Rods.
"We come with the response from Shiver Star," the leader began. "We will aid Ripple Star and Corneria!"
"That's great news!" the leader of the city defense forces proclaimed. "Please come with us to see the queen! She must hear this!"
While the seeds of a massive conflict were being planted all over the galaxy two well-know figures managed to slip away from the worried public's eye. Princess Zelda and Link, melee fighters for Hyrule, looked down on the kingdom from atop Death Mountain. From their location at the very summit they could observe as far as Lake Hylia in the South. The sun was setting and the young couple must have had the best view in the kingdom.
"I…just don't know what to do," Zelda began.
"I know what you mean," Link replied.
"Does my father actually think he can win this?"
"Why do you doubt him?"
"I don't exactly," Zelda answered, "it just seems that a war is going too far."
"I understand," Link said reassuringly, "but Hyrule is full of warriors. We can fight."
"It all seems so trivial. Not only that but we have friends on the other side of this conflict…Fox, Kirby, Falco."
"But it isn't like Hyrule to back down," Link added.
"How do you think this will all play out?" Zelda asked. There was a hint of fear in her voice.
Link reassured her. "It will be alright in the end."
Zelda looked up at the sky. Hyrule, of course, had no aircraft and nothing more than birds were usually seen in the sky. Her expression showed how unsure she was of herself, her father, and everything.
"You don't want to stay here, do you," Link said.
"What?" Zelda asked. Link's statement was abrupt, but it didn't surprise her. "How did you know?"
"Something about you just told me," Link replied. "I'm with you wherever you want to go, that is if we have a way of leaving."
"I do," Zelda said. She held in her hand a Deku Nut. She brought it into clear view for Link. "I learned a little teleporting trick from Impa."
"Nice," Link replied impressed. "Where exactly do we go?"
"It doesn't matter to me…Kanto, Termina, Johto, Mute City," Zelda said. "Just get close to me."
Link moved closer to Zelda to where they were sitting side-by-side. Zelda looked at Link and smiled. Link smiled back reassuringly. Looking into Link's eyes, Zelda threw the nut to the ground and in a flash both Hylians had disappeared.
In Corneria City the situation was looking basically the same. Pepper and several high ranked officers gave orders from their safe location among the city's skyscrapers to their newly established field location in the Mushroom Kingdom. Pepper had moved to his personal ready room in one of the top floors of the building. He looked below to the many activities of everyday life in Corneria City. As he kept a silent and thoughtful vigil by a large window an enlisted soldier entered.
"General, sir!" he said. The general looked back to see who had addressed him.
"Sir," the soldier gave a salute, "we have the recon photos from Hyrule."
General Pepper left the ready room for the comm room, still thinking about the war and the possible outcomes. He entered the windowless room and closed the door behind him.
"What do you have for me?" he asked.
Two officers were already waiting. They sat around a lit table with several enlarged photos.
"We've discovered Hyrule's defensive strategy," one of the officers informed.
General Pepper stood over the two and looked down at the photos. The other officer held a wooden pointer stick.
"Hyrule has set up multiple guard stations," the other officer stated. He began to point to areas on the photos. "Lake Hylia, the entrance to Gerudo Valley, the entrance to Kokiri Forest, Death Mountain Pass," the officer listed.
"It appears that they are waiting for our attack. Then they will dispatch the military force they have building around the castle."
The General looked down at the photo of Hyrule Castle. The field was lined with tents and soldiers. Individuals were too hard to make out because of the spy plane's altitude but Corneria had apparently discovered Hyrule's strategy.
"There's more," the first officer began. "We've found an undefended area, Lon Lon Ranch."
"That place that makes the famous milk?" the general asked.
"The very same. It's almost directly in the middle of all their guard outposts," the other officer answered.
"This could prove useful," the general stated. "But I would rather have the Mushroom Kingdom surrender before preparing to attack Hyrule."
"From what we've seen so far Hyrule should be pretty easy to take," an officer said boldly.
"All this about Hyrule aside," the general began, "do you think it would be wise to contact Star Fox?"
The two intelligence analysts looked at each other a moment and then looked back up at their general.
"With all due respect, sir," the first officer began, "It seems unnecessary. Our team will move out in Mushroom tomorrow and after they surrender it is likely Hyrule will follow."
"I know we don't exactly need them. Our army had been rebuilt and is running strong," the general began, "but it was during Fox's match that this war began and it's our fault his and all melee representatives in warring nation's matches were canceled. I just think our operation will go smoother with Fox and his team fighting alongside us."
"Yes sir," both officers replied simultaneously.
"I can personally take care of contacting Great Fox," the second officer offered.
"Do it," the general ordered. "Let's do this without any slip-ups."
The waddle dee team from Shiver Star, escorted by the city's defense force, arrived at the palace. The leader of the foreign team approached the queen and bowed.
"We've come from Shiver Star," he informed. "Shiver Star has decided to help you in the war! Our factories have begun producing in full force!"
"That's great news!" the queen replied. "Soon we should have our entire system on our side."
Ribbon flew into the room hastily. "Queen!" she called.
"What is it, Ribbon?" the queen asked.
"I have great news! I got a call from Rock Star, they've decided to help us in the war!"
"Excellent."
"Do you think I should call Aqua Star?" Ribbon asked.
"If they decided to help us they would reply," the queen answered.
"They don't have much there anyway," the leader of the Shiver team cut in. "With our production capabilities on your side no way we can lose."
"And our ally is Corneria," Ribbon added. "They've fought more wars than anyone."
"Let's not get over confident," the queen stopped the celebration. "We have yet to engage our enemies."
The queen of Ripple Star continued war discussion with the Shiver Star team. Hyrule's guard posts kept a close eye on the skies over their kingdom. The Mushroom Kingdom's armies were armed and ready for war, but were unaware of the Cornerian Army's base within their borders. A lone scout from one of the Yoshi tribes continued his nonstop marathon back to his tribe's citadel. Link and Zelda left Hyrule and the Star Fox team had been hailed by Corneria. Activity continued, but no shots have been fired and no hostilities had been made by any nation. Not yet, anyway.