Chapter 4
"Eradication"
It was two days later and Emerald was done with her third appointment. Her fear seemed completely gone as she got happier and happier every time she got out. Even with the thought of the mech didn't make her phase a bit. It was basically her last appointment since she was doing so well and the team was proud too. The search for the mechs died down but it was still at large. Since Peppy was with them again, Emerald was able to have the chance to fight with the team again.
"C'mon team, we have to leave to find out where the mechs are or where they spawn," Peppy said. They entered the bridge.
"I'm just surprised we haven't found them yet. We only went about six miles and we found tons of them," Slippy said. He scratched his head with immense confusion.
"Then shouldn't that be a good thing? We can go to planet to planet and destroy them one by one," Falco said with much confidence, but a flaw was just around the corner.
"But it was already heard enough to destroy that one spawning ship, there could be thousands of those kinds of ships in one quadrant," Krystal said. Falco shook his head with frustration.
"Why can't one problem be easy and simple!?" Falco yelled. Fox finally talked.
"Hey ROB; calculate the approximate location to where the mechs could be," he commanded. ROB typed on the computer for a little bit.
"The mechs are approximately five hundred miles away," ROB finally said. A planet flashed on the screen.
"Hmm, that would lead to the planet Karkatar," Peppy said as he rubbed his chin. Emerald jumped forward with happiness.
"Karkatar!? That's where I go for my vacations! It's an awesome place full of theme parks! Beaches! And luxury hotels!" Emerald yelled. Peppy interrupted with bad news.
"Well, the planet is nothing more than a waist land," Peppy said. A picture of the inland showed up, totally demolished.
"AHHHH! Who the heck did that!?" Emerald yelled. Another picture showed up, showing the little mechs roaming around the ruins.
"Well, I guess we know what to do." Falco said. Peppy interrupted Falco to make sure he doesn't leave.
"Not yet Falco. There's something you should see first." He pulled up another picture, showing mechs with wings. "As you can see, some of these mechs are able to fly."
"So, we have to split up again." Falco groaned. Fox began to announce their positions.
"Okay, Slippy, Krystal, Emerald, you take the skies. Falco, you can take the ground with me." Fox said. Everyone agreed with enthusiasm.
"Alright! Let's take care of these wire heads!" Emerald yelled. She jumped up in the air with a great amount of energy.
"Ok, let's go!" After Fox's announcement, they charged for the ships. They hopped in the Arwings and prepared to launch. Since Emerald wasn't able to fly a ship for two days, the team had enough time to create a fifth slot for her Arwing.
"YA! Let's go! Take off!" Emerald yelled. The Arwings were detached from the hanger and in no time, they blasted off to the planet. Fox and Falco separated from the formation to land somewhere in the outskirts of the town so they could go on foot. They jumped out of there Arwings and got all their weapons ready. Fox got out his binoculars and looked at the city. He scoped in and out, seeing tons of mechs traveling the city. Fox spotted one civilian but it was caught by a mech. The mech stomped on the civilian's legs and smashed it with its arm. Fox turned away so he couldn't see the massive bloodshed caused by these fiends.
"What is it Fox? Should we head in there now?" Falco asked. Fox put back his binoculars and stomped on the ground with power.
"Those wire heads are killing off the people!" He yelled. Falco jumped up a little and got out his blaster with anger.
"Well then what are we waiting for! Let's destroy those sacks of metal!" He yelled They charged for the city without any fear.
The city was in ruins and fire was roaring everywhere as the mechs continued to destroy what was already eradicated. The mechs were showing no mercy as they charged for anything that they saw alive. Fox couldn't stand seeing the crushed bodies on the ground with the blood spread out everywhere. The rest of the team didn't see the bodies but they knew what was happening. They were considered the lucky ones.
"Okay team, this is your objective. These things don't show any mercy or remorse for anything that lives. They will crush you the instant they sense you. There should be more survivors on the ground since the mechs are still roaming around. Your task is to find survivors and get them to a safe location," Peppy finished. Everyone charged for the city.
"Whoa! It looks like they knew we were coming!" Slippy yelled as tons of air mechs started to rise in the air. Slippy swerved sideways to dodge the many of lasers that were headed for him. He boosted forward and shot a couple of ships down. Krystal headed forward to take care of the remaining ones until one did a loop and followed her.
"I'm coming Krystal!" Emerald yelled. She spun sideways and lowered her elevation to get to Krystal. She shot her laser in multiple of directions to get the mech confused until she just shot straight for it, burning it to the ground. "Oh yea!" Emerald yelled as she turned around and shot the other flying mechs. Fox was on the ground with Falco by his side, shooting the mechs down one by one. The mechs prove challenging as they grouped together and marched forward, along with dozens of shot coming from them.
"Dang! We can't get threw them!" Falco yelled. He tried to poke his head from the side of the building, but he couldn't get his head past the incoming lasers.
"We need a diversion to break their formation," Fox said. He heard the mechs charge even further, but there diversion was on the way. The problem was it wasn't a diversion they wanted.
"Anyone out there! I need help! My children are in danger!" a woman yelled as the mechs stopped there firing and turned around, causing Fox and Falco to jump out.
"Oh no you don't!" Falco yelled as he kicked the nearest mech with intense power, causing it to land face first on the ground. The other mechs turned around and saw the two of them, so they jumped up and surrounded Falco and Fox.
"It looks like we're gonna have to fight them hand to hand," Falco said. He took a battle stance to get ready.
"Just don't get squished in there okay?" Fox said. Falco just groaned and waited for a mech to move. One mech charged forward and raised its arm high. Fox jumped forward and did a drop kick, causing the mech to fall down flat on the ground. The other ones came with anger as the two of them just continued to fight. Thanks to the metal boots they were wearing, their legs couldn't get hurt by the metal robots.
Falco jumped high in the air and extended his leg, striking a mech straight into the ground. He jumped out of the small hole and kicked the other mechs that were close by. Fox was staying low to the ground as the mechs were getting close together, trying to at least trip Fox, but his reactions and his recovery time was too quick for them. Without any idea, Fox was causing the mechs to hit each other as he jumped on the mechs faces.
"Falco! Let's take care of these mechs!" Fox yelled. The two of them put a bomb on the ground and jumped out, leaving a huge explosion behind them. They turned around and saw the scraps of metal falling down from the sky, basically what was left of the mechs. Fox turned to the woman and addressed himself. "I am Fox, leader of the Starfox team, and this is Falco. You said that you needed help with your children?" The woman nodded with a smile on her face and some tears with it.
"Oh! I am so glad you came here! It's my son and daughter! They're in the hotel in the north, only a mile away! I had to find someone quickly before the dreaded mechs found them!" The woman yelled. Fox nodded. Suddenly, a couple of mechs jumped in the air and rushed north. Falco caught one by the corner of his eye and kicked one to the ground.
"Where the heck are they going!?" Falco yelled as Peppy informed them quickly.
"They must've heard the woman talk about the children and they're headed for them! You must get there before they do!" Peppy yelled. The two of them rushed forward with intense speed.
"Save my children!" The woman yelled. They had the words implanted in their heads. In the air, Emerald, Krystal, and Slippy were having no problem tearing up the mechs. It seemed like the mechs were going easy on them since they had no tactic going.
"How many of these weaklings have to show up? I don't understand why they're going easy?" Emerald asked as she took down another mech. Peppy was sitting back, trying to think of an easy answer for this.
"I don't know, but at least this is going smoothly," Krystal said. She shot another one down with ease. Peppy thought that they were up to something, that it had to be part of their plan, but he couldn't think of a reason. He watched the mechs closely and the team shot them down with ease.
"Let's not jinx our good luck; we're getting the good side of this," Slippy said. Peppy was watching really closely as he sat tacitly, even trying to hear what could be the problem. Suddenly, he heard a cry of pain and he saw one of the ships crash into a building where people were still alive.
"WAIT! STOP FIRING!" Peppy yelled as the arwings stopped completely.
"What's up Peppy?" Slippy said. Peppy slammed his clenched hand on the computer desk.
"I knew there was something wrong! These mechs are being destroyed on purpose! These mechs can't be destroyed on impact unless their core is damaged so they're letting you shoot them so they can explode on the buildings to kill any survivors!" Peppy yelled as they all gasped.
"WHAT!? Then what are we supposed to do!?" Emerald yelled. The mechs turned around slowly and started to shoot towards the team.
"I don't know, I can't think of a way to destroy them in the air. They can only self destruct when they hit something," Peppy said. The team dodged the mechs lasers.
"Wait; can't we make them hit something else like a laser?" Krystal asked, but Peppy shook his head.
"According to these readings, the mechs have to hit matter, not energy." Peppy said. Slippy came up with an idea in an instant.
"How about we make them hit some rubble on the ground! These Arwings have a retractable claw that can pick up something small! If we can get some rocks from the ground without damaging it! We can toss it at them before they hit a building!" Slippy yelled. Peppy nodded with agreement.
"Good idea Slippy! Now go for it team!" He yelled with joy. The Arwings headed for the ground to accomplish their mission.
Fox and Falco were racing forward to the hotel with the two children, trying to get there before the mechs, but the mechs that were already ahead and nowhere in sight.
"Fox! I don't see those mechs anywhere! Do you think they already got there?" Falco yelled. Fox continued to sprint forward with Falco.
"I don't know, but we still need to get there," Fox said as they continued onward. Suddenly, other mechs came out of the buildings and gave chase to them from behind.
"Fox, we've got some fans," Falco said. He looked behind him and saw the mechs rushing to them.
"Then let's lose them!" Fox yelled. They took a tight turn to the right. The mechs obviously followed as they crashed into the buildings, showing that they couldn't make tight turns so well. Fox knew this so he kept on making the same turns until the mechs crashed into each other, causing them to explode.
"Fox! There's the building!" Falco yelled. They raced to it with intense speed, trying to make it in time. They finally got there and saw the kids cowering in fear. The two of them picked the two kids up.
"Fox! The mechs are doing something!" Krystal yelled over the intercom. Fox looked up in the air. Most of the mechs were gone but the remaining ones, even the ground ones, were fleeing the stage. Soon, a rumble came afterwards and a huge, flying mech came from over the hills.
"Whoa! Is that a dragon!?" Slippy yelled. They looked at the mechs. The machine was about three times the size of an arwing and it looked like a European dragon. It was completely red as its wings made it fly higher and higher.
"Fox! Falco! I've transferred the Arwings to your location! Destroy that dragon!" Peppy yelled. The two of them climbed in their Arwings and flew into the air. The kids first were dropped off to the mother and then they raced off to the dragon.
"Data analysis complete! I'll show it on the monitor!" Slippy yelled. He pressed a few buttons in his arwing, causing a yellow, orange, and red bar appear on the screen. Fox raced forward and tried to shoot the dragon mech, but its armor deflected to lasers.
"Dang! We can't penetrate the armor!" Fox yelled. He turned around and came back.
"Scanning for a weak spot," ROB said. He started to press a few buttons on his computer. The dragon mech tried to swipe his arm and smack the ships but thanks to every bodies maneuvering skills, they were able to dodge it. The dragon was getting irritated so it curled into a ball.
"What the heck is it doing?" Falco asked as the dragon started to spin slowly. It spun faster and faster and a little spark of orange energy started coming off of it.
"Watch out! I'm sensing a powerful aura coming from the mech!" Krystal yelled as he mech glowed completely orange.
"That energy can slice us like tissue!" Falco yelled. Electricity came out of the dragon.
"Is it gonna ram us!?" Slippy hollered. They continued to circle around the mech, ready for almost everything.. Suddenly, the energy shot out and took the shape of the dragon, causing it to extend out and try to ram the team. They hurriedly moved out of the way as the energy went back inside the dragon.
"Whoa! We should make a mental note of that," Emerald said as they split up again. The dragon extended out and raced for the team.
"Hey! Peppy! What's that on its tail?" Krystal yelled. Peppy examined the little orb on its tail.
"Team! That's its weak spot! Aim at the tip of its tail!" Peppy yelled. The team turned around to get to the tail.
"There are four of those on the mech," ROB said. The team looked around for the other orbs.
"There's two more on the wings!" Slippy yelled as they started to shoot the energy orb. When it was shot, the dragon fidgeted and did a U-turn. He was now afraid and didn't feel very safe.
"It's afraid of us! We got it on the run!" Krystal yelled. She did a loop and shot the ones on it's left one. Suddenly, an explosion went off on the wing and the dragon started to go slower.
"Hey! Every time we shoot down one of the orbs, it looses power!" Slippy yelled. Falco rushed in to destroy the other orb on the other wing.
"Well then let's take care of these orbs!" Falco yelled. He backed up and started to shoot the one on the tail. The dragon couldn't take it so it started to curl up in a ball again.
"Oh no you don't!" Falco yelled as he launched a bomb on the tail, causing the orb to explode. There was one more orb to destroy but they couldn't find it on the external side.
"Wait? ROB, where's the last one?" Fox asked. ROB pressed a few buttons on his computer.
"It is inside the mech," he said, leaving everyone with their mouth open.
"How are we supposed to destroy one on the inside!?" Falco yelled. The mech spun around with intense speed. The orange energy spun our and started to follow the team.
"Okay, I've got an idea." Krystal said as she did a U-turn, dodging the energy. The energy went back in the dragon and the dragon charged for Krystal.
"Take this!" Krystal yelled. She shot a bomb in the dragon, causing it to explode from the inside.
"The shields are down! We did it!" Slippy yelled. The dragon exploded in the air. The team's job was done and they headed for the Great Fox, until a message was blinking from there communicator.
"So, how'd you like my show?" A familiar voice said as Fox was left in shock.
"Wolf!?"