Chapter 5
The Cornerian Swarm
Morning set in Corneria like a gentle touch. The smell of cinnamon toast awoke Fox and the rest of the team.
"G'morning" Fox groaned with a yawn as he walked into the main room.
Falco, it seemed, was in the midst of a rather anger-fueled conversation with Piers, "Burr, it was cold last night. Really, if anybody touches the thermostat again, I'mma flip shit, get it?"
Katt, who was in the kitchen (the adjacent room from the main room/sitting area) giggled, "You wouldn't hit a girl would you?" she cooed with a sickeningly false, innocent voice
Katt reverted back to her normal voice as she explained, "It would've been a lot cozzier if you snuggled up with your favorite kitty cat."
"Snuggle up with you? Fat chance."
Akeem snorted in laughter, "Typical, the most masculine of people tend to…fly for the other fleet."
"What's that supposed to mean…" Falco started to say but was cut off by Piers
"HA! Keemy called you gay!"
"Is this a preschool or a damned military vessel? Shut up maggot, just shut up" Wisp yelled in his drill instructor voice
"Sir yes sir!" Piers and Falco both responded in eerily similar mocking voices
" Geez laweeze, It's almost like having two kids on board." Slippy groaned
" More specifically, two juvenile delinquents." Wisp growled
"That means I better get a raise for babysitting." Peppy yelled from the kitchen causing laughter from everyone except Akeem.
Bill whistled from the kitchen causing everyone to perk up, "Breakfast is ready!" he called
Immediately, the hungry team sat down to the meal of cinnamon toast, and omelets, with a side of fruit salad.
"I didn't know you were so big on organic meals." Fox commented savoring the toast in his mouth
"You take it for granted until you live on Katina." Bill admitted, "When ya have to live on survival rations like the average Katinian, you realize how good fruit and vegetables taste. And besides, thank Peppy and the girls, they helped with the food prep."
Slippy piped up, "Does anybody else besides me think that could sell as a band name? Peppy and the Girls?"
There was a moment of awkward silence, as no one knew quite how to respond to such a random comment. Then, Wisp verbalized what everyone minus Slippy was thinking, "Slippy, what galaxy is your head in right now, cause you say some of the stupidest crap."
"You should know by now Sarg, my mind is in a place all its own."
"Hence why you were so easy to sneak up on all the time." Falco sniggered
The entire team, Slippy included, shared a good laugh at the frog's expense
The team ate in silence for a few minutes when Miyu piped up, "When are we moving out Fox?"
Akeem spoke, "I suggest we get out to Finale Ocean by noon. From what Pepper told me when we moved out, The Venomian fleet's slow moving, they're in no hurry to get things started. What Andross doesn't realize is, this time, his cocky attitude will actually cost him. The military's set up a three-tier perimeter system.
Miyu spoke up, "If Andross' army manages to breach the planet, one can assume the fleet will go for the gusto and attack the island head on, no formalities."
"But couldn't they just dive bomb the island from the sky?" Fox asked, confused
"You have to account for the fact that most of Venom's force consists of common criminals. Anything beyond bum rushing a target is considered complicated to them. With that in mind, you have yourself a pretty predictable attack strategy. " Peppy explained
Bill laughed, "That only pretty much leaves them attacking from the ocean, apparently the island itself is more important than costal security."
"But….aren't we kind of backing ourselves into a corner if we're minimizing our territory?" asked Falco
Fox nodded absently, "That's when Corneria fights at its best, when it's down."
Wisp laughed rudely, " Your little briefing is cute, but you're leaving out one thing. Corneria City covers an entire island, an island that's covered on all sides by the Finale Ocean. So that leaves four points of attack."
"He could stage center his troops in one place, or he could very well attack the entire island all at once, depending on the actually fleet size." Peppy added
"You must be senile as you look old man. Do ya think a guy like Andross has enough troops to storm Corneria?"
Wisp looked as if he was about to retort., but Slippy interrupted, "Enough troops? What you should be concerned about is his war machines. That's where anything commanded by Andross is bound to excel. Not only that, but he's got an expensive taste when it comes to instruments of death There were many times where Andross almost exhausted the Research Department's budget on his projects."
Again, Wisp looked as if he were about to speak, but this time Peppy interrupted, "He's completely right, and no amount of yelling will change that." Peppy snared, glaring right at Wisp, who finally seemed content with keeping quiet, "No matter what Andross has in store. We need to push the Arwings to the limit, and then some. Fay, how fast can these things go?" he asked
"The highest we every got it to go was about three times the speed of a normal Cornerian fighter That is unless, it collides with something."
Slippy caught on quickly, "Up and down on a grid. Corneria City's rather small…"
"Are you two saying we can't cover the whole island" Fox asked
"Not that we can't persay, but we don't know how possible that'll be. "
"And we know Corneria's military isn't exactly credited with ever doing well." Fox explained
" , I can use my camera drones to observe the remaining two coastlines." Akeem offered, causing Fox to nod.
"You're giving Corneria's Air Force less credit than it deserves. You act as if they can't handle themselves." Peppy addressed the table of mercenaries.
Katt chuckled, "I gotta agree with Foxy Boy on this one. I remember this one time me and Falco got into something of a scrimmish with Katina's Air Force, and they ran around like a bunch of Academy Launchies, didn't know how to cage this Katt." Katt said, purring at the memory
"So it was YOU who…" Wisp shouted directly at Falco, causing Fay and Miyu to flinch.
"Plus….Andross has…." Fox tried to say, but was interrupted by Falco
"Look, can we just drop it? I knew from day one that Katt had been signed on to break me down, make me admit the things I did."
"Heh, so I was right." Fox whispered
However, he didn't whisper this as quietly as he had figured, because Falco stood up, turning beet red, "McCloud, you can't possibly tell me you knew about this."
Fox threw his paws up as a defensive gesture, "I had a chat with Pepper before we lifted off. Henry's been out to break you since he signed on Katt. I don't approve of it, and Pepper doesn't either. Katt, if you try to disintegrate this team like Henry ordered you to, I can have you arrested on conspiracy charges faster than a speeding Arwing, and I have the good General Pepper to back me."
Katt stood up in a disgruntled explosion of fury and stomped out of the room while the others finished their meals. ROB rolled in, "Incoming message from General Pepper." the robot droaned.
The remaining team members ran to the main room and sat on the two couches. General Pepper's face appeared in the hologram projector that came up from the wooden coffee table, "General Pepper here" began the General, "I would imagine that Akeem has started the discussion about our plan today. Now, if you'll allow me to fill in some details."
Pepper cleared his throat before continuing, "We have devised a three tier defense system. The first is our warships, which specialize in interplanetary travel and defense."
A grid appeared alongside Pepper, a sphere shaped, green lined graph. Above the sphere, several medium-sized linear pieces appeared, "As this simulation suggests, we have placed our crafts as close to the planet's stratosphere as possible as to provide a sort of simplistic barricade."
The next grid showed a scaled down version of Corneria City, surrounded by the Finale Ocean. Several jet shaped pieces were placed in the simulated sky.
"The second tier" the General continued, "Belongs to our Air Force, which is where you'll come in. We believe that the Venom Air Force will attempt to divebomb the island…"
"General, with all due respect sir, that's completely contrary to everything I've ever observed in battles against Venom" Akeem said
"I would imagine they have some sort of land-based weapon they want to get on to the battle field, and quickly, correct?" asked Fay
"Ahhhh, once again, you're correct Miss Spaniel. This…."
The grid changed, to an actual video feed. The shot was a simple one, of a gold, metallic bowling ball-looking machine, obviously rolling through the deserts of Venom, onto what appeared to be a weapons testing range. This range however, was absent of the abandoned bunkers and bullseye targets that the Academy-trained members of the group were used to seeing. This weapons testing range was built to represent Corneria City, complete with full sized skyscrapers. And that was what the weapon appeared to be aimed at. It rolled with amazing speed towards the first, crashing into it, and exiting through the other end, seemingly bulldozing through it. The machine moved swiftly along as the first building collapsed. The similar buildings near the first shared the same fate, as the machine flawlessly bulldozed the massive skyscrapers to rubble.
"That is footage our spies have uncovered of Venom's most prized on-land weapon, an Armadillo class weapon."
"I remember Beltino talking about this" Peppy remembered, "It was one of the blueprints Andross left behind on purpose."
"Wait, what kind of traitor leaves blueprints of his toys behind?" Piers asked, chuckling
"Andross was shameless about mocking the Cornerian Army, even when he was on our side. He honestly believed that even if we had an idea of what was coming, we still would lose." Peppy explained
"Well, if the majority of the fleet actually had crafts that had decent shielding, we would be okay." Bill pointed out
"Yeah, a lot of the Cornerian fleet's ships are still from the era of bullets and missiles, but now we've done a half ass job of rebuilding them so they can at least shoot laser. I guess being hopelessly under-equipped is what you get when you live in a normally peaceful place…" Slippy had begun to ramble, but Pepper cut him off.
"Grey, Toad now isn't the time for this. Hare, you're quite right. From what we recovered of Andross' hand-me-downs, we noticed a pattern. The blueprints he left behind were ones that were literally nothing more than sketches, mere artist renderings, drawn in beginning planning stages. As Peppy said, Andross wanted us to know what we were in for to some extent today, so that if he won, the bragging rights would be all the sweeter."
"What a cocky bastard" Bill snarled
Pepper paid no heed to this comment as he continued, "What we've seen here, is an Armadillo class weapon, a self-operated wrecking ball, which can destroy anything in its path without losing momentum in the slightest. What we plan to do is jam the radar, in the hopes that the Venomians will drop the Armadillo further away from the city than they want it to be, so that it will give us at least some time to devise a plot on how to stop it."
"Permission to speak freely General?" Miyu asked
"Yes m'am. You needn't ask permission again."
"Well sir, say the space brigade succeeds, and with the Armadillo disoriented, then the air force will just be sitting around. As I'm sure you know sir, the Arwings are have better shielding than the average Cornerian flighter as their predecessors have , so wouldn't it be better suited for us to be on the space front?"
"I can't allow that."
"And why not?" asked Fox, now suddenly angry
"In my hearing with the Council, one of the compromises that came about, other than the fact that you be paid on a commission of sorts, was that you be used as minimally as possible. Unfortunately, you being placed in the air tier of the defense is purposeful, in the hopes that you wouldn't be used at all."
There was a tense silence that filled the room. Each mercenary boiled inside. The promise of high pay, the promise of making a good impression, the promise of getting a prominent place in the war, all those hopes, especially those that Fox had had, were seemingly dashed.
"So you brought us up, in these state-of-the-art craft, to do NOTHING!?" Falco squawked
"Pepper, you scumbag." came a new voice
Katt Monroe marched to the front of the room, hands on her hips, "When I was told that I was supposed to sell out Falco, I had the promise of a clean record, and some money to my name. You've probably lied to me about that too!"
Pepper looked angry, "None of these things are my doing! Henry suggested that you bring down Falco, and the Council suggested that you be benchwarmers! If it were up to me, you would be one of the leading batallions. Look, if you perform well here, maybe greater things will come of this. If not….then I don't know. But I can tell you right now, before you dock the fighters for good, that if you decide to walk out on us, whether to live civilian lives, or jump to Venom, I swear, the Cornerian Government will find you, and have you thrown away for life for treason. Honestly, you're best option if just to put up with benchwarming…."
"Enough! This breifing is over! We'll do what we're assigned for now, but we will NOT be chastised for your lack of a spine! And really Pepper, jump to Venom? Do you forget who all of us are? We've all lost something in some form to Venom, so becoming turncoats is not an option. However, if being subservient props is our best option, we'll take it dammit."
Everyone shot wide eyed, surprised looks, at the speaker, Fox, who up to this point had kept a stoic, cold poise in the matter. It was obvious that he felt the same resentment, that everyone else did, but the fact he had the gull to verbally pummel their employer, one of the two highest ranking military officers in the galaxy, shocked them all.
Pepper looked more guilt-ridden than they'd ever seen him, as if he were in the process of eating the rock-hard and sour words of Fox McCloud, "Very well. Pepper out." was all the General could say as the hologram went blank.
On General Pepper's end, he disconnected the hologram. He wasted no time in pouring himself a glass of Corneria's hardest liquor, gulping it down, and letting himself lazily fall back into his office chair
"What're ya doin Jack? Is this how you treat friends? What're ya doin?" he asked himself, burying his face in his paws.
Around the same time, Falco was the first to break the silence , "Unbelievable. Fucking unbelievable."
"Damn straight son" was all Wisp could say, as he was equally frustrated
"We could've stayed in school for this kind of treatment." Miyu whispered to Fay.
"Why should we even deploy then? Anybody ever thought about that?" Piers whined
"Because they'd shoot us down if we didn't, you fool." Akeem snarled
"I don't like your tone." Fox snapped suddenly
"Who are you? My grandmother?" Akeem snapped back
"No, it's just….nevermind, it's nothing I could explain."
Akeem gave Fox a befuddled look as he continued on, "Anyway, we should deploy, honestly, only because we all signed on to. If the government thinks we're that useless, then honestly, I'll ask for a transfer to a patrol position off planet after this. At least we'll get paid a living wage that way."
"But what's that, like, eight credits an hour? A day's wage between 12 of us ain't jack, not enough for ship repairs anyway." Falco pointed out
"Well, if I'm lucky, I will have paid off my father's debt by the time I'm 86. Hey, at least it's something . Furthermore, we're all still a team right?"
"Aye aye!" Piers replied
"Thank you for maintaining your positivity Piers. As for the rest of you, make sure all the stuff's ready for deployment this afternoon, and if you can, catch some Zs, cause even though this'll be a sightseeing trip, we're still on a battlefield, we all need to be alert and vigilant. Peppy, we need to talk, the rest of you are dismissed."
Fox waited until the last person had departed from the room before bringing anything up, "Pep, what do ya think about Akeem?"
"He's very clearly one of the guys designed to ice us all if we go rogue. Government type, cold, conceited, perfect candidate."
"Obviously, but what I meant about how he talks to Piers."
"How do you mean? Nothing leapt out at me other than the fact that neither man gets along."
Fox shook his head,"No. When he was talking to Piers, the way he brought up the consequences of jumping ship is like something they'd been briefed on before hand."
"Well I would imagine that would be an important topic to discuss when signing a mercenary."
"No, I mean as if they were given specific instructions on how to handle it."
"Handle it?"
"Yeah, and it sounds like Piers disagrees…"
Fox thought for a moment shaking his heads, "You know what, nevermind. If I entertained the thought of who was with who any longer, I'd drive myself nuts."
" It sounds like you already have. Fox, take some down time, your mind is all over the place, I'll supervise the prep work."
"Thanks Pep. I should be good by launch."
"I figured ya would." Peppy said.
The sage-like hare turned on his heel to walk away, but shot a glance over his shoulder, "Hey, do you remember your dad's old advice?"
" Which advise are we talkin'?" chided Fox
"When the time comes, just act."
Fox's eyes went wide, "That was Dad? That was on banners all over the Academy, but I had no idea…."
"Yeah, he was, without a doubt, the greatest flier that old place ever had, so his words were golden. What you don't realize is, more people looked up to him than you realize. Without even knowing who he was, people would see his name at the tippy top of the scoring system and say, 'I wanna be like this James McCloud'"
Fox smirked, "What about the people that flew with him?"
"Even moreso. We teased him cause your mother had him so whipped so early, he didn't do a single immoral thing, unlike the rest of us. Besides that…well, you have memories of your father doncha?"
"Yeah, he was cool, charasmatic, funny, brave….everything I wanted to be."
"Your father had a cult following. Sure the name 'James McCloud' wasn't famous like "Phoenix" wa-"
Before Hare could catch himself, he heard Fox whisper, "Fara…damn it."
"Fox I…."
"No. I have a lot of thinking to do."
And like that, Fox walked out of the room, no formal dismissal
The rest of the morning was uneventful for Miyu Linx. That was, until a certain thought came across her mind while she was talking to Fay, "We can't possibly beat them all can we? There are millions of drones. " she whined
"Of course we can. The other team members have our backs, and I have yours, so don't be such a Negative Nancy okay?" Fay asked, hugging her as she did so.
A small grin crept across Miyu's face at that moment. It felt to her as if she wanted to be in her best friend's arm. The only other time she'd ever felt this way was when she believed herself to be in love
Miyu grimaced at the thought, No no! I'm NOT in love with Fay, She's my best friend and nothing more! She said trying her best to pull away from the hug gentley
As much as she denied the prospect, it wouldn't surprise her if she had fallen in love with her best friend, as they had been there for each other since their primary school days. There was no one that the other could trust more.
Fox on the other hand, was on the opposite side of the love spectrum as it seemed. He sighed, depressed as he looked through an old scrapbook in his bedroom. One picture he came upon was Fara, his old love sitting in Fox's lap, both laughing. She was so much fun. Fox thought to himself.
Just as he began to wimper, Peppy came in, "Hey Fox, I came to see what was the…oh" Peppy sighed when he saw the scrapbook, "There will be others Fox. You're a great guy and…" Peppy began to lecture.
"That's not it Pep. I just refuse that's all. Fara was the one I mean, THE ONE. When I say that, people roll their eyes because Fara was super rich. There was more to it deep down though, deep down there was love involved."
Peppy scoffed jokingly, "I didn't think 'refuse' was a word you McClouds could use. You must've picked it up in that damned public school." He continued
Fox let out a chuckle, "You're right Peppy, but how will I know that this will be able to see past the work that I do and the money that I get, or even the danger of my occupation?"
Peppy smiled, sitting down on the bed, "I remember what that's like, and there will be many like that. There will be this…this feeling that you get, that unexplainable warm and fuzzy feeling. Plus, you'll blush and stutter like you've never done before"
"I've had that with other girls Pep." Fox scoffed, a mocking indigence in his voice.
Peppy nodded curtly, "Yes, but it'll persist. She'll fill you with that completeness, as if you couldn't imagine yourself without her. And, if your work is that important to you, will see that. And knowing the receptive chap you've grown into, you'll see all the things that are important to as well"
Fox grinned, "Thanks a lot Peppy." He said jumping off the bed.
"It's what I do Fox, it's what I do."
Fox walked down the halls and from the sounds of it, Katt and Falco were in the middle of a pretty heated argument, "I get the mattress, you get the bed!" Falco shouted
"No, ladies get the mattress. Besides, you're a big strong man, you can tough it out." Katt shouted louder
Peppy coughed causing the two to peek out of the room, "Do I have to babysit you children? Trust me on this one, within three days, you won't be having this argument if you know what I'm saying."
"Are you kidding me old man? She's here because that idiot General Henry wants me to reveal my past, which I'm not very proud of so that you will look at me as more of a no good punk than you already do."
"Look Falco, I don't…" Peppy started
However, Katt put her paw up, "Look, little man, I didn't want to do this either. He threatened to put me away too. Then he offered me a bonus."
"Look, if you want my affections as much as you act like you do, that's really a bullshit way of doing it."
"Look man, we don't all have the dream gig that you do. In fact, you and I are the only gang members that aren't put away right now, and I barely managed to lay low. On top of all that, I have about a hundred credits to my name, but that's about it. If I'd known it would've ruffled your feathers as much as it has, I wouldn't have done it. I value our friendship too much. I'm sorry."
Falco let his head hang for a moment as he thought. Suddenly, his gaze snapped up to Katt's again, "Alright, but one fishy move from you and it's BAM, outta da sky." Falco shouted, leaving the room in a haste, shoving past Peppy in the process.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Peppy spoke up, "You know that he means well right?"
Katt smiled, as if the argument had never happened, "Yep! You know old Falco, if he threatens your life, it means he loves you."
Peppy shook his head muttering something about youth as the two went their separate ways
Satisfied that the problem had been solved without his intervention, Fox McCloud walked away.
I wonder if Falco could imagine himself without Katt?
Fox let himself chuckle at the thought as he walked into the hangar and saw Slippy examining the Arwings, "I'll tell ya Fox, they're real works of beauty. The Arwings are very complicated little birds, that's for sure. I'm sure I'll be up to the task though."
Fox nodded. Just then, ROB wheeled in, "The time is approximately 11:30 AM and we have made it to the Western Finale Ocean."
Fox nodded his face suddenly turning stern, "ROB, broadcast over the intercom that we are to launch immediately."
"Yes sir." ROB said, wheeling away
Almost immediately after ROB was out of range, his monotone voice blared on the speaker, "Star Fox Team, begin launch procedures."
ROB must have repeated the message one hundred times over, but Fox didn't hear any of them. He jumped into his Arwing, his team did the same in their own ships. One at a time, the Star Fox Team were launched out of the hangar, coming to a sudden stop as they reached their corner of the island.
"Should we….should we open the wings?" Fay stammered
"No" Fox growled, "We wait and see if we get any action."
Just then, a familiar face, the face of General Pepper came onto the screen of every ship, "General Pepper here. The First Tier is getting pounded out there. Second and Third Tiers should be prepared to fleets engage except for Star Fox. Star Fox, you engage only…."
BA-BOOM!
A sound from outside rocked everyone in range to hear it. A dinky looking carrier, similar to the Sand Crab, barreled through the atmosphere. Attached to the underbelly of the carrier was the Armadillo Class machine they had all seen in the briefing. Behind it, an escort of generic looking Venomian Ships, numbering at about 200 came into view
"My radar just went out. We're doing it, we're freaking doing it!" Slippy cheered
From each corner of the island, the other three subsections of the Second Tier converged on the invading force. A dogfight insued, with Cornerian and Venomian craft engaged in an aerial ballet, with the Venomian Carrier. The dogfight was a standstill, with no side gaining the upperhand. But, after a slew of good shots on the Cornerian end, they began to dominate. However, the Venomians didn't stand for it for long, as they retreated in the direction of the city. Fox and company listened to the radio communication as it happened
"Blue leader to White Leader, give me a count on downed Venomian ships."
"White leader here, about 50 from the escort are down, Gold Leader, what about that escort?"
"Gold Leader here, do not engage that craft! The pincers have some sort of reflective armor, 10 of my guys are down because of…..The carrier has dropped its cargo, I repeat, the carrier has drop its cargo into the Hell's Pit mountain reigon. We've successfully thwarted the ground assault."
"Ehhhh I wouldn't count my chickens just yet, Venomian cruisers are still lingering about in our atmophere, but only a few small cargo ones, no weapons on board….Wait what? Why is the carrier stopping?" said White Leader
"OH MY CREATOR! BOMBS!" cried Gold Leader as it went to static
"The ground crew doesn't stand a…" Blue Leader said as he too, was apparently shot down.
"Send in…." White Leader, the only person who seemed content with his fate, said as he too, went to static.
Fox frantically tried to tap into his radio, "Second Tier, come in! Second Tier! Anybody from second Tier?" Fox asked
Nothing
"Shiiiit." moaned Falco
"Check your G-Diffusers and open your wings, we're moving out!"
"Command to Star Fox, do not engage until Katinian forces have engaged the enemy."
"So we're just waiting for Katina to have their crack at getting blown up? Is that it?" Fox asked
"Star Fox Leader, you would do well to address command with more respect."
Fox thought for a minute before patching in to The Great Fox's communications, "ROB, block off any communications from Command, I'd rather answer to them than to Andross."
"Affirmative Captain." ROB droaned
"Aye! That's the spirit!" Piers whooped
"Fox! What are you doing?" demanded Peppy
"Look, the way command is handling this, we're going to lose not only Corneria, but this war. I think it'd be best to call our own shots for now, and then we'll face the music later."
Peppy sighed, "You're the leader for a reason Fox. None of you have a problem with this do you?"
A chorus of 'negative' came through Fox's communication rig.
"Alright, let's…."
Suddenly, three large objects broke through the atmosphere and crashed to the ground.
"Third Tier, what the hell was that?" demanded Fox
"We don't…."
"It ain't over yet…"
Tens of smaller objects entered the fray in a similar fashion.
"Oh my God….TANKS! We can't….GRAHHH!"
Static
"Our firepower isn't heavy enough for….."
CRASH!
Once again, static
"Star Fox Team, engage!" Fox ordered, as the team of mercenaries entered the fray
Just as soon as they began to move into the action, a lone ship flew directly at them, which Akeem shot down.
"A scout. Hmph, if one wishes to be a scout, one must at least be classy about it." he snorted
A fleet of five in a hexagonal formation were their next challengers. Falco immediately clipped the wing of one of the corners of the formation. He spiraled into the middle man, who in turn spiraled into two other ships below him. But, one still survived, and tried to retreat.
"You think THAT was cool, well eat your heart out Beak-Boy." Slippy shouted as he broke formation to go after the lone bogey
"Slippy! What the hell are you doing!" Wisp yelled
The pilot that Slippy was chasing after pulled a loop maneuver, ending up behind Slippy. The toad was smart enough to use the Arwing's superior speed to distance himself from his enemy. This didn't stop his pursuer though.
"Guys, get him off me!" Slippy cried
"That's a Venomian scout ship. Has better flight capability but the weapons are complete crap." Miyu said
"Doesn't stop 'em from throwing me around though." Slippy whined as his cockpit blared red to register hits on his ship.
"Clear the way guys, I've got him." Falco sighed as he destroyed the un-prepared scout ship with a laser.
"Thanks dude." said Slippy in between huge breaths of air
"Slippy, get to your place in formation. Just because we're playing hero, it doesn't make you invincible."
"Right…..I know that now."
Fay interrupted the conversation, " Cut the chatter guys, we've officially made contact with Corneria City."
It was here that the team observed the damage. Whatever had destroyed the Second Tier, Fox surmised, had done the same thing to the city. Corneria's main highway system, which stretched all the way around the planet, connecting Corneria City to the smaller islands and tributaries, had been destroyed. Buildings had had holes blown in them or demolished to mere rubble. Some buildings appeared to have been plucked out of there place and thrown in random directions. As low as Fox and his team flew, acting partially as damage inspectors, they could see bodies of civilians littering the area.
Falco was the first person to break the trend of silence, "This is awful" was all he could utter
"What in Lylat could've done all this?" Bill asked, seemingly shocked as everyone else
"Only Andross would so mindlessly allow destruction for such a superficial cause. It's disgusting." snarled Akeem, as he deployed his scouter robot to survey the damage
"Damn it, I spent so much time with my friends in this part of town. Now all those memories lay in the rubble…" Fay whispered
"No time for memories, stay alert!" yelled Peppy, shooting three tanks patrolling a stretch of highway.
"I've got something on my radar, Akeem, can you ID it?"
"It looks like an old demolition robot, used for construction."
"What the hell?" asked Falco
"They're damaging the skyscrapers, and part of our mission is to prevent damage to the city, so we have to take the demolition robots down. C'mon team, let's go!" ordered Fox McCloud as they jetted off into the distance.
It wasn't long before the team spotted a demolition droid. It was in the process of using its drill-like hands to destroy a sky scraper.
"I've got this." Piers proclaimed as he used a bomb to make the robot explode.
The shrapnel sliced through the side of the building, the sharp side of each bit of shrapnel poking out of the opposite ends, in some of the larger cases, while some of the smaller bits nestled inside of the building.
"Piers, uhhhhh…that's not exactly what I'd call….um….. minimizing collateral." Fay whimpered
Piers just smirked, "There's no robot, we aren't getting gunned down, so what's there to whine about Schoolgirl?"
"HEY!" Miyu shouted, blushing out of anger.
"I will NOT have juvenile name calling in this unit, ESPECIALLY mid mission. Keep your wits about you." commanded Peppy
Just as he said this, a swarm of moth robots dropped down from the broken shell of a skyscraper, having cleverly concealed themselves inside of the half charred building, remaining unseen. The moths proceeded to shoot blinding silver orbs at the Cornerian fleet.
"How the hell do we beat these pesky things?" Wisp snarled, shielding his eyes from the onslaught in front of him.
"Trust your instincts Wisp, you should know that better than anyone."
"I don't got time for no mythology Hare! My shields are getting ripped to Hell."
"Arwings, barrel roll, this should deflect the orbs." commanded Fay
And so, the members of the fleet with The Arwing's barrel roll shield technology went to work. A majority of the shots blasted out in a random direction, but some luckily either destroyed the Mothbots entirely or clipped the wings of the few who were pummeling the older ships, causing them to spiral into each other.
"There's still one left, I got this one" Falco shouted
"Gawd, this isn't a dogfight tiger, you're…." Katt advised in a deadly serious warning tone
But she was too late, Falco had already taken off after the lowly robot.
"Avians and their massive egos." Wisp snarled
"Creator in Heaven teach, now isn't the time for being a racist." Bill snapped
"Well damn it Bill, if you'd actually spoken up every once in a while, I would'nt 'ave forgotten you were still there."
"I don't whine and complain every five seconds like some of us, old man." Bill shot back.
Wisp fumed but a realization from Peppy snapped everyone out of it, "Guys, can the chatter. Falco's got two bogeys tailing him!"
"Yeah," Falco snidely rolled his eyes, "Could you…..CRAP!"
A laser bolt from one of the two Venomian fighters hit Falco's Arwing in the bottom left part of the thruster, causing a huge "POP!" to be heard. Falco could suddenly be seen being jolted upward from a blast. For a split second, everyone stayed silent, for the exception of Katt, who gasped. Just as quickly as it had happened, Falco's visual reappeared again, the avian looking unnaturally panicked now, "Guys, my G-Diffuser's shot as is my control system, could ya try and draw 'em out? I can only fly straight."
"Damn it. He's flying right into an ambush." Akeem snarled
"What?" a now panicked Katt Monroe shrieked
"My camera drones indicate that several saucer-like ships are placed near the two buildings Falco is currently flying between, and my database tells me they're laser touting."
"That wouldn't normally be bad….if Falco's shields and navigation's weren't shot."
"Miyu, Fay, Katt, you take the building on the left, Wisp, Akeem, Piers, you take the building on the right. I'm going for Falco. Peppy and Slippy, you two hang back in case we get uninvited guests."
Like a well oiled machine, the two strike teams Fox had designated took out the laser saucers without as much as breaking a sweat. Fox however, had a much different task at hand. Falco's shields had been reduced to nearly nothing, and he only had one shot.
"FOX, WHAT THE HELL MAN! I'M ALMOST FRIED HERE!"
"Hold on Falco…."
The ships began to inch closer together, likely looking for a grand synchronized finish. That's when Fox, ever the hunter, struck. Locking on to the ship that was only inches higher than the other, Fox fired. The ship was immediately engulfed in a ball of flame. The other pilot had no time to react as the flaming ball of wreckage that was his partner descended upon him, causing him to become a part of the mangled heap of wreckage himself.
"I guess I should uh….be thankful for that." a shaken Falco shuddered
"Hey man, no thank you note required, although I would like one occasionally, considering I save your feathered ass all the damn time." jested McCloud
"Fuck you."
"As hilarious as it is to listen to you guys argue, you need to go back up to the mothership Falco. You've got no shield left, so you're relying entirely on the amount of structural damage the armor can take…." Miyu began, but Fox cut her off
"Not so fast Private Lynx. You know the outskirts of the city pretty well doncha Falco?"
"Yeah, I've done some less-than-legal shit there, if that's what you mean."
"Then you're staying. Falco, Katt, Bill, Wisp form up alongside me, your knowledge of the land around these parts should help us get to the bottom of what's causing this chaos. Piers, you cover them, and be prepared to go apeshit with bombs if we run into trouble, and then maybe we stand a chance at finding the source of all this mayhem."
"I find the term 'apeshit' rather offensive…." Akeem growled, giving off a trademark snarl
"Can it monkey boy, and do what the Captain says." Piers said in a mocking fashion as the team officially crossed the unofficial boarder that separated the city from the wilderness.
As soon as their expedition had begun, the team encountered an obstacle. Two AA guns were mounted on a naturally occurring arch-shaped fixture of rock. To make diving through the hole in the arch impossible, two more AA guns had been planted there. Without hesitation, Wisp emptied his ship's single bomb, aiming it to collide with the arch itself, dismantling the guns on top of, and below it.
"Well I'll be damned" remarked Piers, an impressed look on his face, "I couldn't have done it any better myself."
"Two months of wilderness survival training teach's ya how to make technology and nature yer friends, not two competing entities." Wisp said matter-of-factly
"Oh my Creator, there are more demolition robots just ahead." Akeem informed the group.
"What? What the hell would construction equipment be doing in the friggin outskirts."
"They're twirling buildings literally like batons."
"Forgive me for breaking formation Captain, I like to think of it as planning ahead." Piers explained before he did indeed break formation
"I'm going with him, I've been itchin to get my paws dirty." said Katt as she followed suit.
Piers made it to the open clearing first, where he used a bomb to take out the robot that was twirling his building as if it were a sparkler. Seeing this, the second robot tossed his building at Katt, who artfully barrel rolled her ship to the right to avoid the collision. Swooping downward, she shot a laser at the point where the tank tread wheels and the upper body connected, causing it to explode in a mini mushroom cloud of fire. Just as this happened, the rest of the fleet broke into the clearing.
Falco was the first to speak, "Well damn Katt, we coulda just sent you and Long John over there and you guys woulda torn 'em apart."
"You know it birdbrain" Katt winked
"Guys, I have a lock on Andross' land weapon, just across this creek here."
"I hate to break it to you guys, but it looks like we have company" Peppy warned, "Androssian boats are combing the creek."
"Guys, I got this." Fox said, "Now stand back"
Flying underneath the arches that were set in between the two sides of the creek, he tore through each boat's poorly armed hull, leaving the boats, which only sported a standard AA gun as weapons support, totally unprepared.
"Gotta say Foxie, that was pretty smooth." Falco said with a whistle, obviously impressed
"Hey man, I learned stunt flying from the best. Now let's move."
"Recalling camera drones now, approximately 5 bombers just ahead." Akeem informed the fleet
The team flew forward, near the coastline and as always, Akeem's observation proved correct. As Fox and company barrel rolled and dodged to avoid the nearly endless onslaught of bombs, Falco squinted as if straining to see something.
"Falco, you're squinting. Something wrong?" asked the captain
"No, I'm just trying to get visual confirmation." Lombardi spoke
"Visual confirmation? Of what?
"The target."
"Huh?"
"The carrier. It was behind the clouds, and it went behind the waterfall at 3 o'clock."
Fox looked to his right, where "3 o'clock" would be in military lingo, and saw there was, in fact, a waterfall. Fox mentally cursed himself, as he had made a classic rookie mistake, failing to check his surroundings
Snap back into it McCloud, you could get yourself killed.
"Guys, you heard Falco, follow him behind the waterfall"
And so, the team went through the waterfall, only to realize the bombers had flown over the waterfall.
"Crap, they followed us." the normally quiet and well-mannered Fay cursed
"Not to worry lass." Piers exclaimed, firing a bomb
As it connected with the front most bomber, causing a huge explosion which took the closely packed fleet of bombers out, Piers continued, "Sometimes ya just have to fight bombs with bombs."
Fox examined his surroundings. They had reached the east coast of the Finale Ocean, which seemed to be barely disturbed, if not for the variety of Cornerian fighter parts that lingered in the water. Fox snarled.
The Second Tier never made it here. It looks like they flew into some kind of explosion. What could have possibly wreaked this much destruction? Fox thought
"Well well! Someone wants to PLAY!" a crocodile taunted a huge carrier rocketed in braking the formation.
Fox immediately squeezed the trigger shooting at the nose of the ship, but the shots deflected.
"Peppy, I think that might be the carrier that destroyed Second Tier." Fox said
"What makes you think that? It's a dinky carrier, and besides, no carrier could carry anything that caused that much damage." Wisp asked, his HUD shot looking incredibly confused
Just as Wisp asked this , the hatches opened, and a huge swarm of drones came out of one of the hangars, no bigger than nickels. One drone collided with Slippy, who was distracted analyzing
"What? Drones?" whined Falco, who sounded disappointed
Another drone collided with Slippy, who was still seemingly in his own world, trying to analyze the enemy
"Shit! That thing cut my shield in half! These things are super dangerous."
"Gah! Those things are pelting me. My shield is at 30 percent!" Bill howled in pain.
Wisp rubbed his chin in thought for a second, his muzzle curling into a bizarre smirk, "It looks like these things'll lock on to ya, so everybody, run like hell and hope they don't lock on to ya."
"Also, the barrel roll shield should deflect the drone."
Bill's eyes widened, for the first time, showing fear, "Ummm Fox, not to be a jerk or anything but uhhhh….."
"I know Bill. Piers, cover the older ships with bomb fire."
"Aye aye Captain!" Piers saluted over his HUD shot
As Piers covered the non-Arwings using his many bombs, Peppy spoke up, "Fox, it appears that if we can get a clear shot of the cannons when he launches droids, we can eliminate the offense of this carrier.
"Thanks for the tip Pep"
Fox McCloud turned his attention to his the Arwing pilots in his squad, "All Arwing fighters, keep barrel rolling, I'll…."
Just as he uttered these words, two small drones collided with both his wings, snapping them off.
"Fox! Are you OK?" asked Katt
"Yeah Katt, I am. My arwing though…"
"Fox, you lasers are weakened by %90" ROB informed him as Fox re-oriented the ship to normal position.
Fox shot for the hangars once they reopened. The top right one seemed to shiver and then collapsed on top of the bottom right one. A single ball of fire erupted from the nose of the carrier causing rocking the nose of Fox's ship
"Fox, be careful!" Slippy warned as he noticed the carnage.
Fox attempted to shoot the right hangar. A green ball of energy formed on the nose of Fox's Arwing, as if a laser was prepping to fire, but it fizzled.
"Miyu, Fay, my lasers are shot, and I've got no bombs left, what do I do?"
"Well" Miyu thought aloud, "I guess you're still in the air, so you can work out something, and your boosters should be working at full capacity . Other than that I'm stumped." Miyu said as she took out a flock of drones with a charged shot.
Based on those words alone, Fox was able to form an idea. He flew right into Slippy's flightpath causing the drones to lock on to him, "What happened to us covering the drones?" Falco laughed
"Just work with me bird-brain."
Fox then flew for the carrier, "Ramming me will not work, but I commend your bravery." The croc said laughing.
At the last second, Fox pulled up causing the drones to ram right into the hangars, thereby exploding destroying it in a MASSIVE explosion, "Guys, go to town!" Fox said pulling back.
The eleven ships took turns blasting the hangarless carrier. Suddenly, an explosion from the inside rocked the carrier. A couple more explosions erupted from within the carrier.
"There goes the drone reserve." Piers yelled, laughing heartily as the carrier plummeted into the sea without a word.
The team immediately backtracked, going to Hell's Pit. This area of Corneria was a mountainous region with a small clearing in the middle. The Armadillo, the very ship Fox and company had seen in the briefings, was right before them. As though it were some sort of mechanically twisted predator, it lay in the wake of several totaled Cornerian vehicles, and even more sickeningly, it meddled about in a pit of dead bodies, most of them with all of their bones broken from the machine's massive weight
Slippy gave a fake, overly loud laugh over the HUD as if to break the tension of the carnage, "You guys, this thing's controlled by AI. It shouldn't be too hard." He said
Just as the team was about to fly in, the Armadillo stopped thrashing wildly amongst the carcasses of its victims and turned towards the formation.
"Pull back pull back! It's got something in mind!" Wisp yelled
"C'mon mate! It's just…" Piers began
Without warning, the ship rolled towards one of the small hills and ramped off of it flying right for Peppy. Luckily Fay had fired a Nova Bomb and the Armadillo dropped down in a ball of fire before it connected with Peppy.
"Okay you guys. Report in."
"Falco here, not a scratch."
"This is Slippy and I'm okay."
"This is Katt and other than being a little shaken, everything's purrfect." she said giggling slightly
" I just saw my damned life flash before my eyes!" Peppy yelled, shaking slightly
"Miyu here. I'm a little beat up, but I'm fine."
"Fay here. I'm okay. The ship could be in better shape, but I'm alright."
"This ship's still mine matie, so I haven't got a complaint in the world" Piers laughed
"Sargeant Wisp is A-OK." Wisp yelled
"Bill here, I've got some damage, but there ain't no beatin this ship can't fly away from!" he yelled with a howl.
"Akeem here and everything there are no problems to be reported." Akeem explained
The ships rocketed through the atmosphere of Corneria when Fox noticed something, "Miyu, for being minus a wing here, I'm manuvering this pretty well."
Miyu giggled, "You've got two smaller wings for added stability." she explained.
Fox chuckled, giving Miyu's video feed a look that clearly read, "I'll be damned" as the team jetted back to The Great Fox.
As soon as Fox got out of his Arwing, he observed the scene around him. All of his teammates were exchanging high fives and handshakes of congratulation, along with some light-hearted, playful words of encouragement, except Wisp and Akeem, who occasionally would give nods of acknowledgement to teammates, but nothing more. In the midst of his team basking in the clear victory, he saw a visibly shaken and mortified Peppy. The old hare mouthed, "I need to talk to you."
The two went into the hallway and Peppy cleared his throat clearly trying to compose himself, "The…t-the mission on Corneria…I saw…my life flash before my eyes." Peppy quivered, " I thought I was gonna die I don't think I should be flying no more. Near-death experiences have messed me up so much before, and I think I need to call it quits. I've got Lucy to support, I promised I'd always be there for her."
"Peppy, I understand. Even the great James McCloud talked about retirement. Just at least fly the mission to Meteo with us and I'll ask for a new pilot from Pepper…"
"Now now, I could never leave you guys outright, especially in the middle of a mission. I'll still be around to give you all advice but…an old hare like me doesn't belong in the driver's seat of an expensive military craft."
"Thank the Creator Peppy's still on board! Okay, anybody wanna bet the new pilot's one of Henry's pawns?" Slippy asked,
This comment was met by possibly the most awkward silence of all time as both Wisp and Bill stared coldly in the loudmouthed frog's direction, "No offense" the loudmouth frog yelped
Bill waved his right paw as if to say no comment, but Wisp just snarled and walked away.
Slippy's comment had turned the other team member's attention to the conversation at hand "Gramps, we've always flown with you." Falco protested, Slippy nodding in agreement
"You can't talk me out of it Lombardi. I've finally seen the light, and it's in the Great Fox as tactical enforcement , not in an Arwing, risking my damned neck."
The team chuckled at this. Fox spoke up, "Guys, we exceeded the Army's expectations, hell, we've exceeded our own expectations. We did a damn good job."
"But we technically disobeyed orders. Pepper didn't sound like he wanted us involved to begin with. " Wisp snarled
"That, and command didn't sound too happy at you mouthing off either." Miyu snapped
"We were his only realistic option. If Pepper and Henry don't like what we did out there, I'm willing to put my neck on the line for all of you."
"Fox, has anyone told you you're a sweetheart?" Katt asked, earning a death glare from Falco.
"You call it being a sweetheart, I call it being a good captain. Now, all of you have truly earned a break, so you're officially dismissed." Fox said, smiling as he watched his team of fighters scatter off.
(AN: Here we are again, with improvements and more improvements. The Meteo chapter should remain unchanged, but stay tuned)