Chapter 7
Reality turned upside down as the Excalibur jumped. Seconds seemed to stretch into hours, and the senses of every soul on board were assaulted by nameless sounds and colors. Fox recovered from jumpshock quickly, having prepared himself for it before the jump. Falco was not as lucky, and was looking like he was nursing a hangover. The pilots of Alpha Wing were already on the flight deck, ready for the order to launch. Lt. Cmdr. Amanda "Mustang" Reynolds, Chris's Alpha Wing counterpart, was examining her Simitar, making sure that it was ready for combat. Fox smiled, knowing how all the Terran pilots must be feeling.
"Man, I really hate that," Falco said, still recovering from jumpshock.
---
Captain O'Neill shook off the effects of jumpshock. Around her, the bridge crew were doing the same. Lt. Cmdr. Johnson was present as well, anxious to know what they were getting in to.
"Captain," an ensign said, "New contact, bearing one-two-zero mark three, distance, ten kilometers. A comet, sir. A big one."
"How big?" O'Neill asked.
"Fourteen kilometers."
Chris narrowed his eyes. O'Neill took a deep breath, then turned to the Tactical officer.
"Scramble fighters, Mr. Ramirez. Battle Stations."
"Yes ma'am," Ramirez said, then hit a button, "Battle Stations! Battle Stations! Scramble all fighters!"
Chris snapped off a quick salute before bolting for the door.
---
"Battle Stations! Battle Stations! Scramble all fighters!"
Krystal heard the order, and felt the increase in tension that followed. Alpha Wing's four squadrons would launch first, establishing a perimeter around the carrier before Delta Wing and the shuttles launched. Confed Marines were loading up into the shuttles that would ferry them to their destination. She saw Fox following a group of marines, and ran over to join him.
"Fox," she said, getting the vulpine's attention, "Are you ready for this?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," he replied, "You?"
Krystal nodded. Her hand brushed up against her staff, which was hanging from her belt. Before entering the shuttle, she gave Fox a quick hug, eliciting a round of cheers from the marines that were poking their heads out from the hatch.
"Can it, marines," Fox said after Krystal released him, "We got a job to do."
"You heard the man," the sergeant said, "Get back in line."
---
Chris entered the flight deck, eager to kick some butt. He was half way to his Rapier when Sean, William, and Reanna caught up to him. They were all wearing their flight suits, and were carrying their helmets. Chris smiled, happy to have his friends to back him up.
"You guys ready?" Chris asked.
"Let's kick the tires and light the fires," William said.
"You know it, Chris," Reanna chimed in.
"The enemy won't know what hit 'em," Sean quipped.
The pilots banged their helmets together, something they picked up from an old twentieth century movie, and broke for their fighters.
Chris climbed into the cockpit of his Rapier, put his helmet on, and powered up the fighter. Quickly running through the preflight checklist, he made sure that everything was ready for battle.
"Knight One, ready for launch," he reported. The rest of the squadron reported in, good to go. The four Cornerian pilots joining them followed suit. Foxie, Slippy, Falco, and Katt sounded like they were ready to take on the galaxy. Alpha Wing was already out in space, and it was now Delta Wing's turn for launch. Chris's Rapier was maneuvered into position, with Foxie's Arwing pulling up on his left. The catapult took hold of the Rapier, and shot it through the air lock. The rest of the Black Knights followed, forming on their squadron leader. Within minutes, there were a hundred fighters in space surrounding the TCS Excalibur. Three shuttles soon followed, flying with about as much grace as a brick with engines.
"Alright ladies, form up. We got a job to do," Chris said over the radio. Before anyone could reply, the radar lit up like a Christmas tree. Multiple targets, the size of Hornets, came swarming out from several places on the comet.
"What the…" Falco exclaimed, "We're about to get swarmed!"
"Lock and load!" Chris gave the age-old call, and put the mask over his face.
"Alpha Wing's got your back, Rattler," Reynolds said. Chris accelerated his Rapier, leading the rest of the Confed fighters into combat.
"Dragon squadron, stay with the shuttles. Everybody else, let's send these demons back to hell," Chris ordered. Space lit up with deadly energy as the enemy fighters opened fire. The pod shaped craft spat fireballs at the oncoming fighters. The humans retaliated with lasers and other energy weapons. The Cornerian pilots joined the fray, cannons blazing.
---
Krystal watched as the battle began. She was starting to wish that she was in the cockpit of her Arwing, instead of this "Flying Brick", as the marines liked to call the shuttle. The determination that she was sensing from the pilots, and even the marines, could be cut with a knife. It seemed that the Demons were prepared to defend their base, but weren't well trained to counter the oncoming fighters. Fox watched the battle as well, hoping that his teammates would make it out of this alive.
"Pilots always have it easy," one of the marines said, "They fly, while we're in the trenches, fighting for our lives."
"Yea, well, you ground pounders don't have to worry about being killed out here. Most of the time," Fox said, in defense of all pilots.
The battle raged around the shuttles. Dragon Squadron already shot down several enemy ships that got too close, and the shuttles were making good time. The shuttle pilot was listening to the radio chatter from the Confed pilots. There was a lot of cursing, yelling, and ordering. Krystal smiled, sensing what Fox was thinking about Terran comm. discipline. She turned back towards the marines that they were joining. The shuttle lurched to the side, nearly throwing her into the bulkhead. One of the marines was actually asleep, even with all the noise and shaking.
"We're over the target, hang on," the pilot said.
One of the marines, a young male Terran, yelled something about an elevator to hell just as the shuttle dove for what looked like a hanger.
"YEEHAW!!!" another marine, this time female, yelled. She was obviously enjoying the ride. Krystal held on to the rail above her head to avoid a less than graceful fall to the deck.
"Thanks for the escort, Dragon One. You can go join the party now," the pilot said. Dragon One, piloted by a Lt. "Ripsaw" Diaz, responded casually, that led the rest of the squadron back to the battle.
After passing through some sort of energy barrier, the shuttle landed. The marines checked their weapons.
"Ma'am, here. Take this," the sergeant said, tossing a rifle to the Cerenian. Krystal caught the weapon, and looked it over. This one was a projectile weapon, fully loaded and ready to go. A few of the marines were armed with laser rifles, but most of them preferred the faster rate of fire offered by the assault rifle she was holding. The sergeant walked over to the hatch, then noticed the sleeper.
"Every time," he groaned, "Somebody wake up Hicks."
---
Foxie pulled back on the stick. Her Arwing, the one that Chris had used, responded faster than she was used to. Of course, her old fighter was a Mk. Three, while the ones that were assigned to this reality's Star Fox team were Mk. Fives. Years of war with the Zentradi in her universe may have slowed the advance of fighter technology, but not the skills required to fly in one. She paired up with Lt. Davis, Chris's best friend, and fellow pilot in the Black Knights. Chris had Lt. Wilkins join him, while Falco worked with Slippy. Katt was flying with Lt. English, and proving that she was just as skilled as any pilot.
"Blaze, you picked up a bandit!" Chris's voice cut through the channel. Foxie saw it, a "Death pod" tailing Sean's Rapier.
"I can't shake 'em!" Sean exclaimed, trying to evade. Foxie lined up on the target, and pulled the trigger. Bolts of emerald fury slammed into the Death pod's armor, and sliced through. The pod exploded, sending debris in all directions.
"Thanks for the save," Sean said.
"Anytime," Foxie replied.
"Chalk up another one!" Reanna cheered, blasting another enemy with laser fire. Foxie barrel rolled, evading a fireball. She pulled in behind the enemy that tried to fry her. Deciding to try one of those missiles jury-rigged to her fighter, she switched on the missile lock. After several seconds, Foxie got a solid tone, indicating a good lock.
"Take this!" she snarled, slamming her thumb down on the button. The Confed IR missile leapt from under the G-Diffuser, the only place they could mount them, and made a bee-line for the Death pod. The Demon fighter tried to evade, but the missile stubbornly refused to be shaken off. Slamming into the rear of the pod, the missile detonated. The explosion ripped the Demon fighter apart.
Chris blasted through the debris of yet another enemy fighter. Looking around, he was amazed that they hadn't lost anyone yet. There were maybe hundreds of enemy fighters out there, yet the Terrans, along with four Cornerians, were beating the crap out of them. Sure the Demons were lousy shots, but there were still a lot of them. He lit up another pod with his particle cannons, sending the Demon pilot back to the pit that spawned it.
"Either these guys suck, or they have no idea how to fight in a furball," Reanna said over the radio. Chris smiled, thinking the same thing.
"Keep up the pressure, guys," Chris called out, then went back to adding to his kill score.
---
The marines pelted down the stone corridor. Fox and Krystal kept up, weapons ready. They had proceeded almost completely unopposed, until the ambush they ran into a couple corners ago. Several winged Demons, aided by snake-like beings, got the drop on the strike team. They managed to break away, but now found themselves being pursued by four-legged "Hellhounds", as one of the marines called them. Fox pulled the pack off his back, reached inside, and pulled out several sensor mines. Slipping the straps back over his shoulders, he armed the mines one at a time, chucking them into the wall as he went. Not long after he set the last one that the first one went off. A series of explosions followed, indicating that there were quite a few hellhounds on their tails.
"In here!" the sergeant called out, "Go, go, go!"
The team ran through the door into a large, cavern like room. There, in the center, stood their objective. The power core that they were sent to go after was huge, reaching the ceiling easily. There were several consoles around the base of the massive glowing pillar, as well as a freestanding ring made of some sort of blue-black metal.
"Set the charges," the sergeant ordered. The marines got busy setting explosive charges on the pillar, and everything else. Fox took out a scanner, and scanned the ring. The results didn't make any sense, even after double-checking.
"What the…" Fox said, "This ring is made of solid Neutronium!"
"Neutronium? That's not possible," Krystal said. She had heard of the material before, said to be nearly indestructible. Neutronium was so dense, that current technology couldn't do squat with it. If the Demons were advanced enough to process the stuff, then they would be a serious threat.
"Do you honestly think that you'll be leaving here alive?"
Everyone turned, weapons ready. Krystal narrowed her eyes. It was the hooded figure that challenged them on the Snakier back in the Lylat system. This time, he was armed with an evil looking sword. She sensed what could only be described as a dark aura surrounding the blade. Without thinking, Krystal snapped the borrowed Assault rifle to her shoulder, and pulled the trigger. The hooded figure brought the sword up, easily blocking the bullets with the blade. With his other hand, he sent lightning from his fingertips towards Krystal. The blast knocked the rifle out of Krystal's hands and sent her flying into the wall.
"Krystal!" Fox yelled, drawing his blaster. Taking aim at the enemy, Fox unleashed a devastating barrage of energy. The marines opened fire, adding to the Cornerian's attack. With a swing of his sword, the hooded one sent everyone flying.
Krystal picked herself up off the ground, pulling her staff from her belt. After extending the staff to its full length, she charged at the Demon, who was standing over Fox. The blade hovered over Fox's chest. Fox tried to reach for his fallen blaster, but his adversary hit it with a lightning bolt. The blade came down, and Fox squeezed his eyes shut.
CLANG!!!!
"I don't think so!"
Fox opened his eyes, and saw the end of Krystal's staff pushing back against the evil looking blade. Krystal flung the tip of the blade up and away from Fox, and positioned herself between him and the Demon.
"No one stands between Balrog and his victim," the Demon snarled.
"You want Fox? Then you'll have to get past me," Krystal replied in kind.
Balrog pushed his hood back, revealing burning red eyes. He looked over his new opponent, and stepped back in surprise.
"A Cerenian? Impossible!" Balrog roared. Krystal stood her ground. The Demon tightened his grip on the sword.
"Fox, get out of here," Krystal called back over her shoulder. Fox got up, dashing for Krystal's fallen rifle. Lightning followed the vulpine as he dove for the weapon. Krystal slammed her staff into the enemy, knocking him off balance.
"Krystal, let's get out of here!" Fox yelled.
"Go!" Krystal replied, "I'll be right behind you!"
Fox hesitated, then nodded. Calling for the marines, Fox bolted for the door. Krystal glared at the Demon.
"I thought your kind was destroyed!" Balrog spat.
"What do you mean?" Krystal growled, ready to strike.
"We destroyed Cerenia! We made sure none survived!"
Krystal's eyes went wide. The Demons were the ones that destroyed her homeworld, and killed her parents. Tightening her grip on her staff, she charged at the evil being.
