Shattered Lylat: The Fragmentation War
Disclaimer 6: I own the identities of Shadow Wing Alpha Company. Their names are taken from characters of the Mega Man X and Metal Gear Solid series. The names are copyright Capcom and Konami, but the characters are mine. And if I forgot to mention this, Captain Rouge Farrell is my character. Captain Jared Elson is also my character
Chapter 7
Lister: Are we doing what I think we're doing?
Kryten: What's that?
Lister: Playing pool with planets.
-From Red Dwarf
***
Meteo, September 24, 2550, 1300 hoursThe Ikaruga blazed a trail through the asteroids, using its shields to deflect any rocks coming too close to its massive hull. Behind it, the 5 escorting warships prepared to fight the incoming Imperials, who were 5 minutes out.
On board the Black Knight, the BlackWolf squadron was preparing to fly out as well, to combat the fighter swarms the Imperials were sure to use.
"ROB-2, we are go for launch" Ed said into his comm. "Open the hangar doors"
"Confirmed, opening doors for launch" ROB-2 responded.
The hangar doors of the battlecruiser opened up, and 5 black Arwings exited. A few cadet MACS and Arwings followed them.
"Nice to know the time on leave didn't hamper your flying, Billy." Ed said to his temporary wingfox.
"Yeah, it is." Billy said in response
Ed looked around. He saw 50 Wolfhounds from the Ikaruga, 15 cadet Arwings, the 12 Shadow Wing Arwings, but only 3 Starfox Arwings. Fox must still be out. Ed thought, feeling regrets at having to KO Fox in order to get him to leave Corneria. It was the only way to get him off Corneria, and you know it. Ed reminded himself. Since Ed and Jason were the two highest-ranking officers, they shared command for this defense mission. Ed keyed his comm to the MAC groups "Okay, all MACS are to stay back and guard the warships. Stop anything we don't catch."
"Affirmative, Captain" replied the leader of the MAC groups, a Captain with the CDF Training Cadre. Ed saw the 30 or so MACS from the Training Cadre fall back to escort the warships. It's too bad we can't get some DSF support, Ed thought to himself. The DSF had suffered over 50% losses of ground troops and over 25% air force losses. They had been evacuated by dropships to the DSF fleet before they escaped to Katina.
Ed then contacted Peppy "Peppy, you had to fight here a year ago, can you give us some tactical advice on what to do and what to expect from the Imperials?"
"Well, the Imperial fighters will try to ambush us from behind the asteroids, or they might send web fighters to box in our warships. They might also use the MACS to ambush us from behind the rocks. To combat this, we should be ready to use nova bombs if necessary to detonate asteroids that the enemy may be hiding behind. Also, we should keep moving and not lose sight of allied fighters. Cohesion is necessary." Peppy responded. "We might also want to use the asteroids to our advantage, for cover and such."
"Ok, sounds good." Ed said. Then he contacted the Ikaruga. "How long before you can reach a safe point for hyperspace?"
"We have a spot 1500 KM ahead. ETA 5 minutes…or so" Captain Forrest replied.
"Okay, continue on course, do not deviate for any reason unless you have to in order to save the ship." Ed ordered
"Affirmative"
Jason Kage's voice cut in "I believe we should have the Phantron stay behind and jump in to Katina tomorrow. We should also have Shadow Wing hold back as an escort."
"Why?" Ed asked.
"The Imperials have no clue that the Royal Family is on board the Phantron, but they will assume that the ship carrying the royals will be one of the first to arrive at Katina. If we have the Phantron run silent at Meteo for a day, the Imperials will completely miss them."
"Are you sure the Imperials have no way to detect the Phantron other than by sight?"
"Yes," came the voice of Captain Robert Smirnov. "In fact, I know there are cavernous asteroids in this area, we can even hide the ship in one to evade detection even better."
"You talked with the Royal Family about this?" Ed asked
"Yes…and they agreed that it was a good plan, specifically, Prince Victor and Dante agreed. Rainier consented after we said he could stay back as part of the escort. Isis always stays with her husband." Jason said
"Okay, we can implement this plan," Ed said, somewhat apprehensive about the risks, but he thought the plan sounded solid, which right now, was what the CDF needed. "Now back to the main issue. Enemy fighter vanguard closing in dead ahead. ETA to contact, 1 minute. All wings report in."
"Cadet-1, we're ready" replied the Training Cadre's squad leader.
"Starfox-2, we're ready" came Falco's report.
"Fortune-1, ready to go" reported Captain Farrell
"Shadow-Beta-1, all fighters go" replied Jason
"Red-1, ready to go." Reported the commander of the Ikaruga's Wolfhound fighters.
Ed was last to report "BlackWolf-1, ready-op. Let's get 'em."
Over 80 Arwings and Wolfhounds flew through the asteroids, ready to take on the swarms of Imperial Invader III and IV fighters, as well as the MACS.
***
ISS Interdiction, Meteo, same time"Sir, we are reading approximately 80 CDF fightercraft heading towards our vanguard." The TO said to Captain Shanix, captain of the Interdiction, an Intimidator-class cruiser.
"Very well, have the MACS ready for ambush, let the vanguard take on the fighters, and get ready for the pincer attack. Launch all web ships to try and cut the CDF warships from escape." Captain Shanix responded
"Roger that, launching Tholus squadron to created web trap." The Air Boss said.
"Soon, these Cornerian fools will be crushed under Caine's iron fist." Shanix said proudly as he watched the two forces of fighters draw closer on the sensor map.
***
Meteo"Contact, 1 km and closing! Preparing to engage!" Reported Cadet-1.
"Roger that, Cadet-1, moving in to cover you." Ed replied "Okay, all fighters, you are clear to engage, but watch for ambushes!"
Up ahead, two of the cadet Arwings released a salvo of LRMS at some distant enemy fighters. Ed could see explosions, but he wasn't sure if any hits had been scored. He boosted ahead to get to the fighting as his radar screen lit up with over 300 enemy contacts. Standard swarming tactics, nothing I haven't seen before, Ed thought as he armed a nova bomb. He gained visual contact on a flight of Invader IVs that were making a break for the capital ships. Ed fired the bomb, and all 20 fighters were obliterated, as well as two asteroids. The asteroid fragments crushed an unwary Invader III. Still more fighters came. Ed went to work on the fighters, Will and Mark following him. The three fighters dodged between the asteroids, taking out Imperial fighters left and right. Then, from behind a large asteroid, 5 Flankers jumped up ready to ambush the pilots. Ed banked left, Mark banked right, and Will went "up" away from the gattling fire. Will took a couple bullets to the right wing, and fought to level out. As the enemy MACS adjusted their aim, Karl and Damien came from behind and used Flechette Maverick Torpedoes to slice through the fragile rear armor of the Flankers, destroying their stabilizing gyros, and tearing apart two of the MACS completely.
A call came in from Falco "I've spotted the enemy capital ships! I read 2 Intimidators, 2 Flayers, and 2 Grazan-IIs."
"Okay, Falco, you distract the capital ships, I'm bringing up my squad to help." Ed said as he boosted towards Falco's position, his squadron close behind. Suddenly, 40 or so webships flew right past Ed. Shit!
"I just saw 40 webships go by headed directly for the Ikaruga!" Ed reported "They may be trying to box in the capital ships!"
"Confirmed, BlackWolf-1," reported the MAC leader "We'll handle them."
Confident the MACS could do the job, Ed continued leading his squadron towards the enemy fleet.
***
Group Captain Jared Elson of the CDF Academy Training Cadre activated his Galvatron's weapons as soon as he heard Ed's report on incoming webships. As the first contacts showed up on his radar, Elson leveled the MAC's assault rifle in the general direction of the contacts, and hit his overboosters. The first webship drifted into his sights, and he opened fire. The tracers flew on target, hitting the webship dead on. The fragile ship twisted and exploded as the bullets punched holes though its thin armor.
"Splash one, everyone pick a target and get to it!" Elson shouted to his MAC squadron.
The cadets fought surprisingly well, cutting down 15 more of the lightning fast webships before they reached the capital ship fleet. The webships blew by the Ikaruga, and began to weave a massive blocking web only 2km in front of the fortress vessel.
- "Somebody find a way to take out this web!!" Captain Forrest yelled
"I have a plan" came ROB-2's metallic response.
The Black Knight's omni cannons fired two plasma bolts at the web. The plasma exploded, melting away the web, and engulfing 10 of the webships in the blast. The remaining 14 webships fled, laser and machine gun fire chasing them back.
"Good thinking, ROB-2." Forrest said.
"Thank you" ROB-2 said
Elson contacted Ed "BlackWolf-1 this is Defender-1. The webships are in retreat."
"Good work, Group Captain. Return to defense stance" Ed responded
***
Ed flew between two asteroids, which collided together, crushing two pursuing Invader III fighters. Ed looked ahead, and saw the 6 Imperial warships progressing thorough the asteroids. Ed checked his radar, and saw that the training cadre's Green squadron, along with Starfox, Shadow Wing, and his own squadron, were nearby and in perfect position to strike.
"Green Squadron, Starfox, and Shadow Wing, form up on me." Ed ordered.
30 Arwings and 10 Wolfhounds formed up with Ed's Arwing. They closed on the capital ships. When they were 5 km away, the remaining webships dropped in front and tried to weave a web to stop the fighters. The 40 CDF ships simply slipped through the gaps and eliminated the webships. One of the Intimidators opened fire with its defense lasers, but was not scoring any hits. Ed, Mark, Will, Jason, Katya, Damien, Karl, and Falco flew in and opened fire on the enemy cruisers engines The missiles hit, and the engines blew out. The ship kept going however, due to the laws of physics, and crashed right into the web. The web sliced through the ships armor and deck plating like a hot knife through butter. The ship exploded into massive fragments, and the explosions broke apart the web as well. The other fighters swarmed around the carriers, destroying them with Nova Bombs. One of the Flayers tried to hit Ed with its Naval Laser beam, but Ed fired a salvo of LRMS at the focusing lens, shattering it. The laser beam deflected backwards into the frigate's fusion core, taking it apart in a giant explosion.
"The two remaining warships are accelerating!" Slippy reported "Also, remaining enemy fighters are falling back!"
"Looks like we pissed them off, now let's have them try and chase us down. All ships back to the battlegroup!" Ed reported.
Ed was the last to leave, expertly dodging a missile salvo and a few autocannon bursts. As Ed dodged between asteroids, the Flayer blasted them apart in an effort to cancel Ed's ticket. Ed hit the retro thrusters and fired a nova bomb at some metallic asteroids. The blast shoved 3 asteroids at the Flayer and the Intimidator. The Flayer barely dodged the first, but the second hit it amidships. The fully charged laser capacitors detonated as the asteroid crushed the frame of the Imperial frigate. The frigate jackknifed as its autocannon ammo detonated, and blew the front of the ship apart. The back end remained welded to the asteroid, as two bent and charred stabilizing forks spun off into the darkness. The asteroid the Flayer dodged rammed the Intimidator, which was the ISS Interdiction, head-on, crushing the forward decks. The ship spun to one side as it fought explosive decompression, and then the third asteroid hit the bridge, decapitating the ship, and taking some of the higher decks along for the ride. The ship shuddered from subsidiary explosions, then the lights failed, leaving a dark, lump of metal tumbling through an asteroid field. Captain Shanix never saw it coming.
"All capital ships eliminated!" Ed said. And by a nice trick shot if I may say so myself. He thought.
"Yeah, I saw that." Mark said, "What were you thinking?! 8 ball, corner pocket?"
"Maybe…yes…exactly…" Ed said. Ed had been known as one hell of a pool player in the Academy, using his unerring accuracy from firearms training to pull of incredible trick shots.
"Well, whatever works." Falco said "Looks like the remaining Imperials are bugging out. Guess they aren't so tough without capital ships to back them up."
"Good, we are now ready to make the jump to Katina." Captain Forrest reported. "We are going with Rook and Castle, Great Fox and Black Knight will follow 5 minutes later. Also, we are picking up a transmission from the Great Fox. It's from the cadets guarding Fox. They say Fox wants to talk with Ed, on the observation deck of the Great Fox…alone"
"Tell Fox I'll be there." Ed said without delay. He probably wants to kill me for forcing him off Corneria, but maybe I can get him to rationalize. Ed thought.
Ed flew into the hangar of the Great Fox just as the Ikaruga and its two escorting Rook cruisers jumped to Katina.
***
Great Fox observation deck, 30 seconds laterEd walked past the two cadet soldiers standing guard, and up to Fox, who was staring out the window at Corneria.
Without taking his gaze from the window, Fox spoke softly "I'm unarmed…you can tell the cadets to leave, because this is between us."
Ed gestured for the cadets to leave. The one in charge, a black bear, started to protest, but Ed gave him a sharp glare. The bear silently left with his partner. When they left, Ed turned back to Fox "What do you want now? Besides my head on a spear."
For a second, Fox said nothing, then he spoke again, "Why?"
"What?"
"Why? Why did you knock me out?"
"You were beyond reason. You were going to try and save Fara even though she was obviously beyond help."
"You didn't know that!"
"Yes I did, and so did you, but you couldn't see that it was a lost cause! You were determined to save somebody's life for a change, rather than hear about someone dying and then wishing you were there! But if you had gone out there, you would have been killed too!" Ed shouted
"So…a lost cause…well, since I seem to chase after them a lot, it's time to change. I think I'm going to quit. Fighting to stop the Imperials has become a lost cause since we lost Corneria."
"You're going to quit flying and fighting against oppression because you couldn't save Fara."
"Exactly"
Ed couldn't believe this. The greatest pilot Corneria ever had was going to up and quit because he couldn't save someone. He spun Fox around.
"Listen! I know you're upset that Fara died and you couldn't save her! But what you have to understand is that shit like that happens! Sure, you'll be sad, and want to give up, but you have to get over it! Because if you don't, Fox, there is going to be more than one Corneria, and you may be called upon to avenge more than one Fara Phoenix! Also, if you quit now, what kind of a way is that to honor Fara? She died protecting the Davidsons. She died for Corneria! And now you need to make sure her death wasn't in vain!"
Fox stood there, stunned. His brain absorbing all that Ed had said. He's right…damn it he's right! I have to avenge her, and end this war before more good Lylatians like her die!
"Ed…you're absolutely right. I can't quit now…can't quit ever! I owe it to Fara to take back Corneria, find the ones responsible for her deat, and make…them…pay!"
"Knew you'd come around eventually…sorry about having to force the point into you…twice."
"No, I'm sorry. I should have realized after you hit me that it was the right thing to do. By the way, I heard the Phantron is staying behind for 24 hours with the Royal Family and General Pepper, is that true?"
"Yeah…" Ed said apprehensively.
"Worried about Katya?"
"To be honest, I'd be more worried if Katya was jumping in with us now. With the Davidsons in hiding, the Imperials will never be able to find them; they definitely won't expect a 24 hour wait for the Royal Family to arrive."
"Better get back to the Black Knight, we're jumping out soon."
"Okay, see ya on the other side." Ed said as he turned and left.
Ed flew back to the Black Knight just before it made the jump to Katina.
***
ISS Andross, Corneria Orbit, same time
"I don't fucking believe this! They escaped! So much for assassinating the royal family!" Josef Caine shouted.
The shadowy figure spoke up "Not to worry, we have the royals right where we want them. As I speak, two of my best agents are…shall we say 'persuading', two members of Shadow Wing to betray their own comrades."
"Excellent."
***
SWS Phantron, Meteo, same timeIvan Marlowski walked down the hallway leading to his personal quarters on board the Phantron. The cougar entered his quarters and turned on the light. He paused, for sitting on his bed was a lithe tigress wearing a Shadow Wing pilot's uniform. Well…almost wearing. The jacket was unzipped, and Ivan could see she wasn't wearing anything underneath it.
"Uh…" Ivan said "Who are you, and how did you get in here?"
"Who I am is not important right now. All you need to know is that I've been waiting for you, Sergeant Ivan Marlowski." The tigress answered as she slowly got up.
"Wait…how did you know my name?"
"I will answer your questions in due time, but first…" the tigress let the jacket drop.
"Uh…" Ivan said again as he stared at the tigress's naked chest.
"Like what you see?" the tigress asked as she walked towards Ivan
"Y-y-y-yes."
"Why are you nervous? You know you want this…I can tell." The tigress added as she put her hand on Ivan's crotch.
By now Ivan's mind had almost completely shut down. Hmm…have sex with a tigress I never met who may or may not be a Shadow Wing pilot. Well, seeing as how I couldn't get any off of Katya or Jenna, he reasoned…
"Uh…Ok."
"Thought you might say that" The tigress said as she suddenly flung Ivan onto the bed and then stripped off her pants. Ivan noticed that she wasn't wearing any panties either. The tigress straddled Ivan and began to remove his pants…
*** 30 minutes later- Ivan stared at the ceiling of his quarters. The tigress lying next to him.
- "That was…amazing." Ivan said to her
"Thanks. You weren't so bad yourself." The tigress responded almost lazily.
"Now, I think I might be time for some answers. Who are you and what do you want with me?" Ivan asked as he turned to face her.
"My real name is unimportant," The tigress began "I go by the name of Neon Tigress. I am an operative of the Shadow Wing Alpha Company."
Holy SHIT!!!!!
Ivan's mind shouted. He had known the Alpha Company was secret, but having code names and being able to infiltrate another Shadow Wing vessel with ease was something he had never expected. "So, what do you want with me?""Well, I and the rest of the company have decided that the CDF cannot win this war, so we've switched sides."
"What?! That's treason!"
"Treason is a word used by the ones felt betrayed." Neon Tigress continued. "The fact is, I was sent here to recruit you. Switch sides, and become an Alpha Shadow like us."
"I'm, not so sure…" Ivan said as he slowly reached for the 9mm pistol he kept under his bed in a secret compartment.
"Take your time to think," Tigress said.
Ivan grabbed his 9mm and brought it up, only to find a magnum leveled at his forehead. "Done thinking?" Neon Tigress asked
"I may be elitist, but I don't see why changing sides is so great." Ivan said, not moving his gun away from Neon Tigress's head.
"How does $2 million sound?"
"Well…"
"How about $2 million…and me?"
"DONE!" Ivan almost shouted. She should've just said she'd be my bitch. I wouldn't have cared about the cash. Ivan put the gun down, so did Neon Tigress. "So, are you recruiting anyone else?"
"Not me, specifically. Another operative of ours is "recruiting" you friend Doug Cronin. You were both selected due to your elitist views."
"I see. So, what exactly do you want me to do, now that I'm part of the Alpha Company?"
"Well, first you must prove your worth. For that, you need to tell me where Prince Davidson and General Pepper are and when they will be arriving at Katina."
"So you can assassinate them?"
"Call it what you will, I prefer deletion."
"They're on the Phantron, and will be jumping to Katina in 24 hours…but what will happen to my ex-comrades?"
"Alpha Company plans to attack and wipe out all Shadow Wing Beta Company forces along with the Royal Family and General Pepper. Of course, you and Cronin will survive."
"Whose idea was that?"
"Emperor-General Caine's. You sure you still want to go through with this?"
Ivan thought. It would serve them right for wanting to betray the true intentions of Shadow Wing. Fine, they are dead to me. "Yeah, I'll still go through with this."
"I thought you would." The tigress said as she got up
"Leaving so soon?"
"Unfortunately, yes. But we will meet again." She handed Ivan a CD while she was getting dressed. "This disc has all the information about our attack plan, and what you and Doug need to do."
"You're sure Doug will agree?"
"Trust me." With that, the tigress exited Ivan's quarters, leaving the cougar to think about what he had done. My path to greatness begins here… he thought as he grinned evilly.
***
Phantron, Jeffries Tube 13-B, 10 minutes later
Neon Tigress crouched inside the Jeffries tube as a female wolf crawled up to her. The wolf was also wearing a Shadow Wing pilot's uniform.
"You're late, Sniper Wolf." The tigress said
"I'm sorry, but Doug couldn't resist another round…and neither could I" the Wolf said with a toothy grin on her face.
"So, he's in as well?"
"Yes, as is Ivan I'm guessing."
"Yes. In 24 hours the attack will commence, and the Royal Family and General Pepper…will die."
"You left out the part about our misguided brethren being annihilated." Sniper Wolf said as she grinned even wider.
"Quiet, I didn't forget. Look, how long do you think we can have Doug and Ivan think we actually like them?"
"What do you mean 'think'? I happen to like Doug a lot. Sure, he's an elitist bastard, but he has a caring and compassionate side."
"Well, to be honest, I kinda like Ivan, although I think he may be a little too elitist." Tigress admitted.
"Oh, I think you can take care of that…" Sniper Wolf said as she giggled lightly.
"Heh…so do I. Enough aside, though, we should get out of here before those two go looking for us…or start talking about us." Neon Tigress said as she crawled to an airlock hatch and attached a codebreaker to the lock. The codebreaker opened the airlock hatch without setting off internal alarm systems. Sniper Wolf and Neon Tigress donned space suits and clambered into the airlock accessway. The airlock silently cycled them through, and the two Shadow Wing agents stepped out into space, the magnetic space boots gripping onto the Phantron's hull. The two agents walked along the hull until they reached two dark gray Arwings that were also magnetically attached to the cruiser. The two agents climbed into the fighters and took off, the Arwing's stealth generator keeping them from being discovered.
***
Phantron Mess Hall, 2 minutes laterIvan walked up to the table where his friend Doug Cronin was sitting. Ivan could see the Gryfalcon was smoking a cigarette, which was the only habit Ivan had a problem with.
"You know if Captain Kage catches you with that, he's going to give you hell." Ivan said as he sat down.
"I don't care what he thinks, seeing as how he'll be dead in 24 hours. And besides, how else am I supposed to celebrate the best sex I ever had?" Doug replied raspily as he blew smoke rings.
"Not so loud. This isn't a secure location." Ivan said.
"Not my fault your self-image forbids you from meeting in one of our quarters."
"Look, that's besides the point. Just keep your voice down." Ivan looked around. There weren't that many crewmembers in the mess hall. The nearest one was 5 tables down. Still, he wasn't one to leave things to chance. Ivan pulled out his laptop. "Let's see what Alpha Company wants us to do, and what their plan of attack is." Ivan said as he slid the disc that he got from Neon Tigress into his CD Drive.
Both soldiers spent 10 minutes looking over the data. The plan seemed solid enough. The Beta Company would never see it coming
"This plan can't fail, Ivan." Doug said quietly "We're going to be famous as the assassins of the Davidsons."
"Not to mention our misguided ex-comrades." Ivan replied as he closed the laptop. "Remember, act like nothing is unnatural." Ivan stood up and walked out of the mess hall.
END CHAPTER 7
