The Intense fighting in Corneria's orbit raged on, with Cornerian and Venomian ships still blazing laser and setting one another ablaze. Fighters chased and shot each other to pieces with laser fire and cruisers and destroyers blazed laser beams that sliced one another apart in fiery explosions... and all to defend the two principle capital ships in the heat of the fierce battle, the Cornerians' Valkyrie and the Venomians' Lesokor... and the two vessels were approaching menacingly towards one another.
But the Lesokor wasn't the only threat the Valkyrie was facing, as Venomian boarders were still inside the ship. Cornerian marines were fending some of them off in the hangar bays, but slowly, the enemy was getting closer towards the bridge of the capital ship... And that was something Krystal and her comrades would need to fix immediately.
Once the hangar was clear, Krystal and Wolf exited the bay and entered into a large corridor, followed by Fox, Falco and some Cornerian soldiers. They moved down and came to several Cornerian soldiers fighting some Venomians in the hallway, blazing some laser that shot a few of the enemy soldiers down. Taking cover behind a crate in the hallway, Krystal fired some laser and shot several enemies down as the Cornerian soldiers with her joined in on the fight, blasting some laser rounds that pinned a few Venomians. While Wolf fired some laser and gunned down several other enemies, Venomian gunfire blazed and took a few Cornerians down, but the marines fired laser bolts back and blasted a few enemy boarders to the ground. Fox and Falco fired some shots and pinned a couple Venomians down, and while Fox blazed some cover fire, Falco threw a grenade that took out an enemy defensive position.
Krystal fired laser shots and fried a few more Venomians as Wolf blasted a couple others. However, the fierce skirmish continued, for several other Venomians came in, blazing a flurry of lasers that shot a few Cornerians down and forcing them into cover. Fox and Falco fired some shots and took down a few soldiers as the other Cornerian soldiers fired a hail of laser fire that gunned several other enemies down. After some fierce fighting, the enemy resistance dwindled and after Krystal fired some laser and hit a few more enemies, the Venomian force was eliminated, with a couple remaining falling back further down the corridor.
"Those bastards are fallin' back," Falco stated, "Let's get to the bridge."
"Come with me," Krystal said to the marines, "They're diminishing."
Krystal, Wolf, Fox, Falco and the Cornerian marines all moved down the hallway, and as they went down, a couple of doors on each side of the hall, further down opened up and Venomian soldiers from those rooms opened fire, gunning a couple Cornerians down. Taking cover by the hallway walls, some Cornerian marines fired some laser back, hitting a couple enemy soldiers while pinning a few others back. As the fierce skirmish went on, Krystal fired some laser fire and shot a few Venomians in the rooms further down while Wolf blasted a couple others from behind a crate, though a couple more Cornerians were gunned down.
In some vicious fighting, Krystal fired her rifle and hit a few enemy soldiers with laser fire as some Cornerian soldiers fired laser blasts of their own and gunned a few other enemies down. After Wolf shot a couple other soldiers down, the Cornerians moved up to the rooms where the Venomians were coming from, with Krystal and Wolf going up to one of the rooms. After taking position by room's entrance, Wolf got the door to open, which was followed with the few Venomians inside to blaze some laser bolts in their direction. After taking cover by the entrance walls and dodging the plasma attack, Krystal and Wolf fired a hail of laser fire into the room, frying the enemy soldiers inside in fierce gunfire before Wolf then threw a grenade into the room that destroyed an enemy stationary turret. Fox and two Cornerian soldiers fired some laser into a separate room across the hall from Krystal and Wolf, clearing the Venomians inside.
"Keep moving down the hall." Wolf ordered.
The Cornerian soldiers continued to run further down the hall, followed by Krystal, Wolf, Fox and Falco as they all aimed to get closer towards the bridge of the Valkyrie. They all then took a turn to their right, going down a separate hall where they came upon a squad of Venomians that were aided by an enemy machine gun emplacement. As soon as their enemy came into their view, the Venomian soldiers blazed some gunfire that hit a few Cornerian soldiers while the Venomian machine gun laid down a furious volley of plasma that forced the Cornerians into cover and pinned them down.
"Shit," Wolf said, "They have a machine gun!"
"Will someone nail that bastard!" Fox demanded.
Once behind some cover, the Cornerian marines fired some laser fire back and shot down a few Venomian soldiers. As the fierce skirmish raged, Krystal shot a couple enemies, until the enemy machine gun fire forced her back into cover by a wall. In response, Fox and Falco blazed some plasma rounds at the machine gun, offering some cover fire that got the enemy gunner's attention on them. With the gunner focused on those two, Krystal and Wolf fired some laser and shot a few more enemies down.
Venomian rifle fire and machine gun fire blasted a couple more Cornerians down, but as Fox and Falco kept offering suppressing fire on the gun, the Cornerians fired some laser back and gunned a few enemy soldiers down. The Venomian machine gunner kept blazing flurries of laser, but as Fox and Wolf continued blasting some suppressing fire on the gun, Falco threw a grenade over at the emplacement, destroying it in a blast. After some vicious fighting, Krystal fired some laser and shot the remaining couple Venomians, and the enemy resistance in the halls were finished.
With the fighting over in the halls, the Cornerian marines emerged from their cover and started moving further down the halls. As he came out from behind a corner, Falco noticed an elevator door at the end of the hall. "That elevator leads to the life support bay," Falco stated as he pointed to the elevator, "From there, we can get on an elevator that goes right to the bridge."
"That's it," Wolf said, "Seems easy enough."
"Just keep moving." Fox said sternly to the others.
Knowing this, Krystal, Wolf, Fox, Falco and a few other marines all went over to the elevator and entered, before activating it to go up to the life support bay. Once the doors reopened, they saw another skirmish before them in the life support bay, with several Cornerian soldiers firing hails of laser at some Venomian soldiers in vicious fighting. All holding their cover behind several control panels in the room, the Cornerians and Venomians kept blazing laser fire at one another, gunning a few of each other down with flurries of laser as the fierce skirmish continued to rage.
Rushing to cover behind a control panel, Krystal and Wolf fired some laser and shot down a few Venomian soldiers, then they blazed some cover fire that pinned a couple enemies down. As the Cornerians and Venomians kept blasting away at each other and shooting a couple more of the other down, Fox, Wolf and the Cornerians blasted some laser bolts and shot a few more enemy soldiers as Krystal fired some laser and shot the remaining couple enemies.
With the enemy resistance gone, they all started going over towards the door to the elevator that would lead to the bridge. Wolf walked over towards a Cornerian soldier that was already in the life support bay and spoke, "Did Andy get past you to the elevator?"
"No," the soldier responded with, "We held them back here."
"This is it." Krystal said, as she came to the elevator.
"Good," Wolf said, then turned to Falco, "Falco, you stay with the the marines... guard the elevator."
"Ya' sure," Falco said, "Seems pretty clear around here."
"Just guard the elevator, Lombardi." Fox said as he entered the elevator, followed by Krystal and Wolf, and as Falco and the other marines stayed back in the life support bay, Krystal, Wolf and Fox rode up the elevator. Once it stopped and reopened, Krystal, Wolf and Fox stepped out and entered the bridge, looking over and seeing Col. Harrion Pointer at his strategy board with a couple other officers. Harrion looked very stressed and a bit worried as he went over his strategies, and Krystal could sense the colonel's concerned state as she walked over to him with Fox and Wolf.
"...Sir," Krystal said as she went up to Harrion, "...It's me, it's Krystal... I'm here with Wolf and Fox."
Harrion gave an order to a nearby officer before turning to Krystal and then he walked over towards her, "...Krystal, Wolf, Fox... you're all alive," Harrion spoke, "Where's Falco?"
"He's guarding the life support bay." Wolf responded.
"...We're in a lot of trouble here," Harrion said a bit wearily as he walked over towards his strategy board, "...He's come at us with his whole fleet... How did he know we were here?"
"He put a tracking device on the Valkyrie," Fox stated, "He's been following us for days."
"...What tracking device?" Harrion asked as he turned to Fox.
"I don't know," Fox said, "I don't know how it got on here or where."
Harrion turned to an operator at a computer and ordered, "Perform a scan on the ship... do a thorough search and find any kind of suspicious foreign object... It may be the tracking device." Following the Colonel's orders, the operator performed a scan of the ship on his computer. As the scan went on, Krystal went over towards the window of the bridge and saw the chaos before her... But then saw the much scarier presence of the Lesokor, which was looming closer towards the Valkyrie.
In the battle outside in space, Nora flew her ship and blasted several Venomian fighters apart before looking out her cockpit window and seeing the Lesokor flying in towards the right side of the Valkyrie. As Leon and Panther flew in and shot several more fighters down to cover her, Nora communicated to Harrion, "Colonel, sir," Nora spoke into the com, "Andy's capital ship is nearing next to the Valkyrie, right broad side."
Hearing Nora's communication, a worried Harrion went over to the bridge window next to Krystal and saw the Lesokor flying right across from the Valkyrie's right side, aiming its cannons at the Cornerian capital ship. "God damn it," Harrion vented and then turned to his officers and crew, "Everyone brace yourselves and prepare for attack." While the Lesokor flew in next to the Valkyrie's right side with its cannons ready and aimed, the Valkyrie responded by aiming its cannons at the Lesokor. Once the two ships were directly across from each other, the Lesokor fired a couple powerful shots from its main cannon and struck the Valkyrie's hull. The ship rocked from the impact of the enemy's fiery blast, but those in the bridge held their footing, and Harrion turned to an executive officer. "All turrets," Harrion ordered, "Open fire, FIRE!"
Responding to the colonel's order, which was passed down to the crew manning the capital ship's batteries, the Valkyrie's cannons started firing powerful rounds of laser at the Lesokor from across, striking the enemy's hull with a few shots, but the damage to the enemy ship was minor and the Lesokor blazed some laser rounds back. In a fierce battle, the Valkyrie and the Lesokor kept firing hails of laser fire at the other's side, blazing flurries of laser fire and powerful plasma rounds that struck the other ship's hull, blasting small pieces off and setting the sides of one another on fire.
Both ships managed to hold their stability for a while as the two vessels blasted away at each other's broadsides in rains of fire. As the fighting went on, it was clear that the Lesokor was the ship that had the greater edge, and while the Valkyrie's cannons inflicted heavy damage on the Lesokor's side, the enemy capital ship was just far too powerful that even a terrific vessel as the Valkyrie couldn't hold its own against it. After sustaining numerous shots from the Valkyrie's laser cannons, the Lesokor blazed some plasma rounds that struck the Cornerian vessel hard, causing it to start losing stability, which was noted by the operator on his computer.
"Sir, the Valkyrie's taking too much damage," the operator spoke as he turned to Harrion, "She might not hold out long if this keeps up."
"Shit," Harrion said, "...We need to get away from the Lesokor's range."
Harrion looked out the window, looking for an escape route, and the safest way was blocked by a Venomian cruiser. As the ship kept shaking from incoming enemy fire... suddenly, it all just stopped, and the ship became still again, quiet. Curious, Krystal looked from the window and saw that the Lesokor had stopped firing its cannons, but this only gave her more concern. Wolf walked up to the vixen from behind and placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to ease any tension as he also became suspicious by the Lesokor's sudden ceasing of hostilities. While Harrion's mind juggled between the sudden quiet offered by the Lesokor and getting his ship away from the enemy vessel, suddenly, the screen on the bridge lit up... showing the inside of the bridge of the Lesokor... and the commander of the opposing vessel stepped forward... Gizar Veras.
"Well, well, well," Veras said over the screen, "What prey has my prize vessel caught... Has my Lesokor answered you yet, McCloud?"
"I know your gas will heal the Aparoids," Fox said, "How are you even going to spray it all over the planet?"
"You will see, soon enough," Veras said, "Corneria will be my greatest prize... I just wanted to come out and see it."
"And even then, you're still hiding behind your ship." Wolf stated as he approached the screen, "You finally gonna perform your actions like a man?"
"Me, ha ha ha ha... What's the point of me getting my claws dirty when I have loyal followers and hired cutthroats to do it for me... hired cutthroats, actually not that much different from yourself, O'Donnell."
"Ha! wrong," Wolf retorted to Veras, "I'm nothing like your men, I kill scum like you!"
"Oh, O'Donnell... You used to be the most hardened mercenary in the Lylat... What happened to your kill for profit stance?"
"I must have lost it on Venom."
"How tragic... but still, I have others... a loyal follower coming to greet you right now."
"Oh, spare me," Harrion said as he approached the screen, "If you're gonna kill me, just kill me! Don't toy with me!"
"Oh, but you have something I want, Harrion... So I insist on toying." Veras said as he then faded away from the screen, and after a short moment, suddenly, a Type 40 Venomian boarding craft attached itself to the outside of the Valkyrie, on the back of the ship's bridge. The enemy boarding craft's tentacle legs clasped hold of the wall on the outside on the ship as the craft's boarding tube lowered itself towards the wall. After it was latched on, the boarding craft pushed its tube forward and punctured a hole in the wall on the back of the bridge, carefully cutting a hole in the wall as the tube inserted itself in the hole, and once the craft was set, Venomian troops started pouring out of the craft into an empty room in the ship, before they started going down a short hallway leading right to the bridge.
Krystal saw the enemy boarding craft latch its tentacle legs onto the ship, knowing that enemies were boarding the back of the bridge. Soon after the boarding craft injected Venomians into the Valkyrie like a needle, the Venomians aboard reached the end of the short hall, coming to the door that lead right into the bridge. Krystal, Wolf, Fox and Harrion all looked at the door from the inside of the bridge as the Venomians on the other side quickly cut it down with a torch. Once the door was down, the Venomians threw a couple flash grenades inside, setting off a flash that knocked everyone inside to the ground in a sharp daze. With the Cornerians inside disoriented, the Venomian soldiers all rushed inside the bridge.
A dazed Krystal crawled over to Wolf, as both were temporarily blinded by the flash. When their vision came back, they saw their rifles right before them... but before Wolf could reach out to them, a Venomian soldier walked over and kicked the rifles away while aiming his own rifle on Krystal and Wolf as they lay next to each other on the ground. Krystal laid on her left side, looking at the Venomian holding his gun on her and Wolf and then she looked over and saw Fox struggling to get back up as another Venomian aimed at him. The squad of Venomians in the room held their guns on the numerous crewmen on the bridge, keeping them still as Harrion got back up and placed his hand wearily on the strategy board while another Venomian walked up and aimed his gun at him.
As the Venomians secured the bridge and held the Cornerians inside at gunpoint, suddenly the leader of the boarding party entered... And when Fox looked up and saw the familiar Venomian lizard, he was in complete surprise when he saw the enemy officer before him... He could not believe he was seeing him again.
"...Scara..." Fox said in shock as he looked up to the Venomian officer, who had an injury over his right eye that was covered by a bandage, with a scar visible around that eye. The Venomian looked over and saw Fox lying on the ground before him.
"Hello again, McCloud." The Venomian officer spoke stoically to the vulpine as he started to walk over to Harrion.
"...But... th-that's impossible," Fox stated as Scara walked past him, "...You're dead... I-I saw your body... You were shot in the head... You died."
"Strange, isn't it." Scara said as he turned his head to Fox.
"...You died in that bunker, I saw it," Fox said, "...How can you be alive?!"
"Well, if you live through this, you can find out." Scara said to Fox, and then he walked over to Harrion, who looked at the Venomian with a glare. "Colonel Harrion Pointer, I presume," Scara said to the Colonel, "I am Lieutenant Scara of the Venomian Navy, at your service."
"What do you want?" Harrion stated, "...He sent you to finish me off... can't do it himself?"
"No... I am simply his errand boy," Scara responded with, "...You have something that Commander Veras wants, that belongs to him... something he and Dr. Andross worked on together... He wants it back."
"I wont give it to you," Harrion said angrily through his teeth, "...And besides, you know where the cargo hold is, you know it's there... Why don't you just get it yourself?"
"My men are there already, but they can't get in," Scara answered, "You have the key, Colonel... If I may." Scara said as he held out his hand, awaiting the key to be placed in his palm, however, Harrion remained defiant.
"You won't get it from me!" Harrion said angrily, "So you can go to Hell!"
Scara glared at Harrion and then looked over at his other captives. "You care too much for the men under your command, Colonel," the Venomian officer said, "...And in war, that's a weakness... something every man has," and with a sadistic grin, the Venomian officer drew his pistol and walked over to the captive crewman... and then he aimed and fired, shooting one in both the legs and then fired another round of hot plasma into the crewman's stomach. The crewman writhed in pain on the ground at his searing injuries from the hot plasma bolts, all before Scara then executed the suffering crewman with a laser round to the head. Scara then walked back over to Harrion and spoke, "Horrible way to die... Every time your answer is no, then one of your crewmen dies, just like he did."
Harrion continued to be silent as he glared furiously at Scara, who then gave an order to a Venomian to bring another crew member over to him for execution. As he held his gun to the young crew man, Scara turned to Harrion and spoke, "Are you ready to give me what I want? ...It can all end right now... The suffering can stop."
"You're lying to me!" Harrion said frustratedly, "You'll just kill them anyways!"
"I give you my word, Colonel," Scara reassured, "If you hand over the key, then your crew will be safe... Do we have an accord?"
Harrion stood silent for a bit, but as Scara raised his pistol to the selected crewman... Harrion finally decided to comply. After entering a password into the keyboard on the bridge's hologram table, a metallic drawer opened up on the table's side, and then Harrion reached inside and pulled out the key... and once he held it in his hand, Harrion walked over and placed it into Scara's hand.
Scara looked at the key in his hand, and then he ordered another Venomian over and gave the key to him. "Go to the cargo hold and test it out." Scara said in Venomian as the other soldier exited out of the bridge, aiming for the cargo hold... After a short moments time, it was discovered to those in the bridge that the soldier with the key had reached the cargo hold with the other Venomians and had successfully opened it when the soldier spoke to Scara through the officer's com link to notify him of their success.
Hearing this news, Scara smiled a bit and then another Venomian took the selected crewman over to the other crew members and the Venomians kept holding them at gunpoint, "You satisfied now?" Fox said furiously through his teeth."
"...Not yet," Scara said as he looked around at Krystal, Wolf, Fox and Harrion before him and then the Venomian officer spoke, "...Veras also has another errand for me... One more must suffer and die before the rest of you watches your planet burn."
"YOU LIAR!" Harrion shouted, "You said you wouldn't kill them!"
"And I will keep my word, Colonel," Scara responded, "As I said, I will not harm your crew... no... Veras instructed that, specifically, it must be one of you five, including the bird... but since Lombardi isn't here now, one of you four will have to do," Scara then pointed his pistol, one by one, at his four targets, "...So... Who's it going to be... You can choose?"
Everyone stayed silent, as they looked at each other, contemplating what to do... but Scara wasn't as patient, as he cocked his pistol and started walking over to Krystal, which made Fox and Wolf very worried now... but before either of them could volunteer to take the shot for her, Harrion stood forth, "Fine, ...ME!" Harrion shouted as Scara turned to him and walked over to the Colonel, "Yeah, go ahead, do it... DO IT! KILL ME!"
Scara stood next to Harrion, gently placing a hand on the colonel's shoulder while looking at him with a devilish smirk... just before he shot Harrion in the abdomen, causing the colonel to fall to the ground, "You're strong, Colonel... but not young, so I'll give you twenty five minutes until you bleed out," Scara said to the fallen colonel as he held his stomach in pain, "From here, you can watch Corneria's assimilation in your last moments... and that's time enough to consider whether your operation was worth the effort." Soon after a few short moments, Scara got a call on his com link from the Venomians in the cargo hold, telling him that the samples from Fichina had been loaded and that they were now leaving, and then Scara ordered his men to follow him out of the bridge.
Krystal watched in sorrow at the scene before her, and when Scara and his soldiers left the bridge to head back to their craft, Krystal went over to Harrion with Fox and Wolf, helping him stand back up, "...Veras is gonna release the gas on Corneria somehow," Harrion spoke wearily as he supported himself on the hologram table, "...probably capsules or missiles... He needs to be stopped."
"Krystal, your staff can heal, right?" Wolf asked the vixen.
"It's still in my ship," Krystal said, "I'll help you, sir."
"...No..." Harrion said, "...You need to get out there... keep Veras from succeeding."
"But, sir-" Fox said.
"That's an order," Harrion interrupted sternly, but then spoke calmly "...I'll be okay... These crewmen... I've seen what they're capable of... They have promise, and if they're to die, then they deserve a hero's death... They're young... They remind me of my two children... Now get out there, stop Veras."
Krystal looked in sadness at the injured colonel as an operator helped him away to his strategy board... But as sad as the scene was for her, she knew she still had a job to do, as it was what Harrion ordered... So Krystal followed after Wolf and Fox as they entered they elevator and went down to reenter the life support bay, where they met with Falco again.
"You guys were gone for a while," Falco said, "What the Hell happened up there?"
"Veras sent men to steal the samples from Fichina." Fox answered.
"What? You mean, it's gone?"
"Yeah, they took it back to the Lesokor."
"So what now?"
"Well, it looks like Veras is gonna release the gas on Corneria shortly," Fox said, "We need to get down to our ships." With that, Krystal followed Wolf, Fox, Falco and a few Cornerian marines out of the life support bay and down back into the hallway leading to the hangar.
As they moved down the hallway, they came across some more Venomians in the hall, and once they were spotted by them, they opened fire, forcing the Cornerians into cover, though a couple friendlies were shot down. As the Cornerian marines fired some laser shots back and nailed a few Venomians, Krystal fired some laser and shot a few others while Wolf blasted another couple down. The skirmish in the hallway raged as Venomian gunfire gunned another couple of Cornerians down, but as the Cornerians fired some laser that shot a couple enemies and pinned some others, Fox and Falco blazed some rounds and gunned down a few Venomians as Krystal shot down a remaining couple. The hallway was now clear.
"Move up," Wolf ordered, "Get to the hangar." Following his orders, Krystal and her comrades moved down the hallway and finally entered the hangar that housed their ships... as well as another skirmish with Cornerian marines fighting against more Venomian boarders, "Shit, more enemies," Wolf said, "Take them out!" Krystal and Wolf rushed over to the battle site, followed by Fox, Falco and their marines as they all took cover behind some crates with the Cornerians already fighting in the skirmish.
The Cornerians continued to exchange intense laser fire with the Venomians, taking cover from enemy rounds and blazing some shots back and gunning down a few of each other and pinning some others while other enemies kept up the attack. Krystal fired some laser and shot a few Venomians while Wolf and Falco blasted some rounds and gunned several others. While several Cornerians were gunned down, Fox blazed some laser rounds and gunned a few enemies down as Krystal shot a couple more. After some fierce fighting, the Cornerian marines blazed a flurry of laser fire and gunned down the remaining enemy boarders in the hangar as another marine fired a rocket and destroyed an enemy boarding ship... the hangar was clear.
Krystal, Wolf, Fox and Falco walked over to their fighters in the hangar. As Falco got in his Arwing, Krystal got on her Sky Claw and reached into it to pull out her staff before jumping back down, "I'll stay here with him," Krystal said to the others, "I'll see if I can help him with this." However, before she could take her first step forward to the bridge, she felt a hand place itself on her left forearm to stop her, turning around and seeing the hand belonging to Fox.
"...No, Krystal," Fox said, "...I'll stay..."
"You sure, Fox?" Falco asked as he sat in his Arwing.
"My Arwing is still in my freighter," Fox said, "And she's much better at piloting her fighter... Besides, I used your staff before, so I know how it works, mostly."
"...All right, Fox." Krystal said as she gave him her staff, and then he looked at her and the others before he ran down the hangar. Krystal watched him leave, and then Wolf walked up to her from behind and placed a hand on the vixen's shoulder, which reminded her to get into her fighter. Krystal and Wolf entered into their respective fighters and activated them. With their ships ready, Krystal, Wolf and Falco shot out of the hangar in their fighters... And Krystal wondered in her mind of the worries ahead of her... and all she could do was hope right now, hope they could stop Veras from destroying Corneria... hope that Harrion and the Valkyrie would be okay.
Very soon after the raid, Scara lead his boarding craft and another vessel carrying the stolen Fichina samples in quickly and safely returning into the Lesokor's hangar... and once they did, the Lesokor aimed its turrets at the damaged Valkyrie and returned to fire upon it, striking the capital ship's shielding. The injured Harrion watched this from the bridge, and he knew that his ship would be in trouble if this kept up, and so did his operator at the computer, "Sir, the shields won't hold for long," The operator spoke, "This keeps up, and we'll be in a lot of trouble."
"I know that," Harrion responded, "Just keep the shields up and wait for my next order... We need to get out of their range." As Harrion thought of the answer to his problem, the elevator behind him opened and Fox entered, getting Harrion's attention, "McCloud, what the Hell are you doing here?" Harrion asked.
"Here to save you, that's what," Fox said, as he walked up to the Colonel with Krystal's staff, "I've used it before."
"Not yet," Harrion said, holding his wound, "I have to get my ship out of here... How's the situation outside?"
"The Lesokor blocks our right," an operator spoke, "And other areas are blocked off by other vessels."
Harrion looked at the operator's computer to see the Valkyrie surrounded by different vessels, and then looked out the bridge window to see the direction forward, which was blocked off by a Venomian cruiser... After a brief moment of thinking, Harrion finally got an idea and spoke to the operator, "Are the forward cannons operational?"
"Uh, yes sir?" the operator replied.
"Good... charge them up and fire on that cruiser, right in front of us, and once it's down, fire the engines immediately... If we can't find an opening, we'll create one."
"B-but, sir... firing the forward cannons means we'll have to lower our shields."
"Just do it!" Harrion demanded, and following the Colonel's order, the operator typed in settings to charge the forward cannons of the Valkyrie, and after a short moment, the cannons were fully charged and aimed, which the operator then notified to Harrion once they were finished charging. "Lower the shields... and FIRE!" Harrion ordered.
"Roger." the operator spoke and he typed a few settings that followed after the Colonel's orders. As the Lesokor's laser fire kept blazing and bursting around the Valkyrie, In quick moves, the shield was lowered and the Valkyrie's forward cannons shot out two large powerful beams that struck the enemy cruiser before them. The enemy cruiser burst into flames from the hit, but it remained afloat in space, but with a quick recharge, the Valkyrie fired another round of plasma beams, finally decimating the Venomian cruiser and a couple freighters with it before them. "Sir, enemy vessel is destroyed." The Valkyrie's operator stated to Harrion.
"Re engage the shields and fire the engines." Harrion ordered. Very soon, with the shield risen, the Valkyrie's engines blazed furiously, launching it forward, and though the Lesokor kept blazing fire on the Valkyrie, soon, it became no use as the Cornerian vessel became out of range of the Lesokor's turrets. Once out of range from the enemy, the Valkyrie charged forward and then turned, getting over to another side of the battlefield, safe from the Lesokor... And as soon as the Valkyrie was at a safe distance, a resounding cheer was emitted by the crewmen from the bridge, followed by cheers from the rest of the crew around the ship, and Harrion kept a calm smile at his success, which caused Fox to change his stoic expression to a smile as well.
"Good work, men," Harrion said, then turned to his operators, "Now keep position, and lay down supporting fire on the enemy vessels... Take down as many cruisers in range to support the rest of our forces."
"Yes, sir." The relieved operators spoke and then they resumed their typing to initiate Harrion's next order, and soon, the Valkyrie's cannons were firing hails of laser at the enemy ships before them, blazing several to pieces and setting fire to some others. Harrion watched as the Valkyrie's guns kept blasting Venomian ships apart, but then he felt some pain in his wound and fell to the ground, struggling with the pain.
Fox and a crewman went over to the Colonel to assist him. Once he was over to Harrion, Fox took out Krystal's staff and held it over the officer's wound, and thought if he could remember how to use the staff... and he had to do it fast.
Krystal, Wolf and Falco flew their fighters right back into the fierce battle, with Cornerian and Venomian fighters continuing to chase and fire laser at one another in vicious dogfights. As laser blazed and flurried all over, creating bursts of explosions and blasting numerous fighters out of orbit, Krystal and Wolf flew in, firing hails of laser fire that shot down numerous enemies. Krystal fired some more laser and shot several more fighters down as Wolf and Falco blazed some rounds at her right and gunned some targets of their own. As Krystal shot a few more fighters apart, she looked over and saw the Valkyrie safely getting away from the Lesokor... and this filled Krystal with deep relief and joy, giving her some comfort that her friends aboard it were okay, and also allowed her to put some of her worries aside and focus more on the battle.
Krystal fired some laser and shot several more ships down as Wolf swerved by and gunned down another several. Falco blasted a few others apart, but saw another couple fighters soaring in towards his left, only to be shot down by Nora's laser bolts, and with the enemy fighters cleared away, the red vixen's fighter flew by. "Nice for you I showed up, eh Falco." Nora said to Falco over the com link.
"Yeah... I'll admit that." Falco said and then he shot down a couple more fighters. Krystal fired some shots and fried a few fighters before swerving to her right and gunning several more down while Wolf came in from the left and blasted a few more down. As Wolf blasted several more Venomians down, his two colleagues, Leon and Panther flew in and they fired shot plasma rounds that shot several fighters down.
"You didn't think we abandoned you all, did you." Leon smirked.
"Yeah, like you're some hero, Leon." Wolf stated.
"Well, that remains to be seen, hm." Leon stated, then the lizard flew his ship right and shot down a few more fighters as Panther went in and gunned a couple others down. Cornerian and Venomian fighters kept blasting away at each other, blazing rains of laser fire around the battlefront, and Krystal swerved and dodged her ship around the flurries of laser as she kept fighting in the battle. While Wolf blazed another volley of rounds that took out several more fighters, Krystal fired some laser and shot several more fighters, then the vixen swerved to her right and gunned a few others down before she aimed to her left and blasted a few more as Wolf then flew in and gunned a few more down as well.
In the vicious fighting, Krystal fired some laser fire and shot numerous enemy fighters to pieces and then destroyed two gunships as Wolf and Falco blazed a hail of laser and gunned some more fighters and destroyed a couple other gunships, and then the two fired some missiles that damaged a cruiser before flying around and reuniting with Krystal as the vixen shot several more fighters down, then they continued on their path towards the Lesokor.
As Krystal and Wolf shot numerous more fighters, with Falco giving covering fire and destroying an incoming gunship, they got the Lesokor clear in their sights... but as they looked closer at it, they saw swarms of countless blue objects flying out of the Lesokor's hangars. Upon closer inspection, these blue projectiles had a distinct, but also familiar appearance, as they had four blue razor like wings, and once they were close enough, Krystal, Wolf and Falco could now remember them... they were Aparoid razor fighters.
"Whoa," Falco said, "Ar-Are those Aparoid fighters, comin' out of the Lesokor?"
"Razors, to be more exact." Wolf said, "If I remember correctly."
"Oh, not these little bugs again." said an annoyed Leon.
"What... afraid to get your boots dirty, Leon?" Panther teased.
"There's swarms of em'," Nora said, "Brace yourselves."
Soon, the swarms of Aparoid razors soared right into the battle from the Lesokor, firing flurries of electrifying purple lasers that blazed all over, and the Cornerians found themselves fighting both Venomian ships and their Aparoid allies in a vicious skirmish. Cornerian fighters fired shots that destroyed numerous razors, but they proved to be fast and manoeuvrable fighters, and they blazed shocking purple hyper lasers that electrified and burned apart some Cornerian ships. As well as blazing electric hyper lasers, the razors also fired needle spikes at their enemies.
As some friendlies were shot down by the Aparoid razors shocking hyper lasers and needle spikes, as well as having to still handle the Venomian fighters, Krystal kept flying her Sky Claw through the battle, firing laser at Venomian and Aparoid craft to cover her Cornerian allies. Krystal swerved and dodged around the flurries of electrified laser and needle spikes fired by the Aparoid razors, and as she manoeuvred around the countless lasers, Wolf and Falco blasted some enemy fighters apart while Nora helped Leon and Panther destroy a few gunships.
Krystal fired some laser and shot numerous Aparoid razors and some Venomian fighters as well, then she dodged a hail of razor needle spikes and fired some more razors down. These Aparoid razors proved to be more fast and more tough than the ones she faced during the Aparoid invasion, as they were much faster and manoeuvrable, dodging some laser shots with ease, and their weapons were also much more dangerous... Veras could be thanked for that... Krystal felt the tricky difficulty of these Aparoid razors, but she kept her calm easily, as her ship was also fast, and she swerved around and dodged numerous laser bolts and needle spikes before aiming and firing some rounds of her own, which destroyed some more razors and also gunned down several more Venomian fighters.
The fierce fighting went on as Wolf and Falco blasted apart several more Aparoid razors and Venomian fighters. As Krystal shot numerous more razors down with laser fire, she still had the Lesokor clearly in view, protected by two cruisers. "Enemy ship is still in my sights." Krystal said.
"We won't be able to get at the Lesokor unless we lose those two cruisers guarding it," Wolf said to Krystal as he soared in to her left and shot several enemies down, "We can take out those shield generators by the bridge, then hit the reactors in the centre."
"Right." Krystal agreed, then she fired some laser and shot several enemies down and then she flew in towards the cruisers. Once she got close enough, the turrets from the cruisers began blazing hails of plasma fire towards her, but Krystal's ship was fast, and she swerved and dodged the countless lasers, and after swerving around another volley, Krystal fired some laser that destroyed several of the cruiser's guns. Remaining turrets kept blazing rounds at the vixen, but Krystal kept manoeuvring her ship around the flurries of laser, and then she blasted a few more turrets apart. With some of the defences down, Krystal made a strafing run at the shield generators near the bridge, raining a hail of laser on one of them and bursting it into flames. Wolf also aimed and then he fired some missiles that destroyed the other generator, now exposing the circular reactor near the centre of the cruiser. Krystal flew her ship in, and with careful timing and precise aim, she fired a couple of powerful charged shots that struck the reactor, bursting it apart in flames that caused a fiery explosion, splitting the cruiser in half and destroying it.
"One down." Falco said as he flew in towards the other cruiser, blasting the front plasma cannons with powerful shots. Krystal shot down a few more fighters and then she came in towards the cruiser, which blasted flurries of laser towards her. Krystal swerved her ship around the lasers and dodged the incoming flurry, then she fired some shots and destroyed several turrets. Wolf gunned down a few fighters as he flew in towards the cruiser, and as he dodged the laser fire from the cruiser's turrets, he blazed some rounds that took out a few guns and then destroyed one of the shield generators with a couple missiles. Falco also made a strafing run, dodging some of the cruiser's laser rounds and then blasting some powerful shots that destroyed the remaining shield generator and also severely damaged the hull... and all before Krystal then finished it off with a charged shot to the cruiser's exposed reactor, destroying the cruiser.
"Excellent," Krystal said, "It's collapsing... It's finished."
With the cruisers destroyed, the Lesokor was now right before them, clear in their sights... and Veras took notice to this, as he suddenly appeared on the screens in their individual ships, "Ah, so you made it this far, have you," Veras spoke, "Impressive... So now, I believe you've earned the next event."
"What are you talking about?" Falco demanded.
"The beginning of Corneria's assimilation into my empire," Veras responded, "The gas is ready to be fired upon the planet... My operation has begun." As Krystal, Wolf and Falco looked at the Lesokor from their ships, they saw numerous rapid firing missiles being fired from the Lesokor, rapidly descending towards Corneria below.
"The missiles," Krystal said, "They have it."
"You mean, those missiles have the gas in them?" Falco asked.
"Very clever," Veras said, "And you three even get a good front row seat... so, enjoy." Veras then faded away from their screens as they kept looking at the large barrage of missiles being fired down on Corneria.
"Krystal, Wolf, Falco," Nora said over her com as she noticed the missiles, "You guys take care of those missiles... Leon, Panther and I will handle the fighters."
"Damn, those things are fast," Falco said as he saw the great speed of the missiles, "Come on, we gotta take em' out! Missiles that big will do much more than just release poison."
Immediately, Krystal, Wolf and Falco soared in towards the missile barrage. Enemy fighters soared in and attacked with laser rounds, until Krystal and Wolf fired some laser and shot several fighters down, and then they went in for the missiles. Once she got aim, Krystal fired a few charged shots and destroyed a couple missiles and then damaged a few others with laser fire. Wolf shot down a couple more missiles with some charged shots while Falco blasted another with a missile. Krystal shot several missiles with charged shots and a couple nova missiles as Wolf destroyed a few more missiles.
Krystal, Wolf and Falco destroyed several of the missiles, but there was still a whole barrage to be dealt with, and the missiles still had a great amount of speed and were also rather strong to regular laser fire that gave the three some difficulty... But still, they persisted and kept firing laser to gun down the missiles.
Some fighters flew in at Krystal and blazed some plasma rounds, but she swerved away from them and then Krystal and Wolf fired laser shots and gunned several fighters down while Falco blasted a couple more missiles with some charged shots. As Krystal shot down a few more fighters, Wolf destroyed another missile and Falco blasted some plasma and destroyed a missile while damaging another. Krystal flew back and destroyed a couple more missiles with some charged shots and then fired some laser that damaged a few more, then Wolf destroyed a few more missiles with charged shots and some missiles of his own.
The three kept firing laser to gun down as many missiles as they could, but the attempts to do so just got more difficult, as the missiles were still rapid, and there were a great many of them. Krystal and Wolf fired some charged shots and destroyed a few more missiles as Falco took down a couple others, but there were still a great lot to be dealt with. Still, they continued to work hard to gun them down... As Krystal shot a missile to pieces and Wolf destroyed another one of his own, a few Cornerian fighters were able to come in to attack the missiles, blazing some laser that destroyed several missiles as Falco destroyed another.
However, despite their hard efforts, and the added help, the speed and amount of the missiles were giving them great difficulty... and their severe troubles were only to be worsened when the Lesokor suddenly fired another missile, a larger, faster and more armoured one, and it careened itself towards Corneria below alongside the missile barrage.
"Krystal, you take care of that one," Falco said, "Wolf and I will take down the others."
"Right." Krystal replied, then she shot down another missile before flying over towards the rapidly moving larger projectile. While the others kept shooting down several more missiles, Krystal came to the larger projectile, firing hails of laser fire at his... but the armour was still too strong for her. She remembered that these missiles were similar to the ones she faced defending the orbital gate during the Aparoid invasion, though these ones were faster and stronger. She sensed the missile for a vulnerability... and could find hardly anything... so Krystal kept firing laser at the missile, hoping it could lead to something.
As the vixen kept blazing fire at the missile, it became clear that it was far too strong for her, and it continued to charge forward, hardly scathed, towards Corneria... The situation started to look hopeless... When suddenly, powerful laser shots came from the right side of her view and struck the large projectile, obliterating it... and when Krystal looked to her right, she saw that Cornerian cruisers had shot it down... reinforcements had arrived from the surface, and the new arriving Cornerian cruisers started shooting down the other missiles like turkeys.
"This is Admiral Johnson of the CRS Ralburns," spoke the Admiral from the command ship of the reinforcements over the com towards the friendly fighters and Harrion's Valkyrie, "We saw you were in a bit of trouble, so we brought some boys from the Cornerian Navy up from the surface to help... We're now fully committed to this fight."
"Well... Nice for you to stop by, Admiral." Harrion admitted.
"Well, well... Once again, it looks like it's up to the Navy to save the Marines." Johnson teased, and then the reinforcing cruisers fired hails of powerful laser shots that destroyed several Venomian cruisers and some gunships, while also blazing some plasma that cut numerous missiles to pieces. The arriving Cornerian ships kept blazing laser until they shot down the entire missile barrage, and then they blasted some more plasma that destroyed several more Venomian ships... And Veras looked at the destruction of his forces from the Lesokor's bridge... And though a bit frustrated, he kept calm and silent, even managing a little smile, possibly about thinking of his next move... Soon, Veras ordered a retreat, and the Lesokor turned itself around and then fired up her engines, just before blasting off into light speed along with several other Venomian vessels, and they soared off, disappearing into the space away from Corneria.
Krystal, Wolf, Falco and the Cornerians all watched their enemies retreat and disappear into the stars, and while the other Cornerians cheered their victory, Krystal breathed a sigh of deep relief, happy that Corneria was still safe. Wolf flew his Wolfen next to Krystal's Sky Claw, "I guess that's the last of Andy's boys, huh Krys." Wolf said. Krystal smiled a bit at the Cornerians' victory, then she flew her ship alongside her comrades as they headed down to Corneria's surface.
Once down on Corneria's surface, near the capital city, Krystal landed her Sky Claw down near an airstrip and jumped out as her comrades landed down... which was followed with the Valkyrie descending to the surface and landing on the air strip. Once the Valkyrie's landing ramp extended out and touched the ground, Krystal ran over to the landed capital ship and then ran up the landing ramp leading into the hangar. Upon entering the hangar, she looked before her... and saw an injured Harrion laying on the hangar floor, with Fox kneeling down next to the officer, holding Krystal's staff over him. As Wolf and Falco followed after her, Krystal went over to Harrion and Fox, feeling a bit worried as she looked at the injured colonel.
"Has the fire finished him?" Krystal asked Fox, as she remembered Harrion's burning plasma wound.
"...No," Fox answered, "I managed to sustain him... but not heal him."
Krystal looked at Harrion and then looked at Fox. "...Here." Krystal said, holding her hand out for her staff. Fox slowly placed the staff into her hand and then she crouched down next to Harrion with it. As she looked calmly at Harrion, she held her staff over his wound. Just like healing the blue Aparoid before, the head of her staff extended and glowed as a blue magical ray shined down on Harrion's wound, and in a short moment, the wound was healed.
"...Is... Is that it?" Falco asked.
Krystal looked at Harrion and then smiled, "He'll be fine." Krystal said. Fox helped the Colonel stand back up... But as he tried standing, Harrion suddenly stumbled, but Falco kept him supported.
"What's goin' on?" Falco asked.
"He's still fine," Krystal explained, "It's been a little while since he's been shot... He'll still have his injury with him."
"So he needs support to walk... like a cane?"
"...Right." Krystal said as she stood back up, then looked at Harrion with sympathy, "I'm really sorry, sir."
"That's perfectly fine," Harrion said, using a long nearby pipe as a support, then he placed a hand on the vixen's shoulder as he spoke to her and her friends, "All your efforts helped bring victory to the field, and protect our homes."
"...Hey, did you guys ever find that tracking device?" Falco asked.
"Yeah," Harrion answered, "...And you won't believe this... One of the disks that Fox brought from the Gallene stock exchange was itself the tracking device."
"Your kiddin'... really?"
"Veras must have hid it among them... He wanted Fox to get those records, he planned this out from the beginning."
Immediately afterwards, Harrion went outside of the hangar, followed closely by Krystal, Wolf and Falco, and as they met Nora outside, they saw a spectacular sight before them... a very large crowd of cheering Cornerian citizens gathered around the Valkyrie, cheering and rejoicing greatly for the Cornerian marines before them. Krystal looked at the crowd as they cheered for her and all of her comrades, and she started to smile a little. A joyful Nora even gently grabbed Krystal's wrist and held her hand up in the air, which got some cheers from the front of the audience, even some citizens near the vixen cheerfully calling out Krystal's name and calling her a hero and a saviour.
Krystal was a little embarrassed at that attention when Nora held her hand up for her, but she kept her smile. As the citizens gave their joyful praise to Krystal, her comrades and all the other Cornerian soldiers, the vixen looked back and saw that Fox was still standing inside the hangar... just before he walked back inside and disappeared into the ship.
However, as Fox disappeared into the ship, another man appeared, as a military car sped up and stopped near the Valkyrie... and out stepped the familiar figure, General Pepper. Immediately, Pepper walked over to Harrion and extended his hand out, "Greetings, Colonel Pointer," Pepper spoke to the Colonel, "Your campaign against Veras seems to be going quite smoothly."
"General, sir... It's my fault," Harrion said, "We only won with Johnson's arrival... and Veras got away with the samples from Fichina."
"But at this time, that can be overlooked," Pepper stated, "Along with Johnson's forces, the efforts of the men under your command have saved all of Corneria... and your efforts saved the lives of your crew... You and all your men put up one Hell of a defence and saved all of Corneria's lives, and I'm damned proud of it... And you should be too, Colonel."
"...I'm very proud of these men, sir."
"And we've also learned one thing from this... Veras is no longer just a minor threat, so I'm committing a lot more military resources to stopping him... And along with this defence of our homes, you've lead a very skilled campaign against Veras' forces, so I have confidence in you continuing to be at the helm... Lieutenant General."
"...Lie-... Lieutenant General, sir?" Harrion said, a bit surprised.
"That's right, soldier... you've earned that rank... I commend you and your men for all your brave services."
"Well... Thank you, sir."
"We'll get some guys to start repairing all of the Valkyrie's damages, should be done by tomorrow... We'll get you fully resupplied and repaired, because I want you all back into the battlefield very shortly... With you leading these men, Pointer."
"That soon?"
"You'll all be participating in an offensive against Venomian forces on Corelis. The rebels there resisting them have information on Veras... But for now, you all just get a good meal and a nice rest, you'll all need it... dismissed."
Harrion and Pepper saluted each other just before Pepper walked back to his car. Krystal, Wolf, Falco and Nora all walked up to Harrion. "...Lieutenant General Harrion Pointer," Nora said as she put her hand on Harrion's shoulder, "...I like the sound of that." Harrion smiled at Krystal, Wolf, Falco and Nora and then he walked off with Nora as other Cornerian soldiers dispersed, either assisting in work or heading to nearby barracks, while the crowd of Cornerian citizens continued cheering them on.
Krystal watched Wolf and Falco leave as well, and as she looked at the Cornerian land before her and thought about the upcoming mission, Krystal felt very relieved as she then looked at the Valkyrie... relieved that Corneria was still safe.