Chapter 21: The Fortress Once Known as Onett Chapter 21: The Fortress Once Known as Onett
"Problem?" Fox inquired. "Oh yeah you said this was a refuge for people who lost their homes right!"
"But if this is a refuge, were are the people?" Link questioned.
"Follow me." The man said as he and Lucas boarded the elevator.
"Where are we going?" Fox inquired.
"To the refuge were else?" Falco said as he and the star fox team boarded the elevator.
The four of them entered as well and the elevator dropped at top speed down the shaft. Eventually it came to a halt. Amazing was the only word that came to mind as the heroes beheld the world in front of them.
It was a lush green plain dotted with apple trees and an immense lake. The sky was blue and the sun was shining bright. Children were at play as adults watched near small encampments, preparing food for the youngsters.
"Wow this place is beautiful, who'd wanna leave here?" Link said.
"Don't let the appearance fool you." Snake assured. "The grass is fake, and the light comes from those lamps up there." He said pointing to the false sky where large stage lights could be seen.
"Well I'm sure that means these trees aren't any realer either." Mario assumed.
"And that "lake" you see there is just water pumped here from within the base of the volcano, and most of the time it's to hot for use and surely not for swimming." Slippy said.
"All the food here is taken from the whatever we can get our hands on at the surface." Falco followed.
"Wow, whatever took place here must have been devastating." Fox said.
"That reminds me, I never explained the situation." Snake said.
"We'll do whatever we can to help!" Link said.
"Hey who made you leader?" Fox angrily posed.
"I'm leader and I say…we'll do whatever we can to help." Fox repeated.
"…Baby." Link muttered to himself.
"Right, you guys don't get along very well do you?" Snake presumed.
"Well anyway, I guess this is the part were we introduce each other." Snake said. "The name's Solid Snake." He said holding out his hand.
"Fox McCloud." Fox said shaking his hand.
"I'm Link!" Link said pointing to himself.
"I'm-a-Mario." Mario said.
"And this is Kirby." Link said pointing to Kirby.
"Hiiii." Kirby responded waving. Soon a ball came into view, hitting him over the head. He turned to see some children motioning him toss it back. Kirby did so and followed the children.
"And this is Lucas." Snake said pointing to thin air. "Huh where'd the kid go?" Snake said looking around the plain. He then spotted the blonde child poking an insect with a stick.
"Hey Lucas!" Snake yelled.
"Yes Snake!" Lucas said running to him.
"These guys are going to stick around for a while, so get use to them." Snake said.
"Ummm…hi I guess." Lucas said hesitantly.
"If you guys wanna chill for a little while before we discuss our situation, then that's fine." Snake said.
"Oh no, let's get right to it." Link said.
"What did I tell you?" Fox said inquiringly.
"Of course only if it's okay with our beloved captain." Link said sarcastically.
"Well I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I approve." Fox said.
"Hardass…" Link said under his breath.
"WHAT WAS THAT!" Fox said angrily.
"Nothing, nothing." Link said trying to calm the canine down.
"Wow Fox, you sure picked up quite a crew there." Falco joked.
"I wonder if we were like that when we first met?" Slippy pondered as they made there way towards the elevator.
"Come on Kirby, were going." Link hollered to the pink fighter.
Kirby heard this and said goodbye to his new friends and chased after his old ones.
Soon the elevator began to rise.
A soldier slowly crept into a dark chamber were a humungous beast lied.
"Uh s-sir, we haven't b-b-been able t-t-to find anymore PSI children yet, but…" the goon stuttered with fear.
"BUT WHAT!" the beast shouted, interrupting the weak soldier. " Our facilities run solely on those brats, and you have the gall to come here and tell me you can't find anymore of them!" The beast questioned.
"YOUR WORTHLESS!" it said as it's mouth began to illuminate.
"Oh shi…" the goon said as he began running.
"ENOUGH!" a voice said.
"What!" the beast said as the goon ran right through the doors. "Now he got away."
"Don't you know how to play a game of chess." The voice said. "You only sacrifice your pawns when the time is right."
"Ah shut up!" the beast said not calming down in the slightest. "Apparently you don't seem to understand that one kid isn't going to be enough to supply our plant for long." The monster said in a scornful tone.
"Don't worry, that boy is special to our plan." The voice said. "And besides, Solid Snake will bring more of those brats with him."
"What makes you think that?" the fiend questioned.
"Trust me, I know Snake…personally." The voice said becoming a figure. "He'll come…and he'll pay." the figure said as it raised it's hand. "For what he's done." It said as it clenched its fist.
"Okay, I'm gonna be as simple as I can." Snake said as he approached one of the large monitors. "All those people down there, they came from the fortress once known as Onett." He said.
"Onett was once a suburban town not to far from the mountains." He continued. "People lived peacefully here until a military company known as the Outer Haven arrived and kicked out those who cooperated, and killed or kidnapped the strugglers."
"Outer Haven? Doesn't sound so tough." Link said.
"Alone they weren't to hard to handle, me and their leader go way back." Snake agreed. "But they've allied themselves with some bandit gang called the space pirates." He continued.
"These guys have some heavy fire power and technology no one could imagine." Snake warned.
"Soon they built a base in the area, out of nowhere, it was like magic."
"I tried to infiltrate the base and learned a few things there, but man they have some pretty nasty sensors in that place." Snake said as pictures of the inside of the base showed up on the screen.
"If I had been a rookie especially in my profession, I would have been caught immediately." Snake said as he took a final puff from his cigarette.
"What is your profession?" Mario asked, curious. "Military general?"
"heh, actually no just military dog." Snake said laughing on the inside.
"I usually just follow my orders…but anyway." Snake said trying to change the subject.
"I was eventually caught, but luckily the Star Fox team bailed my ass out of trouble." He continued as the monitor showed other pictures depicting Snake's capture.
"We were able to escape and with the few resources we had, were able to make this base of operations."
"This was made with limited resources?" Link questioned.
"Yep, but on to the point, even now we are severely outnumbered and need all the assistance we can get." Snake said. "So I've had our robot compute a strategy to take back Onett."
"Hey ROB 64, get in here." Snake said. Within minutes, a robot appeared.
"Hey ROB." Fox said greeting his old coach.
"Captain Fox, you survive the crash!" ROB said overjoyed.
"ROB, you have the battle strategy ready?" Snake inquired.
"Oh yes commander." ROB said as he connected a link into the monitor.
"Pay attention please, as the slightest mishap may end with our lives." ROB said as the plans appeared on the screen.