Chapter 25: The Decision

"Are you okay, Red?" Fox asked over the communicator.

Red didn't answer him.

"That's not good," said Krystal, "Slippy, what happened over there?"

"I'm not sure," said Slippy, "The Great Fox was hit and it barely missed me."

In the Great Fox, Red was looking at the radar screen. "This can't be right," he said, "The sensors show that Slippy's Arwing is still functional; so why isn't he responding?"

ROB answered, "Communications with the others have been disabled by that last hit."

"No wonder," said Red.

"Hey, Fox, I think I found the problem," said Slippy, "I think they're still okay, but the transmitter on The Great Fox was damaged."

"Well that explains it," said Fox. He shifted his attention to the same battleship that fired the laser at the Great Fox. He shot one last charged laser at the battleship and destroyed it.

"Where's the nearest target?" asked Krystal.

"I found another mother ship," said Falco, "Follow me."

"What am I supposed to do now?" asked Red.

"Perhaps you should assist them in the battle," ROB suggested.

"Not just yet. I need to have a plan. There has to be a more efficient way of winning this battle." He tried to think of any possible alternate ways of attacking the fleet. Looking at the battlefield outside, he knew that continuing the fight with brute force was a huge risk and fighting with them could end in his downfall. It was then that something else caught his attention. Sitting on top of the computer in front of him was an electronic cartridge; he recognized it as his computer virus that Slippy perfected. "Now there's an idea," he said to himself. He started to formulate a plan in his mind. It was a risky idea, but worth a shot. "ROB, what can you find out about the networking between the half-Aparoids?"

ROB started scanning the targets, "It appears that all of these enemy ships are working on the same network."

"That's interesting. Maybe, just…maybe I could somehow enter one of the battleships and inject a computer virus. That would disrupt the entire network and cause all the ships to self-destruct. Although, there is the problem of getting inside a battleship and finding the central computer, but if I did that…it might just work."

ROB said, "In theory, that might work, but if the plan does succeed, then every enemy ship out there would explode; including the one you'll be in. It is possible that you would be caught in an explosion."

"It's a risk I'll have to take."

"That plan is unadvisable."

"ROB, check the damage on the Arwings! At this rate, can they really win?!"

"They have a fair chance of winning."

"A fair chance isn't good enough. There's nothing else I can do here, so I might as well go for it."

Meanwhile at the battle, Star Fox had just destroyed another mother ship. "Another one down!" Falco yelled happily.

"How many are left?" asked Krystal.

After checking his radar, Fox said, "Uh, too many by the looks of it."

Out of nowhere, another voice came over the communicator. "Are you having any trouble?"

Slippy exclaimed, "Red, you're still okay!"

"About time you decided to join," said Falco.

Red said, "All of you listen to me. I have another plan, but you won't like it. Nearby, there's another battleship. Get rid of most of the enemies around it so that I can infiltrate it." He then explained the rest of his plan involving the virus.

After Red finished explaining his plan, Fox was too astonished. He thought that Red was just going to fight with them, not this…suicide mission. "What? That's a crazy idea. There's no way I'll let you try it."

"You're not going to talk me out of it, Fox. Either you'll help me or not. Besides, if we don't try this plan, it would be more difficult to take out the targets one at a time. Also, Pepper and his fleet may not be doing so well."

"Well count me in," said Falco.

Krystal said, "Wait, Falco, why are you…"

Red interrupted, "I'm sorry, but I'm heading for the battleship in a few seconds. Now are you going to help me or not?!"

After giving it some thought, Fox decided, "You know, Krystal, he's right. We can't convince him otherwise; we might as well try to help him."

"Oh, I guess so," said Krystal.

"Thanks, Fox."

Falco said, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go."

"What about me?" Slippy asked.

"Keep guarding the Great Fox," said Falco, "and you'd better not mess up."

The 4 ships flew towards the nearest battleship. They only targeted the fighters and not the battleship itself and their combined forces quickly destroyed most of the enemies. "I see an entrance," said Red. Again, the entrance was an escape route for the enemy fighters. "Once I'm inside, protect The Great Fox and keep yourselves alive at all costs. Also, one of you needs to warn Peppy's fleet." He raced towards the entrance. He passed through the entrance and into the battleship. "All right, I'm in. Now I'll look for the central computer."

Krystal said, "I'll inform Peppy of the situation." She turned around and headed off towards the other fleet.

While Fox and Falco resumed the battle, Red had already run into trouble. "Uh, guys, they seem to already know I'm here. Just a minute…"

Fox and Falco could hear a series of bangs and explosions over the com link.

After a few seconds, the noise stopped. "You still alive in there?" asked Falco.

"Of course I am. I just need to find a better route to the computer that doesn't require me to kill."

Krystal was nearing the other battle. "Are you there, Peppy? Are you getting this signal?"

"I can hear you, Krystal. What are you doing way over here?"

"I was sent to inform all of you. This is now a conservation mission; you must keep as many Cornerians alive as possible. Soon, a virus will infect the entire opposing fleet and destroy it. Keep your distance from the larger ships, because they will soon self-destruct."

Peppy said, "Uh, there's another problem, Krystal. We discovered the half-Aparoid home base; it's on Venom grounds near one of the oceans. That base is on a different network, so the virus will not destroy it. So once these fleets are done with, we need to head towards Venom."

"Okay then. I'll inform the others," said Krystal. She turned around and went back the way she just came.

"I hate going this way, but at least I'm avoiding the enemies." Red was crawling through what seemed to be an air duct; no enemies in sight.

"Well, whatever gets you there the fastest," said Falco.

"We're doing okay out here," said Fox.

It was then that Krystal arrived, "Fox, I told them what happened, but there's another problem." She then explained to everyone about the home base. "We'll have to go down there and destroy it once these fleets are done with."

"Sounds good to me," said Falco.

Red could only manage to say, "Crawling through this duct is so uncomfortable." His only light source was coming from a nearby vent that he was passing by. He looked through it and saw some machinery and possibly some lit-up monitor screens. "Wait…I think I found the central computer." A metallic bang was heard over the communicator as he kicked the vent open. As he got out, he said, "That's strange. There are no enemies in here." He went to one of the computers and started typing.

Slippy explained, "Red, there should be a file that contains the network."

"Okay, then…That's not it…'Documents', no…'Programs', no…Okay, I think I found it."

Slippy continued, "Copy the virus info to the network file. That should infect the entire system."

He plugged the virus into the computer. "Okay, then…Copying…Uh, 'warning' sign…" A few seconds later, the alarms in the battleship went off. "I guess it's working." He pulled out the cartridge and asked Slippy, "How long will I have to get out of here?"

"I don't know, maybe a few minutes."

"Oh, great." He ran for it. He needed to get out of there quick before the ship exploded. "Okay, that's done. Now the rest of you, get out of here!"

"What about you?" Krystal asked.

"If I make it out in time, I'll join you in the battle." As he said this, he was met with several enemies. The series of bangs and explosions resumed.

As Star Fox started to leave the battlefield, Fox asked, "And what if you don't make it out?"

Red hated to consider that. Once he finished the fight he was in, he said, "I'm sorry Fox, but if I can't make it for…whatever reason, just promise me something."

"Sure, Red," said Fox.

"Complete my mission for me. Finish off that last base and put an end to these enemies for good."

"We will, Red," said Krystal, "but please try to make it out of there!"

"I'm trying, but there are too many enemies here!"

Falco yelled, "Then go past them for crying out loud!"

The smaller fighters outside the battleship were self-destructing one at a time. All of a sudden, a large blast was heard over the communicator, "Ow, okay, all of the small half-Aparoids just self-destructed right in my face, but I'm okay."

"Red, get out of there!" yelled Fox.

Star Fox was nearing Peppy's fleet. "Is everything alright, Fox?" asked Peppy.

"Yeah, Peppy, we're okay. But Red is still over there and he could be killed at any possible second now."

The larger ships now started self-destructing.

"Are you still there, Red?" asked Slippy.

"Yes, I can see my ship from here." He hurried through the room to his fighter as fast as he possible could. As he was running, the lights went out, but he could still barely see his ship. He was finally able to get there and he opened his cockpit. Seconds later, he said, "Hey, guys, I'm at my ship, but-"

A huge explosion interrupted him.

"Red, are you still there?!" Fox yelled. A few seconds passed and all he could hear was static. Beyond all hopelessness, he asked, "Krystal, can you still sense him? Can you tell if he's still alive?"

"I…I don't know…We're too far away and…" She couldn't say anything else.

Everyone else was speechless. Fox was staring at the distant enemy fleet that was slowly destroying itself. No Cornerian fighter could be seen coming at them. "No, he can't be dead. He can't be." He still stared at the battlefield of fire and debris, hoping for Red's small ship to escape from it.

"This isn't possible," said Falco.

"Is he still alive?" asked Slippy

Fox looked away from the battlefield and desperately waited for Krystal to tell him that Red was alive. He slowly turned his head back towards the battlefield and still didn't see any ship. "I don't want to accept it, but it has to be true. He would've contacted us by now." It was then that he remembered that he had a job to finish and a promise to fulfill. "Listen to me…Let's not break our promise to him. Our next target is the enemy home base. Let's finish this…for him."