Chapter 36
Gorzul's Invasion
Corneria: The planet was enjoying a peaceful day. After the week since Zenith battled the mad Ultra Kronos in Corneria City, the metropolis was going back to a sense of normalcy, after everything was rebuilt of course. The damage was extensive, but fortunately, it was doable in a week for the inhabitants. However, things will not be this peaceful for long. Descending from the sky, was the alien armada, hell-bent for the Cornerian capital. However, the city was not caught unawares. Having been told of the imminent threat by the Star Fox team, General Pepper marshaled all the forces that he possibly could. However, even with the fleet and army mobilized, it seemed hopeless. The Cornerian Cruisers floated above the city, escorted by a squadron of Cornerian Fighters each. The Landmaster battalions were mobilized at a moments notice, the tanks lining up in the streets of the city. The people had been evacuated to the shelters and underground, away from the fighting. However, none of them could have guessed the immense number of the armada. Hundreds strong, the armada was made up of ships from the Baltan, Shaplay, Keronian, Pedan, Guts, Villa, Varduck, and others. All ships converging on the small city ahead of them. The several dozen cruisers and Cornerian Fighter squadrons went forward to meet this threat, aided by the Star Fox team. The Great Fox was in the fleet of cruisers as well, the five arwings flying in front of the Dreadnaught class ship. Fox, Falco, Slippy, Krystal, and Jim were in their fighters, while Peppy and ROB stayed behind to act as tactical support. The Ultra/human of the group was itching to convert to his Ultra form. However, he kept his cool until he could see the enemy up close, and assess the situation better. Once the armada was in view, Jim felt his stomach turn into knots. He was counting the ships that were ahead of him, but he didn't need to, to know that the fleet and Star Fox team were greatly outnumbered.
Gorzul sat in its throne, a hissing cackle escaping from its hood. "At last, I have returned to the Lylat System!" Claire was standing beside the throne, looking at the image that swirled before them, the image of the Lylat System. "Soon, I will possess what I could not before. But first, I will destroy any and all opposition to my rule! Then, when they have been beaten back, they will know just who it was that had defeated them. And then I shall rule the LYLAT SYSTEM!" he shouted, standing up. "I have waited for an eternity for this moment. Once they have dealt with my armada, Corneria will be too weary to pose much of a challenge to me. I will sweep them aside like a great typhoon, then take what is rightfully mine!" Claire looked up at the cloaked figure, a slight smirk on her features.
"Of course, sire." Claire said, her eyes glowing lavender for a slight moment. Gorzul sat down in its throne once more, and waited in anticipation for the next move to be played.
It was chaos. Mere moments after meeting the enemy, all hell broke loose over Corneria City. The Cruisers rained laser fire on the saucers, while Cornerian Fighters assaulted the invader ships. However, despite their valiant efforts, they failed to do any major damage. For every ship destroyed, ten more took its place. The saucer-shaped Baltan, Shaplay and Guts ships went on to attack the cruisers, being the largest of the armada, while the Villa, Keronia, and Varduck ships repelled the fighters, the nimble craft breaking off to engage in dog-fights. Through it all, the Star Fox team tried their hardest to support the fleet. However, despite shooting and destroying numerous ships, they failed to do any lasting damage to their numbers. "There must be thousands of them!" Slippy wailed. The amphibian had two Villa spherical ships after him. "FOX! Get these guys off of me!"
"Slippy, hold on!" Fox shouted. He veered off from pursuing a Keronian ship, and sent a nova bomb to take care of the Villa ships. Both of them disappeared in a clod of fire and debris.
"Thanks, Fox. I thought they had me." Slippy said, relief evident in his voice and face. Jim, Falco and Krystal harried through a cluster of Villa ships, the ships themselves connected to eachother to form a large mass. While it increased their firepower, it left them a glaringly obvious weakness, one that Falco was all too happy to exploit. The avian let loose a nova bomb, taking out the cluster in one blast.
"Man, that was easy!" he said, having a predatory grin on his beak.
"Save some for us, Falco." Fox said.
"I think there's plenty to go around, Fox." Jim said. 'There has to be a better way than this. Fighting them ship to ship won't work, there's just too many of them.'
'Jim, I think now would be a good time for you to take matters into your own hands.' Krystal replied, telepathically. Sometimes, the Ultra/human finds the vixen's telepathy rather annoying.
'Thank you for stating the obvious.' Jim replied, a smirk on his face. "Fox, I'm gonna transform!"
"Music to my ears! Be careful, though, there's a lot of 'em!" Fox said. Jim's cockpit glowed crimson, then a bright red ball of light flew out of the arwing that he was in. The light landed on the ground, and the new Ultraman Zenith stood up. Minus the Ultra Mantle, the Warrior of Light took up a combat stance and flew up, firing his Slash Beam and Spacium Kousen left and right, vaporizing enemy ships by the dozen. However, even his power failed to do any more damage than the fleet itself. 'Not even Jim is doing a whole lot to them. Is there someway to take out the fighters all at once?' Fox wonders. Zenith hears his thoughts, and wonders the same thing. Evading white and red laser fire from the alien ships, Zenith jukes and weaves through the oncoming Invader laser storm. He tries to use his Ultra senses to feel for a signal or communications between the ships, to pinpoint whether or not there is a control signal being broadcast. There was none.
"FOX, I'm hit!" Krystal's arwing took a shot from a Pedan ship. The fighter was plummeting to the ground.
"No, Krystal!" Fox shouted. Zenith saw the fighter fall, and raced to it. The red and silver giant caught it in his hand, and holding it close to him, landed on the ground. Zenith set the fighter down gently, and looked up. On the ground, he could see the enormity of the Invaders' armada. The Baltans' Shaplays' and Guts' saucers were taking their toll on the fleet of Cornerian Cruisers, doing more damage to them than the Cornerian fleet can do to them. He also saw the Varduck, Villa and Keronia ships overwhelm the Cornerian Fighters and Star Fox team.
"ENOUGH!" Zenith shouted. His form glowed a bright orange and red, then flames appeared and danced on his body.
"Jim, what are you doing?" Fox shouted.
"I'm going to take out the fighters, so you can handle the other ships!" he replied.
"If you use that move, you could die!" Fox retorted.
"Don't underestimate me, Fox! We have no choice!" Zenith's body glowed brighter, and the flames grew. "Besides, I'm not planning on going nova."
"What?"
"If you guys don't wanna get burned, then get…out…of…my…WAY!" Zenith shouted. He raised his arms, and fire literally erupted out of his form. Firing like a stream, the flames ravaged the Invaders' ships. Taking his advice, the Cornerian Fighters and Star Fox team quickly escaped the raging inferno. However, the Invaders' armada was not as lucky. The raging Ultra Inferno washed over the alien craft, reducing them to so much ash and cinders. Zenith swept the fire all around him, making sure that there wasn't a survivor left to warn the rest of the ships to what happened. When Zenith lowered his arms, all that was left was smoldering wreckage falling around him and Krystal. Zenith's warning light was flashing at a rapid pace. The red and silver Warrior of Light fell to a knee, panting heavily, the Ultra Inferno taking a heavy toll on his energy reserves. His form glowed crimson, and he vanished. Fox and co. saw this, and feared the worst.
"Krystal, can you see Jim?" Fox asked. The vixen opened her canopy, and leapt out. After running to the spot where the Ultra stood, she found Jim on a knee, panting hard. The Ultra/human felt like he just ran a marathon.
"Jim!" Krystal shouted. Jim stood up and looked to see Krystal running towards him. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"Fine, just drained." he said, his voice sounding hoarse. He stumbled to the vixen, who caught the weak-kneed Ultra/human. He fought to stay awake, to not lose consciousness.
"You're sweating…" she said, concerned. Perspiration was coming off of him in droves.
"I'll be fine. But…the armada…" Jim looked up, and saw the Cornerian fighters and Star Fox engage the larger ships, but the Baltans and Shaplay turned their attention to the fighters, while the Guts remained to deal with the Cornerian Cruisers. The beleaguered fleet seemed to get a break of some sort, only having to deal with a third of the whole armada that they were up against, and renewed their efforts against the Guts' saucers. The Fighters and Star Fox ran assault runs on the Baltans and Shaplay ships, the smaller craft evading the laser fire coming at them. While the Cornerian Fighters were doing heavy damage to the larger saucers, it was the Arwings who dealt the coup de grace to them, their nova bombs and charged shots doing horrendous damage to the vulnerable spots on the aliens' ships.
"Krystal, is Jim alright?" Fox asked.
"He's fine, but he's exhausted." Krystal replied.
"When do you think he'll be able to transform?" Krystal looked at Jim, who shook his head weakly at her.
"Not for a while, yet. He needs to rest for a bit."
"We don't have a bit! We need him up here, right now!" Fox replied. Jim got up from beside Krystal, and took uneasy steps to the fight that raged above them. Inhaling deeply, he placed his Spacium Brace over his heart, where it flashed once, then died. Jim's arm fell to his side, the Ultra/human dropping to a knee again.
"Jim!" She moved to Jim's side, holding his shoulders.
"I have to transform, help the others…" Then, he collapsed. Krystal held him close to her. Before he blacked out, he smiled. "Help…is on…the way, Krystal-chan." he said, before losing consciousness. Then, as if on cue, the sky above them grew brighter, and several red orbs descended from the clouds above. Numbering in the dozens, the red spheres took on humanoid shapes. Krystal recognized them once the transformations were done.
"Ultramen!" she said. Jim had a content look upon his face. "So that's it. Jim sent a message to his people…" Krystal said to herself. The Ultras attacked the Invaders' ships en mass. Strafing their laser weapons across the hulls of the large craft, the saucers were instantly reduced to so much debris and rubble. The Baltans and Shaplay tried to fight back, but were outmatched by the Space Garrison Space Forces. The Guts' saucers, after seeing their comrades die at the hands of the Space Garrison forces, decided to beat a hasty retreat. However, two Ultras halted their retreat; Zoffy and Hayata destroyed the ships promptly with their weaponry. When all was destroyed, the pair descended upon the ground. The giants looked down upon the vixen holding the unconscious Jim. Hayata shrunk in size, being no bigger than a man, and reverting to his human guise of Shin Hayata. The Ultra/human wore the same outfit as Jim did, but with a robe instead of a tunic. The other Ultra looked old, at least sixty years, judging by the wrinkles and grey hair. He walked over to the pair, and looked down upon the still form of Jim. "You're…" Krystal began.
"A friend." Hayata finished, a friendly smile on his wizened face. Krystal smiled back. Hayata took out his Beta Capsule, and held it over Jim's body.
"What are you doing?" Krystal asked.
"Just rousing him." Hayata replied. The Capsule flashed once, and Jim's eyes shot open. He sat up, and looked around, until his gaze rested on the oldster.
"Father!" he shouted, getting up. The oldster chuckled, and clasped his son on the shoulders.
"Good work, Zenith. We received your message in time and dispatched the enemy fleet. Everything is alright, now." Jim nodded quickly, a grin on his face. Krystal stood in the background, seeing the pair. She allowed herself a slight smile, seeing the father and son scene before her. Fox, Slippy, and Falco landed near them, and got out of their arwings, making their way to the trio. Zoffy stood over them, watching the scene before him.
"Who's this guy?" Falco asked. Jim turned, and introduced Shin to the Star Fox team.
"So, this is your father?" Slippy asked. "You look different when you're not…you know…big." Shin laughed in amusement.
"Member Hayata, we have pressing matters to attend to," Zoffy's voice boomed. Jim and Shin looked up, as did everyone else. The Oldster nodded, then turned to the Star Fox team.
"Zoffy is right. We must meet with your General Pepper, immediately." Falco and Fox looked at eachother, while Slippy replied for them.
"Uhm, General Pepper doesn't see just anyone. Usually we don't even see him until he has a mission for us."
"That is fine. He is expecting us in any case."
"Alright, Mr. Big, if you say so."
"Falco, show some respect! That's my superior you're talkin' to!" Jim said, irritated at the avian's attitude. Zoffy slightly shook his head, and Shin masked a laugh. After reducing to the size of a human, Zoffy, along with Jim and Shin who transformed to their Ultra forms, flew toward the CACC, where General Pepper waited for them. After materializing in his office, the wizened blood-hound hardly looked surprised. In fact, he smiled when he saw the sight.
"I was beginning to wonder when you people would show up." he said, still smiling. Zenith reverted to his human guise and moved towards Pepper's desk.
"You know why these two are here, yes?" he asked. Pepper nodded.
"I asked them to come here, so they can shed some light on the subject and not have a repeat of what had happened last time. And in order to do that, I think it would be best to wait until the rest of the Star Fox team shows up. Wouldn't you agree, Jim?" Pepper asked, not losing his smile. Jim nodded.
"About that…" Shin started, Pepper turned his attention to the other Ultra. "The sole reason for that was…"
"To prevent the Council of Ultra from destroying the Lylan race, to bring back the dead humans that had lived before us thousands upon thousands of years before they went extinct. Jim, or Zenith as you call him, has already filled me in on that little bit your history. I don't blame him at all for keeping it a secret, and it seems like the others have forgiven him as well for the deception. After all, if we knew, then that would have been our death, yes?" Shin was surprised by this, and Jim covered his laugh. "Well, all we have to do now, is just wait for the others to arrive, which should be shortly." Indeed the Ultras didn't have to wait long. After about twenty minutes or so, the five members of the Star Fox team came calling. After being bidden to enter, they found the three Ultras, one still in his Ultra form while the other two were in their human guises, waiting for them inside the office, all three having their mantles on. They turned to face the anthros.
"Gee, thanks for waiting, Jim. You could've at least warn us before you pulled your little disappearing act." Falco said, crossing his wings across his chest while having a disapproving look upon his face.
"Right, well, we had to get here in a hurry. This couldn't wait for us to go at the pace of an arwing." Jim retorted, rolling his eyes.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the avian asked, confrontationally. Jim was unflinching.
"We have not time for this." Zoffy stated. "The reason why we couldn't wait for you, is because we have something of vital importance to tell your general. We had planned on having Zenith relay the information back to you, but Pepper insisted on having you all here." He sighed, and went on. "In any case, we were fortunate that we had only to deal with such a small invasion force."
"'Small invasion force'?" Falco almost shouted. "You call that small? It didn't look small to me, buddy!"
"Falco's right." Peppy added. "You showed up just after Jim had dealt with half of the armada. You weren't here for the main course."
"We know about Villa, Varduck, and Keronia ships that Zenith had dealt with, along with the Baltan, Shaplay, and Guts ships that your fleet had tangled with. Rest assured, your prowess was never in doubt."
"Wait, wait, back up a second. You mean, you were there that whole time while we were getting our butts handed to us, and you never thought to lift so much as a finger to help us?" the avian asked, incredulously. "Is that how you normally treat people you wanna be friends with?"
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was you who said that was tired of having all of the glory stolen by someone inexperienced." Zoffy replied, pointing at Falco. the avian shut his beak after that. "Zenith has been sending regular reports about his mission here, and his descriptions about you, and your efficiency as a team is what led us to believe that you were capable of handling the situation. After all, it was Zenith himself who said that you people were the real heroes here, not us, and that we could never replace you. We were simply trying to comply with your wishes as to remain as the people's guardians." Falco stammered and couldn't get two words out coherently.
"Well, I, uhh, that is-well…" Jim smiled to himself.
"What all have you heard about us?" Fox asked, looking over to Jim. Shin answered that.
"We have been monitoring Zenith since his awakening. As a result, we have also been monitoring you as well. And so far, both our findings and Zenith's reports seem to collaborate the fact that you people are highly adaptable, battle-hardened, and above all, tenacious. We were hoping to see some of that ourselves, and we were not disappointed."
"Reports? What reports?" Fox asked, turning to Jim.
"You do remember that Zenith is a member of the Space Garrison forces, yes? As such, he is required to send in a regular report detailing his activities and progress on the assignment he was given. Merely standard operating procedure, I assure you." Zoffy replied. Falco turned an angry glare to Jim.
"You're sending reports, now? When did this happen?"
"When I became a member of the Space Garrison." Jim answered casually. "Like Zoffy said, it's standard operating procedure. You guys do the same for General Pepper after all." Fox merely shrugged in agreement. He was, after all, a member of the Ultra race, and the Star Fox team.
"Can we please get back to the issue at hand?" Zoffy asked. "Good. The reason why we are here, is to tell you that, yes, Gorzul does have a larger force at his disposal than the one that you faced off against."
"How much larger?" Peppy asked.
"About ten times the size of the one that we took on today, if not greater." Shin replied.
"Ten times?" Fox asked, his jaw dropping. "No force anywhere is that big! The largest one that we had to deal with was Andross's armada, and it was roughly the size of the one that we just tangled with!"
"No force anywhere here, you mean. You forget that those ships came from the Ultraverse. My world." Jim replied. "It seems that Gorzul is mustering all the forces that he can to take the system."
"But why? If his forces are so vast, why bother with us? We're no match for him." Peppy replied.
"We don't know. He's after something in this system, and until we find out what it is, we need to be on the alert at all times. We can't afford to be complacent, especially during a crisis such as this." Jim said sternly.
"So, we just wait around for the next attack to hit?" Fox asked. Jim shook his head.
"We need to find Gorzul himself. We find him and take him out before he can bring his full invasion force to bear. That last armada was, more than likely, the largest one that he can summon right now, until he can completely master the manipulation of the Gate Ways, which should be impossible."
"You people were able to." Slippy replied. Jim shook his head.
"Only partially, just enough to move a handful of us at a time from place to place. The armada must have drained his resources considerably. We don't think that he can completely control the Gate Ways for awhile yet. We need to use that time to find and kill him, before he can summon every single Invader in the Ultraverse and bring them down to bear on the Lylat System."
"Great, so how do we find him?" Krystal asked.
"We're still working on that." Jim replied.
"Oh. Fantastic. That's just great." Falco scoffed. Jim whirled to face him.
"Well when you get some kind of master plan, you let us know, huh?" he shouted at the avian. Falco shut his beak while the Ultra glared at him, his steel grey eyes burning fiercely. Shin Hayata put a hand on his shoulder, as if to hold him back. Jim looked behind him, and saw the look on the oldster's face. He relaxed, and regained his composure. "We don't have a means on locating him, yet. But, we are currently working on it. The Gate Way signature that appeared with the armada has been recorded and logged. We will cross-reference it, and see if it can be used to track down Gorzul. Other than that…" Jim shrugged.
"Do we know where or when he will strike?" Pepper asked.
"Your guess is as good as ours. However, we have a good idea that he will try to take Corneria again."
"How do you figure?"
"Corneria is the center of your government. He takes it down, the whole system falls, right?" Jim asked. Pepper said nothing, nor did anyone else.
Just outside of the Lylat system: A large dark mass was floating freely in space. It was easily the size of a planet, with several other bodies close to it. In the interior, Gorzul sat upon his throne. He had expected the loss of armada, and also of the Ultras' involvement. However, that will only serve him in the end. Then, a figure materialized before him. Standing before him, bowing slightly, was Claire. The she-wolf came out of her bow slowly, before addressing the cloaked figure himself. "Lord Gorzul. You summoned me here?" she asked, indignity showing ever so slightly.
"It is time for you to take action, my child. Go now to the planet Corneria, and wreak havoc to your heart's content. I know how long you have been waiting to do precisely that." Claire's muzzle betrayed a smile that promised death as the she-wolf disappeared in a plume of violet flames, leaving the room empty, save for Gorzul himself.
A few hours later on the Great Fox, Jim was in his quarters. He got out his old uniform, the one he wore while he was still with Star Fox. While still technically on the team, he hasn't felt like a real part of it since he returned from M78 after his fight with Kronos and the Council of Ultra. He held the black and dark blue uniform, remembering his time with the team. How he was found by Krystal just before the Earth that he knew was destroyed. How Fox's initial distrust led to his temporary leave of the team and his dealings with Thomas Addleson. 'God, it's been so long since I thought about Addleson and my clone. It seems like a life-time ago since I destroyed Alpha, and Addleson died from his own experiments.' In that time, he had learned who he truly was, and how the Council of Ultra planned to destroy the Lylan race to bring back the dead humans, and how he had suffered a critical injury that made him give up his human self and become a full Ultra after his battle with them. All of this was racing through his mind at a million miles an hour. He was still clad in his clothing he got from M78, and hadn't even thought of putting his old uniform on. Until now. There was a knock on his door, but Jim paid it no heed. Then, the door opened, and Krystal walked in. She saw the engrossed Jim standing in front of his dresser, holding his old uniform. Krystal walked up behind him, and embraced him. For the first time in almost a year, he was startled. He turned suddenly, and sighed when he saw Krystal.
"Did I startle you?" she asked, smiling.
"A little." Jim replied, smiling sheepishly. Krystal laughed.
"What's so funny?" Jim asked.
"It's been a while since I caught you by surprise. You've changed since then."
"Since when?"
"Since I first met you on Earth." Krystal replied. "I remember how you were just a boy back then, more than a little hesitant to accept your power. How you were unsure of where it was that your power came from. Now, after you've matured, you seem so sure of yourself. You've grown up, James Howards." It's been so long since he's been called that. Jim smiled a bit at that.
"I guess I have. Then again, a lot can happen over a year. Especially when you have a brush with death." Krystal continued to hold him from behind. Jim rested his head against hers, feeling the soft fur against his face. The vixen snuggled up against him, while the Ultra held his uniform in his hands. Then, he turned, and kissed her forehead tenderly. Holding her in his arms, Jim looked down upon the vixen. He had grown slightly since he was with the team, once he was about equal height with Krystal. Now, he stood over her. The vixen looked up, and smiled at him. Krystal rested her head against his chest, her eyes closed. Jim continued to hold her close. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her so badly. What he wanted, what he needed, what he wanted to do with, and for, her. But, he knew that he can't. At least, not yet. Not until all has been said and done, not until everything has been settled between him and Gorzul, and the demon rendered to nothing more than just another nightmare forgotten by the rising morning sun. Then, he will tell her.