Hello and welcome to another chapter of Star Fox Annihilation. I'm so glad y'all have stayed with this story for this long, it's great to have fans for so long. The last chapter got a lot of reviews, and apparently quite a few laughs. Hopefully I can keep it up.
I know I've gotten a lot of reviews lately of the OC characters seeming to outshine the Star Fox characters but there is a good reason for that. A big reason is because the story is still young, it's only around a 1/3 of the way done, and I'm trying to establish the OC characters early on. They're NOT more important than the Star Fox characters but I want to establish the OCs now so that later on in the story I can focus on the story and Star Fox characters without having to worry about explaining the OCs. So yes, this will be one of the last chapters revolving around the OCs for a while.
This will be the first chapter in a long time that has combat in it. Been a while since I've written combat so I hope I still got it. Hopefully some twists and turns and cool explosions but we'll see. Don't expect it to be all that much of a fight as realisticly, as I'm trying to write it, the way the combat goes in this chapter it's not much of a much given the odds. Still, hopefully it's good.
Something I've considered doing for this is, considering how long it'll be, is possibly splitting the story into three parts. I've been 50/50 on the subjects for a while, can't seem to determine whether to do it or not. I'm curious what the you readers think I should do, split it into 3 continuing stories or not. Please leave your answers in a review?
I do want to apologize in case this seems rushed, even though we're still in quarantine and I got plenty of time to write concentrating on my stories is difficult for me for some reason. So, I'm sorry for that in advance.
Hope you enjoy the chapter and please leave a review and follow the story.
Chapter 18: Return of Andross
"So, this is where you've been all this time?" Daria shouted as she entered the cave behind Todd.
Daria stayed close to Todd, having been by his side the entire time since he saved everyone's lives from the Venomians. She stuck to him like a shadow asking him question after question as they walked to his hide out, and she tried to catch him up on events that had happened since he'd been gone. Daria wasn't the only one sticking my him, Cara had her arm around Todd's and was onto holding him tightly as if she never wanted to let go of him. Miyu was close by as well on the opposite side of Cara but not close enough that it seemed awkward. Fox was following close behind occasionally throwing in a question or statement to remind the others that he was there. Fara, Lucy, Krystal, and Diana walked behind them barely saying a word other than Fara explaining things to Diana and Krystal. They were all glad to finally make it out of the cold and into the cave who's entrance was hidden behind a snowbank.
"Yeah, I spent some memorable nights in this cave with the love of my life and the little angel." Todd said as he smiled towards Cara lead the way into the middle of the cave.
Daria saw Miyu shake her head out of the corner of her eyes. She didn't need to be a telepath like Krystal to know that Miyu was extremely jealous of Cara, it was practically painted on her face the way she glared nonstop at the panther. What worried Daria was how much of her jealously Miyu was bottling up, it made her concerned that she would burst and so something drastic. She just hoped that Miyu would hold it in at least till after they took down Andross.
"I must say, I was expecting something a lot less crude when I thought of how you were living." Fara said.
The cave was much bigger than what even Daria could've predicted with the middle of the cave being a large open room. It reminded her of the old one room cabins their ancestors used to live in with fire pit in the middle of the room and a bedding area in the corner. It was a better living situation than even she imagined it'd be.
"It served its purpose for the time, got us through a lot of freezing nights." Todd replied as he wrapped his arm around Cara as everyone piled into the room. "But I'm more than happy to finally leave it behind."
"I bet you are, though I imagine going back to sleeping on a real bed will be difficult after sleeping on what you have here."
"It'll definitely be a difficult transition getting civilized again but I got some loving people to help to help me and my family through it."
Fox patted Todd on the shoulder. "Of course we will, we're family after all."
Todd was about to reply when Lucy, who'd been looking around at the cave finally spoke up, changing the tension in the room in the process. "Are you sure having a fire in a closed cave is a good idea, Todd? Wouldn't everyone inside suffocate?"
Todd pointed up to the cave ceiling to a hole directly over the fire. "That hole keeps us from dying from smoke inhalation. I would've been dead a LONG time ago if it wasn't for that."
"Really Lucy, after everything that's happened that's the first question to pop out of your mouth since we got here?" Daria exclaimed.
"I can't help it, you know my mind is more logical and question based than emotional. I'm just curious how Todd and Cara survived here for so long."
"And I'd be more than happy to tell, once we get down to business." Todd replied getting a smile from Lucy then made his way to the fire. "Right now, we have much more pressing matters to discuss."
Everyone gathered around the fire with Todd taking the main spot with Cara on his left and Daria seated nearby on his right. Miyu sat near Daria in what she suspected was to get as close to Todd as possible since two others blocked the spots next to him. Everyone else formed a circle around the fire as close to Todd as they could, particularly his family members. Though the initial shock of the reunion had worn off it was still felt in the room. Daria and a few others still wanted to pound him with questions, like they had done on the way to the cave, but at the moment no one was asking any. The serious look on Todd's face had changed the tone. Everyone saw it and it immediately changed the mood in the cave as Daria could see he had something serious to discuss, telling her the time of the reunion is on hold for the time being.
"So, I assume that Cara informed everyone a certain monkey who's turned up here?" Todd said once everyone was seated.
Fara nodded. "Oh yes, she was quite explicit on that, practically demanding us to come here and find you and defeat Andross. Normally, I'd dismiss someone who said they saw Andross but she was quite convincing."
"Hm, Cara is quite convincing, even better at getting what she wants than you."
Cara playfully punched Todd on the shoulder. "Hey, watch it big guy."
"Yeah, yeah, don't get too punchy." Todd replied with a smirk then looked at everyone else getting serious again. "So, now that everyone is aware that Andross is here . . . "
"That's the problem Todd." Lucy stated, interrupting Todd. "All we have on confirmation on Andross is you and Cara's word. Word of mouth is not confirmation."
"True, but that hardly matters now that we know Venom is here." Daria replied for Todd. "After that little trap incident we ran into we know that Venom is up to something out here and we cannot just ignore it. They need to be dealt with immediately whether Andross is here or not."
"Then, why don't we call General Pepper for backup and confirmation? That'll go a long way in getting us the intelligence we need."
"Because we don't have time for that." Todd answered in a stern voice. "I've been observing the facility ever since Cara and Felicity escaped and from what I've seen tension there is high to say the least, almost as if they're expecting some action against them. They're all prepped and ready to evacuate at the moment's notice. Once they find out their patrol is missing that'll be the last straw and we'll miss any opportunity. So time is of the essence right now."
"Hm, you got a point, Todd." Diana said with a serious expression. "Acting quickly is our best bet but we cannot just rush in when we don't know anything about them."
"Huh, you're one to talk." Krystal replied with a smirk. "How many times have you and Torygg rushed in on a Venom base."
"We've never just flat out rushed a base, we always scouted it out first and planned out our attacks before charging on, otherwise we'd been dead a long time ago."
"Wait, you and your brother charged Venom resistance bases all by yourselves?" Todd exclaimed in shock.
"Yes, on Macbeth we did it frequently, though there was the time we underestimated the target and nearly got overwhelmed but Daria's unit was there to help us."
Daria nearly lost it when she saw Todd's expression as he looked her way. "It's a long story, I'll tell you after we deal with the Venomians."
Todd smirked as he looked around at the others. "Thankfully, I got a plan for this, one of the good things about having all this down time."
"Hm, that's something scary for enemy, you with time to plan."
Todd chuckled as he picked up a stick and began drawing in the dirt. He drew a large rectangle first then filled in the rest with smaller squares, taking extra care to their shape and location. Four circles were placed around each of the corners, and other objects in specific locations within the large rectangle. Daria knew exactly what he was doing, but looking at Cara, Lucy, Krystal, and Diana she saw that they were confused. She didn't blame them, people who didn't serve with him would have no idea. No one said a word till Todd finished drawing, by then, to the untrained, it looked like the outline out of a drawing, nothing more.
"This is an outline of the Venom facility. Sorry I don't have a camera but this will have to do." Todd said looking up from his drawing. "The large rectangle is the fence surrounding the facility while each of these circles is a watch tower. These other squares are the buildings and security checkpoints."
"Huh, I thought you were just showing us your drawing skills." Miyu said with a smirk only to get a quick, playful slap to the back of the head from Daria.
Todd shook his head and ignored Miyu as he looked down at the map he'd just finished drawing. "They have a total of thirty armed guards, after I took out those five that were causing you trouble. Each guard post always has at least one guard, if not two at all times. There are three secure checkpoints each with a heavy machine gun that could shred through even Sharpscale armor. From my efforts there are only five Venom scientists and they never leave this building." Todd said pointing the stick at the building near the center. "I counted only three officers, two lieutenants and a captain, they roam the base making sure everything goes smoothly at almost random movements and times. However, there's a high ranking Venom officer who's been a Cornerian priority target for years, Colonel Flax."
Fox, Daria, Fara, and Diana all gasped at Todd mentioning Colonel Flax, the others just looked around at each other confusedly. Daria knew Colonel Flax as one of Venoms most ruthless officer during the Lylat Wars. He got quite a reputation for his brutality against his enemies, leaving no survivors, even civilians. That earned him quite a reputation among the Cornerian military with orders to kill him on sight. Daria could see Diana's fist clenching so tight she seemed to almost being drawing blood. It was well known that Colonel Flax was one of who led the effort to push the Sharpscales from Venom. Hearing that he was there made him almost a valuable target as Andross, particularly since the reward for his capture, or death was quite high.
"If he's here than this assault becomes a major priority, we cannot slip up." Daria said.
"As if Andross being here wasn't enough now we have the opportunity to put that other bastard in the grave." Diana replied with a growl. "Torygg will want a piece of him as well."
"And you'll both get it." Fox responded looking at Diana. "If we take out Colonel Flax you two can have the reward."
"What, why?"
"On Macbeth you said that you and your brother wanted to get into the mercenary business. To do so you need money and reputation. Taking out Colonel Flax will get you the reputation you need; work will come your way pretty quickly once word gets out. The bounty will get you the resources you need to be proper mercenaries."
"Hm, all I can think to say is thanks Fox. Just getting this opportunity is a big help for us, Torygg is going to be ecstatic when he finds out."
"Oh I bet he will be."
"Of course, anyone who gets the opportunity to go after Andross and Colonel Flax would be extremely happy. Though I do have a question about the suddenness of all this." Lucy responded getting the attention of everyone in the cave. "So, we're getting right into the action, no time to have a real reunion?"
"We kind of already had a reunion, sadly for the moment it's all we can afford for the time being as long as Andross is around. It's only a matter of time before they notice their men are missing, if they haven't already. That leaves us with very little time to have a reunion."
"I hate to say it but Todd is right." Cara said, getting surprised looks from everyone. "I know everyone is not expecting me to say this, I'm not a military person, but taking out Andross needs to be our top priority. We cannot allow him to escape."
Miyu nodded. "I agree with you, though I suspect you will not be taking part in the assault."
"Of course not, as I said I did not serve in the military and have no combat experience, I would be anything but a hindrance to you."
"So, what will you be doing while we're doing there risking our lives to take out that damn monkey?"
"Looking after the kids, someone has to."
Miyu smiled as she patted Cara on the back. "So you got the most dangerous job of all."
"Hey, Felicity isn't that bad."
"I wasn't referring to Felicity."
Daria couldn't help but chuckle, Miyu told her how Vixy dropped a bookcase on her and Fay the last they babysat. Cara didn't seem to find it funny as she still glared angrily at Miyu. It was the first time she'd seen Cara angrily glare at Miyu; it had often been the other way around, though Daria knew it was out of jealousy. At least Cara seemed to calm down once Miyu explained she wasn't talking about Felicity. No one else seemed to really want to get involved.
Todd hit the strike on the ground getting everyone's attention. "Now that we got the laughs out of our system how about we get back to planning the mission." Todd said with a straight face as he seemed to be able to muster than turned to Fox. "So brother, how many do you have with you? I'm assuming there are more aboard the Great Fox."
Fox thought it over in his head for a moment before replying. "Uh, all together there are ten of us. Falco, Slippy, Peppy, Fay, and Diana's brother Torygg are aboard the Great Fox waiting for us to communicate back to them. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I had to come up with multiple plans for assault since I didn't know what reinforcements Cara would bring back with her. Thankfully, what we got is a lot more than I suspected to come, so that'll make this a lot easier."
"How many were you expecting?" Fara asked.
"Honestly, I was expecting just Fox, Falco, Slippy, Falco, and you, maybe a small combat unit though I wasn't going to get my hopes up for that. Still, this is far better than I expected so I'm happy to have everyone here."
"Ah, so this exceeded your expectations?" Lucy asked.
Todd nodded. "Oh yes, with everyone here they shouldn't stand a chance. Though I got to ask, how quickly can you get back to the Great Fox?"
"Uh, it may be an hour or so trek back, why do you ask?" Fox answered.
"Because I'm going to need you, Falco, Slippy, Peppy, Fay, Miyu, Fara, and Lucy, if she has a fighter, in the air for the plan to work. It's a simple bombing run to soften them up followed by a ground insertion."
"Hm, like we used to do in the old days." Daria spoke up getting a nod from Todd.
"Pretty much, as I said the facility has almost no air defenses, other than a single AA gun, which the Arwings can easily outmaneuver. Due to the facility's small size it'll be easy to cause max damage in a couple flyovers." Todd turned and looked at Fox. "All your team will have to do is keep bombing, hit every building you can, till I say to stop."
"Why would you order us to stop?" Miyu asked.
"Because me, Daria, Diana, and her brother will infiltrate to clean up any survivors, check for any vital intelligence, and confirm the deaths of Colonel Flax and Andross."
Daria heard Diana chuckle. "My brother and I will gladly fight beside you to put those bastards to a deep hole."
"You'll get the opportunity beside me, since the bombing run probably will not kill him."
"What makes you say that?" Fox responded.
"The building he's stayed in is heavily reinforced, pretty much the only one on the facility built to withstand bombing runs. Though you guys can soften it up it'll probably take us going in to get inside and kill them. To make it easier for us on the ground the bombing run is necessary, so don't worry about holding back."
"That we will definitely do brother."
"Good, that'll make this so much easier. Working together we should be able to pull this off VERY quickly." Todd stood up and looked around at everyone. "So, does that plan make sense to everyone?"
Daria nodded than looked from person to person seeing each other nod. No one seemed to have a question for Todd. On top of that everyone seemed to like his plan. It reminded Daria of the old days when he was her CO in their Tier1 days together before he was shot down. Everyone loved his plans back in those days; he'd rarely ever get a question as he explained everything so well. Even Diana seemed impressed though Daria thought it was because she'd be on the ground, giving her the possibility to be the one who put a hole in Andross' head.
"You've had a lot of time to plan this haven't you?" Daria asked with a slight smile.
"Of course, I've been planning this ever since I got Cara and Felicity off the planet. You know how good I am at planning."
"Planning missions, yes, there is no one better than you. Planning out anything else . . . uh, you need to practice."
Todd seemed to fight back a smirk. "Yeah, yeah, very funny Daria."
Cara patted Todd on the pat and whispered. "She's not wrong big guy."
Todd shook his head as the others except for Lucy who just shrugged and Diana who remained as stoic as she could, though Daria saw her crack her smile. Looking around the cave Daria could see that everyone, even Lucy surprisingly, appeared to be fired up. Andross had wronged each other in some way making everyone in the cave want a piece of him. Seeing it made Daria even more excited than she already was to the point she where she was having trouble containing herself to go after Andross.
Daria stood up, looking around at everyone with, with a big smile. "Then what are we waiting for, let's go put that monkey's ass in a deep hole?"
Snowy Hills near Venom Facility, Fichina
Diana knelt down in the snowbank, looking up quickly at what laid behind her hiding spot. Pulling out her binoculars she could spot a small facility with around a dozen or so buildings and a fence surrounding it. She could spot out a few guard towers just as Todd told her, as well as a few guard posts. There were only a dozen guards that she could see but she knew that there were more probably in the barracks or other buildings. She was slightly colder than shew as earlier wearing her full armor that Fara and Slippy had outfitted to work in the freezing conditions, but her desire for the upcoming fight made her hardly notice it.
Hm, this is going to be even easier than Todd said. Diana thought as she adjusted her seated position.
Quickly looking over her shoulders Diana smiled at Todd, Daria, and Torygg positioned beside her. Todd seemed to be in his element with a laser assault rifle and planning the attack, she could only imagine what he'd be like in the middle of a firefight after seeing how skilled Daria was. Daria definitely seemed to be the same but even more so lying in the snow next to her brother before a battle. Diana had yet to see Diana with such a big smile. Torygg appeared to be even happier than them; the smile hadn't left his face since they arrived back at the Great Fox and told him that Andross was indeed there. She'd never seen him get ready for battle so quickly. Seeing him lying side her, Todd, and Daria in full armor and weaponry, his large shotgun and rocket launcher, ready for the order to charge the base made her proud. It almost seemed like a dream come true for her, to have the ape that caused them so much trouble so close to their guns. Torygg was even more anxious that she was, waiting for the others to arrive and bomb the base just made them even more so.
"So, this is the infamous Venom base, brother?" Diana whispered to Todd.
"Yeah, it's pretty quiet right now, slightly more so than usual."
"Is that good or bad?" Daria asked.
"Good, hopefully they're not expecting an attack. That'll make this so much easier." Todd replied with a slight smile. "Thanks to our numbers this should be pretty easy."
"From what I'm seeing they might as well have no defenses at all compared to what's coming their way. The others should be able to take out what major defenses they have almost instantly, making this a walk in the park from the rest of us."
"You're right Daria but there is problem I'm seeing right now." Diana mumbled from her spot beside Daria. "I don't see Andross anywhere; I thought you'd say he'd be there."
Todd pointed towards a reinforced building in the center of the base. "That is where Andross stays at all times. The only time I've seen him leave is when he arrived at the base."
"Sounds to me like he's scared." Diana said with a slight smile.
"You're probably right, he has a reason to be but it won't matter when we end him."
"Not before we rip off his dick and shove it up his ass." Torygg growled.
Diana heard Todd leans in close to Daria and whispered. "Are they always this aggressive?"
Daria smirked as she patted Todd on the shoulder. "Oh yeah, you get used to it, but in this case that aggression is going to come in handy."
Diana looked at Todd after poking him in the back getting him to turn and look at her. "Have you ever seen a Sharpscale in battle?"
"No, I haven't had the pleasure."
Torygg grinned devilishly. "Then you're in for a wild treat. We'll make sure anyone in our path suffers and gets cut to ribbons."
Todd smiled at Diana and Torygg. "Good, don't hold back against these bastards."
Before Diana or Torygg could reply a static call came from Daria's radio. Everyone turned and looked at her as she pulled it out and whispered a few words.
"Okay bro, we're in position as well, attack whenever you're ready." Daria replied than leaned over to the others. "The others are close and will commence a bombing run shortly."
"Good, certainly took them long enough to get here." Torygg mumbled.
"We've only been here ten minutes." Todd said with a smirk.
"That's ten minutes too long."
Diana shook her head as she checked her laser Gatling gun. Torygg had always been the anxious type when it came to combat, even more so than her. It was showing even more with Andross being their target. She was experiencing it just like him but she hid it better. All she had to do was waiting as it was only a matter of time before she'd be allowed to go all out on some Venom scum. Till that time Diana checked her Gatling gun and adjusted her position as she waited for the moment to come.
Just as Diana got comfortable she heard the sound of Arwing engines fast approaching. She looked up into the cloudy sky in the direction of the engine but saw nothing. With the lack of sun it was difficult to see anything in the sky, the cloud cover made it nearly impossible. Even the wind made it hard to her to ever hear the engines. After looking for a couple seconds she saw a group of five small objects break through the clouds, she immediately knew they were Arwings.
"Hey Todd, watch this." Diana heard Daria say to Todd with a smirk.
Diana watched closely as the Arwings flew at full bombing speed towards the base in a V formation, closing the distance in a matter of seconds. Once they were nearly on top of the base the Arwings suddenly nose-dived towards the ground, each firing a nova bomb before pulling back up. The bombs struck all over the Venom facility, detonating in massive explosions that set the area ablaze and threw debris in all directions.
"Damn, is it just me or did the Arwing's get an engine upgrade?" Todd said as the facility went up in flame.
"They did thanks to Fara. She made sure they had the most recent upgrades after the Saurian incident."
"Huh, you got to tell me about that after this."
"I'll let Fox, Krystal, or Peppy tell you, I wasn't there so I can't tell you exactly what happened."
Diana smirked as she looked down at the Venom base to see it covered in flames, making her smile. Very few things made her smile like seeing Andross Loyalist suffer, and from her position she could make out several burning alive and others already dead from the explosions. The initial bombing seemed to have destroyed most of the facility's buildings and fortifications. Most of the AA guns and defenses were already destroyed from what she could see, if there were any guards outside they were probably blown away though she could make out a few running around trying to get to whatever defenses they could and put out the fires.
"They're coming back around again." Torygg shouted, pointing up at the sky.
Diana looked in the direction Torygg pointed to see exactly what he said, the Arwings were indeed banking for what appeared to be a second bombing run. It was hard for her to sit there and watch as Fox and others had all the fun as they narrowed in on the facility. She still cheered watching the Arwings dive towards the facility again but the second time unleashing a volley of laser cannons, firing at everything in their path. The lasers cut through everything, blowing a path of destruction in their way. Though it only lasted a couple of seconds that pass all but destroyed the facility.
Once the Arwings had finished their pas Diana saw Todd stand up and shout to her and the others. "Are we going to let them have all the fun or are we going to wipe out some Venom scum?"
"Hell yeah we are." Torygg shouted as he raised his rocket launcher.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get down there and kick some Venomians ass."
Diana, Torygg, and Daria cheered a battle cry as Todd turned and took off running towards the burning Venom facility. The others didn't hesitate and immediately followed him. Despite the deep snow and thick armor she was wearing Diana had no trouble keeping up with Todd and Daria, who's smaller size made it easier for them to progress through the snow. They followed Todd down the slope to a snow bank near the outer fence surrounding the facility where they took cover. The Venomians hadn't noticed their approach yet as they were focused on the Arwings and putting out the fires. Todd took cover first with Daria positioning herself beside him and Diana coming in third and Torygg in last. Much to their surprise a watch tower was still standing with two occupants inside operating a large machine gun trying desperately to bring down the Arwings.
Todd pointed to the watch tower. "Torygg, it' all yours."
Torygg smiled devilishly. "With pleasure."
Torygg stepped out from cover and raised his rocket launcher to his shoulder. Taking quick aim he fired at the gunners near the top. The rocket flew into the watch tower and directly hit the machine gun, blowing the tower to pieces. Debris of wood and metal rained down all around them, thankfully the snow bank they took cover behind protected them.
"Nice shot big guy." Todd said, patting Torygg on the bank.
Torygg nodded as he reloaded the rocket launcher, slung it over his back, and withdrew his machine gun. Diana couldn't help but be a little jealous that he got to kill the first Venomians before she did. At least there were plenty of others for her to slaughter, as long as Fox and the others didn't kill them all.
Todd turned and looked at Daria, Diana, and Torygg. "We'll stick in fire teams upon entering the base. Daria, you and Diana stick together and are the primary breaching team while Torygg and I provide support."
"It'd be an honor to go first." Diana exclaimed as she turned to Daria. "You ready little vixen?"
"Ready when you are big woman."
Diana nodded then jumped over the snow bank with Daria by her side as Todd and Torygg provided security for them. Thankfully, the Arwings had done their job so well at distracting and destroying the enemy that they had no issue making it to the fence, what was left of it. Most of the fence on that side had been blown apart making it full of large holes for them to slide through. Daria slid through first with Diana providing cover. But just as Daria was halfway through Diana saw a Venomians soldier come running through the buildings and spot them. She wasted no time in raising her Gatling gun towards the Venomians and opening fire, the amount of rounds she fired in his direction cut him down instantly.
"Whoa, thanks Diana, I owe you one." Daria exclaimed once she made it through.
Diana shrugged. "Just doing my job."
Daria nodded then provided covered as Diana squeezed through. Due to her size she had a much harder time than Daria but still managed to get through with a lot of effort and three times as much time. She could hear Daria smirking watching her as she glanced back but didn't say a word. As soon as she was through she positioned herself beside Daria who waved to Todd and Torygg. Together, Diana and Daria kept a watchful eye out for any movement as their brothers made their way too them through the snow.
"You think they'll have as much trouble getting through as you did?" Daria sarcastically asked as she peered down the sights of her assault rifle.
"Todd definitely won't but for Torygg we may have to make a bigger hole."
"Hey, I heard that." Torygg shouted from behind them.
Diana quickly glanced over her shoulder to see Todd and Torygg had made it to the fence. She grinned at Torygg who was trying to squeeze through first but seemed to be having trouble. His rocket launcher kept getting caught each time he tried to get through the hole. Todd was trying to hold the rocket launcher so it didn't get caught but the hole was just wasn't quite big enough. It took Todd bending back the fence for Torygg to make it through after several failed attempts. But it wasn't over for Torygg who fell face first into the snow on the other side of the fence when he tried to step through, causing Diana to laugh.
"HEY WE GOT INTRUDERS!" Diana heard a reptilian voice shout.
Diana turned her head to see a Venomians guard standing on top of some rubble pointing at them. She wasted no time in turning her attention to the Venomians and opening fire just as Daria did. He was gunned down by two females at the same time, cutting him to shreds. Diana couldn't help but laugh watching his hole riddled body role down the pile of rubble.
"Well, I guess our cover is blown." Daria stated with a sigh. "Oh well, it was bound to happen sooner or later."
"That just makes this more fun." Torygg responded as he took position beside Diana. "Too bad most are probably already dead after the previous bombing runs."
"You're definitely right about that, I think that Fox and the others got a little carried away." Diana said with a smirk to Todd as the Arwings flew over again.
"I think he's just overzealous to kill Andross, then again who here isn't." Todd replied then turned to Daria. "It's probably a good idea to send them a message of our location before they blow us to bits."
"Knowing Fox, and especially Falco, yeah that's probably a good idea." Daria responded as she radioed Fox as an Arwing fly low overhead. "Hey Fox, we're at the outer East perimeter, watch your fire we're entering the facility now."
Just as Daria finished speaking into the radio Diana heard multiple Venomians accents approaching them. She immediately took cover behind a pile of debris and aimed her Gatling gun in the direction of the voices. Two buildings stood in front of them, both surprisingly lacking in terms of damage with a path between them that Diana believed the Venomians would progress through. Daria took the spot beside her and out of the corner of her eye she saw Torygg and Todd position themselves slightly behind them at an angle. After a few moments, Diana spotted Venom soldiers running through the debris towards them, through the path between the two buildings. She couldn't five, all armed and progressing not too carefully towards the guard she had killed earlier who laid at the bottom of a pile of rubble in the middle of the open area before them.
Just a little more. Diana thought as she watched the Venomians cautiously make their way to their dead comrade.
As soon as they were all out in the open Diana squeezed the trigger, firing a large burst towards them. Almost immediately two of the Venom soldiers were cut down causing the other three to try to make it to cover. Daria fired almost immediately after Diana, hitting one of the soldiers in the head before he had a chance to realize what was going on. Todd fired next at the nearest soldier, hitting him twice in the chest and once I the head. The last soldier ran to take cover behind a nearby concrete barrier but, unfortunately for him, it was in Torygg's direction that fired a short burst that hit him multiple time. It lasted only a matter of seconds but in that short time five Venom soldiers laid dead before they really knew what hit them.
"That was almost too easy." Torygg said as he stood up. "I was expecting more of a challenge."
"So as I, too bad Star Fox's bombing run removed any challenge we'll probably face." Daria replied with a huff.
"Shows you how effective they are in the sky." Todd replied as he looked around them. "Looking at the damage I highly doubt we'll find any more guards roaming around. If there are any left they're probably hiding in the buildings."
"What buildings, almost all of them are destroyed, reduced to rubble." Torygg shouted.
"Not these two." Diana shouted as she pointed at the two buildings in front of them. "Surprisingly these two buildings are barely touched."
"That makes two of us. I guess some of the buildings were better reinforced than I thought. We have to check these two first." Todd said, pointed to the building on the left. "Daria, you and Diana take that building, Torygg and I will take the right."
Diana nodded then took running towards the nearest building with Daria following close behind her as Todd and Torygg ran towards the other building. She took the primary position at the front door while Daria positioned herself to the side. They remained in their position for a moment listening to see in anyone was inside the building. Diana picked up movement inside but she couldn't tell how many, it didn't sound like more than a few.
"You ready Diana?" Daria asked as she charged her weapon.
"Definitely I'm ready to murder some Venomians."
"About time."
Diana kicked the door down, easily knocking it off its hinges, and stepped through first opening fire at anything that moved. Her burst her fire was so aggressive that even though five guards were inside they were all almost gunned down immediately. Daria followed behind her and gunned down the remaining two before they had a chance to make it to cover. Within a couple seconds the room was empty but no signs of Andross or anyone significant.
"All clear, and all destroyed." Daria said with a smirk under her helmet.
Diana nodded as she turned around to exit the building followed by Daria. As soon as they were outside Torygg and Todd exited their building both with barrels smoking.
"You guys have any trouble in your building?" Daria asked.
"Nope, just two idiots who tried to shot us. I've forgotten how bad shots Venom soldiers are." Todd answered.
"Only two, we had five."
"Uh, guys, LOOK OUT!" Torygg shouted as pointed towards something in the sky them.
Diana looked up just in time to see a laser shot coming down from the sky at their direction. She wasted no time in grabbing Daria and yanking her behind cover as Torygg and Todd did the same. They made it behind a wall just as the laser hit the ground near where they were previously standing. The impact shock the ground, throwing dirt and concrete everywhere that rained down on them. Diana covered herself as best she could as she used her body to shield Daria from the debris. Her thick armor protected her easily with no debris penetrating through, most just bouncing off with little impact. Once the shower of debris ended she looked up to see an Arwing with blue strips flying overhead.
"Hey Falco, watch your fire, you almost hit us." Daria shouted into her radio as Diana let her go.
Diana could barely hear the reply but it sounded like Falco's voice on the other end. She couldn't make out what he was saying though she guessed that it was Falco trying to explain himself. Fortunately, Daria didn't seem to be taking any of his crap, a big reason why she respected the little vixen.
"Okay, just don't let it happen again or I'll sneak into your room while you sleep and yank out all your tail feathers." Daria shouted before turning off the radio with a smirk.
"How did you know that was Falco?" Diana asked.
"His Arwing is the only one with blue strips, makes it easy to tell when he makes mistakes."
"Which is pretty frequently I'm guessing."
"You have no idea." Daria replied with a smirk getting one from Diana as well.
Diana was about to reply when she heard Torygg and Todd's voice shouting for them. She and Daria nodded to each other and made their way towards the others to find them standing on the other side of the wall waving towards them. They ran to them, jumping over obstacles to see Todd and Torygg both kneeled down waiting for them.
"Hey, you two alright?" Todd shouted as Diana and Daria made their way to them.
"Yeah, we're fine, no injuries despite that idiotic bird." Diana replied.
"Good, we'll snap his neck later, right now we got other things that need our attention." Todd stood up and pointed towards a building behind them. "Andross and Colonel Flax should be in that building."
Diana turned in the direction he pointed to see a building that looked untouched by the bombing other than a few burn marks. It appeared to be pretty heavily reinforced to withstand bombing runs and other offensive moves. From the looks of it Diana easily guessed by the way it was reinforced that it was built to hold any important personnel, like Andross and Colonel Flax.
"You sure about that Todd?" Diana asked.
"Yes, that's the building I saw him go into when he arrived and not leave since. If he's not there than I have no idea where he would be."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's skin the bastard." Torygg shouted with a lot of enthusiasm.
Torygg took off running towards the building with Diana following close behind him. Todd and Daria followed them though had a hard time keeping up with two excited Sharpscale. As they ran Diana couldn't help but notice how empty the base seemed after such a short battle. It had only been a few minutes since Star Fox began bombed the facility and already there was hardly any resistance. Most, if not all the guards, were dead proving to Diana how effective their attack was, and how unprepared the Venomians were for an offensive. The plan went so smoothly, other than Falco nearly blowing them away, that she couldn't help but feel suspicious, as if they were walking into a trap or something bad was going to happen. However, her excitement to slaughter Andross and Colonel Flax made her push those thoughts aside for the time being.
"I'll get the door." Torygg said as he made it to the building's front door.
Diana didn't argue as she stopped beside the right side of the door. Todd stopped just behind her with Daria bringing up the rear. Torygg seemed to be nearly jumping in his place with excitement as he waited for the others to get ready. Diana didn't blame him one bit, she was experiencing the same thing but was containing it much better than her older brother. She could see that Daria was almost as excited as she was while Todd was nearly impossible to read with his emotionless stare. Everyone looked excited to some extent and ready to pounce on the ape.
"You guys ready to end this?" Diana said with a sadistic smile.
Diana saw Todd and Daria nod while Torygg gave her a thumb up. Before she could reach for the door she saw Torygg step back and ready himself for a kick. She took a step back and let him have the honor of bursting down the door. Torygg lunged forward with all his strength and launched such a powerful kick that the hinges stood no chance. The hinges broke with ease as the door went flying into the building.
Damn, I knew my brother could kick hard but, just, damn. Diana thought as Torygg stepped back allowing the others to enter first.
Diana rushed in first followed by Todd, then Daria, and finally Torygg who brought up the rear security. What they saw surprised them as the room was empty other than some lab equipment and living furniture. The only other thing inside the room was a lone Venom military officer standing behind a radio trying to make a call. Diana immediately recognized the man as Colonel Flax who stopped what he was doing and turned around to look at them with a smug smile.
"So, this is the famous . . ." Colonel Flax general began shouting only for Diana's Gatling gun to cut him off.
Diana held down the trigger of her Gatling gun, spraying Colonel Flax with high-powered laser round after high-powered laser round at over a thousand rounds a minute. The lasers hit the Colonel all over the body, leaving large holes and spraying the wall behind him with his blood as they traveled through him. After holding down the trigger for nearly five seconds, Diana finally let go of the trigger, allowing Colonel Flax's hole filled body to fall to the floor.
"Damn, Diana, I think you missed a spot." Daria said with a smirk.
"Meh, I wanted to get a couple in his dick before he died but that wasn't the case apparently. Oh well, guess I can do that for Andross."
"Hey, you got to shoot Colonel Flax, I get Andross." Torygg shouted.
"That's fine with me, brother."
"We got to find him first." Daria exclaimed then turned to Todd. "So, Todd, where is Andross? We've searched or destroyed every building and yet no sign of him."
"I don't know, he should be here in this building. He hasn't left since the building since he arrived." Todd replied, appearing to take a moment to think before he spoke again. "Only explanation I can think of is he escaped during the confusion and is hiding somewhere."
"You think he could've made it to the hangar?" Torygg asked.
"Wouldn't do him any good, the hangar was destroyed in the first bombing run."
Diana was about to make a statement the ground suddenly started shaking. It was so sudden that everyone was nearly thrown off the feet. She couldn't determine what caused it but sounded like a rocket engine starting up nearby.
"What the hell is that?" Diana shouted as she grabbed a nearby table to stabilize her footing.
Once the shaking died down everyone rushed outside to see smoke coming from the far side of the hangar. They ran as fast as they could to get to the hangar only to see a small escape pod launching into the air. It appeared to be a one person pod large with some unusually large engines for such a small ship.
"Andross must be aboard that thing." Todd shouted.
Diana raised her Gatling gun and opened fire, firing accurately and directly hitting it. Her lasers do next to no damage, barely even leaving burn marks. Torygg tried the same with his rocket launcher but couldn't get a proper lock to make an accurate shot.
"Fox, that pod must contain Andross, take it out quickly." Daria shouted over the radio.
Diana was so distracted by the escape pod that she barely overheard Fox's reply. In the distance off she could see make every Arwing bank and fly towards the escape pod. She could only watch with hopeful intent as the five Arwing closed in as quickly as they could. Thankfully, the escape pod appeared to be slow moving in a single direction, making it an easy target.
Diana nearly jumped at the feeling of Daria's hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn around and look down at her. "Don't worry, that thing is basically a sitting duck. Andross will be dead in a matter of seconds . . . at most."
"You sure about that?"
"Of course, I know my brother and the others. They'll end it no pro . . ." Daria started to say only to pause when she saw something behind Diana.
Diana turned around and looked at the sky at the escape pod to see a bright, green light glowing from tip of the pod. A second later the light shot out towards the sky above the pod and exploded into such a bright light that Diana and the others had to cover their eyes. Once the light dimmed, Diana peered through her fingers and gasped at what as in the sky before them. A giant hole had opened up in the sky that she and everyone else could see through. Looking through she could see what looked like a jungle mountain range.
"What is that thing?" Torygg stuttered.
"That's . . . a wormhole." Daria stated.
"What can we do to stop it?"
"Hope that Fox and the others can destroy the pod before Andross reaches it. All we can do down here is watch."
Diana stood alongside Todd, Daria, and Torygg and watched with bated breath as Andross' pod neared the worm hole. Every second felt like an eternity as she held her breath to see Andross get closer to escape and Fox closer to taking him out. She tightened her grip on her Gatling gun, though she wouldn't need it, as Andross' pod became a dot almost upon entering the worm hole. She could see Fox get close and a light glowing from the nose telling her he was trying to lock onto the pod for an accurate shot. However, just as she assumed Fox had locked on the pod suddenly accelerated with a renewed rocket thrust towards the black hole. Fox fired but the pod accelerated so quickly and suddenly that the shot barely missed. All Diana and the others could do was watch as Andross flew into the worm hole and it closed immediately.
"Did that . . . really just happen?" Daria muttered as she stared blankly at the sky where the worm hole used to be.
Todd nodded as the worm hole closed. "Unfortunately, yes it did. Andross . . . it seems, has escaped."
"Wh . . . what does this mean?" Diana asked, looking back and forth between Daria and Todd.
Todd lowered his head and said with a sigh. "It means that a new war is probably about to begin."
To be continued.
So close, to come so close to taking out Andross once and for all but to fail. Even though the joy of the McCloud family being back together, and even bigger, the failure of missing Andross has got to weigh heavily on everyone. Despite his existence know being known no doubt it'll have repercussions all across the Lylat Systems. What will happen now that Andross is free and that the McCloud's are back together?
I know you were expecting more from the combat scene and I'm sorry if you thought it was lacking. As I said in the beginning author's notes the combat in this section was supposed to be realistic. After two bombing runs on such a small facility, first by Nova bombs and the second laser cannons, I don't think realistically there'd be much left. That's why through Diana's perspective I wrote it out the way I did.
Please leave a review. I honestly want to know what you think of the story and how I can improve it.
Hope that you are enjoying the story so far. The next chapter will be uploaded as soon as possible.
This is John Storm signing off. Star Frosty ya'll.