Chapter 4.

Cold Hearts.

"And that's how she described it?"

"Yeah." Fox sat across from Peppy in the Great Fox's galley. Peppy leaned back in his seat, eyes narrowed.

Fox watched Peppy's expression intently. After years of flying together, Fox learned to trust Peppy's judgment. A lifetime spent flying, and half of that time spent as a mercenary, meant that Peppy had more experience than the rest of the team combined. At this point, he was also probably the closest thing Fox had to a father. So whenever Fox ran into a hard decision, he came to Peppy first for advice.

"I'm still trying to figure out why she insisted on talking about a planned attack on the asteroid. If it's a warning, why's she vague about it? If she's trying to fool us, then what's her angle?" Fox rubbed his eyes, glancing at the clock on the wall.

Peppy hummed thoughtfully. "What did she recommend?"

"Nothing in specific," Fox sighed, "I guessed that she wanted us to do more, and she agreed."

Peppy leaned back, eyes narrowed at the ceiling. "If she's planning something against us, then this is the worst way to do it. Now we're suspicious of her, and I bet she knows it. She could've kept quiet and we'd be none the wiser. But."

The hare bit one of his claws. "What if she's suspicious of us, too?"

The idea dawned on Fox. Maybe Greene was just as suspicious of his team as he was of her. Maybe she didn't know if she could trust them. He nodded, slowly. "That'd explain why she didn't give us any details, but wanted us to think about it anyway."

"Hmm." Peppy leaned further back in his chair, the creaking of its legs groaning in tune with his hum. "This gives us a lot of possibilities, most of them bad."

Peppy scratched his chin. "Thinking there's going to be an attack while keeping that information from others also makes me think that maybe, just maybe, Greene doesn't know who to trust on this asteroid. Maybe there are folks here that she's also suspicious of."

Fox spoke, "Maybe. She might just be trying to avoid panicking everyone."

"That could be true." Peppy nodded, slowly, then scoffed. "Hell, Fox, I'm trying to think of a way to respond that covers all our bases. And all I can think of..."

"...is to go with the plan, for now." Fox finished the sentence. It made the most sense. If Greene planned something against his team, then she would've sprung it on them by now. On top of that, she didn't propose anything really odd, just that they should talk. If it was a trap, he could catch her off guard just by being the one to arrange the time, place and who should show up for the meeting. If Greene agreed to it, then they could move forward.

"I think that's right. It's how I'd do it." Peppy leaned forwards. "I'm glad you're thinking ahead, Fox. You know, you're becoming more and more like your father."

Fox sat up a little straighter after hearing that. He smiled a small smile. "I wouldn't have gotten here without you, old-timer."

Peppy snorted. "You mean you wouldn't have moved on to higher-level thinking without me? Yeah, knowing you, I could buy that. Punk."

Fox smiled even bigger as he stood. "Well, I'm glad you're still sharp. I'll send a message to the team before I get to bed. Now we have to keep our eyes peeled for anything suspicious.

Peppy stood up, slowly. "Sounds like a plan. Make sure to check the fighters before getting to bed, though. You never know when you'll need them to take off."

"Yeah." Fox nodded, still thinking about Greene's words as he walked to the asteroid hangar.

"Alright, it's game time, people."

Jess's voice echoed through the speakers of Miyu's cockpit. Since she totaled her last fighter, Jess ordered her to take a new one. She used the term "new" loosely. She could hear something rattling behind the seat, and one of the fighter's main control panels got duct-taped to the canopy itself. A trail of wires wrapped in electrical tape snaked across the canopy, under her headrest, and into the rear of her fighter.

She looked around, seeing the shadowed forms of other strike craft. From where she sat, every fighter looked lit from one angle, forming shadows dark enough to blend into the space around them. From a ways away, they looked like lonely shapes hovering through the void: a wing coasting across the stars, a canopy blister cruising behind it, a single wedge flying through the space beyond.

From here, it almost looked pretty.

"Total, you're up."

Miyu snapped to attention, immediately regretting that she responded to her nickname. She tried to hide the disappointment in her voice. "Roger, lead."

She brought her fighter up to the three bombers nearby. Each one looked like a long wedge with an off-center canopy blister on its surface. She recognized the bomber that beloged to the mountain lion she met earlier, and could see the words Blake "Muscles" Grant stenciled along the canopy's edge.

Jess' voice echoed through Miyu's cockpit. "Okay, bomber team. Just like we planned. Get the jammers ready."

"Roger," McCoy replied. Miyu's gaze moved to the metal dome by McCoy's canopy.

She smirked as she heard McCoy again. "Lead, jammer's ready. Standing by to jam distress signals."

"Bomber team, stand by."

Miyu's fur stood on end as she heard Jess' voice. She shivered. This is it. They sat right at the edge of the asteroid's radar range. Once in, several things needed to happen perfectly.

The next step belonged to her team.

Jess' voice echoed over the net. "Bomber team, you have the green light. Jam and close in. You know what to do."

"Roger, lead. Jammer's up. Cruise in and hold fire until I give the order," McCoy spoke quietly.

Sliding the throttle forward felt surreal, almost. No lurch. No jolt. Just a steady glide forward as she watched the squadron around her move out of sight.

A voice piped up. Grant. "I'm picking up a patrol flight. Two fighters."

"Are they Star Fox?" Miyu gripped her control stick a little tighter at the sound of McCoy's question.

"Nope. Two Invader IIIs. They're pinging me."

Miyu watched the asteroid in the distance get closer. She felt something electric in the air right as Jess gave the command.

"Launch torpedoes."

"Fox! I'm surprised you're up this early."

Fox looked up from his cockpit. His fighter, like every other functional Arwing the team still had, sat on the floor of the asteroid hangar. As he looked up, he saw Ray walking towards him.

The ape waved. "Fox, if it's not too much to ask, I wanted to hear your thoughts."

Fox stood, leaning out of the cockpit. "What's up? I'm just checking the Arwings' systems. It can wait, I've already double-checked them once."

Fox added the last sentence when he saw the ape give him an apologetic look, as though he felt bad for interrupting Fox.

After a moment, the ape spoke, "Fox, I was wondering, how would you and your team feel about helping to name our home here?"

For a few seconds, Fox didn't know what to say. "I...well, shoot. Are y'all okay with that?"

"Of course." The ape nodded. "Almost everything essential is ready. Life support, the hospital, most of the basics, at least. It'll be a while before the defensive turrets are ready, I think."

He paused, then nodded thoughtfully. "Your friend, the frog, was a great help. I don't think we could've gotten the hospital done today without him. He practically worked through the night. Or, well, whatever counts for night out here."

Fox couldn't help but smile. Slippy was a good guy. He spoke, "Well, I'd be happy to help. I think my team would be happy to help, too."

"Well don't forget to tell them that there's a whole party planned for it. And let the falcon know that we'll be bringing out every keg for this one." The ape smiled a knowing smile at Fox. "I think that he'd enjoy it-"

Something rumbled. The floor shook. Fox froze, eyes wide. His gaze met Ray's right as he spoke, "What?-"

BOOM.

This time, the sound shook the cables that hung from the roof. Wisps of rock dust trailed down towards the ground. Emergency lights bathed the hangar an eerie red.

A synthesized voice crackled over the speakers. "THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ALL SECURITY PERSONNEL REPORT TO EMERGENCY STATIONS-"

A siren hooted loud enough to make the floor vibrate. Fox felt his fur stand on end. His paw shot towards the Arwing's communications panel. He found himself shouting just so he could hear his own words.

"FALCO. PEPPY. I NEED YOU IN THE HANGAR RIGHT NOW-"

Ray staggered up, struggling to stay on his feet. The sound of sprinting footsteps echoed through the hangar as security crew raced out of the hallway.

Fox looked up to see Greene sprinting to an Invader III painted dark green. She glanced in his direction with an unreadable expression before vaulting into her cockpit. One security team member ran up to Ray, took him by the arm and pulled him away from the fighters. Ray looked at Fox, eyes wide, mouth open in a soundless cry of panic.

Fox waved him away, yelling himself hoarse. "SHELTER. GET TO SHELTER. RUN."

Fox couldn't tell if Ray got the message as the ape turned away, but the security guard led him out of the hangar. Fox found himself hoping that the people here would be safe.

As Greene's fighter hovered upwards, Fox spotted his own team running over. Most looked like they just woke up.

Fox vigorously motioned for Peppy and Falco to get to the Arwings. Falco nodded, bleary-eyed, before bolting towards his fighter. Peppy wore a grim look as he ran towards Slippy's Arwing. Slippy pointed at his own chest as he mouthed the word "Where?"

Fox shouted back as loud as he could, trying to make himself heard over the alarm. "GREAT FOX. TAKE OFF."

Slippy bolted off towards the Great Fox before he even finished nodding. Even without its main guns, the Great Fox still had a long-range communications system, and Fox had a hunch that they'd need it ready, just in case. The first target for any kind of pirate raid was always the long-range communications systems, and if Fox was right, then the asteroid's system would already be hit.

Once the canopy closed around him, Fox furiously cycled to the security team's frequency. "Greene. Greene. This is Fox McCloud, I want an immediate update-"

"McCloud, they got-" A muffled thump and the telltale 3-tone shield alarm rang through the net as Greene spoke. "-our long-range comms. We didn't even get a distress call out-"

Fox felt the uncomfortable mix of being right about a problem while also having a plan for it. "I have the Great Fox ready. Just hold on. I'll order my team to get a signal out once the ship makes it outside."

"Make it quick, they brought bombers-" The crack of blaster bolts hitting armor echoed through the speakers, interrupting her.

Fox brought his Arwing to bear towards the hangar opening. As he saw the starlit void, he felt the sense of urgency fade away. The immediate panic started to settle, replaced by the eerie calm he knew from dozens of fights.

He only panicked when he needed to know what to do. Now, he had a plan. All he needed to do was make it happen.

With that, Fox throttled forwards. Now it was his turn to make them panic.

"That's a hit! Two for two!"

Miyu listened to Grant as he called his shots. From her cockpit, she watched as the second target, the radar installation on the asteroid surface, erupted in a plume of dust and plasma fire. She grinned. Now Grant needed to paint two more torpedoes on his fuselage.

She heard a familiar voice on the net. "Bomber team. Bomber team. This is flight lead. We've spotted our old friends coming out of the hangar. You know the next step. Make it count."

"Roger, boss." Miyu could almost hear the relish in McCoy's voice. "Payload's armed."

Miyu felt her claws dig into her palm as she gripped her center stick. Her gaze flicked between her HUD, her canopy, and her radar display. She wanted a chance to let loose. She itched for it.

Her position by the bombers meant that the only combat she saw was when one Invader III wandered too close, then wheeled away as she brought her guns to bear. The rest of the enemy defenders focused on her squadron's attacking fighters. That meant most of the fighting she saw was just between the bombers and whatever unlucky building sat on the asteroid surface.

She almost couldn't believe it. This close to the fray, and she was asked to stay put. But right as she heard the flight lead's announcement that the Star Fox team launched, she felt a new surge of excitement, a jolt that shivered up her spine and spread down to her fingertips.

Another alert tone grabbed Miyu's attention. A familiar red square glowed on her HUD,

She felt her grin get wider as she heard McCoy call the target. "There you are, you big ugly buzzard. Alrighty, fellas, lock in your target and fire. Aim for anything that looks like a comms system. I want that goose cooked."

Miyu watched as the bombers silently ejected a dozen torpedoes into the space in front of them. They floated forwards for a half second before lighting up in unison and burning away towards the target.

"Torpedoes away!" A low cheer from the bomber crews echoed through the net as McCoy spoke.

The cheering died down the moment Miyu spotted two red diamonds on her HUD. She held her breath as she saw them move towards her...

...and then...towards the torpedoes?

It took a second before she realized their plan.

Fox gave the order almost the moment he heard the familiar alert tone. "Peppy! Falco! I need y'all to take those torpedoes down-"

"Already on it!" Falco's face appeared on Fox's HUD, before being immediately replaced by Peppy.

"I see twelve of 'em, closing in fast-" Peppy interrupted himself with the pull of his own trigger. Fox heard the muffled report of Arwing blasters over the net.

Miyu held her breath. One by one, the torpedoes vanished from her radar. Less than half still flew towards the target.

As the torpedoes got closer to the Arwings, McCoy let out a growl, "Make it. Make it."

He sounded like saying it out loud would help. Miyu found herself mouthing the same words as the torpedoes got closer.

Fox let out a slow breath. It looked like Peppy and Falco took care of half the torpedoes before they even got halfway to the Great Fox. Okay, so that's one thing going their way today-

A noise like shearing metal compressed into a split second of sound pierced Fox's ears. He watched, stunned as Falco appeared on his HUD, swearing.

"Hang on, hang on! Something's happening!" The third bomber pilot spoke excitedly.

Miyu watched as one of the red diamonds on her HUD peeled off, and three of the torpedoes flew by the enemy fighters.

"Well," Grant laughed, "Someone didn't dodge the torpedo debris."

"I lost a gun!" Falco yelled.

The only thing that eclipsed the shock in Falco's voice was the fury on his face. The expression gave way to panic as the remaining torpedoes shot by. Fox watched with a sinking feeling in his heart as the torpedoes closed in on the Great Fox.

"Direct hit! Got him! I friggin' got him!" The third bomber pilot hollered.

Miyu watched the torpedoes connect with the frigate in the distance. A trio of plasma flares erupted along the nose and neck of the ship, and with it, a roar of cheering voices erupted through the net.

"Bomber team, this is flight lead, can you confirm that the frigate's comms are out?"

Miyu watched as the frigate rolled to one side, tilted towards the asteroid, and accelerated towards the frigate hangar.

"I do think they are!" Miyu could hear the barely suppressed glee in Grant's voice, even if it wasn't a sure answer. She didn't blame him. That felt good.

"Bomber team, we need you to be sure that the ship's long range comms are knocked out. We can't let them send a distress call. Can you confirm that your jammers are still active, at least?"

"Oh yeah," McCoy drawled, "There's no way in hell they got a message out. We've been jamming the distress channels the whole time."

Jess paused before replying. "Good enough. Close in and target any surface batteries. Don't hit life support or the hangar, we'll need those later."

"You got it, boss." McCoy clapped his paws together loud enough for Miyu to hear it. "Now, folks, let's finish the job."

Fox watched, stunned as the torpedoes connected with the Great Fox. The entire ship tilted at the impact. When the flares died down, Fox could see the holes bored all the way through the Great Fox's nose and lower neck, leaving craters of gnarled, burnt plating. He pulled his Arwing away from the melee and pulled up to the frigate.

Fox found his voice cracking as he yelled into the net, "SLIPPY, ROB! SLIPPY, ROB, ANSWER!"

"Fox, Fox! I'm okay! I'm okay!"

Fox slumped back in his cockpit at the sound of Slippy's voice. Fox swore, relieved.

Slippy spoke up again. "ROB got, uh, hit, though."

"What's that mean?" Fox felt his heart sink.

"It's not serious, I'll talk about it later. Right now, ROB just can't control the Great Fox, so I'm taking it back to the hangar. And Fox,"

Fox felt his fur stand on end as Slippy left the sentence unfinished. "Yeah?"

"We lost our long-range comms."

Fox paused. After a few hearbeats, he spoke, "Did you make the distress call?"

Slippy spoke haltingly, hesitating, "Y-...yeah, but Fox, some of those bombers out there have extra equipment on them, and I have a bad feeling about it."

"Well, we'll deal with that later, just take the Great Fox back in. I'll guard you on the way there, but be ready to do some quick repairs. Falco's lost an Arwing gun, and he'll need to get back in the fight, soon."

"Got it! On my way!" The moment Slippy stopped speaking, Fox slumped back in his seat again, his mind running through dozens of plans on what to do next.

As he pulled up alongside the Great Fox, he heard another alert tone as a new flight of enemy strike craft closed in.

Miyu's squadron broke formation, with Miyu and another fighter taking the lead as the bombers flew behind. Miyu scanned the space around her for any sign of the fighter that shot her down. Her trigger finger tensed. As she closed in on the frigate, she saw it.

Right there.

Alongside the frigate's wing, gliding towards the hanger, flew a fighter she recognized.

She gunned the engine. She didn't care if the fighter was the one that shot her down. What she knew was that she wanted to hit back, and she wanted to hit back hard.

The other pilot must've noticed her, because the fighter immediately banked towards her. A missile lock tone screeched at her. By the time she pulled her eyes away from the alert on her HUD, the fighter vanished. She held her breath. She knew what to do this time and flew past the frigate, diving so she put its hull between herself and the missile. The tone vanished, and she let out a breathless laugh. She outsmarted them.

At least, she thought that until she saw the blue-and-white fighter barreling towards her from the frigate's other side.

A flurry of plasma bolts streaked around her fighter. The shield alarm rang in her ears. Sparks flew from her control panel as the plastic around it melted. She felt her cockpit shake as she smelled the familiar tang of burning wires. Without thinking, she fired back, her finger pulling on the trigger hard enough to make her wonder if it would break.

Blinking through the eye-watering smoke, Miyu felt her heart soar as the other fighter peeled off, pieces trailing away behind it. But as she pulled her trigger, nothing happened. She felt her heart drop into her stomach. Turning to look out her canopy, through the wisps left by still-burning wires, she saw smouldering craters where her guns should have been.

Miyu heard her flight lead's tinny voice over her speakers again. "Lead team, on me! Cover Total and take that frigate down, we've lost five more fighters already, and I don't know how long we can keep this up. Make every bolt count-"

At that moment, she watched as eight more fighters swooped in, all chasing the frigate. Blaster bolts connected with the ship's hull, leaving glowing furrows where they raked the surface. The lone defending fighter weaved around the frigate itself, desperately trying to hold off the oncoming attacks. The fighters all ignored the solitary defender, focusing on the frigate as it closed in on the hangar. She watched as three of them came apart mid-flight, holed by the defender's guns.

Her HUD screeched again as she saw two more hostile red diamonds. Two more of the asteroid's defenders flew in, and the fighters strafing the frigate peeled off as the frigate's nose breached the hangar's force field. The frigate's guardian fighter followed it inside, with the reinforcing enemy fighters chasing off the assaulting strike craft.

"Damn it, we're losing too many people to them. Pull back! Pull back and regroup-" Jess spoke calmly, with resignation. She sounded ready to give up.

Miyu gripped the center stick so hard she felt the stick's texture leave a print on her palm. No. This was her kill. This was hers.

This was hers, and she was gonna get it and no one was gonna stop her.

Miyu gunned her thruster, and a wild thought got into her head. She watched the frigate's escort fighter, the one that fought off so many attackers, land inside the hangar.

She took a deep breath, and dove into the hangar right after it.

"Greene, this is Fox, how are we doing out there?" Fox watched Greene's face appear on his HUD as his Arwing landed.

She looked shaken, but her voice took on a determined tone the longer she spoke. "We've lost one, but we're keeping them busy out here. These assholes knocked out our comms and radar, and now they're hitting anything on the surface-"

Another muffled explosion shook the hangar. This time, some of the lights fell off the roof and crashed on the floor, plinking Fox's Arwing with shards. Fox hit the switch to open the canopy, but only heard the struggling growl of hydraulics instead. He cursed. That other pilot must've hit more than just his wing.

As he worked on getting out of his flight harness, Fox heard another set of engines roar overhead. Looking up, he expected to see Falco's Arwing coming back for repairs.

Instead, he saw the glint of a fuselage marked with a fist holding a lightning bolt on a black field.

Miyu undid her flight harness before she broke through the force field. Gritting her teeth, she braced herself for the landing. She U-turned in midair, banking downward and extending her fighter's landing gear as she saw the floor rise up to meet her.

The jolt of landing rattled Miyu's teeth. She briefly saw a white flash as her whole body absorbed the impact, sending a lance of pain up her spine. For a second, she wondered if she broke anything important, and quickly rotated her neck to make sure she didn't. She staggered up, her paw coming off of the button that opened her canopy.

She vaulted over the side of her cockpit, landing with a stumble. After a few shaky steps, she built up to a run, bolting towards the enemy fighter. She ignored the cries coming from the asteroid's nearby crew. As long as she didn't hear any blaster or gunfire, she could make it. She drew her pistol, pressing the slide back to see the glint of a brass round inside.

She sprang onto the fighter's wing, grabbing the canopy's emergency handle with her free paw. She saw the pilot inside struggling to work his harness. She didn't even register what the pilot even looked like before she pulled the handle, launching the canopy upwards with a fur-flattening shockwave. Miyu ducked down against the wing as she pulled, and when the canopy crashed down on the hangar floor, she stood at the cockpit's edge, and stared into the eyes of her enemy.

A green-eyed fox, both paws still on his harness, looking right back up at her.

The second that followed felt like it lasted long enough for Miyu to see his shocked face, his questioning eyes, and the slowly-spreading red spot at the center of his chest.

She pulled the trigger one more time. The second round landed just wide of the first, and the fox's paws reflexively reached for the two bloody spots on his flight suit. He looked like he got halfway through a word that he just forgot to voice, and his eyes looked up to meet hers.

Miyu realized she was out of breath by the time the fox's head nodded down towards his chest, then lay still.

She didn't feel anything. The universe felt still. The moment after the fox stopped moving felt like it went on forever until she heard shouts from a nearby hallway.

She turned to see a lone frog in a yellow flight suit and a baseball cap. His jaw hung slack as he saw her standing there.

Miyu didn't even wait to see if he would do anything. She brought up her pistol towards him and fired a few shots. The frog brought up his arms and ran towards a large red button encased in glass on the wall. The ground threw up chips of concrete where the bullets landed.

The frog smashed a wrench into the glass hard enough to hit the button behind it. Miyu realized this because the moment he hit the button, an alarm hooted and several metal doors began to close across the hangar's mouth.

Turning away, Miyu ran towards her fighter. She didn't have time for this. She vaulted back into her cockpit and closed her canopy. As she felt the fighter's engines rumble to life, she saw the metal doors slowly coming together. She felt her heart rise to her throat as she watched her escape route closing right in front of her.

She didn't even think about taking off, she just slammed the throttle forward and listened to the screech of metal on rock as she felt the landing gear slide across the floor.

Miyu pulled back on the center stick right before she reached the force field. She screwed her eyes shut as she felt the fighter's frame buck as it sideswiped the still-closing doors with both wings.

She opened them to see the starlit void.

Miyu let out a shaky breath. Breathing in, she didn't feel the shaking stop. As she flew away from the hangar, she watched as the fight fell further and further away.

Her speakers crackled, and she heard a familiar voice. "-iyu? Miyu, is that you?"

She swallowed, leaning back in her seat. More voices followed.

"All strike craft, this is Jess. Pull back and regroup at the carrier. I repeat, pull back and regroup at the carrier. This sortie's over, people, we need to get back, regroup, and reload. That mercenary team's whittling us down, and we need a breather..."

More chatter flooded the net, and Miyu's ears turned when she heard McCoy say her name. "Holy hell, Miyu, what happened down there?"

Miyu slumped back, saying nothing for several heartbeats. As she looked up at the space above her fighter, she began to smile.

"I got one."

Author's notes:

Elarix: I'm just trying to write Falco in a way that makes him stand out while still feeling in character. So far I think the way I did it in the conversation with Fox and Ray worked well. As for "warhead to the forehead", I just heard the line somewhere and then knew I had to use it. The rhyme is too good.

Nail Strafer: I'm glad you think I did a good job selling that. It's hard to make folks really share a character's feelings, so it feels nice knowing I got that right.

Vexed: I'm proud of that scene with Ray. It's the right combination of describing how it sounds and how it feels in a way that folks can understand. As for Slippy, I get what you mean. I just included the stutter because I thought it was normal for him, but now you've got me thinking about other ways to write about Slippy's personality.