Chapter 7: In Harm's Way
Stars flickered and flashed in the brilliant, endless horizon of the Lylat System. All the stars did their best to attract the attention of Fox, but he was within himself, still searching for his wounded soul as his Arwing fighter flew effortlessly through the stars. His eyes focused on his flight stick as the autopilot moved it from one axis to another, He sat in his seat, his fathers old but still trusty communicator on his head, just watching the magical movements and flickering of the controls in his cockpit. His body ceased to move while his head and heart recap over what had happened over the last few hours. The shock of what had happened slowly began to wear off and as the flight to the rendezvous point grew nearer, his sorrow grew to anger, hatred of Starwolf. His eyes slited as he focused his hate towards a picture of Wolf hurting his beloved Fara, as a mental picture developed in his head.
His thoughts were rudely interrupted by the voices of Falco and Katt checking if each other was ok, adding the usual soppy small talk. This seemed to infuriate the orange vulpine, which without warning shouted at the couple.
"Hey! Do you guys ever shut up!!" Fox shouted down the comm. He got no response until Katt finally spoke up,
"Sorry hon." The pink cat replied in a sombre mood, knowing the stress Fox was under.
"It's ok." Fox replied in a equally sombre atmosphere.
There was more silence over to comm as all flight members decided not to distract Fox from the task in hand.
Finally, A unusually quiet Bill spoke over the comm, "Ok guys, were approaching Sector X, this is the rendezvous point with my squadrons."
"Ok, Bill. Thanks again for you and your squadrons help." Fox thanked him.
"Anything for you buddy, it's the least I could do." Bill said.
Slippy blurted over the comm in his high squeaky voice. "Guys, I have a sensor pickup of about 20+ fighters incoming from the left. Distance, 1 light mile."
"These are my guys, impeccable timing as always." Bill smiled to himself, happy to that at least something was going right in this day of utter chaos and heartbreak. He sent out a transmission to his squadron, "EchoDelta 15 Dog and Husky squadrons, this is Echo leader 1, do you copy? Over."
"This is Echo2 Dog and Husky. Nice to see you Commander!" a voice spoke over the comm.
"Not as happy as I am to see you Will." Bill welcomed his second in command.
"We got visual" Falco announced.
The Green Wings came into view and flew over the top Fox and the others. Their pure white skins shone like lightning as Solar's rays hit each individual ship, making each ship glisten like silver, complimented by the small green patches on the tips of the wings. To Fox and the others, they're arrival provided much needed support and Fox caught himself making a smile as the Green Wings flew over him. He automatically condemned himself for doing so. He couldn't be happy until Fara was safely locked in his arms, and he knew he had to reach her quickly. The haunting thoughts of what her fate might be tore at him again and again, he felt tears drop on his muzzle as the heartache returned.
The now cluster of ships flew together as Titania came into view. It's blood coloured clouds crowd by a sphere of rings was an ore inspiring site, the last time they were here, they were on another rescue mission, that time it was Slippy and they were at war with Venom. This time it's Fara who needs rescuing and this time it was Starwolf they were at war with, or rather, Fox was at war with.
It was eerie, everyone was so quiet, all Fox could here in his cockpit was the constant drone of his engines and the occasional bleeping as the autopilot flew Fox to the giant red planet.
The quietness was soon shattered, "Bandits, 2 o'clock high! My god there's loads of em!" A green wing pilot announced.
" To all Pilots, break formation and prepare to engage!" Bill automatically shouted over the comm, beating Fox to it.
The Green Wings broke up and flew in every possiable direction as the first wing of four Venomian fighters slammed into formation. The comm was now a orgy of voices as Bill's squadrons fought.
"Ok, Lets go a give Bill a hand!" said Fox, which for the first time he spoke in a upbeat way.
"We got you Fox!" Peppy answered
The Arwings and CatsPaw broke off and U-turned to plunge themselves into the ensuring dogfight.
The interstellar dogfight continued the shine of the stars now dulled by the neon reds, greens and blues of the lasers.
"Fox, on your tail buddy!" Bill announced.
Fox did an evasive manoeuvre and corkscrewed his Arwing until the pursuing Venomian Invader flew past him. As the rear end of the Invader ship came into view, he pulled the trigger down on his flight stick, the electronic sight scanned and then locked on the fighter. Fox released the trigger and the charged laser made it's way to the doomed enemy fighter. As it hit the enemy ship exploded. Fox had to pull sharply on the stick to evade the dabrey.
"That's one down." he whispered to himself.
He quickly lined up his next victim, another Invader on the tail of a Green Wing.
"ah,ah,ah. oh no we don't!" He mocked as he pressed his trigger to unleash a volley of blue lasers into the red painted fighter, a few hits and the plane began smoking and dived down before exploding. The Green Wing U- turned and thanked Fox by doing a Barrel roll.
"Somebody get him off me!" Slippy screamed over the comm.
Fox felt a quick smile reach his face as he banked hard towards his teammate and friend.
"Ok, hold on Slip." Fox said down the comm as he positioned himself above Slippy and the two persuring Invaders ships. Fox banked into a dive and sent some of his lightning bolts into the enemy fighter, one bolt went into the cockpit of one of the ships, killing it's pilot instantly. The enemy ship jerked violently and crashed into the other ship, both ships exploded into fireballs.
"Whoo. thanks Fox, I thought they had me!" Slippy thanked his best friend.
All of a sudden, a red laser hit Fox's wing and his plan rocked, he looked up through the Plexiglas to see an Invader ship, but this one was different, it was green and had shark jaws at the front of the ship. Fox thought he'd seen a ship like it before but he could'nt remember where, suddenly someone else jogged his memory for him.
"Ah. the famous Fox McCloud. You destroyed my fighter group in Area 6 but now it's payback time!" A voice came over the Comm. Know he knew the voice.
"Caimen!" Fox shouted.
"Observant Mr. McCloud, But now I'm afraid, you're gonna know what it feels like to have your ship blow up from under you!" Caimen laughed as he spoke. He positioned his fighter behind Fox's Arwing.
The shark jaws began to regurgitate green laser shots, Fox saw these green tracers fly past his cockpit. He barrel rolled as the laser reflected off his silver fighter. He made a loop, hoping to get behind Caimen, to his disappointment, Caimen followed his loop and stayed right behind him. Terror gripped Fox as a warning bleep went off in his cockpit to say that Caimen had locked a charged laser on him. Fox made a steep vertical dive to evade the seeking laser missile. He just did enough and the laser exploded harmlessly.
"Hey Fox, I could use some help here." Falco announced over the comm.
"I'm a bit tired up at the minute Falco." Fox answered back.
A green tracer flew dangerously close to Fox's canopy, "Geez! Can anyone help Falco out?" Fox asked over the comm to aid his friend.
"There on me, I'm getting careless" Peppy announced, obvious showing he was in no position to help.
"I cant! I just cant!" Slippy screamed over the comm.
"Hold On Falco. Please! I got one on my tail!" Katt pleaded.
All of the Starfox team was busy trying to keep themselves alive. Bill's squadrons were suffering casualties and were unable to help. Fox tried to think of what to do while evading Caimen's shots. Then, it hit him what to do.
"Hey Falco, fancy playing some Chicken with these bastards?" Fox asked.
"Why not?!" Falco replied in his cocky voice.
"Ok.. here we go!" Fox opened his throttle to full power and flew along in a straight line. Falco did the same. The distance between the two Arwings began to shorten.
"Ok.. which way we're going, left or right?" Falco asked
"Left. no, no. right.. no.. left!" Fox dabbled.
The distance closed faster and faster, the enemy ships still shooting at their presumed prey.
"Ah, that's it.. stay still and die McCloud." Caimen gestured as he squezzed the trigger. Yet more tracers flew around Fox's fighter.
"Fox!! Left or Right??!!!!" Falco screamed down the Comm as they were just yards away.
"LEFT!" The two fighters split left of each other, missing collision by inches.
"Goodbye McCloud!" Caimen said. The two Arwings split and three other Venomians head straight towards Caimen, "What!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
The ships collide and immediately explode.
"Yeah!" Falco shouted
"Good work Falco" Fox complimented his wingman.
"Hey, they're breaking off!" Bill interrupted over the comm.
Cheers and jubilation were heard down the comm as the remaining Venomian ships disengaged and scattered. The Arwings and the CatsPaw regrouped, as did the Bill's Squadrons.
"All Aircraft report!" Fox ordered.
"This is Peppy, I've taken a few hits but I'm ok."
"Ah.. your getting better Fox!" Falco reported in his cocky manner.
"Slippy here, I'm ok."
"Katt here, I'm fine, are you ok hon?" She questioned.
Fox sighed, "I'm gonna be just fine."
Bill interrupted again, "Fox, my squadrons have suffered casualties, I've ordered them back to Fortuna where they can recover, but I'm gonna stay with you buddy. We gotta go get Fara."
"Ok Bill, thanks again." Fox thanked his old friend.
"Hey, anytime dude." Bill answered back.
"Ok, lets go get Fara.!" Fox ordered as he opened the throttle again and sped toward Titania, the others following him towards the great red planet.
Stars flickered and flashed in the brilliant, endless horizon of the Lylat System. All the stars did their best to attract the attention of Fox, but he was within himself, still searching for his wounded soul as his Arwing fighter flew effortlessly through the stars. His eyes focused on his flight stick as the autopilot moved it from one axis to another, He sat in his seat, his fathers old but still trusty communicator on his head, just watching the magical movements and flickering of the controls in his cockpit. His body ceased to move while his head and heart recap over what had happened over the last few hours. The shock of what had happened slowly began to wear off and as the flight to the rendezvous point grew nearer, his sorrow grew to anger, hatred of Starwolf. His eyes slited as he focused his hate towards a picture of Wolf hurting his beloved Fara, as a mental picture developed in his head.
His thoughts were rudely interrupted by the voices of Falco and Katt checking if each other was ok, adding the usual soppy small talk. This seemed to infuriate the orange vulpine, which without warning shouted at the couple.
"Hey! Do you guys ever shut up!!" Fox shouted down the comm. He got no response until Katt finally spoke up,
"Sorry hon." The pink cat replied in a sombre mood, knowing the stress Fox was under.
"It's ok." Fox replied in a equally sombre atmosphere.
There was more silence over to comm as all flight members decided not to distract Fox from the task in hand.
Finally, A unusually quiet Bill spoke over the comm, "Ok guys, were approaching Sector X, this is the rendezvous point with my squadrons."
"Ok, Bill. Thanks again for you and your squadrons help." Fox thanked him.
"Anything for you buddy, it's the least I could do." Bill said.
Slippy blurted over the comm in his high squeaky voice. "Guys, I have a sensor pickup of about 20+ fighters incoming from the left. Distance, 1 light mile."
"These are my guys, impeccable timing as always." Bill smiled to himself, happy to that at least something was going right in this day of utter chaos and heartbreak. He sent out a transmission to his squadron, "EchoDelta 15 Dog and Husky squadrons, this is Echo leader 1, do you copy? Over."
"This is Echo2 Dog and Husky. Nice to see you Commander!" a voice spoke over the comm.
"Not as happy as I am to see you Will." Bill welcomed his second in command.
"We got visual" Falco announced.
The Green Wings came into view and flew over the top Fox and the others. Their pure white skins shone like lightning as Solar's rays hit each individual ship, making each ship glisten like silver, complimented by the small green patches on the tips of the wings. To Fox and the others, they're arrival provided much needed support and Fox caught himself making a smile as the Green Wings flew over him. He automatically condemned himself for doing so. He couldn't be happy until Fara was safely locked in his arms, and he knew he had to reach her quickly. The haunting thoughts of what her fate might be tore at him again and again, he felt tears drop on his muzzle as the heartache returned.
The now cluster of ships flew together as Titania came into view. It's blood coloured clouds crowd by a sphere of rings was an ore inspiring site, the last time they were here, they were on another rescue mission, that time it was Slippy and they were at war with Venom. This time it's Fara who needs rescuing and this time it was Starwolf they were at war with, or rather, Fox was at war with.
It was eerie, everyone was so quiet, all Fox could here in his cockpit was the constant drone of his engines and the occasional bleeping as the autopilot flew Fox to the giant red planet.
The quietness was soon shattered, "Bandits, 2 o'clock high! My god there's loads of em!" A green wing pilot announced.
" To all Pilots, break formation and prepare to engage!" Bill automatically shouted over the comm, beating Fox to it.
The Green Wings broke up and flew in every possiable direction as the first wing of four Venomian fighters slammed into formation. The comm was now a orgy of voices as Bill's squadrons fought.
"Ok, Lets go a give Bill a hand!" said Fox, which for the first time he spoke in a upbeat way.
"We got you Fox!" Peppy answered
The Arwings and CatsPaw broke off and U-turned to plunge themselves into the ensuring dogfight.
The interstellar dogfight continued the shine of the stars now dulled by the neon reds, greens and blues of the lasers.
"Fox, on your tail buddy!" Bill announced.
Fox did an evasive manoeuvre and corkscrewed his Arwing until the pursuing Venomian Invader flew past him. As the rear end of the Invader ship came into view, he pulled the trigger down on his flight stick, the electronic sight scanned and then locked on the fighter. Fox released the trigger and the charged laser made it's way to the doomed enemy fighter. As it hit the enemy ship exploded. Fox had to pull sharply on the stick to evade the dabrey.
"That's one down." he whispered to himself.
He quickly lined up his next victim, another Invader on the tail of a Green Wing.
"ah,ah,ah. oh no we don't!" He mocked as he pressed his trigger to unleash a volley of blue lasers into the red painted fighter, a few hits and the plane began smoking and dived down before exploding. The Green Wing U- turned and thanked Fox by doing a Barrel roll.
"Somebody get him off me!" Slippy screamed over the comm.
Fox felt a quick smile reach his face as he banked hard towards his teammate and friend.
"Ok, hold on Slip." Fox said down the comm as he positioned himself above Slippy and the two persuring Invaders ships. Fox banked into a dive and sent some of his lightning bolts into the enemy fighter, one bolt went into the cockpit of one of the ships, killing it's pilot instantly. The enemy ship jerked violently and crashed into the other ship, both ships exploded into fireballs.
"Whoo. thanks Fox, I thought they had me!" Slippy thanked his best friend.
All of a sudden, a red laser hit Fox's wing and his plan rocked, he looked up through the Plexiglas to see an Invader ship, but this one was different, it was green and had shark jaws at the front of the ship. Fox thought he'd seen a ship like it before but he could'nt remember where, suddenly someone else jogged his memory for him.
"Ah. the famous Fox McCloud. You destroyed my fighter group in Area 6 but now it's payback time!" A voice came over the Comm. Know he knew the voice.
"Caimen!" Fox shouted.
"Observant Mr. McCloud, But now I'm afraid, you're gonna know what it feels like to have your ship blow up from under you!" Caimen laughed as he spoke. He positioned his fighter behind Fox's Arwing.
The shark jaws began to regurgitate green laser shots, Fox saw these green tracers fly past his cockpit. He barrel rolled as the laser reflected off his silver fighter. He made a loop, hoping to get behind Caimen, to his disappointment, Caimen followed his loop and stayed right behind him. Terror gripped Fox as a warning bleep went off in his cockpit to say that Caimen had locked a charged laser on him. Fox made a steep vertical dive to evade the seeking laser missile. He just did enough and the laser exploded harmlessly.
"Hey Fox, I could use some help here." Falco announced over the comm.
"I'm a bit tired up at the minute Falco." Fox answered back.
A green tracer flew dangerously close to Fox's canopy, "Geez! Can anyone help Falco out?" Fox asked over the comm to aid his friend.
"There on me, I'm getting careless" Peppy announced, obvious showing he was in no position to help.
"I cant! I just cant!" Slippy screamed over the comm.
"Hold On Falco. Please! I got one on my tail!" Katt pleaded.
All of the Starfox team was busy trying to keep themselves alive. Bill's squadrons were suffering casualties and were unable to help. Fox tried to think of what to do while evading Caimen's shots. Then, it hit him what to do.
"Hey Falco, fancy playing some Chicken with these bastards?" Fox asked.
"Why not?!" Falco replied in his cocky voice.
"Ok.. here we go!" Fox opened his throttle to full power and flew along in a straight line. Falco did the same. The distance between the two Arwings began to shorten.
"Ok.. which way we're going, left or right?" Falco asked
"Left. no, no. right.. no.. left!" Fox dabbled.
The distance closed faster and faster, the enemy ships still shooting at their presumed prey.
"Ah, that's it.. stay still and die McCloud." Caimen gestured as he squezzed the trigger. Yet more tracers flew around Fox's fighter.
"Fox!! Left or Right??!!!!" Falco screamed down the Comm as they were just yards away.
"LEFT!" The two fighters split left of each other, missing collision by inches.
"Goodbye McCloud!" Caimen said. The two Arwings split and three other Venomians head straight towards Caimen, "What!! NOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
The ships collide and immediately explode.
"Yeah!" Falco shouted
"Good work Falco" Fox complimented his wingman.
"Hey, they're breaking off!" Bill interrupted over the comm.
Cheers and jubilation were heard down the comm as the remaining Venomian ships disengaged and scattered. The Arwings and the CatsPaw regrouped, as did the Bill's Squadrons.
"All Aircraft report!" Fox ordered.
"This is Peppy, I've taken a few hits but I'm ok."
"Ah.. your getting better Fox!" Falco reported in his cocky manner.
"Slippy here, I'm ok."
"Katt here, I'm fine, are you ok hon?" She questioned.
Fox sighed, "I'm gonna be just fine."
Bill interrupted again, "Fox, my squadrons have suffered casualties, I've ordered them back to Fortuna where they can recover, but I'm gonna stay with you buddy. We gotta go get Fara."
"Ok Bill, thanks again." Fox thanked his old friend.
"Hey, anytime dude." Bill answered back.
"Ok, lets go get Fara.!" Fox ordered as he opened the throttle again and sped toward Titania, the others following him towards the great red planet.
