Chapter 11: Enter StarFox
Fox responds over the radio, "Of course it's me! Jas, how's it been? It looks like you're having a bug problem, need help?"
"Fox! Get over here quickly, those are Trilac out there! They'll swarm the Great Fox!" yelled Jason.
Fox's voice gained a tone of concern. "Trilac?! You mean we just blasted away some Trilac?! (away from communication monitor) Rob, pull her to starboard and get us over to those GSF ships! Oh, of all the insect races in all the galaxy, it had to be the ones that cut armor plating like butter..."
Rob64 simply blinked with his one optic at the lame play on Casablanca and began to carry out his task.
The StarFox Team's flagship Great Fox swings to the right, attempting to reach the other ships in order to protect itself from the swarms of giant bugs. The ship then speeds along the surface toward the evacuating base. Suddenly, the Great Fox's radar picks up a reading.
"Rob, what the heck is it?" asked Fox, sitting uneasily in his chair.
Rob64 responds in an unemotional voice, "Life forms detected coming from the nearby mountain. Airborne enemy soldiers confirmed."
Falco just happened to grace the bridge at the moment. "What the frick is goin' on up here? I'm was trying to get some sleep McCloud!"
"Shut it Falco and get to your Arwing! I need you to fend off a swarm of aerial Trilac! (Into P.A.) Peppy! Slippy! Get to your Arwings!"
The GSF scanners had also picked up the swarm heading toward the Great Fox.
"Fox! Are you there? You have some new problems!" said Jason, trying to warn his friend.
Fox responded to Jason. "Don't worry, we'll fend them off in the Arwings, but we have to take care of that mountain! We've also picked up ground troops heading your way!"
Crystal shouted to Jason from her position next to a Coyotebot at a screen,
"Jason! We're set to fire, we just need the get the Great Fox out of range!"
Jason nodded to Crystal and spoke to Fox, "Don't worry, we have a nuclear missile ready to fire at the mountain. Just be careful and get outta there as soon as ya can!"
Fox had just slipped on his gloves and said with a sly fox's grin on his face, "Awww, come on Jas! Like you've said before, there's never any fun in being careful." Before Jason could say anything to counter that, Fox was on his way to the docking bay.
Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare, and Slippy Toad, otherwise known as the infamous StarFox Team dashed down the corridor leading to the Great Fox's docking bay. As soon as the jumped in, the Arwing's cockpit closed and they were set to launch.
Fox (over communications screen): "All right guys, we need to be on our guard out there. If we keep our speed up we might be able to avoid them landing on us. Keep them away from the ship, shoot everything that moves, and let's hope we're still in God's favor."
The four Arwings' engines gather energy for blast off, and then rocket through the open door of the docking bay. The starfighters leave the ship one by one, and one by one they U-turn to hold off the enemy.
Falco: "Jeez Leweez! What is that?! All I can see are bugs!"
Peppy: "I have a real bad feeling about this..."
Slippy: "We have to fight THAT?!"
Fox: "Everyone, fire a smart bomb now!"
Each Arwing unloads a single red diamond-shaped crystal and sends them into the swell of the enemy. The four Arwings split into two groups afterwards, and pull off either to the left or right while four giant explosions rock the enemy and clean a chunk of them away. Slippy went with Falco, Fox with Peppy.
Peppy: "That shook 'em up a bit, but we aren't out of the water yet. Fox, let's be careful and just fly by the swarm to strafe them with laser shots."
Falco: "Screw that! I want to see some real action!"
Falco's Arwing breaks away from Slippy's and heads toward the Trilac antagonists.
Slippy: "Falco! Wait for orders first!"
Fox: "Falco! What the heck are you doing?! Get back here right now!"
Fox boosts back to follow Falco. Falco had already opened fire on the enemy, joyously cheering everytime his lasers cut through them.
Falco: "Yeah! Now this is just too easy!"
Fox's ship tried to follow Falco's into the heart of the swarm but was having a hard time dodging the flying insects. Fox made a hard right and then pulled up to try and fly over the green cloud to spot his hot headed friend. The other two members of the StarFox team could only fly in front of the bugs before pulling back out again. Then what the others expected to happen, did.
Falco: "Ah!! Guys, I dunno what happened but one of these things just ripped off my left wing!"
Fox: "Damn it! Why didn't you listen to reason! Falco, get outta there!"
Falco: "It's harder than it looks Foxy! Another one just hacked the crap outta my back engine's powercells so my boost energy needs more time to recharge!"
Peppy: "Fox, get him out! He's not gonna last long in there!"
Fox had to act quickly, so he did the first thing he could think to do: Yell at the top of his lungs and delve into the peril, firing like a madman...or madfox.
Fox spotted Falco, who was trying his best to avoid attacks. Again, Fox had to think of what to do. Falco couldn't fly out on his own, so what would Fox do?
Fox: "I'll give him a lift!!"
Fox fired several lasers near Falco to drive some bugs off his tail. Fox then accelerated to trail around 50 feet behind Falco's crippled ship.
Slippy was watching the radar and scanning the swarm while he and Peppy stuck by the Great Fox, shooting off anything that came close while Fox and Falco chanced the rapids of the enemy swarm. Unfortunately without the aid of their ace team members a few Trilac had gotten past them and had, with their own self-sacrifice, taken out several critical engine drives with a lucky attack on some power conductors. The Great Fox's thrusters were now running at 40%, and without the use of its hyperdrive plasma engines until they can relay power to them.
Slippy: "Peppy, what are we gonna do? The Great Fox is going so slow it's gonna be hard getting to safety!"
Peppy: "Let's just pray that those two'll get back soon!"
At the same time, Fox had figured out how he was going to pull off his plan.
Fox: "Falco, cut your engines!"
Falco: "WHAAAT?! Are you daft? You must have hit your head or something! Why in the name of holy heaven would I cut my engines?"
Fox: "Look, I'll catch you with my Arwing and we can blast outta here! Hurry before they get me too!"
Falco: (Pauses) "Oh God damn it! You're crazy Fox! I swear, if I die, you're gonna hear from my ghost!"
Fox: (Fox grins) "Hmph."
Falco swears a word not allowed to be mentioned in this fic and cuts the ignition. His Arwing begins to slow down as he tries his best to keep it level. Fox watches carefully, trying to ignore the giant mantises whizzing by in front of him.
As soon as the speed of Falco's ship is favorable to him, Fox moves up and lets his friend's handicapped craft rest on top of his. As soon as the ship is on his, he presses a button, which fires little harpoons used for latching things to his craft into Falco's Arwing. Once secure, Fox hits the boosters.
Fox: "All right! We're gonna make it buddy!"
Falco: "Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee..."
Just as they are about to leave the hoard of insects, Fox feels his ship shake violently. He immediately looks at his Arwing's condition on the screen in front of him, indicating a breech in the armor over the thruster in the back. Fox looks over his shoulder and sees one of the Trilac trying to tear apart the back of the ship!
Fox: "Falco! We've got problems! One of those bugs is on my Arwing!"
Falco: "What? How do we get it off?!"
Fox: "You're asking me?!"
The bug uses his pincers to thrust into the engine. An explosion erupts from the back of Fox's ship, which also incinerates the giant insect in the process. Fox checks again on the diagnostic. Fox just can't believe his luck.
Falco: "Fox, what was that explosion?"
Fox: "Falco, the bug's gone..."
Falco: "All right! Just a few more miles to the Great Fox, so we'll get there in no time!"
Fox: "...and my engine is dead..."
Before Falco could say a word a sudden jolt proves that they are beginning to fall. Fox does his best to keep it level, but a major decent will slowly become a reality. Time for another split second decision.
Fox: "Falco! I'll release the harpoons, you should have enough power to boost outta here!"
Falco: "What? And abandon you? No way!"
Fox: "You can't carry both of us! You have a clear shot for the Great Fox; try to make it into the emergency repair dock!"
Fox detaches his anchors from Falco's ship and dips slowly down to give Falco room to blast off. Falco hesitates leaving his friend and teammate behind, but then obeys orders and rockets toward Great Fox, leaving Fox to fend for himself.
The Trilac had been catching up as soon as Fox's ship began to have trouble. Fox wanted to spend as much time as he could in the air, seeing as going on foot would be suicide. Unfortunately a few more miles in the air while his speed drastically fell allowed several of the enemy to jump onto his ship. The added weight sent the ship falling more rapidly.
Fox: "Peppy, Slippy, where the heck are you two?!"
Falco had made it across the distance and reached Great Fox. On top of that, he managed to land into the emergency repair dock, where his ship was hastily being put back together.
"Come on, come on...Hurry will ya?!" said Falco, impatiently tapping his foot inside his ship. He wanted to get back out there as soon as possible. "I'm not letting you die on me now Fox!"
Peppy and Slippy received the transmission from Fox. They couldn't make out anything earlier due to the interference created by the gigantic insects everywhere around Fox and Falco.
Peppy: "Fox! I'm on my way! Slippy, you stay here and guard the Great Fox for me!"
Slippy: "I gotcha! Just hurry and save Fox!"
Peppy sets his boosts to the max and rockets to Fox's location. Fox's ship had about four or five Trilac on it and is just about to crash.
Peppy: "Fox! Try to shake 'em off! I can't fire without hitting you!"
Fox: "I can't! When my thruster exploded it tore up my wings, limiting my flight abilities!"
Peppy: "FOX!"
As Peppy yells over the communicator, Fox's Arwing crashes onto the flat plain of rock beneath him. The Trilac on his ship immediately start to tear at the hull of his ship.
Peppy: "Fox! Come in! Speak to me!" (no answer) "FOX!"
Fox: "I'm here! Peppy, my ship is being torn apart, you've gotta do something! The rest of the swarm is catching up!"
Peppy: "Like what Fox? If I attack, I'll hit you!"
Fox panicked. An enormous swarm of Trilac were coming for him, and several had already begun to pierce his Arwing's armor! Then, Fox looked at his energy shields, which were about half way gone.
Fox: "Shoot a smart bomb! I have enough shields to withstand it!"
Peppy: "What?!"
Peppy was also in a panicked state and his mind welcomed any suggestions. Upon hearing, 'Fire a smart bomb!' he pressed the button and sent the explosive on a direct course with Fox's downed Arwing.
Peppy whispers to himself, "What did I do..."
