This is set a few years after Starfox 64, and is intended as an alternate timeline to the one in SFA. Also, while Miyu has never appeared in a released Starfox product, she was featured in the beta of Starfox 2 for the SNES in 1995 – you can find some animated gifs of her on Arwing Landing (she's the cat who looks like a cross between a tiger and a lynx). My role for her in this is somewhat different from her Starfox 2 role, but not much was revealed about her in SF2 anyway, so I think I can take some creative license.
Content advisory: If you are offended by character's faces being rearranged by hot lead, English words that are derived from the German word "Frichen", or mercenaries that tell dirty jokes and make suggestive remarks on a regular basis, stop reading here. Unlike some authors, I don't put a PG-13 rating on "just to be on the safe side".
Prologue
The bridge of the reconnaissance corvette shook as the barrage of missles penetrated its rear shield.
"Damage report!" No sooner had the ferret barked his orders when the bridge exploded in a cacophony of shouting.
"The emergency shutdown has kicked in on main engines one, two, and five. Three and four are both operating below 25."
"Upper rear shield is down due to projector damage, diverting power to lower rear shields and upper guns."
"The enemy bombers have broken off their attack runs, but I have at least 30 enemy fighters inbound…"
"The controls for the automatic defense system are online, but not all of the guns are…"
"Maneuvering thrusters are intact…"
"Quiet!"
The bridge fell silent.
"Helm, how long until we reach the next jumpgate?"
"With the shape we're in, at least thirty minutes, sir. Even if we did make it, there's two more gates before we reach Cornerian space."
The ferret sighed.
"Ladies and Gentleman, I'm sorry it's come to this. Helm, turn this ship around."
The bridge exploded into an uproar.
"What?! Those capital ships could pulverize us in seconds if we get in range of their guns…"
The ferret held up his paw.
"Those fighters are concentrating on our defenses, when they could easily destroy this ship by targeting the generators. No, they want to take this ship relatively intact."
A lone voice range out from the sensor station.
"Then why not just surrender and save the lives of your crew? We've provided as much of a distraction for the Weikar as we can."
"You pledged your life to Corneria, Lieutenant – you cannot back out now. Get your weapons and prepare to repel borders. I also want a self destruct ready to go as soon as we're overrun…"
"Maybe you care more about your honour then seeing your family again, but – AGHH!!!
There was a flash of light, and then the speaker slumped across his console. The smell of burning flesh and fur wafted through the bridge as the ferret holster his blaster.
"Sorry about the smell. We all knew this mission would be dangerous – anyone else feel like backing out?"
The reply came in unison.
"No sir!"
"Good, then get ready!"
In reality it only took a couple minutes for the fighters to overwhelm the corvette's defenses, but by the time the enemy transports attached to the vessel's hull and detonated their breaching charges, it seemed like an eternity had passed. The corvette's crew was only too eager to oblige the invaders with a hail of blaster bolts.
On the bridge, the captain listened intently to the reports being read off the internal sensor system.
"Enemy forces have captured engineering – now their moving through the mess hall, and there's something in the air vents. Our guys are dropping left, right and center – they're almost through the kitchens now…"
"How are they moving so fast? What the heck are these things?!"
"I don't know."
The bridge started filling with some kind of vapor. One of the officers near an air vent keeled over coughing.
"Damn it." The ferret and a few others covered their noses and pointed their guns at every entry point they could think of.
The left door blew open and one of the officers fell to a taser blast from the invaders. The ferret ducked out of the way, but the fight lasted only seconds. As his comrades slumped to the ground around him, he quietly crawled towards the console that contained the self destruct controls. He grasped at the buttons before he heard the noise.
A quick roll and blaster shot took out the first invader as it came up over the console. He wasn't so lucky with the second. While the first taser shot didn't knock the ferret out, it did cause him to drop his blaster.
The ferret stared at his opponent and repeated his last words as his weapon clattered to the floor.
"Damn it."
The second taser bolt caught him square in the chest, and he fell backwards in a spasm. The self destruct console continued its monologue regardless.
"Please enter command clearance…"
Despite her nervousness, Miyu managed to keep her tiny fighter on a relatively straight flight path. Her eyes darted to the forerunner of the two transports she was escorting.
"Delta one to Weikar – got anything on your sensors yet?"
"Negative – unless you count a whole ton of debris where the Okanwa should be."
Miyu's heart sank.
"We're screwed, aren't we?"
"Well, we are running pretty low on fuel, and they're aren't any other Cornerian refueling stations around here – hold on a sec."
"What is it, Weikar?"
There was a slight pause.
"Some of that's not debris."
The fighter's sensors beeped. Miyu noted the energy signatures of at least two dozen craft powering up on her radar's HUD. Her question was more forceful this time.
"We're more screwed than a cheap hooker, aren't we?"
"Pretty much, yeah. Think you can hold them off while we make a run for the next gate?"
"I'll try. Six to one is not good odds, especially when we're only flying scout fighters."
"Give it your best, Miyu. Weikar out."
Miyu took a deep breath.
"Cannis? Miyu here. Stick behind me and clear up anything I hit."
The wolf's reply came through clearly.
"You think those mods are going to work?"
"If they don't, I've got a few unguided rockets to throw at 'em. 'Sides, shields don't work against EMP pulses – long as this baby fires, I should be able to knock them out cold for several seconds."
After discovering their enemies' weakness, the technicians aboard Miyu's home ship had seen fit to equip her fighter with the EMP device in place of the her ship's usual lasers. The device would emit a wide angle pulse capable of knocking out several fighters in a single hit – assuming the highly experimental device did anything at all.
"That's not very reassuring."
"Tell me about it. Take my wing and accelerate to full throttle – we're going to hit these guys like a speeding hovercar hitting a tree."
The comm was silent.
"Okay, bad analogy, but still…"
"Cut the chatter, Mi – they're almost in range."
Miyu took advantage of the scout fighter's agility to get in close to her enemy, only taking a few hits in the process. Then, unable to take the anticipation any longer, she lined up as best she could and fired.
The enemy fighters continued moving in the directions they had been flying, but none of them changed course or speed, their electronics completely knocked out for the moment. For a skilled pilot like Cannis, they might as well have been sitting ducks.
"Hey, that thing actually worked. What a relief!"
"More so for me than for you." Miyu grinned and lined up for a pass on a second group of fighters. She pulled the trigger. There was a buzzing sound, then her entire ship went dead.
"Cannis? Cannis?!"
"Miyu!"
I took Miyu a second to realize that Cannis's was only her imagination. Her communications were out for the count too. Desperately, she undid her harness and twisted to see Cannis and her other two wingman being swarmed by the enemy fighters. A few flashes and it was all over, the hostiles beelining for the Weikar.
Cannis! No. This isn't happening!
She could make out the flashes of several missles being fired and squeezed her eyes shut.
This is all a nightmare. I am not watching my friends die while I'm helpless to do anything about it!
When she opened her eyes, there was nothing left but the sight of several enemy fighters rapidly diminishing in the distance.
Miyu started yelling obscenities and pounding on the windows of the small fighter's cockpit. She knew the outburst was using up her limited oxygen at an alarming rate, but she didn't care, the Cornerian army didn't do rescue missions for secret ops pilots. She was going to die out here. Alone.
Hot tears built up in her eyes at the thought of Cannis and the rest of her friends being slaughtered by enemies that hadn't even had the courtesy to hail them before opening fire. In desperation, she tried to restart her fighter, to no avail.
Finally, exhausted from her outburst, she grabbed the remaining food and water from her emergency supplies and dug in. There was no point in dying on an empty stomach.
She tried to sleep, but her "nightmare" kept repeating itself. At long last, a piece of debris hit her fighter, causing her head to slam into the cockpit roof. She was too out cold to be thankful. Her limp body floated in her fighter, as her fighter floated through space.
More coming later, since I didn't have time towrite more tonight!