Chapter Eighteen: "The Ambush of Whitewater"
Wolf O'Donnel slowed his quick military stride as Leon hurried to keep up. The chameleon's efforts to conceal a substantial limp to his otherwise smooth and flowing gait proved futile to his mercenary leader, who above all others knew the truth about him. As his accomplice reached his side Wolf nodded to the complex bandaging of Leon's knee and said, "You would do well to hide your continued injury from Lord Andross." Up ahead Pigma sighed impatiently and Andrew shifted from one foot to the next, so they started off again.
As had become his daily custom of late, Leon took a moment to curse Celestra Marquette under his breath. His fall from Macbeth's steam engine had left his right kneecap inscribed with a spiderweb of fractures deeply embedded in the bone, and the bodily imperfection was increasingly difficult for the normally calm and indifferent mercenary to tolerate. Leon was used to being at the top of his physical form, and he considered it the greatest weakness to be seen in the company of his fellow mercenaries, hobbling about like a frail old man. Now the situation was worsening, for they were nearly to Andross's audience hall and quite possibly their deaths. Even as Pigma made to knock at the entrance the double doors eased open; a feeling of dread settled upon the four of them, for they knew their employer and emperor was awaiting their arrival and was far from pleased with their progress.
"We're dead," Pigma whimpered, wringing his pudgy hands together nervously. "The Dark Lord will flay our skin from our bones."
As they stepped within and started cautiously down a black velvet carpet, a shadow stirred to one side and Reivin Frost fell into step beside Wolf. "Be silent, cowardly swine. Consider yourself blessed if Andross himself causes your slow and painful demise."
Wolf quietly chuckled his approval. "What is this about?"
"Your spineless friend seems to have some slight idea," Reivin said coldly, and even in the near-darkness Pigma was filled with fear when the assassin's empty jade eyes cast him a loathing glance. "We have recently fallen out of Andross's favor, a decision brought about from a system of events. You will learn much today, to your misfortune."
The lupine swallowed hard; he didn't like the sound of that at all.
As the five of them advanced the chamber became slightly brighter, until they could make out the carpet's end and the outline of the Tyrant of Lylat sitting rigid and enraged in his throne. Reivin was the only one who had ever been face-to-face with Andross, so when he dipped to on knee and respectfully lowered his head the Star Wolf mercenaries had enough sense to follow suit. Leon grimaced as his injured knee took on his full weight, but outside of the intense discomfort he felt a lump of fear rising in his throat. Reivin Frost showed respect to no one; if he was offering such submission to Andross now, then they were in serious trouble.
Several minutes of silence passed in the dimly lit audience hall, and as the assassin had neither risen to his feet or made to explain the situation Wolf did not dare order his team to do so. They were remotely aware of a pair of glittering, slit-like red eyes surveying their every movement from a few yards away, though, and knew that Andross was letting them stew in their mounting trepidation before he alleviated it. Reivin, in the center of the line, could literally feel the nervous heat rising off Pigma's trembling form to his left; to his right steadfast Wolf O'Donnel was doing well not to look up but keep his single eye fixed humbly on the floor. On the mercenary leader's right Leon's eyes were glazed over indifferently but his jaw muscles were tightly clenched, as though he were constantly gritting his teeth against the pain in his crushed knee. Andrew remained absolutely motionless, knowing well the methods of torture his uncle preferred to use.
Just when Leon was certain his knee could not support him another minute, Andross shifted in his chair and came forward. "I am nearing the end of my patience with all of you. My order, above all others, was that Celestra Marquette die before ever setting foot upon Venom. Now get up and explain yourselves, or suffer weeks of torment before I ease your passing!"
Pigma scuttled to his feet so quickly that he greatly resembled a rat; Reivin, ever the calm and calculating assassin, rose slowly and cleared his throat. "Over the past several months many unforeseen circumstances have impeded my progress to kill Celestra, my Lord. She is very much like me, that much you have seen by now, and the entire procedure is very delicate. I only require a bit more time."
"Already too much time has been given!" An unseen force lifted Reivin from his feet and hurled him backward into the shadows; after many tense moments he returned, frowning heavily now. "You do not seem to understand that Aronius Pepper and Gilraen Anilora stand at my doorstep, preparing to wage open war!" Andross snatched up a nearby glass of wine and drained it all in his fury before glaring down at Leon. "You could easily have killed her on Macbeth--why didn't you?!"
Leon struggled to conceal a wince and barely succeeded. "One moment's hesitation, my Lord, and that was all it took for her to regain the upper hand."
"And how did she do this?" Andross sneered vehemently.
"I can only speculate--" Suddenly the chameleon had been lifted from his feet and similarly thrown aside, crashing into a wall of the chamber; there he slumped for a moment, clutching his knee before struggling back into view. "I believe it was the separation of two battling influences. There were times when it seemed she was more scared of me than anything else in the galaxy, and other times still when she was as indifferent and inpenetrable as I have ever seen her. I stared at Celestra past and Celestra future that day on the train, the innocent child and the merciless assassin, and the latter won out in the end, to my misfortune."
Reivin felt more than one relieved exhale leave the mercenaries beside him, and nearly let one slip himself. After a shaky start Leon had given a successful and intricate explanation of his failure, and that seemed to placate their employer somewhat. Then he turned to Wolf. "I left the assassin Bill Grey to you, knowing that Marquette would do anything, even die, to retreive him. Your orders were to deliver him to me, or kill him if that was not an option."
Wolf didn't even need to open his mouth to anger Andross, for his eye never left the ground, not even when the dictator addressed him. Andross's eyes gleamed with rage and Wolf yelped as he went flying, colliding first with a spindly brazier before hitting the floor and skittering back with a squealing sound. Stars exploded in the lupine's line of vision; nearly a minute had passed before Wolf rejoined his comrades in line. 'That was your first mistake,' Reivin thought to himself. 'Do try no to make another, or it may cost us all.'
"I had every intention of following your orders to the bill, my Lord," Wolf assured, trying with difficulty not to sound as though he were pleading. "I did not expect Anilora to follow Marquette to Fortuna! If we had known we would be outnumbered, I would have sent him to you straightaway!"
"Ah, yes," Andross mused, and his gaze settled intently upon Reivin once more. "For a moment I had forgotten you were not alone."
'I'll kill you, you sell-out,' Reivin thought before he impacted and slid down the wall again. Pigma Dengar could not help but let on quick chuckle pass his snout at the assassin's expense before silencing himself; it was already too late. Andross turned his full attention to the pig.
"Amusing, is it?" With a cry Pigma levitated into the air, squirming to free himself, but Andross's psionic powers were far too great. "You have more faults here than the remaining four put together! Peppy Hare was supposed to die twelve years ago with that wretched James McCloud, and still he lives! If he had died as planned, Star Fox never would have made it to save Marquette after her crash on Titania, because Peppy had been there once before to save your sniveling, worthless backside and he knew the terrain!" The empty wine-glass Andross had set aside came forward and smashed itself over the dangling pig's head; Reivin, Wolf, and Leon all worked hard not to burst into laughter at the sight. "Marquette's death on Titania was meant to succeed, and above all else I blame you for its failure!" With that Andross psychically tossed Pigma away; he struck the double doors with such force that he was rendered unconscious.
"Hear me well!" Andross roared, and the four left standing before him rose struggling into the air. "Star Fox is expecting to clash with Star Wolf just outside our primary satellite, Bolse. This will not happen in the manner they expect! Let Marquette breach the defenses at Area 6 expecting to battle Reivin alone--and let her die alone on Venom's surface when she realizes he has brought the mercenaries along! She cannot withstand all five of you, not without her foolish friends. Let her die outmatched and completely devoid of hope--on your lives, DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME AGAIN!!!" And then he sent them, unconscious Pigma in tow, carreening out the double doors to crumple in the hallway.
With a groan and a great effort Leon raised his head. "If we fail again--"
"--We won't fail again," snapped Reivin, sitting up, eyes livid and blazing. "No more games. Celestra Marquette will die, alone and more afraid than she could ever begin to fathom!"
Truly it pained Sensenic Morray to see Captain Anilora in such a state of unease. Even at twenty-three, such a tender age for someone holding a key position of power, he commanded and received a tremendous amount of respect and trust. A dark cloud of doubt marred his handsome features now; his once-brilliant violet eyes were almost always downcast and sad of late, as though he had recently signed his death warrant. In addition Anilora rarely spoke to anyone these days, and most peculiar of all he seemed to be avoiding Celestra on purpose.
The Fortunan technician would therefore have preferred to leave the captain alone with his private thoughts, but when he entered the briefing room he did so determined to help in any way he could. Morray quietly cleared his throat; the captain started and turned away from the window to face him.
"Hello, Sensenic." The arctic fox dipped into a bow at being addressed, but Anilora snorted dismissively and pulled his colleague up to eye level. "Thank you for returning to quickly."
"My pleasure, Captain." Morray joined the Katinan at the window, brillaint emerald eyes reflecting the magnificent red and orange space fires of Sector Z Combat Zone. Several seconds of silence passed between the pair of them, until at last Morray issued a sigh and said, "Gilraen, forgive me; I know I am overstepping my bounds, but I lose heart to see you grieving so. Do tell me what's the matter."
Anilora smiled briefly, a wordless thank-you that Morray did not miss. These two were not recent acquaintances, and when the Katinan opened his mouth to speak he knew he had not misplaced his trust. "There was never any boundary placed between us. I wish I had realized much sooner than this--I feel I am not prepared to lead my friends, my dearest of kin, to their doom. For that my heart is not my own, and I can no longer see my way ahead."
At last Morray had some idea what ailed the man. "Many have died already, and although we mourn their fate still our road stretches out before us. Already in these few years half of the Fortunan population has been wiped out. Those men, and hundreds of others, died for a cause, not in vain. Even as we speak we have entered Venomian territory; never before have we been so close to success. Not one of them laid down their life out of fear of failure, or imprisonment, or a more gruesome death--they did so, and willingly, because they believed in the freedom of Lylat. They believed in you."
Anilora remained unconvinced. "It gained them nothing. They are dead and still we have not reached our goal."
"That isn't all true, Gilraen. They died to give us this chance, because we are still here and willing to fight back." Morray clamped his hands down on the captain's shoulders, forcing him to face him. "We who remain have not once lost faith in you! Look out there--Celestra, Bill, Erik, William, and I, and every single soldier in this grand fleet, would gladly fight and die beside you, or for you. I myself would die this very instant for your noble cause if I thought it would help you."
"This is what I mean! Don't you see?" Anilora squirmed out of Morray's grasp, a longing in his eyes. I feel I am not that great man you speak of! I feel I am not worthy of your praise, or anyone else's!" A weight of defeat collapsed upon his shoulders then, and the Katinan captain flung himself into a chair, shoulders heaving with sobs. "And I desperately want to be that man, Sensenic. I want more than anything to be the one everyone counts on never to fail."
Sensenic Morray couldn't help but smile at those words, and he sat down in a chair beside Anilora. "You are already that man," he told him honestly. "You have been that man for years."
The light returned to Gilraen Anilora's eyes then; he was on his feet, a confident aura pulsating from his compact form, and he said, "Alert the fleet. We are advancing into Sector Z this very night."
"The Katinans are on the move, and clearly in this direction," snapped Reivin Frost. He was pacing furiously up and down his living quarters as Wolf O'Donnel watched, only half-interested, from a reclining chair. "We should ambush them tonight, in the combat zone. Think of it! Anilora would expect nothing so bold from our end, for if we lose just once more it would make Area 6 easy prey for them." He paused momentarily to glare at the mercenary leader. "Well? What do you think?"
Wolf leaned forward, meticulously adjusting his eyepatch. "How do you know they're on the move? You can't possibly be sure--"
"Seersus bugged Whitewater," the assassin told him dismissively, growling his impatience. "The real reason I sent him there was not to kill Celestra--although I daresay that would have been fabulous--but to implant a homing device upon the Katinan flagship. With it I can monitor their every movement."
"And why did you not inform Andross of that?!" Wolf demanded, subconsciously massaging a sizeable bruise at the base of his skull. "If he had known you did it all for a reason, we wouldn't be in this position!"
"Yes we would, you simpleton. Andross made up his mind to punish us long ago, back when Bill escaped from us on Fortuna. I knew there would be no rectifying the situation--Bill would not drop his guard again--so I merely ignored it and moved on. The tracer will solve all our problems; we know every move Anilora will make the instant he makes it, so there's nothing he can do to stop us this time." Reivin was beginning to look ravenous. "Well?!"
"What now?" Wolf quipped in response.
"My plan, you fool. What do you think of it?"
The mercenary leader knew that to voice his many sarcastic responses was to die, so he relaxed again and said delicately, "It has its benefits and its drawbacks, I suppose."
"Such as?" Reivin snarled back.
"It's quite simple--with all eyes on the Katinan captain you will neglect Celestra Marquette, our true mission objective," came a smooth voice from the doorway, and the pair locked eyes with Leon, who was leaning casually against the doorframe. "If she slips past you it's smooth sailing all the way to Andross's audience hall, and you know what that means for the lot of us."
"Unemployment and gruesome death," Wolf put in.
"You forget what she desires most," Reivin reminded, and a sly and confident smirk replaced his vindictive mood. "The final match. Long before Andross discovers she set foot upon Venom we will have settled our six-year score. And the pair of you will help me."
"Without Star Wolf, Bolse will never hold against General Pepper and those damned Cornerians," Leon reminded.
But Reivin's eyes had glossed over and he was clearly not listening as attentively. "I can just see the horror in her pretty blue eyes when she realizes she's outmatched five to one . . ." The chameleon cleared his throat pointedly, and the assassin blinked rapidly a few times before saying, "Yes, Leon, but if we kill Celestra and hold Area 6, that won't much matter, will it?" He made for the door, pausing only to say, "We're to attack them tonight. It is far too sweet of an opportunity to ignore." Then he marched right past Leon and out the door, starting off down the hall.
Leon heaved a little sigh of melancholy and rubbed at a crick in his neck. "The man is quite out of sorts of late."
Wolf ignored his comrade's callousness, adopting instead a rather Reivin-like glint in his eye. "I've known him for years--he always gets like that when blood will soon be spilt."
A trio of Arwings broke the figurative boundary that marked Sector Z Combat Zone; as they continued on their way a mild solar flare illuminated the surrounding area, clearly emblazoning the names Bringer of Chaos, Fury of Katina, and Scarlet Night. The graceful V-shaped Arwing advanced to the point, silver and turquoise body shimmering mysteriously. "Didn't there use to be a refueling station here?" asked Celestra.
"It was destroyed almost three years ago," Micah explained, piloting his blood-red spacecraft slightly behind and to the left of hers. "Andross ordered his first and second regiments to advance into Aquan territory, but a radical group of Zonessians had set up camp at the refueling station and were waiting to waylay him. Star Wolf's Pigma Dengar secretly infiltrated the place and set a detonation device in the central control room; not long after that it was curtains for everyone on board."
"And how come the debris is still floating about the area?" Bill asked.
"Combat zones are classified as regions centralized about a relatively strong magnetic field," Micah continued, obviously interested. "This structure makes it impossible for loose interspace material to escape."
"Four years of interstellar field history at the Academy?" Celestra guessed.
"Five years, and at the Private Institution for the Katinan Elite," Micah explained.
"P.I.K.E.," Bill acknowledged, using the familiar acronym, and the three assassins shared a laugh.
Meanwhile aboard Whitewater, Captain Anilora and Sensenic Morray were at the helm watching the progression through the combat zone. "Everything still clear up there?" Anilora asked, calmly folding his hands behind his back.
"That'll be an affirmative, Cap'n. Sensors show a visibility of at least ten miles, and there's nothin' in sight," came Bill's voice.
"Excellent," put in Morray. "Straight on through to Area 6, then, and that is where we shall launch our offensive."
For several hours Celestra, Bill, and Micah skirted about the desolate area of dead space, leading the allied fleet on ahead to their next destination. They would fan out at times, taking a wider berth to be certain the flanks were safe; at other times one would circle about the rear, guarding the fleet's blind spots. As Anilora and Morray idly kept watch over the three pilots, Erik and William Nioxin checked the radar often for a longer range of security.
It was perhaps one in the morning--the Katinan captain and the three arctic foxes were sharing mugs of coffee near the helm--when Whitewater shivered under heavy external blows and buckled wildly to the right side. The four lost their footing and tumbled roughly to the floor; mugs went flying, shattering against the walls and spilling their contents. A warning buzzer and a flashing red light went off in the control room and all about the flagshiip; after a moment's confusion Anilora struggled to his feet and rushed to the G-Diffuser screen.
"An ambush!" he cried as the Fortunans leapt to his side. "Hundreds of them! Behind our fleet and moving up fast!"
"It can't be!" exclaimed Erik, checking the radar. Sure enough it was swarming with red specks, each one indicating a Venomian spacecraft. "We were staring at the readouts, and there was nothing near us!"
"They must have created a rift in space," William reasoned, wrestling into his flight gear. "With it they could have easily warped to this location."
Captain Anilora switched to the intercom. "All pilots to Arwings! We are under attack!" That said he turned to Morray, who was anxiously awaiting instructions. "Spread the word, my friend! We must drive them back, and quickly, or there will be no fleet to attack the defense station!" Morray nodded and headed off quickly; the Nioxins wasted no time in sprinting away down the hall in the direction of the docking bay. "Frontal scouts, come in! Andross has launched an attack from behind! Break ranks and double back!"
As one the three assassin's Arwings performed U-turns, reversing their flight direction and putting them in line with the not-so-distant skirmish. Off to the left Micah noticed the concentraion of their enemies was much less dense, and with a quick motion of his hands he followed this path around to the opposite flank, hoping to surprise the assailants from behind.
Celestra watched him go in dismay, seeing the grave mistake. "Micah! Don't!"
Her cries were futile; as if on cue laser fire rained down upon Scarlet Night. The engines imploded and caught fire, and moments later the Aquan assassin's spacecraft burst fully into flames, screaming away like a rogue comet until the Arwing exploded, showing the night with embers. Reivin Frost's sleek black Arwing melted out of the shadows, almost stalking in Celestra and Bill's direction.
"I always despised that one," Reivin admitted smugly, hovering before his two adversaries confidently. "He talked far too much and lacked the skill to back up his words--very much like the two of you."
"Only we're still here, ya moron," Bill pointed out bitterly, warming his lasers.
Reivin's eyes glimmered sarcastically. "Not much longer, I assure you!" he taunted, and all three burst into motion, spinning and diving in flawless corkscrews as they pursued. To a novice it was clear that Celestra and Bill had previously flown in tandem on numerous occassions; they never once came close to colliding or firing on one another and knew where the other was subconsciously at all times. The X-Eternity Libra was nothing short of wondrous when piloted by its Macbethian owner; that proved to be Reivin's first miscalculation, for he knew nothing of this new and better spacecraft prior to launching the ambush. Often he found it difficult to keep up with Celestra's constant dodging and evading, and he was so caught up in catching her that he was an easy target for Bill.
The biggest mistake the heads of the Venomian ambush made concerned the Fortunan-Aquan alliance. Reivin had ordered the attack assuming he would be combating nine hundred Katinans; the mere presence of the alliance served as the saving grace for Captain Anilora's terribly outnumbered forces. Sensenic Morray had insisted in the early days of the war that the five hundred fifty men moving under his command would remain unaccounted for, and he was correct. The fleet was larger than the Venomians had guessed, for the alliance truly had slipped three-quarters of the way through the Lylat System unnoticed!
As the Nioxins ejected from the docking bay and made their way into the fray, they knew that even with the addition of the Fortunans and Aquans they would likely lose the battle. As Morray and Anilora began strapping themselves into their spacecraft they came to learn just how badly when Anilora said, "I have a close estimate of their numbers; we're looking at roughly eighteen hundred."
"I don't care at all for the situation," Morray told the Katinan captain over a private intership channel. "We are badly outnumbered and the element of surprise is with them."
Anilora gritted his teeth together and shot out of his hangar, leading five score of the Fortunans into the center of the enemy fleet and cutting a path to the enormous starships. As they began to at last regain their lost ground he heard Celestra's voice: "Gilraen, do you copy?"
The captain squinted his violet eyes as a bomb detonated far to his right flank. "We've got at least seventy-five enemy cruisers back here; Celestra, where are you?"
"Oh, fantastic!" she responded sarcastically. "Seventy-five cruisers back there, and we've got Micah dead and Reivin Frost at the forefront!"
Anilora opened his mouth to answer her just as some stray Hybrid stealth craft recognized his ship; they fired simultaneously, sending the captain reeling through space in reckless barrel rolls. He cursed, fighting hard to regain control before they eliminated him, but fortunately a few of the Fortunan pilots swept by to rescue him as he righted himself. He tore off in pursuit of a tight-knit group of Destroyers and panicked when his calls for aid heeded no one; then he cursed again when he realized his communications had been knocked off-line.
Further behind, the Nioxins had just succeeded in obliterating their tenth starship together. The heads of the Venomian squadrons were pulling their hair out in their frantic orders for someone to bring down the two Fortunans, but not one enemy craft possessed the ability to keep up with them. These two had created the X-Eternity Libra and every single one of its predecessors; they expertly controlled X-Eternity Scorpios at the moment, and no better technology could be found on the opposing end. In addition to tailing his brother around in pursuit of new cruisers to fire upon, William was already well on his way to uploading Captain Anilora's intership communications.
Strangest of all was quiet and clever Sensenic Morray, who had long since fallen out of the battle and landed his Arwing on the roof of Whitewater. He alone among all his comrades seemed unnaturally calm, typing evenly at the helm and studying a holographic layout of the Venomian attack formation. "It's far too perfect--rehearsed, even," he muttered thoughtfully to himself, sitting back and scratching haphazardly at the white fur behind one ear. While he sorted through the situation he took up the controls and targeted stray Venomian craft, firing at random and downing many. A thought struck him then and he quickly booted up his scanners, inputting the keywords HOMING DEVICES; after several tedious moments in which he stared at the word SEARCHING, a detailed skematic of Whitewater materialized, bearing a single, flashing red dot.
"And that's how they managed it," Morray congratulated himself, straightening up in the cockpit. "Come in, Gilraen! Somehow the Venomians have placed a tracking device upon your primary cruiser, copy!"
"He can't hear you, Doctor Morray!" Erik informed him. "William is working on his communications!"
Morray fired his engines, shooting down all the enemy craft in his path as he made for the Whitewater docking bay. "Very well--I'll handle this myself."
In the grand scheme of things the three allied fleets were being torn to pieces by Reivin's ambush. Celestra and Bill were successfully keeping their primary adversary from causing any damage elsewhere, but the goodly forces were still outnumbered and with every loss they suffered the margin separating the opposing sides only grew. The Nioxins were thus far playing the heroes; with every large cruiser they eliminated they gained followers, until the entire Aquan fleet trailed along behind the two technicians and swarmed over their next designated target like a plague. Things were looking well for the pair of them until ten starships banded together in a diamond formation and relentlessly opened fire. Wails of despair filled the radio frequency; Erik floated up to William, eyeing the destruction with an angry expression upon his face.
"Now, brother?" asked William tensely, eyes never leaving the wreckage.
"Yes, I think so," Erik answered, and they dove into the diamond formation head-on.
Reivin couldn't help but look up in horror when the first of those ten formidable cruisers exploded; two lone Fortunan Arwings were firing enormous quantities of energy at the large ships. The bombs lanced through the darkness of space to pummel the starships' exteriors, and within a minute the Nioxins had vanquished all ten and emerged, unscathed, to seek out new prey.
"Fully-charged electron-based detonators, respectable Mr. Frost!" shouted William, skirting by the trio of quarreling assassins after his brother. "Our ships can hold ten apiece!"
"I'll be sure to carve your name into one of them and reserve it just for you!" Erik added wickedly, and then they were off in pursuit of more targets.
Out of the corner of his eye Reivin spied the Arwing of Sensenic Morray making a beeline for Whitewater, and automatically he seemed to know why. If he didn't stop this upstart from destroying the transmitter, they would be forced to fight the Katinan fleet on even ground. Brilliantly evading a stream of lasers from Bringer of Chaos Reivin charged after Morray, preparing to fire.
It was at that precise moment that Captain Anilora's communications started working again, and he cried, "Sensenic, behind!"
Purely on instinct Morray rolled hard to the left; Reivin made to follow but Anilora dropped seemingly from thin air to stave off the attack and began firing madly. The evil assassin got off one lucky shot that grazed the captain's left wingtip and sent him into uncontrollable somersaults; for a second his way to Morray was clear, but then Celestra and Bill accosted him again, concealing both Morray and Anilora protectively behind them.
"Lot 'o nerve you've got, ya damned traitor, to be openin' fire on our cap'n," Bill hissed dangerously, and the three assassins engaged in combat yet again as Morray landed safely in the docking bay. All the while the larger fight raged within Sector Z Combat Zone, and for the allied triad things were looking grim.
Vaulting out of his Arwing and sprinting off down the main hallway toward living quarters, Sensenic Morray's keen eyes perused a printout of Whitewater's complex interior and the quickest route that would lead him to the homing device. Outside he could hear the ambush reaching new heights of ferocity; every so often enemy fire would hit a weak spot and the ground would shudder beneath his feet. He hurried past numerous cyborgs and ignored every one of them when they asked him if he needed assistance, and finally paused outside a small, secluded broom closet, praying he had found the right place.
Morray threw the door open so hard in his hurry that it rebounded back off the hinges; it was dark enough inside so that he could clearly see a miniscule, flashing red light toward the back of the cupboard. He reached inside and ripped the small square homing device off the wall and tosseed it to the ground before him as he unholstered the only laser pistol he owned and fired at it until all that remained was a twisted scrap of useless metal.
"Undoubtedly Mr. Frost's associate planted that fine contraption here before he was ordered to shadow Celestra's steps," Morray hypothesized, and then he turned back and set off merrily for the docking bay again.
All at once the tracking signal Whitewater was sending out expired, and Reivin Frost knew it was time for him to order the retreat. The Nioxins, recently joined by Captain Anilora, had taken down almost fifty of his starships; Bill was starting to lose his concentration, but Reivin was still no match for Celestra in her excellent new Fortunan Arwing. It didn't matter that they were going to lose some ground--the ambush had been meant to cripple Anilora's forces, and that had already been accomplished. What mattered the most to Reivin at that time was that his fleet would overwhelm the suffering Katinan ranks when they later advanced into Area 6, so he would only defeat them all later.
"Retreat!" Reivin called to his forces. "I repeat--all hands falls back to the rift!"
Celestra and Bill glanced to one another, confused. Why was Reivin calling for his men to retreat when they held the edge? But the evil assassin showed no signs of explaining his irrational decision as the Venomians started to disappear back through the warp, offering only, "Farewell, my admirable adversaries. Live today, but when next we meet I shall seal your fate!" The assassin's two Arwings dove after their nemesis, making with all speed for the rift, but as soon as Reivin melted through it the portal disappeared.
Sensenic Morray and the Nioxin brothers were treated as heroes whe all had docked and evacuated, but the celebration was short-lived. Captain Anilora entered with grave news: their numbers had fallen from fourteen hundred and fifty to an even thousand, where seven hundred and fifty were Katinan, two hundred were Fortunan, and only fifty were Aquan. Every large cruiser and starship in the entire fleet had suffered damage, and the nearest ship repair station already lay behind them on Macbeth.
At eleven o' clock the following afternoon, Captain Anilora informed every soldier that they would continue the advance in two days.
Wolf O'Donnel slowed his quick military stride as Leon hurried to keep up. The chameleon's efforts to conceal a substantial limp to his otherwise smooth and flowing gait proved futile to his mercenary leader, who above all others knew the truth about him. As his accomplice reached his side Wolf nodded to the complex bandaging of Leon's knee and said, "You would do well to hide your continued injury from Lord Andross." Up ahead Pigma sighed impatiently and Andrew shifted from one foot to the next, so they started off again.
As had become his daily custom of late, Leon took a moment to curse Celestra Marquette under his breath. His fall from Macbeth's steam engine had left his right kneecap inscribed with a spiderweb of fractures deeply embedded in the bone, and the bodily imperfection was increasingly difficult for the normally calm and indifferent mercenary to tolerate. Leon was used to being at the top of his physical form, and he considered it the greatest weakness to be seen in the company of his fellow mercenaries, hobbling about like a frail old man. Now the situation was worsening, for they were nearly to Andross's audience hall and quite possibly their deaths. Even as Pigma made to knock at the entrance the double doors eased open; a feeling of dread settled upon the four of them, for they knew their employer and emperor was awaiting their arrival and was far from pleased with their progress.
"We're dead," Pigma whimpered, wringing his pudgy hands together nervously. "The Dark Lord will flay our skin from our bones."
As they stepped within and started cautiously down a black velvet carpet, a shadow stirred to one side and Reivin Frost fell into step beside Wolf. "Be silent, cowardly swine. Consider yourself blessed if Andross himself causes your slow and painful demise."
Wolf quietly chuckled his approval. "What is this about?"
"Your spineless friend seems to have some slight idea," Reivin said coldly, and even in the near-darkness Pigma was filled with fear when the assassin's empty jade eyes cast him a loathing glance. "We have recently fallen out of Andross's favor, a decision brought about from a system of events. You will learn much today, to your misfortune."
The lupine swallowed hard; he didn't like the sound of that at all.
As the five of them advanced the chamber became slightly brighter, until they could make out the carpet's end and the outline of the Tyrant of Lylat sitting rigid and enraged in his throne. Reivin was the only one who had ever been face-to-face with Andross, so when he dipped to on knee and respectfully lowered his head the Star Wolf mercenaries had enough sense to follow suit. Leon grimaced as his injured knee took on his full weight, but outside of the intense discomfort he felt a lump of fear rising in his throat. Reivin Frost showed respect to no one; if he was offering such submission to Andross now, then they were in serious trouble.
Several minutes of silence passed in the dimly lit audience hall, and as the assassin had neither risen to his feet or made to explain the situation Wolf did not dare order his team to do so. They were remotely aware of a pair of glittering, slit-like red eyes surveying their every movement from a few yards away, though, and knew that Andross was letting them stew in their mounting trepidation before he alleviated it. Reivin, in the center of the line, could literally feel the nervous heat rising off Pigma's trembling form to his left; to his right steadfast Wolf O'Donnel was doing well not to look up but keep his single eye fixed humbly on the floor. On the mercenary leader's right Leon's eyes were glazed over indifferently but his jaw muscles were tightly clenched, as though he were constantly gritting his teeth against the pain in his crushed knee. Andrew remained absolutely motionless, knowing well the methods of torture his uncle preferred to use.
Just when Leon was certain his knee could not support him another minute, Andross shifted in his chair and came forward. "I am nearing the end of my patience with all of you. My order, above all others, was that Celestra Marquette die before ever setting foot upon Venom. Now get up and explain yourselves, or suffer weeks of torment before I ease your passing!"
Pigma scuttled to his feet so quickly that he greatly resembled a rat; Reivin, ever the calm and calculating assassin, rose slowly and cleared his throat. "Over the past several months many unforeseen circumstances have impeded my progress to kill Celestra, my Lord. She is very much like me, that much you have seen by now, and the entire procedure is very delicate. I only require a bit more time."
"Already too much time has been given!" An unseen force lifted Reivin from his feet and hurled him backward into the shadows; after many tense moments he returned, frowning heavily now. "You do not seem to understand that Aronius Pepper and Gilraen Anilora stand at my doorstep, preparing to wage open war!" Andross snatched up a nearby glass of wine and drained it all in his fury before glaring down at Leon. "You could easily have killed her on Macbeth--why didn't you?!"
Leon struggled to conceal a wince and barely succeeded. "One moment's hesitation, my Lord, and that was all it took for her to regain the upper hand."
"And how did she do this?" Andross sneered vehemently.
"I can only speculate--" Suddenly the chameleon had been lifted from his feet and similarly thrown aside, crashing into a wall of the chamber; there he slumped for a moment, clutching his knee before struggling back into view. "I believe it was the separation of two battling influences. There were times when it seemed she was more scared of me than anything else in the galaxy, and other times still when she was as indifferent and inpenetrable as I have ever seen her. I stared at Celestra past and Celestra future that day on the train, the innocent child and the merciless assassin, and the latter won out in the end, to my misfortune."
Reivin felt more than one relieved exhale leave the mercenaries beside him, and nearly let one slip himself. After a shaky start Leon had given a successful and intricate explanation of his failure, and that seemed to placate their employer somewhat. Then he turned to Wolf. "I left the assassin Bill Grey to you, knowing that Marquette would do anything, even die, to retreive him. Your orders were to deliver him to me, or kill him if that was not an option."
Wolf didn't even need to open his mouth to anger Andross, for his eye never left the ground, not even when the dictator addressed him. Andross's eyes gleamed with rage and Wolf yelped as he went flying, colliding first with a spindly brazier before hitting the floor and skittering back with a squealing sound. Stars exploded in the lupine's line of vision; nearly a minute had passed before Wolf rejoined his comrades in line. 'That was your first mistake,' Reivin thought to himself. 'Do try no to make another, or it may cost us all.'
"I had every intention of following your orders to the bill, my Lord," Wolf assured, trying with difficulty not to sound as though he were pleading. "I did not expect Anilora to follow Marquette to Fortuna! If we had known we would be outnumbered, I would have sent him to you straightaway!"
"Ah, yes," Andross mused, and his gaze settled intently upon Reivin once more. "For a moment I had forgotten you were not alone."
'I'll kill you, you sell-out,' Reivin thought before he impacted and slid down the wall again. Pigma Dengar could not help but let on quick chuckle pass his snout at the assassin's expense before silencing himself; it was already too late. Andross turned his full attention to the pig.
"Amusing, is it?" With a cry Pigma levitated into the air, squirming to free himself, but Andross's psionic powers were far too great. "You have more faults here than the remaining four put together! Peppy Hare was supposed to die twelve years ago with that wretched James McCloud, and still he lives! If he had died as planned, Star Fox never would have made it to save Marquette after her crash on Titania, because Peppy had been there once before to save your sniveling, worthless backside and he knew the terrain!" The empty wine-glass Andross had set aside came forward and smashed itself over the dangling pig's head; Reivin, Wolf, and Leon all worked hard not to burst into laughter at the sight. "Marquette's death on Titania was meant to succeed, and above all else I blame you for its failure!" With that Andross psychically tossed Pigma away; he struck the double doors with such force that he was rendered unconscious.
"Hear me well!" Andross roared, and the four left standing before him rose struggling into the air. "Star Fox is expecting to clash with Star Wolf just outside our primary satellite, Bolse. This will not happen in the manner they expect! Let Marquette breach the defenses at Area 6 expecting to battle Reivin alone--and let her die alone on Venom's surface when she realizes he has brought the mercenaries along! She cannot withstand all five of you, not without her foolish friends. Let her die outmatched and completely devoid of hope--on your lives, DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME AGAIN!!!" And then he sent them, unconscious Pigma in tow, carreening out the double doors to crumple in the hallway.
With a groan and a great effort Leon raised his head. "If we fail again--"
"--We won't fail again," snapped Reivin, sitting up, eyes livid and blazing. "No more games. Celestra Marquette will die, alone and more afraid than she could ever begin to fathom!"
Truly it pained Sensenic Morray to see Captain Anilora in such a state of unease. Even at twenty-three, such a tender age for someone holding a key position of power, he commanded and received a tremendous amount of respect and trust. A dark cloud of doubt marred his handsome features now; his once-brilliant violet eyes were almost always downcast and sad of late, as though he had recently signed his death warrant. In addition Anilora rarely spoke to anyone these days, and most peculiar of all he seemed to be avoiding Celestra on purpose.
The Fortunan technician would therefore have preferred to leave the captain alone with his private thoughts, but when he entered the briefing room he did so determined to help in any way he could. Morray quietly cleared his throat; the captain started and turned away from the window to face him.
"Hello, Sensenic." The arctic fox dipped into a bow at being addressed, but Anilora snorted dismissively and pulled his colleague up to eye level. "Thank you for returning to quickly."
"My pleasure, Captain." Morray joined the Katinan at the window, brillaint emerald eyes reflecting the magnificent red and orange space fires of Sector Z Combat Zone. Several seconds of silence passed between the pair of them, until at last Morray issued a sigh and said, "Gilraen, forgive me; I know I am overstepping my bounds, but I lose heart to see you grieving so. Do tell me what's the matter."
Anilora smiled briefly, a wordless thank-you that Morray did not miss. These two were not recent acquaintances, and when the Katinan opened his mouth to speak he knew he had not misplaced his trust. "There was never any boundary placed between us. I wish I had realized much sooner than this--I feel I am not prepared to lead my friends, my dearest of kin, to their doom. For that my heart is not my own, and I can no longer see my way ahead."
At last Morray had some idea what ailed the man. "Many have died already, and although we mourn their fate still our road stretches out before us. Already in these few years half of the Fortunan population has been wiped out. Those men, and hundreds of others, died for a cause, not in vain. Even as we speak we have entered Venomian territory; never before have we been so close to success. Not one of them laid down their life out of fear of failure, or imprisonment, or a more gruesome death--they did so, and willingly, because they believed in the freedom of Lylat. They believed in you."
Anilora remained unconvinced. "It gained them nothing. They are dead and still we have not reached our goal."
"That isn't all true, Gilraen. They died to give us this chance, because we are still here and willing to fight back." Morray clamped his hands down on the captain's shoulders, forcing him to face him. "We who remain have not once lost faith in you! Look out there--Celestra, Bill, Erik, William, and I, and every single soldier in this grand fleet, would gladly fight and die beside you, or for you. I myself would die this very instant for your noble cause if I thought it would help you."
"This is what I mean! Don't you see?" Anilora squirmed out of Morray's grasp, a longing in his eyes. I feel I am not that great man you speak of! I feel I am not worthy of your praise, or anyone else's!" A weight of defeat collapsed upon his shoulders then, and the Katinan captain flung himself into a chair, shoulders heaving with sobs. "And I desperately want to be that man, Sensenic. I want more than anything to be the one everyone counts on never to fail."
Sensenic Morray couldn't help but smile at those words, and he sat down in a chair beside Anilora. "You are already that man," he told him honestly. "You have been that man for years."
The light returned to Gilraen Anilora's eyes then; he was on his feet, a confident aura pulsating from his compact form, and he said, "Alert the fleet. We are advancing into Sector Z this very night."
"The Katinans are on the move, and clearly in this direction," snapped Reivin Frost. He was pacing furiously up and down his living quarters as Wolf O'Donnel watched, only half-interested, from a reclining chair. "We should ambush them tonight, in the combat zone. Think of it! Anilora would expect nothing so bold from our end, for if we lose just once more it would make Area 6 easy prey for them." He paused momentarily to glare at the mercenary leader. "Well? What do you think?"
Wolf leaned forward, meticulously adjusting his eyepatch. "How do you know they're on the move? You can't possibly be sure--"
"Seersus bugged Whitewater," the assassin told him dismissively, growling his impatience. "The real reason I sent him there was not to kill Celestra--although I daresay that would have been fabulous--but to implant a homing device upon the Katinan flagship. With it I can monitor their every movement."
"And why did you not inform Andross of that?!" Wolf demanded, subconsciously massaging a sizeable bruise at the base of his skull. "If he had known you did it all for a reason, we wouldn't be in this position!"
"Yes we would, you simpleton. Andross made up his mind to punish us long ago, back when Bill escaped from us on Fortuna. I knew there would be no rectifying the situation--Bill would not drop his guard again--so I merely ignored it and moved on. The tracer will solve all our problems; we know every move Anilora will make the instant he makes it, so there's nothing he can do to stop us this time." Reivin was beginning to look ravenous. "Well?!"
"What now?" Wolf quipped in response.
"My plan, you fool. What do you think of it?"
The mercenary leader knew that to voice his many sarcastic responses was to die, so he relaxed again and said delicately, "It has its benefits and its drawbacks, I suppose."
"Such as?" Reivin snarled back.
"It's quite simple--with all eyes on the Katinan captain you will neglect Celestra Marquette, our true mission objective," came a smooth voice from the doorway, and the pair locked eyes with Leon, who was leaning casually against the doorframe. "If she slips past you it's smooth sailing all the way to Andross's audience hall, and you know what that means for the lot of us."
"Unemployment and gruesome death," Wolf put in.
"You forget what she desires most," Reivin reminded, and a sly and confident smirk replaced his vindictive mood. "The final match. Long before Andross discovers she set foot upon Venom we will have settled our six-year score. And the pair of you will help me."
"Without Star Wolf, Bolse will never hold against General Pepper and those damned Cornerians," Leon reminded.
But Reivin's eyes had glossed over and he was clearly not listening as attentively. "I can just see the horror in her pretty blue eyes when she realizes she's outmatched five to one . . ." The chameleon cleared his throat pointedly, and the assassin blinked rapidly a few times before saying, "Yes, Leon, but if we kill Celestra and hold Area 6, that won't much matter, will it?" He made for the door, pausing only to say, "We're to attack them tonight. It is far too sweet of an opportunity to ignore." Then he marched right past Leon and out the door, starting off down the hall.
Leon heaved a little sigh of melancholy and rubbed at a crick in his neck. "The man is quite out of sorts of late."
Wolf ignored his comrade's callousness, adopting instead a rather Reivin-like glint in his eye. "I've known him for years--he always gets like that when blood will soon be spilt."
A trio of Arwings broke the figurative boundary that marked Sector Z Combat Zone; as they continued on their way a mild solar flare illuminated the surrounding area, clearly emblazoning the names Bringer of Chaos, Fury of Katina, and Scarlet Night. The graceful V-shaped Arwing advanced to the point, silver and turquoise body shimmering mysteriously. "Didn't there use to be a refueling station here?" asked Celestra.
"It was destroyed almost three years ago," Micah explained, piloting his blood-red spacecraft slightly behind and to the left of hers. "Andross ordered his first and second regiments to advance into Aquan territory, but a radical group of Zonessians had set up camp at the refueling station and were waiting to waylay him. Star Wolf's Pigma Dengar secretly infiltrated the place and set a detonation device in the central control room; not long after that it was curtains for everyone on board."
"And how come the debris is still floating about the area?" Bill asked.
"Combat zones are classified as regions centralized about a relatively strong magnetic field," Micah continued, obviously interested. "This structure makes it impossible for loose interspace material to escape."
"Four years of interstellar field history at the Academy?" Celestra guessed.
"Five years, and at the Private Institution for the Katinan Elite," Micah explained.
"P.I.K.E.," Bill acknowledged, using the familiar acronym, and the three assassins shared a laugh.
Meanwhile aboard Whitewater, Captain Anilora and Sensenic Morray were at the helm watching the progression through the combat zone. "Everything still clear up there?" Anilora asked, calmly folding his hands behind his back.
"That'll be an affirmative, Cap'n. Sensors show a visibility of at least ten miles, and there's nothin' in sight," came Bill's voice.
"Excellent," put in Morray. "Straight on through to Area 6, then, and that is where we shall launch our offensive."
For several hours Celestra, Bill, and Micah skirted about the desolate area of dead space, leading the allied fleet on ahead to their next destination. They would fan out at times, taking a wider berth to be certain the flanks were safe; at other times one would circle about the rear, guarding the fleet's blind spots. As Anilora and Morray idly kept watch over the three pilots, Erik and William Nioxin checked the radar often for a longer range of security.
It was perhaps one in the morning--the Katinan captain and the three arctic foxes were sharing mugs of coffee near the helm--when Whitewater shivered under heavy external blows and buckled wildly to the right side. The four lost their footing and tumbled roughly to the floor; mugs went flying, shattering against the walls and spilling their contents. A warning buzzer and a flashing red light went off in the control room and all about the flagshiip; after a moment's confusion Anilora struggled to his feet and rushed to the G-Diffuser screen.
"An ambush!" he cried as the Fortunans leapt to his side. "Hundreds of them! Behind our fleet and moving up fast!"
"It can't be!" exclaimed Erik, checking the radar. Sure enough it was swarming with red specks, each one indicating a Venomian spacecraft. "We were staring at the readouts, and there was nothing near us!"
"They must have created a rift in space," William reasoned, wrestling into his flight gear. "With it they could have easily warped to this location."
Captain Anilora switched to the intercom. "All pilots to Arwings! We are under attack!" That said he turned to Morray, who was anxiously awaiting instructions. "Spread the word, my friend! We must drive them back, and quickly, or there will be no fleet to attack the defense station!" Morray nodded and headed off quickly; the Nioxins wasted no time in sprinting away down the hall in the direction of the docking bay. "Frontal scouts, come in! Andross has launched an attack from behind! Break ranks and double back!"
As one the three assassin's Arwings performed U-turns, reversing their flight direction and putting them in line with the not-so-distant skirmish. Off to the left Micah noticed the concentraion of their enemies was much less dense, and with a quick motion of his hands he followed this path around to the opposite flank, hoping to surprise the assailants from behind.
Celestra watched him go in dismay, seeing the grave mistake. "Micah! Don't!"
Her cries were futile; as if on cue laser fire rained down upon Scarlet Night. The engines imploded and caught fire, and moments later the Aquan assassin's spacecraft burst fully into flames, screaming away like a rogue comet until the Arwing exploded, showing the night with embers. Reivin Frost's sleek black Arwing melted out of the shadows, almost stalking in Celestra and Bill's direction.
"I always despised that one," Reivin admitted smugly, hovering before his two adversaries confidently. "He talked far too much and lacked the skill to back up his words--very much like the two of you."
"Only we're still here, ya moron," Bill pointed out bitterly, warming his lasers.
Reivin's eyes glimmered sarcastically. "Not much longer, I assure you!" he taunted, and all three burst into motion, spinning and diving in flawless corkscrews as they pursued. To a novice it was clear that Celestra and Bill had previously flown in tandem on numerous occassions; they never once came close to colliding or firing on one another and knew where the other was subconsciously at all times. The X-Eternity Libra was nothing short of wondrous when piloted by its Macbethian owner; that proved to be Reivin's first miscalculation, for he knew nothing of this new and better spacecraft prior to launching the ambush. Often he found it difficult to keep up with Celestra's constant dodging and evading, and he was so caught up in catching her that he was an easy target for Bill.
The biggest mistake the heads of the Venomian ambush made concerned the Fortunan-Aquan alliance. Reivin had ordered the attack assuming he would be combating nine hundred Katinans; the mere presence of the alliance served as the saving grace for Captain Anilora's terribly outnumbered forces. Sensenic Morray had insisted in the early days of the war that the five hundred fifty men moving under his command would remain unaccounted for, and he was correct. The fleet was larger than the Venomians had guessed, for the alliance truly had slipped three-quarters of the way through the Lylat System unnoticed!
As the Nioxins ejected from the docking bay and made their way into the fray, they knew that even with the addition of the Fortunans and Aquans they would likely lose the battle. As Morray and Anilora began strapping themselves into their spacecraft they came to learn just how badly when Anilora said, "I have a close estimate of their numbers; we're looking at roughly eighteen hundred."
"I don't care at all for the situation," Morray told the Katinan captain over a private intership channel. "We are badly outnumbered and the element of surprise is with them."
Anilora gritted his teeth together and shot out of his hangar, leading five score of the Fortunans into the center of the enemy fleet and cutting a path to the enormous starships. As they began to at last regain their lost ground he heard Celestra's voice: "Gilraen, do you copy?"
The captain squinted his violet eyes as a bomb detonated far to his right flank. "We've got at least seventy-five enemy cruisers back here; Celestra, where are you?"
"Oh, fantastic!" she responded sarcastically. "Seventy-five cruisers back there, and we've got Micah dead and Reivin Frost at the forefront!"
Anilora opened his mouth to answer her just as some stray Hybrid stealth craft recognized his ship; they fired simultaneously, sending the captain reeling through space in reckless barrel rolls. He cursed, fighting hard to regain control before they eliminated him, but fortunately a few of the Fortunan pilots swept by to rescue him as he righted himself. He tore off in pursuit of a tight-knit group of Destroyers and panicked when his calls for aid heeded no one; then he cursed again when he realized his communications had been knocked off-line.
Further behind, the Nioxins had just succeeded in obliterating their tenth starship together. The heads of the Venomian squadrons were pulling their hair out in their frantic orders for someone to bring down the two Fortunans, but not one enemy craft possessed the ability to keep up with them. These two had created the X-Eternity Libra and every single one of its predecessors; they expertly controlled X-Eternity Scorpios at the moment, and no better technology could be found on the opposing end. In addition to tailing his brother around in pursuit of new cruisers to fire upon, William was already well on his way to uploading Captain Anilora's intership communications.
Strangest of all was quiet and clever Sensenic Morray, who had long since fallen out of the battle and landed his Arwing on the roof of Whitewater. He alone among all his comrades seemed unnaturally calm, typing evenly at the helm and studying a holographic layout of the Venomian attack formation. "It's far too perfect--rehearsed, even," he muttered thoughtfully to himself, sitting back and scratching haphazardly at the white fur behind one ear. While he sorted through the situation he took up the controls and targeted stray Venomian craft, firing at random and downing many. A thought struck him then and he quickly booted up his scanners, inputting the keywords HOMING DEVICES; after several tedious moments in which he stared at the word SEARCHING, a detailed skematic of Whitewater materialized, bearing a single, flashing red dot.
"And that's how they managed it," Morray congratulated himself, straightening up in the cockpit. "Come in, Gilraen! Somehow the Venomians have placed a tracking device upon your primary cruiser, copy!"
"He can't hear you, Doctor Morray!" Erik informed him. "William is working on his communications!"
Morray fired his engines, shooting down all the enemy craft in his path as he made for the Whitewater docking bay. "Very well--I'll handle this myself."
In the grand scheme of things the three allied fleets were being torn to pieces by Reivin's ambush. Celestra and Bill were successfully keeping their primary adversary from causing any damage elsewhere, but the goodly forces were still outnumbered and with every loss they suffered the margin separating the opposing sides only grew. The Nioxins were thus far playing the heroes; with every large cruiser they eliminated they gained followers, until the entire Aquan fleet trailed along behind the two technicians and swarmed over their next designated target like a plague. Things were looking well for the pair of them until ten starships banded together in a diamond formation and relentlessly opened fire. Wails of despair filled the radio frequency; Erik floated up to William, eyeing the destruction with an angry expression upon his face.
"Now, brother?" asked William tensely, eyes never leaving the wreckage.
"Yes, I think so," Erik answered, and they dove into the diamond formation head-on.
Reivin couldn't help but look up in horror when the first of those ten formidable cruisers exploded; two lone Fortunan Arwings were firing enormous quantities of energy at the large ships. The bombs lanced through the darkness of space to pummel the starships' exteriors, and within a minute the Nioxins had vanquished all ten and emerged, unscathed, to seek out new prey.
"Fully-charged electron-based detonators, respectable Mr. Frost!" shouted William, skirting by the trio of quarreling assassins after his brother. "Our ships can hold ten apiece!"
"I'll be sure to carve your name into one of them and reserve it just for you!" Erik added wickedly, and then they were off in pursuit of more targets.
Out of the corner of his eye Reivin spied the Arwing of Sensenic Morray making a beeline for Whitewater, and automatically he seemed to know why. If he didn't stop this upstart from destroying the transmitter, they would be forced to fight the Katinan fleet on even ground. Brilliantly evading a stream of lasers from Bringer of Chaos Reivin charged after Morray, preparing to fire.
It was at that precise moment that Captain Anilora's communications started working again, and he cried, "Sensenic, behind!"
Purely on instinct Morray rolled hard to the left; Reivin made to follow but Anilora dropped seemingly from thin air to stave off the attack and began firing madly. The evil assassin got off one lucky shot that grazed the captain's left wingtip and sent him into uncontrollable somersaults; for a second his way to Morray was clear, but then Celestra and Bill accosted him again, concealing both Morray and Anilora protectively behind them.
"Lot 'o nerve you've got, ya damned traitor, to be openin' fire on our cap'n," Bill hissed dangerously, and the three assassins engaged in combat yet again as Morray landed safely in the docking bay. All the while the larger fight raged within Sector Z Combat Zone, and for the allied triad things were looking grim.
Vaulting out of his Arwing and sprinting off down the main hallway toward living quarters, Sensenic Morray's keen eyes perused a printout of Whitewater's complex interior and the quickest route that would lead him to the homing device. Outside he could hear the ambush reaching new heights of ferocity; every so often enemy fire would hit a weak spot and the ground would shudder beneath his feet. He hurried past numerous cyborgs and ignored every one of them when they asked him if he needed assistance, and finally paused outside a small, secluded broom closet, praying he had found the right place.
Morray threw the door open so hard in his hurry that it rebounded back off the hinges; it was dark enough inside so that he could clearly see a miniscule, flashing red light toward the back of the cupboard. He reached inside and ripped the small square homing device off the wall and tosseed it to the ground before him as he unholstered the only laser pistol he owned and fired at it until all that remained was a twisted scrap of useless metal.
"Undoubtedly Mr. Frost's associate planted that fine contraption here before he was ordered to shadow Celestra's steps," Morray hypothesized, and then he turned back and set off merrily for the docking bay again.
All at once the tracking signal Whitewater was sending out expired, and Reivin Frost knew it was time for him to order the retreat. The Nioxins, recently joined by Captain Anilora, had taken down almost fifty of his starships; Bill was starting to lose his concentration, but Reivin was still no match for Celestra in her excellent new Fortunan Arwing. It didn't matter that they were going to lose some ground--the ambush had been meant to cripple Anilora's forces, and that had already been accomplished. What mattered the most to Reivin at that time was that his fleet would overwhelm the suffering Katinan ranks when they later advanced into Area 6, so he would only defeat them all later.
"Retreat!" Reivin called to his forces. "I repeat--all hands falls back to the rift!"
Celestra and Bill glanced to one another, confused. Why was Reivin calling for his men to retreat when they held the edge? But the evil assassin showed no signs of explaining his irrational decision as the Venomians started to disappear back through the warp, offering only, "Farewell, my admirable adversaries. Live today, but when next we meet I shall seal your fate!" The assassin's two Arwings dove after their nemesis, making with all speed for the rift, but as soon as Reivin melted through it the portal disappeared.
Sensenic Morray and the Nioxin brothers were treated as heroes whe all had docked and evacuated, but the celebration was short-lived. Captain Anilora entered with grave news: their numbers had fallen from fourteen hundred and fifty to an even thousand, where seven hundred and fifty were Katinan, two hundred were Fortunan, and only fifty were Aquan. Every large cruiser and starship in the entire fleet had suffered damage, and the nearest ship repair station already lay behind them on Macbeth.
At eleven o' clock the following afternoon, Captain Anilora informed every soldier that they would continue the advance in two days.