Chapter 27: Assault on Katina PART 2
"Master, our visitors have arrived. Our plan is being carried out as we speak. Krystal and Fox McCloud will be dealt with within the hour. It's looks as though they've fallen right into our trap, they won't be any trouble at all."
"Of course they will not have a chance, Fox McCloud and his team have come to Katina to destroy this base, giving us an insurmountable advantage. Carry out your orders as planned, we need to make sure we give our friends a…proper welcome."
"You don't need to worry about that master, I will return with their bodies shortly, you can count on that."
(Outside transport K-9)
"Well McCloud, here we are. Got any brilliant ideas about how to get into that thing?" Fox hesitated at Falco's question and stopped as they had walked only a few steps from the transport. He slowly scanned the area, observing the type of conditions he and his team would have to work with. The planets surface was covered in red dirt for as far as he could see, with only a few short and slightly unhealthy looking trees to break the constant color of the ground. Fox could see the base clearly from where he was standing. It was a large structure, almost sharing the same appearance as a small castle, but it was comprised of metal and was much less impressive in appearance. The area around the base was surrounded by small hills, which seemed to get a little greener near the top of their slopes. The only thing between his team and the base was a sea of red dirt, and maybe a few large rocks that stood in the way.
He finally shook his head and replied, "It doesn't look like we'll be able to sneak in, there's not enough cover." Falco replied in a sarcastic voice, "So what, we just gonna walk up and ask if we can come in?" Fox nodded and replied, "Exactly, it's not gonna be easy to get into that base, but we have to think of something." Katt suddenly began walking out in front of the rest of the group. Fox was about to stop her, but she spoke before he could take a breath, "Falco might actually be on to something. Back on the Ladekahn during the briefing with Pepper, I heard that this place didn't have any type of sensor systems, that's why we could land so close to the place anyway, right Foxboy?" Fox nodded and she quickly continued, "Well then, if they don't have long range sensors, what makes you think they can see us if we just walk up to the base and bust in? From here, looks like there's nothing that can stop us between here and that base. We should at least give it a try, that's why Pepper is using a distraction anyway, so we can sneak in while they're preoccupied with Bill's group." Falco walked up next to her and gave her a displeased look, "You really think that'll work? Have you noticed the walk we'd have to take? We'd be wide open for way too long, they'd kill us ten times before we could even touch that base." Katt smiled back and replied, "What, you don't think we can do it? I'd think of anyone here, you'd be the first to run off doing something stupid like that." Falco responded, "What? You think I want to die out here? I'm not walking across some open field to get shot at by some stupid little animals." Katt smirked and replied, "That never seemed to be a problem before…maybe you're just gettin' a little worried that you can't do it." Falco seemed to have taken offence to this and responded with a hint of irritation in his voice, "Are you kidding? I've done worse than this. Actually, you know what, let's just go Fox. Let's walk across this wide open field and blow the door of that base, alright?"
With that, Falco turned and began walking at a quick pace towards the base. As he walked out of hearing range, Katt walked over to Fox and commented with a smirk, "I knew that'd get him." Fox nodded, but quickly asked with concern, "But is this really a good idea? I mean, the guy does have a point, it's not the best idea to walk across a wide open area like this." Katt calmly replied to Fox's comment as she turned to walk after Falco, "You would know better than anyone here that the weapons these mind controlled guys aren't going to be a problem. As far as I've seen, they don't tend to carry much heat, do they Foxie?" As she turned and walked away, Fox redirected his attention to Krystal and asked, "What do you think?" Krystal replied, "It's difficult to say, but I feel that our problems will not come from outside the base, it is once we are inside that we should be more concerned. We don't have any idea as to what they may have waiting for us inside." Fox nodded as they slowly made their way after the two animals ahead of them, "I don't know why, but I kinda get that feeling too. They didn't seem to know anything about this base, but I guess we'll find out soon enough right?" Krystal smiled and responded, "That is one way of thinking, perhaps it is the more aggressive route, but I suppose we cannot spend excessive amounts of time thinking of the actions we must take. Our friend Bill can only keep our adversaries distracted for so long." Fox seemed to take on a slightly more serious tone as he heard Bill's name. He took a vaguely worried sigh and quietly replied to himself, "Bill…I hope that guy knows what he's doing over there."
(Bill's side)
A line of animals could be seen occupying the tops of the small hills that they had strategically been positioned behind, each with weapons drawn, watching as a large wave of mixed species of animals rushed towards them. The atmosphere at the line was very grim, this was something the crew of the Ladekahn IV had very little experience in, that being the pressure of a large scale battle. But Bill knew as he hid behind the rounded off peaks of the hills that they had to be successful if they were to give Fox and his team enough time to destroy the base that had caused all this trouble in the first place.
Fox has always pulled through for me, he saved my entire military division on this same planet eight years ago. If nothing else, I've got to get my team through this to pay him back. If we can't take out these guys coming at us, there's a good chance they'll head back to the base and get Fox too…I can't let that happen. To many people look up to them…depend on them to help them feel safe, guess I couldn't call myself much of a friend if I let that happen…
He quickly shook this thought from his head and suddenly found himself filled with a newfound motivation. He once again noticed the quickly oncoming hoard of animals, all holding a variety of different handheld weapons. The screams that they let out as they ran was extremely haunting to hear, it was like it was being forced out of them, creating a hoarse and painful noise as it escaped from their mouths. It pained Bill to see so many once peaceful creatures being manipulated like this, but there was nothing he could do, nothing except accept the fact that if he and his crew got through this, the universe would be one step closer to never having to see things such as this ever again. Bill ducked down and looked across the open plane where the enemy was still quickly approaching, now almost at the edge of the hill where his crew sat. He carefully looked down the barrel of his rifle as he aimed towards a random animal that was mixed in the crowd, and in almost no time at all, he had pulled the trigger. A split second later, the animal fell to the ground with nothing but a lifeless grunt, taking the shot directly to the head.
Almost immediately after this first shot was fired, the entire line of animals began to fire upon their opposition. Instead of a single animal falling from it's ranks, hundreds of animals began to fall, each making the same haunting grunt as they lifelessly dropped to the ground. It had begun.
(Near the Katinan Base)
The base that they had set out after was slowly coming closer into view, growing larger every passing second that they continued toward it's metallic outer walls. The walk over the open plane that had at first been thought of as a big risk was slowly becoming more of a leisurely stroll across the Katinan landscape. Not once during their entire trek across the red dirt of Katina did they see any sign of hostile forces or even hear a sound besides their own speech, which was few and far between in itself.
This silence was soon broken as Falco stopped walking, causing the rest of the group to come to a stop as well. During his hesitation, a faint noise could be heard coming from the other side of the base, even brief flashes of dim light could be seen in the distance. Katt looked back at Fox and Krystal and said in a quiet voice, "Blasters…" Katt paused to listen for a second more and continued, "…And hear those screams Foxie? Bill must have began his distraction already." Fox nodded as he identified the mentioned sounds and replied, "I didn't think he'd start the distraction so early…what if…" Falco quickly cut him off and said, "What if they got attacked first? Well, if they did, that just means that we don't have time to stand around talking like this. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get outta here. Besides, I'm sure Bill wouldn't mind us stopping that entire army for him by cutting of the mind control on this planet. Don't you think McCloud? We're almost at the base, so let's just get going. Bill can take care of himself." Fox nodded, quickly realizing the truth in Falco's words, and the group soon continued on their way to the large base, which stood only several yards away.
"Well, I knew that wouldn't be a problem, now we just have to figure out how to get into this place." Katt rolled her eyes at the avian's comment. After walking only a short while longer, they found themselves standing directly beside the black, metallic base. She replied, "Whatever Falco, if I wasn't the one to suggest this tactic, you'd never've thought of doing something like this. I mean, we didn't see anything on the way over here, they must all be outside fighting with Bill. I guess some animals just don't take the time to think these things through." Falco shrugged his shoulders and responded, "Say what you want, I don't really care. It doesn't really matter either, now that we're here, we should figure out a way to blow this place up." Katt smirked as she replied, "Tryin' to change the subject? I see how it is."
As this argument continued on for the next few minutes, Fox found himself thinking of what Katt had said only seconds before.
We really didn't see anyone or anything on the way here…but is that really a good thing? Maybe Bill did manage to distract most of the animals here, but would every single one of them leave to fight? I mean, I wouldn't think that leaving a base that is under attack alone is a good idea. The only other explanation would be that the remaining animals are inside the base, waiting for someone to break in. And if they have some kind of trap set for us, I doubt that we'd be able to escape. But…I guess we don't really have much of a choice, we have to get in there and set these charges...
"…Fox?" The vulpine quickly came out of his thoughts he heard the familiar voice echo in his mind. He looked over to see Krystal standing close by his side with a concerned look on her face. She said in a quiet voice, "…I can tell by the look on your face, you can feel it as well…they are waiting for us inside." Fox nodded slowly and replied, "I don't know for sure, but that's what I'm guessing. It's the only reason why we could walk from the transport to this base without any kind of resistance." Krystal's concerned look soon became one more out of fear, "Do you think we'll be alright once we enter? Maybe this time we have something on our hands that is too big of a risk to undertake." Fox couldn't help but think the same thing, but he knew backing out was not an option. He slowly turned to face the vixen directly, gently placing a hand on her left shoulder and replied, "Listen, I know sometimes the odds aren't with us, but really, we've seen worse before. And who knows, maybe all the animals really are out there fighting with Bill. Besides, there's no way I'd let anything happen to you…or anyone else on this team. We'll be alright…trust me." Krystal nodded and placed her right hand at top of the one that Fox had positioned on her shoulder and replied after a short pause, "I suppose…if you give me your word that we will make it away from this place safely…I cannot refuse, because I do trust you Fox, with my entire heart." Fox smiled at her comment and added, "Well then I'll say it again…I'll make sure we complete this mission, and we'll all be safe at the end, ok?" Krystal smiled lightly and replied, "Well then, I am willing to do my best to help you accomplish what we've been set out to do, no matter what the odds."
"…Well, that's cute." Fox and Krystal both looked over as they heard the third voice break into their conversation. Falco had on a large smirk and Katt was walking away against the outside of the building. The avian shrugged his head and continued, "If you two are done, we're going to find a door into this place. If you remember, that's kinda what we were sent here to do, but hey, I'm not the captain." Shortly after finishing, he let off another smirk before turning and nonchalantly following after Katt. Fox quickly returned his attention to the blue-furred vixen that still stood close beside him and asked, "I guess this is it, are you ready?" Krystal nodded as she pulled his hand off her shoulder and held it at her side, "As long as we are together, there is little that can stop us. I am ready to carry out our mission, despite the dangers." She gave a slight squeeze on his hand as she said this, letting off a smile as well; informing Fox that she really was no longer afraid to face whatever awaited them inside. Fox nodded with a smirk and replied, "Good, now let's get going, the last thing we want is to get separated from our team." Krystal nodded at his comment and they slowly made their way after the avian and feline, who had both already placed a good distance between themselves and the vulpine couple.
(On the main front)
"Sir, they're closing in on our main front. They just won't stop attacking!" Bill, who had retreated from the main lines to recharge his blaster, heard this scream coming from several places in that area. They had fought off the animals easily, on the most part because these mind controlled animals had no long-range weaponry, and hundreds of these animals had already been killed, but even as hundreds fell, hundreds seemed to appear in their place. Even though Bill's forces had been fighting as well as they possibly could have, the approaching animals were quickly making ground, Bill knew it wouldn't be long before the animals got to the top of the hill, and when that happened, his forces would be in much greater danger. Bill had to think of something fast before his forces were split by these mind-controlled animals.
Bill quickly recalled his days back at the Academy on Corneria, trying to recall previous training that would help him in this fight. It had been so long since those days that Bill had quite a hard time remembering anything, and since he really had so little experience in land battles, being trained in his earlier days as a pilot, he could not bring back anything that his training had taught him.
I wasted all those years of my life at the Academy and can't even think of a decent strategy? I knew I should've joined the army instead of the air force…
Bill now was forced to do some quick thinking of his own. All he knew at that point was that if the animals cleared the hill that his men were hiding behind, his troops would not be able to fight as effectively, and most likely, the odds would tip clearly in the favor of these animals. Bill knew he had to stop that from happening, if he could not, his entire squad could be wiped out, and then they would have a clear shot at Fox.
Bill suddenly came up with what he thought was the only way to stop the quickly oncoming animals. He ran up behind the front lines and stopped, not really ready for the reaction he would receive upon issuing these orders. He quickly found the courage however and yelled out above all the noise of the battle, "All front lines, advance down the hill! Just far enough so that you are safe from the enemies weapons!" The fire from his side hesitated slightly as the animals shooting from the front line exchanged worried glances at Bill's order. He shouted again shortly after, "Hurry, we don't have much time! I want a second line of fire coming from behind the hill after the first line advances down the hill! Let's go guys!"
At these words, the front line of animals stood up simultaneously, all making a short charge down the hill, trying to find places with decent cover as they went. As soon as they had gone far enough, a second line of fire emerged from behind the tops of the hills as another squad of animals filled the spots of their charging teammates. Bill looked on at the results of his decision, the first group was now able to pick off enemies with slightly better accuracy, and the second group made sure that none of the approaching animals got too close to any one of their team members. Bill sighed as he continued to watch the battle continue on.
Alright, looks like this could work after all. We've got two levels of fire now so we should be able to nearly double our effectiveness. I still don't know if this will keep them off this hill, but it will buy Fox and his team more time, and that's all I can do, because without him, this mission is a failure.
(Outside the base)
"Hey you three, I think I found something over here!" The three remaining animals quickly turned their attention to the pink feline who had called out to them. They all quickly made their way over to where she stood. Upon arriving, Katt pointed out a black metallic door that blended in perfectly with the buildings color. The only thing that made this section of the building apparent were the very faint rays of light escaping from the cracks that surrounded the door, and the fact that this part of the wall had a small keypad on it's wall, which glowed in a weak red color. The group studied the door for a moment, while Katt wondered over to the keypad that sat just to the right of the door and began punching a few keys on it. Falco quickly noticed this and walked over to the small keypad as well saying, "If you want to override the code to open the door, it's gonna take more than a few random button presses. Why don't I show you how it's done?" Katt looked over at him and smirked, replying, "You think you know how to break this lock? I'd like to see you try." Falco shoved his way next to the keypad and began entering different codes into the small device, "Come on, this thing is so small, I doubt I'll have any kind of trouble with…" Falco stopped as the small keypad beeped back at him after pressing a few numbers, but nothing happened. He tried a second code, nothing. He continued on entering every code that he knew and even tried re-entering ones he had already used, but still nothing. Katt smirked and commented, "Looks like you're having some trouble with that lock. Need some help?" Falco turned and gave her a frustrated look, while at the same time taking a few steps away from the keypad, "You think you can hack this stupid thing?" Katt did not reply, she merely walked past Falco up to the keypad and quickly entered a short code into the system, which was quickly followed by a different sounding beeping noise, and that sound was soon after joined by the noise of the slowly opening door. At that moment, neither the animals that stood next to the keypad said a word, both being able to clearly determine who won that particular dispute.
As soon as the door began to open, Fox reached down for the holstered blaster that hung from its place just above his knee. Krystal quickly followed Fox's example and waited apprehensively as the door slowly rose above the red ground of Katina, giving them their first look inside the base. To both the vulpine's relief, the door opened fully and not a single enemy stood in waiting. Upon seeing this, Fox motioned for the rest of his team to follow him inside the base.
As soon as Fox and the rest of his team had entered into the base, the first thing that every animal in that group noticed was nothing at all. The room they had entered into held absolutely nothing. The metallic floor was a rusted shade of brown, which continued up the dark and damaged walls of the room. Besides this, there was little else that sat in this first room, there were several large lights that hung above them, and on each wall of this room sat a different door, each sitting open with no one to guard it from trespassers. It was a slight relief to see that there were no enemies in this area, but Fox figured that it could be a bad sign as well. It meant that maybe they were all waiting for them in a different room, waiting for the moment to attack.
Falco walked ahead of the group that stood standing in front of the door and explored the room slightly, walking in a slight circle while briefly studying the floor and walls. After a short while, he turned back to face the group and said, "No one to welcome us? I've gotta say I'm kind of disappointed." Fox shook his head and replied, "Well, all the better if we don't have to fight our way through this place. We just have to find something that will amplify the explosion of these charges and we can get out of here, we didn't come here to fight off any mind controlled animals." Falco smirked as he meandered towards the door that sat to the left of the one they had just entered, "I know Fox, I'm just saying, I could stand a little excitement. It'd be a pretty big let down if we just waltzed through this place and left without anything happening." Katt shook her head as she walked past the avian and into the next room, "With that attitude you'll be dead before anything 'exciting' can happen at all." Falco quickly retorted as he followed behind her, "Don't give me that, you know you expected something more than this." Fox could only shake his head at the thought of the pair's constant arguments and walk after them with Krystal following closely behind.
Their search went on for many minutes, each room seeming to be the same as the last. Not one of the rooms had any sign of life, or any proof that any life had been there recently. The only sound that could be heard was the quiet noise of the humming lights overhead and the calm echo their voices and footsteps created against the walls of the seemingly empty base. The farther they got into the base, the more confident they became that they really would have no resistance to hinder their mission, which Falco constantly reminded everyone that stood next to him. Even Krystal seemed to have lost most of her anxious feelings, made visible by her now relaxed movements and facial expressions. It almost came to the point where it seemed like they were merely walking through the peaceful halls of the Great Fox as they had for the past several days.
It was several minutes after they had first entered into the base before they found a room that contained something of interest, or anything at all for that matter. As they walked into this room, they saw that it was slightly different than the previous rooms they had walked through. The floor and walls were a slightly darker color and there were no doors that led to any other rooms besides the one they had just passed through. On the far wall of this room sat a large cylindrical machine that was surrounded by a few active computers. The team quickly approached the machine and examined the large apparatus. Katt walked over to a computer that sat directly in front of this new object and typed in a few quick commands. Shortly after, she glanced back at Fox, who was already standing by her side watching expectantly as she typed, and said, "Looks like this thing is the power source for this entire base. All the lights and whatever electric stuff they have here are connected to this system." She paused as she looked back at the screen, but continued shortly after, "Looking at this things flow chart, seems like there's a pretty good amount of electricity flowing through here, seeing as this is the only source of energy for this place, I'm guessing if we blew this up, it'd spread a little farther than whoever owns this place would like." Fox nodded as he looked over the statistics she had mentioned, "With that kind of power reading, the explosion we could cause from here would be enough to catch everything within almost a mile. I don't think we're going to find a better spot than this, do you?" Katt smirked as she left the computer and faced Fox with a smile, "Unless you want to get rid of some hills and a few more rocks, I think we'll be fine with this."
Fox nodded and swung the backpack around his arm and caught it with both hands. After unzipping the main pocket of his backpack, he pulled out one of the charges and handed it to Katt, who quickly went about finding the best and most effective place around the machine. Falco quickly reached in from behind Fox and pulled one of the charges out for himself, "If I can't shoot anything, I guess I'll have to live with blowing this place up instead, not really a fair substitution, but I may as well make the best of it." Fox nodded indifferently as he unpacked the remainder of the charges and handed them out for placement.
It wasn't long before all the charges were set to each of the team member's satisfaction. They had set the charges on various spots on the computers in front of the machine and several on the machine itself. Falco let out a yawn soon after they had finished and commented, "Well, that was fun. We completed our mission and we didn't even have to touch our blasters. I mean, even Slippy could've come down here by himself and done this without a sweat." Katt sighed and added, "I'm not complaining. But whatever, we should get out of here as soon as we can so we can blow this place and move on to wherever Pepper wants us next." Fox nodded at her statement and said, "Ya, plus we need to tell Bill to retreat back to the Ladekahn. I'm sure he'll be happy to hear this is all over." The team gave a nod in response as they all went to exit the room.
"…Stop. We have message from master. We must destroy Star Fox team. You must not live…no escape."
Everyone on the team quickly jerked their heads towards this new voice. A single wolf stood in front of the door that sat to the team's right side. His head leaned at an awkward point on his head, as if part of its spinal cord had been ruined. The team froze as they saw this, not at all expecting to see anyone, or anything on their way out of the base. Not long after this wolf spoke, a hoard of mind controlled animals filled messily through the door that stood behind him, and were also beginning to come in from the other side of the room as well.
Fox knew that the odds of them defeating all these animals was next to none, and quickly realized that trying to fight them all would be pointless. Instead, Fox quickly noticed that the door that stood directly ahead of his team did not have animals blocking its path. In a split second, Fox grabbed onto Krystal's hand and started off in a hurried jog towards the open door. The force of Fox's sudden start gave Krystal's arm a slight jerk, but she quickly realized what he was doing and willingly ran along with him as fast as she was able. Falco and Katt realized Fox running off not long after he passed them by, and soon began following him, dodging several animals as they went. Falco had drawn his blaster and was slowly downing several of the animals, but soon withdrew from his aggressive tactic as he saw how little it affected them.
It was only seconds after Fox and Krystal had began their break for the open door before they were able to pass through it unharmed, but as soon as they were both clear of the threshold of this opening, it abruptly shut behind the group. Fox and Krystal both came to an abrupt stop as they quickly scanned the room that they now found themselves standing in. This room, like many of the others previous to it, was completely empty. Fox breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Krystal, who was hunched over slightly trying to regain her breath. Fox smiled as he placed a hand on her back and commented, "That was a little too close of a call for me, but at least we got out ok, right?" Krystal took a deep breath as she regained her proper posture and replied, "I'm alright, just a bit winded is all." Fox nodded and looked back to the rest of his team, "How about you two? You guys feelin'…" Fox quickly cut himself and took a sudden breath. Falco and Katt were nowhere to be seen. As soon as Fox realized this, he also began to hear a quiet banging noise coming from the other side of the now closed door. Fox's relaxed expression suddenly changed completely, "Oh man…" The now greatly worried vulpine rushed over to the sealed door and desperately searched for a way to open it, but he quickly ended the futile search and instead slammed the side of his closed fist against the solid metallic door. "Katt! …Falco! Guys, are you there!" No response came from the other side of the door, he wasn't able to hear anything through it's thick metal. He slammed his fist against the door once more out of frustration, falling onto one knee as he did so.
No...this can't happen, we were so close...but we let our guard down…I…let my guard down for only a few seconds, and that's all it took. If I wouldn't have been so worried about myself...this would never've happened…I can't believe…there's no way they can survive in there on their own...What if they…
"Well Fox McCloud, it seems that you're quite lacking when it comes to the management of your crew."
Fox quickly broke out of his thoughts as he heard this voice echoing through. It was familiar, one that he had heard recently, and as soon as the sound of this voice penetrated his ears, he immediately identified the voice that now echoed within his mind. "It's you…the one behind all of this."
"You are quite perceptive my friend. Indeed, I am the one controlling all these animals, and if there was one thing that I can say with the utmost confidence, it is that your "friends" will not last in that room for long, I can assure you of that."
Fox shot a glance at a random part of the room, trying to pinpoint the voice, and replied, "Where are you?"
"Why, I'm right here. I've been waiting for such a long time, I doubted that you'd ever show your face here at all."
Fox stood and looked into a far corner of the room, where a broad shadow covered a large area of the wall and floor. As soon as he glanced in that direction, the cloaked figure emerged from within the shadow, walking slowly towards the vulpine. Fox quickly ran to Krystal's side, who nervously clasped onto the vulpines arm. Fox shot him an angry glance and responded with obvious anger, "I don't know what you are trying to get away with, but I know that as long as I'm alive, you'll never get away with this twisted plan of yours."
This seemed to bring obvious joy to the cloaked figure as he continued to make his way slowly towards the vulpine couple. "You bring up an interesting point my friend. You do serve as a constant bother to my plans while you are alive, both you and your team of foolish comrades. So you see, it makes perfect sense for me to end this before you can have the chance to stop me, before you realize what power you truly hold inside." The figure drew a large, curved sword from within his cloak, holding it a slight distance away from his body. "Come at me, show me what power you possess, Fox McCloud."
Fox held his blaster close to his face, ready to charge at the figure and fight for his life. Krystal looked over at him with great concern in her eyes, "Fox…you don't know what he is capable of, what if he…" Fox quickly cut her off and replied, "This isn't the time for doubt, I can end this entire thing with a few shots of my blaster. I can do this…trust me." Fox stared into her eyes with intense passion, "Trust me." Krystal's expression fell at this comment, becoming completely engrossed in the passionate look she had just received. She submitted to his undying will and could only nod in meek and concerned agreement.
"You are staling, I shall have my prey NOW!"
With those words, the masked figure rushed at the vulpine with blinding speed. Fox only had time to look over before he saw the large blade rushing towards with his body in a gray blur. He was only able to take a single step back before the flat of the creatures blade slammed into Fox's chest, at which point he was sent flying across the room into a surrounding wall. The impact caused bones all throughout the vulpines body to stretch and crack, creating a painful noise as he impacted the wall. Almost immediately after crushing into the wall, he fell facedown to the ground with an almost silent thud. He now laid silently on the metal floor near the surrounding wall, breathing with great difficulty.
Krystal, who had only blinked maybe once before this entire thing happened, soon saw Fox lying limply near the inner wall of the room. "FOX! No, what have you done with him?" She fell down to her knees, tears quickly forming in her eyes as she looked on at Fox's motionless body.
"No…I'm not going…to let that…ugh…" Fox, who's body was still filled with the most intense pain he had ever felt, tried to lift himself from the wall, which he eventually managed to accomplish after several seconds and a with great degree of difficulty.
The cloaked figure watched amusedly as the vulpine struggled to walk towards him. He let out a maniacal laugh and said, "Well, I never would expect anyone to survive an attack like that, I must say my friend, I am quite impressed. Sadly, there is something that you seem to have forgotten."
Fox looked up at the creature as he carefully rubbed the taste of running blood clear of his mouth and eyes. He also took several deep breaths as he finally managed to say, "The only…mistake I've made…was letting you…get this far."
The creature again let out another loud and malicious sounding laugh as he continued, "You are still trying to be the hero when the odds are so terribly against you? I must say that is a most admirable trait, but unfortunately for you, that heroism will gain you nothing. At your feet lies the only thing stopping me from what I have done to all the other animals on those pathetic planets. Look for yourself my friend, you will understand."
Fox hesitated as he walked, not trusting a word this creature said. But after a long pause and a few deep breaths, he looked down to the area where he had been knocked against the wall, and there at the base of the wall sat the shattered pieces of his personal M.C.D. system. Fox's eyes opened wide as he saw this, and after hearing yet another laugh from the cloaked figure, he immediately knew what he was about to experience would corrupt his entire being, something he had always feared from the day he had first learned of this evil way of manipulation.
The figure smirked as it quickly approached Fox's beaten and worn-out body. "This has been something I have been looking forward to for such a long time. The day when I could control the mind of my greatest adversary, Fox McCloud. I hope you are as excited as I am my friend, not that you have much of a say in the matter."
No...how can I stop this from happening…it can't…
Krystal watched on in horror as the cloaked figure swiftly grasped Fox's head in his large green hand. As much as Fox tried, he could not struggle free because of the extremely weakened state he found himself in. As Krystal observed the horrible scene, she noticed a strange red light began to flare from the body of the cloaked figure, slowly running down his arm into Fox's body. It was only a second after this had happened before the body of the cloaked figure suddenly disappeared into thin air, leaving only the dilapidated body of Fox McCloud standing near the wall of the room. The red glow that had previously filled his body slowly receded. The previously limp head of the beaten vulpine suddenly sprang up sqarely on his shoulders, causing his now void looking eyes to stare directly at the frightened vixen. She tried to stand and approach him as she said nervously, "Fox, what has…he done to you…Fox?"
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Ya, pretty much that's really gonna suck for the ol' Foxmeister. But with that Energy of Life stuff, he should be ok, right? I mean, after all Dwarven Vow #7 clearly states that, "Justice and love will always win." So heck, pretty much bet that he'll come out of this without a scratch…oh wait…well, whatever, I guess you'll find out later. Oh ya! And I'm on vacation this week…so don't expect any posts until next week, but expect one as soon as I get back, ok? Good, now that that's settled…
EDITOR'S NOTES: Let's just say that your not the best typist and you can't really spell or punctuate. Alright, but what if you countered this problem by typing out a whole bunch of words…let's say, about two paragraphs, does that make you look smarter? You decide.
"Hey everybody, It me ur fav editor Justin Alan Haibon (You know it's true) i am going to grace u with more of oh my god just min what is that again, Oh yaeh its editors notes well here i go, i still dont think u guy's realy read my notes well here i go,
The war has stated and can bill hold up or will his team die cuz he has no ground training and what of (what of? Pretty fancy wording for him I gotta admit) Fox,Krystal,Falco, and Katt will they make it, it looks kinda grim to me That is all i have to say about this one but befor i go hence these words 'MIND CONTROL IS A VERY DEASTING THING IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYBODY MEYBE EVEN OUR HEROS WHO KNOWS' that is all i have left to say so every body if u want to know the rest of what is going happen the keep on reading to find out and tell ur friends about me and nick, nick is the one wrighting this not me i am just the editor (Thank you captain obvious) well good bye and thank u for taking the time to read my notes good bye for now my friends."
I know, I'm lucky to have such a smart and computer savvy editor…don't be too jealous…
MAIL CALL:
EG Legacy
Good, good me like
FoxMC: Cool review, it's so short I'd almost say I'd categorize it as a "cute" review. But seeing as how I am a man, I find myself unable to say those words and be totally serious, being a man, I am, clearly above saying such nonsensical words. So…groovy review!
Ben Stylin
I know this chapter is to set up the story but, boy, was it boring I just skipped through most of it.
No, I never said I tired to light my damn face... hey, you know what, just forget I ever said anything about my face.
Continue your story.
FoxMC: Holy what the heck don't get mad at me for lighting your own face on fire Batman! I guess I can forget about it, it just kinda strikes me as humorous how you can come to the conclusion that catching one's face on fire will inspire you to write…oops, sorry, I'll like...shut up now.
Whinnie
Oh, I love this story! It is one of the most coolest stories I've ever read. :)
FoxMC: Most definitely! You have the most especially nice reviews, you can be most sure. Thank you for the most kind review. Most of all, that's all I have to say…mostly
Black Phoenix
This is the best damn fanfic I have ever read. You are a beast.
FoxMC: …roar.
Tie
Great chapter. This is my favorite story. I hope you make the next chapter soon. You have inspired me to write my own StarFox story.
Keep updating
FoxMC: Ya, I'm pretty cool like that...I guess. And in case anyone was wondering, my inspiration for this story was some story that I can't remember the title to or even the website...so ya...
demonslayer206
lylat wars? there's a new one. just played assult, it rocked, but the arwing's stunt system was slowed down too much. i would say more, but then i'd spoil the ending for all those that haven't played it. later
FoxMC: Lylat wars is what Star Fox 64 was called in Europe. Nintendo didn't have the copyright to the name because some one already had purchased it. But they bought it from whoever, so it's cool.