XIX

"All fighters, report in," said Fox over the com. A last-minute prep was in order, though anything minor would probably have to go unfixed, seeing that they were coming up on the volcano.

"Falco here, everything's fine," said Falco's voice over the com.

"Slippy here, I'm good to go!"

"Krystal here, I'm ready."

"Good. Control, everything ok on the Great Fox?"

"Stop worrying," came Tigris's voice, "Your ship will be in one piece when you come back, ok?"

Fox grinned. "Roger that. Alright, everyone form up on me. We're going to dive."

Everyone took a formation similar to the Diamond Formation they'd used on Aqudim, but a looser one, so if a shot took out the front Arwing, whatever remained of it wouldn't crash into the others. They dived and pulled up when they got to the slope of the volcano, so that any sensors the demons had wouldn't pick them up among the rocks. But this lead to some problems. More than once, Fox had to dodge a large stone two times the size of his Arwing that was sticking out of the volcano. Once in awhile, they'd be met by a geyser of lava, spewing out of the volcano at random. Fortunately, the Arwings and their pilots escaped this unharmed.

"Fox, I have demons at 11 o' clock, coming in fast," said Krystal's rushed warning. Fox was happy that the sensors worked. But incoming demons was not good. "How many?"

"Two, I believe. But they're different than we've seen before…" She was right. As Fox got a visual on the demons, his eyes widened in surprise. The demons looked the same as the ones they'd encountered before on Aqudim, but they a heavy black breastplate each, attached by chains wrapped around their back. Also, they had long, crude-looking swords that looked as if they could swat an Arwing out of the sky. "Falco, Slippy, can you take care of those guys?"

"I thought you'd never ask," said Falco. They broke off from the formation, leaving Krystal and Fox to go up and into the fiery mountain.

Fox wished he had the time to help the other two, but they had a job to do. He went over the objectives in his head one last time; 1.) Cause as much damage on the way down the volcano as you can. 2.) Get a good over-view of the demon's underground base. 3.) Destroy said base if possible, and 4.) Get the hell out of there. Well, business as usual…

The two pilots went over the rim of the volcano, startling some demons. Strangely, they did not chase after them. "Wonder why they aren't chasing us?" he said over the com, puzzled.

"They're workers. Their brain patterns are, for a lack of a better word, dull."

"Got it, Krystal."

Fox dove straight down into the volcano, seeing no lava directly below them, only an orange glow far down. The lava that had been spewing from the sides before was silent. Nothing seemed to move, save for the rock walls flying past his view port. He looked over and saw Krystal in time with him. She's getting better, he thought.

His sensor console started beeping at him. He looked at it, and saw… oh, great. "Krystal, are you seeing what I'm seeing on sensors?"

"No, what are you - …oh no." Her voice had become ominously silent. Silence reigned for a fraction of a second longer.

"Charge up your weapons!" he said, unaware that she already had. "Get ready!"

3000 yards… 2000… 1000…500…

Yep! Another cliffhanger for ya. Stick around, and review! I'd be much appreciative, and I'm sure you've heard this from other authors, but when you don't review, and I keep writing, I feel like you're not reviewing because you don't like the story, and I get discouraged and it's not fun. So, please review. Yes, a short chapter, but the next one will be a bigger one, I can assure you. A chase scene too. Very exiting.