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Chapter 15: The War Continues
I never knew that Fara had such an interesting life behind her. Flying experimental craft is something I'd never want to do though. Oh, wait, I already am. – Fox
I wonder what the point was to that little meeting of Fox's? It was nice to talk for a bit, but if he thinks that was a date he has another thing coming. – Fara
The rest of the night was quiet for McCloud and his team, as was the following
morning. As expected, Pepper called everyone to his office early the next day.
The Starfox team eagerly responded, ready for yet another day of combat.
Once again the team found themselves in the General's drab white office
without Pepper himself there. "This is looking to be a common occurrence,"
muttered Falco.
"He'll be here soon enough," said Fox as he looked over his
team. Slippy and Peppy were drinking some freshly brewed coffee, the aroma perking
everyone up in the room. Falco and Fara were sitting idly by, awaiting Pepper's
entrance.
The team didn't have to wait long this time as the canine walked in shortly
thereafter, carrying his own cup of coffee in one paw. "Good morning,
pilots," he said. The team returned the greeting as the General sat down.
He retrieved the remote from his desk drawer and after activating the screen
behind him, began the briefing.
"What you are looking at is footage from the miners as they first traveled
through this asteroid field. Littered with minerals, it is a perfect place to
gather much needed resources. As you can see, however, it's rather dangerous
for general travel. Gary's best estimates are 50 to 100 fighters scattered
throughout the region."
"Pretty rough estimate there, General," commented Fox. "Does
the Guild have any presence there currently?"
Pepper took a sip of his drink and then shook his head. "No, Junior, no
presence by the Guild right now. Just try to keep the collateral damage to a
minimum. As for the number of fighters, the rocks are playing havoc with our
satellites, so reports are sketchy."
Fox nodded. "Okay. Anything else?"
The General pushed a button on his remote, changing the footage to a different
location. "Afterwards, your next objective is to clear out Sector X."
Falco snickered for a moment but kept quiet. "Yet another asteroid littered
sector, but this one isn't used by the guild much due to a lack of useable
minerals. Best guess is another 50 to 100 fighters spread around."
"This is where Slippy noticed the anomalous reading, correct?"
Pepper nodded. "Exactly. Unfortunately, Gary has had no luck in figuring
out what he saw. There definitely is something out there though, so be careful."
"Noted and understood." Fox looked Fara's direction and asked,
"Fara, any luck with the engineers last night?"
She sighed. "None at all. We simply have no ideas on how to reduce the
power needed for firing off the Nova Bombs."
"Damn," cursed Falco. "Such an amazing weapon that we can't
use without nearly killing ourselves in the process."
"Falco, quiet," muttered Fox. Looking back to Pepper he continued.
"Are we done here, General?"
Pepper took another sip of his coffee. "Yes. Good luck, Starfox team."
"Thanks. Come on crew." Everyone stood up and prepared to leave.
"Mind if I watch from the control room?" asked Fara suddenly.
The canine nodded as he stood up. "Certainly. You're welcome anytime."
The team left the room, the door silently shutting behind them. They turned
and walked off towards the nearest elevator, Fox striking up a conversation
in the meantime. "Fara, I do believe we've found a possible solution
to the Nova Bombs."
She turned, her furred ears perking up in surprise. "Oh really? Do tell."
"I'll let someone else explain as technical details are not my thing."
Peppy spoke up from the back of the group. "Fox, Slippy, and I have been
talking a bit this morning. We think we've found a way around the problem,
just not a true solution."
Falco grumbled from up front. "What, kept me out of the loop again?"
Fox grinned. "Falco, you know that you're no good with electronics.
Then again, it's not my area either. Let's get the Arwings ready
while they chat." The avian nodded and they walked off, leaving the three
other pilots alone.
Fara watched the two leave before turning back to the others. "I'm
all ears."
Slippy started the discussion. "Are we correct in saying that the problems
are caused because the Nova Bombs require most of the power that the plasma
engine produces?"
She nodded. "Roughly a 4.8 second delay while the crystal absorbs the
power needed to fire a controlled blast."
"And what if you cut the charge time short?" asked Peppy.
"The whole thing dissipates through the launcher system, firing either
a greatly weakened charge or nothing at all. The crystal operates in a non-linear
fashion the more power you put into it, which makes little sense scientifically.
An oddity we've never solved."
"Okay," said Slippy with a nod. "Ever thought about putting
in a secondary generator for the purpose of just firing off the Nova Bombs?"
Fara shook her head. "The space required for something like that is not
feasible for a small craft like the Arwing."
"Makes sense," commented Peppy. "What about installing capacitors
near the launcher system so you could charge up a Nova Bomb when you're
able to spare the power?"
Fara inhaled, ready to give her response when she stopped. She stood there,
debating on the question, her facial expression changing rapidly as she thought
through what they'd suggested. Finally she broke out into a huge smile
as she said, "You know, that sounds so simple it might actually work.
I could hug you both for that idea."
"It's our pleasure to help," said Peppy with a smirk.
She continued with her train of thought, walking around the hallway and thinking
aloud. "I can't believe that nobody else thought of this. This should
work." She paused and looked up. "Which one of you thought of this
anyway?"
The pilots looked at each other for a moment, Peppy answering the question.
"Believe it or not, Fox actually brought up the idea. We just revised
it a tad so it made sense."
Slippy laughed. "Fox's grasp of the technological is poor at best.
He can fly like no other can, just don't let him explain how his craft
works."
Peppy nodded in agreement. "Falco's understanding is even less in
that area. Fortunately, they are both excellent pilots."
"That they are," commented Fara. "If you would excuse me,
I have a few things to discuss with our engineering staff. Tell Fox thanks for
me."
"We will," said the hare. "Come on, Slippy." With a
wave the pilots went their respective directions.
Fox and Falco were looking over their Arwings when the others approached. "What
took you so long?" asked Fox.
"Contrary to your opinion," said Peppy, "it's quite
difficult to explain what you had suggested."
The vulpine smiled, glad he could help. "So you told Fara then. What did
she think?"
"She thinks that your idea just might work. We'll see what comes
of it."
"Good job." Fox looked over his team, ready for action. "We
have a mission to do. Let's fly."
The pilots walked off to their Arwings, Falco staying behind for a moment. "Fox,
what was that about? Getting in good graces with Fara finally?"
Fox turned around and shook his head. "I've told you my opinion
already, Falco. If you must know, I think we've just solved the problems
with the Nova Bombs."
The avian looked pleased for once. "Really? Nice work if I do say so myself."
Fox laughed. "Thank me when they finally work, not before then. We'll
see if it actually pans out." He turned and pointed to his Arwing. "Come
on, let's get out of here."
The four pilots assembled inside their Arwings, awaiting confirmation to launch
from the control center. Their delay wasn't long once they were ready.
"Starfox team, this is control. It's a clear morning outside the
base, and your flight plan has been transmitted into your computers. You're
clear to launch."
"Roger," said Fox, taking command as usual. "You heard him
team, time to get out there and do some damage." The Arwings powered up
and blasted down the launch tunnel, the engineering staff watching them from
the safety of a side room, hoping for the best.
"Ah, outer space," said Peppy some time later. The team had spent
the last few minutes traveling through the blackness of space, and they were
talking amongst themselves to keep occupied. "Such a wondrous thing to
just gaze at."
"I don't know about you," muttered Falco, "but it looks
like a whole lot of nothing to me."
"You're not looking at the big picture, my avian friend."
"Yeah, actually I am. I have a pretty big window in front of me, as do
you."
Fox laughed, his voice echoing oddly over the headsets the team wore. "Quiet
down you two. I'm trying to get some sleep up here."
"Our great leader is sleeping at a time like this?" joked Falco.
"Oh, hush. It's not like I have anything else to do. Just sit back
and enjoy the ride."
Fox's computer lit up as the chatter quieted, telling him that Peppy was
trying to contact him privately. "Fox, you have a minute?" he asked.
"I always have time for your thoughts," he replied, concerned over
his friend's need for a private chat. "What's up?"
"Nothing to be worried about, just something I need to tell you."
The vulpine sat there a moment, his gaze wandering to the many stars visible
from his position. "I'm listening."
"While you were talking with Fara last night, I had a meeting with the
rest of the team. You've noticed the little altercations between Falco
and Slippy, right?"
Fox laughed. "They are rather difficult to miss."
"No kidding. Well, it almost came to blows yesterday, so I decided to
intervene and find out what was the cause of it."
"That had to be a most interesting conversation."
"That's putting it nicely." Peppy thought back through the
chat he had last night. He smiled as he remembered that he had to stop only
two fight attempts from the pair. He'd expected more. "After a long,
drawn-out battle, I finally dragged the answer out of them."
"Built up tension from the house rule I set up on Papetoon of 'keep
it civil or get out'?"
Peppy snickered. "Nothing of the sort, but rather close. Remember the
final simulator test a few days ago?"
Fox realized what his friend was getting at. "You've got to be kidding
me."
"Nope."
The vulpine cursed silently. "I knew that shooting at each other wasn't
a good idea. We've always worked together as a team, not against each
other."
Peppy sighed. "I know. I thought that they wouldn't take it so seriously,
but in the end they kept harassing each other about how the other was shot down."
"Lovely. Did you get everything solved between them?"
"I think so. At least I didn't see any problems this morning."
"Good work Peppy. Always looking out for the team."
"Thanks. By the way, I didn't tell you any of this."
Fox laughed, remembering how many other quarrels the hare had solved in the
past without telling anyone else about them. "As always." Pleased
at the resolution, he sat back in his seat and readied himself for the mission
they were rapidly approaching.
"Okay guys, we're here. We have a mission to do, so let's
get to it." The Starfox team had arrived at their first destination, and
Fox was giving out a few reminders before combat. "Slow down to a more
comfortable cruising speed, and try to keep damage to a minimum to the asteroids."
The general emptiness of space quickly changed to one littered with asteroids
of all shapes and sizes. Ranging in size of less than a foot across to monstrosities
the size of Corneria Base, it would definitely be a challenge to maneuver while
engaging in combat.
The team slowed down, following behind Fox's Arwing as best they could
as he constantly weaved around asteroids in his path. "Watch yourselves,"
he said.
Falco swerved away from an oncoming rock, quickly returning to formation. "Tell
us something we don't know."
"Okay then. How well would our shields will hold up against a collision
with one of these things?"
Slippy chimed in with what he knew. "It depends on the mass and size of
the asteroid in question. Point one out and I'll give you my best guess."
Fox laughed. "On second thought, how about we just stick with my original
plan of avoiding the things."
"An acceptable request," commented Peppy.
The vulpine dodged around another tumbling rock. "I wonder if we get hazard
pay—" He quieted down as an alarm sounded, indicating that his sensors
detected hostile craft nearby. "We've got baddies in the area. Quiet
down and let's take it to them."
"Finally, a plan I like," said Falco energetically.
The four Arwings boosted off, eager to engage in combat.
Fox and the rest of his team were having an easy time at their mission, despite
the hazards the surroundings provided. Unlike the day before, these lizards
had little military training and made easy targets for the pilots' blasters.
Noticing this, Falco let his comments be known. "These guys aren't
even putting up a fight!"
"I've noticed," said Fox, spinning around to take aim at another
target. "This worries me."
Another fighter detonated from the avian's expert shots. "Why? Just
enjoy the easy target practice and don't complain about it."
Peppy expertly took aim and caused another fighter to explode, lighting up the
blackness of space for a moment. "What Fox means is that considering that
this area is right next door to Corneria…" He paused, spinning out
of the way of some desperate incoming fire. "One would think that there
would be some better guards here."
"I guess Andross never expected anyone to actually attack the places he
had conquered."
Fox easily destroyed the final fighter in the group they were engaging, a burnt
wing tumbling off from the explosion he caused. "I think you're
right, Falco, but for all the wrong reasons." Looking around for another
target, he continued. "Anybody see anything else?" A round of negatives
came back to him, short of one pilot. "Slippy, you see something?"
"I've spotted something unusual, but I'm not quite sure what
yet."
"Odd. Lead on."
The four Arwings approached what looked to be a very large, plain asteroid.
It easily eclipsed the size of the base, and looked like it could contain the
entire downtown section of Corneria with space to spare. Fox looked at the object
looming in front of him and glanced down at his computer readout once again.
"I don't see anything of importance about this, Slippy. Care to
explain?"
"I detected what looked to be some kind of power signal coming from near
here. Give me a minute and I'll recheck my readings."
"Okay. Falco, follow me. Let's explore this hunk of rock. Guys,
yell if you need anything."
The two pilots boosted around the exterior of the huge asteroid while Peppy
ran off an analysis of it. "This is a surprisingly large rock sitting
in the middle of this asteroid field. Content includes many minerals that could
be used back on Corneria, so this is off limits to us as far as blowing it up."
Fox laughed. "Which is a good thing as it looks a tad too big to take
down with our blasters."
"Funny. This asteroid looks to be generating its own minor gravity well,
which seems to be keeping the rest of this asteroid field from drifting off
over time."
Peering around, Fox tried to find anything interesting on the asteroid's
surface. He continued to investigate as Slippy came on over the com. "Fox,
I've detected the power source again. It seems to be near…"
The communication dissolved into static without warning, worrying him immensely.
"Slippy? Peppy, you there?" He looked down at his computer screen,
checking his sensor readings. The other two Arwings had vanished from his sensors,
but Falco's ship was still behind him, so at least he wasn't totally
alone. Fox was about to contact him when the avian called instead.
"Fox, I think we have much bigger problems."
The vulpine looked up, staring in awe at what he saw. Being built on the side
of the asteroid they were coming upon was what looked to be some kind of large
weapons platform, in a strange cross-shaped design. More than half of it looked
to be finished, and the other half had its structure fully built. He sat there
and watched as workers swarmed around the other side, getting out of the way
of the approaching craft.
He also noticed that the half that was completed was operational as a dozen
turrets began tracking his Arwing. Within moments they fired, lighting up the
blackness of space. "Retreat!" he yelled, weaving his way through
the laser fire as he attempted a hasty withdrawal.
Despite his skillful maneuvers, Fox continued to take hit after hit as there
was simply too much firepower to dodge. Alarms blared as his shields threatened
to collapse from the strain. Boosters flaring brightly, he finally found himself
around enough of the asteroid that he was no longer in danger.
Slowing his craft down, he changed his focus to make sure he didn't hit
any of the smaller rocks while his shields were weakened. "Where the hell
did that come from?"
The avian made skillful loops around Fox's craft, making visual checks
to ensure that nobody jumped them. "I have no damn idea. How's the
Arwing?"
"The shields held thankfully, but not by much." He sighed. "You
know that we're going to have to take that thing down, right?"
"I can't wait. Too bad we can't use the Nova Bombs. Looks
to be exactly what they were made for."
His shields having regenerated to 50%, Fox sped up, trying to get back to where
they left their teammates. The brass won't let us do that. We'd
waste the asteroid."
Falco swung his Arwing into formation alongside Fox's craft. "Who
cares? It's only a bunch of minerals."
"Enough to keep the manufacturing plants running for an entire year or
at least." He tried to contact his other two pilots again. "Peppy,
Slippy, are you there?" Once again, he was met with nothing but static.
"I don't like this."
"Neither do I. Come on." Kicking in his boosters, Fox sped off towards
his missing teammates, Falco following close behind.
Their questions were left unanswered when they arrived back where they separated
just minutes ago. "Well, this isn't good," muttered Fox. "These
rocks are messing with my scans too much to make anything out. See anything,
Falco?"
The avian skillfully looped past the nearby asteroids, looking for any debris
incase something happened to the craft. "Nothing. If they were shot down,
their Arwings disintegrated completely."
"No, they're still out there somewhere. Otherwise I wouldn't
be getting static when I try to raise them."
"Good point. Hopefully—" He stopped mid-sentence, sounding
much more concerned when he came back on. "Oh crap, we have incoming!"
Cursing silently at his teammate's yells, Fox moved his Arwing into position,
awaiting Falco's return. He was not expecting the number of craft headed
his way however. "Where'd you bring that army from?" he joked,
boosting off to intercept. "I count 32 on your tail."
"I don't know," replied a harried avian. "And these
guys know how to fight." With expert precision, he flew straight at an
oncoming asteroid, swerving out of the way a moment before impact. The group
behind him didn't react as quickly however, two craft crashing and exploding
while the rest scattered before reforming. "Well, short of those idiots
anyway."
"Nice. I'm coming straight at you, so be prepared to move in 3,
2, 1." Falco banked hard to the right, giving Fox plenty of room to open
fire on the incoming fighters. Much to his surprise, the craft held their formation
instead of scattering, allowing him only a few shots before they all retaliated.
He quickly got out of the way of their return shots. "Well, that didn't
work out."
"These guys are definitely pros. Or at least they're from a group
that is better than your average moron." Falco looped in behind the fighters,
firing the entire time and scoring a few hits. Half the group broke off and
set their sights his direction, sending him into another loop to avoid the incoming
fire.
"You got half of them off of me at least. Thanks."
Falco laughed. "You're welcome, I think. Where the hell did Peppy
and Slippy get off to?"
Fox dove to avoid an oncoming asteroid, his shields taking a few hits from the
laser fire streaking behind him. "I wish I knew."
"I hope they show up as I can't fight with this many guys on my
rear!"
"Same here." Fox's Arwing shook again as he took another hit,
his shield alarms kicking in once more. "I have an idea."
The avian continued to weave through the asteroids, doing his best from being
shot, but he knew that even he had his limits. "I'm listening."
"Let's get closer together. When we find a spot crowded with rocks,
we'll fly straight at each other. I'm hoping for a few ships to
either crash into each other or get shot down as they get into our sights."
"That sounds so crazy it might actually work. I'm in."
"Good." Fox spun around once more, avoiding a hail of fire as he
searched for a place to put their plan in motion, cursing as he took another
hit.
Falco found a suitable spot before his teammate did however. "I think
I found a place. Care to check?"
"No, I trust your judgment as far as blowing things up goes."
"Funny. I've sent the location to your computer. Tell me when you
get there."
"I won't be long as this Arwing isn't going to take much more
abuse."
"The great McCloud can't take the pounding from 15 fighters at once?"
commented Falco sarcastically, dodging the shots on his tail the best he could.
"Ha ha. I'm almost there, so let's do this."
The two Arwings weaved their way towards each other, pouring on the speed as
they approached. Boosters glowing brightly, they passed by and started firing
at the craft trailing the other. As expected, pandemonium erupted in the asteroid
littered area, the hostile fighters crashing into each other or the rocks floating
by as they attempted to dodge the firepower blazing around them.
Fox scanned the wreckage, trying to get an accurate count of how many ships
were left as they reformed and continued their assault. "Looks like that
cost them nine ships."
"Nice tactic there. I'm impressed it worked so well."
"Thanks." He banked hard, avoiding another asteroid as he attempted
to get into firing position. "Bring your mob back over here and we'll
shoot at them again as we pass."
"I doubt they'll fall for that again."
"True, but it's the easiest way to get off a shot."
Any further discussion of tactics was halted as a static filled voice broke
into their chat. "This…Peppy…You near…"
Fox boosted his communication signal before replying, knowing how the asteroids
messed with communications. "Peppy, this is Fox. If you can hear me, track
this signal back to its source to find us."
The channels went quiet again as the two pilots continued their battle, the
silence only broken by the occasional words of encouragement. Fox was pleased
to see the sudden appearance of the other two Arwings on his radar as the hate
came back on the line. "Fox, Peppy here. Aren't you a sight for
sore eyes."
"Same here, old friend. Sorry to cut the reunion a tad short, but we're
in the middle of combat. Care to help?"
"After the harassment they gave us a bit ago, definitely. As Falco would
put it, it's payback time."
With the additional firepower, the battle was quickly converted to one in the
Arwing's favor. No longer having overwhelming numbers, the enemy fighters
exploded one by one, small remains of ships mixing in with the already crowded
combat area.
A cheer was heard from the pilots as the last fighter was crippled beyond flight,
the damaged craft spiraling out of control into an asteroid where it finally
exploded. "That's one group of damned lizards that won't be
irritating us again!" exclaimed Falco.
Fox laughed, relieved that the battle was over. "Tired of them as much
as I was, eh?"
"Let's just say that I wouldn't invite them to my next party."
"Funny. Anyway, where did you two get off to? You both were gone when
we got back."
"Not too long after we lost communications," started Peppy, "the
fighter group we just defeated ran into us. Outnumbered, outgunned, and without
any way of contacting you, we basically ran."
"A sound plan, unlike ours," joked Fox.
"Here's the interesting part though. Remember that giant asteroid?
There are caves and tunnels drilled all through it. We dove through there, using
the fact that the high concentration of minerals disrupted sensors and communications
to our advantage."
"Fortunately the fighters gave up the chase quickly," said Slippy.
"I'm glad we didn't have to fight inside there."
"Sounds like you two had a blast," commented Fox.
"Not at all. I did track down the location of the power source from earlier
though."
"We actually saw it," muttered Falco, knowing what their next objective
would be.
Slippy sounded excited to hear the answer. "Really? What is it?"
Fox began to work his way back towards the asteroid in question, the team following.
"Under construction on the far side of that rock is some kind of weapons
platform."
"Impressive," said Peppy. "How far along is it?"
"Enough that it's capable of shooting back with an absurd amount
of firepower."
"Lovely. Any ideas on taking it out?"
"No. I was too busy being shot at to figure out an attack plan. Although…"
Fox quieted down, debating on a few ideas.
"I can hear that mind of yours working from here, Fox. What are you thinking?"
"The usual suicidal plan knowing our luck," grumbled Falco.
Fox laughed. "Not every one of my plans is suicidal and you know it.
"No, just most of them."
"You know, Falco, as team leader I would expect some kindness from you.
Remember, we've survived this far, none the worse off than we were when
we started."
"Yeah, yeah."
The team reached the asteroid, the Arwings slowing to a halt as they arrived.
"Well, with that out of the way… Slippy, Peppy, any idea how far
these tunnels go?"
Both pilots responded in the negative, with Slippy continuing. "My personal
guess is that it goes all the way through, if that's what you're
thinking."
Falco could all ready see Fox's plan ahead of him. "Now wait a moment.
You want us three to keep that thing occupied while you work your way through
this rock and attack from inside? You're crazy."
The vulpine sighed tired of the derogatory comments. "It seems that know
me a bit too well."
"Your plans get obvious after a while."
Peppy laughed. "Unfortunately, Fox, I agree with Falco to a point. We
know your ways better than you do some days."
"Yeah. It's the usual McCloud suicide plan – we keep the thing
busy while he takes all the glory."
Fox shook his head from the confines of his cockpit, knowing that he couldn't
be seen. While it was annoying to listen to his team's banter sometimes,
he didn't want anyone else but them covering his back. "If you have
a better idea, now's the time to make it known. I'm hoping there's
some kind of reactor or something I can blow up from inside."
"Yeah, I do. I say we just launch a Nova Bomb at the thing and say the
hell with the collateral damage."
Fox sighed. "Falco, I already told you that that's out of the question.
Besides, that thing would blow you to pieces before you could get one off."
The avian cursed. "Damn design flaws."
"We'll have to live with them until they get fixed. Falco, lead
the group onward. If you have any problems just bail out. I'll see what
I can do from my end."
"Just keep one thing in mind," said Peppy. "Sensors and communications
are next to worthless inside that asteroid. And there isn't all that much
maneuvering room either, so watch yourself."
"Words to live by. You three do the same." The team split, each
having an objective in front of them.
