Sorry for the rather long break between this chapter and the one prior - I
decided to go on vacation. Nothing like lots and lots of snow to rejuvenate
the writing talent.
And to the person who was looking for the comics from Nintendo Power that I
loosly base my fic off of, go visit sfx64.com, then click on Fan Comics on the
left. While it says that they are from SF64, these comics are most definately
from the original SNES title.
----------
Chapter 17: The Devastator
'I'd hate to see this thing in motion,'
I said. Me and my big mouth. - Falco
Meanwhile, the Starfox team was currently engaged in yet another battle. "Slippy,"
said Fox as he shot down yet another fighter, "come to 45, mark 20. I'll
clear that fighter for you."
"Roger," replied the harried toad. "Be there in a second."
Slippy came into Fox's line of fire within moments, but before he could
shoot, an asteroid came out of nowhere and smashed into the hostile craft, sending
it spinning out of control. It met its end shortly thereafter, crashing into
a larger chunk of rock and exploding. "That was easy," said Fox
with a laugh.
Peppy's voice came over their com systems suddenly. "Watch yourselves
you two. The asteroids are more concentrated where you're fighting."
"We've noticed, old pal. Thanks for the warning."
Falco whooped as another fighter exploded as it entered his sights. "Which
one of you losers is next?" he taunted.
Fox shook his head and laughed at his teammate's antics, knowing that
there was little he could do to curb his excitement. Instead, he just swung
his Arwing around, looking for yet another target. Finding one, he started firing,
his opponent dodging behind an asteroid to avoid his shots.
"Guys, I've spotted something big," said Slippy suddenly.
"And it's close, whatever it is."
"You sure?" asked Fox as he checked his sensors, still keeping an
eye on the combat raging around him. "I don't see…scratch
that. I need everyone to reform around me."
"Roger," said Peppy. "The fighters Falco and I were engaging
have broken off, so I'm assuming that they've spotted whatever you
two just found."
Fox watched as the fighters around him veered away in the direction of what
he'd noticed on radar. He knew there were bigger things to worry about
and cut off his pursuit. Slippy fell into formation shortly with Falco and Peppy
joining him a few seconds later. "Let's figure out what we've
spotted and get this over with."
"Too much killing for the honorable leader in one day?" joked Falco.
The vulpine failed to find the humor in his teammate's response. "Funny.
Come on guys, follow me."
As the four Arwings boosted off towards their target, Fox groaned in dismay
as he visually spotted their final objective. "Well, Slippy, your guess
from before seems to be rather accurate."
"I was afraid I would be correct in this instance."
In the distance, shrouded by tumbling asteroids, loomed a rather accurate representation
of the weapons platform that Fara described to them earlier. Currently tilted
to one side, the platform looked like a giant X, each section sticking out from
the center armed with a barrage of laser turrets, slowly rotating as they searched
for targets. The light gray hull looked to be in pristine condition, showing
no damage from the many asteroids floating nearby. Without warning the craft
contacted them. "This is the Imperial Weapons Platform Devastator. In
the name of Emperor Andross, you are ordered to stand down and prepare to be
destroyed."
"Who's this guy kidding?" asked Falco on the Arwings'
private communication frequency.
"Falco, hush," replied Fox. "Slippy, scan for weak points
on that thing."
"Already on it."
"Good. Everyone, we'll make a quick pass on that thing to see how
well it's shielded. Concentrate your firepower here." With the touch
of a few keys he transmitted the targeting info to the team's computers.
"With luck, the missiles will be stored at the same place on this thing."
"Roger."
"Let's do this." Switching back to the frequency the platform
was using, he replied to its demands. "As the free species of the Lylat
system, tell your damned Emperor that your request is denied."
"Prepare for your termination then." The signal cut off as the Devastator
began firing on the Arwings, lasers streaking through the blackness of space
toward their targets.
"Scatter!" hollered Fox as he dodged the oncoming fire. "Attack
as planned then get out of the way!"
Falco charged recklessly ahead, somehow dodging most of the attacks directed
towards him. As he got into range he fired, his shots striking the shields of
the craft with little effect. The rest of the team fired moments after with
the same results, the Arwings breaking off and hightailing it to safety afterwards.
Safety was a relative term however, as Peppy yelled out suddenly, "I've
got a missile lock!"
Cursing, Fox tried to formulate a solution. "Peppy, use the asteroids
as cover and hope that the missile crashes into them. I'll follow you
and try to get it. Falco, Slippy, ascertain how much damage we did, if any,
and keep out of that thing's range." Affirmatives were heard all
around as Fox sped off after Peppy's Arwing.
Skillfully the hare maneuvered around the floating rocks, attempting to get
the missile trailing him to run into one of them. "Impressive tracking
capability of these things," he commented, even though he was being chased.
"I wonder how much fuel they hold."
"Can't be too much," said Fox as he approached the missile.
"I'm in range. Expect your tail to be off your tail in a second."
"Thanks."
"Hold on." Taking careful aim, Fox fired, his blasters striking
an asteroid that drifted in front of his shots. Shaking his head at his luck,
he fired again, this time with much greater success. Moments later the missile
exploded, the resulting fireball coming close to engulfing Peppy's craft.
"Damn, nice explosion. You okay there, old friend?"
"I'm a bit shaken, but otherwise okay. I'm amazed at the payload
that missile had though."
Fox turned his Arwing around, working his way back towards the battle. "Agreed."
He contacted the rest of his team. "Guys, avoid those missiles at all
costs. They have one heck of a warhead. As for our attack run, did we do any
kind of damage?"
Slippy sounded glum. "None at all basically. If we could sustain that
kind of firepower for a bit—"
"Which I don't see possible in the slightest," interrupted
Falco.
"I was getting to that," the toad added, annoyed. "That craft
is designed to take on small fleets, so the four of us are nothing but a mere
annoyance."
"That is not good," commented Fox. "Suggestions?"
Slippy was silent for a moment, as was the rest of the team. "No."
"Lovely. Well, I have no plans on returning home without doing our job,
so let's get thinking."
While the four Arwings floated in space, hidden behind some of many larger asteroids
meandering around, the Devastator decided to taunt them. "So, the mighty
Cornerian advance comes to an end here. Emperor Andross' might is just
too great for your pitiful craft. Come on out and fight like the scum you are,
not hide like a baby does in its mother's paws."
"That's slightly annoying," grumbled Falco to the team.
"Yeah," replied Fox. "Slippy, taking Fara's original
suggestion into account, how effective would a Nova Bomb be against that thing?"
"Not quite sure, Fox. With that ship so well shielded, I doubt it would
destroy it. It might overload and bring down the shields though. You can't
get close enough to use one anyway, so what's the point in asking?"
"I have a plan."
"Can't wait to hear this one," muttered Falco dryly.
Peppy had a good guess as to what his teammate had planned. "You can't
sacrifice yourself like this, Fox, not against a single ship. No matter how
big it is."
"No worries, old friend, I have no plans on going out in a blaze of glory.
That's why you three are here."
"Now I'm worried," complained Falco.
"It doesn't involve you three much. You're just going to be
my bodyguards."
"I don't like the sound of this already."
"Care to enlighten all of us, Fox?" asked Peppy.
Fox gazed at the asteroid he was using as cover as he told everyone of his plan.
"It's quite simple actually. See, we all know that our best solution
to our problems is to just launch a Nova Bomb at that thing and get it over
with. We just can't get close enough without getting blown up in the process."
"In theory for the first part anyway," said Slippy. "But go
on."
"Well, here's my idea. You three will lead a charge towards the
Devastator while I follow behind powering up a Nova Bomb. Just before it launches,
you'll break away so I don't end up hitting you with it."
"Wait a second," said Falco, realization hitting him like a ton
of bricks. "Let me get this straight. What you're trying to say
is that our goal is to make sure we get shot at so you don't, right?"
"You got it."
"You're nuts, you know that?"
Fox sighed. "Yes, Falco, you've told me that many times before already.
If you have a better suggestion, I'd love to hear it."
Surprisingly the avian stayed quiet at this point, so Peppy decided to put in
his opinion. "Fox, we've heard many a plan from you over the years,
but I do have to say that this is one of the more foolhardy ones."
"Craziness aside however," said Slippy, "I do have to agree
with him. We need to put a Nova Bomb into that thing somehow, and without our
planned upgrade, this is basically our only option."
Fox was shocked at what he heard. "My headset must be damaged or something
as I swear I just heard one of you agree with me."
"That's a first," said Falco.
"I do believe it is." He laughed. "Okay guys, get into formation.
Keep in mind that once I start the firing sequence, I'll have no maneuverability,
shields, or communication. It's your job to make sure I don't get
hit, especially from an asteroid which would throw off my aim, among other things."
"Roger," replied the team.
"Good. We're going in full throttle, so watch yourselves."
With practiced precision, the four Arwings turned around and flew away from
the Devastator, the larger craft taunting them as they left. "So, Fox
McCloud and his cronies are running with their tails tucked between their legs.
Go tell the citizens on Corneria hello for us, as we'll be coming their
way shortly."
The vulpine shook his head silently as he swung his Arwing around, the team
moving in front of him as he stopped. "Time to take this jackass out of
the picture. Remember, guys, my life is limited by your skill. No pressure or
anything." The team laughed as they engaged their boosters towards their
target, Fox quickly following.
For once in his life, he was almost afraid. He knew that he was the only person
who could risk it all for this attempt, as he didn't want to put anyone
else's life in danger. Knowing this fact didn't make it easier to
accept. Although, he trusted his teammates fully though, so that put him at
ease just a bit. "Okay, we're in range. Firing a Nova Bomb!"
As once before, as soon as he pressed the fire button all power shut off, leaving
Fox in total silence short of the low hum of his launcher charging. Time seemed
to slow as the Devastator fired upon his team, the Arwings moving into position
to absorb the shots that would hit him.
His eyes widened as he saw all four missile launchers on the craft fire, their
heavy payloads more than enough to blow him out of the sky in his current state.
Expertly, Falco killed his boosters for a moment, spinning in place to shoot
down the missiles before they got into a more damaging position. He watched
as three of the warheads quickly exploded, but the advancing pilots blocked
his aim for the fourth.
The avian boosted forward to get in line with the rest of the group as Peppy
paused to take aim. As the missile approached, he fired, his shots connecting
with the maneuvering jets on the back of it, throwing it off course just enough
to pass by Fox's Arwing harmlessly. With a hiss he let out the breath
his was holding, knowing that missile had him as a target.
Unfortunately, that left him with only a single craft guarding him up front
for just a moment as the others caught up. Despite Slippy's best efforts,
multiple shots got past his Arwing, striking Fox's craft in several places.
With a jolt that threw him hard against his restraints, something on the underside
of his Arwing exploded, throwing him off course slightly.
Fortunately, at that moment he regained power, the Nova Bomb launching from
underneath his craft. The other Arwings veered off as it fired, missing the
powerful weapon as it sped towards its target. Fox quickly moved himself out
of the blast radius as well, ignoring the warning alarms coming from his computer
about the damage he had taken earlier.
With yet another blinding flash, the Nova Bomb exploded against the Devastator's
shields. Blinking his eyes a few times to clear the afterimages of the explosion,
Fox looked back towards the craft, hoping that it had been destroyed.
The Devastator was still there.
"Great," he muttered to himself. "Time to do this the hard
way." Flipping a switch to contact his team, he stated, "Team, report
your status."
"I'm fine," replied Falco.
"Shields low, but I'll survive," said Peppy.
"Slight armor damage," replied Slippy. "But nothing a new
paint job can't fix. Shields recharging."
Fox looked over his own damage reports before responding. "I've
lost one of my wing mounted blasters, but other than that I'm fine. Nice
work guys."
Slippy came back over the com. "As predicted, the Devastator's shields
have collapsed, and it looks like they might be down for a while."
"Some good news for once. Peppy, Slippy, hold back for a bit to let your
shields recharge while Falco and I keep that thing busy."
"Roger," said Falco. "Engaging."
No longer restricted to a limited flight path, the two Arwings assaulted the
Devastator. Laser fire erupted from both sides, the Arwings doing a far better
job dodging the attacks than the much larger craft. The gray colored hull, once
in pristine condition, began to show signs of damage as they continued to attack.
"Incoming missiles!" shouted Peppy suddenly.
Sirens blared in Fox's Arwing as his computer indicated that he had two
missiles tracking his craft. He dodged a barrage of laser fire as he risked
a glance out his cockpit window. Spotting the two missiles as they approached
from different vectors, he hastily got himself out of their way, at least for
the moment. "I could use some help here, Falco."
The avian voice sounded strained as his attention was clearly on his own problems.
"No can do. I have two of my own on my ass."
"Noted. Peppy, Slippy, we could use your help out here."
"More Arwings to get shot at, right?" asked Peppy.
Fox laughed. "Exactly." Quickly he swerved to avoid a missile, running
into the Devastator's laser fire in doing so. "Falco, we need to
get these missiles to target something else."
"Already ahead of you. Watch and learn." Using the targeting information
given to him from Fox earlier, he sped towards the Devastator, the missiles
following close behind. The turrets continued to assault his craft, but he just
shrugged it off, knowing that he had an objective in front of him that he would
not deviate from.
As he neared, the turrets quieted, not wanting to shoot down the missiles trailing
his Arwing. Fortunately, they didn't expect his next move, or else things
might have gone a bit differently. Skillfully he came to a complete stop mere
feet from the craft. Turning himself in place so he had an escape route, he
waited for the missiles.
His wait wasn't long. Still dodging the pair that was trailing him, Fox
watched as the warheads bore down on Falco's position. Moments before
impact, he kicked in his boosters, making sure he wasn't anywhere near
the impending explosion.
As expected, the missiles weren't able to veer off quickly enough, their
payloads detonating on the side of the Devastator. The entire craft stopped
firing as the ship shuddered from the explosion against its hull. "Hell
yeah!" exclaimed Falco, overjoyed at the damage he just caused.
Fox watched as the fireball abated, revealing a large hole where the armor plating
used to be. He hoped that Fara's assumption was correct about a weak point,
as he had a feeling that their little trick wouldn't work again without
quite a bit of luck. "All Arwings, attack that opening!"
His teammates moved into position, taking advantage of the momentary lapse in
power on their target. Their blasters lit up the surrounding area as Peppy asked,
"What about the missiles still following you, Fox?"
He swerved once again to avoid the trailing warheads as he replied. "Don't
worry, I know. I'm going to try the same trick in a second."
The Arwings continued their assault as power was restored to the Devastator,
the smaller craft dodging the incoming fire. The turrets shifted their assault
to only target one Arwing at a time, chancing upon Slippy's craft first.
The toad panicked as he was fired upon with more concentrated fire than he'd
ever seen, desperately spinning away to avoid what he could. "Help!"
"Back off and let your shields recharge!" hollered Fox. "I'm
going to see if another volley of missiles will do this thing in!"
"I'll see if I can get this sucker's attention," said
Falco as he attacked one of the turrets. "Eat this, maggots for brains!"
Fox laughed to himself as he lined himself up for a run against the Devastator.
Making a quick check on his radar, he found the missiles were still right behind
him. "Keep them busy, Falco. Here I come." He threw his throttle
forward, boosting towards his target.
As expected, the hostile craft changed its target towards Falco's Arwing,
allowing Fox a clear run. He followed the avian's example, coming to a
complete stop in front of the hole that he created just a short time ago. He
sped off as the missiles approached, their powerful payloads crashing into the
platform with a far deadlier reaction than the pair earlier.
The resulting explosion detonated the missiles stored internally, causing a
chain reaction that completely blew off the section that was damaged, sending
debris shooting wildly. Unlike the last battleship, Fox's Arwing was far
too close to escape unharmed. With a jolt that threw him against his restraints
once more and threatened to knock him into unconsciousness, a chunk of the ship
crashed into his right wing, overloading his shields and ripping it off his
craft completely. Alarms blared as he attempted to get his damaged Arwing out
of the blast area.
Another large chunk of the Devastator flew past him as a different alarm sounded.
Ignoring the warning, Fox continued his desperate escape, dodging around smaller
asteroids and other chunks of debris as he hunted for something to hide behind.
He cursed silently, finding nothing larger than his own craft drifting nearby.
Swinging his Arwing around to dodge another piece of his former opponent, he
spotted something that looked large enough for him to use as cover. After making
a quick check on his radar to confirm it, he boosted towards the asteroid, his
computer complaining to him once more as he continued to strain his battered
craft. Reaching his destination, he swooped behind the rock, his craft suddenly
maneuvering far differently than it did just minutes ago.
Knowing that he was safe for the time being, he closed his eyes for a moment,
trying to calm his racing heart, amazed that he was still in one piece. After
a few seconds, he wiped the collected sweat off his brow as he contacted his
team. "All Arwings, report in."
His inquiry met nothing but silence.
Quickly growing concerned, he opened his eyes and looked around, seeing nothing
but drifting asteroids passing by as he tried once more to raise his friends.
"Starfox team, this is Fox. All craft report in."
His communicator remained quiet.
"Lovely," he said to himself. Looking down at his computer screen,
he realized it had been trying to get his attention for some time. Bringing
up whatever it wanted, he found out why he wasn't able to contact anyone
– his communication system was currently offline, and had been ever since
he was originally hit. Groaning, he looked over the entire damage report. His
right wing was missing in action, the stress of it being blown off damaging
the maneuvering thrusters on that side as well.
"That explains why controls felt funny back there," he muttered
to himself. The computer continued with its report, stating that his left wing
blaster had been damaged earlier in the battle. It was going to continue when
the screen suddenly changed, indicating that communications were back online
again, bringing the voices of his worried teammates to his ears.
"Have you seen Fox anywhere on sensors?" asked Peppy.
"I don't see him anywhere," replied Falco. "Then again,
with all this crap in the area the sensors can't find anything."
While the concern was touching, he let everyone know he was fine. "Guys,
this is Fox. You don't need to worry as I'm okay, more or less."
"Thank the Creator," said a relieved Peppy. "When the Devastator
exploded, we were afraid we lost you."
The vulpine laughed. "It will take more than a giant weapons platform
to take me out of the picture. The techs are going to go nuts over the condition
of my Arwing though."
"The great McCloud damaging his craft in flight?" joked Falco. "How
bad could it be?"
"Falco, your sarcasm is annoying some days." He sighed. "How
about a missing wing, damaged thrusters on that side, a busted weapon on the
other, a communication system that just came back online, and a shield system
that I think is broke…no, wait, that seems to be working again."
"Damn."
"No kidding. Everyone, report their status, and let's try to find
each other. I don't know about the rest of you, but I want to go home."
The team reported in and worked their way back into a group, pausing only long
enough to get their bearings before heading home.
