Okay, that took a lot longer than it should have. Here's to hoping that I can get out the next chapter far quicker than this one.
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Chapter 25: The Fight of Their Lives
If I ever meet the person who first said that space was an exciting place, I'll throttle him. Space is nothing but large chunks of emptiness with the occasional speck of something interesting. At least I'll be able to fight today. It had better not be my last. – Falco


Falco looked around at the slowly moving stars as his ship hurtled through space. It would have been an enjoyable view had he cared in the slightest about what he was looking at. Instead, he turned his attention to the timer on his computer screen, showing how long until he dropped right in on the doorstep of the enemy.
It was the battle that invigorated the avian. The feeling of being only one step away from death's door as he swooped and swerved around his opponent, making sure he killed them all before they got to him first. The skies were the only place that Falco was truly happy.
The final seconds counted down on his screen as he rubbed his paws together in excitement. While he would have been happier destroying everything one by one, he knew that even he would be overwhelmed by the enormous number of fighters that they would be facing shortly. So in the end, dropping a Nova Bomb on the lot of them would still satisfy him from the amount of carnage he would create.
With a slight jolt the nearby stars came to a halt as Falco's Arwing dropped out of lightspeed. Much to his amazement, he was only a few thousand feet to the side and underneath his target of one of the Imperial battleships. As he kicked in his engines to get into position for the assault, Fox's voice came over loud and clear on the com. "Starfox team, attack! Make sure none of those fighters launch!"
Eager to personally fire off a Nova Bomb, Falco lined himself within seconds. Grinning at the devastation he would be causing shortly, he flipped off the safety and fired away.
After a short half-second delay, the Nova Bomb streaked out from its launcher, the energy ball of destruction speeding towards its target. Falco spiraled away from the battleship, making sure he put ample distance between it and himself so he could watch the carnage.
He was to be rather disappointed with the result.
The Nova Bomb struck the shields of the battleship as expected. The result however, was anything but. Instead of the ship being enveloped and disintegrated like its partner was just days before, the shields simply flared up, changed color, and fought furiously against the blast that threatened to destroy it. The lightshow was almost blinding to the avian, but thankfully it was brief.
In the end though, the battleship was still there.
And it looked to be relatively unharmed.
"It…", sputtered Falco, stunned at what he just saw. "The damned thing didn't work!"
"I know," was Fox's simple reply.


Knowing what was going to launch out of the battleship at any second, Falco began attacking the launch bay with his blasters. "We're screwed!" he hollered.
"I can't believe that didn't work!" said Fox as he furiously thought of another plan of attack.
"The shields even held through that assault," said Peppy.
"They must have figured out how to tune their shields to resist the attack," said Fara thoughtfully as she engaged her target in desperation. "It's the same principle that we have for defending ourselves somewhat against them."
An idea popped into Fox's head. "I have a plan. Everyone, recharge a Nova Bomb. Fara, head over to me immediately. Peppy, you do the same towards Falco."
"The Nova Bombs didn't work incase you were napping back there," complained the avian. "What do you think firing another one will do?"
"Nothing." Fox fired at the fighters that were beginning to launch out of the battleship. "But I doubt that those shields will be able to defend against two simultaneous shots."
"Good idea," said Fara as she sped towards Fox.
"And if you're wrong?" asked Falco as he dove out of the way of the battleship's turret fire.
"We get the hell out of here."
"At least you have that part right."
Fox groaned at his teammate's comments. "Falco, you just keep those fighters from swarming over there and I'll worry about the mission."
"Yes, boss."
Shaking his head, the vulpine continued his lone assault against the battleship, waiting for Fara to arrive. Fighter after fighter exploded as they left the launch bay, but while his combat skill was outstanding, there were simply too many craft trying to leave the safety of the ship. On top of that, the battleship was attempting to shoot him down, point defense turrets shooting wildly trying to score hits. The craft itself even tried to destroy him as he made a pass in front of the ship, the main plasma cannon firing and coming far too close for comfort. All he knew was that he was getting overwhelmed quickly.
So when Fox heard Fara's voice came over the com, to say that it was a relief was an understatement. "Fox, it's Fara. One Nova Bomb shall be ready for delivery in about 15 seconds. Where do you want it?"
Fox risked a quick glance down at his radar, a few random blasts from the dozen ships now flying around hitting his craft due to his lack of attention. "Fire it from whatever direction you're coming from. I'll do the same on the other side."
"All right. I hope this works."
"So do I. Otherwise this will be one of the shortest battles in Cornerian history." Swerving away from another barrage of laser fire, he boosted towards the opposite side of where Fara was coming from in preparation to attack.
Just as Fox got into position, Fara was ready to fire herself. "Firing in 3…2…" Cutting his engines and spinning in place, Fox aimed towards the battleship and launched a Nova Bomb as well.
Like twin suns, the two Nova Bombs streaked through the blackness of space towards their target. The battleship attempted to shoot down the implements of their destruction, but as the cannons weren't attuned to the Nova Bombs as the Arwing's were, they simply passed through harmlessly.
As before, the shields flared in a desperate bid to protect the vessel, but this time it was not to happen. Within seconds the protective sphere around the battleship failed, allowing the Nova Bombs to detonate against the unprotected craft to a devastating effect. The ship and the fighters nearby simply vanished under the blinding glare of the twin strikes. When the effect subsided seconds later, there was nothing left short of a few melted pieces of hull.
The few fighters that escaped the blast radius ran, not wanting to face the Arwings after their carrier had disintegrated from the assault. The pilots were pleased to see another battleship fall to their efforts. "Nice shooting, Fara," remarked Fox. "One more to go."
As the pair swung their craft around to go after their other target, Falco's overjoyed hollers were heard over the com. "Hell yeah!" he yelled. "Take that you piece of crap!"
"Score one for the good guys," said Peppy calmly.
Fox laughed to himself at the disparity between the two pilots. "Good job you two. Now go get that other one out of the picture the same way."
"You know that will deplete us of Nova Bombs," commented Peppy.
"I know. I doubt they'd be very effective against that monster of a craft anyway."
"Not quite," said Fara. "While the crystals are rated for only three uses, in my experience I have gotten four out of the occasional one. You also might be surprised at their effectiveness."
"Good point Fara. I'll keep—" Fox's line of thought was interrupted as he suddenly had to swerve out of the way of an incoming craft. He was momentarily confused as he knew that he hadn't been shot at prior to the engagement. As he returned to his original heading, he had to dodge once more away from another fighter.
Fara was the first one to state the obvious. "They're trying to ram us!"
The vulpine was too busy trying to make sure that he wasn't hit by one of the suicidal fighters to respond for a few seconds. Finding a quiet moment, he replied hurriedly. "I've noticed! Blast them out of the sky if they get in your way! Peppy, Falco, watch yourselves, as our target's fighter cover is attempting to ram us!"
If the two other pilots said anything in return he was too preoccupied to hear it. On the other hand, Fara was in a near panic as in her years of being a pilot, this was nothing she had ever trained for, much less ever thought would happen to her. Desperately she fired at a fighter, causing it to explode and allow her some maneuvering room as a pair of fighters crashed into each other where she had been just moments ago. "There's too many of them!" she yelled, terrified of the situation she was in.
"Concentrate," said Fox, attempting to calm her down while he jockeyed for position himself. "Just imagine that you're facing a bunch of asteroids that happen to be heading directly your way. You'll be fine."
Fara spun out of the way of another incoming craft, her blasters firing in an attempt to clear some more space. Her aim was true as a fighter detonated from the shots, the remains crashing into another ship, giving her a somewhat clear flight path for a few seconds.
In their attempts to simply stay alive, the pilots had ignored what their overall goal had been doing. The battleship had simply bided its time, waiting for a chance to use its plasma cannon on the pair.
This looked to be the perfect opportunity.
Predicting a time when both Arwings would be near each other, the battleship fired its main gun. The ball of energy quickly sped off, blowing through half a dozen of the unshielded fighters before reaching its target.
Fox noticed the incoming shot first. "Look out!" he yelled, desperately punching his boosters as he found a hole in the fighter cover. Fara dove through an opening as well, but not quickly enough as the plasma came in close contact with her shielding, draining its protective covering by 50%.
Furious at almost losing another Arwing in combat, Fara found the point of weakest resistance from the fighters and unloaded her blasters as she simply punched right through, relying on her speed to keep the hostiles off her tail. "Come on, Fox," she commanded, "it's time to stop screwing around and get this jerk out of the picture once and for all."
Amused at her sudden change in attitude, but pleased to see that she had worked her way free of their swarming opponents, Fox found the hole he was looking for as well to escape.
Right where the battleship had fired before.
Knowing it was a dangerous gamble, Fox boosted through the opening as the battleship fired again, not wanting to miss such a simple shot. Passing by a pair of fighters blocking his way, the vulpine swerved away from the incoming plasma and threw his throttle all the way forward, his Arwing escaping critical harm by mere feet. The craft that were following closely behind however, were not so lucky.
Letting out the breath he had been holding with a hiss, Fox moved to follow Fara's Arwing, his boosters glowing brightly behind him. The fighters behind and the battleship in front opened fire, both groups aggravated that they had been unable to take down either of the pilots. The pair dodged the firepower easily, knowing that nothing was going to stop them now.
Fox looked at the rapidly approaching battleship with anticipation, knowing that its demise was just moments away. "I'll take port and you take starboard?" he asked, thinking out a plan of attack.
"Roger," was her terse reply.
The pilots continued to maintain formation as they grew closer, each waiting for the other to tell them when to break off. The battleship turned and fired its plasma cannon once more, forcing the issue. The Arwings separated at that point, each swinging off towards their goal. Somehow they both turned back at the exact same time, the craft charging towards the battleship from either side.
Ignoring the fighters that had begun attacking them once more, the pair waited until they were almost on top of the battleship before they launched the Nova Bombs. The radiant balls of energy sped towards their target as the Arwings formed up behind the craft to watch the impending destruction.
As expected, it only took a few seconds for the Nova Bombs to do their work. Once the shields failed, the entire craft was enveloped in the explosive power of the destructive weapon. As before, nothing survived.
What few fighters remained hurried off towards the safety of the capital ship as Fox made sure that his teammate was fine. "Nice shot there, Fara. You okay in there?"
Her reply was slow in coming as the Arwing made a lazy loop around what little was left of the battleship. "Yeah, I'm fine." She slowed down, coming to a halt next to Fox's Arwing, pointing towards their final target. "Shall we get this little battle over with?"
"We will just as soon as we make sure the others—" With a flash, the other side of the capital ship was lit up momentarily. The pair didn't even have to guess what that meant. "Never mind then." He changed a setting on his com as he continued. "You two okay over there?"
"Suck it down you jackass of a battleship!" came Falco's excited reply.
Fox was at a loss of words for a moment as he broke out into a huge grin over his teammate's attitude. "I'll take that as a yes then."
"A yes would be the proper answer," said Peppy calmly.
"And old geezer Peppy strikes again," interjected Falco.
"I'm sorry, Falco, but unlike you, I don't like living my life on the edge. That and I found that the fact that these pilots were more than willing to crash into us instead of a more honorable death in combat a tad unnerving."
The avian groaned. "Just think of them as asteroids with a vengeance."
"They are far more than that and you know it."
"Excuse me you two," interrupted Fox, "we do have a war to fight you know. Let's get to it."
As the communication channels quieted, all Fox heard was a single word from Fara privately. "Males," she grumbled, forcing the vulpine to mute his headset so he could have a hearty laugh without confusing the rest of the team.