The race back home when time isn't on your side can be one of the most difficult things in a pilot's career. What will happen to Fox and Fara? Read on to find out.
Chapter 33: The Rush Home
Somebody, anybody… If you can hear me, please make sure Fara lives through this. I'll do anything in exchange, anything you want. She can't die, not like this, not now. – Fox
The field of stars slowly moved in the distance, giving some sense of speed as the Arwings hurtled forward, racing against time to keep Fara alive. Left with nothing else to do other than monitor power levels, Fox stared at his sensor readings, trying to guess just how much time the vixen had. It was a difficult task at best, as the system was not designed to gather information at the speed they were traveling.
What little tidbits he could acquire though did not bode well for the pilot. By the computer's best guess, she had exhausted what oxygen she had left in the tanks, leaving her with what little the cockpit contained. It was a result that Fox was not pleased to see, as that didn't help at all with her chances.
The timer until he exhausted his FTL fuel slowly counted down, Fox watching the display like a hawk, as if willing it to go faster. Next to that was his computed flight plan, the display telling him that once he burned out his fuel, he still had an estimated 15 minutes to go until he landed.
Odds were that Fara wasn't going to last that long.
Left with no other option, short of wishing he could simply will the Arwing to go faster, he sat there in his seat and waited. There was nothing he could do other than wait and hope for the best.
Fara on the other hand had to contend with the almost absolute silence of being dragged through space, the air around her declining rapidly in quality. Normally she would be able to hear the engine rumbling beneath her, and the soft hiss of the life-support system recycling the air she was breathing, but thanks to the damage she had taken, both of these systems were deathly quiet. Thankfully, her computer was chirping away on its own, so there was some noise to concentrate on, but the warning that was continuously flashing on her screen didn't help matters any.
She let her mind wander, trying to think of anything but the situation she was in. It wasn't easy though, as with every stale breath she was unpleasantly reminded of where she was. Unable to focus on anything short of the craft around her, she did the worst thing possible – she leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to relax.
Not thinking correctly from the lack of oxygen, as she would have realized that what she was doing was a very bad idea, she dropped into unconsciousness a few minutes later, her last thoughts on the pilot above trying to save her life.
A cautionary tone sounded from Fox's computer a short time later, asking for his attention. Looking away from the stars, which had been occupying his time as he traveled, he found out that the tone was nothing more than a notice that he would be dropping out of lightspeed shortly. Nervously he held his paw over the communication controls, ready to contact Fara as soon as he slowed down, greatly worried as to her condition.
With a slight rumble the fuels powering the FTL drive emptied, the retro-rockets firing to bring his speed to a level where the shields could protect his Arwing without the power created by that fuel. Wasting no further time, he tried to raise the other craft. "Fara, it's Fox. How are you?"
His worry was well placed, as he heard nothing in response.
"Fara? Please respond."
Still nothing.
Heart racing in near panic, he listened in carefully, trying to hear anything, as his computer said that she was transmitting. After covering his other ear and blocking out all other noise around him, he finally picked up her raspy breathing, trying desperately to get enough oxygen out of the air to survive. It was a fight that she was clearly losing.
And the autopilot still said he had another fourteen to go at his current speed.
With no other options available to him, as the only place that could help Fara now was Corneria, he threw the throttle forward, intending to go much faster than he was going now. He was rather surprised when the computer refused to comply with his request, instead choosing to display multiple notices on his screen.
"The hell?" he cursed as he looked at the screen, demanding to know why his order wasn't being followed. The answer was a simple one – without the extra power provided by the FTL drive, the Arwing simply couldn't generate enough protection to keep him from harm incase of a collision at any speed faster than his current one. He cursed again as he started tapping the screen, looking for a way to override that safety protocol, unable to believe the things he had to go through just to save someone's life.
As he desperately worked, muttering under his breath in displeasure the entire time, his computer beeped at him again, this time telling him that his teammates had dropped out of lightspeed nearby. He kept quiet however, not in the mood to talk to them, and they surprisingly did the same back to him. Hoping that they were talking with the base instead, letting them know that there was a gravely injured pilot being dragged home, he continued his work. There had to be an override somewhere for this – it was just a matter of finding it.
All communications continued to stay silent as he finally found the safety toggles, surprised at what he found. He could completely disable individual sections of the ship and even cause it to self-destruct from here. Scrolling down a page of options, he finally found the one he needed. After overriding it and tapping the button once more to make sure, his Arwing suddenly rocketed forward as his boosters came to life.
That move brought him some attention from his teammates, both knowing that the Arwing was not supposed to be going faster than its current speed. "What did you just do, Fox?" asked Peppy. "We can't match—"
"I'm saving Fara's life," interrupted the vulpine, perturbed that he had to explain himself. He watched as his speed continued to climb, ignoring the warning messages passing by his terminal. All he knew was that he had to get home as soon as possible, and he was ready to take as many risks as necessary to do so.
Peppy sighed, not liking how his simple question could be so misinterpreted, but expecting it based on the situation at hand. "That's not what I mean, Fox. Just…just be careful. You know that you aren't properly protected at those speeds. If anything happens to you…"
Fox knew exactly what he meant. "I know. But I will not let Fara die on me, not this close to base. She's non-responsive to my hails."
Faced with the only option, Peppy had to agree. "You're right. Just watch yourself."
"I will. Fox out." A quick check told him he was now traveling at 1/2 the speed of light, instead of the normal 1/3rd that the Arwing's cruising speed was. It still wasn't fast enough though as he held the throttle forward, his boosters continuing to flare behind him.
The computer's tone turned to one much more serious a few seconds later, not only warning him that a collision at this speed would more than likely mark his destruction, but that his boosters were beginning to overheat from use. While they were designed to be used as often as needed, they were never made for a constant burn like Fox was putting them through. He didn't care in the slightest if he damaged any of his Arwing's systems at the moment though. All he wanted to do was to get Fara home safe and sound.
Other people began noticing his speed at this point – namely the base. Beginning to grow highly concerned as he neared the planet, there was a short discussion as to who should be the lucky one to talk some sense into the vulpine. Gary somehow drew the short straw, as Pepper was currently occupied talking to someone else, getting passed the headset to have a little chat. Not quite knowing how to start, he began with his usual style – being rather blunt. "Fox, this is Gary. We need to talk."
Fox shook his head as he listened to the static-filled voice, the communication systems at both ends not designed to transmit and receive messages at the speed he was going, which was now approaching 2/3rds light speed. "What?" he grumbled.
"Have you ever heard of the laws of dynamics? Or the laws of energy associated with dynamics?"
That caught the vulpine off guard, as that wasn't what he was expecting to hear at all. "Huh?"
"Let me put it this way then. What do you think is going to happen when you reach Corneria going 2/3rds light?"
With a warning siren, Fox's Arwing suddenly rumbled, his boosters cutting off abruptly. They had overheated, the safeties shutting them down. This was as fast as he was going to go for now. "What do you mean?" he asked, not thinking things through, more concerned at his craft failing him like this.
Gary couldn't believe he was hearing this. He was shocked that Fox didn't understand some of the more basic concepts of space flight, especially since his father was such a well-known pilot. He wondered what he could have on his mind to make him forget it. "Let me put it this way then. What happens when an Arwing going your speed enters Corneria's atmosphere?" He paused for an answer, but upon getting no response he continued, concerned over the lack of what he was hearing. "The answer is a simple one – you burn up. What's on your mind, Fox? You know this."
That rather direct statement brought Fox back to his senses, at least for the time being. He was also surprised that the cheetah hadn't been told the details yet. "What's Pepper doing?" he asked, changing the subject, noticing that the computer was telling him that he had just under four minutes at this current speed until he reached Corneria.
"Not so fast," said Gary as he made a quick calculation on the terminal in front of him. "Don't think I don't see how fast you're going. You better start slowing down once you hit the final two minutes or else you won't be making it home." He looked around, finding the answer as Fox stayed quiet, listening in on the conversation as he responded. "Pepper's talking to someone else on your..." He stopped, shocked at what he just heard in the background, catching just enough to be worried. "What the heck happened out there?"
"Too long of a story. Now you know why I'm going so fast." He quieted, watching as Corneria grew larger in front of him.
"How is she?" asked Gary gently, having heard some of the rumors that were beginning to float around the base about them.
Fox stayed silent far too long before he responded, showing his concern. "I don't know. She's not responding."
Pepper was barking orders to those around him, preparing for the worst. Gary, meanwhile, was clearing a flight route for the speeding Arwing, making sure that nothing would be in his way. A new flight plan suddenly appeared in Fox's computer, giving him an exact course to follow. "Fox, you should have received a flight plan in your computer. Based on a pristine condition, fully shielded Arwing, this is the fastest you can blow through the atmosphere. It's anything but a pleasant ride however."
The vulpine looked over the data with a critical eye, not really liking what he saw. While it seemed sound, it was only designed for a lone, undamaged Arwing, not the conjoined craft that was currently bearing down on the planet. "Has this been tested at all? Or is this another computer simulation?"
"Fara herself tested this once actually, and it's been through a few simulations incase of emergencies. But with both of you together like this…" He let his voice trail off, not having any kind of accurate answer.
"If Fara's run through it herself, that's good enough for me. I hope this works."
"As do we all." He paused, listening in on Pepper's comments in the background. "Engineering has been advised of your situation and plans, and will have the bay cleared and prepared for your arrival. The medics are ready to receive Fara, and you if need be."
Fox was looking over the flight plan once more, comparing it with his current course. He was going to have to make some adjustments, and soon. "I have a harried landing ahead of me, Gary, as long as this is accurate, so I need to go soon. Anything else?"
"Only one thing – we're going to lose communications and all automatic tracking of your Arwing when you enter the atmosphere at the speed you're going, so please contact us as soon as you can get clear signal out. The base, and myself, wish you the best of luck. Be careful."
Fox smiled, glad to know he had everyone concerned over his well-being. "Understood. Fox out." Having one last worried thought about Fara, he pushed everything out of his mind and prepared for his descent.
The command staff at the base watched as Fox's transponder signal vanished off their screens as he entered the atmosphere. As the satellites in Corneria's orbit were only designed to track things like the local weather below them, and only check for objects that might pass above, the base was effectively blind to the Arwing's approach via those methods. His entry vector placed him outside of any ground-based radar as well, as his flight plan brought him over one of the planet's lush oceans.
The room grew deathly quiet, as if collectively everyone held their breath, the computer currently devoted to watching over the approaching Arwing silencing as well as it no longer had anything to track. Pepper broke the stillness in the room a few seconds later, asking his second-in-command, "Gary, how long do we have before we hear from Junior again?"
The cheetah looked over the data recorded from previous attempts, making a worried glance at the silent computer in the process. "When Fara made this journey, she contacted us approximately 48 seconds after we lost contact, with her Arwing coming into radar range at the 1:30 mark. Computer simulations backed up her data to a range of two seconds in either direction basically."
"And with his current mass and aerodynamic performance?"
Gary shook his head as he typed, a small clock appearing in the corner of the large screen devoted to the radar scans where Fox would appear. It currently read fifteen seconds. "Honestly, I don't know. The timer is there to show how long it's been. We can only wait."
Pepper stood there and watched, outwardly his normal stoic self, but inwardly he was worried. He couldn't afford to lose two of his best pilots, especially not like this. The morale blow alone would be crippling. Looking over at the lynx sitting at her post nearby, he said, "Celine, make sure you let us know as soon as you hear something."
She sighed quietly, not needing the prompt to do her job properly, but knowing that such a strange request meant that her boss was worried. "Yes, sir, I will."
The four that were in the command center sat and watched as the seconds slowly ticked by, each having nothing else that they could be doing. Time itself seemed to slow as they stared, as if taunting them, trying to aggravate them into action.
At the 45 second mark, Celine could take no more of the silence. "Fox McCloud, this is Corneria Base. Please respond."
Nothing.
The timer continued to increase, passing Fara's estimate. At 50 seconds, everyone became increasingly worried, the silence nothing but a bad sign.
"Try again," said Pepper quietly, his back to everyone as he stood up front.
"Fox McCloud, please respond." 55 seconds had now passed.
And still there was no response.
A minute had passed by, the feeling of dread quickly building. It was taking far too long. Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong.
Gary was desperately scanning the skies at maximum magnification, trying to pick up the Arwings visually. The image on the main screen jumped around as he searched, but they seemed to still be too far out as he didn't have any luck.
Celine tried again at the 1:05 mark, not waiting for any further prompting from the General. "Fox McCloud, if you can hear me, please respond."
Pepper turned away from the screen and looked over his staff, trying to find a glimmer of hope, or at least some sign that Fox was alive. But there was none as they shook their heads sadly. "Fox should be in radar range shortly at least based on speed alone," said Gary, trying to find something positive to say.
The General turned back around without saying a word, his concern clearly shown on his face for the few seconds it was visible. He stood there, his paws clasped behind his back, trying to push his worry out of his mind, trying to show the others that there would be a positive resolution to this. He just couldn't do it.
The timer now read 1:20, and nobody knew what to do. Each of them hoped that they wouldn't have to see a charred husk of an Arwing falling out of the sky as the seconds continued to advance. Not able to stand the silence, Celine decided to try one last desperate attempt before waiting on a radar contact. "Fox McCloud, if you can hear this, please—"
To much joy and momentary cheering, the vulpine's static-filled voice interrupted her plea. "Corneria Base… Fox... I hope I didn't worry you…down there, but it's…only get worse."
That wasn't quite the response they were looking for.
Things had not gone well ever since Fox hit Corneria's atmosphere. Even though he had slowed more than required based on his flight plan, knowing that the conjoined craft would greatly affect his stability and control, it hadn't been enough. The shields flared up the instant he began his descent, and based on the alarms his computer was yelling at him, he was still going far too fast.
Firing up the retro-rockets once more, overheating notices passing by his screen already, he desperately fought to maintain control. His visibility hampered by the shear amount of heat he was generating as he charged forward, the shields changing from a gentle blue to an angered red as they tried to protect the ships, it was all he could do to keep his Arwing from spinning out of control, much less follow the flight plan. Because of this, he spent too much time in the upper atmosphere, doing far more damage than expected to his systems and defenses.
When he finally broke into, and quickly through, the light cloud cover in the area, it was at this point where everything began to fall apart. The shields overloaded, strained far beyond their design specs, shutting down with a spectacular flash around him, exposing the hull to the heat he was generating due to his speed. Thankfully communications held together, at least for the moment, as he heard Celine say around bouts of static, "Fox McCloud, if…hear this, please…"
He cut her off upon noticing the worry in her voice, continuing to pull back the throttle as he tried to slow down. He didn't know how long the retro-rockets were going to hold out in the heat though. "Corneria Base, this is Fox. I hope I didn't worry you too much down there, but it's about to only get worse."
Gary took over on the ground, trying to guide him in, even though he didn't have radar contact yet. "Fox, what's…status? What's your speed…far are you out?"
Warning sirens wailing around him, Fox ignored the sweat matting his fur, trying to keep his craft together in this heat. Locking the thruster control in place, he used that paw to try to bring the shields back up. After a few seconds, he knew his attempt was futile, as the computer said that he had fried the system completely upon reentry. "The shields blew a few seconds ago and the Arwing is not taking the heat well." He quieted as his craft lurched, the retros shutting down due to the heat buildup. "Damn it!" he cursed.
A panicked Gary interrupted his line of thought, but only for a moment. "Fox…going too fast! You need to…at least 1200mph off…speed, or else the tractor beams in engineering…won't stop you!"
Knowing exactly what buttons to push as he continued his rapid descent, Fox overrode the safeties, not caring if he damaged the thrusters at this point. All he wanted to do was to get home. The engineering staff could fix anything he broke anyway, or at least so he thought. "Don't you think I know that?" he asked as the retro-rockets flared to life once more, his attempts successful. "I'm trying, but systems are failing left and right."
"I can see…from here. Try to…"
With a burst of static, the communication died, the entire system failing as it heated to a temperature far beyond anything expected by its designers. He cursed as the computer told him that he was burning up, the armor plating underneath him glowing from the heat. He fought to maintain control, hoping that his craft would simply stay together until he landed.
He also hoped that Fara would still be alive as well.
"His communications just went out, sir," said Celine, shaking her head at Gary's latest question. She felt utterly helpless, unable to do anything but simply hope for the best.
"Great," he muttered silently in response, looking over his terminal. "I just lost his transponder signal as well."
"Can we get a visual?" asked Pepper as he continued to look at the main screen.
"I'll try." He switched his headset to another channel as he fiddled with his controls, trying to second-guess where the Arwing would be. "Engineering, this is control. Have you been monitoring the situation up here?"
"Aye, that we have been," responded Cyrus, his voice surprisingly calm despite the developing problems. Then again not having to deal with them directly might have been the deciding factor. "He needs to—"
"By the Creator!" Celine's startled voice interrupted everything as she, and everybody else who saw the video feed, stared at shock at what they saw. Gary had passed over the Arwings, stunning those who happened to see it, and quickly readjusted the controls to get a visual lock. A few seconds later, they found out how bad the situation really was.
The underside of both Arwings was almost red in color from the heat of reentry, wisps of smoke clearly visible streaming away from both craft. As they watched, the retro-rockets of the lead vehicle, which had been firing the entire time to slow them down, burst into flame, ugly black smoke trailing into the early afternoon skyline. Thankfully, the fire-suppression systems were still operational, the flames dying within seconds, but the damage had already been done.
The Arwings no longer had any method to slow down to a decent speed for landing.
Gary's paws flew over his terminal, powering up every emergency generator the base had available, knowing that there was one last chance. If Fox could get the crippled craft to base anyway. "Cyrus, it's all up to you right now. The backup generators have been activated, so draw whatever power you need from them."
The badger was glum as he responded, as he was without any ideas for the moment. "Incase you've forgotten, the tractor beam setup down the launch tunnel is only rated to 900mph, and that's for emergency situations only. The lads are going over 2000 right now according to these readings."
"You have a minute and a half before he gets here, and I have no way to tell him to abort." He looked up at the main viewer again, shaking his head at the conjoined craft, somehow staying together despite all the damage it had taken. "And there's nowhere else for them to land, not at that speed."
Cyrus groaned, knowing that what he said was the truth. It was always one challenge after another for his team. "We'll find a way. Engineering out." He turned and looked at his team, noticing the pair from the medical bay in one corner, ready to get to work. "Lads, 'tis crunch time. We have just over a minute to get the tractors configured to slow both of them, even though they're going double the maximum rated speed of the devices."
He looked at the back wall near one of the elevators, where the craft would come to a very explosive end if they failed. "And if we fail, we all die rather quickly when both of those Arwings explode on impact with the far wall." Smiling, he continued, cracking his knuckles as his mind started to run through possibilities. He trusted his team however, as they all had worked very well together under pressure before. "Let's get to work."
With his retro-rockets a charred mess, Fox desperately searched for other methods to slow the Arwings down. He didn't dare further abuse the G-Diffuser system, as it was the only thing that kept the two craft together. He couldn't exactly turn around at this speed and use the main engine or boosters to reduce his forward momentum, so he was left with very few options. And none of them he could safely implement with Fara's craft attached behind him.
Making sure he was still lined up with the base, he moved his craft from side to side, trying to bleed off some of his excess speed. The Arwing rattled violently with each course correction he made, alarms now blaring constantly around him. It was almost unbearably hot in the cockpit, his fur practically soaked through from the heat, and it left him wondering just how long he, or the craft, could last under these conditions.
The unasked question was answered a few seconds later, as his computer and all the necessary displays he needed to guide his craft in suddenly flashed on and off, failing due to the heat. "Oh no you don't," grumbled Fox as he hit the monitor with his knuckles, the device springing back to life with his actions. If the computer died on him, his hopes of making it home went with it.
Now only 30 seconds away from home, assuming the computer was still accurate, Fox risked a quick glance around him and watched as the ground sped by at amazing speeds, speeds far beyond what the Arwing was meant to obtain in its current condition. He rocketed above one of the many forests on the planet, less than a couple hundred feet above the tallest trees. Based on what he remembered of the area surrounding the base, he was basically home free now, as there were only those trees between him and home.
He continued his approach, slowly cutting back his airspeed from his repeated movements, watching as his ETA timer counted down. He smiled as the computer finally spotted Corneria Base in the distance, sitting on top of a small hill, surrounded by the forest. To say that he was relieved to see home again was an understatement, as at times he never expected to see it again.
Making one last course correction to line himself up with the launch bay, hoping that his Arwing could be stopped, as otherwise this would be his messiest landing ever, the blaring alarms squawked one last time before his computer failed on him with a pitiful chirp. Cursing, but not missing the system much as its usefulness had come to an end once he made sure he was lined up for a landing, every other functional system controlled by the myriad of switches around him, he charged towards a landing.
As he entered the launch bay, he felt the tractor beams make brief grabs at the Arwings, each attempt throwing him against his restraints for an instant. As he quickly progressed further inside, the tugs became more and more insistent, straining him and the craft with each attempt. He began to feel sick, the G-forces jumping up and down more often than a roller coaster, playing havoc with his overheated body.
He shot out into the main bay all too quickly, still going too fast to stop, or at least he thought. With one last attempt before he collided with the far wall, he was grabbed with such force that he almost yelled in pain from being shoved against the straps holding him in. The Arwing creaked and shuddered around him, threatening to fall apart at the seams.
Fox never saw what happened afterwards, as his body fell into blissful unconsciousness, the combination of exhaustion, heat, and G-forces simply too much for him to handle anymore.
