And the assault upon Venom finally starts. That's if our pilots can get there in one piece, anyway. Look for the team's journey through the Black Hole, as well as a few more random lines from the comics, inside this chapter.
Sean - unfortunately, this is my only writing as of right now. Will I be writing more after this story is (finally) finished? That is still to be determined.
Didymus - don't worry, I'm not rushing through these chapters. I'm starting to get more free time on my hands (blame a boring job), so you should be seeing new updates a bit more often.
Janus - as far as any connections to Star Fox: Assault go, this story was mostly imagined before SF64 believe it or not. It's just taken this long to finally get to virtual paper. An interesting thought, though.
Chapter 40: The Final Assault Revisited
This is it. I will not let Andross stop me a second time. – Fox
Was this the right move to make? There's no guarantees we'll live through this, but I can't let Fox go alone either. – Fara
Does that damn fool seriously think he can hog all the glory by going alone? No chance in hell. – Falco
While I might have lived a good, long life so far, the others are still too young. I hope we get through this one alive. – Peppy
Why can't I fly? I'm getting sick back here! – Slippy
General Pepper sat quietly in the command center with a cup of coffee in one paw. While it was the middle of the afternoon, he hadn't been sleeping well lately thanks to his concerns about the war and needed the caffeine jolt to continue through his day. He was looking out one of the base's many windows when two Arwings suddenly shot past.
His confusion as to why there were only the two craft only grew as Celine yelled, "Unauthorized Arwing launch!"
"What?" he roared. "Who?"
"Unknown, sir!"
"Then find out!"
"Sir, I'm trying—" She was interrupted as the other two craft rocketed past, chasing after the first pair. It took her a few seconds of repeated requests into her headset before she got an answer. "Engineering reports it's the Starfox team!"
"Then—"
"All five pilots!"
That left Pepper dumbfounded, as not only was Fox supposed to be in his cell still as far as he knew, but there were only the four craft. How could all five pilots be flying?
"I'm gonna croak back here! Let me fly!"
Peppy spared only a moment's glance towards the greener than usual toad before returning his view towards the front. There was no way he was going to let Slippy fly, not with the difficulties ahead of them. "Just hold still and breathe less. We have limited oxygen!"
"I can't believe it!" complained Falco, leading the trio. "I don't see Fox anywhere on radar. He must be at the Black Hole by now!"
"We'll get there in plenty of time," replied the hare. "They can't take on the whole planet by themselves."
"Yeah, you're right. As always."
"Thanks." As the communication ended, Peppy took another look at his teammate and hoped his stomach would stay together. Otherwise, this would be a very long flight.
The navigation buoys floated past the speeding Arwings, continuously broadcasting their warnings to anybody who'd listen to them. These pilots were in no mood to follow their orders however, as they had a mission to do.
"Fara, are you sure—"
"Damn yes I'm sure." She'd quickly grown tired of Fox's attempts to get her to turn back. It was clear he wanted her out of harm's way, but there was no chance of her going back now. His safety was too important to her.
Fox sighed. Short of him attacking his teammate, there was no way he was going to chase her off. And that was an option that he'd never employ. Not to her. "All right then." He looked at his computer monitor and looked at the modifications the engineers had done to their craft. "Fire up the enhanced G-Diffusers."
Smiling slightly at his resignation, she did as she was told. "G-Diffusers are reporting 242 normal efficiency. Modified shielding is reporting green as well."
"Good." He looked into the depths of space where the poorly named Black Hole lie not too far in front of them. Ignoring the alarms that started to blare, warning him of the proximity of the hazard, he said quietly, "Let's do this."
Firing their boosters, the two Arwings charged towards their destination. For a brief moment, a swirling array of colors was visible around them, as if waiting to engulf the pilots in its depths. A second later they vanished, the space they were occupying quickly returning to normal, leaving no trace of their passing.
Andross sat quietly in his command center as usual, smiling over his recent luck. Corneria's advance had come to complete halt thanks to his defensive fleet. He knew that there was no way the pitiful craft would get past them to threaten his base below.
Unfortunately, those ships were constructed very hastily to provide such a defense, and as thus, were missing many of the options that usually made them self-sufficient. Their lack of a large fuel capacity was their primary weakness, as well as insufficient storage for their missiles, but it was one that only needed a short resupply trip back at base.
Which is what the craft were doing at that very moment.
"Status report," ordered Andross into his headset.
"Sir, the Victory, the Alliance, and the Warlord are on their way to dock for refueling. ETA is approximately 5 minutes. The—"
"I don't need their names," he interrupted with a growl. As it was, he wasn't pleased that all nine of his battleships had to land at the same time, but he also understood the reason. Any number fewer than the ones that faced the Starfox team earlier would simply be a waste, as the pilots could obliterate them with little risk to themselves. "How soon?"
The lizard on the other end sounded nervous. "Before they're in the skies again, sir?"
"I'm not going to even answer that question."
The creature knew that this terse statement was Andross' only warning before things turned very bad for him. "Sir, approximately 10 minutes for the first trio, 30 for the second, and 50 for the third."
"That better be accurate, for your sake."
"They're working as fast as they can, sir."
"It'll be your hide if they aren't."
"Yes, sir. Anything else?"
"No. Andross out." With a sigh, he cut the communication and wished that he wasn't surrounded by such incompetence. He also hated feeling utterly defenseless, as without those battleships, there was little left to stop the Arwings. At least they weren't on their way, or so he thought.
Looking over the system map on one monitor, he figured that the Arwings didn't have the fuel capacity to reach Venom from their home base, hence their refueling on Katina. While his spy network was far from what it used to be ever since the Lylat system started fighting back, he knew it was still sufficient to inform him of any further landings by the pilots.
If there was only some way of utilizing the many satellites that Corneria had scattered throughout the system…
Nobody had ever seen the insides of a wormhole before. Not even the lone probe that had made it through had transmitted any details of what lay inside before it was crippled beyond operation. The team just knew that somehow it led through to Venom, and that a simple, defenseless probe had survived the trip.
To say that they were unprepared for what lay beyond the invisible entrance was an understatement.
The peaceful, quiet darkness of space dissolved into an assault on the visual senses for Fox and Fara, stunning them as to the drastic difference in such a short length of time. Swirls of seemingly random color were visible no matter where they looked, their chaotic streams painful to glance at for more than a single second.
Desperately the vulpine looked for a way to freedom, or at least to some place where it didn't hurt to just look around. While he had a relatively cast-iron stomach, he knew that he couldn't take much more of this. And if he couldn't take it, he had no idea how Fara was faring behind him.
Suddenly, she cried out his name and jolted him out of his search. "Fox! Look to your left!"
His head jerked to the side and tried to track down what had her attention. It didn't take long before he noticed what she did, drawing a gasp of surprise from the vulpine.
It was a lone craft floating dead in space. While that alone might not had been all that unusual, based on the number of unmanned vehicles they'd tossed into the Black Hole once it was formed, the ship was of a design that Fox would never forget as long as he lived.
It was the same type of craft that his father used so long ago.
Looking closely as it slowly spun in place, he could make out certain designs and markings on the ship's hull, marred as it was from what looked like stress damage. There was only one craft that had the same paint job. It was one that he'd recognize anywhere.
It was his father's old Gazer ship.
The one that he'd used when he vanished so long ago.
"That…that…" Far more important things drew his attention, as his ship unexpectedly rocked and an alarm blared in his ears.
Before he could identify what it was, Fara had already piped in with the answer, sounding nothing like her usual, calm self. "The G-Diffusers are overloading! We have to get out of here!"
"I'm trying!" He ripped his eyes away from his unexpected find and resumed his search in the swirling vortex of colors, still unable to find anything resembling an exit from this visual hell. His computer was next to worthless, unable to differentiate one part of space from the next. "I can't find a way out!"
Fox began to panic, the Arwing's alarm rising in intensity as his own tensions increased. Had he made his last incorrect decision? Was this his final few moments alive? Would he end up just like his father did?
Fate had other plans.
To the vulpine's utter amazement, a ghostly apparition of James McCloud's upper body appeared some distance in front of him, his paws cupping a bright, white light that appeared out of nowhere. "Father!" he exclaimed incredulously.
Fara stared at where Fox's Arwing pointed and tried to figure out what he'd seen. As far as she could tell, there was nothing but more of the same crazy colors that had caused an instant headache as soon as she'd entered. Had her teammate finally flipped? She hoped not, as otherwise they would not be getting out of this situation alive.
The spirit began speaking, but not by any communication known to Fox. Instead, it was as if James was speaking directly into his head. "Fox, my son, follow me. I'll lead you to safety."
"But…"
He got no further response from his father, short of him gesturing towards what looked to be the only way out, breaking out into a huge smile that only a father could give to one's son. Having seen no better option, or any other way out at all, he punched the boosters and hurtled towards the light.
Fara noticed Fox sped off without warning and she quickly throttled up to follow. She had no idea why her teammate was leaving in such a hurry, but she had no intention on losing him in this psychotic smear of a painter's palette.
Suddenly, both pilots could see what looked to be the exit, a halo of white light surrounding the peaceful darkness of what looked to be normal space. Wasting no further time, as their Arwings were threatening to fall apart without any notice, the pair dove through and vanished in a brief flash of light.
"Pepper, there's still no report on the Arwings, just like how there wasn't thirty seconds ago."
"Damn it!"
Gary and the General were both staring intently at the monitor that contained the data for the spy probes, anxiously waiting for any updates as to the Arwing's status. Celine stood idly by as well, hoping against hope that their mission to simply arrive at Venom would be successful.
Pepper couldn't believe that he'd allowed this near-suicide mission. There had to be a much more logical way of advancing upon Andross' home, but after the team's failed mission, no ideas had come to mind. If this plan worked, it would be the perfect way to get a jump upon Venom's defenses, but if it failed… He shuddered, not even wanting to think about the consequences.
Sitting back in his chair, rubbing his temples to block out the headache that was threatening to form thanks to the General's constant insistence on information, Gary thought through the mission. While there might have been better ways to approach the overall goal, he would have actually gone with Fox's plan had he been in his boots. He simply understood his reasoning, as skewed as it was.
A low tone brought everyone's attention back to the monitor. Verifying the data, the cheetah exclaimed, "General, we've picked up two Arwings over Venom!"
Celine cheered as Pepper simply nodded, the large smile on his face betraying his true feelings. "Junior does it again – they've survived the Black Hole. Outstanding news."
"That it is."
Pepper looked around the room and noticed the peace and quiet, realizing the hell that the pilots would be going through shortly. "Now to wait for the others, and wait and see if they can finish this war."
"That is the more difficult mission I'm afraid."
"Yes." He sighed. "May the Creator continue watching over our saviors."
If Gary was surprised to hear the General invoke the Creator's name once more, he didn't say anything. Instead, he silently added a few thoughts of his own.
The nauseating swirls of colors quickly vanished into the normal darkness of space, one populated by the usual pinpricks of light, each one holding a possibility of life. One such star was staring the Arwing pilots in the face.
That star was Venom.
As Fox gaped at the planet, amazed that his latest plan had worked, Fara said excitedly, "We made it! How'd you find the way out?"
"My…my Father!" he stuttered, still in shock over what he'd seen. "He…I mean, I…"
The vixen was now more worried than she'd been before as he drifted off to silence. "Fox, are you okay?"
"Didn't…didn't you see him? It was my father!"
"I just followed you into the light. I didn't see anyone!"
Fox closed his eyes and blocked the tears that were threatening to form. There would be time to think over what he thought he saw, and this was not it. "I see." Opening them again, he looked around and noticed the lack of any other ships in the area. Where were the battleships that they encountered before? Was this attack plan truly a surprise?
They were going to find out shortly.
"Let's do this, Fara."
"Lead on."
A series of alarms brought Andross' head whipping around, stopping what was a peaceful afternoon. Scanning the monitors, he quickly found the source of his troubles, and looked upon the data in momentary shock. Before he had the chance to think further, his headset squawked, the panic in the lizard's voice clearly heard. "Sir, the—"
"I know," he interrupted, his tone deathly calm. "Where did they come from?"
"I…I…"
"Spit it out!"
"They just…appeared out of nowhere!"
"You imbecile!" He knew that while the Arwings had many advantages over his own craft, appearing out of thin air were not one of them. Or if it was, it was a power that he had to possess for his own use. "Launch the battleships then!"
"We…we can't!"
Andross' paws slammed hard onto a nearby table, the surface surprisingly holding together from his rage. "Why…don't answer that." Tired of the lizard's stupidity, he dug into the creature's mind via his telepathic powers and found the answer in a matter of moments.
The lizard dropped to his knees, clutching his head in pain from having the answer practically raped from his mind. "Sir…p-please…"
"I should have done this long ago." Looking into the monitor that displayed the control room where the useless creature was, Andross concentrated and brought the full brunt of his mental prowess to bear. The lizard was suddenly lifted into the air, flipped upside down, and was propelled towards the lone large window at a frighteningly high rate of speed.
The creature screamed as the glass shattered, sending him tumbling towards the ground far below. The other lizards nearby ignored their companion's prompt termination, hoping that if they didn't pay any attention to what happened, they'd live a much longer life.
Closing his eyes from the strain of using his telekinetic powers without tapping into his Amplifier first, Andross thought through what he needed to do next. There were plenty of things for him to do if he wanted any possibility of defending his planet, but he did have one advantage – he knew what the Starfox team needed to do if they were to have a chance of their own.
He'd prepared for many eventualities over the time he'd been ruler of Venom. Even more so once Corneria started its counterattack. The pilots' overall goal was one of them. All he needed to do was to set a few additional plans in motion…
The Arwings streaked over Venom's surface and charged towards their destination. The few hostile craft that they'd encountered so far put up little organized resistance, but they both knew that would change quickly once they reached the capital.
They just didn't realize how quickly.
Without warning, the skies around the pair lit up from laser fire, speeding past and occasionally striking the craft. The pilots broke away from each other, spinning slightly in an attempt to dodge the incoming fire. "Laser towers!" said Fara as she pointed out the obvious.
"I see them," replied Fox, surprisingly calm. "Follow my lead."
The two craft sped on and dodged the incoming shots best they could. As they neared, their own blasters lit up, retaliating with a far more devastating effect. It took only a few shots per turret before they detonated, flames and debris shooting into the afternoon sky.
They shot over the smoking rubble a few seconds later and entered the city proper. From afar, it looked to be smaller than Corneria City, but on a far lower technological level based on the buildings and construction. The local airborne populace scattered as they flew overhead, dodging the occasional hidden turret or armed craft.
"What's our goal?" asked Fara. "You know the main base here is shielded."
"It…crap, you're right." He shook his head and tried to figure out how he'd forgotten the overall goals of attacking Venom in the excitement earlier.
"We'll find a way," she said, interrupting his thoughts as she noticed his silence. Suddenly tired of the hostile craft currently trying to chase them, she spun her Arwing around and opened fire, obliterating her targets within seconds. Smiling at her handiwork, she turned back around and ignited the boosters to catch up to her teammate.
Fox never had a chance to compliment her piloting skill as his sensors detected someone nearby that he didn't expect to see. "Falco? How?"
The avian moved into position nearby, raining firepower on anything he could see in the process. "When have I ever missed a party, Fox?"
"A good point." As much as he didn't want to see his teammates right now, especially after the incident earlier in the day, he was grateful for their assistance. "How'd you get here?"
Peppy interrupted the pair, having far more important things to do than listen to useless banter as he dropped in behind the group. "Fox, we've spotted what looks to be the battleships from before nearby."
"Lovely."
"They look to be refueling however."
Fox raised his eyes in surprise. He'd been looking forward to a rematch ever since he lost the fight against them earlier. "Interesting. If you'd pass the info on, it looks like Fara and I have a bit of revenge to enact."
"Already done. We'll let you know when we're finished."
"Make sure you kick their asses," stated Falco. He'd already accepted the fact that he'd be following Peppy. While he didn't like it, he knew he had little choice in the matter.
"We will. Come on, Fara."
"Let's kick ass."
The defenders of Venom valiantly tried to put up a resistance, but without any heavier support from the currently docked battleships, they were getting blown apart as quickly as they could launch. The Starfox team knew this and pressed their advantage as best they could.
With a squeeze of the trigger, another pair of bolts lanced out from Fox's Arwing and permanently disabled yet another hostile craft. It tumbled out of the sky and crashed into the street below, the local populace scattering from the explosion.
Fara opened fire upon a triad of craft that rose up from some hidden launch bay, sending them scattering. One fighter misjudged the size of his craft as he clipped a wing against a nearby building, sending it falling to the ground. The other pair was vaporized just as easily, the ships being little more than easy target practice for the seasoned pilot.
Falco and Peppy were having the same successes, but they were mostly facing automated defenses instead of live fighters. Even though the skies above the city were brightened with laser fire, the pilots nimbly worked their way towards their goal, turrets exploding on the simplest of whims.
"I've spotted our goal," said Fox, shooting through the debris of his latest opponent. "I count six…seven…all nine battleships. Looks like they're refueling from here."
Some distance ahead of them, the battleships lay docked on giant metal supports, originally used to hold the craft together when they were constructed. Multiple flexible tubes stretched behind them, hooked into what looked to be fuel towers. Taking no risks, turrets covered the landscape and buildings nearby, and combined with the operational guns on the battleships, it made attacking a very risky proposition.
The pilots knew that no matter the odds however, they had to attack now and make sure that no craft survived.
"That…that's a lot of guns down there." Fara looked over her sensor data best she could as she advanced, dodging the occasional enemy fire.
"That it is."
She wasn't going to let something as simple as that stop her however. "Tell me what to shoot at."
Fox smiled, glad to hear that she was fully supporting this assault, even though the odds looked to be anything but good. If even a single battleship got off the ground and unloaded its compliment of fighters, they'd be in serious trouble, and he knew it. He targeted what looked to be the fuel canisters as he said, "Looks like fuel to you in those, right?"
"Yeah."
"You take this one, and I'll get this one."
"Chain reaction via Nova Bomb through all that fuel, right?"
They simply didn't have the firepower necessary to take down the battleships, as they were too far apart to target multiple craft with a single Nova Bomb, so he hoped that detonating the fuel dumps would get the ships connected to them. "You got it."
"Seems sound." Short of the multitude of automated defenses that would be shooting at them, this mission seemed simple enough to her. Just get in, launch a Nova Bomb, and run. The difficult part would be getting there in one piece. "Good luck."
"You too."
Splitting apart, the two pilots searched for the best way to approach their target as they steeled themselves for what lay ahead.
"I've spotted the power plant."
Swerving away from his latest destroyed hostile, Falco glanced over at what Peppy had targeted and eyed the defenses in the area. "I see it. Follow me and shoot at anything I miss."
As the hare moved into position, he glanced back at his passenger. Slippy had quieted down completely as they flew through Venom's atmosphere, and it had left him worried as to how well he was holding up. Seeing his concern, the toad just smiled weakly, nodding to show that he was all right. Returning his view forward, he said, "Falco, make sure you—"
"I know," he grumbled in response. "I'll try to not hit the damn plant."
Wasting no further time, the pair charged towards their target, Falco in the lead. He skillfully targeted every turret he could get a clear shot at, spinning and swerving out of the way of any return fire. Peppy followed best he could, taking the occasional potshot at whatever his teammate somehow missed, and fired at the ships that threatened their flight path.
It took a few minutes, but the lightshow in the skies began to quiet down. The few remaining hostiles sputtered the occasional laser shot as the Arwings flew by, but it was very clear that they were no longer a threat. Falco laughed as another turret exploded and littered the ground with its remains. "All too easy."
"Are we clear?"
Glancing around, the avian tried to answer that question. There wasn't anything on his radar, but that didn't always tell the truth as far as any hidden craft went that might be in the area. "Looks like it, but let me check."
"Okay. We're proceeding towards our landing zone."
Knowing that Peppy could take care of himself, at least for a little bit, Falco shot towards the skies, as he wanted a birds-eye view of the surrounding area. It didn't take him long before he spotted another wave of fighters advancing on their target, hoping to sneak up on the pilots. "Go on and land. I see a group coming your way, but I got them."
"Understood. Don't damage too many buildings in our absence."
"Shove it." Hearing the communication click off, Falco lazily spun towards the ground and lined himself up for the upcoming battle. With a grin plastered on his face, he charged towards his targets and opened up with his blasters as soon as he got into range.
Two hostiles detonated by the time he shot past them, the rest scattering as quickly as they could. The avian laughed manically as chased them down, whipping between, around, and through buildings, making sure not a single craft got out of his sights. In short, it was a battle that the enemy had no chance whatsoever in winning.
Listening in on the hoots and hollers of delight from their teammate, Peppy brought his Arwing to a landing into what looked to be a covered parking garage of some sort. Short of his own craft, the lot was completely empty, which worried him. But he had other concerns on his mind at that moment, so he gave it little thought.
After checking to make sure that there was nobody around, he powered down his craft. He glanced at the atmospheric conditions in the area before popping the hatch. While it wasn't something he'd want to breathe the rest of his life, they'd be okay for the short length of time they'd be outside.
"Are we leaving?" whined Slippy from behind him, grateful for the rocking and swaying of the ship to come to an end.
"Yes. Get your gear and let's do this."
Meanwhile, the other Arwings were rapidly approaching their destination, Nova Bombs at the ready. There was only one problem. "I can't get close enough!" yelled Fara.
Fox looked past the horde of fighters and turrets that kept up an almost constant stream of laser fire, seeing his objective buried underneath. They'd tried multiple times to strike the fuel tanks, but every attempt had ended in failure. He banked hard to the right and lost the hostile on his tail as he replied. "I know!"
Wishing that there was some cover near the refueling point, instead of the open terrain that surrounded it on all sides, Fara spotted what looked to be a temporary gap in the defenses. Wasting no time, she charged forward and lined up to fire a Nova Bomb. Turret fire began pounding against her shields, but she shrugged off the blows, her defenses capable of taking the beating for the moment.
Grinning at the carnage she was about to create, she fired, pulling away as her computer started yelling about the condition of her shields. Boosters flaring as she got some distance away, she swerved around to survey the damage.
She was to be rather upset at the outcome.
The Nova Bomb streaked through the sky, its brilliant light a stark contrast to the greenish haze that engulfed the rest of the planet. Seconds before impact, a random fighter happened to cross the path the deadly weapon was taking, the ball of energy striking it head on.
She cursed as the Nova Bomb exploded, vaporizing a few craft that happened to be in the area. It was more than far enough away from its intended target to be nothing but a wasted shot. "Damn it!"
Fox had watched the whole thing, shaking his head as to the aftermath. They were not going to win this fight, not this way. And as soon as one of those battleships got into the skies… "Fara, break off and go vertical. I have an idea."
"Okay."
The two Arwings rocketed into the skies and quickly gained altitude. Before long, the hostiles trailing behind them broke off, unable to keep up with the pair. As the last of the turret fire ended, Fox leveled off, his craft pushing through the thick cloud cover that surrounded the planet. "Nice try at least."
Fara flipped upside down and tried to get a view of the ground below. She gave up after a few seconds, unable to see anything but the clouds around her. "Yeah. What's your plan?"
"Have a Nova Bomb recharged?"
"I do."
"We'll attack from above then. Launch as close to point-blank as we can get."
"Deal. Lead on."
Whipping his Arwing towards the ground, Fox fired his boosters, weapons at the ready. After a moment, Fara followed suit and hurried to catch up.
The clouds swirled around their craft, as if trying to hold them back. Their shields flared up as they continued to accelerate, the particulates and other fine debris bursting into brief flashes of light as they struck the defensive barrier.
Finally, the clouds parted, revealing the bleak view of corrupted land and steel. As expected, directly below them lay their target, the multitude of turrets and fighters currently pointed elsewhere. It looked like their surprise was going to work.
Suddenly, one of the defenders noticed the speeding Arwings and moved to intercept. The turrets responded in kind, their bolts of deadly energy spewing into the skies. The pilots dodged as best as could, but they had too much speed built up, drastically limiting their mobility.
As they neared, they watched in awe as the giant fuel tubes jerked from the side of the battleships, as if a giant hand had taken hold of them, not caring as to the consequences. Little did they know it was Andross using his telekinetic powers from afar, dislodging the tubes far faster than any of his workers could do. Fuel began pouring onto the ground as the battleships fired up their engines, giant girders and thrust deflection plates keeping the fire away from the now volatile area.
Their goals in sight, the pair continued their dive. Fox shook his head as his computer began warning him about his excessive rate of decent. He just hoped that the G-Diffuser system would hold his Arwing together when he pulled out of his dive. At least Fara didn't say anything about this plan, so he assumed that it would work.
Looking at the rapidly approaching planet surface, Fara wondered if the G-Diffusers would hold up to the stress they were about to put them through in a matter of moments. While they were designed to modify the forces of gravity around the craft, they'd never been tested to these extremes. In theory it would work, but it was only that.
Their path of travel obvious to even the most clueless of Venomian soldiers, laser fire began pummeling the Arwings, their shields straining to block both the attacks and the heat buildup from plowing through the atmosphere. They couldn't abort their assault now, nor could they dare fire this far away. This had to succeed, or else they were all doomed.
Fox winced as another series of shots impacted against his defenses, weakening them to the point where the low shield alarm began blaring in his ear. A quick check of his computer system informed him that Fara was in just as bad of shape. Left with very few options, he rolled from side to side and tried to make himself a moving target.
Ignoring her own wailing alarm, Fara looked at the fuel container looming bigger and bigger with every second. If she fired now, it looked like she would have a clear shot, but she didn't dare take the chance. Another failure could easily cost the entire mission and she knew it.
A few seconds passed before the vulpine knew that they were about as close as they were going to get. "Ready?"
A pair of shots struck the underside of her Arwing as she responded. It wouldn't take many more before she was defenseless. "Yeah."
As far as he could tell, there wasn't any craft prepared to intercept their shots, but he wanted to make sure. "On my mark." He paused and looked around, ignoring his computer as it warned him of his shields' imminent collapse. He wanted the perfect shot. "Mark."
Like twin suns, the Nova Bombs launched from the Arwings, their aim true. Desperately, both pilots pulled back on their control sticks, knowing of the fiery inferno they were going to be flying through if they didn't. Their craft rattled as the G-Diffuser system was pushed to its limits, outright breaking the laws of physics as it attempted to follow the pilot's commands.
The blazing balls of energy hurtled towards their target, nothing blocking their path short of the turret fire that passed through harmlessly. Almost simultaneously, the Nova Bombs struck their targets, setting off a chain reaction that would go down in the annuals of history.
The highly concentrated fuel detonated instantly, creating a fireball so massive that it engulfed the already gigantic blast radius of the Nova Bombs themselves. The superheated fuel inside the tubes going to the docked battleships burst into flame and turned the rubber tubing into slag. Moments after the initial explosion, the fuel stored in the tanks of the craft erupted from the heat, the battleships themselves vaporizing under their own blazing inferno.
The lone battleship that had gotten off of its platform was tossed like a brick from the shockwave of the blast, hurled forward by the displaced air. Just as quickly, it crashed back onto the ground, the pilot unable to compensate from the extreme forces happening around it. Its hull cracked open like an egg and permanently disabled the craft beyond repair.
Fox was propelled forward, his high-speed Arwing unable to escape the shockwave either. Alarms blared as he desperately tried to maintain control of his ship, knowing that a single mistake right now would cost him his craft, if not his life. His ship creaked and groaned, pushed beyond its design specs, the creators having never imagined the stress it was experiencing right now.
With one final, jarring lurch, he escaped into a far less turbulent atmosphere. Wiping the accumulated sweat off his furred brow, he fired up the retros and made a wide, graceful turn to see the damage below. As he looked, he contacted Fara. "Fara, come in."
He was not prepared for the massacre that lay before him.
The once sandy floor had turned to glass in spots from the heat and pressure of the explosion, presenting a solid surface in which the death and destruction lie exposed for anybody to see. Charred remains of the eight battleships that used to be docked were strewn across a mile radius, many of the larger pieces still burning, throwing a thick, black smoke into the sky.
Left utterly stunned at the total devastation, unable to comprehend at the number of deaths he'd caused with a single touch of a button, he didn't realize that his communicator had remained quiet the entire time. Tearing his eyes away from the ground, he began looking around for the other Arwing as he quickly grew worried. "Fara, this is Fox. Report your status."
Nothing.
He scanned the skies, unable to see much short of the smoking debris in the area around him. He was about to attempt to try a third time when he received a garbled jumble of static over his headset. Unable to trace the source of the message, he assumed the best. "Fara, is that you?"
The static interfered more often than not, but it began to clear up and eventually resolved into her voice. "Fox…there…minute…"
His computer chirped in, letting him know that it had located Fara's transponder signal once more, giving him a location of the missing Arwing. He made another pass over the destruction and smiled as he spotted his teammate. "Welcome back."
Her voice popped and stuttered, making him wonder if there was something wrong with her craft. "Thanks. Damn… Did we make a mess or what?"
Fox looked at the carnage again and tried his best to put it out of his mind. Now was not the time to feel guilty for those he had slaughtered so easily. "Yeah. Something wrong with your Arwing? Your signal is breaking up."
She dove towards the ground, wanting a better look at the devastation below. "Lots of interference from…debris."
"Ah." He nodded, now understanding why he wasn't getting a signal from the other Arwings. "Come on, let's see how the others are doing."
"Right behind you."
It didn't take the pair long before they reached Andross' tower, looking nothing like the buildings situated around it. It rose multiple stories into the sky, bristling with weapon mounts of all shapes and sizes, covering every possible angle of attack. It looked like it was capable of defending itself against the Arwings, if not a small portion of Venom's overall fleet. There was just one oddity that left the pilots stumped.
The base's defenses were completely offline.
"Fox, I don't like this."
"And you think I do?" The vulpine looked around and found it extremely strange that not only was their target undefended, but there wasn't a hostile anywhere in the area. "Any ideas?"
"It's a trap."
He laughed at Fara's statement of the obvious. "Of course it is."
She fiddled with her communication settings before she continued, giving up with a sigh. "I still can't raise the other two."
"Still too much interference?"
"Yeah. It started when we wasted those battleships. Don't know why though." She paused and looked around at the eerie silence. It was starting to worry her more than the overwhelming odds earlier. "What do we do?"
Fox was slow in responding as he thought through his options. "Peppy and Falco must've done their objective, as this thing is unshielded. So there's only one thing we can do."
"We're going in."
"Yes."
