It'd been a week since both General Pepper and Peppy retired and Bill was sworn in as the new commander-in-chief of the Cornerian Army. Ever since the end of the war with the Aparoids, things had been quite in the system. This was probably because everyone was too busy rebuilding their lives. Even though Star Fox now had a ship again, they had nothing to do. It was like they were on an extended vacation.
The Great Fox 2, which everyone just referred to as Great Fox to avoid confusion, was currently flying through Sector X. After the war with Andross, the remains of Andross's secret base were removed and the Cornerian Army built their own space station there. It was the perfect place to have a space station since it could monitor all activity and resupply all ships in that section of the system.
Not only was it a space station, but it was also a shipyard. Currently the majority of the Cornerian Fleet is being rebuilt there. It had luckily avoided destruction during the Aparoid Invasion. This was fortunate since the facility had repaired many vessels damaged during the invasion.
Star Fox had stopped here briefly to stock up on supplies and other things they would need. After all, since they were a mercenary force they could be called into action at any time without having the luxury of stopping someplace to restock. Once they had gotten the stuff they needed, they left the space station and continued onward.
Rob was in the bridge piloting the Great Fox. Everybody else was off doing their own thing. Slippy was down in the hangar bay making some adjustments to the Arwings and Landmasters. Falco meanwhile was in the recreation room playing on the flight simulator. He figured that if he couldn't shoot down enemies in real life, then he'd do it on the simulator.
Fox was walking down the hallway on deck three. He had been surveying the ship from front to back. Every detail was exactly the same. There were only a few differences, besides the apparent ones he had seen the day General Pepper presented it to them, that Fox had found. The engines, weapons, and shields were all much more powerful than those on the original Great Fox, the sensors were far more advanced, and the hull was made out of some new metallic alloy that was stronger and more resilient than any other metal out there.
As Fox was rounding a corner in the hallway, he almost smashed right into Krystal. Luckily they had seen each other in the nick of time and stopped short. Both of them just smiled and let out a little laugh at what had almost happened.
"I've got to be more careful." Fox laughed. "The same thing happened to Bill and I back on Corneria, only we actually did hit each other."
"Well maybe you just need to relax a bit." Krystal commented. "I can tell that ever since Pepper's retirement you've been acting like you've been carrying a heavy burden."
"Yeah, maybe you're right. I have felt a little tense lately. I need something to take my mind off of recent events."
"Well Falco's up in the rec room playing on the simulator. I'm sure he'd much rather vs. another person than the computer."
"It's just not the same as the real thing though."
"Well what are you doing now?"
"Just examining the ship. This was the greatest present Peppy could have ever given us."
"Yeah, it is pretty impressive. I mean, our weapons are the most powerful in the system, our engines can take us places faster than the warp gate, and even though we haven't used them yet, our shields are the strongest yet created. Not only that, but this ship was made with that new metallic alloy. I still can't believe we got all this state-of-the-art equipment for free."
"It won't be long before every ship in the Cornerian Fleet is equipped with this stuff though. The ships that are being built back in Sector X are being equipped with the same stuff and their hulls are being made out of the same metal. Right now the Great Fox is unique, but in a few months it'll just be ordinary. Hey, why are you roaming around the ship?"
"Well actually, I was looking for you. There's something I've been meaning to ask you ever since the retirement ceremony."
"Alert, alert!" Rob's voice boomed over the ship's comm system. "Incoming priority message from Bill."
"Looks like you'll have to ask me later. Come on, let's go."
"Dammit!" Krystal silently cursed. "Every time I'm about to make my move something has to interrupt us."
Krystal quickly hurried up down the hallway and toward the bridge. Within minutes every member of Star Fox was in the bridge awaiting Bill's message. Rob pressed a button on the communications console and a hologram of Bill's head appeared.
"Whoa, so this is what it's like." said Bill. "No wonder General Pepper always liked contacting you guys."
"Bill, what's the problem?" asked Fox.
"Oh, right. Well it seems that we've lost contact with several of our defense satellites in orbit around Venom. Whether they were destroyed or have malfunctioned in some way has yet to be proven. Our forces are spread to thin for me to send anyone out there. I'd like you guys to check it out, and if the satellites were destroyed I want you to be careful. The ones responsible could still be there."
"Don't worry Bill. This is the kind of stuff Star Fox lives for. We'll contact you as soon as we find out what happened."
Bill's head nodded in acknowledgment and vanished. Rob inputted the coordinates for Venom and engaged the new warp engines. Within only a matter of minutes they would be at Venom, so everyone just pulled out a seat and sat down. Each and every one of them was wondering what was going on, and the thought that the Lylat System was under attack was number one on all their minds.
"Rob, make sure you take us out of warp before we reach Venom." said Fox. "If the satellites were destroyed and the ones responsible are still there, then I want us to be able to see them before they see us. Besides, this will be the perfect opportunity to check out our new sensor systems."
"Affirmative. Approaching Venom now. Coming out of warp."
Everyone looked out through the viewport as the streaking lights of distant stars returned to glowing dots; signaling that they were coming out of warp. Once they were fully out of warp, they saw the planet Venom looming before them. They were far enough away so that anyone in orbit around Venom could not detect them on their sensors, but they were close enough so that their new sensors could detect them, or so the operating manual stated. Their sensors had still yet to be tested to their full capacity.
They didn't need the sensors to determine what happened to the defense satellites though. Through the viewport they could see hundreds of ships in orbit around Venom. They were too far away to determine what kind of ships they were or even what they fully looked like, but there was no mistaking it. Fox, Falco, Slippy, and Krystal all just stood up and looked out the viewport stunned, unable to figure out how an armada of this size could have entered the Lylat System undetected.
While they stared out the viewport, Rob activated the sensors and began narrowing in on the ships. The computer determined that there were three different ship classes out there: battle cruisers, starfighters, and transport ships. Rob now narrowed in on the battle cruisers and began downloading their designs into the main computer. As he did this, Fox and the others walked over to see the ship's design.
The battle cruisers were long skinny ships. Only the bridge in the front and the engines in the back made these ships look like something more than just narrow rectangles floating in space. The bridge was a long, vertical rectangle that had a pair of laser cannons on each side. As for the engines, there were eleven in all. They were arranged in three rows with the first and last row having four engines and the middle having three.
By just the engines alone everyone knew these ships were designed for high speeds. They were also able to tell that these ships were designed to dish out a lot of punishment. In addition to the pairs of laser cannons on the sides of the bridge, there were at least a dozen more laser cannons attached to each side of the ship.
These ships were definitely new to Star Fox, but what was even newer was the way they were designed to fight. Every enemy Star Fox ever faced had their weapons on the front of their ships, never the sides. This now meant that these alien vessels had a clear advantage over both Star Fox and the Cornerian Army since they could attack the sides of the ships and receive no damage whatsoever.
When the battle cruiser designs were downloaded into the main computer, Rob switched views from the battle cruisers to the starfighters. As soon as the starfighters came into view, everyone gasped. Except for a few design changes, the enemy starfighters looked exactly like Arwings. They resembled more the original Arwings though than the newer versions that Star Fox was flying now.
"How can this be?" asked Krystal. "Our Arwing designs are top secret, aren't they?"
"Of course they are." stated Slippy definitively. "I haven't even shared these designs with my father."
"They look like the old Arwings though, the ones the original Star Fox team flew." said Fox.
"We'll you're definitely correct there. They are based on the old Arwings, but I can't figure out how they were able to build them or even how they figured out so much about them to add their own modifications."
"Another vessel entering orbit." said Rob. "This one is different. It is being escorted by more battle cruisers. I believe it's the enemy flagship."
Everyone looked back down at the sensor screen as Rob pulled up an enlarged picture of the new ship. Once it appeared, everyone let out another gasp, but this one was more powerful and was followed by a shocked look on all their faces. The new ship resembled the Great Fox, the original one, exactly.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." said Falco. "Something is definitely wrong here, and I don't like it. Them having Arwings is weird enough, but them having the Great Fox also is just too much. I think we should just get out of here, tell Bill what we've seen, and then strike at them with the whole might of the Cornerian Fleet."
"Agreed." said Fox. "Rob, start making the preparations for our jump to war-"
"Hold on a second." said Krystal. "I sense something, something powerful. I've never felt anything like this before, but for some strange reason it seems familiar somehow. I think it may be coming from Venom. Ahhh!"
"Krystal, what's wrong!" Fox exclaimed worriedly as Krystal grabbed her head in her hands and began staggering across the bridge..
"Whatever. . .this power is. . .it's trying. . .to enter my. . .mind. It's. . .too. . .powerful. I can't. . .resist it. . .any. . .longer. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Krystal!"
Krystal let go of her head and collapsed onto the floor. Everyone immediately rushed over. Fox quickly felt for a pulse. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt one, but it didn't do anything to lesson his worry. All he knew right now, or anyone for that matter, was that something had attacked Krystal and she was now in a coma.
"What the hell just happened?" yelled Falco.
"I. . .I don't know." said Slippy.
"Alert, alert." said Rob. "Enemy starfighters are being launched. Enemy ships are approaching. Five minutes before they intercept us."
"Fox, what are we going to do? Fox?"
"Hey man, snap out of it!" said Falco as he waved his hand in front of Fox's face.
"Um, Rob, full reverse. Get us the hell out of here. Also send a priority message to Bill. Tell him about the fleet and request reinforcements."
"Unable to comply. There are communication jammers in orbit around Venom. Without the correct frequency communication is impossible."
"Damn, what else can go wrong!" cursed Falco.
"I don't think we want to stick around to find out." said Fox. "Rob, set a course for Macbeth. We'll be leading the enemy there, but at least they'll have us as some sort of warning rather than a surprise attack. Falco, you and I will get in our Arwings and take the fight to them. Slippy, get Krystal to the medical bay and then come out and join us. Let's move it people.
Rob made the necessary adjustments and the Great Fox headed toward Macbeth at full speed. Both Fox and Falco wasted no time in getting to their Arwings and launching before the first of the enemy ships reached them. They quickly destroyed the four lead fighters that had caught up to the Great Fox and then just stopped. They didn't want to get too far away from the Great Fox.
"Remember Falco, they may be using outdated Arwings, but that still doesn't make them any less lethal."
"Don't worry about me. You just make sure you keep your head in the game. I don't feel like having to save you when I have a hundred fighters on my tail."
"How about we stop bickering amongst ourselves and save the fighting for the enemy?" said Slippy just as he launched his Arwing. "Here they come."
The three of them looked at the enemy fleet chasing them. There were five battle cruisers and several hundred starfighters. Fox, Falco, and Slippy just stayed near the back of the Great Fox. They knew they had no chance up against that many ships, especially when they didn't know what surprises they had in store. They decided to just let the enemy come to them and hope that reinforcements from Macbeth would show up shortly.
When the enemy starfighters got close enough, they went to attack speed and engaged Fox, Falco, and Slippy. The three of them split up so as not to have the entire fleet following all three of them. Seven of the enemy fighters immediately began following Slippy. Fox and Falco were in no position to help, so he began zigzagging and barrel rolling around the Great Fox. He worried that one of them might crash into the Great Fox, but he figured that the shields should hold.
Fox barrel rolled as the fighter chasing him shot his lasers. The lasers bounced off harmlessly and Fox did a somersault. He came up right behind the stunned pilot and fired, destroying the enemy ship. Fox didn't have time to relax though. Three more fighters appeared and began attacking Fox from all sides. Fox pulled up and down and turned left and right just to avoid all the lasers being shot at him.
Falco saw the fighters swarming fox and boosted toward him. He came with lasers blasting and destroyed all three ships, as well as saying the usual 'you owe me' over the comm. Fox let out a sigh, but it was shot lived as he once again had to dodge lasers, this time bigger ones. The five battle cruisers were finally in attack range and they were firing their forward cannons at the Great Fox. So far the rear shields of the Great Fox were holding out, but Fox didn't want to think about how long it would be before they failed.
Falco saw this also and turned to face the battle cruisers. He then boosted toward them at full speed. Fox saw this and questioned Falco, but he gave no reply. As far as Fox could tell, he was on a suicide dive toward the cruisers. Falco was pushing his engines to the limits, so he kept taking a peek at his monitors to make sure they didn't burnout. That was the last thing he could afford right now.
Enemy starfighters were now beginning to swarm all over Falco. They obviously didn't want any harm to come to their battle cruisers. With Falco's engines pushed to the limit though, the starfighters could not catch up. By the time Falco got close to the battle cruisers, he had somewhere between fifteen to twenty starfighters chasing him.
Falco eased up on the engines a bit to prevent a total burnout and flew right between two of the battle cruisers. The battle cruisers didn't fire their side weapons only because they didn't want to accidently hit each other. When Falco reached the end of the battle cruisers he quickly did a u-turn and fired a smart bomb. The smart bomb detonated between the two battle cruisers taking out all the starfighters chasing him and damaging five engines each on the battle cruisers.
That maneuver slowed the two battle cruisers down a bit, but even with five out of their eleven engines gone they were still pretty speedy. Falco cursed that he didn't do more damage and started making his way back toward the others. His engines were somewhat damaged by that move so he could no longer boost. He had no choice but to regroup with the others at normal speed.
Fox took out two more starfighters and saw the brilliant flash that was Falco's smart bomb. A smile crept over his face when he realized exactly what Falco had done. In his distraction though, one of the starfighters flew in from above and fired. Fox's Arwing shook as the shields tried to absorb the damage. Fox fought for control, but one last shake knocked the Arwing out of control. When Fox finally regained control he looked over and saw that his right wing had been blasted away.
Fox knew that he had no chance of surviving with a busted Arwing and the enemy literally swarming all over the place. His only hope was to go back and dock with the Great Fox, hop into Krystal's Arwing, and rejoin the battle. Fox turned his Arwing to face the Great Fox and boosted. The starfighter that had blasted Fox's wing off though, wasn't going to let him get away that easily. He gave chase, and so did a few others.
Fox swerved his ship as best he could under the circumstances, but he knew that his shields wouldn't last forever. All of a sudden, a bunch of alarms went off inside Fox's cockpit. Fox had been locked onto by one of the starfighters. Fox's only chance of survival was to eject and hope that he wouldn't be blasted while floating in space.
As Fox reached for the ejection lever, a bunch of laser shots flew over Fox's ship and destroyed the ships chasing him. Fox looked up and saw Slippy. Slippy had managed to destroy five of the seven ships that were chasing him, but the last two were very persistent and closing in on him. Fox decided to return the favor and began maneuvering his Arwing to target the two starfighters chasing Slippy.
Before Fox was halfway through his turn though, dozens of lasers streaked past obliterating those two starfighters as well as several others that were close by. Fox looked down at his scanner and saw there were over a dozen new targets. Fox looked back up and saw that those new targets were Cornerian starfighters as they flew past his Arwing.
While the Cornerian starfighters engaged the enemy, Fox turned his ship around again and headed back toward the Great Fox. As he did he saw the planet Macbeth looming in front of him. As Fox flew away from the engagement zone, his control panel started beeping indicating that there was an incoming message.
"This is Fox. What is it?"
"Incoming message from Macbeth." stated Rob.
"Patch it through."
"This is Commander Rex, the person in charge of the Macbeth supply base and starfighter shipyards."
"It's good to hear your voice commander. As you can see we've got our hands full up here."
"Yes, I know. That is why I am ordering you and the rest of Star Fox to head to Sector X."
"What! But you've got to be kidding. No offense, but you guys don't have enough ships our defenses to protect yourselves from a fleet of this size. You're only hope is if we stay and fight with you."
"I appreciate your offer, but your pilots are weary and your ships damaged. You must head to Sector X and warn Corneria."
"But can't you guys send a message for reinforcements?"
"No, we lost communications a few days ago. Now that I see this fleet I am convinced it was sabotage. Now get going. Don't worry about us. We're already evacuating the bases. We'll meet you guys at Sector X shortly. Commander Rex over and out."
"Dammit! Slippy, Falco, head back to the Great Fox. We're moving out."
"You want us to leave!" yelled Falco. "But what about Macbeth?"
"You have your orders Falco. We're retreating to Sector X."