1532 Hours, 12/9/2434
Holding Cell B-094, Underground complex
Somewhere on planet Venom, Lylat System
The blackness slowly drained from James' vision, though it was only replaced with distorted, grotesque images. He blinked a few times and was rewarded with a slightly clearer picture. He felt like he was spinning, even though he suddenly became aware he was lying down.
He slowly turned his head, which only caused the room to spin even more. Each object became a blurry, oddly colored blob. James took a few deep breaths and blinked again. Finally, his periphery cleared.
James became aware of his surroundings. He was lying on the bottom bed of a steel bunk bed, which sat in the far corner of a dull concrete box of a room. A thick steel door was the only feature that interrupted the room's monotonous, featureless enclosure.
James started to rise. A sudden, stabbing pain shot up his spine. He winced and fell back down onto his side. He breathed a few deep breaths as the pain subsided and he realized his tail was broken. He mentally noted to avoid sitting on it.
He tried to rise again, slowly and carefully this time and he managed to rise to his feet. He now struggled to recover his memory and try to figure out where he was.
Okay, he mused, he was in a cell and he didn't remember how he had gotten here. That meant he'd been knocked out. That meant he'd crashed-
And then it came back to him. The recon mission to Venom, the energy readings, Andross, Pigma's betrayal…
James growled when the swine crossed his mind. He'd been under Andross's employment all along.
Although James' anger was boiling over, he calmed himself down. He had survived being shot down behind enemy lines and, although he was in captivity, he still had a mission to complete.
Then he remembered Peppy. James had seen the hare eject and then land under his parasail. He had watched as Andross's soldiers mobbed him, knocked him unconscious, and dragged him to the base. He was here somewhere in the facility. Even if he was dead, James was going to find him and he made this his number one priority.
But first, he would have to escape.
James observed his surroundings. Aside from the door and the creaking steel bed, the only thing he noticed was meager rations and a half glass of dirty water sitting on a plastic tray. The food, which resembled a gray rectangle of putty, looked like it had been out in the open awhile. Whoever had brought the food had brought it quite some time ago. What that meant to James was that someone would have to bring food to him again and that would be his chance.
More time elapsed, how much James wasn't sure, before he heard the distinctive clunk, clunk, clunk, of combat boots on a steel floor. Someone was coming down the hall. James wasn't sure of what he was going to do; he would have to improvise.
The lock mechanisms of the door clicked loudly and the entrance opened with a hiss. A pudgy crocodile in gray urban camouflage fatigues entered the room. In his left hand he held another tray and in his right he held a bucket. James noticed with some delight that the guard wasn't wearing his helmet; this was going to be easier then he thought.
The croc looked at James with hollow black eyes. His face was firm, almost completely devoid of emotion. The subtle growl the guard let out was the only hint of any emotion, though it sounded more out of annoyance then anger.
"James McCloud", said the crocodile, an evil smirk suddenly running across his face, "dinner is served."
He set the tray down next to the old one on the floor. He then drew his pistol and pointed it loosely at James, waving it in front of the vulpine's face.
"Eat", he said.
James shot the croc a glance. He didn't want to eat the gray slop on the unclean little tray. But, he mused that the guard would expect less trouble from an obedient prisoner. This might buy him some time; he still needed to come up with a plan.
He picked up the tray and went back to the bed, trying not to sit directly on his broken tail. He set the tray on his lap and ate the meal. He started slowly, but when the guard pushed his pistol's muzzle closer to James' face. The guard clearly did not want to be in the cell.
"You know, I could just shoot you and say you attempted to escape. I'd be able to leave", said the guard.
"I don't think your boss would like that very much," replied James without even looking up, "He'd probably personally hang you for killing his most valuable prisoner."
The crocodile growled and pulled his pistol back slightly, but continued to point it at James.
When James finished his meal, the croc waved the bucket in front of him.
"What's that for?" said James, trying to act befuddled. He'd been behind enemy lines enough to know what the metal pail's purpose was.
"Your own personal lavatory," replied the crocodile with a snort, "Just take a piss in it. You do anything else and I'll put you back to sleep." The guard forced the bucket at James again.
"All right, just give me a second," James said and took the bucket in his hand. He turned his back to the guard. Strangely, the guard didn't seem at all bothered by this. He would soon learn to regret that…
Without warning, James hooked the bucket left, bringing it level with the crocodile's head, where it hit the guard's temple. The impact failed to knock the guard out, but it did disorientate him long enough for James to move. He rushed the croc and knocked him off his feet. The guard fell to the floor with a thud. James kicked and punched the reptile into unconsciousness, then grabbed his pistol and combat knife. He took the time to grab a set of key cards and a small PDA as well.
"Thanks", said James with a smirk as he exited the door.
As soon as the vulpine stepped into the corridor, his instincts snapped on. He had to organize his plan. He now had a clear set of objectives. First, find Peppy, then get out of the facility. Finding Peppy wouldn't be too much of a challenge, but finding transport would be more difficult.
As he walked down the corridor, weaving from one side of the hall to the other, pistol drawn, he heard a beep. He found some cover in an empty storage room and searched for the source of the sound. It was coming from the PDA. The small screen was displaying orders. Another guard was checking up on Peppy and according to the PDA report the hare was putting up a fight. The orders instructed any nearby guards to assist. The tiny device listed the cell holding Peppy.
Bingo.
James orientated himself in the corridor and raced to the holding cell containing Peppy. It wasn't far from his, only a few dozen doors down the south end of the corridor. Even through the steel cell door, James could here Peppy's distinctive twang as he cursed and hollered among a quiet cacophony of thuds as he got closer. The noise was coming out of cell B-179, the cell the PDA had identified.
Using one of the key cards, James opened the door. When the entry opened, the red avian guard turned to face the vulpine, only to be met with a well aimed shot of plasma. The bolt hit the avian dead center in his forehead, splattering blood on the wall and forcing him back before he slumped over.
Peppy was in the corner opposite the bunk bed, his right hand clutching a riot control baton with a sparking end piece. He raised the instrument above his head and was about to charge James when he realized who had shoot the avian.
"James! How the hell did you get out?" demanded Peppy.
"The same way you were planning on getting out," replied James with his cocky grin of victory, "improvising."
"Where are we? Are we still on Venom?" inquired Peppy.
"Yeah. According to this PDA, it's been a few days."
Peppy's face contorted into frustration and then anger as he remembered the mission. He curled his right hand into a fist.
"Pigma…" Peppy said the swine's name as if he was spitting it out.
"Yeah, he probably got offered a fatter check from Andross then Pepper promised us. You know piggy; highest bidder wins."
"Still, we trusted him, he was our friend… I just can't believe he would do this to us."
The PDA in James' pocket started beeping again and he pulled it out to read it. The message was cause for concern: Guard 242 Weapon Discharge in Cell B-179. Report on status in Cell B-179. Repeat, Guard 242 Report.
James showed Peppy the tiny device. "Trouble," he said.
Peppy read the PDA's screen and grimaced. "Hmm…" he said rubbing his chin, "We should get moving."
"Right," said James.
"What's next?" inquired the hare.
"Well, we need to get some transport before ole' apehead figures out his most important prisoners have escaped."
"I woke up when the guards brought me into the facility. This level is two stories below the entrance to one of their hangers. There must be something in there we can commandeer."
"I like that idea, but it's missing something," replied James. Peppy looked at his comrade in confusion.
"What?"
"Andross is going to attack Corneria and he seems pretty well prepared. While we're here, we should try to set him back a bit. Maybe buy the CDF a little time to mobilize."
"Whatcha' got in mind Jimmy?"
James rubbed his chin thoughtfully; his eyes and his smile gave off a smug expression, like a child plotting mischief.
"I'm thinking a really big explosion. Maybe take some valuable equipment with it. Something like that would also cover our escape."
"Oh? I like the sound of that but what should we hit?"
"This is an enemy stronghold full of starfighters, weapons, and fusion generators to power it; lots of big, expensive things that make for nice big booms. There's gotta be something between here and the hanger we can set off."
James was forced to stop when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Guard 242 hadn't reported and security was sending someone else to report. Only this time, they sent eight guards clad in black armor suits and wielding plasma assault rifles.
A floor plan appeared on the PDA, showing the corridor and the cells. In the hallway were green dots representing the eight soldiers coming down the hall.
"Peppy, we've got some company comin'."
The hare went over to the dead avian and pulled the guard's pistol from its holster. He also grabbed three 'flash-bang' grenades and put two in his pocket while holding the remaining one in his left hand.
"Well then," replied the hare, working the action of the pistol, charging a shot from its battery, "let's roll out the welcome mat."
"But we're the guests," said James.
Peppy held the grenade up and shook it to get James attention. The vulpine looked at the grenade and nodded.
Peppy moved towards the door and took cover on the entrance's right side where he pulled the safety pin. The locks clicked and clunked and the door opened. Peppy released the grenade. It clicked as it hit the floor and skidded among the guards. The surprised soldiers looked at the device for a split second before it went off, temporally blinding them.
James and Peppy, who had shielded their eyes from the blast jumped from cover, pistols barking and spitting fire. The guards fell as they stumbled forward and fell into the cell.
Slamming a new battery into his commandeered sidearm, James leaped over the heaped bodies and emerged into the corridor. Peppy quickly followed and the pair set off at a run towards the hanger. James continued to follow the miniature holographic floor plan on the PDA.
His eyes not only followed the corridor and watched for more guards, he was watching for anything that might cause the big explosion he was planning. There had to be something…
As the pair raced down the hall, searching for the stairs to take them to the main level, they ran into more guards. They were either alone or in pairs and they were brought down easily with a mix of surprise and well aimed pistol shots. Eventually, James found an older GK-3B plasma rifle, while Peppy upgraded to a submachine gun. This upgrade in firepower helped them push on towards the hangar.
All the while, updates would come up on James' commandeered PDA. These only demanded reports from the slain patrols and then sent others to investigate when they failed to respond. It seemed amazing to James that it took so long for anyone to notice that he and Peppy were not in their cells.
If Andross's fleet is anything like these guys, the vulpine mused, the CDF will have a picnic with these guys.
James and Peppy came to a larger room lined with pillars. At the far end of the room were three lifts, which were flanked on either side by a set of stairs. What the two failed to notice however where the sets of doors on the other two walls.
These doors now opened and more guards poured out. Unlike the scattered soldiers James and Peppy had so easily cut down, these new enemies appeared more then ready to take on the fleeing prisoners as they fanned out in a neat tactical formation. They were armed with plasma auto rifles and submachine guns. One wielded a light plasma cannon, a hefty one and a half meter shoulder-mounted weapon that spat out red motes of plasma at a high rate of fire. Its presence on the battlefield turned its user into a one-man army, as it could cut down ranks of infantry; it could even threaten low flying aircraft with an endless stream of energy.
"Freeze!" called one of the soldiers from behind his helmet shielded face. The new combatants faced the vulpine and the hare and let loose a fury of plasma fire. James and Peppy were forced to jump behind the pillars; the hare diving left and James going right. The plasma cannon opened up, scorching the area of the wall where the two had been standing only moments before.
As James crouched behind the pillar, he looked over his shoulder and watched the plasma cannon operator swing the weapon to fire at the column of concrete. The smooth material began to bubble and smoke as the superheated plasma hit it. He had to move, before the column gave way or before the guards could move around the room and flank him. But he knew he couldn't move under fire, the plasma cannon would hit him.
But then he remembered; he was James McCloud, a valuable prisoner. If the guards had wanted to kill him, they would have rushed him rather then trap him with a line of suppressing fire. They wouldn't dare shoot him.
It was chancy at best and extremely risky, but James had been lucky with hunches before. He had virtually no other choice.
Peppy looked to his right to see James roll left to face the plasma cannon. The hare's eyes widened with surprise as the vulpine actually rose before the soldier just barely left of the stream of fire.
What happened next was even more surprising; the cannon stopped firing and a trail of smoke curled up from the muzzle.
The commanding soldier called out, "Kill him and it's your head! That's James McCloud! Flank him! Bring him down, now!"
James could not believe his luck.
These orders were to prove fatal, for in those few microseconds where no one dared fire, James saw his chance. As he slowly walked forward, he shouldered the rifle and brought down the plasma cannon and a submachine gunner before he dove behind the next pillar. The soldiers were now firing at James and were attempting to surround him. He could only hope Peppy would take advantage of the confusion.
Peppy was happy to oblige and he squeezed off a series of well aimed semi-automatic shots, eliminating three more guards on James' left. James saw this and dashed left to the other side of the room while Peppy laid down burst after burst of covering fire.
The remaining soldiers were now cornered on the right side of the room and James disposed of them with a few well aimed shots.
The personnel locator on the PDA showed no more contacts and James lowered his GK-3. He walked towards the center of the room, ramming a fresh battery into the receiver and recharging the action. He wanted the plasma cannon; it might come in handy. But when the vulpine arrived he found the weapon was gone… only now it was being shouldered by Peppy. James eyed the hare with what amounted to a slightly annoyed smirk as he struggled to mount the huge weapon on his shoulder.
"What?" said Peppy, "you always get the big guns. I think it's high time I got my try at it."
"You sure you can carry that thing, and fire it? The recoil feels like being kicked by a mule."
Peppy shrugged his shoulders. "I got training on these things during basic at the academy, remember?"
"Yeah I remember, but that was years ago. But what I also remember was that nasty bruise you got when that thing kicked up and hit you in the face and how it threw you back a good few meters. You're not exactly built to use that cannon," said James with a chuckle.
Peppy looked annoyed and eyed the vulpine warily. "I may be short and stubby, but I can still fight."
"All right fine, you can carry the plasma cannon," said James in mock surrender. Even if James had refused to allow Peppy to carry the weapon, he was going to carry it. Peppy could be so damn stubborn at times. It was helpful sometimes, but it was often a more annoying attribute. James sighed and then laughed a wry chuckle.
The pair entered one of the three lifts. Thanks to the captured key cards, James and Peppy had a quick ride up to the main floor, where the hanger entrance was located.
James now found a manifest for the hanger and looked amused; there were a number of Invader class fighters among dozens of other craft. He concluded that the fighters would make the best avenue of escape.
James and Peppy found no additional resistance as they continued towards the hangar. Strange, thought James, but he figured that the most of the local garrison was two levels below, looking for him.
After consulting the PDA about the hangar's security systems, James and Peppy entered the room. James accessed the door's controls and sealed them with maximum security locks. He and Peppy then looked around at their new surroundings. As hangars went, it seemed fairly typical; lines of fighters sat on ready stands, ladders leading up to their open canopies. The Invaders sat ripe for the plucking.
James planned to carefully sneak up to the machines to avoid any more guards, as his supply of plasma batteries was starting to run low. If he and Peppy could get only get in the cockpits and activate the shields, they could run the fighters up and escape.
Before James could explain his idea to his wingman, the PDA began beeping again. New orders were coming in: Prisoners McCloud and Hare have escaped cells. Prisoners are armed and have breached hanger bay four. Find and take alive.
"Shit", grunted James. Something or someone must have seen them.
"Well hello Jimmy!" squealed a familiar voice. James and Peppy both turned and looked up to see Pigma standing on a gantry above the hangar bay floor, a projectile-firing rifle clasped in his hands.
"Pigma! You bastard!" cried out James with a snarl.
"Nice to see you again too old buddy," replied Pigma, "I didn't think Emperor Andross would let you live."
"Emperor? That's presumptuous; maybe all those years in exile have gotten to that ape's head." retorted Peppy.
Pigma huffed, "You two should have stayed in your cells, maybe Andross would have let you live."
"Better to go down fighting then live in this dump," replied James, "the CDF will be here to blast it all to hell soon enough anyway."
"That seems doubtful Jimmy."
"How much did you get for turning us in anyway? I'm interested," said James. He was trying to keep Pigma's attention and stall him while he came up with his next course of action and if there was anything that got Pigma's attention, it was money.
The swine seemed almost delighted to continue.
"More then anything I would have gotten in your pitiful little squadron. It wasn't just you though; I got a bonus for delivering the Arwing. It's a shame that you two had to crash those beautiful little fighters. The reward for three Arwings would have bought me my own place on Zoness." Pigma continued to rave thoughtlessly and his own thoughts began to distract him away from the situation unfolding below him.
James was surprised by Pigma; the Arwing was here? James told Peppy to locate the fighter while he kept Pigma distracted. Before long, Peppy pointed the Arwing out to James, sitting in the middle of a line of Invaders and Hammerhead bombers. Maybe Pigma's ship would make a better escape vehicle. But as James, who still needed to create his big explosion, thought for a moment, he suddenly saw the fighter in an entirely different light.
The Arwings were unique from other fighter craft because of their G-diffusers. These devices were located in the dorsal and ventral fins next to the fighter's cockpit. The G-diffusers created a field of controlled gravity around the ship, allowing for extreme maneuvering in space and in an atmospheric environment. The Arwing was the first fighter designed to incorporate the system.
But for the advantage they provided, the G-diffusers were complex, difficult to repair, and extremely temperamental. The devices numerous systems could also prove explosive if misused.
Knowing this, James saw his chance to distract the fortress while he and Peppy made their escape. The explosion of the G-diffusers on Pigma's Arwing wouldn't make too big of an explosion, but among the parked fighters and bombers, as well as the scattered munitions, the blast would make an excellent catalyst for a chain-reaction.
James explained his plan to Peppy in detail while Pigma went on talking. James, who knew how to sabotage a G-diffuser, would make a break for the Arwing, while Peppy would distract Pigma and then join James before mounting one of the enemy fighters and escaping.
"Peppy, give me one of your flash-bangs. You'll need to find a new position or Pigma will pin you down. That grenade should distract him long enough," whispered James.
Peppy nodded in reply and handed one of the white explosive cylinders to him.
Pigma suddenly snapped from his fantasy world and noted that James had been silent too long. Still thinking he was in full control of the situation, he went on, electing to taunt James and Peppy.
"What's wrong Jimmy?" challenged Pigma, "You should get out of here before the soldiers arrive. Go right ahead, I'm a poor shot…"
"Oh, then you won't like this," said James with a grin.
Pigma stood defiant for a moment, trying to figure out what James meant by that. The blinding flash of light that turned his vision into an impenetrable periphery of white and the shrill-like ringing in his ears answered the swine's curiosity. Pigma stumbled to cover his eyes, dropping his rifle. He stumbled back, away from the blast but his short retreat was interrupted by the guard rail of the overhead scaffold and he fell forward.
Both James and Peppy shielded their eyes from the flash-bang grenade, but their ears still rang. James dashed forward with all the speed he could summon from his legs towards the Arwing. Peppy meanwhile ran right to find a new area of cover. Once there, he shouldered the plasma cannon and started to fire on Pigma's position, pinning the swine down in a withering column of fire.
James' path took him behind the line of fighters. He made out the Arwing's white metallic paint scheme, distinctive against the brown and tan colored Invaders and Hammerheads. He arrived on the craft's port side and immediately went to work removing the access panels off the left G-diffuser housing, exposing the delicate system of conduits, electromagnets, and other machinery. All he needed now was time… and a steady hand; the wrong moves could light this candle prematurely.
Pigma's vision slowly returned. He found himself on the floor of the gantry, his rifle a few meters away and a ceaseless hail of high energy plasma snaking its way up off his right. The supports that held the gantry had taken a lot of hits and many had or were melting. Pigma saw this, but he was more concerned about retrieving his rifle.
He remained in a prone position and crawled his way to his discarded rifle; a difficult task for the pig, who was in less then ideal shape. He retrieved the weapon and pondered his next move. The plasma cannon had not shifted its fire, so its operator must still think he was over there. Perhaps he could peek over and put a shot right through the gunner's head.
The swine poked his head just so he could see Peppy, still firing the plasma cannon at the same location. He seemed overwhelmed with the cannon's immense recoil and was therefore unable to shift fire. Pigma shouldered the rifle, lined up his sights at the hare's head and-
The gantry gave off a sickening groan. The noise startled Pigma from his concentration. Fearing the structure might collapse, the swine took off in a run.
Peppy continued to pour fire onto Pigma's position and when he saw him make a run, he tried, futilely, to redirect his field of fire. Even as his entire body shook from recoil, Peppy called out to James, asking for a status report. James replied that he was working on the second G-diffuser.
Then, the sealed doors that separated the hangar from the rest of the base resounded with a loud bang, but the doors held strong and refused to open; the guards were coming.
"James! You might wanna hurry up with that sabotage! They're tryin' to get through the doors!" said Peppy as he dashed to find a new firing position. He would have to buy James some more time. Another loud bang went off, this one blew the doors out of their mountings and armed soldiers in black armor poured from the entryway like water from a faucet.
Pigma rose from his second dive and was pleased to find that his rifle, still loaded and ready to fire, was in his hands. The swine was even more pleased to see Andross's soldiers emerge into the hangar, forcing Peppy to move and then pinning the hare down. Pigma was now free to hunt McCloud.
It didn't take him long to find the vulpine. He was on the right side of the craft, working with the G-diffuser. He wasn't going to miss this time. Pigma set up his shot and fired.
James felt something penetrate his right shoulder. The solid round bit into his fur, skin, and muscle and then exited through in opposite order. His left hand clutched the open wound as blood spilled from the ravaged hole in his shoulder. His pain gave way first to shock and disbelief, but when James' realized the wound was not fatal, it turned into rage. It also made it grossly apparent to him how vulnerable he was.
Now, rather then finish "professionally" sabotaging the G-diffuser, he took his pistol and shot a plasma cooling conduit. Like the blood pouring from his own wound, thick aqua cooling fluid seeped out prodigiously from the ruptured conduit, spilling onto the floor in an oily puddle.
"Peppy! Let's go! This thing's gonna blow!" James call was hollow; Peppy was pinned by a tide of black uniforms and deadly crossfire. Without thinking, James took off at full speed for his friend.
Suddenly the steel girders supporting the gantry gave a sickening groan as the last of the supports melted and gave way. Pigma looked wide eyed as his footing collapsed beneath him. He had to move once again before the entire gantry crashed to the floor. He took off at a full run as the structure collapsed.
The falling gantry slammed into the floor. As it collapsed, the metal twisted and snaked its way across the hanger, separating Peppy from his tormenters.
When he reached the hare, he grabbed Peppy by the arm and pulled him in the direction of the flight line.
"I guess we're not 'valuable prisoners anymore," joked Peppy.
"Yeah, I wouldn't expect any more of their hospitality in the air either. Get to the fighters!" replied James.
Both fired their weapons into the soldiers, hoping to disperse them further. The two made the journey back to the flight line safely.
Peppy and James each climbed into the cockpit of an Invader fighter. Both were pleased to find that these ships were on Operational Readiness Alert. This meant that they sat on their hard-stands ready to launch at a moments notice. Their engines had a running pre-burn cycle and all of the instruments were online. Peppy and James only needed to deactivate the launch locks and punch the throttles to coax their stolen fighters into the air. The two Invaders rushed along a track that gradually began to point straight up. The fighters rode this line until they were vertical and they burst through the pyramid structure covering the hanger exit. So that's how they launch their ships from the ground, thought James as his and Peppy's fighter shoot into the skies of Venom with a combined roar.
The hangar had dissolved into chaos as the prisoners roared skyward. Unlike the others, Pigma had seen what James had done to his Arwing and he knew what would result. He dashed to escape the hangar and was actually blown to safety through an open doorway as the G-diffuser destructed. He got up and continued running, giving no thought to the soldiers now trapped in the hangar, as ship after ship blew up in a sickening chain reaction.
The explosions were seen by James and Peppy as their Invaders shot up into the atmosphere. To the untrained eye, it would seem they were home free, but the two still had troubles.
"Peppy, contact SATCOM. Hijack or patch through any military channels you can open. Tell them we need a gate, now!"
"I'm on it Jimmy."
The cloud of fighters was still there, though it was not as condensed as it had been two days ago. They were in patrol formation, proceeding on half speed.
"Peppy, avoid engagement at all cost. Just punch through them at full throttle!"
"Got it."
A large return appeared on the forward looking sensors in James' fighter. He instinctively looked to his TAC display, only to find the Invader was not equipped with one. Clouds were obscuring the object and although James was curious what it was, common sense told him to avoid the contact.
"Adjust course to one-two zero. I've got an unidentified contact at zero nine zero."
Peppy exhaled a short, anxious breath. Before acknowledging James' transmission and tuning his course.
"SATCOM status Peppy?"
"Working on it. There's an old CDF comm. satellite in orbit, I just need to access it. It's not easy with this ship's equipment.
Klaxons flared in the cockpit and twenty smaller unidentified contacts appeared on the radar return screen; missiles.
"James! K5 missiles inbound and tracking us!"
"Copy, take evasive action when you make visual. These storms should confuse most of those little bastards. Check for anti-missile countermeasures," said James.
"Right. I've almost got SATCOM on the horn," the hare paused for a moment…too long. A shrilling honk sounded in Peppy's fighter as one of the K5's acquired his ship and locked on to it. Peppy was startled.
Before he had time to react, James dove from above and ended up behind him. The klaxon stopped and Peppy looked inquisitively over his shoulder to see James' ship on his six.
"Peppy, I've got the missile. Keep trying SATCOM!" called out James.
"But Jimmy..."
"No 'buts'! Get us a gate!" The vulpine banked his ship hard left and disappeared into the clouds. "Come and get me you bastards!" said James through gritted teeth.
Peppy finally got through and requested the gate. At first, the CDF was anything but happy to find someone had broken into their satellite communication network, but when Peppy explained, Beltino Gate, a massive CDF jumpgate station began warming up and readying the transmission.
Good. Peppy keyed his COM to tell James, but the vulpine failed to answer.
"James?" Peppy said, almost shouting.
"Right behind you Pep!" came James' voice. It sounded weak, exhausted to Peppy.
"Jimmy! Beltino Gate is opening up!"
"Glad to hear it," replied James, falling in next to Peppy's ship. As the Invader pulled alongside Peppy, the hare noted that the left wing and a large chunk of fuselage were missing. The Invader barely looked airworthy and it wobbled noticeably.
James had taken a bullet for Peppy.
"Peppy, there's a squad of black Wraiths inbound to intercept me," the vulpine paused for a moment, then continued. "That missile got my left engine, I can barely keep up with you."
Peppy bit his lower lip when James mentioned the Wraiths. The briefing given by LIO had told Starfox that these ships were rumored to be used by elite squadrons. Even one of these would be a challenge.
"Don't worry Jimmy, I've got ya. We're almost there!"
What Peppy didn't know, and what James dared not tell him, was that James' had lost cabin pressurization and the vulpine was flying the battered ship on emergency systems. The left engine was not only dead, but it was close to overload. Bottom line: James couldn't make orbit and he knew it.
He sighed. He'd done so many things by the call of Corneria, as a fighter jock and a mercenary. Whether it was in the CDF or in Starfox, for pride or money, it was all about duty; duty to Corneria, duty to countrymen, duty to friends, duty to family.
And now, at long last, just one final duty to perform.
The Wraiths came into view at extreme range. They were clustered in pairs and were approaching from the team's seven o' clock position. They were still climbing to meet the Invaders. James figured he had only seconds.
The wounded Invader banked right, sliding behind Peppy. It turned to face the Wraiths and went as fast as its single remained engine could manage. The move forced the enemy ships to veer off and break formation to avoid colliding with the little Invader.
"Jimmy! What are you doing?" cried Peppy.
"Buying you some time," replied the vulpine matter-of-factly, "get the hell out of here!"
"No James, I'm not leaving you behind. Not now!" protested the hare.
"For once in your life don't be a stubborn S.O.B, I can't break the atmosphere. Get out and go through the gate before they reform!"
That little exchange had already cost Peppy the precious seconds of reaction time he would need to get to James. And James' fighter was plummeting deeper and deeper into the atmosphere, the Wraiths in tow. Tears jerked at Peppy's eyes and a few droplets rolled down his cheeks. There was nothing he could do.
"Peppy, GO!" called out James. Static started to enter the COM, accompanied by the quiet, but telltale sounds of cannon fire.
Just as he broke the atmosphere, Peppy saw the explosion.
That was it. A simple death for a great warrior, his chariot now a tumbling, contorted carcass of steel. Ignominious, but somehow fulfilling. James had died for the reason all warriors did; that others may live.
Peppy barely had time to comprehend that thought at the moment. He saw the gate's swirling green pool of light ahead and he raced for it. The Invader seemed to melt into the ambient whirlpool before it vanished from normal space and the gate closed behind it.
James was still alive as his fighter tumbled helplessly. With the controls gone, his brief tangle with Andross's elites was over. The escape capsule was jammed, trapping James. Even if the capsule hadn't been ruined, James' wounds from the missile impact rendered it impossible for him to even reach the controls. The Wraiths were gone now, leaving him vulpine to his fate.
Still, in all the chaos, James remained focused on Peppy. He had lost contact with his old friend, which meant he was either dead or he had gotten out. James found the latter more comforting.
His mind was at peace now, despite the blazing klaxons of a dozen different compromised systems, all approaching critical level. He would be with Vixy again, after five long years…
He thought of Fox for a moment, how his son would be on his own now on. His mind retreated to a quieter scene of years past, where a ten year old Fox scurried about with a model starfighter as he and Vixy looked on.
James smiled as the memory absorbed him, freeing him from the grips of physical anguish and turmoil.
Finally, the prolonged, agonizing death of the Invader reached its climax. Engine one gave in, setting off the remaining pulse cannon and battery of two missiles.
The fighter and the body of its pilot vanished from existence.
James McCloud, hero, friend, and father, was dead.