Chapter 3: Katina Counterattack
Fox McCloud
Things were tense as we approached Katina. Most of our crew were silent and rigid. We didn't even have time to celebrate Slippy, Falco and Samus' victory on Aquas. Once more, we found ourselves sat in the Grand Fox's conference room. Though there was some slight chatter, I couldn't bring myself to join them. I just hoped Bill was ok...He should've been…he had survived the last assault on Katina, but...the thought of the invading force was far larger than Andross' was impossible to shake. Krystal; who sat next to me, placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. She likely knew what was exactly on my mind, being telepathic and all…
Before any more words could be exchanged, however, the admiral and general's holograms came on display with a hologram of Katina with both our and our enemy's fleets. We looked outnumbered here…
"We won't even pretend to sugarcoat this," The human admiral began with a stress filled voice. "The enemies have sunk their teeth into the planet and refuse to let go. It's up to us to remove this parasite."
"This might be difficult, but if we take out their flagship-and forward base surgically and quickly, they will have no option but to fall back as we call upon backup from Corneria," General Pepper continued. "A majority of the fleet will engage theirs above the planet. Star Fox, lead our corvettes into the planet with the Grand Fox and engage the flagship at once! We cannot lose Katina, it's our main frontline!"
"We'll do our best, Sir," I saluted shakily, turning to my team and Samus, all who looked as nervous as we did. Minus Samus; who looked as rigid and emotionless as she usually did. "Alright everyone...let's get to the hangar."
My mind could only focus on my academy buddy, Bill. It had been a while since I've seen him...I doubted I could've sent him a message now. Ugh...I shook my head and trembled as we all descended down the elevator and into the hangar bay. Few words were spoken as we all climbed into our respective Arwings. The most we spoke were exchanges of good luck.
The Grand Fox pushed past the fleet surrounding Katina with an escort of two Federation Corvettes. Before we broke the cloud layer, we all launched from our ship into a swarm of enemy fighters that immediately opened fire on us. We retaliated by splitting up into groups of two and lured them away from the larger, more vulnerable ships. Krystal formed on my wing and helped me flank a few fighters, shooting them down quickly and efficiently. From what I saw through the clouds, a lot of Katina's settlements were already ruined. A lump formed in my throat as I saw the destruction below. Would Andrew truly throw everything away just for revenge…?
"Alright, everyone!" I called out and looked at my radar, noticing that my team had pushed a majority of the bogies away from our convoy. Good. "Listen up! Falco, Krystal and Slippy! On my wing! We'll go ahead and clear the skies! Fay, Miyu! Hang back and guard Samus! We need her firepower!"
"Roger that, Flyboy. On your wing." Falco responded and joined me.
"Understood, Fox." Replied Krystal.
"Roger!" My last teammate joined me.
"Upcoming Cornerian military base," Samus chimed in. "Reports say their Flagship: the Shade is there. Clear the way, and fly carefully, it's a Space Pirate vessel. Covered in point-defence weapons."
"Roger, Samus," I nodded and pushed below the clouds with my team, flying high above the wetlands of Katina, towards a familiar pyramid base; which was under siege by the Shade. My anxiety about Bill only worsened. I hoped that 'ol dog was alright…"Approaching the base now."
"Be careful, everyone…" Fay whimpered.
Again, we were met with heavy resistance from enemy fighters. Lasers flew everywhere and we struggled to even stay in formation. My ship shook as it was hit from behind several times. What was worse is that from the trees and hills, AA cannons started firing at us. How did they set up a defence force this quickly?! Things were looking quite grim for us, he didn't even have time to fire, we were too busy avoiding enemy fire. I gulped heavily and gritted my teeth. We had to retreat, I expected a fight, but nothing this bad. As I readied my comms to call for a retreat, the enemies all of a sudden stopped firing and broke off from us.
"What the…?" Krystal gasped in a confused tone.
"What's the big idea…?" My avian wingman spat as we all slowly flew across the now quiet fields, the hum of the arwing's engine being the only sound that graced our ears.
"Well well well," A familiar voice sounded, as well as the logo of a wolf's head appearing on my comm's screen. You had to be freaking kidding me. From the Shade's hangars, a wing of four Wolfen appeared and spun in unison gracefully, zooming past us. "Hello again, Star Fox! It's 'lovely' to see you again after that embarrassment on Corneria!"
"Wolf!" I hissed and quickly rolled my ship around to meet his incoming squad that had looped around to engage us. "Where do you keep getting those ships?!"
"None of your business, Boy!" His panther cohort growled lowly at us with obvious contempt.
"Looky! Wolfy got some new friends!" Falco laughed sarcastically. "Mind introducing em before we shoot em down?"
"You heard the pheasant, boys! Say 'hello!" My canine rival complied with Falco's demands.
"Weavel here," A graceful, yet highly robotic voice greeted us, an icon of his 'face' appearing on the screen. A golden visor on a green, egg shaped helmet appeared before us. He looked light some kind of high tech knight. Even in his cockpit, he slightly bowed. "Space Pirate General, bounty hunter, and your worst nightmare. A pleasure to meet you, 'Star Fox."
"Hmph…" Next to speak was a low, gruff voice that had more gravel in it than the average sidewalk. On the screen was a white...spaniel…? He looked like Fay...but had a single brown spot around his left eye which extended onto his left ear; which was entirely brown. Around his forehead was a red bandanna; which was not dissimilar to Fay's bow…who was this…? Felix here. Enough chatter. Let's just get this over and done with,"
"Brace yourself everyone!" I hissed. "Here they come!"
With no extra words, their Wolfens and our Arwings met in an immediate, and chaotic dogfight. Lasers flew everywhere, some of which scathed and shook my ship. The close proximity of all our ships caused us to scatter in several directions, while switching to All-Range mode. As I tried to catch my bearings, I was shot at from behind; causing me to start doing rolls and spins to try and evade his incoming fire.
"Pursuing McCloud," Felix coldy spoke while chasing me down, accurately hitting my wing a few times. I made a quick nosedive, pulling up when my ship was barely touching a lake I flew over. Water splashed up everywhere as I careened above the lake. This did not cause the spaniel to stop his chase. I quickly did a maneuver to turn myself around 180 degrees so that we were coming at each other head on. I squeezed my trigger as fast as I could, unleashing a few vollies of lasers into his ship. His ship quaked with my attack, causing him to pull up and disengage. He was fast, but I was faster. "Ngh, damn you, mutt!"
Using this new opportunity, I started pursuing the Star Wolf rookie, staying close to his tail. Though as I got in the rhythm of attacking him, I was attacked from the side from another Wolfen; forcing me to disengage Felix. Damn it!
"Ah ah ah, Fox, I don't give you permission to shoot my teammates down!" Weavel scoffed and put a few new burn marks in the side of my brand new arwing's hull. Shields were dropping fast and hard. I needed to up my game. I ascended, flying in as erratic of a pattern to get this knight guy off my back! I did a swift tailslide down, looping as I ascended. With this maneuver, I had a clear view of fuselage: which I quickly shot at, causing substantial damage. Smoke bellowed out of one of the Wolfen's intakes; causing a noticeable wobble in his ship. Weavel made a quick evasive maneuver and disengaged me. "Why you! You'll pay for that!"
Breathing a sigh of relief, I listened into my comms to see how the rest of my team was faring.
"Jeez, this Felix guy is fast!" Slippy whined, taking incoming fire from the spaniel's fighter. "Could use some help!"
"A woman like you definitely shouldn't be flying!" Panther cooed to Krystal, immediately sparking rage in my blood. That womanising bastard! "Just think of all the stress wrinkles you'll get, hah!"
"Believe me, Panther. I'd rather have wrinkles like a bloodhound than take your advice." Krystal scoffed in disgust. That was my girl! "Give up, Caroso, before I reduce you to stardust!"
"Getting rusty, Lombardi?" Wolf growled lowly as Falco's shields dropped slowly. Damn it! I flew over to my toady wingman's aid, shooting in Felix's general direction to make him back off. Once that was done and I was thanked by 'Slip, I encroached on Wolf's tail, beginning to pursue the veteran criminal. THough, Wolf broke off his assault on Falco and engaged me by quickly flying to meet me in another game of air-chicken. Like before, I shot a Smart-Bomb at him; but he quickly tilted diagonally and narrowly avoided my bomb. It hit the surface below with a bright explosion; leaving a crater in its wake. I didn't have time to reload another before I was pelted by a burst of lasers from his Wolfen; damaging my craft even further. I grimaced and tightly held the flightstick as warning signs about shield integrity flashed. I myself fly forward for a moment before turning around and reengaging him in a dogfight. "Predictable, Fox. What next? A snide comment about my eye? A mention of my smaller team? 'Really,' I look forward to your response!"
"And give you more unneeded attention, O'Donnell?" I spat as we danced high above the wartorn wetlands of Katina, our shots reflecting across the swamp water. We flew ever higher in our airborne tango, exchanging shots; only about half hitting their mark as to our mutual skill. "I think you should retire, Wolf. You keep getting shot down and you're getting rusty with age! Get outta here!"
"Insulting my age huh?" Wolf chuckled cruelly as he got my wing good. I sneered as sparks and smoke started coming from my left wing from that shot. "That's a new one! Brace yourself for impact, fox-WHAT THE HECK?!"
Wolf gasped as Falco practically came from a cloud above; shooting the canine's right wing; knocking the top one straight off. The red wing flew away and his Wolfen wobbled away from us quickly, with another ship flying up to distract us away from Wolf. I let out a sigh of relief as Falco and I returned to the rest of the battle. I was really glad I had Falco on my team...I could kiss him if he weren't so cocksure. Falco and I split up to pursue different targets. I noticed Panther close on Krystal's tail, getting a few good shots off on her. I growled and predicted a shot with my remaining Smart-Bomb. The bomb careened through the air, detonating just in front of Panther and annihilated the front of his fuselage; causing critical damage and making him go down. Gotcha!
"AAAAAAH" Panther shrieked and ejected quickly as his wolfen crashed and exploded; hitting a few of his own forces in the process. "You bastard!"
One down, three to go! Just before I got too cocky about our new number advantage; Slippy's panicked voice snapped me back into reality.
"Oof, guys, cover me, I'm pulling out, my Arwing's sustained critical damage!" His arwing flew by and above the clouds, while I flew to stop his pursuer. "Sorry guys, good luck!"
"How uncouth of you, Fox," Weavel giggled cruelly, his robotic voice grating on my ears. "Taking my prey! I suppose the leader of 'Star Fox's' remains will make for a much better trophy!"
"Don't count on it, bud!" was all I could shout as Weavel and I began our airborne dance of dominance. I rolled out of the way of his vicious assault of lasers and a few missiles. For what he lacked in maneuverability, he certainly made up in aggression. I weaved in and out of the Space Pirate's attacks, barely having enough room or time to lay off a counterattack. My wing took more damage and I sharply inhaled. I couldn't keep this up for much longer at this rate. I sharply turned up, looping down again and shooting directly into his fuselage and wings; tearing his already damaged ship to shreds. "Bingo!"
His ship started exploding and falling apart. But before I could get any satisfaction: Weavel yelled out.
"Ngaaah!" He screamed and smashed through his cockpit window, unleashing some kind of orange energy sword from his right forearm. He propulsed himself up via a jetpack and the momentum of his ship. My entire ship shook as he landed on it; directly in front of my cockpit. What the hell?! "I WILL NOT LOSE TO THE LIKES OF YOU!"
Setting my Arwing to patrol mode, I swiftly opened my cockpit and undid my seatbelt. The ear piercing wind penetrated my fur and practically deafened me. This was by far the craziest thing that has ever happened to me. I magnetised my boots and hastily stood up, swiftly ducking to avoid a strike from this mad swordsman. I unholstered my blaster and shot him a few times, all which did minimal damage to him. He thrusted towards me. Though I sidestepped it, he still slashed my arm good. I hissed as it cut my jacket, jumpsuit and arm, though, no blood was drawn because it was cauterised. Though my arm burned, I pushed on anyway. I ducked and kicked him in the knee, but he didn't budge. He quickly slashed me as I disengaged, lightly scratching my leg and almost cutting my boot clean in half. I hissed as my jumpsuit's leg was cut open; exposing my bare leg up to my thigh. He slashed at me one last time, but I barely caught his sword arm with both hands, desperately holding it back with all my might. I noticed his hand reaching for a very heavy blaster. My heart dropped to my stomach. Was this it…?
"So long, Fox McCloud," Weavel's yellow visor flashed as he spoke smugly. "This shall be a worthy kill—"
All of a sudden; he was shot by an Arwing; sending him flying off my ship and into the wetlands below screaming obscenities. Pity he likely survived. I was so grateful…
"That was too close, Foxy," Krystal huffed and flew by. "We've almost pushed through!"
I climbed back into my arwing and threw my ruined boot out the cockpit before closing it, wincing at the burning cuts on my arm and leg. Closing the cockpit; I rejoined the battle despite the pain I was in. three on two now! This was good, three against two!
"Krystal and I have their other rookie," Falco assured me as his Arwing speedily zipped by with Krystal's in tow. I smirked and tracked Wolf down. "Mess him up, Flyboy."
I met Wolf above the smoldering Pyramid, in the Shadow of their flagship. We circled it for a moment, before meeting each other in yet another game of sky chicken. We approached each other fast and aggressively. I pushed down hard on my fligtstick's trigger, firing off as many shots as I could; whilst he did the same. My shields dropped to critical levels as we silently fought. Why we always did this was beyond me...maybe we were too equal for any fancy bs? Whatever the case, we looped around and came at each other again one last time. In a flash of pure adrenaline, I just barely managed to shoot first, nailing finishing blow on one of his wings and the intake behind it. Not before he shot me in a similarly critical spot, causing my ship to stall and malfunction.
Damn you, Star Fox!" O'Donnell screeched as his ship spiraled downwards, hemorrhaging smoke as he ejected. Like Panther's ship, his crashed and exploded beautifully. Darn I was good! "Felix, finish Fox! He's almost done for!"
"On it, Wolf," Felix's Wolfen came from seemingly nowhere, damaged heavily by Falco and Krystal, but still in one piece and airborne. I could hear my heart beating heavily as life seemed to come to a crawl. His cannons glowed green as he charged. I gulped, hoping something else came to rescue me…
Fay
With a light, squeaky grunt, I shot everything I had into the Wolfen that was about to do poor Fox in. I couldn't let that happen! I tried my best not to close my eyes as my shots clumsily hit their mark; finishing off the already damaged fighter; causing it's pilot to almost instantly eject. Their parachute made it near impossible to see who exactly was piloting it, but that didn't matter now, help was on the way!
"I-I got him!" I nervously giggled and flew close on Fox's wing to make sure he was alright. He was still in the air, that was something at least. Though he was smoking and sparking pretty badly.
"Haha! Scratch one bogey!" Miyu laughed, flying close by to defend Fox as well. "Good job, Fay!"
"Phew, that was a close one," Fox gasped in relief. "I think I can keep on going—"
"No, Fox," Samus' voice called in for once, the silent huntress sounding surprisingly concerned for his wellbeing. "Your ship is in no position to fly, get back to ship, we'll cover you from here."
Following Miyu and I from behind was the Grand Fox and its escort of fighters and corvettes; which immediately started tearing into all the ground forces that were told to hang back during that battle with Star Wolf. This was certainly the jump we needed! Their prideful armies immediately scrambled and panicked. Miyu, Samus and I quickly flew over to the Shade with Falco and Krystal; whose ships were in better condition than Fox's. We all joined up on Samus' wing and escorted her over. I felt some kind of...confidence as I flew with them with our new advantage, we weren't the underdogs here like we usually were! I made sure to stay in tight formation with my lynx friend, she knew how to keep me safe...
We flew ahead of Samus; clearing the way of any attacking fighters and point defence weapons. Krystal and Falco took one side while Miyu and I took the other. We were met with two large cannons that guarded a hanger; which started shooting at the Grand Fox! Our Frigate's shields took the hits, but I wondered for how long…
"Alright, Fay!" Miyu began, her calling my name causing me to flinch slightly. I gripped by flightstick tightly as I eagerly awaited orders from my Lynx friend. "I'll cover the hangars, you go for the guns! Keep moving, okay?"
"G-go for the guns! Got it," I gulped and nodded as I flew to the first main cannon with a beating heart and sweaty palms. I gritted my teeth and shot at them, causing minimal damage. I looped back around while avoiding upcoming fire from their fighters. "Y-you can do this, Fay, you can do this, everyone's counting on you…"
I repeated this mantra several times as I fought the turrets, and occasional drone or fighter that snuck past Miyu. I winced as my ship took minor damage from incoming lasers. With a squeak, I pulled back and looked around, launching one of two Smart-Bombs I had at the base of the turret; inflicting heavy damage. Yes! I did it! One to go! With newfound confidence, I swung back around and fired off my other explosive, nailing the other cannon head on! I saw the Grand Fox immediately begin closing on the Shade once these main broadside cannons were dealt with.
"Miyu, Fay!" Falco barked over comms quickly. "Get over here, we're getting swarmed out here! You two are in better shape than us!"
"R-roger dodger, Sir!" Was my response as I prepared myself to fly around the long and smooth dark green cruiser. "On my way!"
"Hold on, Fay I think I might know a shortcut! Follow me!" I followed her curiously, but internally panicked as she began flying towards the Shade's hangar bay, which was two way through the frigate. Was she insane?! Following her in case she could get hurt, we both flew into the hangar; where a bunch of apes and space pirates were caught off guard by our very risky maneuver. Before they could react, Miyu shot a smart bomb directly in the centre of a bunch of their landed ships; wiping out a huge portion of them and leaving a massive hole in the ground. Steam, smoke and coolant sprayed everywhere, causing alarms to blare. I began screaming as she shot her remaining bomb into the ceiling; annihilating it practically instantly! My heart raced as we flew out the other side; the hangar practically caving in as we did so. Smoke plumed and rose from the primary hangar bay and into the orange sky above.
"What the hell did you two just do?!" Krystal gasped as we joined on their wing, engaging the enemy fighters and point defence weapons.
"You two are insane and ballsy!" Falco squacked as he shot down three fighters very quickly. "I like your style!"
"Beginning our bombing run now," Samus's gunship flew overhead with a wing of Federation Bombers and Fighters. "Good work Star Fox. We'll handle the rest."
We pulled back and triumphantly watched as The Shade was torn apart by bombers and the two corvettes broadsiding it from both sides as it desperately tried retreating to no avail. The Pirate cruiser began losing altitude, crashing into a nearby field as the rest of the GF and Cornerian Fleet descended from the clouds; clearing any and all stragglers as the sun started to set. Drop ships made surface landings to engage the ground forces. We may have been outnumbered on the ground, but I think we shattered their morale today. Don't mess with the good guys!
"I'd do a status report, but I think one of the rookies should do it, they ruined the hangars after all" Falco chuckled lightly as we all formed up and started heading for the Grand Fox. "Sound good?"
"No objections from me, Krystal agreed. "Go ahead, girls."
"You heard 'em Fay," Miyu laughed. I started blushing as they all wanted me to do it. "Don't keep us waiting!"
"O-oh! Alright!" I gulped and prepared myself, straightening my back and clearing my throat. "Status Report? How is everyone doing?"
"Doing fine, Fay," Fox responded first, sounding a bit sleepy. "On morphine and being treated for injuries, thank you for asking. You were awesome out there!"
"I'm alright too, a bit shaken, but very much alive and repairing the Arwings!" Slippy eagerly spoke next.
"Flying high and strong, ma'am," Falco chuckled. "In all seriousness, good job you too. You're becoming fine flyers."
"Good as always, Fay." Krystal cooed in satisfaction.
"I feel like a million bucks, Fay!" Miyu guffawed with pride in her voice. "We. Were. Awesome!"
"Samus here. I'll stay behind to clean up. Getting a strange signal that I'm going to investigate. Again, Good work, you two. You're the best recruits I've ever seen."
"A-alright, everyone!" I finished with a shaky, but proud voice. "Let's go home and rest. We deserve it."
With no other words, we flew back to the Grand Fox, triumphant and victorious after that hectic mission. I felt like I was gonna faint, hehe...
Samus Aran
The sun hung low in the sky as I walked slowly through a field of knee high golden grass with very few trees in search of the unknown signal. I squinted and scanned the environment, seeing a ruined communication console just lying there for whatever reason. I tilted my head in sheer confusion at this, but immediately readied my gun in suspect of an ambush. I checked my surroundings slowly, a feeling of uneasiness welling up inside of me. My breathing became more stunted when I felt a presence behind me. I slowly turned around, pointing my arm cannon.
Stood at the other side of the console in my shadow was...her. My Shadow. She looked no different to how she did on Phaaze. A twisted, abominable version of myself. I wanted to cry, shout, murder her all at the same time, but all that parted my lips were;
"Metroid Prime."
Her blue visor stared into my soul. Silently and if she was studying me. Dark Samus tilted her head and peered at me silently, breathing heavily and cruelly. Why did she have to be still alive…? Why can't I be rid of this creature?!
I closed my eyes and remembered Tallon IV, Aether, Rundas, Ghor and Gandrayda. As long as Dark Samus still lived...everything would have been in vain.
I raised my arm cannon and aimed at her. She mirrored me and started hovering. Without words. We began.
She quickly began strafing and circling me, shooting off her rapid-fire shrapnel beam at me, hitting my arm and chest. Even despite my armour; I felt the all too familiar burn of phazon hitting my body. I hissed loudly and hopped to the side to avoid her attacks as she continued to circle me at a terrifying speed. I predicted and shot a missile ahead of where she was going, making her slide into it. It struck her chest and sent her flying back somewhat, though she caught herself on her feet and retaliated by lunging towards me. Her arm cannon opened; revealing some kind of frothing phazon energy. As she pulled her arm back to likey punch me, I quickly Morph Ball'd under her, dodging her attack. Her punch hit a tree, splitting the entire thing in half and making it fall with a thud.
As I disengaged my morph ball, Dark Samus quickly turned around with a low, guttural grunt. She configured her Arm Cannon again to start rapid firing missiles at me. I cartwheeled and rolled out of the way as best I could as the long grass was getting incinerated by her attacks. I made a quick counterattack by shooting a missile at her feet. Before the explosion was even gone, I jumped through the smoke, unleashing my plasma beam at my twisted shadow. She shrieked in pain as my beams made burning contact with her chest and abdomen. She swiftly caught the top of my right arm with her left and raised her right arm, causing me to mirror her. We held our arm cannons, firing into the sky in our clash. She dimmed her visor somewhat, revealing her bright yellow eyes; the eyes of a murderous abomination. I lowered my visor and glared into her eyes, gritting my teeth as she squinted at me, crushing my arm with her monsterous grip.
I remembered her eyes well, the Essence of Metroid Prime, her overloaded phazon state on Aether...every time, these bright yellow eyes were full of hatred, contempt and murder. Ridley was the most despicable monster I ever met...but she...did she even have a soul in there? Or was she just a hollow husk, devoid of all life and emotion? Whatever she was, she needed to be 'released' from this world.
As we clashed, I used all of my weight to throw her aside onto the ground. WIthin a split-second, I had my foot on her chest, pinning her down and I shot several searing bolts of plasma directly into her face. She writhed and screeche in agony as I prepared to finish her with a Super-Missile, only to be met by some kind of phazon blast from the dark-suited witch which sent me flying back into a tree, knocking it down upon landing. A warning on my HUD came up.
'Experimental phazon tank at 50% capacity.' Good. I knew designing my own upgrades would work-
I couldn't even get up before Dark Samus lifted me up by the throat and slammed me down into ruined tree below multiple times until I went through it. I screamed in pain as my suit was taking excessive damage from her onslaught. She lifted me up off my feet and placed her cannon directly on my chest; unleashing a charge beam directly into me, again sending me flying back; screaming as I hit the ground, breaking one of my shoulders and cracking my visor. Warnings appeared on my visor, as well as a '75%' message. My eyes widened and I rolled out of the way before Dark Samus hit me from above like a meteor. Even then, the impact knocked me back. I felt like a damn ragdoll. I barely even had time to push myself up onto my feet. It was clear that she harboured a huge grudge against me. I staggered back and coughed, my enhanced physique struggling to handle this. My muscles burned from a mixture of phazon and straining.
Once again, she lunged at me, shooting wildly as she did so. I didn't bother to fight back yet, I simply dodged and absorbed as much phazon as I could. I growled under my breath as her stamina was seemingly infinite. She had noticed my refusal to fight back and used the opportunity to charge up one large attack. From her Arm Cannon, she unleashed a large wave of phazon, similar to the one that corrupted me and my bounty hunter allies. But I was prepared for it this time.
The beam struck me and was doing massive damage to my suit. My energy metre was draining like mad and my suit burned. Even as I started screaming in pain, I felt a wave of confidence as one last message popped up on my HUD:
'Experimental Phazon Tank at 100% capacity, Hypermode engaging."
A surge of energy pumped through my suit, turning all the green lights a searing blue colour that shot out of my suit brilliantly. I glowed, not dissimilar to her. She seemed caught off guard by this. Even more so when I unleashed one last desperate Hypermode charge beam off on her. The fully automatic shots tore through her, eliciting loud feminine screams out of her as her body was literally blasted apart. I shot her arm cannon off, which disintegrated into blue particles. The phazon destroyed her physical form, leaving her as a blue cloud of particles. Instead of letting her get away, however, I tried to absorb them into my Phazon Tank to contain her; only for a malfunction error to interrupt me...followed only by my right shoulder exploding Indicating the tank broke when I had used it. Damn it, no!
I helplessly looked on as Dark Samus' residue scattered to the wind. She'd be back.
I fell backwards against a tree and coughed, staring at the sky as the sun just disappeared over the horizon...at least we saved Katina...it was a beautiful planet...I shook my head and began limping to where I had landed before. My suit was ruined. I let myself get injured...ngh…maybe...maybe I needed help...Star Fox was there for me...I thought about my newest; and closest friend; Falco. He was cocky and irritating, but he was the only one else who fought her and 'won.' Perhaps I should have spoken to him more. Whatever the case...I needed to repair and recover…
Even if it was the last thing I did…
I would finally destroy the scourge that is Dark Samus.
End of Chapter…