AN) I am so sorry about the delay, everyone, personal life and my other fic got in the way '.

But I'm back in the groove thankfully!

Again, I'm sorry, without further delay,

Let's Begin!

Chapter 5: Fichina 'Flight'

Falco Lombardi

I waited just in front of Samus' ship for her to come out. After three days of rest and rebuilding, (as well as defending from skirmishes here and there.) we pushed on to the nearby ice hellhole of Fichina. Never cared for that planet anyway. Always froze my feathers stiff. I tapped my foot on the ground waiting for the huge huntress. Her armour was apparently fully repaired.

We got a kick out of everyone's reactions to her out of armour. She was a titan of a woman out of armour and the others couldn't comprehend her massive size. Samus must've ate her vegetables growing up. Even a tallass like me couldn't compare to that 6'6" monster, heh.

As I chuckled to myself, the lift depressurised and lowered, clouded by steam. I anticipated the familiar figure of the armour-clad bounty hunter, however, I was caught off guard by the neon blue visor and armour lights that pierced the smoke. My jaw dropped as she approached me in her new armour. The once bright orange shoulders, legs and arms of her armour were replaced by a gorgeous deep purple, (though the reds and yellows remained the same.) and her visor burned a bright blue.

I stared up and the purple monster before me, very impressed by her new paint job. I whistled and rubbed my chin. In her left hand was my coat, which she handed back to me. I gladly took it and re-equipped myself. I didn't look right without it.

"Look at you!" I admired the shininess of the new Varia Suit. I could practically see my face reflected in it. "Now that is a nice change, very aethstetic."

"The Gravity Suit," Samus begun as we walked together to the briefing room. Her once sad and vulnerable demeanor was replaced by her usual stoicism and powerful stance. "Designed for maximum mobility underwater and can withstand heats over the boiling point of rock."

"So you can swim in lava?"

"Essentially."

"Niiiice," I smirked with a coo, suddenly wanting a set of that armour for myself. "You got some seriously good gadgets on your side, you could win this damn war yourself if you wanted!"

"I suppose, however, your team has been excellent allies," A sudden softness appeared in her voice as we stopped outside the briefing room. She looked down at me through her downed visor with powerful eyes. "I would give my life for allies like Star Fox."

I felt a massive wave of honour surge through me as she said that. She's grown really accustomed to us, huh? Heck, I would give her that spare jacket once this was all over! Without more words, we entered the familiar briefing room of the Grand Fox, where everyone was gathered and waiting for us. All eyes looked to Samus and her new coat of paint. They were clearly all impressed. Fox cleared his throat, however he did not break his line of vision with her armour.

"Incoming transmission from General Pepper and Admiral Cooke. Quiet down, everybody."

We all stood around the hologram emitter as our commanding officers appeared.

"We cannot overstate how well you performed on Katina, Star Fox," Cooke began, stroking his beard wisely. "We've put those bastards on the run. Their invasion efforts have failed and they've fallen back and are waiting for us to come to them. Don't get cocky now, we haven't won yet."

"With information gathered by Slippy, Falco and Samus, we have planned a sneak attack on their base on Fichina, as you already know," General Pepper continued. "The information they had suggested that we'd be attacking Fortuna next and they've sent a majority of their defence force there. In response we've sent in a decoy fleet over to them while you surgically remove this base on Fichina."

"They won't expect us. You will attack at night and cause as much chaos and panic until you give the word or until sunrise. They'd detect our fleet long before we got to the base and prepare. That's why we need you to fly low and cause chaos, Star Fox."

"Fly in, cause chaos and leave at sunrise. Sounds like a simple mission," I chuckled and shook my head. "Any catches?"

"Not that we're aware of, no, Falco," Cooke shook his head. "This is a by the books mission, we're confident that you can complete it effortlessly. Good luck, Star Fox."

"And good flying!"

"You heard them, everyone! Same dance as before! Cover for Samus as she takes out the guns!" Fox began as the transmission died. "Let's go!"

We all cheered and ran for our ships with little words or complications, This was gonna be a walk in the park compared to the hell that was the last mission. Which was good, the less time spent on that miserable snowball, the better. Star Fox and Samus all gathered in our ships and took off to the frigid world, readying ourselves for the mission. We entered the atmosphere with relative ease as Slippy turned on his radar jammers. That toad had a solution to everything, I swore. We broke the cloud layer and flew low over the icy fields. I made sure to turn the heat up.

"Ok, their main base is a few clicks away," Slippy informed us. "They do have anti aircraft guns, however, our surprise attack will make it so they won't have time to shoot us!"

"Look at the snow, Miyu!" Fay laughed adorably to her partner in crime. "It's beautiful!"

"It's about as white as you are, Fay!" I laughed with her as we flew over the flat, icy expanse. My eyes couldn't help but stare up at the bands of glowing blue and green in the sky. Aerora. "Gotta admit; this planet at night is pretty nice, wouldn't you all agree?"

"If she likes it, I like it!" Miyu responded first with an almost flirty tone.

"It reminds me of my time on Tallon IV," Samus idly commented. "Good times."

"I can't feel my fingers…" Fox complained, his inner desert boy showing.

"Yes, it is quite a lovely planet," a smooth, unknown voice suddenly hijacked our transmission. Who the hell?! "Pity it's sullied with your presence."

We stayed silent for a few moments. Our transmission was hijacked. Before we could even say anything, a giant EMP wave hit all of our ships, sending us plummeting down to the surface. The only systems that still functioned were the communication screens. Bastard likely did that on purpose. We got a slight glance of his portrait as we crashed. He was a gaunt mammal, mostly white and had black spots around his large, amber eyes. Raccoon maybe? He adjusted his glasses and smirked. Upon closer inspection, he was a monkey alright. Lemur.

"Warmest' regards from me," the lemur smiled snidely. "Doctor X. A 'pleasure' to make your acquaintance. I'll be...monitoring...progress from here on out. I wish to study how a group of people so reliant on machinery survive in this climate with nothing but their wits and limited technology. Who better than the finest warriors in the galaxy? Nothing personal, Star Fox. X out."

"L-Losing control!" I gasped and pulled up as best I could. Controls were unresponsive! I panicked internally. Was this it?! Would we die here?! "No no no! Guys?! Can you hear me?!"

…

No response…

I gulped and braced for impact, alone and afraid…

…

My Arwing jolted and crashed violently against the tundra ground, my cockpit getting covered in snow and ice. Airbags deployed and saved me from any grievous injuries. I skidded to a halt in the middle of a large, empty field, as did all of my allies thankfully. I sucked in as much air as I could and readied myself for freezing temperatures. We got played. Hard. I hesitantly popped my cockpit and gasped as my body was wrapped in a sheet of icy wind. Almost immediately, I began shivering and holding myself. This was hell. Everyone else slowly exited their ships and had similar reactions to me.

My heart sunk a little when I noticed Fay clinging to Miyu for warmth as the taller feline pulled the smaller canine out of her ship. I could see tears forming in her eyes. Poor girl. Miyu just held her closely and gave me a thumbs up to signal that they were ok. Next to emerge were fox, Krystal and Slippy, all of which huddled together and scanned the environment. They seemed relieved that we were all ok. Last to emerge was Samus; whose ship seemed to be running on extreme emergency power. She beckoned us all over with a wave of her arm cannon.

"Get to my ship! It's warm in here!" She yelled from her elevator. None of us hesitated. My boots crunched under the snow heavily. It was about ankle deep snow. First to ascend were the rookies, who couldn't be physically separated. I was the last to ascend, doing so with Samus. She stared at me blankly from under her visor. Even she was stumped. Was not a good sign. "We should think of something...fast."

Here we all sat, seven soldiers huddled together with hot drinks in hands and trying to figure something out. Samus, Slippy and I sat on the three chairs while poor Krystal, Fox, Miyu and Fay were delegated to the floor. They didn't seem to mind. Fox and Krystal sat shoulder to shoulder, formulating a plan. Miyu and Fay silently sat together under a provided blanket. Fay was shivering like all heck. This was bad.

"Damn it!" Fox punched the floor, all the hope and determination in his eyes completely absent. "How did we let this happen?!"

"This isn't our fault, Fox…" Krystal sighed and clutched her cup of coffee tightly and peered out of the window. "Should we wait for backup?"

"No can do, our communications have been completely fried…" Slippy answered in a sad tone. "And they'd likely be hit with the same EMP. Long story short, we've lost this battle. X outplayed us. Majorly."

"W-what do we do now?" the spaniel gulped and clutched her friend closely.

"Honestly, I have no idea…" The toad sighed and shut his eyes somberly.

"Wait around and become popsicles, that's the only thing I can see us doing in the near future," I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. I sat back in my chair and sighed. "We're fucked."

"No," Samus spoke up and stood, tally and proudly. All eyes were on her. "What happened to the Star Fox of three days ago?! I've seen you operate and fight! This is nothing!"

We all remained silent as the armoured huntress spoke.

"We still have a mission to do!" She barked, not unlike a drill sergeant. "And we will see it through! Ships or no ships! There's seven of us, that's more than enough to destroy their base from within! We'll make it there on foot and continue our assignment! Who's with me?!"

Her blue visor flashed brightly, a burning passion in her voice. I was the first to stand and unholster my gun.

"Might as well give it a try," I shrugged. "We could sit around freezing with our thumbs up our asses or we could actually try to get shit done. Might die in the process, but hey, at least we tried."

"Damn right!" Miyu stood up quickly with fire in her eyes. She looked at us all with a passionate gaze, she was new, but god damn, she had balls. I liked her. The lynx raised her arms powerfully. "I wanna go down in a blaze of glory! So I'm with Samus and Falco here. Anyone else with us?!"

"A-anywhere you go, Miyu," Fay gulped and nervously stood, barely coming up to her lynx friend's shoulder. "I go with you, I don't want you getting hurt…"

First Slippy stood, then Krystal. I saw pride, awe and shock well up in Fox's green eyes as he was the last to stand.

"Everyone…" The orange canine smiled widely with shining eyes. "I'm so proud to have you all in a team. I dunno where I'd be without all of you guys."

"Getting sappy, eh Fox?" I chuckled and patted his shoulder.

"Never, Falco," the fox smirked at me, his eyes trailing to the human huntress. "Samus. Thanks for everything so far. Even despite knowing each other for what, a week, you're the finest ally we've ever had. We'd kill to have you in Star Fox!"

Samus was quiet for a moment, scanning everyone in the room with a lowered visor. Her tired eyes were wide for once.

"I'm honoured…" She nodded and reached her left hand out. Fox smiled widely and took her much bigger hand in his fuzzy paw. I'll join, if you'd have me."

"Guys, say hello to our newest member!" Fox cheered. I clapped with a big smile.

"Welcome to the family, Sam," I spoke softly and patted her shoulder. "We're happy to have you."

"Thank you…" Her voice was gent;e, but quickly became her usual hard tone. "We still have a mission to do. We should move out ASAP!"

"Underneath your arwing seats are your emergency supplies," the toad enformed us as we began leaving to our ships. "A parka, some grenades and submachine guns are in there. Don't wanna leave those behind!"

With that information, we retrieved our items and headed out, one Star Fox member stronger. Watch out, Dr X. We were coming for your sorry ass!

Fox McCloud

Miyu, Fay, Krystal and I overlooked one side of a large base nestled into the rocky cliffs of Fichina. We had broken off into two teams, we were Alpha Team. Bravo Team consisted of Slippy, Falco and Samus. They were sneaking in first. Hopefully they were in by now. We just stayed low, all huddled together at this ridge, investigating the base from a distance in our big warm parkas, SMGs close on hand. I lay prone at the edge of the cliff, scanning the battlements through binoculars. I glanced back at the three women I was with to make sure they were ok.

Krystal scanned the area with green eyes; lying in the snow with her hood up to conceal her blue face for obvious camouflage reasons. She stared at me for a moment before looking over to the distant base, waiting for the signal. Beside her were Miyu and Fay. The Lynx was chatty and eccentric as always, however, the spaniel was a bit distant and looked around with sad eyes.

She must have been thinking about the mission or her half brother. I knew I'd be doing the same in her shoes. She sat close to Miyu, likely for her body warmth. They made a handsome pair. What was I doing? 'Shipping' your subordinates was hardly appropriate at that moment.

With a shake of the head, I continued observing their base; remembering the plan.

"Once the spotlight on the east wing of the base 'malfunctions," Slippy explained in my head again. "That's your cue to approach the perimeter walls and sneak in via whatever means necessary."

"Bravo team will take out the reactors, it is up to you girls—and Fox to pursue and capture Dr. X. He can't take you all at once," Falco continued. "Meet back at our ships when the mission is complete. We'll serve as the distraction. This would usually be extremely risky, but with Samus here...y'know?"

As if on cue, one of the spotlights went down on the east side, signalling us to come closer.

"Alright, girls, lets go!" I jumped down and made my approach to the base, SMG in hand. I put my hood up and made sure to stay low to the snowy ground. I heard the distinct sounds of gunshots and sirens, signaling that Falco, Slippy and Samus were doing their thing. "Stay down and keep your hoods up, apart from you Fay."

"The perks of having such a nice white coat is due, eh Fay?" Miyu chuckled and had to bend the most to stay down, her face mostly hidden in her coat. "lucky bitch."

"H-heh, yeah, " the short spaniel nervously chuckled. "Looks like a mile or two worth of running...my poor legs won't be happy with this…"

Part of me felt bad, she had very short legs because she was like 5'2" at most. Whatever the case, we had to press on.

The snow crunched under our boots, coming up to our shins. The cold air of Fichina was piercing and all consuming even with our coats. My breath was visible in the wind; the snow muffling any noises that may have blessed the frozen tundra. The serenity was only matched by the tension. However, as we got to roughly a half a mile away from the base, an extra loud announcement from the base flared up, drowning out the wind and the distant sounds of battle.

"Veeeeery clever, Star Fox," the smug voice of Dr. X boomed across the base. "Outsmarting them is no hard task, no offence to the lovely guards of this facility, however, you can't outsmart me. The strategy was clear as day the second that spotlight went down. Mr Toad, if you're still with us, I commend you on your plan to get yourself in here with such limited options, however, you must realise that you're doomed. You're as inept as your father."

From the battlements, an awful boom sounded, followed by a stream of gas. It to me a second to realise what it was.

I immediately started sprinting, looking back to the four women behind me.

"ARTILLERY! RUN!" I yelled as I was practically deafened by an explosion that wasn't far off where we were. I was sent flying away, landing face-first into the ice cold snow. My ears were ringing and in agony. Snow fell upon me as I desperately stared around for my teammates, but I couldn't see an inch past me. I could barely see the lights of the base, so I began sprinting for my damn life; zigzagging and weaving as best I could as shells exploded and boomed all around me. After a few minutes of sprinting, covered in dirt and melting snow, heaving without breath, I pushed up to the wall of the base and started coughing. "Fay?! Krystal?! Miyu?! Where are you?!"

"Over here!" I heard Krystal call back from the left. It looked like she made it to the wall first. "Fay's injured! Get over here!"

I silently nodded as my heart fell to my stomach for Fay. I siddled across the wall and got to the three. Krystal and Miyu were crouched down over a crying white spaniel, tending to a shrapnel wound on her shin. It was a large piece of metal sticking out of her leg.

"God, that looks bad…" I hissed and began examining the injury as Krystal was using her psychic powers to sooth the injury, prying the metal out as slowly as she could. Fay was sobbing lightly and hid her face in her Lynx friend's neck. Miyu was just silent as she held Fay closely, caressing the spaniel's head gently. "Miyu, Fay, I want you two to hide in a secure location once we get into the base. Fay's no good with that busted leg."

"D-don't leave me, Miyu…" Fay whimpered I shot a grappling hook up to the walls, tugging on the wires so they would not slip or fall.

Once the hooks were secured, I turned to Miyu and Fay.

"I won't, Fay…" Miyu reassured and held Fay tightly as Krystal got the shrapnel out of her leg. Fay cried as Krystal began patching up the wound. I aimed my SMG about to guard the three women. The lynx looked up at me from the floor. "I can carry her as we get up the wall. What's the plan, Sir?"

"Krystal and I will climb the wall and clear them out, you two follow me and Krystal will cover your rear," I pointed up to the wall and scratched my muzzle. "Next, we'll get you two to safety. Afterwards, it's just a case of meeting up with Falco, Slippy and Samus. Once we do, we take out their point defence systems, AA guns and then arrest Dr. X."

"Then escape before the base is flattened, I take it?" asked Krysta, soothing Fay as best she could.

"Exactly." I nodded and began to climb, preparing for combat.

"Kick some ass for us, Boss~" Miyu smirked; picking Fay up in a fireman hold over her shoulder. The lynx looked over to Fay and gave an idea. "If you can shoot from up there, you totally should! You'd be like a shoulder-mounted turret!"

"And please be careful, Krystal, Fox…" Fay shuddered from atop Miyu, scanning the environment. "And I'll try my best to protect you, Miyu...thanks for carrying me…"

With a simple hand gesture, I was the first to climb the wall. It was fifteen meters tall, made of hard metal. Ice cold wind pierced my parka, jumpsuit and even fur. Before I reached the top, I made sure that my SMG was suppressed before poking my head over. Almost immediately, I could hear the automated alarm systems blaring clearly through the wind. Bodies littered the battlements and a lot of the point defence cannons were destroyed.

"Intruder alert! The walls have been breached! All security teams, report to the generators! The Hunter and her cohorts are attacking the power supply, this is not a drill, repeat, this is not a drill!" A panicked soldier warned the whole base.

Looked like I was clear for now. I stayed low and helped Krystal up as she got near the top. We then both lifted Fay up as Miyu climbed atop the battlements.

Troops ran through the courtyard of the base, all available watchtowers pointing their spotlights down, looking for Falco and his team. We took this opportunity to run across the battlements and into the base of one of the vacant watchtowers. A few bodies were at the base of the stairs, their sniper rifles with them.

"Fay…" I rubbed my chin and examined the snipers. I smiled and looked at the injured Spaniel confidentiality while picking it up. "Do you think you can provide covering fire and info? Don't need legs for that."

I held a high powered sniper rifle and radios we changed frequency out for her. While slung over Miyu's shoulder, the white dog bit her lip before nodding meekly, taking the rifle and radio from me.

"I'll try my best!" She gulped and looked down at her feline friend: who smiled back and began taking her up the stairs, picking up a few magazines from the fallen snipers.

"I'll take care of her, McCloud," Miyu gave a supportive thumbs up to Krystal and I. "We'll find our own way out before sunrise, y'hear? You two just meet up with the rest of the gang, take out that X guy and G-T-F-O!"

Krysal and I nodded and were about to leave.

"What does G-T-F-O mean?" I heard Fay meekly ask as she and Miyu disappeared up the stairs. I couldn't help but chuckle and shake my head at how innocent the spaniel could be.

Once back out to the frigid air, I looked through my binoculars at where all the enemy troops were running up to. Seemed to be gathering at a wing on the east side of the facility. I looked across the walls and saw the entrance to that area from the battlements. Good! I made hand signals to Krystal as to where we needed to go. The blue fox nodded as we snuck across the battlements, staying low.

"I know you're out there somewhere, McCloud. You can't hide forever. You're lucky that your friends are providing an adequate distraction for you," Dr. X taunted from somewhere within the base. "I must admit, I'm impressed by how much progress your team is able to make even with such disadvantages. Such tenacity should be complemented."

This bastard was difficult to understand. He had to be hiding something up his sleeve. I started thinking of every possible attack X could throw at us. He seemed dangerously intelligent. Whatever the case, I made sure to be as ready as possible.

We stayed close to the ground, avoiding the potential sniper sight lines. Using this moment of distraction, we pushed up to the door and slipped inside while no one was looking. A space pirate walked by, noticing Krystal and I, but was shot by Krystal with a silenced burst of fire before he could react. Falling down dead, we ran past the pirate's corpse and continued to sneak past the empty security offices and control rooms.

"All available personnel, get to that damn generator! Reactors two and three have been taken down! Get your asses in there, damnit!" The announcer growled over the radio as alarms blared inside the building.

"Damn, those three really did a number to this place," I idly commented as we ran past a bunch of Samus' handywork. Pirates and apes littered the floor, bodies still steaming from Samus' plasma beams. "Almost like we weren't needed."

"Let's just keep moving, we need to find Dr. X," Krytal added as we ran through a door into the main generator room, overlooking the large metal room from atop a large catwalk. Down below, I spotted Falco and Samus holding a line as Slippy was overloading the remaining generators. A majority of the reactors were smoking and offline.

"Samus, Falco, Slippy!" I yelled down to the trio. All three quickly looked up at me. "How's it looking down there?!"

"We're doing good, Fox!" Slippy responded, thumbs up. "We've secured this area and we're just destroying the power systems!"

"You two find Dr. X, we can't leave this area for a minute!" Samus added, shooting a few enemies as soon as they entered the room from the one door that wasn't barricaded. They effectively had a makeshift chokepoint or bottleneck. "We need this generators offline A.S.A.P, and we can't just blow them up without this facility going nuclear!"

"Where are the rookies?" Falco lastly yelled up. "They're not hurt, are they?!"

"Fay had a bit of an injury getting here, but she's fine!" Krystal responded for me, hands tightly holding the guard rail. "They've taken position in a nearby guard tower. Do you have any idea where Dr. X is?!"

"There's apparently a lab in the upper floors of the main compound, he's likely in there!" Our engineer buddy answered while typing on one of the generator's screens. "Just be careful you guys, he could have any number of tricks up his sleeve. We'll keep his goons distracted we can handle ourselves, right, Samus, Falco?"

"Easy as taking a piss!" Falco laughed, pointing his SMG to the door from behind his makeshift crate cover. "Haul ass, Fox, Krystal! Don't let us down!"

"We believe in you." Samus bluntly finished while locking down the area.

After a short time sneaking around, we got to the highest floor of this compound with minimal interference. Things were eerily quiet in the base, save from the distant gunshots and combat. I could even make out Fay taking down the other watchtower sniper teams through the windows. She was a decent shot. Krystal and I approached a large double metal door with a large red 'X' on it.

"Gee, talk about being full of yourself," I scowled and turned to Krystal: who was checking her ammo reserves. "Be ready for anything in there."

"Right. Think of the information I can telepathically get out of him." Krystal whispered while bracing herself, the metal doors screeching open. We looked at each other and nodded. "Let's go. Be careful.

A piano was playing from inside the large, eerie lab as we could make out parts of robots and weapons strewn about the dark floor; the only light source being that of dimly lit screens. I scowled harder as I kicked some broken gadgets out of the way, this asshole needed to clean up after himself.

"I do apologise, Mr McCloud," The lights turned on, revealing the lemur scientist casually sitting on a comfy stool by a coffee table, actively pouring himself a cup of tea. He adjusted his red tie and stirred his tea politely. We slowly approached him, our guns pointed at his forehead. Despite this, he remained dangerously calm. "Should I known I would have guests like this, I should have cleaned up after myself don't you think?"

Dr. X smiled at us sickly, adjusting his glasses coldly. I could see his large, yellow eyes scanning us rapidly.

"Don't think about fighting back, X," Krystal squinted and kept her distance as he blew on his hot drink, he was actively making a joke of the situation. "You're outnumbered and all of your generators are about to go down. Surrender and make this easy for both of us!"

He stood up, causing both of us to aim at him even more carefully.

"Come along quietly, now," I ordered, a scowl across my muzzle. "Looks like you underestimated us, Doctor. We don't need our ships and high tech equipment to complete a mission. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"You think I'm...underestimating you? Hmhmhm~" the Lemur chortled and held his mouth, pacing back and forth. He then took his glasses off and began cleaning them with his sleeve. "Dearest McCloud. You have more than lived up to your reputation, I must admit wholeheartedly. I wanted to test you and your team's...skills. Especially that huntress. Samus, was it? Apparently she has a reputation that precedes her. I wanted to find out just how good you are. I think I've gathered enough data for now. For now--"

I shot at him before he could pull a gun out of his lab coat. Before the bullets hit him, though, a barrier surrounded him. Doctor. X smiled cruelly and removed his empty hand from his coat.

"Quick to the draw, I see?" X chuckled and snapped his fingers, turning around. "I suppose if you want violence, you will have it, my new androids are willing to quench your thirst. The XR-One project is specifically designed to remove infections like you. For now, they're being mass produced for war. I think I've gathered enough information about you and your team from this experiment, do what you wish with this test facility. Well, should you survive my machines. Your deaths will iron out the kinks of their prototype programming. T-T-F-N."

Doctor. X waved back to us and casually left the room with a barrier around him. Before I could even chase him, red eyes from two cyclops robots lit up in the darkness. I gasped and backpedaled to Krystal, my gun tightly in my paws. We thought about running, but the door behind us was pressed shut. We were trapped. Two tall, lanky black robots emerged, their piercing red eyes scanning Krystal and I closely. My heart sank when I realized that their right arms were high powered gatling guns.

Krystal and I immediately dived out of the way the split second the robots started spinning up their guns. I landed behind some consoles and stayed as low as I possibly could, flinching as plasma beams tore the machine apart right above me. God damn those things would have made mincemeat out of me if I got hit by them. I laid low, avoiding any and all shots I could. Looked like these were just prototypes, their tracking wasn't very good. This was the only upside we had in this battle.

I peeked my head around the corner and fired a few, quick bursts in their general direction once I knew Krystal was out of the way. I saw sparks fly from one of the left arm of one of the robots, the impact of the bullets causing it to stumble a bit but it still managed to retaliate with a huge flurry of gatling fire which I only managed to avoid by activating my barrier emitter at the last second and diving away; taking critical damage to the shield. I winced, they were using bullets instead of energy attacks like me.

"Suppressing fire mode engaged," The robot pinning me said in a monotone voice. "Eliminate the female target."

"Affirmative," Its robotic cohort turned around by the sounds of it. I immediately began worrying for Krystal's safety. "Grenade!"

Grenade?!

A large flash lit up the area, accompanied by an ear piercing noise. A stun grenade? I looked at the equipment provided, picked out a frag grenade and threw it also. I could see both robots in an overloaded state because of that grenade. It looked like a stun/EMP grenade! Slip, you crafty bastard! With another bang, the frag grenade highly damaged one of the robots. In a rush of adrenaline, I noticed the one pinning me was still shooting into the ground. I jumped over and grabbed its arm, wincing from the utter heat the gun produced. I aimed the gatling gun and tore the already damaged robot to utter shreds, limb from limb. Gotcha, asshole!

A swift pain git my face as the remaining XR-1 punched me in the face, regaining its consciousness; or whatever equivalent a robot had. It ceased fire and looked at its dead friend for a moment as I clutched my now broken nose.

"Gatling gun failure," that arm fell off from overheating. "Switching to CQC."

From its remaining arm, a long, sharp serrated blade emerged; surrounded by an electrical aura. You had to be kidding me-

"Holy shit!"

I hissed and jumped out of the way of a quick lunge it made to me. With one elegant swipe, my parka and jumpsuit top was in tatters. Why was everything destroying my clothes as of recent?! Left shirtless, I began opening fire on the robot while avoiding its powerful swings. This bastard was unrelenting to say the least. Krystal sprinted and jumped onto its back and stabbed it in the neck with her combat knife before trying to shove a grenade in the huge sparking hole. The XR-1 quickly reacted and spun its body around quickly, throwing the psychic fox off it before she could pull the pin.

"Sustaining critical damage..." XR-1 sparked and began leaking lubricants from its open wound before assessing the situation. Outnumbered. Without primary weapon, cannot attack two targets at once. Victory percentage...marginal. Self Destruct Sequence initiated."

Its chest suddenly opened, revealing its core, sparking and beeping, starting one last, mad kamikaze rush to me.

I braced myself and activated my barrier, not before Krystal tackled me into a hug, her own barrier up and her eyes glowing blue with psychic energy. She held me in some tight hug as XR-1 exploded in a blinding and deafening light. Before I could even comprehend what was happening, Krystal and I were flying over the icy tundra of Fichina inside our massively damaged barriers. The entire top of X's base was practically gone, left as a small mushroom cloud with falling debris. Holy hell that was some explosion. Before we hit the ground, a blue aura surrounded us, gently placing us down. Our barrier emitters broke, but we were very much alive.

"Was...was that you?" I stared at the destroyed base as all the lights began going out. "I didn't know you had telekinesis…"

"I-I do...fuck…" Krystal coughed and wobbled, but stayed standing. "It's weak, though...never properly trained with it before the Cernians died...takes a physical toll on my body...looks like mission complete, though...It's dawn now, the fleet should destroy the place in an hour or two…"

"Mm, you're right," I started shivering due to my half-nakedness, but unhooked the stolen radio from my waist. "Miyu, Fay. I want you two to get outta there. We're leaving now, not much else to do. Bravo Team is probably on their way out now. Mission Complete."

As the morning sun rose over the icy plains, regrouped back at the ridge near our ships, all of Star Fox, including our new recruit, Samus watched proudly as a Galactic Federation Attack Cruiser bombarded the ever living shit out of the place, leaving only a pile of smouldering ash and rubble in its wake. Krystal and I huddled up together for warmth, Samus and Falco stood quietly, side by side at the front of the ridge, discussing something. They seemed like they had a good friendship growing. They were a mighty fine team with Slippy. They caused significant damage to the base as Slippy stole nearly their entire database. Miyu and Fay were also huddled up close, the smaller spaniel in the arms of the lynx. Poor Fay deserved a hug after today. Even in pain and suffering, she refused to cry. She Held steadfast and watched the base go up in flames. Apparently, without her covering fire, Falco could have almost gotten shot. Star Fox was in its prime!

But we were only halfway to Venom, and Dr X had been studying us apparently. Whatever info he gave to Andrew and Dark Samus would likely be used against us, but we would be ready for it. Even in the darkest days, against Andross and the Aparoids, we persisted. Morale was high, even after what seemed like a suicide mission. As the base was but a crater, we all turned on our heels, making our way back to our ships, victorious, hurt, and hungry…

End of Chapter...