CHAPTER 6
Fox relaxed at the controls of his Arwing as Bill slid the Grey 1 into the Great Fox hangar, to the space furthest to the right. Fox followed him in, shut down his ship and opened the canopy. He took in a big gulp of air as he jumped down off the wing and walked over to Bill's ship.
"Still holdin' up pretty good, Bill?"
"Yep. As good as ever, Fox."
"It's really good to see you again, man." Fox said and gave his old friend a hug.
"You too, Fox. Seems like you guys were lucky I came along."
"Yeah, we were. I bet you could see that dogfight from a million meters away."
Bill nodded.
"I owe you." Fox said. Bill shook his head.
"You don't owe me anything. Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I charged for my services?"
Fox shrugged his shoulders. "Hey Bill. I want you to meet someone. Come here."
"Sure." Bill said as he followed Fox to Krystal's Arwing. Krystal was already walking over to Fox to greet him. Fox gave her a hug and spun her around a few times as he swept her off her feet. Krystal giggled as Fox let her go and she turned her to face Bill.
"Bill Grey, Krystal. Krystal, my bud Bill." Fox said as he placed an arm around Krystal's shoulder.
Bill felt his jaw drop slightly, but quickly shut it as his eyes met Krystal's. He took off his shades and Krystal offered him a gentle smile.
"So you're Bill Grey. Fox's old friend from flight school." Krystal said as she offered her hand to him.
"Y-yeah…umm…t-that's me." Bill stammered as rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand and held out his right hand and shook Krystal's.
Fox began to hang his head in quiet laughter at Bill's shyness.
"Dang, he's as bad as I was when I first met her." He thought. Krystal laughed as she heard Fox's thought and let go of Bill's hand.
"It's great to meet you, Bill. Fox told me all about the Venomian war and he spoke about you a lot. Not as much as his dad, I'm afraid. You seemed to be quite a hero in that war." She said.
Fox grinned. He could see Bill blushing under his fur now.
"Well, nobody's per-"Bill began.
"Hey, Fox! I think I know what made that section of engineering to go haywire on Fichina." Slippy interrupted, nearly scaring Fox out of his skin. Fox narrowed his eyes and made a loose fist in frustration, but smiled as he took his arm from around Krystal's shoulder and turned around to face Slippy.
"Very good, Slippy, but please tell me before you scare me senseless, OK?"
Slippy grinned a little bit out of embarrassment.
"Sorry, Fox. I just got excited."
"It's okay, Slip-up. Let's see the stuff." Fox said.
"All right. Meet me in the science lab. I'll get the data online."
Fox nodded to Slippy and he turned on his heel and walked down the corridor.
Fox made a gesture with his hand to Bill meaning 'after you' as he put his arm back around Krystal's shoulder.
"Ladies first." Bill said. Fox grinned at Bill and he and Krystal walked down the corridor to the science lab, Krystal's head resting on Fox's shoulder as he rubbed her arm.
Fox walked in first and Bill's eyes widened slightly as he entered.
"Wow…things change in ten years."
"Yeah, they sure do." Fox said and rubbed his hand on Krystal's shoulder. Krystal patted his back a few times and rested her head on his shoulder.
The last time Bill Grey had set foot in that same lab was about ten years ago during the Venomian war after the Katina mission. Andross' prototype flying saucer nearly destroyed the base and killed everyone inside. The Great Fox was in it's first configuration, the way that James McCloud himself had built it, and the computers were much older. Ten years later and about a hundred million dollars worth of credits from Sauria had overhauled the ship, inside and out.
"Ok…so what I've done is, I managed to get a small amount of the energy signature from the beam of the corru-" Slippy began, but Fox held out his hand.
"Chill, Slip-up." Fox said with a kind smile. "No research paper required."
Slippy nodded and sat down at one of the several computer systems in the lab. He cut on the monitor, and wheeled his chair around to face Fox as it warmed up.
"We've got some more problems…" Slippy began.
Krystal sighed and Fox mentally prepared himself the best he could for whatever Slippy could say. "How could we have more problems than we do now?" Fox thought.
That beam…" Slippy said, but paused and shook his head as he looked towards the floor.
"Yeah. What about it, Slip?"
"Fox, that beam was not any type of standard laser we're used to seeing. The beam that was imposed upon the generator was aparoid matter, and it functioned along the lines of a computer virus; like a worm. Luckily the back-up generator kicked in. Anyway, these virii, though they were brought onto a machine, were organic and they are able to manipulate the non-organic machinery, by stimulating the components with their own energy. The micro-organisms within it had corrupted every function of that machinery it had brought itself on. These organisms are capable of infecting other machines, and re-arranging them to perform at the will of the virus. But...there has got to be some...place or being that the virii come from."
"Good God..." Bill said.
"These viruses...they've got to be coming from something like...a hive, or something along those lines." Krystal began.
"Slip, wait. If these viruses are organic, then, theoretically, couldn't they infect living matter as well, say, pilots inside of corrupted vessels?"
Slippy nodded. "Yes, actually. Since they're organic, they are indeed able to infect other organic matter, most likely with the same effect. Target any enemy and destroy it."
Fox shook his head as Bill took a step back from the monitor, neither of them expecting something like this to develop.
"Oh hell…" Fox said. Slippy turned back around to face the monitor and typed in several key sequences on the keyboard and a computer graphic animation of the Climate Control Center appeared on the monitor. Slippy took the mouse and zoomed in on the section of engineering that Fox and Bill had already demolished no more than half an hour ago.
"Look at this." Slippy said and panned down below Fichina's surface.
The two 'legs' it had walked on were actually part of the main generator assembly. They spun in a tube, generating electricity, which in turn, gave the Center power. Fox raised an eyebrow at the CG as it demonstrated the generator's normal function.
"So this is all it did. Create electricity for the center?"
Slippy nodded. "That was its original purpose, until the virii got fused into its mainframe system."
"Damn…if the particles could mess up a generator that bad, I'd hate to see what it could to something bigger." Bill said, for once, in a serious tone.
Fox and Krystal nodded.
"We've tracked Pigma's ship to the Asteroid belt around Corneria. We should be there in about half an hour from here on full warp. But…we lost his contact, I'm afraid." Slippy said.
"I thought we could keep a ship on radar all throughout the field…we got past the interference of the meteors."
"That's the problem. Pigma disappeared on radar when he got just inside the field. Some kind of interference, but it wasn't from the meteors. I can't tell what it is, though."
"Wait a minute…isn't there a base that Corneria is constructing?" Fox asked as he took his arm from around Krystal and typed on the monitor.
"Yes…which is exactly why we've got to go in after him and make sure that outpost is still secure." Slippy said.
Memories flashed through Fox McCloud's mind of what had happened in that same asteroid field, the skirmish that ensued during the Venomian war, the corruption of the Krazoas and his recent dream he had about it.
"There's way too much uncertainty." Fox said nervously and took a deep breath as he stepped back from the monitor and looked at the team that was with him in the lab: Bill, Slippy, and Krystal. Just as Fox opened his mouth to speak, Falco and Peppy walked in.
"Hey, guys. Anything on what that beam was?" Falco asked. Slippy explained in to him and Peppy and when he finished, Peppy was pondering what that 'interference' could be while Falco clenched his hands into fists and mumbled something about filet miñon under his breath. Fox took a step back and addressed the team.
"There are a lot of things that fall into place with this new discovery here. These things can affect any machine, meaning that we could…we could be firing on friendlies from here on in." Fox took a deep breath, then continued,
"I know that this may make you question my judgment in this situation, but if you see any ship registering on the HUD radar as hostile, Cornerian or not, you have to open fire on it before it can get a shot off at you. There's no other way around it. Keeping them alive would be aiding the enemy. We can't let them spread into the system anymore, even if it means firing on our own ships."
Everybody nodded as Fox took a deep breath and looked at the ground for a few seconds, having to take in what he just told the rest of the team. He lifted his head up slightly and took a deep breath.
"It's gonna be a hell of a lot tougher from here on in, especially for me. I haven't got the slightest clue how long this whole crisis will last, but if it has escalated to something like this in a matter of hours then who knows what could happen next. It could really hit home hard for us, but we've got to get through this."
Peppy cleared his throat loudly and everyone turned towards him.
"There's one thing though, my friend." He said. "When have I or anyone for that matter question you, of James's judgment." He said with a kind grin. Fox shrugged his shoulders.
"So why the hell should we start now. We know you'll get us through this." Falco said.
"Amen." Bill said and grinned.
"There's no reason to." Krystal said as she placed an arm around Fox's waist.
Fox smiled. "I'm glad I've got your support on this. Now, I believe we need something to eat. I'm sure we're all starved. I'm buying." Fox said sarcastically. The food in the Great Fox's dining lounge was free.
"Oooh…big spender." Krystal said. Fox grinned. "Shall we?" He asked her. "Lead the way, Foxie." She said with a grin.
"Foxie. That's hilarious." Bill said. Fox raised the arm that wasn't around Krystal's waist and gave Bill the bird. Falco covered his beak with his right arm, attempting to contain his laughter.
"Ouch…" Bill said. Fox laughed.
"Just kiddin', man." He said.
"It's all good."
Fox walked into the dining hall, took his arm from around Krystal's waist and pulled out her chair. Krystal grinned and sat down as Fox pushed her chair in slightly and walked to the counter and started up the replicators.
"Whaddya you guys want?" He asked.
"Nothin' much. Whatcha got?" Bill asked.
"You name it, we've got it." Falco said.
"Hmm…I dunno…I'll take some fries. I'm not that hungry." Bill said.
"Salad, here." Krystal said.
"I'm good." Slippy said.
"Nothin' Here, Foxie." Falco said and laughed.
"Yeah…I'd poison your food if I ever gave any to you." Fox thought. Krystal turned and looked at him with wide eyes, but a kind smile on her face.
"Kidding, Krys. Kidding" He thought and gave her a warm smile. Krystal rolled her eyes and turned back to face the table.
"So…how'd you and old McCloud meet?" Bill asked. Fox grinned. "He's in for it now…" He thought.
Krystal didn't look at him, but grinned. Fox laughed. "Well…it's a long story…" She began as Bill rested his head in his hands, propped up on the table.
Fox picked up the three plates, one of them with a cheeseburger on it, for him, and carefully walked over to the table, one of them balancing on his arm. He sat the plates down on the table and sat down himself. Fox picked up a mustard packet and ripped it open with his teeth, considering they were impossible to open with his hands.
Fox glanced at his watch. There were still about twenty minutes left until he had to jump in the cockpit of his Arwing once more, headed to battle. Fox couldn't believe it. He was about to be firing on friendly ships soon, perhaps some people he may have met before. Fox shook his head to clear his mind as he picked up his burger and took a bite.
"Pretty good for a replicator…" He thought. Fox ate about half of it and set it back down on the plate.
"Well, guys I think I'm full for now. We don't have much time left before we hit the asteroid belt, and I've gotta head to my quarters. There's a few things I need to do before we hit the battlefield again." He said.
Bill and Falco nodded. "See you in the hangar, Fox." Krystal said. Fox smiled and walked out of the dining hall to his quarters.
He walked into the dark room and sat down on the foot of his bed and buried his face in his hands, thoughts racing through his mind.
"There's got to be at least fifty Cornerian fighters stationed at that outpost…and at least double that of technicians still constructing the base…"
Fox moved his head slightly downward and let his hands move over the top of his head, over his ears and down to his neck. He breathed a sigh of relief as he came to terms with what he has to do. "We can't let them spread anymore…" He recalled in his mind.
There was one major thing that Fox couldn't block out of his mind. He had a really bad gut instinct about this mission. Something was out there and it really struck a nerve. Fox recalled his father's voice in his head.
"Never give up…trust your instincts."
Fox always remembered his dad saying that, those nearly twelve years ago.
He heard the door slide open, and grinned as he saw Krystal enter the room and turn the light on, dimly.
"Hey, Foxie." She said as she sat down beside him on the foot of the bed.
"Hey, Krys. It's a good thing you can read my thoughts. You're always here to talk to when I need you most."
"There are a lot of strange thought patterns, and a big life-force out there but nothing you can't handle." She said with a warm smile. Fox shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess…I don't know though."
"Fox, you don't have anything to be afraid of, I know that much. You saved all of Sauria a couple of years ago, and that was the biggest life-force that I or anyone else could've encountered. Who else could do something like that?"
Fox grinned. "I don't know." He said.
Krystal smiled. "I want to give you something." She said as she held out her hand. Fox raised an eyebrow as he held his hand under hers and she dropped a small silver ring on his palm.
"What's this?" He asked, puzzled.
"Well, it's hard to explain, but to put it short, it allows us to communicate telepathically while we wear them. My parents gave them to me a couple of days before they died. I wondered why they said I'd need them. Now I guess I know." She said with a grin.
"Thanks, Krys." Fox said and embraced her. Krystal gave him a kiss and stood up with her arm held out to him.
"Come on. We've got some tail to kick, Foxie."
Fox smiled and grabbed her hand and held her by the waist.
"I love you so much." He said and kissed her.
"You too, Fox. You'll be ok out there. I know it."
Fox and Krystal walked to the hangar, hand in hand. Bill was standing on the left wing of his fighter, his flight helmet under his arm, while Falco had just closed the canopy and began the startup sequence.
Bill smiled kindly when he turned to meet them. Fox was surprised. Normally Bill would raise and eyebrow and make a smart remark.
"Yo Fox. Ready for this missi- Hey. What are the rings for?"
"No, Bill. They're not...nevermind. To put it short, Krys and I can communicate telepathically now." Fox said. Bill raised an eyebrow and nodded his head with a grin.
"Fox! I just got a message from my dad!" Slippy's voice came in from the ship's intercom. "This core memory we've got to obtain may contain the information we need to find the Aparoid homeworld.
"Wow." Bill said over the comm..
"Yeah…we've got to seize it from Pigma at almost any cost."
"Almost?" Falco asked.
"Yeah. By almost, I mean, don't try to kill yourself to get it. Nobody needs to play the hero out there, people."
A chorus of 'copy's came over the comm as each member began to start up their Arwings and get the engines running. A series of three beeps sounded and a green light blinked on the HUD signifying the lift locks being released from the wings of the Arwing. When the green light stopped blinking and stayed on, Fox punched the throttle and grinned as his head was pushed back against the cushioned headrest of his seat. The team followed him out and formed a row, with Falco on his right and Krystal on his left.
The Cornerian asteroid field began to form into view. So far, the StarFox team's scopes were clear; only blue dots signifying asteroids appeared.
"Ok team. When we hit the asteroids, stick close to my wing as best you can. It's going to be some tough turns in this field. Just follow my lead."
A chorus of 'copy's echoed once again aver the comm. As Fox gritted his teeth and pulled the controls hard left to dodge the first of many asteroids heading his way.
Falco Lombardi raised an eyebrow at his own radar as he pulled right around an asteroid and saw the blinking, yellow dots.
"Hey Guys. What do you all make of this? Three blinking dots, registering hostile, but they're not moving towards us."
"I see those. Maybe they're old probes of some sort." Fox said.
"No way. They're too big." Slippy said over the comm.
"Wait…I can see them. They're the wolfens. I'm sensing faint brain patterns from them. They abandoned ship." Krystal said.
Fox banked around another chunk of rock millions of times the size of his ship and looked out of his canopy to the left and saw them, several kilometers away.
"Something to cause even Wolf O'Donnell himself to abandon ship…something's got to be pretty tough to do that." Fox said.
"Radar's picking up contacts, and they're moving in fast." Slippy said. Fox looked at his radar and saw about fifty various sizes of red blinking dots moving straight for him.
"All right team, keep your guard up. Don't try to pick your targets for this one. Cornerian or not, you've got to fire."
The team didn't answer, but instead performed evasive maneuvers and began firing into the onslaught of enemy ships.
"Damn! Pigma must have something planned back here, with all these things flying around." Falco said.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Slippy said back.
Fox flipped open a switch on the control stick and pressed a red switch twice. Two nova bombs flew from the nose of the ship and exploded in the middle of the armada, destroying most of them while the surviving ships spun out of control into others and exploded.
"Notify me if a Cornerian ship is shot down." Fox said.
A chorus of 'copy's came over the comm as Fox opened fire with his lasers into the continuing onslaught.
"Keep pressing through." He said, mainly to himself.
"Hey that's a weird looking meteorite…and…holy crap! It's coming straight for us!" Slippy said.
"Wha- oh crap!" Fox said as he saw them. Meteorites with silver rings with a red energy flowing around them, once defense mechanisms for the Cornerian base, were now obviously infected by the aparoids somehow. Fox banked and rolled as hard as he could to dodge them.
"These things are coming at us more furiously than before. Watch it, Slip-up." He said into the comm.
"Fox! I can't dodge them! I can't—" Slippy began to say.
Fox looked at Slippy's Arwing, with a chunk of meteorite heading towards it. Fox blasted it, but the debris and the shock from the laser shot knocked Slippy's Arwing around violently for a minute, then it floated; dead in space.
Slippy? SLIPPY!" Fox yelled into the comm, but he gave no response.
Fox glanced over to Slippy and saw his Arwing floating near the edge of the asteroid field.
"Oh damn…" Fox thought.
"Keep firing, team! Slip-up's in some deep crap! His Arwing's system's are down. Take out the meteorites and keep Slippy's Arwing covered.
"Fox? Fox! Oh crap." Slippy said as he shook his head to clear his mind. He tapped the start-up switch, overrode the power and guidance systems, and rerouted power. Nothing happened. Slippy tried everything he knew how…nothing worked. He glanced at his oxygen gauge; it read 10 minutes of air left.
Slippy paused for a second, trying to calm himself and think of something to do. Slippy took a deep breath as he figured out that there was only one thing he could do to save himself, and he wasn't sure if he had time left.
He unbuckled his safety harness and floated from his seat in the 0g of space and opened a compartment under the HUD and pulled out a screwdriver.
He turned around inside the cockpit and proceeded to unscrew the chair from its assembly. Slippy wiped some sweat from his head and his eyes and turned each screw until the chair broke free.
"Come on, Slip. Hurry up." Fox said to himself as he helplessly looked at Slippy's lifeless Arwing as he continued to destroy meteorite after meteorite spinning at great speed towards his, and the team's ships.
Slippy unscrewed the seat and moved it as close to the HUD as he could without destroying it and tried to get himself back into the power wires that kept his Arwing running. Some of the wires were sparking, and most of them were a smoldering black from the blast.
Slippy reached back into the compartment under the HUD and pulled out a roll of electrical tape, and moved the seat back to the HUD so he could access the power wires again. Slippy pulled out a small flashlight out of his pocket and flicked it on. Everything back there was a smoldering wreck.
He turned his head and looked back at the oxygen gauge. One minute left. "Dammit." He thought. Slippy wiggled a few of the wires and tapped them into place, rather painfully due to the electric current still flowing slightly for backup power, and some lights in the cockpit went on.
"Yes!" Slippy said. He looked at his hands; they were bleeding pretty badly. Slippy put some tape on his hands and he moved back the seat and reattached it back to the assembly and tightened the screws.
"Fox, can you hear me?" Slippy asked into the comm as he warmed the engine back up and brought the oxygen systems and radar back online.
"Yes! Thank God. Slip, that was awesome!" Fox asked over the comm.
"All right, Slip! I knew you could do it." Bill said as he fired on another infected asteroid flying towards him.
"Hold on, Guys. I'll get back to you. Cover me, Fox. I still don't have power." Slippy said as he sat down in the chair, buckled himself in, and flipped down a rectangular door to the left of the HUD and console.
"No problem, Slip-up. Just don't take your time in there."
Slippy said as he narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look at the fried guidance and control chips. Slippy tapped a few of them with his hand, and they sparked. He took a deep breath and grabbed some of the guidance chips and pulled them out. He swore under his breath as the electric current agitated his fingers and singed his skin.
Slippy glanced at the numbers and letters written on the end farthest from the metal link-up that provided power, and re-inserted them in different slots. He looked at his radar console, and it sparked slightly and flared back to life. Slippy grinned as he turned back around and tore several power chips out of the same mainframe.
"Damn." He mumbled. The electric current was stronger than he had thought as he looked at the numbers and letters on these chips. Slippy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. If he inserted these chips in the wrong slots for power re-routing, then he would cause a power surge in the circuits resulting in the destruction of the ship. Slippy stuck the first of three chips into a slot. He looked at the HUD to find out that the oxygen system had come back online.
Slippy slowly re-inserted the second into another slot and squinted his eyes. When he opened one of his eyes and looked around, he was still in the cockpit. A light came on signifying that the laser cannons were back and up to full power.
He stuck the third chip in without hesitation and relaxed as he heard the engine flare back to life behind him.
"I'm back!" Slippy said and punched the throttle, accelerated into the field, and checked his shield and hull gauge. 'Sh. 56 Hu. 73' it read.
"Well that was kind of a thrill, I guess…" Slippy said. Fox grinned.
"Sure…but try roller coasters next time, man." Falco said. Krystal and Bill laughed over the comm.
"Gotcha." Slippy said and demolished several of the corrupted asteroids spinning towards him. Fox glanced around outside his canopy, and didn't see any more of them.
Squadrons of aparoid fighters came at Fox, causing his instinct to kick in and squeeze the nova launcher. One of them detonated so close to his own Arwing that the hull integrity went from 80 to 69.
"Dang, Fox. Chill with the novas." Bill said over the comm.
"Sorry."
Squadrons of three appeared, then seven of dark blue aparoids that had a silhouette of a dragonfly, raining dark-purple and green lasers down on Fox. The same kind of lasers from the Katina mission. Fox held his breath and squinted his teeth as he blasted them into nonexistence.
"Ahhh! Fox!" Krystal yelled over the comm, scaring Fox nearly out of his mind.
"K-krystal!" He said as he glanced at his radar and found her Arwing.
"I've got a few on me. I…I can't shake them. They're unbelievable." She said as she flew past his nose and Fox let loose a nova, just as she passed him, obliterating the mob of ten enemies on her Arwing.
"Nice goin' Fox. You're pretty good in tight spots." She said over the comm.
"I try, Krys. How's your ship holding up?"
"Shields are at eighty and hull is at seventy-five. I'll be fine."
"Good. If you made it through this much already, you should have no trouble." Fox said.
"Aww crap. I've taken a lot of damage." Falco said.
"Same here. I'm down to fifty percent." Bill said.
Just as Fox was about to give the command over the comm for Bill to pull back to the Great Fox, they stopped coming. Fox stopped the throttle in a clear spot in the field and breathed a sigh of relief as he wiped a substantial amount of sweat that had collected during the firefight.
"I think that's the last of 'em, guys." Fox said as he relaxed at the controls, still keeping his guard up.
"I hope so." Bill said.
"Fox…there's something past those asteroids bearing about two-seven-three." Krystal said.
"Are you guys up for a little more dog fighting?"
A chorus of copy's came over the comm and Fox punched the throttle towards the leviathan light-gray asteroids in front of him.
"Watch it, Fox. If you try to jet through those rocks, you'll get killed. Utilize your brakes." Peppy said over the comm.
"Always there with advice. What would we do without you, Peppy?" Fox asked.
"Good question." Peppy said sarcastically. Fox grinned. Peppy may have thought he was joking, but Fox was actually quite serious. His old friend Peppy Hare was well into his late 60's, but his mind still ran 'like a Swiss watch.'
Fox brought the throttle on his ship to 75, as did the rest of the team as they made a '/\' formation, with Fox's Arwing at the tip. Krystal and Falco were on Fox's port side, and Bill and Slippy on his starboard.
"Well here's our base, but…" Krystal said.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Fox asked.
"It's…it's not under our control anymore. Pigma was planning ahead. He's already infected this whole place with the DNA."
The base was gigantic, but it was horribly deadly. Large places of red and blue matter, composed of Aparoid substances foreign to Cornerian databases, littered the exterior of the base.
Fox narrowed his eyes as his adrenaline began circulating inside him upon entering the vicinity. The Arwings were dwarfed just at the size of the maintenance door and the great wall in front of them. It could've easily harbored a ship nearly double the size of the Great Fox. Fox looked up and could barely make out the top of the side of the base, but so far, he could only see this one side of it.
"Bandits! 12:00 high!" Fox said as many aparoids emerged from within it.
Fox jammed the control stick all the way back, having his Arwing fly parallel to the top side of the base as he gunned down aparoid after aparoid intercepting him.
The nose of Fox's Arwing came even with the hoard of even much more Aparoid enemies and without hesitation he let loose three novas into the center, obliterating them into nonexistence.
Each member fired at anything that moved. There wasn't even time to pick targets in this hell storm. Nobody was even aiming at one single Aparoid. They were just sweeping their lasers in all directions.
"Fox! The base…it just launched a whole volley of fighters." Krystal said over the comm.
"What do they register?"
"They're hostile on scopes, but they register as Cornerian."
Fox pounded the instrument console with his left fist and took several deep breaths as he glared at the fighters. They had the same nose and cockpit as the Arwing, but instead of the wings going out horizontally, the wings went up vertically, making them lighter, and slightly faster.
Yet considering their corruption and the substances on their outer hulls, there was no telling as to their capabilities because their pilots were not in control, if not dead, and they were under complete Aparoid control.
"Return their fire!" He said with great reluctance.
A chorus of 'copy's echoed over the comm.
Almost immediately after their deployment, Fox got a fighter on his tail, spitting dark green lasers at him. He banked and swerved, desperately trying to avoid its lasers and get the fighter off his tail. After many unsuccessful attempts, something clicked in Fox's brain.
Fox killed the throttle, and pressed a button that said 'fuel dump' two times as fast as he could in the cockpit. He punched the engine until the gauge read 105, igniting the fuel and destroying the fighter. Almost immediately after he pulled that stunt, the whole team chimed in.
"What was that!"
"Oh…just something I thought of, I guess." Fox said as he reluctantly gunned down five fighters flying right towards him. He glanced around, looking for the other Arwings outside of his canopy. Things, to his surprise, were looking up. Krystal was pumping round after round into the onslaught and Falco seemed to be accustomed to the novas.
Slippy, despite his almost fatal malfunction earlier, was handling quite well. He was shooting at the enemy for once, not the other way around. Fox grinned at Bill's erratic maneuvers in his ship, destroying one ship after another.
Despite these good odds, Fox couldn't help that in this whole gigantic hellish swarm of enemy ships, many of them were of Cornerian origin. Fox rubbed a tear out of his left eye as he realized the pilots in the ships couldn't even respond to transmissions, let alone keep their own craft from firing.
Nonetheless, Fox had his orders from General Pepper, and that was to defend the whole system, not an outpost, at any cost, other than a loss in the team.
"There's a place we can get inside. It's a runway. Follow me." Fox said and punched the throttle to full as he let loose three novas, obliterating the infected Cornerian fighters and clearing a path for the team to follow him in.
Fox banked in all directions, firing lasers the whole time as he continued down the runway, until he saw the doors ahead of him close. He gritted his teeth and shot his last several remaining novas at the door to destroy it. It didn't budge, but it did wipe out all of the aparoids within the area.
"Go left, Fox!" Peppy said over the comm. Fox glanced over and saw a small service tunnel. He banked and flew within it.
"Lower throttle to 50." Fox said as he blew up several hatchers attached to the tunnel walls.
"It's going to get really tight in here soon." Fox said as he destroyed several infected Cornerian fighters flying to intercept him. He carefully dodged the lasers and took in what he has already done, and for what he and the team had to do.
He and the team had already destroyed at least twenty of their own fighters, and they were going to have to find some way to destroy this base, and everything inside it, or risk the security of an already weakened Lylat System, ravaged by previous wars, and still regaining its composure. There was no way that it would be able to withstand an attack, especially one to this large of a scale as the Aparoids.
Fox glanced at his radar and gritted his teeth as he made a sudden right turn down a larger and more brightly lit tunnel, made for servicing cruisers and battleships.
"Fox, what was that for!" Falco said over the comm.
"Sorry…that service way dead-ended a few meters ahead."
"Oh…try not to do that again.
Fox laughed weakly. "Sure. I'll try."
"Geez!" He said as he glanced up and saw a maintenance arm twenty times the size of his Arwing swing towards him. Fox bit his lip as he swerved and hit the brakes to dodge it, just as another was coming towards him from the other side of the service tunnel.
"Fox, I'm picking up a large enemy presence up ahead." Krystal said.
"Good. That's what I'm hoping for." Fox said as he settled his crosshairs on and fired, with great pain, on another Cornerian fighter.
"Watch it! It's getting tight in here." He said as he dodged the second arm and banked past a third maintenance arm and wasted as many aparoids walking on the ground as he could.
"Wait…there's no way out!" Krystal said as she came on his wing and they got to the end of the runway and the blast door close in front of them.
"This way." Fox said as he dodged the last arm and dove down a tunnel just barely wide enough for the Arwing to fit through. It was filled with dark blue and black circular aparoid turrets and they were all facing towards him.
Right before any of them could read his radar signature and fire, Fox hit the lasers and pelted all of them, enveloping the tunnel and his Arwing in a blanket of yellow fire. Just as Fox begun to think he'd hit a dead end, the tunnel ended a few minutes after the turrets were destroyed and Fox was once again in open space, able to see the walls of the aft end of the base around the left side of his canopy.
"Hold it, Fox. Look." Krystal said. Fox hit the brakes, as did the rest of the team.
"Pigma's ship? But...how come it it's unscathed?"
"Fox! Behind you!" Falco said and Fox gritted his teeth, hit the gas, flew out a few hundred meters, and threw his Arwing into a kickspin back to face the outpost. He squinted his eyes at something in the center. Instead of being black and gray, it was green and light blue, and a light purple. Fox could make out something moving in the center.
"Looks we found Pigma" He said.
"Whoa…what the…" Fox said as the colored portion of the base spiked and flared up and covered Pigma, deep within the horrible aparoid mass inside.
"Well it looks like Pigma got too friendly with 'em." Falco said.
The six adjacent bay doors on the O shaped section of the outpost, that were made to harbor battleships, closed over the manipulated mass that was the infected Pigma Dengar. Fox looked at Pigma and instead of being a light pink, he could barely make out splotches of dark blue matter, boiling all over his skin.
It opened up, and Fox's eyes got wide as a purple and blue twisted mass of what looked like Pigma's head appeared.
"WOW!" Bill said.
"Do not resist. You have been warned." Pigma bellowed in a droning voice.
"Yeah…right. We're not buyin' that." Falco said over the comm to the base.
Fox opened comm frequencies to the base.
"What do you want with us?" He yelled, even though he expected no response.
"We are the ultimate existence, and you cannot resist. You must join us." It said.
"Hey, freak show! Don't you listen!" Falco yelled.
Pigma sneered and the doors closed once more as six mechanical arms were exposed from somewhere on the other side of the base.
"Not good…" Fox thought.
Three of the arms had six-barreled gatling gun style laser batteries on the end, while the other three had missile batteries latched to claws underneath them.
"Hit the arms!" Fox yelled and pelted them with laser fire. The team acknowledged and a couple of the missile batteries and a laser battery were quickly destroyed.
"Nice job." Fox said but he winced as one of the claws formerly holding a missile battery, grabbed hold of his Arwing and ripped one of his wings off.
"Fox!" Krystal yelled.
"I'm fine. Just…oh CRAP! SCATTER!"
"Meteors coming this way." Falco said as the arms picked up passing asteroids with their claws and began hurtling them towards the Arwings at blinding speed. Fox and the team were having a hell of a time dodging them. Fox was banking so hard that he became slightly disoriented from the constant barrel rolling.
"Wow…I'm dizzy from that. That doesn't happen to me often." Bill said.
"So infection leads to something like this? A menace of this size?" Krystal said over the comm as she began opening fire on the claws throwing meteors at them.
Fox did the same and Falco, Bill, and Slippy began using the rest of their novas, completely obliterating them. Fox dodged the wreckage as Pigma laughed loudly, sending a chill down Fox's spine.
"Yes! All his arms are out." Slippy said.
"Great, Fox. He's almost out of commission." Peppy said over the comm.
"Fox, it's not over. I'm sensing a mighty force from him." Krystal said as the six bay doors opened wide, revealing Pigma's horrible twisted blue and purple face. Fox opened fire immediately and aimed right for his nose.
"Whoa! Watch it." Falco said as he did a loop to dodge a wave of ballistic missiles launched from the base. Fox gritted his teeth and pulled a somersault, still squeezing the trigger on the control stick as he brought the Arwing back level to Pigma. He was about to end it with a nova but the bay door closed and red and yellow fire energy began entering into the sides of the base.
"Detecting high energy buildup in center of enemy mass." ROB said over the comm.
"Move it! That energy reading is off the charts!" Peppy said.
"Scatter!" Fox yelled as the bay doors opened, and that red and yellow energy shot out of Pigma's gaping mouth and into the Field. Fox banked and rolled, desperately trying to dodge it as it followed him, as if attracted to his ship.
The beam stopped several minutes later, and Fox and the team let their last remaining novas fly directly into the center of the mass, right into Pigma's still open mouth. Pigma and the base began trembling, almost uncontrollably, as the remains of the base tore itself apart in a brilliant explosion. Fox cringed as Pigma let out one last scream and an unnaturally bright light shot out from his mass. The base fell silent, and all energy and function ceased within it. The base was completely neutralized, sitting dead in the dark of space.
Fox said nothing, but wiped several tears from his eye as he realized that there were still stranded Cornerians on that base, but they had just been consumed in the explosion.
Fox cleared his throat. "All right…umm…that was one hell of a firefight. We need a break after this." He said, his voice breaking up slightly.
"Fox. You all right, man?" Bill asked kindly.
"Yeah I'm fine, Thanks Bill. It's just that…there were still friendlies on that base."
"Fox, there was nothing you could do. Believe me." Peppy said.
"Fox…are you all right?"
"Yeah, Krys. I'm fine…thanks for asking." Fox thought, even that voice breaking up.
"Anytime. You did what you had to do, Fox. I know this won't help, but there was no other way around it. You said it yourself."
Fox sighed. "Yeah…you're right.
"I need a vacation for a while…" Fox said over the comm. The rest of the team agreed.
"Let's head up to the ship. I need something to drink."
Fox slid his Arwing into the space and the team followed suit as he opened the canopy and climbed out onto the wing. Krystal jumped out of her canopy and walked over to his and waited for him to jump down. Fox gave her a kind smile.
"You gonna try and catch me?" He asked.
Krystal laughed. "If you want me to break my arms." She said.
"Oh I see how it is." Fox said and jumped from the wing down to the floor. He walked to Krystal, pulled her to him, and gave her a kiss that lasted a few seconds.
"I would've caught you." He said smugly, still holding Krystal by the waist. Krystal laughed.
"You would've dropped me if I would've jumped down." She said with a grin.
Fox grinned evilly at her and swept her off her feet into his arms. ,
"I'm not dropping you now, am I?" He said.
Krystal laughed and Fox gave her a quick kiss and walked down the corridor to the bridge, Krystal still in his arms and Bill, Falco, and Slippy trying to conceal their laughter, but failing miserably. Bill was laying on the wing of his ship, shades on the hangar floor, and his face buried in his arms with his body trembling with laughter.
"Fox, General Pepper is on the VAC in the bridge." Peppy said over the intercom.
"Be up in a sec." Fox said as he looked back at the team and swung his head towards the corridor, signifying them to follow him to the bridge. Fox carried Krystal all the way up to the bridge, and when he passed through the doors, he set her down and turned on the VAC.
"Excellent work, StarFox. I'm sorry to hear of the actions you had to take regarding the base." Pepper said with a smile.
"Thank you, General. So…we got this core memory and it should reveal the location of the homeworld, correct?" Fox asked.
Pepper nodded. "Indeed, the time to face the aparoid queen has come."
"Hmm…" Fox said as he rubbed his chin.
"This queen is the source of all aparoid will. As long as she exists, they will continue to multiply and threaten our existence." Pepper said.
Fox pondered what could happen when they intercepted the homeworld. They would be going into complete unknown for this one, billions of miles from Lylat.
Slippy rested his chin in his hand and shook his head slightly, nervousness setting in as he too began pondering what the unknown world could throw at them.
"All right, then. We're on our way to the planet to help analy-"
"Fox." Krystal interrupted.
Fox raised an eyebrow and his ears went back to full alert as the fur on his neck began to stand up.
"What is it…?" He asked as he turned towards her.
"I'm receiving a distress call from Sauria." She said as Fox walked over to her.
"Sauria? From Tricky?" Fox asked.
"I…don't know, but I heard cries of pain and agony from the planet." She said and put her hands over her heart.
Fox went over and pulled her into a tight hug. He could feel it beating against him as he stroked a hand through her hair and massaged her back with the other. It was racing terribly fast. She was scared of something…and she hardly ever gets scared of anything.
"General, we'll have to get back to you after this. Something else has come up, sir." Fox said as he rubbed Krystal's arm, trying to comfort her.
"Understood, Fox. Be careful out there, and do what you must to protect Sauria. We can't lose it. Pepper, out." He said and shut off his link of the VAC.
"Fox, we'll be in Sauria's orbit in a about eight hours from here on full warp. All of you get some rest. You're going to need it for this." Peppy said. Fox nodded, Krystal still in his arms.
"Sometimes…I hate being telepathic." Krystal thought.
"But you've saved our lives so many times…" Fox thought to her as he rubbed his hand through her cerulean hair and moved her head slightly to look up into his eyes. Fox smiled and gave her a quick kiss.
"We'll be OK." He thought.
"I don't know…I can almost sense that someone is going…"
"Going to what, Krystal."
"I can almost foresee that one of us will be killed from this next task we've got to undertake."
Fox glanced around quickly to see what was happening on the bridge. Peppy and Falco were talking quietly, and Slippy was sitting at a computer console looking up images of Sauria and its current status. Fox turned back to Krystal.
"I won't let anything like that happen." Fox thought.
"I know you won't, but one person, even as strong as you, can control fate."
Fox nodded slightly as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"I know, but I can try." He said and smiled to her. Krystal rolled her eyes up to look at him again and smiled back. Fox kissed her quickly on her cheek and addressed the team.
"Well guys, here's how it's going to work. Falco, Bill, and Slip-up will watch the skies and Krystal and I will take the ground near Moon Mountain Pass, considering we know the terrain. You two guys go ahead and head down to Sauria when we get there, and clear some of the skies as soon as you can. Krys and I will need the easiest landing possible." Fox said.
Falco and Slippy nodded and walked up to the raised area of the bridge.
"Watch yourself out there, Fox." Bill said as he followed.
"Yeah, you too, man." Fox said and patted his friend on the back.
"Slippy, before you guys hit the Arwings, I need you to get some photos of some of the dinosaurs if you can. I need to know how well they're combating the invasion, and if they've been infected or not." Fox said. Slippy nodded and turned around back to the computer console.
"Krystal and I are heading down to the Armory, guys. We'll be up in a minute." Fox said and he and Krystal walked off the bridge.
Fox took hold of Krystal's hand as they walked to the armory.
"We'll be ok, Krys. Try not to worry about this."
Krystal looked at him and smiled. "You're right, Fox. But…I can almost feel that something terrible is about to unfold down on the surface. She said as they came to the door.
"Krys, trust me. There's no way I'll let anything happen to any of us down there." Fox said and put his eye on the retinal scanner. Krystal said nothing, but nodded her head.
"Are you OK now?" He asked as he put his hands oh her shoulders and looked into her eyes. Krystal nodded and looked back into his with a smile. Fox rubbed a hand through her hair and Krystal did the same to Fox as the armory doors slid open. Fox let go of her and grinned.
"So…take your pick. If you could handle two assault rifles, then none of these should be a problem for you."
Krystal laughed. "All right then. What do you recommend?"
"I dunno. Pick something, but you're going to need something heavier for this one. The aparoids' attacks have been getting more furious lately. I'm gonna get an assault rifle and several grenades. It's up to you what you carry, but stock up on ammo and definitely carry a sidearm for backup." Fox said as he picked up a scoped AR, inspected the chamber to check if it was empty, and slung it over his back. Krystal folded her arms as she looked the shelves up and down, deciding what to carry.
"What…what do you suppose one of the dinosaurs would do should they be infected?" Krystal asked as she picked up one of the gatling guns from a shelf and inspected it.
"They'd probably either die, or they would make an attempt at our lives. That DNA corrupts normal functions, judging by the whole generator incident earlier." Fox said grimly.
Krystal lowered her head slightly and shook it, clearly hurt by Fox's statement.
"Don't worry, Krys. We'll save 'em. We've already done it once before, and it's not like we can't do it again." Fox said as he reached and gently took Krystal's chin, raising her head up to look into his eyes. Krystal smiled and Fox kissed her on the cheek as he set his blaster down on one of the empty racks and threw his flight jacket over it.
"Come on. You need to get some rest before we head down there. It's been one rough day for all of us." Fox said as walked back over to Krystal and gave her a hug.
Krystal nodded as she set the rifle down on the rack and put an arm around Fox's shoulder and followed him out of the armory down the corridor that lead to their quarters.
Fox walked her to her room and pulled her into a tight hug, giving her a long kiss, as the door slid open. Krystal rubbed a hand through the fur on his forehead and pulled away, Fox's arms still around her waist.
"Good night, Foxie." She said with a grin.
"Sleep well." Fox said as he let her go and turned to walk down the hallway several doors down to his own quarters.
Krystal sat down on the right side of the bed and began to take off her jewelry as she began to ponder what it could be she was feeling that someone would not come out of this Sauria mission alive.
"I'm just tired..." She thought as she positioned herself under the sheets and fell asleep a few moments later, after turning off the light.
Fox ran a finger along the silver ring around his finger as he walked into his room and sat down on the foot of the bed. He buried his face in his hands, tears in his eyes, as he recollected the events that just unfolded in the meteor field.
Fox fell back onto the spring mattress and folded his arms behind his head as exhaustion began setting in, and a tired and weary Fox McCloud began to drift into a rather uneasy sleep.