Runway
Moore Industries Shipyard and Assembly Plant
Cornaria / Lylat System
0640 Hours
When Fox woke he was about convinced that the new Arwing was a mere dream he had. The new fighters were so beautiful, so smooth and curved when compared to the sharp angled design that he used to.
But then Kyle asked him to put his flight suit on and meet the rest of the team on the runway, it was time for the team to try out their new spacecraft.
If one new Arwing was impressive when displayed under industrial lighting in a run of the mill hanger, then what would you call four of them outside with a golden orange sunrise behind them?
Fox didn't bother trying to answer that question, the open cockpit canopy was calling. . .
The Cockpit was surprisingly quite roomy and comfortable, Fox was able to look in every direction and even over his shoulder without even coming close to hitting his muzzle on the canopy, something that had proved more than a simple annoyance in the past Arwings. The controls and console were perfectly placed, everything was right where he would want them, no more awkward controls that made him play Twister in the middle of a mission.
"Fox, are you going to take her for a spin or what?" Falco demanded over the radio snapping the pilot out of his daze.
"Yeah, give me a second Falco," Fox replied as he closed the canopy and retracted the ladder that folded out to help him climb into the cockpit. Systems were green across the board, time to start the engines.
Fox was expecting the smooth mechanical hum of the G-diffusers when he powered his fighter up, instead, he was greeted with a powerful rumble as the engines began to glow red hot. Already he knew this thing had gobs of power at its disposal. Drawing back on the throttle to keep control of the thrusters, Fox released the brakes on his landing gear and began to taxi out onto the runway. As soon as he was in position he opened the wings for better stability and slowly began to push the throttle ever so slowly. . .
Almost instantly the fighter began to speed down the runway, even with the G-diffusers neutralising most of the Gs, Fox still found himself thrown back into his seat by the sudden burst of momentum. That really helps wake someone up in the morning. Easing back on the stick, the Arwing peeled off the runway, heading straight for the clouds.
"WHOOOO HOOOO!" Falco cheered as he took off, clearly enjoying his day's morning adrenaline rush. Fox briefly wondered if there might be a problem getting that bird to land later, Falco could be a bit cranky if someone interrupted his fun time.
Krystal had the same thoughts as she found herself thrown back into her seat. For a moment she was truly speechless, both shock and awe held her tongue as she joined the first two up near the clouds.
"Ha! Always wanted to do that for real." Kyle admitted as he too joined up with the others. "The simulators just can't give you that rush like the real thing."
"You got that right!" Falco cheered as he began rolling over and over, "I love this thing! Yeah!"
"Falco, from here on out, you can only have Decaf," Fox ordered, he simply didn't have the energy to put up with this kind of behavior any longer then he'd have to.
"You know, I bet if we give them a little time to prepare we can give Cornaria City a free airshow," Kyle suggested, looking towards the city off in the distance.
"Not a bad idea Kyle, sure would increase enrolment at the Flight Academy twelvefold," Fox admitted, "Did you catch that Slip?"
"Yep, trying to get ahold of the General." The bullfrog confirmed from back at the shipyards, "Oh, and Kyle? We just got the shipment of heat shield tiles that was late. Workers are adding the final layers as we speak."
The human simply nodded his acknowledgement, leaving the rest of the team to wonder what they were talking about.
Cornaria Memorial Park
Cornaria City / Cornaria / Lylat System
0703 Hours
"This is Miya Kuri reporting live from Memorial Park for Channel 7," A grey tabby cat started talking to her cameraman, "As you may or may not know, General Rex Pepper of the Cornarian Defence Force has given the mercenary team of Starfox clearance to perform a public airshow in their new fighters."
"Moore Industries had been most secretive about their new line of Starfighters, making this it's first public appearance. As you can see behind me, almost all of Cornaria City has stopped what it's doing and come to watch the event." The reporter continued, gesturing to the hundreds of awaiting spectators of various ages and professions, all looking out over the sea watching for any sort of metallic glint.
They never expected Starfox to make their entrance from behind.
Without warning four Arwings streaked overhead, their powerful engines drowning out the people's' applause. The diamond split, with three turning around for another overhead pass while the fourth peeled off to fly along the shoreline, belly to the audience it passed in front of them, giving people a good chance to realise how big the fighter really was.
Two of the Arwings moved back in front of the audience before climbing, crossing each other in a helix pattern, before peeling off letting another come to a perfect stop back near the water's surface pointing straight up. The Arwing hang in the air for a moment until red cones erupted from the twin engines, launching the Arwing straight up.
The crowds cheered at the airmanship, but while they were distracted by the three in front of them, they failed to notice the last one sneaking up from behind again. Two Arwings passed each other, one inverted so they were canopy to canopy, only a foot apart at most. Another performed a barrel roll (The real life version so don't ask) as another flew through the center. Three of the Arwings formed up, and climbed up into the sky before peeling off and diving away. A few people caught on this time, but the fourth Arwing still managed to sneak up on the park for a surprise pass.
"Kyle no more low passes like that," Fox ordered from his cockpit. Seeing all those people down there reminded him of back when he was little, and his father took him to the park to watch an airshow.
"Sir I'm on your four, that last one was Falco," Kyle responded, defending himself as he leveled out. The human got ready to form up with Krystal when without warning his headset blared an unfriendly tone. "I'm being tracked by a missile!"
"What?" Fox asked over the radio before he got the same warning tone, as did the rest of the team.
Several drones came flying towards the Arwings in pre programed patterns, all in Cornarian colors before they fired a volley of missiles. The previously cheering crowd fled in terror.
"Starfox, defend against hostile forces. Master arm on, Master Arm on." Fox ordered as he banked to engage the unmanned fighters. "Slippy, General, what's going on down there?"
"Saboteurs have hacked into the automated fighter mainframe. We're trying to shut them down but they still have control of the main terminal and our remote shutdown commands are being overridden." Peppy finally replied, "General says to shoot them down."
"We got blasters, 20 mils, and flares we can take them." Kyle reasoned as his fighter twisted in mid air before firing its blasters. Krystal had just launched flares, watching in relief as the missiles meant for her harmlessly detonated upon impact with the decoy.
The dogfight was over in less than ten minutes, the predictable flight patterns and lack of defencive maneuvers made the unmanned drones easy pickings for the Arwings. Some of the earlier crowd came out of hiding, looking at the smoking wreckage of the destroyed drones that littered the park before once again cheering for the Arwings as they made a final pass over the park before leaving to return to the shipyard. . .
