Author's Note: Well, I'm back. We finally got a new laptop, so I can finish this story now! Thank you all for waiting patiently, sorry that had to happen. But anyway, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
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The Eagle's Eye bucked violently as yet another blaster bolt glanced off the freight shuttle's shields. Falco lurched forward in the pilot's seat, somehow managing to keep his ship from spiraling out of control.
"Falco!" Krystal shouted over the roar of blaster fire and starfighter thrusters.
"One sec!" Falco called over his shoulder, twisting the bulky freight ship into a barrel roll and plummeting back towards the surface of Fichina. The three Venomian starfighters copied his maneuver perfectly, their blaster cannons still blazing.
"Falco!" the blue vixen shouted again.
"I'm a bit busy, do you mind?"
Falco pulled up sharply, looping around and soaring back up towards the bleakness of space.
Two of the fighters following them tried to copy his movements, but only ended up colliding with each other. The needle-like nose of one shore off the flight stabilizer of the second, sending it spinning helplessly into space. The pilot of the other fighter seemed a bit shaken up for a moment, but then shot off again in pursuit of the Eagle.
"Falco, will you listen to me?" Krystal shouted again.
"Fine, fine, what do you want?" Falco asked hurriedly, glancing at the control board in front of him. The rear shields on the Eagle were beginning to fail.
"You don't see that?" Krystal cried, pointing through the windscreen at a space battle raging between the Cornerian Rebellion Fleet and three massive Venomian star cruisers.
Falco blinked. "Oh. Well, I was a bit preoccupied..." he muttered.
"What do we do?" blared ROB, swiveling his head to get a glance of the battle.
"We have to help them!" cried Krystal, reaching for the controls.
"Whoa, what do you think you're doing?" Falco cried, twisting the control yoke as if he could keep it out of Krystal's reach. He ended up wrenching the Eagle to the left, unintentionally dodging another burst of blaster fire from the pursuing fighters.
"They can't get out of that alone!" Krystal shouted frantically, her eyes wide with fear and anger.
"And you think this ship can help them?" Slippy grimaced from the copilot's seat.
Falco scowled. "Alright, froggy, I'll show you what this baby can do," he grunted under his breath. He looped around again and began hurtling towards the battle with all speed.
Slippy blinked. "Wait, what? I wasn't even trying to use reverse psychology, I was serious!" he squealed.
Even Krystal became nervous as Falco neared the battle with no indication of slowing down. "Falco, maybe you should try to calm down before trying this," she said nervously.
"I am calm. Calm, calm, calm. Mister calm, that's who I am," Falco grinned, his eyes glinting with a wild light.
Slippy screamed and clutched his seat as the Eagle ripped through the battle like a blaster bolt through a sheet of paper. Falco twisted, dived, and spun through the chaos, laughing as though he were a child on a Cornerian hovercoaster ride. The Eagle wove through a red-hot netting of blaster bolts, at times passing so close to Venomian starfighters that the pilots panicked and accidentally flew straight into friendly-fire.
Krystal covered her ears as a loud, monotonous hum of static filled the cockpit. Upon looking around she discovered that it was ROB, yelling his head off in terror.
Falco pulled up violently until he was flying towards one of the Venomian star cruisers upside-down, then up righted the Eagle swiftly. He opened the throttle on the bulky freighter, hurtling towards the command bridge of the giant enemy ship with all speed.
"Falco, what are you doing?" Slippy squeaked, taking his hands away from his face to get a glimpse of what was happening.
Falco didn't answer. He urged the Eagle forward, testing the ship's limits.
"Falco, please don't do what I think you're going to do," Krystal gasped, her jaw dropping.
Falco chuckled, dodging left and right as the defense cannons peppering the hull of the ship began firing at the Eagle.
"You're insane," Krystal said, her voice barely a whisper. Somehow, Falco heard her.
"Maybe," he said simply.
Onboard the command bridge of the Venomian star cruiser, Imperial personnel were becoming nervous as well.
"He isn't slowing," warned a command officer.
"Tell all defense cannon operators to turn their attention towards that freighter," barked the captain.
The Eagle's Eye didn't falter, continuing its crash-course towards the command bridge.
"Move the ship! Move us, quickly!" the captain finally cried out as the Eagle became dangerously close.
The massive Venomian star cruiser began reversing slowly, trying desperately to create more space between it and the Eagle. It was moving fast for a ship its size, but the Eagle was faster.
With a whoop of jubilation, Falco pulled up on the control yoke with all his might, the veins bulging under his neck feathers from the strain. Before the Imperials aboard the star cruiser noticed that the Eagle had spun out of the way, they accidentally backed straight into another Venomian cruiser, smashing through its hull. Imperial shock troopers, androids, and officers alike were all sucked out into frigid cold of space as the corridors in the second cruiser split open.
With only one remaining enemy cruiser concentrating their fire on the Rebel Fleet, the few surviving Arwings zipped about the battlefield, distracting Venomian fighters and the cruiser long enough for the rest of the fleet to escape.
While the last of the Arwings disappeared into slipspace, Falco finished typing the coordinates for the rebel rendezvous point into the Eagle's hyperspeed computer.
For a moment, Krystal was speechless. Then a grin began to slowly appear on her face, and she patted Falco on the shoulder. She felt no apprehension whatsoever when she told the arrogant bird, "You're a genius."
Falco grinned. "I do have my moments, don't I?" he snickered. Then he jammed the button on the control panel that would activate the hyperspeed jets and get them out of there. The Eagle rumbled, made a few low clunking noises, then... did absolutely nothing.
Falco blinked as the final star cruiser turned its attention towards the Eagle, looming over the freighter like an enraged metal titan.
"Uh oh," Falco said numbly.
The rest of them sat in silence for a moment.
"What's, 'uh oh'?" asked Krystal slowly.
Falco jabbed the button three more times, beginning to panic. "I have a bad feeling about this," he muttered. Then he turned to Slippy, his eyes wild. "You did repair the hyperspeed jets, didn't you?" he asked.
The toad blinked. "Um..."
"Don't tell me, Slippy..."
"We were pretty rushed to evacuate," Slippy literally croaked, nervousness overcoming him. "If I'd had just one more day, maybe– and then I forgot in the rush to escape, and–"
"Oh. Well this is great," Falco said, turning back to look at the enemy ship up ahead. He grit his teeth, glancing at the digital mini-map of the Lylat system on the control board. The blue screen showed a small green dot just beside Fichina showed their location, along with numerous white dots showing the locations of the other planets in the system.
"Katina is closest, we could try to escape and get repairs there," suggested Krystal.
Falco snorted loudly. "No way. I've got some bad relationships with some guys on Katina. I'd rather the Andross Empire take me in than have my feathers plucked by angry criminals," he said.
"The chances of finding a repair facility on Solar are a mere two-point-one-seven percent. The only other logical planet to find repairs on is Corneria," ROB bleated in his metallic monotone.
Falco drummed his feathered fingers on the control panel for a few seconds, then nodded. "Alright, Robbie, how long would you predict it'd take to get there?" he asked finally, taking up the controls again.
"Without hyperspeed jets? Two weeks, I estimate. Possibly one and a half at the very least," the android said.
Falco flexed his fingers, then quickly wheeled the Eagle around and began speeding in the direction of Corneria. "Let's hope we can outrun them before then," he mused softly to himself.
Krystal looked grim. "You don't seriously think you can outrun a Venomian star cruiser, do you?" she asked. She knew from experience how vicious Imperials could be when chasing their prey. To her it seemed like just a few weeks ago that her star cruiser was boarded by Cain and his troops, and she was forced to send ROB down to Katina to find Peppy Hare himself.
Falco shrugged. "To be honest," he said, "I have no clue."
The cruiser behind them sped up, the nose of the giant craft slowly approaching the rear thrusters of the Eagle. Glancing at the radar screen situated next to the windshield, Krystal could see a dozen smaller craft begin to issue forth from the sides of the Venomian cruiser, heading towards them.
"Fighters, inbound," she warned.
"I got it," Falco confirmed, angling the nose of the Eagle downward, then jerking the ship to the left and right erratically so that the Venomian starfighters couldn't lock on to them. Just as he had done with the three fighters pursuing them from Fichina, he pulled up unexpectedly, causing three unwary pilots to smash into each other.
Falco grinned and sped away towards Corneria again, ever watchful of the approaching star cruiser.
"Hey, Falco," said Slippy, blinking his bulbous eyes, "why do we have to go all the way to Corneria to pay for repairs?"
"Oh, I don't think we'll have to pay for them," Falco said slyly. "I know somebody who might be able to help us out. Well, if they're still there," he said. Then he added under his breath, "And if she doesn't still want to fry me."
"Still, we might be able to repair the ship here. If we can get the hyperspeed jets to work, we may be able to escape with no problem. I only need a little while and the right equipment, and I think we'll be god to go," Slippy said.
Falco and Krystal glanced at one another. "You know how to fly this thing?" Falco asked Krystal.
"I'm not an expert, but I can probably buy you enough time to get the jest repaired," she said.
Falco nodded, jumped out of his seat, and beckoned for Slippy to follow him to the back of the ship. Krystal quickly took Falco's place in the pilot's seat, flying the freighter with less skill than Falco, but with every bit as much confidence as him.
Falco and Slippy hurried through the cramped corridor leading from the cockpit to the back of the ship, grabbing hold of the walls whenever Krystal performed a difficult evasive maneuver against the enemy fighters. By the time they reached the service hatch leading down to the engine room, they were both bruised and bloodied from having been smashed against the walls and ceiling so many times.
"Hopefully Krystal can keep this thing steady while we work," muttered Falco, pulling open a metal drawer containing a toolbox. He opened the service hatch and practically kicked Slippy down into the engine room before hurrying down after him.
"Okay, so you're sure that we can finish this from down here?" Falco asked.
"Not really, but it's possible," Slippy said. He opened the toolbox and pulled out a large wrench, then waddled over to one of the two small jet turbines in the back of the room. He popped open a metal panel on the side and reached into the turbine, starting his work.
Falco was annoyed to find that he had become Slippy's assistant down in the engine room, handing him a new tool whenever the toad finished with a different one.
"So what's wrong with it?" Falco asked, gripping a metal pipe in the ceiling as the Eagle lurched again.
"So far it looks like one of the fuel feeds is cracked. We might be able to fix it temporarily, but without a replacement it'll just split open again," said Slippy grimly.
Falco hated admitting it, but he was at a loss for what to do. "Should we try to escape once we get this repaired, or just use it to get to Corneria?" he asked.
"I'd suggest the second idea. We don't want to get stuck floating in the middle of nowhere if we try to get to the rendezvous point," Slippy suggested.
Both Falco and Slippy looked upwards as Krystal's voice came blaring through the speaker's in the ceiling. "Falco, Slippy, you'd better get up here quick!" the vixen cried.
Falco and Slippy blinked in confusion, then both hurried up out of the engine room. As soon as they climbed out of the hatch, however, the ship was slammed violently to the side and Slippy was thrown right back down the hatch.
Falco steadied himself quickly and began running back towards the cockpit. That wasn't any laser blast. Something actually hit us! he thought. As he arrived in the cockpit, Krystal quickly vacated the pilot's seat for him.
"Asteroids," she said, pointing through the windshield at the chunks of rock and metal floating through space. "I tried to fly through it, but it's... difficult. This ship is bigger than the ones I normally fly."
Falco buckled himself into the pilot's chair and gripped the control yoke once again. How could he have forgotten about the asteroid belt between Corneria and Fichina? It was no matter, though. He could use this to their advantage.
Slippy did a double-take as he entered the cockpit. "A-are those–?"
"Yes," said Krystal grimly.
Falco sped up, dodging an asteroid as it came hurtling towards the Eagle.
Then Krystal gasped. "You aren't actually going to fly into that, are you?" she asked in terror.
"It should throw them off our trail, shouldn't it?" Falco asked, dipping low to avoid another asteroid.
"Captain Lombardi, my calculations show that the chances of our survival are nine thousand seven hundred thirty-six to–"
"Will you shut up already?" Falco shouted at ROB.
The star cruiser and fighters following the Eagle hesitated. It would take a madman to fly into an asteroid field thinking he could come out alive. But then they imagined Lord Cain's wrath when he discovered that they had failed.
Grouping together, the Venomian starships accelerated into the asteroid field in hot pursuit of the Eagle's Eye.
Falco shot forward fearlessly, slipping the Eagle between two asteroids just before they collided with each other. The fighter following them tried to pull up, but just ended up tearing the bottom of its craft out, destroying itself.
Slippy screamed and covered his face as the Eagle came within mere meters of one of the larger asteroids before veering off to the right.
"Slippy, go back and try to work on those jets!" shouted Falco sparingly. He was devoting all his attention to avoiding the giant chunks of rock, and knew that any distraction could send them careening into an asteroid. He had hardly even blinked since flying into the field.
Slippy gulped nervously. He had no desire to see how close they came to each and every asteroid, but also didn't want to be tinkering at the jets and not know if they were about to blow up. He finally mustered the courage to get up and wobble out of the cockpit. "I'm going to die," he muttered to himself. "I'm going to die this time, I know it..."
Falco dove towards one of the larger planetesimals, then pulled up sharply. From that close, he could see just about every detail of the porous surface of the giant rock.
"You're flying like a madman!" Krystal cried, flinching as an asteroid scraped the top of the Eagle, making a hideous shriek of metal against rock.
"I always fly like this! Just trust me, I know what I'm doing!" Falco said. A laser blast from a Venomian starfighter seared past the hull of the freighter, blasting an asteroid into tiny particles of rock and dust. Falco flinched as some of the larger chunks of debris smashed into the windscreen of the ship. The reinforced glass was strong, but Falco was amazed that it hadn't been cracked.
"Captain, what exactly is your plan?" ROB asked, swiveling his head towards Falco.
"Hurt them enough that they stop chasing us," Falco snapped.
ROB glanced at a small radar screen on the control board of the Eagle. "It appears that the Venomian star cruiser's shields are shrugging off many of the asteroid bombardments," he said.
Falco grimaced. It wasn't working. "Well I guess we'll just have to lose them," he muttered. "Everybody hang on tight, I'm going to try and bring us closer to one of the bigger ones," he said.
Krystal was shocked. "Closer?" she cried.
"Yeah, just calm down. I know what I'm doing," he said. He swung the Eagle around and shot off towards one of the larger asteroids, flying above its craggy surface. He squinted through the windscreen as though looking for something. At last he said, "There. That's a good spot."
Before Krystal or ROB could ask what he was going to do, Falco dived the Eagle down towards the asteroid, with apparently no intention of pulling up. They were just meters from colliding with it when Falco nudged the control yoke slightly, slipping the Eagle into a deep, dark crack in the rock. He flew down into the gash in the asteroid until the stars were mere pinpoints of light, then landed the ship softly in the darkness.
Falco sat back in the pilot's seat and whistled. "Hell of a ride, huh?" he chuckled.
ROB and Krystal just stared at him, open mouthed.