Shattered Lylat: The Fragmentation War

Disclaimer: I only own the Black Knight, the Black Wolf Squadron, Shadow Wing, Damocles Industries and all employees therof, Prince Victor Davidson, Lt. General Magnusson, Admiral Ken Collins, Vice Admiral Gestahl, Generals Caine and Stienburg, The Phantron, the Death Prism, and the Intimidator class battlecruiser. All other things pertaining to Starfox and the Starfox universe copyright Nintendo…a great company that doesn't want to sue me…unlike that stupid RIAA (think they're the FBI, lousy punks). Refer to any other disclaimers from my other SF fanfics for more detail. Also, I own all those characters from the profiles in the previous installment (the prologue thing)

Chapter 1

"We are now at Defcon 2"- Lt. Eva, Command And Conquer: Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge

[Captain's log, September 22, 2550. Captain Ed Wallace of Black Wolf Squadron. "It has been 2 hours since we received news of the attack on Corneria, and we are only now reaching the planet. I can't believe that anybody would do something so callous as destroy a civilian structure…unless the one behind the attack was Wolf O'Donnell. If he did this…I won't stop until he is found and killed. Maybe I can put my promotion to use in getting permission to hunt down that one-eyed bastard"]

Black Knight, Cornerian Orbit, Sept. 22, 2550, 1100 hours

Ed stood on the bridge, fists clenched, as he looked at the footage of Damocles Tower collapsing. Next to him, Mark Rendar, Damien Norris, and Karl Riker also watched with mouths agape at the destruction. Ed figured the reactions were the same aboard the Phantron and the Great Fox

"How many made it out?" Ed asked General Pepper through clenched teeth.

"Well…" Pepper faltered for a second

"How…many…General?" Ed asked again

"Only about 2000 survivors of the attacks, about 1500 of them from the tower," the General said, looking visibly saddened by the incident.

"Why?" Ed asked

"We have only one theory besides unbridled terrorism" the General responded "The Imperials are pissed about the Death Prism, and they're coming to destroy us all."

"Then we'd better prepare for an invasion." Ed said, "If the Imperials are coming, it will be in full force."

"Admiral Collins is already marshalling the fleet to defend the planet. Lt. General Magnusson is working on reestablishing long range sensors. We should have them back online within 12 hours. Hopefully, we should be able to stop the Imperials, since we know that they're coming." Pepper replied

ROB-2 suddenly spoke up "I am picking up numerous hyperspace signatures, at least 12, off our starboard side."

"Identification?" Ed asked

"Unknown" ROB-2 answered "Going to yellow alert, bringing shields online."

Ed looked out and saw 12 starships emerge from hyperspace. The ships were visibly scorched and pockmarked with blast craters, but Ed could see they were painted in the blue and white colors of the Damocles Security Force.

"We are being hailed." ROB-2 said

"Onscreen" Ed automatically ordered.

The image quality kept fading, probably due to damage. A white tiger appeared on screen.

"This is Mike Wilson, CEO of Damocles Industries. Macbeth has fallen to the Imperials, and they are coming here!"

"Mike, how could that happen? The Imperial fleet was devastated 3 months ago!" Ed responded

"Ed Wallace? That you?"

"Yeah…it is…so what happened?" Ed asked.

"Well, the Imperials must've had one hell of a reserve fleet, because 5 fleets of starships came out of hyperspace and started firing on our ships. We lost 8 of our cruisers before we were forced to retreat. We lost about 50% of our ground forces, and 25% of our fighter assets. The attack came from nowhere, we were lucky to survive. Most of the ships we have left took heavy damage, but they can still fight."

"Well, report to Admiral Collins, he could use the ships for the defense fleet. If the Imperials have 5+ fleets of starships, then we could be in real trouble. What damage did you inflict on the Imperials?" General Pepper suddenly cut in.

"We destroyed one fleet and badly damaged another."

"Good, then they may have to repair before moving. We may have about a day before they arrive." Fox said.

"I suggest that you all come down to the surface and attend our defense briefing." General Pepper said "We can use the input."

"Very well." Ed said "I'll be there in 5 minutes." The comms went blank.

***

CDF Military Base Alpha, War Room, 5 minutes later

"I'm telling you it's almost not feasible!" Admiral Collins shouted "There is no way that 4 fleets of our starships can defeat 5 fleets of theirs, even if we have the Black Knight! Most of the crews are just untrained. And besides, if the Imperials want to wipe us out, they'll bring everything they've got, and then we're really screwed!"

"We don't have to win in space" Jason Kage said "We must win the fight on the ground, and in the sky."

"Why in the hell would they bother with a ground invasion?" Vice Admiral Gestahl shot back "I though they want us dead!"

"They want Corneria." Dave Cheng spoke up

Everybody looked at the lizard.

"General Caine is obsessed with succeeding where Andross failed" Dave continued "He will want to conquer Corneria, then hunt us down. That is why they will attempt a ground invasion."

"He's right…" Ed said "They want to take the planet first, to destroy morale. We should prepare for a ground defense. What's the Tank Corps status?"

"Limited." General Pepper said "We had a buildup after the Lylat War, so we have about 3 tank regiments, and 1 regiment of artillery, which is interspersed into the three tank regiments. I doubt that will be enough to stop them, even if we include the 1 remaining tank regiment from the DSF."

"So we go to air power." Fox McCloud spoke up. "The Arwings, especially with their upgrades, outclass the Wolfen II fighter, which we know only is used by Star Wolf. The rest of the Imperial Air Force relies on numbers, but we can easily match that, or equalize with nova bombs."

"That's our only advantage." Lt. General Magnusson said "We sweep their fighters from the skies, then bomb the shit out of their ground forces."

"I agree!" Mark Rendar said as he thumped his chest "We have to use our air power to win this fight, along with some good 'ol brute force assaults on their carriers!"

Everybody assembled seemed to agree with that idea. The consensus was that destruction of the enemy air units would hamper their ground assaults. Then Ed got up and got everyone's attention

"Whatever happens, no matter the cost, no matter the odds…we must not let Corneria fall. We owe it to the people who died in those attacks." Ed said.

Everybody nodded silently at Ed's apt statement.

"Let's get ready." General Pepper said. "We have 1 day to prepare for defense. We should also have all citizens evacuate the cities and head to the underground habitats. We may have to fight for quite a while. Have the crisis teams manage the evacuations. I want everybody evacuated within 18 hours."

Everybody was dismissed and left to prepare for one of the hardest battles they would ever face.

***

ISS Andross, Macbeth, same time

General Josef Sephiroth Caine sat at his command chair on the bridge of the Halberd class warship Andross, the flagship of the Imperial Fleet. Caine was watching as the remains of the 4th Imperial Invader Fleet were being repaired. Next to the destroyed 5th Imperial Invader Fleet, the 4th had sustained the most damage at the hands of the DSF. Caine had to give the DSF credit; though outnumbered, they had inflicted enough damage to stall his invasion by 24 hours.

Well, hopefully the CDF will be too busy coping with that little attack we staged with some inside help, the panther thought.

Then his comm beeped, Caine checked the sender id. Speak of the devil, he thought as he answered the comm. "Have you completed your mission?"

"Yes, Emperor" came the low voice

"Good, are they in disarry?"

"Not as much as hoped, they are attempting to form a defense…but I doubt it will work. They only have 5 fleets to your 8." Was the response

"That is very good news, you have done well…Storm Eagle. What about the second company?"

"They are very loyal to Corneria, but I think we can swing a few…we are working on it now, Storm Eagle out."

As soon as the transmission was cut, Caine turned to General Katlin Steinburg. "Phase 1 is complete, phase 2 now begins. It seems that buying out Shadow Wing's Alpha Company was worth the price."

"Indeed it was Josef." The female harpy eagle responded. "What about the Beta Company?"

"Storm Eagle said he may only be able to swing a few of the pilots, but that might yet be enough."

"We will know soon…only time will tell." Catilin responded

***

Corneria, 10 hours later

The evacuation of the cites only took 10 hours, as many people were willing to leave, lest they meet the same fate as the ones who died in the terror attacks. To keep things secret, only the citizens actually knew where the underground cities were located. Ed had helped with the evacuation of Miramar City, his hometown, which was located just north of Corneria City. Presently, Ed was standing on the roof of the house he grew up in. It was a pretty big house, as his ancestors on his father's side had been nobility at one point, and had a considerable amount of money. Solar was just setting over the western horizon when Katya Williams got up onto the roof with Ed.

"What's on your mind?" Katya asked

"Well, I can't help but feel that if we had been here earlier today, the terror attacks never would've occurred." Ed said.

"That isn't true…" Katya said "Nobody would've seen this coming. And I think you know that…what's really on your mind?"

"The truth is…" Ed said slowly "I don't think we can save Corneria. I know what I said earlier, but I feel like we're just delaying the inevitable."

"Well, we will lose Corneria if you think that!" Katya suddenly said "Do you think anybody else feels like this?"

"Yes!" Ed responded "When I told Fox this earlier, he had agreed with me. In fact, he's so worried that we may all die in the battle tomorrow, that he went to spend the night with Fara, cause he's not sure if he'll get another chance to! See!? Nothing is for certain. We may be able to beat back the Imperials on the ground, but what about in space? They outnumber us, plain and simple. If we can't hold onto Corneria, I at least want to take as many of them out as possible, including the ones responsible for what happened this morning. Then again, we may just all end up dead…I can't tell."

"Ed…you can't mope like this. How will you be able to fight if you have no faith in victory?" Katya asked

"I have faith…I just don't know when we will win. Somehow I believe that this will be the worst war Lylat has ever seen." Ed responded

"I wouldn't be surprised…" Katya said. Then she frowned. "It just seems so wrong. We beat them three months ago, only to have them come back. Why is that?" Katya was starting to sound upset, which Ed had never seen her be before.

"Katya" Ed said as he embraced her "I have no idea why the Imperials refuse to give in…but I know this, they will never fully succeed as long as long as I am here to stop them. And not just me; you, Shadow Wing, Starfox, my squadron, all of us. We can stop the Imperials…I just hope we're ready to pay whatever price this war will have."

Ed had no idea that he and Katya stood there in a warm embrace as the night slowly fell on Corneria. "Ed," Katya said after a while "Don't die tomorrow."

"Katya, I don't plan to if you don't plan to." Ed said.