Chapter 14
"Payback begins now."- Starfox 64 Strategy Guide
Damocles Memorial Park, Damocles Starbase, October 1, 2550, 1230 hours
"Katya Williams was more than just a soldier. She was a friend to us all. Maybe friendlier to some more than others, but a friend nonetheless."
Ed stood at the podium near Katya's grave, giving his carefully prepared speech to the assembled crowd of his squadron, the Revenants, Starfox, the 100 crew members of the Phantron, Captain Smirnov, General Carrington, General Pepper, and Prince Victor. All of the soldiers in attendance were in full dress uniform, even the mercenary pilots.
Ed maintained a stoic expression as he continued…almost near the end now. Nobody could see the pain in his eyes, as he was wearing his shades. "She believed in the ideals of the CDF, and was willing to die for them and for the Royal Family. Although she may be gone, we must not allow her death to be in vain. The ones responsible for her demise must be found and brought to justice if she is ever to have any peace in the afterlife."
Ed stepped down from the podium and Bishop Black took his place. Ed sort of zoned out as Black read the last rites, and the rest of the funeral sermons and other Catholic readings associated with funerals. Ed's zoning out wasn't intentional, it just happened for him that way.
The same happened at my parent's funeral... I guess it's just a subconscious reaction. Ed thought as he crossed himself once Black had finished.
As Katya's coffin was slowly lowered into the ground, one of the Phantron crewmembers began playing "Taps" on a bugle, and 7 others delivered the 21 gun salute. A few tears rolled down Ed's muzzle as he watched Katya disappear into the ground, and two Shadow Wing soldiers began shoveling dirt on the grave.
Billy Black walked up to Ed. "You going to be okay?" he asked
"I'll be fine." Ed said. "That was a good sermon…as far as funerals go."
"Funny, you're the last person I'd expect to comment on a sermon." Black said. "Did you discover religion or something?"
"Not quite…but then again, sorta." Ed said. He then explained to Billy what had happened when he had almost died, and met the spirit of James McCloud.
"So you were sent back by a guardian angel?" Black said.
"If you want to look at it that way."
"And yet you still don't believe…"
Ed cut off his friend. "Look, I already told you. I do believe in God, but I just don't believe in the organization that teaches us about him…no offense, Bishop."
"None taken…I can understand your viewpoint, some people just don't like that level of commitment. Besides, I respect your choices, and I know I can't tell you which path to walk."
"Damn right." Ed said. "Glad to see you never went fanatical."
Just then, General Carrington walked up to them. "Ed, they just finished…shoveling. Is there anything you need to do before you leave?"
Ed thought. "Well, I'd just like to 'talk' to her…alone."
"I understand. I'll get everyone to leave." Carrington said as he left to round up the troops.
Ed walked up to Katya's grave, and knelt in front of it while removing his shades. "Hey…it's me." He said quietly. "I know this probably was the last place you'd expect to be buried, but it's only a temporary thing. Besides…it's not so bad. It's just like a planet, only with artificial sunlight. Anyway, I'm just here to tell you that I'm going to be leaving in a few hours to go take the fight back to the Imperials. I promise you that no matter what, no matter how long it takes, I will fulfill your last wishes."
He stood up. "Oh, and about your ID tags. I'll hold on to them until I'm sure I won't need them anymore in order to remember you. Then I'll give them back."
He wiped a few tears from his eyes, donned his shades again, and walked away. Payback begins now. He thought.
Main Operations room, Deck 110, Damocles Starbase, 1300 hours
"Sir…we are receiving a transmission from Zoness. The ID signal is consistent with that of the CDS Thunderbird." A Damocles comm technician said. "It's carrying instructions to broadcast to all friendlies."
"I thought we couldn't get communications from here?" Prince Victor asked Admiral Smith, who was standing with him in addition to General Pepper.
"We can't, but the probes we have outside the nebula can, and they we can pick up those transmissions and amplify them." Smith responded. "Put the transmission through to all friendlies on all channels." He said to the commtech.
"Right away. It's a recorded transmission, so you can't converse with the speaker."
A few keystrokes later, and Lt. General Ron Magnusson appeared on every comm screen of every Lylat Alliance ship in the Sector X nebula.
"I hope this gets to the right forces." Magnusson said, grinning. "Anyway. I'm here because I have an announcement to make. Yesterday at about 1310 hours, the Zoness fleet was attacked by Imperial Forces from Area 6. They outnumbered us 2 to 1, and even though we fought bravely, it seemed hopeless. Then, they suddenly stopped attacking, turned, and ran back to Area 6. I can't explain it, but somehow we made them run. Having realized this, Admiral Snipes, Governor Martok and myself have decided that our forces are not going to return to the CDF." The gyrfalcon had a resigned expression on his face.
"What? What the hell is he playing at?" General Pepper asked. "Admiral Snipes? She's a Commodore!"
Magnusson's recorded self continued. "We are forming an independent state called the Zoness Republic, consisting of the planets Zoness and Aquas. Maybe one day we can return to the CDF, but until then, we remain separate. General Magnusson, out."
The image went blank…and the comms lit up with accusations and demands.
"General Magnusson?" Admiral Gestahl shouted "Who does he think he is? Separating like that!"
Several other officers voiced their assent. Other officers tried to defend Magnusson's actions. The channels got so tied up, the starbase's communication system crashed and it had to be restarted. Once it was brought back up…
"One at a time, please!" Admiral Smith said.
Gestahl was first up. "Who the hell is this Governor Martok anyway?" the golden retriever asked.
Prince Victor spoke up. "Martok is the Governor of the Garuda region of Corneus. He believes that he can do a better job of running things. Looks like he got his chance."
Gestahl was not satisfied. "Those three are traitors! They have deserted our forces, simply because they believe they can scare off the Imperial Navy!"
"Well…didn't they?" General Pepper asked.
General Carrington came on the line. "No…they didn't. Those Imperials ran because of Operation Fray."
"Explain." Gestahl said.
"Well, if over half of the fleet guarding the easiest way into Venom suddenly vanished, wouldn't you recall a fleet assigned to there?"
"Yes…I see…and they have no idea…we should tell them."
"No. No we shouldn't." Ed Wallace suddenly said. "That will create more problems than you can imagine."
"What are you talking about?" Prince Victor asked.
"I have a feeling Magnusson really isn't in control over there." Ed said
"I agree," Fox McCloud broke in. "Magnusson seemed resigned…as if it were out of his hands. I think Martok and Snipes wanted the republic, and Magnusson had to go along."
"That's true, but there's another reason. This Zoness Republic incident will cause the IAV to shift tactics." Ed said.
There was a pause, then General Pepper spoke up. "He's right. The IAV will see us as two armies instead of one, and try to fight us on two fronts instead of one."
"In addition," Ed continued, "The fleet at Area 6 will be stuck where they are, because they fear the ZR will smash their way to Venom."
"So you're saying we can't tell them what really happened?" Gestahl asked.
"Not yet, at any rate. Brevet-Major Wallace is right. We can use this to our advantage for now." Prince Victor said. "The Imperials know that the Zoness Republic exists, and knows exactly where they are. While they are focused on them, we have the advantage of a surprise attack. Operation Breakout will continue on schedule."
"Agreed. Fox and I have an op to prepare for. We move out in 2 hours." Ed said as he discommed. Fox discommed as well. That left Generals Carrington and Pepper, as well as Admirals Gestahl and Smith, and the Prince, in a 5-way conversation.
"So…what do we do now. Do we reveal our continued existence?" Gestahl asked.
The Prince spoke. "I believe we should, just before we begin the operation. We need the citizens of Lylat to know we have not left them to face tyranny, and that they should also not give up. We should tell them they need to fight for their independence, either with us, or as their own independent armies."
"And you intend to make a speech?" Pepper asked.
"Of course. I have to let everyone know that I will not let the Imperials get away with killing my brother." Victor said, his face a grim mask of determination.
Damocles Starbase, 1458 hours
Prince Victor, clad in the royal garments of the Davidson family, stood at a podium inside Briefing Room Alpha. He was flanked by the leading Generals and Admirals of both the Lylat Alliance Armed Forces (formerly the CDF), and of the DSF. As soon as he got the signal, he launched into his speech.
"Hear me, citizens of Lylat! On September 22nd, 2550, a date that will live in infamy, the planet of Corneria was attacked maliciously by the Imperial Army of Venom. The targets were the CDF military base in Corneria City, and Damocles Tower. This served only as a precursor to a horrible invasion that forced us to flee our home planet to Katina. It was there that we thought we could regroup, and move on to hidden locations to plan a counterattack. But we were wrong. In their quest for blood, the Imperials bought out some of our most secretive agents, and they attacked the ship I was on, killing 8 members of my bodyguard unit, and my brother Rainier. The attack was again without warning, and an assassination attempt pure and simple. I speak to you today because nobody in Lylat has to take the Imperial oppression lying down. Already, a new nation has been formed and is fighting the Imperials, the Zoness Republic. The Imperials will stop at nothing to control Lylat, but you can make a difference. Stand up for yourselves! Fight for your independence! Either with us, or as part of a new nation, it does not matter who you fight for as long as you fight for freedom! As I speak, our new coalition, the Lylat Alliance, will be striking back at the Imperials to show them exactly who they are dealing with. We hope you too, citizens, will do the same."
"And we're clear." The director said.
"Think the speech was okay?" Victor asked General Pepper
"I think it went well, although I wished you hadn't said we were about to counterattack."
"It'll be fine," Admiral Smith said. "The speech won't be able to be detected for about an hour or so, so we should be well underway by then. Besides, with so many reroutes and piggybacking, the signal will be untraceable."
"Well, if that's the case, then let's get this show on the road. Send the signal to the Fortuna battlegroup to begin the operation. Also send word to the Macbeth battlegroup to prepare to follow the Starbase out of the Nebula" General Pepper said.
Admiral Smith nodded and hit a few buttons on a communicator. "Attention all vessels this is Admiral Smith. Operation Breakout is a go. Commence operations immediately!"
The 11 warships belonging to Taskforce Fortuna flew out of the Sector X Nebula, and got their first glimpse of the stars in over 24 hours. Nearby, the massive starbase emerged from the nebula, flanked by its taskforce.
"This is Brevet-Major Wallace. Taskforce Fortuna is clear of the nebula and preparing for hyperspace."
"This is Admiral Smith. Taksforce Macbeth is clear of the Nebula and also preparing for hyperspace. Good luck, Taskforce Fortuna."
"Likewise, sir."
All ships and the starbase jumped out to their respective locations.
Umbra II Station BetaMax02, In Orbit around Macbeth
"Sir, I've just picked up a massive spatial anomaly near the Sector X nebula!" the station sensor officer shouted.
The station commander looked at the screen. "Can we tell what it is?"
"Negative, for all we know it could just be something from the nebula. There's too much distortion. It could be CDF vessels, but I'm not sure."
"The CDF doesn't have anything big enough to generate an anomaly of that size. It's just the nebula acting up." The commander said.
There was only a repair yard orbiting Fortuna, so they didn't pick up the exit of the Lylat Alliance taskforces. They also didn't know that one taskforce, hell-bent on revenge, was speeding their way.
En route, Ed and Fox outlined the attack plan to the rest of the fleet.
"As soon as we exit," Ed began "The frigates will take up defensive positions around the Thames and the Red Dwarf. The remaining ships will attack and defeat the small Imperial Guard fleet. Once orbit is secure, the Thames will move to capture the naval repair yard, while Captain Farrell's group, BlackWolf, Starfox, and the Revenants make planetfall near the Imperial firebase. I will be leading the ground assault in my MAC, while Fox has command of the air forces."
Fox picked up the briefing. "All air forces will provide cover for the ground attack teams so that they can make their way to the firebase and take it down. Normally, we would have an all air attack, but the base is covered by numerous AA defenses and 1 light orbital cannon. The ground attack teams need to shut down defenses so that we can move in full-scale."
"The ground team will consist of Captain Farrell's Alpha Tank Squad, the Academy Cadet's MAC group, BlackWolf, and the Revenants. Also any MAC forces the DSF can spare are welcome. The air forces will be Starfox, Captain Farrell's air group, all Cadet air forces, and any DSF Air Force pilots that decide to come on down planetside." Ed said. "Any questions?"
Nobody said anything. "Good." Ed said. "We'll be at Fortuna in 2 minutes. Bring all ships up to Red Alert and have weapons charged when we come out of hyperspace."
ISS Eradicator, in orbit around Fortuna, 2 minutes later
Captain Jakob Garelli sat up as a sensor contact alert alarm went off. "What is it, sensor officer?" he asked
"We're picking up 11 hyperspace exit points on the far side of the planet. They are displaying CDF codes…"
"What? Contact Colonel O'Donnell."
Wolf O'Donnell came on the vidcom. "What is it, Captain?"
"Numerous CDF ships have just exited hyperspace, sir."
"What!? Can you identify them?"
"Yes…they appear to be a mix of CDF warships with two ships of unknown configuration with DSF markings."
"Any familiar ships?" Wolf asked.
"Um…you're not going to like this." Garelli said as he hit a button to display an image on Wolf's vidcom screen. The image was of the Great Fox, and the Black Knight, which was sporting the new Black Wolf logo of an angular snarling wolf's head.
"You're right, Captain, I do not like this one bit." Wolf snarled. "Hail them."
"They're…hailing us…"
"Then put them onscreen!" Wolf shouted. The secondary comm window flickered, and Ed Wallace's face appeared on it.
"This is Major Ed Wallace of the Lylat Alliance. You are ordered to stand down now and leave this planet." Ed said rather smugly.
"Not a chance, asshole." Wolf snarled back.
Ed glared. "Ah, Colonel O'Donnell." He said "You and I have unfinished business."
Wolf laughed "What? I iced your girlfriend and now you're going to try and kill me?"
"Maybe…but not today. Right now I have the interests of the LAAF in mind. So either pack up and leave, or get ready for a battle you cannot hope to win."
"I'm not budging for anyone…least of all you." Wolf said with a toothy grin.
"Suit yourself." Ed said as he disconnected. Just as he did, a panicked Captain Garelli came back on the line.
"The ships are charging plasma cannons!"
"Take evasive action you fool!" Wolf yelled.
"Too late! 6 plasma bolts aimed directly at us! Attempting to evade…" the transmission was cut off, and replaced by a remote feed from one of the other ships in the Venomian battle group. It showed four of the plasma bolts slamming into the already burning Eradicator, blasting it apart from bow to stern. As the explosions faded, Wolf could see particle cannon beams spearing out to hit other ships in the battle group.
"What in God's name is going on up there!?" Wolf shouted on the open channel.
The screen displayed a Jackal bearing the rank of commander, bleeding from the head and standing on the damaged bridge of a Zeram II. "Colonel, we've got casualties amongst all ships in the fleet, the Eradicator is gone, there are so many weapons signatures coming from the LAAF ships we can't keep track of things! The ark ship is here, as well as a Zeus, and some Damocles ships we haven't seen! We're quickly losing this fight. We're falling back out of range of their guns. We cannot hope to win the orbital battle."
A voice shouted from offscreen. "Enemy fighters closing in!"
"Shit!" the commander yelled. "We got to go sir!" the vidcom image blanked out.
Wolf stared at the blank screen, torn between rage and fear. He shouted at the air boss. "Get my fighter prepped, I'm going up there to fight the bastards!"
"No need, Colonel…they're coming down here!" the air boss shouted back. He motioned for Wolf to come over to the main radar screen. Wolf looked, and saw over 100 fighters and MACs burning directly for the base he was in.
"Please tell me this is double vision…" Wolf said.
"Sir, you only have one eye…double vision is impossible."
"Shut up…get Commander Viper on the line."
Viper appeared on vidcom 2. "What is it, Colonel?"
"We've got hostiles inbound on our position right now. Get your squad up there, and I'll meet you en route to intercept."
"Affirmative."
Outside the base, the Diamondback took off from the base's launchpad, flanked by the Viper's 5 Invader IV strike fighters. They were bound on an intercept course with Fox and Ed's assault group.
Wolf turned to the base commander "Activate defenses, scramble the fighters, prepare for attack."
Over Imperial Frontline Base Alpha, same time
The radar screen on Ed's Galvatron lit up. "Fox, I've got 5 Invader IVs backed up by a Rattler class cruiser inbound on an intercept with us." He said. "I'm also picking up numerous fighter and MAC launches for the base.
"Roger, moving in to back you up." Fox said as his Arwing flew alongside Ed's MAC. Fox then boosted ahead, and let loose a volley of missiles at the Rattler. The missiles exploded all over the light cruiser, damaging it a little more than Fox thought it should have.
"Man, this ship is a POS!" Falco laughed as he flew towards it, backed up by the rest of Starfox. His cockiness almost got himself blown up as the 5 Invader IV's began firing at him.
The comm window displayed a rather angry iguana "This is Vic "Viper" MacKenzie of Vic's Vipers. I would advise against calling my command vessel a POS again.""But it is…" Falco protested just before Viper sent Falco's Arwing spinning with a blast from his Invader's laser cannons. "Ok, that's it. FIGHT'S ON!" Falco flew at Viper, blasting away.
"Ed, we'll hold them off while you land the ground forces." Fox said as he engaged Anubis's fighter. Although outnumbered 5 to 4, the Starfox team was obvioulsy gaining the upper hand, as both Horus and Wolfhound were forced to back off for a while by Slippy and Peppy.
"Got it." Ed said as he continued dropping his MAC to the surface. Along the way, enemy fighters began to harry his groundlings, but they all started blasting away at the Imperials, keeping them at a distance. Just before planetfall, an orbital gun blast narrowly missed Ed's MAC.
"Anyone get hit by that?" Ed asked.
"A couple fighters got splashed" Captain Farrell reported, "We're closing in on the Rattler to keep that gun from firing."
"Hold tight for a few minutes, I'll get that gun offline." Ed responded. "All ground teams, converge on the orbital cannon."
The MACs and tanks under Ed's command began thundering towards the cannon.
"Contact, 900 meters!" Jenna shouted as she fired her Commando's particle cannon directly ahead. Ed followed the beam, and saw it slam into a Flanker. The stocky MAC stumbled from the force of the hit. Ed also noticed more enemy MACs and tanks putting themselves between the assault force and the orbital gun.
Ed also noticed 4 familiar Wolfen II fighters headed right for him. They made a pass over the attack force, lasers chipping away at the armor on Ed's Galvatron.
Stabilzing the MAC as he turned around and fired his assault rifle at the Wolfen IIs, Ed contacted Fox. "Star Wolf is making attack runs over us. If you could distract them for me…"
"That should be no trouble at all." Fox replied. A few seconds later Fox and Peppy's Arwing dove away from the Rattler and opened fire on Star Wolf. Wolf's fighter took the brunt of the assault, although his fighter still flew, and Pigma lost a stabilizer fin.
"So…the fox decides to start with me again!" Wolf shouted as he flew after Fox, lasers blazing away. The rest of Star Wolf trailed close behind.
"Viper, ignore Starfox entirely; I want to handle them myself!" Wolf said.
"Very well, sir." Viper replied on open channel. "All Vipers, change targets to ground attackers." He then added privately.
Fox called Ed "I'll hold Wolf and company off while you hit the gun. Better make it fast though, he's pissed." The video image grained slightly as Fox's Arwing shook from a hit.
"Got it." Ed replied. Focusing on the incoming ground defenders, Ed let loose a salvo of LRMs. The missiles hit downrange, destroying a Gladiator and flipping a Diamondback tank. Behind Ed, an Alliance Aurora dropship flew in, releasing numerous Landmaster Tanks onto the battlefield. The tanks hit the ground driving, firing their lasers at enemy fighters and ground forces.
"All ground forces, converge on the orbital gun and hit it with everything you've got." Ed said as his MAC's particle cannon tore up a Flanker. Next to him, Jenna fired a salvo of SRMs that cut down a low flying Havoc gunship. Also nearby, Mark's Commando lit up an enemy Gunslinger MAC with twin pulse lasers.
Let's see what you've got…Imperial scumbags. Ed thought as his assault teams closed in.
Fortunan Orbit, same time
Katt Monroe's modified Invader III flew across a damaged Harlock II frigate. She fired the fighter's twin pulse lasers, which hit one of the frigate's missile bays, touching off a series of explosions that consumed the Imperial vessel in a ball of orange flame.
"Katt here, another enemy capital ship down. Thames, your path to the repair yard is clear."
"Roger that, Commander." Captain Jackson reported. Far off in the distance, the Thames began closing in on the defenseless repair yard, now being abandoned by the Imperials as Alliance warships routed the defending Imperial Fleet. The salvage ship launched two Collector REMASCS that carried 10 Damocles infantry soldiers each.
The ships docked with the station, and in less than 30 seconds the infantry commander reported the station was secure without incident.
"Excellent." Jackson said. He contacted Fox. "Captain Jackson to Major McCloud, we've taken the naval yard with no casualties. How are things on your end?"
Fortunan Surface, same time
Fox barrel rolled, narrowly missing a barrage of laser fire from Wolf's fighter. "I'm a little busy at the moment, Captain. We're having some difficulties with the base defenders. Stand by."
Fox discommed and turned his attention back to Wolf. His adversary's fighter was banking for another run. Fortunately, Falco, Peppy, and Slippy were keeping the other 3 members of Star Wolf busy, so Fox didn't have to worry about them. Flying head on at Wolf, Fox snapped a quick series of laser bursts at the enemy Wolfen II before rolling to the right. The laser shots hit Wolf's right engine, causing him to lose stability.
"Good shot Fox, now it's my turn!" Wolf brought his fighter around at the same time Fox did. They both fired, but Fox got the worst of it. The shots hit his Arwing's control lines and engine, causing the fighter to veer and skew in the sky. Wolf pulled in behind Fox, eager to finish the job. Seeing his chance, Fox pulled back the throttle and pulled up on the flightstick, almost causing him to stall out, but Wolf flew right by him, stunned by the "Cobra maneuver". Fox slid the Arwing onto Wolf's six and fired. The lasers blew off all 4 wings on Wolf's fighter, which spun in and crash landed hard on the icy ground.
"Fox to all Starfox pilots, Wolf is down. Give me a sitrep." Fox said.
Falco's panicked voice and image came over the vidcom "We got the other three, but then Peppy and Slippy were blown out of the sky…who the hell are these guys!?"
There was an explosion, then the comm blanked out.
Fox was about to radio in that his squad was down, when Viper's Invader IV dove out of the sky and blew off his left wing. Fox managed to get out a call that he was going down, before his fighter hit the ice. The force of the impact smashed his head against the control panel, and he blacked out.
"I'm in range of the orbital gun now…all forces concentrate firepower." Ed reported. The ground forces of the LAAF acknowledged his request and they fired missiles, lasers, particle beams, and bullets at the massive orbital cannon. Many of the shots hit the gun's capacitors, causing the weapon to discharge and consume itself in a massive blue-white explosion that took out some surrounding ground troops. Through the blast, a horde of Imperial MACs and battletanks came charging at the LAAF forces. The Imperials put up a blinding barrage of weaponry fire, driving the lead MACs of Black Wolf and the Revenants backwards. Through the smoke and gunfire, Ed could see Jenna's Commando stagger from numerous hits. He saw armor fly off as lasers and missiles blasted the medium class MAC all over. As he saw two enemy MACs, a Flanker and a Commando, prepare to deliver the killing shots, Ed boosted the Galvatron's overbooster so that he placed his MAC between the enemies and Jenna.
I've lost too many friends already. Ed thought as the opposition's fusillade bombarded his MAC. Armor plating blew off, sparks flew from cockpit consoles and alarms sounded as the gyro was knocked out of phase for a second. He managed to keep the MAC upright though, and he dropped his sights on the attacking Flanker. He fired 40 LRMs into the smaller MAC, blasting it apart in mere seconds. He then turned his assault rifle, particle cannon, and pulse lasers on the Commando. Although Ed riddled it with holes, the enemy MAC stayed standing until Jenna sent it flying with a particle cannon blast of her own.
"Ed, are you all right?" Mark asked as he, Damien, and Karl brought their MAC's up to protect Ed and Jenna against more attacks from two Diamondback tanks.
"My front armor is more memory than protection, but I'm fine." Ed responded. "What about you, Jenna?"
"I'm okay." Jenna answered.
"Good" Ed said as he radioed the air units. "The orbital cannon is destroyed, you're clear to move in."
Instead of Fox answering, Captain Farrell came on the line. "Ed, we've got a problem, Starfox is down. They've all been knocked out of the sky, but they're distress beacons are still active."
Ed called up the beacon frequencies, and headed toward their position. "I'm on it, Captain," Ed said. Then he radioed Mark. "Give the air forces backup while they hit the base. You're in charge while I go find Fox and the others." He then sprinted the Galvatron towards the beacons, while explosions from behind indicated the air forces were hitting the Imperial base. As his MAC reached a ridge, Ed could see Fox and the others below. Unfortunately, MACs and armed soldiers surrounded them, and they were being escorted at gunpoint into an APC by Wolf O'Donnell.
Ed faced a choice, he could either rush in and try to save Starfox, or he could play it safe, since they could probably get killed in the ensuing battle.
Wolf made the choice for him as Ed's radio blared the one-eyed lupine's contemptuous and triumphant voice. "Give it up, Wallace, you know I've won this round. You may have destroyed Alpha Base, but I've got the ultimate bargaining chip."
Not quite…but he's right…I can't do anything. Ed thought as he slowly turned the MAC away, walking back towards the ruined Imperial base.
I'm sorry, Fox.When he reached the others, he listened to the after action reports. The Imperial Fleet was on the other side of the planet, avoiding the LAAF taskforce. The base had been destroyed with a minimum of casualties. The orbital repair yard was secure with no naval casualties. The Black Knight and Great Fox would be landing shortly to set up a staging base. The Ikaruga was moving into position to transfer technicians to take control of the repair yard's facilities.
"All in all, we did good." Mark said. "So where's Fox and the others?"
Ed said only a single sentence. "Spread the word…Fox McCloud and the Starfox team are now Prisoners of War." Then he turned the Galvatron back towards the descending Black Knight, and flew it into the hangar.
I hope to God the other task force is faring better.
Extreme edge of orbit around Macbeth, same time, more or less
The three Umbra II stations orbiting Macbeth had only mere seconds to make a move when they saw the massive Damocles Starbase emerge from hyperspace. They didn't make the right choice. All three stations attempted to use their supercollider lasers on the Starbase, but the Damocles fortress's powerful shields simply deflected the beams. Then came the Starbase's return fire. The omni cannons spat powerful gauss fire at two of the stations, coring a hole through their centers and detonating the fusion power cores within. The last station was pounded into space dust by over 100 omni-directional missiles and 50 Maverick torpedoes.
"Orbital facilites are destroyed." Reported General Pepper. "All naval forces, begin moving in." The nearly 80 ships of the taskforce began swarming out from behind and around the starbase, while over 500 fighter craft were launched from carriers and the starbase's internal hangar. All of the ships were bound for the 4 Imperial fleets orbiting Macbeth.
ISS Absolution, 1st Imperial Fleet Command Ship (Halberd Class), in orbit around Macbeth, same time
"Are you sure?" Commodore Murtag asked his TO"Absolutely; there is a massive starbase out there that isn't ours, and it's heading this way…along with 80 or so CDF and DSF capital ships. They already smashed apart our Umbra stations."
"Well in that case, we should go out and destroy them. We easily outnumber them 2 to 1."
"Affirmative, sending word to all fleets to engage." Both Commodore Murtag and his reptilian TO looked at the radar map to see the 160 capital ships guarding Macbeth head out to combat the incoming LAAF fleet.
LAS Galaxian, same time
"Message from the DSS Binghamton, Admiral. They are engaging the first wave of enemy fighters and frigates." Reported the Galaxian's TO.
"Excellent, any word on our friends from the FVA?" Admiral Gestahl asked.
"They should be arriving any minute now."
"Also excellent, seeing as how we're outnumbered here."
ISS Absolution, same time
"Sir, 50 warships of IAV make but with unidentified IFF codes just dropped out of hyperspace near the planet."The Sensors officer reported.
"What?" Commodore Murtag shouted "Who the hell are they?"
"We're about to find out, the lead ship…a Zeram III, is hailing us." The Comm officer said. "I'm putting him onscreen."
The image of General Rommell appeared on the vidcom. "This is General Timothy Rommell of the Free Venom Army. You are ordered to leave this planet at once…or be destroyed."
"You don't scare me, 'Desert Fox'," Murtag said with a chuckle "You're out of your element."
Rommell sighed. "Too bad…you leave me no choice."
The Absolution was suddenly buffeted by weapons fire from seemingly out of nowhere.
"Where did that come from?" Murtag asked
"I…don't know…sir…they have stealth ships running about the place!" the TO almost panicked.
Murtag grabbed his TO by the throat. "You'd better find out where that gunfire is coming from…or you're going out an airlock!"
"Y-yes sir." The TO replied as he sat back down and feverishly worked to figure out where the mysterious stealth ships were.
The hapless TO failed to search the planet's close orbit, because that's where the stealth ships, belonging to the Omega Battalion, were currently headed. The Valhalla moved itself into geosynchronous orbit with the train yard and weapons manufacturing base, her dropships already streaming towards the surface.
Captain Del Harlow was issuing orders. "Target their orbital cannon and orbital cannon fire control facilities." She said to her TO.
"Roger…targets acquired." The TO reported. "Firing first salvo"
The Heavy Naval Series Laser Cannon on the Valhalla spat a large emerald beam down at the planet's surface.
The laser speared the orbital cannon FCF, reducing it to rubble in less than a second. While the gunnery crews were trying to figure out why they couldn't target anything, a second laser from the Valhalla turned the orbital gun into a smoking crater.
"Orbital cannon neutralized. Captain Frohike, Captain Langley, your teams are cleared to commence your assault." Captain Del Harlowe said.
"Copy that Captain; commencing assault landing operations," Captian Langley reported. The Irish Setter turned to the wolf sitting next to him. "The infantry ready, Mike?"
Michael Frohike nodded. "Yes, and they've got itchy trigger fingers too."
"Excellent, because there are plenty of destroyable targets down there." Langley said as the 2 stealth-model Aurora dropships fell through MacBeth's atmosphere, en route to the Imperial train yard. At less than 1000 feet, the dropships released 100 soldiers in Legionnaire armor, 50 MACs, two squads of FVA armored vehicles, a platoon of FVA Infantry in Mk. IX BattleSuits, and 50 Landmaster II tanks. The units fell through the atmosphere, using their jump jets to slow their descent and maneuver towards the Imperial Train Yard. Sporadic AA fire from the train yard speared up at the incoming units, but the definsive turrets on the dropships lay down a barrage of supressing fire, giving the attack force the cover they needed to land without any casualties.
As Langley's tank made planetfall, he started driving towards the train yard. "You know what to do. Hit the train, then hit the weapons manufacturing plant." He said to all the other mechanized squads. The various MACs and tanks began converging on the yard, while the infantry ran astride some of them.
At the trainyard, the Imperial guards there realized that there was a sizable force of ground troops headed towards them.
"Guard-1 to Base, we've got a large ground assault force of CDF and even some Venomian-built vehicles and infantry headed our way." The pilot of a Gladiator MAC reported
"What? Impossible! The enemies are still out in orbit!"
"Apparently they had stealth ships, Base."
"Well, crap! The shipment of Apocalypse missiles is still on the tracks!"
"Get the other guard forces out here. We'll try and hold them until the train makes it to the station." Guard-1 reported.
"Affirmative, launching guard regiment."
50 MACS, 50 tanks and 40 fighter craft belonging to the trainyard's guard regiment made their way towards the oncoming Lylat Alliance forces.
"Looks like they've spotted us," Frohike said, "They certainly seem to be in a hurry to engage, even though we outnumber them."
"I think I know why," Captain Byers interjected over the comms. "One of their supply trains is still on the tracks."
"Thanks for the update, John." Frohike said. "Where are you anyway?"
"I'm headed inbound with a flight of bombers to help you gropos out." Byers responded with a slight chuckle.
16 Valkrie bombers thundered overhead and came at the enemy attack force. They let off a group of cluster bombs that smashed apart tanks and MACs alike. The bombers then continued on towards the weapons facility, enemy fighter craft in hot pursuit. This allowed the LAAF ground forces to smash through the weakened defenders with minimal losses.
Byers called in frantically over the comm. "The facility is too well hardened against attack. Our bombs barely scratched it."
Frohike was not pleased. "Well, what do we do then?"
Langley provided the answer. "We do what Starfox did…redirect the train. It's cliché…but it should still work."
Frohike communicated his assent. "I can have my teams take over the switching station and divert the train. Langley, your tanks and MACs need to provide us some cover."
The FVA infantry commander, Commander Jimmy Brannigan, cut into the conversation. "You'll also need some people to take out the train's braking system. My team and I can handle that."
"Okay, get it done, Commander," Frohike responded.
The teams split up, Frohike's infantry heading for the switching station, while Brannigan's soldiers leapt up onto the train's caboose, and started working their way towards the engine.
The switching station's doors blew inward, catching one Imperial soldier in the head. The 5 soldiers standing guard opened fire on the armored LAAF troops that poured in through the doorway, but were cut down in mere seconds; their deaths causing mass amounts of blood to spray on the walls and windows.
Frohike walked over and hit the switch. He saw the tracks now change so that the train would head towards the entrance of the weapon's facility.
"Frohike to Brannigan and Langley. The tracks have been switched. Give a sitrep."
A train car with twin 50 caliber machine gun turrets suddenly exploded as two Landmaster tanks perforated it with laser fire. Ahead of that, the 10 soldiers of Brannigan's team were firing on the armored train locomotive, attempting to sever the brake lines. Imperial MACs tried to stop the FVA troopers, but Langley's armored divisions cut them down.
"Things are a little difficult here, but Brannigan says he's almost got it." Langley said.
A hissing noise came over the comm, followed by the triumphant shouting of Commander Brannigan. "We got the brake lines, abandoning the train now!"
The armored soldiers leapt from the sabotaged train like rats abandoning a sinking ship. The out of control locomotive sped down the side tracks, directly into the entrance of the weapons facility.
The force of the train hitting the stored Apocalypse warheads inside the weapons facility was sufficient enough to set off the warheads in a cacophony of destruction. The ensuing blast tore the roof of the facility just before it was consumed in a white-hot fireball. The entire incident from beginning to end was maybe 5 seconds long.
There is a postscript to this destructive act of war. One weapons technician, a Bengal Tiger named Mustafa, had been the sole survivor of the original weapons facility's destruction a year ago because he had stepped out for a smoke just before it was destroyed. This time, when he saw the train barrel into the facility he had only one last thought before he and everyone else was vaporized.
Oh no, not again.
"Target eliminated!" Langley enthusiastically shouted as he saw the facility disintegrate.
"Roger that," Byers replied. "It looks like the guard forces are retreating." He said as he fried a Flanker with his Valkrie's lasers.
"Do we pursue?" Brannigan asked.
"Negative. We'll hold here for now. They know they've been beaten, why push it?"
"I agree," Admiral Smith said over the commlines, "Their navy is beginning to retreat, we've inflicted pretty heavy casualties to them. I say we hold positions for some quick R&R."
"Copy that Admiral, we'll set up a firebase onplanet." General Rommell said. "We're coming in on your position, Omega Battallion.
The Shadow Wing troopers looked up as the two FVA Zeram IIIs burned in towards them. Captain Frohike removed his armor's helmet, looked around the battlefield, and cracked a small grin.
It may get tougher from here on in, but right now we've shown the Imperials that we mean business, he thought.
Somewhere on FortunaFox McCloud was blinded by the light shining in his eyes. There was nothing he could do about that, closing his eyes made him uneasy, and he couldn't look away because he was bound to some kind of deranged hospital bed.
Then the light was replaced by the leering and evilly grinning visage of Wolf O'Donnell.
"Ah, you're finally awake." Wolf said. "Welcome to hell."
"You know damn well I know I'm not dead." Fox managed to say despite his throat being extremely dry.
"No, but soon you will wish you were. Time to pay you back for what you did to me three years ago…or at least start…" With that, Wolf took out a bone drill and began drilling into Fox's right arm. Fox screamed in pain until he lost his voice, but the cries fell on deaf ears.
About 30 minutes later Fox's bloodied form was thrown unceremoniously into a cell. With difficulty, he looked around and noticed Peppy, Falco, and Slippy were in the cell as well. All had wounds that obviously suggested they were tortured, but none of them were in as bad of a shape as Fox.
"Oh, jeez, you look like hell, Fox." Peppy said as soon as the Imperial soldiers left.
Fox didn't answer, he just stared blankly ahead, breathing heavily.
"Hey, wake up!" Falco shouted with some difficulty from the injury to his beak. "Snap out of it!"
Fox turned slightly. "We're really….really…screwed." then he passed out into unconciousness, coughing up blood as he did.
The other three stared at their fallen leader, and they were at a loss for words.
END CHAPTER 14
Author's note: Yeah, this took forever to update, but I'm working on it. I plan to finish this.