Chapter 2: The Invitation to Kill
There has been a recent invasion from a distant planet. The ships used were incredibly light and silent. They came armed with five nuclear warheads. They smuggled the warheads into Corneria and detonated two of them taking 25,000 innocent lives. The others were deactivated before they could be programmed fully. Recent intelligence tells Corneria that the name of the group that invaded them was known as the "Final Wave Militia" located in the Hoursuun Galaxy on a planet called Sauhibia in a large area named Arcobiha. Intelligence also says they have overthrown their own government leaving few allies in the enemy territory. Corneria has made another discovery saying they are already at war with their own planet. Rival clans fought each other for control of certain cities and areas. The three small villages that Final Wave control are, Mosinahu, Serol, and the capital, Hyulsan. These areas are also home to thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands, of civilian families. Because of constant fighting, civilian food supplies are being depleted causing more than 250,000 deaths. Many of these deaths where women and children. There where even more casualties from the constant fighting. The numbers of deaths are uncountable. Since the desert region of the planet has no fertile, ground food cannot be grown in many areas.
Soon after the attack on Corneria, Cornerian spies show images soldiers from Final Wave. They could only get the full names of two of the higher ranked individuals. Ahmed Hurei, supplies weaponry, vehicles and other equipment to Final Wave, and Hamir Kehjul, Final Wave's leader. Corneria now has two objectives. One was to capture Ahmed Hurei and Hamir Kehjul. Capturing Kehjul was out of the question at the moment. But Hurei might know where he lives. I he was captured; we could get Kehjul's location. Next was to supply food to the neighboring villages caught in the middle of the disaster. Even with the gigantic force they have established, they are still outnumbered. They need all the help they can get. The conditions are harsh in Mosinahu, and water was difficult to find. The mission previously carried out ended with an entire convoy being slaughtered. Then things got ugly when an aerial aircraft was shot down with a single shot to the engine killing eighteen out of twenty men. If this were to continue, the war would be lost quickly and thousands of Cornerian soldiers would die. If they pulled out, billions of helpless civilians would be slaughtered. The choice was difficult, but they had to stay and try to help.
Aboard the Great Fox…
Krystal sat at a little glass table alone in the kitchen patiently awaiting Fox's arrival. Her hands were made into fists and were propping her head up. She was staring out the window gazing at the many brilliantly lit stars and the majestic view of Corneria listening to nothing but the hum of the Great Fox as it slowly hovered through space near Corneria's atmosphere. The thoughts that traveled her mind where thoughts of her dream. Every time she blinked, she saw and heard that image of Fox falling into that pit. She's heard of dreams telling the future, but was it likely? She tried to keep in mind it wasn't, but she was still worried. Death is after all a very scary thing and is hard to even think of being able to bare it. If this were to be her future, Star Fox would be without a leader and without morale, a bad mixture for sure.
Just as her thoughts burrowed themselves deeper into her mind, the on board speaker system turned on saying, "Transmission: Begin…" Then she heard Fox's voice, "Krystal…" he said with a touch of self pity. "It's Fox." Krystal was able to hear every word, but her attention was on both Corneria and the speaker system. "Listen, I'm… uh… sorry… that we… didn't get to speak right now but… some things have come up… and I'd be happy to discuss them with you in the command bridge." Then the system voice came up and said, "Transmission: End…" Krystal remained in her seat. She gently bit her bottom lip and released again. She took in a deep breath then moved her head downward and made her fists loosen up and put them across her forehead. Sad, but understanding, she pushed her chair back by pushing her hands against the table in front of her, and stood up.
Fox…
In the command bridge, Fox was going through a briefing and damage report with General Pepper speaking to him over a radio transmitter. Fox sat in front of a large, flat screen in front of Fox that had audio wave lines jittering as he spoke and Pepper himself on screen. "How did this happen?" Fox asked Pepper gripping his head with his hands with three emotions taking part in his mind; anger, sadness, and anxiety.
"Rainfall 1 and Odonata 2 were hit by armor piercing missiles and the survivors were gunned down by the enemy militiamen," Pepper replied. "We would have extracted the men without endangering Rainfall 1 or Odonata 2, but the soldiers in the convoy where also killed." Rainfalls and Odonatas were code names given to a type of aerial vehicle in Sauhibia. Pepper hand just explained to Fox how the last operation went and told him the number of casualties. An entire convoy, four pilots, thirty soldiers and one hundred civilians were killed. One soldier was injured and rescued. It was evident things were out of control out there. His head was hanging down with his two arms and hands barely propping it up stretched across the top of his eyebrows. He tightened his grip on his head and spoke once more. Pepper spoke once again saying, "Fox, you do know what this means."
Fox straightened his posture again and inhaled through his mouth and exhaled through his mouth. He put his hands to his sides and went into a straight posture and stance as if ready to salute. "Yes sir, I do…" Just then, the air lock door behind Fox hissed and a group of footsteps came through getting closer, then stopped. Fox put his left leg behind his right leg and turned his torso around with his head following. The air lock door was heard closing with another semi-loud hiss. The rest of the crew, Falco, Slippy, and Krystal, stood still in front of him most likely waiting to hear the good or bad news. Krystal was still not one hundred percent aware of what was happening. She's only showing obedience to her captain, Fox. What Fox had to say must have been hard for him as well. He turned back to the monitor with Pepper saying, "We will continue this conversation some other time, sir."
Pepper's voice could be heard over the line once again, "Understood McCloud." A low-pitched beep could be faintly heard then a TTS voice said "End of message." The screen went up into the ceiling revealing a large window with a view of Corneria. Now Fox had to explain the situation. Knowing they may not like the idea, it had to be said.
He turned back to face the crew. Fox began to speak, "You're all aware of the situation Corneria is involved in currently." He paused for a brief second. "It just started to really get out of control. Before was bad, now it's just hell. Groups of soldiers have just been taken out buy enemy militiamen and several vehicles were damaged beyond repair." Now came his final statement for now, "We've been called out to fight." He knew the next question in their head was what difference could only a few more soldiers make? He started again saying, "They need a mission coordinator, a pilot, and more squad members and we fit the profiles." Then he gave a command with an effect of Falco and Slippy departing. Krystal was the only one who stood her ground. Fox turned not noticing she had not left. He began to type on the keyboard in front of him.
Fox had only a few seconds to type as he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He stopped his activity and Krystal had walked alongside him until she was in his cone of vision. He had just been slouching with his attention and his head turned to a screen in front of him but that changed as he looked up at Krystal. There was a quick and brief silence between them then Krystal broke it as she said, "Is it that bad down there?"
"Are you scared?" Fox replied, "And I'm afraid it is." Krystal had looked away to her feet in sadness and fear. "Do you not want to go?"
"No!" Krystal exclaimed snapping back to reality and looking back at Fox.
Krystal…
"Then we're all ok to go." Fox had started to type again with his full attention to the computer screen. Silence returned besides the clicking from the keyboard. Krystal was still nervous, and what she was thinking was something she was embarrassed to say. She just couldn't tell him that she was worried about him and if she did, he would ask for an explanation. She couldn't just lie, because she couldn't think of any. She took a step back still with Fox in her sight and turned her body around and walked forward toward the door from which she had entered. Her heart and mind was filled with nerve wrecking thoughts. She was fearful of what could come of this, and she felt guilty because of her own cowardice. She reached the door and it opened with a hiss as its motion sensors detected her movement. They hissed closed as she reached the other side.
Fox…
Despite the many thoughts in his mind, he had started toward the The Great Fox II's second bay. It's purpose was so other ships could dock there if needed. For Fox, going there usually meant leaving. In this case it was no different. It was as big enough to dock eight Cornerian troop carriers there which where about the size of nine Arwings and could hold 36 passengers. This is what he was waiting for. A carrier would bring him to Corneria to gear up and regroup. Falco, Slippy, and Krystal was to go straight to Sauhi tomorrow after Fox gets there to join his squad. Fox was needed for a briefing and the battle plan.
Fox could do nothing except sit and wait. He would get a call when the carrier is dispatched. The time he had to wait was put to some use. Once again, he though about the dream he had last night. Krystal was here and luckily not out in Sauhi. He just hopes it stays that way. There was no danger in the Lylat System, and Fox was going to fight to keep it that way. All he had to do was win. The only problem was it was nowhere as easy as it sounded. This was war… War is hell… Hell has no mercy… Something like this is something you can't sit down and watch. You'll pick up a gun and fight alongside those brave men and women who go through a tough training program with the risk of dieing the next day. This was not a character trait you would find in most, but it was evidently in those in Mosinahu.
(AUTHOR NOTE: Yes this chapter was short. I was expecting it to be. I went through five variations to write this here chapter, so that's what took me so damn long. The next chapter will be longer.)