Chapter 2
"Alright, Judicator, ready when you are."
"Aye, Chozo Fury, We are starting the descent."
Snake grit his teeth. He was used to silent drops but this Pit was freaking out.
"What going on?" (Metallic shriek followed by turbulence) What was that?" Pit half sobbed.
"Goddess of light, calm down kid!" Snake snarled "When you silent drop, the changing atmospheric pressure creates turbulence, and whenever you enter the atmosphere from space, heat builds on the underside of the ship and its compensators redirect it away from vulnerable areas, resulting in a noise just like that one. Our pilot knows what she is doing. Just look at the floor and count to five hundred."
Samus sighed. They had been arguing the whole way on everything from tactics to what shade of orange her, HER, Varia suit was. "If you two don't want to end up as paste, then shut up!"
Pit whimpered softly as the ship shook again. Snake growled under his breath and turned to watching screen readouts of the supplies that the gunship carried, running rations numbers in his head.
Bowser's Castle
Throne Room
"Sire, I have the most dreadful news!"
Bowser leveled his gaze on the magikoopa kneeling before him. "Rise and tell me this news."
Kamek caught his breath, "The Yoshi have stopped their activities. No Yoshi has even been seen in the past couple of days."
"This is bad news?" Bowser inquired.
"Well, it is my feeling that they are planning something truly horrific against your grace!"
Bowser thought this over. His first thought was that the Yoshi had simply given up. Truly, no one could stand against his might for very long. However, Kamek was his most trusted advisor for the simple reason that his instincts were rarely ever wrong. "Where are the Mario bros? Their actions dictate what the Yoshi will do."
"We have seen not one mustache hair of those two in weeks!"
Bowser digested this information. It wasn't like his nemesis to just drop off the face of the planet. "Do we have any intel at all?"
Bowser Jr. spoke up, "The information we last heard was that they were seen fleeing a pursuing Lakitu about, oh three, three and a half weeks ago. That was when we cracked down on the smuggling out at Delfino."
"Nasty business that. Well, about all we can do is start sweeping the islands that the Yoshi are known to inhabit. Send some shy guys, mixed variety, and a few dry bones to the outlying provinces. Also start a new interrogation session on the Toadstools, see what you can shake loose. Son, relay messages to your siblings; tell them what has been said here and ask if they need reinforcements. I'll fly out to Koopahari Desert and oversee the garrison there. Kamek, you are to take a clutch of magikoopa and head to Sky Land." Bowser paused "Oh and son, you're in charge here while I am gone."
Yoshi Island
Op LZ "Area 2"
" So how do we contact the Yoshi?" Pit asked
Scanning the tree line, Samus responded, "They are supposed to find us."
This plan looked bad when they saw where the Yoshi had requested they drop. A temperate deciduous forest, the canopy was hard to fly through and since the pilot of the marine's ship was no where near as good as Samus was, any recon pilots would see where they had landed. Now the two ships were parallel to each, about ten paces apart.
Snake appeared, lugging a sack full of local berries and various mushrooms. "I thought we could eat these to stretch out our rations."
"We shouldn't be here that long." Samus stated
"You would be surprised." Snake sighed. "Guerrillas are notoriously unreliable, I remember one miss…" A flash in the trees caught his eye. He slowly started to unholster his ray gun, trying not to give away the fact that he saw it.
Samus and Pit followed his glances and did the same, Samus pretended to be checking her beam cannon and Pit the tautness his bowstring.
Suddenly all at once the trees around the started to rustle and a flock of Yoshi emerged and formed a loose circle around the camp. They were many colored; the leader seemed to be a red one who was carrying a green tortoise shell. After the marines (most of whom didn't see the Yoshi in the tree line) gathered their wits, the leader Yoshi descended into their landing zone and came up to Samus.
"Are you the bounty hunter?"
Guerilla Camp
"Yoshi's House"
Genius. That is about the only word you can use to describe the guerilla camp. The only truly visible building was a medium-sized hut perched on top of a hill. The rest were either innocuous or concealed in the trees. An extensive network of tunnels ran under the ground containing everything the local authorities might find questionable. The house was surrounded from the south to the east by trees and large fields of coffee, bananas, peppers, and melons and was spaced intermediately to the north and west.
"Quite a little setup they got here." one of the marine commented.
"They been fighting since most of us were babies." Samus responded.
A yellow Yoshi came up. "Your ships have been hid in old store houses over there." He motioned towards a pair of nondescript buildings in the trees. "They will fool anyone who doesn't actually open the doors. Try not to go in and out. The shells have spies everywhere."
Guerilla training ground
Snake studied at his opponent. The Yoshi was orange in color,his head cocked back like a snake, his tiny hands clawed, his eyes dilated and faintly glowing in the dim light. They circled each other slowly, looking for that one misstep. Suddenly the Yoshi lunged! Snake rolled, tried to bring his leg up for a kick to the neck, but felt a pull. He looked over, finding a huge red tongue stuck to his left forearm. Snake clawed into the ground, finding purchase with a tree root. He grabbed hold, playing tug-o-war with the Yoshi's tongue, then when the Yoshi gave a mighty tug, let go. The momentum carried him, fist first into the Yoshi's throat. Gasping for air, the Yoshi released his grip and signaled he was done.
"My god! If we Yoshi didn't have such thick necks, he would be dead by now!" the instructor, a white Yoshi, declared.
"If I was weaker, he would have had free meal." Snake countered.
Roars of laugher greeted that statement.
Chapel House
Pit sat in the pews as the priest, an aging green Yoshi, thundered his sermon. He listened to him, a fire and brimstone speech about the wickedness of the King of the Koopa and how his existence had brought untold misery and sorrow to the Yoshi.
"I tell you now, that this wicked demon, this false king, is not fit to behold the light of the eternal. He has robbed, he has profaned, he has committed act of villainy that assured will earn him a place in the boiling cesspools of the underworld. But worst of all he has taken our children, OUR CHILDREN! He attempted to say, "These people are not to live in the glory of the light, they are only fit to live the harsh cold of the Underworld!"
Pit listened. The blood in him began to boil. Truly, this Bowser was an evil creature. He would suffer the fate of all those who tried to lead the faithful astray. Pit made a promise to himself that he got the chance; Bowser would taste the eternal torment that awaited him in death.
Command Post
Somewhere underground
"Lady and gentlemen, this is what we've got, Big Bomb-omb is located in a cavern system about two hundred clicks on the other side of the island. The plan is a simple extraction, however we will be walking." (Groans from various assembled people) "Yes, you humans actually have to do some walking. However; I have a very important announcement to make, our leader himself is coming!"
Upon hearing this the Yoshi became noticeable excited. Pit, however, leaned over to Samus and asked, "Who is their leader?"
Every Yoshi in the room turned to look at them. Their faces looked like they had seen just seen Pit eat his own head. After a deep silence, one red Yoshi stuttered, "Uh, our leader is Mario."
When Pit didn't suddenly become awed, the Yoshi became anxious. One of the green Yoshi took it upon himself to convert Pit. "Mario is the hero of this and many other worlds; he has saved the Toadstools from Bowser, Bowser from Count Bleck, and Count Bleck from a raging mob. He is the first man who asked, "What is good for the Yoshi? Without him we would be pack animals and pets (Not a few of the marines shifted uncomfortably) He taught us there was a life beyond that."
Samus spoke up "So, when does he get here?"
The speaker (The red Yoshi who found them at the landing zone) looked at his speech cards "Oh, about five hours from now."
Five hours later
The atmosphere was electric. All the Yoshi had spent the last few hours preparing a fest of fish, fruits, and fowl. They now eagerly scanned the western horizon, waiting for Mario and companions to ride from the sunset. When the watchmen out side of camp radioed in that he was only a few thousand meters from camp and would be in sight soon, the younger ones (and some ones that where not so young) squealed and everyone gather around the entrance he would use.
"Hey, what you a guys a-looking over that way for?" A voice said behind the crowd.
The crowd turned and cried out in delight. "Mario, Mario!" they shouted as they rushed towards him and his mount, Yoshi. "Ciao i miei amici!" Mario shouted and waved as they gathered around him "Now where is my brother?"
"Right here, Mario!" Luigi shouted as he and the rest of their traveling group, a motley collection of Yoshi, Toads, and even a few Noki and Pianta rode in from the west. They were a convoy loaded down with everything from food, blankets, medicines, and various other sundries. The Yoshi turned the cheer them on, although somewhat less excitedly then they had for Mario.
Two Days later
12:00:00
Donut Plains
The platoon moved swiftly over the grassy plains. They edged up to the curtain wall of ancient fortress. Suddenly they herd a loud rumble. The marines switched on cross-com and the scanner image from the Steadfast showed what looked like a herd of triceratops. "Hold on!" Mario whispered "Sometimes Shy Guys like to hide themselves as herd animals." Samus, Snake, and Mario quietly moved forward through the ruins and sure enough, they spied a small herd of Dino Rhino and Torch Rhino were moving southeast. Switching on her scanner, Samus peered around her cover and the scanner counted five Torch Rhino who didn't register normally. Snake crept forward, towards the last one in the herd. He seemed to be a straggler, taking his time to catch up. Snake threw a stone at him, catching his attention. He froze, allowing Snake to rush forward, snag him in a football tackle, and drag him silently back to the waiting group. The rest of the herd tromped on, unaware.
Ripping off his gillie hide, they found out he was hung over.
"Hey man, what are you Yoshi doing here?" the Shy Guy then saw the marines and broke into a string of fairly imaginative curses. "That means you guys are aren't really going to cut a deal, are you? He held his head, trying to fight through his headache.
"If you're good and tell us what we want to know, maybe there is a flask of sour mash in it for you." Samus cooed.
"Not my king." the Shy Guy grumbled "what do you want to know?"
"Vanilla Dome is ahead, correct?"
(Sigh) "Yeah."
"What do you know?"
"Big Bomb is nestled inside. He is having a grand old time while I'm out here. He has those twitchy bomb-omb dirt-bags in patrols that change randomly because he doesn't have the numbers to watch all the entrances in force. You'll find him in Lemmy's old castle. Or rather you'll find him in what's left of Lemmy's old castle. Supposedly we Shy Guys will come to his rescue if he gets attacked, but if that time comes, we might just get mysterious radio interference that prevents us from hearing him."
13:30:24
Vanilla Dome Entrance
The fire teams moved forward and slowly edged their way into the cave. The Shy Guy seemed to be telling the truth. The entrance they chose was unguarded. Slowly, they made their way through the tunnel until the first fire and maneuver found the central dome.
The dome is an immense beautifully carved ramiform cavern that somehow got bits of quartz and zircon stuck in the walls and floor with massive frostwork deposits and when the light from holes in the ceiling and the faint illumination of distant Koopa lanterns hit them the effect was dazzling. Even jaded Snake was caught breathless by it. Soon however the effect wore off and Samus look forward. Lemmy's old castle was barely visible in the distance. Beyond a massive subterranean lake, it was tucked into what the Yoshi called King's Table, a large plateau at the far end.
"The Koopa can't see very well in the darkness, so they rely on bomb-ombs to create something of a moving minefield. We should be all right if you don't do anything stupid. Stick near the edge of the crystals, it really messes with night vision for most life forms and the rapidly changing light give anyone with natural night vision," Mario pointed at a Yoshi " massive headaches."
"How do we get across the lake?" Samus asked.
"Swim very quietly. The Koopa put sound dampeners because the nonstop clack of bomb-omb feet drives anyone mad."
16:45:17
Lemmy's Ruins
The platoon assembled in sight of the ruins. With luck they had managed to avoid the bomb-ombs and since the sentries couldn't see very well, they were dependent on the exploding bomb-ombs to alert them. The "castle" in question was more of a large turreted bunker. It had no curtain wall and only one door and the turrets on either side of it where in pretty bad shape. Still two Koopa gamely maintained a watch, trying to peer into the darkness. Pit silently landed on the roof of one, swiftly entered the building, and threw him into the back wall. The Koopa trooper the other tower had scarcely enough time to look before a light arrow hit him in the throat. A marine set demo charges on the door while everyone else took breach-firing positions. The charges blew and Snake tossed in a grenade.
"Frag out!" Snake yelled. It blew and the first squad point fired into the lobby. Second squad moved in and secured the lobby. Third Squad leapfrogged past them and shotgun breached the door to the main complex. Tossing grenades in, they received quite a nasty shock, Bullet Bills. The huge projectiles were from an automated turret. They exploded, killing three marines and driving the rest back. Samus worked her way forward and fired a super missile dead on it. It exploded and the Fourth Squad leapfrogged and secured the hall. ten doors where in this hall. Samus ordered the Marines to split up and find the target. The results were horrific. The Koopa had entrenched themselves in every room and intended to make the marines pay in blood for every door taken. When the final room was secure, the team paused a bit to tally. Out of the original five squads, two were critical and two others had taken a serious beating. Only one squad was still at optimal strength. Samus gathered them, Mario Pit, Snake, and headed towards what the marines reported was the door to the throne room. Finding it open, they slowly slipped inside, taking cover behind pillars. Samus scanned the room trying to see where the target was. Not finding him, she slowly stepped out into the center of the room, ice beam charged.
Then a platform descended. On it was a bomb-omb of immense size. Its cold eyes stared out over a white mustache. On it's head was perched a golden crown.
Samus pointed her arm cannon at him. "The jig is up. Surrender now and the Federation may be lenient with you."
It stared back at her. "I," the behemoth spoke in a rumbling voice that sounded like thunder "have never been so insulted! To think that I, a loyal vassal of his majesty, would capitulate is unthinkable! Feel my wrath, tiny peasant!"
With that he launched himself, trying to squish Samus beneath his bulk. Samus dodged, rolled around, and tried to come up with a plan. He was far too large for Ice Spreader, and any thing she used to destroy him would send the whole place up. He turned around and came at her again. Samus, thinking fast, shot at his eyes and dodged out of the way. Big Bomb-omb roared with fury and tried to remove the ice. Stumbling around blindly, he knocked over a pillar, then flailing, worked his way the door. The rest of Samus's group ran for new cover while the behemoth tried to grab them. Eyes stinging from the intense cold, he started to bang his head against the floor, trying to crack the ice. He started to succeed, but then fissures started to show around his casing. Panicking the marines, Pit, and Snake bolted out the door. Samus hit Big Bomb-omb again, this time at his feet. He tripped and howled, then started to rock back and forth shrieking. His casing started to glow red and Samus hightailed out of there back into the hallway. All around her, marines where picking up their comrades, and Mario was guiding them to the back way out. The Koopa forces guarding the exit where in complete disarray. They had heard of what happened and were fleeing as fast as a group of turtles could. The whole spectacle made it all the way to the soda lake when he blew. A massive rumble shook ground sending the whole group sprawling as the exit caved in.
18:30:10
Soda Lake shore
Samus gathered the troops. She took head count and found that out of 53 personnel she had started with, twelve were dead, and twenty three were wounded. The Koopa had long since fled and intel said they were in no hurry to come back. The Yoshi had dispatched a few of their people to help them get back to HQ. Pit and Snake were over by the wounded, trying to use their limited medical skill to shore up the wounded for proper care.
"Well, I suppose that was a victory." Snake said dryly.
"More victories like this and we will soon be undone!" Pit hissed, totally missing Snake's sarcasm.
"Do you have a problem with my leadership, Pit?" Samus inquired.
Pit sighed, "No, I don't see how either of us could have done better. But to do so poorly!"
Snake consoled "That what happens in war, kid. All the decisions you make are the wrong ones."
"I suppose."