Disclaimer: See the Prologue
Chapter 4 – Chaotic Dawn
Each of the Legions has now nominated aspirants seeking to throw themselves upon our mercy in the vain hope that we may deem them worthy to join our ranks. Those loyal to the shrunken corpse on Terra still cling to their own processes by which perhaps one in a hundred neophytes may survive to become a battle brother. The methods I have developed over the last millennia are more stringent, for we must be pure in our hatred and hard of heart, body and soul. Fewer than one in every thousand survive, and I strive each day to lengthen these odds still further.
- The Grimoire Mutatius Curatus, by Fabius Bile, Primogenitor of the Traitor Legions.
At the eastern sector of the Lylat-border defences, for the men and women who manned and lived on Defences Station #67 life went on as usual. The routine weapons and hull integrity check had been accomplished and they were taking a well-earned rest, in celebration of Victory Day, the memoriam from when corruptive, soul-stealing Aparoid menace was annihilated, mostly due to the efforts of the Star Fox team.
With the food and champagne flowing in the mess hall and most, if not all, the personnel enjoying themselves, only two cadet station personnel, a rabbit and a raccoon, was in the control roon. The both of them were playing Poker on a metal table; cans of Fizz laid strewn about them and gambling chips in the centre of the table. The both of them focused intensely, trying to undermine the others confidence and hand.
When they were ready…
"So what d'ya have?" the raccoon asked.
The rabbit smiled and revealed his cards, revealing two pairs of hearts and diamonds.
"Two pair," the rabbit replied smiling as he stretched his hands forward to gather up the chips.
The raccoon shook his head and waved his finger side to side, "Not so fast."
The rabbit stopped and sat back down when the raccoon revealed his cards.
"Royal flush," the raccoon said, eyes narrowed and smiling devilishly.
The rabbit's eyes widened, where he lowered his head onto the table and banged his head on it in defeat. The raccoon chuckled softly as he scooped up the chips and the cash, before taking another sip of his current can of fizz.
"Why in God's name did I bet this month's salary?" the rabbit moaned, face against the table.
"You needed a new pair of expensive nine-hundred credit's worth of shoes," the raccoon reminded him, counting his winnings, "Don't feel sour about it, Jenkins."
"Up yours," the rabbit known as Jenkins replied, taking his head off his table, a few chips stuck to his face.
Just as he brushed them off an alarm went off, startling the raccoon and causing him to drop his winnings, which cluttered onto floor in a mess. They glanced over at his each other, eyes widened in horror.
"Shit, that better not be…"
"Oh crap…"
They ran over to the console, in the process tipping over the table and scattering the empty soft drinks cans all over the floor as well. Jenkins checked the console screens, to his horror it announced the presence of six human made starships approaching the borders. The two cadets felt sweat run down the sides of their faces, quickly soaked up by their fur.
"What do we do?" Jenkins asked, turning to his gambling buddy.
The fear could be seen in the raccoon's eyes, he felt terror build up within him.
"Get the guys up here on the double," the raccoon answered, "Priority: H!"
Jenkin nodded, before reaching for the P.A. com and pressing talk. He swallowed softly before he nervously opened his mouth to speak.
"P…Priority H."
A minute later the control room was bustling with personnel, each and every one of them couldn't help but feel fright. Even though the station was built to repel invaders, those who lived on it weren't keen on actually meeting them, and the stories told about the viciousness of the Imperium was enough to make the toughest Cornerian soldier quiver in terror.
"Status report?" the bulldog commander ordered.
Jenkins exhaled, "Six human craft approaching at tremendous speed, sir. They're appears to be one Mars-class battleship, two Avenger class cruisers and three Firestorm escort ships."
"Six ships?" the commander queried, "I figured the entire Imperial Navy would be bigger."
"What do we do, sir?" another technician replied.
The commander cleared his throat, "Dear Humanity…"
The technician, taking this as the cue to start transmitting a message, begun to type rapidly at his keyboard as the commander begun to speak, heavy doses of cynicism was evident in his words and phrases.
"If you do not kindly turn your ships around and return to where it is you come from, we will unfortunately be forced to fire upon your ships and send you spiralling to oblivion. Our Ion cannons can penetrate the hulls of your navy with ease. Respond."
…
…
…
"No response," the technician said, then raised his voice slightly with panic, "And…they appear to be accelerating."
The commander's eyes widened, before he glared, "Power up the heavy cannons and prepare to fire. Jenkins…?"
"Yes sir," the cadet replied.
"Send message to Command, tell them we've engaged the Imperium," the commander ordered, "Repeat: We have engaged the Imperium of Man."
"Right away sir."
Just as everyone was going about their duties, the power was suddenly was cut off in the control room as every console and computer screen went dead, as did the lights. One technician cried out with fright, while the commander's eyes lit up in the dark, and with uncertainty. He looked around the room, seeing nothing but pitch black darkness
"What just happened?" the commander queried.
"We've lost all power!" another technician exclaimed, "We've also lost backup power. Something just hacked into our security grid."
"No prizes for guessing who," the commander muttered, then said, "Alright, everyone do not panic."
Suddenly all heads snapped to attention as the personnel each felt something penetrate their minds, and their souls. The commander felt every nerve in his being freeze up, his eyes had shot open and his pupil's wide as saucers. Somehow he could feel that time around him had slowed to a crawl, as how the other personnel felt. He was then suddenly compelled to sit down. He then heard a voice…
If you value the lives of yourself, the men under your command and those who exist in Lylat, you will shut down your weapon systems, stand down and allow us to pass.
"Who…what are you?" the commander stuttered, responding to the voices in his head.
A man who does not repeat himself.
----------
"Fox…"
Fox's eyes fluttered and he groaned slightly as he and Krystal slept, amidst the rumblings of a storm that was brewing outside, just as the rain begun to fall from the sky. The both of them were sitting on the sofa, resting their heads together with their hands clasped around the other. After talking through most of the night about each other's feelings, dreams, nightmares, hopes, fears, the little and big things in life, they blissfully fell asleep together, content in just being near each other.
"Fox…"
The vulpine hesitantly opened his eyes; the mysterious voices finally convinced him to wake. He groaned slightly, thinking he had once again been dreaming, and was glad to have woken up before he found himself in the Hell that was his own mind. He yawned widely, before scratching his forehead and realising that Krystal was still here, where she was sitting right next to him, fast asleep. He smiled, realising that they had fallen asleep together.
He gently got up from the couch and allowed Krystal to rest fully on the couch, she yawned gently and shuffled herself so that she was facing away from Fox, still asleep. He was content at just looking down at the love of his life.
'God, she looks so peaceful when she sleeps,' Fox thought pleasantly, 'Beautiful.'
He then frowned when he suddenly felt thirsty, he ignored the mini-bar and shuffled towards the bathroom, checking the time along the way: 4:50am. This would be the time Falco would have dragged himself back to his room, probably half-drunk, and that he would have to put up with his eventual hangover once he would wake up.
Fox stepped into the bathroom when he heard the rumbling increase in the distance outside, followed by what sounded like thunder following. He sighed, remembering his slight fear of the storm, an old childhood phobia that he never had the chance to shake off.
He switched the light on, he stepped over to the wash basin and turned the cold tap, where he put his muzzle to it and drank from it for a few seconds, before splashing cold water on his face. Fox then shook his head gently, as he felt refreshed. He reached for a nearby towel and wiped his faced, as he looked into the mirror, he gasped in complete shock where he dropped the towel.
"Fox…"
"Bill?"
Instead of looking at his own reflection in the mirror, he found himself staring the terrified face of his late close friend and fellow pilot/Academy-goer Bill Grey. He looked as if he had been brutalised, with large cuts all over his face, especially one from ear to ear as if he had his throat cut; followed by several bruises which appeared to make his face swell and both his eyes were blackened.
Fox saw the pain and fright in Bill's eyes as Fox put his hand to the mirror, as if trying to reach out to him.
"Bill?" Fox exclaimed, "Is…is that…?"
"Help me, Fox," Bill interrupted him pleadingly, "Please help me."
"Wha…what do I do?" Fox asked, "How?"
"I'm in HELL, Fox!"
Suddenly fire erupted from behind Bill from his side of the mirror, he screamed in agony as the flames licked at him from behind. Startled, Fox jumped back from the mirror and hit the wall behind him. Bill gritted his teeth in pain, while Fox watched helplessly as he sank down to the floor.
"BILL!" Fox screamed, "No!"
Iron-armoured hands grabbed Bill's head from behind and gripped it tightly, the husky cried out, "NO! PLEASE, NO! I'M BEGGING YOU, MASTER!"
The iron-armoured hands twisted Bill's head, the sickening snap of bones breaking was heard. Fox watched silently and in fright as the hands then begun to crush Bill's head, where the husky continued to scream in agony. The hands then begun to twist his head in different directions, where blood was beginning to leak from Bill's mouth, eyes and ears.
After about ten seconds of this torture, the iron hands relocated Bill's neck to its proper place, where Bill eyes were now droopy from the pain. He looked over at Fox.
"Fox," he groaned, "Save me…please. My soul…"
Fox felt tears sting his eyes, having seen his Bill get tortured right before him by something unseen. A deep throaty, guttery chuckle was heard, before Bill was smashed against his side of the mirror, cracking it, before he was tossed to the side, and out of view.
The owner of the iron hands stepped forward out of the flames and into view, where upon sight Fox felt his blood chill and his heart pound painfully against his chest.
"Fox McCloud, the son of James McCloud…puppet of the False Emperor."
Looking at Fox from the mirror with the flames raging from behind him was a pale-white, bald-headed man in dark, nearly rust-covered Terminator armour. His eyes glowed pupil less crimson from the dark energy as a look of satisfaction crossed his face, where he smiled.
"Your friend belongs to me now," the dark human bellowed, "His soul is mine. And you will join him very soon."
"What?" Fox cried.
The dark human's smile faded as he extended his finger towards Fox, pressing against his side of the mirror as he pointed to Fox and continued, "All of your souls will be mine! EVERY LAST one of you."
With a roar the fallen human smashed through mirror and lunged at Fox, where he grabbed Fox by the throat with his power claw and begun to strangle the life out of him. The vulpine tried to get away, but feeling the life drain out of him, he could only do one thing despite choking to death.
That was where he screamed…
----------
…and woke up.
"Fox, wake up!"
Krystal was gently shaking him from his sleep, where he shot forward from the couch, crying out in shock and begun taking in gulp-fulls of air, effectively hyperventilating. A look of concern crossed Krystal's face, where he then felt her hands on his back and shoulder.
"Fox, look at me…"
He did so, staring into her beautiful eyes.
"Fox, relax," Krystal pleaded, "You were just having a nightmare."
Fox looked over at Krystal as he begun to calm down, but still inhaling and exhaling as he tried to steady his breathing.
"N…nightmare?"
Krystal nodded, "Yes. It was just a bad dream. And judging from the fact you were yelling and turning in your sleep it must have been one Hell of a nightmare. But…"
She smiled warmly and embraced him tenderly.
"…it's over. You're safe now, with me."
Fox finally managed to steady his breathing as he felt her hug him, before he too hugged back, relieved that it was all just a dream. He closed his eyes and savoured the calmness and closeness provided by Krystal's presence, before reality dawned on him once again as he realised whom he had possibly saw in his dream.
"Krys"
"Yes, Fox?'
"I think I just got acquainted with Abaddon the Despoiler."
Krystal's eyes widened as she pulled back, a look of shock gracing her face, "What?"
Fox sat on the couch properly as he continued, "I saw him…tormenting Bill in what he call's 'Hell'. All that time Bill was screaming at me to help him, but I couldn't."
Still shocked, Krystal asked, "You…really saw him?"
"Bill?"
"No, the Despoiler?"
Fox's eyes narrowed in distress, "Yeah. I think I did. And God, did he look ugly."
Krystal smiled slightly and chuckled, where Fox couldn't help but grin as well, seeing her take amusement to that last sentence. Suddenly, what sounded like a thunderclap almost made the both of them jump up from the couch in fright. Fox groaned slightly and leaned back against the couch, covering his face with his palms, before he sighed.
"Damn it, I hate storms," Fox remarked.
Krystal got up from the couch and walked over to the window, where the curtains had been drawn. Her sixth sense was blaring like crazy as she pulled back the blinds. She gasped at what she saw in the distance.
"FOX!"
This time Fox jumped up from his couch, fully alert and awake.
"What is it?" Fox cried, "What's…?"
Fox felt his throat close up in horror when he saw it. It was Corneria City in the distance, and it was burning in the morning light. Smoke raised and filled the sky above it as what appeared to be a singular starship hovered above the city, where the anti-air cannons fired up at it, but not doing any remote damage. Fox and Krystal watched silently together as the city's once majestic and technological buildings burned and was racked with explosions, which sounded like thunderclaps.
Krystal shook her head as she stepped away from the window petrified, "No, this isn't possible!"
Suddenly they heard the door into his room swing open gently, where he and Krystal stepped over towards the passage leading to the door.
"Falco?" Fox cried, "Is that…?"
Standing in the doorway and shrouded in darkness was appeared to be large humanoid, where Fox cried out in surprise and stepped back towards the couch where he fell onto it, taking Krystal with him. The figure stepped into the room where the light from the windows shone on him, revealing what Fox hoped he would never see again.
It was a Space Marine, only that his helmet appeared to have horns coming out. His armour was not decorated with any of that Imperium's colours and it's eye ports was a metallic green. His right shoulder guard had what appeared to be a three-headed green snake imprinted on it whilst the left had an eight-pointed symbol on it instead of an arrow pointing up.
And he carried a chainsword in his left hand, where the handle appeared to have human flesh wrapped around it, and a boltpistol in the other.
"Fox McCloud, son of James McCloud," the Marine said, "Your time has come! Prepare to die!"
The Marine roared and lunged forward towards the pair, bringing his chainsword down. Fox and Krystal dove off the couch, where it was cleaved in half. Thinking fast, Fox reached for his blaster, only to have it kicked out of his hands by the Chaos Marine's armoured boot. The Marine aimed his boltpistol down at Fox, only for it to be kicked out of his hands by Krystal.
The Chaos Marine then swung his chainsword, where Krystal swerved to avoid it, before she delivered a high-kick to the Marine's armoured chest, staggering him. The Marine retaliated by raising his armoured hand and striking Krystal across the face, sending her falling to the ground.
"Ah!" she cried, feeling blood leak from her nose.
Fox, now feeling anger rise up within him, dove at the Marine and attempted to tackle him, only feel the Marine grip him by the throat…
"AWKKK!"
…and prepare to slice him down the middle with his chainsword. Krystal reached for the boltpistol and aimed at his back, where she pulled the trigger. The Marine grunted in pain, where he let go of fox and swung his chainsword again at Krystal, where as she rolled over the bed to avoid she felt the blade skim her arm.
She gritted her teeth in pain where the blood stained the bedsheets, before she aimed and fired at the Marine's head, where the bolt penetrated the Marine's helmet, skull, then the wall behind him. He stood there for a few seconds, his body jerking slightly, before falling onto the ground with a loud clank.
Krystal then felt the pain in her arms, where she dropped the boltpistol and put her other hand onto it to stem the bleeding.
"Krystal!" Fox exclaimed, rushing to her, "Are you alright?"
She looked at him and nodded, "I'll live."
Fox shook his head, where he rushed over to her and tore some of the bed linen off. He then wrapped it around Krystal's wound and tightened it, where the vixen yelped in pain. Fox cringed slightly at hearing her, but knew that this was necessary. It was a close call, where the Marine could have sawn her arm completely off.
Speaking of the Marine, they looked over at the corpse of the human, studying it softly.
"That can't be an Imperial Marine," Krystal said, "Wait…it's not an Imperium Marine."
"How can you tell?" Fox asked.
Krystal nudged towards the Marine's chest plate and the symbol on it…the eight-pointed star of…
"Chaos!" Fox exclaimed, "God! No way!"
The roar of a Thunderhawk transport cut through the air, where they turned to the window to see one such craft flying straight for their window. It fired it's vulcan cannons at their room, where Fox grabbed Krystal and they immediately dove into the bathroom just avoiding the bolter rounds which tore completely through the room.
Krystal resisted the urge to scream in fright, where Fox was lying on top of her as if shielding her. He quickly got off her and stretched his hand towards her, which she accepted and he helped her up. They stepped out of the bathroom and back into the bolter-riddled room with it's smashed windows, where they could hear the sounds of conflict coming from outside the resort, consisting of gunfire, explosions and people screaming in the distance.
"We got to get out of this resort," Fox said softly.
Suddenly bolter and plasma fire mixed with steel doors being smashed in erupted around, below and above them, where they both immediately guessed that there were more of these guys in and around the resort. Fox rushed over the window and saw the Chaos Thunderhawk dropship had landed in the court, where more Chaos Marines piled out.
"Fox, we have to go!" Krystal exclaimed, where she gripped the boltpistol tightly in her hands.
Fox nodded where he grabbed his blaster off the ground, where he checked the Marine's corpse and found a rusted short sword. They ran towards the door and into the hallway and where instantly alarmed at what they saw.
"WE ARE CHAOS! CHAOS IS STRONG!"
Where they could see what appeared to be ordinary, bald-headed tattooed humans in dressed in what appeared to be Cultist uniforms complete with mini-skull racks on their backs kicking down doors and rushing it, followed by the screams of the Cornerians as they were hacked up in their rooms. By chance one of the Cultists noticed them, where his eyes widened and he pointed towards them.
"IT'S THEM!" he shouted, "THE BOOTLICK VULPINE AND THE CERINIAN BITCH!"
"AFTER THEM!"
The Cultists rushed at them from all sides, blades drawn. They took off down another hallway, the Cultists in tight pursuit through the narrow passages.
"Falco's room is one floor up, Fox!" Krystal cried.
"I know!" Fox replied.
They dodged a laspistol blast from a Cultist which jumped before them from around a corner, where Fox glared and swung his blade, slicing the neck of the Cultist and spraying arterial blood all over the walls. The Cultist choked on his blood before toppling over, where the pursuing Cultists lunged at Fox and Krystal in the tight hallway.
Krystal fired her pistol at the nearest Cultist instantly splattering his brains out, where Fox dodged the swing of the next Cultist's blade, where he drove his own sword through the Cultist's chest. He then delivered a kick to the next Cultist's head, sending him falling backwards and knocking over Cultists down.
Fox then grabbed Krystal's hand and they continued running, ignoring the screams of the other Cornerian's on their floor as they were hacked up in their own rooms. Suddenly one naked canine male was kicked through the door of his room right before Fox and Krystal, followed by the Cultist where as Fox could take action the Cultist begun to slash the screaming canine to death. The Cultist laughed maniacally, before lunging at the pair.
"YOU'RE NEXT, McCLOUD! HA HA HA HA HA!"
The vulpine gritted his teeth and raised his blaster and fired multiple times at the still laughing Cultist, where his last shot burned a hole through the Chaos follower's head, which wiped the smile off his face as he fell backwards dead. They continued to run as the Cultists behind them still gave pursuit, heading towards the elevator which opened to greet them…which revealed a Chaos Marine with a rocket launcher.
Fox's eyes widened, "Uh-oh!"
"DIE SCUM!"
The Chaos Marine stepped out of the elevator and fired, where Fox and Krystal hit the floor and the rocket sailed past them and towards the pursuing Cultist. They screamed in surprise before they were reduced to ash, the resulting explosion blowing a hole in the floor. Fox lunged forward with his short sword and drove it through the Chaos Marine's gut.
The Marine cried out in pain, dropping the launcher and drawing his own blade, where Fox pulled it out and swung again, which the Marine managed to block and, unflinching towards his stomach wound, attacked. Fox ducked to the avoid the Marine dive, where he dove between the Marine's legs and appeared behind him, where…
"YAAAHHHHH!"
…the wily vulpine drove his blade through the Marine's armour and into his spine, where he cried out in pain and lost feeling in his legs, where he fell onto the floor. Krystal aimed and fired at the Marine, the bolt passing through his helmet and into his skull, splattering his head from the inside of his helmet.
With their foe defeated, they ran into the elevator. As Fox pressed for the 8th floor another Marine appeared from around the corner, where he aimed his boltgun and as the elevator doors closed he pulled the trigger.
"DOWN
Fox and Krystal hit the elevator floor, avoiding the bolter rounds, which pieced through the doors and through the lift. They were relieved when they felt the lift begin to go up, but dread immediately settled in once again as they psyched themselves to take on whatever waited for them on Falco's floor. Fox shook his head in disbelief.
"This can't be happening," he muttered, "No, this can't be happening."
Krystal glanced at him, "Fox."
"This can't be happening…"
"FOX!"
Fox glanced at her, "What?"
Krystal looked distressed as she said, "Focus, Fox. Concentrate."
Fox nodded and breathed in sharply, then exhaled, "Ok, alright, thanks for that. Now…lets grab Falco and bail!"
The door opened to reveal a bloodstained corridor, where the bodies of dozens of Cornerians laid strewn about. All their faces, men, women and children; were twisted and contorted in horror, where they had either had bolter or laser rounds tear them or were hacked apart by swords. Krystal's felt her consciousness scream in anguish, where tears begun to well up in her eyes."
'Oh God, it's happening again,' she thought distressfully.
The sounds of blaster fire was heard down the hallway and around the corner, where the pair ran down the hallway, ignoring the number 8, which was drawn in blood all over the hallway. 8…the sacred number of the Blood God himself.
They turned the corner guns ready, just in time to see Cultists running down the hallway, laspistol's drawn and heading towards Falco's room. Fox broke cover, aimed at the head of the nearest Cultist and fired, blowing his brains out. The Cultists spun on their heels, they saw the vulpine and the vixen. They raised their laspistols and fired, where Fox skidded onto the floor and on his back, where he held the trigger and fired a charged laser blast, hitting the chest of the next Cultist and blowing a hole in it.
Krystal followed suit, from behind the corner she aimed and fired her boltpistol, scoring two more kills with a bolter round through their throats and downing. Fox roared with might and charged the remaining two Cultists, gripping his blade firmly. They in turn pulled out their own short swords, but like a spectre Fox struck quickly and slashed their throats, their blood splattering all over them.
More sounds of blaster fire was heard, where Fox and Krystal continued running, where they turned around another corner just in time to see a Cultist getting blown out of room screaming, where they saw the door into room #45…Falco's room.
"FALCO!" Fox exclaimed.
They ran up to the door where Fox banged his fist on it. They immediately heard the charging of blaster, where Fox and Krystal eyes widened, they ducked out of the way, and a charged shot came through the door.
"FALCO!" Krystal exclaimed, "IT'S US!"
The door opened to reveal Falco in his underwear and holding his blaster in his left hand.
"Sorry, you guys," Falco said sheepishly, "Quick, inside…NOW!"
Fox and Krystal complied and they dove inside, surprised to see Katt as well, where she herself was armed with her custom blaster, and whom was dressed only in her flight pants and a brown-coloured bra. She didn't feel compelled to cover herself before Fox and Krystal, who stared at her questioningly with surprised eyes.
"Er…hi," Katt greeted, unsure.
"Hi," Fox and Krystal replied in unison, where the vulpine suppressed a blush at seeing the half-naked feline.
"Man, talking about the Imperials moving in on us at a bad time," Falco groaned, throwing his blaster onto the bed and reaching for his pants on the ground.
Fox frowned at the avian, "I don't think they a crap about what you two got up to last night, and neither do I. We've got to get out of here and fast!"
Katt nodded, where she threw her shirt on, "Our ships are docked back at the city's starport. We're going to need a miracle to get there in one piece."
Fox seethed nervously, "What I was thinking. And another thing, it's not the Imperium that's invading us."
"Huh?" Falco sounded off, zipping up his suit.
"It's Chaos," Krystal added, "The Ruinous Powers of Chaos."
"Chaos Space Marines?" Katt queried, "Dear God, I've heard about those monsters."
"And now they're here," Krystal said, "We've got to get off Corneria before…"
And suddenly with that another Chaos Marine smashed through the wall from the next room across, gripping his boltgun in his hands, where he then pulled the trigger and begun spraying the room with lead. They each dove for cover, Falco and Fox behind the couch while Katt and Krystal dove into the bathroom. Fox broke cover and he begun firing away at the Marine, the lasers only staggering the Marine, not being able to penetrate his aged yet technically enhanced power armour.
Katt rolled across the floor from the bathroom towards the Marine, she aimed her blaster at the Marine's crutch and fired an explosive round. She thought she saw the Marine's eyes bulge from the helmet as he felt his extremities get blown away. She then fired another explosive round with blew apart the Marine's helmet and exposed his bald, Chaos-marked head.
The Chaos Marine's emaciated face with his bulging eyes and gritted teeth could be seen.
"You…fucking…pawns…of the False Emperor," the Marine struggled to say, before falling face forward onto the ground and passing out.
The four quickly ran out the room and back into the bloodstained corridor. They begun to run towards the elevator and stairs, Katt immediately felt nausea seep into her stomach upon seeing the carnage wrought by the fallen humans, where she was comforted slightly by Falco sticking close to her, his own blaster in hand.
"What's it gonna be, you guys?" Falco cried, "The lift or the stairs?"
"They'll be waiting for us down there," Krystal said just as they stopped before the elevator, "Either which way, we'll be up for a fight."
"And we won't last against any more of those rusted tin cans," Fox replied as he wiped his forehead, "Suggestions, anyone?"
Katt glanced over at the laundry chute, where she smiled lightly and nudged at Falco, who turned to her, where she directed his eyes towards the chute. He frowned, where he also smiled lightly and sighed.
"I was gonna think of that," Falco remarked.
Suddenly, Krystal cried out in pain and clutched her head, where Fox turned to her, alarmed.
"Krystal?"
"Oh God," she moaned, "They're…killing everyone down below. I can hear them…"
----------
The resort area ran with the blood of the holiday-goers and tourists as Chaos Marines, supported by the blood-crazy fanatical Cult groups smashed into the area and unleashed their own version of hell, spraying bolter rounds and laser bursts onto the terrified masses, before finishing them off with their blades. The security forces retaliated as best they could, but were soon overwhelmed by their numbers and their near impossible surprise attack. One guard kept his finger glued to the trigger of his gun as he fired at the nearest Chaos Marine, diving in and out cover where the Marine fired back. He looked through the scope of his blaster rifle and fired again, where he managed to finally crack through the Marine's helmet and score a headshot.
He could not relish in his victory, when he suddenly noticed a grenade lying behind him. Before he dive out the way, he was sent flying from his cover as the grenade exploded, separating him from his legs. His scream of agony was music to the Cultist's ears as they threw themselves on top of him and proceeded to hack him to pieces.
"FOR THE DARK GODS!" they each cried out.
And in the main hotel…
"NO…NO PLEASE….DON'T…AWKKKK!"
The bellhop felt the iron grip of the Chaos Champion around his throat and lifted him off the ground, where his feet begun to dangle. The champion smiled as he carefully watched the bellhop strangle slowly, before he crushed his neck with his hands and stare into his eyes as the life slowly left them. The champion then hurled the bellhop aside and cried out into the air, where he bet his chest with his free hand, which was balled into a fist.
"KILL EVERYTHING IN THIS MISERABLE DWELLING!" the champion ordered, "MAN, WOMAN, CHILD! SPARE NO ONE WHO MIGHT OPPOSE THE DESPOILER AND THE DARK GODS!"
Chaos Marines flooded the lobby where they aimed their bolters at the elevators and the entrances to the staircases, where the readied themselves for the proverbial sheep to come to the slaughter. They came in their dozens from, where they each felt the Marine's bolt rounds tear through them, killing them before they could even fell to the floor.
The champion smiled upon seeing them fall, where his head jerked up upon sensing faint psionic waves in the air. He frowned.
"So they are still alive?" he said to himself, before he called, "Davidov, Lucan, Ford!"
Three Chaos Marines stepped before him, "Yes, champion?"
"Go down to the basement," the champion ordered, "And wait there for the pawns to try to flee with their lives."
----------
The avian security guard cowered with fright behind the still-running washing machines, where he held his blaster in his left hand, his right hand covering his wounded left arm and prayed silently that the behemoths would not find them there. The moment he first saw the Space Marines land in front of the resort and smashed through the glass doors of the lobby, he took off. All without a second thought towards the people he was suppose to protect, or that of his fellow guards as he left them all there to be run through with their swords.
'God, please help me,' he thought, 'Please don't let them finish me, like they almost did when they destroyed Cerinia.'
He raised his head over the machine he was hiding behind towards the door, relieved that no one, human or Cornerian, stepped through. He eyed the other door that was right next to the machine, which led outside towards the carpark and to possible death where everything outside burned in the morning light. Suddenly, he heard rumbling coming down from the chute which led to the large mound of dirty clothes, which almost made him jump.
He breathed steadily, trying to relax his heartbeat. He heard faint feminine yelling, before…
"OOFF!"
…and he broke cover and aimed towards the pile, expecting to find that the human had found himself, rather it was a cerulean coloured vixen lying in the pile of clothes, where she picked herself up, and was immediately startled upon noticing that a gun was being pointed at her.
"Don't shoot," Krystal said, "I'm on your side."
The guard exhaled painfully, "Thank God, I thought you were one of them...hey, aren't you Krystal from Star Fox?"
"Yes"
The guard smiled with relief, "Oh definitely thank God…hey, where's the other…?"
Falco was next to land in the pile of clothes, followed by Katt and Fox. Falco face was that of disgust as he realised he had landed in the pile of stinking clothes and sheets, where he brushed himself of, where he noticed Krystal staring down the guard.
"Don't mind us," Falco blurted, "Just passin' through."
"Passing through?" the guard asked astonished, "You guys should be out there taking down those fucking humies. They're killing everyone they see..."
And with that the sounds of nearby boltguns tore through the air, causing them to turn to the doorway, where the fear immediately returned to engulf the guard, where the pain in his arm causing him to cry out, where Star Fox and Katt turned back to him.
"Shouldn't you?" Katt asked, "It's your job to protect and serve?"
"Can't you see I've caught one in the arm?" the guard asked angrily, "And it hurts like freakin' Hell."
"How do we get out of the resort?" Fox asked, gripping his blaster tightly, as did the others.
The guard nudged towards the other door right next to him, "This door here. But it's suicide if you're thinkin' of making a break for it."
"Better than stayin' here and hiding behind a washer," Falco replied, "I'm all for getting out of this hell hole."
Suddenly three Chaos Marines smashed through the doorway leading into the laundry. They immediately aimed their boltguns at the guard and fired, immediately blowing his arms and legs offs, leaving only a screaming torso, which then received a shot to the chest, cracking it wipe open.
"GO!" Fox shouted as he, Falco, Katt and Krystal ran for the doorway.
The Chaos Marines fired again, where Falco felt a bolt skim his tail feather. They kicked open the door and ran down another hallway leading to a pair of double doors, which led outside.
"AFTER THEM!" they heard one of the Marines cry out.
They pushed through the doors leading them to the back of the resort and the massive car park area, where Cornerian bodies and gibs littered everywhere, followed by more Chaos Marines which patrolled the perimeter, and which they didn't seem to notice their presence. And Krystal was determined to keep it that way.
Guys, Krystal transmitted to the others minds, Let's be settle about this. Let's grab the nearest vehicle and get out of here.
Fox, Falco and Katt nodded, where suddenly a bolter round flew over Fox's head from behind them, where the vulpine cried out, and caught the attention of the other Chaos Marines, who each loaded up their boltguns and opened fire. They made a break for it, dodging bolter rounds as they ran and fired their own blasters.
Then, descending from the sky was a Conerian Strike Fighter, which flew over the carpark, where the Marines decided to concentrate their fire up at it. Unfazed by the bolter fire, the fighter fired it's twin laser and blasted every Chaos Marine in the carpark, sending their armoured bodies flying as the cars around them exploded. One Marine landed before Fox, where he jumped over it and continued running.
"Alright, that's gives us some breathing space," Fox said, "The nearest car?"
"How about mine?" Katt asked, taking out her remote key and pressing it.
A pinkish red van parked between two other burning vehicles beeped, where it's headlights flashed for a few seconds. They were quick to open the doors and hop in, with Fox in the driver's seat with Katt sitting beside him. Falco had noticed the décor of the car, which Katt had sensed right away.
"Those Rent-A-Car jerks recommended it, ok?" Katt shot at Falco.
"Hey, did I say I was complaining?" Falco replied as he held his hands up in protest.
Fox frowned, "Fasten your seatbelts, everyone! I'm not stopping for anything!"
Not waiting for an answer Fox put the van in reverse and back out of the parking space, and into a Cultist, which was crushed against the wall screaming, his blood spilling all over the back window. Fox begun to drive forward and away from the carpark towards the main entrance, which was at the front of the resort, and where most of the carnage was taking place, and even more bodies were piled up, civilian and security guard alike.
'Goddamn,' Fox thought.
"HEADS DOWN!" Falco cried.
Bolter rounds begun to tear through the van's windows, where everyone lowered their heads and closed their eyes as pieces of glasses flew about, except Fox where he raised his head just enough to see where he was driving, towards the main gate.
"FOX!" Katt cried, "WHAT ARE YOU…?"
And before she could finish the van smashed through the gate and continued down the road towards the bridge that led to Corneria City. Every sat back up, where Falco brushed some broke glass off his forehead.
"Jeez, Fox!" Falco exclaimed, "What are you trying to pull?"
"Us out of here," Fox responded.
"Fox, what about Peppy?" Krystal said, "The Cornerian Army Headquarters has probably been hit as well."
Fox almost gasped as well, before he exclaimed and slammed his fists on the wheel, "Shit!"
----------
The Cornerian Defence Force HQ control room was bathed in red light courtesy of the multiple Red Alerts going off, as well as the sounds coming from alarms and klaxons that could be well loud enough to pierce anyone's ear drums. General Peppy stood there in the centre of the control room as he watched the screens that showed the warzone that was Corneria City, as it burned all around them. Officers ran about the control the room while technicians, wanting to run for their lives, were still at work at their posts.
Questions were being asked all around in desperation. Questions such as…
"What's going on?"
"How'd they get here?"
"What do we do?"
Peppy broke the silence as he exclaimed, "Report!"
"Human forces have overrun the entire city, sir" a technician replied panicked, "They've already broken through our defensive lines and are converging on the HQ. Defence squads reporting massive civilian casualties in areas of conflict."
"Civilian status?"
"They are fleeing the planet en masse, sir," the technician answered, "There are reports of mass fighting outside the star ports."
"The enemy must be trying to focus exclusively on killing innocent people," Peppy said, before asking, "Evacuation status?"
"Transport ships that have managed to leave the planet's atmosphere report being engaged by human strike fighters. Twelve have already been destroyed, while seven have managed to escape the Cornerian lines."
Peppy wiped his forehead, "What about the Orbital Gate? Patch me through to the fleet."
"Yes sir," the technician said as he typed away for a few seconds, before saying, "Channel's open sir.
General Hare, the other line cried, amidst the sounds of starship cannon fire, We've engaged the Imperial fleet but we're losing ships by the minute. Five capital cruisers are already down."Where is the enemy coming from?" Peppy asked. They appear to be coming…from…from...the…
The transmission was interrupted by white noise and static, which was followed by a massive explosion from the other end, followed by people screaming and then…silence. Peppy's eyes widened, having heard all that.
The technician checked his console, "Transmission's being cut off sir.
Peppy shook his head, "This can't be the Imperium that's invading. It must be…"
He was cut off when suddenly an artillery shell hit the HQ and caused the entire building to rock slightly from it's foundations, but Peppy managed to keep a cool head and his balance, while cries of terror echoed around the room.
"What are you orders, general?" the officer asked.
Peppy looked over at the large screen and saw what appeared to be Corneria City from a bird's eye view. Most of it's buildings were on fire and were crumbling to the ground, courtesy of the massive spacecraft which hovered above it as well as the massive fighting between the remaining Cornerian forces and the invaders.
Peppy sighed, where he stepped over to the nearest console and pushed down the 'General Announcement' button, where he declared, "Attention Cornerian Military, this is Supreme Commander General Peppy. Initiate strategic withdrawal of all military forces to Site #2. All civilians are ordered to abandon Corneria and head towards the edge of the system."
All eyes in the control room widened upon hearing Peppy give the announcement. Total evacuation, the last call for all Cornerians to abandon their place of origin and to flee to the edges of the system, in the hopes that the enemy would not be able to follow them, and that they quickly reorganise and regroup for total war.
The officers in the control room felt determination build up their souls, where they cried out, "Alright, you heard the general. Let's pack it up."
Peppy sighed again as he thought, 'Fox. I hope to God you and the others are getting yourselves off Corneria right now.'
----------
All over the city squads of Cornerian soldiers were fighting a desperate, losing battle against the invading Chaos forces, where each and every one of them gave their best against the tide of blood-crazy maniacal Cultists and battle-hardened Traitor Marines. Even thought they were equipped with the finest weapons and vehicles the Cornerian army had to offer, but Soldier against Marine equalled no contest as they were each literally hacked and blown to pieces by the Forces of Chaos.
"GO! GO! GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE! RETREAT"
The Cornerian sergeant gripped his blaster rifle in his hands as he and his squad hopped over the rubble of the nearest tank and ran down the nearest alley as they attempted to shake off the pursuing Cultists hot on their tail, laspistol blasts sailing over their heads. The sergeant spun around and fired his machine-gun, killing two of them, before having his gun blasted out his hand.
"DAMN IT!" he cursed.
As he reached for his blaster, he felt a laser bolt hit him in the foot, where he cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Another soldier spun around and fired his rifle at the oncoming Cultists, before he cried out.
"The sergeant's down!" the soldier exclaimed, "Help me…URGHHHH!"
The sergeant saw the soldier get hit by a plasma shot which hit him in the chest and down him, where a pair of Marines stepped over him and pursued his squad. Panicked, the Cornerian soldiers fired at the attacking Chaos, only to be set on fire by one of their flamethrowers, where they screamed in agony as they burnt to a crisp.
"NO!" the sergeant cried, before reaching for the nearest fallen rifle and held it with one hand, where he aimed it at the pairings and just as he pulled the trigger…
"ARGH!"
…he felt his hand get hacked off by some sort of creature ripped straight from the depths of Hell itself. It appeared to be a bipedal bull-like muscled humanoid who wore dark armour but not like the sort the Marines wore. It carried a large axe, which was stained with the sergeant's blood, and where it looked down at the sergeant, who felt the blood leave his face in fright.
"Good work, servant of Khorne," one of the Marines said, "Now…FINISH HIM!"
The daemon replied, where the sergeant screamed as it brought its axe down on his chest, splitting it open and where it erupted in a shower of blood which covered the 'Bloodletter.' It then roared into the air and beat it's armoured chest in triumph, having killed another in the name of the Blood God.
----------
Fox navigated the van past the burning wreckage of the other vehicles and the charred corpses of their unfortunate occupants on the bridge into Corneria City, where he and the others tried not to gag on the smell of the bodies and the smoke.
Krystal wiped a tear from her eye and moaned, "This is horrible."
"You'll have time to lament once we get out of here with our limbs intact," Falco said, "Hey Fox…?"
"Yeah!"
"You better get ROB on the horn and to prep the ship."
Fox's eyes widened, "ROB? Damn it."
With one hand on the steering wheel, Fox dialled his communicator.
"ROB, do you copy?" Fox started, "This is Fox."
Affirmative, I read you, Rob confirmed on the other line.
"What's your situation?"
Situation is critical. Chaos troop movement detected around star port area, It will be a matter of time before they manage to break in, however
"Well that's comforting," Falco muttered.
"Prep the ship for immediate take off," Fox ordered, "We're on our way."
Affirmative.
Krystal looked at the window, where she saw a Thunderhawk bearing down towards the bridge, it's missile ports opened and ready. Her eyes widened.
"FOX!" she exclaimed.
The Thunderhawk fired at the van, where Fox swerved to avoid the hellfire barrage and continue driving, only a few yards from the city entrance, the Thunderhawk flew over the bridge and turned to make another run, where it readied the large lascannon situated on it's roof. Suddenly, two Cornerian fighters appeared and engaged the Thunderhawk, firing their missile and managing to shot it down, where it crashed into the ocean.
"That was lucky," Katt said.
Fox smiled slightly, "Yeah. Seems we'll be getting off this rock after…oh no…"
"Oh shit!" Falco exclaimed.
Stepping onto the road was what appeared to be a large crab-like creature machine which appeared to be made of iron, and had cannons attached to the side's of it's 'head.' A helmet with glowing red eyes was built on it's forehead, where it moved it's arms and prepared itself for the van.
"THE BRAKES," Krystal cried, "HIT THE BR…"
It was too late as the Chaos Defiler swung it's arms and swatted the van off the bridge and towards the street. It's occupants screamed as it flew in the air, and whom was silenced once it hit the road. Fox banged his head against the steering wheel and was rendered unconscious, where the last thing he heard was that near-demonic phrase.
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULL'S FOR THE SKULL THRONE!"