Chapter 14:
On the shore of Goldenrod City, Cyrus stood inside the small command center as Federation forces stormed into the city. Mercury and several Team Galactic members were sitting at the various consoles as all kinds of gunships, shuttles, transports, and fighters flew into the city overhead. Hundreds of troops and drone soldiers were being flown into Goldenrod City to assist in its takeover. The troops inside the city had met massive resistance from Earth military forces and Pokémon Trainers, but due to their superior numbers, they were making slow, but steady, progress. It would only be a matter of time before he had control of the city. He then glanced down at the maps of several other areas as well. His forces, marked by red dots, were making slow inroads into Europe and other areas of Continental Asia, but the invasion of North America had stalled completely. He gave a nonchalant sigh. The capture of America was not important to him. He just wanted to keep the troops there occupied while he accomplished his true objective: finding the Sinjoh Ruins and using his two Arceus trophies to create a new Dialga and Palkia so he can remake the universe in his own image. And failing that, securing Mount Coronet so he could hope that the Arceus trophies could summon the real Dialga and Palkia to the Spear Pillar and hope that the trophies would be able to control the Pokémon.
A few seconds after looking at the map, lines of static appeared on the maps. A puzzled look crossed his face as the static got worse. Looking around at the other operatives, he noticed that they were having similar problems. "What's happening?" he asked to no one in particular.
"I don't know," a young Team Galactic grunt answered. "We're receiving interference on all of our channels. I can't make contact with anyone outside the command center or Goldenrod City."
"We're being jammed? How?"
"I don't know!" the grunt answered. "But if I had to put money on it, I'd say that the Radio Tower was responsible for the jamming."
"But we're in control of the Radio Tower. Why would they be jamming our signal?"
"Maybe a glitch in the program," the grunt suggested. "Possibly a traitor in the tower…"
"Or the Radio Tower was captured," Mercury interjected calmly, as if this was none of his concern and he was merely a bystander.
"The Radio Tower captured?" Cyrus blurted. Even the grunt seemed to find this hard to believe.
"Of course," Mercury replied. "You don't think that Samus Aran was merely sent here to destroy the eight Orbital Rings, do you? She must have had further objectives, especially since we still control the Capitol Building and, until a few minutes ago or so, the Radio Tower."
"Then that means, with the Radio Tower having been captured, the next target will likely be the Capitol Building," Cyrus surmised. "With control of the Capitol Building, she'll have complete control of Earth's Defense Grid."
He almost shuddered at the prospect. Despite outnumbering the Earth Defense Fleet almost ten-to-one in the initial invasion, he had still lost three times the number of capital ships that Earth and the Galactic Federation in Exile had. And that was before taking into account the large number of starfighters, gunships, transports, assault shuttles, and mini-corvettes that had been lost in the invasion as well. With the battle still raging up in orbit, and with the most recent reports indicating that Admiral Dane was inflicting heavy losses to the fleet while he was suffering few, if any, losses in return, he turned to Mercury and asked, "Is there any sign of the location of the Sinjoh Ruins?"
"Not yet, Mr. Chairman, sir," Mercury responded.
Cyrus swore. He looked over and saw a Techno Soldier arrive in the command post. The soldier looked like he had seen better days, for there were several burn marks and minor furrows in his armor. Looking at him, Cyrus commented, "You've looked better."
"I've been worse," the Techno Soldier replied. "My suit's auto-repair systems are already repairing the damage. I should be fine within an hour."
"What is the situation inside Goldenrod City?"
"Federation forces are making slow, but steady progress. However, it is coming with an incredible cost in blood. We can take the city with the forces we have, but in order to hold it, we will need reinforcements."
"I see," Cyrus said thoughtfully. He then looked over at the Techno Soldier and said, "Hi'Gor, I have a special mission for you, should you wish to carry it out."
"What is it?" the Technoble asked, indicating that he would do whatever Cyrus was about to ask.
"I need you to assemble a squad twelve other Techno Knights and go to Mount Coronet. If I can't find, or take, the Sinjoh Ruins, we'll need to take control of the mountain in order for my plan to work. Not only that, but before our transmissions were jammed, my spies indicated that the Space Pirates had somehow managed to breach Earth's planetary shields, both of them, and land near Mount Coronet. I need you and the Techno Knights to take care of them and secure the mountain while I see how viable the Sinjoh Ruins still are."
"It will be my pleasure," the N'Kren soldier responded. The N'Kren had always held a deep, abiding hatred for the Space Pirates, especially for Mother Brain, who betrayed the Chozo. Even as they were fighting the Chozo remnants, they still hated the Space Pirates and Mother Brain for what they had done to their former, and hopefully would soon be again, ally.
Before Hi'Gor departed, though, Cyrus called to him and said, "Before you go, tell Ma'Kar over at the Capitol Building to expect Samus and whatever other Marines and Army Troopers she has with her."
Hi'Gor nodded. Cyrus then called out again, "One more thing. I'll need one of your communicators since all Federation signals have been jammed. In addition, tell your forces that they'll be in charge of communications and coordinating the Federation forces. Also tell the Ylla forces that are embedded in the Federation ranks that they're also going to be taking charge of coordinating our forces and communications should a N'Kren not be present."
"Understood, Chairman," Hi'Gor replied. He then tossed Cyrus a small, cube-like device that Cyrus guessed was a N'Kren communicator. With that, the N'Kren Technoble took off and flew away from the scene.
Once he was away, Cyrus looked over at Mercury asked, "Do you still have Alakazam with you?"
The executive nodded. "Yes, Lord Cyrus. I've still got him, and he's itching for a fight." It was clear that the executive was also eager to participate in the fighting as well.
"His purpose won't be to fight," Cyrus said, holding up his hand as if to tell his subordinate to slow down. "When the time comes, I'll need him to send a telepathic signal to Venus and the other Team Galactic executives and grunts. Until then, he'll be relaying telepathic signals to the rest of our forces until we can break through the Radio Tower's jamming. While the Federation military has proven useful for my purposes, I'm not sure that I can trust them with providing security for the last leg of our mission.
"I see," Mercury said, nodding in understanding. "I'll keep him ready." He then drew out a small ball with a red top and white bottom with a button in the center. He pushed the button and the ball opened and a blob of blue energy emerged from it. The blob formed into a human-like creature with yellow skin, mustache, and pointed ears on the top of its head with a pointed nose. It wore brown, leather armor and had two spoons in its hands.
"Excellent," Cyrus exclaimed. "Until then, you and Alakazam are to stay here. We can't afford to lose Alakazam right now and you'll be guarding him. Until we hear anything, we'll also do our best to clear the jamming being produced by the Radio Tower."
"The Radio Tower may be able to jam our signals to the fleet, but I highly doubt that it will disable our hand radio signals."
"Good," the Chairman told him. "Tell all squad commanders that they are to communicate through hand radios only. It may be slower to coordinate with everyone else than normal, but it's the best we've got at the moment." He then paused before continuing, "Also, get a transport fueled and ready. I want to lift off the moment I hear something, one way or the other, about the Sinjoh Ruins."
"Yes, sir," Mercury said as he went to work. Now, Cyrus could only sit back and wait for word of either victory or defeat in Goldenrod City, or in the numerous other battles in Johto; and/or the location of the Sinjoh Ruins.
Up in space, near the orbit of the Moon, Admiral Dane's forces were inflicting significant damage to the Federation fleet over Earth. Scarlet lances of energy erupted from the forward energy cannons of the battleships as the missile frigates and destroyers continued to pepper the enemy fleet with missiles. So far, almost half of the Federation fleet surrounding Earth had either been destroyed or sustained heavy damage. However, one thing that Admiral Dane, and the rest of the command staff onboard the Olympus had noted was the fact that the Heavy Defense Platforms and other defensive turrets had yet to open fire on the fleet. While the Earth defenders had planted a computer virus onboard the defense platforms, it had been weeks since Cyrus had taken Earth, and his engineers had already broadcasted that they had eliminated the virus and the platforms were now usable. The fact that they had yet to open fire, or even lock onto the fleet, gave him hope. Dane glanced over at his tactical officer, and said, "Lieutenant Commander Bly, what is the status of the fleet defending Earth?"
"They're taking a beating, sir," the Lieutenant Commander answered. "So far, twenty-one hundred and fourteen enemy ships have been destroyed, with eleven hundred and eighty having suffered heavy damage." Looking back at the Admiral, she continued, "Sir, don't you think it's odd that the enemy has not micro-jumped into weapons range? Before the battle began, they outnumbered us more than two-to-one."
"I know," Dane replied, studying the enemy fleet formation. He could barely understand it, himself. There was no reason for the enemy to keep taking this pounding. His ships had superior range to the enemy, and they were also stronger than most of the enemy ships as well. Only the Olympus-class battleships of the opposing fleet and Gehenna-class dreadnaughts had the ability to fire on his fleet at the moment, and he had merely had his own ships concentrate fire on the dreadnaughts and battleships before they could inflict too much damage to his ships.
Just then, Lieutenant Gates noticed that the jamming had vanished and she cried, "Admiral, the jamming is gone! We can send a transmission down to the Earth."
"Open a channel to the surface now!" Castor Dane cried.
After a single beep, Gates informed him, "Channel open."
Admiral Dane then said, "This is Admiral Dane to all Federation in Exile and Earth military forces currently engaging Cyrus and the Federation. We are aware of your current situations and have come to support you. You're no longer alone. We have returned to help you take back Earth. We are fighting his fleet up in orbit with everything we have and are occupying his space-based forces, but Cyrus is likely getting closer to his goals. If you're planning a final assault in an attempt to stop him, execute it now. We're behind you." With that, the transmission ended.
He glanced over at Lieutenant Command Bly and asked, "What is the status of Earth's planetary shield?"
"It's still up, sir," Bly responded.
"Are you detecting any holes or areas of weakness in the shield that we could breach?"
After checking her instruments, Bly answered, "Negative. It's operating at full strength in all sectors. It looks like we'll need some help to get through it."
Just after Bly had given her report, the Federation fleet over Earth disappeared for an instant. In that instant, Admiral Dane smirked. So they're finally getting their act together, he thought as the fleet reappeared within their own weapons range of Admiral Dane's fleet. Dane then yelled over the comm channel, which was already open, "All ships, fire at will! Take out as much of the enemy as possible. Starfighters, commence attack!" And with that order, the Federation in Exile fleet opened up on the weakened Federation fleet. And the Federation fleet did likewise to Dane's.
Meanwhile, just outside the Radio Tower in the remains of downtown New York City, Samus Aran emerged from the tower and looked into the sky to see the Heavy Assault Shuttle descending down to the ground. To her sides were numerous Earth Marines standing guard outside the tower. When she passed, they saluted her. The shuttle soon touched down on the ground and she ran over to it. The shuttle's boarding ramp opened and President Richardson and William Hastings came out to meet her. When she arrived, she stopped for a moment and they told her, "Congratulations on a job well done."
"Thank you sirs, but it's not over yet," she responded.
"Quite right," they echoed in agreement. "The Capitol Building still has to be taken back. Without it, reinforcements won't be able to rejoin the battle down on the ground."
As soon as they had said that, one of the Earth Marines, a Colonel according to the rank insignia on his chest, came up to the trio and said, "You'll need help if you wish to take back the Capitol Building. Cyrus has set up a lot of defenses around it."
"Are you volunteering, Colonel?"
"You read my mind, sir," the Marine said with a smile, though it was hidden due to the visor. He then added, "I also have other forces waiting, sirs. My brigade consists of a few assault shuttles, two transports, and some attack fighters. That should provide some decent firepower for dealing with the defenses around the Capitol Building."
As the colonel was discussing his assets with the two leaders, Samus jumped up onto the top of the shuttle and took her position near the damaged rear energy cannons. The Marine Colonel looked at the President and general and asked, "Why is she up there standing near the rear cannon?"
"Our original cannon was damaged in a dogfight with Pigma Dengar so Samus is now our rear gunner," General Hastings answered.
"That won't be necessary. The forces under my command have two squadrons of Katanas, Daggers, and Stilettos that could escort you to the Capitol Building. It won't take long for them to arrive, and you can also use this opportunity to refuel and begin to repair that cannon. Besides, you'll need more ground troops if you want to take back the Capitol Building."
"We'll take whatever help you can give us," President Richardson said gratefully.
The Marine smiled again and spoke into his comm, saying, "Alright, tell Red Squadron and Green Squadron that they're going to be escorting the President's shuttle. Get them fueled and rearmed as we speak."
He listened to the reports that came in over his radio and he told the President, "It should take only a half hour or so for the fighters to be refueled and rearmed. Then we'll be ready to go."
"I thank you, Colonel," the President and General told him. "Welcome aboard."
In the intervening half hour, the Earth Marine contingent boarded the shuttle, taking up the empty seats that had been left unoccupied by the Federation in Exile soldiers that had left in order to secure the Radio Tower. In addition, a couple of engineers had worked on the rear-mounted twin energy cannons and had managed to get them in working order.
Just after the half hour had passed, Samus took her seat in the cockpit, sitting at the pilot's station with General Hastings taking the copilot's station since Captain Falcon remained behind at the Radio Tower in order to keep it secure against any reprisals from Cyrus's Federation forces. She performed a final check to make sure that everything was ready to go, and when it was, she started the ship's engines. A low hum sounded and quickly rose in pitch until it became steady, an indication that the shuttle was powered up. She then raised the shuttle off the ground. The shuttle rose until it was a few hundred feet off the ground. Checking her sensors, Samus found two squadrons of twelve Katanas, Daggers, and Stilettos ready to escort the shuttle, along with a squadron of SFA-10 Warthogs and SFB-2 Wraiths, both fighter types outfitted with anti-tank and light building ordnance. In addition, three Heavy Assault Shuttles and two Assault Transports were present, and likely carrying armor for the ground attack on Washington D.C. Once the shuttle had reached a safe altitude, the ascent ceased and the General opened a channel to the rest of the force, saying, "Okay everyone, we're ready to go. Follow us in." And with that, the general gave Samus the word to gun the engines to maximum power. And she did just that, taking the shuttle from to its maximum speed of mach two at a safe rate for the humans onboard the shuttle, though its shield and inertial dampers were able to allow it to accelerate to that rate within less than a minute. The group then headed towards Washington D.C., and the Capitol Building.
Not far away from the battles inside the Johto Region of Japan, Hi'Gor was assembling twelve Techno Knights for the attack on the new Space Pirate base under Mount Coronet. A dozen N'Kren soldiers stood before him, each of them having arrived in a N'Kren transport ship which was now lifting off in order to help Cyrus with his invasion of the Johto Region. Hi'Gor did not know why Cyrus wanted to have at least a dozen Techno Knights deal with a Space Pirate base, especially given the beating that the Space Pirates had recently sustained in their battle against Admiral Dane and Samus at the Space Lab Moreau, over Urtraghus, and more recently at the hands of Samus Aran on Shanera. They were a mere shell of their former selves, with only Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain posing any real threat to a Techno Soldier. And of the three of them, only Mother Brain was a real threat. Ridley's plasma blasts simply were not strong enough to penetrate their armor, with him simply lacking the physical strength to harm a Techno Soldier, and Kraid, while huge and likely able to inflict damage via physical impact, was far to slow to be able to manage to strike a Techno Soldier and, like Ridley, had no way of being able to damage one of them should they stay out of range.
Once the N'Kren soldiers were assembled, he called out to them, proclaiming, "Soldiers of the N'Kren, it is good that you came. I have called you here so that we can put an end to an evil organization that has plagued the stars ever since interstellar travel has been around. The last of the Space Pirates forces have been found. Through means unknown to the Federation, and even us, they have managed to breach the defenses of Earth and construct a base underneath a mountain in the Sinnoh Region of Japan known as Mount Coronet. With the Federation forces in Sinnoh currently engaged with Earth military forces, as well as Federation in Exile forces, and no one on either side of the conflict in the region showing any signs of turning their attention towards the Space Pirate threat, it falls to us to find and eliminate the Space Pirates in that mountain, once and for all. I am sending data to your datapads containing the intelligence that our spies have managed to acquire as to the remaining strength of the Space Pirates. You should expect to face off against numerous Space Pirate Troopers, both Zebesian and Urtragian, encounter defense turrets, possibly some bioweapons, ten Space Pirate Commanders, Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain. The datapads will tell you all you need to know about each of these Pirate classes and individual Space Pirate leaders. Do you have any questions?"
"No sir!" the dozen N'Kren soldiers responded.
"Then we depart in ten minutes. That should give you all enough time to process the information you have received."
During the ten minutes, the N'Kren intensely studied the data that had been given to them. When the time to depart came, they had memorized each and every bit of the information and could recite it in their sleep. When the time came, Hi'Gor called out to them, proclaiming, "The time has come! We must go, now!"
With that, he touched his watch-like device on his right hand and pushed a button on its side. A crystal spike emerged from the center of the wrist as he pushed another button on his watch and a golden sheen surrounded the soldier. The other N'Kren did the same with their own watches and golden sheens surrounded them as well. Pieces of metal formed over the body of Hi'Gor, first on his arms, then his legs, next his chest, and finally his head. Eventually, he had fully transformed into a Technoble, and the rest of his squad having transformed into Techno Knights. He then pulled the green crystal spike from his right wrist and tossed it a few feet in front of him. The spike soon grew into a surfboard-like object and the Technoble stood on top of it. Out of one end emerged two engines made of the same crystal-like substance, and the other, two energy projectors just like the ones on his suit of armor. The last thing he did was will his energy projecting spiked staff to appear in his left hand. He grinned. There was no way that the Space Pirates would be able to overcome his forces. Once his force had transformed, he cried, "To Mount Coronet!" He then rose into the air a few dozen feet and rocketed off into the distance, followed by his dozen Techno Knights.
Over in Washington D.C., legions of giant mechs stood at attention inside the city, keeping a close watch for any signs of attack. From the Capitol Building Ma'Kar, a Technoble like Hi'Gor, watched as the mechs continued their vigil in anticipation of the impending attack. He had heard of Admiral Dane's transmission to the forces of Earth and it had given them a renewed sense of hope. The mechs were supposed to keep any enemy forces at bay. Ma'Kar had inwardly scoffed at General Korro's confidence in the mechs. Like the humans of Earth, he viewed the potential psychological impact as unimportant compared to the resources used to build the unstable platforms that could not utilize strong armor over the entire body without sinking into the ground, or becoming giant humanoid hover units that hemorrhaged fuel and resources in order to become useful for battle. Of course, Ma'Kar had outwardly supported General Korro's decision to use the metal monsters as the primary surface and air defenses in the city, but inwardly he suspected that the humans were right and that the liabilities of the mechs greatly outweighed the assets. When the report from one of his soldiers said that Samus had stated that her parents had been given to the Space Pirates to use as troops, he was shocked. The N'Kren had handed her parents over to Cyrus, and of all of the human Techno Soldiers, they had been the only soldiers that had been ordered to join Cyrus's forces by Hi'Gor. Even though they had voice misgiving after receiving some orders from Cyrus and a few of his other military leaders, they had showed no signs of intending to defect from the Federation, much less becoming Space Pirates. He could not fathom them willingly siding with the Space Pirates. They had to have been coerced somehow. But finding out how they were coerced would have to wait. He had other goals at the moment, such as the defense of Washington D.C. While he had misgivings as to Cyrus's benevolence, he did not want to betray the Galactic Federation, and his own people, until he had some real evidence to their treachery, and that Earth and its supporters were right about Cyrus and his plans.
Ma'Kar went over to one of the sensor consoles and checked the map. Sitting outside Washington D.C., was an assortment of troops waiting just far enough away from the city so as to be out of range of the mechs. However, the N'Kren soldier did not doubt that the reason they were not attacking was the fact that they were waiting for air support. He could have sent the mechs out to face them, but that would leave the Capitol Building relatively unprotected. While the building did have its own defensive missile screen, a contingent of Marines and Army Troopers, as well as himself, if the rumors of Samus having acquired the Power Missile and other weapons were true, then even he might not have been enough to eliminate Samus, especially with the Marines and other troopers that were aiding her in the battle.
He glanced over at one of the tactical officers, a male Lizardian wearing brown leather armor, sitting at a computer console with a map of the city and its surroundings, and he told him, "What is the status of our defenses?"
"Our defenses are strong," the Lizardian responded. "We have almost one hundred mechs stationed throughout the city, numerous defense turrets should they manage to enter into the city, and we still have a full wing of aircraft patrolling the ciy and the surrounding area. We can begin bombardment of the enemy soldiers outside when you wish."
Ma'Kar looked at the map once more and he said, "Not yet. Right now, we have to worry about what might be coming into the city from outside."
"Are you sure, sir?"
The N'Kren nodded. "The Radio Tower was taken by Federation, I mean, Federation in Exile, and Earth forces. It is almost guaranteed that they'll be coming here next. They need to take control of the Capitol Building in order to be able to lower the planetary shields and take control of the Defense Grid."
"So, how long do you think we have before the attack is launched?"
The Lizardian's question was answered when an explosion sounded outside the Capitol Building and the building shook. "It's begun," Ma'Kar replied.
Alarms blared into existence as the building shook again. General Korro was frantic as he charged into the operations room, yelling, "What the hell is going on?"
Ma'Kar remained calm as he told the General of the Federation Military, "We are under attack by Earth and Federation forces."
"Sirs, we're reading the arrival of two squadrons of aircraft coming in!" the Lizardian screamed frantically. After a moment, the Lizardian continued, "Correction, we have a full flight group coming in, along with four Heavy Assault Shuttles and two Assault Transports!" More explosions could be heard outside the building. "The forces outside the city have begun their attack!"
"What were our fighter patrols doing?"
The building then rocked again and a dozen red blips, likely representing Federation fighters, disappeared from the screen. "Likely getting shot down," Ma'Kar responded.
General Korro seethed for a few seconds before beginning to compose himself and formulate a defensive strategy. "What are our current assets here?" he called out to his staff.
One of the officers went over to a map display and read, "We still have a full flight group of fighters, along with a full squadron and four other fighters from the decimated flight group that was taken down in the first few minutes of the fighting. We also have eighty mechs still operational and ready to fight. We have close to a thousands squads of troops stationed throughout the city and its surrounding area. Most of them are still reporting in. They are also equipped with anti-aircraft and anti-armor weapons. We also have a hundred tanks of various classes still combat capable. Should we have them form a line around the city?"
"No," Korro answered. "We'll need them to hold off the enemy while we deal with the shuttles and transports coming into the city."
Just then, several more blips disappeared from the screen all in a section that already had weakened defenses. "Sir, all defensive turrets, mechs, and tanks in sector four have been destroyed. The enemy has a clear landing zone. Not only that, but there are only a few other defensive turrets and tanks in the next sector of the net that protects the Capitol Building!"
"Ma'Kar!" General Korro roared.
"I'm already on it," the N'Kren soldier replied as he tapped a button on a wristwatch-like device on his left wrist. Immediately, a golden sheen of light surrounded the N'Kren's body and a golden outline appeared over his body. Plates of armor began to take shape and form over the various parts of his arms and legs. Once they clamped together, smaller pieces of metal extended from them to cover other parts of the body. Several other metal spikes soon protruded from the shoulders, helmet, knees, and feet. Eventually, the transformation was complete, and when it was, Ma'Kar proceeded to make his way towards the exit.
Before he left, General Korro called after him and asked, "If one of those shuttles or transports is carrying Samus Aran, can you defeat her?"
Ma'Kar looked back at him and answered, "The armored suits of Techno Knights are stronger than Chozo Power Suits. And my Technoble armor and weapons are noticeably stronger than those of a Techno Knight."
"But Samus's current Power Suit is based on the suits built during the Chozo's height as warriors, as well as peacemakers. It also has various upgrades already built into it. Can you defeat this Samus?"
"Yes," Ma'Kar said unwaveringly. While his statement was unwavering, he was not so certain of his ability to defeat the child of Rodney and Virginia Aran. He was certain that if he put his mind to it, he could defeat Samus, but the question was whether or not he would have the will to beat her. Yes, she was fighting for the enemy, but she had always fought for the side she believed was fighting for justice, which was one of the reasons he believed that it was odd to see her fighting for the greed of the Earth and the human planets that had sided with them. However, the same could be said for the Chozo and the Luminoth, both of whom were more spiritually inclined than the N'Kren or even the Ylla. Even worse was the fact that all of these occurrences and rumors as to the excesses of the Federation military during attacks on human worlds, and even in their failed assaults on Tallon IV and Aether were so widespread and had not really been contested by the Federation, with the Federation saying that it was merely Earth propaganda. Still, Hi'Gor had given him an order, and he would carry it out, no matter how much he questioned it, or how distasteful it was. His sense of duty and honor forbade him from refusing to carry out such an order unless the order had been to kill or brutalize civilians and/or children. With that, the Technoble rushed out the door and proceeded to make his way to the exit of the Capitol Building as quickly as he could. Once he did, he rocketed off into the sky to assist the defenders in fighting off the Earth attackers.
Meanwhile, in the skies just outside Washington D.C., the Heavy Assault Shuttle carrying Samus, President Richardson, and General Hastings made its final approach towards the city. As it did so, General Hastings zeroed in on a sector of defensive turrets that were spraying scarlet energy bolts into the air. A lucky shot from one of the turrets had managed to tag one of the missiles that had been launched from outside the city that had likely been targeting one of the mechs that was still standing not too far away from the building. Still, the hit must have been a lucky hit since such turrets were likely trying to hit the air and spacecraft that were making attack runs on the surface defenses. Once the targeting computer had managed to get locks on all of the remaining defense turrets in that sector, the general let fly with a volley of missiles. As the missiles zoomed towards their targets, the turrets began to turn to focus on the new contacts, seeing them as new hostile contacts. Before they had managed to turn towards the shuttle, or the missiles, though, the missiles struck the turrets and blew them apart in a firestorm of fire and metal.
Soon, a platoon of Federation Army Troopers appeared in the area. Several of the troopers seemed to have shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles. Deploying the anti-personnel energy cannons, General Hastings opened fire on the troopers before they could get a good bead on the shuttle and blasted them to pieces. That did not stop them from firing on the shuttle before their deaths, though, but since the targeting systems of the missile did not have time to get a lock, they had to dumb fire the missiles. Even so, though, Hastings did not want to take any chances, so he angled the shuttle's shields forward so that should one or more of the missiles manage to hit the shuttle, that the shuttle would not be taken down. One of the missiles had managed to find its mark and inflict damage to the shuttle's shields. However, it was not enough to take down the shuttle, so the massacre continued. After a few more seconds, the entire force was destroyed.
Once the area was cleared of enemy forces, the shuttle made its descent, two Katana-class starfighters providing cover for the shuttle as the rest of the flight group picked off more ground and air targets. The Federation in Exile Stilettos exchanged fire with their Federation counterparts, with the superior pilots of the Federation in Exile Stilettos getting the better part of the exchange. The Katanas and Daggers dealt with the Rapier, Épée, and Claymore-class starfighters, inflicting significant losses to the enemy starfighters while suffering no fighter losses in return with only a few suffering damage. With the air forces of the enemy being occupied, the Heavy Assault Shuttle, along with the other three Heavy Assault Shuttles, and the two Assault Transports, landed and opened up, deploying their troops.
Once the shuttle had landed, Samus went to the rear of the shuttle so she could join the Marines and Army Troopers in the attack on the Capitol Building. She then followed the Marines and Army Troopers off the shuttle, which was still laying down covering fire for the troopers as they disembarked, mowing down any Federation troopers that happened to wander too close to the shuttle. She was followed by President Richardson and General Hastings, with two Marine pilots taking the controls. When the group emerged from the shuttle, they faced no resistance.
After leaving the shuttle, Samus risked a glance towards the other shuttles and transports and saw that the troopers being deployed from them were also facing minimal to no resistance. Once the troopers had disembarked, each shuttle rose into the air and continued to support the troops by laying down more covering fire, targeting any tanks and mechs that took an interest in the troops.
Looking off into the distance, the Earth and Federation in Exile forces saw the Capitol Building in the distance. Samus suspected that it was no more than a few hundred meters away. As the troopers moved towards the building, they saw a pulsating green energy pulse appear from the sky heading towards one of the Assault Transports. The pulse struck the transport in the center of the ship and literally cut it in half. The aft section of the ship separated from the front and fell to the ground, and onto a group of unfortunate Federation Marines. As for the front of the transport, the pilot must have survived, for while the front half of the transport had begun to list downward, the nose of the ship leveled off and while the ship still fell to the ground, it did so at an angle, and hopefully upon crashing, the ship would not break apart or explode. One thing in the ship's favor was that the descent was seemingly slowing a bit. Eventually, the transport crashed into the ground, sending up a cloud of rock, dirt, and concrete. The transport continued to skid along the ground, barreling through anything and anyone in its way until it eventually came to a rest less than one hundred meters away from the Capitol Building.
Samus looked over at General Hastings and asked, "Can you hold on without me?"
The general nodded.
"Good. I'm going over to the downed transport to make sure the crew is okay."
"I'll send over some medics, too," Hastings added.
He then motioned for two Marines that had experience with field medicine to accompany Samus over to the fallen transport. The two Marines stepped forward, each of them with a red cross on their armored suits, and equipped with only an energy assault rifle and a medical kit. Scanning the Marines, she found that they still had shields, but that their shields were not as strong as those of normal combat Marines. Once they had stepped forward, they followed her across the battlefield towards the fallen transport, which had landed in an area that had not yet been cleared of defensive turrets and tanks. They could only hope that the crew of the transport would be able to hold on until they arrived.