Chapter 21:
Inside the basement of Mount Coronet, Samus made her way back to the ruined elevator that had been destroyed by Mother Brain's Laser Brain attack during the battle. However, the shaft still seemed to be intact, which led her to use her Screw Attack to ascend the shaft, breaking through any of the wreckage that blocked the shaft. She made her way to the top quickly made her way to the western exit of the mountain, not stopping to see the damage that had been done to the ground floor. It was fortunate that she had told her parents to evacuate the mountain, for the ceiling had collapsed in several places, littering the ground with debris. In addition, both exits to the mountain had been blocked. She went over to the western exit and scanned the debris to see if there was any trace of organic material, or even any biosigns. She found none, along with finding no traces of biosigns or organic material among the stones, or close to them on either side. Feeling that it was safe to blast away the debris, she switched to her Power Beam and charged a shot. Once the shot was charged, she fired at the center of the mass of fallen stones. The orange blast of energy shot forth from her arm cannon and collided with the stones, vaporizing them and blowing a path out of the mountain. Samus charged forward, hoping that her parents were okay.
Upon emerging from the mountain, she saw her parents staring down a Landmaster tank, whose energy cannon was pointed straight at them. They also pointed their sword and staff at them, but the glow on the ends of the weapons was much fainter than she had remembered, indicating that their power was waning. Seeing their daughter emerge from the mountain, they raised their hands to her and yelled, "Get back! The driver of this tank is after you!"
Samus moved to one side, so as to get the tank to swivel its turret towards her. Just as she expected, the tank did so, and she prepared her arm cannon, switching to her Wave Beam, knowing that it might be able to affect the tank's systems. What she did not want to see, though, were her parents, matching her moves and standing in front of her, forcing the tank to shoot through them to get to Samus. "Step aside," came the voice of the tank's pilot, who Samus recognized as belonging to Fox McCloud. "It's Samus we want, not you."
"If you want our daughter, you'll have to go through us!" Samus's mother declared, just as her husband joined her and pointed his staff at the tank.
"No!" Samus cried. "It's me he wants. Let me fight him. I can win this."
"Move aside," Fox insisted. "I don't want to go through you to get at Samus, but I will if I have to. She's a dangerous criminal."
"She just beat the Space Pirates, who were being aided by the so-called Galactic Federation," Rodney retaliated. "I know! Virginia and I were once Techno Lords serving the N'Kren and the Galactic Federation until Cyrus gave us to the Space Pirates, who turned us into their slaves, taking over our minds and bodies."
"So you were the ones that destroyed the N'Kren Techno Lord squad that was sent to destroy the Pirates," Fox said, his accusing tone still able to be carried through the tank's speakers.
He went to power his Landmaster's cannon when the voice of Krystal came over the radio and said, "Fox, what are you doing? Those are civilians!"
"They were also responsible for the deaths of a dozen Techno Knights and a Technoble," Fox retorted. "In addition, they're standing against us in our quest to defeat Samus and protect assist the Galactic Federation."
"The Galactic Federation is the organization trying to free the Earth!" both Rodney and Virginia roared. "The so-called Galactic Federation under Cyrus's command is nothing more than an empire that merely calls itself the Galactic Federation. The Federation died when Keaton was assassinated. The Federation in Exile is merely the doctor trying to resuscitate the dead Federation, while the current 'Federation' is doing its best to stop the doctor and destroy the corpse."
Fox then looked out at them and said, "Forgive me, Samus. But you area an enemy, and so are they!" With that, he fired his tank cannon at the trio, but Samus jumped out in front of her parents and Screw Attacked, producing a golden energy shield over her body. The low to high-pitched whine of the Landmaster's blaster sounded, forcing Rodney and Virginia to cover their ears as they retreated to the base of Mount Coronet. The blast of energy was deflected by Samus's Screw Attack shields and sent into the sky. She uncurled herself from her Screw Attack and activated her Scan Visor, so as to scan the tank. Her scan came back, Vehicle – Landmaster tank. This tank is specially designed by the Star Fox Team for ground-based combat purposes. It is equipped with two hover jets, allowing it to barrel roll on the ground in order to evade fire, plus fly into the air and hover for a short time. This specific variant is the anti-aircraft variant, though it carries a stronger, yet slower firing, cannon for its main weapon and cannot rapid fire, charge its cannon in order to fire a Homing Charged Laser, or fire Smart Bombs, making its abilities against enemy aircraft suspect at best. In addition to its offensive weaponry, the Landmaster can also barrel roll to produce a shield against incoming fire, something the base Star Fox variant is incapable of.
She charged her Wave Beam, not daring to risk using a Power Missile so close to her parents, and took aim at the tank. Before firing, though, she gave Fox a chance to avoid a fight. "Leave now, Fox," she directed. "I don't want to fight you, even though I will if I must."
"Surrender, Samus," Fox countered. "Surrender or I will open fire, regardless of where your parents are."
Samus merely gritted her teeth. "I've heard so many things about the Star Fox Team," she began harshly. "You were heroes when Andross initiated the Lylat Wars, when he returned and threatened Sauria, when the Aparoids attacked, and even during the recent Anglar Blitz. You have been looked up to as models of what it means to be heroes. Are you willing to throw that all away by becoming villains by serving Cyrus no matter what evidence there is to show that he is a criminal? And even if there's no evidence to the fact that he is evil, look at the Federation military commanders. Look at the other bounty hunters and mercenaries that he has used. Since when have soldiers like Kanden, Trace, or Pigma Dengar ever been good?"
"Pigma?" Fox blurted.
Samus nodded. "Yes, Fox. Pigma!" she answered harshly. "The one who betrayed your father to Andross. Are you so willing to serve one who hired him as a soldier?"
That cut straight to Fox's heart. While he had encountered his father a couple of times since his supposed death, the most notable time being when he escaped Venom after beating Andross for the first time. Still, he had sworn to serve Peppy and he would not betray his friend, and veteran of both Star Fox teams, and responded, "As much as I may question the orders of my friend, Peppy, I cannot go against his orders right now." With that, he swiveled his cannon towards Samus as she moved again to get her parents out of the line of fire. Once she was clear of them, she charged her Wave Beam, but let Fox take the first shot, which he did.
Fox unleashed a blue blast of energy towards Samus, but she had been running for long enough that just before he had fired, she had activated her Speed Booster. She rocketed away from the blast, causing it to plow through an afterimage of the bounty hunter. She stopped a few dozen meters away and unleashed a trio of undulating, purple electrical pulses upon Fox's Landmaster. Fox barrel rolled away from the blast, producing a shield over the tank, but the blast continued to track the tank. When it arrived, the three purple pulses phased through the barrel roll shield and hit the tank directly, inflicting shield damage to the tank. However, only a sliver of the Landmaser's shield bar was depleted. Much like the Arwing, this tank had heavy combat shields that allowed it to survive a great deal of punishment. Still, she had weapons that would be effective; she merely had to get her parents a safe distance away.
She quickly began to run towards the Landmaster once more, prompting Fox to smile as he unleashed blast after blast at her. She managed to dodge his aim for each blast as she approached him. After a couple of seconds, her Speed Booster activated once more and she Shinesparked to the Landmaster, colliding with it and inflicting far more damage than she had anticipated she would. It was as if the Landmaster had been hit by a Homing Charged Shot from an Arwing. She now began to wonder if it would be safe for her to deploy a Power Bomb against his tank, for fear that the tank would not be able to absorb the blast and keep it from spreading. Fox retaliated by leveling his cannon on her and firing a point blank blast on her. Just as she had collided with his tank, she jumped into a Screw Attack and took the blast head on. The energy blast struck her shields and, while it did not inflict any damage to her suit or shields, it did push her back. She soon uncurled herself and landed on the ground, skidding to a halt.
Fox noticed the damage that Samus's Shinespark had caused the tank and, noticing that Krystal was not making a move to assist him in the battle, said, "Krystal, what are you doing? I could use some help here."
The line was silent for several moments, during which Fox expected Samus to fire on him, but she did not, nor did she run to activate her Speed Booster. If anything, she was ushering her parents a safe distance away from the fight. He then realized that she was preparing to use a Power Bomb on his tank if that was what was necessary. He called back up to her and said, "Krystal, Samus has weaponry that can damage a Landmaster! I need help."
Still, Krystal did not answer. "What is she doing?" Fox wondered aloud. "Is her radio down? Why won't she engage Samus?" He did not stop to think that Krystal was having second thoughts about the recent events and her role in the Star Fox Team. During the Aparoid Invasion and the Anglar Blitz, she had fought alongside Fox and had known that the enemy was evil. Right now, though, she was no longer so certain that the Earth and the Galactic Federation in Exile were the evil ones. She was becoming suspicious that it was Cyrus and the Galactic Federation that had fallen. And if her suspicions were correct, then they had also brought down the N'Kren, Ylla, and Corneria as well. Corneria's entry into the war on the side of the Galactic Federation was already an unpopular move with the general public. Even former General Pepper, who had relieved himself of command due to an illness and the injuries that he had sustained during the Aparoid Invasion and was still recovering from, had spoken out against Peppy's use of Cornerian military forces to assist the Federation.
When he decided that it was unlikely that he would get any help from Krystal, he pointed his cannon towards Samus and her parents. Samus, seeing this, charged her Light Beam and prepared to launch a Light Missile, hoping that its base destructive ability would cause Fox to think twice before firing, if not interrupt the firing process. "Go!" she told her parents as she locked onto the tank. Her parents ran, knowing that they would do more harm than good by standing with Samus against the tank and distract her with their presence. She then focused on the tank. She knew that she could approach and lay a Power Bomb underneath the tank to destroy it upon its detonation, but she was concerned that even if she approached with her Screw Attack, she would have to curl into her Morph Ball form to get underneath the tank, which would give it a chance to open fire. While she did not doubt that her suit could survive a single shot from a Landmaster, she did not want to have to lose the energy since she had a feeling that she would need all the shield energy and ammunition she could get when she went to stop Cyrus.
As she was about to engage Fox, though, she noticed a glow in the cannon as a stream of energy was about to be released. She dove to the side as Fox unleashed the blue energy blast, barely missing Samus by less than two inches. She could hear the air sizzle as the energy blast rocketed past her and struck the side of the mountain not too far away. The blast struck precariously close to her parents, who were barely far enough away from its point of impact to avoid injury. Her eyes flashed as she glared at the tank, preparing to curl into her Morph Ball form to attack. He then swiveled the cannon towards Samus and prepared to fire again. Before he could get an accurate bead on her, though, Samus used her Boost Ball to roll to the tank. He still fired his energy blast, but the blast flew over her head and sailed past her. She rolled underneath the tank and dropped a Power Bomb. Quickly rolling out from underneath the undercarriage of the tank, she transformed back to normal and fled from the tank, making sure to stand at least thirty meters away. After three seconds, the Power Bomb detonated and engulfed Fox's Landmaster in its vaporization field. Samus watched her HUD as the detonation drained the Landmaster of its shields and inflicted significant damage to the armor of the tank. By the time the explosion had dissipated, the Landmaster's outer hull was warped and melted in numerous areas, along with both the boost engines and the hover engines having been blown out. However, the tank was still operational, albeit at a weakened level, and it was also likely that a single missile or even a Charged Plasma Beam shot would be enough to penetrate the hull and destroy it. Samus switched to her Plasma Beam and leveled her arm cannon at the tank, charging the beam but not firing just yet. Since she had known of Fox before he started working with the corrupted Galactic Federation, she did not want to kill him unless she had no other choice.
Inside the cockpit of the Landmaster, Fox stared at the now blank screen in utter shock. The shields had been depleted and the armor had been severely weakened, and breached in numerous areas. The boost engines and hover engines were non-functional and the tank's tires had been flattened, rendering the tank practically immobile. While the cannon was still operating at ninety percent power, it was of small comfort since he knew that Samus's weaponry was more than powerful enough to destroy the Landmaster in its current, crippled state.
Things were about to get a lot worse for the Cornerian fox, though, for he heard the roar of a shuttle's engines coming from above. Checking his sensors, he made seven new contacts, one of them being the size of a shuttle, at least. Looking up, he saw a single Federation Heavy Assault Shuttle, along with two atmospheric Assault Skiffs and six Hellcat-class atmospheric fighters with the capacity for space travel for a short period of time. The Hellcats, named after an old Earth World War II fighter, were aerodynamic fighters that resembled Earth fighters of the early to mid-twenty-first century. They were multi-role fighters and were quite capable of engaging enemy starfighters and emerging victoriously. They hovered around the Heavy Assault Shuttle and locked onto the Landmaster Tank, just as the shuttle and the two skiffs did. Soon, a voice emanated from the shuttle and said, "This is General Hastings, Chairman of the Earth's Joint Chiefs of Staff. You are surrounded, your tank is crippled, and you seem to be without any backup. Surrender now, or face destruction."
As much as Fox wanted to continue fighting, he knew that he did not have a chance against Samus. If he could not take her out in one hit, he knew that he would never be able to take down any of his current opponents. The fighters were too maneuverable for him to hit, even if his tank were undamaged, Samus was too strong for a single energy blast to kill anyway, and in his current state, a single hit from one of her stronger beam weapons, or a missile would kill him; and the Heavy Assault Shuttle would maul him if it decided to engage him in any kind of battle, in almost any circumstance where both sides could bring their power to bear.
Seeing no other choice, he told Krystal, "Krystal, it's me, Fox. I need your help now! I can't go on fighting. You have to pick up the battle, now."
After a moment of silence, Krystal's voice came in over the radio, saying, "I'm sorry Fox. I can't do that."
That answer caught Fox off guard. "What?" he blurted. He then took a couple of deep breaths before talking with her so he would not blast her verbally for this act of betrayal. "Why can't you help out down here? You're in an Arwing with twin laser cannons, two Smart Bombs, why can't you help out down here? A single Smart Bomb and Samus is dead, and you are more than strong enough to deal with the atmospheric fighters and the shuttle."
"You don't understand, Fox," Krystal explained. "I can't do this because it's wrong."
"What do you mean?" Fox retorted interrogatively.
"Are you listening to yourself?" Krystal asked, her voice demonstrating her utter disbelief in how out of character Fox seemed at the moment. "Have our recent difficulties against Star Wolf, and the orders we were told to carry out in the taking of Earth, damaged your ego so much that you can't distinguish good from evil? You're ordering me to launch a bomb that might not only kill you, but also two innocent people and a warrior who has only ever been known to fight for justice and peace!"
"The two humans with Samus are Space Pirate Techno Lords! They slaughtered a force of N'Kren Techno Knights, and the army leader of the N'Kren military forces assisting the Federation!"
"Were Space Pirate Techno Lords," Krystal corrected loudly. "I've scanned them already; Samus cured them of their conditioning and the controls that were placed on them. And from the looks of things, she has also destroyed the Space Pirate presence in the mountain, and likely did much more, for my sensors indicated that the Space Pirates planted a bomb that could have destroyed this planet had it gone off!" She was then silent for a few seconds before asking, "Why do you insist on fighting in a conflict that, in reality, we know very little about? What have we been told? Earth and a few other worlds have defected from the Galactic Federation and called themselves the Galactic Federation in Exile. The Chozo and Luminoth, two elder races that have close ties with the Galactic Federation, allied with them, rather than with the Federation proper. We've been told by Cyrus and Federation diplomats, politicians and military leaders that we're fighting for the future and that Earth is being selfish and must be reclaimed, no matter the cost, because it will allow Cyrus to destroy an enemy we have not heard from for centuries and is either greatly weakened or nonexistent. But look at what we have been ordered to do! We've been told to stand by and watch as Federation fleets bombard civilian worlds that support the Galactic Federation in Exile. We assist in the attempts to wipe out the remaining Chozo and later, the Luminoth.
"Now look at what the supposed 'enemy' has done, instead. It has performed acts of charity, regardless of who requested assistance. Federation ships have been saved from Space Pirate attack by Federation in Exile ships and 'mercenary' soldiers, most notably, Samus, and also Star Wolf. Since when has Star Wolf been the pinnacle of compassion? Us? We have stood by and done nothing while the Galactic Federation has acted like the forces of Andross during the Lylat Wars! We must rethink our allegiance to Cyrus and the Galactic Federation, too. If we what are we? Are we like Lylat Wars Star Wolf, who were likely run by Andrew an Pigma; Andross's nephew and a traitor to the original Star Fox Team, respectively?"
Fox considered what Krystal had been saying. Eventually, he responded, "I know where you're coming from, Krystal, but I cannot go against Peppy. When we agreed to help Peppy, we took an oath to serve Corneria and its allies. If we betray that oath, then we betray everything that this team was founded on. And the fact is that there is a dangerous enemy out there that we have an opportunity to destroy before it becomes a significant threat to the rest of the galaxy."
"But if the Federation in Exile is to be believed, then the way to destroy them would sacrifice the Earth, and over six billion humans, as well as the entirety of two other sentient species that are indigenous to that world! And given what I have seen, and who is fighting for the Federation in Exile, I think that they are telling the truth, or at least believe that they are. Shouldn't we at least investigate the claims made by the Federation? I mean, look! There was always more than enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that the Federation was always the aggressor, especially since before Elric had used refugee ships to infiltrate Earth, Earth had opened its borders to refugees of Daiban."
"I know," Fox replied. "The fact still is that we cannot simply abandon the Galactic Federation, or our oath to Corneria because of a belief that the current Federation leadership might be lying to us."
"Then you would have us abandon our morals and fight for someone who may be even worse than Andross?" Krystal asked harshly.
"Look, we can argue about this later!" Fox cried. "Right now, I need your help against Samus and the Earth forces down here! I can't win this fight alone."
"Then you won't win it at all," Krystal said in a determined, yet melancholy voice. "I'm sorry Fox, but I can no longer be a part of the Star Fox Team, not as long as you or Peppy are in command, and not as long as you fight for a corrupt Galactic Federation. The Star Fox Team I joined, and its leader that I loved, fought for peace and justice. Now, we're no better than Star Wolf when Andrew and Pigma were secretly in charge of that team; and, like you still are, I was blind to it for far too long," she said harshly. Pausing for a moment, she then sighed, "I should have done this a long time ago." With that, she tilted her Arwing down at Fox's Landmaster. "Surrender now, Fox. Show me that the Fox McCloud that I used to know, and love, still exists somewhere in there."
Fox looked up and saw her Arwing pointing its laser cannons towards his crippled tank. He then saw Samus leveling her arm cannon towards him, as well, along with the other fighters and the Heavy Assault Shuttle pointed towards his dying tank. He tried to get a signal through to Peppy and tell him that they would have company, for with Krystal's defection, the Federation in Exile would almost certainly learn of Cyrus's location. Eventually, he realized that he had lost and he sighed, "Very well." Opening a channel to the Federation craft, he declared, "This is Fox McCloud of the Star Fox Team. I surrender."
He powered down the tank, causing it to stop smoking, and opened the primary access hatch. He stepped up and out of the tank. He jumped to the ground, Samus leveling her arm cannon at him. As soon as he had stepped on the ground, he knelt down, placing his hands over his head. Samus approached and took his blaster out of the holster on his right hip. She soon felt a gust of wind as the Heavy Assault Shuttle landed not too far away. Just after it had landed, the boarding ramp lowered and General Hastings came out, being escorted by four Galactic Federation in Exile Marines. Just then, a squad of Marines rushed down the ramp to secure the area. The general approached Samus and, seeing that the situation was under control, he looked over to her and said, "It's good to see that you're okay. Your report?"
Samus handed him Fox's blaster and then gave a short report on her activities. "Sir, when I arrived, I was engaged by Star Fox, but managed to evade them. As for the Space Pirates and the Techno Knight force that was attacked, there were no survivors. From what I can gather, the entirety of the Space Pirate remnant was present in Mount Coronet. I engaged them, managing to kill Kraid, and Mother Brain, while I at the very least, severely wounded, and possibly killed, for a time, Ridley. I also managed to destroy the Techno Lord suits of armor worn by my parents and also managed to reverse the brainwashing and programming that they had undergone. All the same, I would not mind having them checked out, just to make sure that there aren't any residual effects of losing their suits of armor and/or having the programming being neutralized."
"We have no problem with that," both of her parents replied, coming up from behind.
"Good," General Hastings said. He then got out his communicator and called in an ambulance with a field medical station so they could perform the scans under the supervision of the soldiers.
After the call was made, General Hastings turned back to Samus and asked, "Anything else to report?"
Samus nodded. "The Space Pirates had a planet killer bomb planted in the mountain's basement. I managed to get to it and teleport it away before it exploded."
Hastings smiled knowingly. "So that's the reason the Federation lost more than a third of their fleet in almost an instant."
"How goes the space battle?" the bounty hunter asked.
"Much better, ever since you teleported that bomb to the center of the fleet," Hastings responded. We're still outnumbered over two-to-one in space, but the fact that most of the N'Kren and Ylla ships are destroyed or heavily damaged means that the stronger enemy ships are gone, leaving the Chozo and Luminoth fleets to perform mop up on them and then focus on the Federation fleet."
"Wait!" Fox called. "What about the Great Fox Two?"
Turning to Fox, General Hastings answered, "From the reports we've received, the Great Fox Two was severely damaged by the explosion, but not destroyed. We don't know the condition of its crew, though."
"Has there been any sign of Cyrus?" Samus asked the general.
"Nothing confirmed," Hastings answered. "However, we heard that he was holed up on the shores of Goldenrod City, but eight gunships with identical markings had recently arrived, but have since taken off, heading in eight different directions."
It was then that the general's communicator beeped. He activated it and the voice of Krystal echoed through it. "Sir, I could not help but overhear your conversation and think that I have information pertinent to your search for Cyrus."
"Krystal, what are you doing? Maintain radio silence!" Fox screamed as he heard her voice talking to the human general.
Krystal ignored him and continued, "After we were shot down by Samus in our initial engagement, Fox received a transmission from Cyrus, asking for the Star Fox Team to escort him to his goal. Wanting to deal with Samus, Fox stayed behind, and I remained behind to cover him since he was in the Landmaster, but Falco and Slippy went to cover Cyrus. Chances are that they'll be with the real gunship holding him. In addition, Peppy will also be joining them." She then sent a transmission to the shuttle and said, "I am giving you the personal data on the Arwings of the rest of the Star Fox Team. With these, you should be able to track them. Hurry. If Cyrus is moving right now, then that means he's found what he's looking for. While I will not fire on my former teammates, I cannot standby and do nothing. The more I think about things, the worse I feel about what Cyrus is planning."
"Thank you, Krystal," General Hastings told her. "Your help will not be forgotten when this is all over." With that, her Arwing then pointed into the sky and she rocketed away from the scene.
Once she was away Hastings turned to Samus and said, "We need to get back onboard that shuttle so we can find Cyrus as quickly as possible."
Samus nodded and they made their way back to the shuttle just as the ambulance arrived to check up on her parents. Two Marines then looked over at him and asked, "Sir, what about Fox McCloud?"
"Take him into custody," the general replied. "Also, make sure to destroy any and all tracking devices and communicators that he has. We don't need him contacting his ship should it still be able to send down an Arwing."
"Understood, sir," the Marines replied. The general then directed two more Marines to join the first two in securing Fox. They put his hands behind his back and put binders on him. They then directed him towards one of the Assault Skiffs, which had just landed and put him onboard. The skiff then took off and headed over towards one of the prisons to drop off Fox before they rejoined the main force.
With Fox McCloud having been dealt with, General Hastings, his escort, and Samus made their way over to the Heavy Assault Shuttle. As they were approaching the shuttle, Samus noticed that the rear-mounted laser cannons still appeared to be damaged and asked, "Are the rear-mounted cannons operational yet?"
"Barely," the general answered. "They're still having difficulty swiveling and have a very limited firing arc. We could definitely use some backup."
"You've got it," Samus said as she jumped on top of the shuttle.
The general and the rest of the Marines then boarded the Heavy Assault Shuttle. Once they were onboard, the hatch closed. General Hastings went to the cockpit and activated the computer sensors. Just then, a cone activated that pointed to the south. It was relatively thin, though on the sides of the sensor screen, the target of the cone was identified as an Arwing. They were quite a distance away, being in another part of Japan. The pilot looked over at the general and said, "The Arwings are moving north, fast. We'll have to move quickly if we wish to intercept them before they reach their destination."
"Then gun it," the general told him. Opening a channel to Samus, he said, "Samus, activate your magnetic boots. It's going to be a race to the Sinjoh Ruins."
"I copy," came the reply from Samus.
The shuttle then lifted off from the ground. The six Hellcats and the Assault Skiff ascended with it and once it was over the peak of the mountain, the pilot laid in a course for the Star Fox Team, which was currently escorting Cyrus to the Sinjoh Ruins. Once the course was laid in, the ship rocketed off into the distance, hoping to reach Cyrus before he reached his destination.
Meanwhile, Cyrus sat onboard Gunship One, flying to the Sinjoh Ruins as quickly as the gunship would allow. Escorting his gunship were four Epée-class interceptors, along with Falco and Slippy of Star Fox Team, and General Peppy Hare, Commander of the Cornerian Army. As they were flying, a dozen Rapier-class starfighters arrived. As they arrived, the pilot of Gunship One opened a channel to the squadron and demanded, "Unidentified Rapier squadron, identify yourselves immediately!"
"This is Alpha Squadron of Aggression Wing. We're here to assist you."
"We don't need your help. We are on a mission and we don't need to risk being discovered."
"I think you do," Alpha Leader replied. "Can you take the risk that you've been compromised? After all, the Star Fox team was beaten by a human bounty hunter piloting a single Wolfen II. This bounty hunter was also not famous for her piloting ability, but her fighting ability on the ground."
"How did you learn of that?" the pilot demanded. Cyrus put his hand to his head in disgust. Way to let a potential infiltrator know that the Star Fox Team is not so unbeatable, even if you're not Star Wolf, he thought. He began fingering the two Arceus trophies in his pocket once more. He did not want to have to use them so quickly, but he felt that if he had no other choice, than he would do so.
"It was not all that hard," Alpha Leader said, responding to the gunship pilot's question. "It was clear by the radio chatter that had been picked up, and by the fact that only half of the Star Fox Team, and a former member, are present here in their old, yet superior, Arwings. Now, are you gonna let us help you, or are we gonna have to leave you all alone should Earth's military attack, or the leaders of the Pokémon League intercept you?"
The pilot looked back at Cyrus, indicating that he wanted the Chairman to weigh in on the subject. Cyrus considered the possibility that the Rapiers could be Federation in Exile infiltrators. On the other hand, he only had four Epées and three Arwings, which had recently been shown to not be all that much better than the Federation in Exile starfighters they were supposed to be slaughtering. On more than one occasion, the Star Fox Team had actually been driven off of attacks on military convoys or on capture or retrieval missions by mere squadrons of Federation Katanas and Daggers. While the Arwings were vastly superior to anything the Cornerian or Venomian armies had come up with, save for the Wolfens, the difference between the Arwings and Federation starfighters was far less pronounced, and the Federation starfighters actually outperformed the Arwing in many key areas. The only real edge the Arwing had over the Federation fighters was in its general firepower, and only when they were loaded with a maximum payload of Smart Bombs or even Nova Bombs, and their shields. In everything else, the two groups were relatively equal or the Federation in Exile fighters actually had an edge. Arwings were primarily close-range fighters, which was great for close support and dealing with enemy bombers, while Federation in Exile and Earth starfighters were designed to engage enemy starfighters at long range. While he did not like bringing in new arrivals, if they were loyal, then they could help ward off any attack on his gunship, and allow him to save his Arceus trophies for either dealing with any unwelcome surprises at the Sinjoh Ruins, and his final objective.
Eventually, Cyrus said, "Let them join."
The pilot then opened a channel to the newly arrived Rapiers and said, "It's a go, guys. You're welcome to join us."
"Thanks," Alpha Leader replied. "You won't regret it."
I'd better not, Cyrus thought darkly.
The group continued making their way towards the Sinjoh Ruins, Cyrus looking out the window as the clouds, mountains and trees below them zipped by. The gunship had not made supersonic speeds, something that concerned him since he was hoping to arrive as quickly as possible, but he hoped that the pilot had not accelerated to full speed in order to keep them from lighting up anyone else's sensors. He soon noticed the craft decelerate and the pilot reported back to him, "Sir, we are approaching the Sinjoh Ruins. ETA: five minutes."
"Good," Cyrus said, a little more harshly than he had intended. Come on, he thought. He knew that this ship could go faster. The last thing he wanted was for any enemy force to catch up because the pilot was going too slowly. He looked out and saw that the fighters and Noticing that the Star Fox Team had spread itself too thin, in an attempt to cover not only the gunship, but also the fighters that were also flying cover for the gunship. He was uneasy about Peppy splitting up the squadron, but he felt that the Cornerian Rabbit knew what he was doing. After a few moments, however, his worst fears were confirmed when one of the Epées reported, "Sir, someone's locking onto, arrrgh…" the radio then went silent as he heard a loud explosion. Looking outside, he saw four Earth Hellcats flying towards them. A missile was on hot approach to the gunship, but was intercepted by another Epée, who interposed himself between the missile and the gunship. The missile struck the fighter and annihilated it, ejecting debris that had one been the fighter in all directions. "Damn," Cyrus swore. We've been spotted.
The Star Fox Team then went to break away from the squadron and take on the Hellcats that were currently targeting the rest of the escort. Cyrus got out his hand radio and flipped it open. Signaling the Star Fox Team, he yelled, "No, Peppy! Have your squad form up and cover us. The Hellcats want you to go after them!"
"I copy," Peppy replied. The fighters then formed up around the gunship as the surviving Epées went to engage the four Hellcats. Cyrus knew that despite the numerical advantage the Epées had against the Hellcats, that they were not guaranteed to win the fight. Seeing the Hellcats get in the first missile volley, and the Epées' countermeasures only have minimal success in confusing the missiles of the Hellcats, he knew that he had to get out of here as quickly as possible.
He yelled over to the pilot, "Put this thing up to full throttle now! Our plan has been discovered; we have to get to the ruins as quickly as possible!" Seeing that there was no point in subtlety, and that shielding everyone from knowing his history with Team Galactic was no longer necessary, he then activated his hand radio and opened a channel to all Federation and Team Galactic forces and said, "This is Cyrus, Chairman of the Galactic Federation and leader of Team Galactic. All Federation and Team Galactic forces in the Johto Region are to converge on the source of my signal immediately and provide backup for us! We've been discovered and need cover. Also, keep your eyes out for any Earth or Galactic Federation in Exile fighters, transports, shuttles, or atmosphere-capable capital ships. If any of them are coming to us, target and destroy them immediately!"
He felt the gunship accelerate as he saw a mountain dead ahead. He knew that it would not be long before he arrived. "There it is!" Cyrus exclaimed. The rest of Team Galactic in the gunship looked out the view port and saw the mountain.
"Yes," Venus exclaimed, nodding. "This is the location of the Sinjoh Ruins. It should be close to the peak of the mountain, much like Spear Pillar was for Mount Coronet."
Cyrus's eyes focused on the mountain as they approached. He was so close to accomplishing his dreams. He would let nothing stand in his way. He opened a channel Star Fox the other fighters, and said, "We're close, Peppy. Stay far enough back to cover us. Rapiers get out in front to provide a forward fighter screen."
"We copy," came the chorus of affirmatives.
"We'll provide protection while you get to your destination," Peppy said. "Good luck."
"Thanks," Cyrus replied with a smirk.
Just as Peppy had finished his statement, Peppy noticed a lock-on warning, which was followed by a scarlet ball of energy. He performed a barrel roll, but the ball of energy continued to approach, though the lock was broken. The ball of energy flashed past Peppy's cockpit, but in an unfortunate turn of events, it detonated only a few meters in front of his Arwing. The detonation inflicted shield damage to the ship as an all too familiar voice came in over the comm, saying gravely, "Can't let you do that, Star Fox." He instantly recognized it as belonging to Wolf O'Donnell, a humanoid Cornerian Wolf. He also remembered that those were the same words that Wolf had spoken in the first engagement between Star Fox and Star Wolf during the Lylat Wars.
"Cyrus is our target and we have orders to take him and his cohort out," came the voice of Leon Powalski, a green humanoid Chameleon.
"Finally, at the end of everything, you shall meet my rose…and your final destruction," came the voice of Panther Caroso, a humanoid Cornerian Panther with black fur.
Peppy and the other members of Star Fox looked behind them and saw a trio of ships that had red bodies, with a long, fang-like cockpit and nose, with four white wings jutting out from the body in an X formation, giving the ships a passing resemblance to X-Wings from the Star Wars movies.
"Aw man," Falco complained. "It's Star Wolf. Why now?"
"Don't get distracted," Peppy told him. "We have to cover the gunship."
A few scarlet laser bolts then struck the rear of his fighter, taking his shield down even further. "Peppy!" Slippy cried, seeing Wolf go after him. Slippy fired a few emerald green laser blasts at Wolf, who spun into a barrel roll, deflecting the first few blasts before he suffered shield damage from the later blasts. He then performed a loop to get behind Slippy, who continued to cover the shuttle. This, however, gave Peppy a chance to perform an Immelmann turn and engage Wolf and keep him away from Slippy. Peppy fired on Wolf, who barrel rolled to deflect the fire, prompting Wolf to turn his fighter toward Peppy. The two then exchanged fire, each receiving equal amounts of damage, though Wolf emerged less damaged due to the earlier damage that Peppy had suffered.
As for Slippy, though, he was quickly engaged by Panther, forcing him away from the shuttle, while Leon and Falco engaged in a dogfight against one another. Peppy, who was doing his best to shoot down Wolf, opened a channel to the gunship and the other fighters, telling them, "Keep going! We'll keep Star Wolf occupied here!"
He did not have to tell Cyrus twice, for Cyrus then told the pilot, "You heard him, gun it!" The ship then accelerated towards the mountain, leaving Star Fox to deal with Star Wolf. Six Rapiers also broke off from the gunship and its escort in order to help out Star Fox. Cyrus did not want to waste time calling them back, but he grimaced as they left. If they survived the battle, he would make sure to punish them for their insubordination. He did not dwell on it, though, as the gunship approached the mountain.
As they got closer to the mountain snow began to fall. This caused Cyrus to become uneasy, for it would be difficult for anyone to spot an approaching enemy with their eyes and, while sensors would be able to spot many types of approaching enemy craft, if said craft were using stealth technology, then sensors would not be a reliable tool for detecting enemy ships. He looked over at Venus and told her, "Scan the surrounding area. I want to know if there are any enemies coming."
"Understood, sir," the blond Team Galactic Executive replied.
Cyrus then turned to Mercury and told him, "Release Alakazam at once. I want him assisting Venus."
"Yes, sir," Mercury replied, nodding. He then released Alakazam, who went over to Venus and assisted her in her scan. The eyes of both human and Pokémon glowed as they did their best to scan their surroundings and ascertain who, or what, stood against them.
After a few moments, it seemed as if everything was clear and Venus told Cyrus, "Sir, I am detecting…" but she paused for a split second before her glowing eyes went wide and she screamed, "Come to me now!"
Cyrus did not hesitate to rush to Venus as the pilots informed them, "Sir, there's a cabin in a crevice below. It's too narrow to…" but he never got a chance to finish before a reddish-orange beam erupted from somewhere in the distance. The copilot noticed the beam and gave a cry as it washed over one of the Rapiers, disintegrating it. He then looked back and saw that the passengers onboard the ship had vanished. He looked forward once more just soon enough to see the orange-red beam strike the gunship, plow through the armored cockpit and annihilate him, along with the gunship's pilot. The gunship promptly exploded in midair, the flaming wreckage of the ship falling back to the ground, where it crashed and deformed even further.
The fighters that had not been destroyed in the attack then searched for the attacker and soon spotted a Dragonite headed towards them with a young man in his mid to late twenties with spiky red hair, wearing a dark blue to almost black long-sleeved shirt and pants, along with a dark gray cape. While the fighter pilots did not know this, the new arrival would have been instantly recognized by Cyrus as being Lance, the Johto Pokémon League Champion. The fighters immediately went to engage the Pokémon and its trainer and unleashed a hail of energy fire towards them. The energy blasts went wide, though, and Lance's Dragonite retaliated with an orange sphere emerging from his mouth. The sphere approached the fighters and then split into a dozen smaller orange orbs. The orbs zeroed in on the Rapiers and struck them, annihilating the fighters with single hits. Once the short skirmish was over, he went down to the outskirts of the ruins to reinforce the other trainers that were doing their best to stop Cyrus and Team Galactic from entering the ruins.
Cyrus and the rest of Team Galactic's Executives, along with a few grunts, reappeared within sight of a cabin on the mountain. Cyrus saw a rocky wall behind the cavern, along with a path that led behind the cabin. Cyrus's eyes lit up as he spied the pass. That was it! That was the path to the Sinjoh Ruins. He was so close.
He and the others began to run when a group of trainers rushed out from the cabin in the distance and stood before them, barring their way. Cyrus instantly recognized Cynthia, with her long blond hair, blue eyes, and black clothing. Her companion, however, was not known to him. He had short bluish-black hair save for a single spike emerging from underneath his cap, which he wore backwards. He also wore a red long-sleeved shirt over a black undershirt, the neck of which was barely visible and seemed to outline the long-sleeved shirt, and black knickerbockers. Cyrus thought he recognized him from one of the dossiers that he had read on those who might resist him. He was named Ethan and was the current Indigo Pokémon League Champion. Before beginning to fight, the trainers took out small red and white balls, which seemed to inflate upon pushing the center buttons located on them, and tossed them into the air. The balls then opened to release a variety of Pokémon, many of them resembling animals from Earth, albeit with distinct differences and modifications. The most recognizable Pokémon, though, were Cynthia's Garchomp, a bipedal shark-like Pokémon with a head that resembled a Hammerhead Shark's head, a red underbelly, and shark fins on arms and on its tail. Some of Ethan's more recognized Pokémon were final evolutions of the three Johto starters: Meganium, Typhlosion, and Feraligatr. Meganium was a green sauropod-like Pokémon with pink flower petals coming out of its neck and two stamen-like protrusions coming from the nose. Each protrusion was tipped with an anther. Typhlosion had a cream-colored underside and a dark blue back, a fire collar, and a bear-like physique. It could also stand on its two hind legs, or travel on all fours. The last starter was Feraligatr. Feraligatr was a blue bipedal alligator-like Pokémon that had red spikes that looked like leaves on its head, back, and tail. In addition to the Johto starters, Ethan sent out three more Pokémon: Donphan, which was a bluish-gray elephant-like Pokémon that had a dark gray covering on its head and trunk, Espeon, a Pokémon that resembled a Fennec Fox with lavender fur, large ears, and a red gem on its forehead, and finally, an Electivire, a humanoid Pokémon with yellow fur with black stripes, five fingers on each hand, two antennae, and two black tails with red tips. The rest of the trainers also called forth a variety of Pokémon as well, though Cyrus viewed Cynthia and Ethan as the real dangers.
Cyrus turned to the others and said, "Venus, you and Mercury's Alakazam are with me. The rest of you, keep them occupied. This shouldn't take too long."
"Right," the other Team Galactic Executives answered. Venus then went to join Cyrus, along with Mercury's Alakazam. Once they did so, Venus huddled with Alakazam and Cyrus and the two of them vanished, both reappearing along the path that would lead them to the Sinjoh Ruins.
Cynthia and Ethan went to pursue Cyrus and Venus, but the rest of Team Galactic had deployed all of their Pokémon, along with two Kadabras, who teleported in front of Cynthia and deployed a barrier, preventing them from going forward. "Good work," Uranus called over to them. He then sent a blue quadruped dragon-like Pokémon with red wings called Salamance over to cover the two Kadabras. The rest of Team Galactic, and their escort then drew their own weapons and fired on the enemy Pokémon and trainers, with the Pokémon returning fire. The battle for the Sinjoh Ruins had begun.