Chapter Twenty Two: On The Attack

Authors Note:

As the Stephen King short story says: "Everything's Eventual" and the closing of Oblivion is exactly that. Consider this the beginning of the end. What you are about to experience will most likely be the most action packed chapters I've ever written before. Please do read and review them all because I really want to know what you guys think of my first attempt at chapters of this caliber.

And one last thing, I put the lyrics of these songs I chose to use as inspiration for the chapter because I believe they can really add something to the story themselves. I wish for you to also look up these songs because I think it will make the experience of the chapter even better. This song in particular, I would consider to be the theme song for Star Fox Oblivion.

Always our souls entwine
Erase this vast divide
Deaf ears our voices rest
Tyrant, this is protest

Who has won?
Yes, who has won?

I'll wave this flag of white,
So the venged see the light
We'll pay for closed eyes
With our genocide

Piercing the masquerade
March to the death parade
Trade no humanity
For pearls of the slavery

Machine Head - "A Farewell To Arms"

Location Unknown

"Sir, Hammerhead is on the line. He says it's important."

"Put him on speaker…" Friedrich hastily replied to his assistant as the sound of static briefly echoed through the intercom. A deep voice was heard clearing his throat.

"Friedrich…" The voice of Hammerhead Orglich boomed. "There is some information that I believe could become vital to someone like you in the near future."

The greyhound's ears perked up and his tail stood at attention. "I'm listening…"

"Does the name Otto von Hiedrich mean anything to you?" Friedrich's tail now began to slowly wag back and forth as an uneasy smile began to form.

"As a matter of fact, it does…"

"I thought so. Roughly three weeks ago, there was a group of men we were in search of for quite some time. We ended up finding them, but they were able to escape before we could apprehend them. Apparently, they had built a dreadnought-class cruiser using spare parts in the area they had taken shelter." Friedrich frowned at the statement.

"And what does this have to do with Otto?" He demanded.

"He was one of the escapee's…" Friedrich stood silent, showing very little emotion on his face.

"So?"

"So, we were able to fire a tracking device onto the ship before it got away. They went to Corneria, and left a few days later. But now, our sensors indicate that he is not alone. They're coming your way Friedrich." Now, the canine was slightly concerned, however it quickly passed as he realized whoever was following him couldn't hold up against the likes of him. The Great Line's defense would overpower a simple hunk of sheet metal easily, and with the Besdolorian government oblivious to his whereabouts, they could handle it without any interruptions.

"We'll deal with them accordingly. Thank you Hammerhead, your alliance has once again proved to be highly beneficial."

Four Days Later…

Great Fox III

Fox was finally beginning to get into a steady sleep pattern for the first time in months. The vulpine found it quite ironic since he this whole situation seemed to be a bit on the stressful side. But tonight, he bunked peacefully in his quarters. He remained in his own little world, dreaming up whatever he fancied…

"FOX!" Falco screamed as he banged loudly on the door. The sound immediately shook Fox out of his slumber. The vulpine looked over at the clock on his nightstand which read 2:47 AM CST. It was obvious that the reason Falco had attempted to wake him was something of grave importance. He didn't hesitate on getting up, and clumsily putting on a t-shirt that had been laying on the floor since the previous night. Still in a bit of a semi-conscious state, Fox stumbled over to the door and opened it. The moment the door opened, Falco began to explain what was going on without skipping a beat.

"Otto said there's a group of ships ahead, and they're from The Great Line."

"How can he be sure?"

"Do you want me to put him on the comm?" Fox nodded in approval as they began to walk toward the bridge, where the rest of the team was already assembled. Everyone seemed anxious to know what was going on since they all seemed to get the same rude awakening as Fox.

"Go ahead Peppy." The avian swiftly ordered.

"Alright, Otto this will take a moment. I'm not even sure if it will work on your end but it should still work for us…"

Peppy pressed a button on the control panel. The result was a loud crackle, followed by a holographic image of the brown Shepherd Hound that went by the name of Otto appearing in the middle of the room. He appeared to be surprised at something, apparently the hologram was operating on The Shadow as well.

"Wow, I really didn't expect that to work." The canine said, stunned by what everyone assumed to be the hologram of Fox on the other end.

"Yeah, one second Otto, we're gonna link Bill up too." The hare responded back. A few seconds later, it was now Bill Grey, who also seemed to be restless, appearing next to Otto's hologram.

"Okay, we're ready Otto." The hare stated.

"Alright…" He nervously uttered, trying to clear his throat. "Gentlemen, if you look on your radar you will notice that there is a group of roughly forty fighters ahead and two carriers. We tried to identify them, but no information came up on it which means that it's The Great Line. None of their ships are properly archived so they would show up without any identity." There was an awkward pause as he waited for someone to speak up.

"Do you think they know who we are?" Bill asked curiously.

"Probably, but we can't be sure. Either way, they are more than likely going to attack us. We need to get the fighters ready as soon as possible." It became silent again. This time it was a bit more forced than the last since the conversation appeared to have ended.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Fox announced. "Let's get a move on!"

Aircraft Hold

The hold where all the ships were being held was filled with both people and noise. Not everyone was going to be flying today, someone would need to stay aboard to keep track of the ship's diagnostics as the battle ensued. Everyone agreed that since Erika was the least experienced in an Arwing, she would remain inside.

"Maybe next time…" Falco explained reassuringly. "I have to get ready now."

"Okay, I'm not one of those people that get all emotional over things like this because I know the risk and I won't let it get in our way. I'll just say this: Stay safe." She gently planted a kiss on his cheek before they shared an embrace. Their tender moment was short lived though, as Fox cleared his throat to get his attention.

"We have to go." He said remorsefully. Falco understood and began to prepare himself mentally for the battle that loomed.

"I'll be back Erika. I love you" Was all he could utter before being whisked away to his Arwing.

Deep Space

Everyone had taken to their personal crafts and made their way out to the skies. It consisted of Fox, Falco, Peppy, Slippy, Co'ort, Lars, and Andre in their Arwings, Wolf and Panther in their Wolfens, and Bill and ten of his own men in their own personalized fighters simply named Ark, a two person fighter (which however in this case, was used for only one) that had the speed and maneuverability, but lacked the firing power that the other two ships had.

Fox could now see the ships so clearly, he could count how many there were without much of a problem. The silver and black crafts were boxy but appeared to be very maneuverable. Behind them were two gigantic carriers with similar color designs and appeared to be about the same size as the Great Fox III. The vulpine messed around with the radio until he was on an open channel and began to broadcast .

"This is Fox McCloud of the Star Fox team. All approaching ships please identify yourselves…"

There was no response.

"I repeat, this is Fox McCloud of the Star Fox team. All approaching ships identify yourselves right now!"

Once again, no answer.

"This is your last warning, all approaching ships identify yourselves NOW!"

The moment the words escaped his muzzle, a wave of bombs and laser blasts came at them. There was plenty of time to react however, and everyone made the proper evasive maneuvers. There was no need to communicate the next move. Within seconds, everything had become an all out war zone.

Bill's men had split up into two separate groups to cover more ground, sending one into the actual frontline. The other group, which included Bill, went toward the enemies carriers via the side. The first group immediately suffered a handful of casualties in a fatal game of chicken. However, some of the men who had sacrificed themselves were able to bring a few of The Great Line's ships with them. Guilt naturally settled in to Bill for allowing his own men to take the battle into their own hands and make such a choice, but it would be something he would have to get over.

Fox and Peppy were in a tight formation, speeding by the enemies with no fear and maneuvers that rivaled even the most hard fought pilots. It was clear that the enemy was taken by surprise when the duo would swoop underneath them, make a complete one-eighty back their way and take them down without even knowing what hit them.

"Keep up the good work old-timer!" Fox screamed into his communicator as he scrambled to dodge a group of incoming lasers.

"Will do." The hare replied enthusiastically. "Just like old times eh?"

"You know it…"

Slippy and Falco decided to team up with Otto's fighters and work their way down through the middle. They were prepared to fight through the eye of the storm, ganging up on stray fighters and taking them down when vulnerable. Some would consider it cheap, but the people they were fighting were already cheap, so why be civilized?

Lastly, Wolf and Panther took a more discreet approach by sneaking around the edge in order to reach the carriers before anyone else. Their plan was halted quickly though, so they decided to merely provide backup for Bill and his men.

Much of the battle was scattered, leaving Erika unsure what to do with the Great Fox III and it's weapon system. Her tentativeness stopped her from making a move at first, but she realized the battle could be decided fairly quickly if the mother ships were taken down first. Another thing she was unaware of was the actual firepower the plasma beam she was about to use had. After quickly locking onto one of the ships, she set off the beam.

Underneath her feet, there was a strong vibration. The bay that held the beam was beginning to open, allowing it to power up in the process. Outside, Erika could see a bright blue light beginning to radiate from what appeared to be right below the windows. It's intensity reached a peak that nearly blinded the avian, but only for a moment as the light suddenly faded away. But this too was a brief occurrence because moments later, the entire ship began to shake violently as a turquoise beam blasted away from the ship.

Erika watched in awe as the beam blistered through the skies, enveloping a few enemy ships with it, before ravaging it's targeted carrier. The blast split the ship in half, with the front third of it shattering upon impact. Anyone who survived the initial explosion would die of hypoxia within minutes.

Back in The Shadow, Otto and Teveroth were watching the event unfold before their eyes. While the canine was simply amazed by the power the Great Fox III had, Teveroth was worried. The grey furred lupine could see something that Otto obviously couldn't: a shockwave…

"Oh no…"

"What Tev?"

"Grab something…"

"Holy shit!" Lars exclaimed over the comm link. "That was fuckin' amazing!"

"Man, we haven't used that in ages. Great work Erika!" Fox said ecstatically.

"Always glad to be of service." She replied.

Their celebration was short lived though, as Teveroth was not alone. Andre could see the imminent danger coming their way. He quickly cued the mic and spoke into it.

"Brace yourselves!" Was all he could say before the shockwave enveloped both the enemy and the team were enveloped by the shockwave.

Everyone tossed and turned violently as they continued to be pushed back by the forces being placed upon them. To Fox, it was a wild roller coaster with him merely being a passenger along for the ride. Further in the distance, he could see the other carrier had already been struck and appeared to be deteriorating rapidly. He had no idea if it had reached any of their own carriers but he assumed that they wouldn't be hit with as much force as they had taken. Based on the fact that the Arwings were able to withstand the blast, it was safe to say that it would do the same.

When things began to calm back down, Fox searched for the rest of the team. All around him were the shattered remains of the enemies ships. Apparently they were not built to withstand an event like what had just occurred. What worried him the most was the fact that he had no idea how far everyone else had broken through the fleet. If they had gone far enough, they could have ended up in the same situation as The Great Line.

"Fox here, is everyone okay?" He said over the open channel. Within seconds, there were three responses almost simultaneously from the Great Fox III, The Shadow, and Canis. All were in good condition and appeared to be fine. He could only hope for the same result with everyone else. He relayed another message to the open channel and waited once more for an answer.

"Falco here. Slippy is fine, but I think his radio's busted." It was a brief sigh of relief, but only when everyone has confirmed their status would be able to relax.

"I'm fine, but my troops have suffered massive casualties." Bill crackled with a heavy sigh, making Fox frown with slight grief. "I think Andre and Lars are up ahead. They look fine to me."

"Can either of you confirm that?" Fox questioned hesitantly. There was some sort of response back. It was clearly Lars, but it ended up being garbled and incomprehensible, however the words "okay" and "heading back" were clearly heard.

"Me and Wolf are okay, we will need some help navigating our way out of here though, it's a mess." Panther spoke.

"Okay, that settles it for them. Have you heard anything from Peppy?"

Fox had almost forgotten about him, he looked around to see if there was any sign of him. The search turned up with nothing. It was at that very moment that the vulpine realized he was facing toward his own ships

"Hold on let me get a better view." He announced while beginning to turn around.

When he had completed the maneuver, he was able to get a true scope of the damage done by the blast. Right in front of him was a fully intact wing from one of the Great Line fighters. It was spinning wildly like a propeller of death. Any movement forward would rip the front end of the Arwing to shreds. He slowly shifted to the left and worked his way around it to see if there was anything resembling an Arwing. It was clear that something had gone wrong during the shockwave, but Fox wasn't giving up on him that easily. This was the man who had been a father figure for him since his fathers passing eighteen years ago. He wasn't sure if he could handle it again.

"Do you need an escort Fox?" Otto asked.

"I don't know yet…" He said apathetically.

It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for. After navigating through a maze of sheet metal and partially destroyed ships, he found Peppy's Arwing standing almost completely vertical.

"I found Peppy guys, I-" He stopped mid-sentence as he saw the ship turn back upright and reveal the damage to it.

The front end was completely sheared off by what appeared to be another ship that had collided with his own. It had ripped off enough to breach the cockpit, thus ending the life of Peppy Hare. Fox didn't react immediately, reality was still attempting to sink in but the vulpine just wouldn't allow it.

Wake up Fox, please just wake up!

"Fox, what's going on?" Falco questioned. Instead of an actual reply, he began to hear what appeared to be stifled sniffling and mumbling. "Foxie, talk to me!"

Everyone I love…gone…

It was another thirty seconds before he responded back. It appeared as though he was struggling to gain some composure. Before he said anything, the vulpine was heard taking a deep breath and exhaling it slowly.

"Not…" Fox said before a hiccup stopped him from finishing. The vulpine couldn't hold back any longer, and let out a sorrowful scream into the microphone for all to hear, followed by a mournful whisper: "Not again..."