Chapter 6: War Begins/A Regular Pearl Harbor
At the Starfleet base, the alarm had been raised to prepare for battle. Every ship that was operating was prepped for battle. Even Star Fox was going up to fight. The team's Arwing fighters were placed in the hangar of the USS Berlin, the ship Jim had served aboard before the Enterprise. However, the USS Enterprise would not be fighting, as she was still being repaired. Jim was assigned to the Berlin with the Star Fox team. Jim met the team as they were headed to the ship.
"Wait a minute. Follow me." he said. The four pilots followed him, confused. He led them to a storage room.
"What are you doing?" Falco said in an annoyed voice.
"Trust me when I say that they won't let you anywhere near the ship in the clothes you're wearing. Here, put these on." Jim said as he tossed them each a Starfleet uniform. After they changed, Jim opened a compartment that held several different ranking insignias.
"Okay, I need to know your ranks. Slippy, what's yours?"
"I'm an engineer." Silppy replied.
"How good of an engineer?"
"I designed the Arwing and the Landmaster tank."
"Right. You'll be chief engineer." Jim replied, as he tossed him the engineer's badge.
He gave Falco the first commander's insignia, Krystal the first lieutenant's, and Fox the captain's. He showed them how to position the badges according to Starfleet regulation.
"Welcome to Starfleet." Jim said as he headed for the Berlin.
"Feels good to be back on this ship." Jim said. As he walked onto the bridge, the captain offered to surrender the captain's chair to Jim, but he refused, stating that he was on the ship as a fighter pilot for this mission. Soon, the order was given for all ships to launch. Starfleet was able to mass a force of fifty-six ships, including the Berlin, the USS Exeter, the USS Gettysburg, the USS Arizona, and even the newly christened USS Farragut. The fleet contained about seventeen flagships and several other smaller cruisers.
The fleet entered orbit just as the CIS fleet appeared. Suddenly the voice of Lieutenant Data was heard over the intercom of the Berlin. The ship's regular first lieutenant had been injured in a training accident and Jim suggested that Data fill in for this mission.
Data ordered all pilots to the hangar area. Jim met the Star Fox team as they headed to the hangar.
"I tell yah, this is something else isn't it?" Falco said.
"It's a regular Pearl Harbor." Jim replied.
"What's 'Pearl Harbor'?" Krystal asked.
"Earth history. December 7, 1941, Stardate -381067.58. Over 300 Japanese airplanes attack the American naval fleet at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands, marking America's entrance into the Second World War." Jim said.
"Yeah, that sounds like what's happening now." Fox said.
"Only on a much bigger scale."
While they were walking, Jim gave them their briefing.
"Alright, so here's the drill. We're gonna be going after the capital ship, Providence. The Separatists are using Trade Federation banking ships as frigates to protect it. I'll be piloting a Federation V-190 bomber. My job is to destroy the banking ships to clear a path for the landing party to get aboard the Providence. Your job is to keep the fighters off my back. Once the ships are destroyed, I will land back on the Berlin to switch into an ARC-170 fighter and Fox will reassume command of Star Fox."
The team arrived in the hangar as the pilots were rushing to get the ships out as quickly as possible. The Arwings were ready and waiting for their pilots. Jim entered his V-190 as he waited for the rest of the team.
"Jim, this is Fox. We're ready to go."
"Alright let's move." At those words, the ships exited the hangar. Outside, Jim ordered the group to form up. As they got in formation, Jim made a dive for the first frigate. Like the Providence, the frigate was armed with a grid of auto-turrets. They pounded away at the bomber but the armor held fast.
Jim dropped his first payload on the frigate's command bridge and the auto-turrets fell silent. As Jim headed for the second ship, a CIS starfighter locked onto him.
"Fox, I've got one on my tail. I can't shake him."
"I'm on my way."
Fox came swooping in and shot down the droid fighter, sending it crashing into the second frigate's bridge, silencing the ships auto-turrets.
"Nice shot, Fox!" Krystal said over the intercom.
"Honestly, I didn't actually intend for that to happen." Fox replied. Krystal giggled at Fox's remark as she formed back up. Jim pointed the nose of his bomber at the last frigate. He looked at the ship and a puzzled look came over his face.
"There aren't any auto-turrets on this one." he said. Krystal flew underneath the ship and was met by a barrage of lasers. She came back up and rejoined the group.
"No, they're on the undercarriage!" she shouted. Jim brought the bombsights on the ship and dropped his second payload on the bridge. The auto turrets were still online.
"Damn! This one has heavier shields!" He came back around and dropped his third payload but the frigate still held on.
"Damn it! That was my last payload!" Fox looked at the frigate and saw that it was on its last legs. He broke away from the group and began to climb. He dove back down towards the frigate, aimed for the midsection and launched a nova bomb. It hit the ship's main reactor and caused a violent explosion.
"Excellent shot, Fox." Jim said. "Looks like all the frigates are down. I'm heading back to switch craft. Take over!"
"Alright, Star Fox, break off and pursue all enemies!" Fox ordered. The formation broke up as each pilot began to pursue their own targets. Krystal downed seven droid fighters in just five minutes. Falco downed ten.
As Fox was chasing a CIS Strike Bomber that was heading for the Berlin, he was intercepted by a droid starfighter.
"Krystal I've got one on my tail! Help me out!" he shouted.
"I'm on my way, Fox! Hold on!" Krystal said as she made a beeline for Fox's Arwing. She threw the Arwing into full throttle, but Fox's Arwing was simply too far away.
"Fox, I can't keep up with you!" she shouted.
The enemy fighter pounded Fox's fighter as he struggled to keep control.
Please don't die, Fox, Krystal thought. Suddenly, they heard a voice on the intercom.
"Vengeance is mine says the Lord…" Jim said as he swooped in behind Fox in a Federation ARC-170 fighter and shot down the droid fighter, sending it crashing into the Providence's communication relay. "…but he sub-contracts."
Fox laughed at Jim's 'quote.' "Perfect timing, Jim." Fox said.
"No problem. Listen up, I just received new orders. We need to keep the fighters away from the gunships carrying the landing party."
"Finally, some real fun!" Falco exclaimed. The gunships launched from the hangar and were immediately met by droid starfighters. The five pilots began chasing the Separatist fighters. It didn't take long for them to shoot them all down.
The gunships successfully made it inside the Providence's hangar as the landing party moved in to sabotage the CIS flagship. The battle raged on for another twenty agonizing minutes. Suddenly, the team saw the gunships exit the enemy hangar at full throttle, and they knew what that meant.
The Star Fox tem followed the gunships to a safe distance. There was a tremendous explosion as the ship broke in half and plummeted to the planet's surface. Two Starfleet cruisers followed and used their tractor beams to make sure that the ship landed in the ocean and not on the city.
But just before the cruisers reached the wreckage, the Providence fired one last defiant shot, which struck the midsection of the USS Arizona, splitting the ship in two.
Jim's eyes widened as he looked at the destroyed Starfleet flagship. At that moment, he received more bad news. The captain of the Berlin informed the team that a CIS droid regiment was attempting to hijack the Tantive IV cruiser.
Jim and the rest of the Star Fox team headed back to the Berlin. They quickly ran for the ship's armory and geared up to assist the Federation soldiers on the Tantive IV. The team boarded a gunship and landed aboard the cruiser. There, they got their first look at the new droids.
They got off and met a platoon of Federation marines.
"Welcome aboard, Admiral." the commander said to Jim.
"What's the situation?" asked Jim.
"We've been able to keep the droids contained for now, but we don't know how long we can hold out."
The commander led Jim, Fox, Krystal, Falco and Slippy to the command center of the Tantive IV. They immediately heard the droids' blasters.
"Oh, hell, they broke out!" the commander shouted. They saw him run out the door and he was immediately cut down by the Separatists. Fox and Krystal quickly grabbed machine guns and went out to fight. Jim, Falco and Slippy did the same. When the group finally saw the droids in person, they were amazed.
The Super Battle Droids were much larger than the older battle droids, standing about six feet tall and their armor made them look even larger. And the Magna Guards were huge. They were about seven feet tall and were heavily armored. The pistols they were armed with fired short range rockets, which were highly effective in the close quarters of the Tantive IV.
The Separatists had huge numbers on the Federation cruiser. It took nearly fifteen minutes just to clear out the enemies in the hallway. The silence didn't last very long. Soon the halls were filled again and Fox and the crew was running out of ammo. Fox ordered them back to the control center.
"We're never going to clear out these droids if we don't take back the ship's armory. Here's what we're going to do." Fox went to one of the computers and brought up a map of the ship's interior. "Alright, after we head out the door, there should be two hallways to the left leading to the armory. Falco and Slippy will head down the furthermost hall way while Jim, Krystal and I will take the first hallway, that way we should put the Separatists in crossfire. After we take the armory, we'll head for the engine room. We'll have to disable the ship's warp drive capabilities if we are to claim total victory."
"You just continue to impress me, Fox." Jim said with a smile on his face.
The group took their positions as Fox, Jim and Krystal tossed three grenades into the hall, clearing it out instantly, and they made a run for it. As Fox, Krystal, and Jim turned the corner, they were met by a platoon of droids. They took cover behind some crates and destroyed the droids with the last of their grenades.
They opened the door and Fox gave the order to fire. As he planned, the enemy droids were caught in the crossfire and the group recaptured the armory. Jim got on his wrist communicator and ordered another friendly regiment to the Tantive IV. Jim's troops landed on the ship just as the Separatists launched a counter attack on the armory.
The Federation soldiers arrived just in time and halted the counter attack.
"You men are a sight for sore eyes." Jim said.
"What do you need us to do, sir?" asked the troop commander.
"We need to get to the ship's engine room and destroy the warp drive before the Separatists can make the jump into hyperspace." Fox said.
"Yes, sir. Alright men, move to the engine room!" the commander said as the soldiers began to move through the ship. Jim led a single platoon back to the bridge to make sure that if the Separatists did try to make the jump into hyperspace, there would be someone there to override the jump.
The troops made it to the engine room and were met by heavy fire from the Separatists. Fox and Krystal managed to clear the catwalk and the Federation troops moved in to sabotage the warp drive.
"Clear! Clear!" they shouted as the troops quickly cleared the room. There was a huge explosion as the bombs went off, destroying the warp drive and most of the droids. The troops reentered the room and mopped up the remaining Separatist forces.
"Jim, you there?" Fox said into his wrist communicator.
"Yeah, I'm on the bridge." Jim replied.
"The Separatists have been cleared out."
"Alright! Excellent job, Fox. Let's head back to the Berlin." Jim said and shut off his wrist communicator.
"Alright troops, we're done here. Let's turn this ship back around." Jim ordered.
"Aye, sir." The platoon commander said as he pointed the ship back to the fleet. The Star Fox team boarded a gunship and headed back to the Berlin. They headed up to the command bridge and looked out the frontal view of the ship to see the remainder of the CIS fleet make the jump into hyperspace. The Federation had won the battle.
All crew members were ordered into the ships assembly room to here a speech from Chancellor Earhart. A huge monitor displayed the main hall of the Federation Headquarters as the chancellor was standing on the steps in front of the Council Chamber, and the chancellor began his speech.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe the time has come to reveal what has happened to the USS Enterprise. Yesterday morning, many of you witnessed the return of the Enterprise and saw the wreckage of the ship. I spoke to Admiral James Patrick Kavannagh, the commander of the ship, and he told me what happened. Four days ago, the Enterprise was attacked in the Parvenian System by the Confederacy of Independent Systems. At the time, the Federation was still in conversation with the Separatist government, looking toward a peace treaty with the CIS. It would seem as though diplomacy has failed. The attack on the Enterprise has left thirty-two dead and sixty-seven injured. It has also come to my attention that the Separatists now control most of the Parvenian System's twenty-three planets, including the Federation planets of Tatooine and Naboo. Only a few hours ago, Federation Headquarters fell under Separatist attack, and only a few minutes ago, Starfleet was engaged in a battle against the CIS fleet in over the planet. It seems apparent that the CIS now seeks to eliminate the Federation once and for all. To achieve that goal, they are willing to kill many innocent people. As the Federation Chancellor, I tell you now that I refuse to stand by and watch the Separatists take over the galaxy. I tell you now that we will fight and we will claim victory over our enemies, so help us God. By the power vested in me, I declare, that since the unprovoked attacks on the USS Enterprise and the planet of Corneria, a state of war now exists between the United Federation of Planets and the Confederacy of Independent Systems." And with that, he ended his speech.
Suddenly everyone in the assembly room started whispering among themselves. Fox and the others headed to their quarters aboard the Berlin. Krystal could sense that Fox was in distress but she decided to leave him alone this time.
Fox entered his quarters and lay down on the bed as he thought about what he'd read about the Day of Infamy from Earth history. He thought that was Jim said before the battle was exactly right. It's a regular Pearl Harbor.
Fox got up and went to the window as he read the bold, black letters on the space dock in orbit around Corneria: PEARL HARBOR MEMORIAL SPACE DOCK.