Chapter 7
With the climate control center fixed, Fox called his teammates one last time. Much to Fox and Krystal's delight, Falco actually picked up to represent them. It appeared things were finally looking up…
"What's up, Foxie?" Falco asked.
"Hey, Falco! It's Fox! We've taken care of business on Fichina!" Fox replied cheerily.
A pause. Falco awkwardly replied, "Uhh… great? So, can you fly back to the Great Fox now?"
"That's the thing," Fox said. "Our Arwings got totaled. Can you guys swing by to get us? We're at the climate control center."
"Sure," Falco answered. "After all, we can't just leave our leader and telepath hangin', can we? And hey, what the heck happened to you two anyway?"
"Kind of a long story; I'll explain later," Fox replied.
"Alrighty; we're comin' for you," Falco said. "See ya soon."
"Bye," Fox said, proceeding to turn off his communicator.
He took a seat on the uncomfortable, metal floor. Krystal wandered over to him and took a seat beside him. All they could do now was wait.
Krystal hugged Fox tightly, wanting to be close. Fox responded, embracing his loved one as they sat together. They loved having this feeling again - to be intimate again.
"I'm tired," Krystal announced. "And hungry…"
"That makes two of us," Fox said, smiling at her. "We can remedy that soon."
"I want to sleep now," Krystal said, rubbing her head against Fox's chest. His smile widened, and he took comfort in her affection. She murmured lovingly, "I want to rest with you…"
"Sounds nice…" Fox said back. "We've got to be ready for the team to pick us up, though."
"Mmmm… I suppose," Krystal said tiredly.
"We'll eat and sleep once we're out of here," Fox said to Krystal encouragingly.
"Yes… I look forward to that," Krystal replied, smiling slightly. "Let's make it a point to stay away from Fichina for some time, too."
Fox chuckled and nodded, as sick of the planet as Krystal was. They continued cuddling together, hoping their teammates would show up quickly. They were ready to be away from Fichina and have a chance to rest up. It had been a long day…
Eventually, the Great Fox did show up outside the climate control center, and the two foxes were overjoyed to see it. For the last fifteen minutes of their time waiting, they stood by the entrance to see when the Great Fox would arrive. They rushed into the snow to board the mothership, ecstatic to leave the freezing planet. When they did get inside, however, they were greeted by grim faces from their teammates. Fox and Krystal sat down in the two vacant chairs as ROB controlled the Great Fox to take off.
"Bad news," Falco said.
"What's wrong?" Fox asked.
"Corneria needs our help; they're under attack," Falco replied sourly.
"What?!" Fox exclaimed. "I thought Peppy kept reserves there in case that should happen!"
"Yeah, but apparently it wasn't enough," Falco explained. "Peppy called us on our way here. Looks like Bowman sent a ton of his forces to hit Corneria while we were out. We've gotta get back there fast."
"That's awful…" Krystal stated sadly.
"Yeah; we can't let Bowman's guys take over our planet!" Slippy cried.
"Yes; we must act quickly," Amanda agreed.
"Alright," Fox said, collecting himself. "ROB, get us there as soon as possible. Once we're in orbit we'll take our Arwings; we have no time to lose."
"Affirmative," ROB replied. "However, we are missing two Arwings…"
"Two will have to stay behind," Fox said. "They can catch up in the Great Fox. Any volunteers?"
"I'm cool with it," Slippy, the least skilled pilot of the group, replied promptly.
"I'll stay with him," Amanda added.
"Alright, good," Fox said.
The teammates fidgeted in their seats, anxious about making it in time. They worried about how much damage Bowman's forces had done, and if their friends were safe. It wasn't the first time Corneria had been attacked directly, but this time the team was particularly worried since Peppy had already had several troops stationed there. They figured a lot of Bowman's forces must be there.
"So, what happened with you guys on Fichina?" Falco asked Fox and Krystal, trying to temporarily take his mind off Corneria.
"We fell into a trap," Krystal answered gloomily.
"Yeah," Fox said. "Oikonny and some goons ambushed us."
"So… did they get away?" Falco asked.
"No; we managed to take care of them," Fox replied. "But they destroyed our Arwings. Anyways, Oikonny won't be a problem anymore. I got him."
"Whoa," Falco said, clearly surprised. "So you finally killed him? Good. He needed to be put down."
Fox thought about how long Andrew Oikonny had been a problem for Star Fox. It was strange to know that he was finally gone. He thought all the way back to the beginning, when Oikonny had been with Star Wolf.
Star Wolf… what could they be up to these days…?
Fox despised Star Wolf. They had always given him grief, but they had hurt him the most the last time he heard from them. Taking Krystal in…
How could they?! I know she wanted it at the time, but they just let her in! They wanted to hurt me… they wanted to take her from me… Panther tried to take her…
Fox continued to sit uncomfortably, his thoughts shifting from the attack on Corneria to Star Wolf. He tried to think of just Krystal, but it was impossible with Star Wolf stuck on his brain now. Fox still beat himself up for forcing her out. It was a mistake he'd always hate himself for.
Things won't ever be the same… even if we stick together… how could she ever love me the same way again…? How could anyone…
"How were things on Titania?" Krystal asked Falco.
"Kind of a pain," Falco answered. "We were busy for some time with the bad guys there. But we got things taken care of eventually."
"Yes; it wasn't easy, but Titania is safe now," Amanda added.
"I thought we'd never finish up! Man, it was bad," Slippy said.
"Seems it's been a rough day for everyone," Falco commented.
They all silently agreed, ragged from the day. Everyone just wanted to rest, but with Corneria in danger, it had to wait. They needed to gather all the energy they had left for the battle.
The rest of the trip dragged as expected, with few more words spoken aloud. Everyone was preoccupied with their thoughts, but none worse off than Fox. Once they reached Corneria's orbit, Fox, Falco, and Krystal rushed to the Arwing hangar. Wasting no time, they got into the ships and took off, heading for Corneria City.
When they did reach the city, they saw things didn't look good. Hundreds of Bowman's ships filled Corneria's sky, many of them casting their laser-fire upon the city's buildings. Many others were fighting directly against the Cornerian Army fighter ships, which were clearly outnumbered at this point. Despite the situation, Fox, Falco, and Krystal kept cool and entered the fray, ready for battle. They had done this many times before.
"Everyone split up! Let's get this done," Fox ordered over the intercom.
"Let's do it to it!" Falco said.
"I'm on it!" Krystal responded.
The three separated, each going for different sets of enemy ships. Fox decided to go to the Cornerian Army Center, wanting to make sure that it was still standing. Fox furiously blasted his way through several of Bowman's ships, racking up a large number of hits as he went along. He swerved when necessary and made all the right moves, proving himself once more to be a one-man army against his enemies. The ships tried firing back, but few even managed to clip Fox's Arwing. Fox kept firing rapidly, taking down more and more ships to clear his path.
Soon Fox made it to the Cornerian Army Center building, which had unfortunately taken some damage. Luckily, it was still salvageable, but Fox knew if he had acted any later, it may not have been. He just hoped Peppy was all right…
Fox continued to fly well, shooting down the enemy ships hovering around the Cornerian Army Center. One of them managed to damage the right wing of Fox's Arwing, but it wasn't enough to deter Fox from taking them down. He noticed some Cornerian Army fighters, but there weren't a whole lot to protect the base. Fox sighed to himself, depressed at the sight of his planet. Many of the buildings had been destroyed, some still burning and others already burnt to the ground. It hurt him to see Corneria this way.
Peppy should have kept more soldiers…
Fox decided to check in on his teammates. "Krystal! Falco! How're you doing?"
"I'm okay," Krystal answered. "The city's taken some serious damage, though."
"It's horrible where I am," Falco said. "Bad guys haven't given me too much trouble, at least."
"That's good," Fox replied, trying to be optimistic. "Stay strong, guys. I've taken care of the area around the Army Center. Let's meet there once we're finished."
"Will do," Krystal replied.
"Gotcha!" Falco said.
Fox moved past the Army Center area and looked for more of Bowman's ships to dispose of. As he flew, Fox suddenly felt laser-fire hit his ship from behind. Immediately, Fox looped his Arwing, and put himself behind his attacker. Before the attacker could react, Fox shot the ship down, sending it to the ground for a fiery explosion. As Fox moved on, he heard a message come from the Great Fox.
"It's Slippy! We're coming to help now!" Slippy informed the three Star Fox members.
"Great; about time you made it," Falco remarked.
"Excellent!" Krystal said.
"Good; I've cleared up a lot of space here," Fox told all his teammates. "I think we're getting close."
"Yeah; things are getting quiet on my end," Falco mentioned.
Fox managed to find a few stragglers as he flew, who were also no match for him. He took down every enemy ship in sight. Being a seasoned pilot, Fox had flown the skies with much confidence for a long time now. Despite the massive amount of enemy forces on the planet, Fox had not been intimidated.
Fox continued flying and looked around for more ships. It seemed he had taken care of a very large radius, with no ships nearby other than a few Cornerian Army fighters. He moved further away from the Army Center to see if he could find any more of Bowman's ships. As he went along, Fox looked into the sky to find the Great Fox in the distance, coming to the city. It wasn't nearly as fast as the Arwings, but it had quite a powerful twin-cannon. Fox noticed the cannon was charged; he looked directly across, to find a large group of enemy ships. They were still far away, but Fox knew that wouldn't matter. A couple seconds later, they were destroyed, once the intense laser-fire from the cannon had struck them. Fox couldn't help but grin at the power; he had always loved the Great Fox.
Not long after, the Great Fox found another group to target, and the same success was accomplished. Fox saw that Bowman's remaining ships were beginning to flee the city, having given up. The area had been cleared up in such quick time! Fox smiled again, pleased to have victory.
"Looks like we've won, guys," Fox announced.
"WOOHOO! YEAH!" Slippy rejoiced.
"Well done, everyone!" Amanda said.
"You see them running away?! Haha – losers! We rule!" Falco cried gleefully.
"We did it!" Krystal said.
"Great job, everyone," Fox complimented his teammates, still grinning. The city had taken some bad damage, but the team did such an exceptional job in the battle. They made great time and saved the planet from any more harm. Fox was thankful to have them. "Let's meet up back at the Army Center."
The three Arwings and the Great Fox made their way for the Cornerian Army Center, ready to regroup and rest.