Disclaimer: Bucky 'O Hare created by Larry Hama, Star Fox is copyright Nintendo.
After the hectic task of disabling the climate control center's shield, Fox and the others were finally making progress. Parking the Landmaster beside the Center and climbing out of the cockpit, back into the unforgiving environment of Fichina's snowstorm. Fox felt alongside the Center with his right hand, trying to find some kind of door. He kept his blaster in his left, periodically firing into the snowstorm to keep any stray aparoids at 'arm's length'.
"I…can't…seem…to find a door," he said through chattering teeth, the cold beginning to take a toll on him. The others weren't much better, Bucky shivering slightly while Dead-Eye was nearly freezing over. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Fox found a small keypad next to a closed door.
"P-Peppy, I've found a keypad. I need you to open the door for us." Fox asked through his wrist comm, a little frustrated by the situation. "I'll try." Peppy's voice said through the comm, Fox pacing back and forth as he waited. Inwardly, he prayed that Peppy would be able to override the keypad console, as the cold was beginning to affect the others. Bucky had begun to constantly swap his blaster from hand to hand, clearly trying to keep them from going numb.
Dead-Eye seemed to be handling it the worst, violently shivering as he waited. Finally, out of frustration, he fired several rounds at the door causing little more than a scratch. "Somebody get this darn door open already! I'm about to freeze my tailfeathers out here!" he yelled frustratedly, before barging into the slightly warmer interior of the Landmaster.
"Somebody can't handle his cold.' Fox said trying to lighten the mood. "Tell me about it," Bucky responded, though also shivering now.
Finally, Peppy's voice came through, "Sorry, boys…I…I can't override the console." he said regretfully, annoyed at his inability to help. "It's all right Peppy, we'll…" Fox began before another voice interrupted. "Fox! Get back from the door!" it said loudly, Fox diving into the snow out of instinct as the door exploded.
"W-what was that?" Bucky said, rushing onto Fox's side, and helping him up. Then they saw what had caused the door to explode, the Landmaster rolling into view as Dead-Eye Duck climbed out of the cockpit, looking entirely pleased with himself.
"Are you insane!" Fox cried out in disbelief. "You could have gotten us killed!" he yelled at the ex-pirate, none to please with his stunt. "Got the door opened, didn't it," replied Dead-Eye nonchalantly, rushing inside and away from the cold.
"You can't argue with that!" Bucky replied next to him, a bit embarrassed at his crewmate's actions. "No, I guess you can't." Fox agreed with a smirk, having to admit to doing just as crazy stunts in the past. With that out of the way, both leaders proceeded into the Climate Control Center.
The inside of the building consisted of a large circular room, about fifty feet in diameter, with a tall rectangular mainframe unit on a raised platform in the middle of the room, about a foot taller than our heroes.
"This should be it... " Fox announced, glancing around the room for any immediate threats. Seeing none, he approached what appeared to be the mainframe, looking, and walking around it, searching for some accessible console. After walking around three sides of it, he found a keyboard extending slightly from the unit, and a monitor directly above the keyboard. Placing his blaster on his holster, Fox studied the keyboard, feeling along the left side until he found a small button and pressed it.
"Control settings confirmed... Beginning adjustments..." an automated voice announced, as the mainframe hummed to life. "Whoo hoo! That's the end of the blizzard!" Slippy exclaimed excitedly through the comm channels. "Good work, Fox. The Center is back up. Now just get that beam back." Peppy said a moment after the mainframe was activated.
"Copy that, Peppy! I'll try to get that beam back online." Fox replied confidently, as he began investigating the rest of the station. "Fox, something we can do to help," Bucky called from behind him, trying to help with the situation. "Yeah, make sure those bugs don't come up from behind! I think I can handle this." Fox told him, focusing on the console in front of him.
"Guard the rear. Find by me, so long as I don't have to go back in that freezer!" Dead-Eye commented, pulling out his blasters. "Don't worry Duck, soon that snowstorm will be a thing of the past," Fox replied confidently, having initiated the beam startup sequence. Unfortunately, luck wasn't exactly on their side as the sentry bots around the center began coming online instead, and they weren't too kind to intruders.
Back in orbit, Peppy Hare sat in Fox's chair on the bridge, waiting anxiously for the Control Beam to come back online. He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair nervously as he stared at the viewscreen, showing Fichina still shrouded in monstrous snowstorms. "Come on boys. Just don't get killed in there..." he thought nervously until he saw the planet and noted that the clouds were beginning to dissipate.
"You did it, Fox! ...Fox?" Krystal was the first to say through the comms, and as the minutes passed the first to realize something was amiss. "What's wrong Fox? Come in!" Falco added some after calling more harshly from his comm, wanting an update on what was going on.
"Quit yelling, Falco. I'm fine. We just hit a little hitch in the plan...There must've been an I.D problem... The sentry bots have taken a liking to us..." Fox said while he moved his head slightly, dodging a laser blast, and firing a few rounds into one of the many sentry bots around him. His companions are doing the same, but no matter how many shots they land, they seem to be doing no damage.
"That must have been Pigma's work! Gah! I'm on my way! Hold on!" Falco announced, rushing out with his Arwing. "Yeah... Could you hurry?" Fox replied hesitantly, as he ducked behind a corner to avoid a stray blast. The others not having better luck, "Grrr. Locked in, am I?" Dead-Eye cried out in annoyance, returning fire to the offending bot with all four weapons. "Why in the world would these sentry bots attack us?" Bucky pondered aloud while displaying an impressive amount of agility as he ducked and weaved around the blaster fire.
"Destroy intruders..." the patrol bot's robotic voice said in response, unrelenting in its misguided pursuit. Meanwhile, Fox was still trying to regain control of the situation, as the only member of Star Fox present, the sentries should have marked him as an ally, yet they remained undeterred. "They can't sense me... What's going on here?" he wondered, sensing something fishy going on. "Falco! You gotta act quickly!" he called through the comms, knowing that speed was of the essence in this situation.
"Dang! When am I gonna get to that control center? I'm on my way! Do what you have to and hold on!" Falco called out, speeding off in their direction. "Fox! Your survival is priority number one!" Peppy told them, reiterating just how dire the situation had become. "If the sentry bots mark you as an intruder, look out! They'll just keep coming 'til you're neutralized!" Slippy finished with a warning.
"Understood! We'll try to hold out." he began, assuring his team, "Fox! Get out." Cried a voice behind him, pushing him out of the way. Slightly dazed from the sudden push, Fox looked back to see who had moved him. "Dead-Eye!" he cried, seeing the ex-pirate clutching at one of his left arms, a blaster bolt having grazed him. "Are you ok!" Fox asked worried. "Yeah, me boy. I'll take more than a scratch to take me out!" he replied proudly, taking his hand out of his arm, revealing a shallow scratch amongst the torn fabric.
"Glad to hear it, but we still need to deal with these things!" Fox responded, genuinely glad at his new friend's well-being, but still unsure about the situation. "Well said, Fox." Bucky said, having made his way over to them, jumping around the various blasts around him, barely managing to make his way unscathed. "Got any ideas!" he asks, utterly stunned as to how to proceed with the given situation.
"I might. It's crazy, but I think... I think it'll work." Fox told them, his voice unsure but confident. "All right, Fox, what is it? I'm all ears." Bucky said, while Dead-Eye fired more rounds into the bots, which were closing in even faster. "I need you to destroy one of the bots, so Peppy can find out what frequency it operates on," Fox explained, much to the others' skepticism.
"What!" they both said simultaneously, utterly comprehending what had been asked of them. "Don't do it, Fox! It's too risky!" Peppy's voice ushered through the comms, having also heard the plan. "I know. It sounds impossible but trust me. It is the only way to get out of here alive." Fox told them with resolute, already having thought about any alternatives out of this mess. The fire was too concentrated to simply get out of the room, so shutting the drones was the only way forward.
"Sounds fine to me! Except for the fact it seems nothing we throw is even damaging these things! Even the charged rounds aren't scratching them!" Dead-Eye complained, still firing at the drones in a demonstration.
Suddenly, Slippy's voice sounded from the radio, "I know this model of sentry! You've got to wait until the armor opens up and exposes their weapons. That's the only vulnerable spot on them." he said, informing them of a possible solution. Everyone turned to Dead-Eye for confirmation, being their best chance of actually pulling this off, with a hesitant sigh he responded, "Alright toad... I trust you!"
Meanwhile, Falco was still closing in on their location, the storm had stopped, but the weather was still not ideal for flying. It took every ounce of skill he had just to keep his bird in the air, but fortunately, he had a lot of it. The team's resided ace pilot was nearly upon them, his speed increasing by the second. "Falco!" Krystal voice suddenly shot out of the radio, startling him slightly. "Don't start whining! I'm almost there!" he replayed harshly, still focusing on flying his ship. "And where exactly are you Falco?!" Fox's voice replied with exasperation, clearly not sharing his confidence. "I'm nearly there, just hold on for a moment! Don't even think about dying before I get there!" he exclaimed, once again focusing on the flight ahead.
Back in the Control Center, the team carefully guided Dead-Eye through the shot. "All right. Just keep your blaster aimed steady and wait for it." Fox assured him, trying to sound as calm as possible in this tense situation. "Remember, wait for the armor to open!" Bucky added, knowing that they only had one shot at this. Dead-Eye just nodded and simply looked through the sight of his blaster with his good eye. One of the bots moved up and went about ten feet in the air. He looked at it, keeping the others in view out of the corner of his eye, as it opened. He fired the aimed shot, the sentry careening toward the Center's floor in a ball of flames.
With a quick smirk, he gave a thumbs up and Bucky rushed in to pick up a small yellow box containing the bot's CPU. Glancing at the numbers written on one side of it, he found the frequency of its operation and rushed back into cover. "Ok, Fox. The frequency is two hundred fifty gigahertz. Set the EMP for that." Bucky told him, shooting at another bot before Dead-Eye turned it into a ball of flame. "Got it," Fox said, sending the data over to the Great Fox.
Peppy typed frantically on one of the monitors, desperately trying to get the EMP sent, before hitting the 'enter' key and watching the screen as it showed a graphic of the EMP shooting out of the radar dish. "Did it do anything, Fox!" he asked, desperate for an update on the situation. "Well, they...wait...oh no," Fox said, as the sentries had only gone out for a moment before roaring back to life. "Take cover!" Falco's voice came loudly over the comm.
Fox looked at Fichina's dark sky and saw a small flash of light. That light grew bigger and came towards their position faster and faster. With quick realization, they dove behind the mainframe and sat down with their head covered in their hands as they heard numerous laser blasts directly behind them, and the whole Center shook violently.
"Eat this, scumbags!" Falco's voice came through clearly, proud of his quick work with the enemy. "Falco! Wow, that was a flashy entrance." Fox exclaimed, slight sarcasm in his tone, clad to see his teammate arrive but still taking time to tease him. "Quit complaining and climb abroad, will ya?" Falco said back with mock annoyance, knowing his friend was joking. Getting out from his Arwing, he greeted him with a hearty handshake and a smile.
"Yeah, good to see you too," Dead-Eye replied, clutching his arm with a smirk. "Glad to see the rest of you too!" Falco replied with an eye roll, still smiling through it all. "So... we've got the Climate beam online, but where's Pigma? That filthy little bast-" Falco began until he noticed a group of aparoids approaching from afar.
"Not good," Falco exclaimed with dread as he ran back to his Arwing, throwing his blaster on the floorboard, and switched the engine power on. "Fox, we got to go!" he cried, gesturing towards the incoming enemies. "All right! Bucky, take my Arwing!" Fox said, throwing him his blaster.
"Alright...but, what're you goin' to do then?" Bucky asked, unsure where Fox was going with this. Fox just smirked, running towards Falco's Arwing, and opened a compartment behind the cockpit. "Trust me. I'll be ok.", he said as he pulled out a shoulder-mounted plasma cannon. He picked it up by the carrying handle and hopped up on the left wing.
"Hey, just do me a favour and try not fall off!" Falco told him, flipping open a glass cover over a switch near the HUD and pressing a red button. The switch created a magnetic field, allowing Fox to turn and fire the cannon at any angle while keeping him from falling off the wing. Fox smiled as he confirmed it was working, "Hey, just worry about not getting shot down, OK?" he told him cockily as he secured the cannon over his shoulder.
"Not a problem, sure shot! Just make sure to take care of our admirers, will ya?" Falco replied confidently, starting the engine and bringing up the throttle as they ascended into the dark Fichina sky. Fox steadied the plasma cannon, switched its firing to full auto, and fired at everything that moved, save for his fellow pilot. The skies were filled with hundreds of aparoids, and each was eagerly gunning for a piece of them.
"Here I come, Fox! Let's tear it up!" Falco called out confidently, excited to finally be back on the air. "Looks like the scum are making house calls, Fox!" he said, a certain air of arrogance in his tone as he flew closer. "Fox! Use the plasma cannon!" Peppy's voice cried desperately through the comms, earning a smirk from Fox as he did just that. Aiming the cannon towards the swarm, he opened fire, mercilessly sending them towards a fiery grave.
Not impressed with the fireworks Falco decided to join in, opening fire with his lasers as he began to pick up speed. Careful not to bank the Arwing too far to either direction, but soon after he began firing, a warning light flickered on and off inside the cockpit.
"Fox! Someone on the ground's locked onto us!" he cried, Fox glanced at his wrist radar and found a blinking red dot on the radar. He whirled around in its direction and moved the cannon out of his line of view to get a clear shot. Then he saw it, a conical structure, about the size of the Landmaster, drawing in energy from all around it. Yellow beams of light began forming around its center, then they were drawn into it. "How in the world..." Fox thought as he raised the cannon and began firing directly into it before the cone began to swivel towards Falco's Arwing.
"Come on, Fox! Hit it!" Falco yelled in a panic. "I am!" Fox yelled back into his comm as he kept painting the ground target with laser fire. Just as it began to level in on the Arwing, help arrived as Bucky flew by with Dead-Eye on the wing, blasting it with his lasers, destroying the target and engulfing it in a ball of flames.
"Good shot, Bucky! I owe you one!" Fox called through the comms, glad to see his fellow pilot arrive in the nick of time. "Anytime, Fox! You don't owe me anything." Bucky responded, just glad to finally be in the fight. "Besides, Dead-Eye needed an excuse to try out that cannon! By the way, I don't think you're getting it back!" he added, adding some levity to the situation.
From the horizon, two other ships were quickly arriving, "I'm coming to help, too!" cried the voice of Slippy Toad as he neared the others. "I'm on my way as well, Fox!" Krystal added, finally having enough of sitting on the sidelines. Fox smiled as he turned back around and aimed the cannon to take down whatever else he could.
"Fox! Target on my six!" Falco yelled; Fox whirled around to see a wave of missiles headed straight for him. He squeezed the trigger, picking off the missiles one by one, Dead-Eye doing the same from his side. When he finally destroyed the last one, it was no more than twenty feet away from the engine. He could feel the heat from that last explosion, shielding his eyes from the flames.
"Falco, keep a good eye on your radar. I need you to be my eyes here!" Fox told his copilot, not liking how close that ambush had been. "10-4, Fox. I've gotcha covered." Falco replied confidently, ready for the challenge. "Slippy, Krystal. I need you guys to take care of the swarms. Falco and I will cover you." he told the others, Slippy and Krystal barrel rolling both in confirmation and to shake some enemy fire.
"Bucky, Dead-Eye. You'll provide cover fire with us. Let's show these bugs not to mess with us!" he informed them, watching them nod and smirk respectably as they prepared to fire back. Fox squeezed his trigger, aparoid after aparoid careening into the snowy surface of Fichina as the blue laser blast continued to find its marks.
From afar, the others seem to be faring just as well, with Krystal and Slippy keeping the aparoids from swarming in mass, allowing for more targets from him and Fead-Eye to hit. The duck in question laughed gleefully as the chilly air around him was warmed by the explosions of his enemies, clearly having a literal and figurative blast!
This continued for a while until Slippy was caught off guard by a stray aparoid, "Whoa! Get off me!" cried out, desperately trying to shake him off. "Fox! Get the enemy behind me!" he called out, needing some help with the pursuing enemy behind him. "Coming buddy!" Fox cried out to him, trying to reach him, but currently preoccupied with his opponents. "Yow! I'm gonna get hit!" Slippy cried again, just barely managing to dodge the incoming fire from the aparoid on his tail.
"This is ridiculous! Someone take care of that stupid frog, will you?" Falco cried out in annoyance. His prayers were answered when Bucky swooped by, heading straight toward Slippy. "Don't worry. We're on it!" Bucky called out, as Dead-Eye steadied his cannon, ready to rain fiery justice upon the aparoids. "Sit still toady, Dead-Eye's got him in his sight!" the ex-pirate commented through the airways, ready to take the shot. Pressing on the trigger, the cannon fired, and the blast raced through the air reaching the enemy and enveloping it in a fiery end.
"Phew, thanks guys!" Slippy thanked gratefully; glad somebody had come rescue him. "Don't mention it, boy. Now we're even." Dead-Eye said, happy to have been of help. The toad had proven himself a worthy ally after all, heck, he could even go as far as calling him a friend. "Well, that was kind of a thrill," Slippy said once he regrouped with Krystal, laughing nervously at the close call. "This is no joke, Slippy!" Falco told him through the comm, swiftly reminding him just how dire the situation truly was. "Right! I'll do better next time." Slippy replied, embarrassed at the comment he had made. "Are you OK, Slippy? Pull yourself together!" Krystal asked, actually concerned about their friends well being.
"Bah, I've been followed!" Falco suddenly cried as the strays were now targeting him. "Fox! These guys are all over me! Get rid of 'em!" he yelled out to Fox, who was desperately trying to lock on to the multiple targets now closing in. "I can't get a clear shot! Get me behind them!" Fox told him, not able to lock on to a single target. "Easier said than done, Fox!" Falco replied annoyed, desperately trying to shake the pursuers off.
Fox tried to blast them again, managing to hit a few of them throughout the hectic scenario that was the chance. Despite this, far too many managed to escape unscathed and were quick to continue their pursuit. Taking evasive maneuvers, Falco tried to out-speed them, but they were far to persistent, shooting in unison at the spacecraft hoping to knock it down.
"Argh! Arwings aren't made to take this kind of punishment!" Falco cried out, being clipped far too many times for his liking. "I'm working on it!" Fox shouted from his end, unloading a new series of blasts toward their enemies, this time managing to knock down half of them.
Next to them, Bucky wasn't fairing any better, his craft nearly overwhelmed by enemy fire. "If I eat any more laser fire, I'm going down!" he called out on the radio, trying his darndest to keep the Arwing afloat. Dead-Eye had managed to keep them at bay, but their blast was still making up for the distance. Seeing this, Fox got an idea, "Falco, fly close to their Arwing!" he said, not bothering to elaborate any further.
Falco had already learned to go along with Fox's crazy ideas, they tended to work anyhow, so he flew closer to their Arwing. "Dead-Eye, swap targets!" he yelled over the blowing winds of the planet. Managing to hear him, Dead-Eye looked at him and understood, switching targets he began to shoot down the aparoids following Fox instead. Fox returned the favor by shooting the aparoids following him, sending them down in a fiery explosion.
In a short time, the number of enemies dropped drastically, until with a single blast from their respective cannons, the last of the aparoids was no more. "Alright! You've gotten better, eh, Foxie?" Falco called out from the cockpit, before switching his gaze, "And you, not bad for a duck." he said cheekily, acknowledging Dead-Eye with a smile.
With that said, the group took some time to catch their breath, gingerly cruising towards the others. Suddenly, Peppy voice came through the airways, "I've finished the Arwing transfer preparations!" he said excitedly, welcoming news for our heroes who gladly took it in. "OK. I'm heading in your direction." Falco told him gladly, switching directions and heading towards their friends.
But things weren't over quite yet, as they were soon to find out.
Authors Notes:
Hey guys, I'm back! I want to thank you all for the wait, I know it has been a while, but now I'm ready to embark on the next step in our interdimensional space adventure. I hope you're ready because things are about to get even more hectic, as our motley crew will soon discover. These few next chapters will have everything you guys have been waiting for, more character interactions, more action, more danger, and some special appearances. I can't say when, but some more obscure characters while soon make an appearance, so keep an eye out.
I know I'm not the best writer out there, so it fills my heart with joy to see you all still keeping up with this story, I truly hope you will all enjoy it. I'll update every two weeks, thanks for your patience, and until next time! ;)