Chapter 8 - A Hero Emerges

Three years had passed since the invasion of Pop Star. Pop Star itself fell in less than a week. With little resistance against them, and the new machines of war used by the Mushroom Empire, they made short work of conquering the planet.
Of course, that's not what the citizenry was told back home. According to the news they recieved, their great leader, Mario, had offered an alliance with the people of Pop Star, hoping to build interdimensional relations with them. But then Pop Star refused, and tried to capture their armada in a gambit to take over the Mushroom Empire. That was what they were told, and after the Mushroom Empire's victory, the streets were filled with celebration.
After Pop Star, four more worlds fell to the Mushroom Empire. Out of those worlds, only one tried to make a fight of it, and only one succeeded in doing some damage to the so-called invincible armada; this, of course, was only because the entire planet in question had blown itself up. As for the planet that fought, it's situation was similar to Pop Star, thus the few champions that did try to fight were either killed, or were converted to join Mario's Armada. The other two worlds felt they had no other course but to surrender immediately, in an effort to save as many lives as they could.
Of course, the armada did not go unchallenged. During their conquest through the different dimensions, they also met resistance from a small rebel force, now calling themselves 'The Knights of Hope'. This small group, led by Princess Daisy, had been traveling to the same dimensions the Mushroom Empire had aimed at, warning of the coming danger and preparing those worlds however they could. And when the Mushroom Empire came, the Knights of Hope made a fight of it, dealing as much damage to the armada as possible, though sometimes this was a bare minimum of help.
But some of their exploits didn't go unrewarded. By visiting these worlds, they were able to gain the aid of some great warriors as well as some new weapons at their disposal. Slowly but surely, their army was growing. And even better, they had been successful in finding the perfect hiding place to plan their next attacks, one that they were sure not even the Mario himself could find.
But Mario's armada was still going strong, and was not about to be deterred just yet. After the completion of the fourth world's colonization, Mario immediately got his forces on the move to conquer yet another dimension. Some might have tried to convince Mario to slow things down a little, but they would have had little success, if not recieving dire consequences. Mario had an ambition, and wanted it done as soon as possible.
This lead them to begin their campaign against a new dimension: a galaxy known as the Lylat System.

Conquering the Lylat System proved difficult, and took longer than anticipated. True the colonization of the other planets in the Pop Star dimension was still ongoing, and there was still some uncharted territory in the disorganized galaxy of third dimension, but Mario felt they should have made some significant head-way ages ago. But, as always, they met resistance, not only from the denizens of this dimension, namely the Cornerian Fleet, who'd been warned of their coming, but also from the Knights of Hope, who had warned them.
But despite their valiant efforts, the Mushroom Empire simply proved too powerful. Every battle brought small victories for the defending Cornerian Fleet, only to be eclipsed by the even greater defeats. It was coming to the point that three quarters of the Lylat System was now under control of the Mushroom Empire.

The leader of the Cornerian Fleet, General Pepper, had called a meeting at the capital planet, Corneria, to determine their next course of action. At this point, they were starting to feel desperate; the Cornerian Fleet was practically on the verge of collapse.
The more prominent figures in the fleet consisted of the well known Star Fox team, who'd been leading most of the campaign against the Mushroom Fleet. Their team leader, Fox McCloud, was feeling just as depressed as anyone at this point. Never before in his career had he faced a more skilled opponent. No matter how well he planned his attacks, the enemy always seemed to be one step ahead, beating him to every punch and sacking his team harder than before. He wasn't sure how much more of a beating the fleet could take.
The meeting was held on board the space station orbiting Corneria. The meeting room had a somber feel about it. On one side stood General Pepper, along with his advisor, Beltino Toad. On the other side, Fox McCloud, along with his team, Falco Lombardi, Slippy Toad, and Krystal, were all assembled. After taking their seats, General Pepper began the briefing.
"Everyone, I will not lie to you; our situation has taken a disasterous turn. Our forces have been reduced to twenty three percent. Despite the intel provided by the Knights of Hope, our efforts have been less than beneficial."
"We know that already!" Falco burst out, "You think we don't know that?! You have any idea how many friends we've-!"
"Falco, that's enough!" Fox barked angrily, "You're not the only one hurting, here!"
Falco was about to rebut, but he caught a glimpse of Slippy, who'd lowered his head and looked like he was fighting back tears. For Falco, mourning the loss of Katt Monroe didn't make the past month easy, but he had to remind himself of Amanda's death only two weeks ago, and what her death meant to Slippy. With that in mind, he silently sat back down.
"My apologies, General," Fox said, "Please continue."
"I understand the pain you're going through," Pepper continued, looking mostly at Falco, "And ordinarily, I'd be just as willing as you to simply rush out there and give them as much of my wrath as possible before drawing my last breath. However, we must keep the thoughts of the citizenry in mind. And it is for that reason, that I've decided to evacuate the capital planet, Corneria."
The entire team leapt to their feet when they heard this. Slippy spoke up first, "General! You can't be serious!"
"I'm afraid I am, Mr. Toad," Pepper replied, "There is little to be gained by continuing to fight on like this. If we all die here, the sacrifices of our departed will be in vain. If we can move the citizens of Corneria to a safer place, they'll still be able to live safe and secure lives outside the control of the Mushroom Empire."
"Well, where are we supposed to go then?!" Falco demanded.
"I know where," Fox replied, "the Dimensional Gap, right?"
"Precisely," Pepper continued, "The Knights of Hope have told me that there are multiple uninhabited planets there, meaning there's more than enough room to accomidate our citizens."
Beltino stepped in next to explain their plan, "With the help of some of Haldberd's technicians, we were able to recalibrate the Warp Gate to act as an interdimensional gate. Once everyone is ready to leave, we'll send our ships into the gate and wind up in the Dimensional Gap. We should be safe there, if that Mario fellow hasn't found it yet."
Pepper began to speak again, "I've already begun the evacuation plan. Our transport ships should be ready to depart shortly."
"What about the gate?" Fox asked, "Who's to say those Mushroom punks won't try to use it to follow us?"
"I've already taken care of that problem," Beltino answered, "We've programmed an automatic self destruction sequence into the gate. Once it closes, the gate will destroy itself, completely closing the door behind us."
"And what about the Haldberd?" Falco asked.
"I've already asked the Princess Daisy to assist Peppy and Lucy Hare in evacuating the planet Sauria, as per request," Pepper answered, eyeing Krystal slightly. Krystal lowered her vision slightly when Falco turned and shot her a look.
"Rest assured, all will be well once we've escaped," Pepper said as assuringly as possible.
Just as Pepper finished his sentence, however, a message came through on the communicator on the table.
"General Pepper! It's the armada! It's on it's way here!"
A deathly hush fell on the entire group. It was as if the fates were conspiring against them.
"How long until they arrive," Pepper asked.
"Ten minutes, sir!" came the reply.
Pepper lowered his head, "The evacuation fleet won't be ready until fifteen minutes."
Fox slammed his fist to the table, "I don't get it! We destroyed their supply depots yesterday! How're they still able to fight after a loss like that?!"
"It doesn't matter," Pepper said strongly, "What matters is that we save as many people as we can! Fox, I'm charging you with the protection of the gate. You must hold them off long enough for the evacuation fleet to escape."
"Understood," Fox replied, "We won't let you down!"
With that, all four pilots turned on their heels and started to rush out, but before they did, Pepper asked Fox to stay just a while longer.
"Fox," Pepper said, "Truth be told, I expected the armada to pull a trick like this. We musn't under estimate our foes."
Fox remained silent as the General continued, "I've asked Beltino Toad to outfit your ship with an emergency dimension rift generator. It won't be as accurate as a real one, but it will get you away from here. If the worst should come, and the gate is destroyed, I want you and your team to escape from this place."
"But, General-!" Fox protested.
"No 'buts' Fox," Pepper replied, "This is my order. If I cannot save our people, I can at least provide you with a means of escape. If we fail, it will be up to you and your team to offer as much support as possible."
Fox lowered his vision a moment, then turned to salute General Pepper and say, "Understood."
With that, he hurried off to join his team mates and prepare for battle.
Beltino looked at General Pepper warily, "Do you think they'll really follow through with your orders."
The General remained stony silent for a little while, then answered, "I can't say..."

Fox sat there in the cockpit, reflecting on everything that transpired. It was ironic in a way; one and a half months ago, everything was normal: He and Krystal were planning on finally getting married, Falco and Katt were going steady, Slippy and Amanda had already had their wedding, and Lucy and Peppy were finally starting to connect as father and daughter. It seemed like there was nothing that could ruin things.
Heh. Shows what I know.
It started with the arrival of the Haldberd, and the dire news it's crew bore. Once the warning of the Mushroom Empire came, all their plans were put on hold as everyone once again prepared for war.
And now, Falco and Slippy had lost their loved ones, Fox's best friend from academy was confirmed dead, and their newest member, Dash Bowman, was missing in action. It seemed like the universe reached deep into their hearts and ripped out all the good in them. Truly, things couldn't get any worse.
But Fox had to remind himself not all was lost. His team was still mostly intact, and there was still hope that at least Dash was alive. And if things went well, they'd be able to escape and plan the day of their eventual comeback.
Fox then shook himself from his thoughts. Now wasn't the time to worry about things like that. The Mushroom Empire's Armada was on it's way, and he needed to be focused. He knew they were supposed to just hold them off, but any damage they could inflict would be worth their while.
Fox cued his mike, "All ships, report in."
"Greyhound squadron, standing by," Krystal reported in.
"Bulldog squadron, ready to roll," Falco said.
"Husky squadron, all set," Slippy said.
"All right, teams," Fox into his mike, "Our job to hold the armada long enough for the transports to escape. Not one ship is to get through our lines. Understood?"
"Don't worry," Krystal replied, "We can do anything."
"No problem," Falco said confidently.
"Those punks better watch out," Slippy added, "Cuz they're in our house now!"
What followed was a series of shouts and hollers of courage. Fox felt fortunate to know such brave souls.
Just then, the armada appeared out of hyper space before them. They outnumbered them two to one; of course, Fox never payed attention to numbers.
With that, he gave his orders: "This is it. Bulldog and Husky Squadrons hold the main lines; take down any ship that gets too close. Greyhound and Whitefang Squadrons on me; we hit 'em head on!"
He then surged his Arwing forward at full speed. The Greyhound and Whitefang Squadrons followed him. Several war cries echoed in Fox's ears. This was do or die time; no room for mistakes.

The battle progressed a straight four minutes. The fighters did their job and held the lines. Several rocketons were mixed in among the Cornerian fighters, but it was the Cornerians who were dealing the most damage this time. The enemy fighters were dropping left and right like flies, while the cruisers continued to recieve massive punishment from the offensive lines. The defensive lines also saw their fair share of action, as they continued to nail rocketon after rocketon, whitteling their numbers down significantly.
"Falco!" Fox heard Krystal cry out, "Watch out, behind you!"
"Shoot!" Falco cried.
Fox looked about from his ship and caught sight of Falco's arwing, dodging shots from three persuing rocketons.
"Hold on, Falco," Fox yelled.
He immediately changed course and lined himself up behind the three rocketons. Then, with fluid movement, he pulled the trigger and dispatched all three rocketons perfectly.
"Thanks, buddy," Falco called out.
"Star Fox Team!"
Fox recognized the voice as Beltino's. Beltino was with General Pepper in the space station, monitoring the battle progress.
"Go ahead," Fox replied.
"The evacuation fleet is ready. They're coming up now," Beltino said.
"Great," Fox said enthusiastically, "All right, we just gotta hold them here a little bit longer."
"So sorry, but your time is up," a new voice crackled in Fox's ears.
He recognized the voice. It was the same oily voice he'd heard before, during the Battle of Fichina.
"Oikonny!"
Only moments after this Oikonny's flag ship emerged into view from between the Mushroom Empire's own warships. Fox couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it before, considering the ship was colored red among a fleet of black ships.
"I should've known you'd join up with these creeps," Fox growled.
"Just playing for the winning side," Oikonny replied haughtily.
"Well don't think having you on their side is gonna change anything," Falco yelled defiantly.
"Poor little fools," Oikonny taunted, "How little you know of me."
The moment he said that, three ships materialized into vision by the interdimensional gate. These were Oikonny's stealth ships, and they had snuck passed the defensive lines and were now poised to destroy the gate.
"No!!" Fox cried, "Somebody stop them!"
"I'm on it!" Slippy yelled. He was the closest to the stealth ships, thus the only one capable of catching them in time.
Slippy's arwing broke from the defensive line and sped straight for the stealth ships, blasters blazing. As he did so, the stealth ships began opening their missle launchers, preparing to attack. Slippy activated the boosters and zoomed in on his targets. Suddenly, two more ships materialized in front of him, with several missles aimed right at him.
"Whoa!" Slippy cried.
Unfortunately, his reaction was seconds too late. The moment he tried to avoid them, the stealth fighters fired their missles, and they all sped towards Slippy.
"Slippy!" Fox heard Beltino cry.
But it was no good. The missles blasted Slippy's arwing, and the ship exploded into flames. Fox averted his eyes, but could still hear Slippy's scream as his craft was engulfed by fire. Then, Slippy's communicator cut out to static. And at that same moment, the three other stealth ships also fired their missles. The fragile frame of the warp gate was torn assunder.
"Sir!" Fox heard one of the other pilots yell, "The warp gate! It's gone!"
Fox began to feel his stomach turn. They'd bested him yet again. Only now, the consequences were far more dire. There would be no second chances after this one. Now, they had truly lost.
"Fox," General Pepper's voice barked through Fox's communicator, "You must flee. Now!"
"No General," Fox replied, "I can't..."
"You're no good to us if you're dead!" Pepper yelled fiercefully, "You must run now!"
"You rotten ape!!" Fox heard Falco bellow through the communicator.
Fox looked up in time to see Falco's arwing blaze past him in a straight bee line towards Oikonny's ship.
"What?" Oikonny was now sounding fearful, "What are you-?"
"I'll make you pay for that! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!!"
"Falco! Stop!" Krystal cried.
But it was too late. There would be no reasoning with him now.
"No! Stay back!!" Oikonny cried cowerdly.
Of course, no manner of pleading could save him now. It took mere seconds for Falco's ship to catch up with Oikonny's. And in an instant, Falco's arwing slammed head on into Oikonny's flag ship with explosive force. The resulting fireball engulfed both the arwing and Oikonny's ship, incinerating them both instantly.
Fox started looking frantically about, searching for Krystal's ship. He caught sight of her just a small distance away. He couldn't see her, but her eratic breathing in her communicator told him she was about ready to faint.
"All squadrons!" Fox yelled, "Fall back! Repeat, fall back!"
Immediately, all ships broke off from the enemy vessels and sped back to the station. There was nothing more they could do; the Cornerian Fleet had lost.
"Krystal," Fox yelled, "You gotta get outta here!"
"No, Fox!" Krystal cried, "I'm not leaving you!"
"Krystal, please! I can't let you die here!" Fox pleaded with her.
"I said no, Fox!" Krystal replied stubbornly.
"I'm sorry," Fox said as he input a command into his computer, "but, there's no room for discussion."
He then activated the command and a signal was sent from his arwing into Krystal's. Immediately, her ship went into auto-pilot mode, and started towards a point in space away from the battle field.
"Fox!" Krystal cried, "Don't-!"
"I'm sorry," Fox said. And then he fired a special capsule from beneath his arwing, which flew to the spot Krystal was aimed at and activated the temporary worm hole.
"I don't know where it'll lead you," Fox said, choking back tears, "but you'll be safe; that's all that matters."
"Fox!" Krystal continued to cry tearfully as she wrestled with her controls. Desperately she ripped off her harness and looked towards Fox's arwing just to get a last glimpse of his face. But his ship was well beyond visual range by then, and it was too late to do anything.
For a few fleeting seconds, Fox could hear Krystal burst into tears as she rode in the arwing towards the worm hole. And then, her arwing slipped into the worm hole, and it shut behind her.
You're safe now, Fox thought to himself, That's all that matters.
"How sentimental."
The voice Fox now heard was a new one. One that seemed to reak of vileness beyond his comprehension. And at that very moment, a large black ship, the largest in the entire armada, had crept up in front him. Fox looked up at it and could feel death eminate in waves from it.
The cold voice spoke again, "I must say, you're quite an accomplished pilot aren't you?"
Fox remained silent, so the voice continued, "Let me make this simple: I'm offering you a choice. Either you can continue to fight me, and die, or you can join me, and enjoy luxury and power beyond your wildest imaginations."
"I guess this means you're that Mario guy, aren't you?" Fox asked cooly.
Mario chuckled slightly into the communicator and then said, "You'd be right. So, what is your decision."
"Thanks for the offer," Fox said defiantly, "But I think I'll take my chances," and with that he pressed the red button on his control and fired a red bomb at the intimidating ship. The bomb ripped through the ship like tin foil and caused it to lurch to one side.
That one's for you, Bill.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Fox broke to the ship's starboard (right) side and prepared to make a run for it.
But just then, another arwing appeared right in front of him. Fox immediately brought his ship to a halt and the two ships hovered there, staring at each other. Fox was struck dumb for a moment; Krystal had already been sent away, and there was no other Star Fox member that could be here...except...
"Dash!" Fox cried, "You're alive!"
"Yes," Dash replied.
"No time to chat," Fox said hurriedly, "We gotta-."
"Sorry, Fox," Dash interupted, "but we aren't going anywhere."
Fox was silent for a moment. Then his eyes widened as a terrible realization sank in.
"Dash...you-."
"I'm fighting for peace now, Fox," Dash said as his arwing began charging a missle, "and you're in the way."
Dash then fired his missle, and Fox's ship was blown to pieces. Dash showed little emotion as he watched the ship of his former comrade break apart.

General Pepper watched in utter horror as Dash's arwing fired it's missle and destroyed Fox's arwing in an instant. It seemed to the general that all their hopes seemed shatter along with Fox's ship, leaving nothing but despair behind.
The entire command center on the station became deathly silent. The event seemed so unreal to them. Yet, there was no denying the facts: Fox McCloud was now dead.
"Orders, sir?" one of the soldiers asked softly.
Pepper stood there, silent for a moment, then said, "Have all units stand down. We're surrendering."
"Yes, sir."
General Pepper turned over to where Beltino was now standing, and saw the old frog crying his eyes out over the loss of his son, Slippy. Pepper himself felt like crying, but for some reason, the tears wouldn't flow. It seemed as though his tears dried up long ago. He simply stood there, staring at the spot where Fox's arwing once was.
Now...all is truly lost.

Back at Sauria, though the planet was completely evacuated, none of the crew of either the Haldberd or of Great Fox were feeling high spirited. They'd just recieved a coded message from Corneria reporting the defeat of Star Fox team and the rest of the fleet. The news hit them like a ton of bricks.
Peppy and Lucy probably took the news hardest of all. Now, as far as they knew, they were the last of the Star Fox team. Daisy had joined them aboard the Great Fox, and was cradling her head in her hands.
"We shouldn't have come," she said somberly, "We should've stayed there. If they had the Halberd on their side-."
"That's enough, Princess!" Peppy snapped.
Daisy snapped her head up and glared at Peppy with blood-shot eyes. Peppy was reminded he wasn't the only one shedding tears.
"I'm sorry," he said with a softer tone, "It's just... We can't second guess ourselves. If you'd been there, you probably would've been killed with them."
Daisy lowered her head again as more tears poured down her face. Lucy then ran from the room, covering her face as she burst into tears. This news wasn't easy on any of them.
"I guess," Peppy continued, "All we can do now is move forward, and hope for the-."
Daisy interupted him with a sarcastic chuckle, then said, "You know, I'm really starting to get tired of that word. 'Hope?' What's there left to hope for?"
Peppy stared at Daisy worriedly for a moment. She looked as though about ready to hang herself. Peppy pushed the thought from his mind.
Just then, ROB 64, the Great Fox's robot operator, turned from his station and told Peppy, "Incoming message from Haldberd."
Daisy hardly took notice, so Peppy said, "Put 'em through."
After ROB input a command into his console, the main screen flashed and revealed the face of a sandy-haired human with glasses. This was Otacon: one of the allies recruited by the Knights of Hope a while back. His computer skills were second to none, however, some considered him somewhat of a geek.
"What can I do for you, Otacon?" Peppy asked.
"Just wanted to give a little bit of good news," Otacon said half-cheerfully.
"What good news is that?" Peppy inquired.
"I analyzed the message we recieved," Otacon explained, "and found a tiny incripted message inside it."
Peppy remained silent, but looked somewhat interested. Daisy also raised her head in curiosity.
"It reads," Otacon said as he cleared his throat, "'Star Fox member escapes through dimension jump."
Daisy and Peppy both lept from their seats.
"Are you sure it's legitamate?" Peppy asked.
"I checked it out," Otacon replied, "It's clean."
Peppy looked over to Daisy, who'd sat back down to think. Then she rose back up, her face more brighter than before, and said, "Tell Blade Knight to get ready for a dimension jump."
"Yes, ma'am," Otacon said with a smile and a salute.
When the picture cut out, Peppy turned to Daisy and asked, "I thought you got tired of 'hope.'"
Daisy paused for a moment, then, after wiping her face dry, she beamed at Peppy and said, "I guess I lied."
Peppy smiled warmly, All she needed was some good news.

The worm hole opened up to a point over another world and spit out Krystal's ship. At that point, the auto-pilot was shut off, and she had control of the ship again. But it didn't matter now; nothing mattered anymore.
Krystal burried her face into her hands. Now she was truly alone. Falco, Slippy, all of them were gone now. There was no one left. It was the second time in her life she found herself alone. The cold feeling of loss gripped her tightly like a large hand.
Just then, alarms started blaring within her cockpit. Krystal looked up and saw that her ship, after being thrown from the worm hole, was now hurtling towards the planet she was near, pulled in by it's gravitational force.
But she didn't care. Death seemed like a welcome escape from this horrific nightmare. In a way, it seemed like the only way she could be with her friends again. She closed her eyes, and let the image of Fox's face form in her mind. And then, she saw all their friends standing near them. All that was left was to go to them.
Krystal's arwing began to glow bright red as it hurtled toward the planet below. If Krystal had bothered to open her eyes, she would've been able to see the vast plains below her just as she cleared the cloud line. As her vessel began to pick up speed, the computer's emergency landing system kicked in, and took control of the vessel. Krystal didn't even bother; by now, she was sure it was too late. She relaxed her body within the shaking cockpit, and waited for the end.
The emergency landing system righted the aircraft just enough to avoid a nose-dive right into the ground, but it wasn't enough to avoid a crash. Krystal's arwing then slammed into the earth with explosive force, bounced up back into the air a short ways, then came back to ground as it skidded to a grinding halt.
The force of the impact had slammed Krystal's head against her console and knocked her out cold, leaving a deep gash on her forehead. Given the situation, left alone, she would have most certainly died.
But she wasn't to die just yet, for at that moment, whether by coincidence or devine intervention, a lone rider had just bared witness to the calamity, and was riding towards the wreckage upon a scarlet steed to investigate.

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