//------------------------------// // VII - Onslaught // Story: From Lylat, With Love // by Cobalt Swirls //------------------------------// Despite having experienced it many times before, Sinclair had never truly gotten used to the feeling of exiting hyperspace. His body lurched forward, and an all too familiar wave of nausea greeted him. The others did not appear to be has heavily affected as he had been, and regained their composer rather quickly. Sinclair had taken the initiative to jump the group quite some distance from the core planet. In turn, they were a considerable distance away from the system’s main threat. He took a claw and wiped some of the excess spit from the corner of his mouth and sat up. He glanced over at Laura, who was staring intensely out of the bridge window. Her spotted tail danced back and forth curiously as she gazed out into the vast system. Sinclair cleared his throat and walked over to her. “Something on your mind, ma’am?” he prodded. Laura’s blonde bangs dangled precariously in front of her face, prompting her to brush them out of the way. “The infamy of this system precedes its beauty. It’s a shame really.” “People don’t tend to see beauty in something so dangerous.” “Perhaps not, but it is of no concern to us,” she said turning away from the window. “We don’t dabble in beauty I’m afraid.” She tightened the holster on her rifle and adjusted her beret. “So now what?” Sinclair began, “We just wait until the sun gives us an opening and hope for the best? I’m sure you’ve seen how well that’s turned out in the past.” “The core planet isn’t of interest as of right now,” she said flatly. Sinclair furrowed his brow. “What do you mean? That’s where McCloud is, correct?” Laura sighed and turned to face him. “We’re in position to take advantage of an opportunity objective.” “Opportunity objective? I-I don’t understand. The whole point of this little expedition was to assist Fox—” Laura raised her hand to silence him before speaking. “I did not lie to you; I simply did not tell you the whole truth. We will assist McCloud, but given that the outer planet is so near, we’re in position to complete a rather important task.” “And that is?” “The retrieval of a cache of information of a decrepit research spacecraft. It is the only known Cornerian vessel other than McCloud’s to have safely landed in the system at any point in time. The information recorded on those data banks is considered A-Class, and it must be retrieved.” Sinclair fidgeted in place. “But it doesn’t make any sense. Why didn’t you tell me about this from the get-go?” “There was no guarantee that the conditions of the system would have allowed for safe passage to the planet. In addition to that, we needed you on board with the program and we figured the appealing aspect of rescuing a national hero might do the trick and make you more cooperative, although it quickly became apparent that that wouldn’t be the case.” “Yeah well that national hero is still out there! McCloud’s last transmission was very urgent. We can’t ignore the fact that he and his team might be in serious danger!” “Actually, Boy Scout,” Shinji spoke from the side, operating one of the consoles, “according to Corneria’s gridded networks, I’m receiving numerous positive lifelines from within the Great Fox; it looks like his crew is doing fine.” “But for how long? Positive lifelines don’t mean ‘not in trouble.’” “Enough,” Laura spoke firmly. Sinclair’s ears instinctively flattened against his head. “Pepper hasn’t abandoned Fox and neither have we,” she spoke. “He’s a strong warrior, and he’s more than capable of handling a rough challenge. But this information could be vital in confirming or denying Andross’ presence in the system.” “Andross?” “That’s right. Communications with this vessel were lost but it wasn’t the result of equipment failure. The crew itself simply quit responding.” “And you think this is connected to him somehow?” “Precisely. We believe outside interference was involved. The crew had ample food supplies before departing, which rules out starvation, and the ship’s information systems were still active for quite some time, ruling out an explosion or other instant kill factor. Normally we would retrieve this information remotely and safely from our networks on Corneria, but the data banks were locked down from within the ship approximately six hours after the initial data broadcast on their third day on the planet; the crew had stopped answering to us half an hour prior.” Sinclair gritted his teeth and looked down. “And that’s why you need me.” “Correct,” she nodded. “I’m told you have superior knowledge with digital safecracking and the like.” “Well, yeah I suppose,” he replied uneasily. “Uh—guys? I hate to be the party pooper here but if we don’t get a move on, we’re gonna miss our window of opportunity. We’re on a crazy short clock right now,” Mojave pointed out. “She’s right, Ma’am,” Hammer confirmed. “According to our celestial charts, the star will be intersecting our intended path soon. We need to get going.” “Alright, set pre-orbital thrusters at max for nine hundred seconds,” Laura hollered to her team. She sat in the captain’s chair and let her spotted tail slip through the gap in the back. With a flick of her wrist she brought up a display console that quickly analyzed the surrounding area. As she plotted their course of travel, something caught her eye. “Mojave, I need you on the port side turret. We’ve got something headed our way.” Without a word, the husky maneuvered her slender body into the seat of the turret. She adjusted the screening and zoomed in closely at the area of space in question. “Asteroids! We got asteroids coming in hot!” Without waiting for approval, Mojave disengaged the turret’s safety and immediately began blasting the rocks with bright blots of plasma. One after another the rocks exploded into tinier pieces and to dust from there. “There’s too many here! I can’t get ‘em all!” “Shinji, get us moving!” Laura commanded. “Right! Maddie, Boxcars, disengage hyperspace mechanisms and get those thrusters burning! Hammer, you’re on starboard side turret duty. Sinclair, get ready to set us into orbit once we’ve cleared the danger zone.” “Got it.” Maddie replied softly but with a surefire heart. Boxcars nodded. Hammer and Sinclair didn’t reply but instead immediately set out to their designated areas. Shinji took the pilot’s seat and was guiding the ship the instant the thrusters kicked in. “More rocks coming in from the right!” Hammer shouted. The two White Gloves continued fending off the onslaught of asteroids as their pilot steered the ship to the best of his ability. By now the ship’s automated defense cannons had begun to fire weak, sporadic shots into the mix. “Keep it steady!” Mojave exclaimed through the chaos. “Trying my damndest here! Where the hell are all these rocks coming from anyway?” “Doesn’t matter,” the husky’s voice rang out between muffled blasts, “if we don’t get out soon, we are most definitely going to die.” “We gave up helping McCloud for this?” Sinclair managed to say as he stabilized his body against one of the many consoles on the bridge. The groans of the ship’s hull sung throughout the room as blazing rocks that managed to escape the hail of turretfire skid violently across its surface. Laura removed herself from her seat and hastily joined Shinji at the ship’s controls. “We didn’t give up on him. I trust in Fox’s abilities and you should do the same. His successful entry into the core planet gives us the once in a lifetime opportunity to cover both planets at once. We need this intelligence. If Andross is in this system and he goes unchecked, he could end up completely taking over Lylat.” Another asteroid clipped the ship. Sinclair was nearly tossed from his feet as his lower body jutted into a nearby console. He violently coughed and regained his footing. “What’s with this ship? Don’t you guys have better automated asteroid defense systems onboard?” “No, just the turrets,” came Maddie’s breathily reply. “We had better ones but we had to sacrifice quite a bit—” “Guys! Less small talk, more getting this thing ready to break atmosphere! It’s gonna be too dangerous to stay in orbit,” Shinji yelled over his shoulder. “We’re gonna be going planetside right off the bat.” Laura’s nimble claws danced over the controls for the thrusters. She diverted power from the rear lighting of the ship and went to work disabling other unnecessary utilities. She squeezed every ounce of power into pushing the rickety ship through the barrage of rocks. Shinji worked beside her to steer the ship true, while the rest of the team did what they could to offer support to their struggling comrades. Mojave liked her chops and adjusted her angle to place in a few more shots. She was careful to mind the gun’s barrel temperature, lest she overheat it and cause the system to temporarily stop functioning. On the opposite side of the ship, Hammer was strategically placing shots into groups of asteroids in an attempt to eliminate dense clusters at once. “Yah haha!” He charged a plasma shot and sent it down range. The searing heat from the blast vaporized the cosmic missile into little more than space dust. He swiveled the gun a few degrees to the left and fired off two bolts in quick succession, scoring two more direct hits. He refrained from firing for a few seconds, letting the auto cannons fill in the gap, and quickly resumed once he was confident the weapon had had enough of a break. The planet was rapidly approaching, but so too were the asteroids. They increased in number and speed and what were once tiny “tinks” became significantly more frightening “thuds.” Within several seconds, the planet completely engulfed the view of the bridge, prompting the onboard computer to quickly process the conditions of the atmosphere and to display a red dotted line for the current path of travel. Laura zeroed in on her target with an intense stare. “The path is up. Activate the blast shields on my mark. “Three.” The carnivorous cannonfire roared throughout the confines of the metallic bridge. “Two.” The rapid shivering of the vessel had transferred to Sinclair’s frame. He could feel his teeth rattle inside his skull. “One.” A brilliant menagerie of gold and yellow colors began to engulf the front of the bridge window. Within seconds the view became obscured and all that remained was an extraordinary twist of flame and light. “Mark!” Boxcars reached for a reach lever on the wall and yanked it down. Two metallic panes quickly extended from the exterior of the bridge window. It only took a moment for the set of panels to clash together in the center. Bolts on the inter-framework of the left pane hissed, allowing passage for the locking pins of the right panes to fit securely into place. With a final twist, the locking mechanism whined and then ceased to make noise altogether. The closing of the blast shields had prompted Laura to open the Exterior Surveillance System uplink on the front of the hull. The interior of the window was replaced by a static-filled holographic screen that roughly displayed the current path of the ship. Unfortunately for the team, the incessant weapon fire coupled with both the assault of the asteroids and the heat of entry meant that what did come into view was choppy and nearly lost amongst the cloud of static. Sinclair clambered down into a nearby seat and his teammates followed suit. Hammer and Mojave we’re forced to give up their fight against the asteroids and brace themselves in the gunners’ seats. Drops of sweat meandered down the bridge of the coyote’s nose as the violent shaking of the ship grew increasingly intense. He curled his hands around the armrests, causing his nails to repeatedly tap against the cold metal. To his right, Sinclair watched Maddie and Boxcars secure their bodies with harnesses attached to the wall seats. The sniper kept a brave face on despite her meager appearance; however, the adjacent figure in black was completely cloaked by his outfit, giving him a listless and empty stare that remained concealed by his thick helmet and the reflective red lenses of his angular gas mask. Sinclair’s fascination with the soldier was broken as the ship lurched forward. Shinji grunted as he and his commanding officer worked in harmonious unison to guide the ship toward the icy surface of the planet. The barrage of asteroids had come to a halt, leaving the sole challenge of successfully piloting the spacecraft to the surface. Despite the blast shields being in effect, the sound of the older model spacecraft fighting the urge to break apart haunted the ears of all who sat in her metallic bridge. The fiery shout of the planet’s atmosphere curled dangerously around the hull, coating it in a thick blanket of red and orange. Sinclair could only sit and endure the force pushing brutally against his chest. Warning alarms blared loudly in a cacophony of praise of the team’s commendable yet futile attempt to escape the hazards that had so suddenly fallen upon them. The entire vessel was soon swallowed up by the dense frigid clouds of the pale sky. “Guys, I’ve been captured by the locals here; I’m being held in some kind of prison. Listen, no matter what, I want you to stay in the Great Fox. I made a stupid mistake and they might label you as hostile. I’m going to try to get in contact with their commander and try to convince him that we’re not enemies, although, I’m not sure busting out of jail is really going to help my cause. Regardless I want you guys to do what you can to start repairs on our ship. With any luck, we’ll get out of here in one piece. Fox out.” It hadn’t been the first time that message had rung throughout the ship, and if the anxious expression on Krystal’s face was any indicator, it wouldn’t be the last. Her blue tail swished lively back and forth. Her sharp nails clinked lightly against the armrest of her chair, prompting Peppy to walk over by her side and place an old hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’s doing fine.” The vixen let out a sigh and shook her head. “It was foolish of me to let him go alone. I should have stopped him here on the ship.” Peppy couldn’t help but chuckle as he sat down on the floor next to Krystal’s chair. “What’s so funny?” Krystal asked. She was genuinely curious, but given the nature of her mood the words left her lips in a slightly harsher tone than she wanted. “Do you know what one of the first things Fox said was when he set foot on Sauria?” Krystal shook her head. “Pepper had contacted Fox about his mission objective and some of the first words out of his mouth were ‘but why couldn’t I bring my blaster with me?’” Krystal put her hand to her mouth and giggled lightly. “That certainly sounds like something he would say.” She could mentally picture Fox pouting like a kit while the general shook his finger back and forth disapprovingly. Peppy smirked and adjusted himself. “Fox has bravado that few can match. He’ll dive head first into whatever he has to, so long has he thinks some good will come of it. But that can make him reckless at times. He’s still young in the head, so to speak. But if there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that he wouldn’t leave his crew behind.” The vixen was silent as she absorbed the hare’s words. It was remarkable how well Peppy played the role of the wise old mentor. Fox would sometimes spend hours telling her of the rabbit’s accomplishments, much to his chagrin. “I—I just wish I could know for certain that he was safe. I could at least rest a little easier then.” Peppy scratched his hairy chin in deep thought for a moment. “Do you think you could reach him with your telepathy?” “I could try again but I didn’t get anything last time I did.” “Why don’t you give it another go?” Krystal nodded and closed her eyes. She brought her hands together and inhaled deeply. “Madt khudjvoh, Fox McCloud!” Krystal allowed her mental energy to disperse around her. She immediately let out a small whine, having felt the effects of fatigue catching up with her. Nevertheless, she powered through the pain. Her telepathic mind began searching for Fox in the immediate area around the ship, then into the nearby forest, and finally as far as the nearest town. As she tried to push beyond the town, her strength quickly depressed, obfuscating anything further. With a final gasp, Krystal’s mind returned unto itself. She placed her hand on her forehead and grunted, slumping down in her seat. “I can’t. I’m too exhausted,” she panted. She closed her eyes and started rubbing her head. “I-I just need to rest. Just for a bit.” Peppy sighed and hoisted himself up from his spot on the floor. The old hare pushed his glasses up and glanced down to his left. Krystal had already placed her head on the palm of her hand and begun dozing off. Her eyelids fluttered momentarily before finally sealing themselves down, only to shoot open again at the sound of a masculine voice thinly cloaked in static. “Is anyone there?” Krystal fumbled with the receiver for only a moment before she locked onto his signal. “Yes, Fox! We’re here! Thank goodness you’re alright.” Rather than acknowledge Krystal’s immediate concern for his safety, Fox spoke in an edgy voice. “Guys, I think I have some bad news.”