Star Fox: TNG CH 2

[Showtime 1-1]

Silver's RWR lit up again, warning him of the Wolfen's charging shot. He hadn't really expected to lose him in those asteroids, that trick rarely worked on pilots as good at this guy. However, now they were out in the open, heading back towards the battle, and Silver knew that a charging shot meant reduced engine power for a Wolfen.

With a quick motion, he pushed the throttle forward, inboard past the stop, and then full forward.

The StarCat catapulted towards the Great Fox and the frigate, accelerating as only an SF-214 could. Silver fired four rounds from the big Landmaster-type cannon at the Great Fox, but flashed past his target before he saw if they hit or not. He didn't even have time to look for his teammates, but he trusted that they were still in one piece. His RWR was silent, so either the Wolfen hadn't fired, or the shot had been lost in the fray behind him.

Once clear of the far side of the battle, he pulled into a gentle turn to make sure he had lost the Wolfen for good. Once again, he was surprised. Outside of cannon range, but nonetheless still there, was Odin's Wolfen, boosting hard to catch up.

(I'll let you guys decide what happened to those four shots.)

***

Atilla noticed that he was locked on to by his target, but instead of breaking off, continued full-bore towards a head-on collision. His ship was peppered with laser fire as the Starchaser's guns opened up, but he held his charged shot for the ideal moment.

Silently, for a change, Cliff followed in behind Atilla. He too was charging a shot, ready to spring the trap on the Starchaser.

[Guest Mr. Mario]

'Come on buddy, don't do this to me...I fixed you long enough...now work!!' Rick was hoping his ship would be able to leave the hanger bay and get out in space and engage in some air combat...despite the long work he did on his ship, the ship suddenly hovered down slowly and then stopped working. For some reason, the ship seemed to be out of power to operate.

'What?!? I've worked on you for so long and this is all I get?!' Rick was angry, stomping his foot in the ship. Then the engine began to start up again and then the ship slowly hovered above the ground.

'Finally....about time this thing work.' He thought while keeping his hands on the control sticks and focusing on what lied ahead of him. He left the hanger bay and then carefully flied his ship, looking for some eneimes to destroy.

'Now where could they be...a surprise attack planning maybe?' He wondered.

[Tiberius]

One of the shots from Silver toward the Great Fox hit the shield array, which overloaded it. The other 3 hit the main core, throwing its proportions off and is now causing a core breach. The ship had an unavoidable time bomb set for five minutes.

[Kursed]

As Atilla and Cliff came into missile range of Krystal's fighter she let loose another spray of laser fire before firing  8 missiles splitting off into groups of 4 after each fighter. Krystal then pulled straight up to avoid ramming into the two fighters leaving the missles to do their job.

[FoxMcCloud]

(do we want the ship to explode, or do you want the ship to eject the engine core?)

Fox turned to the great fox to see that it was damaged and badly. Suddenly lights in his console flashed stating that the ship had only mere minutes before exploding. An immense feeling of sadness/and anger overwelmed him. He couldn't lose the only thing he had left of his history, and family. "I could eject the core" He said to himself, but he did not know if he had the time, or if it would work

[Tiberius]

(we're blowing it up. Imagine, its unavoidable)

[Asper Sarnoff]

Odin watched horrified as he saw cracks appear along the hull of the Great Fox, some bursting with flames as the oxygen-rich innards of the ship was ravaged by explosions. There could be no doubt about it, she was fatally wounded. Passing over it after the Starcat, he noticed the ship slowly starting to bank to its starboard side, like a dying animal.

He once again fixated onto his opponent, now responsible for the imminent destruction of what had become like a home to him. He growled silently as he raced after him, hellbent on getting within range and bringind him down.

It was then he caught something in the corner of his eye. The Arwings of Fox and Tiberius, engaged in a vicious dogfight with another Wolfen. One he recognised. Freya. A spread of lasers strafed her fighter as she was trying to dance trough the hailstorm let loose by father and son McCloud.

Odin looked back at the gleam from the Starcats ion engines, then back at the dogfight involving the woman he loved.

It took him a split second to make a decision. Pulling both controll sticks down to the side, he rolled into a dive towards the three fighters.

Despite her best efforts, the two Arwings on Freya's tail would not be shaken. For every time she managed to trick one into loosing her, the other one still kept a deadly lock on her, keeping her occupied until the first could join up again. Her shield power was dropping rapidly, only a trickle above zero now.

Her RWR lighted up again, signaling one of her pursuers had locked onto her with a charged laser. Instinctively, she rolled over, benching into a sharp turn, for the moment loosing one of the Arwings at her tail. The red light from her RWR however proved it wasn't the one preparing to deliver the death blow.

This was it... This was how she would die...

Then, the flash as the charge was let loose, and the violent shaking as it struck home. She closed her eyes for a moment, only to open them in confusion a split second after. Her ship was still intact, her shield still reading active, albeit low.

It was when she cast a glance over he shoulder she realised what had happened, eyeing among the two Arwings the barely moving, battered frame of another Wolfen. The Dragon. Odin had dived in between them as the charge was let loose, his healthy shield absorbing most of the blow, just to the point where it crippled his ship instead of destroying it.

(Showtime, the fighter is still running, barely. So if you're still up for that ending we talked about, feel free to go for it.)

[Fira-Astrali]

Odin watched horrified as he saw cracks appear along the hull of the Great Fox, some bursting with flames as the oxygen-rich innards of the ship was ravaged by explosions. There could be no doubt about it, she was fatally wounded. Passing over it after the Starcat, he noticed the ship slowly starting to bank to its starboard side, like a dying animal.

He once again fixated onto his opponent, now responsible for the imminent destruction of what had become like a home to him. He growled silently as he raced after him, hellbent on getting within range and bringind him down.

It was then he caught something in the corner of his eye. The Arwings of Fox and Tiberius, engaged in a vicious dogfight with another Wolfen. One he recognised. Freya. A spread of lasers strafed her fighter as she was trying to dance trough the hailstorm let loose by father and son McCloud.

Odin looked back at the gleam from the Starcats ion engines, then back at the dogfight involving the woman he loved.

It took him a split second to make a decision. Pulling both controll sticks down to the side, he rolled into a dive towards the three fighters.

Despite her best efforts, the two Arwings on Freya's tail would not be shaken. For every time she managed to trick one into loosing her, the other one still kept a deadly lock on her, keeping her occupied until the first could join up again. Her shield power was dropping rapidly, only a trickle above zero now.

Her RWR lighted up again, signaling one of her pursuers had locked onto her with a charged laser. Instinctively, she rolled over, benching into a sharp turn, for the moment loosing one of the Arwings at her tail. The red light from her RWR however proved it wasn't the one preparing to deliver the death blow.

This was it... This was how she would die...

Then, the flash as the charge was let loose, and the violent shaking as it struck home. She closed her eyes for a moment, only to open them in confusion a split second after. Her ship was still intact, her shield still reading active, albeit low.

It was when she cast a glance over he shoulder she realised what had happened, eyeing among the two Arwings the barely moving, battered frame of another Wolfen. The Dragon. Odin had dived in between them as the charge was let loose, his healthy shield absorbing most of the blow, just to the point where it crippled his ship instead of destroying it.

(Showtime, the fighter is still running, barely. So if you're still up for that ending we talked about, feel free to go for it.)

Freya watched in awe as Odin's crippled Wolfen hung in space. The two arwings had broken off for a moment, and the thought of them was completely gone from her mind. He had saved her life at what could have been the cost of his own, her mind could barely wrap itself around the idea. She could see into his cockpit as he shook his head clear of the blow he had just sustained. She wanted to do or say something, but nothing came to her mouth. He seemed to regain himself and looked around, his eyes connecting with Freya's. There was a moment of relief on his face to see she was okay, but in an instant it was washed away by a look that said "are you insane!?" and he frantically waved her off. She nodded and took off like a shot before Tiberius or Fox could fall on her again, looking to pilot her ship out to a safe range before deciding her next move.

Dammit Freya, pull yourself together. You're in a battle zone, you can loose your head over a boy later

With her team pretty beat up and the Great Fox going down in flames, she thought that maybe now was a good time to pull out. Problem was, she also knew Silver had other plans.

"Starwolf, I think we've sent our message to Starfox, it's time to go. Whatever scrapping you've gotten into, make it quick," she ordered over private comm. Then she sent another message to only one ship, much more highly encrypted than the first one. "Thanks, for... saving my life... I don't know what else to say."

[Tiberius]

The Great Fox's core was still breaching, only 4 minutes left.

(GET YOUR STUFF AND CHARACTERS OUT OF THERE!!! The blast will take out the frigate too! Newsflash! Core Breach! Big boom!)

[Guest Mr. Mario]

Rick was piloting his ship in space to find some enemy ships to take down. When he turned to the left side, his ship was blaring with a computer voice repeating WARNING, MISSLE APPROACHING. WARNING, MISSLE APPROACHING.

'Oh crap...that is how I got myself taken down last time, now I gotta avoid it quick!!' He thought. The missle behind his ship was getting closer to it, so he quickly performed a loop (SF style.) and saw the missle go staight ahead of him. The missle did not turn back whatsoever...

'Whew, that was a close one...' He thought.

WARNING, ENEMY SHIP APPROACHING. WARNING, ENEMY SHIP APPROACHING. The computer voice repeated.

Rick quickly pressed the boost button to make his ship speed up for a limited amount of time so he could get away from the enemy...unforuntaly, the enemy ship was still behind him and started to fire lasers.

'Great...now I gotta do this again.'  He though while performing another loop to become from the hunted into the hunter. He started to fire lasers at the ship and watched perform a U-turn.

[Showtime 1-1]

(Asper, I think the fight is over here. We'll have to finish this another time )

Silver saw the Wolfen that was chasing him break off and turn tail, but he couldn't figure out why. He took stock of his remaining fuel and ammo, and turned back towards the Great Fox. Just as he got in visual range, he saw that it wasn't going to be in one piece for much longer.

must have already been really damaged... I guess I didn't need those Predators after all...

He had mixed feelings; mission was accomplished, but he remembered the time he had spent working alongside Starfox in the past...

oh well, he concluded. Live and let die...

Suddenly, he heard Freya's voice over the unicom. She sounded exhausted, and a little upset. Normal for during a battle, but Silver still found it strange coming from Freya.

After she finished, he added, "The Great Fox is going out with a bang- I say we get as far away as possible. Freya, I'm forming up."

He pulled the throttles back, ensured that the G-diffusers were still off, and angled to join up with Star Wolf's battered leader.

***

"Cliff! Fire!"

Cliff let go of his charged shot as the Starchaser rolled to avoid Atilla's ship. Krystal didn't see it coming until too late, and it found it's target head-on.

Just as the shot struck the Starchaser, Krystal's missiles slammed into both Atilla and Cliff's ships.

"Come on! Hold together!" Atilla yelled at both his ship and himself as the Hornets decimated his remaining shields and tore into the wings and body.

Cliff's shields took most of the hit, but the last missile still made it through and tore into his left wing, leaving a gaping hole bordered with jagged metal. It had missed a fuel cell by inches.

"Atilla, you still all together?" Cliff asked.

"Barely," Atilla answered. "I'll make it home as long as I head off right now. No more fighting for me."

"Got it. I've taken some hits too, but I'll cover you."

Just then, they got Freya's message to break off, and Silver's warning about the Great Fox.

"Got it."

"We're joining up on you now. Let's blow this lollipop stand."

"...that's 'Popsicle stand', Cliff."

"Yeah, whatever."

[Kursed]

krystal had pulled off but didn't realize Cliff had shot at her suddenly the Starchaser Rocked violently "FOX!!!" She yelled out in fear as the Starchaser slowed down Cliff's shot had hit a critical spot on the engine that had not been repaired recently her ship was now a slow turtle with almost no power.

[FoxMcCloud]

Fox knew there was no time. He hit the team comm line and messaged out on a yell "Everyone get the hell out of here, that ship is going to blow and we need to get away now!!" There was no time, the ship was done, and Fox did all he could to keep from breaking down. He was going to lose his home, everything that him and his family had worked for. He heard Krystal screaming for him. He 180'd his ship, and prepared a charged shot and everything he had. "Now your after her, you attack my family, destroy our home." All of his anger shifted into his hands that gripped the controls and punched it for Cliff and achieved a successful lock" try avoiding this!!"  he said as he fired lasers. He noted that they were pulling out and he wanted to chase them, but he had his family to get to first

[Kursed]

'Fox let it go.' Krystal thought to Fox as she headed to the frigate for repairs.

'Let it go dad they've had enough for one day' Kari thought to her father hopeing he'd recive the telepathic message as she flew to the  frigate for repairs.

[FoxMcCloud]

"Yeah, let's get out of here before we lose everything. " he responded to them both as he set his ship away from the Great Fox.

"What are we gonna do about the Frigate?" He asked "Can Serena get it away from the Ship in time?" he noted

[Tiberius]

Just as the last people got off, the Great Fox hull started to buckle as the core blew it up like a balloon being blown to much air. Memories, photos, clothes, all of the old team was lost in the explosion as it vaporized.

On Fichina, Captain Bill Grey was informed of a fire fight and a large explosion. He got a team together and headed for the area.

(battle over. Asper, this part of the story arc is at your command)

[Showtime 1-1]

"Cliff! Look out!"

Atilla's warning was a little too late. Cliff just barely saw the shot coming before it slammed into his right side, knocking all the port flight controls out of commission and reducing available engine power.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Cliff thundered, enraged that he had been hit from behind after pulling out of the battle. He tried to turn and find whoever shot him, but his controls were so sluggish that he hardly turned at all.

"DAMMIT, DAMMIT, DAMMIT!!!!"

"Cliff, calm down," Atilla started, looking over to see the big fox thrashing with anger in his cockpit.

"DON'T YOU TELL ME TO-"

Cliff was interrupted by Silver on the unicom.

"Cliff, let it go. That was your uncle who hit you. Keep in mind that we just destroyed his lifetime home."

That seemed to shut him up.

The three teammates were now joining up on their leader. All of their ships showed the scars of battle, but they all were still flying.

Silver brought his radar back up.

"Freya," He continued, "We have several contacts inbound from Fichina. Probably bad news. Let's get out of here."

He turned to look at Cliff and Atilla's ships.

"You guys still good for hyperspace? Atilla, you're almost missing a wing."

Atilla looked over his systems. "Yeah, but just barely. My thrusters are all more or less good."

"How about you, Cliff?"

Cliff remained quiet. His ship was heavily damaged too, but still good for hyperspace.

Silver waited a moment, then continued. "Silence is compliance," he concluded. "Freya, move us out when you're ready."

[Kursed]

Krystal arrived onto the Frigate just as the great fox exploded her ship came into a rough landing due to the engine damage the sub-space drive too damaged for her to chase after star wolf. Turning around in her chair once the starchaser had shut down she looked out the forcefield that seprated space from breathable air. Thinking about what had been lost on the great fox thankfully her staff, serena and a few unreplacable things she had stowed away in her room on the frigate by now, but she wasn't sure of everyone else. Taking a small card of some sort she put it into a slot below the monitor on her fighter looking through pictures of her past that she had saved on the card. This was now all she had left of the any memories left now that the Ranch and Great fox were gone, although her staff held some memories she had lost a lot in the great fox. She came across a picture of the late James Mccloud. "If you were here ,James i wonder what you would say to me and Fox..." She sighed opening a channel to Fox. "Fox if you can find anything still together that's worth it out there bring it in." The Blue Vixen sighed hopeing that something had survived a jewel chest or some sort of box that held something special.

Kari could sense the heaviness in the air as her damaged Arwing landed with a loud thud in the frigate she sat there hand folded togetther on her lap as she thought about everything she had just lost. unlike her mother she hadn't prepared for this at all she wasn't sure if they'd ever get back the Ranch. Starting to silently cry as she remembered the memories which were now lost  she laid back in her chair.

Alex was at lost for words her muzzle hung low as she too felt the sorrow of her teamates although the most recent member of the team she had alot of memories on the great Fox as well.

[Guest Mr. Mario]

'What the...oh no...how could that happen?' Rick was shocked when he heared and saw the explosion of the Great Fox ship. He could only imagine what some kind of enemy would place a bomb on that ship and get away with it, he wasn't warned about the bomb at all. Though he didn't have any precious belongings or anybody that he knew and wished to spend more time with, it was sad to see the mothership explode.

'If only I knew sooner about that explosion...now where can we stay and sleep?' He thought while staring at the pieces of the ships that were floating around in space. It was simply quite unforgivable...

[Tiberius]

The shock from the situation came to Ti as his ship was hit by the blast, rocking a bit from, he regained control. Looking at the remanence of the great fire that was a ship, a wave of fear just came over him. He was in way over his head. He turned back towards the frigate and landed inside the main hanger, heading straight to his room, sitting on the bed.

[Scott7]

The Explosion Could even be felt from the inside of the Frigate, The Rumble caused by the blast's force had actually Knocked Sarah off of her feet while she was working her way to the hanger and fell face first onto the floor. It had also easily startled Anne while asleep, Both in bed quickly rose up wondering what the hell had just happened and if they should get up... Anne Just simply held onto his arm as Scott tried to think....

Na-sheen was still in the hanger at the time, but her reaction was just a simple tilt of the head as she rested against the side of her old fighter. only looking out of the Feild and in the Direction of where the Greatfox once was...

[FoxMcCloud]

Fox watched in horror of his home being destroyed. He felt anger, he felt sadness, he was lost for a bit, but he knew that he could not let his emotions get the best of him. He heard the message that Krystal sent him, and he searched the debris to see if he could find anything, but he knew the blast would have scattered any remaining things. As he scanned the remainder of the debris, he saw a twinkle. "No....." He said to himself as he pushed his arwing closer to the debris. He saw a box, what looked to be Krystal's Jewelry, and a 2 pictures that were joined onto one frame. "Well I'll be......" He said with a chuckle. He hit a button on a console which opened a compartment door, he maneuvered the floating debris into his arwing and headed back to the Frigate.

In his left hand He carried the Frame which carried the Picture of James McCloud, and the Fox Family below, containing Krystal, Fox, Ti, Kari and the others. In his right. Krystal's prized Jewelry box. He made his way to Krystal's room, as he set the Items on the bed next to her, "this was all I could find........." he said with a somber tone as he lowered his ears and pushed his hands into his face, trying to hide at least some of his sadness

[Asper Sarnoff]

(battle over. Asper, this part of the story arc is at your command)

(Okay. I'll see what I can cook up. Starfox definitively needs some R&R however, while the frigate is patched together and outfitted to become the new mothership. Speaking of which, you'll have to come up with a good name for it till it's launched back into space. I've allready got some plans for Odin, and I'll throw out some further ideas in the discussion thread to spark everyones creative cells.)

Odin watched expressionless at Starwolf's ships as they lined up for the jump back to safety. Goodbye, Freya...

Tearing away his gaze from the gleams left by the engines as they streaked away and disappeared, he focused on the wreckage of the Great Fox. It all happened less dramatic than he had expected, but that only contributed to the overwhelming feeling of sorrow and desperation as it continued to crack open and splinter. Then, the core ruptured. A blinding flash burned trough the canopy, like the birth of a new sun happening right before them. Odin growled with suppressed anger as he shielded his eyes with the back of his hand, letting it drop down as the light went out again almost immediately again. The Great Fox, was no more.

The few large parts of wreckage remaining was slowly starting to drift towards Fichinia, drawn in by the planets gravity.

It had all happened so fast. While he knew he should, he expressed no joy as it became clear that all members of the team and their guests were miraculously unharmed. Partly because he knew it all could have been avoided. If he had just managed to take out that guy in the Starcat...

Regaining his determination, he started to run a scan of his fighters system, seeing if he could bring it back on-line again. As he worked, he swore that next time he and the other pilot meet, it would be the others time to bite the dust.

After some tense minutes of hard working, he managed to fire the engine back up again, and started to slowly take the Dragon down for landing in the frigates open main hangar. He were unsure what the team would think of him now. They didn't know anything about what had made him throw himself in as a shield for Starwolf's leader, he was sure of that. And neither would they as long as he stayed focused and didn't let his guard down again. He'd have to come up with a suitable excuse.

Carefully manipulating the controls of the unstable and battered Wolfen, he managed to put it down in the hangar, a little away from the main opening. It wouldn't be flightworthy again anytime soon. No reason to hinder those who were. He sighed loudly as he reached down and pulled the canopy release lever, having to push against it with his feet to force it up on its bent hinges. "You did good baby. It was I who failed you this time." He mumbled, patting the hull of the fighter before he got up from his seat and jumped down to the hangar floor. He took a look around before he silently started to make his way towards the bridge. He had messed things up for the team. Better put his back in it to get things back on track.

[Kursed]

Alex walked into the Hanger a PDA in one hand and a Stylus in the other. Passing By Odin she asked "can you tell me what your fighter will need or shall i just have Serena run a diagnostic on the Dragon?"The Hybrid asked dully.

Krystal was still looking through pictures in her starchaser not paying any attention to what was going on outside the sealed Cockpit.

Kari wasn't doing much better as her body was slumped towards teh front of her cockpit almost as if she were a corpse in a dead fighter.

[Tiberius]

Tiberius had his room door wide opened. He needed someone to talk to as his mind blanked out entirely. He kept himself closed in at the far corner of his bed.