Bastion

The Great Fox lumbered through space. Only a few hours had passed since Corneria had come under fire and forced a complete military retreat under the iron fist of this new enemy. The dreadnaught had formed up with another Cornerian battle-group, the formation was now making it's way to a planet in the outer rim of the Lylat System, one that wasn't known to very many. Only handful of Corneria's highest ranking officers knew about, and the amount to have seen and been within a million kilometers could be counted on one finger. That was all about to change.

Fox and Krystal both still had the kiss in their minds, causing each of them to blush whenever they looked at each other. Everybody on the bridge could tell what had happened simply by being near them. Falco wouldn't let either of them forget that he would never let them live this down. Slippy was calibrating the computers in the bridge along with ROB. Wolf and his apparent girlfriend gazed out the bridge windows. Leon remained quiet, as if plotting his next sinister move, and Panther, the blackish purple feline would sometimes gaze over at Krystal, immediately turning away if she looked at him.

Fox didn't like the way Panther did this, and he wouldn't hesitate to protect Krystal if the feline made a move. He turned to Slippy, tapping the toad on the shoulder to get his attention. "Are the Arwings and Wolfens unlocked?" Slippy nodded. "Of course, I always keep the hanger open in case of emergency". Fox nodded, laying his hand on the engineers shoulder for an instant to let the toad go back to work. "Alright, stay ready to move to your ships in case anything happens. I don't wanna get caught off guard." The other pilots all nodded at him, indicating they would be ready at a moments notice.

Fox heard a pinging noise and turned to see a giant envelope on the bridge screens, a message waiting for them. It blinked red, citing a high priority message encased inside. Fox tapped a few buttons on the console, the message opening. General Pepper's face appeared. "Fox, I hear you've joined up with the 13th Cornerian Battle-group It's one of our elite formations. I also come to understand you're working with Star Wolf and have saved a Cornerian Tank. Good job, Fox. I'm relaying the coordinates to the rendezvous point now. I hope to see you soon. Pepper out"

The hounds face disappeared, replaced by a star chart that ROB quickly began deciphering and converting into the correct coordinates. The coordinates were then sent to each ship in the battle-group. Even if they hadn't been an elite unit, they would have been more than a match should an enemy fleet show up. The battle-group consisted of eight destroyers, eight light cruisers, six heavy cruisers, a battleship, an aircraft carrier, and the new flagship, The Great Fox.

Fox knew, however, they should avoid any fleet engagements, they needed every ship they had at full strength if they intended to mount a counter attack. ROB broke Fox's train of thought with a grating monotone. "Fox. I have received and plotted our course. However, there is no known planet located there. Should I recheck the coordinates?" Fox's brow furrowed in thought. How could ROB be wrong? "Go ahead, try again." The results ended the same, prompting Fox to grab the communicator, but as he wrapped a gloved hand around it, he bridge doors opened, and Damon entered.

"The coordinates are correct. ROB, plot the course and go, synchronize with the battle-group and prepare to jump." The robot hesitated for a moment, processing this, and finally sent the orders through, resulting in the fleet tearing a hole through space and disappearing into the abyss.

A few moments passed as Fox stared at the officer. "Only a handful of Corneria's top brass know about the planet, myself being one of them. There's a reason the planet isn't seen on any star chart. It's because it was to a fall back area in case Corneria either ran out of resources or the planet was taken over. Military satellites encircle the planet, and fallout bunkers are located under the oceans. The continents are covered in lush vegetation, and in certain places, we have built air fields, navy bases, and military depots. Our arrival time will be four hours judging by our current location."

The people on the bridge were speechless, each of them wondering how he was able to get specifics on the planet that didn't exist. Damon looked around, studying their faces and seeing everything they were thinking by pure facial expression. The mouths slightly open, the pupils dilated, and the ears twitching all betrayed their awe. He smiled a bit, visible only due to the corner of his mouth curling up by a few centimeters.

The Colonel nodded at everybody and turned on his heel, leaving the bridge with the amused quirk of a grin still on his face. The moment the bulkhead closed, every person in the room looked at each other, clearly not knowing what to think of it. Krystal spoke up, her accent seeping through. "Alright, we have four hours to kill. Let's do something to get ready for planet fall."

Everybody nodded as Slippy went to ROB, beginning to rewire him for more optimal war-time operations. Wolf and the rest of the Star Wolf team left and made their way to the hangar to check the Wolfens, Falco leaving with them to tune his own Arwing. Fox and Krystal looked at each other and blushed, each of them looking away almost immediately as they made eye contact.

Krystal, her blush showing through as a purple tint on her sapphire furred cheeks, her tail twitching back and forth in embarrassment. ROB, from under Slippy's wrench, decided it would be a good idea to pipe in. "I sense tension in the room building. Is everything all right, Fox? Is everything all right, Krystal?" The two fox's turned and glared at the navigation robot. "No!" they both yelled, each of them turning as they noticed the other had said the same thing, blushing even more and turning away yet again.

Krystal started to stutter slightly and quickly left the bridge, already heading for her private quarters. Fox's cheeks continued to burn still hotter as the time went by, causing him to sit there, red in the face in the wake of Krystal's leaving.

Slippy turned and looked at his childhood friend. "Something wrong Fox?" he asked, a chuckle escaping and mixing with his question. Fox shook his head and stood, stuttering something about going to get ready for their arrival as he quickly left the room, Slippy's laughter erupting after the bulkhead sealed, leaving Fox to listen to the laughter fade away as he traversed the gray halls of the flagship.

As he made his way further into the heart of the Great Fox, he could hear only the sounds of his footsteps thudding against the steel floors, and his heart pounding softly in his chest. It didn't take long for him to reach his quarters. He pressed a gloved hand against the scanner, the door sliding open without a sound.

The vulpine took the few steps into his room, flopping onto his bed and sighing into the blankets so he could think about the day's events. Corneria was under siege, the military had evacuated and was retreating across the Lylat System in the face of an enemy they knew nothing about, and he had kissed the woman he had secretly been harboring a crush on since the day he had rescued her, almost a year before.

Fox sighed and rolled over. He needed a shower, and to get out of this ripped and charred uniform. He slowly and monotonously pulled the tattered uniform off and grabbed a towel from his closet, making his way to the bathroom. He stood in the bathroom, looking in the mirror as the shower heated up. The vulpine looked tired and disheveled, and he was.

As the water finally heated to his preferred setting, he stepped in, but just stood under the water, continuing to think. He didn't think long, however, as he knew four hours wasn't very long when you had your mind set on something. He quickly washed his fur and brushed his teeth and went to his closet, looking through his clothes.

He looked at his armor, the green and red jumpsuit looked dull and unappealing, but he grabbed it anyway, and began looking for ways to make it look better. He eventually found two crimson shouler pads, the left one holding a small silver Star Fox insignia on it. He equipped the jumpsuit and pads and grabbed the crimson boots that went with the pads. He knew it was missing something as he looked in the mirror, then it hit him.

Fox looked deep into his closet and grabbed an armored vest. It looked shiny and silver in the light of the interdimensional space the ship was traversing. As he slipped the vest over his armor, he knew it was perfect.

As he looked it over in the mirror, the lights flickered out for a moment. He looked out the window and saw stars twinkling...right next to a giant green and blue planet. He tilted his head and studied it, but the small ship-wide communicator in his room beeped, a message waiting for him. As he pressed the button, Slippy turned from the bridge controls and pointed to the bridge viewscreen. "We need you up here Fox, General Pepper needs you."

Fox nodded. "Got it, I'll be there in a moment." He closed the channel and dashed out of the room, pounding back down the hallway to the bridge, the bulkhead sliding open as he came within a certain distance Everybody was there, including the Cornerian tank crew, Star Wolf, and the group they had saved at the ball earlier.

The viewscreen held General Peppers face, waiting calmly for Fox to arrive, and the moment he did, the screen split and the planet below them showed up, data scrolling across that half of the screen. "This is Bastion, our fallback planet. We knew that one day, Corneria would be taken, so we spent decades preparing it. Hundreds of military bases are scattered over the planet. Military personnel from all over the galaxy are stationed here as part of a treaty signed many years ago, at the end of the lightning wars, one of the deadliest conflicts in our history. Whoever this new enemy is, they are prepared for a long war, but using capital grabbing tactics, they may be the same enemies from the lightning wars. We have also received word that Katina, Fortuna, Fichina, Venom, Zoness, Aquas, Macbeth, and Sectors X, Y, and Z have been overrun by his new enemy."

Fox listened intently to the General, and judging by the tension in the air, everybody else wanted to know exactly what was happening. "Until further information is gained, we will call this new enemy 'Serpentis', as our security teams managed to see scaled, winged creatures attacking the city. Serpentis, however, is only a generalization, and we have no further information than a name and a very faint appearance. Now, bring in the battle-group and all officers will be briefed on the plan of attack. Pepper out"

Fox turned to the crew as the message ended. "You guys heard the General, get ready, we'll be planet-side in a few minutes. ROB, get us down there to a docking position." The robot turned to the controls, silently setting to his task as the formation tilted toward the planet and the hulking steel warships dropped into the atmosphere, fire in their wakes as they started the first step of retaking their system: making a plan.