Defeat at Fortuna

[ArwingAce21]

Okay, a quick A/N before we get started. This is the first of my two main (read: finished) StarFox fanfics. As a quick overview for those unfamiliar with StarFox, this takes place during the events of StarFox 64 (Wikipedia it for thorough info). The level on planet Fortuna consists of the "Good" Mercenary team StarFox being called to assist Cornerian (good guys) forces defending the base on Cornerian-held Fortuna from the attacking Venomians (bad guys). I rearrange a few facts to make this fic work, but it makes sense.

I tell this story from StarWolf, the "bad guy" foil to StarFox, mainly from Wolf O'Donnell's perspective. Some of the people and vehicles will be unfamiliar, but try to remain unbiased.

One last note: All the "people" are anthropomorphic animals. Fox McCloud happens to be a Fox, Peppy Hare is a rabbit, Leon Powlaski is a Chameleon, Slippy Toad is a... (Had to use it!) Anyway, here's the first action:

Summary: Oneshot. Set in Star Fox 64-era Fortuna. Ever wondered just how the bomb got planted at the base on Fortuna? Here’s the story of the familiar battle as told from StafWolf’s perspective, mainly from Wolf O’Donnell.

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: I do not own StarFox, or any other related characters, vehicles, planets, or evil insane monkey dictators. By reading this, you forfeit all rights to sue me for anything related to the reading of this fic.

A/N: For those SF64 fans that notice I “disregarded” some aspects of the Fortuna mission, most notably the part about Fortuna being under Cornerian control to start with rather than Venomian control, I did it on purpose. Also, I know that Fortuna in SF64 is technically supposed to be Fichina due to a translation error. Because this is a take on the SF64 battle, I’m sticking to the SF64 names. It makes the story more interesting. Okay, enough jawin’. Let’s get to it!

---

Lylat System, Venom
Imperial Palace

“What!?! How could four simple ships single-handedly destroy our occupying forces on Corneria? I stationed two commanders there to maintain order and they both get torn apart like rag dolls in a hurricane!!”

‘The Emperor doesn’t like this,’ thought a one-eyed wolf to himself. The lupine was an imposing figure, tall and mean. Wolf O’Donnell was the leader of StarWolf, a mercenary squadron loyal to Venom. The Venomian forces had just been routed at Corneria by another mercenary squadron, Team StarFox. Wolf hated the leader of StarFox, Fox McCloud, with a burning passion that cannot be put into words, all because of an event long ago in both their pasts. But Wolf couldn’t dwell on his blood-lust now: he had a seething monkey in front of him that wanted answers, and wanted them now.

“Perhaps StarFox is more of a threat than they appear to be,” offered the wolf.

“Yes, I am sure of it,” the Emperor responded after a pause he needed to soothe his nerves. “The young McCloud is much like his father. A great pilot, brave, overcomes all odds…”

The Venomian dictator drifted deeply into thought. Wolf was quickly tiring of standing at attention, something he had to do in a formal situation like this. Wolf usually didn’t act like the member of a military force of his employer, but Andross paid well, and Wolf’s team needed the money. He broke the awkward silence by bringing up the subject that brought him here in the first place.

“Sir, in order for your plan to be successful, we must recapture Corneria. You asked us for our assistance. Just what is your plan, Emperor?”

Andross snapped back to the matter at hand, and immediately got down to business.

“We can assume that StarFox has moved to aid the embattled Cornerian Fleet currently engaged with one of our taskforces in the Sector Y nebula. That leaves the Meteo asteroid field and Fortuna, the main obstacles to Corneria on the other side of Lylat completely and utterly defenseless. Defenseless, that is, with the exception of the Cornerian Military Outpost and Observatory, abbreviated C-MOO in some circles, on the planet Fortuna. That cursed observatory reports our every action in all of the Cornerian-controlled section of Eastern Lylat. If we could capture it or, better yet, destroy it, then we would effectively open up a perfect route of attack directly into Corneria. I’ll leave the logistics of this particular mission up to you. Dismissed.”

---

Yeah, yeah, short post, I know. However, seeing as this is the only bit of prose in the Fanfic section, I can get away with it. Besides, I need a bit of time to get more fics written. Please read and Review! New update coming in no time!

[jeannerené]

If someone is familiar with StarFox, I would assume that most references would hold deeper meaning, however, I truly believe that one does not need to know a thing about StarFox (or other Fictional stories) to enjoy a good write.

I appreciate you explanation at the beginning, because is is always good to know who are the good guys and who are bad guys, but once established it is the story telling that catches my interest. I believe that this would lead into a very interesting story that anyone can enjoy.

You write very well Ace, and I was simply enjoying the action, descriptions and the characterizations. It is quite obvious that you take considerable time and effort with your work. I hope that you continue with this particular piece. In time I am sure I will become familiar with the characters.... although they do ring a familiar bell since I have watched my son play StarFox.

I have one teeny-eenie comment.

"He broke the awkward silence by bringing up the subject that he had come here for."

...I usually stress not ending a sentence with a conjunction, unless absolutely necessary. In this case you might want to consider using 'He broke the awkward silence by bringing up the subject that he had come here for in the first place' ... or something along that line. There is always the option of saying 'for which he had come here'... but using conjunctions by the rule sometimes sounds so formal and snooty.
I hope you do not mind the suggestion.

Thank you for posting. I hope to be reading more.

I'm glad I created a FanFiction Board.

.j.

[ArwingAce21]

Wow, thanks for the lengthy review! I fixed the sentence you were talking about, and when I get home I shall change it in my word document. I already have this thing written and posted at Hanger 72 and at FanFiction.Net, but I'm taking my time here. I agree, if one is unfamiliar with the subject, a fanfiction is much harder to read. It is one of the inherent disadvantages of writing fanfics. I do try to make mine as reader-friendly as possible. My second fic, Who Desires to Attain the Status of a Millionaire will be much simpler as it has nothing to do with the game whatsoever.

I do hope the next update doesn't disappoint! Expect it very soon.

[ArwingAce21]

Okay, the gang is heading off to war. Here's the next section:

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Lylat System, Unknown
Team StarWolf Headquarters

“Pigma! Andrew! Wake up you lazy scoundrels! We have a mission and I don’t want to waste any time.”

Wolf absolutely hated those two. The only reason they were on the team is because the Emperor needed a baby-sitter for his nephew and Pigma was famous for betraying the original StarFox team. As if that alone made him an ace pilot. Leon Powlaski, Wolf’s best friend although he would never admit it to anyone, was the only reliable member of the team.

“What now?” inquired the reptilian Leon; Wolf’s unruly wake-up call had caught his attention.

“Simple. Take out the base on Fortuna. Since the war has shifted to Western Lylat, defenses should be lower on the base than normal,” replied the one-eye as a devilish grin spread over his toothy maw.

Pigma and Andrew had woken up and they walked over to where Wolf and Leon were standing. They had overheard Wolf’s mission summary, and the pig spoke up first:

“Okay, so we level the place. Big deal.”

“Yeah,” added the monkey. “I can probably just sit this one out.”

Wolf snarled at the two’s incorrigible laziness.

“You ALL are coming, and expect to stay awhile. This is a perfect opportunity to extract my revenge on Fox McCloud. I will not have you utter idiots ruin this chance for me.”
“Why do you need to involve them?!? This is a simple mission-don’t overcomplicate it,” Leon, the rational thinker, snapped at Wolf.

“Don’t question my judgment!” Wolf snapped right back. “I have stored five collapsible drone fighters inside of each of your Wolfens. We will take the base on Fortuna by complete surprise, eliminating all prisoners we happen to take. Then, we’ll plant a bomb on the wall right next to the core generator inside the base. We shall take the Wolfens into Fortuna’s upper atmosphere next, relying on the heavy cloud cover to cloak our position. From there, all we do is wait for StarFox to come and investigate the “distress signal” that we will send out from the base. The drone ships will be launched as soon as StarFox is on the scene, and when they take care of the drones, they will surely land and enter the base to find the problem. As soon as they go inside, we’ll detonate the bomb remotely, thus destroying the base, our chief opposition, and my greatest enemy!”

By now, Wolf’s toothy grin had grown even wider-and darker. The three other pilots backed away from Wolf after he finished laying out the plan, because his normal evil aurora had grown to encompass the entire room.

“Uhhh….Wolf? Calm down a bit. I’m sure the plan will work out just fin-” Leon’s attempt to break the awkward silence was quickly cut off by an angry Wolf O’Donnell.

“Silence! Everyone, report to your Wolfens. NOW!!!”

---

Short, yes, but this story is meant to be read althgether, and I'm being the bad guy making you wait for updates. Tough.

I'm discussing major battle plans in this particular segment, so I think a map of Lylat is in order. I'll go and try to find one and post it here to give y'all some imagery. Maybe pics of Arwings and Wolfens will be handy for the upcoming duel...

[ArwingAce21]

Aaarrrggghhhh!!!!! 

I just spent forever typing a detailed Lylat geography map/explanation. But my ratty internet connection deleted it!!!! Bah! Sorry guys, but I ain't a-gonna do that again. Y'all'll have to settle for the express version:



From the blue starting planet on the left: Corneria, Sector Y Nebula, (On the top part of the map), Aquas, Zoness, Sector Z Nebula, Area 6, Venom.

From the Center, Corneria, Meteo Asteriod Belt, Katina, Solar, Macbeth, Venom.

From the bottom, Corneria, Meteo, Fortuna, Sector X, Titania, Bloise, Venom.

Fortuna is icy, and home to a remote Cornerian Defense Outpost. You'll see more later.

Up next: the character pictures!

[Sabre]

ah, a classic.

[ArwingAce21]

Yup. I may get around to showing some of the character's pictures as the time comes, but I remember one picture I used on Hanger 72 that embodied the battle on Fortuna. I'll go grab that pic and post it:



The ship with the blue g-diffuser pods is an Arwing, the choice ship of StarFox. The red ship on its six is a Wolfen, the choice ship of StarWolf. See the huge building in the back? That's the base.

[ArwingAce21]

Okay, time for the StarWolf Character picture corner!

[glow=red,2,300]

***UPDATED 6/11/08***

[/glow]





Here's Wolf O'Donnell, team leader, in his StarFox Assault get-up. He has a regular eye-patch in 64, not the cybernetic one seen here. But, it's in the lower, time accurate headshot.





There's Leon. He looks worse in Assault than in 64, as this pic shows. Leon is supposed to be cruel, cunning, and chaotic. This shot just makes him look crazy. Again, lower pic is time accurate.





Pigma...kinda ugly here. Actually, he's just plain ugly. The porker is fatter in this Assault shot than in 64, but you get the idea. Can't tell from the headshot, though



Lastly, here's Andross' nephew, the ever-whining Andrew. I don't have a modern pic for him. This is his 64 headshot.

Okay, that's enough for now. Expect an actual story update very soon!

[ArwingAce21]

Okay, here's the latest section! Time for the base infiltration!!

---

Lylat System, Fortuna
Cornerian Military Outpost/Observatory (C-MOO)

The base on Fortuna was a small one by Cornerian standards. It had three runways going into connected above-ground hangers. The majority of the structure was located underground, but the dominating structure of the base was the massive radar telescope that slowly spun on top of the hanger level. The officer in charge of the radar telescope never had a chance to react when the wolf clad in a special operations stealth suit busted down the door behind him. As he turned around to investigate the odd sound, he was met with a dagger to the throat, effectively silencing him. After turning off all of the telescope’s functions except for the rotation, Wolf O’Donnell’s earpiece crackled to life:

“This is Leon. All hostiles in the hanger level have been eliminated and the bomb has been placed. Reporting to my Wolfen in order to provide air cover.”

“Good. Wolf here. The telescope has been taken care of. Pigma! Andrew! Report in!”

After an extended pause, the radio finally sounded again. A squeaky voice filled the airwaves.

“The lower levels have been secured. Can I go home yet?”

“No, Pigma. We still have a Fox to fry,” Leon answered before Wolf could.

“Andrew has sent out the distress signal. What should he do now?” Andrew added to the conversation, exercising his annoying habit of speaking in the third person, a habit he must have picked up from his uncle, the Emperor.

“Okay, all is set. Pigma, you and Andrew get to your Wolfens and fly a holding pattern with Leon in the upper atmosphere. Use the clouds to conceal yourselves. I’ll ready the drones in the hanger and set up a few camera towers to alert us when Foxie and his buddies get here for the party.”

Pigma and Andrew were more than happy to get out of the base and back into the Wolfens: Andrew, because the Wolfens had a heating system, and Pigma, because his Wolfen had his extra rations in it. As those two happily flew up into the atmosphere to join Leon, Wolf was finishing up in the hanger. Earlier, they had unloaded the drone ships into the hanger bays. The base had three runways, each beginning inside the hanger and ending only twenty meters outside the base. With seven drones laid on two runways, and six on the other, all was set. Wolf made one final check on the one minute time-delay fuse on the bomb and, seeing all was set, walked over to his Wolfen. Once in the air, he radioed Leon.

“All is set. StarFox should arrive within the hour and then the game will be made.”

“Wolf, allow me to review the plan,” the reptile replied, ignoring Wolf’s previous statement. “We hide out in the upper atmosphere, cloaking ourselves with the heavy clouds. We wait for the enemy to reach the base, at which point the drones will be launched. We allow the drones to be destroyed, and then we pounce!”

“Precisely.” By now, the entire StarWolf team was in formation flying in a holding pattern, waiting. “This upcoming dogfight should prove to be most interesting.”

---

Alright, now everybody knows the gameplan. But, will StarFox figure out the plan and save the base?

[jeannerené]

Ace .... thank you for the visuals, especially the map. Studying the map made everything clearer as to the references to Fortuna and Cornerian.

I remember the characters .... as far as seeing them on the screen when the game was being played.

You've done a real fine job incorporating each character's personalities into your narrative, which really brings the story alive and gives the reader a sense of familiarity. I say familiarity because everyone knows a bully or brutish character such as Wolf or a guy like Pigma who you would rather not be around.

I loved the fact that Andrew talked in the third person ... that is a great personality quirk.

Enjoyed reading!!

.jeanne.