WARNING:  This story has been written and posted free of charge
solely for entertainment purposes.  Fox McCloud Jr, Falco
Lombardi, Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad, Venom, Corneria, Fara Phoenix,
General Pepper, Andross, and all other principle characters and
places created by Nintendo are copyright (C) 1993 Nintendo of
America Inc.  Used without permission.

     Star Fox is copyright (C) 1993 Nintendo of America Inc. 
Used without permission.  All characters and places created by
me, Theodore P. Perrotti, are copyright (C) 1995 Theodore P.
Perrotti. (However, feel free to use all of this story's
characters, events, and places as you wish as long as you abide
by the conditions described in the next paragraph.)

     This story may be redistributed, stored, or archived in any
way just so long as it is unaltered, this entire disclaimer
remains with it, and such action is taken free of charge.  In
short: DON'T SELL OR ALTER THIS STORY!  Also, please give me
credit if you use any of my creations.

     Parts of this story were based on characters, places, and
events in both the Star Fox video game and the Star Fox comic
which appeared in Nintendo Power.

     You may also notice a "Star Trek" influence in this story. 
This is no coincidence.  Specifically, this story has been
influenced by the original series episode "Mirror-Mirror", the
Next Generation two-parter "The Best of Both Worlds", and the
Next Generation novel "Dark Mirror".

     I welcome your comments.  Please e-mail them to me at
author@galaxycorp.com.
_________________________________________________________________

     Chapter 6: The Home Front 

     Fara stepped down from her ship and glanced around.  The place was positively bursting
with activity, as usual.  But there was something in the air.  Nothing that any instrument would
have picked up on, nothing that one could see or smell.  More like an energy filling the air.  It had
been present ever since the news was received from the Defense Council.  
     She was about to head into the locker room to change out of her flight uniform when she
was stopped by one of the officers in her command.  "Captain," he began, "Engineering's
beginning the inspection of the arwings' weapons and drive systems to find any room for
improvement."  
     In General Pepper's absence, she was the ranking officer on Corneria.  As such, command
of the base fell to her.  "Good.  Tell them to report directly to me if they make any significant
progress,"  said Fara.  "Who's patrol is it now?"  
     "Delta squadron's, ma'am."  
     "All right, tell them to keep nightview on at all times and to increase their patrol area by
twenty percent," she commanded, then added, "All future patrols are to follow those instructions
for the time being.  We're in a state of war with a powerful enemy.  I don't want them anywhere
near this base without us knowing about it."  
     "Yes, ma'am," he said.  Then he added, deliberately, "There's still no word from Station
McNally or the ships that were sent to help them."  
     "I know.  Thank you."  she said, then continued into the locker room.  
     It had been that way, too, ever since the news of the invasion had been received.  No one
seemed to want to talk to her about the station in general, or about Fox in particular.  Not that she
blamed them, but she desperately wanted to talk to someone about it, to vent all of her pent-up
feelings.  Not in public, though.  In public, she had to show strength.  
     Twenty minutes later, she stepped out of the locker room in her off-duty attire.  There she
found Peppy and Falco waiting for her in the corridor.  "We were told we might find you here,"
explained Peppy.  
     "What is it?"  asked Fara, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.  
     "We just got word from the Battleship Gallant,"  said Peppy, trying to sound hopeful.  
     "They've arrived at McNally's location, but can't find a trace of the station, any SpaceForce
ships, or the invaders."  Falco chimed in.  
     "What about debris?  Surely there must have been some of that left behind if the station
was destroyed."  Fara noted.       "None,"  Peppy said, "Without a planet's gravity to trap it,
any wreckage from the battle could have just shot off into space, powered by the ship's explosion."
     "Then there may have been survivors from the battle," Fara concluded, "If no wreckage
was found, maybe some of the pilots weren't killed, but either escaped or were captured."  
     "It's certainly possible,"  Peppy conceded, "However, if any pilots had escaped, then the
first thing I'd think they'd have done is call for help.  As you both know, we haven't received any
such messages at any of our bases, nor have we spotted any stray ships on sensors."  
     "But,"  Falco countered, "There's a lot of space out there that we can't see with sensors,
nightview or otherwise.  Apparently enough of it for three large battleships to hide in for several
days, if that last message from McNally was accurate."  
     "And if a person were captured or afraid of being overheard,"  Fara added, "They might
not be so quick to transmit."  
     Peppy looked pensive, then said, "You may be right at that.  In order to stay hidden from
us, they would have to know where our blind spots are.  Only a SpaceForce officer would have
that information.  They may have taken at least one very important prisoner in that battle."  Fara
didn't know how to feel about that.     "At any rate, the Defense Council is operating on the
assumption that the base was destroyed in the attack, and that all hands present were lost,"  sighed
Peppy.  "However, Venom's government has contacted us and told us that many of the station's
personnel were successfully evacuated to there prior to the battle.  Fox may be one of them," 
Peppy added.  
     "When will they know for sure who was evacuated?"  Fara asked.   "Not for awhile," 
Peppy admitted, "Venom's government is still new and disorganized."  He then reminded them that
they were at war and that finding and stopping the enemy had to take precedence over personal
matters, such as scouring the system for missing friends and spouses.  How much that fact hurt
didn't matter.  
     "Funny,"  Falco noted, "Here we are, hoping that Fox is in the hands of a people that was
once our greatest enemy."  Fara and Peppy agreed silently, then went on talking.  
     "Anyway, all this news came in about ten minutes ago, and we thought you'd rather hear
about it in person from friends,"  Peppy finished.  
     "You were right.  Thanks,"  Fara replied.  
     Together, they walked up to the control room, hoping for some more news.  When they
arrived, they found three men standing over a console, which was displaying a map of the Lylat
and surrounding systems.  
     The group consisted of a young flight controller, 
Lt. Peters, Capt. McCray, a military strategist sent by the Council to try to outguess their
adversaries,  and Sgt. MacCrary, the veteran Chief Engineer of the Corneria base.  The latter's
presence had been requested by McCray for his knowledge of the SpaceForce's defense systems.  
     Also, the Defense Council had sent with McCray recordings of the messages it had
received from McNally since the start of the crisis.  
     The Captain motioned for Fara to come over to them.  Falco and Peppy followed.  
     "What have you come up with?"  asked Fara.  
     "Well," McCray began, "We believe that they've been hiding from our sensors here..."  He
noticed Fara glancing at Falco, who had what could best be described as a grin on his face.  He
simply continued his report, pointing his finger at a region of the display that showed few planets,
but much stellar activity.  He then moved his finger to an area near the wormhole.  
     "This was their last known position, as reported by base McNally.  From there, they
entered the zone I just indicated.  It's full of quasars, pulsars, and novas.  All that radiation renders
sensors practically useless, except possibly at extremely close range."  
     "Where might they be visible?"  questioned Peppy.  
     "Two places,"  Lt. Peters contributed, "Base Guilford on Macbeth and here.  They'll be
forced to leave the zone to attack those two places.  Not even their weapons have the range for an
attack from within the zone."  
     "And 'here', being the 'Force's main military headquarters, is probably their main target," 
McCray added.  
     "Target?"  Falco didn't like the sound of that.  
     "Target for destruction,"  McCray expounded, confirming Falco's fears.  He then
continued, "Chances are, they're two mission objectives are the destruction of Guilford and this
base.  This base is where most of our military ships are kept, and Guilford is the only other base
that could see them coming.  Once they've accomplished those objectives, they can destroy all
other resistance in the system fairly easily.  Attacking the other bases now would be a waste of
their time."
     "If anyone else is brave enough to take them on at that point,"  Peters commented, "which
isn't very likely."
     "What about getting help now?  We sure could use it!"  Falco asked.
     "We're trying to get some now,"  McCray responded, "But our nearest neighbors, the
Calorians, are a full day away from our territorial border.  The enemy should be at Guilford in less
than three hours."
     "Wait, let's get back to their weapons for a minute,"  Fara said, "The report from McNally
indicated that the battleships had what could be torpedo launchers on them.  We know nothing
about those, range or otherwise."
     "True, but even our most ambitious tests with torpedoes yielded a maximum range of
21000 Km, and those torpedoes proved unreliable.  Their torpedoes, if they are torpedoes,
probably can't go much farther than that.  Besides, we can't scan much of an area with nightview
due to power constraints, so we have to make an educated guess as to where to scan."
     "Right. How long after they've passed Guilford can we expect to see them here?  Fara
asked, turning to Engineer MacCrary.  
     "It would take our fastest battleships about two hours to complete that trip.  Given that
their technology seems superior to ours, I'd say it would take them less time than that.  Maybe
about ninety minutes." 
     Fara nodded, then turned to Capt. McCray.  "Your recommendations, Captain?"  she
prodded.  
     "Concentrate your patrol efforts on this area,"  he said, pointing out a region where the
zone passed near Corneria.  "Stay on ready alert and advise Guilford to do the same.  Also, deploy
at least two-thirds of our battleships and cruisers to protect Guilford and attempt to stop their
penetration there.  The remainder of the fleet should remain here in case they slip by the first
group.
     "OK, we'll do that,"  Fara agreed.  "But, I think we should get a message to the battleships
sent out to help McNally; telling them to move along the edge of the blind-zone, scanning with
nightview as they slowly work their way back here,"  Fara informed him, "At that range, they just
might spot something and warn the rest of us ahead of time."  Even as she spoke, she was aware
that such an order would pull the ships away from any search for Fox and the others, possibly
sealing their fate.  But, it had to be done.      "And if they do spot something,"  McCray
challenged, "what will be their orders?"  
     "Their orders will be to report back to the nearest base and request backup.  Only if they
deem it absolutely necessary will they engage the enemy without backup.  These invaders are just
too dangerous to deal with in any other way, especially if their sensors work in the zone."  McCray
nodded his acceptance.   
     "What I can't figure out is this: If what we've heard from McNally is accurate, they
absolutely demolished our guys.  Why would they bother to hide from us?  If I were them, I'd just
charge right in, guns blazing."  Falco disputed.  
     "Good question," McCray admitted, "I can only guess that they're somewhat unfamiliar
with our defensive capabilities, and don't feel that their encounters at McNally were truly
representative of them."  
     "They're afraid we'll roll out the big guns,"  Peppy paraphrased.  
     "Right, and the more we see of them, the more we learn about them, and the better we can
deal with them,"  McCray said.  
     "Also, they may have panicked," Peters offered.  
     "What do you mean?"  asked Fara, curiously.  Straightening himself, Peters explained,
"According to the last transmission from McNally, the ships made a sudden change of course and
headed into the blind-zone.  It happened just after there was an explosion near one of the ships. 
The rest of the message was too garbled to make out.  Their Achilles' heel may have been exposed
by that explosion, and someone panicked."  
     "From the way Fox described them to me, they don't sound like ones who panic easily," 
Fara recalled, flatly.  
     "They're desperate,"  remarked Peppy, "Fox also said that they were very military-minded. 
It seems to me that such a people wouldn't start a major offensive like this one without knowing
something about their enemy's defenses ahead of time.  Sure, they sent in a scout ship.  But, that
ship tried to access military information from a scientific research station!  Then, only about a day
after the scout ship had returned through the wormhole, probably needing repairs, the battleships
attacked.  That's hardly enough time to learn all there is to know about an enemy like the
SpaceForce, even if you, well..., are the SpaceForce.  They're rushing into this for some reason,
and when you rush into things, you make mistakes.  When they do, we must be ready to take
advantage of them."
     "That's true.  However, I think we can best prepare ourselves by proceeding as discussed," 
Fara concluded, "Is there anything else?"  Silence ensued.  
     "All right.  Let's get to it, then." 
     She turned to the comm officer.  "Sgt., patch me through to the captain of the Gallant." 
He looked at her, "I was about to tell you, ma'am.  A message just came through from the Gallant.
They're calling to report on a finding."  
     "A finding?" asked Fara, "Patch them through."  A moment later, a voice was heard,
coming seemingly from thin air.  "Commander,...is Capt. Reynolds of... Gallant," the voice
crackled.      The comm officer shrugged.  "The signal is very weak.  This is as clear as I could
make it,"  he explained, apologetically.  No one heard him.  They were concentrating on the
message, hoping it would bring good news.  "Captain, this is Capt. Fara McCloud on Corneria. 
Your signal is very weak.  What have you found?" "Captain,...located...wing....severed...arwing...
SFX-type.  ...Alternates...leave much..."  Unconsciously, Fara, Falco, and Peppy drew closer
together.  Thoughts swarming around in her head, Fara turned to the personnel officer and asked
her how many of the pilots assigned to McNally flew SFX arwings.  She didn't like the answer. 
"None of them,"  the personnel officer stated, consulting her computer records, "Only the first
officer, Capt. Fox McCloud Jr., flies that type of arwing."