Star Crossed [an old and terrible Star Fox fanfic]

C7 - Good Luck!

Across the land of Corneria, the panicking and injured population found themselves scrambling for shelter, be it in government-installed underground bases or in the half-destroyed remnants of the surface's establishments. Sirens and klaxons blared endlessly, but ultimately came to a close second in terms of noise, drowned out by the battle being waged overhead.

Bill was still making his way around the Academy, trying to help any fellow students who he saw struggling under rubble or otherwise injured. A stray blast had gotten a shepherd dog, which the bulldog dragged to a safer room. He could do little, but he did all he could. He kept turning his head at the surroundings. Taking out his phone, he found two urgent messages. One was for the general public, an urge to find good shelter, containing a link to an interactive map of these shelters, and a rough tactical estimate of the ongoing battle.

The other notification was specifically for him... from General Pepper. The aged hound Supreme General used messages and alerts only for official or urgent business. "Bill Grey," it read, "hurry to my headquarters. You are a shining tactician, and your help in this ambush from Andross would be extremely helpful. Forces are coming to the Academy to help assess the students in need."
With this direction, Bill started to run as fast as he could, to the building tallest in the skyline. It was like a needle, too thin to contain anything meaningful, with a thick ring of actual room around it. The office and residence of the Cornerian leader, where the General surely was. "I'm coming, Corneria," he huffed as he sprinted.

The closer the dog got to the building, the more he realized that it was under attack, and he had to refrain from getting much closer, after being a block or so away. Andross's ships made directly threatening orbits around this central building, and... Bill had to rub his eyes at what he then saw occur. Hangars dropped off by these ships opened, letting their cargo free. It wasn't soldiers, or tanks. They were giant, spider-like robots, which made their slow way up to Pepper's residing point. It was almost like an infestation of bugs, smaller moths flying around as these tarantulas creeped.

Peppy, however, was quick to see this. "Enemies on the General's tower!" the hare reported as he flew past.

"On it," Falco squawked, as he started to clear out the top swarm of ships. "Jeez, there's tons of them. Let's get 'em!"

"Their back's their weak spot!" Slippy croaked observantly. "Not too hard to tell."

"Careful not to damage the building!" Fox thoughtfully advised. It was almost as if these spindly-legged robots wanted them to shoot at the tower. "The General's safety is top priority. Can't go without a commander."

"Thank you, Star Fox!" this bloodhound General barked on the communications channel, having access to all of such channels.

"We ain't Star Fox, sir," Peppy replied. "Those days are gone."

"Hardly," General Pepper retorted. "You're just as good at defending us."

"Don't count your chicks before they hatch, General," Falco grunted. "But I'm getting these guys good."

Slippy remained concentratedly silent, as he blasted away at the spiderbots crawling at the sides of the tower.

"This battle is too much for me to think about," the General admitted. "Bill Grey should be arriving any second now. Let him in, he'll help me assess the tactical situation."
"Got it, General," Fox acknowledged. "I've got visual on him now, actually," he then observed.
"I'll pick him up!" Falco chortled. He quickly swerved down, and lifted off again. "Got him."
Bill wordlessly withheld his extreme envy of the bird, as he was dropped off at the General's room. They immediately began to discuss, with the communicator being silenced for now, to eliminate the risk of hacking and eavesdropping on confidential plans.