- “General Pepper's Flight Log, pg 66
Katina is one of our frontline defense posts, Fox, and it's being overrun by Andross's fighters. We received a distress call from your academy classmate, Bill Grey, who is in command of Husky Squadron. Apparently there are hundreds of fighters swarming over the base! Bill has also informed us that an enemy mother ship has been detected on its way to the planet. Get over there and help him out before it's too late! Bill will brief you more fully on the gargantuan mother ship when you get there, so listen to him carefully!” - —
Katina is a semi-arid world of the Lylat System, home to a garrison of Cornerian Army fighter squadrons and serving as the Army's front line defense post. Despite containing far less water than Corneria, Katina shares a similar climate and environment to its sister planet. It also has a large amount of vegetation, although the plants vary widely from those found on Corneria, some even resembling giant mushrooms, and during the day the sky has a green hue. The planet came under full-scale attack by Andross during the Lylat Wars, but had recovered by the time of the Aparoid invasion, with outposts being built all over the planet and the planned immigration having started to take place.
Overview[]
- “Planetary Compendium
Although Katina has less water than Corneria, the climate and environment are quite similar. The planet was originally intended to be a primary colony for Corneria, but Andross's attack has halted immigration. The beleaguered Cornerian Defense Force is now nearly exhausted from holding back wave after wave of enemy fighters.” - —
Unlike the majority of planets in the Lylat System, Katina is covered by more land than water. Despite this, several small inland seas can be found on the planet, covering around 8% of the surface. Some of these seas are large and contain islands big enough to house naval forces. Around these seas are large areas of grasslands and savannas. In recent years of the Star Fox universe several cities have sprung up around the military outposts in these prairies, but as of Star Fox: Assault they still remain comparatively small to the cities found on other planets.
As water resources become scarcer further inland, the planet's climate becomes markedly more arid. In the desert regions where green plants fail to grow, large fungi-like organisms are the most common form of life. In the vast regions furthest inland are large wastelands devoid of any kind plant life. Although several highlands, hills, and large plateaus dot the surface, there appear to be little to no mountain ranges on the planet. From space, the planet appears to have a rusty brown appearance.
A small set of planetary rings can be seen from the surface in Star Fox: Assault, but these have yet to be seen in any other game. It is unconfirmed whether Katina has any moons. Katina was currently under the process of forming a permanent colony on its surface during the invasion of the Lylat System by Andross, which put a temporary hold on those plans for a while.
Katina is one of the most heavily militarized planets in the Lylat System. Numerous outposts housing legions of fighter squadrons and ground forces can be found almost anywhere on the planet. Among them are the famous Bulldog and Husky Squadrons, led by Bill Grey.
History[]
Lylat Wars[]
- “Lylat Datalink; Anatomy of an invasion, pg 68
The invasion of Katina is a textbook example of a Venom assault. The first enemy objective is to establish air superiority . Since Andross's Invader IIs are inferior to Cornerian fighters, the enemy will overwhelm the defenders with huge numbers. As Saucerer flies over primary targets, air defence units are lured into meeting the first wave of Invader IIs. A larger wave of enemy fighters then swarms out of Saucerer and eliminates the preoccupied defenders. With the skies clear, Saucerer deploys its Core Weapon and commences with the second objective: the complete annihilation of hapless ground units. At the end of the battle, shock troops are dropped to enslave any survivors.” - —
During the Lylat Wars, since Katina was the planet closest to Corneria, it came under intense attack by Andross's Air Forces. General Pepper requested the Star Fox team to come and aid the Husky and Bulldog units and lead the counter-charge against the Invader II Fighters swarming above the Cornerian Air Force's military base. Fox McCloud and his team succeeded in relieving the beleaguered squadrons. Attempts to confuse Star Fox's Arwings by painting the Invader IIs the same colors as the Cornerian Fighters proved fruitless as the Arwings' advanced Targeting Computers were able to tell friend from foe, and the first wave of fighters was destroyed.
When the main assault craft Saucerer arrived, it released hundreds of fighters in a final attempt to overwhelm the defenders and began charging its Core Weapon. Despite overwhelming numbers, Fox McCloud was able to plow through the swarms of enemy craft and target the exposed energy generator, destroying the mothership and ending the main invasion of Katina.
Aparoid Invasion[]
During the Aparoid Invasion, Katina's Outpost Base was one of the targets of the Aparoids. A distress signal was received and Fox went down to investigate, while Falco, Slippy, and Krystal covered him from the air in Arwings. Fox was able to destroy many of the Aparoids around the base with the help of a Landmaster. Afterwards, Aparoid Hatchers were dropped in order to make reinforcements for the current Aparoids, but Fox was able to destroy those. As a final attempt to defeat the Star Fox Team, a giant, spider-like Aparoid was warped in. Fox attempted to grab the Core Memory that it had in its possession, but Pigma Dengar came and stole it, at the same time revealing that he sent the distress signal.
In the ending of the game, it is revealed that many of the occupied outposts suffered damage, but that the remaining citizens survived largely unscathed and the Army was able to defend a good deal of the outposts. Due to the aftermath of the invasion, however, the top priorities were to get supplies to rebuild the outposts as well as to preserve public safety. Its Destruction Level was a B-, and the Aparoids were expunged.
Anglar Blitz[]
While Fox was absent from the scenes, Falco and Slippy intercepted an S.O.S from Bill Grey as the Anglar Empire launched forces to conquer Katina, causing the Great Fox to set course for the planet. In the aftermath, Bill informs Falco and Slippy that there is a new, cold pilot serving in the Cornerian Army, revealed to be Krystal. Bill is unsure of the whole story but this is due to Fox making her leave the Star Fox Team to protect her from constant danger.
Trivia[]
- The Katina level in Star Fox 64 is a reference to the climax scene from Independence Day. (In fact, the character of Bill Grey is most likely a reference to USMC Gen. William Grey, a key character in the movie.) In Star Fox: Assault, it is very reminiscent of the Whiskey Outpost scene in Starship Troopers.
- It is scientifically inaccurate that mushrooms could grow on Katina, let alone to the colossal levels seen in Assault, since fungi generally grows in cool, damp, dark environments. Katina is the exact opposite; hot, dry, and bright.
- Katina can be thought of as the "Mars" of Lylat due to its hostile climate, although its climate is hot instead of the cold found in Mars, and Katina has proven to be still habitable, while Mars is inhospitable for sentient life. Mars is a secondary defense garrision in multiple science-fiction series outside of Star Fox.
- Katina shares its name with a 'bonus game' military operation from Namco's game Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War, which is named "Operation: Katina." The operation's name may referring in particular to Star Fox: Assault, as both Nintendo and Namco were part of the development team.
- Katina is also a feminine Greek name form of Katerina.
Names in Other Languages[]
Language | Name |
---|---|
Japanese | Katarina (カタリナ) |
References[]
- NINTENDO POWER Star Fox 64: Official Nintendo Player's Guide. Redmond, WA, Nintendo of America. 1997.
- Star Fox 64.com
- Krystal Archive
- Backup of official website Star Fox: Assault's website on Star Fox Online.
Lylat System | ||
Planets | Aparoid Homeworld • Aquas • Cerinia • Corneria • Eladard • Fichina • Fortuna • Grippia • Katina • Kew • Macbeth • Papetoon • Sauria • Secret Base • Solar • Titania • Venom • Zoness | |
Star | Lylat | |
Sectors | Sector α • Sector β • Sector γ • Sector Ω • Area 6 • Meteo • Sector X • Sector Y • Sector Z • Warp Zone • Out of This Dimension | |
Artificial Objects | Black Hole • Orbital Gate • Bolse • Meteor • Sargasso Hideout • Space Armada • Satellite Defense Platform • Astropolis | |
Cities | Corneria City • Katina Frontline Base • Katina Outpost • Fichina Base • Fichina City • Climate control center • Aquas Ruins • Area 3 |
Characters | ||
Supporting Characters | Vivian Hare • General Pepper • Marcus • Slippy's son • Peppy's granddaughter | |
Bosses | ZaZanga 9 • Splitter • Devil Shark • Octopod • Biobrain • Star Wolf (Wolf, Panther and Leon) • Death Crab • Pigma Dengar • Solar Satellite • Killer Bee • Dune Worm • Monarch Dodora • Grunner • Arrow Head • Anglar Emperor | |
Enemies | Anglar Starfish • Elite Fighter • Anglar Missile • Anglar Mothership | |
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