The Plot of Star Fox: Assault, known as The Aparoid Invasion (also known as the Aparoid War) was a major galactic conflict that began shortly after the events of the Oikonny Rebellion and approximately one year after the Plight of Sauria. The Star Fox team became involved after a single Aparoid ambushed them during the battle against Oikonny on Fortuna, afterwards retrieving its Core Memory and learning of the coming invasion. The conflict ended when the location of the Aparoid Homeworld was revealed and the Aparoid Queen was destroyed, exterminating them from the Lylat system.
Prior events[]
Pepper discusses the rebellion with Fox.
When the Lylat Wars ended with the supposed death of Andross, the empire dispersed and scattered throughout the Lylat system. Andrew Oikonny, the nephew of Andross, was kicked out from the mercenary Star Wolf team and took his uncle's place as self-proclaimed emperor. In the course of over eight years he rebuilt the Venom Army within the hidden landscapes of the planet Fortuna under his new alias, "Oikonny", attracting common scum and villainy into his service for a price. Knowledgeable of this growing threat, General Pepper ordered an invasion on the planet to finish Oikonny and put an end to the Oikonny Army once and for all.
Mission 1. Fortuna; A New Enemy[]
Oikonny's Fleet and the Cornerian Army exchange laser fire above the orbit of Fortuna.
Using the power of warp gates created by the scientist Beltino Toad, the Cornerian Fleet traversed to the outer borders of Fortuna where they were ambushed by Oikonny's army. Using battle formation V, the Cornerian fleet broke through the front lines and scattering the ape soldiers, until Oikonny order his reserved stealth squadron to open fire. Struggling in their hold off against Oikonny, the Cornerians took heavy losses from his stealth squadrons. The Star Fox team's timely arrival saved the battle from being lost and chased Oikonny's flagship into the jungles and rebel base on Fortuna, facing Oikonny himself.
The Aparoid seen and battled on Fortuna in Assault.
In a final ditch effort to stop them, Oikonny transformed his flagship into a replica of himself. While the flagship was damaged from fighting, Star Fox was unintentionally assisted by an Aparoid that had descended from Fortuna's skies. It destroyed Oikonny's ship in the middle of his bragging and apparently killed him, but soon turned on Star Fox by attacking Krystal and it was defeated by Fox. Within its remains they found a device later dubbed as “Core Memory”, which Peppy Hare advised Fox to collect and retreat back to Great Fox soon realizing that a new threat was upon the Lylat system by the Aparoids.
Invasion[]
Beltino recalls the atrocity that befell the Cornerian Fleet around 17 years prior to the Aparoid uprising.
Mission 2. Katina; Frontier Base Battle[]
General Pepper immediately contacted Fox McCloud after they left Fortuna to brief them about a new danger to the Lylat system, leaving the research director to brief them on all the details, who turned out to be Slippy's father Beltino Toad, who hadn't even told his son about his new job. Beltino told Star Fox about a devastation made on a Cornerian fleet by a sole Aparoid around 17 years ago, as a testament to the potential threat. Beltino revealed that there were survivors but felt the point of the story was it was just a taste of what was yet to come, and promised that his federation scientist were doing everything they could to analyse data from the Core Memory they collected, but also advised that more knowledge would be learned if a complete, undamaged specimen was obtained.
Star Fox arrive on Katina, to inspect the sight of a vague distress call.
General Pepper then informed Star Fox that Cornerian command had learned of an anonymous Distress Signal sent by a Cornerian outpost on the planet Katina. It was learned that the danger of an invasion by the Aparoids was true, and Katina's defenses became overwhelmed by Aparoid forces under the leadership of an Aparoid Walker. Since the signal was being transmitted but no response was found, Star Fox crushed Corneria's enemies on the ground and in the skies, and saved the outpost from further destruction, but at a cost. Pigma Dengar, the renegade space pirate and former member of Star Wolf, was the culprit behind the signal and then stole the Core Memory of the Aparoid Walker after destroying it and fled the atmosphere, planning to sell it for a high price after deducing the value of it from protests made by Fox. Star Fox tracked his last known location to the Sargasso Space Zone.
Mission 3. Sargasso Space Zone; Hostilities Revisited[]
The Ruffian who barged into the Star Fox team's Communications Channel, warning them of their intrusion.
When arriving, the criminals inhabiting the area hailed the Star Fox team, and demanded to know why they were in Lord Wolf O'Donnell's territory. Fox explained that they were searching for Pigma, but not only were they unfamiliar with Pigma, they decided to attack them instead after learning that they were Star Fox. Slippy and Fox entered the main space station to secure it from the enemies, while Krystal and Falco would hold off the enemy fleet outside.
After cutting down on the reinforcements, Star Wolf arrived back at their main base, forcing the Star Fox team to fight them after attempts to have Wolf surrender Pigma to them failed. After the fight ended in a stalemate, Wolf admitted that Pigma was actually booted off Star Wolf long ago, and stated that he was unlikely to have ever arrived at the Sargasso Space Station as he ordered for his men to shoot Pigma on sight if he dared enter the area. Nonetheless, the Star Fox team deduced thanks to Panther's attempts at flirting with Krystal that Pigma had in fact travelled to Fichina.
Mission 4. Fichina; Into the Storm[]
Having been driven out of Katina, the Aparoids invaded Fichina while Star Fox was in pursuit of Pigma. The planet's climate control center was taken over and many of the scientists working within it were killed. Pigma unexpectedly gave assistance to the Aparoids and allowed them to fuse with the sentry bots within the base. The Star Fox team's intervention resulted in the control center being retaken and the sentry bots being destroyed by Falco. Pigma used the Core Memory to turn the station's core into an Aparoid and fled, leaving Fox to defeat the new threat and stop it from self destructing. Cornerian reinforcements arrived shortly after and helped defeat the remaining Aparoids lingering amongst its atmosphere.
Mission 5. Asteroid Belt; The Aparoid Menace[]
Pigma Dengar, fully assimilated into an Aparoid.
Pigma retreated to the outskirts of Meteo and was assimilated by the Aparoids into a monstrosity of his former self. Star Fox arrived and destroyed Pigma's forces, eventually defeating him as well. Retrieving the Core Memory, Krystal was contacted telepathically from Sauria by King Tricky, who informed the team of an Aparoid invasion which had been occurring on his homeworld. Departing from Meteo, the Star Fox team traveled to the far reaches of the Lylat system to help an old friend in their struggle to strike back against the invaders.
Mission 6. Sauria; Reunion[]
Sauria's native inhabitants fought back against the Aparoids but suffered a great amount of casualties. The SharpClaw tribe was presumed by Slippy to have been completely wiped out and the CloudRunner tribe was on the brink of extinction. The timely arrival of the Star Fox team saved Sauria from further destruction and the Aparoid threat was annihilated. Reunited with Tricky, Fox was personally thanked for his efforts and bid farewell.
Mission 7. Corneria; War Comes Home[]
Corneria, utterly devastated by the Aparoid Invasion.
With Corneria left vulnerable as Star Fox battled on Sauria, an armada of Aparoids plagued Corneria City and nearly decimated its defense systems. The Aparoids disrupted communications and radar between Cornerian command by using EMP radar jammers which had to be destroyed directly from the surface. Fox went alone to the city streets and demolished the jammers, but was ambushed at his Arwing's landing strip. Without warning, Star Wolf arrived to support Star Fox against the common struggle in tearing down the Aparoid alliance by defeating a large amount of air and land based Aparoid soldiers. General Pepper's flagship became infected with Aparoids, and forced Fox to fight him, pleading to be destroyed before he would undergo complete Aparoidedation. Before Pepper was about to die, Peppy rescued him by stabilizing the fall trajectory of General Pepper's flagship by using his Arwing. Fox thanked Wolf for saving his life and for helping out, before Wolf cut him off and left after giving him some familiar advice.
Mission 8. Orbital Gate; Incoming[]
The Beltino Orbital Gate above the shattered Corneria.
With Corneria in complete ruin and General Pepper in medical care, Beltino had apparently assumed command and informed Star Fox about the discovery of the Aparoid Homeworld, explaining that he was creating an anti-Aparoid program bomb, which if fired into the Aparoid Queen, would exterminate the race in one blow for good. Aparoid intelligence however learned of invasion plans by the Cornerian Army of their homeworld, and attempted to stop it by launching a full-scale attack on the newly established Orbital Gate. Star Fox and Star Wolf assisted the Cornerian Army and seemed to hold back the Aparoid aggression, but then their enemies began to use rapid firing missiles. When the missiles were destroyed, the Aparoids retreated into their planet and launched an enormous rocket to obliterate the Orbital Gate but it was disposed of as well. The self-destruct program was completed in the nick of time too, and handed over to the Star Fox team before they led the Cornerian Fleet into a wormhole gateway towards the Aparoid Homeworld.
Mission 9. Aparoid Homeworld; Breaching the Defenses[]
ROB detects the Aparoid Homeworld's shield generators.
An offensive was launched on the Aparoid Homeworld by the Cornerian Army with the Star Fox team in charge. The Cornerian Armada commanded the skies above the Aparoid homeworld to make necessary advancements into the territory, but eventaully had no choice but to retreat after 20% of the fleet was lost.
Learning that the Aparoid forces exited the entrance to the heart of the planet from a series of tunnels protected by a powerful shield, Fox and Krystal landed on the base's surface to demolish the shield generators, while Falco and Slippy controlled the air space.
Mission 10. Homeworld Core; The Final Battle[]
The Aparoid Queen, supreme ruler and source of all Aparoid will.
Just before Star Fox departed to enter the planet, an anti-laser shield had been established by the Aparoids to protect the planet from invasion and the Great Fox came under heavy attack, leading to Peppy and R.O.B. supposedly sacrificing their lives by crashing the ship into it. This allowed enough time for both Star Fox and Star Wolf to travel into the planet's atmosphere where they would be ambushed by resisting Aparoid fighters. In a desperate hope to give Fox a clear path to locating the Aparoid Queen, Star Wolf presumably sacrificed their lives as well. When the Aparoid Queen was discovered, she tried to deceive Fox by taking on false identities of those closet to him by trying to convince the Aparoids were not their enemies. The team knows that it's a mere trick, but they're being stricken by the psychological horror of the echoey impersonations. They suddenly re-hear Wolf's earlier advice that gives them the strength to press on and attack the queen no matter what impersonation was being bombarded at them. When Fox fired the program into the queen, she somehow was able to quell it, planning to create anti-body to become immune to apoptosis and she demands everything in her normal voice to submit to her. The team then followed the steamed, afraid, and unhinged queen to prevent her from succeeding. As the team blasted her outer body. The queen was desperate and begged for mercy shouting "No! We are truth! Only us!! NO!!!", but Fox was able to defeat and destroy the Aparoid Queen, launching a devastating destruction within the planet and causing the Aparoids to be extinguished. The Aparoid Invasion came to an end and the Lylat system had been saved once again.
Peppy and R.O.B. survived the Great Fox's explosion by escape pod, and according to Fox, Star Wolf and General Pepper most likely survived as well and thanks his team for their support.
Aftermath[]
Recovery of Fortuna[]
Rebels of Oikonny's army who scattered after the Aparoid attack were disposed of on Fortuna. Fortunately the planet's northern forests were the only area of invasion during this time, leaving, besides the rebels, minimal to no casualties. Supplies for reconstruction were retaken from the remnants of Oikonny's abandoned base.
Recovery of Katina[]
Much of the occupied territory on Katina had suffered much damage, but the remaining citizenry survived mostly unscathed. Preservation of public safety became a top priority due to the light of existing circumstances after the war.
Investigation of Meteo[]
The Sargasso Space Zone in Meteo suffered little to no damage from the Aparoids, but did suffer as a result of Star Fox's infiltration. Criminals who occupied the territory dispersed to seek refuge elsewhere, but with Wolf O'Donnell's questionable survival the region was kept under careful watch. Plans to dispose of abandoned bases were also deterred to another date, as getting a quick and comprehensive understanding of them were difficult. This was due in part to complex topography, but the area was still placed under close observation.
Recovery of Fichina[]
Fichina's climate control center was severely damaged from the battle against Pigma and required much needed repairs. Its warning systems and ancillary equipment was in dire need of being reevaluated.
Recovery of Sauria[]
Sauria suffered one of the greatest losses during the course of the invasion, as the result of the Aparoid attack left a local tribe known as the SharpClaw extinct. Historical losses were also immeasurable, as most of the planet's ruins were eradicated. Imperative research was required and an aid program was implemented.
Recovery of Corneria[]
Above all, Corneria suffered the greatest. Corneria City was at the center of the conflict and suffered terrible damage. Losses were so great that the Cornerian Army was forced to abandon many of its duties, establishing an interim government upon an orbital base. Citizens began to return to residential blocks from areas that underwent comparatively light damage, but the majority of the city was in desperate need of goods and public order. Furthermore, a vast majority of the Cornerian defenses were obliterated, leaving Corneria completely vulnerable.
Peppy and ROB 64 emerge from the shattered Aparoid Homeworld. The Rabbit vows that he will now retire for sure.
Confirmation of the end of the invasion[]
The Orbital Gate's overall damages were minimal thanks to the efforts of Star Fox, Star Wolf, and the Cornerian Army. Due to mass destruction of Corneria City, a temporary governing body was started under military supervision. Administration continued to govern until confirmation of the Aparoid threat was no longer posed, thus resulting in a relinquishment of sovereignty as quickly as possible.
The collapse of the Aparoid Homeworld was confirmed, and the self destruct program had effectively halted communication between all Aparoid factions. Reports from invaded areas described the annihilation of the Aparoids at a “cellular level”, ending all anti-Aparoid operations. The invasion force of the Cornerian Army returned to the Lylat system soon after missing ships and personnel were searched out and recovered as a regulations permit. The Star Fox team received a monetary reward for their tremendous service, but a rough estimate of 20% of the invasion force was killed off by the Aparoids, marking a severe list of fatalities.
See Also[]
- Damage reports
