Katina

Katina (カタリナ, Katarina in Japan) 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 tons of vegetation, but 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
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 several cities have sprung up around the military outposts in these prairies, but as of Starfox: Assault they still remain comparatively small to the cities found on other planets.

As water resources become scarcer as one travels further inland, the planet's climate becomes markedly more arid. Here in the desert regions where green plants fail to grow, large fungi-like organisms are the most common form of life. Finally 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 the famous Bulldog and Husky Squadrons, led by Bill Grey.

History
During the Lylat Wars the planet came under intense attack by the Venomian Army. The Star Fox team came to its aid and led the counter-charge against the Invader II Fighters swarming above the CA's military base. Fox McCloudand his team succeeded in relieving the beleaguered squadrons. Attempts to confuse Star Fox 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.

During the Aparoid Invasion, the planet was one of the targets of the Aparoids. Someone sent a distress signal 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 rained down from the sky in order to make reinforcements for the current Aparoids, but Fox was able to destroy those too. 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.

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 strange that mushrooms grow on Katina, since fungi generally grow in cool, damp, dark environments. Katina is the exact opposite; hot, dry, and bright.
 * Katina can be thought of as the "Mars" of Lylat.
 * In Star Fox 64, if the player succeeds in destroying the mothership's core WITHOUT shooting/destroying a cornerian ship, instead of Bill saying "Take care, Fox" with Fox replying "You too....Bill", Bill will say "I'm glad we're on the same team, Fox" and Fox will reply "You owe me one."
 * In Star Fox 64, for every Cornerian ship shot down, there will be one less Cornerian ship flying behind you when you finish the level.
 * In Star Fox 64, aside from Fox, the only Star Fox team member who may accidentially shoot down a friendly aircraft is Peppy Hare.
 * In Star Fox Assault, when Fox is trapped inside the base, he declares "It's a trap!". This may be a reference to Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, in which Admiral Ackbar says the same line during the films climatic battle.