AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):

The timeframe for The Oasis is eight years after the end of the Lylat Wars- the same timeframe as Star Fox: Adventures. I will explain this more in depth at the end of the chapter.

Rated M for Violence, Blood, Infrequent Language, Nudity, and Suggestive/Sexual Content.

ARC I: THE OASIS

Chapter 1: A Second Chance

Cold. The air inside the Great Fox was an uncomfortably cool 55 degrees Fahrenheit. In response to the Star Fox team's current monetary situation, all unnecessary expenditures had to be curtailed as much as possible; including the large battleship's onboard water supply and its heater. In the eight years following the end of the Lylat Wars and the defeat of Andross, the amount of criminal activity in the Lylat System had dropped to an abnormally low level. There was very little for the pilots of Star Fox to do other than to sit back and hope for a call from General Pepper or someone else who would be able to offer them a worthwhile paycheck.

Falco Lombardi had already abandoned the team for his past lifestyle as a member of a galactic gang, leaving only Fox, Slippy, and Peppy to maintain Star Fox's image. Great Fox, the team's mothership, was in noticeable disrepair, as were their Arwings. To salvage some much-needed additional funding, the team had even been forced to remove and pawn some of their fighters' features in exchange for quick cash. The monetary crisis was so serious that once the Great Fox's large plasma fuel reservoirs burned out, Star Fox would not have the means to refill them. The situation for the team had never been more dire.

In his personal quarters, Fox McCloud pulled his bedsheets above his head, trying to trap the heat beneath the covers to stay warm. The plunging temperatures inside the Great Fox had prevented him from achieving a good night's rest for the fifth time that week. The mood inside the ship had gradually become more and more dour as the time passed, and Fox was beginning to feel lonely. He was not sure why this was, but he had started to wonder if finding a girlfriend or a mate would fix this problem. He was 26 now, but he had never found the time for courtship or romance. His team was far more important to him than a petty relationship with a vulpine female; and besides, one more set of paws onboard the Great Fox would only quicken the team's already rapid descent into bankruptcy.

Realizing that sleep was impossible, Fox sat up in bed and turned on the small lamp before snatching up a men's magazine from his nightstand and opening it. The particular volume he kept with him in his room was the yearly swimsuit edition that had been printed more than two months ago. The vulpine eagerly sifted through its pages, 'admiring' the scores of scantily-clad females. He felt partially satisfied by reading the magazine; but at the same time, he was overcome with misery stemming from his lack of female companionship.

He knew that it would be a cinch to pick up a girl that had an interest in him—after all, he was responsible for defending the Lylat System from Andross and the Venom Army. However, he was aware that they would most likely only strike up a relationship with him because of his fame or assumed fortune, not because of who he really was. In some ways, Fox disliked being well-known. It certainly wasn't going to make bankruptcy any easier.

He placed the magazine back on the nightstand and slowly lowered himself out of bed, with the alarm clock beneath the lamp indicating that it was 6:10 A.M. Fox loudly groaned after seeing the time, knowing that he would not be able to go back to bed and fall asleep due to the uncomfortably cold temperatures onboard the ship. He slowly walked into his personal bathroom, wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of navy blue cotton sweat pants that he had recently started wearing to bed to combat the plunging temperatures. He lazily looked at himself in the mirror and began to comb through the fur on his head, trying to make himself look as presentable as possible. Not that it really mattered, though. No one cared what he looked like onboard the Great Fox.

Fox opened the cap on a bottle of spray deodorant and misted his chest with the somewhat synthetic scent to mask his unpleasant odor, which came from not showering in more than two days thanks to Peppy's water rationing. The vulpine then walked from the bathroom into his closet, where he exchanged his sleepwear for the clothes he had begun wearing not too long ago. His current outfit consisted of a pair of green pants, a matching green shirt, a white sleeveless vest, and of course, his signature red scarf. He wore it in memory of his father, who also had a soft spot for the wooly clothing accessory.

While he was adjusting the scarf, he heard a series of loud, frantic knocks at his bedroom door.

"What is it?" he unhappily shouted.

The voice that came in reply was none other than that of Peppy Hare. "Fox! Come to the bridge immediately! We might have a job!"

Fox quickly abandoned his meaningless fiddling and raced towards the Great Fox's bridge, where a holographic image of General Pepper was displayed. Both Slippy and Peppy were already present in the piloting area. The vulpine leader expectantly ran up to the projector and expectantly asked, "What is it, General?"

The old hound dog replied, "Star Fox, it appears that you have an opportunity to make yourselves a bit of money. I don't think you're the best choice for this mission, but I know you deserve a second chance. After what you did for us against Andross, I figured that I'd give you the option to take the job before I passed it along to someone else."

"What do you want us to do, sir?" Fox asked.

"We've located a weapons dealer with past ties to Andross on a desert planet far outside the Lylat System. The planet is called Morraia. Our intelligence claims that this weapons dealer may be in possession of nuclear weaponry. We cannot allow him or one of his associates to use those weapons against us. Your job is to find out if they exist; and if they do, let us know before you do anything else."

"You got it, sir," Fox firmly replied. "We'll head to Morraia now."

"I'm making arrangements for you to stay at a desert hotel called the Oasis as we speak," said Pepper. "Unfortunately, you'll have to use an alias while you're on the job. We can't have our target knowing that you're there. What name would you like to use?"

Fox thought for a few moments before he had the idea to switch his first and middle names and use the resulting title as his assumed identity. "James Fox," he confidently replied.

"Fair enough, Fox," the General heartily spoke, "Your fee has been approved. By the time you arrive on the planet, your hotel reservation will be ready for you. Good luck, Fox. Pepper out!"

The hologram of General Pepper quickly disappeared; and immediately afterwards, Slippy, Peppy, and Fox all celebrated the opportunity to redeem themselves from the clutches of economic ruin.

"It's about time we got something to do!" Slippy enthusiastically remarked.

"Hopefully, we can get this ship back to its normal operating condition with the money from this job. I'm really jealous of you, Fox," Peppy commented before lightly chuckling, "I wish General Pepper would have booked me a room at that hotel. If would sure beat this icebox."

The vulpine smiled and warmly replied, "Maybe next time, Peppy. Hey, at least you're not the one who has to do the dangerous work."

"Dangerous work? Come on, Fox! All you've got to do is find out if this so-called 'weapons dealer' has the weapon General Pepper's interested in. After that, you probably won't have to do anything. The Cornerian Army will handle the rest."

"Come on, Peppy—I was trying to make it sound difficult," Fox replied in defeat. "Of course it's going to be an easy mission. Did you really think I was that ignorant?"

"No, Fox," Peppy said with a smile. "I kind of figured that you were toying with me."

Star Fox's leader smiled back, then turned his head in the direction of ROB and ordered, "ROB, set a course for Morraia."

The robot stiffly moved his metallic arms and methodically replied, "Coordinates confirmed. Setting course now."

The journey to Morraia took longer than Fox and his crew had expected, but they arrived at the desert planet nonetheless. Star Fox peered curiously out the Great Fox's front windows and observed the dusty, yellow planet below. Large cities dotted the planet's surface, but there was very little contact between them because they were so far apart from each other. The Oasis hotel that Fox was going to be residing in was located twenty miles outside the largest of the cities, named Yaruit. True to its name, the hotel was positioned in the middle of an unspoiled desert wilderness with large sand dunes covering the nearby landscape.

Fox made his way to the Great Fox's hangar, where his Arwing was attached to a ceiling-mounted rail which assisted in launching the fighter. He slowly climbed into the silver craft and closed the canopy as he readied the ship for launch. The vulpine attached his headset and adjusted it to fit properly as Peppy's voice entered his ears.

"Be careful out there, Fox. I know it's supposed to be an easy mission, but you never know what might happen. Try not to draw a lot of attention to yourself, okay?"

Fox smiled and answered, "Sure thing, Peppy. I'll be done before you know it."

With that, Fox launched his Arwing out of the hangar and into space before performing a barrel roll and checking his ship's wings. All of the Arwing's systems were functioning correctly. Soon, Slippy's voice came through his headset, telling him, "Hey, Fox—I set the waypoint for the hotel on your navigation system."

"Thanks, Slippy," Fox gratefully replied as he descended into the planet's atmosphere. The sky above the planet was almost completely clear of clouds, and the sun shone down on the desert sands below with a ferocious intensity. Completely unfazed by the sunlight, Fox removed a pair of aviator sunglasses from his white jacket's pocket and placed them in front of his eyes.

He realized that if it was anywhere near as hot as he thought it would be, he would need to acquire some new clothes for himself. Clothes that matched those of the Morraian inhabitants would also make it easier for him to blend in and avoid being picked out as a spy by anyone who might have been associated with the weapons dealer he had been sent to investigate. He had packed two changes of clothing, but they were equally as heavy as the gear he was wearing at the moment; and with the planet's average daytime temperature hovering at an uncomfortably hot 95 degrees, his adventuring clothes would definitely be unsuitable for the harsh climes of Morraia.

Fox followed the navigation beacon on his Arwing's dash readout until he laid eyes on the magnificent obsidian-colored towers of the Oasis resort. The twin buildings were each more than 1,500 feet tall, and each of them was capped with a pyramid roof. Enclosed walkways bridged the gap between the two structures, and the entire resort was surrounded by a shallow, clear pool of water with a large number of squared platforms that were present merely for the sake of decoration. A large, silver panel was present in the middle of the desert sand directly outside the resort area, and Fox quickly determined that this was where the hangar was located.

A female voice with an (Arabic) accent came over his communicator and said, "Pilot, please identify yourself."

"James Fox," he confidently replied.

A five-second silence occurred before the air traffic controller said, "Your identity has been verified, Mr. Fox. Proceed to the landing area."

The silver panel below him opened up, revealing many other spacecrafts in the area below. Most of them were transports and civilian crafts, but a few military fighters like his Arwing were present in the hangar. Very carefully, Fox dropped altitude and lowered his Arwing into an empty docking space next to a sleek, wedge-shaped fighter that had been painted a fiery shade of blood red.

The lone mercenary climbed out of his Arwing's cockpit and walked through a heavy pair of metallic sliding doors into an underground passageway that led to the Oasis Resort's check-in desk. After clearing another set of doors, Fox found himself in a hallway that was very reminiscent of an aquarium tunnel. Water surrounded him from all sides, although no fish were present in the artificial enclosure that had been built under the waters of the decorative pool that surrounded the resort's two towers. The only other person in the immediate vicinity was a female avian who gave him a quick glance before returning her gaze to the door that stood before her and Fox.

"I've got a good feeling about this," Fox thought while admiring the lavish, overwrought designs and structures belonging to the resort General Pepper had sent him to.

After pushing open the door to exit the underwater tunnel, Fox stepped across the main lobby area's polished marble floors and followed the elegantly-printed signs which directed him to the resort's front desk. The check-in area was even more extravagant than anything he had seen in the resort thus far. Exotic indoor plants had been placed in highly decorative locations to add an element of natural beauty to the otherwise synthetic structure; and a large fountain that filled a pool of blue water stood near the main desk, which Fox confidently approached.

"Good evening, sir," the tigress at the desk warmly spoke. "Do you have a reservation with us?"

"James Fox," Fox calmly replied.

The receptionist mumbled 'James Fox' to herself as she typed in the name to confirm her vulpine guest's identity; and her computer quickly indicated a reservation for the name Fox had mentioned. "Oh… It's already been paid for. Very well, then, Mr. Fox—here's your room key. Your room number is 2830. It's on the 28th floor of the west tower. If there's anything we can do to make your stay more enjoyable, please let us know. We'd be happy to help."

"Thanks, but I think I'll be alright," Fox replied.

Leaving the check-in desk with his room key in one paw and his small bag of hygienic products and two changes of clothes in the other; Fox made his way to the ornately-decorated elevators, which were framed with gold-plated steel. A white-furred tiger couple stepped into the elevator with him, took a quick glance at the interestingly-dressed vulpine, and then directed their attention elsewhere. Fox selected the button marked '28,' and the elevator soon began its ascent. It stopped at the 15th floor to let the other occupants of the elevator out, leaving Fox alone in the small enclosure.

He felt slightly out of place in the hotel, considering that most of the denizens of the upper-crust establishment were finely attired; unlike him, who was dressed in his rough-and-ready mercenary gear. No matter, though. He had brought a small amount of money with him; and if the need for new clothes arose, he would be able to acquire some without great difficulty.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the elevator's bell as it stopped on the 19th floor to allow another hotel patron to step on. Fox's attention was immediately diverted towards the person who was about to enter the elevator with him when he noticed that it was a ravishingly beautiful red vixen with long, flowing, black hair. She wore a pair of snug-fitting black pants and a matching cut-off tank top that left her midriff partially uncovered. Her eyes were of a dazzling blue coloration, and her face and muzzle were exceptionally well-formed.

Fox tried as best he could not to stare at the attractive vixen who had just joined him, but when she reached forward to press an elevator button and then realized that Fox had already selected the floor she was going to, his heart almost skipped a beat.

"28, huh?" the vixen coldly said.

Completely nervous and unsure of what to say back to her, Fox anxiously mumbled, "Yeah..."

The vixen continued to run her eyes over Fox's figure. It was clear that she liked what she was seeing, even though her expression gave away very little information about her inner being. "Mercenary, aren't you? Who're you working for?" she firmly asked.

Fox almost jumped out of his fur after hearing the vixen's question. "W…what?! How did you know?"

"An educated guess," she smoothly replied. "You stick out like a sore thumb around here."

"Same to you."

The vixen shrugged and said, "I suppose. I never really gave it that much thought." She quickly paused before asking Fox, "So, you got a name?"

Fox wasn't sure which name to give her for fear of giving away his identity. Either way, he felt that it was a lose/lose situation for himself. "Which one?" he nervously asked.

The vixen answered, "Come on—no mercenary should ever be expected to give out his real name. The alias is fine."

"If that's the case, call me James Fox."

"Charming name," she replied, "I'm Scarlet, by the way. Pleased to meet you." She extended her paw for Fox to shake, and he somewhat reluctantly accepted her gesture of kindness. A lot could be determined by a handshake, and Fox noticed this immediately as he shook Scarlet's fiery red paw. The vixen's grip on his hand was as firm as General Pepper's, and she immediately forced his masculine hand into a submissive grip with hers over top of his. Quickly, Fox began to realize that this 'Scarlet' person was not someone to be trifled with.

After the elevator had reached the 28th floor, both foxes stepped out of the elevator and into the nearby hall before locating their rooms. To Fox's shock, the vixen took her key card and opened the door marked 2829—the one right next to his.

"Interesting," Scarlet muttered as she opened her door. "Catch you later, Mr. Fox."

With that, the attractive vixen disappeared into her room and closed the door behind her. Fox simply stood in the hallway outside her room, not sure what to think about her. While he contemplated his meeting with the vixen, he thought he heard a faint splashing sound coming from inside her room.

Finding himself alone in the 28th floor's hallway, Fox slid his plastic key card into room 2830's door slot and turned the gold-plated door lever in anticipation of viewing his room for the first time. The sight before him immediately caused him to drop his bag on the floor and stare in shock at his dwelling place's opulent trappings.

The abnormally high ceiling was painted in a rough-textured sandstone color that gave the illusion that it was made of stone. The floors were covered with highly reflective black tiles that contrasted perfectly with the light-colored ceiling, while several warm yellow lights added a relaxing, indulgent air to the room. However, the most striking feature the room had to offer was a large swimming pool that occupied most of the floor space. The pool even extended out to the balcony area, allowing the room's residents to swim outside and look over the railing down to the desert below without leaving the comfort of the cool waters.

To the left of the pool was Fox's luxurious king-sized bed, and to the right was his bathroom and closet. The overall feel of the room was that of the most sumptuous regality, and Fox found it difficult to believe that General Pepper had offered to pay for his stay at what was clearly the most expensive and luxurious hotel available to the residents of Morraia. Without hesitation, he walked across the black tile to his bed and climbed onto it after first removing his boots for fear of staining the downy, sand-colored bedsheets.

He breathed deeply, allowing the calming air of the room to fill his lungs. The hot desert wind blew in from the open balcony, but its heat never reached his bed chamber thanks to a high-powered cooling unit that had been installed in the room. The energy bills for the hotel must have been sky high, but with the hefty price of admission, it was a price the hotel's management could easily pay.

Now feeling completely comfortable, Fox began to think about the mission he had been sent to accomplish. Pepper had given him no time frame for it—all he had to do was find out if a rogue weapons dealer on the planet had access to nuclear armaments. After that, the Cornerian Army would take over control of the operation.

However, Fox wasn't ready to start hunting his prey just yet. The sun was starting to set, and he wanted to find out more about what this planet had to offer. He eyed the swimming pool, but decided that he would indulge himself in it after he had visited the nearby city of Yaruit. Pulling his boots back on, Fox made his way out of his room and back into the elevator area before descending to the ground floor and entering an area designated for the hotel's on-demand chauffeur service.

A large, black car rolled up to the curb inside a large parking garage, which was filled with dozens of high-priced, exotic vehicles that would normally be impossible to find in such close proximity to each other. A tall chameleon wearing a suit and tie courteously opened the car's back door, which had "Oasis Resort Transport Service" written on it; and Fox gratefully dropped into the back seat and moved over to the left side of the car.

Before the chameleon could close the car door and allow Fox and his driver to depart and head for the large, bustling city, a red-furred figure quickly entered the parking garage and quickly requested that the lizard hold the door for her. The beautiful figure of Scarlet effortlessly slipped into the back seat and slid into the unoccupied space next to Fox. Instead of the light garb she had been wearing earlier, she was now clad in a heavy white overcoat that appeared to be covering a skin-tight black catsuit that suited her feminine form very well.

The vixen turned her head towards Fox and dryly said, "Fancy seeing you here."

Fox simply mumbled an incoherent sound, making no attempt at any conversation with her as he uneasily he ran his eyes over the red vixen that was seated next to him. It seemed very suspicious for her to be wearing an overcoat when the external temperature was still in the upper 80s; and he immediately suspected that she was hiding something under her clothes—most likely a weapon or two. "Why the coat?" he uneasily asked.

"I like it," she harshly answered. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Um, no," said Fox, "It just seems a bit strange for you to be wearing that here when it's so hot outside. Are you going to Yaruit, too?"

"I am," she replied.

"What are you going to do there?"

"Why should I tell you that?" she snapped. "Explain yourself first before you start getting into other peoples' business. Go on—I'm listening."

Fox tensed up and frowned. He was insatiably curious about the highly suspicious vixen that was sitting next to him, but the last thing he wanted to do was to compromise his mission. He thought it best to keep quiet and not say anything, but the stern gaze from the vixen next to him was indicating for him to do otherwise. He crossed his arms and leaned away from her into the depths of the leather bench seat he was sitting on, but Scarlet was giving him no quarter with her death stare that Fox felt would be capable of melting steel.

He hadn't felt this uncomfortable in quite some time. He knew that he should have thought better and simply ignored her when she climbed into the car with him. Then again, how could he possibly ignore someone as ravishingly beautiful as her? Silently, he cursed himself for being too over eager to ask her questions that he had no right to ask.

Hoping to pacify the unhappy vixen, he reluctantly admitted, "I've been hired by the Cornerian military to check out the possibly of nuclear weapon somewhere nearby. There you go. Now tell me what you're doing."

Scarlet cruelly smiled and bitingly remarked, "Wow. Your friends just picked up on that?"

"What do you mean?" Fox quizzically asked.

"They've had the nukes for months already. That's old news," she said, almost laughing at Fox's naivety.

Stunned, Fox pulled up his wrist interface and prepared to contact General Pepper immediately. However, Scarlet swiftly and violently swatted his arm, causing Fox to cry out in pain and preventing him from initiating the call. "Ouch! What was that for?"

The vixen snarled, "Don't call your general. If your people show up here, all hell's going to break loose. We're not dealing with just a rogue weapons dealer here, Mr. Fox."

"...Just call me Fox, please," he said.

Scarlet harshly replied, "Fine. Fox it is, then."

Trying to avoid stirring up any further animosity with the vixen, he asked, "Who are we up against, then? And why did you say we?"

"I thought you might want to make yourself useful," she replied in a borderline deprecating fashion. "If you help me complete my objective, I'll give you half of my cut. Are you handy with a blaster?"

"I guess so. What are you trying to do?" Fox asked.

Scarlet explained, "I'm trying to collect evidence related to my boss's person of interest. We've been after him for three months, and now it's time to put him out for good. I found a good vantage point last night when I was scouting the area around downtown. We can camp out there and see if he decides to show up tonight."

Somewhat irritably, Fox enquired, "Who's he?"

The vixen replied, "My target is an iguana named Antoine Carache. He owns and operates one of the two mega-corporations on my home planet of Skallis. He's got a bounty of 5 million on his head; and I've got a good feeling that it's not going to be there much longer. If you help me take him down, I'll give you 2.5 of that."

Fox uncomfortably fidgeted in his seat at the mention of possibly earning 2.5 million credits for assisting Scarlet in her mission to take down the foreign businessman. General Pepper's initial proposal had only offered 300,000 credits as a reward; and if Scarlet was true to her word and paid Fox the 2.5 million she said that she would give to him, he would have more than enough money to repair the Great Fox and lift Star Fox out of the clutches of near-bankruptcy. It was a tempting offer, and the fact that Scarlet was an almost perfect 10 in his eyes was beginning to tip his internal balance in favor of working with her.

Her harsh temperament was slightly off-putting to him, but he had a feeling that she was capable of some level of emotion. The mere fact that she had offered him a cut of her pay and a chance to assist her was enough to tell him that she saw something in him that he himself may have missed. However, he also knew that he would have to be very cautious not to cross her or fall into the crosshairs of her angst while on the job. Fox was well aware that she was some kind of mercenary—probably a bounty hunter—and bounty hunters were an ilk of people that Fox preferred to avoid. Some mercenaries had morals and emotions, but bounty hunters in general were not known for either of them.

As he turned away and looked out the taxi's window at the expanse of sand that was gradually growing darker as the sun continued to sink into the horizon, he wondered if Scarlet was someone he could trust. He was well aware that she might have been playing him and baiting him into a trap; but the price was right for the mission. Honor and justice took precedence over money in his mind, but he hadn't been given the chance at this kind of payout in more than five years.

In addition to the prospect of pocketing such a sizeable paycheck, Fox was immensely intrigued by Scarlet's character. Even though she seemed very harsh on the surface, Fox perceived that he felt a warm, comforting feeling coming from her. It was barely noticeable, but it was there nonetheless. The vixen was a bit on the rough side, yes, but she seemed to have a warm personality hidden somewhere inside of her—or perhaps he was just imagining things. Maybe she was a soulless, violent bounty hunter, after all. Fox quickly glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and admired her curves as she stared out the window on her side of the car.

He felt that he needed to contact General Pepper and update him on the situation in spite of Scarlet's warning, but something about what she had said prevented him from doing so. His finger hovered over the call button while Scarlet stared daggers at him without saying a word. He knew that it was unwise to place his full trust in her, but he was also aware that she was not against him, either. At least, he was mostly sure about it.

He was about to ask her more about the task at hand when the taxi suddenly came to a stop in a specially-marked parking space in the heart of downtown Yaruit. The driver formally exited the vehicle and opened the right rear door to allow Scarlet to exit first. The vixen slid out of the car, followed by Fox, who thanked the driver for his services before he and Scarlet began to walk down the heavily trafficked sidewalk on the way to Scarlet's objective.

Fox had a choice to make. He could either choose to abandon his new acquaintance, or he could help her accomplish a task that he may or may not have been properly equipped to perform. It was almost as if Scarlet knew this as well, because she turned around to face him and asked, "Are you with me on this, Fox?"

Fox gritted his teeth and scowled in indecision. He clenched his fists and tried to listen for his inner voice of reason to speak words of wisdom to him, but nothing came to his mind.

"The only lead I have on this job is her," he frantically thought, "If she really knows what she's doing, I might be able to do something about this nuclear weapon."

Reluctantly, Fox opened his mouth to speak.

"Yes."

AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):

The basic idea for The Oasis was born when I contemplated the multitudes of things that were completely wrong with Star Fox Adventures. While a good game, it was not a good STAR FOX game. More like furry Zelda, if you ask me (and many others). The idea with this story was to create a more 'canon-believable' account of what could have happened after SF64. Thus, this story takes the place of Adventures and the Saurian crisis in the Star Fox timeline.