Chapter One
[June 2, 2673 1000 Hours]
"Alright, everyone up! One week until graduation and you still have a lot of things that needs to be done before hand," yelled the drill Sargent. James groaned and sluggishly pulled himself out of his cot. He had been up all night working on the G-Diffuser with his father Fox McCloud.
James is the son of Fox and Krystal. He has a twin sister and his older brother is Marcus McCloud, current leader of the Star Fox team. No one could understand how James ended up with black and red fur-black being the dominant color while the red were the streaks. James was named after his grandfather, James McCloud, who died on a mission to Venom when Fox was only five. James' left eye was a sapphire while his right eye was a bright green.
He walked over to a cot and shook it violently. A female fox that looked just liked him yelped and fell to the floor.
"Get up Jamie. We got things to do," said James tiredly.
"You are an ass!" Jamie claimed while picking herself up.
"Thanks for noticing."
Although they looked alike, Jamie's fur was red and black- red being the dominant one and the black being the streaks. Her left eye was green and the right was purple.
They both got their uniforms on and headed out for breakfast.
'A week from graduation,' James thought to himself as he grabbed his coffee. Jamie sat with a couple of her friends. James took a seat with a panda, a flacon, and an artic fox. "Sup guys," James said.
"We see each other every day do you really need to ask?" said the fox.
The fox is Linus. No one knows his last name. He is a good friend of James and he has green eyes.
"Can't believe we have one week left here," said the panda. The panda is Altair Fenix. He dyed whatever white fur he had to yellow. His eyes are a cross between a brown and a green.
"Yeah I know," said the falcon. The falcon is known as Steeve Sunderland. His feathers are a dark grey with a little bit of white mixed in and he has dark blue eyes.
James sipped his coffee dry then got up to dispose of the cup.
Roxy walked into the cafeteria for her breakfast. She is a beautiful vixen with a light blue fur and white streaks. Her eyes are a bright sapphire blue. Roxy is a descendant of the Cerinian race that supposedly disappeared a long time ago.
After she ate her breakfast she got up and went to dispose of the trash. Just as she's turning away she bumps into a black vulpine with red streaks. She immediately felt fear overcome her because he looked intimidating.
"I- I'm sorry," she said quickly and nervously. She was always kept to herself and normally didn't talk to anyone but the people in her groups.
"It's OK. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," the vulpine replied. He knew that she was a little scared due to his looks. "The name's James by the way," he said.
"R- Roxy," she replied still being a little nervous.
"Hey calm down. I don't bite."
"I'm just nervous about next week, that's all." She lied because she didn't want to hurt his feelings.
"Hey we're all nervous. Especially me. I…didn't do that well on the bombers and transports but I got a really high score on fighters."
"What's your last name?" she asked trying not to look at him out of fear.
"McCloud."
She instantly looked into his green and sapphire eyes. "You're a McCloud?"
James nodded then gave the famous McCloud family salute. "James McCloud II. Named after-"
"Your grandfather, James McCloud."
"Yeah."
"Well I should get going. Still have a few things left for me to do."
"Same here. I'll be seeing you Roxy."
"You too, James."
She walked out of the cafeteria and put her back to the wall. She put her paws across her chest.
"Thank god he doesn't know I'm a Cerinian…at least not yet," she whispered to herself. She pulled herself together and walked back into the room she uses.
She unzipped her uniform just to above her breasts and she grasped a Cerinian necklace given to her by her mother. It supposedly does some kind of supernatural power when it is worn but she doesn't know what exactly.
She quickly zipped herself back up when she heard footsteps. She turned around and saw two girls walk by the room, not even knowing her presence. She exhaled out of relief. 'Quit being so jumpy, Roxy,' she thought to herself. She sat in her cot and continued reading a historical book about the Lylat Wars.
(Corneria City)
The old vulpine yawned as he trudged his way into the kitchen for his morning coffee. "Morning, Fox," said a blue vixen. She sat at a table in the kitchen, ready to go to work.
"Morning, Krys," replied Fox.
"One more week," Krystal stated.
"Hmm?"
"The twins' graduation? Did you forget?"
"I just woke up leave me alone!"
Krystal couldn't help but chuckle a little. Fox went for a second cup and sat across from Krystal.
"First Marcus. Now the twins," Fox finally said.
"Time flies. Seems like just yesterday when the twins were born."
"Yeah. Which one do you think will take up the Legacy?"
"Hard to say. You took the team because of your father. Marcus took it up because he believed it to be a noble cause, just like your father."
"Which I don't blame him for."
"Hmm…so how's that G- Diffuser unit coming along?"
"Almost there. Gotta get a few parts from Slip then it should be as good as new."
"It's a shame the Great Fox was destroyed."
"Again," Fox stated, "Even R.O.B. went up with it this time."
"Yeah. Slip was devastated."
"Well he built the damn robot."
"Well I think his son will come up with something."
"Yeah and Mark will be there to help him."
(Star Fox HQ)
The alarm blazed and everyone was at their stations observing the situation. "What's going on up there?!" yelled a dark blue vulpine.
"They're taking a beating!" replied a young female rabbit.
"Marcus we should end this!" demanded an orange toad.
Marcus sat in his seat thinking it through. "Alright Chase. I'll end it. Anne, patch me through," Marcus McCloud eventually said. He closed his sapphire eyes and rubbed his temples.
"Aye, Sir," she replied. Her fingers danced around the console in front of her to establish a connection. "We're through," she reported after a minute. A microphone appeared on Marcus' arm rest. He lifted it up and said into it, "End simulation."
The alarms stopped and the blue vulpine stood up, showing his full 6'1" height. Marcus, the new leader of the new Star Fox team, walked calmly to the simulator. The door opened and a lynx, hawk, and a raccoon walked out. They saluted and Marcus returned the salute.
"What happened in there?" he asked sternly
"Sir, we-" the hawk began to say.
"No excuses. You weren't working as a team. As far as I could tell I didn't hear any communication going on. So basically you were all flying blind in there. Go back to the barracks and try again tomorrow."
"Sir!" The three saluted and he returned the salute. The three trainees went to the barracks. Marcus sighed and walked to the kitchen. He grabbed a shot glass from the cabinet and a whiskey bottle from the fridge. He poured himself a shot and downed it.
"Rookies…they're a nice bunch. I got high hopes for them," said Chase grabbing himself a shot glass.
"So do I but I can't go soft on them," Marcus replied filling Chase's glass then his own.
"Can't be too hard on them either. They'll figure it out eventually." Chase downed his glass and Marcus did the same.
"True. Still working on that bot?"
"Yep. Still making the legs and making sure they work then I'll begin on the torso."
"Your father will be proud."
"Yeah. Ever since R.O.B. went up with the Great Fox he hasn't picked up a wrench all that much. Hopefully this will spark the mechanic in him once more."
"Well let's get back to work." Chase nodded then they both downed their shot and Marcus placed the bottle back in the fridge. The two walked back to the Command Center.
"Anne, establish a connection with the General."
"You got it, sir."
(Cornerian Military Base)
The old hare finished his paperwork and was sitting in his chair, ready to relax. Suddenly his buzzer went off. "General Peppy, sir? Star Fox is on the line," came his secretary's voice. This brought a smile to his face. He pressed another button and said, "Peppy here. How's it hangin with the new trainees?"
"Ah they're learning. How's the paper work?" replied Marcus.
"I swear someone gives me work just to piss me off…and it works." Both of them laughed. "So is there any work for us at the moment?" Marcus asked.
"As of right now there is nothing. Things have been quiet since you took over, Mark."
"What can we say? We take up after the ones who raised us."
"Now that I can't argue with. So how is my granddaughter?"
"Hello I'm right here, grandpa," came Anne's voice.
"Of course. How else would you all be able to contact me so easily," Peppy said with a grin.
"Ha ha…" Marcus said sarcastically.
"Well I got to go work on my speech for the graduates next week. Talk to you guys later." He cut the transmission then said to himself, "Then the twins will be able to join the military and do us proud."