This is the second story that I have started to write. I am also working on another story called Desperate Measures, which was my initial fan fic. This is the side project that I'll be working on when complications arise in Desperate Measures, such as writer's block and all of that stuff, or whenever I have the time. An idea formed in my mind as I was working on my other story, so I wanted to see how well it would go. This story will be a sort of 'work as I go' fic, meaning that I'll be making the plot as I go on. I have an overall idea as to where the plot will lead, but all the details will be written along the way. I'm not to sure about what title I should give this new fic, so for now the experimental name will be Plague of Shadows, for certain unnamed reasons. It might or might not change, so keep a look out. Enjoy.

Star Fox

Plague of Shadows

Prologue

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A barrage of laser fire barely missed Fox as he swiftly rolled out of the way. The vulpine was caught in a tight metallic hallway that was located inside of a ship that he had not to long ago infiltrated alone. The lights of the hallway were flickering in and out because of the great deal of damage that had been dealt to the area, and the white walls were scorched black from intense laser fire. After dodging several more laser bolts Fox ran and hid behind a few conveniently-placed metal storage crates. His enemies continued to fire their weapons while slowly advancing towards Fox's position. Seeing that his blaster was out of energy Fox let the empty magazine fall to the floor and inserted a fully charged battery clip. After hearing the satisfying click of the clip locking in place he peeked above the crates to see how many enemies were left. One, two… Three. Alright, that seems easy enough. Better get the hell out of here before more of them come. After Fox's adversaries stopped firing to reload their weapons, he speedily popped up from his hiding spot and blasted two of the three enemy soldiers left with well placed shots to their heads. The last one ducked just in time to avoid the crimson laser that Fox had fired at him. The solider reloaded his clip while running for the other side of the corridor for cover behind some sort of computer workstation. After a brief moment of catching his breath, the solider started to fire his assault rifle at the crates once again, moving in closer just as he had done before. However Fox, anticipating this, had moved away from those crates while the solider was reloading behind the workstation. He snuck to another set of stacked storage crates that were placed a few meters ahead and crouched low behind them, letting the shadows of the crates overcome his body. The solider, still firing, unknowingly walked past Fox's new position. The vulpine stealthily walked up behind the solider and held the blaster up to his head.

"Don't move."

The solider completely froze as he felt the cold, metal barrel of Fox's blaster placed against his head. "Put your weapon on the ground and kick it away. Now!" The solider obeyed and did what Fox had instructed him to do, and the rifle traveled several feet before sliding to a stop. He turned around to finally look at the vulpine. "What are you going to do, shoot me? Go ahead, do it!" the soldier encouraged, prepared for the worst. "Actually, I need you to do something for me," said Fox, more like a demand then a question. "I need you to open that door over there," Fox pointed at the door farthest away down the corridor. The soldier was surprised to hear this request. He grunted, but then laughed at Fox mockingly. "Hah! I'll never do that. I don't care if you are the Fox McCloud. What have you done for us, anyways?" The vulpine nodded in disappointment. I thought these guys were professional, but I guess not all of them are bright. "Guess we'll have to do this the hard way..." The vulpine suddenly aimed down with his blaster and shot out the soldier's leg. He screamed in agony as he fell to the ground, holding his now bloody leg.

"Let's try this again. I need you to unlock that door, or I will 'unfortunately'," he said with a little emphasis, "have to blow every fucking limb off your body. Got it? Do it now," the fox sternly ordered. Of course, Fox would never actually do something like that, but this soldier seemed like he needed some motivation. Terrified, the soldier concededly nodded. He got up slowly and limped, or sort of crawled, to the door with Fox following closely behind, still aiming his weapon at him. He stumbled a few times before finally reaching the door. When he got to the access door he typed in a code on the keypad. The console emitted a confirmation tone, and the door opened, reluctantly admitted entrance for Fox.

"Wasn't that easy?" The soldier mumbled something unintelligible. "You have a good day, now," Fox smiled before delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to the temple area of the soldier's head, which caused him to spin in the air before landing on the floor with a thud, out cold. Fox jogged into the large docking bay, surprised to see that know one was waiting to ambush or flank him. He quickly hopped into his Arwing and started it up. As he was doing so the alarm suddenly went off, blaring piercingly. To Fox's utter dismay, the docking bay access doors began to seal. "Uh, not what I planned," he whispered, frowning. After the doors were completely shut, the entrance to the docking bay opened revealing several more soldiers that ran in and surrounded Fox. They pointed their weapons at the Arwing.

"Get out of the fighter now!" one of the soldiers shouted. Fox contemplated for a moment.

Hmm… Option one, give up and get out and possibly interrogated, tortured, or killed. Or, Option two; blow the damn hangar door away with a nova bomb. He grinned as he obviously picked option two. He pressed a red trigger on his steering control and a small but destructive red bomb launched out of the Arwing. As soon as the soldiers realized what was happening it was too late. The door was ripped apart by the bomb, shrapnel pieces flying everywhere. In turn the vacuum of space was immediately exposed to the oxygen-rich hangar. Air was sucked out of the docking bay as the room instantly depressurized, killing the soldiers immediately as their bodies were sucked away into nothingness. Fox blasted out of the hangar and dodged a few stray shots from the enemy station's defensive turrets before he was well out of range. After Fox was sure that know one was following him, he let out a relieved sigh. He decreased velocity and took off the backpack he was wearing and placed it on his lap. He unzipped the bag and took out a small, silver case. Fox opened it, revealing a tiny, black memory disk. He produced a sort of half-smirk on his face, and then set the case back into the backpack and set it aside. Fox indolently contacted the Great Fox to let them know of his success. After a few moments an old, grey hare appeared on-screen.

"Fox to Great Fox, do you copy?"

"Loud and clear. How'd the mission go?" Peppy asked.

"Went off with only a few problems. Had to blow up the hangar bay doors with my Arwing to get out, but that was about it."

"Reckless as always, Fox…" the hare chuckled. "Anyways, we need to get that disk to General Pepper ASAP. It contains covert information that the Cornerian Military needs to keep undisclosed."

"Huh. I wonder how these guys stole it away," Fox thought aloud. "If this disk is so important then the military should've been taking better care of it."

Peppy crossed his arms. "Those weren't amateurs you were dealing with, Fox. Remember, the Ravens are a highly notorious band of pirates that are very good at what they are do," he reminded.

"Yeah, I know… What's on this little disk, anyways?" Fox asked curiously.

"Supposedly there are blueprints and designs for extremely powerful prototype weapons that are to be used for special ops or battleship attachments, something like that," the hare guessed. Of course. The Ravens wouldn't pass up the opportunity to steal really powerful weapons, especially ones that were supposed to be kept secret, thought Fox. "Anyways, hurry up and get back here so we can get back to Corneria."

"Will do. Fox out-" Fox suddenly lurched forward as his Arwing violently shook from a heavy impact. "What the hell?!" He yelled in confusion.

"Fox! What's wrong?" Peppy worryingly demanded.

"Something hit me, but I don't see anything on radar-"his ship rumbled fiercely once more as something hit him again. The cockpit was filled with blood-red lights as the alarm klaxon went off. He searched the area that was in front and to the sides of him, but saw nothing within visual range. Sparks flew from the console as Fox tried to bring everything back together; then, the flight controls abruptly malfunctioned.

"Shit! The navigation system is locked up, I've lost control!" The alarm blared as loudly as ever as Fox started to spin out of control. He glanced at Peppy, who was going in and out sporadically. "I'm going*static*-own! I repe*static*, I'm goi-" That was all Peppy heard before Fox was cut off as he was hit for the final time. The Arwing's engine instantaneously exploded into flames, which caused Fox to lurch forwards and slam his head right into the console unconscious. The Arwing tumbled and spun around as it turned into a violent, flaming ball of twisted metal and started a descent into a small, nearby planet. Static appeared on Peppy's side of the comm line as he lost the connection between he and Fox.

"Fox? Fox!" The hare called out anxiously, trying to contact the vulpine over and over again. But nothing happened as static continued to plague the screen that sat in front of him.

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So, good or bad? Share your opinions and critiques. Let me know in your reviews.

LGstryker