A/N: My attempt at a lengthy story! Feedback appreciated!

Timeframe: Post-Assault, Pre-Command

Disclaimer: Nintendo

Star Fox: Broken Allies

Chapter One: Boys Will Be Boys

Positive to negative, red to blue. Positive to negative, red to blue.

Slippy repeated this to himself as he connected and reconnected wires. Finally, he attached the last one. "There you go, ROB," he said, "You're all cleaned out and rewired. There shouldn't be any more problems for a while."

"Affirmative," the robot answered in a monotone voice, "Permission to transmit gratitude."

Slippy chuckled. "You're welcome, ROB. I'm gunna go check our coordinates."

How does anyone get bored of this? Slippy thought to himself as he happily walked down the halls of the Great Fox. The war with the Aparoids had been over for a few months, and lately Fox and Falco had become restless. Slippy, however, felt the exact opposite. He always had some kind of maintenance to do, and he strongly preferred it to being shot out of the sky.

Meanwhile, Fox was in the main control room watching the void of space pass by through the large front windows. It was kind of funny, he mused, how every inch of space looked the same. Even a trained space combat pilot like himself would get lost without a radar.

Slippy entered the room, snapping him out of his daydreams. "Oh hey, Fox," Slippy squeaked, "What are you doing in here?"

"Nothing," Fox sighed, "That's all we do nowadays."

"Peppy says that's the price of peace," Slippy shrugged, "Mind if I check our coordinates?"

Fox nodded and got up. He walked over to the security screens as Slippy began clicking random keys. His eyes idly scanned through the images of each room of the ship. He stopped, however, when he noticed Falco in the hangar toying with his Arwing. "Hey Slippy…" Fox said, his dull mood being replaced with a mischievous tone, "You up for some fun?"

Now Falco wasn't the brightest when it came to the technical aspect of an Arwing. That's what Slippy was there for. But in the never-ending depths of boredom, he needed something to do to keep himself from going mad. So there he was, lying under his ship, screwing and unscrewing bolts, polishing things that wouldn't be seen, and pretending he knew a thing or two about maintenance.

All of a sudden there was a deafening screech heard from the ship's intercom. Falco jolted upright, hitting his head on the belly of his ship and letting out a curse. He slid out from underneath and sat upright, rubbing his head.

"MEMBERS OF STAR FOX," a deep voice bellowed from the speakers, "DO NOT BE ALARMED. I HAVE JUST SUCCESSFULLY SNUCK INTO YOUR MOTHERSHIP AND TAKEN CONTROL… ON SECOND THOUGHT, YOU MAY BE VERY ALARMED."

"Oh what the…" Falco mumbled, standing up. He looked into the security camera. "Fox, is that you?"

"NO, I HAVE TAKEN YOUR LEADER CAPTIVE." The voice answered.

"You guys are dumb," Falco said, "If you think I'm going to fall for this…"

The voice spoke up again, although in a slightly higher tone than before. "IF YOU WANT CONTROL OF YOUR SHIP BACK, MAKE SLIPPY A SANDWICH."

Falco resisted a smirk. "Now you're in for it."

Fox and Slippy were in hysterics. They knew Falco wouldn't fall for it. The plan was to exasperate him enough to spark a dogfight.

But when the door burst open, Falco was not the one who entered the room. Instead, the round figure of Peppy Hare stood in the doorway with a book under his arm and a frown on his face. Slippy and Fox immediately stopped laughing.

"What do you think you're doing?" Peppy demanded, entering the room, "I can't have an hour of solitude? Just an hour, that's all I ask. I was sitting down with a nice book when I hear some idiot on the intercom. I nearly had a heart attack! What if someone really had taken over the ship, hm? What was I to do then?"

Fox and Slippy hung their heads. "Sorry sir," they said in unison.

Peppy shook his head. "I supposed Falco will be in here any minute with more tomfoolery…"

As if on cue, Falco burst through an air vent on the ceiling, landing on top of Fox and Slippy as he crashed to the floor. Peppy slapped his palm to his face as the three "professionals" roughhoused. He walked over to the pile and easily grabbed Falco's collar, pulling him to his feet. Fox and Slippy quieted down. They knew Falco was going to be scolded, and they wouldn't miss it.

"As I was just explaining to these two…" Peppy began calmly, before yelling: "I ASKED FOR PEACE AND QUIET FOR MERELY AN HOUR, IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?"

Falco twisted a feathery finger in his ear, acting as though Peppy had damaged an eardrum. He kept a dull expression as he answered the rabbit. "Sheesh, Pep. It's not our fault you can't keep up with us 'youngsters' anymore."

Peppy was fuming, but Falco's expression remained unchanged. Before he could spew out more shouts of disapproval, the last member of Star Fox finally joined in the commotion.

"What am I missing?" Krystal asked with a smile as she entered the room.

"Oh nothing," Falco waved off Peppy and walked over to Fox and Slippy. He casually rested an elbow on Slippy's head, taking advantage of his short teammate for an armrest. "Boys being boys." The irritated frog wiggled his way out from under Falco's body weight.

Peppy sighed. "Why don't you boys take your ruckus outside."

Fox smiled. He turned to the three other pilots. "You guys up for it?"

Thanks for reading! It might be a while before the next chapter comes out, but I promise it'll have some action! Reviews/criticism are appreciated!