SF War Saga: The ReArmed Conflict

by Emile The Watcher

Remnants, a name whispered in the darkest corners of Lylat, very little is known about them, but General Pepper has gotten wind of the scope of their plans and five months after the Aparoid Conflict, he hires Star Fox to look into the group. Remnants, Star Fox, Corneria, Wolf's Ruffians, Caroso's Legion, when the dust settles and calm rules again, only one will be left standing.

1. Taking a Break

Star Fox: The Re-Armed Conflict

Fan-Fiction Story by: Emile the Watcher

Disclaimer: I do not own the Star Fox Series, that is Nintendo. How can you be sure of that? There wouldn't be an down right awful pick you story game on the DS (Although there were some cool parts) and there would be a Direct Sequel to Assault.

You know what? Consider this that, except, you know with, more Fan-Boy tendencies.

Well, here be the updated first half. Sorry it took so long, among the writers block I was suffering under, I also got a new game, moved 800 miles, oh and had to find a new job, which I got, go me. Come to think of it, that writers block isn't fully gone as I'm still working on the second chapter, which is pretty much the last half of the original write, but completely rebuilt for a slightly different story line and plot. One that spells of dark ends to this fiction...[cackles evilly]

Prologue: Lylat's Calm Before the Storm

After the Aparoid queen was destroyed, the Lylat system found itself struggling to recover from their brush with extinction. Bounty Hunters with no regards to the laws were everywhere, causing havoc and destruction, and crime flourished as various warlords and other bosses of the under world saw their chance to sit in the power seat of the Lylat system. The overly stretched Cornerian forces struggled against these massive odds in attempts to keep the peace.

Despite the Army's best efforts, the Lylat system continued its downwards spiral to becoming a system of scum and villainy. So, in an attempt to boost their military efforts for peace. Cornerian High Command sanctioned the use of the more moral Mercenary Teams.

The first and foremost of these being the impressive Star Fox Mercenary team. Ironically, Corneria had money to burn even while paying for repairs and dealing with the issue of rampant crime, throughout the system and its fringes. The Army used these funds to deploy the Star Fox team as a rapid response unit of sorts. Although the team had lost their carrier, Great Fox in the final push against the Aparoids and their demonic queen, the team's once prototype Arwings had small warp drives in them that allowed them to respond quicker then the Army could. Even if they couldn't handle the situation, they were at least able to hold the line until the bigger guns of the military arrived.

Because of this, Fox McCloud, the furry and valiant, leader of Star Fox, has been awarded enough cash to fund a small army. He has spent a great deal of these funds on the redesigning and construction of the Great Fox II, his team's new carrier.

Fox has also commissioned Slippy Toad, resident mechanic and technical genius, to customize the stock Arwings for the team's use, each fighter customized for their specific pilot. Slippy has been working on designs on the down low for a few years now, and he has jumped on the chance to bring his improvements and modifications to life with his new funds.

Fox also has tasked Falco Lombardi, his cocky wing-mate and ground weapons expert to to increase Star Fox's armory and ground mission capabilities. Falco, a former gang member was always ready to delve into the shadier areas of the Lylat system. This made him the perfect choice to locate the best, and most dangerous weapons he could find, legal or no.

Fox's girlfriend, Krystal has taken to the Mercenary Job even more so then before the war. Around Fox she can usually be found in the nearest workout room, or else in her room meditating. This increased focus on exercise and calm thought was brought on by the fact that shortly after the end of the Aparoid war, Krystal's Telepathic powers exploded into a new range of ability and use. This included a Telekinetic ability that caused her to destroy the entire floor of a shopping mall with its emergence burst. The exercise keeps her mind busy and the meditation allows her to keep her powers from revealing themselves in such an explosive manner again.

However, there was another Mercenary Team that was employed by Corneria, the Star Wolf team. Having survived their suicidal stunt in the Aparoid home world, the Star Wolf team appeared two months after the queen was destroyed. Until this point they were believed dead, however they did not return empty handed. When Star Wolf resurfaced, they had not just the three Wolfen II ships that they vanished in. Wolf and his team some how had managed to find an abandoned dock yard hidden on the fringes of the system. Sitting inside the dock, finished, but never used, was an experimental cruiser class ship.

Wolf has since taken this cruiser as his flag ship, and his previously quasi organized faction of mercenaries and scum in it for the money, and crystallized them into a solid command structure. Not many have seen the Wolf's Paw in action. But those that have describe it as a unmeasurable showing of power, once which the strongest ship in the Cornerian fleet would have trouble matching. This has led the Corneria Army to put a bounty on Wolf's ship. Wolf in an attempt to stay in the shadows has offered his ship and services to help Corneria keep order.

Panther, sensing this as a show of weakness in his leader, challenged Wolf to a fist fight for control of the Wolf's Paw, and of the Star Wolf team. The battle was furious and although many thought Panther had an fair chance of winning. It became clear early on into the battle that Wolf was toying with Panther to teach him a lesson. After two hours of brutal and violent hand to hand combat, Wolf finally let the bloodied and almost beaten senseless Panther finally drop and stay down.

After recovering from his ferocious beating, Panther decided to try his luck else where, and he fled the Wolf's Paw. But not before slaving two of the cruisers Wolfen II fighters to his own and flying away with them in tow. Panther, determined to see the Wolf's Paw destroyed and Star Wolf eradicated, has set up his own Mercenary outfit. Starting with just two that he found to fly the Wolfen that he stole. Panthers Legion has quickly grown and rivals the numbers of Star Wolf's faction.

Panther remains loyal to the highest bidder on the shady side of the law. He ignores any noble contracts and focuses on causing as much chaos as possible. He regularly makes strikes at known places where the Wolf's Paw has been seen in an attempt to destroy the cruiser, but Wolf has taken the ship into hiding and canceled his contract with Corneria. As of this day, rumors still persist of Wolf's ship being seen about, but nobody knows who he works for now.

To add into this already unbalanced system, there are now rumors spreading of an elite force of fighters called the Remnants. Nobody knows who they are, or who they work for. But when ever they enter a area, crime sky rockets and any law enforcement in the area vanishes almost overnight. Causing whatever settlement they have infiltrated to turn into a hive of scum and villainy. Many open stations that dot the system have been corrupted and no longer are a safe place to go.

The recovering General Pepper who is already worried about Lylat in general, having heard the rumors about these Remnants, is looking to once again call upon the Star Fox team to investigate them. That is of course, if he can find their leader...

Chapter 1: Taking a break.

/-/ Corneria -|- Star Fox Temporary HQ -|- Approximately Five months after the Aparoid's defeat. /-/

Falco Lombardi was kicking back in the command centers chair, his feet sitting on the console in front of him, rocking the chair back and forth on its stand while waiting for anybody who needed the mercenary team to call. He glanced around at their temporary HQ once more, slightly disgusted that they were stuck on a planet instead of the Great Fox. Sure for their efforts during the Aparoid war, Corneria Command had seen fit to gift the team with an old military base to call their own for the time being.

This was all well and good, except for that Cornerian bases featured only one specific color. Which meant that there was white, a lot of white. Falco was seriously starting to get sick of white, and he couldn't wait for the Great Fox II to finally be done. This was made all the worse by the fact that technically the ship was built, except for weapons, functioning docks, and a actual source of power to even fly with.

Falco sighed, flicking off some imaginary dust from his pants. He was dressed in his standard flight outfit, a red flight suit and gun metal gray boots, his belt was hanging off the back of the chair and his shoulder pads were laying on the console in front of him. Falco leaned his head back all the way so he could see the rest of the room just in time to see the holographic display in the center of the room kick on, displaying an incoming message alert.

Falco jumped up out of his chair and walked over to the system, stepping into projection range and accepting the call. As he watched the hospital bed of General Pepper materialize in front of him, Falco had to give the old dog his respect. Even though his Aparoid corruption had been reversed, it left his body in a critically bad shape, unable to walk, and most of the of basic functions still required help in some way. However, none of it stopped Pepper from leading the Cornerian Army, or giving Star Fox a call if he needed help.

Falco gave a quick off handed salute. "General Pepper, what planet am I saving today?"

Pepper shook his head "Falco, as cocky as ever I see. As much as I respect your skills as a pilot, I need to speak Fox."

Falco shook his own head while shrugging his shoulders "Sorry General, Fox left the base a few hours ago, never said where he was heading."

Pepper sighed and rubbed his forehead "Perhaps Krystal..." he started hopefully

Again Falco shook his head "No can do General, Krystal took off about an hour after Fox, and Slippy is with his dad at the Great Fox Hanger working on some 'project' for Fox." Falco gestured around him at the empty command room. "It's just me here, holding down the fort. Have you tried the Great Fox hanger? Maybe they went there to see what Slip's been up to."

Pepper shook his head his frown deepening" I already tried, just Slippy, I don't suppose you can call Fox back to base?"

Falco shrugged and rubbed his head "I can try, but he doesn't always answer. Is this really that serious that you need him?"

Pepper nodded and glanced down at a folder sitting in front of him "Yes, in fact the whole team would be best for this one."

Falco lifted an eyelid "Really? Alright well, I'll give him a call. I'll have him contact you when he gets back."

Pepper nodded and gave Falco a salute "Very well Falco, General Pepper out."

Falco stepped out of the projection area and went over to the communications console. He jabbed a few buttons. "Hey, Krystal, Fox, either of you get this, get your butts back to base pronto. Some serious stuff going down with Pepper, and he says he want's the whole team here."

/-/Corneria -|- Seedy's Bar/-/

The brown liquid in the shot glass swirled as the glass came to a stop in Fox's hand. Fox nodded his thanks at Seedy and quickly downed the shot. As the burning sensation scorched his throat, Fox thought back to what drove him to this bar.

"I've faced and defeated Andross, twice! I even took out the Aparoids! Yet, I just can't bring myself to ask her."

Fox and Krystal had been sitting in the rec room of the HQ earlier that day, watching TV to see if there was anything interesting on. Krystal was snuggled up next to Fox, and despite the mostly bad news on the TV, Fox was happy. He had his friends, a girlfriend who loved him, and the money to keep Star Fox running for years to come. He had reached into his pocket and fingered the small box he had there.

Krystal had felt the movement and looked up into his face. "What are you playing with?"

Fox had just smiled at her as he felt a gentle brushing along his consciousness "Nothing, just some parts."

Krystal had returned the smile and leaned up to kiss him. "Liar." she said quietly as she pulled away.

Fox chuckled "You think I would know better than to try and hide things from you."

Krystal had laughed as well "You would think." Her face got puzzled "Although I'm having trouble figuring out what's in that box. You're hiding its contents pretty well."

Fox gulped nervously, afraid his thoughts would betray him as he felt her mind brush against his once again. "Go on, do it! Now's the perfect time."

Fox gulped again "Uh, ah, Krystal, there is...something I want to tell you."

Krystal had sat up straighter on the couch. "Yes?"

Fox had felt his body start to heat up, a blush creeping up his cheeks "I uh, there, uh, somethings come up. I need to leave for a bit."

Krystal had looked surprised for a moment. "Well, alright, do you want some company?"

Fox shook his head and stood up "No. I'll be back in a few hours."

Fox turned and left the room quickly, as he walked faster then he should have, he had felt her mind brush against his one last time. As he rounded the corner, his sharp hearing had heard her click the TV to a different channel, then the door shut and Fox found himself staring into his empty shot glass.

Fox sighed and pushed his empty glass off to the side and then raised his hand at Seedy, who slid another shot his way. Fox caught that and slammed it as well. He sighed again, and was just mustering up the nerve to head back to base when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He was spun around on his stool roughly to face two heavily armored guys standing in front of him.

They were both dressed in bandits heavy armor, large and painted a dark blood red with big thick helmets hiding their faces from view. He could see the air tanks that each one had strapped to their backs, and the blaster guns that were strapped below it.

"Well well." The one on the left started, his voice sounding slightly mechanical through the suits speakers. "Look what we found here buddy."

The one on the right nodded, before speaking up with a much deeper voice, so low it almost sounded like a growl. "I know, who would think Fox McCloud would come visit this bar while we were here. Maybe the boss will give us a bonus if we bring him Fox's head."

The left one nodded in return "That's a great idea, we might even get promoted."

Seedy sensing what was about to happen in his bar, walked over with an assault rifle in his hands. "Not in my bar, you take your arses and your fight outside. You can beat the shit out of each other out there."

The two goons looked at each other then back at Seedy "Gladly!" they said at the same time while grabbing Fox by his arms and throwing him towards the door. Fox saw that he was going to land on top of a table first and angled his shoulder into the landing, hitting the tabletop roughly, banging his muzzle against the surface and cutting it. Then sliding off of the table and into a tumble on the ground that ended with him laying on his back out side the door.

Fox rolled over and pushed himself to his feet to greet the goon that had followed him out the door. As he reached full height though, his head swam and he had to shake it gently to get his vision to focus. As the goon in front laughed revealing the one with the lighter voice, Fox saw the other one handing Seedy credits.

Fox turned his attention back to the light voiced goon who had stopped laughing and was staring at Fox. "Who's your boss?" Fox demanded as he raised his fists.

The goon scoffed "Like you don't know, Star Fox." The goon said the teams name with disgust, as if the very words carried a taste.

Fox scowled and wiped his cut and bloody lip, looking at the liquid on his hand that matched the color of the goons suit. "Wolf then. Alright, lets do this."

Fox raised his fists a little higher and settled into his fighting stance, bouncing back and forth on his feet.

The goon laughed and pulled his blaster from off his back "Yea right McCloud, just hold still and it'll all be over, real quick."

Fox was trying to think of way out and cursing himself for not remembering his own blaster when a thin red beam shot down from over his shoulder. It took the goon in his shoulder and sent him spinning around. His grip being lost on the blaster and sending it flying towards Fox. Fox grabbed the blaster from the air and turned it on the goon, dropping to one knee, and squeezing off two rounds through the helmet of the goon's head as he fell to the ground.

Fox straightened as the second goon came charging out of the bar with a roar of rage and with his own blaster drawn. He only made it two steps out, before another red beam shot down, this time piercing the deep voiced goon's kneecap. As the goon fell forward Fox repeated his actions of shooting the falling man in the head. As the the second body hit the ground, Fox took a breath and held it, letting the silence fall over him. Inside the bar Seedy and the rest gathered there sat and watched as Fox waited.

Eventually Fox felt a familiar needling in his mind as a voice came out from the communicator on his wrist."Are you okay Fox?".Fox released a breath he had been holding and relaxed a little.

Fox tossed the dead goon's blaster to the side as he raised his wrist "Yea I'm fine Krystal, little drunk, but fine. I assume you're the one with the sniper rifle?"

Krystal's laugh echoed out "You would be correct, head on back to the plaza, I'll meet up with you. That is of course, if you're done trying to pick fights with people who would like nothing better then to turn you over to their boss dead."

Fox rubbed the back of his neck "Heh heh, yea, I'll meet you there."

A few minutes later, found Fox walking towards the fountain in the center of the plaza where Krystal was sitting. Her eyes were closed and she was letting the spray from the fountain float over her while her tail was twitching back and forth. Fox paused and leaned against a wall, watching Krystal, he was reminded why he loved her. Just the simple sight of her at peace caused his heart to beat a little faster and that familiar rush of heat to course through his body in time with his quickened pulse.

Fox pushed off the wall and walked up to the fountain, sitting down next to her gently. They sat in silence for a while until he heard Krystal humming something low in her throat. Fox closed his eyes and sighed as he listened to her hum, the tune its self was catchy with a slightly eerie feel to it, but didn't take away from Fox's enjoyment.

After a while she stopped and Fox sighed again, he glanced over at her "That was a great tune, where did you learn it?"

Krystal smiled, although her eyes stayed close she tilted her head slightly to face him. "It's something my mother used to sing to me when I was a child on Cerinia."

Fox said nothing for a moment but glanced down at the smooth ground "You never talk about your child hood much." Krystal said nothing so Fox sighed and changed the subject. "So, thanks for the save back there."

Krystal didn't say anything for a moment, and she still didn't she open her eyes. "Was going to a bar to pick a fight really that important?"

Fox opened his mouth to say something, but stopped, knowing that Krystal could probably sense the lie that he was forming. "I...I just needed to get out I suppose."

Krystal opened her eyes and glared at him, as her fur stood on end and she glared at with with a dangerous spark flashing in her eyes. "Oh, and going out and getting yourself killed was the great plan?"

Fox stalled at her anger "Uh..."

Krystal stood up and moved over in front of Fox "If I hadn't come after you, and had the feeling that I would need that rifle, you would be dead right now."

Fox opened his mouth again, but was saved by both his and Krystal's communicators activating.

Falco's voice echoed out of both "Hey, Krystal, Fox, either of you get this, get your butts back to base pronto. Some serious stuff going down with Pepper, and he says he want's the whole team here."

Fox glanced down at his arm then back up at Krystal who was staring at him.

"Guys? Krystal? Fox?"

Fox brought his arm up, never breaking eye contact with Krystal, who's eyes still hadn't lost that steely edge. "I hear ya Falco, what's up?"

"General Pepper, really, needs to talk to us, is Krystal with you?"

Krystal spoke up "I'm here as well Falco."

"Oh, well, hope I'm not interrupting your love date then."

Krystal gave one more loaded glare at Fox before turning her attention to the conversation. "No, you're not. Get Slippy back to the base, Fox and I will head back as well and we can find out what the General wants."

"Sounds like a plan. Make it quick though, he seemed kinda worried about whatever it is. See ya in a few."

Fox stood up "Yea, Fox out." Krystal turned around and walked away, Fox sighed and caught up to her. He grabbed her shoulder and she spun around, knocking off his hand in the process. Fox sighed "Look, Krystal, you have every right to be mad at me. I'm sorry, I really just needed to get out, the bar was unplanned. Will you stop being angry with me if I promise I'll tell you what was up when this mission is over?"

Krystal stared for a little bit more before her face softened, and her eyes lost that hard edge. "Alright." She said brushing her hand across Fox's cheek before pulling him in for a kiss. "I'll hold you to that." she said as she pulled away.

Fox smiled and laughed and the two of them headed back to base.

When the reached the base ten minutes later they found Slippy and Falco waiting for them in the command center. Falco was leaned up against the communications console, his belt snapped on and his shoulder pads attached again, tapping his foot and ready to get out of the base. Slippy was still in his mechanic clothes and was covered in grease from head to toe. He gave the two of them a wave as they came in.

Falco pushed off the console and walked over. "Bout time you two love birds got back. Jeez was your date really that important?"

Fox and Krystal shot each other a glance. Krystal spoke up "It wasn't a date Fal-"

Falco raised his arms, "Whatever, I don't want to know what you two do alone. Let's just find out what Pepper wants."

Fox shook his head and walked over to the holographic communication area. He stepped into projection range and dialed up a connection to General Pepper. It took only a few moments before General Pepper materialized in front of Fox.

Fox gave Pepper a formal salute as he spoke up. "Fox here, what I can I help you with today General?"

Pepper looked up from his file and smiled "Ah, Fox, glad you got back to me, is the rest of your team present?"

Fox glanced over his shoulder at the rest of his team and gestured with his head for them to step into the other projection areas.

As Krystal, Slippy, and Falco all appeared, Pepper looked around at each of them.

Pepper sighed "Very well, I have a urgent mission for you Star Fox, recently I have started receiving various reports of a new faction of units out in the Lylat system. Nobody has so much as caught word of who they actual are, just that they refer to themselves as the 'Remnant'."

Krystal spoke up "Remnant? So, they are the last survivors of something then?"

Pepper nodded "That's the best we can figure, but again, all I have heard are reports, rumors really. Whats troubling, is when ever these Remnant's show up, crime sky rockets and most local police forces collapse in on themselves."

Fox exchanged a look with his team. "Really?"

Pepper nodded again "Yes, it's not a pleasant thought, because of this, we must use our already stretched troops to also provide back up to local systems. I have just received a report that these Remnants might have started building a base on Fortuna."

Falco spoke up "Fortuna?" he glanced over at Fox "Hey, I'm always willing to get paid, but with out the Great Fox to carry our ships there, you're talking about a ten day trip in the Arwing, even with our booster systems." He glanced back at Pepper as Slippy spoke up "We can't even use a Warp-Gate either, since the Arwings can't stand the transfer."

Fox nodded "They got a point General, by the time we reached the planet, we would have to spend five days tuning up the Arwings, just to do a fly over, and I wouldn't trust them in combat."

Pepper was silent while he thought, Slippy was the one who spoke up next though. "Actually, we can use the Great Fox II. We just need to load her up with supplies and some fuel. She is space worthy but has no weapons, so we would have to keep her protected." He glanced over at Fox "Plus the new designs are ready for a test run, so we could take those and see how they fare." Slippy looked throught full "It would be a nice way to get some data."

Falco perked up "What new designs?"

Fox glanced over at him "Later." He turned back to Pepper "General, looks like we can do this. Instead of our usual fee though, just fuel up the Great Fox and give us the supplies we'll need for the trip. We'll take care of the rest."

General Pepper nodded and gave a salute "Consider it done Fox, report when you have something. Pepper out" Fox and his team saluted as Peppers hologram faded from sight.

Falco instantly turned to Fox "Okay two things, new designs, and mission with out our fee, what gives Fox?"

Fox shook his head "The Designs you'll get to see tomorrow when we head out to the Great Fox II hanger. As for the pay, we are not in a great need of it, and Pepper can get the supplies and fueling done faster then if we have to pay for it through the space port."

Falco thought about it for a moment "Fine." he turned around "But we take the next mission full price." he called over his shoulder as he walked down the hall towards the living area. Fox shook his head again as Krystal giggled.

Slippy shook his head as well and walked up to Fox. "We also need to take our stock Arwings, I'm not one hundred percent sure how these new designs will hold up in battle. We should have them with us, just in case."

Fox dropped a hand on Slippy's shoulder "Relax, you've tested them, that's good enough for me." Slippy glanced back up at Fox who shrugged "We will take the stock ones just in case though."

Slippy nodded and turned around "Alright I'll spend the night at the hanger running one last test on the designs and see you all there in the morning."

Fox nodded "Alright Slippy, see you tomorrow then."

As Slippy walked out the door Krystal slid up to Fox and tucked her arm through his. "So..." Fox glanced at her as they started walking "These new designs that you have managed to keep hidden from us. I'm guessing they are related to the Arwings?"

Fox said nothing just lifted his head a little higher with a smile on his face. Krystal raised an eyebrow and focused her slight mind reading powers on him.

"Hmm...He's not really trying to keep it hidden, but I'm sensing...new ships?"

"You did build new ships, didn't you?" she asked as they entered their room.

Fox just laughed and winked at her. "You'll see."

Krystal scowled and spent the rest of the night before drifting off to sleep trying to read Fox's thoughts. Something kept his brain scrambled for the most part though, and it wasn't until he was drifting off to sleep however that she finally got something, and it had nothing to do with ships.

As he had drifted off Krystal got the impression of a ring hidden away in a box and a blown chance. When she realized this she sat up in the bed sharply, looking down at the sleeping form next to her. "Was this why he left suddenly earlier today?" Fox didn't react to her sudden movements except to twitch slightly in his sleep. She thought about it for a moment before slowly laying back down in bed and moving closer to Fox. Fox in turn unconsciously rolled over and wrapped an arm around her.

As she started to drift off to sleep she smiled at a thought that went through her head. "Krystal McCloud does have a nice ring to it. I just hope he asks soon."

/-/The next morning -|- Great Fox II hanger/-/

Falco was walking around the four Arwings that were sitting in docks waiting to be loaded into the ship. "Fox, buddy, you've been holding out on me."

Fox was walking just behind him "In all fairness, I haven't seen them until today as well. Slippy is the only one who has."

Slippy was standing off to the side watching them walk around "Well of course I have, I had to customize the ships didn't I?"

Krystal was standing behind one of the ships. "You've done a great job Slippy, these ships look great."

The ships in question used to be stock Arwings, but after Fox had come to Slippy with the idea of upgrades. Slippy had revealed all the plans he had for doing so if he ever got the chance. Fox took one look at the designs before giving Slippy the money he needed and to tell him when he was done.

Done he was.

The first ship was Fox's, it looked like a normal stock Arwing, except for it being a slightly darker shade of white. This was due to the fact that Slippy had pulled all of the original armor paneling and replaced it with a lighter and stronger alloy, allowing Fox's ship to take a much more severe pounding. Slippy had also replaced much of the inside wiring and boosted the G-Diffuser system. Giving Fox's ship improved agility in both space and in atmosphere, with the added bonus to the shields and speed as well. As well as turning the exhaust from his G-Diffuser system a much darker blue. But the best part...

"Slippy, what are these?" Fox asked, bent over to look at the underside of his Arwing, which was coated in what looked like scales. Slippy walked over glad that Fox had asked.

"I call them the BOUNCE system."

Fox looked up at him "BOUNCE?"

Slippy nodded "Yea, it's something my dad and I came up with. It stands for BeyOnd yoUr Normal Combat Experience."

Fox raised an eyebrow.

Slippy shook his head "Yea yea, I'm still working on the name. Anyway, each one of those little flaps is actually a mini booster tied into your G-Diffuser."

Fox bent down to look at what he thought were scales earlier "Okay, why do I need a what looks like forty boosters on the underside of my Arwing?"

"Foxen."

Fox turned his head "What?"

Slippy shrugged "Wolf based the Wolfen on the Arwing, so we might as well call these Foxen, since they are not exactly Arwings anymore."

Fox stared.

"Alright, I'll work on that name too, sheesh. Again though, what those boosters do is when the system is activated, your Arwing sensors detect when the bottom of your ship is getting to close to the ground. It activate this system and the boosters all fire at once, 'bouncing' you away from the ground."

Fox nodded "Okay, so if I get shot down planet side, I can use these to soften the impact?"

"Theoretically, but there is another use for them, the one I intended the system for."

"Oh, what's that?"

"If your approaching a sharp turn and can't slow down to take it. You can tip your Arwing on its side, activate the Bounce system and-"

Fox finished "Hit the wall into the turn. Clever. How much speed do I lose?"

Slippy shrugged his shoulders again "I can't tell you with out actual flight data, but my tests seem to show that you wont lose too much that you can't just get back up to speed with a quick burst from the normal boost system."

Fox nodded and leaped up onto the side of the Arwing and popped the canopy taking a poke around at the controls.

Slippy turned as Krystal called out. "Slippy, is this one mine?"

Slippy walked over the ship that Krystal was standing behind. He nodded as he approached. "Yep, do you like it?"

Krystal took another lap around the ship, taking in the changes. Her ship also had the new armor configurations, but Slippy had painted the metal a light blue and had painted a symbol along the nose that looked like her old staff. But where Slippy had used some space for Fox's BOUNCE system, instead he had added a second G-Diffuser system and linked the two together, to drastically increase the speed of Krystal's fighter, he had to do this by adding a new set of G-Diffuser outputs along side her old one, then he mounted them together so that the ships back end looked like it had two X's. For added speed he also gave her a triple booster engine. Krystal could quite easily shatter the sound barrier when she wanted to. Of course this required changes to her interior systems, which led to a rather interesting effect on her laser system.

Krystal was studying the laser's themselves and noticed the change. "Slippy, these lasers look different, did you change them as well?"

Slippy rubbed his head "Yea, to give you the added speed I needed to change how the lasers worked, its actually an interesting side effect."

Krystal looked at him "What effect?"

"Well, the rest of our ships can shoot until the lasers wear out at range. You're range however is drastically cut, but the other effect is that at close range your lasers are twice as powerful as the hyper laser system."

Fox walked over "But I thought that all laser systems were designed to carry the damage for a set distance?"

Slippy nodded "They are, yet something I changed in the wiring changed the lasers power as well. Krystal's lasers lose damage the further away her target it, but anything with in say about two hundred feet of her will seriously regret it. Which ironically works out since her ship is so fast she can close with an enemy pretty quickly without fear of a lock on attempt."

Krystal looked over her ship one more time "You know, throw a little purple in there and I think I might have a new love."

Fox looked over at her with a frown "Hey!"

Krystal laughed while Slippy walked over to Falco.

Falco glanced down at him "Alright, so tell me, what it so special about my ship aside from the obvious."

The obvious thing that Falco was pointing out was the fact that his ship had four wings instead of two.

Slippy pointed "That's actually it, aside from the armor and shielding upgrades that all of our ships got, your ship is designed to be able to bank at almost ninety degrees. Fox's ship needs the BOUNCE system to pull that off, but with your wings you can pull that with ease. There's also the case of the extra laser system in there."

Falco glanced at the wings "What extra laser system?"

Slippy smiled "Its a transfer energy system I saw the Aparoid's using. Instead of actually having an emitter, energy is passed along your wings and takes information from your targeting computer to let loose with four different lasers at once. You can either focus these to replicate the power of a twin laser system, or you can just choose to spray lots of fire over different ships."

Falco nodded "Whittle them down while flying circles around them." Falco slapped Slippy on the back. "I like it."

Fox walked over to the last ship. "Alright Slippy, what's up with yours?" Fox asked pointing at the rather large cylinders that were tucked against his hull on both the top and bottom of his wings.

Slippy walked up to his ship "Advanced shielding system, runs completely separate of the G-Diffuser. My shields can take four times the abuse any of yours can. Of course it does slow down my ship a little bit, but since the G-Diffuser no longer needs to feed power to the shields, I only lose a little speed."

Fox nodded "Nice." as he turned around to address the rest of the team, he heard Krystal call out.

"Slippy, whats this over here?" Krystal was standing in front of a table that had two gray boxes. Fox and Falco headed over while Slippy trailed behind

"Ah, those are prototypes, of some new equipment. Not exactly ready yet" he said as he reached into a box

Fox raised an eyebrow as he stared at Slippy. "Really? Anything interesting? You've already impressed with the Arwings."

Slippy held out a small hexagonal device to Fox, who took it and studied it. It was white with a small blue hexagon in the middle that flashed. He turned the device over several times in his hands before looking down at Slippy "Okay, I give, what is it?"

Slippy took the device from Fox, "I call it a reflector. I designed it as a mini shield generator."

Fox nodded "Okay, but, our shields don't deflect unless the Arwings themselves are spinning. So do we have to spin the reflector to get it to work?"

Slippy shook his head "No, the reflector is designed to do all that internally. All you need to do is tap the center button and make sure that your device has enough time to deploy the shield around your body." Slippy paused and glanced at the device "At least the front of you."

Falco walked over and grabbed a Reflector from the box "Not so good at watching our backs are they?"

Slippy tossed the Reflector he held back at Fox who caught it and and snapped it onto a clip on his belt. "Also there is a slight over heat issue that I have yet to fix."

Fox looked down at Slippy "What over heat issue?"

Slippy shrugged "The device heats up no matter how small the blast it deflects, it needs a good five minutes before it can be used again."

Falco snorted looking at the device that he had just clipped to his own belt "So what good is it then?"

Fox looked over his shoulder "It means the Reflector is a last resort that might just save your life."

Falco raised an eyebrow but nodded anyway "Fair nuff."

Krystal had begun poking around on the table again and lifted the lid on the second box. She felt her eyebrows raise as she saw that inside the box were three more boxes, each one with a name written on it. Her interest was further peaked when she realized one of the blue boxes had her name scribbled on it.

As she lifted the box with her name on it out of the larger one, she failed to support the bottom and it fell away from the top. Krystal managed to catch the light blue suit that tumbled free before it hit the ground however.

Slippy turned around at the sound of the box hitting the ground and saw Krystal rubbing a finger over the surface of the suit. Slippy walked over quickly and grabbed the suit from Krystal who looked shocked at his sudden tactics.

"S-Sorry." He stuttered at her hurt look "I-It's just that the suits materials are really sensitive right now."

Krystal laughed at Slippy as he began to apologize again. "It's okay Slippy, I should have asked first anyway, what does the suit do?"

Slippy carefully tucked the suit back into the box and reached up to put it into the larger one. "I'm going to call them Mirror Suits."

Everybody waited while Slippy pulled the box off the table and held it in his arms. Falco finally scoffed and spoke up "Well, you're going to tell us right?"

Slippy looked surprised for a moment "Oh, sorry, got distracted by a different train of thought. Anyway, the Mirror suits will serve as an under suit to your normal combat gear. When activated the suit draws power from a belt of collapsed cells which then pass a stream of electrified currents across a series of strategically placed nervous system enchantments that will then accelerate your muscle mass by a good 4000% this leads to an-"

Falco held up his hands "Whoa, I lost you a while ago, care to simplify that?"

Slippy looked chagrined "Sorry, basically it allows you to dart forward in the blink of an eye, moving so fast you leave a trail of bluish reflections behind you. Hench the Mirror suit name" Slippy paused and looked down at the box "Well, in theory anyway."

Fox waited a moment "What do you mean, in theory?"

Slippy set the box on the floor and pulled his reflector from his belt. "Well, these were easy to test, it just took a blaster and some spare time. But for the suits I would need somebody to actual wear them and try them out."

Falco was walking back to his Arwing when he spoke up "Why not test them on yourself?"

Slippy shrugged "I don't have the proper muscle structure. Even if I could use one of these suits, all I would get are several slight shocks. Fox and Krystal have the right muscle structure, and to an extent, you as well Falco."

Fox nodded "Fair, enough, we'll see about testing them on the way to Fortuna" he turned around and headed for his own Arwing "Let's get these moved to the Great Fox and head out to Fortuna. We've got some rouge pilots to take down."

The team nodded and went about getting the Great Fox loaded.

Well, hopefully the next half will be up soonish after this one, I'm gunning for a few days at most. So, I hope you all know what you do now, and if you don't I'll give ya a hint, it has to do with pushing that little button right after I finish that says review...come on...do it...you know you want to...plus it makes me happy and gives me more reason to work on this...so...come on...DO IT! : P

Peace,

-Emile