A/N:This was supposed to go up yesterday, but I got caught in some real life stuff. From here on this story will be uploading every other week. I hope you all enjoy, and let the adventure begin!

Prologue

Striding with purpose Wolf O'Donnell made his way down the corridors of the Venomian flagship Androssia. It almost felt like old times. During the Lylat War he'd worked closely with the Venomians. He and his team had been the ace pilots of the Venomian military, taking on the most dangerous and spectacular missions, and serving as escorts for prominent members of Andross's inner circle. The politics of it had been of little concern to Wolf. It had paid well, and frankly, before Star Fox had entered the fray during the invasion of Corneria, Andross had seemed like the winning side.

Things were, of course, different now. Andross was long dead. His army was decimated, and the most recent attempt at a rebellion against the hegemony of the Cornerian Federation had left the remnants of the fleet either destroyed or severely damaged. Venom was far from the force to be reckoned with that it had once been. Then, neither was Corneria.

Pausing to glance out one of the viewports along the corridor Wolf spotted several cruisers floating in their escort positions around the flagship. In the distance he could see the green, poisonous ball of Venom itself, guarded by the Area 6 defense platforms and a Bolse class station that Venom's new leader, Andrew Oikonny, had managed to get up and running before his defeat at Fortuna. These would have been far from impenetrable defenses if not for one key event: the Aparoid invasion.

Wolf had fought alongside Star Fox as all of Lylat battled for survival against the nano-machine bugs. There had been a few times Wolf thought they'd lose, and that Lylat would get turned into another Aparoid spawning nest. But they'd come out of it on top. And Corneria had come out with its fleet cut in half, and that had given Venom the chance to rebuild. It had also given Wolf and his band of merry criminals the chance to prey on just about every space lane outside of direct routes to Corneria. His wealth had grown considerably, and mostly because the Venomians were willing to buy the stolen resources he acquired. Seemed they were partners again. Even if it grated on him that one of those partners was Andrew Oikonny, who had once had to take orders from Wolf as a member of his team, and had been the worst flier among them. How had he been the one to end up with the interplanetary empire and not Wolf?

Putting those thoughts aside Wolf resumed his walk. A few officers and crew passed him along the way. No salutes, but there were a few nods here and there, mostly from the older types, the hardcore ones who had actually swallowed Andross's whole 'enlightened rule' philosophy. To them Wolf had been crafted into a hero during the war, and the propaganda had gotten him quite the following.

True believers however were fewer and more far between for Venom these days. Failure had a tendency to make propaganda look like what it was, and most of Venom's military were pirates and mercenaries, no different in their motivations from Wolf and his crew. It actually made Wolf feel more at home.

Stopping at the end of the corridor in front of a door with Oikonny's big simian face painted on it in black and white, Wolf nodded to the guards and pressed his thumb against the scanner. It hummed and he felt the warmth of the sensor beams reading both his thumb print and his DNA, and then the doors slid apart. Wolf walked in without further ceremony and said, "What do you want?"

Sitting behind a huge metal desk, with a high back chair, Andrew Oikonny glanced at him in mild irritation. One arm, now a prosthetic, rested on the desk, and the ape said, "I need you for a mission."

"Okay. You know my rates." Wolf sat down in a chair on his side of the desk and propped his booted feet up on the desk. Oikonny grimaced. Wolf smiled. They were partners, and Oikonny knew that Wolf would have no problem walking away if he felt mistreated, or the money wasn't good enough. This was business, plain and simple, and unlike Andross, Oikonny wasn't very intimidating. "So, what's the job?"

"I want you to kidnap someone." Oikonny put his other hand on the desk and slid a computer slate over to him.

Wolf picked it up and arched an eyebrow. Oh, now this was interesting. "Him? Really?"

"Yes." Oikonny nodded. "He'll be the perfect hostage. We'll trade him for all the Venomian prisoners Corneria is still holding."

Not a bad plan. Corneria had more than a few important Venomians locked up, Venomians with contacts and resources that Oikonny could use to begin rebuilding his fleet and expanding his empire.

Scrolling through the information Oikonny's spies had managed to put together Wolf grinned. "You're sure about this?"

Oikonny nodded. "Absolutely."

"Fine. I'll do it. For triple my rate." Wolf hid a smile at the annoyed expression that crossed Oikonny's face.

"I'd think you'd do this for free."

"You'd think. But I want triple. This is a dangerous assignment." Wolf took out his communicator and downloaded all the data from the slate to his device, then tossed the slate back on the desk and pocketed his communicator.

"Fine. I need this done. I'm giving you one of our last stealth cruisers," Oikonny said. "It's been modified and should let you grab him without any trouble."

Wolf nodded. Good. He didn't lay more than fifty-fifty odds on doing this by pure force. This target was not to be underestimated. "Fine. I'll get my team together."

Oikonny nodded and made a dismissive wave. Wolf ignored it. Triple his usual rate made him forgiving as he walked out and headed for the hangar. He took a lift down and then emerged in the wide open space of the Androssia's hangar. He made a beeline for the trio of Wolfens sitting on the deck, and he spotted Leon standing stiffly and Panther...where the fuck was Panther? "Leon. Where's Panther?"

Leon rolled one eye and pointed. Wolf followed the gesture and spotted the feline. He had cornered a pair of female techs and was leaning in close, brushing his fingers along the chin of one of them. Both of them had that wide eyed look that told Wolf if he didn't step in quick he wasn't likely to see his third pilot for at least two or three hours.

Frowning Wolf stalked over to him and grabbed him by the arm. "Come on Panther. Get your dick wet later."

"Boss!" Panther screeched. "I was about to..."

"Yeah yeah." Wolf rolled his one good eye and suppressed an urge to wag his tail. Behind him the techs giggled and Panther tried to escape and get back to them. Wolf tightened his grip until Panther started mewling. He relented once they were back to the Wolfens, tossing Panther forward. "We have a job."

Panther looked like he was about to protest, but the mention of a job got his attention. His two greatest weaknesses, money and women. "What's the mission?"

This time Wolf did let his tail wag. A grin crossed his face and he looked at each of his teammates, then said, "We're gonna kidnap Fox McCloud."