Hey there, Star Fox archive! Gosh, it's been a little while since I posted here.

Well, I've had this idea that I've been kicking around for a little while, but I specifically waited for E3 to see if Nintendo was going to make a huge change to the canon storyline for the Star Fox canon. Since I don't think Star Fox Zero is going to mess with the current story, or maybe former for all I know, I decided to go ahead with it as is. If I turn out to be drastically wrong by SFZ's release, well, I tried.

Anyway, this is my attempt to play with the series canon post Star Fox Assault, kind of ignoring Command, with the exception of using some characters from it. And basically me trying to write a Star Fox story while having no idea what to actually do with the series and screwing up the canon like fanfics do. Oh joy!

If you're curious to see how that'll turn out, read on! (Oh, and brackets will be used in this chapter to signify era changes.)

...


[17 years before Lylat Wars; Past]

During the early morning sunrise over Corneria City, a blue and white ship flew across the sky, departing from a tall silver and blue building. A fox in a green uniform and white jacket rushed through the halls and down the stairs within it, racing to the bottom floor while barreling through anyone that stood in his way.

Running across the building's lobby, he made his way for the front door when a gray bulldog in a green uniform stepped in front of the exit. Barely, the fox skidded to a halt before him.

"Ho, easy there, McCloud!" The bulldog laughed. "Where are you headed off to in such a hurry?"

"Home," replied the fox. "My wife was expecting me back…about ten minutes ago. And counting."

"Yikes!" The bulldog stepped aside. "Well, you've got no time to dawdle. You're cleared to go, McCloud!"

"Thanks, see you later, Grey!"

In a flash, the fox raced off from the building and sped through the streets of the city, and then across a wide grassy field. Eventually, with the city a few miles behind him, he ran toward a lot of smaller gray and blue buildings, making his way to one closest to the water. Panting, he paused to catch his breath and recompose himself before approaching his house.

Carefully, he turned the door and tried to open it manually, jumping back at it slid open. A few paces inside, another red fox tapped her foot from under her deep violet robe, and glared through half opened eyes at her husband. Her hand slid away from the door's remote operator.

Chuckling nervously, the late fox took off his sunglasses. "H-Hey there, Vixy. You look fantastic this morning."

"Right, morning." Her voice was icy and she folded her arms. "Dawn's already over as you arrive home…late. Again."

"Vix, darling, I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"Save it, James." The vixen let out a long yawn and brushed her messy fur. "I should know better than to expect you around to raise our son."

"I'm here now!" He chased after her as she rolled her tired eyes and pulled herself up the carpeted stairs. "Vixy, just get a little rest before you go, and—"

"A little rest?" She thundered and whirled around at him as she reached the top of the stairs, nearly sending him rolling back down them. "James, I'm sleep deprived! And work is in less than an hour!"

"Wait, what? I thought it was in two from now."

"We have a meeting this morning, the lab called last night." She sighed as James followed her through their dimly lit halls, with sunlight breaking in through the curtain covered windows. "And then little Fox decided that mommy's rest would have to be rescheduled too."

They made their way to the end of the hall as Vixy opened the green door at the end. Inside, a pup lay inside of a small bronze crib, sleeping peacefully.

"Faker," hissed Vixy as she leaned against the powder blue wall inside. "Cried all night long, at least once an hour." She pulled her hands over her eyes, but smiled as she got another look at her slumbering son.

"Was it just Fox this time?" James whispered and crept over to the crib, smiling down at the cub inside. "Or are the city outskirts still too loud for you?"

"They…might have contributed." Another yawn escaped her. "This place still doesn't feel like home, James. There's not even enough room for the crib in our bedroom."

"It'll get better, Vixy, I promise. And we still own the place back home."

"For now."

"Vixy, we'll get back there someday." He turned to her and lightly exhaled. "Work here though is—"

"Important to not just Corneria, but the Lylat System as a whole, I know." She rolled her eyes and stepped closer to him. "When is Peppy going to give us back the hovercraft?"

"Once he's done charming that new, how'd he put it…oh, 'honey-bunny,' that he's after." The two laughed together, but quickly hushed one another and whirled around to the crib. Still, Fox continued to rest. "Out cold."

"He should be." She shook her head and kissed James before turning heel. "Anyway, I need to go change and get going. Dr. Andross will be stopping by at the labs later today as well, so we definitely need to get things in order."

"No, the doctor Andross?"

"Yes, the very one. Do you know if that hound will be there?"

"Pepper? No idea."

"Hmm."

A light yelp sounded and James spun around again, gazing over the crib at his son. The kit had woken up and his bright green eyes slowly fixated on his father's.

"Hey, morning, champ." James slipped off his gloves, reached over, and let his hand hover near Fox. The pup reached out and gripped his father's fingers. "Ooh, firm grip there, kiddo. You'll be strong when you're older."

"And hopefully quieter!" Vixy shouted from the other room.

James chuckled and watched his cub flail his arms. His eyes widened as Fox rolled and pushed himself up, using James's arm for support. "That's it! That a boy!" Slowly, Fox fell back down on the crib and James chuckled lightly again. "No rush, you have time still. Someday, Fox, you'll accomplish great things." He brushed his hand over the baby's head. "You just trust your instincts and you'll be able to do anything."

Quietly, Vixy peered in and watched James play with little Fox over the crib, with the kit giggling as his father played with him. She smiled and glanced out the hall window, moving the curtain as the sunlight shined through.


[25 years after Aparoid Invasion; Future]

A hooded figure stood away from the shattered window of the old building. His head jerked back a bit as something thundered in the distance. Quickly, the figure leapt back and covered himself as a missile burst through the window and exploded.

Glancing up past his navy blue hood, he gasped at the crumbling ceiling. Without missing a beat, he blitzed for the unhinged door and bolted down the stairs. The charred hallways crashed behind him as he escaped through the side exit of the building, diving as it collapsed behind him.

"This is Alpha Felidae, over." A feminine voice radioed over. The cloaked figure pushed up from the ground, checking the night sky as he hurried to a shadowed alley. He tapped on his headset communicator, opening the channel. "We saw the explosion from here. Vulpes, do you copy?"

"Vulpes here." His voice was more hoarse than usual and he coughed to clear his throat. "Got out, just barely."

"Copy," a more masculine voice came up. "Felidae Omega here, and I think we seriously need better code names."

"Oh, shut up," came the first voice. "Vulpes, you need to get back to HQ. They've got sentries deployed and they'll swarm you any minute now."

"So, run and gun." Vulpes slipped out a black blaster and turn the safety off. "Should be fun."

"Fun?! Vulpes—"

"Relax, Alpha. He's got it handled." The second voice chuckled over the communication link. "Give them hell, Vulpes."

"Will do. Give me a few; I'll be back soon. Over and out."

He pulled his hand away from his left ear and lifted the blaster, glancing out of the alley. Though nothing appeared to be around, he crouched down and lifted an empty glass bottle. Aiming it, he flung it out into the street.

Yellow lasers zipped through the sky, piercing and shattering the bottle. Vulpes crept further down the alley, ducking behind a dumpster and waiting.

He peeked out and watched as a silver robot marched in front of the alley, turning and scanning it. The bulky sentry held more than seven inches over the cloaked figure, with a single red scanner for an eyepiece, and one arm that transformed into a cannon.

Charging his blaster, Vulpes steadied his breathing. His free hand slipped over his belt and pulled out a yellow sphere. He clicked it and it lit up.

"Threat detected," announced the sentry. The hooded figure peeked out quickly and retreated as three more sentries entered the alleyway.

Under his breath, Vulpes let out, "You have no idea."

Deftly, he lobbed the yellow sphere out toward the robots. They turned to face it as he sprung from behind the dumpster and fired a red beam from his blaster.

As soon as it connected with the sphere, he dove back behind the dumpster, his cloak taking a few shots from the sentries.

With a sharp bang, the yellow sphere exploded, and flames engulfed his adversaries. The alleyway lit up as Vulpes ducked down and covered his mouth, holding his breath for a moment.

After waiting and watching the light from the alley fade, Vulpes stepped from behind the dumpster. Burnt parts of the robots were scattered around, with at least two arms and a leg still aflame.

Vulpes smirked and sped from the alleyway, charging his blaster again. He glanced back and watched as three more silver sentries rushed out into the otherwise deserted streets.

Spinning around, Vulpes let a charged blaster beam rip out and pierce through the first robot. A hole burst through its chest, but the sentry only fell back in line with its comrades, still pursuing their target.

Still, Vulpes ran through the streets between the burnt and broken buildings, only giving the blue and gray blurs a passing glance as he raced from the city. He dropped another grenade from his belt, activating it as he rushed out.

Slowing for just a moment, Vulpes turned and watched as the grenade went off, bursting under the three sentries. He smirked again, and then dashed off once more.

The figure tore across the scorched fields, his cloak flapping as the wind brushed beneath him. A yellow laser fired out beside him, and then another ripped over his shoulder, grazing him slightly.

With a yelp, Vulpes turned back and his eyes widened. Five more robots aimed their arm cannons, marching out of the city after him. A large black and green tank rolled out behind them.

Abruptly, a missile whizzed out and crashed into the robots, blasting them along with the front of the tank. Looking skyward, Vulpes noticed a large, red and black fighter ship floating overhead. He sighed in relief and waved as it lowered. The cockpit opened and a helmet covered wolf waved to his hooded friend.

"About time you showed up, Canis!" Vulpes laughed.

"Aw, sorry, were you waiting on me?" The wolf teased and stuck his tongue out.

He climbed aboard and sat behind the wolf, as Canis closed the top back down. They flew off, leaving the city far behind them.

"Lucky you, having me save your butt yet again," Canis ribbed. "Are we still keeping score? I think I'm up by two now."

"Please, you owe me your life," mocked Vulpes. "And no, you've just caught up."

"What?!"

"Remember the time where I had to grab you from the exploding factory?"

"That doesn't count! I was already out!"

"Sure, right," Vulpes ridiculed. "And the time where you almost drowned after dragging a sentry into the lake?"

"Again, I had it handled!"

"If that's what you believe."

Canis sighed. "So, did you find the documents?"

"Yep, already scanned and sent them to the twins." Vulpes pushed back his hood a bit, wiping his forehead. "We can finish it up and have it running soon."

"That's great! And then we…uh oh."

"What is it?"

"Trouble."

Leaning forward, Vulpes gazed out the window past Canis as his mouth dropped open. A larger, silver fighter floated ahead of them, blocking the way to fly forward.

"You can outrun it."

"I can try."

"Canis, we need to get back to base!"

"…Yeah. Ok."

Hesitating, waiting to see the opposing craft make a move, Canis attempted to rocket his ship to the west instead. A cannon rose from the other ship, and it launched homing missiles against Canis's ship.

"Death seekers," murmured Canis as he checked his radar. "They must have been saving them for us."

"No worries," reassured Vulpes, "we've gotten past these before!"

"That didn't end well for the other guys though."

"Focus! We won't end up like them!" Vulpes tugged his hood forward. "Just get to the ship."

Using the thrusters to boost the ship, Canis watched on the radar as the missiles continued to fly after them. He dropped a Smart Bomb back and flew forward, hoping the missiles would be engulfed in the ensuing explosion.

"Did that work?"

As the blast settled, Canis watched the radar kick on again, with the missiles still inbound. He grinded his teeth and shook his head.

"Vulpes—"

"Relax, we'll be fine." He pointed forward, at a valley in the distance. "We're almost there, we just need to get to the vale."

"And the missiles?"

"The twins can take them down once we're close. They're on stand by!"

Unconvinced, Canis sped up again, closing in on a space between the hills. He spun the ship around, flipping it over. Touching the roof, Vulpes pushed himself back down into his seat.

"What are you doing?!"

"Preparing safety measures," explained Canis. He punched a sequence into several buttons on his computers. "The eject sequence is prepped."

"Fine, but we won't get there fast enough if you launch us out too early."

"Don't worry about that."

Light blipped over the fighter's radar, as the missiles closed in on the two of them. Vulpes tugged on his hood, nervously staring back out of the ship.

"Hey," Vulpes spoke up, "I know that a straight line is the fastest way to close in, but if you don't add a trick maneuver in this flight pattern, we really are getting burned."

"I already calculated that."

"Then what are you doing?!"

Canis chuckled lightly to himself and shook his head. "You're just too trusting of people, Vulpes."

His companion glanced forward, noticing too late that Canis had a finger over a pair of lit crimson buttons.

"Canis, wait—"

"Just fix this Vulpes. And hey," he elbowed his ally's arm, forcing it back as Vulpes attempted to stop him. "Trust your heart, but do whatever it takes."

"CAN—"

Pressing the back eject button, the roof opened and the back seat of the fighter flew down from the sky. Vulpes gripped tightly as the seat flipped and deployed a parachute.

He gazed up past it, helplessly watching as the fighter soared up into the sky. The black missiles chased after it, closing the distance easily. Watching the first one near the wings of Canis's fighter, Vulpes turned back and looked away, as explosions burst above him.

Not too long after, his seat soared down and landed in the valley. Hesitating as his mouth quivered, Vulpes unbuckled himself from the seat and slowly walked away, reaching the hills a short distance away.

From behind a split tree, two cats in armor rushed out, blasters in hand. They hurried over and pulled Vulpes along, dragging him behind the tree. While they focused on the silver fighter that loomed in the distance, Vulpes only turned back to see the smoke from his teammate's fallen fighter.

A slight whir sounded as the three jumped into a hole in the ground, and one of the cats covering it with a manhole lid. They descended into a dark tunnel, traveling beneath ground for a ways in silence.

Eventually, the trio reached a larger opening to a cavern, which housed a massive, partially destroyed white flagship. They passed a few rocks while water dripped from above, making their way to and inside of the flagship.

They walked inside and entered the vessel's monitor room, where a violet falcon sprung up from her seat. She whirled around and smiled as the three walked in, but waited in silence as the door closed behind them.

"Vulpes? Where's—"

"Didn't make it, Ava."

Her shoulders dropped and she heavily sighed, lifting a wing over her face. The two cats took off their helmets, revealing one black one and one white one, with similar facial features.

"Look," the white cat turned to Vulpes, resting his hand on the cloaked figure's shoulder. His yellow eyes searched past the hood, trying to reach through his comrade. "Canis did—"

"Not have to die for this!" Vulpes slammed his fist against the nearest wall. "He didn't have to…"

"Vul—"

"Let him be, Omega," the black cat responded and shook her head.

"Do we seriously need to use codenames right now?" Omega shook his head as Alpha rolled her blue eyes. "Look, I get that they could be listening in at all times, but we can't live like that."

"I agree that it's annoying, but we have to," reasoned Alpha. "Just for now."

"Ava," Vulpes shook his head and strode over to the falcon, "how long until it's ready?"

"Just a few more days, and I should be all set." She wiped her eyes and nodded. "The documents were worth the trip to the city, and I'll be able to finish it now."

"Good." Vulpes marched over to the main monitor, glaring at it. "We need to fix their mess."

"But Ma…Vulpes, we can't—"

"Canis shouldn't have died for nothing," Vulpes murmured. Silently, Ava nodded. "Come on. We all have work to do."

He marched back across the room, making his way out with Ava in tow. Alpha and Omega exchanged confused expressions, and then turned, staring at a damaged screen. It displayed a distorted side profile of a running scarlet fox, with a giant wing and a flowing tail. They shrugged to one another and started typing at the smaller computers in the room.


[1 year after Aparoid Invasion; Present]

Stepping through a lot of houses, a lone red fox made his way to one nearest to the lake. He sighed and lightly touched the rusted door. Gripping it, he dragged it open, and slowly stepped inside.

The furniture inside was quite dusty. Walking to a small table, he started at the door's remote operator, and picked it up. Clicking on the button two times, he flipped it over and studied the worn battery pack.

Placing the remote back down, he slowly made his way over to the stairs, stepping carefully as each step creaked beneath his weight. He made his way upstairs, gazing down the worn hall. Streaks of sunlight broke through the windows without curtains, lighting up the otherwise dim hallway.

Making his way to the end, the vulpine pushed open the old green door, staring into a room with faded blue wallpaper. At its heart was a tarnished bronze crib, practically empty save for the bedding itself.

A beeping noise filled the otherwise silent room, and he reached up to his headset, clicking on the communicator. "This is Fox," he responded. "Go ahead, ROB."

"Fox," a robotic voice spoke over the communications channel, "there has been a reported crash of two unidentified ships within Corneria City. Your presence is requested as soon as possible; the rest of the Star Fox team was already dispatched."

"Any reason why we're being called in?"

"The two ships bear a striking resemblance to the Arwings," reported ROB. "Though they have specific modifications as well."

"Got it. I'm on my way over."

His hand dropped from the headset. With one last gaze around the baby's room, Fox turned back and made his way out of the house and to his Arwing, parked just a short distance outside of the lot.


...

Phew. There's the first chapter for it.

Ok, so the Past: I just wanted to establish James and Vixy's characters really. Nothing too crazy will come out of the past yet. If you're not in the know, there's a character named Vixy Reinard that appeared as Fox's mother in the Nintendo Power comic series from…1993? Wow. Anyway, nothing much was ever known about her character, besides that she gave birth to Fox and married James.

So, I wanted to try giving a chance to explore her life a bit. However, I am not staying true to the comic's storyline, since, well, she didn't have a major role. (Though her role had a major impact on the story.) Here, she's shown as a scientist that may be affiliated with Space Dynamics, and by extension, the Cornerian Army and Defense Force. James also has ties to the latter companies, and is still working in conjunction with them, even though he's supposed to be helping his wife raise their son. Whoops. But I figured a home life styled approach isn't done very often, hence the slow introduction.

Next up, the Future: A whole bunch of random original characters were shown. Yay, just what nobody wanted! It's vague, but don't read too much into it. Just know the basics: robots are hunting Vulpes and his team of resistance fighters. Against whom? Why? Well, spoilers, so you'll be left to ponder that for now. And the codenames were not my strongest, but they matched up with something generic that the group could use to decrease probable detection. Robots are everywhere, oh no! (And no, I know nothing about flying, so I'm sorry the dogfight…or, escape rather, wasn't very outstanding.)

And finally, the Present: Nothing much for this chapter, since most of the story will be set in the Present day. Because, duh, Star Fox. I just wanted to have Fox go to the old McCloud residence on Corneria, giving him a chance to explore a childhood home. Though James does play a critical role in Fox's life, we don't really get a look into the relationship during the series, for obvious reasons. So, I wanted to have a nice moment where Fox could do that.

Phew! Ok, so, other stuff: I'm looking to go for a storyline that explores the characters as they deal with a major event that is birthed within the Past, pushed forward in the Present, and becomes a catastrophe within the Future. Gee, super original plot line, huh? I'll give it my best efforts to make it cooler as the story continues. There will be action, drama, science fiction, romance, and mystery elements to play with, though that last one will probably be the weakest. I'm not planning on this being too long of a story, though it might end up long for fan fiction standards. We'll see. Oh, and expect odd twists and possible off-shoots to read for a greater experience.

That's all for now; I'm hoping to update this monthly, since I've got a few other stories to juggle, so we'll see how that works out. Hope you guys liked the intro! Let me know via message or review. Questions, comments, and criticisms are welcome. Until the next one, thanks for reading!