Chapter 1

The icy expanses of Fichina were now clearly visible through the porthole.

Every minute provided more and more surface detail as the Great Fox crept towards the frigid planet; just moments ago, the storm on the surface was but a white paint-drop on an icy, blue-gray canvas. But before he knew it, Fox McCloud was watching an intricate, swirling masterpiece. Whether this sudden change was due to the ship getting closer, or to turbulent weather patterns on the surface, he couldn't tell. Perhaps it was both.

Regardless, it meant he would soon be in the seat of his Arwing. From the little he had heard, this next mission sounded pretty typical - unidentified ships, missing cargo, distress signals - usually just pirates or thieves which his team had to scare off. But Fox sighed, knowing that sometimes missions like these only seemed simple from a distance, and close up they often ended up being as complicated and convoluted as the storm he was about to be thrown into.

The door slid open with a rush of air, and through the opening an agitated amphibian approached. "Fox! Are you almost ready? We've gotta be on the bridge by 11!" Slippy Toad was practically prancing up and down as he pointed to the alarm clock on the desk. 10:52, it read.

"I'm almost ready, Slippy. Give me 5 minutes and I'll be right out."

Slippy was skeptical. "All right. But this time if you say 5 minutes actually mean 5 minutes."

Fox hinted at a smile. "...Fine. Give me 10 minutes then."

Slippy began to protest, pointing at the clock again. "But-but-"

"Don't worry, Slippy! I'll be there on time. I'll be there even earlier if you let me get ready. I'll meet you guys on the bridge." Slippy was silent. "In seven minutes. Okay?"

The frog thought for a moment, then nodded as he calmed himself. "Okay. Alright. See you in seven minutes!" And he bounced back towards the bridge.

He can be such a handful sometimes, Fox thought to himself. Slippy and the rest of the crew were punctual to an extreme, never being a minute late for anything, especially not for mission briefing. Fox was no exception, though lately he had begun to slip.

He sighed as he latched his boots, zipped his vest, and took one last look in the mirror. His golden-brown fur was unruly, with a tuft sticking up by his ear, and his eyes didn't have their usual luster. He sighed again. If he were making a public appearance he would have certainly fixed his fur, but he didn't care nearly as much about how he looked for missions. As long as nobody could see him up close, he would be fine. With one last glance, Fox left his room and made his way towards the bridge.

What greeted him on the bridge was a table full of energetic Star Fox members. Several chairs, all occupied, surrounded a long table in the middle of the room, with Peppy Hare at the front. Countless buttons and dials adorned the outer walls, above which lay an uninterrupted band of windows; through these Fox could see Fichina's surface again, slowly coming closer and closer with every passing minute. A distinct buzz was in the air, and the entire team could feel that this next mission would be intriguing. Fox expressed guarded excitement; as much as he loved new missions, they could always get out of hand if he and his team weren't careful.

"All right, everybody! Listen up." Peppy stood at the front of the table. "General Pepper has some more detailed briefing for this mission." He pressed a few buttons on one of the wall-mounted consoles and a projector flickered to life. General Pepper's voice crunched through the room's speakers, accompanied by his blurry face.

"Greetings, Star Fox! We have a mission for you!" It was how the General always greeted Fox's team; apparently they always had a mission. "As you have no doubt already heard, there have been recent distress calls over on Fichina. It seems there is missing cargo from on-site base 1MG-4Y, along with reports of unidentified ships. Typically this merely ends up being petty thievery. However, what's especially strange is that the only reported items missing have been rations, first aid kits and other essentials. In other words, no weapons or ammunitions of any kind."

Fox shared a look with Falco Lombardi, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The bird spoke up. "No weapons, no ammunition? Just food? What kind of thieves steal just food?"

"Desperate ones." Krystal glanced at them both and spoke softly. "They must not be doing so well if they've resorted to stealing daily essentials."

General Pepper continued. "Your task is to seek these thieves out and neutralize them in whatever way possible. Whether it be to shoot them into oblivion or to simply force them to relocate, the decision is up to you. There is a lot of freedom within this mission, so I trust you all to make the right choices, according to whatever circumstances play out on the surface. Good luck, Star Fox. Pepper out." The projector turned off with a small blip, and the room was silent for a moment before Falco spoke up.

"Is this for real? It's gonna be so easy! They couldn't possibly be a threat if they can't even manage to steal any guns, for cryin' out loud."

"But they're stealthy enough to steal things without being caught," Krystal promptly replied. "Just because they don't steal more valuable goods doesn't mean they aren't skilled thieves."

Something wasn't adding up, but Fox couldn't quite put his finger on the issue. After some thought, he spoke up. "Let's not assume anything. Whatever we do, we'll just have to be careful - these thieves could end up being anyone, really."

His team began to discuss the mission at hand while Fox watched. Falco and Krystal debated, the former heatedly, the latter quite calmly. Slippy interjected with an occasional opinion here and there, and Peppy simply propped his elbows up on the table and listened to the debate, his chin perched upon his interlaced fingers. Fox took the moment to reflect on how fortunate he was to have such a diverse team; each member had their unique strengths, and when combined they formed a remarkable group. He began to relax as he concluded that, whatever came his way, he and his team would find a way to overcome it.

This mission would be over practically as soon as it began. He was sure of it.

The debate halted as the Great Fox suddenly entered the upper atmosphere of Fichina, the entire bridge illuminated by the pale light of clouds and snow. The team took this as a sign to stand up and leave for the bridge. Peppy approached one of the displays along the wall and pressed a few buttons. "Local time in our location: 11:20."

"Sounds like enough time to finish the mission before nightfall," Krystal said cheerily.

"Good to hear. I want to eat dinner in our warm dining hall."

Slippy chimed in. "Don't worry, Falco! It'll be a piece of cake."

Falco was quick to respond. "I think I will have cake for dinner, now that you mention it." The others groaned in unison. Krystal jokingly slapped Falco as they all filed out of the bridge, their voices trailing off as they made their way down the hall to the hangar.

Fox was too busy studying the swirling storm through the window to notice his team leaving. The clouds began to part, and Fox could now see the surface clearly, many kilometers below. Fox was still as enthralled by takeoff and landing as he was all those years back, on his first mission. In fact, that first mission of his had also been here on Fichina in similar circumstances. A complaint had been filed about some petty thieves who would periodically harass the base. A simple "clean up job", as Falco liked to call it. The thieves, however, were merely some troublesome kids. Nobody was hurt, not even the kids, and the team was able to successfully talk them out of their delinquency. All things considered, it was a rather pitiful first mission.

But you've got to start somewhere, don't you?

He was shaken out of his thoughts by Peppy's hand on his shoulder. "Still gotta watch takeoff and landing, eh? After all these years?"

Fox relaxed a bit and smiled. "Always."

"I don't blame you, Fox." There was a meaningful silence before he continued. "Well, you'd better get going. You've got a team waiting for you." With another pat on the shoulder, the old hare stood up and moved towards his chair, opening up the holographic mission layout display as he sat down. "Good luck, Fox."

Fox turned. "Thanks, Peppy. See you soon."

And with that promise, he left the bridge, his footsteps eventually taken over by the sound of the occasional beep from the display and the gentle hum of the engines.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Hey everybody! My name is Gerlacus (pronounced: jer-LACK-iss), and this is the beginning of my very first fanfic. I've always had a vague idea for a Star Fox plot line that I never truly started on until just recently, so here goes nothing.

My plan for the Author's Notes section at the end of every chapter is to highlight pertinent plot points, deliberate literary decisions, etc in order for me to clearly keep my thoughts in order and hopefully to help you guys better understand the inner workings of the story.

In this chapter I introduce a lot of devices that will continue on throughout the story, but I'll only touch upon a few here (and save the rest for future Author's Notes).

The first device is the idea of appearance versus reality, especially depending on the distance (literally or metaphorically) at which something is seen; In the opening scene I describe how Fox's perception of the surface of Fichina changed as the ship came closer. In the next paragraph I describe how some missions only seem simple from a distance, but "close up they often [end] up being as complicated as convoluted as the storm [Fox is] about to be thrown into". The goal of this symbol is to portray the importance of becoming "close" to important issues in order to reveal their true nature. Keep an eye out for this one, because I plan to use it a lot, especially while describing interactions between Fox and Wolf!

Slippy's character is generally accompanied by alliteration, giving a more childlike, innocent mood. This, along with his interactions with Fox (which often end up with Fox acting as somewhat of a babysitter), are my attempts to characterize Slippy as an emotionally simple being compared to the other characters, especially Fox and Wolf. This will hopefully come into play later, as I plan for Slippy's childlike attitude at some point to, if it makes sense, progress the plot in some significant way.

There is so much more that I want to talk about! Unfortunately, I'm worried I'll run out of interesting tidbits if I don't pace myself, so expect more in the future.

Oh! One last thing: I cannot emphasize how much I appreciate any and all feedback. I am still a very inexperienced novice writer, so please let me know what you like, what you dislike, what you'd like to see in future chapters, anything at all really. I'll gratefully take in any criticisms in order to improve my writing. High hopes for the future!

Until next time,
Gerlacus