Well, here it is. Star Fox: Contact has come a long way since its debut on the Nintendo NSider Forums back in 2006...Wow, I can't even remember exactly when that was. Anyways, this is the third version of my first attempt at a fanfic. It's certainly a LOT better than the first two attempts, but at any rate...I'll just let you read and enjoy.
A note to readers- though most of the stuff here remains unchanged from its NSider format language-wise, the cursing does pick up pace towards the end. And this story is also quite gory, even early on. That's to be expected, considering one of the main things I wanted to do with Contact was to show how gruesome war is.
Anyways, without further ado, here is the first installment of my fanfic series, known as the Contact Saga. Read and enjoy. Reviews, comments, concerns, constructive criticism and all are very much appreciated and encouraged.
Star Fox
Contact
Prologue
Peace has long settled into the Lylat System after many years of war and bloodshed. The Lylatians, no longer at war began to pursue a happier lifestyle- one full of intellectual curiosity and maintenance of peace. The people of the planets of Corneria, Venom, Aquas, Fichina, Zoness, Macbeth, Titania, Fortuna, and Katina united to form the Confederation of the United Planets of the Lylat System.
And of Star Fox, the famous team of mercenaries? Team leader Fox McCloud and the team telepath Krystal couldn't keep their love for each other a secret and became married and had two sons- Marcus, born blind but inherited psychic sight from his mother and became the team sniper, and Tallon, a physically fit heavy gunner. Falco Lombardi, the team's well-known ace pilot still stuck with the team, but just couldn't seem to stay out of the sky for long, which is natural for a bird. The team mechanic Slippy Toad eventually left the team to work in the Cornerian R&D Department to let his mechanical genius and imagination help him design new technologies, both for civilians and military personnel alike. Peppy Hare, unfortunately, has retired and is currently living in a retirement home somewhere in Corneria City. All of the members, like everyone in the Lylat System, relaxed and hoped that peace just might endure…
However, a new enemy emerged from the bowels of space- a species not known for their technology, but for their quick mind and resilience. They were a bipedal, sentient, and highly intelligent alien race, few of which exist in the universe. Where they failed in war tech they succeeded in mass production and numbers. They are…the humans.
Chapter 1: The War Begins
October 23, 2361
700 hours
Mothership-class Vessel Great Fox
The orange vulpine known as Fox let out a sleepy yawn as he rose from his bed and stretched letting out a soft grunt as he cracked his back. He was of a good stature, despite that he was a bit past forty-five years of age. Accompanying his light orange fur was a white-tipped tail along with a minuscule Mohawk of the same color. The kitsune blinked his green eyes a few times to readjust to the light of Solar, the Lylat System's star, which was seeping through the shuttered window of their team's mothership, the Great Fox.
"Hey, Krystal," he whispered with a smile, "Come on, wake up, sleepyhead." His wife's ears perked up, and she let out a small groan. The telepathic vixen was a few years younger than Fox, and her slender, blue-furred body was covered in enigmatic symbols. She groggily opened up her light blue eyes.
"G'morning Fox," the blue vixen yawned. The couple performed their daily morning routine: taking a quick steam shower with clothes on, using the toilet if necessary, and changing into more suitable clothes. Fox was now wearing a green soldier's uniform with a silver vest, while Krystal was adorned in her signature, blue flight suit with a pendant, small earrings, and a few tail rings.
The couple headed outside of their room into a small hallway that led to the bridge of their mothership. The two were met in the room by their older son, Marcus- a blue kitsune who has a weird habit of going to bed late and getting up extremely early. While the twenty-one year old sharpshooter was of slightly less build than his father, his eyes were quite intimidating. Being blind, they were completely pupilless with a cloudy, gray color. Due to his inheritance of psychic sight, however, purplish veins sprouted from the eyes' centers and wrapped around his entire eyeball.
"Hey, mom," he said without a hint of fatigue. "Hey, dad. Your cappuccinos are done."
"Hey, Marcus," Krystal groaned as she headed for the coffee maker. "What time did you get up?"
"Four A.M., Cornerian time- three hours before you two."
"And what time did you go to bed?" Fox asked as he sipped on his cappuccino.
"Midnight." Marcus said, still without a single sign of sleepiness.
Fox sighed. How the hell does he do that? he thought.
Eventually, Falco, a blue bird of prey in a red flight jumpsuit, and Tallon, Fox's and Krystal's eighteen year old second son, whose brownish fur was rippling with muscles; rose from bed and headed to the bridge. The team emptied their coffee mugs; each preferred their own kind of coffee. Fox and Krystal had a taste for cappuccinos, Marcus preferred the natural flavor of green tea, Falco had an affinity for mochas, and Tallon seemed to enjoy black coffee. Suddenly, several warning bells rang, and everybody simultaneously dropped their ceramic mugs, which shattered on the metallic floor.
"Damn!" Fox yelped. "Jeez, you've gotta be kidding me! It's been years since our last call!" Everybody groaned- no one wanted trouble at eight thirty in the morning.
"Incoming message from Supreme General Pepper," the ship's yellow operation's droid said. "Opening communications line now."
The gigantic windscreen of the Great Fox changed to reveal the ever-dour looking Supreme General Pepper, the Lylat System's ruler, over a live video feed. The bloodhound was dressed in a red uniform lined with golden buttons and epaulettes.
"What's the situation, General?" Fox inquired.
"Star Fox," the bloodhound general started, "your presence is required in the orbit-space above Titania. We have been attacked."
"You mean again, sir?" Tallon sighed, sounding almost uninterested, "So who's the culprit this time?"
"Some race that refer to themselves humans," the general answered, a picture depicted a regular human soldier appearing next to his screen. "We don't know where they came from or how they got here, but they're attacking every single one of our planets! I can't give you many details because ULS Intelligence is completely overrun with information! You're all needed immediately. Humans have already gained footholds on many of our planets which are already under siege. But we can't lose Titania- that is the planet where we get the resources for our war machines. I know that this is awful short for a mission briefing, but each and every one of you is needed immediately! The Titanian Orbital Defense Force is already trying to repulse the invasion force, but they need help! Now get going!" The screen then flashed blank and the windshield once more showed the blackness of space.
"Well, here we go again," Krystal sighed. "Rushing into battle with an unknown alien race for yet another time."
"Alright guys, you heard the general," Fox turned to his family and companions, "ROB, get us to Titania- double time. The rest of you, get to your arwings! Go, go, go!" The team hurried to the pneumatic lift that carried everyone to their fighters. By the time they were in the hangar and hopped in to their arwings, the Great Fox had already made the warp to Titania. Explosions were already visible in the space above the desert planet. "ROB! Launch all ships now!" The arwings were launched out of the hangar charring the a fifth of the hangar.
The team was already in a maze of laser and autocannon fire. The Titanian air force had better firing positions while the humans had the sheer numbers- which side was winning was anyone's guess. The team immediately went into action blasting the heavily outdated human fighters, turning them to balls of fiery metal and glass. Everyone was being targets in the gigantic battle- everyone had at least one fighter tailing him or her. Fox was quickly lost- he didn't know who to assist.
Falco and Krystal are good pilots, they should be able to fend them off. I'm not so sure about Tallon and Marcus, though, Fox thought. He immediately chased after Marcus's pursuers. "Marcus! Pull up!" As his younger son was heading up, Fox locked onto a fighter in the center of the cluster and launched a smart bomb. Seconds later, all that was remaining of the fighters were bits of metal. He repeated the process for Tallon's tailgaters.
"Thanks, dad," Tallon sighed in relief. "We owe you one." Suddenly, several cannon rounds impacted the windshield of Fox's arwing, cracking the glass into a small spider web.
"Here's your chance!" Fox exclaimed, spotting the fighter following him closely behind. Salvo after salvo of cannon fire pierced Fox's arwing, slowly crippling it. "Argh!" Fox yelped as a flak bomb exploded in front of him. Fox tried to shake the fighter off, using every technique he had ever learned, but to his dismay, the fighter copied the maneuvers with sadistic glee, as if welcoming the challenge. "I can't get him off my six!" Fox screamed. He looked behind him and saw that the fighter had achieved lock onto his arwing's heat signature. He's going to fire a missile- and in this short range, he can't miss! Fox thought.
"FOX," Krystal screamed, "NOOO!" Just then a railgun beam hit Fox's pursuer in a brilliant, green beam of energy, blasting a hole right through the fighter. The fighter spun wildly out of control before it collided with a human capital ship, blowing a hole in it which, in turn, caused it to decompress in the vacuum of space and crumple up before promptly exploding. "What the hell was that?" Krystal asked amazed. Fox traced the shot back to its origin to find Solar, the system's star. Five tiny dots were heading towards the battlefield at breakneck speed.
"Incoming fighters!" Fox reported over the comm network as he squinted into Solar, turning his arwing to get a better angle for a clear shot. Then the fighters roared past his ship at a speed impossible for any known fighter to accelerate to. Their hyper-static plasma engines were so loud Fox grunted as he was momentarily deafened by them as the fighters zoomed by at Mach 4. The fighters then begin ripping through the enemy's line of defense, blasting through the ranks of capital ships unfortunate enough to get in their way.
"Huh, well, at least their on our side," Falco huffed. "Hey! They got into our communications frequency!"
"Star Fox! We're here to help!" said a voice garbled by static. The screen then cleared to reveal a green snake in a flight suit. "We could use a little assistance, so you can start by-"
"And just why should we help you, snake-boy?" Tallon interrupted. "We already have enough things to do here!"
"Because I just saved your leader from getting blown out of space!" the enigmatic snake roared back. "Now start taking down fighters to cover our advance. Then, we'll provide a distraction so you- damn!" The snake cursed as he blew up a would-be kamikaze fighter. "-so you can flank them from their starboard side." Fox, although not one to enjoy following orders, realized he was in the presence of a more tactical mind.
"Alright team," Fox finally said. "You heard what he said- now let's make some fireworks!" The team cheered as they returned to the fray and started to thin out the ranks of enemy fighters. After ripping apart a cluster of enemy fighters, Fox finally saw a glimpse of their allies' fighters.
When he saw one up close, Fox thought it was the most high-tech fighter he had ever seen. The fighter used an aerodynamic three pronged structure to not only lower drag, but guide trace amount of oxygen molecules in space to the air vents, which were used to cool down the four hyper-static plasma engines. The fighter's four wings were able to change positions, possibly to convert the fighter into a set of many different configurations. The fighter's sheer amount of weaponry on the hull astounded Fox. There were four heavy laser autocannons, two missile launchers, a bomb dropper, a rear mounted flak cannon, and a bottom mounted railgun. Just one of these fighters has more firepower than a Cornerian capital ship! Fox thought.
"Hey, Fox!" Falco exclaimed. "Stop drooling at their ships and watch were you're going!" Fox looked in front of him and barely avoided a collision with the team's ace pilot.
"Sorry, Falco!" Fox apologized. He not only was distracted, but also let his guard down. A trio of fighters started tailgating Fox. "AW C'MON! Not again!" Fox cursed. However, a few laser blasts turned the aces into scrap metal.
"That's twice I had to save your sorry hide," the green serpent said again. "If this is really the famous Fox McCloud I've been hearing about, then you don't deserve to be in this battle." Three more railgun blasts, three more explosions of the enemy capital ships.
"Hey," Fox asked, slightly irritated, "what about that distraction you talked about?" The snake answered by pulling up next to Fox's cockpit. Through the refractive glass, Fox saw the snake lift up a hand, which held a remote bomb trigger. The snake clicked it twice.
In the middle of the battlefield was a spherical, cloaked nova bomb that was unknown to anyone else aside from the strange, new allies. As it received the trigger's signal, a shrill beep, inaudible in the battlefield around it, went off before it detonated with a white-hot blast, incinerating an area equal to the size of a medium-sized city. This area, fortunately, included half of the humans' fleet, including the flagship.
"Flank them," the mysterious serpent ordered as he sped away.
"Team, flank from the starboard side of the fleet!" Fox ordered. Every fighter zoomed away except for his two sons. "The right side of the fleet." he put in simpler terms. Now, they sped away. "Kids." Fox sighed again.
Sporadic destruction spread through the human fleet as the Titanian fleet broke through the front lines of the human invasion force. Fighters, transport ships, and capital ships were all blown to bits. The human forces made a hyper jump and retreated. The Titanians had successfully defeated the enemy fleet.
There was an uproar of cheering over the radio comm. "Whooooee!" Marcus sighed, "Glad that's over. Hey, whoever you five are, thanks for your assistance."
"You guys did fine as well," the snake replied. "Now meet us on our mothership. We need a proper welcome wagon. Alright, Dreadnought you can materialize now." The gargantuan ship uncloaked itself and appeared before the heroes. Star Fox gaped in awe of the sheer size of the ship. It was simply so huge that no one could really make out the ship's shape. The mothership made the Great Fox look like an ant in comparison.
"Wow," Tallon commented. "that's, uh, pretty big."
"You always knew the right words for everything, eh?" Marcus said sarcastically. Tallon ignored the comment.
"Alright, people," the serpent called out, "let's head on inside. Star Fox, just don't appear hostile to the defense systems."
The team followed the new fighters to the hangar, a gaping, horizontal rectangle of gleaming light radiating from the inside. These guys are amazing! Just who are they? Fox thought.
At the end of each installment, I usually like to type up a few thoughts and reflections on these works, considering they're almost three years old as of August 2009.
Y'know, now that I look back at this prologue and chapter, it's almost laughable compared to my future works. The detail and dialogue is rather shoddy compared to what I have in more recent installments. Seriously, it's like this- "Humans are invading the Lylat System. Stop them! Oh, and you get new allies, by the way. =3".
Still, this is my first official fanfic. It will get better. By the way, I almost forgot to mention- Contact is already completed, 400+ pages and all, and I'm currently working on the sequel. I will be posting chapters here every few days or a week or so. Anyways, I hope you, as my readers, will continue to enjoy this interesting fic of mine...
Also, reviews are very much appreciated. :)