Authors note: This is my very first attempt at writing fanfiction. Reviews and criticism are adored, but please be gentle. Canon is loose enough to begin with I may have broken it in places, and we're pretending Command never happened. Rated T for cursing, later violence. Rating may change in the future.

June 30,2014: Note I have enough points of critique once I posted chapter 13, that I am going back and revising/expanding the earlier chapters to attempt to address the this story took over my creative muse and will not let go until it's done and it's done decently well. I'm attempting to make sure that nothing breaks coherency wise in the revisions, but of course let me know if that's not the case. For readers of the first version - ship names got altered, and I actually flipped Wolf's first and middle names around. It made more sense and was something I should have done to begin with. A couple chapters got condensed and renamed and I'm trying to put in some extra content throughout to make the other characters seem less flat.

"For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream." - Vincent Van Gogh

Corneria City - Day 0 - 20:07 Local Time (12 Years ALW)

The endless expanse of black dotted with points of light represents something to everyone. A terrifying emptiness and silence. An endless expanse that becomes a mirror to one's own soul, full of joy or regrets. Hope that something better than their own lives is out there. For Ember Wolf O'Donnell it had meant the freedom and the possibility of another day. Possibilities and freedom he no longer had.

The once muscular lupine tried to find a more comfortable way to sleep in the seat of his Wolfen, grounded in an unheated hangar in the rough part of Coneria City . Two years after the defeat of the Aparoids work for his team had dwindled to nothing. Justifications being irrelevant, saving his rival had cost him in the eyes of certain people. People who no longer feared or respected him enough to keep a hold on the small empire he'd built. Arms smuggling was less attractive when there was no war to be found and everyone was focused on rebuilding. Rebuilding and cleaning up. What had been left of Sargasso after various authorities got their paws on too many contacts, and others fled for points further out or to find other ways to earn their living, didn't amounted to much now but a hunk of powerless metal floating in space.

Leon Polwaski had bailed first, and Wolf had not been sorry to see him go, other than finding himself without anyone to gripe to. He'd never really cared for any of his teammates, well that was a lie, he didn't like most of them but he had cared about them a little. Except Pigma Dengar, long since tossed out and hopefully dead, who could rot in hell for all eternity and that would suit Wolf just fine. Panther Carouso had followed a few days after Polwaski, with a shockingly polite conversation he was doing so. They'd split their shares of what was left after their battle-class carrier ship, the Cerberus Defiant, had been sold and parted ways knowing that if their paths crossed again it could equally be a polite nod or a shot to fulfil a bounty that marked their next meeting.

Coughs wracked the lupine's body as he tugged his flight jacket that served as a blanket tighter around him. The dim light of the few systems still powered on in the Wolfen only illuminated the frost starting to collect on the edges of the window. Not the end befitting "Lord" O'Donnell is it? Alone and freezing or starving to death, grounded on a semi-free and peaceful Corneria. Who the hell would have seen that coming. A harsh chuckle escaped the gray muzzle. He'd expected for a very long time to meet an unsavory end, it just hadn't been this one or anything so quiet. Part of him wanted to still believe that he'd played his role well, he'd contributed in small but meaningful ways to the way both the Lylat War and the Invasion had ended. It was why he'd spared and then saved Fox McCloud after all wasn't it? Not that the younger team lead had probably figured that out yet or ever would. Not that Wolf was entirely sure it mattered now.

He closed his good eye and let out a raspy whuff, too tired to go out and try to steal something to eat. Might as well sleep now and try tommorow. No sooner had he started to halfway drift off when the beep of a communicator roused him back to wakeful-ness. He squinted staring at the caller ID which wasn't anything he recognized and shoved the jacket down between the pilots seat and the side of the cockpit, while running a hand through his unkempt hair and fur. That the cockpit was dim was just as well, no need to highlight how bad of shape he was actually in, and he put on his best glower when he answered. "State your business."

Initially it was just static, making the mercenary wonder if the call was being redirected or otherwise tampered with. A low growl escaped him, he was in no mood for those games. The image then snapped into clarity, displaying a picture of a brown colored weasel, dressed in a suit jacket.

"Well, it would seem that the rumors are true, Wolf O'Donnell is still to be found."

"Yeah? And what of it?" His voice was gravelly, rougher than normal but the caller wouldn't know that and if anything it made him sound a hair more intimidating. Now if he could just keep from hacking halfway through this.

"Assuming you aren't already engaged, I have a job offer for you. Although if you're too busy to take it, I can certainly ask elsewhere"

Fuck. That bastard probably knows that I have nothing. "I'm listening."

"Very well then Mr. O'Donnell. You may call me Remus. I am an intermediary for another party who wishes to remain anonymous. What my employer is looking for is a relatively simple task. The retrieval of the data storage from an abandoned base. He does not strictly own said shelter or it's contents, however, I'm led to believe that isn't strictly a problem for you either."

"What's the catch? You aren't calling me up to play errand boy if it's that simple."

"Indeed, no. The catch is that the base location in Fichina, in the Northern Hemisphere. As I'm sure you are aware, the climate control has not been restored anywhere except for Fichina City itself. Additionally, there are rumors that the base, while abandoned by the Cornerian Military, is still powered and active with all of the unmanned defenses."

"That's a hell of a catch. What's the pay?"

"A million credits, or the equivalent there of, in any currency of your choosing. Cash can be arranged if you prefer that to a digital transfer."

That's high. Possibly too high, even for this job. Instinct and experience told Wolf that there was no way that this job was fully on the level with him, for that kind of cash. But I don't have a choice do I? His face remained absolutely impassive, but inwardly he cringed knowing that. How long had it been since any of the paths he'd taken had been free choice? Now I know I'm out of my head, there never was any turning back. Hell with it all, I am *Lord* Wolf O'Donnell, and I definitely still have this! Except for that ship part…

"Done, on one condition. I want ten percent up front for expenses, not reimbursable if the mission fails." Given I'd be dead, good luck getting it back then!

"Twenty thousand."

"Fifty. Wireless, today. What, you thought ship fuel was free?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Fifty it is then. I suppose I should count myself lucky, your reputation for a hard bargain was far worse than that." There was just a hint of mocking in the weasel's tone. Wolf might have missed it if it hadn't been for his lupine ears that caught near everything.

There was an audible snarl and scowl on the pilot's face as Remus continued "No hard feelings, it's simply business. Fifty thousand credits, simply reply back to this with a wave containing whatever account information you wish it sent to. It should arrive there no later than 10 am, Corneria City time. How long do you estimate you will need to accomplish this?"

Wolf thought for a moment, the ship repairs he'd have to do, even doing most of the work himself given he knew the ship in and out, who would work for him anyways was besides the point, would definitely take longer than he wanted to let on. "Gotta clear my schedule first, that'll add a couple days." The lie came out as smooth as truth, the weasel finding nothing amiss with it. Apparently he wasn't all that in the know. "Say two weeks. Give or take a day or two."

"Perfectly acceptable timeline. My thanks to you Mr. O'Donnell. I look forward to hearing from you." With that, the weasel gave him a curt nod and winked out from the com. Wolf typed in the message he needed to send and leaned back pondering this change of affairs. What would they possibly have left there, of all places, that never got picked up again? Odd. Well, dying in a fight there beats starving here.

With that he grabbed his flight jacket again and settled back down eventually falling into a fitful sleep.

Aboard GreatFox - Corneria City - Day 0 - 20:30 Local Time

Fox was learning to hate winter on Corneria. It wasn't the cold really that bothered him, not at all really. It was that the cold bothered everyone else, and everyone else insisted on being inside. Inside meant all the annoying speaking engagements that General Pepper seemed all too happy to sign him or the Star Fox team up for were in packed rooms where too many eyes were putting him on a pedestal high enough that it was frightening.

The whole team was busy, but not with what they wanted to be doing. None of them had gotten to see the inside of an Arwing in months other than for small appearances and a few publicity stunts. At least Slippy, who was the least requested speaker was getting to spend time working on designs at least a few days a week. He tapped his fingers on the console of the bridge aboard the Great Fox in aggravation as he read the latest request, of course signed by Pepper personally yet again. His tail twitched back and forth behind him, he wanted back in his flight suit not the jeans and hoodie he was currently wearing.

"Ugh! Not this again. Fox, tell the man no!" The cry came from behind him as Falco had spied the latest email from Pepper looking over Fox's shoulder.

"I'd love to, but how else are we going to pay the bills around here Falco? It's not like after all the repairs to the Great Fox and our Arwings we're exactly going to retire anytime soon on what was left." Fox gestured around to the refurbished bridge, at least they'd gotten comfy chairs out of the deal. Everything else looked like it always had, with the exceptions that the technology had been updated a little.

"I don't care! We'll eat Ramen for a month man, just like old times. Anything, ANYTHING is better than this. C"mon." The blue pilot protested. "You keep this up I'm going to start speaking my mind at one of these gigs!" The expression on Falco's face told Fox that it was anything but a joke. Tempers were starting to fray, and that didn't bode well at all when it came to the hot-headed avian not opening his mouth at inopportune moments.

Fox sighed, and put a hand on his muzzle. He wanted to have a counter argument, but he couldn't bring himself to actually believe any of them. One ear twitched hearing another set of steps behind him that was much less excited. He spun the chair around to fully face Falco and the graying hare who came up beside him. Peppy looked more tired than Fox ever remembered him being, and that worried him deeply.

"Falco's right. This is getting absurd. If we're not going on missions Fox, I'm going to toss the hat in. I'm too old for all this running around just to please politicians."

Fox almost cringed at the idea of Peppy actually leaving, he'd been so close to the man for so long ever since his real father had died. "Okay, okay I get the point. I'll tell him no. Why don't we take a little break, go somewhere nice for a few days. We can afford that if we get another couple of jobs after. I'll see what we can find that is more what we actually want to be doing. can't promise I'll find much that's all that great though. "

"Thank you Peppy, at least somebody manages to talk some sense into our "fearless" leader." Falco folded his arms giving Fox a pointed look. He'd been going absolutely stir crazy, and Fox realized now just how badly.

A blue furred vixen walked in and sat down in the next chair. She gave him a small smile, though it didn't reach her eyes. She'd taken to dressing the way she had when Fox met her, the white cloth and jewelry turned everyone's heads. "I promise Fox, Pepper owes us enough he really shouldn't be taking offense at a single turn down of a relatively unimportant request. It would be good to remind him we aren't his subordinates to order around I think."

Fox wrinkled his nose, giving her a mildly annoyed look. He hated it when she read his mind even though he knew it was not entirely something she always meant to do. Their relationship had gone from head over heels to something resembling tepid in the past couple of years, it hadn't upset either of them when they'd decided to take a break. The orange-red fox had no idea how to fix it either. He himself while annoyed, was greatly relieved that he wasn't watching her fly out into danger every other minute.

"I'm already typing out the rejection guys. Okay? Sheesh." Keys clicked as the leader of StarFox typed out a quick but courteous email back to the general. He paused when he read over the words again on the display. They really had gotten him tamed hadn't they? Ugh. He hit send anyways and leaned back in the chair putting his boots up on the edge of the console.

Peppy was just looking at him shaking his head with a vaugely amused grin, as Falco was already making his way down the hall to go inform Slippy mostly by yelling from as far as he could. A mental debate between exactly which vacation spot they might go for, which one would have the least number of people and crowds to harass them started to form in Fox's mind. Beach? Nah, it always got sand in your fur and he never did get why folks loved it quite so much. Mountains would be better. Maybe that range in Venom now that it was habitable again, he'd heard the cabins were quite nice regardless of the time of year if you chose the right spot.

The train of thought was broken by another beep from the console indicating another message had come in. "Seriously?" Fox asked with a bit of exasperation in his voice upon seeing it again was from Pepper. "Maybe you're more right than I thought Krystal. Man's forgetting we're mercenaries, not enlisted."

His eyes widened though as he read the contents. Far from an angry reply, it was a cancellation of the previous request and a new one for an immediate briefing on an urgent matter that had just reached Pepper's desk. A real mission. A paid mission.

"HEY GUYS! What do you think about an actual paid mission!" The call echoed down the hall.

"HELL YES!" Came an answer in unison from the toad and bird who were hurrying back to find out what was going on.

"Alright then, apparently this ones classified enough again we get to find out in person. Maybe some real excitement around here for a change. You comin too Peppy or you really planning on retiring completely?" Fox looked over at the hare with worry in his eyes again. Would they really be going out without him this time? It was so hard to imagine, the oldest member of the team had taken on the role of raising him and teaching him how to lead the team once his father had been shot down leaving him without either parent. There really wasn't a time in his life he hadn't been able to rely on the older man.

"I said no more speaking engagements Fox. I suspect I'm probably going to retire sometime soon, but you knew that was coming. Why not one last hurrah?" Peppy shrugged with a good-natured grin.