--Chapter One--
A Bad Awakening
"Fox, we need your help, Oikenny's forces have been expanding and part of his army is trying to go through Titania in order to reach Corneria. We need you to team up with our forces at the Titanian desert outpost to push them back to Sector Y. Our planet lies in your capable hands, team Starfox."
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Location--500 miles off the coast of the Titania desert
Time—11:37 LST (Lylatian Standard Time)
Cornerian Support—Fair Team—Fox, Krystal, FalcoThe ocean seemed to be endless. Long stretched out blue canvas was all you could see for miles, excluding a small speck of land that hung motionless on the horizon, seeming to be farther away every time he looked at it. A cloudless sky hung overhead, it's scorching sun beating away at him as he flew towards the speck of land known as the Titanian Desert. The speedometer on Fox's dashboard read 125mph. Nothing more and nothing less. Fox sighed.
"At this rate, it's going to be about three hours before we reach the outpost. God, that's a long time, and this heat is so damn unbearable…. I wonder if the others are doing as bad as me…" He thought to himself, looking back at the other's ships, which we're flying in formation about 12 meters back.
"Heh, so… I guess the Great Fox's targeting system could use some repairs, eigh?" He said nervously over the intercom, trying to break the dull silence. But received nothing in response from the others. All that could be heard was the droan of the ships engine, which was working overtime in this heat…
Fox was feeling a bit paranoid. The others hadn't said a word the entire time they'd been out there.
"Are you guys ok? You're actin' a little quite over there…" He said into the intercom, hoping for a response. But still, yet to get one. He looked back at the others again, who were still flying in the same formation. But the glare from the sun made it impossible to see into the cockpits.
"Come-on guys, I'm feeling lonely over here. Say something to me! I know we're all hot and tired, but still that's no reason to ignore me!" He said, feeling kind of mad now.
"Heh, you're not getting it, are you?" Said a voice over the intercom. It wasn't anyone he knew. Fox looked back. The other two Arwings were gone, and in their place were two Imperial Slicers! Fox looked forward again, gritting his teeth. Knowing they could kill him any second and he couldn't do anything about it.
"Damnit…" Fox said. They both rocketed forward at 300 mph, tilting to the side so their bladed wings slice through the Arwings own. The wings detached, leaving its helpless body, which fell like a javelin to the ground. There was nothing Fox could do… He was going to die. Closer the ground came… closer… closer…
Location—Great FoxTime—12:37 LST (Lylatian Standard Time)
Fox bolted up; the fur on his brow was warm and matted down with sweat. After a quick look around he realized he was back in his bedroom aboard the Great Fox. Fox gave a sigh of relief.
"Heh, just a stupid dream…" He said to himself. Fox's room was very dull. All he really had in his room was his bed and a dresser. There were a few posters on the wall of his favorite bands, and a cheesy recruitment poster for the Cornerian Army that he found at an old thrift store back on Corneria. Besides that though the room was empty. He was a man of very few necessities.
"Ugh, I guess I should get up now… It's like noon…" Fox said as he lazily got up and opened the top drawer in his dresser, performing a quick scan to find a pair of clothes that looked generally clean. From the lobby Fox could hear the T.V. playing Slippy's favorite cartoon, "Astro Awesome" and Falco's favorite generic rock music blaring over that. There was of pair of some generally ok clothes nearing the bottom, which he threw on. Shoving his hands into his pockets he opened his door into the brightness of the lobby.
The first thing to be noticed was Slippy; who was lying upside down on their shitty, ripped up sofa munching cereal loudly straight from the box and watching the cartoon. His face was bright red from all of his blood rushing to it.
"Jeez Slippy, you're such a little kid. I mean, just look at you! Sit like a normal person." Fox said with a chuckle as he sat down at the table across from Falco, who was leaning the chair back on it's back two legs, resting his booted feet on the table and drinking a cheap beer with no shirt on.
"Hey pup." Falco said to him. "What the hell were you dreamin' about? I swear I could here you moaning all the way in my room."
"It was nothing. Just a stupid dream."
"Aww… Is the widdle baby having bad dreams again? Want to sleep with daddy tonight?" Said Falco, laughing at his own stupidity.
"Shut up Falco." Krystal said; smacking him upside the head as Fox got up and headed to the fridge, scanning through it to try and find something leftover to eat. He could hear them bickering over at the table but paid no attention.
"Falco, is that the last one?" Fox said, pulling his head out of the refrigerator.
"Mm-hm." Falco replied smugly, crushing the beer can and throwing it over his shoulder. Just missing the trashcan and landing in the small pile of garbage around it, where everything else Falco tries to throw in the trash bin ends up.
"Ugh. Whatever. You know you're going to have to clean that all up eventually Falco." Fox said, as he shut the refrigerator door and flopped down on the sofa, which gave a creaking noise as he sat next to Slippy; who had change positions and was now sitting upright on the sofa, still watching "Astro Awesome" and munching his cereal.
"Heh, in your dreams Foxy. I'm not pickin' that up." Falco said in response. "You know I don't do chores!"
"Yes, we all know that Falco because me and Fox have to do everything around here!" Krystal said, gritting her teeth with her eyes shut, smacking Falco again upside the head.
"Gah! What the hell is your—" Right then before Falco could finish his sentence the "Report to the briefing room" alarm sounded. It wasn't a loud one but it always caught everyone's attention…
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Fox and the rest of the team rushed into the briefing room; they were all eager to finally get some action (hopefully) after what seemed like months of just lying around, seeing as how they were generally the last resort to the Cornerian military.
They all gathered around on the nice sofas that circled the holoprojector, where General Pepper's face normally showed up and told them what to do.
The briefing room was very small and everything in there was cluttered around the walls. The room was dark seeing as how it had no lights, to make it easier to see the hologram that projected in the middle. The walls were painted dark blue and completely bare over the cluttered magazines, books, mission logs, current and old Arwing data sheets, a book called "How to get more money for your work!" and then just some papers and such lying on the floor and tables. The middle of the room was lowered and circular, ringed with the comfortable red sofas the team was sitting on now and a few tables, in the middle was the silvery holoprojector they all looked up at as General Peppers face erupted from it and started talking.
"Pepper here. Team Starfox, I humbly request your assistance. The Cornerian army is in a very grave position, the 10,000 pilots under the command of General McGull, attempted infiltration of Sector Z. That sector is crawling with soldiers from the Venomine forces that we push back, roughly 20,000 Venomine pilots lay there."
"What? Why the hell did he do that?"
"I honestly do not know. I've been trying to contact him for a few days now, but he is not answering. I strongly fear his death or capture."
"So, let me guess," Falco piped in. "You want us to go to Sector Z and save his sorry ass. Correct?" The general nodded.
"Yes, but that is not all. I want you to in the process attempt to get his military out of the mess he had brought them into. In training, all of the Cornerian army was instructed that if you are to show up that means they're in a tight situation, and any orders you give will override that of the generals. So they should easily follow whatever you instruct." Fox closed his eyes and looked down.
"So, how much are you going to pay us if we make it?" He said.
"You can expect around 1,000 Lyra if you make it back with the general."
"Finally! If we can make it back with just the general, that'll be enough to repair the Great Fox's photon blasters for artillery use!" Slippy said in his nasally voice. Fox nods. "That's one vital thing too. I think we'll take you up on that offer general. We'll leave right away."