STARFOX: THE NEXT CHAPTER
It was a time of celebration. The vile APAROIDS that had once invaded the LYLAT SYSTEM and send it plunging into darkness have been eliminated by the legendary ace mercenaries of STARFOX. Cornaria and it's colonies began to rebuild from the war, The damage was severe and plentiful, but the people began to repair their homes and businesses nevertheless. It was simply a new beginning for them and their children.
However, due to the loss of their home, the Assault Carrier GREAT FOX, the pilots FOX J. McCLOUD, FALCO LOMBARDI, SLIPPY TOAD, and KRYSTAL, alongside the elderly team veteran PRESTON "PEPPY" HARE, find themselves restricted to the planet Corneria without a means of transporting their Arwing fighters and Landmaster fighting vehicle. With the economy and shipyards still recovering from the war, it would at least be a few months before STARFOX could purchase a new carrier.
But LIFE waits for nothing, and DESTINY can not be so easily delayed. Even if the team is unaware, the next CHAPTER in STARFOX's history has just begun. . .
Rental Hanger S-98
Corneria City / Corneria / Lylat System
0704 Hours
"Come on Slippy! How much longer until you're finished refueling the Arwings." An annoyed blue bird complained from his position in the cockpit of his starfighter.
"We lost my automated speed fueler remember!" An equally annoyed frog snapped back, "Until I have the time to build a new one I have to manually fuel our Arwings one at a time. Man I miss the Great Fox."
". . . Yeah I do too Slip, she was a good old ship for sure." The bird admitted, having called the Liberation Class vessel home for what seemed like the longest time. "But then again, It was about time to retire the old girl, the years were starting to get to her."
The Great Fox had originally been built for the Cornerian Navy seven years before the Lylat War, but was quickly retired due to budget cuts forcing the Navy to downsize it's numbers. That was when the original Starfox Team, led by James McCloud managed to get a good deal and acquire the carrier for the team.
A few years later and the Great Fox as well as it's flight of MK2 Arwing interceptors were retired following James' death, but was soon pulled out of retirement by Fox and restored to working condition just in time for the Lylat Wars, carrying the pilots and their Arwings from Corneria to Venom and everywhere inbetween. But after the Titania incident and Falco leaving the team Starfox's credits began to run dry, during the Saruian Crisis the Great Fox and her Arwing MK2s were held together by Slippy's makeshift and cheap repairs. Thankfully the Paycheck from that job was more than enough to get the old Carrier a premium quality refit and upgrade to the MK5 Arwing superiority Starfighters. Just in time for the Aparoids.
But there was no denying the truth that the Great Fox was reaching her final years, as parts needed for repairs had been discontinued and the latest technology had began to render her obsolete.
"True to that Falco," Slippy agreed, "I just wished I had a chance to unload all my inventions before Peppey slammed the ship into the shield. It's going to take months to rebuild all of them from scratch."
"Yeah? Well, I lost my old racing jacket! The genuine thing. You know how rare those are?" Falco argued.
"Ah, Go button you beak Falco," Slippy dismissed the argument with a wave of his hand, "Still gotta refuel Krystal's Arwing and mine so you might as well get down from there and do something other than complain."
"Don't push it Froggy," Falco threatened, "By the way where is Krystal, and Fox for that matter?"
"Meditating if I was to guess," the machanic answered as he pushed the fuel cart over to another Arwing, "And I think Fox went to visit his Father's grave this morning. Guess the queen's impression of him did a number on Fox."
"Oh, It really did shake him up some didn't it?" Falco agreed as he dropped out of the cockpit. "I haven't seen him like that since Venom, He looked like he saw a ghost when he managed to find his way out."
"I think he did see a ghost Falco, or at least heard one." Slippy admitted, "He kept dodging all of our questions so I checked out the Black Box on his Arwing."
"And?" Falco asked suddenly taking an interest.
"I found some audio lifted from his radio, there's a lot of interference but I was able to recover some of the data and clean it up." Slippy explained as he activated his wrist computer and brought up his files before opening an audio file.
"If I go down, I'm taking you WITH ME"
Andross
"Ahhhahhha!"
Fox
"Don't ever give up, my son."
"Wait is that?" Falco interrupted
"Father?"
"Follow me, Fox."
-Interference-
"You've become so strong Fox, I'm proud of you."
"Fox! You're Okay!"
"That's our lead-"
Slippy stopped the recording and closed the file letting Falco take in what he had just learned.
"I guess I can see why he never liked to talk about it." Falco commented as he leaned back against his Arwing pinching the top of his beak. "Fox was pretty close with his dad, can't say the same for me."
"What ever happened to your dad?" Slippy asked as he resumed work refueling the Arwings, it was rare for Falco to ever talk about his past.
"Gangs," Falco shrugged, "He grew up in them, just like I did. At least my piloting skills got me out of that lifestyle. Don't know what happened to him, and I really don't want to. He kinda abandoned me to the gangs."
"Okay. . ." Slippy finally spoke unsure what to make of the conversation before focusing on fueling the Arwings for today's job.
Slippy's father Beltino had offered to hire Starfox as extra security during the final repairs to the Warp Gate, incase the Empire's remnants tried to launch a surprise attack and destroy the Cornerian's key tactical advantage over the pirates. The Aparoids had done a number on the station during the war, Beltino managed to temporarily repair the damage long enough to send the Cornerian fleet to the Aparoid Homeworld, but the final permanent repairs were still underway.
If the Warpgate was disabled, Cornaria would be unable to move it's battle groups into position to fend off a pirate raid until it would be far too late. A lot of the outer colonies and space stations on the frontier's edge were dependent on the supplies and security coming through the station. If that lifeline and military access was cut off, there was next to nothing to stop the Remanent from besieging those colonies, and every man woman and child in them.
Security has got to be absolute. . .
Beltenio Warp Gate Station
Planetary Station Orbit / Cornaria / Lylat System
1148 Hours
"Starfox, Check in." Fox ordered over the radio as the four Arwings entered the Station's area of operations. He could see some other squadrons of fighters and a Cornerian Frigate on security detail. The navy was stretched thin, even with the addition of hiring various mercenary squadrons and ships to help bolster their numbers. And the Pirates knew it.
"Falco checking in." The ace sounded off, not missing a beat.
"Slippy here, ready to go." The Inventor reported, reaching up to adjust his rear view mirror.
"I'm here, all systems responding" Krystal announced as she checked her instruments.
"Alright," Fox acknowledged before switching communication channel, "Team Starfox to Security Control: All ships accounted for and standing by."
"Roger that Starfox, It's good to know you'll be watching our backs." A Cornerian communications operator responded. "We could use you four on the port side of the station, that is where we got the least fighters at the moment."
"10-4," Fox ended the transmission, "Alright team you heard him, let's get moving to the port side."
The Arwings engine hummed to life as the four fighter craft sped to their destination. . .
Well, Writers Block has made itself comfortable on all my other current stories at the moment so I'd thought it would be a good idea to switch away from fantasy and magic and give Sci Fi another chance. I think I can make this work but I may need you help with some OCs I'll Explain more next chapter.
Here goes nothing,
Arrowheadlock