Hello everyone!

Welcome to my first Star Fox story! I've been planning this for around a month now, so I'm pretty giddy to share it with you all! Please remember to leave a review, it greatly helps me as this is only one of my first few pieces. That being said, enjoy!

Star Fox belongs to Nintendo.

"Journey Across the Stars" by SpaceCat010

Chapter One


Fox stepped into an elevator at the Cornerian Defense Force headquarters, held his badge up to a scanner, and pushed the button for the top floor. After a few moments, the elevator gently lurched upwards, and began the climb to the 80th floor. Letting his mind drift in an effort to kill some time, he thought about the blue vixen they had brought back from their most recent mission; the reason he was going to talk to General Pepper in the first place.

Krystal...

Although he was a bit embarrassed to admit it to anyone, he had some serious feelings for her. A few nights ago they had stayed up late, sitting on the couch in the common area of the Great Fox, talking about everything from what it was like to live on a giant space cruiser, what Corneria was like, but most importantly, their pasts.

Fox couldn't help but let out a few tears when he heard her story.

Not only was it so sad, but it was so similar to his own. The same mad ape that killed both his parents not only killed hers, but invaded and destroyed her entire planet. Fox pulled her into a tight hug as she tried to tell him her story through hot tears, and one look at her eyes told him all he needed. That empty gaze she held was just like his for years after his mother's death, and even longer after his father's. She had nowhere to go, no friends to back her up when she set out looking for answers. All she got was the life nearly drained out of her inside a giant crystalline prison standing over a fall that definitely would've killed her, had it not been for some quick thinking and a jumping save.

After she had come aboard to thank him in person, the realization had hit her. She got her answers; Now what? Fox remembered how tight she hugged him when he offered to take her back to Corneria with them to help her find a home and a place to restart. The soft, plush feeling of her fur felt softer than any fine silk he'd ever touched, and her deep blue eyes were like endless oceans, ones that told a story that he could painfully relate to.

He smiled at the memory of Krystal falling asleep on his shoulder that night while they both sat on the couch together, staring out the window at the flickering stars off in the distance.

Fox was pulled from his reverie by the sound of the elevator beeping, indicating that he had reached his floor. Fox stepped out, and walked over to the receptionist's desk.

A brown feline was typing away at her computer while trying to address him at the same time. "General Pepper is currently waiting for someone, so if you're here to see him, then you'll have to-" she stopped instantly as she looked up, surprised that the vulpine that had saved their planet countless times was standing in front of her. "Oh! Mr. McCloud! I didn't except you to be here s-" "Don't worry, it's alright." Fox cut her off. "Is Pepper in his office?"

Just as the feline was about to answer, a door on the opposite side of the room opened. General Pepper stepped out and greeted him. "Fox! Glad you made it back! Come on in and we can talk." Fox gave the receptionist a small smile and a quick nod, then headed for the general's office.

"So I'm assuming this is about the girl you brought back from your most recent mission?" Pepper asked as he stepped inside and closed the door.

"Y-Yes. She wants to join the team." Fox said, maybe a little too fast as he'd have liked.

"And I'm also assuming you're here to get supplies for said recruit?" Pepper asked, with a little more questioning tone this time.

"Right on the money. When will you need the payment for the extra arwing?"

"That won't be necessary." The general said with a slight smile on his face.

"What? Why?" Fox asked, unsure of who all of a sudden had an extra arwing laying around.

"Peppy contacted me a couple days ago, said he's retiring to be an instructor at the CDF. Thinks he's getting too old for flying. Anyway, he said he's leaving his arwing for Krystal."

Fox tried to interject. "That's really generous of him, but-"

"He also added explicit instructions to refuse any objection." The general chuckled as he grabbed several sheets of paper from his printer. "Here. These sheets are all you'll have to fill out so we can add her to the payroll. We'll need her to come in and have her measurements taken for a flight suit, but that can wait for now."

Fox thanked the general, and left the office, papers in hand and a grin on his muzzle. As he made his way towards the exit, his grin quickly faded. A large group of media vans and reporters were outside the building, waiting for a specific celebrity mercenary to walk out. 'Great.' Fox thought to himself. 'Of course they recognize the car.' The jet black sports car with orange accents had become an icon in Cornerian media and celebrity news, so Fox always managed to get mobbed wherever he went.

Despite the constant bombardment of interviews and microphones, Fox would drive that car until it broke down, and then fix it up and keep driving it. The car had belonged to his father, and Fox felt like he had a legacy to carry in one way or another. Bracing himself for all the shouting and microphones to come, he took a deep breath and walked towards his car.

As soon as he was spotted, the sea of reporters flocked to him and started asking questions a mile a minute, most of which could make anyone utterly disgusted by their nosiness, but Fox was a forgiving person, to an extent at least. Just as he'd reached his car, one reporter asked the simplest questions out of every single one that kept being thrown at him. "Are the papers for a new recruit?" Fox was perplexed that they'd managed to figure that much out, because the news of Krystal's rescuing off of dinosaur planet was only disclosed to higher-ups of the Cornerian Defense Force and the other members of Star Fox. That, and the papers he was carrying were in a sealed folder.

Fox had climbed into his car, and glanced at the reporter outside his rolled down window. If they wanted something, he could at least give them a little bit of info. "Expect a new member of Star Fox in the coming days." As soon as he said that, the reporters had gone into an uproar of more questions, but Fox had already rolled up the window and put the pedal to the medal.

Fox brought up his communicator, and dialed a number while he left the press vans behind him in the dust.


Krystal was sitting in her room in the McCloud family manor, reading a book. Fox had inherited the manor from James when he died, and now used it for housing his team whenever they were on Corneria. Full of anticipation for her captain to return with the payment forms, she couldn't help but let her mind wander to the orange mercenary in question.

Fox...

Just thinking about him made her blush a little, as she'd developed a massive crush on him since he saved her from falling down Krazoa Palace, which only grew stronger over the week long journey back to Corneria. He was always there for her at a moment's notice, how he sat by her and comforted her when she talked about what she was doing all alone in space in the first place, the way his toned muscles flowed up and down his body, the way he'd flatten his ears whenever he blushed, and so much more about him gave her this feeling of comfort that no one else could have given to her.

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she recalled Fox and her, sitting on the couch in the living room on the Great Fox, staying up super late and talking about everything, sharing both their good and bad memories, and eventually falling asleep on his shoulder while they watched the stars.

Speaking of bad memories...

She couldn't think of anyone but herself that had such a similar story. Fox was barely eight years old when the same mad scientist that wiped out her entire planet had killed his mother. Krystal cried at the mental picture he painted for her of a small Fox McCloud, sobbing at the mutilated and charred corpse of his mother, his father running out of the house towards him with a distressed look on his face.

As if to add insult to injury, Fox lost his dad to the same ape, or more specifically, someone hired by said ape. Fox was't exactly the vengeful type, but avenging his parents by killing Andross and the man who he hired to kill his father was something he'd vowed to do before he himself died. She remembered how Fox described the feelings of pure hatred he felt when he pulled the trigger, giving Pigma Dengar the explosive, painful death that he deserved. All the hardship and loss that he'd experienced had turned him into the most stoic person one could have ever seen.

Well, until she was around him.

Krystal's presence alone was enough to break Fox out of his shell, and turn him into a blushing and stuttering buffoon at a loss for words.

Just then, her communicator rang, and she looked down at the holographic display.

INCOMING CALL: FOX MCCLOUD

Mentally preparing herself for the news to follow, Krystal took in and let out a few deep breaths, and hit the answer button. The sound of an engine roaring could be heard over the voice of her soon-to-be captain.

"Krystal?" Fox asked, his voice laced with a bit of concern.

"Yes?"

"I may or may not have attracted some unwanted celebrity media attention, so don't answer anyone that comes to the door."

Krystal only heard the words 'celebrity' and 'attention,' despite the engine noise in Fox's car being somewhat quiet at the time.

"Wait... So you're... Celebrities?" She asked, unaware that she'd been trying to join a famous mercenary team in Lylat.

"Well... Yes. I'll tell you more when I get back." Fox said, the engine of his car revving loudly as he tried to race home before the media vans could catch up to him.

"O-Okay. See you soon." Krystal said as she hung up. She couldn't believe it; her, a celebrity! By not only being rescued by the orange vulpine she was head over heels for, but also by joining his team, she had just made herself famous in Cornerian media. She grabbed the TV remote on her nightstand, and turned on the TV on the far side of the room.

Flipping to the celebrity news channel, she found that people not only had new pictures of Fox himself in his sports car, but that news got around the Cornerian media fast. A headline below two canines talking at a table read in bold letters, "BREAKING: NEW MEMBER OF STAR FOX?"

Krystal was instantly filled with excitement, they had no idea they were talking about her. The two canines on screen were discussing who they thought it could be, most likely Bill Grey, a CDF pilot well connected with Star Fox, or possibly Katt Monroe, computer extraordinaire and another well known Star Fox associate. Krystal had never met them before, so she'd have to ask Fox later.

Speaking of which, she glanced out her window to see Fox had parked his car in the driveway and was sprinting towards the front door, followed by a mob of reporters wielding microphones and cameras. She raced down the stairs to open the door for him, and watched as Fox sprinted across the lawn, nearing the front door of the manor.

Krystal quickly opened the door as the orange mercenary ran inside, but was met with a flash of white as she closed the door as fast as possible.

"Oh great." Fox muttered while panting loudly.

"What was that?" Krystal asked, unaware that her face was going to be sold to multiple tabloid companies and other news outlets.

"Looks like they got a picture of you. I guess that spoils the surprise for them." Fox said as he collapsed at the base of the stairs in the foyer. "Come on, let's head into the kitchen. I've got something for you."

Krystal's tail wagged at the speed of an arwing's afterburners as Fox pulled out a yellow envelope, removed the contents, and set them down on the counter.

"Welcome to Star Fox, Krystal." Fox grinned.

A million thoughts were racing through the blue vixen's head. She finally found her answers, found a home and a new group of friends, as well as developed a huge crush and personal friendship with the most famed mercenary on Cornerian celebrity news. She was at a loss for words, and did the only thing she could think of.

She grabbed his collar, and yanked him into a kiss.

After the shock had worn off, Fox wrapped his hands around her back and started to kiss back. After a little while, the two foxes pulled away from each other, blushing like tomatoes. Much to their chagrin, another flash of white flooded the kitchen through the window, and Fox quickly ran over to shut the blinds.

Krystal wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, and started to cry small tears of joy.

"Thank you."

Fox happily returned the embrace, internally yelling in triumph.


How was that for a first chapter? I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it!

Please remember to leave a review, and I'll be back soon with chapter 2!