Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or any of the characters, they are owned by Nintendo. However, Tex Hempioro and other characters belong to me.

Great Fox: Corneria orbit, 1:35 a.m. local time.

It was quiet on the Great Fox, a nice change of pace from the usual alarms and sirens going off at the sight of an attack. With all the work that team Star Fox was having, you would think they would be sound asleep, most were, except for one particular orange vulpine. Fox was awake, but why? He was tired, he wanted to do nothing more then just sleep the rest of the night, but some unknown force wasn't letting him. He let out a quiet sigh so as not to wake the beautiful blue vixen sleeping beside him, normally he slept so soundly, Krystal being a large factor in this, but his mind was too preoccupied with everything that was going on. It wasn't that long ago that they defeated the Aparoids, and now they were thrust into another conflict between apposing forces, and with Corneria still under construction from the invasion, they wouldn't last five minutes if these Imperials as they called themselves were to attack the defenseless planet. Pepper had told them little about this new enemy, but he didn't skip the important parts; they were a rich government, they had a strong military, and they were smart. Sure they have military on other planets besides Corneria, but they weren't going up against just one planet like Venom or the Aparoid home world, no they were going up against an entire star system, with their own military, their own system of planets, hell even their own language, just learning that language was a battle in itself and Fox was no linguist. They were similar to them, they were animals, mostly canines, but they seemed...different, he couldn't think of the right word to describe them. He would have said savage but that wasn't right, they were very intelligent, not one bit primitive, but the way they moved, and the way they thought, it was like they were predators hunting their food than soldiers fighting other soldiers.

His thoughts were disturbed as he heard a soft groan from the other side of the bed. A furry blue paw began to rub his chest soothingly, running her fingers through the strands of fur that covered his body.

"Can't sleep either, love?" Fox said.

He moved his hand so he could sift his fingers through the beautiful vixen's azure locks, causing her to sigh in comfort.

"I cant' sleep because you can't sleep, I don't need to be telepathic to know something's on your mind. Tell me what's bothering you."

Her voice was a soft whisper, it was like music to Fox's ears and he loved hearing it, especially when it was directed towards him.

"I'm just bothered, that's all, and this is a new enemy we know nothing about. They have a military force that rivals Corneria's; we never fought against a force that large, at least not without the C.D.F. backing us up. I guess I'm just worried that we will get overwhelmed by all this, lets face it, four pilots can't stop an entire army, damn it we need help, reinforcements, something."

"Calm down Fox, Pepper can help; he's always been there to help. I'm sure he can find us some extra assistance. Now let's not think about such troubling things, instead let's do something more enjoyable."

Krystal then moved to lay on top of Fox, bringing her lips against his in a passionate kiss. Fox brought his hands up to cup both sides of her face, deepening the kiss. They both pulled away to look into each other's eyes, those bright blue eyes were probing his intense emerald ones, waiting for him to make his next move that would deepen this moment of fiery passion and pleasure. He grabbed her wrists and spun her around so that he lay on top of her, he pinned her arms above her head and leaned closer to her muzzle to plant another kiss on those soft, warm lips, while her legs wrapped around his waist to pull her closer to him. For the rest of the night, the two mates continued to move to the age old rhythm of love.

Fox awoke, well rested the next morning. He felt very warm and relaxed; Krystal always knew how to make him feel better. He was about to get up when he realized that she was lying on top of him, still asleep. He watched her sleep for a moment, listening to the sound of her soft breathing; she looks so peaceful he thought to himself. He wanted to just lie there all day but he had work to do, so he softly shook her out of her sound sleep.

"Come on love, time to wake up."

She slowly lifted her head from his chest to meet his face. She gave a soft smile and yawned, still groggy from just waking up.

"Morning already, can't we just take this day off?"

"Sorry, but we still got a war to prevent. Don't worry though, when it's all over well all go on vacation, I promise."

"Fine, but you're going to have to treat me like a queen when we do go."

Fox chuckled and stood up from the bed. He began the morning ritual with a few stretches and a yawn, and then made his way to the dresser where he kept his flight suit in, as he was dressing, Krystal was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and clipping on the white colored beads that decorated her blue bangs. Fox was reaching for his other boot but found that it wasn't with the rest of the uniform, so he began searching around for his boot until he looked down to see that Krystal was wearing it on her left foot.

"Lost something did you?"

She giggled as he slipped off the boot, but before he let her go, he gave her leg a tickle with his fingers causing her giggling to increase.

"You like them so much, ill get you a pair."

When everyone was gathered on the bridge of the Great Fox, it was time to begin the daily grind. Falco was tapping his foot while he was reclined in his chair, Slippy was typing on his monitor, his fingers blazing on the keyboard so fast it would probably start a fire if he kept at it, Krystal was standing next to Fox, holding his left hand while Fox was waiting for the days assignment to be delivered to him from the quickly recovering General Pepper.

Finally the aging hound's face was shown on the large screen in the front of the bridge. He looked much better than he did a few weeks ago; he was quickly recovering from his injuries caused by the Aparoid's infection. The large smoke filled sky of Corneria in the background however made the crew member's hearts sink. Thankfully the C.D.F. building held strong during the invasion. As always, the small sound of trumpets could be heard right before Pepper spoke, signaling for everyone that they both need to pay attention and he was a high ranked individual.

"General Pepper here, great work on the Imperial situation Star Fox, with what we are dealing with down here, the last thing the citizens need on their minds is another war."

Fox moved up closer to the monitor and addressed the general with a salute. He may not have been military, but Fox saluted his old friend out of respect.

"Thank you sir, were doing our best to make sure this doesn't become a full fledged war. But before you assign us another mission, I need to ask a favor of you."

The general's face began to show great interest so he let Fox continue with his statement.

"Me, as well as the team, are becoming overwhelmed with enemy forces and missions that are very difficult to handle with only a four man squad, so we were all hoping that if you…well…"

"We need some reinforcements to beat down those Imperial bastards."

Falco took the liberty to finish Fox's sentence for him. General Pepper was caught off guard at Falco's forwardness for a moment and then straitened himself and responded

"I see, but I'm sorry to say Fox that our military staff is too preoccupied with the cities well being right now, not to mention there are sick and injured citizens down there that need all the help they can receive. But I could contact someone who could help you, I knew this man when he was just a pup and even then he showed promise, I could contact him and ask for his assistance to help you in your missions."

The team took a moment to think about the general's offer. Bring aboard a complete stranger that they know nothing about to help them in life threatening situations. It was a tough call, but they needed all the help they could get. Fox then walked back up to the monitor.

"Who is this guy you're recommending?"

"His name is Tex Hempioro, he is a bounty hunter who-

"Whoa, whoa, whoa hold on a second, a bounty hunter? No way in hell are we letting a bounty hunter aboard this ship, they can't be trusted, not to mention they are ruthless thugs!"

Falco interrupted Pepper's sentence. The moment the crew heard those two words they thought Pepper had lost his mind to recommend a bounty hunter.

"You weren't so different from them once Falco. Listen, General the offer is appreciated but a bounty hunter? I don't think that's a wise decision, we do need help but a bounty hunter would probably just add more unnecessary risks to my team."

Fox had dealt with bounty hunters before, most of them were very ruthless and violent, also they were very unpredictable, and they never really cared if any innocent got hurt just as long as they got their target.

"Fox, I assure you, this man is different from the others. Tex Hempioro has values and makes sure no one gets hurt on the job, he may have had a troubled past but he is an honorable man with good intention."

"Where is he, you bastard?"

Tex slammed the raccoon's head against the wood table of the small hideout. He wasn't giving up any information and it was starting to piss him off.

"You're starting to piss me off (told you) now you should start talking or I'm going to have to get really nasty."

Tex reached behind him and pulled out a very large, sharp looking combat knife. He held the tip of the sinister looking blade under the sweating raccoon's chin. He knew the hunter would not hesitate to kill him, so he weakly lifted up a trembling finger to an automatic door with a hand scanner for access. While still holding onto the raccoon's throat, Tex walked over to the door and grabbed his hand and placed it on the scanner. An annoying buzz sound confirmed that it was still locked. He spun the raccoon around so that he was starring at the intense gray gaze of Tex's eyes.

"Why won't it open?"

He said in his deep, emotionless voice.

"I'm just a guard; all they give me to do is guard the entrance and use the radio if something's happening, that's it, they don't tell me any of the important stuff."

Tex lowered the raccoon that he was lifting up with one arm and dropped him on the floor. He rolled up his sleeves and stepped towards the door.

"You can't hack it; its security system is as tight as the militaries."

"Shut the hell up, I know these things can't be hacked, that's why I'm going to open it up another way."

Tex wiggled his fingers into the door's crease, took a few deep breaths, and began to pry the door open with his bare hands. He began to growl as the door was being pulled apart, grunting and pulling until it made a gap large enough for him to get through. The raccoon sat on the floor, watching in horror as this "thing" just pried open a steel door with his bare hands. When Tex had finished, he looked back down at the guard that was frozen with terror. The six foot seven giant walked over to the guard sitting on the floor, lifted him up, and dusted off his jacket with his paws, causing the raccoon to display a confused expression on his face. Tex looked at the newly opened door then back at the guard and patted his shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Thank you for showing me which door to go through, but since I can't have you following me…"

Tex then grabbed both the raccoon's shoulders and slammed his forehead into the guard's, knocking him unconscious. He squeezed in between the opening he made in the steel door and walked to where the hallway led him to another door, this one however, had no hand scanner and instead had a door knob lock. He placed his ear to the door and listened to the grumbling, boredom stricken individuals that were posted behind the door.

Six guards, automatic weapons, poorly organized, one with a gimp in his left leg caused by a twisted ankle, Tex thought to himself. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.

"Yeah, who is it?"

"Shot"

"Shot who?"

"Shot you."

A laser blast laced through the door, through the guards stomach, and hit another guard in the chest, killing both. The remaining guards unloaded their weapons on the door; filling it with holes and causing a large cloud of smoke to form, a round of clicks were heard as the guards reloaded their weapons and waited for the smoke to clear. The door was completely gone, revealing just an empty hallway and a limp body of a guard with a large hole in his stomach. When the noise stopped, a large round object bounced into the room and sat there for a few moments before it exploded. With the room cleared out, Tex made his way through to the door on the other end, stepping in a small pile of guard residue on his way towards the door. He kicked open the door, startling the two body guards in the room and made the shadowy figure jump up from his desk. Just as he kicked open the door, Tex shot the guards in between the eyes, then trained both barrels on his main target.

"Get up slowly."

The brown spotted leopard slowly stood up from his desk and held his hands above his head.

"Geoffrey Mallinquest?"

"Yes?"

"You are wanted dead or alive; today's your lucky day, your worth more to me alive so you get to live to see another sun rise, so if you will come with me to the collections department, you can go to your nice little holding cell and I can go to counting my twenty grand that I just inherited. Sound good?"

"Listen friend, you're a man of business I can see, I'm sure we can both come to an agreement. Tell you what, if you keep the heat off me and my boys operations, ill give you fifty percent of everything I make, that sound good?"

Tex wasn't falling for it; he pretended to be distracted by the leopard's smooth talking as he reached under his desk for what he guessed to be a weapon stashed under there. Mallinquest quickly pulled out a large assault rifle from under his desk and aimed it at Tex, but as quick as a flash, Tex shot the leopard's hand and both knees, bringing him crashing down to the floor. Geoffrey roared in agony and rolled back and forth; doing anything he could to ease the pain.

"You son of a bitch, you shot my hand off, you heartless son of a bitch!"

Tex simply walked over to the leopard and kicked him in the side of the head to shut him up. He lifted the unconscious Mallinquest onto his shoulder and made his way to his ship.

"You start bleeding on my coat I might change my mind about bringing you in alive."

It may have been quite extreme but it was a very expensive coat and it was dry clean only.