Chapter Two

Fox was wandering alone on the deserted streets of the planet Kew. He was lost and needed to meet his team mates, he wasn't sure why, but he was overcome with a sense of urgency and loneliness. He was also suddenly aware that he was being watched. He turned around, but there was nothing but buildings and alleyways. He instinctively put his hand on his blaster and kept moving. He tried focusing on figuring out where he needed to go, but there was no way to deny it- he was being followed. The street lights went out with an electronic "bzzzt", followed by a loud metallic clang. Fox whirled around with his blaster ready.

A figure emerged from an alleyway. The only light was from the next street over, making the person a silhouette with no distinguishing features. However, Fox noted that the size and shape of the body was very familiar- it looked remarkably like his own.

"Lost? Follow me." It was his father's voice that spoke. Fox opened his mouth to try and say something, but nothing came out. His father turned and began walking very fast. Fox hurried to keep up. James McCloud led Fox into a crowded and noisy bar, disappearing into the mass of people. Fox was looking around, trying to find him, when he heard Slippy Toad call out, "Fox! Over here!"

Fox looked over and saw his friends sitting at a table. He nodded at them and went over to the bar to order a drink. A svelte female fox he had never seen before was leaning against the counter, giving him an icy stare. Fox ignored her and took his drink, accidentally bumping her.

"Pay attention. You should be more careful," she said in a threatening tone, then reached out to pull his face towards hers, and kissed him. When he pulled away, he jumped back. The fox had become his former love, Krystal.

"Fox! Hey, Fox! Get your butt out of bed, you're late!" Miyu Lynx's voice jolted Fox from his sleep. He shook his head. It was that same damn dream again. He was having that dream far more often than he cared to, and it always put him in a lousy mood.

"What? What's going on? Did somebody come in with a job for us?" he grumbled as he rolled out of the bed.

Miyu snorted. "Yeah, right. Did you hit your head or something when you went to bed last night? Hello, today's the Lunar Cup race!"

"Jeez, how the hell do I forget that?" Fox smacked his head. "Please tell me you or Hawkeye has a pot of coffee going."

"Way ahead of you, Chief," Miyu handed him a steaming mug. "Black and strong, Hawkeye's best blend."

"Thanks Miyu, you guys are the best," he sipped his coffee. "I'll be out in a minute, just need to wake up a little more."

Miyu left and Fox sat at the end of the bed with his coffee. He knew he should be focusing on the upcoming race, but he could never get his head on straight after having this dream. Why did he have to have this dream today? He growled to himself. His head was swimming with thoughts of his father, his old team mates, Krystal, and for some reason he could not shake the memory of a female bounty hunter he'd had a random run-in with on the planet Kew.

It had been at a crowded bar like in the dream, and she'd been staring him down with her cold, mask-like eyes. Finally he confronted her, and she replied in an expressionless voice, "I thought you were someone I knew. I guess not." She was an attractive woman in spite of her coldness, so he asked her what she was doing there. She pointed out a male wart hog in the distance.

"Omar Blunt has a large price on his head, and I'm here to collect it. The money and the head, if you were going to ask," she said before trailing Blunt out a dark exit door. A couple of days there were reports of the killing of the notorious arms smuggler, Omar Blunt, that appeared to be the work of the bounty hunter named Kursed.

What it all meant, Fox did not know and now was not the day to figure it out. He went into the front room where Miyu was finishing breakfast and Devin Hawkeye was still working on ROB. Fox cringed at the sparks flying from ROB's metal abdomen.

"Any good news?" Fox asked Hawkeye, pointing at the old robot. Devin Hawkeye was the newest member of Star Fox, he kept to himself a lot but was loyal and a practically a genius when it came to mechanics and robotics.

Hawkeye lifted his protective mask. "Not much, I'm afraid. It's gonna take a lot of new parts. If we can get them, I could have him as good as gold, but it's gonna take a lot of money…"

"Which we don't have," Fox finished the sentence for him. Dealing with squabbling property owners and disgusting junkyard creatures just didn't quite pay the bills the same way that liberating solar systems did.

"Hey, if Fox can get a ranking spot today, that'll give us some cash. If he gets first, we'd have enough to fix ROB and fix up our ships," Miyu said, slinging her arm around Fox good-naturedly.

"Let's not start placing any bets, alright?" he snapped. Miyu removed her arm, confused. "I just mean, it's bad luck count your chickens before they've hatched, that's all," he said in a kinder tone.

Miyu shook her head. "Fox, you know you are a legend, right? Without you, there wouldn't be any Star Wolf, Star Falco, Star Rip-Off, whatever, teams. You have done so much for the galaxy, and not only are you a great hero, you're not too shabby of a racer either."

"The thing about legends, Miyu, is they get old after awhile, and people stop believing in them," Fox said wearily. "Besides, it was my father who started the team."

Miyu and Hawkeye exchanged a look. "You'll be fine," Hawkeye said, tossing Fox his racing gloves. He cocked a half smile. "Of course, you'd be better if they'd let me into the pit. I'd give your racers boosters they wouldn't believe."

*

On Corneria, the Star Wolf team listened to the transmission, straining to hear the message over the static. The transmission image itself was a distorted mess. The only clear image flashed at the very end, where a large mechanical bird was seen decimating a ship with fire. They were able to get the gist of the message though- a system known as the Beljar system was under attack by some force and was asking for help from the Cornerian army.

Peppy walked in front of them. "The danger is unclear, as you can tell, but they clearly need our help. I've checked the coordinates of the Beljar system. It is a seven planet system that is not too far from Lylat."

"Let me get this straight- you want us to just blindly jump right into some rescue mission that could pose a greater threat than something that even the whole Cornerian army couldn't handle? And you want us at the forefront of it?" blurted out the latest member of Star Wolf, Ivan Jackal.

Leon Powalski silenced him. "Never underestimate us."

Team leader Wolf O'Donnell gnawed on a toothpick and thought it over. "Well, Hare, both my team mates do make good points. We'll do it- at an increased price, of course."

Peppy sighed. "Of course."

"Know anything about the planets? Any major space stations or bases?" asked Wolf.

"It is all being researched as we speak," said Peppy. "We will be able to deliver the more information to you later tonight or early tomorrow morning at the latest."

"I hope not too early," said Panther Caroso. "I'll need to rest up if I'm to be in top shape for this."

"Ah, screw your beauty sleep, Panther," growled Wolf. "Let me see those coordinates, Hare." Peppy handed him the disk. Wolf held it up at his team mates. "Alright boys, let's go look these over and get ourselves started on a plan. Hare, you send us that info ASAP, and we'll head out…"