Slippy's voice came over the radio.

"Everything's ready Fox, scans show that in the area that there's nothing but a bunch of debris. With the exception of one ship that is."

"Really?" Fox said as he looked at his radar. It showed one blip circling the general area.

"Let's pay who ever this is a little visit. Peppy, release all Arwings. "

"Sure thing Fox."

The hare typed in the commands in the computer. Soon after, lights on the launch pad turned dark red. Several alarms went off and lights flashed. The ship gave a deep rumble as the flight deck split in half, lowering out from under the Arwings. The lifts that held the ships in the air released, the Arwings fell for a short time in the artificial gravity. The infinite space in front of them loomed. The planet slowly came into view as the dropped away from the Greatfox.

"Fire up your engines team. We're headed in!"

"And we're off!" Falco yelled as all four engines we started up at the same time. They shot away silently from the mother ship. The team practiced barrel rolls and flips as they made their way toward the battle zone. They didn't need to be unprepared for their confrontation. And being in-active for 6 months, they needed to warm up.

Fox sat in his ship, trying to get a hold of the unknown craft near the outer atmosphere. So far he was having no luck, it seemed the communications on this ship had a block on it. That meant you couldn't contact them, they had to contact you. The only chance he had to speaking to this stranger would to get him or her to notice him.

"Team, stay back. I'm going to give this who ever it is a visit. We don't need to intimidate him."

"But what if this some one starts shooting at you? Do you need to go alone Fox? You do that quite often." Falco questioned.

"Then you can go in and blow him all to hell, you've done it on many occasions."

Falco smiled over the display on Fox's screen.

"Fine, just be careful. I might be a little rusty"

"Jeeze Falco, are you his mother?" Slippy teased.

"You know what? Your momma is so-"

"For crying out loud you guys, we haven't been in the ships for 10 minutes and your already fighting." Krystal said over the radio, half amused and half aggravated by their antics.


Fox sped over to the ship. He closed in next to it and got a good look at it. The make and model was foreign. But that wasn't the interesting thing about this ship. The interesting part about this ship was the fact that it was overkill. And that was exactly the name of the ship, in big, bold cursive letters across the hull. The white and green ship was slightly larger than the Arwing, and was more wide. It had 2 chain guns mounted under the ship, set side by side, and 2 more on each side of the ship. The ship had missile launchers underneath the ship, and two smaller additional chain guns on the nose, symmetrically set on each side. No lasers, the technology seemed to consist of bullets. A different technology from across the galaxy. Despite the lack of efficiency, it had one bonus. It could go easily through the electromagnetic armor that blocked most laser types.

Fox opened his communications and flashed two blue lights on the side of his ship, showing he wanted to talk.

His radio began to hiss and crackle as the computer connected and tried to get the right frequency. A green light appeared on his console, he was connected. A deep, smooth voice came over the radio.

"Well well well, if it isn't the famous Fox McCloud. Leader of the famous Starfox team. I take it your here to get some of the prize money?"

"No, this is my home planet. I don't have to have the money." Fox answered. The white ship circled over Fox's, stopping level with his ship.

"Good, if you had said yes, I would've blown your ass out of the sky. It's my home too. Funny, I decide to come back, my place is under siege. Oh, watch out, space debris."

Fox turned and lowered his ship under what was left of a fighter ship. He looked some more, the place around him looked like a greave yard. Metal was scattered every where.

"Did you do all this?" Fox asked.

"Yep. You've been up to a lot your self. I read about you every now and then. You quite the celebrity."

"Do I know you by any chance?"

"We might have went to college to together, the mercenary one. But you got the short-cut and went straight to stardom. I had to work my way through." The stranger said it without any malice or anger about it. It was sort of a matter of fact tone, which was true. Fox had only gone to 2 of the 6 years required at the college. He went out into the war to defeat Andross after the death of his father. After it was all done, the government went ahead and gave him his license.

"But no hard feelings. I don't care. So you really don't remember me Fox?"

"No, but I'm assuming I should. You seem to know a lot about me. Why don't you turn you camera on, I'm just getting audio feed from you, no visual on my display."

"I can't because the damn thing broke," the stranger swung his ship under Fox's. His chain guns had started spinning," And besides, looks like we had company. By the way, the name's Layne."

Layne shot forward and Fox saw what he meant. Coming out of the atmosphere of Corneria was several hundred rebel fighters. Fox shot his ship forward and radioed the others.

"Get ready team, they're coming."

The rest of the Starfox team fell into formation next to Fox. Krystal on his right, Falco on his left, and Slippy following up behind to provide cover. Layne's ship sped recklessly ahead. Slippy spoke over the radio

"So who was that guy Fox?"

"He said his name was Layne, acted like he knew me. Whoever he is, he's on our side."

"Layne…..Sounds familiar." Falco said frowning.

"Oh my guys, look." Krystal said with worry crossing her face. Fox looked closer at the planet. His mouth dropped open. What had first been a few hundred, had turned into an un-imaginable swarm. Hundreds of thousands of rebel fighter were coming towards them. Layne, who was further ahead, braked and slowed level with Fox's team.

"Oh…wow.." Layne's voice for the first time, slightly faltered. Krystal spoke up once again.

"Something's not right though. I can't put my finger on it…"

"Doesn't matter," Falco interrupted, "They're here!" He shot forward, gun blazing at the rebels. The rest of the team followed into the fray. Each of the mercenaries went forward, towards the planet.

Fox looked over and saw Layne at work. The pilot was a work of art. All 6 guns blazing, the bullet casings flying out behind the ship in the infinite space were a mesmerizing sight. He stared for a few seconds then his attention snapped back to the battle.

He dodged several shots fired at him and fired back at several ships. He missed every time. Frustrated, Fox fell into a chase with one of the rebels. The level of this pilot was immaculate. Every move was perfect. Fox struggled to keep visual of the ship, but it was going fast. Too fast for the kind of ship it was. It disappeared into the fray. He spotted another one to his left. Fox fell behind it and fired two quick shots right where the right engine should've been. The shots went through the engine and out into open space.

"What the, something's not right here."

"You notice it too Fox right? You shoot right where their ship is supposed to be, and it's like no hit, no matter how close you are."

"That's exactly it Falco."

Krystal interrupted their thoughts.

"Fox, I'm only sensing a fraction of what I'm seeing. It's like they don't exist."

"That's it! I know, I know, I know!!"

"Well spit it out Slip, don't leave us hanging." Falco said impatiently.

"They don't exist, they're illusions of some type! Holograms! Yeah, that's it "

Fox looked across the battle field. Something had to be generating the holograms. If they destroyed that, then the decoys would disappear. He needed to find something that looked important. Something that was probably guarded by real fighters. Krystal's teleapathy would be perfect.

"Krystal."

"You need me to find the generator Fox?"

"Yes, it will have many guards guarding it, real guards. It shouldn't be to hard."

"I'm on it Fox."

"Falco, Slippy, you guys need to be careful alright, you all don't which guys are real or not. We all probably need to pull out until Krystal finds the generator."

They turned their ships around and headed out to the outer edges of the battle field. The Fox remembered Layne, how was he doing? He tuned the radio connection on.

"Layne, can you hear me? What's going on?"

"Nothing much Fox, you know more than half of these are holograms right?"

"Yeah, how do you tell which is which?"

"Does your ship not have heat vision?"

Fox looked at his panels. As far as he knew, Slippy had not installed such a thing in the Arwings. He radioed back to Layne.

"Nope, I don't see anything like that. We usually use radar…Come to think of it, my radar isn't working either."

"Radar jammers. I haven't spotted any yet, but once I do I'll blow them all to pieces. By the way, what's your friend looking for over here?"

"The hologram generator. We get rid of that we might be able to get to Corneria. Would you mind giving her a hand?"

"Sure. Oh, and ask your mechanic wiz or who ever knows your ships best if he installed electro-conductive sensors on them. See ya."

Before Fox could ask what any of that meant, Layne sped of in his ship after Krystal. Fox returned his radio to the other channels to tell the others.

"Krystal, Layne here is gonna give you a hand. I'm sending the radio frequency to you now."

"Sure thing Fox….Okay…I've got it now. Thanks."

Fox diverted his attention to the mechanic of the team.

"Slippy, you know anything about a, uh, electro-conductive sensor of some type?"

Slippy started typing commands on his computer. He looked back at Fox.

"Yeah, want me to turn all of yours on for you?"

"Sure, what does it do?" Falco asked.

"It high lights areas of increased areas of electromagnetic currents. Like the ones found on...most…space…fighters", Slippy covered his face, "I'm such a goof."

"Don't worry about it; you're definitely smarter than me. If it wasn't for you I'd still be chasing holograms. Now get it turned on buddy and let's go kick some ass, alright? It's no biggie"

"Alright.", Slippy's face brightened, "here it is."

Fox turned back to his console. He looked back out to the space in front of him. Everything had turned a light blue tint. Some of the decoy ships flew by, but several of them had dark areas of blue around the engine. The amount of rebel fighters that seemed to be real, was very little compared to what they had first thought.

"Okay guys, let's head back in."

The rest of the team shot off. Fox pressed a few buttons and turned his frequency back to line that Krystal and Layne were on.

"How's it going guys?"

"Uhhh, I haven't found anything that might be-"

"Fox! Layne! I've found it!" Krystal interrupted, "Oh, but they've spotted me. I'm going to need assistance. These fighters are different, and there's a lot. They're all real too. Layne, you're closest to my location. Can you help me?"

"Sure. Hey Fox, my ships kinda slow, so you might as well come and help too. You might actually make it before me."

"I'm on my way."

Fox honed in on Krystal using his locator. It wasn't as accurate as radar, but it was the only thing he had. Krystal and the fight came into view. Layne was nowhere in sight. Krystal was right when she said the ships were different. They were an oval shape and turned very quickly. She looked like she was in big trouble. If you got too close to the ship, it would juke and fire at you very quickly. If you got too far, it would reactivate a shield.

In the middle of it all was a round object with spikes on it. Electricity jumped from the tip of each one. It was the hologram projector. Fox dove in. He fired 3 shots towards one of the ships that Krystal was fighting with. It was firing at her, so it had it's shield down. The shots made contact, ripping through the outer hull and inside the ship. It explode, sending shrapnel across the space and clattering against Fox's ship.

"Thanks Fox. Now get to that generator!"

Fox aimed at the generator. He charged his shot and released it. The beam ripped through space towards their target. A the last possible moment, the hologram generator sent up a temporary shield. The beam was ineffective. It absorbed the shot. Fox didn't have all day to wear down the shield. Layne arrived with the answer.

"Move, I'll take it from here."

The stranger moved in and warmed up his guns. He fired at the enemy at a rate of over 150 rounds per second, each bullet ripping through the useless armor of the rebel fighters. He honed in on the generator. Two missile fell out from underneath his ship. They fired straight and true. The missiles detonated on impact, ripping through the generator, the explosion sent the pieces spreading out across the infinite space.

Fox looked around. Where there had once been thousands of fighters, there was now nothing. They had succeeded. Or more or less Layne had. Fox radioed the others.

"Everyone okay?"

"Yep, we're all fine Fox." Krystal answered.

"Good, let's head to Corneria and get to the bottom of this."

"Wait, where's Layne?"

Krystal was right. Where was Layne? He seemed to have disappeared. Fox looked around, he hoped he wasn't hurt. Then Rob came onto the radio.

"Fox, a XG Niner class ship has just landed on our flight deck. It looks damaged. Shall I grant the pilot access?"

"Go ahead, he's a friend. Make sure he's okay."

"I will let Peppy know, the pilot will be taken care of."

Fox returned back to his team. It appeared that all damage on their ships were minor. The would be able to continue on towards Corneria.

"Good news team, Layne's alright and it looks like we have enough resources to move on."

"Jeeze, How come that name sounds familiar? I just can't put a finger on it" Falco was troubled. The name brought back bad feeling for some reason.

Yeah, tt does ring a few bells for some reason, but let's try to get to Corneria now. We'll make proper introductions later."

They headed towards the capitol. Falco still seemed riled up about Layne. Fox couldn't tell, he'd have to ask Krystal later. Then something distracted Fox for a second. He looked closer. Little objects were collecting in formation around the planet. Lots of them. Lines started to connect between them.

"Fox! That look like some sort of huge shield," Slippy informed, "Will we be able to make it in time?!"

"I'm not sure Slip."

"Well we have to try," Falco said activating his boost, "It's the only chance we got!"

"Falco's right team! Full speed ahead!"

The whole team followed suit to Falco and activated their boosters. Their speed doubled. They closed in closer to the planet. But the shield was generating too fast. Fox watched in dismay as they got closer to the planet. The shield would be done before they got to it. Fox alerted the others.

"Were not going to make it! Pull back before it's too late!"

"Oh crap!"

The rest of the team, pulled out of their dive. Despite their speed, almost everyone pulled back fine, but Falco, who was ahead of the team, was in trouble. He pulled parallel to the shield, still trying to pull out of his descent into the planet. The shield closed around the right wing on his ship, ripping it off.

"Aww crud, that's not good." Falco pulled up next to the others. Krystal, who was closest, looked at the damage.

"True, it is bad, but worse, we can't get to the planet."

The team looked at the fantastic but terrible sight in front of them. The entire planet was surrounded by a green shield. Thousands of nodes had been launched by something and created a shield. It didn't look like a blaster shot would penetrate that shield.

"Rob, scan the shield. How powerful is it?" Fox waited impatiently for an answer.

"Analysis complete, the shield is too powerful for the Greatfox's guns to penetrate, and seems to be self charging."

Peppy spoke up for the first time in a while.

"Team, I suggest you all come back to the ship until we can formulate a plan. I don't think we can ram the Greatfox through the shield this time-…Wait…Sensors say there is a huge flux forming near you location. And lots of them too. They seem to be gateways, or portals, I suggest you move just in case."

The team move back. The space in front of them seemed to rip and open. The hole widening more and more. The same thing was happening all around them. The team moved under one so they wouldn't collide with what ever was coming out.

They watched as a ship of gigantic proportion came out. At least 5 times the size of the Greatfox. It had a gold and bronze color, and had odd inscriptions on the side. The ship continued to pull out of the portal. It was long too, with a large turret on the underside. More of the same ship pulled out of the other portals, accompanied by smaller ships.

Fox's radio hissed and crackled as the computer struggled to connect to the connect to the foreign frequency.

"This……..army…….Move……out…..way…." the radio cut out again.

"Krystal, can you tell what they want?"

"Yes! They need us too move. But… Those ships, I recognize them…"

"Team, move back! We don't know what they're doing."

The 4 Arwings moved back. What they saw next was a sight to behold. Four of the massive ships moved right next to each other. The giant turrets underneath them rotated towards the shield surrounding the planet. Electricity sparked and swirled around them. A small, thin, red beam shot out of each one. They slowly swept across the shield, gaining intensity and size. They met at one point. All four beams tripled in size, becoming more intense. They were so bright; Fox had to look away from the amazing sight. The whole shield around the planet began to waver and shimmer. The beams grew even more powerful, the area around the contact point glowing with an orange tint. A small wine filled Fox's cabin in his Arwing. Some of the lights flickered on and off.

Just when it seemed like the entire universes was falling apart, the nodes holding the shield together exploded all at once. It was an amazing sight. Millions of small explosions surrounded the entire planet. The entire Starfox team was at a loss for words.

Krystal was silent for a different reason. She tried to say something, but she closed her mouth. She tried again but couldn't find the words. Fox noticed her strange behavior.

"Krystal, what's wrong?"

"I-…I recognize those-."

"Oh, I just got the frequency! We can talk now!" Slippy interrupted.

Then Fox knew why Krystal was shocked. The screen flickered as an image of a blue fox with a white symbol on the side of appeared. The vulpine spoke with an accent identical to Krystals.

"This is the Cerinian army, we are here to help with the battle!"


Okay, that's defininatly the lognest I've typed at once. I hope all my chapters are like this from now on.

See ya until next time.