Hello, everybody. Bear with me, I'm currently struggling to decide whether I should say that I'm back or not, seeing as how I was never here before, exactly.

I'll try to explain. This is a rewritten, revised version of what happens to be the first fanfic that I ever had the guts to post on the Internet, on a different site. The original storyline was titled "Altered Universe", and, as anyone who read that series already knows, I tried my hardest to live up to such a title. Basically, I took the characters of the Starfox universe, changed them around, and put them into a new version of events. It was a completely alternate universe, with the heroes leading different lives, having new friends and enemies – heck, one of them even changed gender! – but still in the spirit of the original source material.

I decided to rewrite the early chapters for several reasons. After I got into writing my "Phoenix's Tear" series for Monster Rancher (which I hadn't started with the intention of making a series, mind you), I became uncomfortable with working on "Altered Universe". Looking it over time and again, I kept wondering if I couldn't do better than I had. Some parts seemed too rushed and confused to me, and I wanted to try and define the characters better, show the reasoning behind, for example, the obvious bad blood between two teammates. I realized that, while I knew such things, my readers wouldn't, and… it was a very uncomfortable realization.

So I tried backing up and starting over, taking what I had so far and revising it, improving it as best I could, fleshing the material I had out. I can only hope I've done a pretty fair job of it so far.

Some of you may have seen the original version of this before. I sincerely apologize for the long, long wait, and I understand if you thought I'd abandoned this series. I know I never gave a proper explanation until now, and I'm so sorry… I hope that at least some of you can find it in your hearts to forgive me, if nothing else…

As for the rest of you, I feel I should stress the fact that this is an alternate universe type story. As in, take everything you know about the Starfox universe and turn it on its ear. I cannot stress this warning enough: if you're a traditionalist who is easily upset by the slightest tweak to the established, 'official storyline' (though there are at least three 'official storylines' with the two games and the comic), then leave now or forever hold your flames. I will listen to constructive criticism, not whining about how much things have changed in this world from the reality you're used to.

Legalities, legalities… I don't own the rights to Starfox, the Lylat System, the setting… all of that belongs to Nintendo and Miyamoto-san. However, I do happen to own the original (read: non-game or comic characters) that show up in this series. You'll have to contact me if you want to use any of them in one of your own stories, okay?

So… is this where I say, "Here we go again…" or what…?