Chapter 1
Note: If you're wondering where Falco is, you'll get to find out soon enough. Just be patient, good things come to those who wait!
In reality, Miyu's comrades had died once. In her sleep, they died a countless number of times.
The lynx jerked awake as a particularly bright explosion went off in her head. Something metal hit her flailing left paw, while her right paw grasped at what was left of her face after the shrapnel had done its dirty work. It wasn't until she realized that her face was not a bloody pulp that she decided she wasn't in any immediate danger.
Slowly, Miyu began to nurse her left paw, which had taken quite a hit in her involuntary spasm. Perhaps being a little more optimistic than the situation warranted, the lynx was glad that she hadn't hit her head on the metal railing of the bed instead. Not that it could have made her thoughts any more jumbled, in all likelihood.
Who am I, and where am I?
The only things that filled her head were a bunch of vague memories and dreams of explosions. Obviously, she wasn't going to find any answers unless she went and looked for them.
Except for the spectacular view of deep space showing through the window to her left, the room was completely dark, and there was no way Miyu was about to do anything that could alert the other occupants of the craft to the fact she was conscious until she knew more about them. With her good paw out of commission for the time being, the left pawed lynx grasped the first heavy object she could find in her right, and stepped in the direction of what looked like a door.
The hallway outside was illuminated by a flashlight, the bearer's back to Miyu as he walked slowly away from her, yawning. Miyu could only make out his silhouette. However, the lynx was not taking any chances. Taking advantage of her cat's instinct, she tiptoed through the hallway at an alarming rate. By the time the other creature detected her presence, he couldn't do anything to stop the coming assault.
"Cranner, is that – Ow! What the -? Fox!" The creature wailed loudly.
Had Miyu scored a direct hit rather than a glancing blow, the other creature would be out cold, but the lynx had no such luck. A series of quick blows took her opponent to the ground, then she was off like Arwing with its boosters on. She darted into a room on the right side of the hallway, only to find it was really a supply closet. She was trapped. As she crawled under a shelf in the corner, she heard the sounds of at least two more creatures rushing down the hallway.
"What's the matter, Slip?! Cut yourself on something? What're you doing up at this time of night anyway?"
"I was just heading to my room after a late night programming some custom routines for the ship's computer. And I don't know what hit me! It tried to knock me out and then bolted down the hallway! I think it went into a room on the right."
Miyu cursed under her breath and held her weapon at the ready. She considered making a break for it, but it would be too risky. She had to lay low for a bit.
It took a while for the searchers to reach the supply closet. Two tactical light beams passed over the various walls as Miyu tried to keep as silent as possible.
"Nothing in here – wait."
Both lights shone directly into Miyu's eyes and she raised a paw to cover them. The lynx hissed at the searchers. The defiance only lasted a second before her voice became a wimper, which kicked in immediately after her eyes made out the silhouettes of the searcher's blasters, which were of course pointed right at her.
"Do you always repay your rescuers like this?" The first voice sounded rather rough.
"Who are you?" Miyu tried to keep her voice level, but found it impossible because of the way her entire body was trembling.
The second voice spoke. The one had a distinctly vulpine sound to it.
"Holster your weapon, Cranner." The speaker reached for a light switch. When Miyu's eyes adjusted, she saw a rather tired and frazzled looking red fox, and an equally frazzled and tired looking rat. Both were in their nightclothes, but as she had noted earlier, both had the equipment to deal with her as easily as an Arwing could deal with a squad of ground troops retreating over open desert in clear weather.
"How am I supposed to holster my weapon when I'm not wearing a holster?" The bleary eyed rat complained bitterly.
"You're a creative rodent, Cranner. Think of something." The fox turned back to Miyu.
"Put that thing down – do you realized you could have killed Slippy with that thing? Just what the heck do you think you're doing running around my ship smacking people in the back of the head?"
Slowly, Miyu let go of the rather heavy device. As it dropped to the floor, the fox bent to pick it up.
"Damn it, do you have any idea how much portable medical sensors like this cost? Let's hope you didn't break the thing."
Miyu's voice was pleading in tone.
"I didn't know who you were. I still don't."
The fox sighed.
"I suppose proper introductions are in order. I'm Fox McCloud, commander of this vessel, and this is Cranner Rottnest, one of my recruits."
The rat gave a harsh laugh.
"Be glad you're in McCloud's paws, missy, 'cuz if this were my ship you'd be getting spaced for that little stunt of yours right about now."
McCloud coughed.
"As you can see, Cranner here is a bit hotheaded, but don't worry, he has far more bark than bite. Just don't let him get too drunk around you, and you should be fine."
He glanced back at Miyu.
"And you would be?"
"I wish I knew."
Cranner gave another harsh laugh.
"Now that's a strange name if I ever heard one. Don't know of many planets where they give out four word names!"
"Shut up, Cranner, this is serious. You seriously can't remember who you are? What about what you were doing out here?"
Miyu shook her head.
"Well, according to the identification you had on you, you're one Miyu Vergessen, a fighter pilot with a mercenary group know as the Renegade Hawks."
A sudden wave of anger washed over Miyu.
"I do not kill for money, you creep! I'm a decent creature!"
"What your mouth, miss. I may only fight for Corneria, but that doesn't mean I'm not a mercenary."
Corneria…The name was definitely familiar. However, Miyu still didn't know what had caused her outburst at the mention of the word "mercenary". She supposed she must have had a bad encounter with one in the past.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend. But there must be some mistake – I'm a recon pilot for the Cornerian Army, not a freelancer."
"You did manage to offend, Miss Vergessen, and your identification most definitely marks you as a… freelancer. I don't know what you were doing out here on the Cornerian border, but I was wondering if you knew anything about the destruction of the only Cornerian outpost in this area."
"I swear I had nothing to do with it. Please believe me." Miyu almost felt like crying at the accusation, and at the way her left paw was throbbing from the combination of earlier injury and exertion.
"I never said you had anything to do with it. You sure you don't remember anything?"
Miyu nodded.
"Not a thing. I can't even remember who I am, and somehow none of what you've told me seems to fit – I don't think you even got my name right."
"I can show you the ID you had on you after we've looked at that injured paw and you've changed into something decent. That flight suit is looking a little shabby.
Miyu smelled her own scent for the first time and recoiled in horror.
"Why didn't you clean me up and get me some decent clothes? I wouldn't even let my family see me like this!"
Fox stuttered.
"Uh… well, you do happen to be the only female on this ship – I wouldn't want you to feel violated in any way."
Miyu cringed.
"Oh great. I hoped your crew isn't too horny."
Cranner laughed.
"That's what we have special video discs for."
Fox elbowed Cranner hard in the stomach.
"Shut up. I want to make a decent first impression."
"Why, so you can get her in bed?"
The sound of air rushing out of Cranner was clearly audible as Fox's second blow winded him.
"Shut up. Miyu, come with me and I'll look at that paw. Cranner, get the rest of the crew ready for a late night meeting. Maybe get some nice snacks out or something, and have a look at Slippy's head. I know its late, but let's not keep our guest waiting."
Cranner thought about making a joke about Fox taking a look a the lynx's paw in private, but decided not to risk it. He watched the vulpine and feline walk back towards the medical room trying to make some smalltalk, then turned to go about his work. It was going to be a long night.
"I say, Fox, can we ditch the little bitch next planet we come across? I don't particularly want to get my head bashed in again." Slippy rubbed the enormous bump on the back of his head with great care.
"Negative, Slip. Even if she is only a merc, Pepper'll want to know what she has to say. After all, she is the only survivor of whatever happened."
"Quite correct, Pepster, though I'd prefer it if you didn't speak for me in the future." McCloud paced the room as he waited for their guest. Slippy huffed.
"Oh come on Slip, it's not that bad. She does improve the scenery on this ship a bit."
"Thanks a lot, Peppy. I'm sure glad we have you here to provide us with such compliments about our looks." The sarcasm in Fox's voice was obvious.
"Oh, and the fact she has a nice body is supposed to make up for the fact she's a female?"
"What's the problem with that, Cranner?"
"What's the problem with that? You really think she won't be offended by our usual activities?"
"I've been through a war before, Cranner. I can go without porn, beer, strip poker games, and naked Fridays until we've completed this mission, and you can too. Besides, if it means not seeing Peppy with his shirt off for a week or two, I'm all for it."
"Thank you, Fox." This time, it was Peppy's voice that carried an obvious touch of sarcasm.
The door slid open, and Cranner almost immediately burst into laughter.
"Haha – Fox, I know her jumpsuit was a bit beat up, but your wardrobe looks even worse on her than it does on you!"
Miyu was not amused. The lime green outfit may not have been the best colour choice, and didn't fit her particularly well, but she wasn't about to complain.
"Captain McCloud was nice enough to lend me some clothes, proving he isn't a mangy rat."
"Ooh, so now McCloud's a Captain now and I'm a "mangy" rat. How charming."
"What is with you tonight, Cranner?! Miyu is our guest."
"Well sorry. I guess I don't like being woken up at 2:43AM to go chase down a psychotic little lynx who just tried to bash Slippy's skull in, even if she is kind of cute. If that's your thing, well, whatever flies your Arwing, but I'm not the type that likes to chat up female members of other species at nightclubs."
Peppy decided to chime in.
"Obviously you've never seen yourself drunk."
Cranner cringed.
"Am I really that bad?"
"Yes you are. Want me to get it on video sometime?"
"I'm not sure I'd want to see."
Fox interrupted.
"Can we be polite and get on with the matter at hand?"
Cranner bowed.
"Yes, great CAPTAIN McCloud." He made a sweeping gesture to Miyu. "Have a set, my lady!"
Miyu decided that humour would be the best way to break the ice before the conversation froze to death.
"Finally, someone here is giving me proper recognition." Miyu gave a wide grin as she sat down.
From behind the bar Peppy poured several drinks, then handed one to the seated lynx.
"For your nerves. After what happened earlier, I don't want to take any chances."
Miyu tried to ignore the thinly veiled jab.
"Why thank you, Mr…"
"Hare. Peppy Hare. This is Slippy Toad, who you almost knocked out earlier."
Miyu cringed sheepishly.
"Sorry about that. No harm meant to a decent creature like yourself, but I thought you might be an enemy. With all the violence in my memories, I guess I got a little too paranoid. My mistake."
After the years spent around Fox's rough and tumble mercenaries, Slippy was shocked by Miyu's good manners. He spluttered a response."
"Uh… none taken?"
Peppy stared at the toad.
"Really?"
"Okay, no harm unforgiven might be more accurate."
Fox decided this was his opportunity to take over the direction of the conversation.
"Slippy is our chief mechanic and one of our Arwing pilots, while Peppy more or less runs the Great Fox – the ship we're on right now – and is our PR fronthare. Cranner and I are both pilots. Along with our robotic assistant ROB, we form Starfox Team."
Even with her amnesia, Miyu recognized the name.
"Starfox team?! You told me you were a mercenary…"
"Well, we are."
"But I thought you meant your typical "I'll kill for a good beer" type of mercenary, not the noble heroes who saved Corneria from the Androssian threat!"
"Who you calling noble?"
"Well, you did save Coreneria…"
"The media doesn't tend to get much information on what we do in our off hours." Peppy's grin gave Miyu a pretty good idea of what he meant. "Now, what would a little beauty like yourself be doing in a completely disabled fighter out in a desolate border zone like this?"
Miyu sighed. "I wish I knew."
Fox spoke up again.
"Well, if you remember anything, I'd love to know. I should note that my payment depends a lot on what information I'm able to turn up on the destruction of the Cornerian outpost here, so if you want to repay us for your rescue, just try and remember as much as you can. Running a ship this big with only four crewmembers takes a lot of money."
Miyu swallowed. She desperately wished Fox had given her some deodorant, with how rocky the road to this point in the conversation had been she wouldn't have been very surprised if her clothes started to soak through from her sweat.
"I'll do my best sir, and I'll be happy to let the Cornerian Army interview me if they think it'll help them figure out what happened. I'd love to know the answers too. In the meantime, I'm a former recon pilot with some experience at maintaining ships in the field – I'm sure I can help earn my keep on this trip somehow."
Fox grinned.
"Just don't let my crew ask for any inappropriate favours. Knowing Peppy and Cranner, they'd probably be gunning for you before you knew it if I hadn't warned you.
Peppy and Cranner's replies were indignant.
"Just because you think I'm a dirty old bastard doesn't mean I'm about to hit on a feline less than half my age!"
"I don't even like her! Why would I hit on her?"
Miyu felt her mood lightened as she snapped off a reply, complete with salute.
"I'll keep it in mind, sir, and let you know if they try!"
Fox turned to Cranner.
"You see, Cranner, she can be reasonable, and she's well mannered! You should take notes!"
Cranner snorted and extended his paw.
"I supposed I owe you an apology for being such an ogre. Just because you misunderstood our intentions and acted upon those misconceptions doesn't give me the right to be a dick."
Miyu reluctantly took Cranner's paw and shook it.
"Hey, just control your temper in the future, okay?"
Fox watched as the exchange finish.
"Good boy, Cranner. Well, between Miyu's amnesia and the fact the rest of us are dead tired, I don't think there's much more to be said tonight. See you all in the morning – 9:00AM for a late breakfast maybe, after we've had time to sleep in a bit?"
All Fox got was bleary eyed looks. The vulpine commander clapped his paws and grinned.
"I'm glad we all agree. Have a good half nights sleep everyone, and hopefully we can all get off to a better start on the morrow." He nudged Cranner in the ribs. "Especially you, Cranner!"