Dragonmilk908: Well, I've been working on this story for a while, and now it's up on the computer! I hope you like it!

Fox: HEY!? How come…

Dragonmilk908: Shut up! Don't ruin it for the readers, Fox!

Falco: I DID NOT CRY DURING THE CONFRENCE. It was garlic.

Dragonmilk908: Really? Where was the garlic?

Falco: Well, it was…um…

Dragonmilk908: See? You were definitely…

Fox: Shut up! Don't ruin it for the readers, dragonmilk908!

Dragonmilk908: (Grumble) an author has too much to do these days. Anyway, I do not own Star Fox or any other related characters. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

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Chapter One: The Conference

"Now, I hereby present Marcus McCloud, son of Fox McCloud, the position of the leader of the Star Fox team for the rest of his days." General Peppy Hare came over and pinned a medal to Marcus's chest.

Stepping up to the microphone, Marcus cleared his throat. "Ahem, I, Marcus McCloud, do accept this humble invitation to be the leader of the Star Fox team. As a part of my duty, I will protect the Lylat system as if it was my own, defend the innocent and defeat the evil. Also, I will find out if my beloved father is alive, no matter the cost." Thunderous applause greeted this sentence.

Stepping off the stage, Marcus ushered a blue falcon on to the stage. "C'mon Falco, It's not that bad! All you do is speak a couple of sentences and that's it! It's not like the sky will fall."

Seeing Falco getting on the stage, General Peppy addressed him. "Now, Falco, what happened at Venom?"

Taking a deep breath, the blue falcon started. "September 21st, 29:67. We arrived at Venom with full shields and loaded weapons. Everything was in good shape, unlike the distress signal we got. We were just about to leave when a group of squadrons ambushed us. The ships weren't like anything we've seen and we couldn't see them that well; they moved at the speed of sound and they were heavily armed with tons of shields. Their firepower was formidable too; they could take out a Cornerian fighter with one hit. It was hard just to get a scratch on them!

"Anyway, there was only two squadrons a group to Slippy, Krystal, and me. I got out of there with a wing missing and the engine blowing smoke. I retreated to the edge of the battlefield, and soon joined by Slippy and Krystal. When we looked for Fox, we saw him still battling those squadrons. No wonder; he had to deal with ten of them! And to make matters worse, they probably were upgraded from the looks of it because you could only see blurs and every two hits could take out a squadron of fighters. In those conditions, Fox couldn't stay for long. We tried to help, but more of those squadrons blocked our way. For some reason I couldn't understand, they didn't fire.

"Then a charged shot hit the G-diffuser, and the entire Arwing went ca-put. After the Arwing crashed, the ships swarmed at the remains. Again, we tried to help, but they were like wild animals; they were practically growling at us and were preparing to attack. We couldn't risk our lives for the manner that no one would know what happened, so our best hope was that if we got back to Corneria in one piece, we could send out some armies to save Fox, if he's alive." Tears were visible at the edge of Falco's eyes. The audience could see he would say no more.

After the realization, people were whispering things like, "What a tragedy…" or "Can't believe this happened".

Peppy got their attention again. "Now, Krystal McCloud, do you have anything to add to Falco's statement?"

The blue vixen stepped on to the microphone. "I agree with Falco's story, but I did notice that their thought patterns were nothing I felt before; they seemed to be coming from the ships themselves."

Nodding with approval, General Peppy called to a frog wearing a red cap, which was currently weeping into Amanda's handkerchief. "Now, Slippy, notice any familiar structure of the machines?"

Slippy stopped weeping long enough to say, "They were m-m-moving to fast for m-m-me to see them well, but I saw that s-some of them looked like apariod-i-infected m-machines." The green frog broke down again.

Some of the audience winced, including Peppy. No sign of those bugs have been seen ever since Star Fox had defeated their queen, but if they found a new one…Marcus shivered with the audience.

Peppy got on stage. "Now, I have some good news. General Pepper has finally been released from the hospital…" there was a large cheer throughout the crowd. "And is with us right now!" Going to the sidelines, he ushered the old hound dog into the limelight.

The general of the Cornerian Army changed in twenty years. Pepper was just as old as Peppy, who was 77 years old, and had more wrinkles than a rotten raisin. The illness took away a lot of his strength and excess fat, so he had to be carried in a hover chair. (A wheelchair without any wheels.) Getting to the microphone after what seemed like ten hours, he spoke in an aged voice, "The citizens of the Lylat system, I am happy to say that after many years of being hospitalized, I will finally return to the command of the army, but unfortunately I am in no condition to getting onto the battlefield, so I will still have my friend Peppy stay at my side for assistance.

"However, I am very surprise of the disappearance of our Fox McCloud, but I know his son, Marcus McCloud, will surely fill the hole in our hearts, and the one in the Star Fox team." Everyone couldn't help clapping for the general.

Peppy stepped back up the microphone. "I hope you have a wonderful day. Conference ended."

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DM908: (Dragonmilk908) See? It wasn't that bad, guys? Slippy, get your weepin' head out of that tissue box.

Slippy: Sorry. (Sniff sniff) I just can't stop crying! (Bawls like a little baby)

Fox: And I still have complaints. Why do I have to be the one captured? Why not Slippy?

DM908: Because, your capture is an important element to the story. And besides, I like to make bad stuff to the main character.

Falco and Slippy: HEY! Does this mean we're not important?

DM908: Uh oh…uh…I have an important meeting now… gotta run!

Falco, Fox, and Slippy: YAAAHHHHHHHH!!! (Charges after DM908 yelling war cries)