A story after a long while of being away, unfortunately not for Tales of Oneira but I still felt the need to write this. Note, this story is going to contain a lot of dark themes and settings as well as it drawing inspiration from other things like Mass Effect as well as Dungeons and Dragons. Like a Sci-fi/Dark Fantasy setting. For the scene near the end, I recommend listening to "The Normandy Attacked" OST from Mass Effect 2, as it helped me set the scene.

The story is set in somewhat of an AU, taking place after Assault and sort of retconning Star Fox: Command. Some of the cast may be considered out-of-character to some extent as well as throwing in a few of my own OC's as well.

But long story short, lets get into it and I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: The following is a fan-made Star Fox story. Star Fox is owned by Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Takaya Imamura. Please support the official release.

Since the fall of the Aparoid menace had nearly depleted Corneria's military but also had fortunately collapsed the Venomian government due to the death of Andrew Oikinny, it had left a power vacuum that needed to be filled. Many Venomian factions quickly vied for control over Venom, their gang wars overrunning the planet and leaving many cicizens displaced. Soon their civil-war began to reach other planets, many of which were under the control of Corneria. With the military spread far too thin to offer any real support, General Pepper had tasked the Star Fox team with the cleanup and containment of these rising factions, at least long enough until Venom had found a suitable leader, one that would hopefully leave Corneria and her territories alone.

In a shocking twist of fate, Star Wolf had offered their assistance as well. With their main benefactor dead and the many more powerful criminal elements in play: it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed as well. With their assistance in handling the Aparoid threat, General Pepper had offered to pardon Wolf and his compatriats of all their crimes, giving them all a clean slate under the conditions that they work to serve Corneria and stay out of trouble.

While Wolf and Panther had accepted the terms, Panther having accepted almost immediately mainly so he could be closer to Krystal, much to her displeasure. Wolf wasn't too fond of Corneria but found the offer too good to pass up as it was much better than being on-the-run, wondering when he would be taken out by another criminal gang. Star Wolf controlled Sargasso with ease and had wealth far more vast than the other mercinary gangs within the sector. But with the many new and more powerful criminal elements in play, their wealth as well as firepower made them more of a prime target than a power player. Wolf handed over what wealth they had, along with what hardware and weaponry they had acquired over the years to the Cornerian government. He and his team were however able to keep their Wolfen , though they had to be repainted to represent Corniera rather than Venom.

Star Fox, soon after Corneria regained it's footing in Lylat, had almost completely disbanded, leaving Fox and Krystal along with ROB-64 as the last remaining members of the team. Not long after that: Fox and Wolf buried the hatchet with each other, with Fox even offering a place on his team. Wolf, once again, reluctantly accepted.

While Wolf felt that it was out-of-character for him to work for Star Fox given the fact they were enemies once, Corneria was not fond of Star Wolf at all. It was logical to assume that, for him, getting work would be a task far too difficult since Corneria regarded him more as a dangerous criminal than a hero, even after his assistance with the Aparoids. Every time a job was available, his attempts at applying for jobs were rejected mere moments after his applications went in.

It was no secret that Panther had accepted immediately, with Krystal being the only reason why he did so in the first place. He hoped that he would win her heart, despite Krystal making it clear that she had no interest in him.

Leon on the other hand was furious with Star Wolf's decision to disband and accosted both Wolf and Panther for it, accusing them of cowardice and leaving everything they had built to weaklings on Corneria and whatever scraps the other gangs could get their hands on. Leon clearly did not accept the offer and fled Corneria to return to his life of crime, forcing the CDF to place a massive bounty on his head. One so large that it made Wolf a little jealous.

Once everyone was comfortable with each other, the team set out on another job of cleaning up Andross' mess, or Oikinny's mess in this case.

-Somewhere on the Outer Rim of the Lylat System-

"Remind me, Pup. Why are we here again?" asked Wolf as he sat in a chair, propping both of his legs on a nearby console. "Like I know were taking on some of my rival gangs and whatnot, but who?"

Fox, who didn't take his eyes off of the monitor in the Captain's Chair responded bluntly. "I'm not entirely sure, the dossier was rather vague. Even General Pepper wasn't too sure."

"So we're going after a gang, we don't know who they are or what toys they have, and on the Outer Rim where there is very little military prescence?" Wolf turned, giving Fox a deadpanned expression. "Please tell me there's a method to this insanity. This is something even I wouldn't do."

Fox sighed, looking a bit annoyed at Wolf's response. Wolf was right though, there were so many "unknowns" in play here that no sane person would take on such a job, Wolf was one of those sane persons. "With Corneria trying to rebuild her military, General Pepper can only allocate enough forces to protect key targets."

"It's also likely that whatever information network they had used to track down these criminal elements may have gone dark after the aparoid invasion." Panther chimed in, leaning up against Krystal's seat as she sat at her monitor, doing her best to ignore his presence.

"That still doesn't tell me anything." Wolf said, annoyed.

"Other intel on the dossier showed that many civilian and military vessels have gone missing in this sector in the past months." Said ROB-64 in a monotone robotic voice. "It is evident that we are to investigate whatever is causing them to go missing, and neutralize it."

"That's assuming the same won't happen to us." Said Krystal, looking over to Fox. "I can't sense anyone out here other than us though. I've got a strong feeling we're on a wild goose chase at this point."

"The lovely cerulean beauty makes a valid point." Said Panther, causing Krystal's eye to twitch as she clenched the arm-rests of her seat.

Fox let out a small chuckle before clearing his throat, making Krystal side-eye him in response. "In any case, if that means we have to patrol out here for a while until something happens, then so be it."

"Great idea, McCloud. Let's just sit out here with our thumbs up our asses until something happens or something kills us to confirm that there's a threat we can't see." said Wolf sarcastically as he stood up from his chair, leaning against the wall by his console.

"If you got a better idea, I'm all ears, Wolf." Fox replied, he could hear Wolf huff in response to him. "Then it's settled." Fox turned to face ROB. "ROB, activate auto-pilot and plot a course to patrol this sector and keep our weapons readied, we don't want to be caught off guard. Also, prep the Arwings and Wolfens for takeoff."

"Aye Captain."

Fox turned to Krystal. "Krystal, keep your mind tuned to detect any life signs outside of the ship and alert us if you sense anything."

"Will do, Fox."

"Panther, Wolf, you two and I are going to do a little recon. Ready your Wolfens and wait for me in the hangar."

"W-what if something or someone boards the ship while we're away." Panther said, looking towards Krystal. "There'll be no one here to defend those on the ship."

"Fox... for the love of Krazoa, don't leave him here with me." the vixen responded, massaging her temples as she tried to focus her mind.

"The Great Fox has many onboard defenses, but you do make a valid point." Fox responded with a smirk, causing Krystal to side-eye him once again with a "Don't you dare" expression on her face. "Wolf, you can stay here and watch the ship while Panther and I recon the sector."

Krystal let out a sigh of relief while Panther had a look of defeat on his face, causing Wolf to let out a hearty laugh.

"Fox... you're lucky I love you." Krystal said, using her telepathy to speak to him.

"C'mon Krystal, did you really think I'd leave you alone with Panther?" Fox replied cheekily. "Besides, I wouldn't be a good boyfriend if I didn't mess with you every now and then."

"Just make sure you come back safe, okay?"

"I will, I promise." Fox turned to Panther. "Well, lets get moving, Caroso. We have work to do." Fox said as he walked off the bridge, with Panther following behind him with slumped shoulders. The doors sliding open and immediately shutting after leaving.

"Kind of surprised that Foxy got you, never expected you to fall for his type." Wolf said, looking out the window next to Krystal.

Fox really should've just taken both of them. Krystal thought as she focused intently on the outside of the ship.

"Krystal, my sensors indicate that your blood pressure is rising, are you feeling well?" asked ROB, making Wolf let out another laugh.

Krystal, more annoyed than before, responded. "I'm fine, ROB."

Outside of the ship, Fox and Panther tirelessly scouted the area. They flew together in a side-by-side formation, activating their ships onboard sensors. The two were unsure how long they were out there for, or at least Panther was, his mind was focused on Krystal. He couldn't help but think about all the possible ways to woo her, even fantasizing about the possibility that she would willingly leave Fox for him.

"-ey Caroso, get your head out of the clouds." Fox's voice came over the speaker, breaking Panther out of his trance like state. "You can daydream about my girlfriend later."

"What makes you so sure I was-"

"Dude... you've flirted with her ever since you joined our team. She's all you think about." Fox said, giving Panther an unamused stare over the video screen. "So far, the only reason I let you join was because Wolf put in a good word for you."

"You doubt my abilities as a pilot?"

"I don't doubt your abilities to pilot, I doubt your ability to focus." Fox said plainly, his annoyance reaching new levels. "Look, I want us all to get along. I want us all to work as a team. So we need to show some respect to everyone for the team to function."

"Why should I respect you McCloud? You were our enemy once."

Fox quickly became very frustrated, he knew letting Panther onto the team would have it's fair share of problems, but they've begun to get out of hand and became a test of both Fox's and Krystal's patience. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he responded. "Gee, let me think about that." Fox said sarcastically. "I haven't killed you yet, I didn't reject your proposal to join my team, I fought to keep you, Wolf, and even Leon (against my better judgement) out of Cornerian custody, and I still haven't decked you for all the times you flirted with Krystal."

"I have far more respect for her than you." Panther retorted.

"And you'll be respecting her more by respecting her boundaries, she's not interested in you and she's made it clear several times now that she's with me and has done her hardest to do it without hurting your feelings."

Panther sighed, Fox put a lot of things in perspective and was right about one thing. Krystal had become very irritated with Panther's constant advances ever since he joined Star Fox, even remembering the time she smacked him across the face for getting a little too close to her. Krystal apologized but still made her boundaries very clear, she had no interest in him and wanted him to stop his advances. Panther let out a defeated sigh.

Their conversation was cut short however as the loud beeping on their sensors began to go off, both Fox and Panther checked their radars to determine what was coming their way. A single blip indicating another ship in the area. Fox looked in the direction his radar indicated but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Panther, you getting any readings?"

"Radar indicates there's another ship nearby, but I can't see anything."

Their commlinks immediately buzzed, it was Krystal, but she sounded very frantic and terrified. "Fox! You two need to get back here right now!"

"What's wrong?!" Fox shouted back, alarmed as to what had her so panic-stricken.

"I ended up tracing a signal to an incoming ship, but I can't find it anywhere, like it's not even in the vicinity. Our power shorted out and now we're on emergency generators."

"Activate the ship's automated defenses!"

"No good, pup! Whatever hit us fried most of the system and downed our turrets and shields, looks like it was a coordinated power surge! Only thing we have right now is our life support, we can't even power on the engines!" Wolf said. The sounds of dragging steel seemed to be him attempting to set up a barricade.

"We need you both back here now! We're completely defenseless!"

"Get into the armory and grab a weapon, try to set up a perimeter and hold out until Panther and I get there! You are weapons-free! Shoot anything that doesn't belong on our ship!"

"EMERGENCY! HULL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED! SENSORS INDICATE MULTIPLE HOSTILES ATTEMPTING TO BREACH! UNABLE TO DEPLOY SHIELDS AND REINFORCED BARRIERS! DEPLOYING EMERGENCY DISTRESS BEACON!" blared the intercom.

"HURRY, FOX!" Krystal shouted before the com-link went dead.

Fox went wide eyed, he was used to this level of danger but for it to happen so fast and destroy his ship's defenses with such ease. Fear began to quickly take over. "Panther! Maximum thrust, back to the ship!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" said the feline as his Wolfen sped off without a second thought with Fox following closely behind him.

Alarms blared as the bridge of the Great Fox was filled with flashing red lights, Krystal and Wolf quickly setting up as many defenses as they could to ward off any potential danger. Krystal tore open the armory and grabbed as much ammunition and weapons as she could carry, quickly tossing a rifle and sidearm to Wolf.

Wolf took defensive position behind an overturned desk, pointing his rifle at the entrance to the bridge. Krystal did the same thing after setting up some stun-mines near the door, pointing her rifle at the door. She tried to focus her mind to see what was beyond it, but her panic and fear made it difficult.

"What the hell is out here?" Wolf asked no one in particular, keeping his finger on the trigger.

There were sounds of explosions on the outside of the door, shaking the ground beneath them and almost causing the lupine and vixen to lose their balance. Krystal ended up hitting her head on the ground, causing her vision to cloud for a moment before she sat back up.

"Whatever it is... we found the reason for the lost ships." Krystal said between panicked breaths. She pointed her rifle at the door again as fast moving footsteps made their way to them. "ROB, Lights out!" she ordered. The whole bridge went dark and the only source of light came from the door to the bridge.

Time felt frozen in place as the room went quiet, nothing but the sounds of creaking metal could be heard as Wolf and Krystal shifted their legs and shoulders to keep their weapons aimed properly.

Seconds later, the door opened. Wolf and Krystal charged their rifles and readied their aim as two figures walked through the door. Krystal recognized the silhouettes almost immediately and lowered her rifle.

"It's us! Don't shoot!" shouted Fox, his arms up in the air.

"Get over here and grab a gun! Something boarded us! How did you two get here without them noticing you?"

Fox and Panther quickly hopped over the desks and tables, each picking up a rifle and pointing it towards the door. "Not sure, we didn't see anything coming in. But we had to crash our ships into the hangar." Panther replied.

"So that explosion was you just now?" Wolf asked.

"No, it wasn't."

Soon thunderous footsteps could be heard making their way towards the command bridge, the Star Fox team all aimed their weapons at the door, readying themselves for what might be their last stand. Fox looked over to Krystal and held her free hand, offering what little comfort he could at a time like now. "Never thought it would end like this." he whispered to her.

"Fox... are you scared too?" she whispered back.

"I am... but if we do die..."

"At least we'll die together."

"Hey lovebirds, I don't want to interrupt you two writing your obituaries but we got bigger problems!" Wolf whispered harshly.

"Right." Said Fox as he focused himself. "This might be our last stand, guys."

"Never thought I'd die fighting alongside you Pup, nice knowing ya." Wolf said.

Fox let out a nervous chuckle as something began to cut through the door. "At least we buired the hatchet, see you on the other side O'Donnel."

Panther remained silent, focusing intently on the door in front of them as they all waited to go down in a blaze of glory.

Soon the door was blown off it's hinges and triggered the mines, stunning whatever was entering the room.

"OPEN FIRE!" shouted Fox as he depressed the trigger on his rifle, a hail of laser fire hit the doorway as the lights flashed back on. The figure on the bridge was large in comparison to them and bulky. The armor it wore was shaded in red, with a long red tail poking out the back of it. It looked too thick to be Venomian, but it was imposing notheless.

Laser-fire continued to exchange, Fox ducking behind his barricade to reload his rifle, popping in a fresh magazine before he started firing again. He took a few shots to the shoulder but kept the pressure up.

Krystal blind fired her rifle, unloading it onto whatever was in front of her as best as she could. She soon found the courage to stand up, grabbing a nearby gatling gun and fired furiously at the door, refusing to let go of the trigger until it went "click". I will not die a coward! she thought to herself.

The exchange stopped, causing a momentary ceasefire.

Panther poked his head out from behind his barrier to see that the doorway was smoking, obviously a reaction to the hail of laserfire on the bridge. "Is it dead?"

Krystal was able to focus her mind as the fire ceased, only for her eyes to go wide with prevelent terror. "No... it isn't!" she said "It can't be... is it really th-them?!"

"Who is it, Krystal?!" Asked Fox, but no response. Krystal was frozen in fear.

As the smoke cleared, they saw the same towering figure stand back up and walk towards them as if nothing happened. Not even a burn or a scratch found on its imposing armor.

"Our weapons didn't do anything!" Shouted Wolf as he was grabbed by the figure and thrown across the bridge, hitting his back on a nearby console before falling unconsious. It soon made it's way over to Panther and did the same, punching him square in the jaw and knocking him out.

Fox discharged his weapon in futile resistance, stepping in front of Krystal as the being made it's way towards her. "Stay away from her!" he shouted. But it did nothing but grab him by his throat and tossed him aside.

The being stared down at Krystal, who was still frozen in terror as she dropped her weapons. Her mouth agape almost as if she were in a trance. "Grab the Cerinian, the Cornerian, and the Katinian. Take the Cerinian to the Primarch."

No...! I thought they all died out! was all Krystal could think as the being grabbed her. In a struggle, she punched, kicked, and screamed in an effort to escape but to no avail. The grip on this being was far stronger than hers as it began to crush her arm.

The being was struck by a chair, hitting him in the helmet. He turned to see Fox, still standing but barely. "Let her go! NOW!" he shouted.

The towering figure pulled a gun from his side, pointing it at Fox and shot him point blank. He fell to the floor and hit it hard.

"NO! FOX!" She shouted, continuing her kicking and punching.

The being ignored Krystal's screaming and struggling before knocking her out by grabbing her throat and hitting her with a controlled shock. Her screaming ceased and her body went limp. "Grab the Katian, leave the two Cornerians. They're both dead." the being said, walking out with an unconcious Krystal and Panther slung over their shoulders.

Fox struggled to stay concious as his wound caused him severe pain. "Please... don't let me die... like this." he struggled to say to himself. "Krystal... I'm sorry." was all he could muster before blacking out.

AN: Been a long while since I got back into writing. Work has been taking up a solid majority of my time and family and school have both begun to take priority. I'll try to get more chapters on this out as fast as I can... which admittedly isn't all that fast... sorry.

For the time being, Tales of Oneira has been put on Hiatus. Sorry to you guys, it was harder to come up with a continuation for that than it was for this. Star Fox is kind of my obsession for the moment. But the story has not been abandoned as I've had the next chapter partially complete for quite some time.

Anywho, I'll keep working when I can and get the next chapter for this and Tales of Oneira up ASAP. Until then, see you next mission.