The Animal Squad: Age of the Star Pups

By Neil Vanbot

Chapter 1

Man oh man these past thirty-six years have been crazy eventful. So many years filled of love, war, betrayal, and death. I've lived through it and wasn't strong enough to prevent it from happening. Who am I, you may ask? My name is Wolf O'Donnell. As a kid, my dad and his friend would tell me stories of their life. How they met and how their friendship grew. Thinking back on all those stories leads me to believe that some of those events are what caused all the madness that I've experienced later on in life. I'm here to explain all that's happened in those thirty-six years. Whether it happened to me, my father, or his friend.

It all began in the year 1987, from the most unlikely galaxy in the universe, the Lylat System. More specifically one of the most well-known, and habitable planets in the system, Corneria. Corneria is very much like the planet Earth in the Milky Way galaxy. The inhabitants of the Lylat System consists of, brace yourselves, anthropomorphic animals. On Corneria, lived a young, light-brown furred fox named Fox McCloud, though most animals called him James. James McCloud had lived a relatively mundane eighteen years of life, but that was all about to change, because he had been enrolled in what is known as the Cornerian Defense Army Academy or more commonly referred to as the Cornerian Academy. Upon arrival at the Academy, James was ecstatic. It had been brought to his attention several times that he was about to be the very first fox to get accepted to the Academy and actually enroll.

"James, please slow down sweetie!" his mother, Marian cried out.

"Sorry mom, I'm just so excited to finally be here" the young vulpine replied, having stopped in front of the main building of the Cornerian Academy.

"James, why are you in such a rush to get here?" James' father, Robin, asked carrying a bulky suitcase with the letters JM embossed on the side of it. "It's not like the Academy is going anywhere."

"I know that dad" James replied, "I'm just ready to put the great name of McCloud into the history books."

"Don't worry about that son, just do your best and hopefully you'll be able to survive in this place" Marian stated, worried.

James and his parents walked into the building to get his room assignment. "Hello, how can I help you?" asked the pink furred poodle secretary.

"Hi, I'm James McCloud and I was hoping to get my room assignment" he smiled.

The poodle gave him one look and smiled, "Heh, nice try kid, this is the Cornerian Academy, not some high school event."

"I'm fully aware of the building I'm standing in" James replied, "I've been enrolled here." The secretary continued to stare at James. "If you don't believe me, check your database. My name should be on the entry acceptance list."

Knowing he wouldn't leave her alone, the secretary started typing on her keyboard. She scrolled through the list and in shock, stopped. "Huh, I guess you weren't kidding she admitted, there it is in black and white, Fox James McCloud."

James smiled knowing he had surprised her, "See, I told you my name would be on there. Now if you'd be so kind as to give me my room assignment so we can both move on with our day, that'd be great."

The secretary quickly did as James had asked, "Here you go young man, you will be staying in room 543" she stated, handing him a room key.

"Thank you very much" James smiled. Then he and his parents went to go find the room James would be staying in for the next few years as he goes through training. When they got to the room, James opened the door to reveal a young gray furred wolf. The young lupine looked to be around James' age but stood a few inches taller than him and even though he was wearing a t-shirt, James could tell that the wolf's body was muscular. The wolf looked at the family of foxes who suddenly entered his room. "Uh, hi, who might you be?" he asked, confused.

"Name's James McCloud" the vulpine replied, holding out his paw to the lupine.

He stared at the paw for a second, getting up from his bed and shook the somewhat scrawny paw "Nice to meet you, I'm Maverick O'Donnell."

James' parents had introduced themselves with his dad setting down the suitcase. After the four of them had talked for a few minutes, Robin and Marian turned to James and said, "As much as we'd love to stick around, it's time for us to head home."

James walked up to his parents and gave them a big hug. I'm not entirely sure what he said to them, but my dad told me he could tell James was trying to fight back some tears. After they broke from their embrace, James said "I love you guys, so much."

"We love you too, James" Marian replied, giving him a kiss on his cheek.

Before the two foxes left, Robin knelt down, looking James in his eyes saying, "I know you might not want my advice, but I'm gunna give it to you anyway."

"Sure dad, I could always use any advice you can give me" he smiled.

"You know you're probably going to be singled out by many animals here just because of being a fox. As soon as you can, I want you to show them all why they should never mess with a McCloud" Robin winked.

"Ha-ha, you got it dad" James chuckled, giving his dad one final hug.

After he realized they were alone, Maverick broke the silence saying, "So, you're that fox I've heard a lot about."

"You heard about me?" he asked, "How'd that happen?"

"It's been the talk of the Academy all day that a fox had enrolled for the first time" the lupine explained.

"Interesting" James pondered, "I guess my dad was right, I might end up being targeted early."

"It's certainly possible" Maverick nodded, "if you want to prove to them that you belong here, I suggest you work on getting some muscle built up in those arms of yours."

James looked at his arms, taking a mental note of what his roommate had told him. "I did a little bit of weightlifting at school, but just enough to get me in here. Besides my legs are much stronger than my arms are" he stated, "having said that, I could use some help with building up muscle without hurting myself too much."

"I'll help you out as much as I can" Maverick offered, "but I can't promise that you'll be able to get through the first few months here."

"Don't worry about that" James replied, confidently "if I can get stronger quickly, then I can handle the work it'll take for me to not only survive but thrive here."

"I like your confidence, kid" Maverick smiled, "I think the two of us could be real good friends."

James smiled, sitting on the other bed that wasn't covered with Maverick's possessions, "So, did your folks drop you off, too?" he asked.

"No, I came by myself" the lupine replied.

"Really? You didn't even say bye to them?" James asked, shocked.

"To tell you the truth, I'm an orphan" Maverick explained, "my parents died when I was young, and I came here just to get away from the orphanage I was staying at because, they were crazy abusive."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that" James frowned, "looks like you got out of there as soon as you could."

"I sure did" he smiled, "When someone from the orphanage turns eighteen, they have the opportunity to leave. Like myself, many kids jump at the chance to get out of there, but most of them are usually okay with working a minimum wage job."

"I guess you're not like most kids" James pointed out, "looks like you're trying to make something of your life and trying to help make a difference."

"You could say that" he nodded, "I really want to be a part of the army to protect those who can't protect themselves, like my son."

James' eyes widened having heard what Maverick said. "Wait, you have a kid?!" James questioned.

"Sure do" Maverick replied, "little Wolf should be about two years old now."

"So, you had him when you were sixteen?" James asked.

"Yeah, my girlfriend, Lana Ballard, is the mother" Maverick admitted.

"And the two of you are still a couple?" the vulpine asked.

"Of course," Maverick smiled, "we're not married yet, but I assume we will get married in a year or two."

"Well, I hope I get the honor of meeting the two of them before that happens" James smiled.

Maverick smiled in realization that James wasn't judging him for having a kid, but before he could say anything else, a voice came over a speaker "Attention cadets! We will be having a short debriefing in a few minutes, please report at the auditorium."

James and Maverick looked at each other nervously, but excited. They followed the other cadets into the large auditorium and found some seats eagerly waiting for the debriefing to start. While they were waiting, an animal walked by and tripped over James' feet. "Watch it you little shit!" the animal shouted.

James noticed the animal he had accidentally tripped was a monkey of some kind and looked to be a few years older than him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to trip you" James apologized.

The monkey looked at James and scoffed, "You're not even worth my time, you little runt."

James and Maverick watched as the monkey walked away, "Who was that?" James asked.

"That was Andross Bowman" came a mature voice behind him. James looked back to see who was talking to him and saw some kind of hound dog looking at him.

"Andross Bowman, never heard of him" James responded, "I guess I've got to look out for that guy too."

"Don't worry, if you ignore him, he should leave you alone" the dog advised.

James was cutoff before he could make any remark, "Ten-hut! Welcome your headmaster and commander of the Cornerian army, General Pepper!"

They stood up saluting as they watched an elderly looking hound dog walk in front of the large group. "At-ease" the general spoke, with a strained voice. All the cadets immediately sat down. The general continued saying, "Good evening to all you cadets who've been here the past six years, you are extremely close to being able to join the Cornerian army in some way. As for the newcomers, it doesn't always take six years to finish with the Academy, in fact, if you show incredible hard work and determination you can quickly rise through the ranks."

James was taking in the information General Pepper had just stated and began smiling. "What are you so happy about?" Maverick whispered, as the general continued talking.

"I'm gunna do what the General said" he replied, confidently "I'm gunna climb the ranks and try to get out of here in less than six years."

Maverick looked at James unsure of what to say at first then quickly smiled stating, "I guess we're going to need to help each other more than I originally thought."

"What are you talking about Maverick?" James asked.

"I want to climb the ranks too" he replied, "if I can get into the army, I can support Lana and Wolf."

"Everyone is dismissed except for the newly enrolled cadets" General Pepper announced.

As the other cadets were leaving, Andross walked past James and Maverick saying, "You should do yourself a favor and dropout to save yourself the embarrassment of getting kicked out, foxy boy."

"Don't listen to that guy" Maverick stated, noticing James thinking about what Andross had said to him.

"Don't worry, I'm going to use what Andross said as motivation" James smirked.

"That's what I like to hear from my roommate" Maverick replied.

The two continued listening to General Pepper who was simply explaining what to expect for the next year, as long as they were willing to work through the full six-year timeframe. General Pepper had told the new cadets they were dismissed, but James and Maverick got the attention of the hound dog. "Sir, could we ask you a question?" James asked.

"Absolutely, anything for my cadets" he said, looking at Maverick "what can I do for you boys?"

"We were wondering what the process was for us to move through the ranks here" Maverick stated.

"Ah, I'm surprised there's actually someone interested in moving through fast" General Pepper stated, "I bring it up every year and no one has acted on it before."

"I guess we're just super motivated to become part of the Cornerian army as fast as possible" James acknowledged.

"I have a few different programs that you can follow" the General explained, "stop by my office in the morning and I'll have some calendars printed out for you to follow, if you choose to go the fast route."

"Thank you, Sir" Maverick and James replied, together.

Before walking away, General Pepper stopped James and said, "So, you're that fox fellow who enrolled in the Academy."

"Yes, Sir"

"I'm curious to see how you do here" he admitted, "I've approved of the admission of a few foxes in years past, but for some reason none of them ever bothered to enroll."

"That's very strange, Sir" James replied, "I waited for months hoping to get an acceptance letter from the Academy. I never even had a backup plan ready for if it didn't work out."

"I'm glad you made the decision to join us here" the General smiled, "I'm sure you'll do fine here, especially if you stick with that wolf friend of yours."

"Thank you, Sir" James stated, "Oh! Before I forget, is there ever any chance for us to go home and see our families?"

"Yes, of course" the General replied, "we have breaks for the holidays, such as Christmas and Thanksgiving. Then we also have a special day every year when loved ones can come visit."

"Thank you so much, Sir" James smiled, "I'll make sure to let Maverick know."

"Very good. See you in the morning, mister…" the General paused.

"…McCloud, James McCloud" the young Fox stated, "See you in the morning."