Chapter 1
"Do everything today to better the person you can be tomorrow." Something Fox's father had told him a few times. As much as Fox tried, he knew he could never be a tenth of the man his father was. Fox was currently living out of an apartment in Corneria working high end security or military contracting jobs. Something his father would never do. His father though, was not around to discourage him from these jobs. Three years ago, when Fox had just turned twenty, James took off on a mission to investigate a man named Andross who had been banished to a planet named Venom with two of his wingmen, Pigma Dangar and Peppy Hare. Forty hours after that, Peppy came back in his father's flagship only to deliver the message that he and James were backstabbed by Pigma. Due to his injuries, Peppy fell into a medical coma which he had yet to wake up from.
Fox became the last living member of his father's team. He threw himself into becoming the best fighter pilot he could. Fox dropped out of the Cornerian flight academy to focus on pure flying. While to an outsider it may seem counterintuitive, it was the best decision as student flight time was correlated to taxpayer money. Military budgets were getting tighter, and every student was flying less and less. Fox found himself flying an Arwing far more now as a mercenary than he ever did in the academy. He flew whenever he could but something else sucked money away from his flight time.
The Great Fox was placed in a hangar bay his father paid for. The ship was barely airworthy after its last fight with Pigma. Seals had been breached, only one of its three engines worked, and the astral navigation system couldn't even recognize that it was on Corneria. This was a blessing in disguise in a way. James had insured it fully and with the destruction in battle it was determined to receive it's full value. With the money he got from battle, he paid off all of the Great Fox's loans as well as some of the repairs. Three years of using his father's reputation for work and three years of taking government defense contracts had made him enough to repair almost everything. All that remains are the engines. The home stretch however was always the hardest. Engines like the Great Fox's run at a few million credits each. Fox had some mechanical experience but not as much as one of his partners Slippy Toad. Slippy was the son of Space Dynamics lead engineer Beltino Toad. The amphibian could get a few deals on parts and, with the help of the onboard AI known as ROB, put them on the Great Fox in a matter of hours.
For now all of Star Fox's missions were carried out by two pilots flying out to whatever destination they were called to and waited. Tedious was an understatement of what they had to do. Flying to the outer reaches of Lylat could take more time than it took to run whatever mission Star Fox got tasked with.
Fox currently sat in an Arwing left over from his father's time. He and his wingman, Falco, were contracted by the Cornerian Defense force to patrol route used by Venomian transport fleets. Both pilots had already spent sixteen hours in the area along with a four-hour flight here. Times like this made him want the Great Fox working as soon as possible.
Falco had been at the academy at the same time as Fox and dropped out with him. Falco knew Fox would need at least one other pilot with him. He may take an unannounced leave of absence every once in a while, but Falco was never far behind if Fox needed help. The pheasant could also never stay quiet for long.
"So, Fox…" Falco began. His mind wondered often when on long patrols or guard shifts. "How much do you think I'd need to pay a call girl to eat a pinecone?" This instance was no different.
"Just… Like a straight up pinecone?" Fox asked. Twenty hours sitting in one location made the mind desperate for anything so Fox would gladly answer this for now.
"Yeah. Girl comes up to you and says, hundred dollars and I'll do anything, then you give her a pinecone and ask her to eat it. Do you think she'd charge extra for that?" Falco asked in as serious in a tone one could make asking that question.
"I guess if it was me trying to eat the pinecone," he thought for a moment, "two hundred bucks and it do it."
"Damn man you'd be a cheap hooker." Falco said making Fox laugh in response. The vulpine was about to say something when his target radar lit up. Falco must've seen the same thing. "You seein' this Fox?"
Five blips came into the radar screen. All of them flew about a hundred kilometers in front and would pass without noticing either of the pilots. Fox typed into the flight computer to see what the blips were. All five came up so small on radar that they had to be drones. Andross' forces built plenty of drones to compensate for the lack of pilots. Corneria paid for every ship destroyed with drones being the easiest and most abundant to bring down.
Fox's flight computer gave him an interception course which he sent to Falco. "Falco look at the course and follow me in. We're going radio silent until striking." Fox said. Falco tapped the com button twice which discreetly meant yes. Fox put his throttle to full and followed the preset course. Both pilots watched their targeting systems read out how far they could go until target.
50km to target. Fox couldn't see his opponent yet but remained on course.
40km. In the distance, one set of light looked like they might not be star but engines.
30km. They were almost certainly engines as they lined up perfectly with the target computers trajectory.
20km. Both pilots saw five specs moving in the distance on a collision course with themselves.
10km. They could clearly see their opponents now. Four standard drone ships and one cargo ship.
5km. The pair charged up their weapons for a direct strike. From the perspective of the ships, Fox and Falco were coming from below.
1km. Fox broke off to the right while letting his charged round off and into the second drone ship. Falco did the same but broke off to the left. Two leading drones blew up alerting the rest. Fox and Falco flew behind the remaining fighters. Fox pulled his Arwing into a heavy loop to get back at the enemies tail. His head shot up to regain visual of the drones.
Far in the distance a pair of drones came back into his vison. The third cargo drone kept on going but at a much faster speed. It was trying to avoid the fight so neither pilot paid it any attention. The eye piece that Fox always wore when flying helped him as a targeting HUD. Its computer connected with Falco's to see where he was aiming as well.
The drones were trying to turn around fast enough in an attempt to fire on the vessels that sent out a surprise attack. Without a word said the pair locked onto different targets and fired. They exploded in an unceremonious fashion. Drones could only keep up so much with living pilots.
Now focus turned to the last ship trying to leave at breakneck speeds. Fox turned his fighter to face the sole survivor high tailing it away. A blue circle highlighted the cargo drone meaning he had a positive lock. One press on the trigger and a bolt launched at the ship. It became a fire ball quickly extinguished by the vacuum of space.
The dogfight was over almost as quick as it had started. Three minutes had gone by since the drones came up on radar until they were no more. Five ships, that was twenty-five thousand credits. Next, they had to round up the hulls and bring them back to Corneria for a bounty. Only problem was Fox's kill wasn't slowing down. The ship was defeated but shooting something down in space wasn't as simple as kill it and then the object stops.
"Hey Falco, could you capture those four drones? I'm gonna try to get the cargo drone. I hit it at full speed and it's not slowing down." Fox said into his radio.
"Just like a fox to lose his prey." The bird joked.
"Ha, ha, if you wanna get paid pick up the trash."
"Aye, aye captain dickbag." Fox wanted to say something back but knew he'd be playing into the pheasant's hand. Fox gave his ship all it could muster catching up to the downed drone. Once close enough a net shot out from the belly of the Arwing to arrest the speeding wreckage. It wrapped around the ship while Fox brought it to a halt using his own ships force. Once he got closer to the slowed ship however, his heart dropped.
The craft wasn't unmanned like he originally thought. From what Fox could see it looked like about five people inside the ship. No one survived the direct hit from the fighter. This hadn't been the first time he took a life, but it didn't sit well anytime he did so. Knowingly or unknowingly.
"Lylat to Fox. You there?" Falco's voice said through the coms. Fox realized he had been so focused on the wreckage that he forgot about his wingman.
"Yeah…yeah sorry I'm fine." Responded the Tod quickly.
"You sure man, you sound a little shook up?" Falco asked.
"I'm fine…" Words failed to come to him. 'Might as well tell him now.' Said his inner dialogue. "The ship I shot down was manned."
"Oh shit man I… sorry. I rounded up the rest of the ships so if you wanna head back we can." Falco understood the mental war anyone fights when something like this happens. He went through it many times like Fox did. The pair soon meet up to get back to an investigatory station for their payment.
Fox and Falco towed the ships to a collection point within Cornerian orbit. The station was a bland silver and white brick that sat in Corneria's orbit housing the CDF Investigatory Division or CID. The CID concerned itself with making sure that Corneria wasn't paying out money to ships brought down unlawfully. Years ago a scandal involving a team building ships resembling Adrossian drones and then turning them in wrecked CDF reputation so the CID was formed to make sure any ship was brought down rightfully so. They analyzed data from attacking ships to confirm a pilot was the rightful hunter of whatever they brought in.
Any time a living, or formerly so, person was brought in the CID dove further into their investigation. As such Fox and Falco sat in holding cell while they figured out who these people were. Pilots were through enough that rarely had anyone been brought down who wasn't aligned with Andross. Still an investigation needed to be held.
It had been an hour since the two were detained and placed in a holding room together when a CID representative came to get them. A female hyena waked into the room carrying a clipboard. She wore a blue button down and black khaki pants.
"Star Fox?" She called out. The only two people in the room were Fox and Falco so her question confused both pilots.
"Present?" Falco responded. The agent flipped a page on her clipboard.
"Your investigation is complete." She spoke. Short investigations usually meant something good. "Five individuals were found inside the vessel. Two were wanted escapes from Collins. Their bounties will be paid out to Star Fox." Collins, a massive high security prison which last year was hit by Andross. Tens of thousands of prisoners joined his army that day with everyone who joined earning a bounty. Those who didn't join were granted lighter sentences or early release.
"The other three were believed to be their lackeys." There'd still be some lost sleep but, learning their pasts did make it just a bit easier to digest for Fox. "They seemed to be heading to Macbeth where two of them came from." She would've kept going but someone else got impatient.
"Hey I love hearing about the background of terrible people like anyone else," Falco sarcastically said, "but what's the payout from this mission?" The hyena gave the bird an upset look yet continued on.
"The two escapees had been indited on murder in the first degree. Both bounties are worth twenty-five thousand each. We've determined that the other three are worth ten each and with the five ships brought down equates to one hundred and five thousand credits." Her response made Fox and Falco perk up. "These credits will be transferred to the Star Fox business account by the end of today." Falco almost spoke again before Fox cut him off.
"Thank you very much." If Falco wasn't cut off there, he probably would've said something stupid. "If you don't mind though we'd like to get going." The Hyena nodded and let them out.
Both members left the holding room which sat opposite the hangar. Having a holding cell so far away made escape difficult if anyone knew they'd be charged. It did mean that the two had a lot of ground to cover to get back to the ships. A lot of time for someone's mind to wonder.
"So…hundred and five thousand. That's a lot of money Fox. Think maybe I could get a little bonus?" Falco said slyly. The bird often pushed his luck when he saw an angle.
"Oh really, how much do you think you deserve?" Fox dreaded his response.
"A Star Fox pilot receives a thousand credits per mission. This was a special case however and I'm thinking that three would be acceptable." A smile crept across the avian's face. This had been one of the biggest payouts Star Fox had received as of late so maybe a bonus was in order. Granted the Arwings needed some required maintenance. It cost on average five thousand to keep both ships air/space worthy for an entire mission. There'd still be plenty left over even if he put most of the money into the Great Fox afterwards.
Fox mulled it over in his mind for a moment before answering. "Two and a half…and you help Slippy repair the Arwings tomorrow." Responded Fox. The pair reached their Arwings while Falco thought about Fox's offer. Soon after he then held out his hand to Fox to say he agreed. Fox shook his hand firmly. "Be at the hangar by ten tomorrow. Oh and if you get down before I do, tell the others about the bonus." Falco looked betrayed. "We've all been working our asses off lately. I'd like the money to get reinvested into the flagship but, a bonus isn't the worst idea."
Falco still wanted to know something about the pay. "So where's the rest going then?"
'A fair question.' Fox thought. "We should have just enough to pay for one of the engine mounts. It'll still take about a month to get to us though." Fox's partner seemed content with his answer.
The two said their goodbyes for the night as they probably wouldn't see each other until tomorrow. Cornerian air traffic control was known for keeping smaller crafts in holding patterns for a while and the two may not even arrive withing the same hour. Today was no different. Falco rolled a seven and only spent ten minutes getting down. Fox wasn't so lucky and spent an hour and a half descending.
Fox returned to hangar to find everyone else had gone home. The always impressive Great Fox sat dormant waiting for repair. Better days it had clearly seen. It was still well on its way to recovery. One engine had arrived but it was heavily used. It desperately needed an overhaul and God knew how many problems would come with that. Afterwards the thing would be mounted to the craft with some special mounts Fox hoped to order with this pay plus some saved up.
An hour later Fox sat in his bed trying to fall asleep. He tossed and turned trying to find peace, yet it never came. As he thought before, sleep was hard to find after the events earlier. 'A midnight drive.' He thought to himself as he got up to get dressed. 'Might be nice to do something mindless for a bit.'
Nearby in a gas station.
Working twelve hours wasn't the worst part of Krystal's day. What she did for work was. From ten to two she worked at a barber shop near the star port. After she had two hours to make it to her next job standing behind a gas station gas register from four to midnight. Neither paid all that well but she and her people took any job they could in this new world.
Seven years ago the people of Cerinia were visited by a man named Andross who promised things beyond comprehension. Space travel, medicines for incurable illnesses and devices that could communicate with anyone across the world. It was a time of wonder and an optimistic future.
All that changed when the man found the power her people flaunted generously. Telepathy, the ability to read minds. Andross found this and wanted to see how it was done. One could guess it was to recreate it himself, yet they would never find out. The ape's forces determined they only needed around a thousand members alive to accomplish whatever they had planned. What happened after they rounded up all they needed was unthinkable.
All those who Andross captured, corralled inside a massive spaceship, watched as double flashes hit Metropolitan areas of Cerinia. Andross' forces didn't want to risk Lylat or another government finding their discovery so made sure no one could. The same way a pilot would wipe the code of a fighter before it could be captured, Andross nuked a civilization before another could get heir hands on them.
It would've been the end for the Cerinian people if not for Cornerian forces detecting the ship and boarding before the crew knew they were aboard. The ships crew fought back to no avail. A short firefight ensued that left none of Andross' soldiers left. Cornerian soldiers found a sealed hull that once breached contained the over thousand survivors of Cerinia.
Every Cerinian made a vow not to tell the Cornerians of the power each one held. Collectively the group made up a backstory to who they were and where they came from. A space bound religious colony captured by Andross for his army. Corneria bought it without a second thought. The government deemed them as refugees and set them up with a fund to readjust to a new life.
Now the Cerinian people lived in what used to be a college campus with dorms for a commune. The original college was a private school which ran into financial issues. The refugee fund granted by the government was enough to buy the property outright. Now the Cerinian people worked on finding their home to see if the planet was habitable. If it was, they'd work on a plan to get back. If not, then they wanted to get a better place then they were now.
Krystal stood behind a cash register getting money her people needed. People coming in slowed after nine pm meaning she usually had time to herself after then. The clock on her phone read about ten and she was counting down the time. Her phone played a pop song throughout the store's Bluetooth she didn't recognize. Boredom from standing in one place left the vixen starring at her phone long enough to miss another fox walking in and up to the counter.
Fox placed one of a few energy drinks onto the counter startling the blue furred vixen working. She jumped just a bit before responding. "Sorry, sir, I didn't see you come in." Said Krystal. She eyed over the other fox briefly. His defined arms and chest were visible even behind the sweatshirt he wore.
"No, no, I'm sorry." His voice was deep yet almost caring. Krystal could also tell the man was nervous about something. Going against her better judgment, she took a peek inside his mind. 'God she's beautiful.' He said in his mind. Krystal's cheeks blushed a little under her fur. His mind was focused on something that Krystal couldn't figure out. She looked down at what he wanted to buy. Three high caffeine energy drinks and a protein bar.
"Long night?" Asked Krystal. The man had enough caffeine to cause a heart attack it seemed. Krystal turned her gaze to meet the Fox's while she rung up his drinks. She hadn't noticed before but his eye's were a piercing jade green.
"Long day. I started working about fifty hours ago." Krystal's eyes went wide.
"Fifty hours! What the hell do you do for work?" Fourteen hours already seemed enough for Krystal. She rung up another drink while Fox thought of a response.
Unknown to Fox, Krystal still stayed inside his head. 'Don't tell her you're a fighter pilot. You know how people get once you say that.' Anytime people found out Fox's career, they asked questions he didn't feel comfortable answering. Most common were how many people he shot down or how much he was paid. His mind came up with a lie he could pull off. "I'm a pilot for a cargo company. I fly in a convoy around space which usually lasts a day or two."
Fox didn't like lying but his pride took the hit better than being reminded of deeds he had done. Krystal picked up on all of this without Fox's knowledge. She rang up the last of his drinks before she spoke again. "Must be exciting at least to see the galaxy."
"Oh it's definitely one of the best jobs you can have." Fox responded. Anybody who lived in Krystal's commune would've killed to be a pilot. Now here was someone who did that.
"You guys hiring?" Krystal asked jokingly. If he said yes she would've dropped everything to fly. She rung up his protein bar and began placing everything in a bag.
Fox chuckled. "Not unless you know how to fly already or willing not get paid for a few months." Not the answer she wanted. His offer to learn but not get paid was almost tempting if she could find a way to not eat for that time. Fox wasn't trying to be an asshole in saying this. Training a pilot would take months of flying and testing. Training a pilot would also take an indescribable amount of money. Fox was not opposed to taking on a few more pilots, but he could spare the time and resources to train someone brand new.
Krystal brought her hand to her chest. "You just crushed my dreams." She said sarcastically. "That'll be seven eighty-one…" She noticed J.S.M. "FOX" written on his sweatshirt. "Fox."
Fox seemed surprised she knew that before remembering what he was wearing. He pulled out his card to pay. "Yeah it's just my call sign, but most people call me that anyway."
"An appropriate name at least." Krystal said. She handed him the bag which he grabbed. "Have a good night, Fox."
Fox looked at the cashier's name tag. "Thank you, Krystal, you too." He gave her a smile which she returned. Krystal remained inside his head just long enough to hear. 'Maybe I could get her number. No, no, you don't have feelings for the cute girl at a gas station you had small talk with. You know nothing about her except a name.' With that he exited the store. Krystal tried not to but caught a glimpse of his ass when he left. 'But I always could get to know her more.' If he did come back in the store to ask her number or socials, Krystal probably would've said yes.
Fox's job intrigued her enough to learn more about that alone. Yet he did not return. A minute later she heard the sound of an engine starting up and driving away. Krystal promised herself that she'd get his number at least if he came in again. If Fox worked as a pilot, fighter or cargo, then he would at least be in the area. 'Maybe he'll come back.' She thought. 'Listen to yourself Krystal, you sound as struck as he did.' She returned her attention to her phone. 'He did have a cute ass.' Krystal debated with herself the rest of her shift. The end of her workday came and she ordered a rideshare home. All the time still thinking on the fox who had a silent crush on her.
A/N: Well its been awhile since I've posted here. This story sounds familiar to one I posted here a couple years ago but never finished. I deleted it because this story would've been too similar to that one and I didn't feel like continuing that one. My plan is to have one chapter out a month but we'll see what happens with that.