Corneria, McCloud Residence

May 10th, 2611

3:30 PM

Fox McCloud saw a hovercar pull into his driveway from his kitchen window.

"He's here Krystal." the red and white furred vulpine called over his shoulder.

"Perfect."

The voice's owner, a blue furred vixen, entered the kitchen.

"We'd better go say hello." she said before giving Fox a quick peck on the lips.

The couple walked to the door and opened it to greet their guest.

"Kaden."

"Hello Krystal."

The vulpine hugged his adopted sister and then shook hands with Fox.

"Always good to see you, Fox."

"And you as well, Kaden."

Some time later, the three were sitting on the back porch, where Fox was cooking steaks on his barbeque.

"So Kaden, how's working with Fay and Miyu?" asked Krystal.

The Cerinian took a sip of beer before replying.

"Well enough, considering it's just been me and Miyu these last couple of weeks."

The expression that appeared on Kaden's face at the mention of the lynx's name left Fox and Krystal both curious and confused.

"Something wrong?" enquired the vixen.

"No, just lost in thought."

"Nothing personal Kaden, but I think it's something more."

The vulpine raised an eyebrow at Krystal. Fox meanwhile, had just flipped over the steaks and turned around to join in.

"Look man, if you don't wanna tell us, that's fine. But still, I'm not psychic and I can see something's up."

Kaden looked between his two hosts and let out a sigh.

"I love her."

"Miyu?" they both said.

The vulpine nodded in affirmation.

"You haven't told her yet, have you?" asked Fox, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"No. How'd you guess?"

The kitsune was about to elaborate when the sizzling sound of a flareup emanated from the barbeque. He quickly threw open the lid and doused the flames with a nearby cup of water.

"Damn, gonna have to clean this thing tomorrow."

Turning back to Kaden, Fox said "The reason why I figure you haven't told Miyu yet is because that's how I was with Krystal in the beginning."

The couple exchanged a smile.

"To say the least, if I had to do it all over again, I would have told her how I felt a lot sooner."

Krystal sipped from her glass of wine.

"I agree, stammering, nervous Fox got old after a while."

That caused a small laugh among the three vulpines.

"Seriously though Kaden, if you have feelings for Miyu, tell her. The sooner, the better."

"I wish it were that simple, Fox."

Some time later, after the trio had finished dinner and cleaning up, they sat at the kitchen table doing shots of brandy. Kaden was in the midst of telling them about his mission on Venom.

"No doubt she's a Cerinian, but she was also able to do stuff that me and Krystal could never do. There was something else about her, something..."

Kaden struggled to find a word to describe what he had sensed about Kursed, a task not made easier by alcohol.

"Demonic." put in Fox, who then punctuated that by setting his shot glass down somewhat roughly.

Kaden eyed up the vulpine.

"Yeah, something like that."

Fox held out the bottle to Krystal and Kaden. When both of them shook their heads, the vulpine stood up and placed it back in the liquor cabinet.

"I'm off to the sack, goodnight you two."

The vulpine went upstairs to him and Krystal's bedroom, stripped out of his t shirt and shorts, and put on a green tank top and black pyjama pants.

He was asleep the second his head hit the pillow.

Despite the mention of what was very likely to be a demonic being, Fox slept fairly peacefully. A peaceful sleep that was interrupted by the sound of his communicator beeping, made all the worse by the vulpine's hangover.

"Had to be today." he grumbled.

Fox felt around his nightstand and grabbed the device, making sure to hit the audio only button.

"McCloud here." he said groggily.

"Good morning, Fox."

"Peppy?"

"Sorry to wake you, but we have an urgent matter."

"What do you mean, Pep?" Fox asked, now feeling a little more awake.

He could hear the hare sigh on the other end.

"It's fairly sensitive. I'd prefer if we discussed it face to face."

"Peppy no offence, but Krystal's brother was over last night. To say the least, I am in no shape to drive."

"I'll send a car for you."

"Alright Peppy, see you in a bit."

Fox ended the call and placed the communicator back on the nightstand. Laying back down, the vulpine felt Krystal turn over and rest her head on his chest.

"Looks like we've got another mission." she said.

"Yeah, and by the sound of things, the military wants it kept under wraps."

Fox kissed her on the cheek and then got out of bed.

"I shouldn't be too long babe."

With that, Fox left the bedroom and headed for the bathroom. On the way over, he could hear Kaden's snores coming from the spare room. That was still the case when he came back out after showering. In the bedroom, where Krystal had fallen back asleep, Fox changed into a pair of jeans, a blue t shirt, and his grey flight jacket.

Downstairs, the vulpine brewed himself a cup of coffee and made sure that he had his assigned ID card for General HQ.

Halfway through his coffee, Fox heard another, somewhat lower pitched beeping coming from his communicator. The vulpine tapped the screen and brought up a camera feed from the end of the driveway. The armoured military limo was just pulling in.

"Showtime." the vulpine commented before gulping down the rest of the coffee and standing up.

Fox took his holstered CR-10 pistol off of a hanger and belted it on. On his way outside, the vulpine used his comm to check through the scanners and cameras set up all over his rural property. None of them were picking up any movement or signs of life.

"Better safe than sorry."

The apparatus had been set up by his father James after two escaped convicts, Eugene Clegg and Feldon Drexler, had broken into the house and killed Fox's mother Vixy.

The kitsune's expression hardened; he had only been a few months old when that had happened, and thus, had no memories of her. All he had were a few photographs.

Though he had run into and killed Clegg just over six months ago, it hadn't brought Vixy back, and the encounter had almost cost Fox his life. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as the limo pulled up in front of his house. The vulpine seemingly stood at ease, but if this turned out to be a trick, and there was no shortage of people who wanted to kill Fox McCloud, he was more than ready to draw his weapon and throw himself into cover.

But when the canine driver got out and opened the backdoor, Fox let himself relax a little.

"Good morning, Mr. McCloud."

"Morning." Fox replied before getting in the back.

Day was breaking as the limo headed for Corneria City, the rising sun set the sky awash with pink, orange, and yellow.

Gradually, the forests, rolling hills, and farmers fields gave way to more urban areas. Smaller towns and coastal cities, and on the horizon, the skyline of Corneria City.

"15 minutes out, sir."

"Okay, thanks."

Once the limo arrived in front of the pyramid-shaped building that housed the General headquarters for the Lylatian military, Fox got out and climbed up the marble stairs. Several guards met him when he came through the front doors. Even as they were checking his ID card, they patted him down and removed his weapon and communicator. Biometric and retinal scans were conducted to make sure that the vulpine was who he said he was.

"Right this way sir, the general's expecting you."

Fox followed a pair of vulpine guards to an elevator. As the high speed lift began it's ascent, Fox felt his stomach lurch and grabbed a railing for stability.

"Are you alright sir?"

The vulpine nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just a little too much to drink last night, that's all."

The older of the two guards simply turned back around, but the younger gave Fox a knowing wink.

Within the space of a few minutes, the lift arrived at the top floor and Fox was shown into General Peppy Hare's office.

"Reporting as ordered, sir."

The elderly hare stood up from his desk.

"Fox, how many times do I have to tell you that there's no need for formalities?"

The two of them shook hands and smiled at each other.

Peppy had been one of the founding members of the original Star Fox team alongside Fox's father. After James had been killed by Andross, Peppy had taken Fox in and trained him to be a pilot. He had stayed on when Fox reformed the team, but as the years went by, the hare had stepped back from active duties more and more before finally trading his flight gear in for a red and gold general's uniform.

"So, how is Krystal's brother?" Peppy asked as he sat back down.

"Kaden's doing pretty well, all things considered."

Fox then related the story of Kaden and Miyu's encounter with the Venomian Mystery Woman, also known as Kursed.

"Interesting, I'll have my people look into it."

The hare's expression became more serious.

"As you've probably figured out, what I'm about to tell you is highly classified."

Peppy tapped some buttons on his desk, bringing up a hologram of one of the strangest objects Fox had ever seen. It was almost orb-like and flashed all sorts of colours.

"What is that?"

"We're not entirely sure, but Intelligence believes that it's a demonic artifact."

Fox's eyes widened slightly and he felt as if he was going to be sick.

"What we do know is that the Elites have had teams all over the Dellis system looking for this as well. From what we understand, there are five of them, and until recently, the Elites had found four."

The vulpine raised an eyebrow.

"Until recently?"

"Five days ago, we learned that the last of these objects was located on Karia. A team was dispatched to extract it before the Elites did."

Peppy now looked somber.

"Unfortunately, we lost contact with them, as well as their ships and escort squadron."

Fox slowly nodded.

"I see, so this is a search and rescue mission, right?"

"Yes and no. The Elites have informed us through back channels that they captured most of the personnel."

The hare took off his eye glasses.

"Worse still, Husky Squadron was the escort and Bill was in command."

Fox found himself frozen in place. He had been friends with Bill Grey since the flight academy and had fought alongside him during the numerous conflicts in Lylat.

"Peppy, please tell me he was taken alive."

"Luckily, he was."

The red fox took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.

"What's gonna happen to him and the others?"

"The Elites have told us that they will release them if we, in their words, stay out of their affairs."

An uneasy silence set in as Fox processed the fact that several Lylatians, including a close friend, were now languishing in a Sangheili jail.

"Given Sangheilos's involvement in the Demon War, the president is unwilling to negotiate, even if it's under the table." Peppy added.

The vulpine looked up at his old friend, eyes full of determination.

"I'll do whatever it takes to get them back."

"I thought you might say that."

Peppy cleared his throat before continuing.

"While finding and rescuing the hostages is your first priority, the president has asked that you retrieve any of the artifacts if you can."

Fox nodded in understanding.

"And Fox, one last thing. Does the name Necronomicon mean anything to you?"

"No. Why?"

"It's been mentioned in several of our intercepts."

The vulpine rubbed his chin and made a mental note to ask one of his two Sangheili teammates about this Necronomicon.

"Peppy, given where we'll be going, and the risks involved, I'm going to need more than our usual fee, a lot more."

"I'll convey that to the president, but I should warn you, we're trying to keep this quiet. Therefore, we can't pay you until the mission is completed."

Fox let out a somewhat frustrated sigh.

"It is what it is, I guess."

After that the two of them switched to more casual topics of conversation, namely about their respective occupations and personal lives. After a few minutes of this, Fox decided to take his leave.

"I'll see you around, Peppy."

They shook hands again.

"Call me when you're ready."

The journey back to the limo saw Fox looking a lot more forlorn than when he had entered the HQ. As the vehicle began it's return trip, Fox contacted Radoven Neigora, one of the team's two Sangheilli members. In his early sixties, the Elite now filled the role of older and wiser team member that Peppy had.

He looked contemplative after hearing of the mission.

"I'm not saying this can't be done, but it's going to be difficult with just us."

"You think we need outside help?"

"Given what they want us to do, yes. Absolutely."

"Alright Radoven, I'll talk to you later. Fox out."

When the limo arrived back at the McCloud residence, Fox told the driver "Thanks pal." and let himself out.

"No problem sir."

As the vulpine reached the front door, the smell of bacon entered his nostrils.

"Good, I'm starving."

Inside, the two Cerinians greeted him with smiles, though they quickly disappeared when they saw the look on Fox's face and the slow manner in which he hung up his jacket and blaster.

"What's wrong?" asked Krystal.

Fox simply sat down and began filling his plate full of food.

"It's a long story."