Chapter 3: Galactic Encounter

Samus Aran, a bounty hunter, traveled the cosmos in search of a signal she detected. She traveled through Sector X and found herself above a planet known as Fortuna. She descended her gunship into the lush and green environment. Coming out of her vessel, she wore white armor with blue plates on her shoulders, a blaster on her right arm, and a red plated helmet. She looked around and inside her helmet, she looked for a trace of the mysterious signal, and once she found it she headed her way in.

A large battle vessel entered Sector X. It was sleek and angular, containing blue and white. On its fin was a symbol. Inside the hull of the ship, Star Fox arrived. There was a brown hare wearing a green vest and a green eye piece on his right eye. Then there was a slippery toad, wearing a blue jumpsuit. Following him was a blue feathered falcon, wearing goggles on his head and on his neck was a red scarf. Then there was the leader of the team. He was a fox and he wore a pilot suit. His name was Fox McCloud.

"Alright Star Fox. We've arrived in Fortuna. Slippy, what's the status on that signal?" Fox asked. "The signal is still strong. It's definitely coming from here," Slippy said. "Alright. Falco, you're with me," Fox said. "Are you sure it is wise to go alone?" Peppy asked. "We'll be fine," Fox said. "Overconfidence will get you nowhere except trouble," Peppy said. "Peppy. We've been through worse. Like last week when Slippy almost led us into a black hole," Falco said. "I told you there was a planet there," Slippy complained. "Yeah yeah. Sure," Falco said sarcastically. Slippy grunted. "Alright. Break it up. Come on Falco," Fox said. "Yeah Yeah. Be right there," Falco said as he followed. "Those two better not get into trouble," Peppy said.

Fox and Falco used their Arwings to descend into the planet. They landed in the green environment. "Alright. Now to just follow the signal," Fox said as he programmed his eye piece. "This better not be some kind of prank Slippy, " Falco said. "Hey!" Slippy complained. Fox then took notice of Samus' ship through the trees and vines. "Hm. Looks like we're not alone," Fox said. "What?" Falco asked. "Slippy. Peppy. Inform us if you see anything or anybody strange," Fox ordered. "You got it cap'n," Slippy said.

"Come on. Let's go," Fox said. They followed a trail. On the way they noticed some footsteps engraved on the ground. "It seems whoever this guy is, they're also looking for whatever this signal is," Falco said. They walked further and found a cave entrance. "Slippy. Anything you can tell us about this?" Fox asked. "Hm. The signal is definitely coming from there. The trace goes deep, but our scanners can't pick it up from where it stops. If you go, we may lose communications," Slippy said. "Fox! You better be rational about this!" Peppy scolded. "You're right Peppy. Come one Falco. Let's go down there," Fox said. "Darn in your tarnations Fox. If you die, I'll kill you," Peppy said.

Fox and Falco descended down the cave. They only heard the water drops from the stalactites echo. "Pretty mysterious. This place looks like somebody built it a while ago," Falco said. "Let's be on the lookout," Fox said. "Why? Maybe nobody's here-" Falco said. A missile flew between the two and hit the wall behind them. "Run," they both said. They jumped out of the way as the missile exploded.

Samus appeared from further in the cave. "Well, looks like we found our guy," Falco said. Samus shot plasma from her cannon. The two Star Fox members jumped on top of the shots. "Falco! Get in close!" Fox commanded. "Got it Fox!" Falco yelled. Falco ran towards Samus. Samus shot more missiles from her cannon, but Falco managed to dodge all of them and jump above her. He went in for a kick when Samus caught it by her arm. Not noticing Fox running towards her, he kicked her in the back while Falco jumped out of the way next to Fox. Samus was launched deeper into the cave until she caught her fall.

"Hey. Had enough yet?" Falco asked. Samus stood back up and shook her head. Then Fox and Falco heard a beep. In between them was a bomb. Fox managed to jump out of the way but the bomb blew up next to Falco and knocked him out. "Falco!" Fox exclaimed. Samus charged towards Fox and tackled him into the wall. Fox grabbed his blaster and blasted Samus' armor and knocked her back. Samus kicked the blaster out of Fox's hand, but Fox retaliated and kicked her. They began fighting hand to hand. They were evenly matched. "You're good," Fox said as he panted. Samus looked through her visor around the environment, but it spazzed out due to the depth of the cave.

Falco shook his head off as he got back up. He jumped towards Samus, spun and slapped Samus further. Samus grabbed Falco's leg and smacked him around. Fox jumped up and did a drill kick. Samus used her other arm to grab Fox.

"Psycho shot!" An orb smacked the three and launched them back into the temple at the end of the cavern. "Hey! No fair!" Falco yelled. The three of them stood up and witnessed a man come into the picture. He was tall and seemed authoritative. He wore a military outfit fitted with a cape and a red beret. A notable feature of his was a stylized skull on his uniform. "I take it he's not with you," Fox said. "Insignificant mortals. You stand in my path. Move," he said. "And who the heck are you?" Falco asked. "I am M. Bison, embodiment of psycho power, the undisputed master of the battlefield, supreme commander of Shadoloo, and the one who will reshape this entire universe," he said. "Yeah. I fought worse," Fox said. "I know. O'Donnell told me," M. Bison said. "Wolf?" Fox asked. M. Bison then looked towards Samus. "And the space pirate mentioned you," he told her. Samus clenched her fist. "Now, prepare to witness power beyond your feeble comprehension, for you stand before greatness. Now tremble at the might of M. Bison!" he announced.

Samus charged forward. M. Bison launched himself and spun around. Samus shot plasma shots but M. Bison's attack went straight through them. He smacked Samus and launched her back. "Falco! Find out what's going on here!" Fox ordered. "Alright. What about you?" Falco asked. "I'm dealing with this guy," Fox said. Fox grabbed his blaster and shot at M. Bison. "Fool! Psycho Shot!" he yelled. He threw an orb at Fox. Fox used his reflector to launch back at M. Bison. M. Bison jumped away from his own attack. Samus was above M. Bison and she kicked him to the ground. Fox charged in and kicked M. Bison multiple times. M. Bison grabbed Fox tightly and threw him. Samus used her plasma whip to catch Fox. She then tossed him toward M. Bison. Fox jumped off and blasted M. Bison. M. Bison used his psychic power to move all the shots. Samus charged in and blasted M. Bison back.

"Fools! You believe you can go against my power!" M. Bison yelled. Shadow particles came from the tunnel. Primids grew exponentially around Samus and Fox. "Falco! Have you found whatever we're looking for!" Fox yelled. "Yeah," Falco said as he raised a Convergence Crystal, "I just found this." "That's mine!" M. Bison jumped towards Falco. "Oh boy," Falco said, "Fox!" Falco tossed the Convergence Crystal at Fox. Fox caught the crystal. "What's this thing?" Fox asked. "Get them!" M. Bison ordered.

The Primids all charged forward. Falco evaded M. Bison's attack, jumped down and kicked a Primid. Samus shot a beam out and destroyed some of the Primids. "Looks like we're on the same side," Fox said. "We better be," Falco said. M. Bison landed back down with the Primids and walked towards the trio. "We should get out of here though," Fox said. The three of them ran back through the tunnel. Samus shot the entrance, crumbling it behind them.

They ran outside the ship towards their ships. "So, what should we call you? Mysterious Guy?" Fox asked. Samus said nothing. "Hm. Not much of a talker," Fox said, "Slippy! Peppy! You copy?" "Copy Fox," Slippy said. "Boys! What trouble did you get into this time?" Peppy scolded. "What makes you think we're in trouble?" Falco asked. "You are out of breath so I'm assuming you're running for your life!" Peppy yelled. "Doesn't matter! We're going to need an extraction for three!" Fox ordered. "Three? Who else is there?" Slippy asked. "You'll meet him!" Fox yelled, "Just get us out of here!"

The cave behind them exploded as M. Bison walked through the flames he caused. Fox and Falco jumped into their Arwings and Samus jumped into her gunship. Fox and Falco flew above M. Bison. "Shoot him down!" Fox ordered. Fox and Falco shot lasers at M. Bison. M. Bison covered his face. Through the smoke, his eyes shined brightly. "Psycho shot!" he yelled. Fox and Falco dodged the attacks. Samus flew by quickly. She shot lasers at M. Bison. "Where is that dang frog?" Falco asked. A giant laser shot M. Bison. The Great Fox came in. "I'm a toad!" Slippy yelled. "Get in!" Peppy yelled.

The Arwings went into the Great Fox. They opened the bay door to allow Samus' Gunship to enter. The Great Fox quickly went up into the sky. M. Bison came out of the smoke and jumped out of the crater. He snarled, his hand pulsed with energy. A Primid came behind him and he punched it out of anger. He opened his wrist communicator. "Report. The fox O'Donnell warned about, including the mercenary who Ridley told us about escaped with the Convergence Crystal," M. Bison said.

The Great Fox flew through space. Star Fox all walked towards Samus' Gunship. "Who the hell is this?" Peppy asked. "Do they have snacks?" Slippy asked. "Slippy! I swear to Corneria!" Falco yelled, "Fox! This guy can't be trusted!" "Falco. Obviously this guy and us have a common enemy. Whoever that M. Bison guy is obviously working with Wolf," Fox said. "Who is M. Bison?" Peppy asked. "M. Bison is a guy we fought back down. We were barely able to hold our own against him," Fox said. "Yeah, and he wanted this. Slippy! Put this away," Falco ordered as he tossed the Convergence Crystal at Slippy. "Aw!" Slippy yelped as he nearly dropped the crystal. "And this M. Bison also mentioned something towards our new ally, making us," Fox said. Falco coughed. "Me… think that Wolf made some kind of alliance, and this guy also seems to have an enemy with them," Fox said. "Ah. So an enemy of our enemy is our friend," Peppy said. "Exactly," Fox said. "I still don't trust him," Falco said.

Samus opened her bay door and walked out. "Ooh. Sweet armor," Slippy said. "Alright new guy. Now who are you?" Falco said as he pointed his blaster at Samus. "Falco!" Fox scolded. "What?! I don't trust people who hide their faces," Falco said. "He does have a point. If we want to trust him, he'll have to unmask," Peppy said. "You guys-" Fox said. Air came out of Samus' helmet as she unmasked. Star Fox were all shocked. "HE'S A WOMAN!" they all yelled. "I get that a lot," Samus said, "Samus. Samus Aran." "Fox. Fox McCloud. And this is my team. Peppy Hare. Slippy Toad. And Falco Lombardi," Fox said. "Greetings," Peppy said. "Hi," Slippy said. "Uh…" Falco said. Falco licked his hand and pulled his feathers on his head back. "Hey there. You already heard my name. You know, I trusted you from the beginning," he lied. "But didn't you just," Slippy said. Falco punched Slippy in the face. "That was an act. To show my protocols," Falco said.

Samus ignored Falco's attempts and they went to the control center. "I arrived at this planet we were on as I was in search of the artifact you hold," Samus said. "What is this? It has high energy levels unlike anything we've ever seen," Slippy said. "I managed to find some ruins on the planet Zebes. There, I managed to decipher some of the text there. This crystal is called the Convergence Crystal. It is one of eight," Samus said. "Any idea what Wolf, or M. Bison would want with it?" Fox asked. "No clue. But that guy also mentioned Ridley. Let's just say, we're not close," Samus said. "Then we found a common enemy," Fox said. "Indeed," Samus said. "Then we should form a team. You know, so I could see you more… I mean so we have a better chance at stopping the evil people," Falco said. "Your vocabulary is way off, boy. Although he does make a point," Peppy said. "Hey! Stay away from her!" Falco exclaimed. "No! I meant we should work together to stop our enemies," Peppy said. "Oh yeah. That's what I said. Definitely," Falco said. "Smooth," Slippy said sarcastically. "Shut up," Falco said.

They all looked towards space. They witnessed a star fly past them. "Alright. Star Fox. Samus. We have some work to do," Fox said.