[AN]
I tried to work a little on my style of writing,
to make reading a tad bit more interesting.

Have fun.

No time like the Present

Lylat year 3525

Earth year 2124

The current Star Fox team consisted of

Fox McCloud Age 31

Slippy Toad Age 31

Peppy Hare Age 59

Falco Lombardi Age 35

Krystal of Cerinia Age 30

Fay Spaniel Age 32

Miyu Lynx Age 32

Planet Corneria C.D.F. Base - Repair Docks

For the Battle ridden, it was reassuring to know this save haven still existed. A place to tend to their wound's trice in number, the mechanical, flesh and spirit.

McCloud and his team, were no exception.

After Months of incessant battles on ever-shifting front lines have passed, the
Great-Fox and its crew, were taking a long-needed, if not so voluntary R , for no matter how obstinate one was, breaks where an occasionally needed imperative.
If not for the Pilots, then the for Machines and vice versa.
Neglecting this interplay mostly resulted the irreversible...death.

At present, the Dreadnought-class Cruiser anchored in bay 08.
There she lay in a row beside other vessels of similar classes.
Crippled from countless clashes with Corneria's adversaries, the once proud ship, was riddled with a myriad of scorch marks and broken armor plating,
amongst other gravely ills.
And just like its brethren, she awaited the mechanical teams to provide their service on her.

Not to mention the Arwing's which currently docked in her Hangar, the scarred fighters also had seen better days.

McCloud and the majority of his crew currently had taken seat in the ships dining area
He had turned the TV on but the news only had a disheartening effect on everyone.
Mostly Consisting of their current standstill on the frontlines.
No matter the effort they had put in every single breach with the Venomian's.
The moderators babbling made them feel even more as if treading water, then they already were doing.
Thus, he killed the audio, leaving only the motion picture flicker across the screen in a silent movie of some kind.

Like this, he along with Kystal, Miyu, Falco and Peppy, now shared concerns about the future and talked about the recent battle that had not played out... preferably.

Slippy and Fay were not present, ignoring their own need for rest, the two had decided to postpone their break and idly started on patching things up, with what spare parts they had not used up, throughout the rough voyage on the frontlines.

They had excused themselves despite a scolding glare from the vulpine who had rebuked them "not to overdo it".
Fox knew that he might have to go get them later on or else they probably would pull up an all-nighter in spite of their own condition.

"The last one, really did a number on us" Miyu mumbled, a pensive look adorned her features. The felines wary deep blue eyes stared into the mug of cold coffee she had poured herself when they all had gathered here to start the day a few hours prior. since then, she barely had taken a sip from the once warm brew.
Leaning heavy on her forearms, she reminiscent back on the last dance with their foe.
They had ventured too far out in the frontlines.

Had been too ambitious.

Too sure of themselves.

Then, they had flanked them, two Venomian cruisers.
Both had let loose a voracious flock of their drones to hunt them down, the small agile pests mercilessly had washed over them while Laser-fire had hammered away in a never ending staccato on shields and Armour of their ship.
They had made it by falling behind the frontlines but it had been a close cut for sure.
This mishap had ultimately pushed them to the point which had forced their untimely
return, to lick their wounds.

Falco scoffed at her comment, keeping quiet otherwise.
The avian was sitting opposite from her, his arms crossed in front of his chest, a similar look plastered on his visage while he emanated the same unease everyone did.

Fox let his gaze wander about his crew.
Everyone had the same emotion written all over their faces, Anxiety, he could see it clear as day, and it was not surprising after what they had, been through.
But he did not like it to see his team, his family in such a state.

"Guys" he started stepping a few feet away from the kitchen counter he had been leaning on and started to approach the table they all had gathered at.
"Come on, this was just a bad streak of luck, next time..." but he never got to finish his sentence.
A loud bang could be heard, caused by a feathered fist smashing on the table-top in anger had disrupted his speech.

"Zip, it, McCloud!" Falco snapped at his friend a fiery glimmer in the avians eyes told Fox he was not in the mood.
His pride already had been soiled enough even without Fox trying to pamper him with his pep talk.
He opened his beak to say more but was halted by a sudden wheight on his shoulder.

Peppy knitted his brow in misbilling, feeling the need intervene, he had leaned forward and laid a soft hand on his feathered friends shoulder gaining avian's attention.
"Falco" he started with warm tone "We are all a little spent, no?" he continued while nudging his head in the direction of the others present at the table, urging the avian to take a look at what was going on outside his bubble.

He did as Hare so subtly had asked him to do and let his fiery gaze wander about, taking in everyone's current mood.
Within a second his anger evaporated and he felt stupid at his own disability to control himself.
"Yeah, I know" he leaned back again taking in his former position "I get it...sorry guys"
he mumbled the last part rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand in embarrassment.

Fox nodded at Peppy in appreciation for his intervention.
He could always count on his old friend who, over the years had built up a father like authority.
And maybe that was what they all saw in him, something edging close to a father figure.
Fox had to smile gently at his own musings.

Snapping himself out of his thoughts, the vulpine opened his mouth to pick up where he had left off, but as if right on cue the door to the dining area hissed and slid open revealing Slippy and Fay, both looked, if possible, even worse for the wear compared to when they had left.
They dragged themselves over practically collapsing in their seats huffing in exhaustion. Fox only raised his brow at them telling both in a way 'told ya to rest'
But instead of berating them verbally he fetched a cup of coffee for each from the dispenser and placed the warm brew in their hands.
Both had nodded in appreciation.
He smiled at them knowing they had done it with the team's wellbeing in mind so he could not be too angry at his friends.
Heck, he probably would have done the same, if his affiliation with engineering had been a given.
Patting their shoulder in appreciation for always doing their best.
However, before this caring moment had passed, his wrist-communicator beeped.

'For real?' he huffed in irritation before taking a peek at its display, which
announced a call from Space Dynamic's.

With a swift motion of his hand, he linked it to the big screen in the room
before accepting it.
After a second of static, it revealed the face of a badger who seemed to be in his late forties.
"Hello, this is Joseph Marley, am I talking to Fox McCloud,
the captain of the Great-Fox?" he asked a bit nervous pushing his glasses up his snout.

"Yes, the one and only" the vulpine in question answered, giving Marley his trademark smile, which received a roll from Falco's eyes.

Marley's face lit up in delight
"Ah, excellent!" he exclaimed audibly clapping his hands under his desk in relief
"I called to inform you that an engineer is now available, he will be with you shortly and deliver the parts and additionally, he will help with repairs to get you back on you wings so to say" the badger had to chuckle at himself.

Marley's proposal however, left Fox and the others confused.

"Help?" the question escaped the vulpine in bewilderment that not only an engineer would deliver what was needed so direly, but at the same time he would stay, probably for an undefined amount of time, and assist in patching thigs up around the ship.
This was an uncommon approach, what about the Service team?

"Yes, orders from General Pepper" Marley answered, unwittingly pulling Fox from his train of thoughts.
"We provide additional help to speed up repairs" The badger elaborated further
"Because the dock fill faster than we can repair the ships and get them ready for
re-deployment, so we have to manage our... resources" he finally ended his explanation and folded his hands on the desk he was sitting at.

The vulpine's smile dwindled after hearing this. 'Manage resources?' all it meant was, too much work for too less personal to handle it.
'So much for the Service team'.
"Oh" was the one syllable answer escaping the now absentminded Captain, he knew the battles had taken a toll on Corneria's defense. If one had eyes and took a look around, it was discernable that most vessels where not here for a simple restock.

But to think their situation had spiraled down to
this point was... daunting, to put is nicely.

"Yes" Marley bobbed his head in agreement "Again, he should be with you shortly"
he ended waiting for a final answer
"Allright then" Fox sighed
"Mr. Marley we will accept, and await the extra pair of hands, thank you"
"Any time Mr. McCloud and thank you, for understanding" Marley nodded his head
one last time before terminating the line.

The room grew quiet after the screen had gone back to displaying the muted news channel depicting the weather forecast for the next days.

After a minute or two Miyu was the first to find her Voice once more
"So" the feline started uncertain playing with the spoon in her mug
"I guess we all knew that our defense force was not performing well" she carefully continued keeping in mind, they too, were part of Corneria's fleet entailed with Protecting what had become vulnerable over the last 16 months, and they as ell had not been at their peak performance for weeks now.
"But to think... Damn!" she spat frustrated letting go of the spoon which fell beneath her cup spraying some remains of the brew which still had been stuck to it, soiling the table around the silver cutlery, but at the moment she could not care less.

"The CDF really is on its last leg, huh?" Falco had taken the blunt way to put it.
The others flinched at his remark and their moral, if possible, seemed to sink even further.
He looked around puzzled until his gaze stopped at Fox who cut him
a sharp glared, he was angered a little at his friend, to voice it in such a crude way.
"What I say this time!" the oblivious avian demanded to know, throwing his Feathered hands up.
Not understanding the demerit, he now received from his friend.
But before a skirmish had the chance to break loose between him and Fox, the display's speaker beeped in slow rhythm and its screen split its view into two.
The right-hand side, still played the news, now depicting a moderator babbling about some lottery numbers, the left-hand side thou, was giving notice of someone at the hangar staff entrance.

"Patch it through" Fox ordered ROB-64
the Com-system crackled to life and a Voice
roughly asked for someone to, as it put it rather bluntly
"Pick up the fucking phone, I am not a messenger!"

They looked at each other bewildered at the sudden outburst over the Com's
wondering for who, to knock on their door in such an uncouth manner.

The video feed displayed a face befitting of the rude tone of voice.
The staff sergeant patrolling the docks stared directly at them through the piece of tech, and damn he was a very grumpy looking lion at the moment "About time!" he grumbled through gritted teeth

'that's one rough fellow' Fox thought ignoring the hostility for a moment.
Instead, he put on his trademark smile once again
"This is Fox McCloud, with who do I have the... pleasure" the vulpine asked, but not forgetting the important part, the sarcasm at the end.

"Stop playing games pup!" the lion's mane fizzed up in dander "I don't have all day, just open the damn hangar" He demanded "Your parts have arrived and the bastard delivering them is getting on me nuts" he finished rudely, pointing his left thumb at someone outside the camera feed.
"Now, if, possible!" he added impatient, his anger seething from every word.

"What a little sunshine" Krystal said from behind her cup of tea earning chuckles from the others
"He should write motivation speeches, no?" Miyu added stifling a laugh.
Fox thou, closed his eyes wincing internally already knowing what would happen the next second.

A wave of profanities exploded through the speakers now as the lion had reached critical and started a one-man meltdown party of his own.
"Alright, alright just keep from getting a hernia sir I am on my way" Fox tried to speak over the roars on the other side before he simply killed the line of communication while rolling his eyes. 'Cheech...'

He swiftly turned around facing his crew whose mood seems to have lifted
"Well then guys, any voluntary?" He asked in hopes.

But Only, to be given silence in return.

Krystal's Ear flicked innocently while the vixen sipped on her tea.

Slippy and Fay suddenly remembered they had to repair their broken communicators while Miyu cleaned the mess, she had made with the coffee earlier.
But even after everything was gone, she never stopped wiping the table ...'very suspicious'.
By the way, did he ever see the cat clean up?

Peppy pretended to be asleep, or was he really sleeping?
Fox never could tell with the Hare.

And Falco...was the avian really trying to hide under the table?

"Woah calm down, not everyone at once" he chuckled at their anticsas he made his way for the elevator.
"Will be back in a few...hopefully" the vulpine huffed in fake disappointment.
"Better go get a juggernaut suit for this one" Slippy offered chuckling
"Might be a good idea I will think about it on my way down" Fox smirked, entering the lift

Leaving his crew, which now animatedly talked and joked with each other about the Seargent and his short fuse, to deal with the former mentioned and his temper tantrum.

The lift stopped at the hangar, from there on it was just a short trip passing crates and their Arwing's and in less than 3 minutes, he had reached the staff entrance, and took a deep breath 'Ready or not' he mused to himself before his hand reached for the panel to open the entrance.

As the heavy bulk-door slid open with a hiss from its servos, light from Corneria's local star momentarily blinded him, but just for a second before his eyes adapted, and
the vulpine opened his mouth to greet the Seargent, but closed it again as soon as his lips had parted.

Before he even could have uttered a word, he was silenced by his wonder.

He had expected to find the fuming lion, but instead he found himself face to face with a human cradling a Data-Pad in right his arm over his chest.
The man, clad in a maintenance suit of some sorts appeared to be... waiting.
The vulpine stuck his head outside the frame, looking up and down the docks, perplexed at the sergeant's disappearance.
But other than the docks busy life, crates with the S.D. signature carried by
hover-drones standing by the hangar entrance and occasional surly gazes he received from by-passers, probably for interacting with a human, there was no sight of the big angry cat.
Not that it would have affected him greatly had the lion really molten away.
'One trauma less to process' he thought relived that he would not have to deal with him anymore, with that he turned his attention back to the human right in front of him again.
A young man probably still in his twenties, approximately of the same height as himself, a medium stature, a patch of messy light brown hair on his head, and headphones hanging loosely around his neck.
His blue-green eyes emanating a relaxed manor and a patient smile plastered on his face, there he stood... still waiting.

"Um...Yes" McCloud finally found his speech again, still in bewilderment.

"Hello sir, my name is Jake Strider" the human spoke up seemingly bemused by the question marks written all over the vulpine's face.
"Space-Dynamics send me on orders from general Pepper" he proceeded to explain
holding out the Data-Pad he had cradled just moments ago, for Fox to take.
"He said that you could use a helping hand with the repairs" the, as Jake identified human finished, his smile never left his face, not even for a second.
Like this, he waited uncomplaining for Fox to process the information... and take the Data-Pad.

It took a second until the cogs McCloud's head finished processing everything before it clicked.
As if a video had finished buffering, he snapped out of his daze "AH, yes!" escaped him with a little too much vigour as he finally took the Pad from Jakes grasp.
"Mr. Marley mentioned he would send us someone able to speed things up a little"
Fox finished looking at Jake for a moment "And I suppose you are the promise engineer?" the vulpine finished before turning his attention to the Data-Pad, containing the contract, in his hands and started going over the sheets.

"Yes sir, your assumption is correct" Jake nodded along with his answer, keeping quiet afterwards as to give Fox time to go over the documentation.
After a few seconds filled with nothing but the sounds of the vulpine swift fingers swiping away on the Data-Pad, filling in his signature and checking between the different contract sheets to verify that every stamp was at its designated place, he confirmed it legit, and handed the finished paperwork back at Jake.

He opened the hangar door to let the drones in so the machines could finish their delivery.
"Alright then, come in and follow me, names Fox McCloud by the way so drop the sir stuff" Fox said gesturing him not to fall behind, the vulpine himself had no problems with humans perse but having one on his ship was going to be an interesting time to put it mildly, and the other thing was, how would the rest of his crew react?

He peeked over his shoulder, questions burning on his mind and after a few seconds of debating with himself weather or weather not to ask, his curiosity got the better of him and he fired away.
"So how long have you been doing this Job" The vulpine tried to sound regal but the curiosity still lingered very pregnant in his tone.

Jake was surprised Fox would even bother asking, most contractees either shoed him away instantly or wanted as less contact with him as possible, while he worked.
Sure, there were exceptions but that had rarely been the case.
Having a human aboard mostly was frowned upon, a bad constellation...and an Absolut no go for the majority.
So yeah, this was a surprise for sure, but a welcome one.

"This is my twelfth year now" Jake answered briefly while taking in the sight of the Arwing's as they passed them. 'Poor things' he thought bitterly at their overall state.
"Twelve years?" McCloud once more turned his head to the human in question.

"But, how long have you been here on Corneria?" He questioned further.
A little over Six years ago, humans and cornerian's didn't even knew of the others existence, so he could not have been here before that time, for sure.
The treaty had started somewhere around Fife nearly Six years ago, some outposts had already permitted humans, and started trading with them, even back then.
It was skeptically looked upon by higher ups but it still was an accepted practice.
Which means even before the war with venom had started, there was a small chance to come across one or two humans here and there.

But before Fox could indulge further in his hypothetical inner rant, filled with if's and when's, which was basically getting him nowhere, Jake unwittingly barged into it
"That's true, I have been working as an engineer for twelve years now of which I have spent the last Four here in Lylat.
Three on different stations, and one here on corneria at space dynamics in the active production branch to be more precise" The human ended his explanation.

'Four years in total?' The Vulpine was impressed that a human could hold out that long so far away from home 'Interesting' he thought to himself.
And did he hear right? S.D. not one of its minor branches but the real deal?
Fox Whistled "Color me impressed, not easy to get in for..." He cut himself off pulling the breaks on his babbling and turning his head back in front of him while biting his tongue for the slipup.

"A human?" Jake asked, and he vulpine could swear he heard some mild amusement in the human's voice.

"For anyone, I wanted to say, for anyone" The vulpine tried talking himself out, yet a huff escaped him at the end, upon realizing the obvious.
'I can't even convince myself with his lame excuse'
He though stopping in front of the elevator leading to the upper levels waiting for its arrival, he turned to Jake an apologetic look on his face.

The lift arrived, and with a swishing noise of its opening doors it invited both for the ride up.
"It's ok sir I get that a lot" Jake laughed it off as both entered their transport, and shortly after the doors closed, sending them on their way.

"Sorry" Fox still apologized, scratching the back of his head in rue "I did not mean to make it sound like that" Fox knew of the racism against human's it was omnipresent in the Lylat System born out of past and present conflicts.

"It's ok" Jake waved it off again "I am not offended" he chuckled again.
"But you are right it is not easy and nearly impossible for a human but I managed to get in due to the current situation and the established exchange program so I write it up to pure luck and nothing else"

"Hey, sometimes luck is all that's needed I can tell you" Fox laughed

"I can't deny that sir" Jake agreed, chiming in with the vulpine.
The lift slowed to a halt and Fox turned to Jake "Alright we are here" he said putting a hand on the Humans shoulder "You are about to meet the team" he warned him "Oh and again, drop that sir stuff, please" he gave him a grin as the doors opened.