Star Fox 1. Chapter 1

**StarFox – Rebellion Squad**

**Chapter One**

The sound of many violins moving as one, while an orchestra of many other instruments behind them painted a canvas of great peacefulness flowed from the badly repaired jukebox and into the metallic bridge of the Great Fox. Tapping his toe to the light beat and the trills of the flutes was an old gray hare in beige trench coat, who in his later years of life wished nothing more then to enjoy the tranquility of life and the serenity of it all. The green toad on the other hand, who sat several feet away working frantically on a motor similar to that of an engine, did not share that same love in life. His was more one of complexity, problems and solutions so as he glanced up in a glare to the old hare his whinny voice rang out over top of the light music.

"Peppy, can't ya just knock that blasted crap off! I'm trying to concentrate here on the new radar unit I'm workin' on!" The green toad was not a friendly site at the movement as beyond his dark eye glare his usual brown coat and blue jumpsuit was stained in oil, giving him a scruffy look. Removing his cap to wipe his brow he only looked away from Peppy for only a movement but soon placed his red cap back on his head and continued his evil look.

The gray hare didn't even flinch nor looked at the toad, his tone continued to tap and you would have thought he didn't hear what was said, when he replied back though you could understand that he heard but simply didn't care. His voice was as calm and neat as his well kept fur and clothing along with his old age and the small smile on his face brought a certain level of comfort when he was around, a sense of trust within the old hare.

"Sorry Slippy I quite enjoy this song and feel that this ship needs a certain level of," he paused for only a moment to find the word, lifting his arm in the process and waving his paw around as if it helped him find the word but not once did he look up at the toad, "class, at least once in a while."

This answer clearly didn't please Slippy one bit as he rose to his feet in such frustration and anger that the air on the small bridge felt heavier and awkward to an on looker. Clenching on the wrench in his hand, tensing his mussels up the toad stomped closer to Peppy and through clench teeth spoke once more.

"If you don't turn that mess off, I'll do it for you," the threat was spat in such a harsh tone that the old hare couldn't help but at least glance at the angered toad in front of him. Then moving slightly the old hare stretched before replying, crossing his arms on his chest and fixing himself in a more comfortable position. Yet before he could answer, some else did it for him.

"Slip, mind your elders there and if it's really bothering you then just move down to the engine room. You'll probably get more peace there anyway!" Such a strong tone spoke these words, it wasn't spoken though in a mean way but more in a matter of fact then anything. A fed up brown fox looked out from behind a sheet of paper at the two, he was sick of them squabbling all the time and merely felt it was a good idea to separate the two before their tensions cause a fight.

The toad gave him a pleading look before giving up going over to his latest project, picking it up and carrying it out of the room with a little effort. Peppy watched this happen before looking over to the fox, it was evident that the hare didn't really know how to reply to this situation.

The fox wore a vest the same colour as Peppy's coat, thrown over a lose green shirt and a matching green pants. His large brown boots were rested on the console in front of him and a small name tag was sown into the vest, it read 'Fox McCloud'. Unable though to just lay there anymore, a growing need to walk gathered up into the captain of the StarFox team and soon he dropped the papering in order to jump up to his feet.

Moving towards the door the annoyed Slippy just left, he turned to glance at their rather oddly looking robot companion on the other side other room. It was quite long in figure and it was quite busy punching in dozens of buttons that allow their ship to move within space. Getting a cleaver idea to get Peppy back for the incident that happened earlier he chuckled as he commanded to the old the robot.

"Hey Rob 64, you got the bridge okay?"

"Affirmative," it replied in a monotone cold voice, but hearing this Peppy turned in what appeared to be alarm and surprise to Fox's action, yet Fox didn't stick around to hear what the old hare would probably have to say about that as he was already through the door and on his way to see the final member of his crew, wondering what the bird could be up to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The space captain had a pretty good idea on where to find this member of his crew and in someway felt that he was the closest friend he had, despite the rude attitude and cocky remarks. Slippy could be better described as a coworker to Fox, while Peppy tended to be more of a father to him then a friend.

Fox missed his father greatly, much tragedy in his death that occurred when Fox was only a young boy. James McCloud was not only the father of Fox but was also the captain of the original StarFox team, at that time the most elite force in the Lylat system. His team consisted of Peppy Hare and Pigma Pig, a team so fierce and unstoppable that they had little problem breaking though the intense force that a mad scientist named Andross created. As they approached the headquarters of Andross though, Pigma betrayed both James and Peppy causing them to be captured by the mad scientist. Peppy manage to escape the torment alive but Fox's father was less fortunate, ever since then Peppy looked out for Fox and raised him in James's place.

As the fox made his way down the hall towards the training room, where he suspected his friend would be, he passed the many gifts of gratitude given to him and his team over their long years of service. From the medals that were awarded for stopping the threat of Andross decades ago during the Lylat Wars to the recent thank you letters from the children of a distant planet that they helped supply, all of them were displayed with honour in the wide corridor.

Fox's mind however was not on the many adventures he has had but more on how much he was looking forward in coming back home to Corniera. They have been away nearly five years now, way too long for his liking and he hasn't even heard from the central planet of the Lylat system in years. After the StarFox team traveled the galaxies for adventures and extra cash around the ship, it will be nice to actually take a break and talk to many of his old friends again.

Lazily walking into the training room, he immediately moved to lean against the doorframe and watch the blue falcon continue to beat up the small punching bag. Fox pondered for a moment on how much more of a beating that white bag can handle and as he then crossed his arms against his chest he smirked faintly. It was always a slight wonder to the fox on how the bird could fight like that without any known formal training, yet as he leaned there he then realized that the past of his friend wasn't something he knew very much about. Finally shrugging off that thought, he decided to open his mouth in order to get the man's attention.

"Excited?" Fox asked keeping his relaxed and comfortable potion and with his eyes on the blue falcon, allowed a small smile of friendship to grow on his face. Although they were friends in a strange way, the starship captain always knew that if there was anyone on this ship that would challenge his leader ship it would be him. It was just in the man's nature really and Fox understood that yet this thought still made him uneasy at times, especially when he thinks about how his father died because of one of his team members betrayed him.

The falcon wore a white muscle shirt and brown cargo pants, his usual outfit for training. Pausing in the workout to look over at Fox, he then moved towards the large towel rack against the far wall and grabbed the closest towel to him. Dabbing his face, he placed the towel around his neck and grab his brown shirt off the bench. Then slipping it on he reached for his beige coat, which looked very similar to the one that Fox was wearing. "For what?" He asked raising a brow, which told Fox that his friend didn't quite understand what he was talking about.

"Going back home of course. I mean it's been a while since you've seen Katt and I thought you would be excited in seeing her again," the fox made it a point to keep his eyes focused on the falcon as he spoke but after awhile the man's mind began to wonder and so did his eyes. After looking quickly around the small training room and making a few mental notes on how it needs a good cleaning, he looked once more at the falcon, "You are planning to see her, aren't you Falco?"

A silent pause followed the question and Fox soon noticed an awkward feeling to grow in the room, now he started to second guess the meaning behind what he just asked. Falco kept his eyes away from Fox as he slipped the towel off his shoulders and replaced it with his coat, all done in one slow movement. During this movement the blue falcon looked down towards the ground as if he was reading what he was going to say from the ground.

Finally after several seconds that felt more like minutes to the fox, he replied in a very defensive and snappy tone. Raising his eyes to glare into Fox's he snarled, "What I plan on my own time isn't any of your business Fox." A lot of resentment was found in Falco's voice as he stormed past Fox and headed towards his room. Standing there the fox could only blink a few times, confused by the reaction of the falcon as Fox thought it was a pretty innocent question. Nothing that should have offended or angered Falco like it did.

Katt was the only one Fox knew who actually got close to the usually cold hearted and shutout bird. He met her only a few times before and from what he saw, she was a decent person who cared for Falco deeply. A pink cat of great beauty, Fox never quite understood why Falco left her as from what little he has heard there was once plans for the two to be wed but for some odd reason Falco called it off. According to Falco's personal record, Katt and Falco met when they worked in a space gang named the "Space Hot-Rodders". In the end though that life style nearly landed the falcon in prison and it was only then Fox met Falco. Apparently General Pepper had a deal with Falco that if the man joined up to the StarFox team, he would be pardoned from his charges.

It was odd how his team was formed and the more he thought about it the more he wondered how they even managed to be formed in the first place. The team's history made him chuckle slight in amusement, at one point they were a band of outlaws in the solar system and now they were the heroes of it. Oh how life can be, one minute your down the next you're right back up again. Before he could get lost in old memories an urgent call rang though the intercom of the large ship and he immediately recognized it was the sound of Rob 64.

"Paging Captain Fox McCloud to the bridge; critical situation" In seconds Fox quickly moved out of his relaxed folded arm position in order to turn and run towards the bridge room, panicked in what the critical situation could be.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Dashing onto the bridge of the Great Fox, the leader looked immediately to Rob 64 then to Peppy. In seconds he noticed Falco and Slippy entered the room, both with a curios look on their faces. Panting slightly from the run and worry, Fox made his way to the captain chair in the middle of the room and sat down. "What's the situation Rob?" he asked looking away form the robot to look at the large viewing screen that dropped down in front of the crew.

"We have reached the coordinates of Corneria," as Rob's monotone voice rang out in the silent room filled with control panels and charts, the viewing screen displayed only a picture of open space. Puzzled and confused, Fox glanced at Peppy as if to get a better explanation from the man who usually had all the answers but the look Peppy gave back told Fox that even the old hare didn't have a clue in what was going on. Annoyed now at Rob for calling a false emergency, he glared at the beat up old Robot and started to ponder if he should ask Slippy to take a look at it. Giving a slight sigh of relief, followed by a sarcastic chuckle Fox then folded his arms behind his head and used it to prop up his head as he then slouched in the captain's chair.

"Okay so we reached Corneria, how about we set the Great Fox down somewhere and get on with it. Didn't know I needed to command you to do that, but okay let's do that." Fox ordered but Rob stood still, it's cold, creepy eyes pointed and locked to Fox. Although he wasn't against technology or robots, the star captain always found looking into the eyes of one was disturbing. It was so inhuman and it was impossible to know what it felt, that is if it felt anything at all.

Rob finally replied shaking its steel head side to side in a perfectly straight way, "Error, command not possible please give another order."

When Fox heard that he sat up to get a better look at the robot, baffled he couldn't help but just raise a brow and probe deeper into the reason. His mind was racing in what it could be, was the ship in dire repair and unable to land? Maybe Corneria is in a rough storm that is impossible to fly though. Both of those seemed possible to Fox but for some reason deep down he felt neither were right, with fear starting to grow he then asked, "not possible? Explain?"

"Planet Corneria no longer exists," shocked couldn't explain what Fox felt as his eyes darted to look once more at the viewing screen, sitting at the edge of his chair for a better look. Now he understood, the open space that was displayed on the viewing screen was where Corneria should be. As he looked harder he could even see a few pieces of debris from the planet, floating in it's place. That was it and as a sickening feeling grew in his stomach, he sat back in the chair still in shock.

Speechless he couldn't fully believe that the entire planet was gone and pondered immediately after on what could have caused such destruction, along with thousands of other questions racing though his head. Did an asteroid do this? Maybe it was self inflicted or possibly it could have been another foe, Fox wasn't sure but the sorrowful moment in the bridge was soon broken by the near whisper of Peppy's voice.

"What are we going to do Fox?" Glancing over at the old hare he noticed how his old friend just sat in his chair by the jukebox, looking back with a face that was trying to be strong but Fox could see that his eyes were stricken with grief. He knew that most of the old hare's friends were on that planet and even though it is possible everyone was evacuated, seeing the planet destroyed gave off a sense of mass death. Total destruction and annotation.

Lost for ideas, Fox could only sit there fighting back a few of the emotions he had towards the destroyed rubble. Even though he hasn't lived there in decades, many of his best memories of his father was on that planet and now it was gone, along with millions of innocent creatures. Humming in order to reassure the others that he was pondering, Fox's mind was empty and soon only one thought surfaced on his mind. They must find out what happened here, they need a place that they could go for help. As he thought of the near by planets, one stood out in his mind.

"Rob set a course for Katina, hopefully Bill is still assigned there and he'll be able to shed some light on what happened here," trying to put as much confidence into his voice, Fox didn't want the rest of the crew to feel disorganized with the situation. A strong leader shows a strong team, he thought and as they passed the wreckage he stood up form his chair as the crew gave a minute of silence to the destruction of Corneria.

Bill and Fox went way back, they both met when they were boys in the space academy at Corneria. A gray mouse who wasn't as skillful in flying as Fox but because of his cool head under pressure, he was always promoted before Fox was until Fox left the academy. Last time they saw each other Bill Gray was commander of the Katina base and after helping defend the base from the attacking forces of Andross, they both once again parted ways.

Fox would have been looking forward to seeing the old friend again but because of the circumstances, there was no spark of joy as the Great Fox plotted a course to Katina. A few seconds later though, the fox's mind started to wonder if this was an attack and the Katina base was destroyed? Fox was unsure if he could handle that kind of devastation and a new sense of fear found itself into his stomach.

Glancing around, he noticed that the others have taken seats around the consoles on the ship's large bridge. Everyone was silent, Fox could see that they were probably lost in their own thoughts, memories and fears. With a faint sigh, he glanced over at Rob 64. The metal expression hasn't changed and that didn't really surprise the brown fox one bit as really how could Rob feel the death surrounding this topic or the pain that others felt? It is after all only a robot, cold and insensitive of any emotion. Knowing that they would arrive at Katina shortly, as it wasn't too far away from where Corneria was, Fox glanced once more at his solemn crew. Words would only ruin the atmosphere, as this was truly beyond words.

"Approaching planet Katina, land on surface?" Rob's voice felt so crisp in the silence that Fox found it hard to ignore, so nodding his head slightly Fox continued his stare at the viewing screen. I hope General Pepper is here, I hope they evacuated the planet safely, I just hope my worst fears aren't true.

As the ship moved closer to the surface of the planet, the viewing screen displayed what was truly Fox's fear. Woozy by the site, he glanced at Peppy first then Falco and finally Slippy noticing that it looked like he wasn't the only one who felt ill at the sight. Desert, the entire planet was just a vast wasteland with only a few stone rubble stood in stead of the base that was suppose to be there. The captain could only mutter to himself as the idea to do anything else was lost, he couldn't even gather enough thought to blink.

"It's gone," With that said there was once again an eerie silence on the bridge, broken only by the sound of a few beeping control panels in what seems now to be such an empty ship. Fox was lost now, with a deep sigh he looked hopelessly to Peppy. He needed guidance badly but the advice didn't come from Peppy, nor Falco or Slippy as it oddly came from the emotionless Rob that stood in the background.

"Air quality is safe, Gravity is average, temperature is twenty degrees. Sensors detect no life on surface but there is electromagnetic activity occurring underground. Suggestion is that it should be checked out for the possibility of supporting life." So mechanical but rational at the same time. Turning his head to fully look at Rob he knew the machine was right and in a slight way felt glad it was there to be rational at such a disturbing discovery. Although it couldn't feel or think, Rob could react and at the moment that's all the situation needed.

Slowly standing, hunched over and depressed, Fox looked to his crew for their reaction to this. Peppy was tearful, Slippy was in shock and Falco had a look of disbelief on his face. Knowing that the sooner they get to work, the sooner they'll find out more and the easier it was to grieve, Fox moved towards the door he finally looked back to them again, "Time to suit up boys, let's go check it out."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

The Great Fox hovered closely to the ground's surface as its large cargo doors slowly open. The landmaster appeared from the grand doors, a heavy tank built by Slippy years ago and has aided the crew in missions many times before. It had similar weapons to that of their planes known as arwings, only it had stronger amour and limited hovering abilities. Using the underbelly rockets to gently fall to the ground, the value of such a vehicle to the team was incomprehensible.

The minute the tank touched down on the arid, cracked desert surface the top hatch flew open and climbing out was a very annoyed Falco, who looked back down into the hole as he moved out and away from it. Ranting he jumped down, holding a rather large blaster in both of his hands, goggles over his eyes and a red bandana was draped around his neck to protect him form the blowing sand. "Dam Slippy, couldn't you have built that bigger? Man that was one cramped ride! Can't believe you forced us to do that Fox, makes me wondered if you've finally accomplished one of your life long dreams.

"Stop ya belly achin', cause I didn't see you offer a lick in buildin'er!" Jumping out of the hole after Falco was the green toad. He too had goggles over his eyes and a black bandana to protect himself from the sand, but instead of a large blaster the toad carried a scanning system in his hands and a small pistol at his side.

Having a problem getting out of the tank was the old hare, who struggled with getting to the hole and finally fell to the ground with a plump. Falco could only chuckle at the sight while Slippy rushed to help Peppy up. Peppy wore goggles and a green bandana as well, but unlike the other two he carried a medical kit incase they did meat up with one who was hurt and a small side pistol.

"Okay Falco, knock it off. Anyway wasn't it YOUR hand that was getting a bit too friendly back there?" Fox's voice rang though the intercom link between all four members of the team as he remained in the tank being elected as the best driver, a title he held with pride and rubbed in Falco's face at least once in a while. It was decided earlier on the way to the cargo bay that he drives the tank, while the other three move ahead looking for any indication for a way to get blow the surface.

"Let's just get to work," Falco muttered back to Fox, not saying anything in his defense knowing that he was now fighting a losing battle and rathered to change the topic then lose at the topic.

As the troop moved slowly a head, the desert wind kicked up plenty of sand into the faces of Falco, Slippy and Peppy, which made Fox feel quite lucky that he was in the window-less tank. Little talk was spoken over the intercom as it was time for work to be done, desperate unpaid work to be precise. Rarely did they work without any kind of payment but because this was more for personal interest, the group of mercenaries carried on with no complaint about their lack of funding. Anyway the man that normally pays them could be dead by now, killed in the destruction of Corneria.

The Great Fox left to orbit the planet and save on fuel while the group was exploring and as it took off, a feeling of being totally alone nearly overwhelmed Fox and his crew. It was creepy, exploring the deserted surface of Katina as he remembered how lively it once looked and how much life the planet had on it. That thought once again brought to the space captain a feeling of death and the incomplete feeling of never knowing what really happened.

Picking up more and more, the wind started to kick up sand and violently beat against the side of the tank. Hearing it Fox feared for the safely of the others realizing that this was the beginning of a stand storm, but before he could warn the crew a badly muffled Slippy voice entered his ear though the intercom.

"I'm getting' really weird readin's here Fox, like somethin' is in ta sand'p ahead," Looking though the tank's small view screen he could see the sand that Slippy was referring to and as he looked at them harder he noticed that there was something really odd about it. It didn't look a live, nor did it look natural or like any of the rubble surrounding them. It a was sand lumps, but the shape and size wasn't like any other sand lumps they've seen.

Slowing down the tank so that he wouldn't run it over and possibly crush what ever made those lumps, Fox responded to the entire group through their communication line, "okay guys lets check out those lumps and then head back to the Great Fox. These winds are getting too brutal and it's best to just wait for the storm to clear before we continue." The fox watched on his viewing screen as Falco rushed ahead with his blaster, being the first to investigate it as he had the best weapon out of all the members on foot. Following at a decent distance was Slippy before Fox rolled in with his tank along side. Peppy brought up the rear feeling that if his services are needed he'll dash to the front, but there was no need for a badly armed man to rush into a possibly dangerous situation.

As the falcon came close to the first of at least twenty lumps of sand, a rather strong arm reached out from underneath it and latched itself tightly to his foot. Falling Falco yelled out in surprised yet regained himself quickly and fire his blaster at the lump in defense. As he did so, the hand's grip fell limp and quickly followed was the lump and it was quickly realized in the group that these lumps were really people in a camouflage of sorts.

The other lumps quickly jumped up and revealed many creatures that were hiding under them, holding modified blasters. A fire fight broke out, Falco scrambled back to his feet and started to wildly fire at the attackers while dodging the many bullets sent his way. Despite his excellent training and skill, the large numbers of the group quickly over took him and he received a blast directly to his chest. In seconds Falco, the ace pilot, fell to the ground in a electric shock and twitched a few times before laying limp in the sand as the others continued the fight around him.

Fox and the rest of the crew had no time to react as the bullets flew their way, now that they have neutralized their first target. Slippy threw down his scanner to reach for his side pistol but wasn't quick enough as he soon received a shot from behind, knocking him forward and out on the ground. Peppy though was able to take shelter behind the tank and fired out to the attackers with the deadly accuracy that his long time experience had with his pistol.

Firing a few shots then going back to behind the tank, Peppy kept this up for several minutes into the fight and was falling into a nice rhythm. In the tank Fox fired the large tank's bullets at the foes, hitting many of them at once white their shots bounced off the strong shields of the tank. It looked like the firepower and strength of the tank could be enough to survive the large numbers the remaining StarFox crew faced but as Fox grew some confidence in their survival rates, one of the attackers got close enough to slap a circular mechanical device on the side of the tank. It was an anti-tank electrical mine, used to send large amounts of electricity through tanks and sort circuit them.

In seconds the entire tank became full of electricity and the unsuspecting Peppy, who was taking shelter behind it, was immediately blasted away from the tank and laid still on the ground where he landed. Fox on the other hand, quickly was able to leap out and away of the tank yet was met by the large attacking force. Not willing to surrender, he quickly rose his blaster to fire but the group hit him first and he too then finally fell to the ground in defeat before everything became dark.


End file.
