• Published 29th Nov 2012
  • 6,083 Views, 140 Comments

From Lylat, With Love - Cobalt Swirls



After receiving reports of disturbing activity coming from a remote system in the cosmos, the Star Fox team is assigned to investigate. Low on funds and head held high for adventure, the team accepts the offer, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead.

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II - Zoness

“ROB, activate the tether receivers.”

“Tether receivers activating. Decreasing primary thrusters.”

The massive flagship approached the Zoness fueling station that currently blocked the view of the planet of the same name. Once a beautiful vacation retreat, Andross’ polluting during the Lylat Wars had transformed it into a polluted aquatic world. From space, the planet appeared to be striated with black and brown bands, remnants of the airborne pollution that had melted the ice caps and flooded the planet, leaving only a few islands and Cornerian bases above the ocean waves. While the surface had been cleaned to a phenomenal extent, the upper atmosphere had yet to be expunged of the filth.

The ship aligned itself with four gigantic prongs jetting out from the front of the station. As it drew closer, the prongs began to emit a low pulse of purple light, which gradually increased. When the flagship came within a few hundred meters of the entrance, the tether receivers on the ends of each wing of the Great Fox bonded with the senders of the station. From there, the ship was reeled in and passed through the decompression field. Finally, magnetic locks clamped down on the supports on the underside of the vessel.

“Docking successful. Disengaging tether receivers. Primary and auxiliary cannons offline. Particle cloud disabled. Low power in all systems.”

Fox flicked his tail back and forth as he watched the dock workers prepare for routine maintenance checks before they would begin refueling. Everyone had an objective in mind, a task that they had performed a thousand times that contributed to the overall result of a healthy vessel. The vulpine turned back to his group, all of which seemed preoccupied with tasks of their own.

“Alright guys, this is the first and only stop before we leave for Meeza. If you need anything, there’s a civilians’ market where you can get some pretty cheap stuff. We’ve got some time to kill, but we’ll be taking off again within the hour.”

Each of the crewmen sounded off in their own way before Falco rose from his chair and stretched out his back. With a quick wing, he scooped up his jacket and marched toward the bridge door, only to briefly turn around at the last minute.

“Foxy, I’m gonna grab some grub for the road. You’re comin’ with, no choice,” the pheasant declared.

“Why?”

“Because you spend too much time cooped up in here and fresh air is nice when there’s actually air to breathe.”

“I’ll go too,” Krystal spoke up. “Stretching out for a bit actually sounds like a fantastic idea.”

Fox sighed and turned to his attention to the rabbit at the navigation desk. “Peppy, would you mind holding down the fort until we get back?”

“Sure thing Fox. Just don’t take too long.”

“Right. Slips, you want anything?”

“Actually, yeah. If you can get ahold of a spare coupler, I’d really appreciate it.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

The three exited the bridge and marched down to the end of the hallway. They stepped in the elevator, which quickly closed and descended as Fox pressed the holographic ‘down’ arrow key on the panel mounted on the wall. When it reached the hanger floor, the orange vulpine took the lead and made his way into the loading bay. A handprint scanner successfully unlocked the massive door and upon yanking down on a red lever, it began to open.

“Why didn’t we just go out through the gangway? It’s quicker than coming all the way out here.”

“Gangway’s been having some issues lately, something to do with the keypad not responding to the doorway, I dunno. Slippy was supposed to check it out, but I don’t think he ever got around to it.”

“Lazy frog,” Falco muttered.

“What, and you’re not?” Krystal asked playfully.

“Hey, I’m trained in being lazy, alright? Mister ‘Help me! I fell in again!’ over there ain’t got nothin’ on me,” his voice mimicking that of the distressed frog’s with surprising accuracy. Fox forced himself to bury his muzzle in his hand to prevent an onslaught of chuckles from escaping.

“It’s no big deal,” Fox said, waving off his laughter. “Maybe the maintenance guys here’ll look at it. Shouldn’t be too hard to fix.”

By now the door had completely descended, allowing them to step out onto a catwalk and then onto the main walkway. All around them, workers furiously concentrated at whatever task they had been assigned to do. Fox’s team was well known from every angle of the Lylat system, and yet no one so much as gave him a passing glance.

The walkway was surrounded by several dozen machines that were set in pace with the rest of the facility. Throats of power hungry engines wheezed smoke from within their bowels. Ancient gears in dire need of replacement screeched in pain alongside their companions, while others moved with little or no complication at all. Further ahead lay the civilian center, a complex system of improvised living quarters and shops where one could rest while their ship underwent maintenance. Smaller decompression fields allowed fighter spacecraft to pass through to a separate docking area where they could be handled without interference from the crews working on larger vessels. The pilots of the fighter crafts were typically the ones inhabiting the living quarters, seeing as how they couldn’t stay in them while they were being refueled and repaired while the crews of the larger class ships could rest in their own living areas, so long as the ship was not in need of a massive repairs.

Fox continued his brisk walk as Falco and Krystal joined him at his side. The blue avian took great pleasure in mentally picking apart the flaws in the individual fighters that remained secured in holding locks on the first two bay levels. A second-rate G-diffuser system here, a chinsy frame there, nothing that could hold a candle to the aerial warlord that was the Arwing. Falco scoffed at the flyers before diverting his attention back to the path in front of him.

To Fox’s left, Krystal admired the intricate metalwork around her. She had never been inside one of the Lylatian fuel stations, as Fox typically had the Great Fox upgraded and suited for space flight on Corneria. Corneria’s space station offered refueling, but was used more for scientific research and large scale jumps, such as the one to the Aparoid Homeworld. It also doubled as an orbital defense station for the planet. Massive salvos of missiles could be launched from conduits located on the front and belly of the beast. Nevertheless, she had not once set foot inside of it, despite its close proximity to her adoptive homeworld.

The orange vulpine kept with his brisk pace while he allowed his mind to wonder. The non-heliocentric feature of the Meeza system unnerved him. For one it would make approaching the habitable planet, which Fox had simply taken to calling Meeza Prime, extremely dangerous. There was also the possibility of encountering Andross’ minions on the planet. With ample time and resources, the Star Fox team could be walking into what could be thousands of Venomian soldiers lying in wait, ready to burn the Great Fox out of the atmosphere at a moment’s notice. Fox probably would have come up with a plan of action for approaching the planet, if it weren’t for the barrel of a blaster being shoved into his back.

“None of you turn around. If you do, he dies.”

None of them did.

The culprit was female judging from the sound of her voice, and a young one at that. She had the blaster trained just to the left of Fox’s spine, an instantly fatal shot, should she choose to pull the trigger. It was only when she released of fit of giggles that Fox finally peeked over his shoulder.

“You’re so gullible Foxster.”

“Miyu?”

The lynx spun her blaster on the end of her claw and slipped it into the holster on her side. Her ear ring bounced in place as she tilted her head to the side, giving the three crewmen a smug grin.

“Oh you have GOT to be kidding me.” Falco tilted his head back in exasperation and threw his feathered hands over his face.

“Ouch dude, what did I do?”

The bird lowered his head and grumbled something under his breath, prompting the lynx to place a claw under his beak and lift it so that his face met hers.

“Nice. To. See. You. Falco.” she said in a mockingly slow voice.

“Hello Miyu,” he replied with a bored expression.

The lynx smiled and drew her attention to the blue vixen that she had yet to confront. She circled Krystal and traced her body up and down with the stare of a criminal investigator. When she completed her scan, she turned back to Fox and gave him a quick nudge with her elbow.

“Nice catch Foxster, you gonna introduce me to the bride to be?”

“She’s not-” Fox cut himself off, realizing an argument with the feline would be next to useless. “Krystal, this is my friend from the Academy, Miyu. Miyu, this is Krystal, our newest member of the team,” he gestured toward his teammate. Krystal politely smiled and was in the process of extending her hand when the sound of footsteps and a soft voice interrupted her.

“Miyu! Miyu, please don’t…oh no, you already did didn’t you? I’m so sorry everyone.”

“Oh hush Fay, they’re a-okay. Guys, you remember this puppy. Krystal, this is my partner-in-crime Fay. Best friend for 25 years and running.”

“For better or for worse,” the collie shrugged.

“Now that was just cold.”

The group shared a brief laugh before the orange vulpine finally gained enough composure to ask some questions. “So, what are you guys doing out here? I haven’t heard from either of you in ages.”

“Sorry about that, communications have been subpar for some time.”

“How come?”

“We were on Titania for the longest time, and the sandstorms were harsh on our comm. units.”

“Titania? But the whole planet is closed off to everyone but researchers and military personnel. How did you get the clearance to go there?” Fox inquired.

“Fay and I were part of one of those research teams. We were developing a way to extract large chunks of iron out of the soil for a colonization project on Fichina.”

“That is the ice planet, correct?” Krystal finally spoke up.

“You got it toots. The planet’s a friggin’ iceberg but its composition essentially makes it inhabitable. The teams are determining if they can use the extracted iron to boost the radius of the climate control center, and to build new ones.”

“Well, why are you all the way out in Zoness then?” Falco piped in.

“Fay and I left the research team about a year ago. We were contacted by some suits back on Corneria that said we could be of use. So now we’re intelligence officers working for some brass under Pepper. Pay’s good, but it ain’t an easy job. Intel don’t come cheap, and the guys who give it up aren’t always reliable. I’ve had to shoot my way out of more back ally deals then I care to remember.” She shrugged and adjusted the radio clipped to her side. “Now we’re out here to stop some idiot from launching a one manned attack on Zoness.”

Fox placed his finger under his muzzle and scratched. “You mean like a terrorist cell?”

“Eh, something like that. Guy wants to hit the air purification filters in the atmosphere of the planet; says that ‘Cornerians are a plague to the Lylat System’ or some garbage, I dunno. He’s a regular whack job and we’ll be sure to get this fool before he embarrasses himself. What about you guys? Got somewhere to be?”

“Actually yeah, we’re head to the Meeza System under Pepper’s orders. Something pretty strange is going down and he wants us to check it out. Came here to fuel up before we head out.”

Miyu’s cheerful and slightly cocky personality faded almost entirely. She turned back to Fay, who shared an identical expression. “Fox,” the lynx started, her voice suddenly sounding quiet and tired. “That system’s been off the grid for years now. It’s a deathtrap, a crazy house. If you don’t get snowballed by the damn sun, then you get to face whatever lives there, IF anything lives there. We don’t know if they’re hostile, friendly, organic, or mechanical. It’s mystery wrapped in an enigma burrito. We’ve tried to send vessels out there before. None of them have ever reached the core planet.”

“Wait, if this system is so hidden and mysterious, how do you know so much about it?” the group’s avian asked.

“Simple, we were gonna go there.”

“What?!”

Miyu nodded, but it was Fay with her soft voice that spoke up. “It was the very next assignment for our research team. We spent a good amount of time studying the dynamics of the system in preparation, weeks, months even, but we left with the Cornerian officials two weeks before departure. Miyu and I discussed the terms and salary for the job and decided to leave the team. They went ahead and left anyway. I suppose they didn’t see our roles as vitally critical to the exposition.”

“And what did this research team discover?” Fox asked, hoping to gain some pre-game info.

“That you can’t outrun a speeding ball of plasma.”

The canine lowered his muzzle and scratched the back of his head. “I see.”

“Look Foxster, if you want my advice, make a beeline for it.”

“Huh?”

“Jump straight for the planet. The saltbrains over at Corneria are always trying to take things slow with this place, and it’s gotten every one of them killed. Shoot for just above the atmosphere, then haul it to ground level.”

“That’s suicide!” Falco cut in. “What if we’re pulled in because was jump too close? What if we land directly on top of the sun?”

“Look that’s my advice, take it or leave it. I’m just saying that almost everyone that’s gone in has been barbequed.”

“’Almost everyone’?” Krystal asked, curious to know if there was more to be heard.

“There was an expedition about four years ago. A group of five researchers managed to navigate a path from their jump site to the second of the two habitable planets, the harsher of the two.”

“Why not the core planet?”

“Beats me. Maybe they had a ship malfunction or something; your guess is as good as mine. All I know is that the little information that we have comes from that expedition.”

“And the researchers?”

“Dead as far as we know. Communications with the ship stopped roughly three days after. And before you ask, no, we don’t know why. They just stopped picking up the phone.”

This new intel pulled heavily at Fox’s mind, but the advice he had received might very well be the only way to approach the planet. It was a stretch, but their options were limited.

“Miyu, I can’t thank you enough for this…”

“Don’t mention it Foxster, it’s my job. But seriously, I want you guys to be careful out there. Don’t do anything stupid and get yourselves killed. I gotta get back to looking for this crook, but you guys take care.”

“You got it.” Fox smiled and waved as Miyu and Fay said their goodbyes and began to walk off. They didn’t get very far before Fox stopped them. “Miyu, wait!”

The lynx halted and spun on her heels. “Sup?”

“You got an extra coupler?”

The cat checked her pockets and satchels on her person to no avail. She then walked over to one of the many supply carts littered around the facility and robbed it of one of its couplers. She walked back over to Fox, opened his hand, and forcefully placed the part into his open palm.

“There you go, good as new!” she said, taking her leave.

“Uhh. Thanks.”


The group of errand runners piled into the kitchen of the Great Fox with bags of supplies. They had hit a few of the market stores to stock up on food and some generic medical supplies. It would be enough to last them quite some time, especially with what was already onboard, and it never hurt to be prepared.

After depositing the goods, the crew reassembled on the bridge. Fox passed on his semi-stolen coupler to Slippy, who simply stated that he would be using it to repair the gangway. The captain took his seat in the center of the bridge and checked the status of his vessel, confirming that he had plenty of fuel. He could also see that several auxiliary systems had been charged, including their newly designed “Vampire Fangs”, deadly protrusions that could fold out from the underbelly of the ship and siphon fuel or inject poisonous gases into the hulls of other vessels.

“ROB, begin lift off procedures.”

“Activating…awaiting your commands.”

“Activate interior systems.”

“Interior systems online.”

“Deactivate exterior systems.”

"Exterior systems offline."

“Primary weapons on standby.”

“Standby engaged.”

“Secondary weapons on standby.”

“Standby engaged.”

“Two percent power reroute to asteroid defense turrets.”

“Rerouting power...Reroute successful. ”

“Activate primary defensive shielding.”

“Hull shield online.”

“Reset targeting systems.”

“Targets reset.”

“Restore full functionality to primary bridge systems.”

“Functionality restored.”

“Auto-engage remaining consoles”

“Engaged.”

"Laser artillery on standby.”

“Standby engaged.”

"Nova bombs on standby"

"Standby engaged."

“Disable vampire fangs.”

“Disabled.”

“Enable particle field.”

“Enabled.”

“Disconnect magnetic locks.”

“Disconnected. Pre-flight check completed. All systems are go.”

“Engage primary thrusters at five percent to 20 percent max at 1000 meters.”

The ship lurched forward as the thrusters safely propelled to ship out of the decompression field. Once it reached its distance of 1000 meters from the station, it jerked forward as it increased in speed and prepared for an immediate jump into hyperspace.

“Enable hyperspace systems.”

“Enabled, please enter the coordinates of the desired destination.”

Fox turned to his aged comrade sitting at the navigation controls a few feet away. “Peppy, would you do the honors?”

“My pleasure.” The hare nodded as he set his fingers to work.

“Wait, I forgot to mention, jump straight for the outer atmosphere of the core planet.”

The hare stopped his typing and gave Fox a look that spelled “insanity.”

“I received some advice from an old friend on this. It’s our safest bet to get into the system alive. Trust me Peppy, I wouldn’t ask this of you if I believed there was another way.”

The hare sighed and shook his head in the palm of his furry hand. “I promise that I’m going to retire after this.”

“Thanks old-timer.” Fox smiled and strapped himself into his seat while the others followed suit. Peppy adjusted the jump’s aim to put them as close to the planet as he could without crushing them under its gravity. When he was finished, he gave Fox a solid thumbs up and prepared for the nerve racking journey ahead.

“Coordinates set. All systems prepared for deep space jump.”

“Alright everyone, keep your wits about you. We don’t know what we’re up against, and we ought to be ready for anything, or anyone. Jumping begins on my mark.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“MARK!”