Chapter 1

      It felt like she had only been sleeping for ten minutes, but Vixie woke up with a start as the alarm clock screeched loudly. It unmercifully read 7:00 AM in big, bold red text. Aw, c’mon, Vixie begged it silently. Couldn’t you give me at least two more hours of sleep? The only response she got was from it was more obnoxious beeping.
      Vixie sighed and slowly slipped out of bed, trudging over to the alarm clock and shutting it off while her other roommates were getting up from their sleep as well. Janet was rubbing her eyes and letting out a big yawn while their avian friend, Gina, simply hopped out of bed and went outside to use the bathroom, grumbling something about ‘shooting that damn clock.’
      Vixie smiled then. At least now things were back to normal. But she did not stand around for much longer. They had to be at the mess hall at 7:30 AM and then out at the flight grounds at 8:20 AM to get their briefing and before going off on patrol. Ever since Andross’ defeat at the hands of the now famous Star Fox Team, Zoness’ security had went up dramatically while efforts were made to try and save Zoness’ once beautiful landscape. It was still rather polluted thanks to Sarumarine, but thanks to efforts of some of Lylat’s most brilliant minds in environmental and earth science, and the hard work of volunteers that came to help, regions of Zoness were finally starting to get cleaned up.
      As Vixie left with her uniform, brush, and toothbrush, her thoughts suddenly switched over to Fox. How was he? Was he any different now that he was famous? Or was he that same cocky, yet kind vulpine that she knew back at the Cornerian Flight Academy? The two of them had been friendly rivals at first, both of them with the highest flight simulation scores in the class. Once Fox had heard from his father that he was friends with Vixie’s father, Jake Starwind, he immediately connected with her and the two became good friends. Such good memories brought a smile to Vixie’s face as she went through her daily routine.
      But such a close friendship did not last long. Immediately upon James McCloud’s death, Fox had dropped out of the Academy to join the fight against Andross. Vixie had thought about going with Allen to back him up, but they were recruited and were immediately deployed somewhere on Corneria. And now that they, along with Janet and Gina, were stationed on Zoness, they could not leave until their required four years of military service was done. So, she had lost contact of him and it was not likely that they would cross paths anytime soon. All Vixie could do was sigh and let her mind drift as she went through the usual monotonous motions of brushing her hair, grooming some of her fur, and brushing her teeth.
      Vixie emerged about twenty minutes later in her grayish uniform, frowning at the dark green jumpsuit she had to wear. Couldn’t they at least get better colors? Oh well…it was not like she could go and complain about it. The only thing that would make her different from the other pilots was the light blue scarf she wore. It was her mother’s at one point and it was the only connection she had to her now. It did not match with her uniform at all, but she did not care what people thought.
      “Heh, looking sharp as always, Starwind,” came Gina’s voice behind her. Vixie turned to see the smirking red-tailed hawk looking at her with her arms crossed.
      Gina Hawkins stood only a couple of inches taller than Vixie. She had mostly brown feathers with a cream colored chest and underside, though with the Zonessian uniform you could not see it. Of course, her bright red-orange tail feathers easily stuck out and for many male birds, it was an attractive sight. Of course, whenever one of them tried to cop a feel, they would usually end up with their beaks smashed or have her blaster to answer to.
      “Same to you, Gina,” Vixie said and smiled a bit before heading back to her room to drop her stuff off.
      Gina trotted next to her and the two walked in silence for a few seconds. Finally, Gina broke the awkward silence between them.
      “So, Starwind. You sure you’re fit to fly today? After last night I mean,” she said. There was a bit of concern in her voice. Gina might have been a sarcastic and cocky pilot, but she still cared about her friends nonetheless.
      “Oh, so you were actually awake,” Vixie replied. “Funny, I thought you chucking the pillow at my head was some kind of reflex of yours.”
      “Ha ha,” Gina remarked and gave her a nudge with her elbow. “Don’t blame me. I’m not the one that was whining and mumbling all night. I think the people in the next room could hear you.”
      “Yeah…sorry about that,” Vixie said, feeling the her cheeks light up in a small blush while her ears moved down against her head. Now she felt really embarrassed about what happened last night. She was sure that she would hear their neighbors complaining about it today, but it was not the first time that people complained about her rather noisy nightmares. “I’m not exactly the best roommate.”
      “Eh, I’ve had worse,” Gina said and leaned against the doorway as Vixie tossed her brush and toothbrush back on the bed. “Seriously though…you’re okay in your head, right? Because I don’t wanna have to baby sit you while we’re up there today.”
      “Yes, I’m fine,” Vixie said and turned around, giving her a smirk. “Besides, you and I both know that I can out-fly you even if I’m not so ‘okay in the head.’”
      “Ha! You wish,” Gina said as she closed her eyes for a moment and lifted herself off of the doorway. They had an ongoing rivalry that had been going on since their academy days over who was the better pilot, and neither of them showed any sign of backing down.
      “Well, looks like you two have patched things up,” came Janet’s voice as she walked towards them. Her thick, burgundy colored hair was pulled back into its usual loose ponytail with her bangs hanging down loosely. It was the kind of hair that no matter how many times you cut it, it kept growing out nice and long.
       “Yeah, I guess,” Gina said and let out a yawn before leaving the room and heading down the hallway. “C’mon. Let’s go and eat our daily dose of slop.”
      “Oh come on, Gina. The food’s not that bad,” Janet said as Vixie came out and made sure the door to their room was locked behind them.
      “That’s true,” Vixie commented. “It’s not like the food back at the Cornerian Flight Academy.”
      “Ugh, don’t even get me started on that crap,” Gina groaned and pushed the door open. The three girls walked outside and joined a crowd of other cadets and officers that were migrating toward the mess hall and toward the hangar area. Everyone moved like sluggish cattle, and the three pilots had to zig-zag around them in order to get past them. Gina gave the sleepy cadets annoyed glances as she shoved her way past them, not caring if she knocked a couple of them over. Vixie and Janet, meanwhile, tried to play catch-up with her while apologizing to the people she pushed past.
      Finally, just as the girls were about to head into the mess hall, a voice called out to them. “Hey, you three! Wait up!”
      Vixie turned around and smiled. “Heh, about time you showed up, Allen.”
      The arctic fox had trotted up to them and stopped in front of Vixie, smiling at her. “Hey, cut me some slack. Not my fault that my deadbeat roommate didn‘t turn on our alarm.”
      His fur was pure white and appeared soft to the touch. He had a handsome face with icy, intense, light-blue eyes. To all of the females on the base, Allen was one sexy fox. Every female wanted to get a piece of him, even those that were not remotely close to his species. But Vixie was always there to chase them off and warned Allen that if he ever dated one of those airheads, she was going to personally knock some sense into him. In turn, Allen was always protective of Vixie, warding off any creeps that thought they could get close to his cousin and told her that he would also smack her upside the head if he ever dated anyone he deemed “a common bum.” These two had always looked after one another and acted more like fraternal twins than they did cousins. Of course, the telepathic link they shared was a major factor behind their closeness.
      “Tsk tsk…excuses, excuses,” Vixie teased while wagging her finger at him and giving him a smug grin.
      “Heh, then I’ll try to be on time next time, Mom,” Allen said and smirked as he poked her in the forehead gently.
     Vixie laughed and stuck her tongue out at him before turning around to head into the mess hall. “Well, now that we’re all accounted for, let’s go eat. Might as well get all of the ‘good’ slop, right?” Gina, Allen, and Janet all grinned at that comment and followed her into the building.
      As the four of them walked into the buffet-style cafeteria and flashed their ID’s to the guard, Vixie heard Allen’s soft voice in her head. You seem well. You’re feeling better, I hope?
      Yes, Vixie replied and looked back at him for a quick second. Then she picked up her tray and headed over towards one of the buffet’s four sections. Sheesh…why is it that whenever I have that dream, everyone starts worrying about me? It’s not like I’m sick or something. Vixie did not like anyone fretting over her since it annoyed her to no end. And because Allen had compete access to Vixie’s thoughts through their link, there was almost nothing she could hide from him. In other words, he would worry about her and pester her until he got her to tell her what was wrong.
      True, Allen said calmly, but then again, not everyone has the same nightmare like you do. Not even me.
      Vixie glanced back at him for a moment and let out a sigh. He did have a point. Like Vixie, Allen had witnessed his parents’ murder by a hired assassin and was left for dead during a harsh winter on Fortuna. Unlike Vixie, he showed no scarring after the incident and seemed to have gotten over their deaths faster than Vixie had. Vixie was even envious of Allen at times…they both went through the same trauma, but why did it still affect her so badly? Was it because she felt that there was no closure? The assassin that went after Allen was killed by Allen’s father right before he died, yet Xena was still out there somewhere, perhaps waiting to finish the job she started eleven years ago.
      Vixie’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted as Allen put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about it, Vix. Not everyone can heal as quickly as others,” he said and leaned over to give her cheek a nuzzle. “Just keep being who you are and keep living. That’s the only way you’ll ever beat it.”
      Vixie’s expression softened into a soft smile before she gently nuzzled his cheek. “You’re right, Allen,” she said. “I’ll be fine. After all, someone’s gotta uphold the Starwind name, and I’m not going to do it by sitting around being depressed.”
      “That’s the spirit,” Allen said and smiled to him, ruffling up her hair a bit. “Now let’s get some of that sausage before it runs out.”
      Vixie chuckled and grinned, “Yeah, sure.”
      After five minutes of circling the cafeteria and picking out the food they wanted to eat, the four pilots met up and found a booth to sit in. Janet had grabbed a newspaper for them to share as they ate and chatted back and forth. It was the usual morning routine.
      Gina was the first to get the newspaper and frowned at the front page. “Tch…Star Fox, again? Can’t these stinkin’ reporters find anything else to write about?” Sure enough, Star Fox’s picture was pasted on the front, with all four teammates standing proudly in front of their Arwings and the Great Fox. “Hmph…figures Lombardi would pose for a photo-op,” she grumbled and proceeded to read the article entitled “Star Fox: The Saviors of Lylat.”
      Vixie, Allen, and Janet all exchanged amused grins and glanced at Gina reading the article. A couple years back while they were all still in the Cornerian Flight Academy, Gina had a rather interesting and rebellious relationship with the infamous Falco Lombardi. The two were a hot-headed couple that always tried to find ways to pluck each other’s feathers. Whether it was Gina’s insults or Falco making the occasional pass at her tail feathers just to rile her up, there was never peace whenever they were in the same room. How the two ended up a couple, Vixie would never know. She made a point to stay out of Gina’s business entirely when she started getting involved in gang matters with Falco. And before Vixie or the others had known it, Gina and Falco’s relationship seemed to end as soon as it began. Two months after their relationship started, Falco had disappeared, leaving Gina out to dry without so much as a good-bye. Two weeks later, Falco finally resurfaced and had joined the Star Fox team to help put an end to Andross’ War.
      Gina refused to talk about what happened between her and Falco with anyone. She had not even told Vixie, Allen, and Janet, who by then had become her only true friends. Since Gina was terribly stubborn and because the issue was so sensitive, Vixie and the others did not try to force it out of her. Yet whenever Falco’s name came up and Gina started getting mad, they could not help but grin. Did Gina still have feelings for Falco? They all thought she did…why else would Gina keep obsessing over him? What else explained Gina’s eager snatching of a newspaper whenever Star Fox was mentioned and scan for his name?
      Yet breakfast was interrupted once again as Gina gripped the paper and then threw in on the table. “That cocky son of a bitch,” Gina grumbled loudly and started to scarf down her grits.
      “So…what did Falco say this time, Gina?” asked Allen as he looked up from his plate and grinned up at her.
      “Put a fork in it, Allen,” Gina snapped back as Allen grabbed the paper and scanned over it.
      “Touchy, aren’t we?” Allen replied and then began to recite the article out loud. “‘You seem to be the perfect wingman, Mr. Lombardi. It seems as though Star Fox would not have been as successful as they were without you.’
      ‘Damn, right. You think McCloud would last ten minutes without me being there to back him up? I’m the best there is.’” Allen briefly scanned the rest of the article and shook his head. “Heh…that definitely sounds like Falco. Doesn’t sound like he’s changed at all.”
      “Yeah. He’s still the same cocky jerk as he’s always been,” Gina grumbled and sat back in her seat. “I swear…I just wanna rip that smug smirk right off of his face. Everyone knows that I could fly circles around him any day, right?” She looked around the table, expecting encouragement.
      “Uh…s-sure! Of course, Gina,” Janet said and hesitantly smiled to her.
      “Well, you just might get your chance, Gina,” Allen said as he spun his watery-looking eggs around in his plate in an uninterested manner. “Word’s going around that Star Fox will be stopping here on Zoness to re-supply before heading out in space once more.”
      “Then Lombardi better pray that he doesn’t see me…or I’ll really let him have it,” Gina said as she stabbed at the rather skinny sausage on her plate with her fork and bit off a big chunk of it.
      Janet just shook her head and turned around to look at Vixie. A small grin crawled over her muzzle before she spoke. “Still, it might be good for you, Vixie. You’ll get to reunite with your sweetheart once again.”
      Vixie coughed up the milk she had been drinking and covered her mouth and nose, thinking that milk was about to go flying out of it. Her cheeks suddenly began to glow an embarrassed pink. She looked up to see Gina smirking at her while Allen and Janet were laughing. All three of them seemed to believe that she and Fox were couple before he left. In reality, however, nothing had happened between them. It was true that Vixie was starting to feel something towards him, but it ended before it could even begin for them. Besides, she would always think to herself, he probably didn’t think of me like that anyway. So why bother getting my hopes up?
      “Jeez,” Vixie said and coughed so she could clear her throat a bit. “How many times do I have to tell you guys? Fox and I aren’t…I mean weren’t, a couple!”
      “Riiight,” Gina said and still smirked at her. “I heard you and Fox got pretty cozy together at the big Academy ball a year ago.”
     Vixie felt her cheeks light up more and felt even more embarrassed as Janet giggled and Allen grinned at her. Suddenly, she thought of a retort and smirked at the cocky hawk. “Oh? You only heard about it?” she asked. “Oh yeah, that’s right. I almost forgot. You skipped out on the big dance to go on that date with Falco. I don’t even think you came back that night, did you?” The smirk on Vixie’s face got bigger as it was now Gina’s turn to blush.
      “Wh-why you…!” Gina said and began leaning over the table with her fist balled up. Vixie laughed and held up her hands defensively, but looked up when their fun was suddenly cut off by a blaring siren.
      “What the heck?” Janet asked and looked around at the other confused-looking soldiers. Her ears were perked up in alert. “They’re doing a drill this early?”
      “I don’t think it’s a drill,” Vixie said and frowned a bit. She started to get up when an announcement came on the loudspeakers.
      “Attention all personnel! Several unidentified ships are entering the base’s airspace. All hands level one battle stations. Teams Murray and Starwind are to report to Hanger C for aerial combat at once! I repeat…!”
      “Sounds like us,” Allen said as he jumped out of his seat and started running for the exit.
      “Aww man,” Gina grumbled as she got up with Janet and ran with him, pushing the door so that it made a loud slam when it hit the wall. “Why are we always grouped up with that no-good kiss up and his flunkies?”
      “Because ‘that no good kiss-up’ is still a pretty good pilot,” Allen stated as the four of them were now running across the courtyard towards the hangar area. “Besides, whenever we’re paired up with them, it usually means one thing.”
      “Pirates,” Vixie said as she started to pick up the pace and ran out ahead of them. “And I’ll bet anything that it’s Deadwood‘s team.”
      “Deadwood?” Janet asked as she looked over to Vixie. “How do you know it’s them?”
      Right after Janet asked that very question, the silence was suddenly interrupted by the distant roaring hum of fighter engines. All four of them looked up and saw twelve ships appear out of a low line of clouds. Eight of them were the large winged-ships known as the Minions, one of Venom’s most favored fighter models. The four other ships leading the assault, meanwhile, were dull white with jagged red slash marks along the wings. These ships were the RAPTOR models and were the trademark ships of the Deadwood Team. The RAPTORs were fast and were a little bit smaller in size than the standard Cornerian Fighters, but they still had a lot of firepower. They were designed mostly for deadly hit-and-run missions, but were also equipped with the G-Diffuser system and a strong shield system.
      Vixie watched as one of the RAPTORs angled itself downwards and boosted towards them. The three other RAPTORs sped towards the base as well while the other Venomian fighters spread themselves out. She winced as she felt the four lead ships blow by overhead and closed her eyes when she felt the wind cut through them. When she opened her eyes and regained her composure, she saw the head RAPTOR launch a missile from the bottom of its hull. The missile zoomed towards one of the small supplies hangars and went right inside the open door. Vixie closed her ears just as a loud blast rang out and the hanger erupted into smoke and flame.
      “Does that answer your question?” Gina said sarcastically to Janet after the blast and sprinted off towards their own hangar, ignoring the look that Janet gave her.
      Vixie stared at the lead ship for a moment and frowned at it before running after her cousin and friends. She knew the pilot of that ship. It was Kala Deadwood, a female wolf outlaw that would to do almost anything for money. Nothing was too low for her, especially if the price was high enough. The same could be said for the rest of her team: Angelina Johnson, a black eagle and songbird mix, Niko, a leopard and panther mix, and Miho, a strange gray fox that barely spoke. They did not mind acting as hired guns for Andross and caused a lot of trouble for the Cornerian Army during the war. While stationed on Corneria, Vixie and her small team crossed paths with them many times and always managed to drive them away. Even after the fighting was supposed to be over, the Deadwood Team was still causing trouble by accepting hit-and-run jobs and looting jobs given to them by angry officers in the Venomian army.
      When Vixie ran into the hangar, she saw three other pilots already climbing into the cockpits of their Cornerian fighters with their headset comlinks on. A beige colored pit bull was already sitting in his ship, looking over at Vixie and her friends as they came running in. “Sheesh! Could you be any slower, Starwind?” he asked. “The whole base is gonna be destroyed because you and your team decided to take your sweet time getting here!”
      Vixie frowned at him and grabbed her headset comlink from one of the crewmen before jogging over to her ship. “Well, excuse us for nearly getting pummeled by missiles on our way over here, Murray. Not all of us can be at the right place at the right time.” She really did not like Jonathan Murray on bit. To her, he was nothing but a kiss-up that had no special talent compared to her and her small group. The sad part was that the general of this base fell for the pit bull’s flattery and ignored any achievements made by her or her teammates.
      “Excuses, excuses,” said one of the other pilots. This time it came from a male Doberman named Rosco Martinez, another kiss-up pilot that was part of Murray’s small group. Both he and his twin brother, Bono, acted less like soldiers and more like common, near-brainless thugs.
      “Yeah,” added Bono as he paused on the ladder up into his cockpit and smirked at Vixie. “Is coming up with excuses the best thing you and your posse can do, Starwind?”
      “Why don’t you two mutts shut your traps?” Gina snapped at them as she ignored the step ladder and leapt right into her ship, landing comfortably in her seat. “Unlike you guys, we’re not complete amateurs.”
      “Wanna say that to our faces, feather-brain?” Rosco asked as the fur on the back of his neck began to rise.
      “I just did, you jackass,” Gina said. She smirked when she saw the twins growl and bear their teeth at her.
      “Gina, don’t tease the poor pups,” Allen said and smirked as he was adjusting his headset and jumped onto the wing of his fighter and then hopped into the cockpit. “You‘re starting to make their brains hurt.” Vixie and Janet both stifled a small laugh under their breath while the brothers began to bare their fangs at Allen.
      “You..! You think your so friggin’ smart, don’t ya?” Bono snapped at him, but was interrupted by the sound of another rattling explosion, followed by turret gunfire right after.
      “Cut the chatter, all of you!” Murray barked before turning to Vixie. “Starwind, get your teammates’ mouths under control or I’ll report you all to General Livingston once this is over!”
      Figures you would, you no good tattle-tale, Vixie thought bitterly and gave him a frown. But instead of attempting to chew the ensign out, she decided to let it go. She decided to give Allen the same message through telepathy. Let’s try not to push Murray’s buttons anymore than we have to today, Allen. We can put him and his goon squad to shame once we’re in the air.
      Good point, he replied as he began starting up his ship’s engines. But I won’t feel sorry for them if they’re stupid enough to get caught in my crossfire.
      You and me both.
      Vixie’s attention was then brought to the sound of crates crashing near one of the fighters. Lying on the ground was the fourth pilot, a little Jack Russell terrier who was named Russell. She thought that his parents either had a corny sense of humor, or were, like Rosco and Bono’s parents, very unoriginal in naming their pup. Apparently Russell had been startled by the explosion and let go of the ladder, which caused him to fall backwards into the supply crates next to his ship. This was not a first for Russell. He was considered to be a big clutz and was often frightened very easily. Vixie was unsure of how this accident-prone terrier ever became a pilot.
      “Evans, you train wreck!” Murray yelled over the humming engines. “Could you possibly try not making us look bad?”
      “S-sorry, sir!” yipped the small terrier and blushed in embarrassment. He tried to get up to his feet but kept tripping over the boxes. Vixie watched as Rosco and Bono just sat in their seats and laughed while they warmed up their engines for take-off. Vixie gave the twins a glare and ran over to Russell’s side. Yeah, he was clumsy and probably should not even be here, but he was still sweet-hearted and he really did try his best every day. She knew that he deserved better teammates than Murray and the twins, who did nothing but make fun of him.
      “Here,” she said and took a hold of Russell’s hand and lifted him up to his feet.
      Russell looked up to her with nervous eyes and blushed. The only color on his face were his brown ears and a patch on his left eye. The rest of his fur was a milky white. His chocolate brown eyes only seemed to add to his cuteness. Yes, Russell was the epitome of one of Corneria’s fiercest pilots. “Thanks,” he said and tried to regain himself, taking in a few quick breaths to try and calm him self down.
      “Here,” Vixie said and raised two fingers to his left temple. “Close your eyes and inhale…slowly.”
      Russell looked a little confused, but closed his eyes and started to take in a slow breath. As he did this, Vixie closed her eyes and inhaled with him, concentrating on syncing her breathing with his. This was a calming trick she saw her mother perform long ago, and something that she and Allen were able to learn on their own. She concentrated first on her own calm heart beat and steady intake of air, and then focused on calming Russell’s mind so he could do the same. Like magic, she could feel Russell’s frantic heartbeat slowing down as his breath became more relaxed. And when she held her breath, so did he.
   Good…now release, she thought to him and let out a slow breath. Russell exhaled calmly and opened his eyes again, looking a lot less nervous and jittery then he did before. Vixie opened her eyes and smiled at him as she removed her fingers from his temple. “There. Feel any better?”
      “Yeah…a lot, really,” Russell said and looked at her with amazement. “How did you do that?”
     “Let’s just say it’s a little calming trick that Allen and I both use whenever we‘re nervous,” she said. The truth was, she was not really sure how the trick worked either. It had something to do with a telepath’s ability to link their mind to another’s and focus on making them calm. She remembered this trick because her mother had used it on her whenever she got scared. Allen’s mother, who also had telepathic abilities, did the same thing with her son.
      “Starwind!” came Gina’s voice as the overhead hatch to her cockpit was closing. “Hurry up and get in your ship before Murray leaves us in the dust!”
      Vixie turned and saw that Murray and the twins were already beginning to hover above the ground. She turned to Russell and gave him a small pat on the shoulder. “Just keep a calm head and you’ll be fine, got it?” she said before giving him a confident smile. Russell nodded to her and smiled sheepishly before quickly climbing into his cockpit when he heard Murray yelling at him over the radio.