Hey there, Star Fox archive! Gosh, it's been a little while since I posted here.

A few years back, I tried writing up a story for Star Fox that was meant to be set after Assault, but was also meant to tell the story of a potential bad future that brought Fox's kid into the past. Meanwhile, it was also supposed to delve into the past and tell more about Fox's parents. Since I never explained that, it didn't go over very well.

Still, I don't like leaving works unfinished, so rather than leave it to fester forever, I've been meaning to update it by re-sorting the story's chapters as they were originally written, and then just put a cap on it to close it out.

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To help guide you with how the timelines change, there will be words posted in brackets [like these boogers here] so you can follow where the story goes. Each part will also have some correspondence to where it takes place in the Star Fox timeline.

The events of Star Fox 64 are referred to as the "Lylat Wars," while the events of Star Fox Assault are referred to as the "Aparoid Invasion." Since I didn't get to the other games, namely Star Fox Adventures, they shouldn't come up. And, outside of Command, the series mostly retells the Lylat Wars era from the first Star Fox on the SNES, so, that makes it easy.

Obviously, this story won't play out like the games themselves, which are typically in a constant action orientation. Since a lot of stuff needs to develop and be explained, its pacing at times will be...slower. (Not that there's no action, it's just broken up a lot.)

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Anyway, with that boring nonsense out of the way, the actual chapter follows below!

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[17 Years Before Lylat Wars; Past]

During the early morning sunrise over Corneria City, a blue and white ship flew across the sky, departing from a tall silver and blue building. A fox in a green uniform and white jacket rushed through the halls and down the stairs within it, racing to the bottom floor while barreling through anyone that stood in his way.

Running across the building's lobby, he made his way for the front door when a gray bulldog in a green uniform stepped in front of the exit. Barely, the fox skidded to a halt before him.

"Ho, easy there, McCloud!" The bulldog laughed. "Where are you headed off to in such a hurry?"

"Home," replied the fox. "My wife was expecting me back…about ten minutes ago. And counting."

"Yikes!" The bulldog stepped aside. "Well, you've got no time to dawdle. You're cleared to go, McCloud!"

"Thanks, see you later, Grey!"

In a flash, the fox raced off from the building and sped through the streets of the city, and then across a wide grassy field. Eventually, with the city a few miles behind him, he ran toward a lot of smaller gray and blue buildings, making his way to one closest to the water. Panting, he paused to catch his breath and recompose himself before approaching his house.

Carefully, he turned the door and tried to open it manually, jumping back at it slid open. A few paces inside, another red fox tapped her foot from under her deep violet robe, and glared through half opened eyes at her husband. Her hand slid away from the door's remote operator.

Chuckling nervously, the late fox took off his sunglasses. "Hu-hey there, Vixy. You look fantastic this morning."

"Right, morning." Her voice was icy and she folded her arms. "Dawn's already over as you arrive home…late. Again."

"Vix, darling, I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"Save it, James." The vixen let out a long yawn and brushed her messy fur. "I should know better than to expect you around to raise our son."

"I'm here now!" He chased after her as she rolled her tired eyes and pulled herself up the carpeted stairs. "Vixy, just get a little rest before you go, and—"

"A little rest?" She thundered and whirled around at him as she reached the top of the stairs, nearly sending him rolling back down them. "James, I'm sleep deprived! And work is in less than an hour!"

"Wait, what? I thought it was in two from now."

"We have a meeting this morning, the lab called last night." She sighed as James followed her through their dimly lit halls, with sunlight breaking in through the curtain covered windows. "And then little Fox decided that mommy's rest would have to be rescheduled too."

They made their way to the end of the hall as Vixy opened the green door at the end. Inside, a pup lay inside of a small bronze crib, sleeping peacefully.

"Faker," hissed Vixy as she leaned against the powder blue wall inside. "Cried all night long, at least once an hour." She pulled her hands over her eyes, but smiled as she got another look at her slumbering son.

"Was it just Fox this time?" James whispered and crept over to the crib, smiling down at the cub inside. "Or are the city outskirts still too loud for you?"

"They…might have contributed." Another yawn escaped her. "This place still doesn't feel like home, James. There's not even enough room for the crib in our bedroom."

"It'll get better, Vixy, I promise. And we still own the place back home."

"For now."

"Vixy, we'll get back there someday." He turned to her and lightly exhaled. "Work here though is—"

"Important to not just Corneria, but the Lylat System as a whole, I know." She rolled her eyes and stepped closer to him. "When is Peppy going to give us back the hovercraft?"

"Once he's done charming that new, how'd he put it…oh, 'honey-bunny,' that he's after." The two laughed together, but quickly hushed one another and whirled around to the crib. Still, Fox continued to rest. "Out cold."

"He should be." She shook her head and kissed James before turning heel. "Anyway, I need to go change and get going. Dr. Andross will be stopping by at the labs later today as well, so we definitely need to get things in order."

"No, the doctor Andross?"

"Yes, the very one." She sighed as she held her head. "Do you know if that hound will be there?"

"Pepper? No idea."

"Hmm."

A light yelp sounded and James spun around again, gazing over the crib at his son. The kit had woken up and his bright green eyes slowly fixated on his father's.

"Hey, morning, champ." James slipped off his gloves, reached over, and let his hand hover near Fox. The pup reached out and gripped his father's fingers. "Ooh, firm grip there, kiddo! You'll be strong when you're older."

"And hopefully quieter!" Vixy shouted from the other room.

James chuckled and watched his cub flail his arms. His eyes widened as Fox rolled and pushed himself up, using James's arm for support. "That's it! That a boy!" Slowly, Fox fell back down on the crib and James chuckled lightly again. "No rush, you have time still. Someday, Fox, you'll accomplish great things." He brushed his hand over the baby's head. "You just trust your instincts and you'll be able to do anything."

Quietly, Vixy peered in and watched James play with little Fox over the crib, with the kit giggling as his father played with him. She smiled and glanced out the hall window, moving the curtain as the sunlight shined through.

[1 Year After Aparoid Invasion; Present]

Stepping past a lot of houses, a lone red fox made his way to one nearest to the lake. He sighed and lightly touched the rusted door. Gripping it, he dragged it open, and slowly stepped inside.

The furniture inside was quite dusty. Walking to a small table, he stared at the door's remote operator, and picked it up. Clicking on the button two times, he flipped it over and studied the worn battery pack.

Placing the remote back down, he slowly made his way over to the stairs, stepping carefully as each step creaked beneath his weight. He made his way upstairs, gazing down the worn hall. Streaks of sunlight broke through the windows without curtains, lighting up the otherwise dim hallway.

Making his way to the end, the vulpine pushed open the old green door, staring into a room with faded blue wallpaper. At its heart was a tarnished bronze crib, practically empty save for the bedding itself.

A beeping noise filled the otherwise silent room, and he reached up to his headset, clicking on the communicator. "This is Fox," he responded. "Go ahead, ROB."

"Fox," a robotic voice spoke over the communications channel, "there has been a reported crash of two unidentified ships within Corneria City. Your presence is requested as soon as possible; the rest of the Star Fox team was already dispatched."

"Any reason why we're being called in?"

"The two ships bear a striking resemblance to the Arwings," reported ROB. "Though they have specific modifications as well."

"Got it. I'm on my way over."

His hand dropped from the headset. With one last gaze around the baby's room, Fox turned back and made his way out of the house and to his Arwing, parked just a short distance outside of the lot.

...

And that does it for the first chapter.

So, the idea was that the past goes over how life originally happened for Fox's parents after moving to the planet of Corneria and adapting to things there. According to the Wiki sources that I relied on for information, Fox was originally born on another planet (Papetoon). I think that's also confirmed by the newer game from 2018/2019, Starlink, which Star Fox guest starred in. (Didn't have that information when this story was originally written, lol.)

How the original concept was planned out, this was to detail the lives of James and Vixy (Fox's mom, originally named Vixy Reinard like the 1993 SF comics). It was going to go over how they lived, Vixy's life as scientist and friend of Andross, how everything hit a downward spiral as Andross went off the deep end, Vixy's death, James raising Fox, and then ultimately the events prior to James's last mission. And all of the past segments would have culminated in James and Vixy being pulled from the past and into the present through time shenanigans.

Small mention: James talks to a dog in the beginning, calls him "Grey," so I didn't think it would be hard to connect. But, I'd imagine that it could be for those less familiar with Star Fox, so I'll just explain. Grey is the surname to a character that helps out in Star Fox 64 and its many iterations, this first character's name being Bill. He's typically an ally to Star Fox, so I wanted Bill Grey's dad to have a quick cameo along with Peppy, Andross, and Pepper being mentioned.

The ending bit was just to drive home how vastly different Fox's life became, since both of his parents died before he really reached adulthood. I just wanted to have Fox go to the old McCloud residence on Corneria, giving him a chance to explore a childhood home. Though James does play a critical role in Fox's life, we don't really get a look into the relationship during the series, for obvious reasons. So, I wanted to have a nice moment where Fox could do that.

The rest of the story doesn't quite get into all of that, since I never got there, but it was a fun approach for me. The next chapter goes into the life of Fox's son in a ruined future.