Footprints of a Fallen Star

Prologue

The Detriments of a Star

"Fox! Get your lousy, lazy ass down here now! I'm cooking bacon and eggs!"

A muffled groan could be heard through the confines of a soft, serene and comfortable pillow. After a short amount of time, a seemingly unwilling paw raised to apply pressure to the rectangular button of a communicator on the wall.

"I'll be down in a minute," a somewhat enthusiastic, yet sleepy and muffled voice drifted through the microphone. "I wouldn't miss your bacon and eggs for anything, Falco."

"Oh don't I know, eh Fox? Better hurry up. Slip's chowed down his second serve already and at this rate we'll be out of supplies within his fourth serve-" but the avian's voice was cut off to the sound of a high pitched, furiously annoyed Slippy.

"-Are you calling me fat!?" he heard the toad ask angrily and Fox could only chuckle lightly at the ridiculous banter going on in the Great Fox's kitchen. Then the connection was abruptly cut, presumably because Falco had let go of the talk button to put Slippy in his place. The fox chuckled lightly again.

"Honestly, when'll you two quit your beleaguering?" he muttered to himself as he laid flat on his back and stared out the porthole-window that led to the cold blackness of what conscious life forms called 'the universe'. After a few moments of being in between the stages of sleep and actual intelligent consciousness, he spotted it. The large golden-amethyst ball of flame; the Noxia, the largest star in said known universe. His lips curved in a smile as he watched rings of purple flame cast off into the space around it before slowly retreating back to the surface. In Fox's opinion, it was a beautiful product of creation, and was also a Neutron star. Neutron star? Yes, it puzzled him, but who was he to comment on the makings of the universe? Neutron stars were the result of giant super-massive stars turning supernova and collapsing in on themselves. This left the smallest type of star, the Neutron star, said to only have a radius of twelve to fourteen kilometres and a mass equal to that of two super-massive stars. But Noxia... Noxia was the largest star in the galaxy.

Was the original star really so large as to create such an enormous Neutron star? Or was it something more that prompted the coming of the 'Azure Goddess' Noxia? Many theorists and religious cults believed that Noxia was the remnant of the 'Big Bang'. Fox knew that a Neutron star with a size that large would have a massive gravitational pull, not as much as a black hole, but a great deal nonetheless. Every scientist was baffled as to why Noxia didn't turn into a black hole.

He then shook his gaze off it as he got out of his bed and began to change into a more appropriate dress code. It was only breakfast time aboard the Great Fox, but it would be unsightly for Fox to appear at the table with only a pair of boxer shorts. When he was decent, he began to walk down the stairwell with his standard flight jacket that he left unzipped for comfort, the light-grey shirt underneath coming through. He wore his combat trousers also, along with his holster firmly attached onto his right hip that held his custom-built laser pistol. He never went anywhere without out it, knowing all too well that he'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

"Mornin'," he called out, approaching the table that currently seated Slippy, the toad mechanic of the Star Fox crew (on his third serving of Falco's famous bacon and eggs), and Krystal, the vixen aerial dogfighter and negotiator of the Star Fox crew. Falco was still in the kitchen, cooking what Fox hoped to be his serve of the delicious breakfast.

"Morning Fox!" Slippy muffled cheerfully through a mouthful of food before slurping up some egg that had spilt out the side of his mouth in the attempt to greet his captain. Fox sighed at the usual occurrence.

"Good morning Fox," Krystal greeted him with a smile whilst delicately cutting a piece of her toast with the bacon and eggs on it. He smiled in return as his stomach grumbled. He turned to the kitchen.

"Falco, how are we going on the grub?" he called as he walked in and came up next to the aerial specialist of the Star Fox crew. As he neared the pan that was cooking his most delectable meal, Fox could practically smell the flavour and his mouth began to water.

"Patience is key! Calm down and wait, they're nearly done," the avian said as he fended off the scent-crazed Fox. "You could pop the toaster down now so that your toast will be ready the same time as these," he added, motioning to the toaster over by the wall on the bench on the other side of the kitchen.

Fox sighed before complying. "Whatever," he replied as he went over and pushed the lever down that already had the sliced bread in it. "Just don't overcook, remember I like my eggs runny." With that Falco gave him a look before Fox returned to the table and sat opposite Krystal. "How did you sleep?" he asked her, reaching to the edge of the table where a remote laid before turning on a monitor, changing the receiver to the news.

"Good thanks, Fox," she replied with a smile, "how about you?"

"Yeah not too bad I suppose, I did sleep in but all's well now that I get my bacon and eggs," Fox replied with a slight smile as Falco called out from the kitchen.

"Your 'Falco's Famous Bacon and Eggs' bacon and eggs, you mean?" the bird joined in with a smug grin. Fox rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, those, whatever they are," Fox jested and smiled cheekily in reply before casting his eyes to the screen and reading a headline that stirred his thoughts.

"Noxia Dying? Religious Cult Leader Predicts Largest Star Will Destroy Universe."

"Guys, look at this," Fox said as he turned the volume up. Slippy and Krystal turned their heads as Falco placed a full plate in front of Fox, but the latter was too preoccupied listening in to what the reporter was saying. "Thanks," he muttered absentmindedly as he strained to hear.

A female boar, the reporter, was stationed aboard some kind of vessel in front of Noxia. The camera was pointing at her and gave a good view of Noxia behind her. She began to speak. "The Astrologists at the Galactic Federation have been studying the Noxia star for the past few months," the reporter said, turning momentarily to look at the purple ball of fire behind her before continuing, "and they have found that the star has become incredibly unstable. As you can see, we currently have astronomers and scientist running tests-" The reporter was cut off when a loud rumbling sound emanated from somewhere, and a large ring of purple flame could be seen nearly exploding out of Noxia. The broadcast became unstable for a moment and static could be heard, before it eventually flattened out and the reporter got to her feet, having been knocked down. She dusted herself of for a moment before she was seen whispering to the side- supposedly to one of her crew members- before nodding slightly and turning back to the camera with a smile. "Sorry about that," she continued, and it was obvious, by the way she was shaking the microphone ever so slightly, that she was incredulously scared. "We seem to have had some kind of interference from Noxia, being a solar flare. Unfortunately we are going to have to-"

She never got the chance to finish when she was interrupted by a massive explosion to the right of her... on Noxia. At this point, everyone had their eyes on the monitor and even Slippy had stopped eating.

"Holy shit!" the reporter swore unceremoniously as the cameraman zoomed in on the disturbance; a massive black vessel had shot a missile at Noxia... and they were preparing to fire again! "We're out of here-" the reporter began, striding past the camera, presumably to where her ship was docked, before a massive streak of white appeared from Noxia and a piercing noise was heard. The camera was knocked down to the viewing deck, casting a view to the large black ship.

What happened next stunned everyone on board the Great Fox into silence.

The black ship vanished into nothing as one lone missile made its way to the never ending surface of Noxia, and a small, strangely blue, explosion made it apparently clear; Noxia was done. The gravity of the star pulled in the blue explosion and somehow made the purple distort, until another loud and piercing noise brought with it a signal error screen and the widened eyes of the Star Fox crew. Then, sound cut out as panic set in. Suddenly and without any form of communication needed, Fox dropped his cutlery and vaulted over the table to get to the computer terminal in the wall. Falco and Slippy jumped to their feet and ran over to each side of the Great Fox's viewing panels, activating the destabiliser to shift the glass from black mode to viewing mode. Krystal had her paws to her chest, cupped over her vividly beating heart, her eyes wide and mouth agape.

It took only a few seconds before everything happened at once.

"ROB, what is the latency on that transmission!?" Fox asked the terminal with urgency, the A.I needing a moment before giving its answer.

"Transmission from Sector NOX, Quadrant 4, latency at thirty minutes," the automated voice replied.

"D-Distance!" Fox shouted, sweat beginning to populate his fur. The voices of Falco and Slippy could be heard in the background as he gathered himself and continued his question. "What's the distance from the Great Fox and Neutron Star Noxia!?"

"Distance is at 7,854 light years. For your convenience, I have calculated the time in which it would take for the explosion to reach the Great Fox-"

"-GIVE IT TO ME!" Fox screamed desperately as he tried to calm his mind.There's no way that's a joke, that was a certified news broadcast run by the Galactic Government. We need to get out of here... think, Fox. Then it came to him. Warp Drives. "And while you're at it, boot the warp drives and give me an estimated time before achievable warp."

"Done. Time before shock wave arrives is equivalent to seven minutes. Estimated time for effective warp status is equivalent to ten minutes."

Fox's face drooped and his paw slowly trailed down the terminal, his mind only just becoming aware of what was going on around him.

"I can't see anything! Noxia is still just sitting there!" Slippy exclaimed.

"Idiot, don't you know that light can only travel so fast?" Falco sharply retorted. "We probably won't see it explode until minutes before the explosion reaches us!"

Hold on, Fox thought.

"How long until effective hyperdrive status for the Arwings?" he asked the A.I, calming himself.

"Arwing hyperdrives are not fast enough to achieve safe distance. Noxia's supernova has no measurable amount of energy and thus will reach the ends of the universe. There is no way to not be affected by the explosion, however it may be possible to survive it."

"HOW?!" Fox yelled.

"The readings of pure radiation energy seem to be non-lethal. No action may be required for safety."

Fox became confused and time seemed to slow down. "You're telling me to just... sit and watch as an exploding star gradually moves ever closer towards us?"

"Affirmative."

"ROB, how often have you been correct in your intuition, according to the data logs on all to-date missions?" Fox asked as he closed his eyes.

"... 100%" Fox opened his eyes again before he ever so calmly walked over to the couch and sat down.

"Fox! What are you doing!?" Slippy shouted and Fox just laughed.

"Most likely welcoming the Devil himself," he chuckled as he watched the purple ball of flame. "ROB said that the explosion is non-lethal, and we've no means of escape otherwise. He says it's going to reach the ends of the universe, so we might as well sit down and watch - this is the chance of a lifetime. Who gets to witness the largest star in the universe exploding? It doesn't just happen everyday." He then motioned for the others to sit down with him after they had gathered before him. Then Falco smiled.

"You're insane," the bird told him as he sat down next to the fox with Slippy and Krystal following suit.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Fox exclaimed as he jumped to his feet, returning moments later with his plate of bacon and eggs on toast. "Can't enjoy an exploding star unless you've got a plate of bacon and eggs!" he exclaimed with laugh as he sat down once more.

"Please don't tell me we're actually doin' this, Fox?" Falco asked with a groan.

"Of course, now we've just got to wait until-" but Fox was cut off by the sound of a loud explosion, and then entire hull of the Great Fox began to shake violently.

"What the hell was that?" Falco yelled as he grabbed onto the side of the couch, Slippy almost fainting with fright.

"That would be the initial shock wave of the blast," Fox replied with a smile as he took a heavy bite of his breakfast. After a few seconds, when he had finished chewing and swallowed, he spoke again with a clear wonder permeated through his voice. "And now... witness the death of a star..."

The hull had stopped shaking. Not a single sound could be heard, apart from the ragged breathing of the three beside Fox. Then, a brilliant flash of light streaked across the vivid black depths of the universe and for a second the Star Fox crew had to shield their eyes from its resplendence. Once the initial flash had begun to dissipate, the remains of the explosion began to show. Brilliant vibrant colours of purple, blue and orange began to streak across the sky... towards them.

Fox simply smiled at the pure grandeur beauty of it before he picked up the plate of bacon and eggs and threw it behind him, a large crash following.

"Fox! Why'd you do that?" Falco yelled in confusion.

"Well, once that shock wave comes through we're gonna have quite the ride - I'd rather not have to clean myself up," Fox replied with a huff of laughter. "Don't worry, at most we may have some cuts and bruises, but the Great Fox is going to be a mess once this hits, so it doesn't really matter anyway. So everyone, hold on right now..." Fox trailed off as he smiled again whilst staring at the vibrant explosion speeding towards them. "... because here it comes."

And with that, the blues and purples and oranges merged in one final cacophony of resolution, and the lights began to flicker aboard the Great Fox as the ship rumbled and rocked... and threatened to tear apart at the force of Noxia's splendour.

This is just a teaser, as I am yet to start writing the full story. If you like what you see then leave a review, follow and favourite as you see fit. I hope you enjoyed, please let me know if you would like more.

Have a good one.