In the Golden Age of humanity, when mankind rapidly expanded its reach across the stars, war broke out like it never had before. Nearly five decades of war raged across the intergalactic territories between the United Republic of Terra and the Confederacy of the Free Frontier. The Confederacy became enraged when its people suffered from financial ruin and were denied support from the Union it had seceded from long ago. Rallied by their leaders, the people of the Confederacy made up an army large enough to rival the Union's. Though they lacked the same equipment and training, their tenacity and numbers made up for it for forty-eight hard years. Like all things, however, the war began to come to an end, the Union winning the war. In the waning months of the long, brutal war, the Union sent an elite squad to capture an important leader of the Confederacy named Saul Morris.

The cold wind rushed across the snow and ice-covered plains, nipping at a young Confederate infantryman through his armor. Scanning the surrounding area, he was met with the same thing he had been seeing for the past ten hours: nothing. However, that was to be expected when you were on a nameless, remote planet. He was stationed there as a guard for the base that hid Saul Morris, one of the leaders of the Confederacy. He had to be hidden, as the Union was almost surely going to win at this rate. It was not an easy victory for them, but it was almost certainly going to happen.

But he had faith. Faith that his people could beat the Union. Faith that they would finally be able to live comfortably and free.

He had to have faith. He couldn't afford not to. Especially with so many people of the Confederacy relying on their military.

The young man made another pass on his patrol, looking at the time displayed on his visor's HUD and seeing that his patrol shift was over. Heading back into the remote base, he headed inside the barracks where the other soldiers stayed. Fortunately, it was much warmer inside the building. He started to head up to the balcony on the second floor when another soldier called after him.

"Hey, Evans. Did you hear the news? A Union scientist defected and joined us. Apparently, he was working on some top-secret stuff. Cool, right?" the soldier shouted.

"Yeah. Anything we can get helps." he responded, heading to the balcony.

Walking back out into the frigid air, the man was allowed time to think. There was much to think about, but his thoughts were often about the cold that pierced his cheap armor. He felt jealousy and anger every time he felt the cold. His army couldn't afford the quality supplies the Union could. Their guns, their armor, their vehicles... Hell, even their food was poor quality.

The Confederacy didn't have the same luxuries as the Union. The Union had custom-fitting armor, materialization devices, quantum storage units, and temperature-controlled body suits. The Confederacy, on the other hand, had mass-produced boxy armor that was hardly ever comfortable. It was also less likely to keep them alive.

The Union also had better guns. They used the latest laser rifles, which utilized energy bayonets that saw use more often than was necessary. The rifles were powerful, accurate, and sometimes came with an explosive launcher. The Confederate army had cheap, somewhat rectangular plasma casters instead. The plasma was powerful, but was inaccurate and overheated the rifles too quickly.

While Union fighters were like nimble black darts in the sky, the Confederacy had boxy fighters that were nowhere near as graceful. The Union fighters were sleek, with sharp wings that were held close to the body of the ship. The Confederate fighters had two thrusters on the sides instead of wings in an effort to give better mobility, but it only helped a small amount.

It should have been a completely one-sided war. But somehow, they managed to fight for so long with sheer tenacity and numbers.

While in his thoughts, the young man did not hear the footsteps behind him.

"Excuse me, son. Do you have a moment?"

He jumped in surprise a bit, not expecting to hear someone speaking to him. Turning around, the soldier saw that the man speaking to him was Saul Morris himself.

"Uh... Me, sir?"

The older man laughed, a smile adorning his bare, and likely freezing, face.

"Of course, son. Who else is here for me to be speaking to?" he replied, gesturing to the empty balcony.

The young man tried not to be embarrassed, instead choosing to answer the first question he was asked.

"Right. Well, yeah, I have a moment. Just got done with my patrol shift."

Saul frowned at the statement.

"Just got done? Well, then I suppose I can ask someone else. I would hate to ask you to work for so long."

"No, it's fine. Whatever you need, just say the word." the soldier said, saluting his superior.

Saul smiled, putting his hand on the soldier's shoulder.

"If you insist. Oh, and drop the salute. You soldiers are just as important as I am. If anything, I should salute you!" Saul said with a chuckle, saluting the young soldier.

"So, here is your task: I need you to guard the door to the room where I will be speaking with the Union defector. Do not let anyone listen in on what we are saying. As much as I trust everyone here, I know how soldiers like to talk. Letting information leak is something that could destroy us all. I have faith you will not speak to anyone about what you hear."

"But... why me specifically?"

Saul led the soldier down through the barracks, where Saul was saluted by all of the soldiers. The man ignored these soldiers, however, as he spoke.

"Damien Evans, correct? I have multiple reports about your loyalty. You have survived multiple engagements with the enemy, and have proven loyalty to us. That is why. You are the type of soldier that inspires us all."

The two reached a small building that acted as Saul's shelter at the edge of the frozen outpost. Saul entered, leaving Damien to guard the building. Letting curiosity get the better of him, Damien listened to the meeting. He could hear the defector speaking through the door about some kind of project he had been working on with the Union before he had to flee because of his negligent attitude toward a group of volunteer Rangers that caused them to disappear. The project was some kind of weapon.

And it was a genius one.

From what he could gather, it was a type of mine that was made from a warp device that would activate when a non-Confederate ship would pass by. However, it wasn't made with a regular warp drive. It was made with an interdimensional warp drive.

The whole point of the weapon was to catch Union ships by surprise, as it was not an explosive weapon and would not be detected as a threat. Instead, it would be detected as floating ship debris. Once it was activated, it would open a warp gate that would suck any ship nearby into a different dimension.

At the moment, there was only one prototype that had already been made by the scientist.

Its location: Sector Loki B 4-1.

Finally, they had a trick up their sleeve. Somethings that could allow them to hold out maybe just long enough...

The door opened, and out walked Saul and the scientist. The scientist was an older man like Saul, and was a bit short compared to most people of their time, standing at about six foot two. Damien found it slightly amusing that he would have been considered a tall person thousands of years ago.

Saul dismissed Damien, letting him go back to his previous place on the balcony. When Damien reached his destination, he looked down to see the patrol passing by.

Except... the patrol was nowhere to be seen.

Damien found this odd. The patrols were never off with their timing, so this was an odd occurrence. The man that usually took Damien's place was especially precise, which was even more odd. Looking off into the distance, he noticed that the woman that usually patrolled the other sector was missing as well.

Worry crept into him, its cold tendrils almost overwhelming as his thoughts raced with possibilities. This could only be something very, very bad.

He clutched his rifle tight, and with a bit of resolve, made his way down to check on the patrols. As he made his way through the barracks, he announced his observations.

"The patrols are missing. We might have a risk of intruders."

Upon hearing this, many of the soldiers that heard grabbed their weapons and helmets, rushing out to deal with whatever intruders there may be.

Damien rushed out to where the patrols were supposed to be, a group of soldiers behind him. He scanned the area, searching for whatever may have caused the disappearance of his fellow Confederates. Across the icy plains, he spotted nothing but the occasional ice shards and crevasses scattered about. As he looked hard for the threat, his boot caught on something, making him faceplant into the grainy, crunchy snow.

Picking himself up, he looked at the ground where he tripped, seeing something poking out slightly.

He felt his heart sink as he approached the object slowly. Uncovering the object, he realized it was a boot. He dug through more snow with his hands, confirming his suspicions. He could see the familiar blue and silver armor that adorned all Confederate troopers.

It was the body of the patrolman. Through the man's visor was a burned hole that went through the other side.

Damien turned on his radio, warning the base.

"Alert! This is Private Evans. The patrols have been found killed. We have intruders!"

As he finished the warning, he looked over to the other soldiers that followed him, one of them rushing over to him. However, an almost unnoticeable red beam flashed, and the soldier had a smoking hole in his skull as he flew into the ground.

Damien didn't bother to find out where the shot came from as multiple other barks from laser rifles rang out. He could hear fellow Confederates grunt or scream out in pain before being silenced as he ran. He rounded a corner of a nearby building, the wall having a molten crater put into it where he was not even half a second before.

Immediately, chaos erupted within the base. Alarms blared loudly as troops rushed to take positions, many being cut down from unknown locations. In the distance, Damien spotted Saul Morris and the defector. Knowing they were likely targets, he ran as quickly as possible toward them.

When he was only a few meters away, however, the defector had a laser blow open his skull, his smoking grey matter spraying across the snow. His body crumpled onto the ground, but Saul opted to leave his body as he started barking out orders to his soldiers. Then, he noticed Damien.

"We need to reach my ship, son. C'mon!"

He didn't need to be told twice. Damien followed him closely, Saul taking pot-shots with his pistol in the general direction of the attackers.

A trio of Confederate tanks rolled past them, their dual cannons taking aim when multiple projectiles struck the tanks, blowing the tanks to pieces in a blazing inferno. An unfortunate duo of soldiers were caught in the blast, getting completely shredded. Damien could feel the searing heat, the unpleasant feeling contrasting sickeningly with the freezing environment they were in.

The transports were in sight, many troops retreating toward them only to be ripped to shreds by precise blasts from the hostiles. Those that survived were taken out by sniper fire.

Getting on his radio, Saul ordered his troops to retreat.

"Fall back to the transports! Squads Bravo, Golf, and Zulu hold them off for now. We'll aid your escape from the air." Saul said, a small amount of fear making its way into his voice.

The rest of the base did its best to evacuate, though a pitiful amount made it through. Some carried crates of equipment and supplies, while others looked like they were lucky to have made it with most of their limbs. The display made Damien want to puke as he entered Saul's personal transport with a few other troops. Back in the base, he could see the squads that had been ordered to stay behind get massacred with precision.

"Dammit! They hardly slowed them down."

Damien watched as Saul pulled out a detonator from his coat, flipping off the safety. Turning on his radio, he gave the order to take off.

"All transports, take off. Before they shoot us all down!"

Detonator in hand, Saul eyed the device as his own transport began to take off. Damien slammed the button to close the boarding ramp as he tried to give suppressing fire. Before the ramp could close, however, a laser blast made it through the gap and struck Saul at the shoulder, blowing his arm off completely. His arm and detonator slid out of a space in the ramp before the ramp shut completely.

Saul had a look of shock plastered to his features, sliding to the ground while leaning against a wall, his shoulder spurting out blood. A soldier attempted to stop the bleeding as Saul looked at Damien, a solemn look in his eyes.

"I knew they... would come. I rigged the place to... blow. Finish... the job, son. Blow these bastards back to Hell."

Damien processed what he had said, realizing that he would likely die doing this. However, he nodded, ready to accept his fate.

"It's been an honor, sir."

He slammed his fist on the 'Open' button, leaping out of the ship. The distance to the ground was not too far, but it still hurt when he hit the ground. About twenty meters away, he could see the detonator, Saul's arm laying nearby, the snow around it stained crimson.

Damien ran toward the detonator, one of the transports above him exploding into pieces. The shockwave nearly knocked him over, but he persisted. Once he reached the detonator, he immediately picked it up and wiped off the red fluid that glistened on the device.

He began to depress the button on the detonator when he heard a deep, garbled voice barking out distorted commands. It sent chills down his spine. Damien knew it was a sound very few lived to speak about. Looking up, he could see them. The ones who decimated so many of his allies. It made him shudder to see how few it took. Only three of them stood at the edge of the outpost, firing at escaping ships.

Their armor was the darkest black he had ever seen. A black that sucked the light away from the air around it. Then, he met the piercing red T-shaped visor of one of the attackers. After barking another distorted command, the trio pointed their weapons his direction. Without a second of hesitation, Damien clicked the button on the detonator.

Next thing he knew, he was sailing through the air. He landed in the snow hard, the wind knocked from his lungs. Fortunately, he could see the three attackers laying in the snow as well. However, his feeling of relief was quickly decimated when they all stood up and began making their way over to him.

Using his gun for leverage to stand up, Damien attempted to escape into one of the icy crevasses. He could hear his pursuers right behind him as he leapt into the deep hole in the ice.

However, he did not fall. Instead, a vice-like grip was clenched around his ankle. He was tossed back onto the ground and tried to get back up, only to have a boot shove him into the snow. Looking up, he saw the attacker up close. On the chest of the attacker was a symbol, showing three lines flowing upward over a shield-shaped red background, seven stars underneath the red shield.

It was the symbol of the United Republic of Terra.

These were Union soldiers. Judging by their visor shape, they must have been some kind of special unit. It made sense for them to be elite if they were attempting to capture Saul.

One of the Elites grabbed Damien by the throat, picking him up and out from under the other Elite.

"Where. Is. Saul?" they demanded, their voice obscured by a voice modifier.

Damien used of his free arms to lift his helmet just enough to spit on the Union soldier.

"Gone. That's where, you bastard."

The Elite wiped his visor free of the spit and squeezed Damien's throat harder.

"You think because you tell us nothing... that you are strong? You are coming with us. Eventually, you will break."

They took him to a distant location where a ship uncloaked. An entryway opened up, allowing them to enter the vessel. The temperature was much better than the outside temperature, but that was not important at the moment. The trio took him through the ship and into what seemed to be a small cell block for whatever prisoners they may have. When they reached the cell at the end, they ordered him to remove his armor.

He didn't bother arguing, as they had already taken his weapons. He removed all of his armor, leaving him in a baggy undersuit. Taking his armor away, they tossed him into the cell and locked him in.

Damien vowed to tell them nothing. But he couldn't help but feel... afraid.

Lieutenant Ajax Laskaris paced around his quarters, frustration coursing through him. That bastard Saul Morris escaped and destroyed the outpost, vaporizing everything they could use to find him again. Well, almost everything. They at least had that Confederate soldier held as their prisoner. But they still didn't have Saul!

Ajax slammed a fist into his metal desk in rage, leaving a dent in it. Calming himself, he went into his bathroom and dematerialized his helmet, splashing water onto his face. Looking up into the mirror in front of him, he let out a sigh. Years ago, he looked like a completely different man. He looked like a youthful, optimistic man. But he had spent nine long years in constant brutal combat.

Still, he was definitely considered a handsome man, and was an average height for his generation, standing at six foot six. He had a strong yet narrow jawline, golden blonde hair, and chocolate brown eyes all accompanied by a Texan accent and deep voice.

With one final sigh, he stepped out of his quarters and spotted the squad's medical expert Janine Cadence. She was a kind woman with short red hair and brilliant green eyes who was assigned to the squad about four years ago. She rarely joined in on the combat, but she could easily hold her own.

"Hey, Ajax! How are you holding up?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Nobody got hurt in the explosions. I'm just... frustrated."

She nodded her head in understanding, continuing her way down the corridor.

"I understand. But you should relax. He got lucky, that's all. He'll be caught. I mean, it's not like the Confederacy has much longer until they're defeated entirely."

Ajax followed her down the corridor and into the living area, where Janine got herself some instant food from their ship's pseudo-kitchen.

"Maybe. But it just feels like they have something going on that we don't know about... I think that we might-"

"Son of a BITCH! I hate these new laser weapons."

Entering the common area was Captain Krieg Keaton as he worked on his heavy laser cannon. He was a veteran of the war years before Ajax ever joined the army, and was the heavy weapons expert of the squad. He was the oldest of the squad at forty-one, but sometimes acted the least mature. He was a large man, standing at seven foot three, and was over four hundred pounds of pure muscle. When paired with the tendencies of a silverback gorilla, this became a dangerous combo.

"They're the best weapons you could ask for, though." Ajax responded.

Ajax took a seat on a couch in the common area, where he saw the squad's sniper sitting across from him. The sniper's name was Ivan Ulvarrson, and he was the newest edition of the team, having joined them two years prior. He didn't talk much... Or at all. It made him quite mysterious, as nobody knew much about him.

Ajax looked at the datapad attached to his wrist, seeing that they were somewhere in the Loki sector of the Andromeda galaxy. It was a place that was relatively barren, as there were no settlements nearby, which made it perfect for moving through without attracting any attention.

At the moment, they were attempting to find the transports that had escaped from the unnamed frozen planet. They decided to try and pursue their target instead of warping home. With any luck, they would find them before winding up too deep in Confederate territory.

With a frown, Ajax turned off his datapad and laid back. Their prisoner had refused to say anything, so they would have to resort to more extreme measures soon. If he could just tell them something, they could capture Saul and finally go home.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumble that resounded throughout the ship. The ship shook hard, and Ajax's radio came to life.

"Lieutenant, a warp gate just opened out of nowhere! You should come see this!"

Without any hesitation, Ajax rushed to the bridge of the ship and opened the door to see a terrifying sight. Sitting in the pilot seat was Julian Scott, the pilot of the squad's ship: Crimson Tide. Even though his face was concealed by his pilot's helmet, marked by the signature red chevron visor, Ajax could tell the man was worried. Then, the ship's AI spoke up.

"Lieutenant, scans show that the pull of the gate is too powerful to escape from. Recommended course of action: Brace for warp."

"Understood, Skye. Julian, tell everyone to brace for warp."

The pilot nodded, turning on the intercom and issuing the warning.

Ajax got into a nearby seat and buckled himself in as the ship was forced into the rogue warp gate. He held his breath in anticipation as everything began to go white.

It was a peaceful day in the Lylat system. Quiet, just the way Fox McCloud liked it. Taking one more look at the photo his childhood friend and fiancee Fara Phoenix sent him, he stood up from his bed in his room and headed into the ship's bridge. As he made his way to the bridge, he passed by the common area, where the team's females all sat.

Krystal waved at him, and he waved back with a smile. Krystal was a very good-hearted vixen, who he had rescued from Sauria years ago. She had lost her planet and her family to Andross, and Fox felt extremely sorry for her. He knew what it was like to lose family. After being rescued, she proved that she was an expert with close-quarters combat, and was also a telepath. He almost didn't believe it at first, but it had proven many times to be quite useful.

Next to Krystal sat Miyu Lynx, and on the other side was Fay Spaniel. The two women were originally part of the Cornerian army, but eventually joined Star Fox together. Even though the two were best friends, they were very different.

Miyu Lynx was a very outgoing woman, and was also quite tomboyish. Even though she liked to flirt, she was also quite respectful. Miyu was also an excellent shot, as well as a great interceptor pilot.

Fay Spaniel was much more shy than Miyu, but had more optimism than any other person Fox had met. Though she came from rich aristocrats, she was incredibly humble. On top of being an interceptor pilot like Miyu, Fay was excellent with technology and computers. With Slippy as well, they kept the Great Fox and everything in it running very smoothly.

Fox entered the bridge of the Great Fox, seeing Peppy, Slippy, Falco, and R.O.B. all inside. He took a seat, turning to Peppy while Falco and Slippy argued like children.

"Anything come up, Pep?"

The old hare shook his head.

"Nothing yet, Fox. And don't call me that."

Fox chuckled and began to lean back in his seat when the holographic projector turned on, startling him and causing him to fall over. When he got up from his embarrassing fall, he looked up to see General Pepper was looking right back down at him.

"Uh... What is it, General?" Fox asked, looking back at the arguing Falco and Slippy to give them a look that said 'shut up'.

"Fox, I have received word that a strange and powerful energy reading was discovered not too far outside of Corneria. I ask that you investigate. The coordinates have been sent to your ship."

Fox looked at the coordinates, letting R.O.B. set the ship's course for the destination.

"Of course, General. We'll let you know what we find as soon as possible."

"Thank you, McCloud. Be careful." General Pepper said before signing off.

Fox sat back down in his chair, looking over at Peppy again. The hare let out a sigh, taking a seat himself.

"I'm getting too old for all of these missions."

Fox chuckled, patting Peppy on the back.

"This will be the last one for a while, then we'll go home. I promise."

With that, the Star Fox mercenary team set off to investigate the unusual energy reading. For some reason, Peppy couldn't shake the feeling that this would be something major.

Very major.

"So tell me again what we're doing?" Miyu asked Fox as she put her gear on.

Fox sighed, putting his boot on as he explained.

"Alright. Listen up, because I won't explain it again. General Pepper wants us to investigate an unusual energy reading that had been detected near Corneria. Our goal is to see if it's a threat, and if it is, eliminate it."

"Gotcha." Miyu said, sliding a blaster into its holster.

Fox looked out a window and saw nothing until he did a double-take. He noticed a large, dark shape floating aimlessly through space, not the slightest amount of activity taking place. It was easily larger than the Great Fox, being almost twice the size. It was the darkest black Fox had ever seen, except for a red symbol on the side with seven gold stars at the bottom. The ship itself was sleek, with four narrow wings that extended past the back of the ship. The front had two points on the end, a pair of massive cannons between the points. Along the sides of the ship were various other cannons, though much smaller in size.

It struck him as odd that an inactive ship put out such a powerful energy output. Perhaps the ship was in some kind of danger...

Fox entered the ship's bridge and got on the communicator, attempting to hail the ship.

"This is Fox McCloud of Star Fox. State your ship name and purpose. If you are in distress, please let me know immediately."

Silence.

"I repeat, State your ship name and purpose. If in distress, tell me immediately."

Once again, silence.

Fox exited the bridge, grabbing the attention of his team minus Peppy and Slippy.

"Star Fox, prepare to board the ship."

Ajax awoke with a start, seeing that only the emergency lights were on in the ship. Undoing his harness, he stood up from the seat he was in and materialized his helmet, using it to enhance his vision in the poorly lit ship. The first thing he did was check on the rest of his squad, heading to the warp harnesses to see his squad there.

Krieg was awake, and was in the process of getting out of the harness when Ivan woke up and did the same. As they got free of the safety harnesses, there was a loud bang that made everyone freeze.

"Lieutenant, you remember that sound, right?" Krieg asked.

"I sure do. An entry port has been pried open. We're being boarded."

The trio materialized their weapons, rushing through the ship toward the intruders. If they were lucky, they could get the drop on them and not have to risk being shot at. Of course, that wasn't always going to happen, but it was best to at least try.

As they spread out, they dimmed the lights coming from their visors to make them as invisible as possible as they waited for the foolish intruders to enter.

The Star Fox team made their way into the dimly lit ship quickly, watching all corners for any potential hostiles. Fox took the lead, Krystal following close behind. The telepath used her abilities to try and find any life signatures. The problem was, she couldn't detect a single one.

"Fox, I have yet to detect any life. Either this ship is abandoned, or... the occupants are not alive.

Fox grimaced at the thought, but pushed forward anyway.

"I have hope that they made it out okay. If not, then we can at least get their bodies back to their homes."

As the group progressed deeper into the ship, Falco let out a barely suppressed shiver of anxiety.

"This ship is creepy." he said quietly.

"You're creepy." Miyu joked.

Falco fake laughed mockingly at Miyu's joke and went to retort when they heard a distorted voice from behind.

"Drop your weapons. Reach for the sky."

The room went silent, the Star Fox team all jumping in surprise as they were caught off guard. Not wanting to risk getting shot in the back, the team did as told and dropped their weapons before they put their hands in the air. Slowly, Fox turned around to see who gave the order when another person walked out in front of the group. Looking at the second person, Fox immediately felt his heart begin to race.

Standing in front of him was a beast of a person, standing over a foot taller than even Falco, who was exceptionally tall for a Cornerian. They were bulky, their muscles visible even with the armor on. The giant was wearing armor as black as the ship they were in, except for a T-shaped visor that pierced the dark with red. In the hands of the giant was what Fox assumed to be a laser cannon. The hulking weapon was almost bigger than Fox was, so he didn't want to imagine what it could do to him.

"Tell us who you are, and what you're doing here." the voice from behind ordered.

Fox swallowed hard, but kept his composure.

"We are the mercenary team Star Fox. We were sent to investigate an unusual energy reading detected outside Corneria. We found your ship, and figured that you were in distress because the ship was inactive."

He heard a chuckle, followed by more distorted speaking.

"Mercenaries, eh? Well, tell me what y'all are now. You don't look like any Spliced I've ever seen."

Fox was incredibly confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what is your species."

This confused Fox even more.

"Well... I'm a Fox. Uh... we're all Lylatians, if that's what you're asking about."

The voice huffed, and Fox could hear heavy footsteps coming from behind him. Looking to his side, he could see two more giants, who were still very large despite being smaller than the first one he saw. One held a long and sleek sniper rifle, while the other held an odd looking rifle. It had two barrels, a larger barrel under the other. Under both barrels was a slit, behind which was a hand guard. It was compact, with a bulky magazine sticking out of the bottom labeled "HE", presumably meaning "High Explosive".

"That's strange. Are you a new generation of hybrid?"

"What? Hybrid of what?"

The giant shook his head, lowering his large rifle.

"Never mind. You obviously aren't hybrids. But that is what I find odd. Tell me... where are we?"

"You're in the Lylat system. The planet nearby is Corneria."

The giant grunted in frustration, leaning down to Fox's eye level.

"I don't think you understand. As far as I know, this is some backwater frontier system. I need to know what Galactic sector we're in. In fact, tell me what galaxy we're in as well."

Fox was completely baffled at this point, as was the rest of the team.

"Are you implying you're from a different galaxy?"

The giant clenched their fist in frustration, growling.

"I don't know yet. How hard is it to answer a fucking question?"

"Well how about you answer a question for me? What are you guys?"

"...What? We're obviously human."

Falco scoffed, cocking an eyebrow.

"We don't even know what a... 'human' even is. How should it have been obvious?"

The giant froze for nearly half a minute before turning around slowly.

"You're speaking English. A human language. How the hell do you not know what a human is?"

"We're speaking Lylatian Common. So are you."

The giant went silent, thinking to themself for a while. Suddenly, they punched their fist into one of the metal walls, denting it deeply.

"None of this is making any sense!"

"Dammit, Laskaris. You know how long it'll take to fix that wall?" the biggest giant asked.

The one called "Laskaris" shook their head, obviously frustrated immensely.

"Yeah, yeah. But I can't figure this out. Where did that warp gate send us?"

"I couldn't tell you. But one thing's for sure: We can't just stand here forever trying to figure this out."

"You're right. Lower your weapons. I don't think these guys are a threat."

The two other "humans" lowered their weapons, allowing Star Fox to relax and pick their own weapons back up. As they went to pick up their weapons, however, the human with the sniper rifle raised their weapon threateningly.

"Ivan, it's fine. Lower your weapon."

The soldier did as told and lowered his weapon, if a bit begrudgingly. The Star Fox team was led to what seemed like a common area, where "Laskaris" stopped and motioned to the seats, which the Star Fox team took, though Fay looked a bit scared to move at all. Eventually, she took a seat.

"Krieg, watch over them while Ivan and I try to get the ship running."

"Got it, Ajax. Thanks for leaving me with the awkward job."

Ajax/Laskaris just chuckled as he and the other human headed off. Before they could get anywhere, however, a human with a red downward chevron visor came running in as the lights all came on.

"Fixed it. Just needed to reboot the... what am I looking at?"

The other humans just shrugged.

"...Okay then."

Then, an electronic female voice sounded out.

"Warning: Unknown lifeforms on board. Recommended course of action:-"

"We already know, Skye. You're late to the party."

"Recommended course of action: Shut up."

Ajax let out a sigh.

"Feelin' the love."

Fay seemed interested in the voice, as it came from an intercom and spoke similarly to a machine.

"Who was that?" Fay asked.

"I am Skye, an artificial intelligence for Reaper Squad's ship The Crimson Tide."

Fay was intrigued. They had artificial intelligence in the Lylat, but she wanted to know how advanced this particular AI was. As she thought about it, Falco spoke up with a question that was on everyone's mind.

"So... are you guys aliens? You claimed to be a species called... 'humans', was it? We haven't really seen anything like you before, and you don't know what galaxy you're in."

The human with the chevron visor chuckled slightly to himself before answering.

"Yes, we are. We have come to rule over you as tyrannical overlords and-"

"Shut the fuck up, Julian." Krieg ordered.

"You're lame, man."

Suddenly, a different voice spoke up from down the corridor.

"Who's lame? What did I miss?"

Another human stood in the common area, staring at the Star Fox team from behind a helmet. Their shape was definitely feminine, and they had no armor on.

"Apparently a lot..." she said.

"Yes, you did."

Slowly, the female made her way over to the animal people, not taking her eyes off of them. They looked like the animal hybrid Spliced, but they were smaller, and had more animal features.

"So... Anyone gonna explain who the hell these guys are?"

Ajax gave her a quick rundown of what they had figured out so far, letting her process the information for a moment. Julian listened as well, as he was curious as to what was going on. The two nodded their heads, though they were both a bit bothered by the whole situation.

"Well that isn't worrying at all." the female said sarcastically.

"I know it's looking bad, Janine, but we have to have faith that things will be alright." Ajax said, attempting to be reassuring.

Janine just sighed, shrugging.

"I guess."

Fox could tell that these aliens were stressed about the whole situation, so he decided to try and help.

"I understand that it must be stressful to be far from home and to not know where you are. If you want, you can stay with us on Corneria until you can figure out how to get home."

The human named Ajax looked over at Fox, seemingly contemplating the offer.

"I would hate to be a burden to all of you."

"You wouldn't be a burden. I promise."

Ajax thought for a moment more, eventually coming to a decision.

"Alright then. But I insist that we pay you back in some way."

Fox let out a sigh, shrugging.

"Sure. If you must. But you really don't need to. Since you'll be staying with us, you can just follow our ship to Corneria."

With that, Star Fox began to head back to their ship.

"See you guys on Corneria." Falco shouted to the humans.

Krystal followed Falco close behind, but focused on the humans with her telepathy. For some odd reason, she couldn't get a read on them. Once they got to Corneria, she would investigate further. Until then, she would just have to wait.

With Star Fox back on their ship, Ajax gave Julian the order to follow them back to their planet. Hopefully, they would get answers as to where they ended up and how they would get home.

If they could get back home.

Howdy, everybody. Thanks for reading the first chapter of this story. For some of you, thanks for re-reading. I feel like this flows a bit better than before, and the consistency should be better now that I know how I want this to actually go. Sorry for the wait, but I honestly think the story will be much improved. Of course, that's all subjective.

As always, be sure to let me know what you think. If you have any questions or concerns, shoot me a message and I'll do my best to answer you.

See you soon!

-Lord Jerry.