Author's Note: Now that I've published the last chapter, I felt like I should say something to any newcomers. As this was my first story published online, and pretty much my first foray into creative writing, the quality is... well, it sucks. A lot changes as the story progresses; the plot, spelling, and grammar all improve, and the story becomes more and more serious. So, if you're thinking about starting TAC, the writing may be bad at the beginning, but at least it's fast-paced, and the jokes and humorous bits will hold you over until it gets better. I am currently revising several of the chapters, but to what extent I will actually go to to improve them, I have no idea. I could do a whole rewrite of the story, but I don't want to spend any more time on it. If you happen to read the reviews, keep in mind I split several chapters up, so the reviews will no longer mach the chapter they were originally for.

With that out of the way, I unashamedly leave you with... this.

Rated T for violence, very infrequent language, and tragedy, though most of that is at the end.

Chapter 1: A New Mission

Beeeeeeeeeeep! Beeeeeeeeeeep! Beeeeeeeeeeep!

A high-pitched... well... beeping noise emitted from Fox's wrist communicator, causing him to start and bang his head against the underside of his arwing. "Ow! What the heck?" He rubbed his head as he scooted out from beneath his arwing, dragging his tools with him as he did so. Note to self; turn down alarm volume. He stood up, brushing the dust off his jacket. Ever since Amanda had joined the team, Slippy had been distracted... so much so that he often neglected to make repairs on their arwings, and was struggling to catch up on his work. Fox and the rest of the team found themselves doing more and more of the dirty work they usually left to their green-skinned mechanic.

Fox began quickly walking through the hallways of the Great Fox as he keyed his comm, transmitting to all of the team at once. "Everyone; report to the bridge for our next mission immediately."

The Great Fox sprang to life as all of the team began showing up. Falco Lombardi emerged from his room in the middle of fixing his blaster. "Yo, Foxie, what's the new job? Any details?"

Fox shrugged in reply; he'd only heard ROB's summons a few seconds ago, and had no idea.

Krystal stuck her head out of the rec room, munching on a bag of chips. "Mnnnchmpp mmm krnmm?" Fox couldn't understand the vixen, but he guessed what she meant, and repeated the gesture he gave Falco. She fell into step behind the team's leader with Falco.

Slippy dropped down through an empty ceiling panel, a screw-driver in hand, bracing himself with the other hand against the ground as he landed. He immediately sprang up and followed the rest of the group. "Finally, a new mission!"

Just like old times, Fox thought. He had to admit, he the team was a little rusty, but it was good to be back to work again. He always loved the moment when they all ran through the interior of the Great Fox together, alarms blaring, wind whistling through their clothes and fur as they dashed down the metal hall. It always felt so epic to Fox.

They turned a corner, almost bowling over Amanda. "WAAAH!" she cried as she threw her arms in the air, scattering the rolls of maps she was carrying. Everyone slipped on the rolling maps, falling over on the ground, doing face-plants or landing on their rumps.

Their epic moment had been effectively spoiled.

Fox quietly growled as he pushed a flailing Slippy off of him. Krystal offered Falco a hand, who glanced at it, then ignored it, pulling himself up. He slipped again (ironically) on a map of Venom that had unfurled, and this time he took Krystal's hand. Fox helped Amanda up, and they were all standing again, except Slippy. He launched his tongue out, which stuck to the ceiling, attempting to grapple himself up. But instead, the panel fell down on top of them all, knocking them to the ground again. "Slippy!" they all groaned angrily.

Finally, after sorting out the mess, the team made it to the bridge.

"What've you got for us, ROB?"Fox asked upon entering.

ROB spun himself around in his swivel chair, but over-calculated, spinning himself too far. "Pulling the transmission up on the projector," the robotic navigator said as he again attempted to face the team.

A holographic image sprang up from the center table. It displayed a richly dressed panda sipping from a champagne glass as he studied the team. Fox recognized the bear as Bo Pandafeller, the head of one of the wealthiest families in Corneria.

"Greetings, team Starfox. I have a job for you that will pay handsomely... that is, if you can accomplish the mission. You see, a group of pirates has stolen all of my funds from my bank account; they broke into my estate this morning and downloaded them onto a couple credit packs, and are making their way secretly through Cornerian back roads in an armored hover car. My guards have tried everything to penetrate the car, but nothing short of your plasma cannons will work. I've given your robot the heat signatures of the pirates; he should be able to locate them within the city"

Fox glanced sideways at ROB, who was still spinning around in his chair, frustrated. The image of the panda shrunk slightly, making room for a picture of a dark, expensive-looking hover-car zooming through Corneria's central metropolis. An x-ray showed that the hover-car had several concealed weapons, and the occupants were armed as well.

"And how much will this mission pay?" Falco asked cockily, snapping the last piece of his gun into place. The gun fired a laser that bounced around the room, causing everyone to duck, including Pandafeller. The aristocrat poked his head into the viewing range of the hologram, making sure everything was safe before he rose completely. Falco hid the gun behind his back.

"I am allocating you one percent of my electronic funds, which is... roughly one-hundred million credits." Fox's eyes bulged, Falco dropped his gun, Krystal spat out a few chips, and ROB stopped spinning. "I'm sorry, but I can't offer you anything in advance; they essentially have all my money."

"Understood." Fox said. "We'll take it."

"Good, good. I will expect to see you at my estate with the funds in hand. Oh, and Lombardi..."

Falco looked up.

"... Watch that itchy trigger finger of yours."

Falco muttered something under his breath as he walked away.

"Bo out." The panda said as his hologram collapsed.

"ROB; set our course for Corneria," Fox ordered. "Let's bust some pirates!"

Within a few hours, the Great Fox had entered Corneria's atmosphere. The team had suited-up for their mission, and were climbing into their ships. Amanda had come to see Slippy off before leaving to take her position back at the bridge of the Great Fox. One by one, their cockpits closed. The hangar was filled with a high pitched noise as their engines gathered energy. Fox, Falco, and Krystal shared the same sound system, so they played their favorite hard-rock bands, while Slippy preferred to play country. (Yes, that was an insult.) ROB emerged carrying a tray with a six-pack of soda on it, saying, "Sir, your-" But at that moment, the engines reached their climax and each let out a giant burst of energy as the ships rocketed out of the hangar. "...coke," he finished. He was mildly singed, and the soda pack had exploded in the heat.

The four arwings took up diamond formation, with Fox in the lead. "Report condition," Fox ordered.

"All fine."

"No problem"

"My bun warmers aren't working" Slippy complained. Falco snorted.

"Good, now follow me!" Fox zoomed over the giant capital city of Corneria, maneuvering around the occasional skyscraper. Soon, they spotted the sleek black hover-car, which was speeding through the alleys of the poorer side of the city. "This is going to be a tight fit; you three land your arwings at the end of the alley where it opens up, and I'll take them from behind. When they come out, we'll have them surrounded."

"Got it, Fox." Falco, Krystal, and Slippy broke formation to land at the opposite end of the alley. Fox tilted his arwing so that it was perpendicular to the street, and squeezed into the alley, careful not to scrape against either wall.

"Say your prayers," he mumbled as he opened fire on the hover-car. The car had no room to dodge, and sustained several hits. But the pirates knew Fox couldn't dodge either, so they decided to strike back. An unidentifiable figure pushed the top open and stood up through it. He gasped when he saw who it was, shouted something to the others who were in the hover-car, and opened fire on fox. But while the pirates were restricted from moving side to side, Fox was able to at least move up and down, so he avoided a few of the attacks. Just as concealed weapons began to pop out of every conceivable place on the car, it emerged from the alley. Fox's wing-mates let out several blasts from their plasma cannons, which all landed on the hover-car. The metal plating of the car was terribly damaged, and the car did a forward flip until it landed on it's back, scraping up mounds of asphalt as it slid to a stop against a trash bin.

"Ok, let's check it out." The pilots opened their cockpits, and dropped to the ground, weapons drawn. They cautiously crept towards the now upside-down hover-car. When they reached it, Fox flung open the door, and they pointed their blasters into it. But instead of pirates, they were greeted by none other than the chancellor of Corneria, Turrick Ollama, still sitting upside down in his seat, arms crossed.

The brown-furred llama said, "Seriously Fox, I wouldn't think it of you." And with that, several bulldog bodyguards leapt over the car, taking up positions behind the team, their guns pointed.

"Oops," Fox said as the team raised their hands.

Fox, Krystal was speaking to him telepathically. They think we were trying to assassinate him! You better do some quick explaining.

"Look, Chancellor, we didn't know it was you."

"So you just roam around attacking random hover-cars, is that it?"

"No, you see, Bo Pandafeller hired us to track down some pirates that had robbed him."

"What? You expect me to believe that one of my best friends had you hunt me down?"

"Maybe it was a practical joke?"

"Guards, take their weapons and call a squad car to pick us up. I was hoping to get back to my estate secretly, but now I'll have to-"

At that moment, Falco tossed his gun to the nearest guard, who made to catch it. But Falco then leaped into the air, executed a spinning kick to the guard's head, caught his gun, and pressed it to the Chancellor's head. "Call your guards off."

"Falco, not helping."

"Put your gun down bird, or the green one gets it." growled a bulldog as he put his gun to Slippy's head.

"You picked the wrong hostage; that one gets on my nerves."

"Falco!?" Slippy gulped, but the guards just pointed their guns at the rest of his teammates.

"Fine." Falco tossed his gun to the same bulldog he tossed it to the first time, but the guard just jumped away from it.

"What are you going to do with us?" Krystal asked.

"What do you expect me to do?" Said Ollama. "You just attempted to assassinate the Chancellor of Corneria." Fox began to protest, but Ollama cut him off. "Don't worry, you'll be given a fair trial."

"Why were you using the back roads to get to your estate?" Slippy asked.

"Because we're at war, boy."

Fox looked at the Chancellor in disbelief. "With who?"

"We don't know yet. They're like nothing we've ever seen before. They can appear out of nowhere at any time, and disappear just as fast. Whoever they are, I suspect they've hired you to take me out."

"Or they set us up..." Fox mumbled.

Author's Note: Thanks to Glacier-Paws for noting an inconsistency; it has been fixed.

Also, I had originally published this beginning chapter in two different sections, but they were short enough so that I could easily combine them.