Out in the depths of space.... No one can hear you scream...
The captain of a cargo hauler quivered in fear as he aimed his pistol at the door to the bridge. Just minutes before, he was snoring at the helm of his ship, tired after a long night's poker game. The rest of the crew were either still playing or shuffled off to bed. Their cargo: 2000 metric tons of munitions for the Macbeth Research Facility.
But earlier that day, they had diverted course to respond to a signal, and since they were the only ones in the sector, one of the crewmen thought it would be a good reward from whoever it was. They should've ignored it, for the signal came from a pod.
When the captain left for the bridge, the pod revealed its true purpose: a cryo-capsule, holding someone very dangerous. This beast slaughtered the entire crew in minutes in his relentless rampage. The captain awoke to blaster fire and the screams of his slain comrades. When the screams stopped, he had locked the door and cowered in fear behind the console, hoping that whoever or whatever this was would ignore him.
Parts of the door crunched as something massive and heavy punched or kicked it, denting it out into the bridge. More punches or kicks came, caving the door in more and more. The gun shook in the captains hand.
The door was slammed open and crashed into the window behind him, narrowly missing his head by inches. The imposing figure, with only his silhouette barely able to be made out by the warning lights, stomped towards the captain, who fired, but the shots bounced off. He grabbed him with one hand and effortlessly picked him up.
"Where.... is he...?" The monster snarled. The captain was too scared to reply. His gun dropped from his hand- he was dead anyway. He pulled him in close and snarled in his face. "Where... is... the Fox?" A putrid smell followed. The monster looked down and saw that the captain had soiled himself. "Pathetic..." The last thing the captain saw after his life flashed before his eyes were rows of razor sharp teeth.
The monster tossed the carcass aside and lumbered over to the console. He couldn't read the words, so he was stuck at the mercy of the auto-pilot, not that it was an issue. He had water, air, and plenty of food.
He has all the time in the universe.
"There is nowhere... in space... for you to hide... McCloud!!!"
How does a man become a Legend?
What happens to the man after the Legend had passed?
Such is the question in the life of the hero, Fox McCloud, leader of the mercenary group known as Star Fox and savior of the Lylat System quadruple times over. His accomplishments for a mercenary are the envy of many.
But in order to understand how the Legend came to be, we must go back, back 33 years to the start of conflict.
The Lylat Wars
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tijoqc… Area 6 - Star Fox 64 Soundtrack
On the planet of Corneria, a brilliant scientist named Andross was shunned and ridiculed by his fellows for his experiments into genetic and genome manipulation, and his outlandish yet dangerous designs meant for war when the galaxy was at peace. Fearing he was going mad with power, the Powers-That-Be, at the behest of Lylat's valued General Pepper who saw the madman he was becoming, banished Andross to the remote and dangerous planet of Venom.
That, ironically, would be their downfall as Andross continued his experiments, manipulating his body until it wasn't even recognizable, turning him into a giant floating head and a pair of hands. This didn't stop him as he now used his newfound size and increased intellect to set forth his new army of mechanical wonders and dangerous bio-weapons. He would recruit mercenaries and bounty hunters to his cause.
At the same time, Fox McCloud and his friend Slippy Toad would enter the Corneria Flight Academy to become pilots in the Corneria Space Force. There, they would meet Falco Lombari and the three would become the talk of the academy. Fox was a master in weaponry, Slippy a savant with machines, and Falco, as amazing a pilot there ever was, with Fox his rival.
Detecting activity on the planet's surface, Pepper hires his old friend, James McCloud, founder of Star Fox and father to Fox, to investigate. With his fellow mercenaries Pigma Dengar and Peppy Hare, the trio arrived at Venom to see that Andross was constructing an army. It was then that Pigma betrayed his friends- Andross offered more money. Peppy was captured and held prisoner for several years while James was ultimately tortured and killed. Peppy would eventually escape two years later and return to Corneria, warning the Powers-That-Be of the growing army. They didn't believe him, thinking he was delusional. Pepper was the only one to believe Peppy's claims and worked to convince the Powers-That-Be while also consolidating his own forces to prepare for a fight.
After hearing of his fathers death at the hands of Andross and that Corneria wasn't doing anything to prepare for the coming battle, Fox quit the Academy in spire. Finding solace with Peppy, who was like a uncle to him, the two decided that it was time for a new Star Fox team to rise. He later convinced Slippy and Falco to drop out and gave Pepper the frequency to contact them, before the four vanished without a trace.
One year later, the Lylat Wars began. Andross launched his assault on the system, attacking every planet and sector at once. It was a devastating attack, with many casualties. When the war reached Corneria, Pepper called for the new Star Fox team. From the depths of space, they returned, with a brand new frigate called the Great Fox, powerful fightercraft called Arwings, a mighty tank called the Landmaster, and a robotic companion named Rob 64. This mercenary team would end up being the turning point in the war. Their skills were exemplary, and a threat Andross could not anticipate, especially with the power behind the new frigate. To counter them, he employed his own mercenary force- Star Wolf, lead by Wolf O'Donnell, and comprised of Leon Powalski, Andross's nephew Andrew Oikonny, and the turncoat Pigma.
Star Fox tore through Lylat, destroying Andross's advanced machines and bio-weapons, and dueling with Star Wolf several times, as they steamrolled towards Venom. Arriving at the planet and facing Star Wolf one last time, Fox alone entered Andross' lair to confront him one on one. Seeing the monster the former scientist has become, he narrowly succeeds in destroyed the mad ape with the help of the ghost of his father. That part is still debated upon if Fox didn't just hallucinate him; he did singlehandedly destroyed Andross' army in a matter of days with no rest.
Regardless, Andross was destroyed, his remaining forces surrounded, and peace returned to Lylat. A lot of work was needed to rebuild what was destroyed.
But evil is not so easily killed...
Adventures
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIxk20… Andross - Star Fox Adventures soundtrack
Andross' spirit somehow survived the battle and roamed Lylat in search of a way to reform his body. After seven years, he came across a planet so far out of the way, his army never even touched it: Sauria, also known as Dinosaur Planet. Here, he would learn of the Six Krazoa, mystical spirits that held the planet together. He believed he could use their power to become flesh and blood again, and so went to work, manipulating a militant dictator called General Scales, subtlety giving him the tools needed to technologically advance his tribe of Sharpclaws and bring an iron-clawed rule to the planet. in just over a year, Scales had subdued the planet and ruled its inhabitants through fear. Taking four mystical relics called Spellstones from special locations called Force Points, chunks of the planet tore off and drifted into orbit around the crumbling planet- the Spellstones were also hidden in these chunks. If left to this, the planet could explode and the shards would strike the other worlds, bringing an apocalypse to the system.
But Andross soon learned he could not interact with the Krazoa himself- only those pure of heart could, and they were hidden in special sanctuaries. This left Andross in a pickle... that was until the timely arrival of a gorgeous young vixen named Krystal, who came to Sauria in search of clues as to who was behind her parents death. Not only was she pure of heart, but she also had mystical ability's of her own as she could house the spirits inside her and return them to their shrines. Deducing she could control the Krazoa, he trapped Krystal in a floating crystal prison at the top of Krazoa Palace, waiting for someone to come and finish what she started.
Either through divine providence or dumb luck, someone did come. To his chagrin, however, it was Star Fox. The team had seen better days. Until now, they had just been wandering the system, taking whatever menial jobs that could to keep the Great Fox in pristine condition, which was expensive. What also didn't help was that Falco left the team some time ago after he and Fox had a falling out. After General Pepper contacted Fox and informed him of Sauria's plight, and the substantial reward, the team accepted... but only Fox went on the mission alone as Slippy was busy enough keeping the ship and Rob from falling apart and Peppy had taking up cartography as a hobby that would surprisingly come in handy on this mission.
Arriving on the planet and learning of Scales and the Spellstones, Fox would recruit local help in Tricky, Prince of the Earthwalkers, one of Sauria's ruling tribes, along with many others, such as the Gatekeepers- the guardians of the Spellstones. He would also gain a valuable weapon in the form of a magical staff that belongs to Krystal, but lost it thanks to Scales.
Andross, while loathing Fox for putting him into this situation, figured he could manipulate Fox into obtaining the remaining Krazoa spirits by using Krystal's cries of pain as motivation. He did so by taking the guise of a Krazoa Sage, with Fox wondering why the voice was familiar. Luckily for him, Fox was pure of heart, so the Krazoa would respond to him. It was during his first visit to the Palace that Fox met Krystal, but she was in no position to talk as her prison left her immobile and incapable of speaking.
After a long journey across the entire planet and to the four floating chunks of land, Fox would obtain all four Spellstones and finding four of the remaining five Krazoa Spirits. Sauria was close to being returned to its former glory, but only one spirit remained, as did one last threat: General Scales.
Fox and Scales fought for the last Krazoa spirit, which was housed inside Scales himself who was pure of heart himself- they never said the person had to be pure good. Andross "coercers" Scales to surrender the spirit, feeling his rebirth so close, he could taste it. Scales left Fox with some final words of warning before seemingly dying. With the last Spirit, he uses the crystal prison to force Krystal to channel all Six spirits into his spirit, which had been hiding within the stature of the Krazoa Sage. This frees Krystal and she and Fox finally meet face to face. This was cut short as the head of the statue floats away into space, with Fox finally recognizing the voice as his old foe.
Chasing him to Sauria's orbit, Andross reveals himself to Fox, with his head and hands reformed, but still attached to the statue. The extra defense, however, was a boon to Andross during the battle, but the timely return of Falco turned the tide and together, the two ace pilots destroyed Andross' new body, and with the Krazoa ripping his spirit apart upon release, the threat posed by the mad scientist was finally brought to an end once and for all. Sauria was saved and made whole once more... though Scales' body was nowhere to be found.
With their new funds, the ship and its compliment of Arwings could be restored and made even better. Falco and Fox make amends and he rejoins the team. And as a added bonus, Krystal decides to join the team as well, which made Fox hot under the collar. The two didn't know it at the time, but when they truly met for the first time, it was love at first sight. Krystal would be trained in fighter combat and weaponry, all the while sparks of romance between her and Fox slowly grew.
Assault
www.youtube.com/watch?v=37TrJG… Aparoid Queen - Star Fox Assault soundtrack
One year after the Sauria Crisis, a new threat would emerge. Andrew Oikonny, who had been consolidating power following his uncle's defeat nine years earlier- with the exception of Pepper and the Powers-That-Be, nobody in Lylat was unaware of Andross' momentary return- and launched his own campaign against Lylat. It was a losing battle and Andrew quickly went through his forces. He and his army was soon cornered at the lush-tropical paradise Fortuna. Here, the Star Fox team made their play, having been hired by Pepper to help finish off the wannabe tyrant, and while they succeeded in defeating him...
A worse threat soon emerged, one that would push Lylat, if not the entire galaxy, to the breaking point...
Aparoids. Cybernetic Insectoid monsters that assimilate anything they touch- machines, people, even whole planets if given enough time. Unlike Andross and Andrew, who sought to rule Lylat, the Aparoids sole goal is to assimilate the whole universe under their hive mind, and they will destroy anyone that gets in their way. Corneria already knew of the Aparoid threat when a scout destroyed a patrol fleet 15 years prior before it was destroyed by the first Star Fox team.
Slippy's father, Beldino, is the leading expert on the Aparoids and has been researching the remains of the scout. He determined that all huge Aparoids have a special brain dubbed a Core Memory- basically a bio-computer that houses all the Aparoids collected knowledge. Believing it can help identify the Aparoid Homeworld so that they can end the war before it truly gets terrible. On the desert planet Katina, after destroying one of the huge Aparoids, it seemed that it was going to be a fast war... but Pigma soon arrived and stole the memory, planning on selling it on the black market.
And so, the hunt for Pigma was on. Star Fox believed him to be hiding out on a remote outpost due to incoming and outgoing transmissions, but the crew onboard say that Pigma doesn't run with them anymore. Not believing them for a minute, the team blasts through the outpost and find no trace of Pigma. Things get complicated when Star Wolf arrives, with Panther Cerosso, who is a hit with all the ladies, replacing Pigma and Andrew. They explain that they dumped Pigma due to a falling out and refuse to give more information, but Panthers infatuation for Krystal leads him to tell that the last call came from Fichina, a planet that was in a constant blizzard until a weather-manipulation outpost was built.
Star Fox heads to Fichina to search for leads, but find Pigma there himself. The Aparoids provide a distraction while Pigma, slowly being drawn under the influence of the Aparoid's assimilation, retreats. Destroying the Aparoids threatening the weather-manipulation machine, they chase Pigma to another Star Wolf outpost in the asteroid belt, but discover that all the ships had been destroyed, including Star Wolf's. They eventually find Pigma, but he had been fully consumed by the Aparoids, becoming one of them as he grotesquely fuses with the outpost. With negotiation off the table, the team destroys Aparoid-Pigma, putting an end to the chase and retrieving the Core Memory.
With the Core Memory retrieved, Beldino can study it for information. As the team heads back to Corneria to link up with the fleet, Krystal senses cries of distress coming from Sauria- the Aparoids had launched a surprise attack. Given their deep connection to the planet, Fox and Krystal head to the planet's surface to aid the resistance while the rest of the team fight in the skies. They succeed and Fox & Krystal reunite with their old friend Tricky, who had grown up into a mighty king. As the grown Earthwalker takes them back to their ships, he laments that he wants to come help, but Fox convinces him to stay as Sauria was his planet to protect. While Tricky jokes that he'll keep the planet safe so that Fox and Krystal can come back on their honeymoon, embarrassing Fox at the time, it does plant ideas in their heads.
All joking aside, there was a reason for the Sauria attack: it was to distract Star Fox so that the insects can launch a even worse, more devastating surprise attack on Corneria, with all contact with the Powers-That-Be lost. Star Fox quickly make their way to the surface to lead a counter-attack, but the Aparoid threat is too immense. Much to Fox's surprise and relief, Star Wolf arrives not to fight, but to help, with Wolf saying that HE is the one to beat Fox, not bugs- the Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend, after all. The two rival mercenary factions team up to push the Aparoids back, but things turn sour when Pepper appears, with his ship and most of his body under Aparoid assimilation. Forced into this, Fox destroys the ship, but Peppy, who had grown old by this time, arrives in a Arwing of his own to save the general from death. Before departing for a celebratory drink, Wolf gives a piece of advice that sticks with him to this day:
"Don't Hesitate. When the Time comes, just Act."
With Pepper's defeat, the Aparoids retreat and Beldino takes command of the remaining Corneria space force. He explains he found a weakness in the Aparoids cells: they are vulnerable to Apoptosis, a cellular condition that can cause their cells to self-destruct. Like all insects, the Aparoids have a queen, and if they can launch the program into the Queen, it should cause a chain reaction that should wipe out the Aparoids. While Beldino and his team are working around the clock to finish the virus, the Aparoids launch an attack on the Space Gate, a orbiting station that allows for instant travel across the cosmos. Star Fox, Star Wolf, and the remaining Cornerian forces narrowly prevent the gate's destruction.
With the Apoptosis program complete, the allied forces ready for their final battle. With coordinates extracted from the Core Memory, they gate to the Aparoid Homeworld, finding a shield that was preventing entry to the core of the planet- the location of the Queen. While the Cornerian forces and Star Wolf distract the Aparoids, Star Fox would find a way to destroy the shield, and they did, but it quickly reformed before they could enter, and with the Cornerian fleet slowly being decimated, it looked a losing battle. But to everyone's shock, Peppy, who was slowly being assimilated, rams the equally assimilated Great Fox into the shield, destroying it and providing Star Fox and Star Wolf enough time to enter before it reforms. The reformed shield and extensive damage destroys the frigate that carried the team for 10 years.
Blasting their way through the planet, the combined force was forced to dwindle as Star Wolf distracts a large force of Aparoids, allowing Star Fox to reach the Queen's Chamber. She attempts to coerce the team into stopping their fight, using the voices, memories, and personalities of those she assimilated: Pepper, Peppy, Pigma, and even Fox's father James. Not falling for her tricks, and following Wolf's advice, the team launches into the final battle, where they finally launch the Apoptosis Program into her. While the Queen attempts to retreat and suppress the program by creating a Anti-Body- a natural immunity- to the program, the team follow after her, distracting the Queen long enough to allow the program to activate.
After a long, arduous, draining battle, the Aparoid Queen was no more, and through her, the Apoptosis Program spread to all Aparoids, and even the planet itself. Their mission accomplished, the team evacuates the planet before it explodes, ending the Aparoid menace. As the team mourns the loss of Peppy and Star Wolf, they receive a transmission from Peppy himself, who survived and got out of Great Fox in a escape pod with Rob before it blew up. Krystal senses that Star Wolf is alive too, as was Pepper albeit barely, as the team goes to reunite with the remaining ships in the Cornerian fleet.
Command
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JxQjx… Fox's Theme - Star Fox Command soundtrack
In the weeks that followed, Lylat slowly rebuilt, recovering from the Aparoids. But not everyone came out of the war unscathed. After almost losing Peppy, who had been like a father to him when James wasn't around, Fox became scared about losing anyone, going so far as to push people away, even those he loved, so that he won't feel the pain of losing his loved ones. This slowly lead to inner turmoil within the crew that slowly led to the disbandment of the team. In no time flat, the once noble hero fell into a stupor and soon found himself all alone with Rob 64, drowning himself in drink to alleviate his fears and sorrows.
Six months later, taking advantage of the Aparoids decimation of Lylat, a race of amphibians from Venom called the Anglar launched an attack on Lylat so that they can become the dominant power. As they were still recovering from the Aparoid invasion, Corneria was in no place to respond, leaving the war to be fought through mercenaries.
A downtrodden Fox forces himself to fight once again and bitterly reunites with his old colleagues, and run across some new and old faces, such as Bill, a friend from the Academy; Katt, a merc whose crush on Falco is cute to all but aggravating to him; Lucy, Peppy's daughter who had just graduated from the Academy; and Amanda, Slippy's fiancee who's just as skilled as machines as he was. While he's not too keen on meeting everyone after their disbandment, it's his reunion with with Krystal- who had joined Star Wolf under the name Kursed, having been heartbroken by Fox's behavior- that opened his eyes to how her hurt those closest to him,
Throughout the war with the Anglar, he was able to reunite with Falco and Slippy and apologize for how horrible he was being towards them, and while they forgive him, it was going to take more then words for the pain and the fear to fully go away. Besides, it was Krystal that was going to be the hardest; she refused to listen to his apology or any apology since. After saving her life from a Anglar dreadnought weeks into the war, Fox's words were able to finally get through to her. His apology to her was a lot longer then everyone else's as he finally admits to her that he loves her, a sentiment she still shares after seeing how far he was truly willing to go for her, both now and back on Sauria and during the Aparoid invasion. They shared their first kiss as the dreadnought was finally taken down.
With the team back together, Star Fox, Star Wolf, and their allies launched a final assault on the Anglar capital, killing the emperor and ending the war. While this war was not as devastating as Andross or the Aparoids, taking place mostly in un-populated areas, it was still costly enough. In time, once things had calmed down, the new Powers-That-Be opened up peace talks with the new Emperor.
Eventually, Star Fox did disband, but unlike before, which was from bitterness and fear, this time its in friendship, comradely, and promises to stay in contact. In time, Slippy and Amanda opened up their own mechanic shop in the capital and got married with kids of their own. Falco went off somewhere with Katt to partake in a high-velocity racing circuit called F-Zero. Peppy finally and truly retired with Pepper. And Star Wolf stayed a powerful mercenary force, but Wolf had mysteriously vanished during the war, leaving Leon in charge.
As for Fox and Krystal, they did get married. It was a small, private ceremony with only their friends. They retired from mercenary work and moved to a lovely villa in the countryside, on the outskirts of the city. Soon, a new McCloud was born- Marcus. He would eventually be joined a year later by a sister named Emily.
For the first time in over a decade, peace had finally returned to Lylat.
How does a man become a Legend?
What happens to the man after the Legend had passed?
But there's something else that can be added into this.
What happens to the children of the Legend? Do they remain in the shadow of their parents legacy forever, never once becoming the person they want to be?
That is something i want to know for myself... cause being the son of a legendary hero isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Star Fox:
Legacy