PLEASE READ.
In order to avoid any in all copyright issues:
All Star Fox characters are rightfully the property of their respective owners. I CLAIM ABSOLUTELY NO OWNERSHIP OF ANY OF THE CHARACTERS OR VEHICLES OR PLANETS THAT ARE ALREADY THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. I only claim ownership of any other original creations.

On one more note if you guys notice any errors such as grammatical or spelling, please leave a review. I want you guys to have the best possible experience with the story and I don't your experience to be tainted with minor errors.

Hello Star Fox fans! Welcome to the next installment in my Star Fox franchise! This story takes place sixteen years after the events of Black Sun (I encourage you to check out Star Fox: Black Sun before you read this story). We have a new protagonist to the story, and a new team as well. Old faces will likely return, but a new conflict has arisen. Leave a review if you'd like, and as always; ENJOY THE CHAPTER!

1. Whispers

~Freedom, peace, order, these are the goals that the Cornerian military has long fought for in the many years of Lylat's history. Over time, tyrants came to power, heroes rose and fell, but in the end; evil never prevailed. These victories did not come without sacrifice, but as wars come and go; the soldiers of the Cornerian military always remain eternal.

Within Lylat, there was an elite group of mercenaries known for working closely with the Cornerian military. These mercenaries were known as Star Fox, and they were originally led by an anthropomorphic fox name James McCloud. Unfortunately, James was betrayed by one of his own members, and the Star Fox team was torn apart.

After a brief period in time, Peppy Hare, a close friend and teammate of James McCloud, survivor of his teammate's betrayal, passed the torch to James's son, Fox McCloud, and Fox led the new Star Fox team through many adventures. His piloting and leadership skills brought great fame to Star Fox as he and his team brought an end to the Lylat Wars, the Saurian crisis, the Apparoid Invasion, the Anglar Blitz, and even the Black Suns Conflict.

But like always, his time would eventually come to an end, and so he passed the torch to another individual. One who carried on his legacy and headed the Star Fox team himself.

Within the bridge of the upgraded Great Fox II, a blue anthropomorphic fox was standing next to the windshield with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He was dressed in a green flight suit and had a white jacket over him with the Star Fox insignia on it. He was silent and taking deep breaths relaxing him in a form of meditation. After a brief minute, the doors to the bridge opened and a voice called out to him.

"Marcus, it's time to go." The voice said.

Marcus turned around and gazed upon an anthropomorphic frog. The frog was shorter than Marcus in physical height and wore a fedora hat on his head. He was dressed in a blue flight suit with a white jacket over his torso, and he bore the Star Fox insignia on the front of his jacket.

"Ok," Marcus said. "Let's do this Freddy."

Freddy Toad was the son of Slippy Toad and his wife Amanda. He attended the Cornerian flight academy with Marcus McCloud, the son of Fox McCloud and Krystal.

"Right behind ya." Freddy said.

The two of them left the bridge and started moving towards the hangar. As they were moving, they received a call on their wrist communicators. They heard a feminine voice from the other end of the call and soon a hologram of a young hare in a skinny, pink flight suit appeared over their wrists.

"Guys, where are you?" the hare asked.

"We're coming Abbie, hold on." Marcus said.

Abigail Hare, the daughter of Lucy Hare and the granddaughter of General Peppy Hare, was within the hangar boarding an upgraded version of her mother's Sky Bunny (the Sky Bunny II as such).She looked up into the hanger's observation deck and saw Marcus and Freddy enter as soon as she silenced her communicator.

"You're late!" Abigail said.

"We're here now aren't we?" Freddy asked.

"We'll worry about it later." Marcus said. "Right now we got a job to do."

Marcus and Freddy quickly descended a ladder and ran towards their fighters. Freddy ran towards his fighter known as the Dart Frog. It was faster than his father's Bullfrog, and was able to carry roughly the same payload though its size was smaller. Its physical design was also very similar to the Bullfrog though it had an extra pair of wings closer to the cockpit and angled back towards the rear wings. Marcus's fighter was his father's own Arwing II. Though the fighter is an older model compared to the rest of his team, it had just as much combat capabilities (if not more) as the rest of his team.

The three of them mounted their fighters and sealed their cockpits. After each of them strapped into their seats and gripped their flight controls, Marcus spoke into the communicator.

"ROB," Marcus said. "We're ready."

Within the bridge of the Great Fox II, ROB, the team's robotic operator, was redesigned and upgraded. His voice sounded nearly perfect with no distortion, and his body was redesigned with silver features. He stood an additional foot taller than before, and his upgrades improved his movement speed. There was also an upgrade to ROB's communicator as his vocabulary and grammatical delivery was improved.

"The ship locks have been released." ROB said. "Launching fighters in 3… 2… 1…"

Just as ROB's timer struck zero, the Dart Frog, Sky Bunny II, and Arwing II were launched out into space. The team was in the Meteo Asteroid Belt and they were looking for several thugs that had stolen Cornerian technology from the Cornerian Defense Force. The three ships entered the asteroid field and started their search.

"ROB," Marcus said, "got anything on scanners?"

"There are four anomalies detected approximately four clicks to your ten o'clock." ROB said.

"Probably the guys we're looking for." Freddy said.

"Let's just be careful." Abigail said. "An asteroid field really isn't the place to lose focus."

"Hey we'll be fine. We got the same upgrades that dad and grandpa installed on the entire Cornerian navy."

"Are you talking about the upgrades that were reversed engineered from Marcus's god father's ship?"

"Same ones…" Marcus said.

"Hey Mark," Freddy said, "what ever happened to him?"

"Dad told me he died shortly after I was born. He told me the he helped them in the Black Suns Conflict but was killed shortly after."

"I'm sorry to hear that Mark…" Abigail said.

"No worries, I hardly ever knew him so it doesn't really bother me. I'm just happy we got the upgrades from him so we can get this mission done sooner."

After a few minutes of navigating the asteroid belt, the trio finally converged on the four anomalies that ROB pointed out on their radars. They investigated the area and noticed that there was nothing to be seen.

"ROB?" Marcus asked. "Are you sure about these coordinates?"

"It's the only thing the scanners picked up within the asteroid belt." ROB replied. "There is something there so keep your eyes open."

The trio slowly flew into an open area within the asteroid field. They were carefully scanning their surroundings looking for anything suspicious; however, they saw nothing.

"There's nothing here Mar-"

Freddy was cut off as a laser round struck the back of his ship. The trio looked and noticed four white fighters quickly approaching them. The four fighters opened fire upon the trio in an effort to destroy them. Marcus, Abigail, and Freddy quickly moved out of harm's way and split their formation within the asteroid field.

"Those must be our guys…" Marcus said.

"Their ships match the description." Abigail said.

"All right, let's take these guys down!" Freddy said.

"Careful, we're out numbered." Marcus said. "Watch your-"

Marcus was interrupted as he saw one of the enemy fighters get shot down midflight. He was confused for a quick second but then realized where the laser fire came from.

"You picked a great time to show up." Marcus said.

The trio looked to the side and noticed the Skyclaw quickly approaching them. The Skyclaw was piloted by Falco Lombardi, a member of the Star Fox team when Fox McCloud was at the head. Ever since Marcus took leadership over Star Fox, Falco was recruited by him and he served as Marcus's role model much like Peppy was for Fox.

"Got to love that element of surprise kid." Falco said.

"That's for sure." Freddy said.

"All right team," Marcus said, "take them down!"

The four ships engaged the three enemy fighters within the asteroid belt. Freddy and Abigail focused down one fighter, Marcus focused down the second, and Falco focused on the third.

"Remember, we got to take at least one of these guys alive." Marcus said. "Use your disruptor canons and disable their ships."

Freddy and Abigail were both following their target as it was moving through the asteroids. They both fired upon the fighter but they were unsuccessful in hitting their target.

"This guy is persistent…" Freddy said.

"He won't get away from us both." Abigail said.

The fighter tried its best to loose Freddy and Abigail in the asteroids. Unfortunately, the pilot noticed a warning on his console and was alerted to Freddy's lock on.

"I got a lock!" Freddy said. "Firing!"

Freddy fired his disruptor canon at the target. He was fortunate as the laser round struck the fighter in the engine. As the fighter started to slow down, Abigail fired off several rounds of her disruptor canon and their target was disabled.

"Marcus, we got one down!" Freddy said.

Marcus was following his target closely and he would not lose it. However, his target continued to avoid his lock on and was trying to lead Marcus to crash into the nearby asteroids.

"Copy that Freddy…" Marcus said. "Just give me a second!"

Marcus finally locked on to his target and fired his disruptor canon. The enemy fighter's engines were disabled upon impact. Unfortunately, the fighter's inertia carried through space and it headed right towards an asteroid. Marcus watched as the fighter collided with an asteroid wand was destroyed.

"Sorry man…" Marcus said.

Marcus turned towards Falco to assist him taking down his target. However, Falco was actually the one being fired upon by the enemy fighter.

"This guy seems better than he looks…" Falco said.

"Falco, I'm right behind you!" Marcus said.

Marcus managed to get behind Falco's pursuer and he locked on. As he fired a charged disruptor round, he noticed something strange. The enemy fighter actually disappeared before his eyes, and the disruptor round missed.

"What the…?" Marcus thought.

"I owe you Marcus." Falco said.

"Um, I didn't destroy the target… It disappeared."

"What do you mean it disappeared?"

"I mean I can't see it! It's gone!"

Marcus was dumbstruck at the sight. He had no way to judge what to do about the fighter or where it went.

"ROB," Marcus said, "scan the area around my fighter. Is there any hidden signatures? One of our guys just vanished."

Marcus formed up on Falco's wing and the two flew back to regroup with Abigail and Freddy. After a brief moment, ROB responded.

"My scanners do not detect the fourth fighter." ROB said. "What ever happened, there is no trace of it."

"ROB," Falco said, "fighters don't just disappear like that. You sure your scanners aren't malfunctioning?"

"These upgrades to my scanners were installed only a week ago Falco. I'm sure they're operating normally."

"Well, it seems like we lucked out." Marcus said. "Let's tow this guy aboard and start interrogating him. We need that tech back."

The Arwing II and the Skyclaw regrouped with the Sky Bunny II and the Dart Frog. The four fighters surrounded the floating enemy fighter and they simply hovered around it. Marcus spoke into the communicator to attempt a conversation with the pilot.

"Hey buddy," Marcus said, "you tried, and you lost. I'll make this easy for you, cooperate with us and we'll make sure you get a more likable jail time. Where is the Cornerian tech you stole?"

There was no response from the fighter.

"Hey!" Falco exclaimed. "Hot shot! My boy just asked you a question. Answer him!"

"Really smooth Falco…" Abigail.

"That's for sure…" Freddy mumbled.

After a brief moment, Marcus spoke again.

"Look, you're better off working with us." Marcus said. "Tell us what we want to know and we'll-"

Marcus was silenced as laser fire rained down from above and destroyed the enemy fighter. The team looked up and noticed a gold fighter was flying away from the team.

"After him!" Marcus said.

The team quickly sped towards the gold fighter as it was trying to escape. After a brief minute of chasing, Marcus caught up to his target. He tried locking on to his target but was unsuccessful.

"Hey!" Marcus said into his communicator. "Stop!"

To his surprise, Marcus saw the ship start to perform multiple barrel rolls until it was spinning like a top. After a brief moment, there was a red ring forming behind the fighter. To Marcus's surprise, the ship was slowly turning transparent and it disappeared before his eyes

"Um…" Falco said. "Did I miss something?"

"ROB?" Marcus asked. "Anything?!"

"No!" ROB responded. "That ship just disappeared from my scanners as well. I can't trace it!"

The team was completely dumbstruck at what they had just seen. The fighter had disappeared from sight and radar.

"Guys?" Abigail asked. "What just happened?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Freddy said.

"Freddy, don't you have an idea?" Falco asked.

"Not a clue."

"Seriously?"

"Just because I'm good with tech doesn't mean I know everything there is to know."

Marcus took a deep breath and relaxed himself.

"We're not going to find out by making guesses." Marcus said. "Let's go home and report what we have seen. Make sure you also save the videos from your ship's cameras; the general will not believe it until he sees it."

"I wouldn't think so Marcus." Abigail said. "Grand pa has seen a lot of interesting things in his day, and he'll believe you on pretty much anything you say to him."

"Let's just get back to Corneria." Falco said.

The Star Fox team turned away from the asteroid field and headed back towards the Great Fox II. However, they were unaware that their two targets that have escaped were actually watching them from the shadows. The two mysterious pilots were an anthropomorphic jackal, and an anthropomorphic lizard.

"They don't have a clue…" the jackal said within the gold fighter.

"It seems like it." the lizard said in the white fighter.

"Your comrade nearly revealed our existence to the Star Fox team…"

"Is that why you had to kill him…?"

"Spectra would have been very disappointed if the Cornerian military learned of our presence here in Lylat."

"Fair enough."

"Next time, be more careful. We cannot have these mistakes happen again.

The two ships deactivated their stealth drives and turned away from the Star Fox team. They flew for a short distance away from the asteroid field until they were clear of asteroids. They both temporarily put their ships into a hover in open space and soon their engines started to glow. After a brief moment, the two fighters entered a hyperspace jump and disappeared from the asteroid belt.

Aboard the Great Fox II, the team was studying the footage their ship cameras took while they were flying. They were watching footage from Marcus's fighter at the moment, and they were looking upon the gold fighter that was captured on screen.

"ROB, freeze it." Marcus said.

The footage froze as the gold fighter came into view. The body was a thin, interceptor class model with four wings emerging from the back. It was roughly equal in size to the Arwing II and appeared to be faster as well.

"Where did this guy come from?" Falco asked.

"The ship doesn't match any known profile in the Cornerian database." ROB said. "It is likely this ship is part of a faction never before seen in Lylat."

"It's not Venomian..." Abigail said. "All of Andross's forces have been wiped out."

"It's also not Anglar or Apparoid…" Freddy said. "Your dad took care of them both completely."

Marcus took a moment to ponder his thoughts. The ship design was strange, but its ability to suddenly disappear was even stranger.

"ROB," Marcus said, "This ship just disappeared midflight and vanished from radar. Have you ever seen this before?"

"You know…" Falco said. "This seems familiar…"

"Scanning…" ROB said. "My records have found a possible match.

ROB pressed several buttons on the terminal and the image of a black ship appeared on screen. The ship was caught in freeze frame as it was firing upon a Cornerian frigate. Upon seeing the image, Falco remembered where he had seen the technology before.

"What am I looking at ROB?" Marcus asked.

"You're looking at the Archangel." Falco said. "That ship was piloted by the leader of the Black Suns during the Black Suns Conflict sixteen years ago."

"And that means…?" Freddy asked.

"Freddy, didn't your father tell you this already?" Abigail asked

"Nope, I never really asked."

"There were eight elite members of Black Suns during the conflict." Falco said. "Each of those guys had their own customized fighter, and each of their fighters had a special modification that allowed it to perform miracle maneuvers and make the fighter and invaluable asset in battle."

"So how does this, Archangel, relate to what we just saw?" Marcus asked.

"The Archangel, based from what I remember, had a stealth drive. It could vanish from the naked eye and disappear from radar. It was the most dangerous of the elite Black Suns members."

"So are you saying that the gold fighter also has a stealth modification?" Abigail asked.

"Seeing is believing... I guess it's possible, but I don't know for sure."

Marcus took a deep breath and sighed. He approached the terminal and pushed a button which resulted in shutting down the monitor.

"We'll take the data back home and give it to Peppy to analyze." Marcus said.

"What about the tech?" Freddy asked. "We haven't found it yet."

"I know, but we don't have any leads now. Our best shot at finding it was destroyed by the gold fighter. Think of it this way, if we find the gold fighter; we'll find the tech."

"Sounds fair to me." Abigail said.

"Same." Falco said.

"ROB," Marcus said, "set a course for home. We got some business to take care of."

"Understood." ROB replied.

"Let's get some rest guys."

The team nodded their heads and they left the bridge. The all went back to their rooms to relax for the time. Marcus was still troubled about the gold fighter. He hadn't really discussed the past wars with his father (given that his father was a hero of all of them). To put his thoughts at ease, he walked into his room and approached his desk. He pushed a few buttons on top of his desk and a holographic monitor appeared over his desk.

"Marcus McCloud." Marcus said.

The voice recognition unlocked Marcus's computer and soon his desktop appeared before him. He reached out to the monitor and started to move several holographic files until he found a file on the Black Suns. Before he taped his finger on the file to open it, he received a call. Marcus took a quick look at the recipient and smiled. He tapped the answer command and the image of Fox appeared before him.

"Hey dad." Marcus said.

Fox was sitting in a large office within a large, upper class Cornerian home. His physical appearance has not changed as significantly from before since he was still physically fit for combat, only that he was older. He was dressed in a black muscle shirt and jeans. He didn't need his uniform anymore as he was retired from military service.

"Hey kid, how are you doing son?" Fox asked.

Marcus leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath.

"All right I guess." Marcus said.

"What's wrong?" Fox asked.

"Just hit a road bump on a mission."

"You didn't find the tech did you…"

Marcus was puzzled at first.

"How did you-"

"I'm your father." Fox said cheerfully. "That and Peppy keeps me updated on where he sends you. Also, I have Falco and ROB keeping an eye on you. Just making sure you're doing ok."

Marcus chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"I guess it's hard to keep things form you." Marcus said.

"It's even harder to keep things from me." Krystal said.

Krystal came up behind Fox and gently wrapped her arms around Fox's shoulders. She smiled at Marcus and Marcus chuckled again. She was wearing a black tank top with white sweatpants. Despite being aged herself, she still looked relatively young and she still had her perfect figure and complexion.

"Remember Marcus," Krystal said, "I can read your mind."

"And I can read yours too mom." Marcus said. "And the thoughts you have with dad sometimes makes me want to hang myself."

Fox and Krystal chuckled at his comment and gave each other a quick kiss. Marcus rolled his eyes at the sight and just set the thought aside.

"Well that's what happens when you fall in love son." Fox said.

"Now what's on your mind Marcus?" Krystal asked.

"I'll send you the details, hold on." Marcus said.

Marcus accessed his video files from his fighter and uploaded them to the video call he was having Fox and Krystal. He also took a few moments to explain what happened during the mission and he explained what happened with the gold fighter. Fox and Krystal saw the footage and they were surprised to see what they saw.

"Fox…" Krystal said quietly.

"I know…" Fox said.

"Guys?" Marcus asked.

"You remember the Black Suns Conflict Marcus?"

"Yea; you, mom, the team, and my god father teamed up to take them down."

"Do you also know about their modifications?" Krystal asked.

"Falco mentioned those to us. He mentioned that their leader had a stealth drive that made his ship invisible to sight and radar."

"Marcus," Fox said, "It is possible that the ship you saw had a similar modification. Their leader was a man known as One. He was a ruthless pilot and he shot down quite a few Cornerian pilots. He nearly shot down your god father in a dog fight as well."

"Marcus," Krystal said, "be very careful ok? I don't want to lose a son to a monster that flies a ship like One."

Marcus smiled at the two of them.

"I'll be fine ok?" Marcus said. "If you guys could handle One, then I'm sure I can handle this guy."

Fox and Krystal smiled at Marcus. To hear him speak with such confidence brought peace to their hearts.

"I'm coming home now so I'll see you guys in a bit." Marcus said. "I'll talk to you guys later."

"Ok." Fox said. "We love you son."

"Love you guys too. Marcus out."

Fox and Krystal watched their Marcus disappear on the monitor. However, as soon as the call ended a feeling of worry over overtook them.

"There is another with the modification…" Fox said.

"You don't think the Black Suns are-"

"No, we took care of them completely. There's no way to could be coming back."

"Fox, you said the same about Andross. Then you found him again in Sauria."

Fox was silent as Krystal did have a point. He leaned back in his chair and started to think about his options. After a brief moment, he came to his decision; and Krystal read learned about his choice by tapping into his thoughts.

"I'm going to contact him." Fox said.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to involve him in this?" Krystal asked.

"He knows the technology better than anyone."

"What about Marcus?"

"Let's try to preserve the distance between them."

Krystal stood straight and lowered her head to the side to think about what they were about to do. She took a deep breath and placed a hand on Fox's shoulder.

"Ok, I'll keep a psychic block on both of our minds." Krystal said. "Marcus shouldn't be able to read what's going on."

Fox nodded his head and he accessed a hidden file in his computer. As the opened the file, the holographic desktop changed into a simple holographic chat box. There was a keyboard that appeared on Fox's desk, and he stared to type. Soon, his message came up on the holographic monitor.

"It's Fox." Fox wrote.

After a brief minute, they received a response.

"Fox, it's good to hear from you. How are Krystal and Marcus doing?"

Fox and Krystal smiled at the message.

"They're doing great, but we might have a situation." Fox typed.

After another brief moment, they received a response.

"Is this channel secure?"

"Yes. I'm going to send you some data and a video. It came from Marcus's fighter during a mission."

Fox uploaded the video data he received from Marcus into the messenger. After a brief minute, he received a response.

"I'll look into this."