Star Fox: The Next Generation Chapter 1

[Asper Sarnoff]

(Fox is 47, Wolf 52. That was why I created a new character for this RP, as his father, Fenris, would have been 49 years old.)

All reasonable conditions it seemed to Wolf. Who could blame him after the repultation that filthy swine Pigma had given them while he still was on the team? A backstabber of epic proportions. He was also okay with him flying his own fighter, as long as it was still competetive. He fondly remembered that one of his first flight experiences in the Cornerian Flight Academy over 30 years ago had been behind the stick of an SF-214, which due to its dual seat layout had been used as a school craft. It was a beast. Even the incredible thrust of a Wolfen couldn't match a Starcat flat out. Wolf had actually searched a little around the galaxy trying to find a frame to restore. Being a crimelord didn't mean one didn't have time for a hobby.

The third condition niggled him quite a bit. How good where really these pilots Freya had found? He knew they couldn't be entirely useless, and Freya herself was a goddess behind the stick of a Wolfen. But up to this guys standards? In any case, they would require training.

"We have a deal then." Wolf said as he streetched out a hand, ready to seal the deal.

[Kursed]

(so depending on the time of year in  lylat Krystal is 39 or 40.) (so since I planned Kari and tibbierus her twin to be born when Krystal was 20 that makes the twin mcclouds 19 or 20 sheese time flys fast)

[Showtime 1-1]

Silver shook Wolf's hand. He trusted that Wolf wouldn't let just any free hand on his team. And perhaps a new challenge would be... fun.

"All right, Wolf. Consider me part of your team, for now. I'll do as you say, but don't go thinking that you own me. And there had better be some money in this for me."

Silver turned and walked for the door, flipping the lights in Wolf's office on as he exited.

"Now where is that mess hall?", he mumbled to himself, stomach growling. He hadn't eaten a proper meal in days.

[Asper Sarnoff]

"The rest of the team is in the messhall, two floors down." He said to Silver as the doors closed behind him.

Knowing that he now had a veteran on his team made him feel better. Part of what had made Starfox such a fierce adversary had been that they also had a veteran on the team. Peppy and his advice had turned the tide of many a battle, that much he knew. He bet the old rascal was now barrel-rolling wildly in his grave.

Now, it was time to get hold of some jobs to get the new team started, give them a few contacts, get their foot inside the door so to speak. He was about to take a call to one of his contacts on Corneria when someone knocked on the door. Wolf furrowed his big, white eyebrows in irrritation. "Come in!" He barked.

In came a rat, one of the countless ruffians he had on the base. "Lord O'Donnell, we have received the rapport from your man in the CDF." He said as he waved a memory stick in his hand. With an underarm throw, he sent it flying over to Wolf, which caught it between his thumb and index finger. "Good work Snide, you can go." He said as he popped it into a slot on the computer build into his desk. A large screen roose up from the desk in front of him, and glowing letters appeared on the surface under his hands, forming a keyboard.

The rat left the room, leaving Wolf alone to work. He had been waiting for this since he earlier this morning heard that the McCloud ranch had been leveled with the ground, and that a new Starfox supposedly had formed and escaped the clutches of Malon.

And he was not dissapointed. Among them were high resolution photos of the members of the new Starfox.

At top of the bunch was the McCloud twins, no surprise there. Followed by someone wich looked surprisingly similar to Krystal in her youth, except for the red fur. But it was when he came to the last one he actually got surprised.

Tough the CDF had failed to identify the young wolf wich they had observed, Wolf recognised him all to well.

How could his plans have gone this wrong? He decided he would have to dig into this ASAP.

[Showtime 1-1]

(What species is Atilla? I'm assuming he's a cat.)

Silver entered the mess hall, more interested in a meal then in finding the other Starwolf members. Walking up to the cantina and learning they were serving breakfast, he was soon walking away with a big plate of eggs, sausage and toast. It was the best looking meal he'd seen for months.

Scanning around the mostly empty tables, he spotted the group he was looking for over in a corner. He walked straight towards them, tails swishing playfully, and sat down beside the wolf he assumed was O'Donnell's daughter. Without saying anything or looking up, he started to eat his breakfast.

[Kursed]

(What species is Attila? I'm assuming he's a cat.)

Silver entered the mess hall, more interested in a meal then in finding the other Starwolf members. Walking up to the cantina and learning they were serving breakfast, he was soon walking away with a big plate of eggs, sausage and toast. It was the best looking meal he'd seen for months.

Scanning around the mostly empty tables, he spotted the group he was looking for over in a corner. He walked straight towards them, tails swishing playfully, and sat down beside the wolf he assumed was O'Donnell's daughter. Without saying anything or looking up, he started to eat his breakfast.

(atilla the Hon (as I like to call him) is a smoke persian cat like his mother Akasha.)

[Asper Sarnoff]

Freya showed her empty plate away from her and looked at the new person which had just come and sat down among them, without saying a word, or even looking at her. He was clearly quite old, at least from her perspective. In his later fourties/early fifties she guessed. Average build, but well trained. And strangely, twin tailed.

"If you could focus on something else than your meal for a moment, would you indulge us with the knowledge of who have decided to grace us with his company?" She said, in a slightly sarcastic tone.

[Showtime 1-1]

Yep, definitely Wolf's daughter.

Silver looked up, mid-mouthful, and swallowed. He looked at Freya.

"Mmmph. Eat first, talk later."

He returned to his food.

*  *  *

Somewhat surprisingly, after he had finished his breakfast, Silver found that the rest of his "team" was still there, watching him. He mopped off his face with a napkin and turned to Freya again. She was tall and lanky, not half-bad looking, for a wolf. She had cold eyes, though, and looked troubled. It can't be easy to be the daughter of Wolf O'Donnell...

"Right. First thing's first. I'm the pilot your father has... er, hired, for the team. The name's Silver. I know who you are, no need for introduction there. Who are these two?" he asked, gesturing at the large fox and the smaller cat sitting across the table. "Anybody I should recognize?"

[Asper Sarnoff]

Freya blushed under her fur. How could she not have seen this was the fourth pilot? She wanted to bang her head into the table, but that wouldn't help her image much she feared.

"The cat over there." She said as she gestured over to Attila. "Is Attila Sharavan. While here we have." she turned over to Cliff, which waved enthusiastic in respons. "Cliff McCloud, nephew of THE Fox McCloud."

[Showtime 1-1]

Silver nodded at the other cat. He seemed reliable, if a bit naive. The fox, however...

"the Fox McCloud?" Silver asked Cliff. He doesn't seem to resemble him, or share his demeanor. I hope he's not seeking revenge on the Starfox team, that may not turn out well.

Silver looked back at Freya, who seemed ready to bash her head against the table. He hoped she was a reasonable leader under pressure, because for the first few missions, most of it would be coming down on her.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

(What species is Atilla? I'm assuming he's a cat.)

(Attila is a cat, yes, half Smoke Persian, Half smoke tabby)

Freya blushed under her fur. How could she not have seen this was the fourth pilot? She wanted to bang her head into the table, but that wouldn't help her image much she feared.

"The cat over there." She said as she gestured over to Attila. "Is Attila Sharavan. While here we have." she turned over to Cliff, which waved enthusiastic in respons. "Cliff McCloud, nephew of THE Fox McCloud."

"Hi.." said Attila to Silver.  Attila then whistled "When the Saints Go Marching In", as a force of habit, as he bussed his tray.

"How's it goin', butthead?" Cliff asked Silver.  Cliff then bussed his tray.

"Don't take it personal, Cliff calls everyone that." Attila explained to Silver.

(Guys, just so you know, on page 7of this thread, on Cliff McCloud's profile, I added a Rocket Launcher to Cliff's list of weapons, if that's okay, if not, then he can just simply not use the Rocket Launcher in this mission/R.P.)

[Showtime 1-1]

"I've been called worse..." Silver sighed. He noticed with some dismay that the smaller cat only had one tail. It would have been nice to fly with another of his own species, but he knew that chance was slim. And the other one...

I hope Cliff is a half-decent pilot, otherwise I might have to get rid of him, for my own sake. He might be useful if we're ever caught on land, though.

With the fox and the cat gone, Silver again turned to Freya.

"I'm assuming you're gonna be the leader." he stated, more then asked. "How long 'till I get to see you pups fly?"

[Asper Sarnoff]

Pups? Who did this prick think he were? Freya feelts a surge of anger rise up trough her, but hid it under a wall of cold professionalism. "In fact, I've planned to take them out for a flight right after we had finished eating." She said as she got up from the bench. "Would you like to join us outside, or watch from the station?"

(For your information, Freya is immensely talented as a pilot, ice-cool under pressure, and with quite a lot of training. But she is still inexperienced due to her young age, and is a little to agressive sometimes. Exactly the same with Odin as well.)

[Showtime 1-1]

(Thanks Asper)

well, she has patience. I don't think I'll torment her anymore.

"What kind of a pilot would I be if i just watched my teammates fly?" Silver said, rising from his seat as well. He cleared his plate, then followed Freya down to the hall towards the hangar.

* * *

The hangar floor on the Sargasso space station was truly massive, designed to hold all but the largest transports, shuttles and fighters. Silver had spent many hours here on his previous visits, working on his ship, but it had always seemed a but more... full. There were more empty berths then usual, and the tugs and winches for pulling the craft around didn't seem as busy. Regardless, Silver still loved walking down the flight line, looking at all the other ships.

He looked around for the other members of his new team.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Attila was whistling "When the Saints Go Marching In." as he walked about the upper levels of the Sargasso Station.  Cliff was just loafing around the control room, looking at the systems screens.

[Asper Sarnoff]

"Attila, Cliff. Get in your fighters immediatly." Freya said to her teammates. "I'd like to impress the oldie with some fancy flying." She walked up to her Wolfen. The X version wasn't a revolution compared to the first generation, but it was definetively evolution. The huge engines gave it a thrust surpassed only by the ion engines of a Starcat, the angled blades made it aerodynamically unstable, making it nimbler in dogfights. All around, it was an excellent craft. On par with even the Mark V Arwing, worse in manuverability, better thrust.

Her personal one had the classic Starwolf color scheme, mostly black with some red and grey. Under the cockpit, she had gotten an airbrush artist to paint a howling wolfhead on its hull, under it in stylised letters it said: "Huntress", which was what she called her.

She grabbed hold onto the razor sharps wing and hoisted herself up, climbing sure-footed up untill she had gotten up to the cockpit, which she opened with a click on her belt.

She started strapping herself down. "I'll go out first. You can find me by the large asteroids just outside the hangar." She said, her voice being amplified by the fighters speaker system, echoing trough the hangar.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

"Locked and loaded!" Attila said, strapping in.

"I'm ready!" said Cliff, strapping in.  He started his ship, he himself was the only one who knew how to start his ship.

[Asper Sarnoff]

Freya's Wolfen shot out trough the shields and into the cold space around the space station. Sargasso was no place for amateur pilots. The numerous asteroids ensured that. They were all so different in the way they acted and moved. Some hardly moved at all, others came shooting in from one's blind zone faster than any fighter.

This is how Freya had trained. Flying among these murderous rocks in sparring dog fights with her father, Leon or Panther. Panther had always been so friendly to her, she had often referred to him as "uncle Panther" when she was younger, and had keept on doing that well into the teens, as some kind of inside joke between them. She hated that he left when Starwolf was disbanded. She had wondered where he had taken the way. Wolf probably knew, but had never told her.

Leon had been colder, more professional. At first, she suspected he only had could stand her because Wolf had asked him to teach her. But it eased up a little as Leon had realised she had lot of potential, and were a willing learner. He had taught her a lot of usefull things. Such as knife combat and how to wield a gun.

But when he also left to become a professinal gambler on Macbeth, she was stuck with only her father as her teacher. He had driven her harder than both Panther and Leon. Always more, faster, better. Never satisfied.

She dodged one incoming asteroid, following it with her eyes untill it got pulverized against the shields of the space station. "Come on guys. I'm waiting." She said to the others over their encrypted com-link.

[Tiberius]

Fox and Tiberius were on board the Great Fox. Tiberius was at the helm and Fox was in the command chair. They were getting preped to leave for Fichina.

It was morning. The team spent the night, and got rested and preped for the upcoming battles.

[Kursed]

"Wheres this new member you told me about?"Krystal asked walking up behind FOx.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

"We're right here!" said Attila.  The boys, Cliff and Attila, were behind Freya, dodging asteroids skillfully.

"We're movin' slower than maple syrup!" complained Cliff.

"Molasses!" Attila corrected him. 

"What about it?" Cliff replied.

"Never mind...we can't go too fast, Cliff, we gotta stay with our leader." Attila said.

The boys successfully outmaneuvered an incoming cluster of asteroids. 

"Hey! Wanna go to that one part of the Asteroid Belt to find that entrance to the black hole?" asked Cliff.

"Let's not and say we did!" replied Attila.

[Showtime 1-1]

Silver heard Freya's amplified voice from the other side of the hangar. He was just finishing his walk around, running his hand over the tip of the angular nose, then releasing the wheel restraints as he headed for the cockpit. He opened the footholds and climbed up. Keeping his toes on the bulge of the cannon muzzle, he reached in to the back seat and grabbed his helmet, pulling it on.

now we're talking...

hopping over the fuselage sill and into the front seat, he started the engines and closed the footholds in a flurry of flipped switches. As the avionics came online and the engines reached high ground idle, he released the brakes and taxied towards the launch. Unlike the G-diffuser based Arwings and Wolfens, the StarCat had to taxi on it's comparatively old-fashioned wheels.

He strapped on his oxygen mask and opened up the comm channel.

"Sargasso control, StarCat one. taxiing for launch, alpha sector."

There was no response. Nobody used the old ground control comm channel unless it was really busy, but Silver always did this automatically. Old habits die hard.

The Huntress was already long airborne, but Silver saw the others preparing for launch. Complete radio silence, it seemed. He sidled up behind them to watch the show, closing the canopy as launch approached.

The fighter on the left was an old CDF unit, but not as old as the StarCat. It had some pretty big guns on it too, those sure weren't military issue. The other was a tank of a fighter with two big engines leading back to a bridged tail. It looked stable and sturdy, might even take multiple shots from a Landmaster just to dent the thing.

With a spread of fighters like this, it'll take some creativity to plan maneuvers. Oh well. I'm sure Freya's up to it. Let's see what she can do with these kids.

The two fighter launched almost side by side, holding a loose formation as they formed up on their leader. The radio silence didn't last long, by the time Silver had lined up the Cat with the launchway, Cliff and Attila were chattering about syrup or something. Whatever.

Silver locked the breaks and brought the wings full forward. With engines at full takeoff, he released the breaks and the big StarCat lurched towards it's element. As soon as it cleared the deck, Silver brought the landing gear up, turned the radar on and set wing sweep to "combat". He arced off left to intercept the rest of his flight, dodging asteroids with a playful flourish.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

"Nice moves, Silver." Attila said, noticing Silver's maneuvers.

[Showtime 1-1]

Silver hadn't expected a comment from a pilot who was supposed to be a heartless mercenary.

"You haven't seen anything yet, son."

Silver converged on the slow-moving formation, falling in echelon with Cliff.

"All right, Freya. How about some maneuvers?"

he glanced at the G-diffuser controls. They were all still on "Idle Standby".

[Tiberius]

"Wheres this new member you told me about?"Krystal asked walking up behind FOx.

"I really dont know." said Fox. "You'll know him when you see him."