Animas Empire

The **Animas Empire** was a large and ancient political entity with a deeply-rooted history with the Lylat system. As descendants of the Xal'Vau Empire, they existed for thousands of years and enslaved many species. They were responsible for uplifting the various species of the Lylat system to sapience. Many centuries prior to 3040, the Animas Empire suffered a coup which led to a civil war. Lylat, being one of the systems on the outermost edges of the conflict, managed to avoid it by declaring its indepedence. There was no retribution from the empire for a long time since it was busy with internal fighting, but its spies kept an eye on things from the shadows.

The empire assassinated Fox McCloud in 2913, as they saw him as a potential rival to their political interests. Over the course of 127 years, active elements of the Imperial Inquisitorius within the Lylat system sought to identify and eliminate potential challenges to the Animas throne. The McCloud family in particular was targeted because Fox's mother, Vixy McCloud, had royal blood from the rightful ruling family.

In 3039, they discovered another McCloud, Marcus, who was part of a rebel faction trying to liberate the Animas Empire from its tyrannical ruler. He was killed in a firefight, and the Emperor sent out the Inquisitors to make sure there were no others survivors of that blood line. Unknown to them, Marcus had hidden his daughter Rory in an orphanage. During this time, Krystal McCloud revealed herself to Star Fox and allies, having survived over a century in hiding thanks to her attunement with Saurian magic.

Animas aggression escalated into a full-blown war with Lylat. This included the Ursian Empire, an old enemy of Animas, which had just entered a treaty with Cornerian forces. Rory was passed off to the Ursians for protection and military training.

On February 12, 3040, it was discovered that Marcus had not died, but was being prepared for an execution in a massive arena. A coalition of factions from Lylat mounted an assault on the arena and rescued Marcus. The Emperor was killed in the fray, and Animas pulled back its forces to recover.

On April 17, Animas returned with renewed vigor, a new Emperor, and a new ally: the swarming, ravenous ratfolk known as the Micaya. The Emperor revealed a new goal: use the Lylat system as a sacrifice to summon a dark elder god from a separate dimension.

On April 23, Animas attempted to overtake Sauria, but was thwarted by Lylatian forces and Difret Degwesk's newly-returned Star Wolf, hence known as Dire Wolf.

On July 11, A massive star-mining ship entered the Lylat system and situated itself above the surface of the primary star. It released four drones that scattered to hidden places throughout the system and began emitting an FTL inhibition field, preventing jumpdrives from functioning. Following that, the image of Vallos appeared on every video feed, and he announced his intention to siphon the star's energy and leave every planet in the system as a frozen wasteland. The idea of an extradimensional monster had been a ruse.

On July 26, Dire Wolf completed the repairs on their bassnium jumpdrive, invented by Star Fox's Shul Kro, and used it to allow them to destroy the FTL inhibitors. Preparations for an assault on Vallos began as a result.

On August 1, the forces of Lylat successfully defeated Vallos, marking the end of the Animas Empire.