(A/N: So here I am, back again from the reaches of space and-nah just kidding. I apologize for once again being inactive due to some particular reason. I've decided to work on a new Star Fox title and I will see it through. Don't worry though, I'm still planning on working on the other story so it's certainly not dead. This particular story will be a part of a series, and I say series because I do not have an actual number yet but you get the idea. Anyway, enough about me, let's start this!)

Star Fox
Ghosts of Cerinia

Chapter 1: Back from the Dead

Cerinian Palace, Cerinia; Four years ago…

The sound of birds chirping outside the window of her room woke Krystal slightly. Half-asleep, she pulled the covers over to blot out the sound as well as the sunlight peeking in. However, her sleep was cut short as she suddenly heard the loud boom of an explosion in the distance and the quaking of the earth that followed it.

She quickly got to her feet and ran outside to the deck as the sounds of panic filled the air. From her view, she saw the smoke in the distance and the citizens in town fleeing for their lives. "What's happening?" she thought.

Soon the door to her room opened and her father came rushing in. "Krystal, we must go!"

"Father, what is happening!?" Krystal asked.

"Tacitus has doomed us," her father replied. "Come, we must get you to safety!"

"W-What do you mean?" Krystal asked as the two of them made their way out of the palace.

"He was working for that scientist that came here, and their experimentation has caused a planetary chain reaction," her father explained. They finally reached the outside landing port where a ship was already prepped for launch.

"The ship's ready for launch your highness," one of the guards stated.

"Good," Krystal's father said, nodding. "Get inside Krystal."

"Wait, where is mother?" Krystal asked, looking around.

Her father was silent for a moment. "…She won't make it in time my dear. In fact, none of us will. It is too late for us, but not for you. You still have the chance to live your life."

"Wha-no father, I will not leave you and everyone else behind!" Krystal shouted, clenching her fists as the tears came to her eyes.

"Krystal…" Her father went up to her and hugged her. "I am not doing this just because you are my daughter, but also because you shouldn't be the victim of the mistakes we made, I made." He then took out an object that was wrapped in cloth. "Here, this was meant to be given to you for your birthday but I'm afraid it can't wait."

Krystal took the object and unwrapped the cloth. The object was small but it quickly responded to her touch and extended to almost three times its size. "A staff…"

"It will be the one token you have that will always remind you that Cerinia will always be in your heart," her father said, smiling. "Now, hurry Krystal. There isn't much time."

Krystal didn't want to go. She wanted to apologize for this situation, but how could she? She only nodded and got into the cockpit of the ship. Luckily she learned at a young age how to pilot a ship and it didn't take long to start the launch sequence. She took one last look at her father, who only smiled back as the ship suddenly took off into space.

The next sequence of events would stay in her mind forever. Once she was out of Cerinia's orbit, she took one last look at her home. The blue planet's image was as breath-taking as always, but the image quickly changed as the planet soon erupted in flame and just like, it was gone. The sudden blast caused her ship to rock and she had to stabilize quickly before she lost control. Luckily, the effect did not last and she quickly maintained herself.

The pain and shock was still there, but she had to deal with it later. For now, she searched for the closest planet in her vicinity and hoped she could take refuge…

Great Fox II, Orbiting outside of Corneria; Present Day: Six Months after the Aparoid Invasion

Krystal woke up with a start, looking around and realizing she was in her room, her real room. The dream, it happened again. It started earlier in the week where her dreams suddenly shifted towards her former home's demise. What was even stranger was that the dreams, while slightly different, were consecutive each night.

She rubbed her eyes, shaking the sleep out of them as she got out of her bed and went out of her room towards the kitchen area, still in her bedding garments. Looking at the time, she saw it was a quarter to six. Most of the crew didn't wake up til six-thirty at the earliest so it didn't matter now if she went back to bed. She made some coffee and sat at one of the stools along the island.

Normally having constant dreams about anything isn't out of the ordinary. But being a Cerinian, that was different. Having dreams about Cerinia gave her a bad feeling in her stomach. "Of course, I could just be longing for home… my old home." Her new home was here, with the Star Fox team. Her thoughts then turned to Fox and her cheeks suddenly started feeling warm. During the Aparoid invasion there were hints that Fox had feelings for her, real feelings. After that, he shut that away, or so he thought. Occasionally she probed his thoughts and her name came up time to time, making her smile and giggle. Of course, he was still the same Fox she had gotten to know.

She heard footsteps coming down the hall and she saw that it was Fox. He seemed a bit surprised to see her. "You're up early," he said, making the obvious statement.

Krystal smiled. "I hope I didn't wake you."

"Not at all," Fox said as he himself got a cup of coffee. "I was already awake by the time you got up. Sometimes you just can't get back to sleep."

"I know the feeling," Krystal said, her smile soon fading.

Fox looked at her concerned. "Another dream?" he asked.

Krystal nodded. "This time it was when Cerinia was destroyed. Everything happened so fast that day I could barely remember it."

Fox looked unsure what to say next. "You know, you mentioned about your home before but I don't think I ever really asked what it was like there."

"Well, I do remember telling you that I was a member of the royal family there. And of course, the person named Andross who was responsible." Fox nodded in acknowledgement. "But what I didn't mention was the planet itself. It was very similar to Corneria, but we were more spread out. The climate was mostly tropical but it was a lot colder in the north and the poles." She paused and took a sip of coffee. "I… my father was in the dream I had and I just remembered something that he told me before I left. That he didn't want me to be involved that he made… He sounded like it was his entire fault."

"He couldn't have known what would happen," Fox said, putting his hand on hers.

"I know," Krystal replied. "I just wish I knew what exactly happened… but perhaps it's better not to know."

Once again Fox was at a lost what to say. "Some leader I am…" he thought. "I'm sorry this keeps happening Krystal."

"I'm almost convinced that it's a sign, but I'm not sure." She paused as Fox's wrist communicator went off.

"Incoming message from General Pepper, Priority One," ROB's voice suddenly cut through the quietness.

"Sounds important," Fox said. "Thanks ROB." He cut off the transmission and looked at Krystal. "Guess something is going on."

"Sorry to wake you at an early time Fox but it was quite urgent." General Pepper's image was on the main screen of the main deck where both Fox and Krystal were standing.

"Not a problem sir," Fox said. "What can we do for you?"

Pepper took a slight glance at Krystal and he suddenly seemed a bit uncomfortable. "One of our ships was patrolling just outside the Lylat System and we got a message from them about twenty minutes ago. However, we soon lost contact with them but they were able to send us a recording of what they saw before losing contact."

Pepper's image disappeared and a recording took its place. It wasn't very long but what they saw made Krystal gasp. "It… it can't be!"

The image they saw was the planet of Cerinia.

(A/N: Well, there you have it folks! I got inspiration from Emile The Watcher's story Dead Planet to do this story and I hope it really takes off. I don't want to spoil anything but I think you have an idea what's going to happen. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and more will come soon!)

FoxMcCloud7921