Star Fox: Epsilon
Chapter 1: Between Destinies
I've always been positive, yeah, especially from the side of my father, James McCloud, but in that situation, I really thought there was no escape. I cut a cable from the battery I was handling and the engine woke up again, I got very relieved when my love, Krystal, spoke through her comm. "Fox, how much energy have we got? I still need to transfer the virus." There is something in the way she speaks that, I don't know, it always makes me to feel better.
Anyway, I managed to buy us some time. "I got you three more minutes as much, the nucleus will halt again after that." I closed the lid of the battery and stood up to hurry towards the automatic door I had left open. The lights of the ship's hallway were dim and intermittent, my steps echoed across my way towards the cockpit, I don't consider myself as someone with a great memory, but, those things stood, like, very vivid inside of my mind so it's like living it all over again. The thing is, I made it to the pilot seat, I just needed to make sure the ship wasn't going to blow up, or at least with us inside of it. I tried to set up some stuff on the console in front of me, but it didn't help at all, the engine had a security system and it was overheating, I activated my comm and spoke to Krystal, maybe I was just trying to hear her again, I was very anxious in that moment so I needed her voice to calm down a little bit. "Krystal, how is the download going." I tried to sound brave and tough but I was literally trembling at such a situation.
Her response came late enough to get me worried in that small breach of time I had waited for an answer. "Wait…one hundred percent, it's done, did you manage to stop the security protocol?" I didn't want to say anything, but I had to give her the bad news that there was a slight, well no, a great chance that the ship was about to explode, along with the two of us.
I gained courage and turned on my comm. "Uhm, do you want the truth?" Yeah, I know, not the best of answers, but seriously I mean I was trained for this type of situations back on the Academy but this was something different, obviously she understood what I was trying to imply.
I just heard a sigh from my comm, one of worry and frustration, I even imagined the face she could've been making from where she was, her head lowered down and a look of concern, or maybe she kept a straight face, who knows. Her reply was reassuring, but worrying at the same time. "Okay I…I think I have an idea, but you aren't going to like it."
To be honest, I thought she was going to say something like, Fox, I love you or something like that for a second, but she tends to see things more optimistically than me so I asked her with a little fear what exactly she had in mind. "I'm all ears, Krystal." Then, I swear I thought she was kidding, I mean, turning off the ship entirely?! That meant leaving us with only ten minutes of oxygen from the cargo ship's backup system, but it was that or exploding in a million pieces, so it was a wonderful option in comparison. "Okay, I'll go back to the engine room." I ran there and began to do and undo everything I could, then I managed to deactivate the ship's system entirely. The room went pitch dark, along with the rest of the ship of course, the backup system had released the reserve oxygen, I went back to the cockpit, I couldn't see anything but I managed to get there without too much hassle.
As I sat on the pilot chair, again, Krystal was going down the staircase from the ship's archive to the hallway behind me. "I got the file." I could only hear my mind telling me what would happen when the oxygen had ran out, after a moment she had sat down next to me, we could see each other because of the light of the stars that barely illuminated the cockpit. She looked calm but I could see some unsettlement on her eyes, but I admit she was good in hiding it. "I sent a distress call to the team." She closed her eyes and put her hands behind her neck, like if she was about to take a nap.
I hesitated to ruin her moment of peace with a comment, but I did it anyway. "Do you think they'll answer?" I think I bothered her a little bit because she exhaled rather annoyed.
"Maybe, maybe not, we have ten minutes to find out." Her ability to stay calm has always impressed me. I just nodded and glanced at the stars, trying not to breathe too strong to save oxygen. My nerves were kind of confused, I had the right to feel altered, or at least uneasy, but her attitude is so contagious, is because the level of trust I have with her, if she is okay, then I am, she is the most trustworthy person I've ever known, so I just tried to relax a little bit, in wait for help.
After I managed to calm down, Krystal made me a sudden question. "Fox, will this be our last one?"
At first, I didn't fully get what she meant with that. "They will come, we have to wait as you said." When she shook her head and lowered her gaze, I knew something else was happening.
"I can't count the number of missions we have been in, but something I do remember, is…" She sobbed and I was still unsure about her point. "I…" Her gaze was locked into mine, I could see a tear traveling through her cheek, so I put my hand over her shoulder, I knew she needed to gain strength to tell me whatever she was trying to express. "I think about us, every time we finish a duty, I feel there are less steps left to a simple, life with you, until the end, but also, I can foresee an endless route of risk and danger, also with you, only that, different."
She started to cry, and her comment had taken me totally off guard. "Different?" I had no more words to say, I just leaned more closely to her to make her feel safer.
"I don't like it, Fox, I don't like that scenario at all, I do love going on adventures with you, I love being anywhere with you, but, is it going to be that way forever? Blowing things up and fearing death every day of our lives?" She got closer to me and hugged me, she placed her head over my chest, I just stroked her blue hair and let her take out all of that, but in my mind, I was focused in what she had just told me, I knew that protecting Lylat was my life, my purpose, and my father's, and I had always seen myself dying for my system, but also, a normal, simple life with my love, was something great to dream with, I had so many questions in that moment, she was still sobbing with sorrow.
After there were just a few minutes of backup oxygen remaining, I saw Falco's ship's lights through the window, I smiled after such a relief, Krystal had got asleep but I patted her forehead gently to wake her up, she blinked a couple of times and looked at Falco's ship.
Of course she was grateful about being rescued, but also, she still looked not well, I hate seeing her that way, it´s as if someone stabs me right into my stomach, it was no different here. "For how long are we still doing this, Fox, before there's no way back?" There I knew what she was implying, it was horrifying for me to think that way, but still, somewhat important to consider at times.