"Ok. Now, this is the part that most people fail on, but I feel like you can best it. Go through the rings, shoot down the enemy ships, and don't get shot down yourself. Remember, it's just the air test, there's also the ground test to go through." Fox said, a smile on his face.
"I get that." Krystal said, taking a deep breath. "No stress." She stepped into the cockpit of the simulation arwing, looking around at all of the brightly colored buttons and switches all over it. A look of awe on her face, she sat down in the pilot's chair. "Gods… This is a lot of buttons."
"Krystal, take the things beside you, and put them on your head so they rest by your ears." Fox said. She looked over there they were, odd little connected things- like flower buds. She picked them up and placed them so the things went in both her ears. She rolled her neck, and looked around more.
"Okay, Krystal." Fox's voice came through the odd ear-things. "To begin the launch sequence, flip the blue switch labeled 'power.' Got it?"
"Okay, Fox." She flipped the switch, and the cockpit lit up with so many little lights.
"Great, you did that. Great, you're doing good."
"All I did was flip a switch, though. What's so good about that?" She wondered, raising her right eyebrow.
"Next, press the red button- It's big, you can't miss it."
"Ummm… There's three red buttons, Fox." Her ears laid back, and she started to pick one to press.
"Don't press anything. It's the one to the far left. Press that." He said, pausing before ending his sentence.
"Ok, if you say so…" She tensed up, and as she pressed the far left button, readied herself for and explosion, or burst of electricity, or something like that. Fortunately, nothing like that happened. Suddenly, an otherworldly electronic light shone brightly through the cockpit. She yelped, shielding her eyes from the light, assured of her fiery demise.
"Now, push the flightstick forwards. But first, check with command. I'll be command for the scenario.
"What do I say?" She said, confused.
"Just say that you're ready for takeoff, and need clearance."
"Fox, I need clearance to takeoff. How's that?"
"Needs more polish. Oh, I forgot, say your name and serial number when you're ready to launch." He said, snapping his fingers. "-And call me 'command.'"
"This is Krystal, Fo- Command. I need clearance for takeoff." She said, a little uncertain about this new arrangement.
"This is command, what is your serial number?" He said in a mock-gruff voice. "Wait, your serial number should be on your uniform. Look on the left breast pocket, it should be there."
Krystal looked down at her jacket, and there was her serial number. 555-890-777. "Shouldn't be too hard to remember, it's just a load of number."
"This is command, pilot Krystal, are you still there?"
"Oh, uh… My serial number is 555-890-777."
"You did great, Krystal. This isn't command, it's Fox." He chuckled.
"Yeah, I did good." She felt a swelling of pride in her chest, and a bit of longing for him.
"Now, prepare for takeoff, 555-890-777." Fox said, and Krystal's again, confused.
"What do I do, Fox? I don't know how to fly a ship like this." She said worriedly.
"So, pull up on the flight-stick. That's the thing in front of you, kinda like a joystick. It's got a red button on the top." He said, tapping buttons and switches.
"What's a joystick? There are so many red buttons, Fox! I don't know which one you're talking about." She whined, frowning at the viewscreen.
"It's the stick thingy, Krystal. Should be between your legs and forward a bit." He urged her on, giving her a metaphorical nudge.
She looked down and in between her legs, finding the flight-stick. It was just as Fox had described, a little stick-thing with a red button on the top. She thought it was a little odd looking, how was anybody supposed to fly like this? She reached one of her hands out and pushed it up a bit. The ship jerked forward, making her yelp in surprise.
"Krystal, do it slowly, not all at once." Fox's voice echoed through her ears.
"O-okay." She stuttered. She moved it forward slowly and carefully, edging the craft forward. As it lifted, she felt an increase in weightlessness, a floaty feeling. It was relaxing, but at the same time very worrying. Looking out the panes of protective glass, her muzzle dropped open as she stared at the stars and planets, the heavenly bodies drifting and blinking.
"Krystal. Next step. Do you know how to fly in general?" He said.
"I mean, I flew that ship up here to you and your team. I know about how to fly that kind of ship."
"Great, this won't be much different, take 'er for a test drive." He said.
"Ok…" She said nervously. She pressed the flightstick forward, and the arwing rocketed ahead and out of the hangar, out into space. She pulled off a barrel roll, having seen Fox do it several times when he took her for a ride in his arwing. He was quite handsome, up close like that. It was a little uncomfortable, but he wasn't trying to make any moves on her. She was glad about that.
"Pretty good, Krystal. Where'd you learn that?"
"It was when I rode in your arwing, I watched how you moved the controls and flightstick, and just remembered it. I like how you fly, Fox. It's very delicate and all." She stumbled at the last part, thinking that he might take that as affection. Again, he was handsome, but not extraordinary. She doubted that any kind of relationship with a non-psychic would go well.
She could feel a bit of that tinge in his mind, that egotistical boost that what she said gave him. "I'm glad to be able to teach you, Krystal." He said, his voice not lacking in confidence at all.
"What do I do now, Fox? I haven't the foggiest, and I'd like to finish this up." She tapped on the cockpit's glass.
"ENEMIES, KRYSTAL! BEHIND YOU!" Fox yelled, scaring her out of her fur.
"ENEMIES?!" She yelped in fear and surprise.
"Take 'em down, Krystal! Barrel roll to deflect their shots and try and get behind them. Press the red button on the flightstick to shoot! Be careful!" He said, half screaming it.
'I got i-" Her ship was rocked by an explosion, and red warning lights popped on. She was bucked forwards, her muzzle connecting with the Control panel. Blood splattered out from her nose, and she gave out a pained whine. "Oub… My nobe!" She yelled, blood already trickling out it. C'mon, if you're going to survive this, you need to get up and fight! Her inner consciousness said to her. She followed that inner voice, ignoring her bleeding muzzle and focusing on shooting down the opposing fighters. One of them flew right in front of her, maybe flaunting it's superiority or trying to show off to the other pilots. Either way, she shot it down in a hail of bullets. It exploded brilliantly, shining in the dim void of space.
"Krystal, are you doing okay?" Fox said, a little worried.
"Im'b doinb fine. Jus' a nobe bleeb." She said as she blew up yet another craft, swerving behind it and unleashing lead hell on the hapless craft.
"You're hurt?!" He yelled. "Switch it off and get out!"
"No, Fog, I can shood dhe ubber ones down." Krystal said confidently as she pressed down on the fire button, flaying the wings off the last enemy craft. She twirled around and finished it off, bits and pieces of metal drifting through the airless expanse of the openness of outer space. "Bloddy neraxshus." She slurred. Then everything went dark, and a slit of light shot through a widening hole in the ship. Fox stepped through, holding a medkit in his shaking hands.
"Krystal, where are you bleeding? If you're hurt, we need to get you fixed up right now." He said, his voice shaking.
"Fog, I'b fine. It'ds jus' a bloddy noze." She said, worried about Fox.
"No, Krystal! You need to get help!" He almost yelled. Her eyes widened as he raised his voice to almost eardrum-hurting levels. She didn't like that, him yelling. His voice peaked as he shoved the medkit towards her, trying to get her to use it. His handsomeness and assumed niceness was overshadowed by his ferocity.
"Fog, don'd do that… It's scaring me... " She whined, but he didn't listen, he just kept on shoving it at her. "FOX! Stop it right now! It's bloody awful!" She yelled at him. At that moment, he shrunk back, ashamed of himself. She felt a little bad for him, but not really. Though she'd been saved from a falling death by him, she didn't feel any moral conflict on yelling at him.
"I-I- I'll just leave this here…" He mumbled, leaving the medkit on the ground. He began to walk away, a droop in his ears.
Suddenly, she felt sorry for him. He'd just wanted to help her, albeit a bit more forcefully than she'd like. "Fog, I'll clean ub if it mages you feel better." She picked up the medkit and began to clean up her blood-encrusted nose. Each rub with the anti-germ wipes cleared up her speech and made Fox worry a little less.
"I'm sorry, Krystal, I just get worried about new recruits." He said, scratching the back of his neck. She'd noticed that he did that when he was embarrassed or worried, or something in between.
Sure, you're worried because I'm a new recruit, not because I'm the only vixen on this ship. I really do hope he doesn't try to make a move on me, I'm deathly scared of that- especially- the thing that happens after that. Her ears went flat against her hair, and her tail drooped. She was glad she changed out of her tribal outfit, the thoughts that she picked up from them were frightening at best, and terrifying at worst.
"Okay, Krystal, now it's time for the ground training. This is one of the hardest parts." He said, smiling a little.
"Okay." Krystal said, her tail shifting about nervously. Fox motioned for her to follow him, and she did. She walked along behind him, until they came up to a large open space, with the middle divided in two, the half farthest from them occupied by person-shaped cardboard cutouts, each with circles on parts of the body. In the part that they were in, there were lockers and more ear-things. "Okay, open up the locker, Krystal."
"What's in them?" She asked.
"The things that you'll need to train with for this section of the course." Fox said, a little stressed. She could tell he was stressed, due to the thoughts emitting from his mind.
"Though what are they?" She said, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Just some rifles and pistols, Krystal. You'll learn 'em pretty quickly."
"Rifles? Pistols? Fox, I don't use guns." She said.
Fox walked over to the lockers and opened one of them, pulling out a nine millimeter pistol. He walked back to Krystal, pressing the pistol into her hands. "To join the team, you've got to learn to shoot."
"But Fox, my planet, my parents, it's- just- too much…" She looked down at the implement of death. "I don't want to use it." She said, her voice trembling.
"Krystal, it'll help you. You'll be able to make the galaxy a better place with this." He went to the same locker that he found Krystal's pistol and took out another pistol, one with has his name carved on the handle. "Let me show you how to use it." He raised up the pistol, taking aim. He fired once, hitting one of the targets in the head. "Now you try, Krystal."
"But Fox, I don't use guns!" She said.
"It's just like shooting fire from your staff, it's just like that. One pull of the trigger, and BAM! Easy, Krystal, easy." He led her over to the targets, and moved her trembling hands to the correct position on the pistol grip. She began to hyperventilate, breathing very, very fast.
"So I pull down on the trigger?" She said shakily.
"Just take it slow. Take aim by looking down those sights, and then pull the trigger. Have a light finger on it, if you're too heavy on the trigger pull, you won't be able to put out as many shots. Try it for yourself." He held her arm in place, steadying her.
She pulled the trigger. The gun jumped in her hand, and she kept pulling it until it made a clicking noise. Fox gently took the gun from her hands, easing it away. She closed her eyes, and grasped onto him. He didn't know how to respond to that, and he just stood still. As she held onto him tightly, he looked at the target she'd shot. He whistled in awe, each of her bullets had passed clean through the same hole that he'd made. "Krystal, you did amazing." He said, smiling. "Ah- Could you let go of me?"
She opened her eyes, and let go of him, slightly shocked. "Oh! I'm sorry about that, it's just that…" She trailed off. Goddesses, he's very, very soft. I know I did that on accident, but goddesses, he's warm. "I'm just sorry, Fox."
"It's okay, Krystal." He said, blushing a bit.
There was something there when he did that, and she felt a little twinge in her chest. Was it affection? Just a little bit, bordering on friendship. "Thank you for holding me- er- My hands. It helped me a lot to have you do that." She stuttered.
"Next course; close combat. This is one of the hardest ones. You'll be going toe-to-toe with me in a simulated breaching scenario." He pressed a button and the targets sunk into the floor, replaced with a maze of hallways and doors. "For this one, you'll need some body armor." He opened yet another locker and took out two helmets and two armored vests. "We'll wear these so as not to get hurt by the beanbag rounds. On weapons, you'll pick up your riot-gun at the entrance." The two vulpines stepped into the maze of hallways and doors, Fox picking up his riot-gun and pumping it. Krystal put her hand out and took ahold of the other one, taking a second to study its mechanisms and trigger. She followed what Fox had done, pumping the thing near the end of the barrel. It spit out what looked like a little sack. The two suited up in their body armor, and went into the maze. "Krystal, we'll have one minute to go to seperate parts of the course, and then we'll try and find and neutralize each other." He then ran off through the course. "Time's ticking!"
"What am I supposed to do?" She yelled. He didn't answer. She cursed, and ran the other way. She turned a corner, and in front of her was a door. It didn't have any way to open it, so she ran at the door hit it with her riot-gun. The door bent and cracked, falling apart with each blow. Eventually, after a thorough beating, the door was opened. She breathed heavily, taking in air in gasps. She then regained her composure, advancing through the shredded door. Walking through more hallways, she heard the sounds of boots hitting the floor, and moving. With her light form, she made almost no noise, even with the armor on. Fox rounded the corner, and she stalled for a second. He whipped around and aimed his riot-gun at her. Suddenly, in her eyes, it was life or death, and she dove to the side. He fired off a slug, and a heavy-cloth-thing hit the wall behind where she was standing. She pulled on the trigger as fast as she could, but it only fired once. Either way, that one time hit him in the leg. Then she remembered that Fox moved the thing near the end of the barrel, and she did so. Another shot popped out, hitting Fox once more. "Krystal, you're only supposed to hit me once!" He laughed jovially for someone being hit with something.
"Did I do good, Fox?" Krystal asked, her tail wagging wildly. She managed to smile, flashing all of her teeth, white and shiny as solar.
"You did great, Krystal. Before we go on to the next thing, how were you so quiet?" Fox asked, wondering just how she maintained that low a profile.
"You see, Fox, I'm a lot lighter than you, what with me being a vixen and all. That, and I'm light on my feet. Watch this." She ran down the hallway Fox had come from and then came back. "You notice how I didn't make any noise?"
"Damn, you're skilled. That's quite the ability. Now! We're done here, we've just got to get off this armor." They both dispensed with their armor, putting it near the entrance. Fox then spoke up again. "We've got to go to Rob to get you all vaccinated up. After all, you're not up to date." He laughed.
She cocked her head and a look of confusion crossed her face. She shrugged, pushed aside the thought, and just followed Fox. He led her through white, sterile hallways, to a room that was labeled 'Medical Center.' She knew all about that, there'd been one at the temple. She'd been a part of the emergency triage that transported the injured during the destruction of her homeworld. She didn't like that memory. Nothing wrong here, though. "Just sit down on the table and take off your shirt." She looked at him dubiously, not wanting to do so. "I mean, just take off your jacket, you're wearing a tank top under that, right?"
She eyed him suspiciously. "...Yeah?"
"Well, just do it. Your arms will be exposed, and Rob-64 can vaccinate you." He said, obviously nervous. She took off her jacket, slowly and carefully, ready to bolt if he tried anything. Then, in rolled a metal thing. It was a yellow, with a red visor that seemed to act as its eye. It spoke to her from a grill where its mouth should be.
"Species- vulpine- gender? Female. Body structure- female- dispensing vaccines-" It droned, and it confused her in the way it spoke. It reached out its hand for her arm, and held it in place. She contemplated struggling, but it didn't seem to be doing anything. Then, needles popped out of its arm, and she struggled. She was scared, those sharp knife-like things descending towards her arm.
"Gods! Fox, what's it doing!?" She yelled, looking at him for help, her terrified eyes searching him for any empathy. Then she did something as the first needle sunk in; she grabbed Fox's hand, holding on tight. She whimpered loud and long as each needle sunk in, distributed their payload, and withdrew. "Ooowww.." She groaned, watching the blood seep out of the five needle-marks under her cerulean fur, staining it red. The robot let her arm go, and upon letting it go, she let go of Fox's hand and booted what resembled its face with a high kick, smashing the visor and denting the metal. "That's what you get for that, you- you-" She yelled a curse that made the flowers in the medical center almost wilt. Then she turned to Fox, and quickly moved her hand to grab his again. Bleedin' neraxus, I need to stop that. She let go of him when she realized she was dripping blood on his jacket.
"You need to get some band-aids on that. Rob would've given them to you, but…" He looked over at Rob's broken and sparking face. He sighed. He stepped over to the medical cabinet and took out some band-aids. Band-aids. What a funny name. He thought. He then took out five and handed them to Krystal. She proceeded to put them on carefully and deliberately, stopping the blood.
"Fox.." She said. "Do we have any towels or napkins or something I can use to clean my fur? It's a little dirty." She smiled weakly at him.
"Sure, you can use my shower. It's in my room, I'll show you there." He said, a little subdued.
There was that striking fear of that thing again. He wouldn't do it. He's good. I like him. She thought. She followed him to his room, and he held open the door for her. She giggled at his antics, and even more so when he put on an outrageous accent. She went in, and thanked him.
"I'll just go now, you probably want your privacy." Fox said, walking out of the room.
Once alone, she thought only one thing; Goddesses, he's great.