A/N:

A/N: I'm so proud of myself. I finally came up with a story that is Fox and Krystal based! This one is set after Command, though I haven't played it, though I have a pretty good knowledge of all the endings. I've tried combining a few of them, but who knows what'll happen. Enjoy!

--

1700 13 April 2439 (Cornerian Military Calendar), Corneria City

Fox McCloud wandered aimlessly along Corneria's capital city, his paws thrust into the pockets of his jeans. Several months had passed since the destruction of the Angler rebellion. The vulpine had come within reach of bringing his team back together, but after being apart, there was a tension built around them. Krystal wouldn't forgive him; eventually leading her to what she believed was her true calling with Star Wolf and to continue with Panther Caruso. Fox personally hated the jungle cat more than Wolf O'Donnell.

Falco left and formed his own team, Star Falco. He had invited the fox to watch the tryouts for the team, he declined, it was obviously just a way to mock him. Slippy retired to Aquas with his new love life, Amanda and tried to stay in touch with McCloud, who ignored it.

Peppy Hare was doing well in his job as general. The rabbit was the only one who Fox could really talk to. It was hard though for both of them, Peppy rarely had the chance to get out of his work and visit with the vulpine.

No one paid any attention to McCloud anymore. No more small children running to his feet, yelling to her parents, 'It's Fox McCloud! It's Fox McCloud!' No more crazy fan girls chasing him around. Fox was alone now. His team was gone, his family was dead, and all he could do now was wait and hope he got a call soon.

Fox turned onto his street and slowed his pace. The street wasn't busy, but then again, it never really was. Toddles scurried around on the side walk, parents standing by, just watching. The vulpine sighed, it was painful. It reminded him too much of his own parents, especially the day his mother had died.

--

"Bye mommy, I love you."

Vixy Reinard knelt down on front of her six year old son and wrapped her arms around him, "I love you too sweetie, I'll see you when I get home," she kissed him on the cheek and said goodbye to James before walking out the door. Fox's father lifted him up in his arms and waved. The small McCloud waved his paws energetically as his mother stepped into the car.

Everything went wrong after that.

As Vixy slid the key into the ignition, a worried look crossed her face. James set Fox down and began walking towards the car, but it was too late. The explosion took the small fox off his feet and slammed him up against the wall. He landed on the ground and wailed in pain as dust fell around him, getting in his eyes and face. He looked to the side and saw his father lying next to him, unmoving.

"Dad?" he whispered, "DAD!"

The larger fox still didn't move. Fox pushed himself up, whimpering as he hobbled out of the large hole that had been blown in the front of the house. Ann Rowan, a hawk that lived next door ran out and picked up the crying bundle of fur while her husband, Matt, ran inside to fetch James.

--

Fox was standing in the middle of his room now; he flopped down onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. He turned his head to the side so his emerald green eyes were fixed on the picture next to his bed. It had been taken when he was fourteen, when he first learned how to fly. The vulpines father was there too, standing next to the Arwing.

"Happy birthday dad." Fox whispered and closed his eyes.

--

"General Bowman! General Bowman!"

Dash looked up from his chair, "What do you want Lieutenant?"

"Sir…" the wolf panted as he gathered his breath, "We're under attack!"

The ape stood up and walked towards the entrance of the hall, "Get my ship ready."

The lupine jogged forward and blocked the entrance, "No, you need to come with me. We have a carrier that will take you out of here safely."

"And what?" Dash snapped. "I'd rather die fighting for Venom than run away like a coward."

The wolf pulled out his comm. and contacted the hanger, "Prepare master Bowman's ship," he said into it and slid it back into his pocket, "As you wish, sir."

Dash sprinted down to the hanger and jumped into his ship. He jammed forward on the throttle and charged forward, taking out a few enemy ships with him.

"Sir! You're here!"

"I though he was gone!"

"Shut up!" Dash shouted, "Keep your eyes on the target."

"Yes sir!"

"Understood!"

The ape smiled menacingly and readjusted his grip on the throttle, "Let's do this."

Dash boosted himself into the battle, taking out a couple ships as he did so. He looked down and saw that a ground battle was going on as well. He took out a small group of three ships and continued on.

This is too easy; he thought to himself and took a few more ships out. The ape looked to the side and saw more ships entering the battle from the other side of the surface.

"More ships approaching from the north!" he said, "Daniels, Anderson, Morgan, you're with me."

"Yes sir!"

"I'm on my way."

Three different ships separated from the thick of the battle and joined Dash, easily blowing the stream of oncoming ships into nothing. He was about to go back when a bright orange beam of plasma shot up and sliced through one of the jets.

"Demon Sniper!" someone shouted, "Watch out!"

Dash was about to fly out of the way, but he was too late, another bright stream of plasma knocked one of the wings off of the sleek jet. He tried flying away, but another bullet sliced through the hull, sending the plane tumbling towards the ground. Dash managed to gain control and glide to the ground. The remnants of the nose dug into the soft soil, nearly knocking the ape out of the cockpit.

Dash opened the glass and grabbed his M16 plasma rifle from under his seat and opened the glass. He waited for barley a moment and leaped out, running as fast as he could to a group of large boulders fifty meters away. He got down on his knees and rested the muzzle of the weapon on one of the rocks. He fired several times, killing several enemies.

"Hey! Bowman!"

Dash looked to the side and saw a coyote running towards him, his head ducked to avoid the bullets flying over him. He slid as he ducked under the boulder with the ape.

"Sir!" he shouted as dirt showered over them, "You need to come with me and get out of here safely!"

Dash fired again, "Fine!" he pulled his Blaster out of the holster behind his uniform, "Let's do this."

The coyote ran out from out of the cover of the rock, Dash following close behind him. He fired several times with the Blaster as they dashed quickly from rock to rock. Eventually, a large carrier ship came into view; Dash approached the side and jumped in.

"Orders Sir?" a tiger asked from the bridge.

He thought for a second, "For starters, get us off the surface and take us towards Corneria A-sap."

"Anything else?"

Dash considered the question as the ship lifted off the ground, "Starfox."

"Yes sir!"

The ape looked out the window and noticed a ship flying towards them.

"Who's side is that on?" he asked.

The tiger looked out the window, "I'm not sure, it's too far away to identify-"

The feline was cut short as the other carrier fired two bright green lasers that sliced clean through the ship. The impact threw Dash against the wall.

"What the…" he screamed, but it was too late. The ship hit the ground and burst into flames. Dash punched at the window, shattering the glass and hopped out. He began running when he felt an intense pressure build in on his chest. He looked down and saw red begin soaking his dark green shirt. The ape sunk onto his knees as more bullets dug into his back, spraying blood out as they exited through his front side. He fell face first into the mud as the pain finally settled in. He could survive if help found him soon enough, but the chances of that were slim and none. Dash closed his eyes as he felt his final breath slip out of his lungs.

--

"Captain… We've received a distress signal from Venom."

Falco Lombardi leaned forward in his chair, "Venom?"

"Yes sir, there was an attack, they signaled for Starfox, but the General Peppy sent it to us instead."

The avian smirked, "Good," he hadn't heard from McCloud for months, he didn't care though, he finally got the chance to lead his own team. When he had been on Starfox, Fox was the one that was always giving the orders, now it was his turn, "Let's get this thing off the ground and get this taken care of."

The pilot, a small lizard started the systems, "Of course, should I get Katt and Zach?"

"No." Falco stood up and stretched, "I will."

The falcon walked along the halls of the Great Fox. General Peppy had given the ship to the team as their carrier, on certain conditions of course and opened the door of Katt Monroe's room. The black and white feline was lying on her bed, asleep.

"Hey, sleepyhead," Falco said, "we're leaving."

She looked up, "Where to?"

"Venom, there's a bit of a… situation down there."

She stretched and flexed her claws, "Good, I've been bored to death here. Why didn't they just get McCloud to handle it?"

"He doesn't lead a team any more. Remember?"

"Oh… Right. Why don't you ask him to come as well? And Krystal?"

"Yeah right. He'll just try and take over the whole team then I'll end up where I was before I started Star Falco. And Krystal, do you know what would happen if she came face to face with McCloud again? Besides, she's a part of Star Wolf now."

"You don't know that."

"Neither do you," he shot back.

Katt stood up and shouldered her way past Falco, "Whatever," she muttered as she headed back to the bridge.

The falcon sighed, he turned on his heels and walked further down the hall to Zach's room.

"Hey," the raccoon said blankly, "What's goin' on?"

"We're going to Venom; just want you to be ready when we arrive."

"Cool, I'll be right out."

Falco sat back down on the deck as the screen was static for a couple seconds then General Peppy's face flickered onto the screen.

"Captain," the old hair began, "We want you and your team to go and start gaining control of Venom again, Dash Bowman will help you."

Falco nodded, "Yeah."

"I have several fleets standing by here and Fox, if he's up for it."

He rolled his eyes, "Okay, that's it?"

Peppy looked at his papers, "Yes," he paused and his face hardened, then was suddenly alarmed, "Oh no."

"What is it?" Katt asked.

"Dash Bowman…. Has just been confirmed dead."

--

"Do you understand your assignment, Kursed?"

The blue vixen placed a paw on her table and tapped her claws on it, a large bulldog stood on the other side of the room, "Yeah."

"Good."

Kursed bared her fangs, "I suggest you leave now, you don't have to stay until I walk out of my own home."

It wasn't even a house; it was more of a shack. The dog nodded and backed out of the door. The vixen grabbed her Blaster and walked out, closing the door behind her. Kursed walked along the dusty streets of Kew. No stares were on her anymore, the planet was made for bounty hunters. Though her assignment wasn't on the surface of Kew this time, she was being sent to Venom.

She had a shallow knowledge of why, something about Dash Bowman. All she cared about was hoping she wouldn't see Fox McCloud there. The vulpine had been so desperate to get back together with her, it was almost funny. After going to Starwolf, Kursed had left. Panther acted almost exactly like Fox, always fearing for her safety, plus the fact that the jungle cat was a major show-off.

She shook her head and began walking into the hanger on the outer edge of the city. The guard there, a large wolf stopped her.

"ID, please."

"You recognize me don't you?" she glared at the lupine.

"No ID, no entry."

Kursed lunged forward and pinned the man to the wall. One paw around his throat, the other holding the blaster to his head. Hopefully the wolf knew what she had done in the past to let her in and still keep his life.

"You know who I am," she snarled, "if you want to live, I recommend you let me in."

He swallowed, "You'll never get away with it."

Kursed wrapped a finger around the trigger, "If I never got away with it, I wouldn't even bee here would I?"

The wolf's breathing deepened, "Okay, okay, you can go in, just don't kill me, I have a family and young kids. I'll do anything."

The blue fox rolled her eyes, she thought about killing the man for a moment then let him go. The guard slouched against the wall, rubbing his throat while Kursed entered the hanger bay. She hopped into her Cloudrunner fighter which sat towards the back and closed the glass. She started the systems and grasped the dual sticks. She hovered out of the hanger slowly and then jammed the sticks forward. The engines reacted immediately, the fighter's G-Diffusers shoved Kursed down into her seat as she flew up out of the atmosphere of Kew.

--

1523 Hours 18 April 2439 (Cornerian Military Calendar), Corneria Air Force Base

"So… Dash is dead? How?"

General Peppy rubbed a paw down his face and over his short muzzle, "I don't know," he admitted, "they believe that everyone on board died."

Fox Hm'd to himself as he paced in front of the large desk. Papers and pens were scattered all over the surface. Standing on the corner was a picture James McCloud holding Fox as a child on his shoulders. The vulpine smiled for a brief second then turned to Peppy, "And you want me to go down there. I thought you had…" he stopped, grimacing, "Star Falco over there. Why do you want me to go?"

The elderly hare began reading through one of the papers, "I want what's best for you, Fox, and there's a good pay in it for you."

The vulpine huffed, he didn't care about the money anymore. It was good to be paid when the team was still together, but he didn't need all the money anymore, he was alone. He would never see Krystal again. An image of the little blue vixen flashed through his mind, then Panther entered the scene. Fox gritted his teeth together and shook the image out and turned back to General Peppy.

"Fine, I'll go."

--

So. What do you think so far? Let me know if it's swinging around too much cause I'm getting the feeling that it is. Please R&R.