Star Fox

Desperate Measures

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Star Fox, all that stuff.

This takes place a little after the Sauria incident. Hope you enjoy my first fan-fic.

Just to get things started, this is the replacement of the Assault. This means that Oikonni's rebellion never happened, and the Aparoid invasion never happened. I'm telling you this so you won't get confused. In Assault, Fox and Krystal barely had a relationship, but in my story their relationship is far more progressed. For example, it wouldn't make sense for them to, say, become a couple, and then in Assault they barely talk to each other. Hopefully you get that.

Chapter 1

A C C E P T A N C E

It has been a month since the Star Fox team narrowly defeated the evil emperor Andross and saved Sauria, the dinosaur planet, from total destruction. Fox McCloud, courageous leader of the Star Fox team, had invited Krystal, the beautiful blue-furred vixen, to stay with them. Little did Fox and Krystal know that they both had developed feelings for each other, ever since Fox released her from the crystal prison on Sauria. Krystal was thankful that he had allowed her to stay. She was glad that Fox was a kind-hearted person; otherwise she would probably be out in space, wandering aimlessly like she had been before the distress call on Sauria. Krystal had been pondering about whether Fox loved her or not. Fox had been thinking about what events the future might hold and became nervous just thinking about. As the month went by, their feelings for each other grew stronger and stronger, but both were unaware of how they felt about each other.

Krystal was looking out the window in her room, watching as the stars danced and twinkled as they passed by. She then heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she softly said. The door hissed quietly as it opened, and an orange-furred vulpine walked in. "Hey Krystal," he greeted. "Oh, hi Fox," she replied. Fox noticed that she was just gazing out into the infinite void of space.

"Beautiful, isn't it? I thought the same when my father took me into space for the first time."

She nodded and agreed with Fox. "Anyways," Fox continued, "I have a very important question for you." Krystal's ears perked as she listened to Fox.

"Um, I guess I'll get straight to the point. Krystal, would you like join team Star Fox?" Krystal was surprised at what she had just heard. Fox had expected that.

"Wow, Fox...I don't know what to say...Are you sure about this?" Fox heard the worry in her voice.

"Trust me, I've been thinking this over. You do outstanding in the simulations. You have some great talent."

After a moment of silence, Krystal suddenly shouted, "I'd love to join the team, Fox!" She jumped up and gave Fox a tight hug. Realizing what she had just done, she backed off.

"Sorry about that, I'm just really excited," she said with embarrassment. When she blushed, her cheeks appeared a violet color because of the cerulean fur she had.

Fox was surprised at her action and the emphatic response from her. "It's, uh… It's alright," he stuttered. Wow, didn't expect that coming, Fox thought. He continued on to perform the ceremony of acceptance into the team.

"Now, I, Fox McCloud, accept you into the team Star Fox." He reached into his pocket and took out a small, golden object. It was the famous Star Fox insignia. On it was the name 'Krystal'. He helped her up from her bed, and then handed it to her.

"Welcome to the team, Krystal." He smiled as Krystal took the insignia, and she smiled back.

Come on, stupid! This is a perfect opportunity! We've known each other long enough, well, I think. Say something!

"Um, Krystal…There's….There's something else I wanted to say." Fox was blushing, but his orange fur hid the redness that formed in his cheeks.

"Yes, Fox?" She replied, completely unaware of what he was about to say.

Well, here goes nothing. He gulped nervously before speaking. "I… I just wanted to tell you that-"

Suddenly, Fox's communicator beeped, and then the screen turned on. It was none other than the droid ROB, who has helped manage the Great Fox ever since Fox's father James McCloud had the ship.

Fox rolled his eyes. Wow, what great timing. Dammit, ROB! "This is ROB," the robot said with a monotone voice. General Pepper would like to see us at Corneria. He has an urgent message for us." Fox looked at ROB, puzzled.

Hmm, I wonder what's wrong now, Fox thought. "Okay, set course for Corneria," he commanded. "Affirmative. ROB out." ROB's face disappeared as the communicator deactivated.

"Looks like Pepper might have another job for us," he informed Krystal. "I'm going to tell the others. You should come too. They don't know yet that you are a Star Fox member now, so let's surprise them." Fox grinned, and Krystal smiled. They left the room and headed to the bridge. As they turned the corner, Krystal looked at Fox.

"Fox?" The vulpine looked over to her. "Yeah, Krystal?"

She smiled warmly. "I'm honored to be part of a great team. Thank you so much."

Her smile made Fox melt inside. "Um…Oh, it's uh, its no problem…" Fox's stutter made Krystal giggle.

I can't believe this! Fox asked me to become a member of the team! He's such a gentleman. Oh, Fox... I just wonder when I can tell you how I feel... But what if he doesn't feel the same about me? No, I need to think positively.

I'm honored that a beautiful vixen like Krystal agreed to be part of the team. I mean, I can't believe she actually agreed! I shouldn't have worried that should wouldn't. Man, what if she said no? Ah, I shouldn't think about it. She's on the team, and that's all that matters. Stupid ROB, I had the chance. Hmm, I wonder when I will be able tell her how I feel about her...

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A few days after the Sauria mission, the team headed for Corneria. Slippy once again became a pilot, and with the addition of Krystal, the number of pilots increased to the original number of four. The Great Fox was completely overhauled, and it now had a very sleek design, and was overall a much better ship than the old Great Fox. The back entrance was scraped because Fox thought that after awhile it didn't really help as much as it did eight years ago. Overall increased speed, upgraded shielding and weapon power made Fox a happy mercenary. Unfortunately the ship didn't quite satisfy Slippy. A number of things bothered him, such as the problems with the weapon system. He complained that the plasma cannons took too long to charge. He also did not like how the cannon re-routed power from other turrets to charge, rendering the turrets temporarily useless. So of course, being Slippy, he resolved to fix the problem.

Star Fox also received the new model Mark III Arwings. The Mark III Arwings, designed by the Aeroflight Company, also had a very sleek design. It had a sharper image, much better than the old Mark 2.5 Arwing used during the Sauria mission. The newest version of G-Diffusers, provided by, of course, Aeroflight, gave the fighter greater speed, flexibility, and maneuverability. The Mark III had advanced power shields, one of the most powerful shielding rates for fighters in the Lylat. The weapon system was outstanding; almost four times the strength of the Mark 2.5 Arwing. This new ship could also hold more Nova Bombs, which have a homing ability.

After walking through the metallic corridors of the Great Fox, Fox and Krystal arrived at the bridge, where ROB was typing commands. He greeted ROB, and then went over to the intercom. "Attention: All members please report to the bridge." A few minutes later, Slippy Toad, the irreplaceable engineer and best friend of Fox, came scrambling in. Along with him came Falco Lombardi, the avian ace pilot of the team who is a cocky but loyal friend, and Peppy Hare, retired pilot of Star Fox and father figure to Fox.

"So Fox, what's the situation?" asked the calm hare.

"Yeah, I'm eager for another scrap, it's been forever since I've done anything exciting." Falco lazily announced. Fox began his explanation.

"First of all, I'm proud to announce that Krystal is now a member of Star Fox. I just asked her and she agreed. She's done outstanding in the testing we've done." Everyone had a surprised expression on their face.

"Well, welcome to the team, Krystal," said Slippy. As Falco and Peppy went to shake her hand and congratulate her, Fox thought quietly to himself. Seems that they agree with this.

"…And now for the second piece of news." The team stopped talking and turned around to give their attention to Fox. He continued on. "General Pepper wants us to come see him at Corneria. Whatever he wants, it's urgent. I'm just wondering why he didn't tell us what this sudden urgent call was all about."

Peppy thought for a second. "The general probably just wants to talk to us in person, just in case our communications are intercepted and tapped into," the hare concluded.

Falco crossed his arms. "So, he probably wants us to do another mission. That's exactly what I need," he said as he smirked.

"Falco is probably right," Peppy added. "Guess we'll never get a chance to go to that spa back on Corneria now," Peppy said as he chuckled.

As Fox, Falco, and Peppy were discussing future possible events, Slippy went over to computer terminal and started to work on it. After a few minutes, he got the information he needed and proceeded to notify the team. "I calculated the time it would take to get to Corneria," he informed. "From our current location, It'll take about seven hours at max warp speed."

"Thanks Slip. Okay, you can return to what you were doing." Everyone except Krystal and Fox left the bridge. Fox went over to a navigation panel to check the coordinates of the Great Fox. He felt a light tap on his shoulder, and turned to see Krystal. "Fox? I was wondering if you wanted to do face off in a simulation. I've been practicing, and I want to test my abilities."

Fox looked at her with happiness. "Sure thing." They left the bridge and headed to the simulation training room.

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The simulation room was a large room. The walls and the ceiling were a bright white. Against the wall were the five simulator machines, which looked like the cockpit of an Arwing.. Other then that, there really wasn't much in there, besides a few cabinets a sink, a table, and a control panel for the simulation along with a view screen for someone to see what was going on in the simulation. Fox and Krystal walked into this room.

"Okay, let's get into the cockpits and set up the sim," Fox said. They hopped into the cockpits and closed the canopy, then put on a virtual helmet which allows the pilot to actually see the simulation. The inside of the cockpit looked just like a real fighter's cockpit. This made simulations seem a lot more real. After going through the main setup, the simulation started. They appeared over one of Sauria's many regions. This one appeared to be Cape Claw.

"Just to warn you Fox, I've gotten a lot better since last time," Krystal cautioned with a confident voice.

"Well, we'll see about that, I won't go easy." Fox said as he grinned. The two Arwings blasted towards each other and released a barrage of lasers upon each other.

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Personally, I like this better than the version before. I hope you like it better, too.

LilGstryker