Chapter 1: Prologue
Krystal was alone in her quarters meditating, thinking, remembering; Fox has been distracted lately and has been trying to figure out why. She asked him repeatedly what was wrong and if she could do something, but he lied and politely refused her. She asked the others but she didn't get a straight answer, implying that they know what's wrong. She could always telepathically probe the team for the answer, but it went against what she believed in personally and culturally: personally because she had too much respect for her friends/teammates; culturally because ever since her people realized they weren't alone in the cosmos, laws were made forbidding Cerinians from entering an alien's mind without their permission. So her only alternative was to let the spirits of her people guide her to the answers she seeks. Finally she was seeing visions of two adult Cornerian-vulpines; a man in a CDF dress uniform and woman in a white gown getting married. Then she saw them playing with a son and felt security, happiness, and love from him. Then the vision changed to a young man on his knees crying, feeling only loss and pain. In front of him were a pair of graves that read, "JAMES MCCLOUD," and, "VIXY MCCLOUD…"
Suddenly she realized what was wrong with Fox; the anniversary of his parents' marriage was approaching and the memory of his family was just as painful like it happened yesterday. Continuing to meditate she tried to figure out what she could do to help him; she then saw Cerinia, first from space, then on the land when she was a child. She looked up into the night sky and saw a comet; it was called Surat'Ka, named after the Cerinian god of life and death. The comet itself came near the planet every 100 years signaling the Cerinian holiday where the tribes people could commune with the spirits of their ancestors or recently departed loved ones. This would also allow the spirits to temporarily possess the bodies of the living to see the world again.
Krystal's eyes opened realizing that the Holiday of the Dead was just as close and that this may be what Fox needs right now. But she wasn't sure how to go about doing it; she had what she needed, including the knowledge of how to perform the ritual. Her biggest concern was whether or not this'll work with non-Cerinians, so she poured over her personal database from her ship trying to cross-reference the holiday ritual with alien races. A few records were lost with the homeworld, but after half an hour or so she was able to find records of spacefaring Cerinians that successfully performed it with alien species. This was exactly what she needed and more importantly what Fox needed; to be with his parents again, even if it was for a period of time. Now she needed to bring this to the attention of the others, but maybe going to Fox first; giving him a heads-up so can think this over.