This story is going under a remastering. Updates will be uploaded as soon as they're ready.

** Anyone reading this for the first time. This story is based after the Star Fox: Command ending 'Fox and Krystal'

Star Fox is owned by Nintendo.

"Ready!"

Fox stood frozen against a wall unable to move, unable to think. Blinding light assaulted his eyes as he opened them, not even realizing that they had been closed. He made out blurs at first, ten to twelve of them. Slowly solid edges formed, figures appeared through the haze. All of them fixated on him. 'Why? Are they looking at me?'

A thought entered his mind and explained the situation. This was a trial, his trial, one full of lies and deceit. The worst part about it was that one of his now ex-teammates had set him up. They wanted his position, his power, and his wealth.

"Aim!"

Now that he could see clearly he saw the firing squad standing before him. They had bound him to the wall he was against, making sure he couldn't escape. The hum of the blasters grew ever louder in the silence that had overtaken the room. The commander's voice echoed in Fox's mind, it was familiar, and full of regret. He knew them well, a friend, or so it seemed.

Now with a few seconds left to live he watched his entire life flash before his eyes. Images of losing his parents, the Lylat wars, Falco's first departure, Saving Sauria and Krystal, the Aparoid wars, Anglars, and everything in between. Each memory had a place in his heart, and he would take these memories with him, no one could steal those. He hung his head, accepting his fate.

"Krystal… I'm sorry I couldn't be there." He whispered.

"Fire!"

All at once the squad released their charged shots, hitting him with precise accuracy. The blows didn't hurt as bad as he thought. A smile slowly formed on his lips as his vision blurred. 'Now I can truly be free.'

Fox woke suddenly, sitting up in his bed. His body shaking and covered in sweat. It was the same dream he had been having since the end of the Anglar war. With his team still unstable as it was before he asked them to help. He feared that it would fall apart again, if not for the constant missions from Peppy.

Fox looked over at his clock, the clock flashed 5:29 AM, he counted down from ten in his head and hit the snooze button as his alarm went off. He threw the covers off himself and hopped into the shower, attempting to wash away the memory of his dream, but the more he scrubbed, the more he thought about it.

Why did he recognize the voice that ordered the squad? Why was he sentence to death by firing squad? And the question that last entered his mind as he left the shower, feeling clean but barely refreshed. "Why did I apologize to Krystal? Why am I not with her in the first place?" All these questions and more floated in his head, he continued with his morning routine, ignoring them for now. He had a ship to run, and missions wouldn't complete themselves.

Before he left he walked back to his bed, sitting on the side of it. He slowly moved a hand up the length of the bed, feeling the soft comforter under his fingers. "Krystal, time for you to get up." He kissed her forehead before standing back up. He smiled at her, watching her stretch and slowly stand up next to him. "Morning."

"Good morning." Krystal replied sleepily, feeling the effects of last night. "What you want to eat?"

"It's Amanda's turn to cook." Fox reminded her, Krystal sighed in relief. "Didn't even have anything planned huh?"

Krystal giggled. "Well I did, but you kinda took over on my 'to do' list." She walked towards the bathroom. "You should get up to the bridge and see what Peppy has for us to do, wouldn't want to keep him waiting."

Fox nodded, he moved to hug her before he left, enjoying their time alone before they kept to the rules they put in place. Business and pleasure separate.

The sound of his boots hitting the floor was his only company as he walked to the bridge, the ship slowly coming to life. The lights in the hallway grew brighter simulating daylight. A feature Slippy added in order to help Amanda adjust to life on a ship.

Once he took his seat, Fox brought up the laptop and began overlooking the ship's status. Everything showed up green, with a few minor things that could easily be repaired, he sent the list to Slippy's wrist com before patching into the Cornerian Military channel. A few reports were being played as he waited for General Peppy to reach him, most of them were reporting low activity, or nothing new at all. One reported a sighting of the Great Fox, saying that mercenary's shouldn't get priority status just because they were on a name to name basis with the General. Fox growled at the comment. Young officers never knew the trials he'd gone through in the name of peace.

Peppy's face appeared before him on a drop down screen. Fox couldn't help but chuckle at his old friend; he had never been one for uniforms. Peppy's serious look unnerved him a little, normally the mission assignments were a chance for them to reminisce about times of old.

"Fox, we've been told a weapon's deal is going down on Fichina, I'm sending you to stop it."

"That sounds like something your military could deal with." Fox folded his arms; he was a little tired of the non-stop action. "Why is this so important?"

"Black Market deals are something I don't want the Cornerian military to get involved in, too many have been swept into those dark alleys, turning traitor, and selling our secrets." Peppy's voice held no reason for Fox to question him.

"I'm not normally one to argue, but we're short on hands here. You've put Falco on that solo mission to Zoness, Slippy just got back from an emergency repair job in Corneria, Amanda asked for some time off. The list goes on Peppy." Fox continued giving reasons in his head. It seemed like Peppy just didn't want to give them a break.

"Fox, I know I have been putting a large workload on you and the team, but only because I know you guys can handle it. This weapons deal simply cannot be handled by us. You and Krystal must get to Fichina as soon as possible." Peppy looked around and made sure no one could hear him. "I suspect that one of our own is involved with the deal; I'll send you all the info we have, but make sure only you and Krystal see it."

"Why all the secrecy?" Fox raised an eyebrow. "You should know we don't hide mission details here."

"Fox, please you and Krystal only. The rest of the team will be brief later, I can promise you that." Peppy forced a smile. "You have your orders."

Fox didn't respond. Peppy's image disappeared and the screen slid back into its position. "Rob set a course for Fichina, send the information packet to my room."

"Affirmative." Rob replied, entering command codes. Fox left the bridge, heading towards the kitchen, the smell of food cooking leading the way.

"Morning everyone!" Slippy said as he set the table. Krystal sipped at her coffee, nodding at Slippy. "Fox get new missions from Peppy yet?"

"I certainly hope not!" Amanda called from the stove. "I barely seen you this whole week, I think you deserve a break!" Krystal giggled at her outburst, but understood where she was coming from.

"Part of the job hon, sorry." Slippy went back to help Amanda finish up the food.

"I don't care if the world ends alright? I want some time with my Fiancé, is that too much to ask?"

Krystal tried to tune out the beginning of the fight, focusing her telepathy on Fox; his mind was normally calm in the mornings, in turn relaxing her own. Today was different, his thoughts were hidden, he was hiding something, and it bothered him. 'Some new mission I bet, maybe one he didn't want to take…' She decided it could wait till the briefing and continued sipping at her coffee.

Fox entered the kitchen, already exhausted. He had debated telling Slippy and Amanda the mission against Peppy's orders; he weighed the pros and cons. If they knew then they could assist earlier if he or Krystal needed help, but Peppy suspected that someone in the military was a part of this deal. And Slippy did just come back from Corneria.

"Fox? Anyone in there?" Slippy said for a third time, causing Fox to snap out of his stare. Fox shook his head and looked at Slippy. "You want three or four?"

Fox looked at the plate full of pancakes, his mouth watering at the sight. "Four, defiantly four." He sat down beside Krystal, taking the offered coffee and sipping at it.

Krystal leaned her head on his shoulder. "What's up?" Fox wrapped an arm around her, enjoying the feel of her clean fur.

"I'll tell you later, when the mission info gets here, Peppy wanted us to see it." Fox took the plates that Slippy handed him, giving the smaller stack to Krystal.

Once Amanda and Slippy sat down, they ate their meal in a happy silence. Once they finished Fox took their plates to the sink and washed them off.

"So Fox, what Peppy have for us today?" Slippy asked. Fox froze; he was hoping they wouldn't ask until much later.

"Uh, nothing, he had a mission he was going to give us but he figured that the military could handle it. All he wants us to do is wait for orders above Fichina." Fox added some nervous laughter, paying way too much attention to the dishes.

"Fichina huh?" Slippy eyed Fox suspiciously, before standing up to leave. "Good thing we don't actually have to go down there then eh?"

Fox nodded. "Yeah, its frigging cold down there! Oh yeah, I put a list of minor repairs to your wrist com; nothing too serious so take your time with 'em."

"Copy that! Amanda, wanna help me with these?" Slippy waited for his fiancé to take his arm before leading her to their room to collect his tools.

Krystal came up behind Fox, hugging him. "So, what is it we have to do?"

Fox put the last dish on the dish rack. "The briefing should be in our room now; Fichina is about a three hour flight from here. Peppy said for us to get there asap." Fox turned around and completed the hug. "I thought after we defeated the Anglars Lylat would be at peace. Now it seems that it's more violent than ever."

"Peace is a fragile thing it seems." Krystal took his hand in hers. "No matter how many times we have to fight for it, someone is willing to break it."

"How many times can it be broken before the pieces won't fit together again?" Fox questioned. He had a feeling, a bad one at that. 'How many more times can I be there to save Lylat?' Fox had a feeling that this might be his final mission, either he lived through it or died trying. He tried to shake the uncomfortable thought out of his mind, having enough things to worry about already. He decided that he would have to talk to Krystal about it after; she always knew what to say.

Amanda looked on as Slippy fixed a speaker in the common room, not really paying attention. She was thinking of what Fox had said, did they really have to wait over Fichina just to receive orders? She wasn't sure what to think. Slippy seemed calm, but she had her doubts. Something told her that Fox wasn't quite on the same page as them. She might not have been with the team as long as everyone else but she knew if a mission was involved no one would keep anything to themselves, be it a battle formation, or a simple guess as to what to expect.

"Could you hand me some wire cutters please?" Slippy broke her train of thought, she handed him the cutters. "You would have normally told me a quicker way to do this by now hon." He joked, pulling back the plastic surrounding the wire. "What's up?"

"Did Fox seem… weird to you this morning?" Amanda couldn't hold in the question any longer, she needed to get it out.

"Fox is always weird in the morning, not so much now that Krystal back with him." Slippy rubbed his chin, thinking the question through a little more.

"I mean weirder than normal." Amanda continued before he could respond. "I mean, we're almost in the middle of Lylat so that any mission Peppy would give us we can respond in a timely manner, if anything we should be heading to Zoness to assist Falco."

Slippy nodded. "I've known Fox for many years, if he says we have to wait over Fichina then that's what Peppy ordered him to do. He never keeps mission details a secret."

"I want to believe you. But it feels like he's hiding something." Amanda dropped the subject for now, but with the thought bouncing around in her head; it would only be a matter of time before she asked it more directly.