Chapter 1
"Petrified"
It has been two years since the apparoid attack, a menacing story that will not be told again. The team was proud that they have saved the Lylat system once again; a ceremony of honor was made for them once again. After the ceremony, Peppy told everyone that he was retiring like he said he would. It was a great lost, but it had to be done. ROB took control of Peppy's job but after two years, it was too much for him.
The leader of the team, Fox Mcloud, suggested finding someone else for the job, sort of a job interview for those who wish to qualify. Fox Mcloud is a light orange fox with a mind of a true leader and a true friend. The mechanic, Slippy Toad, talked to the people to see if they are intelligent enough to guide the Great Fox. Slippy is a green toad with the best intelligence out of everyone but the worse sense of fighting. The Ace Pilot, Falco Lombardi, tests them combat wise, a decent test. Falco is a blue falcon with an ego to match.
And if someone passes those two tests, they are met by the telepath, Krystal. One look at them from her will tell how they're doing mentally to see if they are mentally prepared for what's coming to them. Krystal is a blue fox with a distinct tropical style of clothing and she has a telepathic gift within her. A couple of days have passed and no one was found. All was lost until one person started shooting threw the tests like nothing.
"So, who is she Slippy?" Krystal asked with the British accent in her voice. Her blue tail started to flicker around as she placed her hand on her chin. Slippy started to shuffle threw the interviewing papers to find that certain someone.
"Uh, well, her name is. . . really misspelled. Her handwriting is atrocious but she can answer my questions like she made them," Slippy said as he looked at the paper really closely, trying to read the handwriting of that one girl.
"Well, whoever this pink fox is, she can sure fly a ship like everyone else." Falco said as he crossed his feathered arms. He usually didn't like the fact that some people were better than him, but in this case, curiosity held no bounds.
"Well, she's coming towards me next so I can really find out who she is and what she's like," Krystal said as she paced back and forth the room. Her ears started to twitch a little with confusion.
"Well, as long as she can fly the ship, she's good for us," Fox said as he looked at his team. They started to look at him for answers but he just closed his eyes and thought to himself. Suddenly, he stopped when he heard some clicking from the door.
"Okay Krystal, your up," Fox said as he, Falco, and Slippy went to the bridge. Krystal stood in the middle of the room and awaited the arrival of the mystery woman. When the door opened, the pink fox jumped out and appeared in front of Krystal.
"Hello Krystal! Long time no see!" The pink fox yelled but Krystal didn't reply at all. She was trying to study the odd thoughts of the fox.
"Your. . . thoughts. So strange, but familiar," Krystal said with her eyes closed. The pink fox just smiled and opened Kystal's eyes with no sense of security.
"Of course it's familiar! You have to open your eyes to see your own cousin." She said as Krystal took a long, good look at the pink fox, until she sprang in joy and hugged the fox.
"Emerald It's been so long! I can't believe you actually know how to work this ship!" Krystal yelled as she let go of her, but still filled with tons of joy.
"Yep! I have been studying about this ship for many years, after what happened on Saria with you being trapped an all. I just wanted to help with all I can so I got the notice and applied!" Emerald yelled as Krystal calmed down and put on a smile. Emerald was wearing exotic clothing like Krystal used to wear, the same color as hers so it won't match her fur color. Her hair style was just the same, if you didn't know any better, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two of them.
"Well, it's good to have someone we know in the team, c'mon, you have to meet the rest of the team," Krystal said as she walked to the bridge with Emerald not to far behind.
"So, did you find out who that woman is?" Falco said as Krystal nodded cheerfully.
"Mmhm! Everyone, this is my cousin Emerald. She is an expert at this kind of stuff and will almost match Peppy," Krystal said as Emerald popped up to the side of her.
"Hello! You've already met me but it seems like I never actually met you. As you know, I'm Emerald! And I'll be taking the navigator job for the Starfox team!" Emerald said as she stood straight and saluted.
"Well, just don't be as careless as Slippy here," Falco said as Slippy got a little irritated.
"Hey! Shut that beck of yours Falco!" Slippy yelled as Emerald chuckled.
"Wow! This is a great team! I'm gonna have fun here!" Emerald yelled as Fox walked in front of her.
"It's good to have someone like you in our team. I'm the leader of the team, Fox Mcloud, this is our Ace Pilot Falco Lombardi," Fox said as he pointed towards him and he just lifted a couple of his feathers with greetings.
"Nice to have you on the team., Falco said with an ignorant tone but at the same time a tone of happiness.
"And next we have our mechanic, Slippy," Fox continued as he pointed to the green toad.
"Just make yourself at home and ignore Falco if he gets bossy," he said as Falco just turned his head and ignored him.
"Since you already know Krystal, I'd like you to meet who you're going to work with." He walked towards the computers, expecting Emerald to follow, which she did. "Emerald, meet ROB, he helps out on the maintenance of the ship and works with it 24/7." ROB turned around, nodded, and went back to work. "He usually works a lot but you can talk to him about anything and he will answer in his own opinion." Emerald smiled with a wide, joyful smile.
"This is perfect! Where do I sit?" she asked as Fox pointed to a chair at the far right of the ship. Emerald smiled and looked at Fox, put her legs together, and saluted.
"I will do my best and be a great member of the team!" Emerald yelled loud and proud all around the whole ship. Fox smiled and turned around, putting his arms behind him and grabbing them together.
"Now, will you promise to fight for the team, be there for the team when they need you, and swear to never leave them no matter what?" Fox asked as Emerald kept her saluting position.
"Yes sir!" She yelled with enthusiasm, hoping to impress Fox. He chuckled a bit, but he liked how she acted.
"Good. Krystal would you mind letting her sleep in your room?" Fox asked as he let go of his arms and walked up to her.
"Sure, no problem," Krystal said. She walked off with the energetic pink fox following her. Fox smiled as Falco went to the side of him, making Slippy shrug and head over to his room.
"You think you can handle two girlfriends?" Falco asked sarcastically, making Fox jump a little with surprise.
"Whoa! I'm not built that way!" Fox yelled. He shot out the only excuse he could think of, a pretty good excuse for someone filled with nervousness.
"Ya, you're right, you're only meant for one lady." He turned around and started to walk away.
"Hey! Don't get me started on what happened with you and Kat!" Fox yelled. Falco automatically turned around and jolted with anger.
"At least I said something! Not stay silent like you're doing!" Falco yelled. The orange fox immediately repelled back.
"I'm just waiting for the perfect time! You don't have to snap out at me like that!" Falco looked at him, calmly, then just laughed.
"Man, we still have that rivalry sense inside us." Falco chuckled a little more. Fox just put his arm around him and grinned.
"That's what friends are for." Fox said as they walked out of the command deck.
In Krystal's room, Emerald was setting up a place to sleep as Krystal separated her stuff to make room for Emeralds belongings. Emerald put a sleeping bag on the floor and a pillow on the front. Her intuition was high, she was excited and ready for a mission.
"So, are you excited to get to work?" Krystal asked. Emerald smiled and nodded.
"Yep! I'm ready to do anything right now!" Emerald yelled. Krystal chuckled a little. Then, she walked over to Emerald and put her hand on Emeralds shoulder.
"Listen Emerald, this is a very dangerous job, you're going to have to make tough decisions when we're out there. While we're out there, you're going to have to be on constant alert, help us out in any way possible. You got it?" She asked. Emerald thought for a moment. She had a serious face with her emerald green eyes shining straight into Krystals blue eyes.
"I promise, I'll do my best." Emerald said in a serious tone. Krystal closed her eyes and smiled.
"Good, now, let's get your stuff unpacked. We'll go to sleep after that." She got Emeralds bag and started unpacking it.
It was a quiet morning outside of the Lylat system as ROB woke up from his daily rebooting. The ship was dark until he started booting the ship back up. The lights in every corridor besides the bedrooms have been turned on roughly 5:30 in the morning for those who wake up early. The only ones that would be up at the time are Peppy and ROB.
Emerald just woke up by instinct, thinking that she needs to wake up until she realized she had to. She stretched her arms and scratched her head. She was wearing a pink pajama top and a pink bottom as she grabbed her official Starfox suit to get ready for work. She walked out of the room and took out the custom map she made last night.
She walked down the right hallway for a couple minutes until she took a left, than another left when she reached a bathroom. She smiled, took off her clothes, and went in the shower. She turned it on and warm water shot out of the shower as she let it fall on her gracefully. The water purified her tiredness as it splashed on her eyes. She grabbed her shampoo that was on the little podium in front of her, and poured some on her hand.
She started to lather her body soothingly as she lathered her arms and bend down to get her legs. She started to spread it all around her upper body and thighs and started to lather her breast. She finally got her neck and turned around to get the front part of her rinsed. She grabbed her tale as she turned her head to see what she was doing. She poured more shampoo and lathered her whole tail until it was almost scrunched into a ball.
Finally, she got her hair and soaped it all up, reaching her ears with ease. She turned around to rinse her tail and hair. When she was done, she paused for a sec as she heard a few noises coming from the outside of the room. She turned off the shower and listened in closely, still prowling in the shower. The sound was sort of mechanical judging by the force of each step and the gears clicking.
"ROB! You've gained weight! Ha ha ha!" The first thought from her was that ROB was inspecting the ship, but after a quick thought of common sense, she realized that ROB was too small and too well made to make that much noise. "ROB, is that you?" She felt desperate to get some cloths on, but scared to even walk out of the shower. The sound just got closer and closer until it stopped at the bathroom door. Emerald was petrified to hear it stop by the room. It was quiet, the only sound that could be heard was the silent steam that was coming off of her.
BAM! The door broke open and a robot burst into the room.
"HOLY CRAP!" In no time, the robot pointed it's arm that was replaced with a gattling gun and shot in the shower. In an instant, she jumped up and dodged the bullets. She grabbed her stuff and headed out of the bathroom. The mech turned around and charged for her with intense speed. "CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! SOMEONE WAKE UP!" She ran as fast as she could, finally rushing into a room and putting on her suit. "Great! I'm being chased by a robot while I'm naked!" She had to find a way to loose it until the team woke up cause without any weapons, she's powerless against it.
Suddenly, the robot burst the door open and pointed his arm at her again. Emerald jumped on the mech's head and made haste again. The mech did the same, charging after her with all of its might.
"Hello! Anyone listening!? HELLOOOO!" She was sure that this much racket would wake anybody up, but with no other sound but the mech's destruction, she had to fend for herself. She rushed into a random room and went as far back as possible. The mech stopped and burst the door open with his arm. The mech shot again and Emerald ducked, causing the mech to shoot everywhere. Emerald realized it was a bathroom when one of the bullets hit the shower head. "Ah come on! I just took a shower!"
Cold water spewed on Emerald but since she was already scared to death, she didn't care how cold it was. Suddenly, the mech stopped and looked around, it couldn't find her. "Ooooh, he has thermal sensors . . ." But when things thought to be getting better, the water automatically changed to hot water, causing the mech to see Emerald clearly.
"YAAAH!" She splashed water on the mech and it started to go crazy. Its vision was blinded by the heat of the water, but it was only temporary until the water gets cold. "Take this bucket head!" Emerald grabbed the towel rack, swung back, and kicked the mech, causing it to crash into the wall. She ran off and headed upward to the bridge to get some help. She ignored the cuts and bullet wounds she had. Soon, the mech was hot on her trail again and Emerald was running out of energy. She has to rest, but there is no escaping the mech.
She made a sudden turn into another random room, causing the mech to turn around and bust the door of the room, but it was in for a little surprise. It ended up in the weapons vault and Emerald was holding an RPG. "HASTA LA VISTA BABY!" She shot once and the mech stepped back with a damaged arm. It tried to point its other arm but Emerald shot it as she walked forward, she shot it one more time on the lower body until she pulled out one of the gattling guns and started shooting. The mech was trying to guard itself but the constant shooting of the armor piercing bullets of the gattling gun started to mutilate the mech.
Emerald ran out of ammo and looked at the damaged mech. It didn't move for a while until it moved its arms out of the way. "C'mon! Why won't you die!?" She ran for it, knowing she had no other choice. The mech was still as fast as ever but it was loosing parts. The mech moved faster but the sudden shock of losing parts started to make it stop a little. Emerald was one step away from the mech until she reached a dead end, turned around and saw the mech, lifting its hand with intense power.
It finally stopped and fell right in front of her with a loud crash. Emerald finally collapsed and was breathing on the ground and put her arm on her chest, petrified with what just happened. The alarm finally went off in the ship and the defense turrets came out.
"Well that took long enough . . ." she said to herself.
A few minutes later, everyone was up with there gear and weapons ready as they scavenged the whole ship to see what happened. Krystal stopped at the first bathroom and saw that the door was busted open. With the thought of Emerald being in trouble, she followed the tracks of dented walls and broken doors. She stopped when she saw blood on the floor, next to the other bathroom as the shower head sprayed water everywhere. She ignored the water, thinking that ROB would just turn it off himself. She followed the blood to the weapons room and saw the RPG and the gattling gun on the floor including some multiple parts.
Her thoughts were she tried to fight whatever it was that attacked her with the weapons that were loaded. She followed the parts until she saw the mech lying on the ground, motionless. She grabbed her blaster and pointed it at the mech until she looked up and saw Emerald in the corner of the dead end, shaking with fear. She was curled up into a ball with her emerald eyes almost motionless.
"Emerald!" Krystal yelled as she wrapped her arms around Emerald with care. Once Krystal pulled back, Emerald looked back with a crooked smile.
"Wow, crazy day . . ." The mechanical menace in front of her was the first mission she had, but the shock of it was too much for her at the time. No one should have had to go threw something like that.