Chapter 2
Revelations
Krystal held Tails as he shook.
"You ok little buddy?" Sonic asked. Tails just nodded. Just then, Amy busted into the room, Piko Piko hammer ready.
"Where is it!" she yelled, then noticed Krystal holding Tails. Amy relaxed.
"What happened?" Amy asked, concerned. Krystal looked down into Tails' eyes.
"Bad dream?" she asked. He nodded. She looked over at the two hedgehogs.
"Maybe you should go," she suggested. Sonic shrugged, and left the room. For a moment, Amy didn't know what to do. She finally decided to follow Sonic out the door.
"You want to talk about it?" Krystal asked, looking into his eyes. Tails looked right back into her eyes.
"Ok," he said quietly. He then told her about the dream. When he got to the part about the ring, Krystal stopped him.
"A ring?" she asked.
He nodded.
"With energy swirling like a whirlpool?"
He nodded again.
Krystal thought that it was too much to be a coincidence.
Sonic was pacing. Amy rested her head on her hands, watching the blue hedgehog.
"What is it, Sonic?" she asked.
"I've never seen Tails so shaken up," Sonic said, shaking his head. For as long as he knew the young fox, Sonic had never seen Tails react like he did, even through all the battles with Dr. Eggman. Amy sat up.
"I'm sure Tails will be ok," she said. Sonic smiled, but he still couldn't get it out of his mind. He also couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
Silently, they approached the backwater world. They would have cared less about this world, except for the energy spike they detected. An energy signature that hadn't been seen for thousands of years. Krazoan technology had been used.
Like a predator stalking its prey, they crept closer. Their ship built for only one purpose, war. Perhaps the Krazoa had returned. If so, then the Krazoa would fall before the might of the Metarex.
Fox looked over the data sent by the probe. On the other side was another gate. But Fox was more interested in the planet. Oxygen atmosphere, gravity comparable to Corneria, and inhabited. Besides the single natural satellite orbiting the planet, there was a large space station.
"I just hope Krystal's ok," he said to himself. ROB's search on Krazoan technology brought up nothing. Fox leaned back in his chair. Peppy walked over and rested a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sure Krystal's alright," he said.
Fox looked up into the eyes of his old friend. Before he could say anything, the screen went black. Red letters came up in the middle.
Telemetry Lost"What the?" Fox leaned forward.
"What happened?" Peppy asked.
"The probe's been destroyed," Fox said. The data from just before the probe was destroyed showed an alien ship, unlike any he'd ever seen.
"That doesn't look friendly," Peppy said to himself.
"I'm going through the gate," Fox said. Peppy looked at him, confused.
"I might be able to locate Krystal's Arwing from the other side," he told him, then got up and bolted for the door.
The Arwings were lined up, facing the airlock. Fox jumped into the closest Arwing and sealed the cockpit. After running through the checklist, he powered up the engines, opened the airlock, and shot through the mag barrier. He banked his Arwing to line up with the gate. Without hesitating, he sent the fighter through the gate.
Tails was in the hanger. Krystal found him working on an aircraft. She guessed that it was the Tornado that Tails told her about. He looked up from what he was doing.
"It helps," he said.
"This is the Tornado?" she asked.
"Yea, I made it myself," Tails patted the wing. Just then, Sonic came in.
"Hey Tails, your not gonna believe what I found out in the jungle!" he exclaimed.
"What?" Tails asked, forgetting how shook up he was.
"Looks like some wreckage," Sonic told him. Krystal was curious about what he found as well. Before she could say anything, her commlink came to life with a familiar voice.
"Krystal, this is Fox. Please respond."
"It's good to hear your voice Fox," Krystal said into the wrist comp. Tails whistled. He was amazed at how advanced Krystal's equipment was.
"I got your location. I'll be down in a couple minutes," Fox said over the channel.
"See you soon," Krystal signed off, then motioned for Sonic and Tails to join her.
Outside, Krystal kept looking up into the sky.
"There!" she said, pointing. Tails saw an aircraft that looked just like Krystal's. It did a quick roll, then landed. The canopy opened, and a tall fox jumped out of the cockpit. Just as the new arrival was about to speak, Amy came barging out of the workshop, Piko Piko hammer in hand.
"Where is it!" she challenged. The fox blinked, jaw on the ground. Krystal laughed.
"Amy, calm down!" Sonic said. The pink hedgehog blinked then relaxed.
"So, who's our new friend?" Tails asked Krystal. She rolled her eyes. The tall fox regained his composure.
"I'm Fox McCloud, leader of the Star Fox team," he introduced himself.
"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog," Sonic told him. Amy stepped closer.
"My name's Amy, nice to meet you."
"And I'm Miles Prower, but you can call me 'Tails'," Tails said, smiling. Fox blinked.
"What is it Fox?" Krystal asked. Fox looked at Tails and asked if he had a computer. Tails nodded, and led the way.
"You may have kept me from claiming that fighter, but it will be mine!"
Dr. Eggman starred at the screen, observing the group and the newly arrived fox. The technology involved with these fighters was more advanced than anything on Earth, and Eggman wanted access to it. He stroked his bushy mustache, a habit he acquired while he thought of plots to conquer the world.
"Perhaps I shouldn't waste my time trying to get that damaged fighter, especially when there is one in better condition to… eh?" Eggman noticed something on one of the monitors. Something was approaching Earth. When he had taken over Space Colony ARK, he installed new sensors to detect incoming ships. These sensors were now sending information from space down to his base, and they had some interesting info about the new object. It was a massive ship, bristling with weapons. He decided to study the information, just in case he had to send the Egg Fleet to deal with it.
By Cornerian standards, Tails' computer was primitive. Fox was able to hook up his wrist comp to it though.
"After you disappeared, we determined that the Krazoa had built the gate," he said.
"Who are the Krazoa?" Tails asked, clearly confused. Sonic and Amy both had blank looks on their faces.
"The Krazoa are the guardian spirits of Sauria," Krystal explained, then looked back at the screen.
"Slippy found some info on the gate, including a crew manifest for the ship that found it," Fox said. He brought up a picture of a beautiful female fox. Information was displayed on the side.
"That's her!" Tails yelled, pointing at the screen, "That's the girl in my dream!"
Fox decided to fill them in on who she was.
"Then your gonna love this, Tails. Her name is, and hold your comments till I'm done, Alexa Prower. She was captain of a Cornerian Explorer-class ship called the Endar Spire. Before receiving command of the Spire, she was a fighter pilot. She earned the callsign 'Tails' from her ability to stay behind an enemy fighter, no matter how they moved to evade."
Tails' eyes widened. Sonic's jaw dropped.
"Not only does she have your last name, but your nickname too!" Amy said. Fox turned to Krystal. There was something that was bothering him, and she knew it.
"Krystal, there's an alien ship approaching this planet. I think it's because of the gate," he told her.
"If they're not friendly, then we need to repair Krystal's fighter," Tails said.
The Metarex ship entered orbit. They detected what appeared to be wreckage on an island. They sent two warriors to investigate, while they scanned the defensive capabilities of this world.
"I almost forgot!" Sonic said as the group stood around Krystal's damaged Arwing. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the blue hedgehog.
"Oh yea, you said that you found something," Tails said, popping up out of the cockpit.
"What did you find?" Fox asked.
"Some wreckage, not too far from here," Sonic told them.
"Maybe we should investigate," Krystal suggested. Tails disappeared back inside the cockpit for a minute, then popped out again.
"Found the problem, no power," Tails said. Fox nodded.
"Tails, Krystal, you two go with Sonic. Amy and I will work on getting the Arwing powered up," Fox said.
"Sounds like a plan. Lets go," Sonic said with a smile.
There was nothing of value in this wreak. No gems or anything. World renowned treasure hunter Rouge the Bat sighed. She had hoped to find something here, but there was nothing. Her sensitive ears picked up movement outside. She poked her head outside to see what it was. There were two robots, unlike anything she had ever seen.
"Well, those certainly aren't Eggman's robots," she said to herself.
Something blue stepped out from the bushes. It was Sonic, and he wasn't alone. Tails and a tall, blue fox was with him.
"Wonder who she is," Rouge said with a smile.
Suddenly, the robots turned, and opened fire on the new arrivals. Crimson beams of energy lanced out from the robot's arms, and missed. Tails took to the air, propelled by his spinning tails, while Sonic dashed out of the way. The blue vixen dove for cover, drew a weapon, and opened fire. Sapphire bolts of energy leapt form the gun, and speared one of the robots. It exploded, and the other one ran for the wreckage. Rouge kicked it, causing it to stagger back. A blue blur slammed into the robot, destroying it.
"What was that all about?" Sonic asked, sliding to a stop.
"Long time no see," Rouge said, stepping out into the clearing.
"What are you doing here, Rouge?" Tails asked as he touched down.
"What else, looking for jewels of course," Rouge said nonchalant, "Who's your girlfriend?"
Tails narrowed his eyes, glaring at the bat.
"My name's Krystal, and…"
"Nice name," Rouge cut her off.
"You already explored the wreckage?" Sonic asked.
"Yea, there's nothing there," Rouge said, disgusted.
"Maybe not for you," Krystal said, hands on hips.
"Well, there was some sort of safe that I couldn't get into," Rouge mentioned. Krystal looked over at Tails, then back at the bat.
"Can you show us?" she asked.
"Whatever, darling. This way," Rouge entered the wreak, followed by Sonic, Krystal, and a very steamed Tails.
"This is hopeless!" Fox exclaimed, throwing up his hands. Amy didn't know anything about aircraft, so she just sat on the wing.
"I've tried everything, but nothing works," he complained.
"Maybe we should wait for Tails, I'm sure he'll be able to figure it out," Amy suggested. Fox looked over at the pink hedgehog. He sighed, then jumped out of the cockpit. As far as he could tell, there was no way this Arwing would be able to leave the ground.
"There's just not enough power left to operate a toaster," Fox said as he leaned against the fuselage.
"Maybe we could use a Chaos Emerald to jump start this thing," Amy said.
"What's a Chaos Emerald?"
"It's a powerful gem, actually, there are seven of them."
"And these emeralds can supply power for an Arwing?"
"I don't know. But if there is a way, Tails will be able to find it."
Fox thought about this when his wrist comp chirped.
"Fox here," he said.
"This is Krystal, we've entered the wreak. We have also been attacked by two robots, no idea where they're from," Krystal's voice came over the channel. Amy and Fox looked at each other.
"Let me know if anything changes. Fox out," Fox signed off. He drew his blaster, checked the charge, and holstered it again.
"You need a weapon?" Fox asked. Amy just extended her arm, and a large, red and yellow hammer appeared in her hand.
"I got all the weapon I need," she said with a smile.
Tails picked his way through the wreckage. Rouge casually led the way, while Sonic and Krystal kept an eye out for trouble. They found a pair of doors that had been forced open.
"The safe is in a room just off this main one," Rouge said, pointing to another set of doors.
"This looks like the bridge," Krystal said, then saw a plaque on the wall.
ENDAR SPIREEXPLORER-CLASS
"Tails, take a look at this," Krystal called out. Tails ran over to see what was going on.
"This is the Endar Spire. The ship that Fox told us about, and, I believe, the one from your dream," she explained. Tails nodded. Sonic yelled for them from another room. They walked into what looked like some sort of office. There, set into the wall, was some sort of safe, with an electronic lock.
"There it is. Good luck trying to open it," Rouge said. Krystal pulled out her staff and tried to use it as a lever, without any luck. Sonic tried kicking it, with similar results.
"This panel is still receiving power," Tails said after examining the lock, "But there isn't a spot for a key."
"Maybe it either requires a passcode, or a DNA scan," Krystal said.
"If that's true, there's no way this thing's opening up," Tails said. Without thinking, he put his hand on the panel to support himself. The panel lit up, and scanned his hand. A green light came on, and the safe opened.
"Way to go Tails!" Sonic exclaimed. Tails removed his hand from the panel like it was a hot burner. Inside the safe were some disks, a picture, and two crystals.
"Come to mama," Rouge said, reaching for the crystals. She was too late, Krystal grabbed them first.
"Hey! I saw those first!" Rouge objected.
"I don't think so," Krystal said, pocketing the gems. Tails picked up the picture. It showed a young fox with a family. He guessed that this was a picture of Captain Prower as a child with her family. He handed it to Krystal, and grabbed the disks.
"We should head back, maybe Fox can find out what's on these disks," Tails suggested. Before anyone could say anything, there was a loud crash. Everyone ran outside in time to see a black blur trashing more advanced robots. The last robot fell, and a black hedgehog stood on top of it's broken body.
"What's up, Shadow," Sonic said with a smile.
"Not you again," the black hedgehog said, shaking his head.
"Before you two start something, let's head back to Krystal's fighter," Tails said.
Dr. Eggman reviewed the data from a battle between his robots and the alien robots.
"So, these robots think they can defeat me," he said to himself. Eggman looked over the plans for his latest creation. One of the consoles beeped. A transmission had been intercepted. Eggman looked over the text message. Now, this enemy had a name, Metarex.
He smiled, then set to work on his newest weapon.
Something was going on, and he didn't like surprises. Knuckles the Echidna looked back at the Master Emerald. Suddenly, a large explosion rocked the shrine. Knuckles picked himself up off of the ground, and saw two robots.
"So, you want to rumble, in my jungle? Bring it on," he said, and charged at the robots. After a few minutes, the robots were scrap. He wondered what was going on, then decided to find Sonic.
Fox leaned back against the fuselage of Krystal's Arwing. Amy was pacing, worried that something happened to Sonic.
Snap!
Fox drew his blaster, then saw a group emerge from the Jungle. It was Krystal's group, with two more figures. He holstered the blaster.
"Who are they?" he asked. Rouge introduced herself, and Sonic introduced Shadow. After Fox introduced himself, Krystal handed him the gems and the disks.
"I can get ROB to decode the disks, and Slippy might be able to tell us about these crystals," he said finally.
Before he could say anything else, a red, thing, slammed into the Arwing.
"You wanna play rough, huh!" it said, then charged back into the bushes, only to be launched back into he Arwing. A large robot stepped out from the bushes.
"Nice to see you again, Knuckles," Sonic said to the now identifiable red echidna. The robot charged the group, grabbed Krystal by the throat, and lifted her off the ground.
"Where are the Krazoa!" it demanded.
"Put her down!" Fox challenged.
The robot turned to face him, and dropped the vixen. Knuckles got to his feet, and Sonic had to hold him back. Fox fingered his blaster.
"No one shall stand in the way of the Metarex!" it declared. Krystal pulled out her staff, extended it, and knocked the robot's feet out from under it. Fox drew his blaster, and jumped on top of it.
"Why are you here?" Fox demanded. The robot knocked him off and got to its feet. Sonic ran around it in one direction, and Shadow the other. The robot, clearly confused, tried to shoot one of the hedgehogs, but hit empty air. Fox got up, aimed, and fired. Bolts of sapphire fury slammed into the chest plate, leaving smoking holes and damaged machinery. The two hedgehogs stopped running laps, and slammed into it. The robot stumbled. Fox dodged a wild shot, and fired again. The blaster bolt slammed into the head, and the robot fell.
