Author's Note: This is the real first chapter of the story, the other was the prologue. A preemptive apology for all of the talking in the first half of this chapter. I do hope you can enjoy it and push all the way through, I personally think that it gets better as it goes.
Krystal storms into her room onboard the Great Fox II, tears streaming down her face. She roughly wipes them away with the back of her paw as she begins throwing her few belongings into an old ammunition bag she found laying in the hallway between the dining room and her quarters.
"Why?" She asked no one in particular. "Why would he throw me away? Why can't he see?" Her mind was so blinded with rage and helplessness that she couldn't even think straight.
Having grabbed all of her clothes and other essentials she turned to the pictures that were displayed in silver frames on her dresser. They all had Fox in them and she was about to leave them all before one in the back caught her eye. The picture was coated in a light layer of dust but it was one of Krystal's favorites. It showed the Star Fox team in its entirety as they ate ice cream in celebration after their first successful mission with Krystal as a member. They were all laughing at Peppy who was cross-eyed trying to see the ice cream that rested on the tip of his nose.
"Well, I guess I could hold onto one," she muttered to herself "but for the team, not you," she glared at the fox in the picture laughing with the rest of them.
"Sometimes it's best to hold onto parts of the past, even if some of the pieces are painful." The speaker had wrapped their arms around Krystal in a comforting hug as they spoke.
Krystal didn't need two guesses as to who the other person in her room was, the distinct smell of fresh cabbage made its way to her sensitive nose.
"Hey Peppy," Krystal sighed in relief. Peppy was probably the one person she could stand right now.
"Let's sit for a little bit." The old rabbit, and honorary grandpa to the team, guided Krystal to her bed where they sat side by side.
"How do you do it Peppy," Krystal asked quietly
"Hm?"
"You lost everything when Pigma turned you and James over to Andross. You were tortured and James was killed. Then you get back and even though everything you had gone through earned you the respect of Corneria you didn't quit. You got right back to business and guided Fox into the Cornerian Flight Academy. Then your wife leaves you. Now I can see that Fox reminds you too much of James and it tears you up inside when you think on it too long. How do you keep going?"
"If anyone is aware of Peppy Hare's hardships it's me young lady," the old hare responded quietly.
"Sorry if I went a little far there," Krystal apologized quickly
"No, dear, it's alright, it's alright," he reassured her. "The truth is that sometimes it feels unbearable, going through life with that much baggage, but the key is to find your niche and stick to it."
"My niche?"
"Yes, it's like your calling, something that you know in your heart is just what you were born to do. I was born to help people, so that's what I do. I helped James with the original Star fox, I helped fox when he was young, I help Fox now, and later I'll help someone else. Others might feel that their niche is killing, so they join the army or turn to crime, career soldiers or hit men. Do you know what yours is?"
"I guess it would be flying," Krystal responded, "it's always been the one thing that made me feel like I was untouchable, free and happy in the clouds."
"flying calls to a lot of us ground dwellers to the sky, although with the way you describe it, you might have flight's talons in you a bit more than most," The hare chuckled, "so if flying is what you want to do, then fly you must."
"But how," questioned Krystal, "I can't afford a fighter of my own, being on this team made it all possible for me."
"There are other freelance fighter teams in the galaxy."
"Like who, Star Wolf?" Krystal shot back
"They're an option," Peppy concluded, "I hear they might be looking to fill the remaining hole in their roster."
"I thought Wolf and his boys were evil."
"Evil is just a point of view," Peppy reminded the young vixen, "Star Wolf did play an integral part in our last two battles. They do their job, just as we do ours. The only reason they rack up bounties on their head is that they don't work for Corneria due to their past with Venom. We kill pirates for Corneria, Star Wolf kills pirates for other Pirates, then we kill those pirates. All in all, we both do the same job. People change, the galaxy changes, and besides that, what you see is not necessarily what you get. "
"They had their own reasons for doing those jobs with us," Krystal reminded him, "and it sounds like there might be a hidden meaning in your lesson."
"Is Fox nearby?"
Krystal closed her eyes focusing on the auras of the people on board the ship. Fox's raging red aura stuck out like a sore thumb.
"He's in the lounge on the other end of the ship," she assured him
"I never told anybody this, I didn't even put it in my mission report after the failed Venom mission. A day after we were captured by the Venomian military, I heard a voice dismiss the guards who were stationed outside of James' door. Through the bars of my cell I could barely make out that they were talking, but about what, I couldn't tell. I would have looked but I was handcuffed to my bed at the time. The voice talked to James every day. Then they took James to Andross' chambers. I heard James yell his last words down the hallway, he told me goodbye and that I should tell Fox that he was loved," Peppy had started to tear up as he relived the worst time of his life "A few minutes later the gruff voice that had talked to James all those days dismissed the guards outside of my cell. Instead of talking to me through the bars though, he opened the cell. It was a young Wolf O'Donnell. He put a security key-card, blaster, and James' Sunglasses in my hand and pointed towards the base hanger. He gave me my life back and has let me keep it several times since then. Whenever we got in a dogfight with Star Wolf, O'Donnell has never fired a shot into my fighter." Peppy finished his story with and choked down some spit. "The point, I guess, is that people wear a shell that they want people to see and the real person under it might be completely different."
Krystal sat silently, contemplating the great Peppy Hare's confession.
"Why did you never tell Fox, knowing that Wolf helped you out of venom might have toned down their rivalry a bit."
"The rivalry of Fox McCloud and Wolf O'Donnell has nothing to do with James McCloud, they both just want to be the best in the galaxy and Wolf uses James to push Fox's buttons, he doesn't mean half of the things he says to Fox over the comm. Me telling Fox the truth of what happened on Venom would only lead to possible hesitation while in combat with Wolf. They are an interesting pair, almost perfect opposites. Fox started life with everything, then lost it all, finally gaining respect in the Lylat wars. Wolf, on the other hand, started with nothing and made a life for himself, only to gain the hatred of the galaxy in the Lylat wars. They're almost mirror images of each other."
They sat quietly before Peppy launched into another lesson, "It's easy to just see people as others do, see them as you're told to see them, but you'll never get the whole story from one source. You learned about the Lylat wars right?"
"Yeah, the ones between Venom and Corneria, right?"
"Yes, and how did you learn about them?"
"Slippy leant me a documentary on them."
"And who was it made by?" Peppy questioned.
"The Cornerian Broadcast Network, I think"
"So it depicted the people of Venom as bloodthirsty conquerors on a crusade of violence?"
"Yeah, basically."
"It was a propaganda flick made by the Cornerian government to wholly justify the whole deal to their ignorant subjects. The people of Venom turned to Andross only because the laws of Corneria don't protect apes. We did nothing to change it and eventually we forced the apes to turn to a charismatic tyrant who would exploit their problems. Now, I'm not justifying the Venomians for their hand in the war, but many of their soldiers were fighting injustice for the hope of a better future. Do you get it?"
Krystal nodded so Peppy continued, "It's just like Star Wolf, Corneria will tell you that they're pirates and murderers but if you ask the impoverished workers of Titania, they'll tell you that Star Wolf are heroes for ridding the planet of the Titanian mob."
"So, what?" Krystal asked finally, "are you suggesting I really try out for Star Wolf?"
"If that feels right to you, sure. You'll have to work for it though, Wolf hates the weak," Peppy chuckled.
"You callin' me weak?" Krystal demanded with a smirk on her face.
"There's a smile," Peppy said happily.
The ship decelerated and latched into it dockings with a dull thunk that reverberated through the hull. Rob's robotic voice came on over the intercom.
"Docking complete, welcome to Corneria."
"Well I guess that's my cue, wish me luck." Krystal stood, hugged Peppy, grabbed her bag and walked out of her room towards the exit.
"Good luck Krystal," Peppy called from down the hall. Hopefully you manage to find a lasting home, he thought to himself.
Krystal stepped off the loading ramp of the Great Fox II and looked out over the dark spaceport of Goldwine city, named after city founder Robert Goldwine. This side of Corneria currently faced away from the nearby sun and the time on the spaceport clock read 01:34.
"Well at least less people will see me in this get-up," Kristal muttered to herself, What the hell was I thinking buying a skin tight cat suit? Well it's either this or the royal garments for now.
She reached in a side pocket where she had put her passport and documentation as she walked towards the exit checkpoint on the other end of the docks.
"What the?"Her paw wrapped around an unfamiliar envelope that had been hastily shoved in the pocket. She opened it to reveal a note reading "Hope you find this, good luck! Slippy & Peppy." wrapped in the note were two 1,000cr credit chips, universal currency in the Lylat system. Thanks guys.
After exiting the spaceport Krystal set her sights on settling into the town so she could plan her next course of action. After buying several new sets of clothes that were, at least to her knowledge, very civilian, she wandered back towards a small hotel she had seen shoved up against the outside wall of the spaceport. It took some retracing of her steps but eventually Krystal found herself in the quiet hotel's small lobby. The check-in desk was empty, but a sign on the counter read "Please ring bell for service."
Hesitantly, Krystal pushed the small button next to the sign. Several moments passed and she was about to go and find somewhere else when a door marked "Manager" behind the desk opened as an old crow wearing a nightgown stepped out.
"Sorry if I woke you," Krystal apologized quietly.
"Nonsense child," the old crow crooned while fumbling with her thick glasses " starships come and go at all times and it's that business that I rely on! So you'll be needing a room then?"
"Yes please. Single."
The old crow hummed an unfamiliar tune while she processed the transaction and handed Krystal her key. "Room's up three floors, on your left. Good night, dear."
"Good night," Krystal responded as she turned towards the steep staircase in the middle of the room. She got to her room and only had enough energy to throw her bag into the corner and collapse on the bed.
Krystal fell asleep looking out the window near her bed, it had a clear view of the ships arriving and departing the busy port.
Krystal was awoken the following morning by a loud screeching noise. The noisy culprit wasn't hard to spot. Outside her window, a massive Cornerian transport ship was in the process of taking off. The five massive engines struggled to get the ship off of the ground and free of the planet's gravity. Windows shook loudly in their frames as the freighter put the throttle to full and, slowly, the ship made its way into orbit.
No wonder this place was so cheap, she thought to herself while glancing over at the clock. The digital display read 08:53. As much as she wanted to just roll over and go back to sleep, she knew that oversleeping accomplished nothing right now. Rolling out of bed, Krystal planned her out her morning.
"Ok," she thought out loud "First jog around the city, then hit the bank for some smaller denomination chips, and then breakfast, sounds good."
Donning running shoes, sweatpants, and a Goldwine university hooded sweatshirt, Krystal hoped she looked like any other college student as she went for a morning jog around the city. Not that it was possible to jog around the whole city, Goldwine was a massive, sprawling city sitting in a flat Cornerian plain. A peculiar place, almost 90% of Goldwine was zoned as commercial. The only fulltime residents here worked in or owned the hundreds of thousands of shops. It was a ridiculously scaled up shopping center where, if it was legal, you could find it somewhere and if it wasn't legal you just had to look harder.
After ending her run at the bank near her hotel, Krystal exchanged one of the 1,000cr chips for various low, more manageable chips. It would be hard to buy a 3cr coffee with an 1,000cr chip. Heading back up to her room for a shower and a change of clothes, she continued to think over her situation.
how does one go about finding another pilot group? I guess I could go freeze myself in a big piece of glass again and just wait for someone else to stumble upon me.
Krystal started to realize just how unprepared for regular life she was, I went from tribal princess to orphan to mercenary fighter pilot in my life, I don't know how this shit works.
She mentally scolded herself for the attitude, You raised yourself on your own just fine, now you just need to do it again.
Nearly a week had passed since Krystal arrived and she was making zero progress on finding new work, The race started and I still can't finding the starting line, she sighed as she stepped out of the shower.
It hadn't gotten any warmer during her jog that morning so after her shower Krystal threw on a different hooded sweatshirt and the first pair of pants she found. Descending into the lobby, she noticed the old crow, sitting in a rocking chair while reading a book.
"Excuse me," Krystal announced herself as she approached the old woman.
The crow set her book down and replaced her reading glasses with the thick pair of spectacles that she wore the night when Krystal arrived, the woman's eyesight was obviously very poor. "Oh, it's you," The crow stated, recognizing her "How'd ya sleep child?"
"Just fine, thanks"
"Oh, well that's good. It's been rough here since they put the freighter docks on the other side of the wall."
She might have a handle on what's going on around here, Krystal thought. "Do you know where I could maybe start looking for some work?"
"What kinda work ya lookin' for dear?"
"Pilot work mostly," Krystal responded politely
"I'd try Frank's, it's an eatery across the street and down a block to the right, he caters to the pilot crowd that comes through."
Krystal thanked the old crow before heading across the street. Frank's was a small, classic diner, preferred by its pilot and bounty hunter clientele for its slightly above average food and Frank's employee policy of keeping their mouths shut. Bounty hunters didn't want some waitress gabbing away while they tried to enjoy their rare ground time.
Krystal found a booth near the back of the restaurant and sat facing away from the glass front of the building. Looking around, her eyes found the bounty board hanging behind the counter. It was covered in flyers advertising active Cornerian bounties. Official bounties were color coded by the paper they were printed on, white represented average crooks, yellow meant that the target was high-priority, and red meant that extreme caution was necessary and targets should be shot on sight. Red was rarely issued publically, for example Star Fox had handled several "red" bounties that never went public. Only one red bounty was on the board, and since it was in the very center of the board it was a bull's-eye for all bounty hunters.
A middle-aged peacock waitress interrupted her thought train momentarily, "Can I get you anything hun?"
"Just some coffee, thanks," Krystal responded
"Any particular kind?"
"Whatever you have is fine."
The flyer had the heads of the three members of team Star Wolf. the prices for each of the members was displayed below the picture of their respective head. Wolf's head sat in the center over his name and the very large sum of 50,000cr. Leon had a 30,000cr bounty and Panther had 20,000cr. The bottom of the flyer clearly read, "If all three eliminated, collecting party will receive double the total payout."
The waitress set a mug of steaming coffee in front of Krystal and walked away quietly.
How the hell did you guys manage this bounty? Krystal wondered, The anglar invasion was under a month ago and they cleared the existing price on your heads after that.
She was so wrapped up in thinking what the hell Star Wolf could of pulled off that would warrant the prices on their heads that she almost missed a bit of commotion behind the counter. The large pig, who she assumed was Frank, was hurriedly pulling the Star Wolf flyer off of the board. He crumpled it up and quickly threw it into the garbage.
She pulled up the hood on her sweatshirt and was about to turn her head to look at what caused the sudden destruction of the bounty flyer when a pair of familiar voices burst through the door.
"What do you mean I'm an embarrassment?" The low voice asked, Krystal immediately recognized it as Panther.
"It means what it means, you make me not want to be near you." The cold voice could only belong to Wolf's pain dealing friend Leon.
"How am I, in anyway way, an embarrassment to you?"
"You just asked a woman, who was obviously with her kids, if she, oh how did you put it, if she wanted to use your cock as a toothbrush."
"So?"
Leon just sighed as they slipped into both sides of the booth right behind Krystal, Thank the spirits I wasn't facing the front of the store, Panther would have spotted my like that.
"Remind me again why we're even here," Leon questioned in a very bored tone.
"Leon, don't you listen at the meetings, our commander is here meeting his contact to buy-"
"Yeah, fuck you, I know why we're here," Leon sighed, "I meant, why did you drag us into this hole in the wall? Oh yeah, and shut up, you wanna let everyone know what Wolf's doin here?"
"Leon, what's this?"
"Ummmm... your face?"
"Nope, more specific"
"Your... mouth?"
"Yes, and it, as you can see, is very empty, coincidentally my stomach, which is down here, is also empty. Thankfully they build places like this for just such an occasion!"
The waitress walked over to their table, "Can I get ya boys anything?"
"Hmmmmm," Panther pondered vocally ,"Pancakes. I'll have pancakes."
"And for you sir?" she questioned Leon.
"Water's fine"
"It'll be out soon." she walked back behind the counter and relayed the order to Frank.
"Why didn't you eat on the ship?" Leon seemed to be getting annoyed .
"All Wolf brought were those disgusting army rations. I'd rather not eat all day then put another one of those things in my mouth. How do you choke those things down?"
"You know I don't taste much of anything."
The two Star Wolf members sat quietly until the waitress returned with Panther's pancakes,
"O ow wong o we haa a ate?"
"Chew your food first retard."
Krystal heard Panther swallow loudly behind her
"Sorry, how long do we have to wait?"
She heard Leon turning to look at the clock on the wall
"Wolf said be back at the ship at 10:00, so we've got 20 minutes."
"Good, plenty of time to enjoy these pancakes!"
Krystal got up and, careful to not show her face to the two at the booth behind her, left 3cr on the counter as she walked out of the restaurant. She had a plan now, it wasn't very good and it only covered the next few hours, but hopefully it'd pay off in the long run.
Upon returning to the hotel, Krystal bounded up the stairs to her room. She threw all of belongings once again into the old ammo sack that had the honor of carrying her whole life up to this point in it. Returning to the lobby, she didn't see the old crow anywhere.
Well, I won't be needing you where I plan on going, Krystal thought and set a 500cr chip on the cash register behind the counter, it was more than twice what was owed for a week long stay.
With her bag slung over her shoulder, Krystal positioned herself on the opposite side of Frank's from the star port. If it worked as it should Panther and Leon would stay in Frank's until it was almost time for them leave, then they'd head straight to their ship. she'd just follow them there and sneak onboard somehow. She found an alley wall to lean against that had a view of Frank's so she'd be off of the sidewalk and less obvious.
Krystal was so intent on focusing on the front door of Franks she almost let out a startled yelp when Wolf O'Donnell walked right past her. Krystal managed to suppress the yelp into a slight cough and froze when she saw Wolf's ear twitch in her direction. Wolf paused for only a fraction of a second before continuing on towards the spaceport.
Krystal glanced up at the clock tower in the nearby plaza, it read 09:55. Hurry up guys, you're going to be late.
As if on cue the two remaining Star Wolf members exited Frank's and turned towards the port. Krystal followed them from a respectable distance, keeping her head low. They were soon at the spaceport and Krystal was carefully weaving her way through parked ships. She had lost sight of the Star Wolf team in the dense maze of pressure hulls.
Damn it, where did they go? A rusty freighter slowly lifted off of the ground two rows over from her. Shit, is that theirs?
As she looked around the ship she was leaning on the feeling of dread washed away. Panther and Leon were walking up a rust red freight ship's loading ramp as two large lizards loaded Venomian military crates, from a large truck nearby, onto the ship. Krystal worked her way back and around a group of ships so she could get closer to the ship and use the truck as cover.
Good thing there are so many things to hide behind in here, Krystal mentally thanked her luck so far. From her new vantage point at the front of the truck, she could see that none of the Star Wolf members were in the cargo hold. That means I just have to get by these two goons and I'm in. She snuck back around the ships until she was as close to the loading ramp from the side as she could be while still being behind something. The two remaining crates in the truck looked too big and heavy for one of the lizards to carry on his own so she waited until both of them started to crawl into the bed of the old army vehicle before bolting for the cargo bay. Once inside she immediately threw herself behind one of the larger crates. The space between the crate and the wall was slight, but it was big enough for her to curl up and set the ammo bag on top of her as makeshift camouflage. The olive drab bag would blend right in with the olive drab crates in the poorly lit hold.
Great, now we play the waiting game, She heard the lizards load the last two crates and the ramp began closing the ship off from the outside. Her stomach dropped as the ramp didn't hiss as it met the hull. This old piece of shit doesn't have a pressurized hold!
She could feel the engines start up as the ship began its preflight routine. Shit if I get stuck in here I'll be no better off than stepping out of an airlock mid-warp. Standing up, she heard the sickening sound of the cargo bay's inner airlock door hissing shut.
She ran over to the door and tried to fit her staff's edge into the seal, No good, It's too thick.
Fuck, I've only got one shot at this. Krystal jumped into action, her only hope lay in the possibility that the ships safety systems were all working properly. She ran around the cargo hold opening the various crates.
"Shit, just fatigues," she sighed slamming the crate of Venomian army fatigues shut.
"Combat vests, canteens, helmets, flashlights," Krystal grew more frantic with every crate she pried open. The deck below her shifted and she felt the ship lift and start to turn. It was preparing to launch itself out of the atmosphere. She considered just opening the crate marked "Grenades" and blowing the door, but the explosive pressure wave would kill her anyway in such a small room.
Grabbing a smaller footlocker off of the ground she hurled it at the pressure door. As it hit, the rusty latch broke and the boxes' contents spilled across the floor of the bay. Krystal's heart rejoiced as she saw the pile of Venomian combat knives roll across the steel floor. Grabbing one, she jammed it into the door's seal as the ship started to accelerate. With all her might she pushed on the knife, using it as leverage to pry the door open. Her senses detected that the ship had stopped moving, if it was working correctly it would open the airlock and shut it again to try and get a good seal. Sure enough the airlock swung open and Krystal slipped through into the small space between the airlock door and the inner ship door. Whoever was piloting the ship was apparently satisfied that the airlock had resealed and the ship once again began build up speed.
Ok, now I play the waiting game, she let out a stressed laugh as she wiped her sweaty paws on her shirt. soon she felt weightlessness overtake her, Of course a ship this small wouldn't have artificial gravity.
After waiting in the cramped midpoint between ship and hold for roughly half an hour, she braved a look through the small window in the ships inner door. The hallway was like a four-way intersection, she guessed that the door opposite her led to the cockpit and that the intersecting hallway connected the meager facilities. She couldn't stay in the entry as the loading crew would see her when they landed so, seeing that the hallway was deserted, she opened the inner door and floated into the hallway.
My guess is that there are four people on board, a pilot for this tub and the other three, so just got to avoid 'em 'till we get to wherever the hell we're going. She shut her eyes and read the auras of the people on the ship. Just as she thought, there was one aura in the cockpit ahead of her and then three more off to her left . Floating down the hallway to the right she encountered only one door, unfortunately it happened to be the ships bathroom. Hearing the cockpit door open forced her to take shelter in the small bathroom. She quickly shoved her bag in a closet built into the wall and, seeing only one place to hide, took cover in the cabinet underneath the sink. From down the hallway she heard the pilot talking to Star Wolf.
"Commander, the ship is functioning properly, at full speed we'll be back at Sargasso in approximately 40 minutes if the asteroid field favors us."
She was too far away to hear the response but she doubted it was relevant given that she was going to be stuck in this bathroom for 40 minutes.
Oh well, it's fine if as long as nobody has to poop for 40 whole minutes.
Unfortunately it took less than 10 minutes for someone to feel the urge. Krystal heard the door of the bathroom slide open and a pair of heavy boots walk in. The bathroom door slid shut automatically as Krystal heard the newcomer fumbling with their belt.
"Ah shit, I really need to stop eating those fuckin' Venomian rations, it's like eating shit that then shits in your bowels," the gruff and vulgar voice speaking to no one in particular was obviously Wolf O'Donnell's, "I mean really, If I ate nothing but that shit for a week, then collected all the shit I shit out, I would be able to make more rations than I ate, and they'd probably taste better, fuck!"
Krystal quietly brought a paw to her muzzle to stifle a laugh that threatened to escape, So this is the great Wolf O'Donnell, reduced to a pile of curse word at his own diet.
What happened next was far from funny to Krystal though because at that moment in a flurry of escaping bowel gas and feces, Wolf took a massive crap in that poor toilet.
"Ah, fuckin' christ that stinks, man... Fuck!" The whole episode had reduced Wolf to a flight school freshman as he started laughing about what had just done to the bathroom.
Krystal had to agree with him, it stunk like nothing she had ever smelled before, and she had seen what comes out of a fully grown Red-eye. She brought her sweatshirt up to her nose to try breathing through it. Curse my sensitive senses!
She wished he would hurry up and just flush the fucking toilet already. Wolf wiped, stood up, and turned to flush the offending mess down the drain when the unthinkable happened. Krystal heard wolf press the flush button but only got a faint whirring in response.
"Shit, toilets busted again. Ah well, who gives a shit?" And with that ironic question Wolf turned and left the room.
She heard him yell to the pilot that the "Shitter was broke so don't use it."
The next 25 minutes would be one of the absolute worst of Krystal's 23 year life to that point.
After an uneventful yet smelly ride, she heard the small ship's landing gear touch down in the hanger of Wolf's hideout and base of operations in the Sargasso region of the Meteo asteroid belt. She didn't waste time after she heard the crew leave before sneaking out too. The crew who would unload the ship and clean that toilet wouldn't take too long before getting to their duties.
Looking out one of the portholes revealed that they had landed in one of the hideout's massive hangers and, for now at least, the recent inhabitants of the ship were the only people in it besides her. The Star Wolf team and the freighter pilot then exited out of one of the many doors. Using her telepathy she felt that a large group of beings were in the cargo elevator in the corner, they were five floors up so she didn't have much time. Grabbing her bag out of the closet, Krystal bolted out of the ship and headed for the door that Wolf and his team left through. Sensing for people on the other side she felt that the Star Wolf team was in an elevator heading for the top floor of the huge asteroid base.
No one's around so it's now or never I guess, Krystal stealthily ducked into the hallway and made her way over to the elevator. She closed her eyes and focused on the auras of the base, they were far above her head but Krystal could barely make out Wolf's aura. As she thought, the elevator stopped on the top floor and Wolf stepped out of her sensual range. What she needed was somewhere to sit and think about all of this, this was where her original plan ended.
Felling no aura's near her she freely opened and closed several doors, looking for a room that she wouldn't be discovered in as she sat and pondered her situation. The doors in the area all seemed to lead to maintenance rooms, which were unreliable hiding spots as they were surprisingly frequented by workers trying to take unscheduled breaks. One of the doors led to something unexpected however.
As she crossed the threshold of the room, Krystal couldn't help but be puzzled at the what lay before her. What once was a bedroom, judging by the flipped and ravaged mattress leaning against the wall, was now a scene of utter chaos. Dust coated the floor so Krystal knew that no one had come in here in a long time. As she looked around things began to jump out at her, there was blood sprayed on one of the walls as well as drips and pools of dried blood on the carpet. None of the furniture in the room was untouched, all of it had been upended and smashed. Someone had tried to destroy the essence of whoever was here, the few picture frames were blackened as if the picture they held were burnt right there. As she turned around she noticed a round scorch mark on the door, as if someone shot at the person leaving but the door had cut the shot off.
This is just too interesting, Krystal thought to herself. She cleared a patch of carpet, sat, and began concentrating. She probed for the time when the emotions ran highest in this strange place. Telepathy allowed her to almost go back in time and see events that made a large impact on the people and place where she was. She lost touch with her present reality as her psyche travelled back into the past.
She arrived in the past in a ghost like form, she could move freely around the area where she sat in reality. Here though, the people couldn't be interacted with, it was like watching a historical holo-vid.
A fat pig sits at the desk in his room. He is mumbling to himself as he slides credit chips across the surface of the desk. He seems to be counting them, as one would count out a pile of gold coins by hand.
The door slides open and Wolf O'Donnell steps heavily into the room.
"Oh, hey there Wolf," the fat pig grunts as he turns to see who entered without the courtesy of knocking.
"What'cha got there Pigma," Wolf demands, his posture is hostile and he is slightly baring his sharp fangs.
Pigma is oblivious to it as he finishes his counting, "Oh I was counting the last payout we got, just wanted to make sure ya' didn't short change me or anything."
"Oh well isn't that a coincidence," Wolf snarls as he crosses the room and flips Pigma's bed onto its side.
"Wh-What are ya' doin' Wolf?"
"I think that you've been short changin' me or somethin'." Wolf dragged his sharp claws along the bottom of the mattress, spilling what was obviously millions of credits worth of chips on the floor. "Well, Well, what do we have here?"
"Well ya know, Wolf, I'm the advisor to the team, and I'm the elder, so, ya know, I thought maybe, I don't know, maybe I deserved a little bonus to my personal take. You know I've always been a loyal-"
The rage that Wolf had been holding in during Pigma's ramblings exploded as the word "loyal" fell out of Pigma's fat mouth.
"What the fuck did ya' just say?" Wolf screamed as he crossed the room and brought his claws down on Pigma's forehead, "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY!"
The claws ripped Pigma's flesh to the bone and he stumbled backwards, blinded by the blood running into his eyes.
"I-I'm sorry Wolf, I'm sor-sorry!" Pigma squealed in pain from his head wound. His hands floundered in the air in the vain attempt to ward off another possible attack.
Wolf caught one the moving arms and, holding Pigma's wrist tight with one hand, snapped his elbow backward with a palm strike from his other hand.
Pigma howled in pain and tried to cradle his mangled arm as Wolf kicked him backwards into his desk. Pigma flailed and managed to grab his blaster in his good hand as Wolf descended on him again. Wolf twisted the blaster out of his hand roughly, snapping Pigma's trigger finger in the process.
"Don't you ever talk about loyalty you sack of shit!" Wolf's fury flew in the face of a blubbering Pigma who was blinded by a mixture of blood and his own tears. "You don't know what loyalty is! You weren't loyal to James or Peppy, you gave your teammates up for a quick sack of change! You aren't loyal to me, the only reason you're even here is because Andross put your sorry ass here. You and that fucker Oikonny are absolutely worthless to me!" Wolf had started rhythmically slamming his fist into Pigma's face as he yelled. "I pay you more than anyone else fucking would, an equal four way split, I gave you a fighter that I bought, this room is in my base that I paid for, and still you're such a limp dick, greedy sack of shit that you dare steal from me?"
Pigma seemed to be trying to speak out of his blubbering mouth, "Wolfff, I'm, I-I'm... I'm Sorry."
"Enough!" Wolf hauled off and smashed Pigma's face with as much force as he could muster. The crack of Pigma's jaw separating from his skull reverberated in the small room. Several teeth fell out of his drooping, broken mouth. "I've fucking had it with your shit!" Wolf threw Pigma across the room towards the door. He grabbed Pigma's fallen blaster, spun and fired at where the pig should have been. All Wolf ended up hitting was the door as it slid shut, leaving a round scorch mark on the steel.
Wolf's rage was anything but sated after his assault on Pigma, so now he turned it loose on the room itself. He burned the pictures in their frames, smashed the furniture, ripped up the clothes, and destroyed everything that he could possibly take apart.
Wolf brought an end to the destruction by punching the steel wall of the room. The cracking of his finger bones disintegrating was barely audible over the clang of the Wolf's most recent victim, the bulkhead. Wolf pulled his hand back and tried to make a fist with it, only his thumb and pinky answered the call and curled up. His damage done, Wolf slumped down against the wall, his shattered hand dripping more blood on the carpet.
With his good hand covering his eyes, Wolf sat trying to compose himself. His good hand soon found its way to his vest pocket and pulled out a small piece of cloth.
Krystal had to stand "Inside" wolf, as his back was against the wall, to get a look at what it was. She looked down to see that Wolf was rubbing his thumb back and forth across a Star Fox team flight patch. She concluded that it must have been James McCloud's once judging by the amount of fading and wear it showed.
"I wish you could've done that yourself," she heard Wolf whisper.
Krystal was forced back to her reality as the Emotions weren't strong enough to anchor her in the past anymore. The vision had taken its toll on Krystal's mind and without her consent , she passed out from mental exhaustion in Pigma's old room.
Krystal opened her eyes slowly, Where am I, she wondered, not recognizing her surroundings. Quickly all of the things she saw earlier flooded back to her. Wow, was the only thought she could come up with on the subject.
So how the hell am I going to get on the Star Wolf team, do I just walk up to the top floor and ask somebody for an application?
The answer, of course, was the obvious one. The only way to get onto a team like Star Fox or Star Wolf was to have someone on the team bring you in, and there was only one person on Star Wolf who Krystal trusted not to shoot her on sight.
"Panther," she sighed. He had constantly flirted with her and in dogfights he never fired on her ship. If she showed up, and he was alone, he would hear her out.
So that's the plan then, she thought to herself, I'll try to find Panther alone, explain my situation, and hope he can convince Wolf to let me on the team. First things first though, I have to get up to the top floor.
Krystal again sensed no one near this sector of the asteroid base. She quietly slipped out of the room and approached the gleaming silver elevator doors at the end of the hallway. There was only one button where there should have been two, Must be a private elevator that only services the top floor.
At the push of the button a hologram projector sticking out of the wall next to the doors whirred to life. What popped up on the projector was a shock to Krystal, it was a moving figure of what appeared to be a Red-eye from Sauria. The Tyrannosaur like creature was far from pristine, however, the right side of its body appeared badly burned, on the right side of its face the cheek was gone and patches of exposed muscle and bone were visible.
The terrifying little holo-creature turned towards her and looked as if it was appraising her.
"You are not in my list of authorized persons," the burnt Saurian spoke with a low, almost demonic, rumbling voice.
In her shock at seeing what was looking at her, all she could manage was a timid, "Excuse me?"
"This is a restricted area, all who are allowed access are logged in my recognition program." The creature looked her over again, "Hm, are you, by chance, another prostitute invited by one Panther Caroso?"
What the... oh he definitely would. Thinking quick, Krystal saw her chance when it presented itself.
"Oh, Yes, yes I am," she responded, still a bit wary of the Saurian hologram.
"Ah, of course, pilot Caroso is currently alone in the Star Wolf lounge, I shall call the elevator for you." The creature turned and looked towards the elevator doors. "Elevator moving, ETA 1.3 minutes."
"Umm, what are you exactly?" Krystal couldn't help but ask the projection.
The creature focused back on her, "I am AI-REX-0003. It stands for Artificial Intelligence-Rapid-Expansionary-Experimental and I am the third one of my kind. I currently control all automated and defense aspects of this base. All other information is classified to civilians. You may refer to me as REX if you don't wish to say the whole thing, I have been informed that it is ironic, humorous, funny, and easy to remember, among other things, but then again what do I know?"
The elevator dinged as the doors opened to reveal a dark-wood paneled, red carpeted, elevator carriage.
REX's voice came on over the elevator speakers, "When the elevator stops, proceed directly down the hall. The Lounge is at the end. Do not deviate from that course. Sensors indicate that Commander O'Donnell and First Lieutenant Powalski are sleeping and it would be unwise to wake them. Oh, and please keep all love stains off of the furniture"
"Thanks, I guess," was the only thing that Krystal could think to say to the mysterious AI being.
When the elevator stopped, Krystal obeyed REX's orders and headed straight for the Lounge at the end of the hallway. As she approached the door it slid silently open, allowing access to the lounge. Panther sat at the table in the middle of the room with his back to the door.
Well here goes nothin', Krystal thought as she took a step into the lounge. The lounge door was so quiet that Panther hadn't noticed it open but Krystal's shoe stepping on the carpet caused Panther's ears to perk up.
"What's up Wol-," he stopped short as he saw who stood in the doorway. "Krystal?"
"Hey Panther."
Thanks for bothering to read through the first chapter. I hope you would like more, and if you do, comment! As the writer I shred myself on this stuff and if no one comments then I end up talikng myself out of writing anymore of it. Your comments feed my soul! I'll try to fight through college summer class and my hunt for a job to update this again soon.
Also, regarding OOC-ness, It's my personal belief that nothing regarding the members of Star Wolf in this chapter is really OOC. We see so little of them and have no idea what these guys are truly like, so I argue that what they say and do is within reasonable bounds.