A/N: The members of our production would like to fully apologize...at the moment it is taking SkullFox forever to fill in his part of the fic which is causing a bit of a backlash on my own endevors ^^ however, he has managed to get some things my way recently. Thank you all for being patient and without further adue here's Episode 1...

~Episode I~

"Every man is guilty of the good he did not do" – Voltaire

July 29th

0230hrs

Great Wolf

The Great Wolf was specially constructed, at first O'Donnell had intended for it to be a surprise for Star Fox; a mothership to counter a mothership...it instead became a reminder of a healthy rivalry that ended far too soon. Wolf had still not decided on how he was going to inform the others of what it was Verne had told him off to himself. Krystal had found that the ship felt alien to her, every night was full of peace, something that the Great Fox never gave her. The walls of her room were specially designed to block out any kind of psionic waves, making certain that no thoughts outside her room could make it inside to her, and her own mind could not roam beyond her room at night. It was a strange peace, one that she had grown to enjoy...unfortunately this gave her thoughts time to manifest...

The sapphire furred vixen shot upright in a silent scream reaching out, to whom, she could not recall. The dream was sudden and intense, incredibly realistic. Burying her face in her hands for a moment, she took a steadying breath while wiping the frigid sweat from her face and hair. The nightmares had become so much more frequent in the past six years; she couldn't remember the last time she'd experienced a calm night's sleep. Krystal quickly rolled out of bed and headed for her shower, not bothering to remove the underwear she wore before climbing into her shower, turning on the hot water. Krystal leaned forward allowing the hot waters of the shower to roll down her body, removing her shivering fits brought on by the cold sweat she'd woken up in. It was funny, she usually recalled her dreams immediately after waking up, but, every time she had these types of nightmares they were gone from her mind almost instantly. She found herself returning to her room where she donned only a pair of training shorts and a sports bra, not caring to be too overdressed for someone that would most likely head back to bed sometime soon. She sighed deeply as she headed out through the halls of the large ship; a walk always seemed to calm her nerves after such a night. However heading down the halls the vixen was brought to a stop near the door to the training room, where she could hear the sounds of someone intently training. Upon stepping through the door, the vixen found a familiar gray wolf swinging away, punches and kicks that would decimate another fighter. However, the holographic image of a light brown furred fox stood there for an instant before the match faded and the wolf walked toward a small bench...

"James..." Wolf said taking a heavy breath, "...no matter what I tried, I could never beat him. Fox was the same way, I guess I got a little obsessed with it all," He said to the floor, not bothering to acknowledge her at all, "you ever look back on your life, and wish that you could have done it all different? That you wouldn't have fucked up the few things that you knew you'd done wrong?"

Krystal looked at the old wolf for a moment, "You still think about Fox's father?"

Wolf nodded, "You know...I've never told anyone this before but, Vixy and I, we dated once...few years before she met James. It might have been a little uncalled for, well a lot uncalled for..." He chuckled, "...I never even asked her why she left me for James...I just sort of went off on him. I guess even though I told myself all that time that I didn't care about her anymore, I couldn't even convince myself."

Krystal thought for a moment, "Is that how you lost the eye?"

Wolf chuckled, "Everyone always thinks the worst about this eye..." He replied placing a hand over the missing optic, "...one of my fist missions as a merc...turns out to be this assassin named Kurrai. Information is crossed or left out and I find out the hard way that he likes to use blades and an experimental stealth module that was stolen from Vector Industries. The eye itself was actually cut directly in half on the inside of my skull. Doctors said they'd seen nothing like it...they were amazed at the guy's precision..." He said, "...anyhow what are you doing up? I thought you headed for bed early..." He paused, "...nightmares again?"

Krystal lightly nodded, "Wolf...I'd like to think this is as good a time as any to thank you. For..." She paused with a light laugh, "...pretty much everything. Even though you rarely have an answer to any of my problems, you always seem to be here to listen."

Wolf shook his head, "Listen, kid. When you came to me, McCloud had taught you so well that you were nearly a better pilot than I am. I'm really sorry about what happened between you and him, but, there isn't a whole lot I can do or say about it. To be honest, there was a little part of me that just wanted to see the pup marry you, settle down. Even when we were against each other you were always a sweet kid, you didn't want to hurt anyone and you didn't want them to hurt you. I guess I was hoping that Fox would learn something from you...instead all of this happened."

Krystal sighed as she took a seat next to him, "I was sort of hoping the same thing. I have to admit that when he asked me to come back to Star Fox...there was a part of me that wanted to cry. I loved him, even though it was something we were taught on Cerinia never to do. Every day after I went back to him though, he acted like nothing had ever happened and like we could just start over. He wouldn't bring up what had happened and he trailed off any time anyone else wanted to."

Wolf patted her back, "Listen, I feel like you and I have developed a sort of a friendship over the years. It's one that I'd like to keep..." He said, "...just promise me that all of this isn't going to get in your way when we get to our destination, because this is some serious shit."

"Don't worry Wolf..." Krystal replied smiling at him, "...I will keep my mind in the fight when everything comes down," She laughed, "you know with all this quality time between us, that sick jerk Caruso is starting to think we're an item."

Wolf shook his head, "I'm a hair too old for someone your age," He laughed, "besides that; you may be beautiful, smart, and strong, but, you're not my type kid. I think he's just a little jealous that we actually get along, and that I tend to be closer to you then he can get. Well..." He laughed, "...when you aren't beating the piss out of him."

"If he would only stop grabbing my tail..." Krystal retorted.

Wolf chuckled, "No I understand," He replied, "just take it easy on him alright? He has a serious problem. Even though he is a pervert, we need him…" Wolf sighed as he stood up, "look, you should really be getting some rest this is going to be a long trip yet, you're not much use if you are too exhausted to fight when the time comes…understand?"

Krystal nodded, "Yeah I understand," She said, "I'll try to get some sleep, just promise you'll do the same."

Wolf nodded, "Yeah, I will."

July 29th

1300hrs

Planet Moon Rittera

The hangers on Rittera were always something to be remembered; along with the many mechanics that kept to the hangers hoping to find a docking ship that needed repairs, there were many females known for their pleasurable services to any animal that cared to pay for what they had to sell. Many males and females came to the planet for it's, questionable background; it was a planet who's society was born in lust and pleasure. Originally the small moon of Rittera was once a storehouse for slave traders who dealt more explicitly in slave meant to feed a lustful mind. Eventually finding itself outside of the Trinity Accord's rules and regulations, Rittera found itself able to keep it's reputation and it's background in tact despite that Accords' negative outlook on slavery. Luckily a small act passed shortly after some years or a growing population, as well as a thriving economy of it's own, and a glowing reputation; Rittera found itself being accepted into the Trinity Accord shortly after the Anglar Blitz, when it's economic fruition was most sorely needed. To make peace with the headman of Rittera, an act was passed giving a thriving economy based on an illegal act, in this case prostitution, right to withhold it's source of economic growth, so long as such did not disrupt acts and rights of the practitioners involved. It was part of what made Rittera's fame climb so rapidly, the ability for any animal in the known galaxy to give into their most primal urges.. It was a place that Krystal had always hated. The first time she had been there the sheer volume of pleasure and mix of other thoughts and feelings flowing through the area were enough to almost instantly bring the young telepath to her knees. She'd long since learned to better block out such rushes of thought and emotion. It was however difficult to muster the amount of concentration that it took to keep her abilities in check; it was something that she did not care, or long for. The young vixen's blocking out these thoughts and emotions constantly left her with little more then a massive headache. It was as the small group of herself, Panther, and Wolf made their way to a local hotel that Krystal pinched the space between her eyes with a deep groan…

"Headaches again?" Wolf asked.

Krystal only nodded, "Panther knows a good cure." Caruso smiled.

Krystal cast a dark glare in the feline's direction, "Panther…" She said, "….start this now, and the threat still stands."

Wolf laughed out loud…

Caruso chuckled, "You two conspire against me?"

Krystal growled lowly as her eyes narrowed causing Caruso to cry out as he slapped his hands onto the sides of his head; the feline quickly turned about rushing off back toward the ship. Wolf's eyes went wide as he looked to the vixen with a questioning gaze…

She growled massaging the space between her eyes again, , "I warned him."

Without questioning it, the vixen and wolf made their ways a short distance down the street from the hanger to a small hotel they'd booked their next few days in. It was a very rustic little place; modest was a truly great word for it. It was small, lovingly decorated, and masterfully maintained. The building itself was only half the size of most of the buildings around it, however, as any place on Rittera would have. The lobby was lined with an abundance of young ladies of many different species; the ladies were well dressed, and most of them were even what Krystal would have called attractive. Most of them did their best to entice Wolf, after all the more money they would make the more favor they would have in the community, she found it strange that most ladies wrapped up in this society did not mind it much. She herself found several females attempting to entice her as well; at the very least she admitted to herself that she was flattered, if not moderately curious. She'd always found certain females attractive, though she was certain that she cared much more for the company of males. The room was just like most rooms you found on Rittera; love toys, harness, anything that was clearly meant for sexual stimulation or play. As Wolf and Krystal walked through the room the vixen pushed a leather harness that hung from the ceiling only to watch it spin in place for a moment…

"I swear I will never understand these Ritterans and their kinky ass play things…" Wolf chuckled, "…when I was dating girls didn't seem to need any more stimulation than normal. This is all just, strange."

Krystal sighed, "Wolf…" She called causing him to look to her, "…if I never hear about your sex life again that would be fantastic. Still…" She chuckled slapping the same harness, "…is all of this really necessary? I mean what sort of purpose could this possibly serve?"

Wolf laughed, "So I take it with all the time you've been in the Accord, you haven't experienced any of this stuff yet," He said, "I mean it's not like you and McCloud ever….." The wolf paused as he noticed the vixen casting her gaze to the floor, "…oh…sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Krystal held up a hand, "No…not your fault. See, when a Cerinian mates for the first time, we form a type of bond…unless by some form of extensive force, I will never mate with another male in my life."

"So that's why you keep attacking Caruso in the training room." Wolf nodded, "actually makes a lot of sense. So if you don't mind my asking…" He asked as he searched over the room to familiarize himself with his surroundings, "…why'd you leave in the first place? Was Fox…you know a little short in the sack or something like that?"

Krystal sighed, "Actually, no…If you really have to know he knew things about my body that I did not even know," She shot him a half cocked grin that slowly settled into a solemn look, "an…and I left…because…I was afraid."

Wolf looked into the bathroom, before moving back into the den of the small room where he looked out the windows, "You convinced yourself that he'd make an excuse to get rid of you again…so you didn't give him the chance." Realizing that this conversation was going places he didn't intend it too Wolf sighed, "Anyhow, why of all places do you think this Ghost guy would come here? You know…besides the obvious reasons."

Krystal scratched her chin, "What about the Black Market near Tavinson south of here? If that gear is that great he'd probably make a fortune on the market."

Wolf shook his head, "No…if he wanted money he'd have gone after something with a much more profitable market. Most black market traders are afraid to look for profiteers in the field of stolen weapon tech…it's too easy to trace. Now it's your turn though, why did you get that bewildered look on your face when you saw that mark on his coat?"

Krystal sighed as she moved to the window, looking out over the city skyrise that was slowly growing a dense orange thanks to the setting suns of the Dan'jas System, "Vengeance is only mentioned in Cerinian culture when something horrible has been done and needs to be retaliated upon. What scares me is the fact that nobody outside of Cerinian culture would know that symbol, it is something that Cerinians seldom speak of…so it is very safe to assume that this thief is a Cerinian. I never was the last of my people, but I knew after one look into Fox's mind when we first me that he'd not hesitate in taking me home. After applying so many resources in making my escape from Cerinia I couldn't allow him to take me back…so I simply told him that my home world had been destroyed. I knew what kind of person he was, I knew that he would do what he could to help me. When I fist saw him in that video I was frightened because I have seen what my people are capable when they are motivated by Vengeance."

Wolf nodded, "Well if that's the case, I'll send the others their assignments and you can handle the north side of the city. Understand?"

Krystal nodded, "Yes, I understand Wolf, but, even with Panther warn him not to approach this person, my people can be…very defensive when threatened. It can be unpleasant to see the ramifications."

Wolf thought for a moment, "Better that you didn't approach him, Verne didn't really inform me of just how powerful that gear is. Could be lethal, could be a practical P-O-S. Never know with Vector…better to just play it safe."

Krystal nodded, "Alright…I will keep that in mind. Hopefully while I am at this I can keep to the rooftops around here and find a place to relax my mind…all this stress on my head is killing me."

Wolf sighed, "I really am sorry we had to come here of all places, I know what this place does to you and your telepathy. I'd have asked you to stay behind but, I know what kind of reaction you would have to something like that."

Krystal chuckled on her way out the door, "You're learning."

The sapphire vixen shot from rooftop to rooftop with an almost natural guile and stealth; a hunter from her own home, she had been trained to move through the thick canopy watching her prey from above, waiting for the opportunity any predator takes to strike. The rooftops reminded her of home, in the sense that she was very used to being up so high. As she looked down over the streets that she was passing over, she couldn't help but to wonder why this place was the way it was. The entire planet was one part Black Market, one part Prostitution Ring, and one final part Save Trade. There was nothing but corruption here, what Lylat officials swore to fight against and yet, there was an entire planet who's society and economy was based off that which most Enformcers sought to destroy. Her mind would, every so often, slip, allowing a short burst of feelings from all around her to flood into her mind and body all at once. She recalled the first and only time she ever let her defenses down on Rittera; the sudden rush of all the lust and pleasure people in the city were feeling rushing into her body seemed to bring her almost to a sexual release right in front of the entire Star Fox crew, a moment that she was still certain she would never forget. Even now with only a flash of weakness in her defenses, her knees buckled causing her to collapse against a small water tower meant to feed water into the tall building that she stood atop of. All these emotions and feelings reminded her of the people on her planet that would travel through the villages, hoping to feed off of other's feelings and emotions. These people were referred to as Feeders, they were incapable of feeling emotions of their own and were completely obsessed with sharing the feelings of other, and would go through most anything to get what they needed, even so far as torturing someone simply to feel pain.

Thinking about the Feeders from her planet caused her to cringe, as she shook her head and looked about the rooftops. Moving further north, she finally found herself standing atop a tall building, two or three stories higher than your average building for these parts making it roughly five stories. It was a good place to get a perspective on the grounds below her; she hated relying only on her sense of sight, it did not give her as much detail or stealth as she would have liked. With her Telepathy she could have zeroed in on the prick from miles away, picked him out of a crowd of thousands, millions even, leaping from one mind to another looking at the place from a thousand different view points in seconds. Here she was forced to look from one person to another until she hoped she'd find him. It was as she spent her hours there scoping out the north end of town that she sighed, the cold air though freezing for some animals, was quite pleasant for her, she held up the white bracer device on her wrist to her muzzle…

"Wolf, this is getting very old…" She said, "…don't the people here ever take a rest? You have no idea what it's like to feel that much sex all at once."

A chuckling voice came back over the line, "Is it really so bad gorgeous?"

Krystal growled, "I can still punish you from here Panther. The horrible images I'd get from these sick people is more than worth it. I can sniff out that cesspool you call a mind a hundred miles away."

Wolf sighed, "Panther, get off this line. If you come back through without saying the words "I've found him" I'll personally kick your ass and you'll be left with maintenance duty for the next six months, and you know how I like to piss off janitorial. Not get off the line!" He sighed again, "sorry Krys, that guy's becoming more trouble than he's worth."

Krystal chuckled, "Well, at first he was sweet but, after some time it simply became irritating, then annoying, now I can hardly go a day without fantasizing about killing him."

Wolf laughed, "I can understand that…" He said, "…for right now though I know it's irritating but, I need you to get a lock on this guy as soon as possible. So please just keep watching for him, he's here for a reason and I need to know what that reason is."

Krystal nodded, "I'll keep my eye out, but, I'm not promising that any of us are going to find this person, especially if he really is a Cerinian; but, something does not seem right about it all…"

"And what's that?" Wolf asked with curiosity.

"It is the fact that this person, he knew not to look at any of the cameras. He managed to keep his eyes away from every camera in the building," She replied, "almost as if he'd been there before, and knew the whole building's layout."

Wolf hummed in agreement, "You know, I've been thinking the same thing. What Cerinian would know such a thing? You told me yourself that your people are fairly low in terms of technological advancements."

Krystal thought for a moment, "I know of a few that were banished but that was some time ago, and once a Cerinian does something that the council claims could injure the Cerinian way of life, a Reaver is sent to kill the Rogue. What confuses me is the fact that a Reaver will not give up on a target no matter how problematic he or she proves, yet this Ghost person has been a rumor for years…a Reaver would have dealt with him by now."

"Maybe he killed his Reaver." Wolf responded.

Even though it was over a communicator, Krystal shook her head, "No, you have no idea how powerful a Reaver can be."

Wolf chuckled, "Hence the theft of a particular weapons manufacturing company."

"I still don't think I have to tell you that a lot of this doesn't fit…" Krystal replied suddenly double taking as she noticed a familiar figure across the way staring at her from beneath a white hood, "Wolf…" She paused, "…I found him…"

"You did!" Wolf responded enthusiasm.

Krystal nodded, "He's staring right at me…Wolf I didn't even see him," She said, "I was looking right at him and never noticed him…what in the world is this person?"

As she watched this strange animal, this Ghost, it cocked it's head to one side almost inviting her to join it, "Listen Krystal stay away from him, just stick to where you are and we'll come back you up."

Krystal nodded, "Yeah…no problem…"

Though she hated to think that she was lying the vixen quickly made a running leap, allowing her svelte form to seemingly glide across the chasm that formed the street between the two buildings. Upon her landing the vixen rolled forward breaking her fall, coming out of her roll with her spear fully extended and ready. However, as she scoped out the rest of the roof, there was nothing there, just the darkness cast by the sun that shone on the side of the larger building next to the one she stood on. It was as she stood there however that a cold chill ran up her spine…

"It isn't a pleasant feeling is it?"

The raspy, low voice sent a denser chill up her spine, the voice almost sounded familiar, "What are you talking about?"

Suddenly something shot from the darkness ripping Krystal's arm away from her weapon which rattled to the rooftop before pinning her right hand to the wall of the small shack that housed the stairwell, issuing a cry of pain from the vixen, "Feeling that cold chill," The figure answered stepping out into the open, "do you realize that every twenty seconds there are over six thousand murders of various orient in the in this city alone? Can you really say that your life is any better than any of their's?"

Krystal winced in pain as she pulled at the strange dagger holding her hand to the wall, "Who…or what are you?"

The figure smiled, "I am the Ghost that hides in the night."

Krystal gave him an odd look, "Right. And what do you want? Why did you call me down here? Just to lecture me?"

The white cloaked figure sighed shaking his head, "Not to lecture, to warn," he said turning about, as he turned his back to her the vixen struggled with the knife only to find that it felt as though it had been welded to the building, "you see little vixen, there is a storm coming. You see it yourself; Crime has only escalated with Star Fox gone, O'Donnell's little crew of miscreants are nothing that the negative element fear because they understand him. The criminal element that has infested the Council has only grown more brazen itself…"

Krystal stopped struggling with the knife, "So you're trying to tell me that you're a good guy doing bad things for good reasons?"

The figure laughed, "Why would I say something so contradictory?" He asked, "the only solution for the corruption in this…civilized community is to wipe it out entirely and hope that those who decide to start over are wise enough to correct what has always been wrong with it," The person looked at her through the darkness under his hood, "I have had my fill of playing cops and robbers, I have played that game my entire life…McCloud played that game himself and look what became of him…a memory, and not even a welcome one. Here is my warning…" He said stepping up to her and ripping the knife free of her hand and the wall behind it, "…stay out of my way, or you will find yourself alone…and this time it will be only yourself that you can blame."

Krystal lunged at the animal swiping her claws at his face, tearing away a small portion of the edges of his hood, failing to show any of his face. However, her face itself was curled into a hideous, threatening snarl that caused her attacker to chuckled, "Such a beautiful face should never bear such an expression."

The sapphire vixen froze in place as she found herself reaching for her spear only to find the animal missing; it wasn't something that she was willing to believe, nobody moved that quickly, not so much that he could be missing by the time that she could reach for an object less than five feet away. She found herself sitting there filtering through her thoughts about the situation, something was definitely different about this animal; what sort of criminal would after all set up a location to meet someone that was clearly out to bring him in to the government alive? It was however as she sat there that something felt as though it drew her attention to a lone figure standing on the rooftop she'd come from. He'd moved so quickly, however he'd managed to get from the rooftop that she was on, to more than another two stories up in that amount of time brought cause for her to wonder about the system that he'd stolen. In the moment that it took for the white clad figure to vanish, the vixen noticed a familiar gray furred wolf rushing across the roof to her side, where he looked at her injured hand, only to find a bit of blood on an otherwise uninjured hand…

"Good thing you Cerinians are fast healers, you gonna be alright?" The wolf asked.

Krystal shook her head, "Yeah…just caught me off guard is all. He is very good…" She sighed, "…but, I could not tell if he was Cerinian or not. Too much interference on Rittera."

Wolf helped the vixen to her feet, "Did he say something to you?"

"He gave me a warning," She said, "he's going to start a war, at least that is what I took from it; he was talking about the recent crime escalation. It almost sounded like he was working on some sort of conspiracy."

Wolf looked about with a confused expression, "Well that's not important…" He replied, "I found the reason that he came here," He said, "rat named Garex in the black market district in the south sold him six hundred pounds of a chemical compound most commonly referred to as Blast Gel. It's a powerful synthetic explosive used for large scale demolitions, and it's loaded into every self-destruct system on any ship in the Cornerian Navy. Six hundred pounds of the stuff is more than enough to take out an entire space station. That much would turn Sargasso Station into chunks no bigger than my thumbnail. What he bought here isn't the strangest part though. Garex informed me that his buyer was looking for something he called Omega Six. I already had it ran through the computers and it hasn't come up with any matches in the Lylat database, so either Ghost was lying, or whatever Omega Six is, it's under wraps by the government to keep it from getting out."

Krystal searched her mind for a moment, "Wait, if that's true, how could this guy know what Omega Six was in the first place?"

"I have no idea," Wolf replied, "this whole thing is just getting really fucking weird. Man pops up out of the blue almost right after the Star Fox team goes belly up…kay that much I get. He's wearing a Cerinian symbol. He attacked someone like you out of the blue…something that I might add, I have never seen done before. Managed to steal top secret government funded weaponry from one of the most secure companies in the Trinity Accord…and now he's telling you all these little facts that he for some reason knows about the government's current situation," He shook his head, "I don't know who this Ghost guy is, but, I seriously doubt he's another Cerinian. More like he wants everyone to think he is."

Krystal looked to Wolf, "Wolf, I do not believe you or your brother had told me everything that I should know. What are you hiding?"

Wolf sighed heavily, "I'll discuss it back on the Great Wolf."

Wolf stood at the window of the room looking out toward the planet that lay below them; it was a difficult thing for him to put into words, but, the danger that his team faced was something that he was forced by his own conscience to let them in on. Panther had, since their time on Rittera, calmed himself…the sort of things that the young female member of the group could do to the mind was something he was not in a great hurry to experience again. What bothered them all however, was the fact that Wolf was spending far too much time looking for a way to tell them the truth. Something was clearly bothering him about what was going on, and both Krystal and Panther knew the type of situation that it took to bother Wolf O'Donnell. They both knew however, that the best thing to do was to give the old wolf some time. As they rested there, Krystal however rubbed her head, her time on Rittera had taken quite a toll that would lead to her spending most of the remaining day in bed recovering from the horrible strain…

Wolf sighed, "Alright you two," He said looking out the window, "Verne left out a few things. The thief stole a two part Bio-tech suit they code named 'SPECTER' the two parts that were stolen are a suit of body armor that was naturally built to work in unison with a Nano-mod that was made to regulate the suit's functions. Apparently the suit was made to enhance the functions of the body to a level beyond supernatural, but, only when joined with the Nano-mod. The armor is easy enough to hide, just a chest piece," He said turning to face the two of them, "right now I'm not too certain what it is this guy is after but if anything that Krystal was told is a clue he has some sort of grudge against the population of the Trinity Accord as a whole. A resident mechanic managed to get a lead on this guy. Supposedly there is almost nothing to know about our Ghost, he's fast, strong, smart, and really, really good…as apparently somehow he managed to put a bullet in the back of a guards' head, without the guard releasing his weapon. Beltino has a trace at the moment on any ship matching the description of the one Ghost is piloting, apparently it recently made a hyperspace jump toward one of Titania's moons. Either of you wanna guess which?"

Krystal sighed lowering her head, "Virgo 4."

Wolf sighed, "It is really unfair when you do that Krystal," He said, "anyhow. As you both may, or may not know…Virgo 4 is a weapons research planet. Since it's deserted there are all sorts of testing facilities on it. We're under the assumption that Ghost is after some sort of high profile weapon being created by either Vector or Nantech Industries. That is why we're headed for Virgo 4 right now. The bigger problem being, that Ghost's ship is faster, smaller, and more well equipped to handle this sort of situation than ours, and like everything else he's using it's stolen."

Krystal still wore a strangely contemplative look on her face as she sat there, "You know something?" Panther asked.

The sapphire vixen shook her head, "No, it's…a feeling…" She said looking to Wolf, "…this all feels familiar. Like I've seen this kind of work before, and the symbol he was wearing. Where did he even learn Cerinian calligraphy? It's not exactly a common practice in Lylat."

Wolf nodded, "That's the part of it that I was hoping you could point out Krystal. How many people have you ever explained these things to?"

Krystal thought for a moment, "Well let me think…" She said, "…there was Fox, Katt, Falco…though he clearly could have cared less, General Pepper, Peppy…anyone that I considered really close to me."

Panther chuckled, "When do you plan on telling me these things?"

Krystal glared at the cat, "When you grow up?" She replied turning her attention to Wolf, "the person that attacked me was clearly a male, so you can count Katt out of this. Nobody's seen Fox in ages, and let's face facts…Fox was never capable of something like this. Falco is always training his flight academy students, Pepper is dead, Peppy is half blind…"

Wolf sighed, "Yeah, well I'd say that we're back at square one accept for a little snag that seems to be developing…" He said rubbing his neck in an unusually Fox-like manner, "…see. Apparently a few hours ago a large group of heavily armed people crashed a party as Senator Mackoy's mansion on Papetoon. Thirty eight people were killed; including the senator, his wife, two daughters, his son, and his brother and sisters. What really got the goat of every investigator so far in the report that I found in my transmission files, was that every person that took place in the massacre, was dead…turned their own weapons on themselves as soon as the last body hit the floor."

Panther shrugged his shoulders, "What does a gaggle of pathetic activists have to do with the Ghost?" He asked, "everyone is familiar with Mackoy's political views he wasn't exactly popular."

Krystal shrugged a single shoulder to the response, "As much as I hate to say this, he has a point…" She said, "…what does this have to do with Ghost?"

Wolf tossed a small stack of photos onto the table, "These guys look familiar to you?"

Panther shook his head, "Panther has never seen them before."

Krystal however took a moment; the photos were of a horrible crime scene where bodies lay strew about a large residency, with familiar looking cloaked figures laying here and there most of them still clutching their weapons, "They…they are all dressed like the Ghost…" She said looking to another photo but holding it for a moment, "…they are all marked with the same symbol as well. Who are they?"

Wolf shook his head, "L.C.I isn't leaking any names, but, it's clear now that this guy has resources that we don't understand. For now we don't need to understand though, just keep yourself armed whenever you're not on this ship, and be ready for anything when we get to Virgo 4."

The flight would take some time, Krystal quickly headed off to her room, hoping that she could get some sort of sleep before being woken again. She didn't care where they were headed now as long as it wasn't a place having so much floating emotion and sensations as Rittera. She was certain that Panther would irritate her again sometime before then but, at the moment her only real concern was the sleep that she dearly needed…

August 1st

0800hrs

Arspace Dynamics, Katina Branch

Being an engineer for Arspace Dynamics was always one of the more premiere jobs a person of the Trinity Accord could ever wish for; great pay, wonderful benefits, and as safe a job as a person could ever hope for. The massive facility that covered most of the military compound outside of Katina City, was also well known among the galaxy as the top producer of all ships and flight equipment in the Accord. Most military orders in fact were produced by the Katina compound, and it was at the very compound that most of the Accord's greatest mechanics learned the more impressive tricks of their very needed trade. Situated in a large metal building at the far end of the flight compound located outside of the main building of the Arspace facility; a blaring music could be heard from what seemed like miles away. Inside a rather large lower body protruded from beneath a modified wolfen, who's main wings lay at an angle toward the nose of the ship, a bright red furred tail swayed with the music until the music came to and abrupt stop…

"You're not gonna believe this."

The source of the voice came from a young white mink standing near the large entrance to the small hanger; her long golden hair was tied behind her in a fairly loose tail, and she dressed in nothing more than a pair of long shorts along with a short sleeved, light gray shirt. The Mink's light blue eyes danced across a small page of paper she held in her hand…

"Looks like the lead lady want's to hire us before you can get this turkey off the ground." She said.

There was a heavy sigh from beneath the small ship, "Did you really have to cut my music for that?" The busy animal said, "one of my favorite songs too."

The Mink sighed shaking her head this time, "Creed would you stop acting like a kit and listen?" She said, "Miss Phoenix wants her best mechanic to report to the flight test facility on Titania. She's willing to call off your debts."

Creed slid a wrench out from under the small fighter, "Understandable, that's a pretty damn important place around here. So, what about you?"

The Mink chuckled, "Oh you think you're going to a place like Titania without me? I don't think so."

A massive form of a red furred fox, who's white furred chest lay spattered with oil slid out from under the ship, his unusually thick metal arms pulled him freely away from the ship while he continued to lay on the small buggy he'd been using. As he went over the orders that the Mink had dropped on his chest, Creed thought for a moment, before developing a small grin as he looked to the young mink who'd turned to look over some paperwork, only to feel a tug on her tail cause her to fall into a seated position on his lap, where she chuckled lightly…

"Someplace you intend for this to go?" She asked looking over her shoulder in order to see the glint in his light blue eyes.

"Maybe…" Creed chuckled pulling her down so that her back lay against his chest, "…would that bother you Mika?"

Mika laughed placing her hands on the large metal ones wrapped around her waist, "Has it ever?" She asked, "I'd just imagine that you'd want to get the hell out of this hanger, we've been stuck in here for three days."

Creed sighed, "Well, it looks like we won't have to bother with that anymore," He replied, "just finished with this old pile of crap. I think we need to get this old thing replaced before we end up stranded somewhere we don't wanna be, you know like Rittera or something."

Mika chuckled, "What have I told you about mentioning that place in my presence?"

Creed sighed turning his grip into a light hug, "Sorry…I know you don't like remembering that…"

As the two stood up Creed began to use a wet rag to remove the oil from his chest fur, "So we should be able to leave anytime now right?" Mika asked.

Creed nodded, "Yep…not sure how long she'll hold out though. I've still got one question though, why would Fara call me "her" mechanic? I thought I was only your mechanic…"

Mika chuckled playfully, "I agreed to this rather than giving her all the money we had left over from that last job we still need to eat you know? This just seemed a little easier than the alternative."

Creed's ears suddenly perked up causing him to look to the hanger door, "You hear that?" He asked referring to a short series of loud pops, "Sounded kinda like gunshots."

The Mink peered out the door only to leap back as something shot off of the side of the building spraying her face with sparks, "Creed, this place is being attacked!"

As Creed snapped to attention a figure dressed in a white, sleeveless, hooded trench coat rushed into the room hanger whipping a large assault rifle toward the two only to have the massive fox lunge toward him, using one arm to toss the white Mink clear of the fire zone. Two short shots sounded off one grazing off his metal right arm, while the other only managed to graze his ear. Creed's crushing grip around the barrel of the weapon caused the third shot to backfire forcing his attacker to reel back, before a spinning motion from the large vulpine drive the butt end of the rifle into the stranger's head. The monstrous impact of the blow, caused the rifle to burst on impact, sending the weapons integral components spraying through the air with a crimson mist that burst from the hooded creature's head, as his limp body was slung into a nearby large tool chest. Creed tossed the remains of the weapon aside before looking to Mika who'd landed in a small pile of fuel cells…

"You alright?" He asked pulling her to her feet.

Mika sighed, "Yeah, wasn't necessary though."

Creed chuckled, "Well you know me. I tend to react like that," He said moving to their ship and dropping a small compartment beneath it where he reached in tossing Mika a few small objects, "but, right now we need to make sure Fara is alright. If we're lucky her security force is actually doing their job for once."

Mika and Creed rushed out of the hanger and into a scene that resembled a war zone; bodies of random people lay everywhere, pilots, engineers, workers of the company, and guards…it seemed like very few of the hooded figures were injured at all. Looking too the large tower, a window several floors up burst sending a hooded animal crashing to the ground. Creed quickly rushed off toward the doors only to pull back as he rounded the corner of the building. A large number of the hooded figures stood outside the main door of the building, and as he turned back to the back of the building, the two noticed that more of them guarded the fire escape…

"Wow, these guys are good," He said curling his fingertips and quickly splaying them out causing long metal claws to extend from his fingertips, "looks like we're gonna do this the hard way," He said jamming his three in metal claws into the wall, "climb on."

The Mink climbed onto the large fox's back who rather quickly began to scale the wall, leaving behind five small holes where his past handhold was left behind. While Creed scaled the wall, Mika used her legs to keep herself held to his waist, while one arm about his neck kept her from falling back, while her free hand kept her own rifle at the ready. She kept an eye out every time they would pass another floor, until they reached the window that the hooded figure had been thrown to his death. As Mika climbed from Creed's back she found a small handgun jammed in her face; however a lightning fast motion from the young Mink send her own attacker screaming to the ground below. As Creed himself climbed into the room he took note of the room, it was an office, in fact it was an office he'd been in no more than two days prior, the company's bookkeepers office. As he looked out into the hallways however something caught his mind that caused him to look to Mika…

"Why are they in the main building?" He asked, "they don't keep money or parts here."

"Maybe this is some sort of hit…" Mika replied, "…look at all the bodies. You think this has something to do with the attack on Mackoy's party the other day?"

Creed shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe…not sure, I didn't see any of the pictures I was a little busy at the moment. Did you see anything in that report?"

Mika nodded, "Yeah these guys are dressed just like the creep that stole that experimental ship…remember?"

Creed nodded as he looked back out into the hall, "Yeah now that you mention it, these guys do look a lot like that Ghost guy." He said, "which floor did you say Fara's office was on?"

Mika thought for a moment as she looked out the window, "Fifteenth. We're on the eighth that was one hell of a climb. If it weren't for those arms of yours that would have been pretty impressive."

Creed chuckled as he looked back to her, "Yeah, well let's go we're clear."

The building was built in a way that was meant to make everything easier to reach whether by stairs or elevator; each floor was perfectly squared off, with rooms surrounding the clear elevator shaft in the center of the building, while the stairs came up from the opposite end of the building. This made the entire building easily accessible, and unfortunately easily locked down by terrorists. Creed's mind swam with ideas, however, the elevator seemed like the only real way to go, as he was certain the attackers had a strong guard on the stairs. Carefully looking down the shaft that rose through the center of the building, Creed could see the elevator headed back up in their direction. As he peeked around the corner that led to the elevator door however, it came to his attention that there were two guards standing there. Only a small nod of his head back in the direction they'd come from was enough to cause Mika to quickly, and very silently rush back around the building till she was in the same hallway opposite of Creed's location. The Mink quickly stepped out of her cover with her weapon held threateningly at the two, they both rose their own weapons only to have Mika watch their faces go blank before falling to the ground. Creed looked to his right arm, causing a rise in the metallic surface to snap shut before he approached the guards, removing a long metal spike from each of their skulls, which he then placed in his pocket. Before he could even realize what was happening, the young Mink across from him shipped a small pistol from her side firing a whisper of a shot that grazed Creed's neck, causing a light thud behind him as the person whom had been riding the elevator fell to the floor with a large hole blown through his head and hood…

Creed sighed, "As often as you rely on your hands I keep forgetting how good a shot you actually are."

Mika chuckled patting his shoulder as she headed to the elevator, "Not too good…" She replied, "…I missed you."

"Oh ha ha…" Creed retorted sarcastically, "…very funny. No offense but, if you can miss me…you're blind." He said boarding the elevator behind her.

The short ride led the two past several floors until it finally opened allowing the two to step out into a hall that was not quite empty, but clearly not dangerous. Several of the hooded terrorists, along with several other animal dressed in black suits all lay dead strung across the hall. As the gore halted at the large double door marked C.E.O, Creed assured himself that this was all the work of Fara's personally hired bodyguards had clearly done their job. Mika took a position away from the doors…

"Miss Phoenix are you in there?" She called.

Creed's ears perked up as he took his own position before driving his shoulder into the door, tucking into a roll as the door flung open. Creed narrowly managed to escape the bullet that whizzed overhead before rush of air could be heard. Unfortunately as they searched the room, they found the C.E.O of the company laying across her desk. Her blouse had been torn open, and across her chest was carved the very same symbol the terrorists all wore on their backs. Creed inspected the body for a moment only to look back to Mika, as they headed into the halls again, they found no living terrorist, they had all taken their own lives. The two could only stand by and wonder while they waited for the Arspace guards to flood the building. They would clearly be questioned, but, in a situation like this they would have questions of their own…