C H A P T E R four


Her idea of Volunteering was shot down. The simple fact of the matter was that Corneria was having a wind storm, or rather, a moderate gale blowing through the Capitol city and the blizzard of ashes was not going to be easy to navigate. The weather channel noted that it would be this way for the next two days and the Government was starting to pull troops from Fortuna to assist in the rescue operations. She wouldn't have to worry as much now, anyhow.

It wasn't her planet to begin with but she was going through the paper work to become a citizen. It was her way to want to help as much as possible, but she had to learn that there were times when putting herself in danger was not the best idea. It happened on Sauria, she didn't want it to happen again.

She had proven herself on the last mission. She didn't need to be rescued. But the fact of the matter was, she was still embarrassed to have been the cliché woman in distress. Her leads on the situation over Fortuna had brought to question a way to get General Pepper to contract StarFox in helping out on the military operation. If she played her cards right, she could get militia freed up over Fortuna, which would provide more help to the needy on Corneria. And if she was smart about it, she could turn the mission into a chance to get alone with McCloud again.

The little blue vixen was restless this afternoon. Her date with Panther left a sour taste in her muzzle and she wanted to find something to do. She'd taken to walking through the Medical Ship when Slippy came up besides her. "Hey," she said, giving a soft smile.

"You look d-down, what's up?" Slippy asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"I suppose I just want to do a little more. There's a lot going on, down on the surface," She said, speaking of Corneria, "and to be honest, I've been feeling a little guilty of genocide," She explained, in reference to the Apparoids.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Slippy mused, softly. He pulled his hat out of his pocket and put the red cap over his head, between those large, beady frog eyes.

"Slippy, do you think I looked like a Damsel in Distress, on the Sauria mission?"

Toad shook his head, stuffing his left hand back into his pocket. "Nah. From what I understand, you were disoriented from releasing the Krazoa spirit to it's place. The fact Andross was there, who could have known? I think he was waiting for someone to show up, he'd had it planned. You couldn't have known."

"Still," She muttered softly. "I guess I want to be known as a strong woman, who doesn't need saving."

"Once, during the war, I went to try and help Fox. I broke formation, I went up to the front of the group and you wanna know what happened?" Slippy asked, recalling back to when he was 18, "The machine that tore apart Sector X's research facility, what was I thinking? He swatted me like a fly. Next thing I know the G-Diffuser locks up, my ship goes unresponsive and I crash land on Titania."

"Oh, Slippy," Krystal said, patting his shoulder gently, "That's why we tell you not to run out into the fray, alone. There is a measure of strength in numbers. If anything, just come up, besides Fox, offer a few shots and return to the formation. It keeps backline strong and that makes Fox stronger when he's putting his life on the line."

"Well, it got worse," Slippy said with an embarrassed chuckle. Krystal raised her brows, motioning for him to continue. He shrugged then went on, adding, "I sat on Titania for about twenty-five minutes. I left the Arwing and started doing repairs to it. I wanted to be able to fly off of the planet, myself. It didn't take long to fix the external damage from being smacked by a metallic hand," he told her.

"Go on," She said, showing interest.

Slippy nodded then continued with his story. "From sitting outside the cockpit, a creature was able to detect my scent. It was a freakish biological weapon, one of the failures Andross made. It turned out to be a useless, uncontrollable beast, so the monster was dumped on Titania and forgotten. Well, it found me. I scurried back into my cockpit, as it came up from the sand. I pulled the cockpit closed and it lunged for me. When it didn't capture me, he grabbed the whole ship. Then he rose up out of the sand even more, that's when I realized he was over two stories tall."

"My goodness!" Krystal exclaimed. "How did you manage it?"

"I... didn't," Slippy paused, looking a little dejected. Like her, he was still a little sore about getting captured. It was a low blow to anyone's ego. "He g-grabbed the entire Arwing and pulled it beneath the sand. The sand clogged my intake manifold and my exhaust booster. I stalled out and when he rose above the sand again, I would try to reboot the engines and get away."

"Fox came, didn't he?" She said. Slippy couldn't determine if it was her telepathic ability or if it was just that darn obvious.

Toad nodded and continued, "He came with a land master tank. Before I could get all the way free, the monster disappeared below the sand again, but that wasn't the embarrassing part. Yeah, my engines stalled again, I had to reboot while he had to shoot the thing's hand so I could get away, but the embarrassing part was when Fox first arrived."

"Why, what happened?" She asked, as the two walked side by side, down the Medical Ship's main corridor.

"It was toying with me, while Fox got the signal. Guess Andross made this thing smarter than I realized," Slippy recalled. "It sunk beneath the sand and held just his two massive arms into the air, k-keeping my fighter from getting free, plugging my engine exhaust with a finger. I couldn't start, and he made it look like I was stuck in a strange tree. Then he jumps out at Fox, having used me as bait. Me. I was b-b-bait! Can you believe that?"

"Don't feel bad," Krystal said, patting his shoulder again, "Andross used me as bait, more than 5 times. He had Fox bring multiple Krazoa spirits and I was suspended in a huge crystalline structure, on display like the Sleeping Princess, waiting for Prince Charming to save her, because she couldn't manage it herself."

Both of them stopped in their tracks, when Peppy stepped into the hallway, facing them. Both were surprised, because he'd not been on his own two feet in over a week. His eyes passed from one to the other. With those big, long ears, he had no problem hearing their approach, down the hallway.

"Krystal, you tell the boys not to be selfish," He said. To his words, Krystal nodded in acknowledgement. Peppy smiled a bit then told them, "Don't be selfish. We all need help, sometimes. Do you think I escaped Venom by myself? James gave his life to ensure my freedom. He cared more about his team mate than for himself. Do you know why?"

"Because he's selfless?" Slippy guessed.

"Fox?" Krystal turned to Slippy with a raised brow. "The guy who wants a retainer fee up front? James may have been selfless, though. I didn't know him."

"That's because he doesn't want to put his team into danger for nothing," Peppy explained. "That was a suggestion I gave him, in his youth. I told him to never put the lives of people on the line without a return benefit that was to their advantage."

"Then why did James do that?" Slippy asked.

"Because without a team, there is no leader," Peppy explained. "Do you remember the great book, Slippy? The Lion born of a Tigress? That Lion went to save flocks animals, because no one should forget about the needs of the one," said the aging Rabbit. "Fox isn't the Savior. He's saving his team, because without his team, who's going to save Fox? Who keeps the enemy from dominating Fox, when they get too numerous? We're his family."

Slippy nearly balked in shock. "Name one time when someone else saved Fox, making it possible for him to save the day?"

"What about the time StarWolf told Fox that they'll take the enemies, he needed to go after the Apparoid queen? They also did the same thing, helping with the missiles at the jump gate, before that happened," Peppy reminded. "Not to mention," He added with a chuckle, "The time Falco provided munitions during his fight with Andross."

"Is that all?" Slippy asked, looking to Krystal. Krystal was able to ascertain the answers, telepathically, before Peppy could say them, but let him speak, staying reverent to his lesson teaching.

"If he bought every map from Shabunga on Sauria, he wouldn't have needed my help," Peppy said, "But what about you Slippy? Where would Fox have gotten without your help on Sauria?"

"ME? What did I do?" Toad asked, earnestly.

"What didn't you do?" Peppy erupted in soft laughter. "You gave him the ability to get out of that prison by offering the ability to use lizard camouflage. He wound up needing it to progress throughout his mission. You gave him advice from your vantage point," Peppy reminded.

"Yes, but I was still a damsel in distress, the entire time," Krystal said with a slight shrug. "I'll get over it, don't worry."

"And Krystal." Peppy turned to her, placing his paws on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. "You helped Fox on Sauria, a year later. You helped Fox on the Apparoid home planet. You use your telepathic ability to keep him from falling into a trap. And of course, Slippy and I need not remind you about the work you did on Aquais (A/N: My prequel, Reflections Of Krystal), while Fox was injured... which you kept from becoming something more fatal. You saved his life, then did a mission for him."

"He wouldn't have needed my help on either of those events if he didn't injure himself trying to save me from crashing on MeteoLand Theme Park," Krystal reminded him.

"Then it's obvious that you're simbiant. You can't live without one another, just like Fox can't live without his team," Peppy said, in an almost stern voice. "If he doesn't save you, then you're not around to save him, later. You're not putting him into danger when you require aid, but you are putting him in danger, when you're not around to help. If Falco never showed up when he was fighting Andross, he'd have been in trouble. Nothing but Nova Bombs hurt Andross' machine. GreatFox was in no shape for combat with Andross' machine, it would have been destroyed."

"I guess you're right," Slippy said with a confirming nod.

"I think you are right," Krystal told Peppy. "Without him, we're nothing. Without us, he's not a leader, he's just a man. And I think you're right, when you said we have a symbiotic relationship. I don't think we can exist without the other, anymore."

"Everything happens for a reason," Peppy said to her. "You entered his life at a point when he could no longer live it without you. You came into his life to provide support and understanding and now he needs you as much as you needed him on Sauria. If you ask me," Hare chuckled. "You need each other, you just haven't realized it, yet. It was fate for you two to meet. Now it's up to free will for you two take the next step."

Krystal looked down for a moment, then peeked back up at Peppy with a knowing smile. Slippy looked from Peppy back to Krystal, tilting his head. He wasn't always empathetic, but it wasn't difficult to see that Krystal's expression belied some matter of emotion. "What's goin' on?" Slippy asked.

"Don't tell Fox; I'll tell him when I'm ready," Krystal said softly, trying to hide a girlish smile. There were no females on the team with whom she could giggle and chitterchatter with, but her new friends would make do. "I told Peppy but now I'm letting you in on it," She said, placing her paw on Slippy's shoulder and drawing his head close. "I'm in love with Fox, I don't wanna scare him off but I'm going to make him mine, slowly but surely. Wanna help me set things up for us?"

Slippy nodded, as well as Peppy. They leaned in and there she stood, in the middle of the hallway with them. She began whispering to them what they would have to do to help set things up with her and McCloud. She was a woman with a plan. Nothing could stop her.


Wolf O'Donnell rubbed his thumb and forefinger together; his mind locked in thought. Panther approached from behind, eyes narrowing. "I've given some thought to the whole McCloud thing, back there," the feline casually said.

"I told you, I don't wanna hear about it," Wolf said, facing the large rectangular window, watching Panther in the slight reflection.

"If it wasn't an Apparoid intervention, then it's possible we saw Fox with sunshades on, telling us to get out, because he was going to be destroying the queen," explained Panther. "Maybe the hallucination was from being over tired."

"Look, Fox was with his team. We followed James into that the wormhole, he disappeared like a mirage," Wolf snapped, tightening his paw into a fist. "I have an optical transplant, I could see heat signature; I could see the specifications on his M-Class fighter. It's recorded in my optical implant's video feed disc. The Comm Logs might not show anything but I know what I saw and I trust my instincts."

Caruso tilted his head, rubbing his chin with his left paw, in a moment of silence. Finally, he said, "It's strange but if Fox's father was alive, Fox would know and that would be that."

Leon stepped into the room, shaking his head. There Panther was, trying to bring this subject up again. "Maybe something about the memory of James McCloud was so pure," Powalski began, "That the Apparoid reenactment of him tried to do something honorable?"

"No, the Apparoids aren't acting out James McCloud, they were using his image and voice to speak their behalf," Wolf said. "There was no Apparoid, I saw an M-Class fighter. Inside was James McCloud, so shut up, both of you."

Leon shook his head, poking Panther in the shoulder. He jerked his hand the other direction, making a motion to leave Wolf alone. Panther smirked, heading for the door. "He was a damn Ghost. For you guys to be this spooked, I have to wonder about the both of you. Ghosts are ghosts. It's not a big deal," He said with a firm, calm voice, passing through the door.

Leon shook his head, offering nothing more than a sigh. Wolf turned, looking over his shoulder. "I don't know if my optical implant would have seen a ghost. They're not made up of matter."

"Can you see anti matter?" Leon inquired, slowly making his own way for the door.

"I don't know. Make sure Panther knows that this is to be a forgotten issue." Wolf looked back to the window, then added, "When the time comes to act, I did. We're here. That's all that matters. IF he keeps kicking a dead horse, I'm going to be kicking a dead cat. But I know what I saw and that's the bottom line. This topic is over."

Leon's eyes flitted from O'Donnell to the floor. He headed for the door, shutting it behind himself. Wolf, on the other hand, folded his paws across his chest, musing aloud, "If that little blue thing really is telepathic, I wonder if she sensed the presence of James McCloud that day. I wonder if Fox saw him." In reality, Wolf was proud of Fox. The boy acted when the time came. Everyone got out alive. Now it was back to Wolf and Fox, they've come full circle and it was time to tan the pup's tail. Their alliance was over.


There was a noise at the door. Fox glanced up, seeing Peppy in the doorway. The pilot's face lit up, waving the old timer into his room. He crossed the living room to greet his father's best friend, half way.

"So your physical therapy is doing well?" McCloud asked, approaching the Hare, patting the man on his shoulder. The Rabbit gave a subtle grin, nodding in reply. "So what brings ya by, Pep?"

"I thought I would come by and we could talk about the birds and the bees, Fox." Peppy kept a straight face but Fox shook his head with soft laughter. He was about to turn twenty-eight in a short time. The last thing he needed to learn about was romance.

"Well, go ahead, Doctor Hare," McCloud joked. He wasn't as shy talking about women in front of Peppy. The older rabbit patted Fox's shoulder, motioning to the Sofa. He was an elder sort of man and Fox treated him like a foster father, or maybe a favorite uncle. The young McCloud didn't feel embarrassed to talk around Peppy because the two shared a pretty open family-relationship, growing up. Fox could easily ask about advice on girls, although he rarely dated as a kid.

"It's like this, Fox," Peppy said, sitting down on the lounge chair. Fox hopped onto the sofa, putting his feet up, acting as if he were a psychology patient, showing a measure of good humor.

"Go on, Doc."

Peppy chuckled, giving a light tug at the knee of his trousers, getting comfortable. "Anything keeping you back from dating Krystal?" He tilted his head and after a thoughtful pause, added, "Just curious, she's quite an interesting woman. Smart, attractive?"

"I definitely want to start something with her, but you know," Fox chuckled awkwardly. Peppy motioned for him to continue. "Well," McCloud said, trailing off for a second, to get his thoughts together, "It's like this, Peppy. At first, the Venom political stress was an issue. We were training. I had to keep my hormones in check. I guess it's safe to say we can do something with this, now. I just didn't want it to interfere with work. If she died during a Venom attack, I wouldn't have forgiven myself. Strange that the War lasted a few hours, thanks to the Apparoid attack."

"Well, it's safe to say, Fox, that the aggression is over. Why not take a vacation while Slippy and I sort out securing a new GreatFox replacement?" Peppy leaned forward on the chair, folding his arms across his chest. He lifted his right paw up, for a moment, fixing his glasses, then tucked his paw back into the folded arms across his torso.

"I guess it could be interesting," Fox said with a shrug. "How does one go about just saying, 'Hey Krys, want to go on a date?' She'd probably look at me strange. Actually, I rescind that; she'd probably already know my intent upon approach. It'd be easier if we had the chance to hang out together, see if it fell into place."

"She and you stayed together at the LunarStone Hotel in Corneria, a while back, remember that?" Peppy recalled.

"Uhm, yeah," Fox said, remembering when she put his tail on the floor in a spar. "Why do you ask?"

"You weren't awkward about those sleeping arrangements, why not get some camping gear together, spend some time on Sauria; Corneria's not a very good vacation spot, neither is Zoness," Peppy reminded the vulpine. Fox nodded in agreement, sitting up on the sofa.

"I think I'm not ready to ask her out of the blue. I was thinking," Fox glanced, furtively around the room, redirecting his gaze on the elder Hare. "Maybe we could go do some light work, together. Escort, something. Just … I don't know."

"I had a feeling you'd say that." Peppy grinned. Krystal had that idea, as well. This plan was going perfectly. Peppy leaned forward and patted McCloud on his knee. "But fate coincidentally offered you that very chance. You know the stress of pulling military back from Fortuna? Now they're out numbered. Half the personnel on site are pilots that were reassigned after the venom war ended. They're getting their tails handed to them, on the ground." Peppyer leaned back in the chair, adding, "If we can pull a stunt on the planet, the hostilities may end and that leaves more troops to go home and help with the Corneria Crisis."

That was the clever media title that was being used on news stations on the fortunate planets that weren't decimated. "Cornerian Crisis" had become the title at the bottom of the screen for all coverage on Corneria getting leveled at the beginning of last week.

"Want me to head down there with a tank and clear a few things up, StarFox Style?" Fox asked with a half grin, referring to their aggressive offensive tactics.

"You and Krystal, both," Peppy said.

"How did you find out about this, did Pepper call us and no one told me?" Fox asked, looking confused.

Peppy grinned. Krystal had learned that Pepper was coming onboard the Medical Ship this afternoon and she'd already known that part of his visit was going to be directed towards a meeting with StarFox. His plan was to gently beg them to send a small ground team to Fortuna to hit the Venom troops from behind, without them detecting the mercenary unit. "Well Fox, Krystal seems to think Pepper's going to be asking us to send in a small team that won't be noticed. It would be quiet, small and no one would notice you guys mounting an aggressive offensive from behind, know what I mean?"

If someone was to believe that Krystal sensed the whole thing, great. If someone found out that she had it set up, she could always bat her eyelashes and change the subject or something. The way it all went down was brilliant, it got StarFox another job, towards the massive payment that would be required on a new GreatFox. It also got Fox and Krystal side-by-side on a mission that would be a bit more personal, in working together.

The fact was, Slippy went to visit his dad. He got information on the situation on Fortuna and made sure to visit Pepper in his office, on the way to Beltino's office in the same building. The offer of a two man mission for a discounted price was delivered to Pepper. The General, fresh from the hospital on temporary leave, told Slippy that he would be fine with that. He explained that the situation was bad and to keep StarFox's mission on 'unofficial channels', a fancy term for denying their involvement.

He would pay them later, but knowing their help was necessary, he wanted to make a deal to get StarFox involved on such a small scale that no one else would notice. Especially not the Cornerian Government, since he wasn't in a place to officially hire them at the moment. But he could do something more important for them; he could get them a military discount on their new ship.

Pepper arranged to have his medical condition reevaluated on the Flagship Medical carrier today, so that he could officially get a second opinion on staying on active duty. He knew he wouldn't, but the transfer would give him a chance to personally meet with StarFox and give their unofficial mission a green light. Krystal and Slippy arranged for the entire situation.

The simple truth was that Krystal wanted to make a difference by putting more Fortuna stationed soldiers back on Corneria. By doing a good clean up job on Fortuna, they would be freed up to go home and help Cornerians after this massive catastrophic situation. With Slippy's help, she had set up getting StarFox work and getting her and McCloud alone.

Peppy was in on the idea, because he wanted to see McCloud happy. Falco wasn't in on the plan, but it wasn't necessary to have too many 'cooks' in the 'kitchen'. The 'dish' had to be perfect and now that it was about to be set up, she knew that their time alone would give them a chance to talk.


Fortuna, several miles outside of the recently deserted Venom Base.

The lush jungle region melted into asphalt and metal. The sparkling river that ran through the tropical region near the equator of Planet Fortuna, ended at a large metallic section, that acted as an irrigation trench, providing water to the base. While the base was still covered in debris and ruined war vehicles from the StarFox assault, early in the Venom/Cornerian War, it was empty and silent.

Several miles from the base, further downstream, the river bed ran alongside a mining facility. This mine provided the fresh metals for the late Emperor Oikonni the Second, so that he could build this base. There was only one problem...

Something dangerous in the mines. Everyone wondered why Venom's forces disappeared during the Apparoid Invasion. No one knew why; it was never questioned.

Workers who have been building this base for nearly 6 months in advance to the War, were falling ill and some were rapidly beginning to expire from some mysterious illness. The very first of the Cornerian Soldiers, from the earliest arriving batallion, were now beginning to show signs of respiratory and nasal congestion. No one thought anything of it. Yet.


Next chapter: c5- Epidemic Insurrection

A/N: from after chapter 3, I actually start to get away from the "what if's" of post ASSAULT. I go into an original direction and have the desire to bring you a story of peril laced with the romance that everyone is waiting for. Fox and Krystal. I promise to deliever with it. I promise it'll be good and gooey with lots of sappy romance and make it dripping with love-doveyness. So stay tuned, mortals :D

-ken