Amongst the silence of space, there were two systems colonised by the collective species: the Lylat-Solar binary system and the Polaris system. Much smaller than Lylat, the Polaris system contained only four planets: Papetoon, Kew, Sauria and Eladard. The system was less populated too, with only one of it's worlds, Papetoon, having a population of over a billion, and even then only just. By comparison, Corneria's populace totaled eight and a half billion people.
In orbit of Papetoon, the Great Fox II warped in-system. It's sublight drive core flared into life, and it moved into a stable orbit around the planet. The surface was mostly a mix of outbacks and oceans, with one our two jungles and a half dozen cities dotting the otherwise-arid landscape. Aboard the Great Fox II, the four members of it's crew were making their way to the hangar. Wolf opened the door, and everyone but Fay taken aback. The six Arwing fighters were vastly different. There were longer barrels on the side cannons, and the nose cannon and smart bomb bay had been completely removed, replaced with some sort of custom weapon. The barrel of it was just visible, sticking out slightly from the angular hull plates. Each of the fighter's G-Diffuser assemblies were now a different colour. Wolf's was crimson red, Joseph's the same orange as his fur, Fay's an identical pink to her flight suit, and Krystal's a purple colour. The remaining two were a blank canvas, painted entirely white.
"Wow, hon, you work fast!" Joseph exclaimed.
"This was all you? In two and a half hours?" Wolf asked, turning to face Fay.
"Yup!" She replied cheerily, "I've trimmed the drive core output, jumped up the response times on the controls, and increased the dilution capabilities on the G-diffusers. Oh, and I painted them too. Joseph mind-read your favourite colours and telepathed them to me, so you should all know who's is who's. But my favourite upgrade has got to be the weapons. I've screwed around with the circuitry a bit, and now it starts off firing 'twin' lasers, but alternates between the two guns, giving you a rate of about four rounds per second. That big thing that I've shoved in where the nose gun and bomb bay went is a prototype, miniaturised version of a starship-grade Plasma Cannon. It fires a high-velocity plasma slug at a fraction of the speed of light, so good luck evading it. It takes about three minutes for it to charge a shot, so make every one of them count. Oh, and Wolf? I remodelled you flight headset to interface with your prosthetic eye, giving you the HUD over your vision, thanks to both Joseph and your knowledge of your eye. I'm not just a hacker, you know. I'm just into tech in general. I got bored, a certain toad left behind blueprints, and this happened" she finished, gesturing to the Arwings.
Wolf simply whistled in admiration at the improved fighters before him. "OK, then lets get planetside."
The four pilots climbed into their new ships. The doors opened, the oxygen shield snapped into place, and the lift locks were released.
"Communications line... green." Krystal said, trailing off on the last word. Fox had said that before Fortuna. Memories came flooding back to her of their time together. That first sight on Sauria. All the time he spent training her to be a mercenary and a pilot. The Aparoid Invasion. Leaving. That one hit her hardest. It always did.
They shot out of the hangar as one, soaring towards the planet below. They were a few minutes from their destination before Krystal felt a presence at the back of her mind.
"Hey," Joseph's voice said, filling the inside of her mind, "Are you OK over there, Krys?"
"Just old memories, that's all."
"Krystal, you of all people should know you can't lie to a telepath. Are you sure that you're OK with seeing Fox again?" he asked.
"Yes, I believe both of us are owed a second chance to right our actions toward each other since the start of the Blitz. He owes me one, but I in turn owe him."
"Rule number one of relationships, Krystal: everyone, regardless of their actions, deserves a second chance."
This brought a small smile to Krystal's muzzle.
"Don't worry, I plan on giving him his."
A few hours later, and the Ascension City Grand Prix was on it's final lap. Number 005 was in the lead, a small, rounded salmon-coloured craft. However, as it approached the very last turn, it was suddenly and rapidly overtaken by a white and blue, angular racer. This, number 010, shot across the line to victory. The crowd went wild, as the cliché goes. The racer was immediately followed by it's teammate, who had put 005 into 3rd place. The two craft slowed, and their canopies hissed open. From them stepped the victorious team of Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi. Falco, as always, wore his trademark blue jumpsuit, cyan scarf, white coat with flared sleeves for his wings and constant cocky grin. Fox was wearing a yellow flight suit, a pair of black combat boots and his father's sunglasses. He was starting to grow a but of a goatee, but so far he seemed to like it. Fox stepped quickly into the team's garage before any of the paparazzi, that had practically followed the cars while they were moving, could catch him up. Among them, however Fox notice a quartet of black-robed figures. He turned to tell Falco, but he blinked and they were gone. Strange.
"Goddamned press." he heard Falco mutter, "Sometimes," he continued, louder now that they were inside, "I just wish they go ask for somebody else's bullsh-"
"Now now, Falco, language!" scolded a voice from beneath their team's spare craft. A figure in a welding mask wheeled out from it on a roller. A pair of feline ears were visibly protruding from the top of the mask.
"Since when did you do repairs or the mothering around here, Lynxy?" he asked.
"Since you couldn't be assed, birdbrain." The figure slipped off the mask revealing an angular face and a set of sea-green eyes. An ear piercing was now visible in the bottom of the right ear, a small golden loop. She, as Fox now recognised her as female with the mask off, was wearing a dark green vest, over which there was a white coast with the sleeves rolled up, denim jeans, a pair of black fingerless gloves, and a set of boots near-identical to Fox's own.
"Well, excuse me, Miss I-have-lame-insulting-names-for-Falco, I was busy kicking ass out there on the track!" Falco retorted.
"I don't care how much proverbial ass was kicked, Foxy here was the one who won it, so you can't brag at all."
"Touché, Ms. L." Falco replied, attempting to sound gentlemanly, even doing a mock bow.
Miyu Leslie stood from under the race craft, wiping her paws. She had originally joined StarWing as a spare pilot, but now was racing as much as they were. Whoever wasn't on track would usually get bored. Miyu just tinkered with her craft to pass the time. Suddenly, there was knock from the back wall of the garage.
"Ah, shit." Falco cursed, "They found the back door."
"Relax, Fal." Fox assured him "It's probably just one crew who got lucky. I'm sure one set of questions won't kill us. Better that than the seven or eight we'd get if we just waltzed out the front shutter."
"OK, OK. Let's get this over with." He replied grudgingly. The three made their way to the back door, but what greeted them was not a news crew. Four black robed figures stood in the doorway. The two at the front appeared to be foxes by the look of them, a white muzzle jutting out from beneath their hoods. The others were also canines, but he couldn't quite make out their species at a glance. But it was the hoods that surprised Fox the most. They completely covered their eyes. There was no way they could see through them, and yet the two foxes turned to Fox's direction as though they could see him clearly.
"James McAllister, Falco Lombardi, and...?" One of them, a female vixen with an almost familiar accent asked. Fox's alias, he realised a, little later than he should've. But where had he heard that accent before? "It sounded like Krystal's", he thought to himself. Lyla, he missed her. Almost as soon as he thought this, the vixen let an only barely audible gasp, a tiny rush of air. Odd.
"Miyu Leslie. Can we... uh, can we help you?" the lynx asked, a little perplexed.
"May we come in? My colleagues and I have an important proposition for you, but we can't exactly make it to you out here." The male of the two foxes, as he could now tell, asked the three.
"Uh... sure. Come in. You are?" Fox asked
"I'm Joseph. Pleasure to meet you." The male fox slipped off his hood, as did one of the two at the back, who fox could now see was a spaniel, a female around about the same age as him. "Listen, James. Well, not actually James. Your real name is Fox McCloud, is it not?"
"Guess the cat's outta the bag now. Yep, that's me. The false name keeps people who don't like me off my tail." he replied, scratching the back of his head.
"Well, I can assure you now Mr. McCloud, that my employer is not one of those people. In fact, he could have killed you by now if he wanted to. He's right here." Joseph told him, gesturing to the remaining male hooded figure. Off slipped the hood, and a surprisingly familiar face greeted them.
"Wolf? What the hell are you doing here?" Fox asked. "You've got some nerve after what Star Wolf and it's members have done to me over the years."
"Star Wolf is finished, pup. I saw to that personally. I'm here with a proposition. Clarke, K, the damping if you please." Fox blinked, confused as to what in Lyla's name he was talking about, and was then taken by complete surprise. Three of them now looked completely different. They were now in completely different clothes, barring 'K', whoever she was. The white vulpine was now orange, with blue markings and a familiar set of white 'tattoos' on his arms. Cerinian. Some kind of mind trick to make them all look like they were wearing the same getup most likely. They all had a modern R-100 Blaster Pistol attached to their hips on a holster, and slung over Joseph's back was a VS-25 Sniper Rifle, and a staff that looked identical to the one Krystal used to use. The spaniel and Wolf had S-96 Designated Marksman Rifles, and the weapons were all painted a bright, clean white colour. K, as Wolf had called her, kept her robed appearance, suggesting that Joseph was still 'damping' her. Or, Fox realised with a sudden jolt of surprise, she was doing it herself. He glanced to her tail and, sure enough, it was cerulean blue. But something caught Fox's eye, and that was the biggest surprise he'd had in months. Glinting amongst her tail fur was a set of two silver rings.
The same two Fox had given Krystal.
It must have been true, because at that point he felt a tickling sensation at the back of his mind. The one named Joseph stood alert.
"Krys, you're rumbled." he muttered.
'Krys' sighed. "Well," she said, smiling meekly, "I was about to tell you anyway." Her hand moved for her hood and it fell to her neck. Fox could now see who she truly was. He took off his father's shades just to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, but It was her. The black nose, the petite white muzzle, the blue hair, the small, pointed ears, and those beautiful, turquoise-blue eyes.
"Kry- K- Krystal?" Fox breathed, unable to comprehend the fact that it was well and truly her.
A thought flashed through everyone except Fox and Krystal's minds. "They need some 'alone time'. Bug out, people." Joseph's voice instructed.
"Oh, shit! I left my freakin' arc welder on! I better go fix it. Be back in a sec." With that, Miyu strode off towards the other side of the garage, Falco quickly following suit, muttering something about lending a wing.
"I better go check on the Arwings. Fay, with me. Joseph, go check on the situation outside with the press. Damp yourself to look like Fox." Wolf instructed. He then turned to Krystal. "You, uh, debrief McCloud now and the others when they get, uh, back."
Krystal nodded, and watched as they left the room. Before he left however, Joseph turned to face her.
"Remember, Krys. Second chances. Good luck." With that, he exited, leaving the two vulpines alone for the first time in eight, maybe even nine months. Fox stood there, not really sure what to say to her.
"Krys, I don't even know where to start. I-"
"Then don't start." She stated simply, "I will. I'm sorry, Fox. I'm so sorry."
"Wait, what? You're sorry? I'm the one who should be sorry. I made a huge mistake." Fox replied, stunned.
"Not half as big as the one I made. I took you trying to keep me safe the wrong way, I left, and I joined up with Star Wolf. I only hope you can forgive me."
"Of course!" Fox yelled, "In a heartbeat. How about you? Will you forgive me, Krys?"
"Yes, of course I will." She replied, tears of joy flowing freely down her face. "Look, Fox? Why don't we just go back to the way things used to be? Before that night on the bridge? Back when we could trust each other, and we loved each other?"
"I was thinking the same idea. It's... it's so wonderful to see you again, Krys, I... I just..."
"Oh, just shut up already." She muttered, pulling him by the collar into a kiss. Her tears stained his face, but right now he was so overjoyed he couldn't care less.
At that very moment, Wolf came back inside. "Hey McCloud, you up to speeeee..." the lupine trailed off, walking backwards back out the door. As Krystal pulled away from a blushing Fox, the rest of the team and Falco and Miyu returned from their tasks, with Fay pushing a wide-eyed Wolf back inside the room.
"So, filled them in, Krystal?" Wolf asked, having regained his composure.
"Um, not quite..." Krystal replied, scratching the back of her head.
"Well, that's OK, I'll handle it. Now, pup, I assume you've caught on by now, what with the Arwings and one of it's original members, that I'm trying to put Star Fox back together. And no Star Fox team is complete without a McCloud. So, if you join, I'll hand the reigns back to their rightful owner and join on as a member. Sound good?"
"Uh, does this go for me and Lynxy here too?" Falco asked.
"Well, to be honest, we were only actually counting on it just being you and Fox. But, I'm sure that we can find another spot. That is, if you're..."
"Wolf, it's Star Fox coming back. Say no more, I'm in." Falco stated, clasping his wings together in anticipation.
"Me too. You'll need someone to replace Hare's 'controller' role anyway. I'm sure I can handle that." Miyu explained.
"Well Fox?" Krystal asked, "Are you in?"
"Well," he replied, putting back on his father's shades, "It's like you said. Every Star Fox needs a McCloud. It's about time I gave merc life a second chance."
And there we go! Miyu Leslie (Because calling her Lynx was just too boring!) is introduced, the Arwings get an upgrade, perception damping is reused like I said it would be, and, most importantly, Fox and Krystal are finally reunited and the title of this story is kind of explained! Yay! Sorry it's a day late, I was ill yesterday and I stayed in bed all day typing on my phone, which is slow as hell.
So, with that, I'll see you next Saturday!
Later,
- Wing.
