Chapter 10

"Fox, what in the world have you done with this ship?!" exclaimed Slippy.

"Your ship wouldn't look so hot after getting hit by a missile either, Slip."

"Not that, but what's all this stuff you put into it?"

"Hawkeye and I customized our ships."

"Customize? It looks like some of this stuff should have stayed in the junkyard!" Slippy shook his head and waved a wrench at him. "I hope I figure out these parts in time!"

"It was quite a while ago," Fox admitted about the additions to his ship. "But I know I can count on you, Slip." Fox turned back to the screen to watch the action down on Kale. He was not used to this- staying behind while the others followed Falco's lead. He was itching to get in on the action. Kale was a rolling grassland, dotted with huts and mud buildings, where the natives lived and survived off of the land using primitive methods. While he trusted they were skilled warriors, he knew their odds against Pigma's army were not good by themselves.

"Man, it's just awful what they've done to the natives' land," Falco commented. "You know all the mecha-animals on Brea? It's ten-fold here."

"Take out as much as you can." Fox advised.

"I know that, Fox. You're not the only one who can lead a mission you know."

Fox watched as Kale warriors tried to assist them in their battle. He got a sudden sensation that something was wrong. Yet he strangely felt detached from the action going on below. Something else was wrong…was it Peppy? Was something happening on Corneria? A feeling of desperation washed over him. The room suddenly got very hot and seemed to close in on him. He thought of Jericho and had an overwhelming urge to get there. Perhaps he was going crazy, but it was almost as if he could hear a familiar voice calling for help in his head.

"Krystal," he gasped. As soon as he said it, he knew he was right. Krystal- or Kursed, as she was named now, was in danger and was calling Fox for help. That had to be it. Fox didn't even need to consider it. He leapt up from his seat.

"Slippy, I need you to finish what you're doing. Is my ship flyable?"

"Flyable?! Well, yes, but…"

"I'm heading for Jericho," Fox cut him off. "Kursed needs my help. I have to save her."

"Kursed? Fox, what are you doing?..."

Fox ignored Slippy's cries and climbed into his ship. "You're a pal, Slip, but don't worry about me." He spoke into the voice com. "Falco, you guys finish up here, I'm heading for Jericho."

"What?! No way! Jericho can wait. If your ship can fly, we could use you down here."

"Kursed sent out a call for help, for me personally. I have to save her. Head to Jericho after this."

"Whoa, Fox, Kursed needs help? You need help, buddy! She's probably set a trap for you!"

"It's a risk I'll have to take," Fox shut off his voice com and set his destination for Jericho.

*

"Fox don't be a fool! Okay? She's hurt you before, what if this time she like, actually hurts you? Fox? Fox!" Falco swore loudly and slammed his fist on the yoke of his ship. He must have shut off his voice com. He despised Kursed at that moment, messing with Fox's head and forcing Falco to be the sensible one. "Women," he grumbled.

Now what? The action was intense here. They couldn't really afford to have another team member take off. But they couldn't afford to have their co-captain flying off and getting himself killed either. Falco saw Fox's ship heading towards airspace.

"That ship will never hold together," he muttered. He doubted Slippy had been able to get much done on it, and Fox's ship had needed work even before the missile impact. He knew what he had to do. He switched the channel on his voice com. "Peppy, be prepared to send back up to Kale. I'm heading to Jericho."

"Falco, what is going on down there?"

"Fox has up and gone to rescue Kursed- that's Krystal now- on Jericho. I really don't have time to explain, but I have a feeling if Fox goes alone, he's not coming back."

"Falco! What-"

Falco clicked the voice com back to the other channel. "Katt, I need you to take the lead here. I'm following Fox. Don't worry, I told Peppy to send back up, rendezvous at Jericho, okay?"

"Falco, wait! We can't have both our leaders abandon mission now, look at this mess!"

"Aw Katt, I know you what it takes. You guys can hold together until the CDF back up gets here. And Slip, be prepared to cover them with the Falcon, she's got some good firepower in her."

"What?! Falco, I can't, you know I promised Amanda…"

Falco wasn't listening. He turned his ship and blasted out of the Kale atmosphere.

*

Fox flew into Jericho. He had no real idea of where he was going but he followed his instinct. It was almost as if something were pulling him in the right direction. Finally he came upon a homestead that had some very familiar looking ships on the landing bay. He could recognize Wolf O'Donnell's Wolfen any day. There was not much room for Fox's ship, but he landed anyway. Wolf was standing by his Wolfen, smoking a cigarette and looking rather pleased.

"Well, well, well, Fox McCloud. What brings you here?"

Fox withdrew his blaster. "Where is she?"

"Smart move, go ahead and shoot, then you'll never know where your precious Kursed is."

"She's ours now," said Panther, coming out from behind his ship.

"She was never yours!" Fox shouted.

"Keep telling yourself that," said Wolf.

"So help me Wolf, if you've hurt her…"

"Touching, Fox. But it'll be four against one, not much of a challenge," yawned Leon.

"And look at that ship!" cackled Jackal. "One blast and he's down!"

Wolf grinned. He dropped his cigarette, grinding it out with his boot. "Ah, Fox, it has been too long. Tell you what- if you want Kursed, come and get her!" He hopped into the Wolfen. The others followed suit. Fox shot at them but missed, and then climbed into his own, flipping the voice com back on.

"C'mon, don't fail me now," he said to his ship, dodging laser fire. He knew this would be an unfair fight, that they would try to come at him from all sides. He fired at them, striking Wolf's ship. For some reason, Wolf just laughed. Fox was suddenly overcome with another strange feeling- do not fire at Wolf's ship. He concentrated his aim at the others. He felt as if the cockpit of his ship was closing in around him again and he found it hard to breathe. An idea occurred to him…

"Hang on Fox, I'm here to help you!" a familiar voice called out.

"Falco, what are you-"

"Good God, I thought you were done with that annoying bird!" snapped Leon.

"Back at you, buddy," Falco shot at Leon's ship, then was aiming for a direct hit at the back of Wolf's ship.

"Falco, wait, don't shoot Wolf!"

It was too late, Falco scored a good hit on the back of the Wolfen.

"Dammit, Falco! I think Kursed is in Wolf's ship!" Fox cried.

"Good guess, Fox! Now the next game- where will be taking her now?" Without warning, Wolf and his team blasted away from Fox and Falco, disappearing into the thick layer of clouds.

*

"Slippy, what in blue blazes is going on over there?" Peppy shouted at the video transmitter.

"Don't ask me!" Slippy threw his hands up, then hastily set them back at the ship controls. "First Fox decided to head off to Jericho when his ship had no business leaving the docking bay, and then Falco took off after him!"

"What's on Jericho that's more important than finishing the task at hand?"

"Something about a distress call from Kursed, who is really Krystal…it's too confusing! And I promised Amanda I wouldn't fire a shot, but we're struggling to keep up down here!"

As if on cue, they heard Katt shout, "I'm hit!"

Peppy put his head in his hands in frustration. "Colonel Grey, send out a call for immediate back up to Kale!"

"Roger that!" Bill sent out the call.

"What are they thinking?" Peppy mumbled to himself. "Slippy, is there any way you can get ROB to man the laser controls at least?"

"He's indisposed, I haven't had time to work on him! But if I have to," he saw something and fired at it with the Falcon's lasers. "I guess I have to. Whew!"

"Thank you, Slippy!" cried Faye.

Lucy rose from her seat. "Where are you going?" asked Bill. "We have to get a plan together right now!"

"I have a plan. I'm going to ready my ship," she replied.

"But it's a dangerous mission, you can't go alone!"

She looked at Bill in disgust. "Do you know what I've gone up against, Colonel Grey?"

"Colonel Grey is right!" said Peppy.

She set her jaw determinedly. "Your friends are in trouble, Father, and they're my friends too you know. If you want to waste more time arguing about this, you'll be doing it on the comm. link." With that, she turned on her heel and headed out the door.

"Lucy, get back here NOW!" It was probably the first time Bill had heard Peppy really yell, especially at his daughter. Bill was already almost out the door. "I'll go after her," he said to Peppy. "If it's okay with you…they do need us out there, and I'll make sure Lucy is safe. You still have Prime Minister Bowman to assist you…"

Peppy paused, and then nodded briskly. "Hurry Bill, before she takes off."

*

"C'mon Fox, let's take them down before we lose them!"

"Falco, wait! I- I can't . My ship won't make it. I have to go back to the landing bay. If you go now, you might be able to catch them."

"Hey, that's not cool, I followed you so you wouldn't gave to take them on alone! We already know Pigma is on Evola, let's wait till the others get here and you can get your ship fixed."

"I can't risk losing Krystal…Kursed, again. I can wait here for the others."

Fox heard Falco sigh. "You owe me big time, Fox," he snapped, blasting out of sight into the clouds.

"Thanks Falco," he replied, but of course Falco didn't answer. He looked over and saw Kursed's ship on the bay. Why didn't he think of that sooner? He climbed into her ship, but nothing happened when he flipped on the controls. Star Wolf must have done something to sabotage her ship in case she tried to escape. He flipped channels on his voice com to deliver the news about Star Wolf to Peppy.

*

Lucy and Bill had headed out into the fray, Fox and Falco were in danger of ruining the mission, and now Star Wolf was alive and fighting on the wrong side again, and somehow this all involved Fox's old love Krystal, who had become a bounty hunter named Kursed? Peppy looked down at the battle plans before him and it all seemed futile. But he was a general, and needed to compose himself as such, no matter what was thrown at him.

He heard an incoming signal from the video transmitter and sighed. He really couldn't imagine how much worse things could get. He looked and saw it was an urgent message from Dash Bowman. "I shouldn't have asked," he rolled his eyes helplessly up to the ceiling.

A distraught looking Bowman appeared on the screen. "Prime Minister, it is a good thing you've called upon me. I have some startling information," said Peppy.

"You go first, then," said Bowman.

"First and foremost, Fox and Falco have discovered Star Wolf is alive and well, but they have turned on us. They are believed to be delivering a woman to Pigma- a woman who incidentally has a history with Fox, Krystal, if you remember. Fox is now stranded on Jericho and Falco is attempting to trail Star Wolf now. Colonel Grey and Lucy have set out to fight as well to help the rest of the team."

Bowman rubbed his head fitfully.

"I don't mean to cause more headaches for you, sir. I'm having a hard time understanding it all myself, why Fox would endanger the mission…"

"They want him to follow," gasped Bowman. "They must have known Fox would go after her and have laid a trap for us."

"Falco is after them right now, not Fox."

"Then you must stop him and have him turn around!" Bowman ordered.

Peppy called desperately for Falco, but he did not answer. "Prime Minister, you said this was urgent, what is your message?"

Bowman wrung his hands anxiously. "This Professor Andorf…I think he is a relative of mine, of Andross. You know that that side of my family has a history of telekinetic abilities…I think this Professor has found a way to not only control inanimate objects, but has figured out how to use his telekinetics on a person's brain, and uses his telekinesis to manipulate the person's brain activity and actions. Krystal was supposed to have a telepathic ability, right? That is why they want her- he thinks he can use Krystal to tap into people's minds to know their inner thoughts and most importantly, their weaknesses."

Peppy frowned. "This is a remarkable theory, Bowman-"

Bowman held up his hand to stop him. "That is not the urgent matter in this message. You see…she is not the only one he wants. He wants revenge on Star Fox and Lylat of course, but he also wants me. He is trying to figure out how to get into my mind, perhaps control it to add to the Andross legacy. I must depart for Beljar immediately and put an end to this."

"Bowman, I need you here to guide your Venomian Defenses! Bill and Lucy have gone now too, I will be handling everything here and I certainly can't handle all theVenom forces on top of that without risking careless mistakes!"

"I have assigned people to the task already, do not worry. They will contact you later tonight. I have to go, General Hare, otherwise Lylat will be in great danger. You see, he's trying to drive me mad…and I fear should anything happen, it will be their blood on my hands. I have seen it…"