It had been some time since the battle at Corneria's Hinaril defensive line. Now that the battle was over, Harrion gave Krystal orders to scout out the suspected area that Fox had described... the area containing Veras' secret base. This base was hidden somewhere in the dense jungle of Hinaril, which was heavily infested by Venomian forces.
Krystal came to that suspected area, riding in a truck that carried herself along with Wolf, Fox, Falco, Hiris and numerous other Cornerian marines. As Krystal and the marines disembarked from the truck and started moving carefully through the jungle, Nora flew her fighter from above, attempting to scout out the base. Krystal kept moving through the thick jungle, being followed by her comrades as they all watched and stepped carefully through the dense area, keeping their eyes open for any surprise attacks. Krystal kept her mind on finding the base, but she also grew concerns for Fox... She couldn't let him go on alone, as he could get killed... She had to say something to him.
As the team moved along, Krystal then felt something else in her mind... She sensed something close, threatening. Krystal closed her eyes briefly and then reopened them as she got the sense that two Venomian soldiers were aiming their guns right at them. Krystal looked in the direction that they were coming from and, from a far off distance, an enemy laser bolt soared right towards her. Luckily, Krystal sensed this and dodged out of the way as the laser bolt flew past her and hit a tree, causing the rest of the squad to become alert to the sudden attack. Carefully aiming her rifle, Krystal then skillfully fired a few precise shots that gunned down the two enemies with sharp speed. However, these weren't the only attackers as, suddenly, some laser fire began raining towards the Cornerians in a fierce surprise attack.
"Shit!" Hiris stated, "Ambush! Get to cover and return fire!"
Krystal held her cover from behind a palm tree as Cornerian soldiers took cover behind trees and other plants as Venomian soldiers kept blasting laser fire at them from the trees. Krystal fired her rifle at the trees before here, gunning several enemies down as Wolf and Hiris fired their rifles and shot several more soldiers. Krystal kept firing her rifle and she shot down several more Venomians as Cornerian soldiers all fired their rifles from the trees, blazing hails of laser fire that blasted away numerous Venomians. The vicious skirmish raged on in the thick jungle as Krystal kept firing her rifle, hitting several soldiers and pinning several more enemies down as Fox and Falco hid behind some trees and then blasted some laser fire that took down a few more enemies. Fox blasted some more shots took a few enemies down.
As the vicious fighting went on, Cornerian soldiers kept firing their rifles and shooting several enemies down. However, the Venomians kept up the attack and fired some laser fire that shot several Cornerians down. Wolf and Hiris fired some shots and blasted several more Venomians down and then Wolf fired some more shots that hit a few more soldiers. Krystal fired her rifle and shot some more enemies down in a hail of laser fire as Fox threw a grenade and eliminated a couple of Venomians in a blast. The Cornerians kept firing hails of laser fire and shot several more Venomian soldiers down and Wolf blasted a few more enemies away as well.
Krystal fired some more shots and gunned a few more soldiers down as the fierce battle raged. As the intense laser fire blasted all over the jungle and splintered through the trees, Krystal could sense that the enemy attack was starting to dwindle. The Cornerians fired more laser shots that pinned down the Venomians as Wolf fired some laser bolts and blazed some more away. Krystal fired some laser shots and hit a few more enemies and the vixen kept firing her rifle until the threat was gone and the battle was over.
"That's it," Hiris spoke, "That's the last of em'."
"We need to keep moving," Falco stated, "We gotta get to that base."
Krystal looked over, seeing everything to be quiet after the fighting. Only a few of their marines remained to help, so they had to be even more careful. "Pick up the pace, people." Hiris ordered, causing the others to start running through the jungle path.
Krystal moved through the jungle pathway with her comrades, coming to a point in the path where they stopped. "There's a river up ahead that leads to a village controlled by the Venomians." Wolf stated, "That's where the headquarters is."
"Right, we need to split up." Hiris spoke, "...There's some Cornerian forces positioned just to the East of us... I'll meet up with them and proceed towards the village, and place some explosives on their positions."
"Good," Wolf spoke, "I'll take Krystal down the river... the rest of you should go with Hiris."
"Okay, but take Fox too, Wolf," Hiris responded, "He can scout out that base you guys talked about."
"Hmph," Fox stated, "Sure, Hiris."
Hiris, Falco and the few remaining marines then went down a different path to the East through the jungle as Krystal kept moving down the thick jungle with Wolf and Fox down the path to the river. As they got closer down the path, they started hearing some gunfire. Krystal became a little bit worried, feeling that some Cornerians were in trouble. Krystal and Wolf looked at each other briefly and then they started rushing through the jungle with Fox following closely from behind. They ran until they came to an open area, a river bed, where they found the source of the gunfire.
A couple of Cornerian marines in the river bed were firing their guns at Venomian soldiers on the river's shores from behind a crashed gunship. As they watched the skirmish blazing away, Krystal, Wolf and Fox moved around to a closer position. "Shit!" A Cornerian marine at the gunship stated, "I need some help here!"
"Shit," Wolf exclaimed with concern, "They're in trouble... I'll get down to em'."
"Right... I'll give them covering fire." Krystal said.
Taking cover from behind a tree close to the event, Krystal aimed her rifle at Venomian soldiers on the shore, waiting for Wolf to give her an order. "Krystal, cover me!" Wolf ordered and he and Fox started running over towards the Cornerians by the gunship. Krystal fired her rifle at the Venomians on the shore, gunning a few enemies down in a hail of laser fire. As Krystal kept firing her rifle at the Venomians in the fierce skirmish, Wolf shot a couple enemies down as another Venomian ran up to the gunship. Once the enemy was there, Wolf emerged, seizing the Venomian's rifle and then he punched the soldier right before he then held him by his neck from behind. As he held the soldier from behind, Wolf held the soldier's gun and fired it at a few Venomians, shooting a few down and pinning the others down as well.
The Cornerian marines fired their rifles and shot a few enemies down in hails of laser as the vicious fighting went on. Wolf threw the soldier he held and the enemy gun to the ground and then he took out his rifle and fired some shots, gunning another soldier down while Fox blasted a couple others to the river. Krystal fired more shots and pinned some enemies down before she then rushed over towards the gunship. Once taking cover from behind the gunship, Krystal fired her rifle and shot a few more enemies down as a Venomian up on a short cliff blasted some shots down on them, but Krystal took aim and shot the enemy down from the cliff.
After the Cornerians blazed some more laser fire, a few more Venomians were shot down, and they started moving up. Krystal, Wolf, Fox and the two Cornerian soldiers ran over to a shore and held positions there as Venomians came at them from the opposing shore and from down the river bed, blasting some laser fire. In the vicious skirmish on the shore lines, the Cornerian marines fired their rifles, gunning several enemies down in hails of laser fire and pinning a few others down as well. Krystal and Wolf fired their rifles and shot several enemies down as Fox blasted a couple others down as well. Wolf gunned a couple more down as a Venomian rushed up to him with a bayonet, but as soon as the enemy was close enough, Wolf charged and countered by deflecting the bayonet and hitting the enemy with his rifle, knocking him out. An enemy rushed up to Fox, but he countered by kicking the enemy's rifle away and then Fox brandished his knife, grabbing the enemy from behind and then slicing the soldier's neck with his knife before throwing the dead soldier away.
Krystal fired some laser shots and blasted several enemies down on the shore bed. The Cornerians kept firing hails of laser fire at the Venomians and pinning them down while Wolf shot a few more soldiers down. After some fierce fighting, Krystal fire her rifle and shot several more enemies on the shore line as the Cornerian marines blasted the remaining few enemies away... The battle by the shoreline was finished.
"That's it," Wolf stated, "Krystal, keep moving down the river." Obeying, Krystal followed after Wolf and they started to move down the shore. However, Fox started to move up a higher path.
"Where are you going?" Wolf demanded.
"Higher ground," Fox stated, "Look for that base."
"Fine, but keep close to us." Wolf ordered and then turned to the two Cornerian marines, "You two, go with him."
"On it." One of the Cornerians responded and the two marines followed after Fox.
"I'll meet up with you at the village." Fox said as he ran down the path with the two marines in tow. Krystal and Wolf kept moving up the shoreline of the river to the village as Fox and the two marines moved through the higher ground towards the base. Once they were further down the shore, Wolf started voicing his concerns.
"He'd better not be trying to trick us," Wolf said, "You trust him, Krystal?"
"I still have my faith in him." Krystal replied.
"Why even bother? You think you can convince him?"
"...I need his help, Wolf... I'll try getting him in remembering himself."
"Well, whatever," Wolf responded, "We need to get down to the village."
"Hiris and Fal," Krystal said, "They're in there, right."
"By now, he should be close to it," Wolf said, "Keep your guard up. Andy's swarming all over the jungle." Krystal and Wolf kept moving across the river's shoreline and thick jungle pathway, getting closer towards the village. Once they reached a point in the shore, they found a patrol of Venomian soldiers moving down the river. Krystal and Wolf hid behind some nearby palm trees. "We can't move around them," Wolf spoke quietly, "We need to take them out... on my signal." From the cover of the palm trees, Krystal and Wolf aimed their rifles at the enemy patrol on the shore.
"Open fire!" Wolf shouted and then he and Krystal were firing their rifles, cutting a few enemies down in a hail of fire. Krystal kept firing her rifle and she shot a few more enemies down from her tree cover as Wolf blasted some lasers that took down a couple Venomians. In the fierce skirmish, Krystal and Wolf shot a few Venomians down as the enemies returned a rain of fire at the two, blasting laser into the trees, but Krystal and Wolf held cover behind the trees and then fired more laser shots at the enemy patrol, firing hails of laser at enemies on the shore and in the trees. After vicious fighting, Wolf blasted a few enemies down as Krystal fired her rifle and shot several enemies on the shoreline and then the vixen aimed and fired some laser, gunning a few more enemies in the trees, eliminating the patrol.
"Move down the river." Wolf ordered, as he and Krystal kept moving down the shoreline. They moved further down the river bed until they suddenly came upon to see another patrol. "Shit," Wolf exclaimed, "Over there, patrol." Krystal and Wolf took cover behind separate plants on the shoreline as the patrol walked closer to them. The two aimed their guns at the patrol and Wolf shouted, "Blast them!"
Krystal and Wolf fired their rifles at the enemies, gunning several down with laser shots. In vicious fighting, Krystal fired her rifle and shot a few more enemies on the shoreline in a hail of laser fire and Wolf blasted a couple more enemies down. The Venomian patrol fired some shots back, but Wolf fired a rain of fire back at them, gunning a couple of soldiers down as Krystal fired some shots and blasted a few more enemies down as well. In the intense skirmish, Krystal and Wolf fired some more shots and gunned down the remaining enemies, clearing their way.
"The village is close by," Wolf said, "That should be the last of em'."
"Is this river," Krystal said, "...Is it lining his field?"
"You mean Veras' secret field? ...It may. Fox said it was close to the village."
"I remember visiting Hinaril... this river," Krystal said, "...Men were fishing in this river once."
"Well... It'll be back to being that way once we're done."
Krystal and Wolf moved further down the river until they finally reached the end of the shore, and the village was in their sights. Krystal and Wolf looked at the village, which was on some ground just below them and then they hid behind some palm trees as a few Venomians emerged from a hut near them, overlooking the village.
"Let's take that hut," Wolf said quietly, "Wait for my order." Taking cover from behind the trees, Krystal and Wolf aimed their guns at the Venomian soldiers by the hut. "Krystal, fry those bastards." Wolf demanded, and then he and Krystal were firing their rifles, blasting a hail of laser fire from behind the trees and cutting down a few enemies by the hut. The remaining Venomian soldier blasted some laser bolts back, until Krystal fired some shots and blasted the enemy down.
"Move it." Wolf ordered as he and Krystal ran over to the hut. Once the vixen took cover behind the hut's outer wall, a Venomian ran over to them, aiming at Krystal, until Wolf charged and seized the enemy from behind before slicing the Venomian's throat with a knife. Another soldier came in and aimed at Wolf, but luckily, Krystal fired some precise shots and blasted the soldier as Wolf threw his now dead enemy into some shallow water next to the hut.
Krystal and Wolf hid behind the hut, keeping their cover as Wolf peered around. He saw a Venomian soldier emerging from some close by jungle to search around, as he heard a slight bit of commotion. "Stay back," Wolf ordered, "Sentry." Wolf signalled with his hand for Krystal to stay back and as the vixen obeyed and stayed, Wolf kept looking at the situation. Wolf saw the Venomian aiming his rifle around, and then overlooking the village. However, he then looked further and saw someone else, a friendly... Falco and Hiris, behind some trees, very close to the Venomian sentry. Wolf used his hand to make an order to Falco to quietly dispatch the sentry, and Falco nodded as he brandished his knife and started walking quietly and slowly to the sentry from his side. Providing a distraction, Wolf emerged from his cover to get the sentry's attention.
"Hey, Andy." Wolf quietly said to the sentry, causing the enemy to look at him. This was the sentry's fatal mistake, as Falco immediately rushed up to the enemy from behind, covered his mouth with his wing and then stabbed the enemy in the back before placing the enemy on the ground.
"This shit never gets old." Falco said with some amusement as he picked up his rifle. Hiris came out of the jungle with a couple other marines and they ran over to Krystal, Wolf and Falco. Once together, they went over to hide behind the hut.
"I placed the explosives and I got marines situated around the village entrance," Hiris stated, "We're ready for the assault."
"Good." Wolf stated.
"Krys, scout out the village." Falco said to Krystal, "Take these." Falco handed the vixen some binoculars and she took them and looked through them, seeing the village. Krystal saw numerous soldiers patrolling the village, as well as an AA gun.
"What do ya' see, Krys?" Falco asked.
"Some hired rifles," Krystal said, "A slight view of an AA."
"That's our target." Wolf stated.
"Okay," Falco said, "Let's get over there, wipe out that infantry and blow up that AA gun... that easy." Krystal kept looking through the binoculars, and as she saw to her left, she became a bit alarmed with terror... Veras was right there in the village, and Rilkey Grizz was standing next to them.
"Veras... I see him," Krystal said, "He's here."
Krystal looked through the binoculars as she saw Veras directing a line of Venomian soldiers, who were standing in front of a group of some rounded up villagers, who stood terrified before the Venomian soldiers. Krystal used a switch for the voice enhancer on the binoculars, which enabled her to hear Veras, despite him being hundreds of yards away. As she looked through the binoculars, she heard Veras speak his horrifying sentence.
"You're collaboration with Corneria is proof of your guilt," Veras spoke to the rounded up villagers, "So in accordance to military tradition... your punishment will be sentenced out immediately."
Krystal felt horrified by this. Falco walked up to the vixen and asked, "What's going down there?"
"...He's killing civilians." Krystal responded with sorrow, as she knew there was nothing they could do in time.
"What?!" Falco said, grabbing the binoculars and looked through them, only to see Veras give his right hand, Grizz, an order, who in turn, passed the order to the line of troops. Once Veras and Grizz gave the order, the Venomian troops aimed their guns at the villagers in front of them and blasted a fiery hail of laser fire at the civilians, bloodily cutting many of them down. Remaining civilians tried to run, but they were shot down by Venomian soldiers as well. Falco became outright furious as he saw the event, angrily lowering the binoculars.
"Rrgh, that son of a bitch!" Falco vented, rather quietly though with a clear tone of heated anger. Krystal watched the event, terrified and saddened before she grabbed the binoculars and used them to watch Veras, hearing him and Grizz speak through the voice enhancer.
"Cornerian forces have established a base, not too far from here, sir." Grizz spoke.
"That is of no matter," Veras responded, "Corneria's aggression towards me will not go unpunished, and I gave them their choice... so instead of them returning to their world, they'll just simply die in ours."
Krystal watched Veras and Grizz walk off the scene as the village was being mopped up by Venomian soldiers. Once Veras and Grizz started walking away, Krystal looked at the scene, feeling deep sorrow for the slain villagers.
"Let's get down there," Hiris stated as he and Wolf started moving down the hill towards the entrance of the village.
"...Right." Krystal replied as she picked up her rifle and followed after Falco and ran down the pathway to the bottom of the hill. Krystal moved down the path with her friends and came near the entrance to the village. Krystal hid behind a tree near the entrance, and as her friends hid behind some plants, the vixen looked around and saw numerous other Cornerian soldiers hiding behind trees and plants as several more Cornerians came in and quietly took their cover.
"Explosive are placed on the reserve right there." Hiris said.
"Good," Wolf said, "Falco, raze em'."
"Gladly." Falco said as he took out a detonator. Krystal looked at the reserve right before her and, once Falco activated the detonator, she watched the reserve burst into fire, blasting the building apart in a fiery explosion that splintered the wooden walls and sent several Venomians in it into the air. The rest of the Venomians were startled into alert.
"Move it!" Hiris ordered, "Attack!" Immediately, Krystal fired her rifle and shot several Venomian soldiers in the village from her tree cover. From their cover in the trees and plants, the Cornerian soldiers all fired their rifles, blazing hails of laser fire at the village and gunning down numerous Venomian soldiers in vicious fighting. The alarmed Venomians blasted some laser fire back, but the Cornerians kept up the assault, firing more laser shots and pinning down the enemies. Wolf blasted a few soldiers down as Krystal fired shots and gunned a few more down as well. The Cornerians kept blasting some fire and shot a few more enemies down until the first line of Venomian defence was eliminated.
"Move into the village," Hiris ordered, "Clear these bastards out!" Krystal and the Cornerians emerged from the trees and ran into the village, blasting some fire to pin down their enemies. The Venomians blazed some laser bolts and shot several Cornerians down, but the Cornerians took cover behind buildings and objects. Once behind their cover, the Cornerians kept firing their rifles, blazing more hails of laser fire at the Venomians and cutting numerous enemies down as the vicious battle raged in the village. Taking cover behind a building, Krystal fired her rifle and shot six Venomians down and then aimed at her right and fired some laser shots that hit five more Venomians. Krystal kept fighting in the fierce skirmish as Wolf and Hiris fired their rifles and shot numerous enemies down. While Krystal fired some shots and blasted two more enemies, Falco threw a grenade and took out a couple other Venomians in a blast, then he blasted some more laser bolts, shooting down a couple Venomians.
Cornerian soldiers kept firing hails of laser shots from their building cover and gunning down numerous Venomians. The Venomians returned fired and blasted a few Cornerians down, but several Cornerians shot some fire back and shot a few enemies in the buildings while pinning down several others with laser fire. Krystal fired her rifle in the fierce battle and shot down several Venomians on the road through the village and then she aimed and fired some shots at a building, hitting a few enemies in that building. Wolf blasted five more enemies down as Hiris fired some laser fire and hit seven Venomian soldiers. Cornerian soldiers kept firing laser shots and frying enemy soldiers on the road and in buildings, but Venomian soldiers hid behind some buildings and shot down a few Cornerians. Krystal fired some covering shots, pinning down the enemy soldiers as Cornerian soldiers held cover from behind their buildings and blazed more laser fire, hitting several Venomian soldiers behind the buildings.
Cornerian soldiers moved down the road running through the village and held cover behind buildings and objects as another line of Venomians came in and blazed some laser fire at them. The Cornerians fired more laser shots and blasted several Venomians down, then shot some fire that fried Venomians blasting laser from buildings. as Wolf shot seven more Venomians down, Krystal fired her rifle and shot six enemies, then she fired more laser shots and blasted five more. Hiris shot two Venomians down as Falco blasted another few more. Venomian gunfire blasted back and gunned several more Cornerians down, until Krystal fired some shots and blasted a few down and then pinned several others down with laser fire.
After vicious fighting in the village, Cornerian soldiers fired some shots and gunned down more Venomian soldiers in the buildings and out it the open. A few Venomians blasted some laser bolts and shot a few Cornerians down, but the Cornerian soldiers fired more laser and razed the Venomians in the open. Krystal shot a few more enemies while Wolf blasted several more, allowing the Cornerians to move up. After gunning down a few more Venomians on the road, a building at the end of the path opened up with Venomian gunfire, pinning the Cornerians down. Rushing and taking cover in a separate building, Krystal, Wolf and Hiris all fired their rifles and shot the enemies in the opposing building. Once the threat was finished, the Cornerians moved up down a path. Krystal and Wolf went through the path, where several Venomians came in to attack. After taking cover behind some crates, Krystal and Wolf fired some laser shots and gunned the enemies down. However, a Venomian machine gun opened up and started raining some fire on the approaching Cornerians.
"Shit!" Hiris vented, "Machine gun!"
"I'll take it out!" Falco stated, "Krystal, cover me!" Falco rushed over behind a crate as Krystal and Wolf fired some shots at the machine gun. Once the laser hit near the emplacement, the gunner fired some shots back at the two, forcing them into cover.
"Shit!" Wolf exclaimed, "Falco, burn that bastard!"
"Keep blasting at it." Falco responded as he tried to get to another crate, as the machine gun was starting to blaze towards him. Krystal fired some shots back and, with a careful shot, hit the gunner with a laser bolt, just as Falco primed and threw two grenades at the emplacement and destroyed it in a fiery blast.
"Ha!" Wolf stated as the Cornerians moved up when, Venomians emerged from a building to the right, gunning a couple Cornerians down. A Venomian threw a grenade that landed near Krystal, but Wolf picked it up and threw it back, the blast dispatching a Venomian. Krystal fired some shots and gunned down a few enemies on the building as Wolf and Falco blasted a few others on the ground. Another Venomian rushed up to Wolf with a knife, but Wolf blocked the soldier's attack with his arm, punched the him in the stomach and then Wolf grabbed the Venomian's arm and flipped him over, before shooting the enemy dead and moving on.
"Move to that AA gun!" Hiris ordered and then he and the Venomians moved past the building to their target. Krystal followed after them and came upon a short path leading past another building, where she saw the AA gun and some Venomians. As the AA gun fired at Venomian air forces above them, Venomian soldiers fired some laser at the incoming Cornerians. Taking cover in a building, Krystal fired her rifle and shot a few Venomians down, but the AA gun suddenly turned its attention to her. Krystal took cover as the gun rained fire down on her, keeping her from moving. Wolf saw the AA threatening Krystal, so he blasted a hail of laser at the AA, gaining its attention. Relieved, Krystal took careful aim and, with a precise shot, gunned the AA gunner down.
"Clear the rest of the village!" Hiris stated and he and the Cornerians moved up. Krystal ran up through the path, just as a Venomian rushed her with a bayonet. luckily, Krystal deflected the attack with her rifle and then the vixen hit the enemy with her fist, knocking him out before she then moved past the building. She looked up at her left and saw a Venomian carrier craft flying away, but then returned her attention to the battle, which was now focused at the end of the village, with Cornerian soldiers facing down the last Venomian defence.
"Take that son of a bitch down!" Falco shouted as he also noticed the enemy ship leave. He and a few Cornerians blasted some laser bolts at it, but to no avail, as it was far too out of range and eventually disappeared into the sky.
Krystal saw gunfire being emitted from the end of the village and as she rushed over, she saw someone already present at the battle... Fox and the two marines with him. Fox and his two marines were behind a couple of crates, blazing some laser fire at the Venomians before them. As the Cornerian soldiers fired some laser shots at the Venomian defence, Krystal fired some laser shots and gunned seven enemies down and then she aimed to her right and shot two more enemies. Wolf and Fox blasted a few enemy soldiers down as Cornerian soldiers blasted a few remaining enemies to the ground before running over to another enemy building and throwing a couple grenades inside, blasting the inside of the building and eliminating any resistance. Krystal and Wolf then walked over to Fox.
"I saw Veras leave in a ship just now." Fox stated, as he also noticed the ship leave.
"That coward must have left when he heard gunfire erupt in the village." Wolf said, rather casually.
"Well, I'm sure I found that base." Fox said, "Follow me."
Fox went through a narrow path of jungle as Krystal and Wolf followed after him. They walked down the very short distance and came upon a tall, large pillbox, leftover from a previous engagement. The pillbox had an incredibly abandoned look, covered in vegetation.
"Looks abandoned." Wolf stated.
"That's what makes it perfect." Fox said.
Fox proceeded to kick open the door on the left side of the pillbox and move into the entrance. "Keep up with him, Krystal," Wolf spoke to the vixen, "We'll find your Veras... You just get out safely once you've gotten what's in there."
"Right, Wolf." Krystal said and then the vixen followed after Fox and into the pillbox. Krystal followed Fox through some rooms and halls in the pillbox, manoeuvring around the corridors as they made their way to the top of the pillbox.
"There's signs of recent activity," Fox said, looking around, "Yeah... Veras was here."
"Is there anything else there?" Krystal asked.
"A Venomian officer, named Scara."
"Is he still in here?" Krystal replied.
"Of course not," Fox replied brashly, "Don't be an idiot!"
Krystal remained silent as she and Fox moved through the corridor, where they came into a room. Upon entering the room, suddenly, a few Venomians lunged at them. A Venomian charged at Krystal with a knife, but she blocked it with her rifle and then Krystal punched the enemy away as another soldier pounced on her and then brought his knife down on her. Krystal held the wrist of her enemy and, after a brief struggle, Fox came in and kicked the enemy down, but then the other two Venomians grabbed Fox, one holding him from behind while the other grappled with Fox over a knife. Krystal became very worried, seeing Fox nearly get killed and she quickly grabbed her rifle and aimed. Fox was overwhelmed by the relentless struggle with his two enemies, seeing the knife coming very close to his neck when, luckily, Krystal fired some laser shots and gunned the two enemies down, saving Fox. The last enemy got up and charged at Fox with his knife, but Fox grabbed the Venomian's arm and rammed him against the wall, before kicking him down and stabbing him with his knife.
Fox felt a little agitated that he couldn't handle the two Venomians and needed Krystal to save him. However, he then felt something else as well... Gratitude that she had saved him... However, he just shook it off and remained quiet as he moved out of the room with Krystal following after. Once moving up some stairs, they reached the top floor of the pillbox, coming to the door of the target room. Fox kicked down the door and then he and Krystal entered... only to find it cleared out... The room was basically empty, with only a table and some papers remaining.
"God damn it!" Fox exclaimed, "That bastard knew about us coming!"
"Is this the right vicinity? Krystal asked.
"Yes it is." Fox said, "I know it cause Scara was here." The two looked around the room and then spotted a dead Venomian officer, lying on the floor with a laser wound present on his head. Krystal and Fox walked over and examined the dead officer, with Fox kneeling down to look at his face.
"Is he..." Krystal said.
"Yeah," Fox stated, "It's Scara."
Fox then walked over to the table and searched through the remaining papers. After some thorough searching, Fox picked up a piece of paper that caught his interest. "Krystal, I found something," Fox said, before starting to read from the paper, "...Finalization of subjects analyzed. Proceed to Merkener..."
"Where is this?" Krystal asked.
"Merkener's a system in the outer Lylat territories," Fox answered, "Must be where he's conducting his work... Well, that's it, we're leaving." Krystal followed Fox down a long hall and then he started bashing the exit door with his rifle before ramming it down, coming out onto the top of the tall pillbox. However, they only found themselves trapped on top of it.
"Shit!" Fox vented at his current situation, which only got worse as some Venomians appeared on a cliff near them and blasted some laser bolts at them. Krystal fired her rifle at the Venomian soldiers, gunning a few of them down. While Krystal fired more laser shots at the enemy soldiers, they became increasingly worried as the Venomians kept pouring lasers on them. Krystal fired some more shots at the enemies when, suddenly, Cornerian gunships flew in and blasted the Venomians down with machine gun fire. Nora flew by in her ship and blasted a Venomian artillery gun as a Cornerian gunship came in next to the bunker... Wolf and Falco were seen on the gunship.
As the gunship sailed close to the top of the pillbox, Wolf stood in the gunship's cargo hatch, waving to Krystal and Fox to jump over. Heeding Wolf's advice, Krystal rushed from the top of the pillbox and jumped over towards the gunship, grabbing hold of a railing attached to the hatch door. As Krystal held onto the rail, she looked up and saw Wolf and Falco extend their hands out and grab hold of Krystal's hand and pull her into the gunship. Once Krystal was inside, Fox backed up and jumped off the pillbox to grab the gunship rail. Once Fox got a hold of it, Wolf went over and grabbed Fox's hand to pull him up.
"Let's get the Hell out of here!" Wolf ordered, and then, once everyone was safely on board, the Cornerian gunships and fighters sailed off, away from the area to return to friendly controlled territory.
Everyone was safely on board the Valkyrie, and though fighting continued on Lerushk in a lasting stalemate, the invasions of Khilirihk and Hinaril were successfully repulsed. The war seemed to be going in Corneria's favour. Fox stood on the command deck of the capital ship, explaining what he had found in the secret pillbox to Col. Harrion Pointer, with Krystal, Wolf, Falco and Nora listening as well.
"Merkener is a Venomian held planet," Harrion spoke, "They have it as a trading post."
"It's rich in minerals as well." Krystal said, holding her hands behind her back.
"There's a military outpost stationed on the Eastern hemisphere," Fox pointed out, "I'm going for it... by myself."
"What exactly do you expect me to do then, according to your plan, McCloud?" Harrion asked.
"What you always do, Colonel... Just send guys down there. I can use such an attack as cover."
"...Is there anything I can help with?" Krystal asked.
"You can go home or run back to Wolf," Fox said harshly, "I don't care."
"...Fox... I..." Krystal said weakly.
"Fox, that's out of line!" Falco stated, a bit angry.
"That's none of your concern, Lombardi!" Fox said sternly to the falcon, "You can stay with her."
Fox left the bridge, leaving Harrion to discuss his attack plans with his other officers. Krystal listened to the officer's strategy and, one they were finished, she walked over to a window, placing a hand on the glass as she watched the stars and, after standing there for a few moments, Krystal walked out of the bridge. Soon afterwards, Falco came out of the bridge as well, aiming for the hangar. On his way however, he spotted Krystal, standing by herself in an empty hallway... and she remained very silent, feeling deep sorrow.
"Krys," Falco said as he walked up to her, "...Are you okay?"
"...I-I'm fine, Fal," Krystal responded, "I'm sorry."
Falco placed a hand on Krystal's shoulder from behind, trying to see how she was doing, "...What's going on?" Falco asked with concern.
"...It's just..." Krystal retained her silence, and then spoke calmly, "...It isn't fair, Fal..."
"Well... Fox is just-"
"No, it isn't him... it's... Why... Why did he have to die?"
"...Krystal... Who?"
"...Slippy... He's my friend, Fal... I miss him..."
"...I know, Krystal... So do I."
"...Still, he's right... I'm the reason he died."
"What are you talking about?"
"If I hadn't been so close... so careless, he'd still be alive... It should have been me."
"Krystal, don't say that!" Falco said, "Don't even think stuff like that!"
"Fal, I'm sorry," Krystal said and even though the vixen remained calm, tears were showing in her eyes. Krystal sniffled and then spoke, "I'm sorry... I caused his-"
"Krystal, his death wasn't your fault!" Falco said as he held his hands on Krystal's shoulders, "You hear me, none of that is your fault. All of this is Veras' fault, and I assure you, he'll get what he deserves... you weren't careless at all, you just did what you could to stop that Vulcain, and you succeeded... and you didn't cause Slippy's death... he chose to sacrifice himself to save you, because he cared about you, and he was happy he could save you."
"...Really?" Krystal said, a couple tears escaping her eyes.
"Yeah, Krys," Falco said, "...He's a hero, just like you are... And he'd do it all over again for you, cause he knows your worth it... And deep down, even Fox knows that."
Krystal sniffled and said, "I'm just really confused."
"...I'm sure Fox knows that it wasn't your fault."
"...I still believe in him, Fal... I still think he can help."
Krystal and Falco embraced in a deep hug. As they embraced, they were unaware that another was close by... Fox... He was on his way to the hangar, but he overheard the vixen and the falcon in the hall. As he listened, he felt something that he hadn't felt for a while... remorse... remorse over how he blamed Krystal for the death of his friend, and this time, he didn't shake it off... He just carried that feeling with him as he continued his way to the hangar.