Falco rushed into Jas' room, his mouth dropping when he saw Katt, bleeding on the floor. Fay and Fara were already in the room, Fara clutching a laser graze on her arm.

"Wh-what the hell happened?!" he dropped to his knees in front of Katt, who stirred slightly at the sound of his voice.

"Jasmine shot her, put a pair of rounds toward me on her way out, but well, I've always been light on my feet." Falco cursed before he continued.

"But why? Why would she just start shooting?" the trio fell silent as Katt's weak voice spoke.

"Oikonny… She was… talking to… Oikonny." Fay and Fara glanced at each other, a scared look in their eyes.

"So then, what did she do to the ship?" Falco glanced between them, totally confused. Wolf marched in as Fara gestured to Fay.

"Wolf, can you watch over Katt? Falco, Fay, come on." he followed the two women out into the hall as Slippy trotted off the bridge.

"Fay, what do you think?" she sighed as the group formed a small circle.

"Not good. The Tadpole doesn't have the medical facilities I'd need to do much more than buy her time. And she honestly doesn't have much. Hours at most." Falco felt tears rising in his eyes.

"And most of the bridge consoles are shot. Blown in the power surge. Best we can hope for is the emergency stop is still functional. Then all we have to do is run into a celestial body, planet, asteroid, moon, anything." Falco sighed before he responded.

"Well, we can't be far from Katina. Katt's ship has a warp drive. We can get her an actual hospital." The others stared at him, clearly in disagreement.

"Falco, Katt's ship could be the only thing capable of getting us help once we stop. We can't just let it run off when we have the possibility of landing in uncharted territory. We can't risk everyone else just to save her. I know Fay will do her best, and she may just make it." Fay's eyes dropped as Fara spoke. She couldn't look at any of them as she spoke softly.

"No she won't. She needs at least some plasma, maybe even blood. None of us can give that to her. Without it, she will die. The best I can do is make her more comfortable." Tears flowed freely out of everyone's eyes. Falco cursed and stalked away, his hands running through the feathers on his head.

"Falco, I'm sorry. We can't do anything for her." he ignored her and disappeared into jasmine's cabin, sitting down next to Katt. Wolf nodded to him and stepped out, leaving the door open. Hours seemed to pass as he watched her sleep, almost too still for her to be alive. He cursed before he peeked out the door. Voices were drifting from the bridge, but the hallway seemed clear. He quickly grabbed Katt and slipped into the tail boom, carefully lowering her limp body into her fighter. One of their voices shouted his name just before he slid down the ladder.

"Falco! No!" he looked back before shouting.

"I'm sorry." And he sealed the hatch behind him. The fighter powered on without issue and he kept the ship on the same course as he decelerated. As soon as he had dropped out of warp, he checked his navigation. "What the hell…" by the nav computer, his current position was only an hour from Katina, when it should have been almost six. Confused, he re-checked the star charts and nearby nav buoy's tracing a line on his current heading straight to Sauria. "Well guys, I'll be back with you soon. Just don't kill me for this."


Krystal clumsily climbed out of the cab, unused to riding in civilian vehicles in full combat gear. She had strapped her 'Kursed' armor on, down to the sniper rifle slung over her shoulder. The cab driver had been afraid of them until Fox showed him his ID, explaining that he was a member of the Star Fox team. They had come to a group of private landing pads just outside the main spaceport. The private guards seemed to not even notice them as Fox punched in a code to enter. The gate opened and she followed him through it.

"So, um, what are we doing here?" he smirked as he responded.

"I doubt you remember this place. Peppy bought this after the Aparoid threat. It's where my fighter is." She nodded as he led the way to one of the pads, entering the code again at a second gate. Inside were two large aircraft hangers with a landing pad equal in size sprawling out in front of the two buildings. On the tarmac, was Fox's modified Arwing, seeming almost strange alone on the expanse of concrete. He led her to one of the hangers and gestured her inside. She did as he gestured, walking into the nearly pitch black room. He followed her in and flicked the lights on as he spoke.

"See? You have a fighter." Her jaw dropped as she saw the ship, in perfect condition. She had only seen fighters in this condition in advertisements.

"I Fox, if that's an X-03, then why are you flying that old Junker?" he smirked and gestured toward the fighter.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." She stayed puzzled as she walked around the craft, not seeing anything out of place. "Why don't you get in it?" she nodded and climbed the ladder that was already pushed up to it. She was about to ask Fox to unseal the Canopy for her when she saw the name under cockpit. Krystal.

"This was mine, wasn't it?" she glanced back at him as he nodded and typed a command into his wrist computer.

"Yeah. When you left, I couldn't bear to sell it. So I maintained it, kept it in the best condition possible. When you destroyed my fighter, I couldn't stand the thought of flying it, so I flew the old junker, as you dubbed it." she grimaced as she fired the fighter up, having no trouble at all with the holographic interface.

"I understand. And I guess it ended up being smart." She sealed the canopy as he opened the main door. She carefully guided the craft out of the hanger and into the sky, patiently waiting for him to follow. His own fighter quickly joined her, looking cheap and shabby compared to her fighter. He led her out into space as she spoke over the radio.

"So that solves the fighter problem, but what about a jump ship?" he chuckled as he responded, vectoring toward the moon.

"Oh, don't worry. I got that covered. I don't know if you remember Rob, but be ready to say hi to him again." Confused, she let silence fall between them, simply following his fighter. They came around to the backside of the moon, where a space junk yard and recycling center was. Most of the ships there were rusted and battered hulks, looking like just passing by would cause them to fall apart. But near the center itself, was a ship that looked totally out of place, given it was in flying condition and was clearly powered.

"Is that a light assault carrier? I thought the CDF stopped using those decades ago?" Fox angled his fighter toward one of the hanger openings, located at the bow of the boxy ship.

"As a matter of fact, she is. I'd like you to meet the Great Fox Two. She aint as flashy as the old girl, but she'll get the job done. When you died, I stopped trying to refurbish it, and just hired Rob out to the junk yard. Kinda fitting, since I bought her from here for next to nothing. Rob has been taking care of her." She grinned as she guided her fighter into one of the hangers, docking with one of the catapult clamps. She couldn't help but smile as the canopy lifted and she somehow felt at home on a ship she had never set foot on before. Fox trotted over to her fighter and helped her out before walking with her to the back of the hanger.

"So, is she armed as she used to be? I mean, back in the day, these things had weapons comparable to a modern cruiser." He shook his head as they stepped into an elevator.

"No, all that's working is the missile system. Still formidable, but not great. Her armor and shields are way above spec now, as well as her engines. But, for a ship that I bought cheaper than dirt, she's great. A modern ship this size would've been almost five times the cost." They arrived at the bridge and she followed him on, recognizing the robot on the bridge.

"Krystal, I am glad you are alive and well." His mechanical voice was unfamiliar to her, but she simply could not remember how it sounded before.

"I'm alive Rob, not well." His head cocked sideways, about to speak when Fox cut him off.

"Stow it Rob and get us moving for the Orbital Gate. Peppy is assembling three battle groups there to deal with Oikonny." The view outside the ship started moving as Rob spoke.

"Affirmative. Estimated time of arrival, three minutes." Krystal smiled to Fox as they left the junk yard, seeing the worry in every line of his body.