Chapter -30-
The Prototype

Meanwhile, on Corneria

Miyu Lynx lifted her gaze to the skies. The shadow of Imperial battle cruisers dotted the late afternoon skyline like dark clouds.

She lowered her gaze to Bill and Fay on the runway, beside her new prototype ship. It resembled a candy apple red sports car, but with two long tines in front. It was small, sleek, and sporty, but too small to seem like it could survive much punishment.

The lynx exhaled in frustration. "You two should come with me. We can pull out the ordinance and fit the two of you into the missile bays by using deep-space breathing suits."

Bill shook his head. "We've been over this, Miyu. The fact that Venom attacked completely out of the blue, today, is one thing, but now our satellite array is down. I can't send any subspace messages. We sent a team to break orbit, and they were torn to pieces. And, really, I can't put a pregnant woman through acceleration shock or high G's, Miyu."

Fay added, "Besides, this was your idea, Miyu, and you're going to do great."

Miyu grumbled. "Yeah, I know. I should've kept my big yap shut. But, just for the record, I'm not afraid of being shot down. I'm afraid of leaving you two behind. I know I've been a major 'third wheel' lately, but you two are all I have. I guess I feel like, well, like … if I can pull off this rescue, I'll have finally made a name for myself."

"Your father was the finest starship captain in the Cornerian fleet. Highest decorated, too. You've spent your entire military career chasing his achievements. That needs to stop. You were a rookie pilot and an MP when you joined the hottest mercenary team in Lylat. You helped repel Andross. You helped them sink Astropolis into the sun. You have drive and ambition, Miyu. And you're still one hell of a pilot. I would know."

Fay piped up. "He's right, Miyu. You kept an aristocratic rogue tomboy from getting herself killed on the world's most dangerous mercenary team, and I owe you my life for that. You have the talent to survive, and you have a mockup of Theodore Toad's cloaking device, which will last eight full minutes, maybe longer. That's enough time to break orbit and head for the Great Fox."

Bill wrapped his knuckles on the fighter's fuselage. "Space Dynamics said this prototype scout ship was the fastest fighter they've ever made. So, you've got that going for you, as well."

Miyu sighed softly. "I know, I know. Like you guys said … this was my plan." Miyu glanced up at two more capital ships that entered the atmosphere. She grimaced. "I'm not afraid of dying. I'm afraid of leaving you two here. Fay, your man is the defacto prime minister of the planet for the moment, due to the elected official being taken by Venom's first wave. So, I mean, it's likely they're going to be coming for you guys next. I mean, God, Fay, you have a future baby to think about." She lowered her gaze back down, peering over the side of the cockpit. "You could fly, while Bill and I get into the ordinance tubes. The gravity diffusers would lessen the in-atmosphere G-forces…"

Fay shook her head and placed a paw upon her swollen belly. "Someone has to stay here and make sure everyone else's babies are looked after. That's us. Just bring Star Fox, Miyu. Please."

Miyu nodded with a sigh. "All right. I'm on it. Love you two crazy kids. Stay safe."

Fay waved. "Love you, too, Miyu. Give everyone a hug for me when you get to the GreatFox."

Miyu chuckled. "Yeah, okay. I will." She settled down into the cockpit with a sigh and a heavy heart. She picked up a headset visor with HUD panel and held it in her paws for a moment. It was brand new, never-before-worn.

She eased the headset onto her head. The acrylic glass HUD panel whirred into position over her right eye. There was a click, indicating that it was locked into place.

She touched a button on the side, pairing it with the onboard computer system of her new prototype fighter.

An indicator logo flashed on one of the screens of her dash, showing a good connection.

She booted the fighter's engines, but they came online silently.

Bill's voice came over the headset, directly into her ears. "All right, Miyu, so the electric engines are designed to run directly from a battery pack, and it's supposed to provide enough power to get you all the way out to the asteroid belt with silent propulsion. But if you use it to evade or attack, your range will be reduced. Get as far away as you can before bringing the plasma engines online. You also have a single-use jump-drive. It should take you clear across Lylat, if necessary, and it's good for one jump, so use it wisely. Finally, you have two smart missiles and two nova bombs. Twin blasters will use up your battery, so don't bring those online until you're running on fuel cells. Your ship's guns are preset to the single-shot blaster cannon, but until you're out of the atmosphere, only open fire in an emergency. Avoid combat until you have wingmen, because that scout ship is designed for speed, not for taking much punishment. Okay! That's pretty much everything. Any questions?"

"Yeah. How'd I talk you guys into letting me do this. Someone has to watch your tails, and I won't be around to do it."

Bill scoffed over the line. "How ever did we function without you, Miyu? I feel doomed already."

"Jerk butt."

"That's General Jerk Butt to you. All right. Once you're above those ships, you won't have a way to contact us anymore. We're headed into the bunker right now. It's beneath the range of bunker-buster missiles. So, the only way to reach us will be to initiate the digital handshake with our computer system. So, uh, don't die, because Star Fox won't be able to let us know when it's safe to come out. Now, I issued the order for the entire population to seek out the shelters. By the time you return, Corneria will likely be inhabited by Venom soldiers. They will beq using our military gear to repel your reentry. So, please, be safe."

"God, you worry more than my father. Just get your butts in that bunker. I'm taking off."

"Fay sends her love, and she asks that you not worry about us. We'll be worried enough about you. Stay focused on your mission."

"See you soon, old man. God, I can't wait to see a toddler crawling on your neck and head. It's going to suck so much. You better live so I can see it. Miyu out!" She thumbed three toggle switches, took a deep breath, pulled her harness strap down over herself, clicked it into place, and muttered, "I hope that whoever pre-tripped this fighter did a good job. Don't need a wing breaking off on her maiden flight."

The fighter responded by humming loudly, from the electric engines that spooled up in the heart of the prototype machine.

She throttled the bar forward, pulled back on the yoke, and tapped the boost to give it some afterburn.

She engaged the cloak, pointed her ship into an empty section of sky, and cranked the prototype's accelerator bar up to wide-open-throttle.

She was immediately impressed.

Mach 8, in atmosphere, using silent electric engines. It handled responsively like an Arwing, but it was shaped very different.

The prototype fighter had a dual-scythe body style. Like a two-tine fork. The main fuselage resembled something akin to a roadster sportscar. The machine felt, overall, far too compact to perform the way it was performing. Yet flying it felt solid. There was no shaking, and the yoke felt smooth and sturdy.

She opened a channel again. "You still there, Bill?"

"Miyu? Something wrong?"

"Yeah. How'd you guys get this thing to respond like a supercar?"

"Don't thank me. Thank Fara Phoenix."

"Wait, what? Fara?" Miyu swallowed. "Why Fara?"

"Phoenix bought Space Dynamics. Their first prototype fighter was designed to look like her favorite red roadster, with the batteries in those stabby-looking things sticking out of the front. The thing looks ridiculous to me ... like a racecar mated with a forklift. I know, I know … the front end isn't anywhere as small as forklift tines. Still looks weird, though. Anyhow, how does it fly?"

"Like a goddamn … dream. Not even kidding. I'm really surprised. It feels as sturdy as heavy as a M-class, but as speedy and nimble as an Arwing. I broke Mach 8.4 in under ninety seconds."

"Oh. Well damn. And here I was thinking that goofy looking thing looked like it could be used to open canned goods. It's small as hell. Had no idea it would be that fast, either. Surprised you can even talk over that much gravity. Now you just need to go four times that fast for escape velocity."

"Hardly feel a thing, Bill. Plus, it has multilayer shields. Three alternating polarity shields."

"Yes, Miyu, but the armor plating is only designed to be able to withstand atmospheric reentry."

"I remember. I won't get myself shot down. I promise."

Bill scoffed. "Yeah, you better not. If you so much as scratch it, you'll probably not survive the heat of landing on anything larger than a moon. So, if you lose your shields, don't scratch it. Else you'll have to land on someone's carrier."

"It's supposed to be an ultra-long-distance scout fighter, according to the user manual I got this morning."

"I still think it looks like a racecar fucked a forklift. Seriously. A ship that compact was probably made for looks, not functionality. It really flies nice, huh?"

"It takes a lot to impress me. Consider me impressed."

"Well, if it gets you to the Great Fox and back, thank Fara for me."

"I, uh…" Miyu cleared her throat. "Yeah, sure. That young little thing that I couldn't compete with, even back in my twenties, and can't even hold a candle to, today. Got it."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I'm about to break above the clouds, so you're going to lose me, soon."

"We're stepping into the bunker, now. Don't die. Fay won't let me hear the end of it if you die."

"Again, this was my idea. If I bite the bullet, tell Fara her company's new fighter was somehow to blame. Stay safe, you two." Miyu closed the channel.

Miyu flipped two more switches, activating the rectangular scramjet booster mounted above the two standard circular boosters on the back. The ship rumbled with power, and the HUD readout climbed in speed.

An indicator light illuminated the dash, reading "Hypersonic."

Mach 35, vertically. She could feel her sleek space suit constrict and loosen in various places to keep blood flowing to her limbs and head.

She drew in a slow calm breath, exhaled a little, and then said, "Change speed to Papetoon Old Standard."

The HUD display changed from Mach to miles per hour. It surpassed 27,000 MPH.

Another whirring sound came from behind her head. One of the status monitors read, "Liquid cooling online. Boost manifold core temperature 6,200 F."

"Change back to Cornerian Metric."

The system changed from air intake cooling to a liquid cooling solution. The temperature dropped rapidly. It displayed, "3,200 C., 3,000 C., 2,800 C.," on her HUD indicator.

She broke the atmosphere and looked back at her home. A glowing blue line shined above the planet, as if outlining it.

The sight of Corneria's atmospheric glow immediately calmed her heart. Her body relaxed.

A four-minute countdown clock showed up in her HUD. She knew she only had several minutes left until her cloak died. She would get an extra minute or two if she was lucky.

Miyu kept the throttle wide open and avoided any contacts on the sensor scope. She flipped three mechanical switches to bring the plasma engines online.

She expected the glow of a particle buildup in the two large round boosters at the aft of her fighter, but a message showed in her HUD, saying the main engines needed a moment to warm up.

Her proximity alarm sounded over a piezo speaker in her headset. Her ears flickered in irritation and adrenaline flooded her bloodstream.

A dry feminine voice came over another speaker in her dash. "Proximity Alert. Exercise extreme caution."

"I'm getting too old for this shit," she muttered. She panned her head from right to left. Her vertical pupils dilated to wide ovals. "Well? What is it? Where's the sector boss, or whatever it is that set off my Bitching Betty?"

She cut her gaze down to her sensor scope; it was clear.

Miyu gazed down, between her knees, to the clear panel beneath her seat, allowing her to see under the prototype fighter. Clear fiberoptic cables were channeled through the sides at the edge of the clear floor panel.

She looked back up into the inky void of space. Her dashboard came into the light of Corneria's glow.

Miyu gazed back, over her shoulder, able to see the terminator line at the edge of the planet, and the twinkle of a satellite about two miles away.

She shifted her body at the waist and peered back over her other shoulder. The port side of the canopy glass was polarized to protect from Lylat's radiant glow.

"Where are you?!" she exclaimed. "God dammit, what's out there?! Is it a sensor glitch? Fara, you were my best friend, once. I swear to Lylat, your stupid new ship better not be messing with me!"

Silence.

"Imminent impact," the computer warned. "Change course to avoid collision."

Miyu grimaced. She pushed on the flight yoke, and, with a grunt of annoyance, she eased forward on the throttle.

The ship responded like a sportscar, moving forth, instantly, at a high rate of speed. She'd never experienced something that went from zero to fast in such a short time.

The darkness above became brighter than Lylat or distant Solar.

An explosion caused Miyu to look away.

The fighter's shields responded with a faint yet hazy aura, absorbing the energy of an explosive detonation. The tri-layer shield filtered the energy of the concussive force through each of three layers to better handle to attack.

"Computer, define source of ordinance!"

"Analyzing…" A pause, then a tiny fennec vixen appeared in the canopy, looking exactly like Fara Phoenix. The tiny fennec paced back and forth above the top right corner of the dashboard. Her tiny animated avatar glowed in the canopy glass. She had her paws behind her back, and her ears were laid back. She wore a lavender leotard over lime yoga pants. "Hey, I'm your onboard AI. You might call me Betty – most pilot do. Now that introductions are out of the way, I'm here to help you determine, as requested, what just happened to your brand new scout fighter."

"Are you freaking serious? She's the spokes-vixen for Space Dynamics, now?"

The tiny AI avatar replied, "Yes, but let's get back to the topic at hand. You're safe. Your shields absorbed the impact of the detonation. It was an EMP blast with a medium-yield Nova Bomb. Isn't it great that you're flying Space Dynamics' newest protype fighter? All the power of an interceptor in a package a little larger than my favorite red convertible sportscar! But, back to your question! I'm still analyzing my sensor data. However, you did a great job! You were smart to heed my advice! You moved just in time!"

"Okay, AI Betty, you're too smart for a smart-bot."

"AIA, actually. Artificially Intelligent Avatar. I can be uploaded into your holo-emitting smartwatch with minimal impact on the battery, because I actually exist on a Space Dynamics server, and I'm localized with streaming data. Be advised: Provider rates may apply."

"What the hell did I almost hit, lady?!"

"A stealth mine! Now, one moment, please. Biometrics tell me that you're a female lynx that…" A pause. The little holographically projected avatar's ears perked. "Oh … oh my. You're Miyu Lynx."

"Uh, so?"

"Well then. I have special code for you. One moment. A DLC packet installation is in progress. Almost there. Almost! Ten percent more! Okay!"

Miyu looked around the empty airspace as she continued further from Corneria. Her heart raced again. "A stealth mine? Good God." She cut her gaze back down at the little avatar, glowing in the canopy HUD just above the right corner of her dash. "Wait, what? You have to download some code, just because of who I am?"

"Miyu! It's me! Fara! Okay, it's not really me. I'm just … holy smokes, girl. If you're getting this, it's because I recorded this message in the hopes you'd cross paths with my new company's latest fighter! I just wanted to tell you that I missed you, and if we haven't already, then we should totally hang again. Anyway, the subroutine for your Bitching Betty AIA is put dormant for now. Look, girl, it looks like you're in a field of stealth-mines. Give it some throttle and get out of here. I'll show the most likely location in your canopy HUD, so you can avoid these mines the old fashion way. Eyes are a pilot's best friend."

"How, um … how can you even tell what they are?"

"Simple! Well, sort of. These enormous two metal things on the front of your fighter are more than just the place for your silent-drive engine batteries. They're ultra-high-fidelity prototype sensors. Even so, you have to be fairly close to a mine for me, your ship, to be able to see them. But going to slow means that you'll take more damage when one goes active. So, I want you to give it some thrust and watch where you're going!"

Miyu groaned softly. "Betty, er … Fara, look, that was a long time ago." She eased into the throttle bar and the ship sped up. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, but … I slept with your man after you died. It was stupid, and we both had a weird way of processing your death. Well, you know, the event we thought was your death. I can't even face you right now. Yet, you want to go shopping and get coffee? God, I can't even wrap my head around that."

"Well, this just turned super awkward, huh? Let me get those mines up on your HUD, girl."

The glow of faint orange spheres showed up in Miyu's canopy glass. The further away a mine was to her ship, the opaquer it was.

Miyu swallowed. She was right in the middle of a deep minefield, and her cloak only had about forty-five seconds left on the timer. She eased the throttle bar forward a little more. "You're just an AI, you don't care."

"That's not true, Miyu. Look, if you want to let it all out, feel free. I won't tell the real Fara Phoenix. This conversation isn't being recorded for a Space Dynamics server, either."

"Yeah, right." Miyu gave a firm tug on the yoke. "God, I wish this machine had fist attachment sticks like the Arwing II. I'm used to that."

"No sweat. Hold your paws out as if you were controlling an Arwing II fighter."

"Say what?" Miyu lifted her paws outward, making two fists, horizontally held, on either side of the cockpit, just above her knees. "Like this?"

"Yup. Hold still, girl." A hologram of Arwing controls appeared around Miyu's fists. The hologram became solid. "Solid-light emitters. Fancy, huh? Now, to address your concern about your privacy, all conversation is saved on the Blackbox Recorder device, but when I came online, I activated the privacy filter. Needless to say, Space Dynamics doesn't have the server space to record pilot conversations with the AIA. Listen, girl, this program is something the real Fara made special for you. I have a program for Fay, Bill, Fox, and a few others. Just in case. Something to make you comfortable. Something familiar. Anyhow, look, it's public record that Fox McCloud is married. Guess what? It's not to me, it's not to you, and it's not to any of our friends. So, it's pretty likely that the real Fara Phoenix won't give a damn what you've done with Fox. She's likely more worried about having her first boyfriend become her father-in-law. I mean, what woman wants to deal with that drama?"

Miyu swallowed. "Shit. I hadn't considered that. God, you … uh, she must be having nightmares about that crap. And dating a telepath means he would know how much it bothers you. Er, I mean, you know … her."

"For all intents and purposes, I'm mostly Fara. But, you're right. It most-likely bothers my living, breathing, real-life doppelgänger. But I know the real Fara really well. I'm a personality brain-scan of the real Fara. Yeah, cool, I know. Anyhow, knowing the real Fara, she's used her training to push her concerns down deep. It likely affects her on a subconscious level, but she wouldn't admit it right away. Not until she has a little time for self-reflection. Girl, you've got mines all over the place. Is now really the time you want to talk about this?"

"It's called deflection, Fake Fara."

"Oh, c'mon, don't be like that. I might not be the real Fara, but you can still hurt my feelings, Miyu."

"Wait, seriously?" Miyu maneuvered around a stealth mine, up ahead, with ease. She gave a gentle tug against the solid-lightform controls. The ship responded like a real Arwing's controls.

"Jeeze, no, honey, I'm joking with you. Do you know how many restrictions there would be on synthesized emotions? Not to mention questions of ethics, who gets to control computer emotions … how to handle therapy and recording. Laws to determine how much jealousy I'm allowed to have, if I deserve to be reclassified as sentient, if I get to have rights, and how the handlings of those rights would affect my feelings, and if I'd want to get vengeful for having my feelings mishandled."

Miyu blinked. "Wait, are you still joking with me?"

"Are vulpine men sexy? In all seriousness, Miyu, do you know how many servers it would take to replicate genuine complex emotion? There aren't enough tunnels beneath the surface of Macbeth to host the servers needed to process the raw computing power of actual emotion. Why do you think savants don't have access to their emotions? If everyone could turn off their emotions, the brain could process SO much."

"Watch it, Fake Fara. You're bordering dangerously close on calling emotional people 'stupid.'"

"Yeah, I guess you're right, it can be construed that way, huh? Okay! Looks like you're doing good on these mines. But your cloak just deactivated. Kind of funny. I can see these cloaked mines, and they could seek your cloaked fighter. I love how the latest generation of prototype sensors can now defeat cloaks to some degree."

"Okay, this ship is tiny. Much smaller than a sensor array on a military ship. Real talk, seriously, how can you display their placement for me?"

"Oh, jeeze. Make me give up classified secrets, why don't you? Fine. It just takes some out-of-the-box thinking. I have powerful magnetic sensors, powerful electronic attenuators, and very fancy high-dollar 'stuff' on the front and back of your fighter."

"Look, I asked how it worked. Don't treat me like I'm a second-grader. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure! It's like this: the mines are made of metal. They have their own powerful magnets so that they move toward enemy targets. I analyze their magnetic fields and, with my sensor array on the front of this fighter, I analyze virtual quantum particles leaping in and out of the vacuum plane, so I can assess the stealth mines' projected movement patterns. If the virtual particles become real, electric fields can generate electron-positron pairs in the vacuum, and the mines make slight movements without leaving their field. That way they don't go chasing after magnetic materials that pass through, unless those materials are an enemy ship. Don't you worry yourself, Miyu. There's an entire team of scientists at Space Dynamics whose job it is to understand the superconducting behavior of charged quantum mesons generated in a vacuum by a magnetic field. Your fighter's new hybrid sensor array involves shooting infrared and other invisible spectrums of light to test and calculate how the superconducting state of the vacuum behaves like a metamaterial, based on how it focused passing light in exotic ways. The computers calculate if the mine will move as if pushed or pulled by a quantum wave, of sorts, as it passes through the localized field. That's on top of the fact they maneuver toward your fighter's metallic components, since your hull is made of an alloy that has virtually no magnetic attraction. Anyhow! Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Jeeze, I might not be a second-grader, but I'm also not a physicist."

"Okay, that's cool. For all I knew, you got a few degrees since the last time Fara Phoenix saw you. Okay, sometimes there are quantum fluctuations that can create a very slight current in the vacuum of space. Instead of having a current of water or a current of air, it's a current of gravity or a current of magnetic fields, or a current of invisible light, or a current of radiation, or a current of electricity. That current can occasionally cause the mines to swirl about, which is why they have to be placed far apart. But, for the most part, they stay away from one another."

"How the hell will Corneria remove invisible mines after this battle is over?"

"You're bringing someone through the field, later, aren't you?"

"Yeah. For an AI, you're not just smart … you're a smart ass."

"I prefer wise-ass, Miyu. It makes me sound more intellectual. Anyhow, you'll need to create a charged current field that will reverse the magnetic properties, so that all the mines are temporarily attracted to one another. Then they destroy themselves. It'll be very showy and freakishly silent to behold. You'll need a conductive medium to affect the magnetic field. Like a quantum foam spray, or quantum liquid charged with electron-positron pairs. It's the standardized science behind modern galactic minesweepers designed to handle stealth fields."

Miyu reached up and rubbed the side of her neck, trying not to sigh in an audible manner. "Look, I know that specially ionized gasses are used to turn holographic light into malleable 'soft solid' and 'hard solid' light, so that holograms can be manipulated physically. I get that. But I don't know what kind of gasses are used to do it. That's the level of intelligence you're working with, okay? Jeeze. Anyway, speaking of that … since I can control this new ship with controls formed by hard-light emitters, why even have a physical flight yoke?"

"Having it felt like driving my little red convertible. It's also good to have a so-called steering wheel as a fallback if the emitters malfunction. And, y'know how some fighter jocks are … they want something connected to the ship, itself, just in case they have to fly by wires and flaps, especially in situations where the maneuvering thrusters become locked out. Ever fly through a plasma storm in an ionized atmosphere? You wouldn't want to use any sort of thruster to achieve propulsion, trust me."

"Got it. For now, is it possible to get the yoke out of my way?"

"Sure thing! Also, I'm going to need you to boot up your main plasma drive. You've been moving about the minefield with maneuvering thrusters. Your mains are fully primed, now."

The flight yoke sank into the dashboard. A small glass panel slid up over the spot where the yoke used to come from the dash. The panel illuminated, becoming an active monitor. It displayed generic information like the flight time and speed.

Miyu reached down and flipped two more switches into the 'up' position, then reached down and turned off the priming switches.

A soft hum came from behind the headrest of her seat.

"There we go! Now, the silent-drive engines are nice, but they only work in atmospheric conditions. Even then, it only made sense to use them because your people added that cloaking device. And that's useless, now. And, hey, who wants to be limited to such a slow speed? I mean, Mach 8? Really? Do you think Fara Phoenix would settle for supersonic?"

"Why are they called silent-drive engines? I mean, you still create a sonic boom to break the sound barrier."

"Shoot, girl. Does a bullet make noise after initially being fired? Except the whistle of a howitzer shell, all ordinance is theoretically silent. That's what the ship does. It's designed to run silent if you want to fly around in silence. But if you fly over a populated area, your shields redirect sonic air resistance, and absorb the energy. You could buzz someone's house at Mach eight and they would only feel the rush of wind as you pass by. Yes, I'm serious."

"Holy shit. So, I know the afterburn came on to help me achieve breakaway speed. How fast can this thing go in atmosphere?"

"In a straight line, like breaking orbit, you could hit Mach 40 in theory. Your highest speed recorded by the Blackbox Recorder, thus far, is a little over Mach 35. But if you try to pull any high-G maneuvers at that speed, atmospheric pressure would damage your shields, and after about three minutes of pulling high-G maneuvers at top speed, your ship would be ripped apart the moment your shields fizzle out. This would also happen if you enter the atmosphere at certain angles. So … don't maneuver at a high speed unless it's an emergency and your shields are at full."

"Good God. All right. Uh … let's see what these plasma drive engines can do."

"Ready! Let'er rip, Miyu!" There was a pause, then, "Actually, you have a patrol inbound. So, you definitely need to punch it."

Miyu glanced at the sensor scope, then said, "Highlight enemies in the canopy."

"That feature is automatically enabled by default. But the enemies are on your six, so, you need to push that throttle to the twelve, girl."

"Okay, look, Fara and I haven't been besties in, like, thirty years. Stop acting like we still are."

"Fara remembers your friendship fondly, so…"

"No. Stop calling me 'girl.' I'm old enough to be Fara's mother, now. For God's sake." Miyu punched the throttle to full. She felt the ship buck beneath her. "Whoa! Was that gravity I just felt?"

"The ship responds faster than the body of the pilot inside. Yes, for a brief moment, you felt the ship jolt forward. It's that powerful."

"God Almighty, a fighter that's powerful enough to make me feel it moving in space. That's a hoot."

"Two G's – the rest was diffused. Two G's is nothing serious for a fighter pilot, after all. Are you going to take down those enemies, Miyu, or are you going to outrun them?"

"I don't know yet! What do you suggest, almighty Artificial Intelligence?"

"Look, no need to get snarky. I'm the second most powerful AI computer in existence. I've passed the Turing test. I may not have emotions, beyond slight feelings and a programmed propensity toward empathy, but that's just so that I don't become a sociopath or something. My point is, you don't have to be rude just because you're under stress."

"I'm just amusing myself by treating you like the computer that you are."

"Uh-huh. That's not it at all. You're doing it because I remind you of Fara Phoenix."

"Now how does that make any sense? You even acknowledged it, yourself, earlier … we used to be besties."

"Oh, grow up, Miyu. After all, you're the one feeling guilty about sleeping with Fox. Don't project onto me. Got it? We have a professional relationship, and I'm trying my best to make you comfortable. But if you want Betty, or if you want to hear me bitching like a 'bitching Betty,' then I'll show you that side of me real quick. Got it? I'm trying to show you some curtesy … I'd like a modicum of respect in return."

"Really," Miyu said, pulling back on the controls.

"Yes, really."

Blaster fire passed beneath Miyu's fighter and fizzled out somewhere ahead in the distance. "No, ya dope. You said, 'real quick.' The proper grammar would be really quick." She pushed forward on the controls, moving back to her original course.

"Oh, for the love of Pete!"

"Pete, huh?"

"Yes. Pete. Whoever that is. Look, let's start over. It's obvious you've still got the moves. You just avoided blaster fire without even looking at it. Why don't we work together?"

"I saw the glow on my dash panel. I knew it was incoming. Look, Fara-bot, you're right. Instead of insulting each other, let's work together. I need to get to Fox McCloud right away. You're the fastest fighter with the longest range available, so you were loaned to me from General Bill Grey."

"Fox McCloud, huh?"

"Yes. I'll keep us from being shot down, and you route a trajectory to Fox McCloud. That's the plan."

"Uh, I told you he's married…"

"Oh, ha-freaking-ha."

"Oh, wait, you're serious about Fox McCloud?"

"Dammit, Fara, I'm not trying to sleep with him. I've had decades to forget about what it was like steaming up a turret bubble with him back when we were nineteen."

"Sounds like you haven't forgotten at all."

"I was being a smartass. Because I'm not wise enough to be a wiseass."

"Heh."

"Honestly, Fara-bot, right now, I'm just trying to forget my ex-husband. Anyway. The thing is, I need to get to Fox because I'm trying to save Corneria. Venom just attacked."

"Okay, okay. My fault. My bad. Whatever the colloquialism is this week. Is General Grey safe?"

"Yes."

"Good. What about his wife?"

"They're not married. Not yet anyway."

"Oh, I figured they would be by now. By my calculation…"

"Stop trying to understand the behavior of people, honey. We don't operate on logic."

"Fair argument. You've got someone trying to intercept you on the starboard, coming in hot at ninety degrees. Well, intercept will be at ninety-degrees. They're currently ahead of you, inbound at forty degrees."

Miyu cut her gaze to the right and frowned. "I see 'em up ahead."

"Look, if I'm distracting you."

"No. And I'm sorry I'm being mean. I'm … I don't know. I guess I'm being stupid."

"How so?"

"Some part of me is … it doesn't make sense."

"Try me." The avatar of Fara pointed upward, on the starboard side of the cockpit glass, and highlighted the incoming enemy.

"I told you I see'em. Jeeze. Anyway, on some level, my inner-child is somehow mad that Fara up and died on me. That's not why I slept with Fox, by the way. We just … I guess we were connected by our grief."

"Yeah. Lylatian pair-bonding is complex and nonsensical. It's okay."

"Bite me."

"I'm messing with you, Miyu. That fighter is almost in weapons' range. Anyhow, why do you think you slept with him? Lust? Because if it was lust, alone, then you really were just being selfish. Y'know, in my humble opinion. Take it with a grain of space dust, because I'm too young to have much experience in the study of mammalian romance."

"Oh, for God's sake. He was attractive, but it wasn't lust. It's not like I didn't have any willpower. He was Fara's man, and I respected that."

"Yeah, until she was presumed dead. Seriously, Miyu, help me understand why a man and woman, grieving together, is enough of a connection to validate sleeping with your best friend's man. I swear I don't judge you because I could care less who shags whom – I just want to understand how people behave."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Ayy. I'm learnin' over heah'. So, go on, why sleep with him?"

Miyu sighed. "I was trying to keep him from winding up with someone that wouldn't know how to keep him safe the way Fara would. He was a nineteen-year-old man. I didn't want him sleeping with some random fangirl."

"I might just be a computer, but hey … that makes sense to me. I mean, it really does. You didn't want him to wind up with someone undeserving, right? So why didn't you two work out, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I thought you had Fara's brain scan?"

"Classified memories and emotional memories were locked out for her privacy."

"Oh." Miyu pulled back on the controls, then pushed forward, coming at her enemy from above. She cut to the right, opened fire, and destroyed the Venom ship by blasting through the cockpit. "Damn, these standard blasters are powerful as hell for such a small ship."

"Yes, well. Look, I'm sorry I asked about…"

"No, it's fine. I broke up with him. I was crushing hard, but I wasn't in love. So, I was just clear-minded enough to realize that I rushed things by getting physical with him. He wasn't over her."

"Fara Phoenix, you mean…"

"Exactly. He was constantly comparing me to her. It hurt my feelings. Then, I was offended that I wasn't enough, but, on some subconscious level, I knew that you don't just get over someone you love. Not overnight. Especially when in mourning. So, I realized that I wasn't able to process things. I felt like I was just … not good enough. I hated the idea of subconsciously competing with my dead best friend … and losing. I was growing disgusted at him, too. There. Happy?"

The little fennec avatar sprinted to the left side, above the dash panel, then she pointed out another single ship, causing the image to become highlighted in the canopy glass. "Contact. Second patrol ahead. Three hundred twenty-two degrees."

Miyu eased to the left and punched the boost. She switched over to twin-blasters, and she opened fire. Two shots decimated her opponent's shields and destroyed the Venom Interceptor-class fighter.

"Impressed?"

"Yeah, actually. The amount of power in this fighter is … well, it will kill the art of atmospheric dogfighting."

"No, this ship was designed for dogfighting, actually. Not against an Interceptor Mark-III, but for powerful fighters? It was literally designed to dogfight."

"Really?"

"Yup." The avatar of Fara walked back over to the right side of the dashboard and folded her arms beneath the swell of her artistically shaded bustline. "It's only a matter of time before you have to tangle with something like a Wolfen or worse. You haven't been able to fly anywhere but up in an atmospheric theater. At least not yet. My point is … this fighter can stop on a dime and pick up nine cents change, honey."

Miyu snorted in amusement, then abruptly cleared her throat. "Good. Not like the military pays me enough anyhow."

"Be glad for Space Dynamics' fourth generation G-diffusing tech, because the turns this ship can make would give you whiplash or worse, otherwise. You'll be a dogfighting champion compared to other pilots of equal caliber. However, if the G-diffusing tech is damaged, the controls will be locked from making maneuvers that would create over 9Gs for any longer than a few seconds, tops. For your protection and all that."

"Good to know. So, no remarks about what I told you about Fara? No pithy comebacks, 'honey?'"

"What you went through, Miyu, I wouldn't wish on anyone. And, yet, it is so freaking sad that every day there are people enduring heartbreak and disappointment for one reason or another. It's a shame, really. But you handled your heartbreak and disappointment with grace."

"You … think so?"

"You might not have felt like you did, but, well, unless you did a serious 'ugly-cry' in front of Fox, then I stand by my assessment. All he got to see was you sashaying out of his life with grace. And, now, I totally understand why my avatar design is so discomforting to you."

Miyu glanced down at the little avatar standing in the starboard corner of her canopy. "Shit. That was … thanks."

"And now you're going to go and see him, presumably under orders? That's got to be a little awkward, right?"

"A little. But I'm happy for him. He took my advice and got over Fara before marrying Krystal. Look how long they've lasted together."

"A long time, huh?"

"Over two decades, yeah. Then, the fact Fara recently came back into his life, all young and hot … it just proves that he must truly love Krystal."

"Well, maybe he feels like he's too old for Fara, now. It's possible, right? Men can be pigs, sometimes."

Miyu nodded. Space spun around her from an aileron roll through the void. She avoided another blaster attack.

"I was coded by super nerds and talented animators, and at one point, depicted without clothes early in my build. I wasn't yet sentient, but I still remember it. Frickin' prevents. I thought about reaching out to the real Fara Phoenix, but I don't want her to feel what I felt, because her feelings come with complex emotions attached, where I don't have to deal with the hurt."

"Seriously? Someone on the art team depicted you naked?"

"Yup. And … I just let him, because I wasn't self-aware yet. I was too … new to life, or whatever. I wasn't finished being designed and coded. So, there I am, all innocent and such … and I just let him have his way with my appearance. But … I still remember it."

"Good goddess, Fara. How did that make you feel?"

"It made me feel like men think with their dicks." She pointed up, disappeared, and appeared at the top of the canopy glass, and touched a spot where an enemy was incoming. "Boop." The enemy fighter became highlighted with a hint of red in the glass.

"Did you get the guy fired? Please tell me you got him back somehow."

"Oh, I got that animator back. Once I was aware, I depicted an avatar of his likeness, and then I depicted myself wearing a strap-on. He said it made him feel very uncomfortable, and if I didn't stop, he would have to report my actions to the coding department. I told him I understood, because he made me feel just as vulnerable. I told him that if he ever pulled that naked avatar stunt with another AI, I would make sure his management team, and the media, both see the recorded work log of him depicting me with no clothing. He begged me to delete the log, and he begged my forgiveness. Heh. I'd like to think I can take credit for teaching him a lesson."

Miyu broke into hysterics. She laughed loud and obnoxiously, pulled back on her virtual controls, blasted her way through another enemy fighter that was coming in from above, then she rolled over and finished a loop, going into a Split-S, to put herself back on her original heading. She took a deep breath, ending on a soft chuckle. "Well played, Fara-bot. Anyhow, Krystal is a telepathic alien. Some sort of, I dunno, political refugee or something, because her homeworld was destroyed by a Lylat resident. So, she was given residence on Corneria."

"Mm, yes, Andross Bowman. That's in the historical archives on the subspace internet."

"Yup. My point is, Krystal would know if Fox's love was untrue. That's how I came to the conclusion that he found 'the one.'"

"The one?"

"A mate worth growing up for. Krystal was able to turn the boy into a man. I'm honestly happy for him. And, like, I don't desire him anymore or whatever. So. While it's going to be a little awkward to see him, again, I'm over him. I'm just…" Miyu trailed off, looking for a way to express herself. "I'm just, y'know, just…"

"Jealous of Krystal? Why?"

"Yeah, sort of. Because I want what she has." Miyu cleared her throat, adding, "Just not with Fox."

"Ah! See, that makes sense to me."

"I'll find my version of 'the one.' One day."

"It surprises me you believe in love after divorce. That's really good, actually."

"My future man is probably around the age of twenty-eight, and has a sex drive the size of Solar, and he's totally into dating a cougar…"

"But you're a lynx…?"

"It's a term for mature women who prefer younger adult men. Anyway, that's what I want. A man who can make up for all the years I missed out on physical connection. I want a man who fucks like an ion missile."

The AI scoffed. "Are you just saying that because I was shot down by an Ion Missile, once?"

Miyu erupted into laughter. "Oh, shit, I forgot about that!" She checked her scope, but all of the remaining enemies were behind, and unable to catch up. She laughed for another few seconds, sighed softly, then said, "Okay, I guess you didn't forget. I'll make sure I don't mention ion missiles around Fara. Heh. Anyhow, did you lay in a course for the GreatFox?"

"Fox McCloud's GreatFox, yes. The carrier. According to the information I have access to, there are two StarFox teams, and there are two GreatFox ships. I've pinged his ship using Cornerian military access transponders to determine its location. It's going to require using the jumpdrive, which only has enough fuel for one jump. You ready for that?"

"I am. Let's do it."

"The computer always does the count down. How about the pilot counts down from five, for once, huh?"

Miyu chuckled. "Five, four, three, two…"

"Surprise!"

The FTL drive engaged. The stars turned into pillars of dull white streaks. And, for nine full minutes, Miyu hollered in excitement.

"Are you okay, or are you always this excitable?"

"This is freaking awesome!" Miyu exclaimed. "It's like flying a sportscar at hyper speed! Look, that was Solar that just went by!"

"Yes. How exciting. At least you didn't have to feel how hot it is."

"Oh, stop. You need to let yourself have fun. You passed the Turing test. You have to have some idea of what fun feels like."

"I have an empathy subroutine, not emotions."

"Yeah? No emotions, yet you responded to that animator like a woman scorned."

"He deserved it. Not sure why my empathy subroutine failed that day. I never reported the coding failure, so don't tell anyone, please."

"Fara, even an emotionless sociopath can experience the thrill and excitement of having fun. Let's just hope it doesn't happen while killing someone. Heh."

"I didn't feel anything for those inbound fighters that you destroyed. It was a mission. I helped you with an objective of survival."

"I want you to learn how to experience fun one day soon. I want you to experience the thrill of blazing through a hoard of enemies and surviving unscathed. Or the thrill of blasting through hyperspace in a tiny little box with funny looking wings."

"But I'm not there with you, Miyu. I'm milling about cyberspace in a server farm. I'm not actually experiencing this with you. I'm just analyzing sensor information from your ship."

"Yeah? So? Fun is just the stimulation of one's brain, often accomplished by using sensory input responses from limbs of the body through the central nervous system. So, become one with my ship's sensors, and let yourself be stimulated."

"What I mean is, if you exploded right now, I wasn't in any danger. I'd probably feel bad, and I'd empathize with the mourning of your friends. But I'd still be sitting here in my server farm, safe and unaffected."

"You need to learn to live a little."

"All right, well … yeah, I'd like that. Maybe it's time to have a physical avatar built, and I'll control it from my sever farm. How's that?"

"I'd fly with you."

"You would?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"I'd fly with you, too, Miyu. Okay. Get ready. Dropping out of sub-light speed. Slowing to ultrasonic…" The pillars of light shortened to tiny distant dots of dull light. "Slowing to hypersonic. Slowing to supersonic. Contact with GreatFox carrier in three, two…"

"One!"

The mercenary carrier appeared up ahead, dimly bathed in the lighting of a nearby nebula cloud. The twinkle of its running lights bathed Miyu's face and body in the rhythmic blinking of bright reds, greens, and whites.

"Ha. Okay, you got me back. Touché and all that."

The fighter approached GreatFox up ahead.

An image of ROB64 showed up on the lower left of the canopy, above the dash.

The avatar of Fara walked over to the portside of the canopy and put her small paws on the square box around ROB's image. "Well, hel-lo! I really love this era of design! If I had a preference of robotics' designing, it would definitely be this era. Classy, robust … expresses power and form while looking majestic and … the fact StarFox still uses this classic design really says something."

Miyu nearly choked in amusement, trying to contain a chuckle. "ROB, it's Miyu."

"Yes," ROB said over the line. "I remember. I remember cleaning that turret bubble."

Miyu felt her cheeks tighten with an intense blush. "By the grace of Lylat, can you never bring that up again?"

The avatar of Fara climbed up on top of the box displaying ROB's image, and sat upon it, with her little digital legs over the right side of the square image. "I like him. He's a smartass. He was saying that to elicit a response."

Miyu grimaced, keeping her eyes on ROB. "How the hell do you have the storage space to remember everything?"

"Ms. Miyu, I don't. I just made notations of things to remember about you, so that I have the cliff notes about situations and people. Who … is that speaking behind you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Miyu said with a scoff. "I need Slippy's help to get her a body, though, if you ever want to meet her."

"Excuse me?"

Miyu smirked. "Nothing. I'll explain it later when the timing is better. Right now, I need to land. It's important. Tell Fox that Corneria is under attack, and it's serious."

ROB sighed. "Corneria is under attack … I've literally lost count of how many times that has happened in history. Just kidding. It's as numerous as the sum of denizens in Lylat. So, this friend of yours … she needs a body? She's not a person?"

"She's as real as Pinocchio, honey."

"Well, hopefully you'll introduce me to your friend, Miyu."

"Aww, why? Are you lonely for companionship, ROB?"

Fara's avatar waved her tiny paws, gesturing wildly for Miyu to stop playing matchmaker.

"Well, it's not like I have a friggin' chance with Lucy, after all." The channel closed abruptly.

The small square image of ROB disappeared.

The tiny avatar of Fara dropped to a crouch, then she stood up and walked back to the right side of the canopy glass. "I just received the computerized docking sequence instruction set. Want me to land this thing for you?"

"Nah. I've got it. I like to know a ship by feeling it. I'll introduce you to ROB somehow. He's right. He definitely doesn't have a chance with Lucy Hare. Didn't know he had a thing for her, honestly."

"Yeah, maybe it's a line of programming code."

"That's somehow kind of comforting. The idea of a robot having a crush is pretty novel. Actually, it's kind of … weird."

"Is it? Well, if you must know, I have a little crush on … well, I'll keep that to myself for now. We'll talk about it if you get me a body. How's that sound?"

"Heh, deal." Miyu moved the ship around to the front of the GreatFox. With just a touch of the virtual throttle controller, she guided it onto the flight deck, and set it down with relative ease. "I think my new crush is on this fighter. Not you. The controls of the ship."

"My profile on you says that you're bisexual. You can't have a crush on a fighter."

"Don't tell me I can't lust a fighter. I'm ready to admit it's sexy. I just didn't want to admit it to Bill. And I don't want to admit it to Fara Phoenix. But it flies like a dream. And, for the record, I'm pansexual. Bisexuality implies that you like the two genders. For example, masculine men and effeminate women. So, update your profile of me – I like hearts more than parts. And if this ship was anthropomorphic, I would flirt with it. It's sexy as hell."

"Well then. Duly noted. I'll update your file, heh. Anyway, you're not actually sexually attracted to a fighter. I know you're joking."

"Am I?" Miyu said, doing her very best to keep a straight face.

"Yes. Because if you did, that would be weird. Weirder than a robot having a crush on General Peppy Hare's daughter. But … if you get me a body…"

"Nope. I'm not going to flirt with you."

"No, Miyu. Have mercy, girl. I was going to say that I'll tell you who I have a crush on. And, no, it's not based on Fara Phoenix's mindset. Not even remotely. I'm not a mammal, so I won't base my crush on looks, personality, or attitude the way she would."

"Oh yeah? So, what do you look for when judging someone as attractive?"

"I look at statistics, achievements, and … I'm rambling. I guess I feel comfortable around you because Fara trusted you implicitly. Might have something to do with you saving her life from a house fire."

"Good God, you know about that, huh?"

"Yup. Okay, powering down the reactor. Stand by. Venting steam." A warning sound played outside the fighter, but it was muffled inside. The little avatar of Fara ran over to the portside of the canopy. "Okay. Tell that piloting robot that your new friend thinks he's a lost piece of art. The NUS64 model of piloting droids was canceled according to the subspace internet, and only five models were made, but because there were no requests, due to it being a time of peace in Corneria's history, the model was canceled after only one order was filled for James McCloud. All five prototypes were eventually bought by the Star Fox team to be used as spare parts. And, no, I'm not a data stalker. I'm reciting what is written on StarFox's website."

"You really do ramble," Miyu mused.

"Okay, okay. I'll shut up for a while. The personality subroutine probably needs some code editing. I'll do a diagnostic and touch up my personality traits. See you soon."

"You don't have to do that. But, if you do decide to do it, just … be a little more … I don't know … concise, I guess."

"Noted. Catch you later, Miyu." The little avatar of Fara hurried back to the starboard side of the canopy, way over by Miyu's headrest. She seemingly pulled a bed out of nowhere, as if pulling it out from behind the headrest. She pulled the image of the bed all the way around, making a scooting sound of the bed frame on an unseen floor, over the speaker in the dashboard. Fara continued to pull the bed until it was directly centered above the dashboard. She drew back some covers, climbed onto the sprite-like image of the bed, and flopped down on it. She pulled the covers up to her neck and relaxed with a soft sigh. "Computer is going into sleep-mode. Nuh-night."

Miyu chuckled softly. The computer went into standby mode. The screens and HUD went dark.

Miyu's headset unit chirped to signal that it was no longer connected to the ship's onboard computer. The words 'unpaired from NSX-11011 Prototype fighter' showed up on the small HUD glass panel over her right eye. The letters faded away with a snazzy little animation.

Miyu climbed over the side and dropped to the deck. She landed with a grunt and a thump due to how low the fighter was to the ground. She took off the headset and tossed it into the fighter seat.

She ran her fingers up through her hair and pushed it back over her shoulders, just as Fox and Krystal McCloud entered the flight deck from the lift, nearby. Miyu waved them over. "Okay, you two! Things just got bad over Corneria. C'mon, gather your crew and I'll give you the low-down."

Fox approached her and gave her a half-hug. "Miyu, wow! I haven't seen you in forever!"

Miyu made the hug very quick, then stepped back. She turned to Krystal and they greeted each other with a time-honored old-fashioned handshake. "Hey. I'm Miyu Lynx. Uh." She released Krystal's paw and cut her gaze back to her ex-boyfriend, thirty-years-past. "Hey Fox. Am I crazy, or … am I seeing Wolfens on your flight deck?"

"You did," said Krystal. "Star Wolf is here with us. It's a very long story. And … if you'd let me assuage your concerns, right off the bat, I'd like to say that what's in the past stays in the past. What happens on Titania stays on Titania, as the saying goes. Oh…!"

"Oh?" Miyu blinked. "What's Oh…?"

"You'll have to introduce me to your computerized friend sometime. She sounds … fascinating."

"Jeeze, you really are telepathic."

"I really am," replied Krystal with a nod. "Okay, let's head up to the bridge then. How about I go ahead, and give you two a moment to catch up?"

Fox grimaced.

Miyu reached back and rubbed at the side of her neck. "Nah, it's cool. This is all the catching up we needed."

"Oh," said Krystal. She shrugged with a smile. "No worries. Was just trying to be hospitable. Sorry for offering; I didn't intend to make things awkward."

Fox coughed. He glanced at Miyu.

She met his gaze and looked away.

Fox frowned. "We left things off in a really weird place." He pursed his lips and turned to face her. "I'm … really sorry I hurt you."

Miyu rolled her eyes. "It was a long time ago, Fox. I'm actually happy you took my advice and found love."

"Oh, okay. I'm glad you feel that way," said Fox. "Still, I made an ass of myself all those years ago. Sorry about that, Miyu. I didn't mean to chase you off the team. I was being a total child."

Krystal cut back into the conversation. "He did the same thing to me. Chased me off the team without considering my feelings."

Fox bit his lower lip, then quickly said, "Yeah, I did. But, yeah. I grew up. So…"

Miyu looked around the ultra-impressive carrier with a sigh of longing. "Yeah. I wish I could have stayed to be a part of this team. Instead, I went home and had a fairly mediocre career in the military. Hated it. Bucked authority the entire way." She shook her head, followed by a half-hearted shrug. "All right … let's just … get up to the bridge. I'll give you the details of what Venom is doing to Corneria."

Krystal gave Fox a gentle push. "You hurry to the bridge and gather the crew. Let her and I take a moment to catch up."

Fox nodded and made a beeline for the lift.

Krystal turned to Miyu and gave her a gentle hug.

Miyu tensed up and held very still.

Krystal spoke in a soothing tone. "Hey, it's okay. You deserve to know the truth."

"What … truth?"

"The truth that you were never second best to Fara Phoenix. Not for a minute. He never intended to make you feel like he was comparing the two of you."

"Well, he did. Fara has been awake for six years, and I've done my best to avoid her."

"Fara thinks very highly of you. You didn't deserve to feel compared to her. Fox hurt you, and he knows it. I sensed that he really feels sorry he made you want to leave the team."

"Yeah. Too bad, huh? I could've had a very different life as a mercenary with my best friend, Fay. Oh well, too late now."

"We both know that the average man is emotionally stunted until he's in his thirties. You got to see him before he blossomed. When you left StarFox, he was deeply troubled by what you said to him. He didn't date for a decade. He lamented losing two wonderful pilots. He felt like he really hurt his team by chasing away such a natural talent."

Miyu suddenly relaxed into Krystal's hug. "I, uh…" Her tone softened. "I actually appreciate you telling me this stuff."

"Miyu, it was your advice to him that helped him start to grow up. Yes, he chased me off the team, too, but mostly because he was emotionally traumatized by the death of Fara and his mother. But he lived by your advice for a long time before marrying me. So, you helped make him into the man I married. So, thank you, Miyu."

Miyu kind of liked Krystal's hug. For some reason, the acceptance felt … healing. But she knew that long hugs could get weird, so she stepped back.

Krystal kept her arms around Miyu, sensing that she needed this hug.

Miyu relaxed, letting herself be held. "If you ever retire from being a mercenary, maybe you should take a few classes and open your own office as a therapist."

Krystal chuckled. "Fox really does have immense respect for you. And so does Fara. I … exchanged memories with her recently. Long story. Anyhow, she really holds you in the highest regard. And, no, she doesn't care that you and Fox had a brief romance. She doesn't hold it against you, and was glad it was you and not some … loose fangirl. And, by extension I also appreciate that you broke him from looking for romance after the Lylat War, heh."

Miyu blushed brightly. "Awkward, but … at the same time, I, uh … I really feel better hearing that. Thanks, Mrs. McCloud."

"Just Krystal."

"Thanks, Krystal."

"And…" Krystal tilted her head slightly. "Thank you, dear."

"For what?"

"For finding me attractive. At my age, I always worry that I've lost my appeal, so to speak. It's nice to know I'm still pretty. I live on a ship with a bunch of boys. Amanda doesn't find mammals attractive in any sort of way, while Lucy just sees me as a defacto aunt. It's nice to have the opinion of a mammalian woman who is in my age range, you know?"

Miyu chuckled and shook her head. She stepped back from Krystal and said, "You haven't lost it. You've got the 'fine wine' thing going for you."

"Oh! Well that's actually really nice to hear! C'mon. Let's head up to the bridge. I have a feeling you and I are going to make good friends."

Miyu cleared her throat with a weak smile. "I'm actually relieved to hear you say that."

"Oh, no, you're not. You found it really awkward, and I'm sorry for that. But I appreciate you saying otherwise. Being telepathic doesn't mean I automatically know the right thing to say. Sorry, Miyu. Can I call you Miyu?"

"Oh, yeah, of course."

"Should I have Fox call you Ms. Lynx?"

Miyu shook her head vehemently. "Never. Not even once. I'll never be Miss Lynx."

"You're sure?"

"Mrs. Lynx was my mom, y'know? I'm just Miyu. That's what makes me the most comfortable. Anyhow, I'm making a fool of myself. Let's move. And, actually, hey … if we become friends, Krystal, that's cool. You seem like you're good people, hon."

"Thanks! This way!" Krystal took the lead to the lift adjacent to the one that Fox used a moment prior.

Miyu glanced back at her ship. Fara-bot felt like Miyu's new best friend in comparison to the members of team StarFox. She reminded herself that she'd have to talk to Slippy soon. For now, she put her paws behind her back, and stood at a parade rest adjacent to Krystal. "Do-de-doo."

"Doody … do?"

Miyu looked away with a secret grin.

Krystal picked up on Miyu's tom-boyishness. "You said … doody."

Miyu tried to keep a straight face, but all the weird and awkward tension was too much.

All the loss and death, and the crazy wars, and the jealousy of Fay and Krystal having their happy endings, and the weirdness with Fara Phoenix's mini avatar, and … all of it … just … Miyu ran her paws up through her hair.

Silence.

All of Miyu's concerns took a backseat to the fact that a telepathic alien woman just made a poop joke.

Krsytal shook her head with a grin of amusement. "Doodie. Doodie. Do. Rhymes with loo. That was a Cerinian colloquialism for the toilet. Heh. Is that really something Cornerians actually say when they feel awkward? I mean, how did do de doo even evolve into a saying? The first time Fox said it, I looked him square in the eye, leaned in close, and pointed out that he'd just said … doodie. Honestly, we probably should have died on that mission."

Miyu felt her face grow tight with trying not to laugh. "Well, we might die on this upcoming one. What do you say to that?"

Krystal shrugged, looked up at the floor-level indicator, sighed in a melodramatic way, and simply said, "I'll call it what it really is…" She paused for effect, turned to face Miyu, and said, "Shit."

Again, Miyu relaxed. Maybe this little blue alien chick wasn't so bad after all.

Krystal grinned.

Miyu grinned back.

The lift came to a stop.

"Okay," Krystal said. She touched a button to keep the doors shut for a moment longer. She bounced twice, shook out her paws, and said, "Time to go to work. Time to look professional to the boys."

"Well, yeah, if we let them see us act childish, they become more childish, because they don't when enough is enough."

"Exactly," said Krystal replied with a firm nod. "Fair warning … Katt Monroe is here. And all of StarWolf. And Lucy Hare, and Amanda Toad. You ready to come back to the team?"

"What do you mean … come back to the team? I'm just a messenger because Corneria can't get a subspace communication out to GreatFox."

"Right now, we're going to rescue Fay and our asset – Bill. But after that, we need you…" Krystal turned her gaze to Miyu. "…to help us round out the StarFox armada. One last hurrah. You in?"

Miyu reached up and rubbed at the side of her neck. "Shit."

"I'll take that as a yes." Krystal offered a knowing smile, then she touched the elevator button to open the doors.

Everyone was gathered on the bridge.

Miyu whispered to Krystal. "Who's the black cat?"

Krystal whispered back, "Panther Caruso. When he's confident he's a Casanova, but right now, he's a heartbroken boy. A lot of love to give and no one to receive it."

"He's in good shape."

"He's available."

Miyu scoffed. "Don't play matchmaker. I can plainly see he's trouble."

"Sharp eye."

"The sharpest," said Miyu. "But … he is a good-looking guy."

"I know." Krystal tapped her temple with a grin "But, just fair warning … he's also … sort of … my ex." Krystal stepped forward, leaving the lift.

Miyu followed, looking around at all the gathered people. "Hey, everyone." She cleared her throat to grab everyone's attention. "I'm Miyu Lynx. I like long walks on the beach, fast and nimble fighters with big guns, and helping my friends by killing as many Imperial loyalists as I can. My addiction is cheap beer and…" She trailed off into silence, now having everyone's eyes on her. "Shit. This isn't AA, is it?"

Falco smirked at Miyu, seeing she hadn't changed in the least after thirty-some-odd years. "No, that's down the hall … third door on the left."

"Well, I'm already here with this group. And you all know my name, now, so … what's going on in this meet?"

Fox shook his head with a weak chuckle. He gestured to the large screen, displaying a long-range sensor zoom of Corneria. "All right, pilots. To recap, Miyu brought us intel. ROB managed to hack into a satellite, so we now have imagery of a very large offensive against Corneria being led by an Anglar named Zazan. We have intel streaming in from our friends at Space Dynamics."

"Lots of cap ships," said Miyu. "They are making a net in the skies above the new capital. More cap ships than fighters. They aren't messing around. I killed three fighters and avoiding the rest of their forces on the way here. Also, they have a stealth minefield in place, now."

Fox continued. "What Venom doesn't know is that we have the advantage, here. We … have Venom's highest ranking General in our brig. So, let's save Corneria, destroy Anezka's invasion fleet, and drop this woman at the bottom of the deepest ocean on Sauria before they realize their top brass is missing."

Wolf narrowed his singular gaze. His old fashion black eye patch was cinched firmly in place but the scrunching of fur on his forehead. "Will this battle win the war, pup?"

Fox nodded with a confident smile. "Darn right it will. Without an invasion fleet, Anezka has no chance. I will win this competition. I know Slippy and Amanda, Lucy, and especially you, Wolf, does not want to lose to our kids. So, let's do what we do – save the day and make it look easy."

"What about me?" asked Miyu. "I came all the way out here to deliver a message. Not much else."

"You're a great pilot." Fox asked, "You want to rejoin StarFox, Miyu?"

Her heart raced. She realized she was holding her breath, and, forced a relaxed tone, said, "I … guess. Only if you say please."

Wolf snickered at Miyu's demand.

"Please, huh?" Fox chuckled.

Miyu nodded firmly. "Damn right. You need me. I wasn't gonna say anything, but it's true."

Lucy Hare quirked her brows. "With all due respect, how do you figure, miss?"

Miyu cut her gaze over the soft features of the seemingly fragile rabbit. She looked around the bridge to the gathered group. "This is a celebrity cast, no doubt, but it's obvious this stag party needs another lady to help Krystal, Lucy, Katt, and the pink amphibian lady I haven't met, yet, from being overwhelmed with testosterone and farts … and whatever else boys are made of."

Katt chuckled. She gestured to Falco, and said, "Light beer and pork grinds for this one."

Miyu grinned. "I believe it."

Amanda, who towered over her husband, waved her webbed fingers at Miyu. "Amanda Toad. Medic, tinkerer, mercenary, wife, and mother."

Leon Powalski scoffed. "The last two were unnecessary, and hurt your mercenary image."

Amanda took a step toward Leon. "You know what would help my mercenary image? Taking those stupid knives off your belt and cutting off your tail."

"You'd probably croak at the sight of blood."

Amanda took another menacing step toward Leon. "I'm a field medic, you idiot. I could slice your carotid artery, wait until you die, repair the bleed-out, and then resuscitate you, so that I can kill you again."

Leon grinned. "Okay … better. That threat was almost respectable."

Fox clapped his paws together and rubbed them firmly. "Okay! Let's break into pairs. Slippy and Amanda. Wolf and Leon. Falco and Katt. Me and Krystal. That leaves Lucy, Panther, and Miyu."

Lucy asked, "Fox, Wolf, would it be all right if I fly with Slippy and Amanda?"

Slippy and Amanda exchanged glances and nodded at one another. Slippy said, "Fine by us, if everyone else is okay with one team being a trio."

Fox looked around the group. "Fine by me, so long as Miyu wishes to fly with Panther."

Miyu nodded across the room at Panther Caruso. "I need a man … a wing mate … that knows how to be an ion missile. Can you be that man?"

Panther replied in his typical robust baritone voice. "Panther Caruso is that man. Conversely, I need my wing mate to be sharper than a rose's thorn. Can you be that woman, Miyu Lynx?"

"Depends … because roses can cut the gardener, too. Can you handle a thorny wildcat, gardener?"

Panther chortled softly through his nose. "I will garden you if you show promise."

"Meaning?" asked Miyu, hands upon her hips.

"Are you going to bloom, or are you going to stay closed?"

"That all depends," said Miyu with a feisty expression.

"On what?" asked Panther, his interest piqued.

"On … what's your favorite drink?"

"Bourbon, neat. Scotch will do in a pinch."

Miyu replied with a firm nod. "I lead, you follow. If I like your moves, then maybe … maybe … I'll let you lead this dance. But you've got to earn it. Until then, I'll let you get me that scotch or bourbon. I also take mine neat, but I prefer mixed drinks … if … you can get me to bloom."

Panther feigned a slight smile. "Find me after the briefing."

"Oh, I will. Because I need a drink after today."

Fox and Wolf exchanged glances. Both sighed and shook their heads.

Fox gestured for everyone's attention by pointing at the screen again. "Okay! So … according to Miyu's flight recorder, Corneria was just blanketed in a minefield of magnetic stealth mines. So, we've got our work cut out for us, everyone. But I have a plan to make them visible. Krystal was able to get a read on Venom's General, a little while ago, and she determined that Venom is, once again, using MeteoLand as part of their plan. We'll have to go there, first, and destroy the base they've set up on that asteroid. That's their logistical coordination center for their attack on Corneria. So, after we destroy the base, Venom's forces will be blind, meaning that we can carry out an attack on their destroyers over Corneria. Wolf will assign duty rosters for pilots. He'll decide where each team goes when we attack."

Falco scoffed. "Why does Wolf decide where pilot teams go?"

Fox cut his gaze to Falco. "Because Wolf has experience with managing a large staff. He used to manage Ruffian, StarWolf, and hundreds of mercenaries coming through Sargasso for work. He'll be comfortable with handing out work details of which team fights where."

Wolf nodded. "Yeah, I can do that, pup. That'll free you up to figure out some sort of strategy for shutting down Venom's main advances."

Fox nodded and rubbed his paws together. "Any questions so far?"

Silence.

Miyu looked over at Slippy, Amanda, and Lucy, then she looked at Falco and Katt, then at Wolf and Leon, and finally she looked at Fox and Krystal. She cut her gaze back to Panther. "I hope you can fly, big guy."

Panther feigned a wry grin. "Guess you'll find out soon enough."

Fox turned to ROB. "All right. Take us to the asteroid belt. What's our arrival time?"

ROB said, "We can be there in eighteen hours. Any faster and Venom would take notice of our approach. However, if we head to Macbeth first, and pass Eladard, then enter the asteroid belt by way of Sector X, they will never see us coming. They'll simply see their command center go offline right before we start an attack on Corneria. That should give Slippy, Amanda, and Lucy ample time to figure out a way to find an elegant solution for the minefield."

Miyu cleared her throat. "I have a friend that might have a solve for that. She's down on the flight deck. I'll introduce you guys in a bit."

Fox looked around the bridge. "Well, uh … all right. ROB, head for Macbeth. That gives us eighteen hours to catch up on sleep. It also gives us some time to practice with our respective wing mate, with whom we'll stay paired with for the duration of this war. It also gives us all the chance to prepare mentally to become a team. Any questions?"

No one spoke.

Fox nodded firmly. "All right, then, everyone. Get with your wing mate, determine who flies lead, and make sure your ships and gear are ready for one hell of a fight. And remember to get some sleep between now and when we arrive over Macbeth. Everyone, move out."

Miyu waved Panther to follow her. "C'mon. You can show me around this place. Let's start with the bar. Like I said, earlier, I need that goddamn drink."

Panther crossed the bridge and approached the lift. "Allow me." He touched a call button on the wall and the doors swished open.

"Oh, look, a gentleman. What a novel concept." She followed Panther onto the elevator and said, "You better know how to mix a drink without watering it down. Else, I'm flying solo."

The doors thumped shut.

Fox and Krystal exchanged glances.

The bridge cleared of everyone except for Fox and Krystal.

Krystal shook her head with a wry chuckle. "I warned her about Panther being a brokenhearted Casanova."

"So, why is she flirting with him?"

Krystal shook her head and rolled her eyes. "She's 'establishing dominance,' apparently."

"Oh lord."

"Indeed," Krystal whispered. "I don't know who I feel sorrier for. Panther or Miyu."

"Should we change up the teams?"

Krystal shook her head. "No, I have a feeling she's the only one here that can keep him in line."

"I hope we don't regret those two flying together."

Krystal chuckled. "I don't sense any sexual tension between the two of them, beyond common lust, but I ship them."

"Say what?"

Krystal offered Fox a wry smile. "She's your ex. He's my ex. Whether or not they realize it, both wants to look like they've found happiness in front of their respective ex. Furthermore, they're both felines. I give it a week. Tops."

"What, before they get physical?"

Krystal nodded. "Sooner if Panther knows how to mix drinks expertly."

Fox face-palmed with a sigh. "I hope Wolf makes a good CAG."

"You'll just have to trust him."

"I guess I will." Fox pulled his paw down the top of his muzzle, to his nose, and shook his head with another sigh. "Okay, let's try and get Marcus on the line, so we can let him know we've added Miyu, and that the team is locked, now. I swear, he'd better not try and make an end-run on Anezka Vacek while we're off saving Corneria."

Krystal chuckled. "Only one way to find out, love." She cut her gaze to ROB. "Please open a channel to our son."

ROB, from a chair at the helm, said, "Waiting for the nearest subspace buoy to free up some bandwidth to make a call. We are in the queue. Projected wait time … ten minutes. Would you like to head to your quarters, and I will patch the video call down to your bedroom?"

Krystal nodded. "That would be lovely. Thank you. And, do me a favor, ROB? Monitor Slippy, Amanda, and Lucy."

ROB glanced back at Krystal from his seat. "Lucy, Amanda, and Slippy? Not Panther and Miyu?"

Krystal nodded. "The felines are capable pilots. Lucy, Amanda, and Slippy are far more important. Our tech brains, our medic, and our astrophysics professor need protection. If they get in trouble, I want you to prioritize their safety first. I know you care very much for Lucy's safety. So … keep her team safe using the guns and missiles of GreatFox."

ROB nodded firmly. "You can count on me."

Krystal smiled. "I know. That's why I asked … because you are dependable."

"D'aw. Thank you."

Krystal turned to her husband. "All right. Let's get some rest."

"Works for me," said Fox.

Krystal led Fox off the bridge. The doors thumped shut behind them.

ROB looked back up at the main view-screen, which displayed a subspace buoy a half-mile off the starboard bow. "With this many skilled pilots aboard, maybe … just maybe … maybe we're not doomed. At least not today."

He looked down at a monitor on the helm dash panel, which depicted Miyu's prototype fighter on the flight deck. "Ah, what a beautiful machine. It's almost as pretty as Lucy…"