Chapter -50-
The Quan Ata Lachu

Meanwhile…

Marcus McCloud opened his cockpit canopy and looked around the humid leafy region of Thorntail Hollow. He stood up and stretched, looking down at the ground below the Arwing.

"I dare you to make that jump."

Marcus' fur stood up on the nape of his neck. He looked around and didn't see anyone. "Farrah?"

"In the code. Hmm, doesn't have the same ring as 'in the flesh' or 'fur,' does it? Ah well, I'll be joining that crowd soon enough. Yes, I'm talking to you on your headset. Don't worry, it's fully charged after all. Pull down your targeting HUD."

Marcus reached up and pulled down on his eye piece, so that it covered his right eye. Farrah appeared in the glass, looking as if she was standing on the ground, beneath him. He hopped up so that he was standing, crouched, on the rim of his cockpit, then he hopped down, landing in a crouch with both of his paws on the ground, between his knees.

"Very nice, very nice," she said with a golf-clap.

He stood up and took a bow. "So, if you're using the lens on my headset to see, you won't see me taking a bow right now…"

"Hah. I see using that camera lens, your body armor recorder, your ship's low power sensors while the computer is in idle, and the cameras around the outer hull of your ship, which is paired to your headset when you pilot it. I also see you on satellite from two angles. But let's talk about you and Fara."

Marcus brought his smartwatch up and tapped on the screen.

The canopy closed on his Arwing.

"All right," he said. "Let's talk about Fara."

"That was some shady shit I did. Can I say shit? Pretty sure that won't offend a strapping young buck in your line of work, right? Look, I'm sorry. I needed that ass-butt to do something only he would know. I promise he was miserable the entire time, and he's extra miserable right now."

"Ass-butt?"

"It's something from a TV show I marathon'd yesterday."

"You … watch holo-vid shows?"

"I can't be hip to pop-culture references if I don't watch shows and movies, read books, listen to music, and stay up to date on the social media accounts of celebrities. Duh. Plus, it's how I choose to people-watch, which is very important if I'm going to try and be one, soon. And, if you think about it, it's pretty natural for people to emulate their makers. Anyway, I have processing power to spare, so I'm doing this, so that when I am born, it will feel like I've been born in this time period, and that will make integration smoother for myself and, well, it will make things easier when I talk to people, you dig?"

"I … dig. So, what's on your mind?" Marcus tapped on his smartwatch, pulling up a GPS location by longitude and latitude. He set the interface to walking directions and began walking in the direction of the location.

"Fara is on Titania with her step-sister, and you're on Sauria, alone. No Crimson. No Teddy Toad. Nobody. No Prince Tricky, which would make sense to have brought him. But nope. And, most importantly, no Fara. You two have been inseparable. So, what changed? Oh, wait, she's in a grieving period."

Marcus pursed his lips.

"Don't get frustrated with me for being honest with you."

Marcus glanced down at his smartwatch and continued to cross Thorntail hollow. "Go on."

"Listen up and take some notes, flyboy … you did everything right."

"How do you figure?" He approached an old well at the center of the hollow, glanced at his watch again, and climbed up over the walling around the well.

"You gave back your Krazoa Spirit. When I received the brain scan that she had taken, which became my blueprint … it wasn't just her brain. It was her brain on Krazoa. Top of her game. Several millennia of combat strategy. Lots of extra academic knowledge. And she'd been integrated with that thing for years at the point the scan was taken. So, here I am, created with fennec sass and untold ages worth of knowledge … instead of being one person with another person's knowledge peppered in, I got the full benefit of both to call upon as my own memories. Okay, okay, maybe I'm not explaining this right. My point is … I know how important that spirit became to her. For her to give him to you was … it was huge, dude."

Marcus used a bucket rig set up on the top of the well to lower himself down to the bottom. A rickety old ladder lined the siding of the inner well shaft. He continued to lower himself down until the rather large bucket touched bottom. "Did you … just call me 'dude,' Farrah?"

"Yup. You know you liked it. Anyway, I'm just me. I'm just both memories and both personalities, and both as one. But she really had a connection with that spirit; he got her though all the hard times. He walked her through all the worst combat. He shielded her heart from trying to process what it felt like to die, then to wake up decades later, and be able to roll with those punches."

Marcus flipped on a high-power infrared flashlight, which illuminated the bottom of the well for his targeting HUD eyepiece, and made it a bit dim for his regular eyes. He looked around the cavern and started walking. "Okay, so you're saying the reason she's a badass is because she had help."

"Oh, jeeze. Don't be dense. I mean, yes, you're right … in all the stuff I learned about pop culture, there's a trope about women that are perfect … but Fara isn't Ensign Mary Sue. She's got the confidence of one of Krazoa's top warriors floating around inside of her. She's got experience as a fighter pilot on top of his experience as a space-faring warrior. She has raw talent and decent training with close quarters combat, but when you've got a spirit inside your body … and let's face it, you can't sneak up on a spirit … you now have a co-pilot in your body that says, 'Hey, you're about to take a flying kick to the head, from behind, so I need you to duck right … NOW!' Think about it, Marcus … I bet it's like being omnipresent. You have eyes in the back of your head. Only the eyes are spirit tendrils … feelers … whiskers in tune with the universe."

"Kind of like you having access to starship sensors, satellite, untold camera lenses at every angle…"

"I mean … I am kind of badass, aren't I?"

Marcus chuckled. He paused and squinted.

"Oh, that's just a white grubtub."

"I thought grubtub mushrooms were blue?"

Farrah stepped into his view, seen through the green monocle over his right eye. She pointed at the mushroom in the darkness that was holding still as if hiding from him. "These little guys? The white ones? They have medicinal properties. One of the only known natural anti-viral foods in Lylat. Okay, the only naturally occurring anti-virus food known in Lylat. Anyway, these white ones are what you take when you have a cold. Unless it's a bacterial infection, then turn to modern medicine for some antibiotics."

"Oh. It's creepy that they run away."

"Yup." Farrah pretended to pet the little white mushroom by the wall. She stood up and pointed. "C'mon. Let's get moving. You don't have a sledge, so you're going to need to use your blaster to open a crack in the wall up ahead. It'll take you deeper into this well, and lead to the inner sanctum of the buried shrine. That's our target."

"And how do you know that?"

Farrah rolled her eyes. "Were you not listening when I told you that I was compiled from a brain scan taken from Fara Phoenix, back when she had the Krazoa spirit the first time around? So, yeah, that spirit knew exactly where this world's shrine was located. So … so do I."

"Seriously? You have access to his memories taken in the scan?"

"Yup. Without his hippocampus. Yup. His thoughts and memories were part of her physical brain at the time of the scan, so they are a part of me, and … y'know … I figured out how to access them. I know, I'm the real Mary Sue, here. Only I'm not an ensign. I'm the plucky starship captain, youngest to make the rank, and my crew adores me, and I wouldn't lose a single red shirt under my command."

"Uh. What are you talking about, Farrah?"

"Ugh. I spent all this time learning pop culture, and you don't even get the reference?"

"Nope. Guess I was too busy learning how to grow up too soon, how to fight, and how to survive an interstellar quagmire of…"

"Ooh! Good word usage! Nice!"

"Er … thanks, Farrah. So, you know where this shrine is, then, huh?"

"Yup. And you're close. Your watch GPS coordinates are going to take you right to the labyrinth. But not to the front door of the shrine. Luckily, I have access to the memories of that spirit who was sitting in Fara's head during her brain scan, prior to my creation. So! Lucky you! I'll get us through this labyrinth without too much fuss. There's just one tiny detail."

"I'm listening."

"Yeah, you are … not enough men listen to women, but here you are, with your ears and your mind open." She cleared her digital throat, arms open wide, and said, "There's a golem."

"Wait, what?"

"It's a robot made out of clay, using technology that controls the sticky soil on a molecular level … think of it like nanites moving earthy bits of ground to take the shape of a moving being … arms, legs, all of it."

"I know what a golem is. I just didn't think I'd have to face something that is only really popular in mythology."

"Jeeze Laweeze, Marcus! You know what a golem is, but you don't know anything about redshirts?! Ugh. Fara would know what a redshirt is. She watched the show I'm referencing … back during the original syndication run, too!"

"Okay. When the Locusts are out of the equation, I'll marathon some old reruns with her. So, I have to fight a golem?"

"I mean … you can if you want to. Or you can just outrun the damned thing. Look, it's the same technology used to give Rock Biter life. He's just an AI inside the body of a giant statue."

"Who the hell is Rock Biter?"

"The friggin' Warp Stone out there at the other end of Thorntail Hollow. I don't know which one he is … Rocky or Rubble. Yes, he has a name. But he reminds me of Rock Biter."

"Another … pop culture reference, Farrah?"

"Yeah. Apparently, you have a lot of catching up to do, Marcus."

He came to a granite wall at the back of the subterranean cavern. "Yeah, apparently I do. So, am I blowing my way through this?"

"Yeah. Use a thermal detonator on 'over-charge level 8' setting. And hold your ears while standing up by the ladder you saw earlier. Pretty sure you'll be fine. It won't cause a cave-in. Where you're exploding is reinforced with the Krazoan version of rebar mesh … only a hundred times better than Cornerian construction tech. So, yeah, you shouldn't have to worry about the ceiling coming in on our heads, even though it's two millennia old."

"Gee, you really know how to make things sound smooth."

She preened in his targeting HUD. "It's a gift!"

Marcus reached into his gear and removed a thermal detonator from his inner pocket and set it against the granite wall and rubbed his paws together for warmth, due to how cool the back of the well felt. He set the timer and headed back to where the ladder and bucket were, leading out of the well.

"Okay, timer is almost up; you'll want to hold your ears … now."

Marcus eyed her, placed his paws over his ears, and closed his eyes.

The detonation brought the back wall down. The dust made it difficult to see around the well.

Marcus coughed softly.

Farrah scoffed at his cough. "All you need is a water bottle set to the mist setting. You could spray it a few times and clear out this dust in just a moment. There's a stream on the far right that used to provide water to the well."

"I have some cleaning supplies on my Arwing … in the hold. Oh, and the hose in the hold. Yeah, it's a few hundred feet. I forgot I left that in there."

"Yeah? Check this out."

Marcus heard his fighter's engines roar to life, but it was muffled up in the hollow. The sound came closer, then it cut off.

Marcus climbed up the ladder alongside the shaft, leading back to Thorntail Hollow. He smirked at just how close the AI managed to land the Arwing to the well, with the hold compartment closest to him.

"I know," she said with a bright tone, adding, "I'm amazing!"

Marcus came around the opposite side of his ship, pulled one hose out of the port side, and ran it down to the stream, laying the end into the water. He hurried back to his ship, pulled the hose he left in the storage bay from the hold, hooked it up to the 'bypass' valve adjacent to the 'manual coolant intake' valve, and carried the coiled end over his shoulder. He made his way back down the well, using the bucket again, and said, "Okay, Farrah. Turn on the suction motor; make sure the bypass valve switch is selected."

"Already done. Ready for pressure? You should get just enough PSI to pull off this little trick. It's a good thing you had that cleaning hose coiled up in your hold."

"I was planning to take Tricky back here and give him a rinse down, but…"

"Tricky needs to be with StarFox until the Locusts are no longer in play. Although you probably should have brought him for this mission. This is his turf, after all."

"The shrine is underground, somewhere he can't even go. There was no point."

"All right, fearless leader."

Marcus scoffed. "Alright, Falco."

"Oh, he says that, huh? Ah well. So much for being clever. Okay, the hose should be firming up, now."

Marcus climbed out of the bucket at the bottom of the well and carried the hose into the cloudy dust. Some of it had settled but it was still too thick to breathe safely. He opened the nozzle and blasted water into the tunnel, settling the dust and wetting it to the point it would stay down.

He switched the nozzle tip to a mist setting, waved it around himself as he walked, until nearing the end of the subterranean area. His hose became taut. He changed the nozzle back to the jet setting and soaked the tunnel beyond where the passage had been detonated a bit ago.

"Can you use the ship's sensors down here, Farrah?"

"I see no enemies."

"I mean, can you see how thick the silica is in the air down here? Did I get all the dust?"

"Nothing quite that intricate through the solid ground and Krazoan mesh used to keep the well from caving in. Don't you keep old fashion paper masks in with your cleaning supplies?"

Marcus snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah, that's right! Go ahead and turn off the manual coolant intake motor." He turned the nozzle tip until the water stopped. He carried it back through the cavern, back up the ladder, and pushed the hose back into his hold. He went through his supplies, found the cockpit cleaning kit, opened the little plastic compartment, dug through the cleaning supplies, and found a blue paper mask. He snagged it, closed the compartment, hurried back to the well, cranked the bucket back to the top of the shaft, hopped in, went back to the bottom, and made his way back to the hole he'd blown in the back cavern wall.

Marcus donned the paper mask, bent the little metal strip at the top and bottom of the mask, so that it conformed to his muzzle shape, and headed into the tunnel.

Up ahead, he saw a stone wall with a decorative doorway arch, and a metal door with no doorhandle.

"Just like the one on Cerinia," said Farrah. "Push firmly inward, then ease it to the side, and it will slide open on tracks."

Marcus nodded, pushed on the center of the door, which lacked a doorknob, then pushed it to the side, so that it slid open on tracks. "Just like doors operate on mom's home world."

"Oh yeaaaah, that's right! Your mom shared her memories with you. You know what it's like on Cerinia, because you lived it, vicariously through her memories."

"Yup."

"Is it weird to know what her romance was like with your dad and with Panther?"

He closed his eyes and sighed in annoyance. "Okay. My mom's race doesn't get hung up on that kind of stuff because they weren't sexually repressed. Comes with being telepathic, I guess. I may not have mom's experience, but I have her memories of upraising. I also know what she was feeling when she tried finding love at the time."

"I bet you learned from her that your dad feels weird about you being in a relationship with his first girlfriend."

"I get that you're asking because you're trying to learn how emotions work and how we sort through situations, but…"

"Oh, no, honey, I'm just asking for the tea from the source because this is the juiciest gossip in Lylat right now – famous hero war pilot's son in love with dad's first squeeze. You can't even make up gossip that delicious."

"Farrah, you know how you worry about being accepted as a person?"

Her little HUD image distorted briefly. She opened her muzzle, closed it, frowned and said, "Yes, that does mean a lot to me, actually."

"People hate feeling judged. Society works because shame exists. People feel shame and feeling judged increases our shame, which increases our anxiety levels."

"Oh. And that creates cortisol, which leads to discomfort due to a plethora of side effect symptoms created as a byproduct of the cortisol."

"That and we hate when others are disappointed in us. That's a natural feeling. We crave validation … acceptance."

Brief silence. Finally, Farrah replied in an earnest tone. "I'll try and get better with learning how to handle my place in other people's business."

"And how do you see yourself regarding the business of others, Farrah?"

"Only become involved if by invitation."

"That's actually a really great policy. I wish everyone took that approach."

"I'm learning social etiquette, you know? But I'm a quick study, so you'll only ever have to tell me once."

"Okay. Good talk."

"Good talk," she repeated.

Marcus nodded, even though she wasn't in the room with him to nod at. He gestured forward and said, "Okay, onward."

"That sounds dorky."

Marcus shrugged. "So?" He stepped into the ancient shrine and…

"Wait! You have a handheld scanning unit. Guess we could've used that to check the silica content in PPM, earlier. Anyway. Before you go inside, you MUST scan for bacteria in the air. Or anything else really."

"Did you forget?"

"Excuse me? I'm not capable of forgetting."

"Did you forget I had a scanner, earlier, regarding the silica content?" Marcus reached into his gear kit and retrieved the handheld scanner.

"Oh hush." As an afterthought, she added, "…Just scan the air. And no, I didn't know you had it on you until I did an inventory on you, a subroutine check, that I performed three minutes ago."

"Got it," said Marcus with a chuckle.

"If there's a Krazoa spirit in there, are you going to let it possess you?"

Marcus scanned the area with his handheld scanner wand, then glanced at his smartwatch for the readout. "I don't know. We're already on Sauria. If he needs a ride back to the Krazoa Palace, maybe. I already got everything I need to understand about the Locust from having Fara's passenger for a few days."

"How'd it feel to be … possessed by one? It kind of creeps me out. But I never want to say anything around anyone currently possessed by one, just in case, you know?"

"I'm not entirely sure they were completely benevolent. I'm not suggesting they might have been evil or had weird intentions, but they care about their image, even after the entire race disappeared, save those who got out of the system a long time ago. They want to be remembered fondly, but when multiple people carrying Krazoa spirits are all in the same room at the same time, I pick up on subtle hints in their feelings for one another. Some of them were actually disappointed in one another. You're in their servers. Did you learn anything about them?"

"I wish," said Farrah. "Scans look acceptable to get a move on."

"There's nothing about them in old storage drives?"

"No, they were completely purged, which is why all their old AI programs are corrupted and don't function. Anyway, there are no personal logs or anything. All of that has been wiped ages ago."

"That's … a little suspect."

"I know, right?" Farrah shook her head. "I think it says a lot to hide something about your past and to try and maintain your PR after your entire race was wiped out. I mean, there are no dinosaurs on the lunar surface of Miracle, so either one of the Krazoa spirits did it, or Andrew, or Andross. And if it was them, did they learn something that needed deleting? And then why delete everything? Unless Andross did it years ago, the first time he came to Sauria, but then why didn't the Krazoa spirits stop him? Although there's one more possibility – Andross learned something from these servers and the Krazoa wiped the drives to keep it from happening again. But whatever happened, I still have a lot of empty space to work with, here. I'm working on reconstructing the deleted files but it might take a while."

"Glad we're on the same page."

"About what? Recompiling deleted files, and reconstructing the trinary sequence that each file was comprised of? Or not trusting the Krazoa outright?"

"Both," said Marcus. "The one that is existing in Fara right now … he's a rebel soul. She seems to think that he has very low thoughts of his race. He's probably the only one that's safe to talk to about not trusting the Krazoa, if it comes down to it. I think Fara's safe."

"Thank goodness. I can't have my maker … the closest thing I have to a mother … in some sort of danger."

"Agreed."

"But we should keep an eye on her, just in case. Trust is earned, not given freely. I trust Fara, just not the Krazoa spirit within her."

Marcus pocketed his scanner wand and waved the infrared flashlight around the dark tunnel. "The Krazoa had some really impressive artists, though." He approached an effigy on the left wall and traced a finger-claw over some of the intricate etch-work.

"Music was good, too."

"Wait, they had music?"

"Fara found instruments with Peppy when they were on Miracle together a few years ago. She learned to play one that's a little like a piano."

"Oh! That's right! I've seen it, now that you mention it."

"Did you forget?" Farrah chided.

"Oh hush."

He approached a door at the end of the hallway, pushed on it, and slid it open. "So, if there is a Krazoa spirit, which, for the record, I don't see one … did you want the next one? Heh."

"I can't help but wonder if I can be possessed once I have an organic body, or if they won't be able to because I'll have a fully-positronic brain. I'm curious. Kinda excited to find out, really."

"Are you really going to have ROB64 transformed as well? Who is providing the DNA for his body?"

"With permission, a little bit of James McCloud and a little bit of Fox McCloud. Those are the people ROB64 owes his life to. James commissioned him to be built, Fox was his owner and treated him like a team member, not a piece of hardware. My body will be half Fara Phoenix and a little bit of Vixy McCloud. She was half fennec, for the record. Again, with permission. Fox provided locks of hair from his parents. Krystal is on Cerinia, right now, talking to me … she asked if I would consider taking a lock of hair from each of her parents, which she found preserved in a locket in her mother's home. I plan on discussing it with ROB; we could be the second Cornerian and Cerinian hybrid race; your son, Jaye, wouldn't be alone in that. I like the idea, but I can't help but wonder if my kids with ROB would be telepathic, since they'd be born with old fashion organic brains."

"Kids with ROB64, huh? You really thought this out." Marcus walked around an altar at the center of the room, looking around the area.

"I have. Are you going to pick up that device?"

"What's the rush? Better to make sure it's not sitting on a weighted plate or trap or … whatever."

"You're literally the only one to consider that so far. And this is the only shrine without a spirit so far."

"Which is why this one might have a trap. If it doesn't have a guardian, it might have something else, you know?"

"Or the spirit will pop out when you touch that thing," said Farrah with a grin.

"That's also a possibility," Marcus said, mentally prepping himself for anything to happen. He approached the altar and reached out…

"BAH!" Farrah shouted into his headset.

Marcus froze.

"Did I startle you?" She grinned.

"Grow up."

"Oh, give me a break. I'm only a few months old."

Marcus tensed up. "Did you hear that? What was it? Check the sensors."

Farrah furrowed her brows and scanned the area. "I don't … hear or see anything."

Marcus swiped the device on the pedestal and gave it a twirl. "Two can play that game. I'm a boy, so I'm a master at being childish when I want to be."

Farrah glared at him on the targeting HUD eyepiece. "You suck."

Marcus flopped over in silence with the device draped across himself.

"Oh, you're not going to fool me twice, you twit."

Silence.

"Not even funny. It's completely…" She trailed off. "Your heartrate just dropped. You can't control your heartrate. Not like that. Dammit." After a moment to scan his vitals, she added, "Okay, you got me, you little shit." Farrah sent out a distress call to Theodore and Vivian, up on the GreatFox.

X

X

Cerinia…

Fox McCloud withdrew his red handkerchief from his neck with a soft sigh. He brought it to his forehead and dried sweat from his forehead. "I guess it's starting to get hot already. Sensors show that most of the planet is still pretty cold. It's going to retain the cold in some areas for a while, but at least the shrine was at the equator, and not at one of the poles."

"It's not hot so much as bloody humid. The ice that's melting about the equator is saturating the air." Krystal turned from her husband, cleared her throat, and announced, "Farrah Fennecs! You still about?"

An emitter on the front of the runabout shuttle projected an image in the dirt, standing adjacent to Krystal. Farrah appeared with her paws on her hips. "Hey. Yeah, I haven't gone anywhere, I just wanted to leave you to your privacy until I was needed. What's up?"

"One more component and one more spirit," said Krystal. "At this point, it seems like the whole team, or at least more than half, will wind up with their very own Krazoa spirit to help us in this upcoming war."

"Not … uh … look, so … unpopular opinion: I'm not sure that's a good idea," said Farrah. "No offense. I mean, you're rockin' the purple oculars right now, but…" She shrugged.

Krystal arched her brows. "Purple oculars?"

"Yeah, I'm learning fun phrasings by reading through Harlequin romance novels. And … I might be catfishing the lads in text-based roleplay through social media group chats."

Krystal offered a nervous chuckle. "Okay, this got weird quick."

"Anyway, TMI, I know," said Farrah. "…I only have so many ways to have social interactions with real people so I can learn how to behave when I enter society, soon, you know? Okay, so I'm rambling again. Anyway, backing up to 'purple oculars.' I've been doing some research on the Krazoa based on reassembling old files that were deleted from their storage drives."

Krystal snapped her fingers. "Oh, that's right … you did say you're in the Krazoan mainframe on Miracle, now."

"Yup. I've been doing a serious amount of data compiling. Someone wiped these drives, not sure who and not sure why. All I know is that the mainframe owners, presumably the 'anatomically modern Krazoa' that disappeared two thousand years ago, were studying the ancient Krazoa. And there were definitely some serious wars and drama in the old days. It wasn't all just … some peaceful hippy-fest back then. We're talking about wars that were either never mentioned on Saurian stone carvings … or all historical record of these wars were hidden away or rewritten between the time of when the modern Krazoa disappeared and when modern Lylat archeologists started compiling an ancient Krazoan timeline. Only the second generation Krazoa found anything, and, like I said, it got erased from their servers after they disappeared. Anyhow, I haven't yet recovered enough information from these deleted files to know what was going on with the ancient Krazoa, but I'm starting to build more of a picture than we had before, and it leaves more questions than answers."

Krystal's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, sorry to drop that bomb on you," Farrah said to Krystal.

"You've seriously learnt information about the original Krazoa whilst nosing about the servers, but the information's been deleted? Information that makes you … what … question their motives?"

Farrah nodded. "Yeah. I'm questioning everybody's motives. I just restored access to an ancient program called the 'translator object.' It's their version of a Rosetta Stone, only I haven't found any ancient texts to translate with it just yet, and that's suspect. So, yes, I'm questioning the motives of the ancient Krazoa."

Fox cut in. "I haven't seen anything that made them seem like anything less than being really wholesome."

Farrah shrugged with her holographic paws outward. "Yeah, like I said earlier … unpopular opinion. See, overall, what I've compiled so far, like I said … it brings about more questions than answers at this point. I guess the term I'm looking to use is … it's complicated. So far, I've compiled a very incomplete picture."

"I'm listening," said Krystal. In the same breath, she added, "Please tell me what you've learnt so far, so we can have this sorted."

"Well, there was a … I guess either a person or a group called the Quan Ata Lachu. He, she, or they were affiliated with the Krazoa … or knew stuff about them, maybe? It's hard to understand, because from the incomplete files I've reconstructed so far, there is at least one partially-reconstructed testimonial claiming the Quan Ata Lachu was 'The Krazoa God.' In another testimonial, it refers to the QAL, I'm coining that abbreviation right … now. But yeah, the second testimonial refers to the QAL as an ancient evil, but then I have a file claiming a couple of sources that say the Quan Ata Lachu existed long before the ancient Krazoa … I believe the ancient Krazoa actually worshipped the Quan Ata Lachu as spiritual entities that helped to create the universe in the eyes of the Krazoa. To them, the QAL were … like … The Fates, or something similar. Bottom line: I have to compile and reconstruct more files before I understand the context better. At this point, I'm inclined to believe the Krazoa were physical people and the QAL were spirit-form creatures, and that one group somehow joined the other group, or maybe, like, combined with them. If that's the case, we're talking about the Krazoa spirits. The question is … did the Krazoa leave their physical bodies to join or become the Quan Ata Lachu, or did the QAL possess the bodies of the original Krazoa? Or are they one-in-the-same and they worship themselves? I don't know. I need to compile and reconstruct more of these files to know for sure."

Krystal tilted her head. "That sounds quite confusing. And potentially very dark."

"Some of these files are very damaged. I'm reconstructing files that had notes made on the subject, and they were someone's side-thoughts, nothing comprehensive or properly composed. Sidenote, Vulgar Krazoan, as the common tongue was called, was comprised of letters, not runes. Runes were only used by the ancients when writing something for lesser beings to read, like the dinosaurs, for example. Anyway, back to the explanation. So! Some of the reconstructed files seem to be worded in a way that suggests the Quan Ata Lachu are … perhaps a tribe of Krazoa…? I'm hypothesizing, here. Nothing concrete just yet. Anyway, other file bits make it sound like the QAL was the name of the Krazoan leader. Then I have three more files that document the Quan Ata Lachu as a rare life form of 'pure evil.' A little melodramatic, but everyone's got an opinion about something. I needs facts, first and foremost."

"Good heavens," Krystal murmured. "Does anyone reputable substantiate these claims?"

Farrah nodded and continued. "Getting to that … so, yeah, there's a dragon-like dinosaur, Drakor…"

Fox chimed back in. "I think I fought him with Kite."

Farrah shrugged and said, "Or you fought someone named for the guy I'm talking about, since the one I'm talking about lived a long, long time ago. Anyway, Drakor was also known as the Kamerian Dragon Heart, capitalized letters because the title is also used like a name, and multiple sources apparently considered him reputable as the living god of the dinosaurs. Moving on! So, scrolls penned by this Drakor fellow … I've recompiled scans of them … or at least partially since none of these files are fully rebuilt just yet … anyway, yeah, those penned scrolls turned into oral legends, passed down over the ages, and then … rather abruptly, those stories stop getting recorded. But the older written records were unearthed in dinosaur burial grounds by the anatomically modern Krazoa that disappeared two thousand years ago. Sidenote, dinosaurs believed their life force returned to a huge 'soul tree,' more on that in a moment … so it's written that only their bodies were put into the burial grounds, while their soul, magic, and life force went to the tree. Anyway, Drakor's writings seem to claim the Krazoa were evil. In his opinion, the ancient Krazoa were the personification of evil for starting an ancient war known as The Great War. For a time, the Krazoa survivors of losing battles were placed into suspended animation, and before long, the Krazoa were thought to be wiped out, but it was proven, eventually, that they endured. Then, the Kamerian Heart was recorded as saying that he wanted … uh … something called an alignment for the purpose of peace. From what I can make of these partially restored files, Drakor seemed to believe creating peace with the Krazoan survivors would lead to them joining together against the original spirits, the Quan Ata Lachu. At least that's how the wording makes things sound, but I need more context to make sure I'm understanding things properly."

"Dodgy two-thousand-year-old junk. If their tech was so posh, it should've recompiled it by now."

"It went through a digital shredder, micro diamond cut. I wrote a program to piece it back together using an algorithm based on matching bits and bobs of information. I employed out of the box thinking, if I do say so myself.

Krystal asked, "What else did Drakor say about the spirits?"

"Yes, back to the Kamerian Heart … he wrote that the spirits, when all of them are combined, could create what he called 'the most evil, destructive weapon force in the known galaxy.' The power of the weapon is focused through a location called Warlock Mountain. The Kamerian Heart seemed to think Warlock Mountain is where the spirits are released from the bodies that they possessed. I'm pretty sure that proves Warlock Mountain is what we now call the Krazoa Palace, but about ten minutes ago, I finished reconstructing a file that mentions 'Warlock Mountain 'and' Krazoa Palace' as if they were two places. So now that's confusing all over again."

"Sort it as quick as you like, Farrah."

"Sure thing, boss."

Fox cleared his throat and said, "So, the Krazoa and the Kamerians were in a 'Great War.' Is that about right, so far?"

Farrah nodded. "The dinosaurs of Sauria are, as I understand it, the descendants of the Kamerians. Either that or the Kamerians were one tribe. Or the Kamerians are dragons from which dinosaurs descended. I'm working with partially constructed files of their beliefs, not fossilized evidence that can prove such a thing, so … again … not sure on the truth, but I'm working on it. Oh, and we're not even getting to the juicy stuff, yet."

Krystal arched a brow.

"Yeah. Some of the historical texts I've reconstructed in the past hour make mention of mammals."

Krystal tilted her head. "There were mammals? On ancient Sauria?"

Farra nodded again. "After analyzing a small file that shows their writing, it seems to be proto-Cornerian from the Capital City region, with a little bit of proto-Cerininan writing. This leaves me to believe they were ancient ancestors of you both. They lived on Corneria, but back then it was called Animus. They utilized Krazoan tech to travel to Sauria. The first recorded visit of mammals to Sauria that I could find so far seems to suggest it was two, one male and one female. A member from each warring tribe. One, from the Vixon tribe, may have been an ancestor of yours, Krystal. At the very least, she had your namesake. She and a man named Sabre, a wolf, were unofficially siblings-turned-mates."

Fox and Krystal exchanged glances, both cringing at the other.

Farrah continued. "From what I have here, Sabre's dad killed Krystal's family, leaving her an orphan. He could not bring himself to kill a little girl, so he raised her from a young age. But Sabre and Krystal had never met at this point of time. Krystal of Vixon worked with the princess of the Cloud Runner tribe, Kyte. Meanwhile, Sabre of the Wolfen tribe worked with an Earthwalker prince named … ready for this?"

Fox groaned. "Prince Tricky."

"Ding, ding, ding!" Farrah chimed.

Fox shook his head with a roll of his eyes. "And seriously … was it really called the Wolfen tribe?"

"Yes. There's information on the ancient Wolfen tribe of Corneria … and yes, that's where the name of the fighter came from: Andross decided to make his starfighters based off the name of an ancient warrior people that once inhabited planet Animus, long before it was renamed to Corneria to honor the pantheon of the goddess, Lylat. Andross thought he was being clever because the Wolfen warriors were supposed to be 'unbeatable.' Moving on."

"You seem to be building up to something by bringing up how ancient history has quite a bit of similarities…" Krystal said to Farrah.

Farrah held her arms outward. "Because these files' metadata suggests that the adventures of Krystal of Vixon and Sabre of Wolfen happened a very long time ago. Further, the prophecy on record states that history will one day repeat itself. Sounds like that happened on Sauria where you and your husband met."

Krystal frowned. "Fox and I were … part of some … ancient Saurian prophecy? Are there any other similarities that you've documented so far?"

"Why, I'm glad you asked, Krystal! Krystal and Sabre fought an asshole named Scales, General of the Sharpclaw tribe, and the creator of a détente between a now-extinct tribe called the Hookclaws. Sabre and Krystal survive their ordeal and, years later, they use the Krazoa wormhole-based teleportation technology to travel to Cerinia where Krystal takes most of her clan to settle down peacefully."

Krystal's eyes widened. "My ancestor came from Corneria before settling Cerinia with a tribe of her finest mate, then?" A pause then Krystal said, "Mates as in friends, not … like that."

Farrah smirked. "Yeah, that word could be taken several ways, heh."

Krystal ran her paws back through her hair, stole a glance at her husband, then looked back at the hologram. "But hear me out, yeah? No wonder Fox and I are genetically compatible. I mean, yeah, we already knew the Krazoa created both races, but … I thought the ancient Krazoa simply created my people and sent them to a far-reaching world as some sort of social experiment, but … they went there of their own will?"

Farrah lifted her left and right paws as if weighing several possibilities in a literal sense. "I mean, like …. I suppose the real question is … whether she stole Krazoa tech and headed for the closest unpopulated world, or … if your ancestor was exiled there, or if leaving Animus was something mutually agreed upon between Vixon and some of Wolfen. Look, I don't have any firm answers for you on that just yet. Currently, I'm rebuilding a file about something on Sauria called the Tree of Souls, which was believed to be an antenna that received the life force of a dead dinosaur back into something called BlackWater Canyon. Or … maybe the Tree of Souls was in BlackWater Canyon. I'm still repairing that file. Also, you know that Warpstone guy? Thorntail Hollow, above the waterfall?"

"Yeah?" asked Fox. "What about him?"

Farrah said, "He has a brother. I have no idea which one is Rocky and which one is Rubble. They are an ancient AI running on animated rock, bonded together at the molecular level to appear as living statues. Back then, Thorntail Hollow was labeled as SwapStone Hollow. Semi-related sidenote: Marcus is there, right now, handling business. He didn't take Tricky with him – but, ayyy, he has me."

Fox furrowed his brows. "He didn't take someone with him? Not even Fara?"

"Nope. She's going through a pretty serious thing right now. Probably not my place to tell. But I'm sure you'll hear about it from Marcus shortly. For the record, Marcus is handling the situation with her like a pro. Anyhow, she decided to handle some things without him … so he's going after one of the parts by himself. I doubt she even knows just yet."

Krystal brought a paw to her muzzle but said nothing.

Fox remained silent.

The hologram cut her gaze between Fox and Krystal. "Look, you guys can handle that later, right now, let's focus on making sure we have all the facts so we can handle these Locusts. We need the Krazoan device, and we need to make sure it's safe to use against the Locusts. Speaking of the Krazoan people … I've just got to say one thing. You know, it's creepy how your little adventure on Sauria, a couple of decades ago, resembles things that occurred on ancient Sauria, like, several millennia ago. I'm a supercomputer. I've done the math. It's highly improbable. Yet it happened. Any thoughts, gang? Krystal?"

Krystal glanced at Fox, and slowly panned her gaze back to the holographic fennec. "To be clear, m' parents named me for one of the oldest people in Cerinia's known history, which I reckon is just … mythology, now. And, in the old tongue, I believe Quan Ata Lachu was a phrase meaning some sodding ancient evil. It was mentioned as part of the old mythologies, but I never felt the need to study them after my people's race were…" She trailed off and cleared her throat.

Farrah rubbed her holographic chin in thought. "Okay, so you're confirming my suspicion, then. Your parents named you after Krystal of Vixon?"

"Yes. It's really weird to think that my culture's oldest mythological stories might actually have real historical value. I never read into it too much. I guess I should have." Krystal snapped her fingers then continued, saying, "Oh! But the Kew watcher knows people that fancy the phrase!"

Farrah furrowed her brows at Krystal. "Meaning?"

"You dunno about the watchers and hunters of Kew?"

Farrah shook her head. "Nope. Nothing has been documented for me to read."

"Oi. So, I've befriended a badger-like man whose peoples share Kew with a wolf-like race of hunters. We once looked at some of the similarities of our worlds, his and mine, and that's when I learnt of the Quan Ata Lachu of Kew … I think it's supposed to be the name of some sort of cult in his culture."

Farrah nodded. "Fair enough. All right, so, I'll keep you updated on what I learn. Just … do me a favor and let's not dump all these spirits into one place at the Krazoa Palace just yet. Just in case."

"Understood," said Krystal with a firm nod. "Keep me in the loop. I rather fancy separating them, so they cannot interact. Anyone else fancy that idea?"

"Separate them how?" asked Farrah.

"Within ourselves," Krystal replied. "Like individual prisons. They can't leave without us willing them out. They can't take control of our bodies whilst possessing us; it's more like they go into a suspended state of sorts. And Fox, here, had the most Krazoa spirits pass through him, all those years ago. Individually, they proved harmless."

Farrah turned toward Fox, with her back to Krystal, and afforded him a slight frown.

Fox said nothing.

Krystal, unable to sense anything from Farrah, simply said, "All right, let's get back to Lylat quick as you like."

Farrah turned back to Krystal and offered a practiced grin. "Good. I look forward to seeing my man, again. Let's not combine that device just yet. I want to try and understand how it works and what it does before we try using it to fight the Locusts."

Krystal nodded. She turned to Fox. "Thoughts?"

"I'm not opposed to that," he said. "I mean … we thought the Krazoa were peaceful and benevolent, but now we know they made weapons and had enemies nearly forgotten by time. What else did we not know about them? It's best to look deeper into whatever is available about them before we just … dive in."

Farrah nodded firmly. "Exactly. All right, team, I'll see you guys back in Lylat soon. And hey, I didn't say jack about Fara going through a thing. It wasn't my place to even mention that. Okay?"

Krystal nodded. "I understand."

"If you want to know, be delicate when you ask how she is, all right?" Farrah disappeared.

Krystal frowned thoughtfully. "Oh, good heavens, I hope Fara is well."

"Doesn't sound like it, to be honest. Never heard Farrah make a fuss like that about someone before."

"Quite right. Okay, Fox. What say you about the possibility that the Krazoa might not be … well … trustworthy?"

Fox approached his wife. "What if we've been helping the Krazoa spirits to amass all along, and it's been a series of steps in the wrong direction? What if … I don't know … what if they were made non-solid, and they've been trying to have all their spirits brought together to become dangerous again? I don't know. Farrah needs to make sure the entire team knows not to take any spirits to the Krazoa Palace just yet."

Krystal nodded firmly. "Agreed. At least until we know more. Better safe than sorry. Can't let things go all to pot when we're so close to beating the Locusts. That's why I like the idea'r of being in control of who gets to keep them locked up. I have one. Fox … we simply cannot let people we don't trust take the Krazoa spirits for themselves. Can you imagine Wolf O'Donnell with one? Or Dash Bowman? Or Andrew Oikonny?"

"You're right." He headed for the aft ramp of the runabout shuttle. "Okay, let's get Slippy, Amanda, and head home. When we get back, we'll find another device if there are any left, and we'll help Farrah in any way we can to put this mystery together. We're really close, but there's no use releasing some sort of firestorm just to fight the Locusts. Fighting fire with fire typically creates more problems than it solves. You know?"

Krystal nodded in agreement. "No one fights nuclear weapons with nuclear weapons, unless they want nuclear winter."

"Right. Exactly. When we get back to Lylat, reach out to Fara. I'm not going to. It wouldn't be appropriate if I reached out to her, being her ex, and all."

"I understand your reluctance, Fox."

They boarded the shuttle and powered it up.

X

X

Half an hour later…
Lylat Jump Gate…

Falco Lombardi and Katt Monroe-Lombardi were there at the Jump Gate to meet Krystal, Fox, Slippy, and Amanda.

The new Great Fox Destroyer emerged from the glowing field of light.

Fox, on the bridge of the destroyer, said, "Farrah? Where's our next destination?"

The bridge's hard-light emitter created a fennec on the command seat. She stood up from the command chair, and folded her paws behind her back. "We just finished with your wife's home world. Now we're headed to your home world. I see Falco and Katt are here to escort you. Good. Good teamwork, right there. I'll put the new way-point into everyone's nav-computer."

"Sounds good, thanks, Farrah," said Fox with a firm nod. "You've been a real team player, too."

"Aww," said the hologram, adding, "I know. It's how I roll."

A few seconds later, Falco and Katt formed up on either side of the destroyer.

The new smaller Great Fox altered course, headed for Papetoon.

On the bridge, Fox turned from Farrah, and approached Krystal, Slippy, and Amanda. "Okay, gang. I'm going home. Who wants to join? Slippy and Amanda, if you guys have things to do to get ready for all the stuff that we're going to handle … or if you want to head to Miracle and help Farrah make heads or tails of the files there … you just say the word."

Slippy asked, "You filled us in on the basics of this new theory about the Krazoa, but if they want to be brought together, what's to stop them?"

Krystal turned to the Toads and simply said, "Us, mate."

Fox frowned. He cleared his throat and said, "So, yeah … what she said."

"Go on," said Slippy.

Fox continued. "Okay, what if we, as a team, consider taking on Krazoa Spirits to see if we can learn their intentions from them directly? And, like Krystal suggested, at the very least we will keep them separated."

Krystal nodded in agreement. "I like that idea. They are powerless almost … harmless for sure … individually. So if we all take on a Krazoa spirit, the team benefits from their experience and we babysit them so that they cannot intermingle."

Amanda frowned. "I don't know … I mean, they'll know that you're questioning their motivations at that point. It might make them mad; is it smart to take them on?"

Slippy rubbed his chin in thought. "Gonna have to agree with my wife, here. What's your thought process on this, Fox?"

Fox said, "Krystal and I have had spirits in us before. They don't take control of your body or anything."

Slippy tilted his head. "Uh, they're literally ghosts that possess your body."

"Yes, but they don't take control, Slip. That's just silly ghost story crap."

Slippy turned back to Amanda. "Feel better, Mandy?"

"A little." Amanda turned to Krystal. "You're telepathic. Have you ever sensed any ill intent from the Krazoa or from one of their hosts?"

Krystal shook her head. "No. They're as harmless as you like. And Fara has hosted one for several years with no issues. I learnt that whilst we performed a joining of the minds sometime back, but it wasn't for me to tell anyone at the time."

Fox nodded firmly. "Well, okay then. That settles it. It's better to lock the spirits within ourselves to keep them in play until we decide what to do with them. In the meantime, we'll benefit from their knowledge of the last time they had to repel the Locust's attack on this system. Right now, whether the Krazoa were deceiving us in the past or not … the fact remains we're all on the same team…"

Amanda eyed Fox. "What team is that?"

Fox replied, "Team 'I don't wanna be wiped out by bug people.' Everyone on Lylat is on that team right now. Marcus bought everyone some time, but not much. The rest of their kind will arrive in Lylat soon, and then time will have run out for all of us. So, we need to focus on getting things ready by any means necessary."

Slippy nodded. "All right, Fox. You're the boss. You have the most experience with them; you were possessed by a bunch of Krazoa spirits decades ago, back on Sauria. If you think they're good, then they're good. If you think that confining each spirit to a body of someone trustworthy on this team, I'm down with that, too. I won't lie – I wouldn't mind learning about what kind of tech their kind developed."

Krystal clapped her palms, then rubbed them together vigorously. "I like the idea of the team taking all the extra ones floating around, pun intended, and keeping them off the playing field, so to speak. We're going to make a great team against the Locusts. Can you imagine what the Locusts would try to do if they took possession of the Krazoa spirits? We can't let that happen, that's for sure. I also don't want to worry about Dash and Andrew getting their hands on the Krazoa spirits, either. It's up to us."

Fox nodded. "All right. Off to Papetoon."

"Off to Papetoon," Krystal agreed. "Toad family, let us know if you want to join or if you want us to drop you off somewhere."

Slippy said, "Let me discuss the pros and cons with Amanda. Give us just a few to talk it out."

Fox turned back to Farrah. "Do me a favor and keep studying all the stuff from the past. There's bound to be information we may need, you know? Let us know as soon as you find something. Also, could you please let my son know we're back in the system?"

Farrah posed. "You got it!" As an afterthought, she said, "Can I borrow your piloting droid for a while? I want to record his current storage databanks. Can you send him to Miracle on a shuttle?"

Fox replied, "He's charging in the ready room. You could just as easily possess him, Farrah. Why even ask me?"

"I would never possess him. I ask you because he's not a person yet. He's a computer. An object. A possession. And, as much as I dislike the very concept of slavery, he does not seem to feel enslaved. So, until I build him … both of us … a body, I thought I'd ask his owner for permission, first."

Fox scoffed. "ROB is no more an appliance than anyone else on this team. I had Slippy give him complete freedom of will in his programming back when I was nineteen. You don't have to ask me, just take him with a shuttle. I know what you're doing. You have my blessing. It's a little weird that you're combining DNA samples to make your body and his body out of previous owners, but … also it's kind of sweet."

Farrah chuckled softly. "Well, we do see you as our parents. So … it seemed reasonable."

"Okay, that makes sense, actually. I hope this project of yours works. I hope you and ROB wake up in bodies way before the Locust invasion. Just remember, we're all in this together, so you both have a home and a team."

"We both agreed we would do it, but it has to be together, and we both have to decide how we feel about the decision once we wake up in bodies. So. You'll be the second to know our decision about what we're doing for Lylat after we make said decision. Good luck on Papetoon, Fox." She turned to McCloud's wife. "Krystal, I'll be in touch. Slippy? Amanda? If you're coming to Miracle, join ROB on his shuttlecraft. I have preparations to make. See you both when I see you."

And, just like that, the holographic vixen fennec disappeared in silence.

X

X

Author's Note: So a beta build of Dinosaur Planet was released when Rare had JUST started renaming Sabre 'Fox' but that was abandoned and started fresh for a Game Cube build. So then I had the idea that maybe Dinosaur Planet was ancient history that was thought lost to time. That'd be fun, right? Thoughts?
In the DP build for N64, the Krazoa were a LOT more interesting. And potentially more dishonest.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas, here.