Previously:-
As they flew back towards their mothership there was silence as the debris of the once oppressive flagship "the Dark Nova" floated around in the ether to which Fox said; "We've done it, we have finally done it, the regent is no more and the remnants if his forces have scattered to the 8 winds*, we can finally go home; all ships, give me a status report," there was a brief buzz of radio static of the comms system before all ships gave their status reports to fox who was shaking with relief; that was the hardest battle he'd ever faced in his career and he looked forward to some quality time with his family. One by one the reports came in "this is Krystal here everything seems fine, no major damage," Fox nodded and said ok Fara what is your status to which Fara said "My arwing is ok a bit charred but other than that all green, I just want to get home to our daughters Fox." He then radioed in to Slippy who replied "how do YOU think I am Fox?! You know how bloody bad I am in combat, my shields are in the red and my wing had a massive great chunk taken out from it! Other than that I'm ok I just cannot wait to go and see Amanda again." Fox chuckled at that and said "Very well Slippy; you fly on ahead to the ship, we'll wrap up out here." Slippy confirmed the order as Fox continued to get reports from Paige, Sakura, Bill and Falco; to which Falco said "Man! That fight was intense, I think I'm gonna need some recovery time with Katt after this skirmish; so let's just get back to our ship and reconnect with those who mean a lot to us right? Falco out." To which Falco broke formation and headed back to the ship making Fox say to him over the radio in his most tired voice he'd ever heard himself use "Hey Falco, don't ever change okay buddy? You were good out there."
Falco chuckled and replied "Hey Foxy boy; don't get all soft on me now, we still need to see who the greater pilot is ok?" Fox smiled and confirmed the transmission was received and as the radio went silent fox said to himself; "How am I going to tell him that I intend to retire after this battle? For good this time, no more missions for me at least, ah he will find out at the next memorial service for General Peppy and his old buddy General Pepper." With that he landed his arwing in the hangar bay and told Krystal of his intent, but before he could say any more Vixie said Fox my son, we are getting a distress call from a nearby planetary system called the Karaien system; it originates from the Fourth planet designated Saharis, a desert planet and they are requesting immediate aid." Fox sighed and said to himself, "well so much for retiring from this work… damn every time I get a glimpse of peace it is once again yanked from under my feet like a bloody carpet; oh well I guess a mission is a mission, this will be my last one; DEFINITELY my last one so I guess I should get some rest," to which he said out loud "ok mother, set a course for the Karaien System let's go and see who we can help." Vixie plotted the course and ROB then executed the command as Great Fox 2 and its sister ship Great Vixen set off, following the plotted course as team Star Fox got some rest for their upcoming mission. Meanwhile on the planet of Saharis; A purple Female cat wearing multiple necklaces and body decorations dressed in a belly dancing outfit walks to work under the lustful glares of several men and says to herself "Why, Why do they do this to me? All I want to do is make a living while looking for my sister; I have told them time and time again that my heart belongs to another, it sickens me. I'm the princess of this planet so why can they not show me the respect I need? Oh wait; I'm incognito here aren't I? But still!"
as she talked to herself, she heard a familiar voice saying "If you keep on talking to yourself like you are now Felicity; you will be locked away for being insane and you KNOW what they are like in those places." To which Felicity looked up and said "Oh hey there Chronor, how are you?" the young man dropped down from the roof and landed beside her saying "I'm fine Felicity, just peachy; look I know you are hating this little deception but it is the best way we can get information on your sister's whereabouts, Oh and I see your rocking a few belly-piercings; they look good on you but I know you hate them right?" Felicity sighed and said "yeah I do hate them but at the same time I don't; it's complicated, the only thing that bothers me about them is they itch quite a lot and they hurt from time to time… agh especially if you catch them on something and they get pulled on by your clothing." Listening to Felicity's rants Chronor smiled and said "Well I guess you need to be careful right? I'll look after you no matter what ok?" Felicity smiled and gave him a loving hug before saying "Yeah I do need to be careful; this is why I love you Chronor, you really care about me and will stop at nothing to keep me safe." Hearing a ruckus up in the skies Felicity looked up and saw some ominous looking clouds fill the skies and dark shadows where descending into the atmosphere of the planet and once they had all landed they all ran off in different directions so Felicity observed them running around hearing snippets of conversation between the people who seemed to be soldiers, "I cannot believe it! I simply cannot believe it! How can an inferior army decimate our regent and his forces with so few pilots?
They walked out of Felicity's earshot so she headed into a dance parlour that she was doing some undercover work within its walls, where she heard more conversations about the decimation of some entity known as the regent and several names came up in this conversations "Fox McCloud", "Star Fox"," Emperor Vesper's daughters", the most prominent name mentioned being Princess Krystal McCloud" and finally "Planet Cerinia". After hearing all of this Felicity grew confused especially hearing Planet Cerinia being mentioned; she could swear that it was just a legend, or was it? She didn't know and as she continued her observations of these newcomers she realised one thing… these people were EVIL and much to her displeasure she saw her planet start to fall apart as the locals, fuelled by drink and bewitched by lies laid siege to her home the Marble palace deep in the Shaiho Oasis in the middle of the Saharisian desert where she sent a panicked distress call to this "Team Star Fox" hoping for a slim chance that they weren't a legend and actually existed "Come in Star Fox, are you reading me? This is Princess Felicity of the Planet Saharis, my home is under attack and my people bewitched with a bloodlust that I have never seen in them before! Please help my people and my planet; these newcomers are going out of their way to sow deceit and discord among the people please help us Star Fox, you are our only hope, this message will now repeat." With that she transmitted the message on a loop and prayed that Fox and his team were real.
As Fox and Fara landed in Great Fox II's hangar with the rest of the team the only thing they wanted to do was see their two little daughters again, so they headed up to the bridge where Vixie was singing a lullaby to the two young kits and as she heard the doors open she immediately placed her finger on her lips and said quietly "Shush you two, the babies are asleep" Fox and Fara smiled and headed over to the two cradles where their children were sleeping peacefully and looked at them with loving eyes and got a little bit emotional before snapping back to their normal mind-set and quietly debriefed Vixie on their mission.
"Mother, after defeating the regent and his forces we noticed that some of the remnants of the hostile forces scattered to different systems; but before we could get a lock on their location with our scanners on-board our Arwings they used the debris of the now destroyed "Dark Nova" to mask themselves from our sensors so we have no idea where they have gone." Vixie let out a sigh before looking at the console and smiled before saying "Well my son it's a good thing that we are receiving a distress call from a nearby system, ROB will you please bring up the universal map?" the automated operator of Great Fox II acknowledged the command and brought the map up on the holographic image system where Vixie typed in some key strokes, switching the map to the Karaien System where the image shifted and zoomed in on the fourth planet of the system, "This is Saharis; A desert planet that has been in turmoil for quite some time, current reports have shown that the crown princess Selene of Solaris has gone missing and her little sister Felicity has had to take on the duties of the crown princess but shortly after her sisters disappearance, Felicity also went off-grid and nothing has been seen or heard of her... up until today; while you were destroying the flagship of the regent we received this transmission I am now playing for you. Your mission is to make contact with Princess Felicity and get whatever information you can get from her; I'd suggest sending Krystal since she can be quite diplomatic, unlike you Fox who shoots first and asks questions later; oh yes my boy, I have heard the stories from the others which is why I think it'd be wise to send in someone with tact, I could use your help here anyway."
Fox growled and went to argue, only to be stopped by the whimper of little Kitsuné, so he ended up accepting what was said and picked up the distressed kit and cradled her as Fara did the same to little Vixie, "Fox, your mother is right; after all when you rescued me, Miyu and Fay from the experimental aircraft hangar you bombarded it with lasers and nova bombs just to open the door, even then it was Krystal who went in first and gave you the all-clear but still you had your blaster raised, you'll have to concede this one," she then smiled mischievously and winked at him before accepting her mother-in law had said. Once again Fox was defeated by his family and decided to sit the mission out so he could spend time with his children, A few hours later, Krystal came onto the bridge with Marcus who was eager to see his two new little sisters and smiled as Fox handed him Kitsuné who cooed and patted Marcus' muzzle, making him smile with brotherly pride and said "now son, remember our discussion on Celyse a while back? well it looks like you will be doing that again, it is a big brother's duty to protect his little sisters and keep them safe, these two will be needing you until they are old enough to look after themselves so what do you think of your new sisters?" Marcus looked at the twins for a while as his heart melted and he said "They look cute, father and I will protect them like I did with Kari; I promise," and with that Marcus cradled Kitsuné who started to fall asleep in her big brothers arms. Watching his first son cradle his little sister, fox beamed with Fatherly pride and said to himself "how did I make such a kind-hearted boy when I have been less than kind to a lot of people? Anyway I wonder what Peppy would say after seeing how much Marcus has matured?" somehow hearing his father's inner monologue, Marcus turned around and said "I don't know what grandpa Peppy would say if her was alive but I DO know that he would tell you to stop dwelling on the past father, you and mother are together and you have a big family, y'know what I think grandpa Peppy would say to you if her were alive? He'd say 'you've come a long way Fox, I am proud of you and I am happy to see how much you have grown since you were that little hot-headed Kit that I watched mature.' or something like that." hearing his son say that fox looked at him surprised, that would be something his mentor would say.
A few hours later Krystal had already prepped her arwing as was about to set off for Saharis when she was stopped by Miyu who said "Hey Krystal, I know you are heading to Saharis but I wouldn't advise you go dressed in your flight suit because it will be like an oven down there, I was reading the environmental readout on the planet and the temperature can sometimes go up to about 35 degrees centigrade in the morning and 45 degrees centigrade in the afternoon, you'll need a lot of sunscreen and more 'airey' clothing, not forgetting lots and lots of water so i'd suggest wearing a two-piece bikini with a sarong," Krystal looked at Miyu funny and said "Are you serious Miyu? While yes I COULD dress like that I won't, do you know why? simple, If i was to go down there dressed like that; there would be a great chance that i'd never come back to Fox and the rest of you, I could either be arrested for indecent exposure, Kidnapped and sold off to some ruler or forced to perform in some exotic dance that I refuse to do; well for strangers anyway." she then looked at Fox who was nearby checking the arwings for any damage. Miyu raised her eyebrow before chuckling, then saying "Ok Krystal that's fine but just be careful okay? It is really, really hot down there, at least take some shades, Sunblock and water, but I'm telling you now that there is a chance that you'd pass out from heat exhaustion, after all Saharis IS a desert planet." With that Miyu patted Krystal on the shoulder and handed her the sunblock and smiling, to which Krystal smiled back and nodded before getting in her Arwing and preparing to launch. As Fox and Miyu saluted Krystal they left the hangar as the PA system announced "will all personnel exit the hangar bay... depressurisation in three minutes, locking down all inoperative arwings." with that Krystal went through her pre-flight checks and launched towards Saharis as Fox and the other team members watched Krystal go towards the planet
Meanwhile on the planet Saharis, a pair of green eyes were cast towards the sky in hopes that help would soon come, after all she did send that message four days ago while trying to stay hidden from the people attacking the Marble palace, "please Star Fox, if you really are strong and if you do indeed exist at all; I... WE need your help, I cannot hold out much longer and the defences are breaking away," there was a loud crack followed by some panicked shouting "Oh god they've broken through the palace doors! Reinforce the inner doorways and protect the princess!" there was more panicked shouting to which Chronor ran in and shouted "Princess Felicity we have to leave, NOW! the enemy are making their way to the central chambers, you HAVE to get out of here! RUN Felicity, RUN!" with that the doors broke open and Chronor stood his ground fighting off enemy after enemy, just giving Felicity enough time to escape from the palace through a hidden passage but as soon as the passage closed she heard a blood curdling cry then Chronor went silent, he fell protecting Felicity as she tried to escape capture. many days after Chronor fell in battle, Felicity made her way out of the palace grounds, heart heavy with grief and rage; these people were supposedly her loyal subjects but as she already knew; they were not with her home overrun and the man she loved dead, Felicity was grief stricken, gone were the vibrantly coloured clothes and gone was the jewellery, she got dressed in a sack and began four days of mourning for her lost friend and lover.
towards the end of her mourning Felicity's ears picked up an unfamiliar sound from the skies and looked up where she saw a metal looking bird with pink trim in the shape of a flying dinosaur that she had seen stories about as a kitten. Watching it land she felt mixed feelings, fear of this unknown thing and hope that it brought some form of help, granted it wouldn't bring Chronor back but it could help her find her sister Selene, couldn't it? She approached it cautiously and saw what looked like a blue and white Vixen dressed in her flight suit fanning herself with what she could, muttering something about someone being right; she then turned to face felicity and slid down the side of this metallic bird and said "Greetings, my name is Krystal McCloud of team Star Fox and you are?" Hearing those words uttered, Felicity couldn't help but show her joy, her prayers had been answered and her hope had been restored, Star Fox WERE real and they WOULD help her get back what she had lost.
To be Continued