Chapter 1
By Zeus Anubis

Fox bolted into consciousness late the next morning. He glanced over at the clock to see 0949 glaring him in the face. He frantically jumped out of bed and fully dressed himself. Walking out of his room, he reprimanded himself for sleeping in. The first day after Andross's defeat, and he had to sleep late! Well, it really was no surprise. He had stayed up incredibly late the previous night. Still, he was the team leader. He wasn't supposed to slack off. Falco was going to give him hell for this one.

Fox half-jogged down the hallway until he reached the mess hall and walked in to find his team, along with Krystal, lounging about, facing the door as if expecting him. He braced himself for the wise crack Falco would obviously make. Falco would not make a fool of him in front of Krystal.

Falco Lombardi, of course, followed through with Fox's expectations, "Good mornin' sleeping beauty!"

Normally, the rest of the team would have just stood back and watched, but they hadn't heard one of these little battles in such a long time that they couldn't help but laugh. Fox responded promptly, "Yeah yeah. Very funny Falco. I didn't sleep until late last night. While you were screwing around in space, I was doing some hard-core athletics on the surface." Breakfast was by now cold, having been on the table for a few hours, but Fox sat down and dug in regardless.

Falco was obviously a little rusty, as he did not respond in turn. A few minutes of silence followed before someone else spoke. That someone was Slippy, "You know, while we're on the subject, I had the craziest dream last night. I dreamt Fox was screaming at me! I woke up to see me on the floor." Fox and Krystal tried desperately not to laugh, both knowing the circumstance. Falco saw them and was about to make a comment but decided not to, instead shaking his head.

Suddenly, Fox remembered his idea and perked up a bit. He still had to talk it over with the rest of the team. He stood up and addressed the team in a serious tone, "Peppy, Slippy, Falco. I discovered some potential technical problems with the Arwing. I want you to come and see if it can be fixed."

Neither Falco nor Peppy stirred. The latter spoke, "Well, it there is a problem, Slippy can fix it easy."

Fox raised his voice slightly and said, "No. I really think the whole team should go check it out."

Falco, of course, just looked at Fox incredulously, until the leader made it an order. Lombardi raised his hands and spoke in his normal tone of voice, "Ok, ok. If its that important…"

The team rose as Fox turned and spoke to Krystal, "We'll be back in a minute. Just ask ROB if you need anything." Krystal just obediently nodded and went back to reading a magazine she found on engineering.

StarFox shuffled out of the mess hall and towards the dock. Fox, of course, diverted them away from the dock and into the conference room. Slippy was confused, but Peppy and Falco had an idea of what Fox really wanted.

They all sat a rectangular table and Fox addressed them. He became extremely formal in speech, like he always did in these situations, "Alright, team. I need to discuss an important issue with you. I spoke extensively with Krystal yesterday and discovered she might be a candidate to join the StarFox team."

The other three could only stare at him, not knowing really how to approach the matter. Peppy was doubtful she could ever become a member, and Falco had a displeased look on his face.

Slippy was the first to speak, of course, "I think it's a great idea! If she could learn how to fly an Arwing, then I think she could help us out!"

Falco very quickly cut off the gleeful frog's rambling with a more direct and offensive statement. He hated the idea to say the least, "Fox! I can't believe you would think that we would just let her join us simply because you've got the hots for her! We can't just let anyone join! We're an elite mercenary group. If we just let any bimbo in space become a member, we won't be elite anymore!"

An extremely pissed look manifested on Fox's face, and he opened his mouth to fight back, only to be cut off by Peppy first, "Fox. As much as I hate to admit it, Falco has a point. If she is to provide any aid to us, then she must fulfill very strict requirements. Are you sure she could handle it?"

Fox backed off for a moment and calmed down. He hadn't expected this conversation to go smoothly, and he definitely wouldn't convince them by flying off the handle. Breathing slowly, he stopped giving Falco dirty looks and spoke, "Yes, Peppy. I believe that with some flight training, she could definitely meet the requirement. Plus, she's a telepath! That would certainly prove useful to us."

Falco leaned back in his chair and mumbled, but the telepath thing was pretty cool. Maybe he should give her a chance… "Alright, Fox. If that's the case, then I'll agree to her joining if she can properly maneuver an Arwing in a dogfight."

Peppy nodded and agreed, "Yep. If she can handle herself in a fight, I think she could make a good addition to the team. Plus, its not that bad having a new face around."

Fox smiled inwardly; he was happy that the team had agreed to give her a chance. He quickly dismissed the team, which scattered over the Great Fox, while he himself went to the mess hall to talk to Krystal. It took only a few moments to get there, and Krystal was still sitting on a couch reading that magazine.

He caught her attention, and she padded over to him, "Yes, Fox?"

Fox smiled inwardly again but managed to keep the excitement in his voice down, "Krystal. You can fly a ship, right?"

She looked skeptically at him and cocked her head, "Well…yes. I can fly a ship, but I'm not an expert at it."

The leader of StarFox nodded and continued, "Good, and you can hold your own in a fight, right?"

Krystal looked at him oddly for a few moments before answering the question, "Hand-to-hand? Yes. In a ship? Maybe. Why are you asking me these things?"

Laughter of joy nearly broke his stern expression, but he managed to stop it, "Well. Since you're a drifter of sorts, and you have unique skills…I've talked it over with the others, and we've decided to allow to join StarFox if you want.

Krystal's face lit up like a Christmas tree when she heard this. Unlike Fox, she couldn't keep her excitement in; giggles and squeals filled the air for a little while before she calmed down enough to speak, "Really! I can join the StarFox team! Of course I will!"

Fox's excitement died a little, he hadn't expected Krystal to be this excited with things. She still had to pass the tests to join the team, it wasn't guaranteed yet. He didn't want to break it to her, but he had to, "Well…uh…you see…it isn't certain yet. We still have to see if you qualify."

Krystal didn't seem phased a bit by this. She was extortionately excited for even a chance to join the legendary StarFox team, "That's ok. I will try my best to impress everyone. Thanks so much Fox." Krystal leaned over and kissed Fox on the cheek.

Fox blushed, even though it would normally be impossible to tell through fur, as he stumbled through his response, "Uh…yeah…sure…anytime…no problem." He glanced back and was thankful the team wasn't there. Fox quickly regained his composure before continuing, "I can give you your first lesson in piloting an Arwing today if you want."

Krystal nodded and clapped once, "Sure. Today is fine. What time?"

Fox quickly chucked out a time, "How about 1800?" Krystal quickly nodded again and walked off to go to her room to get ready. Even when she left, Fox remained rooted to that spot and lightly touched the spot where she had kissed him. However, he snapped back into reality by Falco, who had in the meantime entered the room.

Falco threw a nickel and hit Fox in the head with it, "Hey. Falco to Fox. Are you done daydreaming? What the hell happened to you?"

Fox ignored the latter half of Falco's statement and spoke, mainly to himself, "We'd better get to work on the ship with that huge sum Pepper gave us. Great Fox is in a huge state of disrepair."

Falco smiled and leaned in closer to Fox, "Or…we could play video games and get the work done later."

This offer piqued Fox's interest. He hadn't played Falco in a video game in several years, "Sure. That is, if you don't mind getting your butt stomped…"

Falco cocked an arrogant brow at Fox, "I may be out of practice, but I'm still good enough to make you go crying to your bedroom."

The two stood and shot insults at one another for a few more minutes before carrying it into the living room. The only thing that was able to silence them was the noise of their game on the big screen TV. Over the course of the next few hours, screams of victory and cries of defeat echoed throughout the corridor of Great Fox. Things had finally returned to normal with the exception of Krystal.

After what seemed like mere minutes of playing had expanded into hours, and before Fox knew it, it was 1805. He had ascertained this by looking at a clock and panicking for several moments about being late to his training session. Leaving Falco behind, Fox ran from the living room all the way to the hanger, which was quite a long job indeed.

When he got there, he made the discovery that Krystal wasn't there either. Checking his watch just to make sure he wasn't late, Fox made another discovery: the clock in the living room was twenty minutes fast. Beating himself up a little for allowing it to unsynchronized itself, Fox nervously waited for Krystal to arrive.

Looking around, he saw the five Arwings lined up, ready for use. They all gleamed from regular polishing, except for Falco's that is. Falco's was more than a little beat-up; Slippy had a little work ahead of him to get that thing operating at full capacity again. After observing them for a little bit, Fox again looked at his watch and noticed Krystal was late!

Suddenly, as if responding to this thought, Krystal walked into the hanger. She was wearing her usual, which Fox was trying hard not to stare at, "Sorry. Lost track of time. It usually isn't an issue for me."

Fox smiled, 'That's fine. Nothing else to do now that Andross is gone." He turned to the Arwings, "We can use mine for today. If you join the team, you'll have Peppy's old one."

They climbed up the small platforms and into Fox's Arwing. As soon as he reached out to help Krystal in, he realized he hadn't thought about this ahead of time. The Arwing was a one-seater. Krystal and him would not fit in with plenty of room to spare, if any at all. However, the Arwing was radically different from a simple transport ship. He had to be with her, at least on her first lesson. So, after several minutes of shifting and moving, they finally found a position that would work. Krystal would have to be in front, her hands on the controls. Fox would be directly behind her, so that he could seize the controls should they be in danger.

As soon as the cockpit closed, Fox knew this position was not the best choice. Most of Krystal's body was touching his. He tried valiantly to ignore this and concentrate on the lesson. After a few moments, he moved both of his legs to one side of her to prevent any unfortunate embarrassments. Krystal noted Fox's interest and smiled inwardly.

Fox stuttered through the beginning of the lesson, "Ok…you just flip that switch…good…now keep the stick stead…excellent." They blasted out of the hanger and began circling the Great Fox. Krystal caught on quickly, she had obviously flown different types of spacecraft before.

After three hours of loops, U-turns, and barrel rolls, Fox guided Krystal back into the hanger. He decided that she had familiarized herself enough with the controls. If she continued to improve at this rate, she would be skilled enough to join fairly quickly.

After docking and leaving the hanger, they conversed in low tones on the way down the hall. They spoke their goodnights and trotted off to their rooms. Fox stumbled into his room and collapsed onto his bed. The soft pillow was extremely relaxing. As he fell asleep, he wondered what the team would no that Andross was gone. What dangers would they face? Before he could ponder the matter any further, his consciousness drifted away as sleep embraced him in its loving warmth.