In Evil, Residing
Advance
Fox looked at the object in his paw; it was a sapphire necklace with a gold chain that held the stone.
A last gift? Fox wondered and he stored it away in his belt in a pocket. He walked into his ship and he sat down at the console; Fox tried to start up with ship but there was a loud grinding sound and it shuddered as the engine quit.
"Oh Hell, what now?" Fox said as he walked into the engine room. He opened up a hatch and the plasma inside was dark. Normally it was pulsing so Fox connected a diagnostic tool and it glowed in the dim light. The tool showed dark results and he put the tool away as he reached into the engine. Something connected with his gloved paw and he felt plasma jolt through him. Fox screamed as he flew back into the wall, his fur smoked and he blacked out.
Krystal walked into the throne room of her parents and they looked down upon her. The room was brightly lit with stained glass pictures of past rulers and they created a myriad of colors on the throne room floor. The two were dressed very majestically and the king had a gold scepter in his paw; it was encrusted with jewels and it had a ruby on the head.
"Where have you been?" The king asked.
"We were so worried about you." The queen added. They walked down to their daughter and Krystal looked down.
"I don't want to be a princess anymore."
"What do you mean Krystal? Is there something wrong with your life?"
"Yes, it's too restricting." Krystal answered. Worry showed on her mother's face and her father adopted a strong tone.
"Does this involve that mercenary that rescued you after you decided to just leave us?" Her father looked into his daughter's eyes and they betrayed what she thought. "It is isn't it? You know that mercenaries aren't allowed on our planet." He said and his Comm rang. The king answered it and the face of a doctor of the main hospital came up.
"Sir, we had an incident a few minutes ago. The mercenary who brought your daughter back is in critical condition; he was in a plasma accident. We examined his ship and his engines have malfunctioned, I need advice of what to do. He is also in possession of several illegal weapons that are a class five threat."
"Is he unconscious?" The king asked and the doctor looked over.
"Yes, and we are analyzing his body for internal injuries. He might lose his right arm, but we are still looking for other serious injuries."
"Notify me when he awakes." The king said and the doctor nodded as the Comm died. "A class five threat? I'm going to imprison him when he recovers."
"But father," Krystal interjected. "What has he done?"
"He is a mercenary, a loner, a murderer, possibly even a rapist. I'm not allowing you to see him that is final."
"I agree with your father, Krystal." The queen added.
"And that is why I left." She turned around and her father yelled after her.
"Krystal, don't walk away from me!" She kept going and her mother placed a paw on the king's arm.
"Let her go Kova, she won't get near the mercenary."
The doctor walked over to the mercenary and he examined the implant that the surgeons had replaced his right arm with a steel one. The merc had a thorn tattoo that ran from his neck, down his shoulder, and it looped around a few times around his arm. The merc stirred and his eyes creaked open.
"Oh man." Fox said as he tried to sit up.
"Oh wait, don't move, you're still adjusting to your implant so try not to move."
"What implant?" Fox asked and the doctor pointed to his arm.
"When you touched the exposed engine plasma, you were severely shocked and you almost died. Your arm took the brunt of it and it had to be removed, so we replaced it with a mechanical one." Fox sighed and there was a commotion outside the room.
"I'm going in there."
"I have orders from the King and Queen for you not to see him."
"I don't give a shit what my parents said, let me in."
"No can do." The doctor walked over and he eased the door open.
"Can I help you?" Krystal pushed the guard aside and he moved past the doctor and she walked up to Fox.
"My parents said that they would lock you up after you made a full recovery." She said and Fox sighed.
"Well, you can thank them for this new arm."
"I will but I'm going to make sure that you get out of here when you make a full recovery."
"Is my ship ok?"
"I don't know but I'll make sure that we get a better one when we get out of here."
"But, I have some weapons that I need to take with me."
"I know; that's why my parents don't want me with you." She pulled up a chair and Krystal sat next to Fox.
"So why did you give me your necklace?"
"I wanted you to remember me when you left."
Treylon slept soundly in his chamber as the light from Slipspace illuminated his strong features. His black scales glinted dully in the dim light and his armor lay in front of the pod; it was a prototype for a new version for the Dragon Army. It was stronger, had rechargeable shields, and made the wearer translucent when it was activated.
Sort of a cloaking device, I guess.
"Bridge to Capitan Treylon." The dragon was jerked awake and he hit the Comm inside the pod.
"Dammit Delquin, what do you want?"
"You told me to alert you when we were two hours from the Lylat System."
"We're out of the Red Storm?"
"Yes we left our galaxy about ten hours ago."
"Ok, give me a few minutes." Treylon said as he popped the hatch to the pod and he stepped out. He flexed his stiff muscles and he slipped into his armor. It initialized with a beep and Treylon felt it sync with his thoughts. The shields whined for a second as they charged and Treylon engaged the cloak. He blended with the background and even though his outline was still visible, he walked out of his room and into the hallway.
Treylon stepped onto the bridge of his ship and his crew did not notice. He sat in the Capitan's chair and he could tell his crew was anxiously waiting. The main screen flicked on and it was the Admiral.
"Is Treylon here yet?"
"I am." He sat and the dragon materialized in his chair.
"We are approaching the Lylat System and the Hierarchs have given us a message. They want us to take over any planets that we encounter until we reach Venom; that is a planet where they want to deal with a scientist named Andross."
"So what is our first target?"
"A planet named Cerinia; the planet is ruled by a king and queen, so I want you to go down there and kidnap the ruling house. I will then send down a ground assault and we will enslave the population to serve us. It will be a military outpost and then we will continue to Venom. If he is willing to serve us, then we will consider him an ally and then continue on until we reach a planet called Corneria. That is our main objective since Corneria is the main enemy of Venom. Cerinia will be in range in about four hours so I will contact you then, until that time, run dark on the Slipstream and activate the cloak. Admiral out."
"Activate the cloak Delquin."
"Yes sir." He said and Treylon stood up.
"Contact me when we are in range." The dragon walked out and Delquin nodded.
The room was quiet and Fox eased himself up; he swung his legs off the bed and Fox slowly let his bare feet hit the floor. He stood up and everything felt ok so he took a step; nothing was wrong so he raised his paws above his head and stretched. There was no feeling in his right arm so Fox took a look at it; it didn't look any different but it felt odd. There was a knock at the door and Fox quickly slipped on a pair of pants.
"Is anyone in there?" Fox sat down on the bed and the door opened. Krystal walked in and she was startled that Fox was up. "Oh, you're awake."
"Yes, now when am I going to be locked up?" She walked over and her clothing had changed a bit; she was wearing a white sleeveless shirt, black pants, boots, and her tail was tied off at three lengths.
"In a few hours, I told my parents that you were still out so they will check in a few hours. Get dressed; I have a ship for us."
"Us? I can't take you with me."
"Why not?" Fox considered the question and he frowned. "I can handle the life you lead."
"Ok, it's your choice." Fox picked up his shirt and Krystal pointed out the tattoo.
"Where did you get that?" Fox stopped and he looked at his marking.
"I got that when I brought my mercenary ship." Fox slipped on his shirt and he put on a pair of boots that were by the bed. "So when do we leave?"
"Right now." She turned on her wrist Comm and Fox was projected onto the bed, Fox looked at her and she tossed him a small circular device. "That is to insure that you are still there and this is for you to escape with me." Fox turned the device over and he must have hit a switch because he vanished.
"What the Hell?" He said and Krystal laughed.
"Put it into your pocket and follow me closely." She walked over to the door and Fox walked behind her and they walked out of the hospital. Krystal opened the door to the hovercar that was waiting in the parking lot and they piled in. Krystal started up the car and Fox reappeared in the passenger seat. "Get down; I don't want you seen with me." Fox ducked down and Krystal floored it as the car shot away from the hospital. "I have the ship waiting in the main docking bay so sit tight until we arrive."
"No problem." Fox answered. She flicked on the onboard NAV system and it powered up with a beep.
"Ok Fox, stay quiet for a while." She hit a button on the Comm and her father's face came up.
"Krystal, where are you?"
"I'm at the hospital."
"The hospital! What have your mother and I told you?"
"Stop acting like you own me." She flicked off the Comm and Krystal took a sharp left. "I hate them Fox."
"You shouldn't say that Krystal. I never knew my mother since she was killed in a car bomb when I was little. My father was killed in a battle against Andross in the last Venomian War. I was on my own since fifteen, and I never had a chance to really know my parents." Krystal looked at him and he looked up tot the window. "Can I sit up there now?"
"Yeah, I think you'll be ok." Fox slid up into the seat and he looked at the cloaking device.
"This is sweet. A personal cloak; I never thought that it would be manufactured."
"It's the only one in existence on Cerinia, I had it made secretly." Fox raised his eyebrows and she touched it. Fox vanished and Krystal pulled into the bay. "Now be quiet and follow me closely." Krystal said as she shut down the car and waited until Fox had gotten out the way she had. Krystal took a small case out of the trunk and she gave the key to the valet as she walked into the bay. A Cerinian walked up to her and they embraced briefly.
"Your ship is this way princess." Krystal walked with him and when they reached the ship, the hatch opened. Krystal opened the case and she handed him a small disk.
"Thank you Leon, here is your payment now keep this quiet."
"Yes ma'am." Fox dashed aboard and Krystal walked in behind him. The hatch closed and Fox switched off the cloak.
"I guess you paid your way out of this one."
"Yes, Leon is an old friend who owes me a favor. Now let's get out of here." Krystal walked into the cockpit and Fox looked around at the ship; it was richly decorated and his jaw dropped as he walked around. This surpassed his old craft a hundred and twenty percent. "Hey, you might want to hold onto something." Krystal yelled back and he quickly walked up into the cockpit. She threw the throttle forward and Fox was thrown back into the craft as he caught a hold with his bionic arm. There was no pain as he was jerked around and Krystal slowed as they left Cerinia behind them.
"Thanks for the warning." Fox said as he hit the ground when the artificial gravity kicked in.
"Oh Fox, are you ok?" Krystal asked as she hauled him up.
"I've been better, now where is my cargo that I was carrying?"
"It's in that room there." Fox quickly went over to it and he opened the large case's hatch. Krystal looked in and inside was four glowing weapons. "What are those?" Krystal asked as Fox picked up one. It was small with a silver covering and a long clip that was placed on the top of the weapon.
"This is the SC-230. Fires armor piercing rounds capable of destroying personal shields and with the blade melee weapon on the butt," He paused and whipped it toward Krystal. She screamed and Fox hovered the blade a few inched above her throat. "It's quite a deadly weapon." He replaced the gun and closed the lid. "Don't touch these without my consent first."
"Yes Fox, no problem." Krystal said.