Chapter 25: Calm before the Storm
The two vulpines had spent the time after they had departed from their dorm room merely taking in the sights and sounds as they leisurely sauntered around the large dorm area, still enchanted by the realistic natural environment that this portion of the ship seemed to hold. Krystal seemed especially grateful of this fact, Fox had learned back on Xavix-Yuan that the Cerinian vixen greatly appreciated all the small wonders that nature seemed to contain, and the fact that such a thing could be grown and cultivated inside something as rigid and unforgiving as a starship that was floating through space fascinated her. They would often stop next to one of the many fountains, both leaning against the stone barriers that held the water in, and let the gentle flow of the cool water run though their hands. Normally, Fox would have shown a blatant disregard for simple things such as this, but somehow, when he was in the presence of Krystal, things like the feeling of the water in his hand and the grass under his feet, all of them seemed to fall into a larger perspective as he slowly gained a greater appreciation for all the simple pleasures of life.
It had almost been an hour of them constantly walking before they finally decided to find a place to sit down. They walked across the convincing, yet artificial grass for a short while longer until the spotted a circle of wooden benches that surrounded a large fountain, which seemed to be the place of preference to many of the crew members aboard the ship as well. They circled the fountain once until they came upon on an empty bench, which they quickly sat back upon, each letting out a comfortable sigh as the weight was released from their legs. Neither of them spoke for a moment, they simply let the quiet sound of lightly splashing water calm their minds. Fox took the opportunity this peaceful silence created to reach around the back of the bench with the arm closest to Krystal, closing it gently around her shoulder. She quickly responded to the embrace by inching her body against his and placing her head against the base of his neck. She commented, "It's so strange to me how they are able to grow things such as trees and flowers like this." Fox nodded, which he also used as a way to rub the side of his cheek against the top of Krystal's head, and replied, "I know what you mean, I haven't even heard of this being done before, but here it is. I gotta say…this is pretty amazing."
There was a short silence between the vulpine couple, but it was broken shortly after as Krystal said quietly, "Our new mission starts tomorrow…the biggest we've had as of yet." Fox replied shortly after, "I know, but with both teams working together like this, I don't think it'll be much of a problem. I mean, we've fought off some pretty big opposition by ourselves, right?" Krystal nodded, readjusting the position of her head slightly, and responded, "I suppose that is true, but at the same time, we do not have any idea what this enemy has waiting for us. I have a feeling that this fight will breed greater hardships than any we have faced before. Many animals may die in this fight…" Fox picked up on Krystal's strangely pessimistic tone and replied with a smile, "Don't worry, this ship has more animals than you think. And besides, Bill is a great leader, he'll keep everything under control outside while we're in the base…" Fox paused for a second, taking the chance to place the hand that had previously held Krystal securely against him inside of her soft, blue hair, through which he began to slowly filter his fingers. Krystal quickly reacted to his caring touch by delicately rubbing the tip of ear against Fox's neck. Fox slowly continued, "…And you can bet that nothing will happen inside the base either, I'd do anything to protect you guys." Krystal slowly raised her head off of Fox's shoulder and soon stopped as both of their faces were at the same height. She let off a peaceful smile and commented, "And that is one of the reasons that you are wearing that necklace right now Fox." After finishing, she edged slowly closer to his muzzle and planted a soft kiss on the corner of his lip, after which she returned the comfortable position she had held just seconds before. Fox smiled at her loving gesture, but did nothing more than merely continue to run his hands slowly through the supple fur that sat atop her head. If there was one thing Fox had learned after sharing several of these moments with Krystal, it was that sometimes the value of kind words fall short to the contentment of revealing your feelings through gentle physical expression. Through simple kind acts such as these, Fox and Krystal were able to communicate their feelings in a way that words could not truly, or near as accurately describe. They sat quietly on that wooden bench, not with their minds focused on the mission ahead, not on their separate responsibilities, not on the scroll, not even thoughts of the past seemed to penetrate their minds during times like these. Their hearts and minds were solely focused on the fact that they were in each other's presence, and that was reason enough to keep them seated on that bench in each other's arms.
(In the dorm room)
"Welcome to Galactic Feud! A timeless game show where families from across the universe come to battle it out in a test of knowledge, strength, and the greatest test of all…the ability to put up with each other! Can today's families, 'Outplay, Undermine, and Overtake,' their equally determined opponents? Let's find out, right now, on Galactic Feud! We'll begin the introductions with a family of lupines, coming to us all the way from the nicely recovered planet of Zoness, the Laonkavic's!"
A large cheer erupted from within the studio in which the show was being recorded, which quickly disappeared as the lone blue avian, who was still laying comfortably across the length couch, quickly changed the channel. He sighed as he searched for another, more interesting show, and commented to himself, "I must be getting pretty bored if I was about to watch Galactic Feud, that's show been around forever. There's gotta be something better than that on."
Falco continued to slowly flip through the channels, his hope of finding even a marginally entertaining show quickly fading as the channels began to run across the screen a second and third time. He let out another sigh as he untiringly flipped through all the channels again, but as he reached one of the higher numbers, he noticed that on the top right of the screen, the title, "Star Fox mission update." Falco was about to indifferently pass the channel, but quickly stopped himself as he read the large title, setting down the remote shortly after and giving the image on the screen as much attention as anyone, or anything, could ever get from Falco.
A well-dressed iguana was shown on the screen holding a small microphone in his had. In the background the large Corneria Army base could be seen up to about its fifth or sixth floor. A small crowd seemed to have gathered around the reporter as he stood in that spot. He looked emotionlessly into the camera as he began, "Today we have managed to gain further information on the current situation on Katina. After negating the effects of mind control on both Kymach and Kaltar, Fox McCloud and his team of mercenaries are headed off to another controlled planet. Here with me today is none other than the head of the Cornerian Army, General Pepper. He has agreed to a CBN exclusive interview to give us an insider's look at the mission." The camera zoomed out slightly, which slowly centered in-between the reporter and the much larger body of General Pepper, who had apparently been standing there the entire time.
The reporter turned his attention to the brown canine general and asked, "So General Pepper, let's start off with the facts. Just how important is this mission that our planets most famous team is faced with?" Pepper nodded and replied, "The fact alone that team Star Fox is required for this mission is proof enough that this is indeed a dangerous undertaking. We estimate that if this threat is not dealt with soon, the one responsible for these mass mind controls could gather a large enough army of mind controlled animals to possibly take over entire planets. It is difficult to estimate anything this early in the mission, but at the rate the Star Fox team is going, we'll be worry free in no time." The reporter nodded and asked, "And what of their current mission? We have reports that former partner of Corneria, Katina, is next. Is this true?" Pepper nodded again and responded, "Yes, Katina has managed to fall under the same affliction as the other planets team Star Fox has visited, but unlike previous planets, Katina seems…"
Falco's attention was quickly diverted as the noise of the sliding door that sat behind him was heard among the General's speech. The blue falcon turned over onto his side and looked back to where he had just heard the noise, which is where he could also see Fox and Krystal slowly returning into the room. Falco quickly sat up with a smirk as he turned to face the two vulpines. He quickly glanced over at a small clock that sat on the glass coffee table as he said with a smirk, "Well, let's see…a little over an hour and a half. That's pretty good Fox, I'm impressed. I'm guessing you were enjoying yourselves huh?" Fox nodded as he leaned against the short outer wall of the inner circle, "Ya, this place is pretty impressive. More than I…" Fox cut himself off as he saw what was being shown on the still active television, "Hey, is that Pepper on TV? What's he talking about?" Falco smirked and replied, "Well, nothing we don't already know, that's for sure. It was actually getting pretty boring." Fox shook his head as he made his way down into the inner circle with Krystal still by his side, "We'll see about that." The two unseated vulpines found one of the couches opposite of Falco and sat closely together on its large and comfortable cushions, their attention quickly directed on the General's image.
"…and so for this particular mission, we've decided the join them with the team that has been following behind them. Hopefully this will give us the upper hand against our opposition." The reporter nodded and continued, "Very well said General Pepper, now if you don't mind, we have a few questions from our viewers that they have been sending into the CBN station for quite some time. As part of a contest the station has been holding over the last month, we've selected a few random letters that have been sent in hopes that you can clarify them." Pepper broke a slight smirk and replied, "Of course, I will do the best I can." The iguana reporter nodded and revealed a few note cards that he had previously held within his jacket pocket. He quickly brought them up to eye level and read off the card, "Our first question comes from Alexander O. Smith. He asks, 'Why has General Pepper suddenly taken such interest in the Star Fox team? They had been on an eight-year lay off, and then suddenly they get covered in assignments. What made you think of Star Fox for these missions instead of teams that have been doing a good enough job for Corneria over the last few years?'"
Before Pepper had time to answer on the television, Falco blurted out from his reclining position on the couch, "Cause we're the best? What is that guy thinking asking a question like that? Isn't it obvious?" Fox smirked as he shifted his attention to the avian, "We may be, "the best," but I think the only reason he gave us that mission on Dinosaur Planet is because you left and we could actually get some work done." Falco retorted as he returned to his reclining position on the couch, "Whatever Fox, you would be dead four times over if I wasn't here for you all the time. You're lucky I decided to re-join the team when I did, otherwise you'd be digesting in Andross' stomach right about now." Fox sighed as he began to respond, "You think that, but what I was doing…"
Fox quickly cut off as he heard the ever-so-popular words ring over the television. "…me, or does Fox seem to have picked up a new girlfriend? I think that's just so cute, the toughest guy in the universe falling for a girl. But I was just wondering if you had any information on their relationship, because there are like, a LOT of rumors floating around about those two, and I don't really know what to believe." The reporter smiled as he commented, "Well, this is certainly a change of pace from the other two questions we just heard. It looks like this really has become one of the more pressing concerns of the Star Fox team these days, wouldn't you say general?" Pepper donned a large smile, which was quickly followed by a sort of suppressed chuckle as he replied, "Well now Alex, that's not a question an old man like myself feels comfortable responding to. I haven't dealt with things of this nature for years, but I can try to take a chance at a guess in response to your question."
Falco spoke before Pepper could begin his "explanation," "Heads up Fox, you better get outta the room before Pepper embarrasses you in front of all Corneria again. I hate to see my leader when he's blushing, makes you look weak." Fox sat quietly on the couch as he heard Falco's comment, but never even made a gesture that he was about to stand up and leave the room. Falco noticed that and continued, "Well, I mean, you don't have to act tough to impress me either, go ahead and leave." Fox only shook his head as Pepper started to clarify his view of the subject, to this, Falco could only shrug his shoulders and do the same.
"Well young lady, as far as I can tell, it seems like that both Fox and Krystal seem to be sharing a mutual interest for each other, although I have nothing to prove that they are indeed an, "item," but from what I have seen over a few visual transmissions and speaking with Krystal herself, it seems like there may be something more long-term in the making. I suppose we can only wait and see what becomes of them." The reported smiled as he held the microphone squarely in front of himself, "And there you have it, it seems like the rumors may actually be truth after all. This concludes our CBN exclusive interview with General Pepper. Thank you so much for your time General Pepper, and we wish you…"
Before the reporter could finish giving his thanks to General Pepper, the screen suddenly went black. Falco held the remote control out in front of him and said, "As entertaining as I know that was, I'm starting to get a little too hungry to waste my time listening to Pepper talk." He then stood up and finished with a hand on his stomach, "So when do we eat McCloud?" Fox stood up as well as he replied, "Well, I guess we can eat now. It's a little after time for dinner anyway. What do you think?" Fox looked down at Krystal as he said this. Krystal looked up at him and replied, "It has been a fairly long time since we had breakfast aboard the Great Fox, and I am quite hungry myself." Fox smiled and replied, "Alright, then let's see what we have to…" Fox stopped himself as he looked around the room. He quickly remembered that Katt had left the room when they first arrived, and she still hadn't returned. "Hang on Falco, Katt hasn't come back yet. Don't you think we should wait for her to come back before we start?" Falco shook his head apathetically as he walked over to the small refrigerator, "I don't really care if she's here, I just wanna eat now. Why do we need Katt here to tell us we can eat?" Fox shook his head and replied, "It's not that…it's just that maybe…" Falco cut Fox off as he pulled some food out of the refrigerator, "Come on Fox, it's no big deal, Katt would be here if she wanted something to eat right? Let's just start without her." Fox shook his head once again as he slowly walked onto the floor of the outer circle of the dorm room, "Well, even if that was true, I'd still like it if the whole team was together. I guess you two can go ahead and start cooking, I'm going to find Katt." Falco nodded as he placed the food he had retrieved on top on the oven, "Whatever Fox, don't expect me to save you any food either." Krystal began walking towards Fox and asked, "Would you like me to go with you Fox?" Fox shook his head as he opened the door, "No, it's ok. I'll be back in a little bit, you can go ahead and eat with Falco, alright?" Krystal nodded as she watched Fox exit the room, "Don't take to long, I doubt I can protect all the food from Falco for all that long." Fox smirked as he replied, "It's alright, I'll only be gone for a few minutes. Just…try and make sure Falco doesn't eat everything."
Fox walked a short distance out from his teams dorm room and leaned both his shoulders against a handrail, from here, he could look over the entire dorm room and see all the fountains and trees that he had walked past with Krystal only a few minutes before. He let out a sigh as he quietly said to himself, "Alright…all I have to do is find Katt." He chuckled to himself before continuing, "That's easy to say when I'm on the Great Fox, but on a huge ship like this…it could take hours." He sighed as he finished, "I guess I have to start somewhere, and I guess I'll start with the dormitory section first since I'm here anyway…" With that in mind, Fox headed down to the floor of the large dormitory section of the ship.
As Fox reached the ground floor of the dormitory, it immediately became apparent that something was missing from the room that he had thoroughly walked through not long ago. It took him only a short time to realize it, but it soon became clear that what was missing was the large number of animals that had previously roamed the grassy floor. Fox quickly remembered back to the time of day that he had returned to their dorm room a short while ago. Fox quickly came to reason, or rather, his stomach reminded him that it was around the time for dinner, and that a large portion of the crew must be down in the mess hall. With this new freedom that Fox had found, he found it slightly more calming without the constant chatter echoing through the large room. He looked for a good amount of time, searching many different areas that he had not previously seen of this artificial park, but with no success in his search for his missing team member.
Soon after searching that part of the ship a good number of times, Fox quickly decided on moving onto a different area on the ship. The only problem with this was that Fox had almost no knowledge of the ship's layout, making an effective search seem next to impossible. Luckily for the slightly discouraged vulpine, he noticed a crewmember walking down the metallic hallway only a short distance away from the dormitory section.
Maybe that guy knows something about Katt; at least it'll be better than me trying to find my way around this huge ship looking for her...
He quickly walked off after the passing crewmember, which the unsuspecting officer soon noticed, immediately stopping in his place. As Fox approached him, the officer asked, "Are you that guy that came in here on the Arwings? Are you Fox McCloud?" Fox nodded and replied, "Ya, that's me, and if you don't mind I'd like to ask you…" The vulpine was cut off as the officer began to speak, "The Fox McCloud…never thought I'd actually get to see you in person…I bet the kids will love to hear that daddy got to met Fox McCloud in person…" Fox shook his head and could only listen as this crewmember rambled on about his wife, his kids, and a wide assortment of other details that Fox was sure he would have taken more interest in if he would have absolutely nothing better to do, but unfortunately for the crewmember, this was not one of those times. Fox cut the excited officer off as politely as he could figure and asked, "Have you seen a pink cat walking around here recently?" The officer nodded, seeming a little disappointed that he could not continue on to explain his childhood and things of that nature, but quickly replied, "Actually, I think someone like that down in the docking bay. She was talking to Ayme about something…I wasn't really paying attention…" Fox nodded at his explanation and replied, "Thanks, that's all I needed to know. Maybe we'll meet up again and you can tell me more about your life, alright?" The officer smiled and responded, "That's fine…great, I'll see you soon then Mr. McCloud." Fox gave a slight wave as he turned and began to make his way down to the docking bay.
(On the Ladekahn IV bridge)
"Alright, I'll be right down Ayme. I've just gotta finish some things here, ok?" A voice quietly rang over Bill's small communicator, "Ok, don't keep me waiting to long, see you soon." As he heard this, Bill deactivated his communicator and quickly tucked it away inside of his vest. He hesitated in his chair that sat in the middle of the computer-filled bridge, but soon swiveled around to face his lieutenant, "Panther, shut down the main power system, transfer all ship functions to auxiliary power." Panther nodded and replied, "Like always captain Gray." Bill waited as the Panther typed in a few commands into the brightly lit computer that sat in front of him. Soon after he finished, the lights that filled the bridge became slightly dimmer. Bill nodded and continued, "And you've set the ship's wake up call, right?" Panther nodded and turned his head to his captain as he answered, "Of course, 4:30, just as you requested." Bill nodded as he stood up from his chair, "Alright, thanks Panther. I think I'll be heading down to my room now. The rest of the bridge should probably do the same as soon as they can, the biggest mission of our crew's life starts in the morning." Panther replied, "You don't need to worry about anything captain, you can be sure that Panther will take care of the job. That is, after all, why the good general deemed me as the lieutenant on this ship, don't you agree?" Bill shook his head and replied with a smirk as he exited the bridge, "Just hurry up and do it, ok?" Panther responded in a slightly sarcastic tone of voice, "Of course, you're wish is my utmost desire master."
It wasn't long after Bill had left the bridge before he arrived at his room. Entering into the room, he found that the lights that usually would have revealed his room to him were turned off, instead only seeing a single line glowing around one of the walls of his room. He slowly walked through the main chamber of his room, accidentally tripping over the lip of a carpet that was lying on the ground as he went, but he soon found himself standing in the presence of the single light bulb. As the light spread weakly though this large room, he could see the figure of a body lying in his bed, it's face covered by a book that this animal was holding in front of itself. Bill smiled as he walked over to the side of the bed and looked down on the figure. It's eyes glanced up at Bill as it set down the book, "Well that was quick." Bill smiled back and replied, "I was pretty tired by the time you called me anyway, I just let Panther handle all the small stuff." The figure smirked and sat up in the bed, placing the book on a small end table that sat next to the bed, "That was sure nice of you, I'm sure Panther really appreciates that." Bill shook his head and replied, "That's where being a captain of a ship can really come in handy, ya know? Anyway, I'm down here, so now what?" The young canine gave off a sincere smile and replied, "You know what happens next week?" Bill made it look like he was struggling at the answer to the question, but after letting off a quick smirk, he answered, "Of course I remember, it's our three year anniversary." She looked down at the bed and replied quietly, "That's right…three years. It's just gone by so fast, I can hardly believe it…" Bill smiled as he sat down on the bed next to her, "I know what you mean, it seems like it wasn't that long ago since we first met." She smiled as she moved her body closer to him, "I remember how nervous you were the first time we met on Corneria, you were just coming back from an off-planet dispute. We were on the same transport on the way to the Cornerian Army Base…" Bill nodded and continued, "Ya, I wasn't expecting you to just walk up to me and start talking. What was I supposed to think…it's not like I had much experience with girls back then, and then all of a sudden this attractive canine comes up to me…" Ayme gave a slight giggle at this and commented, "Well, I had to take the chance. You were gaining a pretty nice reputation in Corneria, and I'm sure there would have been a lot more girls after you if I didn't come up to you first. So I actually saved you a lot of trouble Bill." Bill chuckled and responded, "I don't know about that, but I am glad I ended up with you Ayme." She smiled at his comment and pulled the back of his body down on top of her own. Bill responded by turning onto this front and crawling a short distance up to Ayme's face, placing their short muzzles only inches apart, both with smiles that told that even after three years together, they still shared the same feelings for each other. Ayme reached up and slowly ran her hands underneath his light blue uniform and stopped as her hands reached Bill's chest, which began to tenderly rub against the muscles in his upper body. He smiled at her touch and commented as he closed in on her face, "You read my mind…you were always good at that." She smiled quietly as their muzzles gently connected.
(In the Docking Bay)
The docking bay, not unlike the dormitory section that he had walked through only a few minutes before, was almost completely devoid of animals. Every once in a while, he could see an officer or two strolling across the large docking bay floor, but besides them, there seemed to be no one else in the docking bay. Even after searching every part of the entire area, Fox couldn't find even a hint as to where Katt may have been. It had been quite some time before Fox had initially begun the search for his missing teammate, and his stomach was slowly beginning to get the best of him. As much as he disagreed with the idea, he hesitantly accepted the fact that he would not be able to find Katt on a ship as big as the Ladekahn IV, he felt all he could do was head back to the team's dorm room and hope that she had already returned. He slowly walked over towards the exit to the docking bay, carefully skimmed the immense area one last time, but it was not long after he had started his final scan of the area before he conceded his search and turned the leave the docking bay.
"Wait…Fox, hang on." Fox quickly stopped as he immediately recognized the familiar voice. He turned his attention back to the floor of the docking bay, where he soon spotted a pink feline slowly advancing from the spot where her pink ship had been docked. As she came within speaking distance to Fox, he asked, "Where were you this whole time? I've been looking for you for probably more than an hour." Katt replied as she stopped a few feet in front of the vulpine, "I was just taking some time to think on my own. I figured no one would bother me in my fighter…guess I was right." Fox shook his head and responded, "It's alright, I can understand that, but we really need to get back to the dorm room, we've gotta eat and get to bed as soon as possible, you know what we have to…"
Fox quickly cut himself off as he noticed that Katt turned from him and was walking a short distance towards a small pile of metallic crates, which were just high enough to make a perfect place for the feline to sit. Fox hesitantly followed her over towards the crates, immediately noticing that the air that surrounded Katt felt slightly different than what Fox was accustomed to. He asked, "Hey Katt…are you ok?" She quickly raised her head from its previously lowered position, "What are you talking about Fox? I'm fine…" Katt seemed to trail off as she said these last words, slowly adding afterwards, "Well…actually Fox, there is something that I've been wanting to get off my chest for…a long time." Fox gave her a confused look as he replied, "Really? About what?" Katt shook her head and slowly took a deep breath. Fox was quite taken aback by this new behavior that Katt seemed to have taken on so suddenly, instead of trying to restrain herself from showing any type of emotion, she actually seemed to be visibly disturbed about something. She looked up at him with a weak smile and said, "Well, I've been keeping this in for a long time, but I think if I don't talk to someone about it, I'll go crazy pretty soon." Fox's look of bewilderment was quickly replaced with that of concern, "What's the problem Katt? I've never seen you like this before." She let off a slight smile at Fox's comment and replied, "I know you think this isn't like me, but what I need to talk to you about…I don't know if you'll understand, and I don't know what you'll think of me after I say this…but I have to do it…" Fox listened for her to continue her sentence, which she did after taking another deep breath, "It's…Falco…do you think…do you think he still…" She stopped here as she tried to contain all the feelings that she had kept within herself for all the years she and Falco had been separated, the question that she had wanted to ask him ever since that day, eight years ago, "Fox, do you think Falco…still loves me?"
Fox hesitated as he heard this, the one thing that he thought would never come out of her mouth, and yet here she was talking openly to him about it. Katt flashed him a weak smile as she noticed Fox's hesitation to answer and said, "I know you probably wouldn't expect to hear me say something like this, but I need to know…I've been wanting to know…" Fox tried to find the answer to her question, and when she noticed his pause, she added, "And be honest…if he really is over me…that's fine, I just want to know…" Fox thought back to all the times Falco had said anything about Katt, all of which seemed to be negative. The only time Fox could ever remember a time where Falco really did want Katt back was before he had left the team for the second time to find her, but since he had returned, it seemed like Falco had lost all interest in Katt. Fox really didn't know how to respond to Katt's sudden question, and he knew that whatever he said may have a big impact on his newest member. He quietly took a seat on the crate next to Katt, which she didn't seem to notice at all. Fox took a deep breath and answered, "Well Katt…honestly, I don't know what I can tell you that you don't already know. Falco's kinda been all over the place as far as what he thinks about that. But you know…I don't know if I could really give you a straight answer. Falco never really talks about you, but sometimes I can tell he in thinking about you." Fox paused slightly before continuing on, "I don't really know what exactly happened between you two…and I don't really know what I can tell you about Falco…but there is some advice that I can give you." Katt's head still faced the ground as she heard this, but she was listening intently to what Fox was saying. Fox continued, "It was a few days ago when Falco rejoined. I remember me and Krystal talking about the academy, and then the topic of you and Falco came up. I don't really remember this perfectly, but I can remember Krystal telling me that you were only hurting yourselves by not trying to work with your differences. That a reputation is nothing when forced to live in denial of what you really feel. Maybe that's really what the problem is, both of you are worried about being rejected…when really you both feel the same way." Fox stopped himself as he heard himself speak, surprised at how much he felt he knew, how much he had learned over the last few days about things of this nature.
Katt nodded as he finished his statement and replied in a weak voice, "You make it sound so easy…maybe if you knew what we went through you could understand just…well, how hard that would be for me to do. I know it's the right thing, but it just feels like…I don't know, it just doesn't feel right. I can't exactly walk up to his face and tell him everything's better…" Fox hesitated as he heard Katt's words; there was no doubt that what she was saying was completely sincere. Fox looked over at her and said, "Well, if you don't think you can do that, I guess I could try and talk it out of him…" Katt slowly looked up at Fox as she heard this. Fox's eyes wondered out towards the open docking bay door as he continued, "I don't know if he'll really be as open as you were just now, but maybe…"
Fox stopped himself mid-sentence as he suddenly felt a gentle warmth lightly wrap around his body. He quickly noticed this abrupt feeling and looked down, and when he did, he noticed that Katt had her arms around him, with her now teary face against the side of his shoulder. She looked up quietly and said, "Fox…why would you do something like that…why would you even be listening to me right now after all the…all the crap I've given you this entire time?" Fox was shocked by the amount of emotion that she had suddenly been filled with, not to mention the way she had expressed it to him, but he quickly responded, "If nothing else, it's because I'm the captain, and I have to keep my crew happy. It's something that my Father tried to teach me when I was younger…but don't worry about it Katt, it's not that big a deal…really." Katt quickly pulled herself off of Fox, feeling both embarrassed by her sudden emotion and thankful for what Fox was willing to do for her. She let of a weak smile and said quietly as she looked away from Fox, "Krystal…is a lucky girl…" Fox gave her a questioning look and asked, "What was that?" Katt faced him and shook her head, "It's nothing Fox…let's just get back to the room, ok?" She paused slightly and seemed to immediately return to her normal state of being, "And Fox, I wouldn't mind if you don't tell anyone about this…Last thing I need is everyone thinkin' I'm a whiner, alright McCloud?"
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, that was strange…I guess Katt just can't figure out what the heck she wants, but I'm sure she'll get over it sooner or later. Ok, at this point in the story, I'm looking back through and going, "Whoa, that's a lot of chapters." And indeed, there are quite a number of them, I knew this was going to be a long story, but I didn't think I'd actually be this dedicated to it…But I'm glad I stuck with it, looks like it's starting to gain popularity for one, but I'm also really enjoying writing this. So I don't think you'll have to worry about me not finishing this story…unless I die or something, which I guess would really suck…And if you are wondering, this story will be like…40ish chapters long, so I guess we're gettin' closer to the end…
P.S. I love Galactic Feud!
(Assault on Katina PART 1)
Right, as you can tell, it will have multiple parts, probably a total of three, but it may be less, may be more, why would I know? So ya, they go down to Katina and fight against the enemy forces…duh. You can look forward to about the end of part 2, beginning of part 3; major storyline points are about to take place…that means something will actually happen! FINALLY! Yep…
EDITOR'S NOTES: It's the most wonderful time…of the story. There'll be words for misspelling and everyone telling me, "What's he doing here?" It's the most wonderful time…of the story. (Hey, that wasn't half-bad.)
"Hey everybody how the hell u doing (Nice greeting buddy, people love it when you flat-out cuss at them when saying hi…) this is justin alan haibon i know must think i am a bad editor but i am doing my best this is hard work so please bare with me (Hard work? Where?) so anyway let me say things about this chapter it looks like nick (That's me…hi) made another one of those romantic walk around the whole ship 5 time kinda chapters that i like, lol it was good and let me tell this there is going to be some big stuff comeing up that i dont think u would want to miss just like he said i mean big s- is going to happen and it is going to be interesting, thank u for taking the time to read my notes and pleses enjoy the rest of the story thank u and good bye for now"
I can't think of another Christmas song that I can modify to close out this section…sorry, I'll try harder next time.
MAIL CALL:
Classic Cowboy (2)
1.) very very nice
read this fic this past weekend, and I gotta say I'm quite impressed. I reciently got Star Fox Assault, and between that and this fic along with a hand full others on this site has got me to write my own Starfox fanfic.
but enough about that, I gotta say again this is nice stuff, and looking forward to seeing what Pepper's got cooking. great stuff, keep up th excellent work!
2.) cool, didn't see this one up here, good stuff as par. get the feeling we're going to have a good fight on our hands.
keep it comin'!
FoxMC: 1.) I for one would not want to know what Pepper is cooking, nor do I have any desire to eat what he is cooking, but indeed, his plan is pretty good I guess. 2.) I'm hoping I can pull off this fight scene as well as I have it in my head, to bad I decided to put another, "let's walk around the ship and talk about nothing," chapters which I seem to enjoy. But don't worry; major storyline points are going to happen in the next few chapters, so you should have something to look forward to.
Whinnie
WHEE:D YOU ROCK, and I mean it:) I hope you update soon. ;)
FoxMC: 'Plays Electric Guitar screaming loud, yet undistinguishable words' I'm a straight up, hardcore rocker for life baby! YA! 'Hears My Immortal playing on computer' Oh…that's so sweet…'cries'
Blackdragon
I have a question. Have you played StarFox Assault? I was just wondering because you might could take some ideas and stuff from it for use in the liberation of katina. I want to play it but im flat broke:(. Anyway still a nice chapter and I egarly await the next part.
FoxMC: I have indeed played Star Fox Assault, and if any of you readers have played it, there should be a name that I mentioned last chapter that you should've recognized.
Wolf O'Donell
This has got to be the best sf fan fic ive read in my life keep it up, im always looking forward to reading another chapter of your story all i can say is keep it up, and keep the chapters coming, your inspiring me to write my own fan fic, keep up the good work, the only problem (which is a small one) is that the chapters are two short, it almost pains me to wait for the next chapter
FoxMC: Short chapters? I don't think their short, but I'm typing it so I guess I can't really tell. I try and get it so it's long enough to hold your attention, but try to avoid my stories from getting too lengthy, some people don't have that kind of attention span…I sure don't…
Ben Stylin
I would have read this earlier, but I unfortunately got a 2nd degree burn and had to go to the hospital.
But, when I got back home, I jumped right on to reading this chapter.
But was it worth it? Too short, really.
But, I guess that was the goal for this chapter.
FoxMC: 2nd degree-burn huh? Sounds harsh, but I'm sure you'll get over it, especially if you…well, from how I understand it…Ran like a madman out of the hospital, against the wishes of both your parents and the doctors, to read my new chapter, I'm sure you're fine. Ya, I said it might be a shorter one, but I didn't think it was so short that it was cause for noting…oh well
Tie
Dude this is like one awsome fanfic. It is a great StarFox story. After I read it I started writing my own StarFox fanfic.
Keep updating. Cant wait to read the next chapter
FoxMC: Cool, seems like I'm a pretty inspirational guy, which I really appreciate you guys telling me, it's pretty encouraging. Thanks for the review!
demonslayer206
only one reason i'm here. STARFOX FANFIC, and i like it. (took me long enough to catch up, been reading for several days) I'm just hoping you plan on bringing peppy back soon, i doubt he'll stay away from that ship forever. Plus, it seems your ships are based on the Greatfox's condition during Dinosaur Planet, meaning a severe ship refit is in order for the arwings and great fox, i think. anyway, enough of me ranting, keep up the good work
FoxMC: First off, thanks for taking all that time to read the story, I doubt I'd take that much time to read a story, unless it was really good. (Which is not implying that my story is "of the hook," merely stating that's what I would do.) Anyway, I don't know about Peppy, but the Great Fox and Arwings will eventually be updated to what we see in SFAssault later in the story, but we still got a ways to go before that happens.