XVI

Well, the plan is set, thought Krystal. Now all we have to do is find a way to where these demon things are, destroy them and their vast demon armies Tigris explained, rescue the prisoners, and get out alive. Simple, right? she thought sarcastically. She got up from her bed (it had just been the night shift on the Great Fox) and got dressed. She put on a blue top that went down to just above her navel, and shorts of the same color that went down to her knees. She then put on a belt with a blaster holster and blaster.

As she was walking to the docking bay, where they were told to meet, she thought about the situation they were in. Death was in question, which made her worry. She'd never been worried about it before Sauria, because she would die without anyone close to her. But now, she felt as if she had a home in the Great Fox, with Fox and the others… Thoughts about Fox surfaced. The others were friends, but, they just weren't the same. Falco was a hero at heart who had to grow up quickly. Slippy was a light-hearted mechanic / impromptu comedy routine. But Fox was different. Just being foxes helped them relate. He was a just merc on the outside, but a caring soul on the inside, and she didn't want him to be hurt, out of all of them. If he died, I don't know what I'd do… Well, she didn't have to worry about dieing today. Today's mission was a fly-by, nothing more. Nothing more.

Krystal got to the docking bay in the bottom of the Great Fox. Ar-wings and other vehicles lined the place, along with spare parts and modifications that were scattered around. She saw Fox and the others standing near their respective Ar-wings, making last-minute adjustments. Fox was wearing his normal gear, a white vest with a green flight suit and a red bandana around his neck. He looked up at her.

"You ready to go?" he asked. Krystal thought she could see red under the fur on his cheeks. She gave him a warm smile.

"As I'll ever be," she said. He nodded, his eyes lingering on her for a second, and then he turned to his Ar-wing and got in. She and the others did the same.

"Alright," she heard Fox say over the com, his voice as calm and strong as ever. "This is a simple fly-by mission. We'll be flying over the volcano that the demons originally came out of. Any questions?" he asked.

Krystal spoke. "Will we be engaging the enemy?" she asked him.

"We shouldn't, as far as we know. We'll be flying too high for them, we think. So be ready."

"Ok," she confirmed. As a last note, she told him, "Be careful."

"Roger."

"Are we going to go, or are you going to talk all day?"

The last voice was Falco's, and Krystal sighed a bit. She powered up her engines, as did the others.

"Launch!" came Fox's voice from the com unit. Krystal hit the 'Release Clamps' button on her console, and her Ar-wing jerked forward. She looked to her left, and saw Fox slightly ahead of her, looking forward. Don't become distracted now, she told herself, and she paid attention to the Ar-wing's movements.

The four Ar-wings jetted out into the space between the planet's atmosphere and the Great Fox. Not long after, they hit the outer atmosphere, making four long, fiery streaks in the sky…

Fox looked out of his Ar-wing onto the incoming earth of Hellborne. In all directions, he saw black, scorched earth. "Wow," he said onto the com. "Not much left, is their, control?" Tigris's voice spoke back to him from the Great Fox.

"Nope," came the morbid reply. Fox could see hills of scorched earth and ash all around him. Fox could easily see them.

Tigris spoke again, gloomy-voiced. "Especially since you're still three miles up." Fox looked down, a new sense of understanding and impending horror dawning on him. Those hills had to be the size of small mountains from three miles up. He was looking in thousands of miles in every direction, not just in the single digits. He swallowed hard. "W-What was all this before?" a feminine voice asked over the com, in shock and awe. Krystal. "Forest," came the less-than-cheerful reply. "A rainforest. My home for the last four years."

"Well," Fox said, "Are we coming up on the volcano?"

"Just another thousand miles to go. It's night there, right now, so you'll get a show."

"What kind?"

"You'll see…" came the last dismal reply, more than a note of sadness and weariness in the voice. Fox swallowed again, not wanting to think about what had happened here…

"You'll see…" came the last dismal reply from Tigris over the com unit. Krystal and the others had there Ar-wings on auto-pilot, so they were free to do other things. She sat back in her ejection seat, trying to relax slightly. Krystal could understand why Tigris was so lack-luster. He had just lost a home. It'd happened to her before… she swallowed hard, not wanting to bring back old ghosts…

End of chapter XVI (16, I'm pretty sure.). Please review. As for, "WHEN IS FOX GONNA KISS THE GIRL?", I can't tell you, Sith. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't reveal any plot elements. Sorry. However, this is an Action/Adventure/Romance story… I'm sure you can make the connections. I'll add more soon.

Black Swordsman342