Reflections of Krystal: Final Chapter (With Epilogue)
There was a great deal of turmoil for three of the members of StarFox. Besides the fact that Fox McCloud was still recooperating from an injury that happened on Meteo Land, there was still a great deal going on. Krystal was still on Aquias. And of course, those two weren't the only ones who were quickly learning new lessons.
One of these lessons was one of humility, which lay with their Ace Pilot. Falco Lombardi had come to realize that he needed to relax where his temper was becoming concerned. He was quickly learning that he had to make a few life altering decisions. It started with his personality. He knew he lost his cool and now he was reeling with the metephorical blood on his hands.
Every time Fox had saved him in the past, he complained and now he was beginning to realize that he should appreciate things more. If he had Fox helping him with the Street Kings, there wouldn't have been a tremendous feeling of guilt over leaving a dozen men on the ground. Fox may have had him walk into the fray with a stunner and no one would have been killed.
Who knew if those men were capable of reform? He didn't think much of himself for reform until today; if it was possible for him, it was possible for anyone. But first thing was first. Katt Monroe. He had to figure out how he felt and decide if he was going to go back with her or stay with the team. He abandoned them for her just a few years ago and now that he was back, he had to make sure that this was what he wanted to do with his life.
He knew that spending this time with Katt, was going to make things complicated. He also knew that Slippy mentioned something about Krystal doing a mission and coming under fire with no backup. At first, he didn't want to get involved but the new girl was important to Fox and Fox would have been the first person to give Falco backup. If he wasn't out of commission, that is.
Falco placed his winged hand upon Katt's shoulder, brushing his beak against her muzzle. "Listen," He said softly. "I'm kinda torn, Katt. It's getting difficult to try and choose between you two. But Krystal is in trouble and at the same time, I can't tear myself away from you."
"You've got to choose, baby-bird. Is it going to be me and our lives together? Or her and the team?" Her words caused Falco's eyes to raise to meet her gaze with an intense sort of stare, he was falling in love again and yet he adored his team mates, even if he didn't show it all the time. And yet the raptor was falling into rapture again, just gazing into Monroe's eyes...
Meanwhile, on Aquais, Wolf and Panther were back to back, standing in the underground tunnel. Wolf was actually contemplating a change of business terms. He figured protecting a Prime Minister was going to be worth a lot more money than fighting for a self proclaimed Emperor of Venom.
If he was wrong about things in the past, he could be wrong about things in the future. If he wasn't so young and foolish back at 19 years old, then he might not have been on the losing team.
Regardless, the present was the most important thing right now. With his back to Panther, he could see in the dark, while Panther's flashlight was pointed in the other direction. This made it possible for them to see anyone coming, covering their blind spots. Leon was in charge of keeping the Prime Minister alive and with that little blue chick milling about, Wolf kept his senses sharp.
"We're not alone," Claimed Lionel, narrowing his eyes into the darkness that extended beyond the flashlight's cone of illumination. Wolf gave a sniff and nodded in agreement, unholstering his blaster once more. He kept his singular gaze narrowed, the butt of the pistol in his right paw, against the flat of his left palm. When the time came, he wanted to be ready for a sure, stable shot.
It was only a short distance further, before Wolf stopped the group. "We're damn close to whoever's in this cavern with us. Keep sharp; they're close and I don't want them to get the jump on us," He explained, keeping the gun level, pointed outwards.
Leon pulled out his favorite ground weapon, a laser dagger. His thumb hovered over the engage switch. Until then, it was just a worthless cylinder in his palm, ready to ignite at a moments notice. Wolf nudged Panther and whispered, "Turn out the flashlight, Caruso." Darkness swallowed the group.
Wolf spun about, slowly, searching the darkness with his bionic implant. His paw lifted, tapping a touch-sensor on the side of the implant, to change the settings. It cycled through modes until it was on the heat sensing option. There was a wavy distortion in the distance. Wolf squinted, causing the optical implant to automatically zoom in.
Wolf sneered softly. "They're running a silent generator. They're powered up, down here. If we can secure this area, than we can use it for our base of operations and call Ruffian from it," O'Donnell said quietly.
"Sit down, put your head down," Leon said to Geoffrey Lionel. The lion glowered but in the dark his expression went unnoticed. He did as told, to avoid being shot. He knew it was his only option. The large feline knelt down on the floor and tucked his head low, placing his paws over his head. Leon lowered to one knee, laser dagger at the ready. Panther and Wolf moved forward, ready to pounce, if necessary.
They rounded the corner, and immediately Wolf noticed that there were several bodies on the floor, but there were still a few guys coming into the area from a tunnel on the opposite side. Wolf opened fire, but Panther wasn't yet able to see in the room, even with his night-sensitive feline eyes; it was simply pitch dark.
Wolf aimed for a switch on the wall, breaking the closed circuit with a well placed shot. The emergency lights fluttered on, his optical implant still showing heat signatures. He reached up quickly, flipping through settings while he kept his gun paw forward.
Panther immediately joined into the fray, opening fire. There were more lizards rushing into the room from the tunnel on the other end, quickly pulling up their assault rifles. Among them were a few marmosets, one of which was holding a rocket propelled grenade launcher.
The narrow eyed ape pulled the trigger on the RPG he was carrying, waiting for a lock in the targeting rectical built into the side. He waited for a moment until the tiny metallic piezo speaker chirped that it had a lock. Panther's ears flickered, hearing the noise and he suddenly dove to the side, bowling Wolf to the ground.
The trigger was depressed and a rocket propelled grenade hissed from the tube, with a piercing 'whoosh!' sound. It passed over Wolf and Panther, heading for the rock walls behind them. The two mercenaries kept their heads low, waiting to be buried in dirt and stone, but it never happened.
Instead, there was a stark 'THUNK' sound and the rocket propelled grenade hissed back over their heads, hitting the arched top of the tunnel entrance opposite from their position. The blast was deafening but managed to seal the room from more lizards coming through.
The batter, standing behind Wolf and Panther, was none other than the staff wielding Krystal of Cerinia. She used the staff to vault over the two mercenaries who still laid upon their bellies. She then lifted the staff into the air, slamming it back down onto the ground. Using the quake upgrade built into the rod, the strike was so incredible that it knocked over every lizard in the room.
Her eyes locked onto an air vent shaft in the ceiling. She spun around quickly, reaching outwards with the staff, to knock over the first Venom soldier to attempt standing, then planted the end of the staff into the ground. A blue static discharge flashed brightly, simulating a flash-bang grenade, stunning the soldiers. The staff vertically catapulted her into the ventilation shaft, and she disappeared from sight.
Panther rubbed his eyes, quickly sitting up and taking a few shots with his blaster. Wolf was only a half of a second behind, aiming his blaster and firing quickly. With the quick locking ability of his optic patch, he was able to dispatch twice as many troops as Panther, in half the time.
Once the room was clear, Panther lowered his weapon and groused, "One day soon, I'll meet you personally; when we're face to face, Krystal, I'll make you my own."
Wolf ignored the Panther's soft spoken vow, standing up and smirking. "I still don't trust her. Either way," he added, hooking his paw under Panther's left arm, helping the feline to his feet, "I suppose we should be thankful she batted the rocket grenade back across the room. She managed to seal the other entrance into this area. That will make things easier for us."
"If we're fated to play cat and mouse, she'll be my ultimate catch," Panther said, still speaking of the blue vixen, with whom he lost the chance to meet face to face.
"It's such a shame, who cares Panther?" The voice belonged to Leon, bringing Geoff Lionel from around the corner. The two emerged from the shadows coming to stand besides Wolf and Panther.
"Quiet, Powalski. You have no idea," he mused softly. The mocha furred panther smirked, a tug drawing at the corner of his muzzle. His eyes shifted to steal a gaze at the Prime Minister then said, "I suppose we can wait to go after her, this time."
"I wouldn't allow you to, anyhow," Wolf noted, void of emotion. "We're in enough trouble because of your silly side jobs. Let's set up a base and call Ruffian. Leon, figure out the computers against the wall. Mister Prime Minister, I invite you to make yourself comfortable, or you can go through the uniform pockets on these soldiers and get out any equipment you can find."
Fox sat up in bed. His headache was gone and yet his shoulder still ached. Slippy was passing through in the hallway and Fox spotted him out of the corner of his eyes. McCloud was quick to call Slippy into the room and find out what was going on.
"Well," Toad looked down, wondering if he should tell Fox where Krystal was. He didn't want to ignore his leader, who had every right to find out what was going on, but they all hoped Fox would stay in bed a few more days. "We've been buddies since grade school," Slippy started. They were the same age, and met very early in their childhood, together. "It's like this," He trailed off, looking like the cat who ate the canary.
"Did we get a job or something?" Fox asked, tilting his head in confusion.
Slippy licked his lips apprehensively then said, "Krystal is on Aquias. Falco is on Corneria, Peppy and I are helping k-k-Krystal to do a little reckon on Aquias, just a simple disturbance, nothing she can't handle."
"I see." Fox tilted his head again, then straightened his back, continuing, "As long as she doesn't come under fire, I guess."
"...Sure," Slippy gave a sheepish grin, then turned to leave the medical ward. As soon as he was out in the hall, he slapped himself in forehead, rolling his eyes. If he had eyebrows, he'd have furrowed them. Fox could find out she was in combat when he wasn't hooked up to an IV machine. Without the medication administered by this machine, he would be in recovery far longer. The only draw back to this medication was that it caused dehydration. He would have to stay wired up to the IV for another day or two, at least.
With a new agenda in mind, Slippy went for the Bridge and approached Peppy with a sigh. His eyes flitted up to the red juke box machine on the corner of the bridge, before glancing back to Hare. The frog gave a half smile, then frowned and folded his arms.
"What? Fox awake? Did he say something?" Peppy was quite empathetic.
"Something like that," said the engineer with a sheepish sort of expression. "I didn't mean to lie to him, and I suppose I didn't if you look at it from a technical stand point, but," Slippy trailed off, ending on a shrug. "I couldn't tell him about Krystal waging commando warfare against squads of Venom soldiers."
"Let alone, that she's down there with StarWolf," Peppy added.
"He's going to be pissed off when he's off bed rest," Toad muttered, walking back off the bridge. As he passed through the archway into the hall, he paused and looked over his shoulder, adding, "The tide goes out at 3:30 am, planet-side t-t-time. It comes back in at 7 and g-g-goes back out at noon, comes back at 8pm and goes b-back out again, at around 3:30 am. I suggest she leaves in the middle of the night, instead of waiting for tomorrow. It will keep Fox from putting stress on himself, when he finds out."
Peppy afforded the frog with a half smile and said, "I'll tell her."
Krystal balked at her wrist communicator: it had gone off at the worst possible time. She continued her attempt to slink through the air vent shaft, her tiny little frame able to wiggle through, but the staff made it difficult because of the curvy, narrow ventilation duct. It was unextended to its travel length but she was still having a hard time with it.
Her paws were too busy to reach for the button. With a sudden instance of inspiration, she used a measure of inginuity and worked her left wrist up against the wall of the shaft, pushing the control panel on her arm against the rock until the button to answer was mashed in. "Go ahead."
"How's the mission coming?" It was the voice of Peppy Hare.
"Unexpected thrills, with a surprise at every corner," She answered sourly.
"Anything you need to tell me?" Asked Peppy on the other end.
"Everything is taken care of," She replied. After all, she'd told General Pepper personally. It was out of her paws now and the General, as well as Wolf, asked her to keep the Prime Minister's status on the down/low. She didn't understand the entire point of it, but for the sake of argument, she simply decided it was best to follow orders. Especially if Pepper was on the same page as Wolf O'Donnell.
"Return to base. Your ship will be above water within an hour, which means it will be exposed. I want you in it and back here as soon as you can take off," Peppy told her over the communicator radio. "How many Venom troops are left?"
"A few," She said, thoughtfully. If they were after StarWolf, she might not see anymore action for the rest of the night. However, if someone spotted her, or her fighter, she'd not have quite as easy of an extraction process. She placed her paws on either side of the cavernous walls, pulling her body another few inches through the tiny tunnel. "I'll try to avoid any opposition if possible," She assured, then closed the communication by brushing her nose against the communicator's control panel.
Another seven or eight feet and she would be free. Above her, she could see stars and the smell of fresh air teased at her senses. She forced the shaft of her weapon between her body and the tunnel wall, forcing it up, until the end was outside. She'd have to toss it upwards, then climb the rest of the way up and retrieve it.
Suddenly, something reached out and snatched the end of it. She closed her paws around the base and felt herself being lifted from the vent shaft by whoever was pulling on the top of her staff. Next thing she knew, she was nose to nose with Camen and the remainder of the lizard troops. 9 of them total; she knew she was immediately out numbered.
"I won't be any trouble, I was just leaving," She explained with a joking air.
"You won't be any trouble, you were just dying," said Camen. At his words, all 9 soldiers leveled a gun barrel at her, causing her to freeze. The best she could do was to force a lump to be swallowed in her throat, causing a gulping sound to emanate from her.
We now bring you a quick commercial break! Yeah, I'm interjecting a convoluted 'Author's Note' in the middle of the story instead of at the beginning or end... just to add suspense for the mid-chapter cliffhanger. Exciting huh?
I'm going to be doing a sequel to this story! It'll be a two part story, that begins with Krystal and Fox's future possible romance, an indepth look at Oikonni engineered bio-weapons and ends in the future, when we learn what happens in the plot of the next StarFox title... unless I get carried away with it. Remember, you guys email me with things and I figure out where to change the story. That won't change :)
I'm also putting up chapters of my other stories, today. I'm working on Nothing Passed Tomorrow, The Curse, the Sequel to this story and Similar Paths Taken!
I'm actually only doing this commercial/advertisement bit to build suspense. In all the old 80's cartoons, they always cut to a commercial right as He-man or Lion-O was about to fall off a cliff, just as Duke was about to get thrown into a pit of fire or just as Optimus Prime was about to get turned into scrap metal. It's old school cliffhanger goodness. This is the last chapter, I can't go around putting in any more cliff hangers, by stopping and finishing the story in a future chapter! This is it, yo! All right, we now return to Reflections of Krystal. And remember to buy LOG from BLAMO!
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Krystal couldn't slam the end of the staff into the ground or use it to activate one of her defensive counter measures like the blue shielding. Her best bet was to either fire off a blaster shot or use the freeze blast, but with someone holding her vertical by the fulcrum, she had little chance to hurt anyone and they only needed to squeeze a trigger. Finally, she blinked.
Camen lifted his hand, causing everyone to ready their blasters. That's when she let go of the staff. She reached her free paw into her holster, and quickly whipped off a shot as she plummeted back into the ventilation hole in the dirt that led back into the shaft and ultimately down to the tunnel beneath the ground. The blaster, still on stun, caught Camen in his forehead, knocking him back.
Unconscious again, he was flat on his butt almost instantly. Meanwhile, Krystal dropped back into the vent shaft, putting her feet and paws out, to attempt stopping herself from dropping all the way to the bottom. She inadvertantly released her blaster, which disappeared into the darkness below her. She could hear it bounce off the tinny walls of the duct for another moment until silence resumed.
When Camen took a shot in the forehead, the staff was dropped in, which hit her in the shoulder, causing her to wince. Krystal secured the staff once more, wondering if she could use it to blast the ice mechanism upwards but they were likely to shoot into the shaft, after her.
The fact that they didn't shoot down the tunnel after her, made her wonder if they assumed she fell all the way to the bottom. It was a likely possibility, having heard her gun tumble down. She activated the Staff's camouflage mechanism, then began to climb upwards again. When she was nearly to the top, she lifted the staff upwards again, slowly.
Once it was free of the hole, she turned it horizontal in her paw, resting it on either side of the tunnel's entrance. She stole a glance at the feet all around her position, then boosted herself upwards. Once she erupted from the vent hole in the ground, she kicked her legs outwards, her right leg forward, her left leg behind herself. Both of her feet connected with someone's chest on either side. She put all her strength into her legs to make the connection really stick.
The two soldiers were light weight lizards, getting thrown back and landing on the ground. She still held the staff, lifting it quickly and bring it down as hard as she could with the super-quake feature in use. It slammed upon the ground, shaking the other 7 men from their feet. She quickly rolled forward, stashing the pole back into her belt, causing it to un-extend.
The lithe blue vixen lifted her right leg so that her foot came in contact with a kneeling lizard's snout, throwing him to the ground. Another Venom soldier tried to sweep her feet about from beneath her but she leapt over his attempt. Coming back down, she snapped her right leg up and back down, striking him across the side of his forehead, knocking him back as well. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw several other soldiers trying to sit up now.
She had little choice but to run, now. Several lizards were sitting up, in a circle around her, all at once. She pulled the staff back out of the backside of her belt, spun around hard, using the tip to catch every single venom soldier across his face, knocking them all back down then she jumped over one of them, heading towards the ship. After diving over one of them, she planted her paws into the ground, breaking into a ground roll.
Coming out of the roll, she began to sprint into the trees, dodging gunfire behind her. She reached the staff back over her shoulder, shoving it into her belt. Lethal shots ripped through the air, lashing through the foliage all about her. As she ran, her bushy blue tail whipped back and forth, to provide her with a graceful balance to help her in her mad dash for safety.
Her perusers were running to catch up, but she'd already had a head start. Blaster shots lanced out, disappearing through the trees up ahead of her. She suddenly dove forward. Something she could sense, told her to drop to the ground. A gunshot that was meant for the back of her head, passed harmlessly over her. She quickly activated the camouflage on the staff once more, staying absolutely still.
The men ran through the area. One of them stepped right on her paw as they ran through the area, causing her to wince and bite her lower lip to keep from crying out. Another of the 7 soldiers stepped on her left leg then her right shoulder blade, stumbling slightly but continuing on with his group.
Once they were all gone, she slowly picked herself up and whined softly in pain. "That wasn't very nice," She mused as quietly as she could. She shook it off, made sure that nothing was broken, then sighed. "Just bruises to my body and ego, you're fine Krystal," She reassured herself, then picked the staff up from the ground and dusted herself off.
She continued on, towards the fighter, stopping by the spot where she stashed her gear first. She snatched the briefcase out of the remains of the metallic chassis she'd hidden it in, then scurried off. The Arwing was half uncovered, waves lapping at the backside of it. She carried the briefcase above her head, wading through the waist-deep water.
The Arwing was slimy from the sea nettles that clung to the fuselage, prompting her to toss the case atop of the canopy and use her staff to freeze the slimy creatures. Once they were solidified, she used them to climb up the side of the hull and grabbed the briefcase, opening the cockpit.
She stashed her belongings behind the seat and wiggled out of her wet clothes, sinking down into the seat. She didn't want to get the controls wet so she pulled the briefcase back out to get her dry clothes. It was a tight fit, but she managed to change her attire in the pilot's seat, re stashing the staff and her case back behind the seat. No sooner did she finish changing, the remaining 7 soldiers broke out of the brush, running across the beach.
"Not good!" She exclaimed, following a curse in the natural Cerinia old tongue. It wasn't a language that was used anymore, but everyone had to learn it in school. With her race and their natural telepathic ability, it was rare anyone ever spoke, unless it was to a pet, a child or to sing.
She hit a button that released the canopy mechanism and reached up to pull it shut manually, because it was faster. Just as she secured the glass cover, a blaster shot ricochet off the canopy, causing her to jerk her paw back, startled. She blinked, shaking her head, then reached for the controls, booting the computer.
"Warning! Exhaust manifold restricted. Please remove any objects from the exhaust booster before starting engines; Thank you!" The computer voice was feminine and cheery. It was quite different than the monotone computer voices one might have expected.
The soldiers rushed down the beach, splashing into the water, heading for her fighter. She tried using the blasters, but the engine had to be started first; the alternator was the only thing that provided enough power to fire the forward cannon. She mashed down the start button again but the computer's stupid warning replied instead of the engines.
"It's water! It's not blocked, just fire!" She shouted, but the computer simply repeated its message, uncomprehendingly. "Gah, if I could change the settings, I could bypass the safety protocol with Slippy's help, but there's no time," She quipped. One of the soldiers paused on the beach, kneeling down to one knee and shouldered a rocket propelled grenade.
Krystal tried setting the shields but with the engines not running, anything that consumed a great deal of power was beyond the fighter's ability. "Dammit!" She shouted, trying again. The computer chirped in protest.
Her pupils dialated, focusing on the massive barrel of the explosive weapon. She didn't have enough time to try and bat at this one, her staff was behind the seat and the canopy was shut. She was sitting off balance and with the press of a trigger, the unprotected Arwing would fall victim to a concussive blast that would leave her vulnerable or worse.
It was all slow motion. Her eyes flitted and she saw the ears flicker on one of the mammal types that were with the Venom troops. That meant the cannon was locked and he was about to fire, because the cannon made a chirping sound when it was locked onto a target. The trooper's finger was pressed in on the trigger, about to release it, which would cause the gun to fire.
Her heart stopped. Her breath caught in the back of her throat. Her pupils widened a bit more, and at the back of her startled mind, there was a new presence. She wasn't even paying attention to the addition on the battlefield. Was it StarWolf to come and save her? She was a deer, frozen in the headlights of a high speed car.
The eruption made her heart sink but she couldn't even blink. There was a bright flash and her pupils shrunk to tiny pinholes. Part of her, on some subconscious level, wondered if it would hurt when the fireball engulfed her.
To her complete confusion, the blast didn't envelop her. It was actually on the beach and in her state of shock, her depth perception was less than focused. The beach erupted in a burst of flames and she almost felt her heart start beating again. Her muzzle lifted, to shield her eyes from the flash and that's when she caught a glimpse of Falco Lombardi's Arwing swooping down and pulling back up, like a dive bomber.
The cold hard reality was, StarWolf didn't care about her situation. They were busy with their own mission, keeping the Prime Minister intact for money. No, her savior was one of her team members. It was like a strike of lightning. All around her was danger and death but in that moment, inside that glow, she felt alive and safe. She felt secure. She felt like she had a family and a team, but those feelings would come to the front of her mind later, when she had time to think about it.
For this moment, she was sitting inside of a pillar of light, surrounded by fire and brimstone, so to speak. The beach lit up like a Roman Candle and she knew she wouldn't die, today. Lombardi came back, swooping around and using his blasters to take out men that continued on their course towards Krystal's Arwing.
One of the freaky lizards clamored up the side of her fighter, trying to pull himself up over the canopy. A flash of light startled her again, and the image of the soldier disappeared. Her reeling mind worked to make heads or tails of the situation. She quickly realized that the skillful raptor actually shot a man off of her fighter, without actually hitting her Arwing.
By now, the tide had receded just enough that her computer reported that the blockage over her booster was now clear. She pushed the throttle stick into the maximum position then rebooted the computer and fired the engines. The Arwing bucked forward, shuttering under the pressure. The G-diffuser was still going through a boot-sequence, but not quickly enough; she was pinned to the seat from the burst of speed.
Krystal pulled back hard on the rowing-machine style flight stick that had buttons attached at either end. The bottom of the Arwing brushed against the tops of the Palmetto trees as her fighter ascended further into the sky.
"You all right? They were about to light up your life, Krystal," Falco chuckled. "I bet you were scared senseless," he added over soft laughter. It was a reassuring sound. She glanced back, behind herself. The Island grew smaller as she climbed and she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Scared senseless? I suppose you could say that. I would have chosen another word. Either way; thank you, Falco. I thought I was a goner," admitted the vixen.
"StarFox sees that kind of action all the time, are you all right?" Falco asked, half wondering if she was going to quit as soon as they got back to the GreatFox.
"Never better!" She said, half laughing in joy at the fact she was alive. "I think this is the most excitement I've had in ages! No, I sense what you're thinking; I would love nothing more than to stay part of this team!" She was, in fact, boisterous in her reply.
"Good to hear it!" Falco chuckled in return. They could share life-altering stories later. They both had one today, and it was going to be a day neither would ever forget. The two Arwings broke through the atmosphere and headed home. Now, to see about that bubble bath and 'Chocolate'.
Krystal shut her eyes, laying in the bath tub. Hot water and fluffy white bubbles covered everything but her head. Her right paw rested along the rim of the tub with a fork between her fingers. Sitting adjacent to her paw on the tub's edge, was a small plate full of chocolate cake crumbs.
Her eyes were shut and her thoughts were wondering. She had faught on instinct in the last few days in a way she'd never thought possible. Her legs ached, her abs ached, her back and shoulders ached. With all the excitement in the last few days, she was now sure of two things. She wanted this team to be her family and she was head over heels in love with Fox McCloud.
The thoughts of Cerinia were still at the back of her mind. The last time she had relaxed in the hot springs of the healing planes near her home rushed back in a flood of memories. Her father approached her as she lay in those springs, standing besides an older woman, who hobbled with the aid of a walking stick.
In this memory, she could almost hear her father's words being spoken, "Good morning, Krys. How are you today? Really? That's wonderful! It's your 16th birthday and as you know, every 16 year old girl gets to speak to the Oricle personally."
She thanked her father, who leaned to kiss her forehead, then left, leaving the soaking vixen in the presence of the all mighty Oricle. Her eyes sparkled in curiosity as the little old lady came to sit down besides Krystal who was laying in the healing springs, which was part of her birthday present.
"Have you thought about what you want to do with your life?" Asked the little old woman. Krystal nodded slowly. She wanted to become a senator like her parents but only to make them proud. She didn't have any true personal aspirations for the future at this time.
The little old lady nudged Krystal in her shoulder with the tip of her walking cane. "I'm going to tell you something that you must keep secret until the day you truly understand it. And when you think you finally understand it, don't speak upon it. Simply contemplate. You'll know when you're ready to talk about this day. I won't be here but you will be."
"You've been around for longer than anyone alive, Oricle, how can you think that you won't be around?" Krystal asked, her brows furrowed and eyes somewhat widened.
"Oh child," Said the elderly woman to the 16 year old Vixen. "I fear I may already know my fate along with many others," She explained. "As you know, I've stopped doing future fortunes for 16 year olds. I know you were surprised when I accepted the request for your 16th birthday but there's a reason for it."
"Oh?" Krystal sat up in the hot spring, the water at her shoulder level. Her eyes were like that of a child, watching the mystical oricle with a young, naïve gaze. "Why would you accept a normal invitation from my family for my fortune, if you've retired from doing it?"
"Because, child," Said the old woman, kneeling down besides Krystal to speak with a private tone. "Your future is worth telling. The others don't have futures, but this is secret. It would do you no good to know why others don't have a future... It's a secret for Father Time, himself. Your future will be the greatest adventure ever."
"An adventure? But what about my aspirations of becoming a senator?" asked the young Vixen, tilting her head.
"Those aspirations are not fated in the stars, little Krystal." The Oricle reached into a tube that was tied down to her pack, she had unshouldered the pack to get the tube off of it, and quickly opened the top. She flipped the tube over, causing a metallic staff to slide out. It was beautiful. Adorned with jewels at each end and glyphs that reached from one end to the other. Krystal's eyes widened. "Krystal of the Cardnal Sun, I want you to have this weapon staff. It's no ordinary weapon staff. It's been blessed by the fates to allow the weilder the ability to achieve important tasks in the future."
Krystal reached her paws out of the Healing Springs, taking the staff into her paws. It extended once she touched it, becoming a great deal longer. The staff's sudden will to extend caused her to jump, becoming immediately alert. "Whoa!"
"Now I will tell you a piece of your future," the old lady began. "You will bare children. The first child you bare will be a son. He will have orangish red fur with headfur (hair) the color of your own hair. A matching blue-furred, star-shapped birthmark will surround one eye and you will name him after it."
Krystal listened intently, as if hanging from every word the elder lady spoke. The oricle continued, saying, "Once he is of age, a tradgity will occure in his life. He will avenge that travesty and become a man of great honor. You must be there for him your entire life and beyond. Your great adventure will lead you to lands beyond Cerinia and you will be forced to learn how to forgive and forget about this world in your future."
"Forget about Cerinia, how could I ever do that?" Krystal balked, then covered her mouth with a free paw, remembering to be respectful.
"Oh little Krystal," The elder woman said sympathetically. "You have such a hard journey ahead. I promise it will become the best time of your life but I promise you have a great set of challenges ahead of you. Becoming a mother is the least of your worries at this point. For that to happen, you must survive many great challenges first."
"Can you tell me about my future mate?" She asked politely.
"He will be many things," the Oricle told Krystal. "He will be a hero and saviour of many worlds and yet the harbinger of doom to many others. This is not something he wants for himself. All he wishes in life is to avenge his unfortunate losses and selflessly do his best for them. At the same time, he's a selfish leader who only wants what is best for his people at the expense of any who oppose him. He will be known as a great warrior, but he will be an even greater father. His sense of honor and pride is strong but his ability to stand on the battlefield will be legendary. He will mature as a man in your eyes and his ability to empathize and appreciate will become an attractive quality to you.
"You will be his friend and ally first but will eventually lose all control in his presence. Whatever you feel for him, he feels 3 fold stronger towards you. He is a private man, when it comes to intimacy. He is outgoing in public and yet he dislikes being the center of attention on a scale that is larger than his ego. His heart is large and he'll often break his personal policy to make a decision with his heart. This will be his greatest downfall and his greatest power at times. He will be weak in the knees around you and when you move to make him yours, he will cling to you with a love that is unmatched or unrivled by any Romantic story you've ever known. Your life will become a romantic epic all its own when the time is right. It will be an epic that will be sung about by minstrils in the most distant of worlds, one day. But always remember, you must not allow your heart to disappear in the clouds. Always stay grounded, little one. That is your fate; your fortune."
Krystal's eyes opened and the short dream disappeared. Her eyes wondered to the bathroom doorway. The door was open and held a view to the living room of her personal quarters. She could see the staff resting in a glass case in the middle of the room. A smile touched her lips as she recalled the woman who bestowed it upon her. She felt greatful, deep in her heart. Everything was coming true. It was obvious, more so now than ever, that Fox was to be her future mate.
She couldn't quite tell him everything yet, but that was all right. The time would come. She knew that her life challenges would come before her life desires. Her mind and her life had to come before her heart. But the world on a silver platter waited for those with the virtue of patience. For now, love could wait and the future could wait. She was still young. She had her entire life ahead of her.
EPILOGUE...
Several months had passed. The team was training for the upcoming possibility of confrontation against Venom and every day, it looked more and more like war was about to become reality. StarFox found themselves discluded from the battle fleet, due to a loophole in Cornerian military planning.
Fox was pissed off, wanting to be a part of the entire situation, but was ordered to stay clear. Pepper was sure that Corneria could handle itself this time and wanted Fox to keep his team of pilots safe. Falco could handle himself but Slippy and Krystal were only as good as the typical fighter pilot airman and didn't have the military combat training that Pepper's pilots had.
A group of four was no match for an armada, with only two ace pilots on the squadron, as far as Pepper was concerned. Peppy was retired and this was something he felt Corneria could handle.
It was in the news, in the tabloids, everywhere. Andrew Oikonni was claiming to demand Corneria's complete surrender. There was no reason for the war, other than a family oriented vengeance after the death of his father's brother, Andross. From what Corneria could see, there was no military activity on other planets, just a fleet that was closing in on Fortuna, heading for Corneria.
Pepper felt that Fortuna was possibly a point from which young Oikonni wished to launch an assault against Corneria. There was no way Pepper was going to let that happen, and so he ordered for his fleet to gather in the space between Corneria and Fortuna.
What Pepper didn't know yet, was that Oikonni already had a base on Fortuna. High noon, Corneria Capitol time, Oikonni's battle armada came under siege by Corneria's primary battle fleet. The two massive space battalions clashed like the massive titans that they were.
Oikonni's ship was at the center, slipping back towards the back end of the battle. He would descend to Fortuna if necessary. So far, there was no sign of mercenary groups; just Cornerian military fighters filled the skies.
"I want to make this quick. If we can give them the full brunt of our forces," Andrew said to his General, "then we can overwhelm them. If they put up more of a fight than we anticipate, we'll use our stealth squadron, so keep them cloaked and have them in the middle of the battlefield. Do not allow them to fire until I give the command, personally!" Said the new Emperor. The view screen's occupant nodded, then bowed out; the screen went dark.
The engagement began. Emperor Oikonni demanded to show the dogs of Corneria's war-machine no quarter; he wanted to show the true power of the Oikonni Emperor. Pepper, on the other hand, wanted to bring a quick, short end to Andy Oikonni's rule. The boy was a foolish, brash young boy with no experience. The only thing that could come from him was bad news.
The war lasted nearly forty-five minutes before Corneria's forces were ambushed by the stealth fighter squadrons. They uncloaked and opened fire with a barrage of missiles.
That's all Fox could take. He'd been watching the war, live, from a news cast. His entire team was suited up and ready to battle and yet they'd been forbidden. But now Emperor Oikonni had changed the tide of the battle with dirty tricks.
McCloud lifted his paw, pointing at the battle on the main viewscreen and said, "Peppy, set a course and use the jump gate. I want to arrive as close to the battle as possible, I don't care what Pepper asked, let's get ready to protect our home."
Slippy stood up from his seat, walking between the two computer stations in front of the view screen. Krystal sat on Fox's left hand side, Falco on the right, with his feet crossed at the ankles. He looked bored, wondering why they haven't gone against orders and joined the war hours ago.
The green circular field opened for them and GreatFox began to sink into it. On the other side, they emerged above Corneria, at the edge of the Meteo asteroid belt. The GreatFox began to pick up speed, heading towards the battle.
"Something's coming through the field... StarFox? Command, it's the Great Fox!" One of the men reported, mirrored by another report over top the first.
"Fox? You came..!" Pepper sounded half relieved. With the stealth squadron, it had been quite a turn for the worst. Andrew's Capital Ships were beginning to cross the line and Corneria's defenses were surfacing; their offensive plan was stalled out.
On board the GreatFox, Team StarFox opened a channel to Pepper, demanding orders and permission to launch. To his surprise and relief, Pepper's reluctance had disappeared and he offered StarFox the command to launch. "Ah, leave these losers to the pros," Slippy commented, waving at the Venom army on the main view screen with a dismissive air.
It didn't take more than a moment for Fox to finish the communication and get his team on their feet. They ran down the hallway, heading for the hanger bay. Krystal was to Fox's right, running in what seemed like perfect rythem with the rest of her new team. All this training, she was finally ready to show her colors.
Peppy's voice could be heard over the loud speaker in the Hanger, his voice echoing off the metallic walls of the flight deck. Fox bound feet-first into his fighter, punching the buttons to begin the boot sequence. Krystal and Falco reached their fighters, making a graceful near-cartwheel into the cockpit of their fighters.
Slippy sorta dove into his fighter, but it didn't take too long for him to over-right himself and the team immediately closed their canopies. Peppy's words of caution was transferred into the audio receiver built into their craft and Rob activated the main bay doors, from his computer terminal on the bridge.
Almost immediately, Fox and his team punched their afterburners, using the new Flight deck launching system to catapult their fighters into the inky void of space. Up ahead there were tiny dots that labeled each explosion on the battlefield up ahead.
Almost immediately, Slippy, giddy as ever, decided to head into a dogfight chase. No sooner did he break formation, someone dropped onto his tail. Krystal cried out for him to stay with the team and made a remark over his premature actions, while Falco made some snide comment about how typical it was for Toad to jump into the fray too soon.
On the other side of the field, a report was going through the chain of command, until Oikonni gave the command. "StarFox, eh? Work'em over!" He demanded, wanting to use his men to force the StarFox Mercenary squadron away from the battle, guiding them to the right hand side, so that the main battle could continue against Corneria. If he could distract them, they would be put off course.
McCloud's mercenary squadron wasn't so ready to fall into the course Oikonni desired. They were pushed to the right, but cut a swath through the line of Capital Ships in doing so. They doubled back to the left, getting back on course, but not before cutting another line, the shape of a "V" through a second line of Cap-ships.
From Oikonni's commant center, he could see how annoying StarFox could be. They were ever-vigilant against the Stealth fighters, opening fire just as the ships appeared after being warned by the little blue vixen who was rumored to have those stupid head abilities. The Emperor was growing upset; his patience was wearing thin.
"They're undefeatable demons!" One of the Capital Ship Captains said on a privately encoded message channel to the Emperor. His reply was on a public channel, exclaiming that StarFox couldn't possibly be a group of demons. Finally, he demanded to handle them himself and fell back towards Fortuna.
Hours later...
Wolf O'Donnell smirked. "It looks as though Emperor Andy was defeated; he's now missing in action. It's go time." His gaze cut to the Prime Minister, who was no longer wearing clothes that looked like the threads of a world leader. "The problem is, there's a rumor on the news that StarFox didn't take him out. Some other freaky being intervened. Let's go, I don't want to leave Sargasso undefended for too long."
"It's far from undefended," Leon said, hooking a thumb at Ruffian. "With the transporter pods, we can teleport our men in from every shady sector of back-water Lylat."
"I suppose you're right. It looks like GreatFox is moving towards Katina and the battle group of Corneria is moving towards Fortuna. Pepper's flagship has moved back towards Corneria, I want to drop off Geoffrey Lionel and get paid as quickly as possible, let's keep it on the quiet side," Wolf replied. It was the long explanations that he hated to deliver.
"You're going to leave Sargasso without a pilot to protect it?" Lionel asked, a bit surprised.
"We'll be back in a few hours, if not sooner. C'mon old man, I have ransom money to collect. Let's get you home before these robotic things that supposedly took Andrew out, try and come for someone else. Move."
The three fighters left from Sargasso, with the Prime Minister of Corneria. With StarFox moving towards Katina for some reason, Wolf felt leaving Sargasso temporarily without air defense would be all right. If anyone attacked, Ruffian would send out a distress signal and Wolf's team would head back to join the fray.
If only they all knew what they were about to get into...
Down on Fortuna, the remains of Andrew Oikonni's ship was smoldering on the ground. A massive hole allowed sunlight to filter into the battle bridge, where he was unconcious in his seat. Wires and sensory gadgets ran to his arms and the large visor over his head that sent his hand and head actions to the machine. These machines made it possible for him to swat at his enemies with his hands but it seems as though it wasn't good enough. He wasn't even sure what was used against him, but whatever it was, he lost.
The afternoon sun passed over his ship, causing sunlight to filter in through the hole, passing over his face. His eyes squinted open at the overly bright light in his face. He lifted his left arm, still attached to all the wires that ran up to the ceiling, covering his face from the sunlight. A groan passed his lips and his eyes lowered disdainfully.
Suddenly the light was blocked out and his body was cast into the shadow of another being. A metallic scythe reached in through the hole, widening it with ease. The metallic bot began to climb in through the hole, lifting a second pair of metallic blades as it approached Andrew. Oikonni struggled in his chair, reaching for the seatbelt release.
The machine approached, ready to impale him with the large metallic arms and he raised his arms, defensively, over his face. A loud discharge rang out, ripping through the Aparoid from behind. It quivered for a moment, overcome by death throws, then flopped to the ground, sliding down the diagonal deck, from the way the ship had crashed. It slammed against the back wall void of any motion.
Another shadow had shielded his eyes from the sun but this person stepped in through the hole, holding a blaster in their palm. Andrew swallowed in fear, unable to ascertain to the person's identity. The blaster was lifted once more, and Andrew couldn't tell anything other than it was pointed in his direction.
"Wait, please!" Young Oikonni said, "I'm the Emperor of Venom, don't shoot!" Suddenly the gun fired. Its blast passed over Andrew, hitting the machine behind him, to ensure that it was dead. As the sillohette of the man came closer, Andrew was finally able to make out details.
His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. He finally found his voice and whispered, "Uncle Andross...!"
THE END...
...For now