Conspiracy 6

PART TWO: THE ABANDONED

Chapter 6: The New Member

The craft's hatch opened with a soft hiss and Fox had to keep his mouth from dropping; her lithe form stood in front of them and Falco nudged Fox. She was clad in a dark blue almost black bodysuit, slender boots, black gloves, and a few gold earrings in her ear. As the female fox moved, the bodysuit she was wearing seemed to shift in the light from a navy blue to an almost pitch black giving her an odd effect. Her jade eyes glowed as she looked the pair over.

The air hissed and I stepped out onto the metal docking bay, my boots made a small patting sound as I took two steps. I looked the pair over and I could tell they were shocked or some other emotion since I could not fully analyze them. My eyes narrowed and I placed my paws behind me as my telepathic abilities involuntarily turned on. I looked at the falcon and his thoughts flowed into my mind.

Damn, she's hot…wonder what she's like in bed? I restrained myself from hurting him severely and I tried to block the thoughts since I could hear them even when I wasn't listening. I looked over to the fox mercenary and his thoughts traversed my mind.

Who is she? Wow…must keep myself together, don't act stupid, don't act stupid. I kept in my feelings from showing and I looked deeper into his mind. I mentally walked through his memories and I felt his pain from the lost of his father, how Fara left him and other painful memories. I left his mind and I thought of a phrase to say.

"Hey there, what's your name?" The falcon broke the ice and he gave me a lewd smile as the fox looked over to him.

"Falco you ass." He said and Falco looked over, a sarcastic expression on his face.

"What Fox? Just trying to make friends." Falco replied and I felt my neural implant analyze their sound waves. My speech melded from Cerinian into Cornerian and I waited a few seconds until Fox turned to me.

"I am Krystal." I said and Fox nodded. I could tell he was trying to hide the fact that he liked me; I decided to just let it wait and see what would happen. "Fox and Falco." I nodded to them.

"Hey baby, want me to give you a…tour of the Great Fox?" Falco asked me and he tried to put an arm around my shoulders. I stiffened and he gave me a quizzical look; on Cerinia touching an animal, especially where I was from, meant a grievous penalty.

"Please don't touch me." I asked as politely as I could. He slid his arm off my shoulders and I felt my psi network inside my mind realign itself.

Touch was a very uncomfortable thing if not invited to do so; Cerinians have either a low power psi network or a high power network running through them. The only difference between the two was if you were royal or not, I was and therefore his touch made me severely agitated.

"Hey Krystal, would you like to meet my other teammates?" Fox asked me and I looked at him.

"Sure, why not?" I replied and I felt a twinge of envy from Falco. He followed us as we walked into the elevator and I kept looking around, noticing things. The Great Fox was quite an advanced ship but it seemed so archaic to me since my civilization was quite farther than Fox's. My bodysuit alone was a mark of my civilization's technology; it was designed to be lightweight, form fitting, and give adequate protection from injuries. I felt Fox's thoughts and I kept the smile to myself, he was trying not to mess up and make me think he was a fool.

The doors opened and I stepped into the bridge; a hare, a frog and an old robot awaited me. They rose off their chairs and walked over as Fox introduced them.

"Peppy, Slippy and ROB meet Krystal." Fox said and I nodded to them. I peered into their minds and I smiled at them, they weren't apprehensive about me so I figured I could make friends with them easily enough.

"Nice to meet you Krystal." Slippy intoned and I noticed he had a high squeaky voice. I kept my laugh down and the old hare, Peppy, walked over to me.

"Krystal." He put out his paw but I wouldn't take it, I didn't know what kind of effect it would have on either of us.

"Forgive me but I can't." I said and he nodded.

"Alright, well if there is anything you need you can ask Fox, Slippy or myself."

"Hey what about me old man?" Falco asked and Peppy laughed as he adjusted his glasses.

"Or Falco I guess." Falco growled and he stalked off as Peppy sat back in his chair. "So Krystal, you're from Cerinia right?" I sat down in a chair and Fox sat next to me as I nodded.

"Yes, I was."

"Wait, was?" Fox asked. This was a painful subject for me.

"Yes, Cerinia was destroyed by a massive earthquake that split the planet in half." I quietly said and I managed to keep the tears in.

"Krystal, I'm sorry." Fox said and I looked at him, he seemed to care but I stood up.

"Fox, I might be staying here awhile so is there a spare room I can use?" I asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, we have a few extra just in case we get any new team members. Follow me." I did and we walked into the elevator, the doors closed and he hit a button. He stayed silent but I could sense his thoughts.

Man, Krystal is something. How did I ever end up with her, I mean what is the chance her and me meeting? I hope she doesn't think I'm a jerk like Falco.

I smiled inwardly at his thoughts and the door opened to a hallway; six doors appeared and Fox led me to one of them.

"This will be yours since the other is for storage." He said and we walked in. It wasn't much since there was a cot, dresser, bathroom and a small table. This was not what I was used to but it would do and I didn't want to complain.

"Thank you Fox, this will do nicely." I said and I walked over to the cot. Its sturdy construction was good since I did move around a lot in my sleep. I inspected every aspect of the room and I walked back over to him.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, not at all." I caught him looking me over and I saw him blush under his orange, white, and brown fur. "Just, uh…." He laughed nervously. "Never mind I guess."

"Alright." I sat down on the cot and a yawn escaped me. "I need some rest so can you please leave?"

"Yes, of course." Fox walked out and the door shut as I drew a paw down my back, the bodysuit split down my back and I slipped out of it as I laid it over me. I lay down on the cot and I closed my eyes, thoughts swirling in a massive maelstrom as I fell asleep.

The whole planet quaked as I felt someone shake me from my deep sleep.

"Krystal, wake up now. The planet is falling apart!" I heard a familiar voice say. I woke and opened my eyes, my father was standing there and he hauled me out of bed. "Dress quickly, there is not much time left." I slipped on my suit and we ran down the long hallway as the Citadel started to fall apart. We ran into a room and there was my small craft. "Krystal, get in."

"But what about you dad, you'll die here." He placed his paws on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye.

"You will carry my legacy on. I love you so much, now get out of here." He hugged me and then pushed me to my craft. I climbed in and with tears streaming down my face, lifted off of Cerinia. I cleared the atmosphere and I looked back as a giant shockwave split my home world clear in two. I cried harder and my ship sailed through space as I was the last Cerinian alive.

I shot up in bed and my fur was damp from the sweat that had collected from my dream. A scream left my muzzle and I cried as all the sadness flowed out of me in one great wave of tears and crying. I looked at my paws and they were also damp from the rain of tears that fell on them.

Why did that have to happen? Why was Cerinia destroyed? I thought and I swung my legs onto the floor as I could not stop the crying.

After a few minutes I was able to stabilize myself. I wiped my muzzle and walked into the bathroom; I took a long hot shower and then slipped my clothes back on. I walked back into the elevator and I looked at the buttons; they were a bit puzzling but I hit one and the elevator shot down. It opened into what looked to be the engine room and I walked into it; the warp core was humming sub sonically and I looked at it.

"Hmm, very basic." I whispered and my paw ran over my side. A compact staff appeared in my paw and it extended as I held it in front of the warp core. It glowed a very light blue and the core was analyzed as I looked at the reading on the small plasma display in the shaft. Parts of the core were weakening and if they weren't fixed, it would explode.

"What are you doing down here?" A voice asked and I whipped around. Falco was behind me and I noticed he had his blaster in a winged paw.

"I got lost." I said and he pointed at my staff.

"What's that for? Going to sabotage the ship?" He asked in a sarcastic tone and Falco raised his blaster. "I don't trust you."

I compacted my staff and I put it back in the hidden holster to show him I meant no hostile intentions.

"Falco, I'm not here to kill anyone." He gave me a hard look and he motioned for me to move.

"Get away from the core or I will shoot you." I did and Fox walked in.

"Whoa, what the Hell?" He asked and I looked at him.

"Caught our little female in the engine room. Had a pretty dangerous staff out and she was holding it in front of the warp core."

"I was merely analyzing it and there are fractures in it that could be deadly. You might want to-" I was cut off by a blaster in my face.

"She's lying." Fox calmly walked over and moved the blaster away.

"Now hold on Falco. Calm yourself before you do something rash alright?" Fox asked and the avian growled. He lowered his blaster and Fox ran a test on the core. "Falco, she's right." The falcon stormed out and Fox shook his head. "He has quite a temper but it's what he is."

"Well thanks for stopping him." I said and Fox nodded.

"I'll get Slippy down here to fix it." Fox said and he gave me a look. "You have a staff?" I took it out and it extended into the four foot lethal form.

"Yes, given to me by my father when I turned 18, that was two years ago." I said and spun it expertly in my paw. The two stone on the ends glowed and it became a gold blur as I twirled it around us. I clipped off one of his whiskers and Fox jumped back.

"Hey, you almost hit me."

"I know but I wouldn't." I said and I held the staff in my paws.

"Can I touch it?"

"No, that is strictly forbidden, I don't know what it would do to you anyway." I said and holstered the weapon. "I am sorry if I caused any enmity between Falco and I."

"Its fine, he'll probably fly off and return in a few days. He does it all the time." Fox said and I nodded.

"Fox, I have a request."

"Yes?"

"I would like to stay here as a member of your team." It was a chance offer and I hoped he would accept. I heard Fox mull this over in his mind and he nodded.

"Yes, I will accept that." Fox said and I nodded. "Your planet was destroyed so this will be your home now." He said.

"I don't know how I can thank you Fox."

"Well, you can help me when I need it, get trained on an Arwing, maybe get some weapons training in, that kind of stuff." He said and I nodded.

"I will thank you." We walked back to the bridge and the station awaited us.