Star Fox: The War Within Chapter 3: Homecoming, a star fox fanfic

A/N: Okay, I realize that this chapter was incredibly late, and I apologize profusely to any who had to wait for it. I want to just start it right away, so for the full apology, look at the end of the chapter.

And one thing I should probably clarify up top here: I did screw with the 'canon' timeline a little bit. It's not too much of a distortion though, and it should be pretty plain as to where and how much I do it, but ya know; just a warning.

Oh, and I changed the chapter name from what I said it was earlier so…there's that.

Chapter 3: Homecoming

"Hey Slippy, Falco, we're about to hit the atmosphere; make sure you're tied down to something."

Corneria steadily advanced toward the Great Fox as the carrier sped towards her, filling more and more of the bridge viewport until the entire window was covered with the lush landmasses and deep blue oceans of the planet. Wispy strands of clouds obscured only a tiny amount of the globe as they crawled along, indicating a sunny day below; something that made Fox even more excited about returned home.

The original three crewmembers had only been away from the self-proclaimed 'Jewel of Lylat' for little more than a month; not that long for the average mercenary unit. However, the troubling and utterly exhausting events that transpired during the week they had been present at Sauria made the month seem like a year or more. The primitive planet had its unique charms; it certainly wasn't the worst imaginable place for an assignment as far as scenery went; but they only further increased the vulpine's yearning to leave them behind for the technology and comfort of modern living.

'Although I wouldn't mind keeping one part of the mission around,' he couldn't stop himself from thinking. His gaze shifted towards the unintentionally scantily-clad vixen as he leaned back a bit in his command chair, having just cut the ship-wide come system after his announcement. He caught her staring again out the bridge casement, facing away from him towards the front of the room where Peppy was cycling through various plots and grids of data on the HUD. The various graphs and icons glided across the window in a virtual dance of digital information as the hare analyzed the various readings necessary to make a proper entry into Corneria's atmosphere.

'I wonder what it's like for her', his mind started again as he continued to stare, 'Being in a place with barely any knowledge of what's happening…no family or friends or anything…'

His thoughts were interrupted by a discreet cough from the front of the bridge. Fox shook his head clear and, without realizing he was propping his head up on the armrest with his hand and elbow, glanced towards the source of the noise.

He saw Peppy, watching him from his chair, his face drawn into a stern and slightly disciplinary glare. The vulpine cocked his head in confusion, still bracing it in his palm, before a realization suddenly dawned on him; based on what he had just been doing and who he had just been gazing at, the hare probably thought he was staring at…

His back straightened and he sat up in his chair, his face blushing a bit and quickly shaking back and forth in denial of what the hare was implying. 'No…he doesn't think I was…' A barely noticeable grin tugged at the elder's lips before he too shook his head, clearing the unspoken subject between them. After a quick glimpse to make sure the third presence in the room wasn't catching on to their silent conversation, and seeing that she was safely and curiously glancing around the bridge and at the HUD, he continued.

He motioned his head towards Krystal, again checking to make sure she wasn't paying attention, and tapping the back of his chair as he looked over his shoulder. When Fox gave him a confused and uncomprehending expression, Peppy's eyebrows slanted slightly in frustration before he motioned with his head again, this time towards the viewport. The vulpine followed his gesture but again came up empty in regards to a meaning; all he could see of any importance on the HUD besides boxes of weather and ship information was the meter in one corner that counted the closing distance to Corneria, and the glowing planet itself.

Fox cocked his head again, prompting a frown from the hare. Finally, still undetected from the female on the bridge, he mouthed the words 'your chair' to the vulpine, again nodding towards the viewport's information.

'My chair?' Fox thought, trying to understand what Peppy could possibly be implying, 'My chair…the planet…Krystal……what could he be trying to tell…oh!'

"Krystal," he said suddenly, standing up as she turned to him and moving a hand towards his now-empty chair, "Er, do you want to take uh…take a seat for re-entry?"

"Oh…well, I've been through it before…" she replied with uncertainty, a little surprised at the vulpine's sudden offer.

"I would advise you take it Miss Krystal," Peppy said from his seat, spinning in it to face her, "Atmospheric re-entry can be a bit…bumpier in a capital ship than in a shuttle like your craft; especially for those who aren't used to it."

She nodded slowly in understanding before turning back to Fox, who mirrored her action back at her. "I…guess," she shrugged, "If you insist, I suppose. Thank you."

"Don't mention it," he replied, switching places with her to lean on the railing while she hesitantly took his command chair.

"All set back there?" Peppy called after he heard the snap of the chair's restraint.

Krystal looked up from the buckle at Fox and nodded, giving her silent assent to the hare's question. "Yeah Pep," he replied, crossing his arms and looking back over his shoulder at him, "We're good." 'Although I don't really see the need for the seatbelts,' he mentally added.

"Alright then," the elder replied, speaking at Krystal while keeping his head turned forward, "This shouldn't be too bad; sorry if we worried you at all. The safety precautions are merely that; a precaution."

"I understand," she said, re-adjusting her position to find a comfortable spot on the slightly too-large chair. The amount of build-up that had been placed for the re-entry had gotten to her a little, and she was thankful for the hare's words of reassurance. Before the vixen could actually form the words of thanks though, the bridge doors opened, yielding a confused Falco, oblivious to the Great Fox's current situation.

"Yo Fox," he began casually, looking at the command chair where the vulpine usually was. When he saw that a different fox happened to be occupying it at the time, he slanted his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows a bit, puzzled as to why the vixen was where she was.

"What's up Falco?" Fox replied, drawing the avian's gaze to where he was at the railing. His friend stared at him for beat, then back at Krystal, and finally at the vulpine again, shaking his head to clear the bewilderment before he continued.

"Uh…yeah; I heard somethin' from you over the com, but it kinda dropped out at…the…end," he trailed off, noticing a faint rumble begin to emanate from the deck underneath his booted feet. In an instant the meaning of Fox's message became clear, and was further confirmed by the viewport as Falco turned towards it, "Oh."

Casually and calmly, he strode over to Slippy's unoccupied seat towards the front-right of the bridge, swaying with the occasional atmospheric vibration but not being impeded in the least. Krystal saw this and began to wonder, like the similarly unaffected vulpine, if all of the precautions were really necessary. The rest of the crew didn't need to be strapped in to anything, so why should she?

She decided after a moment or two of silent deliberation to keep the restraints on, if only because her guests had suggested so, and was immediately rewarded for doing so, as no sooner had the avian reached the chair then the Great Fox seemed to hit a wall of air resistance. The large carrier shook and shuttered as the hare at the helm guided the craft on its entry course, making the occasional twitch of movement on the controls as the information on the HUD dictated. She winced and cringed at every drop and heave her stomach experienced, coming to a conclusion about her previous thoughts at the same time; 'He was right; this is a bit different than in my shuttle.'

As the ship continued her descent into Corneria's atmosphere, the air friction began to build up; quickly reaching the point were an unusual orange glow formed around the outline of the bridge's viewport. Tongues of flame formed around the edges, gathering strength until they were torn loose and pulled back across the Great Fox's surface, dissipating once they fell off the tail end. This spectacle interested the vixen enough to draw her attention for a moment or two, but something else she saw caught it and held it.

Despite all of the trembling the craft was enduring, none of the rest of the crew seemed to be affected by it. Peppy was calm as ever, smoothly and effortlessly piloting the carrier along its path of re-entry; his demeanor hadn't changed at all from when the carrier was still in open space. Falco appeared almost humorously indifferent, as his hands were clasped behind his head and his feet were up on the console in front of him, the toes bobbing against the shaking to an unheard beat. Then her gaze fell on Fox.

The vulpine could've been resting on a couch given the level of comfort he gave off; sitting on the railing with his arms folded in mute relaxation. His body instinctively leaned one way or another, almost as if anticipating and compensating for the next dip or jolt ahead of time; even his tail's idle swaying held a rhythm despite the atmosphere's best efforts. Oddly enough though, at least to the seated vixen, it was his eyes that seemed to be most active, turning every once in a while from place to place around the bridge, settling at one point or another on almost every object and person possible…

'…Except for me,' she mused, noticing that his head never fully turned towards her, 'Why isn't he ever looking at…'

As she was thinking about it, his emerald eyes managed to sneak a quick, furtive glimpse at hers, darting immediately back as soon as he saw that she was looking at him. The action only further confused her as to his behavior, but another lurch brought her attention back to the viewport and the maelstrom occurring outside the vessel.

"Shouldn't be too much longer," Peppy called out over his shoulder, striking another switch on the console in front of him.

Krystal heard the statement but was unable to acknowledge it with any action or words, so distracted was she with her own thoughts and the physical impediments the re-entry impressed upon her. She began to notice a different force pulling on her body soon after though; as if an invisible hand were dragging her slightly forward. It didn't take long for her to figure out why: the Great Fox was decelerating.

Along with the decrease in rumbling, the translucent flame-glow that had come to fill most of the viewport began to subside, revealing the vast landscape of Corneria beneath them, muddied in appearance from the altitude. Standing out from the run-together features of the ground though, was a massive, sparkling blue lake, bordering a splotch of grayish land that was slowly gaining focus as the craft continued to descend.

"What is that, Fox?" she asked about the gray portion of the ground; the cabin being peaceful enough now that they had no hindrance in speaking to each other.

The vulpine followed her pointing with his head, turning to look where she was designating without changing the bodily position he had kept the entire re-entry, "Hm? …Oh, that's Corneria City," he said, facing back to her, "That's where we're goin' to meet Pepper."

"Who's tha-" she began, but was interrupted by another speaker as a burst of com static filled the bridge, causing Krystal to jump in Fox's seat and the rest of the present crew to turn to the viewport.

A message box appeared in the lower left corner of the main section of the expansive window, the picture flickering for a moment before it stabilized and showed the face and upper body of the caller. The lupine pilot brought a gloved paw to his dull green flight helmet in salute as a respectfully neutral expression occupied his grey and black-furred face.

"Star Fox," he stated, using the general name of the team for lack of knowing who he was immediately talking to, "This is Lieutenant Jacobs of the 1st Cornerian Ceremonial Wing; my wingman and I are here to escort you to the surface."

"An escort?" Peppy asked in mild surprise, straining to see out the viewport to try and catch a glimpse of the pair of ships, only to realize from the radar that they were behind the Great Fox, "Who called that in?"

"Orders are from General Pepper, sir," the pilot replied with a casual military tone.

"Heh, well how do like that?" Falco snorted, bringing a hand from behind his head to emphasize, his boots still up on the console, "The old dog cuts off our break and makes up for it with a ride in."

"Yeah," Fox agreed, finally straightening himself from leaning on the railing and turning to face the Lieutenant's portrait on the viewport, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"I'm afraid not, sir," he replied, a well-hidden smile from Falco's crack barely breaking the muzzle of his otherwise professional visage, "Sorry, but all I know is what they tell me to know."

"Ah," the vulpine sighed, disappointed that the mysterious reason as to why Pepper had called them to Corneria hadn't been solved any, "That's okay Lieutenant; thanks anyway."

"Not a problem, sir."

The com portrait folded into itself and disappeared as the Great Fox continued to descend, Jacobs choosing to make himself visible through another method. Two green-colored dots, representing the pair of Cornerian fighters currently escorting the carrier, moved their way up from behind the larger ship on the viewport HUD, flying between the 'x' arranged wings on their respective sides and out ahead of it at bridge level.

The entire three-vessel procession proceeded at a downward angle through the lower atmosphere, bringing them closer and closer to the rapidly clarifying city landscape below. Soon, individual buildings along the outskirts could be made out, along with the various roads and highways that criss-crossed the city. Suburbs flew by underneath them as they continued to follow their escorts, leveling off at a low altitude, normally off-limits to civilian craft.

For the most part, the present crew of the Great Fox felt a sense of homecoming as they proceeded inward towards the center of the city; it opened up as though the city itself had been awaiting the return of its lost citizens. However, for the newest member onboard, the sentiments were a little different.

Krystal stared at the approaching cityscape with a muted sense of both awe and anxiety. The shear scope of the metropolis startled her; the metallic structures and paved pathways, their sense of size diminished by her vantage point, seemed to stretch on to the horizon as the spacecraft continued to skim the top of the no-fly zone directly below them. It was the tremendous area that the city covered that fed both of her emotions; it certainly boggled her relatively technologically primitive mind with wonder, but at the same time it worried her that she knew she would be descending into the monster of a settlement.

Before she could give the subject anymore thought though, something happened to the two fighters' engine exhausts glowing orange in front of the Great Fox that grabbed her attention. A tiny, almost indistinguishable puff of white smoke popped up from each of them, followed by something that made their role as 'Ceremonial' escorts quite apparent.

A burst of multi-colored smoke erupted from the backs of their wings and thrusters, quickly thinning and reducing into individual lines of vapor streamers. The pair of fighters accelerated, performing a simultaneous barrel role and crossing each other's paths before descending even closer to the city and laying down a virtual carpet of lines of tinted fog. They continued to roll and flip, often frighteningly close to each other, as the trio of ships neared the port were they would land.

The precision display brought a smile to each of on-looking faces, and especially so to the cerulean vixen, still seated in Fox's command chair. Reds and yellows mixed with the greens and blues as the streams criss-crossed over Corneria City, visible to every inhabitant of every portion of town. Pedestrians on the sidewalks below stopped and looked skyward, their gaze mirrored by those in the innumerous amount of buildings below; soon, every person in the capital city was witnessing the dazzling array of colors above them.

"Certainly brings back memories," Peppy stated wistfully, watching the escorting fighters gravitate towards each other and fall into a large horizontal spiral, letting the tinted smoke swirl about the Great Fox.

"Sure does," Fox replied, his mind falling back to the events of their return home after the Lylat War years ago.

It wasn't long before the city's main starport came into view in the distance, initially indistinguishable among the rest of the urban landscape. As they continued to draw closer though, the complex gained more and more definition until the Great Fox began to decelerate at its pilot's command, having arrived at its destination. As if in confirmation, the lead escorting pilot appeared on the HUD again.

"Great Fox," he reported, showing not even the slightest form of exhaustion from his maneuvers, "You've been cleared to land in dock Nine-C; an officer will meet with you upon landing."

"Thank you Lieutenant Jacobs," Peppy said, adding with a grin, "That was some fancy flying by you and your partner back there."

"Thank you sir," he replied, his face yet to betray any major emotions, "Welcome back to Corneria, Star Fox."

With that, the transmission closed for the last time and the Cornerian fighters peeled off from their charge, boosting further into the horizon towards a military base. With a final thrust from the engines, the Great Fox glided into position above one of the larger bays of the docking complex, halting for a moment before it began to descend into it. The edges of the vertical hanger appeared to ascend around them from the ground, swallowing the massive vessel within and blocking the near-level view of the city around them. Finally, with a last burst from the retro-rockets, and a solid and slightly jolting thump, the descent stopped, and the carrier came to a rest.

The pulsating glow faded from the engines as Peppy powered them down, followed by a long release of steam from various vents as the entire ship followed suit. Falco shifted in his seat and let his feet fall to the floor off the console with a sigh, pushing himself off the chair and helping the hare go through the usual post-flight procedure; years away from the team seemed to do little to his memory of the workings of his old flying home. A final switch was toggled, sending the HUD into a fit of flickers for a moment before the various displays on the window closed and faded out.

"Well then," the hare said, standing up from his piloting station and stretching, "Are we ready to go?"

"Yup, I'm good," Falco responded, mimicking the elder to a more limber degree.

"Same here," Fox added, looking back at the still seated vixen and asking her directly, "You ready?"

"M-hm," she nodded evenly, rising from his borrowed chair and following him off the platform and towards the bridge doors.

Peppy watched them, and more specifically her, as they approached himself and Falco, standing near the exit to the room. He looked her over for a moment or two, searching for something that seemed off about her to him, before his mind locked onto it and he reached out and grabbed the vulpine on the shoulder, getting his attention. After a casual 'what's up', the hare pulled Fox off to the side and out of ear shot from the other two.

Krystal watched them go over to the other side of the bridge, taking a step to follow him, as she was used to doing by now on the ship, but stopping as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to face the owner of the limb, she was met with the silently shaking head of the taller avian; not particularly harsh in his expression, but merely unwavering.

She looked at him for another second or two before drawing her extended foot back, grasping the implication that whatever Peppy and Fox were talking about wasn't meant for her ears. The avian couldn't stop her from watching them though, and she continued to gaze at the secretively talking pair, noticing that they glanced directly at her a few times during their unheard conversation. This, coupled with the distinctly hostile vibe coming off of Falco next to her, slipped her mind into a state of unease and worry.

Nervously scratching the back of one calf with the toe of the other foot, she was relieved when Fox finally gave a nod to the hare and made his way back over to where she and the avian were standing. She noticed that his entire body posture seemed a little out of tune; with his ears pulled back a bit and his face showing a tiny bit of scarlet. It was almost as if he was embarrassed about something.

"We, uh," he began, looking off to the side for a moment before continuing, "We gotta make a stop at my room on the way out."

"Alright," she responded, glad to not be alone with the avian any longer, "What do we need to do that for?"

"…Er…well," Fox stalled, looking out of the corner of his eye at Falco and thinking, 'Hell, he'd have a field day with this.' "…I'll tell you on the way down," he finished simply.

"Al-right," she said, noticing the uncomfortable feeling beginning to resurface as the vulpine walked with her out of the bridge, leaving the answer to her question unspoken.

They strode down the short hallway to the elevators in silence, their boot and sandal steps echoing off the metallic walls as more and more distance was placed between them and the bridge. It wasn't until they reached the lift that the verbal quietness between them was finally broken; however, it wasn't in answer form as Krystal had hoped.

"Uh, right;" Fox said as they stepped into the waiting lift car, still thinking about what he had talked to Peppy about, "I should probably mention that the way down on an elevator might feel a bit different then the way up."

She turned her head to look at him and stared for a beat, the lift doors closing just as she was about to ask what that meant; when the elevator fell. The strange feeling the motion created in the vixen's gut surprised her and caused more of a reaction than anything else; it was like she was somehow lighter for a moment or two. Her mind compared it to some of the effects of the landing and take off with her shuttle she had experienced on Sauria, but here, where she was inside of a ship, it was unsettling.

Just like the way up though, the ride was quick and soon the doors were parting again, revealing the slightly familiar hallways of the Great Fox's middle floor. She felt the odd sensation within her disperse and disappear as she stepped out of the elevator, making sure to hide whatever she had felt during the lift operation from her host, who followed right after her into the hall. It soon became obvious that she hadn't done a good enough job at the latter.

"Are you alright, Krystal?" he said, watching her re-adjust to stable ground with a worried expression, "You look kinda…sick."

"No…no, I'm fine," she stammered, still a little bewildered by the whole experience.

"Alright…" he said reluctantly, not fully believing her but not wanting to press the issue, "But if you ever feel uncomfortable in anyway around here, make sure you let me know."

She managed to smile a little; genuinely thankful of the offer, but physically unable to fully express it, and replied, "Thanks Fox, I'll keep that in mind."

He attempted to return her smile, but his state of mind affected his ability to convey feeling, causing it to come out more as a nervous grin. Realizing this, Fox quickly decided to get back to the reason they had gone down there ahead of the rest of the team in the first place, motioning and stepping towards his personal room's door. Unfortunately for the vulpine, said subject wouldn't exactly help distract him from any nervous jitters he had; in fact, it would most likely make them worse.

"So, why do we have to visit your room?" she asked as he unlocked the door with the keypad, his hand halting on the touch-key surface.

Fox's muzzle parted to respond, but stopped before anything came out. He closed it and dipped his sight to the ground, stalling and desperately trying to think of a tactful way to express what he was trying to say. 'This is going to be a lot harder than Peppy made it out to be,' he thought, running over possible explanations to her in his mind as he tried to figure out someway to tell the vixen the reason in a manner that she would understand.

"Remember…," he began, an idea springing to mind as he looked back up at her, "Remember when I said that we had some customs regarding personal possessions and stuff like that?" Her even nod in reply gave him hope that his verbal bridge would work, and he continued, "Well, we also have some unspoken rules with regards to…clothing."

Krystal cocked her head to the side and gave Fox a questioning look, "What do you mean Fox?"

"Well…our society has a belief that showing too much…uh…fur, is a bad thing. What you have on right now is…" he trailed off, looking at her minute attire and blanking on the words he was supposed to say; the syntax catching in his throat. She followed his line of sight and stared down at herself, seemingly catching on to his meaning and completing the sentence for him.

"Inappropriate?" she finished, returning her vision to level and catching his a bit below.

He saw her look up and immediately followed, his ears and tail falling a bit and his face reddening slightly as he realized that she had seen him looking at her in a way that appeared more than the conversation called for. However, as his focus fell on her face and he prepared to apologize, he noticed something strange; she didn't appear to pick up on it at all. Despite the fact that his intentions were purely innocent, he still found it odd that he sensed no form of animosity from her where any other girl from Lylat would be mad. If he needed any further proof that she was from out of system; that was it.

He paused a beat before breathing a quiet sigh of slight relief, glad that his eyes' actions somehow weren't misread and that she saved him from having to make the implication about her clothes, "Yeah; a little bit."

"But…I'm not sure I get it," she replied, her eyebrows furrowing in thought, "The look of somebody's clothes shouldn't matter as long as they perform they're function, right? Back on…er……where I come from, a person needs to be able to move freely so as to be ready to react to anything that may happen; too much cloth and a person's movement is restricted."

"Yeah, but around here…we're not really faced with life-or-death situations every day," the vulpine responded, noticing her miss-speak but opting not to dwell on it, "I know it may seem a little…weird to you, but here, clothes are usually about form; not function."

"Oh," she said, looking down at herself again for a second before continuing in a slightly sadder voice, "So…what should I do? These are the only clothes I have."

"That's why we came down here," he answered, pressing the final button on the keypad and letting the door to his room slide open, "You can borrow some of mine until we get you some of your own."

"I can?" she asked incredulously before remembering her manners, "Thank you Fox; but are you sure you don't mind? You only met me a little wh-"

"Not at all," Fox cut in with a response, knowing that her last comment would bring up why he was being so nice to her and not wanting to have to answer it just yet, "And besides, I'm probably the only one here whose clothes would fit you even remotely well. C'mon."

She followed the vulpine; crossing the threshold into his room, untouched since they left a few hours ago, and pulling open a sliding wall closet just inside the doorway, revealing a surprisingly sparse wardrobe of attire. A few vests and shirts hung from hangers in a row, and the shelves that sprouted from the wall contained clothes for the lower body, but that was it. For a mercenary that lived almost exclusively onboard the Great Fox, it hardly seemed like enough.

However, that was just how Fox operated; and with nothing else to compare it to, Krystal didn't notice anything peculiar about it. He stepped aside to give her a chance to look over her potential outfits, but the vulpine quickly came to a conclusion; she had no idea what was called for. Her eyes scanned over the entirety of the closet's contents, and stalled for a few seconds on a few items, but she maintained a slightly confused, out-of-place look the entire time.

"…I…I'm…not sure…which is best," she said uncertainly, turning to Fox with ears dipped and a nervous smile on her muzzle, "…Sorry Fox."

"Hey, there's nothing to say sorry for," he said right away, picking up on her distress, "You're not from around the Lylat System; how would you know what to wear and what not to?"

She considered what he said and nodded, understanding what he meant, but not responding otherwise, something that the vulpine took as meaning she was still concerned over her lack of knowledge about what to wear. Taking the initiative, he turned to the wall alcove and started browsing through its limited contents, pulling an item here and there, until he had a full set of clothes in his hands.

Skipping over the more casual styles, he figured the best thing for her at this point was to blend in with the rest of the team in order to minimize onlooker's questions and suspicions. Considering this, he had grabbed a plain black T-shirt and an older grey flight vest, along with a pair of the green pants of the same fashion that he was wearing from the rear of the space, indicating that he hadn't worn them for a long time and that they were, hopefully, a little small on him. He handed this load to the more slender-framed vixen.

"Thank you," she said graciously, taking the pile of cloth and setting it down on the nearby bed for a moment.

Fox watched her do this and was about to ask what she was doing when she reached behind her back with both hands. Again, the vulpine witnessed this in confusion, unsure of what she could possibly be doing, and he voiced his curiosity.

"Uh, Krystal?" he began, but stopped as a slight movement elsewhere on her body caught his attention.

Her top's strap had slackened.

It took a second for this to click in his mind, but when it did, he quickly spun on his heels and stared in the opposite direction, focusing intently on a random point on the wall, "Gah! Krystal!" he exclaimed, face burning a fierce shade of crimson, "W-what're you doing!"

"I'm…changing clothes," she responded innocently, just as surprised at Fox's reaction as he was at her action. She took a step towards his back, "…Isn't that what you wanted me to do?"

"Well y-yeah," he stuttered, unsure whether or not the piece of clothing in question had actually come off or not, but not wanting to take the chance to look, "But not here…you're s-supposed to change in a private place; like the bathroom or something."

Her opposite foot mirrored her first step and the distance between her and the vulpine decreased further, "Why? Is this another of your customs?"

"Yes," he said, wanting to end the situation as quickly as possible, but suddenly becoming interested in something her statement had brought up, "…Isn't it for you?"

"Well…" her advance stopped a few feet short of the befuddled merc, his back still firmly turned, as she considered the question, "I suppose…there really weren't any rules specifically about whether or not a person could remove their attire in another's presence…but…we usually didn't do it unless we knew the other person." She paused and looked at the back of Fox's head, "Is it different here?"

"Ye-ah," he responded slowly, "Here it's sort of the same way…but you really have to know the person well…"

He trailed off and she looked down at the clothes in her hands, reflecting on what he had said and realizing again that what was implied was true; they didn't really know each other. Their meeting had been extremely coincidental and, unknowingly to both of them, surprisingly romantic, but the total time they had spent together could be measured in hours on one hand. 'We're aquaintences at best,' she concluded to herself, taking her lead foot a step backwards.

"…Should…" she began, stopping and looking back down at the floor before returning to the back of the fox's head and continuing, "Should I go change in the bathroom then?

Fox noticed immediately that the vixen had backed off physically and was grateful at least for that; his nervous state had heightened his senses unintentionally, and he had felt the tiny, almost imperceptible breeze from her exhales when she was closest to his back. "Yeah," he nodded, knowing that he was repeating himself but not wanting to take the risk of sputtering through a longer explanation. 'Besides, she seems to get the idea.'

"…Alright then," she said a little uncertainly, turning but glancing back at the merc once more before walking into the suggested room and closing the door.

It wasn't until he heard the click of the door auto-locking that Fox finally exhaled, unaware that he had been holding his breath, and turned around. He stared at the closed entrance to the lavatory for another moment or two in a state of mixed disbelief and amazement before he fell into a sitting position on the edge of his bed. His rested his forehead in his hands and drew them up through his head-fur, smoothing his ears along the way and unable to stop a smirk from creeping across his muzzle.

'Where could she have possibly come from?' was the first thing that came to the vulpine's mind, '…I just…can't believe she did that…heh…if only Falco could see me now…' He shook his head and his smirk grew larger as his breathing and overall posture returned to normal. As it did though, and as the seconds grew into minutes of waiting for the female to dress herself, his thoughts became more broad and general, '…I wonder why I'm so nervous around her like I am…last time I checked I was twenty-two years old; I should be a bit past the middle-school girl-fears by now…

His internal monologue continued on for a length of time until, fairly abruptly, he heard the bathroom door slide open, drawing his attention. As soon as he saw the first leg of the vixen as she stepped out over the threshold to the room, he automatically stood for subconscious reasons he couldn't pin down. With another step, she was clear of the doorway and the vulpine could see her completely, fully redressed in the clothes provided.

Fox McCloud was stunned. In the relative silence of the room, he could hear the shuffle of the jade leg wear against fur as the vixen's uncertain and almost shy entrance came to a halt. The tips of the unzipped, outer grey vest swayed from the leftover momentum as she smoothed the black T-shirt underneath. Her banded tail swayed slowly back and forth, and her face and ears betrayed her insecurity, both of which were turned slightly down towards the floor. The visual transformation from misplaced native to a citizen of Lylat was total and complete; the only real physical reminders of her being alien to the system were the pair of gemmed necklaces around her forehead and neck, and the inescapable uniqueness of her natural fur color.

Krystal's cerulean eyes rose to his as they both stood in continued silence. Her elbow was held firmly with her opposite hand behind her back, the stance further confirming her feeling of awkwardness and timidity.

"…Is this okay?" she asked softly, beseeching him for his opinion on her new set of attire.

"I-It's more than okay," he replied a little too quickly, gazing at her once over, finally taking the risk now that she was more properly clothed, "It looks…amazing."

The apprehension seemed to fade away from the vixen as she heard his comment, giving her confidence and comfort in regards to her outfit. "Thanks Fox," she said, her smile spreading to the vulpine's face as he watched hers light up, "But…it does feel a little weird."

"Yeah," he admitted, glancing at the floor between them and thinking for a moment, "…But there really isn't any other way to go about it. Your old clothes would attract too much…attention; they'd make you stick out around everyone else." 'And I think that's the last thing we want,' he added silently to himself.

She nodded in comprehension, but her visage soon faded back into a slight state of trepidation as she felt the pants, formerly belonging to the vulpine and therefore a little oversized for the more feminine curves of the blue-furred vixen, slip a centimeter. They went no further than that, and nothing significant was revealed, but the happening appeared to unnerve her nonetheless; something that Fox picked up on and addressed, "I realize that adjusting to all of this so quickly must be kinda hard on you..."

"To be honest…it is," she said, looking down at her sandaled feet for a second before returning her gaze to the vulpine in front of her, a gentle smile on her face, "But…it's okay; everything that you've shown and told me of your world and culture, while a little strange at times, is really quite fascinating. And you've been so kind to me by letting me stay with you and your friends…it's the least I could do in return to try to fit in to your society."

"Krystal…" he said, unable to think of anything more to say. He wanted to, and the situation called for it, but somehow, he just couldn't think of anything else that he could say to the vixen.

Suddenly, a third and slightly tinny voice broke the mood of the room, emitting from the arm computer strapped to Fox's arm and causing both foxes to jump a little in surprise.

"Fox, where are ya man? We're all waiting down here," the voice said, its tone and inflection identifying the speaker as Falco.

The vulpine didn't notice Krystal's surprised expression as he responded to the call, bringing his right arm and the com attached to it in front of him and a bit closer to his mouth, "Yeah, sorry guys; we'll be right down."

"Okay, but make it snappy McCloud," the avian replied, "There'll be plenty of time after Pepper's meeting to have fun with your new girlfr-"

Fox cut the com link as soon as he realized where Falco was going verbally, tapping a button on the touch-display of the armband to abruptly silence him. He shifted his focus back to the re-dressed vixen and was about to apologize to her when he noticed that she was staring quizzically at his arm. Or, more specifically, at the hardware attached to it.

"…What's that?" she asked, her eyes furrowed in curiosity and her head cocked to the side as she continued to look on at the armcom.

"What's what?" he said, looking behind him along her sight line until he realized she was gazing at his arm, not something past it, "Oh this? It's just a com unit."

She blinked, "A what?"

Fox looked at her for a moment before shaking his head and again realizing that this was another thing whose understanding he took for granted, "I'm sorry Krystal; I should've explained after what you said in the lounge. …You've probably been wondering where all of these random voices have been coming from since you've been here."

She nodded and he continued, bringing his left arm up in between them in order to show off the device, but noticing the time display as he did, reminding him of the call to come down. "Uh…we gotta get going," he said, dropping the arm back to his side, "I'll explain on the way down."

She nodded in agreement, understanding the slight urgency, and they left his personal quarters, heading towards the elevators. As the pair crossed the threshold of Fox's room door though, a reflective gleam caught the vixen's eye, drawing her attention to the cloth sack they had left near the door. It was her staff.

Krystal had seen how Fox had one of the strange, blue energy shooting devices on his belt among the other equipment, and rightly assumed that it was for protection. As she had thought about it, and despite the apparent safety of the Great Fox, she had begun to feel defenseless without the staff she had carried for so long for that purpose. Remembering it on the way out became foremost in her mind.

Without breaking her step, she dipped and snatched the weapon out of the back, tucking it under her new shirt and vest and wedging it between the strap of her old top and the fur of her back in one fluid motion. The more modern clothing hid the added bulk of the staff, and still allowed it to be reached with relative ease if need be. Since the whole motion was virtually unnoticeable to the vulpine a step ahead, Fox didn't even notice when she rejoined him as he was waiting for the lift.

"Alright; thanks for the information."

"Not a problem Mr. Hare; if you'll excuse me though, I gotta get back out front."

Peppy nodded and the security officer left the Great Fox's open mainhanger, jogging down the ramp that had extended to the floor of the Starport docking bay and slipping through a door that led to one of the many hallways of the facility.

"What was that all about?" Slippy asked, approaching Peppy from looking over his inoperable, partially dismantled Arwing.

"Hm? Oh, that was just one of the Starport security guards," he explained, Slippy's question catching him while he was thinking about the issue the officer had brought up, "We…may have a problem."

"What's up Pep?" Falco asked, following the toad from the latter's scrapped fighter to the center of the carrier's hanger.

"Well, according to that guard, there's a large group of reporters and newsmen waiting outside the Starport," Peppy replied bluntly, "…That's going to slow us down a bit; the guards say that they can't even see the limo through the amount of people."

"So?" the avian replied, shrugging, "We stop to greet a few fans, answer a coupla questions; just like four years ago. Where's the problem with that?"

"The problem is that, as it is, we're already going to be late," the older hare responded, looking up at the taller Falco, "We can't spend any extra time stopping every few feet to respond to questions; especially since we have Fox's friend to worry about. You know half of the issues they bring up are about why we're still in such a 'questionable' profession, and given her reaction to that a couple hours ago…"

He stopped, catching sight of the missing foxes out of the corner of his eye as they entered through the hanger door, talking carelessly about one thing or another as they traversed the steel floor of the large room. Falco and Slippy saw them as well once they followed Peppy's line of sight, and turned to stare at them as they approached. They were within earshot a few seconds later.

"…So those voices and pictures on the bridge, and in the halls, were all other people in different places?" Krystal asked, looking directly at the vulpine and not noticing the enormity of the room they had just entered.

"Yep," he replied, nodding and facing forward for a moment, intending to continue the conversation but stopping when he saw his teammates' faces, "Er…sorry about that guys; took a little longer than I thought."

Peppy frowned and opened his mouth to reprimand the fox, but opted instead to merely drop his tardiness and move on to the current problem.

As the hare was explaining the situation to Fox, Krystal finally had time to take in her new surroundings, gazing around the room with a sense of awe. Easily the largest room she had been in so far on the ship, at roughly three times the size of the auxiliary bay, she noticed at the same time that it was very worn looking; every wall and the deck were scared with harsh, black scorch streaks and an overall look of dirtiness and wear.

The occupying vessels within the bay weren't much better either; they were all of the same sleek, aerodynamic design, and two of them appeared to be in fine enough flying shape. However, the other two, off to one side of the hanger, were easily inoperable. Pieces of armor and hull were torn away, revealing internal systems that were more or less intact in some cases, and completely gutted in others. Unknown to the vixen, these latter two fighters were subject to scavenging for spare parts for the one remaining active pilot on the team as of her arrival.

It was this pilot that nodded after Peppy finished his explanation, comprehending the situation and committing his mind to finding a way out of it. The whole concept of a crowd for them, mercenaries, was pretty strange to him, and if he hadn't been through the gauntlet once before, he would've never believed that any citizen would want to honor a soldier-for-hire.

"Why don't we just have the limo driver pick us up at a side entrance or something?" he asked after little thought, "This complex is huge; there's no way anyone's gonna know which door we come out of."

"True," Peppy replied, thinking for a moment over the seemingly too easy solution, "…Alright; that'll work. I'll go to the lobby out front and see if I can get the driver on a com line; make sure we're ready to go by the time I get back. I don't want to keep the General waiting any longer than we have to."

With that, the hare turned and descended the gradual ramp to the Starport hanger's floor, following the path of the guard that had left earlier and taking the same door, disappearing into the maze of hallways. As soon as the door, tiny in comparison to the rest of the bay, shut all the way, leaving the four alone, Falco turned to Fox.

"What's up with her?" he asked, slanting his head in Krystal's direction and inadvertently catching her attention at the same time. She turned from looking around the bay towards him, parting her muzzle to respond but being cut off by her fellow species member.

"What do you mean, Falco?" the vulpine questioned back, knowing where the conversation would end up and dreading its arrival. 'Please Falco,' he pleaded the avian mentally, 'Don't make a big deal outta it...'

"Whatdya mean 'what do I mean?'" he replied, busting any hopes Fox might've had about avoiding the issue, "She's got your clothes on! What, were you two playing 'dress up' up there or something?"

"Well you weren't expecting her to go strolling through Corneria with what she had on before, did you?"

"No," Falco said, glancing at the vixen in question and back at Fox, "But…give her something else besides our friggin' uniform; she looks like she's one of us."

"That's the point Falco," Fox responded, his annoyance at the avian's complaints showing through in his voice, "The more she looks like she belongs here, the less likely she'll get noticed, and the less likely we'll get asked about her."

"But she's not on the team," Falco continued, refusing to give up the point. The pair continued to argue over the subject, neither giving any ground on their point, and both completely forgetting about the one they were fighting about.

Krystal stood off to the side between them, following every aspect of the verbal skirmish and listening to every word spoken. As they continued to dispute the issue, her mind analyzed the details until she came to a conclusion; her presence was the only thing that necessitated the fight. If she wasn't there, the problem simply would've never come up, '…Am I…a burden to them?...'

It was a relatively groundless thought, one that understandably didn't hold up for long in her mind as she quickly dismissed it, 'But then why would they let me onto their ship and into their lives like they did,' she thought, reassuring herself with the reason, '…Maybe it's just Fox's friend that has a problem with me…but…what did I do that he is taking offense to?'

"…al?" Fox was saying something to her, but her reverie prevented her from hearing at first, forcing the vulpine to repeat himself, "Hey, Krystal?"

She shook her head and snapped back to the situation, only to realize that the argument had ended, both participants more or less at peace with each other. If the current look Falco was shooting her meant anything though, it was that he still maintained the suspicious, slightly accusing attitude of before. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment as he shrugged and descended the ramp before she turned to Fox and finally responded, asking what he needed her for.

"I just wanted to know if you have everything you need from the ship," he said, now having her full attention, "We gotta close up the Great Fox, and once we do, it'll probably be shut for awhile."

"Hm…," she murmured, leaning back unnoticeably in her stance and feeling for the resistance of the staff concealed under her shirt and vest, "Yeah, I think so." After saying it though, her expression changed as she assumed a look of uncertainty and slight worry, her muzzle dipped a little and her tail's idle wagging slowing, "Fox…did I do something wrong to your friend? It seems like I offended him somehow."

"Look," he began, noticing her glance at Falco, "I know that he seems a little…perturbed right now, but-"

"Yo!" the avian in question called out from the Starport docking bay, cutting him off and waving at the pair, "Foxy! Let's go!"

Fox sighed and turned back to the vixen, shaking his head in apology, "Uh, sorry Krystal; but we gotta go. I'll explain later."

Outside a deserted, barren alley shaded in shadow, a cozy storefront café had just hit its early afternoon slowdown. Its outdoor terrace contained only a handful of patrons; businessmen late to lunch, or others hoping for a quick bite to eat before moving on with their daily schedules. The small and old-fashioned café was fairly out off the beaten path, built into the rear of one of the massive Spaceport docking bays, and as such, there tended to be a sense of casualness between the staff and the customers. The staff would often leave newspapers and the like out for their regulars, and when the patron left, they simply left the reading materials on the modestly adorned patio tables.

A sudden gust of wind picked up abruptly, surprising several of those eating outdoors as the unexpected air currents pushed anything light enough around with ease; napkins, hats and newspapers were caught up in the draft. Most were easily recovered among soft laughter from the customers, but unbeknownst to those on the sparsely populated terrace, a page from a folded newspaper at an empty table had been torn free by the breeze and blown clear of the empty table it had been lain on.

The sheet of paper tumbled along the ground, slipping through the pickets of a low, decorative fence that enclosed the café patio, and approached the brick corner of the storefront eatery and the neighboring alley. With a final gust, it was sucked right around the bend and into the dank and shady backstreet, pausing on the ground for a brief moment before sliding further into the between-building passage.

It caught in a small crack in the dirty pavement, its sides whipping as the wind continued, until it was yanked free and continued its journey, finally coming to a full rest behind a parked limousine as the airstreams died down. However, as if a trigger was flipped, the automobile started up, its engine revving and a gust of cleaned and filtered exhaust blowing from a port in back near the pavement. This abrupt draft threw the newspaper back into the air towards a door on the side of Starport, skimming the ground until the door hinged open slightly and a booted foot stepped out into the alley, pinning the sheet of paper to the dusty concrete.

Fox nudged open the side entrance door and peered out into the side-street, careful to keep his face hidden behind the doorframe as his gaze swept the alley. Seeing nobody and nothing out of the ordinary, save the expected limousine, he carefully stepped out into the city, leaving a boot mark on a piece of newspaper that had caught under his foot. A news helicopter soared abruptly over the sky visible between the tops of the two buildings that formed the alley, causing an instinctual freeze in the vulpine as he watched it pass until it was out of sight, hidden from view by the Starport. As soon as it was he relaxed; so far it appeared as though their plan was working.

"Alright guys," he called back in a loud whisper that was probably overly cautious for the situation, "Let's go."

"Ya know, I still think this is all kinda unnecessary," Falco commented as he led the way out of the Starport for the rest of the team, "What was wrong with the reporters again?"

"Time Falco," Peppy replied, the next one out of the side-entrance, "We don't have time for them."

"Yeah," Slippy continued, piling into the extended automobile after the elder crew member, "Besides; those guys always misquote us on everything. Remember four years ago when they said that Falco said that I was always the cause of trouble in the missions?"

Falco's voice could be heard from inside the stretch, "Er, right…misquote…"

Fox smiled and was about to climb in with them, the secretive movements of before completely forgotten, when the sound of the Starport side door opening one final time caught his attention.

Krystal stepped from the shadows inside the Starport hallway to the shade of the alleyway, her wood and leather sandals clacking softly on the concrete as she caught her first glimpse of a modern city. The dirty backstreet was an unflattering portion of the metropolis for the vixen's initial viewing, but even the unique building materials of the seedy between-structure lane were enough to catch her eye for a moment. 'This all seems so…lifeless,' she thought, the solid grey walls seeming so stiff and inert compared to what she was used to from the last planet she had stepped foot on.

The helicopter roared overhead again, startling Krystal and breaking her observations of the concrete environment around her; gazing instead at the flying machine above as it passed out of their view. Now that her concentration had been broken, she could finally hear Fox calling her from the extended car, beckoning her over, to which she quickly complied.

The vehicle he was holding the door open to appeared odd to the vixen, humming and occasionally revving like it was, but the sense of urgency that Fox purveyed caused her to cast those thoughts aside and climb through the opened hole into the automobile. The mercenary took a final look around, making sure that their actions had gone undiscovered, before he too joined the rest of the passengers inside the limousine and it pulled out into the public road, leaving behind the rusty and soiled alley.

"I'm not gonna lie; Pepper's definitely regaining some points after stiffin' us a day."

Falco laced his hands together behind his head and reclined in the heavily padded and comfortable limo bench seat, lying sideways on the front, rear-facing seats and leaning back against the window. Peppy chuckled with Slippy from the bench perpendicular to the avian's, agreeing and going further into conversation with him about the General's strange hurry to meet with them, accentuating his speech with hand gestures. However, the vulpine in the back bench didn't pay much attention after the first comment was said, as other things were on his mind; namely, the passenger next to him.

In the ghost image created by the inner reflection of the window next to her, Fox could see Krystal's sapphire eyes gazing into the passing capital city of Corneria, betraying her sense of awe of the metropolis to him. The occasional bump and jostle from the ground-based limousine were enough to draw her attention the first few times they occurred, as she had never ridden in an automobile before, but soon even such a novel thing as that couldn't keep her away from the world outside. However, unknown to the male fox, there was another emotion she felt other than the wonder; an emotion that held a strange sway over her initial thoughts of the city.

Trepidation.

'This…this is impossible…' she thought to herself as she continued staring out the glass. Gigantic structured towers of steel and concrete rose immeasurable stories from the ground to the sky, scraping the heavens with their height and glinting in the sun. Cars of every conceivable shape and size crowded the busy through-city streets; revving, honking, and otherwise making themselves audibly known. The people that populated the city on the sidewalks were just as varied as their means of transportation; capturing the vixen's mind with their styles of dress and activities seen through storefront windows.

The shear magnitude of the world she had been thrust into startled her; she hadn't even come to terms with the massive office buildings along their boulevard when the limo reached an intersection, revealing another street of monstrosity-sized structures running as far as she could see. And as much as the city swept away her imagination in wonder, it also ran lines of apprehension deep into her mind. Looming high above her level of vision through the window, the metal constructions seemed almost threatening to one who had never experienced their ilk before. Their tinted glass windows stared darkly back down at her, sending a chill down the vixen's spine.

A truck hurtled by in the opposite lane of the limousine, eliciting a barely stifled yelp from Krystal as she jumped in her seat in surprise. Quickly turning around, she noticed in silent astonishment that none of the other passengers seemed to have reacted to the vehicle like she had; furthermore, none of them seemed to even notice the intimidating metropolis outside. It dawned on her that they were probably used to locations like this, having been born and grown up within Lylat, but the air of indifference that they exuded still surprised her, '…Will I eventually become accustomed too?'

Time continued to pass, and Krystal continued to gape at the structural feats of modern construction, but as she did another thought of curiosity made itself known within her conscious; a thought that concerned itself less with the city proper and more with their destination within it.

"…Fox?"

The vulpine was mirroring her previous gaze out the window on the opposite side of the extended car, although his reason was more out of boredom than curiosity. It had fallen fairly quiet inside the limo since their initial arrival from the alleyway, and he didn't want to interrupt what he had perceived to be genuinely interested observation on her part; so he had decided to keep the silence as it was. When he heard his name spoken by the uniquely accented voice though, his head immediately popped off the palm it was braced on and he turned towards her.

"Hm?" he questioned, "What's up, Krystal?"

"Who's this 'Pepper' person you all keep talking about?" she asked, having heard the name many times before but still not knowing exactly what it was he did, only that he was important, "Is he like your king?"

"Heh, not exactly," he replied, letting out a brief laugh at the though of the General as a monarch before continuing, "Although he has certainly ordered us around like one before."

"Oh," she said, her face expressing a flash of an idea as she thought she grasped his identity, "So…he's your commander then?"

"Closer, but still not quite," he responded, happy to be in conversation with the previously silent vixen, "He is the commander of the Cornerian Military, but since we're independent, he doesn't have direct control over us."

Krystal assimilated the information and mulled over it for a moment or two before coming up with the next logical solution, "…He gives you your missions then?"

"That's it," Fox smiled, bobbing his head.

"Hm," she replied with an interested tone, "So why are you visiting him now?"

"Well, he wants to talk to us about the Dinosaur Planer job," he said, looking forward as he recounted the reasons Pepper had given them, "And then I think he said something about another possible contract."

Krystal nodded with comprehension, but mentally winced on the inside at the mention of a contract, reminding her of her host's mercenary status. However, before the vixen could ask anymore questions, the limousine slowed down and came to a stop outside of a huge building, tremendous even by the standards of the rest of the city. To everyone but Krystal, the driver's announcement of their location was all but unnecessary; they had memorized the very layout of the building due to the frequency with which they visited. However, to the cerulean female fox, it just confirmed what she had suspected: they had arrived at their destination.

Fox was the first to move, opening the rear door opposite her and stepping out onto the concrete island that separated the building's private loop from the main road. The initial blast of ambient city sensory stimuli stunned Krystal for a moment as they washed over her; a cacophony of downtown sounds and reverberations played strangely in the vixen's sensitive ears, its unfamiliarity matched only by the alien scents that flowed over her muzzle as she curiously sniffed the metropolitan air.

It wasn't until a discrete cough from Peppy, who was next in line behind her to exit, that she realized she was holding up the team and climbed out of the limo through the door Fox had opened and was now holding. As she emerged from the limousine and into Corneria City, Krystal felt the foreign urban landscape surround and embrace her, almost as if welcoming the vixen to the world that was so strange to her.

A few pedestrians had stopped to watch by the time the rest of the group exited the vehicle, pointing and talking unheard to whoever they were with, the speech lost in the whirlwind of city sounds before the team could hear it. Fox regarded them for a moment before turning back to the limo, closing the back door and rapping his knuckles twice on the window. Taking the signal, the driver accelerated out of the private loop, pausing briefly at the main road before turning onto it and driving out of sight, leaving the team at the Cornerian Military HQ.

As they approached the building, more than its shear height Krystal noticed a strange collection of letters and symbols, sitting atop the large, multi-door entrance. The initials 'C.M.H.Q' were carved and colored in large red font, and just above those was the Army's insignia; a pair of swords crossed midway with the planet of Corneria underneath the point of intersection. The building soared higher and higher as she followed the team to the building, until, from almost directly underneath, it seemed as though the structure stretched to the sky. However, before any real fear had a chance to set in, they were through the row of glass doors, and the outside city was left behind.

A breeze of conditioned air greeted the vixen as she filed into the Headquarters building after the rest of the team, cutting off the warm world outside and opening for her a cooler environment indoors. Her curious eyes drank in the features of the new setting; the reflective marble walls, the glistening, water-spouting fountain, and the occasional uniformed officer walking the open, second-story gallery going about their day-to-day business among the maze of offices.

"How's it going today gentlemen?"

The guard's statement brought her attention back to her present location at a roped off security checkpoint, just inside the main entrance. She peered up from behind the rest of the team to get a better look at the speaker, a younger collie dressed in a soldier's uniform, standing next to an empty rack and a strange, door-sized frame. As she got a clear line of sight at him, he did at her as well, and quickly mended his greeting.

"Ah, and lady as well," he said, tapping his angled, non-combat cap and smiling, "My apologies, ma'am."

She looked at Fox with a hint of confusion, unsure of how to respond, to which he understood and quickly picked up the conversation.

"Not too bad," he remarked, matching the guard's grin for a moment before Peppy intervened and got down to business.

"I apologize for the rudeness," the hare said, drawing the soldier's attention, "But we're already late for a meeting, so if we could hurry this along…"

"Say no more, sir," he replied, nodding with understanding and checking his digital clipboard, "That means you all must be the Star Fox team then, right?"

"Yep," Fox responded, pulling out an ID card and handing it to the guard, who compared it with the information on his pad, "So, how's the General doing these days?"

"Eh, he's good for the most part," the guard answered, handing back the card, "But this stuff with Katina has been kinda stressing him out lately." Then, without breaking his conversational tone, he continued, gesturing to the empty weapons storage rack, "If you could leave your side-arms here."

The team drew their individual pistols from the belt holsters, Falco from a custom sheath on his hip, and took turns placing them inside the individual compartments on the rack, each of them closed and locked by the guard after they did so. Exempted was Krystal, who didn't carry one of the guns on her, and whose unorthodox weapon was concealed enough to not be noticed by the soldier.

"Katina?" Fox questioned, keeping the dialogue alive as they filed through the weapons detector frames, "What's going on with Katina?"

"You mean you haven't heard?" the guard asked, nodding with approval when they all passed through the detector cleanly and motioning for them to follow him. The vulpine shook his head 'no' and turned to his teammates, who shrugged and responded similarly, which prompted the soldier to continue, "Ah, well; the General'll probably fill you in more, but let's just say that we're not on the best of terms right about now."

"Really?" Slippy asked, coming up beside the guard as they turned from the main lobby down a side hallway, "What happened?"

"Sorry sir, but I can't answer that," he replied, the procession reaching a bank of elevators along the corridor wall, "'Cause honestly, I don't exactly know. There's a lot of speculation goin' on about the whole situation."

The soldier approached the touch-panel for one of the lifts and activated it as he spoke, causing the double doors to part and reveal the elevator car. After the team finished boarding, and before Slippy had a chance to respond to the guard's answer, he reached inside and pressed the General's floor button, "You'll probably find out soon enough though."

"Alright; thank you," Peppy finished as the doors began to close.

"My pleasure, sir," he responded, returning to his post out front once the lift was sealed.

As the elevator began its long-distance ascent, Krystal gripped the brass railings that ran around the car, not sure of what to expect. At first, the lift seemed tame enough, sounding and feeling much like the smaller ascent in the similar system aboard the Great Fox. However, by some unseen trigger, the elevator suddenly ramped up its velocity drastically, rocketing the team skyward and frightening the vixen with the sound and sensation of speed.

Krystal squeezed her eyes shut and desperately resisted the urge to scream, instead opting to merely tighten her grip on the railings until her knuckles turned white. Her position at the back of the enclosure spared her the scrutiny of the Star Fox team, but the lack of notice did nothing to alleviate her tensed feelings any. Luckily for the vixen, however, the gauge on the top of the elevator doors neared the number of their destined floor, and soon the lift slowed down and came to a stop.

The doors opened and the team stepped out into the hallway; similar in appearance to the one they had just left, but over a hundred stories up from their last position. Fox glanced back at his cerulean companion, noticing that she appeared to be slightly physically affected by the elevator ride and making an effort to ask her about it once she exited the lift. But, before he could even part his muzzle, he was interrupted by the professional curiosity of a receptionist.

"Can I help you, sir?" the feline asked in a friendly voice, sitting behind a raised circular desk just opposite the elevator bank.

"Er, yeah," Fox responded, belaying where his attention was as he turned back towards her from Krystal, "We're here for a meeting with the General."

"Ah, you must be the Star Fox team then," she said with a smile, to which the vulpine nodded, "He's in the last room down this hall."

Fox followed her motion and nodded again, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," she replied, looking at the rest of the group as they filed past her desk. When the vixen passed her though, the feline noticed something off and checked a pad on her counter. Finding what she was looking for, she called out to the vulpine, "Ah…Mr. McCloud?"

His orange ears perked when he heard his name and he stopped in his tracks, turning and making his way back to her desk while the team continued to the office, "Yeah?"

"I'm afraid she's going to have to stay outside the General's office," she reported, her face expressing a degree of genuine sympathy as she then spoke to Krystal, "I'm sorry, but it's simply a security protocol; nothing personal."

"That's okay," the female fox responded, drawing a quick look from the vulpine before he too relented and thanked the receptionist for her warning. They both jogged a short distance to catch up with the rest of the team as they continued down the corridor, the murmur of conversation from the three further down the hallway and the clacking of the vixen's sandals the only sounds audible.

The passage itself was surprisingly plainly adorned given its residence; the potted plants and marble floors made it indistinguishable from the many other high-end office buildings spread throughout the city. A barrier of practically solid windows made up the outside wall, a partition that Krystal made a point of staying clear of; realizing that if the mere sight of the buildings frightened her, than the view from within one of the monstrous towers would terrify.

It wasn't much a walk to the end office and in no time they arrived at Pepper's door, an event followed by Peppy knocking on the metal separating his workplace from the hallway. His efforts were met by a muffled 'come in' from the General just before the door automatically slid open, and all but the pair of foxes entered the room.

"I'm sorry Krystal," Fox said, standing just outside the room while the others went in, "But they won't let those they don't know into the General's office."

"Don't worry about it, Fox," she replied, causing a sense of relief to appear within the vulpine as she went on, "I understand the need for security for such an important person. I'll just wait out here."

"Alright…" he answered, still unsure of the wisest course of action to take, but content with the one that seemed to be playing out, "If you need anything though, I'm sure Pepper won't mind a small interruption."

"Thanks, but I think I'll be fine," the vixen stated, noticing and taking a seat on a padded bench adjacent to the General' office outside.

"Okay…" he said, trailing off and turning to enter the room where the remaining three members of the team waited, along with the General himself.

The office was, as it appeared in the message Pepper sent them earlier, likened to the hallway leading to it in modesty; other than a few telltale ornaments, one would have no idea that it belonged to one of the highest officers in the Cornerian Military. Even the older hound's uniform was fairly casual, just the basic scarlet dress coat; again, no flare or unnecessary ostentation. Fox noticed he was looking a little more tired than usual though, and the guard's words about General came back to the vulpine's mind.

"Star Fox, it's good to see you all again," Pepper started as soon as Fox took the final of four seats in front of his desk, "It's certainly been awhile since we've all met in person."

"It sure has, General," Peppy replied, matching his weary grin with one of his own, "What's it been now…four years?"

"Ah…really now? Four years?" he said, leaning back in his chair and staring off into space for a moment, recounting the interval between their last visit and the present, "Yes, that's right, the Lylat War."

"Hey, if it helps any," Falco remarked with a smirk, "You don't look a day over three and a half, General."

"Falco Lombardi," Pepper beamed, taking the comment in stride, "Well, it certainly has been a day for surprises, hasn't it? I'm glad to see that your absence from the team hasn't changed your attitude any."

"Better believe it," he replied, the joking smile still on his face.

The General chuckled for a moment or two before continuing, turning to Fox, "Alright then, down to business. I have called you all here for the possibility of another contract, the details of which we will discuss later on. But first I want you to tell me about what happened with Sauria; we still don't know a tremendous amount about the planet or why it did what it did. I'm sure your report will be of great use for us, so don't leave any details out."

Fox let out a sigh and said nothing for a few seconds, gathering the great amount of events and descriptions in his head before speaking, starting the long process of filling the General in on everything he could recall, "Well…when I first arrived on the planet, I thought I had been thrown back a millennia or fifty in time; I mean there was nothing there; just a field and a few natives…"

'Fox and his friends sure have been in there a long time…'

Krystal sighed and leaned against the bare wall on the backless bench, the concealed staff digging comfortably and familiarly into her upper back. Normally, the air-conditioned hallway and chilled marble stone would've induced shivering by now, but the new clothes Fox had given her insulated her surprisingly well. 'These are actually becoming comfortable,' she thought, shifting around in her seat and feeling the artificial fabric brush across her fur, 'I guess Fox was right.'

She felt her muscles begin to stiffen from being in the same position for a long time, the tightness edging on her until she finally relented and stood up, stretching her body briefly before slowly pacing the corridor around the office, getting the blood flow back in her veins. Noticing the receptionist as the only other occupant of the hallway, she considered for a second the possibility of conversing with her before rejecting the idea, still intimidated by the new world she was now inhabiting.

Instead, she filled the need for a stimulus by approaching the window-wall across from the General's office, having built up enough courage to dismiss her earlier fears and curious as to what the view was like from such a large building. Placing her hands against the cool glass and looking straight out past her reflection, all she could see was the bright blue sky and the lazily drifting clouds, in addition to the tops of a few nearby skyscrapers. The whole panorama of the atmosphere was very peaceful and calming in addition to its novelty to the vixen; quite the opposite of what she had expected such a sight to be, and it soothed her nerves of the boredom that had begun to set in. Then she looked down.

Almost immediately Krystal was struck with a strange sense of floating and light-headiness as the shaded landscape below struggled to come into focus. Far beneath her, she could barely make out the shapes of machines and people, the likes of which she had seen on the way to the building she was staring wide-eyed out of now. It all seemed so surreal to her, being almost level with the clouds and gazing down on the unfamiliar planet below which was, from her current height, seemingly composed solely from metal. It was as though the line of reality and what was possible in the cerulean vixen's head had been skewed.

Krystal felt her forehead make contact with the pane, unaware that she had been leaning forward, and for a flash of an instant felt like she was falling; plummeting through the mist to the world below. With a sharp inhale prompted by the dreamlike sensation, she jerked her head back from the window and stood there, braced against the glass and regaining her focus, unsure of what had just happened.

As much as the experience had startled the vixen though, she couldn't help but feel a little thrilled by it as she sat back down on the padded bench; even as her head continued to swim.

Pepper leaned back in his chair as the vulpine fell quiet after reporting his last sentence, breathing out a sigh, "Well I'll be damned…Andross was still alive all this time?"

Fox shook his head and clarified, "Not quite alive, sir; he must've found a way to preserve his spirit or something, and then used the Krazoa to revive himself. I'm still confused onthe wholeidea of itmyself."

"Heh, I remember back when someone used to die, and they actually stayed dead," Falco commented with a wry grin, "Those were the days, eh General?"

"Yeah…" Pepper responded quietly, the hound's mind locked deep in contemplation. His eyes lost their focus for a moment as he forgot his current situation in pursuit of a mental concept, before shaking his head clear of whatever he was thinking and returning to reality, "Well, I guess that wraps up the debriefing; I'd like to once again offer you my gratitude for your services to Corneria and the entire Lylat System…for the second time."

He paused briefly to let his thanks sink in before continuing, "Which, in turn, brings me to the other reason I called you all the way up here. While you were gone, several things have happened around the system; most of them bad."

"Bad?" Slippy repeated as a question, "What do you mean?"

Pepper took a deep breath and continued, his expression and manner becoming more direct and dramatic as he addressed the team. "I…suppose there is no real, official way to say this, so I'll just be blunt. …Corneria and Katina are currently only a few steps away…," he said, looking down for a moment, almost as if in disappointment, before returning his eyes back to the team and speaking in a softer tone.

"…From war."

A/N: Alright, first off, my sincerest apologies to all those who were waiting for this chapter; lord knows it took an ungodly amount of time to fix. I say 'fix' instead of 'write' because, as I mentioned last time, I already have several chapters already typed out. The problem is that, contrary to what I thought would happen, re-editing the chapters is a lot tougher than just writing, and it therefore takes longer to complete. To give y'all an example, the first draft of this chapter, which I wrote late last year, was roughly 17 Microsoft Word pages long.

This completed draft is 28.

So, unfortunately to those who I very egotistically assume care (all five of you), the next two or three entries are probably gonna take similar lengths of time to complete. However, there is some good news…

…I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Gei(shot)

…Sorry. But seriously, the good news is that, at least for me, school's out, and I'll have a bit more time to type.

Review Replies:

(For each review's actual review, go to the review page: most are way too long to actually copy here)

Fox the Cave II

Ya know that light-headed feeling you get when it feels like you're hallucinating or something? Yeah, well that's what I got as I read that review. I know that it had to be a temporary lapse in reviewing ability, but even if they were padded a bit; coming from you those compliments mean so much man. Thanks a lot for the review FtC; that made my whole friggin' month right there.

But really dude; a baby tiger? It couldn't have been something more ferocious like…an adult tiger? Or a lion? A liger perhaps…ah well; at least my guts are going to a good cause. Thanks again dude.

Antigravity 5-1-0

Hey man, your honesty is exactly what I'm askin' for here, and the fact that you feel truly about what you write in your review just adds a bit more onto the already massive heap of respect I have for you. And don't worry about the 'Post-SFA stories' and having seen them all; I'm pretty sure that within a few chapters, I'll have veered off of any well-beaten path as far as plot-lines go.

I also think I've fixed the overly dialogue-lead-ness in this chapter, but as the writer I can't be 100 positive on that. And in addition, that 'filler' problem won't happen again either. Honestly, I think I was just a little nervous about the chapter and what you (all readers) would think about it, so I resorted back to what I used to use for middle school oral presentations: the sympathy plea. Ya know, when you do that little nervous laugh before you start and say something to the teacher like, 'uh yeah, I forgot to check over my notes last night, so…er…sorry in advance for-', and just go on like that. Seriously, thanks for calling me out on that AG; won't happen again man.

And if you don't mind a bit of publicity for your fic, I gotta recommend Diaries of a Mercenary's Son (DoaMS) as an excellent read. I can honestly say that it is easily one of the best on the site right now, and no; I'm not getting paid to say that. Hey, if nothing else, it'll give you something to do while eagerly awaiting the next chapter of The War Within, right? ...Right?

(Cricket chirps)

…Ahem…moving on (thanks again AntiGrav).

Jedor

Wohoo! New reviewer! I'm glad that you like it so far Jedor, but don't worry about not being a writer and reviewing; there's a reason I allow anonymous responses. You don't have to know a single thing about being a good author to be a good critic; it's just like…uh…food; you don't have to be a cook to know what you like and don't like about a dish. Thanks for the review J; and don't be a stranger 'round here.

Redbay

Whoo doggy, Redbay; I think you outdid yourself this time. That is one HUGE review right there. Heh, guess I asked for it though didn't I? Although I think, unless I'm completely wrong and sorry if I am, that you're making just one, major point here.

I'll admit that at first, I wasn't quite sure what you meant by saying that I should 'tell instead of show'. However, I think I finally got the gist of it, and if what I think you mean is what you really mean, then this chapter should have some improvements in that field. I do like the re-write you made a lot, but there is a reason I included that specific line in there. However, I'm afraid I have to leave the reason vague like that.

You have a real point there with the 'not giving it away too soon' part as well; I guess writing is a lot like acting in a way. It's all about the timing in some cases (I'm on a roll with these analogies today). And trust me Redbay; I know and fully appreciate the reviewing power examples can lend; especially from one as well-versed in writing as yourself.

Lastly, the part with Fox and blushing and the like. The thing is, I've always viewed the characters in the Star Fox universe as having human qualities first, animalistic qualities second. For example; Fox's overall body structure seems more like a person than any actual fox I've seen. So, you can see where human emotional expressions would transfer over as well (at least in my mind). However, in this chapter I've made an effort to include more mammalian responses as well as the standard human ones (ear and tail movements, for instance), and I think that once again, you have a point there; the addition of other types of responses has upped the quality a bit (I hope). Thanks for the advice Rb.

SF Ghost

Damn man; you sure know how to make a kid feel good inside. Thanks for all the kind words SF; it really means a lot to me. And, it's funny you should mention Fox MC's story and my fic's similarities to it; his was the fic that got me started on this whole 'splendid endeavor' (not to mention giving me the idea for these replies). When I was just a reader, browsing through the FF site, his story caught my eye immediately and set the bar for all others to match; let's just say that to me, very few did. Eventually, the lack of comparably good fics got to me, and the idea that would eventually lead to this story first appeared in my head. While it's obvious that I'm nowhere near the incredible talent that went into 'Echoes of the Future', to be compared to that makes me feel all fuzzy inside. My gratitude SF Ghost.

Review Disclaimer: If my response to your review (both here and in the future) is a little on the short side compared to others, it's only because the points you bring up have already been brought up in earlier reviews (and thus, have already been answered). No offense intended or anything.

So there we go, number three in the books. …er, the achieves…whatever this site has as a storage system. The point is it's in there. And hopefully, it was worth the wait. If not, sorry for wasting your time reading it (although if you got this far, something must be going right…or not).

And one final note on reviews and their potential writers; please, don't be intimidated by those four juggernauts of reviewing power (you know who you are). I appreciate quick, one-liners just as much as I do the longer, thought-out ones. I guess all I'm trying to say here is that you (the reader) shouldn't feel any pressure to write long reviews if you don't want to. And, for that matter, you shouldn't feel any pressure to review period if you don't want to. ...Hopefully, that makes some sense.

Until next time; peace y'all.

-Irish Redd

Next Chapter: Crisis