Fox stood still as James pulled out a portable medical scanner from his Arwing and scanned Fox. After a few moments, the machine found nothing wrong with Fox.
"That can't be right." James said as he puzzled over a few of the machine's findings, "There appears to be a small glitch giving a few weird readings."
"It'll have to wait until we have a better idea of what we're up against." Fox told him, "Right now, we don't know what they're doing. It could be a small side project or we might need to call in the Cornerian military."
Fox had to cut her small speech short as she felt the bandages begin to fail to contain her breasts. The bandages had been designed to be changed daily, not to hold back breasts for days at a time.
"Anything wrong?" Krystal asked.
"We should split up to scout around some more." Fox suggested, "Krystal and I will scout a second structure nearby, Fara will go with Falco to keep him out of trouble, and my dad can explore on his own. Nobody should venture too far, in case they need assistance from the others."
"Like she can keep me out of trouble." Falco scoffed.
"I'm still not convinced you're well enough." James warned Fox, "That glitch could be a sign of bigger problems with the machine."
"I'm fine." Fox insisted, "Plus, I'll have Krystal with me in the event I'm not actually fine."
Fox turned around and began walking toward the other structure.
"Wait."
Fox stopped.
"What is it, dad?"
"We need to do a thorough, more old-fashioned, check." James explained, "Now open up your jacket and flightsuit."
"Dad..."
"That's an order." James told Fox sternly, "Since I never fully retired, I'm still technically the leader of Star Fox as a whole. Now open up your jacket and flightsuit so I can hear your insides better."
Fox hesitated until she saw the growing anger in James's eyes. Reluctantly, she opened up her jacket and flightsuit.
"What's with the bandages?" Falco asked.
"How old are these bandages?" James asked as he examined the wrappings, "They definitely have to go. I have fresh bandages in my first aid kit."
Fox backed away, unwilling to let her secret be discovered by her dad or Falco.
"Grab him." James ordered Falco and Fara. The pair firmly held Fox while James began unwrapping the bandages.
"You know these bandages are too old." James told Fox, "I don't see why you're..."
James was shocked to find a pair of breasts. Everyone was at a loss for words.
"What happened?" James asked after a few moments of awkward silence.
"I don't know." Fox honestly answered, "On Cerinia, they just... grew. I've been hoping to find a way to get it reversed."
"You guys go on and scout ahead." James told the others, "Fox has some explaining to do and I have all day."
"What's there to explain?" Fox asked, "I crashed on Cerinia, I fought some Andronians, the breasts grew, my ship got fixed, and I came back to the Lylat System hoping to avoid this conversation with someone who doesn't take 'I don't know' as an answer."
"Alright. We complete the mission and then we discuss this later. I just need time to process everything."
"He took it better than I expected." Fox told Krystal as soon as James walked out of earshot. The pair walked to the other structure and heard a commotion.
Inside, they found a large dinosaur being assaulted by a group of smaller dinosaurs. A few feet away, an Andronian ape watched the attack and barked a few orders in the same language the shopkeeper used. The pair hid behind a corner to listen.
"What is he saying?" Fox asked as she readied her blaster.
"He's trying to get her to order her people to work in an excavation." Krystal explained as she aimed her staff, "He says his higher ups are upset that they've had to 'recruit' her people one by one."
One of the smaller dinosaurs stopped its assault, sniffed the air, and pointed in the direction of Fox and Krystal. The ape yelled something and the other small dinosaurs stopped their attack and charged toward the foxes.
"He just ordered them to kill us." Krystal warned as she stepped out of their hiding spot and began firing. Fox followed her lead and opened fire on the charging group as well. The ape tried to pull out his submachine gun only to be stopped by a blaster shot to the chest. As soon as the last of the attackers was dead, Krystal ran to the large dinosaur and began speaking in the language.
"She says we need to stop the excavation." Krystal told Fox, translating the dinosaur's words, "They're trying to unleash a great power and tear this planet apart... They wish to harvest an even greater power inside the planet that's far too deep for traditional mining... We need to hurry. They're harvesting it from a temple to the north."
Krystal said something else to the dinosaur and gave a quick bow before she and Fox returned to the clearing. Once there, they were greeted by the other three.
"We just got done talking to one of the tribal leaders." Krystal told the group, "The Andronians are enslaving the locals to dig up what was described as a 'great power' from a temple to the north. From what we were told, that's where the explosion and energy surge from earlier came from."
"So what's the plan?" Falco asked.
"We fight our way into the temple, sabotage the excavation equipment, and liberate the locals." Fox explained, "Judging from the scans from earlier, this appears to either be a small side project for Andross's forces or they're just keeping their forces here small to avoid a direct intervention from Corneria that would seriously slow down their progress. Expect a little resistance from the Andronians, though they appear to have recruited either another faction to their cause or mercenaries. First, we're going to need maps from the locals."
"Their currency is shiny beetles." Krystal added. For the next hour, the five hunted for beetles, placing them in a sack Falco had in his Arwing.
"This should be enough for some maps." Krystal said as she and Fox carried the sack to the shop. They came back with an armful of maps. Everyone pulled out their communicators and scanned each of the maps. The maps lined up perfectly with the data they got from General Pepper as well as the Great Fox's scans. The five then retrieved some supplies from their Arwings and headed out. Hours later, they made it to the temple area just as Solar was beginning to set. While the others set up camp, Fox scanned the area, noting the locations of the Andronian static defenses.
"There are three machine gun nests and a pair of anti-air craft guns." Fox told the group.
"We'll rest here for the night." James told Fox, "We'll plan our attack when we're rested."
After eating some rations, James, Falco, and Fara entered their tents to sleep. Fox, meanwhile, sat down and watched the last rays of Solar disappear over the darkening horizon.
"I know you haven't been in the mood since Cerinia..." Krystal told Fox, "But..."
"I have been in the mood." Fox explained, "I've been in the mood the whole time. But I need to exercise self control."
Krystal frowned. She knew she could convince Fox if she persisted, but she also didn't want to wake everyone.
"Then a kiss." Krystal proposed, "And not a quick peck either."
"In the tent." Fox told her, "Last thing we need is for Falco to walk out of his tent to relieve himself only to get a show afterward for his troubles."
"In the tent, after we've undressed." Krystal added.
"Fine." Fox relented. She needed to get some sleep and wasn't in the mood to haggle all night with Krystal. The pair entered the tent. Fox then zipped the tent shut before they undressed. Krystal struggled to maintain her self control when she got a good look at Fox's naked body. Krystal pulled Fox in for a long, passionate kiss. Fox's body heat made their chastity painful for the blue vixen. She needed relief, they needed relief, but she knew this was the worst time and place. When they were finished, Fox put her flight suit back on to serve as pajamas before crawling into their sleeping bag. Krystal chose to remain naked, hoping to push Fox closer to giving in their needs sooner. After crawling in next to Fox, Fox zipped up the sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep. Krystal wrapped her arms around Fox and took in her scent before she, too, slowly fell asleep.