Fox turned on her communicator and read the report from the previous day's mission on Sauria. From what Slippy's team on Corneria could deduce, the Andronians were attempting to find ways of harnessing the Krazoa for their tech. Slippy's team had found ways of succeeding where the Andronians and Sharpclaw had failed and were working with Fara's father's company to develop and refine the potential technology.
Fox turned her communicator off as she and Krystal walked into the simulator room. Behind the Arwing simulator was a weapons simulator, with various "weapons" attached to machines to simulate recoil. She handed Krystal a vest connected to the computer with wires and training rifle and put the virtual reality goggles onto Krystal. Krystal put on the vest and lifted up the rifle.
"This training exercise is simple." Fox explained as she turned on the simulator, "Your goal is to shoot the virtual targets before your avatar takes damage. The simulation ends when your avatar is 'wounded' or 'dead' or when you've shot all the targets."
Fox pushed a button, sending scores of virtual targets flying in front of Krystal. She focused on hunting down individual targets, taking them out one by one. Slowly, the remaining targets shrank, sped up, and moved further away. They also began firing, thankfully missing the blue vixen. After an hour, there seemed to be no end to the targets. One target managed to shoot Krystal, causing the vest to give her a painful shock. Krystal let out a shriek of pain as the simulation ended and Fox removed her goggles.
"You call that pain?" Krystal asked, feigning a feeling of insult.
"You lasted longer than Falco on his first try. Slippy tended to last the longest until we found out he reprogrammed the simulation to not adjust the aim for his shorter height. I retalliated by adjusting the aim to always hit him on the first shot. Falco wanted to retalliate by shoving him out an airlock."
A moment later, Fox got a message on her communicator.
"It looks like they already have ideas for new tech based on the data we collected on our last mission." Fox explained, "They want to create 'battle armor' for us."
"That was fast." Krystal commented.
"They were already working on the concept." Fox explained, "The data we collected merely sped up the process. Now, the next simulation will be a little different."
Fox handed Krystal the training machine gun before extending and securing its base to the ground. Krystal placed the goggles back over her eyes and Fox started the simulation.
Krystal found herself in a virtual forest riding on a simulated vehicle.
"This training exercise will be a little different." Fox explained, "You'll be moving too. The vehicle you're riding on will drive over uneven ground at uneven speeds, forcing you to constantly adapt your aim. The simulation ends when you take damage or your vehicle reaches its destination."
Targets began flying by. Krystal tried her best to hit them, but her aim was thrown off every time the vehicle sped up, slowed down, or hit a bump. She managed to shoot a few of the small, fast targets before one fired a shot that hit Krystal's avatar, ending the simulation. She let out another shriek as the vest hit her with another painful shock.
"That's enough simulator training for one day." Fox announced as she removed Krystal's goggles and vest.
"It's almost insulting." Krystal told Fox, "If this were back on Cerinia, the shock would have been much worse."
"We had to tone it down for Slippy." Fox explained, "Falco and I took the stronger shocks as a source of pride as well as a way to make ourselves tougher than our foes. Slippy..., well... let's just say we all wish we could forget that horrible first day of weapons training simulations."
"With him gone, you should increase the shock again." Krystal told Fox as they left the room, "It's time for your Cerinian training."
The pair walked to their room and changed into their robes. The pair sat on their bed, pulled on their hoods ,and closed their eyes.
"You should feel some power within you." Krystal told her, "You've experienced this power when you used your staff and experienced the Krazoa doing those Krazoa things."
Fox concentrated, focusing on finding that power.
"Find that power and try to move it." Krystal continued, "Move it to your hands. Try to form balls of power in your hands using that power."
Fox concentrated harder, finding vague hints of the power throughour her body. She focused on trying to concentrate that energy in her hands. After a little over an hour, Krystal sensed the power finally reaching Fox's hands.
"We're making progress." Krystal told Fox, "Now focus on moving that power to other parts of your body. If you move it to your head, your telepathy improves. Move it back to your hands and your staff's powers improve. This ability wasn't always mastered on Cerinia, but those who mastered it became the best of the best."
"I think I hear something." Fox told Krystal, "A voice... I've heard it before."
Krystal sensed the voice Fox heard. It sounded familiar.
"The Krazoa." Fox said, finally remembering where she heard that voice before. Fox tried to understand what the voice was saying, but it sounded incredibly garbled.
"It sounds like it's talking underwater." Fox told Krystal.
"Not many could hear the Krazoa." Krystal explained, "Your abilities are still weak."
Fox concentrated, trying to hear the voice more clearly. She spent hours, but little progress was made.
"Progress almost always was slow." Krystal assured Fox, "Progress was usually made near a Krazoa, typically in a temple on Cerinia. To make any progress so far from a Krazoa was incredibly rare, even among the few that made progress."
"So, going back to Cerinia should help?" Fox asked.
"It should." Krystal confirmed, "Though it would take a bigger commitment than we could afford to make at the moment."
"We still have training and the Andronians." Fox added.
"But after all that is dealt with... what then? We both have our own ideas. Do we stay together or go our separate ways?"
"I don't have any plans to leave you." Fox confirmed, much to Krystal's delight, "For one, the team could use all the help it can get. For another, you've been wanting something for weeks. It wouldn't be fair to you to make you wait for it and then be denied forever."
"It wouldn't be fair to you either." Krystal said with a sly smirk, "I can sense you've been desiring it since that magical night we had on Cerinia. You have a hundred ideas for our next magical night and I must confess I find a few of them interesting."
"Should we change and get something to eat?" Fox asked.
"Why change?" Krystal asked as she headed for the door, "You're still in priestess training. You should know the importance of staying in uniform. Besides, you don't look half bad dressed as a priestess."
"You don't look half bad either." Fox told her, "Let's grab something to eat."
"I'll meet you there." Krystal said. Fox shrugged and headed for the kitchen.
"Training..." Krystal thought to herself as she looked at her small collection of footwear. She grabbed her black boots and put them on. There was still some discomfort as she still wasn't fully used to wearing heels. Ignoring the discomfort, she zipped them up and left the room to join Fox.
"What's with the clothes?" she heard Falco ask.
"Priestess training." Fox explained, "It's part of the uniform."
"Are heels part of the uniform?" he asked as they heard the clicking of Krystal's heels on the ship's metal floor.
"Don't be jealous." Krystal told the bird, "We can get you a pair of your own and I can try to talk them into making you a priestess too."
"No thanks." Falco told her, "The heels alone gave Katt ideas. I'd hate to find out what she'd do if I were a priestess too."
"Don't be embarrassed." Krystal teased, "Becoming a priestess is a great honor. Any friend that will make fun of you for becoming a priestess is not a friend you should be hanging out with."
"Just what I needed." an annoyed Falco told her, "A moral straight from a Saturday morning cartoon. Seriously, what's with the heels?"
"Training." Krystal explained, "I still need practice with the Lylatian way of life. Besides, I know how much Fox loves them."
Fox blushed.
"I can see why." Falco told her, "They do give a woman's figure a certain... shape."
"Now if only Fox would return the favor. She looked so cute in heels."
"Can we please eat... lunch?" Fox asked, surprised by the time displayed on the clock, "We can discuss Krystal's taste in footwear later."
"We can do both." Krystal insisted, "Perhaps your mood could use a 'boost' too."
"Just put on the shoes." Falco told Fox, "If Katt has taught me anything, it's that some women don't like to be deprived of certain stupid things. Katt, for instance, can get annoying. Then she gets cutty. Then yelly. Then 'hunt you down with a search party consisting of her most dangerous friends'. The lesson here is that you don't want to anger certain people."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"How much more training do I need?" Krystal asked as she walked to the cabinet, walking as seductively as she could, "The wait is becoming unbareable for the both of us."
"A few more flight and ground training exercises." Fox answered, "We might also need to learn to use whatever Corneria manages to develop. It could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on circumstances."
Krystal frowned at the answer, wishing she hadn't asked.
"You can manage." Fox encouraged, "It's only been maybe a week since your training started. I've lost track of the number of days since we've started."
"We need to speed up the progress." Krystal insisted, "Especially with the Andronians clearly plotting something."
"You have been progressing remarkably fast." Fox told her, "I'm not sure if it's some weird Cerinian thing or if you're somehow able to apply your warrior training to your Arwing training, but you're progressing fairly quickly."
"It's probably a combination of things. Hopefully the Andronians will wait before they try something big."
"Is it because you want to participate in some big battle or is it because you want to take your relationship with Fox to the next level?" Falco asked.
"I have my reasons." Krystal answered.
"I'm sure you do." Falco told her, "No need to hide it. We all know the reason you're in a hurry to finish your training is Fox's 'professionalism'."
"There's nothing wrong with being professional." Fox told Falco, "Perhaps you should try it sometime before we ship you off to Katt for 'lessons'."
"No need to bring Katt into this." Falco told her, "You have your 'professionalism', but there's no need to be professional all the time. Especially when certain vixens have needs they clearly won't fulfill on their own."
"The vixens aren't the only females with needs that aren't getting fulfilled." Fox countered, "Perhaps a certain cat needs her 'needs' fulfilled too. A certain cat that has arsonists at her disposal."
"I know you won't get Katt dragged into this." Falco told her, "Not when that means getting Krystal and Fara involved too. You know how Katt gets around people, especially around 'friends' and 'friends of friends'. I also know you two desperately need 'relief' from your 'professionalism' soon."
Fox tried to come up with a counter argument, but was too annoyed to think straight. Feeling victorious, Falco left the kitchen to leave the two alone.
"Don't worry." Fox assured Krystal, "I'll find some way to speed up your training."
"And your footwear?"
"We'll see about my footwear."
Krystal wasn't thrilled about Fox's answer, but remained hopeful. Tomorrow was always another chance.