Corneria
On a rural property, the night seemed quiet and peaceful. Within the home, however, it was anything but peaceful for the cobalt vixen known as Krystal Burrell.
She dreamed that she was walking the halls of a Venomian starship and soon came upon an armadillo with his back to her.
A man she had once thought dead, but ever since the final battle against the Aparoid Queen, she was no longer certain.
"I suppose I should say thank you, Krystal. I'm not sure how much longer I could have held out against the hive mind." he spoke in a voice that the vixen knew all too well.
The armadillo looked over his shoulder and regarded her with his left eye. Though he looked older than when she'd last seen him, Krystal still recognized him as Marshal Kalman Koates, one of the men responsible for the destruction of her homeworld Cerinia.
"My my, you've grown into quite the woman."
Krystal balled her hands into fists and bared her teeth.
"Don't get any ideas, Marshal. I'm taken. Even if I wasn't, I wouldn't be caught dead with a murdering bastard like you!"
Koates turned around fully. Krystal was somewhat shocked by the fact that his right eye was entirely orange aside from the pupil. Not to mention the numerous blue-coloured scars on the right side of his face.
Both telltale signs of an Aparoid attack.
Krystal's shock soon turned into rage.
"You're gonna pay for what you did to my planet and my parents!"
Despite not having a weapon, the vixen launched herself towards the Marshal, intending to beat him to death for all the pain he and the rest of the Venomian Empire had caused her.
To her shock, the armadillo vanished from sight the second her fist would have connected with his face. She could still hear his laughter.
"Hmh heh heh ha. Come now, Krystal. We all know you can't kill a ghost."
The scene faded and was replaced with the central square of Corneria City. Debris was littered everywhere and black, acrid pillars of smoke wafted into the air from destroyed buildings.
To Krystal's shock and horror, her hands were now cuffed behind her back and she was being muscled forward by a hyena in the uniform of the Imperial Army. A hyena who was also a familiar sight from Cerinia.
Krystal glared daggers at Valen Capaldi and hissed "Traitor."
The wild dog shook his head.
"Unfortunately for you, Miss Burrell, history will not see it that way."
They soon came upon Marshal Koates speaking with a squad of Venomian soldiers. The armadillo turned to face them.
"I will deal with you soon enough, my dear. But first, there's something I would like you to see."
It was then that Krystal's telepathy detected a familiar presence.
"Oh no."
The troops parted, revealing an orange and white-furred vulpine chained to a pole.
Fox McCloud, the man with whom Krystal had saved Sauria from General Scales and then all of Lylat from the Aparoids.
The man she had grown to love.
The leader of the Star Fox team lifted up his head, showing that his face was covered in bruises and cuts and that his left eye was swollen shut. His green flight suit was in tatters.
Krystal's heart fell when he met her gaze.
"I'm sorry, baby." he said weakly.
"Fox…" Krystal replied, her voice breaking.
Marshal Koates stepped in front of the squad and cleared his throat.
"Fox McCloud. For the murder of Emperor Andross and numerous other crimes against the Venomian Empire, I sentence you to death. Any last words, boy?"
Fox simply cast a hateful glare at the armadillo. Koates threw one right back and walked out of the line of fire.
"Ready!"
There was a series of clicks as safeties were switched off.
"Aim!"
Rifles jumped to shoulders.
"Fire!"
The Venomians opened fire. Even though she knew this was just a dream, Krystal still fell to her knees and began sobbing. The cacophony of gunfire was soon over and Fox's lifeless corpse remained chained to the pole, a pool of blood beginning to gather at his feet.
"No. No." the cobalt vixen said between sobs.
"Don't be sad, girl." Valen remarked. "You'll soon be joining him."
Krystal snapped her head up.
"Fuck You, Valen! You don't deserve to call yourself a Cerinian!"
A new sound was now in the air, the whirring of gyrocopter blades. The vehicle soon landed in the square and Valen hauled the vixen to her feet.
"Time to catch your flight, Krystal." Koates said with a sadistic grin. "Your last flight."
Valen practically dragged Krystal into the gyrocopter. Try as she might, she could not escape his grip. Marshal Koates followed them in and the aircraft took off, flying out over the ocean around the city.
The armadillo locked eyes with the cobalt vixen.
"I suggest that you and your friends make your peace with God. The day is coming when Armageddon will be unleashed."
He glanced back out at the ruins of Corneria City.
"As you see, this is how the story ends."
Krystal snorted indignantly.
"No, Marshal. It will not end like this. Because even if it costs me everything, I'm going to find you, and I'm going to fucking kill you. I promise, you will feel the wrath of every dead Cerinian."
Koates frowned and nodded at Valen.
"Throw her out, Capaldi."
"With pleasure, sir."
The hyena turned her around, forcing her to look out over the sea. Floating in the water were the bodies of her teammates, their friends and allies, even the Star Wolf team and General Pepper.
"Goodbye, Krystal. And good riddance."
With that, Valen shoved her out of the gyrocopter. Despite this being a nightmare, Krystal could feel the air rushing past her as she fell.
She woke up the second she hit the water.
Krystal shot up, breathing heavily. A few tears streamed from her turquoise eyes. Her fear and sadness were soon replaced by rage at what she had dreamed. How could a man with so much blood on his hands still be alive and free?
"Mother, Father, I will not let that happen. I promise that I will make him pay for what he did to our family and our people."
Soon, the vixen sensed Fox waking up and saw him sit up beside her out of the corner of her eye. He wrapped his arms around her, and the vixen rested her head on his shoulder and returned the embrace.
"Another nightmare?" he asked, though it came out as more of a statement.
"Yes."
The couple remained in their embrace for a while longer before Krystal broke it and fixed her gaze on Fox's green eyes.
"Oh God, Fox. It was horrible." she said as she brushed away a strand of blue hair.
He nodded in sympathy.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Krystal considered that.
"It would be better if I showed you."
The blue-furred vixen took the vulpine's hands in hers and used her powers to project her nightmare into Fox's mind. His features darkened as the terrifying images played out.
When it was over, Fox glanced down and then back up at Krystal.
"You think he's still alive?"
She let out a sigh.
"I know it sounds crazy, and I really hope that I'm wrong about this. But I fear that I'm right. Remember, I had visions of Cerinia being destroyed through the whole two years of Venomian occupation."
"I know." he said, thinking back to fighting the Gorgan, the Venomian experimental weapon that had been used to destroy Cerinia.
It gave Krystal a small amount of comfort to know that Star Fox had destroyed that awful machine. Unfortunately, the man who had designed it, Macbethian scientist Dr. Edward Gaines, was still on the loose, as were the other commanders: Admiral Zoran Payne, General Nikos Nalchik, and Colonel Nathan Hightower.
Ever since meeting Fox and joining the team, Krystal had tirelessly researched the fates of the men who had played a part in the destruction of her homeworld.
Payne and his Eleventh Fleet had disappeared into the outer fringe during the final days of the war. Nalchik had left the Venomian Imperial Army before the Lylat War had started and had also reportedly disappeared into the outer fringe. Hightower had been promoted to General, committed several war crimes during the system-wide conflict, and surprise surprise, had disappeared
into the outer fringe.
Lastly, there was Marshal Koates. Krystal would be lying if she said she hadn't been glad to hear that he had been reported killed. But that was before she had heard his voice while flying through the catacombs of the Aparoid Homeworld.
"No! Nooooo! You won't have me! You won't have me!"
She would have chalked it up to a trick by the Aparoid Queen. But the problem was, all the imitations of other people's voices had been calls for surrender.
Fox setting a hand onto her shoulder brought the vixen out of her thoughts.
"Babe. If it does turn out that he's alive, we'll face it like we've faced every other threat. Together, as a team."
Krystal smiled at that.
"Thank you, Fox."
She leaned in and shared a kiss with her boyfriend. The vixen knew she could count on him and her teammates to have her back, no matter the threat.
"C'mon, let's get back to sleep."
No sooner did Fox say that, then the communicator on his nightstand started beeping.
"No rest for the weary." he groaned as he picked the device up and answered.
"McCloud here."
"Greetings, Fox." came the familiar voice of General Pepper.
"I apologize for disturbing you at this hour, but we have a situation in the outer fringe. Assemble your team, and I will brief you aboard your mothership."
"Will do, General. McCloud out."
After Fox ended the call, Krystal remarked "The outer fringe? I wonder what the General is sending us out there for?"
"We'll find out soon enough." Fox replied as he sent a message out to the rest of the team telling them to report to Corneria City Spaceport.
After that, the couple took a quick shower and changed into their uniforms. A green flight suit, red boots and shoulder pads, and a white vest and gloves for Fox, and a blue and black jumpsuit and knee-high boots for Krystal.
As they drove away from Fox's rural home and headed into Corneria City, they took note of the numerous cranes and buildings still under construction. Although the capital had recovered from the Aparoid attack surprisingly quickly, both foxes knew it would be a long time before Lylat returned to pre-invasion prosperity.
"That won't matter without a strong military." Fox mused.
"You're preaching to the choir." Krystal mentally replied.
As much as the couple understood that the money for reconstruction had to come from somewhere, slashing the CDF's budget was, as Fox had said many times in the last year and a half, very much a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. With her recent vision, Krystal was even more worried. The Venomian Remnant might very well prove to be more dangerous then when Andrew Oikonny had been in charge.
The hovercar soon arrived at the spaceport. After going through security, Fox and Krystal were soon gazing upon the team's mothership, the Great Fox II.
With Peppy Hare having crashed the original Great Fox into the Aparoid Homeworld in order to allow the team to enter the catacombs, and nearly getting himself killed in the process, Star Fox was left without a mothership.
Thankfully, the CDF had gifted the team a decommissioned carrier as a reward for their service. While it wasn't the same as the old ship, it suited their needs just fine.
It wasn't long before two more arrivals joined them. They were a pair of amphibians. The male was a green skinned toad dressed in a blue flight suit and a white jacket. A red baseball cap rested between his eyes.
Slippy Toad, Star Fox's mechanic and inventor. While he wasn't the most skilled pilot, his technical expertise had helped the team out of more than one jam.
The female was a pink skinned frog dressed in a lime-green flight suit. A yellow bow rested atop her head.
Amanda Durante, a former pilot in the CDF's Medical Corps. A victim of the budget cuts, as were all of the team's new recruits. She and Slippy had met several months after the invasion and had soon begun dating.
Fox walked up to his old friend and low fived him.
"Good to see you again, Slip."
"Same to you, Fox."
Amanda meanwhile, greeted Krystal.
"So, how's life treating you?"
"All right, I guess." replied the vixen.
The next arrival was Miyu Lynx, another new recruit who had been discharged from the Cornerian Air Force. As her name suggested, she was an orange and white-furred lynx with black spots speckled across her fur and black stripes across her face.
Clothing wise, she was wearing a purple flight suit and a grey jacket. She walked up to Fox and shook his hand.
"I know I've said this before, Fox. But I can't thank you enough."
"It was the least I could do for an old friend."
The next person to enter the hanger was also an old friend of Fox's. She was a white-furred Cocker Spaniel dressed in a light-blue flight suit and a white jacket and had a pink bow on her head.
"Hey ya doin', Fay?"
Fay Spaniel shrugged her shoulders.
"Better, knowing I've got a job."
Fox gave her a nod.
"I'm sure this goes without saying, but this isn't near as steady a paycheque as the military."
The canine shrugged again.
"It's better than nothing."
As Fay walked past him, Fox took note of the silhouette of the next person entering the hanger. Stepping into the light revealed that this person was a female Fennec fox with brown fur and dressed in a pink and green flight suit and a white jacket.
The two foxes briefly stared at each other before the Fennec smiled.
"It's been too long, Fox."
"Indeed it has, Fara."
The two former lovers embraced. After they parted, Krystal walked up to them.
"Krystal, right?"
The cobalt vixen smiled and held out a hand.
"It's an honour to finally meet you, Fara."
As the girls shook hands, Fox remarked "I think you two are going to get along famously."
The last two arrivals were a blue and red feathered pheasant and a grey-furred hare. They were, respectively, Falco Lombardi and Peppy Hare.
The former, dressed in a red and grey jumpsuit, was the team's ace pilot. Though he had a cocky demeanor and a knack for going solo when things got slow, Fox couldn't think of anyone he would rather have as a second in command, aside from Krystal.
The latter was wearing a red flight suit and a grey jacket. Peppy had been part of the original incarnation of Star Fox alongside Fox's father James and Pigma Dengar. After Pigma had betrayed the team on Venom, Peppy had barely escaped. With James having been killed by Andross, the leporine had taken Fox in and raised him as his own. Although he had stepped back from active flying, Peppy still remained part of the team, acting in a support role.
"Alright, what's so important that you had to drag us all here in the middle of the night?" the avian complained.
"All the General said was that something was going on in the outer fringe." Fox replied.
"The outer fringe." Peppy mused. "I haven't been out that way since I flew with your dad."
Fox exchanged a grin with his old friend and then pressed a button on his wristcom, causing the Great Fox II's entrance ramp to lower.
"Let's not keep the General waiting." the vulpine said to his team.
As the members of Star Fox boarded their mothership, Krystal got a strange feeling. It passed as quickly as it came, but it still made the vixen stop in her tracks and put a hand to her temple.
"Everything alright?"
Krystal looked up at Peppy.
"I thought I sensed something, but I don't now."
"Pre-mission nerves?" he said jokingly.
The vixen smiled.
"Not on your life." she said.
As it turned out, Krystal's fear was well founded, for quite some distance away, perched on the roof of a skyscraper, was a grey-furred vulpine dressed in a black leather jacket and dress pants watching over the spaceport with a very expensive looking pair of binoculars.
The man lowered the binoculars, revealing that he had violet eyes, and tapped a button on his wristcom. After a few seconds, a connection was established and he was looking upon the image of a vulpine who very much resembled him, right down to the fur and eye colour. The only difference was that the other vulpine looked a few years older and was clad in a white business suit.
"What have you got for me, Simon?"
"Well Robert, Star Fox is preparing to depart. There's quite a few girls on the team now, I might add."
The older fox rolled his eyes.
"How the mighty have fucking fallen, Simon."
"I don't know, Robert. I kind of like it. More pressure points, if you catch my drift."
Robert shook his head.
"I guess they're good for that."
Simon nodded.
"In any case, you should probably call Burns."
"Indeed. See ya later, bro."
"Same to you, bro."
Elsewhere
Within his office, the vulpine known as Robert Zimmerman typed a code into his communicator and waited for a connection to be established. He was soon greeted with the image of an orangutan in the tobacco-brown uniform of Venomian Imperial Intelligence. The ape regarded Robert with a dour expression.
"Why the long face, Randall?"
The ape pointed and jabbed his index finger at the vulpine.
"You better have something very good for me, Zimmerman. Cause the Marshal's pissed at you."
Robert raised an eyebrow.
"Why, what did I do?"
Burns shook his head.
"More like what you and your brother didn't do three years ago."
Robert leaned forward.
"What're you talking about? We took care of that bitch."
"That a fact?"
Burns pressed a button and brought up an image of a female dingo. Robert's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.
"That's impossible. The cunt was confirmed dead."
"It's bad enough that your men didn't follow our directions. Now we see that they didn't finish the job. I don't think I need to tell you what would have happened to you two if Emperor Andross was still around."
Burns gave a small grin before continuing.
"As it stands, we were all fooled. And that is the only reason that you and your brother aren't wearing Kewian neckties right now."
Robert's hand involuntarily came up to his throat. Burns meanwhile, took a sip from a cup of coffee.
"Anyways, what have you got for me?"
Robert took a breath.
"Star Fox is preparing to depart Corneria. I don't really see how they can threaten anyone, seeing as there's a bunch of women on the team. I swear to God, Colonel…"
"Zimmerman, if I wanted your opinion on the female species, I would ask for it."
The orangutan put a hand on his chin.
"Star Fox, eh? This could be a problem for us. Good work, Zimmerman. This doesn't quite atone for your fuck up, but it's a start."
With that, Colonel Burns ended the call. Leaning back in his chair, Robert poured himself a glass of bourbon and pondered the situation.
"Damn, this is getting out of hand. Maybe we shouldn't have made this bargain."
He took a sip and pushed that thought out of his mind. As long as they did what was asked of them, him, Simon, and the entire Zimmerman crime family would have more power and wealth than anyone could possibly dream.
Great Fox II
The members of Star Fox were gathered around the ship's holotable.
"ROB, contact General Pepper." Fox ordered.
"Affirmative." droned the mothership's mechanical caretaker.
After a few seconds, the team was soon looking upon Corneria's ruler, a bloodhound in a red and gold uniform and cap.
"Greetings, Star Fox. It's been a while."
"Indeed it has, sir." Fox replied.
General Pepper looked around at the team.
"Anyways, down to brass tacks. We have a situation in the outer fringe, more specifically Kew."
Pepper's image was replaced with photos of a destroyed warehouse and factory.
"We have traced a pair of bombings in the city of Torzan to Star Wolf and an unidentified individual."
Fox felt a pang of regret, though he kept it from showing on his face.
"After everything he did, we're still chasing him."
"I agree."
The vulpine glanced at Krystal, who had a sympathetic look on her face, and then brought his attention back to the briefing. Pepper's image returned.
"I'll turn things over to Intelligence Director Arthur Richter."
"Art? Haven't seen him in three years?"
A new hologram appeared beside the General. He was a Labrador Retriever in a blue suit and black tie and an old friend of James.
"It's nice to see you guys again, though I wish it were under better circumstances."
"Same here, Art."
The canine nodded in agreement.
"In any case, your mission is to apprehend Star Wolf and their new ally. We need to find out who they're working for."
An image of a jackrabbit in a business suit was displayed.
"Both of the buildings were owned by this man, Aaron Vekman. I would suggest you start with him. A guy that rich is bound to have a few enemies."
The holograms of Richter and Pepper reappeared. Fox regarded them both.
"Transfer our retainer, we'll depart for Kew immediately."
Pepper nodded.
"Very well. Good luck, Star Fox. Pepper out."
The General's hologram disappeared, leaving only Richter.
"Good luck, team. And Godspeed."
"Thanks Art."
After Richter's hologram faded, Fox turned to ROB.
"Prep the ship for takeoff, ROB."
"Affirmative."
As everyone left the briefing room, Fara took note of Fox's glum expression.
"Well he doesn't seem too happy."
"Why would he be?" Falco responded.
Seeing the Fennec's puzzled look, the pheasant elaborated.
"As much as I hate to admit it, if it wasn't for Star Wolf, we wouldn't be here right now."
"He's right." Peppy put in. "Fox was nearly killed clearing the Aparoids out of the capital. But Wolf saved him."
Fara put her hand on her chin.
"I guess that would complicate things."
Time passed, and the Great Fox II took off and headed out of Corneria's atmosphere. Unbeknownst to anyone on board, within the hustle and bustle of the space traffic over Corneria, a Venomian recon drone watched the ship. It ran calculations on the carrier's flight path and then beamed it's data through a series of relays.
Kew
Castillo Manor
The beeping of his communicator roused Marshal Koates from his slumber.
"This had better be important." the armadillo thought as he felt around his nightstand for the device.
"Yes." he answered groggily.
"Pardon the disturbance, sir, but we have an urgent situation."
"Well by all means, Colonel Burns, explain."
"I got a tip from the Zimmermans that Star Fox was preparing to depart. According to a drone we have in Cornerian orbit, they're on route to Kew."
Koates sat up in bed, his mind already attempting to develop a strategy.
"So, Pepper sends his loyal terriers. How predictable."
He grinned sadistically.
"And ironic. He may well have just handed us a solution to our problem with Star Wolf."
"Indeed, sir. In any case, I've got Agent Cyan looking into this further. I'll let you know when I hear from them."
"Very good, Colonel. I also want you to dispatch all the agents Capaldi has trained. We're going to need to keep an eye on Star Fox."
"Be that the case, sir, what should I tell Varner?"
Koates considered that.
"Tell him the truth. Tell him that his wife still lives."
"Will do. Goodnight sir."
"Goodnight, Colonel."
Koates set the communicator back on the nightstand and settled back into bed. As he closed his eyes, one thought dominated his mind.
"You don't know it yet, Pepper. But you've just sent Star Fox to their deaths."
A/N: I want to extend a big thank you to Newcomer24/KrystalGiovanna1 for the use of his OCs Robert and Simon Zimmerman as well as for his help with this story.