Present Time - Sargasso Space Zone
The Arwing was clinging to a rock in the sparse asteroid field that was the Sargasso Region, the faint light of the red dwarf Solar glowing through one side window, and with a view of the infamous Sargasso Hideout in the other. Although Wolf O'Donnell was free to come and go on Corneria since his efforts during the Anglar wars, Fox had no illusions that the Wolf had left his shady past behind him, so this would be a likely place to find him.
But while Fox had prepared for a long stakeout, he'd arrived just in time for a rather entertaining space battle with several Wolfen and other ships crisscrossing the sky like angry wasps. To his surprise there were more than the three Wolfens of the Star Wolf team out there, and they were firing on each other. Had the Ruffians stolen some ships and turned on their Lord O'Donnell? Fox kept scanning the comms channels, trying to pick up what was going on. Then he recognised the familiar voices of the Star Wolf team.
"Grrr, these mutineers will regret scratching my Black Rose!"
"Just focus and finish them off before the news spread, Panther."
"But save some for me!" said a hissing voice.
"Stay still little enemy so I can give you a kiss with my zapper."
Fox shook his head at Caroso arrogance, at least that's what he thought it was. What could Krystal possibly have seen in him? A tall stature, captivating charm and eloquent romance probably, all attributes that Fox did not possess an abundance of. Was he jealous? Hell, yeah, but he had to put all that aside. For her!
"They're splitting up. Don't let them get away."
"I am on to them my Capitan!"
"Better if Leon takes those three. His ship is faster."
"No, I shall have my revenge."
"Whatever you crazy cat!"
A Wolfen and two other fighters shot past in front of Fox, a second Wolfen following closely after. He recognised the heavy guns and distinct markings of Caroso's own Black Rose. Fox took off in hot pursuit.
There was a price to pay for the heavy artillery of the Black Rose. It wasn't as fast and Fox was closing in. He saw the other Wolfen, the enemy of the enemy, pulling ahead and one of the other fighters pealing off.
"Now you're mine!" came Panther's voice, the rail gun under his ship lit up and a blast shot out. The trailing one of the three fleeing fighters went up in a fiery flash. But then the fighter that had pealed off came back from the flank with firing lasers. Instead of taking evasive manoeuvres, the panther turned towards it, but uncharacteristically, he was too slow. Sparks and body panels flew as the planes grazed each other, hard enough for one of the Black Rose's four wings to break off and send the ship tumbling out of control.
Fox was shocked at what had happened, because he knew what an ace pilot Caroso was. It hurt just to think about it, but he wondered if maybe Panther and Krystal had broken up too. Or maybe something worse had happened? If so, had that affected Panther's judgement, just as it had affected Fox's?
But this was no time for reflection, so he engaged and swiftly took out the other damaged fighter. He couldn't afford to lose the panther. Where was he? Why didn't he call for help? There was another flash and the whole cockpit of the Black Rose separated from the rest of the ship. But that turned out to be another mistake. It was too close to an asteroid, and the escape pod skimmed off its surface, just hard enough to break apart.
Sh-t I need you alive, Fox thought, hit reverse and worked the thrusters to get closer. There was another bogey out there somewhere, so he knew he had to be quick before it came back. Caroso was floating motionless in empty space, but luckily he had managed to get his space helmet on before the escape pod had failed.
"Grab on Caroso!" he called out on Star Wolf's channel as he gently nudged his right wing up under Panther, well aware that enemies, Wolf and others, could be hearing him too. But the big feline didn't move.
Damn, he's unconscious, thought Fox. This is not going to be easy. He quickly put his own space helmet on and popped the canopy open. Air rushed out with a loud whoosh and it pushed the panther away just a little bit. Fox carefully worked the thrusters again, trying to get closer, trying to reach the floating body, but it wasn't close enough. This is a really bad idea the thought, unclipped his harness and climbed out, desperately holding on to the edge of the cockpit with one hand, while reaching out with the other. One slip and they'd both be gone.
Got you!
He finally got a hold and pulled both himself and Panther into the cockpit, but he knew the danger wasn't over. That other bogey was still out there, and Wolf & Co. could be coming back for their man at any moment. As on cue a blip appeared on the radar. The Arwing wasn't designed to be a two seater, so even if the big man was currently just floating weightlessly over Fox, he was obscuring the both the view and the controls. Fox did as best as he could trying to fire the ship back up quickly.
"Wolf, is that you?" he called as a Wolfen fighter approached, but only got laser rounds as reply. Guess not, he thought and pushed the throttle, which sent Caroso's heavy body crashing into him.
Fox twisted and turned as best as he could around space rocks, but it wasn't easy with a big body getting in the way, and he couldn't shake his opponent. The radar lock alert lit up and he banked hard left, but a new smaller blip on the radar just followed his turn. Smart bomb. He hit a button to release flares and barrel rolled. A bright light flashed behind him as the bomb hit the flares. Panther groaned. Good, he's not dead yet, thought Fox.
Suddenly he burst out of the asteroid belt, and there was only open space around. He'd be a sitting duck out here. The Wolfen was right behind him and the warning sound for radar lock came back on again. But he could use the empty space to his advantage too. This old fox had a new trick!
In rapid order he released his last flares, pulled the stick up, cut the engines and fired the front landing thrusters. Another smart bomb rocketed past right under him, distracted by the flares, while the Arwing started pivoting arounds its own axle, like doing a loop-the-loop on the spot. Timing was everything, down to the fraction of a second. He had to wait until the ship had spun exactly 180 degrees. Instincts! He fired his lasers on repeat.
Two of the beams hit home, and he saw an engine detonating before the other fighter disappeared out of view, as the Arwing kept rotating. Bulls eye!
The Arwing came all the way around and he hit full throttle again, tracking back towards the Hideout. Then there were some muffled, gagging noises coming from Caroso's helmet. Dammit, thought Fox. The acrobatics must have caused motion sickness, and he couldn't have Caroso choking himself to death. The air pressure in the cockpit was back to nearly normal, so Fox ripped the other man's helmet off, and whatever foul things that had been in his stomach spilled all over Fox. Just fantastic! The only thing missing would be a big hair ball.
When he finally got back to the hideout, there were still no other ships to be seen. He hoped O'Donnell and Powalski were still in pursuit of whomever they were chasing, but he wasn't going to underestimate their work rate. He reversed his engines as late as possible, probably later, and without any attempt of finesse burst sideways in through the plasma gate and skidded on the hangar floor before grinding to a halt.
Next problem was getting out. With artificial gravity back at normal levels, the limp body of Panther was weighing down rather heavily on him. With much huffing and puffing, he managed to push the heavy feline out so he was hanging off the side of the cockpit, then he could jump out and pull the big man down.
"Caroso! Where is Krystal?" he called as he was standing on the hangar floor with vomit all over him, while struggling to hold the big man in his arms. Panther groaned.
"Come on Panther, wake up! Where is she?"
The Panther opened his yellow eyes, the pupils only thin slits, his head bobbing around.
"She is cursed!"
His eyes rolled backwards and he passed out again. At least he's still alive, thought Fox as his saw the big man's chest slowly rising and falling. Then he saw the red spot of light moving over it, up towards Fox's head.
"Aah, how sweet! The guys she dumped comforting each other."
O'Donnell was standing in front of his Wolfen holding a mean looking gun in both hands, laser sight trained on Fox's forehead.
"What the h-ll do you think you're doing? Have you completely lost the plot?"
"I've come here to trade," said Fox.
"Trade?"
"Panther for safe passage!"
Wolf sneered. "He's expendable. I can get other pilots. Now put him down so I can get a clear shot."
A strange feeling came over Fox. He knew Wolf well enough to b
"No!"
"All right, I'll shoot you both then."
"No, you won't!" And somehow he knew that it was true. Although bitter enemies, there had always been some form of honour and respect between them, but it wasn't that either. There was an odd tingling sensation in his conscience, not unlike what he had felt when Krystal was in his mind, and it was telling him that the Wolf wouldn't shoot. He kind of sensed it. Was this the way Krystal felt it? She had always said that there was something different about him. Had her skills rubbed off on him?
"Do you know where Krystal is?" he ventured.
"Even if I did, why would I tell you?" Wolf replied, but this time Fox couldn't tell whether it was truth or lie.
"Panther needs medical attention. Urgently!" said Fox and as gently as he could laid the big man down on the floor. "Good bye for now, Wolf!"
And he turned around and slowly walked back to his Arwing, Wolf's gun following his movements, red spot of laser steady on the back of Fox's head, finger trembling on the trigger. Fox jumped into the cockpit, closed the canopy and then the spell was broken. Shots slammed into the side of the vessel. Right where the armour is strongest, thought Fox. The pitch of the engine noise increased and the Arwing screamed out through the plasma gate and vanished into dark space.
She is cursed.
After a mission like that, that's all he got?
He had set the Great Fox on a course away from, well, just away! Into space! He stared through the window into the darkness, looking for ... something? What did he think he was going to find? Answers? A constellation shaped like 'X marks the spot'?
He had absolutely no idea what to do next. He had looked all over Sauria several times, but Tricky had finally admitted that she'd gone further away, and he believed it. She wasn't with Star Wolf. It seemed no one had seen her since the end of the Anglar Blitz. Where had she gone? What would he do if he was in her shoes? Or sandals?
He realised that he probably never had thought about what it was like to be her. She had said that she remembered nothing before coming to Sauria that time several years ago, through what must have been some sort of wormhole. While she had been received well there and made friends amongst the tribes, she had also been thrown into a conflict tearing the planet apart and then captured by the single most evil villain Lylat had known. And she had met him, Fox, left her newly found friends to join his team. She had fitted in so well. She had become family. And she had fallen in love with one pilot who was the most brave and at the same time the most stupid person in the whole system. A person, him, who didn't have the courage to declare his love for her to the world, and even struggled so much with the three simple words 'I love you'.
And then she had been hurt. He needed to protect her and that meant getting her off the team, and it had been the right thing to do, had it not? It took the dangers away ... and everything else she knew and everyone she cared for. Back all alone again. Why had he not let her stay? Or left with her and settled down? The one person she trusted the most was the one that had let her down. Him! Fox!
Had he been trying to protect her, or his own thoughts again? He, the young man always walking in his father's footstep, trying to live up to peoples expectations, none more insurmountable than the ones he put on himself. Yet, that was no excuse for doing what he had done to her.
But now, he finally realised what to do. He knew exactly how to set things right! He just couldn't. Because he had no idea how to find her.
A vision that had appeared in his dreams so many times flashed through his mind again. It would be so easy to barrel roll that Arwing straight into an asteroid and end it all. He closed his eyes and buries his head in his hands.
Fox!
Who was that? It was only him and ROB on the ship. No, the voice was in his head.
Krystal?
Although he already knew it wasn't her.
I've been worried about you, son!
Dad!?
He hadn't heard James' voice in a long time.
Are you alive? Or is it just my imagination? I need to know!
Does it matter?
So, you're just in my head, then.
Fox started tearing at his hair.
I live through you, son, and so does your mother! Our genes are in your blood, our memories in your soul.
He remembered them, all right. He found himself wondering what they would have thought of Krystal.
You seem lost, son?
Yeah, I blew it all. I lost everything when I pushed her away.
I wish I hadn't left you either. I miss you son!
That was different! You were killed. Weren't you?
I put myself in harms way. We all make mistakes. It's what we learn from them that sets us apart.
Why does life have to be so full of pain and death?
Life is love and loss. It's good and evil. The absence of all that is no blissfully ignorant medium. It's nothingness. I wish I'd had more time with you, but I cherish every moment we had.
So it's the old question of glass half full or half empty, is it?
The answer is up to you!
I just wish I could go back in time and make things right.
There is no back, only forwards. It's all about who you are and what you choose to do about it. When your mind is cloudy, trust your instincts.
Instincts? Damned instincts! How could instincts help when there was nothing to choose between and nowhere to go? And he finally broke down completely, a river of tears flowing down his face, cascading down, soaking his clothes and the seat he sat on.
"Vital signs are normal. Diagnosis inconclusive! Do you need a towel?"
Fox startled. He had no idea how long he had been sitting there. There were large wet patches on his vest and the seat.
"Thanks for ruining the moment, ROB!" Still he was kind of thankful that ROB had managed to throw him off even his darkest train of thought. He felt such relief at having someone, anyone, to talk to. If it wasn't for ROB, he might just have taken an Arwing and done something stupid.
Everyone needs someone to talk to, he thought. Krystal and he had not done it enough. They had chatted a lot, yes, but not about the serious stuff. He had not wanted to let her into his mind, out of fear that she might not like what she found, and they had never talked things through and sorted them out. With she the telepath, with whom the possibilities of understanding were unlimited, the communication had broken down instead, and their relationship with it.
"I am still awaiting new coordinates," continued the android.
"I haven't got the faintest clue. Might as well continue straight ahead and see if we bump into something. All I've found out is that she is cursed. What does that mean, ROB?"
"Searching archives for 'cursed'."
"That's not what I meant." But suddenly the smallest spark of hope ignited in Fox's soul.
"Approximately ninety-three million hits found."
That made Fox feel completely deflated again. Was this just another bad joke life made at his expense? Still his brain slowly clicked into gear, refusing to give up. Maybe Panther hadn't meant 'cursed' but 'Cursed' as in a name?
"ROB, can you limit the search to results containing names of people and organisations, starting in Great Fox's databanks?"
ROB said nothing for a minute, making a buzzing noise while the bolts on the side of his head were spinning, before he continued, "Sixty-four thousand hits."
Still way too many, thought Fox and wracked his brain. "Limit to the last two years, and only include hits with references to Star Fox, Star Wolf or the Cornerian forces."
"That will take time to process, especially if I need to go online," droned ROB.
"We have all the time in the world. It's not like I need to be somewhere else in a hurry."
He let ROB concentrate on the processing of the data, and went between computer stations and controls on the bridge to prepare the ship for the night cycle, something ROB would normally do. He turned off lights, checked the temperature setttings in the life support system, shut down non-essential systems and even turned down the artificial gravity to 50% to save energy. He would sleep heavily enough anyway, with all that had happened.
ROB made a bleeping noise and Fox saw selected search results appearing on a monitor. He sat down in front if it and started scrolling through the text, reading carefully, yet still not knowing exactly what to look for.
He had no idea how long he had been sitting there when it happened - minutes or even hours - his head ached, his eyes were getting dry and the eyelids heavy from fatigue. But a picture made him stop scrolling. It was only a low resolution image, taken from a security camera at night by the looks of it, yet somehow it caught his interest. It showed a somewhat blurry figure, as if it was on the move. It was dressed in dark coloured and skintight pants with blaster holsters, and a rather small top showing off the curves of a woman. Any tail was hidden from view, but the pointy ears hinted at some sort of canid. The woman's hair went down past her shoulders, so a bit longer than Krystals, but that could have grown out. A part of a ship could be seen in the background, the outer half of a wing pointing downwards at an unusual angled, just like the Cloud Runner.
"Today the Richmount Chronicle is publishing an article, which will reveal the far reaching corruption and criminal ties in the state government," he read out aloud from the text accompanying the picture. "The information has been gathered from previously unknown backups of research by our own journalist Paul Fargunkel, who mysteriously disappeared together with his computer two months ago. This could possibly be the work of the infamous and illusive bounty hunter known in the underworld as Kursed."
Kursed? Starting with K just like Krystal, but maybe he was reading too much into that? He saw that the article had been gathered and translated by Cornerian intelligence from a news outlet on a planet named Kew, wherever that was. ROB had put a link next to the article, and when Fox tapped the screen another article from the source appeared.
"We can report that the Kew government has made the first steps to establish relations with a system known as Lylat, after the arrival of Ambassador Caruso..."
Fox's brow furrowed. Could 'Caruso' be a misspelling of the name' Caroso'?
He clicked back to the picture. Mesmerised he traced his fingers around the curves of the woman. Could it really be Krystal? There was only one way to find out.
"I think you've just found our next destination, ROB."
Author's Note: I've just broken two of my rules which are; 1) not leave too many author's note, and 2) not edit publish chapters. But after Nail Strafer pointed out the ludicrous, I just had to do it. I merely replaced the one lucky search hit with a few more (guess where I plucked the number from), and added some more dialogue and a lot of details. Whoops, my writing style seems to have changed a bit since I drafted this chapter four or five months ago.
