Conference Room
Grand Fox
Enroute to Cornaria / Lylat System
1000 Hours
"Alright, is everyone here?" Fox asked the room, to which all the pilots and crewmembers confirmed. "Good, Slippy just got done hacking into the data we grabbed on Titania. What do you got for us, buddy?"
"A lot actually, a lot more then I was expecting," Slippy reported showing the files on screen. "I think we uncovered a large cache of Imperial research results and documents. From what I can tell, Andross did most of this research himself."
"What kind of "Research" are we talking about?" Wolf interrupted, losing a hand really put him in a bad mood.
"A better question is what kind of research are we not talking about." Slippy corrected, "Experimental teleportation and warp gate technology, Bio weapons, mass production of semi-sentient drones, mostly stuff we destroyed during the war." The toad listed off as the screen gave quick previews.
"Looks like we got our hands on the mad monkey's personal backup stash, a failsafe incase he had to destroy his primary records on Venom." Kyle suggested, "Bet we can use a good hunk of that research against him."
"We won't need to if we can shut down Operation Immortal Transcendence." Slippy announced, "This is the project we've been chasing. Andross's attempt to become a god."
"And he planned to do that how?" Panther questioned, his attention was starting to slip away.
"My people." Krystal shushed the ex-con, "When I was little, back on Cerinia, our elders warned us about some of the dangers that came with our telepathy. One of the biggest dangers was that in certain situations throughout our history when our planet became angry, there would be so much raw power that our Telepathy would turn our thoughts reality. Legends say that it was how some of our ancient heroes saved our planet, but in the wrong hands, disaster."
"In this case, Andross is said "wrong hands." He must have received word of that legend and believed that he could somehow force your planet to make him a god." Fox realized, "He enslaved the Population of Cerinia and then created a chain reaction to "anger" the planet like in the legend!"
"The chain reaction destroyed the planet, most of the ships transporting the Cerinians were caught in the blast, it was far bigger than anyone anticipated. Only a minor fraction of the original population survived." Slippy read off the report, causing everyone in the room to pause for a moment of silence. All those lives forever lost in the wake of a man's blind greed.
"I should have been there," Krystal whispered as she started to cry again. Immediately Fox put a hand on her shoulder and walked with her outside of the room, the door closing behind them.
Crew Cabins
Grand Fox
Enroute to Cornaria / Lylat System
1007 Hours
"I should have been there, I could have done something!" Krystal cried, "I had sworn to serve the high elders and protect my people, and I let it all happen! My home, my people gone, and I did nothing!"
"Krystal, that's not true and you know it. I know you Krystal, and I know you'd never abandon your people, just like how I know you'd never abandon the team." Fox comforted, he had similar feelings of helplessness when Peppy told him about his father's death.
"We, I mean Cerinia had met outsiders before Andross, a few pioneers, and merchants. They taught us Basic and introduced my people to technology like spaceflight and the G-diffuser. I was, fascinated with it, drawn to it somehow. I wanted to know more about it. I spoke to the Elders, pleading for their permission to leave our homeworld and learn what I could so that we as a people could know more." Krystal explained, "The Elders decided against it, they didn't want a Nuwetmuat to leave her people, leaving them defenseless, but I ignored them and went anyway. I was young, naive, inexperienced, I should have stayed."
"My mother caught me boarding the trade ship, our last words to each other were said in spite and ignorance. She was greatly ashamed that I would disobey the High Elders, that I would disobey her. I turned my back on her, telling myself that they would realize I made the right choice whenever I came home with new knowledge." The vixen continued to confess. "We were in the next solar system when I felt the cries for help aboard the trade vessel. So much screaming, so much pain, and I was powerless to stop it. Do you know what the cries of an entire dying planet sounds like Fox? Endless voices all screaming in horror and agony all at once?"
"No, and I doubt I'll ever have a clue Krystal, but you are not to blame." Fox replied, "The blame falls on Andross in his moraless quest for power and revenge."
"Fox. . . How many of my people died because I wasn't there?" Krystal finally sobbed, looking down and away, ashamed.
"Absolutely none," Fox stated, gently taking ahold of her chin. "Even if you had been present it wouldn't change the fact that Andross's Imperial war machine would still overrun Cerinia without breaking a sweat. You would have been captured too, possibly dieing when Andross destroyed the planet. Maybe I would still be able to kill him during the Battle of Venom, but what's to say he wouldn't have just destroyed Sauria like he tried before?"
"The only reason the planet Sauria is still intact is because you were there Krystal," Fox reminded, "I may have finished the task, with your staff while you were imprisoned, but you had already begun to collect the Krazoa and restore the balance, I just picked up the pieces and spanked a few Sharpclaw. If you had already been captured or killed, it would have been too late for the planet when I got involved. You didn't doom a planet Krystal, you saved one."
Besides, how else would I meet someone so beautiful?
Krystal relented with a sigh, a tiny smirk at the mental image of Fox spanking the mighty Sharpclaw as if they were unruly children. And of course, his silent comment definitely stirred something up within her chest, something wonderful.
"Fox, thank you, I needed to hear that." The vixen whispered, her legs started to collapse from weakness, causing her to fall into Fox's arms.
"I, I'm sorry, this whole ordeal has been exhausting," Krystal apologized with a small blush, being this close to the Captian, "I think I may need to lie down, recover my strength."
"I know, take as much time as you need to collect yourself, Krystal." Fox acknowledged, helping Krystal get back to her feet, only to find that all traces of strength had fled from her legs. With a sigh, Fox gently scooped up his wingman in his arms, carrying her the rest of the way to her quarters, eventually laying the nearly asleep vixen on her bed before leaving and turning the lights off.
The Ace leaned against the wall just outside of her room, taking a moment to collect his thoughts before heading back to the conference room.
"Falco if you make one comment on this, I will pluck your feathers one by one and throw them out the airlock. . ."
