Ch.7: Reconciliation

It was a little over seven minuets before they reached the position where Fox's Arwing had crash landed. Slippy had not calculated the time that it would take Krystal to enter and descend into the atmosphere. It was a large charred clearing with some bits and pieces of twisted and warped steal. The three ships hovered 50 meters above the ground looking at the wreckage.

"This is where the power readings came from. It was most likely the Arwing," Slippy said.

"Yeah but where's McCloud? Krystal?" Falco asked.

"I'm not sure," said Krystal.

"Hmp! Fine. Where to Peppy?" Falco asked Peppy over the radio.

"You must go to the AA gun's position. There was a large power reading. It matched to one on the D22 bomb. That probably means that Fox took it down. And if you haven't been shot down or at already that's our best bet," Peppy said calmly into the radio.

The three ships powered to the next position. The three of them arrived there in a matter of seconds even with Krystal. Peppy then blurted over the radio, "Radar is picking up multiple airborne threats. Take 'em out!"

"You got it! Krystal, hang back a little! Keep your distance and if you get in trouble call us," Falco shoved the thrusters forward, heading to the direction of the approaching targets that blipped on his radar. Slippy soon fallowed.

Fox was on the ground when he heard the hissing and whining of the Arwings engines. The radio he carried had been tinkered with so it would pick up the channel of the Arwings. The vulpine managed to pick up bits and pieces of the conversation as the team entered the atmosphere. After they entered he could hear them clearly, "Hey guys," Fox let the button go cutting of his message and the reply soon came.

"Fox!" It was Falco, "Where are you, ya crazy kid?"

"I'm not exactly sure. Does this help?" Fox put his Blaster into the air and unleashed a hell fire of super-heated plasma rounds into the air. The sun had just risen and he wasn't sure that they would be able to see the plasma rounds.

"I see you Fox!" Slippy blurted, "You have a few ground forces around you, no big deal though. They still are at a safe distance from your location. The only safe place we can pick you up is here," Slippy tapped buttons uploading the coordinates to his HUD, "sorry it's a bit of a haul but that is the only spot that isn't hot."

Fox's HUD went black. Fox saw the cracks that washed through it. Then came to life again as the new waypoint was uploaded. It read 2.34 kilometers. He never even tried to object to the marker. All he wanted was out, "Got it! Moving now!" Fox quickened his pace to a quick jog.

"You have a pretty straight line. A few hills and other terrains, keep an eye out for hostels. Maintain radio silence, if they know where you're going Fox, they will try and cut you off," Slippy gave the fox some intelligence to assist him.

"Ok. See you guys at the rally point," Fox clicked the radio off and threw it to the ground letting it smash. It wasn't the smartest thing to do but if they had technology to trace the call they would fine him right away. Might as well give them some sort of fun for the boys to track him. With that he slung the LSR2 around him and loaded it. He was still running, it took a lot of concentration to get all this done at once but he had master multitasking like this years ago.

Slippy had been right too. There were a few stray patrols but Fox managed to squeeze around them undetected. The ground had some hills and interesting terrain but it didn't take long to traverse. But when he came within the 500 meter range of the rally point there was a small team of 6 soldiers.

They wore more authentic and valiant armor compared to all the others, "Special Ops?" Fox asked himself, "No that can't be. They are out in the open, they are completely unexposed. Then again they are Andross's… hmm," Fox knew he wouldn't have time to take them all out before giving away his position. As much as he hated to do so he had to wait until they moved.

Slippy punched the throttle and the Arwing did a vertical U-turn. A laser grazed his wing but the shield held and he shot down another target. There wasn't many left. He and Falco were just mopping up the last of them, "Uh oh, additional contacts. Enemy fighters and lots of 'em!" Slippy told Falco.

"Crazy fox! Hurry up! We can't hold out here forever!" Falco sounded irritated but was actually having fun with the enemies. He loved to toy with them and have fun as they struggled to get behind him. It was a lot more fun with out anti-air weapons trying to gun you down. Falco wanted McCloud to stall as long as he could. The avian was having a grand old time, "Hmp, 10 more targets huh? Haha! Bring it on!"

"I'm glad you're having fun Falco but you wanna treat this situation a little more serious?" Slippy rolled to avoid fire.

Falco fired his missile canon and another fighter came down in a blaze of shrapnel. "The more I concentrate the worse I get! The more I try and goof off and screw around the better I am. Deal with it little man."

"Ok Falco that's enough," Krystal spoke to him as if the falcon was her own child and he was picking on another kit.

Falco hated it, "Yes mom," he said sarcastically to the vixen.

"He has a long way to go Falco, give him some time," Slippy budged in.

"Yeah, whatever!" Falco's Arwing spun through the air. He pulsed the trigger, bringing down yet another target on his radar. It spun in and pounded into the trees.

"Careful," Peppy said over the comm. channel, "You don't know where Fox is you can't just go shooting down things over him."

"Relax old man. I got this!" Falco shot down another thinking nothing of it.

Fox heard the spinning and failing of an aircraft then saw it crash into the ground where the troopers stood. It only engulfed 2 of the 6 but the others quickly ran to help their buddies.

This was his chance. The one he needed. Fox put the scope to his eye and the butt to his shoulder. He would shoot the soldier at the very back. This would lessen the chance of the rest of them finding him before they themselves fell. There was already confusion among them. They defiantly had not been trained properly.

The rifle snipped. One fell. It snipped 3 more times. Each shot killed another. They were so naive. Couldn't even notice their on troop's death. The marking on the HUD went white and disappeared. This meant that the target was dead. Nothing over there was alive. Fox knew that already. There was no surviving of you were hit by this gun.

His HUD then blinked yellow indicating he was in a slight danger. He spun around on his heels. The HUD had marked something. It was fallowing him. The motion sensor could only identify so much. Without sight of the target it could not be told as friend or foe. But what else would it be, no one else was down here so Fox thought of it in his mid as foe. It was 100 meters away. And it was moving toward him. The worst part was that the area he had relocated to was thick in the underbrush and it was hard to see anymore then 25 meters if even that in some spots.

Fox ran. He had to make a break for the rally point. He ran no more then 300 meters and thought back, "What if this thing has a powerful weapon that can take down an off guard landed ship? It could knock me right out. No I can't take that chance either. Besides for a safe extraction the area has to be clear."

The vulpine found a nice place where he could lay the sniper. He watched his HUD and the range of the target. It was slowly but surely decreasing as it moved toward him. Fox shoved a tracer round into the bolt and snapped it shut. There was nothing to do now but wait. He cleared his mind and focused purely on the new objective.

Fox could hear the lazar fire and engines flaring in the sky's above. He couldn't see them most the time. Except when they flew through the sun light casting a rough shadow on the ground from the trees. Fox put his finger on the trigger. He had considered pulling it to take down the target. But it might now work, even with the power of the tracer round it could be redirected by a flurry of sticks and bushes, throwing it off course. A tree could stop it too. Well maybe not just one tree but a few could. It depended on how many trees there were between him and his target. He decided to wait until it was closer, to confirm the kill. His mind was focused of the threat.

"This is taking too long. He should have been here by now," Krystal spoke over the comm. channel expressing her concern.

"Your right. But what can we do? We need to maintain control over the skies!" Peppy blurted.

This was her hint. She knew it. Krystal was going down and looking for him. She would find him. And bring him home, "I'm going after him!" Krystal stated and immediately shut off the radio to tune out the objections of the others. The blue vixen spun the ship around and set it on the ground. It was her turn to be hero.

Krystal snagged her Staff and the Blaster. Though she had been trained recently with the Blaster she still felt more comfortable with her Staff. But she packed the Class C Blaster just incase she would need its range or firepower.

It was light and the sun shone in the morning sky. The sky hadn't taken its full daylight form yet. It was cool in the grass and it made Krystal shiver. There was dew on the leaves and the pants she wore were already damp on the outside but dry on the inside. The wet grass in the clearing was knee high and full of dew. Where to begin? Krystal still couldn't locate the fox. This was odd. She had always been able to find him. Even with the technological powers of the Great Fox blocking her sixth sense, "Could he be dead? No?" She shook her head in disbelief, "I will find him."

The vulpine had almost fallen asleep when his HUD blipped. It startled him and he jump. Fox put away the sniper rifle. He raised his arm with the Blaster to the approaching target. It had been foolish of him to let his guard down like that. The target was now only 40 meters away and still approaching. He must have been tired because that was a short amount of time to fall asleep in. He still couldn't see it and it would be awhile until he could. The brush was so thick here. It would be better to have a quick weapon instead of the raw power of the LSR2.

But the new blip. The one that had woken him, it was a new target. And it was behind him. Not good. This is bad. He would be flattened if he flanked. He had to move to another position.

It didn't take him long to get off the ground and to a cool spot where he could stand with his back to a tree thick tree. The new target was moving closer and closer, they both were. But the new one was especially close. His HUD marked it as 10 meters. It was just on the other side of his tree. Fox flicked the safety off on his gun and peeked around the corner of the tree. There he saw the familiar blue fur of the vixen that had once been on his ship. At this moment Fox's mind immediately started to ask its self questions.

His HUD grew to a light red indicating an elevated danger. The target that had been fallowing him was now closer then ever before too. Fox could the footsteps crunch through the brush. He watched as the HUD counted its distance closer and closer to him. The enemy wouldn't see him but he would see Krystal.

Krystal stepped over a log and looked around not just with her eyes but with her sixth sense too. She was disappointed when there was nothing to show for her efforts. The vixen was just about to take another step forward when a paw covered her mouth and another arm wrapped around her waist. It pulled her back into a tree. Whatever it was it had came from behind her and now stood with its back to a tree and her right in front. She tried to scream but it was caught by the paw that now covered her mouth. Krystal was just about to bite the fingers but decided not to after a voice hissed at her, "Don't move!"

Fox had his back to a tree with Krystal in front of him. He thought she had known it was him. The HUD counted the distance of the other enemy and after it disappeared of his data warning altogether he let out his breath.

She did hear footsteps behind her but she thought nothing of them. Krystal still didn't know that the one who had taken her prisoner was indeed the one that she was seeking. It didn't matter, she thought she was a hostage and no one would come to her rescue. Krystal was going to take care of things on her own this time. She was a warrior and a healer on her home planet. She had a few tricks up her sleeve.

Krystal bit the paw that covered her mouth. The vixen felt her fangs sink into its paw. She heard the voice yip, "Ouch! Hey!" She ignored the familiarity of the voice. Krystal had been kicked into survival mode now. The vixen grabbed one of the attacker's arms and flipped him over. She was satisfied as she felt the arm pull from its socket. With lightning fast reflexes she wielded her Staff and before the attacker hit the ground she swiped him in the back of the head.

Before Fox hit the ground he was stricken in the head with something knocking him out. All he could remember was a sharp pain in his arm and something blunt striking him. He was unconscious before he landed. Fox's limp body hit the ground face muzzle first. She held the edge of the staff to the back edge of the attacker's neck ready for it to get up and try to fight. Then she lost all hope.

"Fox!" Krystal dropped her Staff right then and there. There in the brush lay the legendary mercenary Fox McCloud, "You've really done it this time Krystal," she thought to herself, "You went ahead and tried to kill the one who had saved you. Not only saved you, he had saved you twice. Smooth," Krystal felt like a moron, uncoordinated and clumsy, "But why had I not been able to sense that this was McCloud? I tried to kill the one I came to save? Really great Krystal," maybe she didn't know her own strength. She wasn't sure but there on the ground lay Fox. Krystal took a knee and leaned over the vulpine, pushing him over onto his back to get his muzzle out of the dirt.

Fox was a mess. His once white muzzle and face was scattered with dirt and scratches. His ears had small amounts of mud in them too. The lens that once covered his left eye was now in shards on the ground. The piece that remained on his face had the frame, which led around to his ear and what was left of the lens on the frame was a few jagged pieces. The black jacket was ripped and torn and the small pieces of armor had scratches and cuts. His left arm was out of its socket. She could tell that it was in slight disarray from the proportion of the other. And she had felt it dislocate from its socket when she had flipped him to the dirt.

Fox looked dead. But he was unconscious now. It didn't make sense to her why she couldn't find him. His paw began to turn red as this is the one that she had bitten. She knew she could still revive him. Fox was still far away from death. This is what the sun-like tattoo on her leg meant. On Cerinia she had been trained as a healer. With the special powers of Cerinians, the whole strength of a person's body could be put into a small area, such as a paw or even a finger tip. This is how she was able to gain the strength of take down the vulpine. There was no way he could have been prepared for that. Krystal put her paw on the red fox's chest. She concentrated. Without any force or movement, the vulpine jumped as if being resuscitated.

Krystal leaned closer to Fox's muzzle and brushed the dirty, once white fur of his nose to the back of his cheek, "Fox, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. Please, wake up."

Fox's eyes fluttered and opened and slowly. He could see almost nothing but blur and light. There was a figure about his body, it was not clear and the world was still colorless. He remembered nothing. His head hurt so much and he could feel right where whatever had hit him impacted.

He immediately wanted to shoot it. Get what ever it was off and away from him. His mind told him, "Get it away from you! Shoot it Fox! Kill it! You can do this. You will survive at all costs! Get off the ground McCloud!"

He felt around his waist for the Blaster. This is when he realized that his left arms sung out in pain as he tried to move it. He whimpered and gave a slight whine. With success he found it. The power of his Class D was all he wanted.

Fox only managed to grab it for but a second only enough time for it to be removed from the holster before it was viciously kicked from his paw. Fox's eyes still hadn't come into focus and he still wasn't sure what was above him. But then he heard the familiar voice. Instead of an enemy it felt more like an angle watching him. And it all began flowing back to him. How he had saved Krystal from being sighted and then her taking him down. He felt foolish for grabbing the pistol.

"Fox, are you alright?" She was startled that the vulpine had wanted nothing but to kill her. Maybe he didn't remember. But then she thought about what he had been through and how scared he must have been. Plus he had never expected to be dropped to the ground in a combat zone by a team mate. Plus now he thought she was an angle so he must have been confused. It seemed acceptable. It was a good thing for her sixth sense too or he may have killed her without even ever knowing it. That would have made him feel horrible. She could have of course killed him too.

Fox still couldn't see straight or perfectly clear but he noticed the radiant blue blur of Krystal as the color of the world came back, but it was still extremely blurry, "Krystal?" He said weekly and his voice crackled as if it were dry.

"Yes Fox, I am here. I'm Sorry Fox. I didn't mean to! I didn't know! I should have been more careful…" she was cut of by the dreary voice of the vulpine.

"Don't beet yourself up about it," he sounded so weak and beaten. Krystal felt so bad, "These things happen Krystal. It's alright. Don't worry about it."

"Are you ok?" She asked as the red vulpine tried to life his head from the ground, but failed and let it knock back into the dirt.

"I'll be fine," he lost his breath, "just… give me a minuet," his head stung and he fluttered his eyes, trying to regain the full usage of his vision back. The arm felt bad too, but it didn't hurt too much as long as he didn't move. But when it would finally become time to get off the ground, it would be a huge problem. He wanted to get up from the ground. Fox didn't want to feel like a helpless kit.

"Don't try to get up. Take a moment to rest Fox. I'm sorry. I dislocated your shoulder when I flipped you," Krystal looked at his left arm. Even though Fox had tried to comfort her, she knew she made a mistake.

He felt so foolish to the fact that he could have simply shot her without knowing. "I'm sorry, I…"

"It's alright. You didn't know. It was my fault. You were confused and disoriented. I'm sorry that I hurt you. It's kind of like how I felt getting out of the crystal," the vixen eased up from the ground with the staff wielded in her hand, "We should go Fox. They're coming soon. But we can stay here as long as you need."

"Yeah, we should," Fox spoke more clearly now but Krystal could still hear and sense the pain in his voice. He attempted to get up from the ground, "Aghh!" He squint his eyes. The vulpine had completely forgotten about his arm and as he tried to rise it stung.

"Don't move," She leaned back down to the other fox.

"Man! It hurts so bad," Fox reached across his stomach with his single good arm to hold the other.

"It will be fine Fox but we have to get you out of here," Krystal said, still feeling guilty. She looked over the fox's arm. It was defiantly dislocated, "I can fix it if you want. It will hurt really badly for a second but it will get better afterwards," Fox nodded after Krystal finished. It seemed logical and he wanted anything to get himself out of this pain.

"Alright you have to get off the ground first though," Krystal thought it was the best way. As she helped the vulpine off the ground she would snap it back into place without him knowing that she about to do it. It would hurt and it would hurt bad. But if he expected it he might impede her efforts. It would be best if he didn't know.

"Alright…" Fox reached his right paw to meet the one of the vixen. Before he knew it she pulled him up and crunched his shoulder. He felt it rub against the other bone and back into its socket. Fox yelped and fell back to the ground on his knees and breathed deeply and quickly. He used his right hand to keep him from falling with his face into the ground while the other one reached across his stomach. It was already starting to fell better but he didn't see this coming and was irritated. He managed to look up at Krystal who now took one knee beside him, "Thank you."

"I'm sorry Fox. It was the only way I could do it," Krystal felt sorry for him. He was so generous and yet karmic retribution hadn't exactly been good to him.

"It's alright," The vulpine now breathed lighter and slower. "It had to be done. And it's begging to feel better already," he rolled his knuckles testing out his new repaired arm. It still hurt a lot but not as bad, and it felt like it was in the correct position too, "It's dangerous here. You shouldn't have come for me," Fox scolded the vixen

"You came for me. And you didn't even know who I was. I didn't just come for that reason either. Then you saved me again. I can't let a fellow team mate down. Even after we get out of this I owe you a one," Krystal helped the vulpine to his feet.

"Yeah I guess… what? Team mate?" Fox met her eyes and she nodded, "That's great Krystal. But we have to get out here first," Fox got up from the ground and his head sung out in extreme pain. His vision began to tunnel and he wobbled and stumbled, falling back to the ground in a heap. He landed on his side, luckily his right side and not left.

"Careful!" Krystal exclaimed and tried to grab the vulpine he fell. But her grip slipped and he landed with a thump, "Fox are you alright?"

"Agh.. yeah," Fox said woozily, "Just got up a little fast, that's all," He didn't realize but one paw covered his head. This indicated to Krystal that he was in a surmountable degree of pain.

Krystal went behind him and tried to pull the vulpine off the ground with both her arms under his shoulders. Fox helped her with the effort and soon they both stood. Fox began to wobble again but Krystal looped up from under him letting almost the full weight of the red fox bare down on her. Fox tried to stand but it was so hard to keep balance. He tried to suspend his own weight instead of letting the smaller vixen hold him.

"Take it easy," Krystal told him, "Just stand her awhile and get your bearings," it took almost a full minuet before the vulpine could support himself. His breath was heavy but it slowly started to lighten. Even after his standing vision cleared Krystal stuck close beside him to ensure that he would not topple to the ground once again. Fox unwrapped his arm and held himself up. He felt a pain in his paw and he inspected it. It was a jagged cut with a few extra fang marks. Fox's head still hurt but he could focus now. He slowlt leaned down to grab the Blaster but Krystal pick it up for him, immediately noticing that is was different from the one she had.

The vixen felt bad for doing what she had done, especially after seeing the cut across his paw that she had left with her claws that just hung out of her sandals. That and the fact that as far as she knew the Blaster was from his father. The kick she had given him in the paw opened up the wound even more from the bite she had given him. She felt horrible. Fox spun the pistol in his hands and rolled it into his holster his great grace. He reached back with his left paw and snatched the rifle that hung there. She saw him bare his teeth and squint slightly as he did it. This indicated to her that his arm was defiantly still in pain. He looked at the top of his right paw. There was an open and jagged wound.

"I'm very sorry Fox. I feel terrible," Krystal looked at her sandals.

"I know you do Krystal. And that's ok. People make mistakes, and that how we learn. Like I said don't beet yourself up about it. Things happen, and above all things always happen to me," Fox joked, but it didn't make her feel better. The vulpine inspected the jagged wound on his paw. It hurt a bit but it was so minor. With the pain his head produced the pain is his right paw was tuned out.

Fox looked at the sniper and rubbed out the small amount of dirt that had collected in the action. The HUD was smashed and he put it away in his back pack. It would prove to become very useful later. The vulpine fired another shredder round into the gun and snapped the bolt shut.

Krystal laughed and Fox looked at her in question, "Oh… it's nothing," She said. It was fun that she knew a fair amount of history behind the vulpine. She would have to tell him about herself sometime.

"Then lets go," Fox cradled the rifle in his paws, "which way Krystal?" Krystal turned in the direction in which she had come, "You lead," Fox commanded but she shook her head.

"If it's ok with you, I'd like you to go first. Your better at this then me and…" Krystal paused but decided not to continue.

"Sure," Fox was flattered. He wasn't sure if it was because she felt safe behind him or it was something else. Fox didn't over think it and dismissed the question in his mind. He walked in the front and checked several times to ensure that Krystal still fallowed him. Though he knew that she felt bad, the quick change of tables he lost a bit of trust toward Krystal, and he was jumpy. Fox walked with speed but not to fast that the vixen couldn't keep up to him. His boot caught on a stump sending his feet flinging wildly to try to regain his balance. Krystal just giggled. Fox turned red, slightly humiliated and embarrassed. It was such a simple mistake.

"It's just up here. Just a little farther Fox," Krystal fallowed him but gave directions. Fox figured that she had taken her ship. It was the only way to get him and her out.

"Wait!" Fox whispered and took a knee. Searching down the scope of the LSR2 he could see Krystal's ship. It wasn't that far.

"Fox? What's wrong?" She asked. But Fox didn't answer and Krystal's stomach filled with butter flies of fear. He just continued to look down the sights of the rifle. Then he fired. The snip sound that the rifle made caused her to jump.

"Ok the deed is done. Let's go home."

When they came to the ship Fox inspected the body he had just shot. The shoulder-flash read: Rojas. Fox sighed. He took Rojas's arms and crossed them over the ape's chest once he had moved him out of the way of the ship.

"What are you doing Fox? Aren't those the guys that tried to kill you?" Krystal didn't understand.

"Always respect the dead," Fox stood over the body for a moment and then headed toward the ramp of the ship. He waved her in first.

Krystal nodded and smiled, "Yes, I hope this is enough of a seat for you to sit in. I am not really used to having passengers so all there is to hold onto is these grab bars," Fox let his backpack fall with all the supplies in it. He took a seat so that he could comfortably hold onto the bar with his right arm.

"It'll be fine. Thank you Krystal," Fox said as he saw the vixen take the spot in her pilot seat.

Krystal spoke into the radio, "Ok I have got Fox. We are ready to pull out," Krystal pulled the controls back and punched the throttle forward.

"Yeah!" It was clearly Falco, "How's my wing man?"

Krystal looked back to where Fox sat holding into the rail. He had his eyes closed but she was unsure if he was asleep or not, "He'll be fine after some rest."

"Don't you ever go do something like that again Fox! Not without me!" Falco scolded the other mercenary.

Fox spoke with his eyes still closed, "Don't worry Falco, the next time I do something like that. I will personally drag you along with me," Fox smiled.

Falco just laughed, "Next time huh?"

"I'm only 26, falcon. I am bound to do something stupid like that again," Fox waited for the reply.

"Yeah? Well you got someone else to deal with too and I'm not talking about the frog," Falco implied.

"Hey!" Slippy yelled.

Fox turned open his eyes and turned his gaze to Krystal. She wasn't looking at him but he still smiled, "I guess so," he said and turned his head and closed his eyes again.

As the ship began to angle upwards, Fox opened his eyes once again. He was slightly worried that the ship wouldn't break the gravitational pull of K6. His eyes looked around the small cab. It was full of unfamiliar symbols and designs. The controls were out of date too. But it was fairly clean.

When his eyes locked onto Krystal he focused on her tail which still had the bracelets on it. Her hair was brushed and still had on all the original accessories that had been on her when he had met her. Except that she was in his grey football sweater and dark green pants. His clothes were baggy on her but he was the only one on the ship with the closest body shape and size. They were both foxes after all. But the vulpine had a larger built chest and a more athletically shaped body. The baggy clothes brought out the cute shapes of her body. It made the cute curves in her arms and thighs show. And her fur was such a beautiful and luxurious color. It gave her a slim and playful look.

Krystal shot a look back at the fox. Fox's face turned red immediately and widened his eyes, "Uh… I was just checking out the… err… angle of attack for leaving the… plant," he could feel the heat radiate through his fur and quickly put his hand behind his head. Krystal had already recognized this motion meant that he was nervous or embarrassed. In this case it was both.

Fox thought to himself, "What happened? I wasn't that obvious. Was I? Come on you idiot, it was either really bad timing or you made yourself stick out. What's wrong with you? Battle fatigue? You probably looked like a pervert too! Pull it together McCloud! She is too young for you. Stop thinking about it!" Fox looked at his feet as was ashamed but managed to dismiss every thought in his mind leaving it completely blank except for the tinge of shame his ears drooped almost flat and he pulled out his sniper and began inspecting it to take his mind off everything altogether, "I didn't realize I was staring. That was rude I'm sorry," Fox said.

Krystal giggled out loud. She wasn't sure if it would help the vulpine or make him feel worse. She was concentrating on his thoughts after he tried to cover up too. The fact was that he did not yet know of her powers. She thought to herself too, "He's so amusing. The emotions he expresses are so uncontrolled and powerful. I hope I am not going over board with it though. Maybe I shouldn't have looked back at him. Still, it's so fun!" The she said out loud, "That's alright Fox. It's completely natural," she tried to comfort him.

Fox was still inspecting the damage done to his rifle. He opened the bolt and nearly jumped out of his fur when the spent shredder shell bounced out and onto the floor. He breathed heavy for but a second then calmed. The vulpine had completely forgotten about it. It was weird. This was a mistake he had never made before. Maybe it was battle fatigue. Krystal laughed and this just made the vulpine feel worse. She had remembered when she first learned to use the LSR2. When she had opened the bolt and the spent shell casing fell out had startled her too.

Fox removed his black gloves and rubbed the deep cut in the stock of the LSR2. He wondered if that it wasn't for the sniper he would have a fatal wound. He wanted to do anything to get his mind off what had just happened. The stock was tough and the cut was deep. It could've, but the protective combats would have at least slowed it down, but there was no way they could have stopped it altogether. Well it would have hurt. And his Arwing… "Man," he thought, "it's a good thing we got pay coming."

It wasn't long before the three ships found their resting place in the hanger. Krystal undid the strap for her seatbelt and headed down the ramp. Fox got off the passenger seat after wards, and headed down the ramp. The whole crew was standing there watching him. I guess it looked like he had just got back from the war that had he had ended years ago. He held the sniper at the center with one hand and everybody looked at him. Fox looked like he had been to hell and back.

"There's my man!" Falco yelled and came took shake his hand, "Good to see you alive."

"Good to be alive," Fox turned to meat the mechanic. "Slippy…"

"What happened? You look like you just got out fell a kilometer to the ground!"

Fox laughed, "I did," it was still easy to for him to find a light mood. Since he hadn't been to badly hurt or killed he figured it was ok.

"Good to see you back Fox," Peppy approached the vulpine and Fox leaned down slightly to hug him, Peppy returned the favor. Krystal admired the father figure that Peppy posed in the fox's life. It was very generous of him to take Fox under his arm.

"Hey Slip? You wanna bring this to the Armory?" He handed the toad the LSR2.

"Yeah sure," Slippy snatched the sniper out of beaten hands of the vulpine

"And Krystal…" Fox said as the two foxes met eyes, "welcome to the team. I hope you don't mind but I am going back to my room to clean up and then I will be out. If you want you can change into some clean clothing too."

"If you insist, but remember I still own you one."