Hi everyone! It didn't take an infinity amount of years for this one to come around.
Thanks to whitefur, as always, for his proofreading and his suggestions. Check his stuff out. And bask in his inferior love of Krystal, compared to mine.
As always, please read and review, God bless, and be safe. Thank you everyone!
Chapter V: Turnaround
Within minutes of Fox getting the call, the team was assembled on the bridge for briefing. The floating holographic head of Peppy stared at Fox, his brow furrowed.
"As you know," the aged hare began, "You're next work will take you to Katina. Your mission is focused on the removal of some vagabond pirates on the planets surface. Specifically, at this location."
Fox saw the holographic head look down, and some beeping noises sounded off; Peppy was typing at a console of sorts. The head moved over as the 3D hologram of a pyramid shaped structure appeared. Fox instantly recognized it as the standard structure of a Katinian military outpost. The base was walled, with structures stretching out from the central pyramid. However, Fox noticed this base looked significantly more run down compared to other Katinian bases he'd seen, particularly the one the team had first fully encountered the Aparoids.
"This is Outpost Whethorford," said Peppy, "an old decommissioned base that the vagabonds in question have commandeered. It's arsenal, being so old, is less than what you would find at a more current base. The fighter craft and other vehicles inside the base are dated as well."
Fox was confused. Falco voiced his befuddlement.
"Excuse me, gramps," said the avian, "but why are we being called in if this place is that old? I mean, come on, the Katinian military can take this easy. I'm not one to refuse money, but this seems too easy."
"I'm glad you picked up on that," said Peppy, "you see, the reason why you will be working with the Katinian military for this job is because this base was the test site for a new piece of Katinian military technology back when it was in operation. Once the base was decommissioned, it seems the oversight was sloppy, and so it was just recently discovered that whatever that technology was, it's still there at that base. Worse, whatever records of that technology there were have been lost."
"Somebody lost there job," Krystal grumbled, raising an eyebrow.
"Indeed," said the aged hare, "and it's because of this uncertainty that you are on the job, along with a squadron of Katinian fighters and two armor divisions. Katinia is taking no chances with this cleanup, and they want the best."
"Obviously us," said Katt.
"This lack of information troubles me, Pepp," said Fox seriously, crossing his arm and furrowing his brow, "This is the kind of thing that get's people killed."
"What I've given you now is the most the Katinian Military has," explained Peppy, sighing, "And trust me, I'm as angry as you are. It's actually doing me good to see that you are worried. But," and Peppy smiled, "a piece of good news is that Katinia has picked a special someone to lead that squadron of their fighters."
Right as Peppy finished, the hologram of a grey and white-furred bulldog appeared next to the information regarding the base. He smiled upon the whole of them, and Fox felt his bad mood evaporate immediately.
"Bill!" Fox exclaimed, smiling broadly.
"My man, Fox!" the mirthful Katinian pilot responded, "It's good to see ya! It's been a while."
"Too long," said Falco, put in a good mood by seeing the bulldog as well, "Jeez, Bill, how've ya been?"
"Fine," Bill responded, "and feeling pretty good knowing that you guys are on this case, and that I get to support you. You'd be useless without me, after all."
"But of course," said Katt, rolling her eyes, "We truly have been saved, team."
"Indeed," said Krystal, looking over at the feline, rolling her eyes as well.
"I'm glad to see that you are all happy to see Mr. Grey," said Peppy, smiling himself, "But let's focus. Team, you are to meet with your assistance at this base marked here," and at Peppy's words a holographic map of Katina appeared next to his head with a red dot marking an area, "you will be briefed one last time there, and then your mission begins. Peppy out."
Everyone on the bridge responded with a "roger," and the holographic call ended.
The ride to the base to meet up with their backup proved uneventful. However, for the entire ride and rebriefing at the base Fox felt anxious. Running a mission with such low intel bothered him to no end. Not even seeing Bill again completely dulled the foul mood, even though he hadn't seen the bulldog since before the Aperoid Invasion. Once the briefing was finished, and the team was allowed to collect themselves while the Katinian forces prepared, Fox chose to lean against one of the hanger walls and stared at the row of Arwings-and Katt's Catspaw-in front of him.
Only three Arwings. Despite having made some peace with that, it still bothered him.
"Fox?"
He looked to his right. Krystal had walked through the hanger doors, and was looking at him. Fox smiled a little. The vixen walked over to him.
"Can I vent at you for a moment?" she asked.
"Of course. I hope I didn't do anything wrong?" Fox answered uncertainly. Krystal shook her head and put a hand on his shoulder.
"It's not you, it's this mission," she answered, "I don't like how we're going in so blind."
"You must be spending too much time around me," Fox answered, "I'm feeling the same way right now."
"Hence why I came to you," said Krystal, "I mean, who knows what those vagabonds have! I understand that the outpost is old, so we aren't talking about anything ahead of our time, but regardless I'm greatly nervous. Fox, what do you do in these kinds of situations?"
"Hope for the best," he answered, "and fight as hard as I can. This wouldn't be the first time I've flown in with minimal intel, and as much I hate to admit it, this probably won't be the last time."
"Because some military officials have a lack of oversight and need to be fired," Krystal replied irritably.
Fox chuckled. Then his expression became serious. "Krystal," he asked, "About last night and me...me asking you to marry," and he blushed at the word, "are you absolutely sure-"
He was cut off by Krystal gently placing her finger to his muzzle, and the warm and adoring smile she gave him just about turned his legs to jelly and lit his ears on fire with scarlet. "I do," she said softly.
He needed nothing else. Her expression, her words, they told him everything. He kissed her, Krystal responding in turn. They pulled away, now looking longingly at each other in each other's arms.
A voice over the hanger intercom told them the mission was underway. Krystal hugged him once more, as did he, and she whispered into his ear:
"I will protect you."
She kissed him on the cheek, and walked to her CloudRunner with little swing in her hips. Before climbing into her cockpit, she winked at him.
They were in the air minutes later, moving quickly as to have some advantage against the vagabonds in question. Fox had uploaded the coordinates to the base into his headset, thus the the green scanner over his right eye showcased a dwindling meter counter as he flew. He was heading the "flying V" his team flew in, with Krystal at his right and Falco and Katt at his left. Some distance further to his right was Bill's group of about 15 fighters. This brought them to a total of 19 fighter craft. The armor divisions had left earlier than them to take a hidden position, ready for the attack.
"So we know they have their own fighters, and they will supplement those fighters with the craft they took from the base, correct?" Fox asked Bill, making sure he had his information straight.
"Affirmative," Bill said in a business-like manner. When ever the laid-back bulldog was in the air, practically all of his joviality vanished. "The whole of them shouldn't be a terribly big force, but they'll be putting up a fight."
"I'm getting some faint thought patterns," said Krystal, "we're getting close. It's a group fighters."
"Look sharp everyone, let's make this as neat as possible," Fox announced, "We don't know what kind of secret weapon they have in there, so stay frosty and don't be afraid to radio in Bill's pilots for backup. That goes double for you Falco."
"Aye aye, Orange Wonder," said a certain avian. Fox rolled his eyes.
Suddenly Fox's radar beeped, indicating those enemy fighters Krystal mentioned. Looking to his scanner he could tell they were still some meters away.
"Incoming!" He called out. "Here's that welcoming crew! Krystal, you're with me. Falco, with Katt. All range mode"
Falco and Krystal "affirmative"s sounded off simultanuously, along with the sound of his wings moving into place.
The welcoming force met them head on. For the brief moment before he picked a target, Fox scanned the enemy craft. Standard pirate fighters; in other words old Venomion 7-18 Interceptors and Kewian EFE Hellcats. They were mixed together, in formation but not terribly organized Nothing out of the ordinary, but still. With some kind of secret weapon running about...
"Keep your eyes out for anything unusual, guys," Fox called out, "That weapon may be a fighter craft."
"That goes double for you, people!" Bill called to his squad, already tailing a craft.
Fox saw Krystal in the corner of his eye peel off and pick her own target, her boosters roaring into a chase. She stayed close; wouldn't want to get caught out and not be in a position for him to get to her quickly if she got in a pickle. Finding his own unlucky prey, Fox settled behind an enemy. Clearly these folks had an idea of who they were dealing with, the vagabonds sudden and panicked bobbing and weaving told him that. Not good enough. Holding down the trigger, he waited for the satisfying beep of a lock-on before smirking and letting go. The craft before him exploded, bursting with a muted boom thanks to his insulated cockpit, and he peeled away to avoid debre.
Falling in behind another target, his Arwing glided through the ear's twitched as his scanner beeped, letting him know that an enemy fighter had settled into tailing him and was trying to gain a lock. Thanks to quick peripherals he could see the Hellcat tailing him.
"Krys," he called out, "little help?"
"Way ahead of you," she called back.
Glancing behind him, through the cockpit windshield he could see Krystal's Cloudrunner settle in behind the enemy fighter. Fox bought her some time with a few evasive maneuvers, and merely three seconds later, Fox heard another muted explosion behind him as said fighter exploded, and he smiled when he saw Krystal's Cloudrunner Arwing sail away to find another target.
Stay out of trouble now, she thought to him playfully.
"Your COMM is there for you to use," he responded playfully in turn. A moment later he received a video feed of the vixen sticking her tongue out at him. He winked at her.
The fight continued, with the vagabond forces taking heavy losses. They were already mismatched against his team, and the squadron of Katinian fighters only added to this. Bill had trained his pilots well. Smooth and practiced maneuvers and steady handling. Textbook, and impressive to look at.
"Anyone see anything odd? A fighter out of place for example?" Fox called out to everyone. The threat of that secret weapon was humming in the back of his mind.
"Negative," Katt replied, "all of these amateurs are flying typical pirate junkers. They barely have shielding to match the Katinian fighters shielding, let alone ours."
Some of the Katinian pilots voiced their discontent at that remark.
"I mean," Katt continued, "There ain't much that can stack up to our craft."
"You're not wrong, but don't rub it in," said Bill.
"I hope this was all just a grave tactical error on their part, and not a trap," said Krystal. "Most of though patterns I investigated didn't reveal such a thing, and it's hard to hide from my power, but still..."
"Don't get Fox paranoid more than he already is," said Falco.
"I'm just saying," Krystal replied.
Once the stragglers were picked off, they continued towards the base, and it only took a moment to see the pyramid pop up over the horizon, it's anti-air turrents along the perimeter wall training on their position. Another swarm of fighter craft was on it's way, and Fox could see older models of Katinian fighter craft mixed in their ranks. Small amounts of enemy armor rolled out of the base. His radar beeped, indicating that Katinian armor was already rolling out to meet the opposition.
"Don't let your pilots get mixed up because they are using similar fighter craft," Fox called out to Bill. Then he addressed his team. "Same teams as last time. Watch the fighters in the air, but don't neglet those turrents and ground forces."
"Same to you all!" Bill called out to his squadron, "Husky Group, focus on the air, Bulldog, light up those turrets and ground troops!"
"Keep an eye for that secret weapon," Katt added.
As soon as the orders were given out, the battle commenced. The sheer enemy numbers let Fox know they were really throwing everything at them now. They had to know how quickly that first force had been cut down. They must be running on desperation now, not sparing a single soldier.
Strangely, even with that in mind, Fox couldn't see any unusual looking craft. Even now, still no secret weapon?
He tailed another fighter, open for a short burst of laser fire for the take down. He grunted in shock as his Arwing shook. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the base anti-air turrents tracking him. He checked his shields. Nothing to worry about at the moment. But if he wanted to dogfight in peace...
He set a course for one of the walls where four turrents sat trying to get a bead. Red blasts of laser fight shot through air, following a predictable pattern. Thankfully, the turrents themselves took time to move and follow his maneuvers, and as he drew close for the kill the fire became erratic and unfocused. Who ever lead these people must have forgot to teach them one of the oldest tricks in the book with battlefield tactics.
Never panic.
As he flew by Fox painted the entire wall with laser fire. With bright lights the emplacements exploded, leaving smoking ruins in their place.
He turned around to head back to thick of the fight, just catching Falco finishing a strafing run on some enemy tanks to support the now engaged Katinian armor.
"This is starting to be too-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Falco," said Fox tersely.
The battle went on, with all losses overwhelmingly falling on the vagabonds side. In fact, not a single allied craft had fallen, such was their advantage.
Fox's scanner beeped, picking up movement.
The large hanger door at the base of central outpost pyramid was opening. His eyes widened.
"Eyes up!" he called out, "They're opening the base!"
Fox could still hear the whirring and beeping of his Arwing's systems. But to him an eerie quiet had descended upon the battlefield. That is, until the machine came into view.
It was walker-type war machine, possessing four legs that moved in spider like movements' The central body was shape like an upper torso, with hatches where the "stomach" would be. There were four "arms," two at the side and two from the back, all of which equipped with what looked like missile launchers. At the the top was a head, visored. It was colored tan and green, the colors of the Katinian military force. It was tan along the body and green along the appendages. The colors were muted, darkened with age, and whatever it as, Fox guess it hadn't been bathed in the Solar's rays for some time until today. Fox even saw some dents and scratched, even rust.
"What in the world?" Fox whispered.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Bill moaned.
"What?" Fox asked, immediately in a ready mood again, "What are we looking at, Bill?"
"That's an Hyperion Walker," Bill responded. "The Model 1, and the only model to ever be produced. At the time, it was the most advanced war machine we ever designed. How the heck did we lost track of this thing!? Oh man, Krystal, you were right, somebody just got fired!"
"Can I say I hate being right?" Krystal responded.
"What's it weakness?" Fox asked.
"I don't know, I only heard the name and was never able look at blueprints. Of course those vagabonds would come across something like this," Bill replied.
I need Slippy to analyze that it, Fox decided, I-
He blinked.
He made his next decision in a second.
"I'll look for a weak point," he called out, "Team, focus on the fighters and remaining armor. I'll find that chink in the armor."
"Fox!" Krystal called out, "by yourself?"
"Dude, don't you think you need backup?" Falco asked.
"Until we find out where to hit that thing," Fox replied, pausing to shoot down another fighter, "I'm not going to go all in on it and put more of us danger than needed. I'll take care of it. I'll call in as soon as I find something."
"Fox.." Krystal murmured.
"Krys, I'll be fine." Fox replied, giving the vixen's comm image a smile.
He was heartened to see her smile and nod back at him after a moment. "Be careful," she said, before signing off.
Closing in on the walker Fox eyeballed it for anything that looked like a chink in the armor. As old as this thing apparently was, surely it had to have some weaknesses. He ruled out the torso quickly. As old as this thing looked it's armor looked formidable. Maybe-
His eyes widened when one of the missile pods opened it's doors. Five missiles screamed through the sky, headed right for him.
"Incoming!" he yelled.
He hoped everyone heard that. He didn't have time to look as he banked hard to the side thanking his lucky stars that the missiles veered wide away from him. This thing was so old it's heatseeking technologies were sub-optimal. That distance he had between himself and them certainly helped as well.
Looking at the craft again Fox focused on the "joints" of the legs. If nothing else, those looked like the points with the weakest armor. And if they were, keeping this thing from being mobile was the best course of action. The craft's biggest design flaw from it's looks was the importance of balance. Take out one of the legs, and it was a sitting duck.
Coming in for an attack, Fox fired off a short burst of laser fire. The blasts connected. The joints flared red with heat, and he saw the sparks fly. The Hyperion even stopped moving and wobbled slightly.
Bingo.
"It's the joints on the legs!" Fox said on the global comm. "Krys, mind helping me with this?"
"On my way!" the vixen replied.
"How's everything on your end Falco, Katt?" Fox asked.
"Fine!" Falco replied. "Bill's squadron lost some ships in that last missile barrage, but their losses are bigger. We're wearing them down."
"Fox, I just got intel from command," Bill interjected, "Look, the Hyperion isn't just outfitted with missiles. It has some sort of secret weapon on it as well."
"They didn't tell what that is, I'm guessing?" Fox asked
"All plans for the Hyperion were burned once the project was pulled," Bill replied. "Too dangerous. So that's twice we've been screwed by the pencil pushers, if anyone's keeping count. We have no idea what that thing has in store."
"Everyone's getting fired today!" Krystal yelled.
Out of the corner of his eye, Fox saw Krystal form up beside him for the next run on the Hyperion. The walker was dead ahead of them.
"I get one joint and you got another?" Krystal asked.
"No, focus all your fire on the joint I tagged last run," Fox replied, "I'll help you. We need to get that thing immobile, and one joint gone should do it."
"I see the joint," said Krystal.
What the Cloudrunner lacked in maneuverability it made up for with the power of it's plasma lasers. Krystal fired off a short burst and in seconds there was an explosion. The leg once connected to the joint fell into the Katinian sand, and the Hyperion began to fall. Once he and Krystal had looped around for another pass, they could see the walker had to use two of it's missile pods to steady itself. Even then, it wasn't an optimal position.
Not only was it immoble, but half of it's ordinance was gone.
"They're panicking," Krystal said.
"You sense it?" Fox asked.
"Oh yes. Not only is their lack of knowledge about piloting the walker coming back to bite them, but they also are starting to realize we have them beat. Same with the pilots in the fighters. But be careful Fox, a cornered beast is at its most desperate and dangerous."
Fox nodded.
Then a curious thing happened.
The "chest" of the Hyperion opened, and out popped the barrel of a canon. A blue light began to glow at the end of the barrel, with electricity arcing around it. The light grew larger and larger, and Fox gripped the stick hard.
"Move!" Fox yelled.
He and Krystal both banked left, just in time to see a blue orb of light rocket from the tip of the barrel and sail past them. Turning around Fox saw the orb fly into the midst of some of Bill's fighters. The orb "detonated," expanding outward into the shape of a large translucent sphere.
All the shields of the Katinian fighters-and vagabond fighters-inside the sphere fizzled out with a blue glow.
"That's an anti-shield EMP!" Katt yelled. "That thing has an EMP canon!"
"Well, now we know what that secret is!" Bill yelled back.
"Team, watch it!" Fox cried out. "Keep your eyes on that thing!"
"Roger," Falco, Katt, and Krystal called out.
"That goes for all of you!" said Bill to his flyers.
The Katinian fighters that had been stripped of their shielding were quickly taken down by surrounding vagabond craft, like scavengers killing an already injured prey. Though the Katinians took some vagabonds down with them, it didn't make Fox grit his teeth any less.
"Krystal," he explained. "come with me again. We're aiming for that canon. I'm willing to guess it's in an area of low shielding. Making that cannon explode ought to rip it apart from the inside. Watch it's charge and bank as soon as you see it fire. Also, don't approach to closely."
"Got it," Krystal replied.
The two of them were on another run, heading right it the Hyperion. Clearly that canon was going to take some time to charge again. In the mean time though, it raised one it's arms to fire off some missles. Krystal was ahead.
"Oh no you don't," she said. She fired off some laser rounds. The missile exploded, leaving the arm limping uselessly.
Fox could see the barrel begin to glow. Keeping focused, he charged a lock-on laser, though he was ready to bank off at a moment's notice.
"Fox, Krys, incoming!" cried Falco.
Movement to his left. Fox saw three enemy craft hone on the two of them.
"I'll bank off, Krys, you're laser's are better suited for taking that thing down," said Fox, and with that he veered off to take care of the craft. They followed him, just as he'd hopped. With a quick summersault he was right behind them. With a still quick of the fire button, one of the ships was a useless wreckage headed for the surface.
He heard laser fire close by, and he guessed that Krystal was taking care of business. So far, it looked like-
"Fox they shifted their aim!" Krystal cried out, "Move-"
Two things happened at once.
One, Fox heard the roar of the EMP weapon as it discharged, and two, Fox pressed the stick to the left as far as it would go, jerking himself over and thanking his lucky stars for G-Diffusers.
It wasn't enough.
The round didn't detonate terribly close to him. But the sudden shaking of his Arwing, and the chilling sight of an empty shield gauge told him all he needed to know.
"Fox!" Krystal screamed.
"I'm fine," Fox said tersely, everyone one of his piloting instincts firing on all cylinders. "Get them off me, Krys. They all have their shields down as well. Falco, help too."
"Copy," both pilots said quickly.
All it would take would be a couple hits of laser fire to put down his bird. And he would make sure that didn't happen. In fact, a blast behind him let him know that one enemy craft was already down. Krys had been extremely quick on the draw.
A beeping noise indicating three enemy missiles brought a chill down his spine. And they were headed right for the three of them.
"Break!" he yelled. "Break and get out of the way, shoot down those missiles!"
Falco and Krystal instantly obeyed, moving to the side while slowing down. The sudden movement caused the missiles to veer off course. Relief flooded his mind, until he realized one missile was still after him.
And practically right behind him.
"Fox!" Krystal screamed.
On pure reflex, Fox banked to his right. The missile wouldn't hit the cockpit.
He heard, rather than saw, his left wing explode in a flurry of metal and fire, and instantly his ears popped as cabin pressure changed. The cockpit systems righted the environment as much as it could, the G-Diffusers working into over drive. But curiously, Fox could feel something like a dull pinching sensation in his left leg.
Pure instinct. Fox knew he was going down, and an emergency landing was imminent. He couldn't hear anything, not the the probable screams of his friends or the wind whistling through the cockpit breech. He found a patch of ground far away from the base and all enemy units, brought the stick up, and braced himself.
He hit the ground hard, jerking his body and causing some pain to rip through his left leg. His wind shield dirtied with dust and sand as the the Arwing slid along the ground until it came to a complete stop, jerking Fox back with the inertia.
Fox still couldn't hear much. He only surveyed his surroundings. His comm was shot, along with most of systems. Slowly but surely he started to hear his own breathing again. He tried to move, only to scream at the sudden pain in his left leg. He looked, and almost fainted were it not for how steeled he was.
A large piece of shrapnel, most likely from his left wing, had stabbed itself through his leg. Blood was everywhere, though the wound being so plugged up was slowing the bleeding. It was the kind of wound that one bled out from, if medical attention wasn't received quickly.
Fox stared dumbly.
Somewhere in his head, he wondered if he was going to die.
Movement. Looking outside he saw the base, and a small force of enemy armor coming his way. The tank canons were trained on him, and suddenly Fox knew he was probably going to die.
Until the whole ground force exploded in a line of laser fire.
Slowly he looked up, dazed. The Cloudrunner, firing lasers at any craft stupid enough to get close.
Krystal. Krystal was keeping him safe.
I will protect you, he remembered.
The was getting lightheaded now, plugged though the wound was. He needed medical attention. He needed it now.
He closed his eyes.
FOX!
His eyes nearly popped out of his head from he quickly they snapped open. A massive spike of energy had sparked right in his mind, along with a message. For a second or two he was practically lucid.
It was Krystal.
Fox, don't you dare close your eyes!
Faintly he saw the CloudRunner land close by, Krystal leaping out of her cockpit and sprinting towards him. Her staff was with her, and as soon as she was close enough she leapt into the air and landed by his cockpit. With her staff she broke the windshield, causing raw rays from solar to spill over his body. Fox felt warm. He wasn't cold. That had to be a good thing.
As he closed his eyes, finally too tired to keep them open regardless of Krystal's efforts, the last thing he saw was the vixen's terrified expression framed by Solar's light.
He heard a beeping noise. But it was so far off, and faint. Someone's sleepy breathing. Someone clutching his hand.
Fox opened his eyes. Or at least he thought he did. He only saw a mosaic of dull colors, swirling over each other. He should have been disoriented, but oddly he felt...peace.
Then a blurry shape came into being. Fox could barely see that it was a figure.
It looked like a vulpine, from what he could see. Tan colored, just like him. Wearing an old flight suit and jacket, and...sunglasses?
Fox knew.
Father, he thought. He wanted to speak, wanted to say anything, but found he couldn't utter a word.
"Fox," his father's blurry image whispered, "Fox, don't make the mistake I made."
Mistake? Fox thought. What...what is this?
"Fox," his father whispered mournfully. "Fox, don't wait any longer."
Wait? Wait for what, Fox thought.
"Don't wait," his father whispered. "Don't keep her waiting. Don't do what I did."
Before Fox could question any further, the colors exploded, his father's blurry image disappeared. He heard and smelt and felt the world around him. It smelled of medicine, sterility and...
...and her.
Fox awoke.
The white ceiling, the sterile smell, and the feel of what he was laying on let him know quickly that he was in a hospital. Dazed though he still was, in his peripherals he saw a window to his left, open and showing a night sky. A night sky with the moons of Katina.
An unmistakable scent caught up to him, and he felt someone's hand in his. He looked more to his right, and sighed in relief.
Krystal was at his bedside, her head down, and clutching his hand tightly. Her steady breathing let him know she was sleeping soundly.
The sight of her was enough to calm him down substantially. Krystal has told him plenty of times that he looked adorable when he was sleeping. In turn, he'd told Krystal plenty of times the sight of her sleeping peacefully brought him peace in turn. He tried to reach with his left hand to stroke her face, but he groaned with pain when he felt just how much his body ached.
He saw Krystal move. That groan must have woke her. She rose slowly, her eyes opening at the same speed. She wiped her eyes, stretching, and looked over to him.
Instantly she was fully awake. Her eyes widened, and now Fox saw that her eyes were wet with tears. How long had she been crying before he woke up, Fox wondered? She began to tremble, and gently reached a trembling hand to cup his cheek.
"Fox?" she whispered hoarsely.
Fox smiled weakly. "Yeah, I'm still here," he answered.
Krystal was a blue blur as she moved to hug him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Fox gasped in pain, and she immediately loosened her grip, but only just so. She began to cry, sobbing quietly into his neck.
"Fox...oh my goodness, Fox..." she whimpered, still trembling.
Fox, painful though it was, wrapped his right arm around her back. He nuzzled her gently, not knowing what to say.
"They said you might not wake up..." she said, "The doctors said that there was a high chance...that you wouldn't..."
Another stream of sobs and hiccups streamed from the vixen, and Fox stroked her back.
"It's okay," Fox said quietly, "I'm here Krys. Everything's going to be okay."
For a time they were quiet, just holding one another. Krystal sobbed, and Fox started to tear up himself.
"I thought I lost you," Krystal whispered.
"You didn't," Fox said, as comfortingly as he could.
She backed away from his neck, and started to stroke his face. Those eyes of hers. Those eyes looked down upon him with all the care and love and relief in Lylat, Fox guessed. Maybe even in the entire universe. Despite what had happened to him, Fox felt a little more alright when she looked at him like that.
"This is what you were afraid of." Krystal spoke.
"What?" Fox asked.
"This feeling," said Krystal, now cupping his cheek fluff and stroked it tenderly, "This feeling of nearly losing what you love...loss...this is what you feared. This is what you thought of when you tried to make me leave...It's horrible. It's like when my planet died."
That time back then, in the infirmary. That was the last thing Fox thought he was going to think about. But he could remember. That time when he was Krystal's bedside, holding her hand as she slept peacefully to rest while she recovered from her burn wounds.
The fear of what could have been. That fear of her death.
"Yes," Fox answered. He didn't want to think about that time. Not right now.
Krystal kissed Fox on the forehead.
"Never," she started, "never let me scorn you for asking me to leave the team back then."
"Krystal?" Fox said, surprised.
"Never, Fox," she said again, hugging him. "Never ever. I didn't do it back then, and I never will. Never let me."
Fox didn't say anything. He held her as she softly cried. He was relieved that he was alive, waking up to the sight of someone he loved right by his beside. Someone who had, most likely, never left his bedside the moment he came here.
It wasn't until later that he asked Krystal why he couldn't feel his left leg.