0945 Hours, 31 April, 2439 (Cornerian Military Calendar), Venom, Lylat System.
Fox gradually pushed forward on the throttle of the Arwing. The G-Diffusers of the Arwing pushed him back into the seat as he flew over Venom. The red fox did not take his eyes off of the radar. Soon, a small white dot entered the small screen. McCloud smiled and pulled the trigger back. Several streams of green plasma shot from the fighter and towards the Venomian fighter that he knew Krystal had stolen.
She saw it coming, the fighter rolled and banked left to avoid it.
"Oh… You're back," she laughed darkly, "Couldn't get enough?"
Fox looked down, the two fighters were hovering directly above the tunnel that he had dug out the day before, "How 'bout a race?"
"A race?"
"Yeah, down that tunnel, I win, you come back to the Great Fox with me."
She seemed to take interest, "And if I win?"
"I'll leave you alone, won't get in your way anymore."
Krystal charged a laser and let in disintegrate, "And the rules?"
McCloud grinned and squeezed the trigger before diving down, "There are none."
He heard Krystal's fighter trailing him immediately. Fox came to the first split in the tunnel and turned sharply to the right, knowing whichever way he went, he would end up where he had battled Andross over a decade before.
Fox continued following the path until he could see the opening in the tunnel. He pushed the throttle what little more it could go. The Venomian fighter pulled up right next to him, but she misjudged it. Right before breaking into the large chamber, Krystal's wing scraped against the wall. The wing tore off like tissue paper, the metal screaming as it ripped. She lost control and the jet banged against the walls until it caught fighter and tumbled down.
"FFFOOOOOOOOXXXX!!" She screamed.
The red fox almost considered letting her fall, after what she had done to him, but something clicked in his head, forcing him to dive down and catch the burning remains on the nose of his fighter. With great effort, the Arwing was able to make it up back to the entrance of the tunnel.
He hovered in the middle of the tunnel, at a flat stretch and dipped the nose, dumping the wreckage on the metal floor with a cry of metal grating and crunching of advanced electronics. Fox landed the Arwing and jumped out. He reached his paw into the burning wreckage, ignoring the painful waves that passed through his body as his jumpsuit and fur burned away. He found Krystal's arm and hoisted her out with great effort. The little blue vixen's head dropped back limply as she was pulled away, burns covered her face and body and most of her clothing hung about her limply in shredded remains.
"Come on Krystal," Fox grunted, "Work with me here!" he finally got her boots out of the fighter. He dropped her on the rusting metal floor and put his paw on her neck, checking for her pulse.
He slung the small vixen over his shoulder and set her in the cockpit of the Arwing before squeezing in himself.
He flipped open a channel with the Great Fox and a holographic image of Falco slowly materialized in front of him
"Fox!" he exclaimed, "What are you doing?"
"I found Krystal," he explained briefly, "I'm bringing to her to the Great Fox. She crashed."
His former wing mate's eyes drifted to the side and then back to him, "How did you find out she was here?"
"Well… Actually, Katt told me when I first arrived, and then she found me… You know, before I went missing."
"Oh yeah," Falco smiled, "I don't hear anything? Is she okay?"
"She just crashed, Falco, she's unconscious, you above all people should know that."
"Okay, I get it. I get it. Bring her up here and we'll see what we can do."
X
1245 Hours, 31 April, 2439 (Cornerian Military Calendar), Great Fox Medical Bay, Venom, Lylat System.
"Will she be okay Falco?"
"She'll be fine. It's just a matter of when will she wake up."
Fox sighed. Krystal was now lying on a cot in front of Falco and himself in the Great Fox Medical Bay. Working together, the former wing mates also received the opportunity to reconcile about what had happened on the past. The vulpine slipped into one of the chairs and hid his face in his paws.
Falco snuffed, "So you still had feelings for her didn't you?"
The red fur smiled barely, "Yeah. I don't know what happened… I- I just wanted to protect her."
He felt the falcon's wing on his shoulder, "Maybe you should think of what she wants rather than what you believe is best for her."
The fox's breath stopped short, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Could you… Leave me alone for a few minutes? I… I wanna apologize."
"While she's asleep?" the avian asked, "I would wait until she wakes up."
"Falco," Fox began to get irritated.
"Got it," Lombardi turned and exited the medical bay.
McCloud scooted his chair forward and leaned towards the sleeping vixen, resting his paw on hers.
"I had another chance… And I blew it. Krystal… I'm… Sorry. I'm sorry that it has to end this way. But I want you back…" he closed his eyes and a silvery tear dropped off of his face and onto his lap, "I want you to be a part of me again. I understand if you feel betrayed by me and you probably won't want to be around me and if you even hate me. But I really need your help. And I hope you know that I'm sorry for all that happened and if you come back… I won't let anything like that ever happen again. That was wrong of me. I should have known that you could-"
"Who are you?"
Fox's eyes snapped open, "What?" he blinked and found that Krystal's eyes had opened, "Oh…" he jerked his paw away, "I really am sorry. If you don't want me to be here," Fox stood, "I'll leave and-"
Krystal cut him off, "Who are you?"
The vulpine blinked, "Krystal…. You know me." He sat back down, "It's me, Fox."
The little blue vixen tilted her head to the side and scratched her head, "Who's Fox?"
"Krystal stop it this isn't funny. You know who I am."
"Who's Krystal? Where am I?"
McCloud took another approach, "Kursed?" he suggested, "You're a bounty hunter. On the planet Kew. Any of this ringing a bell?"
A look of disgust crossed her face, "Kursed? Who's that?"
He faced her, "Y-you don't remember?"
Krystal swung her legs off of the cot, "What do you mean? And what am I doing in here anyway?"
"No! Krystal don't!" the fox tried setting the little blue fox down but she resisted. She stood but her back cramped and she sat down, "How did that happen?"
Fox was about to spill out the story, but then held himself, if he told her the story then she might have remembered and then she would remember her hatred for him, "I don't know," he lied, "We just found you like this."
"We?"
"Falco and I?"
"Who's Falco? Can I meet him?"
X
2057 Hours, 1 May, 2439 (Venomian Military Calendar), Venomian Military Hideout, Venom, Lylat System.
"This is unacceptable Lieutenant… This is intolerable.
"Two of the prisoners have escaped and we don't even know who or what they are. Plus, one of our fighters has been stolen. And now we cannot find it or the person who has commandeered it. To add to that, about tem of our commanding officers have been killed. You're lucky I don't bump you down to Corporal for this."
The wolf that stood in front of the wolverine at his desk took in a deep breath, "Permission to speak freely… Sir?"
"Denied."
The Lieutenant shook his head and did so anyway, "As if this is my fault Sir! I wasn't in charge of the areas where the escapes took place! If they didn't find what we are working on… Then we aren't in much trouble are we?"
"I don't think you understand the severity of this matter Lieutenant."
"Of course I do. But if no major damage was done, then we are fine. Obviously their only objective was to save the bird and that blue fox Krystal. And maybe it is just purely coincidence that they killed only the commanding officers."
The wolverine leaned forward in his desk, "And no such thing will ever happen. I need you to assemble a team to overtake these… Strangers. Use whatever you can. Commandos, soldiers here, anything in the system."
"But Sir, any AWOL troops are tough to deal with. Commandos are hard to find, Marines are tough to catch, but anything in the System? That's a really broad scope."
"That is because I am giving you the freedom to choose whatever you want. Assemble your Force. Special Ops, Marines, Commandos, anything you need. I want you off the record and off base in forty-eight hours. This attack never happened."
"Yes Sir," the wolf turned and headed towards the door, "You won't be disappointed."
"Oh, and O'Donnell."
"Yes Sir?"
"Bring me their leader… Alive."
The lupine grinned darkly, "Yes sir."
X
1523 Hours, 2 May, 2439 (Cornerian Military Calendar), Great Fox Medical Bay, Venom, Lylat System.
"Falco this is serious. She's suffering some major amnesia right now."
The avian smirked and glanced over at the blue fox who was getting some water, wearing some of Fox's casual wear, "She doesn't remember?"
"Nothing. She didn't even know her own name."
Falco whistled, "Does she remember how to fly?"
"Most likely not."
"We can't keep her here then. She's gonna do nothing but bring us down if she's gonna sit around and do nothing. We need to send her back to Corneria."
"No. I can't do that. Where'll she go?"
"I'm pretty sure Peppy would gladly take her in."
"No. That won't work." Fox rested his elbow on one of the chairs and rested his forehead in his paw, "Let me re-teach her how to fly and to fight. She's a fast learner and maybe she'll start to remember."
Falco sighed, "Okay. You've got one week. That's all."