Part 6
"What a mess, Fox has really let that ship go." Krystal said as they approached the Great Fox 2 drifting silently. The old Cornerian carrier was damaged and battered, it's lights out and thrusters cold.
"We call the carriers like that soda cans." Jack told her. "There's almost no armor of any kind, they might as well be made of sheet metal."
"What if he doesn't want to talk, or trust me?" Krystal asked.
"Well, I can't go down there and ask him myself now can I?" Jack replied
"No, I guess you can't." she shook her head, "I still don't know about this. We don't even know if he's on the planet. I'd feel alot better if I didn't have to go alone."
"I could convince Miri to go with you if you want. This isn't a dangerous operation. The worst thing that could happen is he says no and walks away. She's been on a human planet though, not that anyone would know that."
"You're right, I'd feel alot better if Miri went along. Maybe she could get an idea of how he feels about me." A ship crossed directly in the Prospect's path, it was an Airwing. It banked and headed for the carrier, it's hangar doors opening slowly.
"Guess we don't have to go down to the planet, he's dropped in on us." Jack walked over to the communications console. "I'll see if I can get him before he docks... No response, either he's ignoring me or he's running silent. Let's try again."
"What?" A familiar voice echoed through the room. "Who is this and what do you want?"
"Miri, if you could talk to him for me, see if you can get him to let us send a ship over."
"Mr. McCloud." Miri said into the com. "My name is Miri and I represent an individual interested in purchasing your services, he's been told you're one of the best pilots in the system."
"You've got the wrong person," The Airwing stopped short of the carrier's hangar doors, "My name's Falco. Fox is on board the carrier, what do you want?."
"The individual I represent was very specific, he wants speak with Fox McCloud about a job. A former associate of his, Krystal, spoke very highly of him."
"Did you say Krystal?" Falco's voice stuttered. "You know where she is?"
"I do, perhaps we can discuss it." Miri said nervously, "I can't say too much more over an open channel."
"I'm not sure we can trust her. She's done alot of bad things. She's working for this guy too?"
"No, she was never given an invitation." Miri responded, "She and my employer have a brief history, but she recommended Fox by name, so here we are."
"Let me dock and talk to Fox about it." Falco said, "If you're willing to meet me on the carrier."
"He wants me to go over there." Miri said to Jack. "I can't fly a ship."
"Since he's not on the planet, we can all go over. I'd like to get a firsthand look inside Cornerian Carrier anyway. I'll to go around to the other side of the moon to uncloak so we can launch Krystal's ship. Tell him we'll be right over."
"Mr. Falco, we will be over shortly." Miri said.
Falco had docked his ship and met with Fox, Falco told Fox of the strange message he had gotten on his way back from the planet. Krystal, Jack, and Miri made their way to the Great Fox 2 and docked with the ship. Most of the ship's power was out and the halls were lit by dying emergency lighting. Krystal led the group through the maze of passages and junk that cluttered the interior until they came to the briefing room near the center of the ship. Jack waited down the hall while Krystal and Miri made their way to the briefing room to meet with Fox, who was getting an earful from Falco standing in the doorway.
"Fox are you crazy? Do you remember how she treated you when she was working for Wolf?" Falco yelled, "This is Krystal, the one that worked for Star Wolf, the one that twisted the knife after she stuck it in our backs. The one that went crazy and had every bounty hunter in Lylat looking for her. For all we know this is another setup."
Fox was sitting back in his chair with his feet propped up on far end of the briefing room table. His hands were folded across his chest and a magazine covered his face, the cover showed the Star Wolf team, sans Krystal, with the headline "Heroes!" He spoke to Falco from under it.
"This is the same Krystal I kicked off the team because I was afraid. The same one I've regretted letting go ever since." Fox peeked out from under the magazine at Falco, "She was different the last time I saw her, but it's been a long time and I might not get another chance to really sit down and talk to her."
"Oh yeah, I'm really looking forward to this. Listening to her put you down some more is just what I want to hear." Falco said as he stood up and turned to face Miri as she came up behind him. Krystal had heard part ot their conversation and darted down the hall visibly shaken.
"Mr. Falco, I may be able to convince my employer to take both of you on if you're interested. I'm sure he'd be interested if your talents are anywhere near Mr. McCloud's." Miri said as she walked back toward Jack who had stepped out from around the corner and walked toward the doorway.
"Man a human in Lylat, this isn't good. This better be worth our time." he said pointing Jack.
"Is this the guy?" Jack said pointing to Fox who was still sitting in his chair, unaware of what was going on in the hall just outside the room. "You could have swapped the term "ace pilot" with "out of work bum" and I would have been ok with it." Krystal peeked out from the end of the hall and nodded but did not speak, her hands were shaking as she slowly backed down the hall. Jack followed her and motioned for Miri to talk to Fox.
"I can assure you." Miri said to Falco, "It's worth your time, my employer represents a large and well organized faction based outside Lylat and is looking for mercenary pilots to fly missions for him." Falco's eyes widened, he leaned over and whispered in Miri's ear.
"You want us to fly missions for the humans?"
"That should be obvious by this point." she looked at him and smiled.
"I'll talk to Fox, he'll want to know this. Krystal or no, this changes everything."
"Very good then," Miri said with a smile, "We'll be waiting for you in the hangar."
Fox looked up from under the magazine, he was now sitting upright and just caught a glimpse of Miri as she stepped back from the doorway. "Who was that?" he said looking at Falco. Falco waited until Miri had disappeared around the corner before walking over and speaking to Fox in a hushed voice.
"Remember when I left Star Fox after the Aparoid war? How I said I had seen things I couldn't talk about?"
"Yeah, those were some strange times when you came back too." Fox patted him on the back, "It almost humbled you. Almost."
"That girl is working for one of those things I can't talk about." Falco spoke in a whisper, "If it's true, we need to be very careful how we approach this. These guys don't play games, if they are the ones looking for us, it's big and it might be worth looking into."
"So you want to talk to them?" Fox looked at Falco, "I'm ok with just walking away if you have a bad feeling. Even if it means walking away from Krystal."
"No, I think we should look into it." Falco said, "I just want to make sure it's the real deal before we agree to anything. I know the questions to ask, things you don't." Fox nodded and they made their way to the hangar.
Jack boarded the ship while Krystal and Miri stayed in the hangar to wait for Fox and Falco who made their way down to meet them. Krystal had come face to face with Fox for the first time in years. Neither of them spoke, staring at the ground and shuffling their feet. Falco decided to break the silence.
"So, what's the deal?" He said to Miri, "I'm a very busy and very wealthy man. Your employer better be ready to put up some serious credits if he wants the best."
"Payment comes on a per mission basis." she told Falco, "Also, the individuals you are going after forfeit their possessions to us after they are captured or killed. The more missions we run, the better the payout. In addition, all your ship maintenance, housing, meals, and other expenses are covered as part of our contract."
"So we get paid from the bad guys wallets? I'm not sure I like that, too many variables." Falco thought a moment, "But not having any other expenses might make it worthwhile. You can count me in."
"You give us ships?" Fox asked. "I take it you've got something better than an Airwing?"
"Everything we have available is better than an Airwing." Miri responded.
"Fox, I know you and I have had a rough couple of years." Krystal spoke, "And I'm sorry for what happened, I was wrong to do what I did. I said some terrible things to you that I didn't really mean. I was upset, hurt, and I know that doesn't excuse what I did, I will tell you I've paid for it one hundred times over already. Wolf wants me dead, or back on his team, and I have no interest in going back to that life. I'd rather fly with you again, or not at all."
"Krystal." Fox looked at her, "I was wrong to kick you off the team, I was being selfish and I know it hurt you. But what you did to us could have gotten all of us killed, I don't know if you realized that at the time, Wolf is dangerous company, he always has been. I won't lie to you, what you said hurt me, and it's going to take some time for me to trust you again. I'm not sure I'm ready to drop what I'm doing and run off."
"I didn't expect you to speak to me at all. I'm glad you did though, it's good to see you again. I am here because I was the one who gave Miri's employer your name. Please don't consider my being here in your decision. The individual looking at hiring you is doing this for the right reasons, he is a good person and can be trusted, even if you think I cannot."
"Fox." Falco said, "I think we should go for it, I mean you and I haven't had a job in months and there's nothing for a solo pilot to do in Lylat anymore. We'd have plenty of time to check this guy out and decide if it's a way to go or not. Besides, life around here is getting boring without the team. Don't you want to go back to the old days and see some real action? I got all this talent going to waste here."
"I guess we could." Fox turned to Miri, "What do we need to do?"
"My employer has a ship parked on the far side of Macbeth's moon, you only need to approach the ship and he'll let you on board." Miri gave Fox and Falco the coordinates and left with Krystal and Jack. A few hours later, Fox and Falco made their way to the far side of Macbeth's moon and approached the cloaked Fortune's Prospect.
"Yeah, I don't see a ship out here." Falco said, "If this is some kind of joke I am not amused." Krystal had given Jack the all clear to open the hangar and allow them to dock just as Falco began to turn his ship away. Jack opened the ship's hangar doors, breaking the cloak and revealing the Prospect.
"Ok, that's a first. I've never seen a ship like that before." Falco said. Another voice jumped in as they prepared to dock with the Prospect.
"Unidentified ship, state your purpose in this system. Right now or I'll be forced to shoot." the female voice chirped. "This isn't a warning."
"Oh no," Falco sighed, "Katt, this is private business. You need to get out of here now. What are you doing out here anyway?"
"I don't think so." Katt replied, "You're not leaving me out of this one Falco. Besides, you know I'm never too far away from you."
They docked in the hangar as the ship engaged it's jump drive, making it's way back to the Alpha system and human territory. Katt had been shut out of the hangar as the Prospect entered the portal and returned to Alpha system, she was able to follow the ship but the turbulence inside the portal had disabled her engines and she drifted past the Prospect facing nearly backward.
"Uhh, guys." she said into the com, "I'm in a bit of trouble here." Falco and the others climbed out of their ships and surveyed the hangar. Falco, seemingly unconcerned with Katt, admired Krystal's new ship. Krystal went to the communications console and tried to reach Jack.
"Jack." she said, "A ship from Lylat followed us through the portal, it's disabled and drifting."
"I see it, do you know the pilot?"
"I do," Falco piped up. "She's harmless, annoying, but harmless." The ship's hangar doors opened and Katt's crippled ship was winched inside. She jumped out of it and ran over to Falco and the others. More concerned with keeping her composure infront of Falco than the condition of her ship.
"This is an ADF," Falco said. "I thought all of these were gone. They're a real kick to fly."
"Glad you like them, Jack has outfitted several for you to use in Lylat, they're in the forward port hangar." Miri looked at the group, "Since we're all here, I guess we should head up to the bridge."
"So what happened with you and Wolf?" Fox asked Krystal, "I saw the reports when you left, I didn't believe what I was hearing. All those people, and the thefts, it didn't sound like you at all. Then there were rumors of you and Panther..."
"Alot of it wasn't true." Krystal walked with her head down, "Wolf had been trying to frame me for the illegal things Star Wolf was doing while working for the CDF. He contracted me through other people to do terrible things, giving me the wrong information so I'd think I was doing the galaxy a favor. I can't begin to tell you the guilt I've felt. The person we're going to meet, Jack, gave me an out finally. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be standing here right now. He helped me get away from Wolf, and he helped clear my name with the CDF, I am as close to free as I've ever been. I owe him a great deal. As for Panther, it didn't work out, that's all I really want to say."
"I'm so sorry Krystal," Fox held her hand as they walked. "I kept thinking it was my fault, I shouldn't have let you go, we needed you."
"I made my own decisions." she said, "Even if they were the wrong ones, I made them. There's no one else to blame. I told Slippy I was different when we met during the war with the Anglars, I didn't tell him it was because I had lost my telepathy." Katt had been eying Miri as they walked toward the ship's bridge, she nudged Falco and pointed to the scars visible on Miri.
"What do you make of that?" she whispered, "Think she's some kind of slave, there's rumors the remnants of Venom's army are stalking Lylat and taking people as slaves."
"I doubt it," Falco said, "I think you should keep quiet for this. You really don't know what you've gotten yourself into." The group stopped at the door to the ship's bridge, it opened and they went inside. Jack was standing infront of the galaxy map Krystal had seen on her last visit to the ship, he turned around and greeted the group.
"As a representative of the Human Systems Federation, let me welcome you on board DSM Fortune's Prospect. You're here because I've been told you're the best your home system has to offer and I'd like to offer you a chance to fight the battles before the war starts." Katt had hid behind Falco and Fox who looked at Jack and the galaxy map with mouths open.
"So, what's this about?" Fox finally asked.
"During the Lylat wars and the Aparoid Invasion," Jack responded, "Your group of mercenary pilots turned the tide of the war in favor of the CDF, it takes an exceptional group of individuals to do such a thing. It's recently come to my attention that elements within the Cornerian government are trying to provoke a conflict between the HSF and the CDF. We can't let this happen. Unfortunately, I can't go into Lylat myself to correct the problem, that's where you come in."
"Wait, you want us to go in and take out Star Wolf?" Falco stepped forward, "Are you insane? The Cornerians aren't going to let us drop in and start shooting at them, we'd be swarmed the moment we got close. I don't really know if we can even trust you."
"No, I want you to stop them from starting a war with the HSF." Jack replied, "Star Wolf is doing plenty to remove themselves from public favor, and I have enough information to keep them on the bad side of the Cornerian government for a long time. All you have to do is get them on the run so they can't do anymore damage. As for trust, I get my orders from the HSF, and I pass them on to you. The HSF is interested in creating and preserving peace and stability in this region, they are not interested in undermining the Cornerian government. We have a treaty with the Cornerians and we do intend to honor it. If anything, the Cornerian government is trying to cause more problems for themselves." Jack began playing a recording of Wolf's speech where he planned to frame Krystal and start a skirmish with the HSF. Fox clenched his fists, Wolf had beaten them after the Anglars but he hadn't changed.
"I think I've seen enough." Fox looked at a nearby screen, scrolling lists of names and descriptions of the things Wolf had done in the name of the CDF. "When do we get started?"
"Introductions are in order first." Jack said. "I'm Jack Roberts, I believe you know Krystal and you've already met Miri, she'll be handling the logistics on the ship. We seem to have taken on more personnel than originally planned, might I ask who two you are?"
"I'm Falco, Fox's friend, we flew together in Star Fox. I'm freelance now."
"I'm Katt Monroe, Falco's friend, I flew with him in a squadron a couple of years ago. Umm.. also freelance."
"I see, you're the same Falco that helped us design the ADF, good to have you aboard." Jack looked at Falco and Katt, then turned to Fox. "Mr. McCloud, are these individuals part of your team?"
"I guess so," Fox said rubbing his head. "Falco and Katt are two of the best pilots in Lylat. Is Krystal part of this too?"
"I'm not sure." Jack said, "It's your team, she didn't have any interest in joining mine."
"I'd be honored to fly with you again Fox." Krystal stepped forward, she turned and looked at Fox. "If I'm welcome."
"Krystal," Fox looked at her and smiled. "I think you know the answer."
"Good, then you should take some time to get acquainted with the ship and it's workings." Jack explained the colored bands on the walls and the ship's room service and automated service facilities for their ships. "Each of you is assigned a cabin on the crew deck, you're more than welcome to customize it any way you wish, the cards I'm giving you now will unlock the doors and give you access to the ships in the forward port hangar. You can access the consoles near your ships and outfit them with any loadout you choose, from weapons and shields to thrusters and targeting systems. The ADFs have a modular design that makes them very flexible and they are far superior to anything in Lylat right now. They can be changed out quickly by the drones in the bay, just select the options you want and hit the red button. Understand that once you take these missions, you are sworn to secrecy, no one in Lylat can know who's providing support for this operation. Should you decide to leave the team, your ship is returned to the HSF and you are not to discuss any of your work here."
"I'm impressed." Falco looked at the others, "This is what your people had in mind when they wanted to study my ship?"
"Not exactly, the project was scrapped after the prototypes couldn't meet the performance requirements. " Jack said, "But they are the closest thing we have to a Cornerian fighter and their modular design makes them easily tailored to fit the mission's needs. You should become comfortable with them very quickly. The first few missions I'll assign you will be team oriented and I may give you individual missions as I become more familiar with your specific skills."
"So you just sit here in the ship and give us orders?" Katt asked. "What are we getting paid for this?"
"No, I won't be just sitting here." Jack told her. "My skills are better spent on the ground in combat, besides I can't touchdown in Lylat. No humans are allowed planet side and I really can't be caught bringing human ships into the system. Once you're in space, Fox is in charge. When I have a job for you in Lylat, I'll open a jump portal into the system and you can fly through it. Once you complete your mission, I will open the portal at the same coordinates and you can return through it. As for your payment, you're not paying anything for the ships, their upkeep, your room and board while on this ship, or any expenses related to travel while on a mission. If it's credits you want, we will be dividing the assets of targeted individuals once they are taken out. I'll also get a payment on a per mission basis from the HSF that I will distribute to you as well. The HSF can't fund you directly without causing problems with the CDF, so they're letting me distribute payment. I'm not doing this for the money or the fame, I'm doing this because it needs to be done and no one else will do it. Doing this solo has paid me very well over the years, I don't see why it won't continue to do so."
"When do we get our first assignment?" Fox asked.
"First mission begins as soon as you feel you're ready." Jack walked over to the galaxy map and brought up Lylat. "We need to let Star Wolf and the local smugglers know we're out there looking for them. I'll jump you into the system near the asteroid belt in Lylat. We've had a couple of smugglers moving human tech into the system from Alpha and we need it stopped before they have an chance to reverse engineer our technology or those weapons make it into the general population. Find the cargo containers in their staging area in the Meteo asteroid field and destroy them and any ships defending them. When you're done, I'll jump you back. Very simple and direct, any questions?"
"Just one." Fox raised his hand. "How is this supposed to help us? We could wind up shooting at CDF forces or members of Star Wolf."
"You're entering the system through a jump portal, which leaves a big energy signature for anyone scanning the system to pickup." Jack pointed at the map. "It's the same signature that the pirates use to track the aid ships coming into the system and every trigger happy freelancer in the system will drop in to wipe you out thinking you're another trade ship. If you run across CDF, don't shoot unless shot at, they really don't have the weapons to penetrate the ADF's shields right away, you don't have to attack unless necessary. It will take some time to regain the favor of the CDF and we need to make sure we don't engage them by mistake."
"I have a question." Katt interrupted. "What's a jump portal and why do your ships all look so rusty?"
"It's not rust." Jack said, obviously annoyed. "The alloys we use in hull armor construction have an uneven bronze tint to them, giving the ship a rusty appearance. The dark color of the hull and the absence of the Cornerian Airwing's glowing engines makes the ADF more difficult to see in space. We can paint them if you want, but it's really just a waste of time and resources. As for the jump portal, it's a bridge between two points in the universe that compacts the distance from light years to kilometers. The swirling edges of the portal are actually the galaxy compressed into a very small area relative to the distance covered. If you were to touch the wall of the portal, you would be stretched out and scattered."
"So how's it work?" Katt fired back.
"The faster than light warp drives work off an electrical current exciting an antimatter core to displace the mass of a ship so it can be accelerated beyond light speed, a jump drive works in a similar way but the power demand is about ten thousand times higher and it uses the antimatter to generate a singularity that draws one point in the universe toward another. I don't have a more detailed explanation on the inner workings of these ships, I just fly them."
"Oh, ok." Katt looked at Jack with glazed eyes.
"I think we've heard enough." Falco said. "Let's get out there."
"Jack, before we go I need to ask you something." Krystal spoke up.
"Go ahead." Jack answered back.
"While we were waiting for the ship to be repaired, I came across something called an impact event in a system you call Becker1314. What happened there?"
"What a silly name." Katt said.
"All the systems in this region of the galaxy are named for the man that found them." Jack began. "Dr. Marcus Becker found this very tightly packed cluster of dim stars we're in now. Hence the name Becker Cluster, there are almost 1500 stars here with each given a number in the order it was discovered, Lylat is known as Becker1236 in the home systems. We sent probes into these systems to monitor the conditions there and determine what resources that system has and if there are any habitable planets or civilizations in the system. The probes are still in the systems to monitor any kind of activity that may be of interest to the HSF. About 3 years after we came to this region, one of the probes in Becker1314 picked up a rogue asteroid roughly 15km in diameter on a collision course with a nearby planet. This is what we call a "planet killer" because an impact of that magnitude can wipe life off the surface of a planet in an instant. The chances of a planet killer actually getting to a planet are fairly small, the planet it hit was on the outside of the system, making it an easy target. It had an unusual trajectory, almost like it was aimed, it didn't follow the traditional pattern of an asteroid drawn in by gravity. It also left a hydrazine trail as it passed through the system, hydrazine is a very old rocket propellant and it does not occur naturally. "
"Can you show me where this system is?" Krystal asked, her hands were shaking.
"Yes." Jack said, he continued to talk as he walked over to the galaxy map. "The asteroid made a 60 degree turn as it approached the planet and hit just a bit off center of it's north pole scattering bits of itself and the planet's crust into the atmosphere. Everything on the impact side of the planet was incinerated or crushed in the shockwave. Only a small portion of the planet's southern pole, almost opposite of the impact zone, escaped total destruction, when the fires finally began to die out on the surface the smoke and dust choked atmosphere kept any heat from the system's star from reaching the surface, and temperatures dropped." Jack brought up the map of the Becker cluster and pointed to one star and it's three planets. Krystal collapsed to the floor.
"That was Cerinia." she whispered. "That was my home." Fox helped Krystal to her feet, she turned away, unable to look at the map.
"I'm sorry." Jack said, shaking his head. "There isn't much left there now. We knew there was a civilization on the planet when the impact occurred, the CDF didn't know what had happened and we were able to send a team to the system just 3 days after the impact. We picked up a couple of small ships that were orbiting when we arrived and there were a few survivors on the station that orbits the planet, they hadn't been there very long, but the surface was a total loss. We scoured the burning ruins of every population center we could safely get to for weeks, only a handful of survivors were found down there. I can upload the video logs taken at the time from the HSF shipnet if you want to see them."
"As soon as you can get them to me, I'd like to see them. There were survivors on the ships?" Krystal turned and faced Jack. "What happened to them? Where did you take them?"
"Io station, which was still under construction at the time. There were about 300 in all, most of them took their own lives in the days after, I guess it was too much for them. We buried the dead on Alpha III in a nearby colony's cemetery, I can't say what happened to the rest, I assume they went to the surface and settled somewhere."
"I need to go back there. Now." Krystal pointed to the map.
"I can't do that now." Jack answered. "We have a very time sensitive mission that needs done. If you can wait until it's over, I give you my word as soon as you dock with the ship, we'll go to Cerinia."
"No, I don't want to wait."
"Krystal, there isn't anything there. Everything that was on the surface is either ash or buried under meters of rubble, and the atmosphere is toxic. Please, we have a job to do and if those weapons make it into Lylat, it's going to be bad for us all. I've seen Cerinia, trust me, there's nothing there that can't wait until we're done with the mission."
"As soon as I dock, you'll turn the ship toward Cerinia?"
"Yes." Jack said. "We'll go there right away. I know this is important to you and I will keep my promise."
"Fine." Krystal said, "When do we go?"
"I'm waiting on you." Jack told her.