Chapter 7: The Distressed
Still trying to return to full wakefulness, Fox barreled into the Great Fox's bridge with Scarlet behind him. Stumbling to a stop near the central holoprojector, he stared out the front viewport at the scene before him. In the abyss of unoccupied space, an alien frigate with glowing blue accent lines and a glasslike, angular, crystalline appearance opened fire on a craft roughly a third its size. The smaller vessel—possessing a design similar to that of the frigate—banked and turned in an attempt to avoid the incoming plasma fire. The attempt was met with mixed success. One heavy round struck the smaller ship, hammering it and creating a visible spray of metal from its side.
Fox narrowed his eyes and stared at the larger ship. "Wait a minute—that's the same ship that was docked next to us on the orbital platform." He glanced at Scarlet, just as Slippy—coming from a different part of the ship—wobbled his way into the command center and let out a loud 'whoa' upon seeing the scene in front of him.
Seated in the right side pilot's chair, Peppy looked over his shoulder at the three behind him and shouted, "The little ship's sending a distress signal! Fox—orders?"
Fox stood transfixed, trying to process his thoughts in a way that would enable him to come up with some kind of action. As he looked on, the small ship took a second hit. This time, he heard an unmistakable voice in his head. Just like with his encounter with the Cerinians on the platform, it carried no words, but still registered as an understandable, knowable voice.
"Help me!"
Despite having no sound, the inaudible mental voice carried so much weight that Fox grimaced, as though he suddenly felt the entire spectrum of emotions behind the cry for help. At the same time, recognizing the larger ship and recalling the infuriating, condescending warning that its crew had broadcasted to him on the Saijivo oribtal platform caused a sense of rage to build up inside of him.
"Peppy," he growled. "Initiate target lock on the bigger ship. Main cannons."
The aged hare nodded, although Fox noticed uncertainty across his entire figure. As Fox asked, he queued up the ship's heavy main cannons and aligned the targeting grid with a yoke controller. The ship's HUD displayed the grid on the front viewport. After a half-second delay, it locked onto the ship with a digital chirp, and the grid changed from red to green.
"What now?" asked Peppy.
Crossing his arms, Fox descended the short stairs to the pilot's seats and stood next to him. "That depends on what they do. They know we're locked on."
Seconds later, the same silent voice Fox had heard on the orbital platform spoke to all four on the bridge simultaneously. Having never experienced it before, Peppy and Slippy clutched at their heads in panic.
"Do not interfere with affairs that are not your own, outsider."
As they did on the platform, the smug, condescending undertones permeating the mental voice brought Fox's anger to a boil. Already on edge, he bared his teeth and took a sideways step towards Peppy. He eyed the trigger on the back of the targeting yoke ahead of him and thought about how satisfying it would feel to squeeze it and put the source of the voices in its place.
"What if there's something to that ship we don't know about? What if it has some crazy shield or a hidden weapon? I don't know anything about it. Scarlet might, but I don't have the time to ask her. I've got to react now—that small ship is one hit away from getting turned into space dust.
The first voice called out to him a second time, more desperately than before. "Please, help me!"
Fox narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. Glaring at the larger ship, he put his hand around the yoke's trigger and gave it a strong squeeze. The firing program for the Great Fox's main guns specified a quick burst after a tap of the trigger and a colossal beam laser if the user held the trigger for two consecutive seconds. Fox kept the trigger in a vice grip.
The entire ship shook as the twin cannons roared to life, a massive green beam emanating from below the bridge. Drawing energy from the ship's plasma engines, the blast pulled so much power that the overhead lights dimmed momentarily. The laser hit the crystalline frigate head on, tearing through the entire craft from stem to stern. The attacking craft disintegrated, flooding the void with metal fragments.
Mouth agape and eyes wide, Peppy looked at Fox out of the corner of his eye while watching the aftermath of the laser blast. "Holy hell, what was that voice?"
"You haven't met the Cerinians yet, have you?" asked Scarlet, walking down the short set of stairs to the piloting area and standing next to Fox. "They do that."
From behind, Slippy called out, "If they can communicate like that, what else are they capable of? Are you sure it was a good idea to blow them up, Fox?"
Scarlet cut in. "They weren't ready for someone to actually call their bluff. I doubt they had enough time to send any data on you to their leaders, so I wouldn't worry about that."
"Hmm," Peppy muttered, his eyes focused on a different object in the space outside the ship. "That small ship isn't flying under its own power anymore. It's just drifting."
"Might be losing oxygen, too," Fox mused aloud. "We need to do something about that. Peppy, fly closer to it and see if you can bring it into the hangar."
Scarlet's ears shot back in anger. "What? You know there's at least one Cerinian on that ship. You really want to deal with that in person?"
Fox turned to face her. "We just saved them from being blown to pieces. I don't think they're going to be in a position to get uppity with us or do something nefarious."
"If you say so," the vixen grumbled.
Following Fox's order, Peppy guided the Great Fox in the direction of the drifting vessel, aligning the hangar entrance with the craft's flight path and activating the battleship's tractor beam. While not powerful, it had enough of a pull to draw in nearby fighters and compact transports. As the dreadnaught neared the alien ship, its size became more apparent. By all measurements, it would fit inside the hangar without much difficulty, even though the crew's Arwings, the Landmaster, Scarlet's transport, and the decrepit Blue-Marine occupied it at the moment.
As the Great Fox bore down on the smaller ship, Fox looked at Scarlet and said, "I'm heading down to the hangar to be ready when that ship gets pulled in. You coming?"
Scarlet scrunched her lip, her sheer disdain for anything involving the Cerinians becoming even more obvious. "Fine. I'll do it to protect you."
Fox rolled his eyes, then looked at his amphibious teammate. "Slippy, you come too."
Slippy winced. Halfheartedly, he replied, "If you say so, Fox…but if it means I have to hear the voices again, I'd rather stay up here. That felt like a bunch of tentacles scraping my brain."
Fox sighed and glanced at Scarlet, who frowned and gave him an expression that communicated, "He's smart to be concerned."
Returning his attention to Slippy, he relented and told him, "Okay, fine. If you're not comfortable with it, you can stay here. But if I don't ping either you or Peppy in the next fifteen minutes, get your weapons and go to the hangar."
Slippy responded with a grim nod. "You got it, Fox."
Turning around without a word, Fox broke into a brisk walk and headed to the bridge elevator, located far aft of the ship's cockpit. Waiting for Scarlet to board it alongside him, he pressed the button to for the hangar floor. Having been designed with emergencies in mind, the elevator descended rapidly, reaching the hangar floor in only fifteen seconds. It came to a sudden stop, and the doors flew open to reveal the side of the long corridor leading to the hangar, which he stepped into. Far in the distance, he managed to make out the angular form of the captured ship. His interest and concern for its occupants pushed him to walk faster, a motivation not shared by Scarlet.
With the vixen several paces behind him, Fox stepped into the ship's cavernous hangar and laid eyes on the Cerinian transport ship. Up close, the angular ship's intricate lattice of color-shifting black to blue panels struck him as something foreign to all modern ship construction. Each panel seemed to have hexagonal etchings in it, and the number and shape of angular protrusions inherent to its construction brought to mind a combination of a crystal and a mechanized insect. On that note, Fox recalled reading about the Cornerian fleet's encounter with something called an 'Aparoid' fifteen years prior to the present date, and the pictures taken of the incident drew at least one parallel with the captured vessel's design. Even with the engines no longer functioning, the ship's fluorescent blue accent lighting pulsed every few seconds, almost as if it was alive. Significant damage covered the craft's starboard side. The armor looked almost ready to crumble in some areas, and would no doubt require substantial repairs to be functional again.
Fox walked around the exterior of the vessel, about the size of eight hypothetical Arwings arranged in a rectangular pattern. He looked for any kind of entry point, but saw none. Apart from the rhythmic pulsing of the craft's exterior trim, no movement came from the ship or from inside it. As he walked around the front of the ship and moved to its port side, the side of the vessel opened up and converted itself into a loading ramp. Fox approached the ramp and looked inside the ship. Nothing met his eyes except the craft's interior, similar in appearance to the outside. As with the outside, glowing blue outlines snaked up and down the walls, pulsing with the lights on the ship's hull.
He waited for thirty seconds for something to happen, but nothing did. He glanced at Scarlet. "I think they want us to come in."
The vixen scowled. "I don't like this, Fox. You know I don't trust these people, but even if I did, this would still sketch me out.
Fox hardened his expression. "I'm going to do it. If they try something, I'll send an emergency signal to Peppy and Slippy. And if whoever is inside is reading my mind right now, they also know that."
"If you say so," Scarlet grumbled.
Taking a step onto the ramp, Fox looked over his shoulder and asked, "You coming? You're the one who has all the experience with these people. It might be a good idea."
Scarlet exhaled and stomped onto the ramp behind Fox. "Fine."
The two slowly entered the craft, finding themselves in a narrow, barely lit central corridor that—presumably—ran from the cockpit all the way back to the access for the ship's engines. No doors of any kind stuck out to either of them, although they noticed glyphic markings above certain spots along the eerily clinical hallway. Fox considered drawing his handgun, but pushed that notion aside as quickly as it appeared. The knowledge that whoever was onboard this ship knew exactly where he was and could possibly read his every thought unnerved him. Entering an alien vessel was fear-inducing enough, but one crewed by telepaths?
The narrow, pulsing corridor ended in what looked like a blank, iridescent wall at first glance, but when Fox examined it more closely, he noticed tiny gaps for a door. He crept up to it with Scarlet keeping more of her distance from him than he would have liked. Suddenly, the panel bifurcated and opened in two separate 45-degree directions, revealing the ship's cockpit. Much like the rest of the craft, the vessel's interface and controls reflected an angular, crystalline theme that looked both new and ancient at the same time. However, his attention landed upon the blue vixen seated in the pilot's chair.
She looked young—barely old enough to qualify as an adult. She kept her medium length blue hair straight and well-controlled, while her massive, bushy tail spilled off the side of her pilot's chair. Noting the two metallic tail rings that adorned it, Fox took stock of her black and blue outfit, which resembled nothing that would have been worn on Corneria. As best as he could see it, she wore a black bodysuit that left her arms and her fur below her thighs bare, and she covered her chest with a decorative, triangular blue shawl that hung from her neck. Instead of shorts or tights, a blue, knee-length loincloth encircled her waist; but it reflected a regal appearance instead of a provocative or primitive one because of the tight layer of clothing she wore under it. The edges of her main garments featured glyphic silver text, unreadable to Fox and Scarlet.
For an awkward tense five seconds, Fox and the blue vixen locked eyes and stared at each other without saying a word. Fox felt Scarlet building the urge to break the silence, but she held her tongue for reasons that he could only speculate on. As negative as his two previous meetings with Cerinians had been, he felt differently about this one and did not detect any open hostility or judgment from the blue vixen. Of course, being rescued from certain death had the ability to make a positive first impression.
Finally, the awkwardness became too much to bear, and the blue vixen spoke. "Hey—thanks for saving me. I'd been wondering if miracles really happen—and that seems like enough proof that they do."
The foreign vixen speaking their language caught both his and Scarlet's attention. Not sure how to respond to her comment on miracles, Fox offered, "We were definitely in the right place at the right time, that's for sure. I'm Fox. What's your name?"
"In your language, my name is Krystal, of the Taero family."
Both Fox and Scarlet's ears shot up. Krystal noticed.
"Is that name of interest to you?"
Fox glanced over his shoulder at Scarlet, who seemed to be on the verge of fidgeting in place. "Perhaps. If you don't mind me…I mean us asking—why were your own people trying to kill you?"
Krystal crossed her arms and lowered her head. She maintained eye contact with Fox, but just barely. "The commander of the Cerinian armed forces wants me dead. That's why I left my home in the first place." She paused with the intent of stopping, but she perceived Fox's next question and spoke up before he had the chance to air it. "The reason I've been marked for death is because I made the mistake of sitting in on a meeting for what you would call a 'resistance.'"
Holding one of his hands open, Fox asked in response, "Is that usually how they respond to sedition—sending headhunters after rebels way outside their own orbit?"
Krystal shook her head and sighed while staring at the floor. "No. I think they're after me in particular because of my father. They did the same thing to him." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then looked Fox in the eyes and asked almost pleadingly, "Do you know about him? I feel like somehow you do."
Fox shot a worried glance at Scarlet. With a frown, she whispered, "Might as well tell her. She knows too much already."
Looking back at Krystal, Fox answered her with a question of his own. "Is your father's name Neron?"
Krystal's eyes momentarily lit up. "Yes."
"We've run into him before," said Fox.
Krystal nodded, halting the conversation for a moment to think on the revelation. "I assumed he was dead. Maybe I'll find a way to connect with him again."
Fox replied in a flat voice. "If you want to do that, we're probably not going to be able to help you. Our encounter with him wasn't exactly friendly."
"I see," said Krystal, her previously upbeat expression turning stoic in a matter of seconds. "I know I'm not in much of a place to ask for things, but I'd really appreciate it if you could help me out with something else."
Fox looked at her warily. "What's that?"
"I'm trying to get to Skallis. My godmother arranged for a friend of hers to let me stay with her, since it's not safe for me on Cerinia anymore. They told me to go to a place called Sky City."
"Ha," Scarlet chuckled. "You're not getting anywhere near that place without some serious connections. Trust me."
Krystal frowned. "I happen to have these 'connections' you speak of."
"Really? Who?"
"Her name's Karen Altruis, I think."
Upon hearing this, Scarlet's eyes widened. Anger and shock broke out on her features, and before Fox had an opportunity to ask her what was wrong, she turned around and stomped out of the cockpit.
With only one guest to speak with, Krystal looked at Fox and softened her voice. "I sense that she has a history with this person. It's not a pleasant one."
"I'll keep it in mind," Fox replied. Reaching for the back of his head to scratch it, he started, "So…"
"…About the mind-reading," Krystal interrupted, a subtle grin on her lips.
A quick jolt of fear shot down Fox's spine, realizing that the vixen had picked up on his train of thought with no prior hints. "Yeah, that."
"I take it you haven't met many of my kind before."
"Not really."
"That's fine—it's mostly by choice, on our part. We Cerinians mostly keep to ourselves, but hopefully we'll be able to join the rest of this system before too long."
Fox raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
"Staying separate from all the other settlements and planets is part of our council's covenant," Krystal explained. "It's been that way for several thousand years. Personally, I think it's time for that to change. A lot of people on my home planet feel the same way."
"Hold on—it's been that way for several thousand years? How would you even have known there was anyone else out there that long ago? Space travel wasn't even a thing until three hundred years ago."
Krystal shrugged. "All I know is that it's been a tradition from the beginning of our civilization, and those records do go back several thousand years. We have quite a few legends and myths about how it all started, but I'm not sure I'm allowed to share those with offworlders." She halted. Narrowing her eyes, she resumed, "Then again, the people who enforce those rules tried to kill me."
"I'll be honest," said Fox, "I'm interested in hearing your stories, but I'd be okay with waiting for a better time. My team and I have some things we need to take care of."
Krystal gave him a soft smile, hinting that he had not offended her. "That's okay. I wouldn't expect you to be interested. But what I do need is to get to Sky City somehow. I wish I had something to offer you, but I really don't have anything."
Giving her a somber smile in return, Fox said, "This might be the luckiest day you'll ever have—we're on our way to Skallis right now. I'll see what I can do to help you get where you need to go."
"Thank you so much," Krystal replied. At the same time that she gave him a verbal response, Fox felt a warm, calming impression in his mind. Although the physical sensation was different, the most fitting way to describe it was a mental hug.
Krystal punctured his momentary bliss by adding, "If you don't mind, I'd prefer to stay onboard my ship until we get to Skallis. I think it would be easier for everyone this way."
"I'm okay with that," Fox assented. "We're already most of the way there." He paused for thought, then, in a more serious tone of voice, added, "In exchange for helping you get to Sky City, there's something I might want from you."
Krystal's previously relaxed posture stiffened, as if to suggest that she felt she would not like Fox's request. "Do tell."
"I'd like to know a bit more about your father—what he's about, why your leaders tried to kill him, what he might be doing in this star system."
The blue vixen narrowed her eyes. While Fox did not feel the previously encountered Cerinian mental tendrils trawling his brain, he subtly perceived his guest probing for hints about the motivations for his questions. After a two second lapse in conversation, Krystal replied, "Since I didn't know he was still alive, I don't have the slightest idea what he's doing in this system. Perhaps you might be able to offer me a hint?" She gave Fox a gentle smirk.
Fox's expression became flat and neutral. "We found him working with a mega-corporation that operates in this system."
Krystal raised a confounded eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like him—he's very principled. He would never sell out his morality for money. Are you sure this was him you encountered?"
"Well, I don't know your father—but I do know his name was Neron Taero. He was wearing clothes that had the same theme as yours."
"Strange," Krystal muttered. "I can only assume that if it really was him, he's working with this corporation because they have the same goal."
The conversation between Neron and Carache immediately came to Fox's mind. "The rejuvenation of Cerinia will be a boon to this system and the ones around it, but until all the pieces are in place, the fewer people who know about it, the better. If Gaia learns of this before we're ready to act…"
Krystal nodded. Fox struggled to understand why she gave that response, until it dawned on him a second later. "Hey—out of my head!"
The blue vixen returned a subtle smile. "You wouldn't like it where I'm from—it's hard to hide thoughts and motives from one another. We're a very open people."
"That doesn't give you an excuse to go through my mind and take what you want," Fox growled.
"It's what we do. Get used to it," Krystal replied.
Although her tone of voice betrayed no condescension, Fox felt the beginnings of understanding related to Scarlet's dislike of the blue-furred people.
Krystal added, "But this does tell me what you want to know about my father. Clearly, he's partnering with this corporation you spoke of so he can liberate Cerinia from the current Council. If I'm honest, I could have guessed that even without you giving me hints."
Fox tamped down the anger building up inside of him from being unwillingly mind-read and asked her, "Is that why they tried to have him killed, like they did with you?"
"Yes," she replied. "I hope he succeeds, and I'd do anything to help him do it if I had the chance. I think more than just Cerinia would benefit from a change of leadership."
Fox looked on with concern, staring past Krystal through her ship's front windows into the Great Fox's hangar. He crossed his arms before returning his attention to Krystal. He thought about how to end the conversation and head back into the main part of the ship, but before he could find the words to say, Krystal softened her gaze and looked at him with a pleading expression—with a subtly threatening aura. "Please don't try to stop him."
