Chapter 6
Cursed
The Great Fox silently continued its orbit of a dusty tan planet, it's crew readying for an expedition to the surface. After winning the skirmish in Meteo, Fox asked Slippy to analyze scrap from the destroyed pirate ship, desperate to find any clues. After ripping out the engine of a salvaged fighter, the frog discovered the ship's propellent had trace amounts of scandium. There was only one planet in the system where one might expect to find that element in a fuel refinery.
'Papetoon…' thought Fox 'I haven't seen you since I was a kit'
In hindsight it made perfect sense to Fox, after all, Papetoon was the home world of Lylat's vulpine species. Most of the planet's surface was dry arid, leading his ancestors to evolve red fur. Yet there was an area on Papetoon where one was likely to find foxes of a different color. It would also explain why every pirate he'd seen sported frosty fur, white feathers or pale scales.
"ROB, have you finished scanning Papetoon's poles yet?"
"Scans are complete Fox. Sensors have detected heat signatures 50km south of the north pole, coordinates 5439-2608."
"Any chance it's a civilian settlement? Or an industrial rig?" Fox inquired.
"A civilian settlement is unlikely; the location is listed as class IV uninhabitable by planetary authorities due to never-ending snowstorms. An industrial rig is also unlikely; geological records indicate the area contains no listed natural resources."
"Sounds like pirate base to me" Falco said "When are we going in Fox?"
"Right now" the vulpine growled, imagining himself wringing the necks of those bastards who took Krystal away. "Slippy, stay here and monitor the base from orbit, Falco and I will take our Arwings to the surface."
The trip to the surface lasted longer than Fox would've liked. The pair taking great care to hide the electronic signatures form their Arwings during the descent. Eager to further conceal their approach, they took advantage of the current snowstorm, landing 100-yards from the heat signature's edge behind a snowbank. Both pilots soon jumped into the frozen ground, shivering from the swirling snow hitting their faces.
After trekking a short distance, Fox found what he was looking for.
"There it is!" the vulpine declared, noticing a thin updraft of steam seeping out from the snow.
The ground became increasingly slushy as they neared the heat of the vent. The pair needing to take special care not to slip. When they were within 5 meters of the steam, Fox pulled out his wristcom to give the ground a scan. The technology worked fast, but required the user to stand still while the scan was ongoing.
"Falco, the scans are picking up a hollow section going vertical into the ground. It's probably a maintenance entrance. I'll guide you to it."
Fox guided Falco 5 meters to the northwest of the vent, after giving him a thumbs up, the avian started kicking aside the slush. After the fourth kick, Falco's boot struck metal. Waving Fox to come over, the pair had soon cleared the hatch. Five minutes later, the pair were making their way down a ladder into the depths of the frozen outpost, finding a door twenty feet down.
"I'll take point" Fox said "Keep your blaster on its lowest setting, if we have to fry anybody lets do it quietly."
The pair crept though the maze-like halls of the base, its interior as confusing as it was cluttered. Fox bounding ahead a few meters before waving for Falco to follow. So far they had not come across any of its occupants.
'Maybe we can get her and go before anyone spots us' Fox thought, eager to avoid taking on the entire station if it could be helped. The vulpine's optimism was soon checked however, as he heard the distinctive sound of boots stomping his way. The pair took cover behind some abandoned crates and waited, blasters at the ready.
"…..opened, I'll bet its just another faulty sensor" a male voice carried on from down the corridor.
"Yeah, maybe the boss could afford better ones if we went after more loot and less blue bitches. One on this base is already too much." another male voice answered.
The sounds of laughter echoed off the walls before the pirates finally came in view of the hidden pair. Fox studied them as they walked closer to his position, oblivious to his presence. There were two of them; a mouse leading the way and a cat following, both with white fur. They had blasters on their hips and if their slurred speech was anything to go by, they were both well past their 4th or 5th heavy drink.
"Not gonna lie though" the mouse began after a hiccup "I've been pretty lonely all cooped up in this icebox with your ugly ass. I'd like to get my hands on that new one myself"
"Just your hands huh" the cat shot back "you got no imagination."
Fox had heard enough, after quickly flashing Falco some hand signals they went into action.
"Oh I got plenty of imagination you clown, she'd be screaming my name in 2 minutes"
"More like laughing at how small…UGH"
"Mike?" the mouse asked, turning around expecting to see his friend passed-out on the floor. He instead found him standing, a blue bird behind him holding a knife against his neck. Mind racing, he clumsily reached for his blaster, before he could draw it, he felt the muzzle of another one pressed against his left cheek.
"I'm only going to ask you this once" the red fox softly spoke into the mouse's ear. "Where is the blue fox you kidnapped from Corneria 9 days ago" the buzzing noise of blaster charging served to emphasize the point.
"Can't tell you that mate" the mouse stammered out "If I did the boss'd skin me alive."
Without hesitation, Fox pulled the trigger, painting the wall of the corridor red with spatter from the mouse's brain. The cat's scream would have shook the whole station had Falco not kept a hand over the feline's mouth.
"Your turn" Fox said as he approached the now terrified cat "I'm only going to ask you this once. Where is the blue vixen you kidnapped from Corneria 9 days ago!"
Forcing himself speak, the cat answered Fox. "One level down"
"You'll take us there!" Fox said, relieving the cat of his blaster "…and if you get any ideas, you'll end up like your friend. Now move!" he barked, shoving the feline.
His hands held up; the cat led them back down the corridor towards a service elevator. Using a keycard, the feline swiftly took them all to the second level. As the doors opened Fox quickly shoved the cat out of the lift, using him as a shield. Falco was quick on their heels, keeping an eye on their rear as they moved through the labyrinth of passageways.
"How much farther?!" Fox barked, pushing his blaster into the cat's back
"One more turn, then down the hallway. It's on the…" the trio froze as they spotted another cat appear in front of them from the direction Mike had indicated. She was dressed in a maid's outfit and holding a tray of half-eaten food. The female stared the group down with cold eyes before speaking. Her tone did not betray any hint of emotion.
"Michael, is that you? Don't tell me you're causing trouble for the matron again?"
The male cat looked back with pleading eyes "C...Clara, I..."
"I see" the maid curtly responded "very well!"
Before either of the Star Fox pair could act, the maid raised the tray high above her head before slamming it to the ground, the sound echoing down the corridors in all directions. The maid then ducked out of sight in the direction she had appeared. "Raise the alarm! We have intruders on level 2!"
"Shit" Fox shouted before blowing a hole through the back of Mike's head. Wasting no time, he dug out the keycard from the fallen cat's pocket before charging forward in pursuit. As the team rounded the bend pursuing the maid the sound of alarms started ringing throughout the base.
"Check the doors!" Fox shouted, desperately hoping they could find Krystal before company showed up. Fox ripped open one door and found a supply room. Falco tried another and found an office. Before Fox could try a third door, it opened before him revealing a white rat with a blaster. Fox blasted a hole in his face before the rat could cross the threshold.
"This one next!" Falco shouted, pushing a button to open a large metal double door. The avian was met with another hallway, seeing dozens of white-furred rouges in the distance rushing towards him. After quickly shutting the door, Falco blasted the controls, hopefully sealing them on the other side. "…not here!"
They continued down the hallway, slamming open doors and blasting anyone who wasn't Krystal, desperate to maintain their tempo. After a few minutes however, numbers started to tell, the pair were forced into a snail's pace as blasts from more and more pirates joined the fray, boxing them in.
"Dammit!" Fox shouted, blasting a husky who stuck his head a little too far out, before sucking into a doorway to avoid a swath of returning blasts. Desperate, he pulled a grenade from his belt, ready to blow his way through the base.
"I wouldn't do that Mr. McCloud, what if Krystal was round this corner?" a voice rang out in Fox's head, startling the vulpine. It sounded so clear despite the current bedlam all around him. As he was pondering, the rain of blaster-fire suddenly ceased, leaving the laser-scorched hallway eerily quiet. Fox's heart raced at seeing a blue-furred fox step out into the hallway.
"Who are you?...Where's Krystal" Fox demanded, realizing in an instant it was not the vixen he'd come for.
"I am Lotus, matriarch of this station." the vixen shot back. "Krystal is no longer your concern, surrender now, and you will both be given the mercy of a quick death."
"Counteroffer! Let her go, and we won't fry anyone else here" Fox replied, the whir of his blaster echoing throughout the hallway."
The vixen gave Fox a cold stare, a hint of a snarl gracing her refined face. "You will pay dearly for your arrogance, as will all who defy a servant of Chel'Da."
The vixen soon closed her eyes, her hands raising together in clasp. Before Fox could fire a shot, a searing pain tore through his skull. It was as if someone had taken a blowtorch to his brain. The vulpine dropped his blaster and fell to the ground, desperately clawing at his head to try to push away the pain. Falco was similarly affected, his beak softly opening and closing, the pain too much for him to even eke out a sound.
"Take them" Lotus ordered, opening her eyes and seeing the writhing bodies of her victims. "Bring them to my meditation chambers, they shall bear witness before they are destroyed!"
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Fox slowly opened his eyes, his brain was having trouble holding a coherent thought. As the vulpine attempted to remember what he'd been doing a thought finally pierced the fog. '…KRYSTAL!' Fox attempted to run but found himself restrained.
"Woah there, McCloud" a voice said from his left "Just wait your turn, you'll get yours soon enough!"
Swinging his head from side to side, Fox was finally able to take in his surroundings. Each of his arms was grasped firmly by a pirate. The snow leopard on his left was giving him a scowl, while the rabbit on his right remained silent, a trace of fear on his face as he stared directly ahead. Following the rabbit's gaze Fox saw the cause of his unease.
They were in a large doomed cavern, its walls frosted with ice and snow. A stone circle lay in the center of the cavern, each of the dozen or so rocks inscribed with a glowing rune, projecting a purple light towards the center. Yet it was what was in the middle of the stone circle that caught Fox's attention. A familiar blue vixen was suspended in a raised field of purple energy that the runes were projecting. Lotus and her sons stood alongside the frozen vixen, the matron's chants causing the glow to increase in intensity.
Weak with exhaustion, Fox forced himself to speak "Krystal, wake up!" he pleaded, resuming his struggles with his captors.
"Quiet!" the snow leopard responded giving Fox a smack to the back of his head. "Or you'll end up like your friend!" the cat finished, gesturing to Fox's right. The vulpine saw a bloodied blue avian on the floor of the room, a white corgi resting a boot on the fallen bird's back. Noticing the ruckus, Lotus turned to face her unwelcome guest, a haunting smile gracing her face.
"Rejoyce Fox McCloud, for you have the honor of witnessing the first step of the restoration."
"Let her go!" Fox shouted, ignoring the continued attempts of his captors to silence him.
"Nonbeliever! She has a duty to uphold" Lotus answered "and with Chel'da as my witness, she WILL fulfill it!" Lotus turned back to face Krystal and resumed her chanting. The stones now emiting an etherial sound as their glowing increased. When the sound reached its apex, the elder vixen closed her eyes and raised her hands to the air. "The time has come"
Fox struggled harder, yanking his arms like a feral beast and shouting like a man possessed "krystal…KRYSTAL!"
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Krystal floated in a black void, her arms and legs swaying around but touching nothing. Increasingly desperate, she expanded her consciousness, trying to find anyone else with her telepathy. The vixen remembered going to sleep in her room before awaking to this abyss. Though she hoped it was all a dream she knew in heart it was nothing of the sort, her courage ebbing away.
"Krystal" a familiar female voice echoed in the darkness "Are you ready begin?"
Recognizing the voice, Krystal wasted no time responding "Lotus, what is this? Release me at once!"
"Honored Child, Chel'Da has chosen you as the savior of our race, I will not allow you to run from your destiny" the voice calmly replied.
"This is not my destiny! My..."
"Ingrate!" the voice boomed, the measured tone now gone, replaced with passionate fury. "For the salvation of Cerinia, you WILL be bonded to my son! The choice is yours child, if you will not willingly submit, you will be indoctrinated!"
Krystal's hair stood on end, he eyes growing wide in terror. Indoctrination was a forbidden telepathic technique, its usage punishable by death. She remembered stories her mother told her as a kit of wicked sorcerers using it to enforce their malice onto others. Always refered to in hushed tones as an unspeakable evil.
"You would not dare" she weakly protested "It is a crime against our laws, against the gods!"
"Laws MUST bend for a higher purpose young one. If you resist the bonding, I will seal your conciousness within your own body. You will spend eternity trapped within your mind, forever beating against glass that will never break."
"Please" the young vixen started to sob, tears streaking down her face "Please don't do this."
"Be at peace my child, it will be over soon."
The darkness advanced over Krystal, slowly consuming her body. She quickly lost sight of her hands and feet to its to its inexorable creep. As she tried in vain to pull away from the darkness, her mind identified the presence of other nearby.
"Please, PLEASE HELP ME!" she called out to the other's mind, begging for their assistance.
"I'm sorry Krystal" was the male voice's reply "I didn't want it to go like this"
"Blizzard, please…" the vixen pleaded with him, their conciousness slowly begining to merge as the ritual continued "stop it…stop her!"
"I'm sorry" the voice responded, now no more than a whisper "I truly am"
Despair overcame the vixen as the darkness crept up her neck, the rest of her body long since consumed. As the vixen braced for it to finish her, a new voice called out through the void.
"Krystal…KRYSTAL!"
The vixen would recognize that voice anywhere. 'He's out there' she thought, her mind racing 'He's with me!" Like a switch her resolve came flooding back, energy she never knew she possed was now surging throughout her veins. Fox was here. He had not given up on her and she would not give up on him. She released her newfound energy in a burst of power, melting away the darkness and revealing her body once again.
"NOOO!" she screamed to the heavens, her energy pushing past the darkness and flowing into the void. Cracks appeared in every direction, before shattering around her.
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'What just happened?' Blizzard thought. One second, he's hearing Krystal's thoughts as they became 'married', the next he'd heard a pained scream erupt from his mother as she collapsed unconscious in front of him. Before the white fox could move to help her, the energy field surrounding Krystal shattered. The blue vixen landed on the ground in a crouched pose, a furious snarl on her face.
"K…Krystal, I…" SMASH. A fist from Krystal interrupted Blizzard's sentence. The white fox fell to the ground, now with four less teeth.
"You bitch!" Flurry shouted, moving to draw his blaster. Before he could get off a shot, Krystal kicked it out of his hand. A follow up punch knocking the vulpine on his ass. Flurry scurried away to the rear, desperately trying to put some distance between him and the now feral vixen. "Do something you clowns!" He screamed "Shoot her!"
Krystal turned her gaze towards the room's entrance, noticing twelve pirates staring at her anxiously. Two of them were holding up a now silent Fox, his bloody head hanging limply from his torso. As they quickly attempted to draw their weapons, Krystal closed her eyes, pushing her consciousness to expand throughout the entire room. The sound of blasters clattering to the ground was soon followed by screams as the pirates clawed at their heads, desperately trying to end the pain. One by one they went silent, the stress sending them into catatonic shock.
Ending the mental assault, Krystal sprinted over to her teammates, now lying still where the pirates had dropped them. Summoning what was left of her psionic reserves the vixen closed her eyes in meditation, pushing a wave of blue energy over them both. Soon, their bruises started to fade, cuts began to close, their eyes slowly opening as their cohesion returned. Fox and Falco both staggered to their feet, just in time for the vulpine to catch the now exhausted vixen.
"Let's get out of here" Fox said, hugging Krystal to his own body, pulling a tired smile out of her.
"Uh…Fox" Falco said, pulling the two out of their reverie "Should that be happening."
"Fox and Krystal looked to where the avian was pointing and noticed the rune stones. Whereas before their glow was even and measured, now a dizzying array of colors ocellated through each of them, a shrill whine pervading the air. Soon, the very room they were in started to shake, powdered snow and ice staring to fall from the ceiling.
"Fox" Krystal weakly said, struggling to stay awake after her exertions "The ritual is not complete, we have to leave before the runes explode!"
The vulpine didn't need to be told twice. Scooping up the vixen Fox tore out of the room, Falco hot on his heels. As the trio ran down the hallway, they looked for anything that would lead them above ground; an elevator shaft, stairs, an emergency exit, anything. The rumbles of the previous room appeared to follow them, now the whole base was starting to vibrate.
"This way" Falco shouted, pointing to a sign stenciled on the wall that said, 'To Hanger'. A few moments later they team arrived in a massive docking bay, several large freighters and dozens of smaller ships littered the area. Fox noticed several other figures rushing to load into the vessels, completely ignoring their party. A chilly wind began to blow into the hanger as the massive exterior doors slowly groaned opened, plunging the hanger's temperature from uncomfortably cold to a hypothermia-inducing bite.
"That one looks good" Falco said, pointing to a smaller shuttlecraft. "I'll take us up."
Less than a minute later Falco had powered on the shuttle, as Fox helped Krystal get buckled in next to him. The team quickly took off and exited the hanger, rising into the swirling snow and leaving the polar surface behind. As the ship climbed into the atmosphere to clear the imminent blast, a voice called out in Krystal's mind, its tone frostier than the cold air outside the shuttle.
"I know you can hear me child. You have doomed your people. A thousand-thousand generations have reached their end, because of YOU. I curse you child…I curse you with the knowledge that you will be forever alone in this universe. The last child of Cerinia. You are cursed…cursed…CURSED!"
A bright light erupted far below the shuttle, clearly contrasting with the snowy darkness surrounding it; the icy station was no more. With the light came the end of the voice, yet the intended damage was done. Krystal put her face into Fox's shoulder and wept.
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Fox slowly walked through the corridors of the Great Fox with no particular destination in mind. It had been one month since they rescued Krystal, yet the impact of those terrible days still weighed heavily on the entire team. Most concerning of all, Krystal remained in her room, only leaving to for meals and barely speaking to anyone else. Fox did his best to comfort her, but something had changed within the vixen. Gone was was the happy and optimistic girl he had grown to love and in her place was someone who seeked to shut everyone else out. No more smiles, no more hugs, just grief...endless grief. Fox felt no small amount of guilt for what had happened. Over and over he replayed the events in his mind, trying to find out what he could have done to protect her. The result was always the same, in one way or another, he had failed. Failed her, and failed his team. Maybe, it was time for him to let her go free. Let her go somewhere where he would never put her in danger again. Sullen, he continued his walk, now heading for Krystal's quarters. The upcoming conversation would be painful, but it would be for the best.
-END
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Author's Notes: Well, now we are perfectly positioned for the TRAINWRECK that is Star Fox Command. I always thought it was odd how Krystal was kicking ass with the team in Assault and Fox didn't care, but then he kicked her to the curb in Command to 'keep her safe'. Well, now we know why. It was all because of an evil Cerinian sorceress who wanted to create a super-race of hybrid clones to conquer the system and then resorted to petty insults when she couldn't get her way. Until Nintendo corrects me, I'll stick with it.
Jokes aside, my first fic is now done. At the very least I hope it kept you entertained, I tried to keep things moving and not let the story get bogged down.
Good luck to any aspiring writers out there! Keep at it, even if it takes you over a decade as it did with me.