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Chapter -2-

Krystal

*She pushed the throttle forward and a wave of exhilaration * nested in her heart. She couldn't be sure if she was feeding off of Fox McCloud's emotions, of if she was simply giddy about flying such a powerful new ship.

Likely both.

The Arwing II hovered on the flight deck. The shoed stumps of its landing gear retracted, leaving only the hover pads to hold it aloft. The plasma engine roared to life, responsive and far more powerful than its predecessor.

Even with the inertial dampeners, the sheer power of the new engine was immediately obvious.

It was a familiar feeling, but the dampeners made it impressively free of gravity.

The new plasma engine was several times stronger than the old Arwing's launch from a catapult mechanism on the last Great Fox.

She was pinned to her seat for a split second, until the fighter passed through the atmospheric force field, and into the vacuum of space. The force against her body disappeared in an instant.

The rear monitor showed a distortion in the fighter's wake, from creating a sonic boom in the hanger. "John Salt, are you ... are you all right? The computer performed a take-off sequence with minimum input from me."

"Of course. Atmospheric controls contain Sonic Boom soundwaves, dispelling the waves for the protection of a deck crew. It was barely louder than a shout."

Fox's voice came over the comms. "Okay, that is impressive."

McCloud's fighter moved alongside of her own, nose-to-nose as if the ships were lined up, parallel to one another, with a tape measure.

It always impressed Krystal how Fox was able to match someone's speed and parallel-park a fighter on the old hanger deck, just by eyeing the distance of surrounding ships. This was no different. His canopy was perfectly aligned with his adjacent fighter.

She reached forward and touched her padded digits against a capacitive screen designed to interface with padded paw palms.

She followed a brief tutorial to operate the sensor array, which displayed on a holographic array just above the controls.

The floating grid of enemies showed targets and their locations by where they were in relation to a triangular blue dot that was perfectly centered above the flight stick's neutral position. The blue marker had the shape of a sideways pyramid, which showed the position of the Arwing and whether or not it was in climb or dive, based on the angle of the triangular blue marker.

"Fox, these ships are like nothing I've flown."

"That's saying a lot," said Fox, "I mean, you know, considering you've flown ships from Cerinia, too. Stuff I could only ever dream about."

"I've only flown four Cerinian models, but ... this new Arwing handles like a dream, Fox. The hybrid-yoke design really feels intuitive, and, if you haven't noticed, it makes incremental maneuvering adjustments based on how you lean and shift your body."

"What?!" Fox tried shifting his body a little, causing the Arwing to shift a little. "John Salt! Your people have really outdone themselves! But what about slumping? If you become unconscious, will the ship spiral downward?"

Salt's voice came over the cockpit speakers. "Its onboard computer determines if it should go into autopilot, shut off the engines, or perform a landing sequences, depending on where you're at when unconsciousness occurs. It monitors brain activity to determine consciousness. But, I mean, you can turn off those features in the settings menu - it's the little gear at the top right of your main dash readout. You can turn off the gyroscopic body controlling, as well. Or change the sensitivity."

Fox utilized the maneuvering thrusters, manipulating his fighter, until it turned around, so that he was flying in reverse, adjacent to Krystal. His retro-reverse rockets came to life and the main rear booster went dim. Tiny flush nozzles built into the hull blasted fire from the metal seams, keeping him in a straight line. The thrust-control computer made minute calculations to keep him perfectly lined up with her in reverse.

Krystal laughed softly. "The maneuvering thrusters are streamlined into the seams of the armored plating...? That's posh."

Fox laughed in reply. He moved his Arwing directly in front of Krystal's ship, so that he was facing her, but his cockpit was directly above hers. He looked upward through his canopy, gazing down upon her. "Hey there, beautiful. Going my way?"

"Yes, figuratively. Don't you look happy and handsome in your new ship."

Fox beamed. "What was it you said earlier? Just like a little boy in a candy store with holiday money. Heh."

Krystal chuckled and shook her head. "This is amazing. This new Arwing ... it is truly wonderful, Mr. John Salt."

The voice of John came over the line again. "Remember what we said - we want you to take advantage of working with our engineers to design unique fighters that reflect your personalities. By all means, I'm available today if you like."

"Then we shall see," said Krystal.

"Heads up," said Fox. "A new ship is ... wait, its transponder code is showing Cornerian colors."

"I see it, Fox," said Krystal. She looked down at a warning message on her dash panel. "The computer suggests I wear a flight helmet."

"You can ignore that," said Salt over the comms. "It's a standard message because it wants to interface with a visor HUD."

"Can I connect to non-helmet HUDs?" asked Fox.

"Yes, Mr. McCloud. Simply turn on your HUD and press the 'pairing' button. The computer will seek to pair, it will confirm with you, and then it will display your tac-readout over your preferred device."

Fox grinned. "I've never used one before. I'll have to get one after I'm finished trashing Oikonny's fleet." He cleared his throat, and said, "Falco - is that you and Slippy closing in?"

"Heyyyy! Fox! New Arwings, huh?!" Falco sounded excited.

"Yeah! Krystal, fall back and escort them to the Great Fox. Half of Oikonny's forces are breaking to engage the transport shuttle; the other half are trying to go after the Space Dynamics plant on that moon. There are civilians down there; I'm going to protect the factory."

Krystal felt his emotions spike from a surge of adrenaline. "I'll join you when they've landed."

"Wait until one of them launch; we can't leave Great Fox undefended until ROB is in the pilot's seat." Fox changed his tone, adding, "Slippy? Tell me you brought ROB."

An older model robot's synthesized voice came over the line. "Affirmative, Fox. I look forward to interfacing with this new ship's computer system."

Fox chuckled. "You're excited, too?"

ROB replied, "I need to upload superfluous storage data to new servers and free up some personal space. This is that opportunity."

Krystal grinned. "Did Slippy fill your drives with personality subroutines and useless information?"

"Obviously."

"Hey!" Slippy cried. "Don't rat me out, ROB! I'm the one that maintains and upgrades you, instead of trading you in for a newer model! You've evolved way beyond your original operating capacity! The new coding features, the advanced AI algorithms, and helping you design APIs to better interface with Great Fox's holographic control upgrades...!"

"Slippy," said ROB, "I appreciate that you upgraded me to be a better friend for you."

"Hey! No! That's not what I did!" Slippy exclaimed. "I upgraded you to be a better member of the team! The, uh, friendship came later! It was just icing on the cake!"

ROB feigned a digitized sounding sigh. "It was meant to be a compliment. I like having you as a friend, but ... I suppose that it's also nice to have real meaning, as well. Still. I continually have to upload my memory files to the cloud. If I'm in a place with poor reception, I suffer from CRS syndrome."

Falco snickered. "A robot with can't remember shit syndrome. Classic."

ROB continued, "This new Great Fox will require all new APIs, and I will need to upgrade to the newest protocols to better interface to the automated systems."

While the group spoke over the line, Krystal could see high speed fighters moving in the distance, making a bee-line for Falco and Slippy's shuttle.

She increased to full throttle and plotted an intercept course. The computer did the math and pointed her in front of the enemy, so that they would meet before either reached the approaching shuttle.

Holographic rings appeared in front of the canopy, reflecting off the cockpit glass. She followed her computer's suggested attack course by flying through every ring displayed in front of her Arwing.

"Man," said Falco. "That little Arwing really moves. And it's longer, in front of the cockpit, than the ones we used against the Aparoids. Makes it look like a flying fang. Badass."

Krystal engaged the boost. The targeting computer rerouted the interception point to account for her speed.

"Krystal, hurry," said Slippy.

"I will be there in time," she replied, while manipulating the controls to bring her ship's cannons online. "I still advise you boys to take evasive maneuvers the moment they open fire. I don't know the range on their ships' guns, but be ready."

"Born ready, sister." Falco increased the shuttle's throttle to full power, shortening his travel time to Great Fox by just minutes. "Flank speed ahead, sister. At this rate, we're going to overload the shuttle, but I should make it to the carrier before the engines overheat. Still, it'll be close."

Krystal could sense Falco's confidence at the edge of her range. "I believe in you," she replied.

"Aw, isn't that just swell. I believe in me, too! Must be the blue that make us so sure of our shit," said Falco with a chuckle.

Krystal glanced down at her dash, followed by a wry grin. "The targeting computer on this Arwing says it should be in range, now. It moves much faster than the enemy fighters." She tapped the screen, confirming the computer's suggestion to fire a long-range smart missile.

The Arwing II didn't even shudder from the release of the missile. It blasted from beneath, streaked out into the inky void of space, and disappeared from view.

Silence.

No one dared to speak.

The missile glinted somewhere out in the distance from the way the rays of SOL gleamed off of it, then it disappeared again.

Before Krystal could make blaster-contact with the approaching enemy fighter, the missile found its mark. The two fighters that were baring down on Falco and Slippy disappeared off the sensor scope.

A flash of a distant explosion showed that the front two ships were destroyed in an instant.

A wry grin tugged at the corner of Krystal's muzzle, but it immediately faded.

She took a deep breath and reminded herself to remain humble. There were now two more people that she killed in the name of warfare. But these were the forces that worked for Andross' surviving kin ... Andross, the man that doomed Cerinia.

Distant sensations of hatred and malice faded from her mind with the instant deaths of the two Venomian pilots.

Krystal exhaled. "I've got the first two confirmed kills with the new Arwing model," she announced with a ton of pride that excited McCloud. She couldn't sense his emotions as strongly anymore, due to the distance growing between the two. However, she could feel Falco's pride and Slippy's concern growing. "Almost there, boys!"

"We're glad to see you," said Slippy. "At least I am!"

Krystal's smile broadened. "Oh, I'm sure Falco is, too. He would be rather upset if he was denied the chance to fight Venom forces again."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Falco said with a chuckle. "Here come more of those morons."

Krystal cut forward throttle and used her maneuvering thrusters to turn the ship, so that she faced the Arwing toward the approaching enemies, while flying in the direction of the shuttle. "I see them."

"Yo, girl, you stealing McCloud's moves?"

She scoffed in reply. "Hush, Falco. Gliding is a time-honored flight tactic in space." She opened fire as fast as she could mash her thumbs on the trigger button. The remaining fighters broke off from their flight path.

"Ninety seconds," said Falco. "Hey, John Salt, turn the carrier to face us, so we can land quick."

"Maneuvering now," said Salt.

Krystal punched the throttle and headed into the fray. "These new speakers don't sound nearly as tinny."

Falco said, "Why, yes, my deep and robust voice is worth hearing."

"Give it a rest," Slippy added.

"Fine, whatever, Froggie. Almost there. Then I won't have to hear any more complaining."

"Okay, uncalled for," said Slippy. "Shut your beak for once in your life, will ya'? Besides, you're the one complaining that it's taking too long to get to the ship."

Krystal shook her head with a slight grin, amused by the bantering of her boys. "Looks like you're thirty seconds out. I'll keep these fighters distracted. Don't dawdle."

"I won't," said Falco.

Krystal pulled a loop while opening fire to force two more incoming fighters to break away and move evasively.

The Arwing II responded smooth and quick. She came out of the loop and began to pursue one of the nearest enemy fighters.

"That's it, sister!" shouted Falco. "Chase it down and show'im who's boss!"

Krystal engaged the fighter before it could get a missile lock on Falco and Slippy's shuttle. She moved defensively to keep them protected all the way back to the new carrier.

She placed her feet on the pedals and performed the infamous aileron roll, dubbed a 'barrel' roll by Cornerians. The ship repelled blaster fire before it could reach the shuttle.

Krystal came out of the roll and asked, "Why do we call aileron rolls 'barrel rolls,' anyhow?"

John Salt came over the comms again. "Because, a thousand years ago, a squad of Cornerian soldiers in the tunnels beneath the Capital City, were the only surviving squad to protect the Capital City. This ancient battle is pretty famous to Cornerians. With their armor damaged and worthless, they repurposed wine barrels as armor, and emerged from the tunnels. Their rounded makeshift barrel armor repelled enemy attacks. The squad successfully pierced the heart of the attacking tribe and killed its General. They effectively ended the war."

Krystal blinked. "Seriously?"

"Yes, ma'am. A thousand years later, to the very month, Space Dynamics put the prototype Arwing into space with the ability to repel energy attacks. We named it the 'barrel roll' after the squad of men who were essential to the liberation of Corneria's Capital from the Siege Of Simians."

Fox came over the line, adding, "Yeah, funny how it worked so well against the monkeys when so many of them moved to Venom to join Andross' cause. Claimed we were an inferior race, then turned around and got their butts handed back to them by the Arwing."

John chuckled. "I wish we could use that quote, but it would be racist."

Falco scoffed over the comms. "It's always time to show the monkeys who's boss. Look out there at that approaching fleet. Proof the apes and lizards haven't changed. I say you use Fox's quote."

John cleared his throat. "Um..." John cleared his throat again. "Anyhow, Ms. Krystal, Space Dynamics realized the 'barrel roll' gaffe later on, when pilots gave their feedback to our engineers. But for all the people who demand it be called an aileron roll, and for all the internet memes about the 'barrel roll,' it's still the most effective way to repel enemy attacks when flying an Arwing."

Krystal felt ... fairly humbled. "And it won the war against Venom with only a squadron, just like the ancient battle."

"Exactly!" said Salt. "All right, I see your team's shuttle is docking now! The new Great Fox shields can close off specific emitters to make a hole for docking, while keeping the rest of the ship protected! Mr. Lombardi and Mr. Toad, I'll see you on the hanger deck!"

Fox blinked. "Why not just make our shields tuned to whatever frequency the carrier's shields use, so we can pass through?"

"Because, Mr. McCloud, if an enemy steals the shield frequency codes for Cornerian ships, they would penetrate the shields. Look, it happened enough times during the war, that we made a way around it - shields that can repel anything, so the emitters open up a section for your safe passage. You can change the settings from the bridge if you don't like it."

Krystal pulled back on the control stick, and turned away from the Great Fox, watching in her rear screen as the shuttle disappeared inside the carrier. "Fox, they're aboard!"

"All right, form up on me, and let's take it to the apes."

Krystal increased her throttle, hit the boost, and headed for the 'friendly' marker on her holographic sensor display.

The computer locked on to McCloud's ship and displayed an intercept time adjacent to the aiming reticule in the canopy.

"Forty seconds away, Fox!"

"Glad you're joining the party, Krystal."

"Fox, we have flown together for two years, love. By now, you should know I am the party!"

Falco chuckled over comms. "Damn, I'll have to remember that one."

Krystal smiled inwardly, flooded by all the cocky confidence of her teammates. "Twenty-five seconds, Fox."

"I see you approaching," McCloud replied.

"I'm coming in hot. Form on your wing, or break and attack?"

"You're hot all right. Break and attack, Krystal. Happy hunting."

"Copy that!" She turned her nosecone toward a squadron of fighters and blew through them like a cue ball plowing through a rack of billiard balls.

A grin spread across her face like a ray of sunshine over a flower on an otherwise cloudy day. She beamed with excitement, charged up by all the intense emotions she sensed from her team, along with the flood of adrenaline.

Fox was always so business oriented in a cockpit, and she usually latched onto it so that she could remain calm, but the excitement of the attack and the surprise brand new Arwing IIs had Fox 'over the moon,' and Krystal's excitement got the better of her.

"Woo!" she exclaimed. The vixen thumbed the ship's guns, opening up on the first enemy to enter her crosshairs. "Falco, you'd better hurry or I won't leave you any targets!"

"Oh, I'm gonna bring the fire, sister. You just wait and see, girl."

Krystal watched the boosters of her adversary and sensed their intent to loop out. She hit the boost, pulled back on the controls and climbed with the Venom fighter.

The new Arwing was far nimbler. She went straight up, looped much tighter, and on her way back down, she quickly found herself above her enemy, as he came out of his wider loop. She opened fire, cutting through the cockpit of the fighter, then passed through the debris as it blasted apart from a ruptured fuel cell and exploding engines.

"Wow!" Fox shouted.

"Wow!" Krystal chimed back.

"You just did a tight oval loop, while he did a wide circle. You came down at him from above - he never saw you coming!"

"These machines are amazing, Fox!" She took a deep breath, chose another target in the distance, and proceeded after it.

Salt came over the comms again. "Thrust vectoring. Your booster shifts just a tiny bit, so as to make your loops tighter."

Krystal was beyond impressed. It was like nothing she'd flown before, and now that she knew they were made from Cerinian technology, she wanted one to call her own, more than anything else she'd ever wanted in her life. "Mr. John Salt - you said something about making our own personalized ships?"

"Ms. Krystal, it would be our pleasure for your team to sit down with our team and create your own personalized ships that operate on the Arwing technology. Should I pencil you in for an appointment?"

"Mr. Salt, you can carve it in stone. I'll be there with my earnings from the Aparoid homeworld attack run."

"Nonsense, Ms. Krystal. Our Promotions department and our Public Relations department have given me clearance to pay for a ship for each member of your team. We'll write it off in our taxes. Everything has been arranged in advance."

Krystal manipulated the set of pedals at her feet, controlling the yaw. She pressed her toes forward, pushing on the top of the pedals to engage the retro-reverse rockets to aid in a quick brake, and turned her fighter around, so that it was facing backwards while still hurdling through space in her original trajectory.

The stars flew by her in reverse. She lined up a shot with someone tailing her, and opened fire. The blaster fire struck the wings of her foe, skimming them so close that it burned the paint off the hull and wings on the first shot.

Her second volley of blaster fire sheered off the wings so close to the fuselage that the enemy fighter lost all attitude control. The Venom fighter hurdled through space, end over end, without its engines or stabilizing thrusters.

"Great job, Krystal! You sure peeled the paint off that fighter!"

"Was that supposed to be a compliment," she asked. "Or was that some sort of ... professional assessment?"

"I, uh..." Fox cleared his throat.

Krystal shook her head with a chuckle. "You, uh...?"

"I heard that somewhere, and ... it just kind of came out."

"Uh-huh." She smirked, hit the boost, and pulled out of the reverse course. "It's fine, you know. Her shoes are ... large to fill. However that expression goes. I'm honored to step into them. Now, I believe I'm supposed to tell you to ... keep your nose dry." She watched the trajectory of the damaged fighter and laughed. "My goodness, look!"

The damaged fighter she shot went veering off into its squad mates, wiping out six of seven fighters.

Krystal snapped her fingers. "Drat, nearly a strike. Guess I'll have to settle for a spare, then."

"Holy Moley!" shouted Slippy. "I don't know what's more impressive! The fact that Krystal used an enemy to take out almost an entire squadron, or the fact that these fighters really cook! Fox, you better get salt and pepper, this time around!"

Falco chuckled over the radio. "Speaking of bringing up jokes from the past, geeze."

Krystal finished off the last fighter from the squadron she'd destroyed with a damaged enemy. She tilted her stick then pulled back on it, and made a wide arc, coming about to form up with Fox. "You want to go after Oikonny while Falco and Slippy clean up the rest of his attack group?"

"Why, I would be delighted," said Fox. "On me!"

"Forming on your wing, Fox!" Krystal pushed the throttle bar forward to maximum acceleration. 'Flank Speed' showed on a dash panel readout. "I didn't know these ships could do 'ludicrous' speed."

"Those ships can go plaid," said John Salt over the comms. "Yeah, I've seen those old movies, too."

"I never fully understood that joke. Fox has shown me the movies, but I never really fully grasped the joke's meaning."

Fox chuckled over the line. "Falco, you want to explain it?"

"Yeah, sure." Falco cleared his throat. "You know how stars become stripes when you go to hyper-speed? Well, the joke is that the next pattern faster than stripes is, well, plaid."

"Oh, for Heaven's sake," she groused, followed by a slight grin. "That's just ... Falco! Port side!"

Falco hit the brakes hard, causing his retro reverse boosters to glow bright. His Arwing stopped hard and a missile, fired from Oikonny's ship, screamed in front of him on an intersecting course, but missed narrowly.

"Damn!" Falco crowed. "These things stop on a dime and pick up nine cents change! Thanks, sister!"

"Don't mention it, Falco. Fox? Shall we?"

"You know it," replied McCloud, headed for Andrew Oikonny's lead ship at the center of the attack fleet.