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Chapter -15- Shame

Six months later Corneria ...

Krystal looked down at her engagement ring. She cut her gaze to the gravestone of Vivian Hare and whispered a soft prayer in the native tongue of her race.

Vivian's death, a few months ago, had rocked the members of Star Fox, especially Peppy, who finally retired from his old lifestyle to live with her.

It was so strange, Krystal thought, for Vivian to die in her sleep just hours after lying down for a nap at Peppy's side. It was like she had been waiting to die, but she somehow managed to hold off until she could be in the arms of her true love.

Romantic. Tragic.

So many complicated feelings.

Krystal hated star-crossed love, but she could also understand Vivian fighting to hang on just long enough to be with her husband one last time.

The intense notion of love ... a love like that ... brought tears to Krystal's eyes all over again. She dabbed them dry with the backside of her paws.

"Krystal, could you give me a moment?"

Krystal looked up at Fox. She frowned and walked back to the gates of the cemetery. She stopped at the entrance, turned around, and watched Fox from across the field of grave markers.

He approached his parents' grave stones, surprisingly close to the Hare family's plot markers.

Her eyes lifted to the twilight sun over the largest cemetery in the Capital City.

Dusk provided beautiful colors in the distance, but there were clouds above the cemetery ... cliché but somehow appropriate.

Krystal watched as Fox McCloud walked away from the graves of James and Vixy McCloud.

Fox made his way through the winding footpath as he always did when visiting his parents. But, for some reason, he stopped.

Krystal tilted her head. She could sense regret and sadness nesting in his heart, but she couldn't quite understand what he was feeling.

He stood over another grave, staring at it in silence.

She'd never seen him stop at any other grave before.

Fox lowered to one knee and placed a paw atop the base of an expensive and artistically decorative marble statue.

Curiosity got the better of the vixen.

Krystal walked back into the graveyard, followed the path out to where Fox was knelt, and she approached him cautiously. "Fox?"

He looked up at Krystal, then gazed back down at the marker on the base of the large grave monument. The name written on the etching was Fara Phoenix.

Krystal pursed her lips. Her eyes shifted to an adjacent grave for Fara's mother, but a large floral arrangement, atop the plaque, made it impossible to read the woman's first name. Krystal cut her gaze back to Fara's grave. A frown tugged at the corners of her muzzle.

"I just ... needed a moment, Krystal."

She sighed in frustration. "Fox, enough."

Fox lifted his gaze, brows furrowed, staring up at Krystal in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"I'm not saying you cannot mourn your fallen teammate. It's just that ... ever since leaving Miracle, we have been trying to get on the same page. You won't even invite me to come and pay respects to my future in-laws." Krystal gestured further up the path to James and Vixy's graves. "I've had enough. I need to be in your life, Fox, but you keep pushing me away anytime it comes to something work related or something loss related."

"I never really told you much about her..."

"I know who Fara Phoenix was. I know who Zerda Phoenix is. I know the story. It was not_your fault, but _you can't be convinced otherwise. I respect the need to blame yourself. It's how you handle it. But what brings you to her grave? Is it her birthday or something?"

Fox rose to both feet. "No, I passed this by accident. I didn't even know her father put her here. The grave is supposedly empty ... filled with things that Zerda wanted to bury. It's just a rumor, of course, but I heard it from a reliable source."

"I see..."

Fox sighed. "Krystal, I don't miss being in a relationship with her. It's not like that."

She lifted both of her paws. "I never said it was. You have every right to mourn her. But, please, I need you to believe me when I tell you that her death is not your fault."

"Krystal, you weren't there."

"I have sensed your replaying of that memory many times. She told you she wanted to take care of the patrol alone. You were willing to make changes if necessary, but she wanted to fly solo. Stop beating yourself up."

Fox sighed. He gestured to the grave with the back of his left paw. "Krystal, you're not getting it ... this isn't Fara's grave. She's not supposed to be buried here. There were no remains to bury."

"So, if it's not Fara's grave, then what is upsetting you, Fox?"

Fox reached up and rubbed his face with his palm. "It's your grave, Krystal. That's the point I'm trying to make. It's not literally your grave; I'm being figurative, but I think the same applies, here."

"Mm, I don't think so." She took a step closer and put her arm around his waist. "Fox, you've been growing distant lately. It's making you difficult to read at times. Now is one of those times. I need you to understand that I have your back until the day we die. And I'll be interred within a shrine on Papetoon by your side, when we're old and withered. Stop worrying so much."

Fox shook his head. "You're not getting it."

"Then explain it to me, Fox! If you're going to shut me out to where I can't read you, you'll need to actually talk to me, instead!"

He turned to face her, directly, and pointed back at the distant graves of James and Vixy McCloud. "They're both empty graves, too. Both of them."

Krystal followed his pointing finger. Beyond the gravestones, twilight Corneria twinkled in the distance ... a silhouette of majestic buildings and spires dotted with white rectangles and squares, where people lived their lives, stood in front of a deep red and purple sunset.

Fox turned and pointed to the monument in front of himself. "Her's is empty, too."

"Wait, you think...?" Krystal tightened her left paw into a fist. "You think James' lifestyle resulted in the death of Vixy? And, you think that his legacy is somehow carried on with Fara's death somehow being your fault? We have been over this, Fox! I am telepathic. I have your back. Yes, this lifestyle is dangerous, but without me, you'll be the one in a grave. And without you? I might be the last of my race, and that would be the end of my kind."

Fox sighed. "No, Krystal. I mean, yes, but..." He shook his head and fidgeted with the lay of his silver aviator jacket. He took a deep breath and reached up to swipe a mosquito away from the white shoulder pads of her Star Fox issued flight suit. "Look, Andross' obsession with my mother is what led to my mother's death. He tried to kill my father so that he could have a chance with her. Killing her drove him nuts. And my father? He couldn't even get vengeance for her. He died trying. Andross killed both of my parents, one by accident, and the other on purpose."

"I know the story, love. What is your point?"

Fox sighed again. "This life? It is dangerous." He gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"Yes, it is Fox. And, together, we both stand the best possible chance of surviving it. Together."

Fox shook his head and dropped his paw away from her shoulder. "You stand the best possible chance of surviving it, Krystal, if you focused on raising a child in a nice house with a nice lawn ... near a nice school. Something safe and wholesome."

Krystal laughed. But she saw the look in his eyes and felt that he was being honest and serious. Her laughter faded to a chuckle, and then it faded away all together. "You're ... not serious...?"

"I've been called to Corneria to meet with a client. It's my parents' anniversary, so I came here to pay my respects..."

"Yes, I know why we came here, Fox. Good Goddess, we came together. It's the first client Star Fox has had since the job on Miracle."

"Yeah. And I've been wondering how I'd feel about having you on the team with me when that day comes. And, well, it's here. And I'm terrified this job will be our last, together. I can't lose you."

"You won't."

"You're right. I won't. I can't lose you. That's why you're not coming."

Krystal scoffed. Again, she sensed he was being honest and serious. Her eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

"I ... met with the client before coming here."

Krystal's eyes widened to saucers. Her tail fluffed up. "You lied to me?! You said you were going to run errands and to meet you here! Now you're telling me you've already met with the client, and you're benching me? What for? What'd I do?!"

"Nothing!" Fox exclaimed. "You didn't do anything wrong!" He took a deep breath, sighed through partially clenched teeth, and shook his head. "Krystal, it's not like that. I want you to be here. I want us to take the next step in our relationship - I want you to open an account in our name, buy a home, and then we can talk about taking these next steps together."

"But ... you don't want me flying the mission with you?"

"Well, I don't want you to die, Krystal. We're too close to the finish line together."

"Fox, are we a team?"

"Yes, of course."

"But you're benching me?"

"No, Krystal."

She started to relax, a little, and asked, "Then what?"

"I'm taking you off the team, all together, so that you can focus on repopulating Cerinia, so to speak. I want you to be my wife one day soon, and I want you home, where it's safe."

Krystal stared at him for a moment, unable to wrap her head around it all. She looked back in the direction of Vivian's grave, presenting her back to Fox. "You want me to live alone? Like Vivian did before her passing?"

Fox blinked. His jaw dropped. "What?! No! OF course not!"

"So, after this job, you're retiring?"

"Well, no."

Krystal furrowed her brows. "Is that so..."

"Krystal, lots of couples live together, but their jobs take them on the road. We'll make it work."

"Fox, this team is your life. Living in that brand-new carrier ship is mortgage free. It makes no sense to have two homes - one with your mate, and one without. No sense at all. And you love that carrier. You'll be there more than you'll be at home with me."

"Krystal, please, I don't want to argue about this."

"Fox. I'm going with you on this job."

"No, uh ... you're actually not."

"Why not?"

"I've already put in for the paperwork for your official separation from the team. I did it before meeting with the client."

"You did what?"

"I'm sorry, Krystal. I've already made up my mind. You're off the team. I need you to be home. Safe. I'll give you anything you want ... anything you need. You can even use your piloting license to teach..."

Krystal's eyes welled up with tears. The rejection hit her like a punch to the gut, but she had too much pride to double over in pain. "Undo it. Whatever paperwork you did, you were being emotional. Undo it. I'll forgive you."

"I'm not undoing it. I've already told Falco and Slippy. They didn't ... really ... agree. Slippy said he needs time, after this next job, so he's going to spend time with Amanda. And Falco? Well, I don't know. He's going to do this job, then he said he'll let me know what's up afterwards. Apparently, he had a lot of fun with Katt when they worked together last. But, I mean, I've already told everyone, including Peppy, that you're moving to Corneria. My mind was made up the moment I got the call from the client."

Krystal kept her back to Fox so that he wouldn't see her cry. He wasn't allowed to see her cry ... not anymore. He would never again have that right.

"Krystal, say something."

"This ... is a betrayal," she replied in a soft tone, so as not to let him know she was crying.

"What?"

"Take it back."

"Take what back?"

"All of it. Last chance. I'm not going to be your stay-at-home-wife, McCloud. I am your partner, your wingmate. Your teammate. Either that, or I am going to find my own way in this universe."

"Krystal, I told you. You're off the team. I can't risk losing what I've built up with you over these last few months. You said you were 'a little late' yesterday, remember?"

Krystal ground her teeth together. "I took a pregnancy test. I'm not pregnant. You haven't been trying as much as you were when we were on Miracle. I was just a little late. It'll start any day, now."

"Well, I thought..."

"You thought wrong. I'm not carrying our child. Now, are you going to let me fly on the team again or not?"

Fox looked down and closed his eyes. "We'll keep trying for a baby. I'll be more like I was when we were on Miracle. We can even take a vacation there if you want."

"So, I can fly this job, now, right?"

"No. Don't you remember the last thing we did together, our last time on Miracle? You almost died. Back up even further, to our last big job against Oikonny? Remember that time? Right before I gave you that ring, you nearly died ... I will never forget watching you get pulled out of my hand. I wasn't strong enough to hold on - my shoulder needed to be surgically repaired. I did my best, yet it wasn't enough. Going back before the Aparoid Assault, I nearly lost you the moment I met you."

Krystal, with her back still to Fox, removed the ring from her finger. She discretely set the engagement ring on the hip-height basin of Fara Phoenix's gravestone. "The girl ... Miyu Lynx..."

"Uh ... what about her?"

"Miyu was wrong. She thought you were unable to get over Fara Phoenix's love. That wasn't it. Close, but no."

"I ... don't understand. How do you mean?"

"You, Fox? You're unable to get over your insecurities. You look at women, and you think they're going to die like your mother and your first serious relationship. You think letting Miyu go was the best thing for her, because she's somehow survived a nonsensical 'McCloud Curse' that you've manufactured out of your personal insecurities."

Fox lowered his chin, keeping his eyes shut. He didn't yet see the ring on the grave statute. "Krystal..."

"The reason I stayed in the air is to keep you alive. Someone has to watch your back, Fox. You're making it awful hard to keep you alive."

"Krystal, my 'curse' isn't surviving women. It's surviving ... period. My mother died. My father died. My first girlfriend died. My godmother died. I know I'm going to survive. Even if you hate me right now, at least I'll know I didn't cause the last Cerinian to die."

"My life is in my own paws, Fox."

"Yeah, well, I can't blame myself if you die outside of a cockpit."

She tightened both paws into fists. Tears streamed down her face. "This has to be a side-effect of going through withdraws from not being around the pheromone drugs on Miracle."

"No, Krystal. I mean, I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. But I can't lose you."

"You're pushing me away. How is that any different?"

"At least I'll know you're safe and alive."

"You really think so little of me that, even with all the hard work I've put into helping you save Lylat, you don't think I'm fit to fly by your side?"

"Krystal, we're done flying together. You need to understand that's the way this is happening. It's already happened. The decision has already been made."

"How could I not see this side of you before? What a fool I was to think that I'd found a man who understood me." She exhaled and shook her head. "If we can't be together, then we shouldn't be together."

"I'm kicking you off the team, Krystal. I'm not breaking up with you!" He reached for her forearm from behind.

She jerked her wrist out of his grasp and took several steps forward. "No. I feel embarrassed. I feel disrespected and underappreciated. After all I have done to be with you, you've thrown it away because you're insecure. Do you even know me? I am not the kind of woman that sits home and knits, while waiting for her husband to come home from a month-long job. Have you even considered other positions for me?"

"No. Because if you were on the bridge of Great Fox, and it was destroyed, you would be dead. Peppy nearly died when the Great Fox crashed into the Aparoid homeworld. No, the safest place for you is here, on Corneria."

"I was willing to be barefoot and pregnant for you, Fox McCloud, but only if you were at my side. We fight together, we live together, and we have a family together. That's was the deal. Now? You're changing the terms of the deal."

"I'm breaking the deal," said Fox in a stern tone. "You're my girl. You're done flying. But we can still be together."

She pointed at the ring on the grave marker. "No. If that's truly how you feel, then no ... we can't." She started walking toward one of the gates. Tears of shame and hurt flowed down her face, matting her fur.

Fox gasped and reached for the ring. "Krystal! Don't you dare walk away from me!"

"I'm going to my ship! I'll be on the Cloudrunner. If you want to fix this? You'll send me coordinates to the job. I sense that you're headed to Titania to fix some sort of planetary emergency. But I don't know which colony you're going to."

"Krystal..."

"I said, send me the coordinates to the job, Fox. If not? You'll be sitting on your pretty new ship all alone. I won't wait forever."

"Actually," Fox called after her, from back by Fara's grave. "You will. Because I have a job to do. And I don't know how long it will take to complete it."

Krystal gawked at his response. She took a deep breath and continued walking until she was out of the cemetery.

Everything felt ... numb. She'd lost everything. In an instant, she'd lost everything she'd worked years to achieve with Fox. Her life, as she knew it, was over.

But at least she still had her dignity.

X

X

A short time later...

The flight to Great Fox felt like the blink of an eye.

She found herself on the flight deck of the new carrier, standing in a stupor. It was like a fever dream, distant yet she still couldn't decide if it was real or if it was all a really bad dream from which she couldn't wake up.

She went to her quarters ... or, rather, Fox's personal quarters ... that she'd been sharing with Fox over the past few months.

She didn't even know where he was, except that she'd arrived on Great Fox before him.

She boxed up a few belongings and carried them to the Cloudrunner. It was a few outfits and two boxes of personal items. They weren't even very big, considering the fact she'd lived in Lylat for several years, now.

All of her worldly possessions fit onto one cargo cart with space to spare. She rolled it down to the flight deck, loaded everything onto Cloudrunner, including a few extra fuel cells from the flight deck's fuel dispenser.

Once the Cloudrunner was loaded up, Krystal set the autopilot for her ship to carry all of her personal belongings to Corneria. She wasn't sure why.

Nothing made sense.

She watched the ship lift off the deck and fly out on its own.

Why wasn't she on it?

Nothing made sense ... nothing at all.

She looked out the flight deck and spotted a purple planet in the distance. Sauria. Her heart tightened into a knot of pain.

She stood there, in a stupor, just staring at Sauria.

The planet where she met Fox. Above it was the tiny moon where she'd lost her virginity to Fox. It was the world where she had all of her emotional ties to Lylat.

Fox's Arwing came into view, blocking the image of Sauria. A floodlamp on the front of his fighter made her lift a paw to cover her face. Her shadow stretched out behind her.

She stared up at the Arwing, sensing that Fox assumed she 'came to her senses' and was waiting for him on the flight deck. Then, she sensed that he felt frustrated, because he began wondering if she was going to demand to be part of his next mission.

Nothing was further from the truth. She refused to go where she wasn't wanted.

She walked to the far end of the flight deck to give him space to land.

Could she do this? Could she face Fox after their breakup?

No. It wasn't that she couldn't. No, she simply didn't want to right now.

She didn't want to deal with this ... drama. At least not right now. She didn't want to hear his excuses.

She took a deep breath, and quietly walked across the flight deck. She took a hallway to the port end of the carrier ship, opened a hatch on the bulkhead, and stepped into a lifeboat. She stepped in, closed the hatch behind herself, and launched the emergency pod with the destination set for the closest world.

She wasn't sure why. She'd just sent all of her belongings to Corneria in the Cloudrunner ... why was she taking an escape pod to Sauria?

To avoid coming face to face with Fox, that's why. And escape pods were untraceable, so that an attacking enemy wouldn't be able to follow survivors. At least, now, Fox wouldn't be able to track her trajectory to Sauria.

She assumed he'd look around the ship for her, first, before discovering the lifeboat pod missing. That would buy her time, for sure.

X

X

_ _

Titania, Sometime later ...

Krystal rubbed her head. She felt woozy and drunk. She couldn't remember much, and the shifting sands of the desert world didn't look like any part of Sauria she recognized.

She stood on the precipice of a large hill with a steep drop, overlooking a township of roughly twenty thousand people in the valley below.

A large creature was laid out on the desert floor, a few miles beyond the town gates. Tiny dots surrounded it ... people.

An Arwing flew by. A few Cornerian G16 fighters patrolled the skies.

The large bio-weapon monster was motionless. Its body was being dismantled by the tiny dots far below, that worked together to chop it up and burn its remains.

Krystal patted her clothes to get the dirt off of herself; she found a pair of binoculars in her cargo-shorts pocket.

She didn't remember wearing cargo shorts ... ever.

She withdrew the binoculars, removed their lens covers, and zoomed in on the town. It was roughly a thirty-to-forty-minute jog to the entrance facing the tall hill. She panned the binoculars to the creature outside the main gates on the side of the town.

With the binoculars, Krystal could see that the dots were actually vans and buses that brought in volunteers.

She lowered the binoculars. Once more, from the precipice, it looked like the dots could have been people. She lifted the binoculars back to her eyes and gazed into them again. Once more, the dots were vehicles used to bus in volunteers. It was then that she realized just how far away she was, and just how enormous the creature was. The township was tight, compact, and comprised of residential buildings. She didn't see any suburban style homes, just apartment complexes and condos.

She estimated the town was about four miles north to south and roughly five miles, east to west.

She estimated herself to be south of the township, and the creature was a few miles northeast of the town's eastern entrance.

She put the dust caps back on the binoculars and put them back into her pocket.

Krystal checked herself ... she was wearing a lab coat she'd never seen before, but also a blouse, which she recognized as her own.

She wasn't sure, but she thought she'd saw Andross. However, everything was fuzzy, and she couldn't remember much.

There was a sharp pinprick on her neck. Her eyes widened. She looked down at a large shadow that loomed over her.

Krystal turned to face a large...

...suddenly, everything went black.

The sound of the breeze faded.

She heard a deep voice somewhere in the background, but she couldn't move, and staying awake grew difficult.

The voice said, "You have shown me that your people can be useful and are worth saving. You proved able-minded and able-bodied. You worked hard, and your work saved over twenty-thousand civilians. Be proud of yourself for your part in saving a Lylatian world, on this day."

The voice sounded so familiar to Krystal.

It continued. "However, you have learned more than I would have liked. I have given you a targeted neuron-blocker to surpress the events that took place over the last twenty-four to thirty-six hours."

Krystal struggled to move but she couldn't even open her eyes.

The deep, aloof voice continued to monologue into her ear. "It may be a few months before you remember everything that transpired here. I do not know if you will continue to work with Fox McCloud, but if you ever see him again, be sure to tell him that everything he knows about me was wrong. I have wronged him, that part is true. However, the war is over. I have every right to continue my work, while the rest of the system believes I am dead."

She didn't reply, she simply listened. Her body felt numb and her mind felt cloudy.

The voice sounded as though it was speaking softly right into her ear. "McCloud cannot know I am alive, because he cannot understand the importance of my work. This is likely because he cannot see past the death of his father. His father's death was in self-defense, and it was a battlefield death, carried out in wartime."

There was a gruff baritone sigh.

Then, the voice said, "McCloud is narrow-minded, just like John Pepper. I know I have wronged them both, but my work will save billions, and these deaths were not done maliciously. They were accidents. You see, my actions led to the accidental death of Vixy McCloud. Before that, my actions led to the accidental deaths of twenty-five Cornerian civilians and a handful of military personnel, one of which was John Pepper's mentor. My experimental weapon destroyed a military compound on Corneria. I will atone for that on my own."

Krystal fought to stay awake.

"The war between Venom and Corneria was self-preservation on my part, nothing more. Mm, perhaps a touch of hubris on my part, as well. As you could probably tell, after I forced you to become my lab assistant at gunpoint, I am broken. Whether born or made, that is an argument for psychologists. Narcissist, sociopath, psychopath, I have been labeled by scientists for my psychopathy, because I have no empathy. But I do not have an extreme antisocial attitude. I simply have Empathy Deficit Disorder. Think of me as a socially-functioning sociopath, if you wish."

Another sigh. "As an empath, you would understand my situation, even though I am incapable of understanding yours. Just know that I am blessed with great intellectual power. And, with great power, there must come great responsibility. Perhaps I have been irresponsible, but that is in the past. My great responsibility, now, is to save lives with my work. So, I will continue my work, no matter the cost. And you? You will forget this conversation for a while. But one day, when you are face to face with Fox McCloud, please, by all means, tell him he only sees me as the man that killed his father, and not as the man that has worked to save billions of lives. I am sorry, but you will wake up with a headache, due to being dehydrated. That is a side effect of the shot. It soaks up water in your body. So, for now, it would be best if you rest..."

Silence.

Darkness.

There was no dreaming, just darkness.

X

X

Sauria, Sometime even later ...

Krystal sat up with a start. She was on a hard surface. Her eyes opened and she squinted at the dim glow of Miracle above her head. She looked down at what appeared to be the top of the Krazoa Palace.

There was a bottle of water nearby. She picked it up, broke the seals on the cap, opened the bottle, and drank heavily, more than half the contents of the bottle.

She patted herself down. She still wore the cargo shorts, but the lab coat was gone. The binoculars were gone as well.

Krystal got to her feet and looked around. The weather was beautiful. The air was a balmy seventy-five degrees, using the Papetoon measurement system Fox liked and preferred.

She rubbed her face with a yawn and looked around at the skyline of Sauria in silence. She walked to the edge of the palace's rooftop and peered over, unable to see the jungle floor so far below.

"Was it a dream?" she whispered.

She reached back and touched her neck. She felt a bump beneath the fur. "My gods, I was drugged." She looked around again, reached down into her cargo pants, and checked herself, but there was no pain, and seemingly nothing bruised.

She exhaled with a sigh of relief. She checked her abs and neck for signs of pain or bruising, but there was nothing wrong, save for a very slight stiffness ... that was a feeling she recognized - sleeping in the same position for a long period of time. She finished the water bottle.

She would need more water and some potassium-rich foods, like dried apricots or some fresh bananas. There were plenty in the jungle of Sauria.

Krystal pivoted on her heel, looking around the area for signs of anything that could answer her questions about what happened.

There was a tent nearby. She approached it, but it was empty. There were scratch marks on the ground as though heavy equipment once occupied the tent.

Nearby, she saw a GreatFox escape pod. The Star Fox logo had been scratched off. She approached the pod and examined the outside carefully. The Teflon-based painted logo should have survived atmospheric entry. She leaned in close, noticing that the red logo appeared to have been scraped off by a chisel or some other tool.

At a closer look, she noticed the engines had been heavily modified with a device that would likely make the escape pod travel at near FTL speeds, and another device was mounted to the fuselage to provide shields.

"Who made this?" She placed her paws on the side of the engine modification, studying it. She'd seen something similar, made by Slippy and his father, Beltino, but it was much larger. She opened the side of the engine casing, gazed within, and studied the design of the modification for a moment. She closed the access panel and stepped into the escape pod.

Inside, she saw a case of prepackaged water bottles, some brand-name aspirin, sealed in its packaging. There was ... a very out-of-place fruit basket.

Krystal eyed the fruit basket suspiciously. "Aren't these used on Corneria as a 'thank you' or something? How strange." She saw a note nestled with the fruit.

The card had simplistic typed lettering within.

The note read, "For your hard work, Cerinian ... the modified engine will easily reinstall to your new personal fighter. The Cloudrunner. Yes, I have seen the design plans for it; that does not matter. Whether you choose to accept the gift is entirely up to you, but it will work with the NTD-FX2 Plasma Engines of your fighter, and I machined the design so that it is easy to modify for a proper fit on your machine. Thank you for your help and hard work. You proved to be far more capable than any other lab assistant. A shame we cannot continue our work together."

On the floor was a crumpled piece of paper. She turned to the controls and saw the coordinates were set to the military recruitment center in the downtown area of Corneria's Capital City. The arrival time displayed 'thirty-six hours' on the readout.

She turned to the fruit basket and the crumpled flyer. She vaguely remembered finding a flyer of that same yellowish-pink paper coloration at one of the new Saurian Colonies, the hub town built by Cornerians over the last few years.

There was a wrap-around sofa on the inside of the pod that had enough seating for up to several people. There was a very, very small hatch panel on the other side of the capsule, a bathroom for emergencies. But it would suffice for the thirty-six-hour trip.

Inside the bathroom, mounted to the wall, was a 'Red Sprocket' tool kit.

Krystal sighed. It made her think of Fox, Falco, and Slippy. She shook her head, remembering all the times that the boys would make dirty jokes about their 'big Red Sprocket tool.'

They were so immature, but it was sort of charming in a way.

She just cringed. She remembered her last interaction with Fox.

Krystal looked down at her empty left paw. No ring. She left it on Fara Phoenix's grave marker.

Her eyes watered at the memory. Her heart ached. She tried to refocus her mind on the fact that she was unable to remember what transpired in the past day or so. Or was it longer? She couldn't be sure.

She was starting to feel better from the large bottle of water, at least. And the stiffness was starting to subside.

Everything else felt vague and spotty. She took a deep breath, licked her lips, and then she spotted her personal communicator on the dash controls, charging off the pod's batteries.

Krystal snatched the communicator, noting that it was now fully charged. She looked up Bill Grey's personal communicator number, but she didn't yet dial it.

What was she going to tell him? She didn't know.

She looked at the time and date on her communicator's small screen, frowned, and sighed through her teeth. She'd lost time. She couldn't be sure _exactly _how much, but definitely around two days.

She checked the uptime on her communicator, then the built-in app that tracks how often she'd been using the device. The last time she accessed any applications on it was fifty-six hours and thirty-two minutes ago.

"Two-and-a-half days," she whispered. "I lost two ... and-a-half ... days," she repeated. Her heart began to race.

Why couldn't she remember? She touched her neck again, feeling about, through the fur of her pelt, until she relocated the bumps. One of the spots was still a bit sore, the other not as much, and the bump wasn't nearly as high.

She concluded that she'd been drugged twice, roughly a day-or-two apart.

Krystal gave herself another quick physical examination, but there was nothing else that suggested she'd been sexually assaulted or physically harmed in any way.

Why the hell couldn't she remember?

She looked at the communicator again, noticing she had three-out-of-five bars of reception. She went to the app store, downloaded an app designed to compile information based on which towers her device had used when making digital 'handshakes,' to determine where she'd been lately.

The app was small and downloaded quickly. She silently praised the Cornerian subspace communication's cartel for having such amazing service around the system.

She accessed the app, grumbled softly at the need to make an account, spent several minutes setting one up, then she pressed 'okay' to give the app permission to access her device's personal history.

She saw that she'd been on Sauria for part of the time and Titania for part of the time, then she apparently came back to Sauria.

Okay, so only half of her questions had been answered.

Krystal rubbed her face with a sigh. The phone wouldn't be able to answer any more than where she'd been and when...

She took another deep breath to calm her racing heart.

Her eyes returned to the flyer on the floor of the escape pod. It was crumpled. She reached for it and flattened it out against a bulkhead. She vaguely remembered picking it up at a colony nearby.

Krystal glanced down at the aspirin and pack of water bottles.

Silence.

After a moment, she broke the sealed wrapping around the water pack, and plucked out a single bottle of water. She thought about avoiding it in case it was drugged, but then she remembered that she had two bumps on her neck where she'd been injected with something.

She looked at the aspirin again with yet another sigh. "Well, if I was Roofied with a needle then that's my attacker's preferred drugging methodology; there's no reason the person would make fake aspirin or drug sealed water bottles if they preferred using syringes."

She thought about it for another moment, followed by a sharp exhale of frustration.

"This is stupid." She set her communicator back down on the charging pad, built into the control dash. "I'm acting stupid. I'm a trained mercenary. I have survived the end of civilization as I knew it. I adapted. I will survive this." She took a deep breath, held it, then exhaled nice and slow.

Krystal took another deep breath, held it for a few seconds, popped the aspirin, drank down a little more than half the water in the bottle, and took a banana from the fruit basket.

She exhaled in a huff of indignation and annoyance.

"What even happened yesterday?"

Silence.

"Let alone the last two days." Krystal picked her personal communicator back up. She stepped outside of the pod, thumbed through her contacts, found Bill again, and dialed his number.

Bill Grey's voicemail replied. "You've reached Colonel William Grey of the Corneria Air Guard. I'll be away from the phone a few days, so just leave a message at the tone."

Krystal sighed. She planned on asking for an extraction from Sauria, but he wasn't answering. Instead, she simply said, "I heard you're looking for pilots. This is Krystal ... call me back whenever ... I saw a flyer and it mentioned full medical benefits and using any past experience toward starting at a slightly higher rank, you know, when coming out of training." She thought about telling him of her weird predicament, but she decided against it. "I remembered you saying you'd help fast-track my career a few months ago, when you spoke to me on the Miracle mission. You probably know, by now, I'm off that team for good. I'm looking for something stable and permanent. Something reliable. Something to help me start my life over. Maybe something to help me pay my bills once I get a place. You know what I mean."

She ended the call with yet one more soft sigh, and then she turned back to the mysteriously modified escape pod. She opened the engine access panel from the inside of the pod, and stared at the modification from the interior access hatch.

Silence.

Krystal narrowed her gaze, staring at the modifications. "So, can I trust you?" She continued her inquiry in her mind, regardless of not having any other Cerinian around to hear her. '...Or should I ask someone else for help getting off Sauria?'

This was all so ... weird. Why did she lose time? Did she really see Andross, or was that some sort of fever-dream?

She noticed something else ... she wasn't harboring anger about Cerinia anymore. At least not right now. Her shoulders felt less tense. In fact, she felt less tense overall and all over, despite feeling stiff. And, upon reflecting on her personal feelings about Cerinia, her heart felt a bit lighter. Upon further reflection, she realized that her burdened spirit felt ... renewed.

She thought back to the situation with Fox. Okay. She didn't feel completely unburdened. She was still angry about Fox McCloud's betrayal.

Maybe, during her two days of losing time, she'd put her frustrations, concerning Cerinia, behind her. Maybe just temporarily? She couldn't be sure. It would have to be something she'd meditate on later, but when it came to Fox McCloud? She still felt angry and betrayed.

Fox McCloud.

Krystal grimaced at the mere thought of him. The fur on her neck bristled, causing the bumps on either side of her neckline to hurt a little bit more.

After a moment of deliberation, Krystal dialed a number she never thought she'd call. But with every ring, it felt righter than the last.

On the fourth ring, Panther Caroso answered the line. "Please, tell me this isn't a prank call ... or a butt-dial..."

"I'm not butt-dialing. I'm 'anger' dialing. I - I'm sorry. This ... maybe this was a bad idea." She began pacing.

"Wait! Wait, wait. Krystal, there has to be a reason you felt the need to call. Whatever the reason is? Just tell me. Are you all right? Safe? I can be on my way if you tell me where you are."

"No, it isn't anything like that. I'm embarrassed because Fox just kicked me off his team. He said flying for him was too dangerous. Look, just forget I called, Panther. I was calling you out of anger at Fox. But I'm not interested in stooping so low as to just jump into your arms."

"Krystal, wait. Panther understands. You're not calling Panther to get back at Fox. You're calling because you don't have anyone you trust to whom you can turn."

"If you're going to talk about yourself in the third person, I'm hanging up right now." Her pacing took her outside of the pod, once more. Then back in. Then back out, again.

"I am sorry. It's a habit. Part of the persona I have made for myself while under Star Wolf's employ. Listen, we fought together. We have that bond. And, yes, it really is a bond. When you survive a battle together, a bond is built. I consider you a friend. And, I'm hoping, the reason you called me is because you consider _me a friend, as well_."

Krystal sighed. She realized that she'd been sighing a lot since waking up.

She stole a glance over her shoulder at the escape pod sitting on the top of Krazoa Palace. She looked up at the evening sky, but there was no sign of the Great Fox. She was disgusted and annoyed that McCloud didn't follow her.

She looked down at her bare ring finger, followed by a shake of her head. "I told Fox..." She paused to take a deep breath. "I told him if kicks me off the team, it would be an unforgivable betrayal."

"Why would he feel his work is too dangerous for you? You have worked together for years."

"We talked about the possibility of having a family, and he told me that it would be safer for me to raise a family in a nice house while he finishes making Lylat safe enough for our children. He wouldn't even let me join him on his newest mission. He fired me, saying he refused to be responsible for allowing the last Cerinian to die."

"And ... what did _you do in reply to his betrayal_?"

Krystal scoffed. "I told him how I feel! If he's going to risk his fur, I'm going to be right there, risking mine with him. I'm not going to live out my life like a military wife, raising my child on the other side of Lylat, while he's out there fighting whatever threatens Lylat next. I'm not built for that."

"I agree. He cannot shame you that way, and then expect you to raise his household from afar. That is not how relationships work. They are done as a team. An inseparable team."

"Exactly!" she exclaimed. "God. I can't believe I just got kicked off of Team StarFox." She sighed softly, shook her head, and added, "I broke up with him for firing me."

"I cannot understand one thing. Why would he do this? You are an exceptional pilot."

"He said it wasn't safe."

"Yes, but I'm asking in general - why would he do this thing? It makes no sense."

"Yeah, no kidding."

Panther asked, "What do friends do in this situation? I've not much experience with it ... wait, what about lunch? On me."

"It's nighttime, Panther."

"Ah. I wasn't sure where you are."

"I'm headed to Corneria Capital City ... I can be there in ... thirty-six hours."

"I can meet you in time for Breakfast if you wish. Let me treat. Please. Nothing inappropriate. Just a meal as friends."

"I ... don't know..."

"I will be a gentleman. Thirty-six hours, that will give you time to rest and be refreshed before we meet up."

"I ... probably won't sleep. Not after this. No point in trying. But ... I will probably be hungry when I arrive. Can you meet me there?"

"Yes, my friend. I will see you when you arrive. And, I do not care what Fox McCloud says - MY offer is still valid."

"What offer is that?"

"...That you can fly on _my wing anytime _."

Krystal chuckled, sniffled, and then sighed. Again. "See you in about thirty-six hours. Thanks ... friend."

"That is what friends do for one another. I am wrapping up something small, here, on Titania. Then, I will head to Corneria. I shall see you soon!" Panther disconnected from his end.

"Titania," she whispered to herself. "I was there just yesterday, wasn't I?" Krystal looked down at her communicator. She had a text from Bill Grey.

Distracted from double-checking on her previous whereabouts, she checked the text, first. It read, 'Hey. Got your voice mail but can't talk on the phone right now. You want to try out for the Cornerian Army Air Guard? Meet me at headquarters in a few days."

She replied with a text, which read, "A few days? Are you on Titania?"

After a moment, Bill's response appeared on her screen._ "_I can't talk about the job right now. Sounds like you still have some great mercenary connections, though. Anyway, I get back from my mission before the start of the weekend. If you're serious, I'll have you fitted for a helmet and HUD visor before week's end."

Krystal sighed softly. She had options. But ... she didn't have Fox. And that hurt. That hurt more than she knew how to process.

She thumbed her communicator's screen, replying with, "See you then, Bill. Look forward to working together."

X

X

Seven months _ later_... (13 months after the Miracle Mission)

Krystal glanced at her Cornerian-issued military smartwatch. She pushed the canopy open on her Cornerian G16-E fighter.

She reached up, put her paws on the rim of the cockpit, lifted herself from it, and then she kicked her legs over the side. She rested her rump on the edge of the cockpit, and, with a grunt, she acrobatically launched herself onto the ladder as it rolled up alongside her fighter.

She hurried down the steel frame ladder, putting most of her weight on her palms against the railing, and landed on the flight deck with a thump.

One of the flight crew ladies saluted her ... some enlisted girl that had impure thoughts about the shapely blue vixen.

Krystal saluted in return. "Chief," she said in acknowledgement. The woman's impure thoughts didn't bother Krystal. On Cerinia, everyone's impure thoughts were open and exposed.

Instead, Krystal admired the woman's ability to remain professional. She knew that everyone had impure thoughts about something at some point. But it was those who didn't act upon such thoughts that Krystal found to be exceptional people.

Krystal hurried across the flight deck. She pushed open an office door, leading into the debriefing room.

Bill turned to face her. "Hey! I saw that dismount onto the ladder. Pretty slick, ace!"

"Heh, thanks."

"Aren't we supposed to have drinks for your promotion from ensign to Lieutenant? Second fasted promotion in history!"

"Drinks are on me, just not tonight, boss. Sorry!"

Bill chuckled. "You've been putting it off for three months, Krystal. Anyway, I saw you run across the hanger deck. You in a hurry?"

"Yeah, kind of."

Bill laughed with a shake of his head. "Well, okay then! It was a standard patrol. Go on with your debrief ... surely my star lieutenant can make time for debriefing protocol."

Krystal saluted, waited for a reply gesture, then announced, "My wingman and I flew a four-point standard patrol route. We engaged pirates at the first nav-point. They were picking clean whatever was left from the remains of war-aged cap ships ... an un-salvaged fleet destroyed by Imperial Venom. When I saw the pirates on my scope, I radioed them. They tried hiding in the hanger of a derelict carrier. It masked their flag transmitter, but I sensed them. We engaged. I took down four fighters. My wingman destroyed the engines of a corvette being used for stealing parts. Between the two of us, we dusted the pirate group."

"Very nice. Nav 2?"

"At nav-point number two: no action, no joy." Krystal cleared her throat. "At Nav-3, we met some sloppy-seconds flying for Venom's rebel guard. These morons still think the war is on. We chased them toward the jumpgate before they could report to ... whoever they think is their leader. I killed both, my wing-mate struck out." She shifted her weight, and said, "Finally, at Nav-4, more pirates. I took four, my wingman smoked two."

"All right, what about the corvette at Nav-1?"

"After my wingmate shot out its engines, I finished it off."

"All right, good."

"Sorry I wasn't clearer about that. Total kill score: Ten kills for me, plus one corvette. For my wing-mate, two kills and a much-appreciated-assist on the corvette."

Bill shook his head with a chuckle. "You keep this up, there won't be anything left to kill in this galaxy. You're my star starfighter, Krystal. You're also up for another promotion already."

Krystal blinked. "Wait, _another _promotion? I've not even been flying for a year."

"Yeah, but you're my star pilot. You've earned the 'ace' ribbon way back during your second sortie. And now? Now, well, you're averaging three times as many kills as my second-best team. Whoever flies with you sings your praises. Pilots argue with each other about who gets to fly with you. I mean, hell, I've flown with you and I'm impressed. You're no joke no matter what ship you're piloting. You've even helped pull people out of rear echelon jobs; you've given pilots the confidence to fight with purpose again. You do this inside _and_outside the cockpit."

"I ... I do?"

Bill nodded firmly. "You've helped administrative and supply duty personnel to step up their game by being encouraging, reassuring, and supportive, yet firm. You don't take shit from anyone, and you demand them to be at their best. You tell people what they need to hear to get the most out of each soldier. It's ... actually pretty inspiring."

Krystal chuckled inwardly, not used to such praise. "I, uh ... well, being telepathic helps, I'm sure."

"Yeah, well, you keep using that. You've broken up two fistfights this month. You've smoothed things over between a two star General and a two stripe Admiral."

"How'd you know about that?" asked Krystal with her brows furrowed.

Bill chuckled. "What can I say? I'm one of the only people who know about that. And _you_didn't tell anyone, so that proves you can keep your mouth shut on sensitive issues."

"I was in the right place at the right time to help them talk things out."

"You're a natural diplomat and a natural-born-ace, Krystal. You've got the highest kill-score of any active pilot for the entire year ... and that's after you entered service later than the others. Krystal, you're on the fast track to taking my job at this rate. You'll be the first colonel, made in under a decade, to be carrying around the Football for the Prime Minister. Then comes General Krystal."

Krystal chuckled and shook her head. Her beaded hair strands bounced against her cheeks. "Okay, okay. No other action on this sortie. Am I dismissed, sir?"

"So, why're you in a hurry? You got a hot date?"

Krystal outright laughed. "Yeah, a date with recreation flying in the Cloudrunner. There're some modifications I want to make to it. I'm meeting someone who has a part I need. I might even grab a meal somewhere off world, but if it gets much later, I'll have to scrap my authentic Titanian taco craving for another night. Anything else, Colonel?"

"No, Lieutenant. I've put the paperwork through for your promotion to Captain. It'll take about two weeks before the paperwork goes through, there will be a ceremony ... the same thing you went through when you went from Ensign to Lieutenant."

"I remember," said Krystal. "Was only three months ago. Seems a bit fast, not that I am complaining."

This time it was Bill who laughed. "Yeah, you might not have been the fastest person to be promoted from Ensign to First Lieutenant, but you definitely broke a record for the shortest time as a Lieutenant in the Cornerian Army's history. You'll be beating the previous record by three weeks."

"Why is it that the Navy and Coast Guard use Ensign for first rank officers, and the Army, Marines, and Air Force use 'Second Lieutenant,' but the Army Air Guard uses Ensign, just like the Navy and the Cost Guard? I mean, I was looking into the history of Corneria's ranking, and, correct me if I'm wrong, but, well, wasn't the original Cornerian space branch part of the Air Force?"

Bill nodded firmly. "It was. And then it became its own group, in the same way as the Marines split away from the Navy. But that branch eventually became focused on space exploration, orbital defense, and interplanetary supply-line defense. When General Pepper was tasked with handling a war against Venom, he created a sub-branch of the Army to handle system-wide offensive strikes. That led to the Army Air Guard. It's O-1 position is 'Ensign,' and capital ships are treated like maritime vessels, but the ranking structure to follow Ensign follows the soldier ranking, not the sailor ranking. Complicated, huh?"

"It's all a bit barmy. But I'm not one to complain. I heard there is a really nice pay jump going to O-3, so ... that's a lovely thing."

Bill afforded her a wry grin. "The real question is ... how fast can you make it to major?"

"You want me to break that record, huh? Easy-peasy, with you as my CAG."

Bill grinned, amused by her telepathy. "Yeah, the pay jump to O-6 is pretty nice, too, Krystal. But right now, focus on O-4. The fastest pilot to make Major in any branch was an Air Force pilot. I want that record to be held by an Army Air Guard pilot. Think you can do it?"

Krystal grimaced. "It was James McCloud, huh?"

"Can't get anything by you, Lieutenant Krystal. Say, are you ever going to take a last name?"

"A surname? No. I'll always be Krystal of Cerinia, unless I find someone whose surname is worth taking."

"Fair enough, Lieutenant. Well, congrats. The promotion is effective now, pay-wise, so you'll get retroactive pay from now to when your rank increases officially. Whatever work you do between now and in two weeks will show a bump on your next check. The official promotion ceremony is in two weeks from today. At noon. You'll receive your double-bars, or as Cornerian pilots call them ... our twin blasters."

"Good to know. All right, Colonel. Enough tarrying about. If there's nothing else...?"

Bill shook his head. "Must be some date."

Krystal shook her head with a chuckle. Again, her beads bounced about. "You're too much."

"I mean, you and I went to the movies a few times. I know it wasn't appropriate but ... it wasn't bad, right?"

"No, it wasn't bad, love. But, as you said, it wasn't appropriate."

"Dating etiquette has always been to kiss a girl goodnight after the third date..."

Krystal shook her head and forced a weak smile. Things just got awkward. She reached up and patted the side of his face. "Have a great night, Bill."

"You, too, Krystal. You're a promising wing commander. Keep up the great work. You've really been great with these kids. I've received constant feedback from these kids, saying that you've been amazing as a mentor - you consistently make sure they come home with a kill-score on every sortie. You haven't lost a single pilot, and your escort rating is flawless - the only pilot in the fleet, so far, who hasn't lost a single ship she's escorting."

"Thanks! But I haven't been flying nearly as long as most of the other pilots my rank."

"Well, yeah, but you have more experience than other pilots at your rank. You're a legend to most of my pilots, Krystal. They all want to fly with the 'babes of Star Fox.' You, Miyu, Fay. Maybe the three of you should consider forming a squadron. You could be Corneria's secret weapon, heh."

"What, like Charlie's Angels? And you could be Charlie, giving us our missions?"

Bill laughed. "Oh ... oh, wow. You know, I never even thought of it like that. That was quick."

She arched one brow and furrowed the other.

Bill grinned. "That clever wit I love about you."

"Oh, so that is what you love about me, is it?"

Bill tensed up a little. "You know what I mean."

"Uh-huh. It's honestly best to let Miyu and Fay continue their work of helping other pilots step up their flying game. Putting the three of us together may hurt how much we help the young pilots with whom we fly."

"Well, I guess you, uh, have a pretty good point. But if there were ever a situation where I needed an All-Star team to strike at the heart of Venom, I wouldn't hesitate to pair the three of you ladies."

"Mm, we could call the team, 'Kissed by StarFox.'"

"Wait, even Fay?"

"Even Fay. Oh, come off it, mate. Surely you knew that already."

"No, not really."

"Mm. Awkward as you like, then, isn't it?"

Bill immediately sought to change the subject. "Oh, and hey, are you ever going to get a place on the base, or maybe get yourself an apartment in town?"

"What? No! I like living out of the Cloudrunner. At least for right now. I'm saving up all my dosh before any big decisions." She glanced at her watch.

"Okay, okay, you're dismissed, pilot."

"Okay, brilliant! Well, thanks for the chat! I'll be gallivanting about Lylat for a bit!" Krystal hurried out of Bill's office. "See ya' next patrol, boss!"

Bill shook his head with a soft chuckle.

Krystal dashed out the back door to the debriefing office, across the hall, and into the locker room.

She approached her locker. She opened it with a thumbprint, stripped her clothes, balled them up, and stuffed them at the bottom of the locker. She reached up and withdrew her civilian clothes from a set of hangers. She hung them up on the outside of her locker.

Her wingmate from today's patrol came into the women's locker room. "Krystal! I ... uh, I was hoping to run into you..."

Krystal grinned back at the pilot. "You're welcome. You did a great job, Ensign."

"Second Lieutenant, actually," said the woman. "I'm a transfer from the main Army group. I know the Air Guard uses a few Navy ranks for the low ranks, but I kept my 'Second Lieutenant' rank."

"Oh, right. Well, I was in a hurry, and I wanted to rinse clean before I put on civie-clothes. We'll catch up soon, Second Lieutenant." She headed for the shower poles at the far end of the locker room.

"Thanks again for helping me out, ma'am." The white cocker spaniel looked like Fay Spaniel, but without a hair bow. Her face was a reminder that Fox McCloud kissed other women. She saluted her superior officer.

Krystal threw a towel over her shoulder, wearing nothing else. "We'll grab a cold one and catch up next time I am in the pilot's lounge. Take care!" She returned the salute. Krystal dashed to the shower, lathered up and rinsed before the water could get fully hot, then she hurried over to the auto-drying arch, which air-blasted her dry in under ninety seconds.

By the time she came back into the locker room, the other pilot was already gone.

Krystal hurried back to her locker, dressed quickly, and stepped into her shoes.

She took the back exit from the locker room, hurried outside to the employee parking lot, and ran through the line of various Cornerian automobiles.

Past the parking lot, up on the hill, near the razor-wire fence, was the Cloudrunner.

She placed her paw on the hull by the hatch, and the side entrance rolled up. A ramp slid down, stopping in front of her feet. She stepped into her make-shift RV home, shut the hatch door, and carefully made her way through the small messy pile of clothes on the floor.