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And today, Sky-Kaiser is making another chapter!

Chapter 8, at last. God, writing this story is tiring me out. Now, if you check my status updates, you'll know I'm having a time with this story. I decided to upload this chappie, however, to tell people I'm not dead and the story is still going.

If you like, comment. If you don’t like, don’t comment.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Fox, its characters, or any of its associated storylines.

Chapter 8: Preparation and Reflection

Despite being holed up in a makeshift base in a small cluster of sheds, Featherall happened to have made himself at home already. A portable Combat Information Center could be found at the center of the shed they were in, where several people operated terminals containing information on the enemy’s movements out there. At the center of the war room was a holographic table containing a layout of the massive battlefield outside. Miniature soldiers rushed against each other, while tiny war machines of various designs rolled – or trudged, if they were walker units – across the battlefield. Laser fire shot back and forth. Soldiers fell and machines exploded. But the obvious indentation in the Cornerian force’s line showed the Venomian insurgents were pressing.

Fox was unsettled by the way Andrew’s forces were slowly shearing through Featherall’s army. It reminded him all too well of Andross’s own war machine. Heck, Andrew was reminding him way too much of his uncle here. Hopefully, he wouldn’t try and cut his brain from his body and put it in a robot body, too. The cyborg form of Andross had been pretty disturbing all on his own. And it’d already been enough fighting Andrew’s transforming flagship on Fortuna.

“As you can see,” said Featherall, leaning his feathered hands to the edge of the holo-table as he spoke, “the Venomian force is advancing with frightening speed. We haven’t seen such show of force since Andross himself. Andrew is trying to live up to what his uncle tried to accomplish…”

“No kidding…” muttered Slippy, his blue eyes roving over the holograms.

“But that’s not the only things that’s concerning our forces here…” said Fara, walking over to the holo-table’s control panel. Pressing zoom, the image appeared to magnify, bringing in to one particular battalion surrounding a bizarre walker model resembling a fiddler crab. The soldiers were not primates, but rather bipeds resembling fish. They were cloaked in ornate neo-aluminum armor with silver coloring, giving their attire an ancient feel. But the detail that stuck out to them was this: a small dangling antenna tipped with a light hung over each one’s helmet.

A deadly silence followed…

“Shit,” Falco cursed. “Anglars? But Wolf killed the Anglar Emperor, didn’t he?”

“Exactly,” said Featherall. “Dash Bowman, Venom’s steward, confirmed that the Anglar Emperor was neutralized permanently. And when he died, the Anglars died with him. But genetic material lasts. Andrew must have recovered DNA from their species as an attempt to re-create them. We’ve some reason to believe the little runt has a cloning facility hidden here.”

“I just hope that Andrew isn’t trying to clone Aparoids, then,” Fox pondered to himself. He couldn’t begin to describe the myriad problems of a resurgent Aparoid Invasion.

“But they only just arrived!” said Amanda, distressed. “How could they set something like that up so quickly?!”

“That’s the thing…” said Featherall slowly. “We have reason to believe they might’ve been here longer than what most would think.”

“You know the enemy ships Andrew’s forces brought here are equipped with Dimensional Transporters?” asked Fara. “They only appeared until after the army on the ground showed up at the weapons facility. We think they might have used a sort of long-range transport to get onto the planet’s surface without alerting sensors. Then they set up shop somewhere and chose to attack once they thought their forces were ready.”

“And we theorize that they’ve been here for a few months now,” Featherall pointed out. “The enemy has remarkable tactics and brute strength. Not the best combination to fight against. You can see why we’ve had trouble.”

“Are you serious?” said Bill disbelievingly. “Holy crap… I didn’t think he had it in him. He didn’t have this big an army during his little rebellion. But now? Now he’s showing he really can take Lylat for his own.”

“And he’s got Anglars in his army as berserker units,” added Katt. She sighed, laying her fingers to her forehead and closing her eyes with a sigh. “After this, I’ll need one hell of a massage…”

“I’ll gladly help you out with that once we’re done here,” Fox chuckled.

“Sounds nice,” purred Katt, her deep blue eyes glinting with lust.

“Keep your clothes on!” snorted Falco loudly, catching Fox and Katt’s attention. “This is fight time, not fun time.”

Ignoring Falco’s occasional rude behavior (Katt, however, threw a death glare at said avian), Fox decided to make an inquiry. “So, how do we find it?”

“That’s the problem,” said Fara. “The jamming signal hasn’t been very nice to us. Most of the low-tech maps are scrambled. This table map here is really the only one that can tank jamming signals, but the jammers are stopping us from looking outside the base, so we won’t know if that bastard’s army is coming. And if he does, we won’t have any time to prepare. The map’s nearly blinked out on us, too, thanks to the jammers, so that’s not helping.”

“It’s without a doubt, a sticky situation we’ve found ourselves in,” Featherall muttered, shaking his head. “Despite our greatest efforts, our army has suffered great casualties, and Andrew’s forces have cornered us. We’re also greatly low on weapons and ammo, and his army has taken most of the facilities across the planet. We don’t know how many troops that stinking monkey has, exactly, but we know for certain that if Andrew makes one final push, we’ll be finished.”

Fox leaned against the map, staring at the advancing army upon the map. There were so many…

Memories came flooding back of the dreaded attack on Corneria. He’d abandoned the Academy the day his father was reported killed in action, and had taken Slippy and Peppy with him to begin the creation of a new Star Fox team. He wanted to recruit Bill or Fara as well, but at the time they had been against it all, since they greatly believed in the system rather than working outside the law. He eventually met and recruited Falco, to make up for that, since he was a rogue pilot who shared many of the ideals Fox had. They spent several years on the edge of Lylat while preparing for Andross’s return, since they knew that he’d eventually lash out at Lylat with the intent of conquering. When he did, Fox and his team quickly rushed to Corneria, and it was safe to say they were taken aback by the speed of Andross’s invasion. By the time they had arrived, Granga, a high-ranking commander of the Venomian Army, had led an army that had nearly decimated Corneria City. Even after defeating Granga and decimating the attacking Venomian force, they found themselves finding the same thing on other planets: worlds already completely invaded.

Andrew really was just like his uncle, wasn’t he?

“Damn,” he mumbled. “I guess Andrew’s really growing a pair. He didn’t have such a sophisticated plan when he caused the ruckus he did on Fortuna…”

Falco let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like “Stealth Bombers.”

Fox amended quickly. “OK, the Stealth Bombers were impressive, but still. Back then, he was just trying to make noise and get everyone to see what the fuss was about. Then he attacked. This time, though, he’s actually whipping out strategy.”

“And jammin’ signals are simple, but doggone effective.” Lucy mumbled. “Not to mention the fact his ships can up n’ disappear.”

“Yeah,” muttered Fox, disconcert in his voice. “I guess we really have underestimated Andrew. In more ways than one.”

“All of this is sick,” said Falco abruptly. “Andrew’s becoming another Andross, and I’m just grossed out! I know I usually stay with the Star Fox team for money, but at least I know what’s wrong and what isn’t. His sick bastard of an uncle nearly ruined Lylat!”

“I remember the atrocities Andross Bowman committed all too well, myself,” Featherall muttered, tracing a finger (or feather) underneath his beak, his brow furrowed. “And I was one of the unlucky to see it with my own eyes, unfortunately. My motivation to join the military after the Lylat Wars was because of the atrocities his armies committed on Zoness. My family and I lived there.”

“Wait, you lived on Zoness?” asked Falco.

“Yes,” said the major. “I watched the beginning of the horror that befell Zoness, bearing repulsed witness as they lay waste to the settlements of our tropical paradise. Zoness wasn’t a military target, and it had no standing armies or weapons. But the fact that Zoness had never been used for resources seemed a gold mine for the Androssian army. Zoness was meant to be a vacation. But I suppose all Andross saw was the oil and polluting resources underneath. He made Zoness unrecognizable in the matter of a month. The old adage is indeed true that ‘War Is Hell’, but you only know what Hell is like when you see it.”

Falco was then witnessed exerting a sympathy that was quite out-of-character for him.

“I… know how that feels,” he said meekly. “Though I was born on Corneria, my parents actually lived on Zoness, so I spent until my teenage years there. I left at 16, and I was hoping to come back but…” He clenched his fist. “I hope you’ll understand if I want a piece of Andrew Oikonny as well, sir.”

“Aww,” said Lucy. “You’ve been through a great deal.”

“I didn’t know you could be soft, Fal!” giggled Katt teasingly.

“That’s so cute!” squeaked Amanda. “He’s so abrasive, but there are things he cares about!”

Falco suddenly returned to his senses and rounded on everyone.

“Sh-Shut up!” he snapped, his face redder than the crimson plumage around his face. “I’m not soft! I’m a hardcore warrior! Nothing shakes me up!”

“Awwww!” twittered Katt, Amanda, and Lucy.

Fara didn’t partake in Falco’s following expense. She was expected to act professional, so she acted as such. She did smirk, slightly, though.

“Heh… I was like that, too, when I was about your age,” said Featherall. “Brash and abrasive, but nevertheless had a soft spot here and there.”

“Why are we even TALKING about this?!” yelled Falco. “We’re supposed to be discussing how we kick Andrew’s monkey behind!”

Fox cleared his throat. He was stifling a laugh as well. “Yeah, we need to get to work.”

Lucy hunched over the table. “I definitely know one thing,” she said. “And it’s that tryin’ t’ find the jammers while they’re on like this… it’ll be like tryin’ t’ find a needle in a haystack. They could be anywhere on th’ planet.”

“Exactly,” added Bill. “And it doesn’t really help when you don’t know where the army is.”

“Well, maybe I can help with that,” said Slippy. “Actually, Amanda’s the one you should thank for this one.”

Amanda pulled a briefcase from her feet, and Fox suddenly realized he hadn’t noticed that on her at first. Of course, he quickly remembered he’d ordered Slippy to come up with a countermeasure to the jamming signal. He hadn’t asked for a specific tool, because Slippy always came up with genius inventions. He invented the Landmaster and the Blue-Marine, after all.

“Well, I originally came up with the idea to combine anti-jammer technology with a satellite dish,” explained Slippy as he moved to unlock the case, “but that would require a working dish. And jammers are meant to short out searching equipment. And then Amanda gave me an idea.”

Slippy finished unlocking the case to reveal three, small, unimpressive disc-like objects. Holo-maps. They were chrome, with a ring of lights surrounding the main holo-screen.

“I call them Jammer Compasses,” said Amanda, picking one from the box. “They look like normal holo-maps, I know, but I actually managed to combine common anti-jammer technology with a director interface to create a special kind of anti-jamming signal that also tracks said signal.” She pointed to the ring of LED lights circling the projector. “These lights actually light up towards the nearest jamming signal, like a normal compass will point to the North. And of course, it provides a map that resists jamming signals. Unfortunately, we could only make three, so our best bet to take these jammers out would be to send three teams out to find each jammer one-by-one.”

The members of Star Fox looked rather impressed.

“What?” Amanda tittered. “I’m smart, too!”

“Wow, Amanda,” said Fox. “Normally, I’m counting on Slippy to come up with stuff like this, but I guess he’s not the only genius on the team, is he? This is your invention?”

“Well, it was both me and Slippy here,” replied Amanda, rubbing the back of her head. “But yeah!”

“And she didn’t get any of it from me!” added Slippy proudly. “Amanda’s got a love for machines like I do!”

“Now I get why ya fell fer her,” said Lucy.

“Fox, you sure we can’t kick Slip-up off the team?” asked Falco. “She’d make a great replacement.”

Slippy and Amanda gave Falco such the look!

“I was kidding!” chuckled Falco.

“Normally, you would need my authorization to use those,” said Featherall. “But with the situation at hand, I will have to trust in your ability to get the job done.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Fox.

“But I’m not going to sit by while you take the credit for yourself, McCloud,” the major added sternly. “I want to prove the army can actually do something, too. Having someone else do the whole job for me makes the brave men and women fighting for this solar system look like incompetents.”

“No, it’s fine,” replied Fox. “I sometimes feel like the army doesn’t get enough credit, either. I’d actually love your help.”

“And I’ll give it,” Featherall continued yet further, “I have faith you can get the job done, but I feel inclined to bring one of my most experienced troops with you to even your chances.”

“I’ll go, sir,” said Fara.

“I already granted permission for that, Fara,” said Featherall. “I understand well that you’ve had past interactions with Mr. McCloud and his team. But I also want to send another soldier as well. Bruiser!”

“Sir!”

A large, intimidating bulldog marched from the bustling crowd. He was large and burly, with bulky armor laden with numerous explosive devices. He toted a rocket launcher on his back, as well as a grenade launcher and a chemical thrower. The man was armed to the teeth, and had the air of a man who had seen war, and reveled in it. He arrived with a salute, standing straighter than a perfect line.

“My second-in-command, Captain Russell Falman, will assist you,” said the major. “He’s my most trusted subordinate, and he reports directly to me.”

“It’s Bruiser to you,” added the bulldog, breaking the salute to march up to Fox.

Fox politely offered his hand to shake, but Bruiser did not repeat the action. His expression was stony.

“Look here,” said the soldier gruffly. “We’re allies if the major says so, but I don’t trust mercs, OK?”

Fox withdrew his hand. “I understand,” he replied respectfully. He felt Katt grip his arm from behind, but he gave the feline a nod to ensure it was OK.

“Bruiser has a… bad history… with mercs,” Featherall said with the air of treading lightly.

“Which we don’t talk about here,” said Bruiser.

“But I believe you will need the best with you, Star Fox,” continued Featherall. “Bruiser has great experience with heavy weaponry, and he’s a soldier to the core. You’ll be fine with him.”

Fox felt somewhat uncomfortable with a man who had an animosity towards mercs for whatever reason. But again, he needed help.

“I appreciate any assistance you can give,” said Fox finally. “I really do.”

“And I appreciate your respect, McCloud,” replied Featherall. “I usually hate having to deal with mercenaries, but I think I can expect more from you than just expectancy to be paid.”

Fox marched over to the General to shake his hand (or wing). “Like I said, sir. I don’t just work for money. I work for the people I love.”

“Commendable,” said Featherall, with a firm shake.

“Now, then,” said Fox, ready to get started. “What’s the plan?”

“Your friend has a sound strategy of teams of three, each equipped with your special maps,” said Featherall. “So, I will lend Fara and Bruiser to help. Three of you nine will accompany and lead a fire-team each to locate the jammers. I can provide gunships to transport the soldiers assigned to you. A squad for each team. Fara, I want you to accompany Fox. Fox, you can pick any of your team to assist you as the third member of Team Alpha.”

“It’s gotta be me,” said Katt, stepping up.

“Then, it will be you,” replied Fox, taking her hand.

Fox, Katt and Fara grouped up to the west side of the holo-table.

“Bruiser, I want you with Bill Grey and Lucy Hare,” said the major. “You will lead Team Beta.”

“Sir!” barked Bruiser with a salute. He was joined by Lucy and Bill, who stood with him on the north side of the table.

“And that frees us up to be the commanders of Team Gamma,” said Slippy, who was joined by his fiancée and Falco at the east side.

“But I’m taking point,” said Falco. “I’m not responsible if Slippy gets his ass handed to him.”

“Actually, I think I should be in charge of Gamma,” said Amanda tartly. “I made the Jammer Compasses, and I know how to use them best. I’m leading.”

“What?” Falco was incredulous. How could she go from a cuckoo-lander fangirl to such an assertive figure that quickly?

“Hey, I’m not just a lover,” said Amanda. “I’m a girl who loves her work, too. And since this is my work, I lead. You don’t think that girls can’t lead, do you, Fal?”

Falco wanted to say something smart, of course, but, to everyone’s surprise, words failed him.

“Did…” Lucy was equally floored. “Did Amanda here just up ‘n make birdy boy ‘ere just zip his lip?”

“Another reason why I love her!” said Slippy proudly, slinging his arm around Amanda’s waist. “Her fire!”

Falco snorted. “If we run into an enemy squad…” he muttered under his breath, but not loud enough for Slippy and Amanda to hear.

“I’ll gather my troops,” said Featherall. “And I suggest you prepare before you throw yourselves at the fire. Be sure you’re optimally outfitted, soldiers. Dismissed.”

With that, the major left off eastways to the more occupied half of the shed, leaving the nine soldiers together. Bruiser decided to separate himself, of course, before mumbling to Fara, “I thought you kept better company, First Lieutenant.”

Fara’s long ears drooped from that quip as the hulking bulldog left.

“First Lieutenant?” asked Fox.

“Yeah, Bruiser’s my superior, actually,” answered Fara. “He’s a good man, but he’s rough and old-school. Like, ‘shoot right next to your head if you do something wrong’ old-school.”

“No, he’s fine,” said Fox. “I’ve seen that stereotype too many times to count. I still remember the hard-asses that were trying to make me a man when I was still in the Academy. Besides, I think he’d rather be with people who actually finished their Academy training.”

“The Shield of Katina and the General’s daughter, both a part of Star Fox,” said Fara, nodding his head at said two, impressed. “So, Foxy. I’ve been too busy in the war business to know what you guys’ve been up to. Other than the usual ‘save the galaxy business.’ How’ve you been?”

Fox turned to Katt, who smiled knowingly. Both then turned back to Fara.

“Well…” said Fox, rubbing the back of his head, while sighing. “I’ve been walking down a rough road, I’ll tell you that right now…”

A trio of squads were soon assembled to make up the infantry of Teams Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, each made up of 15 soldiers for quick infiltration. Each team was then sent their way upon Cornerian gunships retrofitted with stealth systems. These ships were low-altitude flyers with enough room to fit a fairly-sized contingent of soldiers in, arrow-shaped in design with two cylindrical engines tipped with wing-like stabilizers. A large, energy-shielded hatch on the bottom of the ship was where troops could drop out of the ship quickly and efficiently.

According to Featherall, the ships were able to avoid scanners in an area for a short amount of time – say, 20 to 30 minutes – but after that, they would be unable to keep themselves hidden. They were provided fairly powerful reactor charges – small portable bombs with the power of each a kiloton of dynamite – to plant inside each jammer, wherever they may be, and blow then to hell.

On the way to wherever they were headed, Fox, Katt, and Fara found themselves rather crowded in the gunship the major had provided for them. They were accompanied by their contingent of 15 soldiers, clad in standard-issue uniform and armor. Fara was the only one of the leading trio of Team Alpha that was wearing armor. Compared to that, Fox was wearing his standard jacket and scarf, and Katt was wearing her skin-tight body glove. She said she wore it in combat because it granted mobility. All it did for Fox was provoke him to stare at her buttocks. Not that she minded. Of course, it did provide some unwanted attention from a porcupine, who was caught staring at her assets. Fox quickly gave him the look that said ‘Back off. She’s mine,’ and he went back to his own devices.

“Wow, Foxy,” said Fara, who had been listening to Fox’s story along the ride. “You’ve really had a time. So, this Krystal. What was she like?”

“Well, when we first met,” Fox began (he was on a storytelling stride by this point), “she was the most innocent and loving person ever. I still have trouble thinking about when I first met her consciously.”

Eyes meeting. Teal eyes drinking in green. The pleasant surprise on her face as she stared at the beckoning visage of a caring hero…

Damn it.

“Yeah, she was an angel,” Fox continued, shaking the memory away before he started getting depressed again. “But she seemed to know she had a nice bod. Didn’t help that she was wearing some skimpy tribal uniform when I found her on Sauria.”

“Not that you were complaining,” giggled Fara. “You checked out every girl in the Academy!”

“Shut up!” chuckled Fox. “I only checked them out because I didn’t think anyone was prettier than you.”

“Y’know, I’ll know it if you start picking her over me,” said Katt dangerously.

“Well, she was the prettiest girl I knew at the Academy,” amended Fox. “Erm… back to the story!” he punctuated with fluster. “When we let her on the team to be the replacement fighter for Peppy, she started becoming more like a girl-next-door combined with crazy science smarts and telepathy. I did mention, she was a telepath, right? Or did I miss that?”

“A telepath? You mean this girl could read your mind?”

“Yeah,” said Fox. “So it got pretty embarrassing when I didn’t wanna have my mind read. Krystal let some really embarrassing things out in the air.”

“I met her a few times before the Aparoids,” said Katt. “She thought I was Fox’s ex at first, unfortunately, but I told her I was into Falco.”

“Which was true.”

“At the time, until I got sick of Falco just brushing me off.”

“Anyways,” Fox resumed. “It got bad after the Aparoid Invasion. We hooked up and started going out, but I got really worried for her safety. I started having this bad feeling that each mission might take our lives.”

“He started getting over-protective,” said Katt. “Every time there was a mission, he started getting really clingy. He refused to let Krystal go off on her own, even though splitting up would be a better option, for one.”

“I also kept urging my friends to go with her when I couldn’t. Most of the time, it was when she could’ve covered some position by herself. I didn’t trust her not to get hurt.”

“It got really ridiculous after a while, from what Fox told me. And Krystal started getting really annoyed.”

“Then came this mission on Katina.” Fox’s voice implied a tragedy coming in the story. “A group of terrorists had taken over a civilian cruiser and entered the planet’s atmosphere, demanding that the army surrender or the people on the plane die. Their leader – some crazed Lylat War veteran from the Venomian army – he wanted to take over the military base and make it a mass-recruiting station for people upset with Corneria’s system government. Or something like that. They brought us in to try and take out the terrorists before they hurt the civilians. But it didn’t go as planned.”

“While the army pretended to negotiate with the terrorists from a distance, Fox snuck onto the ship with Falco, Slippy and Krystal. There was a firefight on the bridge and everything was going well. The terrorists were brought down and we cornered the leader. But he had a flashbang grenade on him and he used it. He took Krystal hostage and threatened to kill her if Fox didn’t stand down.”

“What happened?” asked Fara, fearing the answer.

“I did something stupid,” said Fox. “I was so terrified of the fact that Krystal might die that I called the Great Fox behind a console on the bridge. I ordered ROB to fire. The general didn’t see me, so he wondered what I was doing. Then ROB fired.”

“ROB scored a direct hit on the engines, like Fox wanted,” said Katt. “But he didn’t count on the Great Fox’s lasers piercing the fuel tank and the hyperdrive reactor. The ship was nearly blown in half and almost a hundred people were killed instantly. Fox used the distraction to blow the bastard’s head off. Then he tried to pilot the crashing ship to the surface.”

“All the other passengers survived,” said Fox. “But they were traumatized and grief-stricken. Some had lost close family, and others had lost friends. We decided to collect our payment and leave, but I could feel everyone mad at me for doing something just to save Krystal. All because I was only thinking of Krys and not the innocent people on the ship. And after the mission…” – Fox now felt a little rain cloud coming over his head – “…that’s when it all hit the fan.”

The gunship rocked slightly, but it didn’t manage to shake Fox from his reminiscing…

“FOX, YOU BASTARD!”

Fox dejectedly let Krystal strike him across the face with the flat of her palm. Tears were in her eyes as she had marched up to him with grief and pain in her tone. And Fox felt worse because of it. He’d had to deal with grieving Lylat citizens back on Katina, but Krystal’s pained voice was the worst of it all.

“Why, Fox?!” Krystal asked, her voice shaking with sadness. “Why’d you do that?! Innocent men, women and children… they’re dead because of you!”

Fox said nothing, but he did understand the enormous tragedy of what he let happen.

“So why?!?” Krystal shouted. “Why’d you make ROB fire at a ship full of innocent people?! Were you too busy thinking of my safety other than the people we were trying to save?!?” A painful silence followed, and when Fox didn’t reply, Krystal let out another piercing shout.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, FOX?!?”

Krystal’s hand crashed into his cheek again, but again he didn’t reply. He was already looking down in shame.

“You risked people for me,” snarled Krystal, her anger hot enough to burn Fox alive. “People! Does that word not register with you? We’re supposed to be heroes, Fox. Heroes don’t let the majority get hurt so they can save the minority. Yet you were too busy thinking of my well-being, forget everyone else. I know that’s what was going through your head, Fox. Don’t forget I can read your mind.”

Fox was silent. There was no way to fool the blue vixen.

“Well, since you think I’m the reason for this, I’ll say it out-loud,” seethed Krystal. “If I’m the reason that people are going to die while we’re working – the reason that you’ll just neglect everyone else’s well-being – then I don’t think we should be seeing each other anymore!”

Fox still didn’t reply, but that phrase stuck with him.

“I don’t think we should be seeing each other anymore!”

Another long pause…

…and then Fox finally spoke.

“Fine, then.”

“‘Fine’ what?” snapped Krystal flatly.

“If that’s how it is, then you can leave,” Fox replied, but louder.

“What?!” Krystal repeated, sounding affronted and surprised.

Fox flared up, raising his head to reveal angry eyes. “If you think you’re the reason that people are dead, then you can leave! Is that what you want, Krystal?! Then go ahead! Get off my ship!”

“You’re throwing me off the team for something I didn’t do?!?” Krystal shouted incredulously, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Where is your logic coming from?!?”

“My logic?” asked Fox, advancing a step. Krystal instinctively stepped back. “My logic is coming from the fact that people are not safe around me! You saw it with the Aparoids! Peppy and General Pepper nearly died. Tricky could’ve been assimilated. Pigma became a monster. Wolf and his team could’ve gotten snuffed. What’s next? You getting your brains blown out by a crazy fanatic?!?”

Krystal had gone mute.

“DID YOU WANT TO DIE?!?” Fox shouted, his face red. “DID YOU WANT ME TO LIVE WITH THE GUILT THAT I COULDN’T SAVE YOU?!!”

Krystal was completely silent, like a child who had just been screamed at by their parents for misbehaving at school. But when she did reply, the anger in her voice was still there.

“I know you didn’t want to risk me, Fox,” she seethed. “But this isn’t just caring for me. It’s being damn overprotective! You act like I’m a helpless damsel-in-distress, you still feel like I can’t save myself! Just like Sauria, and just like now. I’m not a princess you feel like you constantly have to save, McCloud! And don’t pretend that that’s not exactly what you think of me!”

Fox attempted to argue, but Krystal cut him off again.

“I was reaching for his knife, you idiot!” she snapped. “I was trying to give you a signal that I was going to take his knife and cut him down! But you were too busy thinking ‘Oh, no! Krystal’s in trouble again! I’m gonna get ROB to shoot the ship we’re on, forget all the innocent civilians who’ll most likely DIE!’ Well, I’m not the person who constantly gets in trouble! That’s Slippy’s job! No offense to him,” she added, voice lowering for a second, “but still!”

“Well, excuse me for looking out for someone I love!” Fox snapped back. “If you wanna get yourself killed, then go ahead! I’m so sorry for caring! Is that what you wanna hear?!”

“No, what I want is an apology for treating me like I’m too easy to kill!” yelled Krystal.

Fox had no response this time. He was so angry he couldn’t even make up a coherent response.

Krystal simply analyzed the features on Fox’s face and realized this was a pointless argument.

“Alright, then,” huffed Krystal, her arms crossing together. “You still think I’m wrong. You still think that I’ll still die one day if I keep doing what I want to do. And what I want to do is to fly alongside a man I’ve grown to love! But you’re not him. The man I love would never treat me like this. You… you are unworthy of me, Fox McCloud. If you want me to go, I’ll go.” With that, she turned on her heel and began to march away.

She stopped mid-way, however, looking behind her shoulder to stare at Fox with piercing eyes of teal.

“But I think you should know,” she said quietly. “I’m a nice person, but Cerinians don’t let grudges go that easily. One day… you’ll regret this. I promise you that.”

And with that, the Cerinian stormed off to the hangar bay. Ignoring Fox calling out behind her – “Fine then, go! But you’ll thank me for this someday!” – Krystal made her first steps toward a new path…

“I was an idiot,” said Fox as he concluded the flashback. “I neglected how she felt, I pissed her off, and I treated her like she was nothing more than the girl I have to save on too many random occasions. I ruined what we had. I ruined her. Hell, Falco left right after that incident. Slippy did as well. They were disgusted with me.” His fists clenched. “Then I thought I could fix it, try to make it right when we went to Katina, looking for Krystal…”

“…and the next time you met her, she swindled you,” finished Fara.

“Yeah,” Fox mumbled.

He felt Katt place one hand on his shoulder, and the other on his side. The reassuring grip comforted him as he continued.

“It changed for the better, didn’t it, Fox?” asked Katt. “You have me, for one.”

Fox sighed as Katt leaned in to lay a small peck on his cheek. “Yeah… I do…” he replied. “But… I don’t wanna be the guy I was before. I can’t…”

“Well, you’re not,” said Katt, with a hint of stern tone. “You’re a brave man, and you can take it. I didn’t share a bed with a man who never took risks. Did I?”

“Foxy, it’s the past,” said Fara. “You learned from your mistakes, and in the end, you didn’t let it dictate your life. You didn’t give up. That’s what your dad would want, right?”

The last part of Fara’s question stung Fox’s soul like a hundred wasps, due to the mention of his late father, but he knew the answer to this question. Like Fara had said, James McCloud would have wanted him to ‘never give up.’ And that didn’t just mean not giving up when things were too hard. It meant not giving up on the chances his friends had. And he’d learned from that. He was ready to prove that good wasn’t completely soft.

He nodded ‘yes’ with a renewed look on his face.

“Thank you,” Fox said, his charming smile returning. “No more insecurity.”

“There we go,” purred Katt. “There’s the smile I like to see!”

“That’s the Fox I know,” said Fara.

Fox smiled back, wanting to reply something positive back to his friends, but then there was a beeping coming from the Jammer Compass in the palm of his hand. He nearly forgot it. The LED ring was pointing north-east. Knowing what that meant, they slowly scrambled (as to not fall over) to the cockpit.

A battle was approaching.

OK, my peeps reading my story. I'm gonna take a break. I've been somewhat neglecting attention to this story, and I need to get on it. So I might go on hiatus until I've polished up Chapter 9.

Until then, thank you for hanging around, and I'll see you next update. Probably in a month or two

Sky-Kaiser out.