Ch. 4 A Ruined World
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- * Previously... It was 5 o' clock sharp that morning. Everyone was in small groups in the Main Room on the Great Fox. Fox made his way through the small groups until he found Falco, Katt and Peppy. As Fox passed them, Katt followed a little ways behind him. "Thanks again about last night Katt. I owe you one. I really appreciate what you did. I feel a lot better since last night." "Don't worry about it. You can return the favor once this ordeal is over. After all this, I'll just add it to the favors that Falco owes me for" she said, making Fox chuckle. "Alright. Well thanks again. I'll be seeing you around." Katt went back over to Falco and their little group. Peppy went to the center of the room and raised a paw. "Ok, everyone. Your ships are ready, you should have packed everything you'll be needing; so let's strap in, buckle down and head out!
- * The team had been traveling for a good three days now, about a quarter ways through to their destination: an uncharted quadrant located near Venom. Everyone stayed relatively quiet, not much converse going on amongst one another. Team Star Wolf stayed in their rooms on the Great Fox, keeping themselves secluded from the other groups. Danny spent most of his time in the Arwing hanger, checking over the ships for any minor problems. Everyone else was in the flight simulator, keeping their skills sharp for things to come. As usual, Falco was gloating about his flight prowess; everyone else just grinned and bared with it. The simulation was finished, and everyone walked out, heading out to the Main Room to hear the latest info from Peppy. "Well, nothing really new as of yet" Peppy explained. "We will be passing over Sauria about sunrise tomorrow morning. At that point, we should be nearly half way through our trip. As of Krystal's current coordinates, she is still within the same area she has been for the past three days. In the meantime, you may use the confines of the Great Fox as you see fit." He stepped down from the podium and everyone scattered around the ship. "Hmm....Sauria..." Fox sighed and frowned. "Where we first met..." No matter how hard he tried, Fox couldn't get his mind off of Krystal. He sighed again, and a thought came across him. He walked over to Peppy, "Hey, do you possibly think that Andross could be behind this, do you? I mean, Krystal being in some area near Venom, where we first met Andross; and then passing over Sauria, where we saw the last of him. Maybe it's just a coincidence....But I don't know." "Don't say that, Fox!" Peppy exclaimed. "There is no way Andross could have survived that explosion in Sauria. Think nothing of it." "Hmm. Maybe you're right. But I don't know, I've got this strange feeling, telling me that we should stop off at Sauria tomorrow morning..." "Well..." Peppy sighed, "We don't really have the time, but I suppose we can make a quick drop off at Sauria on the morning. I'll send Falco over with you, and you two can make a quick surveillance." "Alright, thanks, Peppy." And with that, Fox smiled and walked off to his bedroom while Peppy stayed and reviewed a few monitors. Fox entered his room and laid on his bead, pondering over his idea of going to Sauria and he wondered where exactly he and Falco should search. It would take weeks to explore the entire planet, and that was time he didn't have. After some time, he came to a conclusion: he would have Falco talk with Tricky and see if anything of interest had happened within the last week in Thorntail Hollow. And Fox thought it would be most fit if he investigated the Krazoa Shrine. Later that night, he told Falco and Peppy his plan and prepared himself for the next morning.
- * It was about eight AM that morning; and Fox and Falco were just climbing into their new and improved Arwings. The Great Fox came to a stop as it passed above Dinosaur Planet and Fox and Falco's Arwings were launched into the void of space. After about 3 minutes of flying, the two ships entered the planet's atmosphere, both of the improved Arwings gliding through without hesitation. "I've got to hand it to Danny," said Falco, "you gotta love these new Arwings! Man, these things fly so much smoother!" Fox didn't hear Falco's remark; he was too caught up in the thought of the mission. Another minute had passed and Falco was speaking to Fox on the Arwing's intercom. "All right, Fox. I made it to Thorntail Hollow. I'm gonna ask around and see if anything of interest has happened recently and then I'll check out things with Tricky. I'll meet you back at the Great Fox in a couple of hours," and the intercom link was cut off. Fox flew north, towards Krazoa Shrine, hoping that there were some clues as to the whereabouts of Krystal. Although Fox had to admit, Falco was right; the Arwings did fly a lot smoother. He flew for a good fifteen minutes before the Krazoa Shrine came into view, and headed towards the temple located at the top; where he first met Krystal. He landed his Arwing along the side of the temple and hopped out of the cockpit. Fox held his blaster at the ready, holding his steadily in front of him, looking around carefully. As he walked up the steps, he oddly noticed that one of the Krazoa statues, the one that Andross was hiding behind, was back in its place. "Wasn't that the statue that I destroyed when I killed Andross?" He said aloud. "But how the heck did it get back?" Fox looked around anxiously, looking around for anything suspicious. He takes out his binoculars and studied the statue closely, finding something glinting along the top. Curiously, he stacks up a few crates and climbs up the wall, walking over to the statue head, getting a better look. Once on top of the structure, Fox picks up the shining object, eyeing it carefully. He notices that it is some kind of holographic device. Still curious, he finds a button on the bottom and presses it. The small contraption hums softly, and erupts into a small burst of light, temporarily blinding him. Once Fox regained his bearings, he notices a holographic figure, Krystal, protruding from the device. He stares, awe-struck, at the image of Krystal. She was leaving a message: "Fox, I can only hope that you receive this message; knowing you, I figured that leaving it here would be the best place. I know that you are worried, but I am fine right now. But can't talk long, but the next place you want to go is a planet named Zetina and head for a ruined city in the west.. There you will find another clue...but watch out fo-" The message was cut off. Fox stared at the device, half furious, half-relieved. "Wait! Watch out for what?!" He yelled out. "Damn it!" and he sighed. "Well, at least she is alright, and she told me where we should head out to next..." He took the device with him and dropped back down to the ground, walking past the statue again, eyeing it carefully. Just as it fell out of view, Fox noticed some scratching on the surface of the statue. Curiously, he walked up to examine it closer. The scratch marks almost seemed to be saying something; and after looking at it closely, it was a note. Fox read it aloud: "The era of Andross is not dead! Andross shall have his undying revenge on you, Fox! I WILL kill you!" "No. No! I can't possibly be Andross, he can't still be alive. It's just not possible...." Fox looked up at the statue, and then at the sky; an expression of rage plastered on his face. He cursed out to the sky and jumped back into his Arwing and messaged Falco to go to the Great Fox now.
- * "Hmm... that can't be a good sign..." Peppy sighed. Everyone was back in the Main Room of the Great Fox. "If you found that message of Krystal's and that threat note there, I can't help but think that whoever kidnapped Krystal purposely gave us a clue as to where we should go next...It might lead into a trap. And the fact that that threat said what it did, well, it's not exactly relieving the tension..." He sighed again and looked at the others. "So, are you saying we won't go to Zetina?!" Fox exclaimed. "A trap or not, it might bring us closer to finding her!" Peppy eyed Fox carefully. "Now, now. I never said that we weren't going to Zetina; I just meant that we should consider all options first before charging onto some random planet. I understand where you are coming from Fox, believe me, but there is no sense in rushing into some matter without any information, or getting ourselves killed." Fox grumbled a few time, but eventually understood what Peppy meant and apologized. Peppy turned around and looked at another monitor, showing a strange planet, apparently Zetina. "Hmm. I will gather some information on the planet and the inhabitants and we'll depart in the early afternoon. This time, I want half of our team to go planet side and look around, and the other half to fly around the planet and look for anything peculiar. And Fox, I want you two split the groups up and choose whomever you want to go planet-side. In the meantime, just make sure you have everything and be ready to leave." With that, Peppy walked back to a computer and closely studied the planet. With Peppy's speech over, everyone turned to Fox as he chose the teams. "All right, being twelve of us, excluding Peppy, I'll have five of us go planet-side, and six of you survey the planet from above. I'll take myself, Falco, Kat, Bill, and..." he trailed off, thinking who was ready to for their first mission. Just before he chose another name, Panther rose a paw. "Assuming that is ok with you Fox, I myself, shall join you. All due respect Wolf, you know my reasons for joining." Panther looked back at Wolf, who was scowling at both him and Fox, but shrugged it off and nodded his head. "Alright," Fox started," so it's me, Falco, Kat, Bill and Panther on the planet. And that means, Wolf, Leon, Lucy, Lola, Slippy and Danny. Ok, you heard Peppy. We will be leaving in just a few hours. Everyone in my group, pack some rations, water, weapons, and other personal things." Everyone nodded and scattered about, and just as Fox was about to head to his room, he felt a paw on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Panther. "Thank you again, Fox for allowing me to join you on this particular mission. I know you hate me, and for more than being on Wolf's team, and I'm supposed to hate you back, but you know that I am just as worried for Krystal as you." Fox almost frowned, but he held it back, and smiled lightly at Panther. "Well, I appreciate the help, Panther. We need all the help we can get, whether or not it coming from Wolf's team." They both chuckled lightly and shook each others paws and went to their own rooms.
- * Several hours had passed, and the eleven pilots were in the Hanger Bay, in the cockpits of their ships. The lift locks were released and they were thrust into the open void. They had finally reached Zetina; but what they found odd was that the planet was riddled with thick jungles and huge cities, as though the inhabitants of the planet hadn't thought of exploring the rest of their world. Fox looked about the planet closely on a map in his Arwing, and found a particularly large city in the western hemisphere. Hoping that that was where Krystal was pointing out to, he signaled the other Falco, Kat, Bill and Panther to head to those coordinates, while the other six flew in closer to the planet and looked about. Fox and his small band entered the Zetina's atmosphere and landed shortly. The five of them jumped out of their ships and looked around awe-struck. They stepped out into a vacant lot, a swirl of dust flying upwards as they touched the ground. Skyscrapers that would put Cornerian buildings to shame were brought down to rubble. The walls were riddled with holes from laser fire, bomb shells thrown about. "What on..." Bill started, staring at the ruined world. "What could have done this? What could have brought so much ruin upon this place? Somehow I doubt the inhabitants of the planet did this...." "No, they didn't. I did..."
- * I am really sorry it took SO long to get this up. I've been so damned busy as of late, I've had hardly any time to write. But I am glad to see I finally finished it. And I would like to thank Sonic Fox for some ideas for this story, as I have been suffering from writers block for the past few weeks, so thanks. I can't promise that the next story will be up soon, so I beg you to wait patiently until I get the time for the next one. Sorry again, I know there is no yiff. But there will be next chapter. I promise.