Krystal and Chase: The Reunion
      Part one: Beginning
      
      PAST:
      A blue furred vixen looked out over the lush fields.  Her emerald eyes glanced down to the paper now held in her hands, then at what she was wearing.  The twist top was a little uncomfortable, but it was nothing compared to how exposed she felt from the overall lack of clothing she was wearing.  But at least she wasn't completely bare.  But she might as well have been.  A vixen mercenary in a bikini.  That was a new one for the books.
      She thought that the ones who had hired them had to be joking.  She looked like a doll rather than a warrior.  Even the white markings on her fur, a sun pattern on her hip and a bar code like design on her upper arm, could be seen for heaven's sake.  At least she knew exactly how to put anyone down with a series of quick attacks.  Plus, she had back up.
      "You look great Krystal." A red fox said as he walked up to her, "Sexy yes, but still deadly."
      The blue vixen turned to face the fox.  The only really distinguishing feature, the black slash across the top of his muzzle from a plasma accident he had been involved in during training, told her who he was.  In the locker room, however, if he removed his torso armor, the vixen would be able to see the other burns he had sustained from the same accident.  This was her partner and friend, Chase.
      "Thanks Chase." Krystal replied as she looked him over, "I think.  But why are you more dressed and better armed than I am?  You've got battle gear and weapons while I'm in this and unarmed?"
      Chase looked down over his battle gear.  He was wearing a full suit of enhanced battle armor.  The armored torso, leggings, boots, and right shoulder pad were designed to stop most bullets and beam weapons and absorb explosions.  Only his fingerless gloves were normal thickness.  All of it was a combination of red and black.  The armor had been specially designed for him because he was the one who usually ended up taking more fire than Krystal.
      On his back was a modified sword.  It's blue, energized blade could easily cut through the toughened steel and circuitry of the high security robots he had trained against.  At his side was a Stinger handgun, a personal favorite of his.  It was small in size with a fifteen bullet, bottom fed, magazine and could fire an automatic three shot burst, but its accuracy and firepower made it a legend.  In his hands, it alone was a weapon that was to be feared in the same way that a bomb or a missile would be.
      "I don't know." Chase admitted, "Maybe they just like me better.  But you have to admit, not many would mistake you for a mercenary in that.  I sort of scream it."
      Krystal smiled and laid her head on his armored shoulder.  Chase ran a hand down her bare back, feeling her soft fur on his finger tips.  The vixen looked up to him and the fox returned the smile.
      Chase and Krystal had known each other for years.  Chase was Krystal's best friend as well as her partner.  He'd always known how to cheer her up when she needed it.  And she knew how to keep him in line when it was needed.  But what she didn't know that Chase's feelings for her were deeper than she thought.  The fox would easily give his life to protect her.
      "So, where are we going exactly?" Chase asked as Krystal regained her composure.
      Krystal handed him the paper and said, "Look for yourself."
      "Great." Chase replied as his ears lowered, "It figure's we'd get stuck with the job of arresting General Scales.  But on Dinosaur Planet?  That's like walking into the hell fire unarmed!  His forces could be anywhere!  Are we at least authorized to use lethal force?"
       "I don't like it either Chase, but we have no choice." Krystal replied sadly, "I'll try to track him down once we get there using my ability.  And yes, we are allowed to use deadly force, just not on him.  They want Scales alive."
      Krystal didn't like using her special power.  Telepathy.  That's what the ones in charge said it was.  Either way, she had already made the promise to herself not to use it unless she had to, and never to use it on Chase unless it was necessary.
      "Krystal, Chase, let's go." A tabby cat said as he walked up to the two, "We've got a long flight ahead of us and we're on a deadline."
      Krystal sighed and followed him, Chase right behind her.
      "Chase, get up here." Krystal smiled back to him over her shoulder, "I don't like you looking at my tail like that.  Especially when I'm mostly exposed."
      "Yeah yeah." Chase smiled in return, then he muttered, "But I know you love it when it's another male."
      "What was that Chase?" Krystal asked.
      "Nothing." He replied, "Think we can do this alone?"
      "What choice do we have?" Krystal asked, "A planet's in danger and we're the only two available to do this mission.  But as long as we're together, we can do it."
      Chase gently put an arm around her waist, "You're right.  Let's just hope nothing happens to us out there."
      
      YEARS LATER:
      Dressed in her assault outfit, Krystal was hiding on a hillside and under a bush, taking careful aim with the sniper rifle she'd been carrying.  She'd been hunting this Aparoid for hours now.  A squad leader that needed to be taken down.  If the Aparoid threat continued to spread as they tried desperately to create a new queen, Sauria (once only called Dinosaur planet) would soon be under Aparoid control once again.  The Star Fox team had been called in to ensure that wouldn't happen.  Especially not after Krystal and Fox had saved this planet twice already from destruction.  Once alone and once with the entire team.  Why the Aparoids had come back here was beyond Krystal.
      The target had stopped moving and began to look around, as if it sensed someone was watching it.  Krystal got the head of the robotic parasite in her sites.  One shot was all she'd need if it stayed still.  If she missed, the vixen still had five rounds after this one to put into the Aparoid before it could run.  After those, she was out of ammunition and would have to attack it quickly.
      But she figured she'd just need the one shot.
      "I have you now." She thought to herself as she gently squeezed the trigger, "Die for what you've done here."
      A shot rang out!  The loud crack of a beam rifle echoed through the trees, startling flying creatures from their roost and sending smaller ground creatures scurrying.  The Aparoid was dead before it even heard the shot.  Its headless form wavered for a few seconds, and then crumpled to the ground, thrashing as it did.
      Krystal looked up in alarm.  She hadn't fired, so who had?
      "Fox, it's Krystal." She said, tapping a microphone that was attached to the front of her suit, "Are any of the others around my position?"
      "Uh, no." Fox replied, "The others are on recon near the villages and I'm patrolling the temple grounds in the Landmaster.  Why do you ask?"
      "Someone else is here then." Krystal said, "Someone, or something, just shot my target.  Its head was blown clear off."
      Fox was silent for a minute, and then said, "Ok, hold your position.  I'll come to you.  How many shots did they fire?"
      "One." Krystal replied, "Whoever it is has good aim.  I'll look for cover just in case they're hostile."
      "Affirmative, over and out." Fox said, "And Krystal?"
      "Yeah?" the vixen asked.
      "Be careful." Fox replied.
      "I will be." Krystal said softly.
      The radio went silent and Krystal rolled to cover under a bush.  She detached the scope from her rifle and looked around slowly with it, scanning where the shot had come from.  No sign of anyone!
      Then, movement!  A slim figure dashed through a pair of bushes about one hundred yards out from where Krystal was.  She held her breath as if the figure could have heard it.
      "Who or what the hell was that?" She asked herself after a few tense seconds.
      As she lay quietly, Krystal heard the approach of a large vehicle.  Its tank treaded tires digging into the earth as it moved towards her.  Snapping her sniper rifle to her back, Krystal drew her blaster and rolled out of the bush.  One hand bringing the gun to bear on the approaching Landmaster tank, the other pulling a grenade from behind her back.  She remained in a crouched position as the hatch to the tank opened and a fox jumped out.  Krystal sighed in relief and put away her weapons.
      "Come on, you know that thing's useless against the tank." Fox smiled as he helped Krystal to her feet, "And that grenade could kill both of us."
      "Yeah, I know." Krystal replied as she dusted herself off, "But knowing I'm not unarmed makes me feel better."
      "So, any word on who or what shot it?" Fox asked.
      "I did pick up a brainwave." Krystal admitted, "Faint, but I think I know it from somewhere."
      "It wasn't Panther was it?" Fox asked worriedly.
      Panther had been hitting on Krystal a lot lately.  Every time they had run into the squadron led by Fox's rival, Wolf O'Donnel, Panther had tried to impress Krystal.  Now that the war against the Aparoids was just about over, Krystal had been receiving gifts from him.
      "No, it felt like someone I knew a long time ago." Krystal said as her mind shot back to before she and Fox had met, "When we get back up to the Great Fox, there's someone I have to call."
      Fox looked to her with a bit of confusion, but her eyes revealed nothing.  She grabbed onto the side of the tank and gave him an 'are you coming?' look.  Fox knew she didn't want to talk about whatever it was she was thinking about.  He sighed, shook his head, muttered something that sounded like the word 'girls', and got back into the Landmaster.
      *           *          *
      Hours later, the entire team had been brought back.  Krystal was looking down at the planet, dressed only in a robe after a warm shower.  Her mind was reeling with possibilities as to who the shooter had been.  She only knew one other creature with that level of accuracy and stealth.
      "My mind is saying it couldn't have been him." Krystal thought, "By my heart says it could have been."
      Krystal looked to a large monitor.  A communications device between the cabins, command, and other outside lines.  For her, it had one special line that was so highly encrypted to the point that not even their robot, ROB, could listen in on it.  She called it up.
      "Yes, how may I help you?" A robotic female voice asked.
      "I need to speak with Hiigan" Krystal replied, "It's urgent."
      "May I ask who this is calling?" the voice asked.
      "Just tell him that it's Krystal." Krystal replied, "I had another name, but that was years ago.  I don't like to use it now."
      "I'll see if I can get you through to him.  Hold please."
      "Even with their new systems they still have to put people on hold." Krystal thought bitterly, "But, if it wasn't for them, I'd have never have met and fallen for Fox like I have."
      As she waited, the vixen slipped off her robe, threw on a white undershirt, tan ribbed combat vest, and tan shorts, and slipped a blaster into its holster on her side.  Just in case they were attacked, she didn't want to be caught unprepared.
      She glanced over to her bedside where a small, carved, wooden box lay.  She walked over and opened it, taking out a beautifully made silver locket.  She opened it and looked longingly to the picture inside.
      Krystal closed the locket and placed it back in the box as a figure came on screen.
      "Krystal, it has been a while."  A shaded figure said, "I thought you left the mercenary business after that incident with General Scales.  Unless you're calling to get back in on it."
      "I did and no, I'm not coming back to that life." The vixen replied hastily as she turned to face the human, "I'm not calling to reminisce about the past, Hiigan.  Who'd you send to Sauria and why?  You know that planet is under Lylat jurisdiction."
      "I am sorry, but I cannot tell you.  You are no longer entitled to any information from our actions." Hiigan said.
      "WHAT?!  Since when?" Krystal replied harshly.
      "Since you left us and joined the Star Fox team." He replied, "I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you anything about our current operations."
      "That figures." Krystal huffed, "Look, just tell me if he's alive will you?"
      "You mean your old partner?"
      "Yes I mean Chase!"
      "Well, I am sorry to say this, he no longer works for us either.  The two of you were two of our best.  Unfortunately, you both left under separate circumstances."
      "What do you mean by that?"
      A window popped up in the corner of the screen with a picture of a red fox.  One Krystal knew well.  It was Chase.  As the vixen watched in horror, a red 'X' appeared over the picture.  Her fears having been confirmed after these few years, Krystal felt tears beginning to well up in her eyes, but fought them back.  She refused to show weakness to this human.  But, Krystal felt as if the weight of the planet below had come crashing down on her.
      "I can see that you are distressed by this news." Hiigan said, "But you knew full well that you both could have been killed.  It's simple that you survived because of the arrival of one Fox McCloud.  You are now part of his team and are still alive.  Chase, however, did not survive the mission and no longer works for us."
      "No." Krystal whispered softly, "No, he can't be."
      "Why did you think he would not respond to your com transmissions for help just after your capture?" Hiigan asked, "Why did you think he didn't come to your rescue like we both know he would have?"
      "I-I just thought that maybe..." Krystal replied, still fighting back her tears.
      "He is dead, Krystal.  He died in combat." Hiigan said, "He died fighting.  You know as well as I do that's how he would have wanted to go down.  It was after his vitals flat lined that we called in a favor to Lylat Command Central and Fox McCloud came as backup."
      Krystal nodded sadly.  She knew that this was what Fox was sent to the planet because of.  She had been captured and Chase had been killed.
      "I'll leave you to your thoughts." The human said, "If you ever want to get back into this business, feel free to ask.  We could always use a good mercenary like you again.  And you know that with the Star Fox team's record of success since you joined them, Chase would be proud."
      The screen went blank.  Krystal couldn't hold it back any longer.  She laid her head in her hands and cried.  She had always suspected he had died, but had always held onto that last string of hope that her partner and friend had somehow survived.
      Her door slid open and Fox walked in.  He saw Krystal crying and laid a comforting arm around her shoulders.
      "What's wrong?" He asked.
      "A-a friend of mine from a long time ago is dead." Krystal sobbed as she hugged Fox tightly, "KIA."
      Fox returned the hug and let the vixen cry on his shoulder for a little while.  As she did, he patted her back in an effort to comfort her.
      "You two must have been close." Fox commented gently.
      Krystal nodded as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes, "He was my best friend."
      Fox had a feeling that Krystal wasn't telling him everything, but he decided not to pursue it.  Krystal seemed distressed enough as it was.
      "Come on," he said helping her up, "Maybe something to drink will help."
      *           *          *
      After a drink, the two were walking back out onto the bridge.  There a hare, a robot, a falcon, and a toad were waiting for them.
      "What's up Peppy?" Fox asked.
      "We've received a distress call from a nearby ship." The hare replied, "Aparoid orbital defenses must have overrun it.  Looks like it was one heck of a fight out there."
      "What type of ship?" Fox asked as he looked at the viewing monitor.
      On it, a light gray ship was floating aimlessly.  Black burns from energy weapons were scorched across its wings, body, and canopy.  The swept back, downward pointed wings had been built near the middle of the craft, a pair of guns under each wing.  It's cockpit was near the front of the ship with a wing shaped feature on the left and right.  A pair of small but powerful looking engines at the back with two small tail fins that also swept back told him that this was an interceptor class.  Unlike their Arwings, this ship had less shielding, but was a lot more maneuverable.  It was designed to go in fast, hit hard, and get out faster.
      Around the ship was a lot of debris.  Either from the enemies that had attacked it, or from its own squadron.  Very few of the parts were from the damaged ship itself.  What the team did noticed was a small trail of gray fluid leaking from the ship's engines, floating behind the slowly rotating craft.  It was losing fuel, and fast.
      "I'd have to say some new class of interceptor." Peppy replied, "I've never seen anything like it before."
      "Is the pilot still alive?" Fox asked, turning to Krystal.
      Krystal focused.  She felt a strong surge of energy enter her mind as she used her telepathic ability.  She waited a minute, and then felt a slight pulse.  It continued slowly, but for sure, the mind she had locked onto was still alive.
      "Yes, whoever they are, they are alive still." Krystal replied trying not to break focus, "But not by much.  I'm guessing they are unconscious."
      "ROB, send out an unmanned retrieval scout." Fox ordered, "We can't just leave them there, but we can't risk ourselves.  It could be hazardous with that fuel and who knows what else leaking out."
      "Affirmative." The robot replied in a computer-ish tone.
      "I don't like this." The falcon said as a small craft left the hangar beneath them.
      "Not everything will end up blowing up in our faces Falco." Fox replied.
      "I'm sticking to my instincts on this." The falcon replied, "I don't trust that ship.  Whoever's on it won't be good news for us."
      "Are you sure they're alive?" Fox asked.
      Krystal nodded.  But she hadn't told them one thing.  This wave was certainly weak, but it was almost identical to the one she had encountered after the Aparoid squad leader was shot.  Whoever it had been, this was probably them.
      *           *          *
      Later, after the badly damaged ship had been towed into the hangar, the Great Fox had jumped to an outpost station nearby.  As the toad looked the ship over, Fox, Krystal, and Falco watched as a medical team carefully removed the fox pilot.  Dressed in a pure black flight suit, gloves, and boots, the male red fox wasn't able to be identified with the air mask and helmet still covering all of his head and muzzle.
      "Slippy, how's the ship look?" Fox asked.
      "I won't lie to you Fox." The toad replied after getting out of the ship, "It's a mess in there.  The computers are all badly damaged so I can't access his communication or personal status logs, most of whatever was used to attack him crippled the cooling system, thrusters, afterburner, and the afterburner cooler pretty badly, the energy tanks to the two outer guns are dangerously close to an overload, the shielding system is destroyed, and there's evidence of some sort of radiation leak, but I'll see if I can fix that or not."
      "Any good news?" Fox asked.
      "Yeah, the good news is that most of the ships emergency protocols seem to have functioned just as they were supposed to." Slippy replied, "The weapons are disabled, energy supply to the two lasers is disconnected and slowly draining itself to prevent a potentially dangerous build up of the stuff, the gauss rounds to the outer pair of guns is blocked by a failsafe to prevent misfires, the missiles warheads have been automatically disarmed, and the core has been both shut down and sealed off by a lead sphere to contain it.  I'm guessing he's got some sort of new warp core system in here for long distance movement.  By the looks of all this, I'd say everything happened in just such a way that he managed to survive."
      "We'll find out soon enough." Fox replied, "How's he look to you guys?"
      "His pulse has steadied out," one of the medical technicians replied, "But he'll be down for a day at least.  He might wake up in a bit, but we'll need to keep him here.  Good thing you brought him here so fast."
      "We'll leave you to that then." Fox said, "Think you can handle watching over him Krystal?"
      Krystal nodded.  Something was bugging her about this ship.  But she couldn't ponder it now.  Fox had given her a job to do.
      As Krystal followed the techs, Slippy looked to Fox and said, "Fox, I've never seen an interceptor like this before.  It's state of the art in almost every detail right down to the wiring.  Even the shielding system is brand new.  I've heard of it, but it's not even on the market for the military yet.  Either this guy's one hell of a pilot, or he's a mercenary.  I've heard talk that corporate mercs get top of the line equipment for a lot of their missions."
      Fox nodded and said, "If he is a mercenary, let's hope Krystal knows how to deal with him."
      *           *          *
      Once the medical technicians had laid the pilot down and hooked him up to various medical devices after stripping him of his gear and sidearm, they let Krystal in.
      "If he wakes up, be sure to tell us." One said to the vixen as he walked out, "We have no idea who he is yet, DNA and blood samples will tell us that, but this fox has taken some major damage.  Mostly just flesh injuries, some internal bruising, a bit of head trauma, and a little too much radiation to his system.  Luckily nothing's broken inside and he's not bleeding internally.  Needless to say he's going to need rest, but he should be back up and going in a few days or so."
      Krystal looked over to the bed where the fox was laying.  Something about him seemed so familiar, but what?  She walked over to the bedside.
      "Is it alright if I stay here with him?" Krystal asked as she took a seat next to the bed, "Fox McCloud gave me orders to watch over him."
      "Sure, just don't tamper with any of the equipment or wake him up." The tech replied, "His body is weak enough as it is and needs the rest to heal itself."
      Without his black gear and helmet, Krystal could easily examine him.  He was a tall and slender built fox.  Asleep, he didn't look dangerous.  But once Krystal had looked him over, she gasped sharply as her hands shot up to cover her mouth in shock!  Her eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing.  Someone who, according to Hiigan, should have been dead years ago.  She knew who this fox was!
      "Chase?!" She asked in shock.