Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

REFLECTIONS OF REGRET	By : KitWriter Category: +S through Z > Star Fox Adventures Views: 10203 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This story is non-profit piece for entertainment purposes only. The author does not own any rights to Star Fox, the IP characters, places, names or other words associated with the franchise.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
A/N: Wow! FFnet has embraced the abridged version of this story with open arms and AFF is still the only place I'm posting the unabridged version. Sorry for the lack of adult updates as of late, like chapter 3 and this one... but it'll get there. Next chapter has an HJ scene between Bill and Krystal and they even kiss in this chapter. !!yAy!! I’ve been writing and posting a chapter each day. Not sure why… I know I won’t keep up this consistency forever on this story. At this rate, it’ll be finished faster than I could finish Reflections of the Future. So far, that was the quickest story I’ve ever written. I had it complete in about 90 days. And, to date, it’s my most widely read story, now nearing Thirty-Seven thousand views and counting. I’m not sure why… It doesn’t generate many reviews… perhaps there are about seventy or eight people that occasionally re-read the whole thing once every few months? I’m not sure. But it’s pretty neat! OKAY so back on topic… I’ve been way ahead of schedule for this story and I don’t know how long that will keep going. But I’m glad people like it! Thanks! Now, time to find out what happens between Krystal and Bill – I had the intentions of starting with the second movie in this chapter but… I was in the mood for ACTION! So… I wrote that instead!
Chapter -5-
“Illusions and Denial”
A few days later…
“How does it feel to fly again?”Bill’s question was interesting to say the least. She wasn’t quite sure how she wanted to attack it. Not that his question was a target for attack, but just the same.
“I’ve been flying my Cloud Runner and, no offense to the Cornerian Standard, but it just doesn’t stack up by comparison. But it is nice to get out from behind a desk for a while. And on that note, you never told me why we’re doing a patrol together. You’re the CAG, why would you want me to fly with you when you have several squadrons to run?”
His digitized visual became focused and crisp on the holographic HUD at the top of her canopy. Bill smiled and said, “Because they want to put you back into the cockpit. I’m here to make sure you’re capable, but I already know you are.”
Krystal eased gently against her flight stick, tightening up the formation. “Yeah? You have an ulterior motive… what’s the game plan, Lieutenant Colonel Grey?”
“Well, Major, now that I have a certifiable ‘Ace Pilot’ flying on my wing, due to your astounding kill-score…”
She rolled her eyes, “Everyone had a lot of kills from the Anglar War, Bill.”
“Just the same,” he continued without skipping a beat. “I know you’re capable. So instead of flying rings or fighting holographic enemies – you’re a textbook flier and you’d ace those simulators anyhow – I’ve decided that we’re going to do a mission. You up for combat again?”
“We’re not at war; who is the enemy?”
William Grey cleared his throat into his right paw then reached up and drew down the visor of his helmet. It reflected his dashboard panel’s illuminated toggle switches, seen in small detail over her visual display of him. The greyhound tilted his head. “You know I’ve got a little husky blood in me, right Krystal? What can I say? I’m a born-and-bred work dog. And when there’s work to be done, I want to know the job is done right. Anyhow, I’m uploading navigational coordinates to your computer. We’ll zip through waypoint alpha to avoid the densest part of the asteroid belt. At waypoint bravo, a freighter has issued a distress signal. From what command can tell, this freighter is in communication with pirates. They said they’re going to give the freighter two hours to surrender before they decide to raid it by force. That was an hour and a half ago... Are you ready?”
“Any idea on the number of incumbent bogies?”
“Seven fighters and a tugboat shuttle.”
She moved her paw to the dash and pressed a key to accept the data transmission from his onboard computer. She locked in the new destination and engaged the autopilot. Both fighters began to rapidly increase in speed. Once in orbit over Corneria, they headed straight for a jump gate. Upon nearing it, the emerald vortex shimmered to life and they rushed through… familiar white dots stretched like thin tears in a backlit onyx canvas.
Thirty-five seconds later, the two fighters emerged from their jump. The distant stars returned to their simplistic, twinkling luster. Asteroids dotted the area. Krystal brought her paw up and eased her visor down. Green and orange outlines surrounded each asteroid in her visor. She glanced to the left, seeing a nearby chunk of rock – a green numerical value raced through digits, showing the rock’s proximity in meters. It descended rapidly as she grew closer until her fighter passed. As the asteroid moved to the far left of her visor, the numbers began ascending again. She glanced to the starboard side and smiled, seeing Bill’s ship still in formation.
“Waypoint Alpha is clear,” she murmured to the commanding officer. “Distance is one and one-half parallax of one second of arc from Corneria. Proceeding to Waypoint Bravo.”
“Y’know what I jus’ adore about you, Major? You’re so professional in the cockpit. You could have just said one and a half parsecs.”
“I could have just said four-point-eight-nine light-years. Four-point-eight-eight-seven if you want to be exact.” She grinned then added, “What in the world is an arc-second, anyhow?”
“I learned it in my first year at the academy, Krystal. I’m just a fighter pilot, now. All right, engaged autopilot.”
The two fighters sailed through the least-densely populated section of the asteroid belt in record time and hurried towards their second nav-point. Sector X, in all its stellar glory, illuminated the cosmos with a royal cobalt hue. She lifted her paw, removed her uniform glove and compared the coloration of her fur to the gaseous nebula in the distance. “It’s breathtaking.” She murmured.
Bill leaned forward in his seat to shift his weight, allowing for Krystal to read the word, “Greenie” on a plate above his visor. He settled back into his cockpit chair and, once again, the lettering became too small for the dash-cam to see. His eyes flitted from left to right then he nodded decisively. “It’s prettier than a lot’a things, but I’ve seen prettier.” His thoughts betrayed him and Krystal picked up on the canine’s meaning.
“In all the times we’ve flown together… in the two years I’ve known you… you’ve never flirted with me before.” She offered a soft smile.
He looked away from the dash-cam. “Who, me? I guess it were bound t’ happen sooner or later. I’m an honest man, and eventually I’d tell you my honest opinion in a comparison ‘tween you and a blue space cloud. You know, Fox and I fought side by side here back in the Lylat War. I helped him to activate the beta-version of the first jump gate. It warped him up to Sector Z in record time, where he went on to win the war.”
A grin formed at the left side of her muzzle. “You’ve told me that story, too, Bill.” Her eyes dropped to her sensor screen then lifted again. “We’re within communication range of the freighter and will be within range of the pirate group in two minutes.”
“You ready to do this, Major?”
“Tugboat is worth two points, Bill. The seven fighters are each a single point. You want to compete?”
“Wow, girl, it’s like you’re reading my mind or something! What’s the prize for highest score? How about one of General Hare’s fine cigars from his private stash?”
“Sorry, Bill, I’m not Annie Barkley for two reasons. I’m not allowed near card tables and I’ve never smoked tobacco before. Not my thing.” She watched the ‘target distance’ count roll backwards on her visor visual. She paused then grinned. “Can you cook?”
“Are you kidding? I’m a bachelor, Krystal. I’d have died of starvation if I didn’t know how to cook for myself. I’m no chef, but I can follow directions if I have a recipe… so what’s the meal? Breakfast in bed? Lunch at the office desk? Candlelit dinner from scratch?”
“I could be a hard-tail and say all three but… I think the latter will work.”
“Ladder, like with rungs or…? Oh, right… you got’cher’self a bet! Y’know how long it’s been since I’ve had a lady make me a home cooked meal?”
Her grin broadened. “Well, if you visited your mother more often, Bill, it would still happen from time to time!” She tittered softly, proud of her joke. Sadly, she sensed that it truly was his mother who made his last home cooked meal. “You can’t hide anything from me, my friend!” Her paws moved from the control stick to a keypad on the side. She typed in several commands to shift power from her shields to her ship’s guns. Next, she shifted power from her sensor array to the shields.
“Did your sensor scope just go offline?” he asked, watching a status display on her ship from his dash panel.
“I don’t need it – I have streamlined sensors built into my head, Bill.” She paused briefly then said, “We’re within range.”
“Break and attack!” He punched his throttle.
Krystal broke formation and moved towards the tugboat, opening a channel to it. “This is the Corneria Air Force – your threat against an unarmed freighter goes against Lylat anti-piracy code, article seven, section four in the…”
A broken transmission came across the channel. “…They only sent two pilots? What is this… some kind of joke?”
“Did you hear that?” Bill asked. “It was audio only… I can’t seem to get a visual. That communication came from the freighter.”
Krystal pulled back on her stick, reset her targeting computer and abandoned the tugboat objective. She hit the boost and moved into a defensive position in front of the large frigate. Her fighter came within range of the cargo freighter’s bridge and she opened her mind.
Meanwhile, Grey moved into position behind one of the pirate fighters, comprised of illegally modified parts from an old M-Class ship. “Man those things have more mod-kits available on the black market than just about any other ship. So! Let’s see what yours can do against mine!” He opened fire on the old medium fighter and followed it through the void.
An alarm chirped from Krystal’s computer. “Wh… someone has lock!?” Her ship computer showed distortion on several monitors and her instrument panel began blitzing. A soft glowing bubble surrounded her Standard-Issue fighter. Even the transmission link with Bill Grey became fuzzy. “The freighter is using a tractor beam on me! It’s a trick; they’re in league with the pirates, Bill! I think they’re trying to capture military hardware for parts or something!”
Bill’s reply was static-laced and vague at best. “Can’t… The… enemy ship?? What the blue blazes are they… prisoners or…? What’s the scope of their intended hostilities?” However, Krystal was able to sense the meaning in his broken words.
“They initially had no intent on taking prisoners, but since there are only two of us, they have decided that a ransom would be more lucrative then simply capturing two ships! You should head back to Corneria for reinforcements!”
Again, distortion was sporadic throughout Grey’s reply. “They want a ransom?! They’ve not even caught us yet. I’ll… out of that tractor… jiff!”
“NO!” she shouted. “Do NOT come near the freighter! IF you try to shoot out the tractor beam emitter, they’ll capture you with another!”
Bill’s reply started with, “…Relax, because I’m just…” A high-pitched squeal filled the speakers then the connection ended. Krystal could sense his intention was to rescue her but now she had no way of changing his mind. She tried to change the dynamics of the audio console, adjusting the squelch and gain settings but instead experienced total communication failure.
“Say again?” General Peppy Hare passed the golf club to his caddie then reached for the communicator. “Thank you, Captain Myers. Oh, and Susan, this stays confidential until the base decides to make an announcement.” He dismissed the woman, a friend belonging to Krystal and Bill, then turned away, putting the communicator up to his right ear-stalk.
On the other end, a woman’s voice was obnoxiously loud and clear. “General Hare? Wow, I didn’t think I’d be transferred to the top!”
“You had information on two very important pilots for me, young lady? To whom am I speaking?”
“This is Naval Captain Miyu Lynx of the Saratoga. We’re a destroyer on patrol of the outer rim, an hour from Sector X. Our long-range communication’s array has picked up broken audio chatter from two Air Force fighters. Sounds like a Major and a Lieutenant Colonel. The Major’s radio is either down, damaged or being jammed but she sounds like she is in serious trouble. The other pilot is aggressively hailing enemies, calling himself Lieutenant Colonel William Grey. We picked up information on the battle – the enemy ship is putting out a jamming signal to keep him from sending subspace data to the nearest subspace access point, but we picked up his radio chatter and we’re outside of the pirate’s sensor range.”
“Pirates?!” Peppy began walking away from the putting green so as to keep the conversation private. “Are you in range to engage?”
“They’re jamming sensors. All we’re getting is audio signal. We can’t see where they are or if your Lieutenant Colonel is doing very well against his opponents. Wait, hold on… another transmission is coming through… listen.” Miyu’s voice was replaced over the communicator by a tinny-sounding male voice. Peppy recognized it as Bill Grey, who said, “…Swarming with bandits. Six remaining fighters, an armed battle-tug and a fully armed frigate. They have my wingmate, Major Krystal…” his voice crackled then the channel cleared and Bill continued, “…Anyone hear us, please respond! She said she sensed there would be ransom demands meant for captured pilots – their mandate is to capture Cornerian fighters for parts to sell on the black market. I’m unable to contact my wingmate but can visually confirm that she is intact.” Seconds later, Miyu’s voice returned to the communicator. “That’s the second time he’s recited that message, General. It’s not getting through to anyone but us. Optimistically speaking, it could be a loophole from the gases in the nebula; we’re not sure… but the pirates didn’t jam his signal enough. Thing is… we can’t see much into the sector – it’s all distorted on our scope. We’d be going in blind and we don’t have a fighter escort… we’d be in serious trouble against a competent fighter squadron and two ships. …And that’s only if we can actually find’em first. It’s a sector-wide blackout.”
Peppy groaned. “Can you reply to the pilot? Have you tried? If so, tell him to stand down. Violence may get his wingmate killed.”
He could hear Miyu’s voice getting distant over the communicator as she tried to hail William Grey.
Miyu Lynx glanced over at her first officer then shook her head. “Boy, didn’t think we’d get in the middle of a Branch mess today, huh?” She placed her finger on a button and clearly spoke into the wall-mounted microphone. “Lieutenant Colonel Grey, this is Captain Lynx of the Saratoga. If you can give us your exact coordinates, I can relay them to Corneria. I have General Pepper on the line and he wishes for you to stand down peacefully, lest you jeopardize your other pilot.”
“Saratoga! This is Grey – my pilot is a telepath, and, from what I’m making out of her garbled communication, she doesn’t trust these guys to play fair. If they take her or the both of us prisoner for ransom, they would most likely dispose of their hostages after receiving their ransom. I’m sure as hell not going to trust them to make good on that stuff.” After a brief pause, he added in the sector coordinates.
“I’m telling you, I’ve got your General on the line and he says to play nice. Would I play nice? Hell no, but I’m not your commanding officer so if you want to party, you’re doing it alone. The area is full of sensor glitches and, I’m sorry pilot, but we can’t locate you on the grid. Plus, we don’t have a fighter escort.”
“Y’know what? Can you stay where you are for a while? I’ve got a plan.”
“Excuse me?”
“Sit tight for a day or two… would you do that for me?”
“We’re assigned to patrol this area. We’re not going anywhere,” said Captain Lynx. “Are you proposing inter-branch cooperation? What did you have in mind?”
“You’ll have your fighter escort… two of us… but there’s no way I can do anything if they have her right where they want her. I’m going to give myself up. When I give you the signal, rush to the coordinates I just gave to you. At that point, you’ll know what to do. And, you’ll have your fighter escort. Just give me around twenty-four hours. If you don’t hear from us by then, I reckon you’re free to wash yer hands of this mess. But if I’m right… when I send you a signal, I want’cha to run in here something fierce and throw down as much firepower as your destroyer can muster. Sound good?”
“You heard the General’s order… play nice.”
“Oh, I’ll playnice,” said Bill. “I’ll play real damn nice. Just wait for the signal. You’ll know it when ya’ see it. Thanks again, Captain Lynx. See you soon. I have a holding cell waiting for me, most likely. I just booked five star accommodations at the last minute – let’s see what happens.” He cut the transmission…
Miyu sighed and turned to the other console, where she still had the line open with General Hare. “Did you hear all of that? Your flyboy is going to try something daring. I hope he knows what he’s doing.”
“He’s doing what he’s trained to do, Captain Lynx. He’s following orders. Are you going to stay in the area and wait for his sign?”
“You told him to play nice, and he has a plan… that’s not necessarily following orders. And yes, General Hare. I’m curious as to how this will pan out. I’ll stay here for seventy-two hours, if that’s what it takes. I’ll keep you updated with a status report, as we’re able. In the mean time, I’ll have my people work on trying to penetrate the sensor jam these fools have put into place.”
“You have a ship to run. Thank you for your assistance in the matter. Hare out.” The General’s image faded, replaced with the Cornerian Air Force logo. Miyu sighed and started pacing.
Two plates were dropped on the floor; the guard turned away from the laser bars. He was avian and held a Cornerian-issue assault rifle with a specially modified scope on the top. Bill watched the man walk away then moved over to the plates. He sniffed each dish first then brought them back to the wall-mounted bench. “Wow… leftover lasagna? These guys are eating better than some soldiers I know.”
Krystal took a plate from him and used her claws to eat due to a lack of utensils. After a few bites, she looked up and shrugged. “It’s actually not bad. I think you’re right, though… it’s leftovers from their dinner. So, how about some dining conversation… why didn’t you return to Corneria?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Bill, you know that any pilot is prepared to become a prisoner. You know that Corneria does not negotiate with enemies of the state.”
His eyes cut towards the laser bars. He could see his gear and helmet in a display case, guarded by more laser bars across from their cell. “They wanted at least several ships and only two showed up to help. Now they’re going with a new plan, but one pilot isn’t worth a handsome ransom. They would just assume to kill you and save themselves the trouble. But two pilots… that’s worth some money, right?”
“Corneria won’t negotiate with them,” she replied. “That’s standard policy. When they realize that, they’ll kill us both.”
“Who says these guys are going to try and ‘sell’ us to Corneria? There are plenty of people out there who hate Cornerians and are willing to buy us. That’ll be our chance to escape. Either way… Peppy knows we’re here, now. He won’t let anything happen to either of us because he’s sentimental. Besides… I just want these guys to THINK they have a lucrative prisoner situation because it keeps you alive. We’re not staying.”
“Oh?” She lifted a paw near to his face and paused. Bill nodded in consent then Krystal placed her palm against his furry cheek and closed her eyes. “Oh… Oh, my. And you’re quite sure of yourself, too.” She wasn’t used to such a disciplined, confident mind. It wasn’t like Panther Caruso, who needed to reassure himself of his ego every few minutes… Also, he wasn’t shy around her like Fox McCloud. Bill was unique and far different than those two.
“See anything good on Bill-O-Vision or is it just a rerun?”
She gently cupped his jaw with her palm. “That was refreshingly different. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.”
“I’ve nothing to hide,” he said with a gentlemanly smile. “Not from you anyhow.” His paw moved up, into his floppy right ear. He used a finger to dig around for a moment then he withdrew a small metal contraption. “Meet Tick. The Technology Interrupting Countermeasure Kernel… happier than a tick in a dog’s ear, right?” He handed her the small metal capsule. “I had one in my cockpit and put it in my ear when I turned myself over to them; the polymer coating deadens a scan from a metal detector, although it’s not really invisible. I told the guard out on the flight deck that I had a metal plate in my head and he bought that load of malarkey. You read my mind and didn’t see this?”
“You have to keep things on your conscious mind for me to see it… or I have to meditate and perform a deep mental probe to see everything else.”
“Hell, that’s interesting to know.” His ears perked and he snatched the small device from her palm then shoved it down the front of her shirt and turned away. He put his backside towards her hip and folded his paws. A guard approached the bars. Bill glanced up casually and said, “Hey, bub. Who’s the cook? I’m diggin’ the leftovers, pard’.”
“Come here,” said the man, a canine much like the pilot. Grey approached the glowing pillars of light. The guard wore no uniform of any kind. He reached in through the bars with a metallic wand, waved it over Bill Grey’s head then down over his torso. “Turn around.” When the pilot complied, the guard waved the wand over Grey’s backside then up. “Okay… you’re clean.”
“Aren’t you going to check the girl?” the pilot asked of his captors. Bill lifted a paw, about to wave Krystal over. He knew that her bra would have a wire frame in it, which would help to conceal the small gadget he’d given to her.
Bill Grey’s bluff paid off. The guard smirked and said, “We already did. She had a standard issue blaster on her hip. We took it and added it to our collection, thanks. I was just going over the security tape of your arrival. I noticed that the metal detector didn’t go off for you when you walked through it… but the handheld wand hummed for the guard… I thought, at first, you might have kept something metal in your hair or in your boots, which is above or below our metal detector’s field of vision… and the idiot guard dismissed the quick chirp of his wand… but it appears you have nothing on you, after all. That’s a shame; we like Cornerian gadgets. But now you know that, around here, we run extra-tight security. I’m the head of that department, William Lanes. You can call me Willie.”
“William, huh? Good, strong first name… My question is… how much are you going to get for us?”
“I talk a lot,” said Lanes. “I know I do… but I don’t talk that much. Go eat your food before it gets cold.” He put the wand in his belt then holstered his gun and left the area.
Bill sat back down by Krystal, picked up his plate of food then began using his fingers to eat. “Boy… that was close. Not even an action movie has close calls like that.”
“He was yammering on to see how you’d react. He was testing you to see what you would say.” Krystal licked her fingers then turned away and adjusted her breast so that the small capsule was properly hidden without becoming a pest. “What does it do?”
“It’s a little trick we stole from your ex-boyfriend.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You know, Panther Caruso… the guy who broke into our jail cell and killed that Zako fool before the trial? Pretty impressive, using an EMP burst to shut down all unshielded electronic gear… I keep one in my fighter for emergencies ever since then. You weren’t with him, were you? The night he broke in and killed Zako?”
“First of all, how do you even know about that?”
“Because we dogs are smarter than cats would like to think,” he said with a smile. “So was he solo that night or did he have your help?”
“Are you going to tell anyone if I ask you to keep it quiet?”
He chuckled softly. Her answer told him everything. “Krystal, I highly doubt you killed those guards or that inmate. That wasn’t the work of someone like you… that was the work of someone who knew exactly how to assassinate people. He only killed the most necessary guards out of forty people. That wasn’t your style… but the lack of dead people isn’t his style, either. I’m sure it was an interesting night, hmm? Whatever… thanks to his little trick, we managed to make ones similar to that thing… but it’s smaller.” Bill relaxed and scratched at an itch behind his left ear.
“For now… what do we do?”
“For now… we wait. And we eat.”
Krystal placed her head on his chest, just inside of his elbow. She closed her eyes and sighed. At least the food wasn’t half bad. She reached back to the plate on her knee, while resting against him, and brought another piece of ricotta cheese, layered with sauce, to her lips.
“I have a confession.”
She shrugged gently, reading his conscious thoughts and his unspoken confession. “I sense it, and I accept your apology on the matter. I can’t believe Corneria pulled such a dirty stunt. It caused two guards to get killed. That wasn’t very good planning on their part.”
“We didn’t intend for it to happen the way it did. We knew that Zako was going to get laughed right out of the court. We knew that his involvement in the Anglar Empire was as a soldier of fortune, and he was not going to be hanged for war crimes. We also knew that if we claimed he was going to give us information in exchange for reprieve… someone would come by and try to either spring him or kill him. That’s the person we’d want… the big fish, so to speak. We wanted to know who was going to come after Zako, because whoever it was… that’s the one who is in charge. But whoever it was… they hired Panther instead.”
“Indeed, they did.”
Bill licked his fingertips clean then used his claws to scritch gently behind her ears. “Panther’s pretty good but he’s not good enough to get through a maximum security prison… he had your help. That means you’re the only one who may know the identity of the person who hired Panther Caruso… What were you telling me a few months ago? You remember; the guy you saw on Venom? That bit about your last day with Panther? What was the guy’s name?”
“Octoman. We went there to try and take him down because we realized he was making himself dangerous. I wanted to kill him for causing the deaths of two innocents, inadvertently through the assassin he hired. I know it was Panther’s paws… but Panther was doing a job. It was Octoman who gave the order and offered the money. But… he escaped.”
“That’s the guy. Zako was going to go free but… karma caught up when Panther arrived at his cell. I don’t feel bad for what happened to Zako, just the guards. Either way, Octoman left Lylat.”
“He did?”
Bill nodded. “Reckon so, Krystal. His ship was scanned and the departure destination was recorded at the Venom orbital jump gate. He went to a planet that Corneria never contacted before… but you have.”
“I… I have?” She sat up and furrowed her brows at him. “I don’t follow and your mind is racing – I can’t quite…”
“I’ll explain it, so no worries there… It’s like this. When you arrived in Lylat, everyone was all, like, ‘WOW! An alien! How cool is that?’ and you allowed Slippy Toad from Star Fox to extract data from your hard drive, convert it and share it with Corneria. So… there’s a planet you know as KEW. That planet came from information recorded on your drives. Anyhow, that’s where Octoman went.”
“Why’re you telling me this?”
Bill smiled with a shrug. “Just making conversation. There’s no way to prove you were ever at that prison the night Zako died. I just had a feeling. Don’t go telling others that you were there. We only knew Panther was involved because when investigators looked into various available assassins and their whereabouts for that night… they tracked down a movie ticket purchase on another planet by pulling Panther’s credit history. Guess what? That theater had a surveillance system. Cornerian investigators pulled the tapes… boom. They saw Wolf O’Donnell making the purchase. Caruso is clever but he’s not too smart when it comes to common sense. And since I know you were dating him again, right around that time, I figured you’re the reason he was successful that night.”
She turned away from Bill and folded her paws, resting them on her lap. Her eyes lowered to the floor in shame. “I did. It was awful.”
“You probably saved lives by going with him.” Bill placed his paw on her shoulder and turned her about so that they were facing one another. “Listen to me… if he went in without you, he would have crossed paths with more guards. He would have killed more people because of that. You ensured that he took the least-populated routes, am I right? So you saved lives. You reduced casualties.”
“I suppose,” she murmured despondently. “I’ve strived to push that night out of my head because I feel grief – I should have talked him out of the job somehow. I should have tried other options. Perhaps I should have concentrated harder to find an even clearer path, with fewer guards. I just…”
He felt foolish for discussing something that happened to her three months ago. “Krystal, at least one guard had to be forced into a situation for the retinal… you needed his eye scan to get into the… Panther killed him and you couldn’t have stopped it.”
“No,” she said in a firm tone with a shake of her head. “We could have used a tranquilizing dart.”
“Any dart can be traced back to a purchase, which means Panther stands a better chance of getting caught. Just let it go.” He frowned, feeling guilty for having brought it up. “I’m sorry. I thought you might have seen in my head that I was hiding information about the prison break from you and… I just wanted the chance to explain everything.”
“I’m the one who should be sorry, here, Bill. Sorry I chose to attempt a relationship with Fox or Panther. Sorry I wasn’t smart enough to find a good man who would make a good future father to my children… who would love me and help me to parent future Cerinians. I’m just cursed to the choices I’ve made. I should change my name to that… ‘Kursed.’ It would make sense.”
“Whoa, whoa.” Grey put his paw beneath her chin and lifted her head so that her glistening eyes met with his. Seeing that she was nearly in tears over everything, he changed gears. His demeanor calmed and his ears perked, looking all the more floppy. He offered an endearing smile and disarming charm. “Now just stop right there. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. Okay, so what… Fox was a big ole’ swing-and-a-miss. Panther was a foul ball. But the third time is the charm. The thing about baseball is… even if you foul a third or a fourth time, you still have one more strike left. It ain’t over until you give up. Besides… there’s no crying in baseball.”
She sniffed, trying to stifle a weak chuckle. She blinked and one of the tears slipped free, trailing down over her softly furred cheek.
Bill brought a paw up, trailing his thumb over the silky cerulean veneer. The tear met his thumb and he wiped it away with a reassuring smile. She licked her lips apprehensively and swallowed. “I’m a cloudy mess of emotions right now. I can’t tell if you’re patronizing me or fraternizing with me. Perhaps all of the above. I don’t want anyone’s sympathy, though. It’s best that I focus on my professional life and stop thinking about my race; and have to I stop thinking about…”
“Shh.”
“No, Bill… I’ve been quite silly and emotional and it’s caused me nothing but trouble. It’s put people in danger; it nearly got Panther killed because I couldn’t sense the location of a gunman hiding in a false wall. If I could just put it all behind me and keep a clear head, I would have known that someone on this ship was targeting me… I would have moved before they engaged the tractor beam. I’m putting people in danger because I’ve been so obsessed with finding the right…”
Without any other way of quieting her, Bill leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. They both grew silent. He gave her a few seconds to pull away but she didn’t. After that, he felt comfortable enough to lift a paw and place it on the side of her face. His fingers curled around the contour of her svelte head so that they rested on the back of her neck. Still, no one spoke and she didn’t pull away.
Finally, after what seemed like a good amount of time, he broke the kiss and smiled at her. “There… much better. It’s been three months working together again. And how long before that? Two and a half years? Almost three? You only signed up for a two-year run, right? You’re just going month to month at this point?” He drew his paw from her face and patted her knee gently. “Well, it’s about time I got to do that. I’ve thought about it on-and-off for quite a while, now. You can slap me, now, if you want… or you can wait until we get out of this box.”
“If… we get out of this box.”
“Tomorrow, an hour shy of noon,” he said. “I’ve spent all afternoon paying attention to their schedules.” He lifted his left wrist and showed her his watch. “It’s twenty-three hundred hours back at the base. These guys are just serving us dinner? What time do most people eat dinner?”
“I would imagine somewhere between seventeen hundred and nineteen hundred hours.”
“Yeah, that’s about right. So, ten hours from now, we’re going to walk out of here. That’ll make it somewhere between zero-three hundred and zero-five hundred hours for them. They’ll have limited crew members active, limited resistance and whoever wakes up to try and stop us… they’re going to be bleary-eyed and exhausted. Woken up from REM sleep, I reckon. So, in two hours, we’re going to bed. That device I gave you is our ticket to freedom.”
“Thought this through, have you?” She slid off the bench and looked around. “Interesting sleeping arrangements we have. Deck plating is the most comfortable thing ever.” Her syrupy sarcasm was combined with her ears lowering. “Besides, that tugboat is quite armed. I got close to it before changing my initial course… If we did escape, we have our work cut out for us. He has a lot of turrets. Then again, I’m more concerned about sleeping on the floor.”
Grey snagged another piece of food in his fingers and popped it into his muzzle. After a moment, the lump in his throat lifted then fell and he smiled at her. “You don’t know much about this ship’s design, do you?”
“Should I?” She tilted her head.
“Krystal, it’s a stolen Cornerian ship. It’s the same as most Cornerian ships. Let me show you how the brig works.” He stood up, placed his empty plate on the bench then walked across the small cell and lifted a single digit. “Watch closely…” He grinned then pounded his fist on the wall. Bill took two steps back then eased to the left. Slowly, a cot protruded from the wall. “There should be two on this side and two on the other wall. But we’re never supposed to put more than three prisoners in a cell, and even then… that’s only if we’re overcrowded. Typically, every person gets their own cell, separated by gender.”
“To keep down the amount of prisoners who wish to canoodle,” she murmured. In all seriousness, she knew it was to offer gender privacy. Krystal picked up her plate and moved to the cot jutting out of the wall. She lifted her tail then slid her rump up onto it. Next, she swung her legs up then leaned back on the stiff pillow. Krystal propped herself up on her elbow and began to eat again. “It’s almost a shame we’ll be leaving before breakfast is served. If they had lasagna for dinner, I have to wonder what they’ll be having in the morning.”
“You can always stay and find out, but I’d rather have breakfast at my place from my bed.” He hooked a thumb over at the opposite wall and said, “I’ll just be over yonder. Anything else you want to talk about for the next two hours?”
Krystal brought her paw to her lips, thinking about the kiss. “No, I’m quite sated on conversation, now. Thank you. Oh… and I’ve picked out that movie I’m taking you to see. It’s called A Solar Flair, spelled ‘f-l-a-i-r’, and it has that girl from ‘Salvation Within the Spirit of Zoness’ that you liked… you’ve put up a small poster of her inside your work locker. Pretty girl.”
“I used to think she was so hot,” he remarked. The Lieutenant Colonel moved across the cell, pushed in on the wall and another cot rolled outwards. He climbed up into it then reached up and touched the light control panel. The cell dimmed but not the lighting in the hall on the other side of the bars. “I told myself I was going to become a big-shot war hero then marry that girl. But then two things happened. I met someone cuter and that actress got married. So it’s no big deal now.” He chuckled good-naturedly and said, “I actually met a few people cuter than her, but only because they’re real and she’s some actress on the other side of Corneria, who I’ll never meet anyhow.” He eased back on the cot and put his head on the stiff pillow found at the far end.
“Bill?”
“A’yup?”
“Thanks for being my friend first and foremost.”
He smiled inwardly and closed his eyes. “Thanks for not smackin’ me. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.” Silence.
After a moment, he heard Krystal’s plate being tossed to the floor. He wanted to feel bad, especially since this was Fox McCloud’s girl… but he couldn’t bring himself to feel guilt especially since it was Fox who was dumb enough to kick her off the team.
With his thoughts running wild, she cleared her throat loud enough to catch his attention. She licked her lips then her teeth. “If it’s all the same to you… I’d rather forget about Fox McCloud right now. I don’t want you dwelling on him, either.”
“Yes ma’am, you got it.” Silence resumed.
“Feeling better today?” Falco put his right foot up on the coffee table then cut his eyes back to the screen on the wall, across from the sofa. His thumbs noisily clacked on the video came controller and then, rather abruptly, he threw it down in disgust. “Are you serious? This damn thing is about to go right out the airlock.”
Fox crossed the rec-room and peered through a porthole, watching over the surface of Papetoon. “Yeah, I’m good. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I kind of miss having Slippy around.”
Falco cut his eyes from the screen to his fast friend then back to the screen. “What broke?”
“No, man, nothing broke.” Fox chuckled inwardly. “I know he was great for fixing stuff but… that’s not what I meant. He and I grew up together. I used to spend the night at his house from time to time after mom died. (Chapter 1, Reflections of Peppy) He and I were always friends. Now he’s engaged to be married, they’ve got a place together on Aquas and he’s working on a base in one of those dome cities, there. He’s probably making really good money, too, cause his father is the commissioner. It probably sucks for you, too, because now you have no one to pick on.”
“Nah, I see what you’re saying, man. Slippy was cool. Weird, but cool. Amanda’s pretty cool, too. Why don’t you just have them both come back and join the team? We’ll have four pilots. Besides, Amanda doesn’t require saving every five minutes.”
McCloud brought a paw to his chin. “You think she’d…? You think Slippy and Amanda would both fly for Star Fox?”
“What?” Falco paused the game then crossed his ankles on the coffee table. “Why the hell not? We’re freakin’ STAR FOX, man. We had people begging us to get back together a few months ago. We kicked the Anglars all the way back to the Stone Age. They’re nothing but primordial soup, now. Why? Because we’re Star Fox. Listen, McCloud, Slippy showed up with that Bullfrog ship of his and he threw down like a mean green monster. Don’t tell him I said that… but he really pulled his weight in that war. Amanda doesn’t take shit from anybody. Y’know why? It’s because she’s got moxy. Nothin’ wrong with that, McCloud, now is there? C’mon, call’em up. Besides, I need someone to pick up the other controller in my game. At least Slippy will join in and try. Call’em up.”
Fox looked back at Falco and folded his arms. “That’s the most I’ve heard you say at one time in, like… a month. How’d you sleep?”
“I haven’t yet.” Falco started mashing his thumb down on the controller again then leaned his entire body to the left. “Yeah! That’s it. That’s what I’m talking about, ace! Right there!” The background music of his game changed, signaling to McCloud that his friend finished whatever game level he was on and was able to advance to the next board.
Fox shook his head and glanced back at Papetoon in the window. “Yeah, I’m feeling better today. The antibiotics are working. The sore throat is gone, the congestion is gone and it’s been forty-eight hours since my fever broke… I’m still surprised you didn’t get it.”
“You kiddin’? I might not be a freaking doctor but I know a little Zinc and Vitamin C keeps you at the top of your ‘A-Game’, Foxie. Me? I’m always at the top of my ‘A-Game’. So… you feel better. Does that mean you’re going to accept the job on Papetoon?”
“Well, we hardly need the money right now.”
“So?” Falco rolled his feathery thumb over the stick, flipping through the menu to save his game. “It’s something to do, man. It covers our expenses and we do better than just breaking even, right?”
“If we had even one more crew member right now, we would be breaking even on this mission… but yeah. I’ll call them and get the details. When we get back, I’ll call Slippy and Amanda.”
Lombardi used a talon on his foot to turn off the game console that was mounted beneath the coffee table surface. Next, he tossed the controller to the other side of the sofa. “What’s that girl’s last name, anyhow? It’s got to be better than Toad.”
“I have no clue.”
“It’s probably ‘Huggenkiss’. That would make perfect sense, since that’s what Slippy wants.”
Fox quirked a brow in confusion but didn’t say anything.
Falco watched his friend for a moment then shook his head. “You didn’t know? Slippy wants Amanda Huggenkiss?” He said it again, slower this time. “Slippy wants… A man… ‘da hug ‘n kiss… you get me, Foxie?”
“Wow… I can’t believe I didn’t see that one coming.” The vulpine pilot rolled his eyes and walked out of the recreational room to find his communicator.
“What?! It was FUNNY!”
Fox’s voice floated back into the room from the hall. “Yeah, back in third grade…!” The door slid shut with a thump. Out in the corridor, McCloud stuffed his paws into his pockets and made his way back to his personal quarters. The doors slid apart and he walked inside, scooping up his headset. He placed it squarely upon his head then picked up the computerized gauntlet on the table and dialed General Peppy Hare.
“General Hare, here.”
“Hey, Peppy. I was thinking about taking a job on Papetoon but I wanted to check with you, first, before I committed myself to anything.”
“I’ve got a situation right now and I can’t talk. Unless you know of a really good diplomat, you wouldn’t be able to help me with it. I’m sorry, Fox.”
“Everything okay?”
“Your friend, Bill, is trying to peacefully reason with a group of pirates.”
Fox’s facial features lit up. “Let me take the job! I’ll put those guys in the ground faster than…”
“No, Fox. That’s exactly why I didn’t call you for help with this. Showing up with weapons free would be a bad idea. Don’t worry, we’ll work out our problems – go ahead and take that job on Papetoon. Good luck with it.”
“How are Lucy and her brothers?”
“The family is fine. Honestly, I wish I had time to talk right now. I promise we’ll catch up shortly. Unfortunately, though, I have a military to run right now. It’s nearly midnight and things in my office are running at Mach six. I’ll catch up with you when I can.” He closed the channel from his side, leaving Fox to wonder.
McCloud sighed then opened a channel to Papetoon. After accepting the job, he checked the time and called Aquas to reach Slippy. His old friend answered on the first ring. After exchanging pleasantries, Fox changed to a business-tone and asked, “Are you happy with a day job under a glass dome?”
Slippy’s voice was thin and tinny over the subspace relay. “It’s not glitz and glitter, but if and when we decide to have a family one day, I’ll have good insurance to cover’em.”
“Slow down,” said Fox, pacing around his bedroom. “Money isn’t an issue for you right now. You know it isn’t. We’re all loaded at the moment. I mean… look, I’m really happy for you and Amanda. And she’s an awesome pilot. Speaking of her piloting, what is she doing for a living?”
“She’s talking about doing weekends with the Aquas Air Guard and maybe a day job as a shuttle pilot. Phoenix Industries is hiring freight pilots in this sector as of the first of next month, when they open their new branch office.”
“Slippy…”
The frog was way ahead of his school-hood vulpine friend. “She comes with me, Fox. Anything less is a deal breaker.” Silence.
Fox took a moment to digest what Slippy said then chuckled. “You know me pretty well after all these years.”
“Th-that’s one way of putting things! I’ll talk to her and see what she thinks but… our current six-month lease is about due for re-signing. I don’t see why not. ROB is sick of being surrounded by water… I think he’s developing some sort of digital paranoia. But I still want to t-talk to her about this first. But… if she says yes… when did you want us to move up there?”
“I suppose whenever you’re ready. I think Falco just wanted things to be the way they used to be… a Stag Party, but he’ll make due. So no worries, there.”
Slippy scoffed from the other end of the line. “I bet. He’s just a big… killjoy sometimes. He’s just jealous I’ve got my life together and I’m happy with someone.”
“You’re probably right on the money, buddy. Why else would he want a sausage-fest, right?”
Slippy changed his tone. “A what? Is this some sort of catered event, now?”
“N… nevermind, pal. Do you want me to ask Amanda for you?”
“Heck no,” Toad laughed. “I wear the pants in this relationship. She’s protective of me, but she prefers when I make the decisions about stuff.”
“Wow, seriously?” Fox dropped onto his bed with his head at the far end, then put his feet up on the wall, above the headboard. “I never would have thought.”
“Yeah, it’s awesome! She’s great. I know she’ll say yes, so long as you guys let her fly. Don’t worry! I can vouch for her. I know you guys saw a little during the Anglar War, but I promise she’s good enough to fly the rings, stay in formation and fight anything that comes our way.”
“Slow down and ask her. I’ll call you back tonight and we’ll discuss logistics if all systems are ‘go’. Anyway, I’ve got some stuff to do. I’ll catch up with you soon.” The two long-time friends spoke for another minute or so then Fox ended the conversation.
A/N: This chapter kinda’ leaves me feeling unfulfilled so I’ll get to the good part next… jail break, Fox’s mission (I want to have him start building some confidence in this story so that by the time he sees Krystal on Kew, he won’t be such a weenie. He’ll NEED confidence to get up the nerve to show Krystal (not just TELL her) that he wants her back. He’s got to get over this silly fear of women, right? Anyway, after all that, I’ll show Bill and Krystal’s next movie, Slippy and Amanda moving back in and rejoining the Star Fox team… then something. I actually plan for Krystal to stay on Corneria for at LEAST six MORE months.
You may have noticed it… but just in case you didn’t, I’ll point it out here… Bill and Krystal were talking and he notes that after Fox kicked her off the Star Fox team, she went to a Cornerian recruiter office and joined the military. She signed up for a two year military contract and, like a rental lease, she’s going month to month without officially re-signing for another two, four, six or eight year contract. So… she’s almost three years into her military career… I’d say O-4 is AMAZINGLY well ranked, considering her short tenure… then again, as Bill pointed out, she DID defeat the Anglars without the aid of any other military member. Seeing as how they’re quite lenient towards military people in the SF franchise, at least from what we have seen, I’m not making it “just like the American Military” because Peppy would have never made General if that were the case. That’s not something Pepper could just hand off, as he apparently did in regards to Peppy taking over.
ANYhow, yes, Krystal is a Major. MAJOR VIXEN, that is! Ahem. I’ll hush. There will be more “fun” next chapter. This one was just a kiss. She’ll stay around for another half a year. Kew is coming, just not YET. And I have to sit down and really THINK about how I want Kew to be. We have nothing from Nintendo on what it’d be like. I need to take some time and think it out.
Okay, expect my next update soon and it’ll be better than this one, I’m sure.
- 4
- 5
- 6
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

REFLECTIONS OF REGRET