Krystal sat in the control room inside The Great Fox with her allies, exhausted. Other than being unconscious for several hours, the vixen had not rested since she traveled to Sauria and had endured three consecutive missions without sleep. After fighting with dinosaurs, being ambushed on Katina, and chasing after Oikonny on Fichina, she felt completely drained and longed for her bed. But it had to wait; General Peppy contacted them soon after their arrival and she knew that their conversation would not be overly pleasant.

Fox, Falco, and Slippy sat beside her, facing a large monitor at the head of the ship. Lucy and Katt positioned themselves further back while the Star Fox team addressed the Cornerian General.

Peppy was on the screen, giving all six pilots a rough stare. "The Cornerian military reported that Oikonny escaped," he began, pausing to allow the Star Fox team to explain themselves.

Krystal scanned his thought patterns and read that the old hare didn't want to be so upset with the team. Peppy was almost like a father to Fox, especially after the loss of James. It pained him to be in any form of conflict with them, but he had to be firm and show no bias as the Cornerian Military General.

"Yes, he did," Fox admitted, "but in the end we saved the climate control center at least. And we wiped out most of Oikonny's reinforcements in the area. It won't be long before we track him down again."

Krystal was hardly satisfied with saving the base on Fichina. She read her enemy's thoughts telepathically and knew that he showed no interest in the destruction of the climate control center. He couldn't care less if Fichina was plunged into an eternal blizzard or not. All that mattered to him was that he escaped, and he succeeded. The battle on Fichina was hardly considered a victory for the Star Fox team.

"But at what cost? How many times will it take us to finally defeat him? How many Cornerian lives will be put on the line?" The rabbit countered. "Besides, it is not only Venomians destroying our fighters and putting our pilots in danger..."

Fox gazed up at the screen with some explaining to do. Even Krystal was surprised that he shot down the Cornerian pilot, but what else was he supposed to do? They abandoned their positions and almost made saving the climate control center impossible. "I only shot the pilot down because he went after Star Wolf," Fox argued, speaking her thoughts out loud. "The Cornerians endangered Fichina by leaving us to deal with the tanks alone. Wolf and his team were trying to help us!"

Peppy paused, understanding the motives behind his actions but still unwilling to accept them. "The Cornerians are beginning to question your loyalty, Fox. I understand that as a mercenary team you don't strictly operate under the Cornerian Military's control, but you don't want them to think that you are working with a team of criminals. Star Wolf may have helped us in the battle against the aparoids, but they are still not to be trusted."

"How can you say that it is our loyalty in question?" Krystal interrupted, unable to continue listening. "Someone inside or related to the Cornerian Army wants us dead. A Cornerian pilot sent us flying into an ambush while the rest of the team was nowhere to be found! Not to mention that Beltino's aparoid files are locked down and Andross' army controls territory unknown to any of you. What is there to say in Corneria's defense?"

The General suddenly appeared shocked. It was as if he had no idea any of this was going on. "Are you sure that the pilot was not simply mistaken about your location? I'm not sure about the aparoid files, but it could have just been a bug in the system. We are all still recovering from their attacks; it will take some time before things are the way they once were."

"But what if you're wrong?" Lucy spoke up from behind the others with narrowed eyes. "Fox and Krystal discover that the aparoid files are being kept hidden from them and then they are immediately sent into an ambush?" She paused, allowing her father to analyze what she was saying. "Only a Cornerian could have encrypted those files beyond Beltino's control, no one else has the security clearance. If someone on the inside wants Star Fox disposed of, then Corneria is a threat to the Lylat System. The entire military and governmental systems might be compromised."

"I'm sorry, Lucy, but that's not possible. We will do everything we can to find Oikonny and discover who is at the heart of this plot. Until then, wait for orders from Corneria. Peppy, out." With that, he vanished and the computer monitor went black.

Everyone present was silent for several moments. Krystal was not the only pilot lost for words at everything that was happening around her. "I think that went quite well," Falco added sarcastically as he stretched his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair.

"Seriously, shut your beak," Slippy croaked from beside him. "Now's not the time to be funny. We have a serious problem on our hands."

Krystal was too worn out to argue any more. She had gone so long without sleep that she could hardly keep herself awake any longer. "What are we going to do?" The vixen murmured. "Oikonny is gone and we have no other leads. Must we wait around for something else to go wrong or can we take action to prevent it?"

The room went silent again while all six pilots went deep into thought. Krystal closed her eyes for only a heartbeat when the room began to jump with excitement. When she opened them, Slippy was standing at the controls, punching in orders with his stubby fingers.

"What are you doing?" Katt inquired from her seat at the back.

Slippy continued on, ignoring her question. He pressed another button and then addressed her. "No other leads, huh? What about the pilot that you encountered at the Orbital Gate? The one who told you to fly to Katina...?"

Krystal's mind suddenly raced with exhilaration. Maybe we aren't out of leads... If we can find the pilot and make him talk, maybe we can learn more about who is behind all of this. Then she realized what Slippy was doing; he was contacting his father, the last one to have seen the questionable Cornerian pilot with them.

"Slippy, you're a genius!" Fox praised him as Beltino appeared on the screen.

"Well, hello team," the scientist croaked in surprise. "What can I do for you?"

"Hey, dad," his son, the mechanic, answered. "We were wondering, do you remember the pilot who told Fox and Krystal to meet us on Katina? Do you have any idea where he is now?"

The research director twitched his mustache and shook his head. "I'm sorry, son, but strangely he seemed to have disappeared after our meeting earlier. No other pilot has seen him since. After what I heard about the ambush, I had my security team track him down immediately but to no success."

Krystal sensed something strange about his sudden disappearance. Why would a pilot with nothing to hide suddenly go missing after sending her into an ambush? They had to track him down quickly before he vanished completely without a trace. "Beltino, have you made any progress on hacking into the aparoid files yet?" The vixen asked. Hopefully he had managed to gain access to them by now; those files could be hiding important information worth protecting.

"Unfortunately not," Beltino confessed. "I have a full team investigating and working to recover the files you requested but we need more time. This project is completely top-secret and off the books; no one can know that the aparoid files are locked down and we are trying to recover them." With a pause, he added, "the last thing we need right now is for rumors to spread of our lack of security."

"Thanks again, Beltino," Fox nodded. "We will check back with you later. Star Fox team, out." The lead pilot pressed a button on the panel below the large monitor and ended the communications link. Immediately, he spun around to address the others. "From here we need to move quickly. If the pilot went into hiding, he can't have gotten far by now. It is unlikely that he is still on Corneria; we need to split up and investigate the nearby planetary systems. He may have taken refuge on a nearby planet."

"Leave it to me, Fox. I'll fly back to Fichina," Falco suggested. "Oikonny was just there, so our pilot might be hiding there if he is working for him."

"I'll take Solar," Katt was the second to reply. "I don't mind flying somewhere dangerous. If he is there, I will take him down and force him to talk."

"Let me check Aquas," Slippy croaked. "It's close to Corneria and I need to test some modifications I've made on the Blue-Marine!"

Katt tilted her head sideways, unsure of what the energetic toad was talking about.

"Oh, he means his experimental, sometimes unpredictable, battle submarine. He and his father designed it together and built it from scrap parts. He is very proud," Fox clarified. "I guess that means I will return to Katina. I wanted to monitor the Cornerian outposts stationed there anyway, especially after the ambush we ran into."

Krystal and Lucy were left to decide where they wanted to investigate. Krystal wondered where beyond Fichina and Aquas the pilot could have flown to. Anything past those planets would almost be unthinkable in such a short amount of time, unless he traveled via the Orbital Gate, which Beltino would've known about. She was about to suggest flying to Zoness, when Lucy spoke first.

"I think that Krystal and I should stay behind," she proposed. "She clearly looks exhausted and I can stay behind to take care of her and listen for news from Corneria."

At first, the vixen was upset at the thought of missing out on this mission. Then she remembered how desperately sleep called out to her. "Actually, I wouldn't mind staying behind on this one," she confessed. "I still haven't had an ounce of sleep since the night before the ceremony the other day, and I hardly even slept then."

Fox nodded to her with a hint of understanding in his eyes. "Alright, it's settled then. The four of us will fly to the nearby planets, keeping our eyes open for the missing Cornerian pilot. He was a bulldog, I believe, but he won't stand out in a crowd. Our pilot might be trying to hide from us, and will likely flee when he realizes that we are members of Star Fox. That's our signal that we've found the right guy. We have no time to waste, let's move!"

Falco, Slippy, and Katt departed from the room, leaving Fox alone with Lucy and Krystal. "Tell the others to be careful, especially on Fichina and Katina. Hopefully no other Cornerian outposts have fallen into enemy hands," Krystal warned him.

"I will. Take care you two, and make sure she rests," he added to Lucy, who replied with a brief nod of her head.

"No problem Fox, leave it to me. I'll take good care of her," the pink-furred rabbit assured him.

Satisfied, the leader of the Star Fox team headed for the elevator, where he disappeared as the doors closed and descended into the hangar bay to join the others. Krystal immediately headed for her room, weariness taking its toll on her body. She wasn't so much sore from her wounds, but her body ached with tiredness. Her right arm, she noticed, was finally beginning to heal properly beneath its wrapping. The vixen paused in front of her door as it slid open, allowing her access to her room.

Once inside, she kicked off her boots and unhooked her belt from her waist, setting it on the table beside her bed. She set her staff beside it and collapsed, feeling too unmotivated to slip the blankets over her. Krystal breathed a deep sigh and pulled her hair back, staring up at the bare ceiling above her. Finally, I can rest after all of this running around, she thought. She felt disappointed to not be joining Fox on this mission, but knew that it would be too strenuous on her. She needed this time to rest and catch up on sleep that she missed over the past several days.

The vixen closed her eyes and let sleep take a hold of her. Her dreams, however, were not as peaceful as she had hoped. She found herself at Corneria City, the planet's capital, standing on the round landing pad at its center. She cast her vision back and forth, realizing that she was completely alone except for one Cornerian pilot standing at the base of the platform below her. With a gasp, she recognized him as the pilot they were looking for.

He recognized her as well and began to flee from the city's center. Krystal instantly took chase and darted down the landing pad until she was on the ground with him. He raced up a road that rose above the city and she followed him, sprinting as fast as she could to catch up.

Once he reached the top of the slope, he left the road and jumped onto a nearby rooftop, barely breaching the gap as his feet hit the edge and continued on. Krystal didn't have her jetpack or her staff to help her and relied solely on her speed to make the jump. She nearly lost her footing as she reached the other side and raced across the rooftop.

Realizing that he was cornered, the dog pilot spun around to face her, panic and fear gleaming from his eyes. "I didn't want to betray you; he made me do it!"

Krystal hesitated, only several feet away from him. "What do you mean, he made you do it? Who told you to make us fly into the ambush?" Before the bulldog could answer, a shadow loomed over her. The vixen turned just in time to block an incoming punch from behind and duck underneath the leg of the assassin. She backed away and realized that the nameless fox pilot from Katina had joined them on the rooftop. He stared at her with an unreadable expression from behind his visor, waiting for her to make the next move.

"So, it's you," Krystal whispered with a sudden realization. "You are the one who is hiding the aparoid files... But why?"

The leader of Oikonny's army charged at her as if he had not heard the question. Just before he drew a laser sword to strike, Krystal's eyes flew open and she found herself in her room in The Great Fox once again. Her breaths came frantically and her heart pounded in her chest as she willed herself to calm down and relax her muscles. She was only dreaming about her encounter with the dog and fox pilots.

Then a thought formed in her mind. Was my dream another vision? Are they on Corneria now? This was not the first of her prophetic visions, and she knew to take them seriously. She focused her telepathic senses and honed them in on the planet, using all of her power to scan at such a long distance. After several minutes of searching, she thought she detected a trace of the Cornerian pilot first. He is there after all... but wait... A darker, malicious presence presented itself nearby and she recognized it from the attack at the Katina Outpost. The mysterious commander is there as well! I have to stop him!

As the thought crossed her mind, Krystal heard a knock at her door and it slid open, revealing Lucy Hare standing in the opening. "Are you alright?" She asked with a concerned expression on her face. "I thought I could hear you, so I came to make sure you were alright."

"Yes, I'm fine," the vixen replied and sat up. "It was only a dream. But it was an important dream, a vision of something that was happening on Corneria."

"What is going on?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think we sent the other four in the wrong direction. I believe that the pilot we are looking for is still on Corneria, hiding."

Lucy appeared to be confused. "Why would he hide from us on Corneria? Isn't that the most obvious place where he would be found?"

"I don't think that it is us that he is hiding from, necessarily," Krystal muttered ominously. Surely the Cornerian pilot was taking shelter where he believed to be the safest, under the protection of the military. Krystal stood up from where she lay and stretched her arms and legs. She doubted that she was asleep for long, but felt relieved after resting for a short period of time. "Lucy, we need to get to Corneria as soon as possible, but I can't be seen like this. The dog we are looking for knows what I look like and how I dress. He will see me coming from a mile away."

"Hold that thought," Lucy disappeared down the hallway. She reappeared seconds later carrying a pink helmet and folded-up space suit in her arms. She set them on the bed, gesturing for Krystal to put them on. "I brought a second space suit and a Cornerian helmet with me to The Great Fox. My father gave them to me once he became Cornerian General, hoping that I would join the Cornerian Defense Force..."

Krystal studied the suit, positive that it would fit her. She and Lucy were relatively the same in body size and build. "Is that really what you want?" She probed, wondering if that was truly her life's goal or if there was something else on her mind.

Lucy hesitated. "I would certainly love to, but there is something that I have always wanted even more," she sighed and left the room as the door slid shut behind her.

I know... You really want to be a member of the Star Fox team, Krystal thought after scanning her friend's mind. Pushing the thought aside, she quickly changed from her Star Fox uniform into the pink space suit. A light grey jacket accompanied it, and she pushed her arms through its sleeves while observing the pink helmet lying on her bed. Above its dark blue visor, a light pink stripe ran down the center and a yellow letter "C" was painted along it, symbolizing the pilots of planet Corneria.

Krystal grasped the helmet in both hands, staring into it as if staring someone face to face, and then placed it over her head. Her purple ears poked through two holes at the top and her hair flowed out from behind. She didn't want even her hair to give her away, so she concealed it within her helmet and tied it up to be sure it would not be visible. I will need to hide myself from everyone, including Peppy, she thought with sadness as she stripped the decorative bands from her tail and threw them on her bed. Her tail fluffed out to almost twice its original thickness, strange and uncomfortable at first.

She strapped her belt to her waist again with her blaster at her hip and gripped at her staff with second thoughts. My staff might give me away... She almost set it back down on the table when she felt something inside her pulling her toward it. With a moment's hesitation, she reached for her weapon again. Alright, I'll take it, but I'll have to conceal it as a last resort. With nowhere else to put the weapon, she slid it into her right boot as she slipped it on with her left. Finally, she opened the door and met Lucy, who was waiting patiently for her outside.

"Well, now you look just like a Cornerian Pilot. The perfect disguise while under cover in Corneria City."

"What about you?" Krystal asked.

"I should be fine as I am," the rabbit smiled. "It won't seem strange for me to be on Corneria at a time like this. My father is the General, after all. The pilot who betrayed you may know this, but he doesn't know that I am looking for him as well."

"Right then, let's get going. We need to be careful how we travel and where we land when we arrive. If the pilot discovers my true identity, he might panic and leave the planet." The vixen was determined not to let him escape her grasp. "On our way I'll send a message to the others, letting them know what's going on. Unfortunately we can't wait for them; I sense that we are not the only ones on the hunt."