Fox felt disappointed to return to his team with such little information gathered from his visit to Sargasso. Unfortunately, Wolf knew nothing of Oikonny except that he must have stolen his ship from the Sargasso Hideout sometime during the aparoid invasion while both Star Fox and Star Wolf were occupied.

The lead pilot returned to The Great Fox, landing his fully repaired Arwing in the hangar bay. He then proceeded up the elevator to join the rest of the Star Fox team, who were waiting for him in the control room where he had left them. Stepping from the elevator, he shook his head to inform the others that his trip was not highly informative.

"No word from Corneria yet. Did you manage to find Star Wolf?" Falco asked. Fox was sure that he was curious about the possible survival of his rivals, and hoped that they were alive as he did. From Fox's expression, Falco must have assumed he didn't find them at all.

"Yes, I found them. They are alive, taking refuge in the Sargasso Hideout once again. They are well, all in one piece and recovering well from the aparoid invasion by the look of it," the lead pilot replied.

Looks of approval were shared among the four who were gathered. Slippy had joined them after repairing Fox's Arwing, but Krystal was still missing. Fox felt deep sadness grip him, wishing that she would finally come home to him. It was approaching two days since she had left, with still no word or sign of her other than the message she had left behind.

"Well, what did you find out? Are they with Oikonny or not?" Katt asked the question that must have been on all their minds. She still sat beside Falco, her tail tip occasionally resting on his shoulder.

Fox paused, deciding how to begin. He still had so many questions about Oikonny's reappearance, and was determined to discover how he had returned to lead Andross' armies in battle against Lylat. Just as he began to speak, a sliding door sounded from behind him. When the eyes of Falco, Katt, Slippy, and Lucy widened, Fox hesitated to turn and face the pilot who stepped out of the elevator. He knew that it could only be one vixen. Krystal had returned!

He spun around and faced her, suddenly lost for words and breathless at her appearance. Krystal seemed to be very worn and exhausted; her hair was a mess, her space suit looked like it had just recently finished drying out, and her right arm was covered in a strange moss wrapping. It looked as if there was a deep wound beneath it, just beginning to heal. Her blaster was missing from the holster on her hip, and a small blue rod replaced it.

"Krystal," Fox stumbled, "what happened to you?"

Krystal said nothing, but partly walked, partly limped, to stand face to face inches from his nose. She stood at his height, staring at him with her beautiful turquoise-blue eyes. Fox wished that he could tell her how sorry he was for everything that had happened leading up to her decision to leave, but before he could voice a single apology, she threw her arms around him and leaned her head on his shoulders.

Fox returned her embrace, caught off guard by her friendly return. He expected that she would be angry at him for what he had done by putting her on missions with Falco only, but all of that seemed to be years behind them. Fox felt as if this moment could have lasted forever.

"Fox, you'll never guess where I've been! I have been through so much, and I want to tell you all about it!" The vixen backed away and smiled at her friend.

"We have a lot to tell you, too." Fox could not have been happier to finally see her after leaving on such a harsh note.

Behind him, Falco sighed, "Hey, cut it out, Foxy. You had something you wanted to tell us?" He leaned to his side so he could address Krystal alone from behind the lead pilot, "and you have some explaining to do. You can't just walk out on us when we need you and expect to come back without a good explanation!"

"Like you, right Falco?" Krystal accused. She was clearly bringing up the times in the distant past when Falco left the Star Fox team to fly solo. Fox doubted that the two were angry at each other, just holding each other accountable for their absences.

"Alright, alright," the lead pilot broke up the commotion. He gestured for Krystal to take his seat in the control room and turned to face his comrades. "I'll begin by sharing my news." He gazed at the vixen's arm, now noticing that her wound was still untreated professionally and needed to be mended. "Then Krystal and I will go to the medical room to have her arm fixed up, while we talk about where she was and what she has missed." The five others gathered seemed to be in approval, and Fox began to tell them of what he had discovered in his meeting with Wolf.

"Wolf, Leon, and Panther survived, and are recovering from the aparoid assault in the Sargasso Hideout. Wolf mentioned a missing Wolfen when I arrived, so I told him about what happened at the ceremony. He claimed that he was not responsible for Oikonny's possession of his ship, and that it was stolen from them while they were away, combatting the aparoid threat."

"How can you trust him on his word?" Falco interrupted, showing his immediate distrust for Wolf and his team. "You can't forget that they once worked for Andross, and Oikonny was once a member of Star Wolf. How can you be sure that he's not lying to you?"

"Wolf is too proud. He would not have admitted that someone stole his Wolfen unless he was desperate to track the thief down. He blamed us initially, which was likely the only reason he admitted it," Fox countered. "It's unlike Wolf to welcome a member that he removed from the team back with open arms. It's not in his character to be so forgiving."

Falco seemed to be satisfied with this answer. It was Lucy that spoke up next.

"So what does this mean? Why would Oikonny steal a Wolfen and use it to attack us at the ceremony?"

A shocked expression appeared on Krystal's face. She was not there to witness Oikonny's second attack, and Fox knew that he would have to bring her up to speed after this meeting was called to a close.

"I am still not sure. There are so many questions left unanswered about the black hearted ape's return," Fox replied, not knowing the answers for himself. "For now, I think he wants Corneria to turn against Star Wolf. There's no other reason for openly flying in a Wolfen, other than simple convenience, but I would rule that scenario out. Wolf and his team have agreed to search for him in an effort to clear their names, and that's all I found out...but I believe that we can trust them. Remember all that they did for us in our struggle against the aparoids." Fox hoped he had managed to persuade his audience. He knew they would find it difficult to trust in Star Wolf, but they had reason to believe them.

"So what's next for us?" Lucy asked.

"There is darkness ahead we cannot see, something beyond the events transpiring around us," Krystal murmured, staring into the distance as if she saw something that the others couldn't. Returning her gaze to the present time and place, she added, "but for now, we need to find out when and where Oikonny will strike next. If we can catch him, we can hopefully end this war." Then the vixen's face twisted in pain and she wrapped her left hand around her right arm. The wound beneath her mossy covering must have been deep and painful, Fox reflected. She stood up from where she sat in his spinning chair, and he escorted her to the elevator while she leaned on him for support.

"Falco, take the others and try to track Oikonny down. He was just on Corneria recently, so scan the nearby planets. Let me know if you hear anything," Fox called over his shoulder as he and Krystal stepped into the elevator.

"I'm on it, Fox," the bird replied as the elevator doors shut and the foxes descended to the lowest floor of the ship.

As they walked toward the doorway that opened from the hallway leading to the hangar, Fox observed that Krystal's arm was not the only injury she acquired on her journey, wherever she had gone. Her space suit was covered in small cuts and scrapes, and the vixen appeared to be very beaten and bruised.

The robot Rob was waiting for them inside the medical room, where he escorted Krystal onto one of two beds that rested in the center. The robot built by Slippy resembled a man, plated with gold and silver lining. Instead of eyes, a thin red visor stretched across his head. The robot's networking was connected to The Great Fox's main computers, allowing him control of the entire ship on Fox's command. Medical supplies of all kinds surrounded them, and Fox took a seat on the bed beside his friend who laid herself across the other and closed her eyes.

"We missed you at the ceremony," Fox broke the silence while Rob administered several medications to Krystal through a needle piercing a vein in her arm. "Many Cornerians gathered to thank us for eliminating the aparoid threat and securing peace to their home planet."

The she-fox said nothing, but listened as Fox told his story of how they were ambushed by Venomian stealth bombers attacked by Oikonny's Wolfen. He described how he had met Lucy and been saved by Katt, who joined them in The Great Fox afterward. He then recapped his trip to Sargasso and his hostile confrontation with Wolf and his team.

"It is good to hear that they are alive," Krystal winced as Rob began stitching the wound on her arm shut.

Fox shuddered at the sight. Her arm was missing fur and flesh in a thin slice from her forearm to her wrist. Most of the bleeding appeared to have stopped, but Fox was curious how she got such a nasty wound.

"Trust me, it was not pleasant," Krystal admitted, reading Fox's thoughts. "I guess I'll start from the beginning," she sighed, realizing that the time for explanations had come. "Just after my first encounter with Oikonny, I received a vision of a distress call from planet Sauria. I saw dinosaurs in great pain and agony, at war with each other. I knew that I had to fly to Dinosaur Planet as soon as possible before more lives were at stake."

Before Fox could interrupt, she continued. "I wanted to tell you, but I felt that this was something I had to do alone." Krystal opened her eyes, and Fox sensed that she was deep in thought. "But I never really was alone," she turned her head to look at him. "You were with me the whole time."

"What? How? I was on Corneria, here with the others..."

The wounded vixen smiled. "You were with me in my visions. I would have never saved the dinosaurs of Sauria if it had not been for you." She described how she had landed and saw an image of Fox's first landing on the planet years ago. She then told him about the first battle with the Redeye Tribe, and their attempt to wipe out the remaining Tribes. "They were released from their prison beneath the Walled City, led by the Redeye Queen," she finished.

Fox was confused. He had been beneath the Walled City and never heard of nor encountered this Queen Redeye. "I defeated the King, but I had no idea there was another dinosaur so tremendous beneath that city."

"The Sacred Redeye teeth had been removed from their resting place again by General Scales. He thought the best time to reclaim control of the planet was after the dinosaurs were weakened by the aparoid attacks," Krystal continued. "I fought with him at the top of the Krazoa Palace, and defeated him to earn this back." She reached into her gun holster with her uninjured arm and revealed a weapon that Fox thought had been lost. Krystal's magical staff, the weapon he wielded during his mission to save Sauria from destruction years ago, was in her grasp.

"I thought Scales was defeated after Andross was destroyed," Fox's rage began to build. "If he hurt you, I swear I'll fly to Sauria right now and make him pay for it!"

"I'm fine," Krystal urged him to calm down. "I went to the Krazoa Palace because that was where I left my staff for the Krazoa to guard. I knew I would need it to defeat the Redeye Queen just as you had defeated the King. The Krazoa would not give it back, of course, until I was ready. After battling Scales and earning my weapon back, I used it to finish him once and for all. General Scales is dead."

She paused, and Fox was lost for words at the defeat of the great tyrant of Dinosaur Planet. He encountered him several times years ago when he had first flown to Sauria, but never had the chance to take him on in combat. He wasn't sure what he would have done if he ever did; Scales was a powerful foe, and even Fox was unsure if he could have defeated him alone. "I assume you faced the Redeye Queen as well and restored peace to the Tribes?" he asked.

Krystal nodded. "Yes, but it was more difficult than I thought it would be. I only realized how to defeat her once you came to me in a vision and showed me."

Fox nodded slowly. "So that's where you have been all of this time..." He was so glad to have her back with him again, and thankful for her safe return. But one question still burned in his mind. "Krystal, I thought that your staff was destroyed on the last Great Fox, when Peppy rammed it into the aparoid homeworld. Wasn't it was on the ship when it exploded?"

"That shows you how well you pay attention to details," the vixen chuckled. "If you remember correctly, I never brought it with me onto The Great Fox when I came to thank you for saving my life all those years ago. I left it on Sauria with the Krazoa. I never thought that it would be useful to me in a world with blasters and grenades... It was safe there until I needed it again." She held her staff above the bed, extending it to its full length with a snap.

Fox took it from her hands and twisted it in his. Immediately he felt the magic at its core surging through him, reminding him of the days when he wielded it as his own. On his first mission to Sauria, he learned its powers and used it to unlock many of the planet's secrets. He could not have located the four Spellstones and six Krazoa Spirits that held the planet together without its help.

"That reminds me..." Krystal started, but failed to finish her thought. Again, she stared into the distance as if she could see something Fox couldn't.

Fox handed the vixen her staff back. "Reminds you of what?" he asked.

Krystal closed her eyes and shook her head, as if trying to clear her mind of whatever troubled her. "I spoke with the Krazoa several times, and before I left they mentioned a special connection between my staff and planet Sauria."

Without interrupting, Fox tilted his head and narrowed his eyes in concern.

"When I asked them to explain, they refused. They told me to concentrate on stopping Andross' forces and bringing peace to Lylat for now, but I wonder if it has something to do with my home... a possible connection with Cerinia..." the vixen murmured.

"Your staff might be the last relic tied to your home world... it's strange that it somehow seems to act like a key to Sauria," Fox considered. "I wonder if the two planets are somehow connected, but that seems unlikely, given that Cerinia was not a part of the Lylat System." The fox thought back to the day that he and Krystal had first met; after rescuing her from Andross' trap on Dinosaur Planet, the vixen had described how her home planet was destroyed and how she was the last survivor of her kind.

"You told me about the Krazoa Spirits dwelling on your home planet," Fox recalled. "As far as I know, Sauria is the only planet in all of Lylat where they dwell. It might just be coincidence, but could this have something to do with how the two planets might be linked?"

Krystal sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure, Fox. Years have passed since I've even thought about home, I told myself I would put it all behind me once I landed on Sauria... but even that couldn't stop me from trying to seek out answers. I thought I had finally moved on once Andross was defeated and I found some sense of closure."

The vixen looked defeated, as if the mere mention of her past haunted her. Fox could hardly fathom what she had been through after losing her family, her friends, and her home all at once. Desperate for something to say to comfort her, Fox couldn't find the words to change the subject. At least she's home now, where she feels she belongs. I hope the life we've made for her here can somehow compare to the life she's lost...

"Oh, I almost forgot," Krystal's voice awakened Fox from his thoughts. "Tricky says hi. He wants us to come back and see him soon."

"Tricky? You saw Tricky?" Fox was excited to hear from his good friend, and thankful Krystal had found a way to break the tension filling the room around them. When the two had first reluctantly met, Fox had to save Tricky's mother from sickness. After traveling across Sauria and experiencing so much together, they became very close. Fox even named Tricky an honorary member of the Star Fox team before he left the planet. "How was he? Are he and his Tribe recovering well from the aparoid attacks?"

"They were, until the Redeye rose to power. In fact, all of Sauria was healing. The lingering effects of the aparoids are finally washing away." Krystal grimaced as Rob put the finishing touches on her stitches. Hopefully her arm would avoid further damage and be given appropriate time to heal in the future.

"Krystal, I'm so sorry for what happened before you left. I-"

A gloved hand pressed against Fox's mouth, silencing him. "I know. I saw everything you said to Falco earlier in a vision. If I hadn't learned the truth, I might not have had the courage to defeat Scales... But I know you only put me on missions with him so that you could protect me."

Fox was stunned. Somehow she must have seen everything that he told Falco the night before the ceremony on Corneria. At the same time, he felt relieved that he wouldn't have to tell her himself, and that she understood. "I didn't stay away from you because I didn't care, but because I couldn't bear to see anything happen to you. I don't know what I would do if you got hurt and I was helpless to stop it."

Rob backed away from his patient, and she sat up on her bed across from Fox. "During my adventures on Sauria, I realized that we work best as part of a team," she said. "Not one protecting the other, but both of us fighting side by side no matter what comes at us."

Fox nodded, realizing the mistake he had made. "Right. From now on, I promise not to try to shelter you or protect you. Instead we will fly side by side and fight our battles together."

Krystal nodded as well, happiness shining in her eyes. Fox didn't need her sense of telepathy to tell that she was pleased with this decision. "Well, what happens now?" the vixen asked. "I mean, regarding Oikonny and his army. We can't just sit around and wait for General Peppy to give us orders, can we?"

Fox was glad to see this energetic side of Krystal that he had not seen in a long time. "I agree. I have a feeling there's something about the aparoid moth attack on Fortuna we might have missed. I think we should go to the Orbital Gate and talk to Beltino; he might have information involving the incident that could help us discover how Oikonny survived." Knowing more about the past might not necessarily help in dealing with the future, Fox realized, it but could possibly give the Star Fox team an edge in Corneria's war with the forces of Andross.

"Good idea," Krystal commented as she leaped down from her bed. Her arm was now stitched shut and had been wrapped tightly so that it could heal. Fox joined her, and together they left the medical room. "First, I need to get out of this space suit," Krystal finally took the time to give herself an inspection. "It looks pretty bad doesn't it?" She added with a chuckle.

Fox looked her up and down. She was covered in minor wounds from her journey to Sauria and her space suit was a mess of dirt, water, and scratches. "I'll wait for you down here," he called as she headed toward the elevator. "On your way to your room, tell the others where we will be. Let them know to contact us if Corneria gives an update on Andross' army."

The leader of the team waited for Krystal at the entrance to the medical room, pondering the events leading up to Oikonny's supposed death. He and the rest of the Star Fox team had finally pinned Andross' army down near planet Fortuna after their last stand against Corneria. Star Fox broke through Oikonny's last line of defense, forcing him to flee to a base that he had established there. Fox and his team pursued, backing him into a corner when suddenly, a lone aparoid moth appeared and shot him down.

The aparoid fought well, but the mercenary pilots managed to defeat it. Just afterward, an enormous fleet of aparoid moths invaded the planet, but the Star Fox team was able to escape in time. Fox thought it strange that a single aparoid would have split from its group when Oikonny was so close to being captured. Where were the rest of the aparoids when this was happening? Why were they so far behind the one, arriving only after giving the first enough time to stall?

Krystal reappeared from the elevator again, dressed in a fresh space suit identical to the one she wore previously. The vixen no longer appeared exhausted, but walked with strength and purpose toward her comrade. She had retrieved another blaster to replace her missing gun and had strapped her staff to a holster across her back.

"Better?" She asked, with a humorous glint in her blue eyes.

"Much," Fox replied as they began toward their Arwings. "Did anyone have anything to say regarding our departure?"

Krystal rolled her eyes and grinned. "Of course Falco wishes that he wasn't stuck here while we get to have all of the fun. I told him to track down Oikonny while we were gone to keep him busy. Oh, and the others wished us well in our venture."

"Hmph." Fox nodded in acknowledgment. He led the way into the hangar bay and the two pilots boarded their ships. It felt good to be on a mission with Krystal again, even a mission so simple as traveling to the Orbital Gate. As he strapped himself in, he called to Rob on his wrist communicator, "We are ready for takeoff."

With a click, the locks that held his Arwing in place released and his ship began to hover outward. The doors to the hangar bay opened, revealing the vacuum of space outside. Together, Fox and Krystal soared out of The Great Fox and around the perimeter of Corneria.

The Great Fox was currently orbiting the planet, and the Orbital Gate was a short fly away. The large space station served as the Cornerian Research Center and transported ships across the Lylat System by converting them into energy. Once converted, a ship's energy would be transmitted to other destinations to be reconverted into matter. The blue and grey station formed a half circle of chambers and corridors with two fins protruding from it.

Fox and Krystal flew into the gate's hangar bay located at its center as Fox recalled the aparoid attacks a year prior. Beltino Toad, Slippy's father, had developed a self-destruct device that would cause the aparoids to undergo programmed cell destruction, but the insect race launched a series of missile strikes in order to prevent this weapon from being taken to their home planet. Star Fox and the Cornerian military, with the help of Star Wolf, defended the base until the weapon Beltino created was ready for deployment. The space station was officially renamed the Beltino Orbital Gate after the brave actions of the researcher who created the weapon that saved them all.

Dozens of Cornerian ships and fighters were located in the large hangar bay, some unmanned and others taking off or landing on other assignments. Cornerian pilots dressed in blue space suits and helmets rushed about, busy with whatever commands had been sent to them from the planet. Most of them were either dogs or foxes, but a great host of anthropomorphic beings served in Corneria's Air Defense Force.

"We need to locate Beltino," Fox called to Krystal as they pushed their way through the mass of pilots toward the hangar bay exit. They approached a metal door that slid open as they neared, leading them into a long white corridor filled with doors lining the walls. This must be the research center; Fox paused, trying to decide in which direction he should go. He and the rest of the team rarely visited the Orbital Gate, relying only on long-distance communication to keep in contact with Beltino. This time, Fox needed to see the records of the Fortuna aparoid attacks for himself.

"Um, Fox?" Krystal tapped on his shoulder several times from beside him. "I think we've found our toad."

He looked down just in front of him and watched as a short green amphibian wandered by, staring intently at a handheld computer. He passed the two, oblivious, and almost jumped out of his tan lab coat when Fox called to him, "Beltino, we have a favor to ask you."

The old toad turned to face them, adjusting the glasses that covered his bulging eyes. "Well, hello there," he croaked. "What can I do for you, Fox?" Beltino's tan coat trailed the floor behind him as he walked, nearly covering the orange and purple space suit underneath it. He also wore a loose green hexagon-buckled necktie, and a thin moustache lined his upper lip, indicating his age.

"We need access to whatever files you have on the aparoid attack on Fortuna last year. We are trying to learn more about the incident with Oikonny, and how he managed to survive the aparoid moth that shot him down." Fox was straight to the point, knowing that the research director would allow him access to the files. He was Slippy's father, after all. "We're sorry to interrupt you and would have just contacted you long-distance, but I want to see the files in person. I need full access for research purposes."

The old toad nodded. "Sure thing, you two can just follow me." He led the way through the hallway, busy with the movement of Cornerian scientists and engineers. Fox and Krystal followed until he stopped beside a door and gestured for them to enter.

"You can search for whatever you want on the ship's central computer," Beltino croaked as he followed his guests in. The room he led them to was large, with a multitude of computer monitors and other technical hardware lining the back wall. A massive computer took the center of the back wall, with an enlarged virtual keyboard at a desk in front of it. "We have data on all of the aparoid attacks, including the single moth encounter almost eighteen years ago," Beltino informed his guests.

Fox approached the keyboard and began entering keywords into a search bar. He typed "Aparoid attack, Fortuna," and touched the "enter" key. After several seconds of compiling data, a large message appeared on the screen. To Fox's disappointment, it read "ERROR, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS."

"What? That's not possible." Beltino approached the computer monitor and scratched his green head. "This is the main computer that only I operate. It knows to allow my guests access when it hears my voice within a certain proximity."

Fox stepped aside so that the toad could type into the keypad instead.

"Maybe it will work once I try it." Beltino erased the text of the first search and typed "Aparoid Moth" into the search bar, again resulting in the same error message.

"That's strange..." Beltino rubbed his chin as if deep in thought. "There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to access those files. They were just there several weeks ago... I can't even access the data from the first aparoid moth attack."

Krystal stood behind them, hands on her hips and a confused look on her face. "Try searching for something else involving the aparoid invasion. Try the Aparoid Queen, for example."

Beltino did as she requested, but again there were no results. The computer seemed to be blocking them from anything relating to the aparoids. A sudden knock at the door interrupted the research director, who turned to address the newcomer. The door slid open and a Cornerian pilot stood at the entryway, saluting them.

"I have a message for Fox and Krystal from Falco Lombardi. He says that he is on planet Katina and in need of assistance," the bulldog pilot barked. His helmet covered his eyes, giving nothing of his expression away as he relayed the important message.

Fox and Krystal exchanged a worried glance. The others must have really been in trouble if they couldn't contact them directly. "I guess we have to wrap things up here," Fox thanked Beltino for his time. "Hopefully whatever is causing this problem is discovered. We must leave to aid our friends, they need us."

"Any time," the research director called over his shoulder, puzzled as he and Krystal left the research center and raced toward their Arwings in the hangar bay. "I'll try to get to the bottom of this!" He called as his voice became inaudible with growing distance.

"Hopefully Falco and the others can make it until we arrive," Krystal voiced Fox's thoughts as they ran. "I sense a distress signal coming from Katina now. I can't identify its source, it seems clouded."

"What do you mean by clouded?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but the signal is faint and blurred. It must be the rest of the team, they might be in trouble."

The two pilots reached their ships and strapped themselves in, preparing for takeoff. Fox activated his Arwing's thrusters and led the way out of the space station, toward the two extensions that protruded from its curvature.

"Beltino," Fox contacted the research director on his wrist communicator, "can you get us to Katina quickly?"

"Right away, Fox." The toad's reply came as a green beam of energy materialized between the Orbital Gate's extensions, shooting outward from the base and fusing into a circular portal that would transport both Arwings to the planet Katina.

"Ready, Krystal?" Fox called to his companion.

"Ready, Fox," she replied.

Activating the rocket boosters of his ship, the lead pilot of the Star Fox team soared through the portal and vanished from Cornerian space. In an instant, he found himself facing an arid planet, a small tan sphere in the distance. Krystal appeared seconds behind him, and he paused for her to lead. "You know where the distress signal is transmitting from. You should lead the way to the planet's surface."

"Alright," she took the lead and began toward Katina. "The signal seems to be transmitting from the outpost that was attacked a year ago by the aparoids," she called as they entered the atmosphere and their ship exteriors began flaming.

Fox flipped a switch inside his cockpit that adjusted his Arwing to the differing flying conditions of Katina's atmosphere and thought about Falco's distress call. Oikonny's Army must have attacked them at the Katina Outpost. He must be trying to overrun the Cornerian military base established there. Be careful Krystal; we may find that Oikonny already has control of the base when we arrive. He guessed that she was probably reading his thoughts, and sent a warning her way.

"Falco, Slippy, is anyone there?" Fox spoke into his wrist communicator in an attempt to reach his friends. "This is Fox, I repeat, is anyone there?" No voices sounded in reply, only a light buzzing sound that rose from his communication device, signaling an error somewhere in the communications line. Fortunately, he was still able to contact Krystal. "I tried to contact Falco, but the line seems to be jammed. Something is blocking our communications."

"I sense jammers of some kind, but I can't identify them. We need to make sure the others are safe and worry about the jammers later," she responded.

Fox nodded in agreement as they approached the planet's surface. Their ships were no longer wreathed in flames from their descent into the atmosphere and he could see clearly through his windshield. Below, he spotted the Katina Outpost, a building that was encompassed by a wall on all sides. Two bridges extended from its central tower, with two prongs pointing toward opposite ends of the base. To Fox's surprise, the outpost was vacant and empty. Not a single ship or soldier could be seen, and the skies above were clear with the sun blazing brightly.

This made Fox tense. He remembered the last time he visited this base, only to be ambushed by swarms of aparoids from within it. The area appeared to be just as void and harmless, so he landed beside Krystal with caution. Together, they dropped from their ships and landed on the brown, dusty ground that stretched as far as the eye could see in all directions from the base. They stood just outside the wall that surrounded it, near an arch that opened into the base interior.

Drawing his blaster, Fox led the way under the arch and Krystal followed. She could clearly sense his concern; this was a Cornerian base, but it was not the first time that it had been taken into enemy hands. Creeping cautiously in single file, the foxes proceeded through the surrounding barrier onto an open stretch of ground that enclosed the base itself.

Without a word or a sound, they neared the base until Krystal suddenly spoke up. "I sense multiple thought patterns... Fox, it's a trap!"

As soon as she spoke, dozens of armed gunners appeared from the rooftops of the base and began firing at them. Before Fox could react, Krystal yanked him by the jacket and they raced away from the central tower toward several smaller building structures near the surrounding wall.

The entryway that they had used sealed itself shut and there was no way to leave the base. As he and his companion ducked behind the small structures, Fox realized that they were trapped inside with no way to contact reinforcements, hiding for their lives with a legion of pilots bombarding them with blaster fire. Fighting back panic and fear, he managed to voice one thought to the vixen crouching beside him in the dirt. Krystal, what do we do now?