Delta

Fox's eyes were open the instant he heard the knock on his door. "Who is it?" The door opened slightly, revealing Krystal. She was wearing a pair of thin pants and a gray tank top, what most of the personnel on the ship wore, save for the Elites and ship crew. The vixen looked slightly upset.

Fox turned the lamp on beside him, standing and going to her, putting an arm around her. "Krystal, what's wrong?" The vixen shook her head. "I just need someone to talk to...about everything that's happening." Fox's jaw clenched, then relaxed as he hugged her closer to him. He led her to his bed and sat down on the edge with her.

The vixen looked over at him, her eyes locking with his. "Fox...when will we get to go back to Corneria again? I know that I've only recently became a pilot, but I already hate the bloodshed. The adrenaline I get makes me go wild when I start shooting down enemy planes...but when it all wears off, I feel horrible..." Fox pulled her against him. "Krystal, nobody likes doing it, but they have to, or else it'll be us getting shot down. It's a 'Them or us' type deal."

The vixen's only response was a soft acknowledgment in the form of a sigh. Fox felt her head come to rest on his shoulder, and he in turn put his head against hers. Krystal heard the vulpine's heartbeat, and felt the warmth radiating off of his body.

"Fox...What were your parents like?" Fox's pupils dilated slightly, and he got a far off stare. "They were the best parents anybody could have asked for...my father was a pilot, and the founder of the original Star Fox team, but he was betrayed by a team mate, and Andross killed him...it was my min reason for piloting in the first Lylat Wars." The vulpine recalled his father, a fond memory slipping into his mind of his father teaching him how to fly, the sound of their laughter echoing in his mind. He turned his head towards his bedside table. A pair of pilot's aviators sat there, reflecting a bit of the lamp light.

Fox began to describe his mother next. "My mother was also killed by Andross. Her car had been broken down, and my father was going to let her use his. He didn't know that Andross had planted a bomb on the car, intending to kill my dad. Both my father and I were sad, and longed for revenge."

Krystal could see into his mind. He was remembering the laughter, the smell of fresh baked cookies, of a photo of his parents, and then the overwhelming feeling of hate and anger as she saw Andross's face in the Colonel's memory. "Fox...I'm sorry..." He shook his head. "Don't be. I've avenged them. Andross is gone for good." Krystal hugged the vulpine tighter, and the instant she did, the hatred and anger she was getting from him almost instantly melted away and his skin got hotter.

She looked up and saw him smiling. A slight blush had tinted his cheeks pink behind the brownish-orange fur. Krystal smiled to herself and went back to leaning her head against him. Her eyes eventually closed and she began speaking to the vulpine. "Fox...you wouldn't mind if I stayed in here tonight...would you?"

Fox's fur couldn't block out the dark red tint coming over his whole body. "N-no...I wouldn't m-mind at all" he replied shakily. Krystal continued to smile to herself.

"Fox, you're so easy to mess with." The vixen said, a laugh trying to creep into her voice. Fox smiled a bit wider, although it still looked awfully nervous, and he looked evn more like a fool now, but he had his reason. This is the vixen of his dreams, and she was asking if he would keep her company for the night? What more could a vulpine want?

Eventually, the vulpine calmed down and laid back with the blue vixen. It didn't take Krystal long to fall asleep, but Fox would be awake the rest of the night, unable to sleep as he thought about the blue fox in his arms.

(Transition)

Solomon smashed the console with his fist, sending sparks flying as the circuitry was crushed under his scaly hand.

"Shipmaster?" the other officers on the bridge turned at the sound of the console being pulverized, only the navigational officer daring to speak. They had all known of the defeat at Venom, but they didn't think it would anger their leader this much.

Solomon spun around, shooting a glare at the navigational officer and silencing him from saying anything further. A few moments passed and Solomon's shoulders relaxed and he slowly turned back toward the view screens in front of the command chair, slowly sitting down in it and letting the silence wash over him, leaving him to his thoughts.

"They won't get very far. Venom will be their first and last prize in this war. Send the 3rd Fleet of Lesser Malevolence to Aquas, and a cruiser battle group to Fichina. The only way around them is through Solar, and they wouldn't dare to go that far..."

Solomon didn't know it yet, but the Halcyon Forces would try him again and again.

(Transition)

The Master Chief clicked the safety of his rifle off, flipping the flashlights on his helmet into high beam mode. Venom's clouds had blotted out the meager light getting through from Solar, dropping the city into the pitch black end of the light spectrum.

The Helljumpers had split off into battalions, then companies, platoons, and finally squads to cover more ground. The Chief really wished he had a tank right about now. Ortega had stayed back at regimental command with his brigade commanders. Regimental command was a firebase that had been set up only an hour or so before by a pair of UNSC Pods.

A barracks, reactor, and hospital had been the only things set up so far, while on the other side of the planet, Elite strike teams had been pacifying any enemy resistance there, and had reported in a few times, the most recent saying they had taken over an enemy supply base, and were researching what the Serpentis used, from up to their weapons down to their life in garrison.

"Chief, what exactly are we looking for?" Private First Class Jacob Lance asked. This was his first deployment, and he was getting anxious to shoot something.

The Chief was about to respond when he heard shuffling and flapping. He pointed his rifle to the left, down an alley, and made a hand signal for the ODST's to rally behind him. While the Spartan and the squad of 6 shuffled down the alley, the flapping grew louder, and something flew out of the darkness, landing on one of the marines' face. "Agghh! Get it off me, get it off!"

Another marine tried to pry it off his face, the flapping growing louder, now accompanied by hundreds of little shrieks.

The Chief started firing, and the marines followed suit, the gunfire drowning out the sound of the little shrieks, the sound of spent shell casings hitting the concrete, the clinking competing with the roar of gunfire and the ear splitting shrieks.

More of the things started flying out, one latching onto the Chief's helmet, allowing hi to get a good look at it. It was covered in brown fur, and was about the size of his fist. Six red eyes dotted it's face and fangs tried peeling through his visor.

The Spartan willed his armored hand to come up and grab it, crushing the thing in his gauntlet. He felt it cracking, and it's shrieks of pain grew louder and louder until it finally went limp in his palm, dead. He turned to see the marines finishing up with the rest. Sergeant Peterson, the squad leader, put a burst of three rounds into one of them. "Here's a little something to remember me by."

The Chief tapped his helmet where the head lamps were, meaning he wanted the marines to turn their rifle flashlights on.

He pushed his way through the marines and back out onto the street, knowing he would see more before the mission was over. Now he really wanted a tank.

(Transition

Fox opened his eyes slowly and looked around. He felt a movement on his right shoulder. The vulpine looked over and saw a familiar blue vixen's head laying there. Krystal was still asleep, and had curled up next to him while they were asleep.

Fox smiled and kissed her forehead before slipping out from under her and gathering some clothes to put on. He thought about the blue vixen on his bed, and wondered what she was dreaming about. He had been surprised when she had come in the night before, but now he was just happy that she didn't have another nightmare.

As the vulpine slipped out of the room in his flight suit, the door slid closed behind him, and Krystal's eyes eased open. She sat up, looking around for him, but noticing he was gone. The vien tried to find him telepathically and felt that he was no more than 50 meters away, but that distance was growing.

She yawned and got up, almost mirroring what Fox had done only moments before. She had almost put her finger on the door release when a knock came. Krystal's finger paused inches from the button as the knock stopped her motion, yet it only lasted a fraction of a moment before she opened it, revealing Falco.

She tilted her head a bit. "Falco? Um...did you need to see Fox?" The avian shook his head.

"Colonel Ballard needed to see you, so I volunteered to come get you, but when I checked your room, it was empty, and when I asked Fox if he had seen you, he didn't say anything, so my next guess was to check here." The corner of Falco's beak tilted up in a smile. "Foxy and Krystal sittin in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G." He started making a kissing face and the sounds to go with it.

Needless to say, Krystal began to blush, and her blue fur did nothing to help hide it. "Falco! Shut up!" She pushed him, scampering past him and down the hall to where her father usually was, Falco's laughter dying away as she got some distance from him

As she came to Damon's door, it opened and allowed her in. Inside were her parents, both sitting at a small table and waiting for her. As she stepped in, the two looked up at her. Damon spoke first. "Hello Krystal, your mother and I have been waiting for you."

The vixen sat down next to them, wondering what they wanted. "Um...Falco said you needed me for something?" Krystal's mother spoke next. "Yes...we've noticed you and Fox growing closer, so we needed to tell you of something in the future. Our telepathy is stronger than yours, allowing us to dive deeper into a person's mind than you can. When all of this is over, you and Fox will have to make an important decision...a very important decision. So here's our question: will you be able to make it?"

Krystal didn't know what they were talking about. "What do you mean? What decision will I have to make?" Her mother shook her head. "We can't tell you. It's something that you will find out for yourself. We can't guarantee that this will happen, it's only a forewarning based on his thoughts when the two of you are together. Just be ready to make the decision when the time comes."

Krystal bit her lip, standing up from the table. "Alright..I'll be ready...is that all you wanted to talk to me about?" The two other Cerinians nodded, meaning Krystal was free to go. When the young blue vixen left the room, Damon and Haley looked at each other. "Do you really think she can do it under that type of pressure?" Damon asked.

Haley could only shrug. "I don't know darling...but it'll require all of their resolve, and we'll need to help them...we're the only other two people alive that can...all the other Cerinians are dead, so nobody else can teach them."

Damon thought about it and nodded. "But would they really want to try and risk something that would end up killing them both?" Yet again, Haley could only shrug.

(Transition

John was tired. These things were really taking a toll on the marines, even he was running out of energy. The Helljumpers wouldn't last much longer like this. They would have to turn back towards the HQ. He chinned the communications in his helmet. "Alright marines, we've gone far enough for now. We need to return back to the base-" He was cut off as a scream and static came through his speakers, and he killed the comm as he saw marines ripping their helmets off and rubbing their ears.

"Chief what the hell was that?" One of the marines asked. Some odd liquid was oozing out his left ear. A busted eardrum.

"I don't know marine, but we're heading back, I don't want anymore comm chatter, we're using hand signals or whispering until we get back and find out what happened.

The marines all nodded and followed behind him for the long trek back. The Chief's head hurt. His ultra sensitive hearing took a big hit from that, and now he constantly heard ringing, and his head was throbbing.

It took about an hour to make their way back. Ortega was waiting on them. "Why aren't any of you wearing your helmets?" He asked. The Chief motioned for the marines to go inside the recently upgraded base. It was now big enough to house the regiment, and had been upgraded all the way to being considered a fortress.

"Sir, when I tried using the comm, a loud scream and static came through my helmet speakers and the marines' helmets. One has a busted eardrum. We killed hundreds of little bat like things, they hid in the dark and swarmed us when we let our guard down."

Ortega nodded. "Alright Chief, go ahead and get inside, we'll get you rested up and the regiment will go back out tomorrow. I'm calling them all back with a rally beacon."

John relaxed, letting his shoulders sag once the base door had closed behind him, leaving Ortega outside to put up the beacon. He got to the barracks and sat on one of the beds that had been reinforced for him, allowing him to take off his armor and lay down. He didn't know what had happened on the patrol, but he knew he would find out eventually.