Star Fox: Eclipse

Chapter 3: A Prehistoric Conflict

Corneria is in danger... attacked by Oikonny... Fox is in trouble, I need to help him! Krystal shook herself awake, forcing her mind away from dreams of fear and destruction. Something dreadful, she sensed, must be happening on Corneria. Perhaps Oikonny attacked during the ceremony, as we all feared, the vixen thought. She felt like a traitor to the Star Fox team for leaving at the time of Oikonny's resurgence, but then she remembered back to her dreams.

In her vision the day prior, she saw what she believed to be the fierce Redeye tribe of Sauria attacking and killing the dinosaurs of the Earthwalker and Thorntail tribes. Krystal knew little of the Redeye tribe, except that they normally did not attack the other dinosaurs openly. In fact, she had not seen any of them herself during her brief visit to Dinosaur Planet years ago. A she knew about them came from Fox, for he had battled with many of them on his quest to save the planet and save her life.

Krystal's Arwing was set on auto pilot, directed towards Sauria while she slept. Thus far, her travels had been peaceful, but she realized that her ship was approaching a thin asteroid belt that surrounded the planet. She flew straight into it, swerving as asteroids flew past her ship. Krystal realized how fortunate she was that wherever she had to travel on planet Sauria, she would only have to navigate through the asteroid belt once. During Fox's adventures on the planet, Sauria had been split into five different pieces. The planet had broken apart and was on the verge of destruction; the four Spellstones and six Krazoa Spirits holding the planet together had been removed from their rightful places by General Scales, a dinosaur tyrant working under the influence of Andross.

Finally, Krystal reached Sauria's atmosphere and realized that her Arwing was soaring above the planet's beautiful landscape. The dark void of space outside her was suddenly replaced with bright, clear skies and lush green terrain. Sauria's geography varied from frozen wastelands to warm tropical beaches and thick green forests, with some dynamically different regions located just several miles from each other. Krystal soared above a canyon filled with tall pyramid-shaped buildings that must have been the Walled City, rebuilt after the damage it suffered from the aparoid assault a year ago. I hope the dinosaurs have recovered since the aparoid invasion, Krystal thought as she soared over the old battleground. This new threat to their planet is poorly timed during their recovery... or very well orchestrated...

Beyond the walled city, Krystal spotted a small grassy hollow where she could land her Arwing. She knew this place well from Fox's description; she was landing in Thorntail Hollow, home to the dinosaurs of the Thorntail Tribe. This is where she would begin her investigation, knowing only that these dinosaurs were in danger. A shallow blue stream ran through the center of the hollow, flowing from a waterfall that poured down a cliff wall. The cliff wall seemed to have another wall of stone built around it, featuring large round pillars and images of green scarab beetles between them.

A hole in the cliff wall opened up beside the waterfall, leading to what Krystal guessed was the Thorntail Store, the only store to be found on planet Sauria. Fox had explained his many dealings with the shopkeeper, Shabunga, a cold-hearted haggler. He described it as... odd... that Shabunga sold many items that did not belong to him. Unfortunately, Fox had to pay for a Hi-Def. Display Device that Slippy had originally airdropped to him, but had been picked up by the shopkeeper instead.

Krystal landed her Arwing on a round patch of dirt, surrounded by light green grass. If the Thorntails are in danger, I will need to make my appearance as subtle as possible, the vixen thought as she opened the cockpit of her ship and dropped to the ground. She hoped that by landing near the outskirts, her presence would remain unknown to any enemies that lay in wait for her.