Legacy of the Precursors

Chapter 1: Disarray

The first thing that greeted Six's consciousness was pain.

His body ached, from a pounding headache to cracked ribs, agony suffused his very bones. Under his armor he could feel his tender skin brush against the bodysuit. For the first time in his memory, he felt weak…feeble. His strength was sapped and the pain, almost unbearable.

His visor was encrusted with dried blood and his mouth soured with a bitter copper tang. The spartan's HUD remained offline and his suit was fully powered down. He could feel the weight of the heavy titanium slabs restricting him to his chair, the force strong enough to pulverize the bones of a regular human, but merely uncomfortable to his gene moded frame.

The cockpit of the sabre was dark, similarly unpowered. The array of controls and readout screens were dimmed with dysfunction, all the hallmarks of an EMP strike. Yet his MJOLNIR was rated to withstand the most powerful electromagnetic attacks and it was rendered offline as well.

Six forced his HUD to go through a hard restart and began to fiddle with the sabre's systems, intending to get it working, his HUD warning him of a myriad of physical harms exerted upon his body, nothing he hadn't heard before, although…mild radiation poisoning was a new one.

As he toiled, the spartan glanced out of the cockpit and froze.

Why were there stars outside?

Where there should have been a covenant corvette's hanger, was instead a curtain of blanketing stars.

Did the bomb work?

He didn't remember much after the hunter slapped him into the phantom, but he was sure that the device had gone off. If that assumption was true…shouldn't he be dead then?

Six wasn't sure. All he knew was that the last jury-rigged slipspace explosive they had used took out a supercarrier. Did that mean Jorge was still alive?

It was possible, but Six doubted it.

The sabre's screens suddenly flickered on, illuminating the cockpit and broadcasting a systems crash warning. It would take a few minutes to cycle and refresh.

What would happen after was anyone's guess.

The radar was the first system to come back online and when it did, it immediately pinged a large contact a few thousand kilometers distant and approaching fast.

Far off, he could make out a strange vessel cruising swiftly towards him.

It didn't look covenant or UNSC in nature. The hull color was bright silver and it supported four large wings in a cross pattern with what looked like the bridge extending out from the main body, a critical weakness that could easily be exploited. A pair of ominous looking cannons was slotted under the extended bridge with a large boxy protrusion under that. It must have been the ship's hanger.

There was a symbol on the spine of the larger vessel, an orange fox. Six was surprised to see English script above the animalistic emblem.

'Starfox'

It definitely was not covenant in origin, but the hull design was completely unfamiliar. There were no UNSC ships currently in service built like it and it had no telling markers as to what faction it belonged to. His best guess was that it might be a heavily customized mercenary vessel. There were not many in the UNSC, but he had seen a few in his time, mostly during the insurrection of Mamore. But they were usually shoddy constructs with mismatched hulls and rusted weapons. This was far too elegant, streamlined armor plating and artistic decals. It was a class above the others.

But what was a mercenary ship doing here…wherever here was?

The spartan could see a familiar blue and green planet off in the distance….

It had to be Reach. Six was certain of that fact. He knew that planet better than any other. But, it was not how he had last seen it. There was no massive alien fleet and the planet was unblemished by covenant plasma lances. Something even more cause for concern was the absence of any signs of the UNSC.

It was possible that he might be hallucinating, all this a vivid delusion. Maybe he had never made it to the corvette, and his sabre was just drifting in space as he slowly went insane.

However, with his luck, the spartan didn't think he would be so fortunate.

Six studied the strange vessel as it coasted to a stop a few kilometers from his disabled craft, glancing down at his instruments.

The main systems were still booting up, effectively leaving him stranded in place, unable to do anything but watch.

The other ship was at an angle that prevented him from seeing into the bridge, and it seemed to be content with brooding over him for the moment.

Six was curious as to what was going to occur next. He had no idea what was happening anymore, outside was a strange ship and a planet Reach that wasn't quiet the planet Reach. The spartan was starting to think that the slipspace device had done more than expected of it.

Without warning, the comms system crackled into action as a loud and commanding voice made itself known in the cramped cockpit.

“This is Fox Mccloud, captain of The Great Fox. Identify yourself."

Six choked back the desire to scoff.

Whoever this guy was, he seemed to be a fan of vulpines.

The sabre's main screen flashed, displaying the electronic equivalent of an all clear and moments later he felt the engines rumble quietly underneath him as power had finally been fully restored.

Now he was able to move, and mobility was good.

Since Six had more options opened up to him, he contemplated his next course of action. First, he wanted to get a better look at that planet and find out if it was truly Reach, and if so, what exactly had happened with the bomb.

But this ship and its captain were another conundrum.

Who exactly were they? He was tempted to respond and find out what exactly he was dealing with.

Movement of the adjacent vessel grabbed the spartan's attention and he watched as a section of the hull peeled back and an odd barrel of some kind started to emerge. What it did, Six did not know, but he didn't intend on sticking around to find out.

His choice made, Six jammed the stick forwards and peeled to the right, the saber's powerful engines sending him careening past and hopefully out of range of whatever that thing was.

A glance backwards alerted the spartan-III to the fact that the other ship was in pursuit. Six was baffled as the vessel erupted into motion, blazing a trail of light as it closed in on him. Such speed for a large craft like that was unbelievable. It was somehow able to keep pace with his sabre.    

Six punched the throttle and sunk into his seat as the sabre leapt out from under him at maximum thrust, slowly but surely distancing itself from his pursuers.

*****

“Damn it, they're getting away." Fox growled.

Whatever that thing is, it was definitely fast. The Great Fox had never been outrun before. At this rate, it would leave them in the dust. Fox's mind ran a kilometer a second as he raced to puzzle out a solution.

The vulpine turned to his friends. “Krystal, Miyu, Falco, get to your arwings and try to slow them down. Aim for the engines."

“As you say, Fox." Krystal dipped her muzzle in acknowledgment and swiftly departed the bridge with her two selected companions.

Fox was confident that the three of them would be able to disable the fighter. Krystal alone would probably have been enough. Her telepathic powers were an incredible advantage in a dogfight, allowing her to anticipate the opponent's move before they fully planned it out. She was on par with Fox and Falco, her abilities on level with their natural skill and years of experience. In the simulators, Fox had learned that the only way to best her was to remain unpredictable and fly by instinct alone. It had taken a few tries and embarrassing failures for the vulpine to master it.

As the Great Fox chased its quarry, Fox turned to Peppy, the wizened hare attentively staring out of the bridge's viewport and at their objective.

“What, or who, do you think it is?"

Peppy turned to Fox and cleaned his glasses silently for a moment before he responded. “I cannot tell you Fox, because I do not know. In all my years I have never seen a vehicle quite like it."

“I think it might be venomian." Fay interjected thoughtfully. “It kinda does look like something they would make, big and blocky I mean."

Fox nodded slowly. “Maybe…but I don't get the same feeling off it. What would a venomian ship be doing here? If it truly was an experiment of some sort, it should have been long gone before we arrived. By rights, if it was venomian, it should have either attacked us or run off, not head directly for Corneria."

“Maybe it has a bomb." Slippy declared worriedly.

Fox shook his head negatively. “I doubt it. That's not a standard venomian tactic, they prefer to attack when they have a numerical advantage. Believe me, I would know. And besides, any bomb from a ship of that size would not be effective, if it managed to even get past the orbital defenses. And if it somehow is able to outfly Krystal, Miyu, and Falco, then the local garrison should still be more than adequate in taking it down."

Fox looked out the bridge and to the ship hurtling away from them, watching as three arwings zoomed out from under the Great Fox, emerging from the hanger. The trio of fighter craft slowly closed in on their target, intending to put its flight to a quick end.

“This should be fast." He avowed positively.

*****

Krystal slipped into the cockpit of her Cloudrunner, flicking the row of operating controls and starting up the engines. To either side of her, Falco and Miyu were similarly prepping their arwings for launch.

As always, she experienced the faint pre-flight jitters she received every time she readied for launch. The vixen may have been an excellent pilot, but that did not prevent her from feeling nervous when she flew. Being a fighter pilot was a hazardous occupation there was myriad of things that could go wrong. Your ship might give out at a perilous instant or you could make a mistake at a crucial moment.

But Krystal reminded herself that she still had a debt owed to Fox, one that she intended to pay in full. She was thankful for his help, rescuing her from her crystalloid prison back on Sauria. That aside, she was glad to be a part of the team. In the months after her release from entrapment, they had become her family…even Falco.

Krystal depressed a small button on the side of her controls and activated the hanger's doors, the hydraulics pulling back the heavy sheet metal and keeping the energy barrier active to maintain its atmosphere.

Whispering a quiet prayer to the spirits, she released the docking clamps and forced the flight stick forwards, speeding her fighter into space. Shortly afterwards, her two wingmates followed suit, forming up aside her.

“So fuzzy butt, what's the plan?" Falco inquired mischievously off their linked radio.

The vixen rolled her turquoise eyes and held back a sigh.

The red and blue speckled avian was still more than a little sore with the fact that Fox had made her his second in command, and that had been months ago.

“Stick together and work as a team. That means no showboating." She replied pointedly, acutely aware of the bird's reputation.

“That means you keep your feather keister plopped down with us." Miyu interrupted easily, with a chuckle.

Krystal saw the avian shake his head from inside his fighter.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say….spoilsport." He muttered gruffly.

“Alright, save it for later, we're coming up on the target. Miyu, fire a few warning shots, then I'll see if they listen."

“Will do, Krys." The feline gave an exaggerated salute before peeling ahead and lining up her sights with the other ship.

But before she could even flick the cover off her trigger, the fighter pulled hard to the right and spiraled, thwarting any attempt at getting a decent shot in.

“This guy might be better than we thought." Miyu commented with an intrigued growl before throttling her arwing in pursuit.

Krystal let the cat go, waiting to see if she would be able to get a hit, all thoughts on any warnings gone. She doubted the pilot would listen.

“Falco, get ready to go, Miyu and I will lead them towards you. See if you can get a few shots to connect with those engines on its sides." The vixen shifted her arwing over to Miyu in order to assist the feline in forcing the other pilot to keep weaving or risk getting hit.

“Now that's an order I can get behind!" Falco exclaimed excitedly and pulled back slightly, readying to release a burst of energy from his lasers.

He watched as the fighter dipped and twirled expertly, never staying still long enough for the two girls to get a clean shot.

“Come on, there you go…just a little closer." The bird muttered quietly to himself as it steadily slid into his sights. “There! I got you now asshole!" He squeezed the trigger and the lasers sailed directly toward their target on a swift collision course with its left turbine.

…Only to blaze past empty space as the fighter dived at sharp angle and twisted up to the right, peeling back around and shooting past all three of them, closing in on Corneria's atmosphere.

“Shit! Who the hell is this guy?" Falco demanded in frustration. There was no way they should have been able to slip out of that one.

Krystal could not believe what had just happened, they had him in their sights, and he just slipped away. Whoever this pilot was, they were better than good. She wasn't even able to get a read off of them. Their mind was a closely guarded fortress, with high bulwarks and thick wall.

“What do we do now Krystal?" Miyu wondered curiously.

“Now, we have to contact the defense force, have them mobilize and corner this fighter."

As it was, they were far too slippery to have a chance at taking 'em down.

While Miyu contacted the CDF, Krystal patched into the Great Fox's comms,

“What happened out there?" Fox's voice emanated from the vixen's radio.

“I don't what we're dealing with, but they managed to get past us." She explained reluctantly, the idea of failure leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

“Don't let it get you too down." Fox tried to cheer her up. "I had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy. I'll swing the Great Fox around and meet up with the local CDF garrison. Keep an eye on that fighter until I get back. Don't let it get away."

“I can do that much." Krystal sighed, ending the transmission. She knew that Fox wasn't mad, but she still felt as if she had let him down.

The vixen reeled her arwing back around and joined with Miyu and Falco, following after the strange fighter as it entered the atmosphere, no longer attempting to disable it.

As they followed it at a reasonable distance, she could not help but notice that it seemed to know where it was going, flying in a precise direction, towards the mountains a few miles from Corneria City. In fact, it was within sight of their cliffside home.  

Suddenly, the fighter stopped mid-flight, choosing to hover just at the base of the mountain range, its turbines shifting to maintain its altitude.

Curious, the trio stopped as well and called Fox, filling him in on the development.

“Just stay with it, we're on the way with extra fighter support." The vulpine responded.

To their left, Krystal could make out the Great Fox and a small group of green and white decaled fighters approaching, the standardized colors of the CDF. No doubt they were a squadron from the base a few kilometers away. She was surprised that they had managed to scramble into the air so quickly. The general probably has them wound up and ready to deploy after fighting through such a costly war.

The Great Fox and its new escort stopped alongside Krystal's group and the CDF fighters moved to circle the target, ensuring that it would no longer be able to run.

For whatever reason, the ship no longer moved. It just hovered there, doing absolutely nothing.

Krystal wondered what the pilot was thinking.

*****

Six was a hard individual, even for a spartan. He had been raised from childhood to fight a long and bloody war against a race of genocidal alien monsters. His hands were permanently stained with the blood of countless victims, not all of them alien. He had seen and inflicted so much death that he was numb to its affects. He had experienced more pain and loss than then most people would if they lived several lifetimes. An officer for ONI had called him a living embodiment of death, his personal grim reaper. Six had achieved the rating of hyper-lethal, only one other receiving that honor.

Nothing fazed him.

So, it was quite something that the spartan-III had been driven thunderstruck.

As he had suspected this planet was indeed Reach. The geography was identical, down to the individual crags of erosion on the mountains. And yet….this was not Reach.

Reach did not have a thriving ultramodern metropolis that spanned for hundreds of kilometers. These skyscrapers dwarfed the ones in New Alexandria. In the distance he could see an organized storm as thousands of small craft zoomed in out of the nest of spires…hovercars…honest to god cars that flew in the sky. He had heard of them when marines talked about the future and had seen the strange orbital stations and unfamiliar vessels.

There was also the distinct and glaring lack of scorched plains and desolated cities.

This was not the world he knew.

The spartan glanced out his cockpit, at the array of unknown ships encircling him, and frowned. He had been tempted to fight back, but he was no stranger to dogfights. If they had truly wished to shoot him down, they would have tried harder, either that or they were terrible pilots. And after their original failure, they had not tried anything again, instead choosing to keep at a distance. No. Whoever these people were, they wanted him alive.

Six wasn't sure what to feel about that.

His mind was still drawing a blank on this new unbelievable development. That slipspace bomb must have really fucked things up. Perhaps staying to fight would not have been such a bad idea?

The certainty of death was almost preferable to what was occurring now.

At the moment, his new associates seemed content with hovering around him, and the spartan was quickly running out of patience.

Something had to happen. And though he had thoughts on seeing how much damage he could inflict, those were quickly quelled. Despite it all, he was curious to see what would transpire next.

Six wound the engines down, cycling them off slowly to let the sabre gently descend to the surface, intending to land in a clearing a few hundred meters from the start of the mountains ascent. It was up to the strangers to decide what was next. Would they come down and talk? Or blast him into oblivion?

At the very least he would be able to die on a planet that looked like Reach. It wasn't his best option, but he was willing to make do under the circumstances. Although he would at least like to figure out what was going on first.

The sabre's landing struts sunk a few inches into the grass and the spartan shut it down. The engine's harsh whine fading until silence was his sole companion. He looked up, seeing the trio of fighters that had chased him earlier as they descended to land at the edge of the grassy glade.

They were odd machines, thin and small. All three were different from each other, each having their own custom design. He recalled what the lead craft was based off of. Back when he had been little, before his colony had been glassed and his life stolen from him, he faintly remembered having toy dinosaurs, cheap molded plastic replicas of the long dead saurians. This one reminded him of a pterodactyl.

The left was modeled after a bird of prey, with long thin wings and a beak like nose. The right craft was more rugged, with heavy plating and blunt stubby wings. Despite their differences, each had similar coloring and had the emblem he saw earlier painted onto their hulls, confirming his mercenary theory.

All in all, they were like no other craft he had seen before. And when the canopy's popped open and their pilots emerged, Six was absolutely confident he was no longer anywhere he considered to be normal.

They were alien, that much he knew for sure.

Unlike the races of the covenant, they were actually marginally humanlike in appearance. That was of course, if you discounted their tails and fur. While hominid in look, they were about as far from human as you could hope to be.

The one in front, currently cautiously walking towards his sabre, was for all intents and purposes, a bipedal female fox with blue coloration. The foxlike creature had an athletic build, short muzzle, and sharp jade eyes. She was wearing some kind of form fitting black bodysuit with azure plates attached to the fabric and carried a short jeweled rod in her…paw? Six wasn't sure what you would call it, but for the sake of continuity he decided to generalize based on their dominating traits.

The other two pilots were each of a different species, leading the spartan to believe that he had stumbled upon a civilization much like the covenant, composed of a variety of races. He just hoped that they proved to not be too alike in other regards, mainly their genocidal tendencies.

There was another female, this one taking on the guise of a feline with brown spotted fur. She wore an armored green and black tank top wrapped in tactical webbing. Six could see pouches filled with what had to be magazines of some sort and a few odd looking sidearms. The spartan prioritized her as a primary target in case hostilities broke out.

The last member of this small group was a red and blue feathered avian in a suit similar to the vixens, swapping out the muted blue tone for the much more aggressive red, although his was of a heavier make, more suited for close combat. Even from within his sabre, he could tell that this particular individual had a taste for combat, meaning he was too naïve to truly understand what war was.

They stopped at a safe distance from his sabre and seemed to be waiting for his move.

Six felt a brief desire to take this opportunity to escape or attack, but he held the urge down with iron hard discipline. There was nowhere to go. This was the same system he had been in before the bomb went off, or at the very least the planet was extremely similar. The slipspace device must have done something to send him her, effectively stranding him. He had no contact with UNSC HIGHCOM and he doubted that the UNSC existed where he was. If this world had been anywhere close to human space, it would have been discovered.

Two viable and implausible scenarios ran though his mind.

A. He was in a different dimension, an insane theory made plausible with the unpredictability of slipspace.

And B. He had been somehow thrown through time, perhaps long before humanity's existence, or long afterwards. Time skips in slipspace were not completely undocumented occurrences. There have been reported cases, but they were only in small skips, hours, days at the most. This….would be something else entirely.

Whatever the case may be, he should probably do something before they got too impatient.

The spartan moved to open the canopy.

*****

Krystal stared at the strange spaceship as it sat unmoving in the center of the forest clearing. They had climbed out of there arwings and approached, waiting to see what the pilot's next move would be. She was aware that the pilot was injured, and was wondering if that might be the reason they had not emerged yet, perhaps they were unable to?

The vixen checked on her friends, seeing Miyu's relaxed expression and Falco's uncaring demeanor. They seemed to be relaxed with the entire situation. They were probably used to weird happenings. After all, Fox had fought the giant floating head of a simian dictator over a planet filled with dinosaurs. This was tame in comparison.

“What's taking so long?" Falco grumbled. The avian was never one to stand idle for long.

Krystal was about to suggest that they get closer when there was a hiss of air from the ship.

The tinted canopy popped and slowly pulled open, revealing a shadowed figure within.

There was a flash of movement and the ground beneath their feet trembled as the pilot of the fighter jumped out and hit the dirt.

Krystal and her friends were unsuccessful in holding back gasps of amazement as the pilot made themself known.

They were adorned in a colossal suit of hulking armor, the deep blue and white glyphed patterns ornamenting it grabbing the vixen's eye. It was much like the tattooed designs in her fur and the similarities intrigued her.

The armored figure was masculine in appearance, but their race was untellable within that massive armor. He had to be at least two and a half meters from the soles of his boots to the arcing crest of his helmet.

A pair of black weapon stocks shadowed over his spine, revealing that he was heavily armed and most likely, incredibly dangerous.

It was obvious that this man was a warrior of some sort, but from where remained unknown. However, she didn't think Venom had the capability to make something like this.

The pilot made no other move after exiting his ship, and after a few moments, Krystal hesitantly approached, wishing that Fox was down here in her place. The vixen did not like the feeling she was gleaming of this warrior with what little her powers could detect, caution and aggression in equal levels.

When she closed within two meters of him, she saw his gauntlet drop warily to a sidearm she had failed to notice on her initial inspection, his message quite clear to her.

Keep away.

Krystal halted at the two meter point of their established no man's land, Miyu and Falco just behind her. Both were keeping their paws close to their own weapons as well.

Tension thickly layered the forest air, neither side doing more than standing and staring at the other. The steel-clad giant was unreadable behind his silver polarized visor and his stillness was unsettling. He was more akin to an armored statue rather than a living being. If not for the fact that they had seen him move before, they would have never thought he was alive.

As the uncomfortable silence loomed, Krystal felt someone nudge her side.

“Well second in command, say something." Falco muttered under his breath.

“R-r-right…" She replied with a hesitant nod in the avian's direction.

The vixen cleared her throat and took a moment to formulate what she would say.

“W-who are you?" She demanded, wincing at the hesitant fluctuation in her tone.

The towering pilot offered no immediate response, and she was beginning to think they would not answer.

“I could ask you the same question."

Krystal flinched at the sudden eruption of his coarse speech.

Spirits! Did the man gargle broken glass?

“You are trespassing on our territory." She countered.

“You chased me down." The male retorted evenly.

Krystal grimaced, resisting the urge to point aggressively at him. “Only because you entered our system!"

There was a deep rumble, the vixen realizing that it was the man growling quietly.

“You test my patience fox." He rumbled irritably, his gauntlet lingering closer to his sidearm.

Krystal scowled, her royal blood insulted by the stranger's brutish attitude.

She would have admonished his insolent behavior if not for Miyu, who jumped in to cool the rising tensions.

The spotted feline shot between the short-tempered pair and raised her paws to break the impending standoff.

In reaction, the stranger reached for his sidearm but relinquished his grip once he realized what the cat was attempting to do, his giant gauntlet resuming its stance above the weapon.

“H-hey…alright guys, let's just take a breather huh? Our ship detected that you're injured so why don't we help you eh? How does that sound?" Miyu projected an air of casual friendliness that Krystal would never have been able to replicate.

The vixen's unimpressed glare softened slightly but did not fully retreat. He did not look to be injured, but ROB never lied.

The stranger slowly withdrew his gauntlet from his weapon, just enough to ease Miyu's fears. She didn't fancy getting a hole in her today.

The feline exhaled in relief and sagged her shoulders. “Great, great…good, that's better."

“I have no need of medical assistance." The stranger refused coldly.

“But surel-" Miyu began to argue.

“Negative." He cut her off. “I'll manage on my own."

The feline frowned and her ears pulled back in discontent.

“I see…"

Krystal felt as if they were starting to branch away from the main issue at hand and so the vixen stepped forwards assertively.

“Who exactly are you? Your ship carries no identifying insignia and your armor is devoid of markings. Where is it that your allegiance lies?"

The stranger took another moment to pause before he responded.

“…I'm afraid that's classified."

Krysta growled in frustration, tempted to extend her staff and teach him not to cross an irate vixen. She about had it with this male's subterfuge and evasion.

Before she could act out on her desire, her comms bracer erupted into sound as Fox's voice barked across the high-band.

“Krystal, I need you and the others in the air now!"

Alarmed, the vixen glanced down and spoke into the receiver, the stranger silently observing their conversation.

“What's going on, Fox?"

The other vulpine responded with a hint of panic in his voice.

“The local system radar operator picked up on numerous incoming warp drive signatures. The General thinks it might be another invasion."

Krystal froze, distressed by Fox's announcement. Falco and Miyu both shared a worried glance and the stranger seemed confused, the vixen able to faintly pick up on it through her gift.

Fox continued. “The local fleet is already moving to take up defensive positions in orbit and groundside forces have been mobilized to move the civilians down into the shelters."

“What about the stranger?" She inquired, glancing up to his imposing visor.

“If he doesn't work for Venom then Pepper wants him to work for us."

“I don't think that's going to fly, Fox." The vixen muttered, glaring at the giant in front of her. “He's being rather obstinate."

“We don't have time to debate. The inbound signals are only a few minutes out. If he doesn't; want to save civilian lives then we don't need him."

“……I will help."

Krystal was taken by surprise with the stranger's firm declaration, turning to him curiously.

“If innocent lives are indeed at risk then I will lend my support."

The vixen could not detect any trace of fallacy or ulterior motive from the stranger, and while it could be that such sentiments were well hidden, she felt as if he was being truthful.

“Then that's settled. I don't know who you are, or why you came here. But for the moment you're one of us…welcome to Starfox. Now, get in your fighters and get moving. I'll see you in orbit." Fox cut the transmission.

Krystal, Falco, and Miyu all looked to the one that had just been unceremoniously enlisted into their mercenary team.

The stranger endured their gazes with no comment, silently turning and walking towards his own ship, his footsteps reverberating in the silent glade.

“Well….that sure was something." Falco stated matter of factly before heading to his arwing, Miyu following close behind after one last glance at the stranger.

Krystal was the last to move, leaving after a thoughtful humph.