Once a Soldier

by Lord Jerry

An elite squad of human soldiers from an intergalactic civil war are returning from an attempted capture mission when they are forcefully removed from their universe via rogue warp gate. With no way home, can they find meaning in a universe entirely alien to them? Or will their past conflicts find them once more?

10. Problems Solved

The flight back to Corneria had been a somber one. Ajax knew Ivan might still be alive, but it would be nigh impossible to find him now. If he was dead, he could only hope his fate was as painless as possible. Ivan had never gotten to be free from conflict. He was raised since he was a teenager to be a soldier, as Krieg had been, but Krieg had been allowed to live a normal life during the beginning years of the war, when they gave more leave time for soldiers.

Ivan never got that chance. He was thrust into the fray at an early age of sixteen years. He was a veteran before he was an adult. Ajax was surprised Ivan didn't snap and just go AWOL or even desert the army. He was supposed to just help Reaper Squad for a few years and never really seemed to become friends with the other members. In fact, it was only a few more months until Ivan was supposed to join up with Wraith squad temporarily.

Ajax felt for the poor guy. He was just a kid not many years ago, and he had spent his whole adult life as a soldier. Ajax wished he could have seen Ivan live a life outside of war. He wasn't exactly drafted, but his family had made him join. At least that's what Ajax was told.

"I'm sorry, Ajax. I know how it feels to lose somebody close to you." Fox said, patting Ajax's armored shoulder.

Ajax just stared at Ivan's sniper rifle, feeling the sleek weapon and observing the various personal touches added by Ivan. There were multiple tally marks across the rifle, each one representing a high value target. There were probably over a hundred. If the young man was known for anything, it was for eliminating vast amounts of enemy leaders. Ajax wished he could see Ivan add some more, if not for just one last time.

"Thank you for understanding, Fox. I hold hope that he is still alive, just trackerless." Ajax said, setting the sniper down and looking out at the stars.

Corneria was close, and the former prisoners were getting quite excited. It put a smile on Ajax's face to see them so happy. He remembered the one and only time he had returned home in the past few years. It was the greatest feeling in the world, even if he had no family to come back to. He was free to do as he wished rather than sit in a muddy hole next to shell-shocked riflemen. The Union had a drug to prevent shell-shock, but it didn't always make it to the front lines. Ajax never experienced shell-shock, but he just believed he made it through pure willpower. Ajax also suspected that the reason for Ivan's silence was because he was dealing with some form of PTSD.

But there was no time to think about that. They had reached Corneria once more, and could see the Cornerian army had begun boarding the Venomian capital ship. They had been bringing multiple vessels down to the surface, presumably with the few remaining Venomians on board. There were also what seemed to be cleanup ships with tractor beams that were attempting to clear the space of debris, which there was plenty of.

The Great Fox headed toward the planet and went straight to Cornerian Command to drop off the Cornerians they had rescued. As they approached, they could see crowds of people cheering for them, presumably already there to celebrate the victory in space. As the Great Fox began to land, General Pepper himself exited the base followed by a group of armed guards. The crew and rescued Cornerians exited the ship into the base, Ajax, Fox, and a few other Cornerians carrying out the bodies of the fallen.

"Fox Mccloud. It's good to see you, my boy. And I see you have a group of our troops! Where did you find them?" the General asked.

"Well, Ajax and the others on Fichina rescued them from the Venomians. However, there is something else we have to discuss... privately." Fox almost whispered.

The General just nodded his head and waved his hand, signalling for his armed guards to escort the rescued Cornerians as he led Fox to his office, Ajax handing a fallen Cornerian to a group of guards and following Fox. The trio entered the base, following a series of hallways and heading into an elevator. The ride up was silent, save for the sound of the elevator itself. It was an unusual elevator, as it was somewhat spherical. It didn't make sense to Ajax, as most human elevators were either cylindrical or rectangular. The spherical shape seemed like an inefficient way of using the materials, as it extended the size of the elevator without adding more floor space. Perhaps it was for aesthetic reasons?

He was looking way too far into the shape of the elevator. He considered that maybe he should just be thankful he was able to see an elevator again, rather than being stuck on an icy shithole forever.

Boy, was he bored.

Eventually, the group reached the top floor and stepped out of the poorly-shaped elevator into the General's office. The General sat down at his sparsely-decorated desk as the other two sat down across from him. General Pepper propped his chin up on his knuckles and addressed the two men in front of him.

"Now, what is it that you needed to tell me, Fox?"

Fox took a deep breath and looked to Ajax before answering.

"Well, when we rescued everyone on Fichina, we discovered that another group had unexpectedly appeared. We were told that the humans were warped into our universe from a separate dimension entirely by mistake. However, what we saw made us believe that there is something else going on here." Fox began.

The General seemed to realize where this was going as his eyes widened in near-disbelief.

"We found... We found other humans. Human pirates to be exact. And... one of them took Ivan." Fox said in an almost defeated tone.

The General kept his cool as he was told this information. He knew what the humans were capable of, as he had been sent reports as well as detailed pictures of their work on the Venomian capital ship. Combined with the stories told about their other missions, they were a truly terrifying force. So if there were hostile humans, the people of the Lylat would have little chance against a sizable force of the giants.

"I see... Well, I suppose we will have to keep a lookout for any other humans. I will be sending out more frequent patrols around the Lylat. For now, I would like to discuss a few other things." the General explained.

Seeing Fox nod, the General continued.

"So far, we have not found Oikonny aboard that ship. However, we do know that the Venomian base of operations is now on Fortuna. If that ape is anywhere, he will be there hiding like a coward. I request that you go there and capture him. Until then, we have some good news."

"What kind of good news, Pepper?"

The dog smiled down at a document in front of him before looking back at Fox.

"For your efforts to defeat Venom, we have a planet-wide celebration planned for after you return from capturing Oikonny." the General said with a smile.

Fox couldn't believe his ears. A planet-wide celebration for them? While they were system-famous, they had never gotten a proper celebration. Fox wondered if it was a celebration for the humans as well. Without them, the conflict with Venom would have gone on at least a few months longer, causing a number of Cornerian soldiers to lose their lives.

"Well, damn, I don't know what to say! Our payment was enough, so that isn't really necessary." Fox said.

General Pepper just laughed again before replying to Fox.

"Why, of course it is! You've been a hero to the people of the Lylat for years now, and with the arrival of the humans, it would be quite the morale boost for the people to know what kind of heroes are here to protect them!" the General explained.

Fox nodded, as did Ajax. Ajax remembered how he Union would do similar things after major victories. It wasn't to honor the heroes necessarily, as it was more a boost of confidence for the average civilian. If they saw that many larger-than-life heroes protecting them, then how could they ever have the fear of losing? It was a simple propaganda tactic, but it definitely worked. After most celebrations, a huge influx of recruits would join up to get their fair share of praise.

"I understand. Thank you, General." Fox said. "And please, be sure to keep those patrols going steady. I don't wanna know what would happen if any large amount of hostile humans arrived. We already have one captured, but at the loss of too many Cornerians. Even just four is too many."

The General just nodded as both Fox and Ajax stood up before saluting and heading out the door and into the elevator. The ride was once again mostly silent until Ajax spoke up to Fox.

"Good thing you told him about the pirates. I have a feeling they won't be the last."

Fox didn't speak. He just stared at the ground as the elevator sped down to the ground floor. Without Ajax and Ivan, all of the Cornerians probably would have died. From what he was told, they only were able to defend themselves because Ajax had killed a few pirates, allowing the Cornerians to pick up their weapons, as the Lylatian blasters were almost completely worthless against the armored giants. It was frightening to imagine going to war with an entire army of these aliens, as just killing one was a harrowing task.

Fox was just glad most of the humans were on his side.

They reached the ground floor and stepped out of the elevator, seeing that the rest of the crew was just waiting for Fox and Ajax. Around the base were also crowds of people still cheering for Star Fox and Reaper Squad.

'Hey, you guys! Check out these people who want to meet you! Come on, Ajax! Get your sexy ass over here!" Miyu shouted to the unamused human.

Ajax rolled his eyes, but the action was pointless, as his helmet was still on. However, he did go over to where Miyu was at and saw some familiar faces.

"Howdy Don. Vivian." he said to the Cornerian women.

"Hey, hon! How's my favorite alien hero?" Vivian asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"I s'pose I'm alright. How about y'all?"

"We're great! I just found out that you know Vivian too! Is there anybody I know that you don't already know?" Don asked.

Ajax thought for a moment before coming to a conclusion.

"I have yet to meet your parents. Assuming that... you know your parents." Ajax said carefully.

"Yeah, I do. But are you, like, positive you haven't met them?"

Ajax just shrugged. How the hell was he supposed to know? They could be anybody.

"Well, I just wanted to see how you were doing. My husband's a really big fan, but he couldn't make it here. Could I take a picture for him?" Vivian asked the human.

Ajax just nodded and dematerialized his helmet, posing for the picture which was promptly photobombed by Miyu and Don, who struck their own poses. Ajax and Vivian just laughed together and took the picture.

"Thanks a ton. My husband'll be ecstatic!" the plump feline said. "Speaking of, you guys should come over to our place for dinner! We'd love to have you!"

"Actually, that would be great! Wanna come, Don? Ajax?" Miyu asked.

She just received a nod from Ajax, and got an enthusiastic "Hell yeah!" from Don. With that settled, Vivian clapped her hands and spoke in an enthusiastic tone.

"Great! I can't wait to make dinner for you all!"

"Well, if there's any way to pay you back, I want to-" Ajax started.

Vivian put up her hand and shook her head.

"Hey! Don't get started with that!" Vivian demanded. "I'm offering here!"

Ajax went to protest, but was interrupted by the feline.

"Don't want to hear it. Just showing up would be payment enough. See ya later, hon!" Vivian said, turning to leave.

"You guys can meet up at my place to pick me up, and I'll give directions to her place from there. See you guys later." Don said, shooting finger guns before turning to leave as well.

Miyu just nodded and headed to the Great Fox, followed by Ajax, Fox, Fara, Eva, and Krystal. They gave one final wave to the crowd of people before entering the ship and taking off toward the homestead. It didn't take long to arrive at their destination, and they could see the rest of the team standing outside waiting for them. Stepping out of the ship, Fox greeted their friends.

"Hey, guys! Did you miss us?" Fox said with a laugh.

"Nope. We were just thinking about how fun it was without you!" Damien shouted to Fox.

Fox just laughed and headed down with the rest of the group and entered the homestead, everyone following behind enthusiastically.

"It's good to see all of you though. Honestly." Krieg said in a rare moment of sincerity. Suddenly though, he froze.

"Where's Ivan?"

The room went dead silent. Ajax knew the question would come. He decided that he would break the bad news.

"He was taken by pirates. Human ones. We don't know where they came from, but they were the cause of Cornerian deaths, and they took Ivan, leaving their captain behind, the Captain actually being a prisoner on our ship. Just an hour ago, Ivan's tracker... went dark." Ajax said somberly.

Everyone was shocked. How could that be? How could one of the nigh-unstoppable elite soldiers be taken?

"Was he taken by a group of them?" Julian asked.

"No. It was just one."

The room turned to the source of the voice to see Eva. With so many eyes on her, she turned her eyes away shyly, but continued her statement.

"She... she was one of the more cruel pirates. She wanted a husband, and was willing to kidnap one for herself. So she did."

If there was a statement to shock the hardened veterans, it would be that one. Ivan was taken to be a husband for some pirate woman? And his tracker went dark? Had she discovered the tracker? Had she gotten tired of using him and disposed of him somehow?

"That's... that's unbelievable. Poor Ivan never got to live normally. A life of war, then this?" Janine spoke with sadness in her tone.

The rest of the humans stared at Eva. They hadn't seen her before, so it was strange to see a Spliced appear out of nowhere.

"Who the hell are you?" Krieg asked the hybrid with very little tact.

"I'm... I'm Eva. I was a prisoner for the pirates until 'Ivan' saved me. "

This seemed to satisfy the humans somewhat, but another very important question was on their minds.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Julian asked.

"We were... heading to a slaver market to have me sold, when a warp gate appeared out of nowhere."

The humans were shocked to hear that there was another warp device floating in space, but the Cornerians were shocked about the 'slave' part.

"Slaver market? That's horrible! Who would do such a thing?" Fay cried out.

"Scumbag pirates. That's who." Ajax said, bitterness seeping into every word.

Captain Leo was still on their ship, even though they claimed that they would turn him in to the Cornerian army. Ajax knew that eventually, news would get out about hostile humans if the Cornerian soldiers saw him, so he decided against it. Ajax hated pirates more than anything in the universe. They had killed his parents, as well as the family members of thousands of other people. Pirates were monsters as far as the Lieutenant was concerned, and as such did not deserve equal treatment as people.

Fay just nodded, looking somber and sympathetic. She didn't want to speak more on the topic, and as Ajax read from her thoughts, it made her a bit depressed. He knew Fay was a sweet girl, and was very humble even though she came from a rich aristocratic family, so he would eventually have to find some way to cheer her up.

"Well... now that I've introduced myself, can I... get to know all of you?" Eva asked.

Everyone introduced themselves while Ajax headed to he and Miyu's room. He had placed Ivan's sniper and armor in his quantum storage pack so he could bring it into the room to set up a memorial. Materializing the sniper, he placed it carefully on an empty desk before materializing the armor and placing it behind the high-power rifle. Ajax didn't realize it at first, but when he looked down he could see his hands were shaking. Ivan may have been a temporary addition to the team, but he was still a loyal friend. Ajax missed Ivan, and he wasn't too proud to admit it.

As everyone finished introducing themselves, Ajax headed back into the living room and bumped into Krystal and Miyu.

"Hey Ajax! I was just asking Krystal if she wanted to come to Vivian's with us. Will you be ready to go soon?"

Ajax just nodded and continued on his way. He wasn't exactly sure what to wear to dinner, as he didn't have clothing other than his undersuit, so he figured he would just wear his armor anyway since his skin-tight undersuit would be... very revealing.

Not something he wanted around Miyu or Don. Miyu had already seen him in it, but that didn't mean he was okay with it.

He decided to head back to the Crimson Tide for the hover humvee as a means for transportation. As he exited the building, he took a deep breath of the cool, fresh air and looked toward the distant city. It was a pretty sight for an alien world. It would never live up to any human metropolis, but it was still impressive to see. Heading into the nearby ship, Ajax went straight for the armory and spotted the vehicle he was looking for. He opened the large door for the armory and got in the vehicle before driving out and remotely shutting the large door.

Before he headed back inside, however, he remembered the pirate captain in the jail cell on board the ship. Deciding to pay him a visit, Ajax headed back into the ship and walked to the cell. As he approached the holding cells, he heard a low voice singing.

"~And a sudden plunge in a sullen swell, ten fathoms deep... on the road to hell!~"

Ajax approached the cell and opened the door to see the Captain still stuck in his deactivated power armor on the floor up against a wall.

"Well, hello there, you Union bastard. Come to beat me or torture me?" Leo questioned.

"No, I haven't."

"Well that's no fun, is it? If you didn't come here to beat my skull in, then what the hell are you doing here?"

Ajax approached the Captain, watching the man almost unnoticeably tense up before he knelt down in front of the strawberry-blonde haired man.

"I've come here to ask a few questions. I expect to receive answers. Otherwise, this will turn into a beating."

"Oh, a threat? Why, this just might be fun. Fine. Ask your questions, then go fuck yourself. Sound good, pal?"

Ajax clenched his fist and held back the urge to cave the man's head in.

"Our sniper was taken by one of your crew members. A female, and the only remaining pirate we could see. I was told by Eva that she was looking for a husband, so she took Ivan as one. She was also described as the most cruel of your crew. Who is she, and where might she go?" Ajax asked, hiding his desperation beneath years of professionalism.

"That's Shiv, a mid-ranking crew member. One of two females. Obviously, she wasn't the one you eviscerated. Never learned her real name 'cuz she kept it a secret. As to where she'd go, I bet she's just looking for a place to settle down. For a potential sociopath, she can be pretty maternal."

Ajax nodded his head and stood up before turning around to head out the door.

"Thank you for your cooperation. In return, you live another day."

Ajax left the cell after shutting it's door and went back to the homestead. Entering, he saw everyone in the living room chatting or playing that same stupid video game. More than anything, Ajax was worried that they let Krieg play the game, considering his temper.

"Julian, I swear on my fucking mother I will skin you alive if you do that shit again."

"Oh yeah? Why don't you learn to just not suck?"

"Why you son of a-"

Ajax rushed and put a hand on Krieg's shoulder, making the captain turn around to see Ajax, who just shook his head before sitting down on a couch next to Krystal. He turned to the Cerinian woman, who smiled at him, a smile which he returned, and spoke.

"So, I assume you'll be coming with Miyu and I to dinner?"

"Of course. I would hate to miss out on the opportunity."

Ajax nodded and looked to the rest of the group, seeing everyone enjoying themselves. Krieg had calmed down from his imminent murder spree, and Julian was incredibly focused on the game, struggling to compete against Krieg. Fay had stopped playing, as she had lost too many times in a row to have any fun. Miyu was reclined on the couch, trying not to fall asleep. Fox, Falco, and Slippy were talking about their Arwings while Damien just listened, and Janine was playing a game on her wrist device.

It was good to see everyone so relaxed. Miyu decided the best way to stay awake was by asking a question, as Ajax read from her thoughts, so he thought of an answer for the coming question.

"So, is there anything in particular you guys... well first of all, I don't mean to be insensitive or anything, so it's alright if you don't answer, but is there anything you guys miss from where you're from?"

The other humans seemed to ponder for a bit, and most quickly had their answer.

"Probably the technological conveniences. You guys have alright stuff, but I miss my materializers." Janine answered.

"I mostly miss my friends, you know? You guys are great, but I miss some of my other friends." Julian said, violently hitting the trigger button on his controller.

The Cornerians nodded upon hearing this, understanding how it must feel.

"I miss my home. I enjoy the coziness and solitude of my own residence." Ajax answered.

He didn't need much. Just a place for himself.

"For me, it's without a doubt my wife and kids. Every day, I think about them. I hope they do well without me, but I already know they're prepared for it. After all, I'm a soldier, right?" Krieg said, much to the shock of everyone but Damien and the Cornerians. After so many years, he had never mentioned having a family of his own.

"Wait, you're married? You?" Julian asked, legitimately baffled.

Krieg tapped his holopad and brought up a holo-image of what must have been his family. The group looked at the image of his family, consisting of his wife, a dark-skinned woman who was holding a baby, while Krieg held two other children close, each equally resembling both parents.

"Yep. There the three kiddos are. Angels, aren't they? Never told you about them 'cuz you never asked."

Everyone nodded as they got over their initial shock before Damien answered.

"I think what I miss is the internet. Human internet, that is."

Krieg smiled, already knowing what he meant.

"Yeah? What, is Cornerian porno not good enough?"

Damien went wide-eyed and turned a deep red, unhappy at the implication.

"How did you know about that?"

"I didn't. But now everyone knows your secret."

"Shut up!" Damien shouted, trying to ignore the loud laughter coming from Falco.

Ajax chuckled and looked at the time. It was almost time to leave for Vivian's place, so Ajax stood up and reminded Krystal and Miyu, who both stood up and went to get ready. Ajax didn't have to do much to get ready, so he just washed up and let Miyu and Krystal get ready. As he waited, he remembered to see if he could hook his device up to Cornerian internet. However, he was worried that he might be able to be tracked by his device if he connected. Knowing he was likely just being paranoid, he just connected to the internet and checked to see if it worked by searching Fox Mccloud's name.

Seeing the many results for the system-wide celebrity, he searched up the rest of Star Fox, seeing similar results for them all. Finally, he looked up his own name. Most of the information regarding his name came from the news, but their were plenty of other sources that came from social media sites or even fan sites. It seems the erotic fiction about him was true as well.

Weird. The strangest part was, some of it was pretty good. It also helped give Ajax a bit of a confidence boost.

Ajax turned around when he heard a door open nearby, seeing Miyu step out of the bathroom. Ajax wasn't going to lie to himself.

She looked pretty amazing. He thought of her as a tomboy, but she obviously wasn't opposed to having a feminine side.

She had put on a dark purple short dress that fit her form tightly, and she had put on a small amount of eyeliner. She was wearing black high-heels as well, giving her a small amount more height. She spotted Ajax and immediately went over to him, smiling brightly.

"Hey there. How do I look?"

"You look great. Excellent choice for your outfit."

Miyu giggled lightly and lowered her head down while she smiled to herself. Slowly, she looked back up at him.

"Thank you, Ajax. What earrings should I wear? My gold ones, or the silver ones I bought at the market?" she asked.

"Silver. Definitely."

Miyu nodded and pulled out said earrings and put them in as Krystal came in from her room. Turning around, Ajax saw that her outfit was similar to Miyu's, except her dress was black and blue.

"Is that what you will be wearing, Ajax? Your armor?" Krystal asked with a smirk.

Receiving a nod from the human, she just sighed and shrugged.

"Of course you are. Alright then, let's go." Krystal said as she headed to the door.

The trio said their farewells and headed outside, walking toward the hover vehicle Ajax had brought out. Unlocking the vehicle, he entered the driver seat and waited for the others to enter and buckle up before taking off. The two women talked between each other about their dresses while Ajax just soaked in the ambiance of the city. It was no Union city, but it was still beautiful and unique. It was apparent that plants were an integral part of their culture, as they were prominent in many aspects of the architecture.

"Miyu, where is your friend Don at?" Ajax asked as he entered the city.

"Down the main road, take the third left. I'll tell you when to stop from there." Miyu answered.

Ajax had already read the directions in her head, but he would still ask in order to keep himself free of suspicion. He continued on the lower lane down the road until Miyu eventually spoke up.

"Right here. I'll go get her really quick." Miyu said.

Ajax turned into what seemed to be an apartment complex and parked, watching Miyu get out and rush to one of the doors. Seeing her move so fast in heels was actually very impressive to Ajax. Almost as soon as Miyu knocked, Don came out of her apartment wearing a black single-sleeve dress. When she saw Miyu, the two gave each other a big hug and talked while walking back to the vehicle. The two entered, and Ajax continued on his way to where Vivian lived. With instruction, of course.

"Hey, you guys! Lookin' good Krystal. And why the hell are you wearing armor, Ajax?" Don asked as she got comfortable by taking off her presumably uncomfortable shoes.

Ajax could see that she had put earrings similar to Miyu's in. They worked with her style very well, and didn't look strange on the canine because her ears were pointy, rather than the floppy ears of most Canines on Corneria.

"I ain't got any kind of suit to wear. All I have is my armor and undersuit."

"Then why don't you just wear the undersuit?" Don suggested.

Ajax just shook his head. He was going to keep his armor on.

"Alright then. We'll have to get you some other clothes eventually! It'll be fun!" Don said excitedly.

"Sure. I don't see why not."

"Take a right here." Miyu said.

Ajax did as instructed and turned into a kind of cul-de-sac that was on the edges of the city, almost a suburban neighborhood.

"Second house on the right."

Once again, Ajax did as instructed and turned in. Unbuckling, the group got out of the car, Don struggling to get her shoes back on. Ajax approached the door to the home and knocked loudly, but not too hard. Apparently, however, it was a bit too much anyway.

"Ajax! You make it sound like we're trying to bust their door down!" Krystal scolded.

Ajax wished he had his helmet on so he could hide his shameful look. It wasn't that loud, surely! He could sense Vivian coming to the door, so he turned to face the door and greet them. He put on a smile as the door was unlocked and quickly opened.

"Hey, you guys! Good to see you! Boy, Ajax, you got quite the hearty knock! Glad to see you're so eager to see us!" Vivian said with a laugh as she looked to the other three females.

"Wow, you ladies look fantastic! Come on in. Food's already done!."

The group followed the grey feline inside, Ajax letting the women in first.

"Thanks, Ajax. Such a gentleman." Miyu said with a smirk.

"I try to be."

The group followed Vivian to the kitchen where they saw an orange striped male feline sitting in a chair. Once he saw the group, he stood up to greet them, but was a bit put off by Ajax's size. However, to his credit, he did not falter.

"Good to meet all of ya! I'm Felix, Vivian's husband. You must be Ajax!" the man said to the large human, sticking out his hand to shake.

Ajax returned the handshake, making sure not to turn the feline's bones to dust.

"That would be correct. What gave it away?" Ajax joked with a smile.

Felix laughed and let go of Ajax's hand before replying.

"The way you walk, of course. What else would it be?" he said sarcastically with another small laugh.

"And you ladies! It's good to see you! I know Miyu and Don, of course, but I have yet to meet you. Krystal, correct?"

The vixen nodded her head, prompting Felix to continue.

"Great! It's nice to meet another hero of the Lylat!"

The group sat down at the table in the dining room, the table already set. Vivian walked in with a pot, followed by Felix, who carried a plate of what seemed to be steaks and other pieces of meat. Vivian removed the lid of the pot to reveal a potful of different vegetables, most of which Ajax couldn't identify, as they were presumably alien. The food was divided up amongst the group and they quickly got to eating.

Ajax would never tell Janine, but her cooking wasn't even half as good as Vivian's. It wasn't that hers was bad, it was just that Vivian's was so much better.

"So, Ajax. Why'd you wear your armor? Doesn't that seem a bit unusual for this setting?" Vivian asked. Suddenly, however, she quickly clamped her hands over her mouth.

"Unless that's part of your culture! I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"It's fine. It's not part of my culture. I just don't have anything nice to wear, as my only clothing is my armor and undersuit."

"Poor thing! Well, if you want, I can take you shopping. It'll be fun!" Vivian offered.

"Hey, that's what I said! We totally should do that." Don said.

Ajax nodded as he cut off a piece of alien meat and took a bite, surprised a how unique it was compared to Earth creature meat. It was both familiar and alien at the same time. Hell, he wasn't going to complain.

"So, Ajax..." Felix started, getting the human's attention. "What was it like back where you're from? What's your story?"

"That depends on what you mean. Civilian life or military life?"

Felix thought for a moment, seeming to look a bit guilty. Ajax read from his mind that it was because he forgot that Ajax likely missed home greatly.

'He would be correct in that regard. It's no reason to feel guilty though.'

"Whatever you're okay with telling. If you want to say anything at all, that is."

Ajax smiled and decided to humor him and tell him about his life.

"Life on my planet, Earth, was fantastic. I had plenty of friends, and though my family was poor at first, my father was able to land a job designing solar-nuclear hybrid engines that are used to this day in the United Republic of Terra. I was ready to follow in his footsteps as an engineer, and even went to college for it for a while until... until pirates killed my parents." Ajax said, Vivian gasping.

"Oh, you poor thing! That terrible! I'm so sorry to hear that! Nobody should ever have to go through that." Vivian said with sympathy dripping from her voice. The feline looked over to an unaware Miyu, who also lost her parents. She never learned how Miyu's parents died, but it was still tragic.

"It's fine. I've had many years to grieve, so I am not opposed to talking about it. Anyway, soon after their deaths, the Confederacy of the Free Frontier, another intergalactic nation, unleashed its navy on the planet Arkidonis, using their numerous laser cannons to destroy the planet, leaving it as burning, molten rubble. Only a few families escaped."

Krystal felt a twinge of emotional pain. She knew exactly what it was like to have her home destroyed. She was the only living Cerinian in the universe. She never learned how her planet was destroyed, and she doubted she would ever learn, though she suspected the now-dead Andross was the cause.

"When I heard the news, I knew I had to join the military. Ever since the Union allowed the Confederacy to form, I didn't like them. Their ideals threatened the Union's ways of life and traditions. So naturally, I was going to help conserve my nation's culture." Ajax explained.

While the Union was relatively progressive, they were very much grounded in a set way of life. Innovation was important, but they were very conservative regarding their way of life. The Confederacy, however, did not have a set culture, as it was divided up into different states that held their own different views. Overall, however, they had many goals shared, such as treating planets as they wished like they were property."

"I went through many months of grueling training to become a soldier. Even after that, however, my first taste of real combat was a nightmare. I was sent to the front lines of a planet I don't even remember the name of to compete in a battle of attrition against Confederate forces. To be honest, I found my first battle to be humiliating. All of the other soldiers were brave enough to charge the line, but I stayed back until a demolitions sergeant threw me out into battle." Ajax said with a laugh.

Miyu and Krystal weren't laughing. It sounded almost exactly like that terrible nightmare they shared so far. Ajax knew that they noticed this, so he tried to keep them from being suspicious.

"Eventually, I gathered enough courage to fight. I got my first kills relatively quickly. However, at the end of the month I was stationed there, I had already lost two squads. I was not a leader yet, nor was I an elite. Just lucky. Eventually, I climbed the ranks and was assigned to the newly formed Reaper Squad. We went on plenty of missions together, Ivan joining up not long after I did, though it would be temporary, and after a few years we were sent to capture a Confederate leader, which caused us to wind up here." Ajax concluded.

The group listening nodded, content with the answers.

"What about the planets themselves? Or daily life?" Don asked.

"Ah, I forgot that you asked about that. My planet is varied with its climates, consisting of almost any imaginable environment. It was the origin planet for humans, and has been built up to be urban across most of the world, some places creating underground cities, but we also have many areas that are untouched by mankind, as it was made illegal to urbanize the whole planet. The general consensus, especially after we had to terraform our own planet because of pollution, was that we should preserve our worlds." Ajax explained.

"Our culture is very rich, I think, and there is plenty to enjoy every day. I would say it is very similar to your culture, but with a good amount more variation. Our technology surpasses yours greatly, which also has an effect on our way of life. Of course, the thing that shapes us the most, especially is recent decades, is war. Our species is a violent one, and likely always will be. Even so, daily life is still very much enjoyable." Ajax said, taking another bite of the alien meat.

The group was satisfied, content with the information they had, as Ajax read from their minds. It didn't appear that they misinterpreted anything he said, so he was happy to leave it at that. With that out of the way, he was able to enjoy both his meal and the company of those around him. Felix had quickly gotten used to him, and the others were enjoying themselves. Everyone finished their meal and put away their dishes, heading to the living room. Vivian went over to a device and turned it on, causing music to start playing at a relatively low volume.

The music was very similar to Earth's old rock n' roll. Ajax wasn't really a fan of it, as he grew up with electronic music and heavy metal, the latter of which was quite different from older heavy metal. However, the others seemed to like it, especially Miyu, so he didn't complain. Not that he would anyway.

"How do you like Cornerian music, Ajax?" Don asked, being a musician herself.

Ajax decided to be honest, yet kind about his answer.

"I'm not really a fan of it, but I believe that is mostly because of the music I grew up with. Our music is very electronic based, and the instruments used, such as the guitar, have a lot of distortion. However, I can tell that Cornerian music has plenty of talent, so don't take my lack of enjoyment as a form of condescension." Ajax said, receiving an understanding nod in return.

"Well, can you play human music for us? I'm sure that we'll like it well enough." Don suggested.

Ajax thought about it for a moment. He did have music in his wrist device that he could play, but just what would he play? Eventually, he decided on the best course of action for the moment.

"How about I play some music from different eras? From old to new." Ajax suggested.

"Sounds good to me! Play it!" Don shouted excitedly.

Ajax chuckled lightly as he hooked up the external speakers in his armor to his wrist device, loading up a playlist for the eager group. As soon as it was hooked up, he selected a classic band, The Beatles. Ajax hated The Beatles, but it sounded similar to something he had heard on Corneria, so he played it anyway. He didn't even know why it was in his playlist.

"Whoa! These guys are great!" Don said, bobbing her head left and right to the tune. Ajax would have to disagree.

The others enjoyed it as well, and were somewhat disappointed when it was over, leading to the next band, an actual favorite of Ajax, Metallica. They were a bit put off by the band at first, but they eventually came to enjoy it, especially Don and Miyu. However, Krystal seemed to be the exception, as she was indifferent about the song.

Ajax did this for about an hour while they discussed human culture a bit, ending at a heavy metal song from his generation, which happened to be his favorite song.

"Man, you guys have quite the variety of sound. Can you, like, send me that playlist?" Don asked, eager to show her other friends human music.

"I don't see why not." Ajax responded.

Don gave Ajax her contact information, and Ajax sent her the playlist. Don got an alert that showed that she had received it, and leapt at Ajax and gave him a hug.

"Thanks, Ajax! This is gonna be the coolest thing I've shown my friends in a long time. Alien music!"

Ajax gave another chuckle at the antics of the young canine. It was good to see that he was able to do something that brought the Cornerians joy, rather than bring them fear. As the others continued to talk, Ajax excused himself and headed to the restroom, needing to relieve himself. Reaching the restroom, he removed his armor completely and did his business, listening to the others talk in the living area. He didn't need to remove all of it, but it was nice to be out of it as much as he could.

Afterward, he went to wash his hands and looked into the mirror, viewing his face. Adorning his features were countless scars from years of intense combat. He used to lie to himself, telling himself that they made him look tougher, or more manly, or even more handsome. But the more he looked at them, the more he knew it was bullshit. They were ugly reminders of the worst times of his life, his biggest scar being from the first day of combat. Ajax splashed his face with water, trying to forget.

As he remembered, he became more and more angry. He gripped the sides of the sink hard until he started to hear small cracking noises. Looking down, he saw a few small cracks in the sink that had come about because of his sudden lack of self-control.

A moment of weakness.

Ajax shook his head and turned to leave the restroom, opening the door to reveal Miyu and Don passing by. When the two noticed him, they stared for a few moments before their gaze slowly dropped to the tightness of the undersuit around his crotch area. Ajax became uncomfortable at the staring, waving his hand in front of their eyes and getting no response. He couldn't believe he had forgotten to put his armor back on!

"Hey, you two! Quit that staring. Can't you see you're making the poor guy uncomfortable?" Vivian shouted to the two girls from down the hall.

The two snapped out of it immediately, and Ajax thought that if they could blush, they would be cherry-red at the moment.

"Sorry, Ajax! I, uh... your suit is just so tight, and I accidentally noticed-" Don started.

"It's... fine, I guess. Let me just... get my armor back on." Ajax said turning back around to put his armor torso back on before materializing the rest.

He saw the small cracks in the sink again and felt a bit bad for cracking it, even if just a bit. He would have to pay for that somehow, whether they let him or not. He didn't have any cash at the moment to leave, but he would get it to them soon. As he materialized the last bit of armor, he heard Krystal start saying her goodbyes. Once the armor was back on, he stepped out of the bathroom to see the three women he came with getting ready to leave.

Ajax joined the three and they said their goodbyes to the feline couple, wishing them well. Vivian hugged every one of the people leaving, lingering a bit on Miyu before letting go and smiling. The group headed out the door, ready to go back home.

"It was nice to see you all! And it was nice to get to know you, Ajax! Come again soon!" Vivian shouted with a wide smile to the group as they got into the hover vehicle they came in.

Ajax and the others gave one final wave goodbye before heading off to the Star Fox homestead. The ride back was relatively quiet, and was very awkward.

"So... sorry about that whole, uh, 'ogling' thing. Just happened to... okay, you already know, but-" Miyu started.

"It's fine. Really. I understand that you find me... physically attractive, and that it's something you can't help, so..." Ajax trailed off, not sure what to say.

"Okay. Cool..." Miyu said, twiddling her thumbs as she stared at her feet.

Ajax then started to laugh a bit, much to the trio of female's confusion.

"What's so funny?" Don asked.

"You ladies. Your antics never fail to amuse me." Ajax said.

Don and Miyu laughed a bit as well, Krystal just cracking a smile. They were mostly just glad that he wasn't mad at them. It didn't take long for the group to arrive back at the homestead. The group got out of the vehicle, the females heading up to the door while Ajax turned to view the sunset. It was much like Earth's sunset, giving off a beautiful red glow that spread across the sky. Ajax took off his armor and sat down on the hood of the hover vehicle, taking a deep breath of the fresh air.

As Ajax sat on the hood, taking in the view, he felt something brush against his arm. Turning to investigate, he saw Miyu joining him on the hood.

"Enjoying the sunset?" Miyu asked in a soft tone, stretching. Ajax could see that she had traded her dress for a tank top.

"I was." Ajax said.

Seeing Miyu's smile falter, Ajax felt a bit bad. She was only trying to be friendly, but he had put his guard up.

"I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't treat you the way I have been. You've been nothing but friendly to me, and I just..." he trailed off.

"No, don't apologize. I can understand why you'd not want to be around me. Especially when I've done and said so many uncalled for things to you to scratch my own itch. I should be the one apologizing." Miyu said, putting a hand/paw on Ajax's thigh.

At first, Ajax thought to remove the appendage, but decided to let it stay. Instead, he wrapped an arm around Miyu's shoulder, much to her surprise, and continued to watch the sunset.

"Apology accepted."

Soon after, the sun set past the horizon, the only light coming from the city in the distance. The two sat and watched the distant city quietly, Miyu inching closer to the human, enjoying his warmth and his semi-hug. Ajax accepted this, running his hand across Miyu's furred arm with his gloved hand. After a while, Ajax grabbed his armor and stood up, ready to go back inside, though Miyu wanted to protest.

"Come on. Let's go inside. I'm a bit tired." Ajax said, yawning.

The pair entered the building to the sound of loud conversation. On the television, there was something on the news just playing as background noise.

"-the criminals were left in restraints in exchange for credits in cash, which was picked up at an unknown time. In other news..."

Ajax turned to Krieg to listen to his story.

"... and the guy was like, 'Who?'" Krieg said loudly, the room erupting into laughter.

"Man, I need... to hang out... with you guys more!" Don said between bouts of laughter.

"Don, was it? Well, I think you're pretty alright too. Go ahead and stop by whenever." Krieg said from his spot on the couch, drinking some kind of beverage with Slippy.

Ajax smiled as he headed to Miyu's room. He read from Don's thoughts that she would be staying the night at the Star Fox homestead, so he decided he could go to sleep and not worry about taking her home. Eva was also going to be sharing Fay's room, though Fay was a bit nervous, and Don would sleep on the other couch not occupied by Damien.

Ajax thought the place was a bit crowded. He didn't even know where Slippy slept. Perhaps he slept on the Great Fox?

"Let's sleep in my bed tonight. I'm tired of sleeping on the floor." Miyu suggested as Ajax entered Miyu's room.

He nodded to Miyu as he laid down on the bed, his armor set in its usual location. Ajax got comfortable while Miyu removed her tank top, revealing her strapless sports bra as she laid down next to him. After days on Fichina, he was quite used to the closeness of the feline and didn't think anything of it.

"Hey, Ajax... Goodnight." Miyu whispered, her warm breath tickling Ajax's face as she stared into his eyes.

"Goodnight, Miyu. Sleep well. I suspect we will be leaving for Fortuna tomorrow." Ajax said, feeling Miyu's tail lay itself across his legs.

"Why?" Miyu asked, Ajax smiling.

"It's a secret. Guess you aren't important enough to know." Ajax joked.

"You're such a dork, Ajax."

"I know."

Miyu smiled and closed her eyes, quickly drifting to sleep. Ajax felt a strange sense of enjoyment from seeing her so peaceful and content. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but it was certainly a nice feeling. Ajax reached up to Miyu's head, petting the sleeping feline before falling asleep himself.

---

Outside Papetoon's atmosphere...

Ivan opened up the crate of credits, pleased at the hefty sum from the bounty. After deciding that he would be able to live a better life with Monica, the woman suggested spending their days as bounty hunters, so Ivan agreed. He suspected that his new life as a bounty hunter would be quite the wealthy one, should things continue on the path they are currently on.

"Damn, that's a lot o' money! What should we do with it?" Monica asked, picking up a handful of cash.

Ivan shrugged, not entirely certain. He figured that there wasn't much in the Lylat worth buying, if their weapons, armor, and ships had anything to say about it.

"Well I think we should get to buying food. We have a good bit still, but I think it'll be important to, y'know, be able to eat in the future." the former pirate said, putting the cash back.

Ivan nodded, though he wasn't entirely certain how they would do that. They were putting quite a bit of effort into keeping their identities secret, so purchasing anything would be difficult...

"I know what you're thinkin'. No way for us to safely buy anything."

Ivan nodded, surprised she was so accurate with her assumption.

"But... I have an idea. Maybe, just maybe, we can hire somebody to buy stuff for us. That way, we don't have to risk getting found, and we can get what we need. And if they tell anybody, we just... terminate their contract." Monica said with a vicious grin.

Ivan thought that that was actually a pretty good idea. Nodding his head, Ivan got up and headed to one of the ship's computer terminals to search for someone to do just that. He found a few sites that listed potential employees, but he suspected that not many of them would be willing to help them out. He needed to find people who were willing to do dirty work, or help criminals. Those were the people who didn't ask questions, and knew the dangers of snitching.

Eventually, he was able to find a sight listing all kinds of people, many being former gang members. One in particular caught his eye, however, as they were one of the lowest priced, and stated they were willing to do almost any non-hitman job, no questions asked.

Katt Monroe, eh? Seeing a pink and white furred cat was pretty strange, considering that it wasn't natural, but when you're in another dimension, you can't really determine what's actually "natural", and besides that, he didn't find it all that strange when he met the blue-furred Krystal.

"Did you find somebody? Oh, she seems to fit the bill of what were lookin' for. Call her up. Disable video, of course." Monica said, tapping her finger on the desk slowly.

Ivan called this "Katt" woman and disabled video, waiting for her to pick up. As they waited, Monica prepared her speaking voice, doing a series of vocal warm-ups and practiced speaking in a much gruffer tone than she naturally spoke in. As soon as Monica finished, they heard someone on the other end pick up, followed by a video feed of the pink cat.

"Katt Monroe here. Whatcha need?"

"Hello. Nice to speak with you, Miss Monroe. I'm Shiv, here with my partner... Shank. I am under the belief that your services are still available, correct?" she said, Ivan cringing at the shitty on-the-spot fake name. Monica just shrugged as Katt started speaking again.

"Correct you are, Shiv. What is it that you want? I'll do any non-hitman job you need, for the right price of course."

"Excellent. You're job will be simple. In fact, I plan for it to be a long-term job. All you have to do is purchase or sell any item we need you to and have them delivered to a later disclosed location. You're payment will be left in the same location in cash. Should you miss the payment deadline, we will have to pay you at a later date. Should you miss it multiple times in a row, I will be obligated to terminate our agreement. Do you agree to this job?"

The feline smiled and nodded her head.

"Sure thing. I've done these kinds of jobs before. Gun running, ship theft, you name it. Except for slaving. Not my gig." Katt explained, arms crossed.

"Great. As of now, we don't have anything we need you to do. However, be prepared to make supply runs for us on a whim."

Katt nodded, typing something in to her computer before looking back toward her video camera.

"If that's all for now, I'll be signing off. Catch ya later." Katt said before signing off, her video blinking out.

"Well, that's one thing out of the way. What now?" Monica said, grabbing a knife off of a desk and sharpening it.

Ivan was busy looking through multiple CDF bounty lists, looking for their next target. It seemed that the next target would be a fairly simple, yet high paying one. A group of gang members were wanted by the CDF for a series of crimes, some even being murder, rape, and more. They were wanted either dead or alive, and Ivan already knew what he and Monica preferred. These bastards were gonna meet their maker.

Ivan headed into the pilot's seat, setting course for the gang's last known location. With any luck, they would still be there, or at least have someone there that knew where they were. Putting on an extra pilot helmet, Ivan punched it for the gang's location, fully intent on turning them into charcoal.

"Bone Posse gang? Ha! What a goofy name! These guys look like a bunch of pushovers! Since you'll need something to wear for combat, I got a spare set of light armor for ya, if you'd like. You didn't seem to be a fan of power armor, so I figured that would be the next best thing." Monica explained as she suited up, the heavy chassis clanking across the floor of the ship.

She had also grabbed a set of armor that came from one of the independent systems, as it had an unknown marking across the shoulder plates and chest. The armor also seemed to be of fairly high quality, being above the quality of the Confederates' armor, though that wasn't saying much. Ivan assumed that this would be his set of armor. It was a shame he had left his own armor behind, but this set would suffice, especially against the weak firearms of the Lylat.

If Ivan was to be honest with himself, he actually liked the Lylat system better than back home. At least here he wasn't essentially forced into a seemingly endless war forever. He also had the choice to leave his squad, which was destined to fight until death. He had made the choice to leave his life of warfare to pursue other goals, such as starting a family, and putting away criminals rather than soldiers drafted into war who didn't have a choice.

That was why he hated being a soldier. He loved combat, as it put his skills to use, as well as giving him a challenge, but he hated killing people that were forced into war just like he was. He may have been loyal to the Union, and would even say he loved it, but he still wanted better for himself. He didn't like pirates, but he did like the idea of freedom, so when he was presented with the chance to be free, he took it. Also on the plus side, he was able to have a human lover in a universe lacking in humans. Yes, there was Janine, but she was too... something. He wasn't sure what, but she was off-putting to say the least.

Putting the ship on auto-pilot, Ivan started to suit up, feeling how the armor fit surprisingly well. It wasn't like the custom-fitting armor of the Union, but it was close enough. Monica had finished getting ready, and was heading down to the lower level of the 2-level ship. The lower level consisted of the jail cells, engine compartment, and the armory. So, Ivan assumed she was going to the armory for a weapon.

Putting the last armor gauntlet on, he followed the redhead into the armory to pick out a weapon. Monica was already there, loading a magazine for a projectile rifle, presumably one of the old assault rifles the Union used before perfecting lasers. The bullets themselves were incredibly large, probably large enough to kill a bear in a single shot, or even one of the Sikar beasts on that horrible acid-rain jungle world Tesha.

He hated that fucking planet.

Ivan looked at the racks of weapons, seeing them organized into different groups, those groups being plasma, laser, or projectile/kinetic. Kinetic rifles were a bit different from regular projectile weapons, as they didn't use an explosion, instead using pseudo-railgun technology, but they were essentially the same.

Ivan figured that he would take one of the laser snipers, as that was what he was used to. Monica was done loading her projectile assault rifle, which had a massive bayonet bolted on the bottom. If he was going to be honest, projectile weapons looked pretty badass, and the kick was pretty satisfying. But in the end, he stuck with his choice. Reliability was important, so he couldn't risk sacrificing it. However, he decided to take a silenced projectile pistol as a sidearm. Looking down at it, it seemed to be only semi-automatic.

Oh well.

Monica finished loading up four more magazines before grabbing a shotgun off of the rack. It was magazine fed and semi-automatic, judging by the lack of pump handle and magazine sticking out. Ivan decided to help load the shotgun magazines, grabbing a box of shells.

10 gauge buckshot.

These guys were fucked.

After loading those magazines, he went on to load pistol mags. After the monotonous work, Ivan attached the magazines to the magnetic strips he assumed were there. Fortunately, they were, as they stuck to his waist and didn't fall.

Excellent. Now, all they had to do was wait. It shouldn't have been too far, so they had little time to kill. To spend this small amount of time, Ivan thought it best to calibrate his weapons, as well as check over supplies one more time. He considered grabbing one of the Venomian missile launchers that had been picked up, but figured it wasn't necessary. As he went through calibrations, the ship alerted him to the close proximity to the targets. Looking out of the ship's window, he could see Papetoon. Where his first kill in the Lylat was. If the information was correct, the gang should still be in the same location...

Unsuspecting...

Off guard...

Vulnerable.

---

The canine gang member walked across the sands of Papetoon and entered the shabby building he would soon call home. He was new to the Bone Posse gang, so he wasn't quite welcome yet, though they at least respected him somewhat. At the very least, they treated him like a living being. Which, for him, was good enough.

"Hey, Jim. See anything out there?" a female fox asked, sharpening her claws with a file.

"Sand." the canine replied simply.

The fox laughed, clearly much more amused than the dog was.

"Imagine that! Can't say I expected more, but who knows?"

The young dog shrugged and continued on his way, not looking for anything in particular. The shabby building wasn't well lit, and was honestly a bit too drafty, but he had lived in worse. He was grateful the Bone Posse gang let him in, considering he had yet to prove himself. He wasn't a criminal like the rest of the gang, who had stolen, murdered, et cetera. However, he did have some skills, such as being able to pick any lock, be it physical or electronic.

At least it was something.

The dog entered one of the three living areas and sat down at one of the couches. Across from him was the avian gang leader, who was busy tinkering with a blaster pistol. Noticing the young canine, he put down the blaster and acknowledged the teenager across from him.

"Hey, kid. What do you think of the place? It ain't much, I know, but it's still... somethin'." the white avian said in a gruff voice.

The young canine shrugged, not yet sure what to make of the place. It was pretty crappy, but for them it was alright. The young canine looked out one of the slightly boarded up windows, seeing nothing but sand for miles, the occasional rocky formation rising from the ground. Overall, it was pretty boring on Papetoon. More than anything, the young canine wanted something to happen.

He just sighed, leaning back on the couch, thinking about how he could possibly stand out to the other gang members when he was nowhere near their level. He wanted to prove himself, but he just didn't know how. As he sulked, another gang member walked into the room.

"Hey, boss. Where did Danny and Thomas go? Weren't they, like, outside?"

The leader had a look of confusion, obviously not certain where they could have gone.

"Check again. I can't imagine that they just... left."

"'Kay then. I'll see if I can-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before a series of loud bangs rang out from outside. A sizzle of a laser also was heard, followed by a scream that was cut short with a sickening crunch sound. The three in the living area were stunned for a moment, not believing what was happening. After another zap of a laser, they scrambled to find weapons, the leader already having his, while the other two rushed to find a blaster. The female fox quickly followed behind, also requiring a weapon.

The young dog began to panic, having never been in a firefight before. While he did want to prove himself, he didn't even know what they were up against. The next trio of loud bangs didn't help his morale. The four running gang members eventually reached an area littered with guns, many other gang members already grabbing weapons and heading to confront the attackers. The teen grabbed the closest thing to him: an assault blaster. It wasn't too heavy, but he didn't feel cheated out of power by grabbing it.

Another trio of bangs, followed by another laser shot, created an increased sense of urgency in the building. As far as they knew, every shot meant another one of their own killed. They heard a loud bang from the entrance, followed by the clanging of metal.

"Everyone, calm down! Don't rush off by yourselves! That's how you fucking die! Stick with me, and we'll be-"

The leader didn't get to finish as three sets of thuds caught his attention, a feline skidding through the doorway covered in blood.

"RUN! EVERYBODY R-"

She was interrupted by a loud report of bullets that tore through her torso, making her drop to her knees and fall face-first into the floor. Upon seeing this, all eyes in the room went wide, frozen in shock. Except for one.

"Don't just sit there! Take aim!" the avian leader said, his blaster ready, breathing calm.

The gang quickly did as told, not wanting to be caught unprepared. Many shaky hands became steady, ready for whatever comes through the doorway. At least, that's what they thought. Hearing a series of beeps, the gang was confused until the lights went out, leaving them in total darkness, save for the small amount of light coming through the windows. The avian leader turned on a flashlight, the small light barely allowing him to see five feet in front of him because of a low battery.

Clank. CLANK. CLANK.

The gang tightened their grips on their blasters as the heavy footsteps increased in volume. As soon as that bastard came through the door, they would be-

A wet smack sound from behind the gang alerted them to an attacker in the rear, the gang turning to blast the perpetrator. As their blaster bolts flew through the air, they lit up the area around them, allowing them to see...

Nobody.

Not even a corpse.

All that was left was a crimson puddle on the floor. Terrified, they nervously looked around, feeling like prey to a superior predator. The teenage canine wanted to cry. He was going to die here, and he knew it. Whoever, or whatever, was attacking and killing them was just toying with the survivors. They could barge into the room and massacre them all, and he was certain of it.

Seeing nothing, the leader looked up, seeing an open vent. He knew that must have been where they attacked from, so he did the best thing he could think of: throw a grenade into the vent. Taking careful aim, he activated the grenade and tossed it into the vent, hearing it clank around before a loud boom sounded out, the ceiling caught in the explosion collapsing.

But to his surprise, there was once again nothing. Turning back around, he noticed something was off.

Weren't there eight people left?

At the moment, only five remained. The fox, teenager, himself, and two others. The rest were nowhere to be found. Either they were dead, or they had run off.

"Everyone, follow me. We can't stay here." he said, quickly rushing out the back door that led to one long hallway. Knowing that certain death waited on the other side of the single-story building, he made a dash for the exit at the end of the hall.

Suddenly, he ran into something big and solid. Looking up, he saw a giant grey-armored person holding a very, very large knife covered in blood. The person themselves was also covered in the crimson substance. Their narrow, slit-like opaque visor glared down at him, emotionless. Behind, him, he heard rushed clanking that led to the most pants-pissing inducing thing he had seen in his life.

A hulking mass of armor made its way out of the doorway the group had escaped from, a gruff, distorted laugh emanating from the beast. In its hands was a massive rifle with a giant bayonet, and in a sling around its shoulder was another gun that was even bigger.

"End of the line, freaks." they said in a hollow, tinny voice.

They were ready to go down with a fight when suddenly another voice sounded out from down the hallway.

"Get some, motherfuckers!"

They could almost make out the outline of two other gang members in the dark, the two opening fire with their heavy blasters. The group almost cheered in victory, but then they noticed something.

The giants were hardly affected. Besides a few marks on the armor, it was almost as if they had done nothing at all, though it was hard to tell in the dark aside from the light from blaster bolts. The heavily armored person raised their rifle to end the ones that fired on them when the two other gang members that followed the gang leader leapt onto them, attempting to restrain the heavily armored attacker. Seeing this, the attacker with the knife rushed to pull the gang members off while the fox pulled the teenager into a room they were next to, running as fast as they could, ignoring the shouts of protest from their leader. The two were heading for the front door when they heard heavy clanking and screaming approaching the same location.

To avoid certain death, the red fox pulled the young dog into a closet nearby, shutting the door quietly. There were small horizontal slits in the door that allowed them to see the chaos unfolding outside the closet. The teenager began to lightly cry, trying to hide it by covering his mouth and closing his eyes. He didn't want to die. He was too young.

"Shhh, kid. It's okay. We'll be fine. Please, keep quiet." the fox begged, petting the back of the dog's head as she also cried.

The screaming continued as the clanking approached. They spotted the attacker, who was now in the light from the windows, and they could see that in their hands was one of the rabbits in the gang, the attacker holding them by their ears while the rabbit bled from a nasty gash in his chest. The giant seemed to get tired of the screaming, because they lifted them up and broke their neck, flinging the body against the closet door. Blood trickled into the closet, getting on the shoes of the two hiding in the closet. The fox held the teen, her eyes shut tight. It didn't help the dog's morale when the fox was so afraid.

The attacker rushed off while the lighter-armored attacker appeared, throwing the leader on the ground in restraints and a gag. The bird was angry, as he thrashed about in his restraints, throwing muffled curses out at the invaders. After a few minutes of exchanged gunshots and screaming, the last gang member rushed passed the closet only to be caught by the giant with the knife. The knife in question pierced the neck of the reptile, blood spraying through the closet door.

"Is that all of them, mister... Carlton?" the heavily armored one asked the gang leader.

The gang leader, Carlton, took a quick glance at the closet door, seeing the eyes of the two in the closet. After a short internal debate, he nodded his head.

"Really? But there were supposed to be twenty-two of you. Nineteen are dead, and we have you captured. That leaves two, you fucking liar." they said, removing the gag on Carlton. It was clear that they only asked the question to torment him.

"I swear! The other two were lost in the desert after a raid."

The giant person didn't seem satisfied with that answer, as they picked up Carlton by the throat and squeezed hard.

"Sure. Guess we'll have to beat it out of you." They said, dragging him to another room.

As they left, the lighter-armored one looked at the closet, staring hard for a good four seconds before heading into the other room. The fox knew what this meant. They knew where they were, but they were going to have their fun beating Carlton first. Grabbing the teenager, she spun him around and looked into his eyes, determined.

"Kid... Jim... They know we're in here. We won't have enough time to escape. Listen, when they come for us, I'm going to try and hold them off. When I do, run. Run faster than you ever have, and don't turn back. I mean it. No matter what you hear, don't you fucking look back." she said with determination, tears spilling from her eyes.

Jim couldn't believe what he was hearing. She was sacrificing herself... for him? He was a nobody, nothing special. She, on the other hand, was known throughout the system for being one of the best thieves there could be. Yet here she was, willing to give herself up for him. Knowing this, he did the only thing he felt he was good for. He cried. He cried hard. Jim wrapped the woman in a tight hug, not quite ready to see her die. She was friendly to him when others ignored him, which made her like a mother figure to him, and he felt that amongst the murderers and rapists that made up the gang, she and Carlton were the only ones who weren't total scumbags.

The fox returned the hug, kissing him on the forehead before looking him in the eyes once more.

"I mean it. We'll go now before they return, and when, not if, when they catch us, run to the ship and get out of here." she said in a whisper.

Jim nodded, standing up with the fox and quietly opening the closet door, pushing the dead rabbit out of the way, before rushing toward the closest exit, the fox not far behind. As he saw the neon "EXIT" sign, he heard the nightmare-inducing clanking of the monsters that slaughtered his gang. He rushed down the halls, ignoring the blood spattered walls and scattered body parts as a voice sounded out from behind.

"No use running, you freaks!"

"Run, kid! Get out of here!"

And so he did. He ran hard, putting extra effort into his run as gunshots were exchanged, not lasting long as he heard the fox scream and wail in agony. Trying is best not to turn around and help her, he pushed forward. He could almost reach the door when he heard a sound from behind.

He found out just what it was when it grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air before slamming him into a wall and dropping him. As he attempted to recover from having the wind knocked out of him, a hand grabbed his arms, placing restraints on his arms and picking him up. As he was carried away, he could see the fox being put in restraints as her leg bled profusely. The fox cried in agony, only to have a piece of cloth stuck in her mouth to shut her up.

As he was being carried, the lights were turned back on after he heard a series of beeps, allowing him to see the carnage in the building. There were corpses everywhere, all in pieces. Blood covered almost every surface, and the smell was intense enough to make Jim sick. They passed through the room where they saw the female feline die first, her body stripped of anything valuable, before Jim passed out from nausea.

---

A few hours later...

When Jim woke up, he was in a cell with Carlton and the fox, who was hugging her knees, occasionally looking at her bandaged wound. When she saw Jim wake up, she immediately went over to him to wrap him in a hug, limping the entire way.

"Hey, kid. See? I told you we would be okay. I think... I think these guys are bounty hunters. They're probably taking us to the CDF. But don't worry. We won't be in there long. Carlton on the other hand..."

"Tanya, please shut up. I don't want you to remind me about my lifetime in prison I'll be getting. You're lucky that the most you or the kid got charged with was theft."

"Sorry. I just... nevermind."

They sat in silence before they heard the door open, one of their captors entering with a large weapon.

"Stay sitting down, shitheads. Or else you'll get real acquainted with my shotgun here. Came to tell you we're nearing your drop off location. We'll dump you there for the CDF to pick you up, and in exchange we get credits in cash. Why am I telling you this? Why, so you can make yourselves look presentable of course! And by that, I mean me and my partner are going to make you clean off that blood."

They pulled out the restraints and put them all in a pair, motioning for them to get moving. They were being led to what appeared to be the showers. Standing by the door was the other captor, who held a pistol in their hand. As they entered, they were quickly pushed into a single shower stall.

"We'll be there soon. Since we're saving water, you'll all be sharing a stall. Once you're out of those restraints, strip down and clean off that blood. Make it quick, or else we'll tell the CDF there were no survivors. 'Cuz there won't be any if you don't move your asses. You're lucky they pay more when you're alive."

The trio of prisoners looked at each other, not comfortable with what they were being told. However, when the one with the pistol removed their restraints, they were quickly reminded to hustle by the chambering of a round.

The trio stripped down, avoiding looking at the others as one of the captors turned on the water. Fortunately, the water was warm, so they weren't freezing. If they were to be honest, it would be refreshing to have a real shower, even if a pair of guns was at their backs. Jim grabbed the bottle of soap, lathering his fur before passing it on to Tanya, who he saw the full nudity of before he looked away, embarrassed.

They all moved quickly, scrubbing out the blood soaking their fur and feathers while one of the captors whistled a tune. Tanya felt the eyes of the bounty hunters bore into her back, as well as the occasional glances from the teenage canine, Carlton not taking any interest in her as he focused on a particularly stubborn blood stain on his arm. It was uncomfortable to have so many eyes on her nude form, especially when they were all male-

"Hey, sister, keep it moving. Don't worry about who's looking at you. We have a time limit here, and I sure as hell want my reward. You should know that us ladies like our money."

Okay, mostly male. It was hard to tell because of the voice distortion.

Finishing up, Tanya started to exit the stall when she was stopped by the female.

"Missed a spot. On your back. Can you not do anything right? Hey, love, can you get that really quick?" she asked the other bounty hunter, who nodded.

Tanya wanted to object, but stayed quiet as she remembered the massive shotgun. A chill ran down her back as a cold armored hand grasped her shoulder, the other hand picking up a washcloth. They started scrubbing her back hard without any kind of care. The rough treatment was a bit painful, but she dealt with it as they went across her entire back, making sure to get every inch.

"Don't forget the lower half. Looks like she sat in blood or something."

Tanya didn't like the sound of that. She thought she had gotten it already. But it didn't matter what she thought, as they began working on her posterior and lower legs. She felt a bit violated as they knelt down, grasping her hip while they scrubbed like they were trying to tear her skin off.

"C-Can I just do it myself-"

"Shut the fuck up. You didn't do it right the first time, so now he has to do it for you."

The other prisoners heard this and quickly got to scrubbing their own backs, not wanting to fall victim to a bounty hunter scrubbing. As the bounty hunter finished, they huffed and tossed the washcloth in Tanya's face, not happy that they had to wash an alien fox. If he had normal human emotions, he would laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

The one with the shotgun just laughed at their expense loudly, much to Tanya's humiliation. She suspected that was the real reason that they did that. To torment her. Eventually, the trio was finished after being inspected and were instructed to dry off quickly, once again with rough assistance.

After getting dressed, they were placed in restraints before being told to follow the shotgun bounty hunter. They reached the ship's exit ramp and were ordered to march out and get on their knees. The bounty hunters got back in their ship until the CDF arrived. It was a small ship, but it was obvious they expected more prisoners.

A boarding ramp was lowered as Cornerian soldiers stepped out of the ship. Looking at the prisoners remaining, they sighed and attempted to speak to the bounty hunters.

"Where are the rest of them?" a soldier shouted.

"In pieces exactly 2.3 kilometers east from here." a voice said through a loudspeaker.

Suppressing a shudder, the soldier just nodded, waving his hand as a signal to bring the credits out as he led the three gang members, who pleasantly smelled of coconut, into the ship. However, as the gang members boarded the ship, he realized something.

"Hey, kid. How old are you?"

Jim turned around, nervous about speaking to the soldier.

"F-Fourteen."

"Well damn. Not even finished with school. What are you doing with these criminals? Don't you have something better to do? Where's your family?"

"Dead."

The soldier shook his head as he motioned for the kid to continue on his way.

"There's always a better way, kid. Remember that."

Ivan and Monica watched as the soldiers took off, leaving the credits behind. Ivan grabbed the credits and headed back into the ship before taking off his armor. Unlike his Union military armor, it was not climate controlled and it got quite hot.

"That's what I like to see, sexy. Look real damn fine. Did they give us the correct amount?"

Ivan nodded, as he had counted on the way back to the ship. He had set the case of credits with the other cases, showing off their newfound wealth. Monica had removed her armor as well and was currently in a pair of shorts and a white tank top that showed off her athletic, curvy build.

"Shame I only used my shotgun once. I really like that gun"

Ivan shrugged and sat down on a couch in the living area. He stretched, popping his back while Monica sat down beside him. She had set the ship on autopilot toward the atmosphere, where they would stay until they found their next bounty.

"So I guess that's that. What should we do until the next bounty?"

Ivan once again shrugged, indifferent to any ideas.

"Nothin', eh? How about..." she began before her stomach growled. "How 'bout we eat somethin'." she said, standing up and heading to get food, followed by Ivan.

Monica pulled out something wrapped in foil from the fridge and put in the oven, tapping her foot impatiently. Once it was done, she pulled it out with a pair of gloves before unwrapping it. Inside was a very large hunk of meat that Ivan thought looked quite good.

"Last chunk of meat on the ship until we get some more." Monica said as she prepared the meat, putting slices of it onto plates.

The two sat down again with their food, Ivan thinking deeply about Reaper Squad. He wondered how they were doing. He wondered if they missed him...

"Whatcha thinkin' about, hon? Your friends?"

Ivan nodded as he ate, not entirely sure how Monica would react.

"I understand. But I also know why you left. Tell me if I'm wrong when I say that you wanted to get away from a group that essentially governed how you lived on a day-to-day basis, and you hated fighting wars you didn't care too much about."

Ivan nodded again, surprised how accurate she was with her assumption... again.

"Yeah, thought so. I'm pretty good at reading people, I've heard. That, and that's what I've heard former Union soldiers say before." she said with a laugh.

Suddenly, Ivan had an idea. He had telepathy, even if very weak, and he knew how he got it. If he had it, it only made sense to tell his lover how to get it. Standing up, Ivan got in front of Monica and reached over to her, indicating for her to shut her eyes.

"Close my eyes? Okaaay..."

As she did what she was told, Ivan shushed her slowly, breathing in deeply, hoping for her to understand that she was to do the same. She seemed to catch on, as her breathing slowed, and she visibly relaxed. Ivan went to instruct her further, but she spoke out before he could.

"So, am I, like, meditating?" she asked, opening a single eye.

Ivan nodded, so she shrugged and continued. She meditated for a long while, and before she started to move out of boredom, she froze. Ivan knew what this meant. She had gained her sixth sense as he had. She was now a telepath.

"What the... What the fuck? I can feel all the nearby life on this planet. I can... sense their emotions, feel like they can. What is this?"

She opened her eyes to see a smiling Ivan.

"How did you do that? Have you... have you had this ability this whole time? Is that why I can't sense you?" she asked, Ivan nodding again.

She was amazed. Where had he learned this ability? Were they the only ones with the ability? Or did the rest of the humans have it?

"This is... surreal." she stated simply.

She looked down at her food, suddenly less interested in it. It was incredibly mind-boggling for the woman to discover that not only was the power of telepathy real, but she and Ivan both had it.

"Well... what now?"

Seeing Ivan shrug once again, she sat back down on the couch. Ivan sat back down with her, wrapping his arm around her. She placed her head on his shoulder with the intent of falling asleep there for a few hours. Ivan watched her soon-to-be-sleeping form, smiling. He considered how easily he decided to become her lover, and how incredibly unusual it really was. Though, he wasn't going to complain. If things continued as they were, he would be the happiest man in the universe. He hoped the same for Reaper Squad.

---

Ajax woke up to see a half-naked drooling lynx on his chest with her arms wrapped around him. He would have thought it was gross, but it wasn't the worst thing he had experienced. He remembered one day on the front lines, early in his career, a soldier sleeping next to him in a crater in the dirt woke up, removed his helmet, and puked all over the still-awake Ajax before passing out again.

Ajax was glad to be out of the front lines.

He went to stand up, but Miyu began to groan in her sleep, gripping him tighter in protest. He sighed and went to wake Miyu up when the he felt a life signature approaching before the door opened up to reveal Slippy.

"Hey Ajax! I stopped by to- OH! I'm sorry! I'll come back later!" Slippy said in a panicked voice when he saw Ajax and Miyu.

Ajax was confused until he considered his situation. He was in Miyu's bed with the shirtless lynx on top of him. To most people, it would seem as though they had...

"No, wait! Not what it looks like!" Ajax started.

"I-it's fine. I won't tell anybody that you... uh..."

"No. I mean, it's actually not what it looks like. Just snugglin'. Nothing else."

Slippy was confused, and Ajax read from his thoughts that he wasn't entirely convinced.

"Okay... So are you guys... together or...?"

"Nope."

"...'Kay."

The loud conversation woke Miyu, who looked around before her eyes settled on Ajax.

"Mornin' Ajax. Sleep well? What am I saying, of course you slept well with me."

"Not helping the situation, Miyu."

"What situation- oh."

Miyu spotted the mechanic toad, who stood around awkwardly shuffling his feet, a red blush rising on his face. He was feeling as though he was seeing something secret between Miyu and Ajax, who everyone knew had an unusual one-sided romantic tension between them.

"Hey Slippy. Whatcha need?"

The toad jumped in surprise upon hearing his name. He looked near Miyu, but didn't meet her eyes.

"I-I just came to tell Ajax that I wanted to ask about human technology, but then I saw you guys and... you know."

It was Miyu's turn to be confused until she put the pieces together. She got a deviant look on her face, Ajax already knowing what was coming. Before he could stop her, she spoke as loudly as she could without shouting.

"Oh, you mean seeing the aftermath of our passionate love-making? It's fine. You missed all the hot, sweaty action anyway-" Miyu started, Slippy going bright red.

"No, you didn't, Slippy. We didn't... do any of that. Miyu's just messing with you."

The toad breathed a sigh of relief.

"O-okay then. Well, Janine made breakfast again, so when you guys are ready..." Slippy trailed off, leaving the room awkwardly.

Ajax looked at the still-smiling lynx with extreme disapproval.

"Miyu, why did you do that? I don't want people to get the wrong idea, but here you are telling poor Slippy that he saw the aftermath of some kind of fuck session."

Miyu didn't let her smile falter as she replied to the human.

"'Cuz it was funny. That's why."

Ajax put his head in one of his hands and let out a deep, heavy sigh. The lynx was going to be the death of him. He was certain of it. One way or another, she was going to make him have a stress-induced heart attack, or something like that.

"Whatever you say, Miyu. Let's go get breakfast. I suspect Fox is going to want to go capture Oikonny today, so I want to be sure we're ready."

Miyu groaned but complied, getting up from Ajax's chest. Ajax grabbed his armor and put it on while Miyu put her shirt on slowly, hoping Ajax would admire her form. Ajax did think she had a nice body, but he put those thoughts away because he thought they were too... unusual. She was an alien after all. However, as he thought about why he shouldn't have those thoughts, Miyu spotted Ajax looking.

"Ha! Can't deny that one! You were staring."

"I was thinking."

"About my sexy body."

Ajax shook his head slowly, sighing. She wasn't wrong, but he wouldn't give her the pleasure of knowing that.

"Sure, Miyu. Sure."

After feeling Miyu's mild disappointment, he exited the room and smelled the air, smelling eggs and something reminiscent of bacon. Looking in the kitchen, he saw Janine was making just that. Everyone else was already eating, besides Janine, and it made Ajax feel like he was getting lazy with his schedule. He would have to start waking up earlier if he was to keep an acceptable schedule.

"Hey, Ajax! Sleep well?" Don asked.

Ajax had almost forgotten Don had stayed the night. This also reminded him of something else.

"Yes, I did. But that reminds me. Slippy, where do you sleep?"

The toad looked up from his plate and looked over at Ajax, seeing Miyu still standing close to him.

"I, uh, sleep in the Great Fox. I spend so much time there that I figured, 'Why not sleep there?' I also like the privacy of having the ship to myself at night."

Ajax nodded. He knew it. He could have read it from his thoughts, but after that embarrassing awakening, he wanted to make the toad think of something else. And it seemed the plan worked since Slippy started to think about how Ajax seemed like he cared about Slippy's well-being.

Ajax and Miyu grabbed a plate of food and sat down with the others. Don had let Fay borrow her phone so Fay could listen to the human music she had gotten from Ajax. Fay was bobbing her head left and right while Don told Krystal a story, Krystal laughing quite loudly. Krieg was holding three plates at once, and clearly planned on eating all three platefuls. Fox was talking with Falco, who did not look like he slept well. He assumed Fara had left earlier in the morning.

Janine sat down with the group as well, Damien and Eva scooting over to make room for her. Falco rushed to finish eating and quickly got up to put his plate away, rushing to get a shower before Krystal or Miyu, who were notorious for taking forever.

"Well, team, the plan for today is to capture Oikonny. He wasn't on that massive ship, so he's supposedly on Fortuna, hiding like a coward. It should be a simple mission since the CDF has eliminated a large number of Venomian forces. Be ready in about three hours."

The group collectively acknowledged Fox and finished their breakfast. Since Ajax was already pretty much ready to go, he decided to go for a run outside. He headed to the back door to jog in the woods behind the homestead when he noticed Miyu was still following him.

"Going for a run?" Miyu asked. Upon seeing Ajax nod, she continued. "Cool. Can I come with you?"

Ajax thought about it for a while, not entirely okay with the idea of going slow for her, but in the end nodded again. Miyu smiled wide, glad that Ajax had allowed her to run with him. Really, all she wanted to do was hang out with him, but Ajax still wasn't completely comfortable with her. She was his friend, and he would do almost anything for her, he thought of her as a pervy, nigh-tactless feline, even though she was so much more than that.

"Great! Let's go!" she said, taking off quickly, Ajax close behind.

Ajax made sure to keep a slow pace for Miyu, the feline doing a surprisingly good job of keeping a fast pace. Ajax was certain that if she focused and trained with him, she would be an excellent and resilient soldier. She had a strong will and spirit, with skills and physical prowess to match. Though he gave her a hard time, he could easily tell that she was a damn fine warrior. To some, she was probably considered a fine woman. They continued through the woods for quite the long distance, Ajax being surprised just how large the woods really were. If he were to guess, he would say that the woods were about two-and-a-half square miles.

Eventually, they reached a small clearing with a waist-deep creek running through it, the creek presumably running down from one of the many nearby mountains. Ajax stopped his running and turned to see Miyu bent over, breathing hard.

"You okay, Miyu? If you wanted to stop earlier, you only had to ask."

Miyu looked up at Ajax and gave a small smile.

"I'm fine... Just need... a minute to... breathe."

Ajax felt bad about not stopping for her, considering that he should have felt how tired she was via telepathy, but he was too busy focusing on running at a steady pace to even notice if Miyu was struggling.

"Did I... impress you by... keeping up?" Miyu asked, genuinely curious. She knew that humans were much more physically capable than she was, so just by keeping pace she thought that she had done something impressive.

"For a Cornerian, that was very impressive. I'd say I was running at almost half my top speed, so you were running at about twenty-three kilometers an hour for about ten minutes! I would say that's excellent! Good job."

Miyu's jaw dropped, shocked at multiple things he said.

"Wait, that wasn't even half your top speed? No, what I really can't believe is... you were impressed?" Miyu asked, having finally caught her breath.

"Well, my top speed is thirty-eight miles per hour, so I kinda lied. But yes, it was incredibly impressive for you to keep pace with an elite Union soldier. Nice work Miyu." Ajax said with a genuine smile. "Keep it up, and we'll make a fine soldier out of you yet."

Ajax took a seat on a tree stump nearby, Miyu following to do the same. It was peaceful to rest in the quiet woods, a cool breeze blowing across the two on the stump. Feeling a bit chilly, Miyu scooted closer to Ajax, who's armor radiated a small amount of warmth. Small animals could be heard in bushes nearby or in the trees above, the creek slowly trickling through the calm woods.

"This is nice. Me, you, relaxing after a nice run. What's not to enjoy?" Miyu said in a soft voice.

"Perhaps the lack of drinks and such. I could go for a soda right now." Ajax admitted while he stretched.

Miyu smirked and turned to Ajax, who looked back at her with a slightly puzzled expression.

"Funny you should mention drinks, because I never go unprepared."

As she said this, she reached into her shirt, pulling a flask out from between her breasts and shaking it to reveal it had liquid in it.

"A fine liquor from pre-war Zoness. Thirsty?"

Ajax had a face of disgust as he watched Miyu unscrew the cap and take a large swig from the flask, looking at the flask, and taking one more large drink from the alcohol-filled container before offering it to Ajax, who put up a hand in refusal.

"I am not drinking that."

Miyu seemed a bit upset, looking at the flask as she spoke.

"But... why not? Is it because I pulled it from my-"

"No, Miyu, that's not why. I don't drink alcohol, remember?"

Miyu's eyes went wide as she remembered that Ajax had, in fact, told her about this before. However, something else he said did provoke a thought for Miyu.

"So, let's say I pulled a non-alcoholic beverage from there. Would you drink it still?"

"I... I suppose I would. I don't see the harm in it."

"Weirdo."

Ajax had an offended look, upset that Miyu refused to see the hypocrisy of her statement. He knew she was joking, but he still didn't appreciate it.

"You're one to talk, you weirdo."

Miyu smirked, putting the flask back in its original place as she faced Ajax.

"Yeah, I'm a weirdo. But you're a weirdo too. We're all weirdos, and there's nothing wrong with that. You're just a special kind of weirdo. You freakin' weirdo."

Ajax rolled his eyes, his mouth still feeling dry from a lack of hydration. Looking at the creek, he figured that running water was okay to drink, and that Janine had plenty of medical equipment to save him if it wasn't. Standing up, he walked over to the creek and knelt down, cupping his hand to take a drink. As he did, he felt an article of clothing hit him in the head, followed by another piece of clothing that covered his eyesight. When he reached up to remove the clothes from his face, he heard Miyu whooping before a splash of water was heard, Ajax getting water all over his face.

Looking at the middle of the creek, he saw Miyu rise to the surface, wearing just her underwear. Looking around, he spotted her boots and flask and tossed her other clothes over to them before turning to the lynx.

"Why don't you hop on in with me? We have a few hours, so why not?"

Ajax shook his head, not really wanting to get wet. His undersuit was hydrophobic, but he wasn't a fan of swimming or being wet in general.

"Oh, come on! Why not? Scared of getting wet? I already splashed you, so what's the big deal?"

"I just don't want to."

"Don't be a baby."

"I just don't want to."

"Ajax."

He sat at the edge of the water, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Ajax."

Ajax sighed, not wanting to join the lynx. He could do something more productive with his time, like-

"Just get in and enjoy yourself. You don't have to 'optimize your time' all the time. Let yourself have fun before a mission. Might be the last time you get to."

He looked up from the ground, shocked at the implication. He may have been an elite, but... she was right. He always had a slim chance of dying before a mission. For all he knew, maybe something would malfunction and explode on the ship before he could do anything about it. It could be out of his control. And he would have wasted an opportunity to act like a normal human being for once in nearly ten years.

Slowly, Ajax dematerialized his armor and set the torso of it down next to Miyu's clothes before taking off his boots and gloves. Turning around, he headed to the creek to see the smug lynx smiling at him.

"Knew you'd fold." Miyu said with a smirk.

Ajax sighed as he entered the water, feeling its surprisingly lukewarm temperature when he had expected it to be cold.

"Not gonna remove that undersuit?"

"It's hydrophobic. Also, its my last layer of clothing."

Miyu gave a small "Ah" of understanding before laying on her back, floating while Ajax stood awkwardly. Miyu saw this and groaned in frustration.

"Come on, buzzkill. Swim or something. Tell you what, if it gets you to do something, I propose a race. Winner gets to make the loser do anything they say for a day."

Ajax thought about it, not entirely sure what he would want Miyu to do. However, he knew exactly what Miyu would want him to do. He could see the trick formulating in her head, making her win by a technicality. He just couldn't allow that.

"Nope."

"What?"

"I said no. I bet you'll just trick me or something."

Miyu had a look of disappointment on her face, but still didn't give up hope. Before Ajax could react, she splashed him in the face. Taking a moment to realize that she had sneak-attacked him, Miyu splashed him again. As she was attempting to go for a third splash, Ajax decided to play her game. As soon as she hit the water, he ducked under the water, swimming right past her. As she looked around for the human, he popped up from behind and splashed her in the back before disappearing back under water, repeating the process multiple times. As he went for a seventh splash, she put her arms up in the air.

"I give up! I surrender!"

Ajax rose from under water, smiling in triumph. However, he realize too late that it was, in fact, Miyu who had won.

"Knew I could get you to break out of that stoic shell again. You know, I like it a lot better when you let yourself have fun."

"I was merely trying to secure victory over you."

"It sounds a lot sexier when you put it like that."

"Why do I bother talking to you?"

Miyu laughed at Ajax's expense, the human shaking his head.

"That's too good. Come 'ere, Ajax. How about a victory high-five?" Miyu asked, putting her hand up in the air.

Ajax knew what was coming, but did it anyway. As he went to slap her hand, she took his closeness as an opportunity to leap onto him, attempting to put him in a playful chokehold. In order to keep Ajax from flinging her off, she wrapped her legs around his chest as she squeezed with her arms. However, this was all for naught, as Ajax didn't react to any of it. Even as she squeezed tighter, he showed no outward reaction. He just ignored the lynx as he stood still in the creek.

"Really? Nothing? Nothing at all?"

Ajax just shrugged. Disappointed, Miyu let go of Ajax and got back in the water. As soon as she did, however, faster than she could react, Ajax grabbed her by the waist, lifted her in the air, and tossed her over his head and into the water. Rising up from the water, she spit out a stream of water and gave Ajax a dirty look.

"As much as I want to be mad at you, I guess that was fair."

"Damn right it was." Ajax said.

Much to Miyu's surprise, Ajax's smile grew until he started laughing, his laugh growing louder until he almost doubled over from laughing. Miyu already knew why he was laughing. He was laughing at her. Instead of being upset by this, however, she laughed as well before making her way back to Ajax and attempting to wrap him in another chokehold only to be tossed off again. She attempted this again only for Ajax to grab her and pin her down by her arms at the edge of the water. She looked up at his smiling face, staring into his dark brown eyes that were filled with joy, but still carried an eternity of pain. She began to smile a different smile. Not one of laughter, or fun, but of something else.

Ajax knew what this was. As he looked into her purple orbs, he could see the strong-spirited, kind, and lonely woman she was, even without his telepathy. It was the look of many others he had met before. The look of pained people that clung on to hope. The look of those who looked to him for help. The look of those he felt he had failed before.

His mother.

His father.

Ivan.

His smile faltered as he remembered all the people he had failed. During nearly a decade of war, he knew his life would be hard. But he didn't know just how hard it would be. So many had counted on him, so many good, innocent people. And so many had died. All because he wasn't fast enough. Because he wasn't strong enough.

Because he wasn't enough.

Tears rapidly formed in his eyes, one of them falling onto Miyu's nose before he could stop it. Letting go of the lynx, he turned away from her so she wouldn't see him cry. He was supposed to be an elite soldier of the Union. They weren't supposed to cry. They were supposed to be the image of power. The image of bravery. Not the pathetic puddle of sadness Ajax saw himself as at the moment.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, already knowing who it was. He wiped his eyes and turned back to Miyu, who held a look of concern.

"Are you... okay? You were okay for a second there, and then you just..." Miyu trailed off.

Ajax forced a small smile to let Miyu know he was fine before he answered her.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just... had a bad memory."

Miyu sat on the bank of the creek with Ajax, giving him a look of both sadness and concern.

"Did I... did I cause it? You looked me in the eye and a tear fell onto my nose."

Ajax looked at the creek, watching a leaf flow down the flowing water. He wasn't exactly sure how to answer her. In a way she did, but it wasn't her fault.

"Yes... and no. It isn't your fault, Miyu. It's just... I looked into your eyes and saw something... familiar. It was the look I had seen in people I cared about. Brave, strong people that I swore to protect. But I failed them. Over and over, I have failed people I care about. And I... I don't want that to happen again."

Miyu felt tears of her own form. She hated that he saw himself as a failure. She wanted to let him know that she thought the world of him. She also felt the warmth of the knowledge that he cared about her so much that the thought of being a failure in her eyes was frightening to him. However, the same thought made her quite sad to think about.

"Miyu... believe it or not, I do care about you. You're my friend, and you've been incredibly good to me even when I've been less than kind to you. You may flirt a bit much for my liking, and you do things just to agitate me, I know you don't mean any harm by it. That it's all just being friendly. And... it's hard for me to accept it."

By now, Miyu's tears were freely flowing down her cheeks.

"I haven't had too many friends for a long time. For nearly a decade, I've had a life saturated by war. Yet once I met you, I quickly became your friend. Because you're such a wonderful person to me despite how I treat you. You care about my well-being, you've gone above and beyond just to make sure I enjoy myself for almost nothing in return."

Miyu felt something warm in her chest as he spoke to her. She didn't think that she had done much. Just simple gestures and attempts at having fun. Her tears started falling a bit faster as she considered that maybe those gestures were the only acts of kindness he had felt in a long time. Even though he had his team, they were still soldiers, and definitely acted like it.

Miyu wiped her eyes and felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up at Ajax, she saw him looking at her with an almost melancholy smile.

"Thank you, Miyu. Thank you so much."

Miyu smiled back as tears continued to flow. She wrapped Ajax in a hug, responding to Ajax's sincere comment.

"Never knew you as the type to get all sappy. You're welcome, you big oaf." she said with a laugh, the laugh mixed with a bit of crying.

Ajax returned her hug, looking down at her wet form. He almost couldn't believe he had just spilled his guts to the lynx. To him, it was a bit embarrassing to have allowed himself to be seen in such an emotional state. Miyu looked up at the human and gave another small smile, locking eyes with the man. She was happy that he trusted her enough to allow himself to tell her so much about his thoughts and emotions.

"You're a good woman, Miyu. I hope only the best for you."

Miyu smiled up at Ajax, taking in the joy of the moment. It was nice to see that he cared so much about her. However, she was ready to go back to their creek wrestling match.

"Hey, Ajax. I'm not a fan of all this crying. You want to get back to our little competition? I'm not gonna let you off the hook like that yet."

Ajax just shrugged, wiping his own remaining tears while Miyu laid back down, waiting for Ajax to go back to pinning her down. Ajax got into position, immediately feeling awkward at the state they were in.

"This is kinda weird." Ajax said.

"Yeah, well that's what weirdos do." Miyu said with a laugh.

Ajax laughed, Miyu smiling at his laughter.

"That's better. Now, where were we? Oh yeah! I was about to... ESCAPE" Miyu shouted before lifting her legs and striking Ajax in the gut with a powerful kick.

However, to her surprise, Ajax didn't budge. Instead, he held her down with the same strength he had started with, not even wincing.

"You lose, Miyu." Ajax said simply.

The large human cracked another smile and released Miyu's arms. The feline gave an almost disappointed look. but fixed the problem by wrapping her arms around the back of Ajax's neck. She wished more than anything that she wasn't so crass before with him when it came to flirting. She felt as though if she didn't say anything about a potential relationship, they might have taken the closeness to the next level.

But that was in the past. That, and she suspected that Ajax would lose his shit if she tried to kiss him.

Ajax looked the feline in the eyes as he had before, but this time felt something different. She made him feel obligated to actually enjoy himself. She made him feel as though he had been wasting his life by suppressing his feelings. He wouldn't keep himself in an emotional box anymore. He would allow himself to be... human. The pain of loss and failure may have been strong, but it would also give him the strength to protect those he cared about. He stared hard into Miyu's brilliant purple eyes and told her exactly what he had thought.

"Miyu, I've decided something. I should come out of my little bubble. From this point forward, I'm going to be... a normal person. I'll allow myself to have actual fun. To indulge in life's many pleasures, and maybe even feel love."

The lynx's smile grew to an almost disturbing width, completely overjoyed with this statement. The very thing she had hoped for was happening, and soon it would hopefully become something more. As the two stared at each other, Miyu started to feel a bit awkward.

"So... are we gonna...?" Miyu asked.

Ajax knew what she meant, but decided to return her teasing.

"If you mean what I think you mean, you'll have to buy me dinner first."

To Ajax's amusement, Miyu stuttered, unsure how to respond to the human's unexpected statement.

"I meant, 'Are we gonna get up', not... unless you want to...?"

"What did I just say?"

"I'll give you a candy bar."

Ajax laughed and shook his head, continuing to make eye contact with the feline. He thought about every moment he had spent with her, even in that dream from when he first gained telepathy. He thought about how much he enjoyed her company, even going as far as to think that he probably exaggerated his trauma from Miyu's dream/his nightmare. Was it really so terrible? Perhaps at the moment it was, but now...

"Ajax. You movin' or what?"

He continued to stare into Miyu's eyes, the feline actually looking away because of the pure intensity of his gaze.

You're creeping me out, Ajax. Either get off me or do somethin'.

Ajax considered his options. The most logical would be to get off, but for some strange reason he just wouldn't.

"Hey, big oaf. You alive in that ol' cranium of yours?"

"Yeah... Yeah I am. Just... thinking."

"About this sexy lynx right here?"Miyu asked, winking at the blonde human.

"Yeah..."

Miyu's jaw dropped upon hearing this, not expecting him to outright admit it like that.

"You... agree with that?"

Ajax realized his mistake, but before he could correct it, he stopped himself. Did he? He had thought about how she was an excellent soldier, and would make any man happy, so perhaps he did, in fact, find her... sexy. Ajax decided to just tell her the truth.

"Yes. I do, in a way, find you to be... 'sexy', I suppose. You have a strong will, and are physically fit, with a highly preferable body. That, and your eyes are quite entrancing."

Miyu smiled, but broke eye contact, embarrassed by the sudden compliments.

"You're also a wonderful person to be around. I enjoy your company, and look forward to being around you. You have many other physical assets that are attractive also, such as wide hips, an athletic build, and more."

Miyu looked back into Ajax's eyes, seeing his sincerity. From what she could tell, he wasn't even trying to flirt. He was just stating what he saw as fact.

"You're a good woman, Miyu. And a damn fine warrior. You should be proud, because I sure would be." Ajax said in a soft voice.

Ajax was very close to Miyu. All she would have to do is lean up, and their lips would touch. Without even realizing it, she had already leaned up, her mouth a fraction of an inch from Ajax's. He hadn't even tried to stop her...

"Miyu... I would wait. I need time to develop proper feelings for you, and I don't want to rush things. I'm not even sure that I can-"

"Ajax... you already know me well enough. Why not give it a try, and see just how much we both want this." Miyu suggested, her breath dancing its way across Ajax's lips.

The human thought about it for a moment. There were no others that felt this way about him in this universe, and he already saw Miyu as an excellent candidate for a lover, so... why not? Perhaps he still wasn't ready. He had never been in a proper relationship, and neither had Miyu. They both thought highly of each other, and saw the other as attractive in many ways. So why did he not try? In reality, he knew why.

He was afraid. Afraid of what this meant for not only him, but others as well. In the end, however, he knew what his final decision was.

Seeing the patient yet eager look of the feline, he began to move his face away from her.

"W-what?" Miyu mumbled, confused and immensely disappointed.

Ajax hated to see her so upset, but he still thought they should wait. He was conflicted, as he saw plenty that was good in her, and he knew they would be suitable for one another, but there was something that kept him from sealing the deal. Somewhere in his mind, he still saw her as an alien that resembled an animal. It still felt somewhat... wrong to him. However, he expected to be over that soon.

"Don't worry Miyu. There's always a chance. But... I still need to think on it."

Miyu let out a sigh, disappointed that she didn't get what she had wanted so desperately. Though, she figured that at least she knew that she had a chance. She was starting to get tired of the constant disappointment that came from Ajax. It was almost as if he enjoyed making her be disappointed. More than anything, Miyu hated the word. But it was all that was on her mind every damn time she was with the human.

"Ajax... why do you do that? As in, why do you lead me on, just to say, 'Maybe next time'? It kinda... sucks, you know?"

"I... I know, but that's not what I intend to do. I'm a bit... conflicted as of now, and though I do harbor some form of feelings for you, I think, I'm not sure what to make of it."

'What does he mean, 'he thinks'? He doesn't know if he has feelings for me or not? What the hell is wrong with him?' Miyu thought harshly.

Ajax frowned at her thoughts about him. He wasn't sure how else to put it. He didn't know what the feelings meant, though he had a good idea on the topic. He felt conflicted because of the difference of species. Was he really feeling something natural? Was he, as a human being, capable of being attracted to an alien?

"I suppose I should make up for leading you on somehow. But I'm not sure how to make it up to you." Ajax explained.

"Oh, I have an idea. But I know you'll say no to it."

"I promise I won't say no." Ajax said, already knowing what was coming.

Miyu mulled over her choice for a moment before gaining a confident look of resolve before leaning in and locking lips with Ajax, afraid he would reject her advance. She hated to do it out of the blue, but she held hope he would stay true to his word as she reveled in the feeling of their warm, wet lips meeting. The human hesitated for but a moment before returning the kiss, though it was not very passionate. As he returned the feline's kiss, he could feel her heartbeat rapidly pound against her chest. It was a strange combination of feelings that he felt at once that oddly made him... want more?

Ajax felt a bit strange, as he was a bit put off by the fur brushing against his cheeks, but the softness and warmth of Miyu's lips was inviting enough to allow him to continue. He didn't enjoy it like he hoped he would, but he definitely didn't hate it. He didn't even know whether or not it was a terrible kiss or not, and Miyu just didn't care.

As they locked lips, Ajax brought his hands down to Miyu's sides, squeezing lightly. Miyu gave a small, almost unnoticeable moan upon feeling him gently massage her sides, particularly enjoying that he had found a sensitive area. It was a nice experience for Ajax, as he felt good about making Miyu happy, yet he was slightly disgusted with himself. How could he enjoy this experience with an alien feline? He tried to think of an explanation, but decided just to go with it. While the two took in the moment, something at the edge of the clearing caught their attention.

"Finally corrupted him, have you?"

The two turned to see Krystal sitting on a tree stump with her legs crossed, a smirk adorning her features. They quickly scrambled to get up, Miyu grabbing her clothes.

"What if I told you it's not what it looks like?" Ajax said, keeping a calm composure.

"Oh, it's not my business what you two do in private. Don't worry, I'll let you continue in a moment. Just came to see where you went. Slippy had expected you to have that conversation about human technology and whatnot, but didn't know where you went. So, I came to look for you." Krystal explained, getting up from her spot on the stump.

"So, if you want to do... what you were doing, I'll just tell Slippy you were busy." Krystal said with a wink.

"No, I think we'll just follow you." Miyu said, an embarrassed look on her face.

"Oh, there's nothing to be ashamed of, Miyu. I'm happy for you."

Ajax put on his boots, gloves and armor, trying to find a way to explain the situation to Krystal.

"We aren't... in a relationship or anything yet."

"Yet?" Krystal asked, confused.

"Well, that was just, uh, something else."

Krystal rolled her eyes, but continued on her way.

"If you say so. I will say, however, you should just get it over with and make it official. The romantic tension is unbelievably intense, and Ajax: your stubborn denial is at a stupidly high level." Krystal said bluntly.

Ajax huffed, not sure if she was right or not. At the moment, however, it really didn't matter. He would go get his gear together for the mission and allow Miyu to get ready, as she would undoubtedly take much longer than he to be prepared. Krystal had already gotten far ahead, so the lynx and human quickly got up and caught up to the blue vixen. Ajax stayed next to Miyu, trying to think of something to say, but couldn't think of anything. The lynx, on the other hand, was just pleased she was a step closer to being with Ajax.

"Miyu, I just want to remind you that was a one time thing. Don't take it as something else." Ajax said, the feline shrugging and continuing on her way.

"Actually, I'm sorry. I said that wrong. I meant to say-"

"It's fine, Ajax. I'm just glad you're making progress. The first step is coming out of that bubble." Miyu stated, perfectly okay with how things were going.

Krystal chuckled at the two and how corny they were. She thought it was ridiculous how they were treating the situation. She knew neither of them were experienced in the matter, and to be honest, Krystal wasn't very experienced either. However, she knew that that's not how most people interacted.

"I'm serious. Just make it official. You're both practically asking for it, but Ajax keeps just delaying the inevitable."

"It's not about that. It's... about the fact that she's a different species, and I don't know how everyone would react. I'm an alien in this universe, and I honestly haven't known-" Ajax started.

"Don't give me that. You don't have to know them like the back of your hand! You just have to have some kind of mutual feelings. If you don't start now, it will be much too awkward to try it in the future, yes?"

Ajax didn't understand her logic. Wasn't it better to know someone first? To be her friend? He supposed that he already was a good friend of hers, and that he did already know enough about her, considering he had telepathy, so... should he go for it?

"I'll think about it."

Krystal groaned. He was so damn stubborn! Why the hell was he so adamant about staying alone? Krystal decided to show him that nobody really cared about the difference of species. With the homestead in sight, Krystal picked up the pace, the other two attempting to keep pace with the vixen. Entering the building, Krystal separated from them and headed off to get ready.

Ajax looked down at the feline that had been on his mind. Her fur was still slightly wet, and her low-cut tank top was slightly moist as well and clung to her form. As he said earlier, she was, in fact, kinda sexy. But he wasn't going to tell anyone other than her that he said that.

Janine exited the shooting range and spotted Miyu and Ajax, taking the opportunity to say what she had been thinking since the two left.

"Hey, buckeroo. You seal the deal yet?"

Ajax was confused, but then realized what she meant.

"No, I haven't. Did Krystal put you up to this?"

Janine just shrugged innocently before heading off, Miyu giving a small chuckle.

Miyu patted Ajax on the back and headed to the bathroom, presumably to take a quick shower. Ajax didn't have much to do, so he sat down next to Slippy, ready to discuss human technology like he said he would. As he went to greet the toad, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw Damien standing behind him, a smile on his face.

"Hey, dude. Just wanna say, you should totally get with that lynx. While I was... perusing the internet here, I saw that these aliens can do some pretty wild stuff. I'd do it, and I think you should."

Why did everyone care about Ajax getting into a relationship? It was strange that everyone was so interested in whether or not he had a lover. When he asked Damien about it, he laughed and decided to humor Ajax.

"Man, from what I've heard, it's 'cuz you're practically blind to romance. So, when you start to do something even remotely involved with it, everyone wants to see it happen because of how strange the 'phenomenon' is. Hope it helps... buckeroo." Damien said with a slow chuckle while he walked away.

'Buckeroo? Why am I suddenly 'buckeroo'? Is it because I'm a Texan?'

"Glad to see everyone's using the nickname I gave you."

Ajax looked to his left to see Don sit down next to him. He had pretty much forgotten that she was here again.

"Well I'm not. Is it because of my accent?"

"You bet. Anyway, I know that you'll be going on that mission soon, so I'd like you to give me a ride home really quick."

Ajax nodded his head and stood up, Don following him as he headed out the door to his hover vehicle. He remembered that he had, once again, skipped out on talking to Slippy. However, it could wait. He entered the vehicle's driver seat, Don hopping into the passenger seat before he took off, remembering where she lived. As they headed to Don's home, Don decided to say what was on her mind.

"Hey, Ajax. I want to ask something of you. I know that you aren't a fan of being with an alien, but Miyu really seems to like you. Knowing her, she's made it plain as day already, but I want to make something clear. Miyu's been my friend for a very long time. I care about her quite a bit. So, do me a favor, please, and be good to her." Don said in a stern, even voice.

"What I mean by that is if you feel the same about her, treat her right. If not, let her down very gently. But of course, that brings up an important question: which is it?"

As Ajax weaved in and out of traffic, he let out a sigh.

"I don't actually know. But everyone seems to want me to be with her. I just don't get it. Why?" Ajax asked.

Don let out a small laugh.

"Maybe it's because you two are so perfect and weird together. You think she's great, right? And she feels the same about you? Why delay the inevitable?"

"There's almost no such thing as inevitable. That's why."

Don mulled over what he said for a moment, realizing that the way his kind saw things was a bit different from how Cornerians saw things. At least, that's what she assumed.

"Well, I think it is inevitable. And in your heart, you feel it too. You shouldn't force yourself to pretend you don't feel it. Like, literally everybody else wants to see it happen, dude. Just go for it."

Ajax was so tired of hearing about it. It was all they talked about since he got back from his run, and he was just about sick of it. How long could they possibly drag it on? He didn't want to hear another thing about it. He was tired of his own name, as well as Miyu's name. They just wore it out, talking about "Just go for it," or "You feel it in your heart, don't you?"

"You know what? Fine. After we come back from the mission, I'll think about making it official. Will y'all finally shut up about it then?"

Don smiled wide as Ajax pulled up to her home. Opening the door to leave, she addressed the human one more time.

"You know... I just might." she said before closing the door, waving as Ajax left.

Don's smile stuck to her face as she entered her apartment. Finally, after so long, one of her best friends would have someone who loves her. Hell, Don knew what it was like to be alone. She had been without a boyfriend for years. She could only imagine what it was like to never have one at all. On top of that, Miyu would have someone who is likely to never leave her. Don could see that Ajax was scared of change, and that once he gets over the massive barrier that is having a relationship, then it's likely that he'll stick with her once he gets used to it.

Meanwhile, Ajax was thinking about what he had agreed to. After so much focus on it, he didn't want to think about a relationship. The last hour and thirty-five minutes had been so saturated with the topic that he was tired sick of it entirely. Well, he supposed the prospect wasn't so bad, but he wanted to think about something else. Luckily for him, they would be going on a mission soon.

Ajax pulled up to the Star Fox homestead and got out of the vehicle to see there was another vehicle that he hadn't seen before. Curious, he stepped inside to see that it was Peppy Hare who had arrived.

"Ah, Ajax. Good to see you, fella. It's been a minute! I was just telling everyone how I had personal business to attend to, the reason I stayed on Corneria at first, and next thing you know I catch some nasty virus!" Peppy said with a lighthearted chuckle.

"Anyway, it was obviously nothing serious. Still got the sniffles, but there's no way I'm missing this mission!"

Ajax approached the old hare and gave him a firm handshake as well as a pat on the back.

"Well, I'm more than glad to see you're alright. So, is everybody else ready?" Ajax asked to the people around him.

After receiving conformation from the various members, he did a double check on his own equipment and started to head out the door. It would be the first mission in a long time that they had gone on without Ivan, so it would be a bit strange to operate without him. Behind him followed both Star Fox and Reaper Squad, as well as Damien and Eva. Ajax wasn't quite sure why Eva decided to come, but he assumed she didn't want to be left alone. He wished he could read her thoughts about why, but she was still partially human and he couldn't get a read on her. However, he expected it to at least be easier.

Perhaps it's because they were from a different universe? The fact that they were using abilities gained in this universe was likely the reason that the humans, who were, of course, from the same universe as Eva, were unable to have their minds read.

Even though he couldn't read her thoughts, he had a decent idea on why she didn't want to be alone. He suspected that since she was kidnapped by pirates, she would want to be around the safest people possible at all times. That way, she couldn't be taken again. However, he didn't see it as such a good idea.

"Eva, why are you coming with us?"

The hybrid paused, uncertain on how to answer.

"I... I don't want to be left alone. I won't be in your way, and I can help if you want me too. I'm good with... computers."

Ajax wasn't sure how "computers" were something they needed an expert for. In fact, it was a pretty sorry reason why she wanted to go. When he thought about it, he couldn't think of any actual talents she had shown.

"That's not good enough. What else can you do?"

She thought once more, trying to come up with something. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of any combat-essential skills she had. What she knew how to do was simple arts, like cooking, painting, sometimes even singing. None of those were anything impressive, and they especially weren't combat skills. Not having anything to actually contribute, she just shook her head.

"Well then we can't let ya come. It's too dangerous, and you'd likely be a liability."

Eva had a frightened look flash across her features as she began to panic.

"N-No! Please let me come with you. I'll... I'll do anything you say!"

"I will not allow you to put yourself in danger as well as get in the way of actual soldiers."

"We'll take her."

Ajax looked to see Fox speaking to Eva, giving her his somewhat-charming-somewhat-annoying signature smug smile. However, it came off as reassuring more than anything.

"Really? Thank you!" Eva said, fiddling with her hair.

Ajax wanted to protest. It made no sense to bring her! She would only act as a hindrance, and she would be better off at home. He truly didn't understand why she wanted to go so badly. Of course, he had his theory, but even that didn't make much sense.

"Not a problem! Come aboard!"

As she boarded the Great Fox, Ajax remembered that he was also still supposed to speak with Slippy. He turned around to Reaper Squad to let them know what he was going to be doing.

"I'll be on the Great Fox. Just a reminder, in case you weren't told, we have a prisoner on the ship. You know what to do. Be professional and vigilant. That means not threatening the prisoner with an electric prod for fun. Julian."

Julian put on an innocent look when Fay overheard what Ajax said and gave a look of immense disapproval.

"I don't know what you mean, Laskaris. But if you say so!"

As Ajax shook his head while walking toward the Great Fox, he heard Damien whispering to the other humans.

"We have an electrical prod?"

"Don't get any ideas. Ajax will somehow find out and ruin our fun, as usual." Krieg whispered.

"I can hear you two. And you're right. I'll ruin every damn second of your fun." Ajax said, only half-joking.

Krieg waved him off dismissively, continuing toward the Crimson Tide with the other humans while Ajax entered the Great Fox. Stepping onto the boarding ramp, he turned to Fox and asked him a question.

"Fox, have you sent the coordinates of 'Fortuna' to my squad?"

"Yeah, Ajax! In fact, I decided to just send the coordinates of every known planet in the Lylat, plus some!"

Ajax was pleasantly surprised to learn that Fox had already taken care of this, as well as taking care of things for the future. It was an admirable quality to think ahead and take initiative in order for your team to succeed.

"Excellent. As you can tell, I'll be on your ship this time, if you don't mind."

"Sure thing. Make yourself at home."

Ajax nodded, though he didn't think that "making himself at home" was applicable for a ship built for combat purposes. However, he certainly intended to get at least somewhat comfortable while he was aboard the ship. Entering the Great Fox, he spotted Miyu behind Peppy Hare, who was busy typing something in on a device he had in his hands. Ajax slowed his pace for Miyu to catch up to him, the lynx smiling up at him.

"Glad to see you'll be joining us this time for the mission. Ready to hand Oikonny his own ass?" Miyu asked with an almost sadistic smile.

"Of course. I don't know why he even tried. His forces weren't nearly the size of what an army should be. I would go as far as to say that his navy wasn't even a hundredth of what even one of the independent systems has."

Miyu was shocked to hear the implications of an army that size. Yes, Oikonny didn't have a very sizable force, but neither did the CDF after the war with Andross. But his forces were still a threat. The fact that they were able to attack Corneria itself and battle for many days was a testament to the strength of his army even after having so many die for Andross. Yet with the humans, it was almost as if it was nothing at all.

It was frightening to imagine an army of the colossal aliens that outdid the Lylat in every way. They would outnumber them, posses superior technology, be physically superior in every way, and more. She suspected even a small fleet of humans could take over the Lylat with exceptional ease. The conversation also seemed to catch the attention of Peppy, who stopped typing on his device to speak up.

"Well that's quite an army you speak of, friend. Seems like I've got quite the catching up to do." the hare said with a chuckle. "I suppose I'll listen to you while you talk with Slippy. I might learn somethin'!"

Ajax nodded as he approached the ship's common area, taking a seat on a couch while Slippy got comfortable next to him. Peppy and Miyu found their own places, Miyu choosing to sit very close to Ajax, who wasn't entirely comfortable with the situation. However, he didn't stop her from getting close as she pulled her flask back out from between her breasts. Ajax still found it strange that it managed to stay in place, though he figured he could read her thoughts to find out. It seemed as though it had a clip that would hang on to her bra, keeping it from falling. Still, he wanted to have her explain why she did it.

"Miyu, why do you keep your flask there, rather than, say, on your belt?"

Miyu took a large swig and wiped her mouth before answering Ajax.

"So nobody else can get a hold of it. Duh."

"But if I really wanted it, that's not going to stop me."

Miyu smiled, ready for the teasing to ensue. Ajax realized that he had practically walked into what she was about to do.

"Oh, is that so? Go ahead and try it then." Miyu said, placing the flask back where it came from and opening her arms wide, leaving an opening for Ajax to get the container full of alcohol.

"I'm fine. Really."

Miyu raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"I think you just talk big game. You couldn't get it if you tried."

"Not starting this shit again."

Miyu groaned, frustrated at how boring Ajax could be.

"Fine, you absolute snore." Miyu joked.

Ajax smiled at her antics and turned to Slippy, finally able to speak with him on human technology.

"Well, Slippy, what did you want to know specifically?"

The toad looked at the human as he pulled up a list on a datapad, eager to discuss the topic.

"First, I'd, uh, like to know what you use as an energy source. We use plasma, and while it is effective, it is also highly dangerous."

Ajax was happy to speak on such a topic, especially since it was his father that co-developed the engines that popularized the energy type that the Union and Confederacy both used. The solar-nuclear hybrid engine, which was eventually adapted into solar-nuclear generators.

"An excellent choice of topic. Humans, for the most part, use a hybrid of solar and nuclear power. Essentially, we take photons from stars and use them as if they were nuclear particles by making them explode, releasing their energy. Some said it would be impossible, but we found a way."

Slippy was amazed at the implications. Not only was it pretty much a clean energy source, but it was also powerful and long-lasting. He hoped he could learn the secrets of this technology as soon as possible.

As he felt the ship take off, Slippy asked his next question.

"I see you can materialize items. How does that work?"

Ajax thought for a moment, not entirely sure how to explain it. Quantum tech was not his area of expertise at all.

"Well, I can't give a good explanation for that, but I'll do my best. Essentially, an item is scanned to the atomic level and then is stored in a quantum storage unit. It can hold many items, but only at a certain size, as the scanner and computer aren't powerful enough to process large items."

Ajax then activated his holopad, bringing up blueprints he had saved on it. He had taken the liberty of downloading the blueprints just in case he needed to repair his items. He could have repaired Julian's materializer, but he was busy. Besides, it wasn't his problem. That, and they were missing a part.

"Whoa! That's pretty complicated! Can I... have a copy?"

Ajax didn't see why not. In fact, he decided to let the toad have all of the blueprints. What was the harm in it?

"Give me your contact information, and I'll send you a copy of all the tech I have saved on this device."

Slippy was beaming in excitement. He was just so excited! How often did anyone ever have an opportunity to have so much alien technology just handed to them for research purposes? Slippy did as told, and was overjoyed when he received the blueprints and manuals, plus some more. Many devices he couldn't even tell what they were.

"What's this device right here? 'Hard Light Sword'? What's hard light?"

"Oh, that would be this."

Ajax pointed his arm away from everyone and activated the blade, the blade glowing faintly as Slippy admired it.

"It's made out of photon particles which have been given matter-like properties. Go ahead and touch it. Just don't touch the edge."

Slippy reached out, a bit afraid he was going to burn himself. However, as he touch the blade, he was pleasantly surprised to find it did not burn. He was also surprised as to how it felt. It didn't seem like a solid, but he certainly felt intense pressure where he felt, resembling hardness.

"A fine piece of scientific advancement. Hard light is very versatile, if a bit hard to control. It's used to aid in construction, combat, recreation, et cetra. Pretty cool, right?"

Slippy thought about all the possibilities for this technology. However, there was one important question.

"How strong is it?"

Ajax smiled, glad to answer the question.

"While it doesn't technically have strength, as it is energy, it does have a stability breaking point. To put it in terms of 'strength', though, it's about seventy-five percent as strong as steel. It may be weaker than steel, but it's definitely more handy than steel."

Slippy nodded, not able to think of anything that couldn't be answered by the blueprints given to him. However, there was one thing he wanted to know.

"How did you get access to these blueprints and manuals?"

Ajax smiled, answer ready.

"When you're as elite as we are, you can get anything you ask for."

Slippy supposed that made sense. Though he didn't like the idea of what "anything you ask for" meant. With no more questions, Ajax decided to kick back and relax for a moment. Krystal and Eva had come to the living area to take a seat as well, the two talking about the culture of their homeworlds. To Ajax, it was interesting to know that there were entire planets composed of the Spliced. They weren't exactly a common people, especially in the Union, so even seeing one is rare unless you were on Earth. For the most part, they all stuck to the independent systems.

Ajax was trying to think of something to do while they waited to arrive at Fortuna. Looking over to Miyu, who seemed lost in thought, he considered training with her again. He could also probably do the same with the rest of the Star Fox crew, minus Peppy and perhaps Slippy. The hare seemed a bit old, and Slippy obviously wasn't a very physical person.

"Miyu, would you like to train a bit with me and maybe the others right now? We have nothing else to do, so we might as well be productive."

"Sure thing, big guy. I need a quick refresher. Hey Krystal! We're heading to the gym to train. Want to come? Eva can come too."

Krystal nodded and stood up, Eva not fond of the idea of training.

"Don't worry, Eva. You don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

"You know, I think Eva could whip both of y'all. Being part human and all."

"Wait, she's part human?" Krystal asked, not quite understanding.

Ajax and Eva both nodded, Ajax deciding to do the explaining.

"Her kind are called the Spliced, and are hybrids between humans and animals. They were created illegally as a cheap labor force, but eventually the program that created them was discovered by Union law enforcement, which shut the program down and freed the hybrids. Unfortunately, that was a long time ago when people's views on the hybrids weren't entirely positive. Because of that, they were practically forced from the Union, against the pleas from the Union government, who wanted peace with them."

Miyu and Krystal both looked quite upset at the origin of the hybrids. People could be so cruel sometimes.

"What about now? Are they accepted?" Krystal asked.

Eva decided to answer this time.

"Only somewhat. In the Union, they are accepted as long as they are loyal to the Union. In the Confederacy, we have to be of some use to them. The only place where we are completely accepted is on our own worlds granted to us by independent systems or by the Union. After many, many years, our population has gone from a few hundred million to five hundred billion."

The Cornerians and Krystal were shocked at how many there were, yet they were still considered rare. Of course that brought up another important question.

"How many... how many humans are there, then?" Miyu asked.

Ajax thought about it for a moment, not entirely sure. He turned on his holopad wrist device and searched through it to find some information that may have been stored, only to find nothing on the subject. Instead, he would have to do the calculations in his head. Approximately how many humans were there across four galaxies and millions of planets?

"Well, I'd say about four hundred fifty quadrillion, about a third of those being in the Union, a third at least formerly in the Confederacy, and the rest being independent."

They were astounded. It was an almost unfathomable number to them. The Lylat had around sixty billion, with a few million in the Cornerian army. Just imagining the size of any human army was a terrifying thought. They felt lucky humans were not likely to invade them, as even an army significantly smaller than the CDF would absolutely demolish the Lylat.

"That's... a very scary thought. How many are in the military for the Union?" Miyu asked.

"Oh, I know this one for sure. Three hundred seventy-six billion, the Confederacy formerly having billions more since they forced all able-bodied people in certain sectors to serve when the time came."

As they suspected, it was a frightening prospect. They would be outmatched by a margin they didn't want to even imagine. They had more soldiers than there were people in the Lylat. Even one seemed nearly unstoppable, granted they were elite.

"Yeah, a pretty good sized army, right? Made combat a living hell. I swear, the amount of laser fire per battle could have turned the atmosphere of a small planet into plasma from pure concentrated heat."

Ajax looked at the time, seeing that it would be a good many hours until they arrived at Fortuna. Plenty of time for the training he had offered to the women following him. He would start off with the basics, then try and teach them a few tricks he had picked up while sparring with Krieg. Hopefully, they would leave with important knew skills. Otherwise, this was going to just hurt really bad afterward.

---

On the Crimson Tide...

Krieg and Damien walked down to the holding cells, Damien not yet knowing why. He and the massive Union soldier had grabbed some food, Krieg grabbing an extra tray. Damien assumed that there must be someone in the cell, and that they were going to feed them. Either that, or Krieg was going to be an asshole and eat it in front of the prisoner. Damien sort of hoped it was the latter, purely for comedic value. As they approached a particular cell, Krieg knocked and opened the cell door, revealing the prisoner.

Damien was shocked. Inside the cell wasn't some regular person. They weren't even a regular pirate.

They were Captain Leo McAllister. Pirate King.

"Well, looky here. Finally decided I need food to survive, eh? Wait, who the hell is that?"

Damien realized he was talking to him and was not sure what to do. He had heard stories of the Pirate King, so to see him slumped against the wall in a set of deactivated power armor as a prisoner of the Union was a strange experience.

"This is Damien Evans. Former Confederate fuckhead. Who the hell are you?" Krieg said.

Both of the others were shocked. Leo's pride was hurt immensely, and Damien just couldn't believe he had never heard of him.

"How do you not know? He's Captain Leo, the Pirate King. Known for his raids on freighter fleets and his vast crew of pirates?" Damien said, entirely surprised.

"See? The boy knows his stuff."

"Never heard of him. How is he a pirate king? I didn't know pirates had any kind of governing body." Krieg said to Damien, ignoring the pirate.

Leo laughed, acting as though he didn't have his pride essentially evaporated.

"Why, it must be because I never went on raids in Union territory. Any of the independent systems could tell you about me. As for the King thing, it's because I'm the grandson of Pirate King Algernon McAllister, son of Jett McAllister the twelfth."

"Well, I've never heard of them either, so..." Krieg trailed off. He knew of the McAllister business, however, the McAllister family only recently naming every other son after the first Jett.

"If it helps, Algernon McAllister was also known as..." Leo trailed off dramatically.

Krieg and Damien waited in suspense, wanting to know who it was he was descended from.

"The Ghost of Kuiper."

Krieg stood in silence. He now knew exactly who this was. The Ghost was the most notorious pirate in history, having been able to assemble a fleet of pirates, and as the name suggested, was able to take over the Kuiper belt. Even with so many Union ships protecting the area, he was somehow able to continue his raids on freighters until his mysterious disappearance. He had come from a wealthy family, his father owning the family company created by the first Jett McAllister many millennia ago. However, the Ghost of Kuiper did not want that life, stories say. So instead, he became the most wanted pirate of all time.

"Yes, you know of that name, of course. Naturally, I wanted to follow in his footsteps, much against my father's wishes. Have you heard of the raid on planet Retva four years ago? What am I saying? Of course you have. Yes, that was me."

"Wait, if you have such a large fleet at your command, why did you arrive with so few?" Damien asked.

"Consider this, kid. I need people to make me money when I'm not around. I shouldn't have to follow my fleet around everywhere for them to get something done. All I need to do is have a small crew accompany me on my travels. Plus, it helps keep me hidden."

Krieg rolled his eyes, thinking the story was quite stupid.

"I think you're a coward, personally. And a scumbag, just like the Ghost of Kuiper. Here's your food. Damien, keep a gun trained on him while I get him out of that armor."

Damien did as told, pointing new standard-issue Union rifle at the pirate while Krieg ripped open the back panel, dragging out the pirate, who's body was not able to move at the moment because of the lack of blood flow. Krieg picked up the heavy armor with a grunt of exertion and left the cell, leaving the food behind as he closed the cell door. Looking back, Damien spotted the pirate giving him a sly smile.

What was he thinking at that moment? Damien thought it could only be something bad, but he knew personally that those cells doors could not possibly be forced open.

Damien followed Krieg to the ship's armory, once again marveling at the equipment. Next to the large hangar-like door in the back was a small walker and a tank, as well as a table with Leo's large helmet on top. The helmet had gold paint where Leo's eye tattoo was and had a large red plume at the top, signifying his importance.

Krieg haphazardly tossed the bulky armor next to the helmet before heading back to the ship's recreation center to relax. Passing by the cell, they could see Leo shoot them a smug grin as he ate his food. Damien had almost forgotten about his, which had been left up on a table. Once they reached their destination, they set their trays down and began to eat.

"So what are we supposed to be doing again?" Damien asked.

"Capturing some monkey named 'Oikonny'. If we're lucky, he'll surrender and save us the time."

Damien nodded as he prodded his food, not quite able to appreciate the instant meal. It was decent, but he was used to what Janine would make everyday. Damien looked at the time, seeing that it was still noon. By the time they reached Fortuna, it would be much later. He wasn't sure where they would land on the planet, so he couldn't b sure if he was supposed to prepare for a day or night mission. Hopefully, he would get to use that Union power armor again.

He supposed he would find out in due time. For now, he would just wait. It really was a strange situation for him. He was so loyal to the Confederacy before, but now, especially when there is no more war between human nations, he questioned his loyalty. Was the Confederacy actually right? While they did have a sense of freedom, most in the Confederate territories were forced to join the war. But that was okay, right? It was all in the name of freedom...

Or was it?

He decided to not think about it. All that would do is serve as a form of stress that he really didn't need at the moment, being that he was about to go on a mission. That thought also made Damien consider something.

He was actually going on a mission.

Before, it was always some simple order that he had. "Hold this area" or "Shoot in that direction". This time, there was a set goal with a set end in mind. There would be no more endless battles of attrition. Now, there was an actual objective. That fact made Damien feel... important somehow. It made him feel as though he was an essential part of something, rather than the fodder he was told to be.

It was a pretty damn good feeling.

---

Ajax shook his head in disapproval at the group before him. They had only been training for an hour and a half, yet they looked exhausted. The group consisted of Miyu and Krystal of course, but both Fox and Falco decided to join right before they got started. At the moment, none of them wanted to stand up.

"Come on, y'all. This ain't even that bad. If you think this is hard, wait until you see what fourth grade gym class is like!" Ajax joked.

"You know, I wouldn't be... surprised if you were... serious right now." Miyu said between deep breaths.

Ajax chuckled and helped the group to their feet, seeing as they wouldn't get up on their own. The training consisted of mostly sparring, though Ajax had to slow himself down for them. The rest was doing exercises while wearing weights, such as doing laps or other various workouts. Mostly, though, it was sparring. Ajax taught them the best stances and techniques for different scenarios, how to outlast your opponent, and how to predict their moves.

Overall, they performed poorly. However, that was for human soldier standards. For Cornerians, he didn't know how to compare them. He had never seen the CDF in action, so he could only hope they were better than the tired heaps of flesh that were laying on the ground a moment ago.

"What kind of... robots do they... train you guys to be?" Falco asked while gulping in large amounts of air.

Krystal seemed to be the least tired of the group, much to Ajax's surprise, but she too was clearly incredibly tired.

"I think... we should rest for a while." she suggested.

Everyone else wholeheartedly agreed and headed to the recreation area. Eva, who was snacking on a bag of unusual Cornerian chips, tagged along. She didn't train with the group, but she did watch as they trained. She wasn't a fan of violence, but their sparring matches were quite entertaining. Even with Ajax attempting to move like molasses, the "Cornerians" were beaten quite easily, though Krystal managed to land a hit that pissed off Ajax, who hid his anger very well.

Once they reached the recreation area, they all took a seat somewhere, Miyu and Krystal taking a spot next to Ajax while Eva sat in a chair alone. Ajax wanted to know more about the hybrid and thought that perhaps he could learn more about the Spliced in general if he spoke to her. Besides that, it would help pass the time.

"Hey Eva. Where are you from, exactly?"

Eva was startled, as she did not expect anyone to talk to her. Since she was rescued, besides the introductions from the rest of the crew, she had been spoken to very few times. However, she was used to it. Even where she was from, a primarily Spliced world, she was somewhat of a loner. She liked to try to make friends, but was afraid to do so.

"I... I'm from the planet Messis. A farm world populated by other Spliced."

Ajax nodded, but still wanted to know more.

"What did you do there? What was your occupation?"

"I was training to become a technician. I have just recently graduated from high school, so I don't have a lot of... experience."

Ajax was a bit surprised at how young she was. Just recently finished high school? She had to be nineteen at most, then. Of course, it never hurt to ask and be completely sure.

"Just how old are you, Eva?"

"I'm... eighteen. In exactly a week, though, I'll be nineteen."

Once again, Ajax just nodded. He would have to get her something. But what could he give her? He didn't know what she liked, mostly due to the fact that she hardly talked. This time, though, it seemed Miyu beat her to the question.

"Really? Well that's great! What do you want for your birthday?"

Eva stared blankly for a moment, but then furrowed her brow and tilted her head in confusion.

"...What?"

It was Miyu's turn to be confused now.

"What do you mean, 'What'? Your birthday present of course!"

Eva didn't understand what she was talking about. When Miyu received a blank stare again, she assumed that Eva had never had a birthday present before.

"Eva, most people are given presents on their birthday as a form of celebration. I'm guessing that you've never experienced this, so we'll have to be the first." Ajax said, beating Miyu to it.

Eva started to speak, but faltered. She didn't know what to say. They would give her a gift simply for living another year? She was more than joyful at the prospect.

"I... Well... Thank you! I don't know what to say!" Eva said, a large smile across her face.

Ajax smiled back, happy to see Eva smile. It was the first time he had actually seen her smile, as he recalled. He could tell that Eva was a very sad person, so this simple gesture of kindness must have been quite the boost for her. Still, it was strange that anyone at all didn't know of the birthday tradition. Just what kind of world was she from?

"No problem, Eva. It's tradition, after all. However, that reminds me. What was it like on Messis?"

Eva thought for a moment, not entirely sure how to answer.

"I suppose it's... quiet. Not much interesting happens, and traders only come by every once in a while. Technologically, we are a bit behind, I think, but that won't stop me from achieving my dream. Speaking of which, when will you be able to return me home?"

Ajax's eyes widened. He had forgotten to tell both her and Leo. Taking a deep breath, he decided to break the news to her slowly.

"Eva, there's something you should know. You see, when both you and the pirates were transported by that rogue warp gate, y'all were in the same situation as us other humans here. What happened was a Confederate weapon was activated, sending you to another universe entirely."

Eva gasped, already knowing in her heart what that meant.

"Eva, I'm so, so sorry. Really, I am. But none of us can ever return home. We're stuck here. Forever..."

The hybrid's eyes teared up, Eva placing her hands over her mouth as she began to sob. Se didn't want to believe it. How did that make sense? Why would they create a warp device as a weapon? However, she saw nothing but pure sincerity on Ajax's face.

"O-oh my god... Why? Why me?" Eva cried.

Krystal got up and sat in the chair next to Eva, putting a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Fox and Falco, not comfortable with the emotional situation, got up and quietly left unnoticed by everyone but Ajax. As Eva sobbed, Ajax also got up and moved toward Eva. When she looked up, he did the best thing he could think of.

He gave her a big, warm hug. It was simple, but it could go a long way. Fortunately, it seemed to do the trick, as the leopard hybrid calmed down and cried into Ajax's shoulder. Boy did he make girls cry a lot. At least, a lot more than he wanted to.

"There, there. Let it all out. I'm sorry we didn't tell you earlier. Truly, I am. But just know I'm here for you. If you ever need anything, I'm here."

Eva slowed her sobbing, crying quietly now. They stayed like that for a few moments until Eva pulled away, wiping her eyes.

"Thank you, Ajax. Thank you for being there for me."

Miyu and Krystal gave small smiles at the display. It was nice to see Ajax being so kind to the poor woman.

"Of course, Eva. And I mean it. If you ever need anything, let me know."

Eva just nodded, once again wiping her eyes. It was good to have someone that had your back. Once Eva was somewhat over the initial shock, she went to a room to sleep while the group discussed different subjects for a while, not having much to do until they arrived to Fortuna.

Ajax was ready, and actually ready to complete their objective. They would end this war.

Once and for all.

---

Fortuna was in sight. Immediately, Fox opened up comms to give orders and discuss a plan of attack. If Oikonny was there, they would surely face some of the most, if not the most, resistance they've faced yet.

"This is Fox McCloud. How copy, over?"

"I hear you loud and clear, McCloud, over." Julian said on the other end.

"We'll be conducting a search for Oikonny. Prepare your ship for searching purposes and follow us, over."

"Copy that. Over and out."

Fox decided to just start with the most obvious location and headed to an area picked up on his scanner. The area in particular was an area that at least formerly was full of Venomian activity. If Oikonny was smart, he wouldn't pick that location. However, it was the easiest to survive in until rescue. Fox breached the atmosphere and stayed up high, not wanting to be seen by any hostile forces. The Crimson Tide went quite a bit lower, but turned on its cloaking device. Once again, Fox envied the human technology.

As they passed over the area, they could see the remnants of a base of some kind. Fox knew that there used to be CDF bases on Fortuna before the war, but this didn't look anything like those. It was quite clear that this was a Venomian outpost. Scanning again, he picked up activity in the area. However, a message from the humans caught his attention.

"Fox, this is Julian. We're picking up hostiles, but we're picking up something else as well. Heading to investigate, over."

"Copy that, Julian. In the meantime, what will you have us do? Over."

"Just a moment, over."

Fox waited as Julian presumably waited for orders. Turning to Peppy, the old hare gave a small smile at the Fox.

"Someone giving orders to Fox besides Pepper? Why, that's something I never thought I'd see again." the hare said with a chuckle.

"Hey, we're on equal grounds here." Fox retorted with a smile.

"Whatever you say, Fox."

Fox laughed with the hare, glad to have him back. Fox had been quite worried about Peppy's health for a while, so he was relieved to know that Peppy was just a bit ill. Strangely enough, however, was that Fox couldn't shake the feeling that somehow... that wasn't the whole story. That there was... something else that going on. But what?

"Fox, this is Julian. Orders are to follow us down to the clearing below. From there, we'll scout out the area, over."

"Understood. Over and out."

Fox headed down to the clearing he spotted almost directly underneath their ship. He had to be careful as to not hit the invisible ship they were following, though it was made quite clear where they were when they landed in the clearing, blowing the leaves of the trees hard. Fox took a spot near the edge, spotting the humans stepping out of the ship. Damien was equipped with power armor, and Julian had a standard rifle in hand. The rest were equipped with their usual equipment. Even Janine was armed.

"Ah, my old bones are gonna hate me for this." Peppy said, pulling out a blaster as he headed to exit the ship with the rest of the team.

The Star Fox team stepped out of their ship, Ajax taking the lead as he went to meet the other humans. Krieg had already given orders for Damien to stay behind and guard the ship as usual, much to the dismay of the young man.

"Why can't I come with you guys for once?"

"Because we specialize in missions like this. You were infantry. Confederate infantry at that."

Damien growled a low, feral growl, but followed his orders. Damien found a spot at the edge of the clearing to hide in, giving him a good vantage point to take on any attackers. They weren't worried about the Crimson Tide, seeing that it was still cloaked, but the Great Fox didn't have cloaking technology. That being said, it was still vulnerable.

"Even Janine gets to go." Damien complained to nobody in particular.

Janine gave a small laugh, but quickly tried to hide it as to not upset Damien further. Realizing that their group was large anyway, Fox figured he could leave one of his own to help Damien guard the ships. As he considered who to pick, he decided Slippy was a decent choice, considering that, realistically, he wasn't much help in the field.

"Slippy, if you would, I'd like for you to stay behind with Damien."

Fortunately, Slippy didn't complain, instead opting to just nod his head and take a spot near Damien while everyone else headed into the jungle toward the Venomian base. It was dusk, and the sun was setting quickly. Not wanting to trudge through the jungle at night, they picked up the pace, Ajax and Krieg using their hard light swords to slice through any branches or overgrown bramble that got in the way. As Ajax sliced through a particularly heavy branch, he heard a loud hissing noise in the distance, much like the large reptiles he had encountered on previous missions against the Confederacy.

If they were lucky, they wouldn't be anything like the Sikar beasts he had battled in the past. If they were anything like those monsters, the team would have the unfortunate luck of battling bear-sized reptiles with razor-sharp spines on all parts of the body with claws the size of a child's forearm.

Not fun at all.

Checking his surroundings, he saw the Cornerians lagging behind a bit, their boots getting stuck in thick mud or getting caught on plant life. Krieg seemed to notice as well and slowed his pace, the two other humans doing the same.

"You guys move way too fast." Falco said plainly.

Ajax just shrugged and continued on his way, this time at a much slower pace. If he was to be honest, Ajax didn't like doing missions with the Cornerians. To him, they were both a hindrance and a liability. If he had his way, he would have left them behind on Corneria, or even with Eva on the ship. Ajax knew the base was very close, as he could see more trails through the woods made by patrols. He could tell they were patrol trails rather than animal trails by how cleanly they were made. That, and the boot prints.

As Ajax observed the prints, he heard the hissing again, this time right by him. Turning around rapidly, he saw that the offender was, in fact, a large reptile. Unfortunately, it had traveled with a pack. For some odd reason, though, the pack did not attack, choosing to just watch the group. It seemed odd, but Ajax knew the creatures were being cautious as they sized up the team. Then, Ajax noticed the blood on the reptiles. Ajax realized that the reason for the lack of hostilities was because they had, in fact, eaten recently.

Ajax hoped the prey at least died a somewhat-painless death.

That being said, Ajax didn't want to stick around long enough for the reptiles to become hungry again. Following a trail, he could hear a sigh of relief from the Star Fox team. They would not have to trudge through difficult terrain for the moment. It didn't take long until the base was in sight downhill. At the moment there was no activity to speak of, and the number of vehicles was minimal. In fact, besides a few transports, there was only a single light tank.

Ajax gave the signal to halt, moving in to scout out the area as the rest stayed behind. Ajax could sense a few life forms in the bunkers, quite a few in a single area below. Ajax couldn't get a read on any thoughts underground, as the "signal" was too weak, and the ones above ground were dreaming. However, that information was enough for Ajax. Heading back, he told the team what he had learned. However, he had to play it safe around the Cornerians in order for them to learn of the humans' abilities.

"I believe there are troops in that bunker, and I suspect they'll have prisoners."

Fox nodded while Krieg took point and headed down to the bunker, heavy blaster in hand. Preferably, they could do this silently. However, that wasn't likely, and was also not always an option. Miyu and Krystal both pulled out knives that looked almost like short swords in their hands, ready to use them when needed.

"Actually, I'd like you guys to make a formation up on this hill, and Krieg and I will traverse through the base." Ajax said, receiving a nod in return from Fox and Julian.

Miyu and Krystal looked disappointed, so Ajax considered letting them come. It might help them become better warriors.

"Tell you what. Miyu and Krystal can come as well. The rest of you, keep us covered."

Upon hearing this, Miyu and Krystal became excited. Krieg on the other hand was less than happy.

"Wait, what? Why are they coming with us?"

"To further their training."

"Is there not a better time?"

"Might as well let them now."

Krieg shook his head, but just continued into the base, Ajax, Miyu, and Krystal following closely. As they stalked toward the bunker, they could hear faint voices coming from behind a warehouse. Quickly, they hid behind another small building, the patrol passing by them, talking loudly.

"I don't know, man. Oikonny said that they somehow sensed the panic of the base after Oikonny retreated back here. It's like they know that we're barely hanging on. Now, they're tearing us apart!"

Ajax assumed the Venomian was talking about the reptiles that were stalking the team earlier, said reptiles mysteriously disappearing moments ago. Once the patrol passed, the four headed into the bunker, the door of the bunker carelessly left open. Ajax checked his corners, spotting a sleeping ape in a chair. Ajax signaled for the ape to be eliminated while he searched the next section, finding it empty. Turning back around, he spotted Miyu slitting the throat of the ape quickly before Krieg grabbed the body and hid it inside a large munitions crate.

Miyu looked disgusted with herself, looking at her blood covered hands. Clearly, she was not as prepared to do the deed as she expected. The group found a staircase and descended into the lower level, not seeing anyone on the way down. It was strange to see the base so empty. Clearly there was activity, but it was so... sparse.

It didn't make sense. Scanners had picked up activity, and there was a patrol. But where was everybody else? Were they really killed by those reptiles so fast? It seemed unlikely. Ajax put those thoughts to the side as they reached what appeared to be prison cells. A pair of guards were at a table frantically working with a radio, no signal to be found. Taking advantage of the distraction, Ajax and Krieg rushed over and pierced through the guards, ending them silently. Looking around, they could see that there was only one cell with many prisoners inside, the darkness making it hard to tell who the five prisoners were.

The humans got to work on opening the door, slicing through the steel and frightening the prisoners in the process. Most of the way through, voices were heard coming down the stairs. Miyu and Krystal took positions while Ajax left Krieg to finish removing the door.

"There aren't any patrols left! They're coming for us, and we need to have-"

Ajax saw that the speaker was none other than Oikonny himself. The coward was with probably a dozen armed guards, he himself carrying a blaster as well. Ajax got to work by blasting three of the guards, the group immediately turning around and running.

"They're here! They've broken in!"

Ajax just became more confused. What the hell were they on about? That thought would have to be dealt with later, as Krieg had managed to wrench open the cell door, groggy and weary prisoners coming out of the cell. The team was ready to give chase to Oikonny when Miyu saw something that made her drop everything.

"H-holy shit." Miyu said, dropping her weapon to the ground as she walked toward the prisoners. Ajax was going to ask her what the hell she was thinking when he turned around and was shocked as well.

"M-Momma? Dad? Oh my god! Mom! Dad!"

Miyu rushed over and embraced the two lynxes, everyone else in the room shocked at the sight. Ajax thought they were dead? He was never told how they died, and neither was Miyu, but he didn't think that the people that told Miyu her parents were killed flat-out lied. But that was not important. Oikonny was getting away. Ajax turned on his communicator and barked out an order.

"Julian! Oikonny is escaping out the bunker! Stop him!"

"Already on it- Gah! Lucky shot, you fucker!"

Ajax turned to the reunited family, seeing the three lynxes in a tight, loving embrace.

"T-They told me you were... d-d-dead. For years... I thought you were dead!" Miyu said between sobs.

Krieg was busy giving orders to the other prisoners, who stayed put as ordered while Krieg rushed to help capture Oikonny.

"W-We're so happy to see you, baby. But we weren't killed. Just... captured." Miyu's mother explained.

Ajax read her thoughts, seeing that she and Miyu's father, both working for the CDF with her father as a soldier and the mother as an Intelligence officer, were shot down during the takeover of Fortuna by Andross, the two being the only survivors. At the moment, they were giving Miyu the whole story. Instead of hearing it again, Ajax shouted to Krystal as he himself headed topside.

"Keep these prisoners safe! I'm gonna catch this bastard."

Ajax rushed up the stairs to be greeted by more Venomian forces than expected. Krieg was pushing forward slowly, keeping the Venomians behind cover while the squad on the hill took out any targets they could. Many were boarding transports, Oikonny himself presumably already on one. Ajax jetpacked on top of the bunker, firing explosive shots at the transports. However, some were already in the air and escaping. Taking the chance shot, he fired at the escaping ships hitting two of three, both crashing down in the distance. The final one was heading up into the atmosphere when a shot from the Crimson Tide decimated the transport.

The remaining Venomians made a run for it toward the jungle, most shot in the back while running. Ajax used his jetpack to fly toward the edge of the jungle before sprinting after the stragglers. Ajax busted through branches to catch the Venomians, grabbing one close by and slamming his skull into a tree while he ran, the skull exploding on contact. He caught up to a few more, blasting them in the backs as he double-timed it toward the last one. Unfortunately for the lizard, he tripped over as Ajax jumped into the air, landing on the reptile with a loud CRUNCH.

Satisfied, he headed back to see everyone else gathered in the middle of the base, glad to see they had not seen the brutality.

"Those two ships went down, but there may be survivors. Fay, Falco, and Julian, escort those soldiers to the ship. Everyone else, with me."

Miyu turned to her parents and gave them one final hug before wiping her eyes and following Ajax. Janine spotted Miyu's bloody hands and reached for her medical bag when she realized it wasn't her blood.

"Damn, Miyu. Got your hands dirty, eh?"

Miyu smiled and chuckled a bit as she jogged to keep pace with Ajax.

"Yeah, but I don't care. I finally found out that my parents are alive. Alive! And they're coming home safely."

Janine smiled at the lynx, feeling how happy the lynx truly was. It was a happiness that couldn't be described. It was something beautiful. What wasn't beautiful, however, was the sudden change of scenery. Rather than the green jungle that was there previously, scorched trees and dirt were everywhere, a clear sign of a crash. But the odd part was that it was too large of a crash to be from the transports. Even more disturbing was the sheer quantity of dead Venomians scattered about.

If Ajax had to guess, he would assume that there were dozens, if not over a hundred fresh corpses lying about. It was strange, as they didn't have claw marks or teeth marks. Instead, they had... blaster wounds? Perhaps they panicked and started in-fighting.

However, as they continued onward, they could hear what sounded like combat in the distance. Once they reached their goal, they found out just why that was.

"SUCK MY MASSIVE HUMAN COCK YOU FREAKS!"

Ajax froze in his tracks.

Human?

The others were just as surprised. As they got closer, they could see the conflict.

On top of a hill was a ship about half the size of the Crimson Tide crashed on top of it, Venomian forces being eliminated rapidly by the soldiers at the top of the hill. Upon closer inspection, Ajax could see that these weren't just any soldiers.

These were Union Rangers.

How were they here? How long were they here? There was only one way to truly find out. Ajax rushed out into the battle, calling out his identification.

"Lieutenant Ajax Laskaris of Reaper Squad! Here to provide assistance!"

All firing ceased, even from the Venomians.

"Wait... What the fu-"

A Venomian shot interrupted the Ranger as it struck his cover, Ajax blasting the ape in the skull before sweeping the base of the hill followed by the Star Fox team as well as his own. However, a thought crossed his mind as they followed.

"These are friendly too! Hold your fire!"

The Rangers complied while the team finished off the last Venomians, Miyu and Krystal chasing the last one down with their knives in hand. He was sprinting away fast, but was ultimately halted by a tackle from Miyu, who punched him in the face multiple times before holding her blade to his neck.

"It's Oikonny! Hold still, you fuckin' ape. Or else we'll slit your throat."

The ape panicked before being punched in the face by Miyu, who took a sick bit of pleasure from getting revenge on the ape who imprisoned her parents, causing her grief. While they secured Oikonny, Ajax headed up the hill to meet the Rangers. There were three of them, their vertical-slit visors giving them the distinct look of a Ranger.

"It's an honor to meet you, Lieutenant. I'm Lieutenant Luke Holton." the man said almost monotonously.

Another Ranger approached to introduce himself. The man was short for the time period, standing at six-foot one. The Star Fox team and other humans had come up the hill as well, Falco immediately spotting the shorter human.

"Wait, a human I'm taller than? No way!"

The Ranger growled and approached the avian, who now looked as though he regretted existing.

"Yeah? Ever get your ass kicked by a short guy, you freak?"

"John, cut it out." Luke ordered.

John stood down, huffing before turning around to properly introduce himself.

"Sergeant John Raicher. Good to finally meet one of the elites."

Ajax nodded in acknowledgement before turning to the third and final Ranger, who enthusiastically introduced himself.

"Sergeant Milo Ulvarrson." he said with a slight Scandinavian accent. "Is my younger brother still a member of your squad?"

Ajax once again was shocked by the introduction of a family member. Unfortunately, he would have to deliver the bad news. Sighing heavily, he removed his helmet and looked the man in the visor.

"Sergeant, I'm sorry to say that Ivan has disappeared, his tracker going dark recently. While he may be alive, we don't know where to find him."

Milo froze, shaking his head in disbelief, freezing for a good twenty seconds before removing his own helmet, revealing a man who looked like Ivan with a stronger jawline. Immediately, he doubled over and puked, the intensity of what he was just told hitting him all at once. To his credit, after he wiped his mouth and stood back up he managed to keep his composure together.

"I... How did he disappear?"

Ajax wasn't entirely sure how it happened himself, if he was to be honest. However, he would go off of Eva's story.

"A Spliced woman told me that he was captured by a pirate woman when the Spliced woman was being held hostage, Ivan trading himself for the Spliced."

Milo grew angry upon hearing this, baring his teeth and letting out a low growl. Ajax was incredibly puzzled by how these Rangers acted. They were very aggressive, perhaps even feral at times. Why were they like this? Just how long had they been here? Though he supposed that they were only slightly more aggressive than the average Ranger.

"He sacrificed himself for one of those mutants? Why? Why would he let himself, one of the known universe's most elite, let himself be captured or killed for some freak?" Milo demanded, barely keeping his voice below a shout.

Ajax wasn't sure how to respond, but he didn't like the way Milo thought. Ivan did a heroic deed, as all soldiers should, yet his older brother was upset about it?

"Ivan did something heroic. Saving innocents is what we do. Or is that not important to you?"

"Sir, with all due respect, that's my brother, and now he's gone. I hear about him after so many years of not seeing him at all, just to find out he's been captured!"

"I understand, Sergeant. But we you have to understand that what he did was right."

Milo went silent, still growling. Oikonny had been restrained completely, Miyu smiling widely at her handiwork. Ajax just nodded his head to Milo respectfully before heading over to Luke, who was searching through a crate at the moment.

"We have a ship for your team to leave on. Gather your things, and we'll get off this rock."

Holton just turned around for a moment to nod before closing the lid to the crate, having gathered what he needed. The rest of the Rangers had gathered their things as well, putting them in their quantum storage packs. Instead of following Reaper Squad and Star Fox, however, they headed into the crashed ship. Curious, Ajax followed close behind. As they entered the ship, Ajax saw that there were many things unusual about the ship, even when considering it was destroyed. Adorning many parts of the ship were things like hammocks or even campfires.

"What's with the fires and camping stuff inside the ship?" Ajax asked.

"We couldn't let the aliens see us at night, so we had to make the fires in the ship. The ship filters kept the smoke from killing us." he explained.

To Ajax, that actually made sense. Continuing through the ship, they eventually reached what looked like a med-bay. However, rather than being used for its intended purpose, it was full of what appeared to be body bags. Ajax understood why they had come here. They were going to pay respects to their fallen allies. When Ajax looked to his right, he saw John petting... a dog?

"They died in the crash. All of them. When we were sent here, an error occurred where our ship was disabled, forcing us toward the planet's surface. By all rights, even we shouldn't be alive." Luke explained.

In the med-bay-turned-morgue, over a dozen bodies were present. The three remaining Rangers passed by each one, paying their individual respects, saying a few passing words before turning back to leave.

"The ship is rigged to blow on my signal. Let's get out of here and give this place our parting gift."

That made Ajax pick up the pace. Leaving the ship with the rangers and dog, he gave the order to head back to the ship. Krieg carried Oikonny over his shoulder, marching in front of the group while Ajax watched that pack of reptiles he had seen before.

"Did you ever have any trouble with those reptiles?" Ajax asked the Lieutenant.

"Those? Ha! No way! They're scavengers. They never hunt for themselves."

That could only mean... the Rangers were the ones the Venomians were so afraid of? It made sense. They were Union soldiers, after all.

"What's y'all's story? How did you get here, and what have you been doing?"

Luke turned to Ajax, seemingly prepared for this exact question.

"We were a volunteer group for experimental technology. The interdimensional warp gate. You must know what I mean, considering you're here. When we went through the gate about five years ago, our ship was damaged, and most of us died in the crash. Only us and the team pet, Gmork, made it. We were tracked by those alien guys, and they engaged us in combat when we introduced ourselves. Since then, we've been killing as many as possible."

Ajax nodded, believing he would likely do the same. Eventually, the Great Fox was in sight. Mentally punching in a code, Ajax turned off the invisibility cloak on the Crimson Tide, revealing the black ship to the group. The Star Fox team boarded their ship while the humans boarded the Crimson Tide. The Rangers and Gmork the dog followed Krieg and the others while Ajax pondered which ship to go on. He wanted to meet Miyu's parents, but it felt more right to join the Rangers after so long stranded.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Damien asked, genuinely confused. Julian, Fay, and Falco exited the Great Fox, also surprised at the sight of the Rangers.

"They're Rangers who have been stranded here for years. They're the ones who have been hunting the Venomians on Fortuna. There are also a few prisoners we rescued."

Luke gave a small wave before leading the rest of the Rangers onto the ship. Gmork growled at the Cornerians, Fay obviously scared of the animal. Miyu finally took notice of the animal and was baffled at the sight.

"What the hell is that?"

Ajax looked down at the animal, understanding that this was going to be strange to explain.

"It's a dog."

"What? Like the race of Cornerians?"

"Yes... and no. Like them, but... unevolved I suppose. They're the reason we called you 'talking animals' the first time we saw you."

Miyu nodded, but had another question on her mind.

"Are there unevolved lynxes where you're from?"

"Of course. Every race in the Lylat has an unevolved counterpart in our universe. You should see how different birds are in our universe." Ajax said, catching Falco's attention.

"Well what do they look like?"

"It's a secret."

Falco glared at Ajax, but said nothing. Gmork still growled, but was calming down as Ajax pet the animal. Fay seemed less bothered by him and got closer, nervously moving in to pet the black dog. The dog continued to growl, but was much quieter as Fay pet the dog's head, scratching behind its ears. Ajax could tell that for her, it was a surreal experience, considering she was a dog.

Krystal, who had been watching quietly the whole time, had an idea of her own.

"Ajax, were there unevolved humans? Or do you think there are some here?"

Ajax chuckled a bit, thinking it was an interesting question.

"It depends on who you ask. While there are still some who believe humans were created by God, most believe that we evolved from apes. Personally, I don't care where we came from. I focus on the present and future."

Miyu and Krystal thought about it, and could see the resemblance to Venomian apes. However, the humans were nowhere near as ugly. It was very obvious that the humans were superior beings, at least in that regard.

Ajax suddenly had another confidence boost. It sure was easy to look great in the eyes of Cornerians.

Then, Ajax heard the clanking of metal behind him and turned around to see Luke coming back out of the ship.

"I remembered that we have forgotten something. Follow me, as I may need your assistance."

Deciding to help the Ranger, Ajax followed him back into the jungle, but in a slightly different direction than where the crashed ship was. Going up a different hill, it was clear this hill was much taller than any other he had seen on the planet so far. Up at the top there was a single tree, with something else at the base, though Ajax couldn't tell what. As they approached the top, it became clear what it was.

Sitting peacefully at the base of the tree was an old Union android. It was like other androids of its time, as it was faceless and built for efficiency. While it had been surpassed by modern androids, it was still an amazing machine capable of combat and having a distinct personality. Modern combat models were much sleeker and more powerful with faster reaction speeds, but this model was by no means a bad one.

This particular android was overgrown with plant life, and was dirty. While the alloy used to make it wasn't able to rust, it was still in a state of disrepair. Luke knelt down to the android's level, putting a hand on its shoulder. He then took off his helmet to reveal his poorly self-cut black hair, his facial hair having grown out as well. He had no scars on his well-tanned skin, unlike every member of Reaper Squad, but there was no doubt he was an experienced combatant.

"Advanced Recon Combatant Android, Ranger Model 216, ARCA 216 for short. They were my friend, and a trusted companion to Theta Squad. One day, we told them to go scouting. Months later, we found them here with a laser hole in their energy port. With no way to repair it, we were forced to leave them. You might not care, but to us they were our friend. Android or not, they deserve respect." Luke said with the most emotion Ajax had heard from him yet, even still not being much at all.

Ajax nodded in understanding. Reaper Squad's ship had an AI, but it was shut off, as it drained too much energy and didn't output enough to be worthwhile. It also had a robotic body it could be transferred to, but it would hardly use it. Really, they didn't have to worry about energy, but they never knew when they might really need it. That, and it was recommended by the AI herself.

As Luke patted the android on the shoulder, Ajax remembered something. When Luke started to walk away, Ajax picked up the machine with a grunt of exertion, much to Luke's surprise.

"What are you doing? Leave them in their final resting place."

Ajax shook his head.

"No. Back on our ship, we have a spare energy port that was kept for our AI's body. It's very high-powered, and will serve ARCA well. Worry not. You'll get your friend back." Ajax promised.

Luke thought for a moment. Ajax wasn't sure why, when it should have been obvious to allow it.

"They died on a mission, meaning it was an honorable death. I'm not sure I can guarantee that again."

Baffled, Ajax questioned the Ranger.

"Honorable death? That's what's important to you? Not the life of your companion?"

The Ranger chuckled as if Ajax was being foolish.

"Everything we do is so we can leave a legacy. Dying with honor ensures that will happen. It's the goal for all Rangers, as well as many other branches like the ship-boarding Marines. As an Elite, surely you know that?"

He wasn't wrong. Ajax had, in fact, been told the importance of honor on the battlefield. However, he wasn't told that he was supposed to die on the battlefield. Was that what the Marines and Rangers were told? To just sacrifice themselves in a blazing inferno of glory and death? It was strange, especially for Rangers. Ajax thought Rangers were supposed to be the silent, elite scouts that kept track of the enemy.

Then, he remembered something else. Back when he was simple infantry, he recalled seeing a massive explosion from behind enemy lines. When he asked what happened, an officer simply said, "Rangers". But, there was no celebration for them. There was no news about the heroes, nor did anyone speak a word on it. Ajax thought that this was to keep their operations secret, but it came to light what really happened.

A Ranger had suicide-bombed an ammunition depot in an enemy base.

But why would that be encouraged? He wouldn't allow this kind of mindset to continue.

"I won't allow that kind of sacrificial behavior. Not only is it dangerous to yourself, but potentially to your allies as well. We're going to save 216, and you aren't going to stop me. As an Elite, I outrank you."

Luke had yet to put his helmet back on, so it was easy to see the sudden rage flash across the previously emotionless face. Letting out a sigh that turned to a growl, Luke nodded his head in agreement. Slowly, his anger turned more melancholy, though it wasn't obvious why.

"You're right. It shouldn't be my choice anyway. Let's get them back to working order."

The two trekked back to the ships, seeing everyone else standing around waiting. The Cornerians, especially Slippy, were immediately fascinated by the android in Ajax's arms. They had never seen a robot like it before, as it was clearly much more advanced than R.O.B. judging by its sleekness and components hidden beneath alloy. Of course, it could just be for visual purposes, but it certainly looked well manufactured.

Ajax carried ARCA 216 onto the human ship, followed by Luke and the other humans. Ajax went eventually found his way to the ship's workshop, where he grabbed the energy port and quickly replaced the damaged one. Then, Ajax plugged the android up and turned to leave the plant life-covered robot.

"They'll take a few hours to charge. I'm going to be on the Cornerian ship, so I suppose I'll see you in a few hours. If you need anything, let my squad know."

"Cornerians? Are those the animal people?"

Ajax nodded, having forgotten that he had not told the Ranger what the Cornerians were called. Luke opted to wait by the android, picking off plants that had grown on them while Ajax went to leave the ship. Ajax passed by the rest of his team, Janine carrying the dog, Gmork, in her arms and baby-talking him. Stepping off the ship, the Reaper headed to the Great Fox, who only had Peppy waiting outside of it.

"Look who decided to join us! Not to be sarcastic, of course. Come on, let's get off this planet. The moisture is terrible!"

The human laughed, though he wasn't affected by the environment because of his armor. Boarding the ship, he headed to the recreation area to see the Cornerian soldiers sitting on the couches, some in tears of joy. It was likely that they had been prisoners for years, and this was the first time that they had been free since then. The three that weren't Miyu's parents were two male dogs and a female dog, each wearing tattered uniforms covered in stains. They were a bit nervous upon seeing Ajax, who they had not met yet.

"Howdy, y'all. Are y'all alright? Do you need anything?" Ajax asked as gently as possible.

One of the male dogs turned to Ajax with a nervous expression, not meeting Ajax's visor.

"W-Well... we're alright. Who are you?"

"I'm Lieutenant Ajax Laskaris of Reaper Squad from the United Republic of Terra. I'm an alien to this universe called a human."

This did nothing to help the nerves of the Cornerians, though they weren't as afraid as they could have been. So far, they didn't feel as though they were in danger. Ajax removed his helmet and took a seat next to Miyu and her parents, the parents now focused on Ajax rather than Miyu.

"Nice of you to join us, Ajax. Meet my parents! Kido, my father, and Akari, my mother."

Ajax stuck his hand out to shake the father's hand, the older male lynx hesitating before eventually shaking Ajax's armored hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mister Lynx. I must say, your daughter is quite the character." Ajax said with a laugh.

Kido smiled back, releasing the human's hand.

"I don't doubt it. Little troublemaker from the start."

Ajax couldn't agree more.

"That sounds about right. But she's a damn fine warrior without a doubt."

Ajax turned to Akari and shook her hand as well. Both of Miyu's parents had blue eyes, unlike Miyu who had purple eyes. Perhaps the eye color came from a grandparent.

"Missus Lynx, it's a pleasure to meet you as well."

"Same here, um..."

Miyu looked a bit embarrassed at her mother for not remembering Ajax's name.

"His name is Ajax, Mom. He's a good friend of mine who I'm sure you'll just love to be around."

With that, Ajax felt that the pressure was on to live up to Miyu's promise.

"No pressure, right Miyu?' Ajax joked, the lynx smiling sheepishly. "Well, I certainly try to be pleasant. However, I'm sure you'll find the rest of my squad to be more enjoyable to be around than I. Except for Krieg, but that's not the point."

The four laughed, one of the other Cornerians smiling as well. Eva then walked into the room with Krystal and Fox, the three chatting about some random topic Ajax didn't care about. He remembered how Eva begged to follow the team, yet he hadn't seen her leave the ship. He supposed that it really didn't matter. As Eva and the others approached, the Cornerians once again went back to staring. Eva started to become uncomfortable, but Krystal decided to introduce her before Ajax did.

"This is Eva, a hybrid from the humans' universe called a Spliced. She's a sweet girl, right Ajax?"

Ajax nodded in agreement, watching the faces of the Cornerians once again relax. If one of the heroes of the Lylat were comfortable with her, than certainly she was alright. The trio took a seat of their own while Akari turned to Miyu.

"So, have you found a boyfriend yet, Miyu?"

Miyu froze up, suddenly embarrassed again.

"No, Mom, I haven't."

"Come on, honey! You're a pretty girl! It shouldn't be that hard. Just find a guy and give me my grandchildren!"

Miyu put her face in her hands, not wanting to look at her mother.

"Not as easy as it sounds. I'm just too... off-putting, or something."

Akari was going to protest the statement when Kido interrupted.

"Honey, you're giving her a hard time. She'll find somebody, but we have to be patient."

Miyu took her face out of her hands/paws and looked back toward her parents, but not before sneaking a glance at Ajax.

"What if... what if I don't?"

Her father laughed as if it was obvious.

"It doesn't matter! It's your decision, really." he said, Akari very clearly disagreeing. Ajax could tell that she was actually upset, possibly even angry that Miyu didn't have a boyfriend.

Miyu smiled, but was still thinking about something. Out of respect, Ajax decided not to use his telepathy on her. To him, it felt a bit... wrong to use it as much as he had been. If he had to guess, she was likely thinking about their potential relationship. Ajax didn't really like the idea, even though he did, in a way, like Miyu. Oddly, he suspected that it was possibly wishful thinking. While he may not like it when Miyu flirts, it made him feel better. But with that, does that mean that he should be more accepting of it? Perhaps he should just let it happen.

"Ajax, was it?"

Ajax turned to Kido, who was speaking to him.

"Yes?"

"How did you come to know our girl?"

Ajax remembered the first day he arrived in the Lylat. The Star Fox team had boarded their ship and in retaliation Reaper Squad put guns to their heads.

"Well, our squad, Reaper Squad, was coming back from a mission when we tripped a kind of mine that opened an interdimensional warp gate. If I recall, they made it a warp device so it would be undetectable, as it would be recognized as debris rather than a bomb. After we ended up in the Lylat, our ship was deactivated, much like the Rangers' ship, and the Star Fox team rescued us."

"And what a lovely introduction it was." Krystal joked.

"Yeah, I sure loved having a gun barrel to my head." Miyu said, rolling her eyes.

Ajax sighed while the parents and Cornerians listening gasped.

"Yes, we did treat them as hostile at first, but that's because they had boarded our ship without identifying themselves. Obviously, we didn't harm them. After our introduction, we repaid them by helping them on missions, our first being on Papetoon. After just a short while, I got to know the crew, all of them now being good friends of mine. Yes, that means Miyu too, even if I don't want to admit it." Ajax said with a smile.

Miyu pretended to get offended and punched him in the armored arm lightly.

"Just kidding, of course. Miyu's a fine woman in my eyes, and you should be proud of her."

Miyu's parents looked at each other before looking at Miyu with a smile, finally settling their gaze on Ajax.

"A fine woman, you say? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, she's an excellent warrior, as she's able to outmaneuver every Venomian we've faced, she's able to keep pace with me, and is an excellent shot. She also is a great friend, with a unique personality that's both fun and empathetic. Though she isn't human, she could be considered attractive by certain human standards. So, I can easily say that anyone would be lucky to be her significant other."

Her parents smirked, the two both having the same idea.

"What about a handsome fellow like you? Are you interested in our daughter?" Akari asked hopefully.

Ajax was not entirely okay with the implication. It was so incredibly clear that they were practically begging for Miyu to find a husband. Ajax read their thoughts, not caring about the moral issues with doing so. From what he could gather, they wanted to continue the family lineage. Miyu was their only child, and the Lynx family was needing another generation. As a proud family, this was a very important ordeal.

However, Ajax wasn't sure that he wanted to be part of it. In fact, he was almost completely certain-

"Of course he is! Ajax, just get with Miyu already. Even her parents want it to happen! Get over your stupid pride and awkwardness and just... make it official." Krystal ordered loudly.

Ajax didn't like being told what to do. He also didn't really want to be a part of something like that. It was still somewhat wrong feeling. However, he remembered their moment at the creek. Looking back on it, he didn't know why he allowed it. Why? What was wrong with him in that instance? How did he allow himself to not only be in that situation, but enjoy it as well?

Suddenly, a frightening thought ran through Ajax's mind.

Did he have feelings for Miyu? Yes, he would readily admit that she was his friend, and that any man would be lucky to have her, but was he really including himself with that? It was a scary thought to have. After so long of denying the feline and stubbornly standing against the idea, would it all be for nothing? As eyes settled on him, he knew he had to say something.

"I've been considering it, but not yet. I still... I still need some time."

Krystal groaned loudly. She just didn't get why he would just delay it so much. It was not only unnecessary, but it was ridiculous at this point. If he was ever going to go through with it, Krystal knew that she would have to step in to help both of her friends.

"No. Enough 'considering,' Ajax. We've been over this, and I know everyone is tired of hearing the same thing all the time. You need to make up your mind right now. Are you, or aren't you?"

Ajax held his breath as all eyes fell on him. He wanted to say 'yes', but he just couldn't. Miyu was a wonderful person. Even for an alien, she was beautiful. It was obvious even past her tomboy-ish behavior. But he couldn't. It was wrong, and he knew it. The fact that the others were encouraging it was even worse.

This was the hardest thing Ajax ever had to do. He opened his mouth to speak, but his throat closed up. He tried again, but his head started to hurt. His stomach twisted, and he became dizzy. He couldn't bear it any longer. Without a word, he rushed to the bathroom, finding it empty. Closing the door, he fell to his knees and puked in the toilet.

What had caused that? He thought he knew the answer.

He was nervous. More than he had ever been. So much potential commitment put on his shoulders at once was a pressure that made him feel ill. It was a monumental obstacle to get over, but he doubted he ever could. Flushing and wiping his mouth, he slumped against the wall. Then, he heard a knock on the door.

"Are you okay? I heard you... getting sick." the unmistakable voice of Eva asked.

"Yes, Eva, I'm fine. I just... I don't know."

As Ajax sat, the door opened and Eva stepped in. She sat down in front of Ajax, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I understand that you're afraid. And don't pretend you aren't. But it's okay. It's natural to feel that way. Even for you. But Miyu is a bit upset, even though she hides it. Please, talk to her."

Eva's calming voice allowed Ajax to think. Had he really upset Miyu? He wouldn't doubt it. Nodding his head, Ajax decided to listen to the hybrid.

"Thank you, Eva. I'll speak with her." he promised, hugging the hybrid, much to her surprise.

Standing up, Ajax left the bathroom with Eva, trying to get rid of the taste of puke in his mouth. Fortunately, Eva seemed to realize this and offered a mint, which he accepted, not questioning where she got it. Reaching the living room, he could see Miyu putting on a forced smile, telling her parents she was fine. Krystal turned around and glared at Ajax, who did not react to the harsh look. Miyu spotted him, the human signalling for her to follow him.

Miyu got up and headed over to Ajax, who headed to where Miyu's on-ship room was. Entering, Ajax closed the door and turned to Miyu, sighing.

"I'm sorry, Miyu. I really am. But I was just so nervous, or something along those lines. What I need you to know, is that I don't know how I feel. You're amazing in many ways, I think, and you're a great friend. But I'm the wrong person to want."

Miyu shook her head, looking Ajax in the eye.

"Thank you, Ajax. But no. I know for a fact that you are the one that I want."

"Miyu, no. I'm human, and you're a Cornerian lynx. It might not work. That, and I don't know if I can give you what you want out of a relationship. I'm sorry, but I... I don't want to disappoint you."

Miyu frowned at Ajax, pulling him close.

"Ajax, you can't be afraid forever. You're so capable, yet you allow such a simple, irrational fear keep you down. Why? Why do you insist on being so damn scared?"

She had a point. Was he really that afraid? He didn't want the fear of ridicule, or of failure. But deep down, he knew why he was so afraid of those things. He supposed that the best thing to do would be to tell her, and talk it out.

"Miyu, ever since I joined the army, I've failed so many times, and I've been scorned for it more than I can count. It's a humiliation I have come to fear to the highest degree. I can't face my mistakes without thinking about the people that died so horribly because of my poor judgement and skill. And for it, I've become a coward, and I know it."

As he poured out the bottled up information and emotion, he saw Miyu's look of understanding. He also sensed Krystal listening in, feeling her sympathy and mild pity. While it wasn't a good feeling, it was nice to know she cared.

"Ajax, I... I understand. If you had told me before, I... I would have been more patient. But I want you to know, I would never feel anger toward you for a lack of fulfillment. Please, Ajax. I want you, and everyone else wants it to happen. You're what's missing in my life. You're what's always been missing."

This was the moment of truth. The real one. Would he accept her, or leave her to be alone? Would she ever forgive him? What about her friends? Her parents? How could they forgive him? Not only that, but he feared... that he wouldn't forgive himself. That left only one good conclusion.

"Miyu... why do you do this to me? Why force me to make a decision like this?"

"Because I want you, Ajax! I've never wanted something more, and I know you want it too. Please, Ajax... Please."

Ajax took a deep breath, ready to answer.

Slowly letting out his breath, he looked Miyu in the eyes, returning her embrace before leaning down until his face was just an inch away from hers. His heart pounded as he tried to let the words out, but they failed to leave his throat. Miyu's warm breath tickled his face as his words choked him. He was terrified.

"Miyu... I-" he attempted before his voice stopped working.

Miyu's eyes widened expectantly, their bright beauty reminding Ajax of why this was so difficult. He tried once more, only to fail miserably. It was humiliating to fail at something so simple. Yet Miyu looked onward with hope, and Ajax knew he couldn't let it go to waste. Instead of doing what clearly wasn't working, he decided to do something a bit unexpected. Leaning in closer, his heart threatening to burst from his chest. Before Miyu could even gasp, he went for it.

Ajax locked lips with the lynx, shutting his eyes tight out of pure fear of how Miyu would react. Miyu couldn't believe what was happening. Only in her best dreams had he actually kissed her, and now he was finally the one to engage in the activity. Miyu closed her own eyes as well, but for a different reason. Ajax's lips were gentle against her soft feline lips. Like the time before at the creek, she didn't care if they were bad at kissing or not. She was too happy to care.

Neither of the two really knew what they were doing, and Ajax knew they probably looked pretty stupid. But it didn't matter. This was their moment, and theirs alone. The taste of Miyu was becoming more and more familiar to him, and now he could say that he enjoyed it. Ajax broke the kiss for a moment when he realized he was still wearing his armor. Dematerializing it, he set it down off to the side.

Miyu seemed to get the wrong idea, however, when she smirked and began to take her shirt off.

"Miyu, I was just taking off my armor."

Miyu's smile faltered but she kept smiling.

"Well I was just getting more comfortable. I think you should too."

Rolling his eyes, Ajax smiled back and went back to kissing the lynx. He felt up her sides, feeling her soft, warm fur before squeezing the sensitive area on her sides he had discovered. Miyu gave a small moan once again as she clung tightly to the human's muscular frame. Ajax could feel Miyu had a muscular body as well, toning her voluptuous figure.

Miyu broke the connection and laid down on her small bed, inviting Ajax over while she removed her shorts. Still a bit nervous, but with more resolve, Ajax followed her, laying down next to the lynx who took the opportunity to climb on top of him.

"Don't you think this is going a bit too fast?" Ajax asked the eager lynx.

Miyu stopped and thought about it. When she considered it, she found out that she was being a bit hasty. Getting off of the human, Miyu laid down next to him, opting to just cuddle instead. Kissing him on the cheek, Miyu looked him in the eye once more and spoke, her joyful eyes slowly filling with tears of joy.

"Ajax... I'm so, so happy right now. I can hardly believe you actually wanted to kiss me." she said, tracing a scar on Ajax's hand with her finger. "But does that mean that... we're official now?"

Ajax nodded as he stroked Miyu's soft fur. It was a bit strange, as she still looked like an animal, but it felt... different. He wasn't disgusted by the idea of making love to her. He wasn't fearful of letting her down. He could see it in her eyes that there was nearly nothing that would make her see him as a failure.

And that was all he needed.

Miyu laid herself partially on his chest, letting Ajax pet her down her back. Miyu thought the action was a bit strange, but still liked it. To Ajax, it was just natural to pet a soft thing. When he caught himself in the act, he went to stop, but had his hand moved back into place by the lynx.

"Good. I wonder how we'll tell everyone though." Miyu wondered.

It was something Ajax thought about as well, but he knew what to do.

"We won't. They'll figure it out eventually. Besides that, if they don't figure it out, we can use that to give them the biggest shock of their lives." Ajax suggested with a laugh.

Miyu laughed at the thought too, snorting at the idea of Falco's face.

"Now that's something I can't pass up. Alright then, we'll let them find out themselves." she said, resting her head under Ajax's chin.

Ajax stared up at the ceiling, strangely relaxed. More so than he had been in a long time. Had he been living his life with the hole that Miyu had? He suspected that that was the case, but he didn't know it until a few minutes ago. Now, that hole was gone. He could be happy like the others told him he would be. If he hadn't been so stubborn, he could have had this before. But no, his poor judgement once again kept him down. That was probably why he was an aerial assault trooper rather than something requiring intellect.

No, he wouldn't put himself down anymore either. He was going to be a new man, one that was more confident, fearless, and most of all, willing to cooperate. Wrapping his arm around Miyu, he held her tight and kissed her on top of her head. He felt a vibration on his chest. Looking down, he could see that it was Miyu purring heavily. It was almost humorous, but instead was comforting. His eyes started to become heavier, ready to rest away the wear from the mission, however little there was.

Suddenly however, the door swung open, revealing Krystal and Eva, the blue vixen crossing her arms with a frustrated look.

"How long does it take to confess your-"

Once she saw the two on the bed, however, her expression changed to one of shock. Eva didn't seem too surprised, but her eyes did widen quite a bit.

"Wha- When... Did you..." Krystal stuttered, absolutely in shock. Surely she should have noticed that they confessed with her telepathy? "You guys are so... strange! One minute you're refusing to even talk romantically, the next you're having s-"

"No, no we're not. Not yet." Ajax explained.

Krystal became even more confused, throwing her hands up in the air, giving up trying to figure out the two.

"Why can't you be normal!"

"What the hell are you shouting abou- what the fuck?"

Falco now also occupied the doorway. Not wanting the whole ship to see he and Miyu half naked, Ajax grabbed one of Miyu's boots and threw it at Krystal, who reacted fast enough to shut the door, causing the boot to smack the door hard.

"I'll come back later I guess!" Krystal shouted from behind the door.

"So much for letting them figure it out." Miyu said with a giggle.

Ajax chuckled as well, not really caring what they saw, though he'd rather have privacy.

"Oh well. It doesn't really matter. But I'm a bit tired."

"Me too. Wake me up when you're awake, will you?"

Ajax nodded, laying his head back down while Miyu tossed her flask down along with her bra. Ajax would have been a bit uncomfortable with how the lynx kept losing clothing, but his body was set on sleeping. He knew she was just "testing the waters", and besides that, it was her room.

"Have a good rest, Miyu." Ajax said, but then remembered something he had forgotten.

Looking the lynx in her mesmerizing eyes, Ajax spoke from his heart.

"I love you."

Miyu had a smile on her face that was wider than Ajax had previously seen on the lynx. She gave him a slow kiss on his neck, and Ajax could feel her breasts pressing up against his chest.

"I love you too, Ajax."

With that, Ajax began to drift to sleep with Miyu as he had many other times, but this time it was different. He really had not know Miyu for as long as he had known other women that were interested in him, yet there was something about Miyu that was special, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Not that it mattered at all. She was his now, and he would do his best to keep it that way.

To the sound of Miyu's steady heartbeat, Ajax fell asleep with the already-sleeping lynx in his arms peacefully. His dreams were of his future with Miyu. Of his friends' futures. Of the future of the Lylat system in its entirety.

They were the only good dreams he had had in years.

---

In a far corner of the Independent Systems...

Saul Morris paced impatiently as he oversaw the project that he had poured so much attention into. He stopped at a desk on the balcony inside the large battleship's hangar, tapping his mechanical finger on the desk. While he read a document, his robotic finger started to lock up again. He growled in frustration, much against his usual character. Recomposing himself, he poked around on the arm until it worked again. He remembered every moment of when he lost his arm.

He remembered the kid that had saved him and the evacuating Confederates. Saul was a man of his word, and had kept the memory of the soldier in his mind, even giving him a memorial. Damien Evans, his name was. Saul assumed that the Elites were killed, as they had not bothered his forces since that day.

"Sir, we've run into some complications for the project. To create a mass warp of the scale you want is going to take much longer than we expected."

Saul let out a heavy sigh. Could nothing go right?

"How long will it take?"

The man gulped, looking at the datapad in his hands.

"W-Well, with Union fleets taking out our supply lines, materials aren't getting through, and some of our hidden fleets and stations have been compromised-"

"How long, son? How long will it take?"

Once again, the man gulped heavily.

"About three years, sir."

Saul slammed his metal arm into the desk, denting it.

"We don't have three years!"

The man quickly searched through his datapad, scanning for any good news.

"W-Well, we can send the first group within about a year."

Saul relaxed. At least they had something somewhat on schedule. Walking back toward his previous observation spot, he looked out toward the project. Taking up the entire port-side hangar, it would be the largest warp device in the known galaxy. Not only that, but it would be interdimensional. The Union likely could have made a more powerful device, but for some reason they did not.

It didn't really matter to Saul either way. They were ahead in some way, giving them a victory that they so desperately needed. His army was rebuilding outside of known territories, Confederate worlds evacuating in secret to rejoin the Confederate army. This time, they would have the strength to win. They would not make the same mistakes.

This new dimension won't know what hit them.

---

Lord Jericho here. What a lengthy as hell chapter! Sorry for the... Over a month long wait!? Yeah, I was a bit busy, but never again! Maybe... This one was mostly meant to progress many parts of the story that were just dragging on, giving way to the meat of the story. Oh yes, this is just the very, very beginning. And Saul's right. The Lylat is not prepared for what's coming. But that's for later. Next chapter: Celebration! And for Ivan, life goes on as normal. However, with the war over, he may have some new competition soon. What did y'all think? Was it terrible? Too long? Let me know. Any review helps! Thanks for reading!

Love y'all!