Chapter 11
"General!"
The call snapped General Pepper back to reality. He turned to face the officer, and saw a shocked and confused look on her face.
"Report," He ordered.
"Some sort of spatial rift is forming inside the Orbital Gate!"
General Pepper ran to the nearest viewport, and saw a violet portal was indeed forming in the center of the Orbital Gate, almost like an incoming gate. The rift stabilized, and General Pepper ordered a full scan. Then, something unexpected happened. A ship, the size of a fighter, shot through the rift. It looked like some sort of advanced Arwing, more streamlined, but still recognizable. The rift collapsed, leaving the fighter behind. After making contact with their new allies, Corneria had finally turned the tide of the war against the Zentradi, but Fox was still MIA.
"General, we're receiving a transmission from the unknown," the officer reported.
"Put it through," General Pepper replied. The voice that came on was one that he thought he'd never hear again.
"This is Fox McCloud of Team Star Fox to any friendly Cornerian forces, please respond."
"Fox? Is that you?" General Pepper asked, still in shock.
"General! Please tell me that this is the right universe."
"What are you talking about? And where have you been?"
"I'll explain everything. Requesting permission to come aboard."
"Permission granted. Welcome home Fox."
---
Captain Wolf O'Donnell ran down to the hanger as soon as he heard the news. He arrived in time to see what looked liked an advanced Arwing set down on the deck. The canopy opened, and Fox climbed out. She saw him, ran over to him, and wrapped her arms around him.
"Wolf, long time no see," she said.
"Yea," Wolf replied, "Where've you been?"
"Oh, the usual," Fox said, untangling herself from the lupine officer, "Here, there, alternate universes, the usual."
Wolf blinked at the mention of alternate universes. He smiled, and decided that Fox would tell him later. She asked him about the war, and he explained that they finally had the upper hand.
"General Pepper told me to bring you to the War Room, one of our new allies is there right now," he explained.
"New allies?"
"Yea, they got some very good pilots too. The Zentradi made the mistake of attacking their homeworld, and they, as one of their pilots said, 'opened a can of whupass'." Wolf said with a smile.
Fox blinked. It sounded like a term used by one of the Terran pilots back on the Excalibur in that alternate universe. The pair continued down the corridor, and Fox wondered about who their new allies were. Wolf described the Battle of Katina, where a fleet of Cornerian warships, backed up by allied carriers, destroyed all but one Zentradi ship. Fox thought about what Wolf had said. He was avoiding their ally's name. She asked him about it.
"I'll just let them introduce themselves," Wolf said, "By the way, what's with the Arwing?"
"My ship crash landed on a colony world called Mar Sara, and was totaled. The friends I met, who turned out to be the Star Fox Team that was native to that universe, gave me one of their fighters. Of course that was after we had to deal with a new threat to their universe," Fox explained.
They arrived at the War Room, and the door opened. There, standing in front of the projected image of the Lylat System, was a Terran female in a blue uniform. Fox couldn't tell who it was, since her back was facing her, but she could tell that this person was Terran. General Pepper was on the other side of the projector, going over some battle plan. He noticed Fox, and smiled. The Terran must have noticed, because she turned around. Fox's eyes widened when she saw her face. This Terran had the same blonde hair, though longer, and the same face. She looked just like…
"You must be Fox McCloud. I'm Lt. Cmdr. Christina Johnson, TCS Excalibur. I've heard a lot about you," The Terran introduced herself. Chris did have a counterpart here, and female too! Fox couldn't help herself, and let out a short laugh.
"What?" Christina asked.
"Sorry, you just remind me of someone I met recently," Fox replied, thinking of Christopher Johnson, and the rest of the Black Knight Squadron, "I think I like you already."
---
It had been almost a week since Foxie went through the rift. Admiral Tolwyn decided to have the Excalibur stay in the Lylat System to make sure that the Kilrathi don't threaten Corneria. Translation, Shore Leave. Chris leaned back against a log. He and the rest of the Black Knights followed Star Fox to Sauria, where they were taking part in some MUCH NEEDED R&R. He had to admit, Cape Claw looked like a picture you'd see on some vacation destination ad, beautiful sandy beaches, crystal clear water, and the occasional dinosaur. Fox and Krystal were splashing each other, Falco was sound asleep, Slippy was practicing his Cannon Ball with William, Sean was nowhere in sight, Katt was relaxing in the shade, and the rest of the squadron were all over the place. Reanna walked over to him with a smile. Chris pulled off his sunglasses, and his eyes went wide.
"Wow. Reanna, you look beautiful," he said, "I'm used to seeing you in a flight suit."
She was wearing a two piece swim suit that she bought the last time she was on Earth.
"Well, I guess I've been wearing that thing so much, you probably think that it's a part of me," she said.
"Um, yea," Chris replied, "You practically live in it."
"Well, as you can see, the flight suit does come off," she said.
Fox and Krystal had come out of the water, and heard the exchange between the two pilots. Fox saw the look on Chris's face, and smiled. He was out of his element, and it was showing. Krystal looked on in amusement, sensing Chris's feeling of awkwardness. He didn't know what to say, at all. Fox decided to come to the Terran's rescue.
"Sounds like the most dangerous mission you've taken yet," Fox said with a smile.
Before Chris could respond, there was a loud call of "CANNON BALL!!!" Slippy had perfected it, splashing the sleeping Falco on the dock.
"What the!?! I'm all wet!!!" Falco exclaimed, jumping up. Everyone looked at the soaked Avian, and burst out laughing. Falco looked like he was ready to kill somebody.
"That's what you get for falling asleep on a dock Falco!" Sean yelled. He had seen the whole thing, having returned from wherever he went.
"At least Tricky's not…" Fox started to say, until he heard something big running.
"FOOOOOX!!!!"
A large dinosaur leapt into the air above Fox. The vulpine looked up in shock as a large, four legged form came down. He didn't even have time to say anything. The dinosaur prince landed on Fox with a thud.
"Fox! Krystal! You're back! It's great to see you again!" the dinosaur said.
"Tricky… so… heavy… ouch…" Fox gasped from underneath. Krystal laughed, thinking about the last time that had happened. Chris got to his feet, and walked over to the prince.
"Um, don't you think that Fox could use some air now?" he asked.
Tricky got up off the flattened vulpine. Chris helped Fox up out of the sand, and Fox shook the sand out of his fur. Tricky looked over the Terran, clearly interested. Chris returned the dinosaur's gaze, with an equal amount of interest. Krystal decided to end the staring contest.
"All right, boys," she said, "You can stop now."
"So, you decided to take me up on that offer?" Tricky said with a smile.
"Offer?" Chris asked, unsure of what the dinosaur meant.
"Yea. Back when those alien bugs attacked, I told Fox that I would protect Sauria so that he and Krystal could come back on their Honeymoon!" Tricky explained.
Chris looked at Fox. The vulpine pilot had a shocked look on his face. He was blushing so much, you could actually see it through his fur. Reanna saw it as well, and thought that it must be a touchy subject for Fox.
"We're not… Not yet… uh…" Fox stuttered, "Not yet… uh…"
Krystal was loving it, and burst out laughing. Tricky turned his attention to Chris and Reanna.
"How about you two? Here for your Honeymoon?"
"What? No! We're not… We're just… Not yet… uh…" Chris stuttered, looking just as red as Fox.
"Not yet?" Reanna asked.
Both Reanna and Krystal laughed as both Chris and Fox had the exact same look on their faces. Fox was the first to recover, and turned to face Chris.
"Well, what now?"
Chris shrugged. He didn't know what to do either. Fox finally came to a decision. He walked over to Krystal, who was still laughing, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her. Krystal's tail went bolt straight as she was caught off guard.
"Whoa! Way to go Fox!" Falco cheered.
Fox pulled back, and looked Krystal in the eye. She smiled, and before he could say anything, she kissed him.
Reanna crossed her arms over her chest, and smiled. Chris stepped up beside her, watching his friends.
"At least somebody's having a good time," Reanna mused.
"Ah screw it," Chris suddenly said. He then grabbed Reanna, and kissed her.
"Whoa! What just happened?" Sean asked in disbelief.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" Reanna asked.
"Well, considering what we've been through, fighting the Kilrathi, saving the galaxy from a Demon invasion, and surviving home brewed crap, I think I'm ready for a mission as dangerous as this," Chris said.
"I got your wing," she replied with a smile.
Fox and Krystal looked over at the two Terrans with big smiles on their faces. There really weren't any differences between Humans and Cornerians.
For a moment, Krystal thought about what the Demon leader had said. They were the ones that had destroyed her homeworld. What made her feel better was the fact that, with the help of the Terran Confederation, no more planets would suffer the same fate as Cerenia. Besides, she had a new home, one that she would fight to protect. She looked back into Fox's eyes.
"Aw, that's sweet."
Fox, Krystal, Chris, and Reanna mentally kicked themselves for forgetting about a certain dinosaur prince standing ten feet away from them. All four of them looked at him and said the exact same three words.
"Shut up Tricky."
