Now I lay me down to sleep…

I pray the lord my soul to keep…

But should I die before I wake…

I pray the lord my soul to take…

And should I wake to the screams of millions of people in the night - may I pray the lord for unlimited ammo, and a time to strike…

- DCTU Agent's Prayer

It had been a rough, and bumpy ride on the way back to the safe house, busting through the door was a little rougher. But much to Bryan's surprise, everyone hadn't killed each other.

"How long will it take to get the Great Fox ready for a trip to earth!" He yelled out, waiting for the first answer.

"What?" Slippy asked, looking around the room.

"Answer!"

"An hour without Fox and Krystal." Slippy yelled back, showing a little fear towards the direct yelling.

"How long will it take to get there?"

"About twelve hours! Same as always! Please, stop yelling at me!" Slippy yelled back, ducking behind a chair.

"Bryan, what's going on?" Mei asked, taking some of the tape of her fists, she had obviously just come back from a sparring session. Falco came in the door behind her. "What's with all the yelling?"

"We have ten hours. Can we get there by then?"

"Get where?" Mei asked, eyeing Slippy hiding behind the couch.

"Earth! We have ten hours to get there and stop its destruction."

"What!"

"Tommy said that Darkness is targeting Earth. He also said the move in ten hours. We need to get moving… now!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Even the fastest transport ship we can get can only get us there in ten hours. That doesn't include the amount of time it would take to acquire it. Besides, if we got there just when the blast is about to happen, we would get caught in it too." Slippy spoke, poking his eyes out from behind his hiding spot.

"So you're telling me that we're not even going to try?" Mei asked, looking around. "Is this about Fox and Krystal? Payback? Is that it?"

"Hey!"

Bill's sudden yelled knocked most people of their feet. No one had seen the war dog enter the house with James on his shoulders. He ushered the boy off into the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

"Listen here." He began. "We do not do payback that way. If we want payback we give you a rough hit on the shoulder… we, whoop your ass in a dog fight in a simulation. We do NOT risk millions of lives, and we do NOT turn on an ally who has helped us many a time."

He sighed, sitting down in a chair behind him, rubbing his temples.

"Now listen, tempers and emotions are high as a result of Fox and Krystal's injuries and near death experience. I understand that. But now is not the time. Corneria is in need, as is Earth. Only… I don't think there is nothing we can do to save Earth given our time frame… Ten hours isn't much time at all. And even so, say we did get there, what good would we do without a plan of attack?"

Bryan sighed. "So that's it, huh… there goes home? Family? Friends? All blown to bits…"

Falco bit his toung. He knew he had said some things before he didn't mean. And when Bryan had blurted out that they considered this their second home and them their second - in some cases only - family, he immediately felt bad.

"You lose one home… only to be adopted by another…" He muttered out, directing his gaze through the window so as to avoid any looks that were tossed his way.

"We did say this was our second home…" Mei said, looking over to Bryan.

"I just wonder how the others will react…"

Bryan was right, there was no doubt that the rest of his team wouldn't be happy that they lost their home… and their base. And Jason… he was still there!

"Oh man… this completely sucks…"

"You do know we lose jurisdiction as soon as Earth explodes, right?" Mei asked, trying to take her mind sadness the only way she knew - work.

"We do… so where does that leave us?"

Bill grinned. "I'll be back in a few hours. Just keep the scamp out of the snacks, got it?"

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"You're asking me to do what?" General Pepper asked.

"Allow these people to stay here and become citizens of Corneria. Allow them to reestablish a DCTU base here. Build themselves a home, even help protect."

"So you're asking me to allow these people to become citizens of Corneria?"

"yes, sir."

Pepper rubbed his chin a little. "It will be tough to convince the Counsel. Bill, I know you feel for these people, but… I'm not sure I can pull this string."

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Pepper was taken back a little. Him and Bill were always open to begin with, him asking for permission made the General a little weary about what was just about to be said.

"Go for it, no one is stopping you."

"They are giving up their planet for us! Instead of rushing back to die with the rest of the human race, they are staying here to help with us! Now I am asking you, not just as a ranking official of the Military, but as an old war friend and as someone with a rather large reputation. Let them stay."

Pepper sighed, knowing he was beat for the time being. "Alright… let me see what I can do."

Grinning Bill sat back. "If you need a pitch, tell them that they are willing to continue protecting the people. Working as part as DCTU. And to make it seem more realistic, tell the Counsel that they want to work under the same rules they did before. Do whatever it takes to get the job done with as little civilian casualties as possible. Better yet, let them know that DCTU has the knowledge to make weapons that could be of great use."

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"Sorry sir, Fox McCloud is no longer in ICU."

Bryan took in a deep breath. "What do you mean he's not here anymore? Did something happen?"

"Yes, sir. He's been down graded." And released it hearing those words.

"Can you tell me where to find him?"

"Next floor up. Just ask the main desk."

After a few moments, he found himself in the right room.

He entered quietly, seeing that both of the foxes were still sleeping. Though he soon found a grin on his face, seeing that Krystal had 'jumped' the railing and was now curled up with Fox on his head, her head tucked just above his bandages.

She sighed after a moment, turning her head away and opening her eyes slightly.

"You have a heavy spirit today… something wrong?"

"I have no home anymore…" He sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Earth is going to detonate in about six hours."

"Oh dear." Krystal sighed. "This brings back old memories…"

Bryan pulled one of the chairs out of the corner. "Yah, Katt told me about that… how did you deal with it?"

"To be honest? I was driven by the need to survive… then after that? It was a matter of discovering new friends and family to help me cope." She whispered, turning back to lay in her previous position.

"I see… why don't I leave you two alone." Bryan offered, getting up to leave.

"Before you go… under your seat in your car… check it when you get back, ok?" Krystal whispered, closing her eyes, grinning softly.

Outside Bryan stuck his hand under the seat, putting out a small box. He propped it on the hood of his unit. Opening it slowly and gently. Inside was a small piece of paper. Bryan closed the box, putting it on his passenger seat. He was in no mood for reading.

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The mood within the house was somber and cold. No one felt like talking. There was less than fifteen minutes to go as the radio played off some tune, just as the breaking news broke in.

"This is just from our news desk. It appears that an attack from Darkness his destroyed the planet Earth. This leaves several humans stranded here, their status unknown."

Falco hit the knob, knowing that no one wanted to hear the rest of the message. This of course was followed by Bill entering the front door, a large box in his hands, kicking the door shut behind him.

"Gather 'round, gather 'round." He called, setting the stuff on the table.

Ivan was next through the door, Dean right behind him. "Well that's it, we're done." They sighed. "No home, no hope."

Bryan sighed, Bill's mood wasn't helping anyone.

"Maybe this should wait…" Falco began, but Bill only stopped him, winking slightly.

He began pulling things from the box, looking at them quickly before tossing them to their new owners. Pulling more stuff from the box he passed them out too. Leaving only a few things left in - including a two rolled up papers and another smaller box.

"Bill, what the hell is all this stuff? This is hardly the time for party favors." Dean tried to keep a calm voice, looking at the stuff he had just received. Jackie just put hers back down on the table, pulling her legs to her chest again.

"Those, boys and girls, are your new ID's. You're all officially citizens of Corneria." He finished. There were a few grins around the room as they looked over their new stuff. Jackie stayed in a ball.

"The second thing I gave you is one better. That is you're new DCTU ID badges. You have complete access to Corneria Military HQ." He said before tossing something from the box to Bryan.

"And that is the deed to a piece of land. A rather sweet piece of land. It's you're new house. Four floors, quite a few bedrooms. Underground armory, vehicle storage, three bathrooms, and a bunch of other stuff as well." Yet another paper was tossed at Bryan who checked it over.

"This looks like another deed to me…" He said under his breath.

"You could say that. That's your certification papers for your new DCTU HQ. Also, General Pepper assured me that you would have a small RND team over at the base devoted to making sure you have ammo for those weapons of yours. Just turn over one of each type and we'll have them ready for when you need them. Also, they need one of you to go over there later and tell them what kind of design you want for your new units."

The gloomy feeling in the room of Earth being gone still hung in the air. But given new opportunities, it had been spiked with a mix of happiness.

Bill had one last announcement to make. "Hold on guys. Don't get too excited. There is one final trade off. Well two if you count the optional one…"

All eyes flew to Bill, putting him right on the spot.

"Well for one thing, the Counsel wanted to know if Star Fox would like to train and possibly join up with DCTU. And the other, non-optional one? They want you guys to train some of the local law enforcement to be DCTU Agents. Now I know you guys like to work alone so I convinced them that if that were to be the case, they would be in separate squads."

There was a moment of silence. "So that's it? All we have to do is train some rookies?" Jackie asked, looking up from he knees. "That's it." Bill confirmed.

"Star Fox will have an answer for you when our leader is back on his feet."

"Alright… lets do it then." Ivan's voice caught them all of guard. He hadn't spoken much at all since they had gotten there - so to hear him just shout out started a few.

"When do we start?" Bryan asked, pulling some sun glasses from his pocket, feeling truly confident for the first time since Kasey's death, the sun glasses proved it.

"Well the flyers were posed on the board over at Cornerian Military HQ, along with the local Police Department. Says you guys start training on Monday."

Mei grinned slightly.

"Looks like we're back in business boss."

A/N: Alright boys and girls. I really do appreciate the reviews - really I do! But there are a lot of people who don't review. So, please, just click that little button don't there - even if its just to say 'good' or something! I really need to know how I am doing!

Oh, and I've gotten a lot of reviews from people asking me 'bring Kasey back!' or 'is there a plan for Darkness to use her body' and stuff like that. I've thought it over and you'll have my complete and final answer within the next three chapters.