Hey guys sorry about this being late but been busy. So sorry though that there is no aerial combat in this one but I will likely get around to it in Chapter 5. So without further ado I present chapter 4.

Chapter 4- Combat Bound

: Early morning the next day, Ashley's POV:

It was the day after the class signups and Ashley was peacefully sleeping in her queen sized bed of which covers where strewn about because of her tossing and turning in the female wolf's sleep. The apartment she was in was a two floor apartment with two bedrooms, a clean kitchen, a study, a living area and three bathrooms. The apartment itself was located at the top of a skyscraper in the nicest area of downtown.

The military had no doubt paid good money to make her comfortable for what Ashley herself called "God dam eye candy". She was under no delusions that the military had done this to placate her when she didn't get into the modern combat class and was again shafted into a "Non-risk" position.

Ashley groggily woke up as the sun's rays hit her eyes from the window in her room that held an amazing view of the sunrise over the tops of the city beneath them. Ashley scooted over to the side of her bed before lifting both her arms above her head and giving a yawn as she stretched the sleep out of her muscles. She then stood up in her grey sweatpants and tank top and walked over to her dresser that was against the wall she quickly changed into a new set of clothes that consisted of jeans (like always), a dark blue T-shirt, and of course her lucky silver vest. She looked in the mirror and quickly brushed her fur and brushed her teeth in the bathroom. She regarded herself in the mirror for a bit, then satisfied with her appearance she made her way to the kitchen to get something for breakfast.

Halfway through making a pair of eggs she heard her roommate make her way into the kitchen. Looking up she was greeted with the sight of her roommate and best friend Fate Sapphire. After the two had met in the military they became quick friends and stuck together as they went from training to training looking to get combat roles. When they had both decided to go into the academy and the military had offered to supply housing for Ashley she had insisted that Fate was to live with her.

"Morning Ash." Fate called her by her nickname as she gave a pleasant yawn and began to pore herself a bowl of cereal. Having finished cooking the eggs Ashley sat down with her eggs now on a plate and ate beside her best friend. After a few minutes of silence Fate addressed the first issue of the day.

"So… have you checked the E-mail to see what classes you got?" Fate asked in a hesitant tone.

Ashley paused in her eating and stared down at her plate for a bit before replying "No… I just wanted to try and prolong the wait before I'm disappointed." Ashley said as Fate got up and approached a holographic terminal on the wall that e-mails where sent to.

"Oh come on, you were very adamant this time I'm sure they couldn't refuse you now." Fate said as she went through the junk mail and pulled the two items that where hers and Ashley's schedules.

Ashley gave a resigned sigh "Don't get my hopes up Fate, I know that the military higher-ups and the faculty at the academy would never allow me to-" "You got in!" Fate announced with a surprised and yet excited voice.

In the time it took to blink Ashley was out of her chair and standing next to Fate looking at her schedule with wide eyes. There it was… right after lunch, Advanced Arial Combat Class in bold letters, underneath it where the words "Accepted upon recommendation". Raising an eyebrow at those words she highlighted them and more text appeared that read "Accepted upon recommendation from assistant teacher: "Reaper"".

"Wait wasn't Reaper that human from yesterday? Why did he recommend me?" Ashley thought but was distracted by Fate's shout of glee when she saw that she had also scored the one class in the academy that promised a combat position upon completion. Now invigorated by their success the two quickly began to scarf down their meals so they could get to their first day of classes

: Lylat Flight Academy, Mid-day after Lunch:

Ashley had done her best to remain focused on her morning class's material but her thoughts kept drifting to the modern combat class in the afternoon. Now she and Fate where approaching the classroom where said class was going to begin in 10 minutes. However as the pair got closer a commotion in front of the room caught there attention when they heard a shout.

: Normal POV:

"What are you up to skin-bag!" The avian known as Falco Lombardi screamed directly into the human Reapers face.

Fox who was standing in the hallway winced, skin-bag was a fairly derogatory racial slur and saying it would almost always cause a fight. Fox hoped Reaper didn't know the term, but from the slight frown and clenched left fist suggested he indeed knew the meaning of the term. Much to the human's credit there was no malice behind his next words.

"I'm trying to enter the class room. I am the student teacher so I do have to be in the room you know." Reaper replied pointing a finger over Falco's back into the room. Falco was blocking the doorway to the classroom and barring entrance to Reaper who was standing in the hallway with a growing number of students who where watching. "Now could you please move myself and a few other students need to get in." Reaper stated and pointing behind himself at the students behind him who also where trapped outside the room including Fox, Ashley, and Fate.

"I meant at this Academy skinner, your kind shouldn't even be in this system!" Falco screamed as people began to take videos on whatever device they could get there hand on and started to whisper amongst them. Some even shouted encouragement to Falco, much to Fox's disgust.

"Couldn't they see that Falco was being the bad guy here?" Fox and Bill who seemed to be of the same mind as Fox and just arrived at the scene tried to reason with Falco.

"Easy there buddy. Let's just clam down, go to our seats and move out of the way and let everyone get to class…" Bill began to reason but Falco quickly interrupted him.

"Not until he tells us what he's doing here!" the avian screamed as he charged forward and threw a punch at the human.

The punch was thrown quickly and wouldn't come close to hitting the human, however Falco's momentum from lunging forward made the punch reach further back than he had intended, meaning it would land right in the face of the arctic vixen that was unluckily standing behind the human.

(Reaper's POV)

Reaper saw the punch coming and determined its trajectory, right into the face of the vixen standing at his 5 o'clock. The poor girl had just enough time to notice the danger and close her eyes.

"I can't believe this guy is supposedly an elite merc, he missed me completely! I mean, I know he's a pilot and hand to hand combat is not part of his job but still a 13 year old is more accurate! Oh well, better intervene and minimize collateral damage." Reaper thought as his right hand moved into action.

(Fate's POV)

Fate Sapphire closed her violet eyes in anticipation of the blow that was to come, at least it wouldn't be the first time someone had hit her in the face.

At an early age of six Fate's parents had split up however her father had a good paying job as a mercenary and therefor had a better lawyer, it didn't help matters that her mother had difficulty finding jobs and had little money to support herself let alone Fate as well. That was the last time she saw her mother as her father left the planet Papetoon where they had lived and moved to Corneria. The 12 years that followed turned into a living hell for fate as her father's mercenary team got fewer and fewer jobs because other groups like Star Fox kept outdoing them. Her father kept taking out his anger toward others out on her as outside the cockpit he wasn't that good of a fighter. As testament to her father's mercenary groups skill… beating where common.

When Fate had turned 18 and she worried that her father might find alternative ways to deal with his anger on her she had left the house and signed up with the Cornerian military. However Fate seemed to be truly cursed to have a life of unhappiness as no matter what she tried in the course of 8 years in the military nothing seemed to work out. Every time she successfully completed a different kind of training she would only be about average in her class and couldn't find a posting anywhere. At first she didn't know why this kept happening until she met Ashley Vulama a female wolf and another cadet during yet another training course. It was Ashley that had revealed that the military didn't want to put females in combat roles and, looking back, Fate could tell the way the trainers treated her and their best attempts to make her fail, meaning the statement was likely true. It was around that time both she and Ashley had heard about the pilot program at the Lylat Flight Academy and how if one passed a rather difficult selection process would be admitted. Those memories bringing Fate back to her most recent problem, getting her face flattened by a member of Star Fox.

"Why does life hate me?" Fate thought as she waited for the blow and the pain that would accompany it. However she waited and the blow never came. Opening her eyes, Fate was greeted with the sight of Falco's fist five inches from her face and Reaper's right hand holding Falco's wrist in a vice like grip. Falco, realizing what he almost did, relaxed and stepped back as Reaper let go of his wrist. Reaper then turned looked at Fate, nodded once he saw she was not hurt and then turned and walked into the classroom.

Just then her friend Ashley, who had also been stuck in the classroom as the scene had unfolded, rushed up to her.

"Fate, are you ok? Hey feather head! You almost hit my friend!" Ashley yelled at Falco who along with the rest where apologizing profusely. However Fate could barely hear them as she watched Reaper walk into the room and sit at in a chair behind where the teacher would sit.

"He… protected me?" The artic vixen thought "Nobody but Ash has ever protected me."

:Ashley's POV:

Ashley almost had a heart attack when she saw Falco's fist almost collide with her best friends face. However at the last second Reaper had intervened. His right hand was nothing but a blur as it came up and intercepted Falco's fist by grabbing the avians wrist. Falco's attack looked like it was stopped by a concrete wall as it immediately ceased movement.

The action almost made Ashley's bottom snout drop at how fast Reaper had moved. She then watched as Reaper looked back to make sure Fate was uninjured before giving a nod and walking into the classroom.

"Whoa where did he learn to do that? Maybe he will teach me if I ask him." Ashley thought before she shook her head and stepped forward to give Falco a piece of her mind.

And done well that is Chapter 4 Hope you all enjoyed so please stay frosty and don't forget to review!