It was the best feeling in the world to get back in the pilot's seat of an arwing. The feeling was short-lived, unfortunately, considering the current situation.

Fox stood on the wing of Wolf's ship, shooting at the aparoid-controlled General. My stomach did flips at the sight. We had to shoot down our General in order to save our planet… I was sick over it.

"Need a hand, big brother?" I asked as I did a fly-by and landed a few hits on the General.

"Skye? Where's Falco?"

"He's doing me a solid. Tell me where you want me."

Silence for a moment.

"We have to take him down from both sides," he finally said. "It's the only way."

I steeled myself as I said my next words. "I'm sorry, General…"

I heard a grunt from the other side of my com.

"Do it, Skye…" General Pepper groaned. "Do what you must…"

I swallowed hard. "Wolf, don't you lose my brother, you hear me?"

"I'll do what I can, Kell. Give 'em hell."

By then, I had mustered the strength to take on the General. Fox and I shot on either side, just as planned. If the flagship came for me, Fox made sure to take back its attention. And I made sure that Wolf didn't take a hit and cause my brother to fall.

After landing a stream of hits from me and Fox, the flagship finally showed signs that it was about to go down. The ship stopped in mid-air, let out an enormous explosion then began to plummet toward the ground. Another arwing zoomed past us to try and catch the falling General.

"General Pepper!" Peppy cried over the com.

"Peppy! Wait!" Fox tried to stop him.

Peppy tried to slow the General's descent with his own ship, causing himself to crash with the General.

"Fox, contact the medical corp…" Peppy croaked in pain. "One way or another, my duty's done…"

I wasn't going to wait on the med corp. I landed sloppily next to the General and hopped out of the arwing to make a mad dash to get him out of the ship. General Pepper glanced over at Peppy as the hare struggled to get out of his arwing.

"Don't worry about me," the General ordered.

I obeyed and climbed toward Peppy's cockpit to help him out. I half carried him to the ground and sat him up against his crashed arwing. I shook my head at him.

"You're an idiot, old man," I told him.

Within moments, Slippy and Krystal touched down and went straight to the General's side. It was then that I finally heard from Darcy.

"Skye? Do you read?"

"Darcy? The team?"

"We found them but… They're in bad shape… I'm surprised that Channery is still conscious…"

I let out a sigh of relief. "They're alive… Thank goodness…"

"How is it on your end?" he asked.

"General Pepper and Peppy are down. The medical corp is on their way."

"Falco and I will meet you at the hospital then. The General will be the corp's top priority."

"Understood. See you there."

I looked to the sky as three wolfens flew toward the atmosphere. I immediately commed Wolf.

"Leaving so soon? And without a goodbye?" I asked him.

Wolf chuckled. "Your brother was getting sappy on me."

"Gods forbid he sees that you have a soft side," I teased. I immediately sobered. "I have a feeling this isn't over. If I need you…"

"You know how to call me. The boys and I won't be far off just in case."

I took comfort knowing that Wolf still had my back, despite us not being together.

"Thank you, Wolf. I mean it."

"Don't mention it. Call if you need me." He disconnected from me at that.

The medical corp had shown up to take General Pepper and Peppy to the hospital. The hospital was hustling and bustling from all of the panic of the invasion. There were so many people there getting treated and it was almost suffocating inside with everyone in a frenzy. I found myself a bench in a corner so I wouldn't have a panic attack from the crowd. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on keeping myself grounded.

It was a while later that I was startled by a touch on my shoulder. Falco stood above me with a worried look on his face.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Without even thinking, I got up from my seat and wrapped my arms around his waist to hug him. I put my ear to his chest and focused on his steady heartbeat. He gently wrapped his arms around me and held me tight.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said. "When Darcy said that the General and Peppy were down… I didn't think you and Fox had it in you."

The tears welled up in my eyes and escaped me before I could try to stop them. Falco noticed.

"Skye, I didn't mean… Damn it. I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me to say."

"We failed, Falco…" I murmured. "We failed General Pepper. We were supposed to protect him. We were supposed to protect him and we… I failed…" Just like I failed Craig…

The tears were uncontrollable now. I dug my face into his chest and grabbed handfuls of his suit as my sobs drowned into the din of the room. Falco just held me there, in the middle of everywhere, for everyone to see. He didn't seem embarrassed at all by it.

I finally cried myself out and began to calm down. I felt Falco shift then he reached down to tenderly wipe tears from my cheeks. A few seconds later a raccoon girl came barreling through the crowd to get to us.

"Mom!" Conna cried.

I had just enough time to peel myself from Falco before she crashed into me. I held onto her like she was a lifeline.

"Mom! I'm so glad you're alright! I was so worried and scared!"

"I'm as alright as I can be," I told her. I looked to Falco as I hugged my daughter and mouthed a silent "thank you" to him. He gave me a nod then stepped away to be with the rest of Star Fox.

Conna pulled away from me. "Mom, Hara went to find Clint. I passed Eric on the way here."

"Lead the way then."

She took my hand and led me to where the special ops team was being treated. They were all in beds except for Channery. He was shirtless with a bandage around his ribs and right arm in a sling. Hara sat with him, making sure he didn't move and taking care of his every whim. Before Conna and I could make it to them, Channery pulled out something shiny from his pocket. He tried to get on one knee but Hara kept him up. I couldn't help but grin at the sight.

"Is that…?" When Conna realized what it was, she beamed. "Oh my gosh! MOM! HARA IS-"

I slapped a hand over her mouth. I waited until he put the ring on Hara's finger before I let go of Conna. Conna dashed up to Hara and Channery to congratulate them.

"I'll be damned," Darcy mused as he took the place beside me. "Our Captain just popped the question. Who knew he had the balls?"

"An alien invasion and almost dying puts things into perspective," I said. "Makes you realize what's important. Life's too short."

"You'll get no argument from me there." He gave me a reassuring look. "How about you? Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'll make it. Just tired. I could go for a few drinks just to wipe this day from my memory."

"The drinks may have to wait…" Darcy murmured.

I followed his gaze to find Peppy coming our way.

"Skye, a word?"

I exchanged glances with Darcy then followed Peppy down the hall, out of earshot of everyone else.

"I need a favor," he said. "I know that I'm in no position to ask but…"

I crossed my arms. "Just ask me already. You're killing me."

There was a silence between us as he was trying to get his words together. He finally took a deep breath. "We're taking the fight to the aparoid homeworld. I have a bad feeling and I would feel much better if we had some back up."

The sincere worry on his features gave me pause. How could I possibly say no? If he needed my help to keep Star Fox safe… To keep my brother and Falco safe… There was no way I was going to deny him.

"What do you need me to do?"

His eyes widened. My answer shocked him. "Just like that?"

"Of course. If you, of all people, are worried about something happening then, I need to listen up. So, where do you need me?"

Peppy smiled then gave me low-down on the plan. As soon as he dismissed me, I went straight to Channery to explain what I would be doing. It seems that Fox had already beaten me to it.

"I thought the plan was supposed to be secret."

"It is to the others," Fox told me. "But, your Captain needed to give you the okay."

Channery grunted in pain as he moved to stand. "You and Darcy are cleared to go."

"But we failed our last mission, Captain…" I admitted.

"You did what you could. Now, you have to finish what you started. That means making sure that Star Fox gets back safely."

I gave him a nod. I wasn't feeling the confidence that he had for us. Conna came to my side.

"You're going to do fine, mom. Just… be careful."

I gave her a small smile. "I love you, sweetie. We'll be fine, I promise." I glanced over to a beaming Hara. "We're celebrating as soon as we get back. No punking out on me."

Hara winked. "Don't die before we put ourselves into a drunken stupor."

"I wouldn't miss it." I turned to Darcy. "Ready?"

"When you are. Let's end this. It's about time we get to show these aparoids who's boss."

I couldn't agree with him more.