A/N: It's been about a year, but all things come to an end eventually.

-SOTR

"Daddy?"

"Yeah Alex?"

"Wha's Stah Fox?"

"Heh heh. They were the heroes of the Lylat System, son. I thought I bought you the picture books of them."

"Mom hided them."

"...Oh."

"Where Stah Fox now?"

"Oh, they're gone, son. Out in...bigger space now. All of those stories in the books happened a long time ago...way before Grandpa was even born."

"Wow! An' Grahpa's old! I think he's 7!"

"Ah, I love ya, you little squirt. Come 'ere."

"Alex...Alex. Sir, wake up!"

"Nyug...huh? What? What's going on?" The white avian awoke once more, wiping the drool from his beak. Dennis was standing before him, a concerned look on his tired, burnt face.

"Jeez laweez Den, you look awful."

"Not feeling too great sir," the vulpine replied.

"Me either. And stop calling me that."

Alex rose from his chair with a great yawn. His back cracked in several places, and his neck was sore from the posture he had been in from sleeping. Taking a brief look around Mothership 117, he noticed that a lot of cleanup had been done. The green fuel was almost all gone, all the fires were out, the debris cluttered in neat little piles.

The bodies were gone, too.

You did this.

Alex shuddered. "How long I been out?"

Dennis checked his watch. "Wow, I'm surprised my watch made it. Uh, about 4 hours. We need some help for our upcoming maneuver, so I grabbed you. I mean, you did have the original flight coordinates and-"

The fox was cut short by Alex once more. "Please, don't bring that up." He brushed off his torn suit and began walking with Dennis down towards the front of the ship, where some of the main flight computers remained, a few crew members pecking away at the keyboards. Alex looked out the cracked bayview window in disgust, noticing the zit-colored planet was much closer now.

"Alright," Dennis began, walking up to one of the remaining computers, fellow crew members working beside him on other units. "Have we thought of a safe way to do this?"

"Not quite, Corporal," a female chipmunk answered. "There really is no safe way to do this. We either pull it off perfectly, or get sucked in by the planet's gravitational forces."

Alex, who was standing behind the terminals, sighed. "Have we tried sending out a distress signal to any nearby planets?"

A rodent in glasses answered him. "Yes Private, that was the first thing we did when the asteroids hit. But do you see any help? I don't think so." The rodent returned his gaze to his unit with a hiss.

Alex scowled. "Can't we do anything now?"

The chipmunk spoke up again. "Listen Sheridan, I don't think you are the one who's supposed to be telling us what to do. You already screwed us all over once, so why should we rely on you again?" She glared at the defenseless white avian. There were a few agreements from those at the terminals.

Alex gazed with empty eyes towards his fellow crew members. Dennis was looking away, a discontent frown on his snout.

It's all your fault.

"I know a 'sorry' won't cut it...but can I do anything to help?" Alex pleaded.

Katrina, the chipmunk, stared him down a few moments. "...Yeah. We've got some trajectories and gravitational monitors we need an eye kept on, jump on a terminal, and I'll give you the bypass codes..."

Katrina went on to explain on what to keep track of and at what moments. The yellow-green planet was ever closer. Alex found it hard to believe that gross looking blob of a planet was about to save all of their lives.

"Alright," Katrina announced to those working on the terminals. "We're in range. Brent, if you would..."

Katrina was addressing the snow-white leopard on the terminal across from her, who didn't seem to be paying much attention. His face was vacant, staring blankly down at the screen in front of him.

"Brent!"

The leopard snapped back to attention with a sudden jerk of his head. He had a small bag of ice on his right shoulder, where a blood stain was showing. "Uh, sorry. I was trying to figure out this imbalance in uh, this..." The leopard trailed off. "Big...stack of numbers. Whatcha need?"

Katrina looked at him puzzled. "Are you okay?"

"Heh, yeah. I took uh, a few blows to the head when we were being tossed around like salad." He made a mock knocking gesture to his head.

"Well, it's business time, so recuperate yourself," Katrina murmured, typing a few keys. "I need you to make an announcement to the crew. We're about to enter that planet's orbit and I don't want to have another incident like earlier."

"Ah, not a problem. One sec."

Brent fumbled with a few objects in front of him, eventually picking up a microphone and turning it on. He cleared his throat.

"Attention everyone, there's a sale going on at-" The white leopard fumbled and jerked his head again, obviously in some kind of mental fit. "-Sorry about that, uh, could I please have everyone strap themselves in to the nearest chair, as we are entering a highly gravitational area of orbit. Thank you."

Alex watched the confused-looking leopard sit down and rub his temples.

"Everyone ready?" Katrina announced one more time. There was a last-minute safety to check to make sure everyone had a sturdy position, and a brief terminal check. Alex felt butterflies in his stomach.

The horrid planet was now enveloping the entire window space. There was a small shake of the ship, and for a second, Alex thought they were crashing again.

"We're in," the rodent with glasses announced. "Initiate ambulatory motors."

Everyone at the terminals was working furiously, besides Alex. He was watching a graph of energy levels rise up and down. Katrina had told him to make sure everything stayed at yellow or green.

"Reserve thrusters active," Alex heard Dennis say. "How we lookin' on the charts, Alex?"

"Uh, we're good. Whoever's on Terminal 8, ease up a bit."

You can't be trusted.

There was another gentle shake from the ship, signifying its speed increasing. Everyone and everything on the ship was relatively calm. Alex felt some sort of weight get tossed off of his shoulders.

"Entering velocity level 4, speed increasing, planetary gravity kicking in," another said.

"Looking good guys, keep it up," Katrina said.

This went on for about 15 more minutes, the terminal workers shouting out conditions and Alex keeping them all under control. The mothership was seemingly on a smooth course, set straight for safety.

"Okay folks, we're entering the most crucial part of this maneuver," Katrina said aloud. "I need your full on attention for this. Brent, are you ready?"

Taking a look at the snow leopard, Alex saw him nod halfheartedly. For some unknown reason, Alex gripped his chair a little bit tighter.

"Initiate the reserve turbo boosters."

"Wait, WHAT?" Alex yelled, startling everyone at the terminals. "If we flip on those boosters, we're as good as dead!"

"Private Sheridan!"

"Don't 'Private Sheridan' me, you buck-toothed bitch!" Alex screamed, making both Dennis and Katrina jump out of their seats. "I was once captain of this ship, and I know damn well that if we ignite those boosters, we're all going straight to hell!"

Alex was on his feet now, fists clenched. The chipmunk was speechless at the outburst, her face stricken with some combination of fear and anger. Even still, she quickly regained her composure and utterly ignored Alex completely. "Brent, please ignite the boosters."

"NO!" Alex shouted again towards the leopard, whose face was fixed in shock and pain. "If you value your own skin, you won't hit that switch Brent."

Brent sat there, shaking uncontrollably. "I...I...don't pressure me!"

"Corporal Gnecco, ignite those damn boosters now! That's an ORDER!"

"DON'T DO IT MAN! You're going to kill us all!"

The leopard was exchanging glances between Katrina and Alex like a frightened child. His shaking had worsened.

"I...please...I can't...can't...ugh."

With a groan that seemed to emote all life out in one breath, Brent fell headfirst into the control console, stone cold. As he fell to the side out of his chair, his paw meandered and flicked a series of switches on the control board.

There was a scream as Brent's body hit the floor, and everyone promptly panicked. The ship was rapidly gaining speed.

"God dammit!" Katrina shouted furiously, her eyes glued to her screen. "I swear to fucking God Alex, I'm going to kill you myself! Somebody get Gnecco to safety NOW!"

There was no time. The ship jolted violently and sent Alex flat on his back. There were more screams from around the room, most of them from the terminal crew. Alex's vision faded to black for a moment, and in an instant...

He was terrified.

Opening his eyes, all he saw was a blur of gray and white. The ship was roaring now along with the shaking. Alex waited for bodies to start tossing through the air again.

But they didn't.

They're better off without you.

They didn't listen to him. And now, everyone was going to die.

That's how it all began anyway, Alex thought. No one listens to the guy in charge.

"Whoa!" Another jolt from the ship tossed Alex a few feet in the air. A split second later he landed against the terminal which Brent had been working on. The leopard's body was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," Alex murmured in a panicked breath. Seizing the moment of opportunity, he forcefully swatted his hand at the swithces and keys, desperately hoping something would happen.

And it did.

With a great roar, the ship began losing speed. The forces of gravity were relinquished, and the velocity crumbled. Within minutes, the ship was again bumbling along at it's normal speed.

Alex was slumped against a wall, his vision black, dazed. He heard the sighs of relief emanate around him.

Katrina lifted her head up from her computer screen, which was now broken. She put a hand up to her face, checking her own sense of reality. "We...I...Is everyone...okay?"

Mumbles and groans validated her answer. She leaned back with a sigh, closing her eyes. "Oh, thank Lylat."

"Ugh, holy shit..." Dennis grumbled, putting a paw on his forehead. He looked around for his friend. "Alex?"

On the wall twenty feet away, Alex flashed Dennis the thumbs-up.

"Heh heh," Dennis chuckled as he slipped out of his seat to treat his friend. "You alright man?"

"...Do I need to put up another thumb?"

"Ha, no. Be thankful though...you were right," Dennis trailed off, looking back towards Katrina. "You just saved us all. Come on, get up."

Dennis reached down and lent Alex a helping hand. Alex was a bit shaken, but not injured. Both of them lumbered back to the control terminals, where some of the members were treating Brent, whom Alex supposed they had found. The snow leopard, sadly, was bleeding everywhere. A newly formed gash appeared on his left temple.

Alex hoisted himself from Dennis' grip and set himself down on a chair with a groan of relief. A moment later, a hand appeared on his shoulder.

"Private Sheridan," Katrina said lowly.

Shit. "Uh, yes, Lieutenant?"

Katrina's grip tightened on the avian's shoulders. "I'll have you know your previous act is a form of a more...shall I say, potent type of not following direct orders. An act we call treason."

Alex gulped. But then again, what's the worst she could do in the middle of nowhere? Half of the crew was dead, and that disgusting planet was staring them straight in the face...

"I could have you released through the air lock, you know," Katrina told him with a bitter smile. "But...you did take action in a time of dire need, and you..." She paused, hesitating. "...saved your comrades' lives. Thank you, Alex."

She let go of the avian and began to walk towards the front bay window, her brown tail waving astray. When she reached the cracked glass, she put a hand on it.

"I think everything's going to be just fine now," she announced. "We should be out of this planet's gravity with enough energy to spare to make it to our destination. Great job crew, I know it's been...quite a dark day, but with courage, we can do anything. Right?" The greenish-yellow glow of the planet emanated a strange aura behind her.

"I can't wait to go home..." Dennis groaned, a half-smile on his face.

"I'm just glad it's all over," Alex said. "I wish Johnny and Luna were still...aw, Christ..." Alex felt his eyes well up.

"It's...alright Alex," Dennis told him, his face scrunched, trying to prevent himself from crying. "They'll still be with us. They'll lead us home."

Alex sniffed. "Yeah. They will. It can only get better from here, right?"

Dennis nodded with a tear-drenched smile.

Katrina turned around to face the two friends with a reassuring smile. "It can only get better from here."

And then, the bayview window exploded.

A/N: One more chapter.

-SOTR