Entering Orbit of Corneria

Kevin awoke to Seria and Allie both practically throwing him out of his bed. He fought to keep the blanket over himself (he was only wearing boxers) as they shook him wildly. After they finally saw that his eyes were wide open, they stopped.
"What the HELL are you two doing?!" he asked, furious.
"We're under attack, and Peppy won't wake up!" replied Allie, a tear in her eye. Kevin could already guess why Peppy wouldn't wake, but that was for later. He had more immediate problems to deal with now. He shooed the two out of his room, threw on his dress blues (he wore them under his pilot's suit during the crash), and stormed to the Bridge. As soon as he entered, the viewport showed all he needed to know; Corneria was surrounded by more of those whitish swirls of something, and several more were approaching the Great Fox.
"This just ain't good…"
"Where's Peppy," called the Black Panther, "what's going on?" Kevin turned towards the creature.
"Just focus. You," he pointed at the panther, "get to the weapons station, wherever that is." He rounded on a group of other anthros, including Falco, next. "You guys get to the ship controls." They nodded acknowledgment and swiftly got to where directed. "Let's get broadside before we get hammered!"
Kevin looked back at the viewport, but saw that odd, orange ships were now approaching quickly. He saw Falco speaking to his left. "Kevin, we don't have broadside cannons..."
"You're joking, right?" replied Kevin, not taking his eyes from the new ship bristling with cannons. "How fast can this tub go at flank speed?"
"I'm guessing a little more than several hundred meters a second."
"Let's hope it's fast enough, 'cause we're about to get up close and personal." Falco raised a brow.
"What do you me--"
"All-ahead, full speed. Open fire on that new ship!" Falco took the time to look at the viewport and gasped.
"Kevin, that's a Venomian craft!"
"What are those doing here? I thought they were wiped out!" cried the Black Panther, furious.
"It's going broadside," said Kevin, "let's move this tub before we get pasted, maybe?" The ship finally began moving forward towards the ship, its only two forward cannons blaring. Massive chunks of metal were thrown from the Venomian Cruiser, surprising Kevin immediately. "Now THOSE are cannons!" Falco laughed as he ordered his team to dive relative to the cruiser.
The Venomian Cruiser opened fire, every shot missing entirely as the almost-nimble Great Fox sped downwards towards Corneria.
Suddenly, Kevin found that he had a slight headache. In the very back of his mind, he could almost read the enemy's movements—moreso than when he was in his own reality. The Venomian craft was going to bullrush them.
"My God in Heaven...are those Venomians NUTS?!" The enemy craft slowly turned towards them...
"What," called Seria, "what is it?"
"Get this tub moving, and I mean MOVING! Swerve as hard as you possibly can!" The craft slowly drew a bead on them, as the old Navy saying goes.
"What is it, Kevin?!" Seria had a slight touch of anger in her voice now. Kevin turned to her.
"That miserable tub is going to try and ram us!"
"Venomians aren't exactly suicidal," said Falco as he watched the viewport. Something else began tugging at the back of Kevin's mind, but he resisted it immediately. "Why are you so worried?"
"They're going to ram us, Falco, just trust me on that, so let's MOVE!" Falco ordered a set of maneuvers that would have made Kevin proud if he wasn't so focused on the cruiser. Slowly it began gaining on them. More tugging in the back of Kevin's mind was shrugged off.
"This is nuts..." said Kevin quietly as the ship gained more and more ground on them.
Suddenly, Kevin heard Falco yell 'Now!', and the ship sped up to maybe twice its original speed. Falco was hiding the ships actual speed until then, an impressive tactic that may have well impressed some of the Navy back home.
The salvo fired from the Venomian cruiser mostly missed, two shots connecting with the top 'neck' of the Great Fox, and the impacts were felt immediately. Kevin was first to get back to his feet, on the brink of furious.
"They won't fall for that twice, Falco," he began, but he couldn't finish the sentence by the time the cruiser fired again. "MOVE!" screamed Kevin, Falco already in the process of saying the same thing to his navigator. A rain of plasma and energy smashed into the top of the Great Fox, splintering the hull along the spine.
"Okay, so the smaller fighters have shields," began Kevin, incredulous, "and yet this tub doesn't?"
"We'll get around to it, can we focus on the problem at hand?!"
"Turn this ship around," screamed Kevin, "without shields they'll tear us to pieces!" A couple seconds went by before anything happened.
"MOVE IT," screamed Falco at the crew, and they instantly hopped to work. The ship pulled a U-turn, just barely dodging more plasma fire directed at them. Falco glanced over to Kevin and saw that he was fuming.
"Do we have a warp drive of ANY kind?" More plasma blasts glanced off of the Great Fox, shaking the Bridge considerably. Falco sighed.
"We do."
"Use it. Take us far from here." Kevin turned towards the viewport once more, folding his hands behind his back. He even stands like a damn Commander... thought Falco, a touch of respect but more envy invading his thoughts. The warp drives kicked in and they instantly left the scene of the battle.
Mere seconds had gone by before Kevin spoke, anger lacing every word that left his mouth. "Hesitation," he began venomously, "can very damn well cost us lives, and VERY probably every life on this Goddamn ship." He slowly turned to the Navigation Officers. "If I ever see hesitation like I witnessed in the face of danger, I will forcefully remove you from your posts and take over myself." He twisted his mouth almost into a silent snarl before whirling around and walking off of the Bridge towards his quarters.

Warpspace, egress Planet Corneria, Peppy's Quarters

"I do not know how much time I have left among you," said the holo-recording of Peppy, in what must have been only hours before his death, "but I do know this. You have all been family to me. You have all been very dear to me, and it was an honor serving among you.
"I am sorry to leave you all in this dire time, but there will always be someone ready to take my place. And I have debated for many hours before deciding who shall lead in my stead." The holo-recording paused. Kevin glanced around the room at those gathered.
Allie seemed to be taking it hardest. Clearly, Peppy must have been a father figure to her, besides this Valer that Kevin was not able to meet until now. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Kevin felt bad for her, and he silently wished he could help her. But he had to be strong for everyone present.
Seria was also being tough, though tears were evident on her fur. Valer, the White Tiger that had been mentioned days before, had made himself present for this sad moment. He had his head bowed low, hands folded.
He was just as strong as he looked. Muscles abound, and extremely strong features riddled his body, from the obvious biceps to the hidden abs. Clearly, this tiger would cause a lot of death in battle. But he was also extremely gentle, almost laughably so. And wise.
Falco and Slippy were standing side-by-side, both obviously hurt. Slippy was openly sobbing, Falco was more contained, though occasionally his shuddering became obvious.
It dawned on Kevin just how loved Peppy was. He was an idol in many ways, and in his age he was a fountain of wisdom that would be missed by all. He stayed silent for a few more seconds before speaking softly.
"Shall I continue the recording?" He looked in particular at Allie. She was certainly taking it roughly. How could such a person become a soldier?
She nodded in tandem with most of the gathered. Kevin resumed the recording and watched as the barely animated Peppy continued his speech.
"Falco. You are strong-willed, tough in every aspect. You are a pillar of strength to many of the crew. But strength alone won't be enough. I had considered Fox as well, he would have made a Captain to be proud of." The gathered crew were looking around at each other, some with tears still in their eyes. "But I've come to this final choice, and I expect you all to obey him with as much eagerness as you had me.
"He is wise beyond his years. I've not known him for very long, but this is obvious in his eyes. He is strong, strong-willed, yet compassionate. And he will very much be the hand that many of you find yourselves grabbing for in your time of need." Most of the crew looked towards Valer. He didn't notice, his head still bowed. Kevin kept his eyes on the hologram, smiling. Peppy truly was a great leader...for them to respect him as much as they do. The hologram continued.
"The Captain to succeed me, my crew, my family, will be Kevin Peale."