Chapter Nineteen: Reunion

Writers Note:

Sorry for totally slacking lately. I've had a lot of stuff on my mind and still do. I'll try to update more often though. Hope you guys like how this turned out.

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If we can,
We will leave a letter and this song
For you,
And we'll write,
Once a day,
And float it through the sea,
To you.
We'll regret,
All those things we thought of but didn't ever do.

Box Car Racer - "Watch The World"

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Eight Days Later…

The days slowly passed for Wolf, Falco, and Erika. They had been patiently waiting for the team to arrive back in town to pick them up and what was to the rest of the team, an unknown group of people. But the day did come, and the Star Fox team had arrived back home. However to their displeasure, there was no welcome wagon for them. Falco had told Fox to meet up at his place for some vital information. Naturally, they wouldn't turn it down and headed off to the avian's home.

Upon arrival, Fox was greeted by a shocking face, Wolf had already seen them approaching the door and took the time to actually come outside to greet them.

"Wow, I knew that you two had apologized to each other but, you're rooming with Falco now?" The vulpine joked at Wolf.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Isn't that a little gay?"

"Hah, that couldn't be further from the truth." He turned around looking over toward Falco's room upstairs. "Hey Erika!" Out of his doorway came the red feathered bird looking a bit confused. Once she saw who was down in the foyer however, the avian put on a radiant smile and walked out of view momentarily before reappearing out from the kitchen.

"Erika: The Star Fox team, and vice versa…"

"I remember you from the party." It was at that moment he realized who she was.

"Oh…party…right…" Fox mumbled while nervously scratching the back of his head. He let the awkwardness pass and continued on with the conversation. "So where's Falco?"

"He's showering upstairs, he'll be down soon." She responded back, bringing frustration to the vulpine. He really wanted to know what Falco had to say since it would obviously be something important enough to force them over to his own home. For the time being, he thought it would be a good time to learn more about what he assumed to be Falco's girlfriend. The vulpine took a seat on the couch that Wolf normally slept on and rested his feet on the glass coffee table in front of him.

"So I heard that you were have experience as a merc, correct?"

"You've heard right. Kind of been a bit of a loner for some time though. Not really tied to any one group of people." The group wasn't surprised at this. She seemed like a person who could hold her own without much of a problem.

Fox himself had known many a soloist in his lengthy career that had spanned three separate decades. Thinking about it made him feel a bit on the old side, even if he was only thirty one. He wasn't quite the older man, but he hadn't escaped his younger days. In a short amount of time, he was able to remember those years in immense detail. From the moment he got the news of his fathers passing to him at the present time, it all came back to him. The tenderness of it all brought on a great elation inside of him, enveloping his entire body as he put on a wide smile. He was oblivious to everyone else but they didn't seem to be paying much attention to him as they were socializing with Erika. He could see lips moving but no words coming out of them.

"Foxie!" A familiar voice boomed from upstairs. The vulpine drew himself out of his trance and saw Falco looking over the loft to see what all the commotion was. The blue avian had already gotten himself dressed in his normal flight attire which consisted of his black combat boots that went up to his knee's, a pair of thick red pants, a brown g-suit, and lastly the tan vest that he had grown to love for so many years. Even from a distance, Fox could tell the avian had just gotten out of the shower and failed to dry himself off properly since his fauxhawk was all poofed up.

"Great to see you again Falco."

"Likewise. I'll be right down, give me a second." He disappeared back into his room for a moment before coming back down to them. "I see you've met Erika."

"Yeah, she's pretty cool." Slippy noted, making her blush under her already red feathers. "So what was this news you were gonna tell us about, huh?"

"Right. We're gonna take a quick walk down the street to get there, follow me."

"What's down the street?" Peppy asked.

"Look, I can't tell you until we get there okay?"

Everyone reluctantly dropped the subject and walked out the door.

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The moment he heard the door knock, Otto knew who it was. Without much thought, the canine got up from the couch he had recently bought and turned the doorknob to find Falco and a slew of other people that he quickly identified as the Star Fox Team looking back at him.

"Guys, this is Otto von Hiedrich. We met last week downstairs. I believe he has something he would like to tell you…"

He led the everyone into the still fairly empty living room and allowed everyone to situate themselves on the couch and other seats provided. Afterward, Otto began to recount the events that had occurred. Although he had done this many times before, it never seemed to get old. It had the same effect on him as it did the first time he explained it. He knew that with the amount of people he was telling, there would be suspicion, but he hoped that they would be able to understand the situation he was in. When it was all said and done, the team was silent. They were all still trying to digest everything that had been said. Nothing that the brown furred canine said appeared to be fraudulent. It was genuine and believable.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, Slippy had heard of Otto and his exile from Besdolore. The news station he always watched did a big thing on him for a few days before and after the exile but nothing more was said after it. He believed everything that Otto had said. To him, whatever the reporters had said was circumstantial. He always seemed to have that skeptical side to him, but it never really showed on the outside. It was more or less one of those things that needed to remain hidden from view as not to cause controversy between other members. It was like the army in a way; don't ask, don't tell.

"How long have you been here for?" Fox questioned.

"About a week and a half…"

"Hmm, do you know anything about piloting personal star fighters?"

"I've worked more on the ground than in the air, but if it's anything like the ship we got here with, I think I'd be able to adapt."

"Good, we'll have to set you guys up with a few."

"Where's everyone else Otto?" Falco interrupted.

"Out, they should be getting back momentarily. Speaking of which, I know that at least two of my men have plenty of piloting experience, and another knows a lot about the mechanics of the fighters."

"Now we're talking!" The vulpine exclaimed. "Is there anyone else with you?"

"Yeah, we have a former member of the Yaidvinian army. He's a lot like me, being more accustomed to ground missions, but he did pilot us most of the way here." Fox nodded in approval while walking over toward Falco.

"Are you sure that this guy's legit?" He whispered.

"I trust him and I think you should too Foxie. Besides, we might get something out of this." The avian replied while rubbing three of his feathery fingers together. The prospect of a reward was too good to pass up at a time like this. Fox had reached the decision and was not going to turn his back on it.

"We're in…"

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The Following Morning…

Cornerian Military Base: Fighter Holding Station

"Ready for this?" Fox asked Otto as he typed a pass-code into a small pad located on one end of a large hangar.

"Bring it…"

The vulpine finished typing in the code before pressing a green button next to the keyboard. What followed was a series of loud clunks as the door opened up from the bottom. As it slowly rose, the silhouettes of five medium sized fighters appeared. The silver and blue Arwings were in pristine condition and had probably not been touched in a while. Otto looked at them in awe, finding their design to be extremely advanced compared to the ship he had.

"Damn."

"Exactly, these babies are the enemies worst nightmare. Their maneuverability is spot on, while at the same time holds some nice firepower."

"Once again, damn."

"With a few of these, you guys will be up and running in no time."

"You mean, we're not getting all of them?"

"You said that you couldn't fly and that Teveroth guy was a ground man. We're strapped for time and we couldn't teach you guys how to operate these things by tomorrow. We're gonna let the others pilot while you two give covering fire from The Shadow."

"Is this gonna be enough to fight off Michael?"

"That's something you should have asked yourself a while ago buddy." He responded with a chuckle. "Lucky for you, I brought some backup…" The vulpine forced Otto to turn around. Behind them was a grey furred bulldog wearing a pair of shades that seemed to stand out the most on him. He also wore a green shirt and a tan vest similar to Falco's over it. In his paw was a similar colored helmet that had a comm link set up within it. He outstretched his hand toward the other canine and shook it.

"William Grey, ace pilot for the Cornerian Army, call me Bill."

"Nice to meet ya Bill."

"He's gonna bring along some of his men to help us out." Fox had come a long way with Bill since their beef those years back. But in time, they had become the friends they were before he cheated with Krystal. Rumors were also going around that Bill would be promoted to commander of the Cornerian Defense Force, which Fox thought would be perfect for him. Ever since joining the Cornerian Flight Academy at the age of eighteen, the canine had longed to become the commander of the army. With General Pepper approaching retirement, he hoped that he would be the one to take his place.

"So are we going to bring these over to The Shadow or what?"

"Right, let's get moving…"