Chapter Twenty : To The Sky

Authors Note:

SHORT CHAPTER INCOMING!

This place was never the same again
After you came and went
How can you say you meant anything different
To anyone standing alone
On the street with a cigarette
On the first night we met

Look to the past
And remember and smile.
And maybe tonight
I can breathe for awhile.
I'm not in the scene
I think I'm fallin' asleep
But then all that it means is
I'll always be dreaming of you.

Blink-182 "Feeling This"

Before everyone knew it, the time to head out to Besdolore had arrived. Everyone's respective fighter was placed inside of the holds and their crews were for takeoff. Three immense carriers; The Shadow, The Great Fox III, and Canis were on the tarmac, evenly spaced out, and waiting for the "go-ahead" signal.

"Great Fox III, this is ground control. Ships are good to go. Let em' loose." A voice crackled over the speaker.

"Roger that." Fox replied back. "Shadow and Canis, did you copy that?"

"Ten-four Great Fox." Both Otto and Bill replied.

"Let's spread our wings guys!"

All three ships began to simultaneously hover off of the ground, making the ground shake violently below. The engines came to life and let out red flames of various degrees in the rear of the ships, pushing them forward until corrections were made to point them toward the sky. One by one, they accelerated into the heavens and eventually became lost in the horizon. Star Fox and Company had completed the first step of their long journey to the planet Besdolore, but something told them it would be a tedious one…

A Few Hours Later…

In his private quarters, Fox sat at his desk and began to write inside of his captains log.

August 21st, 2053

2253

We took off today at approximately 0730 from the Cornerian Military Base located five miles North-Northwest of Corneria City. There were no problems during takeoff or when escaping the atmosphere. The Shadow and Canis are both trailing us slightly but we plan on lowering the engines thrust to allow them to catch back up.

I am still a bit curious about who and what we will be fighting against and I'm sure that everyone else is too, but I'm optimistic that we will be able to deal with whatever comes out way. Nobody can hold up against the Star Fox team, let alone the team and two other ships filled with some of the finest pilots I've ever known.

The Great Fox III will have it's work cut out with the journey we are embarking on. Approximate time of arrival will be in ten days, giving us plenty of time to prepare for the assault. The best case scenario will be the enemy being taken by complete surprise and will be too discombobulated to regroup. This will make picking them off a lot easier. Only time will tell if my prediction becomes reality…

Three Days Later

Erika sat in the lounge, watching television with Slippy. She wasn't in the best of moods when she found out there was nothing that would help her remain entirely fit in a physical sense. It would be one of those things she would have to live with though, all she needed was the necessities and those were more than plentiful.

"So Erika, you gotten yourself familiar with the ship?" The frog asked as he flipped through the channels.

" Yeah, it seems like this is a fairly easy place to find your way around."

"When we made the blueprints for this iteration, it was originally going to have a few extra sleeping quarters, but we scrapped it, not thinking we would have anyone else on board. You'll just have to remain bunked with someone for the time being." Slippy turned over to see that the avian was smiling, he had completely forgotten that she was kind of going out with Falco and could now see why she was so happy.

"I've had two for a while now. I find it to be a lot easier now with just one."

"Well, with time you'll find that we're pretty laid back and forgiving." Erika got up from her seat and went over to the other side of the room to retrieve some cola in the mini-bar. She swiftly grabbed a bottle and popped the top off before taking a few sips.

"Have you seen Falco?" She questioned.

"I'm afraid not. He's probably in his room."

"Alright, I'm gonna head up there. Talk to ya soon Slip'" She walked toward the door, only to be blocked by Wolf and Panther who had just entered. They nodded at each other to acknowledge their presence and went their separate ways.

"Where's she headed?" Wolf asked.

"Falco's room." The lupine let out a few snickers. "What?"

"This happened to me too…"

"And?"

"Falco'd kill me if I told you…"

"Aww come on!" He begged. "Spill it!" The lupine made sure neither Falco nor Erika were around them before speaking back up.

"Let's just say that I'd leave them alone for a while, if you know what I mean." He responded while winking at the green frog, causing an uproar of laughter.

A loud thud on the door jarred Falco out of his bed. When not active, this was his second home in the ship besides the lounge. Everyone needs their beauty sleep and this was one bird who liked taking that phrase to heart.

"Falco, it's me." Erika spoke through the door. It was muffled on his end but being the only female on the ship, it was pretty obvious who it was. The blue feathered avian was greeted with a small peck on the cheek.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering why you were up here when everyone else is in the lounge conversing?"

"Resting. I enjoy sleep." He chuckled.

"How could you just waste your time laying around doing nothing?""That's just how I roll babe…"

Falco walked over to the bathroom and quickly relieved himself. He failed to shut the door but frankly, he didn't care. Erika didn't seem to mind so why not? When he was finished, the toilet automatically flushed and the avian washed off his hands before walking back over to the bed where Erika now sat.

"Do you need something?" She gave him no immediate answer, but instead the red avian stared at him. Her seductive smile brought one to Falco as well. "Come on, you can't hide your thoughts from me! Spill em!" He jokingly demanded.

"Wolf's downstairs with the gang…" She replied while pointing toward the ground. "…Fox and Peppy are on the bridge…"

"Are you saying-"

"Yeah…" She placed her hand on Falco's, gently moving it up and down his palm. It wasn't long before they had locked beaks much like they had on his roof. This time however, there would be nothing to hold them back. During that moment, there was only one thing he could think of…

Oh God, I'm in for it now…