Chapter 2: The Anniversary (use the following key for the Scenes From a Hat scene: "Fox", "Falco", "Slippy", "Jim", "Chancellor" Yes, I added Whose Line is it Anyway for comic relief. Just bear with me on this one.)

After their visit with Jim Kavannagh, Fox and Krystal checked into the hotel. Later, they managed to persuade Falco to attend the anniversary of the Enterprise. Slippy wasn't too hard to persuade. That night, Fox waited outside Krystal's room, dressed in his formal Star Fox commander's uniform, to take her to the ballroom. Krystal came out in a silver dress that Fox had never seen before. Fox had never seen her so beautiful.

"How do you like it, Fox?" Krystal asked. "It used to belong to my mother. Do you think it will be alright to wear?"

"Oh, Krystal, you look absolutely beautiful." Fox said. At that moment, Krystal's eyes lit up. She smiled and leaned in and gave Fox a deep, passionate kiss. Down in the lobby, they met Falco and Slippy, who were wearing their Star Fox lieutenant uniforms.

That night, the hotel's ballroom was packed. Almost the entire Federation was there. After nearly fifteen minutes of searching, the four pilots had finally found Jim, who was wearing his blue Federation uniform with three silver stars on each collar.

"Hey, you guys made it." Jim said.

"Yeah, we're all here. Damn I've never seen it this packed." Fox said.

"I tell you what, half of the entire Federation showed up." joked Jim. "So I take it, these are the other two members of Star Fox."

"Yes, this is my first lieutenant and ace pilot, Falco Lombardi. Falco this is my old friend, Jim Kavannagh." said Fox.

"Good to finally meet you Falco. Fox has told me quite a bit about your piloting skills." Jim said.

"Good to meet you too, Jim. However, Fox hasn't told me too much about you." Falco replied.

"And this is my engineer, Slippy Toad." Fox said.

"Good to meetcha, Jim." Slippy said.

"Likewise. I haven't heard very much about you though." Jim said.

"Yeah. I kinda figured." replied Slippy. Both Jim and Fox laughed at Slippy's remark. The festivities began and everyone was enjoying themselves. There was dancing, music, food, and chatter. Jim gave Falco and Slippy the same story that he had given Fox and Krystal earlier. Falco seemed very interested as Jim told him about his time on the USS Farragut and his battle against the Klingons, while Fox and Krystal spent most of their time on the dance floor. After a while, the Federation Chancellor, Wilhelm Earhart, an aging German shepherd, went up to the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, members of the United Federation of Planets, honored guests, we are here tonight to celebrate the 500th anniversary of my wife and I's marriage." he said and the whole crowed burst out into laughter.

"I thought you might like that." he said. "We are here to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the commissioning of the USS Enterprise. At this moment I would like to invite Vice Admiral James Patrick Kavannagh, who is the commander of the Enterprise, up to the microphone to say a few words on behalf of the ship and all those who once served aboard this famous vessel. Come on up, Jim."

"Thank you, Chancellor. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you for attending this celebration. I cannot tell you how much it means to me, and the crew. I wasn't expecting this, and so I don't have much to say, but I'll see what I can do. On March 19, 2281, the USS Enterprise was commissioned as the Federation's newest flagship. She started her service under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer, who commanded the ship for five years. During that time, her full potential as a Federation cruiser was fully realized. I am proud to follow in the footsteps of such notable commanders as Christopher Pike, James Kirk, and Jean-Luc Picard. I think they would be proud to see their ship now. The men that I have served with are the greatest men I have ever known. We have been through much together and it has been an honor to serve with these men. Together, through thick and thin, these wonderful gentlemen have carried out their duties beyond expectation. No medal can be awarded to them that would do justice for their efforts. We have all formed, on this ship, a bond that cannot be broken. I could never imagine a better position than the one I hold now, and years from now, when I am asked about my service in the United Federation of Planets, I will be proud to say that I was given the opportunity to command the crew of the USS Enterprise. Thank you, and may God bless you all." As Jim ended his speech, the crowd erupted in applause. Then the chancellor got back up to announce the final event on the agenda.

"Thank you for those very moving words Jim. Now we're going to need you to stay on stage for our final event of the night. We're going give you an opportunity to show your comedic side in a little game that was started on Earth before the first stardate. That would be a little game of Whose Line is it Anyway?" Jim was dreading this. Everyone knew that he was funny but he hated showing it on stage. The chancellor asked him to choose a few volunteers. He ended up choosing the Star Fox team. However, Krystal was a bit reluctant to go up on stage. Fox tried to get her up on stage but to no avail. During the game, Krystal finally got a look at the team's sense of humor. She already knew about Fox's sense of humor, but he was the one who made her laugh the most. Fox and Falco hated the game, "Hoedown" since it was a game where they had to sing a hoedown using lyrics off of the top of their heads. Falco crashed and burned, but Fox managed to make everyone, especially Krystal, laugh. The group's best performance was during the game, Scenes From a Hat.

"Alright, so now we're gonna move on to a game called Scenes From a Hat. So, what we do is before the game, we ask the audience for suggestions for scenes they'd like to see our performers act out, we take the good ones and we put them in this hat and we see how many our performers can act out starting with: trivial reasons to hold a news conference."

"I have called you all here to announce this news conference."

"I have called you all here to announce that Jimmy is no longer cracking corn and I do care."

"Got a new podium."

"Unlikely first lines of medical ads."

"Been decapitated recently?"

"Bad choices to make when your genie grants you three wishes."

"Uh, two Cokes and some chips."

"First drafts of famous movie quotes."

"Follow the yellow-brick toad. Follow the yellow-brick toad."

"I'll be back, in a couple minutes. I have some things I have to do then I'll be right back."

"Go ahead…Make a cake."

"Fredzilla! Fredzilla!"

"Luke, I am your second uncle, twice removed."

"Things you shouldn't do during an earthquake."

"Right, time to split that atom."

"Oh, please be kind. What Chancellor Earhart is really thinking during cabinet meetings."

"There isn't even a cabinet in here."

"Things the pilot wishes he hadn't said while the intercom was on."

"Ooh, those burritos are coming back on me."

"This is easier than I thought."

"I just love that movie where they all crash into the mountain and eat each other."

"The good news and the bad news."

"Whew, the elections are over…Chancellor Earhart?"

"Pull the string on the Chancellor Earhart doll and it says…"

"It was nice the time we worked together, Jim. You're fired."

"Bad things to say to someone on their deathbed."

"What are gonna do with your stereo?"

"About that twenty credits you owe me."

"So when do you think Jade will be ready to date again?"

The last two scenes from the hat made Krystal laugh the hardest.

"Bad things to do in a police line-up."

Fox got up on stage and mouthed the words, "You're dead." The whole crowed burst out, laughing in agreement. Fox's last idea for this scene almost made Krystal fall out of her chair when he called up all four of them, they all stood in the "police line-up" and started doing a riverdance.

The final scene created the largest laugh.

"What Jim Kavannagh is thinking right now."

"I have a career. What the hell am I doing?" Suddenly, the whole crowd erupted into laughter.

"Well ladies and gentlemen," the chancellor said, "that is the end of the game. Now I would like to move on to our closing ceremonies." The crowd was seated as the chancellor was handed a small, black, velvet covered box. "Would Vice Admiral James Patrick Kavannagh please step forward?" Jim stepped up and stood at attention. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that James Kavannagh, for his excellent service aboard the Enterprise, is being promoted to Admiral." The chancellor then placed an extra silver star on each collar and shook his hand.

"Now, to conclude this celebration, let us all raise our glasses." Each member of the party raised their champagne glasses.

"To the USS Enterprise and to all who are serving aboard, have served aboard, and will one day serve aboard this amazing ship."

The rest of the crowd responded, "To the Enterprise!" and with that, the celebration was concluded. Everyone shook Jim's hand and congratulated him on their way out.

"So, Jim, the Enterprise is heading out tomorrow, right?" asked Fox.

"Yeah, at twelve o'clock." Jim replied.

"Well, good luck, and congratulations on your promotion." Fox said.

"Thanks. You did an excellent job in Scenes From a Hat. That was hilarious what you had us do in the police line-up." Fox, Jim and Krystal all started laughing as they remembered the random riverdance.

"Thanks for showing up. I really appreciate it." Jim said. "I hope to see you all tomorrow at the launch."

"Don't worry. We'll be there." said Falco. He obviously wanted to get a closer look at the ship.

"Right, well I'd better be heading home. I have to get up pretty early tomorrow. Goodnight you guys." he said as he shook Fox's hand and went on his way. The group went upstairs to get some much-needed rest. Falco and Slippy went back into their rooms as Fox walked Krystal back to her room.

"You were hilarious, Fox." she said. She giggled as she thought about the game.

"Thanks Krys." Fox replied and kissed her head.

That was a night never to forget. Fox thought.

"Never." Krystal said and Fox remembered that she was telepathic. They arrived at Krystal's room and she turned around and gave Fox a long, loving kiss.

"Goodnight, Foxie. I love you." she said.

"I love you too, Krys. I'll see you in the morning." Fox said and headed back to his room. "That was the best night of my life."