Great Fox II, Cornerian orbit

May 11th, 2611

The members of Star Fox were gathered in the hanger, awaiting the arrival of their hired help. The first to arrive were Star Wolf, the Red Fang, Rainbow Delta, and Black Rose touching down. After the three pilots got out of their fighters, Wolf remarked "Never thought I'd be back here again."

"Welcome aboard." Fox curtly replied.

The next to arrive were the three members of MilLynx. Fox shook hands with Miyu.

"Good to see you again."

"Same to you Fox, though I wish it were under better circumstances."

She noticed Panther approaching out of the corner of her eye and shot him a glare.

"Don't even think about it, lover boy."

That stopped the jungle cat in his tracks. Fox was thankful for that, especially given how Kaden felt about the lynx.

The ship that arrived after MilLynx was a Macbethian fighter dating back to the Lylat War. It's pilot was the cheetah known as Connie Alvarez. Panther must have been making eyes at her, because after Fox welcomed her aboard, she scoffed and said "Boys."

"I apologize in advance for anything he might do."

"I appreciate that McCloud, but I can handle him."

The arrival after that was a pair of custom Arwings that Star Fox recognized as the Bullfrog and Tadpole. Their pilots were Slippy and Amanda Toad, both recalled from retirement.

"Well Slip, how's retirement treating you?" chided Falco.

"Honestly, Falco, it's getting kind of boring."

"Sounds like someone wants their old job back." Kronos put in.

"Maybe partner. Maybe."

The last arrival was a small freighter. It's crew of two was a vulpine with fur that was a darker shade of red than Fox's, almost rust-coloured. The other was a brown-furred female Fennec fox. She smiled upon seeing the leader of Star Fox.

"It's been too long, Fox." she said

"Indeed it has, Fara." he replied before hugging her.

After they parted, Fox introduced her to Krystal.

"Pleasure to finally meet you." the cobalt vixen said as they shook hands.

"Same here." Fara replied before turning to the vulpine.

"Guys, this is my husband Adrian."

"How ya doing?" said the vulpine, who Fox now noticed to be a few years older than Fara.

Elsewhere in the hanger, Falco stared at Adrian with a sense of deja vu.

"I feel like I've seen that guy before." he said to Katt.

It was then that the avian noticed that the feline was tense with anger.

"Yeah, on Deranbey." she growled before taking a step towards the group.

A hand clapped down her shoulder before she could get any further. Both of them looked to see Radoven.

"Katt, this is not the time or the place."

She shook out of his grip and stormed off. The Elite turned to Falco with a raised eyebrow.

"What was that all about?"

The avian shook his head.

"A job gone bad."

Later

Krystal and Fara walked up one of the Great Fox II's corridors, engaged in conversation.

"So it's true, you and Fox met on Sauria?"

The blue-furred vixen nodded.

"Yeah, guess you could say it was love at first sight."

Krystal glanced at the fennec before continuing.

"Other than the fact that you two dated in high school, Fox hasn't really told me about you."

Fara smiled at that.

"We were friends before that, going back to our kid years."

Her expression became more somber.

"We grew apart after his father was killed. Fox wanted to follow in James' footsteps and avenge him, while I wanted to go into the air force. Ironically, I became a mercenary after being discharged. It's how I met Adrian. You might say that I saved his life."

"In more ways than one." Krystal put in.

Fara raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, you really can read minds. I thought that was just a rumour."

The cobalt vixen grinned.

"One that I have no interest in dispelling."

The girls laughed, glad to have gotten to know each other a little better.

Elsewhere

Down in the hanger, Miyu busied herself by working on her starfighter. The lynx figured that if she kept busy, she didn't have to think about other things.

Namely, the blue-furred vulpine who had walked into her life some six months ago.

The more she was around Kaden, the more attracted Miyu was to him. The problem was, for the life of her, the wildcat just couldn't bring herself to tell him about her feelings. She had thought Fay's wedding would be the perfect opportunity, but hadn't been able to go through with it.

"Hey Miyu, got a minute?"

The lynx froze in place at the sound of her teammate's voice. She quickly regained her composure and hopped down from her starfighter.

"I've always got a minute for you." she said.

The fox scratched the back of his head.

"Look, uhm, there's no easy way for me to say this, so I'm just going to say it."

Kaden spread his hands.

"Miyu, I love you."

The lynx's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

"Holy crap! The feeling's mutual."

"I uh... Well I..." Miyu stammered.

She tightened her fists.

"Like Mom and Dad always say, actions speak louder than words."

With that, the lynx walked up to the vulpine and planted her lips on his. He seemed surprised at first, but soon returned the kiss. After they parted, Miyu said "And I love you, Kaden."

The two stared at each other for a moment before the Cerinian chuckled.

"Well, this went easier than I thought."

Miyu chuckled in turn.

"Yeah, especially since you can't read my thoughts."

The vulpine shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not sure how much longer that's going to last."

The lynx raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, seeing as we're going to a planet populated by people who are naturally immune to telepathy, Krystal wants me and her to train and try to make our powers stronger."

Miyu nodded in understanding.

"I see. At the very least there's three people on board you can practice on."

The two smiled and kissed again, happy to have finally admitted their feelings for each other.

Zerdea, Dellis System

May 19th, 2611

Zerdea, a planet on the outer fringe of Dellis, had the unique distinction of not being occupied or under the influence of another power. That was on account of the fact that during the Great Dellis War of the 2560s, Zerdea had fought anyone who dared set foot on the planet. Wild rumours stated that the planetary defence force had signed a ceasefire with one power or another in a muddy foxhole.

Wolf wasn't sure how much stock he put in those, but he did know one thing about Zerdea; It could be damn cold even in the spring. The lupine buried his face in his jacket collar as he walked up to the farmhouse on Zerdea's plains.

Even with the wind, the outlaw heard movement in the house, soon followed by a young Elite emerging and aiming a Type-51 at Wolf's chest.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll turn around and walk the other way."

Wolf narrowed his eye.

"Look junior, if my info's correct, and it usually is, there's..."

The lupine was cut off when he felt a gun being pressed to the back of his head.

"I'm not going to count to three. I'm not even going to count to one. You will get the hell off my land or I will fry whatever passes for your brain." an unseen voice growled.

Thinking fast, Wolf quickly took the map out of his pocket.

"Sure pal, I'll get out of your hair, right after you translate that for me."

There was the distinctive whir of active camouflage being switched off, followed by a hand taking the map from Wolf.

"Where the hell did you get this?"

Finally turning around, the lupine looked on an Elite in red and purple armour.

The assassin known as Phantom.

"Some guy on Zoness." Wolf answered.

Phantom regarded him with a bewildered expression.

"Let's go inside. It's freezing out here.