Back in action....

[Starfox mccloud15]

great! I like it so far :D

[Kursed]

Akasha: HEY I HEARD THAT JULIUS  I"M NOT FAT LIKE TOAD BOY!

Hey I'm not fa- AHH ! *chased of by Akasaha.*

[Guest Julius Quasar]

great! I like it so far

thank you!

Akasha: HEY I HEARD THAT JULIUS  I"M NOT FAT LIKE TOAD BOY!

Hey I'm not fa- AHH ! *chased of by Akasaha.*

I never said Akasha was like Slippy, I just said they were both running faster than anyone at that moment, except Akasha was/is still faster than Slippy, and Tigress is fast when she builds momentum.  :)

[Kursed]

thank you!

I never said Akasha was like Slippy, I just said they were both running faster than anyone at that moment, except Akasha was/is still faster than Slippy, and Tigress is fast when she builds momentum. 

with all that leg muscle I wouldn't doubt it. she works out every day.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Chapter 7

I remembered being searched for any weapons...they didn't find anything.  I was riding towards the police station, that European siren wailing in my ears.  I was taken from the vehicle, and hauled into the police station.  They searched me, again, like they did before I was loaded into the paddy wagon...they took my wallet, my watch...searched me for anything I may try to use to kill myself.  I had side zippered shoe boots.  I had no shoelaces, so they took my belt.

I had refused bail, and visitors, phone calls.  I sat in the jail cell, after they had taken all my clothes, and put me in a pair of orange jumpsuit coveralls, with the number 35712 on it and jail shoes.  I was in a room lit with a sickening green light, a toilet with no rim, a drinking fountain spigot on top of it, and a bunk bed built into the side.  Man, this looked familiar.  The door was solid steel, with a small window, and small slots in it, at the top and the middle points.

I couldn't hear what was going on outside my cell, just muffled shouts.  I could faintly hear through the door "I don't care if he refused visitors, I'm seeing him anyways!  JULIUS!"  was that...General Pepper?  A group of police officers came to my cell...I was taken into the interrogation room, where I was sitting across the desk from General Pepper, and his CDF bodyguards.  "Julius, what the hell is going on here!?"  General Pepper asked me in his jowly voice.

"I'm not answering that..." I replied.  "Did you take those warheads!?  Were you involved in those murders!?" he asked me.  "I thought you were retired..." I joked.  "SILENCE!" General Pepper shouted, scaring his bodyguards slightly.  No one spoke at all for five minutes.  "AH-CHOO!" someone on the other side of the two way mirror sneezed.  "Damn it, Todd..." muttered General Pepper, looking towards the glass...

He turned to me.  "Where are the warheads?  Who are you working for?".  I didn't answer.  "ANSWER ME!"  he shouted.  Wow, General Pepper sure could be fierce when he wanted to be.  No wonder he became a General.  I replied with "Let me say this, about that!  I am not a crook! Arrrrroooo!" I said, shaking my head, and mimicking both General Pepper's and Richard Nixon's voices. 

"You little smartass! You think messing with the law is funny!?" he asked me.  "I'm saying, when the Cornerian government does it, it's not illegal!" I said, doing my Nixon imitation again.  General Pepper yelled at me for over an hour, I took little note in what he said as he shouted at me.  He then left with his bodyguards, and then Krystal entered the room, and sat across from me.

"Hi..." I said.  "Hello Julius...you know you could go to prison for this.  You need to talk to them, tell them where the warheads are, and who you're working for.  They just might drop the charges.  Krystal was hinting that, "the authorities just might drop the charges" meant that they would drop the charges...but I couldn't risk Misty's safety.

"If I squeal, they'll kill me, Misty, all of us..." I said.  "That won't happen to us, Julius..." said Krystal. "You know why I might do something like this, hypothetically?" I asked her. "No, why?" she asked. "Hypothetically, if I were to do anything like this, that's not an admission of any guilt...it would be because, hypothetically because I was being blackmailed." I said.

"Why?  How?  With what!?" asked Krystal.  "I can't tell you."  Krystal sighed and left the room.  "The 'good cop, bad cop' routine, eh?  I like that!" I shouted.  "Then you're gonna love me!" a voice from the shadows said to me.  Tigress' paw shoved my head into the desk.  *WHAM!!!*

"OWWWW!  Never start with the head, the subject gets all fuzzy after that.." I said.  Tigress lifted me up by my throat.  "Where's the warheads!?" Tigress growled at me.  "You...don't scare...me!" I replied.  Tigress threw me against the wall.  "Who are you working for!?" she lifted me up.  "Thhhhbbbbpppphhhhhhh!"  I gave her a raspberry.  Not smart.  Tigress tossed me around like a rag doll, beating me and swearing at me.  She paused to block the door to the room with a chair, to keep the cops and CDF officers out.

She interrogated me some more, but I never talked.  "I'm gonna rig the wires from this desk lamp, and shock your nuts, if you don't start talking!" she threatened.  "Tigress!  Stop!" Krystal's voice said over the speakers.  Tigress grumbled and left the room.  Peppy then talked to me.  "Julius, there's no wisdom or honor in protecting thugs like whoever your working for..." he said.  "I'm sorry, but I can't risk Misty's safety..." I said.  "Then we can't help you...the courts are going to have no choice but to throw the book at you!" Peppy said, with an undertone of disgust in his voice.  He left.

Fox came in.  "You have to tell them the truth, Julius, no matter what they blackmailed you or threatened you with, you must come clean." he said.  "I can't do that..." I replied.  I avoided eye contact with everyone.  "You're going to go to prison, Julius!!!  I'll have to kick you off the team!" said Fox.  "Do what you have to, in order to keep yourself and the others alive.  We're done here." I said.  Fox sighed, and left.

***

I was now in the courtroom, the next day.  The judge, an old mountain goat...my defense attorney, a public defender raccoon.  He was picking his nose.  Great.  A badger prosecutor was there, and my teammates were in the audience.  "Julius Quasar!  You stand accused of possession of weapons of mass destruction, the premeditated triple homicide involving Dr, Knott, Don Tabbiloni, and Hank Smeltz, and obstruction of justice.  How do you plead?"  I didn't say a word.  I never spoke the whole time in court, to be honest.  "Julius!?" asked the prosecutor.  "Uh, your honor, my client wishes not to testify, on the grounds that he might inseminate himself." said my public defender.  "I think you mean 'incriminate himself'..." said the prosecutor.  "Yeah, that one!" said the public defender.

They read the details on the suspicions, accusations, and details of my crimes.  The murders, the warhead thefts...I was seen by three witnesses at that casino. They brought in the vixen and the cat hat check girls from the Shore hotel and casino.  Those hat check girls were not in their work attire, just regular dresses.  Each of them said, in response to the prosecutors questions, "No, I don't recognize him." they said, referring to me.  What!?  They were lying!?  Danny and Joey must have gotten to them.  The showgirl vixen who had danced for me and the Don, and who had told me that Hank was staying in room 707 said she had never seen me either, nor did she recognize me.

The security guards outside the VIP Lounge, who had searched me for weapons, swore they had never seen me before, ever...Danny and Joey must have bribed the hat check girls, that showgirl, and the VIP Lounge Guards.

The guard from the storage depot didn't even show up.  He couldn't be located.  However, the cops had raided the depot ten minutes after I had left it, and they had taken the video tapes, of the security cameras. I was seen, on tape, taking the warheads, in their wheeled box.  Unfortunately, my face was very visible, and there was the Andross symbol on that wheeled box.  Uh-oh!

But my lawyer said there was no proof of my presence at the casino,. and the depot was on Corneria.  If I had anything to do with this, I probably had accepted the keys and receipt to the storage unit from a third party.  The jury pool was a professional jury pool, like in Europe.  After hours of deliberation, the jury finally handed down my verdict.

"We the jury....find the defendant, Julius Quasar...on the charges of the premeditated murder of Dr. Knott, not guilty!...on the charges of the premeditated murder of  Don Tabbiloni, not guilty!...on the charges of the premeditated murder of Hank Smeltz, not guilty!...on the charges of possession of weapons of mass destruction, guilty!...on the charges of evidence tampering, guilty...on the charges of obstruction of justice, guilty!"

"Very well, then" the judge wheezed.  "Julius Quasar, please rise as I hand down your sentence?".  I stood.  "Julius Quasar, you have been found guilty of possession of weapons of mass destruction, evidence tampering, and obstruction of justice.  Since you will not give up your accomplices, you will be sentenced to one Cornerian Year of exile to Planet Venom!" the judge banged down the gavel.  "Court is adjourned." he said.

"Your honor, do I still get paid?" asked my public defender.

*that's it for this chapter*

[Kursed]

Fox i'm going to pay the bail

No krystal he's gotta learn his lesson first.

You know me better Fox.

Keep it going.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Fox i'm going to pay the bail

No krystal he's gotta learn his lesson first.

You know me better Fox.

Keep it going.

thanks (but remember, I refused bail) ;)

[Kursed]

thanks (but remember, I refused bail)

  Who said she's not lying ?

[Guest Julius Quasar]

  Who said she's not lying ?

oh, cool...

by the way, the chapter's done...thanks!

[Kursed]

oh, cool...

by the way, the chapter's done...thanks!

and why didn't krystal read you mind.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

and why didn't krystal read you mind.

.....because she knew I would block her out.

[Kursed]

.....because she knew I would block her out.

she could also pound your block...

[Guest Julius Quasar]

she could also pound your block...

but I believe she might try to read my mind later, when I'm off guard?

true...^

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Chapter 8

I was flown to planet Venom.

The ship landed in a barren valley, and the crew escorting me put on biosuits, and set up my enclosure for me to live in.  It was a 10' by 12', clear "Wall Tent", with strong carbon fiber frames, clear vinyl/Mylar walls, a biohazard air vent filter, with emergency oxygen tanks, there was a solid floor, an airlock vestibule, a chemical toilet, a few 55 gallon drum polyethylene water drums with hoses and pumps, for showering and food uses, a survival camping shower with gravity fed water reservoir tanks on top of them, and a drip pan with a drain tube beneath the shower, the drain tube attached to a waste water tank.

I had a years supply of dehydrated Meals Ready to Eat, and toiletry supplies.

They gave me a sleeping bag, a sleeping pad, a pillow, and a change of clothes.

I was walked through the airlock, and they fastened an electronic anklet around my right ankle.  "Do not remove this anklet, if you do, it will automatically deactivate the signal, and you will be pursued and further prosecuted.  If you leave this shelter, most likely via spaceship pick up, then the sensors will alert us of your leaving here.  You cannot survive on the surface of this planet, so I recommend you remain in here.  Do not waste your provisions, you have only a year's worth, and no more.  We'll come for you when your sentence is served." said the CDF officer.

They left.

I lay down on my bed, and looked around, through the clear walls, at the ugly noxious green fog around my enclosure, the air of Planet Venom.  Venom...what a harsh planet! A cold, barren, unforgiving world, Venom provides any rogue army a ready defense with thick, acidic air, dust clouds, heavier gravity, and violent surgical lightning storms.  Ugh!  I lay down and decide to try to sleep through the lightning storm...

As I slept, I had dreams...flashbacks, of the past few days.  I dreamed about Danny's and Joey's visit, the club, the trip to Zoness, the three murders, picking up the warheads, the threats being made, the arrest....towards the end of my dream, I dreamed I was sleeping inside a crystal ball, on a table, and Madame Vulpine, Krystal, Tigress, and Kylie were siting at that table, all holding hands and watching me sleep...

Everything went black, and I heard Krystal's angry voice "....those damn no good dirty mobsters!".  Then Tigress "....no wonder he wouldn't talk.  But that was still no excuse.  We've got to tell Fox!".  Kylie said "We can't outright accuse the Foxgloves of this!  Knowing Danny and Joey, they'll have hidden the evidence!  We've got to trick them into spilling the beans, and to get them to admit to it all!".  Madame Vulpine said "Kylie's right!  We have to clear Julius, but make it look like he never divulged the information.  That way the Foxgloves can't retaliate against him."  Tigress said "I'd like to beat a confession out of them both!" and Krystal said "No, they'll suspect Julius of ratting on them, or us of probing his mind.  We have to make them slip up."

I woke up in a cold sweat, then went back to sleep.

***

A long time had passed since my exile.  I had no idea how long I was on Venom.  I couldn't tell day from night too well on Venom.  I spent my days eating, sleeping, showering, and trying to prevent from going crazy, especially from boredom.  The lightning storms were entertaining to watch, but other than that, I had nothing to do.

One night, after I gone to bed, after shaving my beard away...as I slept, I suddenly awoke when I heard someone...as they were coming into my enclosure!

*that's it for this chapter*

[Guest FoXXX]

I really like this, good work Julius :D

[evilwaffles]

Nice chapters, just caught up. Keep it going, this is some good stuff.

[Caat01]

wow all the chapters are awesome, well more than that, keep it going, i can't wait to see next chapter.

[Guest FoXXX]

wow all the chapters are awesome, well more than that, keep it going, i can't wait to see next chapter.

Same

Good chapters

[Starfox mccloud15]

THIS IS... AWSOME!!!!~ O.O

[Guest FoXXX]

THIS IS... AWSOME!!!!~ O.O

It really is good  :cool:

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Thanks you guys!

I fixed a little plot hole earlier on in Chapter 7:

The security guards outside the VIP Lounge, who had searched me for weapons, swore they had never seen me before, ever...Danny and Joey must have bribed the hat check girls, that showgirl, and the VIP Lounge Guards.

(forgot to add that earlier). 

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Chapter 9

"Who's there!?  What do you want!?"  I said, staring at the intruder.  Whoever it was wore a head to toe poncho of some kind, over a bio suit and a gas helmet/mask, most likely for protection from the outside atmosphere. 

"What are you doing here?"  the intruder asked me.  He saw my prison jumpsuit. "Oh...I see...what did you do?" he asked me, pointing to my prison jumpsuit.  I was sure it was a male voice.  "I'm keeping quiet to cover for someone, so they don't kill my friends...the Cornerian Government dumped me here." I replied.  The intruder nodded.

"Who are you!?" I asked.  The intruder sighed.  "I'm best known, as the 'Original Star Fox'..." the intruder pulled back the hood on his poncho, and removed his gas mask/helmet.  He was an older male Fox.  He put on a pair of aviator sunglasses, and said to me "But my name is James McCloud...".

"James McCloud!?  THE James McCloud!  I know your son!  I work for him!  I...aren't you dead?" I asked.  "That's not something I care to talk about...not now, at least.  Tell me, who are you, and how did you get here?  I don't just mean Venom...I mean...here at this point in your life?" he asked me.  I told James everything, as he and I sat on my bed together...I told him of his son, the things Star Fox had done, the Saurian Conflict, the Aparoid Wars, Todd, Lola...the formation of Nebulae Fox...my arrival in Lylat, the Penumbra Council, Cerinia's freedom...."  I finished telling James everything.  I found his personality to be...flighty, distant, but kind.

James stared thoughtfully into space.  "Well...you mean well, Julius, but what you did...seems kinds of..." I made a farting noise "What?  Foolish?" I asked.  "You said it, not me..." he said with a smile.  "It's not nearly as foolish as taking out an 80 Year Mortgage on a mothership, without thinking 'Hey, this is a time of war, perhaps I should think ahead in case something happens to me, so I don't leave a huge-ass 80 year mortgage dept on my son to inherit'....Plus, you're actually alive, and yet did nothing to notify anyone you've been here all this time, letting your son worry and pay the bills you racked up. Stellar parenting...." I said sarcastically.

James glared at me from behind his shades.  "Watch it, Julius!  There are things at work, forces, much larger than that, happening in plain sight...not noticed by many...VERY important things.  Some of it happened already, some of it is happening now, and some is yet to happen." he warned me.  "Sorry" I replied.

"That's okay..." said James, patting my shoulder.  "Can Star Fox do anything about it?" I asked. "Yes...and No...you and Star Fox just have to take it as it comes." he said.  "What is it?" I asked him. "I can't tell you that, Julius...I'm bending the rules to the breaking point already...but when you and the rest of Star Fox need help the most, I'll be there...I'll bet Fox told you he saw me lead him out of Andross' palace?  Or my nephew Todd saw me before?" said James.  "Yeah...they did!" I said.  "They were right...I come and go, when needed the most..." said James. "But..are you alive, or are you...dead?" I asked.

"Shhh...that's not important now...you need to hang on to your sanity, and work with your teammates, who want to help you.  You need to learn from your mistakes, especially this one...you have to get back with your team, and stay together....a rope is at its strongest, when it is made with as many strands as possible  ...such is the same as your team, with as many members as possible." he said.

"We've had split ups and kick outs before..." I said, remembering the stories of past kick outs, some of which I experienced myself, when the team hit financial problems, and when Fox got mad at me over the isotope..."Financial problems, emotional conflicts, those aren't excuses for the removal or disbandment of a team." said James.  "What if there's a jerk?" I asked.  "That's the only exception to the rule...I wish I had never recruited Pigma in the first place." said James, shaking his head.  "We all make mistakes..." I replied.

"True..." said James.  I offered James some food, but he refused it.  "I'll stay with you, and help you hold on to your sanity, until you're picked up..." said James.  "Thanks..." I said.  "I'm VERY proud of Fox, he's come a long way, and become so strong.  I'm also really proud of Todd, from what you've told me about him, and even Lola, they've overcome a lot as well.  I always worried about Todd.....but not anymore." he smiled.  "I'm also proud of Krystal, all of you in Star Fox...you have my respect, and my best regards." he said. 

As I talked with him all day, about the the changes in Lylat, and many other things, we exchanged stories about Lylat, then and now...As it became time to sleep, I closed my eyes, as James sat on the edge of my bed.

***

The next morning, I was rousted out of a deep sleep by a CDF Officer.  "Hey! You!  Wake up!  You're getting an early release!"  he said.  I awoke.  What the hell?  "Where is he?" I asked the officer who woke me.  "Where's who?" the CDF Dog Soldier replied.  Another CDF Officer removed my anklet, and I was helped to my feet, and ushered quickly into the ship through the vestibule.  I saw the CDF Officers empty out my enclosure, and then put on biosuits, and they began to take down my enclosure, and load it up. 

They worked fast.

"Where's James McCloud?  He came and visited me yesterday!" I said.  "WHAAAAAT!?" the CDF officers in the ship said, looking at me in shock.  I explained what happened.  "You do realize, he's dead?" one of the dog soldiers asked me.  "I thought so, too, but...." "Are you sure?" asked someone else.

"We gotta look for him!  He's here!?" I said.  "Uhhh...no can do...first of all, we got limited time here already...we got to leave now, in fact, the boys just finished striking the shelter." said a CDF officer, as the guys who took down my shelter entered the ship.  As they removed their bio suits, the other CDF officers whispered to them what I had said earlier, and they stared at me in shock.  "Second, you have no proof he was there...we found you all alone, and you had been asleep for...72 hours straight.  One of the biohazard air filters failed on you, and some of Venom's air leaked into your enclosure.  Sorry about that." he said.

Then the CDF Officer in charge here said "Finally, there's no sign of life around the enclosure of yours, we found no footprints, and the alarm in the vestibule wasn't triggered, so if James did come into your enclosure, we would have known." he said.  "Uh, sir? The vestibule alarms and door alarms weren't working on this enclosure/exile unit.  Maybe someone did visit him?" said a CDF junior officer.  The officer in charge raised his eyebrows, and then said "That still proves nothing...we need to return to Corneria, and get Julius Quasar some proper medical attention, ASAP!  He's lucky that we arrived when we did to get him!  Another day of the Venomian air leaking into his enclosure could have killed him!  The air leak probably caused Julius to hallucinate, that's how it starts when you breathe the air of Planet Venom.  Now we'll have no more talks of this.  Let's move!".

The ship took off.  I stared down at Venom's surface, wondering where the heck James was now.

*that's it for this chapter*

[Guest FoXXX]

This is getting very interesting Keep it up :D

[Starfox mccloud15]

awsome o.o I like this type of fanfics a lot, I really get into the story!!

I wrote a part of mine today if you'd like to see it.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

(Thanks guys!)

Chapter 10

I rode with the CDF Officers back to Corneria.  I slept the whole way.  I was forced to go straight to the medical facilities of CDF Headquarters.  They wanted me to take some preliminary health screenings, after my stay on Venom.  I was there for six hours, before my release.  I was given back the clothes I wore the night I was arrested, my wallet  and wrist communicator were returned to me as well, nothing missing from my wallet, nothing erased or altered in my wrist communicator settings and com records.

As I was released, into the dark, rainy night, the Malestrom pulled up in front of the CDF HQ.  The door opened.  "Julius!  Julius!" voices poured out of the Malestrom.  I ran through the rain, and into the Malestrom, where I was greeted by the open arms of Todd, Lola, Misty, Fox, Krystal, Slippy, Falco, Tigress, Kylie, Akasha, Fara, Fay, Miyu, Silas, Babs, Edge, Madame Vulpine, Pal, and Conrad.

I was hugged, even kissed, by Fara, Krystal, Fay, Madame Vulpine, Lola, Babs, and Misty....Misty kissed me the hardest.  Everyone was happy to see me.  They all piled into the Malestrom, Todd had to retract the 6 back seats to make room.  We all sat in a huge circle, Todd and Lola sat up front, as we flew home.

"Great to have you back, Julius!" they said to me, in their own way.  We flew towards McCloud Hall, Todd and Lola's home.  On the way back, I was filled in...

"You were away for 3 months, Julius.." Fox explained to me, "After you first arrived on Venom, as you slept that night, Krystal, Madame Vulpine, Tigress, and Kylie read your mind, in a session they held on the Galatae, as it orbited near Venom.  That's when they learned the truth...and in that time, we worked our hardest to try to expose Danny's and Joey's crime, without them blaming you.  Fortunately, Joey Foxglove is a real moron...I'm sorry, I don't mean any disrespect towards you or your family, Lola..." Fox said, glancing up front.  "It's okay, Joey is a moron...but go on, darling, tell Julius the rest of the story..." said Lola.

Fox nodded, and said to me "Well...We had to wait, knowing that Danny and Joey had hidden the goods, and would lay low for a while until the heat was off.  It took three months, and four days ago we, or rather Todd and Lola, invited Joey, Danny, Peppy, General Pepper, and the rest of us to McCloud Hall, for a party...Todd played a TV recording of your arrest on the news, along with your trial, and that's when we set the trap to get Joey to blurt out everything.

As we discussed the Casino crimes, Krystal said 'You would think that someone would have seen something suspicious...' and Joey said, "Good thing there weren't that many, it woulda cost too much to bribe 'em all' as Danny was eating a mouthful of potato chips...Danny gagged on the chips, and kicked Joey, saying 'Shut up, Joey!' as General Pepper, and Peppy stood up from their seats, along with Tigress, and approached them.

'How did you know the witnesses were bribed!?' they asked Joey.  That's when Joey said 'Oh, we had to bribe them, it would be too costly to have all of 'em disappear, plus Danny's dating that showgirl!'.  Danny's eyes went as large as saucers, and he kicked Joey again, as he shouted 'SHUT UP JOEY!!!  SHEESH!' and Joey, to all of our amazement in a display of how dumb he really is, said 'Don't mind Danny, he's a little cranky.  We're having a hard time moving the stuff Julius stole...'.  We had to pull Danny off of Joey before he could strangle him."

Fox sat back and smiled, as we all laughed.  "The good news is, you're free to go!  But there's some bad news, too." said Slippy, looking shamefully down at the floor.  "What?" I asked, looking around at the grim expressions worn by everyone.  "Danny and Joey got off on a plea bargain, they handed over the missile warheads, and the components to them.  They had information as to for whom Don Tabbiloni was buying the missile warheads." Fara explained to me.

"But on the plus side, we're being hired by the Cornerian Government to go after the ones involved!" said Miyu, smiling at me.  Misty held me the whole way, never letting go.

"Everyone, I'm very sorry for what I put us through...I feared for your safety.  I feared especially for Misty's safety...but I was wrong to cover for those two.,  But thank you for getting them to uncover the truth." I said.

***

We arrived at McCloud Hall, and had a party to celebrate my homecoming.  Todd and Lola had the servant droids prepare a huge feast of Hamburgers, Submarine Sandwiches, Pizza, Beer, Soda, and a huge Sugar Glazed, Walnut and Whiskey Cake with lots of Whipping Cream.  It was white, dual tiered, dome shaped, with golden honey lines painted on it, and a small golden open door on the side, to resemble an open, empty bird cage.

Cool!

General Pepper and Pepper Hare visited, and talked to me.  "We're glad to have you back, kiddo..." said Peppy.  "Thanks!" I said.  I spoke to General Pepper "Sir?  I'm sorry I made fun of you in the interrogation room, and for being a smartass...I was just trying to...well, anger you and everyone else so they wouldn't try to get me out, I didn't want to talk, out of fear for my teammates' and friends' safety, yours especially, you've been through enough with those Aparoids..." I said, wishing I hadn't mention that last part, about the Aparoids.

"My boy, I understand completely.  You were wiling to sacrifice your freedom, for the lives of your comrades.  While honorable, and well meant, it was not the wisest things to do.  But, we all make mistakes.  I, as a Sargent, sure made plenty in those days.  But it's whether we learn from them or not, which is what truly matters." said General Pepper.  "Words of wisdom indeed, sir." I replied.

As we ate, partied, danced, we also watched my arrest film coverage on the news.  We all got a good laugh out of that.  My face was pixelated out, as I was seen being dragged to the police paddy wagon, I was heard screaming "I didn't do nothin', I didn't do nothin'!" and cussing up a storm.  There was my trial, not televised, or recorded, but I was seen being led into the court house by the authorities.

The news did show me on camera, wheeling the warheads in the wheeled chest with the Andross symbol on it.  The lid was closed, concealing the warheads, but still...

"You look short on camera, Julius!" Todd teased.

We all laughed.

After the party, the servant droids cleaned up, and we all relaxed.  The guests all went home, except for Misty and me.  We spent the night there, at McCloud Hall.  As we went to bed, in one of the guest room suites, we cuddled, and spooned in bed, then we made love for two hours, then fell asleep.  As we drifted of to sleep, I said "I'm glad to be back, Misty....".  "I'm glad you're back, we all are...." she replied.  "I love you." I said to her.  "I love you, too." she replied.

We fell asleep, and for some reason, I had the feeling Misty and I were being watched, as we fell asleep.

*that's it for this chapter*