"Sounds like you've been having a heck of a time at the Academy," Fox said calmly over the communicator. "I don't remember getting into that much in just my first week."
"Yeah," Sunset allowed in a relaxed tone as she idly leapt from one branch to another, catching a vine to swing to another brace point as she glanced from her wrist unit to her surroundings, taking in the lush vegetation, blue waters below, and points of focus that she was keeping her eyes out for. "Thankfully it calmed down after that...enough that I'm finally able to give you a call. Missed talking to you, Dad."
"We missed you too, Sunset," Fox told her warmly. There was a momentary pause. "So...what day was it again you got hauled to the Headmaster's Office with Pris?"
"My first day," Sunset replied readily. "Why?"
"Just making sure I got it right..." Fox answered awkwardly.
Sunset smirked. "Uncle Birdy won the pot, huh?"
"Dammit."
"Dad! Language!"
"Oh, like you don't say worse!"
"Saurian oaths aren't offensive once translated!"
"Why are you upset over it?"
"Because you'll ship me some ice cream in the next care package if I threaten to tell Mom."
"No dice there, she's standing right next to me."
"Dammit."
"Sunset!" Krystal scolded. "Language!"
"Fine. Ack-tuva."
"...that is terrible grammar."
"Hey, I'm lucky Saurian has a word for 'dam' as is."
"So that's your folks on the line, huh?" Pris asked as she dropped in from above. While most Avians couldn't actually fly under their own power - that evolutionary line having closed in exchange for opposable thumbs - Pris could manage an impressive glide if she put her mind to it, and between that, the effects of her new Diffusion Weave garb, and the natural thermals where they were, she proved especially adept at 'Falling with style!' as Diane insisted on calling it. "And here I thought my family could get confrontational." While her tone showed her usual tough attitude, a hidden quiver showed she was nervous.
Sunset rolled her eyes. "Pris, they may be celebrities and war heroes, but at home they're just parents...even if they still haven't gotten around to the wedding yet."
"We have set the date, though," Fox pointed out easily. "Two months after you graduate."
"Oh?" Sunset asked in surprise. "Why then?"
"As Falco puts it, enough time for you to get back from celebrating, but soon enough you won't have settled into a career yet," Krystal explained warmly, the smile audible in her voice.
"In that case, maybe you should make it three months!" Pris joked into the comms. "Diane will be along for the parties, after all-"
"What's this about a party?" Diane asked as she dropped out of the foliage above them. "What theme? Dinosaur Planet style, native, Cornerian, stellar-"
"We're talking after graduation, Diane," Sunset pointed out.
"Oh, we've got plenty of time to go over my plans for that one," Diane explained easily. "But we should really wait until we've cleared the prophecies first. Otherwise the plans won't make sense." With that, she leapt from the boughs and dove into the water below without so much as a ripple, only to pop out of a hole in the ground several dozen yards away.
"...Dad?" Sunset began awkwardly. "Next time you talk to General Pepper, can you ask about his granddaughter Diane Rocksalt? There's something...etheric about her, I think."
"He actually asked me to pass on a message to you about her in the briefing for our latest mission," Fox explained. "Insisted we pass it on once he realized you shared some classes."
"You mean he has an explanation for the craziness about her?" Pris asked urgently.
"No, the message was to not question it unless you're old enough to drink and have several barrels handy."
Sunset sighed ruefully. "Well, that somehow seems...appropriate."
"What, to shrug it all off as 'It's Diane, don't question it'?" Pris asked. "That's lame. You know all the magic stuff, you can figure it out!"
"I'm not entirely certain it is magic," Sunset explained ruefully.
"And you should keep your voice down-whoa nelly!" Jackie screamed out, her voice going from aggressively triumphant to dismayed as her sneak attack led her right into a trap that dropped her down on one end of a large balanced log.
"That's my cue!" Pris declared as she leapt down, slamming onto the other end and sending Jackie soaring in the opposite direction.
"What's all that noise?" Fox asked in confusion.
"Live training," Sunset explained readily. "Those at the top of their classes got to go on a field trip for simulated combat divided into teams."
"When did that happen?" Krystal demanded in shock. "Why weren't we told?"
"What are you talking about?" Sunset asked in confusion. "The permission slips got signed-"
"You're an Ambassador, remember?" Diane pointed out as she stuck her head out of a knot in the tree. "That gets sent to your government to sign, not your parents."
"...oops?" Sunset offered apologetically.
There were a few groans from the other side of the line. "So are you somewhere out in Corneria countryside, then?" Fox asked ruefully.
"No, Fortuna," Sunset answered readily. "There's an old base here with a few Arwings and other facilities, and the environment here is perfect for these sorts of exercises, and growing up on Dinosaur Planet makes this place feel like my backyard-"
"And it's about to be ground zero for a major conflict!" Krystal insisted urgently. "The last dregs of Andross' forces have gathered there under the leadership of his nephew, Andrew Oikonny, for a major battle against the Fleet! That's the mission we were being debriefed on!"
"Wouldn't we know about that then?" Pris demanded in confusion. "There'd be a message to return to base or something! You're team leader, Sunset, didn't you get something like that?"
"...is that what the message alert I've been ignoring while on the comm with my parents is?" Sunset asked nervously as she glanced at the blinking red light on her wrist unit.
"Get to shelter, Sunset!" Krystal snapped just before communications were cut.