***
"Control tower, this is Thermite-Actual, requesting permission to land. Carrying a payload of two star pilots: CK-14 and CK-37. Sending clearance codes now."
"Copy, Thermite-Actual. This is Control Tower. Stand by for clearance."
"Nicole, go wake Firefly up," Jason said, hands steady on the controls as he guided the vessel along a winding river. Beyond the cockpit window, the skies above the celebrating city were laced with Nymphas warships of every size, casting long shadows over the water.
"No need. I'm awake!" I called, stretching in the hammock. My spine popped in three different places. "Did we finally reach Vistella? The turbulence on entry was brutal."
Seated in the co-pilot's chair, Alex replied, "Something to do with how thick Vistella stratosphere is. That and the massive forests down below. Causes all sorts of drag."
"Interesting." I rolled off the hammock, bare feet meeting cold metal floor. But I didn't move just yet. I glanced toward Nicole, pacing anxiously in and out of the cargo hold. Then to Jason, silently hoping he'd give me something—anything—to explain the tension crawling along my spine.
"Thermite-Actual, this is Control Tower. You are cleared to land. Head to Hangar Alpha-Zeta-Four. Escorts will be waiting to bring the star pilots to the event."
Jason nodded as if the response was expected. "Roger that. Beginning landing run."
Guiding the ship lower, he veered left through a hidden tunnel beneath the river's current and emerged into the hangar—AZ-4, tucked behind thick walls of concrete and steel like a secret chamber.
"That was crisp~," Alex whistled. "Almost like you've landed here before."
"I have. It's protocol for any visiting units from Rogue Raven battalion—containment procedure," Jason muttered, easing the ship onto the platform with surgical precision. But when he looked out the viewport, he sighed. "They rushed down the moment they heard we were arriving."
Nicole and I stepped up to the front of the ship and looked out.
There he was.
A man in his thirties, clad in regal white with lion-faced pauldrons gleaming on his shoulders. But what truly stole my breath was the necklace hanging from his throat—a beetle, gold and crimson, shaped like a lion's head, looming like a symbol of dominion.
"That's Field Marshal Excav," Jason stated. "Head of the Imperial Guards. Overseer of Vistella's entire defence network."
Jason pulled the lever. The ship's side door hissed open.
"Just nod along with his complaints and it'll be over soon."
Begrudgingly, Nicole stepped out. I followed her, with Alex close behind. We lined up in front of the Marshal and his eight officers—each one as still and silent as statues, their expressions unreadable. Guards or attendants? Could've been both.
Field Marshal Excav bore the same rank insignia as Haslein: a tiara crowned with two interlocked fists. But while Haslein's authority was warm and commanding, Excav's was a cold brand across the skin.
He inhaled through his nose, slow and deep, his eyes scanning each of us like we were diseased artifacts.
"You're late, Ravens," he said, voice as sharp as a blade.
Jason and Nicole dipped their heads in silence. I copied them. But Alex—poor Alex—looked up. Rookie mistake.
Excav's gaze snapped to him, predatory. Alex flinched.
"You're Boötes' pilot from the Vibrio Hawk battalion," Excav said coldly. "Explain why you're with these Ravens."
"Y-yes, sir." Alex nearly buckled, his words quaking. "During the operation to reclaim Duradel-VXI, I engaged Andromeda's pilot, mistaking them for a Freiheit unit. We crash-landed together, but worked to capture an orbital cannon, securing a beachhead. I was transferred afterward to General Benjaminz's battalion and granted leave to adjust to my new arm. Sir."
Excav's eyes slid to the prosthetic. "So it's her fault you lost your original arm?"
His gaze hit me like a cannon round. The bloodlust radiating from him was so dense I almost triggered Andromeda on instinct.
"N-no, sir!" Alex barked, stepping out of line. "It was my failure! She saved my life—twice! Once with her bare body and again during atmospheric entry!"
He didn't get to finish. A backhand from one of the officers sent him skidding across the floor.
Excav loomed over me, close enough that I could feel the heat of his breath against my face. Like a lion clamping its jaws around my skull, waiting to crush.
"So, artificial. Explain why Boötes' pilot mistook you for an enemy. You have thirty seconds."
"I—I..." I struggled. The pressure made it hard to speak, like every word had to claw its way past the canines digging into my throat.
Jason stepped in.
"We obtained a Freiheit signal-ID after assisting the Ishimura's captain on Warp Tunnel-C, sir," he said, calm but firm. "We learned about Duradel's crisis enroute. Freiheit changes their ID protocols every four hours. With only thirty minutes left to reach the exosphere, we couldn't risk alerting them by transmitting. Any signal would've compromised our ruse and prevented them from firing. It was unfortunate timing that led to the misunderstanding."
Excav turned, his aura of malice lifting just enough for me to breathe again.
But his glare fell on Jason.
"You know better than to speak out of turn, Jason. I thought I had drilled that into your bones." His lip curled in disdain. "But it seems the Ravens have only worsened your disloyalty."
Alex writhed on the floor, barely able to move, pain etched into every twitch of his body. I wanted to help him—I really did—but Jason was in far more danger. If he took a hit like Alex just did, it wouldn't end with a groan. It'd end with a body bag.
"Return to the bureau, Jason, and your mistakes can be forgiven," Field Marshal Excav commanded coldly.
Lifting his head, Jason met the marshal's gaze with unwavering defiance. "You already know my answer—and my reasons. I'd rather be an outcast than a bastard who butchers families."
Before I could even process the weight of that, Excav raised his handgun and aimed it directly at my head.
"Then the girl dies. Better to kill the student of that man before she grows any more teeth."
He pulled the trigger.
I barely tilted my head out of the bullet's path and dove behind the ship's landing gear, my heart jackhammering in my chest as rounds slammed into metal.
"Bastard!" Nicole shrieked—only to be tackled and pinned by one of the marshal's attendants.
"Run, Firefly! Run!"
"Leave—and they'll both die," Excav warned, voice steady, steps approaching. His control was surgical.
I clenched my jaw and reached into my waist bag, pulling out a throwing star and a smoke orb.
"Mind telling me why you want me dead?" I asked, trying to stall, brain sprinting for options.
"The calibre of pilots must be falling if you didn't hear me the first time," Excav said. "So I'll repeat myself. The Traveler trained you—him. That makes you unpredictable. Untameable. The Empire has no place for wild dogs that disobey orders."
He kept his gun trained on the spot where I hid.
"Come out willingly, and I'll spare the girl's life for her insolence."
"What about Jason? Alex?" I scanned for an opening—anything I could use. My hand hovered over the smoke orb's pin.
"Jason will undergo re-education. The boy... well, he might as well join him."
I yanked the pin.
Smoke exploded out of the orb, flooding the ship's underbelly and half the hangar in a thick, choking fog.
By the time Excav reached my last known position, I was gone.
I flung the shuriken into the ship's hull—it pulsed a brilliant blue before magnetically ripping the gun out of his hand. In that heartbeat of confusion, I lunged from the fog, knife aimed square for his kidney.
"Smart... but predictable."
His hand caught the blade mid-thrust—barehanded. Blood spilled down his fingers, but he didn't even flinch.
"And you're old—and a big target," I snapped, activating my boost-pack. My heel rocketed into his cheek with a meaty crack, launching him back into the smoke.
Then I vanished again.
From within the fog, I taunted him. "What is it you actually want, sir? Your logic doesn't track. Should I assume this is your twisted way of testing me?"
Rubbing his jaw, Excav emerged with blood on his lip and respect in his eyes. "Perceptive. But I wasn't lying. You are a dangerous—and need to be eliminated."
"If that were true, you wouldn't have loaded rubber bullets."
I hurled another knife. It sailed straight for his face—but he swatted it away with the back of his hand. At the same moment, I attacked from the side, driving my fist into the back of his knee, spinning into a full-body rotation, elbow aimed for his spine.
Excav collapsed, using the momentum to his advantage. He swept my legs out from under me and kicked me hard out of the fog like I was nothing more than a ragdoll.
I hit the floor, gasping, lungs burning.
A real gun clicked.
I dove behind a steel crate just as the first live round split the air.
Field Marshal Excav stepped out of the smoke—gun in hand, this one very real. "Still think this is a test?" he said coolly. "The Traveler is the Empress' most trusted aide. And you were trained by him. That means his madness flows in your veins. If I kill you now, I spare the galaxy from whatever seeds he's planted in your mind."
"Only if he had a real reason to raise me," I shot back. "You're terrified of him, aren't you? So scared you'd try to erase a defect he helped on a whim."
Excav froze.
My words hit right where it hurt.
Seizing the moment, I hurled three orbs—identical in size—straight for his chest.
He snapped out of his daze and shot them mid-air. The first burst into flame. The second exploded into a blinding star of sparks. The third released a net of electricity that surged through his gun, just as I'd hoped.
"Gghh—!" he grunted, hand spasming.
Using my boost-pack, I shot around the electric haze, snatched the gun from his twitching fingers, and dismantled it mid-motion. Dropping its barrel and handle apart on the floor.
His eyes narrowed, face hard. "If I hadn't shot those two grenades first... they would've killed me."
"That's why I threw them first," I said with a sly grin. "So.. did I pass your test?"
Gripping his injured hand, Excav blew out a sharp breath through his nose, recognizing the truth. "Yes... but you over there—how come you didn't help your disciple?"
"She had it handled."
All attention shifted to the hangar entrance, where a man stood under the white floodlights—his autumn-patterned coat swaying slightly with each step, the brim of his fedora shadowing his face. "Besides, I was curious how far both of you would go."
"Traveler!" Beyond excited, I bolted into his chest. "Dad! It's so good to see you again!"
Stroking my hair gently, Traveler welcomed me into the hug with an effortless calm.
"Father?!" Field Marshal Excav reeled, utterly dumbfounded, sharing the same stunned expression as Jason.
"Dad?!" Nicole echoed with matching disbelief.
"What? She's cute just like me, wouldn't you say? Got my eyes, and my winning charm," Traveler teased, lifting the brim of his hat just enough to reveal the static distortion of his obscured face, making everyone instinctively flinch back. "Anyway, going against the Empress's request, Danny? How would she feel if her personal tea-maker accidentally killed the festival's beloved mascot during one of his 'tests'? I mean, I could always take over your job—but then she'd be drinking whiskey for breakfast."
"You madman. Shut it!"
Field Marshal Excav snapped his fingers and his attendants immediately backed off. Nicole was pulled up from the floor, and Jason helped Alex to his feet.
"It's my responsibility to ensure all Star Pilots meet the correct standards. You've undermined my test entirely."
"You know, Firefly," Traveler said smoothly, "Danny here loves cute things. His quarters? Covered wall-to-wall in baby animal pictures and stuffed toys. You should see the shrine he has to his wife and daughters—makes you wonder just how childish our chief guardian really is. Would be a shame if that got out to the public, huh?"
Excav stood there, twitching. Utterly flabbergasted, he struggled to maintain composure. "...I will escort them to pay respect to Her Highness and prepare for the ordainment. Lift him up. Move!"
He stormed out of the hangar, his attendants following closely behind.
I waited for Nicole and Jason, who had slung Alex's arm over his shoulders to help him walk. Holding Traveler's hand tightly, I followed after them, relishing the comfort of something so small yet so new.
"Thanks for the assist," Nicole said, glancing back, her brow still furrowed with questions. "But, uh... why did Firefly call you dad?"
"I adopted her right before her knighthood exam," Traveler said simply, tone casual, like it wasn't the most shocking thing anyone had heard all day. "She asked me to be her father. I figured—why not?"
He then glanced at my jacket, his smile flickering through the haze of static. "You've really grown into that old thing. I figured you'd have tossed it out by now."
Clutching the amber scarf of the leather jacket, I pulled it up over my nose bashfully. "How could I? It was your first and only gift to me."
"Then I guess you won't mind a second."
From the folds of his long coat, he pulled out a green and brown sports cap—its weathered tones perfectly matching the leather jacket. He plopped it onto my head with a gentle pat. "Wear it if you're heading into the city. You're more well-known than you might think."
"Okay."
Glancing back, I saw Alex was walking mostly on his own now. He was still in pain, but his steps were steadier. The atmosphere around us had changed—no longer industrial or harsh. The walls glimmered with regal polish, glowing panels and gold-trimmed arches marking the grandeur of the palace.
"Are we... in the Imperial Palace right now? Where are we going?" I asked.
"Yes," Traveler answered. "And you're headed to the throne room to meet Her Majesty before the official event. You're late by a few days, so you'll need to separate from your friends. They'll dress you up for the float parade—been holding it back until you arrived. Tomorrow's the banquet, and the third day will be your official ordainment and rank assignment." He chuckled, low and mischievous. "You are going to be so tired."
There was an undeniable evilness in his laughter, but I didn't mind.
It was the first time I'd ever held his hand. His left palm was smoother than I imagined, warm and steady, interlocking perfectly with my right.
And for now... that was all I needed.