The Horizon Breaker sat in the shadows of the yard, half-buried under other wrecks. Its patchwork hull glimmered faintly in the firelight from the crash.
Zira skidded to a stop beside Kai, staring at the heap. "That? That's your miracle plan?"
Kai's grin softened as his eyes traced the jagged lines of the ship. To anyone else, it was just welded scraps and broken dreams. To him, it was freedom.
He laid a hand on the dented hull. The metal was cold and scarred, but steady under his palm. "Built her from nothing. Frame from a dead freighter, plating from a junk barge, wiring out of half a dozen piles."
Zira folded her arms. "It's a coffin with engines strapped on."
Kai chuckled. "Engines that'll run. Maybe not smooth, maybe not safe, but enough to get us off this rock. Every bolt, every weld—done with my own hands. She's not pretty, but she's mine."
Zira shook her head. "You're insane."
"Probably." Kai patted the hull like it was an old dog. "But she's going to fly. And when she does…" His voice dropped, steady and certain. "When she does, I'm never coming back."
In the distance, alarms wailed. Patrol sirens. Drones circled above, red lights cutting through the smoke.
Kai's grin sharpened. "Time to prove it."