Back on the floating rock
The floating rock was still cracked from the crash, but the sky above was calm. Stars watched silently as the two damaged ships ..., Sakudara's long, thin metal cruiser and Lyra's glowing golden Waffle ..., sat side by side, half broken but still breathing.
Sakudara sat on top of his ship, sleeves rolled up, tightening a pipe with an old wrench. Sparks flew. Sweat dripped from his face. Sharmitha knelt nearby, repairing the burst cooling line with trembling but skilled hands.
Lyra floated down from Waffle, her long white coat gently swaying. She carried a box of tools and a roll of shiny wire. "We'll need to reroute power from your rear stabilizers to the front engines," she said, professional and calm.
Sakudara nodded, his voice rough but civil. "Thanks."
"Welcome," Lyra said, sitting beside them. She opened the box and passed Sharmitha a glowing cable.
Behind them, BoBo was tangled in a mess of wires inside the Waffle cockpit. He stuck his head out through the top window and waved.
"Hey! I fixed the snacks button!" he shouted.
"There's no snacks button!" Lyra called back.
"There is now!" he said proudly. "It makes everything explode though, so... maybe don't press it."
Sharmitha snorted a laugh, covering her mouth. Even Sakudara's lips twitched.
They worked in silence for a while. The wind hummed. Tools clicked. Lights blinked.
Then Sharmitha looked up. Her voice was soft. "We've been running for two years," she said. "Hiding. Fighting. Jaya was our home… until it became hell."
Sakudara said nothing. He just stared at the stars.
Sharmitha continued, more quietly, "It started when the Federation bombed the south colonies. They said it was for security. But all we saw were friends turning to dust."
Sakudara finally spoke. "We had to bury seven people in one week," he said. His voice cracked, just slightly. "Then we stopped burying."
Lyra listened in silence, her fingers still twisting a connector shut.
"I'm sorry," she said at last.
She took a breath. Then she spoke.
"I was taken when I was fourteen," she said. "To a slave camp on Gorgia. They used us to mine weaponoids. No sunlight. No rest. Just rocks, dust, and chains."
Sharmitha froze. "You were enslaved?"
Lyra nodded. Her voice was still even, but her eyes were darker now. "I was going to die there. But then... he came."
Sakudara looked at her, frowning. "Who?"
Lyra met his eyes. "Destroyer."
Sakudara sat up fast. Sharmitha's eyes widened.
"Destroyer?" she said. "You're from his crew?!"
"The guy who burns Eternity Federation?!" Sakudara asked, half-shocked, half-angry.
Lyra raised her hands slightly. "He saved me. He saved a lot of people. He's not what the stories say."
"But he travels with monsters," Sharmitha said, voice low, suspicious.
"Some of them were monsters," Lyra replied calmly. "Before he gave them names. And purpose."
There was a long pause.
Then....,
"I like Tyrant!" BoBo said, from inside a pile of Waffle engine panels. His legs were sticking out.
Sharmitha blinked. "You know Tyrant?"
BoBo's head popped out. His hair was full of bolts.
"Yeah! He reads big books and makes tea that tastes like sadness! Also, he stopped Waffle from flying into a tree once! Very strong! Kind of scary! Smells like plants!"
Sakudara rubbed his forehead. "What even are you?"
BoBo blinked. "A very confused boy with glowing veins and no idea what a 'stabilizer coil' is."
Lyra giggled softly despite the tension. Sharmitha smiled too, looking at the goofy boy now stacking wires like pancakes.
After a while, Sakudara exhaled. "If you're really part of his crew… then why run?"
Lyra looked at BoBo.
"He has something inside him," she said gently. "Something powerful. Dangerous. And beautiful. I'm not sure what Destroyer wants with it. But I can't risk waiting to find out."
Sakudara stared at her. "You think he'll take it…?"
Lyra didn't answer. She just went back to working on the engine.
Sharmitha sighed, shoulders heavy. "We've all lost things," she whispered.
And BoBo?
He was now sitting cross-legged on the floor between the two ships, petting a wrench and humming a tune.
"Guys?" he asked suddenly, staring at his own reflection in a piece of metal. "Do I look cooler without eyebrows? Because I think I burned them off."
Sharmitha burst into laughter. Sakudara finally grinned.
And for a moment, just one moment, in the middle of the broken ships and broken pasts, the four of them were just... people. Hurt. Tired. But alive.