A look at the new generation

Korrin reached the bridge, the echo of his hurried footsteps reverberating off the metal. The news of the completed repairs was the first breath of fresh air in weeks, a glimmer of hope in the oppressive darkness of unknown space. For the first time in a long while, he allowed himself to feel a hint of relief.

Meanwhile, deep within the ship, in one of the advanced combat training rooms, the atmosphere was anything but relaxed. The air vibrated with the hum of the simulation systems and the sound of bated breath.

In the center of the circular room, a lone figure stood surrounded by a dozen infantry recruits. They were all wearing Geminis Tactical Combat Armor, the standard uniform for high-risk operations. It was not heavy, clunky armor, but rather a second skin of ballistic polymers and matte black ceramic plates, designed to maximize agility without sacrificing defense. Thin lines of energy, a soft magenta color, ran through the suit like an artificial nervous system, pulsing gently to indicate the status of the integrated shield and the wearer's vital signs. They all wore full, faceless combat helmets, their color variations and sensors indicating different tactical specializations, creating an anonymous chorus of lethal potential.

The solitary figure in the center seemed to breathe differently. His posture was a line of contained energy, a spring ready to be released. The tension in the room was like a rope stretched to its limit.

The simulation began with an electronic tone. The twelve recruits attacked in unison, a coordinated swarm of assaults from all angles, a perfectly choreographed ballet of violence. But their target moved with a fluid grace that defied logic and physics. Every movement was pure. A blow aimed at its head was deflected with the palm of its hand, redirecting the attacker's force into the ground. A simulated energy shot was dodged by a millimeter, the residual heat making the plates of its armor glow. An attempt at a double grab became an unbalancing lock that used his opponents' momentum to knock them down like dominoes. Not a single blow landed. In less than a minute, the twelve recruits lay on the ground, their armor marked with the simulation's non-lethal impact points, a mosaic of humiliating failure. The only sound was the gasping of their labored breaths.

" Training break. " announced Liselotte's cold, sharp voice from the elevated observation platform. Her gaze, always analytical, did not miss a single detail.

The figure in the center relaxed, the tension leaving her body with a soft exhale. She raised her hands and removed her helmet. The pressurized air released with a hiss, revealing the face of a young woman with dark purple hair, a color so intense it seemed to absorb light. Her hair, long enough to easily reach her waist, fell in perfectly defined waves, as if each strand had been placed with intention. Her face was a hypnotic blend of ethereal beauty and latent danger: one eye was a deep, calm sapphire blue, while the other was a golden, feline amber, with a slightly elongated pupil that seemed to penetrate the soul. Near her left eye, a thin reddish scar was like two diamonds placed side by side below her left eye. Her bangs, cut in an impeccably straight and precise hime style, framed an expression of absolute confidence bordering on arrogance.

With a smile, he looked at Liselotte. " How did I do, Lieutenant? "

Liselotte, her arms crossed firmly over her chest and her expression as serious as ever, replied. " Your form is imprecise in the side turns. You still have a long way to go, Hibiki. " She paused deliberately, letting the criticism sink in before adding, with a hint of forced approval, " But you did better than these slackers. " She said the last part as her gaze shifted to the other recruits who were getting up, sore and embarrassed, from the ground.

In the midst of the tense conversation, Selene crept up to the platform and leaned over to whisper something in Liselotte's ear. The lieutenant closed her eyes for a second, an unusual gesture of deep reflection. Then she addressed her recruits, her voice regaining its commanding tone. " Rest for today. Hydrate and check your injuries. " Her gaze hardened. " But don't get complacent. Tomorrow's training will be twice as intense. It will be days before any of you even come close to the required level. "

" Yes, ma'am! " they all replied in unison, their voices a mixture of relief and resignation.

Hibiki, in a gesture that contrasted with his ferocity in combat, approached his fallen comrades and offered them a hand to help them up. " You're too strong, Hibiki, " one of them joked, rubbing his shoulder. " It's frustrating not being able to catch up to you even in my dreams. " Hibiki simply laughed, a surprisingly light sound. " Don't worry. I'll take care of you on the battlefield until you do. It's my duty. "

From the platform, Liselotte watched them, and for a fleeting moment, an almost imperceptible and rare smile appeared on her lips, so quick that anyone who did not know her might have imagined it.

Later, in the quiet, artificial calm of one of the parks in the civilian sector, where the air smelled of damp earth and the sound of fountains masked the constant hum of the ship, Hibiki found Adlet sitting on a bench, absorbed in a datapad. She crept up behind him with the stealth of a cat and gave him a playful scare, placing her cold hands over his eyes.

" Hibiki! You almost gave me a heart attack! " he complained, laughing as he jumped and spun around, his freckled face lit up with a broad smile.

" If that scares you, Adlet, I don't want to see you in real combat when the guns start firing. " she joked, letting herself fall onto the bench beside him with a tired but satisfied sigh.

" Hey, I spoke with Commander Korrin today. " Adlet said, puffing out his chest proudly. " I ran into her in the hallways and she invited me to have lunch with her. She was very nice to me! She asked me about my training grades. "

" And Lieutenant Liselotte congratulated me on my hard work today. " Hibiki replied, no less proud, smoothing her impeccable hair. " Well, it's the closest thing to a compliment she can give. It seems like the bosses are starting to like us, don't you think? "

Adlet nodded enthusiastically and carefully took out a datapad, as if it contained a treasure. " Look what I found today in the declassified archives of the data library. It's... from before. "

On the screen, pixelated by time and compression, old images appeared. Photos of Utopia-7. Not propaganda images, but stolen snapshots. A lush green park with children climbing structures that looked like glass. Gleaming towers rising toward a deep, pure blue sky, not the eternal black they knew. People smiling, wearing colorful clothes, sharing food at outdoor tables under a sun that was not a full-spectrum lamp. A world full of life and light, a lost paradise that was only a distant echo for them, a collective dream for many.

A wave of bittersweet nostalgia washed over them. It wasn't just the memory of a place, but the absence of a feeling: innocence. They looked at each other, their young faces marked by Hibiki's scar and Adlet's eyes, now filled with pure, fierce determination, forged in the furnace of loss.

" We're going to do it, right? " Adlet said quietly, his tone no longer that of a cheerful boy, but of a young man who has seen the abyss. Hibiki nodded slowly, her two colored eyes shining with an inner light that promised both hope and vengeance. " We will. We will avenge our world. Every smile, every sunset they stole from us... Every memory they took from us. " Her voice hardened. " We will find a new home for everyone, one where no one has to grow up remembering only rubble and silence. "

There was no handshake, no oath sworn. Just a silence laden with meaning, a complete understanding sealed in the space between them. Two young souls, too young for the burden they carried, promising the ghost of a planet that the future would not be just survival. It would be restitution. And they were willing to pay the price, no matter how high.