✧ Chapter 2 ✧

The ship was silent as Styra felt the words weigh her mind. Flight stared at his reflection in the cockpit window.

"No. I've been to many planets. Every time I discovered one suitable for life, I knew that they had as much right to stay and live where they are. Looking at the situations I'm faced with reminds me of when my parents died. I didn't want to see them go, but after that, they sent me to a foster home when I was fourteen. Grew up on the streets practically. I'm here now only because nothing came between me and my fascination with exploring the cosmos thanks to an old friend of mine."

Styra could guess what he meant as his eyes filled with sorrow. She then noticed a circular object on his chest.

"I know what that feels like. It must have been more terrible than I can imagine. By the way, what is that?" she inquired, pointing at it.

Flight touched the badge as his fingers caressed its round shape.

"This was when I first completed my four years of training at the StarSpace Air Corps Academy. Ranked as one of the highest. Don't let that fool you though. I've had enough failures to know that earning this title was going to take more than what I learned."

He started to look up into the clouds, remembering what it was like when he first flew into space.

"That feeling you get when you do something that you've wanted to do for a long time. I was not at all disappointed. Maybe there were a few obstacles along the way, but that was always a part of the experience."

Styra felt empathetic for him, however she was also upset at the way StarSpace treated other planets with a certain disrespect.

"That's nice to hear, but why would they make others suffer at the risk of your dreams? It sounds hypocritical for them to live in someone else's home while not allowing them to live in StarSpace. What would make them do that?" she asked.

Flight began to remember a darkness in the answer to her question. He decided to try and avoid mentioning it altogether.

"For a long time I've gone to almost every inhabitable planet, and never before have I seen someone defend their home as you did. Normally I would inspect each world, the aliens I greeted there weren't able to understand my language, and the government would do the rest with whatever information I gave them."

"What do you mean by that?" Styra asked with a suspicious glare.

"About the government doing the rest? Well interestingly enough, I don't know. I usually trust that they will do the right thing because they tell me that the process after my inspections of planets is confidential," Flight replied.

Styra became a little angry at this and started trying to reason with him.

"Something about this makes it sound like they're using you. If you don't know what happens to life on those planets after that, how can you just trust them like that? Also, it still doesn't make sense why those people can enter worlds freely and claim it as theirs but place restrictions on StarSpace to them."

As Flight started to space out, Styra's face began to get a bit agitated because she didn't understand why he was acting like this. He started to remember a talk with Mr. Nebules who had his back turned, facing a massive window while looking down at the city in a bright office.

"Flight, listen. I understand you want to know more about what happens to the worlds we study for inhabitation, but you only have one job. Soldiers don't ask questions about why. When you're under a command of the greatest authority, you have to carry it out. We don't pay you to interrogate. We have an area of the division for that. However, you risk losing your current one in the process. All of that information is confidential for the current position you are in. Do you understand?"

Flight held a hesitant nervousness about himself, but his confidence was more firm than his fear.

"Yes sir," he replied with a hasty disdain for himself.

The memory faded slowly as he came to his senses.

"I didn't want to disobey after what he said. So I didn't carry it through. It can be hard to accept something like this when it is the job I've always wanted. It's, as far as I know, the only way I make a living rather than ending up homeless now. Styra, how would you know that our government was using us for the sake of planet inhabitation? In contrast, we need to protect StarSpace. We've already had invasions that risked worldwide destruction," Flight remarked.

Styra backfired, speaking with the reminder of the guilt she was burdened with.

"I can understand protecting your home from outside threats, but invading them yourselves in a similar way when they don't even get a choice to visit StarSpace? Just because they aren't like you doesn't mean they have to be mistreated so horribly! Almost every living thing that existed here, died from extinction. I've been living alone by myself ever since! It's like you all don't care about what we have to go through!"

Reminiscing about his past caused Flight to finally spill the truth.

"Okay, I'll admit it. I haven't told you everything. It stems from a darker part of my life where I lost a lot of those I cared about. StarSpace isn't the same as it used to be. When people tell you the hopes and promises of a place they believe will give them the life they wanted, you're going to realize that those dreams don't compare. No matter how hard you try to squeeze it in. Believe too much and it will eventually break you."

A dead silence caved in between the both of them. Styra nearly wanted to leave. She wanted to give up. This broken world he told her about began to resonate a sadness similar to what Perenorbius was now. However, in a more calm and discerning voice than before, she resolved that thought upon already knowing what it was like to be emotionally hurt for a long time. Drowning in her memories like this again wasn't really going to help at the moment.

"You do understand. What am I thinking? I should not have gotten angry either way. There is nothing about this that makes me feel any greater than you right now. At least you fought to keep others alive. Me, I am just a failure."

Flight was softened by what she said, opening up to her feelings. "What could make you say that?" he asked.

With humility, she closed her eyes in remembrance of what had happened.

"I witnessed a giant asteroid plummeting into this world that caused an extinction-level event. At the time I didn't know who I was but, all I had was this world. They believed in me. When the asteroid hit, everything turned dark. To this day, I still feel like I could have done more for them, even if I didn't know how. I was scared it would mean the end and when I realized they were gone, I desperately wanted to see them again. Looking back, it's like everything happened so fast."

Flight had a serious expression that yielded questions.

"Hold up. Surviving extinction by an asteroid is impossible. How long have you been alive?"

"I don't know exactly. To be honest, all I can recall is I woke up on this planet, feet on the ground, and I don't think the tripedyras are my real family. I stuck with one particular group that was the oldest of them for three million generations. According to them, that was around a thousand-year lifespan. It's difficult to be alone for so long. You get bored of being with a broken part of yourself that doesn’t know what it feels like to live again," she said with confusion and angst.

While Flight did wonder about the tripedyras and Styra's unusual story, he decided to put that behind him and consider her words carefully.

"I apologize for hiding all of it from you like that. It must've been more painful than I can acknowledge. Either way, that doesn't mean I'm going to leave my job. That's a big risk unless an emergent situation were to take place that apprehends my missions. Right now, I can't recover this position if I do that. So many new applicants will steal that from me if I even tried to return. We can attempt to find out what we need though. I have an old friend that I haven't talked to in a while who is part of the interrogation team. I will try to ask them first but I don't know how that will play out."

Styra stared blankly at the mirror inside the locket, contemplating its reflection of herself. What was she supposed to be? If she could survive a giant asteroid and live longer than usual, what did that make her? Why did she end up on Perenorbius? What did her dreams mean? It didn't make sense at all. Maybe it would later. For right now, she had no clue how she was going to figure it out.

Flight interrupted her thoughts when he noticed how she was staring, much like he had done previously.

"If you want, I can try and help you find out who you are. That can only be possible if you pass the test though."

Styra nodded in agreement, knowing she could not do this alone. As Flight was about to consider helping her, a thought hit his mind that anticipated the chance to make amends by introducing something he took interest in sharing often.

"Oh yeah, I never properly introduced my spaceship. It is my personal favorite, but I do have four other different ones. This right here is called StormStrike Zero. You can also call it STS-0. It is mechanically engineered to be durable enough to travel near light speed. Fortunately, the interior of this ship is made to keep it from shaking too much in here and allows for a smoother flight. The other ships aren't as fast, which is why I stick with this one when I am doing more serious missions to other planets that aren't within our solar system. It also has a large variety of weapons onboard and on the exterior of the ship itself like autocannons and stuff."

"Nice. I've never seen something like that before. How will it take us to StarSpace?" she inquired.

Flight donned his mask which had a built-in digital system to see the estimated time of his travel to Perenorbius.

"The ship flies through what we call outer space. It should take us no less than an hour. Buckle up. I may have said that the ride is smooth, but I also suggest wearing an astromask just in case you feel space sick. Going at this speed is only good for traveling back to our heliosphere. Otherwise, using it too much burns up the wires. The system's AI, DIVA, helps to detect any obstacle within a hundred feet radius before it dodges them. It pretty much has nearly an entire map of this galaxy. Took them centuries of innovation to develop it."

Styra marveled at the power of the STS-0. The warning concerned her, but she was more curious to know whether she could actually survive at that speed onboard. As Flight gave her a new mask from the side compartment of his ship's cockpit, Styra admired the detail put into its design as she inspected it to make sure it was clean. Finally, she confidently admitted her idea.

"Not to bother you too much but, if I survived a giant asteroid, I feel like I might survive this as well. I just want to see how far I can go."

"Fair enough. This should be interesting," he responded while nodding his head in approval.

After the talk, he assisted her with the seat buckle and mentioned a few more emergency precautions in the case of crashing unexpectedly. The droning noise started up and the STS-0 hovered off the ground. Sitting comfortably in the seat, Styra's mind was filled with questions about herself. To answer them, she decided it was best to leave her home to find out who she was. This had to be the only way. After many years of isolation, she would journey across the cosmos with Flight to figure out the truth behind her lingering existence of unknown origins awaiting to be revealed.

This was only the beginning of a new adventure.