First Sortie

"Kjēl! Let me through!" Shigo shouted as he tried to get past the guards.

"I'm sorry, sir. We can't let you interfere with an ongoing operation of the Alliance." Said one of the men standing guard.

"You should talk to him. Get some closure." Damien whispered to Kjēl.

"If you say so." Kjēl mumbled before walking towards Shigo.

The guards stepped aside and Shigo ran towards Kjēl. He held her shoulders and checked if she was hurt before hugging her.

"I'm sorry. I should've told you sooner." Shigo said softly.

"How long have you known them?" Kjēl asked.

"I've known your father ever since we were children. We grew up together in Mars." Shigo replied before pulling away.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kjēl asked once more.

"Because I know you wouldn't stop at nothing to be like them. I promised Darius to keep you and your mother safe, I already failed him once...I can't fail him again." Shigo added.

"You're right, I won't." Kjēl mumbled before stepping away from Shigo.

"Kjēl, please. Don't do this." Shigo said as tears streamed down his face.

"You can let go now. I'm not your responsibility anymore." Kjēl stated before turning around and walking away.

Shigo bowed his head down and kneeled as he sobbed. Kjēl returned to the ship as Damien's men continued to load the supplies and equipment onto the cargo bay.

"Hey, kid. About the boosters, it's compatible with your ship's thrusters." Charles stated.

"Make the ship black. Highlight it with red and yellow." Kjēl ordered.

"That won't be a problem. How about the cockpit? Should we switch it out with the new layout?" Charles asked.

"No, keep it as is. I don't want anyone else piloting it besides me." Kjēl replied before entering the elevator.

"Got it, I can tell you know what you're doing." Charles jokingly said before chuckling.

Kjēl went to the upper deck, inside her quarters. She wrapped herself up with the blankets and cried herself to sleep. She slept through the rest of the day, only to be awaken by a nightmare. She was covered in sweat and her heart was beating wildly.

"What else did the Admiral say?" Damien asked.

"Nothing else besides the orders." Brook replied.

"The map came from a trusted informant within XenoMars. If our info is accurate then we'll be able to slip past their first line of defense." Damien stated.

"I trust you already have a plan to follow. I'll prep the other pilots in case we need to sortie." Brook added before walking away.

Damien made his way back to the bridge and ran into Kjēl in the elevator. She greeted him and he nodded in response.

"Your ship's repairs are complete. It costed us quite a bit so I'm expecting you to be ready to pull the trigger once in combat." Damien stated.

"Just because I'm a child doesn't mean I can't bring myself to take a life." Kjēl replied.

"I already gave the battle formations to the other pilots. Charles will give you yours. Memorize it." Damien ordered before stepping out of the elevator once the doors opened.

Kjēl pressed the button and the elevator began moving to the lower deck. She waited for the doors to open before hopping out of the elevator and levitating due to the low gravity in the ship.

"Kid, Damien asked me to give this to you." Charles stated as he handed a tablet to her.

"We talked on the elevator. These must be the battle formations." Kjēl replied.

"The output on the thrusters are still the same but with the boosters attached, it'll be faster. I followed your draft of the design you gave so see for yourself." Charles added.

Kjēl nodded then pushed against the floor with a small amount of force. She slowly levitated up and she could see the entirety of Asterion. Kjēl smiled and gave Charles a thumbs up.

"You did great, old man. It's better than I originally imagined." Kjēl commended Charles.

"May I ask? Why the Asymmetrical design?" Charles asked.

"I'll leave the ideas to you. The ship is supposed to be versatile." Kjēl replied.

The alarms began sounding and everyone scrambled to wear their suits. Kjēl pushed off the ceiling and dove straight to Asterion's cockpit. She already had her suit on and there was already a helmet in the cockpit.

"All hands on deck. We've picked up a XenoMars ship escorted by two XM-3 squadrons. Be prepared to sortie." Damien announced over the P.A.

"I already switched your comms to our frequency." Charles stated.

Kjēl closed the cockpit and started up the systems. The display monitors lit up and showed the current status of the ship. Charles prepared the other ships and lined them up on the catapult platform.

"Brook, do you copy?" Damien asked over the radio.

"Yeah, I hear you loud and clear." Brook replied.

"It's the blue Stern-S again. Take care of him this time." Damien ordered.

"Leave it to me. Don't let the kid out unless I say so." Brook added.

Damien gave the orders to deploy the fighters. The squadrons of XM-3s hurriedly intercepted the Alliance's fighters that just deployed. Brook and his squadron tried to lead the enemies away from their main ship. The blue Stern-S stayed with the XenoMars destroyer. This enraged Brook, who's been defeated by it several times before in past engagements.

"Damien! Get that kid out here!" Brook exclaimed over the radio.

"Kjēl, you have permission to deploy." Damien stated.

"Took you long enough. I'm heading out." Kjēl replied as she started the launch sequence.

The catapult flung Asterion out into space and Kjēl soon met up with Brook. Brook took the lead and cleared a path for Kjēl. The blue Stern-S suddenly flew towards them once it's pilot noticed Asterion on the battlefield.

"Kid, this guy in the Stern-S is nuts. I'll keep him distracted while you try and take out the guns on that destroyer." Brook ordered as he took the Stern-S head on.

Kjēl peeled off and flanked to the left of the destroyer but the Stern-S changed course and headed towards Kjēl. Brook shot at the Stern-S but it ignored him and dodged all the bullets.

"Watch out! He's heading your way!" Brook shouted to warn Kjēl.

"I've got him now." Kjēl mumbled.

Asterion spun a hundred and eighty degrees before firing it's main guns at the fast approaching Stern-S. It dodged the beams and flew past Kjēl. The squadrons of XM-3s began retreating and ignored Kjēl and Brook. Damien also gave the order to retreat as he watched the XenoMars destroyer turn around and head back towards the asteroid belt.

"Captain, why didn't we finish them off?" Viktor asked.

"I have all the data I need. Return to the station." Bernard ordered as he looked at the image he got of Asterion.