My body feels warm, and my arm instinctively pulls a comforter closer to my neck. I crack my eyelids just enough to let some light in, and eventually, they open fully to take in my familiar surroundings.
I'm on a bed; my bed. The lights are set dimly and nobody is here. I slowly get out of bed and wobble to the space-view window next to my dresser. I can see Planet Thucara drifting in the distance. I'm back in our home galaxy.
My P.V.D isn't on my wrist. I look around and can't find it anywhere. My feet ache as they carry me to the door. I step out into the hall and peer around on both sides, not a soul.
I walk further towards the recreational room, and I begin to hear muffled voices seemingly celebrating behind it. The door swooshes open for me, and as I walk in, I'm greeted with a loud cheer coming from all of my teammates.
"Nev," Titan shouts, "you're awake! How does that hand feel?"
"I---whoa!" My hand, it's gone! I didn't even notice that the pain had subsided immensely. It looks like they trashed my original and swapped it out with a robotic prosthetic. I give my new metal fingers a test, making them touch my palm one at a time a few rounds.
"That's my...handy work," Cheq says, "sorry for the pun. It's grade-A metal with a neural link so that it basically controls like a real hand. You just won't feel the stress and pain."
I glance at Knight, his drink nearly overflowing with foam. "You didn't tell me I'd lose my hand when using the punch."
He turns to the crowd. "That's fifty credits for me, I knew he killed Deus with the Os Ruptor. I'm sorry for your sacrifice, Nev, but now we can be twins." He holds up his right hand and removes the glove to show a metal prosthetic underneath. It doesn't look like mine, maybe Cheq didn't make it for him.
I put my new hand to use and point at Titan. "You're just going to stand there without explaining how you survived?"
He finishes the last drops of his drink. "Don't you remember giving me a cooling gel before the doors fell? I just used the same trick, although it was a lot harder doing it in immense pain and one leg."
I see the leg that got the brunt of the landmine is wrapped up in an apparatus. "Is it real?"
"It's real. I got to keep it, unlike your hand. Once I blew the bulkhead open, the gas poured out. I got on the horn and alerted everyone about you being trapped in the control room with Deus. After they fished me out and slapped this brace on me, we all went back to try and get you out of there."
Cheq interrupts. "When we blasted the door open, Deus looked like he'd been cooked alive. We found you curled up by a console, your hand was a limp sack of skin and powdered bone. Every medic knew there was no saving it."
Knight finishes. "That's when Cheq got to work on making a unique prosthetic while Paxes supplied a standard one. You weren't even awake to try out that one, you've been asleep for a while."
Titan pours another glass and hands it to me. I use my new hand to grip it, it really controls like my real hand.
"When you killed Deus, all orders seemed to stop leaking through to the rest of the Angels. They got beat within thirty minutes with no strategies coming through. And Paxes... was all too generous with their compensation pay towards us."
I take a sip, feeling woozy immediately. "Compensation?"
His smile shines. "When you get the chance, check your bank account. I think you'll be happy with the numbers."
Knight puts a hand on Titan's shoulder. "Titan, are you ready to tell everyone?"
His smile is gone in an instant. He steps back to see us all and clears his throat. "My dear boys, I've got some exciting news and some... not so exciting news."
We all put our drinks down and listen up. He puts his hands behind his back and puffs his chest forward, but his face, his eyes, they vibrate with melancholy.
"I've been notified about a piece of news that involves me. My name, my real name, has been exposed to the mercenary circle."
I choke back a gasp and grind my teeth at the thought of that bitch Faiyoh. She's the only one given that privilege, and to do this to someone who helped keep the galaxy she lives in safe--
"Faiyoh, bless her heart, explained the story to me, and I choose to believe her. We all know how this works when a mercenary has his real name floating around in the atmosphere. We'll both be fleeing to another galaxy."
Cheq rubs his nose, the corners of his eyes shine in the light. "Wait, you're not talking about leaving, are you?"
He looks at Cheq sincerely, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I am, Cheq. And before you ask: no, I can't take you guys with me no matter how badly I'd like to."
I step forward, fighting the urge of my throat wanting to croak like a frog's. "Why couldn't you take us? We can find a new solar system and start over together. What are we supposed to do without a leader?"
Titan steps back and joins Knight's side. "We've been having some talks while you slept, and I had a lot of alone time to think about it. Nev, you've been through a lot, we all have, and it's nothing short of impressive to see my boys doing something great with their lives."
My knees want to crumple. Hearing him talk like this sounds like a permanent goodbye. A permanent goodbye is hardly different from dying. I can't even picture a future without Titan in it.
As my head tilts down to stare at the floor, his boots appear in my vision. "Nev, I want you..." he grabs my chin gently and raises it to meet his warm gaze, "to take the lead of Lux-Roulette."
I can't hold it back anymore. My sight is blurred by several tears welling up and streaming down my hot cheeks. I'm crying. Like a baby not getting its way, I'm crying. "I can't. I can't do that, Titan, I need you here. We all do."
For my sake, he forces a smirk to curve his mouth. "From everything I've seen these past few days, I feel like anything but a necessity. You can do this, kid, I believe in you."
Cheq and Knight take Titan's side and all meet me with similar smiles, albeit accompanied by teary eyes as well.
Cheq's voice cracks, "Following you, Nev, it'd be like following a shorter version of Titan with less of a drinking problem. I'll stick by you, through and through."
Knight holds firm, even though he occasionally sniffs. "You've taught me just as much as I've taught you, Nev. The only difference is, you don't see the inner results that have blossomed within me. I believe in your leadership, and I'll stay until I'm old and grey... older and greyer."
Titan pats my back. "Looks like you don't have to deal with mutiny. You're already doing better than me. So what do you say, kid, ready for that promotion?"
I wipe my cheeks and eyes, the cold metal of my new hand caressing my skin and making me feel like the old me, in many ways, has departed. "I'm... I'll make you proud. I promise."
###
5 years later...
"You gave us a fighting chance, Lux-Roulette," a captain of Paxes Defense Force explains from my monitor, "we may call upon you once again if the need arises. Your credits have been transmitted. Captian Aloxe, out."
As the call ends, I push a button on my chair and speak into a microphone. "Hey guys, come over to the control room, I want to show you something."
Cheq and Knight squeeze through the door and circle me.
"What'cha got for us?" Cheq asks.
I play with the monitor in front of me and flip to our incoming mail. I click a file and expand a picture.
Knight leans closer. "Is that...?"
Titan and Faiyoh have made it to a different galaxy and seem to be freelance mercs as they were in their youth. The picture is of them leaning against an impressive-looking battle jet with the colors of the Ucello, a thumbs-up, and bright smiles.
Underneath the photo is a string of text with the unique flair that only Titan can muster.
Haven't forgotten about you guys. Faiyoh says hello, and so do I. We've been doing great in this galaxy, and I wanted to tell you which one, but Faiyoh says not to put it in this message. She'll find a way to get the location to you discreetly, you know how she is.
Hope y'all are doing fantastic! Cheq, get some sleep, I know you stay up too long working on new tech.
Knight, ya old geezer, don't strain yourself. You're five years older than you were when I left you, you must be decrepit by now.
Nev, send a picture of you guys. I wanna see your smiling faces again. Also, keep up the good work. Travelers tell me stories about "The Legendary Lux-Roulette", so you must be doing something different that's got everyone talking about you.
With love, Titan & Faiyoh.
"He's gonna flip when he sees that gnarly scar on your face," Cheq comments.
I rub the old wound going across my cheek and into my eye socket. A dark eyepatch covers where my eye used to be. "You think so? I still have a shot in the dating pool, right?"
Knight ruffles my hair. "Just tell them you're Nev. That should be enough to get you anywhere with anyone."
I activate the monitor's camera and see us come into view. "All right, everyone, squeeze in. Smile like Titan's gonna judge it, you know he will."
Everyone crouches down to my level and I feel their heads literally squish mine in a sandwich.
"Cheese!" we all shout.
I made good on my promise, Titan. We're all still alive, and we're more known as an altruistic group rather than guns for hire. I thought I wouldn't be half as good of a leader as you were, but I'm glad you and the team lumped all your confidence into me.
I miss you, my dear friend, and there's no way I can repay you for all the growth you've let me go through tagging along on your adventures. When the team isn't looking, I still shed a tear at the sight of your custom counter with the whiskey bottle and glass. However, you never told me that your chair was much comfier than the rest of ours.
Ka-Chick!