There was a great buzz in the Space Cruise Upsilon-Chi as soon as the space pod docked a few minutes earlier. Before the space pod came into contact, Aggros sent a message to Captain Zed, giving him a summary of the mission. Amidst the shock, Captain Zed didn't lose his composure over the voice transmission and decided to just wait for the space pod before asking questions. But at that point, everyone on the space cruise knew what had transpired and a majority of them waited outside the hangar, in hopes that they'd get a glimpse of the Caixian that boarded the space pod.
"I heard they have incredibly white skin!"
"And they can transform into beasts!"
"I haven't met a Phase Class human in my life."
"Me too."
"Is it male or female?"
All those questions rang through the hallway as they eagerly awaited for the entrance to the hangar to open. As the metallic sliding doors slid out, everybody held their breath.
A girl with light blue hair and cerulean eyes that resembled an ocean pool. She was no taller than five feet and yet she had the curves in all the right places, not so emphasized, but it was there. She walked with her head hung low while gripping the hems of Lev's uniform. The brown hoodie she wore which was a size bigger for her and the mask pulled over to her hair were notable Caixian attire— there was no mistaking it, that girl was the Caixian that everyone anticipated.
...
Later on, Lev and the girl found themselves in the captain's office.
A chill ran up and down Lev's spine as he assumed the worst. He had watched a lot of sci-fi movies before he died and he certainly knew what would happen if someone brought a traitor to the ship.
Exile.
"So, what are we going to do with her?" Captain Zed maintained the five-meter distance he has between him and Lev. He didn't want to risk a chance being clobbered on the head with another table, which wasn't an enjoyable experience, not in the least bit.
In response, Lev reluctantly shrugged because frankly, he also didn't know what to do with the girl. "Can't she just work here?"
Captain Benedict chuckled, waving his hand at the unpredictability of his childhood friend. Lev had always been one to act instantaneously, and adding to that, he's also one to speak his mind before he thought things through. But right now, what his childhood friend did was irreversible, it was even worth being exiled for.
Fortunately, Captain Zed didn't see Lev as a threat or anything of the sort. What he saw was a promising young man who can be a valuable asset to his crew. 'He may be a recruit right now but if he joins us, our might will be greater than other teams. Furthermore, according to the reports I received from the leader of the expedition team, he managed to hold himself off against the expedition team and the Caixian Tribe combined. He even held onto the space pod while it broke through the planet's atmosphere, even a Panzer-Class like me couldn't achieve such a feat.' He inwardly said to himself upon heaving a sigh.
"To be fair, captain, we just destroyed this little girl's planet. And now, she somehow got to this ship by clinging onto Lev right here. The least we can do is take her in as another recruit and put her on the expedition team. As you may have heard from the report, Lineus became MIA during the expedition. Right now, we have an open spot in the Bracket-Delta expedition team."
"Ehrmm, you got a point right there, Benedict. But still... using a Caixian as our— "
"Not all humans belonging to the Phase Class are from the Caix Tribe, right? And it's not like she had any choice she belonged to the Caix Tribe." Lev spoke with his limited knowledge of the new world he was exposed to. As far as he knows, the classes of people were categorized due to their class-specific abilities, not their racial or national status.
"Whatever, do what suits you." Captain Zed dismissed both Benedict and Lev from his office along with the tag-along that still clutched the edges of Lev's uniform.
"You get some rest Lev, I still have some matters to attend to... well, it's mostly just writing up some reports and sending it to Main Earth, you know how the brass is always keen on receiving reports from expeditions. Of course, we won't tell them about the mix-up and that little accident on the planet over there."
"Litt— little accident?! That bastard destroyed a planet!" Lev shakily pointed towards Ion who was relaxing by the lounge area of the ship. "A little accident? He shouldn't be here! That damned animal shouldn't be here."
"Shhh! Watch your language!"
"Oi, what did you just say?" Ion suddenly got up from where he was sitting, then grabbed Lev by the collar.
Silence befell the lounge area as Aggros and the others just watched in mild panic. They've seen how Lev fought during the expedition and they knew they stood no chance if they fought against him. However, Ion going into overdrive in the space cruise was something that no one wanted so Aggros mustered his courage and stepped forward.
Just then, an intense bloodlust emanated from Lev's body as he grabbed Ion by the hand. "Unhand me," He clearly ordered, squeezing Ion's hand as resounding cracks could be heard from it.
Ion pursed his lips. He wanted to scream as his bones cracked due to Lev's grip. However, in front of everyone in the lounge, he knew that would just ruin his reputation if he did so. So suppress he did as his eyes teared up from the excruciating pain.
"Stop it, we don't want you going berserk for the second time on your first day as a recruit," Benedict said, patting Lev by the shoulder. "As the assistant captain of this space cruise, I command the two of you to stop this bickering and return to your rooms."
With a light thank you, Lev let go of Ion's wrist and nodded towards his childhood friend. If Benedict had been a beat too late, Lev could've gone out of control once again.
"And the girl?" Lev asked
"She goes with you," Benedict concisely responded.