Delilah held her blaster steady, the weapon aimed with expert precision. Her gaze was more intense than it had ever been before. But that made sense. She was seconds away from shooting her former lover, Ambrocias. The very man who'd stabbed her in the back and left her for dead. And on their wedding day, no less.

"It didn't have to be this way, Deli," Ambrocias said, red locks blowing in the wind. "You could have moved on. Found a better life. Made something of yourself."

Delilah's only response was a smile and a few words.

"I already did."

And then she was pulling the trigger.

Sasha dropped the comic, taking a moment to scream internally, legs kicking at the bed. Holy cripes! It's happening! It's happening! She returned to reading, flipping through pages and pages of their climatic battle on a dying star. What she'd been anticipating for nine issues, not counting the show itself. Splash page after splash page fed her hungry eyes, Sasha squealing so much she barely heard the buzzer above her.

"Yo! We're dropping in soon!" Mr. Xan shouted from the intercom.

Sasha's breath caught, Ambrocias knocking Delilah's gun aside. No! Nooooo! He aimed to fire, but Delilah had already closed the distance, her fist crashing dead center into her former lover's chest. Ribs broke on impact, his movements halting as she drew her hand back. Sasha sat forward, reading on as Ambrocias collapsed, Delilah catching him before he could hit the ground.

"The Shattering Fist." He wiped his mouth. "So he did teach you, huh?"

Delilah nodded, her gaze softening as she held him in her arms.

"Panther!" Mr. Xan called. "Get your tail over here!"

She kept reading, Ambrocias reaching for Delilah one last time before he finally succumbed to his injuries. For several panels, she simply held him, shedding the first tears she'd made since her journey began. Since that fateful day on Kitune when she lost her father. Sasha turned the final page, reading on as Delilah carried Ambrocias back to her ship. The final burial she owed-

"PANTHER!"

Sasha jumped, her door open wide with both liaisons standing in the hall.

"It's time to depart, Sasha," Mr. Erin said, a hand on his hip.

"Book down and move it, kid!" Mr. Xan echoed.

She finally set the comic down.

"I was just getting ready, anyway. I swear."

She quickly put on her shoes, tossing the comic with the others.

***

Late arrival aside, Sasha did feel a little excited about the planetary drop. Elisia's coordinates had led them to another Terra-level world. A place called Orion. It was another world far from AIC control with human tech all over, the teleporters much more numerous than Omopoe. As were the jammers. She stepped out the hatch to the same phenomenon as Zery, signals so scrambled even Mr. Erin felt miles away. At the very least, she didn't sense hundreds of graduates this time around. Everything had the same consistency signal-wise.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Sweet whiskers," Mr. Erin said. "This world is giving me a headache already."

"Dunno what you're complaining about, Twig." Mr. Xan smiled. "I feel fine."

"Oh, jump in a ditch, mush head."

Sasha pushed past them to get a better look at their surroundings. They'd dropped near several other ships, none of which had any uniformity to speak of. Most were cruisers and frigates, all relatively small vessels that tended to carry very few passengers. Theirs was on the larger side due to having to fit all the different rooms and equipment. But it was far from the largest ship in the bunch. Sasha halted the second she saw it standing in front of her. The massive dreadnought-sized ship streaked with white.

What the-

Sasha rubbed her eyes, even doing a double take just to make sure. Nothing changed. The cone-shaped design. The wings curved back and covered in blue. The many white streaks that gave it an almost fiery design. A comet's design. Her heart rate rose, eyes darting around though she could see no one approaching.

"Um. You guys are seeing this too, right?"

Her liaisons stopped arguing, their shock mirroring hers when they spotted it. Though it was easy to tell under the light of the sun, she knew all too well how the ship appeared when it was descending from orbit. How it looked when covered in fire.

"Sweet whiskers." Mr. Erin stepped closer, even going so far as to put a hand on it. Mr. Xan started checking around for passengers.

As they both looked the comet ship over, Sasha caught a familiar oaken scent on the breeze. She whipped around, relaxing as she saw a white puffball standing next to one of the ships. Her tail swayed against the ground, Iris still glaring at her as if she'd been holding the look since Zery. Sasha ran over.

"I told you to go home, Sash," the wolf said.

Her hand was on the hilt of her rapier, but there wasn't a barrier this time around. She wasn't hiding. Sasha smiled. Though she was opt to sulk, Sasha never pegged Iris as the type to shy away. No matter what it was, the wolf would always face trouble head-on. In her own sulky way, at least.

"And I told you I wasn't leaving without you," Sasha said. She stepped closer. "Now quick sulking and hug me. I missed you."

The wolf still glared at her. Sasha took the initiative, throwing her arms around her. To her relief, Iris did hug her back.

"Sash, you know you shouldn't be here," the wolf said. "It's too dangerous."

"You're here, and you're fine."

"Yes. But I'm not the famous one."

Sasha pulled away. "I'm famous?"

Iris smirked. "Pirate of the Black Web. Enemy of Argos. AIC traitor. Need I go on?"

Sasha scratched her head. "No. I guess I see your point."

The wolf's smile fell, eyes narrowing as she looked over Sasha's shoulder. She followed the wolf's gaze, finding both her liaisons staring at them. At Iris.

Though she'd told her to keep quiet, the topic of the wolf's second appearance had come up while Sasha was on the ship. Given they were on a mission to find her, keeping that kind of thing hidden had seemed much too risky. The last thing she needed was for them to see Iris and jump to hostility. And given Iris was now actively glaring at them, even going so far as baring her fangs in challenge, she was glad for that decision. Neither of her liaisons fell for the taunt.

"They're not going to hurt you, Iris," Sasha said. "They're with me."

The wolf looked at her, her amber eyes a mask of thoughts Sasha knew she'd never really understand. But she would still try. Iris looked away.

"Don't let them get you killed, Sash," she said. "You're better than that."

That's all the wolf gave her before her body started to fizzle away again.

Her frame blew away, light particles dissolving one by one until it was just Sasha standing in front of the ship. The panther sighed, her friend's scent disappearing once again. Why did she always have to be like that? She felt a hand on her back.

"We should keep moving," Mr. Erin said.

She slowly nodded. They still had more digging to do.