"Take care of yourself, okay?" Hazer's mother spoke, embracing her son.
"I will" Hazer responded.
Hazer's father also hugged him, "Watch yourself" he simply said.
Hazer nodded, "Keep me posted about Aiko" both his parents agreed to do so.
Kneeling down Hazer was at head height with his little sister Niko.
"Hey what's wrong?" He asked trying to lighten the mood.
Niko seemed sad and dejected whilst sitting in her wheelchair. She was only let out to say her goodbyes to her older brother.
"Are you coming back?" Niko looks up at her older brother.
The look on her face made a trace of guilt go through Hazer at leaving his family.
But there were reasons why he had to go, and if he wanted the Federation to leave him alone, he had to comply with them.
"Of course I'll be back, you won't even realise I'm gone" Hazer said with a kind smile.
"You promise?" Niko asked sheepishly.
Hazer held out his pinkie finger, "You bet"
Niko smiled gently and she too held out her pinkie finger, the two of them made a pinkie promise.
Behind Hazer the Federation transport started to rev the engine indicating it was about to depart.
He was about to leave when Niko grabbed the sleeve of his coat.
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"Come back okay? For me and Aiko" she asked, her face showing an earnest expression.
Hazer knelt down again this time embracing his little sister, Niko. Her black hair reflecting the lighting in the room.
"Don't worry I'll come back, and we can go back to being a happy family" Hazer said, reassuring Niko.
The latter smiled gently at her older brothers response.
As he walked up the ramp towards the Federation transport, he looked back seeing his family.
Hazer waves to his family, as the bay doors gradually closed. He took the time to look at them as it'll be a very long time before he'd see them again.
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The Next Day...
Akari was sitting with a group of boys and girls in the cafeteria of their military academy.
Laughing and joking around with one another.
Akari could hear students muttering a few tables away from theirs.
"Hey, have you heard, a new transfer student is arriving!" A girl estacticly told her friends.
"You must of misheard" her friend her off.
"No it's true!" She felt dejected that her friends didn't believe her.
A boy laughs, "You have mistakened what the teachers were talking about"
The girl attempted to argue her case, when the muttering started to spread to other tables.
Akari turned to Ino, "Have you heard about the new transfer student?"
Ino nodded, "Yeah, I heard the rumours..." she continued taking a few more mouthfulls of her lunch.
"...it's only rumours, but I guess we'll find out in a few days" she finished.
"A few days?" Akari asked slightly confused.
"Yeah, the news only surfaced yesterday" Ino returned to eating her lunch.
As for Akari her mind thought fruitlessly about this mysterious transfer student.
It has always taken longer than a few days to get here, the academy was made to remote from the outside world, Akari thought to herself.
Instead of worrying about something so meaningless, Akari involved herself with current conversation at her table.
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Few Days Later...
After days of travelling from the Colony Sphere, Lagos. Governed by the Federation.
It was an understatement that Hazer felt some form of relief.
When looking out the window of the Federation transport he could see the gorgeous scenery as they were entering Earths gravity field.
"Everyone prepare for descent into Earths atmosphere" a man said over the transports' communications system.
A light above Hazers' started to flash above his head. Looking up he could see the indicator to strap his harness in.
It was only a few seconds later when a violent rumbling started to course through the transport. As it entered Earths atmosphere.
The sensation was very relatable for Hazer as he was no stranger to making extra-atmospheric entries with his Valkyrie in the past.