Chapter 3: ☆ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ☆

★彡[ʟᴜɴᴀʀ ᴄɪᴛʏ ꜰᴀʟʟꜱ]彡★

☾☉☉☉☽

With a mere glance, it’s easy to tell that the Kuiper Belt is the oldest mecha still in use.

Torn and scarred, it has a notable gash on its left side, always oozing a trail of golden ichor behind it wherever it goes. It’s difficult to fix, to heal—or maybe Cosmos Administration doesn’t want to waste time and resources and energy on repairs when something new and better could be made instead.

It’s deep shade of purple has been slowly fading, and it screeches and groans when it launches. More and more little pieces have been snapping off. Sao’s been told that, at some point, the Kuiper Belt was considered the best ship: majestic and efficient at everything it needed to be efficient at. But it’s been many years since it was first built; the best ship has lost face.

Not that Sao minds. Actually? He prefers the hunk of space junk.

So long as it clung to life, Sao would continue to use it—

—No, that isn’t true.  As soon as he finished destroying the colonies, he’d have to give it up. It’d be scrapped, used for parts, and he’d never pilot it again, never see it again. That realization weighs on him, heavy.

But Sao isn’t thinking about that. Not now.

He runs a hand through his feathery black hair, blinking, gaze set upon the floor of the cockpit. “Sorry,” he murmurs to no one. He’s not sure who, but he’s certain someone somewhere spites him with all of their soul. For flying to the moon, for saying “yes”, for obeying Titan.

Perhaps that “someone somewhere” was himself.

He doesn’t want to do this, you know? He doesn’t want to destroy the colony that he helped make. He doesn’t want to destroy decades of hard work. He doesn’t want to destroy the city before anyone on Earth got to live there.

Even so… orders are orders.

Don’t think about it too much. Just get it over with. Quickly.

From far away, the Moon was a gorgeous glowing orb, but up close, one could see the rocks strewn all over and the craters that enclosed the buildings Cosmos Administration had left behind.

As the Kuiper Belt lands on open space, a safe distance from the colony, Sao takes everything in. Tall spires of ivory white, like the tusks of ancient beasts, protrude from the surface. Houses of yellow and lavender can be found everywhere within the craters. Oxygen Generators and Gravity Stabilizers are stationed between every structure, protected and hidden behind cages of purple obsidian.

The Lunar City is stunning.

It’s really a shame he has to destroy it all.

“Here I go,” Sao says. (It’s necessary to convince himself to take the first step).

Exiting the Kuiper Belt, he ambles towards the Lunar City.

Retrieve what can be salvaged. What does that mean; what is considered salvageable to Titan? What is Sao supposed to be searching for? He isn’t sure and he doesn’t want to bother Titan by asking. He’ll figure it out as he wonders along the streets.

Walking around it, the city feels… somber.

Humans are meant to be here, Sao thinks. The goal was to make the planets of our solar system habitable. And that goal was achieved. For nothing. Because the people of Earth never planned on moving. The people of Earth won’t ever see the Lunar Colony in person, won’t ever live on the Moon.

It had been a lonely ghost town for its entire existence. 

Isn’t that sad? Isn’t that unfair?

Why couldn’t humanity give space a chance? Wouldn’t living on the Moon be something cool to brag about? What are they scared of? Do they really hate us that badly?

Sao sighs, supposing he’s partially to blame. He continues along familiar yellow brick roads lined with fanciful floating wisps of light.

 

✦✧✩✧✦

 

“Isn’t ‘the Moon’ an ugly name?”

“I guess so,” Sao replies, because he’s never thought about it before, and he doesn’t care enough to take a stance either way, and he’s confused as to why Saturn is even here.  

Sao is occupied, unloading bits and pieces of machinery from his ship, which will be taken and put together and set up by someone else. Saturn, on the other hand, is ignoring the fact that there is work to be done at all, hovering around Sao after the others had shooed him away.

“It doesn’t fit,” Saturn says as Sao sets a box onto the ground (the gravity of the Lunar Colony was changed to something more Earth-like). “Why don’t we name it Cynthia? Selene? Luna? Those sound prettier, don’t they? More suiting.”

Sao frowns. “…Is it not already called Luna?”

“Who do you hear calling it Luna?” Saturn deflects. “The Moon’s official name is ‘the Moon’. Isn’t that lame as hell?”

“I guess so,” Sao repeats.

The Lunar Colony has been finished, completed by the generation of pilots that were around before Sao joined Cosmos Administration, by the generation of pilots that raised Saturn. But despite being completed, there were adjustments to be made. There would always be progress; recent versions of Oxygen Generators were better than the old, so the old would be replaced. That was what Sao had come to help with, and what Saturn was refusing to participate in.

“Are you done yet?” Saturn asks. He taps his foot.

“Almost,” Sao answers. “Why?”

Saturn grins. “I’m bored. Let’s race.”

Sao places another box on the ground, gentle. “What? In our ships? No.” That would be stupid. For so many reasons. For ‘Pandora and Titan will be furious’, for ‘what if we—I—crash into a building’, for ‘there’s no point since Saturn will definitely win’.

It’s only been a few months since Sao was accepted into Cosmos Administration. He really doesn’t want to mess anything up.

“Why not?” Saturn asks. “I heard they promoted you to Ace Pilot, so you must be pretty good, right? I’ve been waiting for a challenge, and you can give me one, can’t you?”

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Sao wrings his hands. “I—I’m not—”

“I won’t take no for an answer,” Saturn declares. “Let’s race!”

Sao wants to argue (he doesn’t). “Okay,” he tells Saturn, bowing his head and slumping his shoulders, like he’d already lost. “Don’t be surprised when I disappoint you.”

With that, the two separated and headed for their mechas.

At seventeen, Saturn has not yet stolen the Kraken Mare, as the Kraken Mare was just an idea, not even a concept written or drawn on paper, nowhere near a tangible ship. Instead, he has the Great White. The Great White is flawless in appearance, as it was the color of clouds with no scratches or stains on its metallic body. It was a perfect mecha for the perfect prodigy.

At seventeen, Sao was given a hand-me-down ship: the Kuiper Belt. Regardless of how inexperienced he is with piloting, he knew that this ship was bad. Even so, he’s grown fond of it. The Kuiper Belt is old, but the Kuiper Belt did its job. That is enough.

Sao enters the cockpit.

Sao’s heart feels like its beating too fast or Sao’s heart feels like its not beating at all. He can’t do this. He hates that Saturn has expectations of him. He hates that he wasn’t stubborn enough to refuse Saturn the second time. He hates hi—

A loud droning sound begins, which has him jumping out of his leather chair. He somehow forgot that Saturn would be calling.

“Where should we race to?” Saturn questions. “What’s our finish line?”

“I don’t know,” Sao responds, because he doesn’t care, because he doesn’t want to do this.

“How about…” Saturn trails off, surveying what’s around them. “…Let’s race straight ahead, through the streets, and whoever gets out of the city first wins. Deal?”

“Deal.” There is no enthusiasm in Sao’s voice, which Saturn can hear, but leaves it unquestioned.

“Alright, I’ll count us down.”

Should Sao even try? Should he refuse to move, never leaving their starting point? Let Saturn win and save himself the embarrassment?

“Three.”

But then Saturn would notice and insist Sao take the race more seriously and redo the countdown. Sao had to put some effort in.

“Two.”

He’ll try his hardest, and he’ll lose, but that’s okay (probably). He did warn Saturn that he wouldn’t be good. Saturn shouldn’t expect much of him.

“One.”

Sao cannot breathe.

“Go!” 

The Kuiper Belt bolts forward, running on the air slightly above the pavement (Sao does not want to leave cracks in the ground with every step he makes). The Great White is a blur ahead of him. There was no possibility for Sao to win.

This was a boring race. Anyone watching could guess the outcome.

Soon, the two are neck and neck, not because Sao has magically sped up, but because Saturn has made the Great White match the Kuiper Belt’s pace.

“You are,” Saturn says, “a lot slower than I thought you’d be. Why did they make you an Ace?”

Sao knows why he was ranked Ace Pilot and he knows it was not based on merit. An Ace Pilot was supposed to be the best of the best, but Sao has no talent or skill. It was an empty title.

Sao forces a laugh. “I told you you’d be disappointed.”

“You were right about that,” Saturn says, which kind of makes Sao want to die. They near the end of the Lunar City, so Saturn speeds up, and to no one’s surprise, he wins. “This was still better than doing what Pandora and Titan wanted me to do, though. It was fun. Thanks for that!”

‘Thanks’?

…

Don’t pity me.

 

✦✧✩✧✦

 

The Lunar City falls.

It’s easier than expected. The Kuiper Belt can punch into the bottom of one of those magnificent ivory white spires, and it comes crumbling down in seconds. The obsidian cages are easy to rip apart, like a child tearing open a present on Christmas morning. Houses are flattened under the Kuiper Belt’s feet. Stabilizers and generators are snapped like twigs.

Created over the course of decades, the Lunar Colony was destroyed in one evening.

Sao does not leave for a while; he’s not that heartless. He couldn’t just move on as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn’t done anything wrong.

He leaves his mecha behind him and sits silently in the rubble.

A single tear rolls down his cheek.

And then he’s crying.

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