Lena was fired up.
> "Come on, Kaelan!!! Let's go!!!"
Hearing that, Kaelan almost forced himself up from the med bed. But his body still screamed from the last fight—too beat up to jump into battle again. He glanced at the monitor showing his vitals and knew it: he wasn't in shape for another fight.
So instead… he just stared off into nothing.
Lena noticed and slowly fell quiet too.
The med room was silent, except for the steady beep of the monitor. Kaelan looked down at Yena's memory chip in his palm. What was left of his friend. It felt like there was a hole punched right through his chest.
"Back then," Kaelan finally said, breaking the silence, "I thought this Grit was just a curse."
Lena, who was checking her energy pistol, turned her head. "And now?"
"Now I get it." Kaelan clenched his fist around the chip. "It's not about how much pain I can take. It's about what I'm willing to fight for."
He stood up, legs shaky but determined. The sensors on his body ripped off one by one. "They think they can measure everything. But they can't measure this."
Lena nodded, a thin smile forming. "Klaus always reduces everything to data. He forgets there are things numbers can't touch… things only humans carry!!!"
Kaelan's voice burned with fire.
"Then what happens when a human Becoming One with the Machine? Wouldn't that be something incredible?!"
He walked to the window, looking down at the Academy complex. "I've always tried to control Rustbucket the way other pilots control their Artifacts. But that's not my way."
"Then what is your way?" Lena asked.
"Not control," Kaelan said, eyes blazing with a new clarity. "But understanding. Rustbucket and I… we're both broken. Both angry. And now, we both have a reason to fight."
He turned back to her. "They took Yena thinking it would break me. But they were wrong."
Lena tossed him a technician's uniform. "So… got a plan?"
"Yeah," Kaelan said as he pulled it on. "We're taking back Rustbucket. And we're not DOING it QUIETLY!!!."
"Alright, let's get to the spot!"
(The maintenance tunnels under the Academy…)
THE MAINTENANCE TUNNELS
The maintenance tunnels under the Academy were damp and dark. Lena led the way with a flashlight, while Kaelan followed close behind, clutching Yena's memory chip tight in his hand.
"Rustbucket's being kept in Closed Hangar 7B," Lena whispered. "But Klaus must've doubled security by now."
Lena hesitated.
> "Wait, Kaelan… are you sure we're just gonna walk through the front door? Not sneaking around like actual thieves? Maybe I just got carried away by your speech earlier, but there's no way we can just waltz in and grab your Rustbucket!"
Kaelan answered firmly.
> "First, we're not thieves. Second, I know my limits, Lena. And I'm trusting Rustbucket with the rest."
They arrived at a thick steel door. Lena keyed in a code, but the panel blinked red. "He already cut my access."
"Let me try." Kaelan pressed his scarred hand to the scanner. The spiral pattern on his skin glowed faintly, and with a hiss, the door unlocked.
Lena's eyes widened. "How did you—"
"Rustbucket and I… we're connected," Kaelan said simply.
Inside the hangar, Rustbucket stood surrounded by medical rigs and sensors. But it wasn't the same Rustbucket anymore. The frame looked sleeker, glowing with red lines across its armor. Like it had evolved on its own, waiting for Kaelan's return.
"Incredible…" Lena whispered. "It changed without you even piloting it."
As Kaelan stepped closer, Rustbucket glowed brighter. A panel opened, inviting him in.
But then alarms blared. Red emergency lights flashed.
"They've found us!" Lena shouted.
Another hangar door slid open. Dr. Vex walked in, flanked by the rebuilt Banshee. "I knew you'd come! Klaus gave me permission to bring you in—dead or alive!"
The fight was unavoidable. But this time felt different. As Kaelan entered Rustbucket's cockpit, the link snapped into place stronger than ever. No pain, no struggle—just understanding.
"For Yena," he whispered.
Rustbucket moved with a grace it never had before, dodging Banshee's sonic blasts like the two of them shared one heartbeat.
But Dr. Vex wasn't finished. He activated a device emitting a sharp frequency. "I studied your little hyena bot! Now I know exactly how to break your bond with Rustbucket!"
Suddenly, Rustbucket staggered. Kaelan felt the link flicker and crack.
"He's using Yena's data against you!" Lena yelled from cover.
In desperation, Kaelan did the unthinkable. He jammed Yena's memory chip into Rustbucket's console. "If we can't win, then at least… we'll fall together."
Something lit up. Rustbucket glowed with blazing red and gold—the colors of Yena's eyes. Then a familiar voice echoed through the cockpit, soft but fierce:
"Don't worry about me. I've already chosen my side. Now… CRUSH THEM!"
Fueled by rage and grief, Kaelan and Rustbucket surged forward. But instead of striking Banshee, they aimed straight for Dr. Vex's control rig.
The explosion shook the entire hangar. When the dust cleared, Dr. Vex and Banshee lay broken on the floor.
But the victory was bitter. The memory chip in the console began to melt, smoke curling up.
"Yena?" Kaelan whispered.
"I… am glad… I could… finally be… useful…" Her voice faded, then disappeared forever.
Kaelan slammed his fist against the console, tears finally streaming down. But deep down, he knew—that was Yena's choice. Her last sacrifice for their freedom.
Lena pulled him from the cockpit. "We need to go.
"So what do you want to do now, Kaelan?" Lena asked.
"There's still something we have to do," Kaelan said, voice hard. "We need to see Klaus. What happened to me and to the people around me is reason enough — I want to make him pay. We'll teach him a lesson."
Kaelan's face burned with determination..