Sunrider Chapter 1

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Asaga Okrun“Don't worry, don't worry!”

Gender: FemaleAge: 19Home Planet: CeraHobbies: Playing bullet curtain shmup games

Chigara Ashada“C-Chigara has a bad feeling about this!”

Gender: FemaleAge: 17Home Planet: DiodeHobbies: Inventing gadgets

Ava Crescentia“So say we all...”

Gender: FemaleAge: 26Home Planet: EarthHobbies: Reading

Sora Kanzaki“Tanuki's cold...”

Gender: FemaleAge: 17Home Planet: VirtuHobbies: Sleeping

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Mysterious Woman“Seriously, what are you looking at? I'm just a mysterious woman.”

Gender: FemaleAge: 21Home Planet: ???Hobbies: ???

Cosette Cosmos“Prepare to taste lead!”

Gender: FemaleAge: 17Home Planet: TydariaHobbies: Conquering the galaxy, one planet at a time

Claud Cosmos“Big sister'll beat you up!”

Gender: MaleAge: ???Home Planet: TydariaHobbies: Destroying stuff, following big sister

Kris Grey“Men, fall into attack formation!”

Gender: MaleAge: 26Home Planet: EarthHobbies: Too busy with his duties

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Admiral Grey“Hmph.”

Gender: MaleAge: 52Home Planet: EarthHobbies: Too busy with his duties

Mr. Okrun“Always a pleasure to do business.”

Gender: MaleAge: 44Home Planet: CeraHobbies: Seeking new business ventures

Veniczar S. Acadius“Hwah-hahahahaha!”

Gender: MaleAge: ???Home Planet: ???Hobbies: Plotting galactic domination

???

This character has not yet been unlocked.

?

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Prologue

Mud soiled young Sora Kanzaki's white dress when she

hit the soggy ground. The metallic skeleton of her umbrella

lay broken a short distance away, its torn cap floating

downstream in a nearby creek. Rain pelted the dirt ground

and began to flood the field.

One of the hoodlums that had shoved her bent down

and grabbed her stuffed Tanuki by its neck.

“What a stupid looking doll.”

Sora cried out between her clenched teeth.

“Once my brother gets here, he'll show you!”

Tears lined her eyes. Her hair was matted with mud and

her entire body was soaked with rain.

A nasty looking girl sneered at Sora.

“Your brother's too scared to do anything! You should

just run home back to your mommy!”

Another boy chimed in.

“He's nothing but a pussy!”

“Pussy, pussy, pussy cat!” The hoodlums chanted.

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Sora's shoulders shook as her tears dripped down to the

ground.

“You're wrong...! You're wrong...! My brother's... My

brother's...”

A short distance away, Kaito fearfully glanced at his

sister from behind a tree. Somewhere deep inside him, he

begged his muscles to move. He knew that he was supposed

to run out and chase the bullies away from his sister, yet he

remained paralyzed by fear. What if the bullies beat him up?

He was sure that they would just walk away if he left them

alone...

This is none of my business... This is none of my

business...

His insides felt like they were being squeezed tighter

with each of his sister's cries. He gripped his head and

plugged his ears shut. He was outnumbered, wasn't he?

There was no way he could ever beat them all on his own.

That night, Sora returned to the house, her dress torn

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and her hair tangled with mud. As soon as her mother asked

her what had happened, she burst into tears.

In the corner of the room, Kaito never spoke a word. In

fact, he pretended that he had never even seen what had

happened earlier that day. He was sure that had he gotten

involved, they would both have returned home muddy and

bruised.Really, there was nothing else he could have done.

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Chapter 1

The vast cityscape of Cera did not end with the

atmosphere – it extended far above the breathable limits of

the planet's sky and reached into the vacuum of space. A

complicated network of orbital elevators and floating space

stations covered the area above the planet's capital, forming

a giant space metropolis where people from across the

galaxy could meet and do business.

Rows upon rows of ship yards lined the space city,

housing numerous half constructed warships. Tensions were

high between the Earth Alliance and the People's Alliance for

Common Treatment ever since PACT's invasion of the

Neutral Territories, and rumors of an imminent war were not

uncommon.

Far away in the distance, there was a sudden flash as

the cargo freighter Blue Bird dropped out of hyperspace and

entered the planet's gravity well. The blue oceanic surface of

Cera filled the ship's view port as its sub-light engines kicked

in and carried the ship through the final leg of its interstellar

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journey.

Kaito Kanzaki yawned as he grabbed the control wheel

and steered the ship towards the nearest space lane. Beside

him, his younger sister was sleeping on the passenger's

seat, her trusty Tanuki rising up and down on her tummy as

she softly breathed.

“Sora, it's time to wake up.”

She pretended to keep sleeping, but her breathing

slowed and the Tanuki no longer moved.

“We're here, Sora.”

“Unynn...”

With a disgruntled look on her petite face, she finally

righted herself on the chair and sat dully blinking.

“...Thirsty,” she murmured.

Kaito handed Sora a box of juice. She emptied it in an

instant, spinning the straw with her mouth to survey the

bottom of the box, only tossing it away after she was

confident that she had sucked up every last drop of liquid.

The box bounced off a wall and floated in zero gravity.

The sour expression on Sora's face did not change.

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After a prolonged silence, she finally spoke again.

“...Cold.”

Kaito took off his jacket and wrapped it around Sora's

shoulders. Apparently satisfied, she leaned her head back on

the seat and arched her back. She returned to her usual

silence and stared nonchalantly out the window.

A cold silence fell upon the cockpit. Finally, Kaito

couldn't help but feel obligated to break it.

“Isn't it wonderful, Sora? We're finally going to be able

to live in our own home.”

Sora spoke not a word.

“As soon as we're finished with this delivery, we'll have

enough money to buy ourselves a little house. We'll run a

bread shop together underneath it. It'll be called Kaito and

Sora's Bakery and we'll sell the tastiest breads in all of Cera.

Wouldn't you like that, Sora?"

She did not make any response.

Finally, Kaito gave up trying to cheer her up.

“Look, I know it's been hard the past couple of years.

But I promise, things will get better soon. Just this one

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delivery and we'll sell this old ship and buy our house. It's a

promise."

Sora looked at Kaito with skepticism. She had heard this

line many times before.

“...Promise?” she asked.

Kaito eagerly nodded his head.

“I promise.”

“Then it's fine.”

With that, Sora unbuckled her seatbelt and floated

towards the rear of the cockpit.

“Where are you going, Sora?”

“Washroom.”

“Do you need any help?”

Sora shot him an annoyed glance.

“Gee Kaito. I'm not a kid any more.”

With that, she slid the rear gate open and headed into

the washroom.

Six years had passed since the Kanzaki siblings lost

their parents. Kaito and Sora were only 14 and 11 years old

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respectively when their planet was invaded by PACT during

their campaign in the Neutral Territories. They now

wandered the galaxy in their rusting cargo freighter, the Blue

Bird, making ends meet by delivering goods across Alliance

space.

But now, it seemed like their days as space vagabonds

would finally be over. It had taken many years of hard work,

but Kaito had finally managed to save enough money to buy

a house. More than anything, he wished for his sister to be

able to live a normal life. She was still young enough to go

to school and make new friends.

The rear gate slid open again and Sora re-entered the

cockpit. She plopped down on her seat and rested her head

against the window.

“Are we there yet?” she asked in a bored tone.

“Yes, we're approaching Tranquility Station right now.”

Kaito looked over his delivery list once again. There was

only one more order he had to complete before he would

finally be finished with his job as an interstellar freighter

pilot. A small shipment of food was to be delivered to a

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business banquet hosted by Okrun Corporation at Tranquility

Station. He had heard of Okrun Corporation many times on

the news. It was the name of one of the biggest arms

manufacturers in the galaxy, although he did not know much

more about them than that.

Soon, Tranquility Station came into view. It was one of

the biggest space stations in the space metropolis, guarded

vigilantly by an enormous Alliance battleship. A small fleet of

luxurious yachts surrounded the station, making the old Blue

Bird stand out like an pauper among courtesans as it made

its approach towards the docking area.

Kaito eased the Blue Bird into the service hangar and

finished the docking procedures. Metallic clanging sounded

across the room as the docking clamps gripped the ship. The

power was cut and the ship's engines extinguished

themselves.

After having registered the ship at the port records,

Kaito opened the Blue Bird's rear gate and climbed into its

cargo hold. Sora, obviously not interested in manual labor,

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stayed inside the ship and dealt with the paperwork.

Kaito was loading the marked boxes onto a grav-lifter

when he heard a loud bump come from one of the

containers. He nearly jumped in surprise and approached

the box suspiciously. His suspicions were confirmed by the

sound of strange voices.

“Mmmphff... It's starting to get rough out there...”

“Eehh...? Asaga, I told you this wasn't a good idea!”

“Don't worry, don't worry! Here, just lemme rearrange

myself and we'll all be just fine... C'mon, get a move on it,

Chigara!”

“But I can't move anywhere!”

Kaito scratched his head. Fabulous. So now he had

stowaways on board. This probably meant more paper work

for him.

He walked to the box in question and promptly opened

the lid. It flipped open and two young girls spilled forth.

The older of the two girls had her hair tied into two tails

and had an excited look on her face. She raised her arms as

if celebrating the end of their long journey.

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“Whooo! That sure was uncomfortable!”

The other girl had a smaller body and appeared to be

thoroughly dazed by the ordeal.

“Uuuuuhh...” She groaned.

Reassured at seeing the two harmless looking girls,

Kaito crossed his arms and spoke in his most authoritative

voice.

“Stowing away on a cargo ship a crime. You two girls

should have known better than break the law.”

The twin tails girl's eyes widened in surprise and she

pointed her finger at Kaito.

“Uwah! Who are you!?”

Kaito ignored her exclamation and continued, trying to

sound as official as possible.

“My name's Kaito Kanzaki, the captain of this star ship.”

Truthfully, he knew that he couldn't honestly call the

rust bucket that was the Blue Bird a respectable star ship.

However, he was not about to introduce himself as “the

second rate pilot of the decomposing cargo freighter Blue

Bird,” especially not in this kind of a situation.

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“Eh? You call this a star ship?” the twin-tailed girl

blurted out.

Ouch. So she thought the same thing I did, thought

Kaito.

The other girl finally stood up and interrupted the other

girl.

“Asaga! You mustn't be so rude,” she began. “You see

Captain Kanzaki, we needed to get to Tranquility Station on

some very urgent business... But we had no money, so we

kind of had to... had to... Please forgive us this one time! We

promise we won't ever do it again!”

She bowed her head to Kaito. He sighed and rubbed his

head, feeling guilty now at having to turn down such a polite

request.

“Look, I'm really sorry, but there's nothing I can do

about this. I'll just call station security here and you can

explain the situation to them.”

Suddenly, the other girl reached into her pocket and

approached Kaito.

“Uuu... So you're gonna make this difficult, aren'tcha!?”

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Kaito backed off in surprise.

“W-wha...”

The girl pulled out what looked like a hand grenade. Oh

great! Kaito thought. Now what had he gotten himself into!?

Before he could speak a word, she threw the grenade to

the ground and with wild, amazonian whoops, grabbed the

other girl and ran out the ship. With a surprised shout, Kaito

fell flat on the ground and covered his head with his hands.

Was this going to be the end of him? But he was so

close to buying Sora a house! Without him, who would take

care of her?

Suddenly, smoke erupted from the grenade, filling the

entire cargo bay with white gas. So it had just been a smoke

bomb all this time? Dumbstruck, Kaito rose back to his feet

and ran out his ship, shouting for the girls.

Kaito ran through the service hangar and into the space

station's main plaza. The heart of the space station was

lined with hundreds of vendors, most of them selling the

high tech electronics that were the staple of the planet's

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economy. The winding paths were already teeming with

consumers, and it was not long before he had lost all trace

of the two girls.

He was about to give up the chase when a strange

looking woman suddenly walked out of a vendor’s booth

directly in front of him. A pair of enormous shades concealed

most of her face, while a clearly over sized hat covered her

head.

“Look out!” he shouted.

It was already too late. He crashed face first into the

woman and collapsed to the ground. He was about to

apologize profusely for his error, but he saw that she hadn't

budged an inch from where she stood.

“Watch where you're going, you moron!” She shouted

angrily at him.

Kaito rubbed his head in pain. It felt like he had run into

an iron wall! Wasn't the girl supposed to fall down and be in

need of assistance in these kinds of situations?

With an irritated sigh, the woman reached down and

offered him her hand.

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“It's dangerous to be running out here. Seriously, what

were you thinking?”

Kaito grabbed her hand and found himself hoisted up by

an unusually strong arm.

“I was chasing down a pair of sneaky outlaws,” he

explained.

The woman looked at him with impatience.

“What, you got robbed or something?”

“You could say that...”

Disinterested, the woman immediately turned to leave.

“Well, contact station security or something. It's not a

good idea to take the law into your own hands.”

With one final annoyed look, the strange woman walked

away and disappeared into the crowd as quickly as she

appeared.

Well, that was a strange encounter, thought Kaito. He

dusted himself off and headed back towards the hangar.

There was no way he was going to find those stowaways

now. He might as well just finish the shipment and be on his

way.

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As he was returning to the ship, he thought about the

strange woman. Maybe he should have at least asked for her

name...

By late afternoon, Kaito had almost finished with his last

shipment. All of the food had been delivered to a small

service area just outside of Tranquility Station's ball room.

After having gotten all the necessary forms signed by the

head butler, Kaito was about to leave when he heard a

familiar voice behind him.

“Oh! So here's where they stashed all the food! Man,

I'm so hungry!”

Instantly recognizing the voice, Kaito spun around and

came face to face with the twin-tailed stowaway.

“It's you!” He shouted.

The stowaway was now dressed in an elegant ball gown.

For just a second, a look of surprise came on her face before

it was replaced with one of feigned ignorance.

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"Uwah... Erm...”

“Ara, ara? Have we met somewhere before, young lad?"

she pretended to speak like an elegant princess.

Kaito didn't buy it. "Quit playing dumb! You're Asaga,

aren't you!?"

"A-Asaga? Oh-hohoho! Why, I've never heard of anyone

named that in my life!" she stammered back with a nervous

laugh.

Behind her, the other girl named Chigara showed up.

She was also dressed in a ball gown.

"Eh? Asaga, what's the matter? Why are you acting like

that all of a sudden?" She asked in confusion.

Now there could be no doubt. Asaga groaned, her cover

exposed.

“So it is you! You have a lot of explaining to do!” Kaito

shouted at her.

However, before he could say another word, he heard a

deep masculine voice behind him.

“Is this man bothering you, Mistress Okrun?”

He spun around and came face to face with a hulking

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bodyguard who was nearly two heads taller than him. Kaito's

face froze in horror.

Mistress Okrun? He couldn't possibly have heard that

right. If he was at a banquet hosted by the Okrun

Corporation, and Mistress Okrun was standing right in front

of him, then that would make her the...

“Captain Kanzaki, please allow me to introduce you to

my best friend, Asaga Okrun. She is the heiress of the multi-

billion dollar company Okrun Corporation and also my

roommate," explained Chigara with an gentle smile.

Kaito stared at Asaga in disbelief.

...

... ...

... ... ...

“WHHHAATTTTT!?!?”

Kaito, Asaga, and Chigara sat gathered around a

fountain outside of the banquet hall. Inside, the banquet had

already begun and a crowd of dignitaries in business suits

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and elegant dresses lined the hall.

“Eheh... I'm really sorry about all of this, Kaito. But you

see, I really needed to get to this banquet and see my

father,” explained Asaga with a guilty smile.

Kaito was still unconvinced by her explanation. “So,

explain to me why you even needed to stow away on my

ship in the first place. Couldn't you just have used one of

your luxury yachts to get here or something?”

"To tell the truth, I've been living outside of the

company for nearly two years now,” explained Asaga. “I was

a little strapped for cash, so I just found the first transport

headed to Tranquility Station and hid myself in there. Along

with Chigara, of course.”

Beside her, Chigara giggled apologetically. “Ehehe... I'm

sorry, Mr. Kanzaki.”

Asaga continued. “I couldn't live with myself if I used

the company's money... Not knowing where it came from.”

Kaito sighed. It seemed like a reasonable explanation

for what had happened. In any case, knowing that Okrun

Corporation was one of the biggest arms manufacturers in

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the galaxy, he wasn't too surprised that Asaga wouldn't have

wanted to use the company's money to get to Cera.

“Alright, then I guess it really wasn't a big problem,” he

finally conceded.

He stood from his seat on the fountain's edge and

turned to leave.

“Well, I'll just be going on my way now. My job here is

finished.”

All of a sudden, Asaga grabbed onto Kaito's arm with a

grin on her face.

“Oh! I got an idea. Since you did give us a free ride, you

should join us for food!”

He looked at her with surprise.

“Are you kidding? Next to you guys, I'll stick out like a

sore thumb in there!”

No longer really listening, Asaga shoved Kaito back

towards the ball room with an enormous grin on her face.

“Don't worry, don't worry! I'm sure nobody will ask as

long as you stick near me. C'mon, c'mon, we have good

food, Kaito!”

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Kaito protested. “No wait! You seriously have no idea

what you're doing! I'm not even wearing formal!”

With one final jolly laugh, Asaga pushed Kaito back into

the ball room.

“Ahahaha! No worries, no worries!”

Kaito hid himself behind Asaga and hoped that nobody

would notice him. The room was dotted with clusters of

businessmen and women, chatting amiably with glasses of

champagne in their hands. It seemed that everyone except

Kaito was dressed in either a ball gown or a business suit,

making him about as nervous as he would have been had he

walked into the same room naked. He gulped and sneaked

on with caution, knowing that any one of these people

probably had the monetary and political power to potentially

cut him off from civilized society with just as much as a flick

of their fingers.

Asaga led him to the refreshment table and eagerly

gobbled up a piece of bread.

“Nomnomnom...”

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For a high class princess, she certainly did not act her

part. She handed Kaito a chocolate covered bread and

grinned broadly.

“Come on Kaito! Eat, eat!”

Beside him, Chigara picked up a small piece of pastry

with a fork and nibbled on it politely. Compared to Asaga,

her behavior seemed almost courtly.

All of a sudden, Asaga pointed her hand towards the

crowd.

“Hey, there's my father right there!”

With that, she tossed her half eaten bread onto the

ground and ran towards her father, after which Chigara

picked it back up and dropped it into the trash receptacle.

An entourage of important looking people surrounded

Asaga's father, only making Kaito want to avoid them more.

This was one hornet's nest that he wasn't eager to mess

around with, so he decided to maintain a safe distance from

them.

“Father!” Asaga shouted as she approached the group.

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Mr. Okrun had an irritated look on his face when he saw

Asaga. Clearly, she had interrupted an important meeting.

“Asaga, what are you doing here?”

With a hopeful smile, she answered, “I heard you were

going to be here, so I decided to come visit.”

Mr. Okrun was not impressed.

“Leave this place at once. You do not belong here.”

A second older man interrupted them. He was dressed

in an Alliance military uniform and had an aura of authority

about him.

“Ah Okrun, so this must be the daughter you've told me

about. Why not allow the child to stay? It is not as if we

have anything important to discuss until the Vice President

arrives.”

Reluctantly, Mr. Okrun decided to relent.

“Very well then. Asaga, this is Admiral Grey of the

Alliance fleet.”

In a rare display of good manners, Asaga politely

curtsied before him.

“Hello there, sir.”

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“Hah, now there's a nice girl,” he heartily laughed.

“Speaking of which, how has your son been doing,

admiral?” asked Mr. Okrun.

“Fine. He has been promoted to the captain of the

battleship Machiavelli just last month.”

“Ah, I must congratulate you. You must be very proud.”

“He has merely been doing his duty,” responded Admiral

Grey.

The admiral looked at his analog watch. An expression

of irritation came on his face.

“Now, where is that blasted Vice President? The banquet

began half an hour ago.”

Mr. Okrun attempted to reassure him.

“Perhaps the traffic -”

“Hmph. In the armed forces, we understand the

meaning of punctuality!” Admiral Grey interrupted. “With the

war in the hands of these buffoons, it's no wonder that it has

dragged on so far beyond its natural lifespan!”

All of a sudden, a bemused voice came from behind

him.

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“My dear admiral. I see that you are still as pleasant as

I remember.”

The entire party turned around and came face to face

with Vice President Ava Crescentia of the Earth Alliance. She

had a youthful figure – perhaps too youthful – and filled out

her violet dress exquisitely.

“Madame Vice President! So at last you have decided to

show yourself!” exclaimed Admiral Grey.

“My apologies for the delay. I had no idea you were in

such a rush, admiral.”

The admiral was clearly not amused by the Vice

President's demeaning tone.

“Hmph. So Madame Vice President, how goes the state

of the Alliance?”

Crescentia replied, “Between the Universalists wanting

blood and the Progressives wanting peace negotiations with

PACT, I'd say it's business as usual.”

The admiral gave a chuckle.

“Hah! That is why I stay with the military. There are no

games to play here.”

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Not one to give the admiral the last word, Crescentia

kept her piercing focus on him.

“But war itself is the most dangerous game of all, is it

not?”

With a diplomatic smile, Mr. Okrun interrupted the two.

“Yes, of course. And surely we wouldn’t want to show up

to such a game without the very best equipment modern

technology has to offer, would we?”

“Such a businessman, that Okrun...” murmured Grey

while shaking his head.

The Vice President turned towards Okrun and gave him

a cold stare.

“Doubtless, you are referring to your new machines of

war.”

Okrun nodded.

“Okrun Corporation always appreciates the patronage of

the Alliance.”

Crescentia let out a short laugh. Then she reached into

her bag and handed Okrun a small datapad.

“Yes, so that must explain why you've been selling PACT

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the same goods for the same price.”

She approached him until she was only inches from

Okrun's face and gave him an icy stare.

“You've been backing both sides of this conflict. And the

Alliance will remain silent about it no longer.”

Any sign of benevolence vanished from Okrun's face.

Before he could say a word in response, Admiral Grey

grabbed hold of Crescentia and ushered her away.

“M-madame Vice President, a moment with you...”

After having escorted her away from the party, the

admiral confronted Crescentia with fury.

“Do you intend to ruin us!? Without the backing of the

Okrun Corporation, the Alliance would be finished!”

Crescentia crossed her arms.

“Admiral, I have quite had it with you and your

insistence on micromanaging our policies. The President has

appointed you to command our troops in battle, not dictate

our policy.”

Grey let out a deep growl.

“You politicians are all one and the same. Too muddled

32

by your bureaucracy to handle the quick tempo of war! Too

eager to claw your way through Congress while the lives of

our citizens are at stake!”

Ava pointedly replied, “No admiral. War is but the

continuation of politics through other means. If we are to

accomplish the political goals of the Alliance, then I suggest

that you focus more on the administration of destruction

while we politicians deal with actual policy.”

At the limit of his patience, Grey finally declared, “The

mob rule of democracy has brought fools like you into

power... And, well, if this continues, Okrun Corporation will

not be your only enemy.”

Meanwhile, Asaga was finally left alone with her father.

With a nervous smile, she tried approaching him again.

“H-hey, it's been nearly two years since we talked,

right?”

Okrun impatiently grunted, clearly in a foul mood.

“Come on dad, can't you come visit me? I hardly ever

see you now...”

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Obviously not in the mood to be talking with his

daughter, he brushed her off, an irritated look on his face.

“I have a lot of work to do. Just focus on your school

work.”

“Gee, I graduated from the academy last year, you

know...” Asaga responded, her voice now hurt. “Maybe if you

were there for the graduation, you wouldn't have forgotten.”

Okrun finally snapped at her.

“Asaga, can you not see that I am busy? Begone with

you, now!”

In defeat, Asaga quietly relented.

“Yessir...”

After she finished talking with her father, Asaga ran out

of the ball room. With a concerned look on her face, Chigara

tugged at Kaito's arm.

“Look, Mr. Kanzaki! Asaga's...”

Not wanting to be left alone, Kaito decided to follow

Asaga out, glad to escape the ball room.

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They found Asaga sitting alone on a fountain in the main

plaza. For the first time since Kaito had seen her, she had a

lonely look on her face. She absentmindedly made tiny

ripples in the water with her finger and did not notice the

two approach.

Chigara gently called out for her. Upon hearing her,

Asaga raised her head and tried to mask her sadness with

an apologetic smile.

“Oh hey, Chigara, Kaito. I'm sorry you had to see that.”

Not quite sure what to say, Kaito just tried to reassure

her.

“Don't worry about it.”

“My father's been like that for a while now...” Asaga

continued. “I haven't seen him in over two years... I just

had to come here today and talk to him.”

She reluctantly smiled and shook off her melancholy.

“Eheh... But it looks like I just ended up causing trouble

for everyone. Chigara, Kaito, I'm sorry.”

Chigara gently smiled at Asaga.

35

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“There's no need for you to apologize at all, Asaga.

After all, you're my friend.”

Kaito, despite his earlier misgivings, decided to forgive

Asaga as well.

“Since this was the only delivery I had to make, it

wasn't really a big problem for me either.”

Now that he saw Asaga's kind side, he figured that she

wasn't such a bad person after all. In any case, he was just

glad to have finished with his last shipment.

Asaga looked up towards the glass ceiling and saw Cera

glittering above her. The space station was nearing the

perigee of its orbit and the three intrepid space travelers

could pick out the rough outlines of the cities that dotted the

watery surface of the planet.

“It's so pretty,” Chigara said in wonder.

Kaito looked up towards Cera. He saw that Chigara was

right. From there, Cera truly was beautiful.

Asaga jumped back to her feet and grinned at the two,

her usual cheerful self back.

“Come on everyone. Let's go back home.”

37

Suddenly, the entire space station rumbled as the

ground underneath them shook violently. The lights in the

gallery powered off and were soon replaced with the crimson

glow of emergency lights. Asaga gasped in surprise as she

tried to regain her balance.

“What happened!?”

Just outside the window, they could see smoke pouring

from the space station. Kaito's heart began to pound. Had

there been an accident?

A chime rang and a soothing female voice came from

the public announcement system.

“Attention visitors. Tranquility Station Authority regrets

to inform you that a station wide evacuation order has been

issued. Please make your way to the nearest hangar and

prepare for departure.”

Kaito looked at the two girls. He didn't have a moment

to waste.

“Well, you heard the lady. Come on, let's get out of

here. I'll take you girls out on my ship.”

38

He turned and ran back to the hangar bay, worried

about Sora. However, before he could take another step, the

public announcement suddenly broke into static. A long

silence hung in the air.

Kaito looked around curiously. Was that supposed to

happen?

Without warning, a second voice barked through the

P.A. System.

“This is a message to everyone on board this station!

You are now hostages of PACT! If you want to get out of

here alive, get down on the floor and put your hands on top

of your heads now!”

Kaito's heart skipped nearly three beats. The entire

gallery was thrown into an uproar over the new

announcement and panic spread to the four corners of the

station. There was screaming as everyone tried to rush

towards the escape pods at the same time and soon, a mob

gathered around all of the exits.

Fear gripped Kaito's chest and he felt the overwhelming

urge to flee for his life. He shouted at the girls, “Come on,

39

this way!”

Chigara nodded, her face white with fright. Suddenly,

Asaga shouted back at Kaito.

“Wait, what about my father!?”

Kaito looked to the direction of the ball room. A mob of

panicked people crowded the way.

“There's no time for that! I'm sure he can take care of

himself. Come on, let's go!”

“But-”

Suddenly, the entire station rumbled as the Alliance

battleship that was docked to the space station detached

itself and lumbered past them. In the distance, they could

see multiple bursts of light as a fleet dropped out of

hyperspace and approached the space metropolis. A

squadron of Alliance Ryders shook the station as they flew

by and fired a salvo of rockets at the incoming fleet.

“Forget about that! We're getting out of here now!”

Kaito shouted at Asaga, his voice wild with panic.

He turned around and ran for the hangar bay.

Reluctantly, Asaga and Chigara followed him out of the

40

gallery.

The entire station shook as deep explosions echoed

from the battle outside. Just as the three made it back to

the hangar, Chigara lost her footing and fell to the ground.

“Chi-Chigara doesn't feel... so great...” she moaned.

Kaito saw that she was right. The poor girl looked like

she was about to faint.

“Just a bit further! My ship's just right there!”

As Kaito turned to run towards the Blue Bird, Asaga

suddenly grabbed onto him and held him back.

“Wait, watch out!”

Kaito's face froze in horror at the sight of a missile

streaming towards the hangar. With screams, everyone fell

flat on their faces and braced themselves for the worst. An

ear shattering explosion sounded as the missile made

contact with the hangar. Sparks flew and steel groaned as

nearly half the hangar collapsed around them.

Kaito moved all of his limbs fearfully, terrified that any

one of them may have been lost. Luckily, everything was still

41

attached.

With a groan, Asaga picked herself off the ground.

“Uuuh... Is everyone alright...?”

“S-somehow...” Chigara stammered beside them.

Kaito stood stunned before the destruction. Fires raged

throughout the hangar. Steel frames were strewn

everywhere and exposed power cables hung from the

ceiling.

And the Blue Bird was completely totaled.

Kaito stared at his flaming ship in disbelief and collapsed

to the ground in shock. Asaga knelt in front of him and tried

to shake him back to consciousness.

“Oy! Get a hold of yourself! It's just a ship!”

“N-no... You don't understand... M-my sister... Was in

there...” he whispered, his voice trembling.

Suddenly, a scared voice came from behind him.

“Kaito?”

Kaito turned around and saw Sora safe and sound. She

appeared from outside the hangar and cautiously walked in.

Kaito ran over to her and lifted her in his arms, truly relieved

42

to see her.

For once, Sora warmly smiled. “Kaito...”

Then, her expression turned into her usual look of

irritation.

“I was looking everywhere for you.”

Kaito laughed happily and embraced her.

“Don't ever worry me like that again!”

Suddenly, a second explosion shook the station,

interrupting Kaito and Sora's reunion.

“Now how are we going to get out of here!?” shouted

Kaito.

“Don't worry, I have an idea! The Sunrider! We can

escape on the Sunrider!” answered Asaga.

Asaga led the group out of the service hangar and

deeper into the space station.

“The Sunrider? What's that?” asked Kaito as they ran

through the space station's now abandoned hallways.

“It's a prototype warship that the company was

displaying today. It should be right in the other hangar!”

43

They were on the way to the second hangar when they

ran into a familiar figure. Vice President Crescentia ran into

the hallway and interrupted their escape.

“You're Okrun's daughter, aren't you? What are you

doing here? It isn't safe,” she asked.

“We're on our way to the second hangar to escape on

the Sunrider! What are you doing here?” said Asaga.

“I was being escorted by my guards to Space Force One

when I was separated from them in a conduit explosion.”

“Do you have transportation out of here?”

“No, I'm afraid not any more.”

Asaga pointed towards the second hangar.

“Then follow us! The Sunrider's just this way!”

With that, the Vice President of the Earth Alliance joined

the little band of survivors. Together, the unlikely team ran

towards the second hangar and slammed open the gate.

A mighty warship stood before them. Easily over 300

meters long, it was nearly twice as big as Kaito's now totaled

cargo freighter. Its armor gleaned with newness and

44

everything about the ship reflected its sleek and powerful

nature.

“Sunrider! Activate the main reactor! We need to get out

of here right now!” Asaga shouted.

The ship immediately came to life. Its engines powered

up almost instantly and began to hum vibrantly. Lights

flickered inside the ship and an entry ramp extended from

the floor.

“What the...” Kaito muttered in disbelief.

Before he could say another word, a power conduit

overloaded directly behind them and sent sparks flying

everywhere. They ran towards the Sunrider without a

second thought.

The team crashed into the bridge of the Sunrider. Before

he could do anything, Asaga shoved Kaito to the captain's

seat.

“C'mon Kaito, get us outta here!”

In dismay, Kaito nearly screamed at Asaga.

“W-WHAT!? I can't fly this ship!”

45

46

“Eh!? Whaddya mean you can't fly it!? Didn't you say

that you were the captain of a star ship!?” Asaga shouted

back just as loudly.

“You call my rusting cargo freighter a STAR SHIP!?”

Kaito screamed back.

The space station lurched again as it took another hit

from a missile, cutting off their argument. With a less than

manly whimper, Kaito slid into the captain's seat and

attempted to begin the lift off procedures.

Beside him, Chigara typed into the operator's console

furiously.

“Umm... I think I've found the ship AI... Here!”

With the click of a button, a holographic projection of a

girl suddenly appeared in front of them.

“The Sunrider Avatar System is online. What do you

need?” asked the AI in a perfectly calm voice.

“Begin lift off procedures right now! We need to get out

of here!” shouted Kaito.

“I see. Priming engines for launch. Lift off procedures

initiated.”

47

Compared to the Blue Bird, the Sunrider was on a

totally different level. Kaito clenched his teeth as he pushed

forth the throttle and eased the ship out of the hangar.

The thrusters roared to life in a matter of seconds, but

the ship shuddered violently and failed to move forward,

throwing everyone off their feet and onto the floor.

The AI had a visibly irritated look on her face.

“The docking clamps, fool. You forgot about the docking

clamps.”

“Sorry!”

This time, intent on not messing up, Kaito released the

clamps and activated the thrusters.

“Get ready for lift off!”

The others quickly found seats in the bridge and held on

tight as the engines roared to life. The Sunrider soared out

of Tranquility Station with grace unfitting a warship and

joined the battle outside.

Kaito hung on for dear life as the entire bridge rattled

around him.

“Hang on everyone! This is going to be rough!”

48

Through the view screens, Kaito could see that an all

out space battle was being fought by the Alliance and PACT

fleets in the skies above Cera.

With her brows furrowed in concentration, Crescentia

surveyed the battle. The PACT fleet was composed of a main

battle group of five battleships and thirty support vessels.

With the element of surprise aiding them, they had warped

in less than a kilometer away from the space metropolis and

engaged the Alliance fleet at knife fight range.

While most modern warships could have laid siege on

Cera from a distance of millions of kilometers away, with the

development of new Ryder technology, it was also

strategically viable to warp less than a kilometer away from

the enemy and engage at knife fight range. Even though it

placed their own ships at greater risk, it allowed them to

launch their Ryders, or single manned space superiority

fighters, into battle. Not only that, but the added shock and

awe also played a pivotal role in demoralizing the opposing

fleet. Combined with PACT's element of surprise, the Alliance

fleet had been thoroughly out maneuvered here.

49

Amid all the chaos, Crescentia caught sight of a familiar

looking vessel.

“There, that's Space Force One. As soon as the

President is secured, it'll depart for the nearest Alliance star

base.”

She pointed to a small white ship that was still docked

in the space station.

Upon closer inspection, Kaito saw that she was right. He

recognized the famous blue and white painting of the

presidential space craft almost immediately.

Chigara interrupted them.

“Umm... Captain, we're receiving a hail from the

Alliance warship Machiavelli!”

“That must be the admiral,” mused Crescentia.

“Let's hear it,” ordered Kaito.

The comm channel came to life and they could see

Admiral Grey's face on one of the view screens.

“Sunrider! Identify yourself now!”

“Relax admiral, it's me,” answered Crescentia.

The admiral had a surprised look on his face.

50

“Madame Vice President? What are you doing there?”

“I got a little sidetracked during the evacuation. Has the

President been secured on Space Force One?”

“Affirmative. He is about to depart as we speak.”

“Good. As long as he is -”

Suddenly, two ominous Ryders zoomed past the

Sunrider, shaking the bridge. Their engines howled as they

flew towards Space Force One.

“What was that...?” Kaito asked.

Asaga answered him, recognizing the two Ryders.

“It's the Phantom and the Havoc! They were two of the

company's prototype Ryders that were supposed to be sold

today. What are they doing here?”

Four Alliance escorts flew to intercept the two

unknowns. Without warning, the two ships opened fire.

The mass produced Alliance vessels were no match for

the prototypes and they were almost instantly torn apart.

Kaito's mouth dropped in horror as the PACT fighters opened

fire on Space Force One. The presidential space craft was

engulfed in flames and blown up into millions of fragments.

51

“So the worst has indeed come to pass...” murmured

Crescentia.

Suddenly, a new voice came through on the comm

channel.

“Hahahaha! This is Cosette Cosmos of PACT! As you can

see, our plan has worked flawlessly and your precious

President has been lost in space!”

It was the pilot of the Phantom, Cosette Cosmos, PACT's

ace pilot and the terror of the stars.

A second voice came on the channel.

“Hey, hey sis, I think we should personally thank Okrun

for these ships!”

He was Claud Cosmos, Cosette's younger brother and

the young pilot of the Havoc.

“Yes, of course Claud. My sincerest compliments to

Okrun Corporation for providing us with these fine vessels.

Now accept our payment!”

The two vessels launched a salvo of rockets aimed

directly at Tranquility Station. A bouquet of fireballs erupted

as the missiles landed in the space station. Steel groaned

52

and finally tore under the force of the explosions, causing

one of the station's resident spires to collapse. A chain

reaction began and in a final blinding explosion, Tranquility

Station burst into pieces, flinging debris and human flesh

alike into space.

Asaga stood on the bridge, her expression frozen in

shock.

“N-no way... M-my dad...”

Chigara walked next to her and held her as Asaga broke

into tears.

Through the comm channel, Kaito heard Admiral Grey's

dismayed voice.

“I-impossible... F-for PACT to attack us this brazenly...

This can only mean war!”

Crescentia sighed, reluctant to admit that they had been

outmaneuvered.

“It appears that they have bested us all.”

A short silence passed between them as Crescentia eyed

Grey. They both knew what had to be done now.

“Administer the oath of office to me right now,”

53

commanded Crescentia.

By Alliance law, the oath had to be taken by the Vice

President before she could legally succeed the President in

the case of an assassination. Admiral Grey was clearly

opposed to such an idea and he eyed Crescentia with both

disgust and dismay.

“Tsh... Impossible!”

Suddenly, an officer appeared beside the admiral on the

view screen.

“Admiral! Two more enemy ships have just jumped out

of hyperspace! What are your orders?” he spoke.

“Captain! Order the Montesquieu and the Rousseau to

leave dry dock right now! They're sitting ducks otherwise!”

barked the admiral.

“Yes sir!”

Crescentia instantly recognized the officer. It was Kris

Grey, the admiral's son and the captain of the Machiavelli.

He typed furiously into a console, attempting to get a control

on the situation. All of a sudden, he paused and turned back

to the admiral.

54

“Wait. I'm sensing some sort of interference wave...”

“What? Some sort of PACT jamming device?”

“No it's -”

Suddenly, static filled the display. An eerie silence fell

over the bridge as everyone stared at the blank display

screen. What had happened?

Then it suddenly came back to life, bearing the masked

face of Veniczar S. Acadius, the leader of PACT.

His voice boomed over the speakers.

“Citizens of the Alliance. My fellow PACT warriors. Today,

I come heralding a message of celebration!”

The camera panned out, revealing a vast blanket of

people cheering at their leader's voice. Their voices

combined into a single howl of approval. And above them all,

Veniczar spoke in front of a glorious marble monument of a

woman breaking forth from chains.

“Since the birth of civilization, mankind has asked, 'How

is it that we are born free, yet everywhere, we in chains?'

Now, stand before this momentous watershed in history and

be basked in the glory of PACT!”

55

A thunderous roar of approval sounded.

“The dictatorship of the Alliance shall be put to an end.

Cera shall fall and the sword of justice and the aegis of

freedom shall forever prevail!”

Cold sweat fell from Kaito's back as he heard his words.

It had finally happened. War had broken out between the

Alliance and PACT.

“Stand down, poor misguided citizens of the Alliance,

and take refuge in the civility of PACT. We are not of the

same savage lot as your rulers, and we offer our unclenched

palms to anyone who would offer themselves to become a

part of the greater whole,” he proclaimed mightily. “Yet, a

warning to those who would find themselves on the wrong

side of history. Fail to comply with our offer and risk finding

yourself swept away by the floods of our glorious

revolution!”

The crowd roared and began to chant. Their voices

pounded through the bridge of the Sunrider, like an

approaching war drum.

“PACT! PACT! PACT! PACT!”

56

57

With that, the transmission ended. Kaito nearly fell to

the ground, his knees weak with fright.

“T-this is crazy... I'm not supposed to be here! I'm... I'm

just a cargo freighter pilot! Come on, let's just forget this

and get out of here! The military can take care of the rest!”

Suddenly, Asaga interrupted him. Wiping away her

tears, she now had a look of determination on her face.

“Well, we're not just going to run away and hide, are

we?” she shouted. “Cera's in danger! Not only that, but the

President's been assassinated and if we don't do something,

more people are going to die!”

Panic gripped Kaito and he began to shout at the top of

his lungs, caught in a delirium.

“Forget about that! I was supposed to buy a house for

my sister! I don't want any part in your stupid save the

galaxy scheme that'll probably end with all of us being lined

up and shot!”

Asaga shouted back, her face now red with fury.

“Well, isn't that just too bad!? Wouldn't you like to just

live your own happy little life and be done with everything!?

58

But that's just not going to happen, 'cause WE'RE AT WAR!

We can just shut our eyes and pretend nothing's happening

right now... But even if we do, that doesn't change the fact

that what's happening's still happening! So... ARE YOU

GOING TO BE THE CAPTAIN OF THE SUNRIDER OR NOT!?””

Kaito wanted to scream back at her, but he was at a loss

for words. Tears lined his eyes and his chest felt like it was

about to explode.

“I...” he stammered.

“I...”

“All right...”

Kaito attempted to muster all the courage he had.

Nothing he had ever trained for had prepared him for

becoming the captain of a prototype warship. Worse still, he

wasn't even that smart or courageous. In fact, he wanted

nothing more than to just leave space for good and live

quietly with Sora.

But it only took one look around him to realize that

would now be impossible.

The President of the Alliance was assassinated before

59

his eyes and the Vice President was standing right beside

him.

Tranquility Station and Asaga's father had been lost.

And Cera was on the verge of becoming a PACT

mandate.

“...Alright, I guess there's no escaping it...”

Mustering his courage, Kaito attempted to give his first

command as the captain of the Sunrider.

“Sunrider...”

“Raise shields! We're entering condition red!”

60

Next Time: By Kaito

This is just too much to take in all at

once! Not only has the President been

assassinated, the space station

destroyed, and the entire galaxy

thrown into war, but I've also

somehow ended up getting placed

right in the middle of everything by accidentally becoming

the captain of the Sunrider! Just what am I supposed to do

now? I don't think I'll be able to handle this any more...

W-what!? There's going to be a space battle in the next

installment!? But I don't even know how to fly the ship yet!

Oh man, oh man... If only we had some back up on the

way...

Join us next time on the Sunrider! I'll need all the help I can

get!

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