swallowing space

Tyren tapped a rusted alloy pipe against the wall, pacing in front of the map that Oris had carved onto a cave slab with laser chalk. "We've been thinking backwards," he said. "Why the hell are we still trying to call our ship?"

Kael raised an eyebrow. "Because it's the one that dumped us here?"

"Exactly," Tyren replied. "That battleship sent us to die. So instead of yelling into that void, why not use their comm gear—" he gestured toward the newcomers "—and try to contact their command center? Their frequency might still be live."

Oris blinked, looking up from a data core he'd been reconstructing. "Actually… their mechas have hybrid receivers. Longer range. More stable. With a few fusions, we could boost a message to orbital range, maybe even deeper."

Trask stepped forward. "Our last known command outpost was Relay Sigma-Twelve. If you can get a signal out…"

"We might have a chance," Freya finished for him.

Kael didn't object. Not this time. "Do it," he told Oris. "But don't send a beacon yet. Not until we're sure you're not broadcasting to something else."

Oris nodded and went to work.

Kael turned to Tyren. "We still need fuel. Communication won't lift Nox-4 without it."

Tyren smirked. "So let's go find lunch."

---

Operation Red Hunt — Cycle 04

This time, they left quietly.

Ravager and Pulse Fang moved through the mist like ghosts—silent, deadly, prepared.

Kael didn't like leaving Oris behind, but someone needed to watch the newcomers—and Oris, despite his kindness, was the only one with a working brain when it came to computers, comms, and not getting emotionally manipulated.

Still, as Kael checked the scanner while crossing a gorge lined with ash-grey rock, he muttered under his breath, "If those newcomers try anything…"

"They won't," Tyren replied, scanning with dual optics. "They're not threats. They're just lost. Like us."

"Lost people can still stab you in the back."

---

The terrain shifted as they crossed the faultline.

It was a sunken region with twisted trees and metallic vines that coiled like sleeping wires. The air was thicker. Heavier. The scent of sulfur and rotting biomass made Kael's mech filters hiss.

Then came the seismic ping.

Low. Rhythmic. Multiple.

Kael stopped. "Reading?"

"Five Kaiju," Tyren said. "Not large—wolf-size, maybe smaller. But… they're moving together."

Kael activated zoom.

Through the trees below, he spotted them—thin, grey-skinned beasts, their shoulders hunched, claws digging through the metallic foliage. Their backs glowed with faint purple lines. Coordinated. Moving in formation.

Hunters.

And they were too many.

---

"We can't take them," Tyren said first.

Kael didn't argue.

Individually, maybe. But five? If even one flanked them…

He tapped the console, logging their position. "Mark the zone. We'll come back later. Maybe trap one."

They watched from afar.

The creatures hissed, snapped, and moved like living shadows—then vanished into the deeper part of the forest.

---

Empty-handed, they turned back.

Kael hated the feeling.

They had momentum. Resolve. But resolve didn't cut down Kaiju. It didn't fill fuel tanks. It didn't patch their mechas.

It just made failure harder to swallow.

---

Back at the cave…

Oris was at the far end, halfway buried in wires, sweat dripping from his chin.

Kira handed him a coolant vial, and for once, he accepted it without hesitation.

"Thank you," he said.

Freya stood beside Lisette, the three of them working silently to reconfigure the modular relay.

Draan was examining Kael's custom power bypass schematic. "Primitive, but effective," the old man muttered with a half-smile.

Trask simply watched.

Watched the cables, the movements, the young engineer sweating under too many systems. Watched the girls bending metal plates to reinforce walls. Watched them not complain.

Oris looked up once, caught Trask's gaze.

"Still think we're wasting food?" Trask asked.

Oris offered a small, tired grin. "I think you're earning your keep."

---

When Kael and Tyren returned, the camp was quiet.

Kael's eyes scanned the five new faces—nothing out of place.

But Oris gave him a quiet nod anyway.

No trouble. No tricks.

Only work.

---

Kael tossed the log onto the center flame.

"Nothing?" Oris asked.

Kael shook his head. "Too many Kaiju. Not worth the risk."

Tyren cracked his neck. "Next time, we split and draw one out."

Kael sat down, pulling off his gloves slowly. "Or we wait until your comms rig reaches someone with backup."

Oris hesitated. "Actually… we might not have to wait long. We got partial power. Trask had some black-frequency encryption keys. I should be able to build a full signal pulse in two days."

Kael didn't show relief.

But for the first time in cycles, he didn't frown.

---

The night was still long.

There was no moon.

No sun.

Only fog.

But now, finally… there was a faint signal rising inside the cave.

Hope wasn't just an idea.

It was a code being written.