swallowing space

The workshop corner of the cave was humming again.

Oris stood elbow-deep in welding plasma, sparks flying around his visor. Tyren stood to his left, holding the stabilizer rod in place while the composite shield panel hissed and cooled.

Between them stood something massive — a transport-type mecha, bulkier than anything they had built before.

---

"It's not a fighter," Oris said, voice muffled under his gear, "but it'll carry what we need."

Tyren nodded. "Reinforced shell. Dual-wheel treads. Kaiju spine plating over the drive core. We can load carcasses into it instead of dragging them like cavemen."

"Fuel won't be wasted," Oris added. "It runs on secondary Kaiju acid fusion — less potent, but more stable. It's ugly, but it works."

The mecha didn't have arms or weapons.

But its thick frame gleamed with heavy plating, and its cargo shell could hold almost two full Kaiju corpses.

They'd call it "Lugger."

---

Meanwhile, outside the cave...

Ravager Mk. II stood in still silence.

Inside its cockpit, Kael rested.

His head tilted back. Eyes closed. Fingers slightly curled on the neural harness grips.

The hum of the blood-core's idle pulse played like a lullaby beneath his boots.

This was the first time in weeks Kael had truly rested.

No drills.

No blueprints.

No explosions.

Just breathing.

And silence.

---

But inside the cave… the silence was deceptive.

Freya dropped a med kit — clumsily.

Lisette accidentally overcooked the protein stew and spilled it over the heating coil.

Kira tripped over a bone-stripped spine she had placed earlier herself.

All three girls were off.

Uncharacteristically… distracted.

---

Freya stared out at Ravager more often than she should've.

Lisette found herself asking Oris too many times, "Has Kael said anything since the hunt?"

And Kira — usually precise — caught herself carving Kaiju scale backward before snapping, "Ugh, I'm fine, okay?!"

---

Each of them had their own thoughts. Their own confusion. Their own spirals.

Freya saw Kael's quiet strength — the way he bore the weight of his unit, alone.

Lisette saw the sorrow in his eyes when he thought no one was looking — the scars that weren't physical.

Kira saw a warrior — sharp, unyielding — someone who never asked for admiration but commanded it anyway.

None of them had spoken about it yet.

But the friction was already in the air.

---

Meanwhile…

The old men — Trask and Draan — lounged near the heating units.

Trask cleaned his boots with a shredded Kaiju hide, sipping something suspiciously alcohol-smelling.

Draan was using a salvaged screen to watch old training footages, occasionally nodding with a "hmm."

Neither of them contributed that day.

Not to the build. Not to the scouting. Not even to the meal prep.

Tyren passed by them with a glare and muttered, "Must be nice being ancient freeloaders."

Draan raised an eyebrow. "We're preserving energy."

"For what?" Tyren snapped. "A snore duel?"

---

Later that evening…

The group gathered around the central table — a flat stone slab shaped into a crude war board.

Oris displayed a digital projection: fuel reserves, metal stock, terrain mapping.

"Lugger's ready," he announced. "Kael can't be our only runner. We'll send it on salvage trips for smaller scale parts and organs."

Kael, still quiet, nodded once.

He stood near the wall, arms crossed, letting Oris speak.

But the girls...

…barely focused.

---

Lisette kept sneaking glances at Kael.

Kira tapped her fingers too fast on the table, as if irritated without knowing why.

Freya tried to hide her gaze entirely — but it kept drifting back.

Draan noticed and smirked silently.

Trask chuckled under his breath.

"Looks like the boy's got gravity," he whispered.

Draan nodded. "It was bound to happen. That kind of pain? That kind of steel? Makes them curious."

---

Later that night…

Kael sat alone outside, sharpening his blade beneath the stars.

Freya approached, hesitating.

But before she could say a word, Lisette exited the cave too — hands behind her back, holding something.

And not long after… Kira followed, arms folded like she wasn't watching from inside all night.

They all froze when they saw each other.

No one spoke.

Kael looked up briefly, then returned to his blade.

The three girls stood awkwardly.

Said nothing.

And slowly backed away, one by one.

---

Inside the cave, Tyren stared at the ceiling.

He muttered, "This is going to get messy."

Oris didn't answer.

He was watching the storm brewing…

…one Kaiju at a time outside.

And one emotional minefield within.

---