swallowing space

The kill had been days ago.

The gorilla Kaiju's body, now just a pile of stripped bones, was gone — turned into armor plating, fuel compounds, nerve wiring, and vapor.

But its presence still echoed.

The tremors had stopped. The roars had ceased.

For once, the planet felt still.

Yet inside the cave, peace was nowhere to be found.

---

Lisette sat at the edge of the cave entrance, legs dangling down the rocky ledge, sharpening a Kaiju-scale knife with quiet intensity.

Her eyes weren't on the blade.

They were locked on Kael — across the clearing, calibrating Ravager's newly reinforced limb actuators.

He was precise, like always. Focused. Detached.

Lisette didn't blink.

She didn't even realize how much time had passed — or how closely she was staring — until Kira called out behind her.

"Lisette."

No response.

"Lisette."

She jumped slightly, hiding the blade.

Kira's arms were folded, her face unreadable.

Freya stepped up beside her, faking a stretch as she tried to sneak a peek at what Lisette had been carving.

Another Kael-shaped silhouette.

Lisette stood quickly. "What?"

"You didn't eat," Kira said. "Again."

"I'm not hungry."

"Funny," Freya added flatly, "you didn't say that when you were watching him like a movie."

Lisette's expression tightened.

"Back off."

But Freya didn't.

"Maybe if you stared at blueprints half as much as you stare at Kael, you'd be useful."

Kira tried to step between them. "Alright, cool it—"

"I am useful," Lisette snapped. "I was in Lugger, remember? When Kael saved our asses?"

Kira's tone dipped. "You think we forgot?"

Lisette walked past them both. "Then act like it."

---

Back deeper in the cave, away from the heat of girl-versus-girl cold wars…

Kael and Oris hovered over the updated schematic of the Ravager, now marked "Mk. III."

Its new structure was leaner, with additional venting systems on the chestplate and insulated joint capsules for faster movement without overheat.

Kael pointed to the core housing.

"This is too exposed."

Oris nodded. "I know. I was thinking — if we bond a Kaiju's neural fluid into the coolant network, it could passively dampen heat and act as a decoy. Throw off targeting systems."

"Do it."

Kael moved to the next schematic — the one for the escape-class spacecraft Oris had begun designing.

That's when Kael spoke what had been on his mind for days.

"Trask and Draan."

Oris didn't look up. "Yeah."

"They're dead weight. We need to send them up in the prototype."

Oris finally glanced at him. "You mean use them."

Kael's jaw tightened. "They want to survive? Earn it."

Oris didn't argue.

Just leaned forward, muttering, "We'll call it Project Wraithcraft. Hybrid body. Kaiju spine frame. Internal core battery."

"Timetable?"

"Optimistically… twenty-six days. But—"

Kael interrupted, "Fuel?"

Oris sighed. "We need three more mid-tier Kaiju. Minimum. And a few rare spinal metals."

Kael turned away, fists clenched.

"We hunt tomorrow."

---

Meanwhile, the two old men in question were half-asleep near the forge fire, toasting thin slivers of Kaiju marrow over heated rock.

Trask nudged Draan, chuckling.

"You see Lisette today?"

"She's floating," Draan said. "Head full of that brooding muscle-boy."

Trask grinned. "Think we should warn her about loving ghosts?"

"Let her find out the hard way," Draan muttered. "We did."

---

Later that night, Kael cornered them.

"You're flying first."

Trask blinked. "Flying?"

Kael nodded at the schematics. "You're the rats. If you make it out, good. If not…"

Draan lifted his hands. "Look, kid—"

Kael stepped forward. "You've done nothing. No forging. No recon. You eat, sleep, and laugh. This isn't a retirement planet."

"You need us," Trask said quickly. "We've survived longer than any of you."

Kael narrowed his eyes. "Then survive a little more. Just… elsewhere."

---

The following morning, the forge was back alive.

Sparks flew. Panels hissed. Bone turned to shielding.

Freya, Kira, and Lisette were all assigned to assist Oris with reactor plating and neural link circuitry.

But the air between them was thick. Too quiet. Too careful.

Freya accidentally dropped a socket tool near Lisette, and Lisette didn't hand it back.

Kira muttered under her breath the entire time she routed conduit wires.

Oris sighed loud enough for all three to hear.

"Remind me again why I'm building a death machine with three volcanoes in ponytails?"

No one replied.

But Kael was watching — from the shadows — and said nothing.

---

Late that evening, Kael worked on Ravager alone again.

Sharpening his blade with long, even strokes.

Lisette came to him quietly — hands behind her back, holding one of her custom-etched scale knives.

"Thought you'd like this," she said softly.

He looked up, then down at the blade.

Inscribed into its handle was a small sigil — one of the old rebellion crests from the central planetary war archives.

Kael took it without smiling.

But he nodded.

"Thanks."

Lisette hesitated. "I'm not... weird, am I?"

Kael paused.

"No. You're brave."

That was all she needed.

She walked away… heartbeat drumming like war.

---

In the distance, lightning split the sky — brief but intense.

Tomorrow, they would hunt again.

Tomorrow, they would bleed the planet.

And maybe — just maybe — start to rise.

---