In the Medic room.
Vera and Aster lay side by side on plush medical beds, the soft sheets creased under their weight.
Vera's fair skin peeked from beneath bandages—white cotton tinged with faint bloodstains, wrapping her head and arms, her purple hair spilling loose across the pillow.
Beside her, Aster sprawled with a tray of popcorn balanced precariously on her lap, her toned frame relaxed in a tank top, her blonde ponytail frayed from her mission.
Their eyes—Vera's sharp and Aster's teal—locked on the wall-mounted screen, its live feed from the cockpit flickering with Mia's cctv relay.
On the screen, the Kingdom's Destroyer erupted in a fiery bloom, debris spinning into the void as Pako's fighters swarmed victorious.
"Yes!!!" Aster shouted, her voice a triumphant boom as she thrust her fists skyward, popcorn spilling in a chaotic shower over her and Vera, golden kernels bouncing off the bandages.
