Interloper-360°: Expanded Version

Angel Stardust 8: Do Angels Worry?

The Angel, now dressed only in his undergarments, doesn't seem so frightening as he paces around in his cell and complains about feeling cold. We all stare at him, he grows uncomfortable as he refuses to hold eye contact with any of us for too long. We leave him and part ways to do our assigned duties.

I find myself in the hangar bay to stare at his ship. We parked it next to my Ucello, and I've been studying the differences between our machines. This jet that the Angels are issued is some of the best pieces of technology and design I've ever seen in my entire career as a pilot.

The body is slick and gorgeous, the paint of choice is a nice shade of white to represent their holy mission. At the front end are their photon cannons, the barrel being noticeably bigger than ours for a wider shot. I see the processors are different too, Cheq says it's so that they can charge a stronger shot much faster than a standard ship. It explains why getting hit a few times almost doomed me to a burial in space.

I don't dare to open the cockpit again, but looking through the glass, I can see the console and controls on how to pilot the ship. Even their steering is strange to me, and I have no clue how to use it. Where's the throttle? It's just a black sphere.

"It's a thing of beauty, isn't it?" Titan says.

I turn to see him coming my way, a mug of coffee steams in his hand. "More like a thing of unknown destruction. By the look of this ship, Paxes has some strong enemies to deal with. What's going to happen if they don't win?"

His smirk is interrupted, his eyebrows raise, and he quickly sips his mug and clears his throat. "Well, what the Angel has been telling us, we get evicted from the galaxy...or else. But I'm not sweating over it just yet, Paxes have been holding their own."

"That is until they decide to teleport behind their frontlines and attack from the back."

"They haven't done it yet, and we'll keep going like they won't ever. Deal?"

"Sure. Do you think Cheq is going to steal some of these designs for the next upgrade?"

"He won't be able to help himself. You know how he gets around technology."

"And Knight? Has he learned anything else from the Angel?"

"Just his name for now. Aiden."

"They have names? I was beginning to think they were from another dimension."

Titan walks around me and puts a hand on the ship. It slides across the hull slowly, treating it like a feral animal but with confidence and trust that it won't bite him. "They are a scary bunch. Like nothing I've ever seen before, and kid, I've seen a lot at my age." He takes his hand off and backs away, but his gaze never leaves it. I don't judge as I seem to be hypnotized too.

"Do you think they thought about it when they obliterated Kroyoza? Like, if they stopped to think about all the lives they were going to cut short?"

"Honestly, Nev, I don't even believe they remember doing it. Seems like their agenda is an ambitious one, and Kroyoza was just a spot on the map for them. They don't believe they're ending lives early, they believe they're making progress."

Echoing footsteps cause both of us to turn to the door and see Cheq walking in with a small bag in his hand. "You're both here? I've finished replicating the program that allows the use of the CN-Gateway. I was gonna install it first and say something later."

"How was breaking the encryption?" Titan asks.

"Do you actually care about the process?"

"I do care, following along is the hard part."