Page 23 of Stars in Mist

Has anyone seen a Katánian’s full features so we can ID them? I only caught glimpses at the station; most of their bodies were hidden under their cloaks.

Very little is found in all the databases I can access. I can’t find a thing. They’re phantoms and apparitions, unseen in the light of Alphetraz.

Sante, keep digging. What else is happening with the nebula?

During their silent conversation, Glimmer lurched through a roller-coaster of piloting moves.

Élisa is a kickass helms-woman. She’s taken over Glimmer’s controls and is manually navigating through this crazy gale like she’s going on a summer flight, past multiple incapacitated ships.

Mirage sent an image of its A.I. view to Riv’s nodes, and his eyes widened when he saw giant ghost crafts loom in the shadows, illuminated by the lightning.

She’s fighting to skirt the wrecks, but the storm is taking its toll, and she’s having to dodge floating debris scorched beyond recognition.

Despite Élisa’s caution, the distinct sound of rubble crashing into Glimmer’s sides reverberated through the vessel.

I understand why her ship is so damaged now, if she makes this trip every so often,Mirage noted.She has almost zero inertia dampers left, multiple breaches to the hull, and her external guns have sheared away over the years. She’s limping, a wreck that most pilots would avoid. Which means Élisa is a badass fly girl.

An unexpected surge of pride overcame him.That’s my woman.

Except that she didn’t know it.

The thought sobered him up, and he fell into a long silence, giving in to brooding. A luxury he’d tried to avoid in recent years.

Existing so close to Élisa was messing with his head.

He still had no clue why she’d jilted him. He also hadn’t said goodbye when she’d disappeared so long ago.

Instead, Riv’s world shattered when she ripped away from him with no warning, the cruel hand of fate blasting laser wounds through his heart that had never healed.

It’d been like Élisa perished, and he’d become a walking wounded apparition, undead yet still breathing.

The pain, even to this day, was crippling.

For months after she’d gone, Riv thought it would kill him.

He’d often excuse himself from his fellow Riders to sob in private in the tunnels under Eden II anytime something reminded him of her.

Those fragments of memories still took his breath away and gave him palpitations.

It took years not to feel like he would vomit and fall apart every day.

Worse still, romance for him had been out of the question.

Élisa had been such a massive part of his life, and after the angst he’d been through, Riv became terrified of ever falling in love again. He in no way wanted to be that broken again.

From time to time, he spiraled into depression and used alcohol to try to relieve the pain.

But he’d always wake up the next day after a vivid dream of Élisa, yearning for her even more.

Riv missed her voice, laughter, and touch for years. Most of all, he longed for her love. He hadn’t seen a purpose in life anymore, and nothing brought him joy.

Riv spent hours raging at the gods for letting her get away. Over the years, he’d tortured himself, wondering if he could have done more to prevent her disappearance and to find her sooner.

He’d only found refuge in his work with the Riders and his friends’ support.

Their missions and unrelenting enterprise helped keep his mind busy, but only til the dark of night enveloped him.

The ache never left him.

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