Trascender : The Fourth Gust

Chapter 32 : Trascender Retrieval Operation

The sterile, recycled air aboard the Stardust Weaver hummed with tension thicker than the nebular dust outside the viewports. Merus's declaration, "This means war!", still echoed in the cramped common area, a stark counterpoint to the fragile hope that had lingered moments before. Plans scrolled across holographic displays; trajectory vectors through the multiversal lattice, energy signatures of known Saganbo outposts, the chillingly precise path Kokuto was carving towards Universe 3523 with his captive.

"We need to refine the approach vector through the Heliosian Corridor," Kuro murmured, fingers flying over a floating interface, manipulating complex stellar cartography. "Saganbo's suppressed energy field creates unpredictable gravitational tides near the 3400 mark. A direct jump risks being shredded."

Kagaya, nearly brushing the ceiling with his towering frame, slammed a fist the size of a small asteroid onto his thigh. "YAHOOO! LET'S GET THEM NICE AND QUICK!!!" The deck plating groaned in protest. His tribal markings pulsed emerald with his excitement, casting shifting shadows. "SMASH THE SWORD GUY! RESCUE THE SUNSHINE BOY! YEEHAW!"

Netsudo, huddled on a reinforced bench wrapped in his fungal-insulation cloak like a terrified burrito, flinched violently. "Hey! Calm down already, Kagaya! Why are you screaming?! My ears are ringing! And my nerves... they're already frayed enough without you shaking the ship apart!" He pulled the cloak tighter, amber eyes wide. "This isn't a festival!"

Kagaya beamed, utterly oblivious. "I'M JUST EXCITED!!! IT'S TIME FOR ACTION! BIG SMASHING ACTION!"

A rare, almost imperceptible smirk touched Kuro's lips as he adjusted his layered goggles. "Statistically improbable as it seems, Kagaya's enthusiasm aligns with mission parameters. Speed is of the essence. Kokuto's transit velocity, as calculated from the residual void-shear signatures, suggests he'll breach the 3390th universe barrier within the hour. Delaying increases the probability of Shinji's permanent neural degradation by 17.8%. So... yes. Excitement is warranted." He paused, glancing at the towering warrior. "Though perhaps expressed at a lower decibel level."

X, a figure cloaked in non-reflective grey that seemed to absorb the ambient light, stood unnervingly still near the viewport. His presence was less seen and more felt – a spatial anomaly. He turned his featureless hood towards Miryoku, who sat quietly, twisting a strand of her spun-starlight hair. Her violet eyes, usually holding cosmic calm, were clouded, fixed on the swirling colours of Universe 3404 outside but seeing none of it.

"What is it?" X's voice was toneless, projected directly into her mind, bypassing sound. "Are you worried?"

Miryoku jumped slightly, startled out of her reverie. She looked at the grey silhouette, then down at her hands. "Oh! Yeah... For sure... I mean..." Her voice was small, barely audible over the ship's hum and Kagaya's restless shifting. "I'm way too weak for this. I faced a Monarch before... Nirvana... and I let Kuro fight alone. I froze. My light... it felt useless against that darkness. What can I possibly do in this assault? Against Kokuto? Against... him?" She didn't need to name Saganbo; the memory of her talk with the others about him.

X's hood tilted slightly. Then, a sound like dry stones grating together emerged – a laugh. "Haha!! Well, you surely might find Monarchs statistically overwhelming based on raw power output. As far as quantifiable metrics go." He paused, the grey fabric seeming to ripple. "But you possess something infinitely rarer, Ooka Miryoku of Luminara. A resonance that defies quantification. A warm and kind heart. You stand here, not for conquest, not for power, but for the sake of trillions upon trillions of living beings whose names you'll never know, whose light you'll never see. That conviction, that harmony within you... it is a power Saganbo cannot comprehend and Amado cannot calculate. Do not diminish yourself, little miss. In the coming chaos, that light, that heart, may prove the most crucial variable of all."