Disclaimer – I don't own Gargantia. This was written for Wattpad's "What Happens Next" contest where the goal is to write the next season of the series. I've not seen the OVA as of yet, but since the OVA takes a different route from the Light Novels the second season taking a third route isn't out of the question. When I watched Gargantia I thought the alliance disposed of unwanted people by releasing them into space like garbage rather than running them through an incinerator. I also don't know when I'll update this story either.

Suisei no Gargantia: Nagaroboshi Umi No
Meaning of a Shooting Star

The smell of the sea drifted up to the ship deck, mingling with the smell of metal. The shadows of the night mingled with the bright twinkling of stars. A fifteen-year-old female sat up high, letting the sea breeze wash over her features, letting the smell permeated her nostrils. The wind tossed her brown locks of hair about just above her shoulders, the two braids hanging down tickling her neck.

The sound of footsteps upon the rusted metal drew the girls attention from the wind which flushed her cheeks and lips, towards an older female dressed in a marine uniform. The woman pushed up her glasses, watching the younger girl carefully, her dark hair and eyes blending into the night sky. The fifteen-year-old let her mouth form into a circle, wondering why the woman was there. "Fleet Commander Ridget?"

"I need you to deliver a letter, Amy."

The young female tilted her head, letting her lips push together into a deep frown. Everyone knew deliveries were done during the light of the day when it was safer to use the gliders unless there was an emergency or a practice run was ordered during a lull in travel. "Is something wrong?"

Ridget's dark eyes widened, her own mouth opened slightly, before resulting to pushing up her glasses in an attempt to seem stern. "I actually don't know if it's something to be concerned with. I need Ledo to determine that. He's at the bow of the fleet."

Amy's head tilted slightly, her hand reaching out to take the letter from the commander, and place it in her bag. Her mouth opened to say something, but quickly the fifteen-year-old let her lips snap shut. The aquamarine eyes of the young teen snapped shut, taking a deep breath as her thin, delicate fingers touched the cords of the glider she used for delivering messages.

The fifteen-year-old took a deep breath, letting her mind way whether to take the quicker route by glider, or the longer route by foot. The fact the message was from the Fleet Commander, and the wind blowing in the direction of the bow allowed caution to be thrown to the wind. "Here I go!"

The fifteen-year-old let her feet push against the ship structure, jumping out and pulling the ripcord at the right moment, allowing her to take to the air, soaring above the dark ships down below where the entire population of Gargantia lived, going about their nightly routines. Across the ships different structural aspects were lit up to help people find their way around; the lights also helped guide Amy through the wind, to the front of the ship.

A soft lilting sound echoed eerily out from the bow of the ship, creating a calming sensation as well as a sense of belonging, setting the stage for what was now home for the one playing the instrument. The young fifteen-year-old dropped down near the sixteen-year-old, allowing her feet to touch softly, barely letting out a sound upon the metal structure. The lightness of the sound didn't stop her silver-haired companion from hearing her, stopping his music part way through. Ledo turned his head to look at her, his mouth twisted in a frown, and his violet eyes taking in the situation.

Amy stepped forward, leaning over slightly so her thin frame towered over the boy, her lips pushing together in a delicate smile. "How long have you been at it, this time, Ledo? Playing your music?"

Ledo's attention turned back to the sky, the sea mist shooting up from the bow to soak the young teen. "I don't know. It helps me lose track of the time."

A frown flittered across the face of the fifteen-year-old, panic setting in. "Hey, you aren't thinking about, you know, where you came from, and wanting to come back. You've been with us for some time now Ledo, yet you look up at the sky a lot. I couldn't..."

Her mouth snapped shut, remembering the day Ledo took off. Amy's head shook, her voice letting out a sigh, knowing Ledo came back. The sixteen-year-old confirmed her thoughts. "I'm not looking up wanting to go home. That's not my home anymore. Gargantia is. That doesn't mean, though, I don't remember some things. It's... sometimes it's just best to put it to music, rather than saying it out loud. I'm still learning the language."

"Or maybe you don't feel like talking about it." Amy rocked back on her heels, letting her arms cross behind her back. "That was a rather sad song, so what you were thinking of, maybe it was sad?"

"Maybe." Ledo placed the musical instrument into his vest pocket, his lips twisted tightly together, indicating something bothered him. "I used to not understand that all life is important before, that everything has an actual purpose. I learned that here."

"Ehh..." The young female teen leaned over slightly, tilting her head in hopes she could look into Ledo's violet eyes, but the sixteen-year-old looked away. Quickly though his head turned, catching sight of something out ahead. His violet eyes widened, his mouth opening, the usual indicator that something interested him.

Amy turned in time to see a shooting star in the sky. Her delicate fingers clapped over her mouth, and she kicked up one leg in excitement. Eventually, she allowed herself to speak. "You saw, right Ledo?"

"Yes. It's a..." A frown crossed the silver-haired teen's face, the vocabulary needed suddenly escaping him.

"Shooting star."

Ledo looked up, muttering the word in his own language, letting the word mull over in his mind, his eyes dulling over as if there was some kind of meaning to the incident, as well as the word in his own language. The little color in his face quickly drained.

Amy, however, noticed not his distraction, and instead looked up. "Did you know, Ledo? You're supposed to make a wish when you see it. I hope Bevel saw it."

The silver-haired teen let out a choking sound, his facial features twisting up, a tear escaping from his eye unexpectedly. The young man raised a hand to his eye to wipe the tear away, frowning as he did. Ledo turned to look at Amy, his mouth opening.

Amy let a finger reach out to lightly touch his mouth, to stop him from speaking. "No. You're not supposed to let people know what your wish is. It doesn't come true."

"What if you know your wish won't ever come true?"

The fifteen-year-old caught sight of the pain in Ledo's violet eyes as he looked her in the eye. Her aquamarine eyes looked away. "Is something the matter?"

"Shooting stars. They're debris..." The silver-haired teen's voice slowed as the word came from his mouth. "... from space." Ledo looked away again. "It's nothing important."

A deep sigh escaped Amy's face, her delicate fingers fishing out the letter from her bag. "Speaking of something which is important, I got this letter from the Fleet Commander for you. She wants you for something."

Ledo took the letter from Amy, his eyes squinting as he read the paper. He stopped short, holding the letter out so she could see the writing. "This word means?"

"That's the written word for encryption." Amy pressed her letters back, having caught sight of the words on the paper. "Do you think there's another one?"

"I don't know. The Fleet Commander wants to know if I can translate the communication, so maybe. I honestly don't want to think what could happen should another pilot support system fall to Earth, or any other technology from the Galactic Alliance. It could be very bad."

…

Violet eyes created eugenic control over thousands of years looked at her commanding officer as she stood at attention, listening to his instructions. The man looked at the far wall. "Ensign Lenena, do you understand the reason for us coming out this far away from the Galactic Alliance?"

The young female saluted her commanding officer. "Sir. It is the job of the Galactic Alliance to pursue the survival of the human race. The first objective towards the survival is the extermination of the Hideauze, the enemy of the human race. The second objective towards the survival of the human race is to bring fringe groups under the control of the Galactic Alliance, ending any detrimental behavior that runs contrary to the long term survival plan decided upon by the Galactic Alliance. Our mission is in pursuit of one of these fringe groups."

"Correct. This particular fringe group is guilty of collecting refuse left behind by other units within the Galactic Alliance which are deemed unusable under the long-term survival plan. Among the refuse collected were those of the human race determined to have no use to the Galactic Alliance. The fringe group changed course during our pursuit in reaction to a distress signal sent out by an officer in the Galactic Alliance, indicating the fringe group hopes to pick up the officer for unknown purposes, likely to undermine the long-term survival plan. Thus, your part in the upcoming mission is important."

"Understand sir." The young ensign listened to the details given by the commanding officer, limited to what she as a soldier needed to know.

Lenena saluted her officer, before turning sharply on her heels towards the hanger bay. Her violet eyes looked down at her machine caliber docked, the pilot support systems eyes lighting up at her approach. She stepped into the head of the mecha, settling down into the controls. "Our job is to board the ship without the members of the fringe group knowing. The commander sent you the weak points on the ship, as well as the plans when we launch."

"The Galactic Alliance ship is coming out of hyperspace. It appears we are near some kind of planet. It is unknown whether this planet would be a new Avalon. Details are unknown, as this mission has taken us outside of the Galactic Alliance's boundaries. "

"That is not within our mission parameters. I am a soldier, not an explorer." Lenena leaned back into her seat. Her shoulders tensed up, waiting for the command for her and her machine caliber to launch out into space. A breath of air escaped her lips upon hearing the commander tell her to drop her machine caliber out of the dock rather than launching out. Nearing the opening, her violet eyes took in the blue-green planet the small Galactic Alliance envoy. To the side, she saw the ship, and her machine calibers arms moved, grabbing the hull of the envoy ship to push herself towards the fringe group's ship. The young soldier floated towards the ship, waiting for the captain to communicate with the group. The machine landed lightly on the side of the ship before cutting into the fringe ships side, the sounds of weapons going off.

…

Death...

In the darkness of space, death seemed to wait, but sometimes the miracle of life occurred. A few children ran down the hallways of the ship, slipping past the small communications room. A young boy with silver hair sat in the chair, his violet eyes looking for another message from the beautiful planet which now splayed across the screen. An older man with dark skin and hair clapped a hand onto the boy's shoulder. "Hey, the fact there haven't been any more messages doesn't mean he's dead Losal."

The boy sighed, leaning back before letting out a soft cough, his bare feet touching the ground. A shock wave riveted through the ship, causing the child to lurch off his feet. The man with him grabbed the child's arm, helping him back to his feet. The sound of guns going off went off outside of the room. The boy looked at the communication system and reached up to push a button.

"Are you sure you want to send a message Losal? The enemy will likely hear it."

"Does that really matter? They're not going to stop attacking us until they take us prisoner, or manage to down our ship into the planet below."

"Yeah, well, it's likely that both of these ships are going to go down."

Losal took a deep breath. "Hello. This is a message for Lieutenant Ledo of the Galactic Alliance in response to the distress signal sent out. This is a rescue put together by Losal. If you can respond..."

The sound cut short in a static, and the fringe ship began to shift, indicating the entire thing would fall out of orbit. The man grabbed the boy's hand as a message blared across the ship giving the order to head to the escape pods. The man lifted the boy up and headed towards the closest escape pod. "Sorry buddy. Let's hope he can rescue us."

The two sped past a few portals. Losal's violet eyes noted the Galactic Alliance ship lurching in orbit as well, causing the boy's hands to tighten around the man's arm. The man arrived at one of the escape pods before setting the boy down. "Wait here. I'm going to see if anyone else needs help."

Losal's eyes widened. "But..."

"No buts." The man ruffled the boy's silver locks.

…

Two men walked through the halls of the fringe groups ship, chatting with each other. The mood between the two was amicable, joking about the "lost" Galactic Alliance ship that happened to wander off track. A glowing dot appeared on the wall in front of them, making the two stop short just as the sound of weapons started going off outside. One of the men lifted his gun up, pointing it at the opening. "Sick bastards. They sent someone out before they tried making communications with us. They can't even play by their own rules and regulations."

The glow quickly moved in a circle, and the metal popped out, sucking the two men out into space as they let out a scream. The pilot dismounted from the head of the machine caliber, giving the order to follow from the outside before moving quickly to dive under the airlock. Lenena slid quickly under the wall, her blaster ready to take out any who came her way. She listened to her earpiece for directions from her machine caliber.

"The fringe group seems to call itself Losal."

"Losal? Why would anyone name themselves after space debris that falls from the sky?"

"The answer to that question is not within my analysis specs."

Lenena stood up, only for the ship to lurch suddenly. The silver haired female turned her head to look out at the Galactic Alliance ship to see how well it fared, only to see the ship also lurching in space, heading down to the ground. The young female's facial features twisted up in irritation. "The commander said to find out what the Losal group wanted with this lieutenant of ours. How do you suggest proceeding?"

"Everyone on the ship is heading towards the escape pods. Perhaps you can find someone to interrogate there?"

Lenena noted the option as doable, following the map was given to her. A few people with darker coloring were ahead of her, shrinking back as she held up her blaster. A flash of silver made her head turn to see a boy with silver hair and violet eyes. "You. What does this Losal group want with our lieutenant."

The boy held up his hands. "Our groups not named Losal."

The ensign stepped forward, slamming the button to close the door, and another to launch the escape pod. "None of your friends can save you. Tell me what I want to know. No lies about this Losal group."

The young soldier noticed her machine caliber floating outside of the window, waiting for her. "The group is not called Losal. I am."

"What do you have to do with our lieutenant."

"Ensign Lenena, the escape pod is starting to descend. I can not calculate it's trajectory."

The boy named Losal glared at her. "Ledo is my brother."

"Ledo..." The name sounded familiar, only to be brushed aside. "How. You are not of the Galactic Alliance. That means you are part of the refuse this fringe group picked up." The young ensign narrowed her eyes. "As such, you shall be terminated after this interrogation is over."

The child seemed unphased by her statement. The escape pod suddenly lurched, knocking both off their feet as it began it's decent. Lenena's back set against the wall, one arm wrapped around the child who had fallen into her, her blaster forgotten on the floor, her body barely able to move to a seat to buckle herself in. The child quickly buckled in himself, the gun has forgotten at one side. Outside through the portal Lenena noted her machine caliber separating from the pod, unable to keep up with the trajectory.

…

The lights in the communication area on Gargantia flashed. Ridget stood next to the person, her head tilting up when the young man with silver hair and violet eyes stood in the doorway. The young man was tense. "You think I can translate the communication? Are you sure it's the language of the Galactic Alliance?"

"Well..." Ridget pushed her glasses up. "One of our communication officers thinks they caught your name in the communication."

Ledo's violet eyes widened. "That..." The sixteen-year-old shook his head. "Chamber told me it would be years, thousands before our distress signal would make it."

"So not Galactic Alliance?"

"I don't know." The young man stepped over, placing the headphones to his ear so only one of the ears was covered, the rest of the device hanging from his hand, his mouth twisting up in confusion.

"Are you sure you want to send a message Losal? The enemy will likely hear it."

"Losal..." Ledo felt his throat tightened, a large amount of emotion rushing to the surface, his eyes widening in horror.

"Does that really matter? They're not going to stop attacking us until they take us prisoner, or manage to down our ship into the planet below."

The familiar voice, now older, sent a shiver down Ledo's spine, his stomach tightening painfully.

"Yeah, well, it's likely that both of these ships are going to go down."

"No..." The sixteen-year-old found himself switching to the other language, panic, and confusion evident in his voice. "How is Losal..."

"Hello. This is a message for Lieutenant Ledo of the Galactic Alliance in response to the distress signal sent out. This is a rescue put together by Losal. If you can respond..."

The transmission cut off at that point. Ledo felt his throat tighten, and the headphones drop from his hand, clattering to the floor of the communication room just in time to see a major shower of shooting stars light up the night sky in varying directions.