"I can go next if it-if it helps," Blip offered in a nervous squeak, his eyes averted from the table and his newly-assigned teammates.

"Oh, yes, please do." Elillia jeered from across the way as the earthling fiddled with something out of sight. "We're all so fascinated about the life of a lowly human. Please, tell us what it is your kind does nowadays other than lay around and do nothing?"

"Would you be quiet and let the man speak?" Lunk snapped back, glaring furiously, ready to jump to Blip's defense before Dash could even open his mouth to berate her. "What's your problem anyway?"

"My problem?" Elillia growled with a huff. "My problem is that I am stuck on an alien planet with no way home with a bunch of...of..."

"Idiots?" Lunk supplied helpfully through clenched teeth. Dash noticed his choice to use human dialect instead of his own. Very interesting. Why had English been the language selected when there were so many more that he could tell the others were fluent with? He suspected he knew the answer.

"Idiots," Elillia repeated the foreign word with a concentrated scowl. "Exactly. A complete hoard of incompetent karita."

Lunk blinked, leaning back and folding his arms as Squeakums leaned forward, ears drooping tiredly. "I think I would be a lot more offended if I knew what that meant."

Oh, holy stars. Dash groaned, leaning back and throwing his arms behind his head. He saw what the Princess was doing immediately. She might have said she wanted to be a part of the team, but her actions spoke otherwise. She wanted to discourage them, wanted them to feel disheartened enough to give up. That way she could go back to her world with a clean conscience. Well, not really clean.

And he would know that ploy anywhere. After all, it was his signature. How interesting that the ISA would select another so similar to himself. It felt like revenge and he was not impressed.

"It means-"

"No! Don't translate!" Blip interjected, holding up his hands and shaking his head pleadingly. "I don't really want to know!"

Elillia sneered. "Why not? You have no stomach either, earthling?"

"Not for words that shouldn't be repeated in any language," Blip said hastily, recoiling slightly under her glare and fiddling with his glasses, even though they weren't crooked.

"Coward."

"If we are all finished insulting probably the smartest pilot here," Dash grunted, drawing their attentions toward him and away from the human who looked a lot like he wished he could disappear into thin air. Princess has a point, he found himself thinking. He isn't like any of the other pilots I had the displeasure of crossing paths with at the academy. And it didn't seem like Analexa was eager to say he was one of them either. Something about all of this seems off. I wonder what the true story is. For now though, he would let them play their game and pretend he didn't suspect the human."We have work to do."

"Whatever you say, Captain," Princess sighed, rolling her eyes dramatically in a manner that told Dash she didn't mean it. "That's why you're the leader after all. To boss us around, I suppose. Because that's what you do, isn't it?"

Dash ignored her. He had a feeling he would be doing that a lot.

"But what are we going to do?" Blip inquired, leaning up now and pointedly not looking in the girl's direction. "There's only four-"

Squeakums chittered indignantly.

"-five of us!" the scientist amended. "And from what we've witnessed, Cyberoid has an entire army at his disposal! We have one robot and it doesn't even function properly! There's no way we can do this!"

"Wow, someone needs a bucket of encouragement thrown over his head," Lunk commented.

Blip looked over at him in confusion. "Uh...I don't think that's the phrase you were looking for. Encouragement doesn't usually come in buckets."

Lunk smirked. "No, it's exactly what I meant."

"O...kay?"

Dash fought the urge to roll his eyes. They were so getting off-topic. This was about saving the universe! Not the proper usage of colloquialisms! What was it Analexa had said to do? Get to know one another? What had he learned about this group so far? Not much. The princess was probably the most annoying person he had ever met, undoubtedly sent to be his immortal punishment for his past. She was there even though none of them could see the advantage of her presence.

Blip was the quiet one. It hadn't taken long for Dash to recognize that. He was far from warrior material and so different from the others. Calm, shy, very reserved, he wasn't like anything the ISA had ever sent against him in their attempts to capture him before. Did that mean he was more trustworthy-or just a more cunning opponent? No, he couldn't think that. Blip was there to help him. He was being paranoid. Just another reminder of why he would never ever be considered normal.

Lunk he kind of got. Definitely a warrior-or at least trained to be one. He probably knew ten ways to take each of them out. Why he didn't was beyond Dash's comprehension. He suspected it was due to the compassion. He could sense it all but rolling off the man. He may have been Gillian-trained to fight and attack on a whim's notice-but that wasn't who he was. Not really. He acted more like an aggressive protector if Dash had to give a name to it. The most obvious example was how he continued to stand up for Blip whenever Elillia went in for another jab. He admitted he was curious as to why.

But that would be a question for another day. Right now he had a job to do.

"You make a valid point, Dr. Hanson," he said flatly, to which the human who turned a little red behind the ears.

"Just 'Blip''s fine," he mumbled.

Dash went on as though he hadn't been interrupted. "There are only five of us. Five against hundreds-maybe thousands--of fleets ready to take us down at a single command. We are vastly outnumbered. But I believe the ISA would not have brought us together unless they saw something in us-unless we have a chance to defeat this Cyberoid-X. We are the pilots the universe has chosen to defend it. We can control the Mecha. And I don't know where each of you came from, or what your lives were like before yesterday, but I can tell you this, if the ISA believes we can protect the universe, then I believe we can as well."

At his words, the others seemed to sit up straighter, more determined of themselves. Blip and Elillia even shared a quick glance. He wished Analexa had been there to hear that. Ha. See? he snarked to himself. I can be encouraging too. When he really wanted to. And that wasn't often. But even he could sense when he needed to change his tune. Whether he liked it or not, he needed their help, and so he couldn't afford to frighten them off.

"You really think just the five of us can do anything?" Lunk reiterated, still looking slightly doubtful. Dash could hear his underlying meaning; Or are you just saying this because Analexa wants you to?

"I do," Dash said firmly, trying to sound more like he was convincing them than himself.

The others shared another glance.

"You don't believe me."

"It's not...that we don't want to!" Blip tried to explain, his voice cracking nervously. "B-but it's just...y-you seem to k-know so much more about this than...than we do! W-what do you need us for?"

Dash inhaled sharply, struggling to hold his calm composure. Had Analexa not explained it clearly enough? How the Mecha functioned? That, even if he wanted to operate it alone, it would not allow him to do so?

But how did he explain that to a bunch of academy wash-outs?

"There is a higher power at work here than what I can explain with words," Dash settled for this explanation, noting Blip's arched eyebrow of disbelief, and deciding he needed more proof. He needed to show them that they were there for a purpose. "Come with me," he went on, regaining his flat tone and moving toward the door. "Let me show you."

No one moved to follow.

"Uh...do we go?" Lunk inquired.

Elillia shrugged carelessly and Blip swallowed hard, carefully rising and moving after the pilot. Lunk and the Princess took this as their cues to follow and they hurried to flank him. Dash found this highly amusing but said nothing as he pushed open the door and led them back down the hall toward the docking bay. He felt the eyes of the base upon him, weighing hard on his shoulders as he turned the last bend sharply and glanced straight toward the security cameras buried deep within the rocky roof. See? I'm doing what you would have wanted. Do I have your approval now?

"Same positions as before?" Lunk inquired as they climbed the ladders and heaved open the hatches to the various pods.

"For training purposes, yes. Let's keep the roles the same for the time being."

"We need a better way of doing this," Elillia commented as she swung herself down into the left leg with a thunk. "That's assuming we are going to make this a permanent thing. Not that I'm saying we should, mind you."

"I can w-work on some sort of e-entry method later," Blip offered as he mimicked her actions, landing awkwardly in the right leg and moving to take his seat. "I'm sure t-there's a way to make it e-easier."

"You do that, Doctor," Dash agreed as he took up his position and reached for the power button, feeling the machine come to life with a roar as the others did the same. Instinctively, he sat back and reached for the handles on either side of his chair, the raw power of the machine vibrating through his body as he made contact. His control board came to life all around him, 3D holograms bursting to life; reflecting the system controls and alerting him to the core system's remaining auxiliary power. More than enough for a test flight. Take two.

On his right were the split screens of the other teens, all settling in and preparing for the flight. There was something comforting about being able to see them all. Dash felt...almost protective, almost like...he could say he'd found a team; one that wasn't afraid of him and his past. It was...an unusual feeling. He couldn't remember the last time he'd let anyone get close enough to trust him. But yet, here were these three strangers who followed him blindly without a shred of concern for their own wellbeing or the consideration that all of this might be a trap.

He wasn't sure if that made them incredibly brave or undeniably stupid.

"Everybody online?"

"All good here," Lunk answered first, his response nearly overshadowed by Squeakums's excited chirps. Dash wasn't even sure how the monkey could reach the controls. Just another mystery of the machine, he supposed.

"Yeah, here too," Princess added.

"I'm all set," Blip added. "And these controls are extremely complex!" he added. "I don't think I have ever seen such intricate-"

"Oh, for Galgria's sake, shut up," Elillia groaned. Without warning, she thrust her controls as far forward as fast as she could, sending the entire craft pitching forward and effectively ending the scientist's discovery with a high-pitched scream.

"Whoa! HEY!" Lunk protested, jerking back, Squeakums copying his motions to steady the arms of the robot while Dash did the same with the torso. "Come on! We're not doing this again, guys!"

There was no response from the two, though the robot did suddenly straighten back out, to Dash's relief. He was half-tempted to take the controls back from them right then and there. But no, they needed to learn to work together. If he took control again instantly, they would never get that opportunity. Analexa would not approve.

And since she was literally the one keeping him from serving three consecutive life sentences in Hetvan Prison, he figured it would be wise to trust her. At least for now. That didn't mean he had to like her, or even trust anything she had to say (he didn't, for the record). However, there were things about her that he'd noticed weren't consistent with someone who was only interested in his expertise or what he could do to further her career. Analexa believed there was good inside everyone. Dash wasn't sure he believed that, but Cyberoid-X was a threat that someone needed to stop. If anyone was going to cause mischief throughout the galaxy, it was going to be him, not some hell-bent terrorist.

"Okay," he growled, taking charge once again, and moving to grip the handles of his controls tighter as the robot careened unsteadily upon its legs. He scanned his instruments, trying to make sense of the foreign lettering and falling back upon the images when he could not decipher the language. "Let's see if we can figure this thing out. Doctor, Princess, you navigate the legs and thrusters. Lunk, Squeakums, balance us out." There was something else beside the controls for the arms, but he only glanced at it briefly as he worked to hold the torso and head upright.

And let's not have a repeat of last time.

They had barely been able to get themselves into space and had had even less control after that, ending up several lightyears from their intended goal (to just breach the ozone). Being able to move the robot was not going to be enough. Not against an army like they were going up against. They needed to learn to function together as a team-as one.

The machine gave another instead shake and Dash grimaced.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Stop!" Lunk pleaded as they nearly teetered forward one again.

"One at a time!" Dash snapped, glaring through the screens at the two. "Princess, you go first! Take us one step forward!"

"With pleasure," came her retort and Dash braced himself as the machine tilted forward momentarily as Elillia moved them into a lunging position.

With a glance at his monitors, Dash let out his breath and settled to make the next command. "Lunk-"

"On it," the Gillian cut him off, already swinging the left arm around, balancing out the robot's movements. "Piece of pie."

"Cake," Blip corrected automatically.

"Eh, I like pie better."

Blip made a face but didn't comment further as he shifted his controls before Dash could bark out another order, bringing the other leg forward and encouraging Squeakums to copy Lunk's movements.

"Uh...I think someone should maybe open the sky hatch before we blow a hole in my world's surface," Lunk added, pointing skywards toward the iron-clad ceiling with a sheepish smile.

Oh...right. Dash tensed, refusing to show his embarrassment at such a simple mistake. He covered it up with another sharp command that he noticed made everyone jump. "Well, don't just sit there! Who has the controls to the hatch?"

"That would be me," Princess said slowly, reaching for something out of Dash's line of sight. "I'm not sure why Analexa would have just left this lying around though! That's just asking for desertation!"

Maybe that's how it is from your world. But I don't think anyone here is going to leave. Not now. And Analexa knows that.

"All right," he went on, shaking away his misgivings and focusing on the other pilots. "Let's go flying."

"Yeah!" Lunk cheered and Squeakums yipped excitedly. Princess smirked and shifted her posture to look more battle-ready and Blip grimaced uncomfortably as he did the same.

The thrusters buried deep within the feet of the machine erupted almost simultaneously and the craft shot upwards, nearly plastering Dash to his seat. He braced himself and gripped his controls tighter as everyone screamed, most likely experiencing the same reaction as him. Elillia swore something in Galgrian and Blip squeezed his eyes shut as Lunk yelped and clung to his dashboard desperately.

The hatch above them opened, letting light cascade into the underground and sending a flock of birds squawking for cover. The entire structure rattled as it spiraled toward the surface, wobbling unsteadily as its passengers struggled to hold on. They passed through the hatch in moments, blasting several surrounding trees back into the ground and incinerating the grass instantly. In the distance, several small towns were just visible beyond the hills and the suns were just beginning to rise across the horizon to welcome a brand new day.

He had little time to take it all in, however, as the robot spiraled out of control, rocketing toward the atmosphere with no intention of slowing down any time soon.

"Stop!" Blip shrieked, his voice drowned out by the rockets. "Please! Please stop!"

But there was no stopping the ship now that it was activated. Dash watched as the scientist futilely yanked back on the thrusters, screaming all the time some nonsense that he couldn't understand. Somehow the ship was controlling itself now, pulling them into the atmosphere, much to the earthling's dismay, as though it was being dragged by some unseen force. Where they were going, Dash couldn't begin to imagine. Analexa had talked about the ship having a personality of its own, but nothing like this!

"MY CONTROLS AREN'T WORKING! SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING! LUNK!"

"I'VE LOST CONTROL HERE TOO!"

Their frantic screams yanked him back into reality and caused an immediate reflex. He slammed his fist against the override button and yanked back on the bars.

Stop! he yelled to the robot telepathically. Slow down! My team isn't ready! Outside, the monitors showed their progress, now hundreds of miles above the surface. A sonic explosion informed him of their transfer beyond the atmosphere and into the dark vacuum of space beyond.

His team.

No.

Not his team. He couldn't have a team.

Not again. Not after last time. Never again.

"Hang on!" he yelled, hitting another lever and jamming his controls back as hard as he could. Sirens scremed from every part of the cockpit and he had to force the flashing red lights from his eyes as he moved next for a secondary group of failsafe switches, throwing them with enough force to rip them right from their hold.

They were getting further away from Gilliak and the robot was not slowing down.

"Meteors!" Blip shrieked. "Meteors! THOSE ARE METEORS!"

Something rammed the right half of the vessel. Dash gritted his teeth as Squeakums let out a shriek and jerked back from his controls. Another strike sent the robot into hyperdrive and active even more panicking lights.

Hull has been damaged. Warnings flashed across his monitors in vibrant colors. Hull integrity at 98%

"INCOMING!" Princess yelled. "More on the left!"

"Evasive maneuvers!" Dash retorted. "NOW!"

"EVASIVE WHAT?"

Another impact, jarring near Lunk's cockpit.

Hull integrity 92%

"MOVE!" Dash roared. "DODGE!"

They reacted immediately. Princess moved first, swinging back and pulling Lunk along with her. Blip tried to counteract their sudden lurch, only to drag them straight into the path of another meteorite.

Hull integrity 87%

Idiots! Dash hissed, spamming the button that would allow him to take control of the entire mecha.

Nothing happened.

Nothing. Again.

Just like before...

"Captain! There are too many of them! We're surrounded!"

Explosions ran like blood through his ears, overwhelming him and driving him nearly to madness. Heat and light burst through his visor, momentarily blinding him. He threw up a hand to shield his eyes, but he could not block out the panicked screams of the pilots as their crafts were blown to cosmic dust or the throbbing of his own heart as he swerved to dodge the splintered remains of an exploded pod and honed in on the escaping mercenary shuttle making a beeline for the nearest black hole.

Oh, no, you don't.

Locking on, he fired and the craft burst into a thousand pieces.

"CAPTAIN!"

Another explosion, this one closer than the others. A fighter jet had exploded. Not one of his. He could tell that immediately. One of theirs.

"DASH, LOOK OUT!"

Lazers shot from a squadron perfectly positioned out of sight. With a cry of alarm, he threw himself out of the line of fire, spinning away and angling himself for the return shot. He fired three blasts, expertly taking out all three in a single movement.

"Oh, nice shot!"

A laugh bubbled from his throat as two crafts pulled up alongside his and the voices of his mentors flooded his headset.

"Good going, man!"

"Three cheers for the academy's youngest space master ever!"

"Ah, he may be the best pilot, but he'll always be the same timid little boy I met as a freshie."

"Oh, stuff it, Arind! You know you're proud of him too!"

"Of course I am! The kid's got a great future ahead of him! Captain Dashiell Coolstar, leader of the ISA! Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Dash grinned at them, soaking in their praise, letting his guard down for the first time and letting them see the anxious ten-year-old underneath, far too young to be a pilot but much too talented to be allowed to be unmanaged.

And that was the moment when a rogue lazer formed out of the dust, piercing through the hulls of both ships and ripping them apart at the seams. Dash barely had time to utter a scream and yank his craft away before all both jets exploded and everything vanished into a whirl of red and yellow flames.

In an instant, his life flashed before his eyes, and then everything faded to black...

Ship's integrity 60%

"WE'RE TAKING HEAVY FIRE!"

"WHAT DO WE DO?"

Lunk and Blip screamed almost simultaneously and Dash was jerked roughly back into the present as another series of meteors smashed into the back of the robot and sent them surging forward uncontrollably.

"Isn't there some kind of particle barrier or something on this thing that we can use?"

"This isn't a science fiction movie!" Blip protested as his pod was struck once again. "There's no such thing as-"

"Well, we'd better think of something else fast!" Princess retorted. At least they weren't at each other's throats now. "Because I don't know how much more of this we can take!"

Hull integrity 55%.

Not much more at all.

No. Dash refused to let it end like this. He would not lose anyone else. Not if he had anything to say about it. He took a deep breath, letting himself feel the robot and tuning out his inner panic. "Everyone let go of your controls."

"What?!"

"Do it," he ordered. "Trust me."

They hesitated. He could see them in the video feed. No one moved.

Another strike. They wouldn't be able to survive this much longer. For goodness sake, JUST DO IT!

Lunk was the first to move, letting go abruptly and throwing up his hands. The craft shook but remained upright. Squeakums was next, glancing up nervously. Blip followed their lead, tentatively drawing away.

Three of four.

One to go.

"Princess! You need to let go!"

I need you to trust me!

"I...I can't..." she stammered, staring at the monitors helplessly. She was afraid, the terror was evident in her eyes. She didn't trust him. She didn't trust anyone. But he needed her to. The robot needed her to relinquish control. That was the only way Dash could take the controls and navigate them to safety.

"Yes, you can!" he snapped. "You have to!"

"Princess!" Blip cried as the vessel was hit again. "Let go!"

"Do it!" Lunk added.

"Agh!" With a growl, she threw herself away from her controls. Instantly Dash slammed his fist once more onto the override and was met with the pleasant whirl as the mechanisms realigned.

Hull at 30% integrity.

"Everyone grab onto something!" Dash commanded. His monitor flashed green and he pulled back on his levers sharply. Instantly, the robot recoiled, narrowly dodging another round of meteors as they rocketed past to be burned up in the planet's atmosphere.

Everyone let out a collective breath of relief as Dash maneuvered them away from the asteroid belt to safety just beyond.

Hull integrity at 30%.

"Sound off," Dash ordered once he had pulled the group to safety and could allow himself a moment to catch his breath. "Statuses! Go!"

"In pain, but I think I'll live."

"Might be sick...but I think I'll be fine..."

"Who's brilliant idea was it to take the ship out for a test run again?"

Ugh. So she was fine then. Dash rolled his eyes. So the training session hadn't gone how he had anticipated. That was an understatement. It was been a disaster. But, granted, he had learned something. The mecha would only relinquish control to him when all five parts were willing.

That changed things.

That changed a lot of things.

"Perhaps we should head back to the hanger," Blip suggested, his voice wavering. "You know, baby steps and all that."

We aren't ready, came his unsaid words. We aren't even close to being ready.

Dash agreed. Maybe this had been a mistake. Maybe he should have checked that they were all comfortable flying before throwing them back into the robot. But then again, they'd all come willingly hadn't they? They would have said something if they weren't, right? "All right," he agreed. "Let's go back. We can practice more later."

Or never. Never sounds favorable too.

"I'm all for it," Lunk agreed as Dash turned the mecha back toward the red and green planet. "And maybe Analexa will have some answers to explain what just happened."

They all put a lot of faith in a girl they barely new. This was a trust Dash didn't understand; a trust that was unique to them alone. Most worlds were still suspicious of one another.

And that's when a second set of alarms began screaming through the system's monitors.

"Uh..." Blip glanced up. "What's that?"

"Something not good, not doubt."

Not good indeed.

"Bring it up on the monitors," Dash ordered.

"Uh..."

"The button on your left, Lunk."

"Got it!"

The screens suddenly shifted from the team to something behind them. A glowing portal ripping through time and space and the tremendous mass that was hastily rumbling through it. Oh no. The alarms continued to blare and Dash fought the urge to hit something to shut them up. That can't be what I think it is, can it? It was a ship. And he'd seen that design before.

And he wasn't the only one.

"Oh Earth, please tell me that's not-"

"Did you just use my planet as a substitution for a swear word?"

"Not the time guys! That's one of Cyberoid's ships!" Lunk exclaimed.

Even though Dash couldn't see the others, he could imagine the glares they were giving each other. But Lunk was right in more than one way. For the ship was getting closer and it was definitely not a friendly.

And it was heading straight for Gilliak's surface.

Well, there was only one thing to do. It was their job to protect the universe. That included Gilliak.

"Disconnecting Override Mode," he announced, hitting another button and hearing the craft shaking as the controls were once more diverted to the team. "Training's over, everyone. Let's go blow up a spaceship."