Epilogue

Their footsteps echoed in the empty room, their bootheels clunking hollowly on the metallic floor.

"Katse escaped, again." Ken muttered disgustedly.

"What did you expect?" Joe replied sarcastically. "Ryu couldn't keep up that speed for much longer, and once we had recovered Jinpei, we had to pull back."

"I'm a little surprised that they abandoned this thing." Jun added, "But maybe they thought that we would eventually catch up to them, if they stayed with it."

"What I don't understand, is why did that Mecha Captain save you, Jinpei?" Ryu asked. "It doesn't make sense."

"I recognize this guy!" Ken exclaimed. The Eagle was crouched down beside the lifeless body of the former Galactor Captain.

"What?" Jun was surprised.

"He was at the shelter… after we destroyed that Gorilla mecha…" Ken recalled slowly. "He approached me, and… he knew your name, Jun."

"He did?" A look of concern stole across the Swan's face.

"He had seen you while you were volunteering with the children… and… he said… that he knew you…"

"What did you tell him?" Jun asked softly.

"I told him that he must be mistaken." Ken shrugged. "I didn't know he worked for Galactor, but I was suspicious; the way he approached me, out of the blue, like that."

"He did know us." Jinpei said quietly.

Four pairs of eyes turned to regard the Swallow.

"When I was held by Galactor… he told me that he had known us… at the orphanage." Jinpei said. "He knew my name too."

"Do you think he told Katse?" Ryu asked.

"No…" Jinpei shook his head slowly.

"I don't think he did," Joe agreed, "or Katse wouldn't have hesitated to throw that in our faces."

Jun was looking at the Captain's body, studying it carefully.

"What was his name, Jinpei?" she asked quietly.

"Uh…" Jinpei struggled to remember. "Abbott… I think…"

"Kito Abbott…" she said softly, touching his cold cheek. "I remember... I always wondered what had happened to him. And now… to learn that he joined Galactor…"

The Eagle pulled her up, and into his arms, where she shed a silent tear.

"That might have been you, and Jinpei, if Hakase hadn't adopted you." Joe pointed out.

"I suppose I should be grateful for that." Jun replied, pulling away from Ken and wiping her face with the back of her glove. "But I can't help feeling angry, at how many lives Galactor has destroyed."

"We'll stop them." Ken vowed. "No matter how long it takes, we will not rest until we've brought Galactor to its knees."

"Amen to that!" Ryu said.

Taking one last look at her childhood friend, Jun left the abandoned ship, grateful to Dr. Nambu for the opportunity he had given to her. First Koji, now Kito…

Jun knew that she would fight Galactor, as long as she lived, to prevent this from happening to anyone else she had loved.

In death, Kito had strengthened the Swan, and she remembered.