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Riv tucked his wife to his side as both Warhawks detached from their anchorage and lifted into the air.

The two smaller ships eased inside the giant Kogun warship hovering off the port.

Its massive, brilliant blue hyperdrive engine blazed, and the Katánian battleship rumbled out of Edenite airspace.

With a flash of magnificent light, it blasted into hyperspace.

Weeks later, Kisan Sable was transferred to the Pegasi Court of Justice’s custody after surrendering himself voluntarily on Eden II.

He made an initial appearance before the judges, where he was charged with over sixty suspected counts of war crimes against the various planets and citizens of the galaxy. The Chamber, including J’Kuu Kabi of Eden II, subsequently committed him to a tribunal.

Mirage, acting as his advocate, presented evidence of his torture by the crats and subsequent mental deterioration.

As a result, a few months later, the arbitration board terminated the proceedings in Kisan’s case and called for his immediate release from detention.

All charges were withdrawn, given there is no reasonable prospect for a conviction at trial.

However, he was ordered to remain under Eden II’s planetary arrest for the next ten years with annual assessments of his condition and potential to be a danger to society.

Remanded into the custody of the Sable Group, he agreed to have Mirage place a tracker deep in his ear canal to keep tabs on him 24/7.

He also had no access to the Rider’s neural node network for the foreseeable future.

‘I’m happy with the outcome,’ Kisan told Riv one evening as they sat in the latter’s sprawling residence overlooking the crevasses of J’Urg Mihor. ‘It’s more than I could have hoped for given what I did.’

‘What shall you do with your limited freedom now?’ Riv said, nursing a whiskey.

‘Gaze out of the moonscape and reflect on life’s philosophies. Learn painting from Kainan, read a fokkton of books, and begin assessing how I can give back to Eden II and my brothers for all you’ve done for me.’

‘Perhaps consider working alongside Xion to keep the rock safe?’

Kisan’s eyes brightened. ‘You’d let me?’

Riv shrugged. ‘Why not? You’ve got intel from all your years with the shadiest crims and pirates. We also can’t remain mired in suspicion and distrust. We’ve got to relinquish control and have faith in you and your efforts to integrate into a new life again. Give it time. Even through rough times, we’ll always be here for you.’

‘Wise freakin’ words, sage,’ Kisan agreed. ‘The onus on me is to get past doubting everyone and everything and learn to trust and be trustworthy again.’

‘Keep at it,fokker. You’ve got this.’

Meanwhile, the Lost Shard was reunited with its Eden twin.

Zane merged the two entities using a psionic bond. They now resided deep under Sable HQ in a much roomier storage hold that was becoming a welcome home for the two guardians.

On occasion, Mirage would join them to share experiences and tell stories as old as Pegasi.

The Devansi Shard told secrets from the endless transversal wormholes it’d gallivanted among for years before stopping over the fissured planet.

They shared the horrors of strange celestial monsters and star-spawning supermassive creatures, as well as the beauty of civilizations beyond Pegasi’s veil, with technological and social advancements beyond the range of modern capabilities.

‘I’d love to visit these places one day,’ Mirage sighed.

The Lost Shard guide gave her a small smile. ‘You can and should. Perhaps ask for a season away from Eden II to explore the universe.’

‘Maybe so,’ the AI replied, her face pensive. ‘I’d never leave the Riders without my core node, but I may be able to fashion another version of myself purely for leisure.’

‘Time waits for no one,’ the mysterious guide said as Mirage sat back, her eyes dreamy, dreaming of what could be.

Months later, Kainan’s other baby, the galaxy’s first joint defense force, forged from an Edenite-Dunia-Rhesia-Galicia Alliance, came to fruition. It included a space naval and army training academy and a science research institute.