Captain Pitch, Captain Hawk and Starla flew with their shuttle back to the Blackcrow's Shuttle Hangar, where the trio felt safer almost immediately and the warmth of the ship's atmosphere was tangible for all three. Upon disembarking from the shuttle, they were instantly met with some members of the crew.
Commander Moon, above all, rushed over to them to see if her beloved family was alright. A bright smile was clearly seen on her face as she spotted her husband and daughter beside Pitch. She couldn't hold herself back to give them a tight hug. Even if she knew full well her daughter had run away to a dangerous place, she was still relieved that Starla was alright at least. The other members of the Blackcrow either smiled away or ignored the scene completely.
After a bit of time, The Doc went over to Starla and the rest and checked on them to see if they were alright. Besides the fact that the trio's body temperature was still noticeably cold, they seemed to be okay. The bandage on Starla was the only thing The Doc also noticed on her, which made him question what could have happened.
"The planet was ridiculously cold. It was snowing where we went, and there were beans just like us living there too." Captain Hawk explained, his own heart freezing from the thought of the encounter on the planet's surface. The Doc silently nodded and recommended to the three that they'd rest up a bit. Yet, before anyone else could even think, Commander Moon had a certain look on her face as she darted her visor around, looking for someone.
"Wait... does anyone know where Saros is?" She asked, her heartbeat was pondering in concern. Upon hearing that, the few members who were with them; Berry, Flash and Zipper, turned to look a second at Moon, and then around the room.
"Yeah... where has Saros gone off to?" Berry questioned and remembered that Saros was actually with them.
A sigh came from Captain Hawk as he explained: "It's... complicated. As we flew down to the planet, we got a call from their ruler, who had held my daughter hostage in his claws. He wanted to trade my daughter for his son, which was Saros. To make it short: in order to get my daughter we traded Saros with her..."
"Hold on one second!" It was Flash's voice that was heard, the yellow bean couldn't believe what he heard. "If I'm not mistaken from what you've said... does that mean that Commander Saros is actually the heir to rule over this cold planet? He's a Prince?!"
Hawk and Pitch nodded together at Flash's realization, to affirm the engineer's thoughts. Everyone stood in silence at this, but out of the crew, there were those who were not entirely impressed or in surprise over the revelation. Even Hawk himself had some hidden guilt over the whole situation. The crew were gathered up and talking amongst themselves over the situation.
Standing by her parents, Starla had secretly felt her heart crack over the situation. Especially how much Uncle Saros meant to her. She felt responsible for the situation that happened, and she didn't quite know how to put it into words, especially when everyone dispersed and went back to their stations. Little did she know that someone else felt just as guilty as herself.
Glancing back as her parents conversed with a few others, the rose pink bean caught a glimpse of Uncle Pitch, standing back, and she decided to carefully toddle off to him. Pitch noticed Starla, yet he said nothing. He was too lost in his own mixed feelings and thoughts, which he couldn't put a finger on as to exactly why he was feeling them.
"Uncle Pitch?" The young bean began to talk but he only looked down. "I... I'm ever so sorry for running off like that. It wasn't my intention that things turned out like they did now."
The black bean did hear her apology through his whirlwind of thoughts. All he gave as a quick answer was a short but thoughtful: "Mhm..." The dark bean felt the feelings churn as Starla approached him.
"Uncle Pitch?" Starla mentioned his name again, concerned, as she stood next to him. "What's the matter?"
"Hm? ... It's nothing. Let's get back to work." Pitch softly humphed. Starla's expression was weary and she was showing a heavy heart to him, regardless of Pitch's churning feelings.
"But, Uncle Pitch? I-I feel guilty about Saros being missing... Can't we go and get him back? Please..." Starla pleaded, as Pitch began to walk away from her, returning to the others in the crowd. Which left the young bean quite irritated.
Once Commander Moon spotted Pitch coming closer to their crowd, she stepped out before he continued walking any closer to the rest of the crew. Of course, Moon did realize all the while that something was up with him and she wanted to kindly have a conversation with him in private. Knowing Pitch for a while now, the cyan mother was aware of how stubborn and denial he can be sometimes.
"Pitch?" Commander Moon began to talk with her careful and calming undertone. "May I talk with you in private for a bit?"
But Pitch hesitated with his answer and growled quietly in annoyance. "I guess I have no other choice."
That's all he could answer back, as his head was flooded with unseen thoughts. At the very least, Moon was grateful that he at least gave in for a quick private conversation. Both beans walked alongside each other to Captain Pitch's private office in order to have the talk in secret. The awkward silence between them on the way up was secretly alarming the cyan commander even further. There was something up for sure, she thought.
The mechanical door behind them closed shut as the two went inside the room. Lord Pitch walked around his desk to have a look outside the big window behind it. Sparkling stars were the only other things that kept the two beans company. The awkward silence went on as Commander Moon toddled over to Pitch to watch the stars outside the ship with him together.
The silence was deafening, until Moon finally raised up her voice to ask something: "Pitch...? I can tell something is on your mind. What's the matter? And it's alright, your secrets will be kept safe."
Even with being assured, Pitch felt even more anxious about fully explaining anything. His overwhelming thoughts began to get heavier so that he had to go to his chair on his desk to sit down. Leaving a quiet sigh.
"I'm not sure..." His quiet deep voice was cracking. For Moon it felt like he was more talking to himself than anything. But she was still very much understanding and patient with him. She followed him to his chair and was now standing behind him, having the urge to reach out her hand to touch his back. But Moon was extra careful with him, knowing that Pitch didn't always like it to get touched by someone. Instead, the cyan bean walked to a second chair which was near the desk, and sat down carefully on the other side of the table.
Paperwork was all which Moon was seeing on his desk, together with pens and pencils. One empty paper got Moon's attention and she took it into her hands, giving her a brilliant idea for Pitch. At least, she hoped it would be a good solution.
"Why don't you try to write down your thoughts? Maybe that could help?"
Pitch looked up. He was skeptical of the idea. "Hm." He mumbled to himself as he sat there, staring at the desk.
Without thinking further, Captain Pitch took a pen with his left hand but felt how much he was shaking.
He didn't understand why he was shaking. As well did Moon see his hands shaking once he took the pen. The commander didn't comment on it, she only laid the piece of paper down to him. Waiting patiently for him to write his thoughts down. But Lord Pitch just couldn't. He couldn't do it.
"Oh Pitch..." Moon whispered to him in concern. It was undeniably obvious that Pitch was struggling to even form coherent thoughts to explain them. She watched as Pitch, with his southpaw shake wildly with the pen grasped. Pitch eventually felt his temper fray and he gave a growl, letting all of his thoughts and feelings come out as a growl.
"Grrraggh! I don't even know...! Grrr!" Pitch dropped the pen and held his head in his hands, unable to even think any coherent thoughts. Moon could only look on at Pitch with sympathy and concern. Pitch, with shaking heart and hands then lifted his head and looked on.
"I don't know why I... I... I shouldn't have done that to... grr... Saros." Pitch grumbled in frustration.
With that short sentence revealed, at least some of Pitch's inner feelings were now clear for the cyan commander. "You feel guilty about it, am I right?"
Was that the emotion which Captain Pitch was experiencing the whole time? He kept pondering until he realized it himself. "I had no choice... I've seen how powerful his father was."
"Now, that explains a lot. You felt pressured in that situation." Moon said in realization. She seemed poised to listen and help, almost like a trained therapist. Pitch was still sitting there with his head held low and small growls.
"Pressured..." Lord Pitch grumbled, his voice steeped in defeat. "...and now, I'm feeling guilty over the choices I made."
"It's alright, Pitch. Mistakes happen even to the best of us. I'm sure there's still a way to get Saros back. ... right?"
Finally, Lord Pitch's whirlwind of emotions and thoughts began to get clear. Slowly, but safely. There's one thing that popped up into his mind as he started to think about how to get Commander Saros back from that dark planet.
"I think there is..." Pitch mentioned aloud. "But I'm not entirely sure..."
But he was interrupted in his thoughts when there was a hesitant beep sound at the door. Commander Moon had to turn around to look at the mechanical door as well. This puzzled both Pitch and Moon, and while Pitch was obviously bothered and still lost in his thoughts, Moon carefully got up from her chair and walked over to the door. Tentatively opening the door with pressing a button, Commander Moon caught sight of Starla, who was standing there, nervously circling her foot across the floor.
Obviously confused and curious, Commander Moon asked why her daughter was here. "My daughter, why are you here? Do you need something?"
"Y-yeah, I wanted to ask if Uncle Pitch is here?" Her daughter asked.
"Yes he is, Starla. What's the matter?" Moon was still confused and slightly concerned as to why Starla was looking so nervous, asked, looking back at Pitch. Starla had this look about her that her mother picked up almost immediately. To her, it felt as if Starla felt the exact same like Pitch does right now. That's what she could read on her daughter's expression.
Starla eventually plucked up the courage to explain herself. "I still feel extremely guilty that Saros is down on Zudak because of me. I..." The rose colored bean let out a long sigh before she continued: "I want to tell why I went to that planet in the first place as well. I can't keep it a secret any longer."
Commander Moon looked on in shock. She was intrigued and concerned, and she decided to let Starla into Pitch's office, where Pitch was still sitting at his desk, trying to still hold his pen inside his left hand. Pitch took his visor off the piece of paper to see Starla at the door of his office.
"Hmph..." Pitch muttered as Commander Moon led Starla over to the desk, and as she carefully pulled up an additional chair to the desk for her daughter to sit down at. At the very least, he was curious as to why Starla ran off in the first place. As Starla sat down, he carefully put the pen he was holding down slowly.
"So, the reason I went to that planet was... I was curious about something I heard about when I was at Walderan. I heard about elemental crystals there and... I wanted to know more about them, so, I..." Starla tentatively explained. Moon gasped at the revelation, and Pitch could only just sit there, looking on. "I went in search of the wizard planet to ask if they knew anything about the elemental crystals, but it all ended up like this. I never meant for Uncle Saros to be... -"
Starla hung her head low, obviously feeling very guilty as to what happened, and while Commander Moon was immensely worried, Pitch secretly felt a level of relatability. He felt a similar way to the rose colored bean. Pitch had his interest piqued even through the whirling thoughts and emotions.
"Please, Uncle Pitch... I want to know if there's any way of getting Uncle Saros back. I... I just feel guilty that he's now on that dark planet...!" Starla looked up at Pitch, her visor wet with tears.
While Commander Moon was unsure about what to say to all of that, Pitch was beginning to get his thoughts into place. Starla was still sitting there, looking on, waiting for any kind of response. The whole room felt silent at first, with everyone inside the office unsure about what to do or say. Normally, Lord Pitch wasn't the one for lengthy conversations, but out of his head and heart, an idea sprung out.
"Hm... I think we should rescue Saros." He announced, his heart was comforted a little by the fact he wasn't alone in feeling the way he feels. And he immediately saw that Starla's visor lit up with hope, and while Commander Moon was hesitant to let Starla go out on any dangerous missions like this again, she still had one other concern in her mind.
"Well, alright. But, there is one thing I just remembered: how will you guys be able to pass through the planet's force shield without Saros' help this time?" Moon questioned and reminded them about the protection shield.
The moment Commander Moon said that, Pitch and Starla nearly had their hopes dashed, until Pitch recalled a bit of crucial information he had learnt while all of this was going down.
"Grr... Saros was able to allow us access through the shield with his magic, and Starla somehow fumbled through it with no resistance. There must be a way!" He grumpily retorted, all the while Starla sat there.
"Uhm... How did Uncle Saros get you through the force shield?" Starla innocently asked, looking between her mother and Lord Pitch. The thought was initially daft, but after both beans thought about it for a moment, it seemed to hit Pitch with an idea.
"He used a light shield." Pitch explained briefly, returning back to not talking too much.
"Well, I'm not entirely sure why my shuttle got through that shield, seeing it didn't have a light shield." Starla responded, and at first, Commander Moon and Lord Pitch were unsure. "Isn't there a way to, maybe, mimic Uncle Saros' light shield?"
At first, Lord Pitch and Commander Moon were unsure about this. It seemed to be a tall order, but after some thought, Moon had a small brainwave. "Perhaps if the shuttle had its forceshield on... maybe it has something to do with that?"
All the while, Pitch was sitting there, seemingly lost in his thoughts. He picked the pen up again and gently fiddled with it in between his claws. While it did seem like Pitch was lost in the turmoil of his feelings, he was thinking through the situation, raking his thoughts for clues. The force shield, a shield of light... And Starla was shown little resistance...
"I believe there is some way to solve this conundrum." Pitch said aloud. Both Moon and Starla glanced back at him when he announced it. "It may be that the shuttle that Starla took had a forceshield that interacted with Zudak's barrier the same way as Saros' magical light bubble."
Putting the pen down one last time, Pitch carefully got up from his chair. He walked around the desk with one thought in his head. Commander Moon watched how he walked past, and picked up immediately on his calm and directed attitude. Soon, both Commander Moon and Starla followed suit, getting up and following him.
Pitch had an idea, and he wanted to check it with one of the Blackcrow's engineers. Eventually, after a few minutes, he reached the docking bay and took out his pager. Moon and Starla toddled to catch up soon after.
Pitch grumbled as he fiddled with his pager, attempting to call Flash. "Flash? I need your assistance."
Flash picked up as quickly as he could and responded. "I'm here. What's the matter, Captain Pitch?" He was very much confused but not willing to turn down things.
"I need you to investigate the database of shuttles to mimic the energy of a forceshield." Pitch explained to the best of his ability. Flash on the other side of the call, was at first very much confused as he heard his captain's explanation, but he was determined to assist nonetheless.
"Right. I'm on it." Flash responded. Pitch nodded and murmured in return. All the while this was going on, Starla and Moon were standing beside Pitch, with Starla gently leaning to her mother's side.
Pitch eventually hung up and looked up from the pager. He turned to look at both Commander Moon and Starla. In his mind, while he was heavily infuriated by Saros sometimes, and sometimes for good reason, in his mind, while he was looking around, he for a second could have almost imagined Saros standing there, from the corner of his visor: Things felt nearly unbearably empty somehow... And Saros' last words to Pitch before he left Zudak echoed coldly in Pitch's heart.
"So... this is how much you care about me, Pitch? Thanks for Nothing..." Those words speared Lord Pitch in an undiscovered feeling even now, and it left him confused and hurt so badly. Yet he still couldn't figure out why. But he had an inkling that whatever this feeling was, it was something that maybe if he saved Saros, then maybe, his guilt could be changed and fixed.
Moon looked on at Pitch, glancing with a spark of worry. She noticed that Pitch was yet again stuck in his own world of imagination.
"Captain, I've found the database." A voice from behind reported and interrupted Pitch's unspoken mind. It turns out that, for Flash, it was an easy task to find the correct database. Perhaps, Pitch was way too long in his mind that he forgot about time. Nonetheless, they could continue their new mission to rescue Saros.
The yellow engineer gave him the handheld computer tablet with all the different parts of the database downloaded onto it and visible, all at Lord Pitch's fingertips.
"Good." Was everything that Pitch gave as response and took the handheld screen. Leaving Flash without explanation of why he needed the database.
Flash took all this time to muster up the curiosity and courage to ask why. "For what exactly is the database of the shuttle needed?"
At first, Captain Pitch wasn't giving any answers. Instead, Moon stepped over to Flash and explained everything. "Starla and Captain Pitch want to rescue Commander Saros from the dark planet."
"Another rescue mission, of course. I'll let Captain Hawk know about it." Flash responded and Moon agreed in silence. "Before I head off, is there anything else you need?"
"There is, in fact." Pitch responded. He glanced over to Flash. "I want to know which exact shuttle it was that Starla took out to begin with."
"Of course, Captain." Flash agreed. Both Pitch and Flash shared the tablet computer and looked through the database. Whilst they were searching on the screen together, Pitch then had one other question stuck on his tongue.
"Is it possible for an engineer to mimic the specific energy of the shuttle that Starla used?" Pitch asked, trying his best to keep his emotions calm.
Flash, although, was a little irked about the idea. "In order to mimic the energy shield signature, we gotta know which shuttle it was!" He was flicking through the database, and then had a small brainwave. "Hang on. I'm sure that there's still in the logs the warning that Starla took it..."
Flash tapped and kept scrolling and searching through the handheld tablet's screen with precision and determination. Some minutes seemed to pass by until Flash came across something that made him go "Ah-ha!" as he pointed to the screen.
"I just found the specific log when Starla took a shuttle from the Blackcrow's Hangar, and it has all the specifications listed too." Flash explained, and the other beans around him looked over at him in intrigue.
"So, you can mimic that energy signature, then?" Pitch's impatience grew in secret and asked, his voice hiding a small growl. Starla and Moon were confused but were trying their best to keep track of the conversation the best they could.
"With some patience, I'm sure that it is possible." Flash explained as he kept fiddling with the tablet computer. Pitch gave a small growl as he still wasn't fully satisfied by the response.
"How long is it going to take?" Pitch mumbled aloud. It was clear that he felt there was no time to waste, but Flash kept trying to assure him that it was going to be alright. The scene was somewhat adorable, especially in Moon's visor. To watch Pitch try to work through things like this really spoke volumes about how he truly felt.
"It's not going to be that long. All I'll need to do is to adjust the energy output of the shuttle's forceshield to the exact frequency that was used by the shuttle that Starla took, and hopefully, it'll all work correctly." Flash explained again, which made Lord Pitch mumble again.
All the while Flash and Pitch were exchanging conversations, Moon and Starla were still standing together, but it was clear that Starla had something on her mind. She turned to her mother with a guilty look in her visor.
"I still want to go with Uncle Pitch to help rescue Uncle Saros." She said, every word seemed to hurt but she felt brave in the moment.
Commander Moon was shocked, but at the same time she felt a sense of pride that her daughter had a high will to help in this situation. She gently tugged her daughter into a gentle hug, and Starla hugged her mother in return. Both beans enjoyed the hugs, but they didn't even notice at first that Pitch and Flash had moved over to the shuttle Pitch used to rescue Starla.
The two beans were already trying to figure out how to change the forcefield's settings. But it was a little bit too obvious that Pitch was still impatient, seeing how he was growling and grumbling, and anyone could hear him, regardless. Even Commander Moon let a small giggle out at this scene.
In an unexpected moment, Commander Moon's pager was called. She got it out and noticed it was her dear Hawk. She immediately answered, as Captain Hawk was worried where both Moon and Starla had gone off to. Moon reassured her husband that she and Starla were alright, and that they had been with Pitch.
Intrigued, Captain Hawk then responded. "Hm. Where are you currently?" The purple captain was back at the bridge with Berry and a few other crewmembers, and he hadn't heard from Pitch, Moon or Starla in a little while. Moon explained quite calmly that she and Starla were in the shuttle bay helping Pitch with something.
This piqued Hawk's curiosity. "I'm going to make my way down there, my strawberry." He said but in a curious nature. What Hawk was actually curious about was what Moon was talking about with Pitch. She did toddle off in quite a worrisome hurry earlier, after all.
"Berry? Could you keep an eye out on the bridge for a moment? I need to check on something in the shuttle bay." Captain Hawk explained as he walked out of the bridge, turning his pager off and putting it back in his pocket as he did so.
Berry nodded and responded with an: "Aye, will do." Just as the purple captain was about to step out of the bridge. He was intrigued, but thought nothing of it afterwards. Besides, he needed to keep an eye out on the bridge, and just in case anything outside in space was to sneak up on the Blackcrow.
Back at the Shuttle Bay, the alterations to the shuttle to reenter Zudak's atmosphere were nearly complete. Pitch was still feeling impatient: Something inside him was calling out, he didn't want to waste any more time as he had to make things right and save Saros... That was all that he could think about.
Flash was just about finished with the alterations when he went to the door of the shuttle to explain something. "Well, I've made all the alterations to the shuttle's forceshield. I only need to briefly test the forceshield, Captain. It'll only be for a second, just to check I calibrated things correctly."
Lord Pitch gave a small humph before responding. "Alright, Flash." He turned to Commander Moon and Starla next and walked off to a safe distance. Moon and Starla followed suit, and they all moved back to the wall of the Shuttle Bay to allow Flash to test the forceshield.
The yellow engineer flipped a switch in the cockpit of the shuttle, and for a second, a thumming sound and a flash of light flared to life. In a split second, a bubble of glowing energy surrounded the shuttle, which took on a similar hue to Zudak's magical shield, but a bit more simple and flat in its colors. The readings that were on the instruments in the cockpit made Flash feel confident he did a good job, so he turned the forceshield off. The light bubble burst and the humming stopped.
Starla and Pitch were looking on both in intrepid excitement. Finally, they were one step closer to rescuing Saros... For Starla, Uncle Saros had been a part of her life, nearly a part of her family, for her entire life. And while Pitch knew Saros for much longer, he still could not put a claw on the feelings in his heart for that wizard. All he knew was that he was wrong for abandoning him like that when he needed it the most.
While Flash packed up most of his equipment and jumped out of the shuttle, the door to the shuttle bay opened, and a familiar purple figure walked in. Captain Hawk immediately rushed over to his wife and daughter to make sure they were all doing alright. Commander Moon happily embraced him in a hug, happy to see him. Starla briefly skipped over to her father as well, even if she had a lot of guilt in her body.
"Might I ask what's going on?" Captain Hawk asked the small group. But it was Lord Pitch who spoke up to explain the situation.
"I, along with Starla, are going to rescue Saros from Zudak." Pitch explained, his confidence unwavering, but his voice cracked with intrepidation.
"WHAT?!" Hawk almost had to physically hold himself back from exclaiming too loudly. "Haven't you already seen how powerful those wizards are? Are you truly sure to go down there one more time only to get yourself and my daughter into even more danger?!"
Pitch felt his heartbeat, and he responded with a growl: "I'm sick of leaving people behind. Saros is an important part of our crew. And I refuse to leave this dark space sector without him."
Hawk was taken aback by what Pitch just said. Reeling, the purple captain turned to Starla, and was about to try and talk to her about it, but Starla glanced at Pitch for a second.
"Dad? Uncle Saros... I want to help get him back safely. He... He's on that dark, cold and frightening planet because of me. I miss him too." She confessed, which struck a hidden nerve in Hawk further, but he couldn't find any anger or resistance in his being. All he had swimming about his head was a bundle of mixed emotions and memories springing up of his past...
Some images formed in Hawk's mind of the past crew he was in with Pitch. While on most times he had nothing but good memories, there were a few which weren't the best that he had tried to suppress, but in that moment, it all came flooding back to him...
"Pitch?! What are you doing?!" A voice called out in the haze. Pitch stopped and turned around to face them. He had a look about him that looked dire, but he had no other choice.
"There is nothing we can do. We're leaving Akarus." The young Captain Pitch said, his voice steeped with heavy guilt and responsibility. The young Commander Hawk could not believe what he just heard from his commanding officer.
"No, we can't just leave our valuable crewmembers here!" The young purple commander rebuked in a desperate panic. "I'm certain there MUST be a way to cure them or-"
"... I'm sorry, Commander Hawk... But we have to leave them behind." Pitch, wearing a serious but secretly guilty expression. He tried to take a step away, but Hawk reached out to grab his captain's hand. Pitch tried to wrestle his arm away from Hawk's grasp but he couldn't bear to show such aggression to him, even if it was warranted. "There is nothing we can do! The doctors said that, and if we stay, we're putting everyone else in jeopardy!"
Commander Hawk's desperation and determination made his visor flood with tears. Sweat from his panic and defiance came off his body, but Pitch, while it hurt him deeply, couldn't let himself be swayed.
"P-Please, Captain Pitch...! You can't just abandon them! You can't just abandon-!" Commander Hawk was begging, but he felt Captain Pitch's arm worm its way out of his grasp. He looked up with a gasp, only to see Pitch look on, and all his captain did was slowly shake his head before turning to walk off. Hawk stood there, looking on, with tears streaming from his face. "No no no no no no! Pitch! Y-You can't!"
It took all of his strength, but he followed Pitch to the bridge... only to see that Pitch had ordered the crew to take off. It was too late. They were leaving...
After that flashback faded to reality, Hawk's mind went back to the present, and everything became clearer somehow. A deep sigh and breath was the only thing which Hawk could do, before his own temper slid away from him. Only Moon came to the realization that her husband wasn't feeling well. She saw how he clenched one of his hands into a fist and almost hyperventilated in front of Flash and his daughter. Before that could happen, Captain Hawk made the conscious decision to just simply turn and rush out the hangar and back to the bridge.
His wife knew all too well about this typical behavior of him, and watched her husband briskly walk out the room. Captain Pitch was aware as well that something wasn't right with him, but he didn't want to waste more time to save Saros and went back to the yellow engineer.
"So, everything's ready?" Pitch wanted to know with an irritated humph. Flash turned to him and nodded.
"Yes, Sir." He replied. Without even a moment's notice, Pitch then walked off towards the shuttle with enough determination in his steps. Starla wandered behind him, and Moon watched on as both of them disembarked. While she was well aware that Starla wanted to help in the rescue attempt, she still couldn't help but worry.
Rushing over to the two just before they got onto the shuttle, Moon flagged them down to quickly see them off.
"Please stay safe out there." Commander Moon wanted to make sure, and they only nodded to varying degrees of enthusiasm.
And with that, Pitch and Starla climbed into the shuttle. With Starla sat at the back seat of the shuttle and Pitch sat at the main controls, the two beans were ready to disembark on their mission. Starting up the shuttle's engines, there was no turning back now.
Moon and Flash moved clear of the shuttle as Pitch started up the engines. The bay doors creaked open, a thin energy membrane kept the air in. Pitch took the helm and guided the shuttle as it taxied towards the bay doors. With a flick of a switch, the engines of the shuttles roared awake, and they set off. Moon watched on as the shuttle sped out of the open doors and into space, wishing with all her heart for her daughter and Captain Pitch's safety.
The shuttle soon erected its bubble of light, and Pitch carefully maneuvered it as they sped clear of the Blackcrow. Next stop: Zudak.
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Chapter was written by MoonlueArt and Inverted-Opal57