Chapter Text
The Homecomer Assembly was… a lot. Hipper knew exactly what to expect when she decided to accept Laurent’s invitation. Everything she anticipated to happen happened, namely a bickering match with Lyncis, getting threatened by several pirates and receiving cold glares from people who used to be her friends. She could handle these things and would do it a hundred times more just to have a chance to pay respect to Granny Lola at her funeral.
However, what occurred after that took her by surprise and not in a good way. It started with Laurent’s ambush and ended with Anchor Infinity showing up. But what was shocking the most was when she learned that Laurent and his crew were responsible for Granny Lola’s death, not the Hope Fleet. On top of that, Hipper found out that the nomad under Lyncis’ care was from Aida, which meant the hope to return to their origin planet could become a reality.
Even though her dream to explore space was unwavering, her future with the Hope Fleet was uncertain. The organization was founded with the purpose of helping Kailians find their new home. Now that they knew Aida was reachable, anything could happen, such as the Fleet being dissolved. Hipper trained her whole life to become a Captain, so would that mean anything anymore?
Her pondering moved on from an unpleasant topic to another as she was sitting on a couch in her office. She could use a drink right now or a talk with someone, and there was only one person who would understand her. It was late and she did not want to bother Aster, who usually worked more than she should. Just when Hipper made up her mind and decided to save the talk for tomorrow, her communication device beeped.
And of course, Aster was calling her.
“Hey Aster,” Hipper picked up right away as she knew hearing Aster’s voice would make her feel better.
“Cap… Chief, are you back? Is everything all right?” the ex-First Mate asked with concern.
“Yeah,” Hipper lied in hopes to lessen Aster’s worries… for now. “We can talk about everything tomorrow, okay?”
Her suggestion was ignored as she expected.
“Are you home or in your office?”
“I’m in my office, but-…”
“All right. I’ll see you in five.”
Aster cut her off and hung up right away, which prompted Hipper to chuckle with affection. Her former crewmate was always so loyal and caring to the point that Lyncis put a thought in Hipper’s head that Aster was secretly in love with her. Little did Lyncis know that it was the other way around. Certainly, Aster’s constant concern about how she felt or the fact that she chose to stay by her side after their crew was disbanded was a bit unusual for a coworker or even a friend, but their relationship had been strictly professional. Even though they hung out more and spent alone time together more often once they were stationed in OreZero Nexus, Aster still treated her like a boss and referred to her as Captain or Chief even when they were not working. These incidents diminished Hipper’s hope to get closer to her, so she could only chase the thought away, not to mention that there were many much more important things to think about right now.
It did not take long until she heard Aster’s voice through the speaker at the door.
“Chief, I’m here.”
“Come on in,” Hipper responded.
After the sound of the 4-digit password being input, Aster walked in. It was not surprising that she was still in her regular white outfit, given how hard she worked. Hipper stood up to greet her only to be met with a worried expression.
“I saw the news about Laurent and his crew getting arrested. Did they start a fight? Were you hurt?”
Aster’s tone matched the look on her face before her sight began to roam on Hipper’s body in order to check for injury. If it was a different circumstance, Hipper would blush so hard right now.
“I’m okay,” Hipper assured her. “I actually didn’t do anything much because that Authorizer took care of everything.”
“Authorizer?” her coworker asked with confusion.
“Remember that girl who said she was Lyncis’ new employee?” Hipper said and only continued after receiving a nod. “Turns out she’s actually an executor from Hykros… on Aida, and she’s the one who brought Carrot back.”
“You mean the Aida?” Aster exclaimed. “As in the planet?”
“Yeah, I know it’s hard to believe and a lot to take in, but it’s all true.”
“So it’s possible for us to travel there? After fifty years, the homecomers’ wish finally came true,” Aster got lost in her thoughts. “I’m not sure how to feel.”
Hipper knew exactly what she meant regarding their future, but it was a long way to go now, so she told her comrade so.
“There’s still a lot to do. It was a miracle that the Authorizer’s spaceship survived the spacetime turbulence and arrived in Kailo vicinity without any harm.”
“What’s going to happen to the Hope Fleet?” the shorter woman nervously asked the question that had been on Hipper’s mind.
“I’m sure they still need us to find a new planet as a back-up plan, and we’ll be the ones who navigate people to Aida if we can find a safe route. But after that, I honestly don’t know.”
Clouded with uncertainty, Aster did not say anything and moved to sit on a couch. At this moment, all Hipper wanted to do was to comfort her, so she brought up a lighter topic.
“Speaking of the Fleet, I’ve just found out that the Violet Crew was behind Lola’s death, not the Fleet,” Hipper informed and added. “Once the news is out, the nomads and the homecomers will see us in a different light.”
Her words put a smile on Aster’s face before she replied.
“Laurent and his crew will be behind bars for a long time, and you and Lyncis can be close again like before.”
The mention of her foster sister caused Hipper to rub her brows and sighed.
“She’s already mad at me about something else.”
“What happened?”
“So Rapha said I could be Captain again and even offered to lend us Nova Genesis with hundreds of crew members, researchers and droids.”
“That’s a great offer,” Aster opined, yet her smile became dry and forced due to her family’s history with Anchor Infinity.
“Don’t worry. I already declined it,” Hipper immediately said. “But Lyncis was mad at me for not accepting it. She had me thinking about how much we could do with this ship. She even wanted to join me and said we would be far away from Anchor’s reach during exploration. What do you think?”
Aster answered after a few seconds. “I think we can do all that with Asher.”
“Asher is still getting fixed and it can take months. I know how much you love to explore space. What if this is our last chance to do that before we have to move to Aida? What if this is how we find an inhabitable planet even before that?”
Once again, Aster remained quiet, her expression unreadable. Suddenly, she stood up and uttered.
“In that case, I’ll expedite the repair operation.”
“No, you don’t have to do that. I don’t want you to overwork yourself,” Hipper quickly told her. “Besides, I haven’t decided if I should change my mind about the offer yet.”
“Understood,” Aster replied while avoiding her eyes, her tone was robotic and distant. “And whether you accept the offer or not, I’ll respect your decision.”
With concern, Hipper paced towards her, but Aster was already heading for the door and announced.
“I should head back to Ravenport.”
Knowing Aster would probably tinker with their ship some more, especially after their conversation, Hipper said solemnly.
“I hate to do this, but please get some rest as soon as you get home. That’s an order.”
The brunette with teal streaks simply nodded over her shoulder and left.
Her demeanor indicated that she was upset and Hipper knew why. Guilt instantly consumed her and she wished she never asked for Aster’s opinion in the first place. She should follow her and apologize now, yet she was afraid of saying the wrong thing again. Aster probably needed some time to process everything too, so Hipper could only sigh and head back to her apartment.