Once they all woke up, they moved like a crew. They checked each other's ammo, weapon cleanliness, sword sharpness, and did inventory checks of what they still had. When they left out and rejoined the group below, Rixon realized that the planetary military had joined up and was helping them with the final push to recapture the city capital, as they were looking to make it the planet's momentary capital because of the strength the rebellion had shown.
Rixon and the crew helped them push for the next three days to the center of the city and the huge town hall building that the Yornkata were holding up at. Once they helped them, the leaders of the camps—excluding the sergeant that had asked them—immediately exiled them and told them to be gone before they killed off their little startup mob family.
Rixon could only laugh about the situation, and he and his crew of twenty-six marched to where his ship was.
When he got there, Masinon and Kiala came outside to see him first.
"Yo, Rixon, who are all the newcomers? I see even a little bit of my kin in this group." Masinon said as he stepped in front of Rixon before he got on the ship.
"They are a part of the family now." Rixon said as his eyebrow arched up.
"What are you talking about, 'family'?" Kiala said as her jaw slightly dropped.
"Thank me—Doctor Sentio. We got a lot to do to get us to the other side of the galaxy, my friends." Sentio said as he pushed Rixon and dodged a couple of air punches from Rixon's return fire.
Oyric slowly came down the ramp with a somber face and emotional tone about her steady walk. She noticed for a moment that her brother had found someone he could relax with but wished it was at a better time.
"Yo, Oyricy, you came to greet me too. Guys, you do know we have a spot on the ship where we can do this. We have literally just fought a part of a war that's not even ours." Rixon said as he had a playful smirk on his face.
"Lo died, Rixy." She said, still and cold.
Rixon's demeanor flipped, and he walked up to his sister and hugged her. "It's okay. I got you. I don't care at the moment how it happened, but there is someone I know is more torn up about this than you. Where is Rel?"
"You know him well. He'll only see me. But at the moment, he is holed up in the training room. Punching non-stop and barely eating. It's like he is working out to get it out. I found him on the floor yesterday, passed out from dehydration." Oyric said as she shed a couple of tears on her brother's hoodie.
Rixon took off his hoodie and became shirtless. He took off his shoes and socks, then stretched his back. "Look, everyone, I'm not a badass, and I'm not flexing. In this family, you will learn everyone copes differently. Right now, one of my brothers is not coping correctly and risking his health, and the only thing he understands is violence, so I must go give him violence to help him understand this is unhealthy. If it becomes any one of you, I will not give you violence unless that is the only language you choose to learn. As for the new family members, pick any one of the rooms for yourself. Four of you will have to room with each other. We got two rooms with bunks, so go get comfortable. I'll see everyone in the morning with my brother, and we will leave this planet the right way. But for right now, leave me and him to our devices."
Rixon walked up the ramp and went to the training room where he saw Relisis.
Relisis wanted him to go, but he didn't leave. Rixon stood barely a chance, as he knew Rel was a master of close combat who focused only on landing blows when he was emotional. He spent the rest of the night dodging him and punching him, making him explain what happened.
Relisis's fists came fast and hard, driven by grief that had no other outlet. Rixon deflected where he could, took hits where he couldn't, and kept pushing back—not to win, but to exhaust.
"Tell me what happened!" Rixon shouted as he blocked a hook.
"He stayed!" Relisis roared, throwing another combination. "He fucking stayed, and I left him!"
"You got Oyric out!"
"I should have gone back!"
"He told you to go!"
"I should have fought him on it!" Relisis's voice cracked, and his punches became wilder, desperate.
Rixon caught one, twisted, and drove his knee into Relisis's ribs. Not to hurt—to ground him.
"He made his choice so you could make yours! Don't dishonor it by killing yourself in this room!"
Relisis swung again, but his body was giving out. Rixon ducked under it and delivered a clean uppercut that sent Relisis stumbling back.
"Lo died so you could live! So fucking live!"
Relisis charged one more time, but his legs buckled. Rixon caught him, and they both went down to the mat.
At the end, Rel was knocked unconscious, with Rixon barely able to stand. Bruises covered his body.
They both woke up in the storage-turned-medic bay where Rel apologized, and Rixon accepted it and told him someone now had to protect his sister all the time, no matter what.
"She's yours to keep safe now," Rixon said quietly. "That's what he wanted. That's what she needs."
Relisis nodded, eyes red but clear for the first time in days.
"I won't let him down."
"Good. Now eat something before Oyric drags you out by your neck."
For the first time since Lo's death, Relisis smiled.