At the Basin of Trass, inside the base, the Tartarusios was undergoing constant repairs. The mechanics and engineering crew worked on the massive ship nonstop. It had been two months since the crew had arrived at the base, and still it was not fully finished. More than thirty mechanics were working on the ship; eight of them were the crew's own. They worked hand in hand with the others to get the vessel ready as soon as possible. All of the ship's mechanics were young—guys in their early to mid-twenties.
The head of the mechanic department was Noah. Slightly older than the rest at thirty-three, he was tall and handsome, with glossy black hair swept back and dark green eyes. His muscular build came from countless hours spent in the hangar patching up the ship and tuning the Orbitons. Working beside him were his seven mechanics.
Carl, a scrawny twenty-two-year-old, didn't look like he could lift a wrench at first glance—but that assumption would be very wrong. His brown hair was always messy and dirty from hours crawling under the ship and into parts no one else dared enter. Yet he never hesitated. Whenever he slid beneath the machinery, his blue eyes gleamed with the same excitement as the first day. He loved the ship and everyone aboard it, and he would do anything to help.
Lucas, on the other hand, was more of a slacker. At twenty-six he was tall and lean, with an oval face framed by curly brown bangs. His deep brown eyes always looked sleepy. He spent most nights staying up late watching shows and animated series, and every morning he cursed the gods for giving him such a tough job. Still, he didn't hate the work—only the waking-up part. It was always a drag for him.
Quinn was different from the others. He had joined the crew some time ago, coming from a distant, now-destroyed planet. Many on the crew shared the same tragic fate. At twenty-four, his black eyes were always shadowed with sadness. His long black hair, tied back in a bun, swayed gently as he sat alone atop the star room, gazing into the void and remembering his lost world. He was decent at the job but still learning. After all, it was Noah who reached out and offered him a place—an offer Quinn accepted.
Jamie and Leo were always together—inseparable buddies. Jamie was the hot-tempered one. At twenty-two, he often got mad at the pilots when they broke things that weren't meant to take damage or be exposed. Thankfully, Leo was always there to smooth things over with his sharp tongue. Jamie had short brown hair and black eyes—unlike Leo, who was blond and the same age. Leo kept his hair long enough to slick it back, and his calm blue eyes could defuse almost any situation as long as his silver tongue held up.
Ethan, twenty-five, was most often found around the Orbitons. His dream had been to become a pilot, but a failed implant operation—mandatory for piloting an Orbiton—had shattered that hope. He didn't let it break him. Instead, he set out to learn everything about Orbitons and master their maintenance. You would often find him atop one, sweat dripping from his short ginger-red hair, his green eyes unwavering. No matter the obstacle, he found the problem and fixed it.
Morgan, however, was an ex-pilot of the Terrian Empire. He had crashed on a faraway planet and somehow made his way to Antia. There he met Oscar and the others. After hearing his story, they invited him to join—but he accepted only under one condition: he would never pilot an Orbiton again. He hated bloodshed and had been forced into Terrian service to pay off debts. Now that he was free, he refused to step inside one of those war machines. At twenty-eight, he kept his blond hair neatly slicked back and his brown eyes shone even in the faintest light. The crew trusted him—even though he was an ex-Terrian pilot—because he had earned that trust through hard work and reliability.
While the mechanic crew continued their work on the ship, Gabriel and Edward were inside the engine room scanning the control unit for unseen system damage. Both were part of the engineering crew led by Nolan. Gabriel, thirty-one, stood on par with the Empire's greatest engineers and scientists. He wasn't only skilled with his hands—he was a brilliant hacker, capable of infiltrating any known system without being detected. He had a chubby build, brown hair swept back, and black eyes fixed on the screen. There was nothing he couldn't bypass.
Edward was simpler. At the same age as Gabriel, he stood tall and slightly skinny. He had light-brown curly hair and brown eyes. He had studied engineering on his home planet, and at twenty-five he boarded a cargo ship to reach Antia, where he became well known for his construction and engineering skills. After meeting Oscar, he decided to join the crew of this marvelously engineered ship and continue learning for himself.
Things on the ship were wrapping up quickly. But just as progress was being made, out in the void, General Rozasar's fleet was nearing the doorstep of Antia.