Kaila had been terrified as they ran, terrified as they encountered the cruxi, terrified even as the Spartan volunteered to stay behind. Had she faced the Cruxi before? Of course. Had she seen people face certain death? Make heroic actions? Die so others may live? Of course she has. It was most likely that she was the only living witness to the heroic sacrifices of dozens, hundreds of men and women who held the line in her home colony. 

Did it ever get easier for her? No. It never should - and Lord help those form which it did. 

Staying near Katyusha and Phoebe as they made their way through the halls, when they made it into the hangar bay Kaila saw the most heartening thing she saw all day. There, right in the hanger, standing beside the [i]Izanagi[/i] was Airick Skye. 

More importantly, standing right there on her hanger was her father. 

Resisting the urge to simply leap up and embrace him with every ounce of discipline she had, knowing that her father had many things to take care of in order to get them off of the station alive, she simply remained calm. However, that did not change the fact she had been heartened by her father's presence. Her father was here; they were safe now. 

XXXXX

As reports came in and Airick helplessly listened to the sounds of the increasingly desperate battle offworld, he had been tapping his feet with all the impatience and worry of an officer, a soldier and a father. He kept his glances switched between various reports and the field from which the pilots were supposed to come. As the Framework loaded supplies and materials onto the [i]Izanagi[/i] and the crewmen got onboard, Airick's foot kept tapping even in the middle of a conversation. 

Then, he heard voices from the halls. Looking towards the hall, he saw the pilots coming. They were safe. [i]She[/i] was safe. The fact that Kaila had made it relieved him to no end, and even as Lorenzo approached him his foot stopped tapping. Although he did not say anything to Kaila, he gave her a reassuring nod that everything was going to be all right. 

Now he just hoped he could keep that promise. 

"Well," Airick reported to Lorenzo, "The supplies are loaded, the Frameworks are loaded, the pilots are clambering in, the weapons and systems have passed all the pre launch checks we could do under the circumstances, the ship is complete with no engineering errors reported and we have enough ammunition to supply an entire battlegroup of cruisers. All of the crew are at general quarters and awaiting instructions.

All we need now," he concluded, lowering the datapad to look at Lorenzo, "is the power source."