The silence in the medical chamber was thick, almost sacred. Machines blinked gently, casting a soft glow on the walls. The steady beep of a heart monitor was the only sound in the room.
Then, a soft rustle.
A flicker beneath closed eyelids.
And finally, after two long, breathless months... Captain Kaizu opened his eyes.
The white ceiling above him looked unfamiliar, too sterile. His vision was blurry, but the brightness stabbed into his skull like a needle. For a moment, he couldn't tell if he had woken up... or crossed into something beyond life. His body felt foreign. His chest was bound tightly in bandages, his breath shallow and ragged.
He tried to move, his arm lifted barely an inch before dropping back onto the bed. Even that made his ribs throb in protest. His strength was gone, drained by the cosmic radiation that had nearly ended him during the Power Source war. But pain wasn't new to Kaizu. Pain was familiar. Expected.
What he hadn't expected was the silence.
Then... the door hissed open.
Kaizu turned his head slowly, his bones groaning beneath his skin.
Commander Skye entered the room, but not in uniform. Her hair was tied back hastily, her eyes hollow from sleepless nights. A sling wrapped around her shoulder, the scar beneath barely healing. Her posture was stiff but not from injury. It was something else.
She didn't greet him.
She didn't smile.
Instead, she crossed the room, pulled up a chair and dropped a thick pile of physical news reports onto his lap.
The weight of them wasn't much, but to Kaizu's weakened body, it felt like stone.
His gaze dropped to the top headline, printed in massive red letters
"Earth has been Destroyed, Galactic Federation Fails."
He stared at it for several seconds. His hands didn't shake but his jaw clenched ever so slightly. His chest rose, then fell. His expression unreadable, but the silence around him... cracked.
Skye didn't speak. She didn't need to. The headlines spoke louder than any accusation.
Images of burning cities, the crying faces of alien refugees, and protest crowds storming Federation buildings were printed on every page.
Kaizu slowly pushed the stack aside and sat up, ignoring the pain flaring through his back.
"How many...?" he rasped, his voice raw, barely human.
Skye hesitated.
"Nine billion. Maybe more." Her voice was quiet.
"Most were human. The rest were species who'd sought protection on Earth after the first wars."
Silence again.
Then Kaizu swung his legs over the bed.
"Kaizu" Skye moved toward him, concerned.
"You're not ready."
"I'm awake," he muttered, standing anyway. "That's enough."
He moved slowly,
grabbing the edge of the wall for balance. His knees buckled for a moment, but he didn't fall. Every step was agony but he'd marched through worse. He reached a small locker and found a folded Federation tunic. He didn't bother with the uniform jacket. He pulled the shirt over his bandaged torso, wincing. Let them see he was hurt. Let them see he was still standing.
As they stepped into the hallway, reality struck like a slap.
The Galactic Federation HQ was a hive of panic. Officers and staff darted from room to room, shouting into comms, carrying datapads, reviewing reports. Protest messages blinked across holo screen
Kaizu said nothing as they passed the central hub. His presence did not go unnoticed.
A young soldier, barely out of training, stopped in his tracks when he saw him.
"C-Captain…?" he gasped.
Heads turned. Eyes widened.
A woman dropped her tablet, her mouth trembling in disbelief.
"Captain Kaizu… is awake."
And then whispers turned into waves. One by one, officers turned to stare. Some smiled in relief. Others were too stunned to react. For months they'd wondered if he would ever return. Now, the man who had once stood between them and oblivion had returned from the edge of death.
Kaizu gave a single, slight nod. His face remained calm, but his eyes scanned the chaos like a man reading a battlefield. So much had changed... and not for the better.
"How long?" he asked, not turning his head.
"Two months," Skye answered softly,
walking beside him. "Since the Source War."
He didn't respond.
His hands clenched as they passed a massive viewscreen showing live footage of a riot on Planet Drayeon one of Earth's former trade partners.
"Commander Skye," a voice called through the hallway speakers,
"The press council demands an update on the Captain's condition. Immediately."
Skye sighed,
then turned to him.
"When's the press conference?" she asked hesitantly.
"They want answers."
Kaizu didn't blink. His answer came sharp, cold, final.
"Tomorrow."
Skye's breath caught.
"But you just woke up. You can't even stand without"
"I said tomorrow."
His voice sliced through her protest like a blade.
And that was it. No more words. Just the look in his eyes, the same one he'd had when he led the charge into the Cyclon Void during the Fourth War. The same one he'd had when he faced Borarah alone.
He wasn't a symbol of peace anymore, now, he was something else.
Something the Universe needed more than ever.
The next day dawned heavy and grey over the Galactic Federation Headquarters. The skies above the Second Universe's core hub seemed darker than usual,as if the stars themselves refused to shine.
Inside the grand Federation press hall, there was no silence. Not anymore.
A sea of flashing lights, tangled wires, and shouting voices filled the massive chamber. Reporters from all four corners of Eternity had gathered, some from underwater kingdoms, some from floating crystal cities, and others who spoke in binary through robotic drones. No seat was left empty. No aisle was clear.
The smell of tension lingered stronger than ozone.
Cameras hovered above like mechanical vultures, hungry for a headline. Protesters outside the dome screamed through holoscreens and holograms. Their voices echoed faintly through the reinforced walls
"Earth is gone!, Kaizu must pay!"
And then, he appeared.
Captain Kaizu.
He entered the hall slowly, each step sending a silent wave through the crowd. His uniform hung looser on his frame than before. The bandages beneath his coat were hidden, but the fatigue wasn't. His once-perfect posture was now stained with exhaustion. The man who had once stood alone against an army looked... mortal.
But his eyes, those remained unchanged. Sharp. Watchful. Cold with clarity.
He stepped onto the stage and sat behind the long black desk, Federation symbols shining like ghosts behind him. He said nothing for a moment. Just stared at the sea of alien faces, blinking lights, and trembling hands holding microphones.
The press conference begans.
"Captain Kaizu!"
A shrill voice rose above the rest. A bird like alien reporter from Zooria Planet flapped her wings in fury.
"Why were you late to respond? Earth was under attack and you were in a coma! Or were you just... sleeping while we burned?!
"
Kaizu didn't blink. His jaw clenched, but he didn't respond.
Another voice followed flat, mechanical, and merciless.
"Your defense grid failed, Captain."
A robotic journalist from the Chrome Rings leaned forward, its optical sensors recording every micro-expression.
"Was that due to system malfunction... or budget negligence? Or perhaps... incompetence?"
Gasps rippled across the room.
Then came the venom. A snake like senator from the Third Moon leaned in, smiling with teeth too sharp to be trusted.
"Has Borarah evolved, Captain... or have you simply lost your edge?"
Kaizu's hands tightened around the mic.
And then, the final question so soft, yet the most devastating.
A human reporter from Mars stood, eyes rimmed with red.
"My family was on Earth."
He held up a charred picture of a girl with dimples.
"My daughter... she wanted to be like you. What will you do for us now, Kaizu? What will you do for the dead?"
Even the questions are cruel, Kaizu answered Politely as the mistake is on them, and lose is occured because them. He has to take responsibility.
After a long., press conference,he took a breath.
"That's all for today."
And he stood.
The press hall exploded into screams.
"You can't walk away!"
"Answer the questions!"
"Face the families!"
But Kaizu didn't stop.
He turned, shoulders stiff, and began walking down the long corridor behind the stage. His footsteps echoed like thunder in the marble hallway slow, steady, unwilling to break.
Cameras floated after him. Microphones pushed past guards. Reporters ducked under velvet barriers, their desperation louder than their sense.
Suddenly, a young man burst through the crowd, shoving Federation soldiers out of his way.
"MOVE! I NEED TO SPEAK TO HIM!"
He had black hair, a sharp gaze. A superhuman just like kaizu. His ID badge flared "Candid News Network".
"Captain Kaizu, just ONE QUESTION!"
Security tackled him to the floor. A microphone cracked underfoot. More people surged forward. Protesters threw small objects, papers, badges, even a broken piece of a scorched Earth flag.
None hit him.
Kaizu didn't look back. Not once.
He walked away with a silence that screamed louder than the crowd behind him. And as he disappeared down the corridor, the world behind him fell further into fire.
In that moment, no one could say if he was a hero or a failure.
But all of them knew one thing:
, The galaxy had changed.
And Kaizu, whether the people loved him or hated him but he
Was still its center.