Tears carved clean tracks through the soot on her cheeks.

Lyra wasn't just a pilot; she was a symbol. The "WarTech" initiative had engineered her for maximum synchronization with the ship's AI. To the citizens of the colonies, she was the invincible teen hero. But as the hull groaned under the pressure of a void-breach, the "Star" was fading.

She didn't eject. Instead, she pushed the Aegis-7 into a terminal burn, interposing her ship between the enemy railgun fire and the transport. The impact was a silent bloom of white light against the black of space.