“I feel heavier,” Shadow Flash commented.

Dane hefted up a crate onto a maglev pallet before kicking it towards the door and watching it skid lightly across the deck plates before being caught by a drone.

“Yeah, your planet’s gravity is a little lower than our home worlds’. Eighty three percent of normal Earth gravity; not too noticeable.”

“This still feels weird,” he said.

Gin walked by hauling a huge weapons locker, “Yeah? Well try training on a high gravity gym for a few years and tell me how you feel. Wherever I go it feels weird.”

She pushed the crate into a cargo elevator and tapped the icon on the pad near the door. The doors closed and the locker was headed down to a cargo bay. Gin wiped her head and glanced at their work.

The top deck of their commandeered ship had been cleared out. Empty. No more useless military technology cluttered the floors. In front of them were a series of large windows that wrapped all the way around them in a geometric rectangular frame. Towards the rear of the deck was an upper balcony area taken up by seats and chairs for officers to sit and relax. Underneath the balcony was a small bar surrounded by more seats. Two elevators were on either side of the deck and a door in the back led to other parts of the ship.

“I was talking about being on an alien spaceship,” Shadow Flash said walking towards one of the large windows and tapping the glass. Behind it was a view of a lush green and blue world. White clouds painted its surface. Near the horizon was darkness, signaling the beginning of the planet’s night side. Lights of faraway cities could be seen.

“Oh that,” Dane said, “Yeah I suppose that would feel a little weird. What’s really weird is when you fall out of the sky onto that place.”

Dane pointed at the planet.

“How is that weird?”

“Uh, dude we grew up in space in a civilization that had godlike technology. Falling into a Steampunk Garden of Eden wasn’t exactly on my list of things I expected to be doing at this point in my life.”

“Still weird.”

“Yeah, yeah, lock it down you two. There’s still the matter of interior decorating this place.”

“I thought you said this was an observation deck and officers’ lounge,” Shadow Flash said.

“It is,” Gin walked over to the bar and stood behind it and tapped the counter, pulling up a display, “Problem is that when we got this damn thing it was being refurbished and upgraded. Fortunately most of the systems were finished else we couldn’t even fly the thing but some garbage just didn’t get finished. Like the carpets here, the furniture there, the drinks here, yadda, yadda, yadda.”

“So he wants to have the wedding here? In this room?”

“Uh, yeah, kinda the point of coming up here where ya know, all the cameras and media AREN’T,” Gin said leaving the bar.

“I mean this room looks giant metal box. How are we gonna decorate this thing? I certainly hope you don’t plan on getting a team of interior decorators up here.”

The doors to the deck opened up and Jett stepped inside and wiped his head. He tapped the implant on his neck and grabbed his cane off a nearby table and limped towards the windows.

“Everything’s locked up downstairs,” he said, “Ya know, now that there’s really no purpose for this giant weapon ship other than a marriage venue for us, I was thinking after this was all over we could do something cool with this place.”

Dane frowned, “Ignoring the fact we have other stuff to do at the moment, like what?”

“I don’t know. Private yacht or something? This thing is rated for atmosphere. We could do something cool with it.”

“Let’s worry about decorating this room first,” Gin yawned, “We need more chairs, carpet for the deck, flowers, shit shit shit shit shit shit shit.”

A silence filled the room. Jett yawned.

“Any ideas?” Dane asked.

Jett glanced over at the bar display. Ship schematics were running across the screen. Then he smiled.

“To the database!”

***

Spitfire yawned as she stared at the glistening star in the night sky. She had to admit that Jett did come up with a nice place to have their wedding. Though it wasn’t an elegant Cliffside ceremony that her mother wanted or the romantic waterfall thing that Fleetfoot wanted for hers, it certainly would be nice.

The HQ lights were still on as everyone mingled with each other from the day’s events, a typical evening. She held up her hand and lined up the ring on her finger to the star in the sky and watched them glisten off each other.

A rustling in the grass to her right got her attention.

“Still can’t believe it,” Fleetfoot laughed.

“Still can’t believe what?” Spitfire smiled.

“You’re getting married. Married. And that it’s been six years since that kid that crashed into the ground right over there arrived with his extended family.”

“It’s been a bit of a ride I’ll admit. But… it’s been our ride; all of ours. And it got us here so that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah…”

“Ya know, before I left six years ago I honestly would not have seen myself being here, living this, right now.”

“Honestly I don’t think any of us would have really expected to be in this situation right now.”

“What? You mean ordering all that food that we’re gonna have to fit onto a shuttle? Because it’s kinda weird when you have to explain just where everything is going to be delivered to the catering company.”

“Runway number two,” Fleetfoot laughed.

“And I sent the invitations out.”

“How many people did you invite?”

“Just the teams and my family.”

“Teams?”

“Well, Jett has his team and I have mine. Plus his crew had a bit of a bit of a hand in the proposal so I kinda had to invite them.”

“They seemed pretty nice when we met them for the first time. You remember that dinner party?”

“I remember the dinner party, Echo,” Spitfire sighed.

“I hear mashed potatoes does wonders for your hair,” Fleetfoot laughed.

“If Soarin’ was watching where was going instead what Andromeda was doing there wouldn’t have been a problem.”

“Could you see them together?”

“Hmm?”

“Soarin’ and Andromeda.”

“Meh, she’s ex-military, could certainly keep him in line. She seems to have stopped calling Jett ‘sir’ since the dinner party. Beginning to think something was going on there,” Spitfire laughed.

“You and I both know that he would NEVER do that,” Fleetfoot frowned, “I don’t even think he’s physically capable of that. Honestly after all he went through for you I’m surprised you’d even think that!”

“Jeez, relax bitch. It was just a joke,” Spitfire laughed, “Believe me. I KNOW that he would never do that.”

“Good. You finally found the perfect person for you and I’m not about to let you fuck that up.”

“Always looking out for me aren’t you?”

“I’ll be babysitting you until the day you die.”

“Really? Because I can recall a time at Flight Camp where you almost got a swirly from the-”

“Okay no need to go into that. And I think I’ve thanked you enough for that.”

“Just reminding you,” Spitfire winked. Fleetfoot glanced over at Spitfire’s finger.

“How did he ever carve that?” she blinked.

Spitfire turned, “Carve what?”

“That ring of yours.”

Spitfire glanced at it, “Don’t know. He did indicate that it took a bit of work to get it just right. What he did tell me is that he found all the materials himself and made it from scratch.”

“Then what’s that signature on the band right there?” Fleetfoot pointed.

“That? Oh, he puts that on everything he makes. CyberFire. Never noticed the signature and logo on the planes?”

“Now that you mention it…”

“And it’s on my car too. His own little touch to let you know that it’s something he made. A mark of quality is what he calls it.”

“Hmm…”

“Why’d you ask?”

“I guess I’m just wondering when Dane is gonna propose.”

“Really? If you want to get married you could just propose yourself like I did.”

“Yeah I guess but yours was something special. I guess I just want something as special as what happened with you.”

Spitfire smiled and put her hands behind her head, “You’re dating the one and only Dane Maximillien Meridian. Trust me, you’ll get something amazing when you least expect it.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Spitfire smiled as she watched a small light detach itself from the star she was staring at. The light soon turned into a shooting star.

“I know I’m right…”

***

“Jett… I’m gonna fucking TEAR YOUR PENIS OFF and feed it to you if you don’t fucking sit still!” Dane yelled.

“If you put any more of that shit in my hair I’m gonna shoot you out a fucking airlock!” Jett said pointing his cane at the android more as a weapon than as an assisted mobility device.

“Go ahead. You’ll have one angry woman to deal with if you do,” Dane said flipping a hair brush through his hands.

“Same to you! Spitfire happens to like my-”

“Okay son I don’t need to know about that,” Shadow Flash said, “Just sit there and let your friend fix your hair.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my hair.”

Gin coughed into her flask, “You slept outside on the ground last night after your bachelor party.”

“So? I took a few showers.”

“Look at the sides. You look like Albert Einstein with that hair. So just sit down and let Dane clean up your hair.”

“You’re not gonna be drunk today are you?” Jett said sitting back down.

“I’m a fucking bartender. My tolerance for this stuff is pretty high.”

A spraying sound got Jett’s attention, “Ah, you cut it out with that stuff?”

“It’s hairspray asshole.”

“Where did you get it? It better not be that crystal stuff that turns your hair into a fucking chandelier you put in my hair last week.”

“It’s from the ship’s replicator numb nuts.”

“Oh. Thank you then.”

“Yeah you’re welcome you ungrateful piece of shit.”

“Do you want those gem carving lessons or not?”

Dane sighed.

Jett smiled, “That’s what I thought.”

“I hate you.”

“Love you too, asshole.”

Shadow Flash stood up, “Alright lock down the profanity here. The bachelor party was last night, for goddess’ sake!”

Gin laughed, “Boys will be boys, pops.”

“And you! How are you still standing after last night?”

“What do you mean?”

“Bachelorette party?”

Gin grinned as a chanting of ‘go, go, go,’ ran through her mind and she tapped a syringe of Nanites in her pocket.

“My secret pops.”

“Alright. You finally look like a human being again, you stubborn belter prick,” Dane said.

“Gee, thanks for the help you Earther son of a bitch.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dane said brushing the wrinkles out of his brother’s suit, “For once you look nice.”

Jett was wearing a nice black suit with a white undershirt and a blue tie with a circuit pattern going through it. His hair was slicked back, cleaned up by Dane. His eyes glistened in their normal sapphire blue. Dane was wearing a blue suit with a white undershirt and a blue tie. Gin was wearing a simple bridesmaids dress, again with the sapphire blue theme.

“How do I look?” Jett asked.

Gin smiled, “Like a million bucks.”

“Then let’s get down there and prepare.”

***

“Times like this I’m glad that corsets are no longer a tradition,” Spitfire sighed as Fleetfoot helped her pull on her dress.

“I don’t know how you’d pull that off with wings,” Fleetfoot said.

“Ask my mother.”

“There,” Fleetfoot smiled, “All set.”

Spitfire turned and looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She wore a simple gown that went down just below her knees. The gown was shoulder less and orange in color. There were few frills on it. It clung to Spitfire’s body in a seductively beautiful fashion. Behind her, her wings spread out, giving her an angelic appearance.

“You sure you don’t want to do anything with your hair?” Nightshade asked.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Spitfire nodded.

“Then all that’s left is the finishing touches,” Fleetfoot said setting a crown of sapphire blue lilies over her friend’s hair.

Spitfire turned and nervously asked, “So… how do I look?”

Fleetfoot smiled, “Beautiful. Now come on. Ceremony’s gonna be starting soon and we gotta get you out there.”

***

“This is crazy. I can’t believe I’m actually doing this,” Jett said picking at his collar.

Dane grinned, “Yeah, me neither.”

Jett turned, “I still can’t believe you’re my fucking minister.”

“Hey, I’m an official Justice of the Peace here.”

“I know. But it’s you.”

“So?”

“So, I, uh, you know what fuck it.”

Everything was ready. An isle with a nice red carpet was flanked by two seating areas where the ‘families’ of the two were seated. On the left was Jett’s ‘family’ which consisted of Gin and Jett’s team plus a few of their select friends. On the right were Spitfire’s family and her team. Farther back was the bar area with a collection of tables set up for the wedding. A few held the food that included the wedding cake.

Dane tapped a button on a small remote and a soothing melody began to play. Gin removed a small camera and began to record.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t62B1EzTmDg

As the music reached the crescendo the doors to the deck opened and Spitfire, escorted by her father entered the room. Jett unconsciously gasped. Spitfire herself blushed. Her dress fit her beautifully. It wasn’t too figure hugging but it did compliment her body and accentuate her beauty. In her hands she held a little bouquet of orange roses. Spitfire’s eyes instantly locked onto Jett. His black suit had a blue glowing circuit pattern running all over it. He leaned on his crutch for support.

Spitfire and her father stopped at the front row of the seats. He gave her a small nod before letting go of her arm and taking his seat. Spitfire smiled and walked up the steps to the makeshift ‘alter’ that had been set up directly in front of the large windows of the ship’s observation deck. The couple stood less than a meter apart staring at each other. Dane stood in a blue suit behind them.

He grinned nodding his head in Jett’s direction, “You know, when I first met this goofball all those years ago, we were in an odd place. Jett was by far the most cynical, angry, and sarcastic son of a bitch I’d ever met. Still, we found we had similar interests and we became fast friends and later brothers. Never in my entire life did I ever think that he’d mellow out into the person he is today. Turns out all he needed was for a girl to drop out of the sky and into his life. It’s been a wild ride, I’m sure all of you reading this know that, but we’ll get back on track now.”

He winked at something unknown raising his arms and pulling up a small display.

“Friends, family, lovers, we have been gathered here today to share with Spitfire and Jett a very important moment in their lives. In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to spend eternity together as husband and wife.”

He turned to Jett and smiled, “Jett D. Halsey, do you take this lovely woman to be your wife, to live together in matrimony, to love, honor, comfort her and keep her in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?”

Jett grinned, “Far longer than that. And yes. I do.”

Dane smiled and turned to Spitfire, "Spitfire, do you take this crazy bastard to be your husband, to live together in matrimony, to love, honor, comfort him and keep him in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?"

Spitfire smiled, “For eternity. I do.”

Dane turned to Jett, "Repeat after me, ‘I, Jett Halsey, take you Spitfire, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer (not likely on the poor part), in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for as long as the stars shall burn.’”

Jett smiled, “I, Jett Halsey, take you Spitfire, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for as long as the stars shall burn.”

Dane turned to Spitfire, “Repeat after me, ‘I, Spitfire, take you Jett Halsey, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for as long as the stars shall burn.’”

Spitfire stared into Jett’s eyes, “I, Spitfire, take you Jett Halsey, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, for as long as the stars shall burn.”

Dane tapped the icon on the screen and it vanished.

“I would ask you to exchange gifts but since you’ve already got your rings and your other gifts I’ll skip that formality. So… by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

He glanced at the happy couple, “You may now kiss.”

Spitfire let out an aggressive growl before lightly kicking Jett’s crutch out from under him before throwing her flowers into the crowd. He let out a cry of surprise as he started to fall but Spitfire quickly caught him in her arms before passionately kissing him. The ever familiar sparks of electricity flashed through their bodies as they kissed.

Their crowd of friends and family cheered. The scene was an odd reversal of the typical romantic kiss with the man leaning down to the kiss the woman.

Spitfire let out a happy moan before separating from her new husband and pulling him to his feet. Jett smiled at her as she handed him his crutch as they both turned to their families. Suddenly they both started giggling.

Dane turned, “What’s so funny.”

The new couple simply pointed. Dane turned and gasped before turning beat red. A now red Fleetfoot held Spitfire’s orange Bouquet of flowers.

Jett turned to Gin and winked, “I can see what’s happened…”

“What?” she asked.

“And they don’t have a clue!”

“Who?”

“They’ve fallen in love and here’s the bottom line, our trio’s down to two.”

Gin grinned, “You’re a dirty bastard, Jett.”

“The one and only.”

Spitfire held Jett’s arm and wiped her eyes, “Come on Robot boy. I wanna eat some of my wedding cake.”

Jett smiled, “Of course, wife.”

Spitfire laughed, “I love you.”

“I thought you wanted cake.”

“I do.”

The couple happily walked down the aisle as their friends and family cheered and congratulated them. A stream of confetti fell upon them as the Acheron’s cannons fired off bursts of fireworks into space. Bursts of color exploded just beyond the observation deck, painting space a beautiful array of rainbow spectrum color…

***

“Thank you, thank you, no, please, you’re too kind,” Dane said taking a bow, “And for those of you who didn’t hear me before, that was dedicated to the happy couple.”

Everyone clapped as Dane finished his rendition of Elton John’s Can you feel the love tonight? Jett and Spitfire found it fitting as they dined on all sorts of delicacies from all over the world. Everyone was having a wonderful time. Gin and Blaze worked the bar making drinks for everyone. Soarin’ and Andromeda conversed with each other. The two Streak brothers, Rapidfire, and Misty played music for everyone. Fleetfoot was still playing with the bouquet of flowers she caught; Spitfire got a giggle out of that.

“I never knew he could sing,” Spitfire said playing with her flower crown. The pair was sitting at the largest table in the room. Spitfire had finished her food and was working on a slice of cake. Jett was still dining on some salad. The pair had a perfect view of the starscape before them.

“Well you never knew I could sing. Plus it’s only natural with his personality,” Jett laughed.

“Yeah I suppose,” Spitfire giggled.

“So how’s the cake?”

“Delicious! And you said that there’s no sugar in it?”

“Not a single milligram. Special recipe of mine. Keeps everyone healthy,” Jett replied.

“Well it’s very good, husband,” she giggled at that last part.

Jett smiled.

“So… this is it huh?” Spitfire said as she pushed her finished plate away.

“What do you mean by that?”

“The end of the romantic part of our relationship?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well we’ve done it all already. First kiss, first date, first anniversary, first everything, all leading up to this, our wedding. What’s left to do?”

“What was it you said to me? It’s a relationship. There’s no set destination. This doesn’t have to be the end of the romantic part of our relationship. We’re married not dead,” he smiled.

“I did say that.”

“When I proposed to you, it was because that whenever I’m around you I feel amazing. It’s a great feeling I get when I look at you. I get butterflies whenever you smile at me. I never want that to end. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met and I love you. And I want to be with you forever.”

Spitfire scooped some frosting on her finger and booped him on the nose, “So do I.”

Jett sighed and extended his tongue and licked his nose clean. He laughed when he saw Spitfire blush.

“Plus we still have our honeymoon to enjoy,” he said booping her nose, “And we can go anywhere you want.”

“I forgot about that. Where should we go?”

“I don’t know. You pick.”

She put a hand to her chin, “Let’s go south to somewhere tropical. I want to do something with the ocean.”

Jett grinned, “You know, I think I can get that arranged.”

“Cool. And then after that what can we do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well you said that this didn’t have to be the end to the romantic part of our life and since we’re gonna be young for quite a bit, why not enjoy it?”

“I don’t know. I’ll think of something… Kids maybe? I don’t kn-”

Spitfire gasped, “KIDS?!”

Jett’s eyes flew open, “I-it was just a suggestion. I didn’t m-mean to-oof!”

“Oh yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! YES! Oh my gosh I love you!” Spitfire yelped as she tackled/hugged the android.

Everyone stopped their business and glanced over at the couple.

“What’s going on?” Dane asked.

Spitfire turned, “Kids! Jett just said he wanted to have kids!”

“Aww, that’s so sweet. Jett, you’ll make a great dad.”

“It was just a simple suggestion, jeez. But…” he turned to Spitfire and stared into her eyes, “If you’re up for it then… I’m game.”

Spitfire burst out a wide grin, “Oh yes! Oh I fucking love you!”

She grabbed his face and kissed him. Jett noted the taste of vanilla on her tongue.

“I assume we’ll be adopting two pegasus kids?” Spitfire yipped.

“Jeez, you really want this don’t you? How long have you been thinking about this?”

“For a little while now,” She smiled, “You’ve tamed me robot boy. You actually made me want to have children with you.”

“Really? I’ve tamed you? I hadn’t noticed with the way you-”

“Okay! My family doesn’t need to know about that,” she blushed.

“Alright. And… uh… well since we’re on the subject of kids,” Jett said rubbing the back of his head, “We don’t necessarily have to adopt if you don’t want to.”

Spitfire perked up, “What do you mean by that?”

Jett cocked his head before pulling up a small display with a series of diagrams and equations as well as blueprint for an incredibly small device.

“Little something I’ve been working on,” he said, “If you want… well… we could do things the old fashioned way,” he cleared his throat.

Spitfire turned, “W-wait. You mean that we could-? That we- you and me?!”

“If you want to. It would just take a brief software upgrade.”

Spitfire bit her lip before whispering in his ear, “Oh when this wedding is over… You, me, and a bedroom.”

He gulped, “Yes ma’am.”

“Hey whatcha two talking about over there?” Fleetfoot asked.

“Your upcoming wedding!” Spitfire shouted back.

“Crazy bitch.”

“Hey! That’s my nickname!” Blaze yelled.

“No that’s mine,” Gin replied.

Andromeda turned, “Did someone say crazy bitch?”

A funny sort of commotion broke out as Shadow Flash moved towards Dane.

“Uh, am I missing something here?”

“There’s a bunch of crazy bitches here,” he laughed, “Just roll with it. It’s life.”

He reached behind him and pulled out a small camera. He held it up with a grin and mounted it on a stand before tapping a few buttons on it and running into the crowd of people.

He turned, “You coming pops? Camera goes off in ten.”

“Oh! Alright.”

Ten seconds later the camera flashed a picture of everyone in a lovely chaotic mess. Gin had a piece of cake on her head as she sprayed Blaze with the soda fountain. Andromeda was giving Soarin’ a noogie as the Streaks, Rapidfire, and Misty tried in vain to keep their instruments clean as the other Wonderbolts threw cake at each other. Dane had picked up Fleetfoot and was chasing after a few of Jett’s team in an odd couples race. Spitfire’s family seemed to be trying to stay clean to no avail. Nightshade was leaning against one of the pillars just Gadgets came up behind her with a cup of ice water. Jett and Spitfire were happily kissing, though they both had a little frosting in their hair as they flashed the camera the finger.

The whole classy wedding had degenerated but to everyone involved, it couldn’t have been better. Sure it was a mess but it was a fun mess. And no one would have had it any other way…

***

Alpha Centauri.

George stared at the view the screen was giving him. His entire bridge crew stared with him. It was beautiful. Three stars burned ahead of them as the fleet pulled into the system, their long exodus finally ending. Light filters made the view more pleasing to human eyes. A beeping sound indicated that the scan of the system had been complete.

"Report."

Hawk looked up from the sensor console as the ensign showed him the data.

"Five rocky planets detected sir. Two of them are in the habitable zone. More data will be required but... one of them may be habitable. There are also three Gas giants, each has a large and extensive moon system. Some of the moons are even reading as class GH. Water sir, they're habitable," Hawk grinned.

George rubbed his eyes, "Send word to the fleet. Begin colonization efforts immediately. I want terraforming crews formed immediately to see what we can do here. Any ship that can land in an atmosphere is to collect as much material and equipment as possible and get to work. Let's see if we can't make a home here."

The doors opened to the command sphere and a familiar voice spoke, "Permission to enter the bridge, Admiral."

"Yeah, sure. Granted," George said half paying attention, "Wait, Ajax? Why are you asking? You're..."

He turned. A beautiful woman with brown hair stood before him. She wore a ship's uniform with the name 'Ajax' stamped on the breast. Her hair was tucked neatly behind her ears and parted along center of her head. Her features were the exact same as that of her avatar. She smiled as a certain ensign, now a lieutenant peeked out from behind her.

"I hope you don't mind Admiral," Kana smiled, "But I made her a body..."

"Ajax..."

The A.I. smiled, "Don't worry George. I'm still connected to the fleet. I'm just controlling this."

She held up her hands and wiggled her fingers, "This feels... interesting to say the least."

George smiled, "Get in here you crazy girl."

Her grin widened, "Yes sir."

She stepped inside and took a spot next to him. The Admiral threw an arm around her.

"Come an enjoy the view."

"It's beautiful..."

"It's our new home now... Here we can rebuild..."

***

In this moment, I am unhappy. Here I remain lonely, alone, waiting… I’ve seen too many downs and not enough ups in life. Happiness has been few and far between. And yet, I am grateful. For I know that I am at least alive. For I know that I have experienced enough unhappiness to appreciate the joyous moments in life, and enough joyous moments to know that unhappiness is never permanent. For in a moment of weakness I glanced up and tasted the ambrosia of Elysium and now I chase after it. This pain, this loneliness and this unhappiness will all pass. And life with begin anew…