Tearing off the flight helmet violently, Afra's short blond hair was already wet and tangled, and her originally gorgeous face was also full of tiredness.

For a space shuttle pilot like her, following the fleet on such a marathon long flight is definitely a difficult task, not to mention the current navigation environment is still so harsh. Originally, after taking advantage of this refueling opportunity to replace the backup pilot, Afra planned to go to the sleep pod to sleep beautifully, but Angus's solo attack obviously made her a little uneasy.

"When did he leave?"

"Just before you come back, sir." The reserve pilot said truthfully to Afra as he put on his flight helmet.

"That damn guy!" Afra stomped angrily, and hurried to the ship's window to look out, trying to find the daring silver streamer.

Behind her, mechanics were already rushing to her landline, refueling it as fast as they could, and doing some necessary maintenance. With less than ten minutes left for each shuttle to rest, the backup pilot didn't have time to say anything before he drilled into the cabin and nervously completed the preparations before departure.

"Sir, are you worried about him?"

Just as Afra was looking out of the ship's window at the dust, a young girl in a pilot's uniform stood beside Afra.

"Huh?" The girl's question made Afra instantly wake up from her trance, and rarely blushed and said in disgust, "Daisy, what are you talking nonsense, so I won't worry about that bastard." ”

Daisy, whose name refers to Daisy, was the youngest pilot in the entire Rose Squadron, having just been assigned to serve under Afra after graduating from the A1 flight training camp before the Battle of Marseille.

Like Afra, Daisy has beautiful blonde hair and a delicate face, and is also an A1 flight training camp graduate, so after Daisy joined her squadron, Afra has always taken good care of her, and Daisy is nicknamed Afra's sister by the other members of the squadron because she admires Afra and imitates her everywhere.

"Sir, you don't have to lie to me, I can see it." Due to her close relationship with Afra, Daisy approached Afra mischievously and asked in a low voice, "Sir, are you really in love with that masked man?" ”

Afra blushed and muttered, "He's almost in love with me." ”

"Sir, ...... you?"

Afra knew what Daisy was trying to ask, but it wasn't just Daisy, everyone in the squadron was speculating about the relationship between Afra and Angus. Because sometimes they will be as close as a couple, and even spend the night in each other's rooms, but other times they will be like enemies, and they will not talk to each other at every turn, and even look at each other with eyes as if they want to eat each other. So because of the curiosity of the women, the girls in the squadron would gather around and gossip almost every day.

In fact, not only outsiders, but even Afra herself has a hard time explaining her ambiguous relationship with Angus.

While at the Marseille Space Fortress, Afra, who commanded the Rose Squadron, was the youngest and most talented squadron leader in the Fortress. She was the ace pilot of the first battle of defense, and the number of enemy planes she shot down was simply innumerable. In the eyes of others, she is an untouchable lady of the sky. Compared with her, although Angus, who was under Robin's command, was also in the Marseille Space Fortress at the time, he was only a carrier-based pilot of a transport ship, so he was just an inconspicuous little person.

Now, thinking back to the first time she met Angus, the gamble that left her with harrowing memories, Afra really can't describe the mixed feelings inside.

At that time, she had just been included in the first batch of integrated lists as an elite by Chief of Staff Yalves, and in order to prove herself again, she stepped out of the gate of Bruno Prison and determined to become the chief pilot under Robin and the sharpest eagle under Robin. So when she faced Angus for the first time, she was so confident that she even agreed to make the unspeakable bet of staying in Angus's room for the night if she lost, to complete the trump card battle between her and Angus.

At the time, she agreed to the bet because she never thought she would lose. But the final outcome was completely unexpected, and after an hour-long tug-of-war, she was actually knocked down by Angus Electron and lost.

This defeat was a devastating blow to Afra, who had just lifted her spirits. After returning to the Octopus space station, she is like a soulless walking corpse as a loser, but she still goes to Angus's room as promised, and becomes the woman lying under him.

Until now, she still can't forget the madness of Angus that night, and the words that Angus said to her with his upper body and cigarette in his mouth after the madness.

"For a woman who has first come into contact with the J-9 and has just been released from prison, you have done quite well. Want to try what it's like to crush me underneath? Then beat me in the next competition. ”

Every time she recalled this unspeakable and embarrassing remark, Afra's face was filled with a charming flush. And it is precisely because of this sentence that new impetus has been injected into Afra's life. Chasing the eagle flying ahead seems to have become the biggest goal of her life.

Lovers, enemies, comrades-in-arms...... And so on, these titles do not seem to accurately describe the ambiguous relationship between them. In this kind of invisible competition from moment to moment, although they only get along for a short time, they know each other better than themselves. It was the first time Afra had felt this way, and it was also the first time she would be concerned about the departure of a man.

"Perhaps...... That's love......"

After a long silence, Afra finally whispered this as Daisy stared expectantly.

"Sir! ~" Receiving Afra's affirmative answer at this moment, Daisy suddenly said loudly: "If you are really worried about him, then fly to his side and let him know that he needs you!" ～”

“……”

Staring at Daisy's expectant gaze in a daze, Afra suddenly showed a look of epiphany. But soon, after reacting, she twisted Daisy's delicate face fiercely: "Dead girl, it's your turn to change shifts soon, are you so idle?" ”

"Yay?" Touching Afra's aching face, Daisy watched as Afra strode to the sleeping pod. The touching scene she hoped for didn't happen, and she couldn't help but pout in disappointment.

"It turns out that the chief can also be shy."

Muttering under her breath, Daisy bounced to the shuttle launch bay to finish the preparations for the voyage, not noticing the charming smile on Afra's face as she turned her back to the hibernation capsule.

…… Three hours later.

Thanks to the constant sending back of Angus, the eagle flying in front, the navigator Borg was finally able to plan the course calmly, and Cecilia's sailing pressure was relatively reduced, so that she could also relax her nerves a little, so as to make up for the large amount of energy consumed at the beginning of the voyage.

However, Angus, as a pathfinder, is under a lot of pressure. And after a three-hour flight, Angus's energy consumption was on the verge of a critical point, he clearly felt that his concentration began to be unable to concentrate, the intense exhaustion was greatly reducing the brain's control over the body, and his reaction speed, analytical ability, etc. began to decline rapidly.

"Damn! ~Can't I hold it anymore? ”

Rubbing his already sour eyes, Angus subconsciously looked at the fuel gauge in the cabin. According to the numbers shown on the fuel table, he should be able to fly for about half an hour before he needs to return to the ship to refuel.

"Half an hour, I can't lose to my own fighters! ～”

Angus was about to forcibly cheer up his spirits for another half an hour when he suddenly unexpectedly noticed that a celestial fragment was flying towards him not far away. At the speed of both sides, it will only take 0.5 seconds for the two to collide.

Zero-fifth-second, which is even an uncatchable number for ordinary people, but for a fighter pilot who travels back and forth on the high-speed life-and-death line all year round, 0.5 seconds means that he has at least three or more time to act. If it were normal, 0.5 seconds would be enough time for Angus to steer the fighter plane away from the celestial fragment. However, because of the brief distraction and distraction, when Angus noticed the celestial fragment, his body was too tired to react accurately as usual.

"Oops! ～”

Fear instantly appeared on Angus's face, and he subconsciously jerked the rod. Suddenly, the fighter plane dodged to the side with an extremely embarrassed movement.

Rumble! -- Just as the diamond-shaped ice crystal object was about to hit the Angus fighter, a short-range 'Meteor' airborne missile suddenly broke through the air and hit the side of the celestial body with precision. At this critical moment, the course of the celestial body was changed, and the capsule of the F-6 space shuttle almost flew by.

"Ahem......"

Angus, who was nervously holding his breath, suddenly blushed and coughed after the crisis passed, the thrill between life and death almost made him incontinent, and the heart that was not fighting seemed to jump out of his chest.

"Masked Man, are you stunned? Don't you even know how to say thank you after being saved? ”

Suddenly, Afra's teasing voice sounded in the cabin communication.

"It's her......" looked back in surprise, and he saw a red 'J-9' space shuttle biting his tail. Of the entire Rose squadron, only Afra's landline was painted red.

"Why don't you stay in the back, what are you doing in the front?" Angus turned on the communicator and said angrily.

"I don't want some people to become martyrs because they want to be heroes. It's not that easy to win my whole life. Obediently go to the back and rest, your work is left to me. ”

“……”

Listening to Afra's smug voice in the communication, Angus touched his nose and shook his head with a wry smile: "Okay...... Since you insist on asking your husband to sing with your wife, then this time you will win! Hahaha......"

(To be continued)