Xpt Trainer -

Marcus didn't offer comfort. He grabbed the young man by the collar and shouted over the alarms.

The freighter's bridge flickered. The alarms softened. xpt trainer

Marcus knew the name. Kaelen was the youngest pilot ever to receive the XPT certification. A prodigy. A perfectionist. And three weeks ago, he'd tried to solo-drive a quantum-freighter through a Coronal Mass Ejection. He survived. His mind didn’t. Marcus didn't offer comfort

Marcus pointed at the raging inferno on the viewscreen. "That's not the sun, kid. That's your ego. You thought a perfect pilot doesn't make mistakes. So when you made one, your mind ate itself. You didn't shatter because of the radiation. You shattered because you couldn't handle being human ." The alarms softened

But Kaelen stood up. He walked past Marcus and faced the agents. "Stand down," he said. His voice carried the weight of a man who had walked through a star and lived. "This man is under my protection. And I'm filing a formal petition to reinstate his credentials. With testimony from a Class-A pilot."