He was in Guardian dress blues with a winged badge on his collar that Maston had personally pinned on him, despite their past differences. The commander stood at his left with Asha on his right. Alpha loomed next to her, and there were eighteen other Guardians standing in similar poses further down the line. Camera bots orbited them like satellites. The event was in a small, ornate room in the upper floors of the palace, but it was being broadcast to billions. He stared into the kind eyes of Talis Vale in front of him. She placed a medallion around his neck. It was silver with an engraving of the visage some long-dead warrior king. “I present to Lucas the Earthborn the Mark of Ayon, for extraordinary valor facing overwhelming odds.” Lucas bowed slightly and the metal clinked against one of her rings as she drew her hand away. He briefly returned her soft smile, and she moved to present a similar medal to Asha. Maston already wore his. The event was being beamed out to all of Sora—the return of the conquering heroes from their mission to one of Xala’s colonies, the first ever attempted.
