ASTRO BOT: And there was hope...

His eyes flickered open. Player felt the sand underneath his back, he saw the sun glaring right at him. He only had one thought in his mind, 'Astro, where's Astro?'

Immediately, he got himself up to look for him.

Astro wasn't in a good state, his face-screen was cracked and he had a few scratches. His cape blanketed him almost in a protective way.

"Oh no... Astro..."

He then heard a soft whooshing sound, it was astro's favourite, Dual speeder. The Dual speeder had many beneficial properties. It could heal, shoot, store things and transport to places. It was also bigger on the inside. It rested itself on the sand and opened its front to allow Astro in to heal up. Player carried him in his arms and put him into the opening.

"Heal him properly please." He whispered to the dual speeder before turning away in worry.

A few moments passed and there was a beep. Player turned around startled. "AAH! Oh... is he alright?"

It opened up to reveal a fixed up Astro, good as new. His face lit up, his best friend was a-okay! He picked him up and laid him on his lap.

"Wake up... please wake up..."

Astro's blue eyes flickered on, his arms and fingers twitching. he looked at his faithful friend who had held him so close. He lightly brushed away the sand on Players face and kept his hand there.

"Player...where is everyone?"

He didn't reply, he just looked at him solemnly.

"No...", after realising what it meant, Astro wrapped his arms around his neck and buried his face in his chest, searching for some sort of comfort while on the verge of tears.

"No... no not again! Not again! Please no!"

"Astro please don't cry..."

"H-How can I not?! I lost everything to that stupid green JELLY again!"

He sat up and curled into a metal ball of frustration and LED tears.

Player thought for a moment, he wasn't sure what to say to his sobbing friend. But then he remembered. He remembered a time where they BOTH almost lost it all. He leaned a little closer to him.

"Astro, do you remember when I met you for the first time? The rescue mission incident?"

"Y-yeah...? What about it?"

"Remember when you first encountered... Nebulax... and he took the main component of your ship, the headset?"

Astro nodded with pain, he didn't want to remember it.

"You almost died that day. It was so violent when I saw it happen. Remember what you told me when I fixed you up?"

"Yeah... I said... I said it was... never too late to be a hero." Astro looked a little more happier at the memory.

Player wrapped an arm around him.

"You also said you would protect your crew no matter what it took. Are you gonna leave them behind just because of some mean space slime?"

Astro thought. As much as he wanted to just bawl his digital eyes out, he didn't. For them. For those lost and those found. Was he really just gonna sit there and sob or was he gonna take action?

"You're right." he looked up at player. "we should help them. We should start as soon as possible."

Out of nowhere, there was a huge scream and a crash.

"What the heck was that?!" Player said.

"A sign! Come on we can't be waiting here for too long! If my crew and CPU needs help we can do everything in our power!" Astro finally stood up. He gave his hand to help player up.

"Let's go!"

They followed the scream and spotted a blueish looking creature on the top of a sandy hill. "They look hurt..."

They rushed over to help the poor thing. After closing up to them, it turned out it was Satellite, a helpful little guy who knew the universe's every inch by heart. He came along with Astro on his trip of no confirmed objective.

"Oh my gosh... I forgot you came along with us, I'm so so so sorry!" He helped Him get unstuck from the ground . "Hey Sat!"

He coughed out some sand before replying. "Hi! ... YOU HAVE TO HELP YOUR CREW QUICKLY! Most of them are trying to send distress calls to your dual speeder via their equipped life jackets."

"We're aware, do you know their location?" Player confirmed.

"no... YES I DO! Follow along, use that dual speeder!"

Excited to see the crew again, They both grabbed onto the handles of the dual speeder. Astro started up the controls and made some last minute checks.

"Lead the way."

•••

Meanwhile, CPU was trying to fight her own problems.

"Let go of me you little-"

"Ugh, fine. I've had enough of you squirming around in my hand anyway." Nebulax reluctantly let go of her to free his hand. "Hmmm... what ever will I do with you."

"Oh I don't know, LEAVE ME ALONE?" CPU yelled. "Maybe taking me home would be better!"

"I know! How about I marry you to... moi!" He pointed at himself proudly. Then he used his finger to lift her chin up. "The space KING! You'd make an amazing mother..."

CPU was disgusted and horrified, she practically GAGGED at the connotations of what he just said.

"YOU PERVERT! You're gonna use me for that?!" She backed away. "That's just gross, where in the universe are your morals?!"

"No no- I didn't mean-," suddenly, he spotted a blue dot. "Looks like we have visitors!"

He grabbed her again. As the dot closed up, it became more clearer that it was Astro and Player on their dual speeder.

"CPU?!"

"ASTRO! HELP!"

"I WILL CPU PLEASE HANG ON!"

"SHUT UP YOU TWO! Wanna save your girl? You're gonna have to catch me before you do!"

And Nebulax went off with CPU.

"Oh no... that's a problem. d-DONT WORRY! We can save your crew while we're at it!" Satellite said, trying to comfort Astro.

He took a deep breath, "yeah, come on."