"I went through the trouble of adjusting the seat and installing a cup-holder in that thing. I'd be rather agitated if anyone else drove it." Varn said as he walked towards the tank. He stopped and turned around to face Iska. "It's a two person vehicle at least. You want in?"
Pippins weapons looked fine, not that he expected anything less, after all, Lion had been the one to design and build them. His emotions were getting mixed up. He couldn't tell how he felt about the upcoming battle. Suddenly though, he had a thought, and turned to Lion.
"Lion, with this many people, what are the chances that some of them work for the enemy, like, as informants or something?"
"Affirmative Captain, the diagnostics will run on stand by within the bridge. They should be finish within the hour. I'll be located in the hanger, Overlooking my personal vessel as they operate in the background." Viper said shortly before leaving the bridge and down towards the hanger, attending to the docked Talon as the drones and technicians had just finished their inspection of the vessel under Viper's orders before taking a closer look at it in person.
The Talon's engine seem to have recovered after the nearly catching itself on fire, the drive was expectantly replaced while the heavy weaponry were being restocked with fresh munitions by several drones coming from the armory, these machines were command from Viper's implant as it slowly placed around the ship.
After hearing Lion's command, he left for the bar. Back at the bar, Dwan went through all of this combat equipment. His "Bellevue Ancaria", "Aeducan's Blazing Howitzer", "Andrast", the crossbow he kept from the Inquisition and the LWAs; Texas Ranger, Vibrosword Mark I, Second Horseman and the Knight Universal Armor System. Everything seemed to be in tip top shape. The only thing missing was his power hammer.... Sledge probably still has it. Dwan wasn't in a rush to get it though.
After checking his arsenal, Dwan checked the cabinets behind him. It seems that they had refilled the bar while they were gone. Very nice of them, to say the least. He checked if he had any glasses to clean.... but they were all clean. At this point, Dwan sighed. He remembered Yanim once more and how she got snubbed in terms of her payment. Dwan grabbed the tablet underneath the counter and checked his employee bank account. As he looked through all that cash he wasn't going to use, he realized something. He usually kept the cash he got after an adventure and collects it as a souvenir, which is why he has a big horde of cash from many universes back at his pad.
He realized he didn't need this much cash. Using the tablet, he looked up Yanim's communication lines. He began writing a message.
[QUOTE]Hello Senilmika,
It's been a while. Ever since you left, things have been different around here. The atmosphere has changed since Kuromo, as a result of the mess that happened at Odenia. Many of us are scrambling to get ready for combat against the Son. Whatever you're doing, you probably aren't going to be traced. We easily managed to recover your files. We deleted any files that could be used against you and labeled you as dead, to allow you to stay hidden, which we're all assuming you are. Because you ran away, Saw deemed it as fit to not pay you your due pay. I even objected to that decision, but there was nothing I could do to convince him... I know you might think harshly of me and Lion, thinking we did something nefarious or bad or something of the like. Even if we told you the truth as it happened, you probably wouldn't think any better of us. I've come to terms with that.... as I've done before. At the very least, I want you to know that we didn't do anything against the crew. We aren't traitors. At most, I want to dispel that thought from your mind. I don't even care if you don't want to see me, Lion or the rest of the crew ever again. I just want you to not think of us that way.
Enclosed with this message is a check for 50 million credits. As I don't need that much money, I felt as though you would need it. I know money can't bring happiness, but it can help you reach it.... Goodbye, 'Mika.
-The man who never existed[/QUOTE]
Dwan sent the message using the communication lines they had on Yanim, along with the 50 million credits. He leaned back on the cabinets, as he threw his tablet underneath the counter. "I could atleast do this.", Dwan thought to himself.
Iska chuckled and put a cigarette in her mouth, "if Iska can fit, then Iska will come".
Iska lite the cigarette and blew out the smoke. She pointed to the mounted gun, "Will need to change gun into Iskas weapon." she explained, rooling up her sleevs and climbed the tank.
Yanim heard another chime. Annoyed, she paused and waved the others ahead. Finding a ledge to sit on, she opened the message on her tablet after scrolling past the previous message from Arthur. She still needed to delete that one, but at the moment she was frozen, having realized who had sent the new one.
"Hello, troubled one..." she mouthed silently as she read, gall rising. The message was short and vague, but the fact that it reached her at all was disturbing enough. Her mind raced as it attempted to explain the development... There must have been a backup, and Dwan and Lion had access. Despite his claim, there was no way to prove that all liabilities had been disposed of. She felt very unsafe.
50 million credits... in the form of a secure electronic transfer check. If she took this money, she could place it in the new company account through the proxy line to cover up its trail. It couldn't be so simple, could it? There had to be a trick involved. If her contact information had been restored, why is Dwan the one to have contacted her if, as he claimed, the others were alive and had just spoken to Saw? Why, if the crew was sure that no betrayal had occurred, had no one Yanim trusted, like Iska, Viper, or Varn, been the one to contact her? Why, if he cannot provide a valid reason for his survival, would the others have taken him and Lion back!?
She drew a heavy breath. She was allowing herself to slip back into the hysteria that claimed her on Kuromo. This proves nothing, she decided. The rest of the crew might be alive, or they might be dead. The Archius may be at Termina Central, or it might have been destroyed in the interim. Dwan could have sent this message from anywhere using the data backed up from the ship's computer.
But... if Dwan was lying, where did the money come from? 50 million credits was a staggering amount of money- the SS had clearly not spent even a fraction of that amount to track the entire crew of the Archius, so it would follow that no rational organization would risk such a hefty sum on a gambit just to find her. That is, unless the transfer check was a fake- it could be carrying a false verification. Trying to execute the transfer would result in a bank error, or a "bounce." Yanim's account, or at least her proxy, could then be identified by the sender. It was a wild theory, but not beyond possibility.
The money also could have come from HarkArk, as Saw had promised far more than that to each crewmember. She considered the prospect that she was entirely, irredeemably wrong about the situation. If Dwan and Lion could have proved their honesty, they would have done so, and either Iska and Viper at Heidrov, or this message would have revealed the truth to her. She put away the premise, but still considered the consequences.
Would Saw really disown her as an employee? She doubted it- after being framed for Odenia, Saw must be acutely aware of the damage dealt by false assumptions. Surely, if he understood the truth of her departure, he would understand that Yanim had made the only rational decision available to her at a moment which demanded decisive action. Of all people, Saw must understand.
So this message... these pitfalls, what did they amount to? Her intuition told her not to accept the money... but if, somehow, the money was real, how could she turn it down? She cursed under her breath. Suddenly, the answer became clear as she thought about her new crewmates. She had not known them long, and yet she knew them intimately- their fear of being pursued and cornered, outwitted by their enemies and denied a true home. Her construction of the Belladonna crew was unwittingly the perfect expression of her subconscious desire for total acceptance- one which was once fulfilled by the Archius crew but had been debased so thoroughly in recent days.
Whether she was right or wrong to do so, her commitment to the safety, security, and above all, survival of the Belladonna crew was just as urgent as it had once been for the Archius crew. They deserved full disclosure. She would ask them for [B]their[/B] opinion on the matter.
---
"How did you say it, again?" Neasha leaned forward, listening closely.
"[I]Ka-mik-ak-ha-ren[/I]" Gataska repeated slowly with a mischievous grin. "Kamikakharen."
Neasha carefully sounded out the word. While they waited for their boss to return, the serek endeavored to learn her first bit of the kanad language in earnest, although at some point in the past she had already heard simple greetings like spaska and shadeta radi, a polite way to say goodbye. Now, Gataska had taught her how to greet Yanim with proper respect.
A moment later, as the latter appeared in the main tunnel of the Belladonna, Neasha greeted her casually, "spas d'aki, kamikakharen. [Hey there, machine-fucker.]"
Yanim paused briefly, cracking a enormous, genuine smile as Gat's muffled sneering echoed from around the corner in the cargo hold doorway. "Gat," Yanim called, "if you teach our pilot any more dirty words I'm going to take that new translator of yours away."
"<How's that going to stop me?>" she replied through the translator.
"It won't, but I'll make sure the only English phrases you ever learn to say are fifteen different requests to take it up the ass." Neasha began to walk away, cracking up at the exchange. "No, wait, Neasha, hold on a minute. I need the whole crew out here for an important decision, alright?"
---
Having explained the whole situation and read the message aloud, the crew wrote its reply collectively.
[quote]To the two-faced one,
If we are in hiding, we hide in plain sight. Our ship is docked at Deck K, Platform 151. Given the circumstances of our union, our histories, and our interest in undistorted realities, we cannot accept your "gift" without first repaying your kindness with the sort of hospitality someone of your caliber deserves. You are welcome to visit us in person if you are an ally as you have implied.
Signed,
The Terika-Belladonna Company[/quote]
Lion pointed at Viper. "Make sure that Talon, Eagle and Roughrider are fully armed and fueled up. My Ranger should already be good to go."
"I'm not detecting any unauthorized outbound signals nor do I detect any advanced cybernetics, trust me when I say that I got this covered." Replied Lion to Pippin before heading up the bridge.
Dwan heard a chime come from his tablet. He grabbed it, thinking the Intergalactica App updated, when he saw that he had gotten a message back from Yanim. He was surprised to hear that she wasn't hiding at all and that she was apparently at Termina Central with her own crew! Seeing the name, he assumes that "Terika" must be her new name or surname or something, as "Belladonna" doesn't sound like an alien name.
Reading the message, he noticed a threatening tone from it. The idea of seeing Yanim again to confirm that he's an ally appealed to him. Perhaps he could come alone and unarmed, maybe have someone who Yanim trusts join him. But he wondered about the true intent of the message, especially considering how he is referred to as "the two-faced one". As he considered his options, he decided that he couldn't go and see her. He decided to reply.
[QUOTE]To the Terika-Belladonna Company,
Your offer of kindness is appreciated and I would love to see Senilmika Terika once more to discuss with her the incident that led to the decease of Yanim Sidikan. However, at this time, the rest of the Archius Crew and I are currently hard at work preparing for the battle ahead. Perhaps we can meet after tensions go down. And besides, you don't need to thank me for the money, as I said, I have no need for that much money.
Signed,
The man who never existed[/QUOTE]
Dwan sent the message. He put the tablet back underneath the counter. He wondered about what to do until the meeting.
After monitoring the ship status from the bridge, Lion went down to the armory and sat down at his desk.
He deiced to write down a quick personal message to the crew- he already had one ready for Val- should he be killed in battle.
After that he made sure that all of the weapons from the Cleaning Equipment crate were all accounted for and ready before placing the sealed up box next to his desk in the main armory room.
He glanced at the desk clock and opened up the crew channel. "Meeting starts in five. Out."
After the drones were finished unloading the required ammunition into the Talon's weaponry, Viper went to climb onto the Vessel to make several adjustments to it's drive system and send the drones back towards the armory to gather the needed munitions for the Eagle and Roughrider along with spare parts and equipment as it worked on the Talon.
Viper mind was deep in thought as it replaced and modified the components of Talon's complex control system. Yanim, where is she and what is she doing now? Was one question that Viper kept asking itself over and over.
What an talented individual that had gone to suffer the wost of her race had to offer, what could have been a good partnership between them if things hadn't have gone so wrong and what Viper could have done to help her.
Now, Yanim has already set herself on an dark and grim path, one that she will most likely never go back from. Viper is no stranger to seeing former comrades that have turned from the light and went down that same path before, from Sanghvi to Human, it doesn't matter.
Hopefully they will never met again, the last time Viper met an turned friend, only came back from that day and one ended floating forever within the cold and dark void.
The Sanghvi taken back to real time as it noticed that it gotten it's talon wedged into the Talon as it was it working on the fighter vessel along with finding that it had already installed the same modifications and configurations onto the same systems twice and the Eagle and Roughrider were already loaded and fueled up with the same drones standing by in the armory.
Viper took an moment to collect itself and get it's talon out of the massive mechanism slowly and gently without breaking it, closing the Talon's maintenance hatch before hopping down onto floor of the hanger, inspecting both ships for anything peculiar.
The ships, while their paint jobs were an tad bit worn, the exterior hulls bared no structure damaged of any kind except for an few cosmetic scars.
The Jagermeister's condition and armament was already taken care of by both Iska and Varn, the Ranger was already fully operational.
Everything Viper needed do was done with little over ten minutes to spare before the meeting.
Viper decided to head to the armory early, dwelling on old memories as it walked towards the armory and hesitant to face it's fears and regents in the future.
Pippin arrived in the armory. While he waited for the meeting to start, he started looking around for something he could use as a melee weapon.
Iska rubbed her oil blackened hands together as Varn turned the tower and check that the other weapon systems were responding to the controls inside the tank. The tank shut it's engines and Varn peeked from the drivers hatch. Iska shook her head with a smile, despite the mission that was waiting Varn never seized to brighten her mood. She thought back to the time when she and him almost shot each other in the armory. Iska brushed her hair back, scratching her shaved sides. She waved to Varn as he climbed out, "We get message from captain, meeting in armory." she said with a bored sigh. She continued, "If Iska honest, getting bored of talking. If waiting for fight take too long you not focused". She picked up her battlebelt and put on the shrapnel vest and began walking with Varn to the armory.
"I know what you mean. Although we have less than a day to wait for it, so just do what I do. Count every weapon you know how to use and the different methods you can use them in. Put the image of someone you hate for added value." Varn said as they exited the elevator to the armory.
Lion looked up as Viper, Pippin, Iska and Varn entered the armory. He gestured towards some crates next to the equipment table. "Take a seat as we wait for Dwan."
The LWA Iska was mounted on the jaegermeister, so Iska went over to her locker and took out the LWA Volgrim, after which she took a seat on one of the crates and leaned up against the wall.
Dwan had arrived in the armory. He looked around to see that everyone else was there, so he figured he was late. He apologized for his tardiness.
Lion stood up. "Well then." He gestured outwards with his hands. "As you all know we're approaching the final battle. As such, I have a thing to reveal: shortly after Duroma I started working on some... superior... weaponry. These weapons were made with the sole purpose of giving us a real edge against superior numbers seeing as in every battle we've been in the enemy have always outnumbered us."
Lion paused while looking at the crew. "While we've won most of these battles it haven't been easy. And as all of you know we've lost some good people along the way which made me realize that I can't keep these weapons a secret anymore.
Before you start asking questions or start pointing fingers I had my reasons to keep these weapons secret, namely the fact that they all possess great power. Aside from me and Jeremy there were two other people in the crew who knew the existence of these weapons, I will not share any names because I think it's up to them to share wether they knew or not.
There's also another person- Yanim- who used one of the weapons without knowing the complete origin and purpose of it during the battle on Duroma."
Lion then walked up to the inconscpicious cardboard box. "In any case, here they are."
He opened up the box to reveal the metal container inside which was sealed behind a password-protected lock.
As the container opened up it revealed the five secret weapons: the LWA Peacemaker, the LWA Class 5 Railgun, the LWA Endgame, the LWA Technical Error and then finally the LWA Madman's Vision.
He presented each of the weapons and their respective functions just like he had done the first time while positioning them out on his desk.
He then clapped his hands before crossing his arms. "I can't force you to keep the existence of these weapons a secret but I'd appreciate if you'd do your best to not let the Crimson Son know about their existance.
While I understand that some of you might feel angry that I didn't reveal these earlier, you should know that these were our aces. Our last shot. As we move towards Zeruel I though I'd inform you of these weapons as I hope that some of you will carry to battle.
You may choose between all of these weapons but the Madman's Vision which I intend to carry myself alongside the rest of my arsenal in the final battle against the Crimson Son."
Iska put down the Volgrim on the crate and stood up. She walked over to the weapons crate. She looked over the contents and smiled slightly. She pointed at the peacemaker and looked at Lion, giving him a sly smile and a requesting eyebrow.
Lion chuckled and gestured towards the firing range. "Mind the recoil."
Varn scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I probably should have told you guys about this before the last battle."
"He's not coming," Yanim said after reading Dwan's reply. "So be it, he probably wasn't even on this station to begin with. Watch yourselves, don't take any strange offers if they come in." The others nodded in approval, some more disappointed than others. "Now then," Yanim continued, "we've got a battle ahead of us. Virin, you're with me if we have to deploy. I gave you and Rask each a portion of my savings so that you could prepare for this, but I didn't give you everything. I had to keep a bit in reserve so that we could afford some 'special' equipment."
"Oh? Did we get some actual body armor or are we still unprotected?" Virin asked, tapping on the cheap flak vest he purchased on Terra.
"Body armor would be nice, Virin, but I didn't have enough time to find some in Kanad size. Do your best not to get shot, okay? What I managed to do is find another small outfit like us who had some excess workshop capacity. I sent them the schematics for my Valkyrie device. That means we'll be able to deploy without landing the ship. I've also leased some industrial jacks so we can move cargo around the tunnels in flight."
"What are you planning?" Neasha questioned.
"Rask, I told you on Terra to buy as many sabotage materials as you could afford."
"Keh! The cargo hold is practically full of thermite and C4 now. We can drop bombs all day if we need to- any shape or size."
"<Or just a few really huge ones,>" Gataska added.
"Exactly. And finally, I bought us one more tool to help us do what we're about to do; it was more expensive than anything else, so it practically bankrupted me." The others were shocked and dismayed by the revelation.
"What in the fucking hell could you have bought that was more important than our cut?" Rask demanded.
"I've bought us a retrieval drone. If any of us fall during the battle, the drone will carry what's left of us back to the ship. I want you all to understand that this ship can't land. If we land, we'll be a stationary target against an army of heavy hitters. So, if we want to last more than a minute out there, I think I made the right calls to keep us alive."
The others mulled it over and accepted their reality.
"It's settled, then. We're ready to go-"
"Boss, wait." Virin interrupted. "That punk we've got locked up in the brig, he wants to talk to you. He says it's critical you hear it now."
"Alright," Yanim replied, unhappily. "It better be worth my time."
Pippin finally found a [URL="http://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/86239_ersKijLuxUw53vuL_gpmbDh_c.jpg"]knife[/URL] he liked, tried to flip it in the air, uttery failed, and wen't completely red faced as if clattered to the ground. "So, uhhh, can someone teach me how to use this?"
Varn picket up the knife and began to weight it in his hand. "A utility blade. Good overall balance. If you're gonna use this, you should aim for specific parts. Come with me over to the training dummy and I'll show you." Varn motioned for Pippin to follow him.
"Now, the knife is not build to pierce armor, but you can still stop someone in their tracks with it. Just aim for these three areas." Varn pointed at the dummy's neck, armpits and groin. "Armor manufacturers don't cover them because if they did, those armors would be expensive coffins. Also try doing this, slash at your opponent, smack them with the hilt over the head and try to stab them. Like so" He showed off some techniques moving slower than usual to make sure that Pipping understood what he had to do. "Alright, now you try." He handed the knife back to Pippin.
Iska lifted the peacemaker and took aim at the target down the range. She set it to single fire and fired.
Surprised by the recoil, she stumbled slightly. Looking down the range, she noticed that only the lower there were only scraps left of the target. She let out a hearty laughter and walked back to Lion and the weapon crate. She handed put it back in the box and gave Lion a big smile. "Human weapon often very tiny and weak, is good surprise" she said, pointing to the peacemaker.
Iska noticed how Varn was teaching Pippin how to use a knife. She walked over to Varn and as Pippin was practicing with the knife, she handed him the hilt with her own combat knife which, in contrast to Pippins knife, was [url=https://gyazo.com/208decab17bd3cea92effeb05e152fb6]substantially larger.[/url]
"Teach him with this" Iska whispered with a snicker.
Varn examined Iska's knife with awe in his eyes. He looked at her and said "Let's make sure he can use that knife before handing him this thing. Looks custom made, who made it?"
Iskas expression saddened a bit, but returned to a smile "Iska make this knife. Papa thought Iska how to make weapon, is first Iska make herself." she explained. "Knife use transfer element in handle and convert body heat into plasma radiation in blade". Iska took the knife from Varn and demonstrated, clenching her fist hard around the handle until the blades edges began glowing faintly blue. She spit on the blade, which was instantly vaporized. After the demonstration she pushed the red slide forward with her thumb and steam shot out of the back of the handle while the blade returned to it's normal color. She put her hand on the blade to show that it was cool.
Iska handed it back to Varn.
Shenkada heard the clacking of Yanim's boots against the hard floors of the security office before she even entered the brig. He sat up against the back wall of his cell and looked at his faint reflection in the Plexiglas door which held him inside. His hair was messy and his clothes were shabby; he looked pathetic, maybe even childish. Hopefully it would be enough to garner his captor's pity.
"Alright," Yanim said indifferently as she approached his cell. "Spit it out."
"I need to tell you about what happened on Duroma," he began. "I'm not the man you thought I was then, of course, but I'm not who you think I am now, either."
Shen spilled everything about himself. He was socially disjointed, having no family or long-term friends. He was a failure at his job, and felt guilty about the girls he chased after, especially so if he felt a connection with them. He actively avoided updates about their wellbeing out of fear of how his work might be utilized. Every day he hated Kanadys more, and had long been wondering whether he should try to strike out on his own.
"Yanim, I'm sorry for what I did, and I'm sorry for you. Everything that happened to you shouldn't have happened; but what I did and what they did to you have nothing to do with each other. I want you to let me go and forget about me." She glared at him, but couldn't find the words to argue. Shen continued: "You tried to shoot me, and you scare me. But as hard as these days have been for me since I went on the run, they must be much harder for you; I haven't forgotten the things you told me about your family..."
Yanim's eyes twitched, and Shen knew he had reached her at some level. He backed off, however, out of fear that he would rekindle some of the rage he had witnessed before.
"I can't forgive you for trying to kill me," he went on, knowing he was running out of time to make his point. "I can at least understand how it happened, though, and even if you won't admit it, I believe you couldn't have done it in cold blood. There's no point in keeping me here any longer; let me go."
She hung her head, muttering to herself how stupid it was to imprison him in the first place. Had she simply talked it out with him, she might have simply recruited him like all the others, but she was in a blind rage after everything that had happened and did something uncharacteristic of herself. In short, she knew how wrong she had been, but her vices were dragging her away from the person she wanted to be. With a mental command through her implant, she unlocked the brig door and opened it without a word.
Wide-eyed, Shenkada climbed to his feet, amazed that his simple plan had worked. But something was wrong: Yanim didn't clear the door, she reached to her calf and unholstered her pistol again. "Dammit Yanim!" he started to say, when she turned it around and pushed it into his hands instead.
Looking at him with fiery eyes, she spoke, "Take this and get off my ship. Do what you want to do, but don't come back! Ever!" She met Shen's confusion with aggression, and refused to let the latter leave without the pistol. It was entirely reflexive, as the VRI was just as much a part of that unpleasant lapse as he was.
It may have been her intensity, or the fear she induced when she reached for him, or simply the fact that Shen had always disliked firearms and was uncomfortable with holding them, but something made his hand squeeze when he felt the pistol grip pressed into his palm. There was a hollow click as the trigger was pulled, followed by a shallow gasp on Yanim's part- in an instant everything froze as they stood together.
There was no shot, because the plasma cartridge wasn't primed.
Yanim pulled him close, twisting his arm to disarm him like she had been taught by the Privateers. The gun hit the floor shortly before he did, having been literally thrown from his cell by Yanim's tail. "Shyakh!" she screeched. "[Get out!]" Rask and Virin appeared in the security room door in response to the commotion, but Shen practically bowled them out of the way in his terrified flight from the room, Yanim screaming after him the entire way through the armory, the mess hall, and the cargo compartment before he finally reached the main tunnel and stumbled out onto the landing platform at Termina central. "Shyaakh! Shyaaaaakh! Never come back!"
The landing ramp slammed shut as soon as it was clear while Yanim ordered the take-off procedures. Shenkada staggered over to a nearby bench, sitting down and grinning broadly, his day in hell finally over.
The Sanghvi was stun for an moment at the sight of these custom weapons, even best blackmarket gunsmiths had nothing quite on the scale of these weapons in such a small size.
"Understood Lion, I'll keep my knowledge of your little sash of WMD's an secrets." Viper said, understanding Lion's fears if these weapons we're discovered and fall into the wrong hands to be fairly worrying to say the least.
[While waiting for things to kick into gear I'm gonna write a prelude to my character in the sequel]
Meanwhile, in an unmapped section of the western fringe, a small Ayr tradeship glides silently.
"Parameters are met, we're steadily on course towards Mer." the pilot informed. "With current trajectory and velocity, we should arrive in 46 hours." Captain Yuga Shuure inspected the holomap, which confirmed what the pilot had said. She turned and walked slowly to behind the pilots seat. "Finally this trip draws to an end" she said with a bored tone, "Scamming fringeworlds off precious materials and selling it on the interstellar market grows ever so uninteresting." The pilot chuckled slightly, "I thought we made decent profits on our journeys" he reckoned.
Yuga let out a frustrated sigh, "The keyword in that sentence would be [I]decent[/I], my dear Nakaya. If I wasn't stuck on these minor endevors I could be turning much larger and more significant profits".
Nakaya stretched his arms rotated his head to relieve some stiffness. "Then why are you the captain of this ship if your aims are so much higher?" he asked in a curious tone. "I thought you were the best in your class when you graduated from the Aviation Guilds navigator program, and your instincts for trading seem supernatural despite not enrolling in the Trade Guild."
Yuga sighed once again, "I wouldn't hesitate to say that I might be the best at what I do, but the thing that keeps me in this position is my name." Yuga put her hand behind her back and stared into the void. "House Kenshin wants to remain the favourite low house of Tsukuda and they will do everything they can to keep me, their biggest threat, out of their reach." She explained, "When this trip is over I'll resign from the ITC and look for my own possibilities."
Yuga remained silent for a bit before clenching her fist. "I will amass unthinkable wealth and then, when I return home triumphant, I'll buy Tsukudas favor, dethrone Kenshin and give my house the recognition it deserves." she said with fierce determination. Nakaya sat in his chair, looking over the instruments and taking in what Yuga had just explained. "It'll be a shame when you leave, considering this ship has gained a lot of reputation within the ITC since you became captain." Nakaya finally said, "and besides, how are you gonna last without getting to look at the handsome Nakaya everyday?" he finished with a teasing remark.
Yuga narrowed her eyes and walked up behind his chair. She bent over and started stroking his cheeks with her hand, her face only inches from his ear.
"If that is how you feel then maybe you should give me something to... remember" Yuga whispered seductively while teasing Nakayas pleasure senses. His hands lifted from the controls and his fingers started twitching. "ohh... I-I'd be glad to share a speci-ah-l g-goodbye with you" he stuttered, half numbed by Yugas seduction. Yuga slapped his cheek and walked off.
Nakaya, who had been caught off guard by the slap, massaged his cheek. Yuga chuckled, "I'd not link with you for all the credits in the Imperial Reserve." she said in a delighted tone. Nakaya hung his head, realizing that he had just been played by his captain yet again. "You are the worst sometimes." he muttered. After the embarrassment had washed off, he returned to the earlier topic. "So, your plan sounds pretty grandiose. Have you worked on any details?"
Yuga had now walked back to the holomap and was studying the galactic map with a tab open that showed the intergalactic price for the mineral they were transporting for different planets and corporations. "I have some ideas of what I'll be doing, but the key to success is to encounter irregular events and turn them into your favor, which is what I intend to do."
The ship flew silently through the great void, steering ever closer to the mapped galaxy.
Pippin kept practicing with his knife, and now at least wasn't dropping it.
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