Chapter Text
“Best I can do is ten missiles for the scrap you have left.” The man behind the counter yawned, his hand playing with an old microchip that already had all its legs bent.
“Is that really the best you could do?” The pristine outfit of Lieutenant Wilson contrasted the overall shabby look of his surroundings. He truly looked like the outsider in this environment.
“Sorry. Price’s gone up the stratosphere. Ya can thank your beloved Federation for bailing on us.” The shopkeeper leaned on the table, supporting his face with his hand. Wilson could hear several pig-like snickers behind his back. He turned his head to find a couple of onlookers trying their hardest to look disinterested.
“The Federation needs to prioritize its own survival.” Figuring out it's not worth his time to confront the hooligans, Wilson turned back to the shopkeeper.
“Yah man, heard you the first time. Ain’t gonna make the missiles any cheaper.” The infuriating snickers got louder. Wilson considered the merit of blasting the fools, but concluded that it wouldn’t bring anything beneficial aside from personal relief.
“...Fine, we’ll take it.” He also concluded that no effort on his part will give him a better price. He cut his losses before the shopkeeper lost patience and raised the price instead.
“Pleasure doin’ business with ya.”
Wilson had lost count of how many times he had sighed since arriving on this station. As he left the shop, he trained his gaze to the crumbling scenery around him.
Volrod station used to be a pretty famous stop for passing ships. It was quite the large trading station, the space of which had been intensely fought over by a bunch of different companies. However, the war between the Federation and the Rebellion had thrown the station into chaos.
He looked back at the shop he just went out from. The sign had long since fallen off. Not that the shop needed it, considering it was pretty much the amalgamation of all the shops that used to compete over each other.
He turned his gaze towards the sprawling shipyard. The huge space only contrasted the small number of ships that now use it. The tragedy of the station only became more apparent once he realized that most of the docked ships belonged to the station’s militia squad.
“Yoo, Wilson!” A cheerful voice pierced the melancholic atmosphere.
“That’s Lieutenant Wilson for you, Nyatasha.” Without even looking, Wilson could already picture the annoyingly bright smile the pink furball must have had on her face. He turned towards the voice to find a pair of twitching cat ears. Looking downwards revealed long pink hair fully tied into twintails, a lovely face with purple eyes, and the exact smile Wilson had imagined.
“You know, you’ve become a hardass ever since you became a lieutenant.” Nyatasha flashed a teasing smile, then turned and walked a few steps away, her hands behind her head. “Actually, nevermind. I guess you’ve always been kinda a hardass.”
“How is the ship?” Ignoring her disrespectful attitude, Wilson asked about the task he gave her.
“A-Ok. Just finished installing the anti-hull laser.” Nyatasha said, emphasizing her remark with an A-OK gesture.
“Good, that will at least reduce our reliance on missiles.”
“Speaking of which, how many of those did you get?” Nyatasha turned her head back.
“Ten.”
“Damn. They ripped you off hard.”
“I cannot blame them.” Wilson dragged his fingers across the nearby railing, inspecting the dust that had built up on it through countless cycles. “This station is falling apart as it is.”
“Kinda sad, isn’t it?” Nyatasha took her eyes off Wilson and towards the station at large. Her smile took on a sad quality. “I remember the time I went to this station. Holy shit was it packed back then. You couldn’t go buy a soda or something without waiting in a line first.”
“All the more reason for us to end this war.” Pulling out the handkerchief he always had in his breast pocket, Wilson wiped his fingers clean. “If nothing else, then for the life of these common folks.” Wilson turned his gaze back towards the station and the atmosphere turned melancholic once more. Even Nyatasha was seemingly swallowed by it, as she suddenly shut up.
“Aight then. I’m going back to the ship.” Nyatasha said after a while. “At first I wanna see the station for old time’s sake, but it’s just bumming me out.”
“Send some people to retrieve the missiles.”
“Gotcha.” Nyatasha waved her hand as she walked back the way she came. However, not five steps later, Nyatasha paused her stride and turned back towards Wilson. “Wait, you’re not coming with?”
“I have to retrieve the captain first.”
“Right. Gotta make sure Camimi didn’t get lost.” Satisfied with the explanation, Nyatasha continued walking. “Aight, leave you to it.”
“Glory to the Federation.”
“Glory to the Federation.”
____
After handing the overpriced crate of missiles to his coleagues, Wilson turned to a new direction. He walked past dozens of abandoned shops, a couple of beggars, and one corpse that hadn’t been attended to yet. Eventually, he arrived in front of a store that, in contrast with the lifeless shells around it, was lit with both light and laughter.
“La Excelsior. Here’s the bar.” Wilson took in the unlit neon sign bearing the bar’s name in elegant letters. Wilson walked to the entrance and pushed open the door. “Hopefully the captain isn’t-”
“Aaaah… Damm, thaz good!” Wilson heard her loud yell before he saw her right in the middle of the bar. Camilla flopped her upper body wholly onto the table, nearly knocking her glass onto the floor. Her body then dragged backwards, slowly falling off her chair. Acting quickly, Wilson caught Camilla’s limp body in his arms.
“-Completely drunk at a time like this. Give me a break…” Wilson added another sigh to his count.
“Wilshoon. Ishalways night in spaaays!” Camilla slurred her speech as she leaned fully into Wilson. Seemingly liking the place she stumbled up into, she rubbed her cheek against Wilson’s abs.
“Come on, Let’s get back to the ship.” Tired of just constantly sighing while watching his captain get more and more belligerent, Wilson decided to take things into his own hand. He considered just bridal carrying her back to the ship. However, that would certainly start rumors. In the end, he decided to lead her by the shoulders.
“Hmm?” As he tried to lead his intoxicated captain out the bar, his eyes noticed minute movements from around the corner. Squinting his eyes, he noticed the sway of blonde hair and the twitch of cat ears.
“You. Around the corner. Show yourself.” Wilson deepened his voice, giving it a threatening edge. A chill ran up the even drunk Camilla’s shoulders, sobering her up a bit.
“Hiiihh!” A high pitched squeak accompanied the appearance of a short, blonde haired girl with cat ears from around the corner.
“A- ah! sorry!” Having been caught, Miniko bowed as deeply as she could. “I saw something shameful! I shall forget this ever happened!” After the rushed apology, Miniko turned back and started to scamper, seemingly keen on putting this experience behind her.
“Hey, wait a minute! I’m not done!” Wilson raised his voice, stopping Miniko in her tracks.
“Hiih! Yes!?” Miniko responded, her voice only getting squeakier.
“From your outfit, you’re a Federation ensign, yes?”
“Hey Whilsyn, Whozzat?” Camilla tilted her head, only now realizing they were talking to someone.
“I would like to know as well.” Wilson stared daggers at Miniko, his eyes inspecting her every behavior.
“Oh, uh, Ensign Miniko Mew at your service!” Despite her panicked state, the training ingrained into her kicked in. Miniko managed to pull off a well done Federation salute.
“Lieutenant Wilson Faraday of the Federation of United Galaxy Navy.” Satisfied with the proof that the girl was a real Federation ensign, Wilson released his grip from his blaster.
“Heheheh. Yeurr kyuuute.” Shaking off Wilson’s hands, Camilla reached for Miniko’s ears and began pulling.
“And this mess of a woman is the captain of my ship, Camilla Inpu.” Wilson walked in-between the two and tried to pry Camilla's hands off Miniko’s ears. However, that only made Camilla pull even harder.
“Sir! A pleasure to- ow! A pleasure to meet you, Sir!” The pulling of her ears was getting very painful.
“Let us drop the formalities for now.” Wilson cut to the chase. Out of options, he elected to tickle Camilla’s sides until she released her grip. Miniko immediately retreated a few steps back, clutching both her ears.
“Why is it always the ears?”
“We didn’t see another federation ship when we came in. Which ship are you from, Miss?” Hearing Wilson’s question, Miniko locked up.
“Well, about that…”
____
“I’ll pay you the scrap up front and enough fuel to get there. Once the shipment is complete, you’ll get the rest of your fuel.” The gruff man addressed Ray.
“Thank you, we’ll make sure to deliver it.” Ray did a federation salute, but the other man just shook his head.
“Drop that, boy. The Federation won’t save you.” The gruff man said. “It's dead. The Rebellion killed it.”
“Yeah, that might be right...” Ray slowly put his hands down. Unfortunately, it was the truth that the Federation was on its last legs. “However, I believe the Federation’s ideals are alive and well.” Ray thought back to the encounter he had with the kestrel.
“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.” The man dismissed Ray with a shrug, ending the conversation.
Finalizing the transaction, Ray walked back to the Canary. His rockman crew was seen loading the last of cargo to the Canary’s hold.
“Doing good, Rune!” Ray greeted the rockman with a pat to the back.
“Thank you, boss!” Rune said as he lifted the last of the boxes to his shoulder.
As he watched Rune pass the boxes to the other crew upon the ship, a strange sense of pride welled up inside Ray. Here it was, the crystallization of the Federation’s ideals, the different species of the galaxy working together towards the same goal.
To him, it was proof that the Federation’s ideals are not just mere words. The ideal that the Federation espouses can happen. After all, was that not what he was seeing here?
“Heeeeey… Wher- whererwegoin?” A slurred speech caught Ray’s attention. Turning back, he saw a familiar face and two unfamiliar ones.
“There you are, Miniko.” Ray addressed Miniko first before turning his attention to the unfamiliar faces. “Who are these two?” Ray took a good look at the two. A pink haired woman and an orange haired man. From their outfits, they were clearly Federation officers.
“Hyy ther.” The pink haired woman responded first. Her badly slurred speech and furious blush clued Ray that she was extremely drunk.
“I am sorry for my captain’s… state.” The orange haired man apologized. “I am Lieutenant Wilson Faraday of The Federation of United Galaxy Navy. It has come to my attention that a Federation ensign was aboard your ship.”
“Yes, Miniko is an ensign. Is there a problem?” Ray crossed his arms, his expression turned to confusion.
“None whatsoever. But, as you probably know, the Federation is going through a crisis, and we need all the help we could get.” Wilson locked eyes with Ray. From his serious look, Ray could already figure out what was going on.
“Um, so…” Ray turned to Miniko as she approached him. “Mr Ray. Thank you for everything you have done.” Miniko lowered her head. Although her face was obscured by her head, Ray could detect a hint of hesitation from her voice.
“You have been very good to me, but I think it’s time for me to go. I have to continue fighting for the Federation. So… I’m here to say goodbye.” Miniko’s bow deepened. “Sorry for all the burden I have caused!”
A short bit of silence followed Miniko’s declaration. Miniko’s heart thumped with each passing second. And yet, her head remained in its position. Perhaps it was to show respect to the one she called her captain. Perhaps it was a plea to be let go.
Or perhaps she was afraid that, if she lifted her head, she would see Ray’s face. She was afraid that his face would be that of disappointment. Or worse, betrayal.
“What are you apologizing for, Miniko?” Ray’s voice flowed into her ears, lighthearted as always. “You’ve never been a burden. In fact, we were all glad to have you.”
Rattled by the voice that seemed free from any of the emotions she was expecting, Miniko gathered up the courage to lift her head. Ray’s face was his usual soft smile, though there was also a twinge of sadness. Ray knelt beside Miniko and put one of his hands on her shoulder.
“Go, Miniko. Give those rebels a good thrashing.” Ray wanted to say more, but was interrupted by Miniko hugging him with all her might.
“I’ll never forget you.” Although he cannot see her face, he could hear her silent sobs and a bit of wetness seeping into the fabric of his suit.
“Neither will I, Miniko. Neither will I.” Ray returned the hug. For a moment, there were only the two of them in the world.
"Anny! There's more over here!" Cerber waved at Anny while her other hand kept the drill she was hauling from going anywhere.
The two of them were floating among the asteroid cluster, gathering some of the fuel alternatives that Evil scanned. The distance between each asteroid was far enough that they had no worries of two bumping into each other, yet close enough that they could still cover it with a leap.
Finding Cerber among the masses of asteroids, Anny joined her with a mighty leap. Perhaps a little too mighty, since she overshot her target a little bit. Luckily, Cerber was able to grab her tether before she went too far.
"Careful there. Don't wander too far." Cerber teased as she pulled Anny in her direction.
"I'm not too worried." Anny said as her feet landed on the asteroid. "After all, you'll catch me if I do."
Both girls giggled, then continued with their mining expedition. Cerber cleared and broke the rocks while Anny shoved the broken up chunks into a container.
"Hey, Cerber." As Anny picked up some of the floating bits of minerals, she started a conversation.
"Yes?" Cerber, finished with drilling out the rest of the material, addressed Anny. Although Anny’s expression was hidden by the reflection of her helmet, Cerber was close enough to Anny that she could handily imagine it.
"I appreciate you talking it out with Evil." Anny started exactly the topic that Cerber guessed
"I'm glad you pushed me to." Cerber's eyes wandered to the green planet nearby. Half of it was illuminated by the nearest sun. "I... nearly fell into a hole I mustn't fall into. Evil helped remind me of that."
"Listen, Cerber. No matter who it is, no matter what it is they are making. Have some respect for the work they put into it." The voice of her father echoed in her mind.
"No matter who it is... even a warship AI." Cerber took a deep breath, lost in the nostalgia.
"What was that?" Anny spoke up.
"It's nothing." Cerber shook her head. She identified another batch of fuel alternative and began drilling.
____
"They look like they're having fun." Evil observed through the kestrel's sensors. The kestrel had been following both girl's movements through the asteroid cluster.
"Yeah, always had a big smile on their faces whenever they get to salvage something unusual." Filian remarked, relaxing with both her hands behind her head and both her feet up on the control panel, conveniently avoiding all the really bad buttons such as "emergency thrusters" and "tether reelback" that could turn the idyllic scene into a surprise obstacle course.
"Come to think of it, I never saw you go out salvaging with them." Evil questioned.
"Well, someone had to guard the ship." Filian opened one eye at Evil's avatar, exuding a smug aura. "Neither you nor Koby over here can really fight off intruders."
"Hey! I can fight just fine!" Kobo suddenly perked up.
"You say that..." Filian leaned sideways and poked Kobo on the chest. "But, a stiff breeze and your hard-light body explodes violently. Ain't that right?" Kobo stepped back from Filian's finger.
"Y-yes, but I can still throw a punch or two!" Kobo put up her fists and threw a mock punch. Filian easily caught her fist. "And... and you'll also be there to protect me, right?"
"Well, if I'm there, you wouldn't even need to consider fighting." Filian released Kobo's fist, which she retracted quickly, nearly losing her balance while doing so.
"See? So it's all good!" Kobo crossed her arms, her eyes upturned in joy.
"But that just circles back to me being here, right?" Filian teased.
"Oh... yeah." Kobo deflated.
"That's alright, you guys can just keep me company." Filian reached out and patted Kobo on the head. Kobo leaned closer, seemingly enjoying the gesture.
"Filian, I think we're finished!" Cerber's voice came out of the communicator. Filian immediately took her feet off the control panel.
"Right! I'll reel you guys back, get ready!" Finding the tether reelback button, Filian made sure the coast was clear before pushing the button and watching as Anny and Cerber were tugged back to the kestrel.
Before long, the kestrel's airlock opened. Cerber helped Anny lug the suddenly heavy bag inside. They put the bag on the floor and several of the rocky minerals clatter to the kestrel's metal floor.
"Welcome back." Evil said through the intercom.
"Let me help!" Kobo burst out the door and began gathering some of the minerals into her hands.
"Once this whole thing gets processed, I estimate it's good for five jumps or so." Cerber leaned upon the kestrel's walls, stretching her hand before diving back in to lift the bag.
"Incidentally, how do you process this thing?" Anny helped from the other side, carrying the bag in her arms.
"Grinding them to dust then shoving them into the engine should do the trick." Cerber confidently asserted as she slung the bag onto her shoulder, bending a bit to match the height Anny held the bag in. "We just have to be careful not to inhale any."
"Where do we put it?" Kobo asked, her arms full of the yellowish minerals.
"Let's bring it to the engine room for now. We'll deal with it later." The trio of Anny, Cerber, and Kobo disappeared into the back of the kestrel.
"Alright, while you guys do that, I'll set the course for our next jump." Filian tapped the local star chart and began scrolling through nearby beacons. "Should be two, maybe three jumps away from the exit beacon."
"Let me see that. I should be able to help." Having no physical body to help the other group, Evil instead elected to help Filian with navigating the charts.
"Thanks, appreciated."
"Don't mention it."
The kestrel emerged from FTL to the view of a planet with two small moons. The planet looked barren, with only a minimum atmosphere surrounding it. In fact, there was no sun nearby to give external energy to it.
"What a strange planet." Evil commented as she started scanning the planetary surface. "Looks like there was a mining base here once."
"Any life signs?" Anny asked.
"Negative." Evil concluded her scan
"I see. Then there's nothing to do here." Anny sighed in relief. "An empty beacon like this once in a while is nice. Let's relax and wait for the FTL to recha-"
"One ship inbound!" Filian's warning sounded from the intercom.
"Me and my big mouth..." Anny shook her head and groaned in frustration before picking herself back up to man the weapon control once more.
A beam of light stopped in almost the identical place to the kestrel. With the ship's model and orange hue, it was impossible to mistake the ship that just jumped in. After all, the kestrel crew found Evil in the same kind of ship.
"It's a rebel rigger!" Filian exclaimed. But immediately, she was interrupted by a burst of energy coming from the rigger. "Huh? They're charging FTL immediately?"
"They're trying to warn the fleet! Destroy them!" Having gotten permission from Cerber, Evil now exerted her authority by activating both of the kestrel's weaponry.
Sensing the unavoidable scuffle, the rigger activated their own weaponry. A single leto missile popped out of the weapon port.
"Is that it?" Filian cocked her head, clearly disappointed. "I mean, it could still damage us. But that's kinda underwhelming."
"Be on your guard! That's a rigger! That means it has-" Cerber was interrupted as, from the port beside the rigger's cockpit, a rounded object flew out. The object flew quickly towards the kestrel.
"Drones!" Evil finished Cerber's warning. At the same time, the rigger's leto missile fired. The missile crashed into an empty room between the weapon control room and oxygen room. Immediately, the room caught on fire.
"Cerber! Deal with the fire, please!" The awkward spot of the fire meant Evil couldn't easily vent it out.
"Got it!" Ignoring Kobo's groans at being left behind again, Cerber left the engine room.
While the kestrel crew was busy with putting out the fire, the drone had reached the kestrel and began orbiting it. The drone unveiled a small laser gun and began peppering the kestrel with laser fire. Because of the kestrel's shield, however, none of the laser went through.
"You're not the only one with missiles!" With Evil's help, Anny locked the rigger as the target for the kestrel's Artemis missile. The ballistic weapon spat out a missile, firmly locked onto the rigger's engines.
In response, another drone exited the rigger's port. But instead of assaulting the kestrel, it began orbiting the rigger. Sensing the presence of the missile, the drone unveiled its own gun, pointed it towards the missile, and shot. The laser shot hit the missile before it contacted the rigger's hull, destroying it before it did any damage.
"Crap, they have a defense drone too!" Evil balled her avatar's fist, another gesture she recently learned.
"Evil! Deactivate the Artemis missile and put the power to the engines instead!" Anny urged Evil, but Evil shook her avatar's head.
"Wait! Let me do one more shot!" Evil took power off the medbay and put it instead into the hacking system. "I'm going to try something!"
"I don't think we have much time for experimenting." Anny gazed into the targeting computer as she fired the burst laser. One shot managed to hit the engine room, but it didn't fully shut it down. "So whatever your plan, it has to succeed."
The leto missile from the rigger hit the kestrel's shield room, disabling the kestrel's second layer of shield. With the second layer disabled, a few shots from the assault drone started to sneak through the kestrel's shield before it regenerated. One of such shots made its way to the kestrel's engine room, throwing Kobo off the terminal.
"Ah, the light is red!" Kobo recalled the surprise lesson she received. "Which means... umm... what do I do!?" Kobo panicked. Repeating what she saw last time, she opened the panel below the terminal. However, the tangle of wires meant nothing to her. That is, until she saw something sparking in the far right corner of her vision.
Cerber took a breather as she stared at the room coated in fire retardant. She quickly checked the neighboring room for any fire that might have spread. Once she was confident no fire had spread, she grabbed her toolbox and moved to fix the shield.
"Wait!" Cerber heard the door open and a tiny blue hand grabbed around her left arm. "Big sis Cerber! Where are the tools you use to connect cables to the rectangle things!?"
"Huh? You mean this?" Cerber pulled a soldering iron from one of her pockets.
"Thank you!" Without warning, Kobo snatched the soldering iron from Cerber's hand and immediately went back through the door she came out of. The iron started to heat up the moment it came into contact with Kobo's body.
"He-hey! Where are you going with that!?"
"I'll deal with the engines! Big sis fix the shields!"
"Huh!? But-" another laser shot went past the shield into the kestrel's hull. "Shit! No time!" Packing up her tools, Cerber ran to the shields room. A roll of solder fell to the floor, but Cerber didn’t notice.
Filian gritted her teeth as she felt the kestrel lose power to its thrusters. The rigger was getting farther and farther away while the attack drone kept up its relentless fire on the kestrel, the shots that went through its shield slowly chipping its hull.
"Guys! I think they're almost done charging FTL!" Filian noticed the way the rigger's engines started to flare. The skirmish continued, but as the distance between both ships increased, the kestrel's weaponry became more and more inaccurate.
"Evil! They're already out of burst laser range!" Anny warned Evil. "They're approaching the maximum of the artemis missile too!"
"It's now or never! Fire!" Guided by Evil, the kestrel's artemis missile spat out another rocket. As the rocket sailed close, the defense drone picked up the rocket's presence and fired. Just like before, the rocket was destroyed far before it made any kind of contact with the rigger.
What wasn't destroyed, however, was the hacking drone trailing closely behind it.
"Gotcha! Can't target two things at once, can you? You lousy drone!" Evil cheered as the hacking drone slammed into the rigger's side, gripping into it and began emitting a signal back to the kestrel.
"Connection established." Evil's eyes lit up. "You're not going anywhere." The rigger's flaring thrusters suddenly shut off without fanfare. Although the rigger was still carried by the momentum, the sudden loss of thrust allowed the kestrel to slowly catch back up.
"Great! Now we just have to-" Before Anny was able to voice her thoughts, the kestrel's thrusters came back to full power. "Huh? I thought Cerber was... Kobo!"
"Is.. is that good?" Kobo pulled back as soon as the indicator light turned back green. Having no frame of reference, she could only rely on that one indicator light to tell if she did a good job or not.
Propelled by the newly jury-rigged engine, the kestrel caught up to the rigger before it was able to restart its thrusters. The rigger's engines were silenced by the kestrel's burst laser, sealing its fate.
The rigger shot one last missile in defiance. A missile that the kestrel handily dodged.
The kestrel overtook the rigger. As the kestrel passed above, Anny pointed the burst laser straight to the rebel's cockpit.
"We surrender!" A wide-band hail came from the rigger. The face of the ship's captain, barely an adult, appeared at the kestrel's vidscreen. "Please don't kill us!" As the kestrel flew past the rigger, the burst laser remained charged. Filian turned the kestrel back and pointed the nose at the rigger, keeping the threat present.
"This is Anny of Federation Kestrel VT-83R. Deactivate all your weapons and lay down all your arms." After a short, heart-pounding moment, The rigger’s captain returned Anny’s hail.
"R-right!" The ship captain fumbled with the controls. Before long, the rigger's missile lay dormant and their drones float lifelessly through space.
____
The kestrel was docked with the rebel rigger. Anny and Filian had stripped the rebel crew of all weaponry and were now tying their hands.
"What will happen to us?" One of the rebel crew chimed up as he held both his hands.
"We don't have a brig, so all of you will be dropped off at the next station we come across." Anny answered as she slowly looped the rope around his hand, taking care to get the rope firmly around his hand, but not to the point of being uncomfortable.
"Just like that?"
"What? Were you expecting something more?" Filian finished her tie. Unlike Anny, Filian tied the hand behind the rebel's back. Furthermore, looped the rope taut around the rebel's feet. This creative bit of hog-tying meant the rebels Filian tied up couldn't stand and had to kneel.
"No! It's nothing!" Intimidated by Filan's presence (and perhaps her hog-tying skills). The rebel decided to shut his mouth.
While Anny and Filian were dealing with the rebels, Cerber was dealing with another situation. Her eyes widened as she opened up the engine terminal.
"Kobo, you..." Cerber's voice trailed off. Kobo had reattached the cable to the circuit board using a soldering iron... without the solder. As such, Cerber could see the melted edges of the cable itself and even a little burn in the edges of the circuit board. Thankfully, the robust nature of these parts manage to hold out.
"I'm sorry. I don't know how to do it, so I just did what Big Sis Cerber did." Kobo didn't look at Cerber. Her eyes were firmly fixed on the floor, looking like a scolded puppy.
"This is... a very sloppy job." Cerber could feel the irritation bubbling up her throat. With a deep breath, she swallowed it back down. "But it's workable. And not that bad considering you don't know the heads or tails of it."
'She just wanted to help.' Cerber repeated in her head.
"T-thank you?"
"Next time, though, just wait for me." Regardless, Cerber couldn't let her go without a warning.
"..."
"Listen, Kobo. Kestrie-wan, as tough as she is, could be very particular." Cerber closed the panel and turned towards Kobo. Despite their similar stature, Cerber was just a bit taller. "Systems like the circuits of the engine can be surprisingly fragile in unintuitive ways. Of course, we build redundancies into the system, but that should be a last reso-"
"Big sis Cerber..." Kobo interrupted Cerber. "I.. please teach me how to repair things!" Cerber flinched backwards as Kobo did a pronounced bow.
"You all saved me from being sold to slavery. So I want to give back to you!" Kobo's pleas crashed into Cerber with the weight of a waterfall. "But I can't give back anything right now! So please! Teach me how to fix things!"
A deep silence engulfed the room as Kobo concluded her reasoning. She was still in the same position, and likely will be until Cerber gave a response.
"Are you sure about this?" After a brief pondering, Cerber slowly responded.
"Yes!" Kobo's head shot up, eyes locking with Cerber's. Deep in those eyes, Cerber found a familiar sight. It was as if a fire was lit behind those eyes, fueled by something the possessor found important.
Cerber was familiar with those eyes. In fact, she saw it in a mirror all those years ago when she herself decided that there had to be a better world out there, more than the world she had then.
"Then I'll give you a crash course." Propelled by the sight, Cerber nodded to herself. If that fire remained, then Cerber was sure Kobo would do well. "You better not back out."
Kobo's eyes softened at the words. Then, without warning, Kobo tackle hugged Cerber. "Thank you Big Sis Cerber! I won't!" Both of them nearly toppled to the floor together. But Cerber managed to hold on.
"So we just... sit here?" One of the rebels asked.
"Like we said, we don't have a brig." Anny addressed the rebel, a woman not too dissimilar to her in age. "Sorry we couldn't get you something nicer."
The kestrel had made another jump to another beacon. Since the kestrel had no brig, the captured rebels could not be put in their own specialized room. So instead, the four rebel crew was strewn about wildly in the kestrel's weapon control room.
Anny swept her eyes towards each and every one of the rebels. They were a young bunch. In fact, she doubted any of them were older than her. Three of the rebels were male and one was female. Only one of the male had animal ears, that of a rabbit. All of them are clad in the standard orange uniform of the rebellion.
"That's odd." The woman replied, her eyes narrowing. "Why would you care about prisoners of war?"
"I just happen to care." Anny knelt beside the woman so she could match her current height. "Nothing wrong with that, right?"
"Um, Could I ask a question?" The rabbit-eared rebel, the other rebel who had the "privilege" to be personally hog-tied by Filian, was the next to speak.
"Ask away."
"Is there a fifth person on this ship?" Anny immediately knew who the rebel was referring to. However, she stayed silent. "When we were being tied, we saw you and the white cat-eared one. We also saw the blonde dog-eared one and the zoltan. But I swear there's a voice that doesn't match any of you."
"Are you talking about me?" Evil's avatar appeared on the weapon control terminal.
"There it is!"
"Right." Anny took Evil appearing before the rebels as tacit approval to divulge about her. "That's Evil. She is a... special case."
"That is one hell of a name." One of the other rebels, a man with clean-shaven features, joined the conversation. "Who are you?"
"My name is Evil! The greatest warship AI ever created!" Evil struck the same pose she did when she first came aboard the kestrel.
'It's as goofy as it was the first time.' Anny kept the thought to herself.
"...So, you're some kind of Auto-ship AI?" After a period of silence, the rabbit-eared rebel spoke up again.
"Don't you dare compare me to those primitive things!" Evil suddenly shouted. "I'm leagues more advanced!"
"Yeah, we could tell." The woman spoke up again."Warship AIs are usually less chatty and more... robot-y."
"So this is the first time all of you saw something like this?" Anny prodded. All of the rebels looked at each other and one by one began to affirm.
"Interesting." Anny filed the fact in her memory. 'So none of them knew of Evil or any AI like her.' Anny turned to face Evil's avatar, who had decided to start interrogating the rebels on random topics. 'Evil, what exactly are you?'
The kestrel continued its jump towards the unknown.