A/N(Kuugen): This was stalled forever because I couldn't make up my mind what kind of environmental descriptions to add and where. Eggs was busy so she couldn't cover for me and then Kancolle destroyed my life. If you can think of a scene that lacks environmental descriptions, leave a review specifying the scene and I will give it serious consideration.

Voice in the Void

Log 003

Acquiring Danger

Stealing Miku back was easier said than done. Yukari had outdone herself and tracked Miku down to a Federation Base in system 1410-7002, far away from any inhabited planet. Attacking a military base without a fleet of big ships was complete suicide and everyone onboard the Blackjack knew that.

"Yukari, how long until the next patrol?" The Blackjack had remained outside the sensory range of the base and the patrol ships. The patrol ships themselves were well within the ship's range of sensors, however. Luka had created a cunning, if risky, plan to get Miku out and it involved a good amount of patience and carefully calculated and well executed maneuvers.

"Four minutes." Yukari was grateful that she didn't have to go on this job. A military base required people that had actual military training. Luka and Kaito were going on their own. No communication, no backup. But Luka really wanted Miku out of there. If she could convince her to stay, it would make her the most powerful pirate in the galaxy.

As they waited, everyone on board was quite tense, even Rin who was usually very carefree. Each patrol ship left the base's sensor range sixteen minutes after launch and re-entered it after spending twenty minutes outside. Within twenty minutes, Yukari had to forge Federation military IDs and Len had to alter the ship's log. They couldn't attack the ship, as any damage to the hull would have to be explained and ramming a stray asteroid was not an acceptable or believable excuse.

With a base that size and the war, there had to be constant personnel changes. Yukari estimated there to be at least twenty thousand people on base at any time. It was impossible to know the faces of ten percent, or even five percent, with those numbers. Even without a helmet, if she pretended to be newly assigned to the base, which made sense as only rookies would be sent out on patrol in such a godforsaken system, there should be no problem.

"Here they come," Yukari reported to Luka, who immediately put the ship in motion, ramming the jamming all the way up. No matter what kind of communication device they had on board, they wouldn't be able to call for help or report back.

Flying the ship right behind the patrol, Luka opened a communication channel. "Surrender. You know what happens when you don't." Luka's voice was completely void of all emotion. It paid off to look like a terrible villain when trying for intimidation. The patrol ship was not even a tenth of the Blackjack in size and had no sizable weapons.

It took all of fifteen seconds before they surrendered, probably attempting to call for help once and then giving up. "We will open our hangar. Land your vessel inside and do not leave the cockpit until asked to." As soon as she was done talking, Luka cleared her throat, trying too hard to get a deep and gruesome sounding voice. "Pressurize the hangar as soon as they're in. We need them alive. Meiko, Kaito, stun guns and pressure binds." Everything had to go fast now. Jumping up, Luka called Yukari. "Get to the hangar and take their IDs as soon as they're bound."

They were right outside the sensor range because that gave them the maximum amount of time to work with. Luka was heading to the hangar herself, as she had to replace one of the soldiers. She hoped that at least one of them was female or that the uniforms were gender neutral. She wasn't exactly flat chested, so that could end in a very uncomfortable way.

Two minutes later, Kaito and Meiko stood over two captured soldiers, both men, laying flat on the ground. Kaito started to strip them and sincerely hoped that they were wearing underwear beneath. Thankfully, they had a whole set of clothes on underneath and the suits were elastic to a small degree.

Luka arrived when Kaito had finished taking their clothes, leaving them in just their underwear. There was a set of regular uniform and then the suit to wear. "IDs?" Luka held open her hand and waited for Kaito to hand them over.

"Yukari has them." Meiko had already taken care of that. "Both Ensigns."

Luka kicked one of the captives on the side. "Wake up, moron." With another, harder kick, the captive groaned, eyes fluttering and disoriented. "Wake the other one up Kaito, you're taking him."

It wasn't enough to just have fake IDs and wear uniforms. They had to know what the captives were assigned to, under whom they served and reported to, what their routine was, and where their quarters were located. Luka didn't want to take unnecessary risks in an already dangerous operation.

Len was already on board the small patrol vessel, manipulating the computer. The last dozen flights were all roughly the same course. He copied that, applied minor alterations to the course and then started fine tuning the logs. Thankfully the Federation ships didn't use fuel dependent ships anymore, so there was no need to mess with the engine.

"What else?" Luka was interrogating the soldier in a room right next to the hangar. "Who is your immediate superior officer?" She wasn't above using violence in situations like this. If necessary, she would take extreme measures to ensure she learned what she needed to know.

The soldier was reluctant but he valued his life over some petty information. The woman wasn't even asking about anything important, just mundane things that practically everyone on the base knew anyway. Luka was finally satisfied when she couldn't think of any other questions. Taking out her gun, she aimed at the soldier and shot him in the head. She would throw the body out the airlock at a later point. It was just too big of a security risk to let them go.

Returning to the hangar, Kaito was carrying away the corpse of the other soldier, the neck twisted in an unnatural fashion. "Learned everything you needed?"

"Yes." Kaito was in luck. The soldier he chose to impersonate was a very stoic person without any friends or acquaintances on the base. A loner, just like he was. The only problem was that he was much more muscular and a bit taller than the soldier.

"We have six minutes. Meiko, dump the bodies when we're gone. Kaito, suit up." Sadly, uniforms were not gender neutral and Luka had to fight a bit to get into her's. With three minutes left, Len was done. After two minutes, Yukari was done, looking horribly exhausted. "Are they good?"

"It's a rush job. Unless they closely examine them, you should be fine, but if you attract suspicion, you're going to go bust right away. I'm sorry, if I had maybe time until the next patrol, then-"

"This will do." Snatching the pieces of paper mixed with plastic from Yukari's hand, Luka threw the one with Kaito's image at the tall blue haired pirate. "We're leaving. Meiko, don't run the ship into an asteroid while I'm gone." Luka joked before entering the small ship.

It was only about eight meters long, four meters high and six wide. A flying box of cornflakes. Painted white with black stripes, a common paint job in the Federation, Luka assumed control of the vessel, Kaito taking the co-pilot seat next to her. Putting on their helmets, the rest of the crew left the hangar in a hurry.

Making sure that everything was secure and they were ready for take off, Luka waited for someone to open the hangar gates. With five seconds to spare they made it out of the Blackjack and flew back towards the base.

"Explain the plan." Luka wanted to make sure that Kaito knew exactly what they were going to do.

Kaito only glanced at her once before giving in. "I'm to find a hard copy of Miku's orders and relay them to you so you can convince Miku to leave. In the event that she still refuses, you will take her by force and I'm to join up with you, after which we will pretend that there is something wrong with her. We will escape from the base while the uproar over the super weapon has them busy." That was more talking than he usually did in a full day.

"What if one of us is found out?"

"Protect your own cover and look for a chance to free you." He had no doubt that nobody would suspect him. This wasn't the first time he infiltrated a base under a fake name.

"We could end up being stuck there for days if things go wrong. Prepare yourself for that possibility." There was an overabundance of things that could go wrong, but Luka didn't want to cover all of them. Many of those scenarios had no real solution. That was the risky part of this whole mission. She only hoped that Miku wouldn't make a fuss and come quietly. As they neared the base, the operator opened a communication channel. "Unit DTM-03, come in."

"This is unit DTM-03."

"There was an accident at port twenty-three and we had to vent the entire section because of a fire. Change your course to port ninety-seven."

"Understood." Luka closed communication and looked at Kaito. "Looks like they have enough problems even without us."

Adjusting the course, the base was turned upside down from their view. Navigation in space, especially around bases that had no gravitational pull of their own, was tricky as even small mistakes could send the ship tilting in the wrong direction.

"Control, this is unit DTM-03, requesting permission to land at dock ninety-seven.." Luka was no stranger to Federation procedures, even if her knowledge was slightly outdated.

"Permission granted. Clear for landing." Flying through the unusually massive gates, Luka realized seconds later why this gate was so big. A single destroyer was kept in the port with gravitational anchors. That single fact told Luka something important. The base didn't even have artificial gravity in the ports, meaning that they were in combat ready state.

Landing the patrol ship according to the instructions a suited up soldier, floating through the air, was giving her, Luka got ready to step out. Wearing pressurized suits, it would be near impossible to tell them apart from anyone else, and by the looks of it, nobody paid much attention to what people looked like anyway.

The ship was fixed in place by gravitation anchors, a device that created a small, controlled field of gravity designed specifically for situations like this. Of course, as Luka has demonstrated, there were various other uses for them as well.

Leaving the ship and drifting a good meter over the ground towards the first exit that Luka could spot, they were immediately called back. The only way to communicate was over open lines out there, as the hangar had no pressure or atmosphere to speak of. One could shout as much as they want without ever being noticed. And nobody seemed to care what they were doing.

There was a noticeable unrest among the crew and Luka didn't need to guess much why that was. Having a super weapon on base, one that could possibly pulverize the entire place, was an enormous danger. And the weapon coming in the shape of a cute girl did nothing to take away the fear of her going ballistic on them.

Entering a pressure chamber, Kaito operated the system and both of them calmly waited for air to fill the room before they opened the door to the changing room, finding only a single woman in there, looking tired and grumpy. She was in the process of suiting up.

Taking off her helmet, Luka initiated conversation. "At this rate we'll be on alert until they ship the damn thing off the base."

"Who you're telling that? Nobody likes sitting on a time bomb but the top brass doesn't care. Nobody is stupid enough to attack a fully manned base, so why the heck do we even bother to stay on alert? You got any idea when I last slept? And I had to cancel my damn shore leave, too!"

That more than confirmed Luka's suspicions. "But hey, I heard the goods is actually a girl. 's supposed to look just like a human. I'd love to take a look."

"You haven't seen her yet? What, were you asleep standing when they brought her in?" Looking at Luka's rank, displayed on her uniform, the older woman clicked her tongue. "If you wanna take a look, Rookie, sector 816, room M. If you get chewed out by your officer for gawking, not my beef."

Finishing her suit up, the woman left without another word and the door to the pressure room closed. Luka wanted to steal a different uniform but it was too dangerous. It would raise suspicion and they really could do without that. "I know where she is, so I'm going to try and find out what her orders are. You go and look up who is going with her, when and where as well as what they're supposed to do." Luka couldn't imagine that Miku would be send on a solo mission. That was too risky.

A quick nod and Kaito left the changing room. Luka waited thirty seconds before following him. The hallways were narrow but about three meters high, allowing for soldiers to pass above or below each other. The surface of the walls was coated in a cheap metal alloy that could withstand standard bullets, but energy rifles would cut through it like butter.

Soldiers were hastily going from one place to another, all in zero gravity. Luka spotted a large number of rookies that had never experienced zero gravity before, losing control of where they were going, colliding with each other or more experienced soldiers. A base so far out was poorly staffed. The experienced soldiers were likely belonging to the destroyer or another large ship that were only here for Miku's protection.

Stopping near two arguing soldiers, Luka tried her best to look as naive as possible. "Uhm... sector 816?"

One of the soldiers, a woman, took the chance to take off and head to her position while the other one, a man, stayed behind. "Down this hallway, take the transporter to central, go down five levels, take the transporter to area zero-two, ask someone from there. Say, you're a new recruit, right?"

Luka really could have done without getting hit on. "Yes. I enlisted just recently. I was deployed here yesterday." Luka did her best to look disappointed, like she realized she had been deployed to some crappy base far out in the boonies. "I really have to go, though, my officer already chewed my out twice." Trying to move away, the soldier held her back.

"Who's your officer? I'll have a word with him."

She shouldn't have said that. "Please don't. I had to convince my parents really hard to let me enlist. If they catch wind that I needed a veteran to talk to my superior officer, I'll never hear the end of it." She should have picked a less irritating personality to imitate.

"Okay, okay." Thankfully, he could take a hint.

Thanking the soldier again, Luka was finally able to leave and make it to the transporter. They were simple devices created to get quickly from point A to B inside a large facility. Teleportation was theoretically and practically possible but so inefficient that not even the Empire used it anywhere. Transporters were rail mounted platforms with a few seats mounted on the platform. Each transport hallway had a platform at the top and the ground. Not only did this allow travel in both directions simultaneously, it also allowed for the platform to return to it's origin point by using the rail of the other direction. Additionally, very large facilities had multiple platforms lined up at the same rail.

Four other soldiers were just sitting down. "Wait, I need to get on it, too!" Shouting, Luka barely made it in time. "This is taking me to central, right?" she asked the soldier strapped in the seat next to her. Luka recognized that it was a woman only when she noticed the extremely slight bulge on her chest. Other than that, she might have mistaken her for a man.

"Yes." She didn't bother to look at Luka.

"At central, where is the transport to get to zero-two?" Luka thought that her imitation would be more believable if she practiced it a little.

"There is gravity at central so don't fall over your own feet. Take the stairs down to level seventeen and take transport D. Didn't you pay attention during orienteering yesterday?"

"Sorry, first time at a big base."

"This godforsaken place counts as big now?" Snorting, the soldier, her uniform showing the rank of Lieutenant, looked at Luka, her expression darkening when she noticed her large breasts. "Why the hell are you wearing a man's uniform, Ensign?"

"They were all out of woman's uniforms, they said..." Luka knew she couldn't make a blank statement about a fact. If she portrayed herself as the victim of bullying, it was more believable.

"Report to your superior and have him assign you a proper uniform. You look like a sausage wearing a plastic tube. Even after a fifteen hundred years, men still bully the new female recruits. Assholes."

"I will. Thank you, uhm..."

"Lieutenant Mew. Don't bother remembering it, I won't be around much longer."

"Did you arrive with the destroyer?" Luka found a chance to find out the time of departure for Miku or at least the destroyer.

"Yes. And we will be leaving this sorry excuse for a base within the next twelve hours, thankfully."

The transport slowed down and finally came to a full stop. The Lieutenant got off before Luka and vanished into the rustling masses. Central was a single, massive hall that housed the administration of the base but also the living quarters of nearly fifteen thousand people as well as all facilities to keep those people alive. The main dome had dozens of floors, many of them for recreational purposes. Looking up and down, the people on the uppermost or bottom floor looked like ants. Central was four kilometers in height and the most well secured part of the base against outside attacks.

Using her ID to get access to the floor she was on, a small chamber of bullet proof glass served as a security gate between the transporter and central, Luka mixed in with the soldiers. Heading down the first flight of stairs, Luka wondered just how much chaos would break out if central lost their gravity generator. It wasn't a viable strategy to escape in the chaos because something as important as that would be heavily guarded around the clock.

Reaching the transport to area zero-two, Luka had to wait in line as about a dozen more soldiers were on their way there. "I heard that the weapon was stolen by pirates prior to coming here." Luka didn't know when or where she would find someone susceptible to giving out most likely classified information.

"Yeah. Damn lowlifes didn't leave a single survivor. After they stole the weapon, that scum bombed the entire transport and the escort ships to kingdom come. What kind of people do something like that?" One of the other soldiers, another Ensign, was complaining about it as well. It launched a chain reaction. Several other soldiers started complaining about pirates and other criminals, but nothing was said that had any value to Luka.

"If those pirates knew what we're going to use it for they wouldn't have sold her. They'd have just killed her." A female soldier, the only one in line, walked up to Luka, ignoring the blabbering men. Her rank was that of a captain, someone three ranks above a Lieutenant and five ranks above a Ensign. "I can tell you're not a rookie. What rank were you before you were demoted and what for?"

"Commander, on the way to make Captain. Made a bad call and they made an example out of me. Took my rank and had me start from scratch. And now I'm assigned to this hell hole of a base in the middle of nowhere." Luka wasn't lacking creativity. The story didn't have to hold up long, and as long as she remained true to the fact that she was new to the base, she could without ask without drawing attention to herself.

"They're quick to demote female officers. This generation is very biased against females in positions of power."

"What did you mean, what we're going to use her for?" Luka knew that it was a suicide mission, in some way, but she didn't know the full extent of it. There was no doubt the Federation was going to sacrifice Miku, but what for was still a secret.

"Classified. And don't let anyone catch you asking about this. You'll be locked up until the weapon has left base." Pushing past two lower ranked men, the woman got on the next transport.

Whatever it was, it had to be big, really big. And by the looks of it, the Federation was pretty desperate to make it a success. Quietly waiting in line for the next transport, Luka wondered how and when she would be able to get a hold of the information.

Reaching her target area, Luka stopped the first low ranking soldier she could find. "Do you know where they keep the weapon?" She already had an explanation ready in case someone asked.

"Down that hallway, left, follow it for a bit, take the third right, go down a floor, second right, down the hallway and you're there. But you're not going to get down to the floor, they've sealed everything off." The soldier left without another word. Luka was just one of many gawking rookies that day.

Following the directions as well as she could, Luka got lost pretty quickly, as everything looked almost exactly the same. There was no gravity in this area and every door was closed airtight in case of a breach, so it was very easy to lose track of what way she had come or had to go.

Noticing a girl carrying a large pile of papers coming her way, Luka hid behind a large steel beam. Kicking herself off the wall as hard as she could, Luka rammed the girl, the papers flying everywhere. "Oh shit, I'm so sorry. I was fixing my clothes and I'm in a hurry and- let me help you." Picking up a few papers, Luka realized that they weren't even remotely what she was looking for. They were standard issue orders for patrols and the like.

"Don't worry, I got it, I got it. Be careful." The girl left quickly, not realizing that she was missing two pages.

Looking over them, Luka found nothing interesting in there. But it was a ticket to enter the room the girl had come from. Knocking on the door, Luka patiently waited. After a few seconds, the door opened and a Lieutenant towered over her. "I found these documents floating in the hallway. They were issued from this room, right?"

"How did you get those? And who are you?" The soldier was very unfriendly towards Luka, glaring at her with cold eyes.

"Ensign Shiina Minato. As I said, they were floating in the hallway."

"Stupid rookie, losing sortie documents. Get in. Don't look or touch anything. I need to report this."

Entering the room, the door was shut tight behind Luka. There were a dozen displays all over the place, names and assignments rapidly rolling down each screen. "I've never been inside one of the command rooms."

"Yes, yes, it's all new and exciting."

Luka saw a big chance. "Long shift?"

"I wish. Just started."

"Need anything? They canceled my orders because of this whole weapon business so I've been going around, making myself useful."

The soldier turned around and gave Luka a probing look. "Go and get me a coffee. I get grumpy if I don't get my coffee and the usual girl just took off with a bunch of paperwork."

"I'll knock twice to let you know it's me." She needed to have this guy out of the room somehow, at least for a minute or two, long enough to forge orders.

"Get going already." Focused completely on the screens and the console he was working, the soldier was wide open for an attack.

Luka thought about knocking him out or shooting him, but there would be problems with that. One, she'd have to hide the body and that was very hard to do on a base like this. Second, the lack of new orders being issued in the area would instantly arouse suspicion, without a doubt. Forging the orders without the soldier knowing about it was the cleanest and safest way to go about it.

"I've never been to this area. Where would I get a coffee? I won't have to go all the way back to central, right? What sort of coffee do you want? Is instant okay? I won't have to use a coffee machine, right? I'm no good with those. And-"

Pinching his nose, the soldier groaned. "Just... stay here. Stay put. Don't touch anything and I mean anything! If someone comes by, check their ID, take their papers and put it on that pile there. Don't hand out anything. Don't approve anything. I'll be back in five."

Bingo. Luka watched the soldier leave, door closing behind him, and stood there for a good fifteen seconds. All of a sudden, the door opened again and the soldier checked on her. But she was just standing there, exactly as she was told. Exhaling deeply, relieved, the soldier left again.

The door was closed and five seconds passed before Luka immediately accessed the console and brought up her fake name. Current orders: standing by. Accessing the files of the guards that were currently guarding Miku she issued orders for herself to replace one of them. None of them belonged to the base crew, from what she could tell. That made it slightly difficult to sell the orders but she could argue that the base commander wanted someone there as well, likely for credit.

Hitting print, Luka was not yet done. Trying to find Miku's orders, she did find them very quickly but couldn't access them. A separate password was needed and she couldn't just randomly try to hack it. Not only was she not Len but it was likely that every try was going to be logged and following that the area would be swarming with guards.

Ceasing her search and changing objectives, Miku brought up Kaito's file and changed his orders as well. He and she were to replace the two guards directly in front of Miku's room. It was suspicious but if she couldn't access Miku's orders from a command room, then there was little hope that she would find out otherwise.

Changing her search, she remembered the name of the Lieutenant from earlier, the one that had come with the destroyer. Entering her name, she got hundreds of results. The search was not very accurate. Removing all results that weren't on the rank of Lieutenant, there were still four left. But only one of them was female. Accessing the file, it had classified written all over it.

Luka's mouth opened wide and remained that way as she read about her orders. That wasn't just any old suicide mission. Even if she had to kill Miku to stop this, she would do it. She couldn't believe the Federation would stoop to such methods, war or not. Printing out the file, Luka closed the console.

Holding both papers, she couldn't just stuff them in her pockets. That soldier would probably search her. Folding the papers, Luka had an idea. Reducing them to a size where they could fit into her hand, she opened up her uniform a bit and stuck them between her breasts. Even if he dared to try and strip search her she could claim sexual harassment and get away. Or possibly punch him and get away. One of the advantages of being a woman.

She had just zipped her uniform back up when the door creaked and an equally grumpy looking soldier came back in, carrying a whole can of coffee. "Anyone show up?"

"Isn't it lonely, sitting here all day with just the names to look at? And nope, nobody came. It was really boring to just stand here."

Not believing her, he checked the document piles, the console, the screens and her pockets, but he couldn't find anything. "I didn't think we'd have a single honest soul on this dirt pile. Go on, get out. I got work to do and I can't have you looking over my shoulder. You don't have clearance."

"Not even if I promise not to say anything? Wouldn't you like having some company?"

"Out. Don't make me drag you." Letting the can float freely, as it was vacuum sealed, he pointed at the door and gave Luka a no more warnings look.

Heading out, pouting, Luka waited for the door to be securely locked before she headed down the hallway. Checking that nobody was coming, she opened her uniform up, took out the orders and only put the one about the crew of the destroyer back between her breasts. Zipping up and holding the paper, she continued down the way towards the room where they were keeping Miku. A minute later, one of the guards stopped her short. "You need clearance to get through here. Didn't they tell you?"

"That must at least be the hundredth gawker today. Go back to your post, Ensign." Both guards were female and taller than Luka. Both of them had the rank of Lieutenant.

Holding up her orders, Luka stood completely still. "Orders from the chief. I'm to relieve one of the guards further down. My partner got lost in central. Blue haired guy, made like a bear, practical mute. If he shows up, could you let him through? He probably forgot to get his paperwork."

One of the women took a closer look at Luka. "You look awfully familiar. Haven't I seen your face before?"

"You probably have. I actually got blond hair, but I dyed it pink a few days ago. You know that dashing space pirate? Luka Megurine, you know, Double Lariat." Luka went into full swooning mode. "I'm totally in love with her! And her looks. I'd love to have her plunder me if you know what I-"

"Wow, hold it right there. I'm not interested in any sick fantasies of yours." Stepping aside, the Lieutenant shook her head. "You rookies are sick. That woman is a horrible criminal. To dye your hair like hers is just bad taste for a soldier."

"My captain said so too. Ordered me to let it grow out." Luka, with hanging head, let out a depressed sigh and slowly stepped past. "I wonder what her skin feels like. Do you think she smells-" Luka was pushed by the other soldier.

"She said hold it. Now get the hell to your post. And shut up about that pirate already! I accept lesbians but pick someone who's not a total scumbag!"

Doing her best to suppress the evil grin on her face, Luka walked past the guards. The next three sets let her through without any problems and she finally arrived at room M. Only a single door and a female guard were keeping her from Miku now.

$ # € # ¥

Kaito couldn't fathom how exactly things had gotten this bad. He was merely following through on his cover, returning to his quarters and receiving orders to go participate in a routine test. He didn't consider inquiring about the abilities of the person he was impersonating. Scoring higher than anyone else on the shooting range, he was now instructing a whole bunch of equal ranked, and even higher ranked, soldiers on the proper use of the XMA-I, a heavy assault rifle that was a standard weapon for Federation forces.

The more he demonstrated his skills, the more attention he drew to himself. But he just didn't have the acting in him to perform poorly. Wielding a gun and firing it was drilled into his body by years of usage. He had made a living off being a mercenary for about ten years now. He couldn't act like he was a rookie that had never seen combat.

"Attention!" One of the senior officers shouted while someone with a very different uniform came walking in. "Vice Admiral Catarela!" A Lieutenant commander was showing the Vice Admiral through the crowd and stopped before Kaito. "This is the one."

The vice admiral was at least in his fifties and sported a majestic mustache, which was the only hair present on his head. "I am hearing that you are making even your veteran comrades look bad. Show me." His voice was deep and rough and from the look of his eyes, Kaito knew that this man had lived through many battles and risen to his position because of skill and wit, not ass kissing

Looking to the senior officer, Kaito turned around slowly and picked up a XMA-I, loaded it, unlocked the safety and walked over to the shooting range. Taking aim, Kaito breathed calm and steady. He remembered his training from a decade ago. The drills and routine that had changed him so much. It had been so hard at first that he wanted to quit a week after the training had started, but his pride wouldn't allow him.

Landing in the slammer for the first time a month in, he met Meiko, who was cooling down in there for being drunk during training. Even back then she had been heavy on the alcohol but thanks to her steel liver, she wasn't suffering from any great health issues. After that, he was competing with her over who could advance faster. Because Meiko talked so much, especially when she was drunk, he started to talk less and less until he mostly communicated with his actions and let Meiko do the talking for him.

He would have followed her into military service if not for that incident a few months before the end of his training.

Rapid fire echoed through the shooting range and the target mannequin had several dozens holes in it, so close together that the head was completely destroyed. The barrel of the gun was giving off bits of smoke from emptying an entire magazine in one go. The shooting range had its own, small, gravity generator that allowed training under different intensities

"Remarkable." The vice admiral was impressed, just like everyone else. "What is your name, soldier?"

"Ramirez." A common name in the Federation but routed more deeply in the Commonwealth.

"How would you like to serve on my ship, the Cantarella? We can use talented soldiers like you. Lieutenant commander, how is this fine soldier still only an Ensign? Who is his superior officer?"

"Sir, I'm honored, sir. I will give it serious thought. How would I reach you when I make my decision?"

"A youth with manners!" The vice admiral laughed out loud. "Here, use this to contact me." Handing the pirate a small piece of plastic, a special ID that was used only for on-base communication, the admiral patted Kaito on the shoulder.. "Stop gawking and continue!" His voice went through a brutal change as he shouted, every single soldier immediately standing at attention for a moment, then returning to practice.

"Fernandez!" A soldier was shouting from the door. "Ensign Ramirez Fernandez!"

Kaito tensed up. Had he attracted too much attention and his cover got blown? Putting the gun away, he quickly walked over to the door. "I'm Fernandez." If his cover was blown, there was no fighting his way out of here.

"You've been ordered on guard duty. Here." Handing a piece of paper to Kaito, the blue haired pirate skimmed over it and a single thought popped into his head. Coincidences like this didn't exist. That was no doubt Luka's doing. It was the only logical explanation.

"Understood." Taking the paper, Kaito glanced to the vice admiral before leaving. He didn't like authority figures, especially not those that stayed out of the heat of battle. One of the reasons why he came to dislike the military. Pirates and mercenaries had no such thing as leaders that stayed behind and let their subordinates do all the dirty work.

Taking a transport to central, Kaito slowed his pace significantly when he noticed two high ranking soldiers arguing about something. He was not the most skilled in stealth and espionage, but he knew how to make himself look inconspicuous. Walking just past them, staying in hearing range, he pretended to be preoccupied, reading his new orders. There were dozens of soldiers walking around, in all directions, so nobody paid especially much attention to anyone else.

Hiding in plain sight was an art that was taught at every military academy from Luanite Feva to Niamite Theta. Arguments happened every minute on a base that size, three times as often when a high risk operation was going on. And keeping the Federation's super weapon on the base was more than just high risk.

"Your moral standards do not mean anything to the brass, Lieutenant. If you're not going to follow orders, I am taking you off this mission."

"Sir, we're not just talking about any mission here. They're going to smuggle the weapon through customs on Wordis Mina and have her cause a star quake to destabilize the planet core. We're talking about over twenty billion civilians that are going to die here! Property damage so high that it will cause the entire economy of the Empire to collapse! After the genocide, tens of billions will starve and be out of their jobs."

"Lower your voice, soldier!" Kaito didn't catch what the superior ranking officer was saying after that but they seemed to disagree on something quite strongly. But he had heard enough. He knew what the super weapon was designed for now.

But what exactly had the power to cause a star quake? How did the weapon work? Kaito hoped that Luka knew what she was doing. Wordis Mina was a planet nearly double the size of Earth and the capital of the Empire. The entire government and the royal family was housed there. Stealing something that could destroy something so important and big on her own wasn't a joke.

Heading to the transport, Kaito noticed that there was noticeable tension between the crew of the destroyer, who he could easily distinguish from the base crew simply by their looks and expressions, and the people regularly stationed on base.

It could, possibly, come in handy during their escape. Finding Miku and convincing her to go with them was one thing. Getting off the base a different one entirely. That was when it dawned on him. Turning around, Kaito walked back to the two arguing soldiers. "Sir, is it true that the weapon will be transported on the Cantarella?" He tried to pass himself off as a nosy rookie.

"Who are you?" The senior officer looked at Kaito with suspicion.

"Ensign Fernandez, Sir. I've been newly assigned to this base and I heard rumors that the Cantarella will take the weapon for their next mission."

"Damn rookies can't get their mouth shut. Yes, the Cantarella will set out on a classified mission involving the weapon. Now be on your way, Ensign." Glaring at Kaito, the soldier waited for him to leave.

Kaito put his right hand to his temple, a salute that had survived more than a thousand years of history, and stepped away, right back on his way to the shooting range. If the Cantarella was going to carry Miku, it would prove extremely useful if he was going to be able to go on board. And luckily, he had a guaranteed ticket to get there. The main problem was getting Luka on the ship as well.

Kaito made his way to a communication unit, which was a special contraption limited to on-base communication - it connected directly to the ID each person was wearing and created a small video screen directly in front of the soldier. Using the ID that the admiral had given him, he made the call.

"Admiral Catarela. Yes sir. Ramirez, sir. The one that demonstrated his shooting on- yes, sir. I understand, sir. Absolutely, sir. I do have a small request. I am acquaintances with a very skilled female Ensign whose capabilities are at best marginally below mine. I- Yes, sir. That's exactly it, sir. I'm very grateful and- No, you will not regret this, sir. I understand." Hanging up, Kaito felt like he had just chewed a big turd of shit. But luck was clearly on the side of the witty and greedy that day.

Finally following through on the orders that Luka must have issued, he was ready to get chewed out for being late. Taking the transport, he was surprised by how lax and shoddy the security was in places. Considering they had an extremely dangerous weapon on base plus being ready for combat, discipline and security were catastrophically bad.

He was starting to wonder why. Was Miku really on base? Or was it because she was dangerously loyal to the Federation? Either way, whether Miku was on base, whether she joined them or not, he and Luka would make their escape from the Cantarella as soon as they saw a chance. He would follow his captain's orders but if push came to shove, he would take her and run.

Sitting on the transport, he felt slightly uncomfortable hitting the zero gravity area. The Blackjack had its own gravity generator and it was practically always running for the inhabited decks. He simply preferred being able to utilize his legs fully for movement.

Five minutes later he showed his orders to the guard, who made an incredibly annoyed expression upon seeing him. "Right, you're the partner of that crazy pirate obsessed bitch that went through half an hour ago. Go. Go and probably relieve the poor soul that is stuck guarding that damn door with her."

Kaito wondered just what exactly Luka had said to piss off that woman so much. Getting past them, he soon reached the end of the hallway and a familiar sight greeted him. Luka was currently in the process of ravishing the female soldier that was on guard duty with her. One of her hands was down between her legs, the other buried in the short hair of the girl she was having fun with. Kaito cleared his throat as loudly as possible. Luka looked over her shoulder, noticing him.

"New orders," said Kaito. "I'm to relieve one of you. And I assume that's you." Kaito pointed at the girl who was now hastily fixing her hair and clothes, her face completely flushed. He briefly looked at Luka with disapproval, handed his orders to the girl who was now completely embarrassed. She only briefly skimmed the paper before running off. He waited for a minute before he spoke. "Was seducing her necessary?"

"Yes. If she is caught doing something like this, she'll be under enormous stress. That way she won't look at the orders too closely." Luka paused for a moment. "What do you have?"

"They're going to cause Wordis Mina to explode by destabilizing the core using Miku. She will die with the planet," Kaito explained nonchalantly. "I secured us spots on the ship that is going to take Miku out of here."

"If you were anyone but you I would never believe you. How did you do it?"

"Not important." Kaito didn't want to talk about his little run-in with a vice admiral that happened to be in the area. "Her orders?"

Luka patted her boobs and grinned. "Didn't get Miku's orders but the destroyer crew is supposed to take her to a front line base where they will ship her off to Wordis Mina and leave her there."

"They're using her to cause a star quake. They're going to destroy the entire planet. I overheard two ranking officers talking about it." After this job was over, Kaito was going to have a sore throat for a week.

"You got any written proof of that? Might come in handy to convince her."

"No."

"Anything else to report?" Luka was curious what else her number one combatant had picked up.

A blank look from Kaito said all Luka needed to know.

"Now that's the Kaito I know and trust. Practical mute." Luka glanced at the heavy door. "Want to come in with me?"

No answer again but he turned to the door, beginning to unlock it. He casually ignored Luka opening her uniform and pulling a piece of paper out from between her breasts. Nothing he hadn't seen before or cared about. He slowly pulled the door open - it was so heavy that even he had trouble moving it on his own.

Behind the heavy door was not a room for a person but a storage locker for holding dangerous materials. Ion enriched liquid osmium, fuel for the gravity generators, and other substances that were deadly if humans were come into contact with them. Luka was appalled that they treated Miku like that. Weapon or not, she could talk and think like a person.

They spotted Miku in the back, leaning against a crate, listening to music with a pair of large headphones. Using that, Kaito stormed her, twisted her right arm behind her back and covered her mouth with his left hand. "Struggle and I will break your arm."

Miku was so surprised that she froze up. She had spent the last several hours alone, locked up in a filthy storage locker. The sudden assault completely caught her by surprise, but not for long. Within seconds, a familiar face appeared right in front of her. Struggling for a second, trying to yell, she felt Kaito's grasp tighten significantly and pain ran through her body.

"Stop acting up, this time we're not here to kidnap you. That door is practically soundproof and we are the guards that are supposed to stand in front of it, so even if you scream, nobody will come. And I doubt you're willing to blow this place. You'd be killing thousands of Federation soldiers. Although the part about killing those might change after we're finished. Kaito, keep her in a hold but let her talk."

"What are you doing here? You have no chance of getting out of this place alive!" Miku couldn't comprehend what Luka was thinking. Had the pirate gone completely insane? This wasn't exactly a very big or organized base but there was still no way two pirates could fight their way through thousands of soldiers.

"Saving your ass. What do you know about your orders?" Luka needed to make sure that Miku didn't actually go on a suicide mission voluntarily.

"Why would I-" Miku winced when Kaito twisted her arm a bit. "Pain is not gonna make me talk, you lowlife-" She grit her teeth in pain and bent over when Kaito nearly broke her arm. "They... haven't told me about it."

"How would you feel about blowing up twenty billion civilians?"

"You have got to be kidding." Miku rolled eyes and forced a sarcastic smile. "Is that the best you can come up with? Genocide? The Federation isn't so primitive."

"Oh, but they are. Look at this." Holding the orders for the Cantarella in front of Miku, Luka gave her a full minute to read them. "Pulled this from the command room just up the hallway. What do you think you're going to do on Wordis Mina, all on your own, with no way off the planet?"

"There could be a million different reasons, objectives and missions about that!" Miku didn't believe a word of what Luka was saying.

"Let me tell you what your orders are. In roughly eight hours you'll be loaded, because that's how they see you, as a thing, onto the Cantarella, a destroyer that is anchored at this base, and they're going to ship you to a front line location not too far from Wordis Mina and from there, to the capital. On your own. Once on the planet, they want you to use your power to cause a star quake. Do you know what a star quake is?"

"An unnatural and violent vibration of the planet's core, potentially causing the planet to go supernova. You're not making me believe that-" Miku was hit in the face by the pirate.

"They are your orders. Kaito overheard two high ranking officers talking about them." Luka didn't know about the high ranking part being true. She was bluffing. "I couldn't get your orders because they're locked with a password. You wouldn't happen to have that, do you?"

Doubt was starting to rise in Miku. Luka couldn't know this but she had overheard some soldiers talking about blowing the Empire away and turning the enemy into a big bad ball of fire on her way to the base. What the pirate was saying made sense in that regard. "Why bother telling me this? You sold me, so what more business do you have? They're not going to pay you again!"

"At first I just didn't want you to die because you're damn cute and the war escalating is bad for me because I'll be put out of business pretty quickly if there are battleships flying around everywhere. But now there is also the aspect of twenty billion people dying and practically every single planet owned by the Empire going to suffer from civil war and economic collapse. So lets add another thirty billion dead or starving people. Is that an acceptable number for the Federation? Fifty billion people, almost all of them civilians, dying just so they can weaken the Empire? There is still the Commonwealth and there is no doubt that they're gonna try to pull the same stunt on Niamite Theta once they build your follow up."

Miku said nothing. A number as big as fifty billion people was basically incomprehensible for her. A whole planet, a planet, wiped off the maps by her. And she wasn't just going to walk away from it. To truly blow a planet with a star quake, she would need to stay there and use her ability until it completely went up in fire. There was no way to get away from it.

"You're saying... they're sending me on a suicide mission?" Miku didn't want to believe it. But it sure did explain the horrible treatment she was receiving and the things she overheard when they thought she couldn't hear them.

"I'd say that in forty-eight hours, you and the entire population of Wordis Mina, are going to be dead if you stick to your yes sir, of course sir, as you wish, sir attitude." Luka noticed that Miku looked like she was about to go into shock and hit her face. "Do you want to be a weapon of mass destruction? To be the one that goes down in history as the reason for the biggest genocide in the history of the universe?"

"Who the hell would want that?!" Miku screamed at Luka and tried to spit at her. "But I don't believe you! This is all just a clever scheme of yours to make me doubt the Federation!"

"Stubborn bitch." Luka wasn't a person of great patience when it came to misguided people like this. "Go on, put in a request that you want to be briefed on your mission. Want me to make the call?"

Miku was silent for a good minute before she glared at Luka. "Do it. I'd rather blow this entire base and kill myself in the process than destroy a planet full of innocent people." She wasn't a mass murdering sociopath. If what Luka said was really true, even part of it, all bets were off.

"And kill us in the process? I don't think so. How about this. We're getting you out of here and you won't have to blow this base or an entire planet and in exchange, you stay on my ship. At least for the time being."

"You're just saying whatever now. I'm a Federation weapon. I can't just become a pirate."

"Why not? What's stopping you? We might kill armed people that oppose us but we sure as hell don't kill any civilians, especially not twenty billion of them. Or twenty thousand soldiers."

"It's just... I don't even know if anything you're saying is true! You're just trying to con me into being your plaything!"

Luka hit Miku so hard that the lower lip of the green haired girl started to bleed. "Don't you dare call my crew that! I treat all of them with respect!"

"I can tell. When I said plaything, meathead here nearly broke my arm again." Miku spat out a bit of blood and glared at Luka again. "How do I know you're not lying through your teeth?"

"Kaito, keep her busy, I'm putting in a request that she wants to be briefed. I'm telling the truth so I got nothing to lose on that end." Turning around, Luka was halfway through unlocking the door when Miku gave in.

"They're... they're really planning to blow up a planet? Why would they do that?" She had trouble believing it, but Luka's words seemed sincere. And there were also the things she had overheard and the whole deal that she hadn't been briefed yet and every time she asked what her orders were, they just told her to shut up and do as she is told.

"Kaito heard them talk about it and the orders the Cantarella is getting pretty much confirm it. And let me tell you, people are damn nervous, having you on base. They think of you like a freak show, not a person. This is just my best guess but to them, you're just a disposable tool to blow the Empire to kingdom come."

"I... would be fine being disposable. I want to fight for the Federation. But I can't kill so many civilians. That is the reason I volunteered for the Vocaloid project. Because I know what it's like to lose your entire family."

"What now? Want me to put in a request so you can get someone to tell you all of this in fancy patriot terms that make you look all cool and martyr like? The end result will be that you're going to blow up a planet, though."

Miku couldn't believe that they would do something like that. The Federation had committed war crimes before, but the other two big nations were not any better in that regard. Blowing up a planet, however, was way beyond the scale of things of the past.

"Kaito, let her go. I have a hunch that even if she wanted, she can't do anything to us." Luka liked to gamble a bit. Miku's expression was so depressed that she didn't think the girl would try anything now, even if she could. It was a great chance to learn more about her capabilities.

Suddenly free, Miku fell to the ground and slowly moved her hurt arm. Looking at Luka for a moment, Miku pondered about trying to make a run for it and having those two executed. But if what they said was really true, the Federation was not something she could trust or be loyal to anymore.

But she couldn't give up on her nation that easily. The evidence was all circumstantial so far, so giving in right now would be simply what the pirates were after. "The First Melody." She knew that Luka would never let her leave the room without being absolutely sure that she'd cooperate. "It's the password for my file, that should have my orders, too. I saw one of the soldiers input it on the ship on the way to this base. I doubt they changed it."

"How do I know this isn't a trap?" Luka wasn't that trusting. "And the network of this base is completely separate from that of the ship that dropped you off here." But Luka quickly figured out another way to do it. "Kaito, mess up the room. Don't fire your gun, just make it look like she did it."

"What are you planning now?"

"I'm going to report that you demand to know your orders for the next mission and that you've been rampaging inside this room and we don't know how long we can hold you." It was perfect. It would allow Kaito to keep her in check and anything suspicious Miku said would be put aside as rambling of a weapon that was losing her patience. Slamming her foot against a crate, Luka hammered the butt of her rifle against the top of it, damaging it more and more with each hit.

"You really have no consideration for the property of others, do you? All of this costs money!" Miku was a bit on the stingy side.

"Just so you know, I was going to shoot you if you knew about the orders and were still going to go through with it. Saving you or not, I can't let an entire planet go kaboom." The pirate's voice was completely free of sarcasm. Spending the next five minutes thoroughly messing up the room, not enough to actually set free any of the dangerous substances but causing significant damage and danger, Luka left Kaito alone with Miku.

"Did they really say they will use me to destroy Wordis Mina?" Miku didn't trust Kaito any more than Luka, but he somehow seemed less likely to lie to her.

"Yes." He didn't want to talk with the girl without Luka being present.

"How would they justify this before the people?!" Miku still refused to believe that her own government was going to commit genocide on a never seen before scale.

Kaito remained silent for a moment. He hated politics and wanted nothing to do with any kind. "They will call it an attack from the Commonwealth. They will deny their involvement. The Federation then has a great excuse to go on a crusade of justice to level both what is left of the Empire and the entire Commonwealth." But he hated leaving his captain hanging even more. If he could contribute to convincing her, he would do it.

"That's..." Miku worked out in her head just how easy it was to do that and how great the effect would be. And once again, it fit together with everything Luka had said and she had heard. The doubt was like a gigantic wave that was about to wash away her loyalty, like a sand castle in front of a storm.

"The leaders of the Federation will simply hold speeches and deny any involvement. The soldiers that are in the know will likely be vanished after this, so prevent any leaks."

Miku merely let her head hang for a good four minutes before she spoke again. "She is taking a long time."

Kaito had no comment. The base commander was likely prioritizing the safety of the personnel on the base while whoever was in control of the ship was arguing that there was no need to tell a weapon her orders this far in advance. Waiting patiently for another minute, the door opened and Luka came back in, looking absolutely annoyed.

Holding a whole folder of papers, classified written all over them, Luka couldn't believe she had gone through all of this work for nothing. She had not gone anywhere. Luka was barely through the door and up the stairs when she had run into a messenger holding the very same folder she was carrying now. After being told that looking at the orders was punishable by death, Luka waited over a minute after the messenger had left, right next to the heavy door, before thoroughly reading them. Her whole demolition act and great plan to get Miku to believe had all been for nothing. She could have saved herself all the trouble of trying to convince her if she had just waited thirty minutes or so.

"Kaito, let her go." Handing the folder to Miku, the papers calmly floated in front of the green haired weapon. "I looked through them. Estimated civilian causalities: twenty-one point five billion. Page three." Luka was happy for having luck on her side but it really had the worst timing. She had just barely avoided having to explain why she had left her post to the messenger.

Miku hesitated for a moment before grabbing the folder. There was no way Luka had enough time to steal a folder, forge the documents and all without looking extremely suspicious and thus able to come back. Reading through it, her eyes widened with each paragraph she finished. She barely made it to the halfway point of page two before she threw the folder away.

"Satisfied, little miss genocide tool?" Luka was openly mocking her on purpose.

"Don't call me that!" Miku shouted and tried to jump at Luka but the pirate captain grabbed her arm, slammed her into the ground, her hand on Miku's nape. "Let me go!"

"But that's exactly what they're going to use you for. A sacrifice, a tool, to blow up an entire planet and everyone on it." Luka let go of Miku and stepped away. "How is your loyalty to the Federation now, Vocaloid Model Zero-One, Miku Hatsune, Operative of the Federation Military Forces?"

Miku glared at Luka for a moment before making a weirded out face. "You memorized that?"

"Happened to recall it just now." Luka shrugged. "So?"

"I'm going to call my superior and refuse these orders." Miku still saw options beside running

"And you think they're going to listen to you? They don't see you as a person, much less as a girl. You're a tool to them and you're not going to get anywhere by complaining. If tools refuse to do what they're made for, they get disposed of. How bulletproof are you?"

Miku turned slightly pale upon thinking about that potential outcome. "I think you have the wrong idea about me. I can do incredible things but if I get shot or my neck is broken, I'm as dead as everyone else."

"There you go. They're just going to order me and Kaito here to shoot you and throw you out an airlock. That part about being able to survive in space was bullshit, wasn't it?"

"Great work concluding that." The sarcasm was dripping from her voice.

Luka's boot hit Miku's side with enough force to send her flying through the room and hit a crate. "Don't be insulting. I'm here to save you because you caught my eye. But if you're going to be an ass about it, I'm just going to break you right here, right now, and we're going to make our escape." It was an empty threat but Luka was very skilled in selling those as real threats.

Miku grit her teeth. "What... what are you gonna do with me, if... if I were to join up with you?" Miku couldn't imagine just going to any planet and starting a normal life. She had no actual skills beside her ability and some military training. She couldn't even cook for herself. Not to mention that she had no money whatsoever.

"Threatening people that you will blow them up if they don't surrender. That way I won't have to shoot as many guards and mercenaries, everyone wins. And other than that you're probably gonna be a gofer, unless you know how to do anything useful on a ship." Luka hoped she could cook at least. "Sure beats killing twenty billion people, doesn't it?"

"Trading one miserable situation for another." Miku didn't feel even the slightest bit enthusiastic about being a pirate. But her alternatives were dying and genocide at this point.

"I'll take that as a yes." Luka wanted to get this over with. It wasn't exactly the ideal scenario of recruiting, but the more Miku refused, the more she wanted her on her side.

"Don't be ridiculous. I said nothing of the sort."

"So you'd rather die than join me?"

Miku felt defeated. The Federation she had trusted so much turned out to be merely using her to commit genocide. And now the same woman that had kidnapped her once already, and sold her, was asking if she would join her crew. "No."

"Make up your mind." Luka didn't have infinite patience.

"F... fine..." What choice did she really have? She didn't want to die and she didn't want to commit genocide. And Luka was the only way out that she could see. The mission was starting in a few hours and that wasn't enough time to engineer some kind of witty plan to get out on her own. She could have tried to run away while being on Wordis Mina but what exactly would she do on the Empire's home planet? Eventually they would find out who she was and they'd do horrible things to her, far worse than death.

"I can't hear you."

"Fine! I'll join you! Just get me off this base!" Miku really didn't want to be a pirate. But all alternatives were even worse. The only consolation was that Luka didn't seem to be the mindlessly murdering sort.

"We won't get you off the base like this. People would be way too suspicious of us. We're both assigned to the ship that is going to take you in a few hours so we're going to make our escape from there."

"How do I know this isn't a trap?" Miku realized what she had said after Luka started to grin wide. "Damn you, stupid pirate!"

Kaito spoke up again, having been almost invisible during the girl's conversation. "Captain, we need to go back to our posts. It will be bad if they find us missing."

"Yeah." Looking at Miku, Luka sighed. "We'll find you on the ship and get you out. We got in here, got your orders and even secured posts on the ship. We're a resourceful bunch," Luka bragged, despite knowing that a lot of what she had said had been due to dumb luck.

"I don't trust you." Miku had no obligation to.

"To trust me right now would be stupid. I don't trust you either. That's for after I get you on my ship." Luka held out her hand. "But for now, you can compromise with me. I will get you off that ship and save your life and you don't cause any trouble for me."

A minute passed, during which Miku intensely glared at Luka, before the weapon finally took the hand of the pirate. "A compromise I can live with."

Kaito already unlocked the door and Luka smiled wide as she held Miku's hand. "You could be so cute if you weren't so stubborn and obstinate. Well, you're still cute physically."

"You're disgusting." Miku hissed before letting go of Luka's hand and looking for her headphones.

A minute later, Luka and Kaito stood outside the door while Miku was floating through midair inside the storage room, arms around her legs, her chin nearly touching her knees. She hated what she was doing but she would have hated to kill twenty billion people much, much more.

"I wish we had some cards to play. Nobody is gonna come down here anyway." Now that the plan was all set, Luka was bored. She wasn't that nervous about being found out anymore. After seeing the state the base security was in, she was confident that there would be no problems. Her assumption was that this base was basically a punishment assignment and nothing ever happened that far away from all inhabited planets or points of interest. The soldiers were lax, trained and motivated poorly and had no experience dealing with scenarios like this. In one way, it was the perfect cover. Hiding gold among trash.

The next few hours were as uneventful as could be. Luka managed to fall asleep standing as Kaito made for the worst conversation partner possible and there was nothing else to do. Miku managed to fall asleep as well and was floating around on the ceiling of the storage room.

When Kaito woke her up, it was time to escort Miku out. Two more soldiers showed up minutes later, carrying heavy rifles with specialized ammunition in case she made trouble. They resembled Kaito. Practically mute, battle hardened expression, tall, broad shoulders and completely immune to all types of humor.

They gagged Miku and handcuffed her, walking in a square formation around her. They met not a single soul on their way to central and large parts of the massive hall were barricaded off. Soldiers that couldn't contain their curiosity were gawking from far above or below but they couldn't get closer than a hundred meters.

Miku glanced at Luka only twice. Once when she was being gagged and the second time during the transporter ride to central. She knew better than to act suspicious. Going through central and up the first flight of stairs, Luka wondered where the destroyer would make port. The orders didn't specify that much.

Entering the transport that lead to the same port area that Luka and Kaito had anchored their patrol ship, Luka heard someone scream Mass Murderer from the distance. Luka frowned. It wasn't mass murder until the people were actually dead.

Reaching the port, Miku's chains came undone and she was watched as she suited up, her guards never budging from the doors. Luka was so bored with the escort duty that she started fantasizing about Miku naked. She wondered what her breasts would feel like.

Luka stopped spacing out when a large metal door was slammed close, and the guards left. She had gone all the way to the ship and another storage room inside the Cantarella while fantasizing about Miku.

A messenger was waiting for the five, assigning Kaito and one of the other guards to the room while Luka and the remaining soldier were to be on standby in their rooms. But Luka had no intention of obeying the order. She was done playing soldier.

Floating down one of the many barren, steel-covered hallways, doors to both sides, Luka felt the walls shake for a few seconds. The engine was revving up. The ship was leaving the harbor. For a moment, the lights went out and came back on, the switch from backup to main generator.

The next moment, red lights came on. Luka descended to the ground and held on to steel rail. From one second to the next, gravity hit the ship and Luka felt suddenly a bit heavy. They weren't using standard 1G on the ship for some reason. Red lights changed to green light. Luka liked the smell of old metal, so she took off her helmet and continued.

Past some other soldiers that were hurrying to their stations, Luka found her way to one of the lower decks. A strong vibration ran through the ship a second time. She assumed that they were about to leave the base. Checking each room as she walked past, Luka finally hit what she was looking for. The secondary battery ammunition storage room.

Going inside, Luka thoroughly checked if what she was looking for was actually there. Crates were stacked upon crates, small remote controlled gravity generators, currently disabled, holding them in place whenever the main ship gravity went off. Shells for kinetic cannons, hazardous materials used to maintain the ion cannons and finally what she was looking for. Gravitation anchor torpedoes. Lifting the lid off the crate, Luka found four perfectly fine and volatile torpedoes stored securely.

Luka hit the locker for small explosive devices next. She would like at least four remote controlled HDEB, high density electricity bombs, a device that served a purpose similar to EMP bombs but acted in a different manner. Instead of short circuiting devices running with electricity, the HDEB overloaded circuits of running mechanism or jump started whatever was laying dormant.

Luka programmed the device and finally armed it before putting it between the torpedoes and closing the lid of the crate. She didn't feel an ounce of guilt over what she was doing, even if it would lead to the death of several thousand soldiers.

After she left the room, she almost collided with two soldiers. "Watch where you're going!" Luka shouted at them, acting superior. She was still wearing her suit, which meant they could not see what rank she was. Acting high and mighty was a clear sign to them that she was above their rank, however, possibly a big wig from the base. "What are you looking at, soldiers? Move!"

Luka was a figure of authority on her own ship. Intimidating a few Federation soldiers was easy. As soon as she shouted at them, they scurried away. Counting in her head, Luka made her way back to where Miku was being held. "Has she been quiet?"

Kaito didn't respond and the other guard merely glanced at her. "Were you not ordered to stand by?"

Luka put on her helmet. "Sixty." Things were going to move quickly very soon. Kaito put on his helmet as well while the other soldier was visibly growing uncomfortable with what was happening. He stepped towards Luka, about to say something, when Luka gave the commend. "Do it."

With a loud bone breaking sound, the head of the guard was twisted a hundred and eighty degrees, instantly killing him. Kaito caught the body while Luka unlocked the door. She was barely inside when she rushed towards the green haired girl. "Miku, helmet, now."

"What-" Miku was instantly grabbed and shaken.

"Now." Luka turned around and helped Kaito carry the body into the storage room, hiding it sloppily behind a few crates. Miku had found her helmet and suited up.

"What are you doing?" Miku was suddenly experiencing a lot of stress.

"Do you really want to know what I did?" Luka looked at Miku, who flinched briefly and then stood up to her future captain. "I'm detonating four gravitation torpedoes. On this ship. Right next to a lot of ammunition. It's the best way to keep them from following us when we run and create confusion to make our escape in the first place. And don't give me shit about killing a few hundred or thousand soldiers. This was a high risk, high yield mission. I expected a lot more fallout than this."

"Monster." Miku was disgusted by Luka's methods.

"Call me what you want. A few hundred, a bit over a thousand versus twenty billion. Kaito, sixty to go." Grabbing Miku and pulling her along, the girls left the room, Kaito right behind them, carrying one extra gun. "Keep up with me. Don't worry, we'll handle the shooting."

Handing Luka the extra gun, Kaito took point. Both of them remained with Miku in the hallway just in front of the storage room. "Hold on to something." Luka had reached zero in her head but she was sure she was off by ten or so seconds easy.

Luka felt like someone was pulling on every part of her body at once when the torpedoes finally detonated, causing a miniature singularity inside the ship that consumed everything within a hundred meter radius before collapsing upon itself a few seconds later. A hull breach that size completely fried all electronics and system. Gravity went off, lights went out and red alarm lights came on, and air was completely gone from the ship within seconds. It wasn't the same as being thrown out into space so there was a good chance that a lot of soldiers either still had their helmets on or had managed to get it on during the air drain.

"Go." Luka pushed Miku while Kaito went first. Two soldiers were in the immediate vicinity and spotted Luka right behind Miku. Without warning, Luka opened rapid fire, hitting both soldiers several times, exposing them to the vacuum. They were dead almost instantaneously. "Shoot everything that moves."

Kaito secured the next hallway and waved for them to follow. Several soldiers were floating in zero-gravity, without their helmet, dead. It was a grotesque view and while Luka certainly didn't enjoy it, she wasn't particularly affected by it either. They were on their way to blow up a planet. They couldn't complain about being killed. Not that they could in the first place, being dead.

Floating down a deck, Kaito immediately pushed back while firing his gun. Energy blasts erupting from his weapon, piercing through the rail of the stairs, hitting one of the soldiers down below in the head, the other one fleeing at the sight of his comrade being killed.

Floating through the hallways, no more soldiers came their way. Either most of them were dead or the hull breach between them and the quarters prevented the bulk of them to actually make it over. Reaching the hangar gate, Luka forced Miku on the ground. "Count to one hundred after we're gone, then come after us. If someone shows up, play dead."

The door itself was stuck and no matter how strong he was, Kaito couldn't kick down a steel door, especially not in zero gravity. Instead, Luka and Kaito fired until their weapons were about to overheat, essentially melting down the door.

Waiting ten seconds for their weapons to recover, Kaito jumped in first, spinning around as hard as he could. He only saw mechanics that were floating around helplessly, unarmed and a few warning shots got them to scram. Two patrol ships were loaded into the hangar, one of which was halfway disassembled.

Luka had grabbed one of the engineers and forced both the hangar gate codes as well as the activation key for the ships out of him. Sending him running with a few shots into the disassembled patrol vessel, Luka started shouting. "Kaito,get her!"

Following her command, Kaito returned to the hallway and forced Miku up. "We're leaving." It was high time they got off the ship. Even with a massive hull breach, backup from the main base wasn't going to take much longer to arrive. And a patrol ship was shot down very easily.

Miku made no attempt to resist. She was too deep into this already to back out, and she had already lost all trust into the Federation. Entering the patrol ship, another flying cornflakes box, through the back, they couldn't see their captain. Kaito took the co-pilot seat and waited.

"What are you doing? Start it!" Miku was confused by how calm the mercenary was.

"The Captain has the activation key. Be quiet." It wasn't that he was calm. He was just not losing himself in the stress he was feeling.

Looking through the front window, Miku saw the massive hangar gates open and a pink suited rapidly approaching the ship. Getting in the same way as her crew, Luka didn't bother to explain anything to Miku and just sat down, hammering in a nine digit code after which the engine of the ship roared up. Closing the back, she looked over her shoulder. "Hold on to something. Could be bumpy ride."

After lift off, Luka quickly flew the ship out of the Cantarella while Kaito kept an eye on the sensors and communication. "Call the Blackjack. You know the frequency." Luka had no idea how they would get off the ship or the base when they went in, so the plan was to establish communication on a specific frequency. It wouldn't transmit any words, merely noise, but that was enough.

"Doesn't look like they were able to call for help from the base." Luka noticed the obvious lack of Federation ships. Bringing the ship around, she noticed why. She hadn't just blown a hole into the hull. The Cantarella had broken in half, right down the middle, and there was a large chunk of it missing. She was relieved but also guilty. That would have killed most of the crew, if not all of it, and that hadn't been her intention. But it meant that nobody would come after them quickly.

Kaito made the call and Luka read the navigation to get them out of the base's sensor range. They had no doubt already picked up on the catastrophe and were manning ships to rescue any survivors, but they would have their eyes on the lone patrol ship that was heading away from the base, too.

But it was too late for them to catch up. "Kaito, take over." There was no air or gravity on the small patrol ship so Luka couldn't take off her helmet, but she could at least relax for a moment. Floating over her seat and back to where Miku was, Luka looked at her. "This is how pirates operate. Spare civilians and whatever we can, but if we have to we won't hesitate to kill soldiers and people that are paid to get themselves in danger. We killed maybe a few thousand soldiers today but we saved twenty billion civilians. Stop looking so gloomy about it."

"Makes me wonder if my life is really worth that much."

"Your life is worth exactly as much as you want it to be. And you have only one, so cherish it. We got a zero tolerance policy for gloominess on board the Blackjack. And don't worry, we won't tie you up again. After escaping with us, you're one of us now. And the Federation should think-" The ship was violently shaken when a shock wave hit them. "What the hell was that?" Turning around and returning to her seat, Luka resumed control and brought the ship around again.

What was left of the Cantarella had just exploded in a massive ball of fire. "I guess that was the engine going ballistic." Looking over her shoulder, towards Miku, Luka sighed. "At least the Federation won't come looking for her anytime soon now."

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"May I introduce our newest member of the fami-" Luka was rudely interrupted by a blond girl that was bubbling with excitement.

"Just tell us already how you got her out! How did you make the destroyer explode? Did you rig one of the main cannons to explode upon-" Rin's mouth was suddenly covered by Meiko's hand.

"Keep that up and you'll spend the night in my room." Blowing hot air against Rin's nape to creep her out a little more, Meiko effectively shut the girl up.

"Miku: the crew. Crew: Miku." Luka rolled eyes. "The brunette is Meiko, my second in command, our resident alcoholic and womanizer only second to me. You already know Kaito. He is our muscle but don't count on him to ever talk as much as he did on that base." Walking over to Rin, Luka patted her head twice. "And annoying loudmouth here is Rin. Everything guns and explosions: that's her thing. How to behave like a normal person: not so much. But at least she's cute." Turning around and laying her arm over Len's shoulder, Luka poked his cheek. "And the loudmouth's brother, Len. What Rin knows about guns, he knows about software. If it's some kind of program, he can crack it. He's a bit too easy to bully, so be nice to him." Letting him go and walking around Yukari, putting her hands on the purple haired girl's shoulders, Luka introduced the final member. "And this is our lifeline, Yukari. She handles everything from supplies to fencing what we steal to getting information. She is the one that told me about your suicide mission, so don't forget to thank her later."

Looking a bit confused, Miku looked at each crew member for a moment before nodded twice. "I'm Miku. You know who and what I am."

Meiko was the first to step up to her and do the unthinkable - groping her without an ounce of shame. Miku squeaked, backed away, and tried to slap Meiko, who evaded the hit by ducking. But she did not evade the boot that hit her ass and caused her to fall to the ground. "No groping the new girl, Meiko." Luka was very clear about the few rules she had. "Cleaning duty today. And it's my turn to cook."

"I hate you, Luka." Meiko made a sullen face and sighed.

"This is pretty much the gist of it, Miku. We're pirates but when we're not on the job we fool around, look out for each other and act no different than normal people. Well, okay, maybe not totally normal people. College students that are done with exams is probably more accurate."

"Megurine, can-" Miku did not get very far before she was interrupted.

"When we're on the job, it's Captain. Don't forget that. We're not working right now so Luka is fine. You can call me darling, too, if you want. But calling me by my last name is definitely a no go."

Miku sighed. "Captain, is there a room I can take? I'd like... some time alone. There is a lot I need to think about." She couldn't, and didn't want to, go back to the Federation, but she did take the possibility of getting off this ship and living a mundane life in perspective.

"Meiko, give her the room next to Yukari's. I'm going to hit the bar for a victory drink."

"You're just giving her that room because it's the closest one to yours, you womanizer!" Meiko's comment was followed by a loud and agreeing laughter from the crew, excluding Miku.

"Of course. Who do you think I am?" A complacent grin on her face, Luka walked away, Rin right on her trail, asking all sorts of questions about the exploded destroyer.

"Let's get you settled in then. Don't worry, I'm not gonna grope you again. Getting kicked by Luka once is more than enough." Extending her hand to Miku, Meiko waited in vain for ten seconds. "You'll warm up to us in no time."

"I wonder..." Miku was sullen. She just wanted to sleep and think about what she would do now. Staying with this bunch of crazy people wasn't exactly her idea of a great life.

- Log 003 End -