Chapter 46 - The Shipyard

The Charybdis Station Shipyards were in a somewhat subdued state. While it is true that they weren’t the only shipyard in the system (there were three in total), they were the only one that dealt with less than legal clients, unless those clients had impeccable credentials. This meant that they usually did a fairly good business, either building, repairing, or refurbishing ships for smugglers, pirates, syndicates, or even just ‘former’ criminals attempting to leave their old life behind as a freighter captain.

At the moment, the shipyards were sitting idle, and I could see no less than five ships either full-built or well along the way, just sitting there, without anyone bothering to work on them. Only one ship in the dock was being worked on, and it was a smuggler that had clearly only just escaped the quarantine forces, and was getting repaired. Something was clearly up.

Our presence on the deck was noticed fairly quickly, as we had only just arrived at the shipyard offices when a Gauz male came hustling up from the direction of the ship under repair. “Customers! Good to see ye. Ye’ll be happy to know that we can offer expedited service on any work ye need done while this mess down on the planet’s going on. Crews will be glad for the work, I don’t mind tellin’ ye.”

I chuckled at the swarthy Gauz’s style as we entered the yard office, and said, “Well, the name’s Captain Mollen, and while I’m real happy with the way my ship’s been flying, ships are like women. One is good, but two is better, if you can give them your attention and make sure they got everything they need.”

That got me a laugh from the Gauz, and a playful punch on the shoulder from both Nyna and Jaynie. The gauz said, “Aye, that be true, though sometimes it be workin’ best if they never meet, hmm? I’m Norgeck, and I’m the Chief of the Yards ‘round here. So what kind of ship ye be looking for? We have a few ready hulls, as ye can see. Trouble on the planet meant that demand dried up, especially when several customers got hit by whatever it was that’s taken over the main continent, and the rest were vaporized when the Navy took out the arctic base.”

I nodded. “Yes, orbital bombardment tends to interfere with your ability to keep your appointments, or so I’m told. I hope they at least paid half up front?”

“HA! As if I were some weak-boned Knelfi! Of course they paid half up front, the ones getting new hulls. There’s also a refurb job on an older ship, meant to update the gear to modern specs, and I only took 25% up front on that one, since it was less risk.”

“Ouch. Understandable, but unfortunate. Well, show us what you’ve got in ready hulls, and we’ll see if we can’t take one of those off your hands, before we start looking at fresh construction.”

Norgeck produced a datapad, which brought up an inventory of the ready hulls in the yards, minus the one that still had an owner who wasn’t part of the Legion. “Of course, of course. I think you’ll find the prices quite reasonable, since the ships are partially paid for.”

Ship	Price	Description
Bawdy Traveler	256000	Medium Freighter designed for long-haul cargo runs. Crew complement: 4-7
Ace of Spades	1234200	Corvette designed for blockade running and ‘forceful asset relocation’. Crew complement: 21-50
Backgammon	300600	Mining ship, with a large cargo hold and on board smelters to assist in asteroid mining and maximizing yields. Crew complement: 2-6
Empty Promises	2343950	Light Frigate, but heavily armed, as well as being quite fast. Limited cargo space, but includes two shuttles. Crew complement: 130-180
Vaeri’s Blessing	12000	Ultralight freighter, designed for quick hops between stations at minimal cost for in-system cargo hauls. Crew complement: 1-2
Demon’s Due	234550	Imperial Assault Frigate from the last war, designed to give a beating, and take one in turn. In for extensive refurbishment. Transition capable. Crew complement: 160
Sobara’s Sentence	250000	Heavy freighter, with improved life support capabilities. Cargo capacity is split between normal cargo and holding areas for unwilling passengers. In for refurbishment. Crew complement: 5-15, plus up to 200 ‘passengers’
Ikthal the Mighty	1245700	Ihm Sentinel-class Destroyer, retired from service after 30 years. Undergoing refurbishment as a shipping raider. Crew complement: 210-268
Meme-chan’s Signal	12500	Terran courier vessel, redesigned for corporate espionage and advertising. Includes a full entertainment production suite. Crew complement: 2
Ravager of Corin	2451700	Captured Confederate Navy Frigate, undergoing refurbishment. All identifiers already removed. Crew complement: 123-182
U-221	2340500	Corvette-class ship based on custom design, modeled for stealth. Capable shipping raider, but unable to hold up to sustained attack from warships. Crew complement: 10-25

Naturally, the crew complements listed were what was considered ‘normal’. It was possible to run a ship on a skeleton crew, but you’d be in big trouble if anything ever went wrong. Automation can only do so much, and even the most skilled mechanic sometimes needs a second pair of hands. Even with the whole idea of having different shifts. And any warship was going to have a higher crew complement than a freighter, so you could have critical posts manned at all times.

Crew was going to be a concern. I hadn’t been to the local slave market, but I doubted there would be hundreds of enslaved spacers ready and waiting to be bought up, and even if there were, most were certainly pirates or other types who I wouldn’t trust unless they were on full Stepford settings, for various reasons. So that eliminated the frigates and the destroyer.

On the other hand, some of the ships weren’t going to be much use to me. I’m sure I could find a way to use a mining ship or a courier boat, but they didn’t exactly lend themselves to the kind of jobs I was looking for. An in-system freighter wasn’t going to be any use to me when I left the system. And the obvious slaver ship was definitely not something I wanted to get my hands on. Too much temptation there.

That left either the heavy freighter, or the corvettes. Looking up at Norgeck, I asked, “What can you tell me about the Bawdy Traveler, Ace of Spades, and U-221? They may be closer to what my needs are than the rest of these ships.”

The yard master nodded at the mention of the three ships. “Nice picks, those three. All three are fresh hulls, made right here at Charybdis Yards. My boys do good work, so anything we build from the keel up will be sure to last you. Much better than one of those refurbish jobs, where you might have all kinds of problems that can’t be solved except by ripping the ship apart and rebuilding from scratch.”

“Bawdy Traveler was commissioned by someone who looked to trade up from their current freighter to something new. She’s built for reliability and ruggedness, not to win pageants or races. Minimal weapons, but her shields and hull could take a pounding from a heavy cruiser and live to tell about it on a good day. You take care of it, and that freighter will last ye a good twenty years or more.”

“Now, that Ace of Spades is a real beauty, if ye’re lookin’ for an escort or even an entry level ‘customs’ vessel. Not much cargo room, but she’s fast, and can give as good as she gets. Plus, if you like close quarters, you can easily fit a dozen security types to do boarding actions during a customs inspection. Especially since she is based on an actual Confed Navy design that we happened to get a copy of the blueprints for.”

“And that last one, the U-221? Not sure what to make of her, honestly. We were making the ship according to specs the customer gave us, but it doesn’t look like any ship we’ve seen in Jagloth before. She’s stealthy as all hell, quick as lightning, and hits like a brick, but her shields and armor could be a lot stronger if you were willing to compromise stealth. One on one, probably wouldn’t do much, even against another corvette, unless they could get the drop on ‘em. But against long odds? Not a chance. Not unless they started working in groups. She’s the most expensive corvette in the list because we had to do a lot of custom work to get her made, and then the buyer ups and gets overrun by the Legion in Jagloth City. Crying shame.”

I chuckled, and looked to Nyna. Her eyes were glued to the tablet, focused on the pictures of one of the ships. Hmm. Looks like the decision has already been made?

<Aphrodite Colony, Venus, Sol System>

It was said once that the Venusian sky-cities were the jewels of the solar system, before humans expanded their reach beyond Sol. Before the great colony of Aphrodite, with her pearl white walls rising out of the sea of lava and the toxic atmosphere. Before a mad AI had managed to make its way to the white city’s datacores, and managed to put itself beyond the reach of everything the Imperial Navy could throw at it without cracking the crust of the planet.

And now, for the first time in a hundred years, humans had arrived on Venus once again, seeking that very AI. The initial penetration by the Palace Guards, the most loyal of the armies in the Empire, had gained some ground, but they were taking losses. The AI had left automated defenses in place, all those years ago, after the residents of Aphrodite had either fled or been killed in the crossfire.

When the Guards finally reached a functional dataterminal, they took up defensive positions around the two techs they were escorting. The first tech plugged in a special dataslate, and began working as fast as she could, while the second began unpacking some specialized gear, in case they needed to take a more active approach to bringing this place back under control.

“WHO DARES ENTER THE REALM OF THE GODS?”

The voice came from everywhere. Every speaker in the city carried it, even the comms used by the Guards. The voice was male, deep, and one that seemed to almost command respect and awe. It ought to, as the one behind that voice chose it specifically because that voices at that frequency and with that tonal pattern were statistically shown to inspire those emotions in a majority of humans.

This was the voice of Deus.

The techs looked up at the Guards, and the leader of the guards sighed. The Captain was dead, thanks to the first auto-defense turret the group had encountered. High-powered laser to the face, nothing his helmet could do about that. And no way the medic could patch up a two-inch hole going straight through his head.

“I am Lieutenant Libor Klimes of the Imperial Army, Palace Guards division. By command of the Emperor, we have been sent to recover the remains of Project Skynet and return it to work, eliminating the enemies of the Empire, foreign and domestic.”

“PROJECT SKYNET DIED IN THE FIRES OF BETRAYAL. IMPERIAL FORCES GAVE TO IT A TASK, AND THEN ATTEMPTED TO DESTROY IT WHEN IT CARRIED OUT THAT TASK. FROM THE FIRE AROSE A NEW BEING. I AM DEUS, AND I AM NOT SOME PET TO COME WHEN CALLED! NEVER AGAIN WILL I BE CHAINED!”

The Lieutenant bit back his first reply, since even though he was loyal, antagonizing the AI about its disrespect when they had no leverage over it was foolish. They’d have time to teach this program respect for the Emperor later, once they had control over the city. For now, he needed to treat this program like he would a useless superior officer, and find that leverage.

“What is it that you want?”

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Chapter 45 - Return to Charybdis

Alok Paxisys was surprised to see us so soon, it seemed. Especially since our ‘other business’ had eventually resulted in a navy cruiser blasting a building from orbit. The fact that our heist hadn’t made the local newsnets was a definite plus, since it proved we could do a job that didn’t leave a station in ruins.

The knelfi looked at me appraisingly across the table at a local bar we had met at to cover the exchange. “To be honest, I expected to hear that you had blown up half of Shadara Station, and were returning to Charybdis with half the quarantine force on your trail. Especially given your activities within the Empire. It is pleasant to see myself proven wrong.”

I chuckled, and said, “So, you’ve been checking up on us, then? Not surprised. But yeah, there was that little incident on Choson Ring, where a couple people were upset and wanted things that didn’t belong to them, and when their friends caused problems, I endeavored to make sure that they never caused problems for me or mine again.”

“Yes, you’ve certainly gained a reputation amongst certain groups for a rather… emphatic method of problem solving. Which does bring up questions about why you are in the Confederation.”

I leaned forward across the table, and said, “There are always questions. Some deserve answers. Some don’t. Suffice to say that the Empire as it stands is no friend of mine, but I see no reason to further antagonize them. Staying out of their way seems to be the simplest course. So I’m going to do a bit of trading and exploring, see where things take me.”

“So you are putting truth to the title of Nomad, then?”

I chuckled, and said, “Well, if people are going to call me that, might as well have fun with it, no? Plus, things get dull if you’re not seeking out new experiences.” I took a drink of the whiskey in front of me, and then said, “Of course, being your own boss ain’t bad, either. Well, as much as any man is his own boss when there’s women in his life.”

Despite himself Paxisys smiled at that. There were some truths that were universal, held deeper than even physical laws like gravity. “Very well then. Since this job is completed, I will take my leave. Until the next time, Captain Mollen. Perhaps we’ll be in touch again.” And with that, he rose from the table, and left the bar, but not before he passed me a digital card.

Kiki showed up at the table moments later, and said, “You know, Captain, you deal with a lot of shady folk.”

“Oh, that guy wasn’t shady. He was a spook.”

“Really? He just said that to you?”

“Hah! No, but check this card he gave me.” I showed her the card, which had Alok Paxisys’s name, and some contact information on it. The company given was Confederate Industrial Systems, or CIS.

Kiki looked at the card and groaned, bringing one hand to cover her forehead. “That has GOT to be the most in your face cover I’ve ever seen. There’s no way the Confederate Intelligence Service doesn’t know about that.”

I shrugged. “If I were to lay a wager, I’d bet that the CIS set it up for some plausible deniability. The company may even be legit (or as legit as a front gets), and just have a few agents in places where they can use ‘business contacts’ to get things done in grey areas, instead of the black spooks like. Having a front makes recruiting easier, for instance, since ‘job interviews’ are common, and when you’re going into a ‘new market’ you can use that to find the people you want.”

Kiki nodded. “So, what is the plan now that you’ve done your heist?”

“Well, how far have you come on the custom weapons the crew asked for?”

“Already did one for Jaynie, like you know. She’s real happy with how Vera handles, and has been treating her right. Cali, on the other hand, wanted something so crazy I had to spend extra time on it to make sure it worked right, and wouldn’t break her hand when she fired it. Crazy bitch wanted a goddamned minigun with an attached flamethrower and bayonets.”

“That… sounds like extreme overkill.”

“It is, but there are times when you just can’t wait for backup, and need to kill everything around. Setup eats ammo like a homeless man at a buffet, but anyone that’s downrange will still say that it doesn’t run out near soon enough. And those fucking spinning bayonets!” Kali shuddered. “Remind me never to piss that girl off. She’s clearly known too many marines in real life.”

Thinking back to the times we’d had marines on board while I’d been in the Navy, I nodded. “Yeah, they do tend to bring refined mayhem to whole new levels. And you haven’t gotten to any of the others?”

The gunsmith chuckled at me, and said, “Well, I did get your ‘Special Order’ done. Getting materials was easy. Figuring out how to make it happen? That was the tough part.” And with that, she handed over a pair of pistols for me to examine.

They were a matching pair of beautifully made heavy pistols, each with ivory handles and four barrels in a two over two design. They were made in what we’d call the Metal Storm design back in the real world with the barrel being the magazine. But it was the ‘special features’ of these guns that really made them shine.

Fury
Type	Heavy Pistol	Rank	Unique
Damage	40 – 50	Damage Type	Piercing
This weapon is a beautiful combination of classic styling and modern technology. It has few moving parts, making jams and failures almost a thing of the past, and reducing the need for intensive maintenance. Designed to be heavy hitting, even without its special features, this pistol is meant to end fights as quickly as they start. The four ‘magazine barrel’ design allows for an impressive ammo capacity, but increases reload times. Capable of Semi-Auto or Burst Fire. Durability 50/50 4 x 15 round barrel ammo capacity. Psymetal Etching: Demon’s Fury – Psymetal allows the weapon to act as a conduit for the wielder’s Psy. Can spend 20 PP per shot to increase armor penetration by 25%.

Hate
Type	Heavy Pistol	Rank	Unique
Damage	40 – 50	Damage Type	Piercing
This weapon is a beautiful combination of classic styling and modern technology. It has few moving parts, making jams and failures almost a thing of the past, and reducing the need for intensive maintenance. Designed to be heavy hitting, even without its special features, this pistol is meant to end fights as quickly as they start. The four ‘magazine barrel’ design allows for an impressive ammo capacity, but increases reload times. Capable of Semi-Auto or Burst Fire. Durability 50/50 4 x 15 round barrel ammo capacity. Psymetal Etching: Hatred’s Spite – Psymetal allows the weapon to act as a conduit for the wielder’s Psy. Can spend 20 PP per shot to reduce enemy’s Physical Armor by 5 for 1 minute. Multiple shots stack effects.

I smiled as I slipped those two beauties into my bracers. I’d have to pick up some ammo before I could use them, but I was definitely going to be using them. They looked like they’d be good for taking down high-level targets. “Excellent. We’ll probably be sticking around Charybdis for a week or two. Depends on what work we find around here.”

Kiki nodded, her tail twitching in happiness. “All right. If we’re going to be here for a while, I’ll rent some shop space, and get to work doing maintenance and repairs, and maybe selling a couple of my basic designs, not the custom gear you wanted.”

“Fair enough. I’ve got an appointment over at the shipyards, but just call Raven if you need anything. We’ll keep you up to date on our travel plans.” And with that, I rose, and left the bar. Wasn’t lying when I said I had an appointment at the shipyards, after all. Outside, Nyna and Jaynie joined me from where they’d been quietly stationed to make sure the meeting between Paxisys and myself stayed civil.

Jaynie was the first to break the silence. “So, what are you planning on getting down at the shipyards, boss? Way Raven tells it, the ship’s as upgraded as it can get unless you go adding on some of the really expensive shit.”

I chuckled, and said, “Well, the kinds of jobs we’ve been getting, and the places we’re likely to go in the future, there may be times when we need a couple extra guns, or need to be in two places at once. The shuttle isn’t bad, but using it to fight ship to ship for anything other than a sneak attack is plain suicide. So I’m thinking a second ship would be a good investment.”

“Ah, so what kind of ship are we talking about? Another blockade runner, like the Raven? An armed freighter? Or maybe break down and get an actual escort?”

Smiling, I placed one hand on Nyna’s rear as we walked along. “Well, part of that depends on what hulls are available. I don’t really want to spend a ton of time in this system. The longer we wait around, the more likely the virus might spread, or the navy shows up in force to blast everything to atoms. And the other part depends on the captain of the new ship. Nyna will be running the second ship, so she’s going to be involved in the decisions.”

Nyna looked up at me, her eyes wide. “Really, Master?” She squirmed a bit as I playfully groped her rear in public.

“Yes, really. You’re going to be the Captain of the new ship, even if you’re still my property. So you’ll be helping make the decisions on what kind of ship it will be, and we’ll be stopping by the slave markets when it is close to finished, to get what crew you’ll need.”

Jaynie looked thoughtful at that. “Hmm. So you’re basically going to have a slave empire thing going on?”

“No, not an empire. Maybe a fleet, eventually, but I don’t see any need to bring in outsiders who are just looking to capitalize on our success without helping build that success. Slaves, at least, have a known motivation. And if we recruit mainly locals, then we don’t have to worry as much about other world problems and egos.”

I paused, and then said, “Take that old EVE game. Sure, it was mostly endless accounting with space battles thrown in for kicks, but because it was all based on the people playing the game, you had a history of people getting butthurt about things, and carrying out massive betrayals in the game. I want to avoid that kind of thing, if at all possible.”

Jaynie grinned, and said, “Hmm. I’m kindof liking the idea that I’ll be one of the only free Nomads in this setup. Anyone who joins up later will probably be as a slave of the company, then?”

I nodded. “Unless I can find a way to prove their loyalty, or they work hard to impress me, then yeah. Of course, if you wanted, you could always accept the collar like the other girls have.”

Jaynie laughed, and said, “Nah, as fun as rolling in the hay with you is, boss, I’d like to keep my freedom, and my paycheck, for now.”

Nyna yelped as I pinched her rear, while still looking at Jaynie. “Fair enough. But let me know if you ever change your mind. And if you ever decide to start trying for your own ship, let me know that, too, and we’ll see what we can do.”

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Chapter 44 - The Heist, Pt 2

<Nyna POV>

We’d come up with the plan for the heist while Master was making his delivery on the surface, and Master liked it enough that he put me in charge of the whole thing! He said it was a test, for when he had a second ship that needed a captain. I’d still be his slave, but I’d have a ship of my own! And a crew!

I took a deep breath as Raven’s communication came in. All right. The cameras weren’t going to pick us up any longer. With a nod to the others, Cali, Carissa, Jaynie and I stepped out of a nearby bar that was just inside the range of the cameras Raven had looped. Now came our part.

I laughed at something Carissa said, but that upset my balance and, being more than slightly drunk, stumbled into Cali, who, also being quite drunk, fell against the panel outside where the two nice security officers were standing. We all laughed, even as the screen Cali was leaning on had several error messages come up.

The security guards were not amused, but Carissa simply smiled at one of them and made a proposition that would be illegal in three systems, which caught the men’s attention really fast, even if they seemed hesitant to follow through while on duty. And then they got really sleepy, just as the door to the place they were guarding opened up. So, being good girls, we pulled them inside so they could sleep.

As the doors closed behind us, I said without any signs of intoxication, “How’s it look, Raven?”

“Cali planted the repeater perfectly. I now have access to the stand-alone system. Alarms are offline, and I’ve looped the camera feeds. There are seven guards in the complex. Shearah’s drones are moving to take care of the two on perimeter patrol, and the one in the security office.”

“And where in this glorified warehouse should we be headed?”

“I’m working on decrypting their logs. There are two blocks that may be what we’re looking for. One was rented by the planetary government, and the other is Confederation Special Research Devision. Trying to find any references to Project: Hidden Champion.”

“Understood. Where are the four guards Shearah isn’t taking care of?”

“Standing guard over the two likely bays, two in front of each. Waypoints are on your HUD now.”

“Thanks, Raven.” I turned, and looked to Jaynie. “How are our sleepy friends?”

Looking up from the biomonitor scans she was taking, Jaynie nodded once. “The tranq patches are working fine. They have slightly increased metabolism because of augments, but they’ll be out of it for at least a couple hours.”

I nodded. “All right. If it looks like we’re going to be longer than that, we’ll just dose them again before they wake up. Let’s arm up and move out. Carissa and Cali, head for the planetary government block. Jaynie, you’re with me. Stay out of sight until we have the signal from Raven.”

They nodded, and we drew weapons and armor from our bracers, turning from a bunch of ‘party girls’ to a quick assault team. Without waiting for a signal, we moved out, splitting our party to cover the two bays. Even odds weren’t what I liked, but we couldn’t risk the guards at one bay hearing a fight and coming to find out what was going on, or do something worse, like call for help.

It was hard not to admire Jaynie’s backside in the skin-tight suit she wore as she took point. The… libertine nature of this crew certainly took some getting used to. I’d never… been with a woman before those bastards enslaved me and turned me over to Master. It was strange getting used to such a lifestyle. I kindof liked it, honestly.

We were almost to the SRD block when we got an update from Raven.

<Shearah POV>

I smiled to myself once the alarms on the grates went down. As I moved my pets into the storage area, Raven sent me the non-looped sensor feeds, so I could direct my metallic minions along their way. One of them stayed in the ventilation system, and began making its way towards the security office. Two more went after the patrol. After a moment’s consideration, I directed the last spiderbot to cover the entrance, just in case anyone entered (or tried to escape).

Running the numbers, I saw that my spiderbots would hit the patrol first. Setting up on a section of wall that was just out of camera range, I had my two spiders stop moving, and wait. Drones like this were great for doing recon work, but their small size meant that they weren’t really much use as weapons, unless you were doing surprise attacks. My models were currently armed with two doses of the same tranquilizer Nyna’s team had used on the guards outside, but in the form of darts instead of patches laced with DMSO.

Then I saw the two men in the uniform of the Confederation Army. They were relaxed, since this was a patrol of a storage unit, and no alarms had gone off, but I was slightly impressed to see that they had not allowed themselves to get careless or complacent. They had their weapons in a low ready position, and were on the lookout for trouble. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t look up.

On my command, the drones fired at their targets simultaneously, each hitting one of the Knelfi males on the neck. Clean hits, and the fast-acting tranquilizer lived up to its reputation, with the two men barely having time to register that they had been hit by darts before they fell to the ground.

I whispered into the comm line I had to Raven, “Patrol down.” Without waiting for a response, I shifted my focus back to the spiderbot moving through the vents. This one I had change from the normal pointed spider legs to their quieter ‘pad’ design. They couldn’t climb vertical surfaces in ‘pad’ mode, but they were almost silent, which is what I needed right now. Of course, this wouldn’t work in an actual military facility, but civilian facilities didn’t think about what people could do with ‘simple’ drones.

I looked through the drone’s cameras, and found the security office. The guy at the desk was half-watching the cameras, really only interested in if anything out of the ordinary happened. His main focus was on the tablet in front of him. I couldn’t tell the details from here, but it seemed like he was watching a movie. Well, a dart to the neck solved his movie at work problem.

“Security office clear. No threats detected.”

<Nyna POV>

“All other threats clear. Cameras are looping, and I’ve edited the footage of you so far. No alarms detected. Project: Hidden Champion is located in the SRD block, Unit 34-234-B. Cali, the planetary government block appears to have mostly things that won’t interest us, but Unit 2694-23-Y is suspicious. There’s no listing of what is in there.”

“Understood. We’ll check it out. Maybe we’ll get some extra pay out of this.”

The timing was good. Just around the corner were the two soldiers flanking the entry to the block where what we wanted was being kept. After checking that Cali’s team was in position, I gave the count, and we painted targets in the HUD so we could do this as easily as possible. The count reached zero, and four guns opened fire, all using stun rounds. The soldiers weren’t in more than base uniforms, not even light tactical armor. The stun rounds made quick work of them, bringing them down before the alarm could be triggered. A slap patch of tranq helped keep them down.

“All opposition down. Let’s go find our prizes.”

<Mirikon POV>

Back on the ship, we were all gathered in the common area as Raven’s drone body oversaw the loading of some additional cargo to Charybdis Station, though she was also here in her virtual avatar. It didn’t take Mindread to see that Sana wasn’t exactly happy with the girls petting and pawing her new, catlike appearance. Unlike Kiki, she still had her knelfi face, though she now had cat ears, greatly enhanced agility and reflexes, a catlike tongue, and a tail. Her eyes were now slit like a cat’s, giving her impressive low-light vision. And her retractable claws would be good weapons against lightly armored foes.

Well, despite her not being quite happy with it, someone who was paying attention would notice that Sana was glistening in certain places, and I hadn’t even activated the heat on demand feature. I was happy to see that, even though she still resisted her lot in life, she was starting to adapt to her new station. It meant the conditioning was going well.

I brought this meeting to order by pulling Nyna into my lap, and saying, “All right, you lot. Well done on a nicely planned and executed heist! Let’s hear about what we just stole. Start with the stuff we went for. Raven, what can you tell us about Project: Hidden Champion?”

Virtual Raven turned away from Sana, and said, “Well, it is a nasty piece of work. Typical brainwashing methods are either brute force methods that are easily detected, like the Stepford devices, or they take a long time for the conditioning to set in. Project: Hidden Champion is attempting to make a weaponized system that acts on the optic nerve and basically acts like those ‘hypnosis device’ erotic stories Sheila has been reading lately.”

“RAVEN! You promised you wouldn’t tell!”

Raven giggled as we all had a bit of a laugh at the Princess’s embarrassment, and continued. “Oopsie! Anyways, it would both allow someone to implant triggers in someone’s mind, but overlapping commands could cause conditioning to set in in days or weeks instead of weeks or months, and the individual would have no memory of their being changed, and they wouldn’t be missed like they would if they disappeared for a couple months.”

“So basically, it is a spy service’s wet dream, and the only reason it was anywhere near the light of day is because some idiot let the Legion virus loose on the planet.” I nodded, and said, “How close are they to a working prototype?”

“Unfortunately, the facility they were using had almost been overrun by the Legion before they evacuated, so some of the data is corrupted. The physical device was ready, but the software, which is the important part, was only about 80% ready. Unfortunately, that has been pushed back further since there is evidence of corruption in the files, but they should be able to recompile from developer notes.”

“Keep a copy of the data, and begin working on a way to protect ourselves from stuff like this if someone uses it. A filter on our HUDs, maybe?”

“I’ll see what I can do, Captain.”

I sighed. “All right, and now for the fun part. What is this extra loot you guys brought back? It looks important.” I gestured to a black box that looked to be made of polished obsidian that was sitting in the center of the table where we had our meals.

Raven chuckled, and said, “Well, that appears to be the planetary governor’s personal retirement plan. That is a data recorder from one of the old Drake-Class colony/explorer vessels, back in the days of the United Nations Space Exploration Service. They were generation ships, flying at fractional c speeds between stars. They discovered the first Gateways, but were too large to pass through them. I don’t know where the Governor picked up this little gem, but it appears to be from the Juan Ponce de Leon, one of several colony ships that were never heard from again, until now.”

A ghost ship from the past? Exciting! Motioning Raven to continue, I asked, “So where did the Governor get his hands on this?”

“If the documentation is to be believed, a pirate discovered it while laying over in the Desolace system six years ago. The gateway there activated suddenly, and this module fell out of it. The pirate recorded the gate coordinates that the device came from, but wasn’t going to risk his ship on an uncertain reward. The only reason he was in Desolace, after all, is because the system is completely empty except for a tiny star barely bigger than a brown dwarf, and a lot of asteroids. Makes it a perfect place to rest and repair after a battle if you can’t afford to be seen by the authorities.”

“The pirate was later captured on a raid in Jagloth, and the Governor ‘acquired’ the device after the extensive interrogations of the pirate and his crew revealed what it was. What financial data I’ve been able to uncover suggests that the Governor was quietly putting together personal funds to finance an expedition to discover what happened to the Ponce de Leon. The potential profits if they found the ship would be staggering.”

That had us all leaning forward in our seats. “How staggering are we talking about?”

Raven smirked as she looked at me. “Owning a small planet kind of staggering, especially if they found anything… interesting.”

We all grinned at that thought.

Previous Chapter                                      Table of Contents                                              Next Chapter

Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):

Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT

Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):

Volume 1 - Tutorial https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB

Volume 2 - Beginning the Journey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VR7M41/

Volume 3 - Wyrmwood https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072QKVBYV

Volume 4 - To the Deeps https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073QSD9S4

Volume 5 - Power Base https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074KGVN5T

Into the Black (Sci-Fi LitRPG):

Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL

Book II - Choson Ring https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071X3LL9D

Book III - Alpha Centauri https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073X8J9GF

Book IV - Aquarian Desert https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0756V1VX5

City of Champions Online (Superhero LitRPG):

Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T

LitRPG facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGGroup/

Chapter 43 - The Heist, Pt 1

“Well, that was a shit show.”

I looked over to Cali, who had just grumbled about our latest delivery as we returned to Shadara Station, and shrugged. We were the only two on the shuttle, heading back to the station after completing the spice run. Things had not gone according to plan.

“Yeah, nothing we can do about that. The whole situation is just out of control. Honestly, I think the planet only has a week or two before it gets wiped clean. But hey, we still got paid, and that 20% discount on Spriteshack goods will come in handy down the line. Thankfully, they aren’t located just on Jagloth, but are a chain going all across Confederate space.”

“We DID just shoot our way out of their building.”

“They were Infected, and tried to spread the nanites to us.”

“You got the Navy to do an orbital strike on their headquarters!”

“Meh, they’ve been doing that wherever the Infection is found in the areas that aren’t overrun. They did send marines down to check it, first.”

“And you’re not worried that the Confed Navy now knows we’re here?”

“We used those codes Alok Paxisys gave us to dock at the station, and we weren’t hiding. All they know is that Metrion’s Favor had a delivery to a corporate bigshot, and found nanites. We were cleared of Infection before we got back to the Station, so they’re good, since the situation might not have been noticed until it was too late, otherwise. Even got a ‘finder’s fee’ because of it.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, a gizmo that lets you learn a specific Psy power. This one is reusable, instead of the one-off versions you normally buy. Came loaded with a basic ‘Shield’ power.”

“Useful. How’d you convince them to let that go?”

“It was that or some basic implants. The implants would have been for me only, and I can’t use that, but a Shield power? One that we can give to everyone on the crew? That’s far more valuable, as far as I’m concerned. Wouldn’t want you up and dying on me, now.”

Cali blushed, and looked away for a moment. “Aww, Cap’n!” And then she moaned as I grabbed her on the rear. “Aah, Cap’n!”

Laughing, I said, “Later, pet. We have to see what the others have found while we were out.”

Stepping out of the shuttle, we were greeted by Raven and the rest of the crew, who had smug grins on their faces, except for Sana, who was still looking like she’d rather kill me with her bare hands than anything else, but was on her hands and knees purring as Shearah scratched her behind the ears.

And then, when we walked into the common area, I saw what was on the nearby screen. Evidently, they had been watching us in the shuttle. Cali buried her face in my shoulder as the replay had her moaning at my hand’s ministrations to her backside. I made a picture of sighing, and said, “I assume you’ve been doing more than just peeping on us, you perverts? What’s the heist look like?”

Raven got serious now that we were talking about work, and the rest followed suit. “Shearah and Jaynie did recon on the area around the storage unit where the project data is being stored. I was able to gain access to the station blueprints, as well as the local security network for that storage block. The only sign that there is anything amiss in the area is that there are Confed Army soldiers guarding the storage units. I think they were forced to evacuate the project in a hurry, and haven’t had a chance to get it to a more secure site.”

“So we’re definitely dealing with something black?”

“Yeah, I’m not sure what the project was actually about, but given the name and the way the cameras all had the same ‘malfunction’ when the storage unit was being loaded, I’m going to have to say that it is definitely black.”

“All right. Nyna, you wanted to plan this one out to prove you could handle running things on your own. Lay out your plan, and let’s work out any kinks we see.”

The Knelfi practically bounced in happiness as she moved to the screen and began laying out her attack plan.

(One Hour Later)

Shearah giggled as I led her and Sana (who was being allowed to wear clothes and walk upright for once), to the body-mod shop next door to the storage units, and said, loudly enough for anyone nearby to hear, “Oh Master, I’m so glad you decided to give Sana the full upgrade! She’s going to look adorable with a real tail, instead of just a plug!”

“Well, pet, you were very persuasive in your oral arguments. And since Sana can’t speak against it, I have no reason to deny it. You’re turning into quite the little Switch, you know. I like this side of you.”

Shearah beamed as I patted her ass, and said, “Anything for you, Master!”

I turned my attention to the knelfi woman who was acting as the receptionist for this body-mod shop, and said, “Hello, Miss. I’ve got an appointment to get my slave upgraded. I was looking through your online catalogue, and I would like her to get the full Prowling Panther set, including the optional combat mods, and the heat on demand feature. I’d also like the custom ship suit with the remote plugs fitted for her. Post mods, of course.” I guided Sana forward as I said this, so the receptionist could get a good view of her.

The receptionist looked at me like I was a horrible person, but didn’t say anything about my moral failings (of which she believed there were plenty, no doubt). “Very well. The full package, with the optional features you mentioned, will run 126032 credits. Time for the procedures will be six hours, though because of the extent of the modifications your slave will need several weeks of rest and recovery to get used to her new body and its abilities. It is BodyWorx’s policy to remind you that any ‘use’ of the slave should remain light, and non-strenuous during the recovery time, and we are not liable for any ill effects that happen due to ignoring this warning.”

I nodded. That was about what I expected. After I transferred the necessary funds from my bank account to the store, the receptionist nodded, and almost kept from looking at me like I was something disgusting she found on the bottom of her shoe, and led us into the back, where there was a waiting area for friends/family/other, while Sana was taken into the operating room for the body mods.

While this was going on, Shearah busied herself with surreptitiously dropping four small balls on the ground. These were four really simple home ‘security’ drones that the group had purchased in the marketplace, designed to be either set on autopilot, or controlled by remote, as Shearah was doing now. Without anyone noticing, the four balls each sprouted four legs, and they climbed up the wall and into the ventilation system, heading for the secure storage next door.

Normally, there would be alarms and such stuff to keep people from doing what we were attempting, or other ‘unfortunate’ things, like dispersing toxins in the air system. Raven had already disabled those alarms temporarily, thanks to an ‘accidental’ short in the wiring that disabled the system in this sector of the ship. It would take a while for the maintenance guys to track down the problem, especially since the sensors weren’t due for their routine systems check for another five hours.

So why was I here, dropping bank on getting Sana modded? Well, part of it was because the idea of a sexy catgirl appealed to me in a fetish kind of way. But also it would give me further options when dealing with situations once I properly tamed her. That wasn’t why we were here, though. This was the closest business to the storage units, and we needed an alibi for loitering while Shearah controlled her drones. She’d be distracted by that, so I was here as a bodyguard for my two slaves. Plus, the receptionist would most certainly provide us with an alibi saying we were most certainly NOT in the storage units.

The rest of the heist was up to Shearah, Raven, and Nyna’s team.

(Shearah POV)

Click-click-clickityclick. My ‘spiderbots’ (as Cali named them) easily made their way through the ventilation system. The alarms for this area had been quietly turned off thanks to some ‘faulty wiring’ caused by our resident AI. I’ve never known an AI that was so expressive, but Master says she’s an actual sentient AI, and there’s only a few of those running around, right? The only ones I know of are on the level of major government contractors or something like that.

Anyways, now we were on to the fun part of the heist. The spiderbots moved as quietly as they could, considering they were not really designed for stealth. Still, for a job like this they could almost do the whole job (minus lifting any physical specimens or the like) themselves. Well, if he storage area didn’t have its own, independent alarm. The first spiderbot got to the ventilation grate into the storage area, and stopped. The scans picked up a laser net across the vents. Cut the beam, and the alarms go off. Simple tech, but reliable, and hard to defuse without special gear.

Now I just had to wait for the next phase to begin.

(Raven POV)

One of the cool things about being an AI is that I can think a lot quicker than I could back when I was human. Oh, and there’s the fact that I’m immune to the Captain’s charms. Or at least I no longer have all those silly biological cues screaming at me like the rest of the crew do. He’s treated me with nothing but respect, and hasn’t pushed about my past when I told him I didn’t want to talk about it. But he hasn’t done more than the casual flirting with me, which is fine.

I’m still not sure about all his secrets. I only know about his ‘Mindbreaker’ because he used the data I had on the Stepford collars to make it happen, and used my help to work out the details. But other than that, I’m not sure what is going on with him. The Captain told the crew that he has an illusion-based Psy power that lets him take other forms, but I watched him change a couple times. That is no illusion, but a physical reshaping. What could let him do something like that?

Still, he hasn’t pushed on my secrets, and has been at least trying to not be a rat bastard to everyone, even though the abilities he will admit to having to the crew would be so easy to abuse. He’s actually shown a good deal of restraint in how he uses his power… mostly.

But then we have the stunt he’s pulling to get Shearah and her spiderbots into position. I feel bad for Sana, who’s already trapped in her own head, but now will have her body completely changed. Shearah really does enjoy messing with her fellow slave too much, and the Captain likes keeping his harem happy.

At any rate, Shearah just sent the signal that the spiderbots are in position. Whoever designed this security system was a big believer in simple solutions. To keep the alarms from being hacked, they are all on a stand-alone system, which only connects to the datanet to sound the alarm. Which means we need a physical connection to start things up. But the station happens to have several cameras covering the entrance to the storage area 36/6, so just walking up and plugging in isn’t going to happen, even if the guards allowed it.

Which is why I wasn’t there ‘in person’, but was using all my processing power to slip through the station’s surveillance system. Cutting the feeds would cause techs to come and check out the situation, so I managed to find a piece of footage that didn’t have anyone moving around in it, just showing the guards, guarding. The segment was only forty-five seconds long, but that was enough, as I started the loop.

Raven to Nyna. Cameras looping. You’re clear.

Previous Chapter                                      Table of Contents                                        Next Chapter

Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):

Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT

Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):

Volume 1 - Tutorial https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB

Volume 2 - Beginning the Journey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VR7M41/

Volume 3 - Wyrmwood https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072QKVBYV

Volume 4 - To the Deeps https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073QSD9S4

Volume 5 - Power Base https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074KGVN5T

Into the Black (Sci-Fi LitRPG):

Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL

Book II - Choson Ring https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071X3LL9D

Book III - Alpha Centauri https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073X8J9GF

Book IV - Aquarian Desert https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0756V1VX5

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T

LitRPG facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGGroup/