"I like it, let's run it from the top one more time"
Having salvaged an entire pirate outpost, the trio had found themselves with way more credits than they had expected, around 4 million of them to be more exact. Thus, with more disposable wealth than they knew how to spend Luna had eventually made a suggestion that had grown into what was now, about 8 months later, a small outpost of their own
"A-Alright Mark, give me a moment"
Having finished setting up their outpost around 7 months ago, Mark had eventually decided to invest into Lisa, more specifically he was putting her through a highly expansive training regime along with that, the former noble princess was also benefiting from Luna's increasing sophisticated biological R&D research center next to the habitation module
Of course since self-control wasn't something Mark aspired towards, there was also the equally large, modular zero gravity combat training center right next door
"Entering now"
"Got it, ready?"
Lisa checked the camber of her rifle before and shouldered it into a low ready before she breathed out and spoke
"Ready…"
At her words, the entrance hatch shut and locked close
"Go"
"Going"
At the Mark's start signal, Lisa began clearing the training area room by room, shooting targets as they popped up, overwriting automatic door controls, breaching rooms and hallways using various different tools and disabling combat androids using different tools and weapons including her bare hands
Watching Lisa run the randomized training course with brutal efficiency Mark commented
"...She's starting to become one scary woman"
[I don't think so, I find sister rather endearing… You should too Mark, she's doing her best for your sake]
"Well, when you put it like that… Never mind, you saw her rip the capacitor bank out of that android with her hands too, right?"
[Yes, the reinforced muscle fiber implantations are performing beyond their original projected specifications. This is most likely a result of sister's original biological specifications]
Mark nodded, to put it bluntly Lisa's body was anything but normal, her biology was built to take easily to any and all biological augmentations, and beyond that she was naturally resilient and healed way faster than any normal person
'... Though I doubt her old man would have expected this kind of after market modifications done to his designer product… Still…'
"I suppose she's kind of cute… Like a big fluffy dog that still thinks it is lapdog sized"
[Can I relay that to sister?]
"...Yeah, you can let that one slip if you want Luna"
[Understood]
As he watched the live cam footage of Lisa tearing though the shooting range, Mark felt an increasingly familiar and very annoying itch on the back of his neck which he promptly began scratching as he muttered
"...Still not enough"
[Mark?]
"Don't mind me, do you still need me to make that supply run?"
[Yes, however you might want to wait for sister to finish up before leaving]
"Alright, I'll go fire up the Sparrow while she finishes up"
Mark flew over towards the Sparrow and entered it, the craft had not really changed much externally in the past months, sure Luna had done some internal work on it but all that meant to Mark was a slight smoothing in the controls
'...That reminds me'
"Luna"
[What is it, Mark?]
"Have you looked into the line of research I talked to you about?"
[Yes, it appears viable, however I haven't found a suitable material yet to sustain the reaction]
"I distinctly remember it was a Uranium isotope that was used for the first test, that and an unstable plutonium isotope"
[...I still think this is a dangerous path to take]
"That's the point, mutually assured destruction was never meant to be non-violent, it's the exact opposite"
[I still find your talk of out of uncontrolled chain fission reactions devices to be highly illogical, I understand these "nukes" potential application as warheads, but the byproducts and difficulties of production and safe storage still remains]
Never mind faster than light travel or actual laser weaponry, the strangest thing Mark had discovered in this strangely familiar universe was the complete lack of nuclear weaponry, the dual reaction drives that powered most stations and spaceships was far more advanced than a simple fission warhead, yet nukes and other apocalyptic WMDs were suspiciously absent, not only as real objects, but even as concepts in media or fiction
'Either they never existed or more likely someone purposely removed all information about them… Still, the best way to gain leverage if we're pushed too far is to carry around a large stick… '
Mark let out a sigh and muttered
"...I still feel cheated that there's no moon sized death ray"
[I will endeavor to find a way to make it for you, Mark]
"Nah, don't worry too much about that one… it's more of a fantasy than a real wish"
Mark started reading the Sparrow for the upcoming flight Luna suddenly sounded the alert
[FTL signature detected, it is inbound on a direct approach]
"Shit, how long do we have?"
[A minute at most, shall I prepare a preemptive strike?]
"No hold it, Lisa, get your ass onboard!"
"On it!"
Having melded with the Sparrow Mark didn't wait for her to confirm she had gotten onboard, as soon as she passed through the open hatch he simply closed it behind her and booked it into cover while the Sparrow switched to cold running, as the heat stopped venting out into the void the ship's heat signature quickly disappeared, rendering the Sparrow invisible to thermal sensors
A few tense seconds passed as Mark continued taking distance from the base while keeping the Sparrow in visual cover behind asteroids that lumbered about in their slow dance, then about a minute after Luna's warning a series of 3 ships entered real space a few kilometers away from the base and began slowly burning towards it until they got within a kilometer and one of them transmitted a message before the group entered a holding pattern
[It appears our anchoring permit is being conditionally revoked]
"...When?"
[At this very moment, if we refuse the new conditions]
"Let's slaughter them, Mark, I'll rip out their hearts!"
"Easy there, 15th century sun priest… What's the new conditions?"
[Participations in security operations… It's not quite that they want to use us as cannon fodder, but it appears close, the local government wants us to suppress a few separatist elements in exchange for our continued anchorage]
Mark let out a sigh, at this point it was clear that the local government saw him as someone easy to threaten and push around. This was something he would make them regret
"Well… I apologize Lisa, your solution suddenly doesn't seem all that bad…"
"Yay!"
[I would like some time to secure and categorize my research data at the very least]
Silence fell in the Sparrow cockpit for a few moments before Luna spoke again
[Come on now, Mark, sister, we've talked about this possibility before]
Mark nodded, however the fact that splitting up was the most logical choice still didn't really feel good to him, even if they had discussed it multiple times already
"That doesn't mean we have to like it"
"...Luna, what if we can't find you again or something happens?"
[At that point, Mark will awaken a new machine spirit that will inherit my memory back up]
Hearing Luna's ever logical response, Mark let out another sigh before he responded
"Alright, sync our communication protocols, we'll link up again later"
[Yes, I will find you again, so don't worry]
A few moments of since passed before Mark realized that had been Luna's farewell
"Well, looks like it's just the two of us for a while then, Lisa"
Mark felt his hand tenderly grabbed as Lisa linked her fingers with his and sat for a few moments before she laid her head on his shoulder, a few more moments passed in silence before she asked
"So, are we going to rip some hearts out of some chest cavities?"
"Yeah… Eventually, we might as well play along for a bit though… It's the perfect time to field test your new skills"
Mark felt Lisa quietly nod her head as he maneuvered the Sparrow around, silently stalking the 3 ships that still held a holding pattern, once he finished moving around their flank he slowly crept in on them from their rear
"Why are you smiling like that, Mark?"
"Check the operator consol"
"...Lord above, they sure are oblivious"
"Yeah, it also helps that the Sparrow is basically an extension of my body at this point"
Mark slowly inched closer to the 3 ships before he took a position right behind the center ship, he was mere meters away from the shields of the 2 crafts interfering with each other. At that point it was just a matter of deploying the central mounted rail cannon which silently slid out from the belly of the Sparrow pointed right at the central ship
"Give them a call, Lisa"
"Hihihi~ Sure~"
A few moments passed before the short range communication link was opened and a young man's voice echoed out inside the Sparrow's cockpit
"This is Vrod system security officer, here on behalf of the Vengidir collective federation, I assume I am speaking with the anchorage?"
"Yep, that you did, my operator relayed the basic ongoing security situation, you needed help cleaning up some kind of separatist mess?"
"That is correct, however our orders only extend as far as sending you towards the Vrod SubNet communications hub with an encoded data package, please undock your vessels and prepare for encoded data transmission"
Mark's smile widened further as he decided the poor guy he was speaking with needed to pay for a deep cleaning of his Vacuum suit
"I'm ready to receive the data package… Your main port side engine cover looks a little scratched, I think some of your exhaust directions are out of alignment"
"Yes..? OH SH—"
From the sound of something impacting something else hard, Mark figured the pilot checked the rearview camera array literally jumped out of his seat and hit the top of his cockpit with his helmet when the poor sod had discovered he had let a medium-sized combat vessel with deployed hard points sneak up on him and into point-blank range
"Are you good? That sounded like it hurt"
A few moments passed before the very flustered voice of the security officer
"R-R-Retract your deployed hard points a-a-at once!"
Mark's grin widened as he switched silent running off and exposed a few auxiliary heat sinks to rapidly dump the accumulated heat
"Don't wanna, I am running a diagnostics on the internal ammunition conveyor, hard point deployment is necessary"
As soon as the 3 ships began moving, the Sparrow quickly maneuvered around and in between them, constantly keeping out of their hard point gimbals limits, or using one of the vessels as a physical shield for another, this dance continued on for about a minute before Mark decided to call it and lit the after burner boosting away from the 3 security crafts and slid right in behind an asteroid while the security officer yelled over the short range communication
"C-Cease your chaotic maneuvers!"
"Don't wanna, you know, man… I am a people person. I like people a lot… That's the reason I didn't ventilate your ships when I had the drop on you"
"Threats won't help yo—"
"Shut up, send the encoded data package while I am still being nice"