Project: "Matsuda's Bloom" - A discovery to change everything.

[~Sisters of Light~]

BATTLESHIP YAMAGUCHI, TAU-29 SYSTEM, 824 A.S.

It was time for her departure. Long months of work might finally pay off, the young woman was getting into her Falcon, ready to risk everything she built up so carefully within the last months. There was no return anyway, she knew that, she knew she could never return back to the 343rd. Not that she cared much though, her home had always been the corridors of Ainu. It was the Golden Chrysanthemums who gave her perspective, a sense to carry on after she had lost everything but her younger sister. It was time to repay them. She started up the engines… In a few minutes the she was in space, heading to Baffin, leaving behind the Battleship and people she had been working with for some time.


BAFFIN SYSTEM

After a swift resupplying at one of the local Zoner installations, Miju was heading in the direction of the Barrier nebula. She was aiming to find something the Exiles considered so valuable that they were willing to hide it far from everyone’s eyes rather than risk its loss. She was trying to find the Satsuma, legendary mobile castle of the Emperor of olden days. Miju managed to get her hands on the coordinates and time when it had been left in the Barrier Nebula, enough data to calculate its current location. It was worth a try!


OUTER EDGE OF BAFFIN SYSTEM

Hopeless! Miju checked and rechecked, made adjustments for incorrect time and initial coordinates. She had been searching for countless hours by now: no sight, nothing, not a single trace of the vessel. Fighters aren’t designed for long standalone operation. Miju was desperate to find the Satsuma but she couldn’t carry on without resupplying. Disappointed, she set course back to the Zoner Skyhook.

Miju didn’t give up. Giving it another try, she resumed her search. With a similar result, or rather total lack thereof. It was futile, a false lead she had been chasing so recklessly. Hoping the Sisterhood could forgive her for her fruitless waste of time and resources, she headed to Ainu.



OUTER EDGE OF BAFFIN SYSTEM, PRESENT DAYS


Something about Kusari has always been attracting Selena. No, it wasn't the ideal of honour which she could never understand in the universe where everything was bought and sold. Not even the usual charm of foreign culture appealing to many: she didn't care about such things. It was disparaging treatment of women inbred too deep into the members of its society that helped her to keep a low profile seeking information about useful stuff. And useful meant valuable. Right, and no Junkers.

Selene moved her eyes away from the bluish-white nebula behind the viewport towards the motley crew of her Firefly class transport 'Merchant's Luck' and two fighter escort pilots Zack and Nick. She hated ship’s name from day one, neither interested in 'honest' merchant business nor believing in luck, but a neutral name was a necessary evil.

"As you may, or may not know," Selena started, "about five years ago a personal Yacht of back then exiled Kusari Emperor Himself was lost..." She made a pause to make the importance of the information sink in. "...And presumed destroyed," Selena continued, "by almost everybody..." The captain made another pause.

"Until our resourceful captain found it otherwise the hard way," Roy interrupted in his usual off-handed manner, stressing the word 'hard', which elicited a burst of laughter among the rest of the crew. Except the captain who gave him a stern look.

"Next time I'll leave the pleasure to you," Selena returned, evoking more giggles and their mechanic Mal patting Roy on the shoulder. "Nevermind that, apparently the Yacht isn't there."

Roy and Mal exchanged glances before looking back at the captain.

"Mike, fill everybody in please," Selene told the youngest member of the crew beside her. Barely nineteen, he was still a kid. And the brain among them.

"Well... we know where the ship was left. We know when, approximately. We know its initial motion. We can calculate where it should be at any moment. Except it isn't at the projected coordinates," Mike said quickly.

"Still we are relatively sure the Yacht is still in the system, and noone has found it yet," Selena noted.

"That's why I studied astronomical observations charts of Baffin system over the last 6 years supplied by Selena," he looked at the captain briefly, "scanning for potential candidate objects in the region compatible with the initial coordinates..."

"Ahem..." Roy cleared his throat. "Cut to the chase, kid. Do we know where it is?"

“We can't say for sure," Selena answered for Mike. "But we limited our search..."

"How long?" Roy growled.

"Six days," Mike answered, "give or take just as much, if we keep Luck along the projected trajectory and our scouts..."

"This is where our fighters fit in," Selena interrupted Mike, looking at Nick and Zack. "You'll be our eyes as we comb through the region and check every possible object..."


10 DAYS AND 8 HOURS LATER

Zack yawned and cursed under his breath. Again. The captain was stubborn and stupid. One who said about looking for a needle in a haystack didn't have an idea about vastness of space. In all three dimensions. It was a thrice stupid idea. He was sick of open space and chasing asteroids for the rest of his life. He had barely time to rest on Luck until he had to go for another run.

Blast it! Literally! He thumbed safety off as his fighter neared the next asteroid in a row he lost count of how many... He almost pulled the trigger when... No, it can't be... On pure instinct he maneuvered his ship around the derelict ship looming before him, dead and forgotten, his heart pounding. It was magnificent, beautiful and menacing even in its current shape... And it was theirs with all the riches inside...

***

It wasn't as bad as it was looking. The interior, protected by all the armor and bulkheads, was almost fully intact, so were the Yacht's engines. Which couldn't be said about the integrated powercore. Apparently it didn’t want to start again after having been powered down years ago, and nobody wanted to try it too hard.

The Yacht itself had immense value, even in its battered state. For the right buyer. In the right place. Far away. Selena considered herself smarter than that. The Yacht had been lost for five years, it could remain hidden from everyone's eyes for a while more. By the time emission of their drives would eventually attract attention there would be nothing valuable left aboard. Or so she hoped....

One might think finding a good salvage was all that was in her line of work. It wasn't true, at least not in its entirety. While laying hands on a big prize like this was certainly a great success - not luck, the idea that an outside influence could be attributed for the fruits of her efforts was repulsive to Selena - it was only part of the job. The other part was to sell the salvage, and for a high enough price. The former wasn't a problem, a buyer could be found in almost any system. The latter meant dealing with people reputable enough in appropriate circles but far enough from binding shackles of law. Dangerous places, dangerous people. And profits tended to increase with the risks involved. That's how Selena built a relationship with the Outcasts.

Of course, relationship was too big a word. Outcasts kept her on armed arm's length from anyone or anything even remotely important. They didn't ask questions, with their own people openly engaging in piracy. Yet they didn't try to rob her, at least for as long as she was bringing something they needed. For a moderate price. And there was a demand out there on almost anything she could salvage, with a whole drug dealing empire deep in the Omicrons. However Selena had no illusions about that place. Neither she was welcome there nor she wanted to venture that far: violence grew exponentially the farther one went from House Space.


TAU-23, CALI

As much as Selena wanted total secrecy, certain items significantly increased in value when they belonged to someone important. The Emperor of Kusari was certainly in the list. Selena avoided any mentions of where exactly did the loot come from, but nobody there bothered with that, or with secrecy. She was on pins and needles, Outcasts were at home. Salvage or pillage, Selena was certainly not the first and wasn't going to be the last one who wanted to get rid of it as fast as possible. Which meant cheaper, she stood her ground. After all, nobody there cared if something had happened with some kusarian liner.

Every time Zack was on Cali he felt uneasy. Something was off about the place and its inhabitants. Selena was taking longer than usual too. After all the time in space he should have been happy about it. But not there. Not among these strange people. The way Outcasts were looking at him gave him the shivers. It was a nice change when one of them actually smiled at him. Zack smiled in return.

It figures. The woman - Miju was her name - turned out not an Outcast but one of the Golden Chrysanthemums on some business of theirs,. Zack didn't hear much about them, Miju was pretty open. He missed a nice company of another woman, a lovely and innocent one for that matter. But entertainment is entertainment, and work is work. When she asked where did he come from, it took him only a little hesitation to give her a plausible lie the whole crew agreed on: Tau-29.

Miju's suspicions grew only stronger. The moment she had heard rumors of high value luxury kusarian cargo and the word Emperor together, red flag raised in her head. It wasn't hard to find someone involved. Sadly, the guy turned out tougher than he looked. With all the subtle questions she asked during their conversation, she didn't manage to find out anything useful. Almost. He was certainly not a pirate, and the transport for which his fighter was an escort didn't come from Kusari itself. When not the Taus - she was sure he lied to her - and not Kusari, there seemed was only one option left. The Satsuma! This time she was going to find it!

Miju hurried to dispatch a message to Ainu. In an hour the transport departed, with its escort fighter and a nice tracking device on it. Legacy from her old times, the device was designed to minimize chances of its discovery. She could get its signal only within a relatively short range, having to keep trailing the target, though well outside its scanner range.


OUTER EDGE OF BAFFIN SYSTEM

The target slowed down. Having to keep the right distance to target all this time had been exhausting, yet Miju was all excited. Once they entered Baffin system, her anticipation was growing with every passing minute. She was afraid to believe she was so close to the Satsuma! Miju could only hope the Elders had taken her message seriously and would find a way to dispatch a vessel to Baffin. Time was of essence, even if she could find the location of the Satsuma, who knew how much time it would take these looters to disassemble the beauty piece by peace. She winced at the revolting prospect.

Miju adjusted the trajectory to not get into her target's scanner range. The fact that she was able to plant the tracking device on the fighter and not on the transport complicated things. While the Firefly was likely to remain near the Satsuma, the fighter could do some patrol pattern, making it a gamble to not lose the target and remain unseen by the transport at the same time. Calculating trajectory of the Yacht without knowing its location seemed an almost impossible task.

The task she failed. A fighter - and it wasn’t one with the tracking device - appeared within the sensor range. Still without the trajectory calculated, Miju couldn't avoid the encounter without losing the signal of the tracking devices. She could try her luck against the fighter but with who knows how many others around and still without solid data on the Satsuma to send to her sisters she would risk everything for essentially nothing. She had to make a decision, and make it fast.

The decision came naturally. There was only one way. Miju adjusted her trajectory towards the tracking device, vaguely in the direction where she anticipated the Satsuma should be, hailing the incoming fighter. She played for time, delaying the inevitable attack, at the same time trying to get sensory data on the Satsuma. And indeed there it was, together with another blip of the transport and the tracked fighter. Which accelerated towards her even as the fighter behind her opened fire.

A few seconds were all Miju needed to calculate trajectory of the Satsuma. She turned 90 degrees to the left and accelerated hard, trying to avoid the approaching fighters, but it was too late. Well within their effective range, they opened concentrated fire, limiting her space to maneuver. Miju's heart was racing. She couldn't outrun the fighters, if she tried to escape she would die. The only chance left was to fight them. One against two.

Miju activated her ship's beacon with the collected data embedded in the signal. For the sisters to receive when they jump into the system. If they jump into the system.... Clenching her teeth, Miju opened fire on Zack’s fighter. Dogfighting began, a bloody show of merciless space combat.


HOKKAIDO, ABOARD GC CIVILIAN CARRIER RAITONINGU, SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE

It has been a routine day aboard the sole Bustard class vessel owned by the Golden Chrysanthemums. Nothing seemed to be unusual until they received a high priority communication from the Council of Elders itself. Minami Mi - being on her first commanding assignment after her return from Gaia - was briefed for the new mission. An urgent message and a request of assistance from Matsubara Miju had been received: apparently, Miju got a lead on the Satsuma. Not everyone would believe that, most doubted the Satsuma to still exist, especially in light of every search having been a failure so far. Evidently though, the Council took it seriously enough.

The decision to send Raitoningu seemed logical to Mi. Even if the trail Miju had supposedly uncovered was a bust, the carrier was the most obvious choice due to its class four hyperdrive, making it able to reach Baffin where Miju needed their support far faster than any other vessel the GC had. However, two things troubled Mi, and the crew seemed to share her concern. Firstly, their hyperdrive was only recently upgraded to class four. While the test phase had been completed successfully and personnel had ample experience with former class three hyperdrive, they all lacked enough operational experience with the upgraded module. Secondly, there was going to be an Elder sister aboard. Apparently to get under everyone’s feet with useless advices. And blame others should things go south. Such was Mi’s unflattering opinion about the elite of any kind.

There they were, the promised escort: an Orchid and two Blossoms, barely more than usual escort complement. With their class four drive, Mi expected to have with them at least a gunship. However she didn’t voice her opinion, as it turned out - to everyone’s surprise - that the escort leader was Savannah Maya, the Elder they were expecting. Who immediately advised Mi to charge the hyperdrive and jump to Baffin.


OUTER EDGE OF BAFFIN SYSTEM, VICINITY OF THE SATSUMA

They were good. Miju's fighter earned a few holes it wasn't designed for even before the transport joined the fray too, apparently risking everything to silence her beacon as quickly as possible. In fact there was barely any risk. Under crossfire she didn't have a chance to do anything to the newcomer. But its turrets could to her. Something exploded in the back of her fighter. Sharp pain pierced all her being, the ship stopped responding to controls... And then it was over even before another missile hit her already finished fighter.



BAFFIN SYSTEM, ABOARD GC CIVILIAN CARRIER RAITONINGU

"We've just got her personal beacon," Kiku reported from the sensors station. "We have the location and additional data feed. Decoding..."

"Put it on display," Mi snapped, turning towards a series of numbers appeared before them. Mi looked bewildered.

"We have a voice-over," Kiku added, starting the playback.

"I found it, it's the Satsuma indeed! It's right here! I record its coordinates via the sensor. It is guarded, I see one Firefly and two Talons. I'm forced to engage, I need immediate assistance!" Miju's voice filled the bridge.

"Can we get there?" Mi asked.

"We receive the beacon signal with a considerable time lag,” their executive officer Aimi informed, “we have to use embedded data to plot the interception course.”

“Do it,” Mi ordered.

“It will take just a minute,” Aimi said.

“We’ve lost the beacon signal,” Kiku said with a shaking voice.

“We must hurry!” Mi exclaimed. “Aimi-san?”

“Ready!” Aimi reported in a couple of seconds.

"Get us there, as fast as you can!" Mi commanded.

“We go ahead,” Savannah gave word over the comms.


OUTER EDGE OF BAFFIN SYSTEM, ABOARD MERCHANT'S LUCK


Torn and partly burned Miju's body lied on the floor of the transport’s aft cargo bay, Roy pacing back and forth.

"I know her..." Zack said with a pale face and shaken voice. "She was on Cali... that GC girl..."

Selena spat on the floor. "Idiot. What did you tell her?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing... When she asked me where we came from I said it was Tau-29."


“Well, this is hardly Tau-29,” Selena remarked dryly.


"I don't like this," Roy said. "We should load everything on Luck and leave."

"What, leave all the stuff because of this stupid girl Zack brought with himself?" Selena objected.

"Because of that signal she sent," Roy explained impatiently. "She wouldn't send it if there wasn't someone to receive it!"

"Or she was desperate and hoped someone would help..." Selena said, but her words didn't sound very convincing even to herself.

"If so, why was it encrypted?" Mike gave a voice.

Selena found nothing to say on that. After a short silence interrupted only by the sound of Roy's footsteps, Selena decided. "Zack, go back to space, I want you and Nick patrolling around the ship at the edge of the sensor range, I don't want any more surprises. Mal, any news?"

"The core is at 20% and struggling. Hyperdrive should manage at least one jump but with this powercore..." Mal sighed. "It will never work."

"What about main engines, can you move it somewhere else?" Selena asked.

"Same story. Engines are functional but starting them would cause the core to fail completely. Which in turn would shut the engines down."

Selena sighed. Well, it was worth a try. "Alright. Roy, Mal, Mike, load everything you can on Luck, I'll keep it primed and ready." She looked at the dead body before her. "And someone, dump this pile of filth out of the airlock."


OUTER EDGE OF BAFFIN SYSTEM, VICINITY OF THE SATSUMA

"I have one," Savannah said. "Hikari two and three, get it!"

"Contacts!" Nick exclaimed as three targets appeared on the sensors. "Approaching fast, two o'clock. Fighter sized... correction: two fighters, one bomber."

Selena laughed. They were coming outwards from inside the system, in a hurry to save their friend making their approach direction predictable. She didn't have such burdens. She had placed Zack's fighter directly on their anticipated approach vector, giving her an ample opportunity for escape.

Zack, intercept them!" Selena commanded. "Roy, where are you?"

"Loading this crate," she heard a panting answer over the intercom. "Mal and Mike went for the next load."

Selena sworn. "Shut the airlock," she told Roy. "Don't bother with the connecting hose. We have no time..."

"You read my mind," Roy said in return even as he hurried to the airlock.

Merchant's Luck forcibly disconnected from the Yacht. Selena accelerated away from the incoming enemy toward Nick's fighter. By the time the enemy would have got past Zack, she would be far enough from the Yacht to be detected. And there would be only Roy and Nick left to share the profits. She smiled, congratulating herself for smart thinking.


Incoming fighters changed trajectories a little to head straight at Zack, while the bomber kept its former course. Neither decelerated, forcing Zack to start decelerating himself to be able to tie the newcomers with a fight. It was risky to engage them alone, but so was his job. He might have been discharged from the Navy, but it didn't mean he didn't have a sense of duty. Besides there was Nick and Luck nearby, and given how little Miju could do against them, he was going to take the chances. Oh, and he needed his cut. Once the bomber would be down, the three of them should be able to destroy two remaining fighters. Until then, he had to keep the enemy busy.

Zack took a little to the left, the fighters matched his maneuver, remaining on the collision course. He accelerated slightly upwards and to the right, the fighters accelerated in a similar manner. Zack frowned. Involuntarily he remembered stories about Kamikaze he heard as a child. Distance between them rapidly decreased, relative velocity remained too high. Shivers went down his spine. No shielding and energy absorption could save one from collision and the resulting momentum kill. There were other dangers too. A missile released at such relative velocity would give him little time to react. Though the coin had the other side: a missile wouldn’t have much tracking capabilities either.

It was time to do something, and do it fast. Zack shot a missile at one of the fighters then pulled hard on the yoke, sending his fighter in a tight vertical loop just in time weapon shots sizzled past him harmlessly. His missile hit its target head-on, completely dropping its shields just before the two fighters swooped past his Talon. He grinned, turning his fighter to face his shieldless adversary. It was going to leave the effective range of his weapons in a few seconds but it was all he needed.

Or all Zack would have needed if everything hadn't gone dark. Control panels, instruments, lights - everything went off, with only the faint glow of the Barrier Nebula preventing the cockpit from plunging into total darkness. Zack swore loudly. It took him just a few moments to realize what had happened. EMP mines, one from each of the fighters. One dropped his shields, the other knocked down his systems. Zack bellowed. How he hated civilian tech! No EMP could actually fry shielded and protected from power surges systems, everything could be brought back on in a short time. But military grade ships - like those he flew in the Navy - had every circuit doubled, resulting in an almost instant switch to the back-ups. In a fight it was the difference between life and death. He braced himself for the inevitable return of the enemy fighters...

Which never happened. The fighters didn't go back to finish Zack’s disabled fighter. Instead together with the bomber all three of them continued towards the Satsuma, leaving Zack alone in his struggle to bring fighter’s systems back.


This time Merchant's Luck didn't leave up to its name. The Satsuma was still in the scanner range when Selena got the reading of three contacts. She understood too late that she made a grave mistake. If the enemies had reached the Satsuma at low relative to it velocity - the assumption she had made without even noticing it - her decision to accelerate directly away from the incoming ships would have been the best one indeed. Instead the incoming ships shot past the Satsuma and went straight after Luck, her attempt to escape served the enemy's hand by reducing their relative velocities. And even while the blasted ships were still far, Luck could not compete with them in acceleration.

A trail of nova torpedo decorated the magnificent vista of the Barrier Nebula.

"Evade, evasive maneuvers!" Roy screamed in his co-pilot seat.

At the cost of the attackers catching up even more Selena managed to avoid the torpedo, only to meet with two streams of fire and a supernova. Roy opened fire in return, transport turrets making enemy fighters attack with care, maintaining distance from the transport, but it didn't have much effect on the bomber which could fire from greater range. Nick concentrated fire on the bomber. It wasn't stopping evading, occasionally spewing deadly supernovas, Nick not giving it a respite. Another hit rocked the transport, this time burning a sizable hole in its armor.

Zack was still not answering the hails. Selena had been easy to abandon him to his fate but she needed him at the moment, there was no way she could make it out alive with just one fighter at her side! Another hit, this time with a muffled sound of explosion and wail of alarms which subsided quickly as the area opened to vacuum became depressurized.


Finally Zack managed to bring the systems online. Good news: everything was working fine again, he had full power in every system. More good news: there was no trace of both the fighters he had had an unfortunate encounter with and the bomber. Bad... no, very bad news: there was a slowly moving civilian carrier next to his ship, lazily accelerating in the direction of the Yacht. Frankly, laziness was associated with everything related to a Bustard: its dynamic characteristics were horrible, everything that couldn't destroy it could outrun it. In almost any situation its threat value was so low it could be dealt with lazily without effort. Almost any. Not when one was at point blank range under fire of its cruiser grade anti-fighter weapons. It's effortlessly the Bustard had dealt with him. Shields gave up almost immediately, flak shell explosions perforated every essential component of his fighter with deadly shrapnel ten times too many. Zack died from his injuries even before his fighter fell to pieces.


Last explosion did something irreparable with the better half of the transport's turrets, forming a huge zone uncovered by turret fire. The bomber used it immediately, arrogantly getting closer to Merchant's Luck, methodically turning the unlucky transport in a pile of molten metal and jugged pieces of scrap. This reduced bomber's mobility, making it take more damage from Nick's fire and allowed him to maintain shorter distance from the bomber. Enemy fighters opened fire on him, finally starting to protect their bomber. Nick grinned: too late. Its shields collapsed, exposing the hull. Aiming carefully, Nick kept firing, hitting the exposed hull, ignoring two fighters desperately trying to distract him. Now! He thumbed the release button, his last two missiles streaked to their target right in front of them.


Savannah didn't want to prolong the fight. If the enemy transport were destroyed first, she would have Hikari two and three run down the fighter whose missiles she had found most unpleasant to dodge. She decided for another plan. Savannah ordered her wing to shoot to the enemy fighter, while playing the old game of feigning weakness. It worked, as always. Trying to score more hits, the enemy fighter became careless, letting her girls drop his shields quickly. Savannah set thrust to idle and made a half-loop, facing the fighter which had been after her. She released a fountain of decoys and a supernova which burned in the enemy fighter a hole almost bigger than the ship itself. She continued the loop, hoping the countermeasures had been unnecessary.

It seems not only the transport ran out of its luck. Savannah caught a glimpse of two missile trails on the background of superheated space debris Nick's fighter turned into a moment before the missiles found their targets. Combat doesn't forgive inaccuracies, carelessness or arrogance. Every mistake could be the last one. Both missiles hit the decoys but those were simply too close to Savannah's ship. She didn't hear the explosions, no concussion wave pummeled her ship. There is no environment to convey sound or create a lethal shockwave in space, even Barrier Nebula is less dense than a vacuum created in laboratory. Instead, dozens over dozens of high velocity destructive agents hit Savannah's ship.

In realm of the inverse-square law every meter counts. Left wing panel turned into a sieve. WIth strange detachment Savannah looked at two jagged smoking holes in her space suit at her heart and stomach level. Calmly she realized she was about to die. After all the battles, large scale deployments, surviving against all odds impossibly outnumbered she died stupidly and senselessly, in the situation where enemy was outnumbered and outgunned. Ever since that fateful accident years ago she had been living borrowed time. And it was finally over. She smiled.


"He got it!" Roy exclaimed when the bomber lost control after the missiles exploded. "We should finish it!"

Selena turned after the helpless bomber but a series of hits made her go into another evasive maneuver. Loss of their friend turned the enemy fighters into two angry piranhas. Selena tried to maneuver so that they would get within coverage of those turrets Merchant's Luck had still functional, the fighters tried to minimize their exposure to Roy's fire, at the same time mangling the transport more and more.


“... Hikari one, please respond! ..."

"... Hikari leader, do you hear me? ..."

There is something...

"... Savannah-san, answer me!"

Savannah realized she heard her name. And with hearing she was in the world of pain. Not just her heart and stomach... everything was in agonizing pain. She couldn't think anymore, or realize what she was doing as if her consciousness got suspended. Within a few seconds she sealed her spacesuit with two patches, switched to the spare oxygen tank, normalized pressure in her helmet and equalized it with her spacesuit and performed a dozen of operations on control panels of her bomber.

Savannah came back to her senses. The pain subsided, there was a dull ache in the chest and stomach area but nothing indicated she was actually wounded. She realized the armor-adornment Rosa had gifted her saved her life. Savannah examined the readouts of the sensors. Hikari two and three were doing an admirable job not letting Merchant’s Luck get to her, at the same time chewing on its hull. In fact, it was barely holding together. Her own ship wasn’t in a better shape. Half of its weapons was lost, including the supernova launcher. It was still capable of flight and fight, but less so of surviving the latter.

A combat unit is built on ability and trust. The commander never asks the subordinate to perform a task he can’t perform himself. But when the subordinate is performing a task, the commander can trust the subordinate to perform it as if he is performing it himself.


Oh no..." Selena gasped, the wounded bomber getting to life again, the last glimmer of hope vanishing quickly.

"You should have ignored their fire and get to the bomber while you had a chance!" Roy blamed Selena.

"If I did so, we would have been dead already!" Selena retorted.

"Do it before it's too late, or it will start torpedoing us again!"

Selena wanted to object... But what else could she do? Escaping was impossible. Against two fighters she could keep evading fire, limiting received damage, hoping enemy fighters would make some grave mistake... Surrender? Even if she did so, there was nothing stopping the enemy from killing them anyway..She had to act.

Selena directed Merchant’s Luck straight to the blasted bomber, which didn’t hurry to return to the fight. Enemy fighters used the opportunity, having an easy time ruining what was left of the transport’s hull and exposed systems.

"Noooo... nova!" Roy screamed when a recognizable nova trail appeared ahead of the ship. "Evade! Dodge it!"

Selena just shook her head, belatedly realizing they were poking a sleeping dragon, even if the dragon had only one wing. "No, nothing can be done now," she said quietly.

"Stupid girl, give me..." Roy cried out. He didn't have time to finish.


SEVERAL MINUTES LATER

Mi almost started to believe the worst the day had to offer was over. She was all excited when without incident Savannah had led the boarding team inside the Yacht. Unfortunately but hardly surprisingly the vessel turned out to be under a complete security lockdown. It didn't take long before the perpetrator showed himself. Or rather gave a voice.


"Well, hello there. Is there anybody there?" a young male voice broke the silence on the general frequency universally used for open faction independent communications.

"Plenty," Savannah answered dryly on the same channel after a brief pause.

"Forgive me if I'll not say it's a pleasure to meet you, miss..." the male voice continued.

"You may call me Savannah," the woman said.

"Fine, miss Savannah. Call me Mike. Now, let's get to business, shall we?"

"I'm sorry but I don't think we have anything to talk about, Mike," Savannah parried. "Your time on our ship is going to end soon. And your life for that matter."

"A fierce and polite one, I like that," Mike said in a tone which sounded almost mocking. "Your name and your English aren't very kusarian."

"Kusarian enough for you," Savannah said dismissively. "Even as we speak, we are boarding this Yacht... our Yacht. Every one of us is indignant over the death of our sister by your hands. They will tear you apart with pleasure."

"I'm sure they will," Mike replied without a shadow of being intimidated. "But let me remind you two things. First, it wasn't me who killed your sister, I can hardly be blamed for actions of those who I'm sure are already dead by the hands of your little group. And second, a derelict ship belongs to the party who found it. Given you killed the rest, the ship is actually mine now, and not yours." He made a pause to let his words sink in, then continued. "Now tell me, miss, why should I let you and the others aboard?"

Savannah laughed loudly. "Big words for a petty junker."

Mike sounded offended. "Oy, Savannah, I assure you, we are nothing like them. Now listen, girl..."

Impatience crept into Savannah's voice. "Watch your tongue, little junkie."

A cynical laugh sounded in return. "Said a cardamine sniffer. Aren't you one?"

"I'm coming for you, kid," was Savannah's answer.

"Now now, don't be so dismissive," Mike said. "I can always talk with someone else if you aren't capable of it."

"Unlikely," Savannah waved it aside.

"Oh, pretty much the opposite," Mike told Savannah in an understanding voice. "We have time, aren't we? Your progress is so slow, having to cut through every door and hatch. Such a pity!"

"Don't you worry, we'll make it," Savannah assured Mike in return.

"Oh, I have no doubt. By the time I'll have grown older than you."

"If you think a security lockdown can stop us, you are gravely mistaken," Savannah snapped. "You are just making your death more painful."

"No no no, why so violent? I'm merely defending my ship, miss. From you invaders. Thieves and pirates you are. Almost forgot: and terrorists."

"Talk more, it cheers me up during the cutting," Savannah snarled. "Don't you think it will take forever."

"It will take long enough, I assure you, miss Grumpy," Mike made another pause before continuing. "Look, Savannah, here is the thing. There is something you want that I have. There is something you need that I can provide you. Why wouldn't you calm down and see if you can persuade me to do that?"

It was Savannah's turn to laugh. "You are not even in a position to bargain."

"Oh, in fact I am," Mike said. When Savannah didn't say anything in return, after a while he continued. "Look, sweety. You don't need a Yacht which you can't even move, which doesn't have an iota of power in it. I have the core, main engines and the hyperdrive rigged. I can make it any second that neither of these will ever work again."

"You are bluffing."

"Perhaps I am. Go ahead, take your chances."

"Suppose I might consider your offer. What do you want?" Savannah asked noncommittally after a short pause.

"A fair exchange," was the answer. "Your Bustard for my Satsuma."

"What?" Mi cut in. "Ridiculous!"

"I hear someone else," Mike said . "Is it our all-mighty captain?"

Mi snorted. "Never going to happen. Ever."

"Why not?" Mike asked. "A warship for a warship."

"The Yacht is barely in shape to qualify as a ship, let alone a warship," Savannah noted.

"Do you think so?" Mike sounded sarcastical. "It may have lost most of its power but its main and hyper drives and some of its weapons are still operational.

"It doesn't matter," Mi said impassionately. "You deserve to die."

"Aren't we past this little misunderstanding already, miss? As I said, I have nothing to do with the death of your pilot. One." Mike said calmly. "As we have already established, the Yacht is rightfully ours, and you killed most of us. Two. If you believe that the Yacht in its current condition doesn't live up to be called a warship, so does your Bustard. Three."

"Why is he still alive?" Mi sounded indignant.

"I'm afraid he has a point, Mi-san," Savannah pointed out.

"You are kidding! It's not funny! Just kill this arrogant gaijin, what are you talking about?!"

"We need the Satsuma capable of coming home, our home," Savannah tried to reason with Mi. "If it's disabled, we'll have to leave it here. Miju's death will be pointless! Everything will be pointless!"

"I'll not let a filthy gaijin take my ship! Are you crazy?! How can you even suggest that?"

"Because this is what must be done." Savannah said. "Being in command means understanding the necessity of sacrifices."

"You can't be serious! I'll never let that happen!" Mi almost screamed.

"Then you are relieved from command of Raitoningu," Savannah declared.

"What? You can't!!! You can't be serious! I'm assigned by the Council of Elders!" Mi sounded both offended and disbelieving.

"In the absence of the Council sisters answer to the Elder present. I’m your Council now. I order you to transfer command of Raitoningu to Aimi-san. Aimi-san, take command of the vessel and have Mi-san escorted out of the bridge."

"You've never been one of us," Mi spat out.

"The Elders have a different opinion," Savannah parried. "Aimi-san, execute the order!"

"I'm sorry, Savannah-san," Aimi apologized after a short delay.

Mi laughed. "You aren't in the 101st anymore. It's an ancient history. Like you are!" she gloated.

"Personal loyalty rather than loyalty to the cause," Savannah sighed. "We'll do it the hard way then." She made a short pause. "Hikari two and three, take position on the other from the Bustard side of the Yacht, prepare a subsystem attack of the Bustard on my command,. Mike, are you still with us? We'll have to work together if you want the Bustard. It's time to see if your ship is worth its former status."

After a short while Mike gave a voice, former confidence in it almost evaporated. "It's a suicide... we don't even..."

"Didn't you say we have several turrets operational?" Savannah continued with a note of urgency in her voice. "Aim those port turrets you can at the Bustard, report when ready. The Bustard doesn't have any anticapital weapons, Mike, we are fine. Hikari two and three, get ready to fire! And lift that blasted lockdown!"

As the doors and hatches opened, Savannah with her team rushed towards the bridge.

"Ready to fire," Mike said reluctantly.

Staccato of impacts rocked the vessel as Raitoningu opened full broadside at the Yacht. "Mike, fire!" Savannah ordered, stepping with her boarding party onto the bridge. Mike was peering at the damage report display, with Mal at weapons control station returning fire at Raitoningu.

"Multiple hits..." Mike started to report, turning his head towards the newcomers. His eyes widened, his last word turned into a gurgle as Savannah and her team opened fire, killing Mike and Mal even before their bodies hit the ground.

"True that," Savannah remarked. "Mi-san, stand down, everyone, stand down," she ordered on the main channel. "All clear, the Satsuma is ours. I repeat, stand down, enemy is eliminated."


OUTER EDGE OF BAFFIN SYSTEM, ABOARD RAITONINGU

"You should have told me!" Mi screamed indignantly. "You used me, you used my ship!"

"If I told you, you wouldn't be as convincing as you were," Savannah made an apologizing look. "I'm sorry, it was the quickest way to deal with the situation." She continued with slight sadness in her voice, "besides, you could get a hint that it was a ruse if you had noticed I was giving orders to my fighters on the general channel so that Mike could hear them."

"But... you risked... both vessels..." Mi tried to object, involuntarily blushing at Savannah's reprimand.

"There was barely any risk involved," Savannah explained. "The Yacht wouldn't even drop Raitoningu's shields with its functional turret coverage, and your fire didn't do all that much damage compared to what the Satsuma had already endured."


A FEW MINUTES MINUTES LATER

Necessary preparations were done. Mi gave order to charge Raitoningu's class four jumpdrive. She smiled, finally things were going as they should. A few minutes and they would bring the Satsuma to Chugoku for repairs and modernization. A funnel shaped cloud of charged particles formed around Raitoningu. It expanded behind the Bustard, gradually starting to engulf the Yacht. A minute more and after all the troubles the day had brought to them they would be back in friendly space...

A red light appeared on the hyperdrive control panel. Expansion of the particle cloud stopped, particle flow got disrupted.

"What's going on?" Mi asked.

"Something is wrong with the hyperdrive!" Aimi said.

"Abort the charging!" Savannah exclaimed. "Abort it now!"

"Abort the jump," Mi confirmed Savannah's order.

In a moment the charging stopped. The particle cloud collapsed and quickly dissipated into the surrounding space.

"What's wrong?" Mi asked. "Hyperdrive status report!"

"It's green across the board now," Aimi told the captain puzzled. "We seem to be fine."

"No, we aren't, " Savannah told the rest, her expression grim. "It's not going to work"

Everybody looked at her with a silent question.

"I'm afraid in haste to get here we made a huge oversight..." Savannah said. "I made..." She sighed, chastising herself for lack of experience with the Bustard. Her tone became almost apologetic. "We can't take the Satsuma with us."

Silence fell on the bridge for a couple of long seconds.

"Why not?" Mi asked finally.

"Powercore... we can't pull through a ship of such mass as the Satsuma has..." Savannah paused, finding words. "I suggested the Council this way of extraction of the Yacht... I... overlooked this problem."

Savannah was used to jumpships of Sarissa class which had never encountered such a situation due to their stronger powercore. She didn't even think something like this could happen. The operation was doomed before it started. Savannah thought about Rosa... but that Sarissa was hardly available quickly enough. If it could be at all.

"I'm sorry..." Savannah said.

"Maybe... we can get it home on the primary drive?" Mi suggested.

"Unlikely," Savannah shook her head. "Satsuma's powercore is likely to fail long before we would reach Hokkaido. Besides, we would attract too much attention..."

Savannah didn't have to finish. It was clear they wouldn't stand a chance if they were detected. There were too many who would want to lay their hands on such a prize.

"Can the Satsuma jump by itself?" Aimi asked timidly, knowing the question was stupid.

"Not a chance," Savannah waved it off immediately. "We need full power to energize the jump. It doesn't even reach 20%."

"And if we feed our power?" Aimi suggested.

Mi and Savannah looked at Aimi, considering. Normally powercore is never completely shut down, instead remaining in standby mode when it's powered down. However, if for some reason powercore is shut down completely, it may need external power supplied to it in a suitable way to restart its internal processes. For this reason many ships are capable of connecting their powercores, however this process is usually kept low-energetic, a high power connection would result in severe negative effects on the parent powercore. Or both powercores for that matter.

"I don't know," Savannah admitted. "It would likely fry Raitoningu's powercore with unclear results."

"Like we have a choice," Aimi noted, looking at Mi.

Savannah looked at Mi. If there was a choice, it wasn't hers to make.

Mi smiled bitterly. "We don't... We must at least try, we can't give up now."


OUTER EDGE OF BAFFIN SYSTEM

The Yacht's class two hyperdrive was working satisfactory, which meant the vessel only looked like it was going to fall apart. The whole personnel had transferred to the Satsuma, except Savannah who insisted on remaining aboard Raitoningu: someone had to control the connection from the Bustard's side. One of the Blossoms waited her in the Bustard's hangar, with the rest of the escort ships docked with the Satsuma.

Raitoningu’s powercore was degrading faster than Savannah had hoped. She had to keep increasing power output past all safety levels for the Yacht to continue charging the hyperdrive. By the time the Satsuma was finally ready to jump, the powercore started to live its own uncontrollable life…


The powercore died, sending high energy particles and wide spectrum of radiation in all directions even as Savannah's fighter rapidly sped away from Raitoningu. In realm of the inverse-square law, every meter counted. And she was simply too close. Savannah smiled at the irony: in the end, it was still the same, one derelict for another.


CHUGOKU SYSTEM, ABOARD THE SATSUMA

They made it! It worked, the insane plan really did it! The hyperdrive didn’t fail them, having brought the Satsuma with a satisfactory precision to a location not far from the security zone of Mito Shipyards. Nobody was cheerful though. They managed to recover a vessel with valuable history, but for what price? Miju was gone forever, leaving her little sister Yuyu alone. Raitoningu was lost, fate of the Elder sister who had remained on it was unknown. The Satsuma needed extensive repairs and modernization, what if those weren’t going to be possible?


“May Amaterasu and Matsuda welcome you in their arms, Miju-chan, my old friend. I will miss you. Don’t you worry about Yuyu-chan, I will take responsibility for her. I will be there for her, as you had been for me in the past. I will always remember you, Miju-chan, the Golden Chrysanthemums will always remember you as a hero…” Mi cried, so did many of the sisters on the bridge.

But it was time to involve the Blood Dragons. Mi opened a channel.

[~Sisters of Light~]

// Personal ooRP Note: I wish to thank every faction member who contributed with ideas and inspiration, proof-reading etc. to this story. I have to send @Goldanne the largest kudos ever for her huge help and time investment for this. I am glad everyone was ready to help and make this become a thing, I hope the result will be just as amazing as you guys.

[~Sisters of Light~]

BAFFIN SYSTEM, THE FIRST FOUR HOURS AFTER THE JUMP

Protective layers of Raitoningu's powercore, bulkheads, Blossom's shields and hull plating deflected or scattered most high energy particles that coupled with matter strongly enough, and what didn't interact with matter enough couldn't harm Savannah much either. Her fighter was facing directly away from the carrier at the time, adding structure of her ship, engines and equipment between herself and deadly raduation the blasted powercore emitted during the last moments of its life. She still had her helmeted flight suit and armor-adornment on. It's distance from the carrier Savannah lacked. If she had had a few more seconds, the number of particles which hit her body would have decreased by an order of magnitude. Damage was done. She had survived through worse but invisible enemy was the worst one. Every fighter had an emergency med-kit. Even as Savannah set course to the nearest Zoner installation, she found the needed ampule and injected herself a syringe to suppress chemically active radicals which were starting to form in cells of her body.

While in flight, Savannah prepared a report for the Sisterhood. Which she sent as soon as she reached a comm station on the station. Time was of essense. Contrary to FTL signals which suffer only minor delays as they travel through the network of relays, jumpgates, jumpholes and especially jumpdrives cause significant time lag, a natural phenomenon arising from the difference between proper time and time measured by an outside observer in highly non-linear configurations. Factors influencing the exact value of time lag are many and generally hard to account for. Whereas jumpgates and jumpholes are predictable due to stationary character of their connections, jumpdrives with their stochastic behaviour are often subject to statistical analysis. Without any data available, sheer distance from Baffin to Chugoku was a good guess that Savannah's report should reach the Sisterhood before the Satsuma emerged at its destination.

AINU DEPOT, SIX HOURS AFTER THE JUMP

When Aimi Amaia received the report from Savannah, the Council of Elders was immediately convened. The news were shocking. A sister with unique skills and experience died, the most valuable vessel in possession of the Sisterhood was lost together with rare and expensive equipment. The Satsuma was found indeed, but unsurprisingly the vessel had seen better times. At the time of the jump its powercore was giving out less than one-fifth of its nominal power at best and required extensive repairs or likely a complete replacement. Engines were intact but with the powercore in such a miserable shape they weren't expected to perform well if started, and that would likely result in further degradation of the powercore. Weapon systems were partly operational, shields were gone, though structural damage to the hull was reasonable.

The decision to jump to Chugoku had been natural and sound. However, the recent turn of events was unfortunate, something neither Savannah nor Mi could know about or expect. With a hard heart the Council deemed Blood Dragons unreliable in the situation. And that required immediate action. A patrol wing was diverted to Chugoku and headed to the jump coordinates, additional wing dispatched from Ainu, while Aimi was given a special task.

[~Sisters of Light~]

CHUGOKU SYSTEM, SEVERAL MINUTES AFTER ARRIVAL OF THE SATSUMA

Due to the delicate character of the mission, Mi tried to establish a secure channel directly with Mito Shipyards. The attempt failed with her being unable to even locate Mito communication station. Mi frowned, she expected to have been hailed by Mito or a Blood Dragon patrol already. Which meant either the Satsuma emerged farther from the shipyard than she cared to be with the current condition of the Yacht, or the comm system was damaged during the jump. Or rather more damaged than it had already been: nothing on the vessel seemed to work normally. The prospect of being deaf without a proper transponder and negative friend/foe response - especially as the sensors weren't in better shape and the Satsuma was almost blind - made Mi belatedly realize she made a serious oversight. Immediately after the jump she should have ordered the only remaining Blossom to undock and be Satsuma's eyes and ears.

Better late than never, Hikari two was in space. Naturally, there were no objects within sensor range, however it was only a matter of a few minutes to match larger observed asteroids with the key reference ones to determine the current location. Indeed, the Satsuma wasn't far from the security zone of Mito Shipyards. As it turned out, Mito comm station was beyond reach of fighter’s comm system as well. Mi considered attempting to start Satsuma's engines and head directly to Mito. Once the vessel entered Mito security zone it would be detected, and she would be able to establish communication with Mito. But such course of action was bound to attract too much attention, the reason why simply activating Blossom's beacon was undesirable. It was Minako - the pilot of Hikari two - who suggested another plan. Her fighter could fly towards Mito security zone and once she could reach Mito comm station, she could relay communications between Mito and the Satsuma through Blossom's comm system.

Hikari two had just started to accelerate towards Mito when Minako's voice broke comm silence on the encrypted GC group channel. "Hostile contact, two o'clock!"

Nothing but Hikari two was on Satsuma's scanners yet.

"Battleship sized," Minako continued, her voice agitated. "closing fast... heading... in your direction! Adjusting course to intercept!"

Mi almost jumped up on the bridge. How could that even be? They were deep in friendly space! What could a lone fighter and defenseless Satsuma do against a battleship? They needed immediate assistance!

"Contact resolved to Order Osiris..." Minako reported, with a puzzled note in her voice. "Another contact... correction, contacts," she continued as more ships appeared on her sensors. "Wait a minute... it's Hana wing!" Minako exclaimed.

The newcomers started to decelerate when a male voice cut into the GC group channel. "This is OCV Svizra of The Order Black Fleet. Sent here by order of the Overwatch. Fighters, I advise you to maintain comm silence and dock at Citrus Alpha."

"Hana leader to..." there was a short pause before the woman continued on the same channel, "Citrus Alpha. Requesting docking permission."

Startled Mi looked at the approaching vessels on the sensors display. "Someone explain this! What's going on?" she asked.

"The Council of Elders sent us to assist our Sisters and Order agents," Hana leader said. "Rei-sama of the Council will be here shortly. We need to dock quickly and move Citrus Alpha."

Another Elder? Citrus Alpha? The Order? How did they even know?

"Wait a minute..." Mi said. "Move Citrus Alpha? Svizra... do you mean you are going to assist us moving to Mito?"

"Negative," was the answer. "Our strict orders are to escort you out of the system."

"Nani... but.." Mi started.

"Questions later. We know only on the need to know basis," the Order captain replied.

"Contact!" Minako interrupted. "It's... Amaririsu and Hana three!"

"Once we found you, I ordered Hana three to meet Amaririsu at the rendezvous coordinates and escort her to your location," Hana leader explained.

"I advise speeding up the docking," it was the Order captain again. "We are about to initiate the jumping sequence."

The jumping sequence? Another jump? What? Where? Mi was puzzled.

"Hana wing, you are cleared to dock," Mi said however.

Meanwhile the Osiris decelerated and gracefully positioned itself next to the Satsuma.

"This is Amaia Rei. I bring extra personnel and supplies," Amaririsu gave voice as the vessel approached close to the Satsuma. "We require external docking asap."

"Rei-sama, what does this all mean? How does the Council even know? Savannah?"

"Indeed it was Savannah who informed the Council," Rei confirmed.

"She's alive then!" Minako exclaimed.

"She is. Questions when I'm aboard. Maintain comm silence," Rei ordered.

While much smaller than unlucky Merchant's Luck, still Amaririsu had to dock to the Satsuma in the same way. Even as the personnel was disembarking and quickly assembled on Ainu cargo unloaded from Amaririsu, the Osiris started the jump sequence. The funnel shaped cloud of charged particles almost reached the little transport when Amaririsu disconnected from the Satsuma and sped up away from the cloud generated by OCV Svizra.

"So, what's going on?" Mi demanded once Rei stepped on the bridge. "Where are we going?"

"80%, we are ready for jump," the Order captain informed.

"Amaririsu, head back to Ainu, Hikari two, you are her escort. The rest, prepare for jump," Rei ordered on the group channel. She turned towards Mi. "We are heading deep into the Order territory. Once the jump is complete, we'll have to start the engines and follow Svizra to the Fort Carthage."

"But why? We are near Mito..." Mi sounded uncertain.

"The Council decided against Mito," Rei explained. "While Raitoningu was away, certain political tensions appeared. We don't want to leave the Satsuma in Chugoku at the moment."

"Ten seconds countdown," captain of OCV Svizra gave voice again. "Prepare for jump."

Just like that? Mi sighed, tears appeared in her eyes. If only it had worked like this the first time...

"Jump."


OMICRON EPSILON SYSTEM, NOT FAR FROM FORT CARTHAGE

The jump was smooth, a clear display of superiority of Order technology over civilian counterparts.

"Hana one, undock and escort us," Rei ordered on the group frequency. She continued, addressing the bridge. "Start the engines."

Engines were working fine but it was clear the powercore wouldn't hold the strain for long. Even the short acceleration phase resulted in its further degradation. For once, the way to Fort Carthage turned out uneventful. Once the deceleration phase was complete, the Order captain gave voice.

"We are approaching our final destination. You will be moored at position five. Order personnel will have to temporarily take over to guide you safely. Transmitting you the new comm frequency."

“Understood, Svizra, preparing to receive Order personnel,” Rei answered on the new frequency.

It was always a marvel to see true military at work. With utmost efficiency Order shuttles docked and transferred personnel. Several small drones attached to Satsuma’s hull. With assistance of their engines Order crew elegantly maneuvered ungainly and barely powered Satsuma to the correct mooring position.

Mi and Rei exchanged glances. They understood each other without a word: the Sisters had still much to learn.