Chpt. 3) Sparky

Violet waited to track down Alexandra until Haru finished doing things to Okiri. Whatever that may be. She did her best not to think of it for the sake of her sanity. So, she explored the ship and orientated herself with it to distract herself.

The top deck had the bridge, and the weapon controls seating x people. Two consoles for broadside cannons on each side, sixty anti-air turret controls, and ten miscellaneous consoles for some other weapons. Violet made a mental note to ask Haru about those controls. Then she made her way down to the second deck, which had the barracks for the soldiers and crew, plus the mess hall and kitchens. They even had a fully stocked bar. Violet took a quick shot of whiskey before moving on.

The third deck had the armory and security areas. The fourth had the detention cells, interrogation rooms, and contraband rooms, with Violet’s weapons and illegal equipment. She stopped and retrieved a few of her knives and weapons. Then made her way to the fifth deck, which had the hangers filled with starfighters. She examined them to determine the models. The VX-12 is a short-range space fighter capable of Mach fifty in gravity areas, such as planets, and Mach seventy-five in space. It had a thin nose and the wings tapered off into a Y shape, so the ship looked like an old-world peace sign. They looked to be equipped with mark X (ten) plasma drives, a railgun, and MG-X30 fifty caliber machine guns. Not a half-bad fighter, but improvements could be made. The starfighter tended to have poor maneuverability in any conditions. It didn’t have inertial dampeners, so they couldn’t speed up or slow down quickly unless the pilot had a death wish.

And the sixth level had the cargo bay and escape pods. Though emergency escape pods had been on every level, this level had enough for the whole crew. Once she finished exploring, she made her way back up the second level and went to the kitchen to fix up some food. After a few moments of indecision between M.R.E. lasagna and chocolate pie, she decided on the lasagna and left the pie for Haru; after all, once she gets back, she’ll need something to eat that’ll cheer her up.

Violet pulled out a pot, filled it with water, and placed it over a burner to get it boiling. Then she leaned back against the opposite stove and waited and listened to the flames. Something felt off to her. She heard background noise where there shouldn’t be noise. Violet took a deep breath and cleared her mind, listening intently. A slight static noise came from behind her, and the soft sound of gentle footsteps.

‘No boots. Not a cleaner or repair person. Static noise? Stealth generator. Someone else is here. Good at stealth and technology. Sounds like the little Alexandra is here to collect on a bounty. How fun!’ Violet thought, then moved out of the kitchen, walking past the static noise to see how the generator works. Standard stealth generators bend light and leave a slight waviness where the person stands. This generator, however, didn’t have any waviness. ‘Impressive,’ she thought, then continued walking out of the kitchen.

As she walked by, Violet heard a sharp inhale from Alexandra. Judging from the location of the sound, Alexandra only came up to Violet’s chest, making her around five feet tall. As the door closed behind her, Violet sat at the closest table and leaned back, spreading her arms and crossing her legs, completely relaxed. Then she took a deep breath and listened for the sound of static. One minute later, the door to the kitchen opened slightly, and she heard static.

The static sound approached slowly with the pitter-patter of tiny feet. Once the sound got close, Violet lunged and tried to grab the person she assumed would be Alexandra. She just barely missed, and the sound of static quickly disappeared. Violet laughed, “Well done! That’s quite the impressive stealth unit. If I recall, Zander was working on a stealth unit like the one you’re wearing now. Did he complete it, and you killed him for it so that you’re the only one in possession of it?”

“Zander was an uninspired imbecile. With no genius to his name,” a female child’s voice responded, “I made this stealth unit, and I am the only one who can use it.”

“Oh, I see,” Violet said, turning around to listen for the voice’s origin, “So, you found his project finished it, and Zander wanted to copy it and make a bunch of money. Sounds like him. But you said no and wanted it for yourself, so you killed him. No, you’re young. You didn’t speak out against him. You just took it and killed him with the fire. Am I wrong?”

Silence followed the question, then Alexandra said, “You are incorrect. I did speak out. But it’s not like that bastard listened.”

“Ah, true. And now you’re on the run and need to get some money. No money, no components. No components, no inventions. No inventions, no fun in life. So, you want me dead. After all, my head is the most valuable thing on this ship.”

“Also incorrect. I have plenty of money to make inventions. But a little extra never hurts,” Alexandra said, then a bolt of electricity flew past Violet, barely missing her.

Rolling forward and taking cover behind a table, Violet pulled out a few weapons to take inventory. She had the kyoketsu-shoge, several throwing knives, two plasma pistols, and her plasma blade bracelets, one of which had been fried on the last mission. She pulled out a few of her throwing knives since she needed Alexandra alive.

“Alright then. Let me take another wild stab. You’re not running from the law. You’re running from the underground’s law. Zander had a knack for making friends and connections. Something you don’t have,” another bolt of electricity struck the table she hid behind, “Case in point. And you and I both know the underground runs off a straightforward rule, survival of the fittest. Zander had friends with all the strongest people in the galaxy, except for Okiri. So, since you killed Zander, everyone wants you dead but can’t find you because Okiri’s territory is so vast, and he’s helping hide you. But you can only hide for so long. You need to know that you’re safe. And well, the safest thing you can do is get some reputation.”

“Be quiet and die already,” Alexandra said, her disembodied voice coming from Violet’s right.

Violet wasted no time reacting and plunged a dagger into nothing, feeling the blade hit something metal. She then grabbed the air and held the solid figure in a bear hug, immobilizing the invisible Alexandra. Then she got head-butted by nothing. Violet had to hold on tighter, so she released her for a second, adjusted her grapple, immobilizing Alexandra’s arms, and kept her head looking down.

“Well, reputation is earned and not given,” Violet continued as Alexandra struggled, “Zander is a tough bastard to kill even when he’s drunk. But anybody could kill someone with a keyboard and a few mouse clicks. So, you didn’t get a whole lot of credit for it. But killing the galaxy’s greatest assassin face to face. Nobody would even consider looking you in the eye, let alone try and kill you.”

“For once, you’re correct. Now, why don’t you let me go so I can end you.”

Violet laughed at that, “Ha! You really are bad at negotiations. Here’s a counter-proposal. You join me.”

Alexandra stopped struggling, “What?”

“If people know you’re connected and protected by me, nobody would even think of hurting you. Plus, I need your particular expertise with my current mission. The pay is excellent and near limitless. All you have to do is not kill me and agree to help me on my mission. You get safety and money, and I don’t have to kill you. It’s a win-win all around,” Violet said, then let go of Alexandra and stuck out a hand, waiting for a handshake.

A minute passed before Alexandra uncloaked herself. She wore a skin-tight black suit that accentuated her lovely curves but, to Violet’s disappointment, also showed Alexandra’s very flat chest. She undid the faceless mask she wore, revealing violet hair tied back into a warrior wolf tail that ended in hot pink. The sides of her head had been shaved smooth, revealing cybernetic circuitry. Her eyes had been replaced with more cybernetics, giving her black sclera with yellow dots running hidden circuit paths, and her irises had also been made yellow and glowed. Her young small angular face looked rather cute to Violet.

Then Alexandra stuck out a hand and said, “I shall accept your proposal, Mrs. Reaper.”

Violet accepted the proffered hand and said, “Glad to have you aboard, Sparky!”

“Don’t ever call me Sparky,” Sparky said.

“Too late. You’re now Sparky,” Violet said with a smile, then she began to laugh at Sparky’s reddening face.

Before Sparky could yell at Violet for laughing, the doors to the mess hall opened, and Haru walked in, looking disheveled. Her yukata had tears, and Violet could see Haru had nothing else underneath. Haru made her way slowly to Violet and leaned in for a hug.

Violet happily accepted and reveled in the feel of Haru’s bountiful breasts before asking, “So, how did it go?”

Haru sniffed, “It was horrible. He’s upgraded since the last time. There’s now a cow milker.”

“Ewwww. At least you didn’t have to drink it this time.”

Haru looked up at Violet with a disgusted and regretful face before saying, “The milker leads to an ice cream machine!”

“Ewwwww. Ewww, Ewww, Ewww. Do you need something to cheer you up?” Violet asked, and Haru nodded, “Okay, I’ll get you some pie. While I get you that, meet Sparky! Our new member!” Violet said, introducing them and walking into the kitchen.

Sparky looked at Haru with wide eyes and said, “He told me that was a vacuum. And vanilla flavoring.”

Haru gently pulled Sparky into a hug and said, “Oh, you sweet summer child. Let’s do introductions later when I’m feeling better. For now, I need to eat something.”

“And that’s my cue!” Violet exclaimed as she entered the mess hall with a bag of M.R.E. apple pie.

“No.”

“But-”

“No. Just-just no,” Haru said and took the Apple pie as she walked away to return to her room and get cleaned up.

***