Phoenix Hawk - Gym

  "Hah! Haw, Haw, Haw... Phew!" John said, racking the weights on the weird squat rack in the gym. He called it weird because it was just a bar on a rack, but he could adjust the weight of the bar by using a panel on the side of the rack. He had 200 Kilograms on it right now, but he was not sure what that was in freedom units.

  Fucking heavy is what it is!

  He had been working out for the st two hours after he discovered a trick by accident when he slipped and twisted his back. When he had healed his body, the pain in his legs went away. So he started to hit the weights harder, and when he couldn't move anymore, he healed himself again. He had gained almost 50 kilograms in what he was comfortable lifting over this timeframe.

  Though there was one problem gaining muscle like this. He was now hungry as hell.

  "You really put in a lot of effort, Captain. You should go rest and grab a bite to eat." Marlene said, stepping out from behind the machine. She was in the gym when he slipped earlier and decided to spot him for the rest of his workout. They were swapping between sets, and to her credit, she was moving more weight than he was.

  She really has shapely legs, considering she has to be almost fifty.

  "Thanks. I think I will. Do you need a heal before I go, or are you done too?" He asked her.

  "Yes, please. I want to do a little cardio, but I am afraid my legs have the consistency of noodles right now." She said with a ugh. "At my age, I need to work twice as hard to keep this figure that the younger dies seem to get with no effort."

  She thought it was novel to be able to keep working out because of his magic, which gave him a good opportunity to practice his magic and work out at the same time.

  She raised her hands above her head and made a pose to show off her powerful-looking thighs. It almost reminded him of Nanael's legs, the rabbitman's genetics predisposed to powerful leg muscles without the aid of heavy weight training.

  Fuck, a lot of things are reminding me of her these days. I hope I can return to her soon. I miss her.

  "Please, you don't look a day over thirty-five. They should be jealous of you." He said, paying her a compliment. Her olive skin gave her a kind of ageless look, obviously mature, but she could be thirty-five or sixty, and he wouldn't be surprised at either of those numbers. The only real indication that she wasn't a younger woman was the crow's feet by her eyes and her salt-and-pepper hair.

  "Be careful with those compliments, Captain. You wouldn't want to give a woman the wrong idea, would you? You might find that you can't get rid of this old dy if you do." She said, teasing him.

  "Why would I want to get rid of you? Are you looking for a job as a mercenary mechanic? I am looking to fill that position." He said, tossing an offer out to her with a ugh. He didn't think she was being serious here.

  "Hmm, May-" She started to reply, but was interrupted by Evelin, who had just stepped into the gym.

  "Sergeant! There you are! There is a problem with INP6's shield generator that your tech's cannot figure out. Can you go take a look at it?" The commander of the INP forces said, giving John a side-eye gre.

  "Right away, Ma'am," Marlene said, then pced a hand on John's arm. "Duty calls, Captain. I will think about your offer." She winked at him, then left the gym before he could correct himself that he wasn't actually serious... or maybe he was? He gave himself a mental shrug, not really concerned about it at this time.

  "Really, Captain. Trying to recruit my best tech out from under me?" Evelin said, grimacing at him.

  "Sure, why not. I would have asked you too, but I doubt you would want to be a mercenary." He said, wiping the sweat off the machine he had been using.

  "What makes you say that?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

  "Because you have been following Katrina's coattails since you both left flight school. I would wager you will be part of her personal force at some point in the future when she takes over from her father." He said.

  He needed to thank Tanya ter for providing him with some background information on the INP pilots Katrina assigned to the Phoenix Hawk. Evelin was Katrina's attack dog, both in space and on foot. Not that Kat needed someone to protect her; she was apparently a monster in her own right.

  "You seem rather well informed, Captain." She replied coldly. She then cocked her head to the side, appraising him. "I don't know what she sees in you. From where I stand, you are just an asshole with a decent ship."

  "And you are just someone whose Daddy didn't love her enough. Now, excuse me, I need to go recruit some more INP members for my crew." He said, taking a jab at her. She had been rubbing him the wrong way since she arrived, though he didn't notice it at first. In public, she was cordial, but anytime they saw each other alone, she was cold, almost hostile to him. From everything he knew about Captains in this world, she shouldn't be acting that way towards him on his ship, but here they were.

  He stepped out of the gym before she could respond and made his way to his cabin. He still had another two hours to kill before they exited hyperspace, their speed at clearing the first system putting them so far ahead of schedule that Katrina wanted to see if they could get two systems done in the same day.

  He would need to talk to her about her choice of commanders for his ship, this friction-

  He stopped. No, he would not ask for her help. He was the Captain, and if she continued, he would put his foot down. It worked before with Katrina herself, so he was willing to put money down on it working with this woman as well.

  Hmm… maybe this is a test? It seems far-fetched, but so is everything else in this world.

  He continued to his cabin, making a pn in his mind for their next interaction.

  The next system was clear of any red dots on the 3D map. The INP forces went and investigated the yellow dots, which only turned up a few caches of supplies, some of which pirates or civilians might have stored away. After either salvaging or destroying those caches, the INP fleet reassembled and began its next long transit.

  John, Niki, and Tanya were in bed, the three of them cuddling. When John started to take things further, she pced a hand on his chest, stopping their next sexy threesome.

  "Sorry, John. I can't right now... I am sensing Chris, and she is both sad and angry right now. Really angry, and it is throwing me off. You two can have fun, I'll just go lie on the couch." She said and tried to get up, but John stopped her and pulled her into a hug.

  "Shhh... none of that. Here, let's just cuddle tonight. We can have fun when we return and know she is okay." He said, holding the dwarf.

  Niki, catching John's mood, moved to Tanya's other side, and the pair of them cuddled the worried woman. They held her long into the night, the two women eventually falling asleep in John's arms.

  However, John could not sleep, the words from Tim returning to the forefront of his mind.

  'Keep your friends close, else you will risk losing them.'

  John started to sweat. He was really worried about Chris right now.

  "One more day, then we will be back." He said to himself, staring down at Tanya's head.

  She will be fine, it will all be fine.

  He really wished he could believe that.

  Dawn Chorus - Katrina's CabinKatrina was reviewing the data she had received from John's probes for what felt like the hundredth time. She had never seen anything like this before, even in the heavily defended capital systems. For them to even come close, they needed multiple fixed radar stations spread throughout a sor system. I need this technology! I want it to become standard issue on all INP capital ships.

  The problem was, it belonged to a mercenary Captain, one she wasn't sure to whom he owed allegiance. Or that he might just be pin insane.

  Or is telling us the truth about being on a game show for the gods and our world just a story that has been pyed out before?

  She didn't want to think of that possibility, that her life was already written out, her fate already preordained. It was enough to cause her to have an existential crisis if she focused on it for too long.

  She then reviewed the report from Evelin on John. He was acting kind to everyone, seeming an affable middle-aged man and not the hard-ass captain he was when the INP first boarded the Phoenix Hawk. Katrina had been worried he would be hostile to the INP now that she had taken the position that he needed his head checked, but so far, he seemed to be genuinely concerned about making sure this patrol was successful.

  She ughed a bit about how Tanya's screaming 'Cum in Meee!' had woken up almost everyone trying to sleep in the cabins. She would be sure to tease Tanya about it the next time she took a jab at her. The dwarf twins were almost as bad as Ash was when it came to teasing her.

  We have become pretty familiar with each other over the years, haven’t we? I really should have tried to become better friends with them.

  She turned off her Link and rolled over on her side, trying to get some sleep. They had a few more hours before they arrived at the next system, and she needed to come to a decision soon.

  Do I attack his ship and take this technology by force? Is it worth it to lose his support for the gain we would have by having widespread access to this technology?

  She shook her head. That would be a mistake. Something deep within her told her she just needed to ask him, and he would let her techs take a look at any technology he had on board. Actually, she was positive he would help her no matter what happened to her.

  He was just that kind of man.

  Karrax - Inner Asteroid Belts

  Ash was pissed.

  She found out where Greg had been hiding, and that pink testicle, Hager. They were both part of a team of mercs here in the Karrax system, shooting at some wildlife and enjoying life while everyone else was worried about them back in Parrax.

  Well, worried might be too strong a word. Getting the gallows prepared for him might be a better analogy, but still, he could have left a message.

  She was flying around with another mercenary as her wingwoman, a human named Natalia whom she had worked with several times before. She was only a mediocre pilot but was very professional, and she didn't pry into Ash's business. That was worth more than anything else at this time.

  N - [Getting more of those sensor anomalies from the Eastern Quadrant. Shall we investigate?]

  A - [Lead on. I am right behind you.]

  Ash angled her craft and followed the woman into lightspeed. The anomaly was about five minutes away, and she was already getting tired of all these false contacts.

  Of course, normally, a false contact was better than a positive one. That would mean they would be fighting. That said, she was almost hoping it was an actual contact this time.

  She really wanted to fight something right now, something more than another leech.

  Chris should be on her way out of the Parrax system and heading home. I should tell Greg about that; at least he won't need to worry about her when he finally returns. I left Serena a message as well when I departed, so hopefully she went with Chris. I really hope that-

  Her thoughts were interrupted when her console lit up with warnings. Her ship was being dragged off course.

  "Wha-" She said when she was suddenly pulled out of lightspeed, jarring her body as the ship's inertia dampeners were trying to compensate for the sudden deceleration. She jammed the throttle to full power immediately, not wanting to be a sitting target for whatever pulled her out of lightspeed.

  Smmed into the back of her seat, she looked over her scanner and out the window of her fighter, her face turning pale.

  Surrounding her and Natalia were dozens of jellyfish-shaped ships, each firing globs of bluish-purple mana from the tips of their conical domes. Ash's quick reaction saved her ship from being hit by the manabst, but Natalia had no such luck. Her fighter was covered in the sticky substance, the excessive amount of mana breaking down her shields and dissolving the metal of the older fighter fairly quickly.

  "ARRRGG-" Her death scream was thankfully cut off shortly as her transmitter was destroyed.

  Ash banked her ship hard, attempting to cut through the line of Javarian bioships. She had to warn the miners that the enemy had made their move.

  "By the World Tree. Everything John said was true, wasn't it!" She said, cursing to herself.

  She lit up the bioship in front of her, her psma weapons tearing it to pieces faster than all those manabsts did to the other mercenaries' ship. She cut down two more before she burst out of the line of bioships that were blocking her in. She activated her lightdrive again, intent on returning to the Tabbernac as soon as possible; it was her only transport out of the system.

  "Fuck me." She whispered and opened a channel.

  A - [All Callsigns, this is the Tengu. The Javarians are here, and they are attacking!]