Who is in charge?

Peter scrutinized the work done and nodded. The form lying on the table had been a Reclaimer. No one would recognize her now for the being she had once been. Gone was the gore smeared apron that was the Reclaimer's trademark. Instead, she wore a form fitting bodysuit. If she wanted, she could add other attire over it, but the basic garment would remain. All fo the crew wore similar garments. It was a modestly armored emergency vacuum rated survival suit as well as a medical system to keep her alive. She would need it. She was showing the early stages of genetic deterioration that all Grineer did. No. He reminded himself sternly. She wasn't Grineer anymore. She was sick and would get sicker. The suit would help. So would the rest of the crew.

Sora stood near the medical equipment, a sour look on her face. But he knew she too was pleased with the result. She did not like remembering her past. It has horrific enough to give Peter pause and that was saying something.

"Um." The voice of the woman on the table was soft, scared. "Did I die? I feel..."

"You are going to be disoriented, Anne." Peter said as she sat up slowly. He did not offer assistance. She wouldn't appreciate it.

"Anne?" The woman asked, confused. "My identifier was... a number."

"You are not anymore." Peter said quietly. "You were vetted. You did not want to be a Reclaimer."

"No." The newly named woman said weakly. "Made me sick. They said I was weak, tried to burn it out of me."

"Compassion can be a distraction." Peter was still calm. "But it is not a weakness. Indeed, empathy can be a great strength on occasion."

"You would know." Anne said softly. Peter nodded. "I... Do I call you Captain or Peter or what?"

"You are going to call him all kinds of things, few of them pleasant." Sora said from where she stood. Anne looked at her and Sora shrugged. "It's true. He will work you like he works us all. Almost to death."

"You are really going to fight the Queens?" Anne asked, awe sounding. Peter nodded. "But not directly."

"No." Peter was brutally honest, especially with himself. "We cannot win a battle on their terms. So we fight on ours. What we can do is tear their society apart. Show everyone that their rule is not absolute."

"That is going to make a mess." Anne said with a grunt as she sat up. She seemed to weave a little, but sat up straight. Then she stared down at her right hand. Or... Where her right hand had been. She shook her head. "Do I get a prosthesis?"

"You are the sawbones now. You decide such." Peter said with a shrug. She stared at him and he smiled. "You are the best trained medical person on this ship. We will need you."

"I half expected to be put to the crew as a toy for what I was." Anne said slowly. She was not expecting Sora and Peter to both snarl at her. "What?"

"We have few rules." Sora said with just bare a hint of fury. "Number one is we don't owe the Queens a damn thing." Peter nodded and Anne looked at him. "Number two? No member of the crew gives anything of themselves they don't want to." She looked at Peter who spoke next.

"Number three? We don't kill each other." Peter was carved from ice now and Anne stiffened. "We are not Grineer. We will take from the Grineer. If two crew have a problem with each other, they come to me and I try to resolve it. If I can't, they face each other in a duel. We will have no wanton battles aboard. We are too few for such. If you want to fight, no problem. You can always find a fight somewhere with us. But no killing or maiming is allowed outside of the dueling ring. Any infraction of that is a one way walk to an airlock. For any of us."

"Even you?" Anne breathed, scared. Peter nodded. "I... I do not understand." She pleaded.

"It will take time, Anne." Peter gentled his tone. "But understand, you are not a slave anymore. You are free to do as you wish. If you wish to leave the ship, you can." Anne instantly recoiled and he held up a hand to reassure her. "Anne, no one is doing anything. We are giving you options. We need you. We need your medical training. But we are not going to chain you to the wall and make you heal us."

"You would if you had to." Anne said in a monotone. Peter nodded. "Why not then?"

"Because..." Sora answered as she stepped closer to the table. "We don't have to. Not now. We know you now. We know who you are and who you want to be." Anne curled up on herself and Sora laid a hand on her arm. "It's not a good thing to be suddenly adrift. You don't have any rock to cling to." Anne nodded. "So here... Cling to me. To us. The ship. The crew. We need you. You need us until you get your feet under you again. Fair?"

"That is fair." Anne heaved a sigh and then nodded to Sora. Her smile was off, as if she had never used it and wasn't quite sure how to do it. "One question. Why 'Anne'?" Sora smiled wider and jerked a thumb at Peter.

"Blame him." Sora said sourly. "When he decided on this course of action, he did a bunch of research in odd places. He found records of all kinds of people who did what we plan to do." Anne stared at Peter who shrugged.

"Anne Bonny was a famous female pirate many years pre-Orokin." Peter allowed. "Considering what we plan to do... It seemed apt."

"You are going to take ships that the Queens control." Anne said slowly. Sora and Peter both nodded. " You are nuts."

"And that, my dear, is why it will work." Peter said quietly. "No one will expect it."

"Because it is crazy!" Anne retorted, sitting up straighter. Sora smiled at her and stepped back. "You really expect to take Grineer ships with this one?"

"Oh, it won't be easy." Peter replied. "But with the right assistance, you included, we can make it work. Are you with us?" Anne looked from him to Sora and nodded silently. "Good." She did not miss the hand that stowed his Marelok back in its holster.

"You have killed me." It wasn't a question. "Even when you need me so badly?"

"Yes." Peter didn't look away as Anne stared at him. "We are all we can rely on. We may be able to find allies sometime, but for now, this ship and crew are all we can trust. Everyone here wants to be here, Anne." He held out a hand and she took it slowly. "Not everyone believes we can win, but everyone wants to try."

"I get that what the Queen's want is evil." Anne stood up slowly and carefully, testing her balance in the unfamiliar boots. "But this is going to take some getting used to."

"You have time, just not a lot." Peter promised her. She looked at him and he shrugged. "We are revamping the ship. Once that is done, we have a target."

"Am I allowed to know the target?" She was not expecting both Sora and Peter to laugh. "What?" Anne demanded half angrily.

"Rule Four: No secrets on the ship." Peter said quietly. "And no talking to anyone off it."

"That is... impressive from a security standpoint." Anne said after a moment. "But what is to stop someone from taking a crewmember and torturing them for information?" She blanched as she realized what she had said. "Ah..."

"Almost all of the crew have gone through that." Sora reassured Anne. "We will die before letting the Grineer take us again."

"Easy to say..." Anne froze as Sora raised her overshirt. Underneath it, a vest shone on top of her bodysuit. Anne's eyes went huge as she saw the telltale signs of explosives. Wires traced down to Sora's hand and she showed Anne a dead woman's switch that was dormant at the moment. She turned to Peter who raised his shirt to show the same kind of thing. She slumped a bit. "I see."

"We both survived the Rathuum." Sora's voice was about as soft as a durasteel ingot now. "They are not taking us again."

"I see." Anne swallowed hard and then straightened. "Orders, Captain?"

"For now, focus on getting a new hand." Peter said with a nod. "See what we need in the medical bay. Assume casualties both Grineer and human. And no, no one goes into the vats. Dead or otherwise. Understand?" That was an order.

"Yes, sir." Anne said with a firm nod. "I am not qualified to run them anyway. Are we going to dismantle the pods?"

"Not yet." Peter shook his head. "Still voting on what to do with them."

"Eh, voting?" Anne asked, confused. She jumped as a chime sounded, but Peter just sighed.

"Yeah. I am needed. She will explain." Peter nodded to Sora and left the room.

"Thanks!" Sora exclaimed at the now closed hatch. She gave herself a shake and turned to where Anne stood, looking flummoxed. "You will get used to him. He is the leader because we chose him to be. He says that if we choose otherwise, he will step down. No one has any complaints at the moment." Anne just looked at her and Sora shrugged. "Oh, people complain, but no one else wants the job."

"He is the leader." Anne wasn't sure about this at all. Sora nodded. "But... vote?"

"Everyone aboard ship has a vote in what we do." Sora said calmly. "Everyone's vote is equal. No one has more power than anyone else. We have to persuade others to support us if things come to a vote, so many of us don't bother as long as things go well. All of us share a history of being hurt by the Grineer." Anne looked at her and Sora made a face. "I told you Peter and I faced the Rathuum."

"And survived." Anne nodded. "Impressive." Sora shrugged again. "So why not kill me?"

"Because Peter needed a dedicated medic." Sora's reply was matter of fact. "That said, we keep an eye on everyone. Don't step out of line. Punishments are chosen by vote as well and many here have history with Reclaimers."

"I understand." Anne gave herself a shake and moved to a console nearby. She started tapping keys carefully with her sole hand. "I will let you know what I find. Are you the second in command?"

"More or less." Sora's face split into a grin.

"I am trying to get them to call me 'Mate'. I won't let them call me Smee."


Nearby

Peter was smiling as he finished his round about tour of the ship. With most of the sections open, the ship was far roomier than anyone might have guessed. It also held a few surprises. The arsenal that the previous commander had collected was extensive and not just Grineer weapons. Some looked like trophies, but not all of them. Some looked as if they had been buried. Excavated maybe? Few of them would work now, but given time and some care, they could probably be made to. He had his eye on an Opticor laser cannon himself. He liked the idea of a death beam. He strode on the bridge and smiled wider when no one made any asinine remarks. He nodded to the crew and they nodded back.

"Status?" He asked Zei.

"Weapons are at 96%." The engineer replied instantly. "Engines needed an overhaul. They are at 35% but will be over 90% in an hour. Life support is maxxed at 97.8%." Peter looked at her and the human grimaced. "Not a huge priority for Grineer. I will see about getting that last pesky 2%."

"As long as we are not going to freeze, fry or suffocate, Zei, we are good." Peter smiled at her and the engineer relaxed a little. "The special project?"

"Ah yes..." Zei looked uncomfortable. "Boss, you know what we need for that. We don't have nearly the supply. This ship had two ounces. Both locked in the commander's safe." It went without saying that said safe was not proof against a determined engineer. Little was. "We are going to need a lot more."

"Well, we knew it was going to hard to find. Until we get the ship finished up..." Peter paused. "Still on schedule?"

"Slightly ahead actually." Zei grimaced and Peter slumped. "Yeah. He works too hard. We tell him to take breaks. He won't and no one is going to argue with him."

"Where is he?" Peter did not want to do this, but sometimes, rank had its burdens. Zei looked at her console and then at the captain, her eyes wary. "Zei..." Peter groaned.

"I don't want him mad at me." The human actually shuddered. "He is a good crewmate when he isn't angry."

"Yeah. He is." Peter moved to stand by the engineer and scrutinized her console himself. He saw the icon he was looking for and nodded to her. "You didn't tell me." She sighed in relief and then stiffened as he smirked. "By the way... You lost your bet. She accepted the name. Anne is the new sawbones."

"Aw drat." Zei said with a scowl. "All right. I'll pay."

"You better. We are looking forward to hearing it." Peter stepped away as she swatted at him, face flaming. "Hey! We could have made you pay credits!"

"I would prefer that. I hate Gilbert and Sullivan. Stupid tongue torture." Zei said in a tiny voice. "You know this."

"But you are good at it." Peter smirked as she swatted at him again. "Get back to work, lazybones."

"Yeah, well..." Zei shook her head. "Try not to let him tear out any bulkheads this time?"

"Way to ruin my mood, Zei." Peter complained as he started for the door. "I should teach one of you to do this." He did not miss the sudden tension in the compartment. "But no, I am not that evil."

A relieved exhalation of breath followed him out. He was not relieved. Far from it. If anything? He was terrified. He always was when doing this.


It was easy to find Gogre when he was angry. Once just had to follow the clangs. The two other crew who were assigned to this particular detail were working on something near the hatch when Peter entered the bay. Both looked wary as Peter glanced at them.

"How bad?" The captain asked.

"Only trace amounts of Oxium aboard." The female Grineer who as acting as an engineer said quickly. "We all knew it was going to be rare, but..." She shrugged as Peter made a face.

"Yeah, if we want a functional stealth system that can hide a ship this size, we need the stuff." Peter did not jump as something fell over in the distance. A shout of rage sounded and Peter sighed. "We knew that. What else?"

"We don't know!" The other said quickly. The human engineer had been rescued from a slave camp and sworn allegiance to the crew on the spot along with many of his contemporaries. "He snarled at us to get lost! None of us dare to ask."

"Yeah." Peter sighed and nodded. "I have this."

They stared a Peter walked into the bay, his steps unhurried. Behind him he heard the human mutter 'crazy' and the Grineer reply 'yeah'. He ignored that. He could see a swath of destruction ahead. Gogre was not subtle in any way when he got angry. Pieces of small craft lay strewn about almost at random. Peter shook his head, Tengus had so much to answer for it simply wasn't funny. Peter wasn't religious as had once been described to him, but he did pray. He prayed nightly for the chance to get a hand, just a hand, on the evil doc. And just for a minute! He shook his head and took a deep breath.

"Gogre! Stop breaking my ship!" Peter tried to make his voice calm, but it was hard when a form that dwarfed him stood up from the shadow where it had been pulling a piece of metal off a Dreg that was in for service. Gogre was three times his size and far stronger even without the augmentation that had been put into the giant's body. Peter had no idea what Tengus had been thinking making a berserker out of a mild mannered clone. He didn't really care. All he cared about was that Gogre didn't want to be angry. He didn't have a choice anymore thanks to Tengus.

"Boss... I..." Peter stiffened. This wasn't the same as usual. Usually it took several minutes of Gogre to calm down enough to talk. If he was calm already? He had been angry for a while.

"What is wrong?" Peter stepped forward, aware that if Gogre decided to kill him, the captain had no chance. Except for two things. One, the deep seated need to obey that was buried in each and every Grineer's psyche. Two? He had Gogre's respect.

"You need to see." Gogre could be very fast for such a huge form. Peter was always taken by surprise at how quickly the hulking clone managed to move. The captain followed the engineer to another side of the bay and Peter's eyes narrowed. The swath of destruction had started on this side of the huge room.

Gogre stopped in front of something that Peter couldn't quite make out. He waved to the captain and knelt, his head bowing. He took deep breaths, calming himself. Peter patted his shoulder as he came up, knowing that the worst was over. Gogre was strong, fast and brutal in his anger, but out of it? There were few kinder. He did that intentionally, to spite Tengus and the others who had made him what he was. But then Peter focused on what Gogre had led him to and the breath left his body as he saw a transparent pod marked with familiar sigils. It had either come from or was going to Tengus' lab. What lay within the viscous fluid was horrifying.

The little human girl slept.