Chapter 14

No fighting in the command meeting

"You're a few minutes early, nya." Akashi said as she lead Spirit and Serenno into her cabin.

"Sorry for the inconvenience, I just wanted to be extra sure I was on time for my first crew meeting!" Spirit apologized.

"No, it's ok! Just take a seat at the table while we wait for the others to arrive." Akashi said gesturing to a low table. Instead of chairs their were cushions laid out around it, so Spirit followed Serenno's example and kneeled at one of the spots. Akashi was busying herself with what looked to be a tea set, so Spirit took the chance to look around the room.

There were several shelves on the walls, all of which were cluttered with all kinds of interesting knickknacks. There were several different variations of empty Oxycola bottles, a model propeller plane with Sakura Empire markings, some scroll cases, and even what looked to be a pair of Diamond engagement rings. Above the desk there was a framed certificate authorizing Akashi to conduct international trade in the name of the Sakura Empire. The desk itself was covered with various papers, as well as several thick folders and binders. There was also a large crimson gemstone, perhaps the gem for which the ship was named, lovingly displayed in a glass case near Akashi's bed.

Spirit's inspection was interrupted by a knock at the door. Akashi answered it to reveal the dark robed human woman Spirit had met on the bridge. "What was her name again..? Shiranui?" Spirit tried to remember.

"What are they doing here!?" Shiranui asked the moment she noticed them.

"I'll get to that during the meeting." Akashi answered. "Have you seen Yuubari?"

"Right here." Yuubari slipped through the door while Akashi was talking to Shiranui. Her eyes widened with curiosity when the landed on Spirit and Serrano, but she simply took her seat across the table from Serenno without saying anything. Shiranui sat down as well, with her seat being directly to the right of Akashi's and across from Spirit's. Akashi began serving the four of them tea.

"This is called Sencha, and it's traditionally offered to guests when they visit one's home." The green haired Zygarian said as she poured Spirit and Serrano their cups. "It's sweet tasting, but also quite hot due to it's freshness." When she was finished serving everyone she poured herself a cup and took her seat at the head of the table.

"I wasn't expecting a crew meeting until tomorrow." Shiranui took a sip of her tea. "I assume those two are the reason it was pushed up?"

"Yes." Akashi nodded. "Let me be the first to welcome Spirit of Commerce to the command crew as our new Chief Security Officer!" She gestured to Serenno. "Subject B1 will be joining her as an assistant."

"Serenno." Spirit corrected.

"Huh?" Akashi paused with confusion.

"My assistant. Her name is Serrano." Spirit answered.

"Oh... um, ok." Akashi said.

"How interesting..." Yuubari thoughtfully looked between Serenno and Spirit.

"You Named it!?" Shiranui gestured to Serenno. "How am I supposed to tell which one is her?!"

"Why does that matter?" Spirit asked. "Serenno knows who she is and she knows she's my assistant." The Munificent put a hand to her chest. "Just like I know that my name is Spirit and that I just became the C.S.O."

"So what? We just assume the Bulin with you is the same one you named?" Shiranui crossed her arms.

"If that's all you're capable of, I'll take what I can get." Spirit sighed despite herself.

"Tch!" Shiranui scowled.

"Anyway!" Akashi reasserted herself "Now that Spirit is on the command crew we need to know more about her, and she needs to know more about us and what we're doing."

"I object to that!" Shiranui threw up her hands in annoyance.

"What a surprise." Serenno commented wryly, earning her a murderous look from Shiranui and a half-smirk from Yuubari.

"How about Spirit tells us about herself first then, nya?" Akashi offered. "Maybe that will help you trust her more?"

"I'd be happy to go first." Spirit said after Shiranui only huffed in response to Akashi's offer. "What would you like to know, Miss Shiranui?"

"Your nation of origin and your home port, along with your class, for starters." Shiranui crossed her arms.

"Sure." Spirit put a hand to her chest as she introduced herself. "I'm Spirit of Commerce, of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. I don't really have a home port, but I was built at Raxus Prime Orbital Shipyard number 3 and stayed there for 43 days before my first deployment..." Spirit scratched her cheek. "... I fought in a couple battles and ended up here after that." She shrugged before continuing. "I'm a Munificent class Cruiser, and my original design was created by the I.G.B.C. before being modified by the C.I.S. so I'm a bit different from the originals."

Everyone stared at Spirit for a few minutes before Shiranui broke the silence. "Very funny. Now how about you tell the truth?" She scowled. "Lying isn't a good way to build trust."

"I am telling the truth!" Spirit protested.

"She did mention the I.G.B.C. before..." Akashi said.

"So what? First she claims to not know what a Siren is, and now she's making up factions." Shiranui waved her hand dismissively. "Either she's a pathological liar or a terrible spy. Regardless, she's unfit for the command crew!"

"It's not my fault you've been living under a blasted rock!" Spirit shot back. "News flash! Everyone else in the Galaxy knows about the Separatist movement! We're kinda in the middle of a giant war!" The Munificent had had enough of Shiranui's hostility.

"I've heard of plenty of wars, but nothing about your so called Separatists!" Shiranui shot back.

"That's enough!" Akashi declared. "I will not have fighting in my command meeting!"

"Sorry..." Spirit bowed her head.

"These meetings are pointless!" Shiranui did not relent. "It has become increasingly clear that you're simply going to do whatever you please regardless of my advice, Akashi!" The dark robed woman got to her feet. "In which case, I shall simply await your orders at my post!" She shot them all another disdainful look before storming from the room.

"Shiranui! You can't just-" Akashi began chasing after her friend, only to pause and turn back to the group. "Please excuse us!" She gave a short bow before hurrying from the room.

"What the hell is her problem!?" Spirit gestured to Shiranui's empty seat.

"Please don't be too hard on Shiranui." Yuubari sadly looked towards the door. "She wasn't always like this..."

"Well, she's certainly never been friendly with me." Spirit said. "She paranoid or something?"

"Our flight from the Sakura Empire has been hard on her." Yuubari answered. "We left much behind when we fled, our friends, our businesses, and most of our possessions. But unlike Akashi and I, who are the only ships in our respective classes, Shiranui was also forced to leave behind her family."

"I... had no idea." Spirit mumbled. "What happened?"

"The short answer is that Akagi and Kaga demanded things we could not, or would not, give." Yuubari sighed before she began explaining in more detail. "Akashi and Shiranui are business partners as well as close friends. Together they built one of the largest trading firms in the entire Pacific." The Zygarian smiled. "It was a shop especially for Kansen, and it had everything from specialty ammunition to bikinis. Akashi could even get her hands on rare materials and experimental prototypes if you special ordered them. That's how I first met her."

"That sounds extremely profitable." Spirit commented.

"Oh, it was." Yuubari confirmed. "Akashi and Shiranui even built up enough wealth to run a small fleet of cargo ships. This vessel was once a member of that fleet." The Zygarian's voice took on a darker tone as she continued. "But then things changed. As war began to brew on the horizon, the leadership of the Sakura Empire became increasingly demanding of Akashi and Shiranui's business."

"The corrupt Government is always out to strangle businesses for their own personal gain, aren't they?" It was a situation Spirit knew well.

"I wouldn't know..." Yuubari admitted. "What I do know is that when Akashi and Shiranui protested, Akagi turned the public on them overnight. They went from icons of Sakura Industry to pariahs, and it wasn't long before the insults being hurled at them turned to stones."

"People can be fickle, Buli..." Serenno mumbled.

"Yes, they can." Yuubari agreed. "But Akashi and Shiranui pushed on despite having lost their support. In reality, it didn't matter what the people thought of them, because their customer base was mostly Kansen." Yuubari paused to take a sip of her Sencha. "Naturally, it wasn't long before Akagi began interfering with that as well." The Zygarian shook her head. "She ordered a freeze on all Trade with the Eagle Union, an order that practically cut Akashi's business in half."

"But why!? What would this Akagi woman gain from crippling Akashi and Shiranui's business like that?" Spirit was flabbergasted. "Was she bought out by a rival company or something?"

"There is an agreement, called the Treaty of Washington, that was made between the world's great powers to restrict the size of our Navies." Yuubari began to explain.

"Kinda like the Ruusan Reformation, I guess..." Spirit thought to herself.

"The treaty saw Akagi and Kaga lose their sisters. "Yuubari continued "Akagi's older sister Amagi was meant to be converted into a carrier, but complications in the process cost Amagi her life, and Kaga was converted instead. Kaga's sister Tosa was going to be retired, but instead chose to die a warrior's death on the battlefield." The Zygarian shook her head. "What happened to Amagi was a tragic accident, and Tosa met her fate with her head held high, but Akagi and Kaga didn't see it that way. Their grief twisted their hearts, and they came to blame the other signatories, specifically the Eagle Union and the Royal Navy, for their sisters deaths."

"Akagi wanted to hurt the Eagle Union and their Kansen, so that's why she forced Akashi to stop trading with them!" Serenno deduced.

"Exactly!" Yuubari confirmed. "And it didn't stop there. As the Sakura Empire began skirmishing with the Dragon Empey, Akagi started to pressure Akashi about her prices, and forced her to begin selling military supplies to the navy at a loss. The war also caused the demand for Akashi's more civilian goods to evaporate." Yuubari chuckled dryly. "Turns out most Kansen aren't interested in buying fancy dresses during a war."

"Wait, if Akashi and Shiranui were selling military supplies at a loss and the civilian market was dead, where did they get the money to keep the company going?" Spirit asked.

"That's the thing, they didn't." Yuubari answered. "Akashi and Shiranui were forced to cut apart the business they had spent so long building, selling it off or shutting it down piece by piece. The government took the chance to buy up or otherwise nationalize the assets Akashi sold off."

"So they destroyed her business and then took it over!? How is that allowed!?" Spirit was nearly yelling.

"Akashi said something similar when she found out what they were doing." Yuubari shook her head. "She protested quite loudly, but no one would listen. What's even worse is that the other Kansen turned against her. They even accused her of putting profits above their lives!"

"I remember some of that too..." Serenno said. "They would come and vandalize the warehouses near the ship, Buli. They wrote terrible things on the walls for us to see..."

"We knew our days were numbered. Either Akagi was going to arrest us for treason or a misguided nationalist was going to kill us in our sleep." Yuubari sighed and took another drink of her Sencha. "So we left. We packed all of our possessions and everything else we could scrounge up onto The Crimson Gem and stole away in the dead of night."

"You just abandoned your homeland?" Spirit asked.

"Yes, we did." Yuubari answered "This ship contains everything we have left, so I hope you can see why Shiranui gets so defensive about it."

"Shiranui!" Akashi chased after her friend as she stormed from the room. "Come back!"

The dark haired destroyer ignored her and continued down the hallway at a brisk pace. Akashi practically had to run to catch up with her. She managed to reach out an grab Shiranui's wrist just as the taller girl slowed to enter her cabin. "What is your problem!?"

"My problem!?" Shiranui roughly tore her hand from Akashi's grasp. "My problem is that we're supposed to be partners! Yet you don't listen to a God damned thing I say!"

"What!?" Akashi spluttered. "Listening to what you have to say is the entire point of the crew meeting!"

"Oh sure, we hold meetings! But do you ever listen to me!?" Shiranui yelled. "No! I wanted to play it safe and sail around Africa, but you say it'll take too long! I wanted to go straight through the Suez to minimize our contact with the Royal Navy, but no, you wanted to screw around in Kuwait!"

"We agreed those were the best choices for the good of the ship!" Akashi yelled back.

"No, YOU decided they were the best choices." Shiranui shot back. "We both know Yuubari doesn't really give a damn where we go, and now you've brought in that damned Siren spy and her pet Bulin to be your yes women!" She shoved the repair ship back with both hands. "I've gone from being an equal partner to sharing my vote with a Bulin! A GOD DAMNED BULIN!"

"The Bulin isn't-" Akashi started.

"After all I've sacrificed, this is how you repay me!" Shiranui carried on as if Akashi hadn't spoken. "I gave up everything! I abandoned my sisters and my homeland to come gallivanting halfway around the world with you! We're going to die out here and I'll never see any of them again!"

"So that's what this is really about..." Akashi's ears dropped. "You resent me for dragging you out here..."

"I just..!" Shiranui's rage cooled as she realized what she had said.

"You're right, you know?" Akashi continued. "When Yuubari asked if I could get her out of the Sakura Empire, I just decided I was going too. I'm sorry you got caught up in it by association." She turned away as tears sprung to her eyes. "It would've been much better for you and your sisters if I just gave up and bowed my head to them, huh?"

"I would've gotten myself executed if I hadn't deserted with you." Shiranui put her hand on Akashi's shoulder. "Besides, half this ship is mine right? I couldn't let you run off without any supervision!" She joked.

"Yeah..." Akashi managed a weak smile as she turned back to her friend. "I might dip into your half of the profits to fund one of my schemes if you don't keep an eye on me."

"I'm just... I'm just scared, ok!?" Shiranui confessed. "We lost 7 Bulin in that attack, and you got shot! When I got back to the bridge and saw you slumped over the wheel, gasping and covered in blood, I was terrified!" The destroyer shivered at the memory. "I thought that you were going to die! I got us to Kuwait as fast as I could, but I couldn't even see you in the hospital because someone had to stay and run the ship!"

"And then I came back and called a staff meeting without stopping to talk to you first..." Akashi felt shame once again. "I just dismissed you from the bridge like nothing happened..."

"Yeah..." Shiranui had a pained expression. "Just... don't do it again. And I'm sorry for taking it out on new girl, even if she is a Siren spy." She opened her arms. "Friends?"

"Always." Akashi accepted Shiranui's invitation and embraced her. "It'll take a lot more than that to make me hate you!"

"Just try not to die on me..." Shiranui's voice was soft. "Please."

"Wait a minute..." Spirit frowned. "You explained why the Sakura Empire turned against Akashi and Shiranui, but why are you here?" The Munificent asked. "Why did you flee with them? Were you afraid someone would kill you too?"

"Well..." Yuubari shifted uncomfortably. "It's a long story..." she stalled. Luckily from her she was interrupted by Akashi and Shiranui reentering the cabin. Silence fell as the two retook their seats without speaking.

"I apologize for my previous behavior." Shiranui bowed slightly.

"It's fine..." Spirit wasn't sure how to react. "...I yelled at you too, so... um, let's just call it even?" Shiranui only nodded in response before turning back to Akashi.

"Right. I'm sorry we ran out like that too, nya." Akashi smiled "I hope you weren't too bored waiting for us!"

"I spent the time telling them what happened to you in the Sakura Empire." Yuubari said "Well, I gave them a summary anyways."

"I always hate to hear about Government overreach destroying lives." Spirit said. "It's something the Confederacy knows well." Shiranui opened her mouth as if to speak, but then closed it without saying anything.

"Well, that saves time getting her up to speed!" Akashi smiled. "I would like a better explanation of your class, nya, if you're willing to share the information with us. You said it was the Magnificent class, right?"

"That's Munificent, after the Muuns. What did you want to know?" Spirit asked. "I guess we're just moving on like nothing happened then..." she thought to herself.

"I'd just like to know more about your capabilities, nya. Like your armament, or any special equipment you have?" Akashi answered.

"I want to know too! Your rigging was amazing, buli!" Serenno leaned forward eagerly, and Yuubari hummed in agreement.

"Well, Munificent cruisers are armed for heavy combat. We're designed to be able to hit above our weight class with some oversized guns, a trait we share with our cousins of the Recusant class." Spirit answered, feeling awkward with all eyes on her. "This is accomplished by our spinally mounted heavy twin turbolaser cannons and a pair of long range Ion cannons."

"Spinal mounted cannons?" Yuubari was taking notes on a notepad she had pulled from beneath her robes. "Explain."

"So, um... the cannons are too big to be turreted on a ship our size, so they decided to attach it to the ships spine instead." Spirit replied. "Then they built the rest of the hull around it. It can only fire straight forward, so you have to turn the whole ship to aim it..."

"So the gun is mounted to the Keel itself? Fascinating!" Yuubari mumbled to herself as she scribbled on her notepad. "How have I never thought of that! But how to prevent it from sitting too low on the water...? Perhaps modifying the... no, no, that wouldn't... what about..."

"That was the big gun you had on your shoulder!" Serenno drowned out Yuubari's ramblings. "It came right out of your back, Bulin!"

"What's a Turbolazer?" Shiranui asked. "Or an Ion cannon?"

"Turbolazers are exactly what they sound like. They're the biggest variant of the laser cannon." Spirit shrugged. "They're just really big guns, I don't know how else to explain it..."

"A laser weapon? I don't believe it!" Shiranui crossed her arms.

"I saw it, Bulin!" Serenno raised her hand. "She sank the Siren destroyer with just two shots! The first one probably would've been fatal too, it blew their turret right off, Buli!"

"A working laser weapon that can sink a Pawn with just two hits." Yuubari's eyes had an intensity that Spirit found unsettling. "And the Ion cannon?"

"It shoots Ion? I don't know..." Spirit admitted. "They're good against shields and stuff, but can't really damage the hull."

"And you have no idea how it works?!" Shiranui scowled. "How convenient!"

"Oh, I'll figure it out, don't worry about a thing!" Yuubari's voice had hunger to it. "What else have you got!?"

"I've got some light turbolazer turrets, both single and double mounted. I've also got light laser cannons for point defense." Spirit answered. "And that's it for weapons."

"They're all energy weapons..." Akashi thought out loud. "Perhaps you fainted because your rigging was drawing too much power from your cubes."

"We can find out with some simple tests!" Yuubari said.

"I noticed you don't mention carrying torpedoes either." Shiranui pointed out. "Any reason for that?"

"I don't have any." Spirit answered. "We don't have much time for maintenance, so we're not equipped with weapons that need their ammunition refilled." She shrugged. "My lasers will keep firing as long as at least one of my reactors is still producing power."

"Reactors! I'll be wanting to see those too!" Yuubari exclaimed.

"This is all just so unbelievable..." Shiranui shook her head.

"You two have actually missed the most unbelievable things she's said, nya. It's like you just didn't process some of the details of what she's saying. " Akashi commented. "It's funny how I seem to be the only one whose figured it out, even Spirit herself hasn't realized the implications, nya."

"What do you mean? I think I've gotten everything..." Yuubari flipped through her notes, while Shiranui was clearly going over things in her head.

"Spirit, tell us in detail about the shipyard in which you were built." Akashi said.

"Ok..." Spirit didn't know where Akashi was going with this. "As I said I was built at Raxus Prime Orbital Shipyard number 3. The station orbits the planet's equator, and is circular with a large center section, so it kinda looks like the Phi [Ф] symbol." She happily described the station on which she spent most of her life. "The station had 12 construction bays, 6 on each side. Half were dedicated to building Munificent Cruisers, while the other half built Recusant Destroyers." She smiled as she continued.

"My sister's and I were all completed on the same day, so we were pretty close. We lived in a Barracks in the central section, and the Recusants lived across the hall. We always competed with them during training, and we played Sabacc against them in our off time too." She shook her head to herself and got back on track. "The station always felt kinda old, but it was well maintained and in good shape. It didn't have too much in the way of defense, but that obviously didn't matter as Raxus Secundus is the Confederacy's capital and their massive defense fleet protected us too." Her thoughts returned to her sisters. "We used to sit and watch the Providence Battleships go by in formation to resupply at Station 7, they were our heroes. There was one called Lucid Voice, she was the flagship of the sector, and she would train us sometimes. She was really strong!" Spirit suddenly realized she was rambling and stopped herself. "So that's my home port..."

The silence was deafening once Spirit stopped talking. Shiranui and Yuubari were both staring at her with blank expressions, and even Akashi looked rattled despite her claims that she knew what was coming. Spirit glanced to the side at Serenno, who was listening intently but seemed normal. She was about to say something when Yuubari's pencil slipped from her hand and clattered to the table, shattering the silence.

"Orbital shipyards! That means you're an interplanetary vessel!" The spell was broken and Yuubari started talking rapidly. "And if the shipyards was orbiting another planet, that means there's life on other planets!"

"But that's common knowledge..." Spirit mumbled as she struggled to process the others shock. "How could they not know about things like this!? No one is that backwater!"

"It's not common knowledge on a world that hasn't achieved spaceflight, nya." Akashi said.

"Alright, I want proof!" Shiranui rejoined the conversation. "Can you provide evidence for any of these claims!?"

"I don't think I can..." Spirit thought for a moment." ...if I had my ship I could show you my Hyperspace navigational charts or just take you on a quick ride into space, but I can't summon it. When I tried before, it's what caused me to collapse."

"Then we just need to scan your wisdom cubes!" Yuubari jumped to her feet. "We can do it in the lab right now! Come on!"

"What's this scan going to entail?" Spirit couldn't help but shoot a glance at Serenno, and found the white haired girl scowling at Yuubari. "I don't want to end up being dissected or something..."

"We'll just be putting you in a pod for a few minutes, nothing invasive!" Yuubari assured her. "Just that data alone could jump our tech forward years! Once you can summon your rigging again, I'd love to run more in depth tests on-"

"Nothing will be done to Spirit without her complete consent!" Akashi interrupted. "We're already fighting a war with one technologically advanced enemy, let's not create another, nya."

"Of course, of course!" Yuubari nodded vigorously. "But if you do want anything taken apart..."

"I'll just take the scan for now." Spirit held up her hand.

"In that case, this staff meeting will adjourn to the lab in order to inspect Spirit's capabilities!" Akashi announced

Yuubari had sprinted away as soon as Spirit had agreed to be scanned, so Akashi was left to guide her to the lab. She and Shiranui continued speaking with her as the four of them made their way through the ship.

"I didn't have a chance to bring it up before, but I wanted to ask you more about your creators,nya." Akashi said "What can you tell me about the Inter Galactic Banking Clan?"

"Well they're not technically my creators, first of all." Spirit answered. "They made the original design, but I was built by the Confederacy." She explained. "But what would you like to know?"

"Can I open an account?" Akashi asked.

"Ah yes, because I'm sure they accept Yen." Shiranui cut in "Idiot."

"Actually the I.G.B.C. is quite skilled at creating new currency's within the Galactic system." Spirit said. "They introduce new currencies at a rate of around twenty per day. With a little luck, your Yen could be introduced within just a few weeks."

"Oh... well that's..." Shiranui was taken aback

"While it's possible for you to create an account, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. You're a little..." Spirit searched for the right word "...small time for the I.G.B.C. You'd probably be better served by one of their subsidiary Banks. No offense."

"I'll reserve my offense for after you explain that statement, nya!" Akashi crossed her arms.

"While I have no doubt that you're a very shrewd and successful entrepreneur, the I.G.B.C. moves money on a Galactic scale." Spirit explained "They conduct transactions between entire planetary governments, or between corporations with enough power to control entire sectors. You run a company that serves only a single planet, and that planet doesn't even have a unified government from what I've gathered."

"Hmm... I suppose that makes sense. Well set that as a goal goal for later then, Nya." Akashi nodded to herself.

"Of course, if you were to be the first person to introduce this planet and it's currencies to the I.G.B.C., maybe you could set yourself up as a middlewoman or something like that." Spirit speculated. She could swear she saw Akashi's pupils turn into ¥'s for a moment.

"This is going to mean mountains of paperwork in a language I can't understand, isn't it?" Shiranui groaned.

"Aurebesh isn't that complicated, I could probably teach it to you guys if you'd like?" Spirit offered, but Shiranui only waved her off as Akashi launched into the explanation of some scheme to her. Spirit ignored her and turned to Serrano, who had been mostly keeping to herself.

"I had a question for you too Serenno." Spirit got her attention. Her friend looked up questioningly, so Spirit asked. "Why weren't you as surprised as everyone else when I started talking about being a starship?"

"There's not really a reason, Bulin." Serenno answered. "You where saying it was true, and I believed you. I just assumed it was something I didn't know, Buli."

"That's it?" Spirit asked.

"That's really it, Bulin." Serenno confirmed. They had reached the entrance to the third hold, and Akashi unlocked the door with a key.

"Well, here goes nothing..." Spirit said as she stepped through the door.

"Don't worry, if Yuubari gets carried away, I'll break her legs." Serenno assured her, hefting the wrench on her shoulder. Together the two of them stepped into Yuubari's lab, and the door automatically locked behind them.

Authors Note: What do you think about how I've handled Shiranui this chapter? I wanted to make her more pragmatic to balance out Akashi's optimism and Yuubari's whimsical ideas. I hope you don't find her to be too harsh.

I actually don't have a rant about ships this time, as I'm saving the Recusant one for later, lol. The station that serves as Spirit's home port is my own creation, so there's not to much to say about it either.

This chapter came out later than I planned, Sorry about that! I hope to be faster next time.