The jump to Mrisst took roughly thirty minutes and instead of continuing to berate Hotaru, Michiru thinking about what Haruka just had said, had kept herself quiet.

The loss of Fondor already had hit heavy but when they heard that General Bel Iblis just had sacrificed himself and the Harbinger to destroy the enemy's Super Star Destroyer it got even worse. So many, including Bel Iblis dead, the Harbinger was no more and they still had lost without any chance. And on top the ground troops on Fondor now were on their own.

The sense of defeat had taken over the whole fleet arriving from Fondor, or rather what was left of it.

The starfighters landed back on their motherships.

As soon as SunTzu got out of his cockpit the exhaustion hit again, hard and relentless. He felt like he had aged decades in these few days he had spent in the Fondor-System.

He patted AICA who was already swarmed by mechanics and then stopped shortly in front of Hotaru's Y-Wing. By this point he had problems keeping himself up right.

She had her canopy still closed, probably trying to postpone what was coming for her.

SunTzu walked over to the Voyager. Haruka, now finally understanding what she just had said had more or less fled the scene while Michiru instructed the ground crew, eyeing the entrances, apparently waiting for her girlfriend to show up again so they could talk about what Haruka just had said.

SunTzu smiled and left the hangar, heading towards his room.

As soon as he arrived there he laid down, barely managing to take off his boots and clothes.

And when he stretched out, he immediately fell asleep.

Hotaru was still sitting in her cockpit, delaying her inevitable run down, not that it hadn't been the first time her flying saved the day, she just had opened the canopy and began to talk with one of the flight mechanics when she saw Michiru leave the hangar in a hurry. Hotaru knew where her mother would head to.

Better not disturb these two the next few hours…

The teenager had seen SunTzu leave before as well, he had seemed tired and he really hadn't looked well, maybe Setsuna-Mama should had a look at him, and she assumed he went to his room. She had heard something that he hadn't done much breaks while at Fondor.

The Senshi of Silence opened her seatbelt and was about to get out when suddenly her Setsuna-Mama appeared at the side of the cockpit.

Uh-oh…

"Hotaru, can we talk? You're probably tired and like a tea anyways, I assume"

"Yeah, tea sounds great. The mess hall nearby?"

"Oh… I think it's better we talk at our quarters. In private."

Welll… fuck.

"Sure, Mom."

Hotaru did her best to keep a pokerface up, but she knew she was in trouble. And usually the rundowns from Setsuna-Mama were worse than those from Michiru-Mama.

Maybe she could stall this some more.

"Did you hear what Haruka-Papa said to Michiru-Mama?"

"No. You can tell me about that later. I'd really like to talk about something else with you first."

Hotaru swallowed hard. Typical, one can't escape Setsuna-Mama. She decided to give up her stalling and began to steel herself against the rundown that would come now.

Soon they had arrived at their quarters.

"Might want to jump under the shower while I make the tea?" Setsuna suggested and Hotaru vanished without a word.

What Hotaru didn't know was that it wasn't actually a gesture of her mom to prepare her for what would follow soon but rather her mother trying to collect herself for the things to come.

A few minutes later, Hotaru came back and her mother was already sitting at the small table in their quarters, which was bigger than the usual quarters, had two sleeping rooms, a bathroom, a little living space and a small kitchenette as opposed to the rooms like SunTzu's, which basically only were a bedroom and a small bathroom.

Hotaru sat down and deadpanned, now it would happen.

Setsuna took a sip of her tea, not looking at Hotaru. She only spoke after setting the cup back on its tray again.

"Hotaru, what you did today again was very risky."

Hotaru observed her mother for a moment, her voice hadn't been raised and she seemed to be calm.

"I… I know, but isn't it war after all? I mean, as Outer Senshi we always have been the tip of the spear. My action might had been risky but it saved the rest of the fleet." Hotaru opted for the offensive.

Setsuna let out a sigh before she nodded. "Still it was first and foremost risky. And yes, as Sailor Senshi, especially as Outer Senshi, we have a sacred although often risky duty to fulfill. But usually we are fighting side by side..." Setsuna sighed again while Hotaru cocked her head in surprise, that was totally not what she had expected. "… I guess I have to accept you are not a child anymore and that you're going your own way now, which also means that you're taking more risks than ever and I cannot be always there to protect you."

"Mom…"

"No, Hotaru. I maybe have been a bit too overprotective lately."

Setsuna's eyes spoke of melancholy and regret and within a second Hotaru was up and at her mother's side and they hugged.

"I promise I'll take care of myself, no matter what I'll do."

Setsuna strengthened her embrace around her beloved adoptive daughter.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, Hotaru."

Setsuna ended the embrace but left her hands on Hotaru's shoulders. "And now tell me what Haruka-Papa said to Michiru-Mama."

Hotaru retold her mother what Haruka had said what she would do if they ever would retake Fondor and Setsuna knew that Haruka and Michiru now definitely needed time on their own, no matter if Haruka meant it true or not. But Setsuna hoped, that the blonde had meant it outright true or otherwise she definitely wouldn't want to be in that room right now.

SunTzu had slept for twelve hours straight and was pleasantly surprised to see that someone had taken care of the moment he would wake up again. Isotonic beverages, a tray with covered food, a package of herbal tea.

While he wondered who had been that nice to him, probably Michiru or Hotaru, he greedily began to savor it. He felt like a truck had hit him, the sleep had helped but his body was one single piece of pain, head to toe. His head was hurting and the nausea from the stim packs was still there.

SunTzu was drinking the tea when it knocked on the door.

"Come in." SunTzu said and the door opened, revealing his protégé.

"How are you?" Hotaru asked, standing in the door of SunTzu's room. At least he didn't looked this tired anymore, although there still were dark rings under his eyes.

SunTzu answered with a wry grin.

"I guess I should ask you the same. How bad was it?"

The teenage girl crossed her hands.

"I didn't got any trouble at all. Michiru-Mama, she is with Haruka-Papa. And Mom… she excused herself for being so protective."

"They love you a lot, you know that Firefly."

A smile appeared on the girl's face and she nodded.

"Yes, as I love them. I am happy Mom gives me more freedom. I want to win this war, even though I have to risk my life without her being at my side all the time."

"You're a brave young woman, Hotaru. I'm proud of you."

The smile grew more and SunTzu replied with a smile as well.

"So, how are you? Mom said you're full of stim-packs, she fears you might had gotten too much of them in. She said you should go to the med bay urgently and get a check up."

"That's... very kind of her. By the way, someone brought me food, drinks and this herbal tea. Was that you? If so, thanks a lot, that really helped me."

"Sorry, wasn't me. It was Michiru-Mama after you had been sleeping for already eight hours."

SunTzu wheezed. "Yeah, I can't believe I was out for twelve hours straight."

What SunTzu, and Hotaru also, didn't know was that it had been Setsuna asking Michiru to bring over the tray with the various things over to SunTzu when Michiru came over to the med bay to give Setsuna the news, that although she meant it honest Haruka would not engage herself yet. Always looking for the big show, Michiru had said, although she had butterflies in her tummy. For Haruka it always had been clear that they were meant for each other, an unbreakable bond of souls, forever loving the other but somehow she never had made the move. "Our love is more than a pre-written vow and two rings.", she always had said.

Michiru was still dreaming about the perfect wedding and that she now finally had the chance to get one now.

Of course after telling about her love life to her best friend, Michiru had asked Setsuna if she already had checked on SunTzu and her friend had told her that she didn't want to push things further, she was still fighting with the perception of who SunTzu really was. By sheer chance she had prepared some things for when he would awake again. Vegetables, some bread and fruit, beverages for his loss of electrolytes, a tea which helped to cleanse his body of toxins.

"Could you please bring that to him?" The oldest of the Senshi asked the Senshi of the Deep Sea.

"Why you don't bring it to him yourself? I'm sure he'd be more than happy that you care that much about him."

"Like I said, i don't want to push things. But I think he really needs these things if to feel better again and be fit for service."

"You know what, I'll bring it over. But I still say it would have been better if you'd do it."

"Michiru…"

"Yeah, I understand. No problem, cheri."

Hotaru stayed a few minutes longer and told SunTzu that they were already in Hyperspace again, Fleet Command wanted to see Artemis personally and so the Eternal was on it's way to Coruscant. And she told SunTzu if he'd expected to see her mother in the med bay she had bad news, Setsuna-Mama and Rei-Oneechan, Yuichiro-San too, took a shuttle to the Far Side, which was about to move out to Kataia, there had been some big developments in the rebellion.

SunTzu kind of regretted that he had slept so long after hearing this, he wouldn't had mind to accompany that mission. But then, as soon as Hotaru had left, his aching muscles and the again flaring up headache let him know that he definitely needed to take it easy some more.

And visiting the med bay to see if everything was okay might wouldn't be the worst idea as well, although, apart from Setsuna, Minako wasn't on duty as well as she was busy with preparing herself for her exams.

The Eternal gave all she got to move as fast as possible to Coruscant and when they arrived, Neo Queen Serenity, King Endymion, Luna, Colonel Bernard, the Princess and Sailor Saturn immediately took a flight to Earth. The King and the Taskforce's Ground Forces Commander would meet with the White House and the top brass of the US Military for a debriefing with the US-Military Mission along the Taskforce.

Mamoru hoped that the leadership of the US-Forces recognized the meaning of the decision of Colonel Grill to stay back on a besieged world to defend it, a third of the Galaxy away.

The Queen, accompanied by her loyal Head of Court would travel back to Crystal Tokyo and personally meet with the family members of her fallen soldiers from their last missions this time.

She had visited SunTzu before her departure, knowing that he probably would have wanted to accompany her to meet the families of his lost platoon but with soft spoken words she told him that she did not want to put that sorrow on top of him and told him to stay onboard. She knew SunTzu was exhausted and she, all of them, needed her Guardian of Guardians ready for whatever would come next.

Artemis and his adjutant went to the Military Headquarters of the Galactic Alliance where parts of the leadership wanted to have a debrief with him as well.

Now newly appointed Admiral Saulins would join via Holo as he was acting as the intermediate commander of the Third Fleet until a successor to Bel Iblis had been found.

Michiru and Haruka had stayed on the Eternal as well, positioned above Coruscant, until Artemis would be back. Next stop probably would be Earth for replenishment, hopefully for a few days. If they were lucky that was, the enemy was still very actively on the move on various fronts.

The couple and SunTzu were now sitting in the officer's mess, waiting for the return of their Commander.

Haruka just had left the table to get another tea for her and Michiru, who was using the non-official engagement well to her advantage and Haruka knew to rather behave well now, when SunTzu fixed Michiru with his gaze.

She furrowed her brows when she saw him looking at her. "What's up? Why you're looking at me like that."

"I didn't had a chance to ask Rei about it yet. But out there on Fondor, on that Secutor. You felt it too, didn't you?"

Michiru nodded slowly. "Yes, there was something dark, evil on that ship. I don't know what it was, but it was there. Too bad I was too busy to ask my mirror."

"Remember how perfectly those capital ships moved around that Dominator? I think whatever that was, was responsible for instrumenting these movements."

"You mean… Abeloth?"

SunTzu shrugged. "Can't say for sure, but I guess you heard about about battle mediation and that Palpatine was able to do something equal."

"You should talk with Master Cilghal about that."

"I will, as soon as she's back from the Temple. But I wanted to ask one of you psychics first, making sure I'm not paranoid yet."

A few hours later Artemis informed the Eternal that he would stay on Coruscant as the meeting would be extended and the staff also wanted to see the Royal Couple, which would fly back from Earth tomorrow morning Crystal Tokyo Time.

The Eternal and the rest of the Taskforce onboard would already move to Earth to begin with the replenishment of the flagship.

A few hours later, it was the middle of the night, SunTzu was back in his apartment in Azabu-Juban. Master Cilghal had stayed on Coruscant as well but he had contacted her via Holo.

"So, you felt it as well, Captain." The Mon Calamari had said with an austere look. "I already informed the Council and we hope to find out more. We suspect it had been Abeloth but don't know if it was the real her or just a manifestation or an individual controlled by her."

"I see. I hope the Jedi can find out more, a creature like Abeloth could wreak havoc on Fondor."

"This is our actual fear." The Jedi closed her eyes for a moment before she looked at SunTzu again. "Your abilities are becoming stronger, keep up the good work and the practice."

"I will Master."

"I did not expect to hear something else from you. I'll join the Taskforce tomorrow with their Majesties and the Admiral. Until then, may the Force be with you, SunTzu."

"Until tomorrow Master, may the Force be with you."

The connection ended and SunTzu stood still for a moment, thinking. At least the Jedi were still out there looking for Abeloth. Probably they would try to infiltrate Fondor unseen and confirm if that disturbance in the Force had been Abeloth.

SunTzu slept bad that night, it was his first night back on Earth after loosing his platoon and he was plagued by nightmares.

He was awake before the morning dawned and laid in his bed, reviewing the things that happened since he had boarded the Eternal the last time in his mind.

It had hurt to loose Delta-2, it still hurt, but he had made it somehow through and had kept on fighting, he owed his soldiers that.

It had been Setsuna's closeness that had made sure he didn't loose it completely. Hell, he even had went out of his ways against the Onyx Kataians.

And exhausted but wide awake as he was right now, he truly had to admit that the only real rest he had found lately had been besides Setsuna.

It seemed so simple, he needed her as close as possible to not founder.

The first rays of light fell through the slits of the window's shutter when SunTzu decided to go into the offensive when it came to Setsuna.

Good thing he had scheduled morning training and afterwards breakfast with Hotaru, he definitely needed her help to not fuck up this time again.

A few hours later, after a long morning run and some body weight exercises as follow up, both of them were in the mess hall of the Crystal Palace. Haruka and Michiru were already out on a training mission with the Voyager.

They had been talking mostly about their service schedule and AICA's maintenance plan when SunTzu changed the topic.

"Hey Hotaru, I've been thinking about that your mom lately… well, she was good to me and helped me a lot. And I don't want to do something stupid again when trying to thank her. Any idea what I could give to your mother as a small thank you?"

And if it's a small planet I'll buy it for her…

Hotaru's lips curled upwards, she just had been knowing that something was on SunTzu's mind and it had been more than the usual melancholy that the poor guy lately carried around with him. It was great that he was trying, this also meant that his head and heart were occupied by more than pain again.

"How about flowers?"

"Just… flowers?"

"Yeah, sure. Which woman doesn't like flowers? Take Roses, can't go wrong with that. The color… well you can google about the language of flowers." The teenager winked at her superior.

Hotaru knew that as simple as it sounded, how much it would mean to her mother. Setsuna loved flowers and Hotaru remembered how happy she always had been when she had received some. Maybe a bouquet of red roses could perk her mother up, she was melancholic, more than usual, as well too lately.

Adults… these two could lift each other up so much…

Before they could talk more about it, both their mobile phones vibrated and after glancing at each other, it was too early for even Minako to spam memes, they grabbed after their phones.

"Ami." Both said at the same moment after checking their screens but before they could even read the message, the speakers inside the mess hall clanked and all pilots where commanded to immediately head to the Air Base and appear in their squadron's briefing rooms.

Not even ten minutes later, both pilots were standing in front of Commander Johnson, who briefed them.

Major Urawa, the Starstruck and the Far Side were on their way back from Kataia and they would bring company.

Although there had been no indication to distrust the Kataians, Artemis and Endymion on Coruscant had ruled to better be safe than sorry.

The Eternal wasn't ready yet, but every available starfighter of the Taskforce as well as the Forces of the ESDF would move into defensive positions asap.

Another ten minutes later, AICA, flown by SunTzu and with Hotaru in the backseat, both now dressed in their black flight suits with the grey stripes, formed up with the Voyager and lead the ESDF's Oceania Squadron of Headhunters to space and to form around the Selene.

The Far Side and the Starstruck were the first to fall out of Hyperspace, followed ten seconds later by the Pride of Kataia.

In close coordination with Captain Mancini, the Eternal's First Officer, Admiral Kim of the ESDF had taken control of the defense of Earth.

The ESDF, under United Nation's command, did what she was there for and had positioned itself so that the Selene was facing the Pride of Kataia and the Immobilizer was no match for the Majestic-Class.

"All ships of Taskforce Sol, you're cleared to approach Earth and land on Crystal Tokyo. Unknown cruiser, stay where you are and deactivate your systems."

SunTzu and Hotaru, their pilot helms on, shared a gaze over the rear mirror on the canopy.

So far no weapon or shield systems had been activated on the Pride and the Onyx Kataians hadn't disembarked from the Immobilizer yet as well.

"This is the Senator of Sol speaking from the Far Side, all Taskforce Sol and ESDF Forces stand down. After abolishing its autocratic and wrongly appointed government the Kataia-System has returned to the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances and therefore the Pride of Kataia is an allied ship. It will hold position until it gets official orders from it's chain of command."

It took a moment but then Kim came in again. "All units RTB. Welcome home, Madame Senator, and welcome to Sol System, Pride of Kataia."

"Thank you Admiral. It's good to know we can react to any intruders in such short time, good work."

While the Selene turned about into a less offensive facing, AICA and the Voyager followed the Starstruck and the Far Side back to Earth.

They met Ami and Rei at the landing spot of the Capital ships and took a ride back to the Military Headquarters.

The Senator and the Head of Royal Intelligence informed them what had happened on Kataia.

After the Wolves and the Pride's complement of loyal soldiers had freed Coltan Pedaw from his house arrest, the mission had been lead from the Immobilizer and had been under Command of the Pride's Captain, Pedaw's daughter, Unnistea. The Taskforce had supported the newly-founded rebellion as best as it could unofficially.

It didn't took long and Intelligence found proof that the election which had brought up the politician Vendro as their ruler had been forged.

Since Vendro had turned from charismatic politician to autocrat, and even brought foreign mercenaries to make sure his rule was save, the population was easy to rally behind Pedaw.

And the official military of Kataia was more than willing to rally behind their elite naval force.

When the Ruler's Residence fell after heavy fighting, Vendro took his own live while most of the enemy troops, their commander included, died in combat.

Pedaw was officially appointed as Interim Ruler and when Rei arrived he and the goverment immediately signed a decree to rejoin the Galactic Alliance.

Meanwhile Captain Pedaw and Major Harpas, the Commander of their Elite-TIE-Avenger-Squadron, had approached Ami and Makoto and had asked if they could somehow participate further in the fight for the sake of the Galaxy.

By then Ami, as well as everybody that had been there, was absolutely sure that the Kataians could be trusted so she pulled some switches and could procure two capital ships to protect the Kataia-System while she also had contacted Artemis and Endymion.

Both gave their okays to let the Pride of Kataia accompany the ships of Sol to Earth. All three of them knew what the best course of action would be.

After Ami told them the short story about what had happened on Kataia, Michiru and the others told her what exactly had happened in the Fondor-System, of course everybody had heard about the loss of the system and the demise of Garm Bel Iblis.

Haruka summarized the bitterness of the situation for anybody who had been there in simple words.

"We destroyed an Assertor, an Allegiance, a DSD and half a dozen Star Destroyers and they still took the bloody system. The population and our lads on the ground cut off from space. Bloody shit, it feels like Bel Iblis's sacrifice was for nothing in the end."

In the afternoon the Royals and Artemis arrived back on Earth and on the way already had scheduled an important meeting with the whole leadership of the Taskforce as well as the Kataian Forces' leadership.

The rest of the leadership was already sitting inside the meeting room when the Neo Queen, the King, the Head of Court and Artemis arrived.

People could already see it on the uniform and before Artemis could begin to talk his old protégé and partner in crime hugged him right in front of everybody to congratulate him, while his wife looked at him with elation in her eyes.

It was the King who opened the meeting.

"Before we begin this very important meeting it is with immense pride and pleasure that the CO of Task Force has officially been promoted as Rear Admiral of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliance's Navy. You deserved that for your outstanding work and commitment my friend."

People cheered for Artemis and he had to wait a minute until the applause had died down until he could thank his friends and comrades.

"Apart from this, there will be changes in our mission. Fleet Command has given us a new designation, from now on Taskforce Sol is directly under the Command of the Fleet Headquarters and the Chief of State as Special Operations Capable Fleet. This means we will be able to directly react to where we are needed the most."

Artemis looked over to the Captain Pedaw and Major Harpas. "Also effective immediately the Taskforce will be permanently reinforced by the Immobilizer-Cruiser Pride of Kataia and it's starfighter complement. Captain Santos will take my place as Captain of the Eternal and Captain Mancini will take over his position on the Far Side. First units will move out tomorrow morning 0500 CTT. Your Majesty?"

Artemis turned to the Neo Queen and both nodded.

"Thank you, Admiral. As you all heard we are now way more flexible in our missions than before. Being flexible and adaptable within our missions is exactly how we function the best. We will specify in the unspecified and fight Chaos wherever we are needed, no matter where in the Galaxy. We continue to serve the Galactic Alliance, our Alliance, and bring light and hope to this Galaxy, now more than ever. To our Kataian friends, thank you for joining us in our mission to save the Galaxy. Where the main fleet can't be, we will, saving the innocent and fighting the darkness. May the Moonlight shine bright on all our paths."

Cheering sounded off again, Sol was finally at the point it needed to be, an independent-acting small force with a lot of punch. No matter if with parts of the main fleets in large battles or behind enemy lines doing special missions, they were ready. And the Pride of Kataia would be a game changer for their tactics.

Sol had gotten in some hard blows lately but now it was time to strike back.

The first rays of light shone down on Crystal Tokyo when the Starstruck, Terra Squadron and AICA lifted off.

They would meet up with the Pride of Kataia and the Onyx Kataians near Earth and head to the Southern Deep Core to patrol and recon the area in advance of the rest of the Taskforce.

The sun had already climbed up behind the Fuji when Setsuna stopped her car in her driveway. She had been working all night and early morning, first making sure the patients at the medical wing of the Palace were taken care off and then had visited the Soichi-Tomoe-Hospital to see how the wounded treated there were doing and if everything was in order.

As she turned off the motor she glanced at the car's watch. Pretty sure Hotaru was already up and doing her training.

Hotaru had told her yesterday that she would leave the Earth along the other Senshi as SunTzu wanted to give her at least a moment to breathe, while he would head out this morning.

SunTzu. He seemed to have wanting to talk with her urgently yesterday, giving his glances at her after the meeting when she had seen him after he had congratulated Artemis and the two Capital Ship Captains to their promotions, but was then immediately told to get to a briefing from the Flight Commander and his staff.

Setsuna left the car, walked to the house and opened the door.

She let out a big sigh, finally home, and she couldn't wait for a shower and a few hours of sleep. But first she wanted a tea and a few minutes of peace and maybe talking to her daughter how Hotaru's evening had been.

Walking over into the kitchen she put her handbag on the counter and put her jacket over one of the chairs.

She just was about to fill a teapot with water when it rang on the door.

She held in for a moment, eyebrows furrowing, who could that be at that time of the day?

"Going!" Suddenly came Hotaru's voice from the living room as Setsuna put the teapot down and walked back to the door of their house.

As soon as she saw what happened at the door she froze and her jaw dropped.

Hotaru, dressed in training clothes and a towel around her neck was signing a form for a delivery man while another delivery man stood there with the largest bouquet of red roses she had ever seen. It was absolutely gigantic and must have been made up of hundreds of the flowers.

Hotaru finished signing and then pointed with her thumb over her shoulder.

"The roses are for her."

SunTzu checked the countdown, not much longer until they would fall out of hyperspace again.

They hadn't even made it to the South of the Deep Core when they had local forces at the western part of the area reporting of marauders in their vicinity. Captain Pedaw immediately reacted and after a small report to Crystal Tokyo another mission had surpassed their initial one.

Suddenly AICA came in. "Phone call, want to take it?"

"Who is it?"

"Meiou household."

"Patch it through."

Probably it would be Hotaru, asking what they were up to, AICA probably had spilled the beans that they were already on a search&destroy-mission.

"Good Morning."

"Good Morning, SunTzu."

SunTzu immediately straightened up in his cockpit, that was not the Meiou he awaited to call him, not at all. Had they already delivered the flowers? And even so, he never had awaited a call, just the usual message, sorry I can't accept that. Was she that angry?

"Setsuna… how nice that you're calling me."

"I… I don't know what to say."

Behind Setsuna in the kitchen a grinning Hotaru stood in the door and listened.

"No one ever sent me such an amount of flowers. By far. Chronos, five hundred roses! They are beautiful."

They really were beautiful, perfect dark red blossoms on lush green stalks.

"I wanted to say thank you with these." SunTzu cleared his throat. "I would have lost it after loosing my platoon, if you wouldn't have been there for me."

"I really don't know what to say."

"Say nothing. Instead, join me for dinner the next time we are able to."

Setsuna froze, barely managing to not say yes in an instant. She would have loved to, but she just couldn't.

Baby steps, Setsuna. Don't just dismiss him out of fear, that would hurt you both and you don't want to hurt him more.

"I… I'll think about it, okay?" Her voice sounded honest and SunTzu began to smile. At least she hadn't shot him down immediately again. At least there seemed to be progress.

"Re-entry in ten… nine…" AICA came in suddenly.

"Listen, I gotta go. Talk to you later."

Hopefully…

"Please take care."

"Copy."

And then SunTzu ended the call and a second later they were back in Real Space, a small solar system ahead of them, and a group of pirates probably hiding in it.

SunTzu still grinned when he accelerated AICA and lead the formation on.

Time to make that difference.