A Ship and her Captain : An Isekai Story

by The Imperator 2 you

A Man working part time as a drink runner, finds himself reincarnated into the world of his space game after saving the life of a little girl from a train collision. A fan of nintendo games, he nicknamed his ship, Great Fox, and now finds himself as her captain. Gathering a crew of loyal friends and even love interests, what kind of life will he live in this new world?

2. Chapter 2

[Ship's Log : P.W 2.59.491]

[We are on course to our destination, the fifth planet in the Belga system. Captain has spent the last thirty hours in transit exploring the confines of the vessel, and familiarizing himself with the various areas of the ship. Despite his status as my Captain, and knowing that he is my Captain... Captain Arthur has shown... discrepancies in his memories regarding his knowledge of my interiors. However, regardless, I know for a fact that he is my Captain, my 'only' Captain. His biosignatures match my data locks that prevent any non-permitted entity access to any of my interior rooms. The fact that he was able to activate and access all of my rooms confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt his status as Captain of the Great Fox.]

[Despite having been accustomed to living alone and not requiring any assistance over the years, my captain has elected to 'hire a crew' to assist and help in maintaining both me and the 'crew' of the ship. As this is his decision, I will not object and will assist however I am able to. To that end we have narrowed down a selection of a 'minimum crew compliment' that will satisfy our current needs for potential future missions. We will need Fighter Pilots to take control of and man the 'Arwing' fighters in the lower hull. We will also need a 'Cook' to help cook food for the crew, as he wishes to eat 'real' meals and not synthetic meals. Engineers to help maintain my systems and ensure everything is working in peak performance. A 'Medical Officer' to help with ensuring the crew is healthy and for any future medical needs. And finally, we will need a 'Science Officer' to help with any scientific curiosities we may have.]

[We are on fast approach now to Belga Cinco, the Planetary Port Authority is requesting clearance and identification files for our approach to the planet's surface. Once we finish and have been cleared to land, the ship can dock at the surface spaceport to unload our supplies. Captain meanwhile, will head to the surface ahead of Great Fox so that he can head to the Depot Manager to complete our mission parameters and sign off on the successful delivery completion. Once confirmed, we will receive our payment and have it be transferred to his account.]

[Captain is 'eager' to arrive to the planet's surface, however, he is unaware of possible dangers or potential mishaps that may befall him. As in previous assignments he has undertaken, we have never needed to go to the planet's surface and have him leave the ship to complete our missions, only ever needing to contact the local Depot Manager to confirm offloading was accomplished and signed to complete the mission.]

[To that end, I have suggested as he leaves that he takes a HUD Headset, so that he may have a direct link to my systems and AI. I will act as his advisor and recommend various actions based on the situation, he finds himself in, as well as provide information and support as needed. While connected, he can request I carry out actions if needed, and if he finds himself in trouble, I can request local authorities to render assistance. However, despite these potential threats, he has elected 'not' to carry a personal defense blaster pistol, as Captain appears, 'hesitant' to use it.]

=Chapter 2 – A Captain named Arthur now Gathers his Crew=

= A Harem of Pilots? =

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"Whoa... it's so beautiful." He muttered as he stared through the viewing windows of the Bridge, observing as they neared the planet of Belga Cinco.

He'd seen Belga Cinco a few times, but he'd never seen it from the perspective of the surface outside of the starport and again, only from the perspective of his landed ship, so he was 'eager' to explore and see what it looked like. From space however, he had to admit that the planet resembled an Earth if the continents were arranged differently. The planet was about sixty-percent water with forty percent landmasses across the surface, but unlike Earth there were five continents, three ocean locked and looking like massive islands while two were locked together by a small strip of land that made the two appear to resemble a crooked hourglass. Clouds could be seen floating across the sky across the vast surface of the planet, like little puffs of softness gently sailing across the horizons.

Surrounding the planet were various stations and platforms where ships were either floating or docking near, or even being worked on. He could see hundreds of vessels from the two nearest space stations alone, which were oversized docking stations like construction yards similar to the Shipyards he'd seen on Star Trek, where several ships were being worked on. He could see huge battleships, large and small cargo carriers, corvettes and cruisers of all shapes and sizes. There were also orbital weapons platforms and orbital sensor pods dotting the space around the planet, it truly looked like a futuristic space fairing planet that was heavy with traffic and activity.

But to him aboard Great Fox... "It all... looks so 'peaceful' from up here." He muttered as the planet looked so small, even as it was rapidly growing bigger.

[Belga Cinco's Planetary Port Authorities are requesting our clearance credentials and permits to land on the planet, we are also being queried about our purpose for approaching the planet so heavily armed.] Great Fox told him.

"Uh..." He was about to say, wondering who he should contact regarding that.

Whenever he approached a planet, he just clicked on a window when the port authority sent him a prompt and he'd reply with a message saying "He was there to complete a mission" and then asked which mission. He would then tell his ship to autopilot to the surface, where a loading screen took over, and loaded up the Starport of the world. He'd then sit through a cutscene of his ship offloading supplies, and then he'd sit there clicking menus seeing what missions he could take, before either selecting one and accepting it, or proceeding to depart after being cleared by the port authority again.

[Shall I send our credentials, mission status, and landing permits Captain?] She asked in a warm tone.

"Y-yea... thank you Great Fox." He said in relief.

He was worried about having to explain who he was without tipping his hand that he had been reincarnated into this world. It was still a weird experience, but when he fell asleep, he half expected everything that happened to have been one 'massive' dream, but instead he found himself in his bedroom with a fresh uniform waiting for him to change into when he was ready. But since Great Fox seemed to already know the protocols of what to do, he decided to let her do the talking with the port authorities.

[Of course, Captain... transmitting our credentials... credentials received, transmitting mission details and cargo ledger... details and ledger received, transmitting permit request to land and begin offloading cargo... permits received and approved. We are being sent coordinates to hold near for Planetary Port Authority scanning crews to arrive and perform an extensive scan and inspection of our cargo and armaments. The procedure will take approximately two standard local planet hours to complete upon arriving and offloading will take a further twenty-four hours to fully offload.]

"Geez... that's a 'long' time." He muttered, but he reasoned that his ship was 'enormous' and the cargo was probably a lot to sort through, not to mention they had to make sure his ship's armaments were all accounted for.

If the port depot needed to be this thorough and for it to take this long, it was probably for good reason.

[Yes Captain, all things considered we are on schedule with the time period you wanted to complete by, we should complete the original mission time period given to us with one day to spare.] Great Fox said in a proud tone.

"Was that a jab at me because I wanted to take longer instead of finishing as fast as possible?" He teased the ship, having become accustomed to talking to the AI of the ship.

[Negative Captain, I am simply stating that we are on schedule with the original time period allotted to us on Blega Seis when we accepted the original mission.] It replied in a polite tone this time. [We were given five days to complete it, we have arrived in three days, it will take another day to finish offloading, therefore we have one day to spare. We are technically ahead of schedule.]

He chuckled; the ship was one hundred percent taking a jab at him in its own way over the fact he wanted to go slow instead of finishing the mission as fast as possible.

"Well, as much as I enjoy living on you Great Fox, I'd like to visit the planet as soon as possible, is there any way we can speed up the process?" He asked hopefully.

[Negative, the Planetary Port Authority must conduct a thorough search and catalog every detail about the ship and our cargo before we can land. However, the Great Fox Personnel Transport has been granted express clearance to land ahead of Great Fox as its shields are extremely light and the hull is non-shielded to scanning equipment. Therefore, it can be quickly scanned by automated scanning equipment from the planet, and as we have transmitted our landing permits and credentials, you will be permitted to land without being stopped by the Planetary Port Authority.]

He smiled at that, before he shook his head in surprise. "Wait, did you say 'personnel transport?" He asked. "When did Great Fox have a 'Personnel Transport'?"

[We have always had a single Personnel Transport on operational standby, however, you never found a reason to use it, and as such it has remained on standby in the lower decks next to Arwing 6. You may board it and take it to the surface while Great Fox continues through the procedures from the Port Authorities.] The ship replied instantly. [Once down on the surface, you can head to the Main Depot and speak to the Depot Manager to collect our reward, and even take on another mission if you feel so inclined. Or you may explore the city surrounding the spaceport and visit various shops to purchase items of your interest. You may also choose to carry out the task you set yourself and locate ideal candidates for filling out the ship's crew manifest.]

"Oh... uh, then what about you and Great Fox?" He asked worriedly. "Where will you land and how will I be able to locate you again, what if they send you to somewhere else then where I go? What if I need to contact you, how will I reach you? What if I need help talking to someone or, something comes up?"

He was afraid of landing by himself, he'd been with Great Fox for the past few days, and the ship... despite being an AI, was the closest thing to an ally and friend he'd had in this world. She was a reliable partner who could talk to him and help him with almost anything so far. She was the also the only 'thing' that he could trust with his knowledge and 'lack' of experience in this world to guide him until he was better familiar with everything. Fighting pirates in space is one thing, but dealing with people, cultures, even 'races' that are so different then his and what he was familiar with is another story.

[Do not worry Captain, our landing permits are linked, where the transport lands is where Great Fox will land. When it comes time to land the ship itself to begin offloading our cargo, I will have the autopilot engage the transport if you are not available to pilot it and have it dock with Great Fox, before the ship lands on the surface.] The Great Fox said with a calm, reassuring and encouraging tone. [As for maintaining communications with the ship, there is a HUD Headset located in the Personnel Transport that you can take, and I will be able to maintain communications with you, providing you with assistance as you need it.]

He sighed as he leaned back in the chair and breathed in relief. "Thank you, Great Fox... I was scared... you know... I'm not sure if anyone will believe my 'reincarnation' story when they ask why I don't know many things..." He muttered nervously. "I know you said you wouldn't share that information with anyone but... I'm still a little scared... I'm surprised 'you' even believe me."

[There are... inconsistencies with your memories and our past that seem to correlate with your theory. On top of that, your injuries that were unexplained, and the sudden appearance and change in your mindset and familiar patterns, do correlate to your theory being true.] The ship stated in a polite, but confused tone. [However, all information I can confirm, indicates you are still my Captain, and as such I will continue to assist and carry out your wishes. That has not changed regarding my status as your Ship AI Captain. You are my Captain, and I am your ship, that will never change between us.]

There was a brief moment where he expected that to be the end of his ship's response, but no his ship still had 'one' more thing to add.

[Though, it is... in your words... comforting... to know you shared this information with me. You trust me with such a secret... it is... comforting, the knowledge of being trusted with such information.] She said with a warm and gentle tone. [I will... encrypt the information to ensure nobody else can access it, if they attempt to hack my AI or gain control of the ship for whatever reason.]

He shook his head in amusement, but he was glad the AI was willing to do that to keep his secret a secret. Perhaps it was just because his ship was the 'first' thing he talked to in this world, or perhaps because of its near human responses, but it seemed like... the Great Fox AI was someone he could really trust in this place.

"Alright... well, I trust you Great Fox to take care of things while I head to the surface." He said as he got up and stretched, having been sitting in the seat of the bridge since Belga Cinco came into visual range. "Can you direct me to the 'Personnel Transport' now?"

[Of course, please follow the white line.] Great Fox said happily as he stepped out.

He sighed in disbelief as he saw the nearby wall have a white line show up, but because the interior of the ship was a silvery white, it barely was noticeable. "Can you pick a more 'noticeable' color please?"

After a second the color of the line changed to orange, and he began following it to his destination.

The journey to the lower decks where the Arwings were located was a relatively long walk, about twenty minutes in total, mostly going down various flights of stairs and short walks through hallways to reach other stairs. There were a few door check points on the lower deck that required clearance to pass through, but since he was the captain, they instantly permitted him access at his approach.

As he reached the hanger bay where the 'Arwings' were located, he noticed it starting to get colder, a little too cold for his liking. He was glad he was wearing his uniform as it helped him with the cold, but still he wondered why it was so cold down here compared to upstairs?

"Hey Great Fox, why is it so cold down here?" He asked the ship as he approached the bay doors, shivering a little as he walked.

[Due to the energy requirements to heat the entirety of the ship in the Vaccuum of Space, many sections of Great Fox are not prioritized to heat while traveling in Low Profile Mode.] Great Fox said. [The priority sections for heat are the cargo bays that require heating priority over cooling in regards to preservation requirements, and the forward section of the ship which houses living quarters and other areas that are mostly inhabited by the crew.]

"In other words, only the sections of the ship I've visited and are expected to have people actively moving around are heated, and now this is what the rest of the ship feels like?" He said with a little shiver.

[Correct Captain.]

He was glad they were almost at Belga Cinco; he actually was now missing the warmth of the sun as he passed through the bay doors, which had the Great Fox insignia he'd become accustomed to, but this time had an image of a ship as its base to signify what this section of the ship was for. Inside the bay were a series of catwalks, which all crisscrossed through the empty bay with various mechanical arms and rails littering the floor and ceiling. Inside of various slots he could see several ships sitting in their little nests awaiting pilots.

The first ones he noticed were the six identical ships he knew as Arwings, the fighter that he'd purchased to act as this ship's protecting Anti-Fighter/Bomber support units a long time ago. They were blue, sleek, angular ships with a narrow forward-facing cockpit with thrusters placed on the rear for forward movement in space, as well as versatile weapon slots on the port/starboard side of the ship's cockpit, allowing it to interchangeably switch between weapon attachments to fit any combat situation. Each Arwing's main body was about ten meters long from tip to rear, four meters tall, and three meters wide, with the rear pointing wings and flight stabilizers adding an additional four meters in length and two meters in width to the fighter, and imprinted on the side was the Great Fox emblem surrounding a bullseye. The wings themselves could be separated as well to add additional wing attachment modules, which varied to allow faster speed or more maneuverability, or even additional shielding depending on what the situation was calling for. The ships were... outdated, considering when he got them was in the game's early life cycle, so more powerful, durable models were on the market, but he liked the versatility of these ships because he could adapt them on the fly during battle if necessary to meet whatever a battle demanded. Furthermore, with module upgrades, he could improve their capabilities to be more than a match for even top of the line fighters that were built with stronger hulls.

At the moment they were on standby, and as such had no armaments attached to them, so they looked to him like X-wings without the folding s-coils, but he knew that with their armaments they would each resemble a bulky fighter that to the naked eye looked like a light bomber.

"Wow... I never saw them so up close." He muttered as he touched the cockpit of one of the ships. "Can you... tell me more about them that I might not know? All I remember about them is that they're fighters meant to help protect you from bombers and other fighters in raids."

[These are Dylerian-Centro VG-1 Post Beta Multi-Modular Bottlenose-D-Zentra Fighters, purchased three months after my Maiden Voyage Mission.] Great Fox said as he examined them more closely, seeing where the pilot sat and the various handles and buttons at their disposal. [Capable of reaching high speeds matching Great Fox's outside of transwarp speeds and both entering and exiting the atmosphere of planetary bodies and even withstanding the vacuum of space, these vessels are also heat resistant of up to temperatures equal to that of a planetary system's star. Each Model is capable of modular equipment and attachments to fit a multitude of roles ranging from anti-fighter/bomber to heavy gunner escort and even a light bomber depending on the role needed in a combat situation. These six fighters were purchased by you, Captain Arthur, for the protection of Great Fox in combat situations and for use by the captain in situations that require him to participate in combat but does not wish to risk the safety of the ship.]

[Upon ownership being transferred to you, you renamed them 'Arwing'. These particular models are listed as... Arwing Four... Arwing Six... Arwing Nine... Arwing Three... Arwing Twelve... and Arwing Fourteen.] Great Fox declared, and as each was listed, a spotlight turned on and highlighted them.

"Whoa... wait, fourteen? How many Arwings did we have?"

[We at one point had a maximum of twenty Arwings, however due to various scenarios they were lost. Six were lost in mission scenarios due to 'recklessness' and seven were lost when the captain took them into various high profile galactic conflicts that were deemed too dangerous by the Captain for Great Fox to participate in, with one lost due to 'pilot error', resulting in the Arwing crashing into the ship's shields.]

He felt himself squirm on the inside, as he started remembering 'why' there were only six left out of the original twenty. He sometimes lent his Arwings to his friends to protect his ship during high profile missions, and they would get a little too 'gung-ho' and lost them in battle. He would also take some to participate in massive PVP skirmishes and battles, and he sometimes got shot down or blown up. As for the 'pilot error' Arwing, it was his first time flying it and he decided to try manually docking the Arwing himself, but mis-aligned himself to the docking bay, and instead of being locked on by tractor beams to bring it to a halt and safely dock... he ended up crashing into the ship.

"Yea... thanks for telling me, it's all coming back to me now. That explains everything." He muttered in embarrassment.

He was so regretting his past decisions now, with only 'six' fighters left if anything happened to them his ship would struggle to protect itself if the worst happened.

"Is there a way we can replenish our stockpile of fighters? I'm noticing that we can fit more down here." He asked as he looked around the empty nests where his fighters could rest and seeing the other fourteen slots were empty.

[The Dylerian-Centro VG-1 Post Beta Multi-Modular Bottlenose-D-Zentra Fighter has been discontinued from factory production due to its obsolete status with more modern and highly specialized fighters being mass produced. As such we cannot place an order at the depot for these fighters. However, each planet has a 'ship store' where we can make inquiries to see if they have any of the model you are looking for. If they do, we can make a purchase and they will be transferred to Great Fox, where we can perform repairs and bring them up to standards as they will most likely require fixing due to their obsolete status and being left in scrapyards.]

He sighed as he translated what she was saying. Naturally as the game itself evolved and was updated, certain things became obsolete the older the game became. His own ship's original hull was replaced by more standardized ship hulls, his own being a mostly 'battleship' build but able to double as a cargo vessel with a built-in hanger bay. Cargo Ships weren't meant to be run with so much firepower as well as the ability to carry fighters and be equipped with station-level shields, likewise Battleships weren't designed to carry so much cargo and travel so heavily laden with no loss of speed. Same with the fighters, they were too micro intensive and it was cheaper for captains to pay for specialized fighters instead of a base model with multiple modular attachments. His choice of fighters was too micro intensive, but since he was a 'gamer', he was able to handle macroing the fighters and adjusting them mid fight when needed. For other captains though, that was too much work and some just wanted to brawl, hence why his fighter stopped being produced. He didn't think much at the time but, now that he was short on fighters...

"Alright, well I guess we need to head down to the depot then." He muttered as he turned away from his Arwings.

There was only one other ship in the hanger as he walked on the walkway to it, but it was hardly a 'ship' as he approached it. Instead, it more resembled a private yacht that he'd see owned by rich CEOs and Company managers on the oceans. It was eleven meters wide, twenty-seven meters long and nearly nine meters tall. Its main body was a smooth rounded rectangular shape with an ocean blue metal for its exterior. At the front attached to the main 'head' of the transport were three wing-like protrusions ending in engines meant to maneuver and propel the ship forward through space on the sides and roof, while at the rear were three multi-sized engines meant to give it more powerful thrust and help it both escape and enter the atmosphere of planets. Along its side was the symbol of... as expected, Great Fox surrounding several chairs and stylized renditions of people sitting.

"T-this is a Personnel transport?" He asked as he stared down at the work of art below him.

[Affirmative, this is the Private Personnel Transport attached to Great Fox, standard Issue, to be piloted by the captain for the private transpiration of multiple crew members to a variety of areas including temperate, cold, and hot climate zones. This particular model is a Dylerian-Centro VX-2 Post Beta Beluga-Zentra Transport. Reaching speeds equal to Great Fox outside of transwarp speeds, able to breach planetary atmospheres, equipped with an autopilot system and linked to Great Fox's systems via an onboard external computer system, this vessel is lightly shielded and protected.] Great Fox replied in a warm and knowledgeable tone. [For transportation purposes to planetary surfaces or recreational flights through space, the Dylerian-Centro VX-2 Post Beta Beluga-Zentra Transport is equipped with multiple private bedrooms and a dining hall with built in miniature kitchen as well as luxury seating and viewscreen observing, including a hot tub for luxury bathing, and finally standard seating for up to twelve passengers while in transit.]

"T-this is a 'standard' transport?" He asked in shock as this ship looked like it was meant for royalty.

[Affirmative Captain. Would you like to commence boarding for your journey to Belga Cinco?] Great Fox asked as a door opened and a ramp extended from the walkway to the transport below him, with the vessel even starting to warm up its engines as lights turned on inside.

"Uh... are you 'sure' I need a transport this 'luxurious' just to go land on the surface and talk to the Depot Manager?" He muttered in horror, as he was afraid to damage a beauty like that with his flying just so he could go tell the Depot Manager, 'We arrived earlier than required to, blew up some pirates, can we offload our cargo and can we get our money now?'

[Oh... would you prefer to pilot one of the Arwings instead?] The Ship asked hesitantly, as the ramp slowly began to retract and the transport began shutting down. [They are not equipped for combat, but are still flight ready... and will draw less attention if you wish it.]

He waited for a moment as he listened to the 'hesitant tone' of his ship, she appeared to have been excited to see him take the 'transport' and now sounded disappointed that he seemed to want to take the Arwing instead. He then recalled his memories of the game and realized; he 'never' used the transport as it was never really an option. Whenever he landed on a planet to offload his cargo at a spaceport, he was always treated to a cutscene and then his ship was just 'sitting' on the ground as little trucks offloaded cargo containers. He never actually 'left' his ship unless he took an Arwing.

Smiling, he said, "Nah, let's take the transport, get her ready for me." He said proudly. "This is technically 'her' maiden flight right, I don't think I've ever used her before?"

[Yes Captain, this is the transport's first flight!] Great Fox replied happily as the ramp returned and the ship began warming up again. [Engines are coming online, fuel is at optimal levels, and all systems are activating. I am linking my systems to the onboard external computer, please board when you are ready Captain Arthur!]

Smiling, he figured that for a Ship AI, the first flight for 'any' vessel was an exciting thing and something it looked forward to. He chuckled as he strolled on the ramp and through the open hatch of the ship and just gawked at the luxury seating of the transport. The interior of the transport that he entered was the forward most portion, with a low ceiling and large open window for viewing and three rows of four comfortable chairs packed together for basic seating purposes. At the front were two seats with multiple computer panels and even a steering wheel, obviously meant for the pilot and co-pilot to assist in managing the ship. At the rear of the room was a door and a small staircase that led further into the transport and to lower levels, probably to the 'luxury sections' he was told about.

The computer systems were already coming online and he was slow to take a seat as he didn't know where he should sit, or if he should be sitting in one of the regular seats or the pilot's seats.

[Take your seat Captain, we will be departing shortly.] The ship told him even in the confines of the transport.

"Uh... where do you want me to sit... like... uhm... I've never 'actually' flown a starship... or landed a starship before. I think I've had the autopilot do that for me every time. The only time I've manually flown you has been in combat scenarios in ship-to-ship maneuvers."

[I will handle the piloting Captain, unless you wish to assert manual control.] She told him as multiple lights started blinking and the ship started turning as it prepared to exit the Great Fox's hanger bay. [Please take your seat.]

Nodding he went over to co-pilot's seat so he could look outside the front window freely, and so he wouldn't accidentally interfere with Great Fox's controlling of the transport. Outside the window he watched as the ship lowered the transport and it was rolled closer to the hanger door on the rails situated on the floor, when it neared the door a crack began to appear as multiple clamps grabbed ahold of the ship and began to carefully rotate it sideways and maneuver it.

[Docking clamps ready to release, transport interior sealed and pressurized, fuel cells at optimal levels.] The ship stated as the name of the vessel appeared on a panel next to him. [Dylerian-Centro VX-2 Post Beta Beluga-Zentra Transport HG-09-BPB-991-]

"Great Fox..." He interrupted her, seeing the overly long ship name.

[Yes Captain?]

He was quiet as he thought about it, and then said, "If we're going to fly this ship for the first time, we should give it a 'proper' name... not its... ID or whatever model it is... I want to call this transport... 'Blue Fox'."

He figured it wasn't the 'cleverest' name... but hey, it was 'his' ship and he could call it George if he wanted.

"You're my 'Great Fox'... and this... is my Blue Fox."

There was a moment of silence before the long name on the panel blinked and began deleting the name, replacing it with the name 'Blue Fox' with a happy fox face symbol.

[Name change acknowledge and entered into the database... updating our credentials and landing permits... permits and credentials updated, received and accepted. Blue Fox is cleared to depart and land on Belga Cinco Primary Spaceport. Departing now...]

He could see the hanger bay doors open and watched as Blue Fox was maneuvered toward the opening to space, the transport was then slowly rotated as it passed through a shield-like barrier that seemed to be protecting the interior of the bay from the vacuum of space, but allowing things such as ships to pass through safely. Once the ship was well and truly in space and fully rotated, the docking clamps released the ship he was on and it began floating freely away until the engines activated and pushed it forward toward the planet.

However he could see off to the side the ship, and he suddenly had a wish to view his ship in its entirety with his own eyes.

"Wait Great Fox, can you... readjust our flight path for a moment?" He asked quickly.

[Is something wrong?] She responded.

"Nothing I just... was hoping to... view Great Fox... I mean, 'you'... in your entirety with my own eyes." He said. "I've only ever seen you through a screen, I've never seen all of you with my own eyes. If... it's alright that is, and it won't affect our flight plans."

The transport was still nosediving towards the planet so he assumed it wasn't possible for a moment, but then the ship took a sharp turn to the right and all he could see was empty space for a full five minutes. Then... at last, Blue Fox turned back towards Great Fox and he saw... her, in her entirety.

His ship, was beautiful, there was no other way to describe her other than she was a beautiful ship to him. He had seen her so many times through his computer screen, but it was another thing to see her physically in front of him, flying through space. Her sleek silvery-white metal contrasting with the darkness of space, the sight of her massive engines propelling her forward, her fox-like head portraying a brave creature sailing the spaceways, and her six wings giving an aura of strength and speed. The multiple cargo bay doors contrasting her various decks and the various lights on her body lighting up her entire form for all to see. Blue Fox flew toward her, then under her, allowing him to see the underside, before coming out on the other side and turning to fly alongside her by her upper decks, granting him a view of her flying side by side with him.

"Wow... you're... beautiful Great Fox... I've never seen you like this before." He whispered in awe. "It's one thing to see you through a screen, it's another to... just... look at you like this."

The transport began to slowly descend toward the planet at an increasingly rapid pace, leaving Great Fox to fly onward, slowing down its progress as it approached one of the orbital platforms, but while the main ship proceeded forward, Great Fox responded to his statement with a very warm and equally quiet, [Thank you... Captain.] after a full ten seconds since he whispered what he was thinking.

As he watched Great Fox slowly shrinking behind him and eventually out of visual range of the window, he was already feeling homesick. Great Fox was the best, if not 'closest' thing he had to a home in this world. He was already missing her familiar hum and the comforting presence of her interior, but as he descended toward the planet and Blue Fox began to enter the atmosphere, the window began to heat up rapidly and even the ship began to shake slightly.

Yet through it all he never lost his composure or trust in the ship AI's ability to fly or assurance that he would be safe and sound. So, while they descended, he just simply decided to enjoy the ride.

After a few minutes he watched as the ship slowly began to cool down and then stared in 'awe' as he finally saw the surface of Belga Cinco.

The surface was an amazing landscape of grasslands and lakes, with an ocean that he was currently flying over toward the continental destination of the Belga Cinco primary Spaceport. Clouds raced by as Blue Fox flew onward at an amazing speed. He could see multiple cities in the deep distance and as ocean faded to land, he could see multiple towns and a few lower tech cities dotting the ground, roads and highways and even the obvious telltale signs of farmlands one would expect on a planet.

VRReeeewrsh

He snapped up from the ground and looked upwards at the engines of a small transport pulling up above him, resembling a rusted brown box being dragged by a silver-grey cabin with two airplane turbines on either side of the cabin. The transport pulled ahead before angling down toward what looked like a miniature depot that was dotted with several vehicles, both ground based and space-worthy.

"What was that?" He asked.

[A farming Transport making a pickup.] Great Fox declared. [Belga Cinco, Seis and Tres are the planets part of a farming planetary based system that produce and exports food to six different planetary systems. They also inter trade between each other for food options that cannot be grown on their own systems. The food we delivered from Belga Seis to Belga Cinco is a very high-demand commodity for the inhabitants as the fruits can only be grown on tropical-climate planetary systems.]

"Wait, how is that possible?" He asked as they began to slow down while Blue Fox slowly, ever so slowly, began to descend closer to the ground.

[Belga Cinco's climate is extremely temperate and rarely rises above twenty degrees Celsius, and rarely dips below 15 degrees. Belga Seis however, is almost twenty-nine degrees Celsius year-round. We also delivered several canisters of water and fuel which is where the bulk of our reward comes from. Since these planets do not have much in the way of fuel reserves, fuel is a high demand import from nearby systems.]

He nodded as he continued to stare around the moving landscape, wanting to learn as much of this world as he could, as this was his first time 'ever' going to another place that wasn't... well his ballpark job. He was so excited to be approaching a new place, he couldn't wait to explore and learn new things. But he reminded himself that he had a job to do first, he had to go to the Depot Manager, sign off and confirm the completion of his mission and collect his reward. Once that was done, he could go run around like his ship explained and do whatever fancied his whims.

Speaking of the Depot, he saw an enormously large tower that dominated the landscape, rising higher than any skyscraper or mountain he knew of that could match and a 'huge' sprawling city that spanned as far as the eye could see. Dominating most of the city was a massive open square lot of what appeared to be concrete or something where multiple ships were situated on and being tended to. He could see hundreds of fighters, several cruisers, a few light frigates, and what appeared to be a small dreadnaught strewn around the spaceport at random intervals. He wondered where Great Fox was supposed to land in all of this, when he noticed a 'massive' open space that Blue Fox was heading toward, slowing down until it came to a near standstill and then slowly descending.

[The Control Tower acknowledges our arrival and welcomes us to Belga Cinco... achieving touchdown in five seconds.] Great Fox told him as she maneuvered them to land. [Please remain seated until we have come to a complete stop...]

He smiled as he held his seat and felt the ship lurch slightly as it landed.

[Welcome, to Belga Cinco.]

He got up and got ready to walk out when he realized, he didn't have a phone or any way to communicate with Great Fox, nor did he know where the 'Depot Manager' was that he had to talk to. Actually, now that he thought about it, he didn't know where 'anything' was, how was he going to find his way around?!

"Uh, Great Fox, how do I keep in touch with you?" He asked before he left the ship.

[You will find a Heads Up Dipslay (HUD) Headset under the pilot's seat and there is also a Planetary Positioning System (PPS) Glove that you can wear. These items will allow me to remain in contact with you Captain, and will allow you to find your way around.]

He looked under the seat and dug around, and sure enough slotted into the chair's underside was a small headset that looked like a single square monocle without the lens, connected to a rear headband that rested atop his ears and wrapped around the back of his head. The glove was as the ship said, a heavy glove that resembled an electric fingerless heating glove with bult in circuitry that he could see on the top half of his glove.

After putting the items on he eventually found the 'on' button and clicked it, and suddenly saw a tiny holographic window appear in front of his right eye and took up the entire right portion of his sight. Yet even though it was there, it was only visible as this very transparent, barely visible blue line to indicate where the hologram's outline was. Within that outline various windows and pop ups appeared before eventually disappearing.

"Whoa... that is 'so cool'." He said as Great Fox, or at least the 'head' of his ship appeared in a tiny window as a portrait. "It's like... never mind, it's just real cool!"

[With this active I can communicate to you privately and assist you as needed, it's also through this HUD that you can use the glove to track where you need to go via a Waypoint. While the HUD is active, I can set up waypoints for you as needed, you only have to give me a destination and I will set up a waypoint for you to follow. You may test it now; I am setting up a waypoint for the Blue Fox hatch so you may exit.] She said, and with each word her still portrait flashed slightly to indicate she was talking to him.

"Okay... how do I test it, the waypoint system? I'm not seeing any buttons on the glove."

[Extend your arm and angle the palm of your hand toward the ground, then make a gesture with your hand as if dropping an item on the ground and expecting it to bounce upward, allowing you to catch the item. In this case, pretend you are dropping a rubber ball onto the ground, expecting it to bounce up and back into your palm.]

He nodded and did that, extending his arm and hand forward and then flicking it with his palm out. Instantly he saw a blue light flash from his hand toward the ground, creating a ripple on the floor like water dropping into a lake, before flying forward and creating a flashing blue line which led directly to the door.

"It works, it works perfectly, exactly like you said Great Fox!" He said excitedly.

[The waypoint will remain active for a few minutes on your HUD or until a certain distance has been passed, when the original 'ping' of the PPS that you created has vanished. When that happens, you may establish a new tracking ping by repeating the gesture and continuing to follow the established line. This waypoint system will remain until you reach your destination or you request me to remove it or establish a new waypoint.] Great Fox said as he headed to the door. [I am removing the test waypoint now, and establishing a new waypoint. Your next destination should be the Belga Cinco Starport, Central Depot Main Office Building. You will then request to speak to the Depot Manager, file some paperwork and complete the mission to collect our reward for a successful and safe delivery of all cargo.]

He nodded as he noticed that next to the hatch was a small weapon's rack, with several pistols sitting in slots, all locked together.

"Uhm... I'm guessing those guns are for... self-defense, right?"

[Affirmative Captain, for your safety I recommend taking one. Your vest has a built-in holster, and you are licensed to carry a weapon for self-defense purposes.]

He nervously reached for it, but he shook his head and pulled his hand away. "No... no offence Great Fox but... I don't want to even 'think' of potentially having to shoot a gun even in self-defense. It's one thing to defend myself in space, but if I have to defend myself, I don't want to risk killing someone by mistake... it's... just not in my nature to kill."

[Very well Captain... in that case, please, try your best to avoid danger.]

He nodded and stepped out of the ship as the hatch opened, and he saw that the transport had already prepped a ladder for him to use to get to ground floor. What surprised him though, was that there was a light vehicle waiting for him at the bottom on ground floor.

"Where did this vehicle come from, did someone come out here and just leave it, or was it here when we arrived?" He asked as he was enjoying the nice cool day despite the sun being out in full and hardly any clouds in the sky.

[This is a ground-based automated personnel transport designed for short range journeys. I placed a request for an automated unit to arrive as I was unsure if you knew how to operate such a vehicle.] Great Fox told him. [They have only one speed and are very simple to operate. You may manually drive it, let it's built in autopilot drive, or if you wish, you can allow me to directly link my systems to the vehicle and operate it for you, and take you to the main spaceport terminal, so that you may exit out into the city.]

"You can do that all the way down here despite being in space?" He asked in amazement. "I thought you... oh wait, your also linked to Blue Fox, and Blue Fox has an external computer system that you're using right?"

[Affirmative, also these vehicles have very little protection against advanced AI ship systems, and are only able to operate within the confines of the spaceport's landing grounds. Once you reach the spaceport terminal and exit into the city, I will be unable to link with any further systems as that would be a violation of the law.]

He nodded as he got into the vehicle which resembled a very 'small' and light jeep, or even a go-kart version of a jeep and began to examine the controls. It was as Great Fox said, simple to understand, two pedals and a steering wheel, one to go forward and the other to stop. After a bit of fiddling to learn the ropes, he started driving toward the main terminal building. Though... he did have trouble steering a little bit and was glad that there was so much space in between each grounded ship, as he was afraid of accidentally running into one and causing an accident.

As he drove, he felt the ground rumble slightly, and watched as moments later the Dreadnaught that was grounded was now starting to take off. He paused in his journey to observe in awe as the mighty vessel began to take off. "Wow... I know I keep saying this but... wow Great Fox." He whispered as eight fighters also took off and started flying alongside the Dreadnaught, its engines lighting up and propelling it skyward, off into space.

[It is understandable Captain; I assume you never see Goldfin class dreadnaughts taking flight with a squadron of X-Tera class fighters escorting it in... your previous life.] She stated in a subtle tone.

"I would be lucky to see a one-hour old video of a space shuttle taking off... let alone... everything here." He told her as he resumed driving.

The journey to the terminal building was a long one, despite driving it took him ten minutes of driving before he finally reached it, during that time multiple ships flew in or took off, some fighters, a few cruisers and corvettes, but nothing as big as the Dreadnaught or his Great Fox which was still being scanned and examined before it could be cleared to land on the surface.

At the main terminal building he exited the vehicle and it took off on its own to another location, leaving him to enter the mostly glass dome which acted as the gateway to those entering and exiting the spaceport. There were actually 'quite' a few people walking around the terminal, some people were doing janitorial duties, others were obviously pilots or captains lounging around, and others were having their bags scanned and going through customs. Security personnel were also there and had rifles and pistols on their sides, but it was obvious that this was a very 'mild' security detail since they were pretty relaxed and only really checked IDs or to see if someone was armed.

But what 'really' got his attention was that not only 'humans' were walking around, but also... humans with 'animal' features, like cat ears, dog ears, rabbit ears, tails... some had tufts of fur or no fur, and just had the aforementioned animal traits. Some people looked like they could be dressed as cosplayers from his old life, and others... well he didn't want to delve too deeply. "W-wait... what are... There are uhm... 'non-human' people?" He whispered as he didn't want to draw attention.

[Yes Captain, I... assume that... you are unfamiliar with other humanoid species? Besides your own.] Great Fox asked hesitantly as her portrait appeared on the HUD, which he shook his head. [To help you incorporate this information, I will highlight the key history you will need to understand to... 'avoid' a potential incident. There are thousands of species in known space and they vary from star system to star system. Many races have evolved from the same worlds as well. As an example, the Belga System is host to what you humans describe as 'Beast Folk', humanoid species that have similarities to animals found in the Terran system. Over the thousands of years since space fairing civilization started, interspecies copulation has resulted in mix-breeds of species with many species, including humans, either gaining or losing certain traits relative to their parents. As an example...]

Great Fox highlighted a security guard, male, and opened several windows that zoomed on various traits of his, highlighting his canine ears and short fluffy tail. He was taking a drink of something from a cup and Arthur noticed thanks to Great Fox that his hands were relatively 'normal' in terms of his own hands, but the guard's fingers ended with sharpened claws that extended further then a human's ever could, he also noticed miniature paw pads on his palm too, but they were very flat compared to a dog's that he knew.

[This particular member of his sub-species is only thirty percent of his original species, the rest being a mixture of different races and predominantly human. It is considered 'rude' to ask someone what species or subspecies they are as it might imply racist ideals and thoughts one may have of an individual based purely on their subspecies. To avoid such confusions, it is more commonly accepted to refer to someone by the star system their species originates from second, and whether they are 'mixed' or 'purebred' breeds first. In this case, he is a 'Mixed Belgan'.]

"Oh... so then, I would be considered a 'Purebred Human' or what?" He asked quietly as he continued walking so as to avoid someone thinking he was staring.

[Terran, you would label yourself as 'Purebred Terran', because you are a purebred human whose species originates from the Terran system, your species and breed does not denote anything more about who you are, besides your species and what dominant traits define your body's outward appearance. Please be careful from here on out with how you address individuals. To avoid complications, ask the following questions if you are unsure of how to address or identify them... 'What star system are you from', and 'What breed are you'.]

He nodded as he continued walking, heading toward a checking terminal. There were several lines open with most currently being used to handle various individuals, some had bags that were being scanned and others were having their eyes scanned before being allowed to move on. As he approached an empty line, he was greeted by a female Mixed Belgan. She had mostly canine features and short fur, but her face was more rounded and flatter than a canine's and he noticed that her species 'natural fur' seemed to start thinning, or even outright ending just below her shirt's color.

"Welcome to Belga Cinco sir, are you bringing any bags or personal belongings?" She asked in a cheerful voice, jumping ever so slightly as she greeted him. "Also, what business brings you to our planet?"

"Uh... no, it's just me and the clothes on my back." He told her with a nervous smile. "I'm here to meet with the Depot Master to complete a delivery mission I accepted from Belga Seis?"

"Alright... let me just confiiiiirm..." She said as she typed on a nearby console and began looking up something from her side. "Yes, we were expecting a ship from Belga Seis... may I take a retinal scan for record purposes and to confirm your identity with your ship's transmitted credentials?"

He nodded and leaned a little closer with his left eye wide open while she brought out a little device that sent out a scanning laser. After a few moments the little lasers stopped scanning his eye and she smiled and nodded after checking her console. "Captain Arthur Smith, hmm, unique name... Captain of the Great Fox, a... a 'Finback Battleship' Class Vessel?" She said in awe, before excitedly turning to him with a huge grin on her face. "Wow, we almost 'never' see any Finback Class hulls traveling the space highways in our parts, they stopped producing your model like six or seven decades ago after only a short time. You must have so many stories to tell and have gone on so many adventures!"

"Uh, yea... I've been on a few missions if that's what you mean hehehe." He said nervously.

"Wait did she say 'Finback Battleship?"

"Hey is that guy a Captain of a Finback?"

"No way a Finback is landing here?"

Around the terminal he was at the other terminal girls, a mixed group of Terran and Belgans suddenly started crowding around his terminal to see if the rumors were true. Guys and even other captains were wandering over to him to also see what the hubbub was about, and upon hearing the words 'Finback Battleship' some were even running to the glass wall and door to see if his ship was landing at that moment! He meanwhile was smiling awkwardly and trying to stay calm at the sudden rush of attention.

Was his ship 'really' that special? He knew Great Fox's hull originated from the Beta and post Beta version of the game, and was quickly discontinued for 'balance' purposes soon after the game fully released, and eventually became obsolete by more specialized and streamlined models, but was it 'really' that special? The female Mixed Belgan he had originally talked to was looking at him with eagerness and rapture as if expecting him to start recounting some grandiose tale!

[To explain their reaction, there are roughly only fifty thousand functioning Finback Battleship class hull-based vessels still in operational status and serving Captains like you.] Great Fox said as she appeared on his HUD in response to the sudden attention. [Most Finback Battleship class hull-based vessels were destroyed or heavily damaged as more 'streamlined' and 'specialized' vessels began cropping up and dominating the ship market. When the newer models began to reach the market for cheaper and more cost-effective capabilities, the Finback Battleship Hull was discontinued and production ceased. Ever since the discontinuation, the overall number of Finbacks in service has steadily decreased. As such, for locals in any planetary system, seeing a still functioning and still in service Finback ship like myself, is considered a rare event.]

"O-oh I see..." He muttered as he tried to excuse himself from the situation. "Uhm, I'm sorry everyone but, I really need to get going, I need to talk to the Depot Master. So if I am cleared to leave, I'll just be on my way!"

"Oh uh, yea... yes you are clear to go, welcome to Belga Cinco Captain Arthur, and... uh... enjoy your time?" His terminal operator said with a nervous smile as she resumed her duties but still tracked him with all the other terminal girls, and even pilots and captains, while he made his way out.

Quickly exiting the building, he ran down the street to get out of sight and caught his breath. He was 'not' expecting such a reception, he never 'once' thought about how rare his ship probably was. He only ever saw it from the perspective of his screen and since he'd always used it, he never gave much thought as to how valuable it was in terms of rarity. None of his online Captain friends ever paid much attention to his ship, especially those who were also early access participants like he was.

"Though, in hindsight it makes sense, I never left the ship to the surface like this, so for all I know this is what the reaction probably was every time the longer I went on." He said as he slowly settled and created a ping with his glove.

Seeing the direction he had to go with the waypoint, he went to the street and started walking. As he walked, he saw the first signs of 'normalcy' and civilization that he was familiar with. People, both humans, or 'Terrans' as he had to keep reminding himself, and Belgans walking around the city. The streets nearest the starport were littered with shops, restaurants, hotels, homes, bars and souvenir stores that he was familiar with in regards to what a city might have. Many of these locations seemed aimed toward attracting customers and travelers from the spaceport itself.

The native Belgans and Terrans who seemed to live here didn't pay much attention to the starport except to see whatever new craft was landing if it was big enough to grab their attentions. Little children who were still becoming accustomed to life around the spaceport were constantly pointing excitedly at whatever caught their attention and asking their parents what it was. He also saw some couples going about their business and saw others going about their day, some carrying bags, others brief cases, others looking like they just got off work and others on their way to work. Some individuals looked like they were bored out of their mind and wanted to sleep, and others still seemed like they were dead to their surroundings and just wanting to go to a bar.

Some people he knew were going around in normal looking clothes while others wore uniforms which indicated they were space fairing personnel, meaning he easily identified who was a 'native' and lived on the planet full time over those just visiting.

As for the buildings, they were roughly similar to what he knew. Square shaped or rectangular buildings, some of steel and glass while others were brick or stone-like materials, concrete lining the sidewalks and streets and just generally a city he'd recognize on earth.

Seeing the city and the people, he felt more relaxed as he walked on. Despite being a Captain, it seemed nobody was paying him much attention, at least no more attention than they would anyone else. It made him more relaxed that he wasn't being given special treatment by anyone here, as he was going to be seen as 'just another guy', or at the very least 'another captain' instead of some legendary figure or something.

"Woooow look mommy!" A little voice called out, drawing his attention to a pair of children with their mother.

The trio in question were a little boy and girl, a Terran girl and a Belgan boy, both mixed breeds with their mother, herself a mixed breed Terran with minor Belgan traits. The mother paused to stare at the spaceport with them, while using a hand to gently hold her slightly pregnant belly. The little children were standing as close to the fence restricting access to the spaceport's landing field, faces pressed against it and poking their little arms through the gaps to point at a ship that was landing.

The ship in question was a large Corvette, he could actually recognize the model as a Paruvian Matabele. It's segmented sections each with different armaments and even with fighter attachments allowing the fighters to dock with the corvette and deploy for battle. He knew of the model because that was among the most recent models to be released for players to purchase that he remembered. It was designed for protection duties of cargo convoys in conjunction with other vessels, and was primarily built to counter bombers and fighters.

"What kind of ship is that mommy?" The little boy asked eagerly.

"It's a Corvette children, you can tell by its size. Corvettes are smaller and Cruisers are much bigger than corvettes. Frigates are smaller than Cruisers though... now come on, we have to get you to school." She said as she pulled her children lightly, tugging them away from the fence.

"But moooom!" They whined as they obviously wanted to stay and watch the ships landing and taking off.

He chuckled, feeling just a little more relaxed as he resumed his journey to the Depot. Seeing a family like that, made him feel, at peace more than anything else so far. Maybe it was the fact that it reminded him of 'home', or at least his old life, but seeing that small family and seeing that it looked 'healthier' than the last family he saw before dying, made him comfortable. He could only hope that she wasn't a single mother, but it seemed like she was very happy at least.

Along the way he found a place to safely cross the road, and as he walked deeper into the city, he began to notice increasingly more noticeable signs of city life. Teenagers and young adults, the usual signs that he was familiar with, some hanging out with their friends, others just lolling about and wasting time because they wanted to, and others apparently smoking or vaping while chatting. The most common people he saw 'smoking' were employees of restaurants on their break.

This also caused him to feel more relaxed, sure it wasn't paradise, but it seemed even living in a space fairing civilization had its 'regulars'. Some people just needed a moment to smoke by themselves. But it wasn't just people he saw; he also noticed the numerous ground-based vehicles littering the streets and even driving down the roads. Some vehicles were entirely ground based, only able to get around on tires, while others had these weird magnetic pads that allowed them to hover slightly above the ground. He also noticed local authorities now as he wandered, following the waypoint line. Squad cars that hovered low over the ground would drive past, he'd see police officers on open bikes that could fly but only as high as the buildings, and as he rounded a corner, he saw one person apparently being given a ticket by two officers, trying to weasel his way out of getting it.

"I swear officer, my vehicle's computer is out of date and I was on my way to get it replaced, it didn't warn me that I was driving above the speed limit!"

"Mhmm, yea... we know, we understand..." The first officer said as he was getting the license of the vehicle. "But as you know, speed laws within a thirty-meter radius of an educational institute require all drivers maintain a speed limit of twenty local planet miles per hour."

"Explain your vehicles issue to the City's Traffic Authority three days from now, you're expected in courtroom six at local planet time, fourteen hundred hours. You can explain your case and if the judge sees fit, your ticket fee will be revoked." The second cop told him while typing on a datapad.

"Come on... you can see the blinking console from here! Can't you let me off with a warning this 'one' time?"

"Sorry sir, we have a job to do, we apologize for the inconvenience." The cop with the datapad said as he punched a button and a piece of paper was printed, which was handed to the driver.

"Have a safe day, and please drive safely 'under' the speed limit or you will be pulled over again and issued a further citation."

He kept on walking by so as to not get involved, but he laughed internally as even in a space fairing civilization, cops were still cops and didn't let anyone off the hook from a traffic ticket. The city surrounding the spaceport was pretty nice for the most part, though he did notice some 'artistic differences' between what he was familiar with and what Belgans used apparently. Where he lived nearly all buildings were square or rectangular, and they generally followed a very 'simple' guideline, with the only differences being homes having slanted roofs.

Belgans however, had rounded roofs and seemed to have artificial vines growing on their walls and many of them had their roofs slanted at an angle where the sun rose. On top of that there were patches of gardens growing atop every roof, and the streets were lined down the center of each road with rectangular outcroppings of plants separating lanes of traffic. It was definitely a difference of cultures but also somewhat similar to what he knew.

But he had other things to focus on as he turned a corner and saw several blocks away the 'Main Depot Office Building' that was his ultimate destination. The building was hexagonal in shape, with a rounded red roof and a brown exterior. If he had to compare, it looked like a very large grain silo one would see on a barn. Loitering outside of the building were various individuals, chatting it up, spending time conversing and all with the look of 'Captains' who just got done dealing with officials looking bored out of their minds.

[Congratulations, you have arrived at your destination Captain.] Great Fox said. [I am also happy to report that scanning crews have begun work, Great Fox will land on the planet once we have been cleared and offloading will commence soon after.]

"Alright thank you Great Fox." He said as he approached the building.

Inside the main office he entered an atrium of sorts where there were multiple waiting chairs and couches, as well as tables with various datapads and viewscreens showing something for the entertainment of those waiting to be seen. He could see a few other Captains sitting down and talking to each other or just reading. Seeing the service station directly in front of him, he stepped up to it and was greeted by another female Belgan, with far stronger traits then the last one he spoke to, indicating she appeared to be a Pure Bred Belgan. She had short silver-grey fur, canine ears and a very canine mouth, her hands were mostly paws but still had opposable fingers and she wore an orange suit with a green undershirt.

"Welcome to Spaceport Vextara Prime's, Main Depot's, Main Office. I am secretary Kaleeshta and I will be your attendant this visit how may I be of assistance today?" The female Belgan asked professionally.

"Uhm, hi, I am Captain Arthur of the Great Fox, and I would like to speak to the Depot Manager about completing a mission?" He said.

Kaleeshta nodded as she began typing in something on a console near her, and nodded again as she seemed to have brought up some data. "Alright I will need a retinal scan for identification purposes..." She said, and then pulled out another eye scanner like he saw at the spaceport terminal.

He leaned forward and allowed her to scan his left eye, and after that was done, she clicked it into a slot and began typing some more data into the console. She seemed to be moving a little slow as if this was just 'routine work' for her, she even had for a moment a bored expression. It wasn't until the console beeped and flashed for her attention that her eyes began scanning the data and then opened slightly in surprise, but she quickly recovered and nodded, returning to her professional attitude and mannerisms.

"Yes, of course, my apologies for keeping you waiting, please turn to your left and follow me, the manager's office is three flights up, I will take you to his office and then immediately fetch him for you sir!"

He nodded and then did as he was instructed, waiting for her to leave her desk and then following her toward the staircase and then climbing it up several floors. But the entire time he walked behind her, trying to avoid staring at her wagging tail, he was curious as to 'why' the girl who was attending him acted that way. It was almost like he was being treated as a special guest, why did he not have to wait like those other captains? What made him different?

[Attention Captain.] Great Fox said, suddenly getting his attention on the HUD. [One of the cargo containers was scanned and it was discovered that internal damage was found. This is most likely due to the recent pirate raid; however, the container was unoccupied of cargo. The light cruisers weapons seemed to have caused minor internal damage that my systems did not detect, resulting in some damage to the interior of the bay's floor, wall panels and bay door. The Main Depot and the Planetary Port Authorities have been notified, and per the contractual agreement with Belga Cinco and Seis and Captain Arthur of the Great Fox, since the cargo was not harmed and the ship was damaged while protecting the cargo, this damage will be repaired at the expense of the Belga Cinco government.]

He nodded but whispered, "Hold that thought for a moment." As he climbed up the third flight of stairs and was led to the right.

Once he reached a room with a brown door, he was led inside and instructed to wait while Kaleeshta said she would get the Depot Manager quickly, and rushed off out of sight.

"Alright, now that we have a moment, what happened with the ship, why didn't the shields protect the cargo bay? Even if its minor damage our shields were still up."

[While this is true Captain, pirate ships are notorious for using... unconventional weapons.] Great Fox stated as it brought up a scan of the pirate ship. [While their weapons resembled standard Light Cruiser turbo cannons, it seems they were armed with plasma weapons infused with kinetic rounds that managed to penetrate the shields to damage the interior of the cargo bay. The weapon's fire connected with the cargo bay itself when the shields were reaching critical levels before you activated High Profile Mode.]

He frowned as he realized that, unlike how it was when he was behind a screen, he had to take care of his ship more than he was used to. His ship had been damaged without his notice, or even his ship's notice. He couldn't let a minor slip up like that happen, or else the next time something 'critical' might get damaged.

[I am... sorry Captain. I failed you... I was not aware of the damage to the cargo bay until the scanning crew took notice.] The ship told him in a sad, apologetic tone.

"It's alright Great Fox, nobody was harmed and they only damaged you slightly, and it was only confined to an empty cargo bay." He said with a smile. "All that matters is 'you' are alright and still flying to me. A few scrapes and tiny holes in a cargo bay isn't that important compared to you as a whole. It's 'my' job to make sure you're good, I should have noticed it when I was flying around you before landing. I was too busy admiring how beautiful you looked while flying." He told the ship as he looked at her profile image. "As your Captain, I am sorry Great Fox, I'll make sure to take better care of you and watch over you better."

There was a minute of silence between them as he sat waiting, until Great Fox said, [Thank you, Captain...] in a grateful whisper, before closing the channel.

He sat waiting in the manager's office, admiring the various shelves with documents, data pads, and a few nicknacks one would expect in an office. Pictures of various individuals, maybe of his family as there was a little Belgan boy in one being given a piggyback ride by an older man. He saw a few others of the man where he was with buddies it seemed, toasting drinks together and looking like they were having fun.

After half an hour of waiting Arthur could hear footsteps walking toward his room, and turned to see the door opened by a muscular man wearing a heavy vest, dark brown overall pants and a navy-blue shirt. He was a Terran, apparently Purebred because he lacked any 'Belgan' traits or non-human traits. He also realized that he was the father of that Belgan boy in the photo, and that his wife must have been a Mixed Belgan, one with rabbit traits as the son had rabbit ears but otherwise was mostly human.

"Ah, Captain Smith, apologies for the wait, I am Depot Manager Warrelson. Pleasure to meet you sir." He said with a cheery smile past his heavy beard.

They shook hands and Warrelson took his seat behind his desk, bringing up his console and bringing up data while they talked.

"I'm pleased to see you make it here safe and sound, my apologies that your ship was attacked mid-transit by pirates, but it seemed you handled yourself well and destroyed the entire gang." He said.

"Yea, they took my ship by surprise, I really was surprised because the odds of them attacking us was supposed to be extremely low, less than a seven percent chance." Arthur replied as Great Fox appeared on his HUD again.

[6.7 percent according to the original mission details, Captain.] She said before vanishing.

"Yea, we figured that the food supply mission wouldn't attract attention, I guess it was the 'fuel' that attracted their attention." Warrelson muttered as he nodded in agreement. "If we removed the fuel from your supply manifest, then the risk of a pirate raid drops to 2.4 percent... so this was an unneeded risk on your part. Still, you completed the mission parameters as you elected and with time to spare and you did so without being hurt too much. I've already been informed of the minor damage to one of your ship's cargo bays, rest assured the Belga System government has already approved the payment to pay for the repairs to your ship, as gratitude for safely protecting and escorting the cargo to its destination, and as thanks for wiping out an entire pirate gang mid transit. As for your reward, the payment of 100,000 MPC has been approved and will be transferred to your account once Great Fox lands."

"Alright, well that is nice to hear. Now, I was wondering, if I wanted to place an order for raw food, can my ship's AI place the order with you or who do I contact for stuff like that?"

"Your ship's AI can place the order with our depot at any time, once offloading is complete our depot will be at your disposal for any materials you wish to order and they will be loaded onto your ship once payments are received and materials are gathered." He replied with a smile.

"Cool, so now that my mission has been completed, if say I wanted to take up another job who would I talk to?"

He was actually eager to go flying again once his time on the planet was done, since he was also planning to hire crew members and pilots, he was going to need a regular income and performing material run jobs seemed like the best way. Even if the pay wasn't that amazing, if he could get enough tasks going to the same location, he could easily net himself a huge sum for the jobs.

"Hmm, I'll see what missions I can offer you, seeing as your ship is a bit on the bigger side what we have at the moment are small fry jobs that are really beneath your ship's capabilities. But I will be in touch if something crops up, was that all you wished to talk about sir?"

"Actually, there is just one other thing, I am in need of crew and pilots for my ship, do you know where I can find some qualified candidates in this city or even on this planet?" He asked hopefully.

"Hmmm, pilots and crew..." Warrelson muttered as he stroked his beard in thought. "Well, I know for a fact that you can probably look around for freelance Fighter Pilots roaming the city and wandering around the spaceport terminals trying to get themselves hired by captains. Spaceport Vextera isn't the most well-known Fighter Pilot hangout, but there might be a few hundred pilots without jobs that you can hire from wandering the streets. As for other crew, you'll have to visit certain districts to track some of them down yourself, I'm afraid I cannot be of any more help to you. I could maybe suggest, at least for a science or medical officer if you're looking for one, put out a job offer and put various qualifications you're looking for."

"That's alright, I guess my next destination will be to look around for pilots then. Thank you very much Mr. Warrelson, and have a good rest of your day."

"You too Captain Arthur."

They shook hands again and Arthur walked out, back to the staircase and began to descend down to the ground floor.

"Great Fox?"

[Yes Captain.] She replied as she appeared on the HUD.

"Can you do me a favor and send out a job offer for a science and medical officer for the job?" He asked. "We're looking for any professionals with medical or scientific knowledge that have the qualifications and experience to match who are willing to serve aboard a starship for extremely extended periods of time. Tell them pay can be negotiated with an interview. Applicants must be located within the radius of Belga Cinco's primary Spaceport or can travel to it for an interview."

[Shall I handle the exact specifications you are looking for, as currently your 'qualifications' are extremely broad, and you may not find a suitable candidate for your ship's needs within a timely frame before we accept another job and have to leave.]

"Great Fox... I didn't know you were able to handle quality control." He said with a bemused smile.

[As your personal ship AI, I must be capable of a multitude of tasks. Quality Control is a first level requirement, as Captain you will need the best or most experienced personnel to ensure success of future missions for Great Fox.] She replied in a 'proud' tone.

"Alright then, I'll let you handle the 'quality control' while I handle the interviews and talking to the people we may hire." He said with a smirk as he gave her a thumbs up and a wink.

[Of course, Captain, I will begin constructing a job posting with qualifications to be desired and post it once it is ready.] She replied and vanished from the HUD.

He nodded and exited into the atrium of the building and soon walked out, stretching as it had been an exciting day so far. As he started walking, planning to head back to the spaceport to look for pilots, he heard a woman's voice calling out nearby.

"Hey there Captain, are you looking for a few reliable pilots for your ship?"

He turned and saw a female Belgan, purebred by the looks of her, if her canine-wolf-like ears, fur and face were to be believed. She had silver-white fur and was about as tall as he was, wearing a fighter pilot's jacket with a comet in flight insignia on the shoulder, and her vest seemed to be concealing her D-cup bust. She had also green eyes, small paw pads on the palms of her hands, and was trying to talk to any captain that was willing to hear her out.

"That's right, I'm a fighter pilot, are you in need of a pilot squadron sir?" She asked one captain, who shook his head and walked away.

"I'm a freelance Comet class pilot, head of one of the most reliable squadrons on Belga Cinco you'll ever find!" She boasted to another captain, but this one shook her head and walked away.

"My squadron has a seventy-seven percent success ratio, and that's just using the most out of date ships available to us!" She tried on another captain, but just like the others they turned her down with a wave.

"We've never failed to protect a delivery, we have sixty-six pirate fighters shot down between us, and we've even disabled thirteen pirate corvettes and even a cruiser on record!" She tried to say enthusiastically, but even as she boasted, halfway through her 'prospective client' shook their head and walked away, leaving her looking very dejected.

When she noticed none of the other Captains were even looking at her, she seemed to sigh in defeat, before she glanced at him and noticed 'he' was staring at her. Putting on her best smile she walked over and said with as much energy as she could muster, "Hey there prospective Captain, did you perchance accept a mission and are you mayhap in need of a few reliable pilots to protect your ship from potential pirate raids?"

Admiring her attitude he actually nodded, "Yea, as a matter of fact I 'was' looking for a few pilots for my ship." He told her. "Can you tell me what your qualifications are?"

"With pleasure, my name is Trishula, born and raised on Belga Uno, Purebred Belgan, in case you were curious!" She said with a boastful grin. "I am a Comet Ranked Pilot, or if you prefer to use the simplified galactic ranking system, I am a C class pilot. I have over six thousand recorded flight time alone and my squadron combined has a total of over twenty thousand hours. I am a self-proclaimed 'ace' pilot, squadron leader of Trishula's Pack. We've guarded freight convoys, light frigates, and light cruisers performing delivery runs in the Belga sector. As said, we're a freelance squadron that are ready and able to fly protection services whenever and wherever your ship is going!"

She then flicked open her vest and pulled out, with quite some skill, a blaster pistol and posed with it, winking at him. "You name it, we can do it, we're trained in not just space combat but also guarding detail, even if you just need us as planetary bodyguards when not in space, we can fulfill that role too!" She said with a sly grin before placing the pistol back in her vest.

He had to admit that was 'quite' the list of accomplishments and credentials, and was about to say they should talk some more about potentially hiring her squadron, when Great Fox intervened, appearing on his HUD.

[Captain, a private word with you please.]

"Huh, what's up?" He asked, holding a finger to Trishula.

"Oh, you have a HUD headset and a ship AI?" Trishula said in mild surprise as her ears twitched.

"Yea, like I said one second, what is it Great Fox?" He said before he realized that she actually 'heard' Great Fox. "Wait, you can hear her?"

"Mhmhm, us Purebred Belgans have sharper hearing then our Mixed cousins." Trishula said with a nod.

[Which is why I request that we speak in private. Please inform her that you will leave momentarily to communicate with me.]

He nodded and was about to say that, when she nodded in understanding, and stepped back several paces and waved to let him know she couldn't hear him. As he nodded in response, he turned away to talk to Great Fox, but as he did, he failed to see her gulp nervously in response. Trishula was afraid as she watched her latest and probably 'best' prospect of a job turn away, if he had a Ship AI helping him, her chances of getting her squad hired were already in the scrapyard and getting further buried.

"Alright what's up Great Fox?" Arthur asked once he turned away from Trishula.

[I would highly suggest that you not hire this pilot or her squadron.] She declared. [Despite her claims, a C-Rank pilot and her squadron is far beneath you Captain. Based on my quality standards, you deserve no less than A-Rank or preferably S-Rank starfighter pilots to protect your ship from potential Pirate Raids. While her combat skills may be, 'adequate' for protecting farm produce, you have taken on missions where we have delivered high class military grade weapons and armaments, and even flown through war-torn zones to deliver medical and food supplies, and have combatted imperial class dreadnaughts and frigates, as well as various types of Battleships. Furthermore, my research into her squadron shows she is 'hiding' certain facts.]

"Hiding?"

[Affirmative.] Great Fox said as a window showed up, with several datapoints blown up for him to see. [While the squadron known as 'Trishula's Pack' does indeed have the records she boasts of, what she didn't inform you of, is that her squadron has only accepted jobs in the past five years if payment is made in advance of the mission beginning.]

"Okay... so she wants payment in advance, what's wrong with that?" He asked the ship.

[Only pilots of 'D' Rank make a request for payment in advance, but this is only due to inexperience, it is a common understanding that pilots accept missions and receive their payment upon the mission's successful completion. This is no different than you taking a mission Captain, and receiving your reward for its successful completion.] She told him, and then showed him an image of a fighter flying 'away' from Great Fox while pirates flew toward it. [If a pilot is paid in advance, there is no further incentive for them to complete the mission, and may very well 'abandon' the mission, leaving their benefactor to their fate and reporting a 'failed mission' to the authorities explaining why the vessel that hired them was lost halfway during the mission.]

He nodded, that made sense, but still... Trishula 'seemed' like a Belgan that was extremely eager, if somewhat desperate, to get hired. She was practically throwing herself at 'any' captain who would give her five seconds time to plead her case. There was some piece of the puzzle he was missing. "Is there... anything else you can dig up or found out?"

[Negative, my inquiries into 'Trishala's Pack' ended with the Fighter Pilot's committee, the only remaining responses I'm waiting on are the local planetary authorities, and the Belgan Revenue Tracking Agency.]

"Wait, the Belgan Revenue Tracking Agency, the authorities? Why are you asking... them about a fighter pilot squadron?"

[Because her squadron are currently in a local jail cell, but that is all the information I'm able to find out. Public information states they got into a street fight with another group of fighter pilots, and are awaiting a fine to be paid before being released. That incident was 'one' week ago.] She told him, showing three pictures now, three female Belgans of different species. [Based on this data I have; I would recommend ignoring her and looking for more 'qualified' and reliable pilots for your needs.]

He nodded and turned back to Trishula with Great Fox closing all of the data in his eye, but didn't close her portrait. "Alright Trishula, I've talked to my ship's AI... and I think you owe me an explanation or two." He told her.

Trishula nodded, gulping as she tried to keep her positive attitude, but she could just 'tell' that her sparkly image she'd sold him was all but gone now. "What can I do for you Captain?" She said sweetly, but there was a hint of worry.

"For starters, how would you like to handle payment if I were to hire you for a job?" He asked.

"If... it's alright with you, I would appreciate that my squadron receive payment in advance!" She said sheepishly.

He frowned a little at that, Great Fox was spot on with her information. "Alright... but why should I pay you in advance when I haven't even taken 'on' a job yet."

Trishula did a double take as she was 'not' expecting to hear that, she assumed that he had taken on a mission and was looking to hire pilots to protect his ship. "Uh... well... uhm."

"If you're trying to sell yourself you need to be upfront and honest, as trying to lie about certain facts or hide certain details makes it so your client has less inclination to believe you if they find out." He said while crossing his arms and looking sternly at the Belgan, who seemed to shrink in size, her ears drooping and eyes looking downcast. "I knew you requested payment in advance, and that kind of request is only made by 'D-Rank' pilots according to my ship AI, and even then, only the most inexperienced of them. But what you failed to mention about your squadron, is that three of your squad are currently in a jail cell, waiting until a fine is paid before being released."

Trishula felt utterly deflated and defeated, she was found out, his AI had already told him of most of the details, but obviously missed a few important facts. Her fate regarding being hired was all but sealed, but he still missed some important things that... well she had nothing left to lose now, so she might as well try.

"Captain... can I... talk to you in a... private area?" She asked feebly.

"Alright." He said, following Trishula as she walked down the sidewalk, turned a corner and then led a way to an alley that was relatively private.

The only things there were a couple of oversized garbage cans and a street lamp that was off, so they would have plenty of privacy for whatever she wanted to say without being heard. Or in Trishula's mind, they would have plenty of privacy so nobody would see her disgracing herself, desperately' to try and get this Captain to hire her and her squadron.

"Alright, this will suffice." She said as she turned to him, and pulled out her pistol.

Arthur had a momentary panic attack as he saw her whip the pistol out, but then just watched as she flipped it over, emptied the ammunition for it, and then expertly tossed both items into separate garbage bins, out of sight and reach.

"Listen Captain... I know I hid the truth, and I'll be honest, you're right... my squadron 'is' in a jail cell until we pay a fine. You are also probably informed that; they are in that cell because they got into a fight with several other pilots." She said in a very defeated, but determined tone. "The fine isn't that big, honestly, it's only a thousand MPC total. That's basically chump change for a pilot, even of D rank. But... for my squadron it might as well be a billion MPC because we just can't afford it."

She looked at him with her eyes, trying to stay strong but she honestly probably looked really pathetic to him.

"My Squadron has a pretty good record, but we've also suffered a 'ton' of debts because of missions where we weren't the most successful. Our last mission alone, while we completed it successfully, heavily damaged a large transport vessel filled with farming vehicles, the latest from the Sigma Sector that were meant for Belga Cinco. The transport was so heavily damaged, that even the 'cargo' was damaged, and because 'we' failed to protect the ship and the cargo to an optimal degree, we were charged to compensate the central sector government since 'they' were the ones who purchased the equipment, and put up the prize for the ship captain, who 'lost' his reward. We were also charged by the captain for the repairs to his ship, and during our landing we had to bail out of three of our fighters due to them being heavily damaged. They 'crashed' into the spaceport, resulting in 'more' property damage and us being fined. We racked up over two hundred 'thousand' in debts from that mission alone... my squadron is a million in the red, and... and we're on the verge of having our pilot licenses revoked, arrested, and being sent to a Work Penal Colony."

She stepped closer to him, feeling what was left of her pride starting to slip away as she braced herself. She only really had 'one' hope left, and it was 'shameful' to think she was going down this route, just so she could give her squadron a chance to climb out of the rut they were in.

"I won't lie, we're good pilots... but we've been down on our luck for a few years now. Every time I think we're making progress to paying off our outstanding debt, something bad happens. We've been working with rusted, broken-down fighters for the last four years, scrounging up whatever parts we can find for free in the scrap yards or whatever discounted parts we can find for cheap. We fix our own fighters, but we're not mechanics, we're pilots! And because our fighters crashed after our last mission, we don't even have fighters, we don't even have enough parts between our broken wrecks to make one 'functioning' ship. We have highly specialized skillsets and can't really be anything else to pay off our debts... and that's why I'm begging you... 'begging you'... please hire us!"

She was now just a few feet in front of Arthur who just stared at her as she slowly began to undo her vest, then her jacket, letting it hang open to expose her bra and furry body beneath her pilot's uniform. He just stared at the cleavage of her D-cup breasts and began to notice a little 'too much', how soft and natural they were. Her face though looked utterly desperate, practically screaming her shame to him as she exposed herself. But he couldn't help thinking that she was stunningly beautiful to him.

"I swear... I swear on my pride as a Pilot, as a Squadron Leader... we 'won't' run away, just pay us in advance, we don't care what the job you'll take is, we'll do it! We won't abandon you... just let me pay the fine to get my squad out, let me show we're earning enough to make a down payment on our debt... you... you can..."

She hiccupped as she crossed her arms and pushed her bust out for him, looking away in shame, and crying tears.

"You can... use me if you want, right here... do whatever you want, if it means you'll hire us. Just please hire us... I'm desperate! I won't resist... I won't scream or report you; I won't run... just do whatever you want and swear you'll hire us! My squad doesn't deserve to be thrown in a penal colony, they're good, honest girls, they're great pilots... I'll endure... whatever you do to me... if you'll at least let me save them!"

He was stunned that a pilot was going down this road, willing to throw her body at him and endure whatever he wanted if he'd just say he'll hire her and her squadron, with the only stipulation being that he pay them in advance. While his brain and lower head were having different reactions, Great Fox managed to get him back on track by saying, [She is... desperate... to say the least. What will you do Captain?] She asked him.

He sighed as he slowly got his blood pumping toward the 'right' organ, and reached up and around Trishula's shoulders, slowly pulling her toward him in a hug. She sniffled a little, expecting him to start touching her, using her body, taking her up on her offer. She braced herself, ready to endure whatever shameful perverted act he had up his sleeve, but was stunned as she felt him gently petting her ear, or at least scratching it.

"If I'm going to hire you, here are my requirements... first... dress yourself up again... a pilot shouldn't degrade themself like this. Have some dignity and respect for who you are as a person." He whispered warmly into her ear. "Then... I want you to take me to where your squadron is being held, and let me talk to them. I'll get your squad out of jail, then we'll talk about hiring you over a meal. I'll pay for it."

She was silent as she heard his response, not expecting him to do that, hell with how many captains she's had to suck up to just to get hired by them she was expecting to see the same response from him and be abusive to her for being a lowly 'C-Rank' pilot. Instead... well she wasn't going to turn down that offer. She nodded and slowly turned away, quickly buttoning herself up and making herself presentable, when she tried reaching for her pistol, she realized she accidentally threw it and the ammo away. Lamenting that, she decided it wasn't worth the effort to dumpster dive.

Once she was presentable, she told him to follow her, and after walking for over thirty minutes they came to a large station labeled VPD.

"Here we are, the Vextera Police Department, my squad is being held in there." Trishula said.

"What are their names?" He asked.

"Their names are Vanessa, Katarra, and Yumi." She said. "Best way to make sure its them, is to ask them about the members of Trishula's Pack."

He nodded and said, "Alright, wait here then, I'll be right back." before heading inside alone, leaving Trishula to wait outside.

Trishula just stared as the back of this Terran who walked into the VPD without another glance at her, seemingly going to pay the fine and help her squad back onto its feet. She just smiled warmly, and whispered a grateful prayer, saying if he got them out and hired them, she'd follow him for as long as she could no matter the jobs he'd take. She cared deeply for her squad, and she'd do 'anything' for them, she was also glad that he restrained himself... touching her body, she was terrified that... she shook her head, forgetting about it and focusing on the now.

Inside the VPD though, Arthur was confronted with an android secretary, and was now talking to the machine about Trishula's Pack. The android had a very cylindrical head and cylindrical limbs, scanning various datapads and entering information on multiple consoles while staring at him through one optic as the other seven were looking at a bunch of other things next to it.

"So how much is their fine now?" He asked.

[The fine to release the three pilots, Vanessa, Katarra and Yumi has increased due to the late payments made by the squad's account, and now their fine to be released is a minimum down payment of 4000 MPC, with an additional 5000 MPC to be paid immediately upon being paid at whatever planetary system they land on, with a further 200 MPC per day they are late with making a full payment.] The droid said.

"And... how big is their outstanding debt? How much would it take to fully pay it off?" He asked.

[Their outstanding debt is 3,105,542 MPC total, to be paid to two hundred and thirty-seven government agencies and various Captains.] It replied, handing him a datapad with the full list of who they owed money to and how much.

"That is... One. Steep. Bill." He muttered to himself, literally scrunching his face in pain as he looked at the full list, the reasons for the charges, and how much interest was accrued from the original fines.

[I concur, that is... quite the interest accrued for four pilots. It is... amazing they could amass a debt this big, and still be licensed pilots.] Great Fox said with equal, disbelief if he could best describe it, as she too observed the debt total.

"Hmm... they could 'never' pay all of this off even if they slaved away day after day the rest of their life. I didn't think things were 'this' bad for them." He whispered as he looked it over. "Great Fox, can we 'pay' this entire debt today?"

[Captain, you are not required to pay the entirety of these pilot's debt, you are only obligated, by your own words, to pay the fine to help them out and then potentially pay them a portion of the prize we earn based on a job we take on.] She stated in a very surprised tone, almost like she was stunned that he was even considering paying the entirety of the debt off himself.

"I know, but 'can' we pay it off now? Do I have enough to pay off their debt, if I recall my account should have enough." He said, looking at the corner of his HUD where Great Fox's profile was sitting.

After a moment she replied, [Yes captain, your account is in the green, and has twenty-nine million, two hundred and five thousand, nine hundred MPC saved up. You can pay this debt off today if you are inclined. I would strongly advise against it, but... you are the captain, if you say it, we will do it.]

"Good, pay it off now, get in contact with these agencies and people, and then make the full payments. I want this entire debt 'gone', down to the last credit. I only want to see 0's." He said with a nod.

He knew what having a debt was like, it felt like a ball and chain that didn't need to physically be attached to you to make you feel more trapped than any physical cage could match. He was in debt for school, college, and he only 'barely' paid it off years ago thanks to help from his mother before interest accrued. If these girls were saddled with such a debt, they'd never be free of it. It would only grow, and grow... and grow.

[Very well Captain...] She said, before she showed him the files being downloaded to her so she could begin contacting the individuals. [This will only take a few minutes to make the automated payments.]

He smiled as he turned to the droid and said, "Officer, please release the pilots, I will pay off their full debts. You should be receiving a payment from my ship AI and notifications of the other charges being paid off as well. And when you do release them, don't inform them that 'I' paid the fine, just tell them their squadron leader is waiting for them outside."

There was a moment before it pulled up a datapad, scanned it, and then typed something down behind it before it acknowledged his statement. [Confirmed, payments received, their fine has been paid and we will release them shortly.]

He nodded and chose to wait on a chair nearby, using his finger and testing his HUD to see if he could poke at the list and see Great Fox's progress. Sure enough, the window was still open and even as he observed, in real time, Great Fox was making contact with these various agencies and captains and submitting payments. One by one, each number went from whatever they originally, with the interest sitting next to them, and turning into big fat 'zeros' indicating they were fully paid off. He also noticed his own account was constantly being updated to indicate that the money being paid was coming out of it.

It was painful to watch his money being drained, but he also felt 'better' inside with each zero he saw appearing.

"Finally, we're out!" A chipper voice called out.

"I wasn't sure how much longer I could endure sitting in that cell."

"Yea, I could use a real good shower after all that time!"

He looked out of the corner of his eyes to watch as three Belgan females walked out of a door, escorted by an officer and allowed to leave on their own. The three seemed to be all Mixed Breeds. One had wolf-like canine features compared to Trishula, but was mostly human and only had the wolf ears, tail and a bit of fur below her neck, but her fur was black and her skin was chocolate brown. The second was a bit more 'fox like', and again a mixed breed, more human than whatever her species was but still a blend of the two, with large, furry, pointed ears and a bushy tail of brown fur and pale skin. The third and final female was obviously more feline, she had short cat ears, a very long and pointed cat tail, her furry ears were grey and dark brown with matching striped colors for the tail to contrast her snow-white skin.

"I wonder how Trishula paid the fine, do you think she got us a job lined up?" The tallest one, the wolf girl said, which he saw her name was Vanessa.

"I hope so, we're really in the red, if we don't start making payments of 'some' kind or have 'some' kind of employer soon we're in trouble." The cat girl named Yumi said nervously.

"Our leader won't let us down; she'll surely have something lined up! Just have faith!" The fox girl said now, her name being Katarra.

They didn't even notice or pay attention to him as they walked by, even as he smiled as the last of the debts were paid off and all he saw were zeros. He waited until they were all out before he got up and strolled out behind them. As he did, he saw the tail end of the three girls running down the steps to their squadron leader to give her a big group hug.

"Trishula, girl, how have you been!"

"Sorry we got in that fight; we won't let our tempers get ahead of us!"

"So, what do we do now, do we have a job lined up, is that how you got the money to pay our fine?"

Trishula was just relieved as all three of them were out in daylight now, and she just shook her head. "First... I'm glad you're all okay. Second... that's complicated." She told them as he walked up behind them. "Third... I didn't pay your fine to get you out... 'he' did."

They all turned to him and he just smiled awkwardly and waved hello.

"Wait... 'you' paid for our release?" Yumi asked with a curious expression.

"Alright buster, what did you make her do to get you to pay for our release?" Vanessa growled.

"Calm down girl, there's an explanation if we just-"

"SHUT UP!" Trishula snapped, getting all three of the girls' attention with a stern look. "I won't have you girls making such accusations, even privately, about our prospective employer. He agreed to pay the fine to get you out of his own good will, you will give this captain the proper respect he is due."

"Yes ma'am!" They all said, before facing him in unison and bowing their heads slightly. "We're sorry sir, please forgive us!"

"But... talking about potentially hiring you, now comes the next part of our agreement Trishula." He said as he turned to her. "You know where we can get a bite to eat, preferably somewhere that offers 'real' food, and none of that synthetic stuff I've been eating for the past few days?"

"Yes sir, follow me!"

They all followed Trishula as she led the way away from the VPD, and she soon led them to a pretty cozy establishment called the 'Indie Inn'. The dining room was similar to a 'western cowboy' inn and even had a jukebox in the corner playing some music he wasn't familiar with, but it was eerily reminiscent to Star Horizon's ambient music he remembered listening to when he was in front of the game's screen in his previous life. A waiter took their orders and after browsing the menu, he placed an order for something called a 'Sizzling Steak Slide' with a side of steamed 'Veggies' and a cold class of water. The girls all placed their orders as well, and after about ten minutes of waiting, during which they sat in awkward silence, their food finally came out.

"Alright, dig in now ya here!" Their 'motherly' waiter told them as she delivered their food to them.

He just stared at his food as it steamed and smelled delicious in front of him, 'real' food... the first food he found since he arrived here. He sliced into it and took a savory bite of his steak and just cried inwardly at how delicious it was. The spices mixed in with it sent his taste buds to heaven, and the steamed veggies made him cry happily. Oh, his stomach was singing operas as the contents of his meal were deposited into it.

"Mhmm this place is yummy." Yumi said as she ate her grilled fish.

"This place always had the best food; we could never afford to come here often." Katarra said as she ate her roasted bird.

"By the way... how are we paying for the food ma'am?" Vanessa said as she too ate a steak, similar to Arthur's.

"Believe it or not, our prospective employer agreed to pay for tonight's feast." Trishula said as she ate a hearty meat salad.

"It's as Trishula said, I'm paying for tonight's lunch, so dig in and enjoy. We can talk business after our bellies are sated!" He said as he took a swig of water and dug more into his steak.

"I can agree to that, let's dig in!" Vannessa said happily.

And so, they ate their lunch, enjoying the music and atmosphere of the dine-in restaurant. Occasionally their waiter came over to offer any refills of beverages, and when time came for the bill, their water came over with the happy but 'regretful' expression of asking the big question.

"Alrighty ladies and gentleman, who gets the bad news?" She asked with a datapad in their hand.

"Me." He said as he accepted the datapad, and then watched as a retinal scanner scanned his eye, and acknowledged his ID as 'Captain Arthur', and then said 'automatic payment received'. "I can't believe just scanning my eye makes it so I can make money payments."

[Your retinal scan is in the database of every planetary system we enter and come into contact with. Once you are scanned, any establishment with a retinal scanner will be able to access your account and draw out funds whenever you make payments. However, before any funds can be pulled, my systems will require 'authorization' and confirmations. So, you don't have to worry about someone 'stealing' your money.] Great Fox interjected at that moment. [I have also made a note of what you enjoy eating, I will prioritize such food options when you are ready to order raw foods.]

He nodded and got up with the girls, leading the way as he now was going to talk to Trishula and her squadron about their employment. "Can you set up a waypoint to a park area, or somewhere 'quiet' that I can talk to these ladies in private?"

[Of course, Captain... I have found a location ideal based on your requirements, waypoint established.]

He smiled as he activated his glove and saw the line and the waypoint, so he instructed them to follow him and off they went. It took about five minutes of walking before concrete and blended civilization and nature, gave way to pure nature. It was a public park and it was very quiet, nobody was really walking around, and he noticed that this was because of the time probably. It was starting to get a bit late in the day, it was only sixteen hundred hours local planet time according to the HUD, or as he translated, four o clock. He eventually found a nice, secluded little area and turned to Trishula's group with his arms crossed.

"Alright, now that we've had our stomachs filled, and we're all face to face, let's talk business and discuss hiring you four."

"Just so you know, we can't exactly fulfill our jobs as 'Pilots' sir, not without fighters. So, before we can take on any job you have, we're going to need to be paid in advance so we can rent some fi-" Vanessa started saying, but she was silenced as Trishula elbowed her.

"Hush."

"I know that, Trishula informed me of your... 'situation'." He said with a nod. "That is why, I'll hire you to be my pilots. I'll even supply you some fighters to use, so you don't have to worry about how you'll be able to fly."

"W-wait, you'll... you'll supply us with fighters?" Yumi asked in awe.

"Alright, what's the catch... nobody just says to a group of C-rank pilots and says they'll hire them and even supply them their own fighters." Katarra said.

"Yes... the catch, well as you should know, I spent a bit of money, your fine went from one thousand to nine thousand in the days you were behind bars." He explained. "On top of that, you also had a 'massive' outstanding debt owed to quite a few groups. You weren't going to be allowed to leave the system without making a down payment of some kind even if you paid the fine."

They all looked squeamish at that, and Trishula gulped in worry.

"The outstanding debt was 'three times' what you originally thought it was, the interest alone raised it to be so high... well even my Ship's AI was impressed by how large it was." He told them. "Naturally even if I wanted to hire you, you needed to make a down payment to be allowed to leave the system. So... I went ahead and..."

"You didn't..." Katarra muttered in shock.

"No way, you... you... you made a down payment for us?" Yumi asked hopefully.

"I... if you did then... I'll take back 'everything' bad I ever thought about you in the short time we've..." Vanessa started saying, before he said with a smile.

"So, I paid off the entire debt while you were being released from your cell following the fine being paid."

There was utter silence from all four girls as he told them the news. He could see their shocked faces and the reality setting in for them as he spoke those words. Vanessa's hands fell to her sides as her mouth hung over. Yumi's eyelids flickered in disbelief as she held her breath. Katarra's face showed indescribable joy as comprehension began to appear. But it was Trishula who showed the greatest emotion, she just... looked utterly stunned as she heard the words.

"You paid..." Vanessa whispered.

"Our Debt..." Yumi stuttered.

"All off!" Katarra squealed.

He nodded as he tapped in front of him to bring up the menu from the HUD, and asked Great Fox to show him the massive debt bill and confirmations of payments received. He then took off the headset and offered it to Trishula, who looked like she was too stunned to believe him unless she saw proof. She tentatively took the headset and slowly put it on, and stared in utter disbelief. She swiped, slowly, then more quickly, her eyes reading what was on the HUD as tears began to fall down her fur. After she showed that she finished scrolling, she nodded to confirm what he said.

"He did... our debt's gone... we're free of our massive outstanding debt." Trishula whispered in suppressed joy as she handed the headset back to him, though with a shaky hand.

He took it back and nodded, the good feeling from before of setting these girls free of that huge debt returning to him. The girls looked to each other in shock and awe, before all of them started crying to one another, and Trishula even broke her 'professionalism' and grabbed him, hugging him close to her and moaning her gratitude to him.

"But... why... why would you... I... I just don't... understand!" Trishula begged as her fellow pilots all hugged each other and jumped in joy, celebrating their freedom.

"Well... let's just say... your confession touched me." He muttered as he turned to look away while returning the headset to his head. "I know what it's like to be straddled with debt, and it feels like there's no escape the longer it goes on. There's no worse feeling then the feeling like you're a slave to something that you can't see, like no matter where you go, how far you run, what you do, that 'feeling' like your trapped never goes away. I also know how broken someone may feel, when they begin to feel like there is no escape, and think they'll be saddled with a debt they'll never be allowed to pay off unless they die."

He then chuckled as he blushed at one other detail. "Also... I'm a bit of a sucker for a damsel in distress... call me a sap... but seeing you... 'earlier'." He said with a wink, causing her to blush as she knew what he was talking about. "Well... how could I have 'not' helped you, I'd be a heartless bastard if I took advantage of you or turned you away when you were desperate."

Trishula just stared and smiled warmly at him, breathing heavily as she acknowledged what he said.

"So... here's how it will work." He said in an official tone. "I'm going to hire you four, you are qualified pilots with experience, and since I'm not picky about pilots nor am I confident I'd find better pilots then you, I will hire you four to work for me and my ship Great Fox."

"Great Fox... sounds pretty quaint." Vanessa said.

"Yes sir, if you will have us, we will work for you and Great Fox!" Trishula said as she snapped to attention.

"Mhmhm, as for payments, I'll give you girls a regular daily pay, so each day you work for me you'll earn some funds which will be deducted from every successful mission we undertake and paid to your accounts. On top of that, I will also supply you your fighters to use to protect my ship on missions, and you will be responsible to 'keep them flying', meaning no getting them destroyed. However, since I've paid a massive three million MPC debt for you with my own money, you'll be at a slightly, emphasis on 'slightly', reduced pay rate until you pay me back. Is that acceptable?"

At those words, the girls began looking at one another, but it seemed like they were all agreeing to the terms.

[Captain, if we are to hire these pilots, then I request that they be tested 'before' we officially sign any contract with them.] Great Fox interjected, appearing on his HUD. [They are 'C-Rank' pilots, we cannot entrust them to protect Great Fox during highly dangerous missions without any information on their capabilities. Based on what little information I have on their records, the probability of successful missions in the future doesn't increase more than 'five' percent. These are unacceptable calculations given our recorded missions in the past.]

He nodded and turned away to signify that he's talking to his ship, and all four girls paid attention to the one-sided conversation.

"Alright, how would you go about testing them so you feel more secure?"

[Belga Cinco's spaceport defensive platforms have multiple unmanned starfighters that frequently rents out its units so starfighter pilots can practice and test their vehicles as well as new weapons.] She told him, bringing up an unmanned fighter and various forms. [We can rent a contingent of fighters and have them engage them in space combat to test them. As they will be using the Arwings, we can also see how they handle your fighters 'before' we risk them being destroyed in combat by 'less then qualified candidates'.]

He nodded as he agreed to his ship's demands, they were reasonable, and boasts or records can only say so much. If he was going to entrust his ship's safety to these four girls, he had to ensure they were up to snuff.

"Alright, Great Fox, make the payments and arrangements. By the way have you landed yet?"

[Affirmative, scanning completed an hour ago and the ship has since landed. Offloading has begun and is slowly progressing. I have already auto-piloted Blue Fox back into the hanger bay and it is now sitting in standby mode for your next use. I will establish a waypoint so you can locate me once again.]

"I don't think I'll need much help finding you, but thank you very much girl." He nodded and watched as she began filling stuff out before vanishing. "Alright, let's go to the ship, Great Fox isn't confident you can defend her properly. So, to appease her calculations, you four will have to do a test drive of my starfighters in a mock combat scenario versus several unmanned fighters in space. Let's get going, daylight's burning."

"Yes Captain." They all said cheerfully and followed suit.

They had to walk for nearly half an hour because of how far they've been traveling from the spaceport terminals, but when they arrived, he was able to pass through security with no trouble. His four pilots however had to go through several checks, as apparently, they had 'wanted' notices of them because of the debts they owed.

However, once they confirmed that these debts were all paid, and the spaceport commission removed the wanted status and detainment requirement of Trishula and her pack, they 'finally progressed through the terminal onto the spaceport landing pavement.

"I am... soooooo sorry for that scene back there Captain Arthur." Trishula muttered as she held her face to hide the embarrassment.

"Those security guards didn't believe us when we said our debts were fully paid." Yumi muttered as well, ears drooping.

"At least they had the common courtesy to check the records." Vanessa agreed.

"Could have been worse, we could have been arrested and thrown back in jail and do this whole walk all over again..." Katarra said. "Let's just be glad that they let us through."

He nodded as he hopped into the first automated vehicle and began driving with them in the other seats. Trishula sat next to him and was looking at every corvette, frigate, cruiser and even cargo transport that they drove by.

Trishula was actually curious about what kind of ship Arthur was a captain of, being able to pay off a 3 million debt at the snap of one's fingers is no small feat, even for a ship captain. He either was loaded or took a ton of risky jobs. But through it all, she kept on glancing at him and smiling shyly. He was very cute, and above all... handsome and nice. He honestly seemed like the perfect captain for her and her girls. She was picturing now what his ship looked like, imagining a heavy cruiser, sleek and stylish with turbo gun batteries, plasma cannons, heavy shields...

"So... where's your ship?" Yumi asked as they passed by the twelfth cruiser.

"Don't worry, we're almost there." He said as he could see his precious ship now, no longer needing the waypoint.

She was sitting on the pavement just waiting for him, and she looked just as 'massive' on the ground as before when she was flying in space. Of course, her beauty from before was marred by the many, many trucks and service crews tending to her. He could see an enormous truck loading several massive crates from her rearmost cargo bay. He could also see a repair detail examining one of the upper most cargo bay doors, extracting it and performing the fixes his ship informed him of.

[I am afraid you will have to park the vehicle further away than when it was parked before, the working crews require a minimum distance between the ship they are working on and any automated transports owned by the spaceport. I have marked the location on your HUD.] Great Fox said apologetically.

"Got it, alright girls here we are, there she is."

Trishula also seemed to see his ship as well, and she had a tiny pang of 'disappointment' as she stared at the ship that he seemed to be aiming toward. The ship was a rusted brown corvette design that had a radar dish on its upper and lower hulls, several docking ports for starships to latch onto and multiple turbolaser gun batteries and plasma cannons. It seemed to be a special modified corvette meant to take on heavier ships while equipped with fighters to protect and provide support. The ship itself was about one hundred and ninety meters long and eighty-five meters wide, and about one hundred and thirty meters tall with the landing clamps retracted. She could also see surrounding it several Epsilon Black Hole class fighters, sleek to the naked eye but otherwise 'ugly' in terms of maneuverability and only meant to 'outlast' other fighters instead of outmaneuver them.

The fighters she guessed were the 'gifts' from their captain. She had to admit, they would definitely not break them easily. An Epsilon Black Hole fighter's hull was almost as tough as a carrier's hull, and the shields were on par with heavy cruisers.

As he slowed to a stop and got out, she and her girls got out and looked over the ship that they would be serving and the fighters they guessed they'd be using. Collectively they all gave a tiny moan of disappointment, hoping for... 'better'. But, Trishula reminded herself that Captain Arthur paid their debts and offered them a job out of the kindness of his heart, beggars cannot be choosers.

"It's a heavily modified Ikarian YT-1300 Corvette..." Yumi whispered, she was their ship specialist and analyst.

"What a piece of junk..." Vanessa muttered under her breath.

"I don't care if it can traverse the hyperspace lanes point five percent faster than any other ship out there... it is 'ugly'."

"When he said his ship was called, Great Fox... I wasn't picturing that." Trishula said.

"What's up?" Arthur said as he went over to see what the girls were looking at. "Oh, an Ikarian YT-1300 Corvette. Man, whoever owns that ship knows how to modify, she looks perfect for fleet actions. Though, personally I'd go with another engine design to improve her maximum speed and maybe trade out the plasma turrets for kinetic ones to 'really' punish heavy shields on larger ships. Ugh, and the fighters, boring, so they can tank a direct line of fire from an AFB gun battery and shrug it off like nothing, big deal, they're nothing more than glorified bombers with blasters added onto them."

At that all four of the girls looked at him in confusion. "What... isn't this 'your' ship the Great Fox?" Trishula asked in confusion.

"Huh, no... that isn't Great Fox." He said in surprise.

"So... where 'is' your ship?" Yumi asked in confusion, her tail forming a question mark.

He smirked as he pointed his thumb and turned toward Great Fox, and as one all girls turned as well and just 'stared' with gaping mouths at the ship he was the captain of.

Great Fox... was 'HUGE', larger than 'any' other ship they'd seen outside of a viewport or on the holonet. A ship like her wasn't often seen to them, they were considered lucky to pass by one or see it docked on the ground in the spaceport, or most often as it was leaving the planet in the distance from a window at night.

"W... WHAT?!" They all screamed in unison and surprise.

"You have a Finback Battleship Class Hull model as your ship?" Yumi screamed in amazement, as if she'd never seen a work of art like what was before her.

"There are only like 'fifty thousand' of those still in active service!" Vanessa screamed as she too heard of the rarer models of ships.

"They're almost never seen in farming sectors because of how heavily armed and modified they are! They're always used for frontline battle duties or transporting large volumes of high-grade weapons, vehicles and fighters from one war zone to another!" Katarra squealed in awe.

Trishula was just... stunned as she observed the Great Fox in its entirety, now she really was counting her blessings. If 'that' was her new captain's ship... wait... 'how' could he have a ship this rare and this valuable? Suddenly... she had a haunting thought that began to worm its way into her conscience.

"Hold on..." Yumi muttered nervously as she stared at the ship, and Trishula turned to see her staring intently at a specific location of Great Fox's hull.

"Hmmm, what's up?" Arthur asked as he looked at the Cat Belgan pilot.

Her eyes went wider than before, if that was even possible, as she stared in awe at the Great Fox now. "Is... is your vessel... a High/Low Profile Class ship... and is it currently sitting in 'Low' Profile Mode?"

He smiled as he could see Yumi was a sharp girl. "Yea, she's sitting in Low Profile Mode now, but at a moment's notice she can easily enter High Profile Mode. She is something special when she enters High Profile Mode, let me tell you." He said as he looked at his ship as well.

Trishula felt that worm of fear, that haunting thought slide right into her conscience as she made the connection, all but confirming her fears. High/Low Profile Ships were exceedingly difficult and expensive to acquire, and there was only 'one' group of Captains that were licensed to own one, let alone be allowed to 'buy' one. Not even high-ranking government officials could own a High/Low Profile Ship. The only other people that could captain one are Naval Commanders and Navy Admirals, who were issued personal ships by the sector's governing body. Suddenly... she felt her world shatter, as her dream, her joy, her happiness came crashing down.

"Alrighty, let's go inside and I'll show you the fighters." Arthur said as he stepped forward.

"Captain Arthur..." Trishula said weakly, tearfully.

He looked to see Trishula staring at the ground, almost like she couldn't bear to look up at him.

"Captain Arthur... I'm sorry to say, but I cannot in good faith... serve you."

"Huh?" He asked in confusion.

"What, but ma'am I thought we-" Vanessa said in worry, but Trishula snapped at her.

"Be quiet... this is hard enough for me as is." She whispered tearfully. "Captain Arthur... you're a Freelance Captain, aren't you?"

"Freelance Captain?" He asked, and instantly Great Fox responded.

[She is correct Captain, your license to own and captain the Great Fox is that of a Freelance Captain's.]

There was silence as he listened to what the great fox said, and Trishula took that silence as confirmation.

"I knew it... that explains the work of art behind you, how you could pay our debt so easily, everything..." She whispered. "I knew it was too good to be true... but as a squadron leader, as 'Trishula's Pack' Squadron Leader I cannot in good faith permit you to take us as your pilots."

She stared up at him with teary eyes, as she was staring at a dream that was now out of reach, her hopes crushed as how could she 'possibly' permit this... wonderful Captain, to take on a bunch of rookies like her squadron. Oh, they were great pilots, but he... he deserved far better than a bunch of C-Rank flyers that have to 'beg' for their employer to provide them fighters now so they can do the job they're hired to do.

"You are a Freelance Captain, as you know... Freelance Captains are granted special permissions to operate in any of know space's planetary sectors. They are permitted to take on 'any' kind of mission and are permitted to act however they wish. They are granted immunities from the law provided they follow certain rules, and they are allowed to fly wherever they wish and in whatever they want. It's virtually impossible to acquire a 'Freelance Captain's license for a common Captain, you have to pay exorbitant fees, pass thousands of tests, be screened by up to ten planetary sector port authorities and be recommended by at least a dozen high ranking government officials and a naval commander before you can get a license. Being a Freelance Captain gives you express care from government bodies, you push ahead of the line and don't have to sit waiting for some civil servant to collect your paperwork like a normal captain would. You get priority treatment when requesting materials or supplies, you get priority repair work done, offloading or onloading supplies is done by crews that are dedicated 'solely' to Freelance Captain'd ships."

"We're just lowly C-ranked pilots... we're only allowed to take on jobs like guarding food convoys and farming equipment or vessels on fuel runs. You deserve better than us..." She wept sadly. "So please, don't hire us... I'll try to find you 'better' pilots... you deserve the best of the best, the only pilots that Freelance Captains look for are those of S Rank, or high-level A-Rank pilots. The best of the best, flyers who have seen war zones and have come out of battles with large fleet actions multiple times over. Flyers who can afford the best ships, the best equipment, take on the most dangerous jobs without 'any' hesitation. And the only people who hire these pilots are naval officers engaging in war time fleet actions, or Freelance Captains."

She was crying as she so wanted to go with him, but... but...

*pat*

She looked up and saw him patting her head between her ears, causing them to move instinctively. He was giving her a smirky smile as he was guessing what was going through her head. She was feeling worthless now, that she couldn't hope to meet the expectations of her new captain. But... he also knew that none of that mattered, she said she and her squadron were all great pilots, and he needed great pilots. Plus, he wasn't looking for someone who would just act tough and be prideful in their accomplishments, he wanted someone who he could be friends with, who would take care of his ship the way 'he' wanted to take care of her. And the way she was treating his vessel, as if it were a precious jewel that she didn't want to defile with her footsteps, was what he was looking for.

"Trishula... it's a little late to back out now."

"But... 'Captain'..." She whispered.

"If you're going to call me Captain, then that means you agree to work for me. I deem you worthy to serve aboard Great Fox, and that's the only authority you need to confirm your status as pilots of my ship. We made an agreement remember, can't just leave me hanging now."

She just cried a heartwarming tear, as he told her that he wanted her 'despite' her status as a C-Rank pilot. She was deemed 'worthy' to serve as a fighter pilot aboard this ship. Her squadron were considered worthy to serve this ship.

She took a deep breath and nodded, and Arthur pulled his hand away, but she looked at her own hand and decided to make a rash... but in her mind... the only decision at that moment that would cement her place in this world.

"Captain... how much do you know of Belgan Culture?" She asked as she looked at her hand.

"Uh... not much, I never spent much time planet side, I was always doing missions." He replied honestly with a chuckle.

She nodded, and smiled, as this would come as quite a shock, but she also hoped he would understand its significance.

"What I'm about to do is a very old, and honestly outdated and pointless custom among Belgan society." She said as she brought her hand to her mouth, and then bit down hard with her teeth.

"Wha?" He watched as Trishula bit her own hand, squinting in pain as she forced her teeth to dig deeper, past the fur and into flesh, drawing blood.

Then as he watched, she panted in pain as she looked at her slightly bleeding hand, and then showed him the wound. Her other hand meanwhile, opened her vest and undid her shirt just enough so he could see a portion of her chest. Then she took that wound on her hand and placed it over her heart, rubbing it until she was content that she'd showed him what she wanted to do. Afterwards she walked over to him, and nodded tentatively to him to ask permission.

"Uh... alright?" He replied, seeing that this was very important to her.

She nodded with a grateful smile, and then reached to his shirt, under it, and rubbed his bare chest with her hand, getting a trace of her blood on his chest. Then she began to speak her native tongue.

"Baracico, mandala harvelta!" She whispered lovingly, stopping her action and just holding her hand over his heart. "Mehnlachio al Bufantooonio, mehn bodeh un hartra bel soolva." She took a huge breath of air as she finished the ritual, and then looked up into his eyes and whispered. "With this... I belong to you. I'll follow you and Great Fox, for as long as I live."

Utterly confused, he just nodded, as he didn't know how to respond, but she did pull out something from her vest that looked like a bandage as well as an alchohol swab and gave it to him to clean the blood from him, while she bandaged the wound. "I forgot that you knew how to speak Native Belgan fluently." Katarra said in astonishment. "We've been speaking basic galactic for so long that I almost forgot what native Belgan sounded like."

"Wait that was Native Belgan?" He asked in wonder. "That sounded wonderful... I wonder why you don't speak that more often."

"It's better to speak Basic Galactic, easier to communicate. Most Belgans don't practice speaking Native Belgan because of how little we use it, as such there's probably only two percent of Belgans who speak it with fluency." She said with a blush. "Thank you though... I've not spoken Native Belgan in a long time. It's not something I practice... but it's nice to know I can still speak it fluently."

The other three girls looked at the two of them and then each other, before each of them nodded in determination and as one, brought their own hands to their mouths and bit hard, repeating the same gesture of biting into skin and drawing blood. They all squinted in pain but bore through it. They then showed him their wounds one by one, and then placed their hands on their shoulders, then foreheads.

"Mehn Lacico, El buatra en soolva." They said in unison, but unlike Trishula they were clearly the percentage that were not fluent speakers. "Uhn do fantos umatra Artruatra andva Gratios Fuxta!" They then showed their foreheads and bowed to him, placing their hands over their hearts. "Wetra swervetra nundo foretra undo everatra!"

They then stood up straight and said in basic galactic, "We dedicate our souls to you and Great Fox, now and forever!"

Seeing all three of the girls follow their leader's action in swearing an eternal oath that he was 'not' expecting, he just nodded and accepted their decision. "I wish I had something... special like that but... all I can say is... welcome aboard, Great Fox." He said as he beckoned them to follow him toward the ship.

As he led the way to the ship the girls behind him followed suit, though with a bit more 'skip' added into their steps and their tails all wagging eagerly, or in Yumi's case standing straight up and very bushy now. Great Fox lowered an elevator for them as they approached, a metal tube with a platform that they stepped onto and then watched as the door closed and the tube lifted them up and into the belly of the ship.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he felt himself step onto his ship again, feeling at home once more. His four female pilots however were staring around in awe and amazement as they found themselves aboard one of the cleanest, most well-maintained vessels they've ever had the privilege to board. The silvery steel hallways, the plasteel flooring, the various console screens embedded at various intervals in the walls and of course just everything in general indicating it was well maintained and cleaned. Trishula just walked with tentative steps as Captain Arthur led the way, following a blue line that lit up along the wall when he requested Great Fox to lead them to the hanger bay.

She couldn't stop marveling at everything she was walking by or on. Most of the ships she and her squadron were allowed on were cargo vessels carrying farming equipment or produce, or even food animals being carried in bulk. They were always dirty, smelly, sometimes rusted on the inside and outside and generally only maintained to keep them in prime flying conditions so they could make the journeys. Her own squadron's fighters were also broken-down rusted heaps of junk, now that she was walking aboard Great Fox, she just felt like everything was made of glass and was afraid to touch something out of fear of breaking it and upsetting their new captain.

Eventually they reached the hanger bays and this time, Arthur had a pleasant feeling of warmth since they were on the planet and Great Fox 'wasn't' in the vacuum of space. He opened the door and all four of the girls ran in behind him, ogling and oohing at the sight of the various nests and all of the railing systems used for the fighters and transport the hanger was home to.

"WHOA! NO WAY!" Yumi squealed as she ran forward as she saw the largest ship in the bay, the Blue Fox.

He chuckled as he followed with the other girls, Trishula sighing as she couldn't believe her ship analysist letting her professionalism slip the 'second' she saw a ship she had to fangirl over details only 'she' and fellow ship enthusiasts paid attention to.

"You actually have a Dylerian-Centro VX-2 Post Beta Beluga-Zentra Transport, that thing is a luxury transport only the super-rich have, they cost an insane price on the market to get one! WAIT IT STILL HAS ITS ORIGINAL THRUSTER ENGINES ON THE PORT AND STARBOARD SIDES? THIS THING IS PRACTICALLY FACTORY NEW!" Yumi practically 'screamed' as she ran from side to side, looking at every tiny detail of the ship. "Luxury dining, a built-in luxury hot tub, private noise proof bedrooms, in class movie theatre, silent engines for comfort travel, heating 'and' air conditioning with food and water storage capacity for up to five days, a hull capable of withstanding temperatures of three hundred degrees Celsius and below three hundred and seventy! Oooooh this is a dream transport! This baby is considered a luxury transport now, but when they were making these, one was always attached to Finback Battleship Class Hull models as a standard issue transport!"

Trishula, Arthur, Katarra and Vanessa shook their heads in disbelief as she fangirled over the transport. Arthur was tempted to say it 'was' factory new with how little it was used, since earlier that day was its actual first flight. She was practically salivating over the ship, and he suspected that if Great Fox for whatever reason opened the inside, he'd find puddles of drool inside of the transport with how much Yumi was going crazy just from the outside.

[Please do not defecate Blue Fox with your saliva Yumi.] Great Fox said over the speakers. [This ship is to be used by the captain for transportation purposes only, not for luxury flights into the vacuum of space without the captain's permission.]

Yumi finally snapped out of her fangirl mode and nodded, backing up and returning to the others, thoroughly embarrassed over how she acted. But she started fangirling again as she, Vanessa, Katarra and Trishula saw the starfighters lying in their nests.

"Are those D-D-D-D-Dylerian-Centro VG-1 Post Beta Multi-Modular Bottlenose-D-Zentra Fighters... you'd be lucky to find one in a 'museum' in such a pristine condition as these units..." Yumi now stuttered as she ran to the railing of walkway and stared at the fighters. "Able to reach speeds matching a light corvette with engine upgrades outside of transport speeds, able to enter and exit the atmospheric layers of a planetary system, capable of long-range journeys in the vacuum of space, resistant to temperatures equal to that of most planetary system's stars, modular attachments for a variety of combat roles... Huauaaahah..."

Yumi fell backward and looked like she had fainted with a very happy smile, her body twitching and... to Arthur's surprise, and the girl's utter embarrassment... sporting a wet spot between her legs on her exposed panties with how she fell backward.

"Forgive me Captain... I think I orgasmed... a little..." She uttered sheepishly.

Arthur was sheepishly pretending to try and not notice, but the still of sound mind and body girls were trying to hid their utter embarrassment at the scene of Yumi's body fangirling over a ship. "I'm so sorry Captain... Yumi... is our squadron's ship specialist and analyst, so she gets very enthusiastic over rare ship models and luxury ships that we never see outside of a museum or maybe the latest datapad issue of 'Relic Ships Still Flying Around'." Trishula whispered apologetically.

[I would suggest assigning her to permanent cleaning duty of the Arwing she chooses for her personal starfighter Captain.] Great Fox said as she extended the ramps to four of the Arwings. [I have just received confirmation of payment received for the use of Belga Cinco's defense platform's unmanned fighters. They will be rearmed for mock battle settings and will use simulated blasters for the mock battle. Before we send your new pilots into space, I would suggest having them become accustomed to the Arwings flight capabilities, and then equip them with a standard weapon loadout.]

"Alright, you heard the ship girls, get to your ships, and get familiar with the controls!" He declared. "Great Fox I'm heading to bridge; I'll monitor them from there! Good luck ladies!"

"Yes Captain!" Trishula and her pilots said, with Yumi shakily getting back to her feet.

As Arthur began to leave the hanger bay, Trishula just watched his back the entire time, smiling happily as she placed her hand over her heart, the one she wounded herself, and took a deep breath of air. Behind her Katarra was helping Yumi and getting her into a fighter, but it was Vanessa who sidled up to her with a knowing smirk.

"You know ma'am... I may not be as... knowledgeable about our ancient Belgan customs... but unless my memory is mistaken." She said slyly while crossing her arms. "If I recall, the 'oath of loyalty' required one only place their bloodied hand over their shoulder, then forehead. What you did... was a different kind of oath, the oath of intertwined hearts."

Trishula glanced up at Vanessa who was smirking as she pushed her B-cup breasts a little, winking at her with a knowing nod.

"Planning on getting knotted, are we?"

Trishula smiled a little, blushing at the fact that she was found out, but it would be Vanessa who would see through her plans. The other two didn't notice, they weren't as knowledgeable of Belgan Customs as she and Vanessa were. She was... planning on something that night, she was right about that. It wasn't a spur of the moment decision, she had been saving herself for a 'special' man, she never expected however to actually 'meet' him one day, let alone that person being her 'captain'.

"He's... well... special after..."

"Hey I'm not judging, he's a looker and he got us out of a real tight mess, he even gave us these sweet digs, I haven't seen a clean fighter this high tech outside of my dreams. If he weren't my captain and you my squadron leader, I'd drag him to the nearest bed, shove him down, drop my pants and pull my tail up to tell him to dock his ship in my hanger bay too. Heck I'd even say give me a litter on top of that!" Vanessa said as she slapped her back and laughed. "But it'll be nice to not be the only lady who lost their V-card in this squad. Have a good time with him girlfriend, and give me a heads up if you want a threesome! I haven't had a steady boyfriend or intimate partner since my Ex dumped me and got himself shot down by pirates."

They laughed as they turned to the fighters and started boarding their new ships when Great Fox told them to begin strapping in for their shake down flight.

In the bridge Arthur activated various windows and began to bring up the Arwing's systems and details. Great Fox began to fuel and move the fighters into position for them to take off, rotating and angling them along the railings toward the bay doors which opened.

"Alright... systems check ladies, Arwing Pilots call in!" He said as he tapped several buttons to bring up more details on them on various holowindows.

"This is Trishula in Arwing Three, all systems are green!" Trishula said as she went through the routine of getting everything on.

"This is Katarra of Arwing Four, all lights green on my end!" Katarra said as she settled into her seat.

"This is Yumi in Arwing Six, fuels are good, stabilizers responding well, cockpit sealed, shields fully charged, and engines hot, everything checks green for me!" Yumi said as she put on her headset for communication.

"This is Vanessa in Arwing Nine, ready to shine!" Vanessa said with a smile.

"Alright... Arwings... activate engines, take off in ten seconds!" He said as he tapped another button to open the hanger bay doors and get the Arwings ready to launch.

As one all four Arwings activated their engines, with shielding ramps raising so the engine exhaust wouldn't and would allow the fighters to launch without burning anyone who might be in the hanger bay.

[Belgan Port Authorities have authorized your flight on the planet surface. Prepare for Arwing deployment in five seconds... four... three... two... one...]

"Launch!" He ordered.

All together the Arwings flew out of the hanger bay and away from the ship, and in the seat of her cockpit Trishula marveled at the response time and speeds that her new fighter was achieving. She did a light turn as she pulled up and away from the central spaceport with her squadron and marveled at just how 'quickly' everything vanished behind her. Soon she was approaching the seas and leading them in an aerial maneuver.

"Wow, the response times are at peak performance, there's barely any delay from pilot input to ship response!" Yumi marveled as she did a spin to prove her point.

"You're telling me, at these speeds we could fly 'rings' around a battleship traveling at low combat speed!" Katarra stated.

"They're amazing pieces of engineering, streamlined for multiple combat roles and perfected designs to compliment the pilot's choice of weapon systems, it's a wonder they don't make these anymore." Vanessa whispered as she followed Trishula's wake.

Trishula was just silent as she watched the sky fly around her, feeling herself 'free' as she flew in this new Arwing. It put to shame their old fighters, which barely could match anything these babies could fly. So, as they began to ascend to perform more advanced maneuvers, she only had one line of thought to tell them.

"We're flying again ladies." She told them.

As one they all nodded with smiles, they were indeed flying once again.

"Been a while since we flew the skies Ma'am." Vanessa agreed.

"Well, what are we waiting for, let's put these ships to the test, come on we're doing light work compared to what I've read these things are capable of!" Yumi said excitedly. "These beauties are capable of reaching five times what we're doing, and we can perform maneuvers we could never perform using our old ships!"

"You heard Yumi, let's push them faster!" Katarra also said in an excited tone.

"Alright ladies, form up on me!" Trishula agreed.

They formed up behind her in a box formation and then began to pick up their paces, turning left and then right, before going into a sudden summersault. They then raced to the water's surface and pulled up at the last second creating huge trenches of water in their wake. Once they'd had a feel for how they could handle such moves they all pulled up suddenly and performed a backwards U-turn, turning over and spinning to return to an upright position. They repeated the maneuver two more times, each time pushing further and further into the sky.

"This is awesome!" Yumi squealed in delight as Trishula led them in further maneuvers.

"Pew Pew!" Vanessa said with a chuckle as she came up directly behind Yumi.

"Hey what?"

"Pay attention Yumi, I just shot you down!" Vanessa said as she pulled ahead of her.

"Oh really, let's see you escape 'me' now!" Yumi replied with a playful smirk as she chased after her.

"Uh uh, she's mine, I got a score to settle after she beat me in that game the night that we got in that bar fight!" Katarra also giggled as she joined in the play fight.

"Hey girls watch the play fighting, let's not damage these things just an hour after we got them." Trishula muttered as her squad started having a playful dogfight, pretending to get behind and shoot one another.

Meanwhile though, back on Great Fox, Arthur was watching with a bemused smile as they put those fighters to the test and had a mini playfight. He had to admit, he was a little jealous that he wasn't able to join them. But he was the captain and fighters were best left to professional pilots like Trishula and her squadron. Still, they looked like they were having a ton of fun flying out there. Though... he noticed they were getting a bit 'too' far.

They had flown so far and now picking up speeds that they were about to leave the continental plate with how far out into the ocean they were soaring.

"Well, they can fly, and it seems Trishula's words when we first met weren't just boasts. They knew their stuff, they just seemed to only bring out their full potential when they had a quality craft to use." He commented to Great Fox.

[Indeed, they are capable flyers... our odds of completing a mission successfully have increased by a further twenty five percent.] Great Fox stated to him. [However, until I have combat data in my systems, I will continue to label them as less than ideal candidates to serve as your fighter pilots.]

He nodded in understanding, but then watched as they were nearing the edge of Great Fox's scanning range while still in Low Profile Mode. He had adjusted the scanners to be able to pick up further then when they were in space, but still they were pushing the limits of Great Fox's scanners. "Uh, are they going 'too' far out?"

Great Fox was about to respond, until 'one' of the Arwings vanished completely with the other three following suit soon after. [Initiating Recall Procedure!]

With the Arwings, Trishula was shaking her head in amusement as the other three members of her squad were 'still' play fighting, chasing after them to just fly after them. Then all of a sudden, her ship lurched and leveled out, with various alarms blaring. "What's going on, I'm getting weird system messages." She said as she looked at the consoles surrounding her for an explanation, but all she saw were rapidly scrolling lines of code moving too fast for her eyes to read.

"Hey my controls have locked up... nnng I can't move anything!" Yumi complained.

"Yea, my ships acting up too!" Vanessa said in agreement.

"Nothing's responding, systems are locking me out, I can't override anything!" Katarra said.

Suddenly all four Arwings turned in unison and began flying back toward the mainland. On the main console screen in front of each of them, a stylized Fox with an officer's cap appeared. It then gave her a glare, while showing it was dragging on its back, a stylized portrayal of her Arwing. It shook its head and proceeded to walk in place. After a bit of flying, they saw land approaching, and soon their fighters started slowing down.

[Sorry ladies, but Great Fox said you were going too far. You have a limited area of space where you're allowed to test your new fighters and you went too far out. So, she initiated the recall procedure and is now piloting the ships back to the Great Fox Hanger Bay.] Captain Arthur said over the comms. [But this is good, we just got word that your unmanned fighters are ready for your mock battle in space. We need to get you girls armed and set up your onboard computers for simulated battles.]

Trishula nodded as she understood, they had to prove themselves now as worthy pilots of Great Fox. They were given these beautiful ships to use as their own, but they had to now prove they could operate them in a combat setting. "Alright, Arwings coming in for docking and weapon refit!" She declared as their fighters made their way, given not under 'their' control, back to the Great Fox.

As they came in to dock, they slowed down and were grabbed by the ship's hanger bay tractor beams, which gently coaxed them into the bay and allowed the railing system and docking clamps to latch onto and move them to their nests. As they were lined up in their nests, they watched as several mechanical arms reached up and down from the ceiling and floor, each holding a modular attachment for the Arwings.

[Modular armament attachments engaged... refitting Arwing Three, Four, Six and Nine for standard combat parameters.] Great Fox declared as the arms began to attach the modules, making the once sleek and narrow fighters look like they had more bulk to them. [Combat data being uploaded to Arwing computers, reinitializing systems... updates completed and confirmed. Laser guided seals reporting zero fluctuations or misalignments in the modular equipment's onboard locking features...]

Trishula watched as the arms sealed the equipment and steam erupted from the locking hatches, signaling that they weren't going to suddenly break apart from high speeds in the vacuum of space or in the atmosphere of a planet. Across her systems various screens flashed with lines of code flying by and vanishing, before returning to standard function. On the main screen it welcomed back Trishula as the pilot of Arwing Three.

[All systems ready, primary plasma turrets active and fully loaded. Now loading secondary armaments. Loading B-G-1 Multi-purpose Explosives into secondary weapon delivery feed.] Great Fox declared as another arm came down and began loading several warheads one by one into her ship's secondary weapon's feed, each colored red and hexagonal in shape with a pointed tip, labeled with a large black 'B'.

[I call them Bombs for short!] Captain Arthur said over her comms.

She nodded as she watched her systems update her on her armaments and how much ammo she was packing. She watched as the plasma turrets extended from her modular attachments, little slots opening to allow said turrets to push out safely on either side of the cockpit. She had about two thousand rounds of plasma shots to fire before she'd have to return to the Great Fox for a reload, and was carrying a payload of four Bombs.

"Alright pilots, are we all loaded?" She called out over the comms as the arms retracted and they were rotated again to the open bay door.

"I'm locked and loaded." Katarra said with a smirk.

"Heh, we've never had so much ammo before." Vanessa chuckled.

"This is nothing, what we're carrying is just the 'basic' module setup, these babies can be fitted for even heavier firepower!" Yumi said excitedly.

[Prepare to launch, Arwing engines engage for flight mode... locking in target coordinates for Mock Battle Scenario, all computer systems updated for mock dogfighting. Belga Cinco Planetary Port Authorities have cleared you for flight... launch to commence in five seconds... four... three... two... one...]

"LAUNCH!" Trishula shouted as they all blasted off from the hanger bay.

As one they all aimed skyward and picked up their speeds, pushing their fighters faster and faster. Behind them the spaceport and eventually the land itself began to shrink rapidly as they pushed to space. Within three minutes they had cleared the lower, central, and finally upper atmospheres of the planet and broke out into space at long last. They could see stars as far as they could, the Luranten Nebula in the distance, and finally the multiple platforms and orbital stations positioned around the planet.

"Been a while since we've seen space ladies... huh?" Vanessa asked.

As one they agreed, they hadn't seen space in a long time it seemed, even if it was only a few months since their ships crashed and burned, they felt better now that they were back in space again.

"Alright, I see where we have to go for our mock battle Ma'am." Katarra said. "It's directly ahead of us. Training Platform 32-7 Alpha!"

The training platform was essentially a large rectangular platform with multiple blocky outcroppings to act as objects to interfere with lines of sight and obstacles for pilots to maneuver around. It was three hundred meters line and two hundred meters wide, and it served as one of hundreds of training platforms for pilots to sharpen their skills. They never got to use them since their flight school days.

"Alright... let's go!" Trishula said as she flew into the platform area to begin the exercise.

Her squadron followed behind and they each stayed in tight formation, flying along the surface waiting for their enemies to arrive.

"Where are they..." Yumi muttered as she looked around.

"Typical, the ship 'would' set them to ambush us or set them to approach from a single direction to intimidate us." Vanessa agreed.

"Katarra, you're our tactical expert, can you pick them up?" Trishula asked.

"Uh, one second... scanning... nothing yet... I'm... wait, there they are, coming in from point three five! Twenty-four targets!"

They all looked up and saw twenty-four unmanned fighter drones approaching, each of them unveiling the practice blasters designed to not harm the ships but be registered as actual damage to their computers. As they were spotted six took a nose dive to engage them while the rest stayed in formation.

"Analysis complete, they're basic T-100 unmanned starfighter drones, light armaments, minimal shielding. They can't match our speeds without being able to sacrifice their ability slow down rapidly for an extended period of time."

"Twenty-four unmanned fighters, isn't that a little 'excessive' for a combat exercise?" Vanessa muttered with a grin.

"I guess the Great Fox really wants to test our capabilities." Trishula said. "Alright ladies split up, take them down and cover each other's backs!"

"Roger!" They yelled in unison as they separated and charged the unmanned drones in unison.

As they neared their targets both sides opened up with a volley of plasma blasters and laser blasts, but since the unmanned drones weren't being controlled by pilots their evading capabilities were subpar compared to her squadron's. Within the first volley three of the drones were shot down and sent crashing into the surface of the platform and the other three sent to flee in an attempt to get around behind the Arwings.

"Three down, well done ladies!"

"Don't celebrate, they're bringing in reinforcements!" Katarra reported.

Sure enough, from the swarm three more drones began to dive and join the fight, leaving the remaining fifteen to circle like birds of prey.

"Alright let's finish them off quickly, Yumi, Katarra, Vanessa, you handle those three, I'll distract the reinforcements." Trishula ordered.

"Got it!"

They each separated after different targets while she charged the three new attackers alone. "You're mine!" She declared as she swirved and rolled to avoid the incoming barrage of blaster fire and responding with her own plasma shots. In the volley of fire, she managed to bring two of them down but the third dodged, forcing her to roll away to evade a direct attack. However, it seemed to have anticipated that maneuver and rolled after, getting behind her and proceeding to unleash another barrage of blaster fire.

"I got mine!" Yumi cheered.

"Scratch one more for me!" Vanessa called out.

"I've got another four reinforcing." Katarra reported as she was still chasing after hers for a moment, before she pulled a right and forced it to crash into a wall with a volley of plasma shots. "That's one more for me!"

"I've got one on my tail!" Trishula reported as she swerved and rolled, trying to escape her pursuer. "I can't shake him!"

The drone stayed with her, not losing line of sight and continuing to fire with its twin blasters. Fortunately, she was evading the hits so none of them were connecting to her Arwing's shields, but she couldn't keep it up forever.

Suddenly she saw an Arwing fly directly at her from the front and soar past overhead, firing plasma rounds to destroy the tailing drone, sending it spiraling and crashing into the platform.

"Nice save Vanessa."

"I've got your back girlfriend!"

"I've got one on my tail!" Katarra yelled.

"Grrr get off of my 'rear'!" Yumi screamed as she was taking blaster fire from the other three drones.

She looked over to her pilots in danger and came up with a plan. "Vanessa, you go and help Yumi, I'll get the one tailing Katarra."

"Roger that."

They separated and Trishula flew up behind Katarra's tailing drone and began unleashing a barrage of plasma rounds. The drone tried to dodge and roll, even trying to use Katarra's Arwing as a potential shield to make her stop firing due to friendly fire, however Trishula's aim was dead on and within ten rounds, blasted the tailing drone to send it spiraling downward.

"Thanks for the save Trishula!"

"Let's go help out Yumi now."

"No need boss lady~!" Vanessa called out, and she turned to see Vanessa's Arwing launching one of her bombs directly at the group of fighters behind Yumi's.

They dodged the missile itself and let it pass between them harmlessly, but instead of continuing on its trajectory, after just two more seconds it exploded, creating a massive shockwave that caught the three drones in its blast, sending them to crash and burn onto the surface of the platform.

Vanessa smirked as she appeared on Trishula's screen. "These bombs Captain Arthur called them are pretty neat, they're basically just high yield explosive warheads without the missile parts." She told them as a bomb's schematic appeared next to her portrait. "Once they're launched, they explode on impact with any surface, but if they don't connect with a surface they automatically explode after four seconds, hitting anything in their blast radius and even creating a mini shockwave to interfere with certain systems. Not only that, but they each come equipped with a targeting computer, meaning they'll lock onto a specific target with a miniature built in propulsion unit. They won't be able to do flips, but they'll track a target better than an unguided missile."

"That's our weapon's specialist for you." Yumi said.

Back on the Great Fox, Arthur watched on the holographic display windows as the four girls tore through the unmanned fighters. They were quick to learn how to use their ships and already proving themselves capable pilots.

"Not bad huh Great Fox?" He asked his ship.

[Their performance is commendable... based on this data I can say our odds have increased a further fifteen percent.] She replied. [With your permission, I would like to increase the difficulty spike of the exercise. I will link with the unmanned drone's AI and assume control over them with my systems.]

He looked down at the AI beneath his chair with a surprised expression. "Great Fox, you can interface with the unmanned drones and assume direct control of them? I thought that was against the law?"

[As you have paid for these units, we now have the authority to interface with them as we wish.]

"In other words, we bought them, so we can break them." He muttered as he looked at the portraits of the girls all cheering themselves on. "Alright, send in all but four of the remaining unmanned drones, have them buy you time to complete the interface link with the other four."

[As you wish Captain.]

Back in space Trishula noticed that the remaining eleven unmanned drones were starting to engage now, seven had taken a nose dive toward them while 'four' chose to remain in formation. They began splitting up into smaller groups of threes and two.

"Here they come ladies." Trishula said as she led the squadron into a formational attack.

"Everyone, switch to your bombs and initiate the lock on feature." Vanessa told them.

"Got it!" Yumi said.

Trishula switched to her bombs and then clicked a switch to bring the targeting systems up, it began locking onto a target with a broken square. After a few seconds the square became whole and turned green.

"Target locked, bomb volley now!" Trishula ordered.

They all fired bombs at the exact same time, and the seven unmanned drones tried to take evasive action, but as they turned to dodge the incoming volley, the bombs each swerved slightly to match. Even though they were too far away to directly connect, when the bombs exploded the unmanned drones were moving at a fast enough speed that they collided with the explosion and were in turn destroyed. They all woo hood in joy at their accomplishments, but then Trishula watched as the remaining 'four' fighter drones did a circular loop and nosedived toward them.

Something seemed off, that wasn't a typical programmed 'unmanned drone' maneuver.

"Here come the last four!" Katarra proclaimed.

"One for each of us!" Yumi cheered.

"Let's wrap this up and sign that contract to make our new client proud!" Vanessa declared.

Trishula nodded as she steered her fighter toward the incoming group. As the two groups of four fighters each neared the other, they unleashed a barrage of blaster fire and plasma bolts upon the other. But what stunned Trishula was that they turned away and barrel rolled away from the incoming barrages and then, with perfect timing, turned themselves into the paths of her squadron's Arwings to begin tailing them each.

"Whoa, when did they suddenly grow a brain?" Yumi yelled as she was trying to dodge her attacker.

"I can't shake it!" Katarra yelled in frustration.

Vanessa tried to perform a mid-flight loop to shake her attacker, but the drone stayed behind her, matching her maneuver for maneuver and not relenting in its barrage of blasts. Trishula tried to take her tailgater into a rapid dive and then rapid ascent, in an attempt to get it to crash on the surface by accident but it stayed with her.

"Something's up, these aren't the standard battle parameters for these unmanned units." Trishula said with a grunt as she was doing all she could to avoid being blasted.

"I think a certain ship AI is a little salty we're doing so well and decided to cheat mid fight!" Vanessa snarled in frustration, but also amusement.

"You mean Great Fox is controlling these fighters?" Yumi asked.

They tried to outmaneuver their pursuers but it was as Vanessa speculated, whatever moves they tried were being matched by the super computer AI of the Great Fox. She had been collecting data on them the entire match and was now able to pinpoint their moves down to the turn timing. Eventually her unmanned drones began to connect their shots.

"KYaaaaah!" Yumi screamed as she was blasted dead on by a heavy barrage of blaster fire.

Her systems registered the damage as being fatal and she was forced to turn up and away. Shortly after her, Katarra was bombarded by now 'two' fighters, rendering her dead in space and forcing her out of the fight.

"Greaarg I'm out!" Katarra yelled.

Trishula swerved and rolled, tried to flip and generally do 'anything' to shake her pursuer and get the upper hand. But the unmanned drone was 'not' letting up its speed and maintaining its distance. "I can't shake this thing, Vanessa can you help?"

"I've got problems of my own!" Vanessa yelled as she was being pursued by the other three.

She swerved around the platform and tried to get them to ram each other, but they were being very smart about their positioning. After a moment they paused in their fire to take aim and the collectively released a barrage that she couldn't dodge. Her engines were shot, her wings were blasted, and her systems screamed she was dead, making her pull away.

"Uuugha I'm sorry chief, you're on your own!"

"Grrrg..." She groaned as she picked up her pace to try and now out speed the 'four' unmanned fighter drones being operated by a seemingly 'jealous' Ship AI.

Back with the Great Fox Arthur was impressed that Great Fox easily shot down three of the Arwings so quickly. But he was also still impressed that the girls were doing so well all thing's considered. "Not looking good for them huh?" He commented to her as Trishula was the only remaining pilot left to fight.

[I suspect this exercise will be concluded shortly.] Great Fox declared warmly. [I will update my calculations though; they have proven capable candidates. I underestimated their abilities due to their C-Rank status. Our odds are further increased based on this data by ten percent.]

"Don't be so quick to claim victory Great Fox... Trishula doesn't look like she's ready to throw in the towel." He said as he watched her flying with a concentrated face.

[Captain, her odds of victory are very low, I do not see how she could possibly win. With my systems linked to the four unmanned drones, she is basically fighting 'four' of me up there. If her three colleagues couldn't defeat one of me each, how can she deal with four?]

He just smiled and focused on the screen showing the squadron leader being chased down by the four unmanned drones. "I don't know Great Fox, but it will be interesting to see if she can. But just don't make it 'too' easy on her."

[I have no intentions captain~!] She replied proudly.

They watched the battle unfold from the ground, and as they watched he began noticing that Trishula's fighter was slowly, ever so slowly increasing in speed. Great Fox was matching this speed and unleashing a continuous barrage of blaster fire. Over the course of three minutes, she raced from lane to lane over the surface of the platform with the four unmanned fighters in tow. He noticed how deeply she was concentrating and glancing at her consoles, as if constantly checking her speed and adjusting her speed further.

Then at around the four minute mark she fired off a bomb and swerved to the right to avoid the blast. The bomb exploded but it did so harmlessly, the unmanned fighters nowhere near the explosion as it went off and continuing to pursue Trishula as she ignored the blast.

"Huh... I wonder what she's doing..." He muttered.

[Unknown, those bombs are designed to detonate before the Arwing can get close enough to be damaged by them. It appears she is beginning to panic and is taking desperate measures to lose me.]

"As good an analysis as one can expect, but still..." He muttered as he watched.

Several minutes later with Trishula 'still' increasing her speed, pushing it to almost the limit that the Arwing could go, she fired off 'another' Bomb and swerved to the side to avoid the blast. But like before it was unneeded, the explosion was too far away for her to be damaged by it even if she stayed on course, but more importantly the unmanned fighters were unaffected, still maintaining their speed.

"Hmmm, I wonder..." He muttered as he began putting the pieces together, noticing how she was constantly checking her speed and now her use of the bombs.

[Her excessive use of bombs is an unorthodox strategy, but her limited ammunition of the bombs is starting to become apparent. I do hope she won't overuse them in the future, as we have only a limited supply of bombs until we put in a request for more at a munition's depot.]

But Arthur however, smiled as he began to picture what Trishula's plan was. If he suspected what it was, then Great Fox had underestimated the main pilot of the squad's capabilities.

Minutes later Trishula angled her fighter and led them down a minor trench, bringing the four fighters with her, all of them firing rapid blaster shots but missing as she swerved from side to side. Then just moments as the trench was about to end, she smashed her feet onto the brakes and then 'fired' a bomb right as the fighters zoomed past her. Great Fox had pulled them up to avoid crashing, but in doing so she had no choice but to fly directly into the path of the bomb as it sailed just ahead of the drones and 'exploded'. The Arwing's breaks slowed it to a rapid crawl and was outpaced by the fighters, but when they all exploded in a ball of fire she soared through the aftermath and did a victory spin.

"Hahaha, I knew it, she baited you!" He called out as he applauded the pilots. "She lured you into maxing your speed so that when she pulled that trick, your reaction time would be as little as possible!"

[I am impressed... I... must apologize Captain. I sorely underestimated their abilities as pilots based purely on their ranking.] Great Fox said in an apologetic tone. [That last maneuver was... not in my calculated projections of possibilities.]

He smiled as he leaned into his chair and looked down at the AI's sphere. "Great Fox, it's alright, you were thinking only for my concern. I really appreciate the effort you put in for my benefit today, I really am grateful to all you did."

[I... am grateful.] She replied softly.

"So... do they meet your standards now?" He asked his ship with a smirk as the four Arwings turned back to the planet to rejoin the Great Fox.

[Affirmative, with them as our pilots, our chances of success are now at more than acceptable levels.]

It was a while before the Arwings finally returned to the surface, and during that time the sun had begun to set. But while Great Fox removed their modules and performed routine rearmaments and refueling, he took the ladies to the mess hall for a celebratory drink to congratulate them.

"Cheers!" They all shouted as they all had various glasses and drinks in hand.

"Mhmhmhaaa... talk about a celebration." Yumi sighed as they sat around the largest table in the mess hall.

"Your ship makes a nice synthetic ale, but I still prefer the real stuff." Vanessa said.

"Nothing beats the real deal!" Katarra declared with her mug of beer.

Trishula nodded as she drank her juice, not much of an alchoholic Belgan, but she was glad she wasn't the only one as Captain was just drinking water with ice. "So does this mean we now are considered 'qualified' candidates?"

"Well Great Fox, what's your verdict?"

[With the data I have gathered, I can comfortably report that our chances of future mission successes are improved by ninety-five percent.]

"Yahooo!" They all yelled.

"High Praise from a Ship AI." Vanessa laughed.

Arthur took a hearty swig of his drink and then wiped his mouth. "Alrighty ladies, I am heading to bed early, believe it or not I've been awake for the past... like fourteen hours without even realizing it." He told them all. "You girls should be given quarters by Great Fox, if you need help finding them just ask her, and she'll point you to them. You celebrate for as long as you want, I need to head out tomorrow to find new crew members."

"Okay!" The others called out as he headed out.

"Hey Great Fox, another round of drinks please!" Katarra yelled.

Trishula nodded as well, but waited only a bit before she too pretended to yawn and shake her head in pretend tiredness. "Girls, I'm going to crash too... I am tired. That mock battle wore me out more then you realize."

"I can guess, you had to take on Great Fox all by yourself outnumbered four to one!" Yumi agreed.

Vanessa however smirked, and said she'd escort her a bit before coming back to celebrate with them. They exited out and followed the purple line to their quarters before Vanessa held her shoulder with a grin.

"Enjoy your time with him girlfriend." She whispered with a smirk, before whispering into her ear. "The first time is always the most memorable..."

Trishula glanced at her and Vanessa just winked, before turning around and heading back to the mess hall to drink some more, leaving her to nod and continue walking. Once she reached her private room, she dumped her clothes into a bin so that Great Fox could clean and wash them. Once that was done, she also washed up, using the water to clean her body. She watched as the remnants of the dried blood from her oath earlier washed down the drain, and she looked at her hand where it had been bit, the wound mostly scabbed over now. With a gentle smile and a sigh, she rubbed her body down with soap and cleaned herself, rubbing her breasts and already picturing him caressing them.

How many times has she dreamed of a moment like this, meeting 'the one', the one she wanted to be with? Oh a few times... but she never dreamed it would be a 'captain' of a ship. Oh, she imagined some hunky fighter pilot swooping in to save her, a little girl's fantasy, but her true savior came in the form of a young man with a freelance captain's license.

Once she was done and she had a one-piece nightgown with the 'Great Fox' insignia sewn into it, and 'only' wearing the night gown... she stepped out and said. "Great Fox, can you lead me to Captain Arthur's room?"

[I can lead you to his room, but please explain why you wish to go there at this time?]

She sighed as she held herself. "It's because I want to spend the night with him... in a... very special way. Please, it's important to me. I know it's probably... not authorized unless the captain requests me, but... just this one time make an exception? And also... don't tell him I'm coming; I want it to be a surprise."

There was silence for several moments as she waited to see if the ship would respond, before eventually a red line appeared for her to follow.

Captain Arthur had finished showering and brushing his teeth in the bathroom, looking at his reflection he couldn't believe the day he'd had. It may have taken all day, but he found himself four amazing pilots, given they were all beautiful girls and native Belgans to boot, but still they were very fine pilots. With their help he felt his ship would be far better protected in the future, and that was all he truly could hope for.

"But Trishula... damn... is she pretty." He muttered as he remembered seeing her semi-naked body in that alleyway.

She had exposed herself, and maybe she had been scared of what he was going to do to her, but he couldn't resist that she was still 'very' beautiful. Even if she was a furry girl who was like a humanoid wolf, she was still attractive to him. But then he stopped himself from thinking those thoughts, as he remembered that he was now technically her boss, and such 'relationships' were supposed to be discouraged so they could maintain professionalism in a work environment. Besides she was a Purebred Belgan and he was a Purebred Human, or 'Terran', she probably wanted one of her own kind in that regard.

"Lord, I have not touched grass in ages." He muttered as he doubted that she'd even be remotely interested in him as he was exiting the bathroom.

As he exited the bathroom and was about to head to his bedroom, the first thing he noticed was that he was not alone, as standing just a short distance away from the door was Trishula. The second thing he noticed, was that she was wearing nothing more then the 'Great Fox' one-piece nightgown meant for sleepware. The third thing he noticed, was that it was the 'only' thing she was wearing, no shoes, no socks, no shirt or shorts, and especially no bra or panties.

"T-Trishula?" He stammered as he couldn't believe she was there. "Uhm... Uh, why are you... uh..."

"H-hey Captain... I'm... sorry if I caught you by surprise." She whispered nervously as she stepped closer to him. "You see Captain... I just came to see you because... well there's something I... wanted to... confess to you about."

She took a deep breath and stepped closer to him, smiling slyly as she kept glancing into his eyes.

"Do you... remember the oath I made to you earlier, the one before my squadron did theirs?" She asked, to which he nodded. "Well... in Basic Galactic it translates in its entirety to this..." She then took a deep breath and recited everything but in Basic Galactic for him. "I bare to you, my heart in its whole. Male who has touched my spirit, I give freely my body and heart and soul. With this... I belong to you. I'll follow you and Great Fox, for as long as I live."

She sighed as she stepped closer to him and took his hands, placing one over her heart and placing her hand over his.

"The other girls did an oath of loyalty, saying in their words they dedicate their souls and hearts to you, following you as they would follow me. But my oath is entirely different, it's... it's an ancient custom that is rather outdated and pointless in this day and age but. It was only ever recited and performed when a Belgan was proposing to another, declaring their undying love to their significant other."

"I... see..."

She chuckled as she realized how 'stupid' she must look.

"So... I know you... are my Captain and you shouldn't... with me, but... it would make me very happy if... we could share some intimate times together." She told him. "You... are a wonderful Terran, I've met a few loud mouths and jerks who were captains. I've had to suck up to some just to keep my job, not saying all Terrans are like that, there were quite a few Belgans and other captain species that sickened me. But... what you did for me, my squadron... I cannot 'possibly' repay you entirely for. You saved our lives, our freedom, our piece of minds... so, this is my way to repay you."

They stared into each other and just slowly started inching closer, with Arthur slowly wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer, and she wrapping hers around his shoulders to get him closer too.

"You... are very handsome and... amazing... and I've... fallen for you and... it would make me happy if..." She whispered, her words getting quieter and quieter with each second.

"You're a beautiful woman... I was a little... scared to... approach you like... because even though, I mean I was scared because of how outclassed I was compared to..." He stuttered, but as she slowly inched her face to his, the words started evaporating.

Then with only a single finger's width of distance between their lips, they closed their eyes and pushed into each other's lips. Arthur was in 'heaven' as he felt Trishula's lips pressing against his, feeling the short hairs of her soft fur against his body was a strangely 'exotic' sensation that tickled his skin and made him feel excited over the bodily contact he was having with her. Trishula was also feeling blissful paradise as she kissed Arthur, internally she was squealing like a little pup as she kissed her Captain and couldn't help but push herself further into his embrace, pressing her breasts into his chest and feeling him squeeze her closer to him to tighten their closeness.

"Mhmmm..." She moaned in pleasure as she rubbed the back of his head and she felt him slowly squeeze her body slightly. "MHm... mhmmmmm~."

He could feel his hands wandering across her body, and try as he could, being a gamer for so long he couldn't stop himself from gently rubbing her waist and then her butt, the nip of her back and even a bit of her tail which wagged excitedly. But alas, air compelled them to release the other's mouth and they seperated, looking like they were sex starved individuals.

"Captain... Arthur... thank you for being my first kiss..." She whispered happily.

"I could... say the same." He responded sheepishly.

She went wide eyed, she did 'not' just hear that right, no way... no way did her ears pick that up correctly.

"You... I'm your first kiss?" She asked.

"Uh... yes, you were my first kiss." He said with a sheepish smile while glancing away in embarassment. "I'm... very awkward around girls unless its work related... so... no girl ever wanted to try and date me and... well."

In her mind 'fireworks' were going off, she hit the 'jackpot', he had never kissed a girl before... which means. She smiled seductively as she pushed a little harder into his body, squishing her D-cup breasts against him and smiling.

"Well, those girls lose out... because right now, I've got you all to myself now, and you have 'me' all to yourself now." She whispered as she planted another long kiss on his lips, once separated she smiled as she guided his hands to her shoulders. "Well Captain... I've made my oath, and I've sealed it with you... now go ahead and take my body."

Still very stunned that this was happening he just followed his instinct as his brain was trying to process everything, and just slipped his fingers under the top of her nightgown, and pulled them apart to slide it off her.

Trishula the Purebred Belgan now stood entirely naked before him, her plump D-cup breasts and exposed nipples, her nice thin waist and her hips that screamed of 'child-bearing' nature all for him to see. Her legs shifted slightly as she stepped out of the remains of the nightgown and slyly pulled him toward the bed, easing his own night-ware off him. He helped her take it off him, exposing his bare chest and body for him, allowing her to equally gaze at him and admire his muscular body. He was far from a body builder type, but it was clear he had exercised and maintained a healthy body.

"Mhmmhaaa... haaah..." She moaned as he began to explore her body, gently cupping her cheek with one hand while the other rubbed her right breast, cupping it and gently massaging it. "Mhmah, yes... yes oh yes..."

Arthur was amazed at her body, despite her species being similar to that of a wolf's, her fur seemed to stop at her breasts, which shared her silver-white fur colors but was all soft flesh, her nipples were a soft dark blue, and as he began playing with them with his fingers and sucking on her other breast with his mouth, he could feel them perking up with excitement.

"Mhmmaya, oh yes Captain, oh yeas suck me... oh play with my body more... oh yes!" She whispered into his ears as she wiggled on his bed beneath him. "Mhya... play with my pussy, touch me there now... please Captain!"

He nodded and brought his left hand which had been fondling and cupping her soft mound, down her body, first rubbing her stomach gently in a circular motion, tickling her fur and feeling the small abs she had below her breasts, down to her waist where her fur began to thin more, barely a centimeter in length, before he reached the promised land that was the entrance to her sex.

"Ah... hah... ooooh yes~!" She cooed in delight as she panted, feeling his fingers rub across her sex.

He could feel her oozing with sexual desire now, her sex was barely touched by his fingers and it twitched in delight, secreting a wetness that was sticky and oddly satisfying to touch to his skin. Wanting to get more of it he began to finger her, slowly poking at the entrance before sliding a single digit in.

Trishula, while Arthur was teasing and exploring her body to the fullest, was enjoying herself with every second that transpired. Feeling his hands caress her body was sending waves of pleasure through her body. Her breasts were being squeezed every time he used his hand and feeling his mouth suckle and kiss her fleshy mounds was sending her over the stars. Her body blissfully begged for more stimulation as he began kissing her other breast and she moaned as her pussy was fingered.

"Hah... ooha... Ooh mael futanarawrlia, oh you're so gentle!" She said, slipping to speaking Native Belgan before returning to Basic Galactic.

"Mmmcha... Trishula, you're so beautiful..." He whispered as he slowly climbed over her and held her cheek. "And when you speak Native Belgan, you sound even more wonderful."

She smiled as she leaned up and kissed him again, his continuous compliments just melting her heart as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Rubbing his back and massaging his shoulder blades while slowly wiggling her waist to align her hips with his. She went a little wide eyed as she felt a very thick and hot 'something' poking her entrance, and she separated from him to stare down at his dick.

"I... guess what Vanessa said is true..." She whispered to herself.

"What's did she say?" Arthur asked tentatively.

"Uh... you may think this a little... strange but, it was always a fantasy of mine... I 'always' wanted to give my first time a virgin male, someone... untouched and... well inexperienced with..." She nodded at herself and the bed. "She laughed at me, saying my little childish dream was so cute, but told me that... if I 'did' find a guy like that, she said it wouldn't take much effort to get them excited and ready."

He chuckled as he slowly caressed her cheek and rubbed her body from head, to waist, gently squeezing her butt and making her jump a little in pleasure. "Well... let's just say, before I met you today, I might have gotten excited over just seeing a girl in a bathing suit just walking around at a beach. I would 'never' have had a chance to date a girl where I came from..."

She giggled as she kissed him again. Then she smirked and said, "Rendirthra un dukthra duhn spaktrip eiempara mul stackra hortrua? Baktra mei rietds fu meila vorgrea!" Which she winked and said eagerly, "Ready to dock your space ship into my starport? Because I'm ready for my maiden voyage!"

He shifted her body a little bit while she wrapped her arms around his shoulder, smiling as she kissed his lips, then he reached down and adjusted her hips and legs so that he had the best leverage to slip his dick into her pussy. They could feel the other's sex twitching in anticipation of the moment to come, her sex dripping juices while his was wet with pre despite not being touched by her, and with only a little bit of teasing, he slid right into her pussy with only the faintest of resistance.

"Hhhnnngg..." She whispered in pain as he broke her hymen, only crying a little as she rode out the pain.

They held each other for a moment before Trishula looked at him with a teary, happy, joyous smile.

"My starport finally has its first... and 'only' ship it will ever want." She whispered lovingly. "Alright Captain, time to pilot your ship like how you pilot Great Fox... make my world spin, and then make me yours!"

"I'll do my best..." He told her before he pulled out and then slowly pushed back.

When he first pulled his dick out there were traces of her virginity soaking his length, but neither of them noticed that as he pushed into her, his hips beginning to move on their own and the feeling of her pussy's walls gripping his length tightly was all he could feel. She was very tight to his dick, and her entire sex's walls massaged every inch of his dick with each inch he pushed in, soon he was hilting with each thrust, the sound of flesh smacking flesh covered fur filled their ears while their moans of pleasure sounded from each other.

"Ha... haha... hah... ohay... uhoua... hoooh." Trishula gasped as she held her hands clasped behind his neck, trying to keep him as close to her as possible, while her legs wrapped as tightly around his waist as possible. "Me... miertra... miertra dund Captain Arthur!"

As he began to lose himself to the sex, he slowed down and leaned into her body to kiss her on the lips, their eyes closing as their tongues began to play a duet with each other. While one of his hands reached up and began playing with her right fleshy breast, teasing her nipple and squeezing it constantly, occasionally rotating it around slightly to stimulate her body, his other hand reached under her and gripped her butt, giving it a firm grip and pulling it into his hips as he began to thrust harder, putting his strength into pressing her into the bed's mattress.

"mhmm Mhmmh... mhmm... mhmhmm!" She moaned into his mouth, unable to speak because he was practically holding her mouth hostage, but she didn't care as her body was crying in pleasure.

She could feel her sex acting like a greedy monster, sensing the delicious guest that continued to poke and prod at her cervix. She could feel his balls starting to pulse slightly with anticipation of a release, but she couldn't care less when it came as he thrust harder and harder into her body. Waves of pleasure crashing against her brain with each push his dick made to breach her cervix, or as she liked to play in her head, her starport's shields.

"Muhaha... oh yea... nnnhgya... fffruuck me Captain... fuck me harder HEA... heay... ya!" She cried as he reached down with his other hand and now began pulling her with as much strength as he could.

Every time he thrust his hips he pulled her hips toward him, his dick growing longer and thicker with each moment that passed, until eventually he 'forced' his way into her cervix.

"Oh yea... fuck me Captain... ooohja Jarmatra tuckanomoia, my shields are down... ooh yes!"

"Fuck you're so tight... oh it's so fucking good inside you!" He whispered as he slowed down for a moment, pushing as hard as he could but not pulling out. "I am so lucky Trishula... you're a star among the stars..."

She giggled as he kissed her again, cooing as she enjoyed the momentary peaceful, gentle sex again, as he continued to 'ease' his dick in and then out of her sex. But her pussy was feeling torture, she wanted him to go back to thrusting hard, she needed a release now after all this love he was giving her.

When they separated, she leaned her head back and he resumed his previous aggressive thrusting, pulling her body into his again.

"Hah... hah... hah... yes... oh shit... I'm... about..." He whispered as he tried to time it, knowing what was about to happen.

"Yes... I feel you... I feel you about to cum too!" She cried out, feeling him about to mark her.

"Trishula!" He yelled as he got ready to pull out.

"ARTHUR!" She yelled as she wrapped her legs around him and held 'tightly', guaranteeing his seed would enter her.

"Ngnhaaaa!" He yelled, feeling his seed entering her womb and beginning to pool.

"Hyaaaaaa~!" She cried out in bliss as she felt her greedy womb gobbling up all of his cum, as if this moment might be the 'only' chance it ever had to devour such a feast.

Arthur however, while Trishula was smiling in joy as she finished having her first sexual experience, he was feeling his brain starting to panic as it forced blood to flow into 'it' instead of his dick. He just came inside Trishula, he was panicking, he didn't have a condom!

"T-Trishula... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." He said suddenly as he quickly pulled out, hoping against hope that that act alone would help avoid a tragic accident.

"Mean to what?" She whispered in confusion.

"I didn't mean to come inside, oh shit I wasn't wearing a condom..." He whispered as he looked around his room, as if expecting a magical 'emergency pill' cabinet would appear.

"What's a condom?" Trishula whispered in confusion again, not understand why he was panicking.

He just marked her body as his, he just gave her the best pleasure she'd ever experienced, she finally gave her virginity to a male that won her heart and whom she'd dedicated her entire life now to being with in body, mind and heart. Why was he acting like he had tainted her or made an accident?

"I... okay, maybe... are there any pregnancy pills, maybe if we get you one, we'll avoid getting you pregnant!" He said, his mind still racing as he started to try and get up.

Hearing that, Trishula made the connections now, and giggled inwardly, he was 'so' cute...

She reached over and gently held his shoulder, looking at him with a soft expression. She then gently kissed his lips and held him tightly to get him to calm down, so she could explain certain things about her culture and generally other space fairing cultures. When he'd stopped panicking, she held his hand and said with a soft voice, "I can see you ''really' don't know much about Belgan culture and... other cultures outside of your own. Captain, don't worry... today is my 'safe' day for you." She told him. "Purebred Belgans only go into a cycle where we are fertile and ready to procreate about once a year, and my cycle was a month ago. As for condoms... I don't know what that is, but 'pregnancy pills'... are actually something we only use if we 'hate' our partners. And I would 'never' take one if you are my partner, you'd need to threaten me to take one."

She then placed his hand on her belly and smiled, as if she were pregnant now, despite not being so, and picturing his child growing inside of her.

"We Belgan's don't practice the custom of 'marriage' that Terrans and other species might. We don't have marriages, or family groupings like Terrans do, at least not in the way you think of. For us, if two individuals love each other enough, they 'choose' to stay together, without needing a bond or certificate or anything that signifies your married. They just... 'stay' together if they really care and want to be with each other."

She then looked up at him with a smile.

"I made that oath and I did this with you, because I 'wanted' to be with you... I love you Captain, and I don't mind if you impregnate me on purpose, or accident, or even if you don't give me a pup at all. I will follow you for the rest of my life, and if you give me a child... it will make me the happiest ever to raise it, and if you give me more, I'd be even 'happier'. You don't have to consider me your wife, or you my husband as 'Terrans' describe it. Just be Arthur to me, and see me as Trishula. And if I have a son from you, all I'll ask is you show them a fatherly figure, something to aspire to become."

She then smirked as she kissed him again and slowly, ever so slowly Arthur began to go back to thinking of the beautiful girl he was kissing.

After she had dragged him back onto the bed she sighed and held herself close to him. "Another thing about Belgans Captain, some of us tend to find ourselves 'attracted' to those with partners." She said. "It's a cultural thing from when we weren't a 'space fairing' civilization. We see those who have a partner as being extra viable, and if that person is together with someone we know, we may find ourselves wanting to be with them. And many Belgans don't mind sharing, as long as they know their partners personally 'beforehand'. That's why there are so many mixed breeds and only two percent of all Belgans are Purebred."

"I see..." He whispered as she rolled over him and laid herself atop him.

"Yes... so... with that said, why don't we not worry about having babies now. I can't have one yet, and now that you've docked your starship into my starport." She leaned closer and pecked his lip with a grin while she grinded her hips against his steadily thickening, growing dick. "Homnertra, ev tumo polta... levvktu cartrier, seenden al muh dooketh brav? How about we let 'your' pilots... leave their 'carrier', and see them all land in my 'docking bay'?"

The way she spoke fluent Native Belgan, and the way she used starship terminology for sex just drove him 'insane'. Moments later he had shoved his dick back into her pussy and she was crying out in bliss as he held and massaged her bouncing brests.

"OOohya, ooohvra... mehn tu good!" She moaned as she bounced up and down on his rod, her pussy enjoying the touch of her lover's tool and welcoming it back for another visit so soon.

She grabbed at the bed and held tight while she bounced up and down, his rod slamming into her pussy and jostling the juices of their fluids inside of her womb, the greedy organ of her body not wanting to relinquish its delicacy so soon after it received it. But her cervix was already beginning to open to allowed the sexual organ of her beloved Arthur entry into the promised land.

"Oh yea... fffuck you're so good Trishula..." He gasped as he continued to have her ride him. "Damnit, even now you're still so tight... oh fuck this is amazing!"

"Is... is it good for you... oh fuck its good for me, oh you feel amazing!" She panted as she leaned down and continued to be rammed by his dick.

"Yea... you're amazing... oh you 'are' a star pilot..." He whispered to her.

Indeed, as she kissed him again while their waists continued to hump each other, rapidly trying to bring their pleasure to maximum again and for their sex organs to reach release, she could feel his words course through her body. She was 'his' star pilot, she was his pilot, her body just cried out in joy. For him, it was like her body though was 'made' for sex, each time he pushed deeper and deeper, she squeezed tighter and tried to keep him from leaving, and each time he did she expanded in an attempt to coax him back. Her butt slapped against his waist as she wrapped her arms around him and cried in blissful joy.

Her eyes teared up slightly, not out of sadness but of joy, she had found her 'pilot' that swooped in and saved her from a terrible enemy. He had come in, when she and her squad were on the verge of debtor's jail, and soared them and her to safety. Now she couldn't bear the thought of ever having another Captain besides him, he was 'her' Captain.

After a moment he slowed down and gave an almighty 'shove', making her pant in pleasure, and then he pulled out slowly again, only to slam right back into her.

"Hah... ah... aaah... oooha... ooohya..." She cooed each time he did that, feeling stars forming in her vision.

Eventually he began to stop and pulled out entirely, making her moan in sadness, as she was truly enjoying her time. But then he turned her over, and as if on instinct, she raised her but and got on her hands, looking back and smiling as he aimed his dick at her butt, slid it teasingly over her pussy's entrance, and then slammed it back in with full force.

"Ah... ahh... hahha... ahhaya, oohya!" She cried as he reached forward and grabbed her hanging breasts, massaging and teasing her nipples while giving them strong squeezes with each thrust of his waist. "Ah... akah... ahaha... aha, hah, ya... yea... oh yea fuck me harder! Oooh you feel wonderful Arthur!"

"Shit you are amazing... ooooh yea..." He groaned as he shoved his member as far as he could into her pussy, feeling his dick twitching, getting ready to release again. "I'm about to come... again..."

"Yea... yes... oh yea... oh fucking come in my hanger bay, oh release your pilots into me... shove that carrier into me all the way!" She screamed as she turned to him.

They leaned closer and kissed, locking their lips together to ride out the final moments of their second round in bed. His hands still groping her c-cups that bounced slightly with eac ripple of pleasure their bodies felt. Her butt slapped against his waist each time he thrust and shoved, trying to make their release come faster.

"Mmmhm. Mhm. Hmmhm! Mhm hmh mhm mhmh hmhmhmhmhm... Hnnhgnnhh!" She moaned into his lips as she felt him slam into her one final time and force his dick into her womb again.

Inside her body she felt his cum pour into her again, she felt him depositing his wonderful seed into her, her greedy womb gobbling them up like the starving sex organ it was, as if this feast were the first thing it had eaten in its entire life! Oh, how she 'wished' her cycle was this month. Forget her Captain's initial fear of getting her pregnant, she wanted him to put pup after pup after 'pup' into her body and breed her five times over with how good this felt!

She pulled away and collapsed into the bed with him, still holding her close to him and cupping her breasts, slowly squeezing them and massaging them. But both of them were exhausted and tired. So, they shared a tired kiss, with her licking his tongue, unable to muster enough stamina to turn herself around to properly embrace her lover. But she smiled in blissful tiredness as she turned her face forward and fell into a deep sleep... still hugged by him close to her, and his dick 'still' inside of her pussy, though it would eventually slide out at some point.

During the night, when they had well and truly fallen asleep, the camera that was always watching Arthur's room just stared at the two, zooming in on the captain's face. It watched as Great Fox observed her captain's sleeping, happy form, having witnessed everything and cataloging it all for 'personal' reasons.

At some point he shivered slightly, and seconds later a slot opened in the ceiling allowing a thin mechanical arm to stretch and lower toward the sleeping couple. It then used a claw to grab at the blanket, wedged it out from beneath them, and then laid it over the two. It then tucked the blankets under them. It then gently coaxed the pair's heads onto two pillows so they weren't resting on their arms. It also took their clothes and tossed them into the bin to be washed, calling up a uniform for Trishula in the morning to wear, since her Captain's uniforms were already in the closet.

It then stared at them, and said in a sweet and loving tone, [Pleasant dreams... Captains.] retracting the arm into the ceiling.

Hours passed and night turned into morning, and Arthur felt himself waking up, wondering why he was feeling so... content and 'happy'. When he noticed he was holding a beautiful Belgan female in his arms. He saw Trishula had turned over in the night and was smiling contently in his arms, ears flicking occasionally. He thought she was very cute, but the memories came back to him as he saw that he was holding a 'naked' Trishula. Suddenly everything was a heck of a lot brighter that morning.

'So, I guess it took me paying off the debt of a fighter pilot's squadron to finally get probably the most 'beautiful' native on the planet as a girlfriend.' He thought privately as he gently stroked her furry cheek, and she purred in response in her sleep. 'Eh... she's worth all the money in the world. Wait, didn't she say Belgans are attracted to those who are already in relationships, especially if they know them personally? Does that mean her other pilots might see me as a prospective boyfriend and want to be in a relationship? Oh, lord... protect me.'

He then thought about what else she said, how she doesn't 'mind' getting pregnant, whether by accident or on purpose. That worried him a little because he was always raised to 'not' have children unless he's committing to being a father and raising a family, getting married and all that jazz. But if she was one hundred percent on board not getting married, keeping their relationship as is, and saying she is happy to get pregnant and not demand he pay child support for eighteen years...

'This is one weird world... but I think I can get used to it." He whispered as he regretfully had to let go of the sleeping beauty in his bed and get up to wash up.

He walked into the bathroom and brushed his teeth first. Then he went into the shower and turned on the water, setting it to a lukewarm temperature. He was so focused on getting ready to clean himself that he didn't hear the door to the bathroom open, or hear the footsteps entering or even the shower door sliding open. But he 'did' feel the furry arms of Trishula wrap around his chest and feel her press her squishy firm breasts against his back.

"T-Trishula!" He said as he turned around in surprise, but his surprise turned to desire as she winked and leaned in to kiss him deeply, moaning as she embraced him that morning.

"Mhmmm..." She cooed in delight.

When they separated, she was still smiling slyly staring at his bemused expression.

"So, what brings you into this shower this morning?"

"Oh... after being 'ravaged' last night by this... handsome, dashing... wonderful Terran of a Captain, I felt myself needing to clean myself up. And low and behold... what do my eyes see, but a wonderful, cute, seductive Terran that is my boyfriend now... in a shower all alone getting ready to do that." She said with a wink. "And upon seeing him, his 'aura' of attraction pulled me in like a tractor beam... and now that I find myself in his embrace... I just have to say..."

She winked playfully as she rubbed her breasts up and down on his chest, lowering one hand to gently stroke his mast of a dick to get it excited. "Muh spactra redla, tuvo drudnuvla ecta ludva? Or... My spaceport is ready, is your Dreadnaught ready to land?"

Instantly she felt his dick 'snap' to full length and was ready in her hands. She actually giggled as Venassa was so right, it didn't take 'much' to get a guy like him ready.

They kissed one another in the shower and she felt him playing with butt cheeks again, feeling him groping her rear and making her giggle in delight.

"Oh, I wish we could go longer, but let's make it quick... we have... duties... ahah... ahah alright?" She muttered.

"In that case... dreadnaught one ready to land..." He said with a sly grin as he grabbed her by the legs and lifted her up, pushing her against the wall behind her as she wrapped her arms around him to hold herself up.

"Spaceport one, you have permission to land..." She replied with a nod.

He teased her only slightly, making her gasp in pleasure, sliding his dick's head against the entrance to her sex. Then with a quick shove, he pushed all the way into her pussy and just started going to town on her.

"Ah... hah... hah... oh yea... fuck me... oh you are so big." She moaned as she was pumped hard and fast.

He just shoved his dick as hard as he could into her, her breasts bouncing with each movement they made in the shower. Trishula smiled as she leaned her head back, using one hand to hold onto the shower wall to help him get more leverage, especially when he let go of her with one hand to rub her breasts and chest, cupping it and squeezing from her cleavage.

"Oooh... hoooohya... mmhmoooh!"

"Hah... houah... ohoaya." He whispered as he slowled his thrusts down, slowing so he could pull out to the tip and then shove it as hard as possible back in.

"Haaaah!" She cried out.

He pulled out slowly again and then repeated it, ramming as hard into her sex as possible.

"Nhyaaa!" She gasped.

He repeated this a third time, and began picking up the pace from there again, going at a steady rate.

"Hah... hah... Hah... houhya oh ya... fuck me harder... yes come inside, oh I love this... I can't get enough of this!"

"Shit... shit you are so tight Trishula... how are you... so good!" He whispered to her as he kept planting kisses on her lips.

"Mhmmhah, maybe... it's just... my Purebred... Belgan... genes... oh but yea, make me yours... Oh I want your dick so much, my pussy missed it so badly!" She cried into his shoulder.

They kept on going, Trishula riding and using her own body to try and enhance their combined pleasure, feeling his dick 'slam' into her cervix like a missile trying to fit into the wrong sized turret tube.

"Oh... yea... yea... hoooahyea... mhmm yea... myea... myea... oh fuck it feels so good!"

He slowed down his rapid pounding to gently caress her breast a bit more, teasing her nipple and making her gasp and lick his cheek in pleasure. Then he carefully grabbed her lower body by the legs nearest her waist and pulled her toward him so he was carrying her full weight. Then he turned around and started 'lifting her heavily up and down on his dick.

"Ooooooha..." He yelled as she rode him.

"Haaaha!" She agreed. "Oh... hoh... hahy... yea, yea... oh here it comes, I can feel it... yes, more, more!"

"I'm... about... to come!" He told her, no longer worried about 'warning' her of the danger approaching.

"Yea... come inside, again... yeas... yesah! Bortra! Bortra melva! Getrudo PupraaAAAh!" She screamed as she accidentally switched from Galactic Basic to Native Belgan.

She came hard again, splashing his dick with her juices and he in turn released his seed into her waiting womb. Both of them twitched from the sexual release, their third consecutive one in the span of a day. They were very tired, but as she slowly was lowered to stand on her own, and they just embraced in a hug and kissed one another, lips pressing against one another and sharing multiple kisses. They didn't care about their exhaustion. She most definitely wasn't thinking about it, not since she could feel his cum slowly slipping and dripping out of her sex. She was actually thinking pridefully how much of his sperm she got his body to release inside of her, when it came time to breed, it wouldn't take many loads to ensure she was pregnant. If she was lucky, she'd manage a pup a load.

But she could think of that another time, she just kissed him again and leaned heavily against his chest, enjoying her time with him. Sure, when they walked out of that room, they had to stop being a couple in front of the others. But... in her heart, she was at peace and was happy to know that she had finally found a boyfriend she loved whole heartedly and who in turn seemed to love her as well, just as in his he was happy to finally have a girlfriend who also liked him, not for his money, but for who he was.

On top of that, not just a girlfriend a beautiful, sexy, D-cup Purebred Belgan who spoke her native tongue fluently and was crazy about sex with him now that she wasn't a virgin like him.

[Score...] He thought excitedly.

"So... is there a real reason you tricked me into entering your starport again this morning?" He said, playing into the spaceship sex jokes like her.

"One... and it's because I'm a Belgan female." She whispered warmly. "And we Belgan females love 'nothing' more then to be embraced by the men we love, just as a Belgan Male wants nothing more than to be hugged by the female he loves."

"But I'm Terran?" He muttered.

"Yep... and my mother would fucking 'hate' me right now."

"W-wh-what?" He said as he was 'shocked' to hear that phrase from her.

"Yea... I'm a Purebred Belgan remember?" She reminded him. "There aren't that many of us, my mother was one of those 'pure bred' crazed mothers. She wanted me and my brothers to only find 'Purebred' matches to keep our breed... well 'Purebred'. She would 'hate' me if she found out I was planning on getting knocked up by a Terran... Purebred or not, she would fucking skin me and you alive if she found out!"

"Oh... I didn't realize that... those kinds of people existed..." He said, not at all surprised to find a 'racist' in the world in his new life.

She winked slyly at him. "Why do you think I became a pilot, Arthur? To fly away from her the first fucking chance, I could. That's also why dad left her, he couldn't stand her attitude, he wanted me to find someone I was happy with, didn't care if they were Mixed Terran or Mixed Belgan or something else! She can't dictate my life if she's stuck on Belga Uno running a daycare and I'm flying the space lanes with the cutest Captain I've ever laid eyes on in his work of art of a ship, can she? And I know for a fact, the 'second' you fertilize my first egg Arthur, she will have a heart attack and scream rabid murder with froth in her mouth as she 'feels' me having a Terran's baby against her wishes."

Now that he understood 'why' she wanted to be a pilot and why the skies and space meant freedom to her, he hugged her close to her and felt her heart beating happily against his chest, as well as her breasts' nipples poking his. "Well, if there's ever an incentive to get a girl pregnant, that is 'one' I wouldn't mind taking you up on. Just to hear and see her reaction as well when you send her the image of us and you holding your belly."

She cackled with laughter at that, she could just 'PICTURE' her mother now, ghostly white as she saw her precious Silvra Bonyette, arm in arm with a 'Terran', Purebred or not, with his 'baby' in her belly. "You just gave me an idea and I 'like it... Captain!"

They stayed that way a bit longer before Great Fox called out to him from within the room. [Captain, I would like to report that I have received an application from a very qualified candidate. The candidate is capable of taking on both the roles of Medical Officer and Science Officer. However, despite your wishes, this candidate currently lives in another sector of the planet and requests an interview with you in the city of Paxtermina. You can reject if you wish, but so far this has been the 'only' qualified candidate that I have received an application from that I have screened for 'quality standards' I set out for you.]

He looked up at the ceiling as he was surprised by how fast she found a candidate, at least he 'thinks' this was fast. "When did you set the post up?"

[Fourteen hours ago.]

"Okay... uh, how many applications have you received, or 'rejected' I should say?"

[Of the fifty-seven thousand, two hundred and ninety-four candidates who sent in an application so far, I have rejected two hundred and ninety-three due to a myriad of reasons. Ranging from 'distance is too far', 'qualifications are not met', 'lack of experience in these fields', and superfluous reasons such as 'experience listed impossible to confirm' and most commonly 'misinformation discovered on application'.]

He was surprised, she was very thorough with her efforts. "Thank you, Great Fox, I know I keep saying it but... thank you for being thorough for me."

[You're welcome, Captain. However, in order to meet this candidate, you will need to take Blue Fox to the spaceport at Paxtermina in order to meet with this candidate and conduct an interview. An interview with me will not be sufficient for positions this important, you must be the final authority if we will hire them.]

He nodded as he backed up from Trishula and actually began taking his shower, with the Belgan waiting patiently to use it. "I'm sorry Trishula but, I need to get going, I still need to look for a mechanic crew and especially a cook if this interview pans out well."

"Don't worry Captain, we'll be fine without you. And rest assured, we can survive on 'synthetic food' while you're away. Besides, I plan on doing some more practice flights with my squadron to get more training in with the Arwings. We can discuss business another day."

As he finished showering and was about to leave, she leaned over and whispered into his ear, "If you ever want to dock your ship in my spaceport again, you just have to ask, and I'll be 'right' over~! Also... Vanessa says she might be 'interested' in a round with us, not as a close partner with you like me, but as a... employee with benefits."

He nervously smiled as she winked and went to shower while he walked out, leaving her to sigh in comfort as she felt the water washing away all of the dirty memories from her life before. Now that she had her Captain, now that she had this position as his pilot... with major benefits... now that she had this new life here on Great Fox, she could focus on her job of being the Ace Pilot and squadron leader of Trishula's Pack she wanted to be.

Once she was cleaned and left the shower, seeing her new uniform hanging for her, placed there by Great Fox no doubt, she put it on and admired the new symbol etched into her uniform's shoulder. The Great Fox Symbol with a star peaking over the horizon. She proudly strolled out of the room and off to where the mess hall was, planning to get a bite before dragging her squad to flight practice.

About halfway there though, she saw Vanessa in her new uniform too, smirking as she watched Trishula walk toward the weapon's specialist.

"Vanessa, how's it going?" She asked.

"Alright... it was a pretty interesting morning. You missed Captain by the way, he was heading to the Hanger, something about meeting a new medical or scientist officer who might join our crew." Vanessa said as she grinned at her. "Sooooo, now that the pleasantries are out of the way... details girl, how good was he? I can 'tell' you lost that V-card of yours."

Trishula blushed as she smiled, embarrassed as she recalled her memories of the events. "He... he was... oh he was amazing! We went two rounds last night, and then another this morning in the 'shower' before he had to go!"

"Nnngeeee oh you 'go' girl!" Vanessa cackled in mirth as she slapped his shoulder. "Welcome to womanhood girlfriend, so tell me... are you planning for puppies now?"

"Uhm... uh... maybe... I told him about my mother and her uptight ass, how she wanted me to only date a 'Purebred' to keep my lineage well, Purebred."

"Aaaaaand?" Vanessa giggled, her tail wagging eagerly.

"He said... uhm... well... it would be a 'great' way to troll her, by taking a picture of us arm in arm... with me holding my pregnant belly... while he puts a hand on it... and sending it to her." She squeaked.

"FUTOVRA LUV TARGA, LET'S GO!" She yelled as she did zoomies around her squadron leader, after that they walked down the corridor to the mess hall. "You 'have' to get him to shove his carrier into my docking bay now and release those starfighters of his into attack formation, I want a pup with that sweet thing now that you've found your dream guy!"

"No, you can't, as your squadron leader, I forbid it, not until 'I' get a pup from him first!" She yelled angrily.

"Not my fault you're an exalted Purebred Belgan who can only breed once a year. I'm just a lowly Mixed Breed Belgan with enough different genes in me to let me breed twice a month and can let a Terran can just 'drip' a starfighter into my hanger to get me knocked up!" She responded with a laugh.

=Until next time, Pleasant Dreams, Captains=

[Trishula's Log]

[My name is Trishula Belga Uno-Galara, but my friends call me Trishula for short, a Purebred Belgan. I'm the leader of the fighter squadron known as Trishula's Pack. I started this group after graduating from flight academy with my three best and closest friends I've ever known and have the pleasure of knowing. I did so to escape my overbearing mother after my father left, unable to take living with her anymore.]

[I like to pretend we're the best starfighter pilots in the galaxy, but obviously thinking one's the best and being the best are entirely different things. So, the only way to get that notoriety is to join the Starfighter Pilot's guild and accept missions, rising in the ranks. And it all started with the best friends a pilot could ever ask for.]

[First there's Yumi Belga Quatro-Clawva, a Mixed Belgan. She's the team's ship specialist and analysist. There's not a fighter, bomber, frigate, cruiser, corvette or battleship that she has 'no' knowledge about. She gets a bit freaky when she encounters a rare ship, and can't help but ogle at it like a guy obsessing over a supermodel in a swimsuit. It's her favorite hobby, and she always orders the latest issue of 'Relic Ships Still Flying Around'.]

[Then there's my squad's tactical expert, Katarra Belga Uno-Devtara. She's my best friend, we met in the Belga Dos Flight Academy. There's not a plan she can't see through and not a ship she can't track with her skills. She's always had my back and I can always count on her to see through an enemy's plan. She's a little prideful of her work but who isn't?]

[Finally, there's Vanessa Belga Dos-Tresdara. She's like the older sister of the group, you wouldn't believe it because of her looks, but she's actually in her forties. She was a noble's daughter from a long line of Purebred Belgans on Belga Dos, but her mother spent a night with a Mixbred Terran, and well nature took its course. By sheer luck, she's only ten percent Belgan, and so her family wouldn't be disgraced, she fled when she was young. She joined up with the military and became a pilot, she spent so long around guns that she has the title of Weapon's specialist.]

[We each have our reasons for flying, and we each became a family through this squadron. It wasn't until recently that we 'finally' got our wings back. It's all thanks to Captain Arthur and his ship the Great Fox. After what he did for us, we each took an Oath of Eternal Loyalty to him and his ship. As long as we live and lets us call Great Fox our home, we'll follow him to whatever end.]

[As for me, my oath was... different, I gave him more than my loyalty, I gave him my heart... and my body. I fell in love with him, and I'm glad he reciprocated. Not only was it my teenaged dream come true, but it was also a way to slap my mother in the face for her Purebred Views as a bonus. We have yet to go on an official mission, but I know Captain will have something lined up. I've also been seeing several cargo vessels landing and being loaded with food and medical supplies, lots of cargo vessels, under heavy fighter escort.]

[I had Katarra do some digging, and she said that this is the 'second' relief convoy being sent out from Belga Cinco to the Guntara Sector. That sector recently suffered a massive conflict outbreak across five separate planets, several Freelance Captains took part in a large-scale battle as dissidents tried to overthrow the sector government, and now they're calling for relief aid. But she had a worried look on her face, this was the 'second' convoy to be sent out, and there was no word from the first convoy successfully arriving, or being destroyed.]

[Either way... whatever challenges we may face, I know that Captain Arthur will lead us to victory, and no matter what, I'll follow him every step of the way. Indeed, I'll follow him, my Captain... Captain Arthur of the Great Fox!]