After some eavesdropping on scuttlebutt in the bar, I head back to the ship.

When I am back aboard Void Star, I head to the armory on Deck 3A, cleaning my shotgun. While applying lubricant to the bolt carrier as I hear footsteps entering and I draw my sidearm and point it at the door after racking the slide. Galinae rounds the corner and squeaks. “Oh! Kara.. er.. Do you mind putting the gun down? I just wanted to talk.” she smiles sheepishly at me.

I holster my weapon and sigh, resuming my re-assembly routine for my shotgun. “Is something on your mind?” I look up at Gali and she shifts a bit before speaking “I was asking if you meant it when you said you’d teach me how to shoot..” she looks at me sheepishly yet again.

Blinking, I reply. “I never said such a thing.” deadpanning my response. “But, I said I wanted to learn!” Gali protests my declination. I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh in exasperation. “Galinae... I may have said to get up early in the morning but I never intended to teach you to shoot. You are, quite frankly, too timid and you jump at the slightest loud noise.”

Her lip quivers at my reply in disdain. “But-”

“No buts! I will not.”

“You said you would!”

I rub my forehead, setting my shotgun aside as I think it through internally while I rub my head in annoyance. Sure it would be nice if she knew how to defend herself. But I doubt she knew the first thing about marksmanship or weapons. Nor do I have the time to train her properly. I suppose that I should figure out where she stands in that regard. “Alright, fine. Follow me.”

I hop off the workbench I was sitting on and walk towards the weapon lockers. The haptic interface chimes with each keypress as I put in a four-digit code. Five-zero-five-seven. After keying in my authorization code, I find a handgun and a smaller bore shotgun, along with a small box of ammunition. I walk out of the armory with Gali in tow towards the elevator.

***

After a walk to a long space by the landing pads, I hold out the unloaded handgun with the grip facing away from me to Galinae. “Alright, take this and shoot.” She looks at me, then looks at the gun. Then back to me. “What do I do here?” she blinks several times in confusion.

“Shoot the damn gun!” I snap at her. She jumps and takes the gun from me. “Okay okay!” I hold out a loaded magazine. Twenty rounds of 5.6x33mm - a smaller caliber, higher velocity cartridge with far less recoil than my Mk-26, which was 10x33mm. I wanted to upgrade to a sidearm in the newer 11x35mm cartridge. Perhaps I could find one in the arms markets in Midnight City later.

Galinae takes the magazine and clumsily loads it. “Now what?” she tilts her head at me. I sigh “See that lever there? Push it down. She does so, and the slide springs forward to load the first round. Galinae squeaks and drops the gun, the weapon clatters to the ground and I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“It won't hurt you.” I pick it up and aim down-range at a piece of metal. Firing five shots at the plate before handing it back to Gali. She tries to mimic the way I hold it and pulls the trigger. The gun goes off and she again startles and drops it, immediately recovering it from the ground “Oops..” she turns to me, but she has the muzzle pointed at me! “Hey! Watch where you point that thing Gali!” I push the muzzle aside so it isn't pointed at me “And for God’s sake, keep your finger off of the trigger when you are not shooting!”

Galinae blinks and corrects herself. “Whoops! Sorry.” I sigh. “You can kill someone when you accidentally pull the trigger, don't do that again!” I give her a piercing stare, to which she shrinks back. “Okay. what’s next?”

I sigh “Get one hit on that piece of metal.” she looks at the target and back to me “Easy!” Galinae aims and fires. Flinching but not dropping the gun this time. But she is far off target because of that flinch. I watch her for the next thirteen shots and notice she is anticipating the discharge too much. She also tended to pull and not squeeze the trigger, which was pulling her off target.

I sigh “Gali, squeeze the trigger, don't pull it.” I show her with my index finger how to squeeze it. “Janking the trigger is throwing your shots off target.” I hand her another magazine “Reload it.”

She puts the magazine in backward at first, then corrects her mistake after some struggle. She then hits the slide catch release lever and aims downrange. She fires several times and misses “This is hard!” she complains.

“You’re janking the trigger, remember what I told you!” I instruct her. After this, she squeezes the trigger slowly while aiming and the round hits the metal plate, making a ringing sound.

Galinae’s face brightens “I hit it I hit it!” she looks at me with her finger still on the trigger, the muzzle pointed at me. “Give me that!” I snatch the gun from her. “Remember what I told you about keeping your booger hook off the bangswitch?!” I scold her “Another rule, Never, EVER POINT IT AT SOMEONE.” I give her a piercing stare and she shrinks further back from me “S-s-sorry!” she holds up her hands disarmingly.

I sigh “You’re not good with handguns. Let’s try something else.” I offer her the shotgun. “Do you know how to load this?” After some fidgeting, Gali responds “Er.. Can we go back, Kara?” I blink “I thought you wanted to learn?”

Galinae smiles sheepishly at me, fidgeting a bit on her feet. She pokes her index fingers together as she responds “I.. uh.. I do not think I am going to be good at this-” her stomach growls, and Gali blinks, blushing.

I smiled, of course, she wanted to go eat. “You’re hungry, I get it.” I sigh “Come on let’s go get you something to eat on the ship.”

***

After our trip back to the ship, I went to the lounge on the port side of deck 2. Galinae was going to have to work extremely hard at learning guns to ever be proficient, She was a complete novice. I sigh and glance at the viewers to the landing pad below with a thoughtful expression.

A playful voice interrupts my thoughts “What’s on your mind, Kara?” I can practically hear the smile in the tone of their voice. Immediately I know who it is. “Vlondril.” I address them. “Aw, no fun! You are quick to learn voice patterns, are you? Interesting.” she sighs and sits next to me.

I crinkle my nose at the scent of perfume around her. It's not my choice if I ever wear it, but I do not like wearing perfume. Scents are bad for keeping unnoticed. “Can I help you, Matron Vanrea?” I quirk an eyebrow.

“Oh.. just checking up on the most interesting and mysterious person aboard this ship!” Vlondril giggles musically. “You are a mystery, you know that? It intrigues me.” the Iridian smiles at me affably.

“Do not kiss my ass, I get that a lot.” I deadpan at Vlondril then stand to fetch a bottle of wine and a stemmed glass. Vlondril frowns and sighs, leaning back in her seat as she watches the viewer image. Several ground crew were on the port side wing, hooking up several lines to the ship for refueling and electrical power.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Vlondril sighs thoughtfully “Do you know why I decided to join you?” she smiles self-deprecatingly. I raise one of my thin eyebrows at the question “Not particularly. I assume you are about to tell me, however..”

The Iridian giggles softly “Because not only are you interesting, you are reliable, you get things done. I find these qualities attractive.” Vlondril smiles at me mid-sip through my Wine. “what I am saying is, I love a person who has these qualities.” She scoots closer and puts a hand on my thigh. I pause and sputter into my glass. “GLHK!” I choke a bit, inhaling some of the fine red wine.

After recovering from my coughing fit, I stare at Vlondril. She watches me with a smug smile and the faintest hint of a blush. “Sooo.. will you further steal my heart, Kara?” she looks at me with a smile.

I give her a stare. Not expecting this to happen. She seemed rather direct and oftentimes fickle,

Playful, even. She has the potential to foil my plans and cause a lot of headaches. On the other hand, politically, House Vanrea was a very prominent Iridian house with many connections and a lot of influence across the galaxy. Tapping those resources would be an immense help.

“H-how about we just see how things go?” I smile at her, barely keeping my composure. Her confession had caught me off guard. Vlondril smiles “Of course, but I am very patient, Kara. I will wait.” she gives me one final smirk and a wink before she stands “Enjoy your wine, You seem to be busy lately.” she frowns “and.. Why don't you ever take me out like you did Galinae? Who do you like?” her frown turns into a smirk “or maybe you like B’Nan instead? I did hear he saw you naked..” she giggles as she departs.

I sighed, feeling a headache coming on, things were about to get very interesting between us four. “Since when did life get so complicated??” I say to no one in particular, resuming my thoughts as I stare out at the moon on the viewer, which gives a view of the outside of the hull of the ship.

The moon was just dipped below the horizon, bathing the cityscape beyond in a red light, reflecting the star’s rays at the surface of the planet. An eerily beautiful sight, fitting for the city of sin. Midnight City was ruled by several crime ‘families’. Very much a Mafioso-style power hierarchy.

I sip my wine as I continue to mull over plans in my mind. I’d rather not be targeted by the families, but I needed a way to establish an informant network to get any meaningful work done. Perhaps it was time. Vlondril Suggested a hostile takeover.

First I needed to call in a favor or two.

[A week later...]

After a week of rest, I decided that it was time to start planning our takeover operation. I instructed Galinae to hire a communications specialist and a sensors officer for our bridge crew. She brought us back two sisters, Midea and Reina.

At the current moment, I was sitting in a room with the sisters, interviewing them. I hum thoughtfully, considering their interview performance. The two were opposites of the other. Midea was an outgoing young girl with good communication skills. Reina was an introvert with a lot of technical knowledge who knew sensors quite well.

I lean back in my seat and sigh, looking at the two girls thoughtfully.”While both of you are a good fit for the job. How old are you?” I arch an eyebrow inquisitively. Of course, they were a perfect fit for the job, but they looked rather young to be on a ship crew. Much less crewing a ship of mercenaries, ex-intelligence agents, and former Iridian nobles.

Reina, the girl on the left and the introvert, fidgets nervously at my gaze. “A-a-are we h-hired?” she managed to squeak out. Midea glances at her, then back to me with a smile “She is... Quite bad with people.”

I half-lid my eyes in thought. While Reina is quite introverted she showed a rather high competency with ship sensors. Midea claims she was a sensors technician for one of the major syndicates here in Midnight City. I sigh and open my eyes to look between both of them.

“Alright. You are both hired.” I stand as they both smile at each other in elation at my decision. I rub my forehead “Report to Wesley on the bridge. He’s the ship helmsman and he will set both of you up.” I smile and turn to leave. Heading out of the door, I pause and look at Galinae “Gali, show the two new girls to the bridge for me?” I smile.

“Sure! Follow me girls!” Gali beams at them. Both of them stand up and follow her to the elevator as I walk to the fore part of deck 2. I slip the cig case out of my cleavage, flipping it open. Prepping to smoke a cigarette as my mind goes over the current situation. We need to plan our steps carefully for when we make a move against the Vasivich syndicate.

Lead by Makarovo Vasivich and his wife Karrina, their crime syndicate has modeled off of the Russian mob. Makarovo claims he has roots in the Russian mafia from back down his family tree. My first step would have to be severing his links to corrupt law enforcement in Midnight City. B’Nan has gathered a report about the structure and hierarchy of the Vasivich syndicate. At the moment I had yet to review it.

After some walking, I reach the ladder that reaches an open hatch to deck 1 above, which was a shortcut I frequented to reach the bridge from the second deck below. I tended to avoid the elevator as a rule unless I needed to use it for a very specific reason. After climbing the ladder I emerge into the CIC. Approaching the TOD table to go over the data B’Nan had gathered.

I swipe through the data, reading over it as I scroll with my right hand, my left occupied by the smoldering cigarette I have been dragging on. Interestingly, Vasivich’s links to the local law enforcement are skim, but significant. Mostly due to who Vasivich has in his pocket. I muse aloud to no one in particular “Seems he has a few Sherriff deputies in his pocket.” I purse my lips thoughtfully.

“We can not go about this without lots of caution…” I speak aloud, trying to organize my thoughts.

“Caution? What do you mean by that, captain?” I start a moment at B’Nan’s voice from the opposite end of the CIC.

“B’Nan? I thought you were down in the armory.” I deadpan at the Gravida as he smirks “Did I detect a slight hint of fluster just now?” It seems that B’Nan is catching on quickly to Vlondril’s antics. Perhaps it was growing on the otherwise serious and unmoveable Gravidan.

I clear my throat to shake off any fluster I may have had. “Anyway, it seems that the Vasivich family is about to make moves, which makes them both strong but vulnerable. They’re cleaning house and that is why I got a job offer with them I suppose.” I shrug.

B’Nan raises a brow “So what’s the play then?”

I smirk coyly, proud of the plan I have in my mind. “Hostile Takeover.”

B’Nan blinks, clearly not expecting this in my plans. “Any reasons why?”

“Information and resources. The Vasivich syndicate is vast. One of the largest organized crime outfits in Midnight City with access to a lot of information, markets, and customers. If we can leverage this it gives us a shot at setting up something more than a crew and a ship.” I smile at B’Nan.

B’Nan pauses and stares at me for a long moment, then throws his head back and laughs aloud. My face contorted in confusion as he stopped to address me with a nod “I like it. You do have a good head on your shoulders!”

I sigh, shaking my head “First things first. Getting into their good graces.” I close the data feed on the TOD and glance at B’Nan. “I Have a way in, but I do not fully trust who is vouching for us... I need you to keep an eye on him.” I call aloud “Vlondril!”

After a moment, the former Iridian matron peeks into the CIC from around the corner behind the elevator. “you called?” she smiles coyly.

“Drop the coy act. I need you to do me a favor.” I respond, Pinching the bridge of my nose in exasperation before I pause and think about how to explain it for a brief moment. “I need to bring some of the Vasivich outfit to come around to our leadership. Can you arrange that?”

Vlondril stares at me a moment before looking at B’Nan, Whose head tilts back and forth between the two of us as the bickering starts. Vlondril looks back to me with a smirk “I can. But only for you, hun!”

After that, I look at B'Nan. "Can you get a plan going? We need to figure out a way to get this done in the least amount of dead bodies possible."

Vlondril pouts at me. "that's not fun!"

"It is better than having the entire Vasivich org out for our blood, Vlondi." I take a drag of my cig.

"True.." Vlondril holds up a hand. "But! I still want some fun!"

"No." I reply in a stern tone. "The last thing we need is to have an entire private army trying to kill us."

"Aw! That'd be fun, though!" Vlondril pouts.

"Idea vetoed." I deadpan. "Just bring around as many of Vasivich's lieutenants as you can." I take a drag of my cig.

Vlondril smiles smugly. "Consider it done!" With that, her head is back around the corner, resuming whatever she was doing before.