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1. Crossed Contracts, or: Sparks in the Dock
Subaru Station, Private Dock Fourteen.
Ledea Mace stood in front of the Silver Anchor's hatch, making no effort to conceal her displeasure, and looked at the small figure in front of her.
"...Kanoa. I didn't expect you to be taking the same job."
"...same goes. compact lady."
Kanoa, red hair catching the dock lights, answered with her usual economy of expression.
The job: rescue Lumie Alnilam, daughter of the Alnilam Heavy Industries executive family, who had been seized by an unidentified armed group during a transit aboard a pleasure craft. The guild had dispatched two teams. Both happened to be pairs of sisters.
"Now, now, Ledea. Working together improves our odds considerably. Shall we be friendly about it?"
Asphi stepped forward with her usual warmth, blue hair moving with her. Behind her, their ship — deep navy hull with burning red lines running its length — the Aqua Ignition, sat in its berth.
"She's right. Come on, sis. Kanoa."
Shutia was doing her best mediating expression. Ledea and Kanoa looked at each other, and turned away simultaneously.
"...Fine. Shutia, prepare for departure. Let's see which of us finds Lumie first."
"...I won't lose. Asphi, let's go. ...I'm faster than the compact lady."
"What did you just—?! Move, Shutia!"
"Hang on, sis—!"
Both ships launched from the dock at speeds that suggested they were trying to beat each other out of the station, and disappeared into the dark.
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2. Contact, or: An Unwilling Coordination
Three hours into the pursuit, they found it — a combat cruiser, running quiet in the shadow of an asteroid cluster.
"...There. That's their ship. Shutia, combat readiness — and Kanoa, stop cutting in front of us—!"
The Aqua Ignition forced its way into position ahead of the Silver Anchor with a hard deceleration burn.
"...too slow. small sis can have the back seat."
"Kanoa, reckless maneuvering compromises the operation! Match my approach—"
"...no. follow my lead."
They were still arguing when both ships peeled left and right in mirror-image evasion as the enemy vessel opened up with a sweep of laser fire.
"...Fine. Shutia — I'm going for the starboard turret cluster. Anchor, ready."
"On it, sis! Go!"
Ledea threw the Silver Anchor into a sharp turn and slipped into the enemy's blind spot. Simultaneously, the Aqua Ignition swept to the opposite flank on a fluid approach of its own.
"Asphi, fixed arm — deploying—!"
"Yes, yes, leave it to me. ...My, what a warm welcome. Shutia, are you holding up over there?"
"Yes, fine — you're very calm, Asphi—"
Shutia was handling her station flawlessly while being processed from two directions at once.
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3. A Dance in Steel, or: One Strike Across the Galaxy
The situation escalated. The enemy ship deployed a swarm of small drones and moved to encircle both vessels.
"Shutia — clear the drones! All of them at once!"
"Leave it to me, sis! Anchor, out!"
The Silver Anchor's harpoon crossed the dark. It wasn't just a projectile — Shutia's precision gave it a second function. After the tip punched through the first drone, she whipped the wire, coiling it serpentine through the cluster, and three more drones were tangled in the line before they could scatter.
"Here—!"
She spun the ship, using the rotation to throw the bundled mass of drones directly at the enemy's main thruster housing.
The impact detonated. The enemy ship listed — but did not stop.
"...not yet."
The Aqua Ignition came out of the explosion's edge.
Two large precision manipulator arms unfolded from the ship's underside, moving with a speed and accuracy that belonged to something more agile than metal should be. Under Asphi's control, the arms seized a section of enemy hull plating and tore it free, and drove the high-output plasma cutter housed beneath it into the gap.
"You're not going anywhere. ...There — that's the heart of it."
The arm drove deeper. The enemy ship's power bypass was physically separated from itself.
"Kanoa — I'm taking the finishing blow—"
"...mine. I'm better than a compact lady."
For one moment — just this moment — the breathing of two pilots synchronized perfectly.
The Silver Anchor moved to block the enemy bridge head-on. Shutia drove the anchor into the shield generator housing and pulled, and in the window that created, the Aqua Ignition came in at maximum acceleration. The arm placed a large shaped charge directly into the gap in the bridge armor, between the plates, with precision.
Light.
The enemy cruiser's systems went silent. It drifted, inert, a hull with no function remaining.
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4. After the Fight, or: The Usual Destination
Lumie Alnilam was recovered from inside the captured vessel, unharmed.
"Th — thank you so much...! My father will see that you're compensated properly—!"
Asphi steadied the shaking young woman with quiet care. Shutia settled a hand on Lumie's head and let her find her footing.
"Lumie, are you hurt? You're safe now."
"Hehe, thank you, Shutia. Truly. And Ledea and Kanoa — that coordination at the end was something else entirely."
Asphi drew Lumie gently in and looked around at the others with warmth.
In the easy atmosphere that followed, Ledea and Kanoa came back down the corridor at the same time, having finished the recovery work on their respective systems. Both of them slightly disheveled. Both of them breathing harder than usual. Both of them carrying the particular expression of professionals who had done exactly what they came to do.
"...Kanoa. Your unsanctioned charge gave me several unpleasant moments. ...However. The timing on that plasma cutter — I will not decline to acknowledge that."
"...compact lady. ...if you hadn't cleared a path with the anchor, it would have taken longer. ...as Shutia's partner — I'll give you that much."
For a moment — brief, and neither of them made anything of it — something that could have been a shared smile passed between them.
Then:
"That said! Next time, I will have a proper plan, and you will follow it! And you will address me as Ledea!"
"...the idea of you beating me is funny. ...compact lady can follow behind me."
"What did you just—"
"...true things."
Both of them turned away with a sharp "hmph" at the same time.
"Are they... close? I think they might be close?"
"Hehe. They really are. Neither of them will admit it, though."
Lumie watched the whole thing with the expression of someone piecing together a puzzle. The two ships, carrying their respective pairs of sisters, made their way back toward Subaru Station with the energy of people who had done something worth doing.
In Ledea's chest: a new rivalry, and the particular kind of motivation that only comes from someone who gives you a real fight.
In Shutia's: the early shape of a world that was, just slightly, wider than it had been before.