Porter watched as Fuse and Yolanda sparred with a ferocity that bordered on true aggression. Lin was monitoring several things from the ship's computer and would occasionally shout an order to the two combatants and their movements would change slightly, but never drop in output.
Lulu sat down next to him and handed him a cup with water flavored with a sweet plant they'd found. He sipped it before setting the cup down and sighing. "Y'know, if he fought like this during training, he probably wouldn't have been dead last."
"Fuse hated fighting." She muttered.
"Yeah, but look at him. The way he moves. It just screams Program, doesn't it?"
Lulu watched for a few seconds before shaking her head. "That's experience. They're not pulling punches at all, but it's clear who has more experience."
"Why're they trying to kill each other, though? That's just stupid. One blow gets through and it's over."
"The armors need proper battlefield calibration." Lin said, turning from the screens. "And for that, I can't have them going easy on one another. The control program I'm writing needs to know how they move from the start, so it's not trying to learn or resisting them when they're in the middle of the real thing."
"How can they fight like that, though?" Porter asked, still confused. "We were taught to fight aggressively for training, but never to kill. Always stop short of the killing blow."
"Trust." Lulu said.
"I love you Lu, but I don't trust you that much. Not enough to do that, anyway." He said, getting to his feet and hopping off the ramp. "I'm going to find dinner."
"Okay! That's enough for today!" Lin shouted.
The two warriors leapt away from one another before falling back on their haunches. Lin grabbed two canteens and jogged down the ramp over to where they were and handed them each one before helping them pull off the helmets.
"How's the arm?" Fuse asked after taking a long drink.
Yolanda nodded as she drank. "It's fine. No issues still. My shoulder's a bit stiff in the mornings, but that'll pass as the muscle builds."
"Tomorrow, we'll start with weapons." Lin said bluntly, tinkering with Yolanda's helmet.
The older woman groaned and fell back. "Great, taking on Fuse with a sword. Y'know, anyone else would rather jump into a volcano than volunteer for thirty seconds of that."
"Why do you think I had you two work this hard? Even Kuro can't recover from his current fatigue that fast. His blows'll be lighter and these armors are designed to be able to absorb that level of damage."
"I was gonna say that they felt thicker than what I remember, but I didn't want you to be mad at me." Yolanda said with a wink.
Lin laughed softly. "I'm nearly done with the final designs for both of your armors, so don't worry. They'll be much better than these."
"And the refit?" Fuse asked, looking over at their ship where Lulu sat kicking her legs idly.
"Almost done. Red's done nearly perfect work. Other than the engines and the core, I won't have much to do when he finishes up."
"So we're still on track for only being two weeks behind schedule." He said with a nod.
Lin made a noise of agreement. "And we accounted for six. So, by that metric, we're still ahead."
"No reason to get sloppy, though." Yolanda said, getting to her feet. "Where'd Porter go?"
"Dinner." Lin answered, helping Fuse up.
"So we'll be training on full stomachs, then." He muttered, giving Lin a playful nudge as he started walking toward the ship. "Can't wait to see him throw it all up."
~
Lulu didn't skip a beat covering for Porter as he retched, her massive sword connected with Fuse's and slid to the side. Her small body rolled with its weight, dodging the punch that would've knocked her out. Fuse recovered with a broad swing while she landed and charged forward again, narrowly missing the blade as she swung hers upward.
He slid back, getting only a scratch on his chin, but had to duck as a dagger skimmed the top of his head. Porter darted forward, tugging on the line holding his dagger and thrust with the one in his other hand while deftly catching the projectile.
Off balance from ducking and with Lulu's sword coming in from the other side, Fuse let his body fall flat to the ground at the last possible second before rolling backward and springing to his feet while Lulu grunted with effort to stop her sword's momentum before it cut into Porter. Fuse used their recovery to his advantage and stomped her sword into the ground before pressing the blade of his sword to Porter's neck, ending the exchange.
"Not bad." Fuse said, backing away and sliding his sword into its scabbard.
"'Not bad'? C'mon, that was the closest we've ever gotten to having you." Porter whined.
Lulu hefted the overly large broadsword on her shoulder. "How far?"
"If we had another three months, maybe." Fuse said, plucking his damp shirt away from his chest. "The thinner air here is a big help for conditioning, but no matter how I change my style, you'll still stagnate in combat before long. For now, you're improving."
"Every little bit, I guess." Porter muttered. "It's a shame we can't simulate Caspar's style for you. He's probably still studying your moves like a hawk to get every possible advantage over you he can."
Fuse shrugged. "Nothing I can do about that."
"At least you'll have an armored advantage."
"I wouldn't count on that. Caspar was arrogant, but not a fool." Lulu muttered.
Porter pouted before getting to his feet and readying himself. "One more for the night?"
Fuse nodded and switched his scabbard to his other hand before drawing his sword with his left. "Whenever you're ready."
~
"Little sister, I've seen some of the scary shit firsthand, but this..." Yolanda muttered as she ran through the specs in her helmet's HUD. "This is terrifying."
"I've included an additional function for emergencies. It's voice activated, so saying the phrase'll release the restraints on the armor giving you significantly more strength and speed, but it puts enormous strain on the body, so it'll only stay active for thirty seconds. That should be plenty of time to escape the current situation and get you to safety." Lin explained.
Yolanda nodded, memorizing her phrase before dismissing it and pulling the helmet off. "You've outdone yourself."
"I hope so." She said nervously. "Yours was the most dangerous thing I'd ever made up to this point. But when I started on Kuro's..."
"Yeah, he's already a monster."
She nodded solemnly as he walked down the ramp. His armor was dark grey and was similar in design to the one she'd made him before, but the advancements in her design were obvious. The dark blue eyes were the friendliest looking feature, but even they gave off a malicious aura.
"Well?" He said, spreading his arms and giving them a turn before resting them on his hips.
Yolanda smirked. "Looks like it was made for you. But then, every armor you've worn was made specifically for you, wasn't it?"
"The videos don't really do it justice." Porter said, stretching an arm across his chest as Lulu cracked her neck. "You two are fucking scary."
"Fuse's armor gave an error code upon activation, but it cleared up. Had to do with the overdrive." Red said, handing a tablet to Lin. "Not sure why it did that."
Lin skimmed the data, but couldn't find any issues. "I'll make time to go over it all when we're back in space. How's the ship?"
"Five by five. All systems show good to go. And the warp core is fully charged." He said, taking the tablet back.
"Alright, start the pre-launch checks and get the engines on pulse. We'll be taking off once we're done."
Red nodded and jogged back to the ship, disappearing inside. When Lin looked back at the others, she noticed them looking up.
"Might want to get in the ship." Yolanda sighed.
Porter squinted. "Th'fuck's that?"
"Well, if I had to guess." Fuse muttered.
Lin groaned. "Please don't say it."
"Pirates." Lulu said bluntly.
The ship landed without any care to the surrounding area and after several tense minutes, an opening appeared like a massive mouth and vomited out a large number of beings of different builds and sizes all dressed similarly. One of them stepped ahead of the barely organized army.
"Which one of you is Fuse?" The gruff looking humanoid asked. When nobody answered, he lifted his hand and two hundred weapons raised and their barrels began glowing. "Let's try this again."
The group of four continued to stare dully at them without concern. The humanoid's eyes began twitching, but before he could give another order he turned and looked behind him.
A woman was walking down the ramp with an authority that left no room for questions about who was the one in charge. The pirates broke apart to give her a clear line to the front. She was taller than Eve by nearly a head and a half and bore more than a passing resemblance to-
"Lin." Porter murmured.
Her crystal colored eyes lingered on him for a few seconds before locking onto a set of dark gray armor. "Kurokawa Fuse."
It wasn't a question. This woman knew with absolute certainty that he was the one she'd been looking for. He reached up and pulled the helmet off, but didn't respond. After she studied his face, her eyes raised toward their ship and a smile crossed her lips. "Aeltia."
Yolanda turned and looked back at the ship where Lin stood in the doorway, her face frozen in fear. The tension was so thick in the air that she could almost taste it, but when she turned her attention back to the front, the woman was looming over Fuse who seemed frozen in place.
Porter and Lulu hadn't budged either. In fact, nobody but herself and the woman appeared to even be capable of moving. She lifted her helmet up and locked it in place, dismissing the synch message with a blink. But just as she was about to move, Fuse stood in front of her, helmet on and sword drawn.
"What're you doing?" She asked, glancing up at the woman sauntering toward their ship.
Fuse didn't reply except to drive the hilt of his sword into her stomach. She leapt back to soften the blow, but Fuse was several times stronger than she was. It was only thanks to the armor's enhancements and months spent sparring and watching Fuse spar that she was able to hold her own. However, his attacks were relentless and she knew one mistake would be her life.
"Overdrive command." She murmured. The HUD blinked, waiting for the command. "Harbinger."
The entire armor cinched tighter around her and the world seemed to slow down significantly. After deflecting Fuse's sword, she leapt over him and sprinted through the pirates and into their ship. In the tight, unfamiliar halls of the ship, the overdrive would only create more problems than it'd solve, so she dismissed it and ignored the spike of pain that followed.
Nobody acknowledged her as she quickly navigated her way around until she found an area that looked like it hadn't been maintained in some time. It was cramped with the armor, but it afforded her time to breathe and think. She knew her scanner would be useless against Fuse's armor since his was built primarily around stealth and speed.
Her mind raced uselessly for a few minutes before she forced herself to calm down and evaluate what happened in those seconds leading up to Fuse attacking her. The only conclusion she could reach was that the woman had some kind of power that could freeze or control the minds of others.
She wanted to laugh at how absurd it seemed, but Porter had mentioned that Rinku could bend others to his will. At the time, she'd been dismissive of the idea, but now she was forced to reconcile that things like that existed in the universe.
"Okay, so what do I do?" She sighed.
Blue eyes appeared in the darkness of her cubby. "Die."
"Fuse, no!" She shrieked, thrusting out her artificial hand and grabbing the sword on instinct.
Enhanced by the armor, it clamped down tightly on it. Fuse tugged it a few times before growling and releasing the hilt as the eyes faded once more. Knowing better than to let her guard down, she held onto the sword and strained every one of her senses and pushed her armors scans to their maximum.
"Why are you attacking me?" She asked, hoping his voice would give her some direction to avoid.
Silence was the only reply she received. Thinking quickly, she changed tactics. "What would Lin say if she were here? She wouldn't want you to kill me. She'd hate you for it."
There was a wordless grunt, but there was no clear direction. Taking that as a sign she was on the right track, she pushed on. "And God only knows what these pirates have in store for her. Best case scenario, they keep her as a slave. To rape and beat whenever the mood strikes. Worst case, they take her back to Earth, where any number of horrific things will happen to her. You know Caspar better than anyone. Then there's her brother to consider. What if he uses his power on her?"
"You've made your point, Cruz. I shook off the control after you said she'd hate me." Fuse said, his armor lighting up revealing his location.
"How do I know?"
He shrugged. "You don't. Keep hold of that sword, though. Just in case."
She cautiously followed him through the ship where nobody had moved from where they'd frozen in place. When they reached the ramp, she heard him growl dangerously and saw that the woman was hovering over Lin. Her scanner zoomed in and she could see that the teen's eyes were empty and the look of terror was frozen on her face. Fluid dripped down the ramp's grate as well.
"Sword." He snarled quietly.
Without thinking, she handed it over and he was gone in a blink. Geysers of blood wet the ground as bodies fell, but the sword stopped just as it pricked the skin of the woman. Yolanda sprinted toward them, then felt an overwhelming urge that stopped her cold. Her mind was consumed with it and she lifted the artificial arm, letting it close around her throat.
"YOLANDA!" Fuse's roar snapped her out of the haze and she glared at the woman, who seemed surprised.
"Oh, you fucking bitch!" She screamed, charging forward, but Lulu's sword came for her head with enough force to warp the air around it while she heard something ping off her chestplate.
Backflipping away, she drove her fist into Lulu's face in a powerful uppercut that rendered her unconscious instantly. She fell limply to the ground and that's when Porter seemed to wake up.
"Lu!" He cried, sliding to her side.
"It's not often I meet someone with enough willpower to break free of my power, let alone four." The woman said, her tone unconcerned.
"Five." Another voice said as a blast of fire blew through her chest and dispersed across Fuse's armor.
She leapt away, nimbly dodging Fuse's backswing and landing on the grass. She looked down at the hole, which had already healed over, but left her skin exposed and sighed. "Well. I guess that's all for today. We'll meet again, Kurokawa Fuse."
"Who are you?" Yolanda asked. "You seem to know an awful lot about them for this to just be revenge for those other pirates."
The woman looked over at her. "Rainura. Aeltia and Rinku's elder sister."
"Aeltia?" Red asked, his rifle still centered on her.
"Ah, yes, Rinku mentioned you called her Lin." She shrugged. "Anyway, farewell for now."
"Did he put you onto us?"
"He thinks he did, human. Were it not for his selfishness, we would've destroyed you from orbit. But I think this will turn out to be much more fun. Good luck on Earth!" She said with a wave before snapping her fingers. The remaining men obediently followed her onto the ship.
"Are we really just gonna let her-" Porter started, but Lin's scream cut him off.
She clung to Fuse, pressing herself against so hard that it seemed like she was trying to merge with him. Her voice was filled with pain and desperation as she continued to scream and cry for several minutes until she fell limp.
Rainura's ship was already gone from sight, but no eyes followed it as it lifted off the planet. Fuse pulled his helmet off and dropped it before picking Lin up and carrying her inside. Porter did the same with Lulu, followed by Yolanda.
They waited until dark before Red launched the ship and input the jump coordinates. Porter and Yolanda sat at the galley table staring blankly at the plates of food in front of them. Lulu was sleeping, but otherwise fine after receiving the blow from the armor. The only organic noise they could hear were Lin's occasional sobs.
"I can only imagine what that woman did to her." Porter finally said, albeit quietly. "Given what she did to us, I mean. Rinku's power didn't work on anyone but Alice, but she wasn't awake when he did his thing."
"Red was the only one unaffected." Yolanda muttered. "But the surprising one was Fuse. Didn't think anyone could do that to him."
"Hey, Red, how'd you avoid getting juju'd?" Porter asked.
The teen shrugged and looked back. "I really hate pirates."
"Yeah, I think I'm getting there myself, kid." He grumbled, leaning over the table.
Yolanda disconnected her artificial arm and rotated the stump a few times before getting up from the table. "I'm heading to bed. You two should do the same."
"Not sure I'd be able to sleep with Lin in the bunk next to mine." Porter sighed. "Poor kid."
"You say that like you aren't the same age as her." Yolanda smirked, bumping him on the head with her arm as she left the galley.
Red got up as well and started to gather the plates, but Porter stopped him. "I'll take care of that, man. You should go on and try to get some sleep too."
"I can carry my weight." He said defensively.
Porter blinked, then smiled. "Never said you couldn't. You were the hero today, saving us from Rainura and ourselves. And heroes aren't on dish duty today."
Red looked dubious, but nodded and let Porter gather them up while he sat down at the table. "That was the first time I shot somebody."
"Yeah?" Porter set the dishes in the sink and turned to look at him. "Pity it didn't take."
"Ana always said that I wasn't ready to handle the weight of shooting someone. I think she might've been right." He rested his head on the table. "I hate pirates, but a part of me is glad she didn't die."
Porter nodded and turned back to the dishes. "They had us killing people when we were half your age. But, the truth is, nearly all of us were pretty damaged to begin with, so it wasn't a stretch to believe that we would've found ourselves killing people before long. Pretty sure Caspar already had one under his belt when he was recruited into the Program." He set one of the plates in the crate and picked up another. "Only two of us could've been called 'well adjusted', but they managed to break both of them anyway. Funny thing is, the one with the highest body count than the rest of us combined is currently taking care of our favorite midget genius."
"What was Fuse like when he was a kid?"
Porter laughed. "We're all still kids. Cruz is the oldest by nearly a decade."
Red huffed. "You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I do." He said, sighing. "He was quiet. Had a survivor's look about him, but resisted training to the point that they pulled him out of the class. Not sure what happened to him, but when he rejoined us at Keystone, he'd become a killer. Not even Caspar, the top of our group, felt as dangerous as Fuse did."
"I think I saw that on Albion. When he saved me and Lin from the pirates. He was scary, but like... on a different level than anything I'd ever seen before. Even Lin seemed afraid of him at first."
Porter stared at the plate in his hand before setting it in the crate. "I don't think it was actually Fuse she was scared of. You can see it in her eyes when she looks at him. She'd follow him into hell if she could. But I think that might be what scared her. He went somewhere she couldn't follow."
Red stared at the table while Porter continued with the dishes. When he was done, the pair started to head down to the bunks as Fuse was coming their direction carrying a small bundle wrapped in a blanket. They nodded at one another silently and Porter gave Red a slap on the shoulder with a grin. "Not everybody can do what you did today. That you're thinking about it so much shows that you're already a better person than the rest of us on this boat. Don't lose that."
He nodded and crawled into his bunk and curled into a ball. In spite of thinking he'd not be able to fall asleep, it took him less than a minute.