Long Awaited Date

Cia and Fei assisted however they can. Sy had no intention in giving them any further orders. They were women - having the intuition and thoughtfulness to know where they were exactly needed. Furthermore, they were masters of this ship. It was out of line to tell them what to do.

Nonetheless, he showed the two women some techniques in fabricating pieces, but they were more impressed on his complete control over his body. His hands were like machines surgically manipulating the fabricator.

As the flight module slowly came to form, Sy couldn't keep his smile at bay. With the Fabricator IV, he could easily print the flight module in one go instead of dividing it into parts and assemble it later.

"Nano-bots?" Cia mumbled while observing the component being fabricated.

"Seems like it." Fei added, a frown growing on her face.

After a few more minutes, Sy hurriedly went down the Fabricator, an excited expression plastered on his face. He operated an assembly arm and transported the newly created component into a corner before dragging an energy cable and plugged it into the flight module in order to perform a few tests.

"Step away." He instructed the women to distance themselves as he synchronized the flight module's microtape to a tablet through a secured line. Inspecting it one last time with his Molecular Data Imaging Simulator and finding no fault, he activated its flight system.

There was a whirring sound as the flight module's four wings spread, encompassing a large portion of the area as it started levitating in the air - defying the artificial gravity - taking along with it dusts and tiny debris. Anti-gravity particles permeated around composed of colorful dots of light adorning it's silhouette.

"Hehe." A soft smile appeared on Sy's face as he deactivated the flight system, causing the four wings to disengage while it slowly landed on the floor. The Molecular Data Imaging Simulator had proven itself time and time again that he could eliminate any errors without even performing any tests. It was an invaluable tool at his disposal. He had the System to thank for that.

While he reveled at his successful design, he was unaware of the two directors giving his back strange looks.

"What the hell, Sy? What in the world did you just created? Did I saw anti-gravity particles? That fuckin' tech is way too advance even for the empire!" Fei openly expressed, unable to keep her emotions under control anymore.

Although, there was a limited number of foreign factories in Durn capable of producing anti-gravity particle emitters with a sea of resources, Sy was still able to fabricate one with a limited amount of materials. He was like an advance robot. Was he even human? If he was a bonafide one, his children would surely inherit his traits. Fei turned red at that sudden thought.

"This, Director Fei..." Sy gently tapped the flight module repeatedly, "is the flight module for the Straggler S1-2."

With the most critical part secured, Sy could now turn his attention in fabricating other components such as the heat regulators. He will have to wait for Thales to finish the fusion plant before he could begin with the Straggler's cockpit and install a new computer system and flux computers.

While he made his way back to the Fabricator, a steady stream of the ship's crew joined in the fun. This was Sy's cue to start fabricating new parts rapidly.

With new components being printed and under his guidance, the Straggler slowly came to its true form. However, he had to continually cease fabricating to correct the errors that the crew made.

With these many people amounting to around fifty men, and without a chain of command, it was bound to become disorderly as everyone were voicing their own opinion. Cia and Fei proved their leadership by organizing them into five groups, led by a senior crew. Most of them came from different bases of the GT's Union Branch, and had yet to establish any coordination with each other. Their loyalty to the two directors was the sole reason that had brought them together in this ship and not their unity.

Some time later, Thales emerged yelling at the top of his lungs. The specialist was finally done with the fusion plant.

Sy was impressed that the older man managed to do it in such a short time, but he still needed to do a few tweaks on the reactor when he saw a few errors through his simulator. The most important thing was that the core was stable. It was a splendid job by Thales.

After that, the reactor was transported into the cargo bay, and carefully hoisted up.

The fusion plant was efficient and probably the most friendliest power source out there in Sy's opinion. But it still needed some care. So, he, Niel and Thales should be the one handling it. On a second, when he saw the directors, he decided that the two women should do it while the three of them started on the cockpit.

Cia and Fei had been secretly taking a look at the database on the computer and they should be knowledgeable enough to install the reactor. With their gentler hands, the reactor should be in good care.

---

Ten hours later, Sy rode down a hover platform after installing the flight module on the Straggler's back. Just as he stepped on the dirty white floor, he instantly rotated on his heel to carefully examine the Straggler one last time. The Molecular Data Imaging Simulator suggested that everything was in place. If anything went wrong, he only had it to blame. But this was no time for childish thoughts. Someone stubborn would be piloting it.

"Is it really done?" Niel asked. His voice was shaky and his eyes were full of disbelief while gazing up at the now complete mech that they had been struggling to fabricate even one of its component a few days earlier.

"Yes. It should be fully operable now." Sy let out a sigh as he turned and left the cargo bay. A crew was waiting for him outside, offering him a towel which he gladly accepted to clean himself. At that, he was guided around the ship.

Just as the guest left, Niel, Thales, Cia, Fei and the crew around them rush to the computers to check the status of the Straggler.

Thales was the first one, taking the seat in front of the others. He manipulated the computer, comparing the current version of the mech - which was standing behind them - to the older one.

"This Straggler is completely different than the one we have been working before." Thales stated, pointing at some certain parts of the mech on the screen. "Unlike the older one which sported less components and only meant for ground warfare, this one had shieldings and heat regulators all over its entire frame. This is an even complex design that we would have no idea on how to understand without the provided database."

"We should perform a few tests so we could determine if it's fully functional." Cia suggested.

"Well, that..." Niel scratched his head, as a troubled look appeared on his face, "my sister had no intention to such small steps."

Grabbing a tablet, the Fanick rushed back to the Straggler to perform a thorough diagnosis.

---

Sy was directed to the outer ring of the ship. Upon reaching a spacious corridor, his guide left. He soon found Mina sitting on a platform situated beside the hull of the ship with glass-like panes displaying the view outside. She was wearing a red void suit while cradling a pilot helmet. There was food on the platform, all were synth food, but not the cheap one that devastated his taste buds.

When he neared their designated meeting place, Mina greeted him with a growing smile on her face while observing his face, "Were you expecting a fancy establishment with rich people talking about wine for our date?"

Sy abruptly stopped and sat on the opposite side of the platform. He did not immediately answer as he stared at the viewport. The light from inside the ship illuminated the cosmic dusts outside making the void seemingly less vivid than he remembered. He immediately realized that they were entering an asteroid field.

"Actually," Sy finally retorted, taking away his gaze from the view. He looked at Mina and jokingly said, "I think our first date is situated in an exotic place, none other the void, which most people had no access to. The view of the boundless darkness and the faint light of distant stars and..."

Sy trailed as the sight of a certain planet appeared from a live screen on the wall.

"...and a red menacing planet is a priceless commodity." Mina continued his unfinished sentence with a chuckle. She then added, "We're almost in Logria."

Sy awkwardly smiled as he picked up a synthetic meat and brought it to his mouth. He then remarked with a regretful tone, "We only lack real food on our plate."

Mina shrugged while picking a synth food.

The two talked for some time even after they finished the food served on the platform. Mina was very interested on the new hints that Sy gave her about the Straggler and the new functions that had been recently added.

As Logria turned bigger and bigger on the screen, Sy's face became serious. He asked, barely making his tone neutral, "Are you sure you really want to do this? The Straggler is not yet fully optimized for entry. I need to do a few more tests."

"Doubting yourself, are you?" Mina smiled, sensing his concern. She stood up from her seat and stated, "When you arrived, I told you that I will perform a planetary dive in Logria. I knew you would make certain that the Straggler would be in its full capability. I also knew that you and my brother will install some fail safe devices in case something went wrong. Don't worry, if a catastrophic failure occurs, I'll be sure to use those."

In that instance, Sy understood that no matter what he said, he won't be able to discourage Mina from the task she had set herself to do. Under her guidance, they made their way back to the cargo bay where they were obstructed by a wall of men on the entrance.

"Move aside! Now!" Mina ordered the crew who were lined up together shoulder to shoulder.

"Commander Fanick. Please. You must consider. You can test pilot the Straggler into the void but an orbital entry is too dangerous." One of the crew stated.

Sy scratched his head. A sense of deja vu came to him. Wasn't this just like the time when he and Niel had finished putting together The Mole?

"There's only one way to find out if it can endure an entry, and that is to perform it! Now, make way. I don't have time for this." Mina waved a hand, a growing frown on her face.

The wall of men were unperturbed. After all, they knew that they won't be able to stop her once she decided on something. Her brother had told them that. They only needed to delay her for as long as possible so that Niel could finish assessing the mech.

"No one will help you exit the launch bay." One of the crew threatened.

"Oh, I'll just smash my way through just like what I'm going to do now!" Mina's patience has ended and she kicked the man in front of her. With her enhanced physique, a trait which she inherited from the great house Fanick, the power she delivered instantly crumbled a section of the wall of men. She immediately dashed through that opening before they could grab her.

"I like this girl." Fei murmured while watching the mech pilot broke through the checkpoint and started marching toward the Straggler.

"I'm going to inform the bridge to contact the PDF of Logria!" Seeing that an orbital entry was inevitable, one of the crew sprinted to a comms unit.

"No! NO!" Cia yelled, stopping the crew on his track. She shook her head. This exact scenario, if it went well, will elevate the GT's Union Branch above other guilds. With that in mind, the director started to instruct the crew to prepare to load the Straggler on a carrier and push it into space as soon as the ship aligned with Logria's Starport.

Cia glanced at Commander Fanick. Since the mech pilot was ready to give it her all, they should be too.