Beyond the outer hull of the Seldia space habitat, the void stretched out in perfect silence--soundless, but carrying something unmistakably hostile within its dark.
Seated in Arden's cockpit, wearing the Noble Lotus that Sola's hands had made, Letaria Adeniam let the corner of her mouth curl upward.
"...Today's client: the civilian transport vessel Iris. Escort duty for a rare ore shipment."
This commission, passed along by Milea, was the closest thing yet to a true freelance debut. Until now, Letaria's work had mostly been corps exercises and minor skirmishes. Today, she would be working alongside a team of strangers--professionals.
"Well, well. There she is. The famous 'Runaway Lady.'"
A voice cut into the comm channel--easy, familiar, yet with an edge that said it would not be easily read.
The face on the monitor: a man in his mid-thirties. Unkempt stubble; long blue hair tied back without particular care. Former merchant sailor--Zein--and his eyes carried it. Worldly, unhurried, giving nothing away.
His machine was a lightweight Makina, bristling with additional sensor units on every surface. It looked like something designed to peer into the deep dark of space with long, careful antennae.
"Seriously, boss? You can't be joking. This is the lady who matched a vigilante corps elite? Look at that outfit--it's cosplay. That's ancient Earth fashion, isn't it."
The second face on the screen belonged to a girl slightly younger than Letaria--Fal. Brown hair in twin braids, swinging as she looked Letaria over with frank appraisal. Her machine was a practical, heavy-build general-purpose type loaded with a large-caliber rifle and a shoulder cannon. A configuration that valued results above all else.
"What do you mean, cosplay?! This is my pride. And Arden and the Noble Lotus are the embodiment of functional beauty at its finest!"
Letaria fired back through the comm, chin up.
"Ha--she's got spirit, I'll give her that. Fal, less talking, more readiness. ...Miss, we're professionals. Whoever you are, wherever you're from--get Iris to Cranea in one piece, and we have no complaints."
Zein gave a light laugh and signaled the Iris to depart.
Fal's commentary did not stop during transit.
"...Hey. That machine of yours--it's just an antique, right? Can a relic like that even keep up with mine? Do me a favor and don't drag us down."
"A relic--?! I would ask you not to compare Arden to some ordinary Makina! This machine responds to me. It is the only one of its kind in the entire--"
"Yes, yes. 'Special circumstances.' Fine--just stay in the back and don't get in the way. Boss's sensors will catch anything coming, and I'll put it down before it gets close."
Letaria bit down on her response. Once, she would have met that with something barbed and cutting. But something had shifted--in the time she had spent with Milea and Grain and their particular brand of unsparing kindness, the impulse to retaliate had been replaced by something cleaner: the desire to silence the girl with deeds.
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Past the midpoint of the route, Letaria's senses caught something wrong.
Her magic poured out through Arden into the space around them, and found a presence--something waiting.
"...They're coming."
"What? What's coming? There's nothing on sensors--"
"One, hiding behind that rock formation. ...No--three more beyond it. They're lying in wait!"
The moment Letaria's shout died, Zein's alert systems erupted.
"--Damn! At this range?! Fal--hostiles! Raiders, coming out of the debris shadow!"
"What--?! She detected them before your sensors? That's not possible--"
Fal's disbelief was left behind as outdated raider-model machines emerged from cover--fanning out in an encirclement around the Iris, closing fast.
"Fal, I'm taking the right flank! Miss--fall back and cover the Iris directly--"
"I will not sit on defense! The best defense is overwhelming offense!"
Letaria pushed Arden's thrusters to full. Trace Mode G-forces hit hard--but her body, and the Noble Lotus's load distribution, absorbed what would have broken a lesser pilot.
Arden left a trail of dark purple light across the black and drove into the raider formation at an acceleration that made the laws of physics look approximate.
"Out of my way! Grovel before me!"
Carrying all that momentum, Arden's enhanced leg drove through the chest plate of the lead raider in a single kick.
The shockwave traveled through the vacuum as vibration. The enemy machine crumpled and was sent spinning backward.
"What--what was that acceleration?! How is she not torn apart?!"
Letaria ignored Fal's stunned transmission and wheeled Arden around.
The remaining three moved to surround her and opened fire simultaneously. But Letaria could see the trajectories.
More precisely--through her magic, she felt the instant each finger reached for a trigger.
"You won't hit me. I can read everything you're going to do before you do it."
She evaded on raw speed--wasteful in technique, but the speed erased the waste.
Her right hand found the Photon Saber.
"Photon Saber--!"
The blade of light split the dark. In a single flowing motion, she severed the arm of a second raider wheeling hard to avoid her.
"...I'll be honest. The rumors about the corps' hidden ace--maybe they're true."
The lightness had gone from Zein's voice. He read the situation in a moment and moved to support.
"Fal--she's opened them up! The two on the left--go!"
"R-right! On it!"
Fal, galvanized by Letaria's assault, loosed the shoulder cannon.
Zein's guided missiles herded the targets; Fal's rounds finished them.
One remained. The one that felt like the leader.
Letaria raised Arden's output further. The G-forces climbed to brutal levels--she bore it, and pressed in.
"Learn your place!"
The dark purple and gold machine delivered a single stroke of light.
It split the raider's fuselage in two. A beat of silence--then a brilliant flash scattered across the void, and its light caught Letaria's eyes.
◆
Every raider was silent. The sector was still.
The Iris: untouched. A perfect defense.
"...Well. I take it back. Miss--the machine and the pilot both--you're something else."
Real respect in Zein's voice this time. No performance in it.
Fal was quiet for a long moment. When she finally spoke, the words came as though she had to force them out one at a time.
"...That was incredible. No amount of training makes someone move like that. ...Hey, Letaria. Teach me that later. ...What I said before--I'm sorry."
She fiddled with the end of one braid, eyes not quite meeting the camera.
Letaria answered with her signature laugh.
"Ohohoho! Good. Now you understand. If you wish to ask instruction of me, I may consider it--favorably."
Haughty words. But the voice carrying them had lost its old sharp edges. There was something open in it.
Not so long ago, she had not even been able to believe in herself. And now--someone was surprised by her, recognized by her, asking something of her.
Letaria Adeniam was moving forward. Step by step, unmistakably forward.