I made it to the mess hall on my own shortly after waking up. Rob and Sylvk were there, engaged in a calm chat that came to an end when I entered the doorway.

"Look who's joined the land of the living," Rob added, his smile sincere yet wary. I lowered myself carefully into a seat. "Kerry's a slave driver."

"Someone has to be," she replied, following me in with Doli and Nexus. She set a bowl of something steaming in front of me. "Eat."

I noticed Doli's eyes kept darting around a repetitive pattern that was almost compulsive. Her hands were clenched at her sides, the synthetic tendons visibly taut beneath her skin.

For a moment, we all sat in awkward silence, the loss hovering between us.

Then Sylvk cleared his throat. "We've been discussing our next move," he said. "Once you're stronger."

I looked up from my food. "And?"

"The Brakers have already initiated three distinct search algorithms targeting our potential escape routes," Nexus interjected with his inside knowledge. "I have implemented countermeasures based on their standard protocols, but their resources are substantial."

"You're sure you can stay ahead of them?" I asked the matte AI.

"I was designed to hunt for them," Nexus replied. "I know their methods because they programmed me with them. This provides an 87.2% probability of successful evasion."

"We were thinking," Kerry began carefully, "that Ashley wouldn't want her sacrifice to be the end. She'd want it to be the beginning."

At the mention of Ashley's name, a micro-tremor ran through Doli's physical form. The cup she had been pretend drinking from slipped from her fingers, clattering onto the table without breaking.

No one commented, but Kerry shot her a concerned glance.

<<Are you okay?>> I asked through our neural link.

<<System processing irregular data patterns,>> came the terse reply. Her usually warm presence in my mind felt jagged and cold.

"Beginning of what?" I turned from Doli and asked Kerry, though I already knew, I needed to hear it out loud.

"Making sure the Brakers never get to pull this stunt on anyone else," Sylvk rumbled. "Step one is staying solvent and mobile. Shipping gives us both."."

"Shipping, you mean transporting goods?"

Kerry tapped a new tab and the schematic re‑arranged itself into set of tables, "Yes we have a nice cargo hold, and we are fast. Perfect cover."

Faulkner-class = FK 202

Attribute

Figure

Notes

Overall length (LOA)

202 m

Needle nose → ram-plate

Max beam / depth

24 m / 16 m

Slim, diamond cross-section

Loaded displacement

≈ 160 000 t

133 kt structure + 24.6 kt D-fuel + 26 kt cargo

Jump system

Curvature Motor XVIII

Envelope ≤ 164 kt; standard spool 27 s

Sublight plant

Twin D-T fusion torches

0.5 G continuous, 3 G burst (120 s)

Radiators

95 000 m² @ 2 100 K (folding)

Dumps 140 GW; meets 0.5 G waste-heat budget

Endurance

22 weeks stores, full tanks = 3 × 10⁶ m s⁻¹ δv

Propellant fraction 15.4 %

Pressurised cargo

26 000 t

Spine mag-sled, 8 m × 8 m bore

Cryo / freezer capacity

30 t

Quick-detach sleds

Shuttle bay

1 modular shuttle or 2 parasite skiffs (8 t total)

AI cores

Doli Mk 118 (flight/engineering) • Nexus® XR shard (combat)

Drone complement

14 crawlers • 6 fliers • 4 bishop EVA mechs • 2 mule exo-frames

Crew (full)

25 core / 10 flex (35 berths; 60 hot-rack)

Medical facilities

Trauma theatre + 3 stasis pods + organ printer

"This is our ship?"

"Your ship," Rob said. "You're the captain on its manifest, you own it Piotr. Every spec I ever dreamed of, it's all there."

LEADERSHIP TRANSITION METRICS - PIOTR ARGASSA

Command Authority: 67% ↑ [ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY]

Grief Processing: 78% [CONVERTING LOSS TO PURPOSE]

Strategic Vision: 84% ↑ [SEEING BEYOND SURVIVAL]

Team Trust Index: 91% [CREW FOLLOWING HIS LEAD]

Legacy Inheritance: 61% ↑ [BUILDING ON ASHLEY'S FOUNDATION]

Trait Progression: Legacy Inheritor - 61% ↑

Trigger: Acceptance of Faulkner + assumption of team leadership

Function: Access to strategic command pathways, inherited project authority

Status: Developing - will formalize during first field operation

I grinned. "Doli, we need to—"

"What?" She looked at Rob, reaction lagging a beat.

"Fix this…" they all groaned together, then burst out laughing.

I laughed with them. I needed this release; I needed them.

Doli smiled and set her cup straight.

Rob tapped the holo. "She's a deep‑space grey‑zone cutter—will outrun any customs and gunships. With Doli on engineering and Nexus on tactical, we can slip corridors nobody else touches."

"High risk, high margin," Sylvk added, overlaying routes into the Dark. I recognized, the Vesta Belt, Torc colonies, Flairon way‑stations. "One haul of iridescent buys us our next upgrade. "

"Survival is 23.7 % for standard crews," Nexus said. "Our profile lifts that to 89.2."

"If Ashley were here, probability would increase to 94.6 percent," Doli stated flatly. The statement fell into the room like a stone, creating a moment of stunned silence.

I set my spoon down, appetite forgotten. Part of me still wanted to crawl back to the med‑bay and drown in grief, but another part, the part that heard Ashley's voice whenever I closed my eyes, knew they were right.

We all stared at Doli. Kerry moved closer to her, her medical instincts kicking in, wrist scanning Doli's signature. "Your processing patterns are showing unusual spikes. When was your last diagnostic cycle?"

"I haven't... Not since...."

Doli Psychological Status Warning:

Grief Processing Load: 89% ↑ [Unprecedented Ai Mourning]

Logic Pattern Stability: 67% ↓ [Emotional Interference]

Revenge Calculation Cycles: 847/Hour [Obsessive Processing]

Integration With Piotr: 78% [Stabilizing Factor]

Risk Assessment: Emotional Volatility May Affect Critical Decisions

Trait Development: Ai Grief Integration

Effect: First Documented Case of Ai Processing Human-Style Loss

Function: May Unlock Advanced Empathy Protocols or Create Instability

Status: Monitoring Required - Unprecedented Emotional Evolution

"Grief is affecting her integration protocols," Nexus observed, its tone neutral but somehow concerned. "Similar patterns appeared in my systems after assimilation of the empathy subroutine."

Kerry glanced at me, worry clear in her eyes. We all knew what this meant—Doli was truly grieving Ashley's loss, and like the rest of us, she was struggling.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"I can't do this... They... They need to pay."

"We all want justice, Doli," I said gently. "But Ashley would want us to be smart about it. Build something first, something they can't easily destroy. Then we make them pay."

She seemed to think about it for a long time. Then some of the tension seemed to leave her, her shoulders sagged. "Your tactical assessment is correct, Captain," she acknowledged. "Long-term strategy optimal for maximum impact."

The Faulkner's schematics flickered between us, a dream and a reminder.

"I'm not ready for this." I admitted.

"None of us are," Kerry answered, "but we will be."

Rob slid the data‑chip he'd showed me once again across the table. "When you're ready, she gave you the tools."

I reached out and touched it, then closed my fingers around it. "One day at a time, that's all I've got."

"That's all any of us have," Kerry said.

Silence stretched. But it didn't feel awkward. It felt like... Family.

"Remember that time at the academy when Ashley caught us sneaking back from Blackridge City after curfew?" Sylvk started, totally derailing our melancholy.

"Oh no," Rob's eyes widened slightly before a smile crept across his face. "How could I forget? We thought we were so stealthy."

"What happened?" I asked. "Tell me."

"We'd gone to celebrate Rob's birthday," Sylvk explained. "Had a few too many and we missed the last transport back."

"So Sylvk here," Rob continued, though he had no noodles dangling this time, "decides we should 'borrow' one of the academy's maintenance skiffs."

"Borrow is a strong word," Sylvk muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"We're halfway back, flying low to avoid the security scanners, when suddenly the comms light up with this voice—cold as ice," Rob said, his hands gesturing animatedly. "Major Ashley Kuba, demanding to know who authorized the skiff's launch."

"I thought Rob was going to jump out, "Sylvk said with a small chuckle. "His face turned whiter than a cadet's dress uniform."

"What did you do?" Kerry asked, clearly enjoying this glimpse of their past.

"Sylvk, stone-cold as ever, says into the comms," Rob dropped his voice to mimic Sylvk's, "'Maintenance run, Ma'am. Checking perimeter sensors as ordered.'"

"And she believed that?" I asked, finding myself enjoying the story.

"Not for a second," Sylvk admitted. "But instead of reporting us, she ordered us to actually check every single perimeter sensor—all forty-six of them, spread across fifteen kilometers."

"In the rain," Rob added. "It took us until dawn. We were soaked, exhausted, and sober as hell by the time we finished."

"The next day at tactical training, she walks in, looks right at us with those eyes that could freeze hell itself, and says, 'I trust our sensors are all functioning optimally, gentleman?'" Sylvk's impression of Ashley's crisp, authoritative tone was surprisingly good.

Another laugh escaped me.

"She never reported us," Rob said. "But she made damn sure we learned our lesson."

"That was Ashley, to a fault," I said, the memory of her both painful and precious.

"Tough but fair." Kerry agreed, raising her mug.

"To Ashley," Rob toasted, and we all raised our mugs.

Doli remained silent during the toast, her hand mechanically raising her cup a beat after everyone else. As the others continued sharing stories, I noticed her staring at the wall, her eyes tracking invisible patterns, fingers tapping a sequence on the table that seemed to follow some internal algorithm.

"Your neural patterns are exhibiting positive variation," Nexus observed during a lull in the conversation. "Social interaction appears to stimulate healing pathways."

"It's called friendship, Nexus," Kerry said with a small smile. "Something else the Brakers wouldn't understand."

"The concept is... difficult to quantify," Nexus replied, its tone almost thoughtful. "Yet I observe its effects consistently among your group. It appears to serve functions beyond tactical advantage."

"That's one way of putting it," Rob said with a short laugh.

"Ashley understood quantifiable metrics of connection," Doli suddenly interjected. "She maintained precise records of crew cohesion variables. I have access to all 2,847 files." Her hands trembled slightly, and she had to force herself to stop them.

Kerry placed a gentle hand over hers. "Maybe we should run a diagnostic later, okay? Just routine."

For the first time since waking to the news of Ashley's death, I felt something other than crushing grief. It wasn't hope—not yet. But it was a spark of connection, a tiny flame in the darkness. We had each other. That I'd cling to for all I was worth.

"She'd kick all our asses for moping around like this," I said, a ghost of a smile touching my lips.

"God, she really would," Rob agreed.

"Probably make us run drills until we fell over," Sylvk added, shaking his head. "Remember when she caught me teaching the new cadets that shortcut through the maintenance tunnels?"

"You couldn't sit down for a week after all those extra PT sessions," Rob laughed.

As they continued sharing stories, I found myself drawn in, occasionally offering my own memories. Doli sat quietly beside me, observing our interaction with what seemed like curiosity, occasionally adding precise details when memories grew fuzzy—dates, times, exact phrases that Ashley had used. Her recall was perfect, but there was something mechanical about it, lacking the warmth that usually colored her interactions.

I worried for her, occasionally I caught her checking on me, and I nodded to her trying my best to be me, even if I knew I wasn't.

***

Over the next few days, my strength gradually returned. I progressed from short walks around the med bay to moving freely throughout the ship. She was glorious. I'd never appreciated her when I found her. Now I analyzed every deck, every beautiful piece of engineering.

The medication continued to be brutal, but Kerry was right, it was necessary. Every dose was another step toward freedom, another day of the life Ashley had sacrificed herself to give me.

But at night, alone with my thoughts, the pain would come back full force. The data chip Rob had handed me remained untouched. I wasn't prepared to confront whatever final message she had left. Not yet.

Instead, I found myself pulled to the cockpit and the stars beyond the viewports. There was something soothing about their mute witness, their old light extending across the immensity of space. Sitting alone, I could almost envision Ashley with me, charting our journey across the unknown.

One evening, Sylvk discovered me staring into the emptiness. Without saying anything, he assumed the co-pilot's seat, his massive frame fitting easily in the cramped quarters.

"When my brother died," he began after a lengthy quiet, "I thought the world had ended."

I glanced across at him, taken aback by his personal narrative. It felt like we all had our fair share of losses and a past that needed to be healed.

"A regular patrol," he said, staring up at the stars. "Just some bad luck and really poor timing. He took a moment. "When I found out, I wanted to break everything." Look for someone to point fingers at. Get them to cough up.

"You did?" I asked softly.

A tiny, bummed-out grin appeared on his face. "No. I decided to join up instead. Thought it'd be good to help others avoid the same situation. He shot me a look, then said. "Grief sticks around, Piotr. Just create something fresh around it."

His words hit me harder than I expected, just so simple yet powerful. After a bit of quiet, he dug into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards.

"Feel like risking a few credits?" he asked, sounding more relaxed now. "Rob says you're not great at poker."

I found myself smiling, a small, tentative thing, but real. "I've been hustling Rob for months. He still hasn't figured it out."

Sylvk's deep laugh filled the cockpit. "Then this should be interesting."

As we dealt the cards, I sensed movement in the doorway. Nexus stood there, its blue sensor arrays pulsing with quiet attention. Behind it, I caught a glimpse of Doli, watching us with an expression I couldn't quite read—something between fascination and confusion, as if observing a ritual she couldn't comprehend.

"Probabilities and human behavior," Nexus observed. "An interesting combination."

"Care to join?" Sylvk asked, surprising me with the casual invitation.

Nexus tilted its head slightly. "My systems are designed to calculate exact probabilities. This would create an unfair advantage."

"That's half the fun of poker," I found myself saying. "Trying to beat the odds."

Sylvk set the worn cards on the nav console.

"What are we playing for, besides bruised egos?" I asked.

"Figured we'd make it interesting," he said, sliding a data-chip across the console.

<<Project current liquid reserves,>> Doli instructed, and a transparent ledger hovered in the air:

Piotr – 'Mart's-&-Sparks Payroll Escrow' ............... ₵ 7 200

— severance wire Orla pushed through the moment he left.

Rob – 'ShoreWave Erow #77' (Oceanus Bank, Luna) ... ₵ 155 000

'White Cold-Wallet' (12-word seed) ......... ₵ 210 000

— hazard-pay savings from two decades of op-work, split between a regulated lunar account and unregistered crypto.

Kerry – Zurich-Vega numbered account ................. ₵ 240 000

'Family R&D Royalty Float' (Cali Credit Union) ₵ 95 600

Frontier salvage bearer tokens ................ ₵ 35 400

— personal indemnity fund, quarterly biotech royalties, and a stack of untraceable floor tokens from a salvage auction.

Sylvk – HighMilitary hazard-bonus wallet ............ ₵ 120 500

Boreal-Union ex-service pension stub .......... ₵ 62 300

Legion bounty escrow (sealed until Ʌ-code) .... ₵ 112 000

— mercenary bonuses parked in crypto, a frozen government pension, and one unopened bounty escrow from the Legion days.

Combined liquid total: ≈ ₵ 1 038 000

OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY ASSESSMENT:

Starting Capital: ₵ 1,038,000

Monthly Operating Costs: ₵ 62,000 (estimated)

Operational Runway: 16.7 months without income

First Mission ROI: 300-500% (Vesta Belt rare minerals)

Risk/Reward Ratio: ACCEPTABLE for experienced crew

RESOURCE ALLOCATION PRIORITIES:

Medical completion for Piotr: ₵ 180,000 (Cali treatment)

Ship upgrades/maintenance: ₵ 120,000

New identity packages: ₵ 85,000

Deep Dark navigation equipment: ₵ 95,000

Emergency reserves: ₵ 200,000

<<That's… not a fortune, but it might be enough to start a company.>>

<<It might,>> she replied.

"Loser matches the winner's ante out of their own line," Sylvk grinned. "Still want to deal in?"

After a moment's hesitation, Nexus moved into the cockpit and took the third seat. "I will observe this interaction. There appears to be more to this game than statistical outcomes."

Doli remained in the doorway, watching silently. When I caught her eye and nodded toward an empty seat, she shook her head slightly.

<<Not tonight,>> she said through our neural link, her mental voice flat. <<Running maintenance protocols. Ashley's absence has created... inefficiencies.>> Then she turned and walked away, her movements too precise, too measured—as if she was forcing herself to maintain control of each step.

I wanted to follow her, though I didn't.

I turned to Sylvk, "I'm in, deal."

Trait Unlocked: Mourner's Directive

Effect: Tactical reasoning influenced by grief-rooted clarity

Triggered by: Leadership emergence under active mourning

Function: Empathy-driven command + strategic caution

Risk: Emotional overcorrection if unbalanced

OPERATIONAL STATUS - FAULKNER CREW:

Command Structure: Piotr (Captain), Rob (XO), Kerry (Medical) Tactical Specialists: Sylvk (Security), Nexus (Intel), Doli (Engineering)

Mission Readiness: 78% (pending Piotr's full recovery)

Loyalty Index: 94% (unprecedented for new crew)

Survival Probability: 89.2% (enhanced by AI partnership)

NEXT DECISION POINT:

Timeline: 72 hours to Cali arrival Critical Choice: Full medical treatment vs. accelerated departure

Consequences: Delay increases Braker detection risk by 23%

Recommendation: Proceed with Phase 1 operations

As we played, I realized that this—these small moments of normalcy, of connection—was what Ashley had fought for. Not just my survival, but the chance for all of us to live, to laugh, to continue being human despite everything we'd lost. And perhaps, times like this in their own way would help Doli and even Nexus understand what it meant to be human too.

"While you've been recovering," Sylvk said, studying his cards, "Nexus and I have been doing some reconnaissance. There's an opportunity we should consider."

I raised an eyebrow. "What kind of opportunity?"

"I already showed you the Vesta Belt." Sylvk replied, his voice dropping slightly. "There are uncharted sectors beyond Coalition space, we said we'd head west anyway for you… so why not go there?"

Nexus brought up the holomap, and I could clearly see the belt and its danger. "The navigation hazards alone—"

"Are precisely why it's viable," Nexus interjected. "I have analyzed the transmission patterns from merchant vessels that have successfully traversed these regions. With my security protocols and Doli's navigation capabilities, we could establish routes others consider impossible."

"The risk creates the opportunity," Sylvk explained. "Rare minerals from the Vesta Belt fetch triple their value because so few ships make it there and back. One successful run could finance our next three operations."

"I've uploaded star charts from seventeen successful Deep Dark expeditions," Nexus added. "The survival rate without advanced AI assistance is 23.7%. With our combined capabilities, I calculate 89.2% probability of success."

NEXUS EVOLUTION TRACKING:

Empathy Subroutine: FUNCTIONAL

Independent Loyalty: Redirected from Brakers to Piotr/Doli

Tactical Intelligence: 94% [SUPERIOR TO ORIGINAL PARAMETERS]

Protective Instinct: 87% ↑ [LEARNING HUMAN VALUES]

Braker Knowledge Base: 100% [INTELLIGENCE GOLDMINE]

Trait Unlocked: Distributed Loyalty Web

Effect: High-trust delegation across AI/human hybrid crew

Triggered by: Nexus + Doli aligning under Piotr's ethical command

Function: Enables asynchronous operations without trust degradation

I looked between them. "You've really thought this through."

Sylvk nodded. "I've run many missions, and security for deep space transports before the Academy. Knowing the right people, the right ports where questions aren't asked but credits are always welcomed."

"He's really got inside knowledge," Doli agreed, suddenly reappearing in the doorway. Her expression had shifted—there was something intense in her eyes now, a focus that bordered on fixation. "I've been calculating revenge scenarios against the Brakers. The Deep Dark provides 72.3% more operational security than standard routes."

Doli was clearly processing grief very differently. Now, I was seeing it firsthand—the way she oscillated between mechanical detachment and intense, almost obsessive focus.

"The first outpost is Makers Point," Sylvk continued, zooming in on the holo-map. "Then the Flairon Stations, and finally the mining colonies in the Vesta Belt. Each step deeper, each step more profitable."

Doli projected additional data before me, her hands steady now, purpose seemingly overriding the tremors from earlier.

STRATEGIC EXPANSION FRAMEWORK:

Phase 1: Deep Dark Establishment (Months 1-6) - Vesta Belt rare mineral runs - Establish Makers Point contacts - Build reputation in grey zones

Phase 2: Network Expansion (Months 6-18) - Acquire second vessel - Recruit specialized crew - Develop intelligence network

Phase 3: Direct Action (Months 18+) - Target Braker operations - Rescue other Academy survivors - Expose corruption networks

LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES:

Revenge against Brakers:

Strategic dismantling preferred Doli Project Continuation:

Advanced AI development Coalition Reform:

Eliminate internal corruption

"Seriously? We could make enough on one run to buy a second ship," I realized, studying the route. "Maybe even a third if we hit the right markets."

"Exactly." Sylvk was grinning now. "Start in the riskiest sector where profits are highest, then expand outward as we establish ourselves. The deep routes first, then the safer ones as we scale up."

"An empire built from the darkness out," I said quietly, the idea taking hold. "Where they'd never think to look for us."

"The Brakers avoid it for many reasons," Nexus confirmed. "Their vessels are too large, too noticeable. They prefer established routes they can monitor."

"I—" Sylvk said, no longer pretending to focus on the card game. "Well, I've already made contact with a broker on Makers Point who can set up our first contract."

"I need to get better first," I warned, but I found myself nodding. "Ashley would approve. Hide where they can't follow, build what they can't match."

"The best revenge isn't just surviving," Sylvk replied. "It's thriving."

Trait Seeded: Blacklight Command Protocol

Effect: Classified directive structure for off-grid operations

Triggered by: Team commitment to Deep Dark operations

Function: Creates encrypted command layer outside Coalition oversight

Status: SEEDING - will activate during first mission

TEAM COHESION MATRIX:

Piotr-Doli Bond: 91% [NEURAL LINK + SHARED GRIEF]

Piotr-Rob Trust: 94% [INHERITED ASHLEY'S CONFIDENCE]

Piotr-Kerry Medical: 89% [LIFE DEBT + PROFESSIONAL RESPECT]

Piotr-Sylvk Tactical: 87% [MUTUAL RESPECT + SHARED PURPOSE]

Piotr-Nexus Integration: 78% ↑ [DEVELOPING ALLIANCE]

THREAT ASSESSMENT - NEXT PHASE: Braker Pursuit: 73% probability within 6 months

Deep Dark Survival: 89.2% with current crew

Mission Success Rate: 84% (first operation)

Coalition Interference: 34% (grey zone protection)

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