Location: Magicon Empire; Armortec Duchy; Cintman System; VS Stargazer

I wonder if Commander Lackney expected things to turn out like they did. It's all a guess, but as soon as Maja recognized the Stargazer, she stopped their aggression completely and the Andala stopped getting closer to us.

The commander basically drilled us for an hour on how to react to their approach and the subsequent inspection of our starship. Now, all his efforts were for nothing, as Shay called me with a Communication spell and confirmed that I am visiting them. That pretty much cancelled out the inspection... After that, Maja's crew and Lydia discussed things and now we're just minutes away from docking our ships airlock to airlock.

The four of us are already waiting down in the hallway close to the airlock, while Clara does the final maneuvering. Then, finally, with a very slight shake that goes through the Stargazer, both ships connect and the docking tunnel gets filled with air.

About a minute later, our airlock signals that someone wants to enter from the outside. Clara shows us a holographic projection of the docking tunnel, and I immediately recognize Shay in the front. She's wearing a modified spacewalker suit that's way less bulky than ours are. Her hands have a firm grip on a mid-sized laser rifle, that probably allows for good mobility inside tight spaces.

Next to her and behind her is a full squad of Peacekeepers wearing the same things. Other than Shay who's grinning, everyone in the eight-person squad has a determined expression on their faces.

"Looks like Commander Lackney's instructions weren't for nothing after all," Alina says with a slight chuckle.

"I guess so," I reply and take a step back. "Let's welcome them aboard, I guess. Can you open the door, Clara?"

Instead of answering, Clara opens the airlock and it swings open with a hiss. I hold myself back from rushing at Shay, as that would have been a very bad idea with the other Peacekeepers around her.

The one next to Shay starts to shout while Shay just grimaces a bit. "This is Peacekeeper Unit 3451 Alpha. Crew of the Stargazer, you are hereby requested to undergo an inspection of your starship by Article 771 of the Magicon Empire Charter."

So far so good. Commander Lackney will be proud… Article 771 is exactly what they should be referencing here. As far as they know, we did enter restricted airspace. Let's see if they know how to react to my refusal.

"Unfortunately, I have to decline…"

The Peacekeepers besides Shay stiffen and start to raise their weapons.

"According to Article 778b, I'm allowed to explain myself to either your captain or commanding officer over a video call or face-to-face meeting. As we showed no aggression toward you, I'd like to make use of that privilege."

The Peacekeeper who spoke earlier suddenly looks rather uncertain. He glances at Shay who is fighting to keep a smile off her face. Before anyone can say anything though, there is a commotion at the back of the Peacekeeper squad and a voice calls out from the back.

"That won't be necessary."

Maja!

The Peacekeepers part in the middle, and I get a first look at her in uniform. She looks good in dark blue! I still restrain myself from rushing toward her as that would be even dumber than rushing at Shay earlier. My gaze wanders to the tall blonde woman next to Maja. Her uniform is just a little less fancy than Maja's. Her second in command?

"Captain?" The Peacekeeper next to Shay looks back at Maja with a big question mark on his face.

Maja looks at him with a grin. "Those are old friends of mine. Your services won't be necessary anymore. They are also cleared by Commander Lackney as you should've known already."

The man blushes a little and Shay rolls her eyes. Finally, he nods and addresses the squad. "Alright guys, you've heard the captain. Let's go back to the Andala."

They all nod once, turn around, and start to leave. Shay hesitates though, and the man stops as well. "Lieutenant?"

I think he likes to just use a person's rank as a question as this is already the second time he's doing so. I find his tone of voice amusing, I have to admit.

Shay looks at the man to reply. "They're friends of mine too, sergeant… But I guess I can't leave you all alone, can I? See you later, girls!"

The man salutes and then turns to leave. Shay is right behind him. A bummer, I would have loved to have her with me too. As soon as they vanish through the Andala's airlock, I stop holding back and rush Maja. We end up in a group hug when Lucy and Lydia join in. In the corner of my eyes, I notice both Alina and the tall blonde woman standing awkwardly to the side. Time for introductions, I guess.

I slowly step back out of the hug to address the issue. Then I think better of it and look at both Maja and the other woman. "Before we do introductions, can I offer you something to drink? And we should go somewhere more comfortable… Can I teleport you?"

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Maja just gives a thumbs-up, while the woman nods slowly after a short glance at Maja. I take that as a yes and cast a quick Teleportation spell. We arrive on the sofas in the living room, and I immediately have some bottles of juice and water floating over to the table before us.

Then I look at Maja and her second in command. I wonder if she knows about Maja's nature… Actually, I should probably ask her. I get back up and address everyone. "I'll be right back with some snacks."

Then I teleport into the kitchen to grab a few things. In the meantime, I ask Clara to send a message. "Can you ask Maja if the other woman with her knows that she's an AI, please?"

"Sure, no problem. I'll send her reply directly to your interface."

She continues to do exactly that and before I grab the final bag of crackers, I already have a reply. Turns out Maja's friend just learned about Maja's nature a few minutes ago. Perfect timing, I'd say. I send back a quick acknowledgment and exit the kitchen. This time through the door.

A few steps later, I'm back in the living room and present my haul. I sit down and place everything on the table before us for everyone to grab whatever they want. Then I lean back and smile. "I guess it's time for introductions now." I look at the tall woman next to Maja. "I'll start. My name is Sara Green and I'm currently studying at FBC. As you probably noticed, I'm a Space and Utility Mage… "

I continue to tell her a few more facts about my Sara Green persona and finish by explaining that both Maja and I go way back.

The other girl, who I still don't know the name of, tilts her head to the side and replies. "Are you the pirate victim?"

I look at Maja and raise my eyebrow. Pirate victim, huh? That's a new one. "Err, you could probably call it that way, yeah…"

Her eyes widen a little. "Oh, that was so rude, sorry. It's just that I hate pirates and when Maja said she'd hunt them with me together because her best friend had some encounters with such people too, well… Here we are. And I'm babbling random shit, sorry again… Let's start again, hehe, my name is Ellie. Ellie Zekic and I'm in the same command track as Maja is… We made friends practically immediately and I'm now acting as her second-in-command during training. If things go as planned, I'll be her second after graduating as well."

I nod at Ellie, accepting her apology. Then we continue with the introductions. Lucy and Lydia introduce themselves to Ellie, while Alina does it for both Maja and Ellie. That leaves Maja as the last. It's not really necessary, as I told Alina so much about Maja during our trip to the Cintman System, but Maja insists on doing a quick introduction as well.

She takes a deep breath. And looks at Alina first. "Hi, as you probably know, I'm Maja…"

She pauses for a moment and grins at Ellie, then back at Alina. "I don't know what Sara already told you about me, but as I've already done so today with Ellie, I'm going to do a full reveal… I'm an AI… Sara's AI."

Alina's mouth drops open, and she looks at me accusingly. Right, that's the one thing I didn't tell her about. I blush a bit but before I can start explaining, Alina looks back at Maja.

"Well, while it's certainly surprising, I have to say that concerning Sara things, that's pretty normal."

Lucy snorts in reaction and Alina continues. "But there's one thing I don't understand… How are you here with the Peacekeepers when you just said that you are Sara's AI and how do you have a human body?"

Maja clears her throat. "I've got my own Magitech body because I didn't want to be confined to only Sara's head… Walking around by myself is so much better! As for the Peacekeepers… It's what I want to do in the future. I'm something like a test run if it's something more AIs can do in the future. That's where my Valterion sponsorship comes from. They want to try if ship AIs with Peacekeeper training will be even better than they are right now."

She says the last part while looking at Ellie. I guess they didn't have enough time to talk everything through earlier.

Alina nods slowly in response. "Crazy… But also so cool!" She glances at Ellie next to Maja. "How did you deal with that? I'm guessing such things aren't normal with you."

Ellie snorts. "No not at all… From what you said, this is normal with Sara here?" She raises an eyebrow and Alina nods. "Actually, I'm not really done with dealing with it… I've barely known for thirty minutes."

Everyone besides me and Maja gasps and looks at Maja. "You've kept it secret for so long?" Lucy asks.

Maja nods and uncertainty enters her voice. "Yeah, I didn't want to ruin my friendship with Ellie in the beginning. And then there was never the right moment to tell her…" She looks at Ellie. "Are we still friends?"

The tall woman takes a deep breath and smiles before she grabs Maja in a big hug. "Of course, you silly! Who cares if you're human or not? We've been through so much together and you always had my back. What's there more to expect from a friend?"

Maja sighs in relief and returns the hug. "Thank you, Ellie. You can't imagine how much it bothered me to lie to you every day!"

While they do their bonding session, Alina pokes my side with a raised eyebrow. "Will you ever stop surprising me? Seriously, an AI with a body? What's next? Aliens in your closet?"

I can't help but laugh. Lucy, Lydia, and Alina quickly join in. In the end, we all eat our snacks, and our little girl group continues to chat with each other. Maja looks visibly relieved after hearing that Ellie accepts her as she is, and Ellie fits seamlessly into our group. After about half an hour of chatting, Ellie clears her throat and looks at me.

"There's still one thing I don't understand. How do you fit into all this? I mean both Maja and Alina have Valterion backing, but Maja also said that she is your AI and you've been together for so long. Also, you've been kidnapped by pirates not once but twice… What's it that makes you so important that you're right in the middle of everything?"

Well, that's a very good question if you don't know who I really am, dear Ellie. Unfortunately, I don't feel comfortable sharing my secret with her as well. At least not right now. Maybe later. But I also don't want to lie to her.

I look back at her to reply. "Unfortunately, I can't tell you the real reasons right now. I promise to tell you one day and then everything will make sense. But for now, please trust Maja and me that it's something good. Also, the whole truth would probably break you," I finish with a short wink.

Ellie looks at me with a slight smile. "Alright, so you're a Noble in disguise with close ties to the Valterion family, got it."

I stare at her, dumbfounded while everyone around me starts to chuckle. Maja puts an arm on Ellie's shoulder. "Something like that, yes. You won't regret teaming up with us."

I sit up straight and nod at Maja's words. "Right… Also, speaking of teaming up, that's why we're here! Your ship will be assigned to our group as protection during the Earth adventure. As we were pretty close to the Cintman System, we decided to drop by and get to know you once we heard that the communication blackout was lifted."

I grin and shrug. "So here we are… Got any ideas on how to do it? Oh, and what about Thomas and Simon? Are they here as well?"

Maja chuckles. "They are, and they're going to kill me if I hold them back any longer… They are constantly messaging me." Maja looks at Ellie. "Do you think we could fit everyone in the Andala's hangar? I think that's the only space aboard that's big enough for the whole crew to make an announcement."

Ellie thinks for a moment, then nods. "Yeah, that should fit… we have to take out the interceptors though, or we have to start stacking people."

"Alright, then let's do that. I'll have Dina notify the crew to gather in the hangar." Maja looks back at us. "Can you put on something fancier and then meet us back at the airlock? Or better, I send down Thomas, Shay, and Simon to escort you. Ellie and I have a crew to organize."

I jump up and hug her again. "Absolutely, we'll see you soon!"

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