Allison narrowed her eyes as she looked at the latest communications from the Synthlin Science Authority.  We apologize Battlelord but the Great Honorable High Counciler Rysta’na has issued a temporary ban on the release of any unprogrammed nanites to your command.  She almost threw the tablet at a wall but then she stopped herself.  It was the Synthlin Counciler she was angry with, not the tablet.  She ran her hands through her hair and took a deep breath.  She had less than twenty-four hours until d-day.  She had over two hundred warships under her command, and everyone needed something.  Nutina looked at Allison.


    “Is something wrong, my friend?”


    Allison swore under her breath cursing the Synthlin High Counciler with a short but interesting life.


    “That goddamned Rysta’na has blocked my nanite request.  We need them or we’re going to lose thousands of people and over half our fleet.  We need to neutralize those super-hives and their queens.  My back up plan is shit.  Boarding parties! It could take them hours to get to them and they’d have to fight their way through like thirty thousand Sal’nash.”


    She swore again and started to pace.  She looked at Nutina.


    “Nutina how secure are the League trade routes if all of the capital ships are here?”


    Nutina’s wings twitched.


    “Why?”


    Allison ran her fingers through her hair.


    “Because I need those nanites and I’m not above piracy.”


    Nutina shook her head.


    “You are talking about attacking LSR flagged Synthlin medical supply ships?”


    Allison shook her head.


    “No, no of course not.  This is just a hypothetical.”


    Nutina frowned and her wings drooped.


    “Any attack by System’s Alliance Forces would be considered an act of war, Allison.  And I don’t care who you are, no LSR military ship is going to commit an act of piracy against our own.”


    Allison nodded.


    “I completely understand, but how secure are those trade routes?”


    Nutina shook her head.


    “Hypothetically I would say Synthlin medical ships are not considered high risk targets, so they are very unlikely to have any protection at all.”


    Allison nodded.


    “I need to go see a friend about a package she is holding for me.  Can you cover for me?”


    Nutina crossed her arms.


    “For how long?”


    Allison checked the current logistics report from the LSR Ministry of Medicine.  She did some quick math.


    “Eight hours.  I’ll be taking Bit.”


    Nutina crossed her arms and called out to Allison as the teenager rushed off.


    “If you get caught, I’m not bailing you out!”


    Allison was about to call in a favor or perhaps owe a new one.  Either way she needed help with this job, and she needed people she could trust.  She called Hazel’s old boyfriend.  Miles had shaved the sides of his head recently, so he looked different.  He gave Allison a broad smile.


    “Look who it is, you went and got all important since the last time we talked.  What’s up kid?”


    Allison smiled.


    “So, look I know it’s the usual thing that I go through a fixer to hire you and the crew b-”


    Dimi popped up behind Miles on the holo.  His face cracked in a huge goofy smile.


    “Is that Allison!  Hi Allison!”


    Zebra showed up next.


    “Looking good girl!  That uniform is tight!”


    Pinto said something in the background Allison couldn’t make out.  She smiled.  Miles shoved the other two away.


    “Hey, she called me.  Her future brother in law, could be a family thing.”


    Dimi laugh-snorted.


    “Yo, you got it bad bro.”


    Allison shook her head.


    “It’s a job thing, I’m not sure who owes who a favor anymore.  Look, I have a job, and I need people I can trust.  The problem is it is here in the Andromeda Galaxy.”


    Dimi popped up again.


    “Yo, what’s it pay?  We don’t work for no pocket change.”


    Allison laughed but before she could answer.


    “Just kidding, chicha, you are one of us, I’ll do it for a hug and a kiss on the cheek.”


    Miles laughed.


    “If its in the Andromeda Galaxy, that means she’s going to be doing the flying, you sure about that big man?”


    Dimi looked a bit green.


    “This going to be like the last time?”


    Allison shook her head.


    “No, because we’re going to be flying in style.  Well, you will be, I’ll be in my starfighter.  We have less than eight hours to get in and get out.  I will pay you all for your time and not just in hugs and cheek kisses.”


    The mercenaries didn’t need to discuss it, they all agreed immediately.  Allison smiled.  She missed these guys.


    “Give me a list of what you need we’ll have to make a stop to pick it up.  This cannot be traced back to the System’s Alliance.  A pilot will pick you up on my roof landing pad.  ETA twenty minutes.”


    Allison ended the call and pulled up the active flight roster.  She couldn’t use LSR pilots, and she could not use anyone who was strait-laced.  Her eyes caught sight of Legend’s name on the active flight roster.  She smiled.


    “Sorry Dimi.”


    She called Legend.  He was doing coordination training with his new cybernetic arm.  He looked surprised to see Allison.


    “Shadow, I uh…”


    Allison shook her head.


    “I don’t care how you got back on the flight roster a week before you should even be getting tested to get back on the flight roster.  We need every pilot we can get.  I need you to answer me honestly, can you still fly something like you stole it?”


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    He quirked his head to the side and seemed relieved that she wasn’t going to dress him down for his flight roster shenanigans.


    “Yeah, I can.”


    Allison smiled.


    “There is a Wraith stealth transport standing by in hangar nine of the Ark Royal.  I need you to be suited up and launched in five minutes.  You are heading to Earth the Ark Royal will open a wormhole for you.  You will pick up four mercenaries at the coordinates I provide in New Amazon.  You will then use the stargate at Pluto and you will request transit to the following beacon.  No System’s Alliance, Sal’nash Defense Force logos, this is a black op.  Once you arrive at your destination in the Andromeda Galaxy you will disable your transponder.  I will rendezvous with you in forty-five minutes at the last set of coordinates. Any questions?”


    She swept her hand over her screen to send the data he’d need for the first leg of the operation.  Legend grinned.


    “What the hell are we going to be doing in the ass end of LSR space?”


    Allison grinned.


    “Shopping for my summer formal dress.  Get going.”


    He had already started rushing to get launched.  Allison authorized the launch and his wormhole transits with her Special Operations Group override.  Her first stop was her quarters.  She pulled on her armor, holstered her Qual’sa pistols and then looked in her mirror.  She winced as she changed her features.  She now had magenta eyes, pointed ears and silver hair.  She gathered a crate of LSR currency she had under her bed, and she headed to her next stop.  She found Callum in the transporter room. He had several panels off of the walls and the console was pulled apart.  He was under the console.  He hit his head when the door slid open.  He swore then looked out from where he was working.  He squinted.


    “Is that you Lassie?  You heading to a costume party?  What can I do for you?”


    Allison looked around.


    “I was hoping to be transported to the surface, hangar seven.”


    He laughed.


    “Aye, hop on, her clothes are off but she’s still working.”


    Allison got on the transporter pad.


    “What are you doing to my transporter, Callum?”


    Callum punched in the coordinates for the transport beam.


    “I figured you might be wanting to send some presents over to those bug ships, maybe even boarding parties, I’m configuring it so they can get through that blasted chitin hull of theirs.  You ready, lassie?”


    Allison smiled.


    “I am.”


    He pressed the controls to send her to her destination.  She rematerialized a few feet from Bit.  Her frame had been modified again.  She was even sleeker.  Allison ran her hand along the newly solidified black liquid metal.  Bit spoke.


    “Allison, you do not look like yourself.”


    Allison nodded.


    “I’m a Qual’sa pirate.  What do you think?”


    “You are missing your eye patch.”


    Allison rolled her eyes.


    “Bit, you’re not going to like what I’m about to do, but we’re going to do it anyway because I need to do it.”


    Bit lowered the ladder and opened her cockpit.  Allison hopped in.  Bit sounded somewhat perturbed.


    “And what manner of crime am I going to be party to today.”


    Allison kept prepping for launch.  She was taking extra time to test each system as she powered them on.  She had not had a chance to test Bit’s new airframe and systems.  She hated doing this without thorough test flights, but she had little choice.  She needed a small craft with a wormhole generator and Bit was it.


    “I thought it was obvious from my disguise we are going to be pirates today.”


    Bit made an mmhmm sound.


    “And who are we going to be pirating?”


    Allison shrugged.


    “Two Synthlin Medical Transports laden with ten thousand unprogrammed nanites each.  We’re going to take everything, so they don’t know it was about the nanites but the nanites are the targets.  Then you’re going to help me make them into a weapon against the Sal’nash because while I can do kill everything, I’d rather confine it to just the Sal’nash.”


    “Allison, could you not just request those?”


    Allison nodded.


    “I did, twice, both times the request was denied because that asshole Synthlin High Counciler believes his morals outweigh the lives the men and women under my command.  I tried it the nice way, now we’re doing it the pirate way.”


    Bit sounded skeptical.


    “I do not wish to… insult your intelligence but where exactly are you planning on putting these stolen goods?  Strapping them to my armor?  Perhaps tying a rope around them, and how exactly are you going to empty a cargo hold yourself.”


    “I hired help.”


    Bit groaned.


    “Oh dear, not those thugs you associate with when you’re on Earth.”


    Allison grinned.


    “Yep, those thugs.”


    Bit sighed and started giving Allison the silent treatment.  She had to speak to Allison again only a few seconds later.


    “Your sister is trying to reach you?”


    Allison rolled her eyes.


    “Which one?”


    “The bossy one.”


    Allison shook her head.


    “Need to narrow it down again.”


    “The red-haired one.”


    Allison sighed.


    “Put it through.”


    Eyre appeared on Bit’s 360 degree holo-HUD.


    “Allison, why are you accessing your apartment, I thought you were planning a major fleet engagement.”


    Allison looked at Eyre.


    “I’m just picking something up.  Or rather one of my pilots is picking something up.  Don’t worry about it.”


    Eyre crossed her arms.


    “When you say don’t worry about it, that’s exactly when I start worrying about it.  What are you up too?”


    Allison blinked innocently.


    “Just prepping for the battle.  I had some setbacks, I’m overcoming them.”


    Eyre’s emerald eye’s narrowed at something off screen.


    “What are you using mercenaries for? And of all the mercenaries you could have chosen you picked that lot?”


    Allison finished testing the last system, which was the wormhole projector.  She focused all of her attention on Eyre.


    “So, you remember that discussion I had with the Synthlin High Counciler and why he didn’t want to know the answer to his question?  This is kind of the same thing.  I can tell you, but you really don’t want to know.  I can say it doesn’t involve time travel; It is going to be a milk run and I picked ‘those mercenaries’ because I trust them to do as I ask.”


    Eyre frowned.


    “It’s like you’re getting more and more like mom every day.”


    Allison smiled.


    “I’m not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment.”


    Her sister frowned again.


    “A bit of both, be careful Allison.  I’m worried about you.  Good luck with whatever it is you’re up too.”


    Allison waved and ended the call.  She opened the hangar’s roof and used Bit’s antigrav’s to lift off.  She angled the fighter ballistic and rammed her throttle forward.  As soon as she was able to, she opened a wormhole to the beacon near the edge of LSR space.  Then she plotted her FTL course to a familiar trade station.


    “Bit switch the transponder off.  We’re not System’s Alliance or LSR past this point.”


    “It is done.  Are we going to land?”


    Allison shook her head.


    “No, we’re waiting for Miles and his crew.”


    Fifteen minutes later and right on schedule the Wraith exited FTL.  Allison opened up comms on a secure link.  She waited until she could see everyone behind Legend.


    “Hello, thank you for coming.  So, today we’re pirates.  There are a couple of medical transports that I need supplies from.  I can’t tell you what the supplies are, but we’re going to be taking what I need and as much as we carry from each.  This is a trade station.  It is run by crime lords.  There are big black insect slavers.  There is a peacekeeper.  I know her and I have a good relationship with three of the crime lords.  Anything you need for this operation we’re going to be acquiring here.  We are going to buy armor, weapons and clothes from here.  Under no circumstances can anything we do after we leave this station be associated with the System’s Alliance.  Does everyone understand?”


    Allison shook her head and undid her appearance shift.  She had worn it long enough so that she could use the face from memory without having to set each part.


    “Let’s go shopping.”


    The two spacecraft landed in the same hangar.  Allison was greeted warmly by one of the dockhands.  He motioned away the mole-people that were scrambling to do maintenance on the ships.


    “Hello again.  My employer wishes for me to pass along his greetings and assurances your spacecraft will not be touched or inspected.”


    Allison smiled.


    “Please tell him I said hello and that I’ll have more footage for him next time I visit.”


    Allison handed the crate of hard currency to Dimi.


    “Please carry this.”


    Dimi grinned.  Allison looked at everyone.  The mercenaries were looking rather starry eyed at all the aliens around them. She addressed the group in low tones.


    “Stick together.  Don’t buy anything from the spider lady, she’ll rip you off, she’s not really a merchant, she’s a fixer.  She acts dumb but she’s probably the smartest one here.”


    A familiar wolf-like humanoid appeared with her thumbs in her gun belt.


    “I see an old face, and some new ones, not here to cause any trouble for anyone I hope.”


    Allison smiled.


    “Good to see you again Marshal, no, we’re just here to do some shopping.  If we’re looking for good weapons, who should we talk to?”


    The marshal rubbed her graying jaw.


    “Va’tor.  He’s a Grylta, operates out of our friend’s bar.”


    Allison groaned then said in a whiny tone.


    “A Grylta?  Really?”


    The marshal nodded.


    “He runs all of the arm’s trade around these parts, anyone else works for him, or wishes they did.  Take it or leave it darlin.  You buy me a drink; I’ll get you an introduction.”


    Allison nodded.


    “Well let’s go see the jewel of Bastion station.  I’ll buy you that drink, marshal.”


    The marshal tipped her hat.


    “You know, darlin, that bounty is still out on your head.  The lord’s alliance says you’re untouchable here, but that only goes so far.”


    Allison nodded and waved down a merchant and bought a similar cloak to the one she bought last time and pulled it on.


    Dimi smashed his fist together.


    “Would like to see a scummy bounty hunter try.”


    Pinto laughed.


    “What’d you do to get a bounty on your head, kid?”


    Allison rolled her eyes under her hood.


    “Had the unfortunate luck to get declared the heiress to a femnazi empire that is in the middle of an open rebellion.  Long story.”