Anton patted the now repaired gun turret, “‘s nice this didn’t need much repairs.”

Ryan powered it up and started checking for any problems with it, “Chie thinks whoever attacked Luna targeted this gun before the crew could deploy it.”

The turret was fairly small, not much longer than a person when powered off, and could retract into the hull when not in use.

It had two barrels, one long and thin, the other short but large enough for Anton to crawl inside.

Anton nodded, “Mmhmm. Makes sense to get the weapons first. Thanks to that, all I needed to do was remove the hatch and replace some wires.”

Ryan didn’t even want to think about how long it would take to replace all the weapons, “It’s nice we could scan all the parts too.”

Anton sighed, “Yeah, but I wish you’d have let me shoot it a couple times first. Scanning takes forever.”

Ryan pointed the turret towards the nearby asteroid, “Now seems like a good time as any. Got a good target, and Sucker can get anything that flies off.”

Anton turned towards the asteroid then back to the turret, “I better go inside first.”

This surprised Ryan, “Hmm, I thought you’d want to stay out here.”

Anton headed towards the usual breech, “I doubt I’ll see much from out here so I’m gonna go inside and let your sensors do the seein’.”

Ryan kept forgetting the others couldn’t see what was going on as well as his sensors could, “Right, I’ll try to get some good angles for you with my sensor and Sucker.”

Anton gave a thumbs up, “Sounds good!”

Ryan began moving Sucker towards the asteroid from Luna’s aft where they’d kept it after the last ore drop off. He then opened a channel to everyone, “Hey guys, Anton and I are gonna test the turret now if anyone else wants to watch.”

Chie looked up from where she’d been studying the alloy composition of a part from the turret, “I would like to observe. The make of this weapon is quite extraordinary and would like to see it in action.”

Mayu turned off a simulation program she was working on that could simulate the function of DNA and stood up, “I want to see.”

Mayu left the med bay.

Ryan could barely see Becky thanks to all the holograms of galaxies and galaxy clusters she had up, “A break sounds great!”

Ryan turned Luna so the sensor could get the best view of the asteroid and brought up a feed for Chie and one for the mess hall, since it seemed like that’s where Mayu and Anton were going.

Becky left the mess of holograms and studied the feeds, “We’re shooting the asteroid?”

Ryan bobbed the image up and down, “Yup! Gonna have Sucker grab anything that comes off too.”

Becky nodded, “Good thinking.”

Mayu entered the mess hall, her eyes shining with excitement, “We are shooting the rock?”

Becky smiled, then nodded, “Looks like it.”

Mayu looked at Ryan’s camera and spoke in Japanese “Can I use the weapon?”

Ryan bobbed the image up and down and replied in Japanese, “After Anton.”

Mayu smiled and bounced from foot to foot as they waited for Anton to arrive, “I am excited.”

Becky chuckled as she understood enough Japanese at this point to have an idea what Mayu said, “Excited much?”

Mayu looked at Becky, her face becoming awash in embarrassment, “A little.”

Becky patted Mayu’s shoulder, “Don’t be embarrassed! I kinda want to shoot it too.”

Mayu relaxed a little, though a hint of red on her cheeks persisted, “Maybe you can go second?”

Becky shook her head, “Nah, we have plenty of time. I can wait. Besides, we all know it’s really Ryan doing the shooting.”

Ryan made a shushing noise, “Don’t let Anton hear that.”

Becky chuckled, “Okay!”

Anton entered the mess hall, a toothy grin appearing as she spotted the holograms.

Ryan put an overlay over the sensor data with a targeting reticle, the three weapon modes for the turret, heat levels, and remaining ammo.

Anton pointed at a spot on the asteroid.

Ryan moved the reticle to where he had pointed.

Anton nodded, “Nice job with the interface, Ryan.”

“Come on, you did most of the design.”

Anton shrugged, “Just gave ya a few pointers.” She shook her head, “...anyway. Let’s test this baby out!”

She pointed at the three weapon modes from bottom to top, “Plasma, plasma with that nifty high temperature magnet shot, and the mystery energy weapon.”

Ryan recalled the only reason they knew one weapon was a plasma weapon was because it was like a large version of the plasma cutter with minor differences, “Should we test the plasma weapon first or the mystery one?”

Chie entered the mess hall, but stayed near the door.

Anton tapped her chin as she thought, “Hmm, let’s try the mystery weapon.”

Mayu moved next to Anton, “I want to help!”

Anton backed away from Mayu, her discomfort at the close contact obvious, “Can ya back off a little, Mayu?”

Mayu jumped back, embarrassed, and bowed, “I apologize.”

Anton glanced away and scratched her chin, “It’s okay. Sorry for snapping at ya.”

Ryan brought up another hologram for Mayu, “Here.”

Mayu smiled, “I will try more to not bother.” She turned to the hologram Ryan made.

Becky moved next to Mayu, “Well?”

Anton turned to the hologram, “Right!” She pointed at the button for the mystery weapon, “Okay, let’s see if you’re a particle beam or laser...”

Ryan pointed Sucker’s camera towards Luna, “Alright, let’s have Sucker watch the turret fire since Luna’s sensors can’t see it. Good thing the turret has a built-in sensor or we couldn’t see what we pointed it at.”

Ryan powered up the weapon fully.

The turret extended the plasma weapon’s barrel, increasing its length by almost half. At the rear, what looked like radiators extended like wings.

Anton nodded, “Lookin’ good.”

Ryan felt the turret was ready, “It’s all yours!”

Anton toggled the mystery weapon, targeted a drilling site on the asteroid, then fired.

A light flashed from the turret and streaked towards the asteroid. Upon impact, a geyser of molten material and debris erupted from the site.

Anton’s shoulders drooped, “Hmm, that was kinda boring.”

Becky shrugged, “Well, lasers are invisible unless there’s something like smoke or dust in the way and we could still see it…”

Anton nodded, “So it’s a particle beam?”

Becky shrugged again, “Maybe? A particle beam shoots high velocity particles, so I guess they could glow.”

Ryan pointed Sucker back towards the asteroid, “I’m gonna get a closer look at the target. I don’t really care what it is as long as it kills things.”

Anton glanced between Luna’s and Sucker’s feeds, “Right!”

Sucker stopped less than a meter away from the impact site, “Hmm, it looks like it hit dead on, so that means it’s accurate.”

Anton pointed to a hole in the rock, “I think that’s where I shot. Hole ain’t big, though.”

Ryan moved so he could get a better look down the hole, “According to Sucker’s sensor the hole is eight and a half meters deep.”

Anton whistled, “That’s pretty good.”

Chie spoke, “So, this weapon is a surgical strike weapon?”

Anton grinned, “Oh! So it’s not good for massive damage, but if ya can hit their reactor or engines, you can take them out easier.”

Mayu seemed to remember something, “I am thinking we have guns like this.”

Anton’s eyes went wide, “Ah! I totally forgot about the guns! I bet the long sniper rifle looking one does the same thing!”

Mayu ran from the mess hall, “I will get one!”

Becky raised her hand to stop Mayu, but wasn’t fast enough.

Ryan chuckled, “She’s got one of each type of gun in her room. She’s been wanting to test them for a while, but she says she needs to study.”

Becky sighed, “No one would care if she spent a few minutes testing them.”

Anton nodded enthusiastically, “I’d happily join her.”

Ryan laughed, “Yeah, you’ve got a couple in your room too.”

Chie spoke, “I may have procured one as well…”

Becky shook her head in dismay, “Am I the only one that didn’t take one? I mean, it’s not that far to the weapon lockers.”

Anton grinned, “Because they’re cool!”

Ryan flashed the image of the turret, “Not as cool as having several attached to your body. Even if most of them don’t work.”

Anton shrugged, “I don’t remember seeing any on your vat. Luna’s got a couple though.”

Becky chuckled.

Ryan chuckled with Becky, “Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean.”

Anton’s grin returned, “I’ll trade ya places. I don’t mind being a brain in a jar if I can control stuff with my mind like you can.”

Ryan snorted, “I’ll pass.”

Anton started doing sexy poses, “Come on, this body’s hot. You’re missing out.”

Becky groaned, “Please… just… just stop.”

Anton laughed, “Come on and pose too. You’re pretty hot too. Ryan did a pretty good job on us, even if it lacks some imagination.”

Becky seemed tempted for a moment, then blushed, “I…” She did a quick sexy pose, then straightened back, “Don’t tell Mayu.”

Anton nodded, “I don’t think it’s that big a deal. ‘Sides, that was barely anything.”

Becky cleared her throat, “Um… Mayu should be back soon and we can continue.”

Anton turned back to the targeting hologram, “Hmm, maybe Mayu can shoot next.”

Becky looked at the weapon mode toggles, “I bet the plasma weapons will be the heavy hitters.”

Chie spoke, “Each one contains powerful magnets inside a temperature resistant compound, so I would venture a guess that they increase the range of the plasma weapons. ”

Becky nodded, “That’s what I was thinking, too. The magnet will keep the gas from dispersing.”

Chie mmhmmed.

Anton pointed to a number next to the toggle for that weapon mode, “Got thirty shots.”

Mayu entered the mess hall, “I have the guns!”

Becky and Anton turned to Mayu.

The guns Mayu held resembled miniature versions of the weapons on the turret, one long and slender, the other short and stocky.

Anton pointed to the short weapon, “Plasma,” then to the long one, “particle beam.”

Becky nodded, “That makes sense.”

Mayu placed the weapons on the nearest table, “Maybe we can shoot these after?”

Anton nodded, “Sure! I’ll grab mine too.” She turned to the targeting hologram and gestured at it with her thumb, “Your turn.”

Mayu grinned and hopped to the hologram, “Purasuma… Purasma…”

She pointed at the toggle for the plasma without the magnets.

Ryan switched modes from particle beam to plasma.

Mayu moved the targeting reticule to an untouched part of the asteroid, “Utteh!”

She pointed to the firing button.

Ryan fired the plasma weapon.

The front of the weapon glowed and a bright white-hot ball of plasma discharged from it.

The plasma shot moved much more slowly than the particle beam, and Ryan easily tracked it with Sucker’s sensor as it moved towards the asteroid.

By the time the plasma hit the asteroid, it had more than tripled in size and lost some of its heat.

Despite this, the plasma melted through the asteroid material, the impact site increasing in width, though becoming more shallow as the plasma spread outwards.

Chie spoke, “As expected. Not much penetrative power, but it spreads the damage over a wider area.”

Anton nodded, “But if ya can hit the same area more than once, it should make short work of whatever you’re shootin’ at.”

Ryan brought up an image of the hull breach they used as a quick exit, “Like this?”

Anton turned and nodded, “Yeah, like that.” She thought for a moment, “Now that I think about it, some of the holes in Luna coulda been made by a particle beam hit.”

Becky’s eyes went wide in understanding, “Now that you mention it...”

Anton turned back to the targeting hologram and pushed the toggle for plasma with magnets, “I wonder…”

Becky seemed to want to shoot next, but stepped back.

Anton targeted another untouched area of the asteroid and pointed at the fire toggle.

The turret loaded a magnetic bullet, then glowed and released a plasma shot.

This time the plasma didn’t expand and stayed roughly the same size the entire way to the asteroid.

When it hit, the plasma spread less initially, but eventually spilled from the impact site.

Ryan moved Sucker to the still cooling crater, “Hmm, looks deeper, and the cracks are bigger.”

Chie spoke, “Interesting. It appears that the magnet penetrated the asteroid surface, which allowed the plasma to penetrate more deeply before dispersing.”

Becky nodded, “I imagine the magnet helps pull the plasma deeper too.”

Anton turned back to the weapon toggles, “Looks like ya only want ta use the normal plasma if ya run outta bullets.”

Chie nodded curtly, “Indeed.”

Becky turned away from the holograms, “So… what next?”

Chie moved away from the door, “We should test the range of the weapons, though I imagine plasma will only be useful at close range, regardless.”

Anton chewed on her lip, then sighed, “Yeah, you’re right. Wouldn’t be hard to dodge if you have time to see it coming.”

Becky pointed at the particle beam toggle, “So we just test the particle beam for now?”

Anton nodded, “Might as well.”

Chie looked up, “Ryan, can you move us thirty light seconds away from the asteroid?”

Ryan did, “Okay. Turret is still good to go.”

Anton blinked at the targeting image, “Wow, uhh. I can barely see the asteroid from here, can you zoom in a little?”

Ryan did, “Done.”

Anton aimed at another untouched part of the asteroid and fired.

Thirty seconds later, Sucker’s sensor showed an impact. It was less dramatic than the first, but still did noticeable damage.

Becky thought for a second, “I think I know some math to check the range if you give me the data for the two tests.”

Chie turned to Becky, “I was thinking the same, though perhaps some more tests would be beneficial just in case.”

***

Two tests, one light minute and another at fifteen light seconds later…

Chie spoke, “That should be good for now.”

Mayu turned to look at the weapons on the table, “Can we shoot them now?”

Anton grinned, her enthusiasm returning to her, “Let me get mine!”

Anton ran from the mess hall.

Mayu grabbed her guns and followed Anton.

Becky crossed her arms and shook her head, “Anton, I expect, but Mayu too?”

Ryan laughed, “I find it refreshing seeing Mayu this excited.”

Becky smiled, “Yeah, I just wish it was something more… safe.”

Ryan turned off the holograms for the weapons testing, “Yeah, maybe our doctor playing with weapons isn’t the smartest thing.”

Chie’s gaze lingered on the mess hall’s door, “I imagine they will be fine.” She turned her gaze to Becky, “Regardless, I think it is time to consider our next course of action. I think it is time we take initiative regarding the aliens.”

Ryan never forgot it was a matter of time before they had to deal with the aliens. They had no way of knowing how long it would take the message to get to wherever it was going, nor how long it would take the aliens to send a ship or whatever back, if at all.

Becky thought for a long moment, “I think we should continue working on repairs and see what the aliens want.”

Chie replied after only a moment of thought, “I am not sure that is wise. We have no way of knowing their capabilities or how to respond to them. We should take the opportunity to test the new cables for the wormhole, while potentially arriving at the system before the message probe arrives.”

Ryan wasn’t sure, “Shouldn’t we wait until we get more repairs done? I mean, we haven’t even fixed the hull yet and we finally have enough resources to finish repairs.”

Chie took a moment to reply, “Until we know whether the aliens are hostile or not, I still think we should take the initiative.”

Becky shook her head, “Waiting here for them to arrive and going to them might be the difference between them attacking us or not.”

Ryan got an idea, “Why don’t we let Anton build a repair drone before we go? That way we can get repairs done faster while we figure things out with the aliens.”

Becky nodded slowly, “I still think we should wait, but I’m not so against leaving I won’t stop what everyone else wants.”

Chie tapped her chin before speaking, “I think this is an excellent situation to make a decision as a crew.”

Becky nodded, “Sounds good.”

Ryan liked the idea so opened up the comms to Mayu and Anton, “Hey guys, we’re having a vote. Stay in the system and wait for the aliens while we finish repairs or build a repair drone and go see what’s up in the system the message probe went to?”

Anton immediately gave her answer, “Option two! Already got some ideas for a repair drone so it shouldn’t take me long, and… I wanna see some aliens!”

Ryan only spoke to Becky and Chie, “Well, that’s what I expected.”

Becky smiled wryly, “Yeah.”

Mayu lowered her particle beam rifle after shooting a piece of asteroid debris, “I am thinking we see the aliens fast.”

“Thanks. It looks like option two wins.” Ryan said, then cut the connection to them. “Looks like it’s four to one, sorry Becky.”

Becky didn’t look too disappointed, “I expected as much, though I thought Mayu might at least have agreed with me.”

Ryan thought it was possible, “Maybe we should have waited until they got back so we could have discussed it better?”

Becky shook her head, “Nah. I kinda want to see them too, and we can always run away.”

Chie spoke, “Perhaps, but we still don’t know what their actual technology level is at.”

Ryan rechecked the star map, “Their FTL isn’t much better than ours, at least, or they would have been here already. It’s been less than two days since the probe sent the message, so if they get here in the next six hours we know they’ll be as good as Luna.”

Becky nodded, “Or they took some time to send a ship our way or don’t care enough about us to come check.”

Chie spoke, “Perhaps we should get Anton back in to start her work on the drone?”

Ryan opened up a channel to Anton, “Want to come in and start work on the repair drone?”

Anton lowered the plasma cannon she’d used to melt a smiley face into the asteroid, “Sure thing!”

Ryan closed the channel to Anton and opened one to Mayu, “Anton’s heading in to start work on her drone, but you can stay out there if you want.”

Mayu had switched to her plasma cannon when she saw Anton was making a smiley face and started making a face that looked like

へ へ

の の

も

へ

“Okay!”

Becky turned back to her mess of holograms still floating at the table she’d claimed as her work site, “I guess I’ll get back to work on finding the Milky Way.”

Chie turned to the door, “Perhaps I should help with repairs while Anton works on the drone.”

Ryan watched Mayu and the nearby Sucker as they floated near the asteroid, “Hey guys, I have an idea…”