The Driftknight's cargo airlock thrummed with quiet purpose.

Stacks of rune-etched panels floated in orderly formation, each one laced with the circuitry Akiko and Tanya had spent weeks fine-tuning. Delicate wiring trailed between them like strands of spider silk, coiled and ready to thread into the ship's systems once the hull work was complete.

Akiko adjusted her grip on her toolkit, glancing sideways at Tanya. The engineer's suit was boxy, utilitarian. Nothing like the sleek, adaptive weave Akiko wore. But Tanya moved with practiced ease, her hands steady as she secured clamps and checked each panel for microfractures.

Akiko caught a flicker of envy in her eyes as she tightened the seals on her own suit. Just a flash, quickly buried.

She smirked. "If this works, maybe I'll fabricate you something custom. Something that doesn't move like a box of bricks."

Tanya didn't look up. "I'll believe it when I'm wearing it, Kitsune."

The ship's engines had been dormant for hours. In the silence, weightlessness took over. Every movement slow, deliberate, quiet.

Tanya pushed off first. Her tether snapped taut as she drifted toward the outer hull, gliding with the easy confidence of someone who'd done this a hundred times. Akiko followed, a cluster of panels floating behind her, magnet-clamped into neat formation.

"Step one," Tanya said over comms, her voice crisp and professional. "Replace the hull plating around the drive cone. Step two: wiring. Step three: pray we don't blow ourselves up."

Akiko snorted. "An airtight plan."

Her tail flicked absently behind her, reflexive even in vacuum. If something went wrong, if she drifted, she could still use foxfire to correct course. Tanya, by contrast, moved with nothing but tethers and grit.

The drive cone loomed ahead, its surface dull with age, stripped down to bare alloy.

Tanya reached it first, locking herself to the hull with a practiced snap of her tether ring. She turned, eyes scanning Akiko's progress.

"Let's get to work," she said.

Akiko nodded and maneuvered the first panel into place. The runes shimmered faintly under the ship's floodlights, whispering of mana layered in thin arcs of power beneath the surface.

Subskill Acquisition (Magitech Integration): Physical Interface Deployment – 15.8% milestone achieved.

"Here goes nothing," she muttered.

Tanya anchored beside her, power tool in hand. She secured the panel with sharp, precise bursts.

"'Nothing' isn't on the table," she said, tone dry. "We're past the point of clean exits."

One panel after another, they worked. Slow, methodical, relentless. The clicks of bolts and the hiss of sealants filled the comms like metronome beats. Each piece had to align perfectly. Even a hair off would fracture the circuit under pressure.

They paused only when half the panels were mounted. The shimmer of activated runes ran like a pulse across the curve of the cone. Akiko flexed her fingers, aching from constant micro-corrections, and drew a deep, measured breath. The ambient drain on her mana was steady now, the hum of magical resonance low but persistent.

"How's it holding?" Tanya asked, adjusting her tether with one gloved hand.

"Stable," Akiko replied. Then, more honestly: "For now."

Tanya gave a quiet grunt. "Let's hope it doesn't turn us into exhaust when we fire it up."

Akiko laughed once. Her lips twisted into a grin. It wasn't if anymore. Now it was when.

They exchanged a glance across the arc of the ship. Mutual weariness, tempered by shared purpose. No illusions. No backup plan.

Just this.

Tanya tapped the next panel with her boot. "Come on. We've got a long day ahead."

Akiko pushed forward, hands already reaching for the next anchor point. "Wouldn't want to disappoint."

The bridge of the Driftknight buzzed with quiet tension.

Akiko slumped into the auxiliary acceleration couch, every limb lead-heavy. Her mana reserves were running on fumes after the final charge cycle, hours spent funneling foxfire into the new panels until they glowed with latent energy.

Tanya drifted into the seat beside her, strapping in with sharp, practiced movements. "You look like hell," she said, smirking without much force.

Akiko rubbed her eyes. "I feel like it. Let's hope this doesn't turn into fireworks."

Kara stood near the command console, hands braced on the back of Quinn's chair. Her expression was unreadable, but her stance was tense. Focused.

She tapped the ship-wide comm. "All hands, strap in. We're about to light her up for a test burn."

Akiko winced. "Let's not make that phrase literal."

Kara's mouth twitched, but her gaze was already shifting to Quinn. "You're up."

At the helm, Quinn's usual lazy charm was replaced by quiet focus. His fingers danced over the controls, flipping switches with fluid certainty. The ship rumbled beneath them, the vibrations rising through the deck like a held breath.

Akiko's pulse quickened.

One switch left.

She clenched her fists. Her tail wrapped tight around one leg.

Here goes nothing.

Quinn flipped the final switch.

An external camera showed the Driftknight's drive cone. The runes etched into the cone flared to life, swallowing foxfire and channeling it into the heart of the propulsion system. Magic surged through the Driftknight's frame, and the ship moved.

The acceleration hit like a punch.

Akiko slammed back into her seat, breath wrenched from her lungs as g-forces crushed down on her. Her vision darkened at the edges, the corners of the world folding in like paper.

Tanya let out a sharp gasp beside her, fingers white-knuckled around her restraints.

"Quinn!" Kara barked, voice cutting through the pressure. "Ease up!"

Quinn reacted instantly. His hand strained to the throttle, dialing back the mana circuit. The ship groaned, then eased, just enough to breathe.

Akiko dragged in a shaky breath, heart hammering. Her ribs ached, but the fire had dimmed. They were still alive.

"Well," Quinn said, voice tight with adrenaline, "that was... intense."

He turned, a crooked grin flickering to life. "But no explosions, so I'm calling it a win."

Tanya groaned and peeled her straps off. "Next time, someone remind me to skip breakfast."

Kara exhaled, arms folding across her chest. "Good work. We've got more thrust than this ship's ever seen, and a system that didn't tear itself apart. That's a success in my book."

Akiko gave a breathless laugh, the exhaustion beginning to weigh again. "We still need to tune it," she said. "The draw rate's higher than I expected. If I'd pushed a second longer—"

"You didn't," Kara interrupted. Her voice was calm, firm. "We'll adjust. For now, rest. You've earned it."

As the crew unstrapped and floated from their seats, Akiko stayed still.

Her body screamed for sleep. Her magic felt hollowed out.

But inside her chest, something fluttered light and bright.

We did it, she thought. It worked.

She let herself smile as faint wisps of foxfire drifted past the viewport. Residual bleed from the magitech drive, like starlight stirred awake for the first time in centuries.

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The Driftknight's bridge still thrummed from the aftershocks of the test burn.

Akiko slouched in her acceleration couch, limbs aching, mana drained, but a ghost of a smile tugged at her lips. The raw, surging thrust was still etched into her bones. For all the cost, it had worked.

Quinn stretched, grinning at the helm. "Now that's a drive. I think we could outrun half the system with this thing."

Kara stood by the command console, arms crossed. "Don't get cocky. Let's see how she holds under real pressure."

The bridge hummed with quiet pride, until the comms snapped alive.

A voice, cold and clipped, crackled over the system. "Outer colonies vessel Driftknight, this is the TSDF Resolute. Power down your engines immediately and prepare for inspection. Failure to comply will be considered an act of aggression."

The air seemed to freeze. Akiko's ears twitched. Her smile vanished.

Quinn's voice dropped. "Well. That's not good."

Kara was already moving, her tone flat and professional. "Resolute, this is Captain Kara Ellan of the Driftknight. Acknowledged. Engines powering down. Request clarification on the nature of the inspection."

A pause. Then: "You are suspected of engaging in unauthorized experiments with volatile technology. Prepare for docking."

Akiko's heart stuttered. Her gaze snapped to Kara, whose jaw had tightened into iron.

"Quinn," Kara said, turning fast, "power down main engines. Keep auxiliaries warm. Tanya, cargo bay. Make it neat. Make it boring."

Akiko stood, already moving. "And me? They'll scan the ship. If they see—"

"Exactly," Kara said, voice cutting. "They can't see you."

Akiko's mind spun. Her suit was sleek, foreign. Her augment glowed like a beacon. Her kitsune features could be hidden, but nothing else could be explained.

Even if she removed everything, went back to square one, her face, even her human face, was known to Haven. It wouldn't work.

"What if I EVA?" she said quickly. "Get clear. Hide until they leave."

Kara frowned. "Thermal readings. They'll catch you in a second."

That was a problem. "Options," she whispered, directed inward to Takuto.

"Query acknowledged. Simulating thermal load redirection through internal capacitor matrix…"

Takuto projected a rough schematic into the corner of her HUD.

Rerouted heat channels. Ambient dissipation laced with low-yield mana cycling.

Messy. Risky. But possible.

"I might be able to suppress the heat signature. Not for long. But long enough."

Kara studied her. Then, with a slow nod: "Do it. But it won't be enough. If they finish the inspection and stick around—"

"I'll give them a reason to leave," Akiko said, eyes sharp. "Damage something. Light. Controlled. Something that sends them limping home."

Tanya looked up sharply. "You're talking about sabotaging a TSDF cruiser."

"I can do it," Akiko said, without flinching.

Kara's eyes narrowed. The weight of the moment stretched taut between them.

Finally, she nodded. "Alright. But if you get caught, this ship goes down with you. Get in, do the job, and get back clean."

Akiko nodded once. "I'll make it work."

She made her way to the airlock, heart pounding in her ears.

Every step felt heavier than it should have, each one dragging the weight of exhaustion and risk. At the door, she paused. Inhaled. Exhaled.

Takuto's voice whispered in her ear:

"Thermal suppression mode ready. Estimated safe operation window: fifteen minutes."

Akiko muttered, "Fifteen. Let's make it count."

The airlock hissed. The chamber sealed. Atmosphere bled away with a soft rush.

Then silence.

The outer hatch opened. Space yawned beyond.

She stepped out into the void, tether wrapped tight in her grip. No foxfire to reel her back in this time. It needed to be quiet.

The Driftknight loomed behind her, its hull vast and familiar. She clipped onto a mounting point near the stern, putting the bulk of the ship between herself and the Resolute.

Stars glittered around her. Cold. Watching.

The pulse of her augment dimmed beneath the thermal shroud. Her body heat cooled, her pulse slowed. A soft stirring at the back of her neck threaded down her spine into her body. Takuto had dampened her metabolism to give her thermal leeway before the burn. Her breathing followed, quiet and shallow.

With a practiced push, Akiko drifted into position, settling into the shadowed recess of the Driftknight's hull. Her suit's adaptive coating shimmered, darkening until she was little more than a silhouette. One more patch of mismatched plating against the void.

"Thermal shroud inactive," Takuto reminded her, voice low.

Akiko gave a slight nod. Every second counted. Best to hold until the opportune moment arrived.

The Resolute appeared as a distant speck. Sharp-edged, slow, predatory. Its maneuvering thrusters fired in tight bursts, aligning it with chilling precision. Light from Eridani's distant star caught its hull, making it gleam like a blade in the dark.

Akiko flexed her fingers, slow and deliberate. The cold had settled in her bones, but it wasn't fear. Not exactly. Just anticipation. Focus.

"Estimated time to docking: two minutes."

Her tail twitched once. Reflex, controlled.

The Resolute slid closer, thrusters firing again. She could see the docking clamps now, extending from its flank. Blue light flickered across its stabilizers as it began final alignment.

When the ship's shadow passed over her, blotting out the stars, she felt it in her chest.

Akiko whispered the command.

The thermal shroud activated.

Heat stopped bleeding from her suit, locking warmth inside. Her breath hitched as the internal temperature began to rise.

"Thermal shroud active. Core temperature stable, but rising."

"Good," she murmured, wrapping gloved fingers around the tether. She waited as the Resolute clamped into place. The faint mechanical clunk reverberated through the hull.

Now came the hard part.

Akiko moved, slow and silent, hand over hand across the Driftknight's hull. Her gloves clung to the cold metal, each pull deliberate. The mismatched salvaged panels gave her cover. Patchy, dark, and blessedly uneven.

Just another piece of junk, she told herself.

Not like Tanya, who'd climbed these hulls with grace. Akiko was all control and calculation. No wasted motion. No sudden bursts.

Just steady breath and forward motion.

"Core temperature rising. Shroud efficiency at 89%."

She grit her teeth and kept moving. Every second stretched thinner, hotter. The insulated suit grew stifling, but she pushed it from her mind.

At the edge of the Driftknight's hull, she paused. Tether anchored, knees tucked.

The Resolute loomed below. Sleek. Angular. Alive.

Its thrusters pulsed rhythmically, casting faint waves of blue across its armor. Akiko's HUD flared with data as Takuto outlined the drive cluster. Coolant lines, fuel conduits, structural weak points.

She exhaled slowly. Her breath fogged around the interior of her oxygen veil.

Just get in. Hit the target. Get out.

With a gentle push, she crossed the void.

She curled instinctively, minimizing her profile as she drifted between ships. The Resolute's hull expanded in her view, surface details sharpening.

No markings, no lights, just hard angles and quiet menace.

She caught a handhold and pulled herself in tight, tucking behind a thick panel near the engine assembly. Her HUD pinged again. Pathways of coolant and fuel lit up faintly across her view.

Akiko stilled. Sweat traced a slow path down her spine.

She could feel her mana burning beneath the augment, straining against the shroud. Foxfire hummed at her fingertips, just shy of activation.

She could already see how it would go.

A single pulse. Disruption, not destruction. Let the circuits flare, blow a few relays. Send the Resolute limping home with a stern warning.

Minimal damage. Maximum message.

Her fingers twitched. And her tail, even now, coiled tight beneath her cloak of heat and silence.

"Just one shot," she whispered. "Make it count."

Then she reached for the spark.

Akiko exhaled slowly, her gloved hand hovering near the exposed fuel line. Mana pulsed at her fingertips, coiling into the shape of claws. Pale, shimmering arcs of foxfire barely visible against the void.

She braced against the hull, breath steady, eyes locked on the pressurized pipe. The metal caught a glint of light from a nearby running lamp. Thin, precise, and absolutely vital.

She reached forward. The claws met the pipe with a soft hiss, and parted it like silk.

A shiver ran through the hull as pressure gave way.

Shimmering globules of fuel burst into the vacuum. Liquid stars drifting in slow, chaotic arcs.

Akiko twisted aside, curling her body in one fluid motion to avoid the scatter. The droplets floated past her, some clinging to the torn edge of the pipe, others tumbling into open space.

The Resolute's running lights flickered. Systems stuttered beneath her, the smooth hum of energy now broken by uneven pulses and sharp, mechanical whines that echoed through the hull beneath her.

Takuto's voice chimed calmly.

"External systems destabilized. Estimated time to detection: 90 seconds."

Akiko pressed a hand to the hull, her vision swimming. The heat was brutal now. Sweat trickled down her spine. Her breath came fast, shallow, forced.

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, her voice hoarse. "I'm moving."

She pushed off, muscles sluggish, suit heavy with retained heat. Each pull on the tether felt harder. Her arms trembled. Her mana reserves burned low, frayed at the edges after the earlier test burn and the sabotage's cost.

"Core temperature critical," Takuto warned.

"I noticed," she gritted out.

The Driftknight's hull rose to meet her. Ugly, familiar, perfect. Mismatched plating never looked so welcoming. She dragged herself toward it, hand over hand, every motion precise but labored.

Behind her, the Resolute's flickering lights shrank into distance and shadow below the curve of the familiar landscape.

She hit the airlock. Slammed her palm against the panel.

The door cycled open.

Cool air spilled into her suit as the shroud disengaged with a hiss. She staggered inside and dropped to her knees, letting the pressurization hum wrap around her like a lullaby.

Cold kissed her flushed skin. The sweat chilled instantly.

Takuto spoke again, almost smug.

"Damage to Resolute's propulsion confirmed. Emergency protocols initiated. Estimated time to disengagement: four minutes."

Akiko leaned against the wall, eyes closed.

A ragged smile tugged at her lips. "Good," she whispered. "That's all we needed."

The airlock cycle finished.

Akiko forced herself upright, legs unsteady beneath her. Small tremors flickered through her limbs as her body recalibrated, blood rushing back to her extremities, her suppressed systems stuttering back to normal. She had maybe minutes before someone asked questions or the Resolute changed its mind.

But for now? She'd made it.

She floated just beyond the airlock, her body slack against the bulkhead.

Time blurred. Her limbs felt distant. Every breath dragged, shallow and uneven, under the weight of mana exhaustion.

The ship hummed around her. Soft thuds and low murmurs echoed from deeper in the Driftknight. Raya, Tanya, and the others moving to secure the ship. But Akiko didn't move. She couldn't.

She let herself drift, vision unfocused, the faint presence of Takuto pulsing like a distant heartbeat.

Then, a metallic clunk reverberated through the hull. The Resolute had disengaged.

The vibration rippled through the plating beneath her fingers, followed by silence, cool and complete. They were gone.

A voice broke the stillness. "Akiko."

She blinked, ears twitching as Raya came into view. The medic floated gently beside her, a sealed container in one hand. Her expression was calm, but concern lingered in her eyes.

"Here," Raya murmured, pressing the water to Akiko's lips. "You're dehydrated. Small sips."

Akiko obeyed, throat dry and aching. The water was blessedly cold. Her hands trembled as she took the container, but Raya steadied her without comment. Each sip was slow, deliberate.

Her voice came out hoarse. "They're gone?"

Raya nodded. "They pulled away once the drive failure registered. No questions. No alarms."

Akiko let out a rasp of laughter. Half-wheeze, half-relief. "Didn't even suspect?"

"Nope." Raya gave her a small smile. "They bought it."

Akiko sagged further against the wall. "That's... that's good."

Raya studied her, eyes narrowing slightly at the sweat beading on Akiko's brow, the slack line of her shoulders. "You pulled it off," she said softly. "But you're crashing hard."

"Sounds about right," Akiko muttered, a ghost of a smirk curling her lips.

Raya shook her head, but there was no judgment in it. Just quiet admiration.

She slipped an arm under Akiko's and guided her into a more stable position. Akiko leaned into it without protest.

"You're tougher than you look," Raya said. "I'll give you that."

Akiko's smirk widened faintly. "Don't tell Kara. I like keeping her on edge."

Raya chuckled, warm and brief. "Your secret's safe with me."

Together, they drifted down the corridor toward crew quarters. The hum of the ship felt softer now. Quieter.

Akiko let her weight rest against Raya's side, her body finally relaxing.

They were clear. The Resolute was gone. And for now they'd made it.

That was enough.

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