On our way to Ceres, we were chatting (mostly) peacefully on Lodos' bridge.
"...and how are you two so confident that your Rear Admiral Tachibana will make it to Ceres safely?" Nuan asked. "He was fighting another ship when he told us to run. What makes you think he will get out of it alive?"
"The gunship was alone. No single gunship can take on a fleet carrier." Mei said.
"Tachibana's experience can ten-fold that of his enemy." I added.
"Watch it." Mei said to me.
"What did I do again?" I asked in frustration.
"You don't have to force the propellant pipes, just use 90% flow." Mei was hiding her anger towards me. Through the whole journey to Ceres (lasting a couple of days), she has been criticizing the way I was flying 'her' ship, and trying to instruct me on how to fly. And now, we were about to enter Ceres' gravitational sphere of influence and get into orbit; so it was the perfect time to fight over it again.
"Look, I am still within the optimal range!" I argued. "Stop behaving like I'm scratching your car."
"I'm only trying to help you." Mei calmly said. "Listen, if you fly like this every time, we will need maintenance very often."
"Listen to the girl, moron!" Nuan was not nearly as calm as Mei, and since we weren't on an official mission, she could insult me as much as she wanted. "She is the expert on spaceflight, not someone like you who used to sit back and watch a computer screen all day with potato fries in his hand!" She was shouting from a corner of the bridge.
"What are you telling her, Mei!?" I asked. She blushed.
"I might have gotten a bit too much into storytelling last night."
Mei and Nuan were sharing the same crew quarters on the ship. Two ladies, one of them an admiral, and the other one a foreign affairs minister; their gossip would compete with the best news agencies.
"Not a very good storyteller, I see." I said. "And what the hell is with the potato fries, we don't eat stuff on the bridge!"
"I was simply trying to spice up the story a little." Mei said.
"And Nuan, did you really believe her?" I asked.
"It sounded just like you, so..."
"Oh my god, you people..." I sighed.
"Watch it, you are going to overheat!" Mei warned me again. "The radiators can only transfer so much heat at such a short time!"
"Fine, fine." I said. "I'm throttling the engines down."
"Let the girl fly, you idiot!" Nuan yelled again. This time, I just ignored her.
"Uhm..." this was Frans' voice. He was peeking in from the port-side door of the bridge. "Does anyone know how to operate the water processor?"
"Why would you need the water processor?" Nuan asked.
"Nuan, go show him." I said.
"Why do I have to-"
"Nuan, please." Mei said.
"Alright, fine; but just because Mei said please." said Nuan. "Walk away mister ex-governor, what are you waiting for?"
I was a bit relieved when Nuan finally left the bridge.
"Was she always like that?" Mei whispered in my ear.
"Yes." I quietly answered and nodded. "She has been like that since I met her back when-"
"Eyes on the road, pilot; why are you turning away from the retrograde direction?!" she suddenly yelled at me as if she was my flight instructor. "Anyway... I think we should rendezvous with the navy supply base and refuel."
"Mei, please let ME make these kind of decisi-"
"YOU ARE OVERHEATING THE PROPULSION SYSTEM!" she said, took the helmet from my head and (quite literally) kicked me away from the command chair. She sat down herself, and started flying her own way.
"Argh!" I moaned. "Don't be so harsh."
"Any other CO would have such a pilot removed from his ship." she said.
I got back up from the floor.
"Fine, have 'your' ship and contact the station, then. Inform them of our arrival, tell them that we need refuel and rearm." I said.
"Rearm?"
"Yes." I said. "It is apparent that we need weapons."
"Okay, but that-"
"Actually, just leave the talking part to me." I said.
"Okay, alright, okay." she said. "Channel almost open... There!"
"Republic ship?" the voice from the other end of the channel said in shock. "Thank god, the Republic Navy is here! Lodos II, this is Kirnis Base, good to hear from you."
Kirnis Base was not an orbital station, it was a surface shipyard located in a fairly large crater on Ceres. Surface shipyards could work much more efficiently compared to their orbital counterparts, but required sophisticated techniques for landing large/heavy ships. But luckily for us, XS Lodos II, unlike her predecessor, could fly in low pressure atmospheric mediums and land on low gravity celestial bodies, thanks to her lighter (yet still somewhat strong) hull and better thrusters.
"Kirnis Base, this is Lodos II. I am the President of the Republic of Mars. Please prepare a docking pad for us; we will need refueling and rearmament." I said.
"Mr. President?" the voice was even more shocked. "Of course, sir, docking pad 1A is ready for your arrival."
"Why are you so surprised a Republic Navy ship came to visit you?" I asked. "You are operating a military shipyard after all, who else would you expect?"
"It is not that, sir." he said. "For some reason, our communications with Mars has been cut a few days ago. The problem, however, doesn't seem to be on our end, so we were worried. Do you have any idea what could've caused this?"
"We are investigating exactly this same thing." I said. "How is the situation on the ground?"
"Mining operations continue just fine, but military personnel are... you know, worried like us." he said.
"I understand." I said. "Also, a fleet carrier is on it's way. Please inform the orbital shipyards, so they reserve a docking port for them. They will most likely need some repairs."
"Aye, sir. Have a good flight down to the surface." the traffic controller said.
Mei adjusted the ship's trajectory for a shallow descent to the surface.
"Buckle up, we are landing in half an hour... or something."