The rumbling of the alarm clock roused me from my blissful sleep as I was forced to sit up and reach for the box that was just too far to comfortably silence, ensuring I was up and awake by the time it was turned off.
Beside me, the red haired Rakel groaned as she buried her face into the pillow before slowly sitting up as well when I poked her side, irritating the engineer just enough that she tried to retaliate, only to hit empty air as I stood up and enjoyed the peaceful 'morning' as much as I could.
The peace... it was what made fighting so worth it at the end; that rush of adrenaline and the overall euphoria I felt out on the field was tempered by the relaxed time spent in my cabin doing menial things that were typical for a civilian.
These simple things like preparing breakfast and showering before heading to 'work' - in my case I was going to be caring for my mech and ensuring everything in my load out was optimized for the battle to come - were refreshing to say the least.
"Why... do you have to be so..."
Yawning, Rakel sat up and stared at me, her bleary eyes and ruffled hair bringing a small smile to my lips as I said nothing, just appreciating the natural beauty of my beneficial friend before making my way into the kitchen and rousing her from bed completely as the sizzling of bacon filled the air with its all too wonderful scent and smells.
"The wonders of technology..."
Shuffling to stand beside me, the engineer watched as I crisped the bacon before setting it aside in the over, keeping it warm so that I could focus on the eggs I just cracked; she hadn't bothered to dress herself, so I was given a nice treat before breakfast too as I looked her over whenever I wanted.
"Y'know, my Mother wanted me to get into the biologies instead of mechanics. Told me it was not only where the money was, but also how needed they were for the fleets. Only reason we still have real food so deep in space without needing to stop on a planet for months on end..."
"It is quite necessary and incredibly lucrative..."
"'Course it is! Imagine a world without real meat, fruits and vegetables, a world where we had to eat those disgusting rations forever with no hope of real flavor in sight... That's what we poured so much time, effort and resources into securing! Sadly for my Mother I wanted to blow things up and help end dangerous lives, not save them."
Rakel just shrugged and leaned against the counter as she added "A good thing too since getting the necessary certifications and all that was pretty damn easy, and now I've slowly managed to accumulate the funds to start tinkering with some big mechs soon. All of that also was highlighted by meeting you~!"
The shorter red head grinned at me as she tossed herself into my arms, hugging me tightly and rubbing her cheek against my chest as she continued to talk, her nickname 'motor mouth' never ceasing to be reaffirmed by her.
"Now I get to work on your mech and all of its war gear, and~ we just so happen to have clicked rather well~? None of my other Einherjar partners are anywhere near as good as you, Hrefna. Save for Aife; she's a joy to work with too, in both ways~!"
I rolled my eyes at that, though considering Rakel decided to put her lips to better use I wasn't too 'hurt' about it, and that continued on for a little while as we enjoyed this time off, before we made the shower a little extra steamy only to eventually find ourselves back out in the hanger, where Rakel was given the tools and gear she needed to furbish my mech for the battle to come.
Sitting on a crate nearby, I read over the deployment notice for a third time while waiting for Rakel to finish reassembling the Aesir Chaingun, taking mental notes of the various numbers our radar had managed to acquire while also looking over the deployment of our sister Ark's descendants.
"Tell me again, what do you prefer for space combat? A heavier payload that hinders momentum greatly but ensures that extra power, or do you want me to balance everything?"
Looking up from the terminal, I pursed my lips and watched as Rakel stood up from beside my Aesir Chaingun, the mech sized weapon making her look even smaller than usual as she kept the side panel hoisted up completely, revealing the intricate components within that she was fine tuning.
"Balanced... Lugging around something heavy isn't a problem in space, but the recoil from those rounds is... distracting. Besides, the reports don't say anything about heavy armor, just numbers. So Blitz rounds are certainly preferable..."
Rakel winced slightly at that before sighing, the red head looking back down at the weapon as she replied "Balanced and expensive ammunition that only becomes scarcer the more chemicals it needs to go off... and you want the premium version meant for space combat. Alright, it's your money, not mine..."
Every battleship tended to have gigantic storage halls within them that held many fascinating and incredible things, and they were owned entirely by either the master of the ship or the government themselves, which meant that if we wanted to use them... we needed to pay for them.
At first it sounds unfair and idiotic, but the things in those halls are extra guarantees that you can make on your own after being supplied with whatever the military provides normally, which in most cases is enough.
I just... want to be extra sure that I can come out of this alive and that I won't make a mistake that costs the Vel Risi Company a lot in either manpower or resources, so opening my rather deep pockets to ensure that is something I am willing to do.
I don't spend my money on much else anyways, so... to me this is worth it and not something that bothers me, but to someone who is constantly in need of more money to fund her research and tinkering, Rakel is different from me there as well.
"Alright, I can get 350 Astral Blitz rounds right away for regular pricing. That's... not too many, but it should be enough so long as you pick your shots right. Remember, with the balanced configuration on the Aesir the velocity given to those bullets is less than normal to prevent you from spinning all over the place, meaning their penetration is going to be subpar.
Manageable still though, and so long as you don't utilize sustained bursts you can easily prevent excess movement, something I know you're familiar with by now. Is that what you want, Hrefna? Any changes need to be made now; taking this apart again is going to take far too long to change unless you want me to skip some steps with the mech itself."
Looking at Rakel, I remained silent for a few seconds before giving her the nod, memories of prior combat engagements in space filling my mind as I made my decision before returning to my studying as I waited for more questions from Rakel.