“Self-defense you say? HAH! Of our annual net revenue, at least 40% is spent on defense in one form or another. Anything from having to invest into cyber security in order to avoid patent theft, buying battlecruisers in order to protect our shipping lines or installing planetary defense level armaments in order to protect our facilities, we spend so much on defense, we might as well be called a private military company at this point. Want to know what our company actually does? We produce and ship food, but after moving this close to the frontier, I no longer recognize my own company.” - Interview with the CEO of Universal Genetics, Greg Pentecost

  “Time for the real deal,” Ronin said, then cracked his knuckles.

  This was his 3rd day working the 3-D printer and assembler. Having chosen his first spaceship to be one of the smaller shuttle models out there — a Hemsway-D8, it shouldn't take long to build. Being just under 3-meters long and 2 meters wide, the ship had just enough space for two people.

  Was it an old model? Yeah. Was it marketable? Most definitely not. But it was a good ship to practice with.

  Whilst attempting to ignore his headache, Ronin had first spent half a day figuring out how to print the components, then double that checking each and every one that came out with the multiscanner.

  Now, the only thing left was to put it all together.

  Fortunately, I don't have to use the alloy compressor this time, Ronin sighed in relief. For his first attempt at ship construction, this was already complicated enough.

  He linked up the Uninet to the assembler control panel, then moved his hands over to two of the levers beside him.

  Next, bots began to whirl about as they moved around tech and the assembly arms began to pick up the metal frames stacked off to the side. Smaller arms then moved in as they started welding the frames together. Slowly but surely, an outline of the ship began to materialize…

  As time passed, the ship’s internal framework was completed, and Ronin moved on to the thruster. He wiped some sweat off his forehead, then looked down at the several organized and stored components.

  The anti-gravity module would provide levitation, but it could not provide speed. That's where the thruster came in.

  He moved his hands onto two new levers, then began to weld together the parts that were too large to print. The conical thruster slowly took shape and when it was finished, Ronin fitted it onto the framework. He next connected a few pipes and cables to it.

  Hmm, should I put together the engine now? Ronin wondered.

  There were wires, cables and electronics all over the assembly area. He didn’t quite know where to go from here.

  Screw it, let’s just put together all the basic parts first.

  Ronin started by completing the parts that comprised the outer hull, adding in all the sockets needed for the electronics, gears and hydraulics. He then installed the oxygen converter, the anti-gravity module and the heating components.

  As he went on, he repeatedly walked over to the shuttle to adjust certain things himself. Assembling the shuttle couldn't be purely done by the factory assembler, and specific welds had to be done by hand. He had to do some of the wiring himself as well as it required specialized tools not installed on the assembler.

  Ronin further noticed that he could tune the ship. He could increase its fuel efficiency, but its maximum speed would in turn be reduced. He could enhance the ship’s steering sensitivity, but that would also reduce its robustness factor. Every change had a tradeoff.

  This was all, of course, way out of his comfort zone at the moment. Right now, he was struggling just putting the thing together, forget about optimizing it! But as he learned more though, he did notice the different design solutions that had gone into making this thing.

  Much like when he grappled opponents in Glory in the Arena, there was a rhythm to the design. The materials picked, the workarounds chosen, the positioning of the wires and so on. Every decision made when designing this ship, gave the final design a distinct character.

  Ronin brought up the blueprint on a holoscreen.

  It feels like the people who made this ship wanted safety, but why did they then choose such a powerful fusion reactor only to tune it down after installing it? It's almost as if this ship is a combination of two different visions.

  Could it be that this ship had two different lead designers when it was made? There might be some room for him to play around with if he looked further into this...

  Forget it, Ronin thought, then shook his head. He suppressed a yawn, then looked tiredly towards the halfway constructed engine. He checked the time: 35 hours? He’d been at this almost all day, and he was starting to get a little dizzy.

  “I’ll finish it later,” he mumbled, then made his way over towards the bed.

  Right beside the VR-chamber, the bed looked awfully out of place in the factory, but to Ronin — it was perfect. He'd also begun setting up an exercise rack, but between all of the work on his plate, he hadn't found the time to finish it yet.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “I'll do it all later, but not today,” he sluggishly got out, then collapsed onto the soft mattress, drifting off to sleep...

  “...”

  WHOOP, WHOOP

  WHOOP, WHOOP

  A loud alarm boomed across the complex and Ronin abruptly opened his eyes. He shot up to his feet then began walking. He had to get out of his cell.

  Wait, he thought, then looked around the factory. This is not Exodon.

  Realizing his blunder, he quickly searched for a security guard in an attempt to figure out what was going on. With bright white light now blasting every inch of the building, it did not take long.

  “Hey you! What happened?” He shouted, waving a hand at the first guy he saw.

  The guard, clad in almost pure black, was distinctly visible under the bright light. “We are still not sure,” the guard said. “We’ll have to wait for an update from chief Nimitri.”

  Ronin immediately headed for the Heromaker suit, then stepped into it. If this was an attack and they broke into the factory, he needed to be ready…

  As the seconds ticked by, Ronin positioned himself next to the main gate, waiting. In between the booming alarm, the sounds of turrets firing rang out and a boom signaled a bomb going off. Ronin readied himself. The moment someone who was not supposed to be here walked in, he would attack. But who would make a move on his factory at a time like this? This place had turrets capable of downing military grade ships!

  At some point, the alarm stopped, and he heard footsteps. A ping from his Uninet next informed him of an incoming message:

  [Guard captain Nimitri — The threat has been neutralized.]

  Ronin’s shoulders sagged as he felt tension leave him. It was over.

  The gate then opened up and a series of black clothed men walked through. The large burly man in the lead was Nimitri, distinguished by the two silver stars covering the chest area along his suit.

  “I see you’ve prepared yourself. Good,” the guard captain said.

  The burly man had short, blond hair and besides the stars, had a suit similar to the rest of the guards.

  Ronin popped open the faceguard of the Heromaker. “What happened?”

  “Someone attempted to break into the factory,” the grizzled man said. “At this point, we’ve counted about 16 intruders.”

  “Any clue as to what their motive is?” Ronin asked.

  The guard captain flashed a smile. “Why don’t you ask them yourself?”

  Behind Nimitri, a couple of security guards dragged along a woman. The woman's head drooped towards the ground and her body hung limply in between the two men. Likely, she was unconscious. Nimitri walked over towards the limp body, then brought out a small container which he opened beneath the woman’s nose.

  With a quick jolt, she awoke, her eyes wide in terror.

  “Smelling salts,” Nimitri commented as he closed the container again.

  “Where’s my men!?” The woman screamed. “What have you done to them?”

  Nimitri looked at Ronin then made a gesture where he dragged a finger across his neck.

  So, she’s the only one of them left, huh?

  Ronin walked up to the disheveled figure, staring down at her as he spoke in a harsh voice: “Everyone’s dead. Now tell me, do you want to end up like your friends, or do you wish to live?”

  The woman's look of terror increased. “Dead? Oh no, Ablo... My Hans…“ She began shaking her head back and forth.

  “You attacked my factory,” Ronin said. “I’m in my full right to put you down, but I could also hand you over to the planetary guard right now. You have a real shot at life here, so tell me… Why did you attack?”

  The woman glared up at Ronin and something seemed to change in her.

  “It's you! We came here for you, you bastard! You’re worth 3 million credits, and it's only a matter of time before someone claims it!”

  Ronin frowned. 3 million? That’s three times the amount it was before… It seems Specter isn’t done with me yet.

  The woman looked to the factory guards. “We can split the bounty, you know. He’s right here. It only takes a single shot! Even better, you can take all of the credits for yourselves. 3 million is enough to live well for a lifetime.”

  Ronin’s heart skipped a beat. Was she trying to turn his own security guards against him?

  “Hahaha,” Nimitri laughed. “Our previous employers had a bounty of 10 million. Listen lady, in this business, you don’t live long when you start taking bounties.” He then glanced at Ronin. “What do you want to do with her?”

  He probably said that more for my sake than for the woman’s. Either way, it doesn’t seem like my guards will betray me for 3 million. As for this girl though…

  Ronin raised a metal hand to his chin, then thought it over. She had done what he asked, but she’d just tried to entice his guards against him. He thought back on the fat belching woman back in district 101. He should probably kill this girl — it’s what his instincts told him to do. But then again, those instincts weren’t entirely his anymore now were they…

  “Give her to the planetary guard,” he finally said.

  Nimitri made a curt nod, then ordered the woman to be moved out of the building.

  “Take it from someone who’s seen a lot of this, but if you can, you should get rid of that bounty on your head,” the guard captain said.

  “Yeah,” Ronin agreed. “And thank you for stopping them this time.”

  “I was only doing my job,” chuckled Nimitri.

  “Well, thanks anyways,” Ronin said. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll need some time to rest.”

  He waved the captain goodbye, then headed over towards his bed. Exiting his suit, he plopped down on the mattress. There was no way he’d be able to get any sleep now. Hopefully, Nagata would find something on Argus soon. If Ronin was going to use Argus to catch Specter though, he might have to use stealth. The Potentia Panorama could help with this, but his mind palace was still in no condition to be opening another gate.

  I should probably speed that up.

  Although most of the larger rifts in his mind had been fixed, there was still a lot of work to be done. Ronin closed his eyes and entered the mental spaceship. He then gazed over at the guardians from the Battle Soul technique.

  “To me,” he said, and they rushed over, the first one being the new grappling guardian he’d made. The little guy might still be weak, but it was more responsive than the others and it was easier to connect to. It probably had something to do with this guardian being truly his.

  As Ronin began sealing up the various cracks in his mind, he thought about the bounty. If Specter had raised the bounty once, he could do so again. Nimitri had said his previous employers had a bounty of 10 million, but what if it had been 20 million? How high would the bounty have to be before Nimitri decided to go back on his words and kill him?