The Black

“That… was… amazing…” Mac flopped down on the bed later that evening. He and Lyri had spent the entire afternoon walking the promenades, and it was nice to get out of the Traveler.

H’erth station sported three separate promenades, each holding a different charm. The main one looked over the planet. A pale green, and blue orb with large rivers running from oversized glaciers. 60 percent was apparently land, with much of the water that would be missing being located underground in large naturally forming cisterns, or residing in the aforementioned Glaciers.

Argorania was physically bigger than Terra, by about 70 percent, but that was due to her much weaker gravity, contributing to her less dense structure. At 1/3rd earth’s gravity, she was considered a Utopian world. And her large land mass, uninhabited status, and her large water resources made her ideal for a farming world.

The second Promenade was facing toward Argo 7, the planet’s star. Argo 7 was an aging red dwarf with several millennia left to her. Her softer heat, and Argorania's low axial tilt made for ideal weather patterns for farming. Much of the rainy season was set in spring and ‘summer’, consisting of soft showers and little to no Cumulonimbus activity. Argo 7 also had a habit of throwing Solar Flares that spanned half the distance to Argorania and watching the long ropes of glowing plasma had been mesmerizing.

The last promenade faced the departure and arrival zones. Today was a slow day, so it was relatively empty, but the occasional shuttle or transit liner did show up, and Mac got to get a fantastic view of Lucid Traveler as she lay to her moorings. He could see the occasional shuttle zip into her hanger bays to be filled with supplies, while others would come out at a more sedate pace, presumably loaded to the gills, headed for the surface of the planet.

Mac stretched out lazily, thinking over the day’s events, “I had no idea there were so many, and so different.”

Lyrian wandered over and settled in with him, inhabiting her customary position on his chest, looking up at him, “I enjoyed it too. Feeling you discover so much was a new experience for me. Although you scared me a couple of times.”

“Sorry, Humans are very visual in their threat processing. Our fight or flight instincts are sometimes a visceral experience.” Mac started, “Several of the species we saw today are very close in characteristic to some of our more deadly apex predators on Terra.”

Lyri lifted her head… “Wait, aren’t you an Apex? I have felt it from you….. it’s… terrifying” she admitted, lowing her head to look away.

Mac could feel her shame “Lyrian… there is no shame in that. Human emotions and Human instinct can be hard on even humans. Sometimes, they are even terrifying to the one emoting them..” he didn’t use her full name often anymore… it made it more special when he did. She liked that. He tilted his head and kissed the top of hers and started drawing circles on her back. That elicited was a Hum out of her as she looked back to him, just to have him tap her nose with the pointer finger of his other hand.

“Boop” he smirked down at her.

She bared her teeth at him and pushed herself up to get face to face. And nipped him on the lower lip, “I’ll show you a ‘boop’” she said, in that possessive Growling coo of hers.

Mac bared his teeth back at her, intentionally pushing his own passion and possessive nature back at her through the bond. “Don’t threaten me with a good time” he rumbled back before turning out the lights.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mac woke before Lyri the next morning, slowly disentangling from her so as to not wake his sleeping Exotic soulmate, and made for the shower. The steam/high-velocity mist was an acquired taste. Before long he heard/felt her stir, and Mac hit a button on his Delmar-made Smart-Chrono. He had finally figured out how to link everything up, and had downloaded His entire Library of music to the Ships computer core 'I wonder how long it will take for someone to deep dive that one, there are some gem's in there' He chuckled to himself as one of those gem's; the Legendary sounds of Earth, Wind, and Fire going through the beginning riffs of "Shining Star" Filter through their quarters. Mac smirked again as he felt her interest perk up. 'gocha' He thought as he finished up in the shower and stepped out. He paused, stunned as he found her, absent mindedly twisting and moving to the music with just a sheet tucked around just enough of her to be technically descent. she was scrolling through his music, while her body flowed to the smooth sounds of 70's Soul.

She noticed him watching her, of course, and turned to slowly dance up to him and kiss him good morning, "Morning" she cooed.

"Morning" he responded before wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her in for another kiss. "I'd love to... but we have plans."

she was captured about the waist, but leaned back just enough to look at him, "We do?" He had hidden something from her. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Yes," He released her fully and walked over to his wall hook where a bag she hadn't noticed before was hanging, "and we will be needing these." Mac unzipped the hanging bag to reveal a pair of Void suits with their helmet deployed.

"We're in orbit, and docked at that," She looked them over. They didn't look quite right, "Suits aren't required right now."

"These aren't for Regular use, my dear. This one" He pulled the much slimmer suit, still slightly bulkier in odd places, out of the bag, "Is yours... For Concord" She spun around, looking at him in shock. He handed it to her. Her hands trembled slightly as she took it, but he continued, "A few weeks ago I went to your father, and the Fab guys. I gave him my spare suit, a list of parameters, and told him to Make me a void suit I could interface with Concord with. I told him to do the research, if he could, and get back to me before he started anything. They figured it out using my suit, my spec's, the data from my infirmary record. These are a bit better than my G- suit actually. I might be able to set some records with it. He showed me what he had come up with, and I ordered two made.

"James.. I... Concord is your ship" Lyri stammered, clutching her new suit.

"She is ours now." He stated, "At the end of the war, I had... accrued some clout... The TALON 3s were going to be phased out. So, I requested I be allowed to Keep Concord as a personal Vessel, and I made my case that I was going straight into the LEAP program, and a fully capable TALON3 was the perfect vessel for testing. I had to agree to having her De'milled and retrofitted with Non classified software and hardware upon my completion of my tour or tours at LEAP. Obviously It never got that far, but TALON is legally mine in both Sol and Delmar law.. So, she belongs to you now as well" He kissed her on the forehead before shooing her toward the shower stealing her sheet in the process, "Now! go get ready!! we have flying lessons to start!!" She flew through the shower, and they donned their Gym clothes for a quick run, Mac ever in his weighted vest, before stopping by the mess for a quick bite.

A few minutes later, they were stepping into Hanger 3 with a very amused Siccurro in tow. Lyrian let out a gasp, and turned around just in time for Mac to actually fist bump Sicurro.

Concord was no longer in her NASA colors. She was returned to her Dangerous sleek grey with one major difference. She had the Flag of United Sol next to the Helyon Clan Crest just under the cockpit seal where the NASA logo had been, In Auburn, Mac's new full name with Callsign shown just below his front seat, and Lyrian's full name with a space missing where Mac's call sign was on his name.

"I don't have a call sign?" She pouted slightly, running her finger over her name on their ship.

"Call signs are earned. Either by Fame or Infamy. I'm sure yours will reveal itself" Mac put on his best Sage's voice before cracking a smile, "now IN!" laughing as she jumped and scrambled up the ladder, settling into the snug pilot seat.. it felt just as snug, but different some how more shaped to fit her anat...

*Identification requested* a voice spoke into her helmet

she froze, "Uh... Hello?"

*Voice recognition match. welcome aboard Ms Grarzia* The voice spoke again. Mac was just settling into his seat in the front. the voice had spoken in english. Lyrian hopped that was ok. she wasn't wearing a translator.

Mac flipped a few switches.

*Startup Authorization Required*

"James Mackenzie, Lieutenant. Gamma three one one five Niner" Mac Spoke in English

*Acknowledged, welcome aboard commander*

"Jarvis, Activate Admin Access, Edit name James Mackenzie, new identification; James Mackenzie Grarzia"

*Acknowledged, Changes Confirmed*

"Jarvis, add user; Lyrian Mackenzie Grarzia, status; student. two seat operations only. Authorization gama three one one five niner"

*Acknowledged, Changes Confirmed*

"Las one Jarvis, Connect and download Linguistic database for Delmar. Activate Bilingual Mode, Delmar and English Commands Authorized"

*Acknowledged, Changes Confirmed* Lyrian jumped at the voice this time. It spoke in Delmar this time.

Then it spoke once more speaking her language, *Repeating Last greeting, Voice Recognition match. Welcome aboard Ms Grarzia* Lyri Gasped, "It knows my voice?”

*Affirmative* Jarvis got out before Mac could say anything, he just laughed, "I've been busy. TALONS by their nature are modular, I have had some modules made. Look around, you might recognize some stuff" Mac said over his shoulder before returning to his flow list.

*Ms Grarzia do not be alarmed, Suit Calibration commencing*

Lyrian panic'd for a moment as the entire suit squeezed her startled breath out of her, causing her vision to go slightly red. Once.. then twice.. then three times slowly reducing the constricting pressure until it squeezed no more. "What the hell!" she gasped.

"This is a G suit, my love. it squeezes parts of your body where blood pools under high centrifugal maneuvers, forcing it back into your brain to keep you conscious. It has to do that once so it can tune itself to your body" Came Mac's voice in her helmet.

"Thanks for the warning" she said flatly; and began to look around her new cockpit, still completely in shock. he had planned this… and she had had no idea, 'of course silly, he's not Delmar after all'. Her feet found very familiar pedals, she touched them gingerly not wanting to break anything. Mac apparently felt her trepidation, "Ah, found the flight controls? Don't worry. I have Your controls deactivated, feel free to move/press do whatever, you can’t hurt anything, at the moment."

She pressed her feet fully onto the pedals sliding her heels down to the heel stops that were part of the pedals themselves... just like Traveler. she pushed them left and right, feeling the pressure, the spring tension, "Feedback?" she asked. *yup, not online yet though* came the response in her helmet. She looked around some more.

Her MFD's were different, but sitting just above level with her lap was Traveler's Left Stick. Sure it was in the middle, sticking up from between her thighs; but it was molded correctly for her left hand. It had its selector hat, and the com button in the right spot. It had some extra buttons on it as well. and her fingers felt a strange chunk of metal in front right at the top of the joystick. She rowed the Stick around through its full travel with her left arm. 'hmm the same, but different. more arm, less wrist. so that's why you wanted to see the Con station.' she felt to her right and found her throttle quadrant, well mostly. Again, everything she knew was there, but there were some extra buttons. and a lever on the inside of its base, she snapped the lever over center to the rear and HER THROTTLE SPLIT APART!! She thought she had broken it until she experimented with it a bit more. Not broken, but Mac had combined her standard, and individual engine throttle together into one control, 'why haven't we done thi...

her pondering was interrupted by Mac. "Hanger 3, Concord. Let’s do this a little different. Kill the Lights, Depressurize, then open the Doors. We are going out quiet.”

"Just don't get caught, we don't have a Delmar flagged transponder installed yet" It was Sicurro's voice.

"Chief, you can't find me even if you tried, and the station isn't looking. We will be ok" Mac conveniently left out that he had enough boom on Concord to Turn the shining Utopia they were orbiting to glass inside of 4 minutes.

The hiss of Atmosphere being pulled out of Hanger 3's cavernous expanse faded away to silence. Mac spoke again, "Jarvis, activate HUDs, Alpha Sync for myself, essential only. Use Standard Helmet for WSO full passive.”

Lyrians world exploded in color as her helmet seemed to disappear, but she could feel its weight It was replaced with a 360 by 360 panoramic and movement synchronized situational display. she could literally look down through the floor of concord to contact information 'below' them as Mac eased Concord out of the hanger under Maneuvering Thrusters alone.

"My gods... I can see everything" she whispered.

"It can get a little hectic, you are getting more information because you are technically at the 'weapons system operator'" Mac explained, "If you were my real WSO (he pronounced it 'wizzo') you would be getting a lot more, for now. I would just like you to make sure we don't hit anyone on our way out. We are running full silent at the moment. NOBODY can see us. That cuts both ways."

Lyrian nodded, "looks like…” she looked at the double compass in the corner of her vision. it was almost exactly like theirs, “054 uh 332 will get us out of orbit cleanly." she stated.

"Got it, 054 by 332. Main Drives Coming online" Mac's Metronome delivery rang out with practiced cadence.

Lyri was looking around getting used to this new HUD when her thoughts were cut short by a piercing, whining, howl, accented with a low frequency roar that was almost an imagined nightmare than real. It started off so quietly that Lyri almost missed it. Soon it resonated in her bones, and she stiffened in terror. 'NO! We are going to blow up, not like this!... no...' she forced her eyes closed. she listened. forcing herself to listen with her whole body. The noise increased, in both volume and intensity. the High pitched whine gave way haunting, baying, roaring howl as Concord greeted Lyrian properly for the first time. 'by the gods, you are magnificent.' Concord just Purred, if you could even stretch the term far enough, under Her.

"She is... isn't she" her eyes snapped open. Mac hadn't heard her thoughts, had he?

She could feel him smile at her through the bond, "This is nothing, my love..." She just looked at him in utter disbelief.

He continued, "Your controls are live now, but I have master override just in case. They should be as close to your Con as I could get them and still meet Concord's needs. Just remember, she is a Heavy fighter class Warship. I've limited down the controls considerably, but she will feel VERY different. Don't try to force her. Think her in a direction, and she will follow." Lyrian just nodded "whenever you are ready.." He turned back and just waited.

Lyrian closed her eyes once more, slowly reaching for the controls. feeling Concord speak through her hands very soul. She begged to be loosed. Lyrians right hand pushed the throttle forward, past idle and as far as they would go, which wasn't much. Mac had indeed set manual limits on her controls.. Concord Roared her Gratitude into Lyrians very being, bellowing into the Void, Staring into the Black and demanding the Black fear Her.

Concord Howled toward the Large red dwarf at this systems center. Lyrian was not comfortable. She felt her Suit compensate and her seat/ control assembly tilt to keep her conscious. She had to force her breath every inhale a struggle and every exhale crushed out of her. her vision faded slightly, but she kept conscious.

It didn't matter that Mac had limited her throttle to the same 14 human G profile, or that Lyrian was fighting a mere 2.5 Human G's. Jarvis had pulled up her in helmet feed for him to watch her in case she passed out. she didn't. She fought, grunting her defiance against the forces trying to crush her, a feral full fanged grin plastered on her face. He watched and felt as the spark of a Predator lit inside the woman he loved.

Lyrian relented after a 2 'minute burn. She closed the throttles, heaving for air inside her helmet, sweating heavily for a Delmar. A startlingly maniacal laugh ripped itself from her being. She couldn't stop herself. It was born of victory fueled exhaustion. She knew how she sounded. She sounded insane, she felt insane. Exhilaratingly Insane for a few moments, reveling in the pure unbridled (as far as she knew) power at her fingertips.

"Intoxicating isn't it" Mac spoke after she calmed down. She nodded, still giggling a bit, closing her eyes to feel Concord Lope along easily under her as Mac engaged the autopilot and swung her head 'round to heading and Concord spoke again, a bit more sedately this time.

"She is... She is.. Magnificent" Lyrian echo'd her earlier thoughts. Mac popped his helmet’s face open, and she did the same. he turned fully to show her his face. Mac was smiling broadly.

"My love, That was roughly 15 percent of her throttle.." Mac stated softly..

"By the gods... How fast" Lyrian began before stopping herself.

"A touch over 90 earth G's actual acceleration, somewhere near or over 200 Delmar Gravities. The cockpit pairs inertial dampening with the G-suits. What you felt was roughly 5 of your gravities, 2.2 of earths." he stated.

"My current record at home was a 4 Gravity pull during my training." Lyrian panted, still recovering slightly. "I guess I broke it.."

"I'd say. Lyrian, what you did was even more impressive, you pulled 5 Delmar Gravities, constantly, for almost 2 'minutes'" Mac confirmed, "Let’s take a rest, We have... 2 hours till we get to our practice area. Then we will start basic maneuvers. Let’s get you and Concord acquainted.”

Mac turned back and both settled into their seats for a day of training. The autopilot was on, but the controls were still alive. They moved ever so slightly as the computer guided Concord to Mac's intended destination.

Lyrian closed her eyes, lightly placing her hands and feet on Concords reigns once more... and listened.