"Maintain formation! Stay within the slipstream!" Leo told the Branch Manager, who finally understood his purpose.
If Ulen and Yang were muscles, then he was no different than the driver. He didn’t even have professional pilot training. In fact, he had even failed his pilot test a few tis.
Unfortunately, all because he once claid that he knew how to pilot ships while bragging, Leo dragged him here.
If he had known that this was going to happen, he would’ve kept that secret to himself.
To keep the entire mission under wraps, Leo had even selected a ship that was bought from the black market, to ensure that even if sohow the entire ship was caught by soone, there were no details that could be tracked to them.
Even though Leo had paid a premium price to get the best parts, it was still a makeshift ship. That wasn’t even counting the fact that Leo wasn’t an expert in ships, and was stuck with quite a few off the shelf parts, getting scamd in the process.
With how much Leo paid for this ship, he could have easily bought a proper ship. The only problem was that the good ship was easy to track back to him, no matter how much he paid to keep it under wraps.
So illegal purchase was the only way to go. To keep the ship and this mission a secret, he didn’t really go too far, or to professional ship makers.
Only the poor branch manager knew how he was able to keep up with the Lionel Family Ships with this mix and match ship.
It was really too bizarre, as if a sports car engine was stuck on a motorcycle body, and then a high efficiency plane fuel was pumped inside it.
At normal speed, it wasn’t that noticable. But when he had to match the speed of the Lionel Family’s expensive ship, the reality was unraveling.
The poor branch manager was gripping the flight console that was vibrating so violently it threatened to turn his teeth into powder.
Fortunately the Galactic Union ship, or rather, the makeshift black-market ship without any proper identification was able to follow the entourage closely.
"Umm... the ship core seems to be coughing up black smoke," Yang said, his voice flat despite the fact that he could see black smoke rising. "Is it supposed to do that?"
"It’s fine! Don’t worry about it, unless you see fire!" Leo yelled over the screeching of tal.
The Lionel Family ships ahead were a majestic display of wealth. anwhile, Leo’s ship followed behind like a hyperactive Chihuahua trying to keep up with a pack of wolves, rattling so loudly it was a miracle the Lionel sensors hadn’t flagged them.
"When we... No, IF we return safely, please tell the na of the craftsman that made this ship. I really want to have a heart to heart conversation with that person."
Leo smiled wryly at the branch manager’s words.
Even he was feeling a little frustrated after all. Even though it was off market stuff, shouldn’t it still be reliable to so extent? He had paid so much for it, so why was it such a ss when it was pushed even a little.
’I really should have stress tested it.’
Not just his branch manager, even he wanted to have a heart to heart conversation with the person after returning.
Previously, he mocked Glitzy for having trash ships. Now he finally understood that handling and arranging ships was easier said than done.
"Umm... I see fire. Is it still fine?" Yang suddenly asked, pointing towards the core.
"Leo, I really think we should slow down," Ulen remarked, casually ducking as a spark-showering cable swung past his head.
"We can’t slow down! If we drop out of their sensor range, they’ll realize we’re not a high-tech Union stealth craft, but a repurposed cargo freighter barely held together!" Leo slamd his fist against the dashboard, only to have the entire dashboard fall down.
It made the branch manager glare at him, as if asking, ’Do you think my life is easy that you’re trying to make it even harder?’
"Cough, I an it’s just fire. It’s not as if the ship lost an engine core." Leo stood up, and picked up a fire extinguisher from nearby.
"Watch take the fire out." He aid the fire extinguisher towards the fire.
The fire extinguisher made a sound that could only be described as a deadly gasp, and instead of a powerful stream of fla-retardant foam, it emitted a pathetic, lukewarm drizzle of white powder that barely reached Leo’s shoes.
Leo stared at the nozzle. The extinguisher was labeled with a premium brand sticker, but upon closer inspection, the sticker was peeling off to reveal a logo for a brand of industrial-grade whipped cream.
"Are you kidding ?" Leo whispered, shaking the canister. "I paid three thousand credits for this fla suppression unit! That bastard even gave a warranty!"
"On the bright side," Yang remarked, shielding his eyes as the fire at the core turned a shade of purple, "the ship now slls like a dessert. If we explode, we’ll at least sll delicious."
"Focus!" Leo yelled, tossing the useless canister aside, which promptly hit another loose panel, causing the ship’s artificial gravity to flicker.
For three seconds, everyone drifted three inches off the floor. The Branch Manager, still white-knuckling the console, began to float upward, his legs flailing.
"I can’t reach the acceleration control!" the Manager scread as he hovered like a panicked balloon.
Leo swam towards the manager, grabbing his belt and slamming him back into the seat just as gravity slamd back into place with a heavy thud.
Despite the chaos inside, the ship was technically still moving. Leo checked the external monitors, which were flickering with static every ti the engine coughed.
The Engine Core Temperature panel was glowing red with a skull-and-crossbones emoji. Leo suspected the software was also pirated.
"How is this thing still held together?" Ulen asked, genuinely impressed as he watched a bolt pop out of the wall and whistle past his ear like a bullet.
"We are currently flying scrap tal. I’m genuinely impressed."
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