Kiru stopped in front of the gate to the outpost. She had just finished a run back to the outpost entirely in the nude. The run back had given her enough time to think, and once again left her amazed about her enhanced body. It really drove home how little she needed clothing. With a sun this harsh, you would think being out in it nude and without protection would lead to a sunburn. She didn’t have one, nor did she have any marks from the wind lashing her skin. Her breasts being unsupported didn’t cause her any problems either. It really did prove that she didn’t need a bra.

May, naturally, was already here. Not surprising, given that May knew the terrain better, and had a head start. At least this time, she was right on the other girl’s heels the entire way. May had expertly prevented her from taking the lead, however. She heard footsteps behind her and glanced back to see Qei arriving with the pack containing Kiru’s clothes strapped to her back. Kiru then noticed Qei’s expression and was quite thankful it wasn’t directed at her.

Qei barked at May, “You know that wasn’t all that fair taking off like that. You didn’t even give her a chance to accept your proposition.”

May glanced at her feet, “Sorry. I was too excited.”

Kiru could tell she was sorry about that. In fact she looked very cute acting all contrite like that. Very cute. Kiru was kind of enjoying this. Qei seemed to mellow a bit, and let out a sigh. “In that case you won’t mind spending the rest of the day without your clothes?”

May giggled, “I guess that is fair, but I did win.”

Qei replied, with a shake of her head, “Not exactly a fair race. You had a head start, and as proven by the first race, a better grasp of the area.”

May deflated a bit, and started removing her own clothes. “Yeah, you have a point there.”

Qei pulled the pack off her back, and held it out to Kiru. “You can have these back.”

“Thanks!” she replied feeling a slight heat on her cheeks. She looked away, which brought her gaze to the city gate. Where she noticed an emblem emblazoned on the gates that she had not seen before. It featured a very prominent star that was pierced by a single sword from above. Three rings orbited the star, one horizontal with the equator, the other two were offset by 23 degrees, and met with the first ring at the prime meridian of the depicted star. Wreathing the entire emblem was a pair of silver wings.

Qei commented. “Never seen it before have you?”

She shook her head, and Qei informed her “That is the flag of the Solean Empire. Complete with the normal blue background.”

Kiru took a second look at the gate. She had thought that the blue color was simply the paint of the gate. She hadn’t realized it was meant to be part of the symbol on the doors. Although the symbolism of it was lost on her. She knew nothing of what the symbol stood for.

She replied with the only thing she could think of, “It looks nice.”

May her clothes neatly folded and draped over one arm, interjected, “Let’s get inside. We can talk over lunch, I don’t know about you two, but I am famished.”

That statement reminded her that she had not eaten since before the run. She was feeling somewhat hungry herself. She had to concur. Qei also quickly agreed. The trio headed for the gate. Although only one of them was actually dressed. Kiru having forgotten to actually put her clothes back on.

Kiru settled into a seat in one of the ship’s mess halls. They had gated back to the ship for lunch. The outpost cafeteria had not yet been completed. Besides, it also had given May a chance to stop by their quarters to drop off her clothes. Something she was doing right now, while Kiru and Qei claimed a table. As Kiru looked around the hall, she noticed that May wasn’t the only one without clothing. Kiru set down her pack, and then glanced at Qei. She would have chosen May, but she hadn’t come back from dropping off her clothes.

“Why are those girls not wearing clothes?”

Qei shrugged, “You would have to ask them. Some of them may have lost games like you did or they may just have chosen not to wear them. We biomechs aren’t particularly modest, and some of us are more open to being nude than others. The fact that we have no need for clothing does have some impact on that. On the other hand it makes us more appreciative of the aesthetic value of clothing. We can be far more artistic with our clothing than others. Although some of us just prefer body paint instead of clothes.”

“You’re joking right?”

Qei shook her head. “I’m not. Clothing or paint are prime methods of drawing attention to your charms, but they are also used to display our individuality. Speaking of individuality, I think you need some lessons. I’ve never seen you use paint, nor have you worn anything other than the standard issue outfits. Great for training, I guess, or when on duty. Off-duty however, they don’t exactly say much.”

Qei’s gaze suddenly locked behind Kiru. Kiru looked back, and her gaze froze. It seemed May had finally gotten back, and she had painted herself. Although that paint looked to be a little much, and thankfully Qei seemed to agree. “How desperate are you to paint yourself like that!?”

Kiru however could find no words to convey what she felt about May’s paint job. It was rather lewd, in a fashion she found rather inappropriate.

“Well, since I have to go naked, I figured I would try and get noticed.”

Kiru quipped, “Well, that will certainly get you noticed, but I don’t think that is appropriate.”

Qei nodded, “I agree that is a little much. Paint something a little tamer next time.”

May glanced down at herself, sighed, and said, “maybe it is a bit much.” Slipping into her chair she changed the subject, “So what were you two talking about?”

Kiru quickly lied before Qei could say a word, “Exotic technology.”

Qei laughed, “Nice try. Actually we were talking about biomech clothing habits.”

May shifted, and gave Kiru a look, “Speaking of clothing habits, I didn’t expect you to adopt ours so quickly”

Kiru frowned. What was May talking about. Her confusion only increased when Qei said, “I wouldn’t comment too much. She hasn’t fully emerged from her shell.”

May replied, “I guess that is true, but it doesn’t look like it.”

What did May say? Look like it? Shell? Her confusion deepened. As she looked between the two girls at the table with her. A sinking feeling in her gut made her finally look down, and she flushed red all the way down.

Qei shook her head and sighed, “I told you not to comment. Now she’s embarrassed.”

“Why didn’t you two tell me I was still naked!!?”

May deflated a little, “nothing wrong with that.”

Qei interjected, “For us there isn’t anything wrong with being nude. As I was saying earlier, we are more open about personal choice and clothing then you are used to. Something we were both trying to get you to realize in our own way. May with the betting games, and me with the conversation that was just interrupted.”

Kiru looked around. She really wasn’t the only one here naked. No one here was wearing the standard issue clothing. Much of what the biomechs were wearing here was provocative in one way or another. Some were painted, others not, but a part of her noted that if she put the standard issue clothes back on, she would look out of place. May noting her gaze said, “That is kind of why we wanted you to come out of your shell. All you ever wear is the standard issue clothes. We all would like to see a little more variety in your dress. See you relax, and just be yourself.”

She looked between the two. Trying to reconcile that. Before she could say something. Qei offered, “I was planning to invite you to some dress-up after lunch. Maybe find something you would enjoy wearing off-duty.”

Kiru, deciding to change the subject, replied, “Interesting. Anyway, why don’t we talk about something else?”

“Well there is that upcoming mission, or we could talk about girls.”

“Girls? Don’t you mean boys?”

Qei commented, “That might apply, if we had prospective male partners, but we don’t. I think May was right with that one.”

“I guess we could talk about that mission. Although I am more curious about how the ship intends to uncover what is going on with my people.”

May smiled, “Well, there are several ways to go about it, but the best place to start would be the Neku homeworld. If any place would have the clues we want it would be the seat of power in the Neku Imperium.”

Kiru nodded, “Logical, but that place is also heavily defended. How exactly are we going to get the info we need. I don’t think we can go in with cannons firing.”

Qei shifted, and confirmed, “No. It might work, but the risk of failure would be too high with that plan. A stealth infiltration has a much higher chance of success. Although it will take longer.”

May interjected before she could ask, “The ship has a cloaking device. We can enter the system undetected, and gather basic information from orbit. Cloaked drones can then be deployed to the surface to set up a stargate. The depths of the oceans would be a good spot for that. We can use that deepsea gate to transfer agents. Hacking the Civil net would allow us to create identities for those agents. As Qei said, this will not be a quick operation, but a stealthy one. Especially since we don’t want to alert the puppet masters without cause.”

With a frown she inquired, “Wait!? Are you saying cannons firing is actually viable?”

Both girls giggled, and after about a minute or two, Qei nodded, and May elaborated, “It is. This is a Solean Battleship. How many methods do you think a ship like this has for incapacitating a planetary population?”

She shrugged. Kiru honestly had no idea. Qei sighed, “Hundreds, actually. From the conventional to the exotic. Some quite destructive, others comparatively tame. A few methods are actually non-lethal, most of them involving a bioagent of one form or another. The Empire does however have a few starship weapons in inventory that can be used to stun the populations of entire cities from orbit. The PPBs for example can be adjusted to unleash a wide beam stun blast. Although we won’t be doing that for obvious reasons.”

Kiru just nodded. She knew exactly what those reasons were. No reason to have them explained. “I guess that is kind of interesting, but what is with the mention of bioagents?”

“The Empire’s preferred method of pacifying a planet is through the use of bioengineered weaponry. Famous examples of Imperial Bioweapons are things like the ancient Bloodleaf, or the truly infamous Lyra. Neither of which you would know much about. Although Bloodleaf despite its age is still in use, while Lyra was discontinued during the age of the First Lords. We won’t use any Imperial weapons though. The Neku aren’t imperial rebels nor is the Empire at war with them. Imperial protocol restricts the use of those weapons afterall.”

“Bioweapons? Did the Empire not sign any treaties banning those?”

“The Empire rarely signs treaties. Not all that surprising given the history of the Solean people, and the size of their Empire. The Solean Empire is afterall the largest of the Precursor states. At her height, the Solean Empire ruled over two thousand galaxies, billions of inhabited star systems, and controlled a vast fleet on the order of trillions of ships.”

Before she could ask about that, Megumi entered the room. She scanned the crowd and then headed straight for their table. It seemed something had come up since they parted.