UNKNOWN SYSTEM

The engines of my Firetail, the Renegade, screamed blue fire at me for pushing them so far beyond their safety specifications. I had already melted my autocannons, ignoring Aura’s continual alarms as their temperature rose well beyond their threshold.

More armour plates were sheared off as my pursuers continued the hunt, scoring several hits against me.

I skimmed closer towards the planet’s thick atmosphere, hoping my frigate would be able to hold together better than the enemy interceptors gaining on me; the Sansha Nation was pissed, and that made me happy.

Aura blared at me that my angle of descent was too steep for the structural integrity of the ship, but that was the idea. Within seconds, the nose of my ship glowed white, and I watched as even my pod’s internal temperature rose to a frightening 58 C. Thankfully, there was no need for a crew in this size of ship. My jaw rattled against itself no matter how hard I clenched my teeth; I could barely hear Aura’s warnings in my head over the deafening sounds and tumultuous vibrations of my ship bending, buckling, starting to break apart.

The Renegade had begun its death throes.

With a determined act of focus, I willed the ship to align to the proper trajectory, hoping I wasn’t too late to save myself. The surface of the planet was rising far too quickly towards me, lovingly welcoming me to its solid embrace. This was gonna hurt like hell …

*** SEVERAL MINUTES LATER ***

The piercing sunlight awoke me. Instinctively as I raised my hand to cover my eyes, it didn’t even cross my mind how odd it was for the sun to be shining directly down on me. A moment later, I realized I was still in my pod, a gaping wound opened down its side, its precious fluid contents spilled all over the surrounding terrain.

My ship had disintegrated around me, pieces probably scattered for miles amongst one of the most unforgiving landscapes I had ever seen.

Miraculously, I was alive, and relatively undamaged. A quick assessment revealed bumps and bruises, nothing more.

Aura was inoperable. With effort, I extricated myself from my pod, still uncertain as to the fate of the Sansha pirates. Surely they would be scanning for me amidst the wreckage shortly, if they hadn’t already during my blackout.

My Neocom buzzed. I had an incoming text.

“Need u 2 cover my shift this Sat, 4 – 10 PM, k?”

I had no idea who it was. I had been receiving these random texts for days from this person. It was incredibly annoying, and at that moment, I just snapped a little.

This was to be the first and last time I would text them back.

“kk” was all I typed.

I squinted against the blinding sunlight, my ears hearing a faint buzzing. Once my eyes partially adjusted to the blistering brightness of the overhead sky, I could see the two interceptors as dots in the distance. I didn’t have much time.

I needed to make my next actions count.

*** A FEW DAYS LATER ***

I sat in V2 Freedom Forge, enjoying a beer and cigar during some downtime, awaiting my next mission.

My Neocom buzzed. I had an incoming text.

“Ty, asshole! U never showed up 4 my shift. Tazr fired me. What the hell’s ur problem?”

I chuckled to myself, wondering if they would ever realize the intended party never received their messages.