What was space? The infinite vacuum beyond the borders of planets?

The answer was currently incomplete, this is simply because there were too many objects, concepts, and existences that were indescribable in human logic.

So, the more apt answer would be that space was an infinite amalgamation of unknown horrors, materials, and opportunities not always in that order…

Space was ruled by darkness, sporadic stars provided lights and heat energy, but their effects were of little significance. It was also an unfavorable location for existences or beings without means to survive in space.

Radiation was also a major source of concern for any being venturing out to space, of course, this was not inclusive of beings who could comfortably survive there.

Regardless of the aforementioned circumstances, it was super clear that a human couldn't survive in space without the Right equipment even for a single minute.

That's why this ingenious race came up with the technology and means by which they conquered their corner of space, where they reigned supreme.

In this infinite darkness, a fleet of spaceships silently cruised as the crew onboard awaited the completion of a 'restart cycle' of their hyperdrive better known as FTL drive engines.

After every FTL transit stop, the engines would do a cleaning cycle to prevent accidents during the next transit.

It went without saying how important a restart cycle was, it would be catastrophic for the entire crew of a ship if the FTL drive engine suffered any damage during transit.

The ships were in surprisingly good condition considering that they were crewed by a motley pirate group.

The winged serpent pirate group prowled the nearby star systems and had become quite a headache for the authorities of the Citreon republic.

This was a small, third-rate state that had a few hundred-star systems under their governance. Its population was hardly quantifiable as a single system could bear billions of people, as such only the state could tell.

They had just come from a hunt that hadn't been too profitable. They had been led by their crazy Captain to the Siefan star system's FTL drop point.

An FTL drop point was a term used to describe a location suitable for dropping out of FTL transit. The term was quite bleak, but it was easier to understand even to the uneducated pirates.

They usually lay in ambush at a neighboring star system or a safe distance away, awaiting ships dropping out of FTL.

This was a trick learned by all pirate captains, this was simply because they couldn't afford to attack a fleet too powerful than them, so they had to observe the heat emissions and number of ships and their state before planning an attack.

Their Captain old Pete was quite an experienced pirate and had been on the prowl for countless years, he was quite successful as such he banded together a pirate crew of his own to further his goals.

It was evident that this was a slightly rich pirate crew, their ships were a testament to their slightly better maintenance.

This crew had better luck compared to their other 'buddies' as they would profit after every plunder, this had afforded them some publicity and increased their ranking on the 'red list'.

Pirates were hated anywhere in human space as such neighboring states created a list that would act as a means of issuing bounty notices to mercenary or paramilitary organizations, this was then named the red list.

By getting popular among their kind, this crew was quite sought after by fellow or new pirates wishing to make some few thousand credits.

Due to their multiple windfalls, the winged serpent pirate group owned twelve moderately maintained spaceships that were used to transport their plundered cargo, and their battle machines are widely known as mechs, yeah you read that right.

Pirates were a rather loosely formed organization that was only built on profit, as such the old saying there's no honor amongst thieves rang truest to these poor runts of society.

The winged serpent pirate group had just attacked a smaller fleet of logistic ships transporting refined steel and as such had much of their limited storage space almost full, so it came as a surprise when their Captain gave them an order to transit to the next star system instead of returning to their base to escape pursuit from the authorities.

Even though they didn't know the reason for this abrupt change, no one amongst the crew complained or disagreed. Old Pete was known for his smarts and good judgment, so they followed his commands without much thought.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

After three hours of waiting, the FTL drives completed their cycles as they awaited the captain's order to transit. But he had them delay for another hour before giving the order.

Lights swirled around the ships as they engaged their FTL drives. A few seconds later the ships disappeared into the higher dimensions, leaving behind the silent and dark system.

It was also obvious that once in FTL transit, cargo doors were sealed shut and shuttles couldn't leave their ships as a single factor could get them crushed or lost in the bizarre higher dimensions.

And besides ships couldn't meet in these higher dimensions even though they transitioned from the same point and time, it was unknown why.

For these reasons and many more, ships would lessen their activities during FTL transit.

Aboard the shedding scales, the flagship of the winged serpent, vulgarities spewed and flew about the mess hall as pirates bragged and drank themselves silly.

Multiple barrels had already been emptied, but many more were awaiting their opening.

"Where's Tony, that whiny bastard owes me an entire barrel of gun ol' rum!", a middle-aged pirate shouted as he shoved his buddies aside, he had a scruffy beard and a head full of dark brown hair, a massive build, and coupled with his thick beard gave off an air of ruggedness.

"He's with Viktor, they're playing cards again" one drunk pirate replied before pausing after a deep chug from his mug he continued.

"That f*cker beat me twice then quit, he has to give my money back, or I'll fire at him the next time we do battle".

Multiple voices echoed around the room as multiple pirates made up illogical adventures, they grew more spirited when more of their buddies started paying attention.

In one of the more spacious bunks a young man sat silently listening to the rumbles and tremors sounding from the ship, he had a head full of brown hair but had no beard, his eyes stared uninterested at the comm on his wrist.

The bright light was reflected on his eyes as the projection on the comm showed constant white light with no end.

He slowly got up from his seat, fully showcasing his athletic build. He wore a dark gray suit that gave him an air of nobility. Furthermore, he wore a black double-breasted coat that went down to his knees, and black shoes that accentuated his formal wear.

He walked out of his room and headed to the elevator that led a deck lower, after calmly waiting for its descent he stopped in front of the heavy bunk door that guarded the bridge of the ship.

Four heavily armed security guards stood guard outside the room, this was standard, so there was not much surprise there, what was surprising though was the fact that all these guards ignored the man standing right before their eyes.

After a few seconds of waiting, the bunk door opened as the captain walked out and stood before the alert guards.

The captain looked around the hallway and said to the guards,

"Tell those bastards at the mess to reduce the number of drinks, we are far from a refill station that we won't be chased out of ". He stood silently in a daze before mumbling to himself.

"They're lucky we carried this much stock".

After that, he slowly walked back in and the heavy door shut itself, leaving the guards standing silently.

The man from before had already disappeared inside. Inside the bridge, the captain sat on his seat as he looked down at the operators pressing down on buttons whose functions he knew nothing about staring at the projections whose meaning he couldn't tell.

These were control technicians who had once committed grievous crimes that led to their escape from their previous homes.

Some of these technicians didn't know much about ship control when they had earlier joined because that wasn't their field of specialization, however, they had to learn because they were fugitives and being a technician was countless times safer than boarding the attacked ships which could have countless traps waiting for them.

FTL drives worked on their own, as long as a ship moved to the FTL transit point and engaged the drives their job was complete

As such technicians had nothing to do apart from reading the ship telemetry while waiting to drop out of FTL transit.

The crew at the bridge were surprised when they heard the captain say in a low voice

"Unseal the cargo doors after thirty minutes, there's something I need to do".

This was incredibly risky as anything could happen, dooming everyone aboard the ship. The technicians had never heard a more crazy command than this.

"Pardon me sir, but it's not advisable to unseal cargo doors during transit, we could all get lost in space or get crushed to death" one technician saw fit to advise the captain as the chance for survival if an accident occurred was nil.

"Your survival lies in the precision by which you unseal and open the cargo doors and how fast you can close them". He stated calmly as his gaze swept over the pale technicians.

Although there were incidents whereby all passengers survived after a door opened during transit the number was too low to give anyone the courage to try, it was understandable why the technicians at the bridge were all scared for their lives.

"You have a choice, do it in the most perfect way possible or die trying, or die right here and now". Old Pete said in a calm voice.

They all swallowed their saliva loudly as they looked at each other in doubt, even though the captain was often called crazy it was certainly not to this extent.

Silently a figure outlined itself by the wall of the bridge, it was the man in the double-breasted coat, he looked at all the technicians present before saying in a soft voice.

"Do it".

It was unknown why, but this low voice compelled them to open the doors even though they knew the kind of risk behind the order.

As the silence ruled the bridge the time ticked off slowly until the thirty minutes were up, at that very moment a low rumble and intense creaking sounds echoed through the entire ship as the vibrations made destabilized all the cutlery in the mess hall.

The crewmen and objects were thrown around for a little while before everything came to a stop. Complaints and curses sounded out again as they righted themselves and started clearing up the mess.

At the massive cargo bay the man with the black coat slowly walked forward appearing rather carefree as a small smile suffused on his lips, he came down a flight of stairs and looked down at a large egg-shaped object that was charred black.

He slowly walked over and stood beside it, looking through the viewing glass placed at an area close to the top.

A face could be seen lying quietly inside as if in waiting, the strange object was a pod.

An escape pod…