Jay relaxed in his seat when his ship made the jump to slip-space when he was beyond Veru near the outer edge of the system. However, his thoughts lingered on the station and the militia he left behind, his mind still a mess and incoherent. It was all still a fog to him. He entered the station, tried to meet with security, then… Boom.

'Did we not have enough time?! I swore we had more than enough time…’ Jay thought to himself. He ran the scene in his head multiple times. They landed, and he made his way over to the Mantis Security Offices, but was slowed from the heavy traffic. The route from his ship to the security office was no more than ten minutes as he ran, twenty-five if you walked it.

“Jay?” Kam called from behind, “Are you good?”

He ignored him and shook his head.

“I-,” he choked, “How, did they find us?”

“What do you mean? Jay, what's wrong?” Kam pleaded for an answer.

Jay gave in and reluctantly pressed the button to have his seat finally turn and face Kam. Kam was dirty and the previously fried communications component sat at his desk, broken. Evidence pointed toward its manual repair, but nonetheless worried about Jay's state of mind.

“How do you think they found us so quickly? Can they detect slip-space coordinates and jump to it? I- I don’t know what to think. It’s like they were on our tail since Dema.”

Kam tried to comfort Jay, but he shoved away his advance, averting his eyes from him. He handed the data drive back to Kam who secured it in a reinforced data slot beside his station. There were a series of racks filled with similar data drives, but Kam taped the side that was exposed and wrote on it the type of content that resided within it.

“I don’t know,” Kam said, in a low tone, “Once we reach Alameda, I’m sure the Stellar Fleet will help those on Draxis. All we can do now, is getting our data to the Fleet.”

He returned to his desk and began to work on a damaged communications component sustained from their earlier encounter. Jay kept those words close and was the first to retire to his bunk, the most recent event now haunting him.

Several hours passed and Jay awoke from his stiff slumber and looked around the cabin. Kam was seen dozing off at his station as he did his best to stay awake, but with a tap of his shoulder silently made his way to his bunk.

Jay returned to the cockpit, taking an undamaged burrito from the station prior from his pouch, and began to eat. He hated rations and would rather opt for station food instead. The thought of the shop owner raced in his mind, souring the thought of the meal.

He thus returned to his seat and noted that the communication component that was previously at Kam's desk was no longer there. He peered at the rear of the ship and noticed the panel it belonged to was shut and secure. He turned the chair around and began a series of ship diagnostics and searched for the communications tab and ran a test.

Several moments passed by, and he was greeted by a pleasant ding. While he couldn't do long-range inter-system communications, he had the majority of capabilities for in-system communications. He looked back once again to Kam and silently thanked him for his hard work and kept it at that.

Six hours had elapsed and there were four hours left into their jump. Jay continued his silent contemplation into the swirling void before him. Again, hues of purple and blue dominated the view, with an electric display of white that caressed the edges of the two previous colors. He was entranced. He let his mind slip and finally succumbed to a second dose of sleep. This time only lightly.

When Jay came to, he heard the tapping of keys behind him and when he turned, Kam was away working at his station. Jay wanted to speak to him, but he couldn't. He instead turned his head forward and viewed the unending whirl of faster-than-light travel. He peeked at a timer that sat in the top-left corner of the cockpit and designated that he had roughly 30 minutes until they would exit slip-space.

He analyzed the next system on his holo-map that was generated in front of him, albeit a small form factor of the much larger ones on the bigger ships, and the light blue hue generated from the display lit up his portion of the ship.

The system they were about to enter was called Alteia. In terms of distance, it was farther to Draxis than Dema was by a few light-years and was a much larger population than all of Draxis by about 200 million people. As one of the few stops on the edge of known Terran space, it had a great presence of a mix of militia and sleuth of private security. There was also a Fleet liaison station present in the system that housed itself on one of the smaller mountainous moons of the central colony, Alta.

The system was large, with several other planets beside Alteia that could sustain life, albeit at a lower rate. It had a total of three planets close to the sun that all were capable of life since their locations all shared the Goldilocks zone. In order, it went, Rayla, Alteia, Altai. Beyond them were two insignificant planets reduced to mining colonies, Fora and Flanning. It had in its possession an asteroid belt, but after years of vigorous mining had reduced it to a fraction of its original size since the system's founding. Then beyond that were three gas giants and their plentiful moons, Gerilya, Hori, and Flaven.

Those gas giants and their moons operated as a training area for militia and security pilots as well as a vast collection of research centers that belong to many corporate entities as well as some belonging to the Stellar Command. Their presence alone was his only hope, and the fact that they operated near the farthest planet, Flaven. Which, by the time they exited Slip-Space, would be oriented closest to his exit point.

As they left Slip-Space, Jay reached for several switches in a practiced motion and flipped them in a sequential order essential for operation. He tapped on the display that housed communications and input a sequence of numbers. After testing that it worked, he began broadcasting on a wide frequency on all bands.

“Emergency. This is Star Runner 4311, Pilot Jay Kurt. Broadcasting to any military or authority vessel. We have news of an attack on Draxis from an unknown party. Over!”

With no immediate response, he felt that perhaps the short-range comms were still broken. He tried calling many more times before simply looping the message. He expanded his already limited range of frequency and proceeded to manually advance toward the closest Stellar Fleet affiliated outpost, still broadcasting his message.

He spooled for a Slip-Stream Jump and just before it was charged, his ship rocked, and his shields flickered before ultimately fading from existence.

“What happened!” Jay yelled.

“I don’t know, but we weren’t locked! We don't have shields!” Kam replied.

Kam manipulated his screens and provided maximum power to the power core and diverted some of their thrust to shields to try to increase their regeneration. Jay, instead, began evasive maneuvers from an unseen enemy, but when shots flew wide from his rear, he reoriented his ship and began facing toward the shots, doing his best to make his ship unpredictable to lead. However, that tactic failed as his ship held no weapons. Whatever shields the ship regenerated we depleted in the initial run.

The ships flew past each other, Jay was able to glance at its silhouette. It was a slim-looking ship and larger than his own. It sported a dead green luster with a series of black markings on it. It was angular, with overt curves on the spine and bottom of the craft. The frame of the angles tapered toward the front, giving the overhead cross-section a look of an elongated trapezoid.

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

Jay wondered how it had followed him. His sensors didn’t reflect a Slip-Space Rupture, nor did it reveal if an enemy rode along in his jump. Which he feared was more than likely, given his severely damaged sensor array. As a result, he held a severe disadvantage.

He circled his ship in a reckless maneuver, and the two found themselves headlong towards each other, but Jay accelerated whatever he had left on his throttle to max and sped away. In the time it took for the enemy craft to circle back and train his sights on Jay, he was already too far. At least that's what he thought.

He looked at the radar at noticed that there was no signature, but his ship rocked once more with accurate shots of the enemy. With a ping on his radar, the signature of the enemy revealed it to be much closer than he believed.

An alarm rang and an indicator for a missile appeared on his visor. When it was close, he popped his flares and a series of thumps erupted from the ship and an explosion rang out from behind, the concussion still shaking his ship. He thought he was clear as he sped away, but in a split second, the icon for incoming missile flashed, and his ship was hit.

The ship spiraled out of control and Jay found himself fighting for control. When he did so, a fire erupted in the cabin and Kam tried to fight it, his once shattered helmet refitted with shoddy repairs atop his head.

When vying for control, and still under ever-slowing acceleration, shots passed the ship-wide and tracked toward his ship and when the red projectiles vanished, the ship rocked once more, this time spelling the end of their acceleration. Now his ship was at the mercy of inertia. Jay looked for a solution only to be met with grim failure, except for one. He resolved himself and sequenced for a timed scuttle of his ship, and a timer of three minutes appeared on one of the numerous cockpit displays. He removed himself from his seat and approached the fire-fighting Kam.

“Kam! We have to go! Now!” A look of worry and fear on his friend's face, “The ship is timed to blow! Grab the drive and prepare to jump!”

A moment of clarity came across Kam, and he scrambled to depart the drive for its slot. At first, he struggled because the mechanism for it was jammed. He grabbed one of his numerous tools to forcibly eject the drive, which was successful, and prepared his personal tank of oxygen, same as Jay.

Jay opened the door and, with Kam behind him, jumped. The ship they left behind continued on, and they fell behind the concealment of debris and smoke before his ship ultimately detonated.

The ship that once trailed them flew past them toward the remains of his ship and ultimately left upon the end of its investigation. When he thought they were safe, a pained scream erupted from Kam.

When he turned, Kam's face was pained and when Jay asked what was wrong, he pointed to his back. The canister for his oxygen was venting at a rapid pace, and so was part of his visor. Blood also erupted from the wound, and a piece of metal the size of his hand was lodged in his spine.

Fear and worry overtook him. He looked desperately on his person and on Kam's for a solution but found none that would help. As he continued looking, the weakened Kam put his hand on Jay, prompting him to stop.

“I'm sorry…” he started weakly, using what oxygen he had left to issue a final request, “I should have done… more… please… find… Alexandria… make sure she's… safe............”

Kam's eyes lost their light and his skin began to turn blue, then ultimately pale white. He felt a bump on his chest and noticed it was his friend's hand. In it was the drive and a portable distress beacon attached, it was Kam's last act. Jay returned in kind and held him, noticing, as he did so, that his friend's eyes closed for an eternal slumber.

Jay wanted to cry, one last time, but knew if he did so, all his oxygen would be wasted. Instead, he buckled down and held what little composure he had, drifting in the endless void of space.

He drifted into space for several minutes when he noticed a glare in the corner of his visor. He turned, and what he thought to be his savior was the same ship that had chased them into the Alteia System. Anger arose in him, but knew he could do nothing out here.

The ship slowed and oriented itself so that the rear faced Jay. The rear was smooth, with a circular portion of the rear he thought to be the entrance. He wished he had a sidearm to empty into the first soul that opened those doors but relinquished the thought. As it moved closer, the doors opened and two silhouettes appeared in black, a contrast to the white-gray interior and the light that reflected on its surfaces.

They inched closer, preparing to retrieve him and most likely leave his friend to the mercy of the void, lost to time. They were no more than fifteen or so meters before the actions of his captors grew rancid and fearful. It looked like they wanted to expedite the process, and the ship began moving closure at a faster pace. However, their efforts ended as quickly as they started.

A piercing light of blue found its way into the upper hull of their ship with a brilliant shatter of their shields with melted slag peering from its edges followed by a burst of green flames.

Another round found its mark, this time arcing its way from above Jay into the open compartment, rendering one being completely obliterated and the other without an arm. Of course, the round continued on and found its mark through the center of the ship. It jolted forward and clumsily moved away, erratically veering direction with an unintended course.

Flames were already enveloping the ship, but a third shot found its mark true and the ship exploded in its failed getaway. Jay wanted to turn to meet his savior, but he was already running low on oxygen and his eyes began to feel heavy.

However, his curiosity and his fear were alleviated when a ship sporting steel gray and navy blue came before him. Its rear ramp opened and the familial uniform of the Navy appeared. Before they could bring him into the ship, his eyes closed, no longer able to keep their contact with his saviors…

… In a room, a man stood beside a bed of the resting pilot. The room itself was moderate, with off-white colored walls with wooded accents, providing the room with a subtle warmth as the overhead lights reflected off the surface. A name of ‘Kurt, Jay’ was posted on the foot of the bed, with the patient still unconscious.

“Should we wake him?” spoke a female voice beside the man. She wore her standard service uniform, which consisted of a long sleeved gray and blue shirt and black neck tab, with a similarly colored gray and blue dress skirt. In one hand, she held a portable tablet, and in the other, she wielded a stylus. The man could hear the light tapping of the stylus against the pad.

“We’ve already got what we needed. Prepare a statement to the 7th Fleet’s admiral of our findings. If this data is true, then we can’t wait.”

“Right away, Sir,” said the woman as she left, “I’ll also ensure this makes it to FLEETCOM,” to which he only nodded.

After the door closed, that had left only the Commander and Jay, with none of the nurses around to take his vitals. But as he turned to leave, he felt a tug on the hem of his uniform, forcing him to turn behind him. The person in question looked groggy, having just woken, their eyes red.

“You-,” Jay tried to speak, forcing what he could, which resulted in him coughing, “What, about Kam! Where is he?!”

The commander slowly rested his hands across Jay’s in a consoling fashion, “I’m sorry, son, he didn’t make it.”

Jay’s eyes began to water from the news, almost begging any divine power ‘why’, but found only himself and the Commander alone in the room. A hand was placed on Jay’s shoulder, calmly and forced him to face the man in a decorated Stellar Naval uniform.

“What do you plan to do about then?” the Commander questioned, causing Jay to stifle his tears. Anger then appeared in his eyes when he replied,

“I want to join the TRSC. The Raiders.”

The commander gave a hearty laugh to his request, but didn’t disregard it, “I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to have you. You sure you wouldn’t want to join the Navy? We could certainly use a pilot like yourself.”

Jay shook his head, “I think I’ll have to quit flying for a bit. Besides, I want to personally sort those bastards by self.”

“Can’t say I hate the spunk, kid,” replied the commander, “I’ll help set you up with a package then to fast track the recruitment process. And if you’re that eager, I might even be able to land you with a unit headed straight to combat.”

The mention piqued his interest, especially with how much the officer before him was willing to offer support for his enlistment, “What unit?”

“I suspect the 4th ODR Battalion, since they are the current unit combat ready. Which company they put you in, well, that’s up to them,” Jay simply nodded as the Commander continued, “But I know you’ll be in good hands since my daughter just so happens to be in the 4th Battalion. In the meantime, rest up. I’ll forward the package details later.”

“Yes sir,” replied Jay as he settled back into his bed.

“For now, it's just O’Clair, son. Rest easy now,” he said shortly before departing for the exit. It opened with a quick hiss followed by another hiss as it shut. Jay was now left alone in the room contemplating the most recent events. He was sad, but more than anything, he was angry. Angry at the beings that started it all. He wanted retribution above all, but for now, he rested. His injuries still subsiding from his escape and near capture.

He then closed his eyes, letting his exhausted body rest. When he was able, he would take his first steps to taking the fight to the enemy, should it be the last thing he does.