Blaster fire roared around us, the blue energy bolts scorching the metal walls of the shuttle, leaving sizzling marks in their wake. I darted between cover, my heart pounding as the relentless barrage echoed in the narrow pass. The Ree were closing in, their boots pounding in sync like a war drum, reverberating off the metal and glass around us. Iggy was crouched ahead behind a metal container, his face twisted in frustration as he hurried to charge his pulse blaster.

“Pipsqueak! We’re running out of time!” he shouted over the din, his voice barely cutting through the relentless hum of laser fire. “‘Visit a new planet, ' you said. It’ll be fun, you said. I hope you have an exit strategy for this?””

“Why do you always have to moan?” I ducked behind a half-melted crate as blue bolts streaked past, evaporating chunks of rock and glass, sending them spraying into the air like dangerous fireworks. Gritting my teeth as I pulled out my railgun. “I mean, some of these guys are probably from another planet, right? It’s not my fault they’re trying to kill us!”

Iggy gave me a look that said it was definitely my fault, and truth be told, he wasn’t wrong. I had caused a bit of trouble with the Ree. and it turned out the Ree ran this whole star system. And wouldn’t you know it they liked to keep grudges?

My Haste buff was still on cooldown, and I needed it now. There were far too many guns. It was like someone had turned the sky sideways and unleashed a rain of glowing death, all aimed at us.

I squeezed the trigger, and the rail gun crackled to life, spitting out sizzling bolts of energy. The air shimmered as the shots cut through the atmosphere, each one a white-hot streak. I had found the rail gun sitting on Iggy’s workbench a few weeks back. He had meant to surprise me with it, or so he claimed when I “borrowed” it.

“I was gonna surprise you, Pipsqueak!” he’d grumbled. “Fix it up for you.” He’d always had his eye on it.

Still, it was easily my best weapon, though it seemed like these Ree soldiers were soaking up shots like they’d been dipped in energy shields. It was taking far too many rounds to drop them.

The ship, or shuttle, was an upgraded version of the one I had won off Trilberry. Still old and rusted in places, but a lot bigger—originally built for collecting asteroids or hauling large shipments across the system. The cargo hold we were in, though narrow, stretched a good hundred feet in length. Half-filled crates of strapping and hooks lined the walls, littering the floor with debris, providing us with the only semblance of cover in this chaotic firefight.

I fired off another shot, watching as the beam from my railgun sliced clean through one of the soldiers. He went down in a crumpled heap, but his buddies were closing in fast, moving along the ship to our entrenched position.

That’s when I saw it—a flicker of light in the corner of my eye. A plasma grenade, spinning lazily in the air, its deadly glow growing as it arced toward Iggy’s position.

“Iggy! Move!” I yelled, but he was already in motion.

Without a second’s hesitation, Iggy hurled himself out from behind the container just as the grenade detonated. The explosion was deafening, a shower of molten shrapnel ripping through the air. I heard Iggy curse in a mix of at least four different languages, clutching his side as a piece of metal lodged itself in his armor.

“Pipsqueak, we’re boxed in!” he wheezed, his voice strained.

I scanned the area. He was right. The only path ahead was the cockpit, but it had security doors. Getting them open and getting inside without being cut down by laser fire was impossible. The Ree was closing in, and we didn’t have much time or many options. My mind raced. We were outgunned, outnumbered, and pinned down.

Then I felt it—that gut feeling that always showed up when I was about to do something incredibly stupid.

“Haste is recharged,” Dave chimed in, his voice cool, almost smug. The AI had been stuck in my head for months now, guiding me through scrapes like this. Helpful, sure, but I still didn’t trust him. Not fully. Dave always had his own agenda.

“Perfect,” I muttered through gritted teeth, formulating a plan that might get us killed and would definitely hurt me a lot. But hey, if I was going down, might as well do it in style.

“Iggy, take cover. I’ll draw them out!”

Before he could argue, I launched myself forward, activating the Haste buff. That familiar surge hit me, muscles tensing with power, as the world blurred into slow motion. Everything around me crawled—the energy bolts, the enemies, even the dust kicked up by the battle. I sprinted toward the nearest Ree soldier, ducking under a volley of shots, and vaulted onto the ridge’s ledge, narrowly avoiding a plasma burst that scorched the ground behind me.

I fired three shots in rapid succession, aiming for the heads of the three soldiers pursuing us. The first two hit clean, burning perfect circular holes straight through their skulls, steam rising from the scorched flesh. The third soldier, however, twisted his head at the last second, dodging the shot with movements that were almost too quick.

“I think you’ll find this opponent also has the Haste buff,” Dave chimed in, completely unhelpful as usual.

“Thanks for the heads up, genius. Tell me something I don’t know!”

“Very well, old boy. He’s two levels higher than you, currently sitting at level 74. He activated his Haste after you did, which means his will last longer. I’d estimate your buff runs out first.”

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Fantastic. Just what I needed.

I landed behind the third attacker, taking in his appearance. He was tall and thin, almost skeletal, like someone had stretched skin over a frame of bones. Before I could react, his foot slammed into my gut, and I was airborne, crashing several feet back into the shuttle’s wall.

Not good. If my haste ran out before his, I’d be toast in seconds. As I tried to regain my footing, a blast from a rifle whizzed by my head in slow motion, courtesy of Iggy still firing. Problem was, I was now in his line of fire.

“Watch it, Iggy!” I growled, narrowly avoiding another shot.

“Don’t stand in front of the target, Pipsqueak!” he barked back.

I was out of options. “Dave, suggestions?” I asked, hoping the AI would finally come through for once. Silence. Typical.

A gust of wind hit my back, and I glanced over my shoulder. The shuttle door had been damaged by the firefight. Its hinges loosened, leaving a gap in the seal. The wind whipped through, stirring up dust and debris.

Then it hit me—a stupid, reckless idea. But stupid and reckless was kind of my specialty.

I charged headfirst at the attacker, dodging the sluggish blaster beams aimed at my head.

5 seconds remaining on Haste buff, the system message blinked in my peripheral vision.

I slammed my shoulder into the tall man, grabbing his arm and locking it over my shoulder. He struggled, his foot slipping on the floor, allowing me to lock his arm in place.

4 seconds remaining on Haste buff.

The attacker managed to get a shot off; the beam scorched into my lower back. He struggled to yank his arm free from my grip as he regained his footing. I raised my free arm, aiming my railgun at the damaged shuttle door.

3 seconds remaining on Haste buff.

Pain erupted from the center of my back, spreading slowly, like fire crawling across dry wood. Time dilation made every sensation drag out painfully, offering no relief, just a stretched-out agony. Another shot seared through my body. I could feel the beam of energy carving its path, exiting through the other side of me like a slow-moving snake. I squeezed the trigger, firing my railgun at the shuttle door.

2 seconds remaining on Haste buff.

Both beams—mine from the rail gun and his from the blaster—seemed to drift through the air. Twin lines of light, headed straight for the weakened door. My opponent wrenched his arm from my grip, spinning me around to face him.

1 second remaining on Haste buff.

I met his eyes and grinned. He looked back with a mixture of confusion and anger, clearly unaware of what was about to happen.

Haste buff has expired.

The shuttle door exploded with a deafening roar. Air whooshed out, creating a powerful vacuum that ripped through the bay, pulling everything toward the gaping hole. Both the attacker and I were sucked into the void, tumbling uncontrollably into open air.

As the wind rushed past me and the ground sped toward me, the only thought running through my mind was: How the hell did I get here?

Six months ago, I had been on top of the world—or at least, as close as you could get to being on top in this virtual hellscape. After putting Iddy in charge of my city, Sefia, he’d been swamped with quests to hand out. At first, they were small tasks, all linked to improving the city—a bit of construction here, a bit of resource management there.

But to solidify control over the city and assert dominance on the planet Bovidi, some tougher quests needed handling. Like this one: Align with a neighboring faction to strengthen your claim on Bovidi.

You’d think it would be simple—probably just a diplomatic issue, maybe a few trade agreements, and we’d shake hands over an official pact. It could’ve been that easy if it weren’t for the Ree Clan, who had a habit of attacking us every time we left the city. Twice now, Iggy and I had attempted to meet with the Talrans, who were outside this star system and beyond the Ree Clan’s influence. And both times, the Ree had been waiting.

Honestly, if it weren’t for Sefia’s temporal shielding and the new Alpha Centuries guarding the place, we’d have been wiped off the planet by the Ree long ago. And if we didn’t solidify our claim on Bovidi soon, that could still happen.

Which is how I ended up on this godforsaken mission.

It started simple enough—meet the Talran representatives, discuss terms, then head back home. But of course, nothing ever goes according to plan.

The Ree had been watching. Waiting. And just as we were about to leave the atmosphere, they attacked. They’d placed bounties on my head—dead or alive, though “preferably dead” was the general sentiment plastered on the wanted posters. Insulting, really.

It was all because of some trouble I’d caused them months ago. Okay, fine—I may have killed one of their members, Old Wrig. But trust me, he deserved it. Still, at this point, keeping track of who wanted me dead and why had become an exhausting exercise.

What followed was a blur of blaster fire, explosions, and chaos, and now here I was—falling. Again.

The wind screamed in my ears as several canisters from the shuttle whizzed past, spinning wildly as they plummeted. A quick glance at my inventory told me everything I didn’t want to know: no parachute, no jetpack, and my health was dropping fast. Fantastic.

I could almost hear Iggy’s voice in my head, calling me an idiot for jumping without thinking. And he was right, of course. But I wasn’t about to admit that.

The ground was approaching fast. This was going to hurt—a lot.

Suddenly, a familiar hum filled my ears. A voice. Not Iggy’s, or Dave’s voice, though. This one was colder, sharper. A notification from Administrator 171. I hadn’t heard from them in months. They’d said seven days the last time we spoke, not seven months.

I checked the notification in my user interface: Administrator 171 would like to meet. All external hardware has been repaired. Debuff 171 can be removed. There are no safety concerns.

“No!” I shouted, frustration bubbling to the surface. Not now. That debuff was the only thing keeping me alive, the only reason I thought this crazy stunt was even remotely possible. Sure, I wouldn’t actually die—I’d be ejected from the network, that’s all. And since I wasn’t classified as a prisoner, I could reenter. But with a rogue AI embedded in my brain? That was a whole other problem.

The first hint of that, and they’d slap me with a charge. Iggy had been thrown into a twenty-year sentence just for looking into modded hardware. Smuggling an AI? That would be a death sentence.

Before I could think of another way out, the ground hit me. Hard.

The impact sent a sickening squelch through my body, every bone and organ seeming to liquefy from the force of it. My vision blurred, turning red as my insides burned with plasma-hot pain. I tried to scream, but my body refused to respond. The red at the edges of my sight grew darker, shrinking inward. I passed out.

Next Chapter Release 25/09/2024 12:00GMT