As Tanwen took them towards the planet’s forest green surface, following the flight path of the Sparrow, Malan browsed his completed quest notifications. He’d complete two, the mission commanding him to survive, and the one that had appeared later to go with his decision to rescue the Sparrow.

The latter had given him a smattering of resources and a pat on the back. The resources once again did little for him at the moment. A few units of various metals and polymers he just had to trust would be useful in the future. The former, however, had given him a permanent 2% buff to his stat totals upon opening and reading the notification, and the option to [Advance this Quest?].

Naturally, Malan accepted that option immediately, seeing no real reason not to. A new quest notification popped up, and he read it as his ship rumbled gently into the planet’s atmosphere.

Quest Advanced: Starbound.

You have taken the first steps along a gruelling journey, and now you must discover how that journey will proceed. The Celestial Nexus calls its new Starbound home to join the fight, and he will have no choice but to answer. Rewards: A new Title, Stat Buffs, A choice of one of three upgrades for you Starbound.

1 . Travel to the Celestial Nexus in the Alpha Centauri system and announce yourself.

Malan ran a hand through dark, messy hair and leaned back in his chair. The phrase ‘he will have no choice’ rankled him immensely, but at the same time, he couldn’t exactly argue. Alpha Centauri was where humanity had discovered the Celestial Nexus, an enormous tear in the Galaxy, not unlike an Abyssal rift—except that instead of leading to a hellish alternate reality teeming with monstrous abominations, it allowed ships that access to a network of extra-dimensional passageways one could fly through to travel almost instantaneously to a new location.

Mapping this network laid the foundation for jump drive technology to allow individual ships to open temporary rifts and allow themselves access to the network in order to jump. Humanity had raced to master this technology, and by that point in human history sovereign corporation states threw everything they had at winning control of the fortress and by extension, extra-system space travel.

The end result was a war across the stars unlike anything humanity had seen before. Humanity set the galaxy alight in search of profit, and it was from the ashes the UGC had risen. Broken peoples from every faction united to end it, and by the end, it was they that held the fortress and Nexus, and they who set the course for the future.

Centuries later, they still held it. And—at least publically—they still held to that goal. Once humanity began unearthing Starbound, they made the fortress, which now served as the home of UGC high command, their base of operations. All new Starbound were trained there. Outfitted. Supplied. Given orders.

The advantages to him going there were great, of course. Though they technically did not work for the UGC, the two were so closely entwined they may as well. Seeing as he currently didn’t have so much as a bottle of water, the level of supplies and support provided were incredibly tempting—not to mention the temptation of learning from some of the more established Starbound.

The disadvantage, however, was the fact that it was the UGC who gave the orders and assignments.

Like most glorious revolutions, the UGC has begun from a desire to change the world for the better. And, like most glorious revolutions, whatever good intentions they’d had were tainted by power-grubbing, corruption and greed.

Being totally honest, most overstated how bad it actually was. Most of the people who were UGC were decent people, trying to help in whatever small ways they could. It was just that it didn’t take many bad apples to spoil the bunch, when those apples made decisions that decided the fate of entire worlds. Of course, the choice was largely a moot one. If he didn’t go, he’d likely find himself surrounded by a small group of more powerful Starbound asking if he would like to come and check it out. Very polite. Very amenable. Very clear that the question mark was really only a courtesy.

None of this changed the fact that he simply did not want to go. Not yet. The healing of his physical wounds had been instant, but he needed a moment to breathe. To think, and absorb everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. A few days of quiet on a small outer worlds colony sounded like the perfect opportunity to do just that, outside of any supplies that he might have needed. That, and he wasn't entirely comfortable leaving Elena here stranded whilst the Sparrow was stuck in-system.

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No. He could afford to take a few days. It would be almost impossible for the UGC or the Nexus to get news of him in that time, and the immediate, life-threatening danger of the Abyss had been left behind, at least for a time. Then, once the Sparrow was up and running, they could go their separate ways, and Malan would go to the Nexus.

“Unidentified vessels currently entering the atmosphere of Mykeser: You are currently on an approach vector for Caezo Prime: Please identify or abort current approach, failure to do so will result in defensive action being taken.”

The static of the comms and the slightly wary male voice that followed, clearly from the landing port of the colony they were headed towards, forced him to give his full attention back to the displays at the front of the bridge. They had broken through the planet’s atmosphere and were currently soaring towards the outpost in question above cloud level.

Below he could see an ocean of deep green, a vast jungle canopy that from orbit seemed to stretch across the entire planet’s surface. From here, he could see the twisting rivers that threaded through the green, and the flat-topped peaks that the jungle had grown around. The central viewing screen lit up with indicators, showing dozens of different indicators related to planet conditions and the kinds of life forms being detected below, whilst on the leftmost screen, the system map updated with the name of Mykeser’s human colony.

That surprised him for a moment, before he realised it really shouldn’t. The ship’s computers were tied directly to him now, and everything he learned would also be learned by Tanwen and stored away for use.

“This is Elena Vasquez, captain of the Sparrow. We’re an independent research crew stationed in the Nolin system, here for a supply run.”

“Copy that. Myskeser’s a long way to come for supplies,” he answered, leaving the obvious question unspoken. “Who’s your friend?”

“An Abyssal incursion had us hauling ass. To be honest with you, we barely got out. We’re need somewhere to sit tight and repair for the home journey. And my friend here is the Starbound that answered our SOS in time to get us out.”

Malan let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding at Elena’s half-truth. He honestly hadn’t been sure how he would go about explaining who and what he was to these people. A lie about the kind of ship Tanwen was wouldn’t have gotten by somebody who knew even a little bit about technology, and the truth would reveal him to be new. Vulnerable.

This wasn’t UGC territory, and as much as Malan fundamentally believed most people were good, he wasn’t naïve enough to think that a new and untrained Starbound wouldn’t be thought of as a tempting opportunity for somebody especially greedy or desperate enough.

The comms crackled again. “Starbound? Holy shi— I mean—”

There was a break in the comms, and a noise that sounded supsiciously like muttering beneath the static, before the operator returned with a nervous cough. “Ah, both vessels are cleared for landing, Captain Vasquez. Welcome to Caezo Prime.”

The operator left the comm channel, and Elena chuckled. “Well that’s set the cat among the pigeons, eh Malan? God, I’d almost forgotten what a stir landing with a Starbound can kick up, especially out in the indies.”

“I’d really rather it wouldn’t,” Malan answered, deadpan.

“Get used to it. In UGC territory—especially in smaller systems—you’re going to have to reckon with more sycophants than you can shake a stick at. Starbound wield a lot of power, and I’m not just talking about those ships. Most of everyone will want a piece. Out here though?” Elena said, deadly serious, even over the comms.

“You just make sure you stay frosty, Malan. There’s a lot more fear than there is reverence, and fear can turn people real stupid, real fast. All the ship in the world won’t help you if someone shanks you in a bar because they got scared you were here to bust whatever pissant operation they had going on.”

“Got it,” he replied. “In and out. Get what we need and leave as soon as your jump drive is back up and running.”

“Please, kid. You should be leaving well before we’re ready to. You have too many places to be for you to be hanging around waiting for us.”

He made to respond, but hesitated as the Caezo Prime outpost itself came into view. It was set in a huge area of cleared jungle, nestled in the arc of a large, crescent-shaped plateau mountain. Enormous, cold grey metallic tunnels joined dome-topped metallic buildings, mismatched sheets of metal smattered across their surfaces, a visible record of the colony’s struggles to repair and maintain its infrastructure. They surrounded an enormous central structure that was a mix round-topped roofs and reaching hydroponic and residential towers.

Tucked away behind the largest structure, directly in the deepest part of the crescent, was a small port with small shuttle vessels nipping in and out in a steady stream. There were three landing pads, each big enough for two or three large ships to set down at, and from here, Malan could see the largest of them quickly clearing vessels away.

He checked the flight plan Tanwen had mapped and scoffed—they were clearing an entire pad for them, despite Tanwen and the Sparrow not being even close to big enough to warrant that. The red carpet treatment, then, which begged the question, of course: What do they want?

Another, slightly more cynical side of him couldn’t help but wonder if it wasn’t so much what do they want, and more what are they trying to hide?