Chapter 1: New Beginnings
23 Jun 2023Nick Euphrasia
I'm not going to say I started out special, like every commander I got my pilot license and a Sidey gifted by my parents to celebrate my officiality “At ease commander!” my brother said jokingly as he opened a bottle of Lavian Brandy- “Now don’t you get any bright ideas with those hardpoints” my mother said, obviously concerned for my well being.“Relax mom, he’s ranked Harmless” my brother said, this time I felt that, like I’m hopeless, if there was a rank for Hopeless, it would probably be imprinted on my forehead.
A commander is a title given to Pilots who graduated from the Pilots Federation, we were specially trained to man ships differently than others around the Galaxy. Our initials start with CMDR, therefore on paper, we will be addressed as CMDR.
I did not come from wealth or poverty. My family did what we could to feed ourselves and to blend in with society. I’m from Ngaledi, a system with no ties to any of the big factions, independent. We’re like those background NPCs in video games, you know. You don’t notice them, but they are there. I'm just another brick in the wall just like everyone, chasing after credits, upgrading my ships to better accommodate higher paying jobs. The galaxy to me at the time, was a big and intimidating sight to behold every time I open the galaxy map. I do have a slight "Fear of the unknown" but sometimes my curiosity gets the better of me. Heh, “sometimes”? I am not one for combat, no sir, I had never touched a gun in my life, nor have I taken the life of another. The thought of taking another’s breath was something I could not stomach. All those stories I’ve heard from around the galaxy, mostly sent chills down my spine. But I knew I had to start somewhere, this galaxy is not forgiving.
I only had the Sidewinder for a year, as more demanding jobs require bigger ships. Funny story is that I was in an old Hauler, took it off the hands of an old friend, said it was a gift from his parents back before he started working for the Feds. He’s a Rear Admiral now, respect was never missed every time he shows up in a Fed controlled system. Doesn’t call anymore either. Yeah well when you’re up there, you’re a busy person, you know, doing classified and specialized missions. He passed the ship to me in decent condition, still runs, a few bumps and knocks around the hull, but nothing serious, the 2C engineered shields still keeps space debris out. Cabin was well sealed, does have some trouble starting in the morning though, so I got an engineer to have it looked at, Felicity, old lady with a big heart. Wasn’t easy trying to get to her, of all the things she could have asked for in a favor. -Meta Alloys. Just one. Lengths I had to go through just to get a low grade fix on my Thrusters. Doesn’t charge me credits for the upgrades, she was willing to trade for parts and some data. The ship was “running” but I couldn't keep going with it.
Until one day I saw an ad by Lakon Spaceways in the RANA system, Zholobov Gateway. I happened to be there doing some courier work for the Independent Rana Labour. That’s when I saw it; the “Type-6 Transporter”, my eyes widened, my heart skipped for a moment as if I was in love. Two class five and two class four optional internals and they even throw in a few smaller class cargo racks along with a class 3E Shields. The pulse lasers were also included, all in for 1,045,950 Credits. I worked long hours, lost sleep and skipped meals on days, just to save up the 5 million credits I earned through courier and cargo transport work for years. I said to myself, “this is it, this is going to change my life, and hit the big leagues!” I walked over to the Shipyard counter. A pretty young lady about my age with light brown wavy hair, deep green eyes, with a cute smile, ‘Sheira’ her name tag reads, almost wanted to ask for her contact info instead of the ship, but the words came out asking for the ship. Or at least that’s what I thought when reality kicked in and “Commander?” looking puzzled, “Who? Me?” I said, as she chuckled “Yes commander, as you can see there is nobody else at this counter.” I blushed, one awkward event there I suppose. “Sorry, how long was I standing here?” I asked awkwardly, “not that long, but I know a daydreamer when I see one.” Who am I kidding, a good looking damsel like her would rather have a Navy Pilot take her out on a cruise liner trip instead. She’s way out of my league, swallowed my guts, I finally asked her about the ship.
As soon as we sorted the paperwork, she brought me to an advisor, who introduced himself as a retired ship engineer for Core Dynamics, Lucas, nice fellow, though he could have gone easy with that cologne he had on, nearly burnt my nose. While leading me on to the shipyard hangars, telling me about the specifications, rebuy costs and insurances, There it was; the gigantic graceful monster of a vessel before my eyes, the Type-6. Magnificent barebone metallic silver with maroon decals that spells Lakon all over it. A full view of the cockpit is seen through its gorgeous enhanced glass like front canopy, “I could bathe myself in a pool of stars through that thing…” I muttered to myself. Lucas brought me on board to have a look around the ship, he gave me a short briefing of each compartment of the ship, set up the Covas and system panels for me, and I signed the final page. Ship commands fully transferred to me. “Glad to see another smiling commander,” Lucas said, as he boarded off my new ship.
There it is, the cockpit, soft comfy leather seat with adaptive temperature, adaptive posture and flight controls all personally adjusted to my comfort. I took a deep breath as I smelled the “new ship smell” all around the cabin. “This is my new ship” I told myself, as I saw Lucas leaving the docking hangar, and gave me the green lights to launch, I waved goodbye, requested for launch sequence, pre flight checks done, landing gear decoupled, auto docking engaged, I switched to take over manual flight controls, as I plotted a course to Ngaledi, destination confirmed, I exit the map, quickly as I approach the mail slot. As I emerged outside the station, I was greeted with a full view of “everything” right before my eyes. Snuck a small grin as I cleared the station perimeters. As soon as I heard “You have cleared the No Fire zone, fly safely commander”, I said to myself “Sheira… what a nice name”, while charging up the Frameshift Drive.
As I aligned my new ship to the vector, the countdown started and I warped out of NARA, and made my way back to Ngaledi.
At that point in my life, a week later, everything changed…