Chapter 2: A matter of life and death
24 Jun 2023Nick Euphrasia
“Look at this thing, it’s fuckin’ huge!” my brother said, carefully examining the bridge inside the Type-6.“Yeah well, it took a good chunk of change out of my pocket” I said as I recalled having spent over one million in credits.
“At least I don't have to think much of it by the time I’m done with training,” my brother said while facing my old Sidey. Since my graduation as a Commander, he decided to follow in my footsteps and get his license from the Pilots Federation.
Mom and dad were happy as they walked around the ship having a look at everything. I made sure to switch off the pulse lasers, so mum would not freak out.
We had dinner and talked about everything. My father said there were rumors about Thargoid aliens appearing in human space once again. I was glad for whatever reason, our system is far away from those.
Next morning I woke up, said my goodbyes, long hugs and exchanges as being out in the bubble, it’s rare for commanders to come home to their families. And with that I took off to Diaguandri, destination starport: Ray Gateway. I got a tip from some rumors going around commanders I graduated with, said that Ray Gateway’s got some discounts on modules and such, and is also a popular spot if you’re tight on budget. It’s quite the journey though, so I stopped by the nearest port and fitted a class five fuel scoop and made my way.
About halfway jumping across systems, I found myself in an anarchy system, my covas was warning my heat levels were rising “oh fuck” i said to myself, too close to the star, I got away and let my ship cool down before my next jump, 3 more jumps to Diaguandri, I did not pay attention to the name of this system, the state of the system is anarchy, and looks to be populated too, reminds me of home. But it didn't feel like home…
Something felt off, in my gut feeling I knew something was afoot (always wanted to use that in a sentence) . my comms showing 2 new contacts,,, 3 new contacts.. I check my nav panel, A vulture is behind me. I’m not stupid enough to turn my ship around for a scan. So I started charging up my FSD from 50 degrees, not taking any chances here.But just as I was charging up… ‘BOOM’ a loud sound followed by a blue cloud with my escape vector running off course. My ship was all over in supercruise, I wasted no time, I grabbed my controls, and maneuvered through the blue cloud aiming for the escape vector, seconds felt like hours… and I managed to escape… My ship was still in supercruise and aimed towards the nex star system’s vector, and charged my FSD. I got away, without a scratch. That was close, my arms and legs were shivering from the experience, palms were sweaty, my mind overthinking. I shrugged it off… I arrived in a high security system, docked on the nearest starport, had a few sips of the Lavian brandy I stashed away to calm my nerves. What an experience. Things could have ended badly if I didn't exit that escape vector. “Lets go Nick, time is money” I tell myself to suck it up and get to Diaguandri.