Chapter 10: A sleepless night
24 Jun 2023Nick Euphrasia
I arrived at Stott Entertainment Site, guards seem to be on patrol, but something seems different, as I dock and disembark, the moment I enter the site, I was greeted with,“Hang on commander, this will only take a moment” as she pulls out a scanner and scans my entire suit.
“Looks clean, move along commander” she said as she continued her patrol.
There are more guards here than usual, maybe something is going on…
I made my way to a nearby Kiosk to check for rooms. Bingo, just one left, after securing my transaction, another guard showed up and the same scan happened. I guess something really is going on here.
I have my gun holstered and they don't seem to mind, with the title CMDR you’re able to walk around anywhere in the galaxy with a weapon on you, as long as you meet the regulation standards.
I head to my room, and take the load off, ease off on the boots, set my clothes aside and hit the showers. By the time I exit the showers, I noticed some flashing lights outside the window.
I quickly put my clothes on and looked outside the window.
I switched on my scanner and found a hostile, it looks to be…… “another Commander” I muttered as I looked at the scan results. I manage to make out what appears to be a Maverick suit he’s got on. The settlement security is opening fire on him, he seems to be in a tough spot. For my own safety I geared up and had my gun at the ready.
I heard footsteps outside my room, I remembered my training, I held my gun firm in my grip. That’s when my arms and legs started shaking, “come on, I need to buck up” I muttered to myself.
I aimed my gun at the door, focusing on the sights, shaking.. I keep shaking… Why won't I stop shaking? What is this feeling? So many questions started flooding my mind. Deep down I realized and it begs the question… Am I really cut out for this? I can't even hold up a gun to protect myself in times of danger… Is this universe meant to have me? Or am I here on borrowed time…
[Target Neutralized] The notification on my scanner came up, I gently lowered the gun with the safety still on. I should start looking elsewhere. If I can't even protect myself, how can I protect others? If it wasn't for the security team outside, I wondered how things could have played out….
Maybe I should consider what Commander Phoenix is up to.. Out in the black, scanning for planets, earning through Cartographics… It's good money, and I don't have to put up with hostiles. I pulled up my holo and checked Galnet news… seems the superpowers are busy with their own war… as I lay down on the comfort of the bed, lost deep in thoughts. I slowly drifted away, into sleep.
The next day, I looked around, making sure I left nothing behind, as I exited the room, a couple of security officers were outside “good morning commander, this will only take a moment” they scanned me “Hey uh, so I saw what happened last night, is everything okay?” I was concerned about what happened.
“Nothing serious, just a few of our officers suffered minor injuries, don’t need to worry commander, we can handle ourselves” He said casually. It’s as if this is normal for him and his team. I wish I had your guts… I said to myself deep inside as I made my way to my ship.
Surprisingly barely any scratch on it, the shields must’ve done a really good job.
Pre-flight checks complete, I launched, and headed to the Zholobov Gateway.
At the starport, I picked up the cargo job of 64 tons of Superconductors, decent pay too, about 1 million in credits, bonus of 750,000 credits if I arrive earlier, along with a few courier parcels to be sent to the same station in Eravate, Cleve Hub. As soon as the ground crew loaded up my cargo. [Cargo Hold at Maximum Capacity] the Covas announced as soon as I hit 64 tons.
One of the ground crew gave me the thumbs up and the o7. I took off, plotted my way to Cleve Hub in Eravate.
Soon as I arrived at the system, my nav panel showed plenty of other commanders here too, some in Fer-De-Lances, some in Dolphins, and one was in this huge monster of a ship, the Type-9. “That’s more like a planet than a ship” I sarcastically mumbled to myself. When I arrived at Cleve Hub, I unloaded the cargo. Might as well take the load off and head inside the concourse. As usual I was greeted with pilots and lots of other commanders too. I headed over to the bar and ordered some food and drinks. Not so different really, about the same menu in Rana. After I had my fill, I walked over to Vista Genomics. An attendant there greeted me “Good morning commander” She said, obviously in a good mood “Thank you, I’ll have a look around” I replied, she nodded and attended to another commander. This place looks amazing, I found what looks like samples of alien bacteria and plants in test tubes around the store. Fascinated by some of the glowing tubes, I spent a decent amount of time looking around.
I looked at the time, it’s almost afternoon, I walked back to the hangar, and picked out another job. 50 tons of insulating membrane, to be transported to Lounge Holdings in Ekuru. 19.8Ly away. Looks good to me, and only one jump. Pay is a little lower at the 850K credits mark.
Hmm, it's only one jump, I’ll take it. Once I confirmed the transaction, the ground crew dispatched and loaded my cargo with the product. While I sat in the pilot seat, I plotted my route to Ekuru. I got the signal from the ground crew so I prepped for departure.
Soon as I exited the station, a commander in a sidewinder zoomed into the mail slot missing me by no more than a meter away. Is he crazy? Surprisingly he made it inside, I could hear the station control yelling at him over the comms. The station announced [You have cleared the no fire zone, we hope to see you again soon commander] … huh looks like my reputation grew quite a bit here. It’s nice to know I'm welcome somewhere. I charged my FSD and dropped into Ekuru, where Lounge Holdings is located.