Chapter 6 - Arrival
12 Apr 2021Rsimpson500
The sky outside the cockpit was stunning. There were so many white-blue stars, it was like a dazzling net of diamonds draped over the universe. The Marcus Aurelius scythed through the void, skimming the corona of an M-class star for the last scoop before the Teal Nebula. 
“This is it” I thought; “somewhere in that beautiful place is my father’s last Guardian site before he vanished”. As the view outside the ship warped into a tunnel, I had a glance - for the thousandth time - at his tattered journal. “I have to find a site on a grey-red planet, under a sea of stars, with the longest row of terminals you’ve ever seen”.
I arrived at the system - located in Canonn’s archive of Guardian sites - and started up the FSS. It didn’t take long before I found a good candidate and headed over there. Once in orbit I fired off the DSS, waited for the results, then headed in on final approach to the first site I saw.
I was almost trembling with excitement - the planet was dusty and grey-red. As I dropped out of glide, I saw three complex Ruin sites and headed for one that looked like a large key, jutting into the surrounding desert. As the ground got closer, I saw a huge row of data terminals, along the whole length of the key, twice as long as any I’d ever seen before.
“Can it really have been so easy? The first site I surveyed...could this be it?” Almost as soon as the landing legs made contact, I jumped up and ran to the back of the ship. The SRV remote-control interface was in the cargo bay - a seat, VR interface and controls much like the pilot’s seat.
I’d build up quite a collection of cargo, mostly mined materials in neatly-stacked boxes, and wound my way through them as fast as I could. I reached the interface then, just before plugging into it, paused. “If this is really the final site, the key to finding my father, I want to experience it for myself”. I turned to the left, taking a stride towards the rack of exo-suits, when it happened.
The SRV interface exploded in an ear-splitting crash, the top half of the seat shredded and torn back by 90 degrees. I was flung off my feet by the explosion, ending up face-down next to a cargo crate. Stunned, my ears ringing, I slowly twisted around to see what had happened, when I saw a small skimmer, armoured and armed with two underslung shard cannons, whirring menacingly towards me.
I was numbed by the shock of it - I was 20,000 light years from the Bubble, alone on my ship. How could this be happening? As the skimmer approached, I noticed it was glowing red and emitting a growing high-pitched hum. The cannons were charging again, and this time they were pointed at my head.
At last I started to see clearly - death was moments away unless I did something, and fast. I scrambled backwards, throwing myself behind a row of crates, just as the next round fired. The crates were full of Tungsten and the rounds bounced off, peppering the skimmer and causing it to wobble and lurch. I leapt up, stumbling, and ran towards the armoury, desperate to get myself armoured and able to fight back. Just before I reached the armoury doors, the skimmer whirred around the corner and immediately opened fire.
My right leg was hit, cruelly torn to pieces by shards of metal. I was spun around by the force, cried out in pain and fell to the ground.
It was over. I had no weapons, I couldn’t move and the skimmer was advancing on me. I watched in horror as it advanced within arms-length, pointing its weapons at my head. I was starting to feel faint, as blood seeped from my wounded leg and my vision became hazy. Instinctively I shielded my eyes with my arm, waiting for death.
“SHRR-BOOM”.
I felt nothing. Could it have missed me? Was I dead? Without any real hope, I opened my eyes.
The skimmer was still just above me, but it had a glowing hole blasted through its centre. It wavered, lurched from side to side, then fell backwards to the ground in front of me. As I looked up, my vision narrowing into a blurry tunnel, I saw a tall woman in a manticore combat suit, holding a smoking plasma rifle.
As she started to run towards me, calling my name, my vision finally narrowed into nothing and I slipped into unconsciousness…
To be continued.