I'm the Wanderer - Among the Stars
19 Jun 2017User4296
Have you ever…The Cobra creaked as the frame resisted the sudden force pressed upon it, as the ship pulled into a tight loop.
Have I what?
The canopy flashed its familiar blue hue as the shields flared around the vessel.
Have you ever killed?
The starscape ahead zipped by as the ship completed its maneuver, finally coming to a stop as something new filled the view instead.
Sure. Everyone does, at some point.
The Viper's weapons flashed, but the ship was pointed in the wrong direction. It wasn't firing at the Cobra, but at something else off on the distance. The Cobra's shields came to life once again.
Do you regret it?
The immediate threat would have to wait - a different ship was firing on the Cobra. The one in front of it, though, was firing at the nearby Type 7 Transporter.
Regret what? Killing?
This would not be allowed. The pilot gently depressed the trigger. One didn't need a lot of force - a lot of pilots liked to jam on the trigger, as though it made the weapons fire faster or with more intensity the harder one mashed the button.
Yeah.
It didn't matter, though. The electrical impulses reached their destinations all the same, regardless of if one gently pressed it or if one squeezed it with all their might. Why waste the energy?
Out there, it's them or you. There's no time for regret. Either you act and live, or you hesitate and die.
All four of the Cobra's multi-cannons sprung to life, and raked the smaller ship with an onslaught of super-heated tungsten shards. The Viper's shields had already been stripped away earlier in the fighting, leaving the hull exposed. The barrage aimed at the other ship's cockpit tore into it, smashing through the canopy and into the compartment within. The other pilot, for all his skill, didn't stand a chance. The ship followed suit a moment later and disintegrated, which registered as a soft pop in the Cobra's virtual sound system, the mechanism that used the ship's scanners to monitor the surrounding area and approximate the sounds that objects would make if encountered in a planet's atmosphere, where such things traveled, and not the vacuum of space.
The pilot noticed that the Cobra's shields had stopped flaring. Instead, another Viper, which sported a different color of paint than the one the Cobra had just destroyed, pulled alongside and rolled back and forth slightly, wagging its wings. The pilot copied the maneuver.
"Come in, Steamrunner," the message panel beeped. It was the Type-7. "Thanks for the assist."
The pilot keyed the panel. "No problem. You got the package?"
"Yup. You'll want to move quick, though; not sure how long the info will be good for. Dropping data module now. Good luck." The Type-7's cargo hatch came open and ejected a single canister into the void. The Cobra's own cargo hatch opened, and scooped up the module as the ship passed by, scarcely slowing.
"Thanks," the pilot said. "I'll get this where it needs to go. Safe travels," he said next, as he angled the ship toward its next destination. In his rear view, he could see the other Viper form up with the Type-7, and the two turned off in their own direction. He'd never see them again, but that didn't matter. There was all sorts of work out here.
Out here, among the stars.