Hangar Tales - The Inquisition Prologue Pt 1
05 Sep 2024Ryan "No0delZ" Franklin
The lights flickered in the hanger as I approached the railing. With one hand, I unzipped the breast pocket of my suit and pulled out a pack of cigarettes."Smoking again?" a familiar, sultry, feminine voice called out from the shadows behind me.
With that same hand I flipped open the pack and slid the cigarette out partially before bringing the pack itself up to my lips, placing the cigarette inbetween and returning the pack to my breast pocket. It was a smooth, almost mechanical movement. Something well rehearsed.
"Yeah. What's it to you?" came the muffled reply from one side of my mouth.
I pulled out my Energylink tool and discharged a small spark, puffing inward a couple times. The smoke began to hazily fill the hangar bay as the lights flickered overhead. A familiar taste and aroma flooded my senses, and with it the world took on a certain focus and clarity. I placed the cigarette in my right hand, and grabbed the railing with both, gazing out at the Cobra MKIII in front of me.
"I'm surprised they still let you dock here." Leene said as she approached, leaning against the railing in the opposite direction.
"Yeah, well. This station would've fallen to the Federation without me." I raised my hand up and took another long drag before blowing the smoke out towards the ship. "It helps to have friends in high places... and I pay the fines." Another drag before I sent the ashes to the floor.
She tossed her hair to the side and looked over at me. "It's a wonder you don't set the fire suppression systems off, or at least the alarms."
Still not looking in her direction, I finished the cigarette and squeezed the cherry to put it out. Of course, through my suit, I didn't feel a thing. I turned away and took a step toward the nearby bin, then flicked the butt with perfect trajectory into the receptacle. The quietest ping could be heard as it landed. I checked my datapad for the payout details as we continued the dance. "They know my ritual. They turn them off for a few minutes after the ship's tucked in."
"Alright, then hotshot. So who was it this time?"
"John 'The Reaper' Smith... and his lackeys," I replied, and she let out a whistle hearing the name.
"That's quite a catch. So you killed death himself?" it was her turn to stare at the docked ship. I could just barely see her mixed expression of surprise and scrutiny.
"Not quite. You just missed them taking his escape pod away." Just as I finished, the datapad lit up as an Incoming Mission Critical Message dropped.
-IDENTITY CONFIRMED-
Fugitive: "John Smith" apprehended
Bonus Credits deposited: 500,000
Good work, Commander!
-END TRANSMISSION-
That brought the bounty up to 1.5 mil. With his crew out of the picture, it was just under 2.5. "Another step closer to the Anaconda." I thought to myself.
"Well, better l--" she started to say something, but found herself abruptly cut off.
I turned to look right at her and turned a palm up, halting her words.
What I was about to say to her would cut harder than the beams from a Fer De Lance...