Note: Excuse what I think is rather poor writing in some places in this one. It was a school assignment, so I tried to convey and explain the EVN universe as best as possible while keeping the drama. Enjoy. : )
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The first couple of months were the hardest. After that, things were okay, but that first month... I could hardly stand it. It wasnt the pain. I was used to pain. It was just getting used to not having- well, I guess I could be clearer about the whole incident.
It was only seven or eight years ago, but I remember pretty much everything that happened. You dont forget something like that. I remember my first ship, which Id named the Silver Dragon, after the nickname of a friend of mine. She was great, a real beauty, I always used to think. It wasnt a big ship, or a powerful ship, but it got me where I needed to be, and took my cargo where it needed to go. Thats what I was. A delivery boy, pretty much. I got to call myself captain, but I didnt do much except ferry goods here and there, this planet to that one, this star to the next. I didnt do much, but people seemed to appreciate me. After only a year, I could afford a ship that Id had my eyes on for a long time. It was a top of the line model, the Sigma 710 Starbridge. I called mine the Archon. Most trading pilots would buy one of these eventually, and upgrade them as they saw fit. I liked mine pretty much the way it came. That doesnt mean I kept it the way it was, no, by the time I stopped pouring money into my ship, I couldve traded it in for a Cargo Frigate, but I saw no need. I was happy with what I had. But thats just where things started.
I was on a cargo run out to the planet Xyon orbiting the yellow/white star Enlightenment. I swear, the early galactic explorers must have all been philosophers, considering what they named everything. I can tell youve never been to Honor, or Serenity. Theres even the planet Hearth in the Homeland system. I swear. Well, Id made it to the Enlightenment system, and everything was going smoothly. There was a marauding fighter ship in the system, a Viper. Marauders are the true scum of the galaxy. They will attack anyone they think they can get a few bucks from. No rules, no morals. Even the pirates, a relatively organized government, despise the marauders. I quickly thrashed the Viper, making the planets Kismet and Xyon appreciate my existence that much more. I had a bit of a reputation for dispatching any evil I come across. The truth is, marauders bug the hell out of me. So we arrived in the docking bay, that is, my crew and I. I was the pilot, and there was Doug, the copilot, Sara, the chief engineer, and David, the communications officer. Wed all met because they needed jobs, and I had a ship with no crew. We arrived at the spaceport, and dropped off the cargo, we had about an hour or two to kill before we had to leave again. I think I just ended up wasting my time in the bar. Im not sure what the others were doing.
Well, when it was finally time to head out, we got our clearance to leave and everything, but something seemed strange. I couldnt put my finger on it, but something was out of place. We cleared the atmosphere, and were heading out to the edge of the system, when we got a call on the emergency frequency. A small freighter had been disabled and was stranded, so I decided to go after it with the ship. It was my only mistake. I couldnt control the rest.
We got aboard the ship, and no one was there. Before we even closed the airlock from our ship, we heard a warning siren blare to life. Someone was attacking us. We rushed back aboard the Archon, our ship, as the disabled vessel fell apart seconds later from marauding attackers. My crew and I sprang into action. I dont remember all of the maneuvers we made, all I remember is that they were faster. It was clear they were using illegal technology, our ship was disabled in minutes. They attached their ship to ours. We waited in the corridor, blaster pistols ready. They opened the airlock, we fired. We stood no chance. They threw a flash grenade, temporarily blinding my crew. I had the good fortune to turn away, recognizing what the glowing orb was as soon as I saw it. I saw the marauders stunning my disabled crew before taking them back aboard their ship. Then they saw me. I fired shot after shot of blazing fury at them, but they got to me anyway. Thats when it happened. They shot at my face. I saw the one who did it. She had dark brown hair, with a streak of blonde, down to her shoulders. She wore what could expect from a marauder, the dark black suits and armor coverings, and dark brown steel boots. She was beautiful, in her own way, with her blaster pointed straight between my eyes. She fired. I must have expected the shot, because my arm was in the way, over my eyes, by the time she fired. But it wasnt enough. The blast went straight through my arm, and obliterated my eyes. All I could feel was pain, and I wanted to die. But they didnt kill me. They left me. They took everything, and left me. I did manage to escape, using my ships escape pod to get to safety.
Since that day, Ive never flown again. I never saw my crew again. The space lanes were dangerous enough for those who could see danger, but they are suicide for those who cant.
