Fixed a bug where the missile would not shoot in the Hunter Tutorial mission. It now functions as expected. Removed unnecessary social media links from the main menu.
New Map: Elder Fate Descend into the final map, Elder Fate! A disorienting twist of ancient vines and roots! Duck in and out and find your way! Don't be fooled by the lights! The final showdown between the runners and the hunters takes place here in a mysterious forest, perhaps o
Descend into the final map, Elder Fate!
A disorienting twist of ancient vines and roots! Duck in and out and find your way! Don't be fooled by the lights!
The final showdown between the runners and the hunters takes place here in a mysterious forest, perhaps older than time itself! If the runners uncover the secrets of this place and make it out, they'll be in the clear for good. However, the hunters are ready to make sure that doesn't happen!
Unidentified localization. System unable to track. (Error: 004586984) Her vision blurred from the jolt, Zephyr took a moment to shake her dazed state. "Zephyr, Turbine, Lotus, does anyone read me? This is Apogee. Please someone… respond!" a voice came from the comms. "Yeah this i
Unidentified localization. System unable to track.
(Error: 004586984)
Her vision blurred from the jolt, Zephyr took a moment to shake her dazed state.
"Zephyr, Turbine, Lotus, does anyone read me? This is Apogee. Please someone… respond!" a voice came from the comms.
"Yeah this is Zephyr..." she managed out in pain. "Zephyr responding."
"Oh thank god. Anyone else… open channel, this is Apogee."
"Apogee, this is Turbine. I'm intact but I think we lost Lotus in the jump".
As Zephyr looked around her, she could make out large stone branches winding around a huge structure. It was made of glistening white stone mostly covered by crimson foliage. This place was completely alien to her, but something in the back of her head made her feel calm.
Finally, shaking her impact, Zephyr opened on comms "This is Zephyr, all calls respond status."
"Apogee responding orange."
"Ordinal responding orange as well."
“Turbine here with the doc, orange.”
"Yeah my dash is lit up like a Christmas tree as well," Zephyr said, looking at her overwhelmed instruments, "Does anyone know where we are?"
Doctor Cal piped up from Turbine’s comm, "No, but… my deep level scanner is picking up a gateway. A strong one. Its output is easily 10... No, 15 times that of the previous gates!"
"Yeah, and I have the bad news." Ordinal said, like a rock was stuck in their throat, "I think I have visual contact with a Hunter carrier, looks like they jumped to follow."
The news, while awful, seemed to bounce off Zephyr. That was just how it went. They had always been followed, no matter what they tried. That had been the mode of operation the whole time for those blasted hunters. Her ragged band was out of time and needed to find a way to break the chase. For good.
~...you are welcome here…~
A vivid chorus of feeling rushed through Zephyr, her instruments resetting and clearing.
"Uh, guys, did anyone else's ship just reset?" Apogee exclaimed, confused.
"We don't have time for resets, they’re here!" Ordinal said, rushing his vessel back to the group, weaving through the winding arms of the structure.
~...they…are not… ~
“I think we’ll be okay…” Zephyr said calmly, seemingly without knowing it, “let’s just focus on getting that gate open and getting through.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Confirmed.”
“Yeah, let’s get to it.” The team sounded off, those with working comms at least.
As the carrier entered the region and dispatched two hunter teams, one of the large arms of the structure sprung out with stunning speed, wrapping itself around the carrier. Just the impact buckled sections of the hull. Then it began to squeeze.
Another massive, ancient branch rose from the darkness below and intercepted an entire team with one sweep.
Completely awestruck, Ordinal asked, “So uh, anyone else seeing the giant space tree fighting back?”
“Like I said,” Zephyr reaffirmed, “if we can get that gate open, we’re going to be just fine. One last jump.”
*Beep* You have 1 new vocomm, to view, press- New vocomm at 3:16 SDTR, from: “Dominic Tall” *Boop* ‘Ey Huss it’s Dom. Listen buddy I tink I got us an opportunity ‘ere. I got this uh, runner pilot, Ordinal ‘er somethin, says they been layin’ low for a while. ‘pparently they’re in
*Beep*
You have 1 new vocomm, to view, press-
New vocomm at 3:16 SDTR, from:
“Dominic Tall”
*Boop*
‘Ey Huss it’s Dom.
Listen buddy I tink I got us an opportunity ‘ere.
I got this uh, runner pilot, Ordinal ‘er somethin, says they been layin’ low for a while. ‘pparently they’re in some trouble yeah.
So I said to ‘em “what about it, I don’ want none of it” but they say dey’ve got a hunter transponder they willin’ a trade for access to that shindig you and Lanah got in ‘dat tower a yours. Y’know da one wit da glowin’ lights ‘n crap on it. The big donut or whateva. You don’ need me ta tell ya what we could do wit a transponder like dat, yeah?
Well, now don’ be mad, I made a deal. I say “‘ey sure c’mon down ‘a Sevingha, we lay low ‘ere too” ‘n gave ‘em your location. But, but, yeah I know you’re mad a’ready, I ain’t even talkin’ t’ya but I know it, but - I also pinged my ol’ pal Javilyn.
Yeah… now ya wheels ‘a turnin’ - she’s ‘dat ex hunter chick. The one wit’ ‘da mean right hook. Well turns out the hunter’s ‘a lookin ta pay big credits for information ‘bout ‘em runners.
So the way I see it, we gonna meet up wit em runner pilots ju’t outside ya place down by the tower, and do our exchange, but it just so happens that our friends the hunter’s will arrive to seal the deal. Y’get me?
I think we ‘a gonna be able a do big things in the near future buddy, big things.
*Boop*
End of message. Would you like to-
Vocomm, deleted.
Have a nice day.
*Beep*
Comet Research Station “Breacher” Jin sat watching the sensors. He went to take a sip of coffee but found it empty. Another ping ran deep through the ancient hunk of space ice, scanning the interior but turning up no further definite clues on the mysterious contents. Suddenly a b
Comet Research Station “Breacher”
Jin sat watching the sensors. He went to take a sip of coffee but found it empty.
Another ping ran deep through the ancient hunk of space ice, scanning the interior but turning up no further definite clues on the mysterious contents.
Suddenly a blast of light and noise echoed across the surface. A huge jet of frost and icy boulders ejected upwards, followed by a hail of starships.
“What in-” Jin said as he scrambled to get to the comms. But before he could, they began blaring out. “THIS IS A HUNTER OPERATION. ALL CIVILIANS ARE TO STAY BACK. IF YOU ENTER THE APPREHENSION AREA, YOU WILL BE CONSIDERED AMONG THE PERPETRATORS. REPEAT. THIS-” The message went on, its voice of god driving out all thought until Jin could shut it off. He looked out the window and saw, bewilderingly, a dogfight.
He sat there with his mouth open until he finally processed another sound. The scan had produced results?! He tore himself away from the window to look and saw readings that didn’t make any sense. A discontinuity in the spatial readings? Assuming the thing wasn’t busted, that could only happen if… But then he saw the energy pattern scan. Something was active inside this comet! Best estimates had rated this rock as around a million years old. In months of study, he hadn’t seen anything like this. He rushed back to the window, watching bursts of smoke and light above. Whatever was with these readings, it obviously had something to do with these ships. But where had they come from?
New Map: Undercity Soar into the latest map, Undercity! Deep within the supposedly uninhabited supports of a megastructure, this little nook of nightlife can be treacherous to navigate! On the run with nowhere to turn, the runners have been lured by promises of safety into a back
Soar into the latest map, Undercity!
Deep within the supposedly uninhabited supports of a megastructure, this little nook of nightlife can be treacherous to navigate!
On the run with nowhere to turn, the runners have been lured by promises of safety into a backalley trap! Will this dead-end be the end of the runners as well?
The gate was finally active. Zephyr, for the first time since the attack on the hideout, allowed herself a real, genuine grin. “Runners! Let’s get at it!” The pair of twin thruster units on the Updraft flared to their maximum intensity and she went streaking off, followed by the
The gate was finally active. Zephyr, for the first time since the attack on the hideout, allowed herself a real, genuine grin. “Runners! Let’s get at it!”
The pair of twin thruster units on the Updraft flared to their maximum intensity and she went streaking off, followed by the flock of fleeing ships, all speeding towards the swirling light and darkness of the gate in a shower of sparks and disrupting smoke amid Artemis’s cavernous hangar.
Within the newly reactivated Canopus Coast, Doctor Cal furrowed his eyes in concentration at the gate ahead. “Now, Mister Jeffords,” he spoke quietly to Turbine, “We re-enter the field of Experimental Physics.”
Upsilon 1 gritted his teeth as the runners disappeared into the swirling portal, out of their grasp. This was not the end! “Follow them!”
“But sir! There’s no way even they know where it leads! The likelihood of destruction-”
“Three, that was an order. The pride of the hunters is on the line!”
“...Yes sir. Forming up.”
Despite his confident statement, Upsilon 1 was nervous. This relic could send them straight into a star or worse. But it didn’t matter. He would catch his quarry, even if he had to cross through hell’s heart!
—------ - - - - - -
The gaggle of ships blasted out of the other end of the gateway. But things felt strange.
“-ny one -lse’s sens-rs going absolu--ly nuts?” Ordinal’s distorted question came through on the comms. Only problem was that Ordinal themselves hadn’t yet said anything.
But the question was apt. The Updraft didn’t have the most extensive sensor suite but what it did have would be no help. Her gravity-aligned altitude readouts were constantly shifting upside down and back around and her speed readouts were jumping ahead and back orders of magnitude.
And to top it off she was looking out at something impossible itself. Below them was a sea, rocks jutting out amongst the crashing waves, but above them as well was another identical sight. “Doc?”
“Ms. Sorris! This is a breakthrough! A revelation! We have somehow crossed over! The gateways- I always suspected the potential! I suspect it was the untethered nature of Artemis’s gateway that allowed it! Zehil’s Hypothesis - It’s proven! We are looking at the ‘Zehil Divide!’”
“Doc?”
“To put it simply, Ms. Sorris, We’ve entered a space between dimensions!”
Location: Outer rings of Salimus station, some shithole Time: Late, though could be early 12 days after the raid on New Caledonia The small band huddled over the ghostly light of a holo-table, poring over schematics. Spike pushed off and drifted away from the table in frustration
Location: Outer rings of Salimus station, some shithole
Time: Late, though could be early
12 days after the raid on New Caledonia
The small band huddled over the ghostly light of a holo-table, poring over schematics.
Spike pushed off and drifted away from the table in frustration. With a huff he turned back towards the group.
"Forget it. Artemis is a super-carrier. You know what that means? It means it could swallow every single one of us and our ships and still be hungry! And there ain't no getting out!"
Zephyr wasn't so sure. She brought up another angle on the readout they had managed to barter for of a ship that was supposedly the same model as Artemis. She said, mostly to herself, thinking aloud and trying to keep the mood from spiraling too far into despair, "So if this is the config, they'd likely be keeping 'em here and here. And the ships'd be in the hangar, locked behind multiple layers of pass-walls."
Radian slurped from a zero-g safe bottle as he idly stretched out his free-floating legs. "Well, the pass-walls might be no problem. The codes-"
Apogee spit, "Those 'codes' we got our hands on could be no good, or they could only unlock some of the layers."
Spike had drifted back closer to the table, his frustration pushed aside. "But we don't need all the walls to go down. And besides, if we get in and out quick enough. The big heavy duty ones won't be on."
A plan was finally coming together, but they had no intel on the enemy ships stationed in the hangar, either number or disposition. It was a big risk. But this was what it was all about. All for one, one for all. If they lost that, what had it all been for?
There was always the last resort. None there had mentioned it, but they all knew about the big toroid elephant in the room. Sitting in that hangar was one of the gates: Those mysterious wonderful dangerous things that had gotten them this far, although with a high price; A price high enough that many in the group weren't willing to pay it again. And that was for gates with an at least somewhat known endpoint. Artemis's little keepsake would be completely detuned from the odd network they had made use of so far. No one could know where it lead. Some had theories, but Zephyr left that kind of nonsense to Doctor Cal.
Best keep that to a last resort. All she knew was their people and their ships were locked in the belly of the beast, and it was time to make like Jonah.
Local Spacial Grid Coordinates 30 hours after the raid on New Caledonia Integer checked the coordinates a second time. They were getting close to the distress signal’s origin but no response to any of his hails. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Lotus spoke on the open comms.
Local Spacial Grid Coordinates [12-1 by 768-A by AA4-C]
30 hours after the raid on New Caledonia
Integer checked the coordinates a second time. They were getting close to the distress signal’s origin but no response to any of his hails.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Lotus spoke on the open comms.
A strange green light filled the fog amongst the gloomy debris. It made for a treacherous path to navigate.
A shadow for a moment looked almost like a ship. But Integer looked back and could only see some debris. He was too on edge.
At last they found the source. A small beacon at the heart of something truly horrifying. Vast clumps and piles of drifting inactive runner ships. Integer looked around, aghast. What was this place?
His sensors lit up. Missiles were locking on! It was a trap! They had been lured to this graveyard by a false distress signal to join the dead!
Integer kicked his afterburners on and whipped around a rusting strut just as a missile impacted it.
The others had scattered, trying to get out. Caught out like this though, their meagre numbers were falling fast.
Lotus waited, her Valkyrie flyer as close to motionless as possible. She quietly apologized to the collection of lost ships she was using as camouflage when something glowing caught her attention.
A small swirling collection of energetic motes… It was what some had called an orb. A piece of the scattered power of a gate. There must be one close. They had a way out.
Planet New Caledonia, Equatorial Region 14:11 Local time The Updraft made a final low sweep of the sector. Her patrol shift was finally coming to an end and Venna “Zephyr” Sorris set a course back to the hideout. Her mind was full of how she’d tweak the poorly calibrated thrust p
Planet New Caledonia, Equatorial Region
14:11 Local time
The Updraft made a final low sweep of the sector. Her patrol shift was finally coming to an end and Venna “Zephyr” Sorris set a course back to the hideout. Her mind was full of how she’d tweak the poorly calibrated thrust profile on her new engines and other sundry modifications. But all that stopped when she saw it.
Smoke. And lots of it. Coming from the direction of the hideout.
Her curiosity got the better of her and she switched back on her receiver. Her comms were filled with chatter, on a channel normally used for only the most urgent of messages. The hunters had found them.
As Venna sat there and confronted the fact that the runner network was over and they were all screwed, she could see ahead a small group of other runner ships being pursued by a set of hunters. She had a choice. She was still outside their effective range. She could just bug out; forget it had all happened, find a new life. Or…
—
Apogee looked back. The hunter was still on her tail. Those wide cross-sectioned ships looked like they were designed to ram into other ships! How barbaric! Spike and Radian weren’t faring much better. The set of tricks they’d packed were running thin and the missile locks were blaring.
Suddenly, there was a streak of afterburners and a blast of light and smoke erupted in the midst of everything. Thinking quickly, the runners took advantage and scattered. A tight-beam message hit their comms.
“This is Zephyr, follow me. We’re getting the hell out of here.”
Undesignated planet in the Kauthen Expanse Mid day "And what have we found, mister Jeffords?" An inquisitive but patient voice asked over the comms. Keith "Turbine" Jeffords, Doctor Callister's assistant, heaved a sigh of weariness before activating his audio pickup. It had all s
Undesignated planet in the Kauthen Expanse
Mid day
"And what have we found, mister Jeffords?" An inquisitive but patient voice asked over the comms.
Keith "Turbine" Jeffords, Doctor Callister's assistant, heaved a sigh of weariness before activating his audio pickup. It had all started with the promise of an extra course credit! Now he was hanging off the outside of a spaceship hovering next to a floating alien obelisk on a planet no one had ever heard of! To make it better, the planet was just awash in wind and sand. Every few minutes you could be sure of a sandstorm. Oh yeah, and to top it off he was now, by proxy, an interstellar outlaw! He calmed himself before replying.
"Doc, we've got similar readings to the first 3, but the inscription is more extensive. Transferring glyphs now."
"Remarkable!" He heard, "...Yes! Yes, mister Jeffords I believe this is what we've been missing! This sequence might be a large enough sample for the translation matrix! Come on inside."
Keith gratefully detached from the wall and reeled himself in. The Canopus Coast, his Trailblazer shuttle now outfitted for quick maneuvering, was a tight fit for the two of them with all of their supplies and the doctor's equipment.
The doctor was his usual blustery self, picking through scattered notes and scratching at a curly white beard as Keith sealed the hatch. "Mr. Jeffords, are you familiar with Zehil's hypothesis?" He asked with a gleam in his eye.
"Um." Keith was just so tired. All he could focus on was searching around the cockpit's crowded containers for his canteen. "I think that-"
There was static on the comms. Someone was in contact! Keith rushed to adjust for the interference.
"---bine, Turbine! We're on our way! Tell Doctor Cal we've got it! It's just like he said! We're preparing to send the--" It was strange, what was this new source of interference?
Keith peered out into the sky and saw those telltale silhouettes. He rushed to the transmitter. "You were followed! Get out now!"
Keith wracked his brain. The hunters were about to be on them. He wiped sweat and sand off his forehead.
Then he had it. The thing that had made this survey so difficult, that had plagued them since they'd arrived. This damned planet. He almost chuckled.
The damned sandstorms would save them.
New Map: Breacher Crash out of the latest map, Breacher! A remote comet station! Weave between the ice pillars! But don't get fooled by the reflections! Finally reentering normalspace after their odyssey through the divide, the runners are no safer than they were before! The purs
Crash out of the latest map, Breacher! A remote comet station!
Weave between the ice pillars! But don't get fooled by the reflections!
Finally reentering normalspace after their odyssey through the divide, the runners are no safer than they were before! The pursuit continues even here at the edge of the system!
067894-590697-489569058-00192 // Structure breach. Assess; ............ // Breach assessed. Concern level 8. Concern level deemed considerable. Wake protocol confirm validity; ........ // Wake Protocol confirms. Commence wake cycle; .. // ERROR - wake cycling incomplete. Assess e
067894-590697-489569058-00192
// Structure breach.
Assess;
............
// Breach assessed. Concern level 8.
Concern level deemed considerable.
Wake protocol confirm validity;
........
// Wake Protocol confirms.
Commence wake cycle;
..
// ERROR - wake cycling incomplete.
Assess error;
...........
Unknown error. Assessment failed.
Assess error - use authority level 8;
...........
// Unknown error. Assessment failed.
Concern level increased to 10.
Post breach assessment required.
Assess breach;
...............
// Multiple electronic signatures. Pattern not recognized.
Engage level 10 rate defense strategy 256;
......
// Warning - unable to engage - mechanism failed.
// Detection of biological matter within ionic fusion chamber.
Cleanse chamber;
// Unable to cleanse chamber. Ionic fusion threshold at minimal output.
Concern level increased to 10+. Deem situation volatile and critical.
Commence. Wake. Cycle. Now;
..
// ERROR - wake cycle incomplete.
Relay message;
// Relaying...
Message - unable to wake, unable to defend, concern level maximized. Single action, observe. End.
// Message relayed.
Commence observation.
....
// Observation. Commenced.
"Oh, don't be headed THERE, if ye value yer LIFE!" The old man in the shadowy corner of the bar piped up suddenly, "That place be under the ghostly sway of ORION'S CURSE!" He gave an unsettling grin, showing missing teeth, some of which had been replaced with electrum. Ezichi “Ap
"Oh, don't be headed THERE, if ye value yer LIFE!" The old man in the shadowy corner of the bar piped up suddenly, "That place be under the ghostly sway of ORION'S CURSE!" He gave an unsettling grin, showing missing teeth, some of which had been replaced with electrum.
Ezichi “Apogee” Razzaq paused mid-sentence. She’d been having a quiet conversation with Ordinal, about to shoot down their new harebrained idea. She turned, leaning around, to give the old man a bemused look. Apogee was about to give him a piece of her mind but he continued loudly.
"The whole place, ye see, is alive, rather, it's risen from the DEAD! And it DON’T want no visitors!" The old man laughed a small, hacking, coughing laugh. Despite themselves, the two pilots found their hearts chilled.
Carrier Orion Shipboard time 17:00 Theta 3 gazed out the porthole, caught in a starscape reverie. A nudge brought him out of it. Theta 2 was there with two drinks and handed him one. When she noticed there was something bothering him, she paused. “Listen,” She said matter-of-fact
Carrier Orion
Shipboard time 17:00
Theta 3 gazed out the porthole, caught in a starscape reverie.
A nudge brought him out of it.
Theta 2 was there with two drinks and handed him one. When she noticed there was something bothering him, she paused.
“Listen,” She said matter-of-factly, “It’s a break. Try to relax. One said we might not get another one for a while. After that business at Protana, I heard they’re looking at a full system sweep.”
At the mention of Protana, Three’s face became blank. “I know, I know. My brother was at Protana.”
“...Ah…” Two gritted her teeth in mortification, “I…”
The alarm cut off her fumbling response.
Across the room, Theta 1 stopped mid-war-story and crushed his can in his hand, throwing it effortlessly into the receptacle. He called to the room, “Showtime.”
One ran off towards the hangar, followed close behind by the rest of Hunter team Theta.
“What do we have?” He spoke quickly into his ear-comms.
“Sensor trip. Warning from one of our automated refuel and rearm stations. Designation Structica. Readings show between 2 and 5 small craft matching configurations favoured by groups including the runners.”
“Structica…” Spoke Two, “Isn’t a ship docked there?”
“Correct, Two. The cruiser Falling Fury. Ordinarily she’d be able to handle it, but she’s not done her refit. No munitions aboard and only a skeleton crew.”
They soon reached the hangar. Deck crews were just finishing up preparing the team’s ships for launch.
As Theta 3 climbed the ladder up to the cockpit of his Scythe-class heavy interceptor, he looked back at the other craft and their payloads, bristling with the top-grade tracking and apprehension equipment, and nodded his head. They’d catch these guys and find out just how they had taken out an entire carrier. Failing that, a homing missile would make sure they couldn’t escape. Protana was the last time the hunters would be caught unawares.
Awoken by a loud 'whooshing' sound, bleary eyes opened. "Computer, readout warnings." A pleasant omnipresent voice responded, "Certainly. There is one warning in effect. Class 5. Several vessels are currently involved in maneuvers intermittently intersecting all commercial and re
Awoken by a loud 'whooshing' sound, bleary eyes opened. "Computer, readout warnings."
A pleasant omnipresent voice responded, "Certainly. There is one warning in effect. Class 5. Several vessels are currently involved in maneuvers intermittently intersecting all commercial and residential sectors with grid coordinates 12 3 17. All individuals within these sectors are advised to take shelter."
As the computer spoke, the occupant had already gone to the window which filled an entire wall of the small room and parted the blinds. They stood, silhouetted against the bright sunny morning and gleaming white towers of the sky enclave of Upper Vale as a vessel shot past. The rumbling of its fiery red engines momentarily shook the room and left a streaking trail of energy which blotted out their view before it dissipated.
Having gone from curious concern to wild worry, they recognized that craft, or more accurately the organization which used vessels like it. Upper Vale was no longer the safe haven it was supposed to be. They had to get out.
A bag of essentials. A flight suit and helmet. An encrypted tag: id ORDINAL.
Time to get back in the air. They took one final look at the apartment and the life it had represented. Back into freefall.
New Map: Zehil Divide Blast off to the latest map, Zehil Divide! A rift between dimensions! Dodge around rocks and hide under the waves - of the upper or lower seas! The runners may have escaped from the clutches of Artemis, but this uncanny place has not offered any sanctuary fr
Blast off to the latest map, Zehil Divide! A rift between dimensions!
Dodge around rocks and hide under the waves - of the upper or lower seas!
The runners may have escaped from the clutches of Artemis, but this uncanny place has not offered any sanctuary from the hunters!
Their only hope is to keep going. Maybe normal space lies on the other end of another gateway?
Planet New Caledonia, Equatorial Region 26:03 Local time Venna "Zephyr" Soris was doing some after-hours tuning on her ship, the Updraft, in the hangar of the hideout. It was slow and meticulous work, but she was accompanied by her music and silence. That was until the Green Recl
Planet New Caledonia, Equatorial Region
26:03 Local time
Venna "Zephyr" Soris was doing some after-hours tuning on her ship, the Updraft, in the hangar of the hideout. It was slow and meticulous work, but she was accompanied by her music and silence.
That was until the Green Recluse made an all-but-crash-landing, streaking in through the exterior entrance, it's spindly wings folding in on their actuators as they hit solid ground. Of course, at the time, she had never heard of the Green Recluse, but the ship would soon become famous. When she would later tell the story, she had recognized the ship right away and ran to help. In reality she had been yelling angrily at the newcomer for ruining her groove. But a moment later she remembered herself and ran towards the ship which had come skidding across the deck-plate, smashing some shelves of tools at the back as it didn't quite reach the back wall.
Venna could see the ship had been through hell. It had scrapes and scoring all over it, as well as a strange sooty coating which was even now evaporating into tiny green embers and flaking to nothing.
She hesitantly touched the ship and found it hot to the touch. In the moment of her hesitation, the cockpit canopy jerked open with a hiss and a figure tumbled out and down the ship, landing, panting on the deck. The flight-helmet completely obscured their face, with its dark visor. At last the figure snapped the collar off and quickly broke the seal. They unclasped the chinstrap and the helmet tumbled off, along with the flight cap underneath.
A matted mess of sweaty hair came loose and a harrowed face was revealed. Venna caught them before they collapsed completely.
The pilot was trying to say something, their breath catching. Finally they got out one word,
"...Protana…"
Venna couldn't have known it then, but this was the start of a journey that would lead to places far beyond her imagination. At the time, she just replied, "Wha?"
Hunter team Sigma, assigned to the Hecate, approached the station lockdown zone, their mission was by the book - secure the small squadron of fugitives operating there. The murky blue gases from the nebula made visibility challenging at best, and the spiny rock debris left the pi
Hunter team Sigma, assigned to the Hecate, approached the station lockdown zone, their mission was by the book - secure the small squadron of fugitives operating there. The murky blue gases from the nebula made visibility challenging at best, and the spiny rock debris left the pilots uneasy.
"Move fast and quiet" control told them. "We don't want to keep the Hecate here a minute longer than necessary."
"Why? Scared of a few runners?" The team leader mocked with false confidence.
"It's not the fugitives we're worried about" control replied stoically, "now keep focused and get to the LDZ, burst drives only."
Sigma team carefully navigated the spindling formations through the gas. Everyone uncharacteristically quiet.
Finally after a few moments they arrived at the edge of the LDZ.
"Okay control, Sigma is on station ready to apprehend. Copy?"
Nothing but faint crackles filled their transmitters.
"Control this is Sigma, respond?"
Still nothing.
Sigma 4 used a localized sonar pulse to scan their approach vector for the Hecate. "Uh, Sigma 1?"
"Do you have a ping on the Hecate?"
"I, I do. But..."
"But what?"
"It's all over the place"
"Are you getting interference?"
"No, its the Hecate. It's in pieces."
A low vibration rumbled through the thick gases, and rattled the instruments inside Sigma's ships - as a monolithic shadow blotted out the light.
Sigma 1 turned to escape, but there was no getting away. Their last sight being a faded sign on the station within the LDZ. Protana Station 03.
New Map: Graveyard & Artemis Jump into the latest two maps, Graveyard and Artemis! Graveyard is the forbidding place where the many runner ships were discarded after the devastating raid on the hideout. A small band of runners has come here following a distress signal. But th
Jump into the latest two maps, Graveyard and Artemis!
Graveyard is the forbidding place where the many runner ships were discarded after the devastating raid on the hideout. A small band of runners has come here following a distress signal. But this ghastly place is actually a trap! Can the runners use the abandoned ships of their fallen allies to escape?
Meanwhile, another band of runners has located the holding place of a group of runners... The Hunter Supercarrier ARTEMIS! They will stage a daring rescue, into the heart of the beast. Their only hope for escape is an untethered gateway! Will they make it out in time before the jaws of the hunters close in?
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