This is a serialized story idea I've got, and I could write more episodes for it if people like it at all. Or even if they don't, since I think it's kind of cool anyway. It covers a lot of the social strata in Star Citizen, with an interesting main character and colorful supporting cast. If you want to read more, let me know here or in PMs, and I'll be happy to oblige. ------------------------------------------ "Hull breaches detected," the ship computer chimed happily for the sixteenth time. "Yes, thanks, you absolute skag-whore transistor-crazed piece of 'duul shite!" Jennai shouted over the deafening rattle of the ship around her. "I never would have guessed!" She wore her full equipment, salvaged armor from three different manufacturers clinging to the curves of her undersuit in vain. If this ship went down, no amount of armor was going to save her. She'd be as good as dead even if she managed to survive the crash. But it had gotten her this far, so she kept it on. At least if she died, her corpse would be intimidating. The decay in the cockpit of the ancient Aegis Vanguard was gruesome to the eye, but at least she didn't have to breathe it. Not that she probably could anyway. The life support on this wreck was shot to pieces by centuries spent rotting on this rock. The planet's caustic atmosphere was the main cause for concern. Not only was visibility piss-poor, but it was all she could do to try to keep the cockpit pressurized and the numerous small hull breaches contained to the back of the ship. If that gas leaked in here, she'd not have long before her suit would lose its seal. With the power levels as inconsistent as they were, it was an energy management nightmare. When the power dropped off like it had three times already, did she keep the lone primary thruster running, or keep containment on the corrosive gas? Heavens help her if she did end up having to engage the quantum drive. Would it even work after this long in a place like that? There was no telling until she broke atmo. Maneuvering thrusters complained and spluttered behind her as she forced the ship to angle itself just upwards enough to keep progressing toward the blessed relief of vacuum. The ship listed heavily to one side as the thrusters on that end tried to make up for the failures of their brethren. Even older Vanguards were tough old skags, but they still had limits. The MFD to Jennai's left told her the tissue paper shields she'd managed to work up were seconds away from failure, at least if she wanted to stay airborne. Just a minute more. Hold together. Jennai had never been religious, but praying to her ship was one of the few kinds of spiritualism she allowed herself. It wasn't uncommon for lifelong residents of Spider to adopt some kind of faith to help them piece together the meaning of things, but Jennai trusted in one thing. Herself. And right now, herself was about to get Jennai killed. It had been foolhardy to attempt this salvage run in the first place. Add to that her idiotic decision to go with Niles' group, and you had a recipe for disaster. Niles had always had it out for her. Him leaving her there was no surprise at all, if she looked back on it with any degree of rationality. This wasn't her first planetside run, although she did admit it was among the first. None of that really mattered now. She just had to break atmo before the Genevieve jumped out of scanner range. If they saw her, they'd come back. If not for her, then for what the Vanguard was carrying. "Hull breaches detected." Once I'm out of this, I'm going to find the grandchildren of whoever voiced this generation of Vanguard's computer and rip them a new dingo. No time for reflection. The shields went down, and Jennai found the cockpit slowly becoming bathed in pale mist. She had seconds before the seal on her suit went bad. A few seconds after that and she'd be ghosted. Instrument readouts were sketchy. But if she had timed it right, it would mean- There was a slight rush as Jenn cleared the last levels of the atmosphere and the stars before her came into sharp focus, no longer blurred by the last gauzy layers of gas. The toxic components of the gas extended out to the last layers of the planet's atmo, but the Vanguard was clear. The cabin drained. She lost pressure within the ship, but her undersuit held against the vacuum. She'd made it. The Vanguard's exhausted thrusters flickered in the vacuum, the primary rear thruster still pushing for all it had. Jennai gave it a whispered thanks, almost reverent. The old creature had gotten her here, at least. It was more than she could've asked of most any other ship under those conditions. Now to get home. The Genevieve had to be nearby, if it was here at all. She checked her helmet's communicator, holding her breath as she waited for a response. "Genevieve, this is Locklest, ready to be picked up. Please respond." It took a lot of effort to keep the desperation out of the last two words. Please respond. Please. Moments that felt like hours passed. Her communicator buzzed to life, the voice intense and worried. "Locklest, this is Genevieve. What the hell happened down there? Niles said you were lost in some sort of accident." The muscles in Jennai's gut relaxed all at once, her breath coming in rushed, relieved gasps. "Some...confusion as to who I was coming home with, sir." She wasn't sure what to say. Niles had left her to die? Niles had decided to double-cross them all? Niles was a sanctimonious scrum-sack who deserved a noose tied to the Genevieve's main thrusters? "Sir? Who's sir?" the voice on the comms replied. Jennai let out a choked laugh despite the tension in her. That would be Harver. He hated it when she lapsed into military-speak, but right now, she was too relieved to care. "And don't play coy with me, girl. You're going to tell me exactly what happened when we pick you up." "Yes s-...you got it, Harv." She slumped back into her pilot's seat, ignoring the chemical-burned mess that was the previous pilot's ancient corpse. She hadn't had time to clean the ship out before her mad dash for vacuum. What had gone through his head before he died? Probably neurotoxins, Jennai thought grimly. Had he thought of his mission, doomed to fail? Had he thought instead of family or friends that would never know what happened to him? Was it even a he? The corrosion was pretty extensive, and Jennai was no forensic specialist. It didn't matter. HuXa had left certain smaller corporate interests pretty angry. That was why Jennai had been after this ship in the first place. Angry corporations paid well. The data this soldier had been carrying was going to bring down Imperator Costigan for good.