Three of a Kind

[Veroe]

((Closed for Myself and the Gladiator))​

System: Kai Epsilon 136E
Time/Date: 2:42PM; Octo. 22 412 A.E.
Location: 2,652.08 KM from Bellerophon warp point termini, 1,817.23 KM from Ashford warp point termini

IC:Callista Kalokainos (AKA: C.K.)

This Solar system featured a red super giant sun that had expanded outward consuming all but one fourth of its orbiting planets a million years ago. It bore very little in of itself of note. The star was the same as a dozen other red super giants discovered by human explorers. It had a large asteroid belt but none had any minerals worth the expense of establishing a mining operation in the system. The system didn't even have an official name. It had an astrocartographical database designation of Kai Epsilon 136E. Local spacers referred to it in short as just Kai.

However Kai did have one thing going for it. Due to the vagaries of the interaction of Kai's gravitational imprint and how it effected the interdimensional fabric of local space-time it hosted not the one or two warp points that allowed faster than light travel between solar systems Kai had as many as eleven warp points discovered linking this frontier arm of the Solarian Empire to other branches of the human explored warp point network. That alone made it a vital crossroads for Empire-wide shipping lines from Earthward up the Merlin, Xanadu, Timberland, Belerephon, and Ashford chains of the network.

That was why the Imperial naval flotilla that had gone on a flag showing tour to the colonies on the outer fringe had gone to Kai in order to use the warp point to Belerphon and cut six weeks off the transit time of their voyage back to Old Earth by jumping one chain of the network to a closer point to the capital on another chain.

Only it had run into another Imperial naval fleet, one twice as large, when it had tried and a space battle so large the like had not been seen since the war versus the hated Sokurne marauders a hundred years prior. No one C.K. had asked had known exactly why two elements of the same fleet had fought each other, but it smacked of high-level Imperial politics, which was dragonfish infested waters that no one normal wanted to dive into blind.

Except for those that sought to profit from the debris of obliterated broken starship hulls and wrecked burned or ended lives from said battle. Salvagers like C.K. and her partner. She and her partner owned their in a fifty-fifty relationship though he served as the team's captain, by mutual consent. The two of them eschewed paying anyone like a syndicate or the salvager's guild any cut of their profits. The two of them preferred a more equitable independent arrangement.

"It seems your gut was right on the money again," C.K. reported over the secured commlink between her Suit's radio and their specially equipped Medium-sized freighter-or rather her partner piloting said freighter named affectionately, The Last Chance. Her industrial grade deep-space construction hardsuit's laser torch burned a half meter sized hole into the charred twisted hunk of what used to be a tertiary engineering compartment of a Challenger class Imperial Navy battlecruiser. She shined the hardsuits floodlights into the wrecked compartment and whistled as her eyes confirmed what the suit's close-in sensor scan had already just told her. "We now have an entirely intact military warship grade power capacitor complete with an only cosmetically damaged power distribution routing unit."

She waited for her partner's reply before responding, "Yeah, if you can maneuver the chance in close you could probably get a solid lock on the whole compartment with the tractor beam."

"You know what?" She pulled up and looked over to their ship with a sharp laugh, "That's twenty to maybe forty million credits on Lei Mao Xian's auction block. I'd love to see that pompous ass Lupo's face when he finds we've scored such primo salvage right out from under his nose."

She turned to regard the larger debris field on the other side of the solar system. C.K.'s suit's telescopic vision function let her see it clear as if it was right in front of her. Lupo's and the other eight Salvager guild ships were swarming over the hulks of broken and battered battleships. They didn't realize that most anything they found worth salvaging would be so badly damaged they'd only be able sell any of it at such a drastic discount it was practically impossible to make any profit off of it.

The Last Chance had snuck off to this smaller debris field, the one closest to the Ashford and Bellerephon warp points. Apparently during the battle one cowardly battlecruiser had abandoned its brethren and made a mad dash for the warp point to the Belerephon system and the more civilized inner regions of the Empire. Of course as it was cravenly running away from the battle it endured wave after wave of fighter attacks until a fatal torpedo attack had damaged its main reactor and it died in a bright and terrible flash leaving one broken irradiated pieces floating as a monument to what happened to anyone who turned their backs on their fellows to look out for themselves.

An icon flashed before her eyes and then it was gone. "Hey I think I'm picking up something being broadcast deeper into that cluster of wreckage over there. I'm going to check it out"

After her partner's reply to that she scoffed, "No, its not too dangerous...I'll be careful..."

His reply was predictably curt.

"...Yeah but we're partners. You're the Captain only because I let you be. So you can't tell me what to do, remember."

C.K. pushed off using the suit thrusters to maneuver through the tumbling pieces of wreckage to where it was tighter. As she grew closer she was able to pick out the weak signal. "It's a lifepod's distress beacon. Probably got beat up pretty bad when the battlecruiser's reactor blew. Should we look to see if anyone's inside?"

------------------------X

IC: Aurora Isobel Mariko Martina Winchester Fairmont

Aurora slowly opened her eyes. She hurt...all over. It felt like a power-roller had rolled over her entire body and then backed up over her for another round. There was a sound. It sounded insistent and annoying. Her head was pounding. Why wouldn't it shut up?

There was something flashing before her eyes. She strained to focus on them.

Warning! Oxygen levels critical.
Change Oxygen tank immediately.


Warning! Power levels critical.
Recharge survivalsuit battery immediately.​

What? What did that mean?

Oh yeah. She was inside a survivalsuit inside a tiny lifepod. She was an Imperial Princess on her school project's tour in the outer fringe colonies. They had been ambushed here in this system. They had been critically hit and they had launched this lifepod just moments before the battlecruiser she'd been voyaging home with the fleet escorting them back home to Old Earth blew up in the battle.

What had happened? Where was Sasuke?

Lieutenant Commander Sasuke O'Brien was her Imperial Cadre bodyguard. He'd watched after her for years and years. He had shoved her into this pod, and climbed aboard with her. Then all hell broke loose.

"Sas...Sasuke…?" Her voice sounded weak and barely more than just a whisper. Each breath caused a sharp pain in her chest.

What had happened?

With effort she was able to turn her head to see Sasuke. He was there beside her like always, but his survivalsuit's lights weren't on, and his head seemed slumped forward. He wasn't moving...Why?

Between them was stretched two cords. One hose connecting his oxygen tank to hers and the other was a cord linking his battery to hers too.

No!

He wouldn't have. He couldn't have.

"Sasuke," She grated out with a wispy breath, "...Sasuke."

Please....no, no, no...She couldn't go on without him. Sasuke was more than just a bodyguard to Aurora. He was much more like a big brother to her. He had always been there since she started school and went on to her grand tour project on the development colonies on the fringe of human explored space.

"Sasuke," The name brought tears to her eyes as she said it-not from the pain-no, this was a far different, far worse pain.

She sat trapped in a battered lifeless lifepod weeping from her loss as the last of her suit's power and air eked down closer and closer to zero, helpless, utterly and completely helpless.