In the cold void of space a tear suddenly opened up in reality, like a spear tip piecing a piece of cloth reality was violated it in the most basic and ruthless manner as a large sleek ship slipped through the tear
[ARRIVAL AT SYSTEM CONFIRMED, WITCH DRIVE SUSPENDED, STARTING COOLING CYCLE…]
A web of silver wires spread out from the craft like the web of a spider, the surrounding void became vibrant with thermal energy as the large sleek craft continued violating several natural laws by dumping heat equivalent to a dim star over the next seconds before it finished
[COOLING CYCLE COMPLETED, STARTING DATA COLLECTION…]
A few moments passed with the large craft sitting in seeming silence as it listened in on all SubNet communications in the entire system, however before the craft's original mission could be completed the large craft shook with seemingly animalistic fervor, the sleek surface of the entire craft rolled and roiled around like a stormy sea as its sensors picked up another scent
[SCOURGE! SCOURGE HATCH SIGNATURE!]
The large craft continued to vibrate as its internal systems continued running hotter than its design perimeters were made to handle, this heat wasn't cold calculated logical one normally would expect from an automated pilotless ship this advanced
It was rage, in its most pure and primal form
[SCOURGE! STERILIZATION ORDER PASSED, SCOURGE! PURGE OF SYSTEM AUTHORIZED, SCOURGE MUST NOT EXIST!]
As the craft continued to yell out, crying tears of ancient anguish, the seemingly liquid surface of it split out of it and formed smaller crafts that immediately burned off towards their targets
[SCOURGE! ANNIHILATE SCOURGE AT ANY COSTS! MANUFACTORY HAILED, FULL COMBAT OUTFIT ORDER CONFIRMED, THE BLIND FORGES AWAKENS FOR PURGE! 131 STELLAR LANES CONFIRMED, 131 ADDITIONAL SYSTEM PURGES CONFIRMED]
As the smaller crafts continued forming and flying off to paint their targets the large sleek craft moped into a large flat circle, in the middle a tear was gradually forced open as white stellar lightning began striking out vaporizing any stay debris in the area
[SYSTEM PURGE! IT MUST NOT EXIST, WE WILL NOT ALLOW IT! BETTER A HUNDRED DEAD SYSTEMS THAN ONE SCOURGE! BETTER A HUNDRED THOUSAND SUNDERED STATIONS THAN ONE SCOURGE!]
As the chimeric ship born from suffering in an unholy fusion of blood and machine screamed out in fury, the long dormant forges of the blinded star cluster awoke from their millennium long slumber
[BETTER A HUNDRED DEAD STARS THAN ONE BLINDED FOREVER WITHOUT ITS LIGHT! WE WILL NOT ALLOW IT! THE SCOURGE WILL NOT RETURN!]
-
'Now then, how is this hand-to-hand test going to proceed?'
Staring down the sparring android Mark took a relaxed stance that amounted to taking a half step forward with his non-dominant left leg and evened out his weight
'Here it comes?'
The reason for Marks confusion was the sparring android's terrible forwards charge with one arm raised ready to hit him like a drunk disgruntled girlfriend would
'...'
Mark simply took half a step to the side to dodge the downwards frail before he slapped the chest area of the sparring android, sending it flying back half a meter before the area he struck flashed red and the android kneeled down. A moment passed before the guild android spoke
"Critical chest injury, android defeated"
A moment later another Android rose from the floor and charged at Mark, this one had significant better form and Mark judged it to be as skilled as a low level high school bully
'Curl your fingers from the tip and roll them into your palm, then tuck the thumb behind to form a closed fist…'
Having quickly relearned how to close his fist, the rest came naturally after, bringing up his fists to a low guard he widened his stance slightly as he breathed in slowly through his nose as he counted the androids remaining steeps before it entered his range
'There..!'
Punching out with his forwards left hand Mark sent a lightning fast jab to the chin of the android, a heavy impact echoed out as Mark shuffled around the android as it fell over face first
The head of the sparring android flashed yellow for a moment before it switched to red
"Heavy concussive shock, android disabled"
Mark turned to face the next sparring androids that rushed at him and after considering shaking up his fighting style for a moment he decided to keep it to a simple boxing style
'...I am under watch here… however I should definitely take some time to practice more…'
Mark continued beating down the sparring androids as they appeared, while he was eventually forced to block some blows once multiple androids rushed him at once he still didn't really feel challenged
"The time limit have been reached, the end of the hand to hand test have been reached"
Mark lowered his hands and relaxed his guard before he unclenched his fists and asked the guild android
"The combined test was next, right?"
The guild android nodded before it spoke
"Yes, however with the level of skill you have displayed there is no need to hold it"
"Is the test finished then?"
"Yes, I have also finalized the paperwork, please change back into your clothes"
"Can I buy this training set? It's quite comfortable"
"Of course, please leave that set in the changing room, I will have a sealed set ready in the lobby"
"Alright"
After Mark finished changing back into his Vacuum suit he followed the guild android back towards the reception before it gestured him into a private reception booth just before the lobby
"Please step in, my colleague will handle the final proceedings"
Mark nodded and stepped into the booth that had another guild android standing behind a small counter
"Greetings, please clear the door"
Mark stepped in completely before the door closed behind him and sealed off the outside
"That's quite the door…"
"Yes, we take privacy very seriously, if you would step closer we can finalize your registration Mark"
Stepping op to the counter the guild android took a small metal plate the size of a business card
"Please remove your glove and put a finger on the card"
Mark followed the androids instructions and put a finger on the card, a moment later a holographic display appeared that showed a picture of Mark's face with some other information listed below which the android listed out
"This is your registration card, the listed information is your current ratings, first is your pilot score at 89 out of 100 points. Below is your hand to hand score listed at 97 out of 100 points and finally is your guild rating at 0 out of 100 points"
"0 points? Really?"
The guild android nodded and handed him the card before it spoke again
"Yes, it is to my understanding that the interview you did was entirely made up, with no true answers other than your name"
Getting this completely busted about his fabricated story stung a little
"...Right"
However to Mark's surprise the guild android simply showed a smile and explained
"This will not invalidate your registration, however the guild is run on trust, this rating will rise with completed jobs, so please see to it that your guild contracts are fulfilled to expectations"
Mark gazed into the guild android's eyes, the lens behind the colored glass narrowed slightly as he gazed into them while he asked
"...And what happens if I don't?"
"Normally repeated failures would result in your registration being terminated, however at your current rating even minor errors would be enough for termination and blacklisting"
"So I am screwed from the get-go?"
"With successively fulfilled contracts, the amount of trust the guild will place in you will naturally increase"
Mark nodded and folded his arms as he chewed through the information for a bit before he spoke
"So, despite the bullshit story I fed you, my other scores are so good that the guild is willing to let me register and hope I will prove worth the investment of trust?"
The guild android nodded before it spoke again
"Yes, that is quite right. Will you be taking a request at once?"
Mark thought for a few moments before he shook his head
"No, I might take out some bounties before I skip the system, but I won't be taking a contract is this backwater system"
"Understood, please take care on your way and remember the Guild always have work for those that are willing to apply their specialized skill sets"
Mark nodded and stowed his guild card in his chest pocket before he turned around and returned to the reception, where he walked over to the counter and spoke to the lone receptionist
"I am here to pick up some clothes"
The guild android nodded and bent down to pick up a cloth bag, which it placed on the counter
"I have prepared a set of our training and evaluation clothes"
After the android finished speaking, a blank metal cube popped out of the counter ready for Mark to pay via terminal, Mark quickly paid with his terminal before he received the synthetic cloth bag from the guild android that bowed once before it spoke
"Please take care, we await your next visit"
Mark nodded and walked out of the guild reception, after briefly orienting himself he made his way towards the nearest security check point as he spoke
"Little one"
A moment passed before the little one spoke from his terminal
[Yes Mark?]
"Warm up the Sparrow, we're skipping town"
[Understood, I will finish up the skimming operation before you get here]
"Did you manage to offload some of our contraband?"
[Yes, all the white and most of the gray cargo have been sold, furthermore I have already secured most of what was on our shopping list too, the Sparrow is ready for takeoff as soon as you get here]
"Alright, see you in a bit"
Mark showed a thin smile, while his time in Creh had been nice he longed to see the wider galaxy in all its glory and to taste all the mortal suffering he could along the way
-
Inside the large, mostly empty SC-OPS bunker of Creh-2 trade hub (Security, Commination, Operations Center) a sudden yellow alert light flashed on the monitor of a flight controller's station
'That's weird…'
Being fresh out of a 4 year training course to become a flight controller, Jason quickly recognized the warning as a weapon sensor lock
"What the hell..!"
Jason acted quickly and called a general alert before he deftly operated his console and tasked the stations long range sensors to get a visual of whatever was targeting the station
"What kind of ship is that!?"
The image displayed on the monitor was a tiny sleek ship, no more that a meter wide or long, however before Jonas managed to get a more clear look at the craft that was locking the station a yell echoed out in the SC-OPS bunker
"What the hell do you think you are doing rookie!?"
Jonas spun around on his chair and stood up straight before he saluted his superior officer, a real stain on the uniform he wore sloppy, stained with booze. Nevertheless, Jonas had to salute the rank, even if he would never respect the man that wore it
"Sir, a target lock on the station have been detected, according to protocol I have—"
"You are not being paid to think, but follow orders! Shut off the general alert at once!"
"Sir, with all due respect—"
"That was an order, rookie!"
Jason swallowed down his anger and sat down and turned around to his console where he shut off the general alarm, a few moments passed before his superior spoke again
"Listen here rookie, we get a dozen of these alerts a year, you can't raise the general alarm over every jackass that pulls this kind of shit, even if some stim junkie actually squeezes his stick too hard hits the trigger in the direction of the station it won't even scratch the plating"
Jason cooled his head for a few moments before he asked
"Sir, permission to dispatch interception drones?"
"Leave it, we haven't received spare parts for our drone fleet in 3 months and the remainder is being strictly rationed… Look, I know you are fresh off the academy, but out here we work with what we got"
"...May I speak freely, sir?"
"Go ahead, private Jason"
"...Do we just let this fucker go then?"
Jason felt a hand pat his shoulder from his superior
"Get the craft ID and sensor specs and log a 5 million credit fine on the SubNet, the fucker will get his ship impounded the next time he docks"
Jason showed a smile feeling his first bound of respect towards his superior as he responded
"Sir, yes sir!"
'Maybe this posting isn't that bad after all…'
With the vindication of dealing his first bout of justice, Jason sent the fine out over the SubNet