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After the attack on the settlers, everyone was in a state of shock. People were puzzling over who the attackers were. There were assumptions, rumors, but nothing concrete. Only one thing was certain. It was not an isolated incident, the attacks were happening all over the Pyro system. A message from Gerald drew me deeper into the matter.

Hey Zero,
The Citizens for Prosperity say they’ve uncovered some shocking revelations about the Slicers. However, the information would have to be taken to Stanton for validation. Several Star Runners will be sent off with data. The RUST Society has also been asked to assist. You have a Mercury Star Runner. We could use your help. If you want to help us, come to Sunset Mesa with your Star Runner and we’ll sort everything else out there.
Gerald
RUST Society, Monox chapter

One day later, my White Rabbit was standing in the landing bay of Sunset Mesa. My spaceship barely fit on the landing pad embedded in the ground. While the data was being transferred from the servers in the catacombs of the settlement to the White Rabbit, Gerald briefed me on the mission. I had to fly to Lorville on the planet Hurston in the Stanton system. There the data was to be checked at the headquarters of the Citizens for Prospertity. An escort was to meet me in an asteroid cluster while I was still in the Pyro system.

After take-off, I climbed steeply into the blue sky. I broke through scattered clouds and quickly gained altitude. Before I had even left the atmosphere, red laser beams suddenly flew past my cockpit window. Enemy spaceships appeared out of nowhere and took me under fire. I was already aligned with the asteroid cluster and the quantum drive was charged, but I couldn’t jump in the atmosphere. A jolt went through the spaceship and pushed me deep into the pilot’s seat as I ignited the afterburner. I tried to exploit the Star Runner’s speed advantage. Like a bullet, the sleek spaceship hurtled through the thin upper atmosphere and was suddenly spat out of the planet into the vacuum of space. Then I plunged into the quantum tunnel. The red planet Monox quickly became smaller behind me.

Only a short time later, I fell out of the quantum tunnel and was surrounded by a dense, almost opaque cloud of gas. All around me, sharp-edged asteroids appeared out of the brown soup, looking as if they had been torn apart by a powerful force. I had to fly very slowly to avoid a collision. The White Rabbit moved like a ghost between the shreds of rock.

However, there was no sign of my escort. I switched through the radio channels, but only heard the distress calls of the other Star Runners and the cursing of the fighter pilots trying to protect the spaceships with the valuable data. Was my escort responding to a distress call? Or had it already been shot down?

While I was still thinking about what to do, a warning signal suddenly lit up red. A radar had picked me up. Only fractions of a second later, projectiles were hitting my shields. Instinctively, I gave full thrust and tried to escape again. The White Rabbit raced through the dense fog at an insane speed. The impacts became less frequent.

But suddenly a huge asteroid peeled out of the fog in front of me. It loomed large and filled my field of vision more and more. I desperately tried to steer against it. However, my speed was far too high to change direction quickly. I raced inexorably towards the boulder. Using the control jets, I turned the nose of the Star Runner 90 degrees to the right and activated the afterburner. I could still see the asteroid approaching through the left side window. But finally it slowly moved backwards and disappeared from my field of vision. A shrill screech of metal echoed through the ship as I grazed the asteroid and then I was suddenly surrounded by stars. I had left the nebula and the asteroid field. I immediately decided to fly on without an escort, set course for the Stanton Gateway and jumped.

When I arrived at the Stanton Gateway, I noticed on the radar several medium Hornet fighters positioned around the jump point. Was that my escort? Or a Citizens for Prosperity backup so the data transporters could safely jump to Stanton? Or the exact opposite? I was unsure and didn’t want to take any chances. But if I didn’t want to turn back, I couldn’t do it without risk. The Star Runner was a blockade runner. So no questions asked, no waiting, just pick up speed and break through.

I raced at high speed towards the wafting light of the closed wormhole. The Hornets didn’t react. My jump drive started the calibration, then fired the energy beam at the wormhole to open it. And suddenly all hell broke loose. The wormhole opened with a loud roar and myriads of ballistic projectiles pelted my White Rabbit. The status display on the ship’s hull flickered red in time with the barrage. It was a deafening noise. I was trapped between worlds, unable to maneuver. No longer properly in Pyro, but not yet in the wormhole to Stanton either. I could only wait for the wormhole to swallow me up and hope that the armor would hold up.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting and uncertainty, the wormhole finally sucked me in. I was safe, for the moment. But what would await me on the other side? Who or what was waiting for me at the exit of the wormhole?

To my surprise, I reached the planet Hurston without further incident. As instructed, I landed on the roof of a high-rise building in Lorville. A representative of Citizens for Prosperity took the data.

“On behalf of Citizens for Prosperity, thank you Zero. Once we have received and validated all the data, we will publish an incredible thing. In the meantime, you can continue to help us. Because of the constant attacks by the Frontier Fighters, our strategic reserves are running out. I understand they have recently assisted us with supplies. The Starlancer Max they borrowed from us is available at the Pyro Gateway. A list of goods we need is stored in the on-board computers. Interested?”

I had seen the underground storage facility near the Community House in Pyro. We were lucky and managed to fend off the attack. But other settlements were robbed. It was clear to me that the settlers in Pyro urgently needed help. Besides, the aid deliveries I had made with the Starlancer Max were a relaxed task and life on board was pleasant. “Why not?”, I thought to myself. After all the incidents in Pyro, it would certainly do me good. I agreed.

What I experienced next was crazy. The whole Stanton system seemed to help. People were lining up at the trading terminals. The goods requested by the Citizens for Prosperity became scarce and then the prices exploded. Fortunately, I had built up a large stockpile before the price explosion. I was able to deliver the goods at my leisure and make a really good profit.

In the meantime, the Citizens for Prosperity had published their shocking revelation. The Slicers and the Frontier Fighters were one and the same group. Apparently, the Frontier Fighters had hoped that a violent attack in Stanton would provoke further military action in Pyro by mobilizing the population for their extreme ideologies. The Frontier Fighters were also responsible for the attacks on the settlements in Pyro. The unbelievable news made the rounds and was also published in the Terra Gazette. Only “Off The Record” had not published an article about it. What happened to Brubacker? Where was the guy anyway?

Just as I was thinking about Brubacker, I received a message from Friedrich Winters.

Hello this is Friedrich, I hope this message reaches you. I’m worried about Husky and Bru. Is there somewhere I can meet you?

It sent shivers down my spine. What the hell was going on? I immediately arranged a meeting with Friedrich.

Friedrich told me that Husky and Brubacker had set off on the Zeus from Bru to Pyro to do a job. It was only going to be a short trip and they wanted to be back quickly. However, he hadn’t heard from them for weeks.

“Was it about the thing with Aruhso?” I asked him.

“I have no idea. But I’m really worried. Have you heard anything? Or can you find out something through your contacts?”

I thought for a moment, then I told Friedrich about Aruhso.

“Bru was blackmailed by a guy called Aruhso. Bru was supposed to deliver some stuff to Pyro. The whole thing had its origins in the story with the supposedly borrowed Carrack and Bru’s crew project. In any case, he wanted to finish it with Husky alone and not burden any of the crew at the time with it. I hope they haven’t lost their way and are in trouble. I’ll ask around through my contacts in Pyro and let you know. By the way, I’ve discovered some beautiful places in Pyro. They would be something for a scenic cruise, if you ever want to offer one there.”

“Thank you Zero. Please keep me informed. As for the Scenic Cruise, I’ve put that on hold for now. I’m concentrating on goods transportation at the moment. For the Citizens for Prosperity at the moment. I got an order, but I’m missing half the goods, several SCU Corundum. The market has been bought empty.”

“Yes, that’s true. The markets are completely out of balance. I still have some Corundum in stock. I can give that to you.”

Friedrich looked at me in disbelief.

“Really? That would help me a lot. But I insist on paying for it.”

After handing Friedrich the corundum, I looked at the copy of the data I had delivered to Stanton for Citizens for Prosperity in the White Rabbit. Not that I had any hope of finding any reference to Brubacker and Husky in it, but you never know.

The only interesting thing I found was information that the Frontier Fighters, disguised as Slicers, wanted to take over the distribution centers in Stanton and turn them into bases of operations. To do this, they had a computer virus that could bypass security systems. The virus was on a memory stick and they had lost it. The Frontier Fighters wanted to get the stick back at all costs and followed the bearing signal that the stick sent out. However, the stick was constantly on the move in the pyro system and difficult to locate. And other pyro gangs were also after the stick.

I wondered whether the stick would also be of interest to me as a hacker. But then my worries about Bru and Husky prevailed. The beeping of my Mobiglas snapped me out of my thoughts. It was a message from Friedrich.

Hey Zero,
the outposts are going crazy and I had already promised the CFP the delivery. Now my copper shipment has been stolen from the storerooms. You wouldn’t happen to have access to around 50 SCU of copper, would you?

I had to laugh. I didn’t have 50 SCU, but I did have 32. A short time later I met with Friedrich and handed him the 32 SCU of copper.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)