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“Here you can see your tax money at work,” echoed through the exhibition hall.

The loudspeaker announcement at the fair was a mockery. I was glad I wasn’t a Citizen and didn’t have to pay taxpayers’ money to the UEE. At the annual Invictus Launch Week, the military showed off what they were doing with taxpayers’ money. You could even marvel at an Idris frigate. And I also watched these muscle games. But for good reason. I wanted to know how these spaceships were built. Where which areas were located. Armory, engine room, cargo deck, airlock. Just in case I ever had to find my way around a ship like this, it was an advantage to know my way around. I didn’t want to wander cluelessly through the corridors of a large spaceship like I did on the Polaris.

I had even attended flight school in the first few days of the fair. Just to learn the tactics of the security forces during patrols. Knowledge that I could put to good use as a smuggler. I was also rewarded with some strange metal bars. They called them “MG Script”. I didn’t know what they were good for. But I could exchange them with the Banu Wikelo. I would find something useful from him.

I hurried through the hall where the hunters were on display. Friedrich Winters wanted to meet me in the far corner of the hall at the coffee stand. He seemed to want something important from me. I just hoped that everything was all right with Brubacker and Husky. I hadn’t seen him since we dropped Bru off at the hospital in Pyro.

When I reached the coffee stand, I looked around. Friedrich was nowhere to be seen. My gaze wandered through the hall. The hunters were standing on pedestals. People walked around between them and marveled at the fighting machines. There was a quiet, calm atmosphere in the hall. Then I saw Friedrich, dressed like a military man. Sand-colored trousers, olive green T-shirt with a UEE Navy insignia on the chest. He was standing in the other corner of the hall, where there was also a coffee stand. He looked in my direction, then turned around and disappeared behind a partition. It seemed very suspicious to me. Friedrich hadn’t drawn attention to himself, hadn’t waved, nothing. He simply disappeared.

Irritated, I ran into the corner, went behind the partition and stood rooted to the spot. Hermieoth was standing there among containers, crates and boxes. I hadn’t expected this encounter. It was an encounter I would have gladly done without, because I had also received a lot of backlash from Hermieoth after I had reported on the massacre on Grim Hex.

“Hermieoth, do you want to show me the business end of your gun now?” I said cynically, alluding to his comment on the intercom.

“Zero, glad to see you,” Hermieoth warbled happily.

I looked at him in irritation.

“Yes, that was on the intercom,” Hermieoth continued. “That wasn’t me. A guy called Varrik Thorne stole my ID and pretended to be me. A great thank you for letting him have my Terrapin. You knew I was in Bueno Ravine in the Pyro system and had no radio connection to the Stanton system. But that’s all sorted out now and I’m even the proud owner of a Phoenix.”

It was true, I had met Hermieoth in Bueno Ravine and he had asked me to pass on a message to Kjeld Stormanson as soon as I was back in Stanton.

“Then I’m sorry that I wrongly suspected you,” I replied, somewhat affected, and held out my hand to Hermieoth.

“It’s good that you were able to clear that up,” said Friedrich, who had been standing next to us the whole time. Then he showered us with a tsunami of information. He told us about an AI called Nemesis, which came from ancient times and was supposed to be somewhere in Stanton, and about experiments on humans in Pyro. I immediately thought of ENOS. Then he talked about the difficulties he had with a gang in Pyro and finally about the Rain Crisis.

“In any case, I want to start an expedition to the Pyro system to look for minerals that are needed for research to solve the Rain Crisis. And I need support for that. Your knowledge of the Pyro system would also be very welcome. I would like you to join me Zero.”

My head was spinning from all the information and I didn’t really know what to make of it all.

“It’s not a bad thing if the regeneration no longer works and there are a few less trigger-happy people,” I said thoughtfully.

“But it doesn’t just affect the gunmen,” Hermieoth replied. “It also affects miners and support staff like firefighters and paramedics.”

Hermieoth really had a point there. I too had an imprint and it was only thanks to that that I was still alive. We could also help to end the crisis more quickly. Then fewer Kopions would die for research. Besides, the term expedition was a door opener for me. I agreed.

We agreed that Friedrich’s spaceships were a little too conspicuous. Hermieoth’s Phoenix wasn’t exactly inconspicuous either. Finally, I had an idea.

“I can ask the Citizens for Prosperity. They’ve already lent me a Starlancer Max. The ship would be suitable. My contact in Stanton works at the hospital and is close friends with the founder of Citizens for Prosperity. Perhaps they will support us.”

After discussing a few more details, we said goodbye and I went to the hangar to prepare for another meeting. At the trade fair, I had borrowed a Greycat MTC, a military rover. I wanted to test it in the desert on the Daymar moon and search for Valakaars that had been sighted there.

I had thought that the MTC was very compact, but when I saw it in the White Rabbit’s cargo hold, I realized that it wasn’t much smaller than the Ursa rover. The MTC also took up almost the entire length of the cargo hold and was just as wide and tall as the Ursa. Granted, it looked cooler, but it didn’t seem as versatile as the Ursa.

After several minutes of Quantum flight, I reached the moon Daymar. The White Rabbit glided low over sand dunes and flew through canyons. It felt good to be out of the big city of ArcCorp and back in the desert. After a while of pure flying pleasure, I set off a ping.

Several signatures were displayed and I followed the first one I saw. Sure enough, when I reached the spot, the scanners showed the outline of a worm. Excited, I circled over the spot and looked intently out of the cockpit window. There was nothing but sand below me. The worm must still be under the floor. The Valakaar reacted to vibrations. If I wanted to see it, I had to land to lure it out.

It took me a while to find a flat area large enough to land the Star Runner. As the White Rabbit’s rear ramp opened, I took in the sight of the desert like a gush of fresh air. Then the sonorous hum of the MTC sounded, it drove slowly down the ramp and the large, heavily profiled tires rolled crisply over the sand.

I drove at full throttle to the spot where I suspected the Valakkar was. Dust and sand swirled up as I plowed through the desert at a drift and with a lot of noise. Suddenly, a small mound of sand formed in front of me. Then, like a fountain of water, a brown worm shot out of the ground and rose up in front of me. With my tires locked, I came to a halt just two metres in front of it.

The sandworm was about the same height as the MTC. It was a very young animal, but it was still very strong. It moved back and forth angrily, opening its large three-part mouth and showing its sharp teeth threateningly. Then it spat material at the rover. The shields flared up.

Suddenly, two more young Valakaars shot out of the ground and pointed themselves menacingly at the MTC. Fascinated, I sat at the wheel and marveled at the spectacle. I had finally found him, the ruler of the desert, the infamous sandworm. The encounter I had waited so long for.

The MTC’s shields flickered again. The Valakaar may be small, but he meant business when he was disturbed. Then I remembered that Wikelo wanted the Valakaar’s teeth for the desert armor.

I activated the on-board gun. Red laser salvos poured down on the Valakaar and the sandy ground around it. A cloud of sand and dust quickly obscured the worm from view. I stopped firing and waited for the dust to settle. Then I saw it again. It seemed unimpressed, still dancing in front of me and spitting material at me.

I fired again, this time at a different part of the worm. Blood spurted. The Valakaar seemed to get even angrier, but he didn’t retreat, he stood his ground and plugged away. I kept firing until its movements slackened and it collapsed.

After killing the other two worms, I got out of the MTC. Impressed, I got down on my knees and admired the animal lying in front of me. It looked like a tube with leathery brown skin. There were several black beady eyes on its head. Several rows of pointed teeth flashed in its open mouth. There was a large fang at each end of the three-part mouth. This was exactly what Wikelo wanted.

I reached into the sand and closed my sand-filled hand into a fist. Then I held my fist over the Valakaar and let the sand trickle out of a small opening in my fist onto the dead animal’s head. It was a ritual in honor of the ruler of the desert.

I wondered why I didn’t mind killing the Valakaar, unlike the Kopion. Was it because it was such a strange creature? Because a mammal was closer to me than a worm? Or because the kopion originally came from my home planet of Ashana? Or was it because many desert peoples had a special relationship with sandworms and had fought a reverent battle with them for generations? But was it a fair fight from an armored vehicle?

I spent several more days on Daymar and found many sandworms. Eventually I had enough fangs for the trade with Wikelo. But first I had to take care of the Starlancer for Friedrich’s pyro expedition.

Perspective from Hermieoth: https://www.starcitizen-kantine.de/blog/entry/644-log-000-17-05-2955-stanton/

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)