The Long Walk

[stardust47]

Prologue

My name is Jade Carrington, and I am about to die.
Let's be honest, it was completely my own fault. I mean, what do you expect when you try to run away with the daughter of a Liberty Rogue boss and try to deliver a mysterious package to the capital of Gallia at the same time?
And yes, I said daughter. I prefer girls.
Deal with it.
It was all going so well, too. I had money, alcohol, girls, a big-ass sniper rifle, everything. Now, I'm just gonna be another brick in the wall.
Literally.
They're about to pour a ton of concrete on top of me.
Ohgodwhat.
Where did I go wrong?
Where didn't I go wrong?
Well, here comes the concrete. It was good while it lasted.

* * *

...
Wait a moment.
Where's my being whipped by a horde of succubi for all eternity? Where's my fire and brimstone and stuff?
This isn't Hell. This is the medi-bay on Barrier Gate. Which is pretty much the same, except I'm still alive and the guy calling himself Satan is just a pretentious git who's just pissed that his favourite band is banned everywhere that isn't The Border Worlds.
This is gonna suck, isn't it? It always does.
Do I still have arms? Yes. Legs? Yes. 'Equipment'? Yes. Mental faculties? Well, I can make a joke about pretentious gits who think they're Satan, so yes.
Well. there's this old guy standing next to me I bet he's a doctor.
"Awake awready?" he says, in a soft-spoken Libertonian accent, "The way you was when I dug you out, you're lucky to be alive."
"How did you find me?" That's the best I could do. Honest.
"Some medical droid. Ran off afterwards, splutterin' somepin' 'bout lupus. Hey, min' tellin' me your name, miss?"
"Jade Carrington. I'm a courier, working for..." Argh. Headache.
"Somepin' the matter?"
"There's some sort of block. I can't recall who it was for, but they obviously didn't want to be traced."
Let's just skip to the interesting part, shall we?
"Right," says the doctor, "I got an old Stiletto fighter. It's very basic, but y'can swap it for a freighter in Liberty, start earnin' some dough."
"What about the package?"
"That's gone. You're gonna have to find it, maybe. You start gettin' yerself some credits, might be able to go after whoever took it."
So I go and have a look at this ship. He's right- it is very basic, for today. I can still remember when these were highly sought-after- now, only VHFs and expensive 'Lights matter in a fight.
"Ta, doc. I'll be on my way now."

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