Imperfection

[Saerieve]

 

Part XIII: The Lane of Doom

Quite a few notable landmarks in Liberty, it seemed the locals had a nickname for everything around the place. He remembered this one sharper than any of the rest - The "Lane of Doom", running straight from Planet Mojave to many exploding transports and even Navy ships. It was like the hive of every type of unlawful ship around Liberty, maybe the one place in the whole house where every transport captain and its crew had to wash their pants if they made it out of in one piece. That wasn't the route he was taking, but could guess the possibilities if he did take that lane. Strangers, even unlawful, were not treated well through that lane, and even though he could dodge a whole armada and even take out a few in his Katana, he was in no mood for playing around. Ontario was his next stop, because after all, he needed to stretch his legs and he trusted the Junkers on Thunder Bay more than the ones on Rochester. Where Thunder Bay was one's typical Junker base, Rochester was more of a blackmarket and brothel hybrid, only known as a Junker base because it started as one. Even through his old days, he could barely stand the atmosphere of that place.

Being in that space again reminded him of the times they'd go "camping" on that lane, with a few friends he had made in the old days, among them the infamous "Banjos", the three brothers who were as reckless and at the same time as stupid one could be. He used to be at that lane every day, tearing up transports and not even taking a minute to think what would he gain from all that mindless shooting. It was sad how much a man could change, from someone who just did whatever he enjoyed, without the slightest worry about life and with no care of having an actual purpose, to someone who's been through a rough road, someone who had learned not to trust anyone anymore, and someone who cared about only one thing - Having a real purpose. A purpose worth fighting for, worth risking his life for, and even worth dying for. All the things he regret, were the same things he would've been proud of if he had not changed that much.. If the past few years hadn't treated him in such a way.

Pulling out of the lane before he reached Mojave defense systems, it all felt so familiar to him. It's been a long time he had used lanes in hostile space, because he couldn't afford the authorities knowing his location, but in Liberty he was a no-one. Maybe his name still rang a bell for a few, but the majority would've forgotten him long ago and it did give him this strange feeling to make himself visible again after a long time of hiding in the outskirt of systems far away from lanes and scanners. He was still tempted to take the next lane toward New York jumpgate, and if it wasn't for of his supplies running low he would've probably done so, just to see if anything had changed since the last time he was there, but he didn't have time to waste even though he had nothing to do either, so pulling the ship toward where he remembered Ontario jumphole to be, he activated cruise engines and hoped the hole would still be active.
 

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