Junker's Remorse

[Shush Muppet]

FOSTER BASE, CASSINI SYSTEM
LIBERTY SPACE, 09.24.818 A.S.

Yaroslava Ivanov licked her lips nervously, her tongue brushing over sharp metal piercings. Her electric-blue mohawk was combed uncomfortably to one side inside the flight helmet. Outside of the Lane Hacker Scythe, the medium-white star glared uncomfortably bright. Her hands were producing itchy sweat, yet she couldn't afford to be distracted. Not right now.

"Alright, Ari. Initial powerup sequence checks out. Everything seems stable. Go ahead and move to Stage Two."

The young woman snapped to attention, "Roger that, Mactan Base."

She had dropped her birth name several years back in favor of the alias, Ari Kova. She really didn't want her surname 'Ivanov' to immediately bias first impressions. People tended to be judgmental enough without the knowledge that she shared a name with the infamous Coalition General...

Gingerly, Ari increased the power feed to the large oblong device strapped to the bottom of her fighter. Any information on what the device was supposed to do was strictly Need-to-Know. And her pay-grade within the Hackers meant she didn't need to know. Some anonymous organization had paid a large sum of money to have the Hackers test their secret project. So here she was, out in the middle of an abandoned system sitting on top of something that looked like a large bomb, responding to instructions being relayed from Mactan Base to the temporary comm array on Foster Base.

The empty viewports of the abandoned station stared at her like the eye sockets of a strange, alien skull. The feeling of isolation was unnerving.

A shudder ran through the fighter and brought her mind back to the present. "Uh... Mactan? I'm getting some strange readings. Are you seeing this?"

"Affirmative, we're seeing the power spikes. Go ahead and shut it down. Clearly there is something we missed."

The young woman's hands were shaking as she slapped the emergency shutoff switch which had been hastily wired into the console.

Nothing happened.

A flash of arcing electricity shot across the console as Ari Kova jerked her hands away. "Mactan! Command, are you there? Something is wrong!"

Screeching static ripped through her headset as another rogue bolt of energy arced between Foster Base and the Scythe. The young woman's mouth fell open in disbelief as a portion of the temporary Comm array vaporized from the blast. Then the fear hit, overcoming her shock.

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! This is Lane Hacker Yaroslava Ivanov! Somebody respond!" Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered that she had unconsciously used her real name. Well, THAT cat was out of the bag now. There was another blinding arc flash, accompanied by a steadily growing whine from the small ship's powerplant.

"The Kronos Device is overloading! Repeat: Kronos is non-responsive! Can anyone hear me?! ANYONE!!!"

The whine was now a deafening screech that threatened permanent hearing loss. Outside, a strange oscillating pattern similar to a Jumpgate wormhole had begun to shimmer into existence. Then a sound like an old-fashioned gunshot rang out above the cacophony. Looking upward, Ari saw a wicked crack forming in the canopy. With another ear-splitting crack, the fissure raced downward to the edge. Outside, nothing was visible through the bright white sphere of energy that encompassed her ship.

"Oh gods," she breathed, "I don't want to die..."

Suddenly, a bolt of electricity lept from the console and struck the pilot square in the torso, pinning her to the chair in a death-like embrace. In its wake it left a scorched and melted hole in her armor, through which the stinking-sweet scent of burned flesh wafted out.

"HELP!!! HELP MEEEEEEEaaaaaaaAAAAAAGGGGHHH--" Her hysterical pleas were cut short as another bolt vaporized the young woman instantly.

The ship continued its death throes for only a few seconds longer before another charge found the O2 supply. The explosion severed the crippled powersupply from the bomb-like device which drifted a short distance away. Then without warning, the mysterious device detonated silently, sucking in debris like a black hole. A blinding shockwave erupted from the center and raced toward the stars, engulfing the entire system with deadly energy.

And there on the edge of the system, the blast caught up to a cloaked ship attempting to flee the scene of the carnage. The sleek, black vessel shuddered under the impact as its invisible shield was ripped away. Yet, strangely, as a second wall of energy washed over the ship, it began to turn transparent once more and disappeared without a trace.

---

Characters:

Cory Walsh - Unknown
Ari Kova (Yaroslava Ivanov) - Active
Declan "Owen" Quinn - Active
Agent 1854 - M.I.A.

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