Olivia stood at the viewport, staring out into space at the vast field of rocks - the remains of the system's planets. Occasionally, the fragments would move to reveal the black sphere of the neutron star, its electromagnetic field so immensely powerful that it could be observed with the naked eye. Olivia hated it. She popped a set of pills into her mouth, swallowing the radiation medicine in one big gulp. How anyone could willingly live in a post-apocalyptic system like Omega-41 was beyond her. Then again, having grown up on a freeport herself, she knew only too well the lengths to which Zoners would go to escape the ever-expanding grasp of the Houses.
The mercenary's PDA vibrated in her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw that she had received another notification - another response to her job offer. She was surprised at how many freelancers and hired guns had applied for the job in such a short time. The description she had posted was vague but it did clearly state the dangerous nature of the mission and that the pay would be far from generous. But she guessed she should have probably known better than to be surprised by the interest. Many of the mercenaries that came to the Omegas came in search of the thrill more than the big bucks. She would find out what manner of nutjobs and adrenaline junkies she had hired when they started arriving in-system over the coming hours.
Olivia sighed a sigh of relief. Blue had pulled through. All three of the named Colors were of the old guard, among the company's most experienced veterans. With their help, getting other survivors to join their operation would be significantly easier.
She typed up a quick message expressing her gratitude before pocketing the device again. Her gaze wandered back up to the viewport. Out there, across the vast expanse of the planetary fragments, was the jumphole to the Corsair homeworld. And on that bleak, rocky world, housed comfortably within a luxurious mansion, resided the man she would soon come face to face with for the last time.
