Breaking the Spirit

[Heresy]

Tim no longer paid attention to the news. Whatever it was, it whizzed by him like it didn’t exist. Small time jobs against the local criminals were his game now, at the ripe old age of 18. His trusty hawk had served him well over the two years he’d owned it. It had become heavily modified with light armour plate and a custom sensor array, as well as enhanced shields and weapons taken from his foes. It also bore the many scars of battle that it had gathered over the years. Scorch holes, exposed wiring and small chips of the wings missing among the noticeable aspects of it.

“Tobias?”

“Yeah?”

“Where would I go if I wanted a better ship?”

“Oh come now boyo, you sound jus’ like Trent! You don’t want ‘ta go out there like he did, do ya?”

“I do, the stars hold my fortune, not the polluted dump here. You know that…”

“Well… yeah, I do. But you gotta think twice ‘bout these things, ye’ know? Its dangerous, and I don’t want stuff happenin’ to ya.”

“Why do you care?”

“Because…. you’re … my best customer!”

“… You almost fooled me… not.”

“Okay, I can see yer’ dead set on this, so tell ya’ what I’ll do. If ya’ go see my mate on Cambridge, I’m sure he’ll have somethin’ a bit higher tier for you to use. But be careful… I don’t want’ta see you on the news like I did my Trent.”

“Right, right… whatever Tobias.”

“I’m serious boyo!”

With that, Tim jumped into his sturdy Hawk and made for Cambridge. Being in the trade of Freelancing, he knew where most jump holes in Leeds were, but he wasn’t about to go using them. He was going to take the long way through patrolled space. It wasn’t his aim to get shot down, especially when he was moving up a notch. With his savings from contracts and additional revenue from the sale of pilots and commodities picked up while fulfilling those contracts - 2,000,000 credits - he made his way slowly through Bretonia.

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