The mild jolt awakened me as the shuttle began the descent through the thin Levo atmosphere. Yes, now I remember. The fight at Ruby. Damn, another perfectly good Kestrel, gone to waste. I guess I can spare it, but I'm not too sure about the tractor beam. I have to go back and earn it all again, and that will sure as hell make things tougher.

"Ah, you're awake. You're lucky to have made it through that one." The pilot looked down at me. "If I hadn't been passing through there is no telling what could have happened to your pod. Think if the pirates had found you. Or even worse, the Confederates. I'm afraid you would be a dead man."

This man seemed to have a terrible trait of only being able to point out the completely obvious. I suppose he is expecting some kind of reward. I don't know if I can spare it. I'm sure I have enough for a Lightning, or possibly even a Rapier, but this might just decide the difference.

"I think I'll just drop you off here. I have to pick up a few parcels, and you should be far enough from the Confeds to get a good ship at Yemuro, maybe a few weapons. You still shouldn't have gone after Ruby like that. Did you seriously think that you could take one of the most heavily guarded Confederate military bases? A couple of Lighnings and a handful of torpedoes won't do you a whole lot of good against twenty Confed Frigates, but I guess you know that." The shuttle landed with a final jolt, and there was a crash in the back.

"I'd better go check that," the pilot told me, struggling to get up.

"Sure, and while you do that, I think I'll be going." I was anxious to leave, and the sooner the better. I stood up and opened the airlock, stepping out into the chamber, and then into the cool, dry Levo climate. The pilot started to protest, still hoping for pay, but I was gone by then. I couldn't spare the price and didn't want to haggle. I guess I must be off to the shipyard. I guess the closest would be a few systems up. I'll have to look around.

I got a good price on a Shuttle at the pad, but that's all that was there. It will be enough, though. I bought enough fuel to make it to Yemuro, and crawled in. It was cramped, but it too was enough. I enabled the hoverpads and took off, pushed off the ground with an almost startling force. That has to be the worst thing about shuttles. They have the worst inertial dampening. Someone's bound to get whiplash.

Once I got into orbit, I broke away and started off towards the jump point, very slowly, I might add. That's when it happened. My first warning was the siren, but I soon had a target view. It was three...no five Defenders, heading this way. Looked like pirates from there. I hit the jump button, but it was of no use. I still had nearly five hundred klicks to the point. The swarm descended upon me with increasing speed, just waiting to enter firing range. I had never seen a Defender look so menacing, not until I was out of my Kestrel, anyways. Bashing the distress call again and again, I broke out in a cold sweat. I don't think I can move half as fast as them, and without any weapons, I had no way of defending myself.

I quickly checked the scanner in hope of rescue, but the Light Freighter did not seem to helpful. I slammed my hand down on the distress signal once more, and wiped the sweat from my brow. If only Levo had an outfit store, I could have bought a few laser cannons, or even an escape pod, anything! The pirate ships loomed closer and closer, just outside of firing range. The little red dots had never seemed so evil, so powerful, they seemed to glare back at me from the panel, not unlike eyes. So many eyes...

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