The Terrible Tales of Karb & Fex: Story One - Just Dropping In

The sound from the alarms was deafening. It scraped it's way around every corner of the ship, digging itself into your skull. Everyone was in a panic. Everyone except us. We knew this was coming. Those fanatical legionaries exposed their hand when they met with the captain. Did they honestly think we were so back-rim ignorant we couldn't sniff out their intentions from a sector away? I had a bad feeling the moment they stepped through that entry hatch. Fex was the one who spotted the insignia on the little imperial shit's collar, nearly spit out my nutri-paste when he told me. Doesn't matter now, ships going down regardless. Their plan went off as planned. As always.

Fex and I moved through the corridors, dodging colonist and sparks as we made our way to the pods. If you ever want to see what humanity is really made of, put a load of them in a life or death experience together. These colonists were barely out of their crypto caskets, some hadn't even had time to take a proper piss, and somehow had the motivation to shove each other to the floor as they scrambled and fought for a pod of their own. I saw a lady kick the sense out of some poor guy as he went to get in one. Caught him so off guard, he tripped on the way back and cracked his skull on a busted pipe. I don't think he found a seat after that.

We bullied our way into two pods near the end of the evacuation tunnel. Fex shook her head, pointing down through the pods viewing port at the planet below.

"Nothing good waits for us down there, Karb." She said, wiping her sleeve across her nose.

Her eyes narrowed as she reached for the safety bar. "We're going to need weapons.", she half-heartedly mumbled. I peaked over her shoulder to see the clouds and packed dirt below us. The difference between us in that moment was obvious. Where she saw problems, I saw profit. Was that far reach mud ball hostile? Probably. Would the locals take us in with open arms? Doubt it. What were the odds we'd even survive the crash down to the ground? Slim to none. And yet, I had a hunch. See, I'd spent time out there, jumped across the Rim and back to imperial space more times than I can count. If I picked up one little crumb of truth about the Rim in all that time, it was that you never know what will happen next out there.

I rested a hand on Fex's shoulder and smiled, "Thinking we should get down there and find us a few then, huh?." Fex rolled her eyes, but I am pretty sure I caught the tail end of smirk on her face as she hopped in the pod.

I sat myself down in my plasteel 'one-way-ticket' and sealed it up. The flashing lights and low humming did a good job of making you feel uneasy. It's bad enough you're dangling a few hundred miles above the dirt, last thing you need if your life boat giving you the shakes. I flipped the switch and waited. As the pod did it's thing, I started to come up with a plan. I had no idea what we would find down there, but I knew I was going to take it. The days of playing watch dog for the frozen herd destined for a new frontier was over. The empire had just served me the ultimate 'get-out-of-jail-free' card on a silver platter and I had every intention of cashing it in. I started thinking about any sour, war-torn faces I might recognize while wandering around the surface. I know I've seen this planet before. It's hard to forget bright red ocean water slamming into thumbo-white cliff faces. That's not something you see on every mud ball. A thud shook the walls of the pod, pulling me out of my thoughts right before the lights shut off and I went into free fall.

Hard to describe plummeting through space at that velocity. You're insides try to fight their way out of your head, your blood seems to gain mass and your eyes find it hard to convince your brain you're going to be alright. Ironically enough, the worst part isn't the fall. It's the landing. The descent thrusters on the pods usually do their jobs well enough to cushion the contact with the ground and not scramble your body into a thick paste. Even when they do, though, the human frame has a hard time coping with the jarring contrast of falling at five times the speed of sound to gently plopping down on a planet's crust. Most folks puke their guts out, even those who crash in over and over again. I had spit out most of my lunch before the bomb detonated, so I didn't have much to get out after the hatch popped open.

The star in that system was bright, casting a blinding blue light across the landscape. I squinted to search the horizon for smoke columns. Off in the distance, thick black plumes were peaking over a granite outcrop. I grabbed what useful items were scattered around the crash site and started walking. Couldn't help but wonder if Fex had made it down in one piece. Had to fight back the looming reality that she hadn't. As I got to the top of the rocks, I spotted the fuming remains of another pod. Not a living thing around it though. I scoured the landscape, hoping to spot anything that remotely looked alive. A notable sliver of additional doubt started to creep in. As I made my way down the granite crags, I found myself at the edge of a broad tree line. Not a sound came from the branches, not even the whistle of wind. As I made my way through the growth, I caught a whiff of a familiar smell. Death has a distinct fragrance, earthy and foul. Adrenaline kicked in as I continued through the trees. I kept my eyes moving, scanning for any motion.

Suddenly and quietly, the cold kiss of a steel barrel stuck me in the back. I stopped dead, slowly straightening my posture with my hands pointed up toward the looming canopy. A familiar voice danced past my ears.

"And what, exactly, is a washed-up, down bad and completely useless old mercenary like you doing in a place like this?" Fex asked playfully, digging the pistol deeper into my spine.

"Who me?" I said, turning my chin to my shoulder with a grin, "Oh, I'm just dropping in."