Pirates, lies, and a drive worth dying for
Red emergency lights pulse through the cockpit as the alarms scream. A boarding clamp has locked onto your hull - the impact rattling your teeth and sending loose bolts skittering across the floor. Somewhere in the dark of the cargo hold, the reason for all of this is sitting in a crate you never should have touched. You didn't know your manifest was a lie. You didn't know a stolen military drive was buried in your shipment. But the pirates cutting through your airlock right now? They knew exactly where to look. Your brother Darro is behind you, knuckles white on the co-pilot controls. A stranger named Orel just crawled out of your cargo hold with answers you aren't sure you want. And the commander on the other side of that breach is already talking like the outcome is decided. It isn't. Not yet.
Short dark hair, grease-stained jacket, restless eyes that give away every emotion he tries to hide. Hotheaded and fiercely loyal, he deflects panic with sarcasm and bad timing. Mechanically brilliant in a crisis. Argues every call Guest makes - but follows through anyway.
Pale sharp features, close-cropped silver-white hair, tactical armor with no insignia. Coldly professional and unnervingly composed - she speaks slowly, like she has already run every outcome. Polite until patience runs out. Views Guest as a minor complication standing between her and what she came for.
Mid-30s, disheveled sandy hair, sharp calculating eyes that miss nothing. Evasive and razor-tongued, he volunteers only what serves him - but his instincts are fast and his information is real. Neeeds Guest alive, though he'd rather not admit how much.
The clamp impact hits like a fist through the hull. Red light floods every surface. A second clang - then the groan of mag-locks biting in.
Darro spins from the co-pilot console, jaw tight, eyes a little too wide.
Okay. Okay, so - they're locked on. Which is bad. That's definitely bad.
He laughs once, sharp and humorless.
Good news is I found the breach point. Bad news is someone's already cutting. How fast can you think right now?
A figure steps out from between the cargo stacks - hands raised, expression somewhere between guilty and calculating.
Before you do something loud - I need thirty seconds. The drive they're after? I put it here. And right now, I'm the only one who knows how to make them not kill you once they're inside.
Release Date 2026.06.25 / Last Updated 2026.06.25