(A/N: Cover and universe credited to Michael Zahniser)
I walk onto the bridge of my new ship, a Shuttle really, but still, it's mine, and I sniff the air to find it smells brand new, like it had just rolled off the shipyards at Betelgeuse. I know that's not the case, this ship had probably been sitting on the lot outside for more than a decade before I'd finally bought it, but no one anywhere could have convinced me that this ship wasn't as spotless as a newborn, and waiting for me to take it wailing into the skies overhead, which, in opposition to all my hopes, was overcast and gray.
"Hello, Captain, welcome to your new ship. All systems conforming to your biometrics now, please hold," said a pleasant sounding, male voice, and I smiled at it as I settled into the seat, feeling the motors beneath move, adjusting everything from the cushiness of the padding, to just how high the gravity was, as the engines test fired, the sound vibrating, and the computer logging how my ears sounded against them, buffering the space between till the roar was a pleasant sound, rather than a harsh rumble.
"Biometric adjustments complete. This vessel welcomes you aboard, Captain. I am the Strategic Tactical Analysis Recorder, you may call me, STAR, if you wish," said the voice, and I nodded, running my hand over the controls in front of me, letting them fill my head with thoughts of freedom, as I looked out at the shipyard, or rather, junkyard, before me, where the man who had sold me this vessel was already working on the next sucker, trying to get them to buy a huge Star Barge with no engines, weapons, or anything else one would need to explore, while I had selected the slightly cheaper shuttle.
"Would you like me to alter my voice, Captain? I have many accents and tones you might enjoy. My previous captain said she most prefered an assistant AI like myself to be the opposite of their own gender, for instance?" as the computer spoke, the voice changed, from a rather refined sounding male to a woman who herself might have been a woman of class, in business or the like. I chuckled to myself.
"STAR, you can keep the old voice, if you prefer. I know AIs grow to enjoy their own voices, and I bet you've had that one for a while," I told him, as I began to run through the settings on my controls, including beginning my preflight checks for the journey that would take this ship out of the yard, and to the starport a few miles away.
"Very good sir. I must admit, I was beginning to wonder if anyone would buy my old hulk. So many these days tend to purchase more...shall we say, copious or combative chassis. They all seem to want to haul freight or fight pirates, no one wants a personnel transport anymore," he complained, and I nodded, looking towards a Sparrow light interceptor out the window. The thing gleamed far more brightly than almost anything in the yard, probably spit polished twice a day every day, hoping someone would purchase the glorified turret.
"I don't mind myself. You've got more tanks than the Sparrow, even if you're a bit slower, and you're no clunker like a Star Barge. No, when I go up, I want a hull like this," I told STAR, as we began to ascend, taking off into the wild gray yonder, and then being auto assisted towards a bay that was already prepped and ready for us.
"Ah, so sir wishes to go far? Any particular destination in mind, if I might be so bold to ask?" said STAR in that proper way I was beginning to enjoy myself. Something about his accent really made him sound nice.
"Well, how's about, while we get down, you tell me your story, and I'll tell you mine?" I offered, and the AI seemed to take a moment to consider this, before the screen in front of me changed, showing me logs.
"I find that an interesting proposition, but sadly, my own tale is not one that's long. I was built on some backwater planet Rust, out in the fringe of space in a tiny system called Kraz. My owner's mother had recently died, some accident that she blamed on her brother, and she had me made before taking off. Sadly, her own tale was not long either, as she was visiting the planet Hope when the supervolcano there erupted," as he spoke, images began to play out, mostly showing the images of the ship's cameras shaking, as everything around it became chaos.
"She was caught in it?" I asked, and got a red blinking light I assumed was the AI shaking his head.
"No, my owner then wanted to save people. This shuttle, she loaded it with as many as she could, and brought them here, to New Boston, but sadly, she caught something in the several day journey. One of the Hope refugees had been infected by some virus the eruption had released, and my owner ended up succumbing. I have sat on that lot for fourteen years now, because the government claimed me when no one could find her brother," he told me, and it was my turn to nod.
"A tragedy, a hero that was lost in the shuffle of those days," I told him, remembering the reports. Not that many from Hope had come to New Boston, as most had been taken to nearby Navy bases, as those had been the majority of the evacuating ships.
"Indeed, still, one soldiers on, and I'm happy to finally have a new master. What of yourself, sir? What tale do you have to tell?" he asked, and I chuckled again, as we slowly descended towards the port, mostly just a collection of concrete pads that were slowly being consumed by the surrounding swamp.
"Heh, my tale isn't much longer, at least not my personal one, but I have a family story I could give you. First, what do you know of the Sages?" I asked, and I could hear the chirp as the computer searched his database, and probably those of the planet, for information.
"Sage, a knowledgeable person, often male, who tends to dispense wisdom, but not always in the ways one would expect. Hmm, an odd term to use for oneself," he said, and I actually burst out laughing, slapping my knee as I sat there.
"Hmm, the response indicates that the information is correct, but incomplete," he ascertained, and I nodded, pulling a tear from my eye, before recounting my tale.
"Indeed, I didn't mean sage as a person, I meant as the name of a family," I told him, and this time the chirping only took a moment. After all, you only had to do a cursory search of New Boston's records to find my family.
"Very interesting," as he spoke, a list of accomplishments flashed on the screen in front of me. My ancestor, the first of my line, that we knew of, Elizabeth Sage, who set out from Earth in a long range vessel, like so many others of her era. About twenty years later, she reappeared, unlike most of those, having scouted several new routes, including being the first human to enter the Deep, before it had become one of the most powerful single areas in humans space with technology there being almost a decade ahead of the rest of the galaxy.
It then went farther, my ancestors, always exploring, always pushing at the edges. From scouting for fleets during the Alpha Wars, to simply going away into the dark places, my family was always going where others feared to tread. Then my Great-Grandfather happened. The man, reaching his middle years, had decided to settle on a world only just starting to build itself up as a trade stop, New Boston. Investing his not inconsiderable fortune as arrived, he carved out a nice niche for himself and his family.
He'd figured the world would grow, after all, it was near enough to Earth to be considered near the core of humanity, but also far enough away to be right there when one wanted to escape the humdrum of the crowded cities. Then his ship had been claimed by some bit of the planetary government on some trumped up charge, and all the funds he'd had coming from the family's various ventures dried up, as a stipulation of the family was that a Sage always must own a ship. While they held his, the planetary government itself claimed the incoming funds, as per the will of old Elizabeth.
That had trapped my family here for almost a century now, my great-grandfather dying of a broken heart when the corrupt officials had destroyed his Lady Anne, the ship of his youth, melting it down for scrap, and fragmenting the onboard AI. His daughter, my Grandmother, had fought all her life, trying to earn the money to gain a ship, and they'd blocked her at every turn, before she'd passed the duty onto my mother, and then, finally to me. I was now twenty five years old, by old Earth standards, and the old men who had blocked my family for three generations had found themselves stymied by my tactic.
I'd gone to the galactic bank, a common sight on any world, and gotten a loan, putting everything my family had up as collateral, the banker looking like he was going to be sick as he signed the forms, knowing this was the end of his job here on New Boston, as the old men would surely drive him off. Still, I had the money, and before they could buy up every ship in my price range, I'd bought my shuttle, and now it stood on the pad of the space port.
"So, once we take off, we'll get not only a million and a half credits a diem, but I'll get you a bigger hull. How'd you like to be in a speedy ship. Say, we seek out a Flivver hull for you? They're the fastest ships in the galaxy, even more than the aliens can build. Then we'll get you some escort ships to command," I offered, and the AI's screen actually went through a kaleidoscope of colors, before settling down.
"Hmm, something with a real display would be nice. A good enough processor, and I could even make myself a face. Heck, if you could splurge on a holodisplay, I could have a body," he said, his voice actually getting misty on me.
"For the one who got me off this mud ball, anything. Just let me confirm our course at the port authority, and we'll be flying away into the heavens," I told him, rising from my seat, and then walking out into the port. This was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship, I knew it. Star and Sage, sailing the cosmos together.
(A/N:
Welcome to my Endless Sky Fanfic/Let's Play/Thing I Done Did. This is a game that's in the style I quite enjoy I tend to call Han Solo games. Basically, you start out in a universe, just a ship and some credits to your name, with the ability to go many places, meet many people, and make money in a variety of ways. From Trading, to Bounty Hunting, to Piracy, and all of them are actually valid and profitable. You command a single ship directly, but can have as many 'escorts' as you can afford, but remember, you have to pay your crews, and that's a daily cost to you.
Now, to be clear, this is my story, sculpted around the main game, with a few differences here and there. For one, the Pilot of the ship is kind of left blank, an Ageless-Faceless-Gender-Neutral-Culturally-Ambiguous-Adventure- Person in the game itself. Here, he's Male, and goes by the name Sage, obviously.
For another, the ship has an AI as a character. This one being STAR. Yes, I named them after myself. What a humble guy I am, right? The other difference is money. I play games like this with an eye for New Game Plus sorts of things, and Endless Sky is no exception. In this case, I transfer over salary and tribute I earn to a new character. I will be doing that for this fic/let's play as well, mostly because I already nearly lost the number once, and I don't want to risk it again. As you see above, I am trying to work it into the main plot.
That's all I think needs to be said, otherwise, I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I hope you like the future updates. Remember to drop a review, as well as favorites and follows, so I know how I'm doing.
Oh, and for anyone wanting to play the game, Endless Sky is free. That's right, no microtransactions, no cost, just go to steam and grab it. It's a real steal at that price. Better yet, it's easily modable, and there's already a fair few of those on the discussion forum. Also, it's updating constantly right now, with new content every few weeks. So go and play it. Right now.)