A small blurb in which Talynne remembers the past and how she got to where she is, and is reminded of a brighter future.

Note: I've never read any of the Elite: Dangerous official fiction. Please do not flame with tons of "this isn't right, this sucks". If I got something wrong, please be constructive about it. ^_^

Elite: Dangerous is owned by Frontier Developments. Settings, ships and descriptions are based off of Elite: Dangerous. Talynne Star as a character is my own.

Series: THE SHIP WHISPERER - #1

Story: "Memories of the Past, Visions of the Future"

Written By: Talynne Star

"Talyn...slow to minimum speed and drop out of Supercruise."

"Affirmative, Commander."

Commander Talynne Star had made the order after finding a planet with wide, gorgeous white rings, the sun in the background shining through them, making them glow. It was a beautiful, calming image that she just wanted a moment to sit and admire. It had been a long month and she had been doing so much in terms of running goods back and forth from Eta Draconis to Ao Qin and back, as well as being on the front lines of the tussle out in Eta Draconis between Gold Vision Co and the Union of Eta Draconis Labor.

She felt the gentle shudder of her Eagle fall out of Supercruise and the Frameshift Drive powering down. Talyn's thrusters engaged, taking them to a slow speed near the rings. The way the light reflected off of the rings, causing them to glow...Talynne had no words for it. It was beautiful, but even that word didn't do the vision justice. She just stared at them through the side of her cockpit, almost at a loss for words.

"We are now out of Supercruise; thrusters at 20% speed and holding."

"Thankyou, Talyn. Come to full stop and turn seventy degrees to starboard." CMDR Talynne informed, leaning back in her chair and putting a foot up on the dash.

"Affirmative, Commander." Came Talyn's reply again, and proceeded to slow to a stop and then turn, bringing the view of the planet straight on through the canopy windows. The windows dimmed a bit so as to avoid Talynne having her eyes blinded from the brilliance of the sun. It still allowed the beauty of this white and grey striped planet with pure white rings to sit there glittering in space before her. It reminded her of a planet in her home system of Sol. The planet was Saturn; golds and browns banded the surface of the planet, with wide golden rings surrounding it.

The remembrance of Sol brought her back to Earth, where her...her family lived. For generations upon generations, they had been agriculturalists, farming the Earth's soil and perfecting means of growing the best produce. Her family had never had any interest in space. They firmly believed in deep roots on Earth, and that their place was on solid ground. Talynne, however, had other ideas.

Ever since she was little, she'd stare up at the stars at night. During the day, she'd daydream about flying in the sky amongs the bright, white clouds. Often her mother would tell her to get her head out of the clouds and focus on her daily chores. But that instruction would only last so long. She'd soon be found again, standing in a field or sitting, staring up at the sky, the gentle, warm summer breeze floating by and making the grass dance around her. Most kids would be playing amongst the waving grass. Not Talynne. While the summer breeze and sun would warm her, she'd still be miles away in the air...or even further out, playing amongst the stars. Her parents continued to try to refocus her throughout the years, but to no avail.

Talynne clenched her teeth as the next memory surfaced. It was a painful one, years later when she was nineteen. She had been working secretly with a friend to gain her pilot's license for the past year, often going on trips that she made excuses of for her training. She didn't want her parents stepping in and ruining her dream. When she was seventeen she set eyes on a space ship called an Eagle. Despite the fact that the ship was no longer being actively made, there were still plenty of them around and many still for sale. She felt her heart soaring and she knew...KNEW what she wanted.

For two years since the day she saw that ship she worked hard, making what credits she could to afford even the most basic of ships, but she didn't even come close to what she needed. Often her parents would become aware of her cash flow and ask for money. It pained her to say no and if she refused, she'd be asked why she needed so much. It was getting harder to hide her reasons. She would eventually give in and offer some of her backup credits just to keep them from asking more questions...which, to her, was vital in her plan.

So when the day came that she graduated at the top three percent of her flight school that she had secretly been attending and received her first official Pilot's License, the only attendee to her credit was the friend that had helped her out. She already had her plans to leave and had gotten a communication from the Pilot's Federation that she would be leaving in two days to LHS 3447 to pick up her ship. It wouldn't be the Eagle she had wanted, but a little Sidewinder. Most pilots, from what she understood, began with one as they were cheap all-rounder ships that gave a range of options to start out. Talynne was hoping to be an explorer, to visit the vast expanse of the Galaxy(little did she realize she would change her mind the moment she received her first bounty reward). Realistically she knew she wouldn't see ALL the stars in her lifetime, but she had a few goals in mind for destinations. Now...the hard part was telling her parents she would be leaving Earth...and possibly indefinitely.

It didn't go over well. A large fight ensued. Yelling, screaming, claiming she was tearing the family apart. Her father tried to reach for her brand new license to destroy it, but she jumped out of reach before he could. That single tag that hung around her neck meant not only the world to her, but the galaxy. Sadly this only made him angrier and he told her to get out. She was no longer welcome on the family grounds. Her mother was a bit softer, trying to get her father to rescind that action, but he refused. Talynne bit her lip and slipped to her room to gather what little belongings she could carry in a single trip out to her vehicle, and left in silence. Her bed and some less important trinkets and belongings were left; her parents could do as they pleased.

The vision of the planet before her blurred as tears came to her eyes. All she had fought for she got, but at the price of her family. She sighed, staring at her ship's console, reaching out and gingerly running her fingers along the smooth brushed steel and vinyl coverings just to her right side. It was a comforting feeling. It reminded her of her hard work, her dream come true...she hoped one day she could hit the status of Elite and make her parents proud, somehow. Maybe send them more credits for better farming equipment. She was already sitting comfortably at over two million credits, but at this point...she had three separate ships to take care of now. She was building a small fleet, it seemed. Talyn, her gorgeous Eagle, which she often referred to her as her baby. Then there was her Viper, Toruk, meaning "Last Shadow". She was a fiesty, growly ship, but flew well in Talynne's hands. Finally there was her Cobra, Sapphira. She was more of a small cargo ship for runs back and forth between Eta Draconis and Ao Qin. She handled well, but she was still in need of some upgrades.

A small smile came to her face as she stared briefly at Talyn's console, then back up to the glowing rings in front of her. She remembered the day that she went searching for the first ship she would ever buy. Having made enough credits to purchase an Eagle and give it a couple upgrades, she finally found herself in the shipyard of Wohler Terminal in Kremainn. There were so many ships, some that she swore she could only ever dream of owning...specifically the Viper and the Cobra(how ironic was it that she now owned all three?). They, too, had their appeal. But there was only one she wanted right now.

She came upon a long line of Eagles, sitting quietly, all angled and set up for show. Most were painted green; they were retired military craft. Others had been confiscated. But there was one. She sat in the middle of the rest of the Eagles, looking practically the same as the rest. Green paint, all former military information removed and she had been stripped down to nothing, aside from basic drives, shields and a small cargo hold. But it almost felt like there was some kind of aura around this particular ship. Talynne shifted her head to the side, watching the bright bay lights reflect in a long, but shallow gouge in the craft's side just under the canopy. She got the sense of a survivor. Talynne smiled as she walked forward, inspecting the ship slowly, her hands touching on the landing struts, feeling the energy in the metal. The moment her fingers touched, she felt...something. She had always heard from more seasoned pilots that a ship chooses its pilot...not the other way around. She had been told to feel with her soul and heart, not with her eyes. It was a sensation of belonging, a feeling of a fear of being separated, a question of acceptance. Talynne could only smile as she walked up the front strut that doubled as a ramp, going inside to take a peek around. She felt instantly at home inside the ship. She almost felt a bombardment of emotion ranging from excitement, worry, anxiety and nervousness. It was enough so that while she thought she heard a name, she couldn't pinpoint it right away. She knew this was the feeling that the other pilots had spoken of. This ship had chosen her.

She smiled and placed a hand on the back of the pilot's chair, looking at the currently-powered down console.

"Well, what do you think. Do you want me as your pilot, my dear Eagle?" She would ask, going silent as she listened for any kind of response, her eyes catching a quick, faint flicker of life on the console. Though the ship was powered down...she apparently still tried to respond. It was decided.

Two days later that Eagle, despite the protests and warnings of multiple problems with it from the techs, she had purchased it, upgraded her weapons and vital modules to start, had a small bunk installed, did a few internal fixings herself and even had a gorgeous black, red and gold flame paint job applied. Within those two days, her name was revealed, and she became Talyn. It was fitting on many levels.

And now here they sat, staring out to a gorgeous planet, taking a moment to themselves. If only her family could see this...

Talyn's computerized voice broke through her thoughts suddenly, and with a rather welcome message.

"Commander, Incoming Message from Commander Fairblood."

Suddenly Talynne's face exploded into a huge smile. Here she was, her mind stuck in the past, when the future was written in that simple name. Or, so she felt anyway. She had met him several weeks ago. He was another Eagle flyer, and had recently applied the golden version of her paintjob to his own Eagle, named Icarus. Originally he had come to her for help with Bounty Hunting tactics and upgrading his ship, however the more they talked, the more their friendship grew. Then there was the day he left flowers and chocolates for her to find. She had never blushed so much in her life. Suffice to say, their relationship blossomed and grew stronger.

"Thanks, Talyn, patch it through to the main comms console."

"Yes, Commander."

Her face would only turn more red and the smile on her face would grow bigger as she read it.

"Hey Love : ) Just wanted to tell you I'm about to take off, just woke up, I'm gonna do some scouting as always... I hope you're having fun there, don't blow yourself up, and this time I'll remember to pull the feets back up! Haha. Love you! Safe flying ! -CMDR Fairblood"

She found herself laughing at the mention of the feets. She teased him a lot when they first met because he always forgot to pull his landing gear up. Sometimes he still forgot, but he was getting better at remembering. He even caught HER once forgetting her landing gear. It was quickly becoming a personal joke between the two.

She pressed a few buttons, looking over her roster for the day. She still had much to do. Breaktime was over. She smiled, saving the message above in an internal computer folder. She loved little messages like that.

"Alright, Talyn...let's head back to Draconis. We have more things to take care of."

"Of course, Commander. Plotting course to Eta Draconis." Talyn replied, taking only a few seconds to plot the course. "Course plotted."

Talynne took the controls herself this time, aiming her ship in the correct direction, pushing slowly to full throttle, listening to the sounds of her ship's engines as they rumbled through the entire hull. It was a pleasing, comforting sound to her.

"Talyn, engage the Frameshift Drive to Hyperspace. Let's go home."

"Yes, Commander. Frameshift Drive Charging..."

Narrative:

It would be a short time later that Talynne would discover that Fairblood had disappeared off the radar as well. Once again, her heart left in shambles. No one knew what happened, no one knew if he were alive or dead; he was just gone. She would remind herself again why she shouldn't allow herself to become attached to anyone. It only caused pain.

But what was more painful...being hurt after loving, or being alone?

Sometimes...she didn't know.