A/N: I wrote this for NaNoWriMo 2004.

This is where the Karzan Universe really kicks off. It's an alternate universe fusion of the video game Freelancer, Warhammer 40,000, some other random stuff, plus furries for some reason, populated by a cast of OCs.

Chapter 1: Unlikely Heroes, Out for Adventure. Or at least some quick credits.

It was a dark and stormy night. Well, maybe not so dark. And maybe it wasn't particularly stormy either. And it really wasn't quite night yet, it was more of late evening, as the larger of the two suns of the Primo planet of Secundus had already set, leaving the smaller, dimmer one in the sky behind it. There was a light drizzle falling in the sky, which didn't serve to help matters much other than to make an already miserable day even moreso.

Kalli May sighed and glanced at the sky, watching for any incoming ships that might hire her on as an escort or something. "Miserable planet," she muttered, mainly to herself. "Almost makes me wish I'd never left home." She leaned against her angular Griffon-class fighter, and immediately wished she hadn't, as the net effect of this was primarily to increase the moisture in the elbow of her shirt.

"Maybe you should invest in an umbrella," said a male voice from behind her.

Kalli turned around to see a man dressed as a pilot, the typical browns and blues that were common in this part of space. "I hadn't been planning on staying here that long."

"Planning on going somewhere, or would you be interested in a little job?" he asked.

"I might," she said, trying not to sound too overly eager about it. "What did you have in mind?"

"I'm hauling a load of coronite out to the Darwin system. You seem to have a capable ship there. Interested in flying escort?"

It would be a chance to get off this filthy ball of rock at least. "Sounds good to me. When do we leave?"

"Whenever you're ready. I'm all loaded up and ready to go, but my planned escort appears to have been indisposed at the present time."

"I'm ready," Kalli said. "I'll meet you in space, then?"

"Great. Let's go." The man turned and headed toward a freighter, and Kalli was already in the cockpit before she realized she hadn't even gotten his name.

Once in space, his voice came over the comm. "Great. I've laid in a course for the jump gate to Sydney. I'm transmitting it to you now."

"Received and laid in," Kalli said, heading off along the course. "I don't believe I caught your name, sir."

The man chuckled. "I'm Jake Walker, but I don't think I caught yours either."

"My name is Kalli. Kalli May."

"That's an unusual name. Where are you from?"

"Nowhere important. Out on the fringes of nowhere, really."

"Ah, I see," Jake said. "You been around this part of space much?"

"Nope, not really. I set out to 'explore the universe' and 'seek adventure'. Hah. What a joke. Hardly got as far as Secundus before I ended up broke and out of luck. Maybe my mother was right and I should have stayed at home..."

"Ah, it's not so bad out here. And there's plenty of adventure to be found if you know where to look. Although it usually has a habit of getting people shooting at you a lot."

They reached the jump gate, a huge construction of metal and equipment that connected the different systems together. The gates were wide open, allowing Kalli to look into the swirling miasma that lay within. She entered the circular gate first, the kaleidescopic effect opening into a rippling tunnel around her ship. After a few minutes through the tunnel, the fighter emerged in normal space again and flew out of a similar jump gate on the other side.

"Here we are, Sydney," Jake said over the comm. "Next stop, Darwin. There's our next course." New lines flashed on Kalli's map as she received the data from him.

"Right-o," Kalli replied, flying off away from the jump gate.

As they flew on through the system and approached the planet Sydney, they were approached by a squadron of Karzan Military fighters. "Unidentified vessels, please transmit identification data and submit to a cargo scan."

"This is independent freighter pilot Jacob Walker. I'm carrying coronite to the Darwin system."

"Cargo scan comes up negative," said a different voice, another member of the squadron. "Scanners are disrupted normally, coronite match positive. The escort is empty."

"Very well. You may proceed, Mr. Walker. Have a nice diurnal period."

"Thanks, you too," Jake said with almost a hint of irony in his voice. "Let's go, Kalli."

Kalli turned her ship on past planet Sydney and along the course toward the next jump gate. "What was that all about?" she asked him over the comm.

"Oh, they were just making sure we weren't carrying any contraband, like illegal drugs or something."

"No, I mean the coronite. What is coronite, anyway?"

Jake chuckled softly. "Sweet Mother's tits, I could have been carrying drugs and you'd never know the difference, would you? Anyway, coronite's a mineral, fairly rare. It disrupts sensors. That's why I needed an escort, of course. My sensors don't work either with it on board."

"Oh, I see," Kalli said, still fairly confused. "Why would anyone want it then?"

"Some people pay a lot of money for their privacy," Jake explained. "Whether people use it to shield top secret military installations or space brothels, I don't know or really care."

Kalli glanced down at her scanner readout. "I'm picking up several ships on long-range sensors, in that asteroid field to the left."

"What class of ships? What faction?"

"Can't tell at this distance. They look to be fighters though, and on an intercept course."

"Stay alert. Keep on course. Let me know who it is as soon as they're in range," Jake told her.

Kalli nodded, then remembered he couldn't see her nodding, and said, "Right." She watched the ships approach, staying on course toward the gate. "I've got a readout. They're Raven-class fighters."

"Ravens, hmm? Alright, don't worry about it."

Confused, Kalli said, "If you say so." They looked-and acted-suspiciously like pirates, however. She couldn't imagine what they wanted if it wasn't to attack them for their cargo. Her sensors picked up Jake's freighter sending a signal to the ships, and they broke off course and headed back into the asteroid field. "They're heading back into the rocks."

"Great," Jake said. "Let's get to the gate now, shall we?"

"What was that all about?" Kalli said. "What did you say to them?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll explain once we get to Darwin."

Kalli, thoroughly confused and frustrated, merely sighed and maintained course for the jump gate. "Alright, but you owe me an explanation."

"Sure thing, babe. Sure thing."