Summary: It's the year 2613, and humans have spread out across the universe. The core planets have formed a federation, exercising their power over other planets through a military might known as the Brigade. A man named Leon captains a pirate crew, taking any and all jobs available. But nothing's ever easy for them, especially when they take in a Brigade soldier named Cloud who's lost his memory.

Pairings: Main - Leon/Cloud
Side - Axel/Roxas, Aqua/Terra

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Sad face. :C

[Chapter One]

There's always a certain calmness associated with space. A certain serenity that comes with a deep abyss of utter nothingness, where everything is eternally silent. There's a peace to be found looking off into the distance, where the only thing one can see is mass of stars painted against pure darkness.

That is, of course, unless one is attempting to smuggle contraband items off an abandoned ship right under the nose of the law-keeping Brigade.

Then things aren't so calm.

"Uh…guys? You about done out there? We kinda have to get a move on here. Brigade ship will reach us in just under three minutes." Axel swiveled back-and-forth on his chair, lower lip tugged between his teeth as his eyes scanned over the blinking monitors. The dial on the radar flashed by again, showing the Brigade ship moving ever nearer. They were cutting it close as it was; they couldn't afford to wait much longer.

"We're going as fast as we can! Unless, of course, you know a better way to move four crates of illegal firearms through space. Otherwise, shut up," Roxas growled, his voice sounding distant and scratchy through the communicator on his suit. His gloved hands were holding firmly to a large wooden box, which, although weightless, still wasn't the easiest thing to maneuver.

"We're almost done, Axel. Just hold on a little longer and make sure the ship's ready to go as soon as I tell you," another voice cut in over the wireless communication. The voice was far calmer than the other two, and carried a definitive, authoritative edge.

Axel frowned, but nodded, even though there wasn't anyone to see. "Gotcha, Captain." Drumming his fingers anxiously along the side of the command board, acid green eyes flicked up toward the large window in front of him. Outside, three figures in dark suits floated out in space, nothing more than dark splotches against the star-packed abyss. Another smaller ship sat stranded out there, all of its lights switched off, bobbing lifelessly like a plastic toy in a bathtub. A door in the ship's side had been broken open, and from the dark cavern inside one of the figures dragged out the last of four wooden boxes.

Between the three of them, they managed to haul all four boxes back toward the main ship, pulling themselves along the stretch of rope that both bound them together and bound them to the ship.

"90 seconds until they're on us," Axel muttered, more to himself than anyone else, as the figures disappeared from his view. They weren't going to make it. There was no way. The Brigade was going to catch them, and they were all going to spend the rest of their lives in jail. They couldn't possibly –

"Axel, go! Get us out of here!"

Without even thinking twice, Axel slammed on the engines and sent the ship hurtling deeper into space.

˚ º O º ˚

Down in the cargo bay, four crew members were shuffling about.

Terra, who had stayed onboard to help bring in the haul, was already dragging one of the boxes toward a smuggling niche built into the ship's wall.

The first of the suited figures to remove a helmet was a blue-haired woman. Setting her helmet into one of the lockers lining the wall just inside the pressure door, Aqua quickly slipped off the rest of the suit, hung it up, and hurried over to help Terra.

The still somewhat snappy Roxas had already removed his helmet as well, his spikey blonde hair a bit mussed from being inside the helmet. Pulling off his suit, he too dropped it in a locker. "Well, I'd better go make sure that moron Axel is being careful. Last time he took off in a hurry, he nearly overheated the engine," he muttered lowly, already stalking off toward the metal stairs that led to the rest of the ship.

The final crewmember closed his locker with a clang, dragging a hand through his long hair as he turned to help the other two storing the loot. But before Leon could so much as grab one of the boxes, he was waved off by a smiling Aqua.

"Don't worry, we've got it, sir. Why don't you -"

"Captain! We've got trouble – the Brigade ship is still following us!" Axel's voice sounded over the ship's intercom.

Brows furrowing, Leon immediately took off running up the stairs, closely followed by Aqua and Terra. He made his way through the ship with ease and burst onto the bridge only moments later. "How close are they?" he demanded as soon as he entered, walking over to stand just behind Axel's chair, leaning slightly over the pilot's shoulder.

"Only about 300,000 kilometers behind us…and gaining quickly."

Leon frowned slightly, pausing only for a moment to think. "They're after the cargo we lifted from that ship. If they board us, they'll take us all in. We've got no choice but to run. Get us into warp speed - we're a lot smaller than them, we'll be able to lose them," he directed, eyes scanning over the radar. They'd run into the Brigade plenty of times before, but this was the first time he honestly questioned whether or not they'd be able to make it. But if there was any chance at all that they could run, they at least had to try.

"But," Axel started in surprise, "even if I could get us into warp speed before they catch up, there's no time for me to set coordinates. Who knows where we could end up!"

"If they do catch us, we're all going to end up in prison. I'd rather take my chances. Now do it!" As Axel's hands began flying across the command board, pushing buttons here and then, Leon turned to look at the other three crewmembers in the bridge. "Everyone, hold onto something. We're going to make it," he assured them, trying desperately to believe it himself.

Breathing out a slow breath, Axel finally stopped his frantic typing: "Seven seconds until we can warp."

Wheem! A laser beam passed by dangerously close, visible in the bridge's front window as it went sailing into the distance.

"Four seconds…"

Whee-boom! The second laser made direct contact, causing a loud, frightening crashing sound and making the entire ship shudder.

And all of a sudden, the ship gave another jolt. The stars outside blurred into long streaks, and the ship shot forward at warp speed, leaving the Brigade ship far behind in its wake.

˚ º O º ˚

All five crewmembers had crowded into the ship's small dining area. Leon sat at the head of the table, his elbows braced against the wooden surface as he leaned forward. To his right, Axel sat sprawled out in a chair, one arm resting over the chair's back and his long legs spread out. To his left, Aqua sat upright in her chair, hands folded over the tabletop while Terra leaned against the wall off to the side. Closing his eyes for a short moment, Leon opened them again and stared straight across to where Roxas stood at the opposite end of the table. "So what's the damage?" he asked.

Roxas sighed, one hand running back-and-forth through his spikes. "Well, it's not as bad as it could have been. That second laser hit the auxiliary engine. Basically, we're still okay to fly, but we're going to have to take it really easy until I can get the engine patched up. If we push too hard, the core engine will blow," he explained.

"Well, at least we're still flying. And no one was hurt," Aqua commented with a smile. "After a run-in with the Brigade, I'd say that makes us pretty lucky."

"And we got away with the goods. Those guns will sell quiiiiite nicely," Axel added cheerfully.

"Right," Leon began, placing his hands down on the table as he stood up. "Roxas, head down and see what you can do with the engine. Axel, as far as I can tell, we're out in no man's land right now. Go to the bridge and try to locate where that last warp put us. And Aqua, Terra, finish stowing the guns. If we run into anyone else, we don't need any trouble."

Axel let out a low whistle. "Eh, why so bossy, boss?" he asked with one of his stupid grins. But no sooner had he stood up than an alarm suddenly came on, ringing three times and flashing red lights all around the ship before falling quiet. "Oh, c'mon! What now?" he groaned loudly.

"Another attack?" Terra asked, stepping away from the wall and looking around quickly.

Leon gave a short shake of his head, "No, that was the alarm for the tractor beam. Something must have been floating out in space, the tractor beam noticed it and picked it up. Axel, you and I will go check it out. Everyone else, you have your jobs."

˚ º O º ˚

Directly below the bridge was a cabin sometimes used for extra storage. Its original intention, of course, was to take in objects picked up by the tractor beam, but seeing as so very few things ever were picked up, it didn't serve much purpose. Until now.

"It looks…like an escape pod," Axel observed bluntly as he and Leon entered the cabin. A large metal cylinder had been dropped in the middle of the room, easily noticeable in the otherwise empty space. "But an escape pod way out here? It must have short-circuited and deployed by accident from a ship passing by. Don'tcha think?"

Leon said nothing, but walked up to the pod. He examined it carefully as he walked in a circle around the object, expression not giving even the slightest clue as to what he was thinking. "I suppose the only way to find out is to open it," he finally said. Without any further discussion, he reached out and pressed a a glowing green button on the side of the pod.

There was a whirring sound, then a clicking noise, and finally the small door cut into the side popped open. Leon leaned to look inside just as Axel came hurrying over. Crouched in the pod was an unconscious young man, his face shielded by bright blonde spikes of hair which shot out in every direction.

"Holy shit, there is a person in there! But…Captain, he's dressed like a Brigade soldier."

For the record, I have absolutely no idea what sound a laser makes. Wheem? o3o