So this is what lies beyond the sky…
Deimos couldn't help his awe as his wide red eyes took in everything around them. From the cockpit of his ship, he could see everything. They were surrounded by magnificent stars, the three moons of Iscarmilas, a brightly glowing sun, and planets that stretched out as far as the eye could see.
For what felt like an eternity, all he could do was stare. He had spent so many days sitting at the window, wondering what it might look past the atmosphere of Iscarmilas. He wasn't disappointed. In fact, he felt as though this was the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid his eyes upon. I swear, I could just sit here forever and admire this view-
"Deimos! Are you still there?"
The human jumped, glancing towards the glowing green screen on his console. "O-Oh! Yes, sorry, Hifuld!" He gave a sheepish grin. "I was just looking at the scenery. It's so beautiful…"
Hifuld made a snorting noise over the radio. "Newbies…" They insulted their employee in a teasing tone. "You'll get tired of the view eventually."
"How could anyone get tired of this?" Deimos questioned, his red eyes looking through the cockpit again.
His boss chuckled, and snapped their fingers. "You'll have plenty of time to look during the trip. But the trip won't last that long if you don't let me explain to you how to use your ship, so pay attention!"
Deimos quickly nodded his head. "I'm listening!"
They hadn't gone far yet, it had only been about an hour since they had left Iscarmilas behind. Hifuld was inside the freight ship, which was a large ship with a medium sized bridge at the front and two long trailers carried behind it. The bridge was a dark green color, while the trailers were a mute grey.
Deimos's dark blue coloured ship sat on the top of the first trailer, connected to a magnet deck that could raise or lower itself. The ship had a bubble canopy with a short neck, and wings that angled downward, and a little storage area on the bottom of the ship. There was a fin on the top and bottom of the ship, the nose and wings were all foldable, and there were pulse laser cannons on the sides of the nose, and four missile stations loaded with missiles.
The cockpit was comfortably small, with a navigation AI, a radar screen with a crosshair, and radio communication on the screens in front, fresh oxygen pouring through the vents, and a manual release to open the canopy above him.
Strapped into the seat, Deimos was wearing a navy blue suit, with an airtight helmet on his head, collar, boots, and gloves. Strapped to him were two things: One was a small jet pack on his back, and one was an oxygen tank on his front, which could be attached to his helmet if he needed it.
"First things first, don't take off that suit of yours. It's a space suit and a flight suit. If you are knocked out of your cockpit, or end up on a planet without oxygen, that should help you survive. You have about a day's worth of oxygen in there. Make sure you always have it and your ship full when you fly. All inhabited planets will refill those tanks for free. It also doesn't hurt to have some extra tanks stored away, either."
Deimos nodded as he took a deep breath, savoring the oxygen as it was mentioned.
Hifuld continued,"Now your suit also comes with two other things. You also have magnetic boots, you can use those to attach yourself to ships so you don't float off. But, if they fail, that's why you have the jet pack. Don't use that for fun, it's specifically for if you drift off your ship and need to get back. Emergencies only, that fuel is expensive."
"Air, magnets, jet pack, got it." Deimos committed the words to memory, even though he wasn't sure how often he would be off-planet like this. "Anything else about the suits?"
His boss made a noise. "Well, this is abstract, but I would recommend getting a communicator, just for life in general. You can attach it to your wrist or use it handheld, and can call people whether they're in space or on a planet. It's very helpful, especially on trips like these. I'll do my best to save up to get you one."
"O-Oh well don't feel like you have to pay for it all, I can pay for part or most of it. I've been saving up money." Deimos quickly replied.
Hifuld made a noise of amusement. "Yes, well, I'd feel more comfortable taking these trips with you if you had one. So don't take too long or I'll just get it myself. Being patient is annoying"
Pfft, stubborn ass. The human thought, but didn't argue further.
"Now as for the ship, your guns at the front have plenty of ammo, but the missiles are limited. Only use those if you know you can hit, or as a last resort. They're expensive too. Now, look at the handles you have. What do you see?"
Deimos glanced down, looking towards the two handles in the cockpit. One was a joystick, which sat in front of his legs with a big red button on the back and a green button on the top. To his left was a handle, which he could move back, forward, or hold in the middle. There was also a triangular ring that was shoved into a small hole by the cockpit by the computer.
"The triangle is your key. To turn on your ship, you push it in. To turn it off, pull it out. Each ship has a specially made key, so it'll only turn on this ship. The handle on the left controls your speed, the joystick is how you move. The red button is for gunfire, the green is for missiles." Hifuld explained easily. "The other buttons on your console are like a keyboard. You can use them to calibrate your radar or navigation, and call people through the radio."
Deimos glanced towards the screen that read 'Communication Open' and tilted his head. "Can anyone tune into our conversation?"
"Only if it's an open communication line, but those are usually only used when a group of ships is meeting up. Most lines are private, or only a two-way communication like ours. There are some stations always open, usually those are to find out who's in the area or call for help. If we end up flying more, I'll make sure you have those."
"Thanks." The human responded as he glanced towards the navigation. "Anything else I should know?"
Hifuld made a thoughtful sound, and was silent for a few moments. Eventually, they spoke again. "Nope, I think that's everything off the top of my head. So, are you ready to try flying for the first time?"
Deimos's eyes widened and he tensed up in his seat. "R-right now?!"
His panicked reaction made the green alien laugh. "Yes, right now! How else are you going to practice flying? I brought you to protect the shipment after all. You can't protect shit if you don't know how to fly."
The human groaned, letting his helmet rest against the back of his seat. He could feel his own anxieties clawing at his chest, but he knew it wouldn't go away until he bit the bullet and tried to fly. He gritted his teeth, and let out a sigh. "Alright, alright… Let's do this!"
Hifuld responded with a satisfied noise. "Good. Don't worry, kid. I know you can do this." There was the sound of a clicking button. "Deactivating the magnetic link now. Get ready!"
Then, the feeling of being on stable land was gone as his craft was disconnected from the freight ship. The navy blue ship began to rise, and at the same time so did Deimos's heartbeat. He took deep breaths to keep himself calm, gripping the handle and joystick tightly.
As the freight ship continued to move forward, the human realized he would need to be brave and follow if he wanted to keep up. With one more deep breath, he pushed the handle forward slightly.
A plume of blue flame erupted out of the ship's engine, and the ship gently gilded forward. He kept his iron grip on the joystick as he turned it to the left, letting the left wing dip and the right wing raise as he moved from below the freight ship to the side of it.
"There you go!" Hifuld encouraged. "Now, try and move forward! Come up to the bridge!"
The human made a noise of agreement, not trusting his voice to do much else. He used the handle to speed up and pushed the joystick forward, dipping the nose of his ship to lower himself down.
Slowly, he managed to make his way to the front of the freight ship. Though the windows were tinted, he could see the outline of Hifuld waving at him through the glass.
With an excited grin, he lifted his hand on the joystick to wave back, only for the ship to begin wobbling. "W-whoa!" He quickly grabbed the joystick again, and hurriedly moved a safer distance away from the large freight ship.
Instantly, he heard the sound of Hifuld belting in laughter. "Distracted flying! If this was your pilot's test, they'd fail you right away!" They teased.
Deimos felt a blush appear on his cheeks. "W-well excuse me! You're not exactly much of a good role model, boss!"
Through the window, he could see the alien lean lazily back in their seat, legs resting on the dash, with one hand on the joystick. "Never claimed to be!" They glanced towards him again. "Besides, didn't Earth have at least something similar to a ship? You're telling me you've never flown anything before?"
The human frowned, his happy, playful mood vanishing in a second. He sighed, and shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't know…" He admitted softly. "The ones who abducted me, they took away my memories. I don't know anything about Earth… Not even my own life."
Hifuld was quiet for a moment, and then cursed under their breath. "Shit. I'm sorry, kid. I didn't know…" They shifted in their seat. "I mean, I assumed you were abducted. I didn't know they did that… Bastards."
"I-It's fine…" Deimos forced himself to focus on the stars. "You didn't know… I'm not as bothered about it as I used to be."
The green alien hummed. "Doesn't seem that way to me. Maybe it doesn't bother you as much anymore, but it still bothers you."
The human was silent for a moment as he realized that Hifuld was right. Eventually he shrugged again. "I guess it's just… It sounds stupid but… I have so many questions about who I was… I'm scared of the answers, but I hate not having them at the same time… A-and with Earth being a no-contact planet, I may never learn anything about my past."
Hifuld listened quietly, and though Deimos couldn't see their expression he imagined they were as collected as they usually were.
Then, they finally replied. "Well, I can't tell you anything about your past, obviously. But what I can say is that you shouldn't feel bad about not caring about your past as much as you used to."
Deimos frowned as he lowered the speed of his craft. "Huh? But you were upset about my memory loss a second ago-"
"Of course I was, I still am, don't mistake that." Hifuld made a sneering noise. "To take away someone's identity like that, to hurt them in such a way, it's despicable. I'd kill those guys if I could. They've done that to too many innocent people."
The human nodded in agreement, thinking of poor Lala and Lozo, and all the others in the shelter who had been displaced by those cruel kidnappers.
"But, what they did to you doesn't mean you've lost everything." Hifuld firmly declared,"No matter the past, you still have a future. That's what counts."
Deimos's eyes widened, those words resonating deep within his soul. "I never thought of it that way…" He admitted to the alien. "I'd never really thought of anything beyond living on Iscarmilas, and the chance to go back to Earth…"
Hifuld nodded from the other side of the glass. "I see. Well, I suppose I was the same. Second-class citizens aren't treated the best on Iscarmilas, but they're treated better than refugees. I came to Iscarmilas hoping for a better life than on my planet, but I ended up in an even worse position. I had all about given up hope on changing things, until a certain stubborn human barreled his way into my scrapyard."
The human in question glanced over, surprised. "Me?" He repeated.
"I told you before. I'd given up hope that anyone could stand up to people like Desler. But you did, and…" He heard them sigh. "I guess that made my shriveled heart hope that a better future could still happen."
"Is that why we're doing these shipments? You'd never done this before." Deimos guessed aloud.
Hifuld nodded again. "It's one of the reasons. I'd also like to find a different planet to set up a business." They placed a hand on the chin and hummed. "Maybe I could leave Iscarmilas, set up a shipbuilding and repair shop. I've always loved the art of ships. Every planet has different kinds, but they're all so interesting to examine and fly…"
The human tilted his head. Strangely, he could easily see Hifuld in such a position. They flew the freighter easily, and guided Deimos on how to fly the ship in such an easy to understand way he was able to pilot relatively well mere minutes after the instruction. It was fitting for his boss.
"Well, I hope you can make your dream into your future, Hifuld." Deimos softly said.
He saw Hifuld duck their head, it was the first time he had seen them get sheepish. "W-well, that's very kind of you. Maybe I can." After a moment, they gathered themselves and looked back towards their employee. "What about you, kid? Any idea about your future?"
Deimos found himself speechless again. Oh my… I don't know… What do I want to do?
Did he want to stay on Iscarmilas forever? Did he want to leave? If he did, where would he go? This was his first time off the planet, he had no idea what places he could even go to, which planets were the best, which were the most interesting.
There's so many things about this universe I don't know… Deimos thought, as his red eyes turned to look up at the billions of stars once more. But… If I could… I'd love to explore it all.
The duo traveled for a long while peacefully. During the day (or what they counted as day out in space), Deimos would practice his flying while Hifuld kept an eye out for any ships that may have bad intentions. So far, they'd only had a few ships fly near them, all who gave a friendly wave before they departed.
When flying practice was over, Deimos would park the ship in the interior, and join Hifuld in the freight truck. There was no gravity in the freight, but that didn't bother them. They'd sit together and eat their carefully packed rations, while chatting about whatever came to mind. Sometimes they'd say nothing, and the human would use those moments of silence to admire the beauty of space that now surrounded them.
During those times that he stared at the stars, Deimos found Hifuld's question continuing to nudge him. What do I want for my future? He would repeat, though he already knew the answer. It was right in front of his face, after all. I see the universe… But… Is that possible?
He didn't know. The situation on Iscarmilas made it difficult to do much of anything. The heartless people like Desler hated the idea of people like Deimos living on their planet, but something they hated even more was not having power over them. He had no doubt that if he tried to leave, they'd find a way to stop him.
What about his friends? Lala, Lozo, Hifuld, Belos, Mifyd, Rimaf, Franklin, Garce, Pezel… He couldn't leave them behind, to the mercy of those who were waiting for an opening to strike. As much as he wanted to leave Iscarmilas, he couldn't do that to them, not when they were still in danger.
Despite that sombering act, he decided to give himself a chance to indulge in his fantasies. As long as he was on this trip, he would learn all that he could, just in case his dream could ever become more than that.
About a week and a half into their trip, Hifuld and Deimos had been sitting in the fright together. The human was leaning against his chair, watching carefully as Hifuld explained how to use the navigation systems in ships. It's more complicated than I thought, I need to focus and make sure that I know how to-
BAM!
The duo cried out in surprise as they were thrown around in the ship, the only thing that stopped them from crashing into the walls was their iron grip on their seats. The large freighter continued to shake, forcing them to hang on tight.
"W-what's happening?!" Deimos cried out.
Hifuld threw themselves towards the window, using the floating to their advantage as they pressed themselves against the glass to look behind them. "Shit!" Their curse echoed through the small space. "Pirates! They're trying to take the shipment!"
Deimos jumped into action immediately. He grabbed his floating helmet, and quickly sealed it over him. "I'm going to go out there!" He called behind him as he moved to his ship. He didn't care if he'd never fought like this before, he'd been practicing his flying for a situation such as this!
"Do it! I'll try to distract them!" Hifuld yelled back.
As soon as the door to the bridge was sealed shut, the ceiling of the freight opened and the floor began to move up. Deimos jumped into the cockpit, shutting the canopy, and inserting the key just as the magnet deck disconnected.
The navy blue ship shot forward and then swooped around, circling wide to bring him back around to the freighter. As he approached, he could see a silver ship on the side of the large trailer. It had metal claws which were digging into the side, likely trying to rip it clean off.
"Hey there, stranger! That's not yours!" Deimos brought his finger up and pressed down the red button on his joystick.
The bright blue pulses shot out of his ship's guns at a rapid rate, several hitting the ship before Deimos was forced to pull up and circle around again. He glanced out the side of his canopy, and saw the silver ship reeling back, the side of it now sparking from a damaged wing.
"Yes!" Deimos smirked, but a streak of silver nearby made him turn to the other side. His red eyes landed on the sight of two silver ships, and he let out a panicked cry. His ship rolled to the side, barely avoiding the heavy gunfire from the new arrivals.
He grunted as he righted the fighter ship, pushing the handle to increase his speed. He pressed several keys on the front of his computer. "Hifuld!" He called through the radio. "We've got two more!"
"I see them! One is still following you, the other is coming toward the freight!" They replied over the radio.
Deimos turned his ship, a blast of gunfire nearly grazing his wing. He could see one of the silver ones heading towards the freight, on the other side of the damaged ship that had it's metal claws moving again. They're trying to take it again!
He pressed the red button again, aiming for the newest ship. His gunfire managed to hit the distracted ship right where the wings met. There was a burst of flame, and the ship seemed to lose control and begin drifting away.
At the sight of their buddy's damaged ship, the one with the broken wing angled itself up and tried to shoot. But thanks to the wing, its aim was off. The shots flew past his ship, and forced his purser to roll and dodge.
Deimos lowered his own ship, aiming the gunfire at the damaged ship. The ship soon was sparkling and shuddering, the gunfire coming to a pitiful end as the light in the cockpit powered down.
Before he could decide what to do next, his ship suddenly lurched forward, and a loud alarm began blaring. Deimos was only saved from slamming into the console thanks to being strapped to his seat.
His red eyes scanned the screens in front of him, and found a loud red alert warning him that his engine was damaged. At the same time that he read it, he heard the sound of his ship beginning to stutter. "Shit, shit…"
The alarm suddenly blared again as the wing on his right was nearly ripped off by gunfire. Deimos felt his heart pound against his chest, panic beginning to seize him. Shit! If I don't figure something out, I'm going to get shot down! Think, Deimos, think!
An idea came to him suddenly. It was a stupid, reckless one, but it was all he had. Letting go of the handle, he gripped the joystick with both gloved hands and yanked it backwards as hard as he could.
His ship lurched backwards as his hand moved to the green button. As soon as he saw the silver ship come in like with the crosshair on his radar, he held his breath and slammed his thumb down against the green button.
The missiles flew forward at the same time that the silver ship shot again. Deimos got to see the silver ship explode into several pieces before the canopy of his cockpit shattered. He quickly let go of the joystick, reaching for the tube attached to his oxygen tank. He quickly clicked it in place, and finally allowed himself to breathe.
He moved back to the joystick, but got no response. Though the computer's were undamaged and still on, it looked like he was out of luck with the engine.
"Deimos! Deimos are you okay?!" Hifuld's panicked voice came through the computer, making the human jump in surprise.
Forcing himself to take a few deep breaths, savoring the oxygen, he nodded. "I-I'm fine. I'm alive. But the ship's engine is out, I'll need you to pick me up."
After a few seconds of silence, he heard the sound of Hifuld giving a huge sigh. "Stars above, you scared me! I thought you were dead for sure, kid!"
As the freight ship floated into view, Deimos chuckled and gave a wave. "Oh, I thought I was toast for sure too!" He made a sad noise. "Next time, you should just hire a bodyguard!"
Hifuld snorted as they got closer. "Now why would I do that when I can pay you less to do the same job?"
Deimos whined and slumped his shoulders, dramatically turning his head to the side. "You're so mean, Hifuld!" He childishly exclaimed.
They laughed a little longer before they managed to calm themselves. "Ah, but in all seriousness… I'm glad you're alright." Hifuld gave them a thumbs up on the other side of the glass. "That was some good flying."
"I got the ship destroyed." The human pointed out.
Hifuld shook their head. "True, but that was after you took out three pirates, and managed to save yourself from getting shot dead. You're a natural, in my opinion. A little more practice, and I bet you can get through a fight without losing your ship."
Deimos blushed, and felt a smile climb up on his face. "W-well, thank you for teaching me in the first place." His smile suddenly turned mischievous. "Does that mean you're going to pay for my license?"
His boss was silent for a moment, and then let out a loud groan. "Fine, fine… I guess you did save my ass. I'll help you get that license. But let's worry about getting this shipment to its destination first."
As soon as the freighter was close, Deimos undid his straps and let himself float out of the ship, positioning himself against the side of the freight ship so he could click on his magnetic boots. He landed on the side, kept in place as he pulled the damaged ship forward, until it could connect with the waiting magnetic deck.
Deimos watched the damaged ship descend, and then looked up towards the chaos. The remains of the silver ship, and the two damaged ones floating nearby. What a fight… He thought. I wonder if… Wait…
He narrowed his eyes, leaning forward. Sure enough, in the distance, he could see someone waving from the ship. "Oh my god…" He jumped down into the interior, so he could speak through the radio on the broken ship. "Hifuld, they're still alive over there!"
"And?" Hifuld's voice was annoyed at the mention of them.
Deimos sent the screen an incredulous look. "And?" He repeated in disbelief. "We can't just leave them there!"
"Yes we can!" His boss easily answered. "They tried to kill us, kid!"
He knew that of course, he also knew that there was a cruel voice in his head, telling him to leave them to die in revenge for what they did… It's what they deserve, leave them to die, no need to feel guilty… But he pushed that voice away. "No, we can't. If we do that, we're no better than them!"
Hifuld only scoffed.
The human made a thoughtful noise. "I know you're right, they did try to steal our shipment and kill us. But, we can't leave them. At least, I can't. If I leave them behind, then I'm no better than people like Desler, who don't see people as people. Even if they're assholes, they're still people."
They shifted uncomfortably in their seat, the mention of Desler obviously getting to them, but still didn't seem convinced, and Deimos didn't blame them.
He knew his noble thoughts likely wouldn't sway the rather cynical scrapyard owner, not after all the hardship they had faced. So instead he went a different route.
"Well, if you insist, we can…" He crossed his arms and shrugged casually. "But I bet any bounties on them might be worth the trouble of bringing them in…"
He turned his red eyes towards the door to the bridge, waiting in the tense silence that followed after his casual mention of a possible reward. After what felt like an eternity, his boss released a defeated sigh.
"Alright, stubborn brat. Let's go get them."
It took some effort, but they managed to grab all three pilots. The two in the damaged ships were awake, but the one from the explosion had been unconscious. Luckily, they had their oxygen already connected, or they likely would have suffocated.
At Hifuld's insistence, Deimos made them move into the trailer with the damaged ship. Since it wasn't flying anywhere for the rest of the trip, and they could filter oxygen through the room, it was probably the safest place to put them.
"Tie them up too!" Hifuld ordered. "I'm not taking any chances!"
Considering that his boss had taken some convincing to save the pirates, Deimos decided to listen to them without protest. Using the rope that was usually reserved for towing other ships, he tied them to the support beams on the sides of the trailer.
"Seriously?" The one in the middle asked through their helmet. "You're turning us in?! Fuck you!"
Deimos scoffed and rolled his eyes behind his own helmet. "That's a pretty rude way to thank your rescuers, wouldn't you say?"
"You didn't rescue us, you nearly killed us!" They argued back.
The human knelt down and let himself chuckle. "Yes I did. After you tried to kill me, I think that's an even trade. If you really are insistent on this, I could always throw you back out of the ship and let you float to your death~ Whichever you prefer~!"
The one on the left used their limited mobility to elbow the one in the middle. "You're going to get us killed, Emiko, so shut up!"
The newly named Emiko turned her head to argue with her comrade, but Deimos didn't hear what they said. As soon as the one on the left said that name, he froze. That name, it's an Earth name… Did that mean…?
Without thinking, he moved forward and grabbed the girl's helmet. He knew the air was already filtering through, which is why he didn't hesitate to undo the seal and lift it off. As soon as his eyes met hers, he realized he was right. She was...
"A human!"
