CHAPTER TWO
WHITE SKULLS
We never make it to Orion IV. Just as we're passing Saturn, they make their move. It must have been planned to the second, because it was perfect.
They hide in the rings of Saturn, long-range scanners ignored them that way. Our frigate gets close enough... and then they move. Before short-range scanners can alert the crew, they've already taken out communications hub. We can't speak to anyone now. That's how to make an ambush. Don't go for the engines, or the weapons, or even the bridge. Go for the communications. Now we can't talk to anyone. We can't report we've been ambushed. We can't even talk through our fucking radios. After the comms have been taken out, then they go for the weapons systems. They're flying a small shuttlecraft, either that or they've got some kind of device on board. Either way the frigate defense weapons can't get a lock. Soon, the frigate has no weaopns, no engines... and no communication.
The cell is being rocked from one side to the other. Me and Jacob have been put in together. This cell is barely bigger than a fucking public toilet. We know the frigate's under attack, but that's all we know.
The next move of these guys is to board and plunder. It doesn't take them long to blast open the hangar and storm in. It really is a small shuttlecraft. The frigate hangar is hardly a big one, but the shuttle is able to fly in easily and move about with elbow room. The shuttle uses its weapons to quickly take out every poor soul in the hangar. These guys are good... these guys are very good.
The frigate has stopped rocking now, the chaos is over. Or as far as we know it is. Soon enough, we are proved wrong. There's gunfire... lots of it. And it's getting closer. Several men, dressed entirely in black and armed with automatic pulse rifles, enter. One of them talks to all us prisoners.
"The time has come for you to make a choice!" He screams, "Either we leave you here to rot in hell... or you pledge your allegiance to the White Skull!"
Jesus... These guys are the White Skull.
I remember hearing about the White Skull in bars and such. Most, I figured, were just folk tales. I knew they existed... I just never thought I'd see them. They're a gang, once the most feared in the galaxy. They used to steal from every frigate and convoy that they could find... and they found a lot. But then they just stopped. Every now and then a frigate or convoy would be hit. But no where near as many as what used to happen. No one knows why. Some say the police force got to them... bullshit. I don't know why they stopped... but I do know this, they must have chosen to stop.
So here I am, with Jacob, faced with several White Skull members. I have a choice to make. I can either die here... or become their slave. You have to die some day, but I don't feel like death today.
Before I can take a breather I'm being rushed through the many corridors by my new masters. Jacob and a few other guys are behind. Every now and then we stop when some stupid security guard decides he wants to die. I've been in many gun fights, I don't get scared anymore. The bullets whizzing past my head don't make me flinch. The noise of the gunfire doesn't make me cower. It just makes me mad.
There are a few security guards blocking the path back to the White Skull shuttle. They've built up their defenses and it'll take a while to break. The White Skull soldiers try to aim and take out the security guards. We'll be here ages. The guards have found their own pulse rifles. And it sounds like they got a lot of ammo to use. I'm tired of waiting... if you want something done properly, do it yourself.
One of the White Skulls is unlucky enough to get a bullet through the brain. Tough luck. His head explodes and he drops his gun. No one is paying attention so I pick it up and break away from the group. The White Skull soldiers haven't even noticed their friend is dead. I flank the guards, they haven't noticed me. I'll have to get real close if I stand any chance at all. Shouldn't be too difficult, they're all focused on the fire fight. I hide in the shadows and slowly approach my prey. I'm almost close enough... just a few more steps... I'm so close I could reach out and touch their backs. But I don't, instead I break their fucking necks. The closest one first, they haven't noticed, so I take out the second one in similar fashion and I'm lucky enough to break the neck of the third one. Two left – and they've noticed me – ah well, I like a challenge. I use the rifle I picked up earlier to blast one of the guards into the wall. The last one dives out the way before I can bring my fire power down on him too. I move... I move fast. The guard fires up to where I was standing but he is way too slow and I'm already on top of him... gun to his head... trigger pulled... if you want something done properly, do it yourself.
We are hurried onto the shuttle, I can't understand the rush. They push into seats and give the pilot the okay sign. He revs up the engines and we're off. I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into, by the look of Jacob, he hasn't either. But as I look back at th frigate, disappearing into the darkness of space, I get the feeling that I made the right choice. The frigate explodes. Now I know why they were rushing.