Astral Realms - A New Dawn

Exactly the moment he had reached a decision, or to be exact, he had convinced himself to take one without further thoughts, his eyes landed on a used ship in the distance. Even if he wasn’t near it, he could clearly see that she wasn’t a frigate; her size was way too big for that to be the case. But it also wasn’t a battleship. Leaving aside the countless restrictions that were in place in order to buy one from…anyone, battleships were way bigger than…whatever the hell that was.

Now his interest was picked. He had to see it up close.

Without even informing his merchant friend, Vindril set out under the scorching sun, trying to walk into as much shade as possible. A difficult task, given how little of it was available. The temperature was raising, and if had walked right under it, with the leather jacket he was wearing, he would have gone to the Academy in a puddle of sweat. And, while he didn’t care much about bon ton, that was certainly not the way to make a good impression.

After five, or maybe ten minutes, he finally reached his destination.

His mouth almost dropped when his eyes scanned the entirety of the ship that was now in front of him. Or what was left of it. Staring right through the cargo door, which was left wide open, touching the ground with his metallic ramp, Vindril immediately saw that she had been stripped bare, leaving all sorts of cables hanging in mid-air, mimicking a spider web of sorts. Even the guns had been taken out, leaving behind some gigantic holes that had been covered with tarp to stop the sand from entering and causing even more havoc. That wasn’t a good start. Still, at that point, what was he supposed to do? Turn back? It was better to carefully inspect.

Walking under her skeletal form, he went to back, where two engines were firmly mounted on her chassis. Truthfully, given the treatment that had been reserved to it, he almost expected to just find empty spaces where the engines were supposed to be; so it came as a surprise when he saw them right in their places. And even in a pretty good shape, all things considered. For once, some plastic tarp was covering them. It wasn’t the best protection against the elements, but it still was better than nothing. Second, as far as he could tell, there weren’t visible damages to its components. Obviously, he had no way of knowing if the inner ones were functioning or not, but it was a good sign nonetheless. Maybe, just maybe, they were still function-

“Ah!” said Yurian, making Vindril flinch in surprise. Since when was he behind his back? He hadn’t really noticed anything, and Yurian wasn’t renowned to be light footed. It seemed there was something in that hollow spacecraft that attracted him deeply. Whatever that was, he didn’t have a clue.

“I see it has caught your eye.” said Vindril. “Honest advice? Forget about it.”

“…Why? Is there something wrong with it?” Then to clarify things, he added. “Beyond the obvious, I mean.”

“Is there something- do you know how that starship is called?” he asked. “Don’t. I already know you don’t.”

“I can’t see how knowing her codename could help me.”

“You say that because you don’t know the stories that have been passed down to me. There’s a reason if this ship, which didn’t end up here because she was ready to get decommissioned, or because her hull was perforated, is in this sorry ass condition, slowly eaten away by sand. She’s a dangerous ship, you know.”

“But…if she’s so dangerous as you’re making her out to be, how did she pass the regulations? Even if it’s not an Empire ship, all other governments in the galaxy apply the same data to endorse a vessel.”

“Ahhh” said Yurian, sighing out loud. “This is where the age difference between you and I shows. Do you think regulations are always followed religiously to the last paragraph? Don’t be silly. You’re not that stupid to fail to realize how that reasoning is naïve. And I know for a fact you’re not like that.”

“Hey! Regulations are important. At least when safety is concerned. If the builders wouldn’t follow them, we would have a lot more deaths in space travels.”

“Then why she’s called the Silver Death?”

Vindril’s eyes shot up in surprise. He tried to hide it, but it was just too late. Yurian had noticed it.

“Ahh. I see you’ve heard about her after all. Well, it’s no surprise really. She might be one of the most infamous models in all space travel’s history. The list of negative events she has been part of is pretty long after all. Seriously, just stay clear of it. Just to let you know, this gigantic piece of metal has been here since the first year I’ve opened the shop. It’s been more than twenty years, and I still couldn’t find a damned way to get rid of it! What a waste of space…”

Now, it was clear that said vessel had a special reputation. If even Yurian, who always found ways to buy, sell, or barter in the galactic market had not been able to come up with a valid solution to get rid of her, it was as a clear sign as of how infamous she was. To Vindril’s knowledge, The Silver Death, the nickname assigned to it, was a model WXR-OD28, built by one of the biggest corporations galaxy wise (He didn’t know which one, but he also didn’t care enough to find out.). Countless tales were told about her, and only a few handfuls described her in a good light. Most of them spoke about the problems her armaments, saying that they were powerful but full of problems that rendered them almost useless. Vindril had always found those tales exaggerated. Surely, even he had some models that weren’t to his liking, but that was normal. But to utterly regard that vessel as useless? He couldn’t believe it…

Even now, that he was exactly one of those models, which were rarer to find than unobtanium, he just felt like that model had much, much more to offer than what other people saw in her. It was just a matter of correcting all those problems and finding the right person to own it. Needless to say, he wanted to be that man, even if he realized how much of a gamble he was getting himself into.

“I’ll take it.” said Vindril after some moments of silence.

“…W-What?” blurted out Yurian. By the look he had on his face, he must have felt utterly shocked by that affirmation. But given the circumstances, many would have been in his place.

“I said I’ll take it.”

“…So I didn’t hear wrongly. Fuck. Are you crazy? No. Don’t even answer that. It’s obvious that you are; otherwise you wouldn’t have ever said something as foolish as that.” he said. It was almost comical how he morphed when he was angry. Vindril knew it all along, but he still found it all very funny. “I swear, I cannot even- Do even realize what the hell are you saying? Look at her! She’s been here for years! And she needs a total overhaul, if you’re crazy enough-”

“I am.”

“…Why?” asked Yurian. “Why this ship and not any of the others I’ve shown you? This doesn’t make any sense. And that’s me saying it, which isn’t in my best interests.”

“…I don’t know.”

“You don’t- What in the freezing cold space does that even mean?! How can you not know that?”

“I don’t know. It’s- It’s like she has to be the one. I-I cannot put it clearly into words.”

“Yeah. I see…”

After a good while, where none of them uttered another word, Yurian eventually conceded, cursing out loud. “Ahhhh! Alright! I’ll sell it to you.”

Before Vindril could have smiled for that news, Yurian quickly added. “But let me be very clear about it. If you end up dead because of this death trap, it’s your own fault. Don’t came back haunting my sleep as a ghost or I’ll kick your ass until I’ve exorcised you. Are we clear?”

Vindril simply grinned. Then he threw a punch up in the air, happy as he ever was in his life.

Yes! Yes, dammit! He was finally buying a starship! And one hell of a starship, too! Yes, she was so infamous that any living being that had at least a couple of intact neurons would have never even want to go near it, but he didn’t care about any of that mysticism. To him, and to his crazy mindset, that was the best starship in the entire galaxy. Even now, that was covered in dust, and had missing parts that needed to be replaced or serviced., she was the best one he could have ever bought. He just couldn’t find any fault in it.

But before any of that could become a reality, there were many things that needed to be addressed. First of all, price. He had to pay her cheaply for that ordeal to make any sense. And, essentially, the whole ship needed a complete rehaul that wasn’t nor easy nor cost friendly. Fortunately, he was looking at the perfect person to whom he could entrust the job to. Whatever he was going to accept of course, was another thing entirely.

“So…” said Vindril tentatively. “How much is she going to-”

“3 million coins. At his price I might as well give to you as free, but is still need money for paperwork and all that pointless bullshit.”

Well, the price was fantastic. Just 3 million for a ship that big. That was unheard of. But the problem was everything around it. The spare parts and improvements he so wanted to mount were worth a lot of money. He hoped, if nothing else, to save as much materials as possible at that point, or he seriously doubted that all his funds were enough to get her ready.

“Alright. I’m okay with that.”

“Good.”

“As for the whole overhaul thing, can I leave it to yo-”

“No.”

“Oh, c’mon. Your team is one of the best when it comes to those things. And it’s not like I’m not going to pay you well. Just help me out.”

“Really, you’re a…” said Yurian smiling nervously. “This spaceship is a pain in the ass to work on. Everyone knows it. Hell, I’ll be surprised if you’ll find anyone inside the Empire’s confines that is willing to work on it.”

“C’mon.”

“Why w-”

“You know I won’t back down until I get that, no? So just help me out.”

Yurian scoffed. “Shit! Alright! Damn, how much I hate this ship. And damned be the day she came here.”

With that out of the way, Yurian turned around and began walking to the other side, leaving Vindril confused.

“Where are you going?”

“Where do you think?! Inside the ship. I need to make a list about all the things I need to replace. Which I’m sure will be endless. Ahhhh, what a mess! I hav-”

Vindril smiled brightly, ignoring the constant barrage of insults that were coming out of Yurian’s mouth. After all, that was the start of his dream. Or at least, the very first step towards it. And there was nothing better than that in the whole galaxy.

//////

“Ahhh, what a mess.”

Vindril had lost count of how many times Yurian had repeated himself like that. Maybe it was around the tenth, but he wasn’t so sure.

Rummaging through a maze of cables and parts that didn’t look like it was worth a single coin, there was Yurian. For the past half hour he had gone all around the ships interiors, noting down on his holo-notes what had to be addressed, writing in bold the critical issues. Needless to say, much of it was in a dire need of some loving care.

Starting from the welcoming room, which was right over the entrance ramp, the sofa that was mounted all around the circular room, leaving only the three entrances that led to other part of the ship open, was torn and full of dust and sand. The other objects around it weren’t in a different shape, so they had to be repaired or replaced entirely. Most probably the second.

Turning to the left, and going down the corridor, there was the engine room. With its gigantic engines that were mounted there, firmly anchored with welds, screws, and brackets, even in the current condition they were in, they were still a marvel to look at. Fortunately, they seemed to be in a good enough shape, even if they had some problems that obviously needed to be fixed, but that was for later to discuss. Also, the whole instrumentation that ran around the room was also in a decent condition, so a good cleaning and some maintenance and they were set to go.

Leaving the heart of the vessel behind, there were the crew’s rooms, which were located in the lower floor. They were in the same conditions as the welcoming room, so another makeover had to be done.

Now, if that was everything that had to be addressed, Vindril was sure that it wouldn’t have been too much expensive. Those weren’t things, if the engines turned out to be good, that were difficult to purchase in the immense and almost endless catalogue that was the Galactic Market, or the Starnet. Even the new armaments he wanted to mount weren’t that difficult to obtain. No. The real problem, the one that could have potentially removed, if he even had enough money to begin with, was the brain of the mothership. The I.V.

To be honest, he had a trump card to play, if the damage was too much extensive. He still hoped it wouldn’t came to that though. To call in that favour, while he could potentially serve him good in the future, was something that he clearly-

The sheer devastation that he saw in the data room, where the I.V. was stored in any vessel that soared the dark space of the galaxy, looked something out of a war movie. No. That wasn’t true. Maybe it was even worse than that. Holes that were bigger than him were scattered all around, giving the whole room a spectral and devastated look that made him shiver. Not because he was afraid. He was shivering because he could see his hard-earned money burning right in front of his eyes. That was going to be hell to fix.

“This-” said Vindril, perhaps even shocked. “Isn’t what I was expecting to find. I mean, I understood it wasn’t going to be an easy fix, but, like, daaaamn.”

“Told you.” said Yurian.

“Now what?”

“Now you either fix it, like the dumb idea you had, or you do the sensible thing and leave this thing here to rot away.”

“I have to fix it. I just have to.”

“Eh! Have it your way then. It’s going to cost you, though.”

Vindril grimaced at that though, wiping the sweat dripping from his forehead with the handkerchief he kept in his pocket. That ship, which seemed to lack almost everything, felt like an oven under the sun's rays that made the internal temperature skyrocket. A sentiment that seemed to be shared by the Yurian.

“Let’s finish discussing this back inside the office. I’m sweating my ass off by just staying still.”

“What about the pilot room? I have to-”

“Don’t worry.” said Yurian as he began walking towards the ramp. “It’s the same thing.”

Damn. Vindril strongly desired to stand in that mystic confine, even in its current state. That was, in his opinion, the best room in any starship, no matter the type. But he knew better than argue with the man that was going to help him fix that mess; especially when that whole project was at stake. He sighed. It seemed he had to wait after all.