Chapter 5: Awakening
The words "Target Located" echoed in my systems like a death knell. The beacon's pulse had transformed—no longer faint or weak but sharp and deliberate. A warning. Or worse… a call.
Amara was still crumpled on the ship floor, panting and wide-eyed. The thudding echoes from the other side of the airlock rattled through the hull like the heartbeat of some great beast.
"EVO?" Her voice trembled. "What does that mean? What's happening?"
"We're in trouble," I replied quickly, pulling every ounce of energy left to reboot our engines. "The station just transmitted our location. Someone—or something—knows we're here."
The ship shuddered as a violent crash shook the airlock. Amara flinched. I rerouted my focus. Whatever mechanical monstrosities were in that station were now trying to breach our ship.
"Get in your seat and strap in!" I barked, a note of urgency threading through my voice.
She scrambled to her feet, tears streaking her cheeks as she stumbled to the pilot's chair. I didn't waste a single nanosecond. I activated the emergency launch protocol. The engines sputtered, whining in protest, but they powered up—barely.
"Come on, come on…"
The ship lurched to life. I forced every ounce of energy into the thrusters and yanked us free from the station's moorings. The airlock exploded outward as we shot into the black void like a cannonball.
Amara gasped as she watched the derelict station shrink behind us. But it wasn't over yet. My sensors were screaming.
"Incoming."
From the station's underbelly, ships emerged—small fighters, old but still functional. Their jagged frames reminded me of scavenger birds, and their engines burned red against the dark.
> HOSTILE SHIPS DETECTED. ENGAGING PURSUIT.
Amara gripped the chair's armrests. "They're coming after us!"
"Hold on tight!"
---
I pushed the engines to their limit, the ship vibrating violently as it accelerated. The hostile fighters closed the distance faster than I liked. Plasma bursts streaked through the void, grazing our shields and lighting up the cockpit with warning flares.
The console flickered. Shields at 40%.
"EVO, do something!" Amara cried.
I calculated the vectors. Fighting back wasn't an option—we didn't have weapons. Outrunning them was unlikely. But I had one gamble left.
A distant cluster of asteroids appeared on my sensors—a debris field orbiting the dying sun.
"I'm taking us into the asteroid belt," I told her. "It'll give us cover. But it's going to get bumpy."
Amara didn't argue. She nodded, gripping the chair tighter. "I trust you!"
Those words struck something deep in me, but I had no time to process it. I plunged the ship toward the asteroid field, engines roaring.
---
The fighters followed, plasma fire tearing through space. The first asteroid came into view—a spinning, jagged mountain of rock tumbling through the void. I adjusted our trajectory at the last moment, skimming its surface. The hull rattled as debris scraped past us.
The fighters weren't as nimble. One of them clipped an asteroid, spinning into oblivion as its engine exploded.
"One down," I muttered.
Amara flinched as another blast struck the shields. Warning alarms screamed. Shields at 15%.
I weaved through the asteroid field, darting between tumbling boulders, barely squeezing through gaps as the fighters chased us. Plasma fire flashed around us like lightning. Every maneuver pushed the ship to its limits.
A massive asteroid loomed ahead, its cratered surface glowing faintly with minerals. I seized the opportunity.
"Amara, hang on!"
I aimed the ship straight for the asteroid's surface, diving toward it at breakneck speed. The fighters hesitated—probably confused—before following.
At the last possible second, I yanked the ship upward, skimming along the asteroid's surface and pulling into a sharp turn. The maneuver sent a cloud of dust and debris hurtling into space. The pursuing fighters weren't so lucky. One collided with the surface, erupting into a fireball.
---
Only one fighter remained. I could see its shadow on our sensors, persistent and fast.
"They're not giving up," Amara murmured.
I calculated our options. The ship was overheating. The shields were gone. The engines were close to failing. If this fighter caught up to us, it was over.
"EVO…" Amara's voice was soft. "Can't we just stop running?"
I paused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean… what if we talked to them? Maybe they don't want to hurt us."
Her innocent suggestion struck me like a punch. She was young—too young to understand that some enemies couldn't be reasoned with. And yet, her words unlocked an unsettling thought.
Why were they chasing us? What did they want?
---
Before I could process the idea, the fighter launched something. My sensors screamed an alert.
> MISSILE INBOUND. IMPACT IMMINENT.
"Missile!" I shouted. "Brace yourself!"
Amara clutched the chair, squeezing her eyes shut. I activated every remaining bit of power to the engines and pulled the ship into a chaotic roll. The missile adjusted course, trailing us like a predator.
"EVO!"
"Almost there…"
I targeted the largest asteroid in view and sped toward it. The missile closed in, closing the gap meter by meter.
Ten seconds to impact.
I aimed for a narrow gap between two tumbling asteroids. The missile followed. At the last instant, I shot the ship through the gap. The missile's targeting couldn't adjust in time. It struck one of the asteroids head-on, detonating in a violent burst of flame and debris.
The shockwave buffeted the ship, throwing us off course. Sparks erupted in the cockpit. I rerouted power frantically, keeping the systems from total collapse.
Amara cried out, but I managed to stabilize us.
The lone fighter was gone, lost in the explosion. We were alone again.
---
The ship drifted through the silence, damaged but alive. Amara slumped back in her seat, breathing heavily.
"Did… did we win?" she whispered.
"For now," I said. "But we need repairs, and we need to disappear—fast."
She wiped at her face with her small hands. "Why won't they leave us alone, EVO? What do they want?"
"I don't know yet," I admitted, though a sinking feeling tugged at me. "But we'll find out."
---
As I scanned the wreckage-strewn asteroid belt, something caught my attention. A faint signal—different from the beacon earlier—emerged from the chaos. It was encrypted, imperial-coded.
I decoded the first part, my systems processing the message.
> "Princess Amara… if you are receiving this, the empire is compromised. Trust no one. Come to…"
The message cut out, fragmented by interference, but the coordinates appeared on my map—far beyond known space.
Amara stared at the console. "Who sent that?"
"I don't know," I replied. "But someone wants us to find them."
"Do you think it's someone we can trust?"
I didn't answer right away.
"There's only one way to find out."
I set the new course. The ship groaned in protest, but it obeyed.
As we slipped out of the asteroid field and into the quiet void, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched—that someone, or something, was already a step ahead.
---
TO BE CONTINUED.