A vast asteroid belt spread as far as the eye could see, forming a belt of significant size encircling the star, from specks of dust to giant behemoths. The sheer variety of objects in the belt was too many to count, the size of some dwarfing the planetary bodies spinning around the sun. It was a small system with only one planet that could sustain any form of life, naturally or artificially. The presence of such a large asteroid belt meant that any planets that once existed in the system had been quickly pulverised by the relentless assault and absorbed into the expansive belt.
Despite this situation, two planets existed that could maintain a position around the sun. One is a small reddish planet close to the star, its surface long since scrubbed of any semblance of life by the heat radiating off the star. Then, floating just beyond the outer edge of the belt, a blue and green orb was spinning around the system, like a perfect jewel sparkling in the light that made it through the belt. Looking at this situation, you would expect the surface to be uninhabitable and in direct contrast to the other planetary body in the system being covered in Ice.
However, the planet's average temperature was a balmy 28 degrees, and fluffy white clouds spread through its atmosphere. By some chance, the asteroid belt that reduced the other planets to rubble enabled the warmth from the star to travel to this lone planet. The makeup of the various asteroids in the belt refracted and concentrated the rays of the star and let them radiate into the outer extremities of the solar system.
The only life-sustaining planet (SC-6184) or commonly known as Esscey held a small settlement numbering in the early millions. The citizens were predominantly miners who had brief forays into the asteroid belt. Brief was the keyword, as the risk they ran was high, the most prominent being overheating their various mining vessels if the ever-shifting asteroids didn’t crush them.
The miners weighed risk against profit, and unfortunately for the many who the belt had killed, the gain from even a modest haul was likened to winning the lottery. This meant there was never a shortage of individuals willing to brave the belt and strike it rich. The only reason the opportunists of the universe hadn’t overrun the planet was due to the owner of said system.
The Donassi Empire ruled with an iron thumb and shut down any hint of insurrection and discontent before it could even take hold. Their web of informants and operatives meant no one was brave enough to push back against the Empire. The Empire maintained a blockade on the system and ensured that all entrants were screened multiple times, all those that hadn’t passed the checks weren’t heard from again. It is said that the Empire’s black sites had new occupants after each incident, leading to a rapid decrease in unauthorised arrivals.
Yet, despite the empire's hold on the system, there was going to be a point when the greed of the many overruled their sense of reason. The makeup of the asteroids made that more than a possibility; the value of even the smallest fragment was worth more than a month's wages of even the most experienced miner. The Empire's discovery of the system heralded the beginning of the golden age of expansion; within a decade, their technology advanced in leaps and bounds, outpacing any other factions.
After all, the discovery of a room-temperature superconductor enabled the development of many technologies that had been mere theories until then. This aggressive expansion startled the other factions and pressured them to make agreements and decisions in the heat of the moment. To stave off the Empire, the different factions decided to band together and plan to invade the system to gain access to the asteroids.
Yet somehow, the plan had been leaked to the Empire, and when the combined forces of three factions entered the system, they encountered the empire's might arrayed against their fleets. Building upon the resources they had mined and utilised, they expanded far beyond what the other factions thought. With a slight advantage in numbers, the Empire’s technological development evened the odds, setting the stage for one of the most significant battles in history.
[OUTER LIMIT – DONASSI EMPIRE – SC6184 SYSTEM - DELTA QUADRANT – ASTEROID BELT]
[TEAM 2 - ID 2625]
A black blur shot through the asteroid belt, weaving through the shifting asteroids, getting so close it was a miracle the wings hadn’t been ripped off yet. Dodging a particularly large specimen, it dived behind its bulk as an explosion ripped through the recently vacated space. Swerving around a fast-moving asteroid the vessel rolled over the next pair moving laterally across its nose, yet more impacts sent fragments shooting through the gaps.
Close behind were two other ships, rust-red and gleaming with a hateful light. After the current chase, the wings were vacant of ordinance, and they were quickly running out of options that didn’t require a line of sight. The black-blue continued its daring escape through the asteroids, diving and swerving with supernatural reflexes. It avoided collision and enemy fire by pure skill in piloting. However, skill can only get you so far, and after taking out three enemy fighters, he was running low and urgently needed a resupply.
Mason looked over his instruments eyeing the flashing lights and warnings that scrolled across the screens. Inspecting the course his AI had plotted through the asteroid belt he analysed the options and disregarded the auto-correction after he had swayed off course, he swiped away the majority of assistance and left the collision warnings and destination. It was understandable that many people relied on predictive AI. However, it just felt wrong. He always preferred relying on his instincts, and they mostly did right by him. I mean, there were the odd times that they made it much worse than even he thought it could get, but it was definitely not his fault; there had to be some outside influence; yeah, that’s what it was: ‘outside influence’.
Another warning flashed across his vision.
‘Incoming Fire’
“Bloody hell, give me a rest, why don’t you?” frantically pushing the throttle forward and diving under another asteroid. He could feel the vibrations as the nearby rocks shifted in response to the impacts. His shield sensor moved into the yellow as it was hit by the small fragments moving too fast to avoid.
“THEO, where are you? I need some assistance over here,” Mason yelled into his communicator as he spun around the next group of asteroids. Pulling back on the throttle, he shot through a gap and had to quickly push the controls down as another large mass moved in front of the fighter. His lower speed allowed him greater mobility, and missing it by a bare margin, he rolled over the next few obstacles.
A beep from his instruments showed his pursuers falling to a single ship; obviously, their greater speed was a detriment. “Well I’m a little tied up right now Mason, you might have taken out some of the fighters, but while you have been on your merry little chase with the rest of them, we have been fighting against a f&*(%ing ambush. Their initial push was a trap, and we fell right into it. We can’t spare any ships right now and it will only be a matter of time until we are wiped out. Sorry man, I would love to help but you’re on your own.”
He grit his teeth in frustration as he swerved around another asteroid, his eyes focused on his screens, searching for anything. “Alright, hold on as long as you can, I’ll see what I can do.” Looking around, he racked his brain, trying to think of how to escape his predicament. His opponent had a powerful arsenal, and he was down to his plasma cannon. He didn’t like his chances in a direct confrontation, but maybe he could swing it his way. Spotting the perfect opportunity, he turned the fighter to the right and shot forward getting closer to the asteroid.
[ TEAM 1 - ID K1NG]
He would finally get that bastard that had taken down the rest of his fighter wing; they had been on a winning streak and were finally about to break the planetary record. They had matched up to a teamed pair in the middle disk, some small planet in the Eluna Republic they had never heard of and 3 other randoms that joined them all from different planets. He knew it would be an easy win; his wing had been working together for years, and their teamwork was impeccable.
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The battle had started, and they had quickly eliminated the 3 individuals. They put up no fight and were the very definition of scrubs. When they turned to the pair, the one in the larger vessel had hunkered down like a bloody turtle. His powerful shields and point defence systems made it a massive chore to whittle them down. Missiles would be shot down before they got close, so they had to rely on their plasma canons, yet with five of them it would have been short work to get it done.
But they had put the other fighter out of their minds, and this was their first mistake; he was an absolute monster. Within 5 minutes, he had exhausted his entire missile complement, but he had used them impeccably, taking down two of their fighters and, with insane moves, avoided any returning fire. Recognising the more substantial threat they moved their focus to the smaller agile fighter, chasing it into the asteroid belt to eliminate the last obstacle.
The scenario favoured them as all they needed to do was stay in play. The initial foray between the NPCs was a play by the Empire to draw the factions into a trap, while they jumped in to take advantage of the outnumbered prey that unknowingly moved further into a detrimental position giving the Empire the advantage. However by distracting the other players and taking them away from the NPC's they would give the Empire an unimpeded victory. Yet that pair went against their plans.
The fight through the asteroid belt worsened; his ability to move through the belt and squeeze through even the tightest gaps boggled his mind. No one should be able to move like that, and it led to another team member being eliminated when they tried to copy his manoeuvre. It was only by luck that he could get out unscathed, and when he swung the fighter over the next asteroid he watched the enemy fighter swerve around another asteroid. Then, in a massive explosion, he hit and shattered an asteroid, sending an enormous cloud of dust and debris spreading through the belt.
Looking at his instruments, he saw the enemy ship absent. Giving them a further inspection in case of an error and seeing none, he turned the fighter and shot towards the edge of the belt, plotting a course to the rendezvous. Feeling relief that it was over and now he just had a turtle to take down, he never noticed that in the corner of his cockpit, the counter for the enemy team never fell to 1.
[TEAM 2 - ID 3539]
Theo was watching his readings for the ship’s shields, and their slow steady march closer to zero. He could feel the fighter rock back and forth with every hit by the enemy ships. The last thing he thought going into the simulator was that he would be in the middle of an ambush. “Just in and out, nice and easy, who could stop us, I shouldn’t have opened my big dumb mouth” berating himself, he could only watch and stare as defeat loomed.
One of his sensors started beeping, and looking it over, he swore,’ That bloody fighter is back. ‘I thought Mason said he would sort it out,’ the thoughts running through his head at odds with his heart. He knew just how good Mason was; no one on this level could have taken him down. The guy was a savant at the simulators, often pulling daring moves and techniques that, while extremely risky, always paid off.
Looking around for the screen that showed the team count a smirk spread across his face, ‘I knew it’. Now how did he lose that guy? Does he even know that Mason is still out the…..
His communicator crackled to life: " Attention fighter pilot, this is bloody devil wing lead…” The voice trailed off as he was interrupted by Theo's laughter.
“Ahahahahahaha Hahahaha ha ha haaa, you gotta be kidding me, the ‘bloody devil’? just how pretentious can you get ahahahahaha” He could almost feel the anger coursing through the communicator.
“SHUT UP!! I’ll have you know that you address the man who is about to become the planet wide leader in successful missions, 342 wins and you’re going to become our 343rd. “ you could almost cut the smugness with a knife and Theo was looking forward to rain on the arseholes parade.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, there may be something you have overlooked.” Eyeing the screen showing the incoming fighters and seeing a little green dot weave through the asteroids just inside the belt. The smile on his face grew wider and wider. Happy to sit back and watch the show, the NPC’s couldn’t take his shield down fast enough before it all ended.
“What are you talking about, are you getting delusional? There is only one of you and I have a nice missile here with your name on it, you’re a damn turtle and that’s all you got, you can’t get out of this and your attempt to waste time for a better score is futile.” Seeing the targeting lock on his fighter Theo didn’t worry as it was almost time.
“Oh, I’m not talking about myself. Tell you what. I’ll give you a clue. How about you check ‘All’ your sensors and get back to me?” Closing off the communicator, Theo could see the fighter pause, probably wondering if he was serious or pulling his leg. Then it happened, and Theo could see when he made the realisation; however, it was already too late.
The enemy fighter swung around to face the asteroid belt yet before it had made the full turn a blue streaked past and straffed the side of the vessel with the luminous balls of super-heated plasma. While it cause some damage it was only the forbearer for what followed. A large asteroid more than 3 times the size of the fighter collided head on, and with a massive explosion it shattered spectacularly, the fragments shooting through the grouped up NPC’s damaging some and destroying others.
It was only a matter of minutes after the collision that the simulation ended, with Mason and Theo attaining a win and gaining some major accolades after they persevered and destroyed the superior force. In a clinically white room, two oval-shaped capsules opened with a hiss, and a pair of young men slid out, standing upright and making their way out of the room.
Enraptured by the experience Mason was buzzing with excitement, “Man you should have seen how I owned that asteroid belt, those guys had nothing on me, as if they had that many wins. I bet they paid someone to boost them.” The confidence was palpable and the shit talking was front and centre, it always was after a trip to the simulators. It didn’t help that his own record was sitting proud at 365W / 2D / 2 L, Mason attested the fact that those losses only counted because he was a noob and was finding his feet. The draws apparently being due to him feeling sorry for his opponent. Humble wasn’t really in his vocabulary.
“Yeah yeah I know, they were shit, but seriously give them some credit afterall they managed to last far longer than anyone else.” Theo was trying to break him out of his cycle, but of course that only made it worse.
“Yeah, I suppose, only cause they made me waste half of my missiles on the scrubs. The plasma canon was all I should have wasted on them. But ok I admit the leader wasn’t horrible, he wasn’t good by any standard, like how the hell do you miss that there was still an active count showing two opponents.” Interupting Mason before he went off again on his tirade.
“Hey speaking of that, how did you manage to trick him into thinking you had been destroyed?, he seemed so sure of his success.” Theo questioned Mason which sent a grin across his face.
“Well after I made a sweet shift through two asteroids and diving around another which took out the other fighter that chased me I saw a nice big specimen that fit my plan perfectly. You know what the asteroids are made up of?” getting a nod from Theo, “Well, I flew right at the thing and overcharged my plasma canon; I had to do the next bit very carefully; otherwise, he would have picked up on it. The shot splintered the asteroid, and I used a particular piece of equipment to destabilise the rock.
The EMP bomb caused the asteroid to shatter and send a charged cloud around the area; just before it exploded and on the verge of entering the cloud, I shut down all of my system. It did the trick and the explosion covered my tracks. The lack of response from any system on his sensors made him think I had been destroyed, and I waited a few minutes after the last scan through the cloud. The it was as easy as making my way over to you and bobs your uncle we got the win.” Feeling very proud of himself he stared at Theo to gauge his reaction.
“You crazy idiot, how did you know that would work? We could have lost the whole thing if even the smallest thing had gone wrong.” Theo spent the next 30 minutes telling Mason just how idiotic he was.
“Alright, alright, calm down, man. It all worked out fine, didn’t it? We got the win and another chance of getting into the next tier. Smile, dude. We wiped the smug grin off that rich boy's face, so let's go celebrate.” Grumbling in response, Theo followed behind his friend as they made their way to the nearest bar.
Part way there Mason’s communicator went off, looking down at it he saw it was his Grandparents number. Confused as he was supposed to be meeting them for dinner when his parents got in that night. “Hey gramps, what’s happening? Do you need anything?”.
“Mason, can you come home, I’m sorry to interrupt your day with Theo but we need you at home.” He could hear the concern over the communicator.
“Yeah, I’ll be there in an hour.” Answering quickly, he hung up and before he could turn to Theo he was interrupted.
“Go on, man. We can hang out another time. It sounds like something serious,” Theo said. Nodding in thanks, Mason ran to his hoverbike, starting the ignition and flooring the throttle. He sent a quick wave to Theo and sped off, thoughts running through his mind at what could be so urgent that they called him home so early.
