Met up with some other commanders in the squadron. It was a quiet night and they were investigating one of the many derelict Generation Ships floating about in space.
This was Venusian, abandoned after an unfortunate encounter with pirates. A problem you’d think nobody would expect, when embarking on a mission to found a colony so many years from home. I certainly wouldn’t expect it.
But then, nobody said space was safe.. or friendly.
It requires sacrifice, I read somewhere. You have to give up something for growth.
I put aside the Relentless Augur, my Python, in favor of the sleek and nimble Krait MK 2. The python has served me well and while I find her cockpit appropriately spacious I find my needs drifting after something nimble. The contours on the Krait aren’t anything to write home about. Much has been said about it’s ‘upside down’ style and I don’t have a pressing need for it’s Fight Bay. But I do find it’s top speed a precious commodity and it’s canopy welcoming in the depths of space.
I took a Krait to the Heart and Soul nebula. I took one to the Guardian satellite. And yet I struggle with giving up the Python. Sometimes I feel like I just just rip off the bandage. I keep my Python because losing it means giving up my Inara registration though I could easily never fly one ever again.
It took several months, while the Kheldian was sleeping and recovering, to hone my understanding of the power available to me. I learned a thing or two and had become quite comfortable in my new life.
It was while throwing down with some Council Warwolves that a stray Quantum blast buzzed past my head. Not the first but the first to elicit a reaction and something stirred in me. I was angry.
In a fit of unhealthy fury I blasted that soldier until my arms ached from the exertion. Oblivious to his friends who fought in vain to stop me I projected light-blasts across the room and maintained the barrage until I was sated.
This wasn’t the first time I had encountered a hunter out for just me, packing special tools and their mysterious ‘Quantum Cannons’. In fact most of them had little effect on me mentally or otherwise.
No, this was new. Something had awoken. The mere thought of the gunner stoked the fire of hatred. A single thought fanned the flames: Betrayal.
As almost an afterthought I noticed my customary blue glow had turned a lovely shade of sunset.