Ramaeus Station

“Sir I don’t see the reason why you need to leave at such an important time! If you leave, the Spacers will start doing whatever they want!”

A large, dark blue uniformed man with an earpiece walks down a metal hallway with columns and struts breaking off in sections, listening to his subordinate whine to him in the usual manner of his position. The occasional window can be seen, opening the way into the spawning void. Hazard signs pop up periodically on the pipes that run along the walls as he walks down the corridor.

“Then you take care of those fucktards because I’m tired of answering all their inane questions! I want to put in for my vacation time while I’m at it.” Uniformed man replies.

“Then what about the rest of the crew? What am I gonna tell them when they find out that you have left the station and for a vacation no less?!”

“They’ll think ‘About damn time’. Otherwise they’re just gonna have to get over it.” The uniformed man replies. “Anyway, it’s about time you learned how to fend for yourself son, because one of these days I won’t be here to haul your ass out of the fire.”

“But sir, orders dictate—”

“Orders can be interpreted in different ways, Major. You are now in command of this station while I am away. If I come back here and find the station in complete disrepair because you couldn’t handle a couple god damn Spacers, you might as well tear yourself a new asshole before I get to you!” The man growls.

The uniformed man switches off his earpiece before he could be barraged by yet more questions. The walk down the hallway is short for a man of his stature, as he proceeds to the Terminal to leave the station. The Terminal is a massive hangar for inbound and outbound traffic with an energy shield separating the void from the hangar. The main path he is on lead to a stairway that went down into the hangar.

Stopping at the top of the stairway, he scans the Terminal as the shuttles come and go. As he does this, he spots a lone shuttle pilot sitting on a crate next to his shuttle playing a game on a pda. The shuttle the pilot sits next to is a fairly average shuttle, around the length and width of a bus with an extra compartment for luggage and cargo. The windows are slightly tinted but are wide enough to afford a decent view when you fly on board.

Perfect. Idiot probably thinks he has the day off. Time to ruin his day. He thinks before walking down the steps. He breathes in the familiar smells of the hangar, finding solace in the fact that he could finally be rid of the artificial air mixed with oil and gunmetal.

He walks toward the pilot with long strides while not paying attention to his surroundings. He knew that he would be watched regardless of what he did and where he did it. As such, some of the other traffic controllers had taken notice of his personage gracing the hangar bay. A shuttle on his left opens as he walks passed to release new crew members aboard the station. He walks past without even a glance…although the same can’t be said for the new crewmates. They stop what they are doing and stand gawking at him as he passes.

“Did you see that?”

“It can’t be anyone else!”

“I’ve only seen him in the vids but what’s he doing out here?”

The pilot he was heading toward hadn’t seemed to notice him, even with all the commotion going on with his appearance in the Terminal.

“PILOT!” He barks from 3 meters away.

The pilot jumps, startled at the sudden noise coming toward him. Finally noticing the man in front of him, he jumps off the crate, tries to hide his pda in a small pocket in his spacesuit, and stands to attention.

“Y-yes sir. What can I do for you, sir?” He manages to say while trying not to lose his wits.

“Take me to the Sauten City Terminal, I have an appointment to keep.”

“Alright sir, just give me a moment to warm up the engines.” The pilot says rushing into the shuttle.

The uniformed man slowly walks on board and wonders which seat he should take considering how empty it is. The ones close to the cockpit are nice and spread out with their fair share of leg room, almost as if it were a first class section on a shuttle. The chairs were deep blue, with the occasional stain indicating a story that just itched to be told. He takes a seat next to a window and looks out towards the blue and green mass called Terra.

Feelings of longing, etch themselves across his face. He had been away from his home for far too long. Recalled from the patrols across Alliance Territory only to be put in charge of a station well out of reach of his home. He longed to put his feet back on the homeworld.

This guy better be worth it, Tal. He thinks with a sigh, before the subtle rumble of the shuttles engines start up, bringing his attention back into the moment.

Operational Headquarters

“Alright, go and warm up and make sure your muscles are all loose.” Rilke says as she puts a towel down on a bench. “I need to see what you can do before I set a training regimen.”

Alastair walks into the gym, throwing his gaze around only to be greeted with stares from the other agents already doing their routines. The gym itself was divided into 2 sections: free weights and weight machines lined the outside wall while the rest of the room was devoted to a massive sparring mat. Most of the agents looked to be clearing out as each was about to return from their break to back on the clock.

Time to get to work. He thinks excitedly.

He lays on the mat and stretches till every muscle loosens. He knew his own routine, usually rotating from using an obstacle course down to bar brawls in the Liver’s Worst, but he knew how to push himself with what he had around him. He would push himself as far as he could, noting that the system was reducing his normal strength considerably in order to account for the attributes that his status display read.

After the first hour of free weights, he started getting messages from the system stating increases in physical attributes before he could feel the effects of the added points being added to his character. A cooling water sensation would flood through him every time he would add a few points to his status.

Checking his status display, he noticed his Satiety getting low and crossed to the water fountain bolted to the wall next to the hallway doors. Rilke sat on a bench on the other side, watching him carefully. She made a mental note when she saw him do something that seemed odd, making sure to check it against the Alliance database for muscular routines. Not finding what she was looking for, she copies his physical form going through its rotations, scanning him all the while to figure out the effectiveness of such a regime.

She wasn’t the only one to do this. Various agents within the gym would steal a glance or two at his form as he continued to go through his personal routine. Each one gaining some manner of inspiration into their own routine before going back to their workout.

The hours pass in silence as he continues his mind-numbing work. He had learned early on that the system didn’t account for exhaustion that normally became apparent when one worked out their body if he worked his body at a steady pace. It was a very different feeling considering his earlier acrobatics in the streets. Stopping for a moment, he walks over to Rilke, noting her dubious expression before saying,

“This is great Rilke!”

“Yeah… normally someone wouldn’t be able to do it this long because of exhaustion. The longest that anyone has ever trained consecutively before starting to feel exhaustion is 3 hours. I guess that’s why you are a Spacer.” She says with a pearly smile.

“Please call me Alastair. The term Spacer doesn’t sit right with me.” Alastair says sitting down.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to offend you or anything…” She says before scooting a bit away to make room for him.

“I’m sure Rilke. If I can call you by your name, then you can do the same with mine.”

“Rilke is actually my—”

“WHERE THE FUCK IS THIS SPACER TAL TALKED ABOUT?!?!?!?!”

A baritone yell, close enough to be a drill instructor’s hallmark, was heard in the surroundings coming from the hallway door.

Everyone stops what they’re doing and looks over in the direction the voice came from. And everyone, as if on cue, freezes in surprise at the man standing there. Alastair, not knowing what is going on, just looked at the man who entered. A large, wide-set man with a white uniform, deep brown eyes, and a shaved head. He had a weathered and tanned face, but Alastair didn’t know if those were wrinkles or scars from battle. A full salt n’ pepper beard settled on the man’s face made him look older than he really was.

The old man picks Alastair out from the back and continues.

“I’m guessing that’s you! The only shitstain who doesn’t seem overly enthusiastic about my glorified appearance here!”

“That would be me sir, but what do you want from me? I haven’t met you before have I?” Alastair asks cautiously.

“We will see about that when we meet with Tal. Drop what you’re doing and come with me boy.” He promptly turns on his heel and walks out the door.

“What the hell was that about?” Alastair asks Rilke in a low voice.

She doesn’t even register that he had spoken, her eyes still riveted on the back of the old man walking impatiently down the hallway.

“NOW PRINCESS!!” The man bellows from the hallway. Oh boy, Alastair sighs before jogging down the hall to join the old man in the box.

“Get in here boy, I wanna talk to you.” The old man says as Alastair enters the confines of the elevator.

As the doors close, everyone jumps into action as they all gather near each other to start talking about what just happened.

“Everyone just saw that right?!”

“What is he doing here?!”

“I thought he was up in the Station taking care of the Spacers! If he came down here for only one Spacer….”

All the operatives start gossiping like a bunch of housewives over a juicy new secret.

“Ma’am, what do you think?” One of them asks and they all turn towards the slim woman.

Not fully comprehending what had just happened, she scrambles her brain in order to try and put the puzzle together. She starts pacing.

“If HE is here, that can only mean 1 of 2 things. 1. He’s here to take the Spacer up to the Station with the rest of them, or 2. The Director saw something in him and called Him to take a look.” She rationalizes out loud.

The agents that hear this start thinking while some start nodding in agreement. That would seem to be the only logical response to the new Spacers.

“I just hope Spacer Alastair doesn’t do anything drastic in there, especially in front of those 2.” She says grimly.

The rest of the agents do a silent prayer for the Spacer with an unknown future.

Tal sits in his black leather chair, reading some documents on a holo-screen hovering above the middle of his desk. He flicks through a couple of them and finds one with a list he needed. He reads through for about 5 minutes before...

“DING!” The elevator chimes.

“Update to datafile ‘Project SCION’, encrypt file, and clear screen.”

Everything clears from the holo-screen before settling on the home page. A small camera feed opens in the lower left corner of the holo-screen, showing who is inside the plush box. He pushes a button under the desk.

“Silence is Golden” He says aloud.

“And Bacon is BROWN, now cut the crap Tal, I’m not here for a visit!” The uniformed man in the elevator growls.

“So lovely to see you again Derek. How’s your wife doing?” He says with a smile before releasing the button to let the doors open.

The uniformed man, now known as Derek, strides inside with a nervous Alastair following closely behind.

“Stop asking questions you already know the answer to. So, what do you want done with him Tal?” Derek asks annoyed.

“Well I was hoping you would train him.”

“You can’t expect me to train a grimy little cocksucker that has barely even learned the way of the world. And even if I did, he would probably run away before we get anything done!”

“Have you asked him about you training him?”

They both turn to look at a now thoroughly confused Spacer. Thoughts race through Alastair’s head as he tries to comprehend what exactly is going on.

“How about it boy? Will you undertake my training and finish it fully? Or will you bow out like a coward halfway through?” Derek asks with an intimidating glare.

Well this is awkward… Alastair thinks to himself. I don’t want to go through training that could potentially limit my prospects later on. What if there are specialization options for a class or something later on?

“Hold on, who said anything about me even wanting this?”

“Well you did! As soon as you met Tal here, he knew that you wanted some guidance in some form or fashion.”

“… How—”

“It might be better if I answer that,” Tal says, “I have an Innate Skill called Talent Perception. It allows me to glean a glimpse of what the person I’m studying can do if given the chance to shine in their particular field of expertise.”

“…”

“What I saw within you was something I have not seen in a long time. You have the aptitude to rise from humanity’s cradle and pioneer the galaxy!”

“I’ve already been trained before so what need have I for your training?”

“Let’s put it this way princess. He collects the talent, I train them. If you can hold up to my standard, you will become a leading chump within the Human Alliance! Blah, blah, come on now, just say yes!” Derek says, his patience visibly thinning.

“What are the benefits to the training?” He asks after some time.

“Well, what have you already learned?”

“Derek, maybe if you see what he’s done that will help speed the process along.” Tal says after finding the video of Alastair’s previous feats.

Derek turns and heads around the desk to watch the camera playback. 5 minutes pass and he resets the video to a specific point and plays it back slowly.

“Alright boy. Go get your stuff. We got shit to do.” He says finally as a queer expression spreads across his face. His eyes never leave the holo-screen as he replays the sequence over and over again.

“… Um, I don’t—?”

“Alastair, go tell Agent Rilke to get you some startup gear.” Tal says watching Derek’s face.

“Alright…” Alastair says slightly confused.

He then proceeds into the elevator and pushes the button for the gym. The doors closes, and Tal asks in a low voice

“Do you think he can do it?”

“… I don’t know if he can, but judging by his first 2 skills alone he should be able to do it.” Derek says still staring at the screen.

“He could be the perfect candidate for that project we started all those years ago. He also has the Psychic trait so that should widen his possibilities.”

“Most Spacers have that trait anyway Tal, that doesn’t mean he will survive the journey.” Derek states grimly. “I’ll start making some calls and see if we can either do it by increments or if I can collect the parts as we go. And I’ll have to give that nutjob a call because she’s the only one who can train the Psychic trait.”

Alastair heads down to the hallway towards the gym. He reaches the steel framed doors, wondering if they took a slab of steel and simply attached a door handle to it considering how heavy it was. Opening the doors, he is immediately swarmed on all sides by the agents still in gym.

“So what did they say?!”

“What did He come here to talk about?!”

“How can I get an audience with Him?!”

What the hell is with these people? Do they have some sort of protocol to swarm the newcomer? Alastair wonders.

“Rilke!” he yells out, scanning the crowd to find the one person he semi knew.

The crowd itself wouldn’t abate despite his attempts to search for her. Jumping up he spots her sitting on a bench packing up her gear. He struggles through the crowd, insistent as they are in their avid questions.

“Yes what can I do for you?” She says looking up at him as he finally makes his way over to her.

“Tal says I need basic starting gear. Apparently I’m going on a trip with that old man that showed up a couple minutes ago.”

Everyone freezes around him, as if time was stopped except for him. He looks around at all of their shocked faces and proceeds to ask…

“Ummm, is everything alright?”

Rilke is the first to recover and looks up at Alastair with some mixture of awe.

“This has never— He hasn’t done this in years!” She exclaims in a small voice.

“Well apparently I impressed him. I don’t know how I did it or what I did, but I need to get some gear before he comes back for me.”

“Well let’s see what I can scrounge up from the Armory.” She says going for the door. Following her, every agent’s eyes were glued to his back. Each pair of eyes wondering just who was the Spacer that caught the attention of one of the Heroes of Mankind.

3 floors down, there was what Rilke called an Armory, but as Alastair steps inside, he immediately thinks it was more than simply an Armory. Assaulted by the smell of burning ozone, gunmetal, and fetid sweat, he looks around and gets the feeling that it’s less of an armory and more of a workshop with a locker room attached.

A well-lit room with a black walls and a tire-like floor. Strewn around the room are work tables with all manner of tools and gadgets for upgrading and maintaining anyone’s weapon of choice.

Plasma cutters, kinetic clamps, pressurized hammers… Hubert would have a field day in here. He thinks as he looks over the room.

Only a couple agents seemed engrossed in their work at the far end of the work tables, he sees a busty, flak-armored woman come out with a puzzled expression on her face. Judging by her tool belt, magnifying goggles, and the massive cannon that she is hefting around on top of her shoulders, he judges her to be a munitions officer of some kind.

“Rilke, what’s this guy doin here?” The woman calls out adjusting her goggles to normal eyesight, the overly large lens magnifying her hazel eyes larger than normal.

“He’s here for equipment. Gotta get him ready for whatever He puts him through.” She replies smiling.

“He? Who the hell is He? You don’t mean…” She asks, her eyes almost seeming to push at the seams of the goggles.

“Yes. Him.” Rilke replies, her smile turning into a beam.

“He’s finally gone and gotten one, after such a long time of waiting… If that’s the case, he’ll probably want pretty boy here to have as much weight as he can carry. Let’s get started!” she says lifting the goggles to the top of her head.