Starbound: A Space Odyssey

He was currently very far away from the Syndicate"s outpost.

When he saw things going south, he completely abandoned the place and ran away, leaving A1 to deal with the mess back there.

He leaned in one of the trees and rested for while.

[What to do...?] He couldn"t go back to the outpost or he might die and even if he returned there when the Invaders left, it would be useless because their cargo, the Florans, would have already fallen in their hands.

The Miniknog was already on their way and this operation was very, very lucrative for the Syndicate"s Boss.

So, if he return his end would be death by the hands of the Boss, or perhaps worst, he might even be sold to the Miniknog and live forever as an experiment subject.

[f.u.c.k, f.u.c.k, f.u.c.k!] He screamed inwardly in frustration. [I have to find a s.p.a.ceship... The Syndicate"s ships are all tracked, if I try to run away with one of them, I will be found out in no time.]

That"s why he decided to not beam up to his ship, he wanted to take the risk and wait in the planet until the Syndicate, the invaders and the Miniknog leave, then he might try to use his PIPS" S.O.S emergency message and catch a ride with any ship that would be pa.s.sing by.

[I have to wait for about 4 to 6 days... I think I can make it.] He thought. Even though he wasn"t the best of soldiers, he was at least trained for survival in all types of common environments.

"Huh?" He started to hear some noise coming from above.

He listened closely and realized it was the sound of turbines.

He looked up and saw a metallic bird, or something else coming toward him from the sky.

Squinting his eyes he saw that it was, in fact, a s.p.a.ce shuttle.

[More invaders!?] He ducked his head and hid behind the tree.

It was of no use, the shuttle started to land near the place the captain was hiding.

The captain reached for his Spit Fire a.s.sault Rifle in his PIPS and stayed hidden.

He glanced at the shuttle when it got closer and saw the symbol that was painted at the side.

[Nova Rebellion!?] He exclaimed when he saw the symbol of the newcomers. [Are they the ones behind this attack?] He wondered.

The shuttle kept hovering above the captain for while until the side door opened at some ropes fell from there.

As soon as the ropes. .h.i.t the ground people wearing Armor that was a mixture of blue and green, started to climb down from the shuttle using the ropes.

They landed on the ground and aimed at the spot where the captain was hiding. There was only two of them, but they still looked intimidating.

He looked at those people and his expression became grim.

Their armor wasn"t as bulky as the Syndicate"s armor, it was way lighter, and so their defenses were worse than the Syndicate"s armors.

The Nova Rebellion was known for their tactics of hit and run that"s why they often use Armors that provide them with a decent amount of protection while maintaining flexibility and speed.

That"s why even though both the Syndicate"s and the Rebellion"s standard Armor are Tier 3, made of t.i.tanium, their defensive capabilities are very different.

The weaponry was also another differential. While the Syndicate"s firearms have a huge amount of penetration capability, they are heavy and expensive to maintain, since they use material bullets, while the Rebellion"s energy weaponry is light, have high fire rates and are cheaper to maintain.

But the most glaring difference between the Black Star Syndicate and the Nova Rebellion is, in fact, their troops.

The Syndicate simply ma.s.s product troops and use the strategy of number over quality, while the Rebellion has the most well-trained troops beside the ones from the Terrene Protectorate.

With one look the captain was able to identify the weapon on their hands.

[Maliwan Wunderwaffens...] He looked at those small guns that looked just like some light blue old-fashioned P90 from before the 100-Year Great War. [Shooting energy bullets with shock elemental ability... That thing can barely penetrate a Tier 3 Armor, but the shock element is enough to fry the person within the armor before it could get pierced by the actual energy bullets.]

"You there..." A Nova Rebellion"s soldier started to speak with the captain. "Surrender or die."

The captain broke in a cold sweat and hesitated, to fight or not fight.

[Wait...] He suddenly thought of something. [I can"t return to the Syndicate, so I might as well just try to enter in the Rebellion.]

He dropped his weapon and walked out from his hiding spot with his hands lifted.

"I"m out, don"t shoot!" He spoke toward the soldiers that were eyeing him like prey.

The soldier walked up toward him and handcuffed his hands. He didn"t try to fight because he knew certain death would be the result.

"All clear now." The soldier spoke at his PIPS and soon the shuttle that was hovering in the air started to land on the open ground.

The captain glued his sight at the shuttle.

The shuttle landed and one of the soldiers that were in the ground approached the door and opened it.

"The smell of nature... How I missed it." The captain heard a casual voice coming from inside the shuttle.

He watched as a figure emerged from the inside.

A young man with a messy fiery red hair walked out from the shuttle. He was wearing a complete black formal suit. His enchanting black eyes were hidden behind a black rimmed gla.s.ses.

The captain had seen this person before. He tried to remember who he was.

"Master Jevil. This is the guy we found." The soldier that opened the door pointed at the captain.

[Jevil!?] The captain was shocked beyond belief. [What"s he doing with the Nova Rebellion!?]

As far as he knew, Jevil was part of the Letheia Corporation, or perhaps work for them, as the Administrator of the Underworld Facilities.

[Is he a spy?] He wondered. But just as he thought of this, his back became drenched in cold sweat. [I saw him... Is he going to silence me?] He glanced at Jevil and saw that the person was staring at him, with a casual smile.

"You recognize me..." Jevil said lightly.

"N-no I-I-I don"t know who might you be, mister." The Captain"s mouth trembled as he tried to come up with something that might help him get out of this situation.

"Oh, don"t need to be so afraid. It"s not like I"m a monster, right?" Jevil chuckled.

"Y-y-yes." The captain repeatedly nodded.