1-014- 'Little More Than An Outpost'

The Stasis Pirates’ ion trail had been easy to follow…too easy, now that Mihai thought about it.  She followed it along the Outer Corridor, past the Trizentine and into the Frontier.  Nearing hostile territory, she disembarked from the battle cruiser in her fighter, telling its captain to remain there on patrol.  The fighter stealthily passed the Frontier, following the pirates’ trail far into forbidden territory.

The Stasis had made directly for ZemiaKone, meaning ‘Lost Rabbit’, the enemy’s westernmost territory bordering on the Frontier.  It was believed to be little more than an outpost - at least that is what was agreed upon at the armistice.  As Mihai drifted toward its surface, dodging radar and sonic detection, she felt there was way too much chatter on the communication channels to be coming from a few lonely outposts.

Her ship settled down in a desert canyon a few miles from where the fighter’s instruments indicated the pirates landed.  Following the gullies and ravines, she gingerly made her way in the direction of a distant space terminal.  About a mile away, she found a narrow draw, leading down to the plain far below.  Soon the rocky walls stretched high above her head.

A sudden chill raced up the woman’s spine.  Something was wrong.  Instinctively she twisted away from some unknown assailant.  Mihai’s prescience saved her from death, but not from injury.  A plunging, razor-sharp claw from a guard droid caught her as she spun around, driving her toward the ground.  She could feel its icy-cold blade tearing through the flight suit and into her flesh.  Then came a sickening sound of cracking bones and snapping tendons as the beast ripped a deep gash down across her back, slamming her, facedown into the dirt.

Mihai rolled away to her left in a choking cloud of dust just in time to escape a second blow, the blade making a ‘swooshing’ noise as it passed her face.  Still tumbling, she triggered her lanner, holstered on her left hip.  There was no time to pull the weapon free.  The raised arms of the droid were already dropping for the final thrust that would skewer her through. . .

Enjoy other posts: 

Prologue,

Destiny's Road 1-001, 1-002, 1-003, 1-004, 1-005, 1-006, 1-007, 1-008, 1-009,

1-010, 1-011, 1-012, 1-013, 1-014, 1-015, 1-016, 1-017, 1-018, 1-019, 1-020,

1-021, 1-022, 1-023, 1-024 & 1-025  

Of Councils Great and Small 2-026, 2-027, 2-028, 2-029, 2-030, 2-031, 

2-032, 2-033, 2-034, 2-035, 2-036, 2-037, 2-038, 2-039, 2-040, 2-041, 2-042, 
2-043, 2-044, 2-045, 2-046, 2-047, 2-048, 2-049 & 2-050 

Legend's Heroes 3-051, 3-052, 3-053, 3-054, 3-055, 3-056, 3-057, 3-058,

3-059, 3-060, 3-061, 3-062, 3-063, 3-064, 3-065, 3-066, 3-067, 3-068, 3-069,

3-070, 3-071, 3-072, 3-073, 3-074 & 3-075

Forges of Hell 4-076, 4-077, 4-078, 4-079, 4-080, 4-081, 4-082, 4-083, 4-084,
4-085, 4-086, 4-087, 4-088, 4-089, 4-090, 4-091, 4-092, 4-093, 4-094, 4-095,
4-096, 4-097, 4-098, 4-099 & 4-100

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