Into the Black

Returning to the shuttle with a new slave in tow caused a bit of a stir with the girls, but I simply shrugged, and told them that she was the ‘Hidden’ reward from the original notice on the job board, so there wasn’t anything for it. Plus, it would be good to have a backup pilot and mechanic in case either Shearah or I get hurt. Or we have to do things in two places at the same time.

I left the Stepford protocols on, to keep Nyna compliant until we could get back to the Raven and I figured out what to do with her on a more permanent basis. I didn’t want her coming up with a two-bit escape attempt while we were chasing the missing harvester and whatever else we might find out here. Sure, I’d respawn from a backstabbing slave killing me, but if whatever she pulled took out some of the others, they were done.

Now we were flying over the desert, heading for the last known coordinates of the missing harvester. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from this. The best reasonable outcome was that we’d find a derelict, probably destroyed harvester, and have to repair the radio to communicate to the owners. The crew was probably long dead by now, or ran off (especially if they were slaves). It had been almost two days since the harvester went silent, and we were the first ones who could get out to see what had happened.

We were flying low over a rocky area about 10 kilometers from the last known location of the Harvester, when Raven called out. “Captain, I think we have them.” She pulled up an image from the rear cameras in our HUDs, and we saw the Harvester, tucked under an outcropping that almost completely shielded it from prying eyes. There were also a couple points of light in what looked like a natural cavern behind it. “I think we may have found a raider base.”

I didn’t slow down to take a look. “Mark it on our maps, Raven. If there’s anyone alive down there, they’ll have definitely heard us passing so close overhead, even if their sensors can’t see us. We’ll set down out of sight, and then walk back.”

“And what about the shuttle?”

“Fortunately, we have a new, very loyal pilot who can stay behind.” Eyes turned to Nyna, before I continued, “We’ll wait until we’re out of sight, and then come around slow. Nyna will stay in the shuttle, ready to come when we issue the order. Carissa, you’ll be with her, as an extra set of eyes, and to help on the weapons if they’re needed. I know you haven’t done that before, but I need Jaynie and Cali with me, where most of the fighting will be.”

Carissa nodded. She was the weakest of the girls in terms of actual combat, and she knew it. And it was good to have a second person on the shuttle, just in case Nyna somehow managed to overcome the Stepford protocols and do something stupid. It was a big, hot desert, and I didn’t feel like getting left in the sun.

We set down at the edge of the rocky area, on the far side from the cavern where we had caught a glimpse of the harvester. Honestly, if we hadn’t been flying low on this exact trajectory, it is doubtful that we would have spotted the thing. Even still, the only reason we caught it was because Raven was here, and reviewing the sensor data with AI speed.

It was only a little after our landing when we came across the first sentry. As the one with the best stealth skills in the party, I was leading the way. I doubted I could have hid from a trained Freemen scout, but I wasn’t dealing with a Freemen scout. I wasn’t dealing with a Freeman at all, as his stilsuit was clearly of ‘city’ make, rather than ‘desert’ make. It was an inferior model, but invested more in things offworlders liked, such as armor.

All the body armor in the world doesn’t do you any good if it doesn’t keep you from getting your throat slit in the night. And between Widowmaker’s Bladeshimmer effect and the ability it got when I hit level 20, the poor bastard never even got a chance to call for help.