The misadventures of cmdr Skipp

[Skipp]

It was a long flight… My fuel tank only had a speck of fuel left and I started to regret I didn't take that offer on a fuel scoop from the shady black market dealer on the last station I visited. Feels like it's been weeks… But I couldn't part with half of my monthly credit earnings for a lousy fuel scoop!

My sensors keep showing only „Unexplored“ planets with no stations in range. Space… a quiet place – yet, such a terrifying thought rushed through my mind when thinking about being stranded here… Not even a random police drone in sight…

My only companion on this voyage was Alise – my old board computer. She's been my copilot for years now. Even after upgrading my ships, I always transfered her data core into the computer system.

„Alice?“

- Ye҉s c̨om̸mand̢er͏?͟– she responded in a rasp, almost sexy, metalic voice

„What's the max distance we can jump on our current fuel tank?“

A short blink appeard on the dashboard indicating data processing…

- 2̵,35 ̀l͡ig͏h͏tye͘ar̡s com͏man̡der

„Let me guess… no populated star systems in that range?“

- C͟ór̕r͠ect.

I gazed through the stained glass of my Viper remembering all the bounty hunts she did. My FSD interdictor ready to bump bad boys out of supercruise, weapons charged to lock and shoot… Everything felt so useless now. I completely lost track of time while running through the memory lane of my ship's past when Alise came through the cockpit speakers. If I didn't know better, she almost sounded excited.

- New ̨sţati͞o͘n͡ ͏de̴t҉ecte̡d.̢ ͡C͡o͞or̕diǹa̶t͟e̶s͠ ́are b̵e̸ing͠ ̷ro͢úte͠d͏ ̧to̵ main s̵h͝ip ͟di͟splay.

I jumped out of my seat hitting my head on the upper compartment. Some old contracts fell out reminding me of more fines I was probably already issued for not completing those in time… But that wasn't important now! Salvation is at hand!

„That's my girl! Lock to given coordinates and full throttle ahead!“

I didn't even care who the people on the station were nor what faction they represented… I needed fuel and food ASAP. Luck has finally smiled upon me.

After another 20 minutes flight, the station began to appear. The sense of releaf filled me while I was throttling down and exiting supercruise. I aligned my ship with the entrance and lowered my landing gear. Everything seemed perfect.

- C͢ǫmmand͘e͡r?͠

„Not now Alise! I'm way too tired and hungry, whatever you have to say is…“

I didn't even finish my sentance when i felt a hard explosion off my port bow. Then another one…

- Sh̡i̛el̀dś ͡c͜r̵iti̸ćal… - Alise said in a calm voice

„What the…?!“

- Sh̀i̸ęld͟s͡ o͢ff̷ĺi̡ne. ̕T̡aki͟ng̀ h̨u͠l̢l ̸dam̷a͠g̕e̵.

I started checking the cargo logs to see if I had any illegal goods aboard but all was bought from a legit merchant.

- C͢ǫmmand͘e͡r?

„Not now Alise! Full power to shields and turn off flight assist!“

I tried swinging my ship around towards the entrance before the hull fell apart. But it was too late… I grabbed my helmet and just before ejecting I heard Alise's last words…

- Co͟m͘mąn̡d̢er, ͝y̛o͡u forg͢o̸t̀ t̢o ask ҉f͏o̸r͜ do͢ck͡i͠n͝g p̕e̴r̸m͡isi̡o͘n̶s̶…

To be continued...

[Combiseries]

Oh the times I've done that myself, many many times....And have been oh so lucky.

[Flip]

LOL Very good, Skipp!

If I may just make one criticism: Alise is pretty difficult to read (at least for my agin eye). Would be easier if you just made her lines in italics, or full caps, or something.

Except for that, I really enjoyed it.

[Skipp]

I did it on purpose to make her appear even more distorted

I'll make sure to remove it in the next part if you want

[Jockgit64]

Hahahah Excellent story, I liked that a lot.

[Flip]

I did it on purpose to make her appear even more distorted

Obviously. And that worked well (and it was nicely made, too) but IMO it breaks the rhythm as sometimes I really had to make efforts to read it.

I'll make sure to remove it in the next part if you want

Why thank you, but it's not what I want that matters. It's what the average reader feels. If it's only me, then I guess it's fine. But as a rule, I'd say that if it disrupts the reading, you should try to find a way to convey the same information in a way that doesn't—disrupts the reading. Maybe use the same technique, but in a "lighter" way?

Anyway, as I said I enjoyed it and I look forward to the next parts!