The usually bustling smokery, Une Pipe, was empty except for three figures standing at the bar top. Three figures encircled by twelve rat creatures laying motionless in a once tactical formation. They had been poisoned by one of the three at the bar. With a five o’clock shadow and a large scar running across his left eye, Remington Firth made no secret of his hatred for these creatures known throughout the galaxy as Hell Rats. “Well??…” The tall woman standing next to him quipped out from under her wide-brimmed hat. “Yes ma’am.” Remy replied and continued: “I know what they wanted from you- We’ve all heard tale of the fabled Andromedus Heist and how it’s supposedly stashed beyond Takkerine. The Rats wanted to capture you and make use of your legendary piloting skills to get them there. They’re after the treasure.” “Hah!” The third figure barked. Cast McCall was a long time friend of both the woman, known as The Aviatrix, and Remington Firth. Cast had saved Remy’s hide more than once and The Aviatrix had done the same for Cast himself. The tall drink of water peered over the top of his almost opaque dark glasses: “Andromedus is nothing more than a legend… so is his treasure- there’s nothing to any of it. These rats will chase anything, won’t they?” “Many have died in pursuit of this legend of yours,” Remy added. “The Takkerine Asteroid Field is an impossibility to navigate.” Under her breathe, The Aviatrix mumbled: “All of this has been for that legendary nonsense?…” Shaking her head she leveled her gaze to meet the eye line of Cast: “Always a treat.” And lowering it slightly to meet that of Remy: “Thanks for the drinks.” She upturned her glass on the bar and walked out the door. Remy’s eyes lingered after her for just a moment.

Now tearing across space in her Velo-Star 624, The Aviatrix couldn’t shake this talk of Andromedus. Supposedly something of a space pirate long ago, Andromedus and his crew were said to have hijacked the largest shipment of Coin ever. It was the reason the Federation had changed their practices around currency and its transportation. “Something…” she thought to herself, “…something…” It had been roughly 3 years since her memory had left her. Not her entire memory, but a month, maybe a week, or even just one fateful day. But the day she last remembers, she had awoken in the middle of nowhere. In a desert of Skarfax, a small planet on the outer reaches of the Sepultus System. Her head had been spinning. And bleeding. Yards from her ship, which was beat to shit, she could not recall what had happened to it. She could not recall what had happened to her. She didn’t like to think about that day. Autopilot set, she turned in for some rest.

CRAAACK. BLAM!! “I’m not gonna make it… I’m not gonna make it…” Her eyes laser-focused on her course. Asteroids bounced off the hull of the ship as she piloted around thousands of others. “Shields at 4%,” the computer metallically rang out- “I know!!” She yelled, putting her fist through the screen. ping, CRACK, ping, PING, ping. “Just a few miles more…” she whispered aloud. “Come on, hold together… we CAN do this. We can do this.” The ship pitched and rolled. Accelerated and decelerated as she deftly maneuvered through an unending onslaught of life-threatening debris. Sweat poured down her temples. Her knuckles white wrapped about the controls. “Oh…” Her eyes widened at the site of a collection of rock so dense it appeared almost a wall. She lowered her head. She clenched her teeth. She held down both weapons triggers and charged dead ahead at full speed. “RAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-“

“-AHHHHHHHH” The Avatrix woke up yelling and in a cold sweat. Breathing heavily, she realized she remembered. She knew when and how she had lost her memory. But most importantly she knew where the Andromedus Heist was hidden.

The Aviatrix will return.