It only took one mistake for Ayden to lose his job, his parents' trust and most importantly, his leg. Since then, his life has changed. All because he wanted to win parts to build his own ship and go on an adventure. But that sweet dream is no longer valid.
After spending three months in the Nuogen Juvenile Training Centre, where his parents and the disciplinary committee sent him to serve his sentence, he is ready for his first mission at the Horizon Centre. Let's be honest, no one wants to be a minor there, this job is reserved for punishing Notusians who have committed crimes of varying degrees. Ayden falls into the category of major crimes with his participation in an illegal race that led to the endangerment of others and the destruction of property belonging to the City-State of Notus. That's a lot for one person.
Coming back to the miner's job, it is considered one of the most dangerous jobs on Horizon. So many elements can threaten the lives of miners. First, there are the violent storms that cross the centre of the planet and often bring a shower of debris on the people in the area. Mix this with the monsters that populate the area and the pirates and other brigands that are hungry for your resources, and you have a deadly cocktail. So, you need teams that are trained to fly well and are prepared to stay in ships all day, paying attention to what's going on around them.
Today is the day of Ayden's first mission. So, he heads for the bay where the big transport ships are docked. The last time he went there was as a mechanic to look after these majestic machines. His team is already there waiting, so he hurries as best he can, hobbling along on his prosthesis. If he's late, he risks being lined up by the section leader.
- Maro! Get a move on, we haven't got all day!
Good old section chief. A grumpy old man with a lot of experience in the business, he's seen a lot down there.
Ayden lines up and everyone is given the task of carrying a box of equipment. It's hard with a missing leg. Despite the prosthesis that helps, the heavy loads are still hard to manage. The others pass him by, pushing him around a bit. In the section they call him crippled, lame, or other names that fit his situation. He doesn't care anymore, he's over it. And he doesn't want to show himself to be weak.
Once in the ship, everyone puts on their survival gear, which is simply to survive in case of ship problems including depressurisation or other such problems.
The journey to the centre takes a long time, between 30 and 45 minutes depending on the weather. But today everything seems calm and in 35 minutes they arrive at the bottom in one piece. Ayden looks out of the window in front of him. It is so dark down here. You can hardly see anything except the few places lit by the inner glow of the huge Nuogen crystal.
Each miner heads for their single-seat ship to retrieve the precious pieces of Nuogen. They all don their helmets with built-in respirators and climb into their ships to await launch. A red-light strip is lit, indicating that the doors are closed. After a few minutes the bar turns orange and the doors facing the ships open. The bar then turns green and each ship unhooks and heads for its operating area. The ships are very manoeuvrable and fast due to their small size. Notus engineers have equipped them with the best materials, making them very strong. However, they have a limited autonomy of about 10 hours. This is the time the mining team will spend in the centre of Horizon to recover as much mineral as possible before going back up.
The Ayden mining area is not far from the transport ship. The new miners are often placed as close as possible in case of problems. Ayden arrives at the site without too many problems except for some debris to avoid. He starts to dig through the ice that imprisons the Nuogen with only the light spot under the ship to illuminate it. Ayden says to himself:
- It's so dark down there, you don't want to be claustrophobic.
After an hour of drilling, the ice gives way to the Nuogen. The extraction finally begins. He continues to drill at a lower power to avoid an energy explosion caused by the sparks in contact with the crystal. Then he collects the pieces that come off. The ship has an arm that allows it to take these pieces and place them in the container. This is located in the second half of the ship, at the back. Once filled, it is necessary to return to the transport ship, deposit the cargo and return to drilling.
Ayden has been digging, harvesting, and going back and forth for five hours now when a light comes on his dashboard. He plugs in his earpiece to be in contact with his superior and to find out what's going on. The old chief's deep voice reaches his ears.
- This is Chief Myers; a severe debris storm is coming your way in T-30 minutes. You must get to the transport ship as soon as possible or you will be left behind. The ship is coming up in T-minus 10 minutes, so get moving. Over and out.
Ayden presses the button to communicate.
- This is Maro, roger that, boss. We're out.
He releases the button and disconnects his earpiece before taking over the controls.
- It had to happen on my first day. What a piece of shit.
Ayden activates the command allowing him to stow the arm of the mining ship. Then he activates another one allowing the closing of the crystal container.
He turns his ship around and starts to throttle up to the transport ship. As he starts to leave, he feels a movement to his left. He turns his head in the direction of what he thought he saw.
- What was that?
He barely had time to finish his sentence when an explosion to his right startled him.
- Damn!
He turned in the direction of the explosion and saw what it was. A mining ship to his right has simply exploded into pieces. Above him stands a huge, elongated form. Ayden starts to panic.
- Oh no, not that.
He knows exactly what he's dealing with. He flicks the thruster controls as fast as he can and races as fast as his ship can towards the transport vessel. The dangerous form almost instantly takes him on a chase. A chase for Ayden's life begins. As he dashes forward, he dodges the debris that is everywhere in his path. The shape doesn't have this problem as it goes straight ahead and explodes all the debris in its path. Ayden can only see what is chasing him out of the corner of his eye and it is far too dark to see the details. Thanks to his excellent flying skills, he starts to get ahead of the thing chasing him.
- I think I can track it!
These hands are clammy. Sweat is pouring down his forehead and his heart is pounding in his chest. The transport ship finally begins to reveal itself before him. He laughs nervously and can't help but let out a provocation.
- Well then, you bastard? You can't get me...
He doesn't have time to finish his sentence when the shape appears by surprise to the right of the ship. It is so close that Ayden can see for the first time what he is really dealing with. The small side lights of the ship illuminate the huge monster. It's big and long. Its nose is pointed and its whole body is covered in black scales. Its eyes are bright red. It rushes headlong straight at Ayden's ship, who screams as he understands what's going to happen.
- Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
By reflex he tries a dodging manoeuvre, but the monster hits the right side of the mining ship with full force. Ayden's head hits the wall of the ship under the impact of the creature, making him lose consciousness instantly.
To be continued ...