The depths of space. A dark place, completely devoid anything resembling life, or anything to support it.

　　Except, for a little hunk of metal stuck to a big hunk of rock, otherwise known as a mining ship magnetically tethered to an asteroid.

　　The ship, called the Pinya if the lettering on the dull gray plates of metal is to be believed, was sharp, angular, and very generic as far as aesthetics went, the only thing that really set it apart was the curtain of retractable steel shutters that skirted the bottom of the vessel, making contact with the asteroid, and vibrating every so often as it was struck by something from the inside.

　　Inside this mining ship stood two airlocks, one leading out the port side of the ship, and one at the stern next to a refinery setup, which was connected to a large storage container, which in turn was connected to an automated assembler. At the bow was a medical station/life support system, a reactor, and a gravity generator.

　　Against the starboard wall was a stairway leading to a platform above and further astern than the refinery and such. On this platform was a large gyroscope, a cryogenic freezer used for FTL(Faster Than Light) travel, a cot that could fold out of the wall, a food replicator, and a very comfortable looking chair overlooking a large digital display that detailed the workings of the entire ship, and included maneuvering controls and displays from a series of cameras on the outer hull of the vessel.

　　If one were to look at what the ships status was they would notice that the entirety of its systems were turned off, the inner set of airlocks open, outer shutters down, and the life support system holding 140 cubic feet of air in its vacuum tank.

　　If one were to listen closely they would hear absolutely nothing because the vacuum of space cancels sound frequencies, but that wouldn’t stop you from feeling reverberations running through the ship at regular intervals. And if you could hear in space you would be able to tell the resounding boom that accompanied the vibrations of the ship, both of which stemmed from the inner airlock..

　　On the other side of said airlock was a hole, specifically dug there to get at the minerals the ship was parked over.

　　At the bottom of this hole was a figure calmly hovering just over the stone floor, facing down, with a hammer over its head, before the hammer was brought down against the rock with surprising speed.

　　When the hammer made contact it made a ‘ker-klick’ before a crater was made in the stone with a resounding boom, thanks to the magnetic release in the head, unloading its payload. The shrapnel inevitably created from using such force bounced around the hole, striking the walls, the bottom of the ship that acted as a roof, the shutters that acted as a portion of the errant stone’s cage, and the armored figure holding the hammer that caused such destruction.

　　Small pieces of rock bounced off of the hardened metal that surrounded the figure, the armored boots, grieves, thigh plates, segmented chest piece, gauntlets, arm guards, pauldrons, and helmet taking the abuse easily. A spotlight on the figure’s shoulder making enough light for the figure to see by, and likewise lighting up its features, its armor painted a dark blue, with burnt orange for the trim. Its helmet a formfitting bowl in the back became rigid and segmented on the face, two angular lines of tinted polycarbon fitting over its eyes, and an ovular protrusion over its nose and mouth flattened out in the front before angling sharply back towards its neck.

　　As the figure ignored the floating shrapnel it activated its rear thrusters and floated forward, before stopping, raising its hammer above its head, and swinging forward creating another crater and another storm of shrapnel.

　　‘Boom’

　　Before shortly repeating the process.

　　‘Boom’

　　Again.

　　‘Boom’

　　And again.

　　‘Boom’

　　And again.

　　‘Boom’

　　For hours the figured did this, slowly digging its way to the core of the asteroid, and what the figure was after.

　　Just as it hit the outer edge of the core, the figure got a warning that its energy levels were dangerously low. After a frustrated sigh, the figure floated its way up towards the airlock leading to the inside of its ship, floating through the door, up to the second deck, and over to the chair, the figure took a seat, brought up the ship system options and activated the reactor before closing the airlock and re-pressurizing the ship.

　　After re-pressurization the figure removed its helmet, revealing that ‘it’ was actually a ‘he’. With skin a pasty white due to being stuck in a suit near constantly, medium length brown hair slicked back with sweat, light gray eyes, and a neatly trimmed goatee, few would say he was actually bad looking.

His eyes roving over the display in front of him, there not being much else to do as he was stuck in the chair while his suit recharged, he saw that his ships sensors had picked up a distress signal.

　　Opening the option and pressing play he heard what sounded like a woman’s voice come over the speakers.

　　“Fade... Help.”

　　Followed by a thud before the transmission ended.

　　 Well... Might as well check out what’s going on, not like I’m doing anything that can’t be done later. The man thought to himself before downloading the transmission’s coordinates.
　　
　　He then replaced his helmet, deposited his current load of iron in his refinery, and took a trip back down the hole to pick up the loose ore at the bottom, and just floating around. Before filling the refinery even more, placing a beacon at the edge of his hole, raising the ships shutters, disengaging the magnetic locks on the landing gears, and was ready to be on his way toward the mysterious transmission’s origin, and the equally mysterious woman that apparently needed help.
　　
　　He just hoped it wasn’t another pirate ambush, his curiosity, as well as his tendency to want to help total strangers, has put him on the receiving end of more of such ambushes than he cared to count.

　　 Well, if I don’t go I’ll never find out. And besides, the risk of an ambush is worth whatever compensation I might get from this chick for saving her ass. The spacer thought to himself with a little chuckle, thoughts of minerals untold, riches uncountable, and pirate ships completely scrappable danced through his head.

As another chuckle escaped the man's lips as he thought of the possibilities, he prepped the freezer, set the ship to head to the coordinates he downloaded, and set his favorite playlist on a loop for the week the ships computer estimated it would take to travel to its destination.

As his ship sped up, and the wubs from the speakers assaulted his head, the man climbed into his freezer, got comfortable, and wondered what he would find in a weeks time.

Author's Note

Written BY KAMACHAKTA! (link to come)