The time had come. No point in putting it off any longer. For weeks now I’d been reading stories from traders and mercs coming back from the jump GATE/POINT. Reports of big profits, wild new planets and epic fights had me staying up late staring at the ceiling. 

I could get through one more cargo run between Orison and Seraphim station. Maybe some people could do the same old routes day in and day out and be satisfied with watching their cred count creep slowly up. But I was done. I wanted some risk. I needed to be the first to see something new. And maybe make a big score. 

Loading up the Sophie, I knew this really was a big risk, especially going it alone. But as I loaded each bit of cargo, each suit, each ounce of fuel I thought of how I could lose it all. And honestly… it excited me. I WANTED to lose it all. I wanted to know that I was really as tough and ready for this life as I always tried to seem. One way or another I was going to find out.

:GATEWAY GRANTED: That’s it, time to leave. Decoupled and engaging thrusters the Sophie drifted up through the hangar doors. I glanced back at the two crew seats behind me, empty but for a single pico, and wondered once again if I should have taken some backup. :PYRO GATEWAY LOCKED: I pulled back on the trigger and engaged my QT drive. I’d done that hundreds of times before and this one felt no different. Blasting across Stanton was just a walk around the block. The real fun would come once my QT drive cut out and I joined the queue at the gateway.

With a shudder my zeus dropped out of quantum and I was at the Pyro gateway. Already I could feel my heart beating as I cruised to the gateway and joined the others waiting for the jump point to open. I started having doubts… maybe I should have done some of the practice sims. Maybe watching videos and reading guides from others org members wasn’t really enough to prep for my first jump to another system. Cutting into my panicked thoughts –  Calibration finished and a notification read :ENTRY REQUIREMENTS MET: Suddenly there was a tear in space and a tunnel opened up in front of me. The Sophie leapt forward and I was blinded by white light as I crossed the threshold into the jump point. 

It was like sliding down a waterslide at the park when I was a kid! I felt barely in control and the Sophie wound its way through the coursing, twisting, vortex. For the first few minutes there was more than a little doubt. I had messed up. I wasn’t in control, and this was going to end badly. But as quickly as I had lost my nerve it was back. The ship was alive in my hands and I was confidently piloting around the various pillars, twists, and turns of the worm hole.

 It felt like it had only been seconds when I noticed the color of the tunnel change. I was getting close to Pyro. Suddenly there it was. I could see Pyro at the end of the tunnel. It looked like a harsh rusty colored eye and I was streaking right for the pupil. And then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over. I was coasting forward on the momentum from the jump and surrounded by the densest, meanest looking asteroid field I had ever seen. 

My hands flew to the controls as I deactivated NAV mode and pumped energy into my shields. I wasn’t scared, just wanted to be prepared. I set course for the jump point station and requested docking. My head was on a swivel and my eyes were trying to look in every direction as I made my approach. It wasn’t until I had touched down and the hangar doors started to close that I realized I was holding my breath. “Looks like we made it buddy”. I grabbed Pico and headed out the cargo ramp. I stroked the bulkhead as I left the Sophie and thought “thanks to you girl”.

The first thing I did was hit the shops. I was not ready. I needed supplies. Ammo purchased. Multi-tool, better make that two. Med-pens, check. Maxlift? Yes I will definitely need that. Then I went for the essentials. I bought two bottles of cruz lux and stashed them away. I started to walk away when I decided I needed one more bottle of the green stuff. :INSUFFICIENT FUNDS: “What?” Oh no… I had spent all my credits. Well, I still had 5, but that wasn’t going to get me far. 

I had heard of lunatics doing one of those social media challenges, ‘zero-to-hero’ they called it. I always thought they were nuts. But here I was. In Pyro. With 5 Auec to my name and no idea what to do next. I guess now I’d see what I was made of.