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in the void, they dwell
chapter three

Written by Beth

The man in the lab coat looked a bit like a deer in headlights when he caught Cassian’s gaze, but offered a smile. Cassian didn’t have to say anything to Adair to get her to follow him, wordlessly, towards the man, who greeted them with a little nod as they approached.

“Good day,” Cassian initiated. He got, maybe mistakenly, maybe not, the impression that this man was shy and he wanted to make sure that he felt comfortable on the ship. He wasn’t really sure that he was doing it correctly, but still. “My name is Cassian. And you are?”

He sensed Adair moving to his side and leaning against him slightly. It was nice to see her like this. To him, it meant that she wasn’t still upset.

“My name is Bruno. Nice to make your acquaintance,” Bruno said, making no move to shake Cassian’s hand. Cassian did not offer his own. Bruno opened up to him rather quickly after the ice broke. Cassian smiled as he listened to Bruno talk about how he used to be a coder before he quit and began working for Dyson Enterprises as an engineer. It made the walk to the hangar bay much faster. Cassian appreciated Bruno’s intelligence, even though as they walked to the ship, Bruno kept using terms that Cassian wasn’t quite familiar with while describing previous projects. As they reached the shuttle, Adair, excused herself to hop into the cockpit and prepare the ship for departure. Cassian, Bruno, and Florian boarded the ship and prepared for takeoff, strapping into the seats lining the walls of the shuttle. It should be simple. The destination was just a relay conduit and a few brief moments in hyperspace away.

“I can’t help but wonder what happened out there. How we’ll find the station, I mean,” Bruno said.

“I don’t think we’ll know until we get there,” was Cassian’s response.

He felt the hum of the ship as it came to life, lights of the computer panels flickering on and engines roaring to life. He glanced towards the front of the shuttle to see Adair at the console, precisely piloting them out of the hanger and towards the skyline of the city. It felt like barely a blink before they were in orbit. The ship approached the massive hyperspace ring. Adair gazed out of the front panel of the shuttle, admiring the stars. There were so many, twinkling many light years away. Suddenly, the stars begin to streak, the ship accelerating faster and faster...

Cassian never did get used to the feeling of entering hyperspace - so fast and yet so slow. He took a glance around the shuttle - Florian, the one he hadn't spoken with, looked a little green. Cassian figured they were a new flier.

When they emerged, Cassian's heart immediately sank to his stomach as they exited hyperspace, and then leapt back up again as Adair swerved sharply to avoid a large chunk of debris. Cassian unbuckled himself and dashed to the cockpit, leaning on the console next to Adair. Bruno stayed in his seat in anticipation of danger, but Florian leapt up and came behind Cassian.

"Whatcha looking at?" asked Florian.

"What happened here?" Cassian said.

There was a massive amount of debris floating around them. Cassian felt at ease as Adair calmly piloted through it.

"Nice flying, stardust," he said.

The debris blotted out a lot of the view of the station, but they soon cleared the field and Entropy IV came in to view.

“Well that doesn’t look good...” said Florian.

“Nope,” was Adair’s simple response.

The station was dark. Very dark. One of the upper decks was blown open, all of the debris emanating from it. The damage was almost incomprehensible. Adair docked the ship on a lower deck.

“Something on that deck exploded,” Bruno broke the silence. He spoke factually, though unable to hide the faintest interest from creeping into his tone. “Something big.”

The shuttle fell silent for a moment.

“We’re docked,” Adair remarked, her usual sarcasm not present. “We should be able to enter through the airlock. I don’t think the security system is activated.”

“Well now you’ve jinxed it,” Florian grinned as Bruno moved to open the airlock.

Cassian heard something as the door opened. It was almost instinct, and it was fortunate that Cassian was so close to Bruno. The sound of the laser being fired was almost instantaneous. There was a shout of pain. Cassian lunged and tackled Bruno to the ground. A laser streaked over their heads.

“HANG ON!” Adair shouted. Cassian could hear her footsteps, the sound of switches being flicked, and the ship being turned back on. Adair hit a button and Cassian could hear the sound of something being powered down.

“Is everyone okay?” Adair asked as she came back from the ship panel.

“I’m fine,” Florian grumbled. There was a bright burn streaking across their left cheek. “Nothing’s broken.”

“Something’s wrong here,” Cassian started, his eyes worried and heart still pounding in his chest. “I think that if I interfaced with the station, I could get the info we need and get out of here.”

“Plug yourself in? What happened to some good old-fashioned exploring?" Adair protested.

"We haven’t even investigated yet,” Bruno said, factually.

“I don’t particularly care, as long as I can get something for this,” Florian said, gesticulated to their cheek.

Art by Skyler