Orion entered the cargo hanger of the Galaxy Runner. Legart, Nova, and Ace stood around three wooden cargo crates, their faces equally distressed. Even Nova, who was the most practiced at concealing her thoughts, appeared troubled.

“What’s wrong?” Orion asked, having a good idea what the answer might already be.

“The crates are empty,” Ace exclaimed, flipping over the lid to one of the wooden containers. Aside from a mound of packing foam, nothing was inside.

“Only three of them made it and there’s not a single Petro Diamond in any,” Legart confirmed.

Nova tapped her foot against a black, metal briefcase leaning against the nearest crate. “We did find this inside one of them. The other containers must have been decoys.”

Orion picked up the briefcase by the handle. “Have you opened it?”

Nova shook her head. “The thing’s locked.”

Fumbling around with the metallic case, Orion spotted an intricate series of locks that prevented it from being opened. A selection of buttons was positioned near each of the steel latches that sealed it shut.

“Figuring out the access codes to open the damn thing could take days,” declared Legart.

“Ha, days!?” Ace spat, raising his head with the utmost confidence. “No way, old timer, I can get it open in a few hours, at most. I was deciphering binary codecs, lock intrusion matrixes, and cracking numerical sequences when I was five years old. Just leave it to—”

Before Ace could finish his sentence, Orion removed the blaster from his holster. The gunblade was the only one like it in the entire galaxy, a sleek high-precision firearm with a curved blade resting beneath the short barrel.

Orion tossed the briefcase onto the top of a wooden crate and fired his gunblade across the series of lock mechanisms. A red laser discharged from the weapon, searing away the locks and turning them to molten rust.

“Uh, or I guess we could just do it that way,” Ace mumbled.

“Ol’ fashioned blasters, kid,” Legart chuckled. “They’ll get you a lot more mileage than knowing about some ‘binary whatsitdos’ and ‘numbered thingamajigs’”.

Orion flung open the top of the briefcase. Nestled inside a thick layer of padded cushioning rested a silvery object, cylindrical in shape.

Ace stared at the shiny item, dumbfounded. “Well, what is it?”

“I don’t know what it is, but I sure know what it isn’t,” Legart said, crossing his arms. “It isn’t gonna pay for the Galaxy Runner’s repair bill.”

Orion holstered his gunblade and pulled the object out of the briefcase. “Looks like some sort of capsule.”

Nova chimed in. “Think there’s something inside?”

Giving it a closer look, Orion brushed his fingers against the object’s surface. It was metal, slick and smooth, so much so that Orion could see his reflection on it. He turned the capsule around, flipped it over, and analyzed it the best he could, but there were no creases, hinges, or grooves in its construction, there were no signs or indications revealing how to open it.

“If there is, I can’t get to it,” Orion answered, continuing to examine the object.

“Maybe we can blow it open,” suggested Ace.

“Not a good idea,” Nova argued. “Whatever’s inside could be volatile.”

Legart heard enough. He reached down to his belt, pulling out a small knife from its sheathe. He tapped a button the handle and within moments the high-frequency blade turned red hot.

“Give it to me,” he said. “Nice and simple. We’ll cut the stinkin’ thing open.”

Orion handed Legart the capsule. Taking the object, he slowly moved the searing knife blade against the reflective metallic surface. Sparks ignited upon impact. Legart pressed harder, hoping for some sort of incision. A flare of light burst forth from the prolonged contact—the knife’s blade shattered in two.

Legart jerked his hand back, dropping the knife handle. “What the hell’s it made of? The knife didn’t even leave a scratch!”

“I got it!” Ace snapped his fingers, a smile sweeping across his face. “Its obvious, ladies and gentlemen, that we have a small fortune on our hands.”

“What!?” Legart snarled.

“Think about it,” Ace continued, “this thing has to be something important or it wouldn’t have been such a pain to hack into the freight company database. Why else was this thing filed under top clearance? And why else would two Galaxy Enforcement Shuttles have been guarding that Cargo Ship? Evidently, what we have here is much more valuable than Petro Diamonds.”

Legart rolled his eyes. “Yeah? Then you go and find a place to cash it in.”

“I’d prefer to know what it is first,” Ace retaliated. “We wouldn’t want to get cheated. This thing could score us big money, there might be a Telium crystal inside, or a Xelion bloodstone, maybe it’s even something more! A cosmic key!”

Legart raised his fist, as if to strike Ace. “I’ll give you a cosmic key!”

“Whatever it is, I’ll take it for now,” Orion said, stepping between Ace and Legart, seizing the capsule in the process. He opened a pouch affixed to his belt and put the silver object inside.

“What are we going to do about the repairs?” Nova asked.

“Let Dirge finish them,” Orion replied. “I’ll break the heart wrenching news to him later.”

Daedalus Base // January 14th, 086 G.C.

“What’s the situation?” Canis asked, entering the Command Room.

The Command Room was a technical marvel, utilizing the latest in GPS (Galactic Positioning Satellite) technology. G.E. surveillance satellites were spread across the galaxy and throughout the seven Star Systems.

Galaxy Enforcement officers scrambled about the circular room, shuffling from one computer station to another. Not quite sheer pandemonium, but more akin to controlled chaos would best describe the scene as officers rushed around, analyzing the holographic screens that blinked to life overhead, displaying orbital maps and planetary charts.

An officer made her way over to Canis, saluting him. “Sir, one of our observation satellites has spotted the Galaxy Runner entering Titan’s atmosphere.”

“Just as we estimated,” Canis validated. “How long ago did they make landfall?”

“Around twenty minutes ago,” the female officer answered. “We confirmed their orbital trajectory, we can speculate where they landed within a two-hundred mile radius.”

Canis felt a heavy burden lift from his shoulders. Within hours, the Pirate Scourge would be in custody, of that he was certain. Soon, this whole mess could be forgotten.

“Your orders, sir?”

“Have that entire area combed, every square inch of their projected landing-zone needs to be swept as thoroughly as possible,” Canis ordered. “I don’t care how many officers it’ll take, get every available body there.”

“Will there be anything else, sir?” The officer inquired.

“Send out all reserve shuttles to converge with the strike team orbiting Titan. Inform them that it’s a class-one priority.”