With a bright flash and a sudden jolt, I tumbled onto the floor as the bounty hunter’s torpedo struck the ship. Alarms blared through Gonzo. “F-huck~! Oh yeah, this is exactly how I wanted to start my morning,” I muttered sarcastically, rubbing my head.

Leon, of course, stood firm, his stance unbroken like a sea captain with legs anchored to the deck in a storm. Without wasting time, he made his way to the captain’s chair, grabbing the yoke with an ease that made it clear he’d done this a thousand times before. His trademark grin spread across his face as he interfaced his optic goggles with Gonzo, and the ship responded to him like it was his own.

With a blast from the right booster, Leon banked us hard, narrowly dodging another torpedo strike. Inches to spare. We were speeding through open space, pursued by a group of morally gray bounty hunters. With each sharp turn, the muffled explosions of missed torpedoes rocked the ship, sending me stumbling into railings and walls. I glanced over at Leon, who was grinning like a maniac.

“You really get off on this shit, don’t you?” I called out, barely keeping my footing.

Leon laughed. “What can I say? It’s fun running circles around these damn payasos.” He wasn’t just talking, he was enjoying this. Then, with a flick of his optic control ring, he broke into their comms array, grinning as the cameras from their ship flickered to life on our screens.

“See? They’re scrambling to catch up. Amateurs.”

Before I could respond, the sound of something crashing out of an air vent above us echoed through the cabin. My head snapped up just in time to see one of the bounty hunters drop down from the ceiling. What the hell?! He must’ve clung to the side of the ship during Leon’s fancy flying and snuck in through one of the emergency hatches. I barely had time to process that before the guy lashed out with a bounding whip, aiming for Leon’s wrist.

But Leon was ready. With lightning reflexes, he caught the whip mid-air with some plated gloves he was wearing. Before the bounty hunter could activate the whip to fry Leon, he yanked the guy toward him, closing the gap and delivering a devastating right hook to his jaw. The sound of impact was brutal.

I remembered the rumors. Leon was called "The Contender" for a reason, and if those stories were true, I was about to witness some serious shit. But before I could fully enjoy the show, a rumbling explosion jolted me back to reality.

“WHO THE FUCK IS FLYING GONZO!?” I screamed, scrambling to the yoke and grabbing hold, just in time to make an erratic maneuver that jerked away from the incoming fire with milliseconds to spare.

“Webster, what are my defensive options besides my wild-ass flying?!”

“You have flares and EMP rounds, courtesy of The Pulse from the recent repairs in Bay City,” Webster chirped as another torpedo hit the rear of the ship, sending Leon and the bounty hunter crashing into the main airlock.

“Shields at 74% and holding, Tracy,” Webster added.

I grumbled. “This ship had defensive capabilities this whole time, and now you tell me, Webster?”

Leon, still wrestling with the bounty hunter, chimed in. “I noticed that too.”

“And you didn’t use them?”

He shrugged, kicking the guy off him. The bounty hunter, dazed and battered, stumbled backward. His helmet was broken, revealing his snake-like blue eyes glaring at Leon through the cracks. “They’re InnoTec! Safety-first garbage. Might as well be crutches.”

I stared in disbelief as the bounty hunter lunged at Leon again. “You dumbass, our lives are on the line here!”

I gritted my teeth and yanked the yoke, steering the ship away from another torpedo while deploying flares to throw off their targeting matrix. “Webster, fire those EMP rounds. Target their engines and weapons array.”

“I’m on it, Tracy!”

Gonzo’s weapons array, which had been depressingly empty, roared to life. The EMP rounds were primed, ready to fire.

Meanwhile, Leon opened the airlock and tossed the bounty hunter inside, slamming the door shut. Webster lined up the shots as I called out, “Fire!”

The EMP rounds hit their mark, crippling the bounty hunters’ engines and disabling their weapons. The ship limped in the void, helpless. I watched the scene unfold on the monitor as Leon opened the airlock. The bounty hunter inside looked up in horror as he was sucked out into the vacuum of space. I froze, the look of shock and terror etched onto his face before he tumbled into the void, instantly freezing to death.

All at the whims of a fascist dictator and her damn pride.

My heart was pounding, my hands still gripping the yoke. I’d never seen death like that. The reality of it, the finality, hit me harder than I expected. For once, I was speechless.

Leon, bruised but still standing, lounged against the wall, brushing it all off like it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. “So,” he said with a teasing grin, “did you have flight school experience, or did your InnoTec toy take over?”

Normally, I’d have shot back with some snarky comment, but all I could do was look away, still haunted by the image of the bounty hunter’s face.

“Shut up, Leon,” I muttered.

Before either of us could say more, Webster's voice cut through the silence. “Uh, fellas? Long-range scans indicate more ships are headed this way.”

I groaned. “Just my luck.”

Leon sat at the yoke and barreled us deeper into the Velstrazda Star System. As soon as we entered the reddish-purple nebula, the pursuing ships froze in their tracks. They wouldn’t dare follow us in here, even if their lives depended on it. This was the site of the infamous Velstrazda Demomeba Attacks, where the Daemon Circle had sent a biological bomb through the warp gate. The moment that bomb arrived in the system, it detonated, releasing a parasitic amoeba into the nebula that turned the entire population of Velstrazda V into mindless, flesh-eating zombies.

Inside the nebula, the clouds obscured our sensors, and the ship’s shields sparked against clusters of particles, causing flashes of discharge like cosmic lightning. It was horrifyingly beautiful, this deadly, glowing cloud masking one of the most tragic events in galactic history.

We pressed forward, relying on what little sensors we had left, finally getting a visual on Velstrazda V. A space station floated ahead of us, with an orbital elevator leading down into the planet’s atmosphere. The nebula was so dense that you couldn’t even see the curvature of the planet itself, just the station, and the eerie elevator descending into swirling red and purple clouds below. It was strange, almost haunting, how a sight so vibrant could exist in the vacuum of space.

I tapped on the interface panel and manually set Gonzo to scan the space station. The readout popped up on-screen.

“An unknown entity? With an Anomaldex of 88.4?” I squinted at the numbers.

Webster chimed in. “That could be a cosmic crystal, Tracy.”

I shot up from where I’d been slumped. “Well shiiiit, why didn’t you just say so!” I called out, excitement coursing through me as I rushed over to my lounge to grab my gear.

Pulling on my suit, I grabbed my plasma pistol from its case, hesitating for a second before securing it to my belt. I wasn’t sure what we’d run into, but I wasn’t stupid enough to walk into a place like this unarmed.

Meanwhile, Leon expertly docked with the station. The hiss of the airlock opening filled the cabin, and I made my way over to the port. I popped open a closet next to it that housed four space suits.

“Safety first,” I muttered, grabbing my lucky red suit. I activated the O2 and filtration systems before stepping into it.

Leon followed soon after, slipping into a yellow space suit with his usual confident swagger. We both holstered our weapons onto our suit belts, exchanging glances as we prepped to enter the abandoned station.

The inside of the station had seen better centuries. Furniture was scattered everywhere, broken beyond repair. Signs of panic, chaos, and people losing their minds, scratches on the walls, overturned consoles, and debris strewn about like a battlefield. Whatever had happened here, it wasn’t good.

“Let’s get this over with,” I muttered, feeling the weight of the pistol on my hip as we moved forward into the unknown. The sound of our boots against the metal floor echoed through the curved corridors of the station. The emptiness amplified each step, creating a hollow rhythm as we picked our way around piles of rubble and junk. Leon glanced over, stepping around a collapsed beam.

“So, you’re searching for cosmic crystals? Is that right?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, that’s right,” I replied, peeking around each corner for any signs of the infamous walking dead.

“I didn’t peg you for the treasure-hunting type,” he remarked, prying open a jammed sliding door with a grunt. I walked through the doorway with a little heel-to-toe prance, mocking him.

“Oh? And exactly what type did you take me for?”

Leon shrugged, a grin playing at his lips. “What you told me: a professional geek, hired coward, journalist.”

“You got the first bit of that quote twisted,” I corrected, smirking.

“Either way, it was off!” he laughed, following me through the door. “You piloted that beast like a natural! You used what you had and sent that bootlicking Imperium bastard crying back to his mama.” He smiled, not that usual flirty grin, but a genuine one. “You’re not just a ‘starship captain by technicality,’ like you said. You’re the real deal. So stop selling yourself short.” He paused, his voice taking on a curious edge. “But seriously, what’s the deal with the cosmic crystals?”

I hesitated, glancing down the dark corridor before answering. “It’s for a chain map. I need two of them.”

“A chain map?” His eyes lit up, practically gleaming with excitement. “Are you pulling off a caper? What’s the score?” He was practically salivating.

I rolled my eyes, grabbing a rolled-up poster from the floor and giving him a light smack on the head. “No! Down, boy!”

“It’s supposedly a map to the Casino at the Edge of Existence.”

Leon froze mid-step, and I could see the recognition flicker in his eyes. “Oh, that old fable.” He chuckled, a mixture of disbelief and intrigue in his tone. Apparently, he’d heard the stories too. “So, you’re gonna find this place and become a trillionaire just by showing up, eh?” Leon teased, his grin impossible to ignore. “Tell me, is that a right at the Fountain of Youth or a left?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m going as a journalist, obviously. Chasing the bigger picture behind the legend. Besides, this crystal’s the key to navigating dimensions. Without it, the map’s worthless.”

Leon shrugged as we moved deeper into the station. “If you say so.”

Webster’s voice crackled through our comms. “You’re both nearing the unknown entity.” Just as he said that, we entered a stairwell no sane person would ever feel safe in. The walls were streaked with dried blood and patches of a brownish-orange ooze. My suit beeped, displaying a warning: "Biohazardous material detected. Please keep Evosuit securely on."

The eerie groans and rattling sounds echoing up from below made my blood run cold. Whatever was down there? Yeah, it definitely wasn’t friendly.

“We’re not alone,” Leon whispered, suddenly alert as he pulled back the slide on his charge pistol.

“Oh? And what gave you that idea?” I shot back, trying to sound calm despite the tension coiling in my gut. My eyes darted to every shifting shadow as we descended into the depths of this death trap.

Then, I saw them, glowing orange eyes in the dark, just before the creature’s twisted figure lurched into the light. For a second, I was frozen, but the sound of Leon’s charge pistol snapped me back to reality as the creature’s head exploded like a balloon full of colored sludge, and its body slumped over.

No sooner had that one gone down than four more sets of eyes flickered to life deeper in the darkness, each one belonging to a former inhabitant of the station, now risen and shambling towards us, hungry for fresh flesh. I snapped out of my daze and fired off a shot. The first one hit a shoulder, and the damn thing barely staggered before continuing its approach, reaching for me with bloodied claws.

I fired again, twice more, and it finally crumpled, hitting the floor with a wet, sickening thud, like someone dropping a galley-sized pan of meatloaf.

“Nice shot, caballera,” Leon remarked, just as he executed two of them with a single, charged blast. A true master with a gun.

The last one gurgled as it lunged toward me, but I quickly adjusted my handgun to close-range settings, scattering the laser’s focus, and blasted the abomination in the face. It dropped backward, clearing the doorway to what looked like the main control room of the station.

There, in the center of the room, sat a lone cosmic crystal, glowing softly like a distant star against the shadowy void. After all the horrors we’d just faced, seeing it almost made me laugh. I had thought finding one of these crystals would take at least a year, not a couple of days.

“Alright, grab your treasure and let’s get back to the ship,” Leon said, his eyes scanning the creaking walls and cracked supports around us. “I’m not convinced this place is structurally sound.”

I reached out, detaching the crystal from the line it was connected to. The moment I lifted it, the lights started flashing red, a deafening alarm, and a deep rumble shook the entire station. Leon and I bolted up the stairwell, me clutching the crystal in my hand.

At the top of the stairs, a figure blocked our path. He was skinny as a twig, clad in red tartan pants and a black leather jacket covered in patches. His hair was a wild, spiked mess, and in his hand was the other bounty hunter from earlier, limp and blood trickling down his neck where the stranger’s fangs pierced his skin.

The figure looked up, releasing his grip on the bounty hunter, whose body slumped to the ground like a rag doll. In a thick Scottish accent, he sneered, “Unexpected guests? Welcome to the party!” With a crazed grin, he licked the blood from his lips, eyes glowing blood-red in the dim light.