As his cockpit transitioned from blue to white, Marshall Hark squeezed his Duvi's control sticks in anticipation. Few players ventured to the Van Eyck system, located at the edge of public space, but the Crimson Suns' ace couldn't relax his guard through emergence. His position as the fleet vanguard precluded that. The seconds after emergence were always the most dangerous, and the Suns tasked him with surviving those seconds to ensure a safe arrival for the fleet as a whole.

Once the light of traversal faded, Marshall set about his first task and ordered his interceptor's systems into action. "Command. Initiate wide-area scan."

His eyes scanned the expanse while his orgmates arrived through the gate behind him. Allies aside, the scan returned nothing.

Potter said. Their intelligence officer's voice oozed with confidence.

"How can you be so sure?" Marshall asked. "I'm not camping for four hours this time."

Rico, the Suns' org leader appeared on Marshall's display, slouched in his captain's seat and yawning.

Behind his helmet's visor, Marshall rolled his eyes. "Get on with your logic, Potter."

Potter said.

"We don't have the nav data to reach Lucre, so what are we doing in Van Eyck?" Marshall asked. "And why did you bring a salvage ship?"

The size of a large frigate, Potter's salvage craft was designed to reclaim parts and materials from wrecked ships left behind by battles and accidental crashes. With truly valuable wrecks few and far between, only the poorest of players or most dedicated of role-players bothered with ship salvage in their gameplay, and Marshall viewed salvagers as the bottom-feeders of Parallax Gate.

Potter chuckled.

Marshall snorted. "No way you're gate diving in that piece of junk."

Potter laughed. Potter paused for the sake of pointless dramatic effect.

We're stealing nav data to the Wraith's private system? That actually makes sense. Marshall thought. "How durable is the data?"

Potter said.

Marshall smirked. "Now that's what I want to hear. Rico, what's the plan?"

Rico groaned and stretched in his frigate's bridge.

"Yes sir!" Marshall grinned with anticipation. "Let's move out!"

Out for blood, his assigned group of two frigates and eight interceptors lit their engines and flew to the distant gate.

Ten minutes later, all his excitement and bravado vanished. Marshall's group arrived at Van Emil Gate, but they soon realized they knew nothing of when a ship might traverse into their ambush. With nothing to do but wait, the group settled into an idle chatter.

Forest asked. The flight leader only recently returned from a trip without VR access and had yet to catch up with the org.

Vince, Marshall's wingman, said.

Vince sighed.

Forest said.

Ringer chimed in from his frigate.

Marshall's mind wandered. Though unintentional, the discussion reminded him of an unpleasant meeting before dinner less than two weeks prior. 'You were in the Crimson Suns?' Regina had asked. 'That was the org at Elaris, wasn't it?'

By most accounts, the failure at Elaris had nothing to do with Marshall. In fact, he wasn't even present at the battle, having been in class at the time. However, the failure of the organization was the shared failure of its members, and Marshall constantly wondered if he could have changed its outcome. Perhaps he couldn't match the Wraith's ace, but he certainly matched their average pilot skills. Perhaps that Wraith's commander would've countered his impact just as easily. Regardless, he still wondered.

Fuck! Why did Regina also have to mention Elaris? He squeezed his control stick hard. Marshall knew she played Parallax through his girlfriend, her roommate, but Regina was an explorer. As far as Marshall knew, her type had no interest in combat orgs. Yet his org's failure at Elaris reached even her ears. Marshall groaned in his seat. Now I can't even visit Lindsey without being reminded of it!

Only after the Crimson Suns claimed total victory against the Temple Wraiths could Marshall and the Suns move on from their prior run-in. Until then, business partners, the Parallax community, and even his personal friends would only view the Crimson Suns with pity.

"Contact," his ship's system announced. "Unknown craft detected."

Enemies? Marshall jolted to attention. His eyes shot to the radar and found the target. Someone had answered his wishes early, and the lone unknown ship had traversed through Van Emil Gate. He again ordered his group to move. "It's ours. Frigates, hang back. All fighters, let's go!"

Ringer announces.

Marshall watched the Wells charge towards Lucre gate, its engines leaving a plume of hot gas behind it. You think you're safe because the cargo hold's empty? Well tough luck, we're not after any cargo to begin with.

Marshall ordered the eight Duvis in chase.

Forest said. Flying at full speed, the fighters caught up with their prey and hammered its shields with plasma fire. Though slowest and least maneuverable of the common interceptors, the Duvi fighters possessed the heaviest weapons payload and strongest shields, making it the ideal craft for the Suns' mass fighter operations.

With his flight in tow, Marshall blasted away at the Wells's belly with his twin plasma turrets. He spared no sympathy for the unarmed ship, as this ship contained within it the Suns' path to redemption. With the freighter's shields stripped away, Marshall smirked. Time for you to die.

Suddenly, the freighter opened its payload bay doors. Dozens of steel crates flew at him from above.

Vince exclaimed. The flight rolled and dodged the jettisoned debris.

Trying to make us crash? Marshall thought. Or thinking we'll be distracted by empty cargo containers?Nice try. Merchants would often ditch cargo containers when under attack by pirates in hopes that the pirates would cease hostilities. Unfortunately for this ship, the Suns knew its cargo hold lay bare and its value remained within its hull.

Forest reported.

"Keep on it," Marshall said. He slipped back underneath the Wells and shot plasma into its four main thrusters. Each one burst to pieces as his attacks pierced their housing. As the freighter tumbled off course, the Suns' fighters rushed in for the kill.

Rico's voice drifted over the comms.

Potter reminded them.

Their moment of truth arrived at a snail's pace. Ten minutes elapsed before Potter's ship arrived at the ruined husk, and the Suns' fleet drifted in its vicinity on guard. Though sinking the Wells took less than a minute, Potter couldn't say how long his crew needed to recover the ship's data. Now, Marshall tapped his index finger against his forearm with annoyance as he waited for the meticulous process of extracting the freighter's flight computer to proceed.

Potter updated the fleet twenty minutes later.

Finally, Marshall thought. He barely staved off the temptation to encourage Potter with his plasma cannons.

Rico said,

Rico said.

The fleet of thirty Suns regrouped and dove into Toff Gate towards their home system, five systems away.

As they traversed the first gate, Marshall asked, "Hey Rico, when will we attack those damn Wraiths?"

Rico said,

"So we'll need all hands, right?" Marshall interjected. Most would consider attacking a destroyer with frigates suicidal, but even a destroyer could be overwhelmed by twelve frigates. The Crimson Suns' fleet had forty, plus over a hundred fighters and sixty torpedo bombers for support. In fact, only Rico's aversion to managerial tasks kept the Suns from conquering a dominion for themselves.

Rico sighed.

"That's perfect for me," Marshall said. He had no Thursday morning classes, and would at times spend all of a Wednesday night in Parallax without concern for oversleeping.

Potter's voice returned to the comms.

Rico said.

Potter said,

"What do you mean it's for the Specter system?" Marshall groaned. "Didn't you say the nav data we need is for Lucre?"

Potter said.

"Don't tell me we have to go wait for another ship to ambush!" Marshall groaned.

Potter's maniacal laughter overwhelmed the Suns' comms channel.

"What is it Potter!?" Marshall asked.

Potter cried with joy.

"Just spit it out already!"

Chris awoke from his dive the happiest he had been in weeks. Not only did the day's strike go perfectly, but his org's redemption was also in sight. With a glowing smile on his face, Chris hopped out of bed and pulled his shoes on. I can finally visit Lindsey without being annoyed by her roommate's face.

He strode down the dormitory hallway towards the girl's side of the building where his girlfriend resided. The brightly lit corridor and its colorful walls bolstered his mood as he passed the many identical doors. Minutes later, he reached his destination, a door displaying the names 'Lindsey' and 'Regina'.

After a few knocks, the door opened to reveal Lindsey's roommate."Oh, hi Chris," Regina said. "Come in."

"Thanks." Chris followed her into the neatly furnished room. For some reason, his girl was absent. "Where'd Lindsey go?"

"She went to get a package," Regina said. She reclined on the couch with her tablet and began typing away on its screen. "She should be back in a few minutes."

"Okay." He sat down in Lindsey's chair and grabbed a bar of chocolate from the bowl on her desk. While humming his favorite song, he unwrapped the sweet and savored its aroma.

"You seem happy," Regina noticed. "Did something good happen?"

"Yes, actually. Those Temple Wraiths are starting a dominion," Chris said, "and my org is going to take it by force."

"I see..." Regina kept tapping on her tablet. "So how will you manage that?"

You're an explorer. You don't have to feign interest when you don't have any, Chris thought. Even so, his excitement won out and Chris flaunted the org's accomplishments of the day. "We stole the nav data for their private systems, and soon, we'll launch an all-out attack. Those Wraiths will have no chance against the full strength of the Crimson Suns!"

"Hmm…" Regina looked up from her work with her head at a pensive tilt. "Well, good luck then."

Yup, she is clueless on the significance this looming battle holds. Chris gave a pleasant smile. "Thanks. By the way, are you working on the problem set for Dr. Parker's class? How is it?"

"Mhmm," she nodded in confirmation and turned the tablet for him to see. "It's easier than it looks. You'll have no problem with it."

The door opened. Lindsey returned, balancing a large box marked 'O'Connor Chocolates'.

"Hey Sugar," Chris said. "Another delivery from home?"

"Chris!" Seeing him at her desk, Lindsey dropped the box and bounced into his arms. "You're early!"

"I just missed you that much." Chris pecked her on the forehead, then watched with amusement as her face flushed. "You ready to-"

"Jesus!" Regina cried out. "That box is even bigger than the last one you received."

"Yup!" Lindsey beamed. "My mom created a new recipe, so she wanted me to hand them out for feedback. Take as many as you want."

Chris chuckled seeing Regina's troubled face. I agree, he thought. Those chocolates are the most delicious human health hazard on Earth.

After wavering for a moment, Regina sighed. "I'll take one."