Prequel

The prequel is an episode on TheXPGamers youtube channel which takes place 7 years before the Duality Drive test.

## The Episode

#### The mission

Lieutenant Shack is on a Shuttle which is piloted by an Alteran unit Mk 6. The shuttle is flying in the Utopia Planitia shipyard in orbit around Mars. They finally arrive in the hangar of the federation destroyer Resolute. Shack goes immediately to the bridge where the captain of the ship Aaron explains him the mission. Shack is there to take the place of lieutenant Xocliw who died some time before. The mission is to escort 2 cargo vessels full of supplies (1 medical supplies and the other luxury goods) to the moon of Shadow in the Eclipse system. Shack gets in his room and reads the report with Alteran. Several cargo ship were attacked by pirates, but the destroyer was sent because the Freedom, a federation deep space cruiser was destroyed too. Shack doesn't believe that the Freedom was destroyed by pirates who usually attack unarmed vessel only to steal goods.

#### Pirate attack

Suddenly Aaron said to get to the battlestations but soon after there's an explosion and the ship shakes. The lights go off and the ship loses power. Alteran is offline too and the door is shut. A crewman with an engineers uniform is passing by and Shack orders him to open the door with his grinder. After that Shack said to the crewman to go to the engine bay while he's going to the bridge. The crewman's name is W4stedspace. When W4sted finally reach the engineering section he finds that all the reactors are damaged so he tries to contact the bridge. Shack arrives and see that the bridge has been hit and decompressed killing everyone in the room including the captain. W4sted mages to activate the emergency power. Alteran reactivates and gets to the bridge. Shack in the role of captain now orders to W4sted and Altie to get the weapons online. Then he said that they will surrender. He then opens a channel to the pirates. Their captain, Valefor answer and said Shack to surrender. He answers that they surrender but instead he points the guns of the Resolute to the hydrogen tanks under the cargo ships menacing to blow them up. Shack then said that the pirates can take the ship with luxury goods if they leave the ship with the medical supplies for Shadow. Valefor agrees and the pirates go away.

#### Reclaimers assault

Suddenly Alteran said that the sensors are picking up energy signals. The computer can't recognize the ships that are approaching fast. Valefor said that those are Reclaimers and they destroy ships to eat they metal. They are going to the remaining cargo vessel so W4sted under suggestion of Valefor increases the power output of the ship to look a bit "tastier". The Resolute successfully destroys a Reclaimer but other 2 reach the guns and grind them. The situation is desperate but suddenly Valefor on his fighter destroys the Reclaimers. Soon after another Reclaimer is approaching. It's bigger and Valefor's weapons can't destroy it. So he begin a ram maneuver. As said by Alteran the weakest point on the ship is the back so Valefor on full speed ram the Reclaimer between the main thrusters.

#### Back on Bob

Then we see planet Bob were W4sted and Shack are driving the General B on the lake. W4sted asks to Shack what he's thinking and he answer: The first time we met Valefor.

Valefor is drifting through the space and said: It seems I'm on the market for another ship.