The Pirate of Baserria/Prologue

## Prologue

The **Prologue** serves as the beginning of *The Pirate of Baserria*. Like the entirety of the novelette, the Prologue was released privately on January 2021 and publicly published to the site on May 22, 2022.

## Plot

Jobs were not difficult to come by in the Cassiopeia Galaxy. With the billions of worlds found across tens of thousands of light years, there was always going to be someone who needed something done. The main problem was getting someone to *take* the job. Many smaller, poorer worlds in the galactic frontier suffered this problem, as many privateers often took on jobs near familiar planets rather than near ones less traveled. One could easily succumb to the frustration, calling for help in an endless galaxy, and no one to respond.

The crew of the *Glass Comet* were the ones to finally answer.

Linh Malina was the captain of a small AX260 spacecraft, a sleek yet speedy cruiser manufactured from the United Cassiopeian Republic’s very galactic capital, Cassiopeia Prime. She purchased the small cruiser for an almost ridiculously cheap price, upon the moment she graduated from the military academy back on her homeworld. And she had no problem keeping the interior clean.

Mysolus Pravo was initially hired to clean the inside of the *Glass Comet*. Seat cushions and durasteel floors were not difficult to clean, but the task itself was time consuming. This did not bother Mister Pravo one bit. When the Praeliorian man completed his job in less than an hour, Captain Malina knew he had to be a permanent presence. The recruitment ended up being extraordinarily fruitful as Linh began to notice Pravo’s talents outside of cleaning. He had many lessons to teach and knowledge to pass down about the galaxy, something that proved to be very useful to the young captain.

“How much longer will it take until we arrive, captain?” Mysolus asked in a familiar, polite tone.

“About three more minutes,” the captain responded confidently, keeping her gloved hands firmly on the wheel. It was clear that she knew how to pilot ships, and knew how to do it well. “The jump through hyperspace is going to take us straight to the planet’s atmosphere.”

“Straight into the atmosphere, huh? Can always count on you to perfect a landing, captain.”

The Culician woman skittered to the control panel as she spoke. Alwyn Nimbus was recruited for her technical and mechanical skills, but the rest of the crew grew to love her sentimentality over the years as a mainstay on the ship. Her compound eyes made it easy for her to see the finer details of her work. Luckily for the rest of the crew, it was the captain piloting the *Glass Comet* and not Alwyn.

“Yeah, and it’s a good thing it isn’t you at the pilot’s seat.”

The masked, blue-skinned Makuran woman chuckled after she spoke, staring down into her enormous holo-book. Lydia Jezda was recruited as an extra hand, and as an already close friend of the captain. When she wasn’t breezing through horror novels, she was writing several herself, always finding inspiration from what Linh would consider the strangest of places.

“Ah come on, I’m not *that* bad at the pilot’s seat,” Alwyn countered.

“You nearly broke off one of our wings,” Lydia added. Alwyn sighed.

“You’re never gonna let me live that down, huh?” Alwyn shook her head as she skittered to her seat at the ship’s bridge. Lydia shook her head too, with a smile on her face that no one could see, but knew was there.

The four crewmembers of the *Glass Comet* sat comfortably together at the cockpit of the ship, watching as they sped luminously through hyperspace. They grew accustomed to such a view from the front glass, having traveled the galaxy far and wide for a considerable amount of time. But the area of space they were about to enter was not one they often traveled to. The Gran Axuda Sector was a vast frontier, filled with thousands of worlds still left untouched by the United Cassiopeian Republic. Baserria was one such world.

“So refresh me on what our job is,” Lydia asked as she turned to her next page.

“Well from what the mission board said,” the captain began, “there’s a pirate problem on the planet Baserria. A local wanted us to take care of it.”

“*Pirates…*“ Mysolus shook his head with disdain. “It’s unfortunate that such problems are so rampant here in the frontier.” While he lacked color in his appearance, his calm passion for his beliefs was clear enough. His fellow crewmates silently agreed with him.

“Who’s the client anyway, captain?” Alwyn inquired.

“Woman named Cydi Thaidero.” A portrait of the human client loaded up onto the holographic screen of the ship’s control panel. She was a young, dark-skinned woman with her hair tied up in braids, complemented by a colorful cloth wrapped around the top of her head. There was a hint of weariness in her eyes, although she looked around the same age as Linh and Lydia. “Job description says she’s a local farmer whose crops have been getting pillaged by pirates.”

“We don’t deal with pirates very often,” noted Lydia.

“It’s nothing we can’t handle,” the captain reassured. “Instead of delivering packages, we’re gonna be delivering punches.”

The older Praeliorian man chuckled softly. “That’s certainly one way to put it.”

“And besides,” Linh added. “Think about all the *dramatic* storytelling that you can get out of this.”

“That *is* true…” Lydia ruminated on this, nodding slowly with approval. Alwyn, on the other hand, seemed a bit unsettled by the prospect of intense combat.

“I-I don’t know, captain,” she started, pacing around the cockpit as she often would when she grew nervous. “Delivering packages and fighting pirates are two pretty different things.”

“Hey, we’re all good in a fight.” Linh tried to be as reassuring as she could to her crewmate and friend, although its effectiveness was to be questioned. “They’ll be the ones worried about *us.*”

This boost in ego helped not only Alwyn come to terms with the job at hand, but the rest of the crewmates as well. The captain’s words even put Alwyn to rest, letting her sit down calmly at the co-pilot’s seat. And what Linh said was true. They’ve been through scraps before in the past—most of the time by surprise as opposed to seeking out work that deliberately set out for strife—and they’ve always come out alive well. At least as well as anyone could be after a firefight.

“We’re about to enter the system!” Alwyn informed her crew as she looked over at the control panel.

## Appearances

### Dramatis Personae

* **Linh Malina** - Human-Penumbrian. Captain of the *Glass Comet*, ready to get the job done.
* **Mysolus Pravo** - Praeliorian. The fellow crewmate with much to teach and with many talents.
* **Alwyn Nimbus** - Culician. An eccentric privateer with a genuine heart of gold.
* **Lydia Jezda** - Makuran. Horror novelist/privateer and long-time friend of Linh.

### Locations

* Cassiopeia Galaxy
	+ Central Expanse
		- Gran Axuda Sector (Mentioned only)
			* Baserrian System (Mentioned only)
				+ Baserria (Mentioned only)
	+ Inner Core (Mentioned only)
		- Metropolis Sector (Mentioned only)
			* Prime Cassiopeian System (Mentioned only)
				+ Cassiopeia Prime (Mentioned only)
* Hyperspace

### Organizations and Titles

* *Glass Comet* crew
* United Cassiopeian Republic (Mentioned only)

### Sentient Species

* Culician
* Human
* Makuran
* Penumbrian
* Praeliorian