EXILES: The Interstellar Gunslingers/Part I

***Part I: A Chronicle of Space Cowboys*** is the first instalment of *EXILES: The Interstellar Gunslingers* and began release in April 2022.

Set in the 45th century, a thousand years before the events of *Hyperspace: The Cosmic Gospel*, the series follows the Exiles, a team of adventurers, mercenaries and bounty hunters, and their numerous adventures under the command of former rockstar John Astro.

## Plot

*In the bountiful reaches of the Federation, where riches and dangers go hand in hand, a crew of (somewhat) highly trained mercenaries and treasure hunters seek fortune, reputation and glory in a series of bizarre adventures.*

## Synopsis

### 'Shoot to Thrill'

1000 years before the events of *Hyperspace: The Cosmic Gospel*, the Milky Way and Andromeda, the twin cradles of modern civilization, are under the control of the Federation of Lactea-Oculi, a member of the Intergalactic Commonwealth. Despite their historical and governmental significance, the galaxies are overwhelmed by criminals and private corporations. To combat the rising crime rates, the Federation has created the Inter System Security Service (ISSS), an executive police force that patrols the stars. However, the ISSS often finds itself spread too thin and thus are forced to turn to bounty hunters. The low values of the average bounty, however, force many bounty hunters to work as mercenaries and treasure hunters, known as "gunslingers". A fictional character, Andromeda Abigail, is created to advertise new bounties and contracts; she proves so popular that she gets her own TV show, *The Adventures of Andromeda Abigail*.

In 4433, the Exiles, a team of such gunslingers, head to the planet Phlegethon to track down "an asset" stolen by the pirate group Eclipse, consisting of soldiers once allied with Shen Khan during his war on the Federation five years ago. Leaving their ship, the *Prydwen*, in the hands of Starman, a telepathic dog, and Celeste, Shen Khan's daughter, John Astro and Jax Dupree infiltrate an Eclipse vessel docked at a deep space dive bar and suit up in the Eclipse uniform. Using the ship's tracking system, the pair pilot the ship to Eclipse's hideout on Phlegethon, a hostile, volcanic world. The *Prydwen* follows them closely.

On the surface, the Eclipse pirates offload their catch, which insults them from inside its cage. In disguise, Astro and Jax are able to infiltrate the Eclipse base and stubly try to determine what the asset actually is. Unfortunately, one of the Eclipse bosses recognises the armour Astro is wearing as belonging to one of his personal henchmen, who was with him when the asset was captured, and quickly realizes the deceit. Astro ousts Jax as an imposter as well and the pair are held at gunpoint, surrounded by deadly henchmen. Using the console inside the lens of his sunglasses, Astro orders Celeste to fire an EMP blast; the blast knocks the lights out in the hideout, allowing Astro and Jax to slip away.

In the darkness, Astro slips out of his disguise and activates the speakers implanted in his ears. With Peggy Lee's *Why Don't You Do Right* playing in his ears, Astro skillfully dispatches the pirates with a deadly combination of *Danshingudoragon* and expert gunwork. Hearing the commotion, Jax turns back from his escape and joins the fight, revealing all of his limbs are cybernetic as he obliterates the pirates. In orbit, the *Prydwen* easily dodges the Eclipse ships and even takes a few out, showering the hideout with debris. Pinned down by laser fire, Astro allows his gun to superheat before firing a superheated round at the reloading pirate, detonating a large portion of the facility.

With the Eclipse pirates cleared, Astro and Jax approach the asset and finally look upon it: a disembodied brain in a jar. Able to speak, the brain thanks the pair for rescuing it, but a curious Astro asks what the hell it is. The brain claims to have been a talented scientist seeking prolonged life, but has so far been unable to restore its body. It reveals it put the contract out for itself, wanting to be rescued, and doesn't actually have 60,000 bits to reward them. Astro and Jax decide to leave the brain behind, but it claims to have the cognitive ability of an artificial intelligence. Since the *Prydwen* lacks an AI, the trio agree that the brain will work off its debt to them, and it joins the crew. Before it can reveal its name, Astro interrupts the brain and brands it "Jar".

### 'Blinding Lights'

On the radioactive Dark City, John Astro jumps out of a drone and jetpacks down into a nightclub. Using the blinding lights and loud music, he skillfully takes out the henchmen and moves through the dancing crowd towards his target, a low-level gangster who sneakily warns all the remaining henchmen, who disarm Astro and hold him at gunpoint. When the gangster, an arms dealer, refuses to name his supplier "Red-Eye", Astro smirks that he isn't alone, revealing one of the henchmen to be a disguised Celeste, who partially transforms into werewolf form and massacres the henchmen together with Astro. By the end, the gangster reveals Red-Eye to be managing a shipment on Valhalla Station.

Travelling above the galactic centre, the Exiles enjoy the view as well as Jax's cooking. Celeste mentions a mavnian proverb that every star embodies the soul, and Astro snarkly replies that seven of his stars must have died. The *Prydwen* docks at Valhalla Station, the Federation's executive capital. While Jax refuels the lightfold engine, Astro heads out to survey the station's port. While doing so, he is approached by a man who refers to him as "Frank", or "Furious" Frank. The man, revealing himself to be named Gus Naird, claims to recognise "Frank" from their service in the Sixteenth Corporate War, specificallly his role as a musical mascot for his battalion. Although initially dismissive, Astro recognises Naird but asks to be left alone. Naird places a hand on Astro's shoulder and invites him for a drink, but Astro grabs Naird by the collar and demands not to be touched; while doing so, Astro notices Naird's left eye is fake and remembers that they both sustained burn wounds in the same battle. Leaving Starman to continue surveillance, Astro joins Naird for a drink. Meanwhile, Celeste looks over Red-Eye's profile and curses Astro for having not read it, and notices that Red-Eye is described as having a blood-red left eye.

Over a drink, Astro and Naird talk about what happened to them after the war. Astro reveals he joined a band and "got quite famous" while Naird claims he continued working for H&H. Naird continues referring to Astro as "Frank" despite being told not too, prompting Astro to leave early and wish Naird luck. As he leaves the bar, however, he suddenly feels faint and collapses to the ground, unconscious. In a series of fever dreams, Astro relives the bloody Battle of Proxima Centauri, during which he and several other soldiers were burned by a microwave cannon; as Astro was standing behind the other soldiers, most of whom were incinerated, he only sustained burns to his face and neck. He is found and awakened by Celeste, who forces him to drink water and suspects he was drugged. Still feverish, Astro remembers that he saved several injured soldiers, including Naird, who lost his eye to burns. The pair are surrounded by armed goons, who send regards from Red-Eye. Although the pair are able to escape, Astro collapses once again.

After being carried back to the *Prydwen*, Astro is actually revealed to have been poisoned with "Ladder", a military drug that causes the nervous system to "remember" and amplify painful memories and experiences, often leading to suicide. Astro mysteriously shows resistance to the drug and wakes up, albeit weakened. Reading the profile on Red-Eye, Astro realizes that Naird is, in fact, the target.

Astro, Celeste and Starman head back out to confront Naird and his goons. Watching him from a distance, they see him welcome a cargo ship into the port and direct his goons to start loading it with large containers. Needing to confirm their suspicions, the trio infiltrate the dock and Starman telepathically directs one of the goons to open a smaller container, revealing a cache of military-grade weapons. Convinced that Naird is Red-Eye, they plan to sneak aboard in the container and shut down the engines, allowing the authorities to seize the ship and arrest the crew.

Stuffed inside the container, the trio break out into the cargo ship and stealthily make their way to the engineering deck. Taking the crew hostage, they begin sabotaging the engines but are found by Naird, armed with a miniaturized version of the microwave cannon that scarred him. Apologising to Astro and thanking him for saving him during the war, Naird fires a shot from the cannon, but misses when Starman telepathically interrupts him. Taking cover behind the engines, Astro heats up his weapon and fires a shot directly into the cannon, causing a massive explosion that tears the ship apart. Astro pursues the still alive Naird up to the roof, where they viciously duel. Astro ultimately emerges as the victor and aims his gun at Naird's chest. Naird, confessing that he is truly Red-Eye, says that the war left him with no option but to turn to crime. Guilting Astro with the fact he saved his life, Naird begins escaping, but Astro shoots him in the leg from a distance. Approaching the bleeding Naird, Astro takes a blood sample to claim his bounty before leaving him alive. Naird tries to thank Frank, but Astro reminds him that his name is "John Astro, asshole" before walking away.

### 'Purple Haze'

Following a wild bender, the Exiles have spent most of their reward money from Red-Eye's "capture" and are now low on provisions, causing tension among the crew as they give in to hunger and frustration. An argument over Jax's latest dish - microwave noodles on a ration biscuit - is interrupted when Celeste hears noise coming from the pantry. Inside, they discover a rodent-like alien creature devouring their leftover provisions; startled, it tries to scurry into the ship's ventilation shafts, but it is caught in mid-jump by Celeste.

As they take stock of what little remains, the crew discover that the creature left behind a clutch of freshly-laid eggs. Wondering how it got on board, the crew accuse each other of poor hygiene before Starman admits that he snuck the creature, a platymorph, onto the ship with the intention of making it into a sandwich due to the creature's delicious flesh. All the while, the creature continues to lay eggs.

Days pass and the ship quickly becomes full of eggs, which the platymorph appears to produce asexually. Desperate for food, the crew decide to eat the eggs, only to find them delicious. Jax prepares several dishes from the eggs and the crew eat with custo for days. Astro comes up with a plan to sell the eggs to food markets across various stations. Each of them begin to behave bizarrely: Astro sees figures that aren't there and complains of loud music; Celeste appears much calmer and even flirty; Starman regresses into an ordinary dog; and Jax is overcome by delusions of grandeur, declaring himself a "mechanical overlord". Jar, not needing sustenance aside from preservation fluid, refuses to allow Astro to feed an egg into his tank, but he does anyway.

Eventually, the platymorph escapes into the vents; with Jax plotting galactic domination and Starman grooming himself, Astro and Celeste decide to retrieve the platymorph themselves. Having lost her senses, a flirtatious Celeste freely admits to Astro that she is a virgin, having been taught only to hate and kill by her father, Shen Khan. The two subsequently sleep together several times in Astro's quarters. Meanwhile, Jax launches one of the ship's missiles at an unmanned space station, laughing maniacally and declaring himself emperor of the galaxy.

In his bed, Astro and Celeste smoke and catch their breath. Both acknowledge it was a terrible idea to sleep together, but found little reason not too. Jar suddenly bursts into the room, having designed a trailer for himself to move around, and announces that he analysed the egg Astro fed to him and has found they contain psychoactive compounds, causing the crew to lose their social inhibitions. Astro sees no problem with it, but Celeste, clearing her head, asks him if he ever wants to sleep with a woman who could transform into a werewolf at any moment. In response, Astro says "weirdly, yes" before agreeing to stop eating the eggs. From down the hall they hear Jax's triumphant yells.

Heading to the command deck, the three of them find Jax, having painted his cybernetics gold, using the *Prydwen*'s computer to target weapons at several planets in the cluster. When Astro, Celeste and Jar try to stop him, Jax sics a wild Starman on them, but Astro manages to calm Starman with his favourite chew toy. Astro reminds Jax that they are simple gunslingers who have little self-control anyway, but sometimes its necessary, especially considering how dangerous each of them are. Astro adds that it was Jax who brought him back from the brink "after everything that *happened*", finally getting through to him. Starman, now calm, suddenly remembers that platymorphs exhale carbon monoxide instead of carbon dioxide, poisoning the air and exacerbating the egg's effects. The Exiles decide to eject the platymorph into space and prompty begin to vomit while changing the ship's air filters.

### 'Eruption'

At the Neokuza's headquarters on Dark City, Teddy Valentine, former lead singer of POSSE, is reprimanded by the Neokuza's elders for his repeated smuggling failings. Before his punishment - the amputation of his hands - can commence, however, Valentine unleashes a laser beam from his modified guitar, slaughtering one of the elders who becomes caught in the beam. With the support of his own faction, Valentine succeeds the deceased elder as according to tradition.

On the volcanic moon of Io in the Sol System, the Exiles fulfill a ISSS contract by clearing out a Neokuza stronghold in the system. Astro spots a shrine to the Neokuza's elders, and is shocked to see Valentine posing with the two remaining elders. Fleeing to the *Prydwen*, Astro hesitantly reveals that he and Valentine were bandmates in POSSE, with Valentine as lead singer and Astro as lead guitarist. Astro believed Valentine to be dead for the last 15 years and decides to finish what he started.

### 'I Got A Name'

After a long bender in the aftermath of his battle with Shen Khan, Astro accidentally takes some of Jax's truth serum. Taking advantage, Jar starts asking John personal questions, and Jax and Celeste slowly enter the room to listen.

In 4408, Frank, aged 17 and nicknamed "Furious" Frank, is a soldier enlisted in H&H's military division in the Sixteenth Corporate War. Frank and the rest of the soldiers are given ancient 20th century music to listen to while off-duty. While resting in a bombed-out building, Frank stumbles across a battered guitar and plays "Fortunate Son", drawing the attention of his comrades. Frank subsequently becomes a morale booster, performing for various squads and battalions. During a battle, Frank and his company are chosen as guinea pigs by H&H and laced with "Ladder", a psychostimulant that enhances traumatic memories and thus suicidal thoughts; in the disarray, Frank scratches his own eyes while his comrades end their own lives. Requiring sunglasses to shield his damaged eyes, Frank is subsequently discharged, only to discover the debt that landed him in the military has not been wiped as was promised by H&H. Deciding not to return home, Frank abandons his old life and takes on the name "John".

At the age of 21, John attends a meeting of fellow war veterans where he meets Teddy Valentine, who recognises him as the musician who toured the battalions. Both holding a love of music and a hatred for corporations, the pair decide to band together and record their own music, using the 20th century tunes they were provided during their service as inspiration. They recruit young Eddie Nova on bass and former engineer Faye Mercy on drums; John takes the stagename "John Astro". Taking the name POSSE, the band records their first album, *Nirvana*, and quickly become a hit with their anti-establishment, anti-corporate, anti-war lyrics.

For the next five years, POSSE grows in infamy. John and Faye strike up a torrid romance while Valentine strengthens his links with the Neokuza, a powerful criminal empire. John and Teddy begin to drift apart, partly because of John wanting to sing on more tracks and Teddy's jealousy over John and Faye's relationship. In an attempt to strengthen their friendship, John begins helping Teddy with jobs given by the Neokuza; John is trained in the martial art of *Danshingudoragon* by the Neokuza assassins but walks away from the organization because of his refusal to kill. Angered by Astro's betrayal, the Neokuza secretly orders Teddy to kill Astro and Faye.

John and Faye's relationship starts to deteriorate, with both drinking heavily and taking drugs. Their arguments descend into violence and they quickly become co-dependent. In 4418, Faye commits suicide by leaping from the balcony of Astro's penthouse, driving John into a period of heavy drug use, drinking and attempted suicides. After trashing his penthouse, John suddenly has the compulsion to gouge his eyes out and realizes that the alcohol he and Faye had been ordering had been laced with "Ladder". Astro finds the factory where the alcohol is packaged and, using his dormant fighting skills, ruthlessly and efficiently slaughters everyone in the building. He finds proof that Teddy organized his and Faye's poisoning and heads to a Neokuza casino to confront him. John manages to get Teddy to confess, after which John blows up a gas tank with his thermal rounds. John and Teddy subsequently fight to the death in hand-to-hand combat, with John barely coming out on top. Unable to kill his friend, John walks away; as he hears Teddy reach for his gun, however, he spins round and fires a shot into Teddy's face, blowing off his jaw.

Astro vanishes into the underworld, a bounty on his head from his direct assault on the Neokuza. He is cornered by two corrupt ISSS officers but saved by a young Jax Dupree, who gives him the credits necessary to escape into interstellar space. An aimless wanderer, Astro settles on becoming a gunslinger, eventually meeting Jax once again and forming the Exiles.

Now, fifteen years later, Astro finally reveals that he plans to go after Teddy one last time and end their war once and for all.

### 'Paint It, Black'

While the truth serum flushed from his system, John Astro gears up to face Teddy Valentine alone at the Neokuza's intergalactic headquarters on Dark City.

## Characters

### Main

* John Astro: a rockstar-turned-gunslinger who leads the Exiles on their adventures, all while dealing with dark secrets from his past
* Jax Dupree: a former detective of the Inter System Security Service and an old friend of John Astro who owns the Exile's ship, the *Prydwen*
* Celeste: an experimentally-produced lycanthrope and the daughter of infamous warlord Shen Khan
* Jar: a disembodied human brain that inadvertently joins the Exiles
* Starman: a dog born with bioenergenic powers, granting him enhanced intelligence and telepathy

### Supporting

* Teddy Valentine: an old friend of John Astro and the former vocalist for the rock band POSSE
* Shen Khan: an infamous warlord and bioengineer who previously led the Seph in a war on the Federation
* Gek Rel Ek: a gekoid detective in the ISSS and Jax's informant
* Gus Naird: a veteran of the Sixteenth Corporate War who later becomes an arms dealer