Western Passage
Merutian Highlands
Labrea, Labrea System
April 11, 3038
In a blast of cold air and several cries of protest, the pneumatic pump forced the damaged
door open. No longer providing its crew the illusion of safety it once granted, the disabled Pack
Rat scout vehicle had reached its final resting place. With a broken axle and cracked engine
shielding, the 20-ton scout vehicle was likely to fold in on itself long before any desperate salvage
crew came across it. Crawling out headfirst through the mostly-open door, the Pack Rat’s crew
emptied themselves into the blinding vastness that was known as the Western Passage. The
lonely pair quickly gathered their weapons and communications equipment from the dying vehicle
and cautiously moved several meters towards the surrounding glen of coniferous trees. The
shorter of the two men, the commander, motioned for the other to scout the area while handing
him a large metal box full of sensing equipment. The taller man disappeared into the trees to the
north, moving quickly while staying close to the ground in an attempt to hide from any possible
prying eyes. The shorter man paused in his walk towards the towering pines, scanning the area
for a good lookout point. Then he trudged his way up onto the nearest snow-capped point, one
of the many that pockmarked the surface of the Passage’s jagged terrain.
Glancing across the mountains as quickly as he could, pirate commander Drake Cully
attempted to assess the situation. After just one and a half hours of light skirmishing with the
Llana’s Breakers mercenary unit, the Kurakoa pirates were faring poorly. The Breakers’ team
of mercenary bodyguards had reacted quickly to the Kurakoa pirate’s raid, fending off the light
attack and chasing the pirate attackers away. Luckily, Drake’s team of pirates had been able to
trick the Breakers into a hastily-devised trap. The trap had been an attempt to weaken the
Breakers’ scouting ability, but the ensuing battle had unfortunately proven otherwise. Due to bad
luck and a series of small mistakes by Drake himself, the pirates’ situation had quickly gone from
bad to worse.
Drake had never believed he could go far as a commander. Standing in the icy breeze,
sporting a heavy, off-white parka and gray, double-layered trousers, his thoughts traced back to
his own past in a search for an answer. Why has my life come down to this? The product of an
abusive father and strong-willed mother, Drake had been raised to fend for himself. He had
taken to a life of crime while still in his teens, quickly moving up in the criminal underworld on his
own backwater planet. Before long he had joined a band of pirates. And now I am here
wasting time while my team is in danger. His mind raced back to the situation at hand. There
were more important things to consider than the meaning of life and his past choices.
From the very beginning, Drake had underestimated the mercenary group. Llana Huxley’s
Breakers had not only escaped the pirate trap, but the little-known commander and her
mercenaries had successfully reinforced their scouts with additional `Mechs. Drake didn’t have
any options left. With time and an organized enemy working against them, the pirates would
have to evacuate. Today’s loss was going to be the worst the group had suffered since Drake
had taken command last year.
Drake’s body grew heavy with sadness as his conscience began feeling the burden of the
afternoon’s casualties. After losing his command Pack Rat vehicle to the Breaker
reinforcements, he now faced the task of coordinating the battle on foot until another friendly
vehicle could reach him. And to think, it had all started with the local government hiring the
Breakers to calm the rebellion that him and his pirates had helped lead on Labrea. The pirates
had planned to pay back a few old debts by striking military targets, then capitalizing on any of
the government’s losses, and finally jumping out of system to leave the planet to its own
machinations.
However the pirates’ rebel allies had disappeared in the face of their loyalist enemies’
increasing strength, fading away into the social-political background like an early morning mist.
The loyalist military seemed determined to display their power, and the pirate forces who were
aiding the rebels would make the perfect example. Looked upon as common criminals, a pirate
massacre would be considered justifiable given the victims’ weak code of morality. By the time
the pirates were destroyed and the rebellion had failed, the loyalists hoped their hands might still
be clean of their own people’s blood.
The late afternoon sun in the Merutian Highlands had turned the battlefield into a haze of
white. Only after concentrating for several moments was Drake able to spot the nearest threat to
his pirates, a 35-ton Breaker Firestarter `Mech. The machine’s fiery-red silhouette became
clearer and clearer as it trod through the snow towards Drake’s position. Bearing a close
semblance to a human figure, the Firestarter stepped across one of the highland’s many icy
ridges. It maneuvered carefully to keep its solid footing on the slippery terrain. Apparently the
giant machine’s pilot had noticed the nearby pirate platoon, though most of the pirate soldiers
were either dead or hidden from view. Given the `Mech’s terrifying anti-infantry weapons
configuration, it wouldn’t be an easy job for the pirate foot-soldiers to stop it. Drake felt a knot
forming in his stomach. The situation was likely to get even worse before it got any better.
“Treadmark Two, I want whatever fire you can bring to bear on that Firestarter. It’s closing
fast and will be here sooner than any of us want.” Drake spoke into his helmet’s mic. The heavy
steam of his own breath momentarily blocked out the image of the Firestarter as he spoke.
Briefly expecting the image might vanish with the fading steam, Drake mentally kicked himself
when he realized he was losing valuable time to fear and empty hopes.
“Roger that Carrier A. Everything we’ve got at the Firestarter.” said Jonathan Heinstrik,
Drake’s second-in-command. For all that Jonathan had proven in his four years as a pirate,
Drake still failed to see how the man would ever be able to assume his position if a situation were
to go sour. Jonathan was famous for being the perfect follower, always accomplishing whatever
was asked of him. However he had never developed any skills as a decision-maker in the years
Drake had fought alongside him.
As a chilling breeze blew down between Drake’s helmet and flak-vest, he noticed the wind
direction changing. On most planets, this sort of a change would matter little. However Drake
had done his research before attempting a raiding campaign here in the highlands, and his
