P-Pirate crew? We were bought by space pirates?!

Bruce looks agitated:

“Hurry up, I asked yer name kid!”

“I-I’m Ryder Sir, Ryder Whitlock.”

Ares flinches and looks at me with suspicion, oh right, he still think I’m Fraldy…

Bruce spots Ares’ expression and suddenly looks a lot more intimidating:

“Why’s that so shocking to your buddy there? Don’t be lyin’ to me now.”

“N-No sir, in order to study at the academy, I impersonated the Sapien servant of this Lunarian here. I sneaked aboard the academy-shuttle under a fake identity, betting on the racism of those Lunarians that they wouldn’t notice a difference. Surprisingly, it actually worked… I would be on Earth by now if it wasn’t for those slavers…

“Bwhahaha!”

After hearing my story, Bruce erupted in a hardy laughter.

“Oh kid, I’m starting to like you more and more.”

Ares looked a bit pissed though, probably because I managed to trick him… Oh well, not like he could do anything about it in our current situation.

Suddenly, the cat-lady glares in my direction, she didn’t seem to like that Bruce complimented me:

“Hmpf, why even buy someone from the weak Sapien race? Urrr- No offense boss, that obviously doesn’t include you…”

“It’s fine H'Mara, Sapiens would probably be the weakest sentient race in the entire galaxy if it wasn’t for biohacking. Speaking of which, Ryder, how did you even get a flux-guide installed? I heard that most planets ruled by Lunarians outlawed Sapiens from having one…”

“I euuhhh… I don’t have a flux-guide installed sir… That strength I showed earlier was just a special technique I learned from my parents. The technique uses up my lifeforce, in return it gives me incredible strength for a short period of time… Apparently, that power comes from the awakened genes I inherited…”

That was the excuse I came up with, not airtight, but still believable…

Bruce looked confused, not quite sure what I was implying:

“So?”

“I… I can only use that technique in emergency situations… Without that technique my strength and other abilities are just barely above that of an ordinary Sapien…”

“Ah, I see…”

Phew, looks like he’s taking it pretty well…

Not! He suddenly disappears from where he was standing and reappears Infront of me with his leg stretched out, yelling:

“YOU FUCKER!”

Huh, why is he suddenly going backwards? It doesn’t look like he’s moving… Wait… I’m the one flying backwards! And at an incredible speed at that!

I continue flying through the air before suddenly: *BAM* I hit a sand-dune and stop.

*COUGH* *COUGH*

Blood flows from my mouth and I have trouble breathing. Only now can I feel the pain of a blunt object having hit my chest. Did he really just kick me? What power…

“MAKING ME WASTE 900.000 UC! Goddamit!”

I see Ares chuckling to himself, that bastard. I wish Bruce would kick him too, I’m betting that his smirk would quickly dissapear if that happened.

The Cat-Lady, who I know is called H’Mara, tries to console Bruce:

“C-Calm down captain, we still have that Lunarian brat, we got him for cheap too.”

*SIGH* “You’re right, I lost my cool.”

He turns to Ares:

“Ya better sell for a lot… Those Slavers probably already asked your parents for a ransom right? I’m guessing around 6 or 7 million? Since you’re here now, they obviously couldn’t pay it. Luckily for your parents, we’re giving them another change: for only 2 million UC, we’ll let ya go.”

Ares went silent and looked away.

“What? Even 2 mil is too much? I thought all Lunarians were loaded…. *SIGH* Fine, I’ll be generous, 1.500.000 UC is enough.”

He throws a holo-phone into the sand in front of Ares:

“Here, start calling already.”

Ares doesn’t pick up the phone though… I can’t help but chuckle a little, I can already guess what’s going to happen.

“I… I’m sorry sir, my parents definitely have enough money to pay your ransom, they could even buy you a planet or two if they wanted… The problem is that I’m the youngest son and deemed useless from birth… It’s not like they can’t pay it, it’s just that they don’t want to-“

*BAM*

With an all too familiar kick to the chest, Ares is send flying towards my direction, luckily I managed to dodge-roll in time.

“WHAT THE FUCK?! How did I end up getting scammed twice?!”

After some calming down from H’Mara, Bruce sighs and orders her to take us inside the ship.

“Let’s just make em’ mine asteroids for the time being, It would be a waste to just throw em’ away. From now on, they’re under your supervision, I heard you mentioning that your ‘outcast’ crew lacked personnel. I’ll give ya a year to train em’ for combat.”

He then looked at Ares and me who were still coughing up blood:

“Ya better listen to H’Mara, she’s as feisty as she looks. And try to make yourselves useful, we don’t offer free meals here. The pirate life is simple, the strong survive and gain power while the weak can’t help but be trampled upon.”

With those words he boarded the ship and left us alone with a grinning cat-lady who was already licking her lips.

“Hmmm, fresh meat…”

*GULP*