Starbound

Chapter 1

Of all the beings in the entire universe, Phire had to end up working with an idiot like Phoenix.

"This was supposed to be a discreet mission, Phee!" She hissed into her comms as she dodged under a chunk of a fallen wall. The whole ship was falling apart. Soon enough, the whole thing would collapse, and there wouldn't be any air left to breathe.

"How was I supposed to know that the explosives I planted were the shockwave ones?" He replied. As Phire walked into what seemed to be a storage room, she spotted two beings dressed in black uniforms picking through the rubble and packaged boxes up ahead and sighed. They were carrying noxams. Human weapons. According to her research — and what Phire had seen first hand — noxams can range from giving a being a slight electric shock to scorching them off the face of the universe.

She scanned the room quickly. No windows. The only other exit was at the other end of the room. She'd have to cross the guards to reach it.

"Remind me to slap you later." Phire muttered into her comms.

"Won't do." Phoenix replied cheerfully.

Ethiria joined in. "Well, look at the bright side, at least we'll have a cool exit when this whole thing explodes."

"What point is a cool exit if nobody is going to be alive to see it?" Phoenix said glumly.

Phire concentrated and summoned a sword to her hand out of thin air. She didn't bother creating anything special, just a piece of Ambrosian metal with a sharp blade and a good grip. The guards hadn't seen her yet, so she crouched behind the remains of a crooked tapestry, it barely hanging on to its hook. Despite that, it provided much needed shadows for Phire to blend in.

Phoenix would always complain about how despite her stark white hair and skin, she somehow managed to hide in shadows easily. Though, seeing how loud Phoenix is all the time, she doubted he would actually want to stealth around.

The first guard said something to the second, though Phire had no idea what language they were speaking in. The other guard nodded, and they started to root through the boxes, backs towards each other. Looking for something. Phire almost scoffed out loud. Too easy.

She waited until the first guard had reached close to where she was hidden, and crept up behind him. His breath hitched as he registered the presence of somebody behind him, but Phire quickly slit his throat before he could call out to his buddy. Unfortunately, the buddy did not need to be called out to.

"Hey!" The other called out, raising his noxam. His tone was lined with terror and panic at seeing his comrade convulsing on the ground. "Stand down!" Absentmindedly, Phire noted his thick accent. Not a native speaker. Most humans aren't, though, so she wasn't surprised.

She crossed her arms. "Or what?" Phire asked loftily, like she couldn't care less about the fact that she had a lethal weapon pointed straight at her. Her electric blue eyes were trained on the guard. "You'll shoot?"

The guard paused. It was just a second's hesitation, but it was all Phire needed to form a long thin dagger in her hand and throw it at his eye. Unsurprisingly, her dagger found its mark. The guard dropped to the ground immediately, dead. Phire stepped over the body, mindful not to step on any of the blood pooling on the ground. She checked behind her for the first guard, but he'd already finished choking on his own blood. Phire felt a flicker of pity spark up inside her, but she doused it quickly.

They're humans. She had to remind herself. They deserve it.

Phire looked back at the crooked tapestry she'd hid behind. It was what the humans liked to call their 'banner'. Its base was red, with an illustration of a golden throne on top. The text under it was not in a language Phire knew, but she knew what it said.