The Star Chaser - An Elite Dangerous Fanfiction. (Horatio Puckett x Reader)

A Simple Flight

The Concourse of the Federation space station, Li Qing Jao is bustling. Unfortunate for you, it always is. It's one, a tourist port, two in orbit around Earth, one of the most visited destination in the galaxy, and thirdly, the Federal president Zachary Hudson is planning to visit the station in four hours. Lucky for you, you're leaving. As you shove through the crowd towards the Apex Interstellar desk, you wince as you realize your entire journey is going to be just as chaotic.

Reaching the Apex Interstellar desk, the man behind the desk recounts what must be a company assigned greeting, because this has to be about the millionth time you've heard it. "Welcome to Apex Interstellar, the first step to everywhere!" You quickly book a flight to Alioth, the capital of The Alliance of Independent Systems, which quite literally exploded not that long ago.  The Federation started backing many strikes into Alliance territory, and now as a Federal diplomat, it is your job to try and avoid all out war. The journey to Alioth will not be a nonstop flight, due to Apex Interstellar's horrible service only allowing you to go 1000 lightyears at a time, you need to have a quick layover at Chango Dock in the I Bootis system. As you get your ticket, you continue shoving through the crowd towards the Apex Interstellar elevators. As you finally make your way into one. As soon as you thought your legs could have a break, the doors open to hanger bay 09.

An Adder in the Apex Interstellar livery lies ahead of you, though the Adder is one of the oldest ships still flown, at least Apex keeps them in good shape, unlike even some of the newer ships. You make your way to the entry ramp at the front of the ship. As you enter the cockpit, and sit in the passengers set, the pilot greets you "Welcome aboard, take a seat. My name is Horatio Puckett, I hope you enjoy the ride." You immediately notice his soothing tones, and though you're never been one for idle chit chat, he pulls you in via some unknown force. As the Adder leaves the station, and prepares to jump to hyperspace, you notice Horatio's physical features. His face is angular, and his chin looks like it could cut a diamond. His eyes sparkle, though hidden in the dark of space. His hazel hair waves in the gentle breeze of the air conditioning, his skin almost shimmers in the starlight, and you wonder what makes it glow. He seems to be only in about his late 20's but a scar stretching from his left temple to his ear tells you he is not a stranger to adventure. You are curious about how it got there. 

 "Hey, can I ask, how did you get that scar?" You say, awaiting his soothing voice to respond. 

"Oh this? It may surprise you, but I used to be quite the explorer, when I was about 21 I bought a Diamondback Explorer, and decided to travel the stars." 

"Huh, this must feel like a demotion for you then." 

"Yeah, the story of how I became an Apex Interstellar pilot and how I got this scar are rather intertwined. I got it out when I was exploring the Lagoon Nebula, I tripped on a high gravity world, I landed on a rock that pierced right through my helmet, it left a nasty scar, and I almost died of oxygen depravation. After that I came back to The Bubble, swearing I'd never explore again, but, I've been missing it. At this point I'm just waiting for my contract to end. Anyway, that was the last jump." 

The final jump takes you to the I Bootis system. Your ship cruises through the system, and due to the quick way Horatio ended the conversation, you feel like he may have been hiding something.

As your Adder disengages from supercruise and arrives at Chango Dock, your handsome pilot begins the standard docking procedures. As your ship goes through the hanger slot, you notice that this is an agricultural port. The smell of greenery hits your nose, and you place yourself on a farm in your childhood, not quite able to place the memory, but remembering a strong scent of canola. Your ship docks at landing pad 21, and you disembark, saying goodbye to Horatio Puckett, you make your way to the elevators at the back of the hanger. As the elevator takes you down towards the hanger, you ponder the conversation you had with Horatio, you have the need to try and get the full story out of him, but duty calls. Knowing the next leg of your journey would be on a different ship, you feel disappointed, but hope you may meet this pilot again someday, somehow.

You enter the concourse, and slowly walk towards the bar, you have two and a half hours until your flight to Alioth arrives, you might as well drink your pain away, if you're lucky you'll be sober before you have to enter The Alliance. You pay for a glass of Lavian Brandy, and make your way to the giant window that watches over the entrance of the port. You sip your brandy and look out over the incoming ships, and think about all the ways he could have gotten the scar, it could be something innocent he's too embarrassed to admit, but the way he ended the conversation makes you think it could have been something more sinister. As you watch, you notice a strange amount of smoke coming from one of the agricultural towers, it seems one of the crops caught fire somehow. Only about two minutes later, you notice that one of the landing pads seems to be...expanding? A bulge has appeared in the flat metal surface, as you puzzle about what could be going on, the bulge suddenly pops like a balloon, and coming out of it, fire. An explosion. Just as this happens, you hear a bang, the station shudders. People scream. The station is being bombed. Pads all across the station burst open, fire leaches from the fields as station crew fight to put them out, ships in a panic explode as they slam into the side of the station. You notice that the bombs seem to be going off in rows, circles of bombs explode around the station. You notice that directly above you, another pad explodes. The ring containing the concourse has been targeted. You do the only thing you can think to do, and run.

So, Hello! I am the author, some of you may know me as Dink, hello Dads, and Elite Dangerous friends, such as Allen, Mick, and British Dude. So to explain Horatio Puckett, it's the name of an actual Apex Interstellar pilot I met in game, and Allen, mentioned before, thought that was a kind of hot name, and I was like "Yeah it actually is" and jokingly said "I should write a fanfiction about him!", and, well, obviously I did. Keep in mind, this is my first fanfiction, and is written is second person, which I don't have much experience in. It's also not meant to be that good, it's supposed to be a joke fanfiction. I'll update this occasionally, and don't worry it's actually leading up to something! 

[Good evening (or not), this is thine editor, correcting thy horrible grammar and paragraph structure. New chapters coming soon!]