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“Right behind ya!” [break][break]

Eddie followed behind the boy and his Musharna, and while that nagging sense of familiarity still gnawed at him, his attention was drawn elsewhere when Hideo offered his question, [break][break]

“'Cause sci-fi is cool!” Eddie replied cheerily, “Who wouldn't wanna explore the final frontier?” [break][break]

But if Eddie was being honest with himself, there was a little more to it than that. Sure, the pragmatist in him could have also justified the decision as an attempt at emulating some of the trials of the prison ship, but Eddie at his core was more of a romantic than anything else. Loss, loneliness, and the end of things were themes that spoke more strongly to him than ever before. [break][break]

But perhaps the most striking of the themes featured in A Journey Amongst the Stars was love, plain and simple. Often prized, rarely captured in its truest form, and a thing men would fight for and die for and live for and give every last one of their worldly possessions for. Love, elusive and many-faceted, was just about the only thing worth doing anything for. [break][break]

None of that would be spoken out loud, though, because Eddie had an image to maintain. So instead he followed the little gym leader to the room in which the challenge would begin, eyeing the Pokemon that watched their procession with consideration.

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Hideo Kino [break]

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And make himself comfortable he did. Upon entering the room in which the challenge would begin, Eddie bee-lined over to the couch and adjusted himself on the cushions, muttering an apology to the Musharna already sitting there. [break][break]

Eddie had never been Hynotized before, he realized with a new pang of fear as he squeezed his eyes shut and listened to the little gym leader, [break][break]

“Right, focus on yer words,” he repeated, more in confirmation to himself that anything else as he sank further into the plush couch cushions. Eddie picked a little at a stray thread on his pant leg, “So, uh, when'll I know it's workin-” [break][break]

“You will find yourself in the hangar of a Space Station.” [break][break]

The change was jarring in it's suddenness. One second he was sitting on a rather comfortable couch in Littleroot; in the next, he was standing on solid concrete, with the smell of ozone and fuel thick on the air. [break][break]

“Now open your eyes.” [break][break]

Eddie did as he was told, and was astonished to find himself somewhere very different than where he had started. He peered through the shadowed hangar into the darkness beyond, listening to the voice that sounded like it was right next to his ear and a million miles away all at once. [break][break]

Another voice called out, crackling from a device on Eddie's wrist; this was the rough but familiar timbre of his Commander, of course it was. Who else would be coming over the comms to confirm the mission with their wayward Explorer? [break][break]

“Roger Dodger, boss-man,” Eddie grinned through his reply, “Objective; find the lost traveler. We'll bring 'em home and be back in time for supper.”

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Hideo Kino [break]

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And so, Eddie received that little bit of exposition necessary to well and truly kick off the plot. As the transponder crackled into silence, he looked up into the darkness of the hangar to find the vessel through which he would be accomplishing this mission. [break][break]

Eddie's eyes adjusted to the darkness of the dimly lit space as he took a few steps forward. Before him, in the shadows, the silhouette of his spaceship began to come into view, though it still remained indistinct even as he drew closer. In one moment, Eddie saw the shape of something metallic and angular, but when he blinked, he could have sworn he saw the familiar shape of a Tauros watching him with impatiently swishing tails, [break][break]

“Beau? How the hell'd you get here?” [break][break]

No, no, he must have been mistaken, Eddie realized when the shape shifted into something else. He grinned when the craft finally became recognizable, and his walk turned into a jog as the dim hangar suddenly became illuminated by bright lights all around him. [break][break]

This wasn't Beau; this was the fastest Starrunner this side of the galaxy. Shiny black and cobalt blue glimmered under the hangar lights as Eddie gave the exterior of the craft a once-over. A pair of X-shaped wings, outfitted with laser cannons that could snipe even the most evasive TYE Runners, fanned out from the small and angular cockpit. The four thrusters situated close to the bases of the wings all looked to be in working order, and so too did the sensor window housed in the long nose cone that extended out from the body of the craft. [break][break]

Eddie grinned wider as climbed up to the best seat in the house. The cockpit decompressed with a hiss as the glassy transparisteel canopy slid away for him to climb inside, and though it was a tight fit, he wouldn't trade the B-3AU Cross-wing Starrunner for anything in the universe, [break][break]

“This is Raging Bull, requesting clearance for takeoff,” Eddie called through the comms inside his ship as he slipped his helmet on. [break][break]

Click, click, click. On came the navigational systems, the on-board computer, and the laser targeting program. [break][break]

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“All clear, Raging Bull. You're good to go.” [break][break]

Beep, beep, beep. It was time to reroute the bulk of their power to the thrusters; the take-off was always the trickiest part. [break][break]

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“Roger; I'll be back before you know it. Raging Bull, out.” [break][break]

And now came the fun part. At the far end of the hangar, metal walls gave way to something inky and impossibly vast, punctuated by the twinkling lights of distant planets and stars. Eddie's heart raced as the thrusters began to hum in earnest and his WILD CHARGE into the cosmos began. [break][break]

“Alright bud,” he beamed as he gave the console a little pat for good luck, “Let's bring 'em home.” [break][break]

The hangar became a whirl of gray metal and bright lights around him as the thrusters picked up. He – no, they, hurtled forward, faster and faster, and Eddie's hands gripping the controls for dear life as G-forces rocked his body and the craft alike. Just a little more, just a little faster – [break][break]

With one final roaring cry, the Starrunner surged forward off of the end of the runway, soaring out into the great dark beyond, and proved that it could live up to it's well-earned name. Eddie whooped for joy as his journey began in earnest, too elated to worry about whatever ordeal was to come.

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Hideo Kino [break]

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Of course this wouldn't be the effortless trip that Eddie hoped that it would be. He grumbled a curse to himself as the heat signatures of four small craft appeared on the console's targeting display; it'd be just his luck that he'd run into the most obnoxious band of pests this side of the Farthest Rim, [break][break]

“Yeah, well, I'll tell ya where you can shove yer god damn tribute-” [break][break]

The console's display shifted as Eddie silently engaged his craft's ANGER POINT protocol, [break][break]

“Eat space-dust, you pirate bastards!” [break][break]

Eddie's ship surged forward, breaking through the formation of CTIFY fighters as the thrusters flared to life once more. The little buggers followed in hot pursuit, the sound of laser-fire echoing through the void all around him. [break][break]

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Two of the fighters rushed forward to run on either side of Eddie's craft, their ships flashing bright in a distracting DAZZLING GLEAM that threatened to overwhelm Eddie's targeting systems. He just grinned as he kept his eyes trained on the whirling stars and lights all around him through the angular glass that surrounded the cockpit; they had just played right into his hand. [break][break]

Because, of course, the kinetic shield that swathed his ship as part of the ANGER POINT protocol just converted the energy swirling around him into a concussive force that could be used against enemy ships in such close proximity. With the flick of a few switches, the Starrunner LASHed OUT, expelling a dark pulse of energy all around itself and sending the two fighters whirling away into the dark. [break][break]

They'd be back, though, and their buddies were already gaining on him again. Another fighter sailed forward at speeds Eddie didn't think the craft was capable of, whirling above and around him to try and distract from the other fighter sailing somewhere below his ship. He had to shake them somehow; redirecting some power to the auxiliary thrusters, the Starrunner soared faster still with an AQUA JET, hoping to outpace even the fastest craft that the Bug Coalition's fleet had to offer. [break][break]

He was almost out of the woods now, but the CT1FY weren't ready to let their prize go. The four craft reconvened, darting erratically somewhere behind Eddie, and he watched the console with some anxious frustration as he realized what they were aiming to do. The energy signatures were off the charts; they were redirecting power to their weapon systems, hoping to overwhelm him with the combined force of their sonic-powered artillery. The dreaded BUG BUZZ assault had been the death of many a wayward explorer, but Eddie was determined not to meet the same fate, [break][break]

“Alright bud,” Eddie murmured as his eyes darted from his console display to the switches and buttons and dials all around him, “Just give me a little more so we can shake 'em. I'm countin' on you.” [break][break]

Though the Starrunner was just a hunk of circuitry and quadranium steel, Eddie swore that this ship had a heart and soul of it's own. The B-3AU had always given it's all for Eddie, and this dire hour would be no exception. [break][break]

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Systems blared shrill warnings and flashed violent shades of red as the ship drew from a font of energy that Eddie didn't know it possessed. But of course, how could he have forgotten? This ship possessed a unique feature not found in its other Starrunner kin; this bad boy had a core of pure Terastalium, one of the rarest and most potent materials in the entire galaxy. “The stuff of dreams”, as it was often called, gave Eddie's Starrunner an edge over almost any other ship in its class. [break][break]

So in a final flash of blinding light, the ship was suddenly swathed in a cascading glow of brilliant white and blue and gold, radiant and shimmering, a star unto itself. All around it, a TERA BLAST suddenly flared out like a raging supernova, propelling the ship to faster speeds still and sending the fighters scattering all in one fell swoop. [break][break]

Eddie grinned so broadly that his face started to hurt, [break][break]

“Attaboy! I knew I could count on you!” [break][break]

Something on the console seemed to flicker for just a brief moment in reply. Eddie blinked, and it was gone, but he could have sworn that the ship seemed to hum all around him with some bit of pride at a job well done.

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Hideo Kino [break]

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Now that those pests had been swatted away, Eddie could get back down to business. As his craft pulled toward the coordinates of the Traveler's last known sighting, he squinted into the dark void and suddenly realized that he wasn't alone in this lonely little corner of the galaxy, [break][break]

“Oh, uh, thanks!” Eddie called back through his comms, surprised and admittedly a little delighted by the appearance of the gregarious little probe, “I'm out here lookin' for someone. A friend'a mine was out here a few weeks back, but I ain't seen hide or hair of 'em in a minute.” [break][break]

As the P0RG0N pirouetted against the inky void of darkness and stars, Eddie also noted that something about the movement seemed wrong, a little off-kilter. Maybe the poor guy was hurt in need of repairs? [break][break]

“Hey bud, I think one'a your back thrusters is out.” [break][break]

Eddie stopped a moment and took a mental inventory of his cargo space and the tools at his disposal, [break][break]

“You need some help gettin' patched up?” [break][break]

The galaxy could be a cruel and unforgiving place. The P0RG0N probe would have every right to turn down Eddie's offer of assistance, because people out here offering to lend a hand were just as likely to take your ship for scrap as they were to actually provide assistance. But Eddie considered it something of a personal responsibility to help bolster the ranks of the latter group of kindhearted spacefarers. Maybe it was just that romantic streak of his talking, but Eddie liked to think that doing a little good here and there could help outshine the cold, crushing darkness of the cosmos that surrounded them.

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Hideo Kino [break]

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The probe had provided an interesting bit of insight. So, they had had a little chat with the Traveler, and the Traveler took off, and apparently the Traveler hadn't been particularly thrilled by some of the questions offered. Good info, but it didn't exactly get Eddie any closer to finding the guy. [break][break]

But the chase could wait for just a few more minutes (or whatever the equivalent measurement of time was out here). Eddie had a probe to patch up, because suffering over half a millennium with a broken thruster was about as cruel as this galaxy could get. Why the hell had it taken this long for someone to lend a helping hand? [break][break]

“You got it, bud!” [break][break]

With just a quick tap of some buttons on the ship's console, a small drone was deployed, armed with a variety of tools to help fix whatever was ailing the P0RG0N. Eddie concentrated on the video feed projected to his console's display, brow furrowing with concentration as he carefully entered precise commands to the drone to facilitate the repair job, [break][break]

“Huh?” [break][break]

Eddie had become so engrossed in his repairs that he hadn't registered the probe's question at first. He blinked stupidly as he stared at the console's display, a little at a loss for how to reply, [break][break]

“I, uh, guess I'm an Explorer.” [break][break]

Or at least, that was his role in this story. But people were so much more than the parts they played, weren't they? [break][break]

“'Least, that's what they call me while I'm out here. Back home, I'm a soldier. Back at my old home, I was a construction worker.” [break][break]

Eddie had always mentally defined himself by the things he could physically, tangibly, do. After all, how else could he measure his worth in this world than by the mark he left on it? He idly wondered if the Traveler thought the same way, [break][break]

“I take it you asked my pal the same thing?”

[attr="class","bottom"]Hideo Kino [break]