Hounds of Orion

On a dwarf planet in the Cawlim system, Cam Ket had crashed his Squire for the third time that day.

“Damn it!” He cried as he saw CRITICAL DAMAGE TO COCKPIT flash on the cracked windshield that was currently giving him a very picturesque view of a large pine tree. He wiped the blood currently dripping from his nose and picked up the headset that had been flung in the sudden impact. Even before he put it on he could hear the high-pitched shrieking that told him Aurora was not happy.

“Did you wreck again?!” She shrilly shouted, her voice cracking in her frustration, causing Cam to wince.

“It’s not my fault,” He said weakly, lacking any excuse. “That tree came out of nowhere.”

Aurora was having none of it, sighing before responding in a mocking tone, “Oh it just came out of nowhere? Oh yeah, that makes total sen- shut the hell up and get your ass back here! I need to do some repairs before you hit the course again and even with two suns, we’re still burning daylight.”

Cam sighed, biting his tongue as he listened to Aurora’s continued chastising, “En-route now.” He said in a defeated tone before turning off the channel, tossing his headset against the wall and angrily shouting out “Fuck!”

***

It took Logan a good fifteen minutes to navigate his Squire from the dense forest of trees back to base camp. It wasn’t much to look at, as Logan valued simplicity over comfort. The Fenris had landed inside a heavily wooded valley, with storage containers strewn about, containing everything from sleeping quarters, a kitchen, a med bay, and a mechanic's shop situated at the back of the compound.

It was here where Cameron piloted his Squire, bringing the mech to a halt outside a large garage door which was slowly rising, granting him entry. He didn’t have the time to guide it inside however, before seeing a tuft of blue hair bouncing quickly out of his vision, before hearing the metallic echoes of someone rapidly climb up the rungs leading from the legs to the top hatch. He barely had time to put his hands up in a gesture of surrender before Aurora had opened the hatch, staring daggers at him as he offered a cheesy grin.

“Aurora… May I say, you’re looking beautiful today.” He said, his tone warm and friendly.

“Get the fuck out of my mech.” She growled back in response.

“Yep, okay that’s fair. Getting out.”

He climbed out of the cockpit, bringing himself to stand over the open hatch at the top of the Squire as he looked out to see two blood orange suns hanging low in the horizon, perched atop a nearby mountain range. He let his thoughts run wild, reflecting on the past few months that had brought him to this strange world, and the stranger circumstances he’d found himself in.

There had been little fanfare when Cameron had departed Ketris. Instead of tears and heartfelt goodbyes, he’d been met with hard alcohol and bureaucratic red tape. Ironically enough, the process to make someone cease to exist came with quite the paper trail. From forfeiture of all his prospective assets, to the changing of his name from Cameron Pellyn, to Cam Ket, the process took ages before it was finally complete. They had spent nearly a month in Earth controlled space, waiting for the confirmation, most of that time spent on wallowing in self pity and despair. So long he’d spent in a drunk and depressed stupor, he didn’t once stop to think about memorizing the image of his home world. Once Sybil had relayed that Earth’s part of the process was complete, Logan had slipped them from the Pirou system faster than Cameron could take one last look at the planet he’d called home all his life, and say goodbye.

And now, after further time spent waiting in anxious concern, he was here. Free space. The part of the galaxy where many dreamed of, but few dared to go. He had to take a deep breath, inhaling fresh air from a planet that wasn’t his own, as a sliver of excitement surfaced from the bile of despair and hate that had festered inside of him these last few weeks. It warmed him, and for the first time in a long while, he felt something he was worried he’d never be able to feel again… optimism. That optimism was swiftly replaced by annoyance as he heard Aurora clear hear throat and speak, snapping him away from his romanticized reflection.

“You gonna keep standing there like an asshole all day?” She asked, hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised, “Or are you gonna climb off so I can actually get to work?”

Cameron felt his eye twitch, and he had to fight the urge to push the little shithead off the ten meter tall mech, grinding his teeth as he replied. “You, are a very mean mechanic.”

“And you’re a shit pilot,” She shot back without missing a beat, “Any other informed tid bits you care to share or are we just going to stand here stating facts all day?”

“Why do you hate me Aurora? What did I ever do to you?”

“You keep wrecking my Squire.”

“This a hostile work environment,” He said, walking past her and descending down the ladder rungs, marching off to a nearby container situated at the corner of the compound. He flung open the door where his eyes settled on Logan and Marcus who were huddled over a digital topography display, speaking in a hushed tone. Their heads turned in unison, meeting Cameron’s gaze.

“Do we really need that little asshole?” Cameron asked, thumbing the direction where Aurora and his Squire currently stood. “I mean really, we can’t find another A.R.M.S. mechanic in Free Space who isn’t so verbally abusive?”

Logan chuckled, his lips curling into an impish grin. “Did you wreck again?”

“That’s not the point.” Cameron said quickly, his cheeks heating in embarrassment. “Besides, the turning radius on that thing is way too soft, it feels like I’m nearly going to topple over anytime I need to make a sharp turn, which is practically constant in a forest that dense.”

“Still?” Logan asked, straightening his posture as he stood upright, “Even after Aurora’s adjustments? How many times you ran the course?”

“Three.”

Logan whistled audibly and looked past Cameron to view the Mech outside, as well as Aurora who was loudly cursing as she sparked a welding torch. His eyes drifted back to Cameron as he gave a simple shrug. “It’s probably the unit itself if I’m being honest with you. Squire’s are cheap and easy to maintain, but they lack the full spectrum of Modification options that more advanced units have.”

Cameron audibly groaned in frustration, looking exasperated as he spoke again, “So what do we do about it then?”

“That is currently what we’re trying to figure out Master Cameron.” Marcus spoke up, drawing both Cameron’s and Logan. His eyes widened suddenly as his own words registered with him, sputtering as he tried to correct himself. “I- I mean-”

Cameron cut him off, holding up a hand. There was a look of sympathy on the older man’s face, a twinge of melancholy that Cameron supposed was due to the fact he’d inadvertently brought up the recent past, and the fresh would of pain that still lingered within all of them.

“It’s alright Marcus. Old habits die hard yeah?” Cameron said, offering a genuine smile before continuing. “But I’m no one’s master anymore. I’m no one’s noble. Just say Cameron from now on. Or Cam if you want to be proper about it.”

Marcus nodded in understanding, before swiftly and expertly changing the subject. “As I was saying, we’re currently working on a solution to your… Squire problem.”

“Oh?” Cameron asked, looking slightly confused. “How do you mean?”

“It’s a three step process kid. Logan said, jumping back into the conversation. “Step one, secure some extra cash. Step two, get you threaded. And step three, get you into an actual A.R.M.S. unit. From there we can start doing actual contracts instead of having to scrape the bottom of the barrel for the scraps even Alpha Classes won’t touch.”

“Alpha Classes?” Cameron asked, but Logan waved him off.

“Not important right now, we’ll go over that down the line.” He said, walking back to the table to pick up a stack of four manilla folders. “For now, just know that these are the jobs available to us right now, and it’s only just barely, because of there’s a threaded pilot amongst us, that being me. Now I know you’re still getting your feet wet here, and as such I’ve been working with Marcus to pick one that we feel is appropriate for your skill level, and is worth the time to actually do it.”

“Okay…” Cameron said, looking between the two men. “So what do you need me to do?”

“Right now I need you to wait until Aurora is finished fixing that squire,” Logan said, pointing out to where the mechanic was. “After that, I need to you run this obstacle course without crashing. If you can’t avoid a tree in an enclosed space at high speed, then how can I expect you to operate when we’re chasing down bogey’s trying to use cover to wear you down?”

Cameron sighed heavily, his body already aching at the prospect of going back out again, “Alright, fair enough.”

“We’ll be out there soon,” Logan assured him, patting his shoulder. “Once I see you can do the boring stuff, then we can get to the fun shit and start making some money.”

Cameron nodded, turning away to hide him rolling his eyes. He stepped once again, offering a wave behind him as he mentally prepared for failing once again.

“I can hardly wait boss.”