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esorydoolb · 7 months ago

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Chapter 2 of my Starfield fanfic "Rebirth: Enter the Void" is up!

This story is basically a collection of slates from Starborn!Alan's crew members and allies. Since I'm not in love with the main companions of Starfield, I'm writing a fic for all my favorite other companions. Chapter 2 is all about my favorite Vanguard and how he meets the spacefarer in another universe ... Enjoy!

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Moara Otero: All in a Day's Work

No idea how I had made this mistake and not seen the result coming. In my naivety, I thought I could annoy these Spacers into running away, since it had been so easy to sneak into their base, a repurposed level of the abandoned Nova Galactic Staryard orbiting Luna. I had done it multiple times, always at night, when they couldn’t see my ship docking on the gigantic star station. Like a ghost, I had slipped away with their supplies, loot that they had stolen from independent settlers and small farms. My plan had been to exploit their lack of security and organization to make them aware that their crimes wouldn’t go unseen. That went well, until one day it didn’t.

I was sitting in their trap. I escaped two of their sleek black fighter ships, scrambled away with a defective shield, forcing me to hide in the lion’s den, where they didn’t expect me. In the Staryard, I found enough spare parts for emergency repairs. I boarded the repaired ship with a cold trepidation clinging to my frame. Every movement felt like my limbs were made of metal, foreign objects that I forced to work for me. I climbed onto the main deck and secured the Marksman rifle I was carrying in its case, keeping the small arms at my side. Sitting down in the pilot seat, I used my metal fingers to maneuver the ship into space, leaving behind a ransacked Spacers base and a piece of bait that would lure them all the way out to the lifeless ice giant of Sol.

I had raiders and bandits on my tail, angered them enough to chase me through the whole Sol System if need be. And they would – they were already sending a group of professional Ecliptic mercenaries after me to track down my ship and extinguish me like a pestering bug. The logical outcome of this situation was a fight for survival, and the only details I could influence were the when and how. At least that way, I would know when and where they’d attack. I’d already sent out a distress call, but who knew how long until the UC stationed around Mars would respond. At this time of the year, the distance between the two planets was almost minimal. If I was lucky and the Ecliptic had more brains than brawn, they’d be careful about rushing into an ambush, giving the UC more time to arrive. And if not … then I’d be making my last stand here, in the blackest sea. They said that in Old Earth mythology, Neptune was the god of naval victories. I didn’t believe in these old tales, but I believed in a system in which justice prevailed.

I navigated the ship into the cold orbit of Neptune, hiding in the shadow of a meteoroid field and turning off the engines. It gave me a brief moment of calm to think of a plan, but more importantly, I scrabbled about the ship for an empty audio slate. In all this time stationed in Sol, I had never sent a message back home. Not that it hadn’t crossed my mind; inevitably, I just always failed to find a purpose in it.

This time, the sudden fear of being hunted down for elimination had me in a chokehold. There was a ring around my lungs, pressing down consistently until the guilt crushed me, and there was no escaping it. I plumped down in a corner of the ship with the slate in my hand and pressed the button to record.

I’d known the risks when I had signed up to become a Vanguard. Even when looking into the moist, glistening eyes of my little boy, and your eyes, Chianna … I was so aware of the possibility that we wouldn’t see each other again. That’s why it had to have been so hard for you two to understand why I just stood up and left. When I tried to explain what I am going through out here, I was hoping that it’d make you understand a little better. That this is my life, a purpose I am happy to fulfill. Because every time I watched your eyes, it was not only you who looked back, but I could glance the stars, the planets, and the people living out there, in their spaceships, and little homesteads … You reflected my inner soul, like a black shimmering mirror.

I don’t know whether you still think about me at all. My biggest regret is not knowing if I would be able to come back home and still be welcomed. The only times when I feel at peace anymore are when I’m between the stars, reaching out with the sword of justice, an extended arm of the UC. So, if I was unable to perform my job, then I had failed you all, hadn’t I?

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#starfield #starfield fanfiction #fanfiction #writing #moara otero #starfield companions #YESS FINALLY FIC POSTING #also I always see other people create fancy and cool banners for their fics so I wanted to join

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