Chapter 1
The stars race past as my ship flies through the hyperlink zone. A greenish blue light bouncing around my ship as it gets distorted from the fast movement. Another hologram shows up in my workspace and I see my destination is only a few hours away.
"Nice, nearly there," I mumble seeing the 3D map of the planet surrounded by our older satellites.
The beautiful planet that's surprisingly similar to earth for how close it is. It's slightly larger size causes it to have more gravity but with an active magnetosphere it's one of the more viable options.
The planet has several major landmasses of various sizes. A few islands are littered around the continents with massive oceans and seas between them. The record can't tell me if there are any plants or animals recorded but that could mean being the first to record them.
I'm not much of a scientist, I barely passed high school science but I'm sure I know enough to get by. The analyzer will be able to give me any of that information and will tell me if it's dangerous.
While the oxygen level of the planet may be lower then the roughly 20% on earth, it's not dangerous. From my reseach on what humans need anything over 15% should be fine, at least in the short term. And as long as I have this ship I could always make use of the air purifier and gas generator.
It should be a good new start. Away from the chaos of the empire. It doesn't even look like there is any more advanced technology. None of the factions have a presence here in this sector of space.
I adjust my space suit a bit making sure it's all properly in place. There are a few tears but that is why the planet needs to have a viable atmosphere. The only suit I could grab was already torn. The others having geotags for if people get stuck somewhere needing rescue.
Pulling back the thrusters the energy light dims leaving a trail where I was as I enter the planet's outer atmosphere. Pretty pink clouds lit up in some kind of sunrise or sunset making me smile. The clouds reflected on the water gives them a pinkish glow.
It's pretty.
My back turns as I look at the parts printer. Its seen better days but it should be good enough to get me going. I'll be able to use some of the parts out of this ship for a start. It will hopefully be enough to get the essentials set up for my home.
"Princess A-amanda," I barely manage to make out through the static of the comm system.
Leave me alone!
"Amanda plea- co-e home," the voice continues as I recognize it as my mother.
How dare she try and ask me to come home. And after that failed attempt to appease the empire for father. I can't possibly face him or anyone in the royal house again.
I wipe my eyes as tears fall. It's what I was trained for my whole life, to one day take over for mother or father, and I just couldn't do it. A fight having broken out that ended in chaos.
No, it's better if I live the rest of my life in solitude. I'm sure Father will have banished me from his kingdom regardless of if I left. He's likely already put a bar on my genetic data from landing on any of his planets.
I shake my head and focus on the new world and new life ahead of me. There's no use crying over things of the past. It hurts, but I have to move forward now with this new home as best I can.
Maybe I could even make this into the start of my own little kingdom if I can get it built up and settlers to come here. Even find someone to marry and either carry a child or adopt.
But then I would have to set up trade routes, laws, taxes, and so many other things. There's also the downside of people finding out where I'm located and being out to seek me out, likely to harm me.
I would also have to register it under either the empire or republic. The empire hates me now, and the republic aren't exactly known for how they treat us humans. It's why we needed that protection treaty with the empire.
The ship rattles and shakes as we descend. It's always a terrifying moment whenever a ship lands without the support of a tractor beam leading the ship to a landing port.
Taking the pilot's seat, I buckle in and make sure the worn straps are as secure as possible. Usually, I could be up and walking about but an unassisted landing can be dangerous. There's always a risk of a crash.
Pulling the control stick up to turn the thrusters towards the ground. I slam on the thrusters to slow my landing. But looking to the fuel guage, my eyes widen at how quickly the bar is dropping.
“Shit! Shit, this is bad,” I curse, realising I messed up the calculation on how much fuel I was going to need.
This ship was never designed for long-distance travel. It's a small vessel that's more for traveling between stations in the same system, not planet hopping.
I shriek as I hear the sound of metal ripping and banging. A panel has come loose, and now the thrusters are splattering as they struggle to burn enough fuel to operate.
Then I'm glad I'm in my seat as the ship crashes into the ground, pulling me up into the air slightly then hard down into my seat. Not enough to hurt, but enough to knock the air out of me.
I'm dazed as I raise my head seeing the ship has gone dark. There's a red light blinking, and I see it's the button to open the visor. That's right I shut it before we landed.
Pressing it, the visor opens, and I see dust and dust falling around the ship. At least I didn't pass out so I could react in time.
