The Price We Pay
By Chajo
Have you ever thought about the Price you pay when something happens?
I mean really thing about it. Not in the Short Term goal, but in the Long
term. The really long term, as in the rest of your life.
No? Yes? Sometimes maybe?
If you answered 'No', then you are either young and foolish, or
stupid. Or possibly both. If you answered 'Yes', then you are either old
and smarter, or wise, if not both. But I have a feeling you answered 'Sometimes'.
Then you are just the average person going about their lives.
As I sit here and watch the events unfolding around me I wonder
if those people involved have thought about the Price they are paying now.
Maybe I'll get a chance to sit down and ask them about it later.
And when I say 'them' I mean all of the them. The good guys and
bad, and those caught in the middle of it all.
What about Me you ask? Well, In the beginning I wasn't thinking
at all beyond the 'Glory and Fame'. I was pretty stupid back then. And I
paid the price for it. Now I look at what I do and think on the price I will
pay for each move I make. For the Long term that is.
Who am I? Well… that's a long story. But I'll give you the basics.
Here it goes.
At 17 I lied about my age and signed up for the Military. I got
away with it too. I went through training and made it to Fighter Pilot status.
I was pretty young too. I had just turned 20.
It seemed that out on one of the Frontiers there was trouble brewing
with a group of pirates calling themselves the "Demon Clan". And let me tell
you, they were pretty nasty. I know from first hand knowledge. But more of
that later.
Anyways the Group I was with got sent out to help the locals deal
with them. We went in Cold Sleep. Weird thing that was. One moment your in
once place then you wake up and your somewhere else, several hundred Light-years
away. No dreams, no nothing. It took us a couple of days to set up base and
all that other stuff.
It seems that in that time the Pirates had taken over the planet
and was in control of the area. We were the Calvary. Remember in all the
old movie flicks the good guys rushing in and saving the day? Well it's not
true. We fought for months and never made a dent it seemed.
Again let me remind you that I was looking at the short term goal
of “Fame and Glory".
I climbed ranks pretty fast due to the fact that a lot of my wing-mates
were taken out of action in one way or another. Pretty soon a new batch of
rookies came in to replace them. I lost a lot of good friends in those months.
Then Fate decided I had been the top of the heap long enough and
Lady Luck turned fickle.
Here I was in the middle of a serious, and quite deadly, dog fight
when I got hit. Serious damage and I was behind Enemy lines. No chance of
Rescue. None what so ever. My world came crashing down on me. Or rather I
came crashing down on the World below me.
I managed to crash land my ship in a way that it allowed me to
limp away. As I did I saw the Demon Clan Fighter scream across the skies
above me. Seems I was a very popular person. Had a pretty high price on my
head since I had take out so many of their top notch fighters. Again, More
on that later.
Now, Fast forward to nearly a year later. The Demon Clan had been
beaten. Finally. And I had Survived. If you call it that.
Again Skipping though all the stuff. I was discharged with full
benefits and pensions. Plus I got nice little share of the Money that came
from the profits of selling off Demon Clan fighters to the locals, a share
of the unclaimed loot, and all my back pay that included my raise in ranks
if I had still been up there.
And now here I am, a Retired fighter Pilot that's partly metal,
partly real. Before you ask, I chose to have it done since I can't stand
being dirt-side anymore, among other reasons. Space has always been my home.
That's my story in short.
What am I doing here in this place now? You mean besides enjoying
a cup of coffee? I'm now a private Courier and I decided that I want to work
here in this place. Yeah, yeah, I know it's not exactly the best place to
work and live. But it's my choice.
Oh, I forgot. What's your name? Harry? Nice to meet you Harry.
Call me Phantom. Well Gotta go. I'm sure you'll be seeing me around more.
Bye.
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