A Prologue Part Three ~ The Rise(sample)

Chapter Twelve ~ Goodbye, Marshal - Hello, Pirates:

At the rate Reine was spending, she would have less than a million five-hundred thousand credits soon, which led her to consider, 'I will be hard pressed, if I'm going to purchase a recovery vessel.' She headed back up the elevator and out of the resort. When she arrived at the barn and went inside, she was surprised at her surroundings.

Inside the barn looked larger than it did on the outside. This immediately left her flabbergasted. She made her way up to the counter and handed her receipt to the attendant, who pressed a few buttons at his console.

Within moments, a very sleek, red hoverbike rose from a trap door behind her on a platform. The bike was standing low off the ground on eight short legs folded out from the bottom, it had a slim bullet like body. On the back was a small jet engine surrounded by the sleek body, and in front was the seat; which sat on the floor of the craft. 

The holographic console projected out of the dash, while there was room for the rider's legs beneath inside the long cone nose of the craft. Reine stowed her backpack in a compartment near the engine, before she sat down in the cockpit of the craft and fashioned the harness around her. The barn doors opened up in front of her, and she looked over the controls. 

It was much like a fighter's with a few differences. There were fewer gauges and control options, but mostly the controls were two pedals and a bar that came down from the console towards her torso. She quickly started the engine, causing the bike to begin to hum and hover; meanwhile she heard a sound she assumed were the legs retracting below. 

Having never ridden on a hoverbike before, she tested the controls - she started with the two handlebars on either side of the dash. She found out that pressing the bar on the side that you wished to turn tilted the bike side-to-side. She tested the two pedals,  while the first activated thrusters in the front sending the craft backwards; however, the second sent her bike rushing forward, causing the jet turbine behind her to sing. 

Her face lit up in a bright smile, as she sped out of the barn into the dusk. She turned the bike quickly to start away from the resort and followed the guidance from the holo-console. Her destination had been programmed in with her rental order, since she knew where she wanted to go. 

She started to press on the gas and noticed a holo-key appeared flashing by the handlebars. It was labeled 'shift now' and flashing, so she pressed the button. The hover-bike jerked and started going much faster, as she approached the sand dunes and her hair whipped wildly in the wind.

“Play music, something fast paced.”

She did not slow down, as some aggressive rock music started to play from the loud speakers behind her seat. She guided the bike along the ridges of the sand dunes and continued to gain speed rapidly, until the button appeared again. The scenery was a blur around her, but she pressed the button anyway; she let out an excited whoop with a grin, as the ridge she was riding disappeared - the bike shot off the top to another dune.

The bike launched off the next dune and soared over the ocean of sand. She giggled at the weightless sensation, as the hover-bike reached the apex of its jump. The sky was beautiful - painted yellow, orange, and pink as-far-as she could see. She took a moment to admire it, before the bike started to rocket back down towards the ground.

Her eyes widened right before her bike hit the ground, but she sighed with relief, as the craft corrected itself and floated on like a speeding bullet over the dunes. Time passed quickly like that with a cloud of sand and dust trailing behind her, before she knew it the suns had set and the sky was now painted with an aurora. Of the three moons the closest was full and lit her surroundings dimly.

She saw something big jump from the sand in front of her and flop back into the sand with little grace some distance away. Her eyes widened, while the beast must have been ten times the size of her hover-bike. She veered away, as a pod of the beasts moved through the sand beside her bike.