The sandstorm cut through the atmosphere like a knife, shrouding everything in a suffocating orange mist. Cassia Kor’vhael stood at the edge of the settlement, her black cloak snapping in the howling wind. She wore a scarlet sash pulled tight around her waist like a splash of blood against the pitch-black armor beneath. Her blonde hair, bound in a severe braid, whipped at her face. Between her thumb and forefinger, the cross-shaped pendant she always wore — a relic from a past she barely remembered — dangled, spinning wildly in the wind. Her piercing blue eyes scanned the desolate horizon as her breathing regulated with the softer hum of the oxygen filter embedded in her collar. Somewhere out there, amidst the forgotten dunes and shifting ruins, it was waiting — the signal of the Red Comet.
Behind her, the settlement sprawled like a haphazard insect hive dug into the sands. The architecture was brutal, carved from minerals extracted from the red soil, but the shadows under the dome throbbed with life. Vendors hollered out prices for reconstituted water, traders bartered for salvaged tech, and a group of children darted past, their laughter swept away by the wind. Cassia barely noticed. Her fingers brushed the plasma rifle slung over her back, its weight as familiar as an old scar. There was no room for distractions now.
“You’re insane for this,” Jorath muttered, his copper-red prosthetic clinking as he set a monitor down on the cantina’s scratched table. The reek of metallic sweat and burnt fuel hung thick in the air. “This entire quadrant knows what’s out there. And the Obsidian Cartel’s goons aren’t exactly subtle. That cross of yours, it’s a damned beacon! They know who you are.” His voice rasped, a reminder of the cybernetic implants running from his jaw to the back of his neck.
Cassia didn’t flinch. Instead, she took a slow sip of the bitter black liquid they called “coffee” here. “They don’t know what I can do,” she said simply, voice low like the still before a storm. She touched the pendant around her neck. “They’ll be the ones running before the night grows cold.”
Jorath snorted. “Charming. But they’ve got half the galaxy’s tech on their side. And you’ve got… what? A rifle older than my legs? No backup, no allies, nothing.” He leaned closer, prosthetic fingers tapping the table. “Cassia, you’re good, but this mission? This fetch-quest? It’s suicide.”
She stood, her armored boots making a heavy clink against the floor. The black fabric of her cloak rippled as she moved, the crimson sash catching the dim lighting. “Then it’s a good thing I’ve got nothing to lose.” Without another word, she left the cantina, her cross pendant glinting under the light like a promise.
Now, the storm howled louder, a feral thing unleashed. Cassia crouched low beside the ridge, scanning the horizon through her thermal visor. The signal from the Red Comet — an old exploration ship carrying valuable precursor relics — pulsed faintly in the distance. But so did something else, a ripple of heat signatures closing in fast.
“Cartel,” she muttered, her grip tightening on her rifle.
As if summoned by the sound of her voice, the first of the cartel’s hoverbikes burst through the storm, their crimson lights creating eerie halos in the red sands. The riders were clad in biomechanical armor, wicked and angular, their faces hidden behind opaque visors. One of them raised a modified pulse cannon and fired. Cassia dove for cover as the blast ripped through the rock she’d been crouched behind, spraying molten shards into the air.
“Game on,” she hissed.
Cassia retaliated, her plasma rifle lighting up the storm-choked dusk with every lethal shot. The first rider fell before he even knew what hit him, his hoverbike spiraling into the sand, a plume of burnt smoke marking its grave. Another flanked her, firing short bursts that forced her to duck and roll as she sprinted for better cover. The crimson sash at her waist trailed behind her, a blur in the chaos.
“Come on, then!” she shouted, adrenaline sharpening her voice. Her braid whipped into her eyes, but she didn’t care. She leapt, vaulting over the next ridge with feline grace, landing in a crouch on the other side. Her muscles burned, but she was alive.
The last rider approached, and for one electrifying moment, Cassia saw her reflection in his visor. He had her in his sights — no time to dodge, no time to breathe.
But Cassia had one last card to play. She yanked the cross pendant from her neck and hurled it into the air. A microcharge, embedded in its center — a trick she’d designed long ago. The explosion swallowed the rider in a fiery burst, his scream silent beneath the deafening storm.
Cassia collapsed to one knee, her breath ragged as the heat of the blast washed over her. When she rose again, the storm was beginning to clear. The wreckage of the cartel’s forces littered the sands, glowing faintly in the twilight.
And there, in the distance, was it — the Red Comet’s beacon, waiting like a promise she’d chased for years.
The settlement loomed behind her, its lights faint now, like ghosts in the past. Cassia turned away from it and took her first step toward the horizon. The weight of the cross that no longer hung on her neck felt lighter — and yet, the journey ahead had never seemed heavier.
She smiled, faintly, to herself. There was purpose in her steps now, a rhythm that matched the pulse of her blood.
The dunes welcomed her like an old friend.
The story of the Red Comet had just begun.
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action-Adventure
The Source…check out the great article that inspired this amazing short story: Black Bikini with Red Bow and Cross Pendant: Modern Retro Swimwear Style Perfect for Bold Blonde Cosplay
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