Malan leant back in the Captain’s chair that sat a few feet back from the control dais upon Tanwen’s bridge, watching the faint glimmer of his displays as The Sparrow broke through Mykeser’s atmosphere and sped away from its surface.

  His and Elena’s goodbye had been short and only a touch bittersweet, as Elena had promised she would join him again when she was able. Unfortunately, she was still under contract by the owners of the Miotov and would have to report back to them to explain what had happened and to, in her words, complete a ‘metric fuckton’ of paperwork. Added to that was Thaddeus’ desire to go home, and it had been an unavoidable separation.

  Malan’s understanding of the necessity, however, did nothing to stymy the pang of loss at his former Captain’s absence. She had done a lot for him, even before he had bonded with Tanwen, and he didn’t think he’d ever stop being grateful for her support since.

  All that said, he was alone now, and there was little choice but to press on. Namhai would not wait forever for him to begin his journey back to the Nexus. Tarai’s insistence to the Major that he could not be compelled had been mostly bluster—the UGC would never allow Starbound Pilots to operate outside of their control at the end of the day, they were just too much of an important asset to galactic security.

  Which meant his next stop was the Nexus Citadel, a place he’d always dreamed he’d go as a child. Being a proper Starbound Pilot was all he’d ever wanted, but now he was, tying himself to the UGC felt like finding himself tied to the ground the moment he’d learned to fly.

  He wanted to explore. To help. Find out, truly, what he was capable of. Not to tether himself to a military organisation that would likely assign him to routine patrols and problems to slowly build his experience, and to tie him more closely to them than he had any real obligation to be.

  The oaths Starbound Pilots swore were odd, in that they were not exactly to the UGC itself. Instead, they swore oaths to fight the darkness and protect our reality to the Celestial Nexus itself—the source of the strange energy that permeated everything around, and the place where jump drives travelled through when ships wanted to system jump.

  This had been legally interpreted as Starbound essentially being obligated to help humanity to varying degrees, and therefore the UGC itself as the organisation that oversaw the vast majority of humans. The UGC provided resources, expertise, financial support and where necessary, a level of military mobilisation to the Starbound. In return, the UGC could requisition a Starbound pilot for their services in situations where it could be perceived that humanity, or reality, required protection.

  This is where Beric’s issue with the Starbound on the Miotov had stemmed from. This system essentially on worked for the UGC’s benefit when Starbound were new, and vulnerable. Pilots like him absolutely needed the resources and support, and were therefore incentivised to follow any assignments given.

  However, there were some well-established pilots who were both strong and self-sufficient enough, that they only responded to summons or requests as often as it took to prevent the UGCs hand from being forced into trying to make them. Namhai was one such example. He was able to carefully choose where he fought and where he didn’t by not only being amongst the top tier of living Pilots, but also by being so damned hard to actually find.

  That was what he needed. Not necessarily the ability to disappear, but the strength to decide his own path. He was not a selfish person—he would help, when he could—but he’d also had enough of other people and events decide his destiny.

  Which brought him to the notifications now flickering across his screens.

  Alert:

  Skill Point(s) Available

  Class Choices Available.

  Assign now?

  His lips twitched at the corners, and the screens flickered again.

  Your deeds and actions have given you the opportunity to choose from [5] classes. These choices can be saved, as further actions or ability use may unlock further possibilities. However, by the same notion, your future actions may close off class choices to you permanently, so make your choice carefully. Every Pilot is given access to three basic classes when first reaching Lv.5, though your choices may have unlocked further options.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Please note: Your classes will evolve as you do, and every class has the potential to develop in ways that are powerful and unique to you.

  Please Note: Your class choice will affect not only your ships composition, but your existing stats, skills, specialisations and titles. Some may no longer be available to you, some may evolve into new variations and new paths entirely may open up.

  Malan read the alert twice just to ensure he had missed nothing important, before taking a calming breath and bringing up his potential choices.

  Operative

  You understand intuitively what old earth battle-philosophants have passed forward to us through the millennia: Warfare and deception are inseparable kin. When at your strongest, you allow your enemy to believe you weak; when enacting your plans, he sees you to be idle; and when you are close to his throat, he sees not the blade until it buried to the hilt.

  Adept

  The battlefield is chaos, and it is yours to control. You wield Celestial Energy to trap your enemies in a storm of your design. The battle ebbs and flows in response to your actions, and the enemy only moves at your mercy, lest they are caught in the fires of your making.

  Vanguard

  You are the hammer; your enemies, mere glowing iron. You thrive in the heat of battle, striking hard, and surviving damage that would rend others asunder. You are the shield wall, and the pike-square; the sword, and the mace. The line in the sand is yours to draw, and mercy to any that attempt to cross it.

  These three, he knew, were the class choices offered to every Starbound, and their basic function was public knowledge thanks to most of the active pilots currently being some variation of these. Namhai, he knew, was an incredibly high-level Operative variant. They were nothing to sneeze at, and the system’s descriptions of each made them all sound appealing.

  However, there were two other options, and knowing it was possible that they were unique only to him, he couldn’t help but brush the first three options of as of lesser value—at least for the moment.

  Sentinel

  The Celestial Warden is the natural guardian of humanity’s home amongst the stars, however, on occasion they are forced to go on the offence. The Sentinel is the manifestation of this, taking a Celestial Warden’s abilities and moulding their wielder into a true generalist. Sentinels sow havoc and discord wherever they appear, disrupting their enemies and bolstering their allies alike. You have been granted access to this class thanks to your performance with the Celestial Warden specialisation, and your status as Voidborn.

  Breaker

  Alone. Ammunition spent. Surrounded. These are the times the Breaker truly shines. Your greatest weapon is your mind. More than most other classes, your choices define your potential. A Breaker is capable of as much destruction as any other, but the real question they must ask is: What can they create from what remains? You have been granted access to this class thanks to your performance with the Celestial Warden specialisation, your status as Voidborn and your actions until this point.

  Malan leaned back in his chair and whistled. He was pretty confident that he was going to pick one of the latter two classes, but ruling any out was one hell of a task. Adept Starbound were probably the flashiest of any. They wielded enormous firepower, and many could do strange things with Celestial Energy. If Malan wasn’t mistaken, Queco and Tiamat, who he’d watched on the screens in the mess hall of the Miotov, were Void Knights, rumoured to be an evolution of the Adept class.

  On the other hand, the Aeolus, who had also fought in that newscast battle, had been an Astroblade Vanguard, what was reported to be an incredibly rare evolution of the Vanguard class. Aeolus specialised in close quarters combat. High shields, ramming runs supported by Celestial Energy coating, and burst fire weapons designed to immediately shred shields.

  Between them, and Namhai, each held out an incredibly appealing example of what just the basic classes were capable of. Which, ironically, was what was steering him towards a different path. If the classes all Starbound had access to were capable of that much, what might more rare variants be able to do?

  He hesitated for a moment, giving his partner an opportunity to weigh in, but the voice of his ship was pointedly silent, though he could feel the keen sense of anticipation thrumming through his mind.

  The decision, it seemed, was his.

  It was a gamble. There was no guarantee, of course, that these unique classes would be the best choice for him. For all the fame and notoriety of the various Starbound that had climbed to meteoric heights, equally famous were the washouts. The Pilots whose class choices and evolutions that had been counterproductive in some way. The information was limited on these cases, but enough new Starbound had simply faded into mediocrity, or disappeared altogether, for their class choices not to be a contributing factor.

  That, in the end, was what sealed his decision for him. There was no way for him to know exactly how his choice would affect him. Would his skills change for the better? Would the changes to Tanwen synergise well with him? A few cryptic sentences of description for each was not nearly enough information. All he wanted really was the chance to define his own path, decide his own fate through his actions—

  He blinked, and then smiled faintly.

  Class Choice Confirmed.

  Prepare for Evolution.