Don't Think Twice

Journal Entry 1: It's been about three days since my father had passed away, I figured I should just start making records on how my life goes from here on out. He left me with certain notes and a folder, but he gave it to me in a riddle form so I honestly don't know where it's all at. The only note he left me said "To find your answers, one must look into the heart." So, I think it'll take a while before I find this answer. Entry End.

[A week later]

The night was late, slowly changing to morning. The sun hasn't shown in a few days which signaled the start of the fifth moon phase, bringing on Winter weather, cold and damp. K was sitting at a table in the bar, drinking a beer. The bar was called "The Lonely Ranger" for some reason, the owner had named it that based off of his experience of a man he had met there years ago. K took a sip of his beer as he closed his eyes, the chime of a bell alerted his attention, the automatic door slid open as a hooded figure walked in. They had a small frame and mysterious aura that seemed to make the men gaze, the figure took off their hood, revealing long dirty blonde hair. They talked to the bartender and a few seconds later, a shot was poured, K had stood up to walk over next to this blonde-haired figure and saw that it was H. "Didn't think to see you here." She spoke softly to K, "Yeah well, people need a break every so often." K had replied back to her. "What are you doing here?" He asked suddenly.

She brushed her hair back out of her face. "I'm a regular." She muttered. K nodded, "I never took you as much of a drinker." He patted her shoulder, "I'll get you another shot and take one with you." H looked over with a smirk. K ordered another round as they counted to three, then slammed their shot down, leaving K shuttering from the bitter taste. H chuckled, "Not used to hard liquor?" K had shook his head, "It's not something I usually drink." H then spun around on the stool so she faced the doors, "Hey, you remember when we were little, we always talked about leaving our district to travel the system?" She slowly stood up, "Because I had met someone that I think can provide us with a ship, for a price," K's interest had peaked as he tuned in, "I'm listening." H turned to face him, "The guy wanted us to carry some precious cargo onto a ship, he didn't tell me what was inside, but he said don't think twice and he'll talk to a dealer to get a good discount for us."

"It sounds risky and dangerous, who knows what would happen to us if we get caught?" H had a smirk on her face, "That is, if we get caught." She took out an ID card and tossed it to him, "I already have your ID set to look like a certified worker on the docks. You'll be driving us in." K had rolled his eyes, "Just my luck, another late night job with H." She punched his arm, making him give an audible 'ow' "Please, it'll just be like how it used to, pulling off small jobs here and there, making side cash, only this time, we could get a ship to ourselves." K nodded as they both stepped out, the rain seemed to calm down to just a shower, K had pulled up his collar while H put on her hood, walking to where they'd meet the man for the job.

Heading into an alley, barely lit, a man raised his voice. "You two here for that job? I was told nobody else would come here unless they were looking for work." H took a step towards him, "Yes, you aren't the same guy I spoke to though. So who are you?" The man cleared his throat, "I'm just someone he works for, an assistant if you will, I'm here to supply you two with a vehicle loaded with the cargo to take onto the docks. The keys are right here." He pulled them out of his pocket and waved it around before tossing it to H, grabbing it then sliding it into her pocket. "Thanks, and where might we find this vehicle?" She added. "Oh it's in the back, I'll open up the garage for you two." With that, they turned the corner, walking to a single garage door, the light turned on as the door slid open. "And there she is, be sure to return her in working condition." Then the man had disappeared without another word, leaving K and H alone.

The driver door opened with a clunk of a soda cans falling to the floor, "Gross, it seems this man had no sense of hygiene." K muttered as he climbed in. H went to the back to look at the cargo, the door slid open as wooden crates about knee high were loaded. "Well, we better get this stuff to the docks." She closed the door, then stepped into the passenger seat. She pushed a button which made the navigation panel come out, inputting the coordinates for the specific dock loading zone. "Mkay, got the location, let's get going K." He nods as the van begins to slowly pull out of the garage, then they make their way to the dock. The rain picks up again as a storm finds its way to the district.

The sky was pitch black, rain pouring from the ominous dark clouds. A flash, lights up the night sky as lightning shoots across the ocean of darkness, ripping the sky in half as a thunderous roar is heard after, shaking windows and setting off car alarms. The wipers work furiously to keep the rain out of the way, allowing K to drive safer. There were no cars on the road as the docks slowly came into view, a few lights were on and some freight ships were being loaded. K drove up to the entrance, a single guard booth stopped them as he opened his window. "You got any ID?" The man hollered through the rain. K had flashed the fake ID that was given to him, the guard observed it for a moment then asked, "What are you even doing here at this time of night, let alone in this storm?" K tried to imitate a professional tone, "We're here to do some loading, we got crates in the back and we need them on a ship. Precious cargo." The guard nodded as the gate opened slowly, "You be careful out there, it's dangerous to be outside right now." And with that, K gestured a tip of the hat as he drove through the entrance. 

H looked at the coordinates and saw the dock, "Alright, we are supposed to be in loading zone 24-D." She had pointed to the map of the docks, showing him the zone was in the far corner of the docks. K nodded as he drove there slowly, "Does it seem weird that they had a guard there? I mean, before it was just like a toll booth we had to pay. Why do they need a guard?" H shrugged, "Maybe they figured they shouldn't be taking money." After a few minutes more of driving, they reached the loading zone, K had stepped out and looked around. "Where is this ship supposed to be at? I thought it would be here?" He yelled a bit due to the storm. H came around the front of the van yelling back, "I don't know! He said he was going to be here! This is bullshit!" She shook her head as she went to the back of the vehicle, sliding open the door, noticing that the crates were glowing. "What the hell? They weren't doing that before. K come look at this." He then appeared from the side, eyeballing the luminous crates. "Huh, well that certainly is strange, what do ya suppose is in them?" He nudged her arm with an elbow. "Well.. only one way to find out." She muttered. She reached in to pull out a crate, but a red light caught her attention in her peripheral vision.

A beam of heat goes flying past her head, burning away some of her bangs as her eyes widened in fear, "WATCH OUT!" She screamed to K as she pushed him to the ground. In that instant, other shipping container doors flew open as men ran out shooting. "Mercenaries!" H had shouted as they ducked for cover, running to a nearby building. The loading van had turned into a fiery inferno as the cargo was shot multiple times, burning the inside before the tank was hit, blasting the van up into the air as it exploded, sending a concussive blast outward. H laid on the ground for a bit, while K couldn't take his eyes off the shadows dancing around the raging fire that was once their cargo van. "We need to run. We need to make it to the water, it will buy us some time." H whispered, her eyes pleading him to listen. He nodded grimly, a look of determination in his eyes. And with that they took off, sprinting down the side of the building as fast as their legs would take them. Wind screaming past their ears, rain soaking their backs. The mercenaries scanned the area, unable to find them until lightning struck, sending a flash that gave away their position. "Shit, we have to jump into the water! The docks will provide us with cover." H yelled as they ran towards the ocean. K was up ahead from H, jumping into the water safely, swimming away from the beams of heat being shot, while H was blindsided by one of them, his arms wrapped around her, both of them falling to the ground. He pinned her down and raised the gun to her head. "You ain't getting out of this one girly." His voice was deep, overpowering H with fear as she said her prayers. She closed her eyes and wished for K to be safe, shutting them tight, the sound of a shot was heard and the pressure on her body was released. She opened her eyes as a ship, with a bright blue emblem on the side, clearly marking which side they were on, The Monsur Rebels. On a loud speaker, a commanding, female voice was heard, "This is Captain Iris of the TRS-K1, stand down now or face obliteration." H had ran, a gun pointed at her but was told to not fire from Iris. The mercenaries began shooting at the ship, using their heavy weapons, which damaged the engine on one side, forcing them to land. Iris commanded them to put shields up and get the crew to arms. Which meant A, the lead fighter gathered his crew and stepped out of the ship, fighting the mercs, pushing them back to a retreat as they were out-manned and outgunned. Captain Iris stepped out from her ship, walking over to a dead merc, lifting up his coat to see a dark red emblem of the Furlong Empire. "I knew it." She muttered as she dropped the man, heading over to the edge of the dock. "You two can come out now, it's safe here but we shouldn't stay long." K peeked out from the ledge, using an anti-gravity device he had owned, then A came over to pull them out. "You're lucky we arrived when we did, we were just looking for a place to rest but then Iris noticed the gunfire." A mentioned to them, K felt relieved that they were saved. H looked at Iris, "A captain, huh? What brings you all the way here?" 

Iris shook her head, "That information is confidential. Where did you two come from anyway, and why are you here?" K spoke, "We are from Sask-12th District." Iris' eyes lit up, "Oh colonists? I've been wanting to meet some, we need more of you people on our station." H butted in, "I'm sorry, but we have lives here and people that will worry about us, plus we have jobs." Iris peered at H, "You can tell them you are searching for a better job, far away, but you cant say where. We'll pay double whatever you're getting now." K agreed to these terms, while H just sighed, "Well, if he's going, then I am, cause I need to watch his sorry ass sometimes before he kills himself." She nudged his arm playfully. The rain had calmed down, extinguishing the fire as the bodies were cleared from the scene, they walked over to the ship as the doors slowly opened with a hiss and a wall of steam. Iris walked ahead as they followed, "Welcome to the TRS-K1, we'll give you the full tour and show you the living quarters. My assistant C will be accompanying you while giving the tour. If you need anything, feel free to ask." The doors had closed behind them as C turned the corner, "Welcome, I'll be giving you a tour before we embark on our next quest. We hope you enjoy your stay." And with that being said, K and H had boarded the TRS-K1 as they were given a tour, anxious on their next big step in life. They had to endure some training and other physical tests as well to see if they were ready for space, E was in charge of monitoring their statistics and vitals. After a few hours, they were given a break.

K and H had rested before E came back, looking at the two. "You both rest well? If not, too bad. We are going to the final simulation test. This one will challenge every fiber of your poor useless beings, the flight simulator will put you up against common enemies to fight against, you must navigate around the simulation, taking as minimal damage as well as eliminating all targets. Understood?" They nodded as the elevator doors opened up to area 9, the Hangar where the fighter ships were located, some being cleaned, fixed or tested. E motioned them to a dark room, "Sit in the seats, both of you will run the simulation at different times but will be able to observe what the other sees when one is taking the test." They obeyed, K's hands were shaking with anxiety, he was up first and the simulation was set to beginner which everyone was able to complete, except for K, he had trouble keeping level and often spun out of control, getting shot till the simulator ship blew up on the screen. E punched his arm, "You arent even trying, stop being a pussy and fight back!" Clearly angry with his results of failing, while H completed the simulation with ease, then moving to the normal difficulty which she struggled, to complete, ultimately failing but looking better than K since she had got through 75 percent of the simulation. E looked at them both, "You two are going to train here for the next few days before the Captain figures out where to place you, I wont have new recruits failing a simple simulation when one day we will need you out there in the real war. I dont plan on losing crew members." She gave them both a water, "Go rest in your rooms, training is finished for today."

On their ID cards, the room number was stamped in a gold finish which shone in the light, their rooms across the hall, before opening the door, H spoke up. "Hey K, do you think we will like it here, or would you want to go back?" K sighed, "Well, its something new, we are getting paid good, might as well stick to it, right? Enjoy what we have already done now. Don't think twice, you know?" H nodded as her door opened, "I agree with you there." A short pause was held as they stood in their doorways, looking at each other. "Well anyway, hope you sleep good H, see you in the morning." H nodded, "Mm. Yeah you too K, rest well." They both entered their rooms, doors sliding shut and then being locked, jumping on the bed, H slid out of her clothes, then getting comfortable, shortly after passing out. K sat in front of the desk he had in the room, deciding to write a short letter "Dear Family, I miss you all right now, I wish I could come back to my simple job but I would like a challenge and so far this has proven to be fulfilling that wish, just I dont know to what end. Anyway, tell everyone I said hi and that I love them. -K." He folded the paper, setting it aside as he climbed into bed, falling asleep after a few moments.