Kieran Ravy was making plans of his own, too. In no uncertain terms, his homeworld, Celyra Prime, had sent him a message asking him to come home and compete in the Sylis Cup on behalf of the family. He hesitated; he had been preparing a private visit to one of his favorite worlds, Torin 5, to train and just take in the unusual landscape. The terrain of Torin 5 was hilly, frequently foggy, and abundantly covered in mossy pebbles. The planet also had many of big inland lakes and rivers, ideal for Kieran's chosen solitary pastime. Kieran's personal intentions would have to wait until after the tournament, but Torin 5 was only fifteen light-years away from Old Earth, around a week's journey for the Kyara.
A traditional name in House Ravy, Kyara meant roughly 'Fire,' and the ship certainly lived up to the name. Despite having a subpar FTL drive, the Kyara was incredibly agile and quick at sub-light speeds. With two separate hulls joined by a central bridge structure that spanned around one-third of its length, the vessel's design resembled an oval divided lengthwise. As its name suggests, it was painted a deep scarlet. Kieran examined the anticipated journey time and entered the course coordinates into the ship's navigation computer. Five minutes, twelve days, and sixteen hours. Excellent. He had plenty of time to get his armor and weapons ready.
It was more difficult for Yan and Nayla Zantara to make travel plans. Their sole spacecraft were tiny atmospheric runabouts that weren't fit for interstellar travel. They were completely incapable of FTL. The siblings had to decide whether to charter passage on a freighter, which would probably compromise comfort and quality, or rent a suitable ship, which was costly. Later that day, they reconvened in their quarters after separating to consider their options. Since neither had discovered anything encouraging, they looked at other options. Yan came up with the first concept.
"Aren't half the fighters in this quadrant heading to the Sylis Cup?" inquired he.
"Looks likely. "What are you thinking?"
"Were we unable to simply hitch a ride? We can provide payment, and someone will undoubtedly have additional space."
With a contemplative wag of her tail, Nayla shrugged. "Contacting ships moving at FTL speeds is difficult, but it might work. Normal communications won't get to them.
"But they'll have to drop out of hyperspace occasionally to refuel or resupply, right?"
"Well, I guess. But in terms of timing, we would have to be lucky. We would need to keep an eye on spaceport traffic in the area, look for someone passing through, and make inquiries."
"Still, it would be cheaper than renting, possibly more comfortable than a charter, and we might even make useful contacts."
There was a momentary silence while they considered the possibility. At last, "Should we try it?" Nayla inquired.
"Worth a shot," declared Yan. "Got any better ideas?"
"Nope."
"All right. We'll begin keeping an eye on the docks tomorrow. With a grunt, Nayla wrinkled her nose and stretched tiredly. "Right now, I'm about ready to collapse."
Kieran Ravy was awake, but not because he didn't want to be. To simulate day and night, the Kyara's internal timepiece cycled the lights on a conventional twenty-four-hour schedule; at the moment, the 'day' cycle was in motion. He was playing old Terran chess against the primary computer while seated on the ship's bridge. He had turned up the ante and was, as was to be expected, losing badly in every game. Even while losing, Kieran's concentrated focus was a nice diversion from the long hyperspace ride, so he didn't expect to win. When he finally got tired of the game, he shut down the application and checked the several instruments and readouts that were spread out throughout the command interface. With the exception of one crucial system—the primary power cells were shockingly low—everything seemed normal.
That was an issue. He would have to return to port to refuel these specific power cells if he wanted to make sure everything kept functioning properly because they could not be replenished from the ship's fusion core while in hyperspace. The nautical charts were consulted by him. The planet Ry'tar, which is home to the Verna Arena, was the closest appropriate port. His current trajectory is less than a light-year away. He made the necessary course corrections and noted the updated arrival time, which was late on the next regular day. After finishing the task, he made his way to his private quarters, which were situated close to the other cabins in the forward area of the portside hull. The Kyara had a total of five staterooms and could hold up to ten passengers, though things got crowded when there were more than five.
Kieran's armory was his cabin. An entire bulkhead wall was devoted to a strongly reinforced locker system that held his weapons and specialized armor. The combination of his chosen weaponry was a little out of the ordinary. He preferred a large-framed, forty-inch, single-edged sword that was sharpened to a razor edge. A heavy-gauge battle shotgun, a robust combat knife, and a 45 caliber pistol—one of the heaviest calibers that may be used in a handgun. Due to the shotgun's near obsolescence in contemporary gladiatorial combat, its users were comparatively few. Its wide shot pattern pleased Kieran. An opponent might be knocked off balance by its kinetic impact, and the dispersion of pellets made it more likely to locate seams or other weak spots in the enemy's armor. Even with its magazine feed, the weapon had a poor rate of fire and a long reload time, and the pellets lacked the penetration strength to directly penetrate most contemporary armor plating.
He was especially proud of his armor, which was specially made to reduce weak spots. During combat, defensive weapon postures could usually cover the few remaining vulnerabilities. The suit has a flat gray finish since it was made of an unpainted magnesium alloy composite. Striking blades were quickly blunted by the material's ablative properties and unusual rigidity. Its susceptibility to kinetic impacts was its main flaw; when hit by high-velocity projectiles, the alloy tended to spall or tear away.
Kieran had had to make the plating more thicker and bulkier than normal combat armor to make up for it. Early on, he had recognized this need and concentrated the redesign efforts on weight distribution and joint articulation to make sure the extra bulk wouldn't significantly reduce his mobility. Heat accumulation inside the enclosed suit was the biggest lingering problem. Kieran's advanced climate-control undersuit helped to lessen this to some extent. This increased weight and bulk even more, but Kieran had always prioritized defense over mass reduction. The exact alloy composition was still held in a high-security vault at the Ravy family fortress, and Kieran kept the intricate schematics safely encrypted despite numerous attempts to copy his design. He thought it was very safe.
After taking the shotgun off the rack, he made sure the mechanism was operating smoothly by cycling the action. Then he took out five empty magazines and a case of shells. When loaded, these would slide into carriers that were recessed into the right thigh plate of the armor. Although he always maintained the shotgun itself filled, Kieran, who was always aware of how much ammunition he used during combat, had a tendency to carry more extra magazines than were technically required. Along with that, he loaded three extra magazines for his pistol, which fit perfectly on his belt next to the holster on his left hip. His fighting dagger was safely stored against his chest harness, while his sword hung ready in its scabbard, slung across his back by a strong synth-Kevlar strap. Finally, he settled down for the Kyara's assigned 'night' cycle, now that his equipment was prepared and ready.
"Hi Yan! Come on over here!" Gazing at the public landing roster on a nearby terminal at the Ry'tar spaceport, Nayla yelled.
"What's up, sis?" Yan walked over. "Find something?"
"You're right. Ship is due in precisely three hours. It appears to be a private cruiser—possibly a converted freighter? It is undoubtedly large enough for us and our equipment. Can you guess where it is going? Nayla smiled. "Celyra Prime."
"Nice discovery! Alright, it will take three hours to dock. According to typical procedures, they leave hyperspace approximately an hour out, so we should attempt to hail them in about two hours.
"All right. One issue might be resolved. The second issue is now.
Yan questioned, "Which is?"
"I'm starving," Nayla said, grinning.
Yan laughed. "Well, there is a simple solution to that issue. A good seafood restaurant is located a few blocks away. Although she tended to favor raw recipes, Nayla loved shellfish.
"Thank you, sir. After completing the sale, Nora said, "We'll return the vessel within the month." She was standing at a spacecraft rental agency counter. She had recently landed a short-term lease on a small "Ripple Runner" class ship built by House Etryn, House Ravy's corporate rivals. The ship was small, built for a two-person crew, and had a short hyperspace range that required recharging after a single, substantial leap. It had no weapons on board and, like the majority of modern ships of its size, it used an antimatter driving system. That would be plenty for Luna and Nora's trip to Celyra Prime and back.
They had four hours to get ready as their departure was planned for 1600 local time. They meticulously crated their armor and weapons for storage in the ship's tiny cargo bay and packed their personal items into duffel bags. The two of them bought some edible non-perishable food supplies for the trip after grabbing a late lunch, knowing full well that the onboard nutrient synthesizer of the rental spacecraft would probably only make the most tasteless protein wafers and ration bars. The terrible quality of manufactured food aboard most spaceships appeared to be the one thing that was the same throughout the galaxy.