The Aurigan Republic

Chapter 13

The wind blew past the working men and women. The tarp only offered protection from the star above, but the wind moved freely. Having arrived on the planet a few months ago, these people grew accustomed to its elements. They could complain but their complaints could change nothing. They had fled their homes and ended up on this barren planet where millions of others also struggled to survive. Life was challenging on the planet of Bastea. The planet wasn't known for rich mineral deposits. Nor was its soil fertile and ideal for crops. Bastea was a mostly forgotten backwater planet where those with nowhere else to go ended at. For these people, they suspected that they would die on this planet.

Bastea wasn't always so barren. There were stories claiming that the planet was once a beautiful place that was considered a paradise by many. A nuclear war erupted and destroyed what made the planet special. Shortly after the destruction, the well-off left for better pastures while the poor stayed behind. Because the planet was massive, it eventually became the destination for refugees who had nowhere else to flee to. As the refugee population grew, the pitiful amounts of resources were further strained. The strain eventually led to Bastea being a cruel place where only the fittest could survive. Many new arrivals died within the first month of arrival. The group of men and women working hard were the exceptions. They survived the first month, but one might wonder if they were indeed fortunate to have defied the odds.

As the people worked at digging out ores, they were unaware of the transport ship flying overhead. The transport carried the leaders of the governing party to Bastea. The leaders came from various backgrounds but they shared the commonality of their involvement with the underworld. Each of them had contact with the black market and other criminal organizations who could provide any service for the right price. The planet of Bastea was actually ripe for the picking, given how desperate the people were. There seemed to be no end to the refugees who arrived there and each new refugee provides so many opportunities for criminals to take advantage of. The leaders were doing exactly that.

These men and women profited greatly as nothing was out of bounds. Human trafficking was the most common business taking place but there was also a market for organ harvesting and spectacles that rivaled the Gladiators of Ancient Rome. The best thing for the criminals was that they just needed to maintain the status quo and money would flow freely into their pockets. Life was good for those in power, while the suffering of others translated to a tidy profit. These leaders, aboard their transport ship, were gathering for a celebration. There were many prominent criminals who would be present and many saw this as a great opportunity to network and find new business partners. The news of profits on Bastea had reached other planets and everyone wanted a piece of the pie.

As the transport ship descended, an explosion rocked its landing. The leaders of Bastea scrambled inside the ship as they tried to make sense of what had happened. After a lot of shouting between the leaders and the crew members, they eventually learned that one of the fuel silos had blown up. The ship's captain commented that they were fortunate, as, if they had descended any further during the explosion, they wouldn't be complaining about a rocking ship. They would without a doubt be dead as the explosion radius would tear a section of the ship apart while the rest of the ship and its passengers would be cooked alive. The ship's crew were busy monitoring the damage on the ship while the ship hovered in the air.

While the transport ship circled over the landing strips, the ground crew was busy putting out the fire from the burning silo. The crew members understood how dangerous the situation was if the flames weren't contained. The nearby fuel silos threatened more explosions if the flames did reach them and there was enough fuel to level the airport and its surrounding area. While the idea of fleeing the airport crossed the minds of these men and women, they were also unsure if they could flee in time. Without anyone putting the flames out, the nearby silos would be up in flames sooner. Regardless, their survival depended heavily on how they dealt with the blaze before them.

The transport's captain debated with the leaders on how they would approach the situation. They could sign their death warrant if they chose to land with the blaze still burning. Yet, the leaders refused to leave and demanded that they be dropped in the open field near the airport. They didn't want to miss the celebration that promised so much riches. The captain reluctantly agreed to what he saw as the second most dangerous option and gave the orders to land in the nearby field. He personally took control of the transport, wanting to put the fate of his life in his own hands. After ten minutes, the transport landed safely on the field and the leaders got off the ship promptly.

The leaders then called their bodyguards to pick them up on the field. They had no desire to walk to where their vehicles were waiting. They wished to conserve their energy for the celebration where one must maneuver carefully to gain the most benefits while avoiding any pitfalls their competitors planned. As they waited, a sound caught their attention. As the leaders turned to investigate the sound, one of them was covered in bullet holes instantly. The rest followed suit before they could even try fleeing the scene. By the time the bodyguards arrived, they saw the corpses and left the scene. Their loyalty was to the credit paid by the leaders. Dead leaders meant they should be seeking new employment and it wasn't profitable to bury the bodies.

While the bodyguards left the scene, the transport captain spoke into his microphone with instructions to those loyal to the cause. He was among the group known in Bastea as the Liberation Army. To those in power, this group was very dangerous as it was filled with soldiers who didn't fear death. On a planet like Bastea where death was too commonplace, the inhabitants grew indifferent to the concept. These souls had wandered the planet seeking what little employment there was until they met with the Prophet. To many, the Prophet promised a bright future and they wished to fight for it. The transport captain was just one of the many followers of this Prophet and the number of followers continued to grow.

Prior to this day, there were small uprisings that the governing leaders weren't too worried about. It wasn't exactly news when a dissatisfied populace protested or fought back. These instances were brutally put down with the perpetrators being publicly executed. Once the leaders were killed off, the Bastea government would collapse upon itself. The power vacuum left by their deaths was exactly what the Prophet needed to liberate the planet from its oppressors. Ironically, the celebration the leaders wished to participate in was also a great opportunity for the Liberation Army. With many prominent criminal heads there, their ransoms could yield a healthy sum for a planet in the process of a rebirth. Credit made the universe run and nowhere was credit more numerous than in the underworld.