Nikolai Sidorov

[jnsereno]

My name is Alan Brenton. Not that it maters, because this isn't my story.. or rather, it also is, in a way, but I'm here to talk about my friend, Nikolai Sidorov.


Nikolai's family descends from a poor family of miners. He never went to school due to the lack of money in his family. Instead, he spent his childhood dreaming of great space adventures in his own ship. He always dreamed of flying a spaceship, fighting bad guys in space and protecting the poor. Just like a normal kid, i guess. At the age of 12, his father asked him if he would like to work with him in a mining ship. Even before his father finished the sentence, Nikolai said "YES! Absolutely!". After all, this was his chance of living his dream. A long way from flying his own combat ship, but it was a start.

That was were I met him, aboard the "Spaniard" mining vessel. I was 13 at the time, and both of us were assigned as the cook helpers, cleaning the kitchen and fetching ingredients from the hold. On our way to the diamond fields in Omega-11 we talked non-stop, and then I realized that I had met a friend for life. We worked on several mining spots over the years, jumping from site to site every few months. After 10 years (we were already cooking the food and had our own helpers), on our way to the field, out ship started shaking violently like we were in the middle of an earthquake. Nikolai's father came rushing into our quarters and said: "Quick Nikolai, Alan, grab your things and hurry to the escape pods". "Whats going on, father", said Nikolai. "We are under attack by - something". Nikolai looked through our quarters window and saw some kind of blue liquid flying in space. He then realized that the stories his mother told him (before she died with cancer)when he was a kid, about alien beings called "Nomads", were in fact true.

We both packed our things in a few seconds, and ran to the escape pods. Half way to the pods, a huge explosion shocked the ship violently. All kind of debris flew through the air. When we got to the pods, most pods were already been launched into space. We quickly got inside one and ejected.

- Nikolai, I want you to take this.
- What is it, father?
- It belonged to the captain. He wont need it anymore. I love you, son.
- Father, whats the matter?

His father closed his eyes. He was dead.

-Father! Father! FATHER!
-He is dead, Nikolai.

Nikolai started crying over his dead father body.

We were picked up my an IMG vessel 2 days after. Nikolai carried his father in him arms out of the pod, and handed him to the IMG doctor. We came to know two days later that he had died due to a piece of debris that had stabbed him in the liver.

The IMG gave us an old Starflier to return to Manhattan. We boarded the Starflier two weeks after we were collected by the IMG, but we did not went to New York.

- Nikolai, where are we heading?
- You'll see Alan, you'll see.

After a few hours of flying, we entered a system that I had never seen before. We were in a green cloud. After a few minutes we spotted a giant Battleship. I recognized the symbol on its hull from a book I had read. That was an Order battleship. She opened comms and asked us what we were doing there. Nikolai said: "We are here to join your ranks".

I realized that this sudden desire of joining the Order was purely for one purpose: revenge against the nomads!

I asked him how we were going to buy a decent ship, because we had no money. He said "Look inside the case my father gave me". Inside the solid silver case, I counted about 40 million credits. I was astonished.
Once we docked in battleship Isis, Nikolai bought an "Anubis" VHF ship. I asked him how we were going to fly it, as any of us didn't had any kind of practice with that kind of ship. "We'll learn" he said, laughing. After a while (about 2 months) we had gained enough flying experience, and decided to buy a bomber vessel. And so we did. We bought a Sekhmet, and equipped it with the some of the best guns in the market.

We now find ourselves flying one of the deadliest machines man ever built. A machine fit for immortals, demigods.

...

- Hey Alan, lets dock in Toledo. We're almost out of food.
- Uh, roger that Nikolai.
- Hey, what are you writing?
- Me? Writing? Pfffff. Nikolai, give me a break--

---