The Fury of a Notorious Outlaw

Written by Adam Mullen, with art by Mike Lombardo, and edited by Ted Kendrick.

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Hot air blasted on DeMarco’s face as the engines of the Fortuna roared to life, now free from the tether that her bandits had placed on it. The tinge of a burnt smell remained from where the tether had snapped in half, and reminded DeMarco of the Protectorate shipyard on Oriak she used to work at as a teenager. The dry sand of Yaltrix blew into the notorious outlaw’s eyes. It stung, but DeMarco was too furious for it to matter. She had been cheated out of the very thing she was going to take. 

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DeMarco never intended to play fair and let the smuggler James Deven and his accomplices leave Yaltrix with the precious jewel. She needed to be the one who left the planet with the pay day. Not them. What DeMarco had not planned on was being swindled halfway through the operation by James Deven, Tiala, and Falen Kor, though she knew better than to trust smugglers and scoundrels. If it hadn't been for Kor and his ship, the Mantis, breaking the Fortuna free, DeMarco may well have been on her way off world with the jewel in hand, but that old fool had to flep up her plans. “If I had killed Kor on Trilonda, I wouldn't be in this position now,” thought DeMarco.

Through the dust and smoke-filled sky, DeMarco watched the two ships race toward the emptiness of space. She could see the remnants in the distance of the old castle that once belonged to the Tropps, one of the Naams Protectorate’s noble families. Not long ago, this planet was the site of the last battle of the Great War between the Skran Imperium and the Naams Protectorate. 

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Back then, DeMarco was young and naive, living on one of the fringe Protectorate worlds. Once, as a young girl, DeMarco and her padre visited this very castle, years before it was beaten and battered during the war. That was how she came to know about the jewel and why she had been hired to bring it back to her boss. Of course, Kor and the others had no idea of this. She never mentioned her true motivation behind retrieving the jewel to them. “That jewel has to be mine. I can’t allow Kor to return it to its owner, Shanea Tropp,” she thought. DeMarco thought about that spoiled princess living in that castle for all those years doing nothing to help people like DeMarco who grew up with nothing. “It’s just as well that she lost her castle.”

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DeMarco didn't know much about the mysterious person she currently worked for. Her encounters with him had been far and few between, with few words spoken. She was one of many gang leaders in the Demilitarized Zone that worked for this cloaked figure. She could not face him again without something to show. With the jewel gone, all she could do was raise her fist at her enemies and vow to have her revenge upon them. The thought of Deven, Tiala, and Kor betraying her and getting away with it filled her with a deep primordial rage. She tried to remember the last time she had felt this way. “Of course,” she thought, “the last time was back on Trilonda.”

“Flep you, James Deven! Your fortune will fade eventually!” Acting almost like a hex, her fury echoed through the nearby mountains causing the local wildlife to scatter and hide. DeMarco needed to make sure she found that jewel. Her life depended on it. With the ships no longer visible, DeMarco’s bandits put down their guns and turned to her. For the first time in her life, she feared that her fortune had run out.

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The sun was beginning to set. Soon, darkness would engulf the castle in the distance. It was time to leave this godforsaken dust ball. “Head back to the ship, boys. We’re going after Kor, and this time, I’ll make sure he gets what he deserves.” The bandits looked at each other, then after what seemed like a long moment, they drew their guns on DeMarco. Now DeMarco knew for sure that her fortune had run out.

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