This is it.

They're going to kill him.

It's just a matter of when.

This daunting new reality hits Sebastian like a train. He has heard many tales of the Earth’s pirates. How they steal, kill, and plunder anything associated with the Lunar Federation. An outlaw nation run by violence, savagery, and greed. A world of villainy so ruthless that it often escapes the realm of reality. He could never conjure a dreadful scenario like this, even when his imagination is at its worst. It’s all too ridiculous. Like something he’d see in a bad dream. As his denial fades, and this nightmare becomes more and more tangible, Sebastian’s mind can only continue to race as he does his best to keep as still as possible.

Who are these pirates?

What are they doing here?

Where are they taking him?

Why haven’t they killed him yet?

Sebastian sits on a large leather couch in a nicely furnished chamber. He was brought here by Dusty so that he wouldn’t distract the crew. The room itself is a minimalistic military cargo bay. Warm fairy lights and a couple paper lanterns hang lopsided from the chamber’s ceiling. The luxurious couch, cabinets, and little tables that occupy the chamber look very out of place. Sebastian suspects that they’ve all been stolen—except for the dusty, outdated, computer equipment that is littered all throughout the room. Bundles of colorful wires precariously line the floors and walls of the chamber. Large metal shelves house more electronics, including a turntable and a pair of very nice speakers.

New faces run in and out of the room. June, Ringo, and Dusty stop by occasionally. All this scrambling is oddly familiar. Sebastian suddenly feels like he is back in the kitchen. Aboard a half-sunken ship.

Ringo steps up to Sebastian. "What’s in that blue box ye brought with ye?"

"Oh. It’s a uh, freezer. It’s full of meat." Sebastian responds quietly.

"What kind of meat?" Ringo asks.

"Um… skyray wagyu, some herculean bovine, and um… abalone lobster."

"Hm. And you can cook all that, right?" Ringo asks.

"Yes." Sebastian nods.

"Hmm…" Ringo thinks for a moment. "Maybe she won’t kill you then."

"Um…" Sebastian has no idea how to respond.

Ringo walks away.

"Tank’s empty! Wake the big bastard up! Get us out of here!" Dusty’s voice crackles out of a nearby intercom; a small yellow box that is mounted to the wall. There are two of them in this room.

Ringo runs over to one of the intercoms and pushes the large button under the speaker/microphone.

"Alright! Ye heard her! The beast is back! Let’s get him moving!" He yells.

Then, he runs out of the room. Several large bulbs mounted to the wall glow bright red.

One at a time, each of these bulbs turn green.

The walls of the ship shutter to life.

A massive blast of energy erupts from below.

The floor beneath Sebastian’s feet rumbles wildly with an increasing intensity.

Something within the walls churns with an incredible force.

The entire room shifts. The lanterns hanging above sway as the room feels like it’s reorienting itself to gain its own balance.

A dreadful wyvern's screech echoes from the sky.

Then, like a drumbeat from above, Sebastian can hear the sound of the gigantic rotor spinning to life.

It begins slow, then its tempo gradually increases into a rapid percussion of thunder.

The room thrums to the tune of an engineered heartbeat.

The sounds are overwhelming. Sebastian can’t hear anything else.

He feels the ship lift against the Earth’s gravitational pull.

This beast named Tyrannis has awakened.