Near the center of the Cassiopeia Galaxy, a bulky transport ship dodged enemy fire, an accompanying Rank-0 fighter-class also avoiding enemy fire. The Rank 0, which was a sharp looking silver craft, fired back a charge-beam and managed to take out two of the attackers, who were in hot pursuit.

It became an exchange of sorts, the Rank 0 using a variety of weapons while the attackers shot back with las-cannons. The transport kept engaging in evasive maneuvers, but was hit twice. Immediately, the Rank 0 covered the smoking transport.

All the while, the nearby quasar sinisterly issued jets of light as it loomed over them. The nearby stars paled in comparison to the monstrous quasar.

Inside the transport-

The interior of the ship was already dark enough, but the shots shorted out some of the few lights. It was a one room affair, containing a lounge area with one of those long, curving couches in the back, but that was it aside from the control panels. The shots rocked the ship, sending a young lady to the checkerboard tiled floor.

"Aiiieeeee!" screamed the young lady in the frilly blue dress.

"Stop that jostling at once, bodyguard!" the young lady's father, a duke, ordered.

Nic Diov, the transport pilot, stood at the controls, ignoring their exclamations. He furiously shifted the configurations on the dashboard as alarm lights went off.

"...lost propulsions, warp...rerouting...cutting off...initiate." Nic muttered to himself.

WARNING: ENERGY AT 15%. LIFE SUPPORT AT 45% flashed onto the control screen. He jabbed CONFIRM.

"Hey! You! Are you listening? I said to stop that jostling and get us out of here! Or do you want to let my daughter and I die!?" the duke said, his daughter attempting to stifle her tears.

"I am fully aware of that, sir, but if I focus the power into the stabilizers, we'd die. This galaxy is an active radio galaxy with a quasar, and we're currently near said quasar. Do you, sir, know what happens when stabilizers and shields are enacted near quasars? They go KABOOM. At any rate, we wouldn't last forever on stabilizers and shields, not with seventy-five assault vessels after us, and certainly not with broken propulsions or broken warps. There's only one option left."

Nic held the comm unit close to his mouth and pushed CONNECT.

"Dwin? Here's the plan: ..."

Within the Rank 0:

" [static] quasar slip [static]." the comm unit issued in the confined cockpit of the Rank 0. The cockpit was made out of a clear material, illuminated only by the surrounding stars.

"The radio waves are messing with the comm unit, and that idiot expects me to understand what he means! He's gonna get himself killed some day. Not everyone will understand. Especially with garbled messages and these kinds of crazy plans that hinge on something that's possible in theory but never been proven true!" Ephah Dwin grumbled, but she still pushed the button on the side of the comm unit. "Yeah, I read you."

The transport began to fly towards the quasar with the Rank 0 in tow. Hesitating, the motley group of assault vehicles hovered back.

"Hey, boss, whadda we do now? The crazy bastard's flyin' straight towards the quasar." One of the assault vehicle pilots contacted the head assassin.

"Everyone is to continue pursuing! We absolutely cannot let the Duke escape unharmed, and we have to nail him by the end of today!" The head assassin barked.

Responding to his command, the assault vehicles simultaneously gave chase.

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"They're gaining on us! What are you planning?" the duke urgently asked.

"Don't distract me!" Nic answered. "This will be a very fine thing!"

Sweat beaded on his neck as he pushed the transport towards the quasar's blinding light and turned it around to face outwards. Nic then shut the ship down, except for the enigmatic GHOST'S SONG configuration, whose letters softly glowed in the darkness.

The quasar slowly sucked in the transport. The Rank 0 came to a sharp halt to avoid being sucked in with the transport. The Rank 0 turned to face the transport in a diagonal direction, and began to charge a beam that appeared similar in color to the quasar's light. The pursuers stopped, puzzled.

Finally, the Rank 0 fired, then lifted its nose sharply, so that the beam hit the edge of the quasar just above the transport. Immediately, the quasar's light glowed brighter, and streams of it struck the transport. The transport shimmered and became see-through. The transport then blew past the pursuers, growing smaller and smaller in the distance until it was completely out of sight. The Rank 0 turned around and also took off at a blinding speed, though it wasn't nearly as fast as the transport.

"Go, you imbeciles! They're getting away!" the lead assassin had to yell at his dumb-struck underlings before they started chasing the two ships.

It was already too late for the lead assassin and his underlings. The two ships were gone with a speed they could not follow.

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They were now standing in a fancy docking bay, with squeaky clean floors and marble pillars. The dingy transport and Rank 0 would appear normal anywhere else, but they stuck out like a sore thumb there.

"Harumph. Though you were quite impudent, you still saved our lives. For that, I thank you." the duke gruffly expressed his gratitude while his moony-eyed daughter stared at Nic. The duke then handed Nic a fat sack. "Twenty-thousand credits, as agreed upon, with a little extra."

"I thank you for your generosity. I hope you have a good conference." Nic replied.

"I hope that I won't have to employ your services again." the duke walked away to take care of other matters.

The moony-eyed daughter bashfully made her way over to Nic, batting her eyelids. However, Ephah, who had been standing by with an unpleasant expression during the exchange, dragged Nic off before the daughter had a chance to speak.

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"YOU IDIOT WITH PORRIDGE BRAINS! YOU'RE GONNA GET YOURSELF KILLED SOME DAY AND GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK! I SWEAR, YOU JUST CUT MY LIFE SHORT BY 50 YEARS!" Ephah berated Nic. " 'Ships attuned to the GHOST'S SONG radio frequency can get a boost after a charged ion beam hits a quasar's right eye.' That's what a quasar slip is. Catch is that the charged ion beam's gotta be dead on. If I'd been so much as an inch off, you'd've been roast human! It was your life on the line, not mine. For Pete's sake, have some sense! You coulda just flown off and let me deal with 'em!"

"So you were worrying about me? I mean, you are worrying about me?"

"No, I'm completely unconcerned about your welfare. I couldn't care less about what happens." Ephah smarmed. "OF COURSE I'M WORRIED, YOU MORON! OTHERWISE I WOULDN'T BE YELLING AT YOU LIKE THIS!"

"So you are concerned over my welfare."

"So sue me."

"The tips of your ears are bright red."

"You can sue me for that too."

"In all honesty, what kind of person would I be if I just left my partner to deal with seventy-five assault vehicles? I also had this gut feeling that said if it was us two, we could pull it off. I trust you, after all."

"Even so, how were you sure I'd know what you were planning? The quasar's waves were messing with the comm units."

"We've known each other since we were children, plus you know me like the back of your hand. Surely you could predict what I was going to do when I headed towards the quasar. Again, I trust you and your abilities. Even if the whole world doubted you, I'd still have faith. You were, in fact, able to predict my thoughts and cooperated accordingly."

"Okay, enough with the cheesy lines. I'll accept your argument for now. Regardless, you're gonna have to compensate me for cutting my life short by 50 years."

Nic stopped. He faced Ephah, then gently kissed her. He stopped after a few seconds.

"Is that enough compensation?" Nic asked, smiling.

"I meant money compensation when I said compenstion. I'll be taking at least two-thirds of the bonus." Ephah said with a straight face.

"Your ears are now an even brighter red. It's quite scintillating."

"Shut up, you." Ephah began to walk again.

Nic followed, his smile widening.