Two Rogues, One War, Zero Regrets
A Hell of a First Impression
Tyko Rinn’s first meeting with Drake Vance was, in true cosmic fashion, a catastrophic disaster. A young and reckless pilot, barely twenty years old, Tyko had spent most of his life flying for mercenary outfits, rebel causes, and the occasional crime lord who paid in credits instead of empty promises.
Drake Vance a 45-year-old smuggler-turned-rebel, infamous for having more enemies than common sense and surviving impossible odds through sheer luck and sarcasm.
They met mid-flight, in the middle of a chaotic battle against the Overlord Dominion, a terrifying armada that had made it its personal mission to crush independent fighters, wipe out rebels, and generally make life miserable for anyone who didn’t kneel to their rule.
Tyko’s battered Interceptor-class fighter, the Starwolf, was zigzagging through enemy fire, engines smoking, shields flickering, one wing barely attached.
Drake’s infamous Black Mongoose, a heavily modified freighter-turned-gunship, swooped in just in time to see Tyko dodge a torpedo by about an inch and immediately return fire on a Dominion cruiser way bigger than him.
"Kid’s either the best pilot I’ve ever seen or a complete idiot,"
Drake muttered to himself, watching from his cockpit.
The comms flared to life.
Tyko: "Hey, old man in the freighter how about you stop staring and actually help?"
Drake: "Old man? You realize I’m the only reason you’re still alive, right?"
Tyko: "Not from where I’m sitting, buddy."
Drake: "Well, from where I’m sitting, you’re about five seconds from getting atomized, so shut up and follow my lead."
Tyko didn’t like taking orders, especially from some washed-up smuggler, but at that moment, he had two choices:
Listen to the guy who was somehow still alive after twenty-plus years of pissing off warlords and crime syndicates.
Die in a fiery explosion.
He chose the first one.
That battle? It ended with three destroyed Dominion destroyers, twenty downed fighter ships, and an entire Overlord fleet too busy chasing ghosts to realize they had lost the sector
and somewhere between the dogfights, the sarcastic insults, and barely surviving certain death, Drake and Tyko became friends.
Well… sort of.
The Trouble with Running Guns on a Religious Colony
After the battle, Drake offered Tyko a job.
Not a serious job, mind you. More of a
"We both need money and I need a co-pilot who isn’t actively trying to kill me" kind of deal.
Their first mission? Smuggling stolen Overlord Dominion weapons to a backwater colony on the edge of the Mourvas System, should’ve been easy but turns out that colony was run by a fanatical sect that believed all weapons were cursed and that anyone bringing them to their world should be thrown into the nearest sun.
Tyko: "You sure you did your homework on this one, Drake?"
Drake: "Homework is for nerds, kid. I just show up and hope for the best."
Tyko: "Well, the best is looking a lot like an angry mob right now."
Cut to:
Tyko and Drake running through the colony square, dodging plasma bolts, spears, and one very enthusiastic old woman throwing religious pamphlets.
Drake swearing never to take another job without doing proper research.
(Spoiler: He did not keep this promise.)
Tyko punching a priest in the face and stealing his hover bike.
Drake realizing, too late, that the crate they were delivering was full of experimental grenades that were now armed and counting down.
They escaped, barely, with only:
One new scar each.
A bounty from the colony’s “Holy Enforcers.”
A burning hatred for religious fanatics with good aim.
The Asteroid Heist That Should Have Killed Them
A few months later, Drake and Tyko were running weapons again, this time for a mercenary outfit hiding in an asteroid field known as The Razorback Veil.
The deal? Simple.
Drop off three crates of stolen Dominion plasma rifles. Get paid. Fly off into the sunset without getting vaporized by the Dominion Fleet that was definitely hunting them.
But the problem with asteroid fields?
Navigation is tricky.
Pirates love hiding in them.
Drake has the navigational sense of a drunk space-rat.
Yeah they landed on the wrong rock.
which of course happened to be the secret hideout of an ex-Dominion admiral turned warlord, Veyros Korrin, who had a deep-seated hatred for smugglers.
Tyko: "I’m going to go ahead and say this was a bad idea."
Drake: "Come on, what’s the worst that can happen?"
Tyko: "There are literally tanks rolling toward us right now."
Drake: "Okay, fair point."
They fought, they stole the warlord’s private ship
(because why not add grand theft spaceship to their list of crimes?).
They blew up half the asteroid field (accidentally).
And by the end of it?
They got paid double because the mercenaries loved the chaos they caused.
They earned a permanent bounty on their heads from Veyros Korrin.
Drake somehow stole a case of 300-year-old whiskey from the warlord’s private stash and didn’t share it with Tyko.
Tyko was furious about the whiskey.
Drake was furious that Tyko wouldn’t shut up about it.
The Rescue of Lyra Kane
It wasn’t all heists, smuggling jobs, and bad luck.
Sometimes they actually did something worthwhile.
Like the time they saved Lyra Kane.
Lyra was one of the deadliest operatives in the Galactic Justice,
a legend among spies, assassins, and rebels.
When she was captured by the Dominion, no one thought she’d survive.
Drake? .. He had history with her.
Tyko? .. He had heard the stories.
But both of them agreed on one thing:
They were going to break her out or die trying.
It involved:
Disguises (Drake hated them).
Stealing a Dominion cruiser (Tyko loved it).
Explosions (that part was not planned but very satisfying).
Lyra escaping on her own and telling them their plan was “cute.”
After all that the three of them became inseparable.
Tyko, the hotheaded pilot with something to prove. Drake, the grizzled veteran who refused to admit he had a heart. Lyra, the spy who always seemed one step ahead of both of them.
Together they had enemies in every system but they also had each other.
And in a galaxy at war, sometimes that’s the only thing that keeps you alive.
Drake never thought he’d be a mentor to some reckless kid.
Tyko never thought he’d find family in a washed-up smuggler.
But here they were, flying through the stars, taking impossible risks, and laughing in the face of death because if the galaxy wanted to kill them
it was going to have to try a hell of a lot harder.
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