The transition from a world of steam to a world of stars was instantaneous. The portal opened from their Citadel not onto a planet, but into the quiet, humming cargo bay of a starship. The air smelled of recycled oxygen, hot wiring, and spilled alien ale.
The moment they stepped through, Cid's 'Fourth Wall Break' ability flared in his mind.
Jin-woo, using his 'Narrator's Eye,' got a much clearer picture. He focused on a nearby crate, and its "story" flashed in his perception.
[Item: Crate of Illegally Harvested Gralian Spice Weasels. Owner: Captain Jax 'The Crimson Corsair' Valor. Destination: The Black Market on Port Nowhere. Plot Relevance: Minor. Will be used as a bargaining chip in a later scene.]
This was going to be an incredibly useful ability.
A loud commotion from the ship's bridge drew their attention. They moved silently, Jin-woo cloaking their presence with his 'Silence' authority. They arrived at the doorway to the bridge just in time to see the central conflict unfold.
The bridge was a chaotic scene of sparking consoles and panicked crew members. In the center stood their "protagonist": Captain Jax Valor. He was a tall, dashing man with a fiery red greatcoat, a charmingly roguish smile, and a prosthetic arm that glowed with a soft, solar light. He was every bit the noble space pirate the synopsis had described.
On the main viewscreen, a face stared back at them. It was a cold, corporate face in a sharp suit, its features impassive. This was Director Cygnus of the Void Syndicate.
"...your reckless pursuit of the Star-Tears ends now, Valor," Cygnus said, his voice a smooth, menacing baritone. "They are a corporate asset. Your sentimental quest is an unacceptable market variable. Surrender your ship and your data, and your crew will be... painlessly liquidated."
"My crew and I don't liquidate so easily, Cygnus!" Jax retorted, his hand resting on the hilt of a cutlass that seemed to be forged from solar flame. "The tears of a dying star belong to everyone, not some soulless corporation that wants to sell wishes to the highest bidder!"
"A foolish sentiment," Cygnus said. "Your ship is cornered in the Tartarus Nebula. Three of my Executioner-class frigates are closing on your position. Your story is over."
The transmission cut out, replaced by a tactical display showing three massive, angular warships moving to surround Jax's smaller, sleeker vessel, which was named 'The Stardust Drifter.'
Jax's first mate, a large, reptilian alien with four arms, turned to him. "Captain, our shields are failing! The primary drive is offline! We can't outrun them, and we can't fight them!"
Despair began to settle on the bridge. Their adventure was about to end in a fiery explosion.
This was, Cid knew, their cue.
Cid's eyes fell on the ship's comms system. An idea, so audacious and so perfectly in-character, bloomed in his mind.
He stepped onto the bridge. Jin-woo remained hidden in the shadows, sighing mentally at what was about to happen.
"Captain Jax Valor!" Cid declared, his voice booming. He had forgone his steampunk attire for a new look: a sleek, black, form-fitting version of his coat that looked vaguely like a sci-fi captain's uniform, complete with unnecessary glowing blue lines. "Your ship appears to be experiencing some... technical difficulties."
The entire bridge crew stared at him. A strange man in a ridiculously cool coat had just appeared out of nowhere in the middle of a battle.
"Who... who are you?" Jax stammered, his hand tightening on his solar cutlass.
"A fan," Cid said with a charming smile. "I've been following your story. And I must say, your screenwriters are getting lazy. Cornered by three ships? A failing engine? It's so cliché. Your tale needs a better third act."
Before anyone could react, Cid strode over to the comms panel. He didn't just open a channel to the enemy ships. He hacked into the entire galactic sub-space network, patching himself into every ship, every station, every comms device in the sector.
His face appeared on the bridge of the Void Syndicate's flagship. Director Cygnus, who had been enjoying a moment of triumph, looked up in confusion at the strange, handsome man who had just hijacked his private channel.
"Greetings, Void Syndicate!" Cid's voice boomed across the sector. "This is a message from a concerned member of the audience. Your current plotline is predictable, and your villain, Director Cygnus, is a two-dimensional corporate stereotype. Your performance is, frankly, unacceptable."
On the Stardust Drifter's bridge, the crew stared in stunned silence. This man was... critiquing the enemy's villainy?
"As such," Cid continued, his voice echoing from a thousand speakers, "I, the mysterious and profoundly influential critic known only as 'Shadow,' am forced to intervene. I will now demonstrate what a proper, dramatic plot twist looks like."
He turned to Jax. "Captain, your main gun's power coupling. It's not broken. It's just... shy. It needs some encouragement."
Cid placed a hand on the console. He wasn't a technician. He had no idea how a starship worked. But he poured a tiny, chaotic sliver of his slime-based power into the system. It wasn't a repair. It was a jolt of pure, unpredictable energy.
The lights on the bridge flickered, and then the ship's main power gauge, which had been in the red, suddenly shot up into the green, and then past green into a new, glowing purple section that no one had ever seen before.
"Engine power... restored?" the reptilian first mate said in disbelief. "No, it's... it's overloaded! We're at 500% capacity!"
"And as for your shields," Cid said, turning his attention to another console. "Their frequency is so... monotonous."
He didn't bother trying to match the enemy's shield frequency. He simply had Jin-woo, from the shadows, use his 'Silence' authority.
On the three Syndicate warships, their powerful energy shields didn't break. They just... turned off. A zone of absolute 'shield-silence' enveloped them.
The Syndicate shield operator frantically slammed his console. "Sir! Our shields are gone! They're not damaged; they're just... not there anymore!"
Director Cygnus's cold composure finally cracked. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"The meaning," Cid's voice echoed, "is that the playing field has been leveled. Now, Captain Valor," he turned back to Jax, a grand, theatrical smile on his face, "Your main gun is online. Your enemy's shields are down. I believe this is your cue."
Captain Jax Valor stared at the man called Shadow. He stared at his now-supercharged power levels. He stared at the three, suddenly defenseless warships on his screen. His roguish grin returned, wider and more confident than ever.
"First mate," Jax roared. "Target their engines! Give them a taste of the Stardust Drifter's 'criticism'!"
The Stardust Drifter's main cannon, now glowing with an impossible amount of purple energy, fired a single, massive beam that split into three and struck each of the Syndicate ships with perfect, crippling precision. The explosions were not fatal, but they were spectacular, leaving the enemy fleet dead in the water.
Cid watched the display, a satisfied look on his face. "See? A much better scene. A mysterious benefactor, an impossible power-up, and a triumphant comeback. The ratings will be through the roof."
He then turned to the stunned captain and his crew. "My work here is done. I have put your story back on a more interesting track. Do try not to make it boring again."
And with that, he and the invisible Jin-woo vanished from the bridge as mysteriously as they had appeared, leaving behind a super-charged, victorious, and utterly bewildered crew of space pirates.
Captain Jax Valor stood in silence for a moment, then let out a booming laugh. "Well, crew," he said. "I have no idea what just happened. But I think we just made a powerful, and very strange, new friend."
Their quest for the Star-Tears had just gotten a whole lot more interesting.