My submission for the 2026 writers jam, and while I certainly don't think it's my best work, I still had a lot of fun putting it to paper ^_^.

Also the two songs linked are by @KrecekOnNG (used in accordance to the listed licenses), go check their experimental stuff out, they make great audio and wonderful art!

Otherwise I hope you enjoy reading this lucid little piece thrown together between the hours 9pm and 5am, please do let me know what you think~!

Word Count: 2500

Prompt: Distance

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An older pilot with a cigarette glowing in the night flicked it into the shifting sand as he rambled. “That’s what the Festival Of Momentum was, a bolt run for bragging rights, carry some cultured cargo with you to toss at the locals on the other side as well.”

He snorted. “Sure, we’re carrying medicine instead of trinkets now, and rather than running for bragging rights we’re running for our lives, but despite that we’re still running FOM’s.” He chuckled, tilting his head as a smile formed. “Can’t take the bolter out of an old war horse, not even the end of the world managed it.”

The older pilot looked at the younger pilot holding someone else’s helmet tight against his chest, eyes on the ceaselessly crashing dunes of endless desert ahead of them. The older pilot clicked his fingers. “Hey Ketchup, what’s wrong? You’re missing history here.”

Ketchup’s wet eyes flicked over to the older pilot before his gaze dropped with a huff. “Wish you wouldn’t call me that Shic.”

Shic laughed. “No one likes their callsign Ketchup, get used to it.”

A woman a head taller than both closed the hatch on her ship, voice slipping through burnt tendrils. “Don’t worry kid, Ketchup is no where near as bad as Shic.”

Ketchup looked to the woman. “What’s so bad about Shic? What does that even mean?”

They responded simultaneously, a chortle from both.

The woman. “Shit Himself In Cockpit.”

Shic. “Shit myself in-. Yeah, that one.” He giggled deep.

Ketchups eyes squinted toward Shic, prompting him to raise his hands. “Look kid you start pulling seventeen G’s in a dogfight and then you can tell me what you think. I’m just impressed I didn’t G-LOC like a bitch and take a nap before the other guy gave me the forever night night.”

Ketchup blinked. “G-LOC? What does that-.”

The two answered simultaneously again.

The woman. “G-force induced loss of consciousness.”

Shic. “G-force induced-. Wait, you’ve never pulled so hard you felt like you just got donkey punched in the brain?”

Ketchup stammered. “Course I have, I-.” He shook his head and looked to the woman. “What about Flash? That’s a cool callsign, how come I can’t pick something like that?”

Flash pointed at Ketchup. “Rule number one, you never pick your own callsign.” She flipped her hand to thumb toward Shic. “And he’s right, rule two, no one likes their callsign.”

Ketchup opened his mouth but Shic’s shit eating grin moved faster. “Dumb squid overcooked her thrusters on a back charge. Reactor popped like a soda can.”

Flash sighed, eyes falling to the burn scars along her arms that ran the course of her body. “Earned the nickname and the suntan.”

Shic laughed. “Still smells like overdone calamari too, her and her cockpit.”

Ketchup raised his hand to cover his smile, looking away to avoid any potential retribution. Flash growled but turned her attention back to her maintenance. Shic leant against his ship, a genuine smile building. “Feel a bit better now kid?”

Ketchup’s hand fell, his other hand holding the helmet loosely by his side now. He felt the same smile Shic wore form on his face for a fleeting moment until silence let the pit in his stomach form again. His voice came with hesitation. “Can we talk about Gristle?”

Flash stopped working. Shic took a long, deep breath, holding it before letting it out as he reached for another cigarette. “Not good at following rules are you, kid Ketchup.”

Ketchup cradled the helmet against himself, eyes dropping to the callsign written across the top. “It just. It happened so fast. That black shadow, cloud of knives with eyes. They slammed into the side of his ship. It was throwing smoke. He was shouting something but. When they opened. The eyes. When they opened.” His voice hitched. “The way he screamed. I can still hear him screaming-.”

Ketchup felt himself pulled forward, the helmet ripped from his hands. Flash turned, speaking as she walked back to her ship. “We all still hear him screaming. So shut up.”

Ketchup stood still, hands still open, resting where he lost his grasp on Gristle’s helmet. “But. That could have been me-.”

Shic’s cigarette began to glow. “But it wasn’t.”

Ketchup eyes watered. “But it should’ve been me-.”

Shic’s cigarette fell. “The fuck does it matter.”

The trio stood in silence, Flash facing her ship, Shic staring Ketchup down, and Ketchup breathing as his eyes darted about. The sounds of Flash going back to work brought Shic back to the moment, blinking before looking down at his still lit cigarette. “Shit.”

He bent over to pick it up and rest it back in his mouth as Ketchup slid down his ship, holding his knees to his chest. Shic sighed. “Look, you’ve done the distance, and we’re almost there. Don’t go getting in your damn head now when we’re so close to done.” He looked away. “We’ll talk about what happened to Gristle when we make it, pour a drink out for him even, but only when we’re done.”

Ketchup took in a shivering sniffle, eyes blank before slowly nodding. Shic kept his eyes on Ketchup, the two motionless beyond Shic taking drags off his cigarette. Ketchup’s voice eventually croaked out. “Why do you do it?”

Shic’s eyes flickered. “What, FOM’ing?” He shrugged. “Told you, can’t take the bolter out of an old war horse. Simple.”

Flash stopped working again, Shic turning to find her glaring at him, her eyes flicking to Ketchup before going back to Shic as he threw out a hand. “What, it’s not like he listens to my bloody stories anyway.”

Flash blinked slow once and Shic patted his hand in the air. “Fine, Fine. Shit. Don’t need the murder look.” He clapped. “So, why we fly. Why I fly. Fine.” He turned to Ketchup. “How much of Throne you seen kid.”

Ketchup looked up then back down, head shifting gently as he mumbled back “Not much.”

Shic nodded as he looked out over the desolate sands. “Well would you believe me if I told you this all used to be lush forest?”

Ketchup’s eyes shot to Shic before falling again. “Piss off, I’m not in the mood.”

Flash got back to work. “He’s serious, this all used to be green, full of trees.”

Shic pointed his cigarette at Flash. “She’s right, me and Gristle toured the whole damn planet. Green grass, towering trees, fuzzy blankets of life as far as the eye could see.”

Shic noted Ketchup’s attention and allowed himself to become a little more animated. “One of those adventures we were charting a forest, stopped for the day and Gristle hobbles off alone to shit in the woods. I tell you now though, those woods were alive.”

Ketchup loosened up a little. “What do you mean alive?”

Shic smiled. “Full of animals. Wildlife. More than you could name.” He started posing after everything he named. “Clackers, clippers, rippers, flippers. You name it, all sorts everywhere. New discoveries every day.” He waved his hand holding the cigarette to leave a trail of smoke. “And old mate Gristle found out the fun way that some of them are smart enough to take advantage of an individual trying not to shit their britches.”

Flash turned around to watch Shic’s performance, a smile forming as he leapt forward. “There it was, this big, burly bastard, claws coming down and grabbing old mate Gristle. Oh, the yelling, ‘help help this son of a bitch is bushwhacking me help!’, so I come running and I find this thing with his leg in it’s mouth stuck between its teeth.”

Shic sat down giggling. “It took a good few minutes to get him loose, I think that poor animal was just glad to have him out of it’s teeth by the end of it.”

Ketchup laughed gently. “Gristle.”

Shic nodded. “That’s where he earned it, yeah.” The shit eating grin returned. “See? No one likes their callsign.”

Ketchup smiled, eyes eventually meeting Shic. “You didn’t tell me why you fly.”

Shic smiled. “Can’t take the bolter out of an old warhorse.” He slapped his hand on his ship before giving the plating a rub. “It’s all I know, and I’ll be damned to lose it now.”

Ketchup looked to Flash, she responded with a shrug. “Just never feel as alive as when the world is blurring by at Mach plus one. If I’m surviving, I might as well be thriving.”

Ketchup smiled, mouth opening before closing, then opening again. “I wanted to race to get famous.”

There was silence for a moment, before a raspberry from Flash and a bellowing laugh from Shic in-between words. “You want a dying world to remember you, that’s fucking dumb.” He slowly settled himself. “Don’t tell me that’s why you’re still here.”

Ketchup let his eyes rest on Shic, then Flash, then Gristle’s helmet. He felt a smile tug at his mouth. “Nah. Now I just want to make it count.”

Ketchup sealed the helmet to his suit as the sun rose, the heads up display already flashing radiation warnings. He tapped his helmet to hear Shic’s voice jitter in. He tapped it a couple more times before something thumped him in the back of the helmet as Shic’s voice came through clear. “-said can you hear me? Did that help?” He started slapped ketchup’s helmet some more. “Am, I, coming, through?”

Ketchup slapped his hands away. “Stop- stop that yeah copy copy, you fixed it. Stop.”

Shic’s voice floated through Ketchup’s helmet. “You sure? I can make sure if you want-.”

Flash grabbed Shic’s shoulder and tossed him towards his ship. “Enough. Suns out, guns out. That shadow knife Nightmare from yesterday is probably prowling for more but there’s not much distance left till the Citadel. Last hard burn and we’re home safe. Mount up.”

Ketchup brought his ship roaring to life, reactor whirring behind him as it floated above the ground. The thrusters fired and he felt himself pinned to the seat. A little longer and it would all be over.

The sun sailed through the sky as Ketchup banked between flowing dunes, riding the barrels of curling sand as they splashed down behind him. He found a rhythmic motion to rock his ship along the current of the sand to, eyes becoming heavy as it lulled him to sleep.

Then his console flashed. A contact bearing down but only for a moment. He blinked and the screen reported clear again. He called ahead. “I think the dust is getting into my avionics. Getting sensor ghosts on radar.”

Shic called over the radio. “Weird, I just had one as well. Flash, you ping something?”

There was a moment of silence before Flash spoke flatly. “Radiation is high, false hits are pretty common in-.”

A shadow shot by ahead. The radio went quiet. Shic was the first to speak. “Flash, take my wing. Ketchup, ride rear, stay close.”

The radio stayed quiet, Shic spoke again. “Ketchup?”

Ketchup let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Copy, copy. Rear. On your rear.”

Shic started speaking again. “On my mark, emergency burn. We outpace that thing. Charge thrusters.”

Flash confirmed calm. “Back charging.”

Ketchup replied shaky. “Charging. I’m charging.”

Shic mumbled. “Hold. Hold. We wait till we see it again. Any second-.”

Ketchup blinked. Shadow’s smashed through the dune between him and Shic. He ripped hard right. “Shit!”

Shic spat. “Fuck- get back in formation kid.”

Ketchup looked behind, eyes going wide. “It’s on me. It’s on me. Shic-.”

Shic shouted back. “Rip now kid now!”

Ketchup obeyed. Sharp shadows scrapped his wing as the other dipped into the sand. The black knives danced back around to the main mass charging after him. He ripped the ship again, breathing quick shallow breaths atop of full lungs. “I can’t shake it. Fuck it’s riding me.”

Flash shouted next. “It’s got him on a kill vector- Shic track target rack cannons and burn that motherfucker!” She spoke between shallow rapid breaths. “Hold on kid. Hold on.”

Ketchup dove behind another dune, head twisting back, scanning the sand for any disturbance, eyes darting around desperate to track his attacker.

The ship jostled as something slammed against the side. He looked over to see the eyelids of knives shivering open as a terrible pressure began to boil in his head. Gritted teeth gave way to a scream as he drove his flight stick forward.

The ship bounced off the sand. The knives dislodged. The right turbine dug too deep. The ship spun before it started bouncing across the ground before drifting to halt.

Ketchup blinked, hands ripping at the helmet trying to release the latch, rapid breaths unable to get enough oxygen from what the suit provided. He started hitting the visor, hoping somehow his fist would break through to let in fresh air. A voice came over comms, Flash. “Got it! It’s on me, I’m on evasive. Shic get the kid back in the air!”

Ketchup pressed his hands against his helmet, desperately trying to slow his breathing. He closed his eyes, head throbbing with pain but otherwise intact. He tried to breathe. His visor fogged further. Breathing quickened again. His teeth grit and he wailed. “Don’t let me die like Gristle-!”

Shic yelled over comms. “Shut up and listen! Reactor, did it scram?”

Ketchup’s shivering eyes went to his control board. “No. No it’s still green.”

Shic spoke on. “Thrusters? Green?”

Ketchup nodded. “Green, green.”

Shic let out a breath. “Alright, you’re not dead yet. You need to back charge all the way to the redline alright?”

Ketchup stammered. “But- it’ll pop. The reactor it’ll- I’ll end up like Flash, Gristle-.”

Shic shouted over him. “Don’t think about Flash or Gristle or anything but that fucking needle on your reactor gauge. Do you understand?”

Ketchup nodded again, one hand ripping the throttle while the other held a safety override. “Ok yes. Ok.”

Shic spoke more calmly. “You can do this kid. Just watch the needle. It just a needle, not even you could fuck that up.”

Ketchup breathed. “Watching. Almost. Almost.”

Flash called out. “It’s got me on a kill vector. I’ve got to jet, now or never kid!”

Shic shouted over everyone. “Now!”

Ketchup’s thrusters exploded with force.

Ketchup sat in a bar of the Citadel with a burger in front of him while Flash poured a drink on the floor and Shic slapped his back. “Look at you, a true blue bolter through and through. Did the distance and got out alive.”

Ketchup’s eyes were sunken but he smiled all the same. Flash punched him gently in the shoulder. “Proud of you kid. Really. You did good.”

Ketchup’s shaky hands went for the burger. “Yeah. Till the next one. For Gristle.” His adrenaline fueled hands clamped down hard on the meal, sauce spraying down his flight suit as he groaned. “Aw, shit. Every time.”

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