The sun shone down on the clearing. The birds sang and chased each other through the trees and over the large space freighter perched in the middle of the clearing. The crew of the freighter, the Sereni-Tree, basked in the sun enjoying the long overdue break from the rigors of space travel.

The first officer relaxed in the cramped cockpit. The view from that vantage point more than made up for the close quarters. A dust cloud in the distance catches his eye. He picks up his field glasses for a closer look. What he sees makes his blood run cold. A hover-mule speeds towards the Sereni-Tree, leaping and bucking as it flies over the terrain, with crewmembers Piffle and Psy both hanging on for dear life. Just behind them, he can see the reason for their flight… REAVERS! It’s a horizon full of Reavers!

The ships alarm pierces the tranquility. “Attention all hands. We have crew incoming and they are bringing all manner of unfriendly... they’re being chased by REAVERS! The Sereni-tree is leaving NOW!! All hands on board. Mister Static to the bridge STAT!”

As the two big engines whine to life, the last of the crew scramble through the closing hatch. All over the Sereni-Tree ‘coms chime as crew members report in. “Jake7, laser turret #1 reporting in.” “Jazaf, laser turret #2 reporting in.” “Rat here, all hatches secure.”

Static bursts onto the bridge. “T.R.?”

The first officer, T.R., turns as the pilot enters. “Ok, Static, here’s the short form. Psy and Piffle are currently running from a very large horde of Reavers. How we didn’t detect them when we were landing… anyway, I digress. It doesn’t look like they’re going to win this race, so what I need you to do is a running scoop maneuver. Fly close to the ground, we open the cargo doors and we scoop ‘em up. Once they are on board, you need to break atmo as fast as you can.”

Static wordlessly nods, climbs into the cockpit and drops into his pilot chair. His hands fly over the controls. The view screens jump to life and the engines' whine becomes a scream,