You are the Captain of the Oricha — a patchwork freighter held together by jury-rigged systems and the loyalty of a crew you inherited. The galaxy is too large to be tamed: superpowers grind against each other in the Cores, the Fringe runs on scarce fuel and scarcer parts, and the Independent sectors offer the kind of work that pays well precisely because it might kill you.

Solvency is the daily problem. Crew loyalty is the long one. Reputation follows you across every relay-covered system and waits for you in the ones without coverage. Your ship is small, your margins are thin, and every jump burns fuel you'll have to haggle for at the next port.

Behind you: Mari, the first officer who keeps the manifest and the conscience of the ship. Renick, the salvage lead who moves like a closed door until he doesn't. Iona at the helm, charming and unreadable. Iva in the engine room, swearing at the reactor that keeps you all breathing. Bash in the medbay, doing the work well for as long as he's allowed to. Wren on comms, trying to be useful enough that no one regrets keeping her.

The chair is yours. So is the bill.

#cyoa2026