Her name is Holly. Few know her true name. Even fewer know her well enough to call her by name. However, everyone knows her simply as ‘Spacefire, the Gray Phoenix.’ A once honorable lass who, with the help of her slippery band, became a highly feared space pirate lord bent on revenge.


Along her fuselage are the names of her fallen son and husband, in the Inner Rim universal runes.



Her mother, Doris, an outcast and lowly prostitute in a crime ridden region of an otherwise prosperous, industrious inner rim world, was saved from a grisly fate by Watkiss, the handsome, courageous young space capable jet who eventually became her father. Skittish and wary of her savior, Doris eventually warmed up to Watkiss. Despite his physical prowess and competence in battle, he possessed a very caring, loving heart. Holly was born while her father was away with the Galactic Corps, the fighter branch of the larger Inner Galactic Navy. Conflict had arisen in the galaxy’s southern arm. Numerous systems were falling to the rapidly expanding Nexis empire. Called to fight, Watkiss answered. Doris never informed her mate she was expecting their child, wanting to surprise him. Upon receiving the news he’d been killed in action after saving numerous lives, Doris’s heart was forever shattered. However, unbeknownst to her deceased mate, she also hid a dark secret. She was a part of Umbra. A band of cutthroat space pirates who preyed upon interstellar freighters and took hostages for ransom. Doris was to marry the band’s lord, Cyrus, who fancied her.

Doris refused and fled to the galaxy’s inner rim. Where she eventually met Watkiss. Now, with Watkiss gone, her former associates came for her. Not wanting her daughter to grow up in their company, Doris secretly placed the infant Holly in a home for abandoned jets. Growing up in the home, Holly had to fight tooth and nail to survive, to earn her place in the pecking order. Cunning and observant, Holly was an above average student. However, her performance was never exemplary. Throughout her childhood and well into early womanhood, Holly was teased about her parents. She grew up believing her father had a one night stand with a groveling prostitute, her mother. Holly wouldn’t know the truth about her parents for many years. She wouldn’t know how much they would have loved her. Only meeting her mother once before her death, Doris’s sanity had long since vanished. Enlisting in the Galactic Corps at the age of 17, Holly did everything in her power to stand out from the males in her squadron. Wanting to prove she could do anything they could, Holly never relented. She showed no fear, no weakness, and no mercy.

Modified for spaceflight, fitted with weapons, and painted in the Corps’ glossy white, Holly proved her worth on the squadron’s first deployment. During a skirmish in the mid rim, she took on seven hostile fighters and defeated them all. A talented warrior, she was brave to the point of recklessness. She tended to let anger get the better of her, overriding her better judgment. Despite her victories and subsequent promotions, she longed for love. Someone to lean on. One day, she met Bax Westcross, a charming young jet who struck her fancy. Young and naïve, Holly accepted Bax. She voiced her inner frustrations, her thoughts, and her desires. Placing her full trust in him, they later married. On the day of the wedding, the truth became known. She’d been played for a fool. Bax, pressured by his parents to marry and produce heirs, chose Holly. Even worse, Bax and his brother Bail were the upcoming lords of the Westcross crime syndicate. A galaxywide organization who extorted governments, interfered with politics, robbed merchants, and blackmailed the meek. Jets and men who saw torture and murder as means of conducting business.

Betrayed and enraged, Holly attempted to break off the marriage, only to find herself thoroughly ensnared in the spider’s web. She could run, but the tractor beams would prevent her from getting far. She could refuse to eat, but was then forcibly fed. She could even try to take her own life, which only made Bax angry and more overbearing. More serious transgressions resulted in physical pain by means of electric shock. Every day, Bax shouted and verbally abused her. ‘Stay in line and do what I say.’ The breaking point finally came when Bax forced himself upon her. Being their firstborn, his parents demanded he produce an heir, and so help him, he was going to get one. Anything to get his parents off his back so he could indulge in other pleasures. Initially, Holly less than politely refused. When Bax threatened to let his guards present have at her, a dozen male jets in total, she capitulated. Never had she been so humiliated. So violated and wildly angry. Bax had the audacity to laugh at her predicament. From that day forward, she vowed to fight him at every turn.

As she feared, Bax had impregnated her. For months she wept, forced to carry his child to term. Denied assistance or relief from the pain, Holly delivered a son. Now that Bax had his heir, he charged Holly with raise him while went off planet to lead the syndicate. Left alone with their son, who she named Desmodus, what ensued were the happiest years of her life. Granted special permission, the guards were far more lenient. Holly and Desmodus were inseparable. The boy grew up happy and loved by his mother. Unfortunately, Bax returned to their isolated compound in the mid rim. He’d grown fouler. Disconnected. Apathetic. A true criminal. At the same time, Desmodus reached the minimum age where he was capable of accepting the modifications necessary for spaceflight. That very same day, Bax and his guards became incoherently drunk. Seizing the opportunity, Holly took Desmodus and fled the planet. Stripping off her Galactic Corps markings and white paint, Holly reverted back to her natural dull coloration. The pair left behind their appearances, their connections, even their own names.

Arriving at the inner rim, the same world Holly was born, the weary mother and son met an active duty jet by the name of Deverus. Having just returned from a long, bloody conflict in the Laiviet system, he took pity and offered the pair refuge. Holly and Deverus quickly fell together, having shaken Bax and the syndicate off their tail. Together for a year, they married, becoming mates shortly thereafter. Holly learned how wonderful life could be with a loving male by her side. Rejoining the Galactic Corps and assigned to a different unit, she made friends with the various male and female jets in her squadron. The squadron leader, Fiori, became the closest thing to a father figure Holly knew. For six years, Holly led a happy life. Until Bax reared his ugly head. Following Holly’s departure, he remarried and produced a new heir. However, because Desmodus still lived, he was next in the line of succession. The syndicate would pass on to him rather than the son he had with another jet. Bax’s complaints were pointless. The rules were absolute.

If his son Barron was to lead the syndicate one day, Desmodus had to go. This also presented an opportunity for Bax to exact payback for Holly’s defiance. After all, a marriage to the Westcross family is not simply cast aside. Wanting to tie up loose ends and eliminate his ‘lesser heir,’ Bax and several syndicate thugs travelled to the inner rim. The group attacked Desmodus while he attempted to flee, striking down the 12 year old jet with sheer malice before his mother’s eyes. Holly’s entire world came to an end. Her son. Murdered. By his own father, no less. She couldn’t fathom why. What Bax said before delivering the killing shot provided a few clues.

“Son, I hope you can forgive me. I take no pleasure in doing this. However, you being here is just…bad for business. You wouldn’t have wanted my position anyway, so, call it a favor.”

Wanting to give in to grief, Holly attempted to take her own life but was thwarted by Deverus, the only other person in the universe who loved her. Talking her out of committing suicide, Holly agreed. If she died, Bax won. She would be forever trapped. Forever his slave. Driven by an inconsolable rage and lust for vengeance, Holly once again removed her Galactic Corps paint, except for the wedge shaped art on her nose and a two strips along her fuselage bearing her nickname and the name of her son. She sought out Umbra, the same band of cutthroats her mother once belonged to. Succeeding in tracking the villainous band down, Holly joined them. Upon identifying herself, the members stared in shock. Doris’s daughter lived. Although her mother was once a vital member of Umbra, lord Cyrus refused to support her personal vendetta against the Westcross syndicate. The organization was vast, organized, and knew how to cover its tracks. He would not risk his men or allies for what he deemed a suicide mission. Holly countered, having him dead to rights.

Cyrus tried to force Doris into marrying him, a claim he didn’t deny. If he hadn’t, Watkiss would never have crossed her path and Holly herself wouldn’t exist. For what he put Doris through, Holly felt he owed her a favor. Cyrus agreed. He loved Doris, but she didn’t love him back. He drove her away. His decision had come back to haunt both mother and daughter. After she gave up Holly and returned to Umbra, Doris went insane and had to be removed from Umbra. Taken to reside somewhere quiet in the outer rim, she died peacefully and was laid to rest with respect. Cyrus knew he was to blame for many of Holly’s sufferings. He owed her, but he refused to lead his mean to the deaths by starting a war with the Westcross syndicate. Undeterred, Holly suggested that new leadership was needed. Challenging lord Cyrus to an airborne duel, she lost. Holly was undoubtedly talented but had much to learn about combat. Cyrus had to ask. How far was she willing to go to seek revenge?

“As far as I have to.”

For the next two years, Holly flew with Umbra under Cyrus’s command. Pillaging merchant vessels, stealing their riches, and ransoming hostages in small operations. Combining pirate tactics with those she learned in the Galactic Corps, Holly began to outperform her fellow cutthroats. Still married to Deverus, who didn’t condone her actions, he essentially lived two lives. One as an honorable member of the Galactic Corps, and another as an ally to a band of merciless space pirates. Still, he held out for Holly. He never stopped loving her and supported Umbra every so often. Once again, Holly challenged Cyrus. Now stronger and more experienced, she emerged from the duel triumphant. Her first order as lord was to find Bax and his son Barron. Locating him fairly quickly, Holly confronted him alone, to give Bax a personal sendoff. Bax wasn’t surprised to see her again. He even professed his regret. He claimed he didn’t want to lead the syndicate any longer. Knowing she was coming to kill him, he sent his son and wife away, to lead different lives outside the syndicate. Lastly, he asked for her forgiveness.

“I know I’m a bad man. I know what I did was wrong. Can you forgive me?”

Holly’s rage nearly exploded. She knew better. He was a criminal through and through. He was incapable of something sensible like forgiveness. From her mouth, a single word emerged.

“No.”

Fleeing the compound, Bax refused to die without a fight. Holly pursued, chasing him at breakneck speed. Leaving her fellow pirates to contend with the guards, Holly pursued Bax, who was rapidly pulling ahead. The intense pursuit lasted an hour. Until at last, Holly caught up and struck him down with the same malice and lack of mercy he showed Desmodus. Finally, her son’s murder was avenged. Bax’s son and wife were located shortly thereafter. Now square with Bax and having no quarrel with Barron, she let him and his mother go. However, Holly wasn’t satisfied yet. She wanted the entire Westcross syndicate, now under Bail’s control, to pay for their mistreatment of her while in Bax’s company. No longer was she Holly, peacekeeper and soldier of the Galactic Corps. Henceforth, her name was Spacefire. The Grey Phoenix. The pirate lord. A mother’s love had turned the once beautiful space capable jet into a monster. For the next 37 years, Spacefire waged war against the Westcross syndicate. She and her small band systematically chipped away at the group. Stunting its expansion and compromising its smuggling operations.

Under her leadership, Umbra assassinated leaders, raided bases of operation, and stole back wealth the syndicate stole. Not interested in money, she returned the stolen wealth to its original owners. A hero to the meek, Spacefire was no Robin Hood. Cold and indifferent, she was no one’s friend. Throughout her time as lord, most of the original members, even a few who knew her mother, remained loyal. Once a minor nuisance, Umbra became a household name and a legitimate threat. The group’s small size allowed them to easily disappear. They amassed numerous allies throughout the galaxy. Even as far as the wealthy inner rim worlds. Still a powerful organization, the Westcross syndicate’s influence was waning due to the persistent attacks. As for Spacefire herself, she retained her centerline rotary plasma cannon from her Corps days, along with other niceties such as a cloaking device, weapons bay for housing bunker busting missiles, and engine upgrades for enhanced spaceflight performance. She also gained two large bore plasma cannon pods and two rocket pods, ideal for disabling engines and breaching hulls.

A highly skilled flier and brilliant tactician, a favorite tactic was to shadow a syndicate vessel with her cloaking device active, then deactivate her cloaking device, swoop in, and blindside her enemies. Filling them with the same panicked fear and dread she once felt. Known for not taking prisoners, she didn’t kill the innocent. Despite her ruthless nature, she wasn’t needlessly cruel toward those she had no quarrel with. She took life and spared life when appropriate. Her singular goal was to bring down the Westcross syndicate and eliminate Bail, the now vengeful lord overseeing its operations. Although highly successful, influential, and wealthy, Spacefire’s personal life was nothing short of miserable. Still griefstricken and depressed about Desmodus after so many years, the one person she loved was Deverus. Despite having grown distant, their love remained true. One day, Spacefire encountered a young man, a human named Maddox, while at her lair deep in the galaxy’s outer rim. Dismissive of him at first, he proved himself as a maintainer. Over many months, Spacefire grew comfortable in his presence. Comfortable enough to speak about her past life.

When Maddox spoke about his own life, orphaned due to an accident caused by the Westcross syndicate, both realized they had a lot in common. By now, Spacefire knew the truth about her parents. She could’ve lived a normal life had her father not died. She was not the unwanted spawn of a prostitute. As Spacefire grew older, she fell out of love with her quest for revenge. Now in her 70’s, age had begun to catch up to her. She began to reconsider her choices and priorities. This lifelong quest was getting her nowhere. She’d led men and jets to their deaths. Bail remained elusive. Thanks to pressure imposed by governments across the galaxy, Westcross syndicate was beginning to collapse on itself anyway. Learning to trust Maddox and open up to him, she’d grown fond of the young man. And then, like a blindfold had lifted from her eyes, Spacefire saw the error of her ways. She didn’t want to be a pirate lord anymore. She wanted to get back with her husband. Live out the remainder of her life quietly and walk away from the game.

She knew plenty of backcountry worlds she and Deverus could disappear. Then, one day, Bail was discovered and captured alive in the mid rim. Brought to trial and jailed in the inner rim, the Westcross syndicate all but collapsed without his leadership. Upon hearing the news, the quest for vengeance had ended. Bail would finally face his comeuppance. Spacefire was no more. Holly had returned. Gathering the members of Umbra, she announced that henceforth, the group was disbanded. Those shanghaied into servitude and those who joined on their own free will were free to leave. She was no longer leader and would retire with her husband. The announcement came as a surprise due to the lack of notice. Nevertheless, her followers, including a now very old Cyrus, honored her word. Bidding their farewells after serving by her side for so many years, they too had contingency plans to disappear. Holly and Deverus retired to a small colony in the outer rim. Owing her ‘reawakening’ to Maddox, Holly arranged passage for him to accompany them. With Deverus by her side, Holly found peace.

Removing her weapons and the nose art she carried for so many years, Holly returned to a completely natural appearance and her travels came to an end. Within a year of her retirement as a dreaded pirate lord, Holly fell pregnant with a son. Emerging black as the night sky, he was named Corbis. Mere months after his birth, Holly unexpectedly fell pregnant again. With twins. Finally able to let go of her past and focus on the present, Holly finally got to live the life she always wanted. Maddox was a frequent visitor, having made a life for himself at the colony. Unfortunately, right when Holly’s spirits were at their highest, Deverus suffered a mechanical failure and crashed. The colony’s medics managed to stem his many leaks, but he wouldn’t fly again. Not without significant repairs, which couldn’t be carried out there. Holly, completely devastated, was relieved to still have her husband. He would be repaired and fly again one day. Sadly, Deverus’s prognosis went from favorable to bleak. He ultimately succumbed to his wounds. For the second time in her life, Holly’s world came to an end.

Thrown into an intense state of mourning and weighed down by grief even more powerful than what she felt after her son’s death, she accompanied his body back to the inner rim for burial. Laying her husband to rest, she elected to move there, into the same dwelling she and Deverus lived in when they first met. Maddox followed her to the inner rim. Holly also received support from Deverus’s parents, his younger sister Ren, and an old friend from his days in the Galactic Corps, Ronald. Still an expecting mother, Holly could only mourn for so long. She had Corbis to raise, along with his future siblings. Holly vowed to move on, for her children’s sake. Then, a month after her husband’s death, Holly was attacked. By Bail. He’d broken out of prison and avoided the authorities. Badly injured, Holly attempted to pursue, but was instead captured by his most loyal followers. Held prisoner in an isolated house in the hills, Holly was chained down and subjected to electroshock torture. Just what Bax did to her years ago.

Already knowing Bail killed her husband, he happily explained why to erase any lingering doubt. He wanted revenge for the death of his brother at her hands and for all the trouble she and her pirate band gave him. He learned where they lived and sabotaged Deverus by having him unknowingly fitted with faulty parts, which lead to his death. Finally, he was going to kill her. Forever removing a thorn in his side. But not before she saw Corbis go first. The pained cries of her young son motivated Holly to break free of the heavy chains holding her down. Having removed her weapons, she instead laid waste with her powerful jaws. Cutting down every man and jet who dared oppose her, she killed them all. Once again, a mother’s love turned her into a monster. Upon reaching Bail who moved in to finish Corbis, the two jets fought. Snarling and tearing into each other like beasts, Holly ultimately emerged victorious. Nearly wrenching his head from the rest of his frame, she threw down the last prominent member of the Westcross family and rescued Corbis.

Critically wounded, Holly nearly died from fluid loss. Her final act of vengeance nearly led to her undoing. Nevertheless, she survived and slowly healed. The death of Bail marked the end of the Westcross syndicate. Having produced no heirs, there was no succession of leadership. The final remnants were stamped out for good by the Galactic Corps. Months later, she delivered the twins with the help of Ren, Ronald, and Maddox. Cyrus and several former Umbra members were also present. Naming them Lucia and Maddox, Holly vowed to raise her children with love and never let them stray down the dark path she had. Two years after their birth, Holly met Sir Becklin. A spy working for the Inner Galactic Navy, he was an exceptionally rare breed of jet. The fastest, craftiest, and most reclusive jet species of all, Sir Becklin’s own past was wrought with turmoil and grief. His homeworld was captured by the Nexis empire long ago. Members of his species were systematically slaughtered due to the threat they posed. Sir Becklin, a descendant of three families that survived, lost his own family in an unrelated event.

Although a highly unlikely pairing, Holly and Sir Becklin confided in one another. She told him the truth about her past. Deverus’s passing and how much he meant to her, along with her misdeeds as a pirate lord. Sir Becklin had a few regrets as well. Such as the inner rim governments using the intelligence he uncovered to blackmail other systems. Living together for two years, they married. Three years after that, Holly gave birth to twins. Crossbreeds they named Gregoris and Joline. Together with Sir Becklin by her side, Holly watched her children grow. She watched as they found love and went off the lead lives of their own. In the end, she got what she always wanted. A loving family and a quiet life. During the final years of her life, she spoke about her experiences as a pirate lord. Previously, she kept that chapter of her life between herself, Maddox, Sir Becklin, Ren, and Ronald. Her children, born after Umbra disbanded, never knew beforehand. They would often read about Spacefire and her deeds in school. Never once did they suspect their own mother was Spacefire.

Holly lived for 131 Earth years. The stress she lived with during her reign as Umbra’s lord and the injuries she sustained during her battle with Bail took many years off her life. Following her death, she was laid to rest with Deverus and Desmodus to her left, and her parents to her right.