Asteroids: You are the test pilot for the Space Defense Force's newest fightership, the Mod

el CX-2600. It is easily the single most advanced vessel ever built, with several pieces of new technology making their first appearance outside of a lab. Faster and more nimble than any ship before it, thanks to an inertial damper ena bling it to spin around almost instantaneously. Meaner in a fight, with a pulse cannon capable of reducing even the most dangero us objects to space dust in a matter of seconds. And tougher than ever, with phase disruption shields capable of making your vehi cle completely untouchable. While all of this is impressive, it pales before the last item on the list. A mi niature hyperspatial anomaly generator, capable of reducing the lightyears to a few seconds' travel. Sure the big spaceliner and carriers have had them for years, but never a one-ma n fighter. Heck, the full-size units are bigger than the entire CX-2600.

It was a relatively simple test flight. A weapons and maneuverability test out b y Pluto, then hyperspace back to Earth. The phase shield test was postponed due to a glitch causing a generator overload risk. Everything goes perfectly during the weapons and maneuverability tests. The cann on exceeds all expectations, and the ship really is as responsive as they said i t would be. Just one last thing to do, and you can take some downtime. You program the coordinates in and press the hyperdrive button. Almost immediatl y, space begins to warp. A carrier would've taken minutes just charging the ener gy to start the rift, but you can already see your portal opening. Home is mere moments away, as incredible as it seems. You slide into the gate, and an explosion rocks your ship! The cockpit lights fl are! Sparks arc across your controls! Miraculously, you emerge from hyperspace in one piece. Crossing your fingers, yo u look out the window, but Earth isn't there. Even worse, neither is Pluto. The computer's down, but you know enough astronomy to recognize when the stars aren' t right. Wherever you are, it isn't in the Sol system. The diagnostic panels light up as the computer reboots. You drift through space as systems test and come online, one at a time. Life support, green. At least you aren't going to suffocate out here. Sensors, online. Thrusters, OK. If this keeps up, you might be able to jump home without making repairs, and let someone else figure out what happened. Your heart sinks as the first of the errors begin to pour in. You won't be jumpi ng home, before OR after repairs. The navigation unit is fried. You have no way of knowing where you are, or how t o get home. You're totally lost. And even if it WAS working, the hyperdrive was damaged. It's only good for short

hops now, and there's a 25% chance you won't come through the process in one pi ece. Hardly fit to carry you all the way to Earth, wherever it is. Some more green lights attempt to comfort you. Your gun still works, and so does the inertial damper. If someone comes looking for a fight, you can still give it to them. Or you could fire up the comm system to ask for a ride, and pray they speak Terran. Shields weren't touched either, if you're crazy enough to try them. Final tests on the power systems come up. There's not enough energy to bring eve rything online! The generator was damaged in the explosion! Inertial dampers, phase shields, or the accursed hyperdrive. You can only use on e of your 3 biggest electrical drains. And to top it all off, you've just drifted into an asteroid belt! Swiftly you choose a system, activate it, and grab the flight stick. Switching on your distress beacon as the pulse cannon warms up, you wonder where you are. And when, or even if, help is coming. Well, it certainly won't do you any good if you get crushed by one of those rock s while you're thinking. Let the Defense Force worry about the rescue. Your miss ion is survival.