Exile's Burn

Iluka's family were traders, and she looked to spend the rest of her life hauling freight. That changed when the Zatvian Cooperative conquered her homeworld while she was away. Iluka and her family became privateers for the governments opposing the Zats, which added "improvements" to the ship, such as guns and bigger engines.

As the war went on, Iluka's family were killed one by one. Her replacement crew were a motley lot, consisting of those no other captain would take.

Once the war ended, Iluka gave her misfit crew a choice: go home, or continue on as pirates. The ship was renamed Exile, and Iluka's feet set on a path that grows ever darker...

Drake and his wife ran a trading ship for many years, until running afoul of the Zatvians. Drake's wife was killed, his crew disbanded, and their ship confiscated.

Devastated by his losses, Drake turned to heavy drinking. Iluka found him at his lowest moment, and offered him a choice: to remain as he was, contibuting nothing, until he died alone, or to sober up and join her crew.

Neva was in medical school when the Zatvian Cooperative attacked her homeworld, Harvest. In the chaos that followed, Neva and her fiance, Devin, were drafted to the front lines and ended up at a gun emplacement on Mabon, one of Harvest's moons. An attack killed Devin and left Neva severely injured; while she was being evacuated to an out-system hospital, Harvest was destroyed.

The utter annihilation of Harvest resulted in the wholesale surrender of every occupied system to the Zatvians. Neva was left without friends, family, or even a planet to call home. Her only link to the past was her aunt Agnes, who had joined the war early on. But during the two years Neva remained in the hospital, there no word came from her aunt, leaving Neva bitter, isolated, and angry.

Now, Neva has received a mysterious summons. Her aunt has died under unknown circumstances, and the ship she served on wants Neva to replace her. With nowhere else to go, Neva finds herself aboard the Exile, hoping to get some measure of revenge against the Zats before she goes the same way as her aunt.

Two years ago, Rat discovered himself aboard a Zatvian-held space station, with no memory of who he was or how he had gotten there. Because he was surrounded by dead Zat soldiers at the time, he decided to run, guessing he would be blamed even though he had no idea if he'd had anything to do with their deaths or not.

During the next two years, he survived by scavenging from the garbage of the station inhabitants, earning the moniker "Rat", the closest thing to a name he has. His problems didn't only consist of survival and avoiding discovery, however. Rat soon found that he is plagued with incessant voices in his head that he cannot block out; when the voices become too loud, he experiences epileptic-like seizures that seem to result in unconsciousness or injury to anyone nearby. Is he a genuine telepath, or simply crazy?

Afraid of harming those around him, Rat stows away on board a ship. His hope is that, with fewer minds around, he will be able to control the seizures more easily. Unfortunately, the ship he chooses to board is the Exile...

Marcus is the most taciturn of the Exile's crew, and doesn't speak much about his previous life. He views Rat with mixed distrust and contempt, and considers Neva's attempts to befriend the stowaway naive.

Tarak and his sister Anusha are Star Riders, a group of wanderers who dedicate their lives to discovering new jump points and systems. Tarak was captured and tortured by the Zatvians. Although Anusha rescued him, the Zats had blinded him during an "interrogation."

Anusha feels that she has to look after her brother Tarak, and is the one who got them berths on the Exile. Like Marcus, she distrusts Rat. Neva she views as a "grounder" who knows nothing and doesn't belong in space.