Consciousness returned. He panicked, trying to remember where he was and what he'd been doing. Laser fire flashed around him; collimated energy striking dangerously close by. Where am I? Knowledge seemed to flood back into his brain, as if being downloaded from somewhere: memories, impressions, skills. It was accompanied by a vague sense of familiarity. This has happened before... There was no time to think. He was strapped into a flight chair, a dizzying array of instruments and controls before and around him. Instinctively he knew what to do, he was an Elite Combateer after all. How did I know that? I can't even remember my name... He spun his ship around. A length of dark hull panel flashed past the viewer, followed by a cyan exhaust plume. 'Jax! What are you doing? Are you hurt?' a voice demanded from the narrow-band comms, 'Jax!' That's me, I'm Jax. Yet... A pirate attack! He must have been knocked unconscious for a moment, perhaps a missile impact or a collision with another ship.
