Jim checked all his gear, making sure everything was in place and secure. Over the past few years, he had used this particular passageway so often that he knew everything about it. Matter of fact, he had been the one to construct it.
Usually, it was his safe space, the last port before getting out of his safety. By now, he should be very used to his own coming and going, but now, he was taking a moment's pause. Today's mission would determine everything about his future, and he had to be extra careful.
Once everything was checked and rechecked a hundred times, Jim finally breathed and pressed the button. Immediately, like a veil being drawn, the wall that just in front of him was pulled up, exposing a dark tunnel.
When he would pass here, especially when going out of his lair, Jim often joked to himself whether he was underground of was now going underground. This was because, while his entire structure was built underground, one would hardly think it if they somehow arrived blindfolded and without a clue how they got there.
This was the way Jim liked it. From early on, he was very clear that he would be spending a lot of his time underground, and away from anyone. Hence, he had determined that he would need a place with better aesthetics, even added a little bit of Feng Shui just for this.
However, after several months of living alone, he quickly realized he could not continue like this. He had access to high-speed internet from his ship's console, and he had been keeping his days busy churning out new machinery and buildings, all in an effort to get his goals done. Despite all these, he realized he could not live alone, and chatting with people who were literally worlds apart was just not going to cut it.
Hence, he had decided to interact with the locals. The problem was, they were developmentally eons back from his time. This had been done intentionally.
As humanity grew, they continuously expanded their capabilities, and their exploration of the universe. Before the turn of the thirty second century, humanity had already explored much of the milky way galaxy, colonizing new planets and expanding their reach.
As a consequence, there arose large corporations that grew so widespread that they commanded entire star systems and star clusters. Under these places, their word was law, and they basically formed the government.
Corporation-formed governments were extremely ruthless and were known to engage in all manner of atrocities. Many of them were said to be myths, but as Jim stood on that planet, he had found proof that some of these atrocities were not hearsay, as the corporations would have you believe.
After getting into some trouble in his youth, Jim's life had taken a turn for the worst, with him ending up an outlaw. This was a touchy subject that he never wished to discuss, but one that haunted him until today.
However, things took a turn once more, and his life started looking up. Turns out, being a criminal and having a genius IQ were a match made in heaven. It didn't take long before he was well known in the underground scene. For a while, he became the guy to go to when it came to all matter's technology and circuitry.
Eventually, the life on the run caught up with him, rather, it almost did. He remembered narrowly missing the blockade that had been put in place just for him. That was when he decided it was time to enact his plan. Not this plan, but a different plan, one born when he discovered some dark secrets about the corporation that ran his life.
Finally, after a few minutes of walking in darkness, he finally came out of the dark tunnel. Jim was dressed in the same clothes he had worn every time he'd come out. He had a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back. He looked every inch like a huntsman; the persona he was using to infiltrate this village.
Looking around, he did not spot anyone. The opening of the cave that led to his dark tunnel was in a small mountain. Years ago, before his arrival, this mountain did not exist.
Even now, he could still remember it, how he touched down with his ship, that was almost falling apart. It had taken heavy damage trying to get him the hell out of dodge, but luckily, he'd managed to escape their encirclement.
Jim was sure that there were still law-enforcement officers hunting for him, so he decided to go to the most remote place he could think of. From there, he would rebuild, perhaps one day come back, bigger and better.
All these were distant dreams he didn't think of anymore. Not because he had given up on them, but a different plan had been slowly taking shape, and that was the reason for his escapade that day.
Jim discovered that there were hidden planets, labelled as 'harvest' planets. While the name gave a bad connotation, the idea behind it was slightly different.
Corporations needed a robust workforce to keep them running. They also needed more men to populate their armies, more people to be used in secret experiments, you name it. Usually, they had all the supply they could get from the planets that were under them, also known as colony planets. Jim was born on such a colony planet.
In some cases, corporations would set aside a functionally livable planet. They would go about duplicating the conditions of earth, down to the macro and microbiology. Once done, they would then capture members of the public arbitrarily and set them to go live, and colonize, this new world.
Without tools and machinery, these humans would not be of any threat to the corporations. Many corporations which had such practices would let the harvest planets develop for several millennia, before arriving as saviors and heroes, assisting in breaching the gap and incorporating the new world into their territory.
When he first came into contact with this information, Jim was not quite sure on all the reasons behind this. In his mind, rich people did weird things all the time, so this was no different. Many who had heard of such tales thought it was a myth, and so did Jim, until that moment he was desperate.
Being youthful and overflowing with curiosity, Jim had once managed to hack and gotten the coordinates of one of these 'harvest' planets. He hadn't intended to do anything with them at first, but when he found himself in a pinch, urgently needing a remote place to hide, these coordinates became quite useful. Once he broke through the blockade, he beelined straight to this planet.
At first, Jim did not know what to expect. There were no records on the planet, apart from the fact that it was livable and had similar conditions to all the other colony planets. He wondered what state the people there would be, and whether they had made contact with the corporation yet.
Much to his shock, he found the people were barely out of the stone age, just discovering the joys of metal. To Jim, this was like hitting a jackpot. He could just hide somewhere, recuperate his strength and pillage as much as he could from the world, with its locals not knowing of his presence.
After spending several years in this planet, Jim was thinking this about making this more than just a temporary layover. Already, a real plan had formed about how he would make this place a real home. Better yet, a launch pad for his glorious days yet to come.
Tonight's escapades were the start of the plan.