[TC] A Pirate's Story [Completed]

[Scion Drakhar]

1. A Pirate’s Story

!!!Contains Spoilers!!!

Right then.

Some things you should know about me. First off, I’ve been fightin’ and clawin’ my way through all the filth you ’civilized’ folk in the core sectors like to pretend don’t exist my whole life. I accepted a long time ago that life is unfair, cruel, and out to get me. With that said you’ve basically got two choices: you can lay down and die, or you can stand up and take what you need. I’m not the ’lay down and die’ type, yeah? So, you try to take what’s mine, or come after me, and you better be ready. Got it?

Borons.

They claim to be peaceful and good natured. Maybe most of ‘em are and I’ve just been travelin' the wrong circles. That’s prob'bly the case. Any ways, most of the ones I’ve met’ve the idea that makin' peace wit' you is sellin’ you to the Yaki. This one’s one of those and right now he, or it, or whatever, isn’t likin' me all that much. See, this one made the mistake of bettin’ yon starship in a game of cards wit’ me and turns out, for once, life dealt me a decent hand. Better’n his anyway. So. Now it’s mine and ‘he’ don’ like it.

Well that’s fine.

I wouldn’t either. Thing is, I’m runnin a bit short o’ time. In my line o’ work it tends to be an issue. I found out a few minutes ago that there are some Paranid aboard the tradin' station here that’re lookin’ for me. Some issue with a ‘merchant’ with a penchant for kidnappin’ that got his self blown all over his suite when he sat down for supper.

So. The Boron was being difficult and I‘d thoroughly run out of patience.

“We politely request … “

“Oh stuff it where the light don’ reach.” I shoved it’s brainbox a good poke wit’ the tip of my blaster. “And just give me kernel access to that ship or I’ll splatter the wall behind ya’ with that goo you use for innards and jus’ hack it after!”

Silence.

It’s tentacles writhed around it’s head and it’s eyes rolled in different directions. I can see it’s thinkin' too much, maybe, doubtin‘ my conviction. I squeeze the trigger just enough for the blaster’s capacitors to start to whine.

“We … agree.”

Right then.
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So, I’ve been reading a number of dead-is-dead threads and have become inspired to try one myself.

Start: Bankrupt Assassin

Rules:

1. Dead is Dead. If I get killed, end of story.
2. No reloads. If I lose an expensive ship or fail a boarding attempt then tough luck.
3. Repairs to personal ship only and only if it’s M3 or smaller. Anything else gets paid for.
4. No buying ships. If I want it I have to persuade the current owner that they’d really rather not be burdened with it’s ownership any longer and pass that responsibility over to me.

I guess that‘s it. This is very likely going to be an extremely brief thread.

[Kryten]

2. No reloads. If I lose an expensive ship or fail a boarding attempt then tough luck.

I find DiD games a bit pointlesssss. Eventually you will jump and crash into the face of a capital ship, one of the things about X that is guaranteed.

Until they make it safe to jump then DiD games are for those who pretend it never happens

[Scion Drakhar]

I find DiD games a bit pointlesssss. Eventually you will jump and crash into the face of a capital ship, one of the things about X that is guaranteed.

As I said, This is very likely going to be an extremely brief thread.

2. New Horizons

Right, then.

So. The Boron is duct taped and stuffed in a freight container back at the tradin' station and I’m heading off into wild new frontiers in my shiny new star fighter. Well, actually it’s kinda dirt colored and shadowy but that actually suits me fine and I’m grinnin' like a fool anyway. This is a mighty fine ship. Has all sorts of gizmos I haven’t even begun to toy with yet.

[ external image ]

Has my luck actually turned?

I check the local com traffic and the first thing I notice is some Paranid bloke wantin' somebody to go kill somebody else. Cool. My kinda thing. He’s even willin' to pay me for the privilege. Perfect. Right up my alley and seein' as I have, besides this ship, absolutely squat to my name one might even call it providence.

Turns out the guy this Paranid fellow wants dead is a Teladi down in Clarity’s End. It isn’t too far away, although with only ten minutes on the clock I should prob'bly get movin'.

So. I swing the nose of my new fighter toward the west gate and at exactly that moment see a hostile contact comin' through into Aladna Hill. Not unusual in and of itself. Neither the Paranid nor the Boron like me very much as a rule. Ok, so that’s puttin' it kinda light. Most of 'em would like to see me chucked out an airlock without an EVA suit, and that’d be after workin' me over for a few days.

So. Interested in who this particular hostile is I bracket it and … hmmm. That’s interestin'. Readout describes it as a pirate bounty hunter. Hmmm. I put him on one of the monitors and it seems he’s headed right for me. Seems that Paranid isn’t the only one payin' somebody to make somebody dead. Only in this case the second somebody is me and I‘m not all that fond of the arrangement. I find myself wonderin' who the employer might be. The Boron, sure, but unless he moonlight’s as an escape artist I rather doubt it. It doesn’t matter anyhoo as this bloke’s coming right at me and just opened up with his IRE's so I’ll have to worry 'bout it later.

I don’t know 'bout you but if I were sat in a light fighter with light weapons and, most important, barely existent shieldin' I wouldn’t try playin' chicken with some bloke sat in a heavy fighter with heavy weapons and, most important, far more existent shieldin'. So, in a few seconds I fly right through the expandin' remains of the former bounty hunter, may he rest in peace, and continue toward the gate he just came through.

I’m just out of the gate into Hatikva’s Faith, still ponderin' who of the many-folks-out-there-that-might-want-me-dead could’ve sent the bounty hunter after me. I’m just bankin' left toward the south gate when I get a message from no less than the 'Argon Federal Authority in Omicron Lyrae.'

[ external image ]

Whatever.

I enter Clarity’s End and see my target. He’s just over 40km away and I still have a little over seven minutes on the clock. He’s flying a slow harrier, which means he’s going substantially faster than I am. I bring him up on one of the monitors and try to plot an intercept course. After a little while, as I see the ship he’s flyin' slowly rotate around to show me it’s backside, I realize that I may be trouble. Hmmm.

[Scion Drakhar]

3. TweedleDee and TweedleDum

Right, then.

So. In a rare moment of brilliance I have an idea: I give the guy a call and demand his surrender. Worth a shot, right? The Teladi hisses back at me. He suggests that I might be makin' a joke. Then I actually get what I was hopin’ for. He banks around to get a better look at me…

…and after a brief flare of bright green death I’m just shy of 11k richer.

I’m just then grinnin' like a fool and wondering what I’m going to do with this new clink in my pocket when I check the sector map and it suddenly becomes apparent to me (by all the red on the map) that I’m in Paranid Space and, as I may have mentioned before, they don’t think very highly of me. I stop grinnin' in a hurry.

Now Clarity‘s End is just a border sector so, in truth, I‘m likely to encounter only a couple of light patrols. Still, as I’m headin' for the gate I find the time to curse myself in several different languages for what could have been, under different circumstances, a fatal mistke. Fortunately I don’t encounter any patrols on my way but just as I reach the gate and the ‘safety‘ of Hatikva‘s Faith another bounty hunter comes through and immediately starts trying to kill me. I start to wonder if this is goin' to be a long term issue.

Again, though, he’s sat in a light fighter and I in a heavy and he‘s fool enough to fly right at me. In short order the bounty hunter, may he rest in peace, is a cloud of vapor and his ship spare parts. He did leave me a present, though. 1 firelance missile and 9 energy cells. Woo hoo!

I check my ships computer and it informs me that the firelance does 500m/s, packs a (measley) 4.5k wallop and flies in a straight line. Well. I could tickle some freighter with it. If it was standing still. Maybe. Well, maybe somebody’ll buy it off me. Supposedly it’s worth a couple thousand cred.

Onward and upward, then. I exit the Hatikva’s gate and decide I’ll map the sector a bit. There are a fair number of weapons dealers and High tech traders in the area and I find myself thinkin' of 'oh how nice it would be' to get them to share the wealth. The only thing stoppin' me really is that, without a freight scanner, I have no idea what they’re carryin' or, more importantly, how well they might be armed. I’m in a pretty good ship but have no desire to find myself swarmed by fighter drones or shot at by some guy carryin' a load of missiles. So, I make a note to self to acquire one freight scanner at my earliest opportunity.

So. It’s with thoughts of pillage and plunder on my mind when I notice a freighter behind the gate to Nopileos’s Memorial headin' out into what appears to be empty space. Interestin'. I bring up the vid gogs and follow his line of travel and I see a Paranid tradin' dock sat right beside what appears to be an extensively-modified Argon capital ship way in the distance. Worth a look? Aye, I think it just might be.

It turns out I’m right. It’s a Pirate Anarchy Port and a Pirate Base sat side by side. Unfortunately they’re both as hostile toward me as the Paranids and surrounded by laser towers. I’m noticing an uncomfortable string of coincidence here. Pirate bounty hunters and pirates who hate me. I start wonderin' who that Boron really was and if I made a mistake by bullyin’ him. Then I remember that he’s a Boron and decide it was worth it.

At any rate, I can’t do any business with these guys so I turn to finish scoutin' around the sector when, being a bit twitchy, I check the sector map and see another bounty hunter. This one's coming from the Pirate Base’s behind me. Again I find myself wonderin' who that Boron actually was and if I’m going to find every Pirate in the Universe out to get me. That would be decidedly unpleasant seein' as ultimately they‘re the guys I want for friends.

So. I slag this guy, may he rest in peace, and check the map again, mostly to see if he’s got friends. This time I see that I’m both in the clear and with a business opportunity. Somebody wants somebody dead. Fortuitous, then, that I’m in the neighborhood.

Some Paranid by the name of Komanckettik’s gone and pissed somebody off and he’s up in Family Rhonkar. Again only about 10 minutes on the clock so no time to dawdle. I start makin' my way north and notice that every pirate I see is flaggin' up as hostile. There’s even a group that banks toward me. I’m doin' well over twice their speed, though, so no worries, other than that they all want me dead anyway.

I enter Thuruk’s Beard and nobody seems to hate me at the moment so that’s good. The far gate is a loooong way off though and as I make my way toward it, randomly checkin' the sector map for any more bounty hunters that might want a piece of me, I check the time on the mission and watch it drop steadily. I’m beginnin' to worry as I near the north gate when, oh hell! Another bounty hunter pops through the north gate and starts flyin' right at me.

This one seems to be a little bit more intelligent than his earlier brethren and has quite a bit more speed. He flashes past me at over 500m/s lancin' me with IRE fire as he goes. Just then I get a message. Not havin' time to check it, as there is someone tryin' to kill me, I leave it be fer the moment. A couple of passes later and the hotshot wanders into my line of fire and becomes a pretty little explosion. I turn, hit boost, and head for the gate.

Then I check the message. Crap. It’s my employer. Seems Komanckettik’s gone and got his self killed. By somebody other than me. Oh well.

So. Now what? I take the time to map out Thuruk’s beard while I mull it over. The Pirate’s Hate me. The Boron Hate me. The Paranid hate me. The Argon and Split currently don’t hate me (but probably will once I start pickin' on their traders) and the Terrans probably don‘t hate me seein' as I‘ve never met one. Thinkin' of long term allies I decide to head into Teladi space to see if I can get into their good graces. So I head through the west gate into Company Pride.

I’m just recoverin' from the dizziness of the warp tunnel when I see two things that immediately interest me in the distance. Well, three, actually. The first was another of those funny lookin' Argon capital ships. The other was these guys:

[ external image ]

A pair of Pirate Carracks stompin' the bejeezus out of the whole north end of Company pride.

[Scion Drakhar]

4. Unlikely Gratitude

Right then.

So. Given the amount of firepower in the neighborhood, and the recent inclination of the all the pirates I’ve met recently to use said firepower on ME, one would think I’d turn around and head right back through yon gate behind me. So what do I do? Right. I head straight on up the sector so I can rubberneck more efficiently.

Now, I was under the impression that the Teladi and the pirates got along, but from where I was sat that sure was not the case. The two carracks had a good sized cloud of fighters as an escort and when they were done blowin' up everythin' at the north end of Company Pride they moved on south, continuin' to put the smackdown on the whole sector. As I watched dozens of fighters and freighters and even a Teladi Heavy Osprey were incinerated and reduced to cinders. Now these guys didn’t seem to like me any more than any of the rest so I did my best not to get anywhere near them. The Pirate Base, as that was what that funny lookin’ Argon ship was, didn‘t like me either, although if I’d had the cred I could’ve gotten it hacked by not one but two hackers offerin' their services in the sector. Unfortunately (I thought at the time) that wasn’t the case so I contented myself to sit back and watch Tweedledee, Tweedledum and their friends stomp all over anythin' in their immediate vicinity.

They made a hell of a mess. It was, for me, a very nice mess seeing as in their passin crates containing all sorts of goodies were gettin' strewn all over. So, as they made their way south I very carefully crept from the shadows to steal what they’d left in their wake. Along with an enormous amount of energy cells there were quite a few missiles. Many were light, dumbfire missiles that, given my reliance on my targetin' computer, weren’t very useful to me. Amidst the debris, however, there were quite a few choice tidbits. There was even a tomahawk, which, after readin' it’s description in the encyclopedia, I found myself wishing I had a bomber to shoot it with.

At any rate by scamperin' along behind the Carracks and, while giving them plenty of room, runnin' to the Equipment dock and back I managed to accumulate enough cash to buy a freight scanner and upgrade my cargo bay completely. I also noticed that the Teladi would sell me a security license. I found this to be 'profoundly humorous.' First off, the Teladi will trade in just about anythin', and second who in their right mind would pay ME to secure anythin'? So I bought it. Consider it a keepsake. Besides, with it I can use my nifty new freight scanner in Teladi space without gettin' in any trouble.

There were some flies in the ointment, however. Bounty hunters. Yup. LOTS of bounty hunters. They were coming in pairs now, and by the time I was all done scavengin' the sector I’d killed ten of them. It seemed like every time I undocked from the EQ another pair were waitin' fer me. I distinctly got the impression that someone was rattin' me out. Well, I guess that’s what you get dealin' with the Teladi.

So. Eventually the two bruisers and their buddies left the sector through the east gate and I’m rather curious to see what Thuruk’s Beard looks like atm. I was just about to head through yon east gate when I noticed a brilliant flash in the north.

[ external image ]

Apparently the Teladi were none too happy with the behavior of the pirates and decided to express their displeasure with some thermonuclear warheads. A moment later and there was a blindin' explosion and the pirate base ceased to be anythin' but a burnt out husk. There were a few more tidbits in the wreckage, though, includin' more e-cells, some spaceflies and good number of party supplies.

Still, sure am glad I wasn’t able to afford that hack.

[Nick Northern]

Good read Scion. Keep it up. I like story/game experiences like this. Reads like yours encourage others to expand X3 play and try different avenues of the game.

I plan on my next game start to be a militant/patriotic Boron story/game myself. Rules would be Split is kill on site from day 1, use only Boron produced weapons/shields/ships and factories, only use Boron marines, and my end-game would be to conquer all Split sectors with perma-occ fleets.

I will enjoy the rest of your thread as it unfolds.

[Scion Drakhar]

Good read Scion. Keep it up. I like story/game experiences like this. Reads like yours encourage others to expand X3 play and try different avenues of the game.

I plan on my next game start to be a militant/patriotic Boron story/game myself. Rules would be Split is kill on site from day 1, use only Boron produced weapons/shields/ships and factories, only use Boron marines, and my end-game would be to conquer all Split sectors with perma-occ fleets.

I will enjoy the rest of your thread as it unfolds.

Thanks. Thanks a bunch.
That sounds like a lot of fun. Honestly, I haven't actually thought in terms of an endgame for this character. His 'quality of life' setting is sort of stuck on 'survive,' at least for the moment...

... and with that said:

5. Near Death Experience

Right, then.

So. I left the EQ for the last time with my nifty-difty new freight scanner, my maxed out cargo hold and my token security license. At least I thought it was ’token’ when I nabbed it. Turns out the instant it was in mine all sorts of new missions started poppin' up on the comm. The first one, which I found as amusin' as the license itself, was some Teladi fella' wantin' me to scan passin' traders for illegal goods, the payoff bein' that he'd pay me a 'percentage of the value' of anythin' I found. (huh!) In Teladi space. Riiiight. THAT sounds like it’d pay. I mean really, what DON’T the Teladi trade in? Spaceflies and Space Fuel? Considerin' I had both in my hold I thought it 'prudent' to decline. Lookin' back. I'm not sure if I missed an oppo'tunity there.

The next one was a guy wantin' me to stop a couple blokes from destroyin' his station. Considerin' it involved killin' people I decided it fit my job description and accepted his offer. I’m not sure what he was so worked up 'bout, though. The two fella's that showed up were in a pair o’ discoverers and I’m pretty sure they could’ve unloaded everythin' they had at his station 'ad infinitum' without accomplishin' much more than'n 'inferiority complex.' But hey, who am I to argue? He was, after all, payin' me to kill people.

After a few minutes of chasin' 'em around his station I lost my patience and fired off a pair o' the hurricanes I’d salvaged. Right. Job done.

After that the only job available that didn’t require a freighter or an inclination to listen to some bloke tell me I should really get a transport ship was a patrol mission and frankly that was just a bit too much like being a cop for me and so I declined. Now, considerin' that Teladi fella seemed to have found someone to do his scans fer him and, like I said, I actually had illegals in my hold (in Teladi space. That still kinda tickles me) I decided to skip town and head for Thuruk’s Beard.

I’m not sure where those Carracks got too but they weren’t in TB, at least not that I could see. It is a big sector. Still, I didn’t see any of the fireworks that I'd seen around 'em in Company Pride, and I did look. Anyhoo, I tried unloadin' the spaceflies at the split tradin' port but no one there wanted 'em. No one in the area seemed to be lookin' for anyone with my resume to do anythin' so I decide to head for HF and try out my new freight scanner. When I get to HF I was surprised with some very good news. Not sure how or why but BOTH the pirate base and the anarchy port were friendly. Well, fer somethin' like that I don't got to be told twice, so I docked, unloaded the illegals in my hold and bought a cargo life support unit. Then I decided I’d try improvin' my rep with 'em a bit more. ‘Try’ being the word here.

The only mission they were offerin' at the time was a cargo pick up and delivery for (huh!) radioactive waste!? (I don’t even WANT to know.) I wasn’t sure if it’d fit in my fighter but since I was desperate to make friends with 'em I took the job. So, I shot back up into Thuruk’s Beard to pick up the goods, where I was politely told I needed a freighter. Crap. Abortin' the mission I head back down to HF to see what else I could pick up. As soon as I entered the sector I discovered that apparently that radioactive waste meant a great deal to those pirates as …


[ external image ]

Damn.

Grittin' my teeth I decided that at this point I'd take my frustrations out on some trader wit' bad timin'. I found an asteroid ’round about the center o' the sector where I could both keep my back up against a wall and watch both east-west and north-south traffic. It left the outer ring traffic out o' reach but there were enough marks passin' by for me to eventually find one I liked. That one bein' a Paranid weapons dealer flying a Teladi Falcon. I scanned his hold and he had no fighter drones and only a couple o' disruptor missiles. He did have a 200mj shield, but I was pretty confident I’d be able to be 'persuasive' despite that. He also had a number of PAC’s and a couple of PRG’s, and since he was weildin' HEPT’s I knew they were cargo. Now I know that weapons like that can fetch a pretty good price. If I could get it all I’d be lookin’ at well over a million cred. That, in turn, would go a long way to sortin’ out my sitch with the pirates if, that is, I can find another hacker … and pref'rably a station not in 'imminent peril' of being blown into ‘pirate-shaped-chunky-bits.’

So I slipped in behind the guy and opened up on him wit' both barrels. He chucked a couple of missiles at me but they get blown up right next to 'im. Bein' low yield and him with a heavy shield they only help me out. So, in short order, I get him to start screamin’ abuse at me while spewin' crates out behind him. After a lil' while I’m satisfied with what’s floatin' in space behind us and turn 'round to go get it.

Now … that was a mistake. One I paid for dearly. See, I may have been done wit' him but he sure wasn’t done wit' me. Just as I was linin’ up on the nearest crate HE opened up on ME wit' both barrels. He also seemed to have a couple more missiles than I thought he did. The first one caught me square in the *** and sent me sideways. The HEPT fire at that point cut right through my 25mj shield as if it weren’t there. In heartbeats I was losin’ hull.

I hit boost and started corkscrewin’ in attempt to throw off his aim but he wasn’t havin’ any of it. Another missile connected and afterward I had no idea which way I was headed. The only thin' that saved me was my speed. I retreated to a safe distance and, lettin' my heart slow down, checked out the sitch I was in. My hull was down to 61% and I’d lost my vid gogs. He was still comin’ for me, and was now in between me and my shinies, and, as if to add insult to injury, the Pirate Bases were bracketed in red behind him.

Oh, to hell with this!

Now, I was happy to let him go once I’d gotten what I wanted, but since he wants to play rough, rough it is. I open my inventory of high explosives and, lookin’ at the beluga, thought that it looked just fine. Now the beluga is very nice missile. It’s a 100k warhead sitting on a 211m/s rocket. I felt a very feral grin on my face as I bracketed the SoB and unleashed it. Then I loosed the few wasps in my possession to distract him ... and his turret ... and the horse he rode in on. Then, considerin' his shield was just under 30%, I sat back and waited for him to explode.

It was very nice explosion. A bright white halo completely enveloped and consumed him, may he burn in slow, unrelentin' torment forever. I’d have gotten a picture but my hands were, at that moment, still shakin’ and I didn’t honestly think about it. Afterward I collected what was left of my treasure (I think some of went up in the explosion.) All said and done I ended up with 1 Disruptor missile, 1 PAC, and 1 PRG. Not the haul I was hopin’ for, but I’ll take it nonetheless.

Lesson learned though: Never, EVER turn my back on anythin’ that might want to kill me.

[Scion Drakhar]

6. Acts of a Piratical Nature

Right then.

So. With that Paranid properly vaporized and my hard won treasure safely in the cargo hold I begin the task of repairin’ my ship. Repairin’ an M3 is a pain in the *** as it takes a good long time. That + bein’ in nothing’ but a spacesuit in a pirate sector while pirates seem to want me dead … well suffice to say I felt just a bit exposed. After what felt like a lifetime of emptyin’ my repair laser’s charge pack and checkin’ the sector map I was finally ready to go. My cargo hold was only a little over a 3rd of the way full so I wanted to continue my piracy. Lookin’ about, though, I saw the Argon Military was in the neighborhood, which would have been great a few minutes earlier, but now the Paranid'r a rumor and the only marks I liked were Boron and, not wantin’ to upset yon Colossus, I felt it might be a good idea to leave them be. So, after a good long wait I decided to see if my luck was any better in Nopileos’ Memorial.

I seem to have the same problem in NM. There’s a Minotaur + escort cruisin' slowly from the west to east gates and not a single Paranid in sight that I might use (by stompin’ on) to curry a little favor with the Argon military. Apparently the Argon consider me a ‘confirmed antagonist‘, which kinda cheers me up a 'lil, even though it's kinda a prob'. It doesn’t seem to be kill on sight status, but if I ever want to buy a jumpdrive it’s somethin' I might want to do somethin’ about seein’ as my only other option is Atreus Headquarters, which is waaaay the hell over on the other side of the universe and completely out o' the question anyhoo due to the Boron havin’ this idea'r that I really shoulda' been drowned at birth. A last resort is to start capturin’ ships and hope for the best, which if my standin’ drops any more with the Argon is somethin’ I may have to resort ta.

So, anyhoo, I cruise on past the Minotaur and his escort whistlin' softly to myself and doin' my best to look as harmless as a wee mouse. It apparently worked as nobody took a shot at me.

Leavin' the Minotaur behind me I start scannin' ships as I cruise slowly toward the gate to Danna’s Chance. In the distance I see a couple Terracorps ships turnin' some Boron Freight Transporter in a Barracuda inta fried fish. This both pleases and confuses me somewhat, but then so did watchin' a pair of pirate M7’s throw a temper tantrum all over Company Pride. The Boron leaves a Disruptor missile and some space flies floatin' in space and my inclination is to think that maybe he wasn’t a freight transporter at all but a pirate on the sly. In any case I scurry on over to grab the goodies. At that moment an Argon weapons dealer exit’s the gate and cruises on past me in a Nova. I scan him and immediately pause. He’s got PRG’s, PAC’s, and IRE’s in his cargo hold along with a pair of Hammerheads. I think it was the Hammerheads that did it. I mean, really, who doesn’t like a nice thermonuclear warhead?

So, checkin' ta' make sure yon Minotaur is safely outta scan range I turn my attention to what I'm hopin' is a nice haul. Now the Nova has a rear turret which is kinda' dangerous. So, not wantin' to come at him from either front or back I decide to make passes at him, seein' as how I’m almost twice as fast as 'im. My first pass goes well and I strip his shield clean down to the hull. I comm him and politely request he drop his freight. He says somethin' impolite. Now that's not nice, says I. There's no need to be RUDE. I make another pass. I comm him again. More discourtesy. Rinse and repeat until he gets that I mean it and starts droppin' crates.

Now, I want'cha to know, I did my best to leave him alive. I really did. All I wanted was his freight and once he gave it me I was perfectly happy to let him go. I don’t know what it is with these guys. Do they WANT me to kill them? Didn’t I demonstrate that I have that ability when I was askin' them, oh so politely, to drop freight? This Argon was tryin' as hard as the Paranid before him to get his self killed. I tried makin' high speed runs on the crates and even managed to nab a couple but this guy had PRG’s and it turns out those're actually pretty hard to sidestep. I tried zippin' out o' range and waitin' for him to leave but he kept comin'. I felt like a big kid holdin' an angry little kid back by the head. -Sigh- So I blew him up. I felt properly guilty about it, but there was a pair of PAC’s floatin' in space that I needed to collect and he was makin' it right difficult.

Now while this was goin' on a Boron came through the gate and he had even more weapons that I wanted. I just wish I’d noticed his escort before I started shootin' at him. I would have killed 'em anyway. It was kinda' a necessity. It just would have saved me some aggravation. This Boron was at least smart enough to shove off after droppin' the goods. Although he did continue takin' pot shots at me with that rear turret as he went.

So, anyhoo, I scooped up my treasure and .. then the pirates showed up. I made like a banana as soon as I saw 'em but one of 'em was in a harrier and was, consequently, much faster than me. I didn’t want to kill him either, seein' as how I’m kinda desperate to get on their good side, but it was, too, a necessity. Even with 25mj of shieldin' constant IRE fire hurts after a bit. So I dropped a hurricane and heard him promise to see me on the other side, which I think means he'll see me in hell, just before he exploded. This pirate sitch is gettin' serious. On the bright side I haven’t seen my bounty hunter friends in a while. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen 'em since I bought this Teladi security license. I wonder …

I make a wide circle around the two novas that came with the guy I just killed and zip through the gate into Danna’s Chance, hopin' they won’t follow. Shortly after enterin' the sector some Yaki comms me and, surprise surprise, he doesn’t want to kill me. On the contrary he wants to hire me … to go and kill some other folks. Right then. My kinda work. Seems there’s this convoy he doesn’t want gettin' where it’s goin' and he’d like me to do somethin' 'bout it. Now I wish he’d give me a few more details before I agree to this, but seein' as how my list of friends at the moment comes down to the Split and the Teladi, and seein' as how the Split will prob'bly hate me after they get done talkin' to their Paranid buddies, another ally sounds like somethin' worth takin' a risk fer.

So I accept. Turns out the convoy is headin' to Perditions End. Now he gives me their co-ordinates (I guess he has a tracker on one of the ships) but I haven’t explored the sectors they’re in which means flyin' blind into ... oh brother ... Paranid space.

Huh. Why did my throat just constrict some?

[Scion Drakhar]

7. Paran(o)id

Right then.

So. Nothin' for it. A job’s a job. This one just has some extra complications. That’s all. Right. Yeah. Ok. Breathe.

I turn my trusty mamba south and follow the tracker on the convoy. I make my way into Priest’s Pity and, takin' a round about course away from the sector center and any possible patrols, head through the west gate into Priest Rings, a bloody core sector. As I enter I'm immediately commed by the Paranid military and informed that I am both a subspecies and not permitted in the sector. This actually perks me up some. It seems insultin' me is a good way to get my spine straight. So, I respond with some vulgarity, flip off the comm and head for the south gate.

Now the really scary toys they've got can’t keep up with me so aren‘t much of a worry. My two biggest headaches are the missiles they seem to like throwin' my way and the light/medium fighters. I got lucky in that I didn’t have to deal with 'em both at the same time. I also got lucky that they didn’t throw any swarms at me. As it was I got thoroughly chewed up by the fighters before I could kill 'em, usin' the last of my disruptors/hurricanes in the process, and barely had time to track and fire mosquitoes at the several hammer heavies yon Ares had lobbed at me. (Glad they weren‘t flails!) The rest I ignored as they were Belugas and Tomahawks which apparently I can outrun, or at least outpace. Even so, I arrived in Dukes Domain with my shields still rechargin'. Only to receive the same insult and warnin'. Great.

At least I could see my target. It’s a three freighter convoy headin' for the east gate into … hey wait a minute! Aw, hell! At that moment my stupidity became blindin'ly apparent to me as I realize that if I’d just gone south I coulda' cut 'em off in Emperor’s Ridge and avoided all this hoodoo in the core sectors. I'm still cursin' at myself as the next wave of fighters lay into me, and this time I'm (just about) out of light-fighter killers.

Needin' to deal with them fast so I can outrun the heavies behind 'em I run straight at 'em. There's four of 'em. Three M5 Pegasusesses (?) and an M4 Pericles. I took 2 of the M5’s and the M4 out on approach as they were lined up 'quite nicely.' Then I cut engines, whip about, and wait for the last one to make his move … smack into HEPT fire. At that point I turned toward the convoy and hit boost. They were pretty close to the gate and 'though I had a plan they were too close to bein' out o' sector and too spread out to make it work.

Now, even though I was arcin' wide around the Nemesis and it's Perseus escort I was only 20 kilometers away when the last of the convoy exited the sector. I was gettin' more missile warnin's, but settin' a course for the gate and swingin' the outer camera around to track 'em, I saw that the only two I had two worry about were a pair of wildfires slowly gainin' on me. The rest were either too slow or not heavy enough to worry about. (Although I have to say I did take notice to the dozen or so tomahawks comin' my way and the one firestorm the nemesis chucked at me. All in all there was enough nuclear firepower comin' at me to break open a small moon. I guess I pissed ‘em off.) When the wildfire were close enough I fired two of my six mosquitoes and took 'em out. By that time I was watchin' the gate grow large in front o' me and nearly a dozen or so light/medium fighters gainin' ground behind me. I have to say, when I finally entered that warp tunnel ... well, it was a good thing. A really good thing.

When I exited the tunnel the convoy was about 20 clicks to the south and headin' for Pontifex’s Realm. As far as I could tell they were close enough together for my plan to work, but I wanted to make sure, and I had reserved some wasps to confuse any turrets but, as it turns out, I’d gotten lucky. In the center of the convoy they’d tucked a dolphin super freighter, and the dolphin doesn‘t have any guns. So….

[ external image ]

… Hammerhead away.

Still recoverin' my breath and heart rate after negotiatin' the two core sectors I allowed myself to lean back, waitin' and hopin' for a succesful hit and fer all three freighters to be vaporized. It didn't go that way. I got one out of the three. The other two were rocked by the shockwave, but other than singin' their shields right proper they were ok. Damn.

Now I had another hammerhead in my hold, but seein' as it goes for 80K and this job pays less than 90, and also not bein' sure I could get it past the turrets, I decided to finish this the up close and personal way. So, silently prayin' they don’t have 100+ freighter drones on board between 'em I jet in to finish the job.

Neither one had full shields, and the Mercury went down pretty quick. Now, the Demeter on the other hand hit me with some missile I barely had time to register and sent me spinnin'. Recoverin' from that I got a load of frag bombs to the face. I hit boost and, after exitin' stage right came back and made several high speed runs on him ... and the job was finally done and my employer sent me a happy message.

I hope this was worth it.

With that said I began a long, slow journey back north cuttin' a wiiiiide arc around the centers of the two border sectors in between me and Split Fire.

[bonalste]

This is really interesting. It sounds like you're having quite a fun game. The effort you're putting in writing it out is much appreciated; I look forward to the next installment

[Scion Drakhar]

8. Not a Bad Haul

Right then.

So. I make a quick pit stop in Split Fire to knock some dings out. My hull was down to 94%. I really oughta get another shield if I'm gonna be takin' on more projects like this last 'un. All things considered chasin' after that convoy, especially through core sectors, wasn't all that bright. Once I'd taken it though, I didn't want to piss off another faction, and it sure don't seem to take much. Anyhoo, When I'm done with my repairs I hop back in my ship and, since my hold is still only 1/3rd full I decide to continue my piracy before heading back up to Teladi space to unload it. There's nothin' in Split Fire but fer a couple o' pirates what don't like me much. So I shoot on through Elena's Fortune to Farnham's Legend but there's even more Pirates there and a couple of 'em even take an interest in me. So I give 'em the shake and head on over to Bala Gi's joy, which is also dead but fer one Boron High Tech trader what seems to be transportin fighter drones. Uh, yeah. No. Olmancketslat's is too hot + there's no traders to boot.

Now Brennan's Tiumph gives me hope. There's one Pirate in a Blastclaw Prototype who's friendly, or at least not out to kill me. Then a lil' while later a Carrack who also don't seem hellbent on my destruction. The rest o' the sector, though ... and there'r quite a few Pirates around the base there. So, once again, I decide to make myself scarce.

Danna's Chance is empty so I'm on to Nopileos' Memorial, which is prob'bly where I shoulda head to in the first place, but my trip allowed me to do some scoutin anyhoo. Once in NM I settle down near an asteroid to put my back up against a wall and start scannin' passin' traffic as there's only one trade lane and it's usually pretty busy. So I can pretty much sit still and scan anythin' and everythin' what passes by without havin' ta chase it down to do it. Well, anythin' and everythin' being anythin' that wasn't much bigger'n me carryin' lots o' guns. There was a Paranid Military patrol passin through the neighborhood, and wonder o' wonders they didn't want to kill me. 'Course, that didn't mean they didn't want to kill somebody. Argon freight traffic had a really bad day while they were around.

[ external image ]

Since they weren't interested in squashin' me today I crept along behind 'em fer a while pickin' through the wreckage and generally makin' a profit. Then, this Jonferco weapons dealer passes by and when I look in his hold he's got 264 Wasp Missiles, among a few other goodies. Now the wasp is a nice missile, especially fer the cargo space. It's fast and it's a swarm missile what packs a grand total, if every warhead hits, of 8k dmg. Compared to the mosquito that's a hell of a difference. It's great fer confusin' turrets and can take out most light fighters in one go ... and if one don't do it you can always let loose another. So, needless to say this feller got my attention and I decided he was worth a closer look. I just wish I'd looked a bit closer'n I did, or maybe not been so tunnel sighted cuz whichever it was I missed his escort. His escort, though, didn't miss me. As a matter o' fact his escort hit me quite a few times.

It was a Nova Vanguard packin' dual PBG's up front and a PRG in back, and I'm here to tell ya (barely) that that was a mean combination. I've actually gotta look into those PBG's cuz ...

[ external image ]

As you can see, he ripped me a new one, and in no time flat too. He was an odd feller to boot. He kept beggin' fer his life while roastin' me alive. I'll tell ya, that hurt. I did get what I was after, though.

[ external image ]

So. After another repair session (I really need another shield) and since I had a full hold, I decided it was time to head on back to Teladi space to sell my ill-gotten gains. Headin' through HF I'm thinkin' about it, though. I need storage space. With that in mind I decide to take a couple o' runs at some o' the local trafic. My first try is a Paranid who elected to go down with his ship. I tried another, a Boron, in Split space. He too failed to see the wisdom of jumping into cold hard vaccum and elected to explode.

Anyhoo. I got back to the EQ and sold everything I didn't want, which amounted to 3 PAC's, 2 PRG's and an assortment o' missiles I don't find useful. Before I left I replaced my vid gogs, and bought best buy/sell and trading extensions. I was still left with 586k. Not a bad haul, but I did pay fer it with some hull platin' and more lastin'ly my rep wit' the Argon's. I'm gonna need to do somethin' about that or jumpdrives'r off the menu seein' as besides the Argon corporations my only other option is Atreus HQ waaaaaaay the hell over the other side o' the 'verse which is kinda outta the question anyway seein' as how the Boron's have this idea that I really shoulda been drowned at birth. Well, all that's fer later. First up I need another shield.

[Scion Drakhar]

This is really interesting. It sounds like you're having quite a fun game. The effort you're putting in writing it out is much appreciated; I look forward to the next installment

Thanks for reading.

[thedarius]

I love the story so far. I have to say, the visuals make this great!

[rpetiger]

If I was not so illiterate, I might try this, though I am pretty well on as a "Pacifist" trader. Pacifist being the word as while I don't get my own hands dirty, I just let my wingmen do all the dirty work.

[Scion Drakhar]

I love the story so far. I have to say, the visuals make this great!

Thank you. I'm enjoying both playing the game and putting the story together. This is my first DiD attempt and I have to say, the close calls definitely get the blood pumping.

If I was not so illiterate, I might try this, though I am pretty well on as a "Pacifist" trader. Pacifist being the word as while I don't get my own hands dirty, I just let my wingmen do all the dirty work.

"Ordering a man to kill is the same thing as pulling the trigger yourself." - Master Gunnery Seargent Thomas Beckett, Sniper. I'd have to say that pacifism isn't the philosophy you subscibe to.

I'd like to thank you all for reading and express my sincerest hope that you continue to enjoy the story. So, without further ado:

9. Now isn't that odd...

Right then.

So. Since the Split currently don't trust me enough to sell me a shield I head back into Split space to kiss a lil' *** and bolster my rep wit' 'em. First up is another feller screamin' and carryin' on that some bad people are comin' to destroy his station and won't I please, please come and save him? Well, not really. He was a Split, after all and I think they've all got this unhealthy 'death by battle' complex or somthin'. But anyhoo, I agree to kill the folks comin' to wreck his station and ... crap. Pirates start jumpin' outta the gate. I try and hang back and let the Split Military do the work fer me. Then I start feelin' like I really oughta at least make it look like I tried so I chase after the one light fighter that got past the Tiger + escort and shot a disruptor at him. So, that was that.

Next up was an execution. Right. My kinda work. Yeah ... 'cept the mark is in Rhonkar's Fire. So, let's see, if I've done my figurin' right that's 180km to the N gate of Family Rhonkar from where I'm sat at the south end of Thuruk's Beard and I've got a grand total of 10 minutes to make the journey, hunt the guy down and send him off to the pearly gates, or wherever. Make that 9:59. So, goin' straight as an arrow, I make it to the N Gate of Family Rhonkar with just over a minute left and as I'm enterin' the warp tunnel I find myself wonderin': Am I lucky?

No. The other guy is. I exit the gate and he's just a hair shy of 70km away and I now have less than a minute to get to him and send him off. Mission failed.

Next up is a patrol (I know, I know) to Company Pride. Granted I had this terribul sinkin' feelin when I took the mish and was sure I'd be hidin' from wave after wave of pissed off pirates who were all lookin' fer me, but as it turned out it wasn't pirates. It was these funny lookin' lil' purple triangles what seemed to join together and split apart and shot lasers like the one's the towers use. Apparently they're called the Khaak.

So. I apparently do pretty well fer myself. I kill enough o' those lil' purple dudes fer the Split to give me 119k and afterwards seem to think I'm 'distinguished.' Imagine that.

Even better, they're now willin' to sell me some o' their nicer toys. So I jet back on up to Rhonkar's Fire and stop at the medium shield complex and buy myself another 25mj shield fer my Mamba and, wouldja' believe, this kink that's been between my shoulder blades since the Paranid sectors finally let loose. Aaaah. I also zip on over to the EQ they got and picked myself up a Triplex scanner. Oh yeah, Daddy! I'm in business now!

Next up, I need some storage. So. I shoot on down to HF and set up camp near the N gate, thinkin' to make the distance between the capture and the shipyard in Ceo's Sprite as short as possible. Soon enough this Terracorps pilot decides to donate his Tanker to my cause and jumps ship. Not feelin right about leavin' him in the cold vaccum I scoop him up, duct tape him and stuff him in a box in my cargo hold where he should be nice and warm. Then I claim his ship.

[ external image ]

Not in great shape but that's ok. Those fellers over at the shipyard can fix it up right. So I send it toward the EQ in Company Pride, seein' as it's currently doin a stately 17m/s I think some engine tunin's might help it get to the shipyard this century. So, keepin' an eye on it, I follow it back into Thuruk's Beard where I start pickin' on the Borons. I make a try fer a Dolphin but the captain doesn't seem ter understand just how lil' his life actually means in Split space and elects to go down with his ship. Ce la vie. Just as he's becomin' a vapor cloud, however, this Boron courier exit's the gate and I think 'eh, why not?' Almost as soon as I start taggin' him this Boron, who must've had an exact idea of how much his life was worth in Split space starts hollerin' "I'm yieldin'! I'm yieldin'! Take all that I have!"

'K.

I scoop him up and stuff him in the box with the Argon feller (They get along, right?) Then I claim his harrier and send it on up to the shipyard. Then I go back to pickin' on Boron as my Mercury Tanker is now only a couple o' kilometers outta the south gate. I start shootin' at another Dolphin, and I'm doin' fair to well. The Boron keeps prayin' to Menelaus or whoever and I keep plinkin' away at his shields, tryin' to damage it as lil' as possible, when all of a sudden this missile shoots over my left shoulder close enough to leave me in its vapor trail and scatters the Dolphin all over the trade lane. Kinda miffed by this I spin around intent on havin' words with whoever just shot my toy (and nearly fragged me in the process) only to see this Split Tiger bankin' serenely toward the S Gate. Needless to say I swallowed what I had to say and crept away as quiet as I could. I guess that Split captain got tired o' listenin' to that Boron feller whine.

So, now my Mercury was about 10km in sector and trudgin' as hard as it could toward the west gate another 40 or so km away. Riiiiight. Well I guess I'll keep messin' with the Boron. So, there I am mindin' my own business, waitin' fer another Boron to pick on when this Argon Weapons Dealer in a TM starts shootin' at me. Now his escort, a pair o' M4's, ain't hostile so I figure he just needs some space and back off a ways to let him pass. Only he follows me. Now, I don't really want to mess with a fully armed TM + escort, escpecially in a Split sector where I might get in trouble for it so I move on off again. And again he follows me. Gettin a lil' irked by this I fire a couple o' wasps at him. Now the wasp won't do jack diddly with the shieldin' he's got but it confuses his turrets and mollifies me some.

Now, here's where it gets good. As his turrets are trackin' and firin' at all them wasps spinnin' around him they catch a passin' Paranid drivin' some sorta heavy perseus. The Paranid don't exactly take kindly to this and starts makin' hot runs on the weapons dealer. At this point the escort get involved. The Paranid promptly slags 'em. Then the TM slags the Paranid. Then all hell breaks loose. I mean there's fightin EVERYwhere! Left, right and center. Paranid fightin' Argon. Argon fightin' Paranid. Split fightin' Boron and Boron runnin' for cover. This, the TM captain decides, would be a very good time to be elsewhere and makes fer the west gate at full steam. I of course grab his IFF id: ATME-J-53, fully intent on continuin' this conversation later, preferably in a pirate sector and ideally wit' some well trained lunatics with a fetish fer boardin' ships at my disposal, but failin' that a bad temper and some HEPTs.

Funny. When the fightin was all done there wasn't an Argon in sight.

So, shruggin' at the unsolvable mysteries of the universe (or Argon ineptitude, whichever) I eventually get bored o' pickin on the Boron and hit SETA. I'm pretty sure my little freighter is gonna be ok but that Argon TM's got me a bit twitchy so I wanna be in sector and watchin' it at least to the EQ. It takes a while but we eventually get there. I get it tuned up and send it on toward the Shipyard. I feel a lil' more comforatble with it in Teladi sectors fer reasons I can't understand. But there ya go.

So. I need a jumpdrive. I decide now would be a very good time to get back on the Argon Christmas-Card list and start haulin' off toward Aladna Hill. I'm still in Company Pride when I see a Boron Angel fer the first time. It looks a lil' like a green goldfish to me but I notice it's got front and rear turrets and decide to check the computer ... and find myself impressed. It's a TP, which I'm gonna need here in the not too distant future, does 155m/s fully tuned, carries 4x25mj shields, XL cargo with a 1600 unit cargo bay and has 2x2 turrets which'll carry PRG's among other things (ION-D's being one of 'em, but fer what I want it fer those'd be bad. Very bad.) All in all it's definitely made it onto my shoppin' list but since we're in Teladi space I leave it be.

So. I've just entered HF when: well, well, well ... what do we have here? It's Mr. ATME-J-53, my Argon weapons dealer friend from earlier. I had left him on the right monitor and it just lit up. I find him on the sector map, target him and feel this very feral snarl on my face as I hit boost. I take a good long look before I get anywhere near him (havin' learned my lesson) but his escort has remained slagged. They ain't in the docks or flyin' beside him. So. We have a nice, lengthy chat he and I, and he finally buys me off with 4 PRG's and some sincere beggin' fer his life. Not the best way to get on the good side o' the Argon I suppose, but we had unfinished business. We still might if I run into him again.

So, I'm lookin up as I pick up the last of my bribe when I see the pirate base and anarchy port registerin' damage in the distance. I bring up the vid gogs, zoom waaaaay in and see ... that I'm not the only one settlin' a score today.

[ external image ]

It's a Teladi Shrike + escort and apparently the Teladi aren't over the misbehavior of a pair of Carracks from a few days ago. They are, once again, expressing themselves with what looks like IBL fire and thermonuclear devices. After a minute or so:

[ external image ]

I once again find myself grateful I hadn't the cash to have one o' those stations hacked. I do, now, though. Although if I decide to spend my money I think I'm gonna invest in a pirate sector a loooong way from the Teladi.

Anyhoo, I got business with the Argon and head on through the E gate where I promptly start feelin' like I'm in the wrong place:

[ external image ]

As if to confirm my suspicions both the Argon AND the Boron start tryin' to shove thermonuclear warheads into places where I think they'd really hurt. I duck and run, coverin' my retreat with wasps fer the incomin' warheads and head on back into HF. I head into NM, thinkin' unrealistically that maybe the Argon in the West are a lil' calmer than these here easterners. So I exit the warp tunnel and I see there's a pirate Carrack who apparently don't know what's goin' on just a sector to the east and is busy smackin' the local freight traffic around. He's not exactly friendly but I figure as long as I give him plenty o' space to have his opinion we'll be all right. So I head around him, headin' fer the west gate when I get distracted by a pair o' Argon whoopin' on a Paranid and while I wait to see if I can collect any goodies from the Paranid's inevitable demise that Carrack decided to sneak up on me. I know what you're gonna say. A kilometer+ long ship don't exactly 'sneak.' Well this one did and promptly stomped the snot outta me before I could get back outta range. (Glad I bought that second shield!) And, apparently not satisfied with leavin' a job half done, proceeded to chase me all around the sector, hurlin' Aurora's and Thunderbolts at me the entire time.

[ external image ]

I managed to duck back into HF with my skin intact, but not before I grabbed his IFF id: IM7EI-92. One day we will meet again.

Right then.

So. After ANOTHER lengthy repair session I head back into Teladi space. I make a quick stop at the EQ in Company Pride to sell those PRG's then decide to look for some away-from-home Argon to cozy up to. A short time later I'm up in Siezewell and manage to find just that AND he's lookin' fer somebody with my resume. Seems this Argon wants some Teladi crook (ain't that sayin the same thing twice?) down in Spaceweed Drift whacked. No problem says I and head on down south to take care o' his problem and mine.

So. I make it to Spaceweed Drift with over 7 minutes left and my mark is less than 4 clicks away. Cool. I target him and let loose a pair o' wildfires ... which promptly ignore him and chase after after a couple o' pirates behind me. NOT cool. Turns out the Wildfire is a 'smart' missile and chooses it's targets based on IFF and not what I'm pointin' at. I'll have to remember that in the future. So I hit boost, chase the guy down and through the ancient secrets of alchemy transform him into a rapidly cooling cloud of white hot vapor, may he rest in peace. While this is goin' on my wildfires are 'helpin' me out' by doin' the same to two other pirates. I hastily exit stage right and jet back through the gate I came through before the rest of 'em figure out what's goin' on and come after me with skinnin' on the brain. My employer is happy though. Very happy. I'm 594k richer and am now a 'Federation Member.' Righteous! Drinks'r on me!

So. With that done I decide to head on down to OTAS HQ in Legends home to buy myself a shiny new jumpdrive. I start headin' south when this Teladi comms me and he's so worked up I can't understand a word he's sayin'. After a couple o' minutes I get him calmed down enough fer him to explain that 'The Xenon'r comin! The Xenon'r comin!' and apparently he'd like me to do somethin' about it. "You payin'?" says I. "Of courssssse," says he. Right then.

So. I don't know what a Xenon is. From what I hear tell they're kinda like toasters with attitudes only bigger and and with plenty more attitude. Most folk'r terrified of 'em and judgin' by that feller's behavior I'm expectin' a full scale invasion of Greater Profit. So I warm up my guns and missiles and park myself square in the shadow o' the Pheonix that's rumblin' through the sector and wait to see if we're all gonna die. Then the Xenon show up. All 3 of em. Two light fighter types and one heavy. I roll my eyes, zip on out from under the Pheonix and turn 'em into scrap metal. The Teladi are so happy they give me 80k. Works fer me.

So, I turn south again and before I can even hit boost another Teladi is hollerin' at me over the comm. "What?" Says I. Apparently he needs a ride and wants me to ferry him on down to Ceo's Sprite. I point out that I ain't got a Transport ship and he says he don't mind he just needs to get there in a hurry. Ok. So I dock and he gets in. There's a brief, uncomfortable moment when the bumps and muffled shouts from the box where I got the Boron and that Argon feller trussed up get his attention ... but he don't say anythin' and after that is actually quite agreeable. He can't tell me enough how happy and grateful he is fer the ride. He don't even complain when this Boron escort mako takes a shot at us fer gettin' too close. So. I drop him off in Ceo's Sprite and he tells me again how happy he is, pays me and I'm on my way again. He sure did sweat a lot, though.

So. I turn my comm off and shoot through Company Pride and into Thuruk's Beard headin' south toward Hatikvah's Faith when I see this Boron freight trader haulin' butt toward the W gate in a Nova Vangaurd. Again I think 'Eh. Why not?' This one, too, apparently had a perfect idear about what would happen if he didn't bail and after scoopin' him up and stuffin' him in the same box as his new friends I jump out and claim his ship.

[ external image ]

Cool. My first M3 capture. So, happy as a lil' kid on his birthday, I hop back into my cockpit and send it on up to the shipyard. Then it's down through HF and into Aladna Hill where they all still hate me. Now I'm a 'Federation Member' but most of these fellers don't seem to have got the word. At least yon Collosus has but I still pass a very tense and uncomfortable trip through Aladna Hill apologizin' to every Argon I see fer bein' the scum o' the 'verse so they don't shoot at me. A very looooong 60km later I find myself enterin' Akeela's Beacon where I seem to learn how to swallow again. From there it's just a 100km trip to the south gate and Legends Home.

So, I exit the warp tunnel into the realm of OTAS and the first thing I see is this giant ant-headed-monster-thing with a bunch of rockets strapped to its ***.

[ external image ]

Pure, undiluted panic grips me at the sight o' this thing and I immediately warm up my guns and start prayin it's not as fast as I am while wonderin' what the rest o' the sectors gonna do. Then, apparently seein' this kinda behavior on a regular basis some freighter captain comms me.

"Oi! Wuzzat? It's a ship?! Really? You're sure? ... Huh. Kinda fell outta the ugly tree hittin' every branch on the way down, didn't it?" Well, I thank the freighter captain and at that point start to look around. Turns out there's all sorts o' these oddities in all shapes and sizes (no, I mean it, in ALL shapes and sizes) floatin' around Legend's Home. Not sure who let some blind guy design starships ... but anyhoo, that's not why I'm here. So I begin docking procedures at OTAS HQ, not quite able to believe yon ant-headed-monster-thing isn't about to eat me, and soon I'm docked and all ready to purchase my shiny new jumpdrive ... which they won't sell me. Seems they don't trust me enough to sell me a jumpdrive, or a triplex scanner, or a docking computer, but, if they had 'em in stock, they would sell me nukes ...

[ external image ]

Kinda leaves one at a loss fer words, don't it?

[choggy2]

A DiD with attitude....brilliant!

[Kehoe]

This is a good story Scion I just started again on the same start playing as a pirate not DID though looking forward to next instalment.

[Scion Drakhar]

A DiD with attitude....brilliant!

Why thank you.

This is a good story Scion I just started again on the same start playing as a pirate not DID though looking forward to next instalment.

Thanks. Beware the Bounty Hunters. They are more problematic than is at first obvious.

And, once again, I'd like to thank everyone for reading, and hope you continue to enjoy the story.


10. Please, all I want is a jumpdrive...

Right then.

So. I STILL need a jumpdrive. In order to get one I need to improve my status with the Argon from 'Federation Member' 7% to at least 'Federation Associate' 1%. That's a mere 1 rank increase in notoriety. Fortuitous then, that I am in an Argon sector and they are, currently, not tryin' to kill me. So, bein' docked at OTAS at the moment and bein' that they're lookin' for help I give this guy name o' Jo Kellar a ring ...

Security duties, huh? 'Sounds like a real good way to run afoul o' some more Pirates,' thinks I. Let me think about it and I'll get back to ya. So I hem. I haw. I look around the rest o' the sector. I look around the next sector. I don't bother with Aladna Hill as they all still hate me. I come back and look around Legend's Home some more. Apparently that feller saw me on the gravidar cuz' he comm'ed me, not to talk mind you, just to whistle and read a magazine called 'Jumpdrive' where I could see him.

Mudderfletchinsunnova...

Fine!

So. I'm supposed to meet this convoy in Thuruk's Beard and escort 'em back to OTAS HQ.

"Well, they wouldn't have near the wait if you'd just sell me a jumpdrive!" says I. Kellar just shows me this rather unpleasant grin, as he knows he's got me by the short n' curlies, and continues to read his magazine where I can see him.

Right then. So. 20km to the N gate in Legends home. 100km to the W gate in Akeela's Beacon. 60.5km to the W gate in Aladna Hill (where I saw another o' those ant-headed-monster-things and apologized to what must have amounted to a third o' the whole Argon Military for ever bein' born.) Then, finally, another 40km to meet up with the Mistral convoy, who apparently got tired of waitin' fer me as they'd already started through pirate space on their own. 220km of travel which wouldn't've been necessary ...

"...if you'da just sold me the damn jumpdrive!" I hollered at the interior of my cockpit as Kellar was, that's right, 220km away.

So, anyhoo. I pull up alongside the lead Mistral Super Freighter (which looks like a minature version of yon ant-headed-monster-thing) and get a message from my Mercury Tanker, which apparently has just reached the shipyard in Ceo's Sprite. (I hadn't checked my property list in a while and honestly thought it was dead.) I order it to get itself fixed up and then head on over to Rhonkar's Fire to buy itself some shieldin'. Then I lean back and hope this will be a nice relaxin' trip back the way I just come. At 1/3 the speed. Right. So. I'm about to bring up the sector map and -gulp- ...

Half a dozen pirates point-jump in on top of us (Where do I get one of THOSE jumpdrives?) and begin shootin' the hell outta my charges. Crap. So. I use just about every missile I got that'll actually make a difference, and a few that don't, and still end up chasin' 'em around while they shoot my Mistrals. Then, as soon as I'm done turnin' 'em into space debris another wave shows up. At this point it occurs to me that maybe I shoulda scanned these Mistrals cuz apparently they're carryin' some really valuable stuff. I mean REALLY valuable stuff. That or these pirates just really, really hate me and want to make sure, with their dyin' breaths, that I NEVER get a jumpdrive.

So one o' the Mistrals gets blowed up. I kill the rest o' the pirates and two of the Mistrals make it through to Aladna Hill where ... Oh bloody hell! ... another wave o' pirates is waitin'. Another ship goes down before I even exit the warp tunnel. I run around like a madman chasin' these pirates away and as soon as I got my guns on one another is shootin' up the last Mistral. (And where the hell is the bloody Argon Military NOW?!)

It's inevitable. There's no way to cover the ship with my one little fighter. The last Mistral goes up in a fireball and now I'm not only outta missiles I'm an Argon Citizen to boot, which is NOT an Argon Federation Associate, nor even a Federation Member, AND the pirates are now comin' after me. "Oh, yeah! THIS worked out well!" At this point I'm so pissed off I just send the remainin' pirates to join their mates.

Damn. That's just great. Now I'm in the middle of Aladna Hill where everybody still hates me and there are no jobs to be found. I cruise on into Akeela's Beacon and the only job I can find is a covert op mish which pays a grand sum of 2.6k. Woo hoo! At least it should be borin'. So. I'm supposed to find the guy in Legend's Home. So I make the 100+km treck back down to Legends Home and it turns out the target is a Paranid drivin' a Toucan. A Paranid. In Legends Home. That's a bit like walkin' into a lion's den wearin' pork-chop underwear, ain't it? So. The Paranid lasts exactly as long as it takes for that ant-headed-monster-thing and it's friends to line him up in their sights. My employer o' course decides this is my fault as he sends me a mssg tellin' me that I am both a joke and to stay out of his sight.

...

So. In Legend's home there's nothin' that don't require a) bein' set up by Jo Kellar again or b) a freighter, and seein' as mine is 300km away without a jumpdrive (#%&*#!!!) these are no good to me. I check Akeela's Beacon and there's exactly squat. I watch the sector map for the whole 100km trip from south to west gates and the only thing that showed up is some dame wantin' x 12,477 meatsteak cahoonas in 1 minute. All right, maybe it was a little longer than that, but you get the idea. I cruise on into Aladna Hill and I get ... well you can imagine what I get. They still hate me. I head south into Light o' Heart and at least there'r some missions to look at. The first is a patrol into Boron space ... yeah,uhm, no. So. The second is a 'go kill this guy' mish, which is my thing and I take it. The target is in Legends Home and I've got 11 minutes on the clock. (Oi! Quit it! That hurts!)

Right then. So. Up to Aladna Hill. Over to Akeela's Beecon. I'm halfway across the 100km treck in Akeela's Beacon (again) and whatever his name is gets his self whacked and my employer calls me up and yells at me cuz this is obviously my fault. (Well maybe if I had a JUMPDRIVE!!!!) So. There's a defend station mish at the dumbfire missile complex (which won't sell me any missiles btw) and as soon as I accept it Yaki start jumpin' outta the west gate. Yaki. I stare at 'em fer a good long while, thinkin' about what I went through to start aquirin' rep wit' 'em and ... "So much fer makin new friends," says I.

I send 'em to see old Hobb and at least I've got a single succesful mish to my name today and am now (!?!) 'Federation Member 7%.' Exactly where I started IF you don't consider the expense in missiles and the loss of rep wit' both the pirates and the Yaki. (There's this twitch under my left eye that wasn't there before.)

So. A couple more missions pop up in Akeela's Beacon. One is another defend station mish. Pirates this time. Joy. The other is an exectuion in Light o' Heart. At least this time I had more than 10 seconds to make the 180km trip and was able to get there, hunt the guy down and end his life, may he rest in peace, in good order. In Light o' Heart the only thing available is some guy wantin' me to go and get his ship back from the guy that made off wit' it. Right. Any more details? No? No.

Ok.

He wants me to go get his Discoverer Vanguard back from this feller who stole it and promptly flew it into Rolks Legacy. (That twitch is gettin' worse.) Rolk's is Boron space. It's also a bloody core sector, and ... I have mentioned that the Boron HATE me, right? There's also the problem of gettin' this feller to bail out of an M5 before it's destroyed with me wieldin' HEPTs and then gettin' said (prob'bly real damaged by then) M5 back outta a Boron core sector before sector security blows it to hell, not to mention me. I abort and save myself the headache as I've already got one, which gives me a rep loss and I'm back down to Federation Member 7%.

...

Just kiddin'. 87%.

Bloody hell. The way I figure it I need only one more succesful mish to convince the Argon that they could not only sell me nukes but could actually trust me with somethin' as cataclysmic'lly dangerous as a dockin' computer. So, I look around Light o' Heart and there's nothin' ... for me anyway. For some guy drivin' a TL there's a boatload o' work, but for some guy with a Mamba and a bad twitch there ain't jack. So, havin' about enough o' that 200km treck back and forth across Aladna Hill and Akeelah's Beacon I turn my starfighter south and head for Montalaar. Where I find some annoyin' Argon feller askin' me to go get his abandoned ship.

"Yeah?! What is it? Where is it? Is it damaged? How bad? And ... what're you payin'?" He won't tell me 'less I agree. (That twitch under my left eye is gettin' worrisome.)

Fine.

It's a Kestrel M5 up in Aladna Hill and I have 45 minutes and he'll pay me 5k to bring it back. Huh. Right. Ok. So, I turn north and head fer the Kestrel. Now, the Kestrel, despite bein' kinda fragile, is actually a pretty quick lil' ship. If it's not too damaged I might actually pull this off. I get to Aladna Hill and there's the Kestrel, about 20 clicks from the gate and it actually doesn't seem to be damaged all that bad. So I scoot on up, jump out, claim it and, jumpin' back in my Mamba, send it on it's way. Then, havin' visions involvin' hordes o' angry pirates point-jumpin' in on top o' it lasers blazing, or some crazy Argon weapons dealer with a TM and renegade turrets shootin' it just 'cuz he hates me, or even some postal Boron with a Dolphin runnin' it over, I decide to follow it and make sure it gets where it supposed to go.

I don't SETA. I alternate back and forth between starin' at the ass end of this Kestrel and watchin' the sector map like a hawk. A little under 20 minutes later we're arrivin' in Montalaar and the Kestrel is cruisin' on up to the tradin' station. My left eye is twitchin like mad and I'm waitin' fer a rift in timespace to open up and swallow the Kestrel straight inta hell's abyss at which point God almighty will call me on the comm and rake me over the coals cuz it musta been my fault. But the Kestral actually makes it to the tradin' station. I relinquish control and my employer calls me up and actually doesn't curse me and all my seed forever for the scratches in the paint, but thanks me for a job well done. My rep tips up to Argon Federation Associate 4%.

I wait ... and wait ... and wait some more. But apparently it really happened and nothin's about to come hurtlin' through the dark to strike me dead.

So. After a 400km trip back to Legends Home, stoppin' at the oh-so-extremely-inconvenient solar power plant in Akeela's Beecon for some e-cells, I get to OTAS HQ under the loomin' shadow of the ant-headed-monster-thing and ...

[ external image ]

To be honest, I still don't quite believe it.

[Scion Drakhar]

11. Thinkin'

Right then.

So. First thin' I do is put my shiny new jumpdrive to work and hop back up to Thuruk's Beard where I dock at the Split tradin' port where my merc's been waitin'. I transfer over my jumpdrive (...) and send the merc' up to Family Rhonkar for some jump fuel. Then I start the 300km treck back to Legends Home to get another one. Since it's a long trip, and I got nothin' but time and bangin' on the box where I got them Borons and that Argon feller trussed up fer amusement, I end up thinkin'. I need a plan. I mean there'r a few things that I know I need to do, like sort out my sitch with the pirates, build my bankroll, and aquire a few more ships, but what about long term? So, as the kilometers roll by in the dark I start workin' it out. In order to make the next real step I need a TP, ideally a good un like that Boron Angel. I'm also gonna need a few well trained psychopaths fer boardin ops, otherwise I'm just small time and'll stay small time. Now, aquirin' a TP is simple, at least in theory. I just keep shootin' at em until one o' the captains jumps ship and lets me have it. Nutjobs with a penchant fer breakin' and enterin' are a lil' trickier though. See, bein' that what I have in mind ain't exactly legal in most ...er... all territories I'm gonna need a special breed of psychopath, namely the kind that can keep his trap shut, at least around folks with ties to the cops ... er.. like me I guess. That pretty much eliminates all the military outposts and marine trainin' centers throughout the civilized parts o' the verse. So, all this is startin' to point at the same thing. I need to get on the good side o' the pirates. Which is when I start wonderin' about my purchase o' that Teladi security license. Maybe that's what's been puttin' those boys off so bad. I decide to try an experiment and get rid of it. Unfortunately it's not one o' those things you can simply chuck out an airlock, and I seem to have aquired not one but two of 'em. Somewhere along the line I bought a Split license too. So, by the time I get to OTAS and am starin' up the snout o' that ant-headed-monster-thing again I decide it's time to, as delicately as possible, piss off the Teladi and the Split. Just enough fer 'em to decide I'm not cop material, anyhoo.

So I purchase a second jumpdrive and promptly hop on up to Company Pride where I start shootin' at anythin' I take an inclination to. I blow up a few Boron. I even scare one Teladi feller into jumpin' out o' his Vulture Super Freighter XL ...

[ external image ]

... but no dice. I can't seem to get rid o' the thing. Ok, then. Time to up the ante. I head N into Ceo's Sprite, which is a core sector, and continue my rampage. All right! That did the trick. I piss off the local military, which doesn't do it, but blowin' THEM up does! I lose a bit o' notoriety but I don't have that Teladi license no more. Ok, now fer the Split. They were much more co-operative. 'Course, I just cut straight to the chase with them and took some potshots at one o' their Military Scorpions. It pissed him off right proper and they took my license away. Then I gave him a shout and said I was sorry I shot at him. He kept grumblin' about somethin' I couldn't understand but turned friendly again. Then I apologized to all his buddies, includin', mayhap specifically, the captain of yon Dragon, and once everybody had decided that at the very least I wasn't worth the trouple of chasin' down I decided to see if that made any difference with my sitch with the Pirates. So, puttin' my hard-won jumpdrive into use again I hop on over to Brennan's Triumph to visit the Pirate Base there.

[ external image ]

As you can see, the bases are still hostile, but the PIRATES aren't. Well, most of 'em aren't anyway. There is that one Carrack, but if you look close at his IFF id you'll see that that's the same feller what chased me all around Nopileos' Memorial the other day. So maybe he's got somethin' personal against me. I dunno. Maybe I know his sister or somethin'. Anyhoo, I think my gettin' rid o those licenses was a step in a right direction. Next step I figure is gettin' one o' these bases hacked. So, I head next door to Split Fire lookin fer a hacker and ...

[ external image ]

... immediately start wonderin' if maybe I better look into a different base to spend my hard earned cash on. So, bein' that the Boron are up N and I don't know what to do next I head south, where I run into another Yaki. Now, I'm thinkin these Yaki are what my mum woulda' called "a bad influence" cuz this one promptly gets me in trouble again. Seems there's this convoy ...

Riiiight.

So. This one even tricks me into thinkin' that it'll be a cakewalk as the convoy is just a couple o' sectors over in Farnham's Legend and that's pirate space anyhoo so I don't even gotta worry about gettin' shot at in any Paranid core sectors. On top o' all that he's payin' right proper so, once again thinkin' I wouldn't mind havin' some more friends, I agree. Lookin' back I realize there WAS one detail he left out and I find myself wonderin' if he was sniggerin' as I jumped outta sector. Maybe it was payback fer 'em Yaki I had to kill durin' that defense mish in Akeela's Beacon yesterday, I dunno.

Anyhoo. I pop into Farnham's Legend and there's my target. It's a 4 freighter convoy and they're only about 40 clicks to the south and I start thinkin' that this just might be easy money. Then I get closer and notice that they're all Argon ships. At that moment I have to admit I hesitated. I mean, gettin' back inter Argon good graces was, well, it wasn't easy, and they've still got a few toys I wouldn't mind gettin' my grubby lil' mitts on, like a transporter device from over at Terracorps. Plus you never know when you might need another jumpdrive ...

... and while I've been thinkin' my hands have ignored my brain and have gone and cycled through all four o' them freighters, found the Dolphin tucked right into the center o' the mix and even cue'd up the Hammerhead and all I need do is hit the shiny red button and I'll unleash 1.2G worth o' thermonuclear death and prob'bly finish the job right then n' there as those freighters are flyin' in a nice tight formation. I take a deep breath and close my eyes tryin' to clear my head some and it seems my hands took that as a go cuz when I open 'em again this is what I see:

[ external image ]

Yep. That'd be one thermonuclear missile headin' straight at 'em Argon freighters. About 30 seconds later 3 o' the 4 of 'em went up in brilliant white halos o' nuclear fire and, just like that, I was a 'Known Antagonist' again. -sigh- Ce la vie. So, there bein' nothin' for it at this point, I chase down the last'un and send him to join his mates, and just as he was screamin' over the comm as his ship was explodin' all around him that Yaki feller calls me up and he's as happy as an ant in a picnic basket.

So there I sat, just shy o' 400k richer with a job successfully completed and fer some reason not feelin' very good about it. I hope I don't need another jumpdrive fer awhile. I wonder just how happy the Yaki are with me just now. Maybe I should go visit 'em and see. Not today, though. I'm thinkin I need cheerin' up. So, bein' outta jump fuel, I start headin through the pirate sectors toward Nopileos Memorial to take out some frustrations by growin' my wallet. So I head south from Farnham's Legend through Elena's Fortune where it is immediately apparent that those freighters were near and dear relatives to the whole bloody Argon race as they all hate me now. A couple o' freighters even start shootin' at me as I'm makin' fer the S gate to Split Fire. From there I head E to Brennan's Triumph and then on to Danna's chance and finally to NM. On the bright side, I see very few pirates who're actually hostile.

Still. I'm in a bad mood and I take it out on every passin' Boron and Argon trader I see, as they're both on my sh** list today. I don't even care if they've got nothin' in their holds worth stealin'. I beat 'em all up just to hear 'em beg me not to kill 'em. I do make out pretty well, though. I even had to bring my Mercury Tanker 'Bankroll' down into sector cuz I ran outta space in my hold. So, I was cleanin' up fer a good long while, although I did run into a couple o' fellers who were real clear examples o' why it's a good idea to check before you start messin' wit 'em. So, if you decide to start piratin' these here are some real good examples of 'BAD targets':

[ external image ]

Yah. That'd ruin your day in a hurry. Needless to say I left 'em alone.

So, as I'm watchin' the traffic, I'm scannin' every hold that passes by. I'm tryin' to leave the Teladi and the Split alone, and since I'm thinkin' about a trip down to Weaver's Tempest to visit the Yaki I decide to leave the Paranid alone fer the time bein', but I do check everybody. You never know who's gonna have what, and if some bloke with a hold full o' a hammerheads or hurricanes / disruptors comes along I'm gonna have a go and worry about the ruffled feathers after.

So, even though I'm doin' real well, most o' the time is actually pretty quiet and although I do entertain myself from time to time by bangin' on the box where I got them 2 Boron, that Argon feller and now the Teladi pilot o' the Vulture SFXL stuffed, I also get to thinkin'. I need to find a pirate base I can get hacked so I can do some work fer 'em and get em to play nice wit' me. Cuz, eventually, I'm gonna have to let these four fellers outta the box (or it's really gonna start to smell) and I'd like to be at a mercenary trainin' facility when I do. See, they've got a new job already. I just haven't told 'em what it is yet. With that in mind I decide that I'm gonna be payin a visit to Loomanckstrat's Legacy pretty soon. I've never been there before, but I been around and I've heard tell that it's a fair sized pirate operation, and if it's been around awhile maybe they've been smart enough not to piss off the Teladi, who do apparently live right next door. We'll see. Judgin' by that Boron battlegroup I saw over in Split Fire, though, I'm guessin Brennan's Triumph is in danger o gettin' squashed. Just as I'm thinkin' this:

[ external image ]

Yipe! That'd be my que to leave. I briefly wonder if Brennan's PB has already been squashed just as I tell 'Bankroll' to jump back to the CP EQ and make fer the East gate myself, decidin' to take the long way home as I'm not done thinkin' my thoughts ... or bangin' on the box them 2 Boron, that Argon feller and the Teladi guy are stuffed. It does seem to get 'em all lively.

[Scion Drakhar]

12. Pirate Progress

Right then.

So. I was plannin' on a trip over to Loomanckstrat's Legacy today but decided to do a lil' 'warmin' up' in NM. I sure am pleased that I did. I found this Argon Weapon Dealer. (I love weapon dealers. They carry the best loot!) She'd already been in a scrap and still had a few Paranid fighter drones peckin' at her. Seemed like a perfect oppo'tunity to become a headache. So I sidle on up and scan her. Well, now. What's this? In addition to the two PRG's she was usin', she was carryin' 3 MD's, 3 PAC's and 1 Pulsed Beam Emitter. Now, a little about the PBE. 1st, it's near an insta-hit weapon which, considerin' my aim, is a nice perk. 2nd, it'll strip the shields off small to medium sized craft faster'n you can say "Oi!" 3rd, it does relatively low dmg to hulls which, considerin' how fast it removes a shield, makes it a real good toy fer scarin' pilots clean outta their ships. It's only real drawback is it's range. You gotta get pretty close to use it. Still, I decided I wanted it, an' I wanted it BAD. So I comm'ed that pretty lil' pilot and politely asked her to give it to me. She said some very impolite things back to me and we proceeded to negotiate. After a lil' while, with them fighter drones still peckin' at her and me makin' hot runs passed and poundin' her shields right proper she quickly decided I was just one more problem she didn't need today and coughed up the goods. All of 'em. Sweet.

Havin' some good luck to start the day off wit' I decide to try out my new toy and begin playin' by usin' the passin' freight traffic fer target practice. I do well. I do so well that I kick all o' the e-cells I had outta the airlock to make room in my hold. It was right around then that another o' them Yaki fellers gave me a shout and asked me if I could help him out. I cocked an eyebrow and waited fer the details. Seems there's this convoy ... Oh boy. "It'll be easy," he says. "It's just two ships," he says. "They're just next door in Hatikvah's Faith," he says. Them Yaki sure can talk ...

...and they're real good at leavin' out details. I get over to HF and the first thing I see is the target, a two freighter convoy of Argon ships which don't really matter seein' as the Argon all hate me right now anyhoo. The second thing I see, which I kinda wished that Yaki had mentioned, which I'd missed on the way down seein' as I used my jumpdrive, is that Boron battlegroup what passed through NM last night and sent me packin'. Worse, them Boron's are kinda in between me and them freighters. Worse, that Ray's within' firin' range and has already opened up at me. Good thing them PPC's'r slow movers.

I jet North, then East, then South, tryin' ter come at 'em Argon freighters from the opposite direction as the Ray, which has banked to follow me. I'm just glad it's escort decided to stay wit' it instead o' chasin' me down as there were a lot o' fighters, and from what I gather, 'em Boron fighters'r somewhat speedy. Prob'bly not fast enough to catch me straight out, but seein' as I was makin' a circle 'round 'em they prob'bly stood a chance. So. As I'm evadin' that Ray and his friends, I take a look at 'em two freighters. No Dolphin. Oh, well. I guess I do this the hard way. It ain't hard though. They got a grand total o' 7 fighter drones between 'em and don't drop 'em ahyhoo. They even' try to buy me off wit' their freight ... 4 firelance missiles. Pfft!

So, with 'em freighters scrapped and that Yaki feller happy I collect the firelance missiles (waste not) and at that point I decide I should really get movin' (seein' as yon Ray still has plans fer me) and head through the S gate to Clarity's End. Of course, once I was in Paranid space, and with this shiny new toy strapped to my ship, all those Argon freighters started lookin' real good. So, without much detourin', I proceeded to give every one I came across a bad day. This nets me a couple o' nice toys includin a pair o' Ion-D's which should come in handy somewhere down the road, and also has the consequence o' makin' the Paranid a lil' less grumpy wit' me. So. I make my way through Clarity's End, Third Redemption, and Perdition's End, unzippin' Argon freighters as I go. I also saw a Paranid Military Hyperion Vanguard.

[ external image ]

I checked the stats on that puppy and I gotta say that is One. Nice. Ship. 5x200mj shields (!) AND it's an M6 that'll do a top speed o' 169 m/s (!!) AND it'll dock 2 fighters (!!!) AND it'll carry XL cargo with a 3,333 unit gargo bay (!!!!) Yup. It's on my shoppin' list.

So. I'm into pirate space. Desecrated Skies, Moo-Kye's Revenge, then up into Mi Ton's Refuge and ...

[ external image ]
[ external image ]

I have to say, I was hopin' fer a warmer reception. Or maybe one a lil' cooler. It's outta range o' my sensors, but that's a Galleon in between me and the gate and he's just as happy to see me as his buddies. So. I make a wiiide detour to the east and give all of 'em LOTS of space to think whate'er they want about me. Then I sneak on up to the N gate and I'm finally there. LooManckStrat's Legacy.

First thing I notice is that it is a very dark sector. It's even got navigational beacons to help you get through the dark (or so I thought.) Then I notice this Mamba sittin' a lil ways off to the west and apparently nobody wanted it. Well, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I turn and start jettin' over to go get it ... when somethin' explodes in my face and my shields drop to 13%. WHOAH! I hit the breaks and while I'm sittin' there waitin' fer my shields to recharge I try to figure out what the hell just happened. Nobody shot at me. There's a couple o' hostile pirates a long way off, but I never got a missile warnin' and far as I know they don't make a stealth version yet. I call up the exterior camera and look around. Nope. I didn't hit an asteroid. I even call up the universe map and read the sector description. Blah blah blah blah ... minefield. -gulp- Oh boy. The purpose of those beacons suddenly becomes very clear to me. The reason nobody wanted this mamba, or at least got to it, also becomes clear to me. I'm sittin' in the middle of a bloody minefield. Those pirates prob'bly even put yon mamba over there just so idots like me'd go and get themselves blow'd up tryin' to get to it. Riiiight.

Ok. Well. I sit there'n think about it. I think about it hard. I'm still alive. My ship is undamaged. There's a perfectly good (and somewhat expensive) mamba sittin' just a few clicks away. I'm not too bright to begin wit' I grant ya. I've also noticed that greed has a way of knockin' a substantial amount of those IQ points off what is already a fairly low number to begin wit'. Yup. I finally think "ONE mine didn't kill me. Maybe if I go slow ...." So that's just what I do. I creep along, shootin' the place up with my HEPTs, hopin' I'll clear the road. I don't see any explosions. I also don't hit any more mines. I make it to the mamba and jump out to claim it. At which point the immeasurable stupidity of bein' in an unshielded spacesuit in the middle of a minefield becomes sorta glarin'ly apparent. Then I hop back in my ship and am presented wit' another problem.

How am I gettin' back out? I need to find the exact same line I came in on. You'd think, this bein' an intergalactic starfighter capable (after much hard work) of faster than light travel that'd it have more options fer this sorta thing ... hey, wait a minute. I know where I was when I noticed the mamba. I was sittin' right on top o' the east nacell o' yon warp gate. Sheer brilliance takes over. I have the solution. I'll jump from here back into sector and tell the mamba to come and meet me. Then at least if I find another mine it'll be the empty mamba what finds it and I will be, if not wealthier, at least alive to talk about it.

There's only one problem with my plan. Earlier, if you will remember, my greed had me kick all o' my jump fuel outta the airlock to make room fer more goodies. (I mentioned what greed does to 'em IQ points o' mine, right?) Crap. Ok. We do this the hard way. At least I know where I'm goin'. I line up on the east nacell of yon gate and head back out the way I come in. That bein' SLOW. Apparently I picked the same line, too, cuz I didn't find any more mines. Neither did my new mamba.

So. My heartrate is slowly comin' back down outta triple digits and I sit there thinkin' about my next step. I've found what I was lookin' fer: a Pirate Base not in danger o' bein' blown to bits. It's a nice operation, too. There's an Anarchy port, TWO mercenary rehabilitation centers, + a few fabs. Too bad they all hate me. Ok, well, I need a hacker. I also need to do somethin' with this Mamba. (Which has 2 more 25mj shields AND 2 more PBE's!!!) Right then. So. I'm not gonna find a hacker in this sector (as they all hate me) and I'm not gonna find any hackers to the south. Let's head N. So I line up on the nearest navigational beacon and begin my journey. Skippin' from beacon to beacon I make my way N and as I do a whole bloody pirate fleet point-jumps into sector about 30 clicks off my port side and ... they don't want to kill me. Takin' this as confirmation that I'm in the right place I continue for the N gate and am soon into Ceo's Doubt.

So. With my new mamba I dock at the closer of the two SPP's in the neighborhood and immediately strip it of everything but one of it's shields, specifically those two PBE's. Heh heh heh. I grab some fuel and, askin' around, I'm told there's a shipyard to the North. (Not really havin' the ability to use another fighter efficiently atm I decided to sell it.) So, keepin' an eye out fer a hacker, I make my way north into New Income, which is truly impressive lookin', and where there is another Pirate Base operatin' in clear view of everybody AND it's not bein' shot at by any o' the Teladi military in the area. Oh, yeah! These're the fellers I want to do business with. Not only is there a strong, well defended Pirate presence in the area, but they've been smart enough not to sh** where they eat and go piss off the Teladi. Unfortunately they hate me too.

Not seein' a shipyard (or a hacker) I ask around a lil' more and am directed through the E gate into Ianamus Zura. So, into Ianamus Zura, where I find the Shipyard and dump my extremely slow mamba (after grabbin that last shield) fer just shy of a million cred. Then I begin the hunt fer a hacker in earnest ... who all seem to have taken long vacations somewhere else. From Ianamus Zura to Ceo's Doubt and back again. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I even get bored and agree to kill a couple o' people while I'm waitin' fer one to pop up. There's even this one Argon feller what wants somebody dead REAL bad as he's payin over a million cred fer somebody to make it happen. "Sure," says I, and wit' my new jumpdrive I bounce over to Montalaar and proceed to whack the guy, may he rest in peace. Afterward I am both 1.2 mil richer AND an Argon Federation Member again. These Argon sure do appreciate a killer (long as I'm workin' fer them anyhoo.) So. Feelin pretty good about myself I pop back over to Teladi space to continue my hunt fer that elusive creature, the station hacker.

No dice. There's nothin' within 3 sectors o' LooManckStrat's. I look. And I look. And I look. I even get so frustrated I use my new toys to strip the shields right off a couple a Boron weapon traders (since I'm in a border sector the Teladi don't seem to mind) and aquire a couple more goodies. Then, bein' bored and frustrated I head on through the W gate of Ianamus Zura into Homily of Perpetuity. I see a tradin' station. It's got a couple o' messages up. I check one of 'em ... and there's this shifty lookin' Teladi feller offerin to hack the Pirate Base in New Income. Jackpot!

So excited I waste the jumpfuel and bounce back to the S gate o' New Income, bank left and com the now-friendly Pirate Base, where there are THREE hackers offerin' their services. Right then! I get the Anarchy Port and both merc rehabs hacked. Then I parked and listened to some feller wish me hello with, "Ahoy matey! We bid you a hearty welcome aboard this pirate station." I'll tell ya, nothin' ever sounded so good.