[TC] FROM NOTHING, A Rogue's Tale - Book I [COMPLETED]

Triaxx2 · Post by **Triaxx2** » Sat, 1. Jan 11, 19:16

Walking over your own grave.

Scion Drakhar · Post by **Scion Drakhar** » Sat, 1. Jan 11, 22:13

Triaxx2 wrote:Walking over your own grave.

5. … begins to grow …

768-05-01 15:21

Hooo-yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! 1200km in less than 40 minutes! Oh hell yeah! That is the way to travel! That was pure awesome! Ok. Right. I started in the Particle Accelerator Cannon (PAC) forge in PTNI HQ. Now I’m sitting in the Spacefuel distillery in Herron’s Nebula. The prices suck but I was just curious to see how long it would take me. Pirates. Pfft. Try and catch me. Although I have to admit, there is definitely such a thing as ‘unsafe’ speeds. I was in Teladi Gain flying a bit too close to the trade lane, and using SETA to boot, when all of a sudden I dropped out of SETA just in time to catch a flash of something that looked a bit like a Vulture freighter flash by close enough for me to reach out and touch it. In the blink of an eye it was past me. If I’d been just a little bit closer, and I mean by meters, I’d have been a new coat of paint on it’s grill … or maybe just static in it’s shields. Decidedly scary. Fun as hell, though!

Alright. I know. I‘m procrastinating. I’m here on business.

I’ve got to kill a couple cops.

…

It’s alright not to like it, right?

768-05-01 15:24

Huh. Whaddaya know?

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... Nocop1.jpg

Now that trading station is where I’ve got my Vulture parked, and the last time I was here there was an Argon Police Discoverer staking the place out. I wonder if he got bored? Well, anyhow, my freighter is free. Hmmm. So what do I do with it?

The Caiman is in Thuruk’s Beard. I think while I’m making up my mind I’m gonna go rescue it.

768-05-01 15:25

Oh crap! There he is.

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... 84/Cop.jpg

Hmmm. Now how to deal with this? Interesting. It seems I have a few missiles that are ideal for light fighters. Kind of nice that if necessary I can outrun ’em all. He, on the other hand, is flying a Discoverer Vanguard and I’m quite sure his top speed is under 400m/s. Which means any of these’ll catch him. The disruptor has a 6k warhead which gives it the heaviest punch of the one’s I got, unless I could get all of the warheads in this Wasp swarm missile to connect. I want to be sure, though. Ok ….

768-05-01 15:27

Ouch. Ok, one disruptor to the face and that’d be one less cop in the universe. Huh. That was easier than I thought’d be. In fact my conscience isn’t troubled by it at all. I’m actually more disturbed by the two notoriety ranks I just lost with the Argon. Odd. Am I a bad person? I mean that was a policeman. He’s probably got a wife and a family …

Alright, whatever. I knew what I was in for when I parked the freighter in the first place and those two border control guys just flagged hostile. Let me call ‘em and get ‘em calmed down and I’ll get back to this soul-searching later.

768-05-01 15:46

Thuruk’s Beard. A Boron Police Octupus Sentinel has the Adv Sat factory where my Caiman is staked out. It’s even easier this time. Maybe it’s because it’s a fish and I have even less empathy for it. Maybe. I don’t know. I just fired another missile and he (it?) was just gone. I keep looking inside myself for guilt or remorse and there just isn’t any. They’re in my way, you know? That’s my ship and if I undock it he’s gonna shoot at it. Well, he would’ve. Not anymore. Now he’s a cloud of vapor and spare parts and the only thing he’s gonna do is … well, float. Freeze, maybe. This is odd. That wasn’t just easy. If I’m going to be totally honest here I’ve gotta admit … I liked it. I even called both that Discoverer and this Octopus up on the vids so I could watch ‘em explode. You know the only thing that’s really troubling me about all this, besides the complications with the races those cops belonged to anyway, is the idea that I might be a bad person.

Well, whatever. I’ve got a couple of illegal, damaged, completely unshielded and totally unequipped freighters that I need to decide what to do with. This Caiman is going to be a lot easier to work with than the Vulture as the Teladi are right next door. Ceo’s Sprite shipyard is just two sectors away. Not that I have any money to put into it just yet. That Vulture is going to be a pain, though. It’s in Argon space a long bloody way away from anywhere I’d feel safe having it worked on.

Right, well. I think I’m gonna babysit this Caiman over to the shipyard and mull this over.

768-05-01 16:51

So instead of babysitting that freighter I ended up taking on a covert op. The money was good, you know. I was getting paid over 60k just to follow somebody. Hard to turn down. The freighter got to the shipyard alright anyway. I haven’t done anything with it yet. It’s just sitting there.

I just got done tracking some Argon in a Falcon from Family Rhonkar to Brennan’s Triumph. It takes a LOT longer at 124m/s than at what I’m capable of. On the way down here I killed somebody else, too … Wow. That just rolled off my tounge … Apparently this Argon guy had somebody watching his trail and this pirate in a Discoverer Vanguard figured out I was onto him. At first I wasn’t sure, but the guy was coming right at me. I called him up on the vid to be sure. Now, I kind of like the pirates. I’m not sure why. Most of ‘em are drunks or weedheads, or both, but I do. So I didn’t want to kill this guy if he was just picking on the wrong person. So I fired a wasp at him and while he was getting peppered by 1k warheads I let him sort it out while I slipped through the Thuruk’s Beard S gate. When he followed me, though, I knew I had to kill him.

Wow. Those words just come so easily. “I had to kill him.” It’s just a breath, you know. In fact I didn’t even want to waste another missile on him so I did it with the PAC’s. I just whipped this rocket I’m flying around, hit the throttle and blasted him to shrapnel in one pass. Honestly … well, hell! It ROCKED! One moment this guys trying to kill me… HE was trying to kill ME! … and the next he’s dead. Yeah. HE’s dead.

You know, I rather like not running away. I like it a lot.

Also, on the trip down here something else was happening. I kept looking at the freight traffic. I was bored and my mind kept wandering. So I was passively scanning the traders; the freighters and the fighters that act as freighters. I wasn’t really scanning them, or at least not many, just letting the computer give me what it could without performing a deep scan. There were a few, particularly the Boron flying unarmed Dolphins that I scanned deep and they just made my mouth water. I also found myself examining the way the traffic moved. I was looking at it from a new perspective. Hatikvah’s Faith is big and it’s traffic flows in sort of a square around it and a cross between all the gates. Nopileos Memorial on the other hand only has one trade lane flowing between the E and W gates. It’d be possible to keep tabs on just about every ship passing by with relatively minimul effort.

Have I lost my mind? Am I really … am I REALLY about to do this?

Assets

1x Kestrel “Hot Rod”

1x Caiman Hauler 55% (shipyard)
1x Vulture Tanker 60% (stranded)

168,143 credits

Triaxx2 · Post by **Triaxx2** » Sun, 2. Jan 11, 01:48

Yes, yes you are, and it'll be awesome. There's nothing at all like pirating at 600+ m/s. NOTHING.

Kirlack · Post by **Kirlack** » Sun, 2. Jan 11, 15:09

So, my days now go pretty much like this:

1. Play TC for a bit as my Humble Trader.
2. Pop online and read Scions latest adventure.
3. Attempt to resist burning desire to squish all Paranid and be general nasty Pirate type (desire invoked by Scion's excellent writings).
4. Fail in above and load up my Pirate game saves, then go hunting :-p

Honestly Scion you're a bad influence

Scion Drakhar · Post by **Scion Drakhar** » Sun, 2. Jan 11, 21:31

Triaxx2 wrote:Yes, yes you are, and it'll be awesome. There's nothing at all like pirating at 600+ m/s. NOTHING.

Spoken like a man with experience.

Kirlack wrote:Honestly Scion you're a bad influence

Aaw. You say the nicest things.

6. … and bears dark fruit.

768-05-01 17:20

Oh, wow. That was intense. I’m think I’m in shock. I’m giggling and my hands are shaking. Stars! I hope the authorities never get a hold of this recording. If they do I am so screwed! Hoooo….

Alright. So I was in Nopileos Memorial heading back toward Teladi Space and I was just kinda sneaking a peak at everybody’s holds, you know? So, all of a sudden here’s this Boron Weapons Trader …and I … well … It was just … It was just so easy. It was so natural, you know. It’s like it’s in my blood, like it’s what I was born to do. Stars! Listen to me. It was a pittance. It was nothing, really, but something’s different now. I can see it, you know. I can see how it’s done. I can see what I need to do. I can see how to do it. You know I might be a little fish in a great big ocean, but I’m a little fish with teeth.

Right. So. It was a Boron Weapons Dealer. What kind of bloody idiot flies through a pirate sector in a bloody freighter without any guns? It’s like he WANTS somebody to come along and roll him for his stuff. I mean, it was a pittance. Just a few mosquito missiles, which are worth about jack, and I couldn’t even pick ‘em all up. But I was passing him and I just … I just … I couldn’t resist. I fell in on his six and started peppering him with PAC fire until his shields were gone and he was begging me to stop shooting at him, which is when I told him I wanted his freight. I got it too. It took more than a few repetiions of blasting away his shields and asking him for it again . He seemed to get his nerve back as soon as his shields were re-charging. But I got it. I got all of it, or at least he dumped all of it. Ha! Then I did too. The Pirates must have felt bad for me and decided to show me how it was done cuz they left me a few crates of Microchips which are worth about twenty times what the mosquitos are.

In either case I think I just accepted it. However it came to be, wherever this urge comes from, whatever this itch is … I’ve accepted it. I’ve officially become a pirate.

I’m gonna head back and see if I can find any more microchips passing through Nopileos Memorial.

768-05-01 17:48

Oh HELL yeah! I’ve got a gift, I think. I’m a natural. Of course it helps when my target can’t shoot back. It was a Boron Military Transport carrying some very tasty goods including an Ion-Disruptor (Ion-D) and a Concussion Impulse Generator (CIG) plus a whole bunch of missiles. My biggest problem right this second is I don’t have enough cargo hold to collect my loot. Maybe, though, with the sale of these two weapons I’ll be able to fix up that Caiman enough to have it tag along behind me.

I’m actually giggling. I can’t help it. I mean that Boron wasn’t completely defenseless. He dropped a bunch of fighter drones in the air, but I’m in a motherloving speed machine and those drones just couldn’t keep up. I just sped by the group and nipped out one or two each time I passed until it was just that freighter and myself again. Now I’ve got nearly 700k in weapons in my hold that I’m sure the Teladi will be willing to take off my hands for me. Oh, yeah. This is the way to make the clink, man. Hell yeah!

768-05-01 18:32

Wow. I briefly had nearly a million cred. I’ve never in my life even seen that kind of money before. I can’t believe it. Is this really happening? Wow. It might have been a bucket, but stealing that Discoverer was the best thing I ever did for myself. I’m learning something too. Again. Look out for number one. It’s the only real rule in the universe. Take care of yourself cuz no one else is going to and sieze the opportunities that come your way.

So, it was actually kind of hard to spend. I didn’t want to see it go. When I did, though, I did it like a pro. I had that Caiman fixed up and then sent it down to the Teladi EQ in Company Pride. There I had it’s engines and rudders maxed out and had it fitted with a bunch of equipment. Nav software. Special Commands software. A couple other things. While it was making its way to the EQ I was busy shooting all the way across the damn universe to Profit Center Alpha where my computer tells me I can buy some 25mj shields for the thing. I checked Split space first, but they were out of stock. It’s ok, though. I’m a shooting star in my Hot Rod. I’ll be back in time for dinner.

Yeah. I’m leaving small time behind me and I’ll never go back. Never. I’ll die first. I’m in the stars, man, and I’m only going up from here.

768-05-01 18:34

I’m still in Profit Center Alpha, nearly at the gate. I just found this Teladi guy offering a used Buzzard for just over 200k. I decided to take him up on it. I’m pretty sure I can send it over to the shipyard in PTNI HQ and make a quick profit. If not I’ll just let it sit. Maybe I can use it later. I don’t know. I’ve always been guilty of the impulse buy. I considered using it. It has five times the shielding I do and can carry all sorts of weapons, but it’s soooo slow.

768-05-01 18:58

I’m back in Company Pride.

So I didn’t exactly get ripped off on that Buzzard, but I didn’t make the cred I was hoping to. I managed to sell it at the PTNI shipyard and made about 60k on it. Not as much as I was hoping but I came out ahead. Maybe I’d have done better if the Teladi actually thought of me as something other than just another mark, but there you go.

I just installed the three 25mj shields I bought in Profit Center Alpha into the Caiman. I’m about to head back to Nopileos Memorial and see what I can convince some traders to let me have. I mean, you never know unless you ask, right?

Wow, is this right? I just yawned and looked at the clock. A little over nineteen hours ago I was watching some guy die in a dark alley in Old City. Now I’m half way across the universe getting ready to commence full scale piracy in a sector I’d never even heard of until just a few hours ago.

I’ve got to be careful, though. I’ve still got that guy Nil Cornell’s voice in my head, and the way he was staring at me, like he knew something he didn’t dare tell me. “Be CAREFUL.” Right. Good advice. Very good advice.

Ok. So I think I’m ready. I’m gonna take a nap first, though. Honestly I’m pretty tired. It’s been a very long and a very full day. I wonder if that trading station will rent me a room …

Assets

1x Kestrel “Hot Rod”

1x Caiman Hauler “Tag Along”
1x Vulture Tanker 60% (stranded)

577,524 credits

Razputin53 · Post by **Razputin53** » Sun, 2. Jan 11, 21:41

I am installing the 3.0 patch for TC, and I just discovered that this story isn't finished yet...

Deeparth · Post by **Deeparth** » Mon, 3. Jan 11, 05:20

Just plain amazing Sicon. U could write a book or something.
Uve got exellent storytelling skills.
I feel this ones gonna be better than the last one.
Just don't die when after u get ur first M7M

Scion Drakhar · Post by **Scion Drakhar** » Mon, 3. Jan 11, 22:14

Razputin53 wrote:I am installing the 3.0 patch for TC, and I just discovered that this story isn't finished yet...

I gather that means you like what you're reading?

Deeparth wrote:Just plain amazing Sicon. U could write a book or something.
Uve got exellent storytelling skills.
I feel this ones gonna be better than the last one.

Why thank you.

One can only hope.

Deeparth wrote:Just don't die when after u get ur first M7M

I'll do my best.

7. Food for Thought

768-05-02 07:26

I slept like a king last night. I grabbed a luxury room just cuz I could. I ate like I’ve never seen food before. Then I slept for nearly eleven hours like I was in a coma. Now I feel good. I feel alive. I’m fed. I’m rested. And, oh by the stars, I’m clean! Clean is very nice. I haven’t been clean in a long time. I’m even wearing some new clothes! I can’t believe how much has changed in just a day. I mean, hell, I’ve got a couple of starships and I’ve got the cred, man! Two days ago I was scraping by on the streets of Argon Prime Old City by muling drugs, acting as a lookout for low level stick ups and… you know I don’t even want to think about it. I’m never going back. Never. I’m free and I answer only to myself and I’m NEVER going back. I’m in the stars, man. I’m in the stars …

So, I was on my way back to the ship and crossing the flight deck when I saw this Teladi trying to wipe up something that had spilled out of one of the crates he was prepping for load. Even from ten meters away I could smell the Spacefuel. A fellow smuggler. So I walked up to him and to put him at ease I offered him a drink out of this flask I picked up in Acquisition Repository when I was waiting for my freight scanner to be installed. Yeah, another impulse buy. In any case when this Teladi smelled what was in it he smiled at me and we started passing it back and forth. Turns out his name is, oh by the stars, Gogoeolos Hanirases Foologos the second. Teladi and their names. It’s a bloody ordeal just remembering them, let alone saying them out loud. I’ll just call him “Gogo” from now on, right? So, Gogo and I have similar ideas about how to make money, namely any way we can. We chatted for a while and I even helped him clean up the Spacefuel that leaked out of that crate. When we were done he re-filled my flask, which I told him wasn’t necessary, but by then I seemed to have made a friend.

So, while we were passing that flask back and forth he glanced out the window at my Kestral and said that it was a good ship. I agreed with him of course but he had a point in mind. He mentioned that the Kestral could carry a jumpdrive. Odd, right? I hadn’t even thought about it. Maybe it’s because I’ve been using my computer to do my thinking for me and since I haven’t come across one yet it doesn’t know they exist. He saw that the light had gone off in my head and I guess he figured he’d paid me back for the drink and helping him with his spill cuz he said goodbye then and left me thinking. Just before I let him get away I asked him where one could get one of those. He told me that there were Argon and Boron corporations that had them, but you had to be in pretty tight with them before they’d sell one to you. Then he said good bye again and hopped into his Kea.

So, a jumpdrive. Certain Argon and the Boron corporations sell them. They have to like you, though … and I’ve just recently gone and killed a cop from either race … and I’m liking Boron freighters as targets cuz they can’t shoot back. Food for thought. I wonder if Terracorp sells them? I mean the Kestral’s papers are in order and a jumpdrive on the freighter would make getting it out of any trouble what might come my way a lot easier than … well, a lot easier than watching it get blown to pieces cuz I’ve only got a light fighter to defend it with. It would really suck to accumulate a bunch of loot only to watch it get blown up by … well, by whatever. With another one I could even rescue that Vulture Iv’e got over in Argon space.

Hmmm.

So what to do, what to do? I think some research is in order.

768-05-02 08:28

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... pdrive.jpg

Ok, so Terracorp does have them, and does sell them. They just won’t sell them to me. Apparently there is this investigation over the death of some hero police officer …

So, I’m currently an Argon Citizen. I’ve got to boost my notoriety with them a couple of ranks to Argon Federation Associate before they’ll sell me a jumpdrive. So I might as well get to work.

768-05-02 09:49

Well, that was a little aggravating but not too bad. These people apparently lose a lot of Jaguars, which are pretty easy to return. There’s also a bunch of folks willing to squeeze into my cargo hold in order to get somewhere in a hurry … although there was that one guy. I swear, if I had a blaster on my hip there’d be one less Argon in the universe right now. This guy needed to get from Cloudbase Northwest (CBNW) to Antigone Memorial exactly yesterday and was offering a pretty good bit of change for me to do it. It gets so close on time though that I actually hot docked at the Solar Power Plant (SPP) at over 300m/s in order to get it done … but I DID get it done. So I’m docked, right. The computer has connected to the local trading network. Then this tosser tells me he wants off my ship and fails the mission for me. I mean he’s THERE right. It was ridiculously tight, but I got him there. Then he stiffs me on the fair and even worse he costs me some of the rep I was working so hard to earn. I’m gonna remedy this problem I’ve got with respect real soon. I bet he wouldn’t have stiffed me had I blaster on my hip … and if he had I’d a put a good sized crater in his back for it. I’m tired of it. I’m nobody’s tool anymore.

There was also this problem with the assassination missions I kept picking up. I took five of them and failed every one. I mean I was still kind of in shock that I was even taking on the work, but to have them all stolen from me … and all by the same bloody ship! Would you believe that bloody Ban Danna in his bloody Argon One stole every one of my marks? Every one!! No you don’t, do yah? I didn’t either. Different marks. Different gates. Every time that prick was waiting. Bloody Ban Danna. That sunnuva spaceweed junkie! I got to the point where I just stopped taking executions. I knew that if he stole another of my targets I was gonna do something that would end badly, for me anyhow.

Anyway, it’s done. The Argon now think highly enough of me to believe it inconceivable that I’d kill a cop (heh heh heh) and even more importantly they’ll now sell me jumpdrives.

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... drive2.jpg

Bloody thing better work.

768-05-02 10:23

Alright, I’m back at Company Pride. I just swapped that jumpdrive over to the Caiman and sent it along with a whole load of jumpfuel up to the Trading Station in the Hole. I’m about to go buy another jumpdrive and equip that Vulture. In short order I should have two jumpdrive equipped freighters.

768-05-02 10:39

I was just on my way back to Home of Light and passing through Elena’s Fortune when I see this Pirate Galleon wreaking pure Havoc in the sector. It put a smile on my face. I couldn’t help it. It just did. I mean it was foolish, right? There’s a Military Base here. It’s a well defended sector. Yet the sight of this Pirate capital ship blasting the crap out of everything in sight was just kind of, I don’t know, amusing somehow.

Then this Plutarch Military Cerberus shows up and put a squash on the fun.

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... nSunk2.jpg

You know, it’s a shame. I didn’t even get any loot out of it. So sad.

768-05-02 11:05

Alrighty then. Both of my freighters have now been fixed up and equipped with both jumpdrives and shields. I upgraded their engines and rudders but can’t afford to have either cargo bay upgraded. I’m completely broke now but I’ve got the Vulture “Gas Station” stuffed to the gills with jumpfuel and the Caiman “Tag Along” is ready to hop into sector behind me to clean up whatever I can convince these freighters to let me have.

It’s now time to commence operation “Pick Pocket.” Hooo. I’m tingling from head to toe. This is so gonna rock! (Provided I don't die horribly, of course.)

Assets

1x Kestrel “Hot Rod”

1 x Caiman Hauler “Tag Along”
1 x Vulture Tanker “Gas Station”

11,573 Credits

Triaxx2 · Post by **Triaxx2** » Tue, 4. Jan 11, 01:19

Ooh, I'm all tingly inside waiting.

I suspect that sometime in the future the estimable Mr. Danna will be on the receiving end of a Hammer Barrage.

Deeparth · Post by **Deeparth** » Tue, 4. Jan 11, 10:33

Why don't you gift the great Argon One a few Tomahawks when u have a good capship? Or maybe not since Danna helped us a lil. But then again.....i think his role is over......

Scion Drakhar · Post by **Scion Drakhar** » Tue, 4. Jan 11, 23:30

Perhaps one day in the future I will simply annihilate all of Argon Prime while Ban Danna watches ...

8. Piracy, Smuggling and Slavery, oh my!

768-05-02 12:12

Oh that was fun. Insane! But oh so much fun. I kinda overlooked an important detail when I decided to target this Boron Military Transport. That detail would be just how many fighter drones he was packing. It was alright, though, and decidedly worth it. I mean I’m way faster than they are. I tried shooting ‘em down at first but this Boron right, he just kept pumping more n’ more of ‘em out. So I decided on another tactic.

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... Whoops.jpg

Right. That would be me running away. It was a well thought out and strategic decision, though, not an act of cowardice. No, really! You see I discovered something after a little while: those drones run out of fuel. Since they can’t catch me I just led ‘em on a merry little chase, circling around every so often to lay into that Boron Transport some more and convince him to drop some more drones. Eventually he ran out. Then the drones petered out. Then he was all mine. Heh heh heh.

I got a lot of what he had, but it was strange, you know. He refused, to his dying breath, to cough up all of it. See, he had these 20 Navigational Relay Satellites that I wanted. He just never would drop ‘em. Then eventually I finally hit him too hard and he exploded. I don’t know why but it made me giggle. I very well may be an evil person. It’s okay, though. I think I’m alright with it. I guess I’ll find out the next time I try and sleep.

In the meantime:

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... tables.jpg

… and after Tag Along managed to pick everything up it looked like this:

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... 4/Swag.jpg

That’s over 600k just in PACs! Then another couple hundred for the Mass Drivers (MDs) Woo Hoo!

I’m not sure if I should sell it all, though. I don’t know. In the meantime, though. I think I’m gonna lie in wait for another target.

768-05-02 12:18

I couldn’t help myself. I needed to do it. I needed to see it. I needed to know what it felt like to have over a million credits …

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... 4/1mil.jpg

I tell yah. It feels good.

768-05-02 12:49

Well this was right up my alley. I was just kind of cruising the pirate sectors looking for something yummy to take a bite out of when I got to Brennan’s Triumph. I docked and checked the com at the pirate base and it turns out there was a hacker offering to take care of the Anarchy Port over in Hatikvah’s Faith and it’s inclination to not let me dock, and this:

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... livery.jpg

Which amounts to over 1940 cred per unit. Normally the very best I can do is a little over 1200 cred per unit. The distillery up in Herron’s Nebula, still being overflowing, was selling the stuff for just over 300 cred per unit. So, all said and done that was a quick 312k profit. Not bad for just sending my freighter to pick up and deliver. Opportunities baby. I do wish I’d gotten those satellites, though. One parked in Herron’s Nebula would give me the ability to monitor the stock up there instead of gambling.

Oh, one more thing. I picked up something while I was here:

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... 4/Guns.jpg

Right. Four crates of phase pistols and plasma blasters. So now I’ve got a blaster belted low across my hips and strapped to my leg so the heel of my hand rests just on the grip. It’s comfortable, and just so we’re clear I do know how to shoot. I’m not half bad, either. I tell yah, the next time some Paranid looks at me like I’m refuse, or some jerkoff tries to stiff me on a fare just cuz I’m a kid and he thinks he can get away with it I’m gonna blow some holes in somebody. I’m over it, right? I deserve some bloody respect and I’m gonna get it.

768-05-02 13:51

Well, I’m becoming a regular terror of the trade lanes, at least for unarmed Boron and one very unlucky Paranid. So, being that I have a lot of speed, right, I’ve decided to cruise the trade lanes in the pirate sectors looking for anything that I might like to take a bite out of. I even took a couple of the adv sats I picked up from that last guy and parked ‘em in Noplieos Memorial so I could monitor the whole sector, giving me the ability to pick a target on one side of the sector if I‘m on the other. I put the other in Brennan’s Trumph to watch the pirate base there, although I‘m thinking about moving that one to Heroon‘s Nebula so I can monitor the distilleries. They’re my lookouts, you know.

So, I was just in Hatikvah’s Faith about to start heading back through toward Argon Space when I see this Paranid Weapon Trader. I scan him and he’s carrying a bunch of weapons I’ve never heard of before, including some Photon Pulse Cannons (PPCs) a Phased Shockwave Generator (PSG) a bunch of Fragmentation Bomb Launchers (FBLs or Frag-Bombs) and a few that I have, like High Energy Plasma Throwers (HEPTs) plus a bunch of some kind of missile called Auroras. All in all it looks kind of tasty, right. Then I checked the computer! Those PPCs go for nearly a mil each! That PSG is worth over 600k! The Frag-bombs over 200k each and the HEPTs nearly 150K each! I didn’t do the math or anything but I was looking at MILLIONS of cred in weapons if I could get ‘em all.

Well, I did, and you know what, considering the nature of the things that arrogant putz was saying to me I’m glad I did, regardless of their worth. I hate the Paranid. I do. It goes beyond their arrogance and their condescension or even their smell. I just hate ‘em. Supercilious, egotistical, condescending, oh so holier-than-thou three-eyed bastards. Screw ‘em.

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... /Swag2.jpg

Which amounts to a bit over 4.8 mil in swag!!!!

Now after I got it all I Iet him go and had Tag Along come and hoover it all up while I started to check out Nopileos Memorial. I made a couple of sweeps back and forth. I even made a try after an ultra-lightly shielded Boron Freight Trader in a Mako and, well, I kind of hit him too hard and he exploded. I did get a crate of microchips out of it, though. I was just about to have Tag Along move into Sector when I noticed another Paranid Weapon Trader coming in from the Hatikvah’s Faith gate. I moved in to take a closer look and realized he’d been in a fight as his hull was down to about 70%. I can be a bit slow. I admit it. It was the same guy what just hooked me up with all that treasure! He saw me too, and immediately turned around and started trying to head back for the Gate. So, of course I decided to say hi again, right. I mean he did still have a few of those Auroras, and I was rather enjoying myself.

Well apparently this was too much for that Paranid and guess what?

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... tClaim.jpg

Yep. He jumped right out of his ship and into cold hard vacuum … where I promptly scooped him up, pointed a blaster at his head and told him to climb face first into an empty crate that used to be full of Spacefuel. I taped his hands and feet together, covered his mouth and then kicked him in the back of the head a couple of times for fun. Then I shut the crate telling him he was soooo gonna love the new life that awaited him. I’ve got a plan for him. See, he’s worth about 1400 credits as a slave at the Pirate Base over in Hatikvah’s’s Faith. Not much, I grant you. Certainly not even worth the trouble of actually ferrying him over there. But oh stars and heavens, the satisfaction is. Hey, at least he’ll be nice and quiet on the way over and probably high as a kite on the fumes from that Spacefuel by the time we get there. In the meantime, though I claimed his ship. You know, Demeter’s are kinda pretty. This kind of fun should be illegal … oh, right! It is!

Aaaah-Hahahaha….!

Assets

1x Kestrel “Hot Rod”

1 x Caiman Hauler “Tag Along”
1 x Vulture Tanker “Gas Station”
1x Demeter 64%

763,819 Credits

Triaxx2 · Post by **Triaxx2** » Wed, 5. Jan 11, 02:57

Awesome chapter. Can't wait for more.

Jawms · Post by **Jawms** » Wed, 5. Jan 11, 06:01

I love the way your character is developing, very immersive.. Kinda sad that i have to quit reading and wait for the next installment.. Keep up the good work, can't wait for more.

Kirlack · Post by **Kirlack** » Wed, 5. Jan 11, 18:01

w00t, congrats on your first cap Scion

You've gotten me hooked on DiDs, just dowlnoaded A Pirates Story and read it all in one hit, could still cry at the ending. BTW did you ever check out Triaxx2s "clone" from that? I was quite enjoying it whilst he was working on it...

Scion Drakhar · Post by **Scion Drakhar** » Wed, 5. Jan 11, 18:36

Thanks guys. I do so love hearing from you.

Ok, the situation: I've run into some sort of computer problem. My game keeps crashing and I can't determine whats been causing it. I've exhausted every option available to me without doing something drastic, so drastic it is. I've backed up my saves both on the internet and on compact disc. Now I'm going to completely erase my hard drives, re-install my operataing system and start from scratch. There may be a several days without posts as I hunt down drivers and get all the various components to co-operate and play nice.

Wish me luck.

Kirlack · Post by **Kirlack** » Wed, 5. Jan 11, 20:16

Best o' luck then, I hate doing OS re-installs. Question now is, how do I amuse myself of an evening if I can't read your latest exploits? (Actually that's a sad statement on the state of my life :-p)

Next stop: N-Ss Wanton use of nukes.... then more pirating of my own

Triaxx2 · Post by **Triaxx2** » Wed, 5. Jan 11, 22:58

I assume you tried reinstalling the game before moving to drastic measures.

@Kirlack: Wait you mean some one was actually reading it? Maybe I'll pick it back up. I only stopped because I didn't think anyone was.

Scion Drakhar · Post by **Scion Drakhar** » Wed, 5. Jan 11, 23:16

Triaxx2 wrote:I assume you tried reinstalling the game before moving to drastic measures.

@Kirlack: Wait you mean some one was actually reading it? Maybe I'll pick it back up. I only stopped because I didn't think anyone was.

Smartass.

Yeah, I've tried all sorts of things. I uninstalled the game, deleted the folder and then re-installed it three times. I've updated all of my drivers. I've uninstalled several dozen programs. I've run Norton half a dozen times. I've even bought a new sound card. It keeps crashing. Something has slipped into the system and I don't know where or what it is. Hell it may have even been one of the windows updates, in which case I'm severely screwed.

The guys over in tech support are still working with me. In the meantime I'm backing up all my data and getting ready to do something absolutely dreadful, namely re-format the hard drive and start over. I hate doing it cuz I always forget SOMETHING.

Anyhoo. I'm not gonna actually start on it until tomorrow sometime, so maybe the Tech guys'll come up with something. IDK.

Triaxx2 · Post by **Triaxx2** » Thu, 6. Jan 11, 00:05

I know many people, some who are even intelligent computer users that jump straight to 'Reformat' without trying the necessary possibilities in between.

Have you tried using a System Restore?

Scion Drakhar · Post by **Scion Drakhar** » Thu, 6. Jan 11, 01:56

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php? ... sc&start=0

If you're interested that's the thread where some very smart people are helping me try to narrow it down. I'm not going to actually go through the r-eformatting bit until at least tomorrow and that's only if these guys can't help me.