The Tale of Ea't s'Quid, a Truly Savage Split.

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Triaxx2
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Post by Triaxx2 » Fri, 30. Dec 11, 17:31

Thank you. Scion provides an excellent frame work, so it's easy to connect it.

Pirates Revenge? Or Pirates Story? They're both good.

As for Wingnut, I'm not sure. He wasn't quite fitting the story, and frankly after he smashed into the side of the ship, I'm not entirely sure I'd rehire a guy that does that kind of stupid thing. Would you?

Perhaps someone a bit less crazy.
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The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed

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Triaxx2
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Post by Triaxx2 » Sun, 1. Jan 12, 06:06

Chapter 12: Pirates in arms.

I've decided to give G't a chance to prove himself a split warrior. And informed him that if he accidentally shoots me in the back, Battlewagon is programmed to self-destruct his ship. He gave me an ugly look. And when you get an ugly look from a Split, you can definitely tell.

I gave him the Chimera. He wasn't particularly happy about it, but I twisted his arm. No, literal. I bent his arm behind his back and banged his head against the wall, until he agreed to take the ship. Of course when Wingnut went down I lost all my spare weapons, so the only thing I had to mount were 4 IRE's, the three from his Buster Raider, and one from a bailed N.

He's not really happy, apparently preferring a nice safe guard dog job up with Battlewagon, but that's tough. I'm not in the mood to accept griping. His job is to keep me from getting smashed by some jerk with a space flame thrower.

“Was he really that bad?”

“No. He was an excellent pilot, and not a bad warrior, but a truly terrible gambler. Even worse than Weasel.”

“Wow.”

“Indeed.”

Well, that was the plan, but after the first ship I caught, and blew up, I sent him back to guard duty. The speed difference even if he were maxed is just too high. Since he's not for reasons obvious because of the incident with his late wingman, it's just not a proper fit. Of course, I remind him that Battlewagon is also linked to his self-destruct. If it goes up, so does he. He's not happy, but I don't really care.

A couple of hits on traders go pretty well. I get some missiles from an Argon Weapons dealer. A Freight Transporter however, nets me an Eclipse. Yet another bails, yielding his Nova, and some Meatsteak Cahoona's.

Bringing in a Caiman, I see a Xenon M show up. The Caiman, equipped with MARS and some fighter drones begins scooping up the cargo. Killing the first M, after causing the Rapier it launched at me to impact on one of the big asteroids, and narrowly avoiding taking the second up the tailpipe, I duck out and finish it with a burst of PBG. Slipping into attack position on another trader, I get lit up suddenly by what turns out to be another M. I don't waste time with the PBE's this time, and burn it out with PAC fire.

A couple traders later, after taking three Wildfires to the face, I decide to call it a day. Sending the Caiman out to swap it's jumpdrive back to the second Zephyrus, I wait for it to arrive, and count my loot. More than a hundred IRE's. A dozen PAC's, some Microchips, 32 crates of MD ammo, and assorted Missiles. Plus another hundred and a half crates of MD ammo, more missiles and some EBC ammo, though I completely lack any EBC's.

All in all, a profitable day.

---

Short chapter. Rather Fun filled. Next one is a lot longer.
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016

The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed

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Nathancros
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Post by Nathancros » Sun, 1. Jan 12, 08:37

Triaxx2 wrote:Thank you. Scion provides an excellent frame work, so it's easy to connect it.

Pirates Revenge? Or Pirates Story? They're both good.

As for Wingnut, I'm not sure. He wasn't quite fitting the story, and frankly after he smashed into the side of the ship, I'm not entirely sure I'd rehire a guy that does that kind of stupid thing. Would you?

Perhaps someone a bit less crazy.

the one you wrote, the female one XD oh btw speaking of which

Lillith or Lil'lith
Argon or split*up ta you*

a good all around pilot but her talents lay in... information gathering and.... disarming male security and such... i beleive you should catch my drift :P

uses all her feminine whiles all possible occasions :P verrrrrry provacative woman, can be completly irrisitable(damn my spelling) at times :P, :P tho can be very rude and crude when she feels like it, enjoys a pirates life :P knows all the songs ;) hums them under her breath while she fights :P

if u wnat i can throw more ideas around in my head for a new char :)

EDIT: a new char came to my head that made my chuckle for awhile :P

Bob
Argon
Traits:None
Completly boring. average joe, even his dogfights are boring, methodical, average looking,average in everyway..

utterly BORING
*yeah only reason i added this was cause it made me chuckle for a few seconds :P, u can completly ignore this one, or both if u wanted, *
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Triaxx2
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Post by Triaxx2 » Sun, 1. Jan 12, 14:39

A Pirate's Revenge then. Glad you like it.

L'l'th sounds interesting, and entertaining for a Split. I'll see what fun I can do with her.
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
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The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed

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Nathancros
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Post by Nathancros » Mon, 2. Jan 12, 07:00

Triaxx2 wrote:A Pirate's Revenge then. Glad you like it.

L'l'th sounds interesting, and entertaining for a Split. I'll see what fun I can do with her.
and im glad u wrote it :P it kept me sane while i was stuck at my familes for christmas
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Triaxx2
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Post by Triaxx2 » Mon, 2. Jan 12, 16:50

Wow, never expected it to promote sanity.
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
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The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed

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Nathancros
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Post by Nathancros » Tue, 3. Jan 12, 07:02

Triaxx2 wrote:Wow, never expected it to promote sanity.
my version of sanity is a slight bit off ;) anywayz eagerly awaiting the next chapter :)
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Post by Triaxx2 » Tue, 10. Jan 12, 11:32

There are pictures that go along with this, but I don't have a connection capable of uploading them at the moment, so...

---

Chapter 13: Brothers in Arms, Pods in the Tubes.

This was my first live boarding exercise. Having learned my lesson not to mix boarding crews, I had returned my Paranid Marines to duty aboard Battlewagon, and set my Toucan to looking for more awesome Split Jarheads to stuff face first into pods. I mean, really, that's all pods are, a long missile with five spots for marines to strap themselves on. Of course, the reason most Split consider marines crazy (Above and beyond the normally acceptable amount for a Split) is that they're shooting themselves across open space at very high speed, relying on the often unreliable Split Pilots to keep the shields down so they don't join their ancestry prematurely.

Of course, Split being what they are, there are almost never a shortage of such brave... or insane souls. I must presume that many of my candidates were offered the choice of being euthanized or joining the marine forces.

I'm not entirely sure the difference, except that becoming a Marine seems to be a slower death. Not much though.

Of course what this meant was funds. Lots of them. Which meant either lots of piracy, or jobs. I opted for the latter, given that Piracy has rapidly become a dangerous proposition. The Argon seem to be sending more military through Haktikvah's lately, so I'm going to lay low, and see what I can do for my government, lest they find something to do for, or rather to me. It's not long before I realize that cattle class taxi missions are good payers. A mission to defend a station turns out to be worth more than the 39.9k credits offered. I not only get two ships to bail but one is carrying PAC's for G't's Chimera.

Chasing down to Contorted Dominion to dock the Ares at the Military Outpost, I hear a conversation. A couple of half-bagged Split are talking about a close encounter of the very scary kind. It seems they were east of the Paranid Origin sectors, and were almost killed by some sort of big nasty destroyer, trailed by a huge cloud of fighters.

That sounds like my kind of destroyer. It's called an Akuma it seems, and it's purported to be exceptionally nasty at killing. Definitely sounds like my kind of destroyer. Apparently you can buy them, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I might have to 'acquire' one instead. Getting there however, requires some speed. The sort normally only achieved by weapon rounds. Which is why I find myself landing at the Cho's Defeat shipyard, and buying a Jaguar Raider.

Dubbing it Speed Demon, since it goes almost six hundred m/s, I jump to Thuruk's Beard and jump in, after borrowing two IRE's from the Chimera. Battlewagon heads north for jump fuel, while I head for Paranid Prime. Here's to happy thoughts.

Split say: Speed is Life. Split STUPID.

600m/s is far too fast. Blitzing between asteroids in Haktikvah's I duck through the gate, and immediately am left wondering where the hell I am, as I'm confronted with a shipyard. It's apparently called the Marauder, and it seems to offer some services to those of a piratical nature. Such as me.

Including a number of hard to find stations and several varieties of pirate ships. For those with the cash. Docking nets me a message from a fish. This is truly odd since by now they fear me terribly. It seems though that he's been kidnapped by the owner of the station. I could get to like this guy. For now though, I'm off and headed for Paranid Prime.

Danna's has a Plasma Burst Generator Forge, and Rehab center, but neither like me. Ducking north into Brennan's Triumph, I find an Argon Space Jewelry of all things and then I'm into Split Fire. From there it's a short run to Priests Pity. I'm interested in neither, so I gun the engines for the West Gate. I must admit, that despite Lord Drakes reservations and general dislike of the Paranid, which is completely justifiable, I rather like them.

Not enough to annoy Drake by hiring any mind you, but still, I find the general attitude of treating everyone the same refreshing. True, the treatment is of something scrapped off the bottom of a boot, and put there by a family pet, but at least it's equal. Priest's Rings is a big, ugly sector. I'm glad I don't have to spend too long in it.

Paranid Prime is a bit less annoying, and I stop at the Equipment Dock for a drink. Specifically something I will refer to as the Argon translation of it's Split name. Death.

Death, in the sense of a drink, varies from sector to sector. The base of the drink is space fuel with space weed blended in. From there, it's spiced with various food stuffs, in this case Rastar, and Nostrop Oil's and Stott Spices, and garnished with a Scruffin Fruit. Delicious, deadly. One sip is enough to cure whatever ails you. By burning it out.

Good stuff. Having had my one drink maximum. One glass for a Split, one for a Paranid, and one shot for Argon or Teladi. Boron can't drink it. Really Good Stuff.. I decide I'm as boosted as I'm going to get and steel myself for being shot at. A lot. Empires Edge is deceptively quiet and generally empty. Fortunately, I got the co-ordinates for the west gate to Savage Spur, so I know it's an illusion. Entering the gate, I'm ready to punch the booster and dive back through on the other side, but it seems the Yaki are generally friendly. A good sign? Time will tell.

Ocracoke's Storm is also clear. But Senator's is considered a Core Sector for the Yaki, so it's the real test. And all things seem to be okay. Definitely a bit of a surprise, so I head into the sector, looking for my real target. First thing I find though, are a pair of Ryu, apparently convoying north to the shipyard. North? What could be from the south? A little traveling to the south reveals a gate. Interesting.

But what I'm here for is supposed to be in this sector, so I swing north west and just as I'm about to change course again, I spot it. The Akuma is busily navigating around an asteroid, which hid it from earlier view. It's a long ship with 6 GJ of shielding, and frankly, I think it's beautiful. The only problem is that it does have that previously mentioned cloud of fighters hanging around. What that means is that I need a Corvette, so I can launch Firestorms. Hammerheads would do the job, but I've only got the one. So, I first need to locate a Corvette and then take it. Which means I need a TP, and some marines. I've heard about a battle back in the northeastern Split Sectors, near Family Njy, and the report of a downed Dragon. Jumping from Senator's Badlands to Mines of Fortune, I start southeast. Meanwhile Ch't reports in that the first group of marines has been properly briefed and are in the middle of their first round of training. It's kind of expensive, I'll admit,but having the marines ready to go when I get to the Dragon is going to be a lot easier than having to wait. Of course first I have to get to Family Njy, and find the dragon.

Turns out neither of those is actually that hard. Arriving in sector, the Dragon is actually sitting not that far off the gate.

Not long after, the Ares arrives, and my marines are aboard the unshielded and abandoned ship. Or rather they would be if they could get through the hull. Battlewagon's bridge finds itself cleared as I begin screaming in a fit of rage. Sitting in my command chair a few minutes later, considering just what horrible fate I should expunge upon enemies, I get a call.

Answering with a jab of a finger and a snarled acknowledgment I find myself talking to a representative of Sky Crow industries. Apparently a scout ship witnessed my boarding attempt and it's subsequent failure. He reported back to his superiors.

What they want to offer me is the chance to purchase a ship extension allowing me to claim abandoned ships without marines damaging the ships. It sounds interesting, and also illegal. I tell them I'd like to talk to a rep in person. I'm directed to the nearest Teladi EQD. First though, I head out to kill a Kha'ak interceptor prowling around Njy. In doing so I see a second Dragon, also sitting abandoned. There's a Boron Heavy Hydra hunting and I suspect that it's what's caused the bails. I'll be back for it.

Docking at the EQD, I myself sitting at the bar, waiting for the contact. I found myself sitting at a lot of bars to be totally honest with you. I still do on occasion and I admit, I don't really mind it. The contact turned out to be an absolutely ravishing Split female by the name of L'l'th. I nearly dropped my drink. Nearly. No woman worth that.

“HEY!”

“True.”

She walked up to me in the most interesting manner, and introduced herself. It was good to meet a Split female who did not spend all her time trying to kill me, or worse, marry me. Of course, then it got to price, and I did spill my drink. Four and a half million credits. For a piece of hardware.

Then she got into the technical specifics and frankly I stopped listening after a bit, trying to work out just where I was going to get that kind of money. She said she'd be willing to wait for a while while I got it. I bought her another drink and told her to wait for me. I'd be back.

“So, you'll spill your drink for credits, but not a pretty girl?”

“Split must have standards.”
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016

The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

Nathancros
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Post by Nathancros » Tue, 10. Jan 12, 12:23

awesome chapter mate :) will be interesting to see the E'at method of making money...

instead of a sausage stall*uve seen them irl. the little charity ones that are everwhere :P* a boron stall ;) ahaha They will Die for your taste ;)
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Triaxx2
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Post by Triaxx2 » Thu, 12. Jan 12, 18:30

Chapter 14: Need Cash Fast

My first mission is a transport to the SPP in Tkr's Dep. I don't have the energy to jump in one go, but I do have enough if I get one system closer, and I'll be landing at an SPP anyway, so it's okay. Turns out that when I jumped to Home of Opportunity, G't S'hht missed the bus, so I tell him to meet me at the SPP instead. He's not happy, since I suspect he wanted to run away with my ship. Too bad.

I've made two decisions though. One is that I need a bigger ship. While the Battlewagon has proven itself able, I need more cargo space, and more fighter capacity. A kill mission sends me to home of opportunity for nearly a hundred thousand credits. It'll be hard to accomplish, but I can manage it I think. I succeed, dropping on top of the Split Pirate as I arrive through the north gate.

Another mission wants a Boron flying a Pirate Viper killed. It seems this Boron was masquerading as a Teladi. The mission giver was also Boron. Oh well. Not only does the pirate bail, but I still get the 203k credits. Sweet. At this rate the fish will die because the water on their planet all dried up.

Perhaps selling the bomber will provide a bit more capital? In any case, someone has offered me 1.5 million credits to kill a target. But would want me to fly to Ocean of Fantasy. Uh huh. That's a freaking CORE SECTOR. And my name is Ea't s'Quid, not F'sh A'r Fri'nds.

So I tell him to sod off, and begin hunting for something else. Delivering an unused Hermes with a couple of spare microchips aboard nets me 41k. Another kill mission jumps me to Family Njy, with the destruction of a Peregrine in mind. After it's been vaporized, I jump into Fangs to finish of it's pirate escort. As I'm launching and bearing down on a Pirate Buster, I get an attack warning for Njy. I've only got two ships, so I do the sensible thing and scream at G't to get his ugly ass in space or I'm going to shoot it. He launches and keeps the Battlewagon from going up in smoke. Just in time too as I'm getting rolled around by wildfires before I catch the Buster and the missile it just launched with a PBG burst and eliminate both issues. After the fight is over, I collect a Firelance, some Tomahawks and a unit of Mass Driver ammo.

Sliding back aboard Battlewagon I dock at the nearby equipment dock and stop for a drink.

I have a cool 1.8 million credits, now all I need is another 3.

“Wait, wait. Just a minute.”

“What? Why you keep interrupting if want to hear story?”

“Because you're not making sense. Or being an idiot.”

“Same thing. What now?”

“Why did you take a mission for that Boron? I thought you hate Boron?”

“Do hate Boron. Love credits. Besides, talk to him over commlink, not face-to-tentacle. No urge make seafood salad.”

“Ah. So I see.”

“Hmmm... Boron use Organic technology?”

“Yes.”

“Wonder how Shark taste?”

“You're incorrigible.”

“Yes.”

Anyway, sending for the Viper, which had a jumpdrive when it bailed and was sent to local SPP for gas, I jump it in and follow it to shipyard. Current cost of new Viper in perfect condition: 5million credits, and change. Price of Viper with 71% hull, and no more? 2.7 million. Gives 4.55 million. More than enough. Jump to Home of Opportunity.

L'l'th is still at the bar when I get back she seemed surprised to see not only that I was back so fast, but that I was back at all. Presenting her with the credits, she offers to come along and show me how it works. On the way out, I get a Teladi asking to return his ship. L'l'th smiles and tells me it will be a perfect opportunity to test the software. It is, and as I kick out to go assist with a Pirate Centaur, Battlewagon auto-Pillock's over to pick up the Octopus. Before I close in though, the pilot of the Centaur bails. This is fortuitous, because I have the piece of software needed to jack it. Moving it to the Discoverer, and sending Battlewagon back with the Octopus, I note that I completely forgot about L'l'th aboard Battlewagon. I send a message that I'm sorry. Her answer isn't precisely printable, but she forgave me for rave reviews. Battlewagon jumps back to meet me in Ghinn's Escape, and we hop to Njy. It's not long before I'm now in command of 3 corvettes. Two Dragons and the Pirate Centaur. That said, only one of the three is really combat worthy, and even so it's kind of banged up at 80% hull. Of course, it'll be rocking 8 ISR's and two Firestorms.

I decide two things. One is the name of the ship. Squid Slayer. Second is that it's now mine. I love Fangs, and while I'll be taking two of the PBG's with me, it's time to move up to something more dangerous. And the Dragon fits. I make a snap decision as well. I offer L'l'th a job. Commanding the second Dragon. She accepts with a truly evil smile. I wonder for a long moment if I've made a mistake. The next smile she gives though, when she looks at her new Dragon, is one of beauty and I know instantly the answer is no. I've made a connection.

I love the cockpit view of a Dragon. It's such a hideously wonderful looking ship. And such a horribly violent warship for anyone daring to challenge it's Captain. My next command however, is already decided. Akuma. That's what I intend to fly. So my first task is two fold. First is to earn 1.8 million credits for a turbo booster, and second, is to keep training my marines. Heading east to Njy's Deception with this in mind, I'm looking for combat missions. There's nothing in Njy's Deception, except a map for a few nearby sectors, so I continue through to Family Ryk. There's a little more, most of it trading missions, and not anything I'm interested in while flying a Dragon. A Rastar Refinery holds a little more promise though. It turns out to be a particularly ugly station defense mission and before it's over, I have to call in Battlewagon and Fangs and Speed Demon both out to engage and destroy the last Harrier Raider. Fangs finally tags it with a Wasp and that slows it down enough for Speed Demon to finish off with a burst of PAC fire. Sheesh.

Long fight, good fun though.

It's about time to stop for a while though. I dock at the recently saved Refinery and get greeted with great thanks by the workers and owner. He even offers me a free drink. Naturally, I accept. Heading further east, I defend a Solar Power Plant, and then pick up a couple of Silicon Wafers for a mere 476 credits. Then I sell them to a computer plant in Family Zyarth for 830. Not a bad profit at all.

Now with most of the elements of my capture wing in position, I need only two things. One is the cash to repair my Ares. Speaking of which, calling in a Mercury SF XL, full of energy, I order it to drop a load of energy at the Computer plant. This area is kind of energy starved. I think I'll hire a pilot to run energy around this area. It's littered with power hungry factories.

Sadly, no one will work for me, because I'm not properly registered as a trader. Fine, I guess I'll run one manually. I've heard about them, but never tried it myself.

Anyway, I've heard of a secret Boron shipyard, in a sector called 'Depths of Silence'. Obviously the silence isn't that deep. So I set course for Zyarth's Dominion, only to be killed by a P coming through the gate towards me.

[---]

Ugh. Drink from Computer Plant finally got to me. Of course, the inspiration of the Shipyard in Depths of Silence inspires me to try again. I've heard of Depths of Silence, though I'm not exactly sure where that's at though.

Heading again to Zyarth's, I get there a bit earlier and the P is just passing the shipyard. Fortunately a salvo of thunderbolts takes care of it without any problem at all. Meanwhile, I've sent Battlewagon south to Cardinal's Domain and the shipyard. Midway through a mission to defend the shipyard though, I get a message from the commander of Battlewagon, an ugly split who knows better than to send video messages. This one though is a welcome sight. It's an abandoned Paranid Hercules.

Not quite the way I'd have liked my TL, but this one will work, indeed it will. Meantime, I run for the south gate, and launch missiles ahead of me to take out some of the fighters and try vainly to nail the P in charge of the attack. What happens though, is that they get shot down, and then the P and two M's that survived head off to hit the local supply Elephant. While I'm half-rooting for them to take the Elephant, since what's better than one bailed TL but two, what happens is that the Elephant takes out the P with it's IBL's and then proceeds to maul one of the M's before I can arrive. I do manage to take out the other L, but I'm annoyed.

Jumping south to Cardinals, I wait for Battlewagon near the Hercules. The capture goes as well as I hoped, and it even has both a jump drive, and some weapons, three Ion Shard Railguns, and a Concussion Impulse Generator. Plus a 200MJ shield. The downside of course is that it's a MASSIVE capital class hull, but having seen what that Elephant did to the P, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Swapping to Speed Demon, I take off west toward Barren Shores and beyond. The Boron don't hate me after killing a Boron for a Boron. Split say Boron weird. But it grants access to the border systems, and at 596 m/s there's nothing they have that can touch me. Particularly not when I get into the core sectors which is where it gets FUN.

Penetrating enemy defenses is fun. Particularly going nearly six hundred meters per second. Interestingly, I get no 'leave or die' when I enter Reservoir of Tranquility, which is considered a Core sector. Further west then. I suspect leaving I'll head north into Family Rhy. For some reason, even the Argon were friendly at this point, though I figured they would probably change their minds soon. So I decided to take advantage of it while it lasted and see if I could get a ship into position to buy a few jump drives. Volunteers?

Ah yes, a Pelican at the Split Shipyard in Zyarth's Dominion. Just needs a jump drive of it's own. Ah. I'll borrow the one off the Caiman, stick it onto a Discoverer and then slot it into the Pelican. Then I can jump the Pelican close, and move the Discoverer and my valuable jumpdrive somewhere safe. But for later is that. For now, I find that indeed, there is a sector called Depths of Silence and it does indeed have a shipyard. Turning and running back for Family Rhy is easy, but I don't feel safe there. Rhonkar and Rhy have a long history and clan Goto was often instrumental in attacks against Rhy. If they find out I'm around, I will be a stain on history.

“Obviously they didn't.”

“Split clever. Fool stupid ones.”

“How?”

“Split pretend to be Goner.”

“How does that work if you're not flying a Ranger?”

“Every time they ask for identification, I start playing preaching over comm link.”

“Cruel.”

“And unusual. Many benefits.”

Ministry of Finance, safety. Docking at shipyard, I call for ride. Hercules enters from south gate, narrowly avoids Teladi Condor, and sits not far from station. It's a lovely shiny ship and I enjoy looking at it for a while. With my moment of 'ooh, shiny' over, I get back to work. There are ships to steal, and fish to annoy.
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016

The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

Nathancros
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Joined: Tue, 30. Nov 10, 04:46

Post by Nathancros » Fri, 13. Jan 12, 06:46

Triaxx2 wrote:
And my name is Ea't s'Quid, not F'sh A'r Fri'nds.




“Split pretend to be Goner.”

“How does that work if you're not flying a Ranger?”

“Every time they ask for identification, I start playing preaching over comm link.”

“Cruel.”

“And unusual. Many benefits.”



I think i woke the neighbors...... more triaxx golden classics :P
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Post by Triaxx2 » Fri, 13. Jan 12, 15:37

If I'm not making you wake your neighbors, I'm not doing my job. I am, so I must be. Glad you're enjoying it.
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016

The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

Nathancros
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Joined: Tue, 30. Nov 10, 04:46

Post by Nathancros » Sat, 14. Jan 12, 19:22

Triaxx2 wrote:If I'm not making you wake your neighbors, I'm not doing my job. I am, so I must be. Glad you're enjoying it.
ahaha :P im not sure if they would agree tho ;)
Nullam et arcu vitae magna instabilitate omnia solvit

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Post by Triaxx2 » Sun, 15. Jan 12, 01:58

Must suck to be them. ;)
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016

The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

Nathancros
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Joined: Tue, 30. Nov 10, 04:46

Post by Nathancros » Sun, 15. Jan 12, 10:16

Triaxx2 wrote:Must suck to be them. ;)
now that is something you me and the neighbors may agree on ;)
Nullam et arcu vitae magna instabilitate omnia solvit

Am a recovering Addict of the CREATIVE FORUM.

Long live X3

Legionos
Posts: 414
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x3tc

Post by Legionos » Sun, 15. Jan 12, 11:23

keep it up :) im glad your not having as many bad hangovers as you were before

i am curious though why L'l'ith would join you when she was part of that company selling that capturing software

Triaxx2
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Joined: Tue, 29. Dec 09, 02:15
x4

Post by Triaxx2 » Sun, 15. Jan 12, 13:51

Simple, Ea't offered her a ship of her own. Plus there's nothing that says she can't keep working for them. She just doesn't have to mention her extra-curricular activities.
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016

The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

Legionos
Posts: 414
Joined: Wed, 13. Jul 11, 17:38
x3tc

Post by Legionos » Sun, 15. Jan 12, 14:02

Triaxx2 wrote:Simple, Ea't offered her a ship of her own. Plus there's nothing that says she can't keep working for them. She just doesn't have to mention her extra-curricular activities.
gotcha

Triaxx2
Posts: 7229
Joined: Tue, 29. Dec 09, 02:15
x4

Post by Triaxx2 » Mon, 16. Jan 12, 16:20

Chapter 15: Annoying Fish

So my first task is to buy a Turbo Booster for Squid Slayer. Second, I'm going to jump into Haktikvah's Faith, and put the Hercules up above the trade lanes. With it now running Mars, and having a MASSIVE cargo bay, I'll be able to engage targets, ignore bails and dumped cargo and just focus on the combat. Technology is a wonderful thing. I've decided that I need to look for two things in particular.

One of the two is weaponry, specifically weaponry for the Hercules, and for capital ship weapons. I am also in the market for anything I can sell for cash, but the second thing I'm after are shields. In particular capital class shields in the 200mj and 2GJ range. The 200's are for the Hercules, while the 2GJ are necessary for the Ares, which currently has two 1GJ's and the Akuma, since I can't ensure it will come with shields. I'm hoping to get guns and so I'm busily training my marines in Engineering. I'd rather not have to find guns as well as everything else, though I'm intending to see about hunting some pirate capitals for spare weapons. Of course, first I have to find them. So for now, I'll stick with ambushing traders in Haktikvah's Faith.

Something else I'm looking for, is a supply of Mosquitoes. With two ships in sector, I want the firepower to defend them. Yes, the Hercules is running MARS and in addition to it's turrets being set for defense, it also has goblins aboard to intercept missiles, but the more defensive firepower, the merrier. Honestly though, it's got 38000 free space in it's hold, so there's room for enough defensive weapons and cargo space left over. I did learn something though. As it turns out, the Goblin system is capable of repairing motherships. I mean, I was standing there, watching the Hercules out the window, when I saw something moving along the hull. Then a flash of laser. I brought up a map of the target on the view screen, and checked to see if there were attack reports, but instead all I saw were a bunch of Goblins out in space, and I was truly surprised to see the hull slowly ticking up towards full. Honestly speaking I like that a lot better than hanging my ass out in an unshielded space suit and watching the OX meter tick down a lot faster than the hull ticks up. Unfortunately, they can't repair the internals, but even so that allows me to use more of the ship for things. Rather more of it without an oxygen mask, or full space suit.

Dropping into Haktikvah's, the first thing I find myself doing is engaging and destroying some pirates, who are threatening a Split cargo ship. From there I begin attacking Boron and Argon Traders, High-Tech, Weapons, and Military Suppliers.

It's not long before ships are dispensing cargo and bailing left and right. In fact, it's so much that I have to take a couple of breaks so the Hercules can catch up. I love the ability to get it to collect everything though. And by luck of the draw, when I finally stop, I have exactly eight fighter class ships and 3 TM class ships waiting to be claimed. Good thing for me that I had Squid Slayer bring along the Salvage Claim Software.

There is one downside to flying a Corvette. While I'm a large mighty ship, I have no one with me. I jump around the universe enough that no fighter could keep up, and unless I fly everywhere manually, I'd have to spend all my time stopping and waiting for my wingmen to keep up.

On the other hand, with the Hercules, I could simply keep them close, and have them refuel from it. Yes, I think I need to locate some weapons and shields to get the second Dragon and the Pirate Centaur up and running. Then I can assign escorts to run off the Hercules, though that would still mean having to wait for them to dock before we jump out.

After a short time I notice there's also a Boron Pleco that's bailed. Here's the part you won't believe. All four of the TM's? Bailed with intact jumpdrives. Sheesh. You just can't make this crap up.

No matter how hard you might try.

Ordering the Hercules and it's four TM's to jump and fly to the Family Pride shipyard, I move to dock at the Massom Mill in Haktikvah's, and decide to have one of the infamous h'Ktlo drinks, made from fermented Massom, and spiced with Rastar Oil. Not bad. One drink, floor. Nice dreams...

Ugh, head hurt. Need marines, carry back to ship when drunk. Toilets padded.

Anyway, I decide to head up to Family Whi, as soon as I sell the ships from the Hercules. I think I'll also sell the various TM's, but keep the jump drives. One of them will go to Shield Buster, which is my mostly repaired Hades, and another goes to a cargo ship. Why when I have a TL? Because a TL is a big target, so having a second Caiman that I can fill with energy and the shields I need for the Akuma I'm going to steal. Unfortunately, I have not found any two gigajoule shields. A couple of one gigs, but no twos. I suspect I'll have to buy them if I want them. Fine pirate I make.

Fah. I guess purchasing them with illicitly gained funds will have to suffice.

Honestly though, I found myself... bored. I mean, it's not like I didn't have things to do. But there was so much to be done. I had to manage all my ships, keep them all up and running, fueled and armed and shielded and safe from my enemies of which there were more than just a few, and not all my fault.

And all my efforts were bent to the acquisition of the Akuma. All the spare funds I had, all the extra manpower was focused on earning cash to continue training the marines for the task of taking the Akuma. At least three stars, that's what I needed to get through the hull. I did find that I had already located two more Firestorms, and they were sitting on a Dolphin docked at the Military Outpost in Rhonkar's Fire. I make two decisions, one of these is to keep the three Magnetars I've acquired, and use them as forward attack carriers. This way I can bring in fighter groups, and use them to assist me when I take sector defense missions. I'll need to decide on a fighter to fill them with. I'm thinking Scorpions, or just an assortment of whatever I can put my hands on.

I'm also keeping two other Zephyrus. These will have heavier fighters. I'm hoping I can source some Teladi heavies, but so far the most common one is the utterly horrible Falcon Vanguard. Why horrible? It's less than 100m/s. In fact it's only 6 m/s faster than the Heavy Osprey, and that's just plain too slow.

Heading south from Haktikvah's, I get a mission to return a ship for a hundred k credits, and do it easily, then I head north through Gunne's Crusade. Or at least to the north gate. It leads into Boron territory, so I decide not to continue on. However, that means that like Family Whi, it should have a lot of passing Boron trader traffic. Bouncing south again, this time to Desecrated Skies I enter Moo-Kye's Revenge just in time to see a Pirate Brigantine go up in smoke. It turns out to have been the work of a Paranid Military Deimos, or rather, it's escort bombers. Turning north takes me to the area around Loomanckstrat's, and heading north into Ceo's Doubt, I find both that I've been followed by pirates, and a station defense mission. The former leads me to bring the Hercules into the sector for clean up duty, while the latter leads me to bring in Battlewagon to assist with the killing of some M5's. Of course, there's also a couple of kill stealing Orbital Weapon platforms hanging around, but frankly that's the least of my concerns. Finally finishing off the last one, Battlewagon is dispatched south to deliver the Hammer's and Flail's it's picked up to the Ares, and the Hercules returned north to Family Pride. With that completed, I turn my attention back to making money. Not too long ago, in Haktikvah's I picked up a Goner Ranger. It just reached the shipyard a few minutes ago, and sold for 2 million credits. The big problem is that they can't be carried on a TM, and so they're hard to move. However, for that price, it's worth picking them up I think I'll be having a look for more of them.

Anyway, heading south again, I enter Loomanckstrat's Legacy, and this time head east, through the gate into Spaceweed Grove. North through Acquisition Repository, and nothing catches my eye, until I pop up into Homily of Perpetuity. There are two Civilian TL's, one Arena, and one Casino. The Arena is running with only 1025mj of shields, while the Casino is running full with 1.2GJ of it. Sadly both are heavily defended, the Arena with the full suite of AFS, ISL, and HPD. The Casino only has ISL, but that's more than enough to stop me.

Heading north through Ianamus Zura, I find a pair of 2 GJ shields for sale at the EQD. Running a couple of kill missions while Battlewagon drops in to get the shields, I make up some cash, and then some more as one of the targets bails a Goner Ranger as I close in for the kill. Can you say cha-ching? I can. With the cash back in the black and the marines still working along, I'm headed for Senator's Badlands again, to do a status check on the Akuma. At the same time, Battlewagon is going to jump in and I'm going to set a Discoverer to keep track of it. That way I can watch it's patrol route and identify the best ambush point. I'm thinking that asteroid is a good place though, since it means I've got a wall at my back, and it's as far from the shipyard as possible. Just have to get the timing right.
Landing in Empires Edge, it's my intention to refuel. Sadly what happens is that I get distracted by another assassination mission. And when I jump into Savage Spur, I realize I'm out of fuel. Oh well, I'll have someone bring some. Skimming through my empire though, I come to the realization that I haven't got a ship with much energy to spare. Battlewagon has enough to get in and then back out, but the Hercules doesn't have much either, since I've used it as a back up and as a cargo scoop.

I'd prefer not to build anything if I can avoid it, but it seems it's unavoidable. I'm going to have to locate and capture another M7M and sell it so I can build a power core in Rhonkar's clouds. Technically it will be under crystalled, but that's fine. I'm not running a massive weapons complex, so running at an underage will be acceptable.

Of course, if I can put mu hands on that Akuma, I can jump that, and the Hercules into a Boron Sector and make a 'withdrawal' from one of theirs. Cheaper plan. Presuming I sit in one spot, or fly everywhere manually, except in an emergency.

Eventually after much work, and consideration and crunching of numbers, I decide on the last plan. Now all I have to do is coalesce my marine forces, and prepare for the engagement on the Akuma. Starting south, I run up along side a Python heading north for a few moments, and consider the gravity of the situation. The size comparison between my tiny Dragon and the massive Python gives me a moment's hesitation. But I then remember that they do say, fortune favors the bold. And Ea't s'Quid is nothing if not bold. Besides, if Mak can do it, I sure can. Jumping north to Family Whi, I begin engaging Boron traders moving through. A Military Supply Transporter coughs up some Mass Driver ammo, and an Energy Trader drops 300 or so units of energy. I almost have to wrap up operations though, as a Shark out of Kingdoms End appears through the Home of Opportunity gate, seemingly on it's return from a long patrol. I have no intentions of tangling with that. It heads through without incident however, and I move to take a Boron Energy Trader as it undocks from the XL SPP. Then I see something odd. Lots of Boron Military fighters. All bearing the same IFF-codes as the Shark. All making flank speed for anywhere but Teladi Gain. This worries me something fierce. So I short jump to the west gate, checking to see if something in Teladi Gain has sent them running east. Arriving from the gate, I notice something interesting. It seems that the Shark went up in smoke, and left some goodies. 1000 energy cells a couple firestorms and a banshee missile. I didn't see anything capital class moving through Family Whi, so it must have hit the gate. Interesting.

Returning to Family Whi, I decide that as soon as the marines are out of their training sessions, I'm going to try for the Akuma. By this point, I'd had enough waiting. I was prepared to start my revenge.

I have a plan for taking the Akuma. It works as follows. The Hercules is carrying a lot of firepower and shielding, enough for both L'l'th's Dragon, and G't's Centaur. Yes, I have decided, for better or worse to give G't a chance to prove he's not just screwing with me. They'll both be rather lightly armed comparatively. I have many PAC's so that's what they'll be armed with.

I'm also spending some cash on some fighters for them. G't S'hht will be responsible for dealing with the two Ryu's that patrol the sector, to keep them from interfering with my capture operation. He'll be backed up by Attack Carrier 1-3's fighter wings, 12 Split Scorpions.

Meantime, L'l'th's job will be to guard the Ares, from whatever might befall it. She'll be assisted by Carrier 1, and Carrier 2.

Me? I'm going to be working the destroyer, and managing the fighter drones. Shield Buster will issue a salvo of Tomahawks to knock down the shields. With a 5GJ blast, that'll remove exactly 5/6ths of the shields. If I can also sneak a Firestorm into that, it should instantly zero the shields. Then Ch't can deploy boarding pods and the party can start quick and simple.

Yeah. That'll happen. Because things always go to plan. Sure.

No matter. If it doesn't work... I'll just use bombers instead. Not quite as personal, but it'll work. As I'm waiting, and arranging things, it occurs to me that while you often see capital ships armed with Gauss Cannons, you almost never see Military Supply Transporters carrying any. Ion Cannon's either. Odd.

Yes, buying twenty scorpions was expensive, but since the M variant comes with full shields, and I have armament for them. Honestly, after arming G't and L'l'th though, some of them are a little light on firepower. Well not really since I've got nearly two hundred IRE's, but I'm low on PAC's and given the nature of the work I'm asking, those are prioritized to G't's Marauders. L'l'th's Guards are going to be engaging fighters, so the reduced range of the IRE's won't matter, while the Marauders are going to be knocking out TL's and so they need the additional range of the PAC's to ensure maximum damage. Why? Because fighter pilots are finicky about such little things as 'dying', and 'exploding into a shockwave of frozen blood and gore.'

Shame on them...
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016

The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed

Dovie'andi se tovya sagain

Nathancros
Posts: 674
Joined: Tue, 30. Nov 10, 04:46

Post by Nathancros » Tue, 17. Jan 12, 05:36

ahaha cant wait to see what happens with the akuma :P

and yes. shame on fighter pilots. dying in a giant burnyburny death fireball is good for you! *Shifty eyes*
Nullam et arcu vitae magna instabilitate omnia solvit

Am a recovering Addict of the CREATIVE FORUM.

Long live X3

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