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

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

Post by Scion Drakhar » Tue, 28. Dec 10, 18:22

From Nothing

A Rogue's Tale Book I

by Scion Drakhar (aka Daniel Heim) and friends

DiD / Cooperative Fiction

!!!Contains Spoilers!!!

(You have been warned)


1. Escape from Old City

..ssst… -memory #%=<.0001...error…system reboot initialized….

Ah HA! Got it. Call that a firewall? What a joke. Right then. Time to go. Let’s see what this thing can do.


Log Entry.
Date:768-05-01 00:02

So I just found this recorder. I probably shouldn’t do this, but I have to admit it’s kinda nice to talk ... even if it is to a machine. It’s been a while since anyone thought I had anythin' to say worth hearin'.

Huh. Argon Prime. You know I've never seen it from this perspective before. It’s quite a sight from up here. You know, when people talk about it they talk about the parliament and the universities, the sun bathed gardens and the endless beaches, they talk about the silver spires of the cities, and there's this impression that Argon Prime is all about wealth, learnin', and entertainment. There's this notion that it's a civilized democracy where the strong protect the weak and everythin' is right under the gaze of the ever present Argon One.

Right?

Yeah. I know. I’ve seen all that picture perfect nonsense they spew about it on the net. Take it from me it’s a load a crap. There is a dark side. I know first hand that there's a slum that never sees Sonra’s light, and broken glass crunches under your feet with every step. It’s a place where violence and despair are commonplace and the police never show their pretty white uniforms. It’s a place where the law is made by crooked old men in the backrooms of 'proper' establishments and gangs rule the alleyways. It’s a place where when you look up past the crowded buildin's of old city and the towerin' spires of the city proper to see a star in the night sky ... you’re just settin' yourself up to get mugged. Sounds like the perfect vacation spot, right? Yeah. Well that’s where I’m from.

Who am I? I’m nobody. Up until about twenty minutes ago I was just one more ghost hauntin' the streets that you either didn’t know about or try to pretend don’t exist. My ma died years ago of a drug OD and I’ve got my suspicions that she did it on purpose to get away from my da. He was a drunk, see, and free with his fists. He probably still is. I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since near after my ma died. I got tired of bein' hit too, I guess. So yeah, I ran away.

I didn’t know where I was goin', a lot like now I guess. I didn’t know what to do, same as now. I was just a kid. A lot of folks’d tell you I still am. There are those that know different, though. There are some who understand it’s not the years that are important but the roads and the distance covered. Just ask any of the orphans runnin' the streets of Old City. They’ll tell you.

So what did I do? How did I survive? Any way I could, right? I got lucky, I guess. Sort of. I found a nasty piece o’ work named Gil 'Snake Eye' Jerigan and he put me to work for him, at least for a while. He taught me a lot. It wasn’t your classical education, I grant you. I learned how to rob, steal, and boost transports. I learned how to be a mule for illegal substances and how to transport large sums of cash without anybody knowin'. I learned how to make the wrong kind of ‘friends’ and how to look out for number one. Which was good, I suppose, cuz Snake Eye vanished a couple years ago and since then I’ve been on my own. What happened to him? Beats me. Last I heard he was doing a job off planet for one of the Pirate Clans. Maybe he took the opportunity to just stay gone. Maybe he’s dead. All I know is I never heard from him again.

So, I bet you’re wonderin' how I come to be recordin' a personal log on this here starship? Well let’s just say it’s former owner didn’t need it anymore. Now don’t get me wrong. I didn’t kill him. In fact I was even nice enough to hold his hand while he died moanin' for his mamma and gettin' blood all over my clothes. After he was dead, though … Hey! I’m not proud. So, yeah, I searched him. He had only two things on him, the guys that killed him took the rest; a bracelet which turns out to be a disguised link to an anonymous account, and the interface to this ship, which still required some persuasion before it’d let me fly it. Not much right? Sure. Only now I’m starin' down at Argon Prime from the stars … and I’ll tell you, I’m never goin' back. Not to Old City anyway. Never.

EVER.

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


Assets

1 x Discoverer
1mj shield

2500 credits


Game Start: Anonymous Argon. Vanilla. (3.0 + Bonus Pack)

Rules:
1. Dead Is Dead (obviously)
2. Repairs on personal ship only and only for fighter classes. Anything and everything else must be paid for.
3. Acquisition of ships:
a) In the beginning, due to my questionable origin and shady nature I may only trade with Yaki and Teladi Shipyards and Equipment Docks, including for repairs.
b) If I ever reach the point where any given race will sell me an M1 class ship I may begin trading with their shipyards and EQ’s as they’ve obviously decided to overlook my origins. Considering the type of game I intend to play this is unlikely.
c) Upon completing the Terran plot I may trade with the Terrans to whatever degree they will let me.
d) Upon completing the Final Fury plotline I may trade with the Argon and Split to whatever degree they will let me.
e) I may always buy second hand ships.
f) … and of course, if I can convince the current pilot he really doesn’t want it anymore (including and especially by having some well trained psychopaths throw him out an airlock) I can claim the ship.
4. Marines may only be hired from and trained at illegal locations, ie. Pirate facilities.
Last edited by Scion Drakhar on Wed, 28. Mar 12, 00:35, edited 18 times in total.
A Pirate's Story.pdf(KIA) by _Zap _ From Nothing.PDF(complete) by _Zap _ Prodigal Son(active) Original Thread, Prodigal Son_PDF

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Kirlack
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Post by Kirlack » Tue, 28. Dec 10, 19:36

Yay! I've been looking forward to another of your DiDs Scion, and am eagerly awaiting the next installment! :D Good luck, and watch out for those bloody three eyes :twisted:

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Olterin
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Post by Olterin » Tue, 28. Dec 10, 20:46

And here's another eager reader - looking forward to the development of this story, will certainly keep reading :D
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Triaxx2
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Post by Triaxx2 » Wed, 29. Dec 10, 00:11

You're really a glutton for punishment. Starting out by trading with the Yaki, after what happened with the Paranid last time? You're a brave, brave lunatic.

Can't wait to see more.
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

Aenir
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Post by Aenir » Wed, 29. Dec 10, 00:38

Hooray for piracy!

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Scion Drakhar
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Post by Scion Drakhar » Wed, 29. Dec 10, 03:16

I love you guys. :cry:


2. Runnin’ Moonshine

Date:768-05-01 00:13
Well, I’ve sat here in this ships cockpit for the last, oh, ten minutes or so, checkin' over all it’s bells and whistles, which don’t really make any noise seeing as there aren’t any. Most of the hull on this thing is barely thicker than the width of my thumb. It doesn't carry much in the way of shieldin' and isn't carryin' all that it can. I’ve got no weapons and no cargo space to speak of. For an ultralight fighter this thing is slower than snot runnin' down the wall. Even the ship's computer is completely blank. I must have shorted it out when I hotwired the damn thing. About all I do have is a SETA or singularity engine time accelerator extension … and this here voice recorder.

It’s all right though. It’s ALLLL good. Do you know why? Yeah, you got it: I’m not down THERE anymore.

So, where to go, what to do? I kinda feel the need to put this whole system in my rearview for more than just emotional reasons. I have this feelin' in my gut that if I stick around for too long somebody might come lookin' for this ship. I mean I know how it works. The guy that was flying this bucket didn’t own it and whoever does might not take too kindly to me flyin off with it. You know, the ‘not too kindly’ that results in electrodes alligator clamped to sensitive areas for a while before they dispose of my remains in such a way that no one could ever prove I existed.

Right. So, I have four options for exiting the sector. I can go south into Home a' Light, which is the home of Terracorp and the center for Argon marine trainin.' Yeah. Maybe not the best place to go flyin' around in a stolen M5 … with no guns and no engine tunin.' Ok so that’s a ‘not right now’ and maybe a 'never.' I can go west into Ringo Moon, which from what I’ve read has little other than beef and meatsteak production to offer. I don't know. Sounds borin'. I can go east into The Wall (meatsteaks and Solar Power Plants) or north into Herron's Nebula.

Hmmm. Now if I remember right I think I heard old Snake Eye talk about Herron’s Nebula as the source of Spacefuel production for the whole region. Interesting. Spacefuel’s an illegal form a whiskey and goes for a pretty decent price because of it. You know, I'm thinkin' somebody up there might be able to use an enterprisin' young man such as myself to get that stuff from A-B.

Right. Okay. North it is.

So, let’s give old Argon Prime the bird … set my sights on that north gate over there and do my best impression of a zippy little fighter zippin' towards the gate. It is an impression, unfortunately. Right this moment there’s a Mistral freighter captain commin' me to ask if I want to race, and laughin' at me. Smartass. The really scary part is that I honestly don’t know if I could take him. Right, so let’s give him the bird too … hit this here SETA button and head for the N gate.


Date:768-05-01 00:37
Ok, I’m here. It’s a rocky sector. As in, it’s filled with rocks. I have no scanners to speak of either, in case you were wondering, so I can actually see farther than the ship's sensors can. Wow, whoever the owner of this boat was he sure spared no expense did he? Right. Mappin' the sector. Scrapin' paint with the stations before the computer will id ‘em. Right. Right. Ok… oh yeah, baby! That’s what I was looking for. Spacefuel distilleries. Two of ‘em … and whattaya know? They’re full to the brim with the stuff. Good thing there’s somebody like me to help ‘em out with their problem … Oi … eight units at a time. Oops. I can fit nine. I can only afford eight. Oh well. I’ve got a job.


768-05-01 05:39
Ok, so the Spacefuel tradin' has been going all right. I’ve been makin' trips back and forth between the two distilleries and this tradin' station. Apparently the tradin' stations don’t try to track the ships comin' and goin', or at least this one doesn’t. So I’ve been able to make some money. I’ve even found a couple of mechanics here who don’t exactly care about the paperwork to hook me up with some upgrades to both the cargo hold and the engine. The problem is some wanker with a super freighter has come along and filled up the tradin' station’s stock and now I’m stuck with a hold full of spacefuel and barely a credit to my name. Now, I just spoke with some drunk named Del Saylek who was offering me less than I paid for the stuff to take it off my hands. After I told him 'no' we got to chattin' and he told me there’s a Pirate Clan over in Atreus Clouds what trades in the stuff. Apparently that’s where he’s goin' to unload whatever he doesn’t drink. So. I’m going to head on over that way and see if I can find ‘em.


768-05-01 02:58
Bloody hell! I'm in a frakkin' nebula! He didn't tell me I'd have to navigate through a sector full of bloody pea soup! I don't have any damn sensors! I can’t even see the asteroids I'm nearly crashin' into let alone the gate! Frak. I need better sensors.


768-05-01 03:32
Yeah, that’s right. I’m slick. I’m the man. I head back through Argon Prime ... gave it the bird again ... and then head through the east gate into 'The Wall' where it's still possible to see the hand in front a' your face. Then north into The Hole where I figured out what my problem was. Both the south and the east gates are twenty kilometers above the ecliptic. I was right under ‘em and couldn't see either one through all this puke. Of course, I’m now in Atreus Clouds dealin' with more a the same and have about a snowballs chance in hell of findin' the pirate base that drunk was slurrin' about.


768-05-01 03:41
Well now. It’s a good day to be a snowball in hell. I can’t believe it, honestly. I was about to give up and head back toward Herron’s Nebula to see if the stock had lightened up in the tradin' station when I nearly tripped right over it. I actually found the Pirates in all this muck! With nothin' even resemblin' a scanner! Woo hoo! So I’ve just unloaded my hold and seein' as these guys have no stock whatsoever ... and now that I know the route ... I’m gonna make a few more trips. Right after these idjits finish upgrading my engines, that is.


768-05-01 03:48
So. I’ve just been reminded that there are people who will try to take advantage of you everywhere:

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

…and that some of them are REALLY scary:

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

… and that timing really is everything.

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

Yeah, I’m gigglin' like a little kid because I am right now on my way to pick up some more spacefuel. I think I’ll see if I can detour a bit around the center of the sector on my trip back, though.


768-05-01 04:03
So, I’m in Herron’s Nebula and I just talked to some git what wants me to go get a Vulture Tanker for him, a tanker he went and lost somewhere in Atreus Clouds. Easy to do, I suppose, considerin' the visibility. He’s givin' me twenty minutes to do it, though. Not a chance, right? I mean visibility aside there's just no way some old tanker is gonna make the trip from Atreus Clouds to Herron's Nebula in twenty minutes, especially if it’s beat up, right? Yeah, only I think I’m gonna do it anyway. Well, I'm gonna go find it anyway. Then I'm gonna park it somewhere safe instead a' sendin' it on back to this rotter.

Right. Don’t hustle a hustler, baby.


768-05-01 04:28
So. I just found out a couple of things about the Argon police force. First, they are total hypocrites. The distilleries are right there in plain sight. The tradin' station obviously trades in the stuff. Bein' that I’m the one transportin' it, though, I’m the criminal … even though the gov taxes both the distilleries and the tradin' station. Right. Wankers.

Second. These guys are idiots. Now, I’m no fool. When some jerkoff with a gun tells me to drop freight or be fired upon I know better than to try and negotiate with him when I‘m in an unarmed and undershielded M5. So, I’m in between the distillery and the tradin' station, takin' a short cut through the asteroids. He scans me and tells me to drop freight. I do. He then flies straight into a rock and turns himself into an impact crater.

Sweet.

I’ll just pick that back up thank you …


768-05-01 06:40
So, this is what I look like at the end of the day.

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

Now, how I managed to fire ten shots and hit with all of them when I don’t have a laser to my name I’m totally clueless, but there you go. I also find it thoroughly amusin' that my race rank has been climbin' with the Argon when the only mission I’ve taken from them I’ve “failed” and the only thing I’ve been tradin' is the most-definitely-illegal Spacefuel. It’s a funny old ‘verse, ain’t it?

Assets

1 x Discoverer (fully upgraded)
1 x 1mj shield

1 x Vulture Tanker 60% (under surveillance)

37,103 credits
Last edited by Scion Drakhar on Sun, 5. Jun 11, 23:02, edited 2 times in total.

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Kirlack
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Post by Kirlack » Wed, 29. Dec 10, 03:47

Scion Drakhar wrote:He then flies straight into a rock and turns himself into an impact crater.

Sweet.

I’ll just pick that back up thank you …
Man, I laughed so hard at that I was almost sick :D

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Post by Seathal » Wed, 29. Dec 10, 03:49

Scion Drakhar wrote:He then flies straight into a rock and turns himself into an impact crater.
Don't you love it when they do that?

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Scion Drakhar
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Post by Scion Drakhar » Wed, 29. Dec 10, 22:35

Kirlack wrote:
Scion Drakhar wrote:He then flies straight into a rock and turns himself into an impact crater.

Sweet.

I’ll just pick that back up thank you …
Man, I laughed so hard at that I was almost sick
Now don't hurt yourself. :wink:
Seathal wrote:
Scion Drakhar wrote:He then flies straight into a rock and turns himself into an impact crater.

Don't you love it when they do that?
Oh yeah.


3. Fear

768-05-01 07:00

So, I’m on a run back from the Pirates Base and passin' through The Hole ...

...

You know? That just doesn’t sound right.

...

... when these Boron military types take out a couple of pirates nearby. None of my business really, but in the aftermath there are three banshee missiles and one firelance plus a crate of spaceweed floatin' in space. Now my first thought is that without any guns maybe a couple a' missiles could come in really handy so I scoop ‘em up. Out of the four missiles the only one that this bucket I’m flyin' can actually fire is the firelance, which would be good for … oh I don’t know … pissin' off another M5 … if it was standing still ... and my aim was dead nuts. On the other hand the banshees are worth over 10k each and the firelance, despite being near useless, is worth over 2.5k. Now I’ve got an easy outlet for that spaceweed, which is also worth nearly 3k. I’ll drop it off in Atreus Clouds the next time I’m deliverin' spacefuel to the pirates. But what do I do with these missiles? I’m quite sure I could sell them at an equipment dock, but considerin' I stole this ship and don't know where it's owner is I don’t think I dare stop at anythin' local.


768-05-01 07:17
I just unloaded another shipment of spacefuel and that weed at the pirate base and decided to have a cargo life support system installed on the bucket. I’m not sure why. I just have this gut feelin' that it may come in handy and I’ve learned to trust my digestion. So while I’m waiting I got to chattin’ with couple other, uh, “traders” on the flight deck. There were three of ‘em. Some Argon git named Halen Claasen who honestly didn’t seem to have any brain cells left. I think he likes the weed and the fuel a bit much. He was nice enough, though. There was some three eyed monstrosity that didn’t seem to like me, but Halen insisted that it was a racial issue. Apparently Paranid don’t like anybody but Paranid. I don’t know. Honestly that thing made me nervous. Then there was this little lizard named, oh boy let’s see if I can get this right, Kokalis Lalundas Tumulis the tenth. Yeah. So “Coke” is a Teladi, some scaly green lizard thing that kept eyeballing me as if trying to decide how much I’d be worth on the open market… or maybe just tryin' to decide whether I might be good to eat. I‘m not sure. Either way, she was a fountain of useful information. Unless of course she was lyin', which is always possible. It’s always fun to have a laugh at the new guy, right? Anyway, supposedly there's another pirate clan not too far from here in some place called Brennan’s Triumph, and they might be interested in buyin' my missiles. She wasn’t too clear on that. I don’t know if it was because she didn’t know or, once again, was just havin' fun with me. I asked Halen and he just sort of looked at me as if he didn’t understand the question … which I suppose is probably the case. Anyway, Coke did say, though, that if I could get to Teladi space I could unload ‘em. Of this I’m actually pretty confident. I’ve done a lot of reading over the years. It’s one of my hobbies. I like surfing the net, what can I say? In my perusals of all the useless junk that’s out there I did come across a lot of complaints regardin' the Teladi. Apparently, besides all bein' genetically deterioratin' female clones of their great great grandmothers, they’re unscrupulous traders only interested in makin' a profit. So, basically, they’re just the kind of folks that I’m used to. I’ve got to pick up a blaster, though. I really didn’t like the way that Paranid … or that Teladi for that matter … were lookin' at me.


768-05-01 07:34
Ok. So I’m feelin' a LOT like food at the moment. Maybe it’s just that Teladi thing what got into my head eyeballin' me as if I was a meatsteak and a pint, but maybe it’s the number of pirates my computer system is flaggin' as hostile … and since I’ve got no sensors they’re really close when it happens. Yeah. I’m scared.

So, anyway. I’ve managed to make my way from Atreus Clouds down through Farnham's Legend … and out of that muck! Which is very nice … and through some place called Bala Gi’s joy into a big empty sector called Olmancketslats Treaty. Ok, well, it’s not completely empty. There’s a whole bunch of asteroids and two stations. One of said stations, a lasertower factory, has another of those Teladi things on board, and she wants me to fly her to the pirate base in Brennan’s Triumph. She wants to get there right now, but at least she knows the way.


768-05-01 07:38
Yeah. She really did mean “right now.” I’ve never hot docked before. I’ve always let the autopilot handle it. Not exactly safe at the speed I was goin', but considerin' the time she was givin' me … or NOT givin' me …and the way she was eyeballin' me, which was the same as the last one, and considerin' I’ve still got no blaster, I decided that if I was going die today I’d at least take the psychotic, scary little lizard thing with me. It was all right, though. I pulled it off and now I’ve got a little over 4k more clink in my account … which I suppose is no longer anonymous.

You know it's funny. I’ve left Old City way behind but nothin’s changed. I’m still scared all a' the time.

(snif) Ah, Frak.

Anyway. This base has a lot of mercenaries, which is also kind of scary seein' as they’re all big and armed and lookin' at me like I’m somethin' tasty to eat, but there's no one here interested in any of my missiles. I did manage to chat up some guy named Nil Cornell, though, and he gave me some directions to another pirate clan in some place called Hatikvah’s Faith so I’m gonna to be headin' in that direction. As far as being scared goes, though, Nil told me to be careful. When I blew him off and told him I would be he grabbed me by the arm and got me to look dead in his eyes.

“No, kid.” he says to me. “Be CAREFUL.” Then he turns his back and won’t look at me again.

My bloody hands are shakin'.


768-05-01 07:49
Ok, so I’ve made my way through Danna’s Chance into Nopileos Memorial. I’ve been tryin' to map everythin' I can see, in case I need to refer to it later and I’ve just come across a gate to Xenon Sector 101. Yeah. That sounds like a party. Bloody hell! I wish my hands’d stop shaking.


768-05-01 07:57
Well, I found the pirate clan in Hatikvah’s Faith. I have a problem though:

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

Those lasertowers’ll rip this paper airplane to shreds if I get too close. So I can’t dock with either station. The PB doesn’t trade in missiles anyway, although the Anarchy Port might buy ‘em if I could actually dock, which I can’t.

Damn. Now I don’t know where to go.


768-05-01 08:00
Ok, now that’s scary. Those bloody pirates aren’t just hostile, they're chasin' me. At least I upgraded this things engines before settin' out. I can't fight but I can outrun 'em.


768-05-01 08:05
I just finished mappin' the rest a' this sector. There are two stations. I’m gonna try and dock at one of them and get directions.


768-05-01 08:10
-pant pant -

Oh shit! Hoo. Bloody pirates just chased me again. I really need better sensors. Two Novas and a Harrier. The Novas could shred me but I’m much faster than they are. That Harrier, though. Bugger actually tagged me with some laser fire. Once again, though, all these rocks were my friend. I managed some very fancy flying through a whole cluster a' debris and apparently that guy couldn’t handle the turns and found himself very intimate with a small asteroid.

Oh, jeez. I need to pee.


768-05-01 08:12
Ok. I docked at the massom mill here in HF and found a bathroom which was, I have to admit, really quite necessary. That Harrier nearly had me pi … you know what? I'm gonna leave that unsaid.

So. With the biological needs taken care of I mosey’d back to the flight deck where I found a couple of … well, they were ugly. They were scary. But they were also quite helpful once you got past the 'I’m-going-to-kill-you' stares and semi-furious impatience. A pair of Split brothers. Sao t’kkt and Sai t’kkt. I got ‘em calmed down with a bottle of spacefuel each and after that they were almost … ok they were still scary, but at least they answered my questions. Apparently Teladi space is north then west. So I’m about to head on up in that direction.

I’m about to get goin' and I’m feelin' my bladder stirrin' again. I really need some better sensors … and a blaster on my hip’d be a comfort. I’m not the aggressive type, mind you, and I don’t feel the need to prove anythin'. I left that behind me a while back. I just really would like to be able to defend myself if the need arose. You know, now that I think about it, I wouldn’t mind some blasters on this bucket, either … er … not that the shields or the hull’d last long enough to use ‘em.

Bloody hell! I tell yah. I really do feel like a very little fish in a great big ocean out here.


768-05-01 08:28
Well, all right! I’ve made it to Teladi space. I’m in a sector called Company Pride, and it turns out Coke wasn’t pulling my leg. These folks … er, lizards … don’t have a problem with me at all and will trade with me. So I just unloaded those missiles and am waitin' on the equipment I just bought to be installed. I bought a set of video enhancement goggles, a trading system, best buy/best sell extensions and … oh, brother what a relief … a duplex scanner! Now, at the very least, I should be able to see 'em comin' before they are quite literally breathing down my neck. It should also make my mappin' a bit easier.

There’s also another pirate clan operating right here in the sector. Not that I have anythin' to sell to ‘em and to be honest I’m not inclined to head back the way I came. So maybe I’ll look around and see if there’s anythin' that doesn’t require me navigatin' back through all those pirate sectors that can make me some money. I just talked to a couple more a those little Teladi who tell me that there is some spaceweed tradin' opportunities to be had to the north if I’m interested. You know, I think I am. So, I guess I’m gonna go see if I can find ‘em.


768-05-01 08:37
So I was mappin' out Ceo’s Sprite, the sector through the north gate of Company Pride, and I came upon a Military Base. Upon inspection it turns out they sell Triplex scanners. I have to admit I was a little nervous dockin' at a Military Base but apparently if there's a credit to be earned the Teladi really don’t care about the paperwork. So now I have even MORE sensor range!

I can't even begin to describe the relief I'm feelin'. Gunne's stars! What a comfort.


768-05-01 09:28
So yeah. Mappin' is a breeze. I’ve spent the last little while doin' just that, and picking up the odd taxi run to keep the clink flowin' cos, no matter what those Teladi said, there don’t seem to be any spaceweed tradin' opportunities. All a' the farms I’ve found seem to be runnin' low on stock and their prices are sky high. Hell if I had the money I'd build a couple myself ...

Anyway. Right now I’m up in some place called Greater Profit and some Boron wants me to return a Caiman Hauler for him. From Thuruks Beard. In 30 minutes. Yeah, like THAT’s gonna happen. I told him I'd do it, a course. I mean I'm pretty sure I can go find it in that time, and if I can maybe I can get it parked somewhere safe before the blokes with guns n' badges show up and spoil the party.

Right. So, I guess I’m gonna go get me another freighter to park for future use … you know, for whenever I can figure out a way to deal with the cops.


768-05-01 09:47
http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... Hauler.jpg

Yeah, like that thing’s gonna make the near five sector, 350km trip back to Greater Profit in 21 minutes with a top speed of 38m/s. What the hell is wrong with these people? Are they trying to set me up? Probably. Well I can play this game too. I’ll just park that thing at this factory over here and I’ve got another freighter ... er ... sort of.


768-05-01 10:47
Another return ship. Another 400km trip in way too little time. This one’s a Harrier, though, and I think I’m sendin' it to the shipyard in Siezewell. I might as well at least get paid.


768-05-01 10:53
Well, I sold that harrier and the Argon think a little less of me but I’m 25k richer. I think I can live with myself.


768-05-01 11:03
Mutherfrakker!!!! Watch were your flyin’ that thing!!!

Bloody Paranid. You know I’m developin' an intense dislike of those three eyed bastards. The first one I ran into was that guy wantin' all those slaves. The second just glared at me from across the flight deck of the Atreus Clouds pirate base like I was somethin' he'd just stepped in and now this bloody idiot in a Demeter nearly runs me over.

Ok, well, I haven’t been able to find any work. If you’ve got a bunch of guns and a penchant for killin' folks there’s a lot of work. Same if you’ve got one of those factory movers. All I can find are guys wantin' me to go scan asteroids or find smugglers or take on covert ops. Now I don’t have a mineral scanner so the asteroid scans are out. I don’t have a freight scanner so I can‘t do it anyway, but I also tend to dabble in smugglin' myself so I don’t really feel good about the idea of catchin' other guys doin' it. Now trackin' folks sounds easy enough, but considerin' that I’m seriously under shielded, completely unarmed and not all that fast, at least for an ultra light, that just sounds like trouble to me. Although some of ‘em are payin' really well.

Anyway, for the time being I’m just mappin' Split sectors and gettin' mad at the Paranid. You know it’s a good thing I am unarmed or I’d probably have shot that Demeter… which in all reality probably wouldn’t have ended well for me.


768-05-01 11:09
Alright, I’m not sure if this is a horrendous mistake, but I’ve decided to take on a covert op. The money is just really good. I can always run away, right? I hope.


768-05-01 11:21
Ok. So. The job is to track this Boron git what's been stealin' from his boss. I caught up with the guy in Rhonkar’s Might. He’s flyin' a Mako Vanguard M4 and I’m pretty sure he’s armed. No big deal, I’m faster than he is and I'm not plannin' on gettin' anywhere near him. So I've been hangin' back about 15km and followin' him from Rhonkar's Might all the way to the south gate of Patriarch’s Retreat when just what I was worryin' about actually happens.

Some of his friends show up.

(gulp)


Assets

1x Discoverer “Bucket”

1x Vulture Tanker 60% (under surveillance)
1x Caiman hauler 55% (under surveillance)

51,958 credits
Last edited by Scion Drakhar on Sat, 24. Mar 12, 11:08, edited 3 times in total.

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Post by Vim Razz » Thu, 30. Dec 10, 06:03

I'm digging the Anonymous Argon start . It's one of my favorites, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this develops.

Suppose I've been on kind of a reading binge lately -- you jerks have all gone and mede me addicted to these little DiD stories people write... I hope you're proud of yourselves. :wink:

Jawms
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Post by Jawms » Thu, 30. Dec 10, 07:01

Created an account just to post..

Finished "A Pirate's Story" the other day.. Your stories have gotten me
hooked on X3TC.. Also given me valuable insight into what it's all about..

I'm looking foreward to seeing the next installments..

BTW: Your writing skills are amazing! I love the background that your
new character has, also the way you can impliment story and personality
into the playing of a game.. Beautiful work, Thanks for the good read so far.

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Scion Drakhar
Posts: 932
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x3ap

Post by Scion Drakhar » Thu, 30. Dec 10, 23:22

Vim Razz wrote: I hope you're proud of yourselves. :wink:
Absolutely.
Jawms wrote:Created an account just to post..

Finished "A Pirate's Story" the other day.. Your stories have gotten me
hooked on X3TC.. Also given me valuable insight into what it's all about..

I'm looking foreward to seeing the next installments..

BTW: Your writing skills are amazing! I love the background that your
new character has, also the way you can impliment story and personality
into the playing of a game.. Beautiful work, Thanks for the good read so far.
I'm honored and deeply moved. Thank you, and you are most welcome.


4. A Dark Seed ...


768-05-01 11:24
Ok, so I was lookin' at two Discoverer’s, one of them a Vanguard type, and a Pirate Elite. They just exploded out of the gate and shot right past me, givin' me a clean shot at the gate. Not bein' one to sit and wait to get blown to bits I open up and take the shot while I had it. When I exit the warp tunnel the Boron Mako I’ve been following is about 18km off to my leftish. There’s a whole bunch of asteroids in Cho’s Defeat, including a whole lot of the really small ones that have been so good to me in the past, including a cloud of them not far off to my rightish. So I zip right and head for ‘em in case Mr. Mako's buddies come after me. Which they do.

It’s only the Elite and the Vanguard. I don’t know what happened to the other Discoverer but he’s not come back through the gate. Maybe I got lucky and he’s a new coat of paint on the back of a super freighter. Now the Elite’s not a problem as it can’t keep up with me. That Vanguard, though, is faster than I am. Okay, so once again those asteroids turn out to be my bestest friends. It’s a nice, dense little cloud, and I’m in the thick of it as fast as I can get. I zig and I zag, I jink and I run, doin' my best to keep as much debris in between him and me as possible. Cause he's on me, and he's bein' generous with those lasers he's packin'. So I duck behind a big one. I jet out the other side and come around another one. Then I head back for the cloud I‘d just left. Believe it or not the Elite crashed first. I happened to be lookin' that way when it happened. I guess somebody really had no business flyin' a starship … or spilled his coffee maybe. I don’t know. In either case he hit a rock and turned himself into a pretty little explosion. It took a bit longer with the Discoverer but eventually he misjudged a turn or maybe just plain old missed that frigate sized mountain of rock and crashed into it. I was still recoverin' my breath when that Mako reached the ore mine and I got a message tellin' me thanks for the good job.

Ok. Yeah. Thanks. I’m gonna just sit here for a moment. Hoo. Breathe.

Ok. I’m 50k richer but that was a bit close. I really want some guns before tryin' that again. Or somethin'. Missiles maybe. I don’t know. But that was hairy and I really didn’t like it. Right now I’m really wishin' I was sat in somethin' a bit bigger. A corvette, maybe. Or a Destroyer. Yeah that sounds about right. Somethin' with gigajoules of shielding and lots and lots and lots of guns.

Right, so how the hell am I gonna earn some more money?


768-05-01 11:26
You know, I’ve decided I like the Split. They may be a bit ugly, and really scary, but they’re straightforward. I just picked up another assignment to return a ship. It’s one sector over and happens to be a Jaguar Hauler, which sounds fast, and he’s givin' me over an hour to get it to him. Cool. See how that works? I’m reasonable. Be reasonable … and you might actually get you’re stuff back.


768-05-01 11:45
Well all right!

Guess what? Yup, you guessed it. Or maybe you didn’t but in either case I’ve now got a pair of Impulse Ray Emitters and two more 1mj shields. Two Grand has been good to me. Now at least I’ll be able to annoy the next thing that’s tryin' to kill me before it scatters my ashes into vacuum. I’m thinkin' upgrade.


768-05-01 12:18
Oooooooh….

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

Ok, so I’m now nearly penniless but when I read the stats on this baby I just had to have it. In order to buy it I had to eject all my gear into space. (Includin' the bucket's black box as this is some incriminatin' stuff I‘ve recorded, ain‘t it?) Eject myself into space. Collect the tradin' system extension, which apparently short circuits in a space suit as it‘s now lost. Sell the Discoverer. Buy the Kestrel and have it upgraded to the best my meager funds would allow and then have it move to my location … or close to it anyway. I didn’t like the idea of gettin' run over so I had it stop about a km off. Then I hopped in my new ride, collected all my gear and docked at the EQ to sell the 1mj shields, replace my tradin' extension and finish upgradin' the engine, rudder and cargo hold. Yes, I’m penniless. But this thing is baaaad!

Let’s compare shall we.

The Discoverer:

Top speed: 346m/s
Hull:1000
Max laser energy: 1000
Laser generator: 25mw
Can only use Impulse Ray Emitters.
Max Shield: 3x1mj
Shield power generator: 100mw
It has a 50 unit cargo bay and can carry medium class cargo.

The Kestrel:

Top speed: 605m/s (Oh yeah baby!)
Hull: 2000 (a bit more comfortable wouldn’t you say?)
Max laser energy: 1500 (half again more whoop-ass)
Laser generator: 37mw (once more, half again more whoop-ass)
It can carry Particle Accelerator Cannons and even sports a turret in the back!
Max Shield: 1x5mj shield
Shield power generator: 130mw
It has a 55 unit Cargo Bay and can carry medium class cargo.

As you can see, my new ship is superior in every way to my old one. I only have the pair of IRE’s from the Discoverer to arm it with, but once I earn some cash I should be good to go that way as well. Let’s just say some covert ops missions are now very much on the table. Hell, I might even shoot back to Herron’s Nebula to run some more spacefuel. In this baby it won’t take long. Heh. I won’t have any trouble runnin' away from anythin' in the future either. Hell, most missiles can’t catch me … let alone ships!

Yeah, I’m feeling a LOT more secure. You know, provided I don’t end up like the pests I’ve led through asteroid fields …

I gotta say, I really like the Teladi, too. They didn’t care a bit about that Discoverer’s lack of official paperwork. Hmmm, I wonder how difficult it would be to steal some more ships …


768-05-01 12:30
Ok. So. I took a covert op assignment what’s payin' over 20k. The guys in a Harrier, which isn’t a prob as his top speed is 495m/s and I can easily keep up with him. There is a prob, though, and it‘s a doozy.

The prob is he just flew into Xenon sector 347...


768-05-01 12:31
http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... amNUTS.jpg

Sometimes you just got to wonder about people. In this case myself. Now I’ve never even seen a Xenon before, at least not outside a vid, a game or an anime, and now I’m lookin' at four giant monster sized ones. Three of which are currently shreddin' some traders and a Teladi Osprey ahead of me. I can’t believe I’m doing this! For only 20k no less! I’ve really lost my mind!


768-05-01 12:34
Ok. This isn’t a ship. It’s not. It’s a turbo charged missile with a pilot seat instead of a payload. Seriously this thing is just way too fast. It’s AWESOME! Besides being able to rocket by those sentient combine harvesters I just crossed six sectors in about five minutes and that wasn’t even top speed. I was pacin' the Boron in the Harrier.

He led me through some more Teladi sectors, one of which has a shipyard and an EQ, to another Pirate Clan. It’s in Acquisition Repository where I am now docked. I’m 20k richer, which means I have about, oh, 20k to my name? Yeah.

So. I’m sittin' here staring at this possible ship upgrade … Okay I’m not just starin' at it. I’m thinkin', and the thoughts I’m thinkin' … Let’s just say all of a sudden there are all sorts of new ideas floatin' through my brain. They are dangerous ideas. Scary ideas. However, one might even go so far as to call them inevitable ideas … considerin' my upbringin'. Yes. I’m lookin' at the freight scanner … and I DON’T have searchin' for smugglers in mind. In fact, I can almost hear ol’ Snake Eye’s voice. “Information is everythin',” he used to say. “If you know what some transport is carryin' and how they’re defended you can ambush ‘em just right and get what they’ve got.”

Information is everythin'.

I can’t afford it right now but I feel like a seed just got planted. A dark and insidious seed. In fact I can already feel it growin'. Scary stuff this is. Am I really a pirate?

No. At least … not yet …


768-05-01 12:44
These people must think that just cuz I’m young I’m stupid:

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l55 ... tupid2.jpg

Seriously? Brand new and fully equipped a Buzzard goes for just over 1.3 mil. I know cuz I’ve seen ‘em. Not that I could afford it anyway, but really? Come on.


768-05-01 12:51
Alright, so I’m not exactly happy about the company. He’s arrogant, condescendin', complainin' about the tight quarters and smells funny, but he’s also payin' 50k for someone to get him to the Pirate Base in Acquisition Repository from the tradin' station in Ianamus Zura in ten minutes or less and I figure if anybody can do it I can.


768-05-0112:58
Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! I got him there with two and half minutes to spare. I’m 50k richer … and he’s off my ship. I have also decided: I don’t like the Paranid. They’re just … well, they‘re wankers. I don’t know if it’s the three eyes or just the fact that they all seem to act as if I’m somethin' they need to scrape off their boots but I just don’t like ’em. Also … they smell like dried fish. I’m gonna wait here and air out the cargo hold for a little while. I can’t stand it.


768-05-01 13:00
I did it. Yeah. I couldn’t help it. I was waitin' for that Paranid’s stink to get out of my ship and I just … well I bought it. The freight scanner I mean. It’s weird. I know it’s trouble. I know it. I can feel it. But as soon as I bought it it’s like somethin' just clicked. Some piece of some puzzle I can’t quite see just fell into place.

Now I need some PACs. If I’m going to do this I’m going to do it as ready as I can be. I can’t believe what I’m thinkin'. I’ve never even been in a dogfight … I’ve never even fired a ship’s laser!

But there it is. This is probably going to be the death of me.

Ok, well, in the meantime I need some cash.


768-05-01 13:54
Ok. So I got tired of running around Teladi space looking for work and decided to head south into the Pirate sectors. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not ready to start takin' on any actual piracy. I’m just lookin'. So I shot south through Loomanckstrats Legacy, Mi-Ton’s Refuge, and into Moo Kye’s Revenge … where, and this was really weird, for some reason I felt as if someone just walked over my grave. I’m not kiddin'. The hairs on the back of my neck are standin' up and my arms are all covered in bumps. Weird. Anyway I finally flew into Desecrated Skies. I would have kept going too, but I got distracted by this Pirate Galleon taking on an Argon Military Taskforce.

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

It turned into quite a scrap too when that Galleon finished launchin' all it’s fighters. The Argon got thoroughly pounded of course, but they put up a good fight. They left some good salvage in their wake too, and I was about to go get it when this Split Raptor shows up and lays into the Galleon.

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

Hard.

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

It was very impressive and illustrated quite clearly just how small and tiny I am in my little fighter. When it was all over, though, I had quite a few trinkets in my hold to show for my patience.

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

Now to go cash ‘em in.


768-05-01 14:07
Ouch. It’s open season on pirates today. Kind of disturbin' considerin' my sudden inclination to follow that path. I’m in Mi-Ton’s Refuge and I see this Galleon and a Boron Shark making a pass at each other.

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

The Galleon actually kicks the Shark’s ass and if it had been just the two ships that Galleon would have flown away whistlin'. The problem was the Shark had lots of friends.

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

As it was those Boron tore that Galleon apart.

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

I don’t know why. It makes me sad.

768-05-01 14:31

So I sold what I can’t or won’t use at the Ianamus Zura EQ and am now headin' back to PTNI HQ to see if they’ve got any PACs left when I stumble across this bunch in Scale Plate Green.

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

Now that just can’t be good … for somebody. There are definite perks to flyin' a supercharged rocket, though. Full throttle and … See ya. Heh heh. Or not.


768-05-01 14:36
All right! I’m now fully equipped and fully armed. I’ve even got some missiles left over from my salvagin' stint. You know, I think I’m going to go liberate my freighters.

Assets

1x Kestrel “Hot Rod” (ready to rumble)

1x Vulture Tanker 60% (under surveillance)
1x Caiman Hauler 55% (under surveillance)

100,652 credits
Last edited by Scion Drakhar on Tue, 7. Jun 11, 06:36, edited 6 times in total.
A Pirate's Story.pdf(KIA) by _Zap _ From Nothing.PDF(complete) by _Zap _ Prodigal Son(active) Original Thread, Prodigal Son_PDF

Jawms
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Post by Jawms » Fri, 31. Dec 10, 03:31

I like the reference.. :P

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Zaitsev
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Post by Zaitsev » Sat, 1. Jan 11, 08:28

So far, very good :) Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am :D

DiDs:
Eye of the storm Completed
Eye of the storm - book 2 Inactive
Black Sun - Completed
Endgame - Completed

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Scion Drakhar
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Post by Scion Drakhar » Sat, 1. Jan 11, 18:01

Happy new year all!!!!

Next post later on today. I've been celebrating ...
Jawms wrote:I like the reference.. :P
Reference?
Zaitsev wrote:So far, very good Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
Me too!
A Pirate's Story.pdf(KIA) by _Zap _ From Nothing.PDF(complete) by _Zap _ Prodigal Son(active) Original Thread, Prodigal Son_PDF

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

Walking over your own grave.
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

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

Triaxx2 wrote:Walking over your own grave.
:P



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
Last edited by Scion Drakhar on Tue, 15. Mar 11, 22:05, edited 1 time in total.
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Triaxx2
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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.
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Kirlack
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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 :D

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Scion Drakhar
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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 :D
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
Last edited by Scion Drakhar on Sun, 2. Jan 11, 22:16, edited 1 time in total.
A Pirate's Story.pdf(KIA) by _Zap _ From Nothing.PDF(complete) by _Zap _ Prodigal Son(active) Original Thread, Prodigal Son_PDF

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