Peace(s) of Eight - DiD [TC 3.0] (Inactive - Saves Lost)

[Kirlack]

[Libelnon]

Good to see Huritas having made her complete entrance, sorry I haven't been on and around to add in some bits and pieces from her end Shall make sure to do so at some point in the none-too-distant-future.

[Kirlack]

Chapter 14: Road trip!

By the time I've made it back to Freedom's Reach the guys have finished running the latest acquisitions to the shipyard and equipment dock in Senator's Badlands, so I get them jumped up to me and we meet in the restaurant. Sam's about to complain that he's supposed to be the cook, but I just pass him a beer and tell him to sit his ass down.

“Relax man,” I laugh and take a pull on my drink, “I gave you the rest of the day off, remember?”

“Oh, we remember.” Growls Thane. “We've been bored frakking stupid running all those busted up freighters about. What the hell are you going to do with them anyway?”

“Yeah boss, “says O'Leary, “what are you gonna do with a load of trashed freighters? Why not just sell 'em on?”

“Because somewhere down the line they'll be a damn sight more useful to me in one piece and fully functional.” The Teladi waitress has arrived by now and takes our order. It's kind of amusing watching my crew deciding what to eat. Huritas, Sam, Thane and Baritone all go for spiced chelt salads, whilst O'Leary, Rossi and myself each order a steak. I get the impression Rossi only ordered it because it's the most expensive item on the menu. I think he's still trying to figure me out. Trying to test how far my generosity goes. After all, I'm paying for dinner.

“So,” Sam grunts at me through a mouthful of chelt, “what are you going to do with the ships?”

“Fix 'em up and put 'em to good use. Oh hell, I don't know where yet Sam,” I say as he's about to ask another question, “but I reckon some of them will go on to become logisticians working out of the refinery. Others will start local trading up in the Split and Teladi systems where we've laid out the satellite network.”

“Fickssssing so many freighterssss will be cossssstly.” Huritas hisses quietly.

“Aye, that it will. Which is why only the ones already in good repair are going to be fixed up and refitted for use. The rest can stay put for now until we can figure a means to get them repaired without spending every credit I've got.” Huh. I've never seen a lizard nod, sage like, before.

“Can we get to the matter at hand please?” Booms Baritone across the table, to which I raise an eyebrow at him, questioningly. “Mate, we're bored stupid. I thought working for you was supposed to be fun?”

“Oh,” I laugh, “desperate to get out in the trade lanes and cause some havoc are we?” Much to my amusement all six of them are nodding. Alright then.

So we finish our meal and grab another beer whilst I lay down how the we're going to do things. I'll take formation lead, with Rossi's Mamba and Huritas' Blastclaw Prototype flanking me. Thane and Sam will be acting as Huritas backup in their Solanos, whilst Baritone and O'Leary will be Rossi's in their Mamba Vanguards. Since 'Goshawk III' has turrets she'll be using those for missile defence, so she's going to load up on Wasp and Dragonfly missiles. You know, something for all occasions. Thane and Sam's Solano's will be packed to the gills with Mosquito's to provide missile screen to everybody. Because Rossi is flying the Mamba, which has no turrets, he'll be loaded up with mossies as well, as will 'Fightin' Irish' and 'Questionable Content'. That should provide us with some significant missile defences.

For weapons, Thane and Sam are still running four PACs each to give them some punch up close and personal, and two PRGs to give them a little bite at a distance. You know, I like the Solano, but it's really geared more for defence than attack. Unless you're fielding fifty plus....maybe I should steal a carrier at some point? Anyway. O'Leary, Baritone and Rossi are each rolling with four HEPTs apiece and four PACs, giving them a huge punch and the speed to really make use of it. Huritas' BCP doesn't mount HEPT, so I've given her four PRGs in her main banks and IREs in her turrets. That ought to catch any incoming missiles quite nicely.

“Alright people,” I radio to my wing across the void, “let's keep it tight and not get killed. We're working, not hunting folks. No open pillaging, we're looking for missions.” Affirmatives across the board. Time to be bad guys.

We start cruising up towards Danna's Chance and I immediately notice an issue. Huritas' Blastclaw Prototype is too slow to keep up with me at full burn, meaning that I'm going to have to keep my speed under 156m/s. It's not a huge cut on the Tenjin's maximum, but it does kind of annul the point of a fast attack wing. Hmm. I may have to rethink my options there. It can wait until this little trek is over though.

Once we hit Danna's I spot a convoy mission for a pittance, but take it anyway, just to get the ball rolling, and head up into Brennan's Triumph. Once we hit the sector the local pirates offer us a good price on another convoy. I think even the guy offering the job was a little shaken by the sheer look of glee in my eye. So I took the job and we pushed on across the system, spotting a couple of abandoned ships as we went, a Nova and a Demeter. I know I'm on the clock to reach my two groups of targets before they make it to their destination, but I'm not one to pass up free stuff. With the two ships snagged and on their way back to Freedom's we head up into Olmancketslat's Treaty. One of the local pirates flags up as hostile, but he doesn't make a move on us as we fly past his Kea, so I tell the guys to leave him be.

As we're passing the special weapons factory I get a call from the desperate Argon owner, wanting us to defend his station from the Yaki. Well, no sorry mate, I'm not about to go against my own. Good luck. With word of the station's impending doom apparently spreading amongst the inhabitants it's only a matter of moments before I get a cry for help. Well, for that kind of money I'm not going to say no. So I make the diversion to the station and call in 'Tidal Traveller'. I've decided to retire Puddle Jumper to training duties for my marines, as the Advanced Express is faster and has the bigger cargo hold, giving it more capacity for transport jobs. It's also been homebased to the refinery, meaning it can happily jump from there to wherever I need it, pick up the fare, drop them off at their destination and then jump home to refuel. An ingenious plan if I do say so myself.

Once the two rather scared passengers are aboard the TP and on their way we start for the north gate and into Bala Gi's, only to see the two marks for my high paying job, twenty kilometres away....docking at their destination. Shit. There goes one point six million credits. Frak. The other two targets we catch up to just inside Farnham's Legend and wipe them out for our pittance. Feeling a little disgruntled from the way that turned out I swing us back down through Olmancketslat's and Brennan's into Danna's Chance. The locals have heard rumour that the Split are coming to attack their PBG forge. I don't really want to cross the Split, but after failing that big payout mission I'm in the mood to kick arse. So Split arse it is!

We take out the two Vipers before they can get more than a couple of shots off and the handful of scout Jaguars they brought with them all speed into the station itself....bloody Split. All anger and honour and not a shred of common sense. Still, we got paid and that's what counts. Right?

With the threat gone one of the lizards at the forge calls me and offers me a good price for another convoy hit. It's not as good as the one I missed out on, but it's still close to a million credits if I can get all four. They're in Atreus' Clouds so we turn and swing back up through Bala Gi's Joy into Farnham's and wait to ambush them at the gate. Heh. They come on through, one by one, and we lay into them, one by one. I do enjoy my job.

With another mission success chalked up we look at the jobs being offered in Farnham's. There's another worried lizard at one of the plankton farms wanting somebody to protect his station. Expecting to see another couple of bombers, and hoping if I do one of them might bail, I accept the job. Oi. That's not what I had in mind. Still, they ain't packing half the firepower of my wing, so we barrel into 'em and show 'em how it's done. Alright, a lot of the M5s crashed into the farm, but we still won. See? Hell, they even left me a couple of bonuses. So I claim the two fighters and call in Double Helix to pick them up before putting a call in to the other plankton farm to see what work's available. Oh really? An abandoned Viper you say? Well, of course mister lizard I'll go grab that right now.

Note how I said nothing to him about bringing it back. It's down in President's End, and we're just about to turn and make for the south gate into Elena's Fortune when I get another call for a group going in the same direction. So I call in Tidal Traveller and meet it at the farm, usher my passengers on board and send them on their way before we high tail out of the sector.

As we cross Elena's I notice a Heavy Centaur Prototype. I want one of those! 154m/s, 800 Mj of shielding and it can mount an impressive array of weaponry, including CIGs, PBEs and Ion Disruptors in every one of it's twelve weapon slots! For now I don't have all the tools to take it, so it gets put up one on of my monitors. From there I can keep tabs on it even when it's in a sector where I've got no local assets. When my marines have completed their training and gotten a bit of experience jacking big ships, we're going to have that one.

So, we cruise on into President's End and immediately spot the Viper on the far side of the sector. I've got just enough cells aboard for a short jump, so I kick the jumpdrive into gear and reappear a few seconds later at the west gate, leaving my crew to follow behind me. By the time they're caught up I've reached the ship and claimed it. When I look in it's hold though....well I'll be damned. Another armed ship. Heh.

I call in Double Helix with enough shields to fully outfit my new bomber and transfer a jumpdrive across from the still docked Falcon Vanguard. With a quick injection of cells it's ready for a getaway when the Teladi police arrive to ask questions and I send the Chokaro back home. We wait out the seventeen minutes on the clock, and then my employer starts complaining. Is it? Did I? Awww, what a shame.

When the coppers show up I order the Viper down to Senator's and we form up a defensive ring around it whilst it makes the jump. As soon as the bomber's gone though the Teladi turn and make for Home of Light, making no move on us at all! If their intention is to follow the ship to it's destination they're going to have to fight through the sector defences of the Yaki. I don't much fancy pissing the Argon off by taking them out in their sectors, especially after I worked so hard to get them back on side, so I leave them to it. They won't get past the north gate of Senator's Badlands.

So, with another ship snagged and no more active jobs, what to do next? I've not taken the time to map out the Argon home sectors around Argon Prime, and given that I've got a pair of missile frigates that need crew I might need to get on their really good side. With this in mind I set us a course through the north gate and into The Wall.

There's no missions that grab my attention, and the proximity of so much Argon hardware sets my teeth on edge as we cross the sector headed for The Hole. It does give me a chance to catch up with my marines training schedule though. Two more of my engineers have completed their training so I get them set up to work with Miss Cornell and....the lizard. You know what, I really need to make an effort to hire some non Teladi personnel.

(sigh)

Whilst we're on the subject of lizard personnel, I've set up Hirussusis, my pilot for the Caiman Miner, as a local trader around Tharka's Sun. Keeping the Split economy going as well as the Teladi should give me access to most of the technology and weapons I'll need. This has left me with a gap to fill in my trade fleet, which my repaired Caiman is going to have to fill. So now I have another lizard by the name of....Ganatos....somebody somebody the fourth. He's been busy keeping the Yaki stations going down in Weaver's Tempest and is almost ready for a patch of his own to trade in. I'm thinking I might set him up in Rhonkar's Fire and let him trade all the way from Thuruk's Beard up to Family Zein, but we'll see.

We slip through the gate into The Hole and find....goop. Green goop, and lots of it. I knew there was a reason I'd not come out this way before. I don't much fancy searching through it for the gates, but luckily there's a Split weapons dealer....flying a Skate? Okay, it'll do. He's headed for the equipment dock at Antigone Memorial, so I fall in behind him and follow. The few stations we pick up on scanner range aren't offering anything worth taking so we carry on through to Antigone, where we draw another blank and push on into Power Circle, which finally offers up some work. Luckily the soldiers I'm transporting aren't fussed which station they go to, as long as it's in The Hole. So I call in Tidal Traveller to collect them and then spot a defence mission for the local ore mine. Aha! More pirate fighters to wail on.

Or not.

I blaze towards the two bombers in the hope of distracting them but I wasn't quick enough to stop the barrages being fired, and from that range there wasn't a damned thing I could do to save the mine. Nor was I about to risk being caught in the blast radius, so I turned tail and ran. The station wasn't so lucky.

So, down another mission and having now cost the Argon a station in one of their sectors I'm back to trying to be friends. We scout out Herron's Nebula and Cloud Base North West, where we take another transport mission for a group going to Antigone. A quick peek around Three Worlds reveals nothing but a steady stream of Boron traffic coming out out of Kingdom End, so we turn back south. My current status amongst the squiddies is not high enough to risk a trek into their home system. I'd expect nothing less than to be skinned alive and dropped into the salt water oceans of Nishala*.

Instead we cruise back across CBNW and into Ringo Moon where I get an amusing call. I don't know if the guy was stoned or what else he'd been taking, but I want some. See, he thought there was some kind of Xenon protection racket and that they were going to attack his factory. I tried telling him he'd been had, but he was adamant so in the end I took the poor fool's money...and the bloody machines jumped in.

Frakking Xenon. Now that's an evolutionary step too damn far! Furious that they could even conceive of such a thing, given that they're machines I gun my engines and tell everyone to fire at will. I'm not having this. The Xenon aren't a species, they're a frakking malfunction. One that we 'fixed' pretty damn quick. With the sector clear again our employer pays us our wage and cuts comms, probably on a run to get something to calm his nerves. I swear man, now I've seen it all. Xenon extortion? That's just the last straw.

“Fall in people.” I radio to my wing. “We're stopping up at the trading station for a drink.”

Once we've docked and found a quiet bar with only a couple of patrons, we were standing at the bar talking about that run in with the machines. Sam's take on it is that if they're evolving maybe they'll be less likely to keep randomly attacking everything in sight, whilst Baritone and Thane both think they should just be exterminated. Or decommissioned. Or just plain busted into atoms. I opt for the latter. Rossi and Huritas have both had run ins with them before and try to avoid them like the smell of bad chelt. I think it's only O'Leary and me who see the possible implications of Xenon 'thugs'.

“Look,” I say, pausing to down the rest of my beer and signalling the barkeep for another, “they can't be doing it on their own. Somehow, somebody has to be at least suggesting the possibility. Otherwise why would they be asking for money? What the hell do Xenon need credits for? I'm telling you, someone is behind this and it ain't the machines.”

Then it hits me. Earlier this morning, as I was crossing X-347 I saw that Argon headed for the station in that sector! What the hell was his name.....Pico Rana? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was it. I wonder....

“You think somebody got the machines to hit a target for them?” Says Baritone, sniggering. “Come on man! They're psychotic killing machines for frak's sake. All they wanna do is ruin anything non Xenon.”

“Up till today I would have agreed with you.” I reply, taking my beer from the bartender and then getting nudged by Sam who's own bottle is empty. Cheeky bastard. So I grab one for him as well. “But think about this. Just this morning I saw somebody trying to access the Xenon station in 347. Why would anybody do that? Unless they've got something to gain.”

“You think it's possible?” Booms Thane putting his empty bottle on the bar. Oh, for crying out loud.

“Let's have another round for everyone mate.” I say to the bartender, who nods and smiles before getting the rest of the drinks as I turn to O'Leary. “Yeah I think it's possible. I don't know anything about Xenon programming, but I'm betting your lot do.”

“My lot?” He grins. “You mean Terrans?”

“Well I don't mean gingers Stephen.” That draws a chuckle from everyone except Huritas. I don't think she got the joke. “Yeah I mean Terrans. After all you created the first ones, right? So it stands to reason that some of your people would have a good knowledge of their base programming.”

“Maybe boss, but information like that is going to be under ATF control. Getting at it, even if you had access to the Sol system, would be nigh on impossible.” Yeah, I was afraid of that. Still, something to consider should the opportunity arise. Getting my hands on some Xenon tech would certainly be interesting.

So we're just about finishing our round and laughing about some of the rucks we've had today when one of the barflies walks up. Now, you might say looking at me or some of my crew that we don't look like pirates. I mean, yeah, we're a pretty strange looking group but nothing about our dress screams 'Pirate!'. This guy though...how he's managed to sit around in an Argon core sector and not get picked up by security is beyond me. He's at least as big as Thane and built like a brick shithouse, with long brown hair that reaches the bottom of his back. His beard is grown out down to his chest but I can see from the one eye that he's not as old as it makes him look. His left eye is covered by a black patch with a flame shaped red jewel and the whole left side of his face is covered in burn scars, pretty bad ones at that. Yeah, this guy says 'pirate' and so far he's not even opened his mouth.

“Can I help you mate?” I ask as he walks right up to us.

“You a 'mercenary' crew?” He rasps at me with a voice that sounds like iron scraped across stone. I nod at him. “Don't suppose you'd be looking for a pilot?” Huh. Would you look at that.

“Depends. What's your name pal?”

“Ardentes. Ardentes Somnium.” Oi. And there was me thinking Kirlack was a strange name. “Friends and comrades typically just call me 'Flame'.”

“Hey, hey I know that.” Says O'Leary snapping his fingers. “That's Latin. Means er....burning...burning vision? No.....burning wish? No....ah!” He says snapping his fingers again. “Burning dream!”

“That's right.” rasps Ardentes. “That some kinda problem?” Hah. I like this guy.

“Barkeep. A drink for my new friend here.”

So, the eight of us chat for a while, me quizzing O'Leary on how he knows Latin, a language that was supposedly dead on Earth hundreds of years before humanity took its first steps into space. He says his cousin, the one that designed this cortical stimulator I'm wearing, taught him some of the language when he was young and he pursued it again when he was at college. I take the time to find out what kind of experience Somnium has and it turns out he likes something fast that can mount PBGs and shares Sam's love of all things explodey.

(sigh)

“Alright. I got a Mamba we can try you out with. No PBGs for now though. I wanna see how you handle yourself on my wing first. And you're gonna have to wait till we regroup and head home. Is that gonna be a problem?”

“Wherever home is, I can wait till we get there. Who am I riding with?” He rasps at me, staring with that one eye. Oi, and I though Shinzo was creepy.

“You'll ride with me in my Tenjin.”

“Tenjin?” He says, lowering his voice. “You're Yaki?” I nod silently, watching his reaction, but there's no change in his body language, so I'm guessing he's ok with that. “Your whole crew?”

“Just me.” I say and smile at him. “You know my brethren?”

“Only by reputation. I've never worked with them before.” Notice how he said worked 'with' rather than worked 'for'. Hmm. A proper merc this one. He's the kind who works as long as the money's good, but there's something else there as well I can't quite identify. Whatever it is I like him.

So, with drinks finished and our new pilot in tow we make for the docking bay and head back out into space. We've still got a few sectors to scout for work before we reach the Paranid Border. I've no desire to head into Argon Prime, but I do manage to pick up a cartographer who fills it in on my map for a small fee. So we move south into Red Light and pick up another run for my TP taxi service which nets me eight hundred thousand credits, before heading East through Home of Light and south into the Ore Belt. As we're passing the Plutarch HQ I get an offer for a used Mercury Super Freighter which I snap up, and then another military transport. With the sector mapped and a couple of abandoned freighters found down by the SPP we finally head west.

Cloud Base South West is a tiny little system. Even with just a duplex scanner you could enter the sector from any gate and instantly pick up the other two. It's also on the border of Paranid space, meaning that there's a fair amount of 'nid freight traffic comes through this way. Given the lack of missions we've found on our way down here I'm tempted to start hitting them just for the small reputation I'll gain with the locals, but I hold off. I think we're going to risk a little trek through the Paranid core sectors on our way back to pirate territory.

As we're moving across the sector I get a message ping from Unexpected Perks telling me that Ulmanckotsat, one of marines in training, is ready for his first op. He may not be the best of fighters, but he will at least make a decent meatshield for the ones that are.

Now, I'm not sure if I missed something before we crossed the event horizon into Emperor Mines, or if something happened when we first arrived in sector...but somehow Rossi's done in his ship. When I comm him and his bald head appears on my screen he just kind of shrugs at me sheepishly. Right. Now, I'm not too fussed as my repair crews can fix that up. BUT. What the hell happened and is he going to make a habit of it? I bloody well hope not.

So whilst I'm looking for work amongst the 'nids....which I'll admit I'm not proud of, but then, I'm also not too proud to take their money....I call the Helix in with Miss Cornell and her now five strong crew of engineers. Rossi docks and lets them get about doing their job, while I go about making a deal for a transport job. With Tidal Traveller on it's way I dock and meet with the Paranid passengers.....

Yeah, it was hard going. The upside was that once they had reached their destination I'd gained enough reputation with 'em to guarantee us unshot at access to their core systems. So we shoot across Paranid Prime all the way to Priest's Pity, where we encounter a Boron weapon dealer in a Kea losing a fight with some pirates. I love salvage work. So much money for so little effort. So I call in the Helix to collect it and leave Miss Cornell and her crew to fix it up. It's too slow to make an effective fighter so it's going to be sold at the shipyard. Once it's docked and my TM is on it's way home we head north into Split Fire and I breathe the sweet free air of pirate space. Metaphorically speaking of course. Being cooped up in the 'civilized' systems is frakking horrible.

We slide through the east gate into Brennan's Triumph where I pick up another group of 'nids wanting transport to the soyfarm in Split Fire and paying a tidy sum for the privilege, so I call in the Traveller and send them on their way. That's it though for work in this sector, even the local pirates don't have anything, so we drop through the gate into Danna's Chance. The master of the rehab facility is demanding aid from a threatening group of...Boron? Seriously?

Seriously. Naturally they don't put up much of a fight and we lay waste to them for our pittance. The 'cuda and one of the Makos bail under fire leaving us a nice little bonus. I'm just about to call in Double Helix to collect when it occurs to me that Kea should be ready for sale and send it to the shipyard, where it nets me three million, five hundred and seventy three thousand, nine hundred and twenty six credits.

Hmm. Twenty million credits. And that's just in my personal account. The refinery has managed to double the five million float I left it with. I was going to wait until my merc crew was ready for boarding operations, but my flight crew is getting a bit big to manage without some serious hangar space. Time I splashed out on something big.

Now, you might be asking yourself 'why spend twenty million credits on a TL?'. Firstly it can serve as a fully functioning mobile base for my rapidly expanding fighter crew. With twelve docking slots and a huge XL cargo bay with thirty four thousand units of space it can carry all my spare equipment that's currently spread out across three freighters, meaning I can outfit and refit fighters much easier. Secondly, being a capital ship I can keep a full contingent of up to twenty marines aboard meaning that long term I can make it a training hub for my engineers. Thirdly it gives me access to station construction without having to find and hire a TL for the job, and even with my spare gear and a couple thousand cells for jump fuel it still has enough space for even the largest stations, meaning I can take construction contracts at will. All of which gives me a great deal more flexibility.

So, I send it on to the equipment dock to pick up the gear from my storage freighters and then down to the military outpost to meet up with my fighters. Including O'Leary, Baritone and Rossi's ships I've now got four Mambas and three Mamba Vanguards, so it's time we shifted things around a little. As much as I like having the Solanos they just don't have the weapon options for a big forward punch, so they're going to be relegated to defence duties. Sam is being upgraded to Mamba 'Problem Solved III' and Thane to Mamba Vanguard 'The Bad Touch II'. Despite much grumbling about her beloved Blastclaw Prototype Huritas is being shifted to Mamba 'Goshawk IV'. The BCP is just too slow. Somnium is assigned Mamba 'Burning Wish'.

It takes me a little while to set everything up and we've idled down to the Hatikvah's Faith south gate by the time all the ships are set up and ready for new pilots, so I jump in my new homebase, 'Long Term Plans'. Gunne damn but it's good to see your efforts pay off. I dock the Cypher and make my way up to the bridge, where Miss Cornell and her engineering crew are just checking everything is ready to go. I was a little taken aback when she saluted me.

“Captain.”

“None of that crap Miss Cornell, that's not how I run my ship. I don't mind you calling me captain, but no more salutes, okay?”

“Understood sir.”

(sigh)

The trappings of leadership. Still, it's rather satisfying watching my crew coming in to land. As the rest of them dock and make their way up to the bridge I get a message ping that Ha t'Plp, my intended squad leader, has completed his training. He's taking up residency aboard Unexpected Perks with his Paranid room mate. With a little luck they'll keep their violent tendencies to themselves until the rest of my crew are ready and they can all beat on the same target. For now, I set my Ryu to jump into Freedom's Reach and tell my little gang of thugs, thieves, assassins and pirates to go and find themselves some quarters. I've got enough food aboard for Sam to cook to his little hearts content, and even had enough delaxian wheat transferred that he can set up his little brewing project. I hope he's as good as his word, this lot are costing me a fair bit in beer money.

Whilst the guys are settling in I've got more administrative crap to do. Ganatos, my new local trader in Rhonkar's Fire, is coming along well, and my latest sector trader down in Weaver's is also ready for his own trading region. So his Demeter Super Freighter XL has been jumped up to Family Pride. He'll overlap with Ganatos a bit, but it keeps that whole corner of the map covered. I've had High Profile laying out navigation satellites in every Split and Teladi sector from Patriarch's Keep to Company Pride, all the way up to Ceo's Buckzoid, the Boron border. There's trade opportunities for two, maybe even three, more local traders between Seizewell and Family Whi, but after that I'm going to have to head into the eastern territories.

My commercial agents have decided it's time to start selling nostrop from the refinery, and at the rate they're shifting it I'm going to need to add another refinery and complex them together. If I do I might see about adding a flower farm as well to offset the local demand. All of that's going to cost three to four million at least, plus the extra freighters I'll need to get fixed up for CAG duty. Still, at least now I have Long Term Plans to ferry stations back and forth. With the purchase of the Ryu though my credit balance is looking a little thin again. I'm not too worried as my pilots are only costing me three hundred and fifty thousand per day from my personal account, plus their five percent cut, but that's extra income for all of us. Everybody else except the current Weaver's trader is funded by the refinery. But if I'm going to expand it, I need more work.

It takes a while to find my crew in the massive expanse of the Ryu's hold and corridors, but I eventually round them all up and we make our way down to the docking bay before winging our way to the gate. Once we hit Danna's we get another cry for help from the rehab facility, this time against a Split strike force. Hmm. I don't want to go upsetting the Split, but I could really do with getting straight with the pirates. That little fiasco up in Power Circle cost me a bit of standing with the clans. Besides, it can't be that bad, right?

Oh shit. I hope those bombers aren't armed! The Jaguars almost immediately sacrifice themselves in ridicu-speed runs at the station, whilst I send Huritas, Flame, Baritone and Thane at one Viper and line up on the second myself with O'Leary, Sam and Rossi on my wing. It's a brief struggle and there's a couple of nukes fired, but my guys have an extensive missile screen. Each ship is now stocked to the gills with mossies, and they're all covering each other, and me. The first Viper bails, but the shots are already in the air so it burns. The second proves a little more stubborn and goes down with his ship, leaving us with a nice payout. I send my boys their cut and we push on into Brennan's.

As we're passing the pirate base we get a call to eliminate a potential threat. He's flying a Gladiator, but he's down in Priest's Pity. I take the job but I'm not sure I can make the flight there in time, and I didn't bring enough jump cells for the crew. Yes, I'm an idiot. I don't fancy using Long Term as a means to get there since....ya know, he's flying a Gladiator, and I've already seen what bombers can do today. TLs don't have anything like the shielding of a station. So I jump down in person and tell the guys to follow behind me. It'll take them a little while to catch up but it's my best shot of making the mark.

I land at the north gate, with no energy left for another jump. My target is showing at the far end of the sector, nearly sixty kilometres away. Even with the turbo booster this is going to be tight. Plus I can't get there with no shielding left, that'd be frakking suicide. So instead I use turbo pulses, hitting it for a quick boost and then cutting it, letting my momentum carry me forward whilst conserving my shields. As the timer ticks down into the two minute mark I'm in firing range of my mark and his wing of mates hasn't even blinked at me yet, so I rip into his shields and he immediately flips hostile. I hear missile warnings and strafe down and away, bring my PBEs to bare on him for long enough to rip his shields off before swapping to EBCs to chew through his hull. My turrets are busy knocking missiles out of the dark, and I'm too busy to check if they're nukes or not.

Suddenly my target explodes in front of me and I get a 'mission complete' message from my pirate employer. The rest of the Gladiator's wing up and vanish, leaving me to contemplate the missiles still coming my way. I hit the boost and and take a look to see both my turrets firing furiously behind me, then a series of small explosions and silence. Not nukes then I assume?

I start cruising towards the northern gate and my pilots catch up with me few minutes later. I considering heading back into pirate space, but decide instead to take another little trip through Paranid territory. So we head south into Emperor's Ridge, where we spot a Khaak cluster hanging about, and launch a remote guided warhead at it. Closing.....closing....BOOM! I should hire out my services: 'Kirlack – Professional Bug Masher'. Wonder if I should put that on my business card?

Further into the sector we get an offer to patrol against possible Xenon incursion. Did somebody go and stir up the machines? I'm seeing more and more anti Xenon missions. We take the 'very hard' mission and fight out way through...one wave. That's it, one wave of chicken shit Xenon fighters who broke at the first sign of damage. When it was done and we got paid there were a few leftovers which we picked up and called in Long Term to collect. They'll be jumped down to Senator's, fixed up and sold off, as soon as possible.

I don't want to push deep into Paranid turf, so we turn west for the gate to Duke's Domain. On the way we get a request for a highly illegal factory to be built in Empire's Edge. That's more than 100% pure profit and I don't need to worry about hiring a TL. I just send remote orders for Long Term to hop over to Ceo's Sprite and buy the factory. We'll meet it in Empire's Edge. As we're passing through DD I get a couple of freighters for sale from the 'nids, who apparently think highly enough of me to sell me ships! So I take a good price on a Demeter and a Demeter Tanker which is in near perfect condition. Then the 'nids really take me by surprise when I get offered a used Perseus Vanguard as we hit Empire's Edge.

I call in Long Term and drop the station, making myself a quick one point seven million credits. The fighters we picked up after the xenon patrol have all been repaired and sold, so there's room for all of us aboard the Ryu, plus my new second hand Perseus. I'm just thinking about jumping us down to Yaki territory to put in for the night when I spot a thing of genuine beauty. First opportunity I get I'm stealing an Ares.

With everyone aboard and Cornell and her crew working on the latest acquisition I make the jump to Senator's Badlands. My third fully trained marine is ready to go, but it's a Boron so I make sure he has quarters of his own. After all the credits I've spent getting him trained I don't much want him being eaten by Ha t'Plp and the 'nid. Huritas and the boys are settling in for some much needed rest, so I set the ship for the north gate and go back to administration.

(sigh)

My two CLS pilots in training have both made the rank of Cargo Messenger, meaning they're experienced enough to use their jumpdrives. So I call them back in to the refinery to await their new ships, and fix up the Demeter I just bought from the 'nids. With that repaired and kitted out I send it up to Profit Centre Alpha and switch over one of my pilots, Yahinussos...somebody...frak it. Anyway, he's now jumping around the few military outposts I can openly trade with, those in Ceo's Sprite, Rhonkar's Fire and Eighteen Billion, picking up boarding pods and dropping them off at my Cobra. As I find more safe havens to trade with I'll add them to his list, but for now it'll do. I may have to set him up as jump fuel replenishment for Long Term, but that might put too big a drain on the refinery. Hmm. I wonder if I could set up a power loop...not yet, I don't have anything like the cash for that. But at some point, being at least self sufficient for jump fuel would be a bonus. That's all a long way off yet though.

My Hades bomber has been repaired and set up ready for operations. I've only got eighty two tomohawk missiles, but it's enough to do some serious damage. For now it's operating under the name 'Special Delivery', which I thought was quite appropriate. All I need now is a pilot for it. Leaving that much firepower in the computer's control is worrying. Somnium mentioned some experience as a bomber pilot, so we'll see how well he fits with the crew and make a decision.

We cross into Ocracoke's Storm and then onto Savage Spur, where I spot a Paranid Deimos smacking down some of my brethren. There's no way we can stand against that kind of firepower, short of using a load of my missiles aboard Strictly Legitimate, but she still needs a crew. Oh alright, so I'm keeping them for when I need to save my own ass. Wouldn't you?

Not wanting to risk my life, my crew, or my twenty million credit ship, I make the jump clear across Paranid space into Split Fire. If that Deimos noticed us coming out of Yaki turf it might put two and two together and I might watch my current good standing with them washed down the drain.

As we're crossing the sector I spot an abandoned Solano which I claim and collect. It takes a fair while to manoeuvre such a bulky ship as the Ryu and whilst I'm waiting I get a message ping that my next marine is ready for action. One or two more and we could potentially make a play for an M6, like a Heavy Centaur Prototype. As I'm waiting for the gate queue to clear I get another one, bringing me up to five. For M6 and TM ships that might do it, but I reckon I'd lose too many of them. Only two are seasoned enough fighters to realistically survive the close quarters of a corvette.

We finally cross over into Brennan's and pick up another abandoned Solano and a high paying transport mission. I can't dock to greet the passengers, but I call in the Traveller anyway while Lunacy Veil bounces to PCA to pick up my scout. As soon as it's within range I beam over to it, catch up with my TP and greet my paying passengers with a smile. Since the crew have already crashed for the night, I bounce my TL back to Senator's and send my passengers on their way. Whilst my guys are getting their beauty sleep, I'm going to see what trouble I can get into with High Profile.

Assets:

Stations:

Sun Oil Refinery L – Profit Centre Alpha - 8,077,340 Credits

• CAG 01 - Caiman Tanker – Major Dealer Trantaeos Hilibis Luuligos III
  
• CAG 02 - Caiman Tanker – Major Dealer Gobanis Yahinussos Wegoras IX
  
• LT – Profit Centre Alpha - Demeter Super Freighter – (20) Major Dealer Foologos Joranas Ganatos IV
  
• LT – Blue Profit - Mercury Super Freighter – (20) Major Dealer Yagosias Trosulis Hurillis VI
  
• LT – Tharka's Sun – Caiman Miner – (20) Major Dealer Hirussusis Yosulis Yagaios I
  
• LT – Rhonkar's Fire – Caiman – (18 ) International Trader Ganatos Yoganis Hilibis IV
  
• LT – Family Pride – Demeter Super Freighter XL – (12) Trade Negotiator Yalamandis Joranas Yayagios VII
  
• 'Giggity' – Discoverer Vanguard – Apprentice Gantelios Yahinussos Hintorias X
  
• 'Problem Solved' – Discoverer Vanguard – Cargo Messenger Wegoras Gutosos Yahinussos V
  
• 'CLS – Boarding Pods' – Demeter – Forwarding Agent Yahinussos Hoaeos Yuyamandos I
  

Ships:

'Unexpected Perks' – Cobra
'Strictly Legitimate' – Minotaur
'Long Term Plans' - Ryu

'High Profile' – Fujin Sentinel
'Indie Cypher' – Tenjin
'Pocket Aces' – Nova Prototype
'Lost in Translation' - Eclipse
'Good Intentions' – Ranger
'Swag Bag II' – Mistral
'Tidal Traveller' – Advanced Express
'Puddle Jumper' – Express
'Double Helix' – Chokaro
'Lunacy Veil' – Chokaro
'Special Delivery' – Hades

ST – Weaver's Tempest – Caiman Miner – (9) Paymaster Hebalisos Yoganis Gradias VII

My Crew:

'Fightin' Irish' – Mamba Vanguard – Stephen O'Leary
'Questionable Content' – Mamba Vanguard – Jim 'Baritone' Marchetti
'The Bad Touch II' – Mamba Vanguard – Thane
'Problem Solved III' – Mamba – Sam
'Dark Days' – Mamba – Sark Rossi
'Goshawk IV' – Mamba – Huritas Galos Yayasios II 'The Huntress'
'Burning Wish' – Mamba – Ardentes Somnium 'Flame'

Storage:

Vulture Super Freighter 60% – Energy Cells
Vulture Super Freighter XL 60% – Food
Vulture Super Freighter XL 11% – Minerals
Dolphin Hauler 19% – Missiles
Vulture Super Freighter XL 17% – Tech
Vulture Super Freighter XL 27% – Weapons & Shields

Pilots Required:

Blastclaw Prototype
Medusa

Solano x5

Refits:

Hades 48%
Gladiator 7%
Viper 56%
Falcon Hauler

Caiman x2 – 55% / 27%
Caiman Super Freighter 8%
Caiman Super Freighter XL x2 – 18% / 21%
Caiman Tanker 41%
Demeter 28%
Demeter Hauler 31%
Demeter Super Freighter x2 – 35% / 17%
Demeter Super Freighter XL 3%
Demeter Tanker
Mercury 38%
Mercury Super Freighter 67%
Mercury Super Freighter XL
Mercury Tanker XL 34%
Vulture Miner 40%
Vulture Super Freighter x3 – 46% / 46% / 33%
Vulture Super Freighter XL x4 – 37% / 35% / 24% / 21%

Express 55%
Toucan Hauler 60%

Credits: 8,882,298

Time: 768-05-04 02:53

*The Boron home planet in Kingdom's End – from Encyclopedia.

[Nathancros]

I agree, the Ares is a thing of beauty, keep it up big daddy XD, i loved that chapter, why cant my story be this good bahahaha

Btw, whats teh specs on that medusa*Compared to the mamba* ive never actually Got one before...

Btw i was thinking of writing a very short capter on sams brewing experiment

[Triaxx2]

Awesome. The Ryu is my second favorite TL.

[Kirlack]

[Nathancros]

Thanks, and Oooooh i like that medusa

seems somewat better to the mamba, especially for missile defense

*wink wink nudge nudge*

And dw, you may like*or not* wat happens to sams first... experiment.

[Kirlack]

[Triaxx2]

Actually, as much as I love the Elephant, my favorite has to be the Orca. Reasonably quick, with the third largest cargo bay of all the TL's.

I have Elephants primarily because with the CODEA machinists, they do 149m/s.

Plus the Tenjin has the best weapon compatibility across the board.

[46_n_2]

great couple of updates Kirlack.... you guessed the meaning of his name cookie for you (:: )

now back to lurking

*throws smoke ball and disappears in flash of light and smoke*

*smoke clears and is standing 3 feet away looking conspicuous*

[Nathancros]

*In the Backup weapon locker, Sam starts his brewing experiments*

WhooooooooooWEEE time to brew up some FUEL!

*Pours basic ingredients for typical argon spacefuel*

YEAHH a Good start!

*adds Ingredients from Curries*

Woo-Yeah this is gonna be a hell of a drink, wonder if i can knock out a marine wit this, or atleast confine him to the lavatory for exits from front and rear. hahahaha.

*knocks off the tip of a firestorm missile and the missile fuel pours into the vat*

*shouted at the top of his lungs*HOlllleeeee ARGNU DROPPINGS

*In the outside corridor*

Marine 1: Ey man hows the wife?

Marine 2: She's going to have the kid tomorrow, I'm hoping to see her on Vid'com before then, ya know. wish her luck.

Marine 1: Wonder if The sarg is gonna call you Big-daddy now instead of Big pile of...

*Door to nearby room bursts open and Sam runs full pelt out of it, waving his arms like a madman and screaming like one too*

RUN FOR ITTTTT!!!!!!!

*Sam Speeds past the marines as a rather loud explosion goes off in the weapon room*

Marine 1: What The!?!?

Marine 2: LEG IT!!!

*The explosion reverberates through the ship, knocking out the comms and a few non-critical systems, and a few secondary explosions that do nothing more than awaken the few people left sleeping.*

About 10 minutes later, After assuring the marines that nothing bad has happened, which got him alot of dirty looks, especially from the few marines who are only wearing what they were asleep in,
Sam walks back into the room, black scorch marks everywhere but remarkably little damage, The vat is in one picece and alot of the fuel still in it*

Well. I dodged a bullet there. Kirlack would kill me if i really damaged his ship!

*Dips his finger in the vat and tastes it*

Oooooh thats Gooooooooooooodddd....
*tastes again*
Oh yeah...
*Moves the vat to one side to set and,sets up a fresh vat*
Wonder if i can do it again....

End

Hope you dont mind this, i was in stichs when i thought this up, but i think i may have lost some of the humor thru the telling
Oh well. i found it funny.

[Kirlack]

[Nathancros]

Congrats!

I've only ever managed 1 capture. and i still had to use a cheat to get it :'( but im going to keep trying!

[Triaxx2]

What script did you use to make it boardable?

[Kirlack]

It's made boardable by the 'All Plots Complete' script, which was one of several reasons I wanted to install it.