On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he's DEAD

Official fiction, fan fiction and artwork. Let your talent express itself!

Moderators: TheElf, Moderators for English X Forum

Timsup2nothin
Posts: 4690
Joined: Thu, 22. Jan 09, 17:49

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he's DEAD

Post by Timsup2nothin » Thu, 14. Mar 13, 01:50

On Her Majesty's Secret Service
-or-
What The Squid DiD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prologue

Jula No sighed deeply as he paddled along the corridor. His eight shorter arms stirred the methane atmosphere ineffectively, but he resisted the urge to use the reach of his longer tentacles to pull himself along the walls. As a child he had crawled over bottom stones in that fashion, but as an adult Boron he valued the delicate suckers of the enlarged pads on his tentacles too highly to put them to such a use. From the layers of smeared prints on the corridor walls he could tell that many other new arrivals did not feel so strongly and had dragged themselves ignobly into their new environment.

Finally, with another sigh, he reached the end of the corridor and handed his papers to the customs attendant. "Greetings and welcome," shrilled the attendant with typical Boron enthusiasm; a friendliness Jula found hard to match and somewhat grating under his current circumstances. "First time off planet?"

His papers said that it was his first time off planet. The fact that he could barely swim through the atmosphere, extremely thick but still just a gas, fairly screamed that it was his first time off planet. Meekly, in what he hoped was a tone of wonder, he replied "It certainly is. I've looked forward to this trip for ages."

The attendant stamped his papers and gave him an encouraging flash of his beak. "Don't worry friend, you'll be swimming like the space spawned in no time!"

Jula struggled on across the customs area and into a corridor marked "Access-Lodgings, Refreshments". Feeling the attendant's eyes on his back he reached out a tentacle and gave a surreptitious tug on one of the walls, gaining a quick boost in the minimal gravity. He wiped a speck of...something...off the edge of a suction disk. He struggled around a corner, putting himself out of sight, and looked quickly around to make sure he was quite alone.

Satisfied, Jula threw all his legs into a swirling blur of motion and sped away, turning into an unmarked tunnel leading deeper into the bowels of the trading station.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Theoretically there are no rules to DiD's except that dead is dead, and I'll abide by that one. If there were other standard rules I'd no doubt be breaking them. Of course I will be violating several standards, but I will follow my own rules, which I'll explain in detail momentarily.

I'm not writing first person, which is pretty much the standard. It wouldn't work for the story I intend to play out, which I will be sharing from a number of different points of view. I also want to exercise my third person skills which I don't think are as sharp.

I will follow the standard of punctuating the narrative with 'hard data updates' from the game, this being the first of those.

My game is Terran Conflict and is modified, in as much as I have a thing that converts race ranks and such into numerical values. As a side effect it allows me to check my status with the Yaki and Pirates. I have and extensively use the bonus pack. I also have but have not yet installed a thing that removes complex tubes. I might install that at some point for performance reasons.

You may have recognized that Jula No is not the harmless tourist from planetside that he is pretending to be. His planetside trip was actually for his induction into the secret service of the Kingdom, and his previous identity has been eradicated. Since he is completely unknown a 'boring Boron' start is a good fit, so that's what I'll use.

Now for the unique rules of the game.

Jula is a loyal servant of the Kingdom, so he will only take missions from Boron, except in pursuit of contacts and information. Covert missions fit that bill so he can take those from anyone. The netherworld of the universe is his assigned terrain, so missions for Yaki, pirates, and Goners are also acceptable...though Split are the enemy, even Split pirates, and he will not work with them.

Because he has to operate completely 'under the radar' I will be playing with these unique limitations:

No orders transmitted through the gate network. Any ships that are out of sector will be either docked or manned by a pilot operating under specific orders and guidelines. Ships left floating in space out of sector will be assumed to be subject to claiming by other forces and will be self destructed. If the pilots get into trouble they either need to get out of it on their own or Jula is going to have to go there to help them.

Stations will be operated as shell companies. To maintain his cover, access to station accounts will only be done 'in person' and will be limited in that he will never be able to take more than 5% of their credits on hand for fear of drawing attention to his connection to the company. Any ships and pilots assigned to basic trading activities MUST have a home base to operate from as part of a shell company, no money trail will connect to Jula No.

Jula will use Boron fighters and capital ships only. His primary contacts will be Boron and they also will use Boron craft. Freighters of other origin can be used, and may be piloted by hired pilots of other species. Any warships of other than Boron design will be flown to a Boron shipyard for analysis. To protect his cover and contacts in the Boron military he will have to deliver these personally. Storage of these ships until the opportunity to deliver them is acceptable in 'secure or obscure facilities', shell company stations or pirate bases.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Allies

The Kamal, flagship of the notorious Split pirate Yo t'Kt, veered sharply to starboard. Her port side was bathed in the eerie glow of the explosion. Shrapnel, all that was left of the orbital weapons platform, shattered into smaller fragments in the powerful fields created by her shield generators. Yo t'Kt pulsed his gill slits with satisfaction.

“Their carrier is still in the docking clamps!” he crowed. Orders poured from his lipless gash of a mouth in a stream. “Ahead flank! Fighters to cover, all wings! Bring us to course 057! Navigator, mark the turn. Helm, stand by to turn her full to starboard and 20 degrees up on my mark. When the base shadows us from their other weapons platform we will bring the port cannons to bear.”

Aboard the Argon military base klaxons rang through the stark corridors. Pilots raced for the hanger bays. The crew of the carrier was caught scattered all over the base. They had only docked from an extended patrol an hour before. Officers and crewmen alike came up short at the sound of the alarms. Dice and cards scattered from abandoned tables onto hard metal floors. The scent of Argon whiskey wafted up from spills.

Pirate fighters formed up on their carrier as it bore down on the station. Then, with her overtuned maneuvering thrusters screaming in protest she heeled over on her right side and the great founts of plasma burst from her port cannons. Despite massive energy shields the huge structure of the base vibrated with the blast.

“Full stop! Wings two and three, to her hanger ports!” Yot'Kt shouted. “All other wings, fire at will! Bring down their shields!” The galleon rocked as the great cannons belched plasma again and again.

As the saying goes there are bold pilots, and there are old pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots. Many Argon defenders reached their ships and flung themselves boldly into space to defend their base, only to meet billows of blazing plasma ignited by the burst generators of Yo t'Kt's fighter wings. With no time to form up and no room to maneuver they withered like grass.

On the command deck of the military base a terrified crewman watched his control panel. He shouted off the numbers as his indicators passed them. “Shields at sixty...fifty...forty...” The intervals were not long enough for him to draw breath and he gasped out “thirty”...

Aboard the colossus carrier chaos reigned. One of the most powerful ships in space, she was caught with not enough crew, and not enough hands dockside to release her. She would share the grim fate of the station.

Suddenly green hulls shone in the reflected light of the scorching plasma! A tight wedge formation of Boron heavy fighters swung around the flank of the battered station, concentrated fire leaping from their weapons arrays. The pirate fighters, their laser banks depleted by the attack on the station, were forced into a disorderly retreat. The sleek form of a Boron Shark carrier swung into view behind her fighters, barely clearing the station before her own great guns barked.

Caught hanging almost stationary in space, Kamal took the full brunt of the Shark's opening broadside. On her engineering decks the crew scurried to bring her up to speed, but she still swung ponderously, barely making way, while the Shark raced across her bow raking her shields with steady fire from her cannons. Even though the pirate vessel sported greater firepower, she could never recover from her early disadvantage.

Yo t'Kt would have given no quarter. From the Boron he did not expect any, nor did he ask it. The mighty Kamal left the universe in a cloud of debris and burning plasma.

Not long after the battle, on the hanger deck of the battered military base, an officer asked one of the supply sergeants “Was that one of the pilots from the shark?”

“I thought so, but now I'm not sure.” His glance passed across the crew that had been working on the Boron Octopus in the tight confines of the shipping bay. He was met by a wave of shrugs and non-committal grunts. “He started bringing in missile salvage right after the big blast.”

The officer checked through some papers on a clipboard. “Jula No, of the Wikstrom. Has no records at all. The little squid is a ghost. What did we put on his ship?”

The sergeant took the clipboard and looked at the documents in dismay. “Four impulse ray emitters. All the little bucket would hold. Damn.”

“Well,” the officer said with a shrug as he made some notations and signed the change to the documents, “he brought in some good salvage and without the Boron we would likely be space dust, so we'll just call him one of the good guys.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cold hard facts.

I've got the Wikstrom, an octopus that couldn't catch a cold, or outrun one either. With a single 1MJ shield and four IREs her cargo bay is bursting at the seams. It took four trips gathering up a couple or four missiles at a time, and almost all the good ones are M cargo that I had to leave behind, but at least I put together enough Argon rep and credits to buy the guns, and I've got 56,292 credits burning a hole in my pocket besides. Can't say life is good yet, but at least it ain't over.

Flight time 1:36
Last edited by Timsup2nothin on Mon, 7. Oct 13, 20:50, edited 3 times in total.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

stads
Posts: 190
Joined: Thu, 22. Dec 11, 14:29
x4

Post by stads » Thu, 14. Mar 13, 02:09

like the start of this one

a boron 007 wonder what miss monepenny is gone be like

Timsup2nothin
Posts: 4690
Joined: Thu, 22. Jan 09, 17:49

Post by Timsup2nothin » Thu, 14. Mar 13, 04:19

Stads obviously recognized at least one of the clever (?) 007 references. There are three. Virtual prize awarded to the first reader who points them out.

fine print-virtual prize delivered by virtual reality courier directly to virtual reality residence...virtually postage free
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

User avatar
Zaitsev
Posts: 2005
Joined: Tue, 2. Dec 08, 01:00
x4

Post by Zaitsev » Thu, 14. Mar 13, 05:40

Mmm ... Good start, I'll be watching this one :)
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

User avatar
Kirlack
Posts: 1995
Joined: Fri, 25. Jun 04, 15:59
x3tc

Post by Kirlack » Thu, 14. Mar 13, 17:44

Nice work Tim, very different perspective to any other DiD styled stories I've read :) Looking forward to the next installment! :D

Timsup2nothin
Posts: 4690
Joined: Thu, 22. Jan 09, 17:49

Post by Timsup2nothin » Thu, 14. Mar 13, 19:13

Blood on the Tentacles


The pirate base nestled among the astroids. Its skin was dark, a good design for going unseen by those who didn't know where it was, had it been as intentional as design. Closer inspection revealed the dark color to be the result of plasma scorching. The hull had aparrently had a previous life as a huge transport, which ended badly. Odd bits protruded here and there, obviously welded on by hurried hands. Half a freighter had been stuck on as a storage space, conveniently accessed through a tear in the transport's superstructure that had been too big to patch. Hull plates of dubious origin bandaged smaller wounds. Jula No, approaching in the Wikstrom, checked that his methane rebreather was fully charged. The former transport may have been patched up enough to hold an atmosphere of sorts, but it certainly wouldn't be the compressed methane he needed to breathe.

He slid the tiny ship into the docking bay manually. The base had been set up with the docking port pointed directly at an astroid, the approach beacons dimly illuminating the unforgiving rock face. As he floated out of the cockpit, tentacles beating the thin air, he commented on the odd set up to the burly dock hand who had clamped down his ship.

The dock hand gave the odd lowing sound that serves as laughter among the Paranid. "You should see when some fool tries to come in on autopilot," he said. "We take bets on whether the pilot will notice the collision avoidance overiding the docking program in time. If the ship takes two or three runs at the approach pattern it usually finds an angle where the collision avoidance won't be fast enough and paints the 'roid."

Another hand, an Argon, spoke bitterly. "I lost five credits on you squid. Fast little eggshells like yours tend to move too fast for their systems."

Despite his innate Boron courtesy Jula couldn't quite bring himself to apologize for making it on board without dying. The docking bay of a pirate base was probably not a good place for courtesy anyway. He closed the cockpit canopy, activated the security monitor link to his rebreather and swam into the station's recreation area.

Very little recreation was going on. The bartender informed Jula that his space fuel suppliers were 'dry as old bones in vacuum' and had been for some time. No space weed was available either. Jula gave a moment's consideration to the possibility he was being refused service out of prejudice, but the surliness of the other denizens trapped on the dry base proved otherwise. No one was being served, Boron or not, and no one was happy about it.

He asked around, and suffered some abuse for the effort, but learned what he wanted to know. Unfortunately he had swum away from the what he was looking for. He paddled back to the docking bay and approached the hulking Paranid. "Tammankulot?"

"Leaving so soon? Not much of a party I suppose," was the grumbled reply.

"Actually, I hear you have some equipment that I could use."

After some negotiation, fruitless in the face of Tammankulot's firm price, the Paranid struggled into the cramped cargo bay of the Wikstrom to install an extended life support system.

"By the priest duke! Who would ride in such cramped space?"

"You should have seen it before I got the cargo compression units."

"They look new," he said, swiveling one of his three eyes away from the work he was doing.

"Just picked them up at the trading station in Elena's Fortune."

"They do good work there. I can't do better and I won't do cheaper, but maybe next time you need a ship tuned up stop here. Some pilots prefer not to pass the military base the thrice cursed Argon put up in the sector."

"I'll keep it in mind."

The dockhand mechanic squrmed free of the cargo bay. "All set. Speaking of other ships, do you own a freighter? Or anything bigger than this eggshell?"

"I wish I did. Why?"

"Some of the boys set up a little processing system, just room sized, nothing big. Can't get space fuel past the Argon Bastu's, can't get any spaceweed out of the Teladi cartels; they figured they could get a good price for bad home grown if we could get hold of some swamp plant, and swamp plant isn't illegal to ship. No luck finding a freighter though."

Jula laid the back of a tentacle across the skin of the Wikstrom. "Well, I'd be happy to help, but with this I'd have to bring it in one leaf at a time." He pulled himself into the cockpit and sealed the canopy.

The Wikstrom popped free of the docking bay and banked hard to port to avoid the astroid. Jula wondered if anyone had bet against him. His musing was interrupted by a warning tone from the ship's computer. A quick glance at the scanner revealed an angry red marker indicating a small ship, weaving through the astroid field and closing rapidly. He pushed his recently tuned engines to full throttle and quickly opened some distance, nervously picking the astroids out of the gloom.

With his primary tentacles steering he tapped the targeting system with the tip of one of his shorter legs and risked a quick glance, revealing the target as a Split Jaguar, cruising at 340 m/s. He tapped the interrogative, and was not surprised when he got less than complete information from the Split ship's identification systems; a courier; but no destination revealed. His own computer provided a maximum speed for the model of ship; but could not account for how well tuned its engines might be. Fully tuned it could easily outpace the Octopus.

At a safe distance Jula slowed to a more manageable speed and pointed the Octopus towards a patch of clear star field. He still kept a wary eye ahead, but also monitored the Split's actions.

He relaxed slightly as it became obvious that the Split was passing by through the astroid field and not in pursuit, apparently just going about his business. The peaceful nature of the Boron counselled Jula to just let him go, but he told himself a plain truth. No Split courier will ever bring good news to a Boron. He laid on the throttle and began the pursuit.

At full speed, 427 m/s, he was closing on the split at almost five km every minute. As the Jaguar approached the gate the pilot slowed it briefly, and almost fell into range of the IREs. Then a convoy emerged from the gate; a Strong Arms weapons trader with full escort. Strong Arms, a corporate mask pulled thinly over the face of the Split government, would not likely stand idly by if he opened fire on the courier. In fact they might not even stand for him being as close to them as he was. He peeled away and gave them a wide berth as the Jaguar slipped through the gate.

When the path cleared to resume the chase the quarry had established a wide margin. Only as the two ships sped across full sectors did it narrow appreciably. Jula was surprised to find the pursuit taking him into Boron territory, and hoped he could end it there.

Eventually he wondered if he was chasing the luckiest Split in the universe. Passing through the gate into Menalaus' Frontier he knew it would be a near thing, and pondered whether it would be wise to continue the chase into Teladi territory. Of course with only one mega-joule of shielding he had been pondering all along whether it was wise to take on the Jaguar in the first place, and considered that it might be for the best if the Split escaped.

With the gate to Teladi space looming a mere three kilometers ahead of the sharp pointed bow of the Jaguar Jula closed into extreme range and hit the trigger. Before the startled Split could react the probing fingers of particles had shredded through his shielding and begun to eat into his hull. A violent swerve to avoid a collision, a skidding turn, a second pass cut short by a small but violent explosion; Jula's Boron sensibilities shuddered slightly, but he took bleak satisfaction from his first kill.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cold hard facts

The Wikstrom has been fully tuned, with the cargo bay fully extended to a whopping 15 units. Big enough to stuff in one desperate passenger, even if I 'load it up' with its full compliment of meager shielding...which I can't afford to do with the 1,061 credits I have left. At least now it is fast enough to run away, and even fast enough to run down a hapless Jaguar...eventually. Life still isn't great yet, but it's a darn site better than that Split courier's.

Flight time 2:23
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

User avatar
Kirlack
Posts: 1995
Joined: Fri, 25. Jun 04, 15:59
x3tc

Post by Kirlack » Thu, 14. Mar 13, 19:31

Timsup2nothin wrote: Big enough to stuff in one desperate passenger...
Are you playing AP or TC Tim? Not that I think it matters, I'm fairly sure the Octopus can only carry S sized cargo in either game, and passengers are M class...

Now the bit I like, from a writer's perspective:

MOAR! :p

Timsup2nothin
Posts: 4690
Joined: Thu, 22. Jan 09, 17:49

Post by Timsup2nothin » Thu, 14. Mar 13, 19:44

Kirlack wrote:
Timsup2nothin wrote: Big enough to stuff in one desperate passenger...
Are you playing AP or TC Tim? Not that I think it matters, I'm fairly sure the Octopus can only carry S sized cargo in either game, and passengers are M class...
:lol:

Suddenly I remember why I never fly these crummy little ships. I have ruled myself out of my usual discoverer...I've spent two thirds of my available credits on life support for any vermin that I pick up in my tiny cargo hold...tough break for the Boron. Should have gotten fighter command software.

TC by the way.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

User avatar
Kirlack
Posts: 1995
Joined: Fri, 25. Jun 04, 15:59
x3tc

Post by Kirlack » Thu, 14. Mar 13, 19:54

Meh. Buy a Kestrel :D Best runaround you can get. Except maybe the Pirate Kestrel, but that puts Jula in harm's way, and we don't want that :p

Do we? :p :p
Timsup2nothin wrote:TC by the way.
:thumb_up:

Timsup2nothin
Posts: 4690
Joined: Thu, 22. Jan 09, 17:49

Post by Timsup2nothin » Thu, 14. Mar 13, 20:44

Kirlack wrote:Meh. Buy a Kestrel :D Best runaround you can get. Except maybe the Pirate Kestrel, but that puts Jula in harm's way, and we don't want that :p

Do we? :p :p
Not too much. And the rules rule out kestrels just as much as discoverers, unfortunately.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

User avatar
Kirlack
Posts: 1995
Joined: Fri, 25. Jun 04, 15:59
x3tc

Post by Kirlack » Fri, 15. Mar 13, 00:24

Ah, yes indeed, my bad. I had to go back and read them again :oops:

I really like the whole clandestine money transfers thing mate. I wish I'd thought of something like that for Po8 to be honest.

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

Post by Triaxx2 » Fri, 15. Mar 13, 01:08

I don't know, I mean, I like the Octopus, it's not fantastic for a real combat ship but it's hard to beat for a cheap runner while you earn cash. And you'll find that catching a bigger fish is surprisingly easy, especially when you're buzzing around them, and virtually unable to hit you.

Of course it's a razors edge, one hit will vaporize you.
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

Timsup2nothin
Posts: 4690
Joined: Thu, 22. Jan 09, 17:49

Post by Timsup2nothin » Fri, 15. Mar 13, 02:18

Triaxx2 wrote:I don't know, I mean, I like the Octopus, it's not fantastic for a real combat ship but it's hard to beat for a cheap runner while you earn cash. And you'll find that catching a bigger fish is surprisingly easy, especially when you're buzzing around them, and virtually unable to hit you.

Of course it's a razors edge, one hit will vaporize you.
I'm a veteran M5 fighter...way more than any other kind of fighter...and I have no problem with the Octopus as a fighter...but it can't do ANYTHING else. Taxi missions? No. Fetch cargo? Sure, if you want ONE, and it's small. Go looking for stuff? No tri-plex.

I forgot that when I made the rules. Looks like her majesty's servant will be focusing on bumping up to a Mako...or a transport of some sort maybe. Probably just as well given this DiD business. Don't want to end early with a resounding SPLAT, which with an M5 is too easy to do.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

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

Post by Triaxx2 » Fri, 15. Mar 13, 03:42

Well, if you successfully bump up to an Octo Raider, it's easier because it's got a built-in Triplex. I actually had a spot in my DiD where I towed a Condor across a large portion of the universe, and I used a pair of Octo Raiders to run ahead and look for incoming capitals so I didn't get close to the gate and then die because another capital came out of the gate.
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

Timsup2nothin
Posts: 4690
Joined: Thu, 22. Jan 09, 17:49

Post by Timsup2nothin » Fri, 15. Mar 13, 17:50

Split Justice


Nu t'Nst stood at rigid attention. He felt more like slumping with his eyes turned to the floor in shame. Actually, he would have preferred to just fall through the floor into the vacuum of space, this time without a suit. Of course at the critical moment, he had made a different choice.

The commodore of sector defenses was in a towering rage. "He is a coward and a disgrace! He is no Split. The shame is on your family!" He pounded his desk, which looked like it might crumple under the onslaught, with every other word. His great fist rose higher each time, a threat and an insult.

Across the desk the threat was noted, and the representative from family Ng came even closer to losing control of his own temper. "Our courier was flying an unarmed ship in your sector! Unarmed because your family insists on it, yet your patrols stood by while he was ruthlessly attacked! The shame is on your family, not ours!"

"One of our own citizens was attacked as well! No patrol was standing by. No patrol was even within scanner range!"

"And why not? What sort of sector defense are you pretending to run here?"

"At least our citizen, who was also unarmed, and just a civilian, had the honor to not abandon his ship!"

"Only because our heroic courier came along and interrupted the attack, even though he himself was unarmed. He is the hero, your family should be hanging their heads before him in shame."

"A hero!? He crawled into the trading station in a space suit. He left in a Raider model Jaguar!"

"Speaking of our Jaguar, we expect family Whi to reimburse us for the loss."

The commadore's gill slits pulsed twice and then the covers flared out from his neck. He was stunned in his outrage and momentarily unable to speak.

"You let a Boron...a BORON...fly into your sector and attack an unarmed citizen. Then you let this Boron wander around in a space suit, connect an umbilical to our ship, and fly away with it. You owe us an apology, as well as a ship."

Split law, imposed by the rule of Family Rhonkar, prevented the argument from ending with the two authorities at each other's throats. Split pride, product of generations, prevented it from ending without bloodshed. They would rage at each other and probably destroy the hapless desk. Eventually Nu t'Nst would not be able to hold the rigid posture and would move, or at least twitch, and they could both justifiably turn their wrath on him. If he was lucky he would end up a slave.

Jula No was unaware of the turmoil he had left behind in Family Whi. He had delivered the Jaguar Raider safely to the shipyard in Kingdom End for analysis and been rewarded with a 54,280 credit voucher. As there were no 1 MJ shields available in Kingdom End he flew to the equipment dock in Rolk's Fate, killing an Argon pirate in a Harrier who was attacking a station in Menalaus' Frontier along the way. It was another affront to his peaceful nature, but space is a dangerous place...plus he got paid for the effort.

Cold hard facts

The Wikstrom now sports its full compliment of 2 MJ of shielding and has fight command Mk1 to help with targeting. More to the point it also now has a mineral scanner so I can do something for cash besides taking the risks of flying into Split space looking for civilian ships...or the even greater risks of shooting at things that might shoot back.

Credits, 4840
Flight time, 3:43
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

stads
Posts: 190
Joined: Thu, 22. Dec 11, 14:29
x4

Post by stads » Fri, 15. Mar 13, 18:25

thx for the update

smell a vendetta from the split towards a boron :D

Timsup2nothin
Posts: 4690
Joined: Thu, 22. Jan 09, 17:49

Post by Timsup2nothin » Fri, 15. Mar 13, 20:10

stads wrote:thx for the update

smell a vendetta from the split towards a boron :D
Thanks for reading...and commenting.

The Split already hated me so I figured nothing lost by antagonizing them, and I needed the credits. We'll have to see as the plot thickens whether this sort of conflict becomes a significant weave in the cloth or just a bit of color thrown in here and there...though the next episode will certainly have a fair share of violence.

Easy for me to say, I just finished playing it. :wink:

-----------------------edit-------------------------------------------edit----------------------

And here it is.

We Three Fools of Profit Guild Are...er...Were

The Wikstrom shot out of the contained unreality of the gate into the normal space of Elena's Fortune. Immediately the tiny ship's computer started ringing a threat alert. Jula No swallowed his heart deeper into his throat, then relaxed as the 'dangerous Split vessel' less than a kilometer away was revealed as a Vulture freighter. He banked the Wikstrom sharply and hit the throttles to get some distance. Established at a safe remove he killed the engines and took a closer look at the information the Wikstrom's computer had gathered on the Vulture.

Even though the Vulture is of Teladi manufacture, he sees that the pilot is indeed a Split; one Lu t'Ztk. The Vulture is on autopilot, bound for a bio gas factory in Atreus' Clouds. Jula's eyes widen. Trying to do business in Boron space is the Split's first mistake. He looks at the shield strength indicator and sees the Vulture only registers ten megajoules, though it has the capacity for seventy-five. A second mistake. Jula pushes the throttles as the Vulture plunges into the gate.

The Wikstrom emerged into the lawless frontier of Farnham's Legend right behind the Split trader, and Jula pushed the throttles as he swung the little craft around the larger bulk of the freighter. Moving about a kilometer ahead he spun the Wikstrom as he slammed the throttle to idle, then unleashed the impulse ray emitters. The ten megs of shielding melted to nothing before the Split could swing the ponderous hulk away from the tiny fountain of death that was directly in his path, and the hull danced under the pounding particle streams.

Before the turret on the rear of the Vulture could come to bear Jula hit the throttles and shot away. He offed the Split every opportunity to escape death, darting in and away, slowly pounding the sturdy hull into crumbling wreckage. Lu t'Ztk hoped his attacker would make a mistake. One slip and the speeding Octopus would be flattened against the hull, or better yet against the looming face of a nearby astroid. Relying on that hope rather than abandoning his ship was the Split's third, and final, mistake.

Jula wondered at his lack of remorse as he resumed his journey. Then he wondered if exposure to the Split would, over generations, lead to a sturdier, more violent Boron species. With a wry twitch of a smile he wondered if exposure to the universe killing fools like Lu t'Ztk would eventually improve the Split gene pool.

Passing through Elena's Fortune Jula noted that things were very calm. The debris that was all that remained of Yo t'Kt's failed assault had been cleared away and Argon patrols moved about the sector in a desultory fashion. Jula had no interest in tempting fate by returning to the base, opting to fly into the Cloudbase sector southeast of Argon Prime to unload a couple of salvaged missiles he had picked up along the way, then heading into the Ore Belt hoping to find a Boron prospecter he could assist with surveying.

Instead he found a Boron Dolphin freighter, unjustly laboring under the heavy hand of a Paranid pilot. While there was nothing illegal about this it offended something in Jula No's view of the universe. The fact that the Paranid had flown the ship into Argon space, where he would get no assistance or protection from local law, indicated that he was also a fool; unworthy of the sleekly lined craft.

Jula lined up on the dolphin and strafed off about half of its fifty megs of shielding in one slow pass. Built by peace loving Boron the Dolphin has no turrets or other gun mounts. When a second pass had peeled the remaining shields Jula urged the pilot to surrender the vessel. He had no desire to kill the hulking three eyed brute, just liberate the ship. Unfortunately the immensely bloated ego of the Paranid made him blind to the reality of the situation and he refused to surrender to the tiny Wikstrom. Regretfully Jula rode the triggers, pounding the Dolphin to dust.

With no work to be had in the Ore Belt, Jula pointed the Wikstrom towards the mining district of Herron's Nebula. Unfortunately he found no work there either. He stopped to make a quick purchase and set out for the lawless frontiers. If he couldn't make money he could at least make friends, he thought philosophically.

Before he cleared Argon space Jula was again confronted by the offensive sight of a Dolphin piloted by a Paranid trader. Once again he set about stripping the shields in an attempt to liberate the ship. Timenckulok proved to be less the fool than the first Paranid pilot, Ulmankamstras, had been. Before the first pass was completed he launched five Paranid fighter drones and leaned on the throttles, hoping to get the freighter to safety.

Jula shook his head as he pushed his own throttles to the stops. The Wikstrom was not that much bigger than a drone, and its larger engines gave him a top speed that was faster than the drones. He circled an astroid about ten kilometers away, using the huge mass of rock to confuse the drones target tracking mechanisms. The priorities of targeting clashed with collision avoidance in five tiny processors, and Jula sped back to pepper the freighter with IRE fire as he made a high speed pass. He opened the com and suggested that Timenckulok should surrender.

"The Paranid will never surender to you, inferior being," was the reply, "but I will offer Paranid freight." As he spoke huge bay doors opened and a container floated free. Hundreds of units of delaxian wheat. For a superior being Timanckulok had a very poor understanding of how to effectively bribe someone flying an Octopus. Jula could have docked his ship in the cargo container.

There was no time to continue the conversation due to the arrival of the first fighter drone. The astroid had done its work, and the drones were strung out at intervals instead of flying in a dangerous swarm. Timenckulok watched in dismay as they fell one by one to the Wikstrom's blazing guns. Jula reopened the com link as the last one collapsed in a tiny burst of ionized plating. "That drained my laser battery," he said. "Once it recharges I am going to strip your shields and either remove you from that ship or remove it from around you, your choice. The Boron urges you to choose wisely."

Perhaps being spoken to that way by an 'inferior being' was too much for the Paranid. Perhaps he was just a fool and nothing would have persuaded him to make the wise choice. In any event Jula was again left with nothing for his efforts but the sad memory of a Dolphin disintegrating under his fire.

The Wikstrom passed through Elena's Fortune. Perhaps Argon recon units had reported that he was responsible for destroying Paranid fighter drones, which were unwelcome in Argon space. Perhaps the Wikstrom was noted as a friendly because it had happened to be around when the Boron task force had been saving the day. Perhaps it was beneath all notice, like a tiny pimple on the hull of a megalodon. For whatever reason his passage went unremarked, and Jula was glad of it.

He pulled the turn into the approach pattern at fairly high speed, and braked just short of the docking clamps. Tammankulot leapt back, awkward as only a hulking Paranid in light gravity can be. As the clamps locked Jula threw back the canopy and pulsed himself out of the cockpit with his rebreather cocked at a jaunty angle. "I hope you won some credits betting on the Boron my friend," he said breezily. "By the way, you might have reminded me that my cargo bay would be too small for passengers even with that life support system you sold me. But I brought you a rat."

The burly dockhand was trying to decide what to make of this patter. The Boron certainly didn't seem angry. Did Boron even get angry? If the pint size squid was angry should Tammankulot even care?

"I know you would never buy that back, but how about a deal? Uninstall it and pack it back in a crate. Then you can install it on another ship for me. You can keep the rat, or leave him in the hold and I'll freeze dry him for you. Oh, and those crates of Argon whiskey are going to be in your way. Just trundle them up to the bar, would you?"

Cold hard facts

I did hear the 'you have gained recognition' in passing while I was popping drones, but to be honest I forgot to check what my status with the Argon is. It might be high enough to buy something, or it might not, but I had no reason to check since I can't afford much of anything anyway. I forgot to mention earlier that I also picked up some gravidar glasses so I'll mention that now. Not much more to add to the Wikstrom, though I have to say I'm pleased with the little bucket. Would have been sorely disappointing to end this with it smeared down the side of a Dolphin.

Assets...the Wikstrom, 10,920 credits, and a freeze dried rat.
Flight time...5:01
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

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

Post by Triaxx2 » Sat, 16. Mar 13, 18:04

Added to the DiD List.
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

Timsup2nothin
Posts: 4690
Joined: Thu, 22. Jan 09, 17:49

Post by Timsup2nothin » Sat, 16. Mar 13, 19:27

Thanks Triaxx...and once again great thanks for taking on maintaining said list...a service without reward that I greatly appreciate and respect.

Now, on with the show.

Missions and Movements

The debauch at the pirate base lasted until few of the bipeds could stand. Jula No infused some of the whiskey through his rebreather, but tried to keep a level head. He had successfully established some underworld contacts, but was concerned with the consequences. The crew of the base was going to wake up hung over and surly, and they were going to have certain expectations about the Boron they were toasting as a hero tonight. The whiskey would be gone in a matter of days, and those expectations were going to be hard for him to live up to. He slipped away, set the docking clamps to automatic, and boarded the Wikstrom.

He flew more or less aimlessly, north through the pirate sectors. In Bala Gi's Joy the ship's computer emitted a series of beeps. With a start he noted the source; a chip plant hanging just beyond one of the sector's gigantic solar power plants. He brought the Wikstrom around one of the huge solar collecting disks and opened the com link. A Boron appeared on his screen.

Tata Ni made polite conversation, and he responded with meaningless chatter. The ship's computer received a coded data burst hidden in a brief break of static. After a friendly parting with a promise to get together later for old times sake he closed the com link. Jula saw that the first letter of the decoded message was a 'W', set the autopilot for the west gate, and examined the rest of the text.

The chip plant, a Boron operation, had been compromised by a Split spy, Sai t'Lt, posing as a mineral transport pilot. Vital information was taken, and Sai t'Lt was headed for Split space. He had been turned back by Boron authorities in Atreus' Clouds on a customs violation, but there was neither grounds nor evidence to hold him and he was returning to the frontier. Special Branch was tasked with monitoring the Split to ensure that the data was not transferred before the ship could be taken, and Jula was the closest asset. He passed the gate into Farnham's Legend and swung Wikstrom towards the gate to Atreus' Clouds.

The Split Caiman tanker had not reached the gate, and Jula pushed Wikstrom through, then veered away from the trade lanes. From the customs chatter the ship's computer tagged the Split Caiman tanker, and Jula settled into a slow pattern to monitor the freighter's progress towards the gate. Then he followed it through.

Back in Farnham's Legend he steered quickly into the tradelane for the southern gate, as the Split was moving towards the east gate to Bala Gi's Joy. Jula knew from his training that the gates would be the most likely place for a data transfer. He established a safe distance where he could watch unobserved and waited. "There!" he said. A small data drone had been fired by the Caiman just before it stretched into the event horizon of the gate. It was immediately taken aboard a Harrier. The close proximity of traffic at the gate make the close pass unremarkable had Jula not been observing closely.

He sped towards the gate to ensure he logged tracking information on the Harrier. He had to get close. Too close. The Teladi pilot in the Harrier noted his interest and turned on him with partical accelerator cannons flashing. Jula threw the Wikstrom into a sliding corkscrew maneuver to evade the incoming fire and used the superior speed of the Octopus to circle the Harrier faster than it could turn to target him. Once clear of the Teladi's field of fire he slid into a trailing position while matching speeds. The IREs went to work on the Harrier's shielding, followed quickly by its hull.

With the Harrier reduced to dust Jula sped through the gate into Bala Gi's Joy, finding the audacious Split spy on course for the chip plant. He set his autopilot to dock at one of the power plants and watched. When the Wikstrom locked into the docking clamps he bought half a dozen e-cells, exchanged a brief word with the docking crew, and launched, circling towards the chip plant. The Caiman completed the approach cycle and locked in.

He docked, and met Tata Ni in one of the station's comfortable offices. Being able to move around outside the cramped confines of his ship without the restrictions of the rebreather was a luxury and he enjoyed the meeting. Doubly so since his mission had been such a success. The Split had docked to report and apologize that the mineral shipment he had contracted for would be delayed, citing a misunderstanding with Boron customs. His ship's systems had been scanned, as he knew they would, demonstrating that he did not have the data. Business would go on, but both sides knew the espionage had been detected. Sai t'Lt would be watched, he knew he would be watched, and as soon as it could be done smoothly either his 'independent trading' career would draw him away to other markets or the station would 'find another supplier'.

With such an auspicious start to the latest round of his travels Jula was certain he would succeed in his efforts to capture a freighter, or at least a larger ship.

His first candidate was a Vulture in Elena's Fortune piloted by a Paranid trader. The Vulture has the threat of its turret, but is so ponderous that Jula was confident that he could stay in front of it and out of range. He was successful in that, but after an attempt at bribery with a blown cargo hold the Paranid released a fighter drone. As Jula spun the Wikstrom to get some distance a single blast from the drone's twin cannons stripped most of his shields. "Paranid mark two drone, Paranid mark two drone, Paranid..." the threat detector wailed. Jula established a sliding spiral pattern and sped into the astroid field, knowing that the day that had started so promising would end abruptly with one more hit from the PACs.

Fortunately the evasive maneuvers worked, and with the heavy drone's limited speed he was quickly out of range. As he drew a breath of relief he noted that the Wikstrom had actually suffered some light damage to her hull, possibly due to IRE fire from the turret of the Vulture after the drone had stripped her shields. Orbiting among the astroids until his shields had recharged left him angry and impatient, and with the shields over ninety percent he slid into a sharp corkscrew and approached the drone. He dodged the heavy particle bursts from its cannons and shredded it with a burst from the IREs, then closed on the fleeing freighter.

The Paranid again dumped freight as his shields melted away. Jula hoped the Paranid would abandon ship, but was too angry to suggest it, and assumed the Paranid could think of it for himself. Whether he thought of it or not he didn't do it, and Jula brought his scorched little ship to a frustrated halt as soon as the Vulture exploded into worthless dust.

After some work with the repair laser Jula settled back into the cockpit and sealed the canopy. As the ship's internal pressure mounted he peered through his rebreather at the computer screens, calling up an analysis of the containers spewed by the panicking Paranid. Delaxian wheat, in bulk. He clenched his snout in renewed frustration. Thousands of credits floated in space, and there was nothing he could do to pick them up. Then he noticed another crate, on the very edge of his sensor range.

While Jula had been distracted by the Vulture, a major battle had occured in the sector. He wandered through the debris field, gathering missiles. He was still frustrated, but at least there were valuables he could collect in his tiny cargo bay. Then, with even his peaceful Boron temper still stretched thin by events he was offended by the ultimate insult. A Split courier pilot flew rapidly across his scanners...in an Octopus!

Jula shredded the shields and pounded halfway through the hull with the first burst from his IREs. Then he hit the comlink. Before he could even speak the fierce face of the Split crumpled, and he ejected with some plea for his lost honor. To Jula's astonishment fields formed around the damaged Octopus. Her shield generator had survived the damage. He let the Split move off in his spacesuit, then ejected to claim his prize.

Weary from weilding the repair laser and sick at heart from seeing the mauling the life support system of the Octopus had taken to accomodate the Split, Jula led the captured vessel to the military base. As he was selling off the load of salvaged missiles an officer approached him with the look of a challenge. He looked up through his rebreather with the thousand mile stare of a combat veteran.

"Um, when you were here last..." the officer began, then paused. Jula continued to stare. "Ah, well, there was a misunderstanding about your status. You aren't Boron military..."

"The Boron knows that. The Boron knew that then."

"Ah. Well. We thought that you were...um..."

"I made no such claim. I salvaged missiles. I was here to sell them. Now I have salvaged more missiles. If you do not want them the Boron can sell them elsewhere. I am in the salvage business, as you can see." He waved a tentacle towards the captured Octopus in the next set of docking clamps. "I have to take that home to Boron space, and can easily take these missiles as well."

"That won't be necessary," the officer said stiffly. "As I said, it was a misunderstanding, nothing more. We are happy to have your help."

Jula looked after the retreating Argon with surprise. Facing down an arrogant Argon...perhaps there was something to be said for shedding some of the courtesy Boron life had engrained so deeply in him.

Forced to either wear his rebreather unit, or stay in the cockpit of Wikstrom which wasn't much bigger, Jula could not rest comfortably at the Argon station, but he did get some rest. The long flight to Kingdom End at the slow pace his captured prize would set was daunting enough without some time to relax beforehand. He set out later, somewhat refreshed and in much better spirits. Staying in the same sector to maintain control of the prize would offer him an opportunity to explore the sectors he passed through. He set the autopilot on the prize for the journey through Argon space, and set off with an eye to expanding his database.

As it turned out the Paranid provided opportunities to expand his fleet as well.

Passing through President's End Jula encountered another Paranid trader in a Vulture. Not wanting to be caught by another fighter drone launch Jula opted for fast passes instead of parking in front and eventually stripped the Vulture of its shielding. Unfortunately the encounter took place very close to the huge stargate to Elena's Fortune, and before Jula could start working on the hull a large Argon task force began spilling into the sector. With the Vulture wallowing in their path the Argon ships began swerving out of formation, causing even more chaos as their pilots confronted multiple alarms from their collision detectors. Jula noted that the prize was closing on the next gate of their journey, measured the chances of smearing the Wikstrom over some Argon hull if he tried to race through the swirl of larger ships, and ruefully abandoned the assault.

Continuing onward led to sighting more than a few Split traders operating in Argon space. The Split were consistently flying freighters of their own make, and Jula considered the Caiman freighters and Iguana passenger transports to be too dangerous.

The journey was almost complete, and as the two tiny ships entered the Argon sector of Three Worlds Jula was about to write it off as uneventful. He set off to map out the stations in this final sector while the prize took a straight course to the far gate and Kingdom End. With two scanners illuminating pockets on his sector map there were more ships to see, particularly with the prize in the middle of the main traffic lane, but Jula was still surprised at the timing when not one, not two, but three Paranid tech transports appeared on his screen, at almost the exact same time.

One was flying a Perseus, a Paranid heavy fighter with a rear turret that Jula had no interest in tangling with. The other two were in light fighter craft; one a Pericles Raider of Paranid make and one in a Buzzard. The Paranid seemed to fancy Teladi ships, Jula mused. Neither of the light fighters mounted a rear turret.

Closing first on the Pericles Jula established a position behind the heavier ship and opened fire. With his shields stripped and the hull near disintigrating the pilot abandoned the craft, hoping Jula would not be quick enough in releasing the trigger and would get nothing for his efforts. His hopes were dashed, and Jula claimed the craft by right of salvage. The pilot of the Buzzard chose death over dishonor.

Jula stopped the captured Octopus long enough to patch together the newly taken Paranid ship, then set off with both prizes for the final gate seperating him from Boron territory. The journey had been long, and he looked forward to floating free in the thick methane atmosphere of the shipyard.

Cold hard facts

The Pericles Raider and the Octopus netted a tidy sum. If the Kingdom End shipyard stocked a regular Mako instead of a Vanguard model I could have, and probably would have, bought one. I was a little short for the Vanguard. Kingdom End also only stocks Hauler and Super-freighter XL model Dolphins that I couldn't afford, and the base model Manta was also slightly out of range. So...

I have the Wikstrom, my long suffering Octopus. I picked up a couple missiles of unknown origin along the way and traded them for a trading system extension, CLS 2 software, Nav command and special command software. I keep hoping to get a freighter that I can hire a pilot for and use as a salvage ship.

Credits 429,828
Flight time 6:53

Sometime during the party at the pirate base someone ate the freeze dried rat.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow. Just recognized I left a whole chapter out

Lidya Marval's Turn of Good Fortune

Lidya Marval lived with her cousin, Mak, in his small compartment on the Argon equipment dock in the Three Worlds sector. Her relationship with her cousin was constantly strained. He was older, considered himself wiser, and somehow thought that he was responsible for her. That thought led him, about half the time, to call her a freeloader, and another about half the time it led him to call her a tramp. In the tiny sliver of time that was left he was a great guy. She would never admit it, but when he wasn't around she had to admit that he was more or less right. If he hadn't shared his compartment with her when her ride got blown out from under her she would have had to go planetside, and there was nothing she could do on the station to earn her way. And the tedium of station life had admittedly made her less...discriminating.

While he wanted her to find a job, her cousin was convinced that every time she thought she saw an opportunity it was just because she wanted to fly off with some hot captain, which wasn't always true. So she was totally shocked when the compartment com terminal buzzed and it was Mak, saying she should rush right down to docking pod three because there might well be a job for her. As she trotted down the corridor she wondered if the employer would be older than the stars or uglier than the muzzle of a plasma thrower.

While she waited for the lift to the docking pod she saw three of the bays were occupied; a mercury freighter, one of the new fighter designs, and something so tiny she couldn't even see a bit of the hull sticking out under the docking hood. When she stepped off the lift she could see that all three ships were registered to the same account, with no other pilots listed. Someone with three ships, all to themselves! Then she saw the name on the account she understood Mak thinking it would be okay. Working for a Boron should be safe enough to satisfy his protective needs, there was no chance the Boron would be making advances, and the job would get her off his couch. She just hoped the little squid would give her the job.

She helped her new boss shift some freight around.

A cargo life support extension, still in the box but obviously used, came off the tiny ship that had turned out to be an Octopus and got loaded onto the Mercury. She asked if he wanted it hooked up, and the Boron had paused, legs stirring to keep it off the deck. "No," he said, "the Boron will be getting another ship that it will serve better." Another ship? The squid must be loaded.

Next they hauled a Split model fighter drone, a mark 2 no less, off of the Asp and installed it aboard the Mercury. "That will help keep you safe. The Boron has seen one from the wrong end." She took a closer look at the Octopus and noted the partical scoring along the tiny hull and the well maintained but obviously used IREs. She thought maybe her cousin had guessed wrong. This may not be a typically peaceful Boron she was going to work for. She didn't want to screw up a good deal, but...and then it hit her..."Keep me safe? You're giving me the Mercury?"

"Well, the Boron isn't giving her away, but she needs a pilot."

The Boron was hanging over the cockpit of the Asp, disconnecting a docking computer. She slipped aboard the Mercury, looking around the spacious cabin. She had known she wasn't going to fly the Asp, she was no combat pilot. She had been bracing herself for getting stuffed into the Octopus. She activated the computer, dreading the thought that she would find out something that would make it hard to take such a great job. Bought used, with an open credit transfer drawn on some Boron station account, third hand. Her boss might be mysterious, but the provenance on the Mercury was solid enough. She noted the purchase price, 55,000 credits give or take, the boss was mysterious, but he knew a good deal when he saw one.

He floated into the hatch. She gave a guilty start, but the Boron didn't seem concerned that she had accessed the computer. He held the docking computer in his tentacles. "The Boron will install this in the Wikstrom. There is a mineral scanning unit on the Asp that needs to be removed. You can install it while I am gone. I have some things to do in the Kingdom."

She went to work on the Asp. Her boss fluttered over the cockpit of the Octopus. She couldn't help herself. She activated the computer on the Asp. It was wiped.

She watched the Asp launch out of the docking clamps. The autopilot was set for the shipyard in Kingdom End. Her new boss, in the Octopus oddly named Wikstrom, launched right behind her. She hauled the rest of her stuff onto the Mercury and set to work hooking up the mineral scanner.

What did her boss think he was going to do with the Asp at KE yard? When they saw the wiped computer they weren't going to buy it. They wouldn't even repair it. In fact they would report it. Then what? She was logged in as pilot of the Llewelyn. She supposed she could run the ship on her own and do some trading...if she had any capital to get some freight. The screwdriver slipped and jabbed her finger. Damn.

Not long after, the Wikstrom appeared on the station scanners and locked into the approach system. When it settled into the docking clamps and the canopy opened Lidya supposed the shipyard had just confiscated the Asp. Then she realized the Boron fluttering up out of the cockpit wasn't her boss.

"You are called Lidya Marval. The Boron is called Boso Wa. We will be working together."

"Where's Jula No?" she asked.

"He will be along presently. He is getting some equipment for his new ship, and shields for yours."

Lidya found Boso Wa to be good company, but just as mysterious as her new employer. She gathered that Boso and Jula had worked together before, though she could never quite pin down who they worked for, or when that was exactly.

They worked on the Llewelyn's hull plating and internal systems. Jula No had done good work with a repair laser, but no open space repair could match what could be done with the stable footing of a ship in docking clamps. She worked as a pilot should, as if the ship was her own, which it wasn't, and as if her life would depend on it, which it would. Boso worked equally hard, and she wondered if that was part of the Boron culture as well.

But when a huge Dolphin Hauler settled into the docking clamps and Boso said "Ah, here is a ship for the Boron," she recognized the hard work on her ship had been prepayment that would be collected now, with interest. The Hauler was twice the size of Llewelyn, and bore the same repair laser signature; Jula No's work.

The boss himself came over the comlink from a Mako Vangaurd streaking through the system. He had Boso set the autopilot on the Wikstrom to follow him, gave them a cheerful "The Boron shall return," and disappeared again.

"I wonder why he didn't just send the Dolphin on autopiliot," Lidya mused aloud.

"That Boron does not use the gate network com links for remote control," her mysterious companion replied. "It is a good practice."

"Why?"

"Communication across space is not very private. Communication through the gate network is even less so."

"What's the big secret?" Lidya asked.

Boso activated the registry of the Dolphin as he replied. "There are no secrets, the Boron just believes it is a good practice." Lidya saw that the Dolphin had been legally bought, used, for the astounding price of 38,000 credits...drawn on the same Boron bank as the purchase of the Llewelyn had been. At a glance she was pretty sure the account was the same. The ship had been purchased in Rolk's Drift, rechristened the Bernard Lee; all very above board.

She got the feeling Boso had activated the registry specifically so she could see it; to set her suspicions to rest. Then Boso entered himself as pilot. Obviously that was why he opened the registry.

She was acting crazy, paranoid. Boron are peaceful. Gentle. The good guys. And she had a good ship and a good job. She resolved not to screw it up. She put her head down and got to work, helping Boso bring the Bernard Lee into top notch condition.

They had both ships completely ready and retired to their respective cockpits to rest. Lidya would have been thrown even deeper into her paranoia had she seen Boso installing the odd extension to his ship's computer. The Boron settled in the pilot's chair to test the encryption module.

When Jula returned they quickly installed the shield generators he brought, shifted some equipment around, and they were ready to go.

Cold hard facts

I set out with every intention of wandering down to Argon Prime and buying a Mercury. But I ran into this Split in the Asp in Herron's Nebula and he had the good grace to bail out, leaving five crystals, the docking computer, mineral scanner, and the fighter drone that might have messed up my day instead since the Argon would have frowned on me blowing it up. In fact he bailed so fast that the local law didn't even notice the fight as far as I can tell. I got redirected back towards Kingdom End and there in Three Worlds some guy offers me the Mercury for a great price (70% hull). Then I get to KE thinking I'll trade the Asp for one of their spiffy Mako Vanguards and some Boron is selling one used (77% hull) for about half price...and it comes with a 1 MJ shield and six IREs! Bonanza!

I am convinced that used ship offers come in waves, and I wanted to make the best of this one while it lasted, so I checked every money mission that came in range as I set off looking for shields. Sure enough, at a station in Rolk's Drift I find the DH with 45% hull for 38K. Unbelievable. After that I gritted my teeth and stopped looking though. I have no ability to pass up a good deal if I see it and with the 'unpiloted ships can't be left alone' rule I didn't want to turn my spy story into some sort of sheepdog biography. Besides, the 408K I got for the Asp was only going to go so far.

Assets

Rigg, my Mako Vanguard. Full 10 MJ of shielding, 6 IREs. Fully expanded speed, handling, and cargo bay, and all the conveniences I can think of except for freight scanner, jump drive and transporter device that are still pending.
Wikstrom, my Octopus. Full 2 MJ of shielding, 4 IREs, most of the goodies stripped off but still full speed, handling and cargo bay of course.

Associates

Boso Wa, pilot of the Dolphin Hauler Bernard Lee, which is fully equipped for speed and handling, carries 25 MJ of shielding, and has the standard 8000 unit cargo bay. Boso is a qualified salvage pilot (special commands) and a reliable trader (CLS 2).

Lidya Marval, pilot of the Mercury Llewelyn, which is fully equipped for speed and handling, carries 25 MJ of shielding, and has the standard 3000 unit cargo bay. Lidya is a qualified salvage pilot (special commands) and a reliable trader (CLS 2).

Credits, 61,693
Flight time 10:54
Last edited by Timsup2nothin on Tue, 19. Mar 13, 06:00, edited 1 time in total.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

Timsup2nothin
Posts: 4690
Joined: Thu, 22. Jan 09, 17:49

Post by Timsup2nothin » Mon, 18. Mar 13, 16:34

Caravan of Coercion

The three pilots met on the lift deck between their ships. Jula No gave the freighter pilots their flight plan; dock at the trading stations in Power Circle, Herron's Nebula, Argon Prime, then The Wall. "This Boron will provide cover, seek any profitable trades, and look for salvage opportunities," he added. "The Rigg will depart first, to ensure there is no danger." He fluttered into the cockpit of his Mako Vanguard and launched.

"No danger?" Lidya asked Boso. "This is Three Worlds, not exactly the heart of the Xenon sectors, or pirate alley. Is he always so cautious?"

"There are others the Boron considers enemies."

Lidya wasn't sure if 'the Boron' meant Jula No, or Boso, or the Boron Kingdom. Before she could ask a low alarm sounded through the station, followed by a computerized voice announcement; "combat in the sector, all pilots stand-by, combat in the sector."

"If it is Xenon, or Kha'ak, they will likely target the equipment dock. We should stand by in the ships," Boso said, and swam towards the Bernard Lee. Lidya thought the likelihood of Xenon or Kha'ak appearing in Three Worlds two minutes after her boss left the dock was somewhere around zero, and that Boso was probably fleeing the conversation. But standing by in the ships was the technically correct thing to do so she couldn't argue.

Some time later the station anouncing circuit sounded through her com link; "combat has ended, the sector is clear, combat has ended, the sector is clear." Almost immediately she saw the docking clamps slide free of the huge Dolphin Hauler and Boso Wa turned the Bernard Lee gracefully into the departure pattern.

Then her com link went active again. "Llewelyn, delay your departure," Jula said as he appeared on her screen. "I need some help Lidya."

"Acknowledged," she replied, just in time as the screen went dark. He counts on his orders being followed and isn't much for conversation she mused. And he says 'I' more than any Boron she had ever met. She shrugged and went out into the docking hub to wait.

She watched a Teladi freighter glide into the clamps. Obviously the ship was on autopilot, as her cockpit canopy was blown. The Vulture had no shields, and some scorching along her hull, but she was in fairly good shape. Apparently her pilot had bailed early. When the ownership registry appeared on the dock monitors she shook her head; a numbered account drawing on a Boron bank. This time she was sure. It was the third time she had seen the account number.

Jula's Mako slid into the adjacent bay and the clamps locked on. He opened his canopy and emerged from the cockpit. "Lidya, we need a pilot," he said in place of any greeting. "Who can you recommend? We are in a hurry. The Bernard Lee is slow so Boso Wa has gone ahead, but I do not want him getting too far ahead."

Urgency displaced questions, and Jula made a few suggestions from among the station personnel that she knew. She was surprised when Jula settled on Endy Jerigan even though she told him that Endy's career involved a lot of bartering in the docks and precious little flying. She had only introduced Endy because she liked him...though less than he liked her. Jula instructed the new pilot, "there is a spare one meg generator aboard the Rigg. Get it installed, quickly, and get your canopy buttoned up. Any other repairs she needs are minor and can be put off. We need to get going. There is freight aboard, have the dock systems transfer it to the Llewelyn." He turned to Lidya, "just Argnu beef, but the Boron will find you someplace to sell it."

Endy had rushed off to his duties. Lidya had even more questions now than she had before. She started with "Why Endy? He's a good guy and all, but there are better pilots..."

"We do not need him to do much flying. And he would fly through a Xenon sector for you. Loyalty is precious." He saw Endy emerge from the Mako with the shield generator and his many legs swirled, speeding him towards his ship. "The Boron must get underway in case Boso Wa encounters trouble," he called over what passed for a shoulder, and then he was gone. Loyalty is precious, but shouldn't the boss be more interested in loyalty to him than in Endy's loyalty to her...which probably came more from his glands than his brain anyway? She shook her head and went to help with the canopy repairs.

The Vulture had a flight plan laid in, direct to a distillery in Herron's Nebula. Lidya said good-by to Endy. She put the Llewelyn into space and sighed happily. However strange this gig was, she had a ship under her again. Anything else would just have to work itself out.

Endy reached his destination. Jula directed Lidya to a cahoona bakery in Herron's Nebula, where they paid a low price for the beef but at least got it off her hands. There were way too many cattle ranches in this region for the demand, and pilots had been known to just eject beef in frustration when they couldn't find a buyer.

Jula tended to give orders right before he threw the Rigg into a gate; usually a contingency flight plan that he interrupted in the next sector. She got used to it. No sooner had she plotted her course for the trading station at Argon Prime than he popped back through the gate and directed her to one of the mines instead, then he disappeared again. The gate network could have carried his orders. She wondered if he was even more of a paranoid than she was, or if she wasn't paranoid at all and he really was up to something. By the time she got docked at the mine he was back in the sector, going full out towards the north. He authorized the purchase in passing, told her to dock at a quantum tube fab in Argon Prime, and sped on out of com range.

She was just docking at the tube fab when Jula came tearing back into Argon Prime. He authorized a sale, but the tube fab couldn't take the full cargo. They did pay a good price. Lidya's eyes fairly popped when she saw a surcharge of almost 170,000 credits attached to the bill of lading. The ore was less than 30,000 credits, how could there be a surcharge bringing the payment to nearly 200,000?

The station's buying agent, a Boron, noticed her expression. "Special handling charge," the Boron said blandly, then swirled away. Special handling? There was nothing special about the load of ore, and even though she was not lacking in self-confidence Lidya knew there wasn't 170,000 credits worth of special about her either. Whatever special handling had been done she was pretty sure Jula had done it...probably somewhere in Power Circle.

She laid in the new flight plan, straight to the trading station in The Wall. Boso Wa was already there, and she hoped to have a minute to ask him some questions about Jula No.

Before she received clearance to leave the docks the station announcing system voice blared through the com link; 'combat in the sector, all pilots please stand by, combat in the sector'. She slapped her hand down on the edge of her control panel. Combat in the sector? This was Argon Prime. Who in their right mind picks a fight in Argon Prime? She started cycling through her exterior views, knowing what she was going to see, and knowing that she wasn't going to like it.

Sure enough, there it was. A Paranid Demeter freighter, partical accelerator cannon popping away from the rear turret, with Jula No's Mako in a tight sliding turn so close that she figured he could see the three eyes of the Paranid gunner in the turret. The Mako straightened out and screamed alongside, then continued straight out along the freighter's path. The Paranid pilot gave the manuevering thrusters all they had, but the Mako hit about a click and a half out front, spun in place braking hard, and opened up with her six IREs.

The little ship fairly leaped at the Demeter as her boost module dumped plasma into her engines. Lidya had a flash of memory, image of the eight restaraint cuffs in the cockpit of the Mako. She could imagine Jula No with one shorter leg clasped in each cuff, his two longer tentacles gripping the control sticks. It must be like being stretched on the rack, a fate she thought her boss just might deserve.

She still felt a burst of concern for him as two drones popped free of the Demeter's cargo bay and braketed the Mako with their cannons. Mark 2 drones. The Mako could outrun them, but just barely. She gasped as the partical streams converged, shredded the Mako's shields, and scorched her hull. So much for outrunning them. That damage would slow her down more than enough.

Jula No bobbed and weaved, putting distance between himself and the freighter's turret and dodging as much fire from the pursuing drones as he could. His shields were charging almost fast enough. Or he was dodging almost well enough. However you like it, the key word was almost. At three clicks he hoped he had enough distance, and that he had enough ship left. He spun the Mako rapidly up and to starboard, swinging head on at the nearest drone. PAC fire lit up his viewscreen, but his IREs demolished the unshielded drone. The second sped by raking his hull, but he was already turning and spun in behind it. The IREs torched it as well before it got turned around.

The Demeter disappeared into the swirling unreality of the south gate, making the jump to Home of Light. The Mako coasted to a halt. The station announcement came through the com; 'combat has ceased, the sector is clear, combat has ceased' followed promptly by the synthesized voice of docking control; 'Llewelyn you are cleared for undocking, clamp release on your mark.' She took one last look at the Mako and saw the small form of a Boron spacesuit emerge from the cockpit. Then she shifted to forward screens and signaled the release to the clamps.

She was still in the departure channel when the com link went active. She caught no hitch in the voice, not the slightest sign that he was in a spacesuit patching the scraps of his ship back together. "Llewelyn, Rigg, there is a salvageable container north of your position. Please pick that up. It should just fit your cargo bay."

"Roger that Rigg, the crate is marked." She set course for the container. 587 cahoonas. With the seventy-seven units of ore she was stuck with it would fit with about twenty-five units of cargo space to spare. Which he apparently figured out while he was floating along in his space suit. The squid weighed freight like a Teladi and was meaner than a Xenon. What in space had she gotten herself into?

She had the sector map open to track the crate, and so she could see when Jula's suit beacon merged back into his ship. The repairs had taken a long time for such a little ship. There couldn't have been much left of her when he dusted those drones. Apparently unfazed Jula sped off through the gate to The Wall. He popped back through just moments later, in time to catch her report as the cahoona container snugged into the bay

"Good work," he replied. "Dock back at the tube fab." As fast as she acknowledged he cut the com link.

When she reported docking he approved the sale of the cahoonas and told her to tell Nila Bu, the station purchaser, that the Bernard Lee was inbound with a load of e-cells. "Every fab in the sector is low on energy," he continued. "Set a flight plan for power plant alpha in The Wall."

"Waypoint set, course locked." As she engaged the system she entered the override code for 'hostiles en route' and cut the com link. Ship status flashed 'idle' on her panel, and she knew it would on Jula's monitor channel as well. She turned the com link volume all the way down. She was talking to Boso Wa before she went anywhere else.

The big Dolphin Hauler slid into the clamps. Boso Wa fluttered into the docking pod, and Lidya watched as Nila Bu completed the transaction on the e-cells.

"The Boron has been trying to reach you on the coms," he said as he approached.

"I was in the hold tracing data runs," she lied smoothly. "Seems to be a malfunction in the threat detection commodity logistics interface."

"Ah. That is why your status shows idle. Jula came tearing into The Wall bellowing about hostiles. I wondered what that was about."

Lidya felt a twinge of guilt. It had not occurred to her that her 'hostiles en route' would have to have been in the sector Boso was flying through. Good to know they had a boss who would rush to their aid. As her last job ended in an expanding cloud of gas and metal fragments her boss didn't even bother to jump into the sector to give her a ride. Then he filed a complaint with the pilot's guild because she had abandoned ship forty-two seconds before it exploded.

"I think I found the problem. Could you come in here and give me a hand?...er...?"

"The Boron would be glad to assist you."

She shut the hatch so no one could overhear. "Look, I didn't know I was signing on with a pirate. Did you?"

"A Pirate? The Boron does not think you signed on with a pirate."

"What about that Vulture he turned up with? You think someone just gave it to him because he's a friendly little Boron?"

"Abandoned by a Paranid in Argon space and claimed by right of salvage. If you had done that your government would call it patriotism."

"Jula is no Argon patriot."

"So your government might call him a mercenary. They would not call him a pirate."

"What about those cahoonas I just salvaged? They were en route to an Argon station. Even though they were on a Paranid hauler some people would call that piracy, even some people in the Argon government."

"You salvaged the cahoonas. You sold the cahoonas. Are you sure it is Jula they would call a pirate?"

"I'm just the pilot, Jula owns the ship, he gives the orders."

"Does he give the orders? Did he approve the sale through a gate link, which would have recorded it? No, he did not. Your computer may show that he ordered it, his may show otherwise. Since his could be altered by him, and yours could be altered by you, neither is evidence. Which brings us back to the question. Who mde the transaction? You did."

"The credits from the sale are in his account. He owns the ship. I wouldn't be much of a pirate if I was giving away the credits."

"You only gave away half of the credits. You and I own the ship."

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head, and her mouth opened and closed repeatedly with no sound coming out.

"Very good impression of a Split. The Boron recommends you do not do that around Jula No. He does not like the Split."

"We...you and me...we own the ship..."

"A company owns the ship. As yet the company has no name, just an account at the Kingdom bank. The company has two partners. The bank would not give us an account if the company were not majority owned by Boron, so I hold fifty-one percent. The company would not be allowed to build in Argon space if less than half of the full partners were Argon. One, you, out of two, us. I believe Jula has already hired a station transport, but we need to make a few runs of e-cells before the station can be paid for."

"He's buying a station?"

"No. WE are buying a station. To be blunt, Jula No does not exist. He never has."

Unaware of the dissent among his associates, Jula No docked at the shipyard to wait for the arrival of the hired Mammoth.

Cold hard facts

The 'special handling charge' on the ore was actually payment for a simple transport personnel mission from Nila Bu at the tube fab. Borons with missions were pretty scarce. Borons with missions that I could do and still manage any kind of trading by MORTs under the 'give orders only in sector' rule were just about non-existent.

I shot up a couple Split couriers and had to calm down the cops, so I avoided Split frighters. Destroying a bunch of Split fighter drones would be adverse to my Argon rep...which is slowly progressing on the backs of Paranid fighter drones. And yes the two mark 2s had me under 20% hull. I have got to get a freight scanner before someone pops out a half dozen of those and DiD stands for 'DiD is Done'.

Assets

Rigg, my Mako Vanguard. Full 10 MJ of shielding, 6 IREs. Fully expanded speed, handling, and cargo bay, and all the conveniences I can think of except for freight scanner, jump drive and transporter device that are still pending...and best buy/best sell which I had forgotten about before.
Wikstrom, my Octopus. Full 2 MJ of shielding, 4 IREs, most of the goodies stripped off but still full speed, handling and cargo bay of course...which is driving me slowly insane because of the 'ship with no pilot left out of sector is abandoned' rule. I can't just have it follow me or it will undoubtedly end up splattered on a gate somewhere, but getting it moved from sector to sector more or less coincident with me is a monster pain in the butt. I'm rushing the station build mostly just to get a parking space.

Associates

Boso Wa, pilot of the Dolphin Hauler Bernard Lee, which is fully equipped for speed and handling, carries 25 MJ of shielding, and has the standard 8000 unit cargo bay. Boso is a qualified salvage pilot (special commands) and a reliable trader (CLS 2).

Lidya Marval, pilot of the Mercury Llewelyn, which is fully equipped for speed and handling, carries 25 MJ of shielding, and has the standard 3000 unit cargo bay. Lidya is a qualified salvage pilot (special commands) and a reliable trader (CLS 2).

Endy Jerigan, manager of the nameless Vulture parked at SF distillery alpha in Herron's Nebula. It's a bare hulk with 88% hull.

Credits, 260,473
Flight time 13:31
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

Post Reply

Return to “Creative Universe”