Betrayal is a Double-Edged Sword - TC 3.2 DiD

[Poseidon]

I am jealous of the Kha'ak M3 cap. I am not jealous of the sandwich between angry bogeys. Hopefully you can fight your way through Interworlds, and jump in at the gate behind the Paranid flight or something.

I love going through a gate from the wrong side... forward, forward forward, backwards. That's gotta wreck your equilibrium.

Good read, as always. Thanks for the hard work!

[Song Of Obsidian]

Kha'ak M3 cap? Nice wish! Just a slow Teladi Kea. Given all the damage I took, I'll probably end up selling it just to do repairs. Since I took it from the Paranid though, my rules only allow me to sell it at an Argon shipyard, which means Omicron. I was heading that way anyway.

I don't mind playing around when it comes to going through gates, but my poor Split isn't an experienced pilot. Just playing the part


Chapter 8 - The Long Haul(continued)


Not sure how, but I didn't enter Interworlds sideways. I was facing the way I was supposed to. Only way I could rationalize it is the assumption that gates are somehow sentient. Maybe the gates themselves are the ancient race everyone thinks created the gates. Nothing else makes sense.

Split should never be shaken. Only stirred to violence.

I wasn't blown up immediately, which I took as a good sign. No real threats nearby, so I punched the throttle to get some distance from the gate, then took a good accounting of my surroundings. All around was a fairly extensive asteroid field. Ahead on the left I saw an Argon equipment dock, and my trade software told me it offered the coveted Trading System Extension upgrade. The thought of purchasing it seemed unduly optimistic, given how many enemies I had at my back. Which reminded me that I really should check the state of my ship.

It was damaged. That had been unavoidable. I would check to see if I could do any repairs myself, but I didn't hold out much hope. The repairs for an M3+ promised to be expensive too. But of more urgent concern was the fact that my maximum speed had dropped to 132 m/s. It wasn't much of a difference, but it felt positively glacial with the danger behind me.

I did go to the equipment dock and buy the upgrade. By the time I undocked, the Heavy Nemesis group was starting to filter into the system. I checked the Nemesis itself and saw it wasn't fully upgraded; its max speed was only 114.3, with a potential max of 124.5. I could outrun it, for now, and just hope that its fighter escort actually escorted it instead of chasing me.

South was really the only direction to go, though it felt like I was going west for some reason. I angled somewhat off the path; I needed to hide, but if I veered off too sharply they might catch up. Going through the gate to the south was out of the question. That was Paranid space.

I had just passed what I judged to be around the middle of the sector when I saw something on my scanners and almost shouted in exultation. A medium shield production complex! I brought up its trade list so I could judge how much of my money I'd be burning, and all my hopes plummeted again. Its stock of shields, and energy, were at zero.

Just not my day.

I checked the distance to the Nemesis group and lost myself in the asteroids. They continued south without deviation, though I didn't breathe any easier until they started passing through the gate to Sacred Relic. Not sure why the bombers used jumpdrives instead of just flying through, but who understands the three-eyes anyway?

I would probably end up using my own jumpdrive to get back to the north when I was more certain the area would be clear of hostiles, but for the moment I decided to look over the ship while I was in a somewhat secluded place. The poor Medusa wasn't as pretty as she's supposed to be, but it didn't look like it would fall apart on its own.

It was about that time that my suit alerted me to an approaching hostile.

I got back into the ship before even checking to see what the threat was. I was a little miffed when I saw it though. It was the fighter I had shot at and then let go. Sure, I fired first, but I'd shown mercy. He couldn't just let it go?

I'm not sure when I decided to fight him, but I started weaving toward him through the asteroids. His hull was already down to 63%, which might even us up considering my pitiful shielding. But I didn't intend to play fair anyway.

Once the gap between us closed we began circling one particular asteroid. He went in a bit of a wide turn away, presumably to dive in on me, but I didn't give him the chance to. I flew right over the surface of the asteroid and poured PBE rounds into his underside. By the time he turned toward me, it was too late for him.

He didn't leave anything for me to salvage. Oh well. I stopped the fighter and jumped back into Wastelands at the east gate. My Kea was already there, so I could see that there weren't any hostiles. I probably should have ordered it to dock somewhere when I got into trouble, but it all worked out, this time.

I aimed for the west gate and the Kea obediently swung around to follow me.

[Song Of Obsidian]

Chapter 9 - The Longer Haul


The path from Wastelands to Omicron Lyrae was a long one, but the only excitement was a minor skirmish between Argon and pirate forces in Treasure Chest. I skirted around it, since I had no interest in fighting either of them. They would both be potential allies later.

Upon entering Omicron I was accosted by an Argon controller of some sort. He wanted me to assist in guarding a transport full of Terran diplomats. I had other concerns though, such as my lack of shielding, revenge to plot, and the bounty on my head. I ignored him.

Nothing in the sector interested me. Visibility was low and with 5 MJ of shields I had no room for error. Plus there were a few Split and Paranid mercenaries flying around in fighters equal to my own. I ordered my Kea, which was following me but still back in Black Hole Sun, to dock at the shipyard and went straight through to Nyana's Hideout, where temptation reared its ugly head again.

I saw a Paranid High Tech Transporter. A familiar sight, but this one was flying a fighter, which tended not to launch fighter drones for defense. And this one was a Medusa. I just couldn't resist.

I fell in behind him and lit into him. "Again you trouble me!" I heard and couldn't help but laugh. The Kea's pilot again? Must be. And just as before, he punched out and left me with a new M3+ fighter. I took its ten thunderbolt missiles and sent the fighter to Omicron's equipment dock before continuing west.

Scale Plate Green was a mess. There was a Xenon fleet to the south and a flight of pirates attacking a flower farm. Not a place I wanted to linger. I went north to PTNI Headquarters, then east to a sector I knew to be home to pirates sanctioned by the Teladi. I'd hoped someone at the pirate base might be able to hack the nearby Plasma Burst Generator forge for me, but no such luck. Someone did need passage to Profit Center Alpha and was paying well, so I took the fare and jumped back to PTNI.

Profit Center Alpha will probably be one of my favorite places until the day I die. I arrived and looked at the long flight to the ore mine my passenger wanted to be delivered to, but more importantly, there was another medium shield factory. And this one had shields. I wasn't as overjoyed as I'd been in Interworlds, but I did feel flushed with pleasure and relief.

I bought two before taking my impatient passenger on to his destination. Now that my shield power was eleven times what I'd been making do with, I could relax just a little. Not that I didn't have to pay attention, but at least I didn't have to jump at shadows. And I could look a little more toward the long term.

I needed to stop wandering. Survivability in the short term had been urgent, but now I needed to set some goals. That included choosing where I would be working, and where I would work depended on proximity to allies. I could trust the Argon to an extent, and they had good technology for upgrading any ships I captured. The Boron I knew I could work with or around. The Teladi might betray me, but I should at least be cordial with them. They had some important ship upgrades too, and they worked closely with some pirate factions. And, of course, I needed the pirates on my side. I needed to be able to fight the Split and Paranid without having pirates gunning for me, and the pirates were my best bet for finding and training warriors to steal some capital ships. And I wanted to steal a lot of them.

It wouldn't be the only place I would work, because mobility was extremely important for my survival, but I'd be spending a lot of time in and around the Pirate Highway. It was perfect. I could acquire ships and equipment there. The Argon were at both ends of it. The Teladi had a large presence north of it, and the Boron were closeby at both ends as well. And with some luck I'd maybe be able to work with the pirates themselves...at a distance. I didn't want to associate with them. I just wanted to use them.

It would be a start.

I had to get there though, and no matter what I did, that would not be easy. North of me was Split space. All other paths but one went through long stretches of Split or Paranid territory. The only option I had was almost as risky: following the Teladi cluster south and then west, which meant passing through the Xenon sector that bisected it.

I was not excited by this prospect, but I jumped back to Scale Plate Green's east gate to see if the way was barred. I could always take a few more jobs for spare cash and maybe another shield or two, since my Medusa could hold four 25's. But I'd rather get started on something more meaningful.

The Xenon fleet was missing, but the pirates were still on that flower farm. Its shields were down, and the structure was only at 44% integrity. It wouldn't last long.

"Teladi call friendly fighter! Please assisssst in saving profitss!"

Oh really now. I flew due west, which brought me no closer to the station or to the south gate I needed to fly through, and evaluated the situation. I could probably pick off the pirates, if I chose to. Only one was a heavy fighter, a Nova. The rest were all scout ships. But I didn't want to fight pirates. I needed them. But I would need the Teladi too...

"Split to Teladi. Cannot assist against your enemy. Do have life support in cargo if you wish to evacuate."

Silence answered me. I imagined the survivors were discussing it, but I had a fair guess as to their answer. I turned north and headed for the farm. It would hold together for a few more minutes, at least. I wasn't worried about docking.

"Take uss from thISSss place," a different and more subdued voice finally replied. They wouldn't talk about payment now. If I didn't force the issue at some point, they probably never would. But I would deal with that later. I did understand at least a little about diplomacy.

I docked and the employees wasted no time in boarding. I had to leave a few energy cells at the station to fit them all, but I had enough to get clear of the sector. The looks on their faces lanced right through me; they looked as I had felt when I'd had to flee, though I knew the circumstances to be completely different. I couldn't relate entirely, but enough for it to hurt to see it. I told them I was planning to go south and they said any station in Eighteen Billion would be suitable for them. That was the military sector just past the Xenon, so it suited me fine.

I hadn't explored the area yet, which meant I would be trying another dive out of sensor range once we were in Xenon space. One of the Teladi proved most helpful though and made it unnecessary. He provided my computer with some navigation information, enough for me to jump straight to the west gate of the Xenon sector. I turned around immediately, watching the trio of Qs 15 kilometers off with a wary eye, and went back through the gate into Eighteen Billion.

I left the evicted Teladi on a flower farm much like the one they had just lost; I could afford to pity them a little. The one who gave me the nav information also gave me some money, much to my surprise. Mercy paid off this time. Given my own recent circumstances, I just hadn't had it in me to ask for payment during the flight.

So with a somewhat lighter heart and fatter purse I bid them farewell and flew into Ianamus Zura.


Assets:

Medusa Prototype
(2) 25 MJ Shields
(1) 5 MJ Shield
(6) Pulsed Beam Emitter
(2) Particle Accelerator Cannon


Kea
Caiman Super Freighter XL
Medusa

Credits: 150,586

[Poseidon]

Re: M3 Kha'ak ship... I must be cross-pollinating my fanfiction. Sorry for that. I blame all the beers that day.

No shortage of violence in your game. It seems everyone is trying to kill someone. Nice spin on the SPG sector missions.

[Song Of Obsidian]

Oh yes, lots of violence. I imagine there might be some self-violence when he learns there's a medium shield factory right there in Menelaus' Oasis and he didn't have to cross half the galaxy technologically naked. Playing an honest role instead of power-gaming can be good for a laugh, when it doesn't get you killed. And even sometimes when it does.

Chapter 10 - The Longest Haul

Ianamus Zura had a shipyard, so I checked on the progress of my Kea. It had docked in Omicron Lyrae. I was more worried about selling a Teladi-built fighter, but maybe I had a few days before suspicions would start making things harder on me. The shipyard gave me a good price for it, which I turned around and spent a fair chunk of on repairs for the Medusa Prototype. That just about wiped me out, so I took a transport job that would actually accomplish two goals at once, since the destination was a pirate base in Acquisition Repository. I needed to know where to find the pirates when I needed them.

It turned out that the pirate base was over 90 km from anything, which is a long trip at 149 m/s. Thankfully my passenger's timeframe was among the more forgiving I'd seen, but I ran into trouble around 60 km into the flight. It seemed the Paranid hadn't given up on my head yet, and my shadow had brought more friends this time.

I didn't notice them at first. They didn't stick together, which was a boon for me, so the Pegasus Raider gave me plenty of warning when he attacked alone. I took him out pretty quick and continued toward the pirate base instead of turning around to fight. The turret proved sufficient to handle the next three, once I actually gave it automated commands. But the last two fighters were packing something a bit stronger than IREs, since they were M4 Pericles interceptors. I apologized to my unfortunate passenger and swung about to take them head-on when they were 3 km from me.

Both had a pair Fragmentation Bomb Launchers, which were easy enough to dodge but didn't give me much of a chance to return fire with the short-ranged weapons I had. I let the first one go by and turned with the second one, which gave me a clear window of opportunity to fire away unopposed. After that finishing off the last Pericles was a breeze, but a few minutes later I was attacked again by a new wave of scouts. I was just about sick of these bounty hunters.

They used the same tactics as the last bunch, so they died the same way. I considered leaving the last one damaged and trying to interrogate him, but he was foolish enough to launch a missile at me while I was firing at him. He didn't survive the explosion, and I was near enough to the pirate base to get my unhappy passenger to safety.

While I was there, I paid for a system hack on a PBG forge I was told I could find in LooManckStrat's Legacy. I couldn't afford the weapons yet, but at least now I had access.

I was attacked again as soon as I took off. The scouts were clustered, making me wish for even just one PBG. I had help from the base's lasertowers though, so it wasn't terrible. Still wish I knew how they got to me so fast. A Pegasus can't carry a jumpdrive. Maybe an experimental single-use version?

In any case, I did manage to leave one of the interceptors damaged, but he wouldn't talk. At all. I wondered if they didn't have communications gear. That would explain why they didn't fight together. I left him alive and jumped back to Ianamus Zura, then flew straight for Great Trench and Boron territory, with only a slight detour at Ceo's Doubt for more energy cells.

My goal was to get to Argon space, but I wanted to at least visit all the Boron sectors so I could jump to them at will. I also attacked a few Split freighters, now that I had enough shielding to ward off some drones. Mostly it was fruitless, but one of them was kind enough to drop some cargo in the hopes that I'd let him go. I encouraged him to drop more and he obliged. The cargo included a few crates of Cyclone missiles and an ion disruptor. I took my loot to the equipment dock and sold off all of it, even the ion disruptor, then jumped back to Profit Center Alpha and bought two more shields to max my capacity.

I went to PTNI to sell my 5 MJ shield as much for the cargo space as the credits, then made a jump for the south gate of Ceo's Doubt and ducked into the pirate sector of LooManckStrat's Legacy. I wasn't sure how much the PBGs would cost, but selling the ion disruptor should have given me enough for at least one, or so I hoped.

Getting to it proved less than fun, though. LooManckStrat's Legacy is a very dark asteroid field. The almost complete lack of lighting not only makes the asteroids sometimes invisible, but it makes it impossible to see one of the sector's other joys: mines. I hit one and lost a third of my shields, so I stopped to let them regenerate. I had other things to look forward to as well; the PBG forge was one of four stations - the others being an Anarchy Port, a Rehabilitation Facility, and an Incindiery Bomb Launcher forge - clustered together, all defended by six lasertowers and a medium orbital weapons platform.

The asteroids I could see gave me sufficient cover to avoid the orbital for most of the flight, but it started launching banshee missiles at me, which brought back some unpleasant memories. Most of them detonated on asteroids and my turret handled the rest.

I was able to buy not one, but three plasma burst generators. I installed all three and left one of the PBEs in the cargo hold. Feeling sufficiently dangerous now, I jumped back to Great Trench and continued my tour of Boron space.

My luck with the two Caimans, the Kea, and the Medusa had spoiled me; no one would jump out and leave me their ships now. I destroyed three Mambas trying. I was just about out of credits and would have sold a ship if I could claim one. Then I remembered the Caiman I did still have. I wasn't about to sell it, but it still had those massom powders. I didn't have a trading system extension when I sent it to the drone factory, but I did now. So I sold them and used the proceeds to buy the freighter some equipment: a jumpdrive, some energy cells, and a special command software package. Now I could use it to collect goods for me, as long as no one shot at it. It was unshielded.

I reached Lucky Planets and hoped it would live up to its name. I saw a Split weapons dealer with a total of 30 MJ shielding and decided to give it a try.

I approached from the front, since it had only a rear turret armament, and used the PBEs so I could control how much damage he took. When the hull dropped to 70% or so he panicked. Or so I thought. "Split never yield, but offers cargo!" At last.

He ejected some freight, and over a dozen objects turned red. Then the fighter drones converged on me in unison.

Oh, aren't you a funny one.

[Poseidon]

There are a lot of drones in your world.

I've never had good luck with ship caps using PBG; just too much persistent damage. Nice for clearing fighters though. :-p

[Song Of Obsidian]

It's almost enough to have me looking for a better place to live.

Any tips as far as weapon choices go? I normally don't play a heavy cap game like I'll be doing this time.

[Poseidon]

I'm no expert, so i'll spout some theory.

From what I understand, eject script runs when shields are down and hull is between 20 and 80%. Results are random; each hit while these conditions are met triggers the script. I've also heard that the time it takes for the shields to go down impacts the result; faster is better.

The math says anything with a high rate of fire and a low base hull damage makes for an excellent ship cap weapon. Destruction of internal systems can be good or bad; good for reduced morale and more likely pilot eject, but bad in case you wanted to keep that jump drive.

So, Pulsed Beam Emitter is fairly ideal. 1153 shots per minute, huge shield damage, almost no hull damage.

Phased Repeater Gun is the cheap and available little brother to the PBE. Same hull damage, half the shield damage, half the fire rate. Still good for caps, and better range than PBE.

Particle Accelerator Cannons would be good if they weren't so slow; they have the same stats at the PRG, but half the fire rate, and a significantly slower projectile speed.

Mass Driver is nice and fast, but doesn't do anything to shields, so it needs a complimentary weapon. An Ion Disruptor could be that compliment; great shield damage, almost no hull damage, systems destruction and a slowing effect, and a similar range as the Mass Driver. But now you have to worry about Ammo and Friendly Fire from lightning bolt hopping. Seems like a lot of work given your other options.

Then there's whatever ships you'll have available given your affiliations. PBE is the best, but it's a Split exclusive weapon. PRG seems to be the most available and most usable compromise, but the Mamba can't use it.

It really sounds like a PAC/Mass Driver hybrid is your best bet with the Mamba until you can pick up some PBEs, and then you can go with a PBE/PBG loadout for capping and killing.

Or, find a different ship.

[Song Of Obsidian]

Ah. Well, I'm still in the Medusa with mostly PBE's. You start with 6 on the Unholy Traitor start. The PBGs are for saving my ass rather than capturing ships. But, sometimes PBE/PBG is just a bad combination. Need a third weapon in the mix somehow. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet...part of it depends on what sorts of equipment I steal on the highway. Which I'll come to here shortly.

[Poseidon]

Well, given what the Mamba can load, maybe swap 2 of the PBE for HEPT or EBC? They're the only other grown-up weapons the Mamba can equip.

Sounds like you need an M6.

[Kirlack]

Ah. Well, I'm still in the Medusa with mostly PBE's. You start with 6 on the Unholy Traitor start. The PBGs are for saving my ass rather than capturing ships. But, sometimes PBE/PBG is just a bad combination. Need a third weapon in the mix somehow. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet...part of it depends on what sorts of equipment I steal on the highway. Which I'll come to here shortly.

EBCs are a good partner to PBEs. They're ammo based, so you can keep your banks charged for PBE bursts. And there's forges both for the guns and the ammo in Profit Centre Alpha

[Song Of Obsidian]

Decisions, decisions...

Chapter 11 - Bright Beginnings


I might have had trouble if the drones had spread out a bit. Unfortunately the freighter melted about as quickly as the drones. A couple Boron police fighters flew by to investigate, or so I assume. I wagged my wings in salute and they mimicked the gesture before flying off again. Even so-called lovers of peace have a long memory.

I left Unlucky Planets without passing through to Shores of Infinity. I was just a bit disheartened and decided to go toward Argon space. Or, more precisely, through Argon space to my chosen hunting grounds.

I jumped my freighter up to Light of Heart once I reached it and sent it to the equipment dock. I could have taken some jobs, but I was eager to get started on something a bit more substantial, in regards to my plans for the near future. I would need some ships if I wanted to accomplish anything, and acquiring ships without buying them is unreliable at best. I had to start now.

Hatikvah's Faith had four gates, and almost every race was clustered around it; Argon to the east, Paranid to the south, Split to the north with the Teladi just one sector away, and more lawless space to the west. The sector itself was dominated by dense asteroid field in the middle, though there was a diamond of open space with the gates as the points. Traders and military patrols passed through it continually. A fast pirate's paradise, this place.

The Medusa isn't a very fast ship though, so I had to pick my targets carefully. Catching them was slow work, and escaping danger was harder. Even so, the best place for me was in the thick of it, right in the middle of all those rocks dangling in space. If the worst should happen I could use the asteroids for cover while my jumpdrive charged up. In the open I had no such luxury, so I flew for the intersection between the four gates and started prioritizing targets.

I ruled out all TM-class ships straight off. I wanted targets that wouldn't fight back much to start off with. I didn't see any personnel transports, but those would take precedence if I found any. Weapons transports after that, and fighters too, if I saw any I might like to use. The Medusa was pretty distinctive, and I would need to start trying to blend in eventually. In fact, I wanted to create at least two other personas for myself, which would mean playing musical spacecraft a lot.

An unescorted Paranid in a Caiman was my first target. I remembered to scan it and saw it was carrying over 1700 Firefly missiles, which would do wonders for my bank account. I used the PBEs to chew through his shields and crease his hull a bit, and he started dumping cargo to placate me. I let him go.

I brought in my freighter to pick up the goods while I went hunting. I tried to get a Perseus pilot to leave me his ship but he was rude and made me vaporize him. A Mamba dropped some energy cells for me. It was about that time I noticed my freighter flying in circles instead of picking up the Fireflies. Maybe it was a glitch, or maybe it was trying to impress me. Either way, I moved on to Nopileos' Memorial and left it to its fun.

I hit the jackpot not once, but twice, in the next sector. The first was a freighter that dropped a nice stash of 25 MJ and 1 GJ shields. The second was my first new ship acquisition, an Eclipse M3+. Not sure if I'll ever use it, but I sent it to Light of Heart's equipment dock and brought my freighter, which had started behaving and doing as it was told when I left it, to collect the shields. I went back through the nearer gate to Hatikvah's Faith for advanced warning lest a battle group stumble onto my salvage operation, but no one accosted me.

It had already been a long day, so I decided to end on this high note and sent the freighter back to Light of Heart. I, on the other hand, had a dilemma. Now that I was engaging in violent pastimes as a fugitive already on the run, where could I sleep safely?


Assets:

Medusa Prototype
(4) 25 MJ Shields
(6) Pulsed Beam Emitter
(2) Particle Accelerator Cannon


Caiman Super Freighter XL
(3) 1 GJ Shields
(12) 25 MJ Shields
(1746) Firefly Missiles

Medusa
Eclipse

Credits: 65,781

[Song Of Obsidian]

Chapter 12 - Lessons in Relativity


With as much as I'd been moving, I gave myself even odds of surviving a night at the trading station in Aladna Hill. I would need to keep mobile though, so after a shower and a breakfast I ate so fast that I barely tasted it, I set off for the west and adventure of sorts.

Another day in the area shouldn't bring too much attention to me, though it was as much as I was willing to risk. Tomorrow I would move on for a few days. I didn't want to be in the Medusa when I left though, so I needed to find a new ship today unless I wanted to try out the Eclipse. It looked like a slug and moved about as fast, especially since I couldn't afford to repair it yet. Something lighter would be my preference.

I sold the Fireflies on the Caiman remotely, which put my funds over 400k. I could use that to outfit a new ship if I could find something decent, preferably one that used 25 MJ shields since I was flush with those. If only they had come to me sooner.

Traffic in Faith was light, and I saw why readily enough. There was a pirate Galleon over the asteroid field, flying with an escort of Blastclaws. None of them were showing as hostile to me, but they would cut into my opportunities here. Next sector please.

I didn't make it to the Memorial though. To the left of the gate I saw a freighter flying away, far off the usual shipping lanes. It occurred to me that the pirates would probably have a base in the area, with as much traffic as the place saw. So I set off after it, then passed it but stayed on the same heading, flying for all the 'verse as if I belonged there. Sure enough, there was a pirate base and an anarchy port maybe 60 kilometers southwest. The anarchy port and its two lasertowers were hostile, so I had to be careful, but I flew through and docked at the pirate base itself.

A friendly, or greedy, hacker took some of my money and gave me access to the Plasma Burst Generator forge in Danna's Chance. Otherwise I couldn't find anything worthwhile on the base, though I was curious about the recruits they were putting through combat training. I didn't want anyone getting a hint regarding my plans for the near future though, so I held off on asking questions for the time being. Maybe I could arrange a tour of a Rehab facility...

Nopileos' Memorial looked fairly empty too. I did catch up to a Paranid weapons dealer, and the scan report widened my eyes a bit. It carried a concussion impulse generator, eight flail barrage missiles, two ion disruptors, and four phased shockwave generators. What was this idiot doing flying through pirate space with this haul?

As soon as his shields were down, some cargo crates flew out right in front of me and he told me he hoped I would choke on them. Close, but...I checked to see what he dropped and was not impressed. Mosquito missiles and energy cells. "Split needs a better bribe than that," I said cheerfully and hit him with another PBE burst. I wanted those PSGs.

I had to take his hull down to 30% before he would give me everything of value. I was tempted to vape him anyway, but I let him go and brought my freighter in. A fine start to what I hoped would be a fine day.

In Danna's Chance I found the PBG forge, neutral as promised. I didn't dock, but someone at the station asked if I could pick up some entertainment chips at the pirate base in Brennan's Triumph. I wanted to find the base anyway, so I made sure I had enough cargo space and accepted the request. The time limit was only twelve minutes so it was a dicey run, but I could cheat a little with the jumpdrive.

Brennan's was the next sector to the north. A Brigantine was making the rounds, so it didn't look like a good place for busting ships either. The pirate base was near the middle and it only took me three minutes to fly to it, and the woman with the chips was waiting for me. Someone else on board wanted to go, conveniently, to the PBG forge, so I took them on for the short hop. I'd get back in plenty of time.

The payments for both jobs was a pittance, but it helped my relations with the pirates. With so much pirate activity there wasn't much for me to do, so I decided to go ahead and finish the route to Elena's Fortune today instead of waiting.

Split Fire was pirate-free though, so I took advantage of my free reign and attacked a few Paranid ships. It was straight-forward and uneventful, and when I decided I'd had enough my freighter had quite a bit of flying to do. Crates full of 1 MJ and 200 MJ shields, high energy plasma throwers, ion shard railguns, crystals, argnu beef, mass drivers, and an assortment of missiles seemed like a healthy bounty to me.

In Elena's Fortune, received a notice that some young Argon girl was complaining about one of her servants stealing her private craft and running away. They found the servant and he told them where he left the ship, and they would rather pay someone to retrieve it than go themselves. Maybe they didn't like the atmosphere in Boron space, because it was in Atreus' Clouds. I agreed to get it for them, so they gave me the coordinates and told me it was a Discoverer.

The ship was damaged; it looked like he had run into the asteroid I found it beside, though he must not have been going very fast. I claimed it and ordered it back to Elena's, but I didn't follow it. I went west into The Hole. They could send me money without me needing to listen to some whiney brat give thanks or complain about how long it took.

Not sure how The Hole got its name, but I have my own ideas. I saw no reason to linger and flew to The Wall next, since the gate was so close. Awkward placement but I wasn't about to complain.

The Wall had a couple solar plants, so I restocked and checked on my freighter. It was close enough to finishing that I waited where I was, taking a few minutes to relax. Once it was loaded up, I jumped it in to the gate near me, and had it follow me into Argon Prime.

While the freighter went to the equipment dock, I looked for paying work. There were a couple requests for patrol help, but I didn't want to attract that sort of attention and didn't see a point with two Colossus carriers in the sector. I did get a call from someone wanting passage to Ore Belt, and the pay looked decent enough. Easy money.

After I dropped him off, I picked through the inventory list on my freighter and sold off some stock. The collection of 1 MJ shields tripled my funds, and some of the less useful missiles helped a bit too. If only I'd gotten into this line of work sooner.

A Split...businessman, wanted some asteroid scans, but I ignored that one. I figured to do some scouting, but I received two more messages in quick succession. A look at my scanners gave me at least some suspicion as to why; all of the other craft I saw were corporate military ships, so I became a lodestone to people wanting help. One was another abandoned ship, this time in Cloudbase South West. The other was a businessman needing to get to Red Light. I took both jobs.

Cloudbase South West is a compact sector, and it took me no time at all to reach the abandoned Demeter Tanker. I sent it home and took my passenger north, and he got to his meeting with time to spare. If only these people gave bonus pay.

The economy must have been booming, because there were several people wanting new stations to be built. I didn't have the funds for any of them though, and they all insisted they would only give payment AFTER delivery of the station. I wondered if this was standard practice or just Argon snobbery.

I docked at the local trading station and spent a couple hours getting a few of the other goods sold off the freighter, such as the crystals and beef. The money I was making was nice, but I really needed to get out of the Medusa. Early to bed, early to rise, this warrior was going hunting.


Assets:

Medusa Prototype
{4} 25 MJ Shields
{6} Pulsed Beam Emitter
{2} Particle Accelerator Cannon


Caiman Super Freighter XL
{3} 1 GJ Shields
{8} 200 MJ Shields
{12} 25 MJ Shields
{1} Concussion Impulse Generator
{8} Flail Barrage Missiles
{8} High Energy Plasma Throwers
{2} Ion Disruptors
{8} Ion Shard Railguns
{8} Mass Drivers
{4} Phased Shockwave Generators

Medusa
Eclipse

Credits: 1,185,552

[Song Of Obsidian]

Chapter 13 - Transitions


Streams of light blue energy passed me by, some even striking my shields, but I didn't divert from my course and the Boa didn't pursue me. I wasn't allowing myself to get distracted by equipment I couldn't use today. Ships I could sell, maybe, but no freighters. This was a day for ambushing fighters before they could put up a fight.

Most of the fighters I saw were either Mamba or Perseus variants. Neither appealed to me after using the Medusa. Both were faster, but their shielding left a lot to be desired. I hadn't seen any bounty hunters since they tried to ambush me in Acquisition Repository, but ambushes are, by nature, usually unexpected. Taking a fighter with half the shield capacity I was used to worried me.

It didn't matter though, because none of them would surrender. Perhaps I had a reputation now, in which case I really needed some anonymity.

So I brought my Caiman back to Light of Heart and outfitted the Eclipse. It was still damaged but there was nothing I could do about that yet. 200 MJ shield, two ion disruptors, two PACs for the turrets, and four HEPTs was the best I could do since it wasn't built for the PBEs I had. I could have tried out the mass drivers instead, but I wasn't rich enough to be spending money on ammunition. The drivers fire quickly but barely do any damage, so I'd need quite a bit.

The Eclipse was as slow as a Teladi weed smoker at a spelling contest, but it handled smoothly and its shields could hold up long enough for me to jump out of real danger in most circumstances. Its laser recharge could keep one ion disruptor going without any energy loss, though I'd take two. I put one of them on its own weapon grouping in case I decided to go that route. At least it would slow down my targets a little for me.

Unfortunately I still didn't acquire any heavy fighters, but the day did have its rewards. First, I managed to pull in something even better: an Express Hauler. The thing was falling apart by the time the pilot ditched it, but I didn't care. I was ecstatic. I'd need at least two of them to move into some of the more difficult aspects of my vengeance against my people. I couldn't afford to start yet, but I did give it shields, some software upgrades, and energy cells, then sent it to Legend's Home, where I could have a jumpdrive installed when I was ready.

The other prize was an unexpected one. I was attacked by the escorts of a Strong Arms freighter, and the pilot of the Jaguar Hauler decided not to go down with his ship. With a scout ship I could now risk some sorties into Paranid and Split space. I had two particular destinations in mind. One was the home of Duke's Buccaneers, though I suspected it would be hostile to me. The other was Yaki space, where I could buy an absolutely essential military transport. With it carrying a fighter I could take jumpdrives to ships that would otherwise be stranded. Capturing one would take longer than I liked, but if I bought a Yaki ship I would need to keep it mostly out of the public eye. As I should be doing with most of my ships anyway, but being completely circumspect was impossible. For now, at least.

But with the acquisition of the passenger transport, it was time for that tour of the rehab facility.

Assets:

Eclipse
{1} 200 MJ Shield
{4} High Energy Plasma Throwers
{2} Ion Disruptors
{2} Particle Accelerator Cannon


Medusa Prototype
{4} 25 MJ Shields
{6} Pulsed Beam Emitter


Caiman Super Freighter XL
{3} 1 GJ Shields
{7} 200 MJ Shields
{9} 25 MJ Shields
{1} Concussion Impulse Generator
{8} Flail Barrage Missiles
{4} High Energy Plasma Throwers
{8} Ion Shard Railguns
{8} Mass Drivers
{4} Phased Shockwave Generators


Express Hauler
{3} 25 MJ Shields

Jaguar Hauler
Medusa

Credits: 1,043,718

[Poseidon]

Nice! I have to say, the racial governments leave a lot to be desired. I'm glad there are pirate factions. I would love to see the player faction actually recognized as one; the npcs should want to please us once we get powerful. Or at least fear us.

Sorry the capping didn't go as planned. Some days the only targets are idiots.

[Song Of Obsidian]

Yeah, some aspects of the game are fairly straight-forward and simplistic, but that's ok. I'll make it complicated on my own

As for the capping, don't worry. I'll be fitting it into the story quite nicely.

[Song Of Obsidian]

Chapter 14 - Intermediate Arrangements


"We try to put them through everything they might endure in the field, as you can see, but there are always contingencies that can't be anticipated," said Terrel Gilharno, my appointed guide and chaperon for the tour of the facility. Most of what I saw was fascinating but unsurprising. It appeared much as any other combat training facility. Even Gilharno himself, well-dressed, properly-speaking and even groomed, would have fit in perfectly well in any civilized environ. Which, I understood, was why he was the face man for the facility.

His comments were few and strategic, with the actual tour complete. We stood in a large room full of monitors, controls, technicians, analysts. Every screen in the room showed a different part of the training ground attached to the station, which was as large as a capital ship of any race. There were three separate operations in progress, and every movement, every shot fired, every hesitation, every decision, all of it was tracked from this room.

I was not kept out of the way; they allowed me free reign, and Gilharno followed behind as I wandered. He had two guards at-hand at all times as well, one Split and one Teladi, both fully armed. I wondered if they had once been 'trainees'. More than likely.

I stopped at one of the stations overseeing a group of five. These weren't marines in the typical understanding of the word, so I chose to think of them as commandos. They were clearing a narrow corridor with two hatches on each side, and the air was thick with green-ish fumes. Their mannerisms and tactics looked superb, but they always do when no one is shooting.

Light flashed with a puff of smoke and one of the commandos dropped. Next to the screen I saw several red indicator lights, but I had no idea what they meant. The commando was still moving, but the movements looked odd. Unnatural.

Either my expression gave me away or Gilharno was anticipating questions, because he spoke behind me. "Perfect operations in training are rare. We almost always simulate casualties. Their suits have some modifications. The usual life sense monitors, of course, but we also add some inhibitors that can cease body function in areas, as if they were injured, and other controllers that allow us to make them behave in ways they can't without introducing live fire to the exercise and killing them." He reached around me and gestured to the downed commando, who was flopping around in the middle of the corridor and had tripped one of his comrades. "They have to learn how to deal with casualties on a practical level."

I nodded an acknowledgement. This squad apparently hadn't learned yet; the one who had tripped was hit by friendly fire as he tried to stand again. The one who shot him froze, and within a few seconds the entire squad was down.

They removed their helmets as they were ushered out for a debriefing, and none of them seemed angry. I couldn't read much in the way of emotion on their faces at all. I stared at them, momentarily stunned by what I saw.

"You have Boron recruits," I stated calmly, trying not to give away my surprise.

I could hear the smile in Gilharno's voice. "Outside this place, everyone fights for different reasons. Honor, patriotism, sadism, survival, boredom. Here they have the same reasons, and eventually they all come to terms with their lot in life." I had some idea as to how they accomplished that, because I had seen the chemicals in their kitchen. Drugs. It had to be a phase of the training and not a practice they kept up, but it was certainly an element of the conditioning they used. Gilharno went on. "They'll never betray you, they'll never ask unwanted questions, and they'll never do anything you don't tell them to." The man chuckled a bit. "Which does put certain additional burdens on you, but there are pros and cons to every approach." He was speaking as if I had already decided to buy soldiers here. I had, but he didn't know that. The suggestive phrasing was probably very effective though, I had to grant.

I moved on to the next bank of monitors and stopped, watching over the shoulders of a technician I could see was arranging a pincer move around a squad. I hadn't seen commandos working against each other yet, but here the squad about to be pinned was outnumbered two-to-one. I barely paid attention though; I was calculating costs and certain other factors such as the racial makeup of the teams I wanted to utilize in the long-term. I knew that this facility would not have everything I needed, of course. "There are other centers that share your protocols." It was a question, but it assumed an answer. I was only encouraging him to speak while guiding the conversation.

"Yes," he said a bit hesitantly. Understandable; his job was to ensure income for this facility, after all. "If we knew what you were looking for, we could help you find subjects to meet your needs." An interesting proposal. It meant they could arrange trades between facilities, though of course they would try to maximize profits. This was a business like any other.

I remained silent for a few minutes. The pinned squad did remarkably well, using available cover and tactical positioning to minimize the number of guns pointed at them. They still lost three of their five, but they neutralized all of their enemies. Very impressive, even if the ambushers were amateurs.

"Do they require any special care?" I was asking about the drugs, of course, and he probably knew it too.

"As their reasons for fighting are the same, so too are their needs. You'll have to feed them, but there isn't anything special about their diet other than the levels of nutrients they need. We train the satisfaction from eating out of them; you could give a Paranid some BoFu and he wouldn't bat any of his eyes. They do have physical training regimens, so they need some open space to work with, but they don't need any equipment other than what they're issued when we give them to you. The fee you pay includes weapons and two suits per recruit, as well as the recruit's dossier. What you make of them from there is up to you."

I bobbed my head in a slow nod, then turned to face him. "I'll need a couple days to arrange for payment and transportation." It was a lie; I needed a couple days to make some money. "Do I contact you directly when I'm ready?" By the avid look in his eyes I guessed that he was given a commission for every sale.

"You may, though it isn't necessary. The secretary who saw to your ship after you arrived can also help you, or whoever else is on duty when you return. I'll be there when you review the troops regardless."

I smiled and offered my hand, which he shook...warily. "I look forward to completing an arrangement with you, then. And I'll almost definitely be a frequent customer." The hint that I'd be giving them business at intervals in the future was not a promise, but insurance to keep them from taking my money and killing me. It wasn't that I didn't trust them, as much as the fact that I'm a confessed paranoid. But I'm still around to practice my paranoia.

[Poseidon]

Perhaps I've spent too much time on social sites, but I keep reaching for a Prop or Like button when I read your chapters.

I'm amused by the different approaches we've taken to Marines. Then again, all of mine were from Military Bases, where yours seem to have a more diverse history. It definitely colors the setting. Your story feels very 'gritty underworld'.

[Song Of Obsidian]

High and unexpected praise. Notice the edits on some of my posts? I always find something wrong, heh.

When I read yours, I was wishing I could go that route. But that's closer to being in line with ME, and not even remotely like the character I'm writing and playing in the game. So yes, honesty in fiction is hard.

I do plan to flesh out some of the marines a little bit since he's going to keep five as personal bodyguards, but they won't be nearly as well-rounded as yours. Which isn't necessarily bad. Just gives a different flavor. Hope the way I write it is as interesting as it sounds in my head

I'm very good at 'gritty' as you put it. I just wish I had your flair for random hilarity. Ee ai ee ai oh...

[Poseidon]

Well, I'm not certain if lightning will strike twice. If it makes you feel any better, everything I write feels a little clunky in my head as well. And I'm cheating a bit, by pulling bits and pieces from other fiction and real-world encounters. I get the feeling that Riordan is a lot more similar to me than your character is to you.

Either way, I'm having fun reading.