Way of the Gun - DiD (TC 3.2) [KIA]

[Nathancros]

Nice chapter kirlack just remember to shout out at me for that character, he's still rampaging inside my head

[Kirlack]

Very nice.

Thanks bud

great job to bad the osprey got to go bye bye, be neat to have the merc have some fun .

Whilst I wholeheartedly agree, my chances of taking it were slim to zero. None of my mercs are mech or engineering trained yet, so I doubt they would have even managed to penetrate the hull

Nice chapter kirlack just remember to shout out at me for that character, he's still rampaging inside my head

Will do brother I'm just about reaching the point where Wren's going to need some backup, especially on some of the assassination missions I'm seeing now Look out for an advert in 'Pirates Weekly'

By the way, if anyone else spots any typos, walls of italics, bad links etc, please feel free to point them out

So, without further ado:

Chapter 5: Back in the saddle

Aww, mate! I swear, if I ever give up my life o' crime I'm movin' up here with these boys. They sure can party! I even got the pleasure of some post alchohol fun! Man, I love my job.

So, I started the day by kicking lover boy outta bed, grabbin' a shower and eatin' breakfast with my mercs. Daye Bro, the cocky frakker I was thinkin' about shootin' a couple nights back, is one of the ten still on the Metatron, and I've banned 'em all from carryin' weapons in the common cabin in case their poker games turn ugly again. I might have to sit in myself one night and see how much cred I can take offa them. Heh.

Once I was all set I climbed back into Tendencies cockpit and made the jump down to Acquisition. I'm hopin' I can find a hacker or two down here that'll get me some access at the Loomanck's stations. After a bit o' searchin' I do find one at the 1Mj shield fab who's willin' to net me dockin' rights at the Rehabilitation Facility fer a hundred grand or so, so I wire him his money and jump down there. There's a certain Mamba I wanna try to collect.

I'm figurin' my Skate can take a knock from a SQUASH mine or 2, but I still creep over to the ship at a measly 46m/s. It seems that my caution is unjustified though as there's not a single boom or bang on the way in, and I finally pull up just over 100 metres from the M3. A quick scan reveals the bare minimum of gear aboard, but there's a prize amongst it. Two PBEs. Nice! I might have to take Creed out fer another run later on and give 'em a whirl.

So I claim the ship and beam across my jumpdrive ready to bounce her back to homebase, only there's a problem. It seems that in my haste to get down here and bag this here Mamba I've neglected to bring enough energy for either of us to get out safely.

Bollocks. Note to self, plan ahead, or at the very least make better plans. Frak's sake.

So I give the 5 cells in my hold to the Mamba and leave it there fer now. I'm gonna have to pick a safe route back to the south gate and then bounce the ship in for an injection of cells from Tools. I thought I was picking the exact same line I'd followed to collect the Mamba, but I must have drifted somewhat cos I managed to set off a mine. Only the one though, but the explosion was big enough to singe me and the Mamba! If I'd tried this in Small Fry yesterday I don't think I'd be here to tell ya about it.

With the ship secured and jumped to the gate I call Tools in to top it up with cells and send them both back to Aladna Hill. Since I'm now without a jumpdrive I'm gonna make my way up to Legend's Home the old fashioned way to pick up another one. So I start creepin' north, pickin' fights with the occasional passin' weapons dealer, includin' a Paranid flyin' a Medusa, but none o' them bail. Shame really, especially the Medusa. That woulda been a nice addition to my li'l fleet.

I slip through the gate into Ceo's Doubt 'n' keep headin' north into New Income. The first thing I notice when I hit the sector is a load of nav beacons leadin' off to the north west. Curious as to what they're fer I bank to port and start followin' 'em. A few moments later and I've noticed what looks like a pirate base way off to the south west. Keen to see if they've got any work I head on over, and find a Teladi pirate with a job offer.

Great Trench eh? Hopin' that my mark's will be Boron I set off the way I've just come, back though Ceo's Doubt and then west into Boron turf. The first thing I notice when I drop through the gate is the Military Outpost all but directly ahead of me. That's just bound to mean trouble. Then I spy my four marks. My four Teladi marks. Frakkin' hell. That's gonna put a dent in my rep with the lizards.

Meh. So be it. So I start creeping across the sector towards 'em, tryin' to fight the feelin' that somethin' ain't right. My flight path is set to take me right over the military base, and as I'm gettin' close to it the reasons fer me feelin' somethin' weren't right became painfully apparent.

They're not payin' me any attention at the moment though, so I carry on quietly up to my marks and start layin' into 'em. A few moments later and I get a mission complete message, and one of my targets has bailed! Given how close I am to that Ray and it's escorts though I think I'll leave that Vulture Hauler here, and make my way back towards New Income with my 770k cred.

Now, I knew this job was gonna cost me some standin' with the Teladi, but I wasn't expectin' to lose core sector access into the deal. Bugger. Luckily for me the folks in Ceo's need somebody to patrol the system lookin' fer Xenon. I'd rather fight livin' targets, but I need to get the locals back on an even keel, and...well, money's money so I take the contract. There's a single P backed up by a small wing o' Ns. Stickin' with my usual practice I close on the P first, launching a disruptor and a hurricane missile at two of the Ns as they pass me.

Ps are insanely agile fer an M6 and this one's no exception, but it's only got the one turret, so I slip in under it's belly and flay off the 400 Mj o' shieldin' with PRG fire, then switch to EBCs to quickly finish it off. By the time I caught up with the last 2 Ns they were busy nippin' at energy freighters down by the SPPs, and a quick burst o' PRG rounds reduce 'em both to atoms. With the job done I get paid and the lizards now consider me once again a 'Company Helper'.

That seems to get me back in everyone's good graces, as moments later I'm offered over 400k to defend one o' the local flower farms from a bunch o' pirates. Really? Couldn't they have sent Yaki or a band o' rampagin' Boron or somethin? I've just gotten reasonably square with the clans. Frak it, they're here now and I'm wantin' to get paid fer killin' 'em, so I slide in under the Osprey, lock 'n' shred.

Ya know it's funny. A few days ago all I could lock 'n' shred was a couple o' M5s. Now it's gettin' to be a regular thing with M6. So by the time I catch up with Ferret I should be well practiced.

With the Osprey down I banjo the Nova and then watch as the Harrier impacts the station at full throttle. That completes the mission, I get paid again and take a huge boost to my Teladi rep. I think that'll do me nicely fer now, so I head back into New Income to finish following those nav beacons. Ah! Another gate eh? The last unknown sector I looked at had some interestin' occupants, so let's see what this'n has in store.

Nothin'. Frak all. Just a bunch o' asteroids in the southern half o' the system. And a gate to Montalaar...hang on. This must be the unkown sector that connects to the Montalaar east gate! It's prob'ly a good job I didn't duck in here when I first found that gate, cos I reckon the bounty hunters woulda been on me in no time, and there's not much cover in here.

So. I make my way up through Montalaar and Light o' Heart and finally dock at the tradin' station in Aladna Hill. Whilst I've been killin' and robbin' folks Small Fry's been plottin' a route back down here from Two Grand that doesn't take it across hostile Xenon sectors, and my Discoverer has been followin' behind it at a safe distance. I even managed to bag a few Mass Drivers from the military outpost in Rhonkar's Fire, meanin' Creed will be a force to be reckoned with when I get back out into the trade lanes. Before I can get back into the Mamba's cockpit though I need to strip all the gear currently aboard Tendencies and put it back into storage. That's the one major issue in splittin' my flight time between a Boron fighter and a Split one. There's just too many good weapons for both that aren't compatible with the other.

In the end I settle on the 2 PBEs, a pair of HEPTs, 2 Mass Drivers and 2 EBCs. That ought to give me plenty o' options fer some general piratin', and a few choice missiles to lob at anythin' nasty should keep anyone lookin' to hurt me at length. With Creed all set up I undock and head out into Hatikvah's to find some marks.

My first target's a Paranid weapon dealer carryin' a bunch o' MD ammo, which'll come in handy. So we negotiate until he's dropped the lot, and I call in Tools to collect. Then I spot an under armed and under shielded Falcon with a Boron pilot and take a pop at him. Awww yeah. As that makes it's way back to Aladna Hill I beat on another Paranid weapons dealer in a bid to claim the mobile drillin' lasers he's got in his hold. He takes a bit o' convincin', but thanks to my PBE diplomacy he soon coughs up. Whilst Tools is gettin' busy pickin' that lot up I spot a Boron with not only another load of Mass Driver ammo, but also a bunch o' PRGs!

Suffice to say that a li'l more PBE diplomacy was enough to get me the goods.

After that it's lookin' like the sector's dryin' up, so I push on into Nopileos', where it soon becomes apparent that today's the day I stock up on MD ammo. Seems like everyone 'n' their dog are carryin' the stuff! One Paranid was carryin' over 5 and a half thousand energy cells 'n' all, so Tools was busy jumpin' back 'n' forth collectin' all o' my swag. I even managed to force a Barracuda pilot to bail. Ya know, I like Nopileos', it's always so good to me.

I finally slip across the gate into Danna's Chance, where I get an offer from a hacker to net me dockin' rights at the Brennan's pirate base. Sweet! Eager to see whether the rumours I've heard are true and the mercs there are generally awesome, I commit five more of my boys to some trainin' and bounce The Metatron down to meet me. Only I've forgotten somethin'. Somethin' kinda important. Bet you already spotted it, aye?

Lasertowers. 5 o' them, all clustered around the base. That's gonna make dockin' kind o' difficult now ain't it? Not bein' one to shy away from a challenge though, I give it a shot. Pilotin' Metatron between two 'roids to give me some cover keeps a lot o' beams from hittin' me, but I've still had my shields knocked down to just 10% by the time I was close enough to make use o' the dockin' computer. That was too frakkin' close. Hopefully gettin' out o' here will be a mite easier'n gettin' in. Still, I do manage to bag myself 5 more mercs to add to my roster. With a full band o' 20 now at my disposal I'm in dire need o' a second TP.

I give my shields a bit o' time to recharge and then undock, instantly preppin' the jumpdrive fer a bounce to the the west gate, but oddly enough none o' the lasertowers fire on me whilst I'm idlin' next to the base, and then the drive kicked in and I was 20 klicks away. I quickly call Creed in and swap back to it, sendin' Metatron back to Acquisition so that my next cash injection can get some more o' my boys in trainin'.

In the meantime I go back to piratin', keepin' to the trade lane between the south 'n' west gates so as to give yon lasertowers no reason to be shootin' at me. It's not long before I've bagged a Demeter from a passin' Paranid, but after that the sector's kind o' quiet so I push on into Split Fire. As I'm checkin' out the sector map lookin' fer targets I spot a weapon dealer comin' up outta the south gate, and make a bee-line fer him to peek in his hold. Nice, a brace o' CIGs and a smatterin' o' HEPTs! Once again PBE diplomacy proves too much for the pilot to argue with, and he coughs up the lot. Whilst Tools faffs around trying to pick some o' that up I spot this feller and we negotiate fer ownership o' those 1Mj shields. I pick 'em up myself though, and send Tools back to base. Why?

Cos this lot showed up.

Yeah. That'd be two seperate Thresher battlegroups. I'm guessin' they either got business with Family Rhy, or they've taken a sudden and intense dislike to the Paranid. I'm just about to start piratin' again as the second moves down to the south gate, when a third battlegroup drops through the northern. Right. That's me done fer the day. When your primary targets start lobbing trios o' M7s in your direction, and you're runnin' on 50 Mj o' shieldin', it's time to pack up and grab a beer.

I make my way back towards Aladna Hill, managin' to bag another Ion disruptor from a passin' Boron, and another Demeter in Danna's Chance. I forsee a weldin' session in my near future. I think tomorrow I'm gonna make a solid effort to make Yohandris his moolah, and bag another TP. For today though...well, I'm pretty much skint.

Assets:

'Assassin's Creed' – Mamba
Fully Tuned
2x 25 Mj Shield
2x PBE
2x HEPT
2x MD
2x EBC

'Violent Tendencies' – Skate
'Tools o' the Trade' – Caiman
'Small Fry' - Octopus
'The Metatron' – Hermes
Mamba
Discoverer

Falcon
Barracuda

Demeter x2

Demeter Super Freighter – Storage
Demeter Super Freighter XL – Storage

195, 766 Credits

[Timsup2nothin]

Nothin' like roasting freighters to get moving in the right direction.

[Kirlack]

Chapter 6: The pay-off

Oi. Man, did I wake up with a headache this mornin' or what? Spent most o' last night gettin' stoned with one o' my new mercs who'd bought some weed along from the Brennan's base. By the time I fell, yes, fell into bed I could barely even see straight. What can I say? I'm a whiskey girl ya know?

So, somewhat wiser'n I was to the concept o' smokin' myself retarded, I downed some coffee, which didn't help much, and took a shower which made me feel a mite more human. I was going to eat breakfast with my boys, but Wegoras, my smokin' buddy, had a reefer on the burn when I stepped into the cabin, and I didn't much fancy startin' my day with a thick head, so I ducked out and headed fer one o' the li'l cafés on the station.

With a hot meal in me I felt a helluva lot better, and headed down to the fighter bay to start weldin' the Falcon and Barracuda up ready fer sale. They were both in pretty good nick when their pilots jumped ship, so it doesn't take very long. While they're makin' their way down to the Light o' Heart shipyard I go about settin' Creed up fer today's activities. I'm lookin' to make some cash today, and that'll mean killin' folks, so I load up all 4 o' my Mass Drivers, a bunch o' ammo fer 'em and some choice fat warheads...ya know, just in case. I'm also lookin' to bag that second TP, so I'm takin' the 2 PBEs I found on that second Mamba yesterday. With jump fuel and mossies for missile defence I was all set to head out into the dark.

As soon as I'm free of the dock I get a comm from one o' the local fabs lookin' fer 'protection'. It's not much but it's my kind o' work, and a li'l run-down scrap will hopefully clear the last weedy webs from my head. Shamefully it's a wing o' pirates that jump in, but that won't stop me slaggin' 'em.

I snap a wildfire at each o' the M4s and a hurricane at the Discoverer on the approach and suddenly it's just me 'n' the Osprey. I slip in under his belly and start rakin' him with PBE fire, but by the time his shields are down my energy reserves have bottomed out. I stay tight on him fer a few moments to give my generator some time to cool down, then flay off his barely recharged shields and start bitin' into his hull. Slowly. Really slowly.

As my generator bottoms out again I make the switch to the Mass Drivers, which in hindsight I should have done from the beginning, and proceed to riddle his hull with lots o' tiny li'l holes. By the time my PBEs had recharged to the level I woulda used 'em again, the M6 only had a couple percent integrity left and finally crumbled.

I think I'm likin' these mass drivers.

With that done I get paid, and better'n that I get another boost to my Argon rep. If I could get away with buying a ship through official channels, and I had 100 million credits, they'd sell my a Titan and all the gear I'd need to make it work. Quite happily.

With a job chalked up fer the day I head out into Hatikvah's, and immediately spy a TP with a Paranid pilot. By the time I caught up with him he'd made it to the middle of the sector , but when I scanned him I got a bit of a shock.

Pirate. Bollocks!

I don't want to upset the clans any more'n I have to, so I let him go on his way. Bloody smugglers.

Slightly miffed I start lookin' fer another mark, and spot another TP, an Argon this time. Only when I scan him he turns out to be a pirate 'n' all.

Grrr.

Right. Frak TP huntin'. I'm gonna shoot up some traders. What's on the menu? Ah, you'll do nicely fer a starter. I have no use for the missiles whatsoever, but they'll fetch decent price. I don't wanna damage his freight, so this is gonna be another job fer my PBE diplomats. Heh. I must snag some more o' them.

Whilst Tools gets to work collecting the Aurora missiles I get the message that my two fighters have reached the Light o' Heart yard and sell 'em both fer just shy o' a tidy 2.2 million. I've also managed to lose just enough rep with the Argon that they've taken Titans off my buy list. Not sure what I did, but I upset somebody. Meh.

Whilst I'm idlin' in the middle of the sector I notice that both the Anarchy Port and the Pirate Base are offerin' work, and they're both showin' combat missions. So I mosey on over and give 'em a call. The first job sounds like a doozy and pays like a queen. I agree and get details fer the contact up in Thuruk's Beard. The second has a much tighter time limit, but for almost 3 million cred I was never gonna say no. Luckily the guy offerin' the second job knows the target's exact location too, Danna's Chance. A quick hop to the south gate puts me right on top o' my mark, but he's got company. That's alright though, cos I'm a girl with a plan.

Bankin' to starboard and puttin' some space between me and them I cue up one o' my two hammerhead missiles. These babies drop 1.2 Gj of nuclear fire on the target and have a blast radius of roughly 1km that'll singe anythin' in the way quite significantly. So I bracket the Buzzard that's flyin' on the wing o' my mark, and let fly.

Aaaaargh indeed!

Contract complete, I get a sweet, sweet payout and take a peek at my currently swollen bank balance. Awww yeah! I've got another job to do though, and time's a-tickin', so I jump to the Thuruk's north gate and speed over to the ISR forge, where a Teladi cheerfully tells me I can find my next mark up in Blue Profit. Right then.

I'm almost out o' jump fuel now, so I jump to the Company Pride north gate and slide through into Ceo's Sprite. I idle at the gate fer a few moments whilst I wait fer Tools to bring me some more energy, then bounce to the Ceo's north gate. I've not been to Blue Profit yet, and if my target's not near the southern gate I might not make this.

I slip across the event horizon and spot a load o' red contacts up ahead o' me, but they're not my mark. Bloody Boron. That's a bit of a worry as they might decide to intervene, so I'm wantin' to get the job done quick like. My target and his buddies are up by the north gate, but I don't have jump coordinates fer it, so I'm gonna have to close on 'em the old fashioned way. That's cool though, cos I've still got a hammerhead in my bay. There's no convenient Buster or even a Buzzard fer me to launch at, but there is a Falcon in the mix. Fox one!

Trackin'....trackin'.....boom!

Awwww yeah. Now we're cookin'! I think it's about time I went to see Yohandris.

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

The fat lizard blinked several times as he stared at the stack of credits in the assassin's bag.

“It'ssss all there?” he asked, suspicious that she could raise five million, fifty six thousand, seven hundred and eighty two credits in such a short time.

“It's all there.” she replied, nodding and smiling. “The four point nine I owed you from the poker game, plus your daily interest for five days.” Her smile broadened. “Go ahead, count it.” He blinked at her again, eyes flicking between her wolfish grin and the huge amount of money.

“No Wren, I trussst you.” he finally hissed, and reached out, taking the bag from her hand. “Thanksss for not letting me down.”

“Never.” She grinned again and sat in the chair behind his desk. The very expensive chair behind his desk. “I'm sorry it took me so long to get it to you Yohandris. I had a job turn sour on me in Aladna that would've covered what I owed you.”

“It'ssss alright Wren.” he replied, setting the bag down on the desk and reaching for his data pad. “If my transssslatorssss weren't charging me sssso much for this peessssse I would not have been ssso pusssshy.”

“Meh. Frak it mate, I owed you and you called in a debt. It's that simple. What's this piece you're wantin' translated?”

He reached out a claw and tapped the large red book gently. “My contactssss tell me it isss called 'Ensssyclopedia Britannica'.” He paused for a moment and caught her eye. “You know a little Terran hisssstory don't you?” She nodded. “Would you pay ten million for such a book?”

“Me personally? No Yohandris, I've got better things to spend that kind o' cred on, like guns 'n' ammo, people to jack ships and the like. It's what I do fer a livin'. You though, you're a collector, someone who genuinely appreciates art 'n' culture. If you think it's worth ten mil, then pay the guy, ya know?”

The lizard smiled, and nodded as the assassin stood.

“Leaving already?” he hissed.

“'fraid so ol' bud. I got a li'l frakstain named Ferret to hunt down.”

“Ferret?” he asked. “Asss in Ferret Jerigan?” He noted the cold look that crossed her face as he said it.

“Tell ya what mate. Why don't we grab a drink, and you start tellin' me what ya know about Neol Jerigan.”

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

Right. Debt settled with Yohandris* and I even got some free info. Seems Ferret's got some mates down Loomanckstrat's way, so tomorrow I'm goin' down there to see if I can't twist some fingers. In the meantime I'm feelin' kind o' flush after my run o' jobs this mornin', so I stick all o' the rest o' my mercs into boot camp. That leaves me with a hair over 500k, and keeping those fellers in school is gonna cost me a pretty penny over the next couple o' days, so I'm off to do some piratin'. With no more debts hangin' over my head and no jobs on the go I've got no deadlines to worry about.

Whilst I was havin' my li'l chat with Yohandris I had Tools dock up at the military base in Ceo's, where it managed to snag me 2 more mass drivers. Odd, I didn't think the Teladi sold 'em, but they had 'em, so I parted with my credits. Once I hook up with my Caiman I set them up in my last two weapon slots. I'm out o' hammerheads now, so any more hits I pick up are gonna have to be up close 'n' personal like. 6 mass drivers should shred even a corvette pretty sharpish.

So I head out o' Teladi space, down through Thuruk's and into Hatikvah's, where I soon spot a Boron with a couple Ions. PBE diplomacy soon breaks him, and he spews crates all over the sector. I call in Tools to collect and swing down to the west gate and on into Nopileos' Memorial. As soon as I'm out o' the gate I spot a Paranid military freighter, and after droppin' his shields with by li'l ambassadors he kicked his quite considerable load out o' the bay.

And he wasn't the last. Moments later I spotted a weapons dealer with a whole load o' capital grade weapons 'n' shields tucked up in his bay.

Oooh, shiny.

So I gave him a tap on the shoulder and asked him, quite polite like, to drop his cargo before I atomize him. Bein' in no position to argue, he started coughin' up. That there represents about 7 million credits worth o' firepower. So I call in Tools to start collectin' and hit up a Boron with a bunch o' wasps. After he coughs up every single one I shred him, and move on to another squid carryin' a few units o' EBC ammo. That'll come in handy as my supply was runnin' kinda low.

Leavin' Tools to clean up I skip back across Faith and into Aladna Hill. I was going to call it a day and get set up fer takin' Tendencies down to Loomanck's tomorrow, but as I was linin' up to dock at the tradin' station I got a comm from the military outpost. Seems there's a convoy somebody wants taken down, and they want 'em taken down bad. For 1.2 million per ship, I'll take as many as you want mate. Just the 2? You're sure?

'K.

A quick jump to Brennan's reveals a pair of Paranid freighters, neither o' which were sportin' any drones, and no missiles worth firin', so I shredded the pair o' them with PBE fire and got paid. By this time Tools has finished clearin' up Nopileos' fer me, so I jump her back to Aladna and make the jump back myself.

Ya know, all in all it's been a damned good day. Tomorrow I'm gonna go find out if anyone knows where I can find Ferret, try again to snag a second TP, and probably spend millions o' credits puttin' my crew through another round o' trainin'. Oi. So much fer no deadlines eh?

Assets:

'Violent Tendencies' – Skate
Fully Tuned
3x 25 Mj Shield
4x PRG
4x EBC
2x PAC

'Assassin's Creed' – Mamba
'Tools o' the Trade' – Caiman
'Small Fry' - Octopus
'The Metatron' – Hermes
Mamba
Discoverer

Demeter x2

Demeter Super Freighter – Storage
Demeter Super Freighter XL – Storage


2,825,354 Credits

*The money transfer to Yohandris was completed in-game by purchasing 2 Falcon Hauler (M), and immediately destroying them with Assassin's Creed's Mass Drivers. Since I wrote in that I owed him the money I don't consider it a breach of the rules, and it was the only way I could think of doing it in Vanilla.

[Timsup2nothin]

Again well done. If I were Ferret I would be somewhere around Getsu Fune by now.

[Kirlack]

Cheers Tim I think Ferret might need to go a bit further than Gestu Fune though Wren's just about getting the bit between her teeth now, so I'm thinking he's gonna need to make for one of the Khaak sectors to put her off

[Zaitsev]

Oooh ... A couple of good chapters there.

Also, can't wait to see what will happen to Ferret when Wren gets her hands on him. Something tells me it's going to be a ... less than pleasant experience

[Nathancros]

Less than pleasant? me thinks heateds pliers to delicate area's...


Not the best day for ferret, he better keep runnin!


keep going kirlack loving the pirating, seems to suit you a bit too well

[Timsup2nothin]

Ya never know. Old Ferret might be like Joliet Jake Blues when he takes off the sunglasses. Might leave Wren lying in the mud somewhere.

[Kirlack]

Also, can't wait to see what will happen to Ferret when Wren gets her hands on him. Something tells me it's going to be a ... less than pleasant experience

I agree with Nate, less than pleasant might be a gross understatement

keep going kirlack loving the pirating, seems to suit you a bit too well :Pirat:

Thanks mate, what do you mean it suits me too well? You can blame SD for that

Old Ferret might be like Joliet Jake Blues when he takes off the sunglasses. Might leave Wren lying in the mud somewhere.

The author whistles softly to himself...

Chapter 7: Huntin'

Aaar! Ya know, there's such a thing as bein' too damn good at what you do? Take me fer instance. This time yesterday I had a goal, I had deadlines, I knew what I had to do and how I had to do it. Today all I know is that I gotta somehow find Ferret and make him wish he was never born. Considerin' that my talents lie in makin' folks dead rather'n makin' 'em talk, this might be a bit o' a mish. I ain't gonna let that stop me though.

So, I checked out o' my hotel room after showerin' and grabbed somethin' to eat at that same li'l café I hit yesterday. Havin' spent the last few nights with my mercs fer company it was kind o' quiet havin' a hotel suite to myself, but my guys are all trainin' their li'l asses off over in Acquisition, and usin' The Metatron as their homebase. Until I get that sorely needed second TP I guess I'm either slummin' it on my own, or sleepin' in style. Hotels cost though, and while I ain't hurtin' fer money at the minute I'm gonna be funnellin' a lot o' credits into gettin' my boardin' crew trained.

With breakfast sorted I head on down to the fighter bay and prep Tendencies ready fer launch. My plan is to start in Acquisition Repository and work my way south, lookin' fer hackers that'll net me access to the pirate fabs in Loomanckstrat's, or payin' jobs that'll make some more o' the pirates happy. If I can get enough o' them on side findin' out where Ferret's hidin' should be a breeze. Ya know, it's a shame I ain't got any weed or booze I could trade off with 'em, that'd get some tongues rollin'.

As Tendencies slides out o' the tradin' station I get a holler from one o' the local SPPs who want someone to watch their six. This seems to be gettin' routine now don't it? It's all good exercise though, so I tell 'em they can count me in and swing about fer the south gate. Only to see these frakkers pourin' out of it.

Oh shit. A trio o' bombers can do some serious damage in a very short amount o' time. I need to nail these frakkers quick like, before that station goes up in a halo o' nuclear fire! I close on the two Peregrines first, layin' into 'em hard with PRG fire to drop their considerable 150 Mj o' shieldin, and then makin' the switch to EBCs and punch through their hulls. That's a tactic I'm comin' to rely on now. If I had more PBEs I could make it even more efficient in Creed.

With the two Peregrines down I close on the Hades and hit him just as hard, although the Paranid M8 don't carry as much shieldin' as the Teladi'n, so takin' him apart is a mite quicker. By the time I've punched through his hull the two M5s have kamikazed into the SPPs solar panel and the mission's done. The station's taken about 10% o' shield damage, so I'm guessin' one o' the bombers got a 'hawk off, but it's nothin' a few minutes rechargin' won't sort. I get paid a hair over 200k fer my troubles and seein' no more jobs matchin' my skill set, I make the jump down to AR.

I land at the north gate and start prowlin' the sector's fabs lookin' fer hackers, or jobs. A job comes along first, in the form o' a sweet convoy hit over in Ceo's Doubt. If I can swing all four o' the marks that works out at over 3.2 million. So o'course I agreed to the job. Well, who wouldn't, ya know?

I jump to the Ceo's north gate and spy the first o' my marks on the edge o' my scanner range. Boron, sweet. Only it's not. See, that Boron ship was the only one in the convoy. The other three were a Paranid, a Split and an Argon. Frakkin' weird that was. I slagged 'em all anyway, got paid, and took a nice li'l boost to my Teladi rep. Actually, I say I slagged 'em all, the Paranid bailed, leavin' me his Demeter Miner. Ooh, somethin' I can use one o' the mobile drillin' lasers on! Fer now though it gets sent to dock at the Ceo's tradin' station.

Now, whilst I was idlin' in the middle o' the sector I started noticin' all o' these little yellow things zippin' past me. Spaceflies! Pretty, speedy and good fer all sorts o' things, especially if you're of a Split persuasion. You need Ion Disruptors to stun 'em though, and you also need a special piece o' hardware fer your ship, somethin' I think only the Split make. So, intent on capturin' a few o' these little buggers fer sale, maybe, I loaded Tools up with one o' the Ions I've got in storage and then jumped it over to Thuruk's Beard for a Spacefly Collector. Feelin' kind o' flush again with nearly 7 million credits in my account I picked up a Mk1 turbo booster 'n' all. This thing basically triples the speed o your ship fer a short period o' time, burnin' either energy cells, or usin' power from the ships shield generator to feed the speed boost. And there's another fuel source, that the Split like to keep under wraps.

Spaceflies. Only problem was, by the time Tools had caught up with me to bring me everythin' I needed, all the frakkin' flies had disappeared. I'm not impressed. Maybe they're smarter'n I gave 'em credit fer? Still, it's not been a complete waste o' money. Next time I spy a few spaceflies I'll have the tools aboard to snag 'em. Fer now though I bounce to Spaceweed Grove 'n' look fer, you guessed it, hackers.

The first thing I notice when I hit the sector is a large group o' fighters centred around a Brigantine. All o' which are flaggin' friendly to me. I'm guessin' those couple o' big payin' jobs I took fer 'em yesterday has gotten the clans well and truly on side. So I cruise on across the sector, and spot a Split hacker at one o' the weed factories who's willin' to snag me dockin' rights at the Anarchy Port next door! So I line up on the west gate and hit the turbo, shuttlin' along at an awesome 405m/s! I only let it burn fer a few moments though. I wanna save my cells in case I need 'em.

Arrivin' in Loomanck's it's lookin' like I've still got a problem. Much like the Brennan's base the lasertowers, and more importantly the orbital weapons platform homebased to the port, are all still flaggin' hostile to me. Bollocks. After the difficulty I had gettin' Metatron through the towers in Brennan's I'm not overly confident that I'd get through that lot, plus the mines and the rocks, in less than several pieces. I ain't sure what I can do about that. It's not all bad news though. As I close on the two friendly stations and get into comms range I find another hacker and he snags me access to the IBL forge. Maybe if I can find one last hacker fer the PBG forge the towers'll turn...

Yeah, I know. Wishful thinkin'. Meh.

I start headin' fer the south gate with the intention of checkin' Mi Ton's fer another hacker, but I pulled up halfway when I noticed this lot idlin' on the far side of it. Why would the Khaak just be sittin' there, 15 klicks beyond the gate?

I wonder if they know they're in a minefield? Heh.

I was about to launch a remote guided warhead at the cluster when this feller dropped through the gate and caught my attention. I prob'ly wouldn't o' paid him any attention, but he had these in his hold. Shiny. Priorities force me to deal with the cluster first though, so I launch the RGW, and head after that Split while my missile does it's job. The Split's quick though, and has well and truly outpaced me, so I short jump to the east gate, ready to intercept. A passin' Paranid mineral freighter catches my eye while I'm waitin', so I lay into him. Sweet. I send that off to the Spaceweed Grove tradin' station and carry on layin' doggo till my mark gets into range. I manage to convince him to part with most o' the hammerheads, but then he tossed somethin' fairly big into the mix, which got caught in the crossfire. He died in a brief but impressive explosion, 'n' I got my shields knocked down to 34% He did leave me these though.

With the goodies stowed I head down into Mi Ton's. There's no hackers, but I do get a job offer to protect the Rehabilitation Facility. I might be needin' it in the future, so I agree to the job.

Oi. Awww, man! And I was gettin' on so well with the Teladi. Bollocks!

Decidin' that the Peregrine is the bigger threat, I close on him first, rakin' him with PRG fire. His shields go down suprisin'ly quick, and just as I was about to switch to EBCs fer a quick kill the pilot bailed! Score! Before I can claim it though I need to deal with the Osprey, and he's a mite pissed at me cos I just stole his buddy's ship. As a result he's lobbin' huge white gobs of pain in my direction, so I start strafin' and rollin', always with a bead on him, always poundin' his shields, then suddenly makin' the switch and shatterin' his hull.

As the ship finally pops I pull up and cut the engines. That was quite a tough scrap, and my shields are barely in double figures. I haven't taken any damage though, so I cruise on over to the abandoned bomber and claim it. I call in Tools to transfer some energy across and am about to give it my jumpdrive fer the trip home, only it doesn't need it. Awww yeah! That's the kind o' claim I like. So I jump her to Aladna Hill and send Tools after her. I've got all the shields and missiles I'll need to get her up and runnin', so I think a quick weldin' session, software and upgrades will have her ready fer field testin'.

Whilst I've been busy sortin' out the bomber, the Harrier's stacked against the side o' the station, nettin' me a pay-off and clearin' my mission sheet. Not fer long though, as there's a convoy hit awaitin' me. Sacred Relic's Paranid turf, and I'll have to fly across a core sector to get there. It's over 500k if I waste both ships though, so I take the contract. It's what I do, ya know?

So I start cruisin' down towards the south gate, and take a look at my status. Oh dear. From 'Majority Shareholder' to 'Profit Liability' in a single mish. Bugger. I guess tomorrow I'd better work to get the Teladi back on side. Fer now I concern myself with survivin' whatever military might the Paranid Empire might have waitin' fer me in Cardinal's Domain.

It's not actually that bad as I turn east and slide quietly across the sector. About the same time that I pick up the gate to Sacred Relic I notice an Odysseus battlegroup comin' up from the south, and the orbital platform has started lobbin' banshee missiles in my direction. Well, I never was expectin' to be greeted with open arms, so I short jump to the east gate, spin on my heel and flick the sector the bird as I hit the event horizon.

My 2 marks are immediately in scan range, so I sneak up slag 'em both fer my pittance. I don't much fancy crossin' Cardinal's again, so I'm gonna jump back to Moo-Kye's, but since I'm down this way I'm gonna scout as far as Interworlds, the back door into Argon space.

As I'm crossin' the sector lookin' fer the east gate though, two wings of customs and border control M3s take a pop at me! Four on 1 just ain't fair, so I boost away from the first group and come about behind 'em. PRG fire cripples 'n' then kills the first Perseus, and I launch a banshee at short range to bring down the second. Then the second wing are on me, so I boost away again, launching banshees at both as I go. One goes down, the second has his shields dropped, and by the time I've reached him my PRGs rip him to bits.

Aar!

That's the last o' the excitement though, and once I've picked up the east gate I slide though into Interworlds. I scout as far as the north gate and then bounce back to Moo-Kye's. I dunno, maybe somethin' was callin' to me, maybe some instinct. More likely it was just plain luck, but whichever way I landed almost right on top o' this. PRG diplomats at the ready we opened negotiations.

Yes! It's only a Manta, but it's my second TP. Now. We're. Cookin!

I call Tools in fer some jump fuel, but unlike the bomber earlier this'n came without a jumpdrive, so I'm gonna have to give it mine. I quickly shunt it over, beam cells across from the Caiman and bounce both o' them out quick like, on account o' the Nemesis patrol that popped through the gate. They're headin' north though, so I turn west and make fer Desecrated Skies.

It's not long before I spot a Boron weapons dealer with a brace o' HEPTs in his hold, so I give him and tap and demand he cough up. So I call Tools in to start collectin' that lot and start movin' north lookin' fer more targets. I've got a long flight up through the Paranid border ahead o' me, so I might as well amuse myself whilst I can. Only I don't get to, because a frakkin' Deimos shows up down by the east gate. Luckily Tools has already collected most o' the loot, so I bounce her back home and carry on north.

Once I hit Perdition's End I have to dodge around a passin' Nemesis patrol group, but that's all fer the sector, allowin' me to move unchallenged into Redemption. As I'm reachin' the halfway point o' the system I consider turnin' north and cuttin' through Gunne's, but Rolk's Legacy is a core sector, and I'm all out o' jumpdrives. Instead I carry on west into Clarity's, where the lack of military patrols in Redemption starts makin' a horrible sense. Yikes!

Cuttin' 'em all a very wide berth I clear the sector and wind up back in the open space o' Hatikvah's Faith. I'm gettin' tired now though, so I skip across the sector and dock up at the Aladna tradin' station. It's been a long day, what with all the huntin' and piratin'. I'm no closer to findin' Ferret, but that's cool. With a bit o' luck the defences in Loomanck's will get taken out and I can probe a li'l deeper. Or maybe I can take Creed and see if she can survive. Hmm. Not tomorrow though, I think I'll be spendin' the day gettin' the Teladi back on an even keel.

Fer now though, I'm goin' to the bar.

Assets:

'Violent Tendencies' – Skate
Fully Tuned
3x 25 Mj Shield
4x PRG
4x EBC
2x PAC

'Assassin's Creed' – Mamba
'Tools o' the Trade' – Caiman
'Small Fry' - Octopus
'The Metatron' – Hermes
Peregrine
Mamba
Discoverer
Manta

Demeter x2
Demeter Miner
Demeter Hauler

Demeter Super Freighter – Storage
Demeter Super Freighter XL – Storage

3,004,826 Credits

[Timsup2nothin]

Well done. A bomber and the second transport is a good day's work. Wren has good karma...of course she isn't exactly building up points for her next life.

[Kirlack]

Well done. A bomber and the second transport is a good day's work. Wren has good karma...of course she isn't exactly building up points for her next life.

Thanks mate. I was rather chuffed with finally getting the bomber And the second TP will just make things so much easier lol. As a professional killer for hire though, Wren's not exactly the spiritual type, ya know?

Chapter 8: Killin' fer a livin'

Rawr. I'm gonna stop drinkin'. I swear my hangovers are gettin' worse. Mind you, after the madness o' yesterday I really did need that drink. What's worse, I'm goin' to be spendin' the first part o' the mornin' hangin' my sexy booty out in a spacesuit while I patch the new captures. Maybe only havin' the suit fer protection will help clear my head a bit?

I start off by weldin' up the Manta, with the intention o' spendin' the night on it tonight. With that fixed up I dock it back to the tradin' station and hop into Creed's cockpit. I stripped all o' the gear out o' Tendencies' bay last night, but I was in somethin' o' a rush to get beer down my throat, so I left settin' the Mamba up until this mornin'. Since I've got plans to be gettin' the lizards back on side I'm takin' my two PBEs, fer a spot o' general piracy, and 6 MDs plus a boatload o' ammo. And when I say a boatload, I mean close to 11 thousand rounds. Yeah, that's right, I'm lookin' to kill some folks today. I've also got my three hammerheads in the bay. Fer emergencies like.

Once Creed was all sorted I flew on over to the military outpost, where I've docked my Peregrine and the 2 Demeters so they're not takin' up dockin' slots at the tradin' station. I'm not gonna worry about the Demeters, but I want my bomber operatin' at peak efficiency, so I get her out into open space and get weldin'. It actually takes a surprisin'ly long time to get her patched all the way on account o' her rather thick skin.

So, with my new ships all ship-shape I head out into Hatikvah's. I'm barely out o' the gate when I spot a Boron tech runner makin' fer Split territory and move to intercept. I was expectin' him to be carryin' chips, or maybe some computer components, but when I scan him I get a nice li'l surprise. A dose o' PBE diplomacy gets him to cough up his cargo, so I call Tools in to collect while I move north lookin' fer my next mark. It's not long before I spot a Paranid weapons dealer with a brace o' PPCs in his hold, and again my PBEs force him to give up the loot. So far so good. Who's next? Ah, a Paranid energy trader, who fer some reason's carryin' a whole bunch o' spaceweed? Odd, but I ain't gonna argue, and once more PBE diplomacy snags me the goods. Not bad fer a few minutes work eh?

I leave Tools to finish collectin' the swag and slide across the event horizon into Thuruk's. My plan is to run from Company Pride up to at least Blue Profit lookin' fer work, so when I spot a patrol mish on offer from the local chip plant I jump at the oppo'tunity. Now, you might remember that a few days ago I was involved in a minor shunt with a Khaak corvette, whilst patrollin' this very sector. Well, looks like the bugs wanted a rematch I reckon I could prob'ly take one, what with Creed bein' all proper armed these days, but those two frakkers are stickin' close together. Luckily by the time I've caught up to 'em, one's broken off to deal with a whole bunch o' fighters over by the west gate, so I let rip on the other'n with my mass drivers. Despite stayin' right in tight behind him he's still rippin' my shields to bits with his turret, so once I've drilled a whole load o' holes in him I boost away to let my shields recharge. Once they're back at a more reasonable level I close back in on the frakker and this time I manage to get the drop on him and tear him up good 'n' proper.

One down, one to go. It's lookin' like the locals and some traders have gotten into the ruck though, as he's takin' fire from all quarters as I close the gap, and moments later he's gone up in a pretty li'l explosion. With the sector clear o' bugs I get the go ahead to move into Company Pride fer the next stage. This is where I hopefully pick up a few bonus points with the Teladi. So I slip across the gate and start nosin' around lookin' fer the next wave o' bugs, but while I'm busy doin' that I spot a couple o' jobs on offer. And oh boy are they just exactly what I was lookin' fer. The first job is gonna pit me against a Yaki warlord flyin' a Centaur up in Blue Profit. The second is a pirate hit, over in Greater Profit, and this time my mark's in an Osprey. I'm short on time fer both jobs though, so I jump to BP lookin' fer my first target.

Hmm. That's quite a lot o' fighter backup he's totin' around with. That's cool though, cos ol' Wren bought some fat warheads along fer the ride! So I cue up a hammerhead 'n' let rip at one o' the li'l Raijin M4s. Trackin'...contact! I doubt the Yaki'll be too pleased, but frak 'em. The important thing to remember here is that I got paid, and the Teladi now consider me once more a 'Company Trader'. Woohoo!

Now though I need to get movin', as I'm down to just 8 minutes to reach Greater Profit and locate my second mark. I ain't got jump coordinates though, so I'm gonna have to burn some cells usin' the turbo booster or there's no way I'll make it. Besides, I kinda enjoy hurtlin' along at over 500m/s.

I finally make the gate and slip across, spottin' my mark a clean 25 klicks ahead o' me. I don't wanna risk the local military forces gettin' to the Osprey first, so again I put the booster through it's paces, and finally launch a hammerhead at one o' his Buster wingmen at the 10km mark. I'm down to a hair over 2 minutes to complete this job, so if my preferred alpha strike don't do it I'm gonna have to try 'n' finish him up close 'n' personal like. I don't need to worry though, as moments later the whole frakkin' wing goes up.

Note to self: get more hammerheads.

With the second job cleared, my rep amongst the Teladi is more or less back to evens, so I start cruisin' back down towards Company Pride to finish off the patrol mish. As I'm passin' through Ceo's Sprite though I get another high payin' hit fer a pirate flyin' a Peregrine up in Blue Profit. Well, I've got one last hammerhead in my bay, so why not? So I spin Creed on her heel and zip back through the north gate. My mark's flyin with a sizeable wing o' fighters but there's a Buster Hauler in with 'em, so I let fly at the 15km mark and sit back to watch the fireworks.

Only there aren't any. I dunno if the targetin' systems on that warhead were duff, or maybe it got shot down on the approach 'n' I missed it, but whatever happened the mark was still flyin' 'n' I was almost out o' time. Only one thing fer it then, mass drivers at the ready I shot in between all o' his mates and ripped him to shreds. As the last rounds hit home and the bomber exploded I started getting' missile warnin's and quickly angled Creed's nose fer the south gate, hittin' the turbo to give me a bit o'clear space. I doubt they'll follow me, so I slip back into Ceo's with my fat paycheck.

There's no more jobs showin' as I cross the sector and I was just about to head south into Company Pride, when it occurred to me that the bugs might have beaten me to it. So I checked the sector map to see if anythin' was in range o' my nav-sat...only to find 2 more Khaak corvettes idlin' by the north gate. I don't much fancy droppin' in right on top o' them though, so I drift down to the Ceo's south gate and bounce Tools up to meet me and drop off some energy cells. With some jump fuel under my hood I bounce to the CP east gate, where it seems things aren't as bad as they'd looked. The Teladi have fielded a sizeable force to settle the Khaak, so I let the Shrike and his escorts tango with the two M6, while I close on the lone fighter. It only takes a few seconds o' PBE fire to turn him to shrapnel, and then I spot a small wing o' Interceptors comin' up from the south end o' the sector. I catch up to 'em by the tradin' station, and like their bigger buddy a short burst o' PBE fire wins the day. That clears the sector and I get the ok to head north again fer round 3.

Right.

Back into Ceo's and I can immediately see two more corvettes up by my nav-sat. The local military Shrike soon takes care o' them though, and then another one point jumps in a few klicks behind me. Now that's just not polite. You don't see me point jumpin' in on top o' Khaak sectors do ya? No. So whilst he's faffin' about with some o' the local traders I close on him and demonstrate some better manners. Now that has the desired effect and I've finally gotten my rep with the lizards back where it was before the convoy hit yesterday screwed me.

That clears the sector o' hostiles, and a quick duck into Blue Profit completes the mission, nettin' me a tidy 900k credits and a big ol' boost to my Split rep. Sweet! In fact that gets me back to 'Distinguished Associate', and that means I can buy the 2 PBEs currently in stock at the Thuruk's Beard equipment dock! Bonus!

I send Tools to grab those fer me whilst I blaze over to Aladna Hill. Now I've managed to sort my rep out, and earn a tidy sum o' cash into the bargain, I think I'm gonna head back down towards Loomanck's and lay out some satellites. I've been regularly snappin' 'em up whenever they're available from the Aladna military outpost, and they might prove useful fer findin' Ferret. So, loaded up with my four shiny PBEs, four EBCs and enough ammo to seriously hurt....somethin', I jet back out into Hatikvah's. I really wasn't plannin' on any more piratin' today...

No seriously, I wasn't!

Ok, so maybe it's in my blood or somethin'. Considerin' my parents, and I use the word in the loosest possible term, that's prob'ly not likely. Meh. Long story. Ask me another time yeah? Anyways, I was headin' across Hatikvah's on my way to Clarity's End, when I spot a lone Paranid military fighter. He's not registerin' any homebase, so either he's imperial secret service and not doin' a very good job o' hidin' it, or he's lost his convoy, which is prob'ly more likely. Either way when I saw him I was itchin' to see how quick 4 PBEs could rinse his shields, so I took a pop at him. As it turns out, 4 PBEs can strip shieldin' so frakkin' fast that he bailed!

I swiftly patch the hull damage and send her off to base before resumin' my course. As I'm skippin' across Clarity's though I come across another lone military fighter, so I'm thinkin' I was right about the lost convoy. I'm guessin' they took a pretty serious beatin', judgin' by their apparent lack o' morale. So that gets patched up 'n' all before I send it off home, and I break fer the gate into Redemption.

As soon as I drop out the far side I find myself face to face with the local supply Hercules. Actually nose to nose would be a better description. Now I ain't sure where the guns are on this beast, and we're so close that I'm not gonna be able to bank outta the way, so I'm either goin' under, or I'm goin' over. Figurin' I'd be takin' more fire goin' over, I shot underneath the huge disc, strafin' down and to port to give me some room. Seems that was the right call, as I didn't take any fire on my way past. And after that, dodgin' the Agamemnon roamin' the sector was easy.

I slipped across Perdition's without further trouble and wound up in Desecrated Skies. Now, I haven't really made mention of it, but I've been tryin' to bag a Paranid Medusa fer a while. While slower even than Tendencies, the Medusa has an extra 25Mj o'shields and, 'n' like the Mamba she can handle PBEs. So when I saw a weapons dealer in a Med with this lot in his hold I made the play fer it.

Oi.

I ain't sure how it happened, but I ended up right in front o' his burny burny death guns and had my shields flayed off in moments. Shit! I hit the booster and cut a wide circle around him to come at him from behind, lettin' my EBCs batter his hull whilst tryin' to dodge PAC fire from the rear turret. Eventually his ship fell apart, but I had managed to get him to cough up most o' the goods. Still, that was a bit too frakkin' close. A few more heartbeats o' PBG fire lickin' at my hull and I'd be toast. Literally.

I call Tools in to pick up my hard won and almost very costly loot, and swing towards the east gate lookin' fer more targets. A passin' military Nemesis gets my attention as I'm en route to the gate as he's on his own, so I slide in underneath him and watch in glee as PBE and EBC rounds wipe him out. Just as I'm duckin' out from the fireball that used to be an M6, a TM drops in through the gate and starts firin' on me. I'm not havin' that, so I rinse him, but not before he's launched his fighters, three M5s and a single Pericles Sentinel. The Pegs go up in PBE induced explosions, but the M4 pilot is wise enough to jump ship before it's too late. It only takes a few moments to patch the hull, but then I've got a problem. There's Paranid turf north 'n' south o' me, and pirate turf to the east. An M4 prob'ly ain't worth sacrificin' my jumpdrive fer, but there's no convenient stations I can send it to, so I opt fer the Rehabilitation Facility in Mi Ton's. I don't much fancy it's chances o' gettin' there though, on account o' the Agamemnon patrollin' through Moo-Kye's Revenge.

I'm in no position to do anythin' about the Aggy though, so I leave my Pericles on autopilot and skip on into Mi Ton's myself. I'm not even halfway across the system when I get a warnin' message that one o' my ships is under attack. Oh well, no huge loss. I drop a nav-sat just above the rehab base and press on into Loomanckstrat's. Things haven't changed in the sector since yesterday though, and the OWP and it's attendant lasertowers are all still hangin' around. Bollocks.

It's not all bad news though. As I'm passin' the Anarchy Port a Paranid pirate offers me a job. Urgh. Convoy hit. In Ceo's Doubt no less. The money's too good to pass on though, so if it's a Teladi convoy I'm just gonna have to accept another dose o' bad karma with the lizards. So I slip on through the north gate and pick up my marks over by one o' the SPPs. My Teladi marks. Right. If at all possible I wanna do this without incurrin' a massive rep hit, and I've found a hammerhead somewhere along the line. There's a Dolphin Tanker tucked up in that li'l convoy, so I bracket it and let fly. A short kaboom later and I get paid my 3.7 million cred. The best bit though, is that it hardly cost me any rep with the Teladi at all.

Aar!

Since I'm so close to Ianamus Zura I head north, through New Income and drop another nav-sat by the IZ equipment dock. They might have some interestin' tech available, and I'm gonna need a source o' EBC ammo. With that in mind I slip into Eighteen Billion 'n' all and leave one by the military outpost. I did consider slippin' across X-347 to drop a satellite in PTNI, but honestly I'm not sure Creed would make it, even with the turbo booster, so instead I head back through IZ and into Homily of Perpetuity. My intention was to head on down to the Acquisition pirate base to drop another nav-sat, but on my way through I got a call.

From a Boron.

I'm a bit loathe to take it fer two reasons. One, it's a squiddy contract, and they're not my biggest fans at the minute. Two, I've killed quite a few pirates today already, 'n' I'm not sure how much more o' that my rep with the clans can take. It is a tidy sum o' cash though, 'n' I think in the end greed overrode common sense. So I took the job and used the last o' my jump fuel to reach the Acquisition south gate, where my mark 'n' his buddies are lurkin'.

Bollocks. Three bombers can dispense an awful lot o' warheads, and I'm all out o' my own thermonuclear goodness. Even if I had another hammerhead in my bay there's no conveniently placed M4 I could target, so I'm gonna have to do this the hard way.

Bringin' Creed up to full burn I shoot on in between the M8s, pull into a parallel course to the Centaur and start strafin' around it as my PBEs eat into his shields. I'm forced to roll every couple o' seconds, just a few degrees each time, but it keeps the vast majority o' his HEPT and CIG fire from hittin' me. My energy banks bottom out as his shields reach 20%, and I quickly switch to my EBCs. Chainguns don't do a lot o' shield damage though and by the time his are finally down I'm gettin' missile lock warnin's. As a load o' mossies shoot out to intercept the 'hawks, my rounds start penetratin' hull, and a few moments later my mark explodes 'n' I get paid.

Not wantin' to hang around whilst the bombers launch the rest o' their payload in my direction I boost away, puttin' several kilometres between me 'n' them in a matter o' seconds. I don't get any more missile warnin's as I bank around towards the pirate base, and that's prob'ly a good thing cos I 'm runnin' kinda low on mosquitoes.

Puttin' the Centaur's mates well behind me I take a look at my bank balance and discover somethin' odd. Seems as though all my sins against the Kingdom o' Boron have been forgiven. Now that's got oppo'tunity written all over it. If my sudden rise among the squids is the bonus though, my sudden lack o' support amongst the clans is the trade off. The base is still open to me, but suddenly I'm seein' hostile pirate wings...

And they're comin' my way. I don't fancy riskin' that the M3s are packin' PBGs, so I hit the turbo again and blaze into comms range o' the base, leavin' the pirates way behind me. Givin' the station's boards a quick once over leads me to a hacker, and I finally get access to the last o' the Loomanck's stations. That bodes well fer findin' Ferret, but fer today I think I'm done. I dock up at the base and make arrangements to spend the night on The Metatron. While I'm there I get some o' my more useless gear, namely all my Fragmentation Bomb Launchers and the stack o' aurora missiles, loaded from storage onto Tools, and then send my Caiman over to the Aladna military base to sell 'em off fer me. That nets me a couple more million credits, and I end the day with a huge amount o' money. I think this evenin' I'll be celebratin' with my mercs.

Assets:

'Assassin's Creed' – Mamba
Fully Tuned
2x 25 Mj Shield
4x PBE
4x EBC

'Violent Tendencies' - Skate
'Tools o' the Trade' – Caiman
'Small Fry' - Octopus
'The Metatron' – Hermes
Peregrine
Mamba
Perseus Vanguard
Perseus Raider
Discoverer
Manta

Demeter x2
Demeter Miner
Demeter Hauler

Demeter Super Freighter – Storage
Demeter Super Freighter XL – Storage

17,291,897 Credits

[Timsup2nothin]

I really wasn't plannin' on any more piratin' today...

No seriously, I wasn't!

Hard to imagine how much pirating Wren would get done if she actually planned on pirating!

[Kirlack]

Lol. I was genuinely considering calling the chapter 'Rock Anthem Party' (Ev'ry day I'm piratin')

[Timsup2nothin]

Lol. I was genuinely considering calling the chapter 'Rock Anthem Party' (Ev'ry day I'm piratin')

Wren's Theme

Some days won't end ever, and some days pass on by.
I'll be working here forever, at least until I die.
Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't.
I'm supposed to get a raise next week, you know damn well I won't.

Killin' for a livin' (killin')
Killin' for a livin' (killin')
Killin' for a livin', livin' and a killin'
I'm taking what they're givin' 'cause I'm killing for a livin'.


------------Apologies to Huey Lewis and the News

[Nathancros]

aahahahahahah oh god, my stomach hurts, nice one tims! i think i lost my chips!!!!


keep going kir am loving the humor and loving how things are going!

[Libelnon]

*emerges from far-too-long lurking spree*

Kirlack!

This story does not have enough Teladi Assassins involved. Please rectify this. Huritas should make her return!

In other news, I'm back.

*submerges*

[Kirlack]

Wren's Theme

keep going kir am loving the humor and loving how things are going!

Thanks Nate I'm really enjoying this one to be honest. Although, I'm noticing that writing out of character has become such a chore! Seriously, I have to try to stop myself slipping into writing with Wren's accent

Kirlack!

This story does not have enough Teladi Assassins involved. Please rectify this. Huritas should make her return!

In other news, I'm back.

Dude! Long time no see man Good to have you back. I miss Huritas too, and Sam, Thane, Baritone...all of them. Once this one's done I might start a sequel to Po8, we'll see. I don't want to get my universes crossed though

Chapter 9: I will have my vengeance!

Frak me. My mercs are a right raucous lot! Between 'em all comin' 'n' goin' last night either on their way to the bar, or headed out fer the next trainin' course, I really didn't get a lot o' sleep. I wouldn't mind, but after my killin' spree yesterday I expect there's still a lot o' angry pirates roamin' the trade lanes. So I could really do with bein' on my toes today. Meh. Frak 'em. I think I've proven my mettle by now. Even Daye Bro was showin' me some proper respect.

So, kind o' weary after listenin' to that lot fightin' 'n' drinkin' after I went to bed, I woke up this mornin' in somethin' of a bad mood. Not a 'get the frak out o' my way or I'm gonna shoot ya' kinda mood, more an 'oi meat-head...bang' kind o' mood. Yeah. With that in mind 'n' not really wantin' to kill any o' my guys before their first op, I skipped on breakfast, took a hot shower and hopped back into Creed's cockpit.

My plans fer today are to try 'n' exploit my new-found friendship with the Boron, and as ever, try to pick up Ferret's trail. Slippery little shit's had me roamin' half the known universe lookin' fer his sorry ass. At least it's given me time to think about what's gonna happen to him when I find him...

Ahem. Sorry. Bad night's sleep, ya know?

On my way out o' the station I check in on my guy's trainin' rota. Some o' them are comin' along nicely, so hopefully by the end o' today I should have at least one or two ready fer ops. The rest are all draggin' their heels though, so I expect at least another two days o' trainin' before I'm properly ready fer a boardin' attempt.

I get about halfway across the system before the pirates start comin' out o' their holes. I want to avoid killin' any o' the rank 'n' file if I can help it though. For one thing it'll potentially make the local base angry, and with all o' my mercs trainin' there it'd turn into a major hassle. For another my finely tuned senses are suggestin' that the clans are already a mite pissed about my activities recently, so I'm needin' to tread careful like. So I cut those boys a wide berth and slipped through the south gate into Spaceweed Grove.

As I'm crossin' the sector I spot a Boron freight transporter, only he's flaggin' hostile to me. Hey, I thought we were all friends now? Maybe he didn't get the memo? So, rather than shoot at him, as I would on any normal day. I give him a courtesy call...

And wind up apologisin'.

Gah. It's enough to make ya feel sick ain't it? Still, he accepted it without a moments hesitation, so maybe I can get away with headin' into Boron turf and lookin' fer work. I wanna try 'n' make a stop in Loomanckstrat's first though. With all four o' the stations open to me I'm gonna try to get close enough that I can use the dockin' computer. I've got a sneakin' suspicion there's a clear path through the minefield between the east gate and the nearest station, the PBG forge.

So I cruise across the sector, slow enough that I won't crash into a whole tonne o' mines without bein' able to stop, and fast enough that it doesn't take ferever. There's no bangs or bumps on the way in, and by the time I'm in dockin' range the lasertowers still haven't started twitchin'. Moments later and I'm greeted with a cheerful welcome, and take the oppo'tunity to snag 2 more PBGs. Whilst they're bein' installed I think I'm gonna grab some breakfast at the li'l café here, and listen in on the local gossip.

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

The café was a dump. Grime and litter covered the floor, and as the assassin stepped between two of the small tables she thought she could see more than a few broken teeth underfoot. She slid her plate gently onto a table by the rear wall, away from the few working lights in the joint, and settled into the plas-steel chair. From there she could see the counter, where the little old chef was arguing with one of his patrons, most of the rest of the vacant tables and the single door that led into an elevator and back down to the docking clamps.

Wren was almost halfway through her chelt when she saw him, the lean, tall form stepping out of the door. A wry smile cracked her face as she caught his eyes, hidden under the wide brimmed hat he always wore, and they nodded to one another. Small, almost imperceptible nods. The newcomer walked to the counter, his duster flowing around his legs as he stalked the distance, ordered two coffees and headed for her table.

“Hello Wren.” He greeted her, the smooth quiet voice carrying a soothing tone. She looked up at him, took in the craggy face hidden beneath the hat, the dark grey eyes and thick white beard that betrayed his age. Her gaze flicked down, noted the cup in his outstretched hand, and the pistol at his hip.

“Watchman.” She acknowledged, taking the offered coffee and motioning with her free hand for him to sit. “It's been a long time. Still huntin' bounties?”

“Wouldn't do anything else girl.” He replied, flicking his duster to one side as he sat. He fixed her with a serious look. “Neither would you. Only difference in what you and I do, is that I bring them in alive. That ain't really your forte.”

“Anthony,” she said, cocking her head at him slightly. “it's not like you to make social calls. Or small talk. What do you want?”

“Straight to the crunch eh Wren? Damn, you never change do you?” The old man smiled, shaking his head slightly. “Alright. Word is you were the one who nailed Krakonmosslat up in Aladna Hill last week. That so?”

“You askin' out o' professional pride mate? Or are you lookin' to take in the perp fer the Boron firin' squads?”

The Watchman grinned. “Would you believe 'none of the above'?” he said, shaking his head. “No Wren, I'm asking because information like that, after a job like that, comes from one of two places.” He paused, leaning both elbows on the table and moving his face close to hers. “Either the killer, or whoever hired them.”

She held his eye for several heartbeats before they both backed up. “Ferret.” She hissed angrily.

The old man nodded. “I thought as much. When word got around that you'd been seen down this way he cut out of here double quick. Try the Anarchy Port girl. I'm thinkin' he's been there in the last couple of days.”

She was up and halfway to the door before he could say another word. She paused, then turned to look at him. Before she could ask, he told her.

“Nobody like a rat girl. Go get that weasel.”

With a nod, she was gone.

Anthony Lange smiled, pulled his duster tight about him, and finished his coffee in peace.

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

So, fresh from my impromptu meetin' with 'The Watchman', I undocked from the forge. The Anarchy Port's already in range o' my dockin' computer, so moments later I was headin' at full tilt onto the station's main promenade. Where I came across Tank...

Now, I've known Raatankonlit pretty much my whole life. He's practically part o' my family. Course, that begged the question o' why the frak he's all the way down here instead of up in Nathan's Voyage with Ripper and the rest o' his crew.

“Stuck here, days have I been! Weed delivery await I must.”

“Mate, tell me you've seen Ferret. Neol Jerigan, li'l Argon prick.”

“Ferret? Yesterday left did he, to Veil of Delusion headed.”

I could o' frakkin' kissed him. I didn't o' course. He might be family, but he's a Paranid, ya know? As I turned and headed back fer the docking clamps I shouted a partin' message to Tank.

“Tell Ripper 'n' the boys I'll pop in 'n' see 'em soon, yeah?”

Veil o' Delusion. Shit. That's a long ol' flight. And if he knows I'm comin' he prob'ly won't hang about fer long. But I think I've got a card to play that he ain't even thought about. See, it must o' been Ferret that ratted me out to the Boron and the Paranid after that hit. Right now he thinks hidin' down in Veil's gonna put a whole helluva lot o' both races hardware between me 'n' him.

Only now I'm all pals with the squiddies again. I think I've got a plan.

I undock from the Anarchy Port and start moving out into the trade lane. I'm about halfway there before the OWP spots me, and then it started lobbin' banshees at me. I'm faster'n they are though, so I just bring Creed up to full burn and slide across the event horizon into Ceo's Doubt. As I'm crossin' the sector I get an offer fer a hit, but the pay was poxy 'n' I'm tryin' to get on the Boron's good side, so I declined. I was pretty nervous crossin' into Great Trench, as last time I was here I atomized a bunch o' freighters under the nose o' the local military Ray, but it seems I've been well and truly fergiven.

So I meander across the sector, lookin' fer work, but there's nobody here wantin' anyone made dead, so I drift on into Rolk's Legacy. Halfway across the sector I spot two hits on offer from one o' the local stations. Although the first pays frak all, I take it in the hope o' nettin' some rep with the fish. The other one pays a li'l better, but it's still well below what I'm used to gettin' paid. Still, it'll get me what I need, so I take 'em both.

I fly back over to Great Trench to find my first mark, but he's on the far side o' the sector so I'm forced to short jump over there and catch him from behind. I'm not carryin' my preferred hammerhead alpha strike today, so I'm gonna have to shred him quick like. Thankfully 4 PBEs can rip shields proper handy like, and my EBCs and newly bought PBGs soon melted his hull. His mates were none too sharp either, and as he went up in a li'l cloud o' plasma I prepped the jumpdrive back to Rolk's. They hadn't even covered his back, man! When I pick up a crew o' my own, they're gonna be people I can rely on, ya know?

I land at the Rolk's west gate, spin a quick 180 and blast into Lucky Planets. Not so lucky fer me today it seems, as I landed right on top o' my mark and his mates. It happened so fast I don't think they had time to react. My PBEs rinsed his shields in a matter o' heartbeats, and then EBC and PBG broke him apart and scorched the remains. Not wantin' to hang about in case his buddies catch on to what the frak just happened, I spin again and slide back across the gate into Rolk's.

As I'm cruisin' across the sector I notice a whole load o' spaceweed floatin' free near one o' the mines. Thinkin' it'll come in handy fer keepin' the clans happy I call in Tools to pick it up fer me while I make a deal with a government agent aboard the local satellite fab. Thinkin' that a patrol mish in a core sector would be easy, I decided to take a station defence job as I was cruisin' the sector.

Oi.

The Carrack and his pirate buddies are headed fer the crystal fab, whilst the Yaki are just on a general 'seek 'n' destroy' by the looks o' things. And they just all managed to show up at the same time. And where are all the local capitals?

Yeah. Conveniently absent. Which leaves me and a bunch o' freighters, who if we're all very lucky, might be carryin' a legion o' drones between 'em, to defend the sector.

Right. Only one thing fer it then. Reinforcements! My bomber's all tooled up and ready fer this sort o' thing so I give it the command to launch a single missile barrage at the Carrack. That should be more'n enough to end it pretty quick like, assumin' it doesn't shoot 'em all down. Thankfully the captain's not on the ball and a few moments later...

Hah! Chew on that!

With the M7 out o' the picture I jump my bomber back home, hook up with Tools fer a quick injection o' cells and some extra missiles, 'n' then send her on her way 'n' all. The rest o' the pirates attackin' the crystal fab prove fairly easy to handle, what with the M5s flyin' full burn into the dockin' clamps. Wildfire missiles thin out the M4s as I close to finish 'em off, and then it's just me and the roamin' band o' Yaki. Right.

As I close on the two Centaurs I start snappin' off banshee missiles. Enough land on one o' the M6 to drop his shields, and I start punchin' through him with EBC rounds as soon as I'm in range. His mate can't fire on me without hittin' him, so I keep on rollin' 'n' strafin' until finally he pops. With just the one left, and his shields low from my missiles, I rake him with a couple quick PBE bursts and then slag him with fire!

Pullin' up after the second Centaur goes down reveals a clear sector, but there's a few customs and border control fighters floatin' about now, so I guess they took care o' the Yaki fighters. Moments later I get paid fer my efforts and take a massive boost to my Boron rep. That ought to secure me some room down near Veil. Time fer me to head home and get my Disco up 'n' runnin'.

I slip through the north gate and into Montalaar with the intention o' headin' straight back to Aladna. Only, there was this Paranid tech runner flyin' a Falcon, and since I'm playin' nice with the Boron at the minute I've got nobody to shoot at. Except Paranid. Aar. He even left me his three 25 Mj shields! Then I spotted a feller carryin' a bunch o' thunderbolt missiles, and convinced him to part with 'em.

That's the last o' my good fortune though and I finally dock Creed at the Aladna tradin' dock. A quick swap around o' gear gets my Discoverer, 'Mostly Harmless', up to scratch. My planned route down to Veil o' Delusion is gonna take me through a lot o' Paranid sectors, so I've packed the Disco with some drones, mosquito missiles, and IREs as a last ditch survival tool. I've also got the Mk1 turbo booster, which should keep anythin' really nasty a long ways off. So I jet out into Hatikvah's and bank south into Clarity's End. As I'm crossin' the sector I catch a glimpse o' somethin' down by the east gate, but it was gone before I get a snap. What was it you ask?

One o' these.

Rare as rockin' horse shit accordin' to some, so I stick this one up on my monitor. Once my mercs have finished their trainin', if enough of 'em survive to be decent fighters I'll be comin' for you pal. I even managed to get a scan o' the Hyperion as I was crossin' Redemption, but then it started headin' my way, so I boosted out o' his range and carried on my way.

I cross Perdition's without incident, then get spotted by an Agamemnon in Desecrated Skies. He's got no hop o' catchin' me though, but the stubborn prick stays on my course the whole way across the sector, and then I vanish through the gate into Priest's Refuge. It's all quiet as I slip across the system and on into Spring o' Belief, but when I drop through the south gate into Unholy Descent I find myself practically nose to nose with an Agamemnon. Thankfully I can move faster'n his guns can track, so hittin' the turbo booster I speed away, cuttin' the local fighter pilots a wide berth 'n' all.

I blaze on into Consecrated Fire, anglin' Mostly Harmless north and on into Friar's Retreat. I'm gettin' close to the edge o' Paranid turf now, but there's still a heavily defended military sector between me and relative safety. Pontifex' Seclusion. It's not that bad though, as most o' the local ships seemed to be headin' fer the Carrack roamin' the middle o' the sector. I even managed to pick up an interestin' bit of info on my way past the military outpost. That's a shame, my mercs are still cookin'. But I think there's a couple o' bases down by Veil, so I might drop a couple o' satellites to keep tabs on the ships they've got out on manoeuvres.

So I carry on, south into Heaven's Assertion. East o' here is Split turf, so I know I'll be safe, but I wanna scope out the south end o' the sector. Rumour has it the Duke has his operation down here somewhere, so let's go and see if he's got anythin' to offer.

Yeah. Hot death in a variety o' flavours. I guess we won't be strikin' up any deals any time soon. At least the majority o' the pirates in his sector weren't hostile, so I must be on the right track. So I whipped Mostly around on it's heel and shot back up across Heaven's and on into Patriarch's Conclusion. As I was crossin' the system I came across a Split hacker who's managed to bag me dockin' rights down at Duke's! I reckon his boys won't be any more pleased to see me though, so I'll wait a while before I go in there again.

Fer now I cross the gate into Contorted Dominion, and drop a nav-sat near the military outpost. I quickly head south into Thyn's Excavation, and drop another satellite near the Strong Arms HQ, then cross the border into Faded Dreams, droppin' another nav-sat there on my way into Veil o' Delusion. I was all clear to the dock. I could smell him.

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

She stalked down the corridor towards the bar. The two goons outside glanced at her, nodded to one another...

And watched calmly as she strolled right past them. No pat down, no weapons check. She glanced at the human and raised an eyebrow in question.

“Nobody likes a snitch, ma'am.” He grunted quietly. “Ain't one person on this station gonna try stop you if you walk in there 'n' kill him.”

“He's here?” She hissed.

“Yes ma'am. Been braggin' all day about how he done set you up fer a big fall. 'O'ren Rock's done fer!' he was sayin' ma'am.

She stared at the man, hard, then glanced over her shoulder to the burly Split on the other side of the door. Ever noble, even in piracy, the warrior offered her a slow nod. ”Respect.” she thought to herself. She opened the door, just a crack, and immediately saw Ferret. The skinny rat of a man was sat, slumped across a table with a bottle of fuel in one hand and a huge spliff in the other. She did a quick head count, besides Ferret there were nine other people in the bar, and not a lot of cover. But she'd come this far, and she wanted her prize.

She drew her gun, and walked through the door. Nobody so much as batted an eyelid as she walked up to Ferret and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

“You li'l frakstain!” she roared, shoving her gun under his chin and pushing hard.

“Oh shit! Wren!” the suddenly sober and panicking Neol wailed.

“You're damn frakkin' right Wren! You thought you could get away with settin' me up like that you little prick? Huh?” She headbutted him, shattering his nose and spraying blood across both of them.

“P-p-p-please don't k-k-kill me Wren!” he wailed, spitting blood.

“Oh, I'm not gonna kill ya Ferret.” She headbutted him again, then as he reared back she brought a knee up hard into his groin. As he doubled over in pain she turned to the rest of the bar. “Does anyone have any objections to me takin' this piece o' filth out somewhere quiet 'n' shootin' him?” She grinned wildly. “Like a dog?”

When nobody said a word, she pistol whipped him hard enough to leave him unconscious, calmly bound and gagged him, and carried him back to the docking bay.

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

Now that felt good 'n' frakkin' satisfyin'. Ferret's well tied up in the back o' Mostly, and I'm gonna need to get him back to Argon space to really get my revenge. That's gonna have to wait till mornin' though, cos it's gettin' late. I don't much fancy hangin' around Veil in case Ferret does actually have some friends, anywhere, and they decide to come lookin' fer his sorry ass. Given my new-found status with the Boron I might go 'n' find somewhere quiet in their turf to spend the night. So I slip back into Faded Dreams and then east into Queen's Harbour, home o' the Atreus corporation.

They're more'n happy to rent me some o' their guest accommodation, so Neol and I are gonna spend an interestin' night together I reckon.

Man. What a day.

Assets:

'Mostly Harmless' – Discoverer
Fully Tuned
3x 1Mj shield
4x IRE

'Violent Tendencies' – Skate
'Assassin's Creed' - Mamba
'Tools o' the Trade' – Caiman
'Small Fry' - Octopus
'The Metatron' – Hermes
Peregrine
Mamba
Falcon
Perseus Vanguard
Perseus Raider
Manta

Demeter x2
Demeter Miner
Demeter Hauler

Demeter Super Freighter – Storage
Demeter Super Freighter XL – Storage

One VERY scared Ferret

18,752,236 Credits

[Timsup2nothin]

Seriously, I have to try to stop myself slipping into writing with Wren's accent

You mean you don't normally talk like that?

Great job by the way. I guess there's not much hope for Ferret.

[Kirlack]

Seriously, I have to try to stop myself slipping into writing with Wren's accent

You mean you don't normally talk like that?

Oh, I talk like it, most of the time. But I've trained myself to type well

Great job by the way. I guess there's not much hope for Ferret.

Mate, there was never any hope for Ferret