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

[Kirlack]

Later mate, if you can I'll be making a general announcement when O'ren's ready to start recruiting

And I am NOT recruiting Wingnut. OR Bingo

[Triaxx2]

Yeah, after a while it's annoying scraping the same guy off the windshield.

[Nathancros]

Dont worry, i got an idea thats dancing in my head. would be glad to kick his rear outta there, give me a shout when u want him. cant wait to see more action

[ruger44]

Took themn in a blastclaw prototype .Bit tough but never in a mamba.

[Kirlack]

Yeah it was...interesting, to say the least

But I'd like to point out, I didn't take either of them single handed. Both times I had back up, the Dragon for the first one and the Teladi M3 for the second. Had I not, this DiD might have been over before it really began. So my hanks to the Split military and the bravery of that one Teladi pilot!

[Kirlack]

Chapter 3: Zippidy Doo Da
 
(yawn)
 
Mornin'. Urk, my head feels like a dog shat in it. That's the last time I drink that much frakkin' whiskey. Had to try'n' blot out the image o' them Khaak though, ya know? After staggerin' out o' the bar at silly o'clock this mornin' I slept in the Hermes. Saves shellin' out fer a room. Made sure I'd proper booby trapped the airlock though. Cos a girl can never be too careful.
 
Actually, snaggin' the Hermes yesterday was a huge bonus, fer all kinds o' reasons. Firstly it gives me a bit o' storage space for any excess gear I might pick up, and that's somethin' I desperately needed. Secondly, bein' a personnel transport it can serve as a mobile home. There's quarters and facilities aboard which mean I can live outta the TP, which also means if my relationship with the Argon goes south I can just up sticks and move on. Finally, it'll be instrumental in gettin' me some trained psychopaths for boardin' operations. In fact, that should prob'ly be one o' my goals fer today.
 
So, once again nursin' cup after cup o' hot sweet coffee to beat off my ragin' hangover, I took a shower on the Hermes and even cooked myself some breakfast! Been a while since I've been able to do that. By the time I was done I felt a whole helluva lot better and started sortin' out some more pressin' business. I'm takin' Violent Tendencies out fer a test run today, and whilst I'm out 'n' about I've got plans for my other ships. Creed is gonna get fitted with some nav-sats so I can keep a remote eye on the stock levels at the local docks and military bases, while the Hermes is gonna pick me up a stock o' e-cells and mosquitos so I can top up as needed. That'll likely soak up the last o' my cred, so I'll be off lookin' fer work, or a few muppets I can tap up for their swag. I'm still gonna be needin' some proper storage, so TS class ships will be very much on the menu. I'm also gonna need to acquire myself a bioscanner if I'm gonna be hirin' mercs, and that means a trip right through pirate alley to the Terracorp HQ in Home o' Light. With this in mind I jet off into Hatikvah's.
 
I spend a good bit o' time bangin' on the hulls of' passin' Boron and Paranid freighters in a bid to force at least one o' 'em to bail, but no dice. They're all too happy to punt their fighter drones outta the airlock though, so it's a good thing I opted for PRGs. On the whole I'm rather impressed with Tendencies' capacity fer destruction. Despite bein' considerably slower'n Creed and havin' a fat ass to boot she's got meat where it counts and can clearly take a beatin' without fallin' apart. She can also lay out some savage punishment, and this honey's got some moves. Heh. I wonder if that's how my last lover woulda described me?
 
Eventually I get bored o' hittin' soft targets that ain't got nothin' worth stealin' and decide to play with some tech and weapons dealers. It's not long before I come across this lot and when I peak in his hold I find an Ion Disruptor and a smattering of PRGs. Expectin' at least some o' 'em to be equipped imagine my surprise when it turns out he's got a PAC and a pair o' IREs? So I lock up his escorts, rinse the lot and turn my guns on the Pleco while demandin' his cargo. Now that's a nice haul. There's not much point in me collectin' the Mass Driver ammo, seein' as how I ain't got the guns to use it, plus I'm workin' with limited storage space. So I grab the Ion 'n' the PRGs. I was about to swing north 'n' collect some o' them Banshees when I spot another Boron with more Ions. So I scoop them up, finally collect some o' the missiles and then spot an Octopus that bailed when I was shredding that Pleco's escort. As M5s go the Octopus is pretty damn quick, so I think I'll sell the Pegasus I picked up yesterday and use this'n fer my scout.
 
I go back to huntin' fer a bit which turns up exactly squat. I'm just thiknin' about movin' into Nopileos' when this guy shows up with a mother lode o' PACs in his hold. After a short convo which consisted of 'Oi mate! Yoink!' he coughed up every one o' 'em. By the time I'd scooped 'em all up Tendencies was almost stuffed to the gills with swag, but I was still huntin' fer a TS captain who was willin' to exchange the capacity to take another breath fer ownership o' his vessel. Since I'd had such luck in Nopileos' yesterday I made my way towards the west gate, when this lot show up down south o' the sector. I don't much fancy tanglin' with that many fighters, plus the bombers and the M6, so I slipped across the event horizon.
 
Quite comfortably cruisin' across NM 'n' takin' pot-shots at the odd freighter, I'm just hittin' the mid point of the sector when the Nemesis and his pals creep through the east gate. I'm none too concerned seein' as they're 20 klicks away, but then I spot a load o' red blips up in front o' me 'n' all.
 
Crap. Not wantin' to get caught between two hostile war bands I spin 90 degrees starboard and pitch the nose up to give yon battlegroups some clear space. The Nemesis group make their way outta the sector first, bein' a mite faster than the Heavy M6, but as the second group nears the east gate I start closin' the gap. I'm not plannin' to take 'em all on, but since they've forced me outta the trade lanes I'm gonna remind the Paranid why they don't like me. I let the M6 go first and it's swiftly followed by it's fighter wing. In typical Paranid military doctrine though, the M8s hover at the gate, preppin' for a jump to the next sector. Waste o' bloody energy cells if you ask me, but no one thought to. Odd.
 
I hit the first hard, hammerin' his shields down in a matter o' heartbeats with my quad PRGs. As rounds start bitin' into his hull I comm him 'n' demand he surrender, but the stubborn prick's havin' none o' that and I'm forced to gank him. The second jumps out before I can reach him, but he's clearly now holdin' up the gate queue as the last'n is still hoverin'. So I lay into him 'n' all and give him the same deal I've been offerin' to folk all mornin': Surrender or die. It's a pretty simple choice, but I'm guessin' the three eyes don't teach basic survival in their temples, and I'm forced to waste him too. At least I got a few nukes fer my effort.
 
So I get back to preyin' on all manner of weapons and tech traders fer a bit, and rackin' up some more loot in the sector. I'm all outta space now though, so I call in Creed to pick up a few choice missiles. While I've been shootin' up the sector she's laid out satellites at OTAS, the military outposts at Aladna and Ceo's and the EqDs in Light o' Heart, Thuruk's Beard and Company Pride. Now I can keep an eye on what's in stock and buy most o' the gear I might be needin'. While she's busy packin' up swag I make a play fer a Paranid energy freighter.
 
Score! Now that'll def'nitely sort out my storage problem. I know it's risky, but I send her off without patchin' her up. The hulls on TS are reasonably thick, and gettin' it fixed up would leave me out in the cold fer frakkin' ages. If she can make it back to Aladna Hill then I can start relaying some o' the swag I'm baggin' and even clear a bit o' room on the Hermes. And considerin' the loot cloggin' up the system I'm gonna need it!
 
Leavin' Creed to work I slip through the west gate and run into a Boron Angel and it's Hydra bodyguard. Wantin' to see how Tendencies compares to Creed after hittin' that one in Thuruk's Beard yesterday I shredded the Hyrda's two fighter mates first and pulled in under the M6 to riddle it with PRG fire. The shields are gone before my generator's even down to 30%, and then switchin' to the EBCs finished it in no time. Havin' a clear shot fer the Angel I blaze into it, but again, no luck. Frakkin' Boron. All I want is the ship, if they'd just gimme it I'd leave 'em alone!
 
......
 
That last part's prob'ly not true. Nevermind.
 
I catch up with a passing weapons trader and convince him to part with some very nice guns includin' a brace o' HEPTS and a load of FBLs that I can snag, and then get a call from the Rehab Facility fer a convoy hit. Cool man, I can use 400k right now. My four targets are makin' their way from Clarity's End to Thuruk's, so I figure I'll catch up to 'em either in Paranid turf of in Hatikvah's, so no worry about rep loss with the Split. Not that I'm really bothered, but they got some nice tech I can buy right now. Still, if I fall outta their good graces I can just stick 'em on the piratin' list and get my goods that way. All's fair in love 'n' piracy.
 
I take the slow flight down towards Clarity's which gives my freighter a chance to get to the trading dock with the Hermes, and Creed plenty o' time to hoover up all those yummies litterin' Danna's and Nopileos'. My targets turn out to be a group of Split. In some very slow ships. They were still idlin' in the middle of Clarity's when I arrived. When I spotted the Dolphin Hauler in the middle of the group it all made sense. Right, best way to handle this lot is a fat warhead. Luckily I have a hammerhead in my bay. It only killed three o' them freighters, I had to finish the last'n up close, but it had been proper singed by the explosion. Job done and I get a message and 400k to pad out my bankroll a bit.
 
As I'm cruisin' back towards Hatikvah's I switch some o' the collected gear around. All my excess energy cells, weapons and missiles have been shifted to the Demeter, while anythin' I'm not gonna use, firelance missiles, FBLs, cyclones, all get shifted into Creed's bay and sold at the military base, nettin' me a nice wedge o' cash. That'll go a long way to nettin' me some mercs. And I've already got a ship and the weapons for attemptin' ops...
 
Life is good. It's about to get better. I head back to Aladna to offload some o' the hardware I've looted, replenish my ammo supply and pick up a few more choice missiles. I've got 11 fighter drones now, so I'm gonna take 10 o' 'em along in case things get hairy. I got enough jump fuel to get 5 sectors away in a hurry and a few mossies to keep my ass clear o' enemy bombs. Now I've got the TS I need to get the rest o' the way to the Argon core worlds for some tech. A transporter device or two would make scavvin' a shitload easier than relay jumpin' Creed.
 
I jump as far as Danna's and run into a Boron with some very tasty lookin' missiles. So I give him a good tap on the shoulder and say 'Mate, gimme them bombs or I'll shred your little ship'. He happily complies and then I shred him anyway. Never leave an enemy at your back. I scoop up most o' the warheads and call Creed in fer the rest whilst I slip through the north gate into Brennan's Triumph, and almost right into that same Nemesis patrol I was evadin' in Nopileo's earlier. A quick boost away from them and I check to make sure they ain't of a mind to follw me, but the corvette's linin' up on the south gate, so I give 'em some room. The local pirate base is still standin' and it looks like they're offerin' work, so once this Paranid patrol frak off the way they came, I'll go and see what's what.
 
Or that was the plan anyway. What actually happened was more, 'ooh look, M8s hoverin' at the gate' and then a whole lot o' shootin'. Neither o' them bailed, and neither of 'em left me any missiles either, but in the process o' wastin' 'em I musta clipped the gate with a few rounds...
 
Bollocks.
 
Now I'm gonna have to try'n find a hacker, as that's one o' the local stations that had mercs fer hire, and by reputation there's usually a few decent guys available. It's not all bad news though. As I'm cutting across the sector and givin' both the base and it's angry lookin' laser towers a wide berth I spot a contract fer a hit on an escaped crim. The government agent offerin' it must be desperate though. Nearly 2 million for this guy's head?
 
You got yourself a contract sir.
 
The mark's up in Elena's Fortune 'n' flyin' a Hades. I don't have jump coordinates for Elena's yet, but I do fer Split Fire, so I jump to the north gate and spin right around. Elena's is an important sector for the Argon, and they got a lot o' hardware knockin' about the system, so I'm gonna need to nail this mark, and fast. Thankfully he's a little way outta the trade lanes and nobody but me is payin' him much attention. He's got some pals along too, a pair o' M3s. a couple Busters and a pair o' Harriers. I don't wanna have to tango with the lot at once, and I don't have to.
 
Busters don't have turrets, so I bracket one o' them little M4s and unleash a hammerhead. The whole wing's flyin' in a fairly tight 'X' formation, meanin' when the missile makes the target the whole wing should go up. I tracked in behind it at a safe distance and a few moments later...
 
Alright! Now that's how a girl likes to do business. Hard 'n' fast.
 
With anonther successful kill chalked up I make my way across President's End and finally dock up at Terracorp, which lands me both a bioscanner and a transporter device. Decidin' I'll need at least one more TD I jumped Creed in from the far side o' pirate alley and fitted her up too. Now anytime either of us are busy scavvin' I could just jump my TS to a nearby gate and beam over the loot, keepin' plenty o' space free in our bays.
 
For now though I've got no more business in Argon turf, so I head back towards President's End, where I encounter a lone Hades who's apparently lost his battlegroup. Now there's an oppo'tunity. I make a run on him, but he refuses to jump ship, so I waste him. One o' these days though...
 
Whilst I've been busy jumpin' bombers I've sent the Hermes off to the Rehab Facility in Danna's to pick me up a few mercs. The selection was pitiful though, only two of the 17 were worth hirin' and even they weren't great. So I jump my TP down to Hatikvah's and pick up a few more from the pirate base. I would have gone to the Brenna's base after that, but there was a slight misunderstandin' earlier involvin' the gate ring, so for now the five I've got will have to do. Now I just need somewhere outta the way where I can train 'em up a bit and prep 'em for boardin' ops. I think a scoutin' mission is in order. I'll prob'ly do that some time tomorrow.
 
I skip across Elena's and head outta the sector via the north gate. A spot o' piracy in Farnham's through to Olmancketslat's Treaty should hopefully net me some more swag, and I need to scout out those sectors anyway. Almost immediately I force a Caiman pilot to bail, which gives me a TS with a fair bit o' speed. I might fix this up as my loot collector once I source a couple o' shields fer it. It's a long way from my base o' operations though, so I beam my jumpdrive across and give it orders to head for the Elena's military outpost. It can hang out there fer a while until I get Creed to jump over and bring some e-cells. After that though, no bugger's willin' to jump ship, although I do manage to bag some very nice swag. By the time I've near finished pickin' that lot up though, there's a large group o' red blips up by the north gate. Trouble? Yikes! Exit, stage right!
 
Bala Gi's Joy proves to be a bust as well, on account of the Boron Heavy Hydra and his fighter wing that are patrollin' the sector, so I cruise on into OT, which is quiet as ever. There's very rarely much traffic in the sector and today's no exception, so I slip through the south gate into Brennan's, give the stil angry lookin' laser towers a wide berth and wind up back in Danna's Chance. It's not long before a Boron weapons dealer in a TM drops through the north gate, and whilst I'm forced to shred him as he won't give up his goods, I did at least force one o' his Mako wingmen to bail. So I fix that up and send it on it's way to Aladna. It's not gonna be vital to my long term plans, so I don't bother to escort it and go back to piratin'. It's not long before I've bagged another freighter and then tango with a Paranid tech trader in a Scorpion. After that, the sector's quiet, so I decide to head back to Aladna and call it a day. As I was passin' through Hatikvah's though I ended up baggin' a second Mako and then noticed a Pegasus that'd bailed during my piratin' earlier and finally claimed it, so that got fixed up 'n' all and sent through the gate.
 
Once I'm back with my little fleet o' ships I start sorting through all my gear and stash the bulk o' it on the XL super freighter. That's a pretty impressive lookin' array o' guns 'n' missiles. Add that to my fat wallet, 5 mercs and little clutch o' ships...well.
 
My oh my, it's been a wonderful day!
 
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
Octopus
Hermes
Demeter Super Freighter – Storage
Demeter Super Freighter XL – Storage
Pegasus
Scorpion
Mako x2
 
2,691,664 Credits
 

[Zaitsev]

Great work, Kirlack Keep 'em coming.

After a short convo which consisted of 'Oi mate! Yoink!' he coughed up every one o' 'em.

The fact that a friend of mine say "yoink" all the time made that twice as funny.

Trouble? Yikes! Exit, stage right!

Heavens to Murgatroid ...

[ruger44]

Neat how those. folks give you stuff. . Well 5 mercs is a good start Might find a few volunteers as time goes on ,just never know.[/u]

[Nathancros]

Sweeeeeeeeet. keep it going bud, lovin this, btw i think i misread ur rules? thought it was no trading with anyone but teladi? or was it no Selling ships to anyone but teladi? im confused

[Kirlack]

I can trade with any race, but only at EqDs, Military outposts or corporate HQs. I'm not allowed to trade with factories (other than pirate faction factories such as IBL/PBG forges and Rehab facilities). I can sell ships at any shipyard, but I cannot buy any ships at all.

I wanted this to be a mainly combat focussed game, hence the 'no bulk trading' rule. Whilst O'ren's work for the various governments might make her popular with those in charge, the common man (read: factory owner) has no interest dealing with an assassin. Or at least, that's my rationale for it

[Kirlack]

Gah!

My tower appears to have blusecreened. AGAIN.

I'm having the exact same issue I had when I was forced to abandon Po8. I'm 100% sure it's not a hard drive issue this time as the drive I replaced it with was all but brand new. I'm also fairly confident if I can just get the machine running again that my saves will be safe.

However. Until such time as I can get it sorted I'm afraid I can't play any more of this DiD.

[89James89]

Well that most definitely sucks big time. Really enjoying your writing style. Lets just hope you can get it all back up and running.

Cheers

James

[Nathancros]

NO NO NO!!!! FIX! FIX IT! DESTROY THEN REBUILD IT! MUST KEEP GOING!

[Kirlack]

Don't stress Nate. It's looking very much as though it's a RAM or power supply issue and that's easily enough fixed Might take me a week or so, but I'll be back up and running I might even be getting a whole new gaming machine! Which makes me very happy lol.

This does make me wonder though, whether the Po8 saves are truly lost or if they're just buried away on what I assumed was a knackered HDD...

[Zaitsev]

As Triaxx2 said in your last DiD: Buggrit.

A friendly tip from an old computer geek that may or may not work; Try running a memory test, such as memtest86, and a CPU test, like Prime for instance. Bluescreens can often come from wobbly RAM, and if everything checks out you will at least have eliminated a source of failure. Also, checking temperatures and removing the old dust bunnies if it's getting hot in there might help too.

Anyway, good luck and hope you get it up and running again *fingers crossed*

Edit: (semi)ninja'd

[Kirlack]

So. I got bored waiting for parts to arrive and get the tower running, so I wrote a bit of filler, an interlude if you like. Hope you like it

Interlude

Argon News Network bulletin: Aladna Hill

Local police and federal authorities are still looking for leads in a recent triple murder case. The victims, two Paranid and a Boron, were slaughtered in their hotel room on the trading station in Aladna Hill just three days ago. They have now been named by their respective governments. Tuli Sa, professor of micro-biology and former head of genetics research at the Royal research facility in Great Trench was shot twice and is believed to have been the first victim. The two Paranid have been named as Taimancketlat, reknowned astrophysicist and one of the few members of the Empire willing to deal openly with Argon corporations, and Krakonmosslat, a known pirate. It is unknown why the three were together and raises significant questions for both the Kingdom of Boron and the Paranid Empire. We'll bring you more on the story as soon as we get it.

***

Yohandris Ugralias Rotussiss the sixth eased his tired body into the comfortable, expensive and ancient wooden chair he had procured years before from an auction on Argon Prime. Despite having been built for a human occupant it was barely big enough to contain the fat lizard's bulk. As he sat he glanced around his office, taking in the oppulence and splendour that only a lifetime of trading, cheating and swindling could provide. Rare works of art lined many of his shelves, alongside books and scrolls, many of which were in languages or dialects so old he'd spent almost each items value in credits to have them translated into his native Teladi tongue.

Then his eyes happened upon the large, red leather bound tome on his desk. He'd bought it for a song some months before, but given how old it was his contacts had valued the translation at some 10 million credits, more than he'd ever paid for a single piece. Being a lover of anything older than his own hundred years the Teladi yearned to devour it's secrets, but he needed more money. It was high time he called in a debt. He reached for his computer console and began to type.

***

The assassin paused in her ministration to the battered freighter's hull and shut off her repair laser. Her space suit was indicating an inbound message. Knowing full well who it would be from she swore, then opened the comm.

From: Y66@Profitsss.net:
To: Lost_Soul@UnderworldGuns.org

Wren

It's been 5 days, You know I normally wouldn't push, but I need that money. Get it to me by the end of the week or I'm closing your account.

Yohandris.

Wren thumped her suited fist against the side of the freighter.

"Bollocks."

***

Daye Bro glanced at the two cards in his hand. The Ten and the Jack of Blades. He would have sighed at the sight of them, but that would have only alerted his companions to his poor hand, and he wanted to win back some chips. The Teladi, Trantaeos, had over half of his stack on his side of the table.

"Raise to two twenty." He grunted, tossing a handful of chips into the middle.

To his left there was a flicker of motion as Tata Ga, the female Boron, called. For about the fiftieth time that night Daye wondered if the encounter suit she was wearing to survive outside of her natural environment was the cause of the watery, high pitch voice, or if all Boron sounded like that anyway. The Teladi called, flashing Daye a sly grin as his chips landed in the pot. 'Smarmy bastard.' Daye thought silently.

To Trantaeos' left, the small blind, Etmanckosset the huge Paranid, folded. Daye smiled to himself. Of his four companions Etmanck was the only one he'd known before they were thrown together by the assassin, and he knew from playing poker on the Hatikvah's pirate base that the burly three eyed warrior would only flat call the blind if he had a shoddy hand.

To Daye's right, the big blind, sat the Split. Kao t'Snt grunted and shoved all his chips into he middle. "Split say: All in!" he cried. Daye smiled as he called, knowing that Kao had even less chips than he did, and that he'd be safe...unless the Teladi shoved even harder. Tata reached out a tentacle loaded with chips and dropped them into the middle of the table, followed swiftly by Trantaeos' claw. The Teladi fixed Daye with another sly look and winked one of his slitted yellow eyes. "Deal." he hissed.

"Keep your scales on." Daye replied, burning the first three cards and laying out the flop. He winced as he saw the cards. The Queen of Scales, the Ace of Stars and the Queen of Cups. He needed a king for a straight and right now he had nothing. With Etmanck having folded and Kao all in he was first to act. He'd learned early in that checking to the Teladi was a bad move, so he decided to shove.

"All in."

Tata Ga groaned hesitantly. "We...fold." she concluded., setting her cards to the side and leaning back in her chair. "Good play." she said, bobbing her head to Daye.

"Ssssneaky, human." Trantaeos hissed, his eyes narrowed and fixed on his two remaining opponents. "Very well." he finally hissed "Let usss ssssee if your hand issss any good!"

Daye grimaced as he saw the hands. The lizard had pocket kings, meaning at best there were only two left in the deck. When he saw Kao's cards though he knew he was done. Queen and Ace of Blades.

"Split say: Full house! Split win!" Kao pronounced cheefully.

"Frak's sake!" Daye growled. For a moment he considered pulling his gun and shooting Kao, but as he glanced about his companions he took note of each of their weapons. Kao wore a Split ritual dagger at his belt and a rifle comfortably hung from his right shoulder. Etmanck carried dual pistols and had fists big enough to crush a man's head. The Teladi carried a single sidearm but had sharpened his claws to a fine point, and the Boron wore a brace of throwing knives on a sash around her torso and a pair of pistols at her back.

"Don't even think about it shit head." came a voice from the back of the Hermes' common cabin. Daye turned to see the assassin, leaning calmly against the bulkhead next to the airlock's inner door. He scowled.

"You some kinda frakkin' mind reader, 'boss'?" he replied.

"Better'n you know honey." she replied without missing a beat, and taking a long stride towards the poker table. "You keep your guns in check as long as I'm holdin' your contract, or I'll kill ya meself. Capisce?"

He thought about it for a moment. Then his hands slid away from his belt. He'd heard enough about O'ren Rock to know she wasn't someone to be frakked with. As she strolled past him towards her private cabin she winked. "Very professional. Good boy."

[Timsup2nothin]

Nicely done.

[Kirlack]

Woohoo! I bought and installed a new 2GB ram stick yesterday and got a few hours in catching up with Wren Chapter 4 should be up in a day or so Thanks everyone for your patience lol.

[Zaitsev]

So the ol' pc is back up and running? Yay!

*runs around in circles, squeeing like an idiot*

[Kirlack]

So the ol' pc is back up and running? Yay!

*runs around in circles, squeeing like an idiot*

Up and runnin' like a dream The extra RAM over what I had in there before has made a huge difference.

I'm gonna apologise up front. After the length of time you've all been waiting for this chapter it might feel a bit anti-climactic. I'll let you lot be the judges though

Chapter 4: Gone Fishin'

Decided to take the day off from my regular 'kill 'n' steal' methods and do some scoutin' today. Before I called it a night yesterday I sent 'Small Fry', my little Octopus, off to Company Pride for some shields and software, and got it tuned all the way to max. Whilst she was busy getting fitted out I fixed up the Caiman as well and sent Creed off to OTAS for a couple more shields to get her ship-shape. I had an interestin' run in with one o' my mercs last night as well. Cocky frakker was a hair's breadth from gettin' shot. That said, if Yohandris hadn't been on my case askin' fer the money I owe him whilst I was outside patchin' Tools' hull I'd likely have been in a better mood...

Anyway. I got Small Fry all kitted out fer scoutin' duties and whilst she was on her way back I spent a bit o' time on the public net, lookin' at ancient Earth history of all things. I'd been thinkin' about a name fer the Hermes, and when I was searchin' it came up that an ancient culture referred to Hermes as the' messenger of the gods'. Further searchin' turned up 'the voice of God' which in turn led me to 'The Metatron'. Soon as I read that I knew I'd found a name fer my TP. Considerin' what I've got planned fer it I think the name's rather fittin'.

So, once my little scout had gotten back I called it a night, didn't even have a drink. I gotta tell ya, it was nice to wake up this mornin' without a hangover. I skipped breakfast and took a quick shower while my five mercs were eatin' theirs, then headed up to the fighter bay to sort out what I can take with me aboard the Octopus. She's speedy at 427m/s, but the cargo bay's a poxy 15 units, and nothin' bigger'n S class cargo. With her maximum shields, a whoppin' 2Mj, plus 4 IREs fer, ya know, 'emergencies', and there was only 9 units left. So I decided to top her up with mosquitoes to be on the safe side, which sadly means I've had to leave my gun behind. I'm not happy about it, but needs must.

Out into the trade lanes I head west into Hatikvah's Faith and then south into Clarity's End. It's Paranid turf so I'm gonna need to be on my toes, but it's only a border sector, so secdef should be light, and since I'm only passin' through hopefully not quick enough to catch me. Along the way I send all my captured fighters from yesterday, the 2 Makos, the Scorpion and the Pegasus, down to the Light o' Heart shipyard fer sale. It's not a lot, but it puts me one step closer to the money I need to pay off Yohandris, assumin' I don't spend it all. I've still got four days to get him his money, so I'm none too worried if I finish the day with less'n I started.

Once I'm through Clarity's into Third Redemption I swing north and slip through the gate into Gunne's Crusade. A lone pirate sector between Boron and Paranid turf it'll be a sweet hunting ground, and there's plenty o' asteroids fer me to hide in. I don't have the tools to even try right now though, so I map the system and slide back through the south gate, then across Redemption and into Perdition's End. It's all quiet until I'm reachin' the south gate, then a pirate Carrack and his escorts turn up. They're not hostile to me though, so thinkin' I've successfully squared my rep with the clans I blaze into Desecrated Skies.

Oh. Maybe not quite squared yet then? Bollocks.

I cut 'em all a wide berth and scout the south and east gates while they're busy takin' on the trade lanes and finally slip through the gate into Moo-Kye's Revenge. Halfway to the north gate I spot a Paranid Deimos and his escorts and cut them a wide berth 'n' all. How come all the heavy hardware comes out while I'm in a frakkin' scout eh? Not that I'd pick a fight with a Deimos in Tendencies o' course.

Eventually they move far enough south that I can head on into Mi Ton's Refuge where I find a pirate Rehabilitation Facility. It's flaggin' hostile, but at least I know there's one here. I also know that beyond the north gate lies Loomanckstrat's Legacy...and a fierce clan of psychos. Why psychos?

One word. Minefield. The Loomanck's clan are well known fer leavin' a whole bunch o' SQUASH mines throughout the sector. Considerin' my shieldin' on Small Fry I have to admit I'm kinda nervous about crossin' the event horizon, but I'm gonna have to risk it.

As soon as I'm into the system I pick up an abandoned Mamba on my scanner. It's a ways off amongst the 'roids, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna try fer it in the Octopus. Cos, ya know...minefield. Yeah. So, instead I make a note of it's position and move north to pick up the gate, then back down to the south gate and across the sector lookin' fer the east gate, which leads me through to Spaceweed Grove.

Grove shows up a few interestin' stations between the west 'n' north gates, then I'm on into Acquisition Repository, where I spot a Paranid tech trader who's en route to the pirate base in the sector. I don't know where the base is, so I follow behind him, all the way up past the north gate and way off to the east.

Sweet! I think that's far enough off the beaten path fer me to start training my mercs. As I'm on the approach I notice there's a hacker offerin' his services so I make use o' him and get access to one of the nearby Rehab bases. I'm hopin' it's the one in Mi Ton's that he's hacked, so checkin' back through sector maps I'm pleased to find I got the right one! That'll be handy in the future. Fer now though I dock at the base and call in The Metatron. I wasn't gonna hire any more mercs just yet, but there were a few decent ones available, so I made some dodgy deals, under the table like.

No, not that kind o' deal. What kinda girl d'you take me for! Cheeky frakker.

So, now up to ten mercs I decide to leave my TP here fer a bit whilst I push north, through the Teladi sectors around Ianamus Zura, up into Eighteen Billion. The west gate here leads into a Xenon sector, and I'm not sure about Small Fry's ability to survive a hostile encounter with the machines. That doesn't stop me from tryin' though.

There's 3 Qs loiterin' between the gates, and they got plenty o' other traffic to worry about, so I dip below the ecliptic and cut 'em all a wide berth. A few hair raisin' minutes later and I'm through the gate into Scale Plate Green. A quick scout of the system and then I head north, scout PTNI and make fer the east gate and the unknown sector beyond it. When I cross the event horizon I notice a few stations off in the distance, and am pleased to discover another pirate base amongst them. They've got some decent mercs fer hire 'n' all, so I commit five of my guys to some training courses at the Acquisition base and bounce Metatron up here to pick up some more crew. I can't afford to put any more in training just yet though, and I'm already gonna need a second TP. I wonder if the Duke would mind me takin' a pop at some o' his?

I decide to grab a quick drink at the bar on the pirate base and bump into a Boron who desperately wants someone to kill the pirate that killed his partner. The mark's up in Patriarch's Keep, meanin' I'll have to jump gate to gate to reach him in time, but fer almost 2 million cred I wasn't about to say no. As I undock Small Fry from the station I order Tendencies to jump up here and meet me. Whilst we're hurtling towards each other for me to change ship I jump Tools up here as well, to bring me some spare energy.

Once I'm comfortably back in the Skate's cockpit I jump to the PTNI west gate, spin 180 degrees and slide through to Profit Centre Alpha. Repeatin' the exercise gets me swiftly into Two Grand, then as I'm travelling down the jump tunnel ready to hit Patriarch's Keep I get a message tellin' me my mark's gotten himself killed by somebody else.

Grrr. Sons o' frakkin' bitches....

Right then. Another quick 180 and I'm back into Two Grand, where the local heavy weapons fab is under duress and wantin' somebody such as myself to cover their collective asses. I'm gonna need a reasonable rep with the Teladi somewhere down the line anyway, and I need the money, so I accept the job. At first it looks like there's just a pirate Osprey for me to contend with, but then his mates show up.

Bollocks. That ain't gonna do my rep with the clans any good.

I let the M5s shoot past on their way to the station whilst I close on the Osprey, and take out the Buster on the approach with a silkworm missile. Seconds later and I started strafin' and rollin' to avoid the HEPT and CIG fire the M6 was spittin' in my direction, and opened up on her belly with my PRGs. We traded blows fer a fair while but I was landin' a helluva lot more shots'n she was, and as her shields dropped I switch to my EBCs and started puttin' rounds through her hull. I took a few more hits tryin to stay on top o' her, and if I'd been flyin' Creed that prob'ly woulda been all she wrote, but I won the day with 27% of Tendencies shields intact. Aar!

Sluggin' it out with the Osprey has given some o' the M5s a chance to burn 'emselves up in the station shields, or get lost in the super structure, so there's only three left as I head in. I loose a disruptor missile at one and take him out, burn the second with my PRGs and hit the third so hard he bails! Now that's got some potential. Small Fry has been pretty good fer gettin' me this far, but I hate travellin' so light I can't even carry a pistol. The Discoverer's a lot slower, but it can carry M class cargo, which includes passengers, triplex scanner and a jumpdrive!

So she gets patched up and sent off to dock at the local trading station while I make the jump back to the pirate base off PTNI. It's been a long day runnin' around and I fancy a drink. I've got most o' what I need docked at the base anyway, so I think I'm gonna spend the night here and tomorrow I'll see about retrievin' that Mamba down in Loomanckstrat's Legacy.

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
Discoverer

Demeter Super Freighter – Storage
Demeter Super Freighter XL – Storage

1,095,992 Credits