Betrayal is a Double-Edged Sword - TC 3.2 DiD

[BankruptAssasin]

Interesting DiD, something i haven't read before, the whole Marine base thing is very inventive. Well done.

[Song Of Obsidian]

Thanks. Originally it was only going to be a footnote in the story, but, random inspiration can be a troublesome beast


Chapter 17 - Curse Those Green Symbols


Hatikvah's Faith opened up before me and I took let out a quiet sigh. It felt good to be behind the controls of the Medusa again. Business meetings are always tense affairs. There is no relaxing, and even blinking is dangerous. To miss a single glance, implied meaning, or shift in body aura could be fatal. It wasn't that it was more challenging than ship-to-ship combat. It just wore down a person's sanity faster.

I had another meeting set up with a different facility. Fifteen commandos was not enough for my needs. I would need at least forty-five, maybe fifty, and that was just in the short term. And all of them would need training. A lot of training. Which meant I needed credits.

A lot of credits.

I had some ideas as to how to acquire some wealth, but I needed a couple more ships first, and needed to bleed out some of the strain I had been feeling from the initial approach to the rehab facility all the way up to the disposal of my superfluous (but expensive) commandos. I should have turned the comms off; I did not want to hear those screams. Better for them to die silently and for me to honor them with success. Hauntings serve no purpose, but I was stuck with it for now.

So after bidding a silent hello to my dear friend Hatikvah and putting my faith in the willingness of pilots to savor the joys of floating in space and pretending it was a bubble bath - the imagination can be a powerful thing - I swung toward the northeast and poured some fire over a Perseus masquerading as a freighter. First kill of the day, but certainly not the last.

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

Claiming new ships should really be a tedious affair, but I rather enjoyed it. Even better when the ship's former pilot is still alive and floating less than 500 meters away. It might seem childish, but I did consider sticking my tongue out at them more than once. Never did it though. Maybe next time.

After strapping myself back into the Medusa's seat, I gave my new Caiman a command to go to Lucky Planets. It was a long trip, surely, and would pass right by an Argon shipyard and equipment dock, but I didn't want to use the same stations very often. I had a third ship near the east gate, a Pike M4+. Wasn't sure what to do with it yet, so I sent it to Light of Heart. The one Perseus I had managed to capture was already at the shipyard in Light of Heart. Common as they were I was actually considering selling it.

I checked my scanners, and several targets tempted me. Another Iguana, a Chimera, a - Oh. A Tiger.

Time to leave.

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

I ended up flying through the entirety of the Highway again, and emerged in Elena's Fortune with my Caiman SF XL stuffed to the gills and an Iguana, a Pericles Vanguard, a Scorpion Sentinel, and another valuable Eclipse heading toward various equipment docks in Argon and Boron space. Unfortunately I hadn't explored the entire northwest yet, so I decided to make that my next endeavor. I needed to scout out some stations anyway.

I had already gone through Cloudbase North West, The Hole, Three Worlds, and Power Circle, but there were two blank spots in my map of this Argon region: Antigone Memorial and Herron's Nebula. I kept my stays in them brief. Herron's because it had nothing I wanted yet, and Antigone because, despite what some may think of me, I really don't like pain...especially the emotional kind. The memories of death on a massive scale linger strongly in that place.

I had been spending some significant time in Argon space of late, but the Boron were strong potential allies too...albeit unwitting allies. I wanted some familiarity with their sectors, so I took the north gate out of Three Worlds and into Kingdom End, where I am given to understand their homeworld is.

It didn't seem to be all that extraordinary, but I didn't have much time to gawk either. There was a small force of Xenon attacking the sector when I arrived, and it seemed like a perfect opportunity to curry some favor. Might even work out better if I let a Boron ship take some hits and then save it. Maybe. That particular opportunity never arose; all of the Ns were significantly faster than my Medusa and flying deeper into the sector. I did, however, catch up to an L. And to my surprise, when the hull dropped below half integrity the fighter stopped moving. I watched it warily for a moment, but the machines aren't capable of subterfuge that I'm aware of. I had a new ship.

I stalked and killed an M, and by then the rest of the force had been wiped out. I would have been paid something for my help if I had a police license, but I had decided to avoid those, no matter my relations with any race. It was too official, and while it gave me a certain amount of freedom, it also held me more accountable for my actions. I could lose the license, and that would be a big flag to raise. Terrible idea.

I checked the stations in the sector, but none of them had what I was looking for. I claimed the L and sent it to the shipyard, then docked at the military base and bought some advanced satellites. May as well give myself some vision of an area I might want to spend time in.

I deployed one in Kingdom End that would let me see both gates, then went east. Rolk's Drift wasn't very large, so I deployed another satellite toward the center, a little above the neutral plane where most of the traffic flowed. And then I received a notice, a request for a contractor to build a stott mixery in the sector. Hm.

I checked my funds. I had enough for this factory, surprisingly, so I accepted the job and flew back to Kingdom End. I found the local Orca right by the gates, conveniently, and hired it. I was given two hours to do the job and completed it in less than twenty minutes. I was as pleased as they were.

I was even more pleased when I received another notice. This one was for a crystal fab, in the same sector. A bit out of my price range, but...I took the job anyway and looked around for a way to make a quick million or so.

A taxi job gave me some, but I got ambitious and took yet another contracting order, this one for a sun oi- I groaned. Sun oil refinery. I really should read more carefully before taking these jobs.

It wouldn't be a wasted trip to Siezewell though, because yet another entrepreneur wanted to have a flower farm built. I wondered if they worked for the same corporation, but it made no difference to me. I jumped to Seizewell to put in my orders, and soon after a Teladi Albatross began its long, ponderous trip to Kingdom End.

I took some more taxi jobs while I waited, which at first sent me to Ceo's Buckzoid, the direction I wanted to go, but then all the way back to Blue Profit. I jumped back to Kingdom End to look for regional money-making opportunities, and ended up with another station contract. This time it was for a Boron solar power plant.

I sold the Perseus.

I could afford the crystal fab after that, so I arranged the deployment of that station in Rolk's Drift and hired the Orca again for the solar plant, which I couldn't yet afford. It had to sit at the shipyard for over half an hour before the Albatross finally lurched through the gate. What the Boron were going to do with nostrop oil was beyond me, but I did as I was paid to do, which gave me enough to buy the solar plant. Why didn't I learn the last time I did this with almost nothing in my account?


Assets:

Eclipse - 'Sprite'

Medusa Prototype

Caiman Super Freighter XL
{10} 1 GJ Shields
{20} 200 MJ Shields
{52} 25 MJ Shields
{6} Concussion Impulse Generator
{14} Flail Barrage Missiles
{4} Gauss Cannons
{1} Hammerhead Missile
{12} High Energy Plasma Throwers
{5} Ion Disruptors
{2} Ion Pulse Generators
{8} Ion Shard Railguns
{10} Mass Drivers
{2} Phased Repeater Guns
{4} Phased Shockwave Generators
{15} Photon Pulse Cannons
{14} Tempest Missiles
{20} Thunderbolt Missiles
{24} Tomahawk Missiles


Toucan Hauler - 'Gull'
Toucan Hauler - 'Gall'
Iguana
Iguana
Express Hauler

Caiman

Jaguar Hauler
Pericles Vanguard
Scorpion Sentinel
Pike
L
Eclipse
Medusa

15 Marines(Six Split, Three Argon, Six Boron)

Credits: 4,728,935

[Poseidon]

Holy damn. Your Caiman is stuffed with loot. You've got 10-20M in credits in that ship.

It'd be a shame if something happened to it.

The L is a nice bit of windfall, and you're getting quite a fleet. It feels strange to me that you're taking so many 'build stuff' missions given your character background, but given their profitability I can rationalize that away.

Good times.

[Song Of Obsidian]

Yeah, those PPCs especially surprised me, with so many of them. I docked it at a shipyard once and it listed a sell price of over 25 million. But yeah, if something happened to that freighter I'd probably throw the computer.

There really is logic in the choice of missions, besides 'it was there'. I don't want to over-explain him in the story, really, but the more stations that go up, the easier it is for him to build one of his own that someone looking for him might not notice. So in part it's camouflage. That's why he won't take combat missions...fighter pilots tend to make a name for themselves. Or so he thinks, which is all that matters Plus it creates more consumers for the stations I'm actually going to build. I won't be doing complexes in this game...except for a hammer torpedo complex, somewhere, because all the hammer fabs vanished. Every damned one of them.

I SHOULD actually write out one of the taxi missions so it's explained how he treats it though. Should have done it with the first one but I was anxious to get into the meat of the game. He's not comfortable with the idea of strangers getting on his ship but he does it anyway. All of his rationale for the things he does builds itself. Hurts my head sometimes.

[Poseidon]

I read right over the PPC. That puts you at closer to 40M. You really want to protect that ship; that's most of your fortune.

I wasn't trying to question your style. I was certain there was a solid rationale, and I can completely relate to the desire to 'get to the good bits'.

[Song Of Obsidian]

Just wanting to make sure you understood, is all. You can question this next decision all you like though. I was being ridiculously stupid even attempting it.

As for the freighter, its shields have never even been scratched. I'm VERY careful about guarding it. Most of the time it's either in Light of Heart or Argon Prime now, and I always make sure I have vision of a sector before I jump it anywhere.

Wonder when I'll actually start using some of this stuff though...


Chapter 18 - Reckless Decision, or Seizing the Moment?


I wondered if I would curse myself for trying this. Or if I'd still be alive to curse myself in twenty minutes.

After all the contracting work I completed, I deployed advanced satellites from Kingdom End to Menelaus' Frontier and left the area. I wanted to see if there was a low-level good in high demand, and figured the area would be safe since it had buffers on all sides. It turned out that a Split Heavy Dragon destroyed half of my satellites within a few hours. I wasn't pleased.

I retired for the night in the Express, enjoying a comfortable bed that I made myself. We hid in Spaceweed Drift this time. This shift I had the Split and Argon for my guards, while the Boron trained. I wasn't paying for advanced training, but their skills were improving. Slowly.

I took the Jaguar the next morning, intending to make my way to Yaki space. I never made it past Hatikvah's Faith though, because I saw a Minotaur battle group going south into Paranid space. It was just the sort of opportunity I was looking for, but my commandos were still fairly fresh and I only had nine Split and Argon combined, rather than the twenty that would be optimal for taking a missile frigate.

Opportunities like this one aren't common though. I didn't want to bring the Boron in on an assault on an Argon ship, but within minutes I had the Express and one of the Iguanas hooked up, while I returned to Light of Heart and retrieved Sprite. I didn't have much time.

By the time I jumped into Clarity's End, the fleet was nowhere in sight. I checked Third Redemption nervously, and my nerves proved justified; I saw a Zeus and detoured around it on the way to Perdition's End. My turrets handled the missiles that were fired at me, but my luck ran out when a Hyperion Vanguard came through the east gate just a few short kilometers from me.

I kept going forward anyway. I didn't have this area mapped, so I couldn't jump past it. My shields were strong enough to survive a pass if my maneuvering was keen, or so I thought. I chose to use plasma burst generators for the encounter, since I only had one chaingun and the PBEs wouldn't be as effective.

Its weapons had longer range than mine, and there were a lot of them. Large light blue concussion rounds mingled with the sickly green streaks of energy from his turrets. More of them hit me than I would have liked, even from longer range. By the time the Hyperion was in range of my plasma I could barely see it and my shields were dropping fast. I strafed toward its right side, hoping to take myself too far off angle for its main batteries to hit me, but it was looking like I had made the last stupid decision of my life.

Another missile launch tone sounded and a bright white light burst into being ahead of me. My ship was rocked by a shockwave, and then there was a very unnatural calm. No one was shooting at me. I checked my scanners and saw that the Hyperion was gone. Must have tried launching a Hammerhead.

Bless all Paranid for being dumber than I am.

I had no trouble outrunning the Zeus and got through to Perdition's End, where I finally saw my quarry. I felt a bit out of my head; I shouldn't be alive. Did I dare try my luck again?

I did.

I flew past the battle group. They weren't attacking any Paranid ships, which was good for me. It would make my propaganda message more effective, if this worked. I wanted to take them at the gate though, to minimize exposure to my transports and the warriors on them. I was in unfriendly territory too, and a lot easier target.

As I flew by, I checked weapons on all of the supporting ships. Thankfully the largest were bombers, of which there were three Gladiators. Two Novas and three Nova Sentinels were the anvil, and there were a few Busters. The Busters were all outfitted with phased repeater guns. The Novas were split between PBGs like mine and high energy plasma throwers. I needed to divide them.

I scouted around the south gate, then went through it to check the other side. No Paranid forces to interfere. Back in Perdition's End, I flew straight for the fleet. My objective was to take out at least two of the Novas with PBGs. Those were my biggest threat because I couldn't counter them, especially in a ship as sluggish as the Eclipse. My shields couldn't hold up for too long against these odds.

I got my bearings once I was within five kilometers. The fighters formed a loose 'X' with the Minotaur at the center. Lucky for me, three of the Novas were forming one of the upper arms of that 'X'. I passed them, then swung around to shadow them, slowing down. When I had them at 800 meters, I matched speed and triggered my jumpdrive with the south gate as my destination. When the drive counted to 30%, I started the battle with a long stream of plasma fire.

Men shouted into their comms in outrage at the unprovoked attack from an unknown adversary, but I didn't let up. They were close enough together that it only took three gouts of flame to destroy them. The remaining force turned hostile as I increased throttle and turned toward the other arm on the same horizontal plane, and managed to destroy a Buster and one of the Gladiators before I jumped.

I immediately turned toward the opposite side of the gate. A tone warned me of an incoming missile, so I checked my rear view. Eight missiles, actually. It was a flail barrage. I tucked the fighter in close to the gate and let them come. PBG fire was effective against them. None hit me.

The fleet stayed together instead of giving me the opportunity to take out the faster Busters first, which made me unhappy. Not as dumb as Paranid, apparently. I stayed put. They could try to get me with missiles, or they could try to outmaneuver me around the gate. If they tried the latter, I might be able to pick them off.

It was hard not to make internal suicide jokes just then.

I fended off another round of flails before they reached me, and the group broke apart. Both bombers went around the side opposite me, obviously hoping to put tomahawks in my flank where I was less able to counter them, IF their comrades could keep me busy. The remaining Novas came straight for me, and the Busters scattered every which way. For myself, I chose to ambush the Gladiators and let the Novas chase me around.

Both bombers fired missiles, as expected, as did the Minotaur. Two tomahawks and another round of flails came at me, but I detonated the tomahawks with my chaingun and the flails all hit the gate itself. Then I was on the Gladiators with plasma. One took the brunt and exploded within a couple seconds, but I ended up dogfighting the other while also watching my tail. It stayed too close to me for the plasma to be very effective, and by the time I finished him I was taking high energy plasma on my shields. Unfortunately for the Nova, my plasma kills faster.

The Busters tried to swarm me, but I used the pylon at the side of the gate for cover to start picking them off. I got two before I saw the other Nova, and this one used PBGs too. My higher shielding won out in the contest, but the Busters were all pouring phased repeater rounds onto me. I flew around to the other side of the gate. They might have been faster, but my tank was a better mouse than they could have bargained for. Within a minute, I was alone with the Minotaur. It was pinned in front of the gate, and for whatever reason wasn't flying through it.

I looked down at my display. The shield indicator was flashing red. Close call. Again.

I had no time to mentally flog myself though, because the main objective was still in front of me, unconquered. The frigate's lack of maneuverability gave me a distinct advantage, as well as the fact that my fire would instantly detonate its missiles. It never launched on me, and I gradually stripped away shields thirty times more powerful than my own. When I saw its shield indicator drop past 20% I ordered my transports in.

As soon as they jumped in, I ordered the Iguana to follow the Express and transported myself to the Express. I positioned the ship for the commandos manually, and all nine jumped out and began making their way toward the Minotaur. I left the throttle up and transported back to the Iguana. The six Boron flew out close behind the first group, and within moments they were cutting through the Minotaur's hull.

I transported back to the Eclipse, feeling a little giddy from the transports themselves, and ordered the Express and Iguana away toward the east while I used my energy bolt chaingun to keep the Minotaur's shields down. I didn't want my commandos to get fried.

All fifteen warriors made it into the ship, and I strafed a little away from it so I had some room in case they launched missiles now. With the shields so low and the ship potentially mine, I didn't want a hammer torpedo suicide. I listened to the sounds of the ongoing battle within the ship, and waited.

"Deck two, clear!"

The Minotaur did launch missiles though, but not at me. I watched helplessly as eight flails streaked off toward the Iguana at almost four times my speed. It survived with some shielding, but I moved toward it to try to prevent another salvo from finishing it.

"Deck three, clear!"

This might actually work. I didn't know how many of my warriors were still alive, but at least some were. I wouldn't pester them for a status report; they were doing the best they could. When you have someone stand for you, don't jog his sword arm, went the archaic saying.

The Minotaur launched another salvo; I wasn't in a position to stop them either, despite my effort. I missed the next comm message as I watched the missiles strike the Iguana. Some of its shields had regenerated, enough to keep the hull at half strength when the last missile impacted. Maybe I should let it be destroyed though, especially if the attack was successful. It was the weakest of my transports, though also the fastest...

"The ship, is ours." I stared ahead, lips slowly spreading in a smile that grew wider and wider as the Minotaur changed from hostile, to neutral, to friendly.

I let out a triumphant laugh that was almost a shout. The ship was mine.


Assets:

Eclipse - 'Sprite'

Medusa Prototype

Caiman Super Freighter XL
{10} 1 GJ Shields
{20} 200 MJ Shields
{52} 25 MJ Shields
{6} Concussion Impulse Generator
{14} Flail Barrage Missiles
{4} Gauss Cannons
{1} Hammerhead Missile
{12} High Energy Plasma Throwers
{5} Ion Disruptors
{2} Ion Pulse Generators
{8} Ion Shard Railguns
{10} Mass Drivers
{24} Particle Accelerator Cannons
{2} Phased Repeater Guns
{12} Phased Shockwave Generators
{15} Photon Pulse Cannons
{14} Tempest Missiles
{20} Thunderbolt Missiles
{24} Tomahawk Missiles


Toucan Hauler - 'Gull'
Toucan Hauler - 'Gall'
Iguana
Iguana
Express Hauler

Caiman

Jaguar Hauler
Pericles Vanguard
Scorpion Sentinel
Pike
L
Eclipse
Medusa

Minotaur

15 Marines(Six Split, Three Argon, Six Boron)

Credits: 4,217,442

[Poseidon]

haha! damn, spacewalk missile frigate capture. nicely done! I mean, risky as all hell, but that was the point, right? my game suddenly feels very bland compared to your blatant disregard for sanity. good work!

[Song Of Obsidian]

Heh. I'm not even really good at spacewalks. The AI is inevitably worse, mind you, but thankfully the Minotaur wasn't moving. That made all the difference. Was taking out the escorts(and the Hyperion) that were the scary bits though.

Your game might be bland but your writing makes it hard to tell. More, please.


Chapter 18 continued - Escape and Evade


My exultation lingered, but there was still work to do and I was in very unfriendly territory. I brought up the list of the Minotaur's surviving cargo and equipment. Not much was left, but there was some good in it. It still carried over a thousand energy cells. Now it only needed a jumpdrive.

It seemed I would be destroying the Iguana after all.

I was about to ask for a head count from my commandos when I realized that I didn't have anyone really in charge. Foolish on my part, but they hadn't been training together either. While we talked, I put in commands for the Express and Iguana to move into transporter range and typed in a note to myself to get the commandos organized into set units. I could expand on those units when I hired more. "Casualty report."

I was answered without hesitation by one of the Argon. "Kill count is thirty-four. No friendly casualties, Commander." Commander? Is that what I am?

I was even more pleased by that report. "Good work. We'll debrief later. For now the Boron squad will be transported to the Express for evacuation. The rest of you will remain on the Minotaur for now. I'll get the ship shielded after we jump so you're not as vulnerable." Only one voice acknowledged. Perhaps they had organized themselves without needing oversight. I'd have to look into it.

For the present though, I worked the transporters. Boron to the Express, all equipment from the Iguana to the Minotaur. 50 MJ of shields wasn't going to be much help, but the Caiman had shields to fit it and a few flails so it wasn't totally defenseless too. I jumped the Express to Ceo's Doubt for more energy cells, and then the Minotaur to Gunne's Crusade. The Iguana followed me through the south gate into Desecrated Skies, and I destroyed it there instead of at the scene of the battle, then jumped to Gunne's myself.

The area was clear. I knew there was a pirate base in the sector; they had relocated there after someone destroyed the base in Hatikvah's Faith. With no immediate witnesses, I went back through the gate into Rolk's Legacy to make sure no one was going to come up behind us, then jumped in the Caiman.

With all three ships together, I transferred three of the 1 GJ shields, the fourteen flails, and another 800 energy cells to the Minotaur. Its hull was in remarkably good condition, though repairing the 26% damage would set me back quite a bit...once I could actually afford it. That would take a while. I didn't want to take it to any equipment docks until after it was repaired, and any Argon insignia removed. It could use a different color scheme, but that promised to be an expensive endeavor too.

I sent the Caiman to Argon Prime, then jumped myself to the unknown sector between Montalaar and New Income. It looked clear, though whether it would stay clear for a ship that moved as slowly as a damaged and underequipped Minotaur was yet to be seen. I brought it in anyway and headed north with it following close behind. I didn't like the idea of using a location twice, but there weren't many options for hiding something this large. I needed to map more sectors, and more importantly, I needed access to the Yaki shipyard. That was the only place I could safely repair a stolen Argon missile frigate. Assuming they didn't decide to kill me and take the ship for themselves.

[Song Of Obsidian]

Interlude - False Face


-> Date: 768-05-07 14:36
-> Communication Request Denied
-> Security Matrix Activated
-> Intrusion Alert
->
->
->
->
-> Security Override Authorized
->
->
-> Incoming Message
->
->
->
-> PEACE WITH THE PARANID WILL NEVER LAST.
-> THEIR PRIESTS SEEK OUR EXTERMINATION.
-> A MINOTAUR BATTLE GROUP IN ENEMY SPACE WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT CANNOT BE FORGIVEN.
-> IF THIS GOVERNMENT WILL NOT DEFEND US, WE WILL DEFEND OURSELVES BY ANY AND ALL MEANS.
-> IMPLEMENTS OF WAR THAT ARE NOT USED FOR DEFENSE OF THE ARGON WILL BE TAKEN AND PUT TO USE.
-> THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
->
-> SIGNED, GUNNE'S HEIRS

[Song Of Obsidian]

Chapter 19 - More Bloody Transitions


The message was sent. There was no turning back.

The response to my actions would be largely unpredictable, and also depended on how I followed up this attack. I had used the Eclipse and Express with deliberate intent, because they were both Argon craft. Neither would be safe in Argon space any more, assuming the battle group reported the attack. I had to make that assumption.

Another ship capture would be necessary to make sure I had Argon attention, though I didn't know if they would hunt me in earnest or if they would bend and at least make a show of threatening the Paranid. I had to use the Minotaur against the Paranid too, and soon. That might force their hands, though they could just as easily deny it and hunt me WITH the Paranid. That wouldn't go over well with the average citizen, and I doubted the Paranid would be all that willing either. Either way, I needed more credits before I could do anything. I had to buy missiles, repair the ship, outfit it fully, do some exterior work, hire and train more commandos. And to make matters worse, when in Argon ships I couldn't attack the Split. This was an anti-Paranid persona. This also meant that I had to make sure the Split didn't attack ME.

I needed a new identity.

It would take some time and effort to create a new me. I could work on it during downtime, but there would be precious little of that. I had plans for the next couple days.

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

Who pays three million credits for someone to retrieve a half-destroyed and absolutely gutless abandoned Nova Sentinel? Someone with way too much money, that's who.

Using the Scorpion Sentinel made jobs like this a breeze, though its tiny cargo bay forced me to stop frequently for energy cells.

These jobs were somewhat high-profile; being seen helped my cover story. Not that anyone would really suspect me, but it pays to be cautious. The Nova was a fluke. The job before that had been a request for me to return a Kraken missile frigate. Who leaves one of those unattended? Someone with too much money, that's who.

That had been in Elena's Fortune. I was back in Aladna Hill, thanks to my newest acquisition: a Yaki Chokaro military transport. Being able to carry three fighters - and thus three spare jumpdrives - increased my mobility immensely, but as long as the only TM I owned was of Yaki make I had to keep it hidden. That didn't make it useless, but it kept me on my toes.

I kept the Jaguar, which I had used to get to Yaki space and perform a few lucrative asteroid scans along the way, and the Pike on the Chokaro. The Pike could carry a jumpdrive, so if I needed to put one in a freighter or capital ship that couldn't get to one of the few stations that sold one, I now had the means without stranding another ship. Mostly I had the Chokaro roaming in Teladi space though, since they tend to cooperate with pirates of all sorts. Even fund them, sometimes.

I flew south into Light of Heart. There was a Hydra for sale at the shipyard, but I never bought ships. I only stole them, and even in that I was selective. I had been tasked with returning a Heavy Centaur to a private citizen earlier in the day, and choosing not to take off with it was a hard call. It would certainly further my aims with this 'Gunne's Heirs' nonsense, but it would bring in the police as well. I didn't want them on my tail.

As it turned out, they latched onto my tail anyway.

I could only shake my head in disbelief when I was asked to retrieve an abandoned Cerberus. I did it, very reluctantly. I parked the large frigate beside the station and left it, moving on to find other work. There was only one problem. The idiot I retrieved it for never looked out a porthole. He sent me a nasty message and reported it stolen while it sat, unmanned, less than a quarter of a kilometer from his over-stuffed desk chair. I was fuming.

But I had options.

The Cerberus would indeed assist in my aim to pit the Argon and Paranid against each other more fully while allowing me to target the Paranid exclusively, for which the Argon would likely be blamed. So how could I salvage this without also taking the blame? By sending in the Chokaro, of course.

The Yaki-manufactured transport got close and I remotely transferred a jumpdrive and some energy cells to the Cerberus, then jumped it straight to Senator's Badlands. The Yaki might not take kindly to it if they figured out what I did, but I sent the Cerberus to their shipyard. Never did hear what happened to the police forces the Argon sent after it. Such shameful behavior from those Yaki, stealing a ship right in an Argon core sector.


Assets:

Eclipse - 'Sprite'

Medusa Prototype

Caiman Super Freighter XL
{7} 1 GJ Shields
{20} 200 MJ Shields
{54} 25 MJ Shields
{6} Concussion Impulse Generator
{4} Gauss Cannons
{1} Hammerhead Missile
{12} High Energy Plasma Throwers
{5} Ion Disruptors
{2} Ion Pulse Generators
{8} Ion Shard Railguns
{10} Mass Drivers
{24} Particle Accelerator Cannons
{2} Phased Repeater Guns
{12} Phased Shockwave Generators
{15} Photon Pulse Cannons
{14} Tempest Missiles
{20} Thunderbolt Missiles
{24} Tomahawk Missiles


Toucan Hauler - 'Gull'
Toucan Hauler - 'Gall'
Iguana
Express Hauler

Caiman

Jaguar Hauler
Pericles Vanguard
Scorpion Sentinel
Pike
L
Eclipse
Medusa

Cerberus
Minotaur

15 Marines(Six Split, Three Argon, Six Boron)

Credits: 16,447,682

[Poseidon]

[Song Of Obsidian]

Chapter 20 - Risky Business


Hohindras Ganatos Gantelios X. I had to wonder how long it took Teladi to memorize their own names.

It had taken a fair bit of digging to find the Teladi navigator who had paid me when I evacuated the flower farm in Scale Plate Green. The crew, or whatever they called themselves, had scattered after I dropped them off in Eighteen Billion. Hacking into the Profit Guild's databases was never easy, and figuring out exactly who it was that I was looking for was no mean feat either. I was armed with his full employment record, a visual scan of his face, and his background check when I set out to actually meet him.

Hohindras had only stayed in Eighteen Billion long enough to secure passage away, it seemed. He had not remained unemployed for long; he now worked as a logistician at the Teladi trading station in Greater Profit. I could have tried contacting him electronically, but I preferred not to leave any virtual fingerprints anywhere. This brought me to Greater Profit in person, flying my surviving Iguana under the name Gambler's Delight. I had a few crates of microchips in the hold to justify my visit, but I would be staying a while. Ostensibly for some R&R, but my purpose would be to try and find Hohindras alone for a private conversation.

That task was made easier when he met me in the hangar, datapad in hand and dressed professionally. The look of recognition and surprise on his face was amusing and something of a relief. He remembered. "Ssavior, I am glad you found a proper ship for making profitsss," he said as I disembarked. We smiled at each other and I shrugged a little.

"Profit can be made in any ship. Depends on the jobs you take."

He nodded and looked down at his datapad. "Microchipss." He raised his head again and grinned at me. "Less troublesome than passengerss. You learned a lessson."

I tapped one side of my forehead in both salute and mocking self-indictment. "I did, but sometimes good comes of the worst circumstances. You look to be doing well for yourself." I narrowed my eyes slightly, and I could tell he caught the look, and perhaps the implications underlying it. Sharp.

"It suitss," he said slowly. I took it to mean he would at least listen to any proposal. "I refussed to work near the Xenon again." I could only agree with that sentiment.

I made a show of looking around the hangar, and nodded absently. "Looks like a fine place. Safe, too. I had come hoping to ask a favor of you, but it would mean leaving all this behind for quite some time." I smiled apologetically. "I would hate to steal your comfort from you though."

He studied me in silence for a few moments. He was careful, which I respected and also needed for what I wanted him to do. At length he spoke again, slow and measured. "Shall we check your cargo? I can get you a fine price but wish to verify their integrity firsst." I smiled and bowed my head. He felt he owed me and was curious, but trust came harder. Yes, I could come to like this Teladi.

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

Once we were in the cargo bay, Hohindras used one of the crates as a stool and clasped his hands in front of him over his datapad. "Iss there profit in what you would assk?"

I folded my arms across my chest and remained standing, far enough away from the door that it wouldn't seem as if I was trying to keep him trapped in with me. "There can be. That is the point of the endeavor. I need income, but," I narrowed my eyes again. "I also need to stay off the scanners. Income without reputation." Even saying this much was putting a lot of trust in him, and he knew it.

Hohindras considered that, one foot slowly rising and falling as he stared slightly past me at nothing. "Anything illegal?" he asked bluntly.

I shook my head. "No. I want legitimate business, low-scale and unnoticeable. I have more concrete guidelines in mind, but I'll tell you this much upfront: I need income. I'll put up the starting funds for whatever is put into motion, and I'll provide the ships, but I need an intermediary to find the best opportunities, hire pilots, and run this tiny business." He took it all in with his expression carefully neutral. I think he saw the full picture, for the most part.

His eyes refocused on me. "In Teladi space?"

"In Teladi, Boron, and Argon space." He frowned a little at that, so I continued. "I'm at odds with my government, so I refuse to do business with the Split. And the Paranid," I hesitated and he waited. I couldn't hold back from if he was going to do the job, and I thought I knew enough about him to judge that he wouldn't turn in the man who saved his life. But it was still a risk. "They have a bounty on my head."

His brows rose at that, and he shook his head. "You should not make fun of their priestsss. It iss bad businesss," he said with mock sadness. I laughed.

"It's hard when they call their leader 'Priest Dyewke," I said, exaggerating the way I often heard Paranid pronounce 'Duke'. Hohindras snorted. It wasn't that funny anyway.

He continued to study me while my mirth subsided. At great length he smiled and nodded with an avid gleam in his eyes. "Before we come to the detailsss, let uss disscuss the mosst important matter. My percentage."

Damned Teladi.

[Poseidon]

I have to say, it's nice to see persistent continuity in the story. Is this new Teladi going to be a Mk3, or something more complex than that?

[Song Of Obsidian]

No, he won't actually be in the game. More just a story element for me to use to justify having stations at all for regular income, since my character is definitely not economically-minded. I don't intend to do any sector or universe traders in any case. I do intend to waste some money periodically to simulate his percentage, but I won't be crunching numbers to see what his cut should be

My game is a little ahead of the story though, so here's an effort to start catching up.


Chapter 21 - Bulking Up


Two days later, Hohindras constructed an ore mine in Ianamus Zura. I finished outfitting the standard Caiman that had been sitting around useless for a few days, and he hired a smart-mouthed Argon pilot named Daron Braks to fly her. I watched a vid of the interview; it was perplexing. I'm glad I stayed out of the economic side of my little operation.

Not sure what Braks found so amusing about the name Siren's Hips, but that's what he chose to call his new ship. Damned Argon.

Hohindras proved to be an effective administrator. Too effective. Two days for the first station while I was busy making money, which is, in fact, part of the reason for his choice. I ended up scanning most of the asteroids in that corner of Teladi space, and in the sectors nearest Light of Heart, Great Trench, and Herron's Nebula. I also ventured into Paranid territory to find Duke's Buccaneers. When I found it, all of the ships and even the Paranid pilots were friendly, yet I was denied docking permission. This was not something I could force, so I went back into Paranid space and then west, into another pocket of Boron territory.

Doing all this in a slow Medusa made for some great entertainment. Not to mention some decent fleet expansion. I acquired several new fighters: yet another Eclipse, and no less than four Mambas. My freighter fleet gained three Demeters, one each of the Hauler, Super Freighter, and Super Freighter XL variants. I didn't force ships to drop cargo, and given where I was, I didn't want to jump a freighter in anyway. My packed Caiman was too valuable, I had Gull and Gall bouncing everywhere to buy flail barrage missiles and hammer torpedoes - and to supply the stations that built them, since no one else was - and the Iguana and Express were ferrying commandos.

Through it all, I saw no reaction from the Argon regarding Gunne's Heirs, nor did I see any Paranid bounty hunters. I had mixed feelings about both of these facts.

By the time I finished mapping out these regions of space, both the Cerberus and Minotaur were fully repaired and outfitted. I had fun kitting out the Cerberus; I gave it four CIGs and four IPGs up front, two IBLs - painstakingly acquired from LooManckStrat's Legacy - on each side, two CFA's on the top and bottom, and two PRGs in the back. I wanted to give it a test run, so I deployed satellites throughout the Pirate Highway and in Elena's Fortune as well.

But I wasn't fully ready yet. I could shuttle fighters around with the Cerberus at need, but I preferred to wait until I acquired a more conventional military transport. Most of my fighters were scattered about, with vast stretches of Paranid or Split, or in one case Xenon, space between them and the areas I needed them to be. They weren't equipped or even repaired, and I still only had fifteen commandos. But of the two, the latter took higher precedence. I could gear up the fighters while the warriors trained.

Time to visit another rehab facility.


Assets:

Eclipse - Sprite

Medusa Prototype

Caiman Super Freighter XL
{4} 1 GJ Shields
{20} 200 MJ Shields
{54} 25 MJ Shields
{2} Concussion Impulse Generator
{4} Gauss Cannons
{1} Hammerhead Missile
{12} High Energy Plasma Throwers
{5} Ion Disruptors
{8} Ion Shard Railguns
{10} Mass Drivers
{24} Particle Accelerator Cannons
{12} Phased Shockwave Generators
{15} Photon Pulse Cannons
{14} Tempest Missiles
{20} Thunderbolt Missiles
{24} Tomahawk Missiles


Toucan Hauler - Gull
Toucan Hauler - Gall
Iguana - Gambler's Delight
Express Hauler

Caiman - Siren's Hips
Demeter Hauler
Demeter Super Freighter
Demeter Super Freighter XL

Jaguar Hauler
Pericles Vanguard
Scorpion Sentinel
Pike
L
{4} Mamba
{2} Eclipse
Medusa

Chokaro

Cerberus
Minotaur

15 Marines(Six Split, Three Argon, Six Boron)

Credits: 13,818,371

[Song Of Obsidian]

Chapter 22 - Circles Are Ever Round


Mi Ton's Refuge had a very dismal appearance. The former Boron research colony had long been abandoned, so the atmosphere suited it. The place didn't have the reputation of LooManckStrat's to the north, but it was a known pirate haven now, situated between two other pirate sectors that each bordered racial space. For such a haven, though, its spacelanes were barren. There were only two stations in the sector; an ore mine that seemed never to receive energy cells, and my destination.

The rehabilitation facility looked much the same as the one in Danna's Chance had. Had, because on my last trip through Danna's I noticed that it had been destroyed. A pity. I had liked the way they ran their establishment to fill a niche in the market. I didn't know what to expect from the one I was about to dock at, though. It would be nice if they shared the same protocols, but pirates aren't exactly known for cohesion and cooperation.

I brought both Gull and Gall this time, rather than breaking the transaction up into two visits. I needed more warriors, that was plain, but I was admittedly worried, for no other reason than what the location of the facility implied. It was out of the way, which meant their clients could enjoy some measure of obscurity when they came looking for people to shed blood for them. Those clients probably tended to be seedier sorts than I really wanted to deal with, which would reflect on the people who ran the place. They would be far less trustworthy, even for pirates.

It occurred to me, then, that I could have gone to several pirate bases and only picked a couple at each. Many of them kept a small stock of slave-soldiers for hire. I might even have done so then and there, but trails of green light walked out into space toward me to guide me to the docking ports. Turning away now would be an offense that promised vengeance.

I was committed, for better or worse. But I wasn't about to go in without some backup.

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

No less than six armed pirates of mixed races awaited me for the frostiest greeting I had ever received. I only nodded to them and stopped in the middle of their semi-circle. This confirmed my intuitions, though too late to do me any good.

No one spoke. I was familiar enough with intimidation tactics that I wasn't cowed, but I desperately wished I was somewhere else. Eventually the two at the middle turned around and started walking, and the other four formed a cordon around me. The message was clear, and I moved to follow the first two. They led me deep within the compound; there would be no escaping if things went badly. Most of the doorways we passed looked to be sealed. Curiosity would be rewarded with a sharp prod in the ribs, I'd wager.

At long last we came to a dead end. The lair of the beast. The two in the lead turned to face me and stepped aside to flank the door, which slid open in front of me. I walked through it into an enormous gray-blue room in the shape of a half-circle. The wall with the door was flat, the other wall curving all the way around. The floor had a springy carpeting over it that felt odd to walk on, but the metal walls were unadorned. To my left there was a lounge-like area with couches, cushions, and pillows haphazardly arranged. A large section of the wall was sheathed in vid monitors with screens nearly three-quarters of my height. I glanced to the right and decided I didn't want to dwell on it, but for the moment all of the beds I saw were empty. And directly ahead was a long desk, also curved, with a dark-skinned Argon woman sitting in the middle. Not really sitting. If someone could swagger while seated, she was doing it.

Should have turned around.

"Took yaw sweet toime," she drawled, and sat up almost straight. I heard quiet footsteps behind me while she stared at me with her head slightly tilted for a moment. Then she raised a phase pistol and smiled sweetly. "No flichin', boyo. Just let 'im frisk ya. Might e'en injoy it."

Defiance is well and good, but it wouldn't DO me any good. I glowered at her but raised my arms out to the sides. The man was invasively thorough. He knew what he was doing, I gave him that, but I most certainly did not enjoy it.

whoever it was stepped back and the woman raised her brows. "Not e'en a knoife?"

I just smirked at her. "I decided to trust your hospitality." I saw no need to mention the fact that I'd jumped in the Minotaur near the south gate and moved it within missile range. Especially since the search failed to yield up the small remote command module I carried.

She laughed shortly, then glanced past me and thrust her chin upward; the door closed and I slowly looked behind me, then faced forward again. We were alone, and her pistol was on the table, not threatening but still close. I took that as an invitation to come forward and sit down, and she didn't stop me. Nor did she introduce herself.

"I take it you know the Flaming Pups are out of business," she said conversationally and I smiled a little, for several reasons. I hadn't actually known that Firewolf was the name of the faction; I only knew it as the name of a drink. Her nickname for them was amusing enough too, but the loss of her accent, that I found delightful.

"I saw that their facility was gone, yes. Don't know how or why."

She only shrugged. Neither mattered. "Got some killed already?"

"Didn't hire enough to begin with."

"Oh? What are my lovelies going to be doing for you?" I smiled but didn't answer. She got the hint. "How many do you want, then?"

"Depends on how many you have that fit my needs, but I brought transportation enough for twenty." She started to smile, but I gave her a hard stare and it faded, though she didn't look worried. "Also depends on how you train them. The ones I got from the Wolves are solid, and they're all still alive despite seeing real combat on foreign territory while being outnumbered. Their training regimen has a lot to do with that, and I want that same level of quality. I don't have time to retrain someone else's dogs."

She slouched in her chair until her elbows took her weight. "I won't tell you how we do our job. I will tell you what you need to know. Our soldiers do as they're told. They won't ask why, but they may give advice; that's rare though, if you know what you're about. They'll take care of themselves and won't ask for anything. And they'll never betray you." She gave me an arch look. "Sound fair?"

I smiled faintly. "You sound like Gilharno."

She stiffened, and her eyes looked positively glacial for a moment. "We've met," she said with her jaw clenched. Sore spot, and not my business, but she recovered quickly and reached under the tabletop to her right. I tensed reflexively, but all that happened was that a segment of the table in front of me slid away to reveal a large imbedded datapad. I decided not to mention that it looked familiar.

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

Her stock was a bit green for my needs; out of the seventy-seven I reviewed, I chose twelve that I would actually keep, with another three to dispose of. I needed to find another eighteen elsewhere. I wasn't looking forward to the disposal or the upcoming search for more commandos. Not to mention trying to foot the bill for training for all of them.

Just remember to turn the comms off this time.

[Poseidon]

I'm going to have to re-read a few chapters; I haven't pieced together the reason for the sacrificial marines yet.

Accents are nasty business. :-p Looking forward to the tour of the various facilitates.

[Song Of Obsidian]

Heh. I won't spoil your fun by answering the question this time

[Song Of Obsidian]

Chapter 22 continued - Circles Are Ever Obviously Round


I stood at relative ease in the docking bay, awaiting my new warriors, when the nameless dark-skinned Argon pirate emerged from a corridor and approached. I turned to face her and she nodded to me, then stopped several paces away in much the same position. Oddest mirror image for me, I thought, but her attention was no longer on me. I followed her gaze and saw a pair of her soldiers enter the docking bay and step apart from each other. A Boron followed and walked between them, and I could see more figures in motion behind. I glanced back at the woman. Her expression was impassive.

The line of fifteen beings marched across the bay, and right between me and the woman I decided to name Ice Queen, since she was rude enough to keep her name to herself. Not that I was any better...

I noticed one peculiar occurrence; despite her taciturnity at the moment, she made eye contact with each of them. Such a small thing, yet it spoke volumes. Only I didn't understand the language.

Each one also looked at me, but they were looking for direction. I nodded toward one of the transports every time, but there was no rhyme or reason to my choices. It was purely spontaneous, because I would arrange things in much the same way I had last time - except for the fact that the squad leaders would also be on-hand to welcome them. They could do so far more effectively than I ever could.

Once they were all either on or heading toward a Toucan, I matched gazes with Ice Queen. There was a wistfulness in her eyes, but it didn't last. She nodded curtly, then turned away and left me alone.

The question I asked myself, as I stared at her back, was whether she wished her soldiers could stay, or that she could go with them. Either way, she had come out for only one reason. To see them off. Maybe my name for her was unfair after all.

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

The Teladi and two Paranid had had no trouble getting inside the Dolphin freighter. They fought in those cramped quarters against invisible enemies, while I sat a kilometer away in the Medusa, prepared to immolate them like some angry fire god. Yet I couldn't see the freighter. All I could see was that sad longing in another being's eyes.

We both wore many faces, her and I. But she changed faces with ease, and in varied company; I couldn't be sure any one of the people I spent so much time with now had any idea who I was or what I planned. It was just silly, that I wanted to know whether or not she would do as I was doing were our places reversed. But I did want to know, which brought into question every single thing I had done since I fled Contorted Dominion.

Is it so wrong, to not want to be so...singular?

It wasn't that I was lonely. I was accustomed to being on my own, and trust came hard but died quickly. But to think that there might be others like me...well, misery loves company, they say.

I didn't know how these thoughts might change anything for me though. I didn't want to die, and I did want revenge. And to keep my plans from being predictable, sacrifices had to be made. Only they weren't mine to make.

I left the comms on and squeezed the trigger.


Assets:

Eclipse - Sprite

Medusa Prototype

Caiman Super Freighter XL
{4} 1 GJ Shields
{20} 200 MJ Shields
{54} 25 MJ Shields
{2} Concussion Impulse Generator
{4} Gauss Cannons
{1} Hammerhead Missile
{12} High Energy Plasma Throwers
{5} Ion Disruptors
{8} Ion Shard Railguns
{10} Mass Drivers
{24} Particle Accelerator Cannons
{12} Phased Shockwave Generators
{15} Photon Pulse Cannons
{14} Tempest Missiles
{20} Thunderbolt Missiles
{24} Tomahawk Missiles


Toucan Hauler - Gull
Toucan Hauler - Gall
Iguana - Gambler's Delight
Express Hauler

Caiman - Siren's Hips
Demeter Hauler
Demeter Super Freighter
Demeter Super Freighter XL

Jaguar Hauler
Pericles Vanguard
Scorpion Sentinel
Pike
L
{4} Mamba
{2} Eclipse
Medusa

Chokaro

Cerberus
Minotaur

27 Marines(10 Split, 9 Argon, 8 Boron)

Credits: 13,175,822

[Song Of Obsidian]

Interlude - Appraisal


The commandos sorted out their own units with an efficiency I dared not tamper with. I just put up the credits for their training and arranged their schedules, and the reports I received from the squad leaders were encouraging. But I still needed more.

Hohindras started another ore mine, this time in Cloudbase South East. I kitted out the Demeter Hauler and sent it to him, and he in turn gave it to another Argon pilot, who named it Silversteel, of all things. Lidya Cheram seemed to be the polar opposite to Daron Braks in temperament, but it really wasn't my concern. I would never have contact with any of them. Again, I just put up the credits and provided the ships.

I was becoming one of those shadow puppeteers with money. Disconcerting.

Since very little of my attention was required for tending to the building of stations, outfitting of freighters, and training of warriors, I took Gull and began hopping around to visit pirate bases. I didn't need two ships together, not with the low numbers of recruits the bases could accommodate at any given time.

My first destination was Acquisition Repository.


Assets:

Eclipse - Sprite

Medusa Prototype

Caiman Super Freighter XL
{4} 1 GJ Shields
{20} 200 MJ Shields
{54} 25 MJ Shields
{2} Concussion Impulse Generator
{4} Gauss Cannons
{1} Hammerhead Missile
{12} High Energy Plasma Throwers
{5} Ion Disruptors
{8} Ion Shard Railguns
{10} Mass Drivers
{24} Particle Accelerator Cannons
{12} Phased Shockwave Generators
{15} Photon Pulse Cannons
{14} Tempest Missiles
{20} Thunderbolt Missiles
{24} Tomahawk Missiles


Toucan Hauler - Gull
Toucan Hauler - Gall
Iguana - Gambler's Delight
Express Hauler

Caiman - Siren's Hips
Demeter Hauler - Silversteel
Demeter Super Freighter
Demeter Super Freighter XL

Jaguar Hauler
Pericles Vanguard
Scorpion Sentinel
Pike
L
{4} Mamba
{2} Eclipse
Medusa

Chokaro

Cerberus
Minotaur

27 Marines(10 Split, 9 Argon, 8 Boron)

Ore Mine L - Ianamus Zura
Ore Mine L - Cloudbase South East

Credits: 10,412,767

[Song Of Obsidian]

Chapter 23 - Befriending Paranid?


The Paranid I was brought before would have been ugly even by Paranid standards. His skin was smoother than usual, and held a very distinct green-ish hue. And the claws...oh, those familiar claws. At a guess, I would call him a half-breed with Teladi blood. I didn't know if the two races could interbreed, but he certainly looked the part. It would certainly explain his presence on a pirate base. Neither race would be all that keen to accept him, though his appearance could all be a careful fabrication as well.

His manner was as imperious as one might expect from any other Paranid though. He stood behind his desk and held his head high so he could look down on me. With two chairs and a desk between us, and three guards at my back, the closet masquerading as an office lent some weight to that pose. I matched his stare as best I could...it's hard to look into three eyes at once. I picked the left one. Eventually he gestured to one of the chairs on my side of the desk. His trio of guards remained in the room with us.

I started to sit down. "Enemy of Priest Xaar, come to see me. An uncommon temptation." My brows raised and I forced myself to relax into the chair. Whether he intended to turn me in or not, he most likely wanted to see me squirm. I was not about to oblige him.

I yawned.

A deep, grating chuckle rose from somewhere below his chest. "Dodging hunters makes you weary?"

I shrugged off-handedly. "They stopped trying when I killed a dozen and a half or so the last time I came to this base."

He bowed his head, still chuckling. "We watched the battle on our scanners. A shame this sector's atmosphere interferes with video enhancement. It would have been worthy to watch them die with our own eyes." Someone grunted an assent behind me, and I smiled. Apparently I had a fan club. The Paranid scowled, however. "They know better than to come here. We make them pay every time they do."

I bowed my head in return. "As do I. Which is why I'm here."

"For some of our soldiers." I nodded, and we got to business. He tapped a few times on a datapad, then slid it toward me. "We have eighteen ready for combat trials," his voice droned on as I perused the list and started sorting through the information. "I will make a special arrangement with you if you will bring me Paranid pilots."

I glanced up at that. I hadn't gotten into the slave trade, though there were plenty of Split and Paranid pilots who had gone for a lazy float through space after meeting me. It was something to consider. A closer bond of trust with a pirate faction could only help me. And of all the pirate bases I had seen or visited so far, this one seemed the most secure - and most likely to last.

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

I ended up choosing six of his eighteen, four Argon and two Boron. I never even looked at the Paranid or Teladi recruits; some part of me recoiled from it. I decided then and there that I never wanted to see that woman at Mi Ton's again.

I still went through with the subterfuge of jumping to a secluded spot to transport the new recruits to other ships with some of my squad leaders though. And after that I headed for PTNI Headquarters...and then to the Unknown Sector to the east of it.

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

My greeting at the next pirate base was similar to Mi Ton's, but there was something else that made it especially worrying. The hostility on the faces of the exclusively Argon men who surrounded me as soon as I disembarked was completely undisguised. More than likely, this faction was xenophobic.

They took me to a small room right off the hangar itself. It looked more like an interrogation room than a negotiation room or office. The table had two chairs, one on each of the longer sides, and the chairs were bolted down. There was a lot of open space around the table as well; room for guards to stand with weapons at the ready, as I learned first-hand. I took the chair facing the door and waited, the epitome of patience, and silently wished I had had the premonition to bring in the Minotaur again.

A couple minutes after I was escorted to the room, another Argon man entered and closed the door. He sneered at me disdainfully; I looked him over as he moved toward the other chair and noticed some blood spatter on his flight suit. He leaned across the back of the chair, all bravado. "'Ope ye'll fergive the wait. One 'o the squids got unruly an' needed ta be put down."

Charming.

"No trouble. I was only kept waiting a couple minutes." I had never seen an Argon snarl before, but his upper lip started to quiver and he looked voraciously hungry. For my blood. His reaction was somewhat other than expected. Courtesy would evidently get me nowhere.

He sat down without calming down and thrust a datapad at me hard enough to give my ribs a nice bruise if I hadn't stopped it with my hand. "Wells, give our toys a looksie an' hand over some creds an' we'll be done. And be snappy, time's wastin'."

I could grow to hate this man.

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

"NONE!" he screamed, eyes wide and burning into me. I sat back and readied myself for action. This was not my day.

"You blew near'n hour o' my time ta tell me you dun want a single one o' my killers, then think I'll just let ya walk without payin' fer my time?" He stood up with his chest and shoulders trembling. "Best be showin' me some creds, or I'll lash you to my fighter's engine an' heat 'er up real slow."

I let him yell. There were four other men in the room, and several of his 'killers' - of all races except Argon - stood in the hangar on the other side of a viewing port. I had been willing to take a look at them, at least, despite having reservations as to how much use I could get out of them. When I actually saw them, however, I knew for certain they were all damaged. They kept glancing at those on either side of them, as if expecting an attack at any time. Several had scars on their faces that looked very similar...which I guessed was one of this idiot Argon's training methods. Punishment as reinforcement seemed his style, and he probably forced them to compete against each other to determine who was punished too. They wouldn't trust anyone.

I finally stood up to match the lead pirate's stare; if I wanted to get out of this alive, I'd either have to cow him or get myself into a position to do something about the guards who were arrayed between me and the door. The latter seemed unlikely, but I had to assume it was also the one that would prove most necessary.

"You're the one wasting my time, fool," I said in a low tone. He went perfectly still...which I didn't take as a good sign, but I walked around the table and approached the viewing port. I did this reluctantly; the only weapon I had was the table, since it wasn't bolted down. "I need disciplined warriors." I face him again and waved a hand at the poor souls watching those who would decide their fates. Or so they probably hoped. "What you have out there is a bunch of scarred freaks so afraid of each other they can't stand still for three seconds. They won't trust anyone at their backs. Think I want someone like that supporting my veterans?"

The leader walked toward me, slowly. Threateningly. I raised my brows, as if more curious than concerned. If I played this right, I could make him a hostage and human shield. It wouldn't be easy though; there were two men to my left and two near the door to my right. I would need to restrain him and take control of his pistol, before any of the guards got a shot off.

I wasn't very optimistic.

His ringed hand flashed out, back-handed to slap me; I understood how the slaves got their scars then. I wasn't about to take the same scars either. I leaned away from him to avoid the blow, and snatched at his wrist as his hand passed in front of my face. He started to twist to get out of my grasp, but I leaned away again and yanked him toward me, then angled my elbow up to catch his throat with a very satisfying popping sound.

His eyes went wide, not in fury but in panic. I heard the door open and some shots were fired. I spun the leader around, hoping to either catch laser bolts with his body or make them think twice about firing at me. He wasn't breathing, so I wasn't worried about grappling with him. I let go of his arm with one hand and fumbled for the pistol at his hip, then flung him at the two guards in the corner. Once I let go one of them risked a shot at me, and I felt its heat against the side of my face. The other hopped a step away to avoid getting tangled, and I shot him twice in the chest as he was getting a bead on me. I ran toward the table and fired wildly at the other guard, who was buried under my projectile. The leader took several hits in the back before he was shoved off, and I had a clear shot. I didn't miss.

I threw myself to the floor and moved to flip the table for cover, but saw that I didn't need to bother. The guards hadn't been shooting at me, evidently. One of the Paranid slaves was standing trembling at the door, and the guards were down. "Take me from this place," he said pleadingly, sounding more like a child than haughty Paranid warrior.

I glanced at the other slaves; they were all staring at me, for once not fidgeting or looking skittish. I had no use for them, I told myself, but the avid hope on their faces cut right through me. Anonymity didn't seem to be much of an option for me regarding these pirates, so I didn't mind stealing from them. In fact, it made stealing from them more attractive.

I nodded once and stood up, then ran out with the pistol still in my hand. What decided me was not the desire to hurt those who had tried to hurt me; it was the simple fact that one of those slaves had saved my life. I owed him a debt of blood, and I would repay it...just as I was doing to the Split and Paranid governments.

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(OOC note: I did this partially to explain why some pirates still attack me even though most pirates are neutral to me. I didn't attack the base to turn it hostile, but I chose not to ever visit the sector again...even though it has a PBG forge and rehab facility. Ah, the sacrifices we make for the sake of a story. I did buy some marines there, which I couldn't do for free, but I figure the money spent can simulate Hohindras' cut of my station profits for the time being.)