Shoo t'Rgt: Honour and Reason [DiD]

[Nathancros]

have finally come out of the woodwork to say ive been loving this story!, and if ur looking for a pilot


Greetings Honourable split!
I have heard your claims and beleive your path is the path of honour!

i pladge my sword/soul/something honourable sounding, to your cause should you wish it!

My name is E'den*female split, typically agressive... very agressive, i mean agressive split agressive *,

i shall be waiting for you at thuruks beard trading center, in the center where no inferior being can enter.

Glory to Shoo t'rgt!

[Master of the Blade]

another worthy member for the fleet! I won't forget about you like I did to Justin.

I'll update tomorrow 'k? I found this application at quarter past 10 at night and I'm damned if I'm going to try and concentrate enough to write.

[Argon tactican Justin]

I won't forget about you like I did to Justin.

Just give me something to blow up and I'll be happy..... for a while, anyways

[Master of the Blade]

Well, I thought I'd have time for a proper chapter - and I do - but once again the grindiness of my playing atm means there's been bugger all interesting going on. So, instead, straight from the monitors of the bridge of Unreasonable Negotiations, the (recent) voyages (well, short treks really) of the great (debatable) Shoo t'Rgt!

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A new addition - a Pirate crew decided they valued their lives and abandoned ship before their corvette evaporated. Of course, I took advantage of the opportunity to use my expensive Teladi claiming widget to transfer control.


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The snazzy Verdandi Sentinel Pyren's flying. In this pic he's been sent out to hunt down some stray Xenon Ms from an invasion.

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Naturally, he returns unharmed and victorious.




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The Mani light interceptor. currently serving as my captain's yacht, this little boat is well shielded, fast, and armed to the teeth.


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What's this? The ATF outside of Terran space? And me among them? WHAT COULD IT MEAN? Well, I don't think I'm awake enough to do it justice, so you'll have to wait until next chapter, where I finally assign a ship to Justin, hop over to Thuruk's Beard to pick up a Split sympathetic to my cause, and reveal why I'm with the ATF again.


As if there's any reason other than the obvious one...

Right, apologies again for lameness. Last lame 'chapter' for a while now.

[Snowship]

Naturally, he returns unharmed and victorious.

Of course!

Nice to see the external view of the bird.

-Pyren

[Argon tactican Justin]

The Mani light interceptor. currently serving as my captain's yacht, this little boat is well shielded, fast, and armed to the teeth.

Wait..... who's the captain Can't wait to see what I get to fly/command

[Master of the Blade]

@Argon tactican Justin, ummm... me?

[Master of the Blade]

Right, time to go.

Chapter 23: Well, it was something different...

So, I'm hopping 'round the Universe looking for people to pay me for cleansing the Universe of personas non grata and I see this huge ATF fleet in Scale Plate Green, headed for X347 to do some arse-whooping. I think, 'well, we've all seen a few Xenon in our time, why not go see some more - and this time we'll have the backup of a massive fleet of the most advanced ships in existence.'

So, into X347 we go and lo and behold there's treasure already, among the wreckage of a Teladi patrol is an abandoned Osprey - no sign of crew - with semi-functional shields and a few backup weapons installed. I claim it with the expensive Teladi claiming doodad and send it off to PTNI, out of the way.

Once the ATF are in order, they make a charge towards the X347 mainframe station, swatting any flies that annoy them along the way. I decide to stay well out of the way in case of friendly fire.

And who's commanding this operation? Why, none other than my old acquaintance Toomanytitles Ishiyama!

'Major General Rai Ishiyama here. Glad to see you're willing to help, pilot!' is his attempt at a greeting.

'Quite a fleet you have here. Think it'll be enough?' I shoot back, eyeing the four Xenon K class destroyers to the South of the sector, currently oblivious to the ATF forces.

'Maybe. Don't tell any of the captains, but we're not expecting them to hold out if reinforcements show up,' is the rather worrying reply.

'I'll guard the flank, then. Take out any frigates trying to get you from behind,' I offer, setting course for a Q attempting to do exactly that to the fleet's carrier.'

'Good. What do you have in the way of fighter support?'

'Hands off, you. I've got the one pilot and he's working for me. Pyren's good, but you're not sacrificing him to the Xenon - you know as well as I do the chances of survival out there.' I'm damned if I'm sending one fighter pilot out there on his own...

'Very well. Major General Rai Ishiyama, out.'


So, I get to work, ambushing the sneaky Q trying to flank the fleet and taking out a pod of corvettes way off to the East, when the scanners light up blue - the Odin in the fleet just launched its compliment of 40 fighters, which go to join the vanguard attack squad of five Vali class corvettes.

It's not long before the Xenon station goes boom, and I'd like to think I had a decent part in helping the fleet. I certainly helped my bank account - I end up with a few millions' worth of missiles and a 3Mcr Advanced PPC cluttering up my cargo hold.

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Checking the scanners again, the sector is more or less empty of homicidal toasters. With a bit of luck, the reinforcements Ishiyama was scared of won't be coming...

I send Pyren out to hunt down straggling Xenon fighters, and he manages to take out a few Ls and Ms before I call him back to plan our next move.

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I find the Ks have been alerted of our destructive presence and are moving in on our position.

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Moving over to the Ks, tagging as many as I can with my PALCs in order to lead them off to the ATF fleet for deconstruction, I notice the two massive clouds of red coming from the sector's gates. Party's not over yet, then...


I hit the boost to bring me back to the ATF faster and leave the angry destroyers in the dust just as the fighter swarm from the West gate hits the Terran fleet, which is already taking very heavy losses to its corvette fleet, and is missing half a Tyr - wait - make that a whole Tyr... not looking good. Ishiyama's already screaming at everyone to jump out, but the ATF battleships stand their ground, destroying fighters as quickly as possible while Xenon reinforcements keep streaming from the gates.

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I try hard and fight valiantly with the ATF fleet beside me, but the swarms of angry Xenon fighters begin to target me and I have to jump out to the tune of exploding ATF ships and Ishiyama's sound but saddening advice.

The jump device takes its sweet time to charge, and I listen to the countdown while keeping an eye on my shield integrity:

Jumpdrive 10%, shields 80% and falling quickly under the fire from tens of fighters.

Jumpdrive 20%, shields at 70%.

Jumpdrive at 30, shields dropping faster - 55%.

Jumpdrive at 40, shields down to 50 as I manage to engage the strafe drive.

Jumpdrive at 50, shields at 45...

60-40

70-30

80-25

90-10, as the Xenon manage to get a lock on me again.

Jumpdrive activating, shields at 5% and still dropping.

shields - 0%.

...

...


Jumpdrive finally kicks in, after what seems like years of watching my flagship melt, and I'm away, with a wormhole between me and the machine hordes. No significant hull damage, fortunately - nothing my mechanics can't fix. I knew the 50k price tag per head on those guys would pay off.

On my downtrodden way back through Scale Plate Green, I notice a small Teladi force of M6es and M8s headed to reinforce the Terrans - rather too late, I fear... Anyway, there're a few missions around to build stations in the locale and clean up a few pieces of scum, so I do my bit to help the locals before heading off to Thuruk's Beard to answer a fleet application - from a Split.

Seems my message of honour is getting through...

Interestingly, the applicant is a female Split by the name of E'den - rarely seen on the space lanes due to outdated Split tradition. She'll have an interesting background for sure... Also, I have no knowledge of a family with a 'den branch. Code name?

Anyway, she's waiting in the inner section of the trading station, off-limits to all but the Split, so I just show the guards my 'honoured strong arm of Rhonkar' ranking papers and get ushered in.

Thuruk's Beard being Thuruk's Beard, the inner sanctum of the station is quite deserted - a few slaves (another dinosaur policy of the Split - domestic robots are cheaper and more efficient than slaves in every way, not to mention better for the public image) here and there running maintenance jobs for some of the residents, but otherwise, few visitors.

I wander around for a while when I notice a figure in the corner watching me. I walk over to find that it is in fact my applicant, E'den. We exchange greetings and I take her back to my ship - the Mani, 'Sting'. I evaluate her skill as we walk.

'Can you fly?' is my first - and most important question.

'Depends. I can't fly without a ship!' an... unexpected answer, to be honest, but that's women - roundabout answers all the way...

'What ships? Fighters? Freighters? Battleships?'

'Freighters don't fly, they wallow. Battleships are so... boring - your crew does all the work for you. Fighters... they're so much more personal.' OK, no straight answers forthcoming. Either way, we arrive at the docking bay and pass all the defence fighters - mostly Mamba M3s, far larger than my Mani. Every one we pass, I'm asked,

'Is this one yours?'

I remain silent until we reach my little yacht, upon which I pat the edge of the wing and foolishly start spouting stats. She looks less than thrilled.

Of course, that opinion changes when the Unreasonable Negotiations looms in the viewscreen.

After landing, I show E'den to her cabin (the best onboard, debatably) and give her the data on ships in my fleet to mull over.

Then I remember Justin, who'd said to assign him to whatever ship I wanted him in. Well, even though I said the Griffon would be free, it would be a temporary posting - once my shipyard finishes REing all the samples I've given it, the Griffon's the next to be dismantled - then built again en masse, of course.

Oh well, the Griffon it is. Justin's job now is to offer antfighter support where needed and to act as a pickup for captured fighters that pique my interest.

So, after all that excitement, I restock on energy cells and jump over to Empire's Edge to search for the entrance to Yaki space to open negotiations on asteroid prices.



***Now with pictures, after much hoo-ha with Imageshack! ***

[Argon tactican Justin]

Interesting.... So will I get a chance to command the ship in combat? Does it have a fighter compliment (even one fighter) or will I just have to focus on commanding the Griffon alone? Either way, I'll be examining the ship's weapons and systems.

[Master of the Blade]

Well, you *were* going to have a duo of Nova Vanguards running support for you, but then I decided to send on for REing, so you've got one Nova Vanguard ready to go, and one toothless Falcon Hauler as a cargo boat.

[Snowship]

Close call there MotB, don't let you command and control get rusty

[Master of the Blade]

Yeah, there were a few choice curses being spouted when I realised I was in the firing line of about fifty fighters.

[Nathancros]

E'den will happily take any ship to fulfil an anti fighter role *sayyy.. a fast destroyer filled with flak?*


but any role u need done she will do for u

also the 'den family are not well known as they are not 'honourable' they prefer to fight the enemy that can fight back well*but at the same time ,not overly strong as to lose to them*, also they sometimes has the instinct of a teladi when it comes to money and warfare*use the least amount of ammo to do the job, cheap and effective*, and the whole of the 'den family laugh at the ongoing war with the boron,

[Master of the Blade]

Chapter updated with pictures. I'll find time during the week to upload another chapter, in which I finally make good on my promise to visit the Yaki.

[Master of the Blade]

E'den will happily take any ship to fulfil an anti fighter role *sayyy.. a fast destroyer filled with flak?*

Well, I've actually got a cruiser in mind as another ship to use against the Xenon which can exploit the monstrous power of the Vanguard Aldrin in perfect safety.

NOTE: Call me a cheat if you like, but apparently Improved Races likes to send stupidly huge Xenon fleets to attack the HUB. Fluff says that the Xenon pay no attention to the HUB, so I use the SE to kill off the Xenon - they swarm it every ten minutes or so, which is kind of debilitatingly annoying. So, in the name of honesty, I say this.



Plans

Everybody seems to hate the Yaki - when I arrive in Ocracocke's Storm from Empire's Edge I'm told the Argon, Paranid, Split and Teladi are all sending fleets to take various places in Yaki space. Anyway, no sign of the infamous pirates yet, so further in I go.

What greets me as I enter Senator's badlands after an uneventful trip through Savage Spur is the tail end of a huge ship, a kind I'd never seen before. The computer identified it as a Yaki Akuma M2 class ship. It's tersely neutral towards me and I decide it's best that it stays blue.

Interesting weapon configuration though - less heavy cannons in the forward battery in return for far more up/down antifighter lasers. An intriguing ship, but without a boarding craft or any properly trained marines, I see no way of acquiring one. Either way, my intention is to keep the Yaki non-hostile so I can use their sectors' mineral resources.

Further still into their territory and I find an alternate way of getting an Akuma - the Yaki have a shipyard! Sadly, the destroyer is one of the most expensive in the universe at 106Mcr. I can afford it, but I'm damned if I want to.

The shipyard is offering missions though, so I take and complete a few easy ones to earn docking rights with the organisation.

So, through the South gate and I'm as far in as you can go - the legendary Weaver's Tempest, site of a battle between the Split and Yai for territory which the Yaki won. The Split commander who directed that battle lost with honour, as he commended the superior tactics of the Yaki instead of the more usual stropping.

A Split vessel in this sector might be met with some force...

No - the Yaki's flagship, a stolen Colossus by the name of Shuri, is in the sector, but makes no aggressive moves. I'm free to look around the sector. At its failing economy. All there is is a few space fuel distilleries and Incendiary Bomb launcher forges - the IBL forges with low stock and the fuel stills full of goods but lacking ships to move them.

Times are not good for the Yaki, it would seem. All the more reason to use their sectors for production complexes.

The IBL forges have one gun each, so I send out cargo drones to pick them up, finally giving me a full set of 8 in the main array. Score.

Anyway, I can't do anything with the Yaki until I'm a little richer, so I set off back through their sectors. In Ocracocke's Storm I find the Argon battling a Yaki defense fleet, with abandoned ships lying around everywhere, including a very good-looking Tenjin M3+ and a few Novas. The Yaki appear to be losing but as much as I dislike the Argon, my forces are not powerful enough yet to match a fleet.

So, what to do with the abandoned ships? There're more than I can carry and my hangars are full anyway. I remember the Griffon sitting around in my HQ sector and the volunteer pilots sitting in my cabins. Justin's been around longest and seems trustworthy for an Argon (all of them seem to have personal agendas, but at least he told me his - to find his lost Colossus flagship, the Superior. He'd help me if we did find it.), so I decide to call him up to the bridge.

'Justin. How would you like to fly a frigate for me? I've decided I need some backup.'

'Sir, I would be honoured to. But don't you have a longer-serving pilot?'

'Yes. I've already talked to him, though, and he says he prefers his fighter. You're the alternative. I'm ordering your Griffon to join us now. Get ready to beam over.'

'Yessir.'

Well, that's that. I'm going to be having the Griffon run escort for my Tiger
to help deal with fighter swarms and to pick up abandoned fighters. Starting with these ones. A Tenjin, a Nova Raider and a Nova Sentinel. The Sentinel can go after it's been repaired by the Griffon's marine engineers, but I'll keep the others, along with a Nova Vanguard I'd outfitted a one of a pair to go with the Griffon. The other one is currently being REd at my shipyard though. Oh, and a Falcon Sentinel.

Once my salvage is docked with Justin's Griffon, we set off out of the sector block just as the Paranid takeover fleet arrives. Eheh.

I do a few missions involving Pirate fleets to build up my money reserves and to work out a good turret layout for the Griffon - naturally, I place flak weaponry wherever it'll go (everywhere), but the turret commands were slightly off to begin with.

I'm commed by some random Boron after a while, saying he needed some computer components to fix something called a 'Hub'. What's that? Oh, wait. That. Right. Oops.

I search all the computer plants until I can scrape together 400 computer components, and drop them off at the Hub. Then Mahi Ma asks for 500 microchips. Microchips are in short supply. I decide it's best if I find a building site and plan a complex.

Meanwhile, I look up the materials required for shipbuilding. Among them is microchips and computer components, along with ore, silicon and the like. I happen to have interests in a sector which can support a good sized complex for producing lots of these things, and can be repurposed into a weapons complex for my fleet.

I open up a planner, and decide on something like this.

Expensive, but I'm fast approaching being rich enough to actually build it.
With two TLs, it shoud be a reasonably fast build - Nomad ferryign construction kits with its smaller cargobay, and the MMBS, currently named Hauler bringing in stations.

[Argon tactican Justin]

Err....... I just noticed this, but what happened to the list of assets that are usually at the end of each chapter? The last few haven't had that

[Master of the Blade]

Yeah, sorry for the lack of those. I really need to get my assets sorted out - I'm not actually sure what I own myself.

[Argon tactican Justin]

I really need to get my assets sorted out - I'm not actually sure what I own myself.

THAT'S a scary thought

[Master of the Blade]

Well, earning ~215 million credits is taking longer than I expected since the RNG has decided it hates me and made decent, doable missions very hard to find. So I don't have a chapter but I'm proud to present...

click->A musical interlude!<-click


Just kidding.

It's actually just some mini-chapters to detail interesting/momentous stuff that happens when it does.




The Xploits of Shoo t'Rgt in Pursuit of Monetary Gain part 1: The Cowardly Pirate


So, I need money. I need it in a reasonable time frame if I'm to build this complex. How am I going to get it? How else?

It's crackdown time.

I decide to take a trip down to the sectors below the main Paranid block, where the Teladi, Boron and Split exist in a strange arrangement of local alliances where the Teladi trade with everyone while the Boron and Split occasionally have scuffles over where the trade goes to. Generally it's the Split who initiate it though, with several militarised sectors owned by the Family Rhy.

Anyway, the Boron seem to be having criminal problems and I curtail the lives of several unscrupulous pirates and their allies before I come to a momentous event:

So it's a relatively normal target - a Teladi pirate in a Carrack escaped from jail with a big escort in Shining currents looking for trouble. When I arrive (having left Justin in Reservoir of Tranquility since I can deal with these guys just fine) he's quite far from the gate so I take out his bomber and a secondary Carrack. Going fine so far.

I attack the mark and when his hull reaches 50%, he and his crew bail right out of the blue as I make a pass with my PALCs. He's a cunning one - latches onto my hull and manages to get into the cargo bay while I try to avoid the now empty Pirate frigate which is coasting to zero next to me.

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I realise he's managed to get onboard and send the cargobay porter drones to kick him out again, then laser him with the PALC banks. I'm paid for the kill, AND I can use the Teladi ship-claimerdoodadibob to take the frigate, with its intact Advanced HEPTs and a 1Gj shield.

No jumpdrive or energy though, so I have to give up my own JD and my remaining energy cells to allow it to jump to my shipyard for stripping and reverse engineering. Fortunately my Mani has a jumpdrive and some energy, and I take some of Pyren's energy stock to give myself some range.

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Then I go back to Justin. Plus 7 million credits and a banged-up Pirate Carrack.

[Snowship]

nice work there MotB, you 'collecting' the blueprints or actually intend to make a Carrack later on?