Wanton use of nukes and the path to galactic conquest!

Musicker · Post by **Musicker** » Wed, 17. Jun 09, 19:30

Those were some sweet bargains, congratulations to Steve, he cleaned up on those deals.

Now if only some desperate Split junkie would only put his Mamba up for 100k or so..!

xdxforever · Post by **xdxforever** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 01:16

Sgt. Steve: Used Ship Salesman

Thanatos_23 · Post by **Thanatos_23** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 02:32

Buy this good 'ol ship or Steve will kick your teeth in

Tenlar Scarflame · Post by **Tenlar Scarflame** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 02:48

HURRY ON DOWN TO

CRAZY STEVE'S

TELADI/ARGON/BORON USED SHIP EMPORIUMMMMMM.

ZERO PERCENT FINANCING AND NO MONEY DOWN, ON BUZZARDS, BUSTERS, MAKOS, VULTURES, and MORRREEE! (annoying jingle followed by colorful explosion)

[/capslock]

Okay... please forgive me for that. Someone had to do it.

mayan · Post by **mayan** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 03:31

Noooo...they didn't.

Gothsheep · Post by **Gothsheep** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 09:02

You know, after reading how Zen ended, and catching up on this thread, I have to say it's a shame Zen ended the way it did, considering where you went with it.

I mean, Mak being killed by a Boron ambush? Alright.

Mak being killed by a crazed, vengeful ex-merc whom he left for dead? Awesome.

"Long time no see, Mak."

"Leo!? But...I thought you were dead!"

"Funny thing. If you want to kill a man, look him in the eye when you do it. One of a lot of things I learned under your service."

"W..What do you mean?"

"Recognize this gun, Mak? It's the same one you handed me just before you sent me off to die taking over some goddamned scraphulk so you could sell it for some quick cash. Only I didn't fire it. Not once since you gave it to me. Instead I picked up a gun from a guy one of the others killed. You know why I did that?"

"..."

"I did it 'cause I knew, I knew from the moment you gave this thing to me, who the first person I'd fire it into would be. Care to guess who?"

"Slow down there, Steve. We can make a deal here. You know what I'm wort--"

*BAM*BAM*BAM*BAM*BAM*

"Hmmph. Just like I thought. Worthless. Just like you. So long, Mak."

zackinger · Post by **zackinger** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 10:41

Hmmmm i wonder why these lines sound so familliar ...

Gothsheep · Post by **Gothsheep** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 12:29

zackinger wrote:Hmmmm i wonder why these lines sound so familliar ...

They were ripped off from most of the action movies that the original Mak story referenced along the way. Hence the joke. (Well, okay, there was a lot in there from Payback (both the original and the Mel Gibson remake) but I just did that because those movies are awesome.

Musicker · Post by **Musicker** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 16:38

I get a little confused when some people call the new protagonist "Leo" and some call him "Steve". I've been under the impression that Steve was the merc who was in charge of the mission to capture the ship that jumped, and subsequently was blown to spacedust.. Did I misread the story somewhere along the line?

Perhaps N-S can clear up this confusion I'm experiencing?

softweir · Post by **softweir** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 17:29

The name generated by the game for the mercenary was, I believe, "Leo". At some point, N-S made a joke reference to "Steve" (Segal?), and for a while the mercenary transport was "Who is this Steve anyway". Inevitably, Leo picked up "Steve" as a nickname.

NUKLEAR-SLUG · Post by **NUKLEAR-SLUG** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 19:11

Prev chapter<->Next chapter
14 - Flash! Aah!

Shiny new and shiny blue!..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/14-1.jpg

.. and goes like stink too! In fact the thought of flying at the speeds this thing can do scares me so much I've deliberately chosen not to install a Boost Extension purely because zero to too-damn-fast in half a second is garunteed to end with me as a molecular thin smear on the side of something large and hard. Basic acceleration I think is plenty fast enough, will do me fine, and allow for at least some correction of any of my more gratuitous flying errors.

With my freighter equipped with a Trading Extension it's good for doing some remote trading, leaving me free to chase around like a lunatic and see what I can find in the way of Taxi missions. Unfortunately I can't afford a Mineral Scanner again just yet but with a couple good trades I should be able to then I can do some prospector missions too. Think I'll leave 'Wonky Donkey' running Nostrop around the PTNI area and head my other freighter down to Nyana's to trade Delexian Wheat while I head east and see what's what.

Nothing doable in Nyana's or Omicron Lyrae but, heading into Treasure Chest, there's a Boron wants a taxi to the Pirate Base in Nathans Voyage. 14 mins, which should be easy.. at least it would be if I'ld had the foresight to actually fit a Cargo bay Lifesupport. oops! Fortunately he seems in forgiving mood and is willing to wait while I go get one. Might as well get one from the Nathans Voyage Pirate base I guess! Anyways, heading across Treasure Chest it seems there's trouble about..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/14-2.gif

..Lots of it too, that's a fairly sizeable force there. I'm not concerned about them catching me of course, but there could be some salvage opportunity here as the Xenon have gotten distracted picking on a freighter and there's an Argon Heavy Centaur and escort coming up fast behind them..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/14-3.jpg

.. The Argon may have a heavy M6 in the fray but given the Xenon fighters outnumber them easily 2-1 I'm expecting the Argon to get massacred.. but actually they quite handily brutalise the entire Xenon group. I'm not sure if the Argon even suffered a single casualty actually. So far I'm not too impressed with the Xenon as a fighting force. Much overrated I feel..

Pressing on to the Nathans Voyage Pirate I get my CLS and return to pick up and taxi Nana Di, by which time my freighters have earned enough for me to afford a Mineral Scanner which means I can now do taxi runs and prospector missions.. with that and my freighters shipping Nostrop around the money should start rolling in.

Decided to spend a bit of time chasing around Wastelands (mostly becuase of the lack of rocks to fly into!) and the general vicinity doing the odd taxi run and some quite lucrative asteroid scanning missions, then made a slight mistake of deciding on a whim to do a covert ops missions. It was listed as easy and the pay was only a mere 828cr, but I thought it would be a simple kick back and tail the guy. Not so it seems as I'm about to follow the Hermes TP I'm after into Interworlds when suddenly some of his friends show up..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/14-4.gif

.. Eep!, I think my covers blown! I decide to abort the mission (it'll cost me a bit of rep but I'm not in any position to handle trouble like that) and make a run for the south gate into Paranid space, very conveniently picking up a return ship mission for a Discoverer on the way which just so happens to be adrift in Sacred Relic, sweet!. No dice tho, a short time later as I'm perusing the local comms traffic in Sacred Relic I get a proximity warning.. Damn, they've followed me! Looks like they mean business! I could run, but it seems they're intent on hunting me down regardless. I need to deal with them somehow..

http://dbbr17626.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/steve/14-5.gif

.. Wonder what Mak would do?

Assets
1x kestrel 'Flash'
1x Demeter 'Wonky Donkey'
1x Discoverer
1x Mako
1x Vulture SF 'TS6750 - 01'

Time: 13:48:15
Credits: 56,203

Tenlar Scarflame · Post by **Tenlar Scarflame** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 20:10

Thaaaat's not good.

No guns hurts. But at least you can outrun them pretty handily, right? Find that Argon battle group you saw munching on Xenon earlier and make friends with them.

mike2R · Post by **mike2R** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 20:45

> .. Wonder what Mak would do?

I think there's a clue in the final picture

JanusTN · Post by **JanusTN** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 21:05

NUKLEAR-SLUG wrote:
.. Wonder what Mak would do?

Missiles... Lots of em... Don't need any combat pilot training to push a big red button

Tenlar Scarflame · Post by **Tenlar Scarflame** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 21:19

Hah! mike2R has the right idea. Didn't catch that clue.

Very clever, Steve.

Hartzaden · Post by **Hartzaden** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 21:28

nice idea with the

Spoiler

Show

Lastower

wouldent of thought of that.

x3mitn · Post by **x3mitn** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 21:29

Subtle clue, nice one

Not only great writing but now the 'screen play' is taking shape. So...Bruce Willis or Arnie to take the lead role...?

Hartzaden · Post by **Hartzaden** » Thu, 18. Jun 09, 22:24

x3mitn wrote:Subtle clue, nice one
Not only great writing but now the 'screen play' is taking shape. So...Bruce Willis or Arnie to take the lead role...?

your forgetting Leo id a ordinary man. BW or god forbid Arnie wouldent fit in with a trader who had a gun forced into his hand and was tould to fight or die. now the fact that he Excelled at this role is irrelevant. its nice to see Leo gitting back to his roots. this is better than most DID "cap everything in sight" storys

Snowship · Post by **Snowship** » Fri, 19. Jun 09, 01:25

Local law enforcements will kill them so head in their direction.

Gold Dragon · Post by **Gold Dragon** » Fri, 19. Jun 09, 02:05

Hartzaden wrote:nice idea with the
Spoiler
Show
Lasertower

wouldent of thought of that.

Meh. Those seem to get about 5 shots in my games before even scout-class vessels blow them away, for some reason.

Me, I'd use the speed of the ship for defense. I'd high-tail it in one direction until I am more than 20 KM away, then I'd stop, and turn at right angles, and speed away across the sector. More than half the time, they keep following my original track, not having even the slightest Idea that I've changed course and am now behind them... (note: not really effective if the enemy has tri-plex.)

And those that DO figure me out, well, speed works here, too. Running thru a couple gates gets everything off my tail.

Above tried and tested with a souped-up Discoverer that I called "Shadow's Dart", with a top speed of 593 m/s. Yes, I tend to run Modified games.

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

Wanton use of nukes and the path to galactic conquest!