The Mossfoot Marauder: Comments

[mossfootx]

A PDF of the novel can be found here in a more polished and professional form:

http://roguey.freewha.com/gaming/pc/x3/novels/

This thread was created just so I could post it as I wrote it, but lots of mistakes crept in naturally.

----

For those new to this story, let me explain. This thread was originally me posting the first person journal of Rudager Tice, grizzled trader just starting off in the X-Universe in his own ship (he had been a crewmember on a larger ship before). The journal is based (though embelished) from the events of my actual game.

That petered out, in part because I am playing with a "dead is dead" mentality and, well, I died

But rather than let the story die, the next time I started the game I thought about making a novel, something with a bit more depth to it. The journal wouldn't cut it, but could still be useful. So I ended up eventually merging this journal (parts of it) with the unfolding drama.

I hope you enjoy the novel, please post comments in this thread rather than the novel thread, however, and feel free to enjoy the journal as it is here



Noah

-----

Hell of a first day. After scrimping and saving enough money for a used Buster, I get commissioned to take some newbie pilots on a training run. Supposed to be a milk run. What happens? A bunch of Ka’ack try to ram their insectoid lasers up my ass. One of the pilots got themselves killed and one of the Ka’ack took a bum run on me when my shields were down, blowing one of my engines.

And you know what? I STILL didn’t get paid. I’ve got 500 creds to my name.

F**k that s**t.

My ship is down to 30% hull integrity, engines are at half power, and to top it off I went and made a really dumb purchase buying nothing but mosquito missiles with what money I had, totally miscalculating supply and demand. My SETA was destroyed in the fight as well, so until I manage to unload these stupid missiles somewhere, probably at a loss, I’m stuck traveling everywhere in real time. Oh well. At least I can catch up on my reading.

I’m off to a bad start.




Money wise things went from bad to worse. I was making next to nothing shipping energy cells (seriously, you need a proper transport to make that worth your while) and I ended up making a few mistakes early on as well. I mean, it’s impossible to make any quick cash without jumping a few systems. All the good money makers are already being handled by the big transports, and I need more up to date information on local systems before I can find a profit making long range trip.

I’m docked on the Federation shipyards, tweeking my engines because it’s cheaper than actually fixing them right now. This guy comes up to me and says “Look, I’ll give you 7198 credits if you get me to the Alpha Chip Plant in this system.”

7198 credits? I think of how that could really get me started financially. But then I think about that number again. 7198? Why such an odd number? Answer: It’s every credit he’s got. Why is he offering every credit he’s got? Answer: He’s in trouble. I check my scanners and sure thing, there are a bunch of ships hanging around the station. Not marked as unfriendlies. Not yet. But I know if I let him on my ship those blips will go bright red.

“Look, have you seen my ship?” I tell him. You see that huge gash in the starboard engine? That’s from a Ka’ack ship crashing into me. My engines are at half speed, and I’ve only got two Betas strapped under the wing, and my guess is there’s a dozen ships out there waiting for your blood. I’ll tell you, if my ship was in good shape, I’d take ya. I could just hide behind this shipyard, make a run for that Colossus battleship over there. A few stray shots and they’ve got the whole Argon fleet blowing them to pieces. But in this ship? In this condition? Do yourself a favor and sit tight till some guy in an M5 with more guts than brains swings by.”




I stumbled into Boron space today and found out something interesting. Most wheat producing plants require BoGas as a secondary resource (I dunno, I thought BoGas was an anesthetic. Maybe it’s a good fertilizer of growing wheat is so damn boring the farmers need it to numb the pain of existence). Atrieus’ Cloud has BoGas collectors and there’s a wheat farm next door with absolutely none of it. A few good-will runs of fuel cells to get on the Boron’s good side and I’m making 50 credits per ton profit.

The downside, BoGas is bulky. I can’t carry enough of it to make serious profits. Still, it should do until I explore a bit more and find my big score. Then maybe I can get my frickin ship fixed. It will probably cost about 50,000 credits just to fix the damn hull. And after a few pirate attacks in which I was completely useless and relied on local authorities to save my butt, I need a decent weapon as well. Maybe a mass-driver, since they cut through the shields like butter. But that’s way down the road.

Until I get my damn ship fixed, it looks like I’m playing in the kiddy side of the pool.

[Syndrome]

Nice

There seems to be a wave going through the forum users to start founding new stories lately.

[mossfootx]

Well, I figured playing my campaign in a "dead is dead" fashion would inspire not only more cautious play, but easy to imagine storylines to explain what happens (I'm a professional writer, by the way, but I'm just doing this for fun with very little revision )

For those that are curious, I'm using Rougey's mod on my campaign.

[mossfootx]

Let me tell you something. When your ship is being held together with Teledaladium glue and you have a serious limp you have to pick and choose your fights. Basically that means stay the hell away from anything and everything that looks at you funny. I hear lots of traders talking about how they don’t take nothing from nobody, but they have afterburners installed so they can get the hell away when the other guy turns out to be packing military class hardware.

Usually when pirates are in the system, an Argon fleet will come to convince them that was a bad idea. When the fight’s over, there is sometimes spare cargo floating around which they ignore. I am not too proud to scrounge. A single missile can be worth over a thousand credits, depending on the type. And the sooner I get my ship fixed, the sooner I’ll be able to make a proper profit and kit the Mossfoot’s Marauder the way it was meant to be. Or maybe get a better ship. I dunno. I’m shopping around.

At least I got my SETA replaced. Helps kill the time. The Boron aren’t that friendly to me yet, and aren’t exactly much fun in a poker game. The problem is, unless you keep an eye on it, SETA can get you killed. Oh sure, it’s supposed to disconnect if anything happens, but when every second counts and they’re zipping along at ten times the normal rate, that can be too late.

I found this out when I stumbled upon a Pirate base in Atrieus’ Cloud. It’s as thick as pea soup in there, scanners are only marginally effective. So I was exploring along for an East Gate (hey, I can’t afford to buy the maps, okay?) when I pick up a floating crate of Sunrise Flowers on my scanner. I’m thinking easy sale, but I should have asked myself WHY they were floating out there. I’ve got my SETA on while speeding to pick them up and be on my merry way when suddenly FOUR pirate laser towers appear and a whole base made out the hulks of transporters. If I hadn’t snapped out of it I could have been in firing range before I could turn back.




Why? WHY do I have to get myself into trouble?

I was sick of being a vulture, waiting for the police to take out raiding pirates and scrounging for remains and decided to lend a hand. I figured even in my ship I could help a bit and there were so many of the police I didn’t have to worry about being targeted. I figured it might help my standing with the Boron and make trade easier. Also, I generally hate pirates. Privateers, on the other hand aren’t so bad. Say what you want about privateers, at least they have an ethos.

Anyway, I do help a bit, don’t quite score a kill but get the thanks of the Boron Empire and that’s it. I don’t have a fishing license in Boron space after all. The police depart, but failed to realize there was a fully powered Pirate Buster still out there.

And it wanted some payback on the weakest ship it could find. Me.

So I’m fumbling with my translator trying like mad to send out an SOS while running hell bent for the nearest station. I’ve found it’s always good to play hide and seek with a station, cause if the pirate makes a few stray shots and actually hits the station then everyone is on its case. So it’s a race. Fortunately this Buster isn’t highly modified, but it isn’t damaged like mine and is therefore slightly faster. By the time I reach the station it’s taking pot shots at me. I have to dock manually and scream into the bay kicking the brakes at the last minute to avoid becoming spacefly food. Fortunately once you dock the station’s shields protect you, so I was able to give that pirate the finger and wait for him to leave.

When I do leave there is no sign of the pirate, but there is a container of Old Man Johnson's brand Space Fuel floating around with carbon scoring on its case. Heh. Sucks to be a pirate.




Looking for fun? Try activating your SETA at x10 while on autopilot in an asteroid belt... see if you REALLY trust the autopilot that much. Man, talk about brown trousers time.



Speaking of brown trousers, I upgraded to a triplex scanner while I was in Boron space, north of Atreus’ Clouds in Rolk’s Fate and what do I find? THREE Ka'ack battleships lurking in the asteroid belt. They’re just sitting there. Well, patrolling... but not coming anywhere near the spacelanes. I really hope it stays that way.




I thought I had a sweet deal going for a while. A shield factory was out of Quantum tubes, which are worth a lot. I make a few test runs, like the profit, load up on them, and what happens? Some feckin’ transport filled it up while I was away. Goddammit! Now I’m stuck with them and can’t find anywhere to offload them.



Despite my cracked engine the second one is ticking along just fine. I upgraded the hell out of it to compensate (as I said it’s cheaper than fixing the hull) and finally got a legit transportation gig to another system. He checked out as clean, no pirates or Xenon or anything else to worry about, just a guy in a hurry. Barely made it there on time, mind you, but I still got paid.




My God.

The Ka'ack attacked in Rolk’s Fate. My scanner is full of debris and wreckage. Stations are gone. Ships are scrambling to try and get to the jump gates before they turn their attention on them. Those that fight back are woefully underpowered.

It’s a slaughter. Why do the Boron have to be so goddamn pacifistic? Where are the battleships? And why is the only thing I can think of “what I can salvage without attracting the Ka'ack’s attention?”

I try not to think about it and load up on floating quantum tubes, trying to ignore the debris and trying not to notice any bodies. I made more credits here than I had in a week of regular trading. I’m a horrible human vulture, but the credits I make will go a long way to upgrading my ship and repairing the hull. And God forgive me but part of me is actually hoping they attack again soon. [/i]

[mossfootx]

It’s been days and the Ka'ach are still roaming the asteroid belts to the east of Rolk’s Fate. The Boron are doing nothing, taking their usual stance of hoping it will just go away on its own and afraid what might happen if they fight back. But the Ka'ach so far except for that single assault have simply kept to the asteroids. Why? What are they doing there? They’re just sitting there as far as I can tell. It’s like leaving a hornet’s nest alone close to your house... they couldn’t be building a nest, could they?




Well I’ve been taking on more legit taxi fares recently. Doesn’t pay a fortune, but it’s all profit and I can generally sell a few things along the way as well. Enough so that I could buy myself a Best Buy and Best Sell program from the Teladi. Best damn credits I ever spent, saves me a hell of a lot of time so I don’t have to run from station to station or waste hours talking to boring automated systems trying to get the most recent prices. I can check each system for best buys as I pass through and not miss any interesting opportunities while carrying my fares. “Just need to drop off here for a mezura to grab some meatsteaks, won’t be but a moment, sir.”

Say what you want about the Teladi, they know business. I know some humans call them “Ferengi” (some ancient Earth insult they say) and they don’t really care if you’re a trader or a pirate as long as you got the credits. To them pirates are just a different but equally legitimate form of business. Of course their ships aren’t very comfortable and weapons are bargain basement knockoffs, but when it comes to sales? Fuggedabout.




Picked up an extra 5MW shield and an Alpha IRE laser. Can you believe I’m doing that before fixing my hull? I have a dent the size of an escape pod in the side and I’m more concerned with bells and whistles. But it all comes down to the same thing – it’s cheaper. And if I’m forced into a fight those will keep me alive longer than the repaired hull (though I would be faster if the ol MF Maurader was fixed up)




Kingdom’s End is a beautiful place. The Boron might be wusses in a fight, but they know beauty. Their ships are like dolphins in space dancing between the asteroids and their homeworld is simply breathtaking. I put the SETA on, tune into the local music channel, and just watch the clouds roll by for a few minutes before loading up on BoGas. Found a sweet run between neighboring systems and want to make the most of it before some big freighter spoils the fun.





Came across a Yaki pirate in Boron space. Two customs ships were trying to take it down. Poor suckers didn’t stand a chance. The Yaki didn’t even lose a shield, then went on its merry way like it owned the place.

Remind me not to mess with the Yaki any time soon. Ordinary pirates are rag tag goofs who aren’t much of a challenge when you got the right ship. The Yaki, on the other hand, are organized, smart, and armed to the teeth.




“Computer, run Pirate Run, Simulation D1”
“Acknowledged.”

The MF Marauder is up to 60% hull integrity. Cost me a fortune, but I think it’ll be worth it. That dent in the side has been hammered out, and my engines are almost twice as fast as they were at the beginning of this mess. I’m thinking with my two Beta and single Alpha blasters, three 5MW shields and an engine that is almost as fast as a stock Buster, I might be able to hold my own in a fight. Watching that Yaki pilot turn the customs officials into scrap pissed me off. I’m sick of just trading BoGas between system and scrounging for scraps after a pirate or Ka'ach attack. I’m becoming a vulture, and I don’t like it.

But I’m not stupid. No way I’m just throwing my life away. Fighter pilots have tons more sim time than they do actual combat time, and with good reason. No reason I should be any different.

Simulation D1 is your standard pirate raid scenario. They come in to harass public shipping, the local authorities react as they are expected to, and you do what you can. There must have been a glitch in the computer, though, because these pirate fighters ended up going up against two Boron Sharks! We’re talking about M1 Carriers here! And these little pirates are trying to take them on? Oh well, might as well roll with it, nobody gave pirates any points for having brains. They’re so hopped up on Spaceweed anything’s possible.



The sim runs the carriers without fighter escort, so the battle is more dragged out than you might think. Carriers rely on fighters to take care of other fighters, so their point defenses are based around large scale assaults, not fighters. Still, it’s quite the fireworks show, and I’m able to clock some quick kills while they’re kept busy. Wait for the shields to drop when the carrier gets a lucky hit, then sneak in behind and open all three barrels. Splash! Just be careful to avoid the flak. Most of them drop missiles, which are probably the best kind of loot to find. They can save your ass in a fight and are worth more than just about anything short of High Tech equipment.

Unfortunately, I get cocky around the fifth kill, and take on a pirate head on.

“Simulation ended. You have been destroyed.”
“Yeah, thanks, I can see that.”

Let’s try not to do that in the real world, shall we?

[mossfootx]

From vulture to gun-runner. Moving up in the world, I suppose. Argon Prime had a surplus of missile production and I took full advantage of it, even going so far as to sell my weapons and shields just so I get as many missiles at the reduced price as possible. Risky, of course. If someone snatched them up while my back was turn I’d be screwed. But I cleaned up. A few runs between Home of Light and Argon Prime later, and my ship is 90% repaired, and the engines humming even faster.

I wasn’t able to replace the lasers with the same Beta cannons, so I stocked up on six Alpha Impulse Ray blasters instead. What they lack in power and range they make up for in rate of fire.




I got a chance to test them out back in Boron space. A pirate was trying to evade a customs ship, and after the Yaki incident I wasn’t about to let that happen again. I punched my engines to full and got into scanning range. His shields were a match for mine as were his weapons, but he was already busy dodging customs fire. I figured I had the edge on him for a sneak attack, and that Boron pilot couldn’t hit the broad side of a space station.

Space is a cold unforgiving place to die, and part of me felt sorry for the pirate as I pulled the trigger, but he’s more than likely racked up his share of civilian kills before this.

**** him.

The weaker Impulse blasters were disappointing, but as expected their numbers made up for it. The pirate’s shields dropped like a stone. As soon as I started hitting hull I eased off and hailed him.

“Surrender!”

“Split cargo belong to Split! No surrender!”

Great. The Split have never been fans of humans. If he was a Boron or maybe even a Teladi he’s probably eject (and hey, I could use the ship) but the Split? Not a chance. I hailed him a couple more times, but even after I blew his right engine clean off he was still defiant. Well, he’s defiant space dust now, for all the good that did him.





If I got a flaw at all it’s that I get too damn cocky once things start going my way. I reckon that’s how that damn Ka'ach ended up rear ending me on my first day out of spacedock. That should have been the last time I bent over to pick up the soap, but I don’t think I’d be happy if I didn’t have something to grumble about.

See, I’m docked at a Royal Boron Trading Station, admiring the fresh paint job I just paid for when this guy comes up to me. At first I think he’s admiring the paint job, too, but really he’s checking out the six blasters I got strapped to her.

”I have a bit of a problem,” he says.

“Don’t we all?”

“I need to get to the Chip Plant in this sector. I’ve got some important design specs they’re willing to pay a fortune for. It’s just that…”

“Someone else knows you have them and want to get them off your cold dead hands.”

“Something like that, yes.”

I sucked my teeth. A week ago I’d have told him to space himself. But now? After my ship showed her worth against that Split Pirate?

“What kind of trouble are you expecting? Pirates? Merc?”

He shifts around nervously. “Something like that, yes.”

“Look, if you want to ride with me, you need to be honest. Who’s after you?”

He pauses. “Xenon.”

“Oh hell.”

“I can pay a lot! 9000 credits!” He stammers as if he expects me to start running. I let him think that in case the price might go up.

“Hang on. You need to get to the Chip Plant in this sector, right?” The man nods. “Are you expecting a lot of Xenon?”

“At least four ships followed me to this sector. The schematics have a homing beacon that is hardwired in. It can’t be turned off without deleting the data. But my contact on the Chip Plant assures me they’ve got enough defenses there. I don’t care, once they have it and I’m paid I’m going back to Argon space!”

Four Xenon ships against my lousy M4 Buster? But then I remembered. “I could have sworn…” I hopped into my cockpit and brought up the Triplex scanner. “Yep. Just as I thought. Yeah, all right. You got a pilot. Piece of cake.”




The Xenon attack as soon as we hit space. Red beacons show up like fireflies on my Triplex scanner. There isn’t four, there’s eight. I never would have stood a chance a week ago, but now? Well, I still don’t stand a chance. Not on my own at any rate. I kick on the afterburner and turn tail as fast as I can.

“What are you doing? The Chip Plant is the other way!”

“Shut up and strap yourself in. First of all, those Xenon are between us and the factory. Second, I can’t possibly outgun eight of them. And third…” the ship eases out from around the Free Trading Station to reveal a huge Boron Shark lurking in the asteroid belt. “…we’re not alone.”

Xenon are extremely single minded. They say they’re actually artificial intelligence created eons ago, maybe even created by us. They were sent to explore space on our behalf, but at some point we lost contact with them, and at some point they went insane. Now they seek to wipe out organics everywhere, maybe even replace us. Have a nice day.

If I had tried to outrun them they’d have overloaded their engines just to get a chance at shooting us down. And while the Boron are pacifistic by nature they are not cowards in a fight. They lost almost as much as we did in the Xenon war.

I fly straight for the Shark as the Xenon catch up. My ship is fast, but theirs are still faster. Soon the carrier fills my entire viewscreen.

”Enemy weapons now in firing range,” trills the computer.

“You’re going to crash!” yells the passenger.

I pull up just as the Xenon open fire and it splashes against the Boron’s shields. The ships attacking me are M and L class, no threat whatsoever to a capital ship. But it sure got the Boron’s attention. Two of them go down in the initial volley before the others can break off the attack. But like I said, the Xenon are single minded. They’re not going to let me get away. But I skin dance around the Shark and let her take care of the dirty work, picking off whoever I can when their shields are critical. Five minutes later I’ve got the Boron’s thanks in assisting to stop the Xenon threat, the nerd has his schematics safely on board the Chip Plant, and I’m 9000 credits richer.

Yeah, things are starting to look up.

[Syndrome]

This is getting very interesting

It makes me want to kill Ego for not making X3 more realistic

You know I'm sure other writers would appreciate getting feedback from a professional author.

[mossfootx]

With my Buster almost completely fixed up and her trading capabilities maxed out, I’ll soon be turning an eye to something a bit more ambitious. There’s credits to be made out there, but less than a hundred standard units of cargo space is nowhere near enough to make a serious profit unless you get really lucky. Take power cells for example. It’s easy to get your hands on them as low as 12 credits and sell them for as much as 20. That’s almost doubling your money. But if you can only carry 90 or so of them at a time you’re only making 1000 credits profit per run. But you get yourself a used transporter and you can start hauling 1000 of them at a time.

And of course there is no point in stopping there. The best way to make money is to make it yourself. Earn enough for your own solar power plant, eventually build on a crystal factory to give the crystals for the power plant, then add on the factories needed to feed the crew, and you’ve got yourself a self-sustaining profit factory.

Profit is nice and makes the universe go round, but that’s not why I’m out here. For me it’s a means to an end. I mean, look how long it took me to get my Buster fixed up, slogging freight and passengers around, trying not to get shot up again. With a freighter doing the dirty work or a factory printing money I’d be free to explore wherever I want, no matter how far away it is from “safe” territory. Trade in the ol’ Buster for a nice Corvette, something that will hold her own in any battle if I tweak her out enough. Something with a small crew of like minded individuals manning the guns and keeping the engines warm who just want to see what the hell is out there and make a few credits along the way.

There’s still lots of unexplored regions out there, and regions of space that have had little contact with the humans. Whole pirate kingdoms exist, great mysteries to be solved, and who knows? Maybe a little slice of space to call my own. Wouldn’t mind making my own little HQ to come back to now and again.

Hell it sounds like I’m talking about retirement, doesn’t it? But it’s what keeps me going.




I’m drinking a not-so-fine beer at the bar on the BoFu factory in Menalaus’ Frontier when this old man comes up to me with a proposition. He’s been a trader all his life, exploring out to the rim of the X-Universe and has come back to tell the tale. Thing is, he’s looking to settle down, and is selling off what he knows for the right price. Says he knows about a major salvage opportunity, and it will only cost me forty grand.

Forty grand? I try not to spit my beer out. That’s almost every damn credit I’ve got. But I start to thinking. Salvage, huh? That can be worth a fortune, definitely worth the money time and effort involved. I nod coolly and I transfer the credits to him. He smiles and gives me the coordinates, warning that it won’t be an easy job as it’s in disputed territory. Yeah, well, it’s not like I expected it to be a walk in the park.

I try not to look too eager as I return to my ship and check the coordinates. Olmancketslat’s Treaty. I haven’t been there before. I check the galaxy map of known sectors and...

...what the hell?

It doesn’t exist? You have got to be kidding me. I’ve been scammed out of almost every credit I’ve earned so far! I’m down to 200 creds and a worthless goddamn map!

I crumple up the coordinates and toss it behind my bunk. I know what I’m saving my credits up for now. A police license in Boron territory, so when I come across that old geezer I can gun him down like a dog and claim he was a pirate.

GODDAMMIT!



The Boron finally got off their lazy butts and did something about the K’hack in Rolk’s Fate. Those three destroyers had been harassing shipping for weeks, then retreating back to the asteroid field. Now there is only a Boron Ray cruiser stalking the depths of space cleaning up the pieces. Shame I wasn’t here to see it. Also a shame there isn’t salvage from that battle still around.




It turns out they weren’t destroyed. They left the system with the Boron chasing after them. I believe they made their way to President’s End in Argon territory, because that’s where I found the last of them. A dozen K’hack fighters of varying types were up against a small fleet of Argon ships, including the absolutely gorgeous M6 Centaur Corvette. I set the cameras to watch from the Centaur’s point of view. She’s got turrets on all sides, a small crew and heavy shields. Cargo capacity is pretty damn good too. And she looks like something from the SF vids I watched as a kid... only that one turned into a giant battle robot as well. I can think of a number of ways to improve that design as well, if only I had the credits to do it with.




Some pirates had the unfortunate luck to be in the way of the K’hack before the Argon fleet arrived. There was only one left, and he had bailed from his wreck in a space suit, floating helplessly along towards the jump gate.

Can you even survive a jump in a spacesuit?

Some trading ship wasn’t very forgiving, though. They blew him to bits before he reached the gate. Damn, that’s cold. I’d never do that.

Of course, Murphy’s Law was in full effect that day, and the next time I saw a pirate floating in space helpless I figured I’d do him a favor and pick him up. Drop him off at some station and pretend nothing happened. He’s already lost his ship, what more is there for him to lose?

Well, that giant blaster cannon he carried out with his space suit for one.

I honestly have no idea what he thought I was going to do. I wasn’t going to arrest him or sell him into slavery. Maybe he thought he could take me out with a lucky shot to the cockpit. Whatever it was he made the wrong choice in pulling that trigger.

On the upside, I was awarded 500 credits for blasting him, so it’s all good.




Well, today is an important day. It’s the day I FINALLY got my ship fixed to 100%. Last bit of paint and detailing done and she looks like she just rolled off the assembly line. In a way I feel like I am now where I started off after that disastrous K’hack attack. I can’t believe how many credits I’ve sunk into this junk bucket (hey baby, I didn’t mean it, you know I love you). Granted I’ve topped up her speed and manouvability and got a bunch of other little upgrades along the way, so it’s not a complete loss. But my IRE weapons are still painfully inadequate for a serious fight. So it looks like the next step will be to replace some of those. Not all, mind you. Having weaker cannons can be advantageous, especially if you’re trying to convince a pilot he’s better off in a space suit without a ship than spacedust with a ship. So keep a couple of the IRE weapons and try and buy something heavier for the real fights. But the way I see it, from this point on the training wheels are off.

Time to make some real money.




Three pirates were attacking a factory, hoping to force it to surrender its product. Now I’ve run through the sims often enough that I know being a hero gets you one thing – killed. But three is a magic number of sorts. Most pirates assume you’re going to stay out of their business, largely because everyone does unless they have a badge. But while three is an ideal number to attack with, allowing two to draw fire while one hits you hard from behind, it’s also the weakest number to work with. Because one little sneak attack, properly timed, can take out one of those fighters before anyone has a chance to react.

Which is exactly what happened. I swooped in behind a Buster and tore it to shreads. The pilot bailed before his ship exploded, but I eased off the trigger before completely destroying the ship. After that, it wasn’t too hard to deal with the remaining pirates. Especially with a factory to hide behind close at hand.

When it was all over I was 2000 credits richer thanks to my police license and had a beat up Buster drifting in space. It’s a shame I went so hard on her. Her left engine was shot, shields fried, weapons gone, hull down to 20 percent... but she was all mine.

I pulled up slowly to the derelict ship and popped the hatch on the MF Marauder. Maneuvering thrusters got me over to the beat up Buster’s blown hatch, the pilot was about a hundred kilometers away cursing my name. I checked the controls. Intact. Beautiful. I wonder what the pilot was thinking as I slaved her to my ship and set her up to follow me back to the nearest shipyard for scrap. Heh.





I had to keep at the same speed as the beat up Buster to take it back to the shipyard, which was about a quarter her regular speed. Even with the SETA I had to kick back and read a magazine to pass the time.

Then all hell broke loose.

The warning klaxon made me jump out of my bunk just when Luscious Lucy was about to do it with the stableboy. Rushing back to the cockpit I thought I saw the end of the world in my viewscreen.

There was more K’hack in the system than an Argon Gigolo House. I’d seen the aftermath of K’hack attacks before... but never first hand like this. It was spellbinding and terrifying at the same time. They move like a flock of birds. Unified. Coordinated. And they don’t stop firing until their target is dead. Beams, not pulses, of light stretch out and cross until there is a brief flash and another freighter dead. Nothing in the system could stand up to them.

They were between me and the shipyard where I hoped to sell the Buster.

I couldn’t take on that many ships, and I had to turn off the comm channels so I didn’t have to hear the cries for help, the confusion, the final screams. Like a coward I tucked my ship into the nearest station and waited for it to end.

Then though the south jumpgate came an Osprey Corvette like an angel from a very ugly heaven. It’s a slow thing, and looks like a brick, but heavily shielded and just the equalizer needed to let me grow a backbone.

I got back in the fight as soon as possible and took down three K’hack fighters that were preoccupied with the Osprey. Earned some credits and respect with the locals, and got to sweep up the mess afterwards. Tons of missiles floating around, each worth thousands of credits. Plus some strange cargo canister my ship’s computer couldn’t recognize or identify.

Who says it doesn’t pay to be a good guy?





After that it was an uneventful trip to the shipyard, where I sold the Buster hulk for a good 80 grand. But then at the Equipment Dock I had the shock of my life. That unknown cargo pod I found was worth just as much. The guy buying it wouldn’t tell me what it was, and I wouldn’t ask for fear of appearing ignorant and killing the price, but between the two I now almost have enough credits for a beat up Mercury Cargo Hauler. With one of those I’ll be making a fortune in no time!




I was passing through Rolk’s Fate where those three K’hack destroyers once were and found something interesting on the edge of my Triplex scanner’s range. It was definitely of K’hack design, but unlike anything I’ve come across. I noticed a squad of Boron Customs ships go out to investigate, followed by a Boron Destroyer. As they approached it sprang to life as some kind of stationary weapons platform and incinerated the customs ships on sight. The last of them had time enough for evasive maneuvers but they did him no good. It had waited until he was well insides weapons range before firing.

The Destroyer came and dealt with it, but it was such a tiny platform... I hope I don’t stumble across any of those while I’m on SETA or taking a nap.

I remember when the universe was a friendlier place. I think it was called “last week”



The MF Fleet is now 2 ships strong! Having purchased the pink slip for a modified Mercury, I’m well on my way to making a serious profit. I’ve dubbed her The MF Money Maker for lack of anything cool to give to name a cargo ship. She can carry 3000 units of cargo up to XL size, which means mining runs will be a profitable possibility now. I’ll need to stick close to her for the time being, seeing as she’ll be vulnerable to attack till I can afford some upgrades and maybe an escort. But it won’t be long before I let her pootle around on her own.

All I need for her now is a pilot. One who is reliable. One who is spaceworthy. One who works cheap.




The balding man was named Barl. He was shaped like a vending machine on tree trunks and nodded during the interview, even though he probably didn’t understand the question I had asked.

“Yarp.”

Um... maybe not this cheap.

“So you think you have the basics. Let the computer do most of the work. You’re just there in case something goes wrong.”

“Yarp.”

“Er... and don’t touch anything important. Don’t touch anything unless it’s an emergency. In fact, don’t touch anything.”

“Yarp?”





I’m starting to think this wasn’t such a good deal, getting a cheap pilot.

“Look, just dock at the bloody Cahoona Factory and pick up as many Cahoona Meatsteaks as you can! Then sell them at the Trading Dock. How hard is that to understand.”

“Yarp?”

“And don’t eat any.”

Barl’s voice sounded disappointed. “Yarp.”

I would have been better off with a chimp behind the stick.

[BlackValkyire]

Good work, a good read and I gotta say, hilarious with the '7138? what kinda number is that?' made me laugh.

[mossfootx]

A chimp I tell you! A CHIMP!

I found a lucrative run in Boron space, picking up BoFu dirt cheap and selling it the Royal Trading Stations (which have fixed rates) until they won’t take anymore. Picked up enough for a new freighter in just a few days!

Then I made the mistake of going to Kingdom’s End with Barl. The place is littered with asteroids.

“BARL! Switch off your SETA goddamit! Can’t you tell you’re going to—”

“YARRRRRRRRRRP!”

My brand new Mercury smashed sideways into an asteroid. Half the canisters on her blew out and in a puff of oxygen starved flame I thought for sure she was a goner. Along with all my cargo! Then I saw the hulk of the ship drifting through the debris.

“Barl? Are you there Barl? Barl come in!”

“Yarp?”

The Mercury was down to 3% hull integrity. I’d worry about losing the environmental containment and Barl running out of oxygen but it’s clear that his brain gets by without it anyway. Goddammit that used up three quarters of my profit getting it back into shape. Still, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than what it costs to get my M4 repaired.

I swear after the next run, I’m looking into cyber monkey pilots.





I swear I’m a better pilot than Barl, but nevertheless I end up costing more money than he does. Just a scratch on the hull and they want ten grand for it. I figure I can get by with up to 90% hull before engine performance is hampered. The good news is I’m making enough that I’m only in bad shape for a day or two. Still, I should really cut out the pirate hunting but I’m always hoping for them to abandon ship. If I can get a ship in good enough repair I won’t even sell it. I’ll use it to protect the MF Money Maker while I go off doing other stuff.





The BoFu run in Boron space is quite lucrative if you know how to run it. As I said before the trading stations have fixed prices, so if you can but a ton of BoFu at 100 credits below average price, you’re better off loading up to the gills with that and dumping it at every trading station you come across. Problem is this section of Boron space isn’t that huge so once you fill up all the stations it takes a while for them to use it up again. The stuff may taste like crap dipped in ammonia, but one nugget can keep a Boron going for a week or so.

The BoFu run has been so profitable, in fact, that I can afford to hire some extra help. Not another freighter. Not yet. But instead a couple of M5 Discoverers to act as security and help keep Barl out of trouble. That way I can go off on other missions and not worry so much about pirates or asteroid collisions (I hope).

The two Discoverers were purchased in Argon Prime. Top of the line Hauler models with expanded cargo capacity, so in case I found something really lucrative they could get in on the action as well. I’ve decided to use the term “MF” to stand for “Mossfoot Fleet” much like nations use S.S. or H.M.S. to help designate their ships. So now I have MF Red 1 and MF Red 2 to keep Barl company in the MF Money Maker. These pilots are fresh out of flight school and eager to show their worth. Almost a shame to keep them on boring trade runs, but with the pirate, Xenon, and K’hack activity increasing, I doubt they’ll be bored for long. While the M5 class is fast, it doesn’t have much in the way of shields or weapons, but I’ll do what I can for them.





I managed to convince another pirate to ditch his ship and live the care-free life of the spacesuit. Managed to get his Harrier almost completely intact. I figured she’d make a fine addition to the MF fleet. So I fixed her up, tricked her out, gave her to a brash young pilot in Boron space... who promptly crashed it in to the space station shortly after leaving the docking bay. You know, 1MW shields really don’t cut it when it comes to collisions.

Screw it, I’ll just buy Barl better shields.






I took on another shady customer today. He needed a lift to the HEPT factory with some new specs on Xenon weaponry. I get the feeling the Argons are planning something big considering all this clandestine work going on while pretending to just be business as usual. So why do they have to bother me about it? I thought the credits were right, right up to the point where I left the docking bay.

There were a dozen Xenon ship, all of them M4 class and above. And there wasn’t any significant military presence in the sector! The Centaur Corvette I had spotted was halfway across the sector, and right behind the Xenon.

This was so not good.

I turned tail and headed back to the station. It was a standard trading station with two rotating sections that created their own gravity. It was huge, and that was my only advantage.

“What are you doing? You’re going to fast to dock!”

“I’m not docking!” I said, tilted the Marauder on her side and flew right between the two sections through to the other side. I presented such a small target that almost all the Xenon laser fire hit the station instead. I wasn’t worried. She could take it.

“OH GOD NO!”

I wasn’t so sure about my passenger. His fears were justified, however. A full speed crash into the station and we’d be dust. 5MW shields can’t take that kind of abuse.

I had hoped one or two of the single-minded Xenon might crash into the station, but no such luck. None of them attempted my hair brained maneuver, either, however. I picked off one as it tried to flank me the long way around then played hide and see with another as I looped back around... where the rest of the Xenon fleet was waiting.

My shields almost dropped to zero before I made it back inside the station and played the same trick twice. Some fighters had reached the area now and were providing enough distraction for me to take out a couple more.

“You want to go through one more time?” I laughed back at my passenger. He just threw up into a space sickness bag. “I’ll take that as a yes!” and screamed through once again. I don’t know if I could pull this kind of maneuvering off with a M3 heavy fighter, but the Marauder is an M4 and just about perfect for this kind of thing. I took down the last of the Xenon and sped over to the HEPT factory before the passenger stank up my cabin any more.

I’ll tell you one thing, we sure gave the people on board the station a good show.




I was drifting along space following behind Barl in the MF Money Maker. My SETA was on, feet on the dashboard, checking out my profit projections, and getting bored to tears. Why should I have to constantly be managing my finances like this. I had nearly half a million credits now. I could afford to have someone else do it for me.

And that’s when I found it.

Olmancketslat’s Treaty.

My jaw dropped. I’d thought I had been scammed by that old man, but there it was. The proper name had been hidden from my viewscreen because it was a pirate sector, and the flashing red warning came first.

But I threw it away...

In a panic I rushed to my bunk, threw off the mattress and practically tore the room apart. Eventually I emerged from a pile of blankets, books, and porn with a crumpled piece of paper with the coordinates on it. HA-HA!

I couldn’t believe it. Maybe the old guy was telling the truth after all. I don’t know what’s out there. The coordinates given sound very far away from the jump gates... but goddammit I intend to find out. I’d better take Red 1 and Red 2 with me for back up just in case. Barl can handle hims.... scratch that, first I need to get someone to mind Barl. And I think I know who...




The kid raised his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. “So, um... sir. You understand that my fees are not negotiable, correct?”

“If you’re as good as you say you are, kid, then I’ve got no problem with it.”

I’d heard the Teladi had an advanced version of trading software available, MK III, capable of allowing someone to work for me while tying everything into a galaxy wide bank account. I figured I could let this kid Sten, fresh out of school with a CPA, ride along with Barl and set up profitable trade runs while I went off and looked for this hidden treasure with Red Squadron.

Okay, so it’s just two ships, but you gotta admit “Red Squadron” sounds cool.

“Yes sir. But this Barl, character. Are you sure he’s... safe?”

Barl looked down at Sten with a hurt look on his face.

“Don’t worry, kid. He’s a vegetarian.”

Barl nodded. “Yarp.”

“Now kid, I suggest you stick to the BoFu run in Boron space for a while. It served me well and will show you the ropes. Don’t worry if it looks like Barl is going to crash into an asteroid, he’s got the shields to handle it now. Also it’s reasonably free of pirates so you won’t have to worry about being attacked. Once you’re comfortable with how the real world works, you feel free to run things how you like. I’ll be monitoring you from the Marauder from time to time to see how things are going. Sound good?”

Sten gulped but nodded.

“Alright then! Go out there and make some dough for the Mossfoot Fleet!”

I turned to Kenn and Warrant once the others had left. “Okay guys. You’re with me. We’re going into hostile territory so I need you to keep sharp. We’re painting our ships up in pirate colors once we reach their space but the important thing is not to look suspicious.”

Kenn looked nervous, but Warrant was eager to go.

“I won’t lie to you. I don’t know what’s out there. Might be nothing, a scam after all. But it could be a derelict ship, and that’s something too good to pass up. But it might be we won’t be first to it. Might be that there will be a fight. If that’s the case just follow my lead. You’ll know if it’s a good idea to run.”

“How will we know?” asked Kenn

“Cause I’ll have disappeared in a puff of energy. I’m taking enough fuel around to use the jumpdrive if things get hairy. Now I know you kids don’t have one yet, and I’m sorry, but keep in mind you’re in M5 light fighters with the engines tuned to the max. Just turn tail and run and all they’ll see is your vapor trail. Got it? We rendezvous back with the MF Money Maker if things go pear shaped. But with luck we’ll be coming back in serious style. Then we’ll look into getting you kids jump drives.”

[BlackValkyire]

"And dont worry if he looks like he's about to crash into an asteroid, he's got shields for that now'

LOLOLOLOLOL

this series is absolutely fantastic!

[Madw0lf]

Man I am loving this! Keep em coming!

Feel soooo sorry for that kid workin with Barl. Yarp! LOL!

You say youre a professional writer? Man, what do you write? Might make a good addition to my library.

[mossfootx]

Heh, well short stories, comic strips and magazine articles for now. Trying to get my first novel published. I'll be sure to brag about it here if it comes through (since I think it will appeal to gamers of all sorts)

[mossfootx]

We made it as far as Brennan’s Triumph before our cover was blown. Several pirates swooped down on top of us as we closed in on the pirate base. We spun around and headed for the nearest asteroid field.

“Sir, aren’t we going to head back to the gate?” asked Kenn

“I’m not giving up just because of a bunch of pirates. Everyone else is ignoring us. These guys just think we’re easy credits. Let’s not prove them right!”

“Yes, sir!” said Warrant.

“Alright, guys, listen up. I know you don’t have any real combat experience yet, but I’ve fought Xenon, pirates and K’hack on a number of occasions, so let me give you some tips. First of all, debris is your friend. Open space is not. That’s why we’re heading for those asteroids. If we can duck and weave around them we can still work our way to the jump gate to Olmancketslat’s Treaty. They won’t chase us further than that, cause they know we’ll be waiting on the other side to blast them one by one. When this is over I’ll buy you both a drink. Let’s do it.”

“Yes, sir!”

Red 1 and 2 followed my lead as I rolled behind a large asteroid and made a run for the main part of the field. Everything went well until Warrant got cocky and tried to lure the pirates behind two very close asteroids, hoping to get one to crash. Instead, he did.

“Mayday! Mayday! Engines going critical!”

“Eject, goddamit! Eject!”

“Ejecting now!” The canopy blew just before the engine did, leaving Warrant adrift in space.

“I’m going to pick him up, sir!” said Kenn.

“Belay that. Head for the jumpgate.”

“Sir?”

“There’s too many pirates, and one’s in a heavy fighter. We’ll never get him without getting ourselves killed.”

“But—”

“No buts. Move around that large asteroid and head for the North Gate on my mark. MARK!”

And so we left Warrant alone in the vacuum of space.




Olmancketslat’s Treaty wasn’t heavily patrolled by pirates. It was easy to move out of standard scanner range and start searching for the coordinates.

“Are those coordinates correct, sir?”

“I hope so or I wasted thirty grand.”

“They seem awfully far away from the central beacon.”

“I guess that’s the idea. Must have drifted that way. Or was left there. We’ve got a ways to go. Let’s get started.”

It was a long slow journey into absolute nothingness and the farther we were from the core system the more we were afraid there was nothing out here.

“Did you know Warrant long?” I asked.

Kenn didn’t answer at first. “We went to the Academy together,” he said at last.

“I’m sorry. But if we stayed back there we’d be spacefly food.”

“We shouldn’t have left him there.”

“I know. We shouldn’t have. But what you should and shouldn’t do isn’t always what keeps you alive. I’ll tell you something, if it’s any comfort. They won’t kill him. Pirates like to take capture pirates as slaves.”

“It’s not that comforting.”

“It’s hope. We find a slaving ship and it’s always possible we will find him. I’ll promise you this. When I’ve got a stronger fleet we’re going to teach the pirates out in these parts not to mess with us. And we’ll take Warrant back. And it could all start with this derelict. Picking up anything on your sensors?”

“Nothing yet. But we’re well within scanner range for it.”

My heart sank. Kenn was right. If a ship was out here we’d have found it by now.

“Damn. Alright, let’s head—”

“Wait, sir. I found something.”

“What is it?”

“A small container. Barely reading it.”

“I’ll get it.”

I brought the container on board . It was a standard small size cargo container, about the size of a bunk. I must have been mistaken, it wasn’t a ship he was talking about, but it’s cargo. Inside was a quarter of a million credits. My heart was racing. A quarter of a million!

That... that would just about replace the ship I just lost, once modifications were taken into account.

But not the pilot.




“I just made you a quarter of a million credits in just two days!” said Sten over the video link. After all that effort to find the treasure chest? I tried not to throttle him. After all, he just made me a quarter of a million credits.





I ordered another tankard of Space Fuel and wished Kenn would try harder to fit in. Pirate bases were not places to look like you had a police license.

“Meh,” I said in answer to the bartender’s question, “Not like I really care, I just know a guy who could use a few slaves on his station. Damn unions are killing his business.”

Why was I doing this? I didn’t know Warrant that long. He screwed up by being a hot dog. It wasn’t my problem and certainly not covered in his contract. But here I was, trying to track down his sorry ass, and it sure as hell wasn’t because of Kenn’s puppy dog eyes and inability to reconcile himself with the fact that life in space could be cold and unforgiving.

Part of me thinks that it’s because I believe it could be something more. Part of it was because I believed I could be more than I am.

And part of me knew if I pulled this off, my company would gain a reputation for caring for its employees. You play right by me, we go the extra mile for you. And I would own Warrant’s ass.

The bartender shrugged and put away a mug. “Well, you just missed out. Last of the slaves collected here has been shipped off to Paranid space.”

“Which gate?” asked Kenn, a bit too enthusiastically. I glared at him but tried not to make things worse.

“My partner is thinking we can make a better offer.”

“I don’t care,” said the bartender, “And I don’t know where they went. Now you’d best get out of here before some of the other patrons start asking questions about you.”

We took the warning seriously, and left.




We managed to track down the transport in the middle of an asteroid field in Brennan’s Triumph. We gunned down the escort with little trouble and I reduced the shielding on the transport to nothing, then pelted it on low power until the pilot panicked and surrendered. But not before spacing the slaves.

Big mistake. I vaporized his ass before he got a hundred yards from the ship in his spacesuit.

I had to admit, it was a sweet looking transport. Nice death-head/helmet motif built into the entire front of the ship. She’d make a fine addition to the Mossfoot Fleet. I put her on autopilot until we could get her to the spaceport for repairs and a proper pilot. Kenn scanned the spaced slaves. None of them were Warrant, but that was small comfort to these corpses.

“Kenn. You and I are going to send a message to the pirate factions.”




The new transport never made it to spaceport. On the way through President’s End a K’hack cluster came after us right after taking out an M6 corvette. No way we could take them on, and half of them were interceptors. Kenn could outrun them, but I couldn’t.

The transport bought us enough time and drew them off for us to make it to the jumpgate.

Damn. I really could have used that transport.




Sten looked more nervous than usual. “Er... I hope you don’t mind, sir. But I took the liberty of buying a jump drive and fighter drones for the MF First Choice.”

“First Choice? She’s called the Money Maker.”

“Yes, sir, but Barl didn’t exactly like the name. He said it felt too iconoclastic of an unfair economic structure in the universe where the credit rules over morality and fair play.”

I looked at Barl. “You said that?”

Barl shrugged. “Yarp.”

I cocked an eyebrow and tried to smell what this shmuck was cooking. “And what’s this about a jump drive. And fighter drones? I didn’t authorize that!”

“Actually, sir, you did. Under the terms of my employment I’m allowed to purchase whatever is needed to increase revenue and protect the vessel.”

“Protect the vessel? You’re hanging out in Boron space, aren’t you?”

“Not anymore, sir. We’ve traded in Teladi, Split, and Paranid space.”

I was about to ask him why I shouldn’t fire him for taking all this action without so much as consulting me when he passed me a datapad showing how many credits I had in my account. There was enough for ten more freighters, or two more with all the upgraded and modifications with their own CPA co-pilots.

“So, do you have any CPA friends looking for work?”





The Mossfoot Fleet was now three transports strong: the MF First Choice, MF Second Thought, and MF Third Charm. All of them fully shielded and armed with CPAs on board and secondary escorts flying cover. Except for the First Choice. Barl seemed more comfortable on his own and with the Shockwave generator Sten put into the turret there was an increased chance of friendly fire damage. But they’d be fine. Sten’s account of the deals he’s made on various worlds were almost as interesting as what had happened to me so far. Barl had to save his ass more than once when people thought he was an easy mark and figured they could keep the money and the goods.

Now that making money was well in the hands of capable people, Kenn and I were free to do a little... freelance work.





“Split say you die now!”

The Nova blasted at me from the front but made a fatal error on its choice of armaments. While the weapons it had were very powerful, they were easy to dodge if you knew how and kept far enough back. Kenn and I had blown its escort to pieces. This heavy fighter was intended to take out a transports shields and force it to stand down, but without its light fighter support it was as good as a sitting duck. It’s shields dropped and half its systems fried.

“Care to rephrase that.”

“Split say he give ship if you leave alone!”

“Get out,” I said, and popped the hatch once he did. I flew over to him, blaster pistol in hand.

“No! You let live! No kill!”

“I let live, all right. But for a reason. Your people took one of my people as a slave. I am letting you know that I don’t appreciate that. Therefore I’m going to take you and yours down wherever I find you until I get him back.” I tossed him a datapad with Warrant’s details on it. “You send them that message. You also let them know if they try to use him as leverage, or use him for a trap or anything like that, I will not only destroy your ships, but your bases as well. Your people will hear from me tomorrow. Get lost.”




The Nova that pirate ditched had one of the coolest paint jobs I’d ever seen. Sadly she’s slow as a rock in mud. Even after I spent all I could to fix her up, she’s barely fast enough to keep up with one of the freighters. I’ve decided to keep her for myself. Kenn will be taking the Marauder, and I’ll be take the Marauder II.

This heavy fighter has a rear turret to it, but only one gun. It would be a waste of energy to put a laser on it, so I spring for a mass driver. Mass drivers are the only non-energy weapons out there, and the ammunition passes right through shields. Sucks if you want to try and take a ship intact, but taking hull damage is usually enough to make someone on your tail change direction right quick.

Time to harass some pirates.

[Gvork]

Thats a fun read mossfootx, throughly enjoying it.

[mossfootx]

Thanks, it's a fun exersize to play for the day and then try and build a story around what happened Next installment coming tonight.

[mossfootx]

It all fell apart in Danna’s Chance.

The Mossfoot Fleet was 3 freighters strong with decent fighter support. Discoverer M5s mostly, but my Pirate Nova and two Busters along for heavy support.

I got word of a score to be made in Thuruk’s Beard. A factory was overloaded with quantum tubes because of pirate raids coming out of Teladi space. I also knew of a factory in Argon space in desperate need of quantum tubes.

I decided it was worth the risk and gathered all my freighters to Thuruk’s Beard. We loaded up on our cargo and took on a passenger who was going in our direction, putting him on the MF Third Charm. Every ship I had flew escort, and at first things seemed to go well, except for some strange static coming from the Third Charm’s communications system.

Once we entered Danna’s Chance the pirates struck. I was one of the last to jump in system (the Nova being the slowest of the fighters) and by the time I arrived half my fighters were down. Kenn was desperately holding off some strange fighter I’d never seen before, M3 class but the computer said it had shields three times stronger than any M3 I’d seen before. It had four wings, of sorts, all at right angles to one another.

I tried to regroup what was left of the fleet. The Cargo ships were best off making a run for it while the two remaining discoverers, Kenn’s Buster and I tried to hold the pirates off.

We didn’t last long. The Discoverers were blown out of the sky by the M3, I’d never even had time to get to know the pilots, but it bought me enough time to hit it from the side while it was distracted. On top of that, a dozen pirate Busters darted around and left the fray to take on the cargo ships.

“The shields are too tough on that thing, and I’m out of missiles!” said Kenn

“If we turn our back on it, it’ll shoot us down before we can reach the convoy. You’re the only one fast enough to catch up with those Busters. Break off, and leave this monster to me.”

Kenn broke off the attack and I did what I could to harass the M3 pilot, trying desperately to avoid his rear turret’s line of sight as well as his forward guns.

“Why not jump out of that ship and we’ll fight mano et mano in spacesuits, huh?”

I heard the distinct throaty laugh of a Paranid as a reply.

Dodging behind an asteroid I spun around hoping to give it a blast as it turned the corner then run like hell before it could return fire.

Then it simply vanished. A jump had been detected.

“Had enough, huh? Well, that’s hardly surprising.” I said to no one inparticular.

I checked the triplex scanner to see how the rest of the fleet were doing, then kicked my engine into full throttle when I saw the debris.

The Second Thought had been blown out of space. Busters were scooping up cargo containers.

Kenn was nowhere to be seen, nor was the Third Charm.

“Rudager to Mossfoot Fleet, call in!”

“Yarp...” said a familiar voice. The First Choice was still making its way to the next jump gate.

“Sir?” said Sten. “The Third Charm has left the field of battle.”

“It made it to the jump gate before you?”

“No. It... it jumped, sir.”

I cocked my head. Only the First Choice had a jumpdrive at this point, and 25MW shields. I had planned on taking the profits from this run and outfitting them all with better shields and jumpdrives.

“That’s not possible.”

“I’m afraid it is, sir. We had a brief mayday from Third Charm then it switched channels and direction. One of the Busters dropped an object and it scooped it up. Shortly after that it disappeared. The Busters then attacked the Second Thought and destroyed her... I’m afraid... I’m sorry, sir. Kenn didn’t make it.”

I felt all alone in the universe just then. Almost everyone who was under my command, who believed in me, believed I wouldn’t give them a bum steer... gone.

“Um... sir? I don’t wish to disturb you in this rather unfortunate moment but... would you mind saving us?”

I snapped out of it and realized the Busters had turned their attention to the First Choice.

I grit my teeth and snarled at the viewscreen. “Turn her hard about, Barl! Bring her back towards me!”

With her shields fully upgraded, the First Choice survived the battering it took from eight Busters for quite some time. Until I got there and turned that eight into four in one swoop. The others turned their attention on me, but that’s what I wanted. I wanted them to know who sent them to meet their maker.

Hi. I’m Rudager. The last living person you will ever see.

The fight didn’t last long. Rage and adrenhilin took the place of common sense and tactics. I rammed one whose shields were down and burst through its fireball like an angry god. One tried to run but I shot him down like a dog. A third threw everything it had at me, I took it, it wrecked my shields and my hull, blew out my rear turret and sucked the gunner into space, a kid who had just wanted to see the stars and see some action. But he couldn’t cut his engines in time and swung in front of me. And the last? The last didn’t know how damaged I was and after a few desperate blasts surrendered. He fled in his spacesuit for the nearest station.

He got about ten meters before I vaporized him.

Thanks for the ship.





The Nova was a wreck, and the money made from the one surviving cargo ship could barely repair it. I sold it for scrap instead and took over the Pirate Buster. Sten and Barl found me tinkering with her engines in a closed hanger. While most cargo and passenger transfer was handled outside via docking pylons and airlocks, sealed bays were still used, particularly for pilot aiming to do a bit of DIY modifications. As a result, fire rescue teams were often stationed nearby as well.

“Um... sir? I figured with the money made from the quantum tube sales, we could—”

“I don’t want to hear about it.”

“But I think we can afford another transport and—”

“And what? Let me lead them into another trap?”

Sten had nothing to say.

Barl said “Yarp?”

“That’s right, a trap! That passenger we took on board back at the quantum tub fab? A pirate plant. He killed or incapacitated the crew, sent the signal for the pirates to attack, and picked up a jump drive one of the Busters dropped off for him. Must have been a tech wiz as well to set one of those up so quickly. Then he zips off with the cargo, and according to the logs that’s the same time that weird M3 took off as well. He must have been the leader. The Busters were just expendable flunkies. We got screwed royally. And people died because of it. Kenn died because of it. I gave the pirates an ultimatum to try and get Warrant back, and in return they almost destroyed me. I should have known better.”

I took a deep breath. Sten and Barl said nothing.

“Look. Forget about it. Just go about trading like you normally would. If you can buy another Mercury and hire a CPA to go with it, do it. I just need some time alone right now.”

Sten nodded and left with Barl. “Er... yes sir. Sorry sir.”

I looked over the ship. The pirate’s version of the Buster was actually quite impressive. So much untapped potential. They had stripped away everything they felt was unnecessary, only they failed to realize they could use that saved weight and space for even more improvements. It only had two 5MW shields instead of three, and sadly I doubted it could be fitted with more, but the engines were replaced with something larger and potentially much faster than any other M4 out there, and could be more maneuverable to boot. While it couldn’t carry Beta pulse cannons like my old Buster, only the weaker Alphas, it had a much hotter reactor, which meant it could fire those guns longer. With the time and money to invest in her, only an M5 could catch up to her (which generally weren’t a threat) and only an M3 could beat her (which were easy to run away from).

A cold grin grew on my lips. The pirates had no idea what they had created in the hopes of saving a few credits.

Their own destruction.




“Here comes another wave. Same tactics as before. Take out the Falcons and Harriers first if you can. Force the Busters to surrender, cap the ship, space the pilots. No prisoners.”

We were called the Marauders. From my one Buster I had forced two others to surrender, and two more. It seems the pilots tend to panic when they assume they have a third shield slot and suddenly realize they’re taking hull damage.

For my new captures I found pilots like myself. Traders who had been ravaged by pirate ambushes, who had lost their fortunes or loved ones because of them. Pilots who wanted revenge. The pirate Busters were just the trick too, we danced in dogfights like spaceflies, the heavy weapons couldn’t touch us, and the lighter weapons didn’t do enough damage before we could turn on the shooters and fry them.

I tried to keep Barl and Sten out of the loop, keep my business life separate from my privateer life. When Sten inquired about the money I had been withdrawing, I told him I had a side endeavor planned. And when money started flowing back in thanks to salvage and captured ships, he stopped asking questions. I had gained good favor with many of the local races and purchased law enforcement licenses for me and my gang.

We got lucky this time. Two of the Falcons surrendered. As far as M3 class heavy fighters went these were some of the worst, without even a rear turret for defense to make up for its crappy speed. But taken almost completely intact? They were worth half a mill credits each.

Hitting their raiders like this was all well and good, but I still wanted to hurt them like they hurt me.

"See if you can download any information about their convoys on those Falcons," I said to my wingman. "I want to start hunting bigger fish."

[blazermick]

Onya Mossy, this is a damn good read.

[Darklight86]

Sten and Barl are awesome - they'd be great as comic book characters, travelling around looking for profits, kinda like Han and Chewie!

[elwayno]

its excellent im working on a rp on note pad