This thread will be a dramatisation of the goings on within the Serial Multi-player game of X3TC. Don't expect regular updates as I'll only be playing once roughly every three weeks.
Prologue
He looked out of a port window as the liner exited the gate. He was a wanted man in this system, yet if he had a home, it was here. It was here he was going to build an empire, here where he failed. It was here he had been recruited into the pirate Onibaku clan after proving his skill as a minor trader. Here, he barely outran the Argon Flagship while transporting some high ranking clan members - he had vowed never to return - yet here he was. He was hated here, he wanted to hate back but he was home for the first time in far too long, and he had missed the place terribly.
"Home" he said, testing the word to see if it still fit, while smiling to a young attractive Argon woman sat next to him who also was in the garb of a pilot.
She looked at him, smirking, with raised eyebrows, then to her older friend (who's expression was not dissimilar) then burst into peals of laughter. As he quickly turned away to again look through the window, the young woman's friend also laughed (it was in fact more of a cackle than a laugh - she was attractive too until she opened her mouth he thought.)
One of them said "rei-rei" to her companion, then both women laughed harder.
He frowned and forced himself to look out of the window again. He was indeed "rei-rei" as far as anyone knew - a double zero. No trade rank, no fight rank - a total nobody. As such, he was little more than a joke. In reality, he had nearly as many confirmed kills to his name as the most notorious of pirates, and trading rank to rival many a "Merchant Prince."
He was puzzled that two no mark women like these would have the gall to insult him in such a manner; even if their clothes were customised and tight (which was fashionable for female pilots, and usually quite expensive to have tailored to fit) but he didn't want to draw any more attention to himself. He allowed them their insult and feigned interest watching the Argon One deal with a smuggler. A real "rei-rei" would have been impressed with the Argon flagship's demonstration of authority. He wasn't, he was actually imagining the unpleasant sounds the cackling woman would make whenever she showed her cum face in an attempt to make himself feel better. Over his shoulder he heard the short grunts of Paranid three phase battle language which to the untrained ear sounds like the Paranid equivalent of a series of coughs.
He understood - "A superior being would have noticed cats and stayed silent. One prays the traitor stays silent now - human bitch noise is tiresome to an enlightened being on an unholy road." Very few humans knew Paranid battle language; he was one of the few who did, but his brain wouldn't work fast enough to catch the deeper meanings hidden within the grunts.
The Paranid had announced himself as an assassin by saying he was on an unholy road; though thankfully he knew he wasn't the target as he'd been called a "traitor" not "honoured victim" or something similar. The Paranid knew who it was talking to and knew he understood, that much was clear - an unsettling fact.
He quickly glanced at one of the laughing women - he had indeed missed the cat. No wonder they were laughing, they were both OTAS fighter pilots - cat insignia pinned just above where a hip holster for a side arm would be. OTAS pilots didn't show their ranks on their arms, working for OTAS was proof enough of skill that they didn't need to.
He had uttered one word and drawn attention to himself. Cursing to himself, he pretended to be fascinated by the Argon One again while hoping nobody else noticed him. I should have dressed as a Goner he thought.
The OTAS ladies would be able to identify him to any authorities should the need arise, he wished he had had the funds for a couple of slave collars or a side arm of some sort before he had boarded. Thankfully, he thought, OTAS only have tenuous links to the Argon authorities, their sphere of influence was a good number of sectors away. I've not even got a ship never mind anything else - no one will pay anymore attention to me as long as I play safe.
The liner was now docking and he was trapped in his seat. He knew he was being paranoid, but he couldn't help feeling that way sat next to two OTAS pilots and with an unknown Paranid assassin behind him somewhere. He decided to keep his mind focused on being a good "rei-rei."
Outside, a Buster nearly collides with the liner; Probably an inexperienced civilian desperate for promotion, rushing to finish his mission in quick time - a genuine "rei-rei." Inside the liner, only one person reacted to the near collision - shocked, most of the other passengers either didn't see or weren't concerned.
"Giant hairy argnu balls!" he exclaimed again drawing attention to himself.
"It's okay, he wasn't going fast enough to hurt us or even himself" the young OTAS woman whispered in his ear. "You're going to have to grow some balls yourself if you want to survive out there." Her expression had softened, but she was still on the verge of laughter.
His hands gripped the armrests tightly as the docking arm clanked into place announcing that docking was complete. He was shocked, but not for the reasons the young OTAS woman thought. The buster was piloted by one of his Onibaku comrades - the tiny tiger-skin emblem matched part of the tattoo that covered his own body. The emblem was positioned in exactly the place where TTD marked his ships, and TTD was the wealthiest of the Onibaku. TTD, acting the part of a "rei-rei" is not a good sign at all - can we have been brought so low? Must we employ such tricks? he thought.
With pursed lips the OTAS woman got out of her seat and tossed a docket onto his lap "look him up when you get your ship - he'll teach you the basics." She shook her head at him, smiling yet seemingly concerned and said "good luck out there - by the look of things you'll need it." She turned to follow her comrade, the OTAS cat insignia now blatantly in view.
"Thanks" he murmured. He stared at her backside as she turned and gulped involuntarily - OTAS pilots kept themselves in peak condition. This girl had the two "thumb dimples" at the base of her spine, her pilot's uniform cut low to show them off - he had a "thing" for thumb dimples.
The cackling woman was looking back at him - stopping her comrade from leaving the aisle; she said something to her comrade while covering her mouth - he didn't hear what she said. She was rewarded by a dig of some kind from her comrade, but it didn't stop her from cackling. He looked away again - her laugh was really starting to get on his nerves.
"Oh, by the way - you don't have to worry about paying for the basic training, I've got that covered." the young OTAS woman said grinning mischievously, then she deliberately stared at his crotch. "Maybe if you get good enough I'll let you have a ride on this" and she turned and bent to adjust the fastenings of her boots, her tight uniform stretched around her backside leaving little to the imagination, almost close enough that he could smell her. Still bent over, she trailed her index finger up the back of her calf muscle then on the inside of her thigh finally resting on her buttock, which she squeezed then slapped.
His temples thumped with the rushing of blood, his cheeks warmed - he knew he was blushing. She was looking him straight in the eye and her grin became even more mischievous - her index finger circled the area where she wanted him to look, but he was looking up a little from where her finger toyed. He would have been seething to have been humiliated thus, but for the hem of her uniform which had slid down a little - she was so proud of her position within OTAS she had a hologram laid into her skin, filigreed over the top of which was her unique ID. Her finger now beckoned, teasing the fabric of her uniform and what laid under it - he couldn't ignore the gesture and he leaned forward slightly, a subconscious reaction. As soon as he moved, she stood, proud, as if her teasing had re-energised her somehow.
Involuntarily he twitched and quickly moved his hands in an attempt to hide it - but her eyes were focused right on the area he sought to cover. She said "I see you're not that limp - maybe there's hope for you after all" and she strutted off after her cackling comrade confidently as if she had scored a major victory. He breathed a sigh of relief when the cackling faded and a number of passengers filed up behind the OTAS women waiting to disembark.
"One has noticed that over-confidence in ones abilities is a trait common in all races." the Paranid almost sang. Then in battle language as he stood "One trusts traitor got it's number."
"Aye, she showed a little bit too much of herself" he replied "fair means or foul, that cat is going to end up in my bag." he said, almost to himself. He stood and eyed the Paranid. He was more than a little irritated.
Again, battle language "One doubts traitor 'Onibaku go' has the skills to tame that cat" the Paranid grunted as he made his way to disembark.
He was "Onibaku roku" not "Onibaku go;" the number was wrong. Without thinking he corrected the mistake and said "roku."
"One understands promotion is customary if a clan leader dies. One suggests you chase the cat instead of repeating the traitorous past or suffer the same fate as traitorous clan leader. Seek the light, one does not wish to meet again." and with that the Paranid stomped off.
He stood for a there for a moment, the enormity of the news the Paranid had given him sinking in, the scarcely veiled threat as to his own future brushed aside - Onibaku is dead. The leader of the Onibaku clan kept the clan in check - without a leader the clan could easily fall apart - unless we have nothing to fight over he thought. He had spent every last credit he had to get here to answer the summons from Onibaku, if he became stranded here things could quickly turn grim. Argon Prime - not exactly the best place for a penniless pirate he thought. He carelessly followed the last passengers off the liner, lost in thought (in spite of himself he was almost the last one to disembark) then made his way to a closed bar where the other Onibaku clan members should be without further incident.
The closed bar was quiet, the faces of those sat inside reflected his own melancholy face. Including himself, he counted six faces and with TTD outside doing his own thing that made seven - doubtless all that remained of the once mighty Onibaku clan.
"Lock the door behind you. You're the last that'll come, probably" someone said to him confirming his fears. As the pressure door clicked shut, he felt as if he had locked himself within a prison cell with inmates who really didn't enjoy his company.
He was about to speak when a drunken yet familiar voice said "Read that over there, then have a think and maybe a drink...or the other way round, whichever you prefer." After a pause he continued "None of us is ready for talkin' yet, an no amount of whiskey or braggadocio is going to loosen our tongues - once you read that you'll see why."
And he read -
Onibaku Go
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Rednoahl
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Three days ago Onibaku go (or Onibaku roku as he was known then) had been engaged in negotiations with the Paranid government. All of the other high ranking members of the Onibaku clan had gone out on similar missions with different races and corporations. The Onibaku clan wanted to "go legitimate;" most races were fairly happy about being rid of a pirate clan and were happy to have a rule abiding organisation working within their territories, but all races (and corporations) demanded some kind of reparations (to save face if little else.)
As far as Onibaku go was concerned, the negotiations with the Paranid hadn't gone well at all. The Paranid wanted a fairly large sum of money, and would accept nothing less that Onibaku go's personal ship - a rare Hyperion Vanguard. Admittedly, Onibaku go had stolen the Hyperion in the first place so the Paranid were quite justified in asking for it back, The money they demanded would more or less empty Onibaku go's account though, making the trip back to Onibaku HQ a little awkward. Onibaku go left the negotiations practically a pauper, dressed as a no mark pilot with no ship of his own. He felt like a retard and probably looked like one too.
Little did the Onibaku clan know that the other pirate clans had heard of the Onibaku's defection, and were far from pleased.
---
Meanwhile, twelve sectors away, the leader of the Onibaku clan had jumped into (what he called) his own sector and witnessed the final moments of his life's works destruction. The EQ dock, where the clan leader's own daughter was chief, buckled under the fire from pirate fighters spewing burning plasma - it's atmosphere escaping through fissures in the hull then igniting. Two Brigantine destroyers, flanked by a Galleon and a Zeus open fire upon the station as the Onibaku clan leader turns away - the bright flash around the bridge is enough for him to know the station has been vapourised.
The Onibaku clan leader was furious - he'd been played for a fool. He had been called away from a promising meeting with several representatives from the OTAS corporation to help deal with a group of (what he thought were rogue) pirates that had seen fit to molest one of his stations. By the time he got to the station it had been destroyed, then call upon call came in that similar attacks were happening against all the Onibaku clan's assets, including his daughter's home.
Now he was cursing the choice of ship he was in for lack of cargo space for fuel - there wasn't even enough fuel to get to the other side of the sector. He surveyed the wreckage in his sector - dismayed that there were no other ships flying his colours. His daughter was most likely dead, yet he had little time to grieve.
"Make best speed to their lead destroyer, all cannon - eyes on target - charge when ready." The Onibaku clan leader said, then cleared his throat. "Lads" he announced "you all know how hard it was to get this ship - you know it's capabilities, you know it's one of the finest around. Now lets show these swine why we spent three years arming this ship and why we were prepared to lose so much to board it. Only Gods walk where Demons dare, and that is our road. Make these swine pay for walking upon our road for it is ours, and ours alone... What are we?"
"ONIBAKU!!" a chorus replies.
The Onibaku clan leader turned his attention to his most trusted friend, who was anything but a warrior (or pirate for that matter.) To a few he was known as "TTD," a clever trader and administrator who would be little use to the clan here. The Onibaku clan knew him as "Onibaku ichi;" his authority was second only to the leader. As usual, Onibaku ichi was looking carefully at a Personal Data Pad, and was shaking his head in disapproval.
"Good it's here" the Onibaku leader said to himself as a Cerberus came out of the gate behind them. Docked at the Cerberus was a practically useless M4 - a buster, but useful enough to get TTD elsewhere.
"Onibaku ichi" the clan leader barked "take that buster we captured - the unmarked one - you need to be off this ship and quick. Take that PDP with you, you'll need to show it to the lads."
"Onibaku Sama, that ship is barely flies."
"There's no time to sort anything better and it doesn't fly our colours - get gone - if you fall too, everything will have been for naught. You're no use to us here and the others will need your guidance."
"Orders?" Onibaku ichi asked simply
"Send a summons out to the other clan members, tell all to meet at Hickies bar in Argon Prime TD and be incognito. The clan is done - it must appear to be done. If I survive this, I'm going to have to hide for a good while so I'll leave everything up to you. Use the plan of last resort, for if I fall here all you'll have is that buster mate, there's no time to sort accounts now...and take the long road mate - out to Montalarr and down - I'd bet all my money on it being the only way you could go anyway..."
---
Back in the closed bar in Argon Prime, Onibaku go had read all he wished to. Nothing in what he read he found pleasant. He thought the plan of last resort was utterly mad (as did the other surviving clan members by the look of them,) and was doomed to failure. He didn't have much choice though - having no money and being wanted in most Argon sectors, by pirates and others too he was trapped. At least the plan would give him a chance to get out of the mess he was in - but it would require a lot of hard work.
He looked again at a summary of the plan:
- The pirate clans might have us under observation so we are all going to stay in one place - only one of us will be active (for a period of three days at a time) while the rest of us make ourselves conspicuous around Argon Prime to anyone who cares about us. We will take turns every three days in other words. Keep the pretense up that you're penniless and all of us should end up with a nice little empire without the pirate clans realising that the Onibaku have returned.
- We think it best to divide the universe now so we all take nine sectors as our own, avoiding those sectors where we have had influence before to keep our anonymity. Since we all act differently, we think it's wise to have five of those sectors connected to forge positive race relations with all races, and it would help in keeping our former brothers from realising we are back in business if our interests are spread out more. No other clan member can build anything in a sector tagged by another, but all members can build stuff in unclaimed sectors provided they don't go overboard.
- Don't get us all into trouble by getting race reputation negative (including the Yaki.) The pirate clans are our enemies, remember that.
- Since we will all be acting independently, each member of the clan is responsible for the security of his own kit alone. If you dig yourself into a hole - that's your fault.
- We have drawn too much attention to ourselves mining nividium before - stay well clear of the stuff. If we do end up needing some for any reason we must all agree that it is worth the risk.
- Each of us can only hoard a maximum of 16 boarding pods at one time. We feel that hoarding any more would draw unnecessary attention to the operation. Marines should be trained separate from everyone elses' marines too - marines spread rumours faster than bored old grannies in a bar, so they must think they work for you alone.
- We don't want to appear too rich - keep what's yours and transfer your money to a station that's yours.
- Anything unique that we get is to be stored in a nice safe sector because we might need it in future.
- No UTs. We don't need to advertise our presence to the whole damn universe. Keep your traders local and in your own areas, homebased to one of your stations.
- Once we are prepared to announce our return, our HQ will be placed in a dead end sector to make invasion/retaliation harder for our former pirate comrades.
- If this plan has gone into effect, we have to forge positive relations with the corporations. We owe the corporations a debt that will have to be paid of in hard graft.
----
Onibaku go poured himself a drink - a large one. He was going to be stuck in the bar for a while so he relaxed and put his feet onto the table while he thought. He had to come up with plan of his own....
As far as Onibaku go was concerned, the negotiations with the Paranid hadn't gone well at all. The Paranid wanted a fairly large sum of money, and would accept nothing less that Onibaku go's personal ship - a rare Hyperion Vanguard. Admittedly, Onibaku go had stolen the Hyperion in the first place so the Paranid were quite justified in asking for it back, The money they demanded would more or less empty Onibaku go's account though, making the trip back to Onibaku HQ a little awkward. Onibaku go left the negotiations practically a pauper, dressed as a no mark pilot with no ship of his own. He felt like a retard and probably looked like one too.
Little did the Onibaku clan know that the other pirate clans had heard of the Onibaku's defection, and were far from pleased.
---
Meanwhile, twelve sectors away, the leader of the Onibaku clan had jumped into (what he called) his own sector and witnessed the final moments of his life's works destruction. The EQ dock, where the clan leader's own daughter was chief, buckled under the fire from pirate fighters spewing burning plasma - it's atmosphere escaping through fissures in the hull then igniting. Two Brigantine destroyers, flanked by a Galleon and a Zeus open fire upon the station as the Onibaku clan leader turns away - the bright flash around the bridge is enough for him to know the station has been vapourised.
The Onibaku clan leader was furious - he'd been played for a fool. He had been called away from a promising meeting with several representatives from the OTAS corporation to help deal with a group of (what he thought were rogue) pirates that had seen fit to molest one of his stations. By the time he got to the station it had been destroyed, then call upon call came in that similar attacks were happening against all the Onibaku clan's assets, including his daughter's home.
Now he was cursing the choice of ship he was in for lack of cargo space for fuel - there wasn't even enough fuel to get to the other side of the sector. He surveyed the wreckage in his sector - dismayed that there were no other ships flying his colours. His daughter was most likely dead, yet he had little time to grieve.
"Make best speed to their lead destroyer, all cannon - eyes on target - charge when ready." The Onibaku clan leader said, then cleared his throat. "Lads" he announced "you all know how hard it was to get this ship - you know it's capabilities, you know it's one of the finest around. Now lets show these swine why we spent three years arming this ship and why we were prepared to lose so much to board it. Only Gods walk where Demons dare, and that is our road. Make these swine pay for walking upon our road for it is ours, and ours alone... What are we?"
"ONIBAKU!!" a chorus replies.
The Onibaku clan leader turned his attention to his most trusted friend, who was anything but a warrior (or pirate for that matter.) To a few he was known as "TTD," a clever trader and administrator who would be little use to the clan here. The Onibaku clan knew him as "Onibaku ichi;" his authority was second only to the leader. As usual, Onibaku ichi was looking carefully at a Personal Data Pad, and was shaking his head in disapproval.
"Good it's here" the Onibaku leader said to himself as a Cerberus came out of the gate behind them. Docked at the Cerberus was a practically useless M4 - a buster, but useful enough to get TTD elsewhere.
"Onibaku ichi" the clan leader barked "take that buster we captured - the unmarked one - you need to be off this ship and quick. Take that PDP with you, you'll need to show it to the lads."
"Onibaku Sama, that ship is barely flies."
"There's no time to sort anything better and it doesn't fly our colours - get gone - if you fall too, everything will have been for naught. You're no use to us here and the others will need your guidance."
"Orders?" Onibaku ichi asked simply
"Send a summons out to the other clan members, tell all to meet at Hickies bar in Argon Prime TD and be incognito. The clan is done - it must appear to be done. If I survive this, I'm going to have to hide for a good while so I'll leave everything up to you. Use the plan of last resort, for if I fall here all you'll have is that buster mate, there's no time to sort accounts now...and take the long road mate - out to Montalarr and down - I'd bet all my money on it being the only way you could go anyway..."
---
Back in the closed bar in Argon Prime, Onibaku go had read all he wished to. Nothing in what he read he found pleasant. He thought the plan of last resort was utterly mad (as did the other surviving clan members by the look of them,) and was doomed to failure. He didn't have much choice though - having no money and being wanted in most Argon sectors, by pirates and others too he was trapped. At least the plan would give him a chance to get out of the mess he was in - but it would require a lot of hard work.
He looked again at a summary of the plan:
- The pirate clans might have us under observation so we are all going to stay in one place - only one of us will be active (for a period of three days at a time) while the rest of us make ourselves conspicuous around Argon Prime to anyone who cares about us. We will take turns every three days in other words. Keep the pretense up that you're penniless and all of us should end up with a nice little empire without the pirate clans realising that the Onibaku have returned.
- We think it best to divide the universe now so we all take nine sectors as our own, avoiding those sectors where we have had influence before to keep our anonymity. Since we all act differently, we think it's wise to have five of those sectors connected to forge positive race relations with all races, and it would help in keeping our former brothers from realising we are back in business if our interests are spread out more. No other clan member can build anything in a sector tagged by another, but all members can build stuff in unclaimed sectors provided they don't go overboard.
- Don't get us all into trouble by getting race reputation negative (including the Yaki.) The pirate clans are our enemies, remember that.
- Since we will all be acting independently, each member of the clan is responsible for the security of his own kit alone. If you dig yourself into a hole - that's your fault.
- We have drawn too much attention to ourselves mining nividium before - stay well clear of the stuff. If we do end up needing some for any reason we must all agree that it is worth the risk.
- Each of us can only hoard a maximum of 16 boarding pods at one time. We feel that hoarding any more would draw unnecessary attention to the operation. Marines should be trained separate from everyone elses' marines too - marines spread rumours faster than bored old grannies in a bar, so they must think they work for you alone.
- We don't want to appear too rich - keep what's yours and transfer your money to a station that's yours.
- Anything unique that we get is to be stored in a nice safe sector because we might need it in future.
- No UTs. We don't need to advertise our presence to the whole damn universe. Keep your traders local and in your own areas, homebased to one of your stations.
- Once we are prepared to announce our return, our HQ will be placed in a dead end sector to make invasion/retaliation harder for our former pirate comrades.
- If this plan has gone into effect, we have to forge positive relations with the corporations. We owe the corporations a debt that will have to be paid of in hard graft.
----
Onibaku go poured himself a drink - a large one. He was going to be stuck in the bar for a while so he relaxed and put his feet onto the table while he thought. He had to come up with plan of his own....
