Like Charles Dickens said, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." Well, that's the way I remember it from those old Earth history classes in school. It was probably someone else saying something completely different.
Anyway, The best of times wasn't really the best. Sure I inherited the last two ships of my grandfather's immense trading corporation. The rest of that empire went the way of court fines and debt collectors. I was left with two stripped down hulks with something baring he resemblance of engines and a life support system. I did get a ware house full of parts, mostly broken or wore down and belonging to any one of 150 types of ships.
I guess you see where the worst of times fits in. My choices were to sell everything to a junk heap and hope to get enough to open a bar, go back to the farm and try to grow something in the rock filled sandy soil of the family homestead, or try to piece together something space worthy and give a try at being a space jockey. I figured I'd try being a space jockey for a bit. I could always sell these rust buckets and try one of the other two if I don't get anywhere flying.
It took a while, but I finally got both ships, an old Disco and even older Merc, repaired to the point I was ready for some in atmosphere test flights. A fried of mine, a real computer whiz, helped out with the electronics and computer for future considerations if I ever run across some military grade computer components.
I thought the Disco was going to kill me for sure. It lifted straight off the ground as expected, but a soon as I touched the stick hell broke loose. The slightest movement of the stick sent it in a mad thruster spin. First one way, then as I tried to get it back under control, the other way. Nose was pointing up and down so much I could have sworn I was on a dune buggy hitting the moguls on the dirt track.
Controls on the Merc performed much better. Just a few inflight adjustments and it was doing what I wanted. A bit sluggish, but satisfactory. I slipped into the space suit and pointed the nose up for some altitude. Alarms started going off all over the place until I tracked down a leak in the seals between the cabin and hold. Replaced the seals in flight, checked out the air and all systems where a go.
The moment of truth has come. I slowly, tentatively cracked the seal on my helmet.
Rebuilding
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ancienthighway
- Posts: 1663
- Joined: Tue, 24. Apr 07, 05:25
They say everyone has a story. My name's Jason Quinn, and that's about all the story I have right now. The Quinn Corporation was founded by my great-great-grandfather and was an economic force in the universe until my grandfather made some bad decisions.
With the Disco and Merc in flying condition, I headed out for the Trading Station in Herron's Nebula. QC headquarters used to be there, so perhaps my name can help me get started. Some of the companies based there heard me out and promised a call. Most just beat around the bush offering condolences and praise for my grandfather and left me with a handshake. Too many just tossed me out without so much as a "How do you do."
At the end of the day I was no closer to work that when I started. I stopped at a bar along Merchant's Row hoping to pick up some work over dinner, when a rough looking jockey sat down beside me lamenting about how he was out of fuel and needed someone to pick some up for him.
"What's wrong with the fuel out on the docks?"
"My ship has a souped up engine and needs a special fuel. Dock fuel will burn up the drive and leave me stranded here. If you could pick me up some, I'll make it worth your time."
I did it! I got my first job. I got the directions and was off after a brief nap.
After a bit of time, a station came up on my scanners. Funny thing is it didn't broadcast it's ID. I couldn't see any lights on the station and was thinking it's been abandoned. I did due diligence and called for docking privileges, not expecting a response. That's what I got. One more call and after a pause, received the green lights. I was met as soon as I came through the airlock.
"How much do you need?"
I pulled out my card to check how much I was willing to spend, when the guy takes it from me, swipes it and has his crew start to load a pile of fuel cans into my hold. Checking the balance on my card, I complain, "Hey! You charged me every credit I have! If this guy isn't at the Trading Station, I'm creditless."
"You'll do alright. I gave you a decent discount."
With the amount of fuel being loaded, and it being for a special space drive, I wasn't so sure.
After arriving back at the TS, I headed down to Merchant's Row looking for Mr. Rough Jockey. Found him right where I left him 4 sheets to the wind as they used to say.
"Got your fuel for you down at the docks."
Mr. Rough Jockey breaks out laughing. Not a quiet one either, a loud raucous laugh that got everyone's attention.
"Hey, boys! The kid here just brought back 36 units of space fuel. It's party time!"
The bar owner came up to me, told me to rent a truck down at the docks and bring the whiskey up to the back door off the alley.
"Whiskey?"
"Yeah, if you had be stopped by the police, you would have lost your cargo and your ship impounded."
Well, stupid me bootlegging on my first job. Although I've got five times as many credits now. I think I'll set the Merc on remote and see about making on more space fuel run while I head off to an EQ for some software. On the trip to Argon Prime, I made a couple inquiries about legit work. Seems with my inexperience or the Quinn name, no one's interested in hiring me. Maybe after I get some experience they'd reconsider, but right now, nothing. There was a suggestion to head up to Power Circle and see about some ad hoc jobs running energy cells. Ran some other inquiries on the computer to see if I could find work for the Disco, too.
A bit of luck at the EQ. I was able to purchase 4 IREs and 1 MJ shields to kit out the Disco. A couple needed software packages too, and still had money left over for that fuel run. So I set the Merc in action. Picked up word on the EQ that some in Ringo Moon was looking for a pilot with a fast ship, so I headed off that way. Turns out the job was to follow some corporate spy to find out who he works for. I'm now a bootlegging private dick, living on a shoestring budget. Ha!
With the Disco and Merc in flying condition, I headed out for the Trading Station in Herron's Nebula. QC headquarters used to be there, so perhaps my name can help me get started. Some of the companies based there heard me out and promised a call. Most just beat around the bush offering condolences and praise for my grandfather and left me with a handshake. Too many just tossed me out without so much as a "How do you do."
At the end of the day I was no closer to work that when I started. I stopped at a bar along Merchant's Row hoping to pick up some work over dinner, when a rough looking jockey sat down beside me lamenting about how he was out of fuel and needed someone to pick some up for him.
"What's wrong with the fuel out on the docks?"
"My ship has a souped up engine and needs a special fuel. Dock fuel will burn up the drive and leave me stranded here. If you could pick me up some, I'll make it worth your time."
I did it! I got my first job. I got the directions and was off after a brief nap.
After a bit of time, a station came up on my scanners. Funny thing is it didn't broadcast it's ID. I couldn't see any lights on the station and was thinking it's been abandoned. I did due diligence and called for docking privileges, not expecting a response. That's what I got. One more call and after a pause, received the green lights. I was met as soon as I came through the airlock.
"How much do you need?"
I pulled out my card to check how much I was willing to spend, when the guy takes it from me, swipes it and has his crew start to load a pile of fuel cans into my hold. Checking the balance on my card, I complain, "Hey! You charged me every credit I have! If this guy isn't at the Trading Station, I'm creditless."
"You'll do alright. I gave you a decent discount."
With the amount of fuel being loaded, and it being for a special space drive, I wasn't so sure.
After arriving back at the TS, I headed down to Merchant's Row looking for Mr. Rough Jockey. Found him right where I left him 4 sheets to the wind as they used to say.
"Got your fuel for you down at the docks."
Mr. Rough Jockey breaks out laughing. Not a quiet one either, a loud raucous laugh that got everyone's attention.
"Hey, boys! The kid here just brought back 36 units of space fuel. It's party time!"
The bar owner came up to me, told me to rent a truck down at the docks and bring the whiskey up to the back door off the alley.
"Whiskey?"
"Yeah, if you had be stopped by the police, you would have lost your cargo and your ship impounded."
Well, stupid me bootlegging on my first job. Although I've got five times as many credits now. I think I'll set the Merc on remote and see about making on more space fuel run while I head off to an EQ for some software. On the trip to Argon Prime, I made a couple inquiries about legit work. Seems with my inexperience or the Quinn name, no one's interested in hiring me. Maybe after I get some experience they'd reconsider, but right now, nothing. There was a suggestion to head up to Power Circle and see about some ad hoc jobs running energy cells. Ran some other inquiries on the computer to see if I could find work for the Disco, too.
A bit of luck at the EQ. I was able to purchase 4 IREs and 1 MJ shields to kit out the Disco. A couple needed software packages too, and still had money left over for that fuel run. So I set the Merc in action. Picked up word on the EQ that some in Ringo Moon was looking for a pilot with a fast ship, so I headed off that way. Turns out the job was to follow some corporate spy to find out who he works for. I'm now a bootlegging private dick, living on a shoestring budget. Ha!
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ancienthighway
- Posts: 1663
- Joined: Tue, 24. Apr 07, 05:25
That first tail job led to a ship repo job, then another tail. I flew from Empire's Edge to Trinity Sanctum, then back again on another route, making a big circle around the Paranid home space.
Since I was in the area, I flew over to Savage Spur, then down to Weaver's Tempest. Yaki territory. I had a bad feeling about the run, but decided to test it out anyway. Turned out my gut was just suffering some heartburn eating that Paranid food. The Yaki, although not welcoming me with waiting arms full of food and drink, allowed me go pass through unmolested. I picked up an abandoned Enhanced Pericles in Savage Spur, then spotted an abandoned Eclipse in Oracoke's Storm. As I was going to check on it, some Pirates came into the sector looking for blood, and I decided they wouldn't get mine. I left the Eclips and headed through Senator's Badlands and Weaver's Tempest, mapping out the sectors as I went. Grandpa was apparently on good terms with the Yaki, as once they found out who I was, they let me dock and their shipyard and have a look around.
As I was headed back towards Paranid space, I saw the Pirates were still hanging around that Eclipse. I can only guess they where hoping someone as green as me would swing by and give up my ship before they claimed it. I'll have to swing around later to check on it.
I received a distress call from "Joseph Q", my Merc. Pirates chased it into a station in Power Circle and are hanging around. Argon military seems to be no where around. I made some upgrades to the Pericles and headed back to Argon.
"Mamba"
"Disco Vanguard"
"Buzzard"
"Buzzard"
"Kestral"
Five blips on the radar. Still no response from Argon.
The Pirates are spread out with those Buzzards and Kestral on the opposite side of the station from the Mamba. The Disco is just buzzing around. As slow as those Buzzards are, with a little luck, I may be able to do some damage to the Mamba before they enter the problem. I'll just have to dodge the scouts fire until the Mamba, or my Pericles, is out of the picture.
Arming weapons. IRE one, green. IRE two, green. IRE three, green, IRE four, green. FBL 1, green. FBL 2, green. Weapons generator, green. Shields at 20 MJ. Shield generator, green.
Ore Mine beta, with "Joseph Q" docked, is taking some shield damage, but nothing critical yet.
I open the throttle and set the computer to autoattack on the Mamba. I figure the computer will give me the most hits off the top, then switch to manual once the Mamba or scouts engage.
The gap is closing, but the Mamba is flying around like he doesn't see me. This is good. I should be able to get the initial hits in, and then a few more while the pilot tries to find me and engage. I slow my ship and launch my lone Silkworm. As it's about to hit, I reengage the autopilot.
Initial volley dropped his shields by 50%. I zoom by him and wait for the computer to kick in the turn for the next run. Return fire was mostly wild, but there was a couple hits on my shields. The computer's taking too long to turn, so I switch to manual and pull a high G turn to bring my guns about.
Time to play chicken. Guns blazing. Pericles versus Mamba. I've got he speed, but he has the shields and firepower. I apply side thrusters to strafe to the right and that helps most of his shots go wide left. Mamba sitting at zero shields and 84% hull. I'm sitting at zero shields and 57% hull. Before I begin my turn I see lasers flashing all around me. The Disco joined in. Then a ship goes by me in a flash. Where did that Kestral come from so fast!
I decide not to turn right away, put some distance between me and the Mamba first, and hope the speed of the Pirate scouts mess with their accuracy. Checking the missiles, I've got 10 Mosquitoes for anti-missle. No help there. I turn. Fire off some shots at the scouts so they'll back off a bit, then take aim on the Mamba again.
Throttle back to match his speed. Open fire and start manipulating the thrusters to alter the flight path. Up, right, down, up, left. It seems to be working, Only a couple hits on my shields, but his shields drop again and more hull damage.
As we pass, I pull back in a turn tighter than I'd ever tried before. Target reacquired. Fire. Scattered scout fire around me, but I ignore it. Hull dropping on the Mamba. He's turning to reengage. I fly past, then turn tight again. Once again, damage to it's stern. His speed is dropping fast to try to hold it together. I readjust my speed as I fly past him again. Turn. Open fire. I open the throttle as I fly through the fireball and debris of the Mamba.
A quick look at he scanner shows the Disco and Kestral still coming after me, and with my damage, they are coming much faster than before. The Buzzards are slowly making their way over to engage.
Disco's coming up behind me, fast. I turn and engage, sliding out of as much of it's fire as I can. We both turn for another run. The Disco opened fire late, with my hits taking it out of the picture quickly.
Still no Argon response.
Now the Kestral. Guns forward, turret rear. Super fast. I switch off the FBLs since they are to slow to hit. It makes more energy available for the IREs, too. First pass. I see flashes on the Kestrals shields where I'm hitting. We turn. His shields are low, but still in place. I check mine. 100%. He missed me completely on that first run. Here we go. Lasers filling our little place is space. There's some HEPT burst flying by me at an angle. At least one of the Buzzards has engaged. Both the Kestral and I mostly missed that time. Damn Buzzard distracted me. At least I've still got the speed over them. A little distance, and I'll turn as the Kestral opens fire on me again.
Incoming missile. Mosquito away. My ship shudders from the explosion, but fortunately undamaged from the blast. Lasers shooting past me. Turn, and engage the Kestral. Then another quick turn as we pass. His shields are down, lasers biting into the hull. My shields are still at 100%, so I press forward ignoring the turret fire to my front and HEPT fire from my rear. The Kestral turned before it was out of range. His bad. No shields, my lasers still locked on. Fireball.
Three down. Two Buzzards to go. FBLs switched on. I turn and take aim on the first. A glance at the scanner shows the second is still out of range. Shoot and slide. He misses. I chew up his shields. Turn, shoot and slide. Minor hits on me. His shields are gone and the hull taking a beating. Radio crackles as he bails out of his ship. The second Buzzard goes down just as fast, with another pirate electing to live rather than going down with his ship.
"Joseph Q" goes back to trading.
Since I was in the area, I flew over to Savage Spur, then down to Weaver's Tempest. Yaki territory. I had a bad feeling about the run, but decided to test it out anyway. Turned out my gut was just suffering some heartburn eating that Paranid food. The Yaki, although not welcoming me with waiting arms full of food and drink, allowed me go pass through unmolested. I picked up an abandoned Enhanced Pericles in Savage Spur, then spotted an abandoned Eclipse in Oracoke's Storm. As I was going to check on it, some Pirates came into the sector looking for blood, and I decided they wouldn't get mine. I left the Eclips and headed through Senator's Badlands and Weaver's Tempest, mapping out the sectors as I went. Grandpa was apparently on good terms with the Yaki, as once they found out who I was, they let me dock and their shipyard and have a look around.
As I was headed back towards Paranid space, I saw the Pirates were still hanging around that Eclipse. I can only guess they where hoping someone as green as me would swing by and give up my ship before they claimed it. I'll have to swing around later to check on it.
I received a distress call from "Joseph Q", my Merc. Pirates chased it into a station in Power Circle and are hanging around. Argon military seems to be no where around. I made some upgrades to the Pericles and headed back to Argon.
"Mamba"
"Disco Vanguard"
"Buzzard"
"Buzzard"
"Kestral"
Five blips on the radar. Still no response from Argon.
The Pirates are spread out with those Buzzards and Kestral on the opposite side of the station from the Mamba. The Disco is just buzzing around. As slow as those Buzzards are, with a little luck, I may be able to do some damage to the Mamba before they enter the problem. I'll just have to dodge the scouts fire until the Mamba, or my Pericles, is out of the picture.
Arming weapons. IRE one, green. IRE two, green. IRE three, green, IRE four, green. FBL 1, green. FBL 2, green. Weapons generator, green. Shields at 20 MJ. Shield generator, green.
Ore Mine beta, with "Joseph Q" docked, is taking some shield damage, but nothing critical yet.
I open the throttle and set the computer to autoattack on the Mamba. I figure the computer will give me the most hits off the top, then switch to manual once the Mamba or scouts engage.
The gap is closing, but the Mamba is flying around like he doesn't see me. This is good. I should be able to get the initial hits in, and then a few more while the pilot tries to find me and engage. I slow my ship and launch my lone Silkworm. As it's about to hit, I reengage the autopilot.
Initial volley dropped his shields by 50%. I zoom by him and wait for the computer to kick in the turn for the next run. Return fire was mostly wild, but there was a couple hits on my shields. The computer's taking too long to turn, so I switch to manual and pull a high G turn to bring my guns about.
Time to play chicken. Guns blazing. Pericles versus Mamba. I've got he speed, but he has the shields and firepower. I apply side thrusters to strafe to the right and that helps most of his shots go wide left. Mamba sitting at zero shields and 84% hull. I'm sitting at zero shields and 57% hull. Before I begin my turn I see lasers flashing all around me. The Disco joined in. Then a ship goes by me in a flash. Where did that Kestral come from so fast!
I decide not to turn right away, put some distance between me and the Mamba first, and hope the speed of the Pirate scouts mess with their accuracy. Checking the missiles, I've got 10 Mosquitoes for anti-missle. No help there. I turn. Fire off some shots at the scouts so they'll back off a bit, then take aim on the Mamba again.
Throttle back to match his speed. Open fire and start manipulating the thrusters to alter the flight path. Up, right, down, up, left. It seems to be working, Only a couple hits on my shields, but his shields drop again and more hull damage.
As we pass, I pull back in a turn tighter than I'd ever tried before. Target reacquired. Fire. Scattered scout fire around me, but I ignore it. Hull dropping on the Mamba. He's turning to reengage. I fly past, then turn tight again. Once again, damage to it's stern. His speed is dropping fast to try to hold it together. I readjust my speed as I fly past him again. Turn. Open fire. I open the throttle as I fly through the fireball and debris of the Mamba.
A quick look at he scanner shows the Disco and Kestral still coming after me, and with my damage, they are coming much faster than before. The Buzzards are slowly making their way over to engage.
Disco's coming up behind me, fast. I turn and engage, sliding out of as much of it's fire as I can. We both turn for another run. The Disco opened fire late, with my hits taking it out of the picture quickly.
Still no Argon response.
Now the Kestral. Guns forward, turret rear. Super fast. I switch off the FBLs since they are to slow to hit. It makes more energy available for the IREs, too. First pass. I see flashes on the Kestrals shields where I'm hitting. We turn. His shields are low, but still in place. I check mine. 100%. He missed me completely on that first run. Here we go. Lasers filling our little place is space. There's some HEPT burst flying by me at an angle. At least one of the Buzzards has engaged. Both the Kestral and I mostly missed that time. Damn Buzzard distracted me. At least I've still got the speed over them. A little distance, and I'll turn as the Kestral opens fire on me again.
Incoming missile. Mosquito away. My ship shudders from the explosion, but fortunately undamaged from the blast. Lasers shooting past me. Turn, and engage the Kestral. Then another quick turn as we pass. His shields are down, lasers biting into the hull. My shields are still at 100%, so I press forward ignoring the turret fire to my front and HEPT fire from my rear. The Kestral turned before it was out of range. His bad. No shields, my lasers still locked on. Fireball.
Three down. Two Buzzards to go. FBLs switched on. I turn and take aim on the first. A glance at the scanner shows the second is still out of range. Shoot and slide. He misses. I chew up his shields. Turn, shoot and slide. Minor hits on me. His shields are gone and the hull taking a beating. Radio crackles as he bails out of his ship. The second Buzzard goes down just as fast, with another pirate electing to live rather than going down with his ship.
"Joseph Q" goes back to trading.
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Deeparth
- Posts: 451
- Joined: Fri, 30. Apr 10, 00:35
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ancienthighway
- Posts: 1663
- Joined: Tue, 24. Apr 07, 05:25
Taking a look at my credit balance, I knew the Buzzards had to go. So I sent them to the shipyard, and took a look at what I do have. Besides the "Puddle Jumper", I picked up another Disco. Chalk that one up to a botched mission to deliver a Disco Hauler. Fortunately I had enough credits at the time to buy a Hauler and send it off to The Hole to complete delivery. I needed a jump drive to complete it though.
I sent the "Puddle Jumper" into Boron space to map out the sectors and scan asteroids. "Tadpole" headed back to Paranid space to do the same. My luck was holding after that fight, and "Puddle Jumper" found what appeared to be an abandoned ship. I headed towards it with the Pericles, as "Joseph Q" picked up some trading opportunities again.
As I was passing though The Hole, I picked up a distress call from Wheat Farm alpha. It received some intelligence that it was about to come under attack. I offered my assistance and turned back towards the station. Three Yaki Fujin where making their way to the station also. I targeted the slowest, hoping dare-devil attitudes of the other two would send them crashing into the station. I held my fire and slipped in behind my target, and let loose with all my guns before he pulled out of range. He turned to engage. I switched to 2 IREs hoping to get the pilot to bail. I really don't want to destroy my Yaki rep before I have a chance to improve it. No bailing from this guy though as his ship fell to pieces around him.
I pulled off the throttle to see if the other two pilots where going to play chicken with the station. Unfortunately for me, they weren't. All I could think about is my rep dropping even further. Targeting the second Fujin, I was able to slip in behind him again. For his attack run, he dropped his speed enough that I was able to stay in range longer. Sticking with the 2 IRE setting, I was able to damage him enough that he decided to bail and take his chances in a space suit. Same tactics on the third and more space debris around the station. I recovered the bailed Fujin, and had it dock, then started on my way to Menelaus' Frontier again.
Solar Power Plant alpha radioed me offering a nice reward for recovering a broken down ship for them. An offer I couldn't refuse. Then I found out it was a Dolphin Supertanker in Ringo Moon. At best this ship crawls slower than a newborn baby. I set course for Ringo Moon, and recall the Discos. "Tadpole" will pick up some energy cells. It already has the jump drive. I'll have to try a space transfer and hope no one picks it up before I do. "Puddle Jumper will wait in The Hole for the ejected jump drive. In the mean time, I'll do what repair work I can on it to increase the in sector speed.
Pulling up to the Dolphin, I see it's in worse shape than I thought. Top speed damaged is 17.4 m/s and the clock's ticking. I did manage to get the speed up to 32 m/s before the jumpdrive arrived. I pilot the Dolphin to pick up the jumpdrive and energy cells, walk back over to the Pericles, and send the Dolphin jumping to The Hole. After ejecting the jumpdrive remotely, it was a race against the clock to dock at SSP alpha.
I sent the Discos back to their scouting missions and headed to The Hole myself to see how things were going. Had to go past there to head to Menelaus' Frontier anyway. Looking at the speed of the Dolphin, the distance it had to go, and the time left on the clock, it didn't look good. I tossed around the idea of trying to keep up with it in a space suit and make some more repairs, but didn't like the odds of the metal against the suit if I could keep up. Off to Boron space I went.
The ship was a Toucan Hauler parked next to an isolated asteroid. I flew around the asteroid a couple times, but picked up no signs of life. So I did what any barely scraping by jockey would do and claimed it as my own. I sent it off to be outfitted, then checked the status of the Dolphin. Call came in from the bank too. 300,000 odd credits for the sell of the two Buzzards.
She's not going to make it before the buzzer. As I'm heading back to Argon space, I get the call from the client. Times up. Ship's been reported stolen. Don't bother coming to him for work any more. I checked again. 12 km. He could see the lights of the ship if he bothered to look out the window. He could have space walked to it before air ran out if he had the mind to.
Well, I'm docking it there anyway. If he doesn't want it, I'll figure out something to do with it. I get back to The Hole and see 5 police Discos circling around. Looks like some serious figuring to do.
Report from the "Puddle Jumper" indicates there's some Nvidium rocks in Kingdom's End. So I picked up a Mercury from the shipyard and put an ore collector on it. Then I headed over to Kingdom's End to plant a satellite and break up the rocks into collectable chucks.
I sent the "Puddle Jumper" into Boron space to map out the sectors and scan asteroids. "Tadpole" headed back to Paranid space to do the same. My luck was holding after that fight, and "Puddle Jumper" found what appeared to be an abandoned ship. I headed towards it with the Pericles, as "Joseph Q" picked up some trading opportunities again.
As I was passing though The Hole, I picked up a distress call from Wheat Farm alpha. It received some intelligence that it was about to come under attack. I offered my assistance and turned back towards the station. Three Yaki Fujin where making their way to the station also. I targeted the slowest, hoping dare-devil attitudes of the other two would send them crashing into the station. I held my fire and slipped in behind my target, and let loose with all my guns before he pulled out of range. He turned to engage. I switched to 2 IREs hoping to get the pilot to bail. I really don't want to destroy my Yaki rep before I have a chance to improve it. No bailing from this guy though as his ship fell to pieces around him.
I pulled off the throttle to see if the other two pilots where going to play chicken with the station. Unfortunately for me, they weren't. All I could think about is my rep dropping even further. Targeting the second Fujin, I was able to slip in behind him again. For his attack run, he dropped his speed enough that I was able to stay in range longer. Sticking with the 2 IRE setting, I was able to damage him enough that he decided to bail and take his chances in a space suit. Same tactics on the third and more space debris around the station. I recovered the bailed Fujin, and had it dock, then started on my way to Menelaus' Frontier again.
Solar Power Plant alpha radioed me offering a nice reward for recovering a broken down ship for them. An offer I couldn't refuse. Then I found out it was a Dolphin Supertanker in Ringo Moon. At best this ship crawls slower than a newborn baby. I set course for Ringo Moon, and recall the Discos. "Tadpole" will pick up some energy cells. It already has the jump drive. I'll have to try a space transfer and hope no one picks it up before I do. "Puddle Jumper will wait in The Hole for the ejected jump drive. In the mean time, I'll do what repair work I can on it to increase the in sector speed.
Pulling up to the Dolphin, I see it's in worse shape than I thought. Top speed damaged is 17.4 m/s and the clock's ticking. I did manage to get the speed up to 32 m/s before the jumpdrive arrived. I pilot the Dolphin to pick up the jumpdrive and energy cells, walk back over to the Pericles, and send the Dolphin jumping to The Hole. After ejecting the jumpdrive remotely, it was a race against the clock to dock at SSP alpha.
I sent the Discos back to their scouting missions and headed to The Hole myself to see how things were going. Had to go past there to head to Menelaus' Frontier anyway. Looking at the speed of the Dolphin, the distance it had to go, and the time left on the clock, it didn't look good. I tossed around the idea of trying to keep up with it in a space suit and make some more repairs, but didn't like the odds of the metal against the suit if I could keep up. Off to Boron space I went.
The ship was a Toucan Hauler parked next to an isolated asteroid. I flew around the asteroid a couple times, but picked up no signs of life. So I did what any barely scraping by jockey would do and claimed it as my own. I sent it off to be outfitted, then checked the status of the Dolphin. Call came in from the bank too. 300,000 odd credits for the sell of the two Buzzards.
She's not going to make it before the buzzer. As I'm heading back to Argon space, I get the call from the client. Times up. Ship's been reported stolen. Don't bother coming to him for work any more. I checked again. 12 km. He could see the lights of the ship if he bothered to look out the window. He could have space walked to it before air ran out if he had the mind to.
Well, I'm docking it there anyway. If he doesn't want it, I'll figure out something to do with it. I get back to The Hole and see 5 police Discos circling around. Looks like some serious figuring to do.
Report from the "Puddle Jumper" indicates there's some Nvidium rocks in Kingdom's End. So I picked up a Mercury from the shipyard and put an ore collector on it. Then I headed over to Kingdom's End to plant a satellite and break up the rocks into collectable chucks.