*Indio walks the deck of the Medusa II* I wonder why the sudden shift in the commodities. Despite being a junker I am no scrapper, smuggling as always been my game; *incoming msg* A bald man with a bushy beard appears on screen, "Capt Indio (clears his throat) I have been trying to reach you and it seems you have had your comms set to off ( coughs )"
Well, my aplogies I am old fashioned and observe radio silence as I am slippling an illegal shipment through a blockade or onto a heavy populated planet, sounds silly but I have been in this game and have never once dropped a load and been scanned very few times as that is almost as bad for business, what is so urgent you need to harrass me now. (crosses arms)
"Well, a committee has been formed and we need to know what viable smuggling routes exists through the taus, and into the fringe of Gallia. I forward mission I am hoping you'll accept. (nods)"
Why? for king and country, listen the congress is made up of independant individuals and I have been newly "elected" and no one there has said anything to me yet in my short tenure... so where is this mission coming from?
"concerned citizens?" "Perhaps, I have not made it appealing enough thier may be some compensation but the client wishes to remain incognito.
Hmm I will think about * hangs up shuts off comms*
* Indio walks the deck of the Medusa II , his first mate Honor Cartwright, the comms officer Sally Weams, Nav Officer Dax Jordon, Security Officer Val Drago, and Chief Jerrick Mane; stood in attendance... Well staff I have been looking at the newest commodity tracker, and scrap has deviated and the routes are setup for scrappers, and we are not sit and twidle our thumb types; I need us to find profitable new routes and I want to launch a small fighter to do some forward recon, Dax check navigable routes, Sally contact our old standard "partners", Jerrick I need one of your best men to copilot. Crew we need to push forward, this project is going to cost us a bit but the research will pay off. Did I ever tell any of you clowns how I was one of the first Iridium miners, before my smuggling days... nevermind to your posts all, let's make some money. *yelling* our goal is 500 million credits this month... d*mn that is right.
*lights cigar* Also I think we need to be more alert about the changes in politics and the new frontlines.... Val you'll fly the razor, Jerrick get 'em a man... meeting ajourned all.
Indio stares out at the ice fields as he/crew and the Medusa make thier way through the frozen debris, Dax approaches Indio. " Cpt I think I found a new route?" " It might take us into some danger, however the reward could far out weigh the risks here"
*lights cigar* Hmmm well let's get the head honchos together shall we? *staff call over PA* Ok lady and gentlemen, Dax has uncovered a tidy little route that can be run almost as quickly as our previous route code named [steam boat willy], this one will be called [The jungle book] The posted issues and hot spots are online in your officer logs be sure to read them. We embark right away, the run will take 22 hours and will net us 14 million credits per run.... now we will bore of this trip but we should at least knock out 140 million worth. So 10 runs at least, got it great back to work. *yelling* Him & Him light the fires... which means drive the ship and you make me a drink... something hard oh with a lemon.
The Medusa II slips into the cloud and heads toward the Inverness Jump hole.
[Sys On ID: Indio]
*undisclosed trade route* [the jungle book]
We finish unloading the crates marked "scrap" I have placed my order here for 3,350 units of "product" and the Medusa II is getting a new gift, a shiny new GB missile turret. Since I almost died trying to out run the Royal Navy the last time out this time I will have a surprise for them, the one escape pod I managed to pluck outta the flow I turn over to our hosts.. oh I get credits and he gets, well let's not talk about what is gonna happen to him. Honor informs me we are loaded to bear and now we have the 11hour trip back to unload/ reload and reoutfit to do it all again.
I have the calculator bots march up and start up the ol girl and we are on our way. I am still considering whether or not to take that "mission" on or in Indio fashion ignore it. Hmmm, not sure but I know I am happy as I just bought 1,000 more cigars, it wasn't cheap but I was on my last one.
*yells* lets see if we can do this run in 9 hours lets go!
Damage report Honor? "well capt we just had a few bays torn open no major damage" Well we can land on Cadiz and get the royal inquistion from the Corsair forward guard or pay a bribe to the hessians' for supplies and a berth to repair the ship. it all happened so quickly two freelancer something or others attacked us with bombers, they made no requests and it took two of them to do any harm, I don't actually care that much since I wasn't carrying any cargo at the time. I will however have them killed, just on principle I am sure they have enemies, espcially when they are to Neanderthalic to even talk, they were most likely piloting with there feet and prehensile tails.
Sally contact Ronneburg we will need a bribe to use anything there lets get a move on.
I found that getting shot up was a great thing, Ronneburg has extra stores of HFuel and the Mollys don't mind payin' for it. The one trip was worth 10 million credits, not bad work. I am getting the third degree from the new dock man apparently the old and good dockman Angus Mc Wannes, died in a fireball when he was out defending Arranamore against a Corsiars excursion and raid.
Reminder to self don't bribe the Molly doorman as they could end up dead. I have noticed thay have really jazzed up the place, with new bays more men and better defenses. The molly bar is rowdy and fun as usual, I buy my customary round to soften up the crowd and then begin to pick out info that is helpful to an ol Junker like myself.
I did pick up an interesting tidbit on my attackers from a day before, seems they had a hit put on 'em by a Junker in the congress and well they *laughs out loud* got blown up by a merc in a Recycler. This little tale might have some life to it I am new to this little conflict, as far as I am concered once my merc shaves off a few inches of thier hulls again *chuckle* I will be square I should see what deeper mystery lines at the middle of the hits.
*Molly yells... 'er is to a damn fin junka, and ist a sweet treat more ruuuu * collapses on floor drunk hearty laughter from all around*
*whispers to Dax* get the men ready to leave we have to head to some fresh waters and lie low while I sort out a few mysteries.
[Sys On ID: Indio]
::undisclosed location:: [trade rte JUNGLE_BOOK]
I have been debating whether or not to dive into this mystery with the attacks and hits deeper as I have found information that leads all the way to the top of the Congress, I am not sure I need or want to know anymore as Junkers prize independance most of all. The more you ask question generally the more involved you get. Plus questions always cost credits.
I have thought seriously about doing a new route code name [beauty and the beast] I also haven't gotten a handle on the mission into the Tau's not sure that is a winner. Gallic Junkers are not always helpful. I am thinking about saving as much money as possible perhaps I will go legit and start a trading security company. *blows smoke circles* nah, I do need to find routes that are shorter and profitable. While I can be a complete moron sometimes money math is easy for me.
*Dax calls out* Destination ahead captain, 2K.
I think I will not dig deeper into the intriuge but I might investigate the congress archives for fishy behavior, perhaps being an Indy Junker might help me keep my head down and profits up.
[Sys On ID:Indio]
Planet Gran Canar. ::: Remote Terminal 0092
I have given the crew three days off here on Planet Gran C. I am having the turrets upgraded on the Medusa to include cerebus turrets, so that we can fend off bombers with more efficacy as opposed to just getting shot up alot. The job will take a few days. I have always liked this out of the way spot for relaxing and recovery.
While at the Man Down bar; I have been informed of a little need by the corsairs in casablanca... thought that was a Hessian... anyway. I was able to get the location while here and since it isn't far we could pop on over.
Now Hfuel from there to Arranamore might really PO both parties but if they don't know, they won't care, hmmm that route would only take about 8 hours to do.... now we are talking.
*Indio looks around the bar and counts up his crew* Barkeep one more of these for me and the crew.
It feels good to be home, Liberty has always been good to me, the last month I spent in Bretonia and the Omegas have been alot of work and rife with conflict. Say what you will about hospitality or pirates, but generally Me and my crew get the best welcomes from Rogues, Outcasts, and Corsairs... generally they are decent folk tryin' to make a buck.
I need to drop off the gold I am hauling to the Junker treasury and then get a move on to working inside Liberty again, They players are predictable. I feel like we have been hauling for months straight but this last leg has been extra long for some reason.
>>> Incoming comm<<< *Bald man with bushy beard again* Capt. Indio you haven't gotten back to me on whether or not you are going to do this mission for me.
Well... if I want to do it you'd know, besides you never metioned the "bonus" this is tiring I will call you >>>> feed terminated<<<<<
Ah Texas soon and then PR. I guess I should see what this idiot wants. Sally call him back setup a face to face.
what the heck we need some excitement around here right?
We are currently on route to Texas and once we drop off this scrap we will be heading towards the taus. This guy wants to meet us on Planet Harris for some reason. Speaking with Dax our best approach would be to back in from Edinburgh. Tau 29 has never been a Junker haven anyway, but we have been asked to press on into Orkney and Tau 37, which has been virtually cut off.
I am not sure what value there is in going but alll I can think is if I can score some cheap tobacco and maybe find a Royal Navy officer to bribe. I told the crew we are going in completely blind as I have never had any cause or desire to travel to Gallia.
We'll see what happens now to rest before we get to Beumont.