The 'clink' of ice on glass could be heard over the chatter of voices at the bar on Barrier Gate Station. It was a typical busy night. A man in a thick leather bomber coat and a wide brimmed bush hat sat alone at a booth, his head down with the brim over hanging his face. Expressionless, the mouth of that face never even quivered as a lanky figure slipped his way into the booth across from the stranger.
"We got his reply...sent us some standard intel, warned us about heightened Colonial activity around here, but I think he must be in the Omegas by the sounds of it. He didn't say exactly" Jonas blurted in one breath, and paused bracing for the reaction to his statement.
"He's not far. But that means he's bogged down in his own sandtrap. It's ok, we'll try the others in the meantime, and keep moving. If we hang around one place too long we'll draw too much attention." Antares replied with a deep overtone, cutting through the bar noises.
"What about the upcoming operation cap?" Jonas asked innocently.
"Don't matter. I'm still moving forward. We'll see who has business for us, and go from there. But we're staying out of Liberty for a while. After what happened...I could go a lifetime without laying my eyes on Texas" Antares muttered and followed up by taking a sip from his drink.
"Oh c'mon captain, we can't stay away forever. Besides, Liberty's where the money's at!" Jonas chimed in trying to shed a positive light on the conversation.
"Don't push it Jonas. We'll go where we gotta, when we gotta. Until then..." he said sarcastically "get the ship prepped, we move out in the morning. Tonight I'll be here, reviewing the logs of the last couple weeks." Antares replied.
"Gotcha Cap!" Jonas exclaimed with a half hazard two-fingered 'salute' as he wiggled out of the booth and took to his feet. He made his way through the crowd and disappeared out of Antares' sight. Antares sat there and pulled out his data pad, drinking and reading.
As he read, his thoughts drifted. In the last few months he'd been busy. Defending his Junker kinfolk, pirating any ship worth breathing at, and plenty of espionage missions on bases and their suppliers. A whole slew of new bases had cropped up in Liberty and the Rheinland borderworlds. New bases always meant new supply lines, and transports willing to pay to save their cargo.
After the recent 'incident' in Texas he had hit the 'lamb' and escaped to the borderworlds and Taus for some traditional 'therapy'. It was also a good time to check in on some things out there. He'd had his own privateers out operating for pay, focusing piracy against whole organizations. The Unione Corse, GMG, and of course any Xenos and Hogosha that hung around Kusari and its neighbouring territory. Most of the time the bad blood sprung from skirmishes, acting in defense of Junker traders and friends.
Time had come for a change in routine, some moving on and keeping sharp. Piracy these days was more like running drills for the crew with live targets. Its fun, exciting, and monotonous all in one. The Argo was holding her own, better than expected. She may be old, cross-wired a thousand ways, over drained and patched over, but to Antares the ship was still in its prime. It has performed more than amicably during its tenure as his main ship of operations. Having been heavily modified to mount a Battleship Scanner, it could take advantage of its range to stealthily sneak up on its targets. The ship's cargo bay had been totally re-fitted as one big fuel storage bay, and could support intermediate ranged stealth missions, for a ship of its size and class. With the near maneuverability of a freighter, but firepower of Transport Turrets, she could pack a decent punch.
For now, Antares was up for making cash as always, and was hoping to broaden his business with an offer to be made to the underworld of Sirius. Time would tell if he could find the work he was up for. For now, he scrolled the logs of the recent days content to keep the men hardened and ready.
"Begin Log. After we hit the Taus, we got back to our old prowl for miners and unsuspecting shippers trying to slip though." he began.
* * * *
"Dauman Transport in Hokkaido - The crew did well but the ship managed to get to a nearby miner before we could finish the job" Scan 1 Scan 2 Scan 3 Scan 4 Scan 5
"Then there was a miner we ran into on his way through the borderworlds. Caught him coming out of 29. Another refusal, we chased him to Coronado and let him hang by a thread. No point in keeping the small fish. Throw 'em back, next time they'll be worth cooking." Scan 1 Scan 2 Scan 3 Scan 4 Scan 5
"Swinging through Nagano, we caught up with a Samura transport. Normally I'd just blast 'em, but being empty, I let him off with a toll. Only Samura gets such a treatment from me. This Captain was smart." Scan 1 Scan 2 Scan 3
"For kicks we swung through the Nobium field out in Tau-23. Found another IMG Hegemon miner that needed its 'initiation' to the ways of things out there. He was a reasonable chap and took it well." Scan 1 Scan 2 Scan 3
"Then there was this 'pay what you can' Republican transport we intercepted in Nagano. Traders these days..." Scan 1 Scan 2 Scan 3
"Later I decided to shift gears and book it for Kepler. The trade route through there into Shikoku is prime territory for catching up to trade ships loaded down with goods. Besides, I like to keep us moving. First thing we came across was an IMG Nanga Parbat. I hate those things. Squirmy ones they are, he made it up to Ames so we broke off. He got the point" Scan 1 Scan 2 Scan 3
"Next came a Freelancer with a strange tag in Shikoku. Never seen his kind before, let him off for an easy mil" Scan 1 Scan 2
"We cut off this Universal Bison on his way into Kepler. He high tailed it back to Shikoku and we chased him in a running firefight all the way to Deshima. Flew circles around him. Corporate fools..." Scan 1 Scan 2 Scan 3
"Speaking of foolish. We are no fans of the Hogosha, for obvious reasons. Even so, this unarmored empty Akegata coming from Shikoku did not take well to my demand for 3 million credits, but I considered it letting him off easy. His reply 'Or how about I kill you' I took as a no, and proceeded to blast the ship to bits after a brief pursuit. Such disrespect cannot be tolerated" Scan 1 Scan 2 Scan 3
Not long after that, a kind Freelancer paid a little toll and passed us without incident. Scan 1 Scan 2 Scan 3
And again another Universal ship, which did after some 'convincing' pay a little toll as well. The captain seemed rather mortified though, and it made me wonder if I've become rather desensitized to this sort of thing. Oh well, we got what we needed, and were on our way. Scan 1 Scan 2
"Close log" Antares dryly coughed out after downing his last shot of whiskey. As he squirmed out of the booth he tucked away the tablet inside his jacket. Giving a glance in both directions, he pulled down the brim of his hat a bit more and walked out of the bar. Hopefully, things would be looking up soon.
********************************************************************************************************************************** Antares rose abruptly from his cott. He shook a little, and looked around his cabin in a daze. The sound of an incoming data packet registering on his computer rang out raising him from his sleep. Ignoring it, he laid back down and thought about the cold sweat he'd been greeted by. Putting it at the back of his mind, he began to drift back to sleep. Comforted by the ambient hum of the ship's engines, he closed his eyes... ...To Be Continued...
"There it is again..." Jonas spoke aloud from his station, glancing up at the captain as he did so. A slight irritation could be detected in his voice. Immediately after, the ship began to shutter slightly. Then over the next 3-4 seconds it began to shake rather heavily, before dying back down, and fading away.
Antares stood from his chair and approached the forward viewport. He put his hand on the ship's hull near the window's frame, and gave it a rub.
"Don't worry, we'll make it home. But, ah, Rister, you better get down to the engine room and start running some diagnostics. I think we'll stay at port 'til we sort this one out" he said. Rister nodded in acknowledgment and quickly went below.
The ship had been creaking and moaning in a few places more than once recently. He'd been thinking about having her stripped down to the chassis again, and have the whole frame re-ligned with some super alloy. All of the various EM fields, along with the general stress of cruise speeds, combined with a few bad hits taken recently in combat...and the ship was feeling it harder and harder. They had been going flat out for months, and regular repairs were only patching holes. They were going to have to hit a shipyard eventually, one of the very few they could show their faces at.
"Warning: Sensor Efficiency Reduced"
Jonas looked upward as the computer's voice called out, "We've entered the cloud sir, 30 minutes to dock" he called out.
"Alright Jonas, I'll be down below taking care of the logs. I'm hitting the bar as soon as we're docked. You know the drill" the captain replied. He also made his way to the main hatch and began to climb down the ladder. As he did so, the ship started another shutter, and practically rattled him off the ladder. As it passed and he regained a full grip on the rungs, he was still within eye sight of Jonas at his station, who also looked at him as he smiled and rolled his eyes. "Don't say it" the captain snapped and pointed a finger in the young crewman's direction. With a slight frown on his face, he disappeared down the hatch.
* * * *
"Begin Log.
I've kept the ship operating around the Liberty/Kusari borderworlds for the last few weeks. With only a few exceptions for trips down to Texas and Cali. The Kusari frontier is fairly unprotected, and so that's where we lurk...
We caught up to this little DSE convoy on its way down into Liberty. We got lucky there, and made double the pay.
Not far from there we caught up to a Luxery Liner, loaded with wealthy passengers...I assumed anyways. Most gotta be to travel with that kind of style. Well, robbing from the rich isn't something I lose too much sleep over, and besides, those boats have plenty of escape pods these days...don't they?
I should really start blasting those Samura goons when I come across 'em. But, we can get pressed for time and its sometimes faster to just take some cash and scram...Next time I think it'll be more profitable to cash in on the bounty.
Then there was this Ageira transport who had a hard time stopping his ship. We almost thought he was gonna make a break for it. Finally they got around to handing us over the bread...after we fired a few warning shots into him.
This freelance trader made for some good practice, the lanes inside a nebula are always golden for this type of work. We don't even need to cloak beforehand...
While in Liberty patrolling for Xenos while passing through, we came across of couple of out of place ALG ships out extracting Premium Scrap in the PN. I always love pulling a double whammy on unsuspecting traders. Being neither Xenos, nor Junkers, I hit them up for a personal toll, and bade them to be careful."
Antares was sitting back in his little office chair in his quarters, with his feet kicked up on the desk. He dropped his feet back to the floor and stopped the recorder. After thinking to himself for a moment, he resumed.
"Only other things were a few trips down to Liberty. I see a lot of stuff on my way though. Things are the worst they've even been with the Xenos running around causing havoc. The Junkers don't like it one bit. We've done our best to lend a hand when we can, but we're only one ship. I wish I could take 'em all on with this broken down old bird. The Argo can only last so long in a fighter battle. But, times do come when we can hit back, and hit hard. There was one peculiar case of a Xenos Train I had a run in with a few weeks back. Where I caught them it was all too obvious they were using a stolen corporate ship to smuggle out scrap from the Paquena Negra. Although the ship wasn't worth destroying it was in such bad shape, we had a good laugh at taking its haul of Premium Scrap, depriving the Xenos of tens of millions of creds. A nice little blow to their operation.
I've also spent a bit of time with some disguntled Dischordians who'd turned from simple Zoners to pirating ships, and giving their hauls to less fortunate types. One of them I knew from dealings with the Junkers, they seemed to need some pointers on how to pirate, but otherwise seemed like my kind of folk. They managed to drag in a recruit and take his ship. Not bad for beginners.
"Captain Antares, we're about to dock" Jonas's voice buzzed out from the little speaker by the door. Antares stood and reached over to hit the comm button.
"Carry on Jonas, I'll be at the hatch in 3 minutes. We'll do a full systems check and hull inspection. Then, I suppose it'll be time to hit a shipyard" Antares responded.
"Sounds good to me sir" Jonas said, Antares could hear the smile in his voice. As Antares opened the door and stepped through, another slight jolt occurred. He stopped and looked around thinkingIf we can make it to a shipyard...
The Argo was humming along just a few kilometers from the Kepler Jumphole in Colorado. The crew was having coffee on the bridge, standing by idle, staring out the viewport at a dogfight outside. Nothing but rookie pilots of course, a case of 2 routine patrols crossing paths. Xenos, Bounty Hunters...they duke it out until there's nothing but escape pods left. A while later, freighters from each side come out and rake 'em back in to base to start all over again. Nothing new in the Liberty backwater areas by the jumpholes. Routes used most often by unlawfuls, smugglers and other social degenerates. It was no surprise that Captain Antares was flying the area.
They had strayed from the jumphole for just a few minutes to keep up with the battle, when another contact appeared on the scanner. A familiar one. Xenos, yes, but it was no small craft.
Antares took a gulp of his coffee and quickly ran over to his chair to hit the cruise engines. The coffee slipped out of his hand as he jumped down and the joystick controls lowered down from the ceiling above. Rister and Jonas also scrambled to their stations. They didn't even have to ask what their orders were. The ship fired up and made a sharp turn back towards the wormhole.
The ship on scanner was that of some old beat up civilian Train that had been converted for use by the Xenos. Last time they had a run in, they lost their whole load of premium scrap on the way out of Texas. This time...it might be better just to scrap them and cash in on the bounty.
"Range?" Antares barked.
"A little over 4k and holding, looks like they got to cruise just before we did." Rister shot out.
"Scans?" Antares ordered.
"Uh, they're empty it looks. I guess we missed em on the way through cap." Jonas replied.
"Keep on them, try to close the gap, I'll bet I know where they might head, patch me through" Antares said, "And prepare a cruise disruptor"
"We'll never land a hit at this range sir - " Rister replied, but the captain just threw him a look.
After some banter over the comms, it became clear the ship was headed for Ourey Base, a well known Xenos installation not far from from the Ontario jumphole. Lucky for it, it had managed to keep its 4k lead on the Argo all the way in. Antares laughed it off, and sat back in his chair, his left hand reaching for his pipe in a pouch hanging over the arm. The Xenos ship managed to dock, and it wasn't worth a full on assault that close to a hostile base. For now, they'd gotten away. No bother, that ship will need luck in its sails to keep flying much further, and luck always runs out.
* * * *
Antares stood at the front of the bridge as they pulled into Alcatraz for a pit stop. Bounty or no, they had been keeping busy the last while. Antares new they'd better set down to inspect the ship, which was still in bad shape as always, and process the ship's logs.
"Stay on the ship gentlemen, you know how rough this place can be. I'm only going over to make some long range transmissions and getting out." Antares stated firmly, climbing down the main hatch to the catwalk, "And I think there's still some coffee that needs scrubbing off the deck plating". Antares smirked. Jonas and Rister signaled their acknowledgment and each let out a hefty sigh as the Captain disappeared from earshot.
The main bar was the safest place on the station, if you could call it that. You didn't want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time on a Rogue base. They get drunk. They pick a fight with a passer by. If the victim fights back, they typically wind up a slave, or worse....
Antares knew how to handle himself for the most part, and the best defense was to avoid being seen altogether. He slithered in behind a crowd of boasting intoxicated pilots, almost blocking the doorway, and took up a seat in an empty booth with a computer terminal.
He logged into his comms channels and reviewed his messages. Nothing much, but a line did catch his eye from a contact on Freeport 10. Word came through of an attack by a Blood Dragon armada on Samura's operations there. It got Antares thinking of all the times he'd harassed Samura way out there. Might be a good time to repay them a visit, cash on on some activity. It was a long way from Liberty though.
He quickly went to work sending out transmissions to a few trusted agents and associates of his, to meet him in the area as soon as possible. They didn't want to miss out on any action.
After signing off, he sat back and pulled out his data pad. The drink he'd signaled to the bartend for when he sat down finally arrived, and he sipped as he reviewed his logs. He had let them slip, after being out there so long.
One of my agents commanding a sister Pelican gave us a hand on this one. A relatively easy target, but felt kinda bad leaving them to yet another pirate afterwards.... Alcoholic.Vapour - Cryer ID Nobium Ore Cargo Tactical Overlay
Payment:
Ran into this Samura vessel out by my old stomping ground near Shiojiri Storage Depot. They tried to use the star's corona to shake us and flee, but we sent them to the black. Fukiama - Samura ID Incercepted before loaded Tactical
Target Destroyed:
Back in '23, we caught up with the ISS-Masuda again, one of Argo's sister ships, working for Antares as a commissioned privateer. Attacks always run smoothly when we have some help. TitanKnight - IMG ID Nobium Ore Cargo Tactical
Payment:
Finally I decided to take the ship back down towards Liberty. The borderworlds are always the safest places to hit traders...and not so safe for the trader. <ITS>Monsun - Freelancer ID Samarium Cargo Tactical
Payment:
We've been finding a lot of foreigners in Texas lately, cashing in on the chaos of the out lying scrap fields. WIth all of the Xenos activiy in the area lately, I've been taking it out on any suspicious vessels. Princess.of.Venus - ALG ID Premium Scrap Cargo Tactical Cargo offered instead of cash
Cargo siezed, remainder destroyed:
More ALG in Texas. Well, as long as they aint Junkers, I'll hit em up. This ship's captain refused out of principle...I hope he understood I had to bust him up for the same reason. Gerhard.Hetzberg - ALG ID Premium Scrap Cargo Tactical 1 Tactical 2
Target Destroyed:
Hooked up with another of our sister ship's, Fukushima commanded by another operative of mine called 'Hideka' or just Hide, helped us out in Texas with a Planetform ship rolling through from the direction of Rheinland, we took our cut and kept moving. I let him off easy since he had been skirmishing with Xenos and had some of their pilots to prove it. PFI)Don - Planetform, Inc. ID Assorted Cargo with Xenos Pilots Tactical
Payment:
This Freelancer was a feisty one, but I had to teach him some respect. He learned not to judge a pirate by the looks of his ship. After refusing to pay up out of principle, I whipped him out of the system. Sour he got away, we cloaked and pursued him across Texas and into New York, where attacked him again upon jumping in. He wasn't so confident after that, and after just coming close enough to bust that ship, the navy jumps in and spoils it. We withdrew, content we got our message across. He put up a great fight though! Brecon - Freelancer Rheinbier Cargo Tactical 1 Tactical 2
Combat Video:
Later over in Coronado we held up a Freelancer who refused at first. Another Freelancer came in trying to scare us off, ironically flying a Pelican! As nostalgic as it was, after a few good blasts to the trader's shields, they paid up, despite their objections. Raoul - Freelancer ID Heat Sinks Cargo Tactical
Payment:
More foreigners in Texas after the Premium Scrap, this time its Kishiro. However, these Kishiro ships I caught in the scrap field seem to be quite cooperative. They pay up, but in exchange they know they can always hail me if the Xenos show up to rain on their parade. Ironically Xenos are of the few I'd prefer to shoot over a Kusarian Corporation. Kishiro|Tantoo - Kishiro ID Premium Scrap Cargo Kishiro|Dokuritzu.Shi - Kishiro ID No Cargo Tactical 1 Tactical 2
Payment:
As Antares made his way down to the main hangar where the ship was docked, a notification sounded off on his data pad. He pulled it out to review it as he walked up the ramp into the belly of the cargo bay. Jonas and Rister were there to greet him, ready to report their inspection findings. Antares cut them off and brushed by them.
"Sir don't you want to hear our report?" Jonas asked as he passed.
"Jonas if it was anything that concerned me I'm sure you'd already have a look on your face, right?" Antares coughed back, "Besides, looks like we'll be late for the party up north, so we best get moving"
"Well, you don't have to be so non-chalant about it cap. Orders?" Jonas replied.
"Yeah get us out of here, we're headed to Nagano. If what I heard is true, we may at least have some Samura wreckage to sift through by the time we arrive. Don't worry, help will be joining us up there" he elaborated, as he climbed up the hatch thinking*at least, as long as we don't join the debris*
Antares was leaning into the bulkhead, slumped over a glowing console in a dark corner of the bridge of the Argo. It was quiet aboard the ship. The screen fuzzed and hummed with static, as he closed off an open broadcast to Sunny. It had been difficult to get a signal to cut through, but if he'd read the reading right, it should have made it to a nearby transmission node, which would then relay it to a base or jumpgate, and then onward across the vast network of communications junctions across Sirius.
It had been an awkward and rough few weeks. They had started out on a new campaign in the Sigmas and Kusarian systems bordering them, going after Samura transports, or any vessels carrying their main export, Platinum. They'd been present at a few engagements where the Blood Dragons had established blockades. First there was a few attempts in Nagano, with limited impact. Next was one in Shikoku. But all the while they had not gotten too close, or deeply involved in their fleet operations.
After a few weeks, Antares had decided to go his own as usual, and employ his own strategy. He'd cut into their profits and hit them in the bottlenecked areas leading out of Kusari for Rheinland. The Sigmas were, although heavily patrolled by the GMG, a relatively lawless area, and like many places, is controlled really by whoever is around at the time. Or, around the most.
Finally they had made a hit which landed them in hotter water than usual. Republican shipping took an extortion a little more serious than the captain had anticipated, and it sent a shutter through the crew. Morale was a little off beat, and the captain started looking over his shoulder, in a sense.
Yet despite learning of revised security protocols among Republican Shipping and a few other assorted friendly groups operating in Rheinland, Antares decided to shift things around a bit. They spent some time laying low, on places like Newport. There was a {AFC}- HQ there now, so having friendlies in the area was good for extra cover, and support. At the same time, they were quite secluded out there in that dark, damp gas cloud which permeated most of the system. There was a bit of local traffic, some daily supply vessels, but with the passing of each strange new ship, Antares wondered if an assassin or bounty hunter might be around the next corner.
As always, the thrill of the chase appealed to Antares most. He had to weigh that sitting still might be the mistake as well, so he gave in and had the Argo back out in little time. He'd spent some time contemplating his decision to leave Liberty for a while. It was always something. If it wasn't the Xenos giving him grief...it was a botched job, or the risk of a botched job due to them being compromised. He had no way of knowing, but stayed the course. This lead him to go back to operating in the adjacent systems. But this time instead of sticking to the lanes, he moved to laying ambushes near jumpgates. In fact, in Sigma -17, the ruins of Freeport 7 make for the perfect cover in laying ambush. They used that spot several times. The downside was, that pirating out there was more difficult. There were no friendly ports in the system, so when out there, they were there to stay until they made their way back to civilization. Not a prospect the crew was fond of, but Antares never had a problem pushing them hard. The crew knew the ship by now though, and knew how to hold it together, if they wanted to make it home too.
This lead them to where they were. Powered down, clung to one of the larger pieces of debris that had once helped make up Freeport-7's main hangar. Ironic that the graveyard made for perfect cover in this otherwise well explored and traversed area. The bonus however was the lack of trade lane, so ships emerging from the gate are open to interception. Antares had stocked them up and basically had decided that not even laying low on a backwater base like Newport Station was good enough. They could park in that debris field and operate on minimal power for some time. All the while Antares kills time like a fly on the wall of eternity. Of course, this meant that they wouldn't be making it back to Liberty or the borderworlds for a while. He'd decided to send at least a communicé to Sunny so at least one person in the loop would know their whereabouts.
The ship was set for radio and EM silent operation for the time being. Power was at minimal levels, the crew were rotating watch shifts, but otherwise killing time in their bunks. Antares quietly slithered off the bridge, down the ladder to the main deck, and down to his quarters. Perhaps it would be a good time to get some logs debriefed. As he sat down to his desk in his dark quarters, he flicked on a lamp, and the main console screen flashed to life. He sank into the chair and hovered over the screen, beginning to sort files. He reached over to the wall beside him and keyed in on the intercom,
"Jonas, I'll be in my quarters for the rest of the night if you need me" he said blankly, never having taken his eyes off the screen.
"Aye cap, all quiet out here, we'll grab you if anything changes" Jonas buzzed back over the speaker. Antares released the switch and sat forward again, and opened the log files.
Quote:"We've ran into a wide variety of ships in and out of Kusari. I have a tendency to not give Kishiro that hard a time in Kusari space, as they pay up handsomely when I catch up to them out in the Texas scrap fields. I've even been voluntarily given cash because I earned a rep for being an 'anti Xenos' influence.
Quote:"I remembered this IMG vessel as an elusive one, so we didn't waste time in getting a little tribute for his passage, regardless of his business"
Quote:"This DHC vessel was quite defiant. He was obviously carrying Samura's main export, and our main target. We brought down the hammer on him but he managed to just slip into a nearby lawful base, and we were forced to withdraw. As long as the point was made...I'm happy"
Quote:"I couldn't ignore this IDF ship caught between Kusari and Rheinland. This is exactly the thing I'm always ranting about! Gallies that far from Gallia, they just move in like its nothing! Anyways...he squirmed and made it to a nearby GMG base. I had to let him go...for now"
Quote:"On a routine pass through Nagano, we managed to sneak up on another Samura supply vessel. I took immediate action and made sure they felt the price if they wanted to trade safely. If they're going to monopolize the area, might as well skim off the top"
Quote:"We swung through Shikoku during a rush on Junyo, and the Dragons had set up a blockade of the main route in. We showed up to show support and again swooped in and nabbed us a little bonus during the chaos..."
Quote:"Almost had a double whammy on my hands, I missed the Samura vessel and it managed to escape. I had come across the Republican Shipping vessel first, and got a small toll from her captain"
Quote:"Later, we cut a Hogosha transport ship out of the lane in Honshu, and I immediately ordered that we engage. As we chased the ship its captain pleaded to come to some kind of deal, and since cashing in on bounties was sometimes a long and painful process, we agreed and let the ship go for a cash settlement."
"Not long after, from the direction that Samura transport flead to, one of their combat vessels arrived in the area. We were cloaked thankfully and managed to get intel, but it is a sure sign we must be careful out here..."
Quote:"Caught up to that feisty DHC ship who managed to slip away last time. This time I cornered him and he docked again. But I couldn't let it go, so over a system wide channel I gave him an ultimatum, that if he pays up finally, I'll just leave him alone. He came to his senses eventually! *laughs*"
Quote:"Rheinland Shipping continues to dip its hands in Samura's pockets, shipping out their Platinum all the time. I've intercepted countless shipments. This one gave me the evil eye and warned me about being criminal and such. I brushed him off and insisted on the payment, which he did fess up and pay eventually"
Quote:"Ran into that snarky Gally again, and they managed to drag their flaming behinds into port just in time to save them. We laughed on the way back to Newport"
Quote:"I came across this Universal ship, carrying a morally questionable cargo, so to speak. He was more shaken up about having been caught shipping those goods than whether I wanted cash. So I reassured their captain that if they payed up a little fee, their secret would remain safe with me. Therefore that info shall remain classified..."
"It wasn't long after that we started using the ruins of Freeport 7 to stage attacks. But before we got out too far someone had tipped me off about Republican Shipping complaining to the RFP about our attacks. I guess a few other corporations agreed to tighten security for their shipments, and I've been added to the Republican Shipping bounty board. This is why I have us out here, avoiding stations."
But as days passed, Antares grew restless as always, and lost patience with laying low. He broke water back for Kusari and the Taus. The crew however was at its lowest morale in months. Jonas did nothing but mope about the ship clutching a large cup of coffee, and Rister mostly chewed up his time on duty tinkering or reprogramming equipment, in silence and on his own. Perhaps it was time to spice things up a knotch for them. This was his situation to deal with, and so when they came across Freeport 6, Antares came to his bridge crew with surprise orders.
Antares clamored up the ladder to the bridge as they settled into the station's systems. He looked around and evaluated the crew. As the other members cleared the bridge, he summoned Jonas and Rister over to him. They were both holding onto a mesh of net and backpack with various kit. They normally would be given time on the station to shop, communicate, refresh. This would be different. When the bridge was empty, he stood with his back to them, facing out the viewport, with his arms folded behind him.
"Gentlemen I can't ask you to stay any longer. You're 'tour' has come to its end I think" he said slowly as he puffed his pipe. Jonas and Rister looked at each other as they have in the past, with almost jaw dropping awe. Jonas stepped forward, almost speachless,
"But, uh, but captain, you need us. You'd never back it back in once piece without me and Rister up here" he said. Rister kept silent. Jonas looked back at him, but he just nodded and looked at Antares.
"Kid relax, I'm sending you both out on 'detached' duty. Jonas, I want you to head down to Barrier Gate Station, I have a Sunrider stashed there, you can have it. Go and do what you gotta do son. You can't stay cooped up on this bridge forever. That's for me to do. Rister, same for you. I can handle going down with the ship, but the two of you have different destinies. Rister, you go to Blackport 66, I have a Brigands 'Courier' there, a freighter I got a few months back when I went to Gallia on business for the {AFC} . She's heavily armored and equipped with my back up cloaking device. She's all yours, take one person from every section, your pick, and get a shuttle out. You can do whatever you like with it. Its your ship, your command. Your fate. Both of you, go and finish this trip in your own ways. I won't be far anyways. I'll be expecting regular intelligence reports from both of you. Jonas, I'm still an honorary Archangel, I can put in a good word for you with the fighter club if you like" Antares explained away.
"I'm overwhelmed cap, I don't know what to say...that all sounds great. I still can't believe you're sending us away!" Jonas retorted.
"Its alright boy, the captain needs fresh blood around here, and we need some air. Grab your things and get moving. Say your goodbyes, you're free now!" Rister wisely explained, and laughed.
Antares nodded at both of them, and the both gave him one last look, as they climbed down the ladder. Antares looked around the bridge, empty and silent as it was. It would be a little harder without them, but there was plenty of youngin's out there with the fire in their souls to make it at this game. In the meantime, he'd continue on and recuit as he goes. After all, they still had the element of surprise! Might be a good time to get the ship's AI upgraded he thought.
Quote:"Next was a Luxery Liner carrying some more contraband. I swear the lawful corporations are worse than most pirates for smuggling contraband goods!"
Quote:"Came across my old pal and that ship 'Ritter'. As always, they managed to get into safe port before we could pursue. However, after a bit of banter over the long range comms, he sent a settlement and I withdrew"
Quote:"Later we intercepted another TTC| vessel, and a Luxery Liner at the same time. As I was getting after the TTC| ship, a KNF fighter arrived on the scene. The liner took no chances and paid up, but the Interspace transport managed to make the slip, while the brave KNF pilot kept himself between us, and then also fled with them. We made something at least, can't always kill two birds with one stone..."
Quote:"On our way through Kyushu, we passed a waypoint and came up on this Samura affiliated station. I called it in to the Dragons, for a slight fee of course. It was turned to scrap in no time, and Samura's expansion curtailed in the region...for now"
Quote:"Ran into ol' quicky again, and they had tonnes of Video Games! I figured it might be good entertainment for the crew when stuck out here cuz of me. So I scoffed a few off his haul"
Quote:"As we headed deeper into the occupied Taus, it occurred to me that perhaps we could elude our woes in Rheinland on the Gallic front instead, pirating Gallic shipping again. Problem was the lack of safe port. We don't exactly have the best reputation. However things seemed to ease up after we went on a few patrols and gathered up 50 GRN pilots for ransom. We had at least achieved neutrality with the local Bretonian forces and PFI patrols. Using the backwater 'Planet Harris' to launch against Gallic shipping, we can now strike with our typical guerrilla tactics far behind the front lines, and rake a good profit while we're at it..."
"We even ran into an old pal, that Captain Ted of the Roach Coach, the slaver we met in Texas. I guess his ship is in the shipyard up in Alpha getting refitted, so he was riding in a Serenity. I didn't recognize the callsign until I heard his voice! We had a laugh, and I offered him a free escort up to Valetta with his goods. We parted ways at Freeport 10 and we have remained in the area on patrol ever since."
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