Kusari had long ago fallen on troubled times, following the "dissappearance" of the great Hideyoshi, the rightful Shogunate then replaced by the faceless corporations with large enough funding to control Kusari space. In this era, a boy was born.
Imagawa Kisho was born into a poor family in equally poor surroundings, which limited his chances at a good education. He did however learn everything his father could teach him in the traditions, arts and history of his own family. It wasn't until his late teens that he learned the true reason his family had been restricted to near-poverty for so long. He had been born a descendent of the Blood Dragons.
Skipping forward a few years... Kisho had endeavoured to hone his piloting skills at the expense of Hogosha, working light escort duties. His inherent abilities in the battered old custom Drone he flew went largely unnoticed by the greedy higher-ups, despite several near-heroic dogfights against GC bandits. Two years later, one more convoy escort proved to be his last under Hogosha orders.
The convoy was hired to help re-supply Battleship Matsumoto but upon arrival in the Hokkaido system, the convoy was immediately caught in a massive battle between Kusari Naval Forces and the Blood Dragons. Kisho's rusty Drone was practically helpless against the onslaught and he was captured and imprisoned by the Dragons, to be put to heavy labour or given up for ransom. Well, at least that was the plan until his ancestry was discovered in an ID check at the Blood Dragon capital Kyoto.
And so this brings us almost to the present day. Granted a place amongst the lower ranks of Blood Dragon pilots, Kisho adopted the moniker Evil The Badger due to his merciless fury in battle against the Kusari pretenders, and his trademark black and white striped fighter helmet. As an outsider, he had not yet won the full trust of the Dragon upper echelons, but they recognised his true potential and allowed him honourary status until the Elders deemed fit to promote him into the halls of his true ancestors.
- Badger
Cooked up a little RP story about some fun I had a few nights ago. Cheers to those involved however minimal you think your parts were, it all came together in a classic gaming experience that proved to me (as if any were needed) why Discovery (mod and community) is just so good :0) .
Blood Money
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Almost choking on the cheap sake he swigged heavily from a standard canteen, Evil The Badger swiftly dropped his feet down from their resting position atop the Raven Claw's control console. Its HUD sprang to life, two pulsing markers slowly passing by on a nearby system map. Scanning their signatures, their ID's rang up like Sirius credit symbols in Evil's eyes. Unescorted cargo trains... a pirate's best friend.
Wasting no more time, he slammed the fighter into cruise and raced through the rocky wastes of Chugoku towards the Honshu jump hole. Finally, some easy cash, he thought as the Raven Claw slowed into the docking procedure with the violet vortex now filling his cockpit view. Evil The Badger braced as the awesome gravity dragged him into Honshu.
"This is Dragons Red Six. Your safety on this trade route will cost you $2 million credits. Comply or you will be intercepted."
The convoy came into sight as it docked with a Honshu trade lane. The lead train appeared to be a Peace Keeper, which suited Evil The Badger just fine, what better prey than those opposed to a destructive resolution? Feeble shots from the lane's defence turrets did little to distract him from his targets as he docked behind them.
He tailed the train into Sigma 13, still without a response. Engaging the intercom he issued a further warning.
"I repeat, your safety comes at the price of $2 million credits. Failure to comply will result in interception."
The train finally responded.
"We seek peaceful relations with you. Come to Holstein and we will complete the transfer." The train signed off and docked with the last trade lane before Holstein. Just as they did, a system patrol of GMG Hawks picked up on Evil's signal. They were despatched just as quickly as they arrived. Wasting no more time he docked with the trade lane and sped to Holstein.
To keep the rest of the convoy informed that they were hostages until he decided otherwise, Evil The Badger flashed a quick message to them explaining their situation. The reply came very shortly after-
Just as soon as Evil The Badger arrived at the station orbiting Holstein, the reason for the PK train's initial slow response time suddenly became all too clear.
"You do know there is a $3 million bounty on your head?" replied the second train pilot.
"Argh, nevermind!" Evil The Badger snapped back.
A terrifying sight rapidly developed in the port side cockpit window of the Raven Claw... The heavily modified Rhineland Gunboat of a reknowned Bounty Hunter. He'd been set up!
Instinctively he wrenched on the controls and dived the Raven Claw out of the barrage of gunfire the Hunter unleashed, trying to take what little cover was available behind the hull of the orbiting station. This barely bought him enough time to escape the hail of firepower and position the 'Claw ready for combat. A quick blast of his Nomad engineered afterburners and he was back in his element.
The sheer bulk of the Gunboat allowed Evil The Badger's Raven Claw to easily out-maneuveur it, weaving in and out of turret salvos as if he were born to do just that. Spotting an opening in the rain of luminous death, he aligned the Bounty Hunter into his crosshairs and unleashed four cannons of Tizona del Cid onto his shields. Even the heavy duty military grade shield of the Gunboat couldn't withstand that much damage and the Bounty Hunter could surely feel the pirate's Nomad Cannons tear into the hull.
Unfazed though, the Hunter still had a trick up his sleeve. Though the Gunboat lacked maneuveurability, it still had momentum which could be utilised with a quick engine kill. This brought the full arsenal of the ship directly in-line with the Raven Claw, as Evil The Badger looped around to assault again. With the Gunboat now racing backwards through space and the pirate sitting comfortably in his sights, he unleashed hell.
At the very same moment, Evil The Badger dived in for the kill. Both combatants were met with a blinding barrage of gunfire, ripping both ships to shreds. Tattered hull panels and debris clouded the area, yet both pilots survived, the remainders of their ships bringing guns to bear on each other one last time.
Perhaps Evil The Badger had mastered control over the human fear of mortality, or perhaps he was simply blinded by his genetic Blood Dragon "battle frenzy". Either way, he didn't hesitate to throw the Raven Claw into the last fatal charge at the Gunboat. The Bounty Hunter thought far more rationally, however, his mind guided more by his neural net income than his heart, and had already engaged his cruise engines. He knew this was a fight neither of them could "win" (at least financially) and so made tracks for the nearest repair & resupply station. Evil relentlessly chased him, eager to achieve the honour of a glorious kill, or at least death, but rational thought soon returned to him as the Bounty Hunter shrank to a dot and vanished from his heads-up targeting display.
"Valiant." Evil The Badger smirked to the Bounty Hunter, as he remembered why they'd engaged each other in the first place. Only a $3 million credit bounty? He wondered whether he should try upping the stakes next time. Turning about, he cruised towards the nearest Sigma 13 trade lane and caught up with the train convoy as it prepared to jump out of the system.
"It appears your knight in shining armour distracted me. You're free to go." The pirate messaged to the train.
"...This time."
- Badger
New Shoes
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Evil The Badger peered into the bottom of his hollow canteen. A lonely drop of whatever tipple he had been drinking fell to the floor of the Raven Claw. The old pirate's ship of choice had held up well since that trade run into the Omegas, when a dishevelled, ratty little Corsair had refused to pay the asking price on Evil's goods. Evil The Badger had taken it in stride at the time, only later hijacking the Corsair's own docked Raven Claw and gunning his way to the airlock. His old trade ship plus cargo was a happy trade for the $2 million credit super-fighter.
Years had passed since then though, and the Raven Claw showed it's age from the masses of scratches, burns, dents and in a few places crudely patched over holes. A couple of accidental run-ins with Kusari Destroyer battle groups had taken it's toll, though the trusty 'Claw had returned victorious in the end. Putting the canteen back into the holster on the side of his pilot's seat, he snapped out of his nostalgic day dream as a sharp voice crackled over the intercom.
"We show no more bandits, sector secure. Good job, mission accomplished." With that, Evil engaged cruise and made his way back to Kyoto.
After cleaning up, he walked over to his usual drinking den, a small tavern usually populated with a couple of Blood Dragon officers ready to employ any drunken pirate as cannon fodder, plus the regular crowd. It was by no means an unsavoury joint, nicely kept by the owner and barkeep. Evil The Badger didn't know why he drank, perhaps to ease his conscience or possibly because he had picked up the habit from his father. Either way, it made him feel calm, a welcome contrast to the ongoing war for Kusari.
There was another reason Evil The Badger kept returning to this little back-alley bar. Her name was Mika and he admired her as an excellent fighter pilot (especially in her figure-hugging flight suit). Evil looked up momentarily from his comfortably warm cup of sake as she sat down opposite him.
"Good to see they've not killed you yet, Kisho." She greeted him with her usual friendly smile.
"Likewise." He replied, his face softening as he smiled back. Their eyes danced for a second too long, Evil breaking the awkward moment by looking back at his sake and taking a sip.
"Listen, I have a mission."
"Another one? Surely Kusari will run out of scout patrols if we keep gunning them down at this rate!" Evil The Badger cut in.
"No," Mika leaned in, "no, this mission is big. Huge."
Catching the sincerity in her eyes, he put the sake down.
"How huge? Commander huge? A general...?" The smiles had left both of their faces.
"Details are still sketchy, they're keeping everything under wraps until we're en-route." She replied, sitting back in her chair looking genuinely anxious, a look Evil The Badger was not accustomed to. If this turned out to be such a big target then it could mean a major offensive is planned in Hokkaido or worse, Chugoku space.
The Blood Dragons had been taking the advantage in both systems massive cloud structures against disorientated battle groups, but they couldn't possibly muster a fleet strong enough to defend or even survive against the full Kusari armada. Luck had it that the Kusari Navy was always stretched between fighting other house factions and the numerous terrorist organisations present in and around Kusari space. What could have changed to allow them to concentrate their forces against the Blood Dragons?
"Alright. I'm in." He submitted.
"Excellent. Oh and one more thing," Mika said as her infectious smile returned, "Commander Hideyoshi believes you may require some new equipment for this one."
Evil The Badger's eyes lit up.
The legendary Blood Dragon fighter was his.
Revival
_______
Dust and debris drifted apart, slowly clearing the void around Evil The Badger's Blood Dragon fighter. His Outcast built cannons still glowed an ominous crimson at the tips of each barrel, highlighting the surrounding destruction. The highly classified codename weapons Evil had grown so fond of were no more, scattered among the shards of scorched and twisted alloys along with the majority of his own ship. Life support had kicked in a couple of hours ago but almost all of the other electronics had begun to fail. With a final "blip", the Blood Dragon's emergency transponder fell silent and the dense Sigma cloud became his tomb. Darkness.
Evil The Badger pondered the battle that had brought him to this conclusion. A double-cross inside the Blood Dragons? What were those ships he had been ambushed by? Taiidan... their design appeared so alien in Sirius, even after encounters with the Blue Death. At face value they seemed as vulnerable as anything he had flown or fought before, but the pilots- how they flew in perfect harmony, acting as one. And the firepower! Never before had Evil been forced to battle so fervently just to escape the sheer barrage of rockets, and guns the likes he had never witnessed before, like rifles piercing through VHF hulls in a single amber blast.
A static flash rumbled through the Sigma clouds, lighting for a moment the silouette of tens of Taiidan fighters and bombers in Evil's view. Apparently he didn't escape them quite as much as he wanted to. Knowing his oxygen supply would only last another two hours or so, he laid his head back in the flight seat, closed his eyes and embraced unconsciousness from the exhaustion.
***
Something ripped through the cloud, screaming past Evil The Badger's downed Blood Dragon. The unfamiliar wail of it's engines woke Evil just in time to hear it fade off into the distance. Cruel, he thought, to be tempting him with hope as his oxygen meter bounced in the red zone. He unsheathed a glimmering tanto, grasped it in both hands and aimed it at his stomach. May as well do this the honourable way... Then the noise returned. Evil held his breath for a moment, trying to determine the trajectory of this strange craft. The tanto trembled in his hands.
Suddenly the craft broke through the clouds directly in front of him, floating to a stop within jumping distance of his demolished fighter. Evil dropped the blade and stared in awe of this perculiar vessel, some sort of fighter craft with a hooked nose connected to two huge engines. He leant forward and put both hands on the cold cockpit glass of his Blood Dragon fighter, his breath now troubled and uneven lightly misting the pane in front of his face. A second passed and the odd craft's many mounted cannons twitched in unison, aiming directly at the Blood Dragon.
"No! Oh shi-"
**Blam** The Blood Dragon shattered, Evil The Badger barely managing to fire his escape pod. Everything flashed red as the worthwhile remnants of his fighter and his escape pod were rapidly tractored into the craft's cargo hold. Red? Could this pilot be an ally of the Blood Dragons? The hold closed and blasted full of oxygen. A short while later the pilot clambered down from a small ladder on the ceiling of the cramped cargo bay and released the catch on the escape pod. Evil fell out, gasping for air and turned his gaze upwards to his captor.
"Lucky day for you, Blood Dragon." The man said with a smile, offering a hand to him.
"You... Kyoto sent you?" Evil asked between breaths, declining the hand as he struggled to his own feet.
"Haha, far from it, Dragon. Today is not a good day to be in Chugoku, I was merely on a scavenger hunt. Anyway, we can talk later, let's get you back to safety."
The craft sped off towards Omicron.