Discovery Gaming Community - New beginnings, Old purpose

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Character Summary

Name: Misha Gottlich
Rank: Agent
Age: 38
Ships Piloted: HF, Bomber, & Gunboat
Agent Status: Active

New Beginnings, Old Purpose:

Misha Gottlich was born and raised in the Texas system shortly after the end of the Nomad invasion. She never met her father, who's capital ship was lost during the climatic battle at the Nomad shipyard. There was no record of his ship being destroyed, but it never returned to port after the battle. Misha's mother raised her on a Liberty Navy base in the Texas system. Though her mother was of Rheinland decent, she had married Taden Harrs and moved onto the base right before he left for deployment in the Nomad war. Since his ship was never actually destroyed and presumed lost, Grita Gottlich was allowed to reside on base indefinitely, or until her husband returned.

Misha grew up around the tough pilots and other members of the Liberty military machine. She was fascinated by the ships and stories of combat, so it was no surprise that she enlisted as soon as she was old enough. Which just happened to be right when they needed her in the Gallia conflict. She made a name for herself as a decorated fighter pilot and was respected among her peers. But with the end of the conflict, the need for ace combat pilots was dwindling and Misha disliked the lack of action. When her term of service was up, she rotated out into the civilian world and was quickly offered a position in the Bounty Hunters Guild. She took the opportunity and is currently trying to raise enough credits to get a good enough ship to go to the outer rim territories to search for her father.

Character Summary

Name: Misha Gottlich
Rank: Agent
Age: 38
Ships Piloted: HF, Bomber, & Gunboat
Agent Status: Active

New Beginnings, Old Purpose:
Chapter 1: Finding a Ride

Whoohoo! Made it outta the grinder! I guess the military wasn't too bad. At first it was pretty exciting being in the Liberty Navy on the front lines of the Gallia conflict, but as that came to an end, my trigger finger has gotten pretty itchy... So, when my term of service was up this time I decided to rotate out to civilian life. I had heard some buzz in the barracks about how much the Bounty Hunters Guild was looking for good pilots. There were definitely stories about crazy interactions with terrible Bounty Hunters and fantastic tales about who chased who into what outrages escapade... but I was really attracted by the freedom and independence of not being under direct command! Ok, not gonna lie, I was absolutely pumped to get out there and start hunting some scum!

I rotated out In the Texas system at Battleship Arkansas and took that little starshit flyer they discharge you with toward New York. Being the hub of Liberty Space I figured I would be able to find work and possibly something better to fly than this heap. And it really didn't take too long. I pulled a bounty at West Point and when I got back I overheard talk of good equipment deals over at Detroit Munitions. I decided to head that way and see what I could find. When I arrived I upgraded my stock armament to top Liberty equipment, then took a quick swing over to Syracuse station. There a nice shiny ship, but it was still slightly out of my price range. Luckily I met a guy in the bar there that pointed me towards Pittsburgh for some lucrative bounties. Apparently the Xenos forces have become extremely active, which works out for me in this moment.

BONUS! The hunting around Pittsburgh was great, AND I found a ship that really strikes my fancy! Its a little lopsided mining vessel that's been upgraded and outfitted as a heavy fighter! The locals call it the "Scrapper" and I made her mine as soon as I had raised the funds. It was a huge step up from the tiny flyer I was in before then. Better guns, thicker armor, and a much beefier powerplant.... It was time to go make some serious scratch now!

New Beginnings, Old Purpose:
Chapter 1: Finding a Ride (Part.2)

While spending time on Pittsburgh I overheard some old-timers talking about a conflict in Ontario. I inquired a bit more and they told me, in strange, hard to follow, old man jargon that they had fled a base in Ontario because the conflict there had become dangerous for everyday life. Sounded like my kinda fight, so I made my way on up to Ontario

But boy was that a disappointment! When I got there and went to the base coordinates, all that was left was a shattered shell of the station. I made port at Thunder Bay and took a job or two from the Junkers there. (They were fun people! Remind me to go back and visit them again sometime!) But soon I headed back to the core Liberty systems. Along the way, a general posting came across the BHG vid-com. The Xenos had become out of hand in Pennsylvania and any available Hunters could make some good creds by collecting Bounties there. That was my call! I gotta make some real credits so I can get a ship sturdy enough for the border systems and this was my golden goose opportunity.

I took a few jobs on the way there and had a few Xenos pilots comfortably cryoed in my cargo hold. After reaching Harrisburg station and unloading my current stock of pirates I checked the bounty board. And holey sputtering stabilizers! It was loaded. I immediately started taking jobs and raking in the creds!

It didn't take long for me to work up the credits to afford a ship that was actually something a bounty hunter would be proud to pilot. I set my sights on finding a 'Barracuda' or maybe even a 'Hammerhead'! But before I could start looking for an iconic Bounty Hunter fighter I was approched by a guy that said he was representing a wealthy civilian on planet Erie that had a primo ship for sale. It was not far at all, so I went over to see exactly was up. BOOM! Another huge disappointment! By the time I reached Erie the seller had already made a deal and sold the ship to someone else... I was gonna hafta go after that Bounty Hunter fighter after all.

New Beginnings, Old Purpose:
Chapter 1: Finding a Ride (Part.3)

Well, Erie was a bust, but I couldn't let that discourage me. Word around the coms here eluded to a Bounty Hunter base In the Rheinland edgeworld of Cologne that had a 'Hammerhead' for sale. I set out flying with high hopes towards Tholey station.

I left the tradelane ring and set a course for the coordinates of Tholey station. I wasn't picking up anything on my scanner though. It was soon apparent that something wasn't right. I began to pass through a large debris field that hadn't been mentioned before. Still no ping on my scanner, was the Bounty Hunter controlled base damping its signature or cloaked somehow? Well something was definitely amiss, but it wasn't secret base cloaking tech... the base was completely destroyed! The debris field I had passed through was the remains of the base and derelict scrap from the massive battle that had taken place there! Ugh, another leed ends in defeat at an already destroyed facility. When am I gonna catch a break?

I finally decided to get on the vid-com to contact the BHG directly. Surely someone must know where I can find a decent ship befitting a Bounty Hunter. At this time I was still piloting the 'Scrapper' and it was beginning to ride the edge of survivable in combat. I had a few very sticky run-ins with aggressive Hessians and barely made it out alive. Word came back on the vid-com, perhaps my luck would look up? I was directed to a BHG base in Hudson, Manitoba station. I limped my way there with my hopes and my credits up.

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Finally! Success! I visited the ship dealer on Manitoba station and he revealed a clean, shiny, brand new 'Hammerhead' fighter! It was a huge relief. I made the purchase and took possession of my new pirate hunter in the equipment bay. It was pricey to outfit her with the gear to complete her armament, but when I was finished I had a very formidable, scum hunting machine! I couldn't wait to start out for the outer-rim systems, but first I wanted to head back to Huston and visit my mother on base.

Mom was doing quite well. She was happy and very proud that I was making a good living after all the killing in the military... I made sure to play down how violent and deadly the Bounty Hunting profession really was. I showed her my new ship and told her that I wanted to head to the outer-rim to look for my father. She seemed both hopeful and saddened by this news. I knew she missed Taden fiercely, but she bid me not to go. It was almost 30 years ago now that his Cruiser disappeared during the end of the Nomad Conflict. But I have my mind set and I think he is still out there somewhere, just trying to get home to us! Its time to head to Sigma-59 and start the Hunt for Harrs...

New Beginnings, Old Purpose:
Chapter 1: Finding a Ride (Part.4)
RAGNAR

The journey started off great. I stopped at Planet Hamburg for minor repairs, and because my mother had asked me to go and see my grandparents. I hadn't seen Grammy Or Poppop in a long time, and our reunion was joyous and tearful. We talked some about my youth and I told them of my self imposed quest to find my father. They seemed forlorn, but wished me luck in my search. They also pointed me to one of their neighbors who had a line on a great bounty to pick up while I was in the system, so it turned out to be a very profitable visit indeed.

While visiting my Grandparents in Hamburg, I really began to enjoy the people and culture of Rheinland! I just seem to mesh with these folks so well. It must by my mothers Rheinland heritage. So I decided to head to the capital world of Berlin to soak up as much of the culture, and warm hearty meals, as I possibly could. It was here that I met a man who had recently joined the Rheinland military and had a ship for sale. Now, I wasn't really super interested in a new ship, I had just bought this 'Hammerhead' not too long ago. It still had that "new ship" smell! BUT, the way this guy talked seemed like he had a real deal for me, especially in my current endeavor to find my father. He bragged about the ships heavy armor and armament, its ample cargo space, and incredible long distance survivability. He said it was practically new and he would give me an amazing price on it because he needed to get rid of it before he went in for duty. I was taken in by his charm and salesmanship, so I agreed to meet him at 'Battleship Schwerin' to make the deal.

But, when I got there, I was taken aback! The ship he had been bragging up. The long distance, heavily armed, "great for a Bounty Hunter" ship... Was a transport vessel! I was definitely NOT expecting to be staring at a 'Rheinland Armored Transport'! But somehow, perhaps my heritage again, but somehow I fell in love with this ship! To my eyes, it was BEAUTIFUL! I loved to stocky armored look and when I got in the cockpit, it felt like I belonged there! The guy really did know his ship well too! He explained to me that even though it was meant to be piloted by a crew of four, it had retrofitted AI to allow simple piloting by a single person. (Apparently his wealthy family had splurged on this extravagant ship to try to deter him from joining the military)

I couldn't turn it down! I traded in my 'Hammerhead' and was soon the new proud owner of the 'Ragnar'! I outfitted it the best I could and set out toward the Sigma systems. Although piloting the much larger and very different handling ship that was designed for four people all by myself was quite difficult, I felt great. Like good things were in the stars for me. My adventure was off to an exceptional start!

New Beginnings, Old Purpose:
Chapter 2: Meeting the Crew
Tasha Verinna

As soon as I hit the Sigma systems it became incredibly apparent that crew mates would be absolutely necessary! Sigma 15 was hostile to say the least. Luckily I managed to maintain a stable tradelane jump to Freeport 8. Things had almost gotten scary for me out there when I was having to hop all over my cockpit activating and maintaining automated systems! This was chaos! I needed a co-pilot, BADLY!

It seemed the Universe was still smiling on me though. Shortly after docking I was enjoying a good stiff drink to calm my nerves at one of the station bars. I was just starting to relax when some of the other patrons having a conversation at a back table began to get quite heated. I couldn't hear exactly what was being said, but it appeared to be a young Zoner arguing with two adult Zoners about travel into the House systems. She sounded adventurous with w thirst for knowledge and willingness to take risks to achieve her goals. The two adults seemed steadfast in their determination to dissuade this youth from venturing into what they felt was a trap-like den of lies and deceit. As the discussion developed, it seemed more and more evident that these adults were not her parents, but perhaps work or social colleagues, and they where very adamant that she NOT venture into House systems! It began to elevate quickly and soon all three parties were on their feet taking aggressive postures. If this became physical I had my doubts that this petite youth would be able to defend herself. I got off my stool and was about to go over and make it my business. Two grown men against a girl barely out of her teens was no fair fight in my eyes, no matter the reason behind it. But, just before I moved to interject, one of the men took a swing at the girl. With reaction speed and agility that was impressive even to me she ducked the blow, dropped down and rolled shoulder first into the mans knee. The force took the first assailant right into the second and they piled on top one another looking bewildered. She didn't give them time to react, she jumped up from her crouch and darted for the door. The two men were a frantic tangled mess trying to pick themselves up and I knew if I wanted a word with this girl, now was my chance. It was a long shot, but I had a good feeling...

I quickly followed her out of the bar and saw her running toward the hangar bay. I calmly walked that direction, both to avoid raising suspicion and to be able to run interference if those two men chased after her. Luckily, when I was some distance from the bar, I saw the two men come walking out, one rubbing his leg, the other his head, having a curt discussion between themselves. It looked as though they had decided a young curious Zoner girl wasn't worth the headache. Oh but she was to me! This girl had passion, wit, reflexes, and an urge to explore! Now it was just convincing her that she should fly with me...

Which, it turns out, wasn't actually that difficult. I caught up with her in the hangar bay nervously trying to barter a ride off-base with a trader from Rheinland who didn't seem very interested in having a potential fugitive on-board. When I stepped up and gently touched her shoulder she spun around so fast I really thought she would hit me! But those quick reflexes are sharp and she pulled her punch. When she sees that I'm not one of those guys she visibly relaxes and breathes a sigh of relief. I explain to her that the two bozos had stumbled out a minute after her and wandered off. She told me she had seen me standing right behind them in the bar and thanked me for being willing to get involved. I took a deep breath and made my move. I introduced myself, telling her my name. I dropped bomb that I was a registered Bounty Hunter and was the Captain of an armored transport in need of a crew. I told her about how I came from home in Liberty to search for my long lost father in the outer-rim systems. I told her that it would be hard, and dangerous at times, but she would see things and go places and explore the galaxy with me.

She was hooked! I could see a tiny light sparkling in her eyes as she stared at me in disbelief when I asked her to be my copilot. I had no clue if she was a pilot, or had even been in a ship cockpit before, but I knew her sharp wit and quick reflexes would make up for what she lacked in technical knowledge and training. She did have family to notify and say her goodbys to, so I told her to gather up only what she really needed and meet me at Hangar 9.

When she walked into the hangar it was easy to see she had been crying, but her face was warm and glowed with excitement. She carried a single gray dufflebag over her shoulder and had a very old pair of high-intensity ray deflectors on her head with the earpieces stuck in her frizzy white afro. I met her at the loading bay door with a firm hug and said "Welcome to the 'Ragnar', partner", and she looked straight into my eyes. It took a second to realize that I was serious and then she squeezed me so tightly I thought I would pop! This girl was strong for her tiny size! When she finally released her grip, she took a step back and reached out to take my hand in a firm grip.
"My name is Tasha Verinna, and I would love to be your co-pilot, Misha", she said humbly. Her nervous excitement was palpable. I brought her aboard and got her stuff into a crew locker. When she got into the cockpit, her eyes lit up with wonder! I knew this was going to be quite the learning experience for her, so I told her to just watch me at first and ask lots of questions.

With that, we strapped in and I began launch preparations. My new co-pilot watch intently, eagerly taking in everything she saw, heard, and felt. In my heart, my excitement could barely be contained! This girl was going to be an amazing asset, I just knew it. The 'Ragnar' left the docking hangar, and we were on our way on toward Sigma-59. My bright eyed, dark skinned, silver haired co-pilot staring in wonder at the new frontier before her.

New Beginnings, Old Purpose:
Chapter 2: Meeting the Crew
The Brotanaluski Twins

With my new co-pilot in the chair beside me, the 'Ragnar' made its way to the Sigma-59 System. Here the distance from the core worlds was becoming very evident. From the moment we jumped in it was apparent that we were in wild space. No trade lanes to be seen and the scanner was absolutely blank. I punched in the coordinates for the Bounty Hunters Guild base that I got of the Guild comms and fired up the cruise engines.

Once we emerged from the Koryu cloud the system was quite beautiful. We docked with Platform Nobeoka and the difference between the outer-rim and the core worlds was glaringly obvious! This base looked almost as though it was run by pirates instead of Bounty Hunters! The hangar area was in disarray with broken containers and an unnerving lack of any crew or staff. When we debarked the 'Ragnar' we could immediately smell old, stale booze, and the stench of refuse long since forgotten in the dirty corners of darkened halls. Most of the activity in the base was centered entirely around the bars where drunken Hunters would gamble, or wrestle, fondle the staff, and drink even more. I was both disgusted, and strangely attracted to this chaos that seemed both at peace and on the edge of eruption at all times.

Though I wanted to stay and see what kind of fun I could rustle up here, I could see that Tasha was nervous and felt very uncomfortable there. So I quickly asked around to a few of the Bounty Hunters that looked a little less rough and was soon pointed toward the maintenance bay and my next potential crew-mate. When we got to the maintenance bay I was a little surprised to find it in relative good order! No broken bottles or machines on the floor, no disgusting stains or smells, and it was well lit! It was almost like a different base altogether. I heard some quiet speaking and some metallic clanking noises coming from a dismantled frigate ship in the back of the bay so I headed in that direction, Tasha timidly following behind. When I got into view of the source of the voice I was handed my second surprise. There stood two nearly identical people wearing nearly identical outfits. They appeared to be in their early 20's, average height, with exceptionally pale skin and hair as red as blood. They both wore a mechanics jacket over black shirts and pants covered in pockets and straps for holding tools. The only difference about them was their genders. The males cargo pants fit loosely and rode low on his waist so you could just see his hips, and the girls pants were skin tight with the pockets and accessories affixed to the outside to allow for a tighter fit.

They both noticed us at once and immediately grasped each others hand. It appeared instinctive, like a reflex gesture. They appeared somewhat on edge. My guess was that they didn't really fit in well with the rest of the base inhabitants. I introduced myself and Tasha and explained that I was a Bounty Hunter from the Core worlds on a grand adventure to find my long lost father. I told them how I had bought this large vessel to go hunting in the outer-rim systems, but still needed a good crew to man the guns and help with repairs. I was in the middle of telling them how dangerous but exciting it could be when...

"We're in" they both said in perfect unison. It was kinda creepy. It was the first time they had spoken and I almost couldn't tell their voices apart! But I was ecstatic! I had come here to this base hoping to find another crew-mate and I ended up with two! They were both a little creepy, while together OR apart, but it was totally worth it! They were both incredible maintenance techs, one mechanical the other electrical, AND they were both fantastic gunners! My crew was complete and we were ready to take on the Galaxy!

Hold on Taden, Here we come!

[Image: Dratchen_Jagrin-Misha_Gottlich-A09Current.png]

Name: Misha Gottlich
Rank: Agent
Age: 38
Ships Piloted: HF, Bomber, & Gunboat
Agent Status: Active

New Beginnings, Old Purpose:
Chapter 3: The Search For Harrs
:The Beginning

I finally had a full crew and it was time to start the search for my father, Taden Harrs, who had gone missing near the end of the Nomad invasion. The last known location for his capital ship, the [LSF] Syracuse was somewhere in the Omicron systems. So that's where myself and the crew of the Ragnar would go to start our search.

We began by heading to Tohoku in an attempt to retrace the path that the Syracuse was rumored to take. Kusari space was relatively safe, though we did notice an unusually high number of Blood Dragon patrols. They all kept their distance though and our passage was fairly clear until we reached the Omicron-Epsilon jumphole...

After jumping into the Omicron system we began scanning for any signs of Liberty tech. The scope was completely blank, until it wasn't. In just a few moments before we started noticing some activity, alien activity! It was only a few small blips on the scope, but we had the shields and weapons at the ready. We cut some power to the engines to boost our scanning signal as we made our way towards the coordinates for the Omicron-Psi jumphole. The Nomads kept to the edges of our scan range and we made it to the jumphole without much trouble, although there was also no trace of and [LSF] signal either. We made the jump to Omicron-Psi to continue the search.

Omicron-Psi and the shit hit the alien fan! This place was absolutely crawling with Nomads! And unlike the previous system, where they seemed content to observe from a distance, these were incredibly hostile!. We were immediately assaulted by Nomad fighters after exiting the jumphole catching us off-guard. The twins scrambled to the bring the weapon targeting systems up and we started pulling evasive maneuvers. Tasha punched up the energy going to shields and weapons and I swung the Ragnar around into attack position. The skirmish seemed to be going in our favor, the shields were holding and we had eliminated several hostile contacts, when Vensa exclaimed with a shriek, "We've got serious incoming!"

She wasn't kidding. In a few moments a Nomad Dreadnought dropped out of cruise speed right on top of us. It wasn't alone either! With several gunboats and what seemed like an entire army of fighters the Nomads swarmed us like a bunch of angry bees. I switched my priority from evading the fighters to dodging the heavy cannons from the alien capital ship. Tasha pushed even more power into the shields while Sven and Vensa began to focus their attack in front of us. We all instinctively knew that the fight had turned and that it was time to beat a path back to the jumphole. I pushed the Ragnar as fast as it would go, but the Nomads were not going to make it easy on us. In an attempt to prevent us from heading out of the system the Nomads had posted two gunboats at the jumphole to block our retreat. I pulled back on the throttle for just a split second, and immediately i heard the twins shout in unison, "Just punch through!"

Tasha keyed the forward shields to full as I mashed the throttle control to maximum thrust. A steady stream of laser fire washed over the two alien gunboats as we quickly closed the distance. We got into optimal firing range and Tasha made a clutch decision. She pulled a large amount of power from thrust capacity and dumped it into the weapons. For a few short seconds Sven and Vensa rained supercharged laser blasts upon the unshielded hulls of the Nomads in our path. The extra juice was just enough to push the aliens ships past their breaking point and they were suffering catastrophic decompression detonation as we made the jump back to Epsilon.

Once back in Omicron-Epsilon the Nomads there must have been informed of the skirmish and our escape. Where previously the ships in this system had been satisfied with observation, now they began to brazenly push the attack. Our shields were holding up, but energy reserves were getting critical and we had taken more than just superficial hull damage when the Dreadnought had joined the fray in Psi. I ordered the twins to shut down the guns and strap into their cockpit stations. Tasha moved the excess power int to engines and with a strong wine they began to push us slowly out of strike range. As soon as the grazing laser fire slowed to a trickle, she pushed even more power to the thrusters by cutting it from the shields. With this final boost we shot toward the Sigma-59 jumphole with the engines screaming in protest.

The Nomads either couldn't keep up the pursuit, or chose not to, because when we reached the system exit the scanners were once again clear of alien contacts. We jumped back into the Sigmas and headed straight to platform Nobeoka for some much needed repairs. The Ragnar had held up, but just barely! It was quite clear that if we were going to get serious about hunting for Harrs in Nomad infested systems... we were gonna need a lot more firepower!

Name: Misha Gottlich
Rank: Agent
Age: 38
Ships Piloted: HF, Bomber, & Gunboat
Agent Status: Active

New Beginnings, Old Purpose:
Chapter 3: The Search For Harrs
:Rally for an Upgrade

Repairs at Nobeoka where a heavy burden on our dwindling funds. I hadn't taken an official bounty in quite some time, and though we did make a few credits on the alien confirmed kills we had recorded, it wasn't nearly enough to even cover the cost of restocking. I discussed the situation with the my crew and was actually quite surprised by their response. They enthusiastically wanted to continue the search for Taden! So, we loaded up what munitions we needed, got on with the repairs as quickly and cost effectively as possible. In relatively short time, we had the Ragnar's systems running smoothly, even if there were a few patch-throughs in the wiring and some thin spots in the hull plating. We signed out of the base and were headed to Omicron-Alpha and Beta to continue the hunt for Harrs

Omicron-Alpha and Beta were harsh, to say the least. Between a significant pirate presence, very little in the way of friendly support or even a port that would accommodate us, AND a less than nonexistent Nomad activity, I would classify these two Omicrons as 'Hostile'. Not only that, but the scanners confirmed what I had suspected from the start. No recent Liberty Navy activity in the area whatsoever. Since the end of the Nomad Conflict, these systems were being brought under the control of a pseudo-Bounty Hunter group called the Core|. While I knew little of it, it was clear that they still had a lot of work to do if they waned to 'clean up' the Border systems. We avoided conflict with the Corsairs, Order, and Nomads, as we were running a patchwork repair job on the Ragnar already.

We finished our scans of the Omicrons quickly and moved on to the Tao systems. At first, this wasn't a tremendous disappointment. From O-Alpha we jumped into Tao-37 a did some miner recon scanning before docking to refuel and restock at Freeport 10. As a Bounty Hunter, I feel a strange dichotomy at these Zoner enforced safe havens. One part of me sees the pirates, smugglers, and their kind as targets and potential enemies, but a much larger part of me sees amazing opportunity, hope, and freedom in the diversity found at the Freeports. We fueled up, got a few drinks, and the coordinates of the Tau-53 jumphole that wasn't too far from the base. After catching up on some much needed rest, we set out to continue the search in the next system over.

Tao-53 was a total let down, at first. We scanned the system and set out for what appeared to be a lone jumpgate. As we made out approach, it became clear that the jumpgate was inactive. I was becoming exhausted with our lack of results, and I heard the twins let out an exasperated groan when the gate turned out to be locked. We were about to give up and take the Ragnar back to more civilized space, when Tasha picked up something on the long range scanners. Perhaps our search wasn't at a dead end after all!

Punching in the new coordinates, we pushed on towards what appeared on the scanner to be a slightly unstable jumphole. approaching slowly to observe, it did not appear to be wavering or out of phase alignment. I put the option to the crew and they all agreed that we should go for it. With crossed fingers we engaged docking procedures and braced ourselves for the unknown.

What we were rewarded with could hardly be called satisfaction. The readout on the Navmap said "Lorraine"... Gallia! We had entered Gallic space! Flashbacks from the invasion swam through my mind. Fear and anger began to seethe up like bile in my throat. I felt the heat of battle once again bubbling on the edge of my senses! NO! That time was long over! The conflict had ended and there was a tentative peace with Gallia. I needed to put my past behind me and focus on the task at hand. Finding my father!

We did a small preliminary scan of the immediate area, (Negative), and set a course for Battleship Venissieux, a Gallic Navy base. We were getting extremely low on funds and I was finally able to convince the twins and Tasha that we needed to try to make some cred before we could legitimately continue our quest for the lost Harrs. It was settled, and I set off for a busy drinking pub I saw near the hangar. It didn't take long asking around in the bar to get turned onto a contact that offered us a job against some Gallic terrorists known as the Maquis. I returned to my crew with the news of the job and we set about preparing the Ragnar. I wasn't sure what to expect, so we spent what little savings we had left to complete the repairs needed correctly and get the ship back to %100 operating capacity. Strapping in, we prepared for launch. Time for our first bounty in a new frontier. We had no idea of the chaos that would soon be upon us here on the fringes of the law in Gallia!

[/quote]

Name: Misha Gottlich
Rank: Agent
Age: 38
Ships Piloted: HF, Bomber, & Gunboat
Agent Status: Active

New Beginnings, Old Purpose:
Chapter 3: The Search For Harrs
:Defeat of the Maquis

The Ragnar launched from Battleship Venissieux with renewed purpose. We wanted to continue our search, but we needed funding badly. We were given coordinates somewhere in the vicinity of Verdun Dockyard, a well known terrorist installation. We were warned to keep out distance from the main facility, but that we would find one of their more prominent data smugglers in transit, most likely carrying important telemetry and current operations information. The crew and I prepared the Ragnar for combat just in time, as we came into range of the given coordinates we picked up the signature of the marked enemy vessel instantly. The information was good so far, and a quick scan of the ship revealed that it was indeed our target and that he was in possession of sensitive para-military documents. We attempted to open comms with the believed terrorist, against the advice of the Gallic Navy, but we were completely ignored... at least on the comm. Our radio transmission alerted the small group of ships that were gathered to our presence and we were immediately engaged in heavy combat. These pilots flew heavy fighters with advanced weaponry that the Ragnar had not seen the likes of until now. We did all we could and the battle was going decidedly in our favor. We had disabled the main targets ship and were dealing with their escorts when backup arrived... their backup.

"What do you think you are doing?", came the broadcast message over the comms. The incoming pilot practically growled with anger.

"Hunting terrorists" was my curt response over the comms. [FGL]Lionel.B was his name on the comms, and his license registered NEUTRAL on the IFF, so I couldn't tell if he was angry at us or what was going on until he responded.

"No, you're killing my friends!" he shouted over the broadcast channel as he raked a line of laser-fire across the side of the Ragnar.

There were still several hostile contacts left from our current engagement, and this newcomer was several steps above his predecessors in terms of skill. We began to take more evasive maneuvers and put the ship into a more defensive stance. Tasha moved some of the power output from the weapons systems into the shielding, as the battery was about to overheat under the heavy barrage of enemy lasers. Despite her best efforts, the shield generator circuits were beginning to burn out.
"I'm on it!" shouted Vensa in a heavy Rheinlander accent from her gunners seat. Without pause, Tasha moved full weapons control over to Sven's console as Vensa rushed to the engine systems bay. She began to lock down the shield battery and purged the circuit with super-coolant moments before it overloaded catastrophically. "Shields down!" she screamed towards the bridge.

We were taking too much heavy fire far to quickly. Between our original targets and now with the intervention of Lionel.B, our shields were gone and it was clear that we no longer had the upper hand in this engagement. I decided to call off aggression in favor of survival. Taking full defensive evasive maneuvers I carefully disengaged with the Maquis terrorists while Sven laid down cover fire to the rear. It was a close call, but after several attempts at activating the cruise engines, and an amazingly well placed shot on an enemy cruise disruptor, but we were able to successfully retreat from the combat zone.

We flew back to Battleship Venissieux limping badly. We had been ill prepared for that engagement and it was going to be costly. When we arrived at the battleship and I gave my report, we were very relieved to learn that the Gallic Navy would still be compensating us for the successful destruction of the terrorist pilot, even though we had been unable to recover the desired military documents. The bounty reward barely covered the cost of repairs and fuel though, and the crew and I decided that we would return to Platform Nobeoka and take stock of our options from there. It would be good to have a familiar place at our back while we decided what to do and where to go from here. My search was getting nowhere and our funds were all but exhausted. Not to mention that our ship, though it had been a formidable vessel initially, its aging hull and advancing technology were quickly putting the Ragnar out of service. It was hard to admit, but we would probably be needing to look into a more powerful assault vessel if we wanted to continue our adventures in the border systems and Nomad space. But how? With what credits were we going to purchase a ship better than the Ragnar?!

Only time would tell if the stars held any luck for us in the future. We began our long journey back to Nobeoka with heavy hearts and slumped shoulders... The burden of defeat weighed heavily upon us all. We would need to work together to get out from under the great stone of debt that had fallen upon us. What perils did our futures hold from here. Was there further to fall still, or had our troubles come to an end? Our fate was about to take a turn, but to where would it take us now.