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+--- Thread: Ashes "Nighthawk" Yotaka (/showthread.php?tid=14758)
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Ashes "Nighthawk" Yotaka - tansytansey - 11-21-2009
Once again, the screen displays the face of a young woman. But she is different now. Her cheeks are no longer smeared with engine grease, her hair is longer and tidy, it no longer hangs unkempt in front of her face but tied behind her head in ornate buns. There is even a hint of make-up on her face, she stares at the screen with her dark brown eyes for a few moments before beginning to speak.
It's been a while since I've used this thing, so much has happened since then. I found my place in Liberty, but not by chance. It was practically forced upon me. I was already marked a criminal before I stepped into Liberty, so I had no choice but to take up a life of crime. I started my career by stealing a Sabre from Rochester, flew it around space for a while until I discovered the Liberty Rogues. I joined up with them, left my Sabre in the docks and started flying my Greyhound, the Dramatic Exit. I also met Draya Kirillov, and she became my only real friend there in Liberty. We flew mostly around California in our Greyhounds, attacking transports and robbing them for cargo and credits. We became a bit infamous as the Cali Girls and popularized piracy in California. We got a few bounties on our heads from the local authorities, neither of them were ever collected of course. We even took on the Admiral of the Liberty Navy a few times! We almost killed him, too. But his cronies helped him escape. I did manage to blow up his vice-admiral's ship once. I think the Admiral had a bit of a crush on me, he asked me on a date once or twice. But maybe he was joking, maybe he was setting a trap. I never accepted any way.
Then there was William Talon, the son of the Admiral himself. He was quite a man. Met him after a fight in New York, he seemed determined to be diplomatic and not shoot me. We talked for quite some time, William wasn't like all the other Navy officers. He seemed determined to change things, to make Liberty a better place. It seemed a bit idealistic to me, in a perfect world people like me wouldn't exist. In the middle of our conversation, I left to help my allies who were being assaulted by a fleet of Bounty Hunters, including destroyers amongst the mix. It was a losing battle from the start, but I hoped to buy my allies some time to escape. Seeing me charge in regardless of the danger to myself must have impressed William or something, he ordered the Bounty Hunters to ceasefire and let us escape. He wasn't such a bad guy... it's a pity I never saw him again... I once approached his father, the Admiral himself, and asked where William was. He replied it was top secret.
As time went by, the Crime Boss Sylpheed disappeared and left Andrew Mort as the boss in his place. Mort made me the new underboss, that was a job I never expected to have thrown on me. It was a hell of a lot of work, I tell you. It kept me pinned down on the station for a long time, I rarely got to fly in space any more. I rarely got to see Draya. My time that wasn't spent doing paperwork was usually spent in the shipyard, working on improvements of our ship designs. On one of the few occasions me and Draya did get to fly in space, we happened to catch a Planetform ship carrying Gaian Wildlife through Liberty. They were so cute we couldn't resist, we took a few of the Wildlife, kept one as a pet each and sold the others on the black market. For a while I kept the Gaian feline with me in the cockpit whenever I flew in space, but she got too big and started walking over all the controls. So I left her on Alcatraz most of the time.
I guess that pretty much caps off my life in Liberty. I could go into more detail... but I won't. Long story short, I was beginning to get bored of my life in Liberty. Things weren't the same, being the Underboss of the Liberty Rogues was too time consuming. I preferred the simpler life when I was just a recruit without any responsibilities.
Then came the day that changed my life. Again.
Ashes "Nighthawk" Yotaka - tansytansey - 11-21-2009
The day that changed my life, I was floating around California as usual in my Greyhound. I was testing out some new configurations we installed in the Greyhound, best way to test them is in action, so I sat by the lane in California all by myself waiting for a hapless trader to pass by. What did pass by was most unexpected. Three ships of clearly Kusari origin popped out of the lane next to me. My first thought was they were Samura debt collectors, my family owed a great debt to them and I was afraid they had finally tracked me down. Me, the last surviving member of the Yotaka family.
It wasn't Samura, though, it was the Blood Dragons. I hadn't seen any of them ever since they left the Outcast alliance, it wasn't often they were in Liberty either, so of course I asked them why they were here. To my surprise, they were here for me. They wanted me to go back to Kusari with them and wouldn't explain why over com channels. I had nothing to lose, and if they wanted to kill me they could have done so easily, they say Blood Dragon pilots are the best in all of Sirius. I disconnected my coms and beacon and their request and we set course for Kusari, navigating through Ontario and Colorado, and then through Galileo and Shikoku. It was a relatively silent trip, impossible to get a word out of any of them. They lead me through the Jumpholes of Kusari until we reached their home in Chugoku, the massive Kyoto base. It's size dwarfs even Attica, which is a pretty big rock by any standard. I was given permission to land, and docked my Greyhound with the massive asteroid and into the virtual city constructed inside it. It was very impressive, it must have taken them years to build.
I met with the Blood Dragon escorts on the flight deck and they lead me away to their leader. He was the man who would finally answer all my questions. First, what was I doing here? Apparantly my Grandfather was a Lieutenant in the Blood Dragons, a man named Seijuurou Yotaka. I was informed he passed away recently, dying of old age after a long career with the Blood Dragons. Seems like my family weren't just farmers, there is pilot in my blood after all. So what was I doing here? Being the last surviving member of the Yotaka family they felt it necessary to inform me of his passing, and then of course there was the inheritance.
Yeah, that's right, inheritance. At first I expected money or something, but the Blood Dragons have a long tradition of passing down their ships through their family blood line, so I thought that's pretty neat, now I'm the owner of a Katana. Cool, right?
Figures there's a catch. The Blood Dragons will not allow the ship to leave Kusari space, they won't allow the ship to be used by a Liberty Rogue and disrespect my family's honor by committing crimes. Even if the ship is rightfully mine, I can't just take it, it seems. The Dragons gave me some time to think, I moved in to my Grandfathers home for the duration of my stay. It was a tough decision, leave behind the Liberty Rogues and join the Blood Dragons like my Grandfather, or disgrace my family name and return to a life of crime and paperwork?
Ashes "Nighthawk" Yotaka - tansytansey - 12-06-2009
I guess I could get used to this life style. I don't think I've ever eaten so much raw fish in my life! I'm still getting used to the clothes, though. The Dragons take tradition way too far. If Draya could see me now, she'd surely laugh, me, the Pirate Queen dressed up all fancy, wearing make-up and bathing for hours on end. This seems kind of like a holiday. God, I miss Draya. I wish she could be here with me. The Blood Dragons are nice, my Grand-Father must have been a very respectable man in their eyes. I guess this apple fell far from that tree.
The Dragons have been pressuring me more and more to make up my mind, whether or not I want to stay here with them or return to my life in Liberty. Somehow I get the feeling they won't take no for an answer. I haven't even flown my Grandfather's Katana yet, they don't seem to trust me enough yet. I've seen the ship, though, blood-red isn't really my preferred colour, but the design of the ship is just as elegant as more common Kusari ships. Kind of reminds me of my old Drake. The Dragons seemed offended when I tried to take a look under the hood, I wasn't going to touch nothing, just wanted to see. I like my engines a specific way, maybe with a few tweaks here and there I could have the thing running more efficient, like I did to my Orchid. That's the problem with the Blood Dragons, they're all old school.
I always thought the answer would be simple, the Liberty Rogues have been my entire life, they are Freedom, to me. My world exists in Alcatraz, my ships, my friends my treasures, my Gaian cat. I suppose I can arrange to have some of it shipped here, up north. But would it be the same? Usually I use my diary to tell my story, not whine about my personal thoughts. But I am alone here, I have no friends, no one I can talk to or trust. Maybe I do belong in Liberty.
Yet...
Something in the back of my mind compels me to stay. It's tearing me in two directions. I can't simply make my mind up that easily. I could do the noble thing, honor my family name and aid the Blood Dragon cause. But it's not a cause that I believe in. But then... there are some benefits in flying with the Blood Dragons, ones that suit my own agenda.
Plus... I'm loving this mascara.