Of mice and frogs

[Nerva Regis]

Prof. Nerva Regis aboard a modified Corvo System: Borderwolds Gallia 09:10 AM/PM - 12/7/824 A.S. I do hope this new transponder works, or all my work would have been for nothing. As the ship was approaching La Charite Space Port, he was getting ready to do a 180 turn and get the hell out of there. Nerva was watching the screen and counting the clicks remaining until he could ask for docking permission. 15..14...12..9.. Ceci est le professeur Nerva Regis 09/09/10, demandant d'amarrer. that was some crappy French. Vous êtes autorisé à accoster. Veuillez utiliser le quai numéro cinq. Ok, then... this worked pretty darn well. Now comes the hard part, talking to people. Entering the bar of the base, he is quickly noticed by the others. How could he not be, everything about him screamed étranger. Arriving at the bar, he takes a sit and asks in perfect French for a bottle of Cointreau Liqueur. Unfortunately, his gamble did not work... although the others seemed to have calmed down; Nerva knew it was time for him to leave. Returning back in his pilot chair, he realized that this might be a bit more difficult than he thought. Fortunately, while he was studying on New Paris, he was once at bachelors party that was held on some liner in Lyonnais. He sprung up from his chair and walker towards a small container that was sitting in the corner of cockpit. Ah, there it is! he was looking at a really old and dusty souvenir. On the back of this object, one could read Luxury Liner Belleville - take part in border world cruise with a Pirate attack guaranteed. Nera, can you check the maps that we got from our Kusarian friend and see if there is any Luxury Liner Belleville in llyonnais? I have found one liner that matches that name, it is situated in quadrant F4 on the edge of the Rhone Nebula. -------------------------------------------------------------------several hours later on the Liner--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I will take all of these, s'il vous plait. Seller: All of them? Yes, all of them. He just purchased several tuxedos, shirts, shoes and cologne. If I remember correctly, the people here really care about how one is dressed, these should help. Now, it's time to get some updated maps and he knew exactly where he had to go. Every luxury liner has it own.. err... let's call it "you get what you need market". But first, to blend in with the rest of the people, he went to his ship and changed his outfit. Going straight to the bar, he asked for a glass of Chardonnay and started looking for the person that might have the information he needed. Last spot, this is your last chance for a trip to the border worlds and back. yelled a man while moving through the bar. The "and back" part is usually problematic. said the bartender. How come? asked Nerva. You see, the company usually hires fake pirates to attack the transport... It makes the experience more interesting. But? said nerva. But last time the fake pirates were real pirates. People came back, but they came back only in their underwear. the bartender starts laughing. Thanks for the information, here is something for your help. he leaves a nice tip. Hey, monsieur! Monsieur,I would like to take that stop if it is still available. Oui, the spot is still available. But it will cost you 50.000 francs. Nerva pays and he is invited in the transport. It was old Orbital Spa and Cruise transport, but extremely well maintained. As they undock the liner, Nera arrives with the cloaked Corvo and starts to tail the transport from a safe distance. The cruise was close to its end, when suddenly the engines cut off. It's time for the wannabe pirates to attack. He did not manage to end his thoughts, when the pirates boarded the ship. They seemed to be very skinny and had extremely old weapons. Nerva thought these were just the pirates the company hired, but Nera told him that after scanning the ship, it seems the were the real deal. Nerva was trying his best not start laughing, but all his efforts were in vain. He started laughing his a** off when seeing the poor pirates. Compared to the guys he knew in the Omicrons, these people were just some Halloween pirates. Et tu, pu***n? Why are are laughing. Do you want to die? Nerva looks around, Who me? , while still laughing. The three wannabe pirates surround him. The situation is not that funny now, isn't it monsieur? Oh, it became hilarious. You guys stink, you should wash yourselves before attacking such a nice ship. Before they could react, two of them were down and unconscious. The third one started asking for back up from his ship. Oui, c'est Nera. We can't take your order a the moment. Bo**** de m****, what is going on? Oh, your ship got un peau hacked. Aaaaand... it's currently going to see the sun really close. Nerva looks around, oh... this does not look nice. Monsieur le pirate, how about we make a deal. You take your guys from here and hope we never meet again? Nera brings back the ship, and the pirates drag their two unconscious friend back to their ship. Nera sets the ship to go toward the Rishiri jump hole. Nerva turns to the others and says, I think it would be our best interest not to talk about what happened here. On their way back, Nera scanned the transports databanks and erased any sign that Nerva might have been there. Furthermore, the useless pirates weren't that useless, they had an updated map of Gallia. -------------------------------------------------------------------two hours later on the Liner-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nerva undocks from the liner, this time with some nice presents from the people he saved. Food, drinks, more clothes.... but most importantly there are now some gallic people that do not hate him. Nera this region in ************ looks interesting, this pirate map says there is some old unused base there. Let's go there.

[Nerva Regis]

Prof. Nerva Regis aboard a modified Corvo System: Île-de-France 13:10 AM/PM - 12/12/824 A.S. From what our friend on the liner told us, I guess we should us Saint-Germain facilities to dock with Planet New Paris. It seems that many smugglers use this docking ring to get access to the New Paris. Entering the Aux Foiles, Nerva goes straight to the bar and asks for drink of the best drink they had. The only difference was, that after the Canaan procedure he would stop being affected by alcohol, among other things... The only reason for which he kept ordering drinks was that he could find out some useful information. After a while, he was approached by the bartender who started talking about a rumored abandoned base in the system. This seems to be the same base that I saw on the pirate map, I guess this means the maps are up to date. Nevertheless, I won't know how accurate they are until I find this supposedly abandoned base. Nerva pays for his drinks, using the Gallic money that he received from the people he saved on the shuttle. Out of everything, that I received from them, the fact that they exchanged most of my currency into local currency, is the best that has happen to until now. Nerva arrives at his ship, studies the maps for couple of minutes and then he heads out to find the abandoned base.

[Nerva Regis]

Prof. Nerva Regis aboard a modified Corvo System: Île-de-France 11:10 AM/PM - 13/12/824 A.S. The base looked pretty good on the outside. There were no signs of major damage. I might just be lucky for once, it seems it's not that damaged. He starts scanning the base to see if he kind something more about it It looks like it used to be some sort of storage facility. That's good, it means there should enough space for my needs. His ship moves close to the hangar bay door The scans show it still has some "juice" in it. A request to dock is sent from his ship. No response. Another request is send. No response. Yeah, that would have been much too easy. Ok, Nerva time to do some tech wizardry, let's see if we can fool it a bit. He pops open a bottle of apple cider and pours himself a glass. Let the Cracking Games... , though Nerva. Commence! said his AI.