Now, speaking of people with style... There's no better example than Viva & Blue. Two young women, with possibly made-up backgrounds, extraordinary classy, and rumor had it that they were sleeping together, but lets not get into that. Viva was this extremely hot hispanic-looking brunette, and Blue was a blond, and looked Libertonian or something. But what I liked about them, is how they did everything in a classy manner. Didn't know a thing about them before, but then Blue started hosting this unlawful board, and paying for all the LNS ships gone pop. That was a fine time, and the pay was good, which meant a lot of mercs were flooded into Liberty to claim on that board, so it meant competition, and that was were the real fun began.
With the friends I had made among the unlawful, and the regular target practice I had on Navy caps, that board was just a walk in the park. There were all sorts of good for nothing mercs acting like complete dumbasses trying to claim a single Navy cap, while me and a very few others were draining the board dry and having the time of our lives. You can say that was the only period of time in the past three years that I've actually worked as a typical paid gun, but hell if I care.. I did it with style, for people who had style, so I'm more than glad about what I did for that board, and unlike all the mercs there, once the board went down, I didn't run begging for another employer.. I just spent another month off at Curacao. However, a small amount of money and a massive load of excitement wasn't all I got from that board. Seems Blue had some contacts with the Liberty's Finest - a group back then I knew nothing about -, and through her, they had heard about my work on the board.. Which started a series of adventures as well, but that's another story altogether.
To be honest, the board was fun while it lasted, but the aftermath wasn't as fun. Winning myself a comfy seat on the Liberty's most wanted list was rather annoying, because no matter where I went, I had some Navy and their lapdogs on my ass, trying to shoot me down. So.. What was the next logical step? Go to Rheinland. But lo and behold - The black & white space diplomacy! Apparently working with hackers, who work with Rogues, who work with Mollys, who are allied to Hessians, who are a hostile group in Rheinland was enough of a reason not to be welcomed in Rheinland space either, and all the Navy I had shot down counted for nothing. So, needless to say, my visit to Rheinland wasn't a pleasant one at first, and I was lucky that the first place I dropped by - out of habit - was a Junker base, and not their core planet, otherwise, I would probably be writing all this from jail.
Knowing your way around the unlawful underground though, and being a bit of an actor, means no matter where you go, you can make friends pretty quick, and those friends wouldn't mind you sticking around long as you don't stick your nose too deep into their business, and that's exactly what happened with Hessians. Can't say I like their taste in ship engineering and designs, I pretty much prefer the Military deigns, but sometimes that turns into the least of my concerns. Especially when they serve an epic beer in their bars! Their community was rather divided though... There were the "Good Hessians", their military sort of group who called themselves the RHA, and there were the "Bad Hessians" who just pirated every single moving thing they could find in space. But still, from all those unlawful groups in Rheinland - The political maniacs, the angry farmers, and the ex-dock workers - them Hessians seemed to be the most decent bunch.
It was pretty much the same deal as anywhere else though, just with more clouds and more rocks, but the mining fields in Omegas did give it a fresh taste when it came to hitting on transports. Everything with a large enough cargo was stuffed with ore, and being the expensive commodity the ore is, piracy demands didn't have to be as modest as the ones back in Liberty. What I loved about it though, the look on the captains' faces when they were knocked out of a lane by a bunch of pirates... You could practically smell their wet pants over comms, but after spending a few weeks down there, I figured Rheinland's not really my spot. Needed to move on.
The good thing about Rheinland is.. The jumphole system has been really generous to it. No matter where you wanted to go inside the house or which route you wanted to take to anywhere else, there was always a jumphole you could use. Did cost me a fortune to get them all hacked into my navmap though... But anyways, figured since I wasn't goin to head back into Liberty, I could go out to Sigmas through the northeast route and maybe from there drop by and pay Casts a visit. One thing that bothered me though... Unlike most the fights up in Liberty where at least some of the ships I had to shoot were caps, Rheinland had very few, and the lawful groups all flew in fighters and bombers. Talk about economically screwed! They probably couldn't afford having a cap fleet after the history they had been through.
What bothered me, basically was, no matter how much of a marvelous bird my Roc was, it was still a bomber and there was so much a bomber could take.. And on top of that, I was gettin a tad tired of having half a dozen of fighters on my ass no matter where I went, only because I was "the guy with scary SN aim"..! So it was time to get a fighter, and for that, I needed a proper set of gear. Those civilian guns like Flashpoints and Goddesses were crap, and there was no way I would've used codies from my collection and risk losing them in combat. There was also no freaking way I would've spent even one more credit buying any more codes, so... Casts seemed to hold the answer, but I wasn't one of those lowlifes begging for their guns, so I had to arrange a deal after which they'd gladly hand me the guns and ask me if I'd like anything else on top of that. Getting their attention to get the guns was the tricky part though.
Sometimes, you'd have to 'pretend' to get what you want. It's not lying, it's merely telling the other guy what he wants to hear. That's what I did with the Casts. Making up a story about how I lost my ship in a fight and the codenames on it were damaged beyond repair once I recovered them, blablabla... And well, it worked way easier than I expected. I basically reminded them of the work I did for them a while back, and even though I was expecting a load of questions, and even an assignment maybe, Jameson went right ahead and granted me the guns. That was a surprise... However, the real surprise came after the guns were granted. His condition for granting the guns turned out to be that I fly as his wingman for a while. Having my brand new Eagle geared up with a nice set of Krakens, who was I to complain? That meant getting the guns and some action for the guns at the same time. Win-Win situation for me.
The few weeks run with Jameson and a couple of other 101st pretty much took me from Alpha to Sigmas, and from there to Liberty and back. Was a rather interesting run, actually. Seems the GMG had managed to steal something from the 101st - never really bothered asking what -, and they wanted it bad. That's how I ended up shooting the GMG, which I later paid the price for, but that's another story. Jameson took a wing to Sigmas, and we managed to ambush the GMG convoy who had that stolen item somewhere in Sig13, and I must say.. That man had a strange mind. He was a really weird battle strategist, and he always used himself as a bait, as he apparently was a far better dodger than a shooter. The GMG were taken care of, and apparently Jameson had some unfinished business in Liberty, so we had to take the long road there.
When he did mention having some unfinished business down in Liberty, I naturally assumed it involves shooting stuff to bits and getting the hell out of there once we're done, but to my surprise, it turned out to be a scouting mission of sorts. He never really told anyone what was on his mind and why people needed to do this and that, but apparently those around him had learned to just trust the man and listen to what he says, and that sneaky bastard managed to get us through Liberty and get whatever it was he wanted to do done without being picked up by the Navy or the Police even once. Simply a genius. He was messing around with Nomad stuff too much though, and that didn't end well for him, or did it? All we know is he simply disappeared. Anything might've happened to him, so who knows... He might be dead, or he might be thinkin through a brain of a squid now. Maybe no one will ever know.
Taus. Haven't seen a place as messed up as that anywhere else. It's just all the tension going on around that place.. It's just like people there don't even have time to breath. They're either mining or getting shot at - Or shot back at, for some cases. A pirate's heaven, some call it, but it's nowhere near that. A pirate's heaven would be more of a place like Omegas, where miners mine and the Military doesn't give a damn about them, so they can be pirated dry all they long without anyone doing anything about it... But those IMG up in Taus, they do know how to watch for their own backs. Just average pilots, no aces, but they at least have the spirit. They're out there right at the edge of nowhere, and they have to fight to survive. It almost feels bad shooting those greedy bastards.
The interesting thing about Taus though... Not within house space, but not outside it either. Maybe the only place around Sirius where you can find lanes, but no police patrolling it. That speeds things up a bit for all the pirates around the place. They can camp the lanes, so traders would move in fast and get squeezed dry before they even know what hit them, and there'd be no one to actually do anything about it. Or at least... That's how it was before Gallics flooded into the systems. Now it's just a massive warzone, with battleships sitting at every gate and platforms put up around every lane, and they basically shoot everyone without giving a damn, cause they have all the battleships they can fill with crew and resources and point em at Bretonia with those nasty forward guns.
Girls. It's always the same deal with them. They look as defenseless and as vulnerable as they can just to use it as a cover so when the time comes, they don't give a rat's ass if they have to kill to get what they want... And I don't believe there are actually guys who're stupid enough to fall for that. Gotta love the black & white space diplomacy though.. How ending up on the good sides of Casts automatically means you're welcomed on Chrysanthemums bases as well, unless you've screw them over. Most people, for some reason, think Chrysanthemums bases are whore houses and nothing more, and there are other people who think Chrysanthemums girls are, well... only into girls. But I don't blame them. I don't blame them though... Take a couple of hundreds of girls and give them a base to run, and conclusions like that would rise.
It's funny though, how most of them are just living their normal lives with their "sisterhood" sort of thing, and don't really care about what they're supposed to be fighting for. Seems like just because they've got a base of their own where everything runs the way they want it to, they can live their happy lives to the very end without bothering with what's going on in the outside word. Sure, there are those of them who're cutting throats and emptying pockets out on the lanes, but really... Coming to think of it, some stuff just needs to be done by men. Not sayin women should stay in the kitchen, but it's just stupid how they've decided to fight on their own while they could've just joined the Dragons and made one large group of revolutionaries or freedom fighters or whatever it is they are.
I still remember my first time in Bretonia. I went there because I had absolutely nothing to do for a month or two, and just wanted to waste some time, but the place was far worse than I thought. A splendid house, nice scenery, the always-rainy capital planet, tea parties and all those 'Brit' stuff - Which, I can't say I like, but is classy -, but knee deep in absolute crap. I don't know what it is, but seems no matter what happens anywhere else in Sirius, Bretonia's always getting the worst of it. First the war with Kusari, having to shoot those tiny ships flown by traditional bastards, then the fight with Rheinland over something I don't even know... And then, Gallia makes an appearance and the first place it hits is Bretland. Well... So much to live a happy Brit life.
They've got good music though. Lots of bands with good music, even though they're living a hard life down there. Their music sounds a bit too British for my taste, but good music nonetheless. I ran into this band down in a club on Leeds, and I have to admit, things one of the guy was doing with his guitar, most people can't do even with guns. All those lyrics about war and misery and whatnot gives it a taste too. Wash it down with enough whiskey, and you'll get a good mix you can't find everywhere. When it comes to Brits making good music, some say it's in their blood, but honestly, it's just how they've had to live their lives for ages that had turned them into what they're now. Having to fight on three fronts, and on top of that, industries raping one of their planets to the point it's nearly unlivable on, that's gotta leave a mark.
Remember how I mentioned that board hosted by Viva & Blue won me more than just some money and some action? Yeah. Liberty's Finest. Everything I had heard about the group was just myths and rumors, didn't even think the group actually existed, but seems they did. A group of veteran aces from different corners of Sirius, and oh well... All of them fighting on one side indeed was a nightmare for whoever they were shooting at. I never really figured out what they really fought for - I guess no one did -, but when they were on rampage, they were on rampage. Seems they had heard about me from Blue, and had figured "that rookie has some potential", cause the first time I ran into them on Brit borders, they knew me and I was no stranger. On top of that, well... I had a CD, and with all of them being maniacs with unreal razor aims, sure they preferred it over CD, but they still needed someone to stop people from running.
Commies. That's what started the whole run with Liberty's Finest. Seems they had picked up a group of SCRA going through Omegas, and they wanted to rip them new ones, but they needed a CDer. Well, to their surprise, I could do much more than just keeping people CDed. Now, imagine a bunch of guys who know how to use their guns, against a bunch of rookies flying bulky ships. Sure the fight wasn't a long one. Their "Sirius Tour" was nowhere near the end though. Seems they used to go round the place and shoot certain groups down every once in a while, and it did sound like loads of fun. After all, flying with a bunch who know exactly what they're doing is always fun, and on top of that, I didn't mind shooting the same people they shot. Commies, Sairs, Order, Navy... That was a run I doubt I'd ever experience again.
Space commies? Seriously? I mean... Communism died on 10th century earth or something... Or that's what the political historian freak in Rochester bar told me once. The idea is stupid though, sure it looks good on paper, but any sane person can tell it'd just turn into a massive pile of crap if you want to actually play it out. And even them commies are not much of a communist group. If it wasn't the help of Hessians, they would've been extinct long ago. Not like anyone can survive a single fight with those bulky ships and useless guns. Their ships are just a huge "Hit Me!" sign, or were, before they changed the design. But still, even after their new shipline popped out of nowhere, they can't do much saving their own ass.
There was this one fight I remember, started somewhere in Leeds, was dragged down to Cambridge. Even though they had brought in everything they could - even an Osiris -, they didn't stand a chance. They were getting slaughtered left and right, and screaming their lungs out, thinking their screams can save em... Poor bastards.
I didn't know what was so interesting about Gallia that every explorer wanted to see that place at least once, and truth is, I still don't even though I did go there to see what's up. A bunch of "borderworlds" with nothing special except for this set of weird planets all merged into one, making a silly sight. They do have good wines though. I heard their "core worlds" are open now, but back when I went there all the gates to those systems were sealed down and there was no jumphole going in or out of that place, and the route to Gallia was nothing but a complete headache. Having to go through that maze-like route through the minefield, it was just... pointless.
They had a good taste for ship designs though... The royalists at least. White ships with cockpits like helmets, and their bomber did look like a nasty piece of gear. I would've loved to snatch one of those, but seems they used the whole different fuel for their ships than we do in Sirius. Can't say the same about all those weird or rusty looking unlawful ships though. I've seen ships in better shape flown by Xenos than those Council bunch do, and even their guns is crap... Trust me, I know. I remember how I couldn't find the opening of the route through that field which led to Orkney, and I was thinking "I shoulda went out the same way as I came in", but there was no way I could stand going all the way back to the other way out which led straight into Outcast space. Then there was this random unaffiliated freighter popping on my scanner, and he offered to show me the way out.
Funny how things work though... Turned out to be a gun smuggler, trying to run a bunch of Council guns out of Gallia and sell em for some cash. Poor bastard didn't make it through. There was a Council blockade right at the opening of the field, and thats where we got stopped. What annoyed me though, was those Council pilots thought I was with that guy, helping him run guns out of Gallia, and attacked me regardless. Now that, was a bad move. They probably weren't in Sirius long enough to know Sirians, especially unlawful Sirians, have it rough and that makes them tougher than the average Gallic drunkard-freighter-captain-gun-smuggler. With all the action I was through back in Liberty, getting shot at by three worn-out heavy fighters looked just like a bad joke. That poor freighter didn't make it through though... One more thing them Gallics were slow with - Using their tractors. Those guns were in my cargo right after the freighter was down, and I knew if I manage to get away with the guns I can taunt them all I want later. That had to be fun.
