He couldn't believe less than a year ago he was Freelancing for extra cash protecting convoys of what he now considered to be his enemies. He thought to himself on his flight through the radioactive Raiden Cloud about what brought him to this point in his life.
"Liberty has no idea what it started.. Isn't that right, Fluff Meister?" he said out loud to a cat bobble head attached near the front window of his cockpit. Memories of a convoy gone wrong filled his head.
He was flying as an escort to Ageira transports delivering cargo to a remote depot in a system near the outskirts of Liberty, and didn't understand the classified nature of their journey until he arrived in an unknown system. He had apparently asked one too many questions about where he was going, and why they were there. Bounty Hunters and a Liberty Security Force squad had ambushed him on the other side of the jump gate out of the system once his job was finished, falsely accusing him of treason and other assorted criminal acts against Liberty.
*DESTINATION REACHED* his ship's A.I. informed him, interrupting his recollection. As he looked in front of him, he saw a looming Factory from the window of his cockpit. After being granted clearance to land on what he knew to be called the Nonsense Factory, he walked towards the pub, thinking about the odd jobs he did for Junkers, Rogues, and Outcasts over the past six months. As he arrived at the pub, he looked around briefly and went straight to the bartender and said "I'm looking for Ampere.."
"Who's asking?" the bartender replied as the pub chatter came to a grinding halt. The silence filled the room as the pilot looked at the bartender.
"What ya want kiddo?" A voice scattered trough the silence of the pub. The voice came from the corner, a far away booth with dimmed lighting. Ampere`s own little drinking den. Ampere lowered his datapad down to the desk in front of him, crossed his arms, and leaned back waiting for an answer. The bar crowd started talking again quietly speculating the reason why this stranger is looking for Ampere. "Now, come on lad. You had a good reason to land here and I'm sure not because your four-legged creature needs more toys to play around with. Take a seat here and speak or leave. But don't waste my time"
Damian chuckles lightly, pondering the thought of getting more trinkets to keep 'Fluff Meister' company. "Your security cameras are better than I would have guessed if you could see him already" Damian states as pulls a flask out of a jacket pocket and takes a quick swig. "Sidewinder Fang.. had to rob a civilian from Rhineland for that. " he says as he coughs a little, looking Ampere in the eyes as he begins to walk over to the corner where the renowned Rogue is sitting and takes a seat across from him.
"I hear you're the current leader of a pack.. and a damn good one. Liberty turned me into the big bad wolf for their convenience, and I ended up becoming their idea of me for mine."
Damian takes another swig from his flask and rubs his forehead before speaking. "Xenos assholes piss me off just looking at them, Lane Hackers are too secretive for me to trust, Outcasts.. well they're all right, but I deal with them all in spurts, 'cept for the racist assholes I mentioned first. That brings me to the Rogues. You guys seem to know the time for a fight, time for flight, and when the money is ripe. Don't get me wrong, I'm not scared of flying by myself.. I've got Fluff Meister to keep me company, though he's not one for conversation."
One more swig from the flask, and Damian tilts it towards Ampere, offering him a drink from it. "Point is.. I don't need my hand being held, but I'll jump into a dogfight with your pack any day."
"Right. I see you have a good spirit towards Liberty. And I agree with you on the Lane Hackers... But you new here. Other than your ship database I have nothing on you.. See yourself equipment and replenishment you need.. however, i might have a job for you to prove yourself." He raised his hand refusing the drink politely, purely because a nice chilled whiskey was already on the table ahead of him. He reached for his datapad and opened up a few files. "I need you to capture a few liberty navy officers.. and deliver them to the factory... I've got a few questions to ask them. In return, you get a few credits to spend on whatever ya like. Think about it as a test... " He closes his datapad and leans back looking into his eyes waiting for an answare.
As Damian puts his flask away he grins at Ampere's words. "I've tried to lay low for a bit, but I think it's time Liberty gets what they deserve. A couple of squids who think they're important are late for therapy? I would gladly do that free of charge, but I'm not one to turn down some credits."
Damian stands up from his seat and laughs briefly. "You've got yourself a deal, Ampere. I'll be back with news of those jerk-offs' new appointment with the Factory's psychiatrists."
After shaking Ampere's hand, Damian heads towards the hangar with a new sense of purpose. As he starts his ship's engines, he thinks aloud. "Crap, I forgot to get Fluff Meister a bag of cat nip.. Eh, he just stares at it anyways, like he's 'too good' for it or something.." He flicks the bobble-head and stares at it briefly. "Screw it, when I get back I'll get you two bags of the best stuff they've got. You spoiled bastard."
As Damian flies back up to the Nonsense Factory, he double checks his cargo hold one last time to verify the pilots he captured are still secure. He grins as he gets ready to inform his 'passengers' of his arrival. "Uhhh.. This is your captain speaking.. if you uhhh.. if you can even see anything.. look past the radioactive fields on your left, your right, and behind you.. you'll notice in front of us that we've reached our destination. I hope that your flight has been terrible.. and thank you for flying Rogue Airlines.."
After Damian docks in the hangar, he gathers his things together and heads towards the bar. He spots Ampere and walks over to him with a datapad in hand. "It seems the Navy wasn't the only one who wanted to tag along.. I rounded up about nine Navy pilots, a couple of police officers, some civilians that thought they'd try to help out.. and then some Bounty Hunters who apparently heard about the fun I was having.."
"If you're not interested in the other pilots, I hear the Outcasts are happy to receive the extra help.. unwilling or not. I trust the Navy officers won't be too difficult to talk to with whatever methods you deem necessary. Don't worry, they're sober right now.. I didn't want any of them overdosing, though I thought about releasing Cardamine into the ventilation system of my ship. I could handle it, but I didn't want them dying before I arrived. They probably felt the radiation from the trip anyways.. can't say my ship's completely up to code. Here's my data pad with visual proof of my ship's cargo hold."
Ampere were sitting in his booth surrounded by datapads and maps. He looked up to Damian while taking his datapad to confirm the cargo he delivered. "Humans are no cargo mate... goes the saying. Well done, and about your ship... a sum of credits has been sent to your account i recommend checking out what you can upgrade" Ampere handed back Damiens datapad alongside with a data device. "These are updates to your nav comp. Travel to Alberta and Ontario... the situation there is... developing. See for yourselfs and collect information.. dont get killed kid."