Hey all.
Once again, thank you Nyito for your tireless assistance. Thank you Triaxx for all your advice and input. And thank you all for reading.
A quick note, I think I've mentioned this before but since I love my screenshots I'll mention it again. I can't get photobucket to revert to the just-the-image format but they actually have made some nice changes recently so I'm giving them a pass. Also, if you right-click on the image and select "view image" you can get a better view. It's too bad I can't show you the 1920x1080 screenshots I take cos some of them are just spectacular but lose a lot because of photobucket's compression.
Okay, done rambling. Cheers.
48. Pickpocket
Right. I kinda forgot how good these log entries could be for sortin' out my thoughts. It's first thing in the mornin'. I've trained, eaten, let Gin check my bandages and I'm thinkin' about what I intend to get done today. First that means takin' stock and the easiest way to do that is to bring this log up to date.
Last night, even after losin' those two pilots I managed to get a lot done. I had F'ght jump the Endless to Rhonkar's Clouds cos I wanted to continue spreadin' our satellite coverage. I'm on good terms with the Split right now and where Split sectors aren't quite as safe as Argon space they're certainly not as dangerous as the Teladi sectors. So I was thinkin' that I might just let some of my traders cater to the Split. Before I do that, though, I want satellite coverage. Both to be able to see trouble at a glance if anything goes wrong and also to monitor the prices and stock levels of all the goods in all the factories in every sector I have a satellite in. Yeah, Beni has been all but creamin' in his pants every time I add a new sector to my network.
Once we were in Rhonkar's Clouds, though, F'ght informed me that we'd discovered a pirate guild base tucked away far to the south. When she informed me about it I didn't even miss a step.
"Destroy it," I told her.
She never even blinked. She just acknowledged the order and set about usin' typhoon missiles to take out the station's lasertowers. After they were gone she moved in to pound on the station with the Necromancer's IBLs and some tornado missiles to speed the process along. After a number of impotent threats from the station they sent a group of fighters to argue the point with us. We'd already taxed the weapon generator quite a bit by then so only one went down to the Necromancer's flak cannons. The rest were destroyed by the Split task force that followed us in to help. Heh. You know I'm really startin' to believe that Rhonkar wants to be my friend.
Anyway, even with their help, though, takin' down that base took a while. I was back in my office with another drink and another cigar by the time that station lit up the night. Considerin' that I was feelin' cranky and sour about losin' those two pilots watchin' that pirate base go up in flames went a long way to makin' me feel better. A few moments later I even received a message tellin' me I was bein' paid two point five mil for my trouble. Let's just say that didn't hurt my mood either.
That katana really did surprise me. I was not expectin' it to chew through my fighters the way it did. It took a hell of a beatin' before it went down and without the Necromancer's assistance I don't know if my tenjins would have been able to take it. I was thinkin' about that the entire time F'ght pounded on that pirate station. Eventually I decided that for capitals I really needed some back up. Now there is a ship class that is made exclusively to deal with capital ships. If I'd had a bomber and pulled the tenjins back they would have outrun that corvette. It would have followed them and, had I the missiles, I could have fed it a few barrages of tomahawks to explain myself. Expensive, sure, but not as expensive as four tenjins... and two pilots.
Which reminds me. After the pilots were killed I had a conversation with Chinomu. H'nt was off the ship at the time and I wanted to change our policy concernin' capitals where our fighters are concerned. Just before I walked away I made a comment... told her to make sure the database was up to date so the pilots families would get the death benefits. I dunno why but Chinomu looked... I dunno, like she'd seen a ghost or somethin'. It made me curious. So I told Legion to look into her background. I'm not sure why I didn't do that weeks ago. That woman just has a way of slippin' through the cracks.
Anyway, I looked at all the bombers I'm currently able to buy. There are two new ones that I'd never seen before. Believe it or not the Boron even have a bomber now. It's essentially just a redesigned... a poorly redesigned... gladiator. The other one, though, is made by OTAS, and after lookin' at all of the numbers I decided that I liked that one best of all. It's called an "Auster Hauler" and it is just a phenomenally better ship than any of my other options. Compared to the Argon Gladiator for instance and the Aster Hauler has two and half times the armor, nearly five times the shielding and half again more cargo space. It's a little on the slow side, comparable with a Peregrine I guess, but honestly? Who cares? A bomber's job is to launch barrages of tomahawk missiles at slow moving capital ships. The tomahawk has a forty kilometer range. And just three tomahawks would have dealt with that katana... provided they all got through. With all the missile countermeasures that have been introduced lately I can probably expect my tomahawks to be somewhat less than a hundred percent effective. Which means I may have to get creative to get my missiles to target.... or just use a lot of them. Either way I decided that havin' a bomber docked at the Necromancer*, with enough nuclear warheads aboard to char a planet, would just make me feel better. So I bought one.
Now OTAS sells jumpdrives but they don't have an equipment dock. So I sent one of my new CLS pilots to Legend's Home with a load of e-cells for the bomber. Then I had the bomber jump back to Yaki space to make use of our equipment dock. Before I gave that same order to my freighter, though, I took a look at some of the other ships OTAS offers. Specifically the corvettes. Accordin' to H'nt, the Centaur that albino woman has is somethin' of a wreck. Now I'm not really a fan of the Centaur to begin with. It just comes up short in too many important places. It's got a decent sized cargo bay and reasonable speed but that's about it. So the idea of dumpin' my money into the thing to get it repaired, outfitted, armed and shielded... and, well, I don't like it.
But I can't let Kayla go.
I need that inside man. I know, I know. If he exists. I'm bettin' he does though. In addition to everything Legion told me about her, Kayla got angry when I insulted her ship. Now loyalty to a beat up old wreck isn't much, and rationally it seems like a really stupid thing to take a risk on, but my gut's tellin' me she's for real. I think a liar would have tried harder to either appear innocent or be my friend. So I'm takin' a risk. Right. So all of that is my way of gettin' around to the point. Namely, I bought her a ship. An OTAS Skiron. I'll let her know later and see if I can find out anything else about this man she's got inside Gil's operation.
In the meantime, though, I gave Odin a list of factories to build in Weaver's Tempest. Since I now have a bomber, I'm gonna need some bombs. Otherwise it's just a four million credit paperweight. Now, normally tomahawk heavy missiles are kind of expensive. You can buy an argon discoverer for the same price as one tomahawk. Since I plan on using LOTS of tomahawks I thought it might be prudent just to get a factory or two. So I bought another food loop, in the form of a large cattle ranch and cahoona bakery and after Odin set those up I sent him back for the tomahawk plants and an ore mine.
The mine is the biggest annoyance. Most of the stations can just be dropped and activated. But the mines go on asteroids and the asteroids I want are all over the sector. Fortunately I have two TLs and, as Odin likes to point out, one of 'em is near useless since it's full to the brim with people. Well, not last night it wasn't. I had the Endless towin' that ore mine all night.
Now, by the time I started the Endless on gettin' that mine in place it was after twenty one hundred. I was actually thinkin' about takin' advantage of the king sized mattress in my quarters when I got a call from Weasel. Accordin' to my communications officer he very insistent that he talk with me directly.
When I answered the call, Weasel was talkin' to me through a wrist mounted communicator, and even though I had a strange angle of his face it was pretty obvious that he was... uhm... amused. He was apparently in an elevator with three of Gil's thugs and they'd tried to kidnap him. His counter-offer involved a grenade on a dead man's switch. They were all still in that elevator when Kao t'Kt and a squad of marines showed up to sort matters out. From what I understand the three goons wanted Weasel to bring a ship and a message back to me. Now the ship makes me a little nervous but accordin' to Kao it's only carryin' four men in cryostasis. So I had 'em dock the thing on the Great Profits and brought it and the goons back to Weaver's Tempest, givin' me even more reason to get my ass back down there. My new factories are all in place. Even the ore mine has been towed into formation. Apparently all they're waitin' on is me. So I'll head on down in a little bit to see what's what, tie it all together and get my new complex pumpin' out tomahawk heavy missiles for my new bomber. For the moment, though, I am too busy questioning my sanity.
Yep. That would be a Shark, a Megalodon... which is apparently a brand new heavy duty destroyer the Boron came up to answer some of the ATF heavies out there, a Ray and other assorted devastation... all in the hands of the squiddies... who I like with beer and chips. Why you ask am I temptin' death and destruction by parkin' beneath a Boron military outpost? Well... see. I needed to blow up a couple of their military installations.
Yeah. We've been up in Kingdom End all mornin'. My complex was nearly full of e-cells when I woke up. So I had all the CLS freighters load as much as they could carry and jump to Kingdom End. Some time back I noticed that the Boron are... in addition to bein' right tasty... not terribly bright. In between Atreus Clouds and Kingdom End the only sector that has any power plant is in Queen's Space. That means everybody more than one sector away is starvin' for energy cells. Hence, Kingdom End.
Currently the Boron are not tryin' to kill me. In fact they're kinda pleased with me at the moment and I can't for the life of me remember why. Either way it's kinda nice, really. It means stealin' more of their valuables will be that much easier in the days to come. So, I figured that as long as the Boron were not currently tryin' to skin me to avenge all of their brethren that have graced my dinner plate in the past weeks I might as well help them out by takin' their credits. So I sent my freighters up here to sell my energy cells at outrageously inflated prices. Unfortunately, I wasn't payin' attention when I did so. I failed to notice the active lasertowers and one of 'em nearly skinned one of my shiny new mistrals.
I don't know what's up with lasertowers but all over the galaxy they never seem to get over bein' mad at me. I mean once they're pissed they just stay pissed.
Anyway, we jumped up here and solved the problem with a few more of those typhoon missiles we stole from the Teladi last week... followed by some apologies. First and foremost to Captain Popo Po of the Boron Military Megalodon. It's not real fast but that is a ship I do NOT want stayin' mad at me. Anyhoo, after we destroyed the lasertowers I stuck around to... you guessed it... deploy some satellites.
Would you believe that while I've been sittin' here talkin' the Boron have scanned my ship no less than five times? sh*t. If I didn't know any better I'd say they don't trust me.
Alright, time to go get my complex pumpin' out some high explosives... and see what Gil sent me. I have this feelin' I'm not gonna be happy.
Drakhar out.
*********
Weasel finished using the urinal with a sigh. Then he zipped up his fly and left the head without washing his hands. He stepped over the knee knocker and let the hatch close behind him. He shifted his belt buckle and glanced at the three men currently seated around his kitchen table. The smartest of the three, who Weasel had begun thinking of as "Mr. Smooth," glanced at him and Weasel smiled and adjusted himself. The man scoffed and dropped his eyes. Four large, entirely too-serious marines were watching the three from around the compartment. Weasel briefly wondered if the fools would live to see the end of the stazura. Then he decided that he didn't really care. Drake would do whatever he wanted with them. Which meant their fate depended entirely on what kind of mood the kid was in when he got here... and maybe on who the popsicles in the disco were.
He sniffed, which got the attention of the lead goon again, so he pointedly scratched under his tail. The guy made a disgusted sound and looked away. Weasel grinned and then made his way to the Great Profit's bridge. When he reached the hatch he opened it with his palm print and then stepped over the raised threshold into the small compartment with all the controls. There he started to scowl.
Kao t'Kt was sitting in the co-pilot's seat... and Kao t'Kt was snoring. The marine was the biggest Split Weasel had ever met and his snore sounded like a jackhammer. Weasel groaned, shook his head and took his own chair. He'd never met a marine that couldn't sleep anywhere. He'd actually seen some of them sleep standing up. Not for the first time Weasel wondered if it was part of their training. Were marines taught to sleep on command? And how exactly did you train something like that? Sit. Stand. March. Shoot. Sure, those made sense. But sleep? He shrugged. It was a mystery, and one more reason he never joined the military. Who the hell signed up to be trained like a guard ger'glachi anyway?
He checked the ship's heading as he fished a flask out of his pocket. When he did he noticed the sector map. The Necromancer had arrived. Weasel nodded to himself. It wouldn't be long now. He glanced up at the expanse in front of his ship and guessed that at that very moment Drake was giving orders concerning the tying together of all those shiny new factories Odin had been busy placing the night before. He took a swig from the flask and stared at the kid's complex. He had to give Drake one thing. The man just didn't do anything by half measures. Weasel wasn't sure but he thought two of the new factories were some kind of weapon fab; producing missiles if he knew the kid. He chuckled and shook his head. He wouldn't want to be flying a terran ship after Drake was up and running again. The man set an entirely new standard when it came to bad tempered humans, and Weasel had met quite a few in the last century. As a matter of fact he'd even gotten into a debate on that very subject not too long ago... he smiled.. with a pair of sisters. The debate ended when Weasel told them that Drake was the only person, human or otherwise, that Weasel had ever known to use nuclear weapons to settle arguments.
Mmmm, he thought, thinking of the way that night ended. The planet-bound males on Ianamus Zura just didn't know what they were missing. Hundreds of jazura in space with no males made for some very curious females. Weasel grinned and took another swig from his flask. Very curious... and very eager. As he put the flask back in his pocket the comm chirped, informing him that there was an open channel. He accepted the call with the press of a button. "What?" he asked.
"Weasel," a firm Split voice greeted him. "H'nt. Drake wants to beam over."
"Yesss, oh great and mighty CAG, ssssir," Weasel sneared.
"Careful, Teladi," H'nt said. "I like you. Don't make me re-think that."
"Yeah yeah," Weasel said. "Big tough Sssplit. Tell you what, CAG, try to throw me sssometime."
"Keep it up and I may just."
Weasel snorted. "Tell Drake we're ready and he can come on any time he wantsss." He cut the channel without waiting for a reply.
During the call Kao t'Kt stopped snoring. When Weasel glanced at him, the big marine was watching from the corner of his eye. Weasel grinned and offered the flask. Kao t'Kt declined with an almost invisible shake of the head. Weasel shrugged, took another swig, and got up to go meet the boss. He heard Kao t'Kt groan as he stretched and found his feet. A few sezura later the two of them were waiting by the transporter pad. As the transporter activated marines in power armor dragged the three goons out of their seats and lifted them up by twisting their arms behind their backs. Weasel saw the men grimace and heard each of them hiss through clenched teeth. The marines were using power-armor-augmented grips to pin taut muscle against bone. So he was chuckling to himself when Drake arrived.
The man was wearing black, as always, and appeared even more dangerous than ever. The instant he materialized Drake scanned the room without moving. Weasel noted the man's slightly open mouth and flared nostrils as he tasted the air. He saw the twitch of the man's ears, alert to any noise and movement, and he noticed the slightly splayed fingers of his right hand as it hovered near the grip of his blaster. It was always the same. Drake arrived alert and ready to defend himself. Weasel shook his head. He couldn't imagine being that on-guard all the time. It just seemed like too much damned work.
Kao t'Kt stepped forward and offered Drake the Split version of a bow. Drake responded in kind. Then he said, "talk to me."
"Three prisoners," Kao t'Kt stated. "One argon discoverer is docked. It carries four men of unknown identity in cryostasis. Our... guests," he glanced at the goons, "claim to know nothing about them."
Drake leveled that one eye at the goons and stepped off the platform. He crossed the compartment with a light, fluid step that spoke volumes all by itself. Weasel smiled as the goons watched him. They each had the same expression: wide, rolling eyes over clenched teeth. "Who are they?" Drake demanded.
"We were not given that information." It was the smooth talker. "We were tasked only with finding your employee and persuading him to deliver the ship and its cargo to you."
Drake stepped right up to the man. Smooth talker was maybe a hand taller but the marine behind him forced him to bend. Drake stepped close enough so that they were literally nose to nose. "Then you have succeeded," Drake said, staring directly into the other man's eyes. "Well done."
"The message," Weasel prompted and watched Mr. Smooth glance his way.
"Message?" Drake asked without looking away from the other man's eyes. "What message?"
Mr. Smooth swallowed. "Snake Eye," the man said and then swallowed again. "Snake Eye sends his regards... to the Queen."
Drake continued to stare. Weasel was pretty sure he hadn't even blinked. After a moment Drake smiled. It was charming, even friendly. "Well now," Drake said. "I wonder how the Queen will respond to his... regard." Mr. Smooth swallowed again. Drake stepped back and looked at Kao t'Kt. "Take 'em to the Necromancer and put 'em in the brig."
"Huruk'tar," Kao t'Kt nodded and then began issuing orders to his marines. Drake turned his attention to Weasel. Weasel met and held his eye. After a moment Drake started to laugh. It was an affectionate, amused sound. A few moments later the goons and marines vanished in a scintillating wave of blue Čerenkov radiation. When they were gone Drake turned back to Weasel.
"They had no idea who they were frackin' with, did they?" Drake chuckled.
Weasel shrugged. "I'm just glad I didn't have to reboot."
"Reboot?"
"I learned where and when that ssshipment isss being ssent to the front. If I died I would have lossst the four ssstazzzura beforehand... and that informasssion."
"I see," he said and then smirked. "So you did find it?"
Weasel fished the flask out of his pocket again. "I get twenty five persssent, right?" Drake's smile slipped away. His expression hardened. Weasel sighed and held up his hands. "Fine. Fine. Twenty persssent."
"We agreed on ten, Weasel," Drake said. Weasel started to roll his eyes. "But I'll tell you what," Drake said, "if the haul's as good as you say it is..." he sighed. "I'll get you a bonus."
Weasel held Drake's eye for a moment. "What kind of bonus?"
"More money'n you'll get if you don't tell me what ship to hit."
Weasel smiled and raised his flask. That was why he liked Drake. The kid understood the way things worked. "Good enough," he said.
"Alright," Drake said. "So let me have it. Give me the details."
*********
"Hey kid," Warron's grizzled voice was fuzzy and distorted through the centaur's aged intercom. Yet countless stazura* spent in his tutelage had conditioned Kayla to know that voice on a level so deep that it was almost instinctual. When he spoke she heard him even when her emotions were out of control, screaming and loud enough to drown her own thoughts out. So Kayla blinked and took a breath. Then slowly returned from wherever her mediation had taken her. For the past several wozura Lo had been teaching her to still and sharpen her mind. Yet she groaned as she came back to herself. Combat was easier than stillness and mastering Lo's lessons was slow going. More often than not her "meditations" involved snoring.
"I'm here," the choker around her neck voiced her thoughts far more coherently than her own voice would have.
"We were just hailed by a Teladi pelican," he stated. "The-ah... captain says he has a message for you."
"I'll take it in here." Kayla stood and then stretched, first up toward the ceiling then down toward the floor. Dozens of old injuries muttered in protest. Nanite accelerated healing had done wonders but repeated violent deaths still took their toll, and it was a cost that only seemed to grow with time, a thought she tried not to dwell on.
She walked across the soft surface of her stateroom's carpet and sat behind her desk. She activated the holo-display and then accepted the incoming transmission. The image resolved and she had a fuzzy, console-height view of a standard teladi bridge. It was cramped, cluttered and seemed to have been put together from whatever happened to be lying around rather than from an engineer's coherent design. Then she blinked and leaned in curiously. In the pilot's seat was a very rare sight indeed, a male teladi. He was both darker and more colorful than she was used to. His fully formed cranial crest was more elaborate, with far more "plumage" than the space faring females Kayla had known. As she watched he tapped a button on the console to his right and scratched beneath his armpit.
"I am Kayla," the choker announced.
The teladi blinked slowly and then looked at her. His reddish yellow gaze seemed a bit bleary as he met her eye. After a moment he leaned forward to inspect her more closely. Kayla frowned. She'd only met a handful of male teladi in her travels but none of them had ever demonstrated the same avarice so evident in the space faring females she was used to. Until now at least. As he studied her the teladi's gaze seemed almost lewd. He looked her up and then down and when he was done with his appraisal the teladi leaned back and smiled, and the smile was absolutely lewd. Then he raised up a flask from his lap, as if toasting her. "Sso you are," he said and took a swig.
"I was told," the choker announced, "that you had a message for me."
"I do," the teladi said.
Kayla raised an eyebrow and waited.
"They did not tell me that you were mute," the teladi said, still smiling at her. When she didn't rise to the taunt he rolled his eyes. "Be ready in the nexsst half ssstazura," he said, suddenly sounding bored. "The lord high masster of all that iss will pick you up when he iss good and ready but you sshould be ready to hop when he callss." He then leaned forward to cut comms.
"Where?" the choker demanded.
He met her eye. "There," he said as if it were obvious. "Look for the fanssy otass corvette." With that he cut comms and vanished.
Kayla frowned. Charming, she thought. Thirty mizura* later she'd briefed her crew and was watching the list of ships docked at the shipyard when she received another message. She read the greeting, Captain Kayla Lehane, and felt an instant furious grief. Lehane, it was the name of everything that had ever been taken from her. A moment later she felt her tears fall, hot and stinging, on her cheeks.
You bastard, she thought. How the hell did he know? How could he know? She touched the screen, running her finger along her family's name as images of her parents, and the boy she once loved, danced like dreams through her mind. For a moment there was nothing but that hole in the center of her, where everything she loved once lived. Then she started to tremble. The old rage burst free of her heart like flames from a furnace. She closed her eyes and shook with an impotent need to scream. She focused on the fire until she could see flames in her mind. She breathed into them and breathed them into her. Slowly her rage transformed. She felt it radiate outward through her blood, feeding her muscles, rippling like waves beneath her skin and slowly the rage became focus. It became energy. It was the will to do what needed doing. In her mind's eye she conjured an image of the tip of her arian da'rije buried in Terrel's throat.
Soon, she thought and opened her eyes again.
Captain Kayla Lehane, your presence is requested aboard the Skiron docked at hangar A3. We await your arrival. Thank you,
Yana Danar
Helmsman
Kayla took another slow breath and raised an eyebrow. The Skiron, she thought disapprovingly. It's a ship without a name. She took a few more deliberate breaths and then stood, crossed the room, grabbed her coat and cast it over her shoulders. Then she reached for the arian da'rije... and froze. She hadn't thought this through. She was being pushed and prodded off balance. Was the man doing it deliberately? He just summoned her to his territory but there was no explanation. Was it a trap?
She stared at the Lance for a moment before lifting it out of the rack. She'd already been a guest on his ship. If he'd wanted to capture or kill her he could have done it already but she be damned if she went anywhere unarmed. So she closed her eyes and slowly breathed her pulse back to a resting state. Then she settled the Lance into the harness on her back and left her cabin. Less than ten mizura later she was descending from the main structure of the Yaki shipyard into the central platform for the hangar. She found the unnamed Skiron easily enough and presented herself for boarding. "Captain Kayla..." she paused and took another slow breath before finishing the thought, "...Lehane requesting permission to come aboard."
An image leapt to life over the comm terminal and the face of a mild, dark skinned human female filled the screen. "One moment, Captain," the woman said politely.
Several sezura* later Drakhar's face appeared in the holo-display. Compared with the woman who stepped aside for him he was like a sun beside a moon. His eye burned right through her. "Where's your crew?" he demanded.
Kayla raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't told to bring them."
Drakhar scowled and she watched his tongue find that tooth behind his lips. Then he looked away and lifted his chin in a sort of reverse nod. Let her in. A moment later the hatch began to open. "Come aboard, Captain," he said. "You'll just have to get your crew up to speed without me." With that the display winked out. Several moments later she stepped aboard what was arguably the most powerful corvette made by the Argon.
Just within the interior hatch to the airlock she was greeted by a female marine. "Ma'am," the woman saluted her and waited. Kayla simply stared back, unwilling to let her confusion show. After a moment, when it was clear Kayla wasn't going to return the salute the woman snapped it out and lowered her hand. "Ma'am," she said again, "I'm First Sergeant Marissa Brano. If you'll follow me I'll escort you to the bridge." With that the woman performed what Kayla suspected was an unconscious 'about face' and began leading the way through the ship.
As they walked Kayla noted that the ship was brand new. The corridors were clean and had only recently begun acquiring the tell-tale scuffs of boot traffic. In several places the 'peels' from tapping out holes for a threaded fasteners still clung to the walls and struts, hanging out beneath the head of a screw or bolt like bits of confetti. Several areas were carpeted and the carpet was clean and lacked any signs of wear. Explains the lack of a name, she thought.
Around her what was apparently an exclusively human crew went about their duties with a stoic determination. They were clean, healthy and well groomed. They wore uniforms that were tailored, and identically pressed, with rank insignia displayed just below their right collarbones. It was orderly, almost serene, and a complete contrast to the rowdy and dangerous chaos of most pirate ships.
Just as that was sinking in a brief, three toned whistle sounded throughout the ship. "All hands, all hands," a woman's voice thundered out of the ship's PA, "prepare to make way. All hands, all hands, prepare to make way." Several moments later Kayla felt the familiar subtle vertigo that let her know the ship's inertial dampeners had kicked in. The ship was now underway.
At the end of a twenty meter corridor there was a short ladder that led either up a level or down a level. The marine in front of her led her topside. At the top of the ladder, just as she stepped onto deck one she felt another, far more powerful form of vertigo. The ship just jumped!
She took a breath and steadied herself. The marine turned and looked at her. "Ma'am? Are you all right?"
She met the woman's eye. "I didn't know we were leaving the sector." The choker stated and the woman glanced at it, obviously surprised. She didn't comment though, merely met Kayla's eye again. "It's nothing," the choker said. "Lead on." The marine nodded and continued onward.
From the ladder they made their way forward, passed through a hatch and stepped onto the ship's bridge. It was a typical Argon CIC; clean, well ordered and almost comfortable. The captain's chair, where Drakhar was currently seated, was at the center of the bridge, slightly elevated and surrounded by controls. In front of and below him the pilot and co-pilot's chairs were side by side several meters apart. The pilot's chair was occupied by the mild looking woman that answered her hail, but the co-pilot's chair was empty. There was a dedicated weapons station occupied by an intense looking argon male of indeterminate age, and a vacant engineering console for managing the engines. As they stepped through Drakhar turned his head to look over his shoulder at them.
"Commander," the marine announced herself, "Captain Kayla Lehane is here, sir."
Kayla clenched her teeth again at the sound of her family name. Drakhar noticed. It was just the twitch of an eyebrow but he'd seen her anger. "Thank you, First Sergeant," he said. "That will be all."
"Yes, Commander," the marine replied, turned and left Kayla on the bridge. After a moment Drakhar crooked a finger at her.
"You run a tight ship," the choker stated as she stepped up to him.
He watched her for a moment before replying. "There are many benefits to a military structure," he stated. "Not the least of which is the ability to give an order and expect it to be carried out." He gestured to the co-pilot's chair. "Have a seat," he suggested. "Get comfortable. It's gonna be a long day." He then turned to the mild looking woman. "Helmsman Danar," he said.
"Yes, Captain."
"Would you contact the Endless and request docking instructions, please?"
"Yes, Captain."
Kayla took the chair the... Commander... had indicated. It was soft and very comfortable. After a moment she realized she could smell it as well. It was made of real Argnu leather.
"Captain Lehane," Drakhar said and Kayla deliberately kept her face still. "I've granted you complete access to the ship's database. I suggest you familiarize yourself with the ship and crew. There are several pieces of equipment I'm not sure you've worked with before."
She turned and met his eye. "What is this?" the choker asked. He responded with an arched eyebrow. "What's going on here?"
He held her eye for a moment. Then he took a breath and his face softened. "I decided that I don't want the Keres," he explained. "I've never been fond of the centaur and you didn't want to sell anyway. But since I'm not willin' to put money and resources into a ship that I don't own," he spread his hands, "I bought this."
He looked up through the forward view ports. She followed his eyes and saw a Spit-made TL looming large in front of them. Off to their right she could see a mammoth and looming ahead and above she could see the Necromancer. She took another breath to calm her nerves. He's giving you a ship, Kayla, not throwing you to the pit.
"Now," Drakhar went on, "the Skiron's not my first choice for a corvette but it is the best I could purchase on short notice. She turns like she's stuck in the mud but she's reasonably fast, especially with Master Bro's loving attention down in the engine room." He glanced at her again. "Kile Bro is your chief engineer and he's been workin' on Argon corvettes for longer'n you and I have been drawin' breath. A fact he pointed out to me when I hired him." He gestured to the woman to Kayla's left. "Yana Danar here is your helmsman. She's a damn good pilot and, at least according to Master Bro at least, capable of flyin' this tin can in fighter formation on her worst day." He leaned forward. "A claim I plan to test today," he said pointedly.
The woman smiled to herself without looking away from the controls. "Yes, Commander," she said.
"You're up for it, then?"
"Yes, Commander," she asserted.
"That's what I like to hear," he said and glanced at the Endless again. It filled the entire sky before the ship. "Now tell the crew to mind the bump."
Helmsman Danar activated the PA and Kayla heard her voice throughout the ship behind her. "All hands, all hands, prepare to dock. All hands, all hands, prepare to dock. That is all."
Drakhar leaned back into his chair and touched several controls on his chair. A moment later he co*cked his head as if listening to something. Then he said, "H'nt. Drakhar. Are my supplies ready?" He paused as if listening to a reply. "Good," he said. "What about that other...?" He smiled. "Fantastic. We'll be docked in just a few sezura*." He paused again. Then grinned. "Sounds good... What?" Drakhar paused and then laughed. "I don't know. Let me think about it. We'll talk when we..." he laughed again. "When we get back... Yes! When we back. You know, provided we don't all die horribly. Yeah, talk to you later." Kayla noticed Helmsman Yanar raise her eyebrows ever so slightly and sigh, as if dispelling her own anxiety.
"Now," Drakhar continued, recalling Kayla's attention, "as I was sayin', I've given you access to the ship's database. I encourage you to familiarize yourself with her crew and equipment as soon as possible cos I'm givin' her to you... provided you're still interested in... how did you put it?"
"I'm interested," the choker stated.
Drakhar smiled. It was a very disturbing expression. It seemed reminiscent of both wolves and the Split. "Good," he said. "Then learn your ship. I will be putting you to work very soon."
"Doing what?" the choker asked.
"Well," he said and there was a thump throughout the entire ship and all four of them rocked with the sudden stop. They'd docked beneath the Endless' port wing. He met her eye again and his eye seemed to blaze. "Why don't I just show you, eh?" A moment later he was on his feet and leaving through the hatch Kayla had just arrived through. "Danar, you have the bridge."
"Yes, Captain," helmsman Danar said beside Kayla but Drakhar was already gone. Kayla took a breath and focused on the terminal in front of her. She took a moment to familiarize herself with the updated interface and was soon looking at the ship's specifications and current abilities.
It was an impressive ship. It didn't measure up to the Dragon's Heart, of course, but then what did? The Hyperion Vanguard was, for all intents and purposes, a ship in a class by itself. As corvettes went, though, the Skiron was impressive. It had slightly less armor than the Keres, a smaller, but still sufficient cargo bay, and like the man said, it was dramatically less agile. But in all other areas the Skiron was the superior ship, in some ways dramatically so. It was faster and much better shielded. The two ships could support most of the same weapons but the Skiron had more of them, with two guns per turret instead of the Keres' modest one. But where the Skiron really stood out was the weapon generator. The Skiron's generator provided over a hundred and seventy percent of the energy the generator on Keres did, meaning it was capable of completely restoring the ship's weapon banks in just a few sezura*.
I also had an impressive list of equipment. Most of what was installed was common for a top of the line ship but not all. The Salvage Command Suite, which she had some experience with, was both expensive and extraordinarily useful. The Split turbo booster was slightly more common but still a rare item. She'd used that before and knew it would come in handy. So most of the equipment was at least familiar, but some of the equipment was brand new to her. The MEFOS weapon system was a mystery and she was curious to see what it did. She'd heard about MARS but had never had the opportunity to use it. From what she understood it was some kind of combat suite with an emphasis on missile defense. She frowned, shoving thoughts of the Dragon's Heart from her mind... or trying to at least. From what she heard MARS was exceptional at missile countermeasures. If she'd had it on the Heart during that skirmish... she growled inwardly and forced the thought from her mind.
The last piece of equipment was something she'd never seen before. Cartel-Inc. Shield Hacker, she thought, and just what, exactly, are you?
*********
Riiiight.
So there are times when I just find other people's behavior incomprehensible. Take this guy for example. The man has been drivin' in circles around my ship for the past three mizura*. Now he has already conceded defeat. He surrendered his cargo with a desperate plea for us to spare his life. He literally begged us not to kill him. Yet now the man is flyin' around my ship while his single, solitary IRE plinks at us incessantly. What makes this truly mind bogglin' to me is that it is mathematically impossible for him to harm us. There is simply no conceivable way for him to do any damage to us. Our shield generator regenerates the barriers faster than he can stress them. I mean literally! I'm sittin' here watchin' the shield just jump back and forth between a hundred and ninety nine percent. So... will somebody please tell me why!? Why in the name of all that is good and beautiful in the universe does this fool not simply take his life and fly away?
I just don't get it.
Alright. Anyway. It's been a very productive day. In fact, despite the slow start, today has essentially been a nine hour rampage of wanton piracy. First things first, though, eh? So, from Kingdon's End I had F'ght jump the Necromancer back to Weaver's Tempest. Once there I had Odin tie all my new factories together usin' the tubeless construction kits. Yeah, they use transporter tech now. It's cleaner and more efficient, but you know? Sometimes I actually miss those big, ugly-ass pipes spiderwebbin' all over the place. Eh, oh well.
Funny thing, though. When I built the complex I assigned all my sector traders to it so I could compartmentalize the money. As soon as we tied those new factories in they all got automated messages to stop what they were doin' and return home. From the Argon Prime area.
(sigh)
At least they all have jump drives. I'd hate to think about 'em tryin' to fly through Paranid Prime what with the way the 'nids tend to feel about me. Yeah, that took a little while to get sorted out.
Once it was all done I beamed over to the Great Profits to see what Gil sent me. Or rather Hayla. The cargo aboard that disco is apparently for her, and that's where it starts gettin' more'n a little strange. There are four men in cryostasis aboard that disco and they all show signs of recently gettin' their asses handed to 'em. Yeah. Let's just say that I've got this sinkin' feelin' whenever I think about 'em. They're currently still in storage and that disco is docked on the Endless. At some point I'm gonna have to have Hayla identify 'em and... well. If they are who I think they are this could get messy.
In the meantime, though, I collected the Skiron from the shipyard in Legend's Home. When I bought it I had OTAS install all the toys they offer; jumpdrive, salvage command suite, MARS, and anything and everything else I liked. Then I had it jump up to the teladi equipment dock in Ianamus Zura. The lizards have a couple pieces of tech that the Yaki don't. Tradin' extensions, best buy and sell software, explorer command software, that kind of thing. So while it was there I had it tricked out with pretty much everything they offered. Well, everything this side of mark three trade software, anyway. That kind of work just isn't in this ship's job description. After that I jumped it to Senator's Badlands for a stop at the stock exchange.
Right. Why the stock exchange? Well, S'jar t'Chk contacted me yesterday and claimed to have an opportunity I might find interesting. Now, S'jar t'Chk's been leavin' me alone of late and I can't really say I mind... although it has been concernin' me. I know he has plans for me. I just wish I had a clue regardin' what they are. Every once in a while I feel like a pig he's just fattenin' up for the kill. I mean know there are a few different Yaki clans. I know the politics... if you can call 'em that... are nasty and involve lots of backstabbin' and underhanded nastiness. I should really be payin' more attention to who's who and what their agendas are, considerin' how much I've been investin' in Weaver's Tempest. I just feel like I have bigger fish to fry. But every so often I get this feelin' that I'm missin' important details. I'd ask Gin to look into it for me. She's fairly good at the whole invisible recon and intelligence gatherin' bit. But lately she's been... distracted. And that's another can of worms I don't have a clue how to deal with. I just know if she runs...
Hoo...!
Yeah, I can't even think about that.
Anyway, when I dropped by the exchange this mornin' I was met by Mel Gorda himself. And in case you don't remember, Gorda's the fat prick what runs the place. The one that kept me waitin' after I first met with Ho t'Plp? Yeah. Him. Well, apparently I'm somebody now cos when I stepped off the Great Profits Gorda was waitin' on the dockin' platform for me. He was surrounded by all his perfumed little serfs in their form fittin' ballerina tights and trays of food and drink and God only knows what else. Gorda himself was standin' there in this silk kimono, wearin' a powdered wig, white-face with rouge on his cheeks and thick black mascara. He looked like some kind of horrific cross between a porcelain cupie-doll and a nightmare clown. I'm pretty sure I managed to keep most of my... err... incredulity... off my face. Not that I wanted to. My first impulse was to laugh and point, but what can you do, right? The guy's rich, lives on a space station and is the Yaki's resident financial kingpin. Makin' an enemy of the guy was probably not in my best interests. So I decided that the prudent course of action was not to insult the man... even if he did look like a walkin' couch wearin' kabuki makeup.
Right, so after a ridiculous amount of pomp and ceremony involvin' Gorda offerin' me tastes of everythin' on every tray his slaves were holdin'... and one or two of the slaves themselves... he finally got around to bringin' me to the device S'jar t'Chk left for me. Now I don't know if S'jar t'Chk has some scientists tucked away somewhere or if he just has an alliance with someone that does. Either way he managed to come up with a new product he thought I might like... for six million a pop. Yeah... so what is it? Well, it's a specialized interface modification for the transporter called a "Shield Hacker" and what it does is let me beam cargo right off other people's ships.
Ha! Yeah! Sounds like a pirate's wet dream don't it? Well, there's a catch or two but it pretty much is. Needless to say I was feelin' eager to try it out. So yeah! I had the Skiron dock at the exchange and picked up the one S'jar t'Chk left for me. While it was bein' installed I talked to H'nt. First about this new toy, which I want him and Legion to take a look at before I go into pirate sectors and discover the hard way that usin' it causes the ship to explode. Then I talked to him about the crew for the Skiron. Last night I had him put together a crew for the thing and let 'em all know they'd be gettin' reassigned today. He's been essentially "stockpiling" crewmen this past month by flyin' around in that phantom whenever his duties as CAG permit and hirin' crew for me. Then I talked to Gunny about the marines he'd feel comfortable leavin' on the ship. After they both told me they had people ready I sent Weasel to fetch both the crewmen and the marines from the Endless while I walked around my new corvette. By the time he got back I felt pretty comfortable with my plans for both the day and the ship.
So while the crew were gettin' acquainted with their new home I sent Weasel with a message for Kayla and her crew, tellin' 'em to be ready to come aboard in a stazura or so. Then we took the Skiron out for a test drive. It's a good ship. My only real complaint is that it has a fairly sluggish turn rate but on the upside the weapon and shield power is just magnificent. The weapon generator in particular is just... beautiful. Firin' a full bank of eight high energy plasma throwers continuously couldn't drain it. I mean at all. After the crew got comfortable with their stations I got the MEFOS weapon systems activated and began practicin' swappin' between the HEPTs, the concussion impulse generators and the ion disruptors since I expect to be usin' all of 'em today and, back to the weapon generator, the only way I was able to drain the battery at all was with the CIGs on continuous fire, and even then the instant I stopped shootin' the weapon batteries recharged almost instantly. So, yeah. I was excited to see what kind of damage we could do to actual pirates.
Heh heh heh.
Right, so after a thirty mizura* shakedown run around Senator's Badlands we swung by the shipyard and picked up Kayla... where I found out that Weasel had failed to deliver my message properly. I wanted her and her crew. I only got the woman herself. I suppose I should have known better. I don't exactly keep Weasel around for his interpersonal skills. Either way it worked out. Kayla came aboard and we agreed that she'd captain the Skiron.. which we have since decided to call "Nyx," which means "Night" in some language from Earth. Not night as in nighttime, mind you, but Night, like... err... I don't know. If nighttime was a god or something.
Anyway, after we picked her up we jumped down to Weaver's Tempest to rendezvous with the Endless and pick up some supplies like fighter drones, missiles, energy cells, and snacks. H'nt and Legion both said there was nothin' insidious about the Shield Hacker and that it should work as advertised. So I had a brief conversation with Weasel and Lieutenant Bro, the pilot of my Mercury, "Salvage Crew," and got everybody on the same page. Today was about piracy. I was gonna be stealin' everything that weren't bolted down and some what was. Their job was simply to stay the hell out of the way and let the goblins pick up everything either I or the marks dropped into the void. Weasel would also be actin' as a fighter bus for any ships I managed to claim.
Right. So once all that was settled, we were off. I jumped the Skiron up to Elena's Fortune with the intention of workin' the entire pirate alley between there and Hatikvah's Faith. I was also hopin' I might find a few pirates to try out the new weapon generator on. In Split Fire I almost had that opportunity but before I get into weapon range this Argon military minotaur jumped out of the gate and smooshed all the pirate fighters I was after with flail barrage missiles. Oh well. C'est la vie, right?
A few mizura after that we passed through the gate into Brennan's Triumph. Now up to that point Kayla had been focused on the information I'd given her about the ship and crew. But when we hit Brennan's Triumph and she saw that pirate base floatin' off in the asteroids to the north... well, I'm pretty sure the woman stopped breathin'. Then, a few mizura* later, I got the pirates I'd been hopin' for. In the form of a few heavies guardin' a tomahawk throwin' bomber. I tell yah, every once in a while the ten seconds it takes for a jumpdrive to spool up can just seem like a verrrry long time. Just before we bounced a pair of the asteroids between us and those pirates exploded into rubble and I got to see that tomahawk missiles now have armor. The MDM fired three mossies at the lead tomahawk. Two of them hit and that tomahawk kept. On. Coming.
Hooo...! Yeah. Talk about a way to jumpstart the cardio! I tell yah!
Right. So the first thing I did after we jumped into Danna's Chance was find out why the hell the goblin's didn't launch to provide us with a missile screen. Turns out that, for some reason, they had been denied launch clearance. Yeah, beats me. So I remedied THAT little, potentially fatal, oversight and continued on our way. Sheesh! I tell yah. Of course, now that those tommies are packin' armor I'm not sure the goblins would have been able to stop 'em!
On the other hand... I now have two factories pumpin' those very missiles out in Weaver's Tempest. Heh heh heh.
Either way, I think Brennan's Triumph may be a place to avoid for a little while. At least until I'm sat back in the Necromancer with MARS, goblins, MDM, a full fighter screen and my own fully loaded bomber ready to return fire. Hooo... yeah! I tell yah. Blow up a station or two and everybody gets so worked up!
Right. So Nopileos Memorial really was where it was at today. The instant we were through the gate I saw four red brackets about twelve klicks in front of the ship. After a cursory inspection... mostly to verify that there was nothin' gonna throw nukes our way... I decided it was time to give a little back to the pirates. So we crept up on 'em and I bracketed what I perceived to be the biggest threat, namely the blastclaw, and loosed a pair of typhoon swarm missiles at him.
Needless to say, this got their attention. All four fighters turned and immediately began attack runs on the Skiron. Neither the harrier nor the elite survived to try it a second time. The harrier managed to evade the HEPTs but was shot down by the PRGs in the turrets. The elite just vanished beneath the onslaught of the forward guns. The nova fired a banshee but that was intercepted by the MDM. Before he could try another the full force of our eight plasma throwers vaporized enough of his ship to cause his engine to go critical. The pirate screamed something about seein' me on the other side and then ceased to exist. The blastclaw survived the typhoons just long enough to get the same treatment.
With the pirates gone the trade lane was mine. There were even some goodies floatin' in the wreckage. So I called in Weasel and the Salvage Crew to clean up. The instant they were in sector the goblins deployed and began collectin' my swag. I gave orders to both ships, tellin' 'em to take up positions twenty klicks above the center of the sector. I figured that was far enough away to keep anything hostile from payin' 'em any attention.
Since Weasel brought some advsats with him I ordered him to deploy enough for us to monitor the entire sector and once he reached the coordinates I'd given him I told him to drop a jump beacon. That way both ships could jump away to unload and then jump back without needin' to pass through potentially dangerous space. Also, if anything did decide to mess with 'em, I could short jump to the beacon and intercept the threat. So, once all the orders were given I began scannin' everythin' that passed me by. It didn't take long to find a target. My first victim of the day was a Paranid high tech transporter and, well, let's just say this new toy S'jar t'Hk gave me is a lotta fun.
Now I did mention that it has a couple drawbacks, right? Right. Well the first one is that it has a very short range. You need to be close to use it. Very close. Like, scrapin'-paint close. You need to be within two hundred meters of the target for it to work. Now, to us wee little critters who mostly stand less than two meters high, two hundred meters sounds like a pretty good distance with which to work, right?
Wrong. Let me put this in perspective for you: the Skiron we're flyin' is about a hundred and seventy five meters in length. That means, tip to tip, she's as long as a fifty seven story buildin' is tall. So, for all intents and purposes, that means we've got to be within one car length of the ship we're tryin' to steal from for it to work... and STAY within that distance for the duration of the theft... all while flyin' through space at a hundred meters a second.
Which leads me to drawback number two: usin' this thing is a little like pickin' somebody's pocket while wearin' winter gloves. In other words most of the time they notice. Which means the first thing they do when you start tryin' to filch their stuff is turn around and try to kill you. Which usually involves some fairly acrobatic flyin'. Now it doesn't happen all the time... the noticin' bit, not them tryin' to kill you. That part's a given. They always try to kill you. But either way they notice often enough for it to be somethin' you should prepare for.
So-ah, my first attempt was... uhm... entertainin'. The guy was flyin' one a those Perseus M3 variants that look like gold fish. When I scanned him I didn't see anything really interestin' but I decided I was gonna try for those advsats. Mostly cos I've never been able to get freighters to drop 'em and wanted to see if I actually could nab 'em with the shield hacker. But I wasn't prepared for 'em to notice and the instant we started tryin' to pick his pocket that 'nid banked hard to port and pulled up to try gettin' his main guns on us. This maneuver almost instantly threw us off and put him outside the two hundred meter range limit, which aborted the hack. By then he'd turned and was firin' a pair of flamethrowers at us. This apparently upset my gunnery crew cos a moment later that 'nid was bein' hammered by every gun they could aim at him. And as amusin' as that was I still wanted to see if I get those advsats from him... which wasn't gonna happen if they made his ship explode. So I told 'em to stop.
I did decide, though, that that 'nid needed to settle down some. Which, translated, means I shot at him myself. We cycled in the HEPTs and I pounded the snot out of his shields. Then I told him to drop freight. He said something typical of the Paranid so we switched to the Ion-D's and began electro-shock therapy to address his bad manners.
After torturin' him a little while we moved back into pickpocket range. Now his ship obviously hadn't been upgraded cos he was neither all that fast nor all that agile. Which meant that, now that I was prepared for his attempts to shake us, it was actually rather easy for us to get in close again. The trick of course wasn't the gettin' in close but rather the stayin' in close... while not runnin' his ass over.
We managed to pull it off though. He never did drop any freight, no matter how many times I zapped him, but that was okay. I didn't need him to. With the shield hacker it didn't take long before everything that had been on his ship was-ah... on ours. We stole the advsats he was totin'. We stole the hurricane missile in his hold. We stole the plasma burst generators he was annoyin' my gunnery crew with. We stole his frag bomb launcher. We stole two of the three twenty five megajoule shield generators he had equipped. Hell, we even stole his mineral scanner.
Heh heh heh. Yeah. I don't know why but that just tickled the hell outta me.
Now for reasons that didn't make any sense to me, even after the technician explained it, we couldn't steal his last shield. But even so, it was very entertainin'. In the end we flew away from a completely toothless Paranid M3 while the 'nid flyin' it screamed at us until he was foamin' at the mouth. I tell yah. I have never seen a Paranid that I would describe as apoplectic before but I think this one qualified. Dude was smashin' his dashboard and sputterin' curses that I don't even think made sense to him. So it was a good start. I was a little bit richer and I'd annoyed the Paranid.
Now since the Skiron's cargo hold isn't exactly expansive I had the crew eject everything we didn't need so the Salvage Crew's goblins could collect it. Then I started lookin' for another target, which is when that 'nid flew across our bow, still screamin' pure madness at us. So I zapped him with a full bank of Ion-D's... just to encourage him to move along, mind you. Instead he gave me his ship.
"You leave me with nothing! Unholy wretch!" he screams and then promptly jumps clean out of that percy.
Riiight. I tell yah. The Paranid are nuts.
Unfortunately I didn't have the time to savor the moment cos the pirates were back in Antigone Memorial. You know I'm beginnin' to suspect that they don't like me. I checked the satellite feed and got to see a small pack of 'em goin' after one of my mistrals. They were already through her shield and the ship had taken damage. Fortunately the pilot was smart enough to drop all her drones, and it looked like they plus the mistral's six PRGs were givin' it back to those pirates rather handily. Either way I ordered the freighter to the shipyard in Argon Prime for repairs and then laughed as the drones finished off that wolf-pack. Heh-heh. I'd still feel better havin' an attack tiger with a homicidal Split captain to sic on 'em but in its own way this is just as good.
Drones. You know if there is a pirate Valhalla or somethin' I don't think those guys are gettin' in. Which reminds me. Note to self: price drone and advanced satellite factories.
Riight, so with the crisis averted I went back to work. We claimed the perseus raider that Paranid abandoned. Then we beamed the 'nid his self right into the brig. I intend to collect all the Paranid I can. I've got plans for 'em. It's okay, though. If what I have in mind actually works they won't mind. They won't mind at all.
Heh heh heh.
Right. So the next thing I did was find another Paranid to pick on. This one was in a regular Perseus and again it lacked any upgrades. So gettin' in close was fairly easy and this time I was ready for him to buck. I targeted his PBGs first. So he ended up toothless pretty quick. Then we stripped him down to the frame.
... continued...
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