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"My sensors indicate that I am in Sector k5 of the Sedina System where my programming was to become active. The Guide is intended to guide you to the hidden holdings but your membership in and familiarity with CLM is what is really needed to locate the site.
"With that being said, my programming dictates that I send you on your way. A couple of warnings though:
"Do not let the Lens and Globe be separated. To do so will not only require you to reestablish contact between the two but will also result in a completely different route to the booty with a new starting location that could be anywhere in the universe;
"If, at any time, my programming becomes convinced that you are not CLM, The Globe will self-destruct with enough force to be messy for anyone around it. Trust me, the Globe is capable of protecting that which it also reveals."
As the old man finished talking, the map of the Universe grew out of sight and focused on the Dau System. It's planets, roid rings, stations and wormholes were well marked.
Pointing and circling his arm to include the whole system, he continued.
"This, as you know, is the heart of UIT Space. You will not only need to seek the next clue there, but also, you'll have to seek it in the heart of TGFT.
"Find Obsidian and see if she'll tell you what is truly in her heart. If she does, feed it to me."
As he finished talking, the scene vanished and the Globe fell silent.
"With that being said, my programming dictates that I send you on your way. A couple of warnings though:
"Do not let the Lens and Globe be separated. To do so will not only require you to reestablish contact between the two but will also result in a completely different route to the booty with a new starting location that could be anywhere in the universe;
"If, at any time, my programming becomes convinced that you are not CLM, The Globe will self-destruct with enough force to be messy for anyone around it. Trust me, the Globe is capable of protecting that which it also reveals."
As the old man finished talking, the map of the Universe grew out of sight and focused on the Dau System. It's planets, roid rings, stations and wormholes were well marked.
Pointing and circling his arm to include the whole system, he continued.
"This, as you know, is the heart of UIT Space. You will not only need to seek the next clue there, but also, you'll have to seek it in the heart of TGFT.
"Find Obsidian and see if she'll tell you what is truly in her heart. If she does, feed it to me."
As he finished talking, the scene vanished and the Globe fell silent.
Stakeouts were lonely work, but many of Viper's recruits made their bones in such service. One such nameless recruit had enough excitement on one of his to make up for the boredom of the next dozen.
"Station house, I have another departure.. two.. five.. standby.. holy SHIT that's all of them, I say again, all CLM ships leaving the station in a hurry! I need backup at the wormholes to track them!"
"Standby Viper 437, stay calm. Keep your power off to avoid detection. We'll take care of it."
After a few moments the scout keyed his radio again. "Base, 437. They aren't jumping. Looks like about 10km to the naked eye, they're just sitting there."
"Solid copy. Report when there is a change, over."
"Okay they are returning to the station. Does CLM have a history of fire drills or something? That reeked of an evacuation."
"Interesting theory 437, we'll look into it."
Vehement brought a white SVG to rest in a landing grid that was becoming familiar. JahelaJ was there to greet him before he even opened his canopy.
"Lotta nerve you have comin' around here Viper."
"Come now JJ, I know that under that mask is a lady who is truly happy to see me. Can you help me find her?" Vehement gave her as disarming a look as he could manage.
"I haven't been happy to see you since that time I scared you stiff that I was planning to kidnap your wife!"
"Ah yes, we've had a charming history you and I. Is your boss in?" Nolan made an agile landing on the deck within feet of the pirate.
JJ crossed her arms. "You already know the answer to that one, I'll bet."
"So I do. Been nice to see you again." Nolan snagged JahelaJ's hand as he began moving toward Mystic's office, and gave it a dramatic kiss. JJ could only stare; the third pilot inside Vehement was one she'd never experienced.
"Afternoon pirate queen!" Nolan called as he entered her office as if invited.
Mystic almost fell out of her chair. "Everson! What are you doing here?"
"I need a reason?" Nolan didn't break his stride toward her desk.
"I think so.. Let's hear it." Mystic stiffened as the man rounded the corner of her desk. Her first reaction was to try to stay out of reach, but in her rush she rammed into her own desk unintentionally. "Ouch!"
Nolan gripped her shoulder with one hand, securely enough to contribute to her alarm. Mystic's eyes widened with a million scenarios playing out in her head for what he would do next. All she managed to do was utter a sort of squeal in fright as he drew her into a bear hug with a sloppy kiss. "Maybe I just wanted to visit."
"What do you think you're.. put me down! Agh! Why are you acting like PANCAKES?" It dawned on her almost by accident once it was too late to do her any good.
Nolan placed her on her feet and sort of straightened her collar. "He gets a turn too," explained the man, in a tone that sounded a lot more like the Everson she knew.
"He needs to wear a warning label." Mystic scolded, still on edge. Nolan shrugged. After staring at him for a minute, Mystic sat down again. "So what brings you to my station Everson?"
"I was concerned about you."
"Concerned about moi?"
"Yes. I heard a few alarming things about your station here."
Mystic hadn't yet had time to recover her poker face since Nolan's onslaught. "Um..."
"Um." Nolan didn't give her ground for that one.
"You're watching us?"
"We always watch you, you always watch us. You're stalling."
"It was a trick look played on us. He took this um.."
"Another um. You disappoint me Mystic."
"This isn't fair, you cheated!"
"Just tell me what I want to know."
Mystic shut her mouth for a moment trying to regroup. Despite how hard she looked, there weren't any clues on Nolan's face. "We had a bomb threat, so we evacuated."
"Some bomb, you flew out 10k."
"Avalon threat" she retracted, "Look, Everson, everything's fine you don't need to worry."
"What sort of person could get an avalon past you guys?"
"We don't exactly have security checkpoints, I mean, YOU got in here and smooched me. What is your wife's number, I need to ask her-"
"Point taken. It was the globe wasn't it?"
"Where did you put the bug? I thought I could trust you!"
"I wish I'd thought of that. Look's antics alone could net me a mil if I sold copies."
Mystic bit her lip, then gave up and let out a laugh. "So you're using recruits on stakeout again and made a lucky guess."
"Believe it or not your operation here is rather unified on a single goal. I suspected before I landed that the globe sent you running, but I was hoping you'd quench my curiosity."
"How far away from my station is your scout?"
"Mystic.."
"Fair is fair, Everson."
"I'll bet you for it. If I win, you tell me. If you win, I'll tell you."
"You bet?"
"No, but Pancakes did."
"What are we betting on?"
"Whether or not JahelaJ is friendly to me when you call her in here. I think she will be."
"You must want to lose! Alright, you're on."
JahelaJ entered Mystic's office sleepily, her eyes might never be the same after all this time studying notes and runes. It surprised her when she noticed Nolan in the room. "Hey Everson, I didn't know you were still here."
"You look like you could use some caffeine."
"Yeah I could. You Vipers make great coffee in your ready room I bet."
"Best I've ever had."
"Now I don't have a choice in the matter. So what d'ya need boss?"
Mystic pounded her desk with both fists. "Dammit!"
Nolan burst into laughter "Pay up!"
"I don't know how, but you SO cheated."
"Would I do that?"
JJ watched the exchange feeling rather left out. "Boss? Did you need me for something or..?"
"What did he do to butter you up JJ, what has gotten into you?!?"
JahelaJ glanced between the two. "You called me in here to bet on me? What jerks.."
Nolan and Mystic shared a laugh. The pirate queen spoke up "Sorry JJ, I'll make it up to ya later. Thanks for coming in."
Filling in Nolan's gaps took several minutes, but Mystic seemed eager enough to share her excitement with someone. "So you need to think like a CLM for the map to make sense huh? I think you're making that up to run me off."
"No Everson, I wouldn't lie to you."
Nolan chuckled. "Maybe not. I should get going though. Thanks for the hospitality."
"It was nice of you to drop by. But next time, you'll have to earn it before you kiss me again."
"Eh, doubt it would work twice anyways." Nolan left the office with a wink and was off the station in a few minutes.
"Station house, I have another departure.. two.. five.. standby.. holy SHIT that's all of them, I say again, all CLM ships leaving the station in a hurry! I need backup at the wormholes to track them!"
"Standby Viper 437, stay calm. Keep your power off to avoid detection. We'll take care of it."
After a few moments the scout keyed his radio again. "Base, 437. They aren't jumping. Looks like about 10km to the naked eye, they're just sitting there."
"Solid copy. Report when there is a change, over."
"Okay they are returning to the station. Does CLM have a history of fire drills or something? That reeked of an evacuation."
"Interesting theory 437, we'll look into it."
Vehement brought a white SVG to rest in a landing grid that was becoming familiar. JahelaJ was there to greet him before he even opened his canopy.
"Lotta nerve you have comin' around here Viper."
"Come now JJ, I know that under that mask is a lady who is truly happy to see me. Can you help me find her?" Vehement gave her as disarming a look as he could manage.
"I haven't been happy to see you since that time I scared you stiff that I was planning to kidnap your wife!"
"Ah yes, we've had a charming history you and I. Is your boss in?" Nolan made an agile landing on the deck within feet of the pirate.
JJ crossed her arms. "You already know the answer to that one, I'll bet."
"So I do. Been nice to see you again." Nolan snagged JahelaJ's hand as he began moving toward Mystic's office, and gave it a dramatic kiss. JJ could only stare; the third pilot inside Vehement was one she'd never experienced.
"Afternoon pirate queen!" Nolan called as he entered her office as if invited.
Mystic almost fell out of her chair. "Everson! What are you doing here?"
"I need a reason?" Nolan didn't break his stride toward her desk.
"I think so.. Let's hear it." Mystic stiffened as the man rounded the corner of her desk. Her first reaction was to try to stay out of reach, but in her rush she rammed into her own desk unintentionally. "Ouch!"
Nolan gripped her shoulder with one hand, securely enough to contribute to her alarm. Mystic's eyes widened with a million scenarios playing out in her head for what he would do next. All she managed to do was utter a sort of squeal in fright as he drew her into a bear hug with a sloppy kiss. "Maybe I just wanted to visit."
"What do you think you're.. put me down! Agh! Why are you acting like PANCAKES?" It dawned on her almost by accident once it was too late to do her any good.
Nolan placed her on her feet and sort of straightened her collar. "He gets a turn too," explained the man, in a tone that sounded a lot more like the Everson she knew.
"He needs to wear a warning label." Mystic scolded, still on edge. Nolan shrugged. After staring at him for a minute, Mystic sat down again. "So what brings you to my station Everson?"
"I was concerned about you."
"Concerned about moi?"
"Yes. I heard a few alarming things about your station here."
Mystic hadn't yet had time to recover her poker face since Nolan's onslaught. "Um..."
"Um." Nolan didn't give her ground for that one.
"You're watching us?"
"We always watch you, you always watch us. You're stalling."
"It was a trick look played on us. He took this um.."
"Another um. You disappoint me Mystic."
"This isn't fair, you cheated!"
"Just tell me what I want to know."
Mystic shut her mouth for a moment trying to regroup. Despite how hard she looked, there weren't any clues on Nolan's face. "We had a bomb threat, so we evacuated."
"Some bomb, you flew out 10k."
"Avalon threat" she retracted, "Look, Everson, everything's fine you don't need to worry."
"What sort of person could get an avalon past you guys?"
"We don't exactly have security checkpoints, I mean, YOU got in here and smooched me. What is your wife's number, I need to ask her-"
"Point taken. It was the globe wasn't it?"
"Where did you put the bug? I thought I could trust you!"
"I wish I'd thought of that. Look's antics alone could net me a mil if I sold copies."
Mystic bit her lip, then gave up and let out a laugh. "So you're using recruits on stakeout again and made a lucky guess."
"Believe it or not your operation here is rather unified on a single goal. I suspected before I landed that the globe sent you running, but I was hoping you'd quench my curiosity."
"How far away from my station is your scout?"
"Mystic.."
"Fair is fair, Everson."
"I'll bet you for it. If I win, you tell me. If you win, I'll tell you."
"You bet?"
"No, but Pancakes did."
"What are we betting on?"
"Whether or not JahelaJ is friendly to me when you call her in here. I think she will be."
"You must want to lose! Alright, you're on."
JahelaJ entered Mystic's office sleepily, her eyes might never be the same after all this time studying notes and runes. It surprised her when she noticed Nolan in the room. "Hey Everson, I didn't know you were still here."
"You look like you could use some caffeine."
"Yeah I could. You Vipers make great coffee in your ready room I bet."
"Best I've ever had."
"Now I don't have a choice in the matter. So what d'ya need boss?"
Mystic pounded her desk with both fists. "Dammit!"
Nolan burst into laughter "Pay up!"
"I don't know how, but you SO cheated."
"Would I do that?"
JJ watched the exchange feeling rather left out. "Boss? Did you need me for something or..?"
"What did he do to butter you up JJ, what has gotten into you?!?"
JahelaJ glanced between the two. "You called me in here to bet on me? What jerks.."
Nolan and Mystic shared a laugh. The pirate queen spoke up "Sorry JJ, I'll make it up to ya later. Thanks for coming in."
Filling in Nolan's gaps took several minutes, but Mystic seemed eager enough to share her excitement with someone. "So you need to think like a CLM for the map to make sense huh? I think you're making that up to run me off."
"No Everson, I wouldn't lie to you."
Nolan chuckled. "Maybe not. I should get going though. Thanks for the hospitality."
"It was nice of you to drop by. But next time, you'll have to earn it before you kiss me again."
"Eh, doubt it would work twice anyways." Nolan left the office with a wink and was off the station in a few minutes.
King Arthur... King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. "Yes", JahelaJ said to herself. That's what Everson/Vehement reminded her of. She'd read the tales when she was young. She daydreamed often about the gallantry and chivalry that existed in the Middle Ages of old Earth. Happy memories flooded over her for a moment and she reveled in them.
Then, a bulkhead door flew open and look and Flag burst out running towards the docking bay, laughing about something. It brought JahelaJ back to the moment and she headed for her workroom to continue transcribing and scanning all the items they had collected into her kit.
The first item she picked up was a hand-drawn schematic of a chip. It contained measurements that indicated it was about the size of an ear plug. It had come to her from a scientist working out of Pelatus Bunker. He had heard that she was on the lookout for information pertaining to the Globe and had called her half-way across the universe to relay a story to her.
In his quarters, after turning on all the running water and cranking some god-awful music up louder than it needed to be he told her, "My brother designed a chip for CLM and shortly after telling me he had finished it, he was murdered." When she asked how he died, the scientist replied, "We don't really know, he was cremated." Her next question was why did they cremate him if the cause of his death was in question. His answer was chilling; "The murderer cremated him, in his quarters, along with everything he owned and one quarter inch of all the walls ceiling and floor. All that was left was a puddle and a few bone fragments... enough to identify him."
JahelaJ had pressed for more information on the purpose of the chip but the scientist would only tell her it was described by his brother as a checkpoint. He then started getting scared and ushered her out.
JahelaJ scanned it into her kit and added checkpoint and electronic chip as keywords. She then tossed the well-drawn schematic into a metal bucket she had a well-stoked fire going in and moved on to other documents.
She kept this up until her intercom chirped and Mystic asked her to step into her office for a moment.
Then, a bulkhead door flew open and look and Flag burst out running towards the docking bay, laughing about something. It brought JahelaJ back to the moment and she headed for her workroom to continue transcribing and scanning all the items they had collected into her kit.
The first item she picked up was a hand-drawn schematic of a chip. It contained measurements that indicated it was about the size of an ear plug. It had come to her from a scientist working out of Pelatus Bunker. He had heard that she was on the lookout for information pertaining to the Globe and had called her half-way across the universe to relay a story to her.
In his quarters, after turning on all the running water and cranking some god-awful music up louder than it needed to be he told her, "My brother designed a chip for CLM and shortly after telling me he had finished it, he was murdered." When she asked how he died, the scientist replied, "We don't really know, he was cremated." Her next question was why did they cremate him if the cause of his death was in question. His answer was chilling; "The murderer cremated him, in his quarters, along with everything he owned and one quarter inch of all the walls ceiling and floor. All that was left was a puddle and a few bone fragments... enough to identify him."
JahelaJ had pressed for more information on the purpose of the chip but the scientist would only tell her it was described by his brother as a checkpoint. He then started getting scared and ushered her out.
JahelaJ scanned it into her kit and added checkpoint and electronic chip as keywords. She then tossed the well-drawn schematic into a metal bucket she had a well-stoked fire going in and moved on to other documents.
She kept this up until her intercom chirped and Mystic asked her to step into her office for a moment.
Me and Flag raced twards Vehement's vulture, dangpp had been instructed to stall the viper pilot as long as possible with stupid legality questions.
Flag gave me a boost into the ship and tossed me a bag of tools. Working fast I opened the control panel and re wired all the controls. Forward was now up, up was now roll CCW, strafe left jettisoned cargo, reverse engaged turbo, and the E-brake and jump drive activation controls were reversed. There ended up being a few extra wires left over so I just crammed them inside the panel any old way, with luck they might occasionally short and cause random maneuvers. Finally I carefully placed a few old Furby toys I found in the station under his seat.
Mean while Flag was busy "decorating the viper's ship". I hoped out of the ship as flag was finishing the paint job, old earth camo with the words "Will give warnings for donuts" scrawled across the fuselage and he even took the time to change the VPR emblem to say "ignarus nostrum officium unus theca procul a vicis" around the logo.
We ran back to the control room and waited for vehement to leave. He looked at his ship, shook his head and wondered out loud "how in the hell does she put up with these two". Then climbed in the camo vulture, getting black and green paint on his flight suit in the process...
Flag gave me a boost into the ship and tossed me a bag of tools. Working fast I opened the control panel and re wired all the controls. Forward was now up, up was now roll CCW, strafe left jettisoned cargo, reverse engaged turbo, and the E-brake and jump drive activation controls were reversed. There ended up being a few extra wires left over so I just crammed them inside the panel any old way, with luck they might occasionally short and cause random maneuvers. Finally I carefully placed a few old Furby toys I found in the station under his seat.
Mean while Flag was busy "decorating the viper's ship". I hoped out of the ship as flag was finishing the paint job, old earth camo with the words "Will give warnings for donuts" scrawled across the fuselage and he even took the time to change the VPR emblem to say "ignarus nostrum officium unus theca procul a vicis" around the logo.
We ran back to the control room and waited for vehement to leave. He looked at his ship, shook his head and wondered out loud "how in the hell does she put up with these two". Then climbed in the camo vulture, getting black and green paint on his flight suit in the process...
Mystic was still a bit bemused about Everson when she saw a black and green spotted SVG pass by her window. She just sighed...Look and Flag, had to be, she really was gonna have to say something to them, but a giggle did escape as she thought of the look on Everson's face. He loved that pristine white vulture of his. Oh well back to work, this new report in front of her should make a few people happy, it certainly did her. Yoda had rejoined CLM, he had gotten whatever it was out of his system and was coming home. This was something she had to share with the others, she headed out to the break room after messaging everyone on the station to join her there.
Once they were all assembled again, look was the first to speak up. “Ok Myst, whats up?, we all have work to do”
“I'm sure you and Flag have plenty of “work” to do, but I wanted to let everyone in on the good news...btw, nice paint job on Everson's ship” At this all she got was huge grins from them both, and a giggle escaped JJ. “Anyway,” she continued, “Yoda has decided to come home, and I hope it meets with everyones approval but I reinstated him to council..” She had barely finished when the entire room burst out in cheers.
“Bout time”
“Good to hear it”
“Took him long enough”
At least there were no naysayers, everyone respected yoda, he was a fierce pirate and if he had your back, you could be sure he was always there....cross him and you would find yourself at the business end of a blaster fast enough. But time for all that later, “Ok guys, just wanted to let you know what was going on, now JJ how goes the work on the globe, and sorry again for the interruption earlier. Mystic smiled a bit at JJ's scowl. “I went earlier to get some information from someone that heard I was looking, seems this might be a bit deeper than we originally thought.” She paused a bit before continuing, “there was a death, seems it may have been related in some way, but I'm looking for the details now.”
This last bit intrigued Mystic, death was nothing knew in their business, but for it to puzzle JJ so, it had to be something more involved. “Death goes with grey, JJ, you know that as well as I do”
“Aye boss, it wasn't the death, it was how it came about that caught my attention. I will fill you in later, after I have clarified a few things.”
“If its on the books, we might be able to get some information from Everson...as long as it doesn't break his code with the Vipers, he wouldn't go that far, even for a friend. ” she concluded.
“Getting cozy with the snakes eh Red?” everyone turned to see yoda come striding in. Mystic bristled a bit, “I'm not getting cozy with anyone, I sent you the information on Everson, its a strange situation to be sure, but at least 2 parts of his combined self is a friend.” Yoda smiled a bit, “Well no one has ever said CLM didn't have interesting friends, now, let me see this globe, been a long time”
Mystic smiled, “Follow me,” With that short exchange things were set to rights again. Mystic led the way down the hall to the small room JJ had been using to work on the globe. As the small group entered, the globe lit up, as if it too, had recognized that one of their own had come home.
Once they were all assembled again, look was the first to speak up. “Ok Myst, whats up?, we all have work to do”
“I'm sure you and Flag have plenty of “work” to do, but I wanted to let everyone in on the good news...btw, nice paint job on Everson's ship” At this all she got was huge grins from them both, and a giggle escaped JJ. “Anyway,” she continued, “Yoda has decided to come home, and I hope it meets with everyones approval but I reinstated him to council..” She had barely finished when the entire room burst out in cheers.
“Bout time”
“Good to hear it”
“Took him long enough”
At least there were no naysayers, everyone respected yoda, he was a fierce pirate and if he had your back, you could be sure he was always there....cross him and you would find yourself at the business end of a blaster fast enough. But time for all that later, “Ok guys, just wanted to let you know what was going on, now JJ how goes the work on the globe, and sorry again for the interruption earlier. Mystic smiled a bit at JJ's scowl. “I went earlier to get some information from someone that heard I was looking, seems this might be a bit deeper than we originally thought.” She paused a bit before continuing, “there was a death, seems it may have been related in some way, but I'm looking for the details now.”
This last bit intrigued Mystic, death was nothing knew in their business, but for it to puzzle JJ so, it had to be something more involved. “Death goes with grey, JJ, you know that as well as I do”
“Aye boss, it wasn't the death, it was how it came about that caught my attention. I will fill you in later, after I have clarified a few things.”
“If its on the books, we might be able to get some information from Everson...as long as it doesn't break his code with the Vipers, he wouldn't go that far, even for a friend. ” she concluded.
“Getting cozy with the snakes eh Red?” everyone turned to see yoda come striding in. Mystic bristled a bit, “I'm not getting cozy with anyone, I sent you the information on Everson, its a strange situation to be sure, but at least 2 parts of his combined self is a friend.” Yoda smiled a bit, “Well no one has ever said CLM didn't have interesting friends, now, let me see this globe, been a long time”
Mystic smiled, “Follow me,” With that short exchange things were set to rights again. Mystic led the way down the hall to the small room JJ had been using to work on the globe. As the small group entered, the globe lit up, as if it too, had recognized that one of their own had come home.
After several weeks of paperwork that I had to get caught up on ,for the upcoming elections, I was finally able to again focus my attention on regaining the globe that CLM had aquired from me during my time as a "guest" at thier temporary home in Sedina.
The plan was simple I would try and find someone that could retrofit a launcher full of missles with multiple listening devices that I could launch at CLM's sedina home in hopes that one would activate and be able to transmit some of CLM's comm chat to me so I could track where their people were carrying the globe and get it back.
I thought the best place to start my search would be a TPG station since they are responsible for most of the ordinance used by today's military craft. Off to Latos.
I arrived shortly after noon at the TPG station in Latos and docked my X1, and made my way to the armory to talk to their head man.
"Excuse me, I am looking to purchase a special set of sunflares. Who would I talk to about getting them ordered and fit to my Valk?"
"That would be me. Name's Grindus, I run this armory, anything you want has to come through me. How can I help you?"
"I need to have 3 tubes of sunflares fitted with these tracking chips instead of the normal explosive ordinance. I want to be able to fire them at an object and attach themselves so I can track the objects various movements."
"Well, it can be done, but I would like to know what it is that you want to track."
"I would prefer not to tell you what I am tracking as it could end very badly for me."
"Ya, I can do it but if you're not going to tell me what you need it for then its going to cost you double, gotta cover my arse ya know."
"Done,when can I expect them?"
"Hmmm, well I can have all three ready by the end of the week and you can pick them up then."
"Good, will do and thank you."
Now at least maybe I can find a way to get the globe back before it is too late.
Elbryon[ITAN]
Council member
The plan was simple I would try and find someone that could retrofit a launcher full of missles with multiple listening devices that I could launch at CLM's sedina home in hopes that one would activate and be able to transmit some of CLM's comm chat to me so I could track where their people were carrying the globe and get it back.
I thought the best place to start my search would be a TPG station since they are responsible for most of the ordinance used by today's military craft. Off to Latos.
I arrived shortly after noon at the TPG station in Latos and docked my X1, and made my way to the armory to talk to their head man.
"Excuse me, I am looking to purchase a special set of sunflares. Who would I talk to about getting them ordered and fit to my Valk?"
"That would be me. Name's Grindus, I run this armory, anything you want has to come through me. How can I help you?"
"I need to have 3 tubes of sunflares fitted with these tracking chips instead of the normal explosive ordinance. I want to be able to fire them at an object and attach themselves so I can track the objects various movements."
"Well, it can be done, but I would like to know what it is that you want to track."
"I would prefer not to tell you what I am tracking as it could end very badly for me."
"Ya, I can do it but if you're not going to tell me what you need it for then its going to cost you double, gotta cover my arse ya know."
"Done,when can I expect them?"
"Hmmm, well I can have all three ready by the end of the week and you can pick them up then."
"Good, will do and thank you."
Now at least maybe I can find a way to get the globe back before it is too late.
Elbryon[ITAN]
Council member
Everyone watched the swirling lights begin as the globe pulsed stronger as Yoda got closer, as if just by being there, he was giving it energy. Mystic was watching fascinated when the new recruit came to let her know she had a call. Shaking herself loose from the sight, she thanked him and retired to the quietness of the office.
“Mystic here”
“This is Grindus, I have some information you might find interesting.”
“Oh? What would that be?”
“We had that ITAN member, Elbry something here earlier, wanting some special work done, and I think it might have something to do with CLM. He furnished some tracking devices he wants attached to sunflare tubes, in place of the explosives”
This caused Mystic to smile. “Well then you really must do that for the man, of course, with a bit of help from look. I will send him over to see you asap, and will make sure you get a very nice bonus for this information.”
“Thank you Miss Mystic, you're always good to us here”
“Hey I have to take care of the guys that keep the “Fatal Beauty” flying right.”
After signing off with the promise to bring her ship in soon for a service checkup, Mystic went to find the others, they were in the lounge regaling Yoda with all the things he had missed, including Flag and Look's latest stunt with the ship. The former was the first to see her, “Anything important on that call Myst?”
“Very interesting indeed, seems our buddy from ITAN wants to put some tracking chips on us, too bad he went to the very same guy that handles my ship” she grinned. “Look I told Grindus you would come over there to “help” him get the chips ready.”
“I think I have the perfect idea...” The way Look's face lit up almost made Mystic feel sorry for Elbryon.... almost.
“Mystic here”
“This is Grindus, I have some information you might find interesting.”
“Oh? What would that be?”
“We had that ITAN member, Elbry something here earlier, wanting some special work done, and I think it might have something to do with CLM. He furnished some tracking devices he wants attached to sunflare tubes, in place of the explosives”
This caused Mystic to smile. “Well then you really must do that for the man, of course, with a bit of help from look. I will send him over to see you asap, and will make sure you get a very nice bonus for this information.”
“Thank you Miss Mystic, you're always good to us here”
“Hey I have to take care of the guys that keep the “Fatal Beauty” flying right.”
After signing off with the promise to bring her ship in soon for a service checkup, Mystic went to find the others, they were in the lounge regaling Yoda with all the things he had missed, including Flag and Look's latest stunt with the ship. The former was the first to see her, “Anything important on that call Myst?”
“Very interesting indeed, seems our buddy from ITAN wants to put some tracking chips on us, too bad he went to the very same guy that handles my ship” she grinned. “Look I told Grindus you would come over there to “help” him get the chips ready.”
“I think I have the perfect idea...” The way Look's face lit up almost made Mystic feel sorry for Elbryon.... almost.
“I think I have the perfect idea" I grinned as I headed off to get a disguise, just in case Elbryon showed up.
After grabbing some fake serco implants, my sawed down stock less scatter gun and a case of my own home made bourbon I went to find Sharingan. I knew he'd be good in a fight, first he was trained by the serco military, second he did good in the paint ball war we had on cargo bay E.
As we approached the docking bay Sharingan immediatley made for his prom, I grabbed his coat, "This way, if a fire fight breaks out on the station we need something faster to escape in".
He burst out laughing when he realized what ship I was walking towards, an EC 88 with a flame paint job. "You want to go there in a hot wheels free bus? I heard you were crazy but you're INSANE".
I grinned, "The engine is from an old WTD, before they cut the speed back to lower production costs, it'll outrun pretty much anything. And that thing on the roof, solid fuel booster, just in case I need to get somewhere else in a real hurry. Sides I'm supposed to be a freelance nut job mechanic working for Grindus."
Sharingan sighed heavily "You've got the nut job part down. Now lets hope he doesn't recognize you" "Don't worry, he wont" I said as I donned the fake implants and used temporary hair dye spray to dye my red beard black.
I hopped into the pilot's seat with Sharingan already buckled in the co pilot's seat powered up the hotrod and blasted out into the void. "Ok set course for TPG in Latos, and fire the jump engine when ready"
A few minutes later we arrived, "EC 88 registered to Greasy John. you are cleared for landing in space AA-24" flashed on the screen as we approached the dock and the HUD highlighted the space.
Sharingan started to steer the ship to the designated space when I stopped him. "Park there, It's closer to the hallway and it's a straight shot out to space" Shar looked confused, "But we are only cle.." I cut him off again, "I don't give a damn about a parking ticket, It's 500 credits, theres that much in scrap metal floating outside the station."
I gathered my tools opened the hatch and looked back at Sharingan "Come on, Grindus is waiting, he told Elbryon there'd be a delay cause he's hiring somebody a bit crazier than him to take out the warheads." With that we made our way to the shop. It was only a short walk, good thing, might have to bug out.
I walked right on past the front desk back into the workshop area, case of beer bottles in hand. "Grindus, how've ya been?" I handed over the liquor and he immediately pulled out two bottles and pulled the caps off with pliers. "Can't complain," he took a long pull from the bottle "When did you make this batch?", I smiled "Started it about 10 years ago, lets have a look at this launcher"
We walked over to the work bench, he had taken all 12 rockets out of the tubes and partially disassembled one. "These things ain't so bad to put together, but they ain't really to come apart once the warhead is in place." I thought for a moment "I see what you mean,so ditch em and start with empty hulls, they ain't that expensive" Grindus really didn't want to waste the money, but It's better than setting off a sunflare inside a shop full of explosives, could take half the station apart. "Allright but you're paying for them"
I handed Grindus a new set of listening devices, "Here use these instead, I'll get to work on the launcher" The chips I handed him didn't listen on CLM frequencies. Instead they listened to a simple FM radio frequency that will have fake traffic over it. I set to work on the launcher, I pried out the old electronics and re-wired it to fire all 12 rockets at once and added in a transceiver to relay the listening devices to Elbroyn.
I then attached the launcher to another empty one to space it away from the ship. It'd be obvious he's running non standard equipment but the heat from 12 rockets being launched at once could melt his hull otherwise. Little would Elbryon know that the empty launcher had a bug of it's own that should attach itself to the ship once the setup is equipped.
Just as I was finishing up Elbryon showed up, I was hoping to be out of here first. He approached me, "You must be the sub Grindus hired, I'm Elbryon" he stuck out his hand awaiting a handshake...
After grabbing some fake serco implants, my sawed down stock less scatter gun and a case of my own home made bourbon I went to find Sharingan. I knew he'd be good in a fight, first he was trained by the serco military, second he did good in the paint ball war we had on cargo bay E.
As we approached the docking bay Sharingan immediatley made for his prom, I grabbed his coat, "This way, if a fire fight breaks out on the station we need something faster to escape in".
He burst out laughing when he realized what ship I was walking towards, an EC 88 with a flame paint job. "You want to go there in a hot wheels free bus? I heard you were crazy but you're INSANE".
I grinned, "The engine is from an old WTD, before they cut the speed back to lower production costs, it'll outrun pretty much anything. And that thing on the roof, solid fuel booster, just in case I need to get somewhere else in a real hurry. Sides I'm supposed to be a freelance nut job mechanic working for Grindus."
Sharingan sighed heavily "You've got the nut job part down. Now lets hope he doesn't recognize you" "Don't worry, he wont" I said as I donned the fake implants and used temporary hair dye spray to dye my red beard black.
I hopped into the pilot's seat with Sharingan already buckled in the co pilot's seat powered up the hotrod and blasted out into the void. "Ok set course for TPG in Latos, and fire the jump engine when ready"
A few minutes later we arrived, "EC 88 registered to Greasy John. you are cleared for landing in space AA-24" flashed on the screen as we approached the dock and the HUD highlighted the space.
Sharingan started to steer the ship to the designated space when I stopped him. "Park there, It's closer to the hallway and it's a straight shot out to space" Shar looked confused, "But we are only cle.." I cut him off again, "I don't give a damn about a parking ticket, It's 500 credits, theres that much in scrap metal floating outside the station."
I gathered my tools opened the hatch and looked back at Sharingan "Come on, Grindus is waiting, he told Elbryon there'd be a delay cause he's hiring somebody a bit crazier than him to take out the warheads." With that we made our way to the shop. It was only a short walk, good thing, might have to bug out.
I walked right on past the front desk back into the workshop area, case of beer bottles in hand. "Grindus, how've ya been?" I handed over the liquor and he immediately pulled out two bottles and pulled the caps off with pliers. "Can't complain," he took a long pull from the bottle "When did you make this batch?", I smiled "Started it about 10 years ago, lets have a look at this launcher"
We walked over to the work bench, he had taken all 12 rockets out of the tubes and partially disassembled one. "These things ain't so bad to put together, but they ain't really to come apart once the warhead is in place." I thought for a moment "I see what you mean,so ditch em and start with empty hulls, they ain't that expensive" Grindus really didn't want to waste the money, but It's better than setting off a sunflare inside a shop full of explosives, could take half the station apart. "Allright but you're paying for them"
I handed Grindus a new set of listening devices, "Here use these instead, I'll get to work on the launcher" The chips I handed him didn't listen on CLM frequencies. Instead they listened to a simple FM radio frequency that will have fake traffic over it. I set to work on the launcher, I pried out the old electronics and re-wired it to fire all 12 rockets at once and added in a transceiver to relay the listening devices to Elbroyn.
I then attached the launcher to another empty one to space it away from the ship. It'd be obvious he's running non standard equipment but the heat from 12 rockets being launched at once could melt his hull otherwise. Little would Elbryon know that the empty launcher had a bug of it's own that should attach itself to the ship once the setup is equipped.
Just as I was finishing up Elbryon showed up, I was hoping to be out of here first. He approached me, "You must be the sub Grindus hired, I'm Elbryon" he stuck out his hand awaiting a handshake...
"Damit!" I thought as i saw Elbryon offering a handshake to Look. This wasnt good.
Sure Look had changed his appearance, but there was this one thing that could blow his cover. His artificial limbs,if Elbryon saw them he would become very suspicious about him.
I couldnt do anything to intervene either, Elbryon would´ve recognized me instantly, since I hadnt done much to disguise myself.
"You better do something Look" I thought as I slowly reached towards my handgun...
Sure Look had changed his appearance, but there was this one thing that could blow his cover. His artificial limbs,if Elbryon saw them he would become very suspicious about him.
I couldnt do anything to intervene either, Elbryon would´ve recognized me instantly, since I hadnt done much to disguise myself.
"You better do something Look" I thought as I slowly reached towards my handgun...
I finally arrived at the TPG station to pick up my tracking mods. Unfortunately Grindus had left me a message that said he would be unable to fit the launchers but that one of his subordinates would be there to take care of me. I didn't like doing business down here anyways, what with CLM so close, but this station had a very good reputation so I let it go this time. As I aquired landing clearance I hoped I had not made a poor judgement call.
The docking bay was rather busy as I cleared the grav. door and the only parking I could see was right next to a brightly colored EC-88 with a flame paint job. I thought to myself those new pilots are getting pretty bold, back when I flew my 88 I kept it as simple as I could, out here you don't want to draw any more attention to yourself than you need to. I parked my Valk and wandered over to check out the 88. The paint job looked like it had been done as an afterthought but decent nonetheless. It sported one of those hive guns that I had seen look ...no hands use against me several times and I chuckled to myselft "No wonder they came here, you wouldn't catch me dead flying around grey with nothin but a hive ion cannon, they must be getting fitted today with something a little more powerfull. Can't say as I blame them. When I walked around the front I noticed that the docking lock had a parking ticket attached to it for 500c and the ticket was made out to a UIT named Greasy John. Not a name I had heard before further confirming that this was a new pilot looking for a little more bang for his buck. I thought I caught a glimse of someone in the cockpit but when I looked a little closer it was empty. Oh well maybe I'll catch him inside and introduce myself.
I walked into the weapons hanger to see if I could find the sub Grindus had told me to meet. I saw several men wondering around but only one caugt my eye. He was working on a bank of sunflares, welding a full set to an empty hull and the warheads looked just like I assumed they would so I approached
"You must be the sub Grindus hired, I'm Elbryon"
The greasy man hesitated slightly before extending his arm to shake my hand and when he did his handshake was very firm but his hand was cold. I looked down only to see that he had a prosthetic hand. He must have noticed that I looked..
"Aye, thats me John be my name. Lost em the last time I played with live warheads. I gotta say them serco did a good job fittin these new ones for me, lets me still fly and work."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare it's just I haven't run into too many people missing both their hands that still manage to get any real work done."
"John huh? Would that be Greasy John I was admireing your 88 outside I parked right next to it. You got a ticket by the way."
"Aye, that's me 88. I use it to fly between stations for work. It's not nearly as expensive to operate what with CLM flyin around and all."
"Ya I know what you mean. Well can you show me what these things can do for me?
John went through a pretty detailed explanation of how the launchers would work and why he had welded the launcher to an empty, which I thought was definately a good idea. I definately didn't want my Valk melting as I'm trying to get away from pissed off CLM after I launched these trackers at them. He gave me the reciever and showed me how it worked. Pretty simple actually, I would have thought it would have been a little more secure but John said he knew what he was doing so I let it go at that, thanked him and made my way towards Sedina.
Well here goes I hope this will work.
Elbryon[ITAN]
Council member
The docking bay was rather busy as I cleared the grav. door and the only parking I could see was right next to a brightly colored EC-88 with a flame paint job. I thought to myself those new pilots are getting pretty bold, back when I flew my 88 I kept it as simple as I could, out here you don't want to draw any more attention to yourself than you need to. I parked my Valk and wandered over to check out the 88. The paint job looked like it had been done as an afterthought but decent nonetheless. It sported one of those hive guns that I had seen look ...no hands use against me several times and I chuckled to myselft "No wonder they came here, you wouldn't catch me dead flying around grey with nothin but a hive ion cannon, they must be getting fitted today with something a little more powerfull. Can't say as I blame them. When I walked around the front I noticed that the docking lock had a parking ticket attached to it for 500c and the ticket was made out to a UIT named Greasy John. Not a name I had heard before further confirming that this was a new pilot looking for a little more bang for his buck. I thought I caught a glimse of someone in the cockpit but when I looked a little closer it was empty. Oh well maybe I'll catch him inside and introduce myself.
I walked into the weapons hanger to see if I could find the sub Grindus had told me to meet. I saw several men wondering around but only one caugt my eye. He was working on a bank of sunflares, welding a full set to an empty hull and the warheads looked just like I assumed they would so I approached
"You must be the sub Grindus hired, I'm Elbryon"
The greasy man hesitated slightly before extending his arm to shake my hand and when he did his handshake was very firm but his hand was cold. I looked down only to see that he had a prosthetic hand. He must have noticed that I looked..
"Aye, thats me John be my name. Lost em the last time I played with live warheads. I gotta say them serco did a good job fittin these new ones for me, lets me still fly and work."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare it's just I haven't run into too many people missing both their hands that still manage to get any real work done."
"John huh? Would that be Greasy John I was admireing your 88 outside I parked right next to it. You got a ticket by the way."
"Aye, that's me 88. I use it to fly between stations for work. It's not nearly as expensive to operate what with CLM flyin around and all."
"Ya I know what you mean. Well can you show me what these things can do for me?
John went through a pretty detailed explanation of how the launchers would work and why he had welded the launcher to an empty, which I thought was definately a good idea. I definately didn't want my Valk melting as I'm trying to get away from pissed off CLM after I launched these trackers at them. He gave me the reciever and showed me how it worked. Pretty simple actually, I would have thought it would have been a little more secure but John said he knew what he was doing so I let it go at that, thanked him and made my way towards Sedina.
Well here goes I hope this will work.
Elbryon[ITAN]
Council member
That was close, I got lucky Elbryon didn't notice the cut down scatter gun hanging at my knee. Might have made him suspicious as most people would carry a blaster pistol, and that'd only be if they were military. I knew the station master wouldn't bother me, parking tickets aside I paid him well enough.
Soon as I seen him leave I changed my gloves, grabbed my tools and made for the door and then stopped. I had forgotten something, Sharingan. I needed to find a way to sneak him into my ship fast enough for me to beat Elbryon to the racetrack.
"You're not going to like this man, but I need you to climb in that." I pointed to a large red toolbox on wheels. "What? I'm several hundred kilo's how are you going to get me up the ramp?" I grinned, "Don't worry I'll think of something, maybe they've got a lift truck I can borrow or something." Sharingan grumbled but climbed in the bottom of the toolbox and I piled enough various tools on top to hide his appearance.
I hollered to Grindus that I was leaving and borrowing a tool box. No reply, oh well must get going. I opened the door and raced out, slamming the heavy toolbox into the wall across the hall. I grinned as wrenches bounced off Sharingan's metal skull.
Moments later I arrived in the docking bay, and made for my ship. Elbryon was there admiring my paint job. "Oh hello again, you looking for a custom paint job too?", he smiled, good means his guard is down, "nah I've just never seen anybody in a bus use such an eye catching paint job, most people try to avoid detection in them." I hit the remote for the rear hatch and waited for the ramp to lower, "With modern scanners, I'll be on radar well out of visual range, besides the flames makes it look like I'm going faster"
I swiped the parking ticket into my PDA and remotely paid the bill. When I attempted to push the well overloaded tool box up the ramp I found it just wouldn't go. I grunted and got a running start. The tiny casters caught the edge of the ramp and the box nearly tipped over. Then Elbryon spoke up, "Here, lemme help".
I almost died laughing inside, here I was, council member of CLM hiding a several hundred kilogram serco in a tool box being assisted by somebody I had bludgeoned, imprisoned, and shot at not a few weeks ago. "Oh thanks" was all I could manage to say. Together we managed to at least get the toolbox to get started on the ramp, "hold it there for just a second". I grabbed the remote and hit the ramp up button, once the ramp got past level the box rolled forward slamming agents the front bulk head, Sharingan was going to be pissed.
Elbryon chuckled a bit as the box zoomed to the front of my ship. "hey I'd appreciate it if you'd keep this job between us", Elbryon said as he pressed a 100k credit chip into my hand. I looked at the chip, "sure no problem" I looked around for any lawmen, "hey you drink?" I asked as I reached into my pocket and handed him a flask of my Illicit (at least on this station) booze. Without saying a word he took a swig, made a funny face and slipped the small glass bottle into his coat pocket and made for the vending machine, probably looking for something to chase the bourbon down with.
I hopped in my ship and fired up the engines, the ITAN pilot looked over as my engines started. The modified engine was WAY too loud for a normal EC, even the Axia performance model. I quickly exited into the void, set the turbo and walked back to the cargo bay to let Sharingan out, he already was.I was greeted with a flying wrench that twanged off the metal plate in my head, something from another injury. "You better stay out of sight till we dock" I headed up to the cockpit and activated the jump button noticing a valk right next to me doing the same.
We both entered 0-12 right next to each other and I hit sector chat, "race you to the worm hole" I hollered as I fired the engines and left him in my plasma wake. I barley got to the WH 1000 meters ahead of him, soon as I arrived on the other side I aimed for clear space and hit the boosters, The hull squealed a bit from the strain like a submarine that had gone too deep. This time Elbryon couldn't even come close to keeping up, he had only made a few hundred meters from the WH by the time I warped.
I barley made it into dock 40 seconds before Elbryon had entered the sector. Hopefully he wouldn't see my ship in the docking bay. Moments later the inbound hostiles alarm went off, I ripped off my fake implants and went out in my CV to put on a good show, hopefully he wouldn't notice I'd be sandbagging.
Elbryon fired all his flares at once at me, from way too far off, I grinned, "all of em at once, what are you trying to do, kill me?". No reply, I didn't expect one, I boosted at his ship, bus guns a blazing as several other fighters launched. He saw this and hightailed it out to jump distance. "And stay out" I hollered into the comms as he left. I gave the all clear signal for fighters to return to base as I docked. Now to find some voice actors among our ranks.
Soon as I seen him leave I changed my gloves, grabbed my tools and made for the door and then stopped. I had forgotten something, Sharingan. I needed to find a way to sneak him into my ship fast enough for me to beat Elbryon to the racetrack.
"You're not going to like this man, but I need you to climb in that." I pointed to a large red toolbox on wheels. "What? I'm several hundred kilo's how are you going to get me up the ramp?" I grinned, "Don't worry I'll think of something, maybe they've got a lift truck I can borrow or something." Sharingan grumbled but climbed in the bottom of the toolbox and I piled enough various tools on top to hide his appearance.
I hollered to Grindus that I was leaving and borrowing a tool box. No reply, oh well must get going. I opened the door and raced out, slamming the heavy toolbox into the wall across the hall. I grinned as wrenches bounced off Sharingan's metal skull.
Moments later I arrived in the docking bay, and made for my ship. Elbryon was there admiring my paint job. "Oh hello again, you looking for a custom paint job too?", he smiled, good means his guard is down, "nah I've just never seen anybody in a bus use such an eye catching paint job, most people try to avoid detection in them." I hit the remote for the rear hatch and waited for the ramp to lower, "With modern scanners, I'll be on radar well out of visual range, besides the flames makes it look like I'm going faster"
I swiped the parking ticket into my PDA and remotely paid the bill. When I attempted to push the well overloaded tool box up the ramp I found it just wouldn't go. I grunted and got a running start. The tiny casters caught the edge of the ramp and the box nearly tipped over. Then Elbryon spoke up, "Here, lemme help".
I almost died laughing inside, here I was, council member of CLM hiding a several hundred kilogram serco in a tool box being assisted by somebody I had bludgeoned, imprisoned, and shot at not a few weeks ago. "Oh thanks" was all I could manage to say. Together we managed to at least get the toolbox to get started on the ramp, "hold it there for just a second". I grabbed the remote and hit the ramp up button, once the ramp got past level the box rolled forward slamming agents the front bulk head, Sharingan was going to be pissed.
Elbryon chuckled a bit as the box zoomed to the front of my ship. "hey I'd appreciate it if you'd keep this job between us", Elbryon said as he pressed a 100k credit chip into my hand. I looked at the chip, "sure no problem" I looked around for any lawmen, "hey you drink?" I asked as I reached into my pocket and handed him a flask of my Illicit (at least on this station) booze. Without saying a word he took a swig, made a funny face and slipped the small glass bottle into his coat pocket and made for the vending machine, probably looking for something to chase the bourbon down with.
I hopped in my ship and fired up the engines, the ITAN pilot looked over as my engines started. The modified engine was WAY too loud for a normal EC, even the Axia performance model. I quickly exited into the void, set the turbo and walked back to the cargo bay to let Sharingan out, he already was.I was greeted with a flying wrench that twanged off the metal plate in my head, something from another injury. "You better stay out of sight till we dock" I headed up to the cockpit and activated the jump button noticing a valk right next to me doing the same.
We both entered 0-12 right next to each other and I hit sector chat, "race you to the worm hole" I hollered as I fired the engines and left him in my plasma wake. I barley got to the WH 1000 meters ahead of him, soon as I arrived on the other side I aimed for clear space and hit the boosters, The hull squealed a bit from the strain like a submarine that had gone too deep. This time Elbryon couldn't even come close to keeping up, he had only made a few hundred meters from the WH by the time I warped.
I barley made it into dock 40 seconds before Elbryon had entered the sector. Hopefully he wouldn't see my ship in the docking bay. Moments later the inbound hostiles alarm went off, I ripped off my fake implants and went out in my CV to put on a good show, hopefully he wouldn't notice I'd be sandbagging.
Elbryon fired all his flares at once at me, from way too far off, I grinned, "all of em at once, what are you trying to do, kill me?". No reply, I didn't expect one, I boosted at his ship, bus guns a blazing as several other fighters launched. He saw this and hightailed it out to jump distance. "And stay out" I hollered into the comms as he left. I gave the all clear signal for fighters to return to base as I docked. Now to find some voice actors among our ranks.
I had gotten so nervous when I showed up at the station the first time that I jetted all my cargo intead of hitting the launch button for the tracking devises. It ended up being a good thing since I had obviously fired way too far away. (heh maybe I shoulda been yellow)Afraid to get shot down and lose the tracking units I had gotten over anxious. This time, however, I wasn't going to make the same mistake. When I finally reached the old station it didn't surprise me that my sensor reported 4 CLM pilots docked in station, I just hoped that I could get close enough to the dock to fire my *special* sunnie inside. I sent out a guild message over the comm just incase someone was listening so they knew where to pick up my body if this didn't work.
<guild>Elbryon-Ok gents I'm going in if there is anyone near I could use some assistance in case I get fired upon.
I warped to within 2000m of the station and still none of the pilots were undockeing. I thought to myself how this seemed a little bit too easy, but who am I to complain it was working just as I wanted it to so I proceded within the 2000m mark and made bare for the docking bay.
What I hadn't expected was that CLM had fit new turrets to the station and I was immediately being fired upon. Thank goodness I kept my valk light and was able to dodge the slow moving balls of death. The turrets continued to fire right up until I nosed my valk into the docking bay where they could no longer reach me. Again I thought this was too easy but what the hell I fired the transmitters into the dock knowing that at this proximity I would hit, at the very least, one of them. No sooner had I done this than look and Sharingan came into the bay fireing pistols at me so I reversed thrust and headed back outside makeing bare for the jump point.
The turret balls were too slow to catch me once I was at full speed but look and Sharingan were closeing the gap quickly. Having the false launcher limited me to 2 weapons and versus 2 CLM pilots I would need 2 full ships to make it the rest of the way out of here.
Just as I turned to engage the two pilots my proximity warning went off and my sensor registered that ITAN's new Lt. Foo Fighter had just entered the sector. Without so much as a word Foo joined me on my left wing and we engaged the two CLM pilots.
Our valks were faster than their corvults and it showed me moved around them quite well for the opening part of the confrontation. After exchangeing a few rounds at each other we split the pilots and each took one, I on Sharingan and Foo on look.
I had fought Sharingan many times in the past and in his early days with the serco nationalist guild I had bested him a good 50% of the time but since his move to the pirate guild that number had decreased substantially, I just hoped this would be one of my lucky times. From the front his vult was a very hard target so I rolled my valk down to get a shot at his underside but on my way down the splash from his sunflare clipped my right wing. It spun me a little faster, which actually helped me get into postion and I unloaded 4 shots from my aap and law, all of which connected with his soft underbelly. No sooner than I had turned around for another go at his vult he had let loose 2 more sunflares. I dodged the first one with a left drifting barrel roll but that took me directly into the path of the second one which caught me right under the nose, luckily the extra launcher body that held the fake flares took most of the brunt. With my valk hovering around 60% I decided to change tactics a little bit and engaged the throttle fully directly at Sharingan and as I expected he fired another sunflare which sailed right past me before it exploded I hit the side thrusters and came around behind him and unloaded everything I had at him. The vult exploded rightin front of me and the shrapnel pelted my cockpit. I could see his pod flying back towards the station but I wasn't about to shoot him in that condition, I was more worried about where Foo was.
I saw Foo and look danceing circles around each other about 5000m away and I locked look in my sights and thrusted toward the combatants. I came in behind him from an angle slightly below and let loose with a barage from my aap and law but only 1 connected. He must have seen me coming because he instantly turned and started shooting at me, which was a mistake because the next barage fo shots from Foo hit him squarely behind the cockpit.
<guild>Foo Fighter-get outa here I can handle this!
<guild>Elbryon-Are you sure I'm doing pretty well today.
<guild>Foo Fighter-Just go that's an order!
Feeling a little like a scoulded puppy I disengaged and made for jump distance as I hit my jump drive I noticed that Sharingan had undocked in another corvult and was makeing for the frey. I gritted my teeth...I knew I should have finished him when I had the chance Foo is done for. The final thing I saw as I left the sector was another itani ship enter the sector !!DRAZED!! had arrived! I had a feeling it was going to be a rough day for those two CLM pilots today.
Smiling to myself as I docked some time later at the Orion station in Latos. My plan had seemed to work. Today I hope I had made ITAN proud as today I finally felt like I had contributed and now maybe we can get that cursed globe back.
Elbryon[ITAN]
council member
<guild>Elbryon-Ok gents I'm going in if there is anyone near I could use some assistance in case I get fired upon.
I warped to within 2000m of the station and still none of the pilots were undockeing. I thought to myself how this seemed a little bit too easy, but who am I to complain it was working just as I wanted it to so I proceded within the 2000m mark and made bare for the docking bay.
What I hadn't expected was that CLM had fit new turrets to the station and I was immediately being fired upon. Thank goodness I kept my valk light and was able to dodge the slow moving balls of death. The turrets continued to fire right up until I nosed my valk into the docking bay where they could no longer reach me. Again I thought this was too easy but what the hell I fired the transmitters into the dock knowing that at this proximity I would hit, at the very least, one of them. No sooner had I done this than look and Sharingan came into the bay fireing pistols at me so I reversed thrust and headed back outside makeing bare for the jump point.
The turret balls were too slow to catch me once I was at full speed but look and Sharingan were closeing the gap quickly. Having the false launcher limited me to 2 weapons and versus 2 CLM pilots I would need 2 full ships to make it the rest of the way out of here.
Just as I turned to engage the two pilots my proximity warning went off and my sensor registered that ITAN's new Lt. Foo Fighter had just entered the sector. Without so much as a word Foo joined me on my left wing and we engaged the two CLM pilots.
Our valks were faster than their corvults and it showed me moved around them quite well for the opening part of the confrontation. After exchangeing a few rounds at each other we split the pilots and each took one, I on Sharingan and Foo on look.
I had fought Sharingan many times in the past and in his early days with the serco nationalist guild I had bested him a good 50% of the time but since his move to the pirate guild that number had decreased substantially, I just hoped this would be one of my lucky times. From the front his vult was a very hard target so I rolled my valk down to get a shot at his underside but on my way down the splash from his sunflare clipped my right wing. It spun me a little faster, which actually helped me get into postion and I unloaded 4 shots from my aap and law, all of which connected with his soft underbelly. No sooner than I had turned around for another go at his vult he had let loose 2 more sunflares. I dodged the first one with a left drifting barrel roll but that took me directly into the path of the second one which caught me right under the nose, luckily the extra launcher body that held the fake flares took most of the brunt. With my valk hovering around 60% I decided to change tactics a little bit and engaged the throttle fully directly at Sharingan and as I expected he fired another sunflare which sailed right past me before it exploded I hit the side thrusters and came around behind him and unloaded everything I had at him. The vult exploded rightin front of me and the shrapnel pelted my cockpit. I could see his pod flying back towards the station but I wasn't about to shoot him in that condition, I was more worried about where Foo was.
I saw Foo and look danceing circles around each other about 5000m away and I locked look in my sights and thrusted toward the combatants. I came in behind him from an angle slightly below and let loose with a barage from my aap and law but only 1 connected. He must have seen me coming because he instantly turned and started shooting at me, which was a mistake because the next barage fo shots from Foo hit him squarely behind the cockpit.
<guild>Foo Fighter-get outa here I can handle this!
<guild>Elbryon-Are you sure I'm doing pretty well today.
<guild>Foo Fighter-Just go that's an order!
Feeling a little like a scoulded puppy I disengaged and made for jump distance as I hit my jump drive I noticed that Sharingan had undocked in another corvult and was makeing for the frey. I gritted my teeth...I knew I should have finished him when I had the chance Foo is done for. The final thing I saw as I left the sector was another itani ship enter the sector !!DRAZED!! had arrived! I had a feeling it was going to be a rough day for those two CLM pilots today.
Smiling to myself as I docked some time later at the Orion station in Latos. My plan had seemed to work. Today I hope I had made ITAN proud as today I finally felt like I had contributed and now maybe we can get that cursed globe back.
Elbryon[ITAN]
council member
Harpo stayed seated when the com rang. He didn't move at all. It had sounded roughly every thirty minutes for the last 18 hours. 'Must be something going on' he thought. As he closed his eyes and shifted lower into his chair, he contemplated how much he enjoyed vacations.
JahelaJ waited quietly in the dark alcove. The station in Dau was busy but this floor, where the quarters were, was fairly quiet. She had made her way here by pocketing a dock-worker's ID off a tool bench in the hangar. Nobody had paid any attention to a thin man with greasy coveralls and an even greasier beard.
Finally, Obsidian came out of the lift and approached her door. JahelaJ took the carefully sealed cloth out of her pocket and as Obsidian ID'ed her door open, JahelaJ rushed her, climbed on her back and clamped the cloth over her mouth and nose. Their momentum carried them into the sleeping quarters and the door slid closed behind them.
Obsidian struggled to get whatever was on her back off but JahelaJ held on like an Edras Leach. Soon, the struggling stopped as the chloroform and adrenalin did their work.
JahelaJ stood over the inert form and caught her breath. She leaned down and flipped Obsidian over. Raising Obsidian's shirt, JahelaJ was glad she didn't have to deal with a bra. She ran a scanner over Obsidian's chest and located the chip. It appeared to be embedded in the sternum itself. JahelaJ marked the spot with a marker and opened a small medkit. JahelaJ swiped the spot with alcohol, donned surgical gloves, removed a scalpel from the kit and made an inch-long incision, spraying CO2 on the cut to stem bleeding. Then she made a small notch in the side of the hard bone between two ribs and exposed the edge of the chip. She was able to slide it out which surprised her. There appeared to be a coating which prevented calcification. She then, took out a replacement chip and inserted it into the vacant slot. She then rebuilt the missing bone part with a small Serco Bone-foam gun and closed the wound with a Serco skin regenerator. She gave Obsidian another dose of chloroform for good measure and pulled her shirt back down.
JahelaJ looked through Obsidian's room like a practiced burglar. She found some items that would be worth a credit or two and stuffed them in a tool bag she pulled from her suit. She made her way back to the docking bay, returned the ID to the floor beneath the bench and hopped into the pilfered Raptor she arrived in.
When JahelaJ cleared the sector, she radioed Mystic:
<Guild> JahelaJ: "Greasy John to home base."
<Guild> MysticRogue: "Home base."
<Guild> JahelaJ: "I've got a chip in my tooth."
<Guild> MysticRogue: "I'll let the dentist know. Return to base."
<Guild> JahelaJ: "Roger... out."
JahelaJ took great satisfaction of a job well done. Obsidian should wake up with a slight headache and nothing more than a persistent itch on her breastbone which will go away in a day or two. The short-range homing chip now in her chest is a bonus. It will only transmit through 1 system but it will make running from a CLM pilot almost impossible.
JahelaJ put some acoustic guitar music on and set a circuitous route home.
Finally, Obsidian came out of the lift and approached her door. JahelaJ took the carefully sealed cloth out of her pocket and as Obsidian ID'ed her door open, JahelaJ rushed her, climbed on her back and clamped the cloth over her mouth and nose. Their momentum carried them into the sleeping quarters and the door slid closed behind them.
Obsidian struggled to get whatever was on her back off but JahelaJ held on like an Edras Leach. Soon, the struggling stopped as the chloroform and adrenalin did their work.
JahelaJ stood over the inert form and caught her breath. She leaned down and flipped Obsidian over. Raising Obsidian's shirt, JahelaJ was glad she didn't have to deal with a bra. She ran a scanner over Obsidian's chest and located the chip. It appeared to be embedded in the sternum itself. JahelaJ marked the spot with a marker and opened a small medkit. JahelaJ swiped the spot with alcohol, donned surgical gloves, removed a scalpel from the kit and made an inch-long incision, spraying CO2 on the cut to stem bleeding. Then she made a small notch in the side of the hard bone between two ribs and exposed the edge of the chip. She was able to slide it out which surprised her. There appeared to be a coating which prevented calcification. She then, took out a replacement chip and inserted it into the vacant slot. She then rebuilt the missing bone part with a small Serco Bone-foam gun and closed the wound with a Serco skin regenerator. She gave Obsidian another dose of chloroform for good measure and pulled her shirt back down.
JahelaJ looked through Obsidian's room like a practiced burglar. She found some items that would be worth a credit or two and stuffed them in a tool bag she pulled from her suit. She made her way back to the docking bay, returned the ID to the floor beneath the bench and hopped into the pilfered Raptor she arrived in.
When JahelaJ cleared the sector, she radioed Mystic:
<Guild> JahelaJ: "Greasy John to home base."
<Guild> MysticRogue: "Home base."
<Guild> JahelaJ: "I've got a chip in my tooth."
<Guild> MysticRogue: "I'll let the dentist know. Return to base."
<Guild> JahelaJ: "Roger... out."
JahelaJ took great satisfaction of a job well done. Obsidian should wake up with a slight headache and nothing more than a persistent itch on her breastbone which will go away in a day or two. The short-range homing chip now in her chest is a bonus. It will only transmit through 1 system but it will make running from a CLM pilot almost impossible.
JahelaJ put some acoustic guitar music on and set a circuitous route home.
Foo Fighter was fast, I knew I shouldn't have used Orun guns, just not quite fast enough to hit that valk reliably, it'd only be a matter of time before he whittled away my hull. Then suddenly my com rang to life, "I'm on my way now buddy, just keep moving" I checked my radar, sharingan was speeding towards Foo.
"YEEEHAA" was all I heard from him before he charged the Valkyrie AGT and flare launchers blazing scoring multiple hit on the small craft. The distraction gave me enough time to punch up a channel to the station's P.A. system, "turret controle, this is Look, Me and Sharingan are under attack, fire up the turret defenses please, Ista, Dangpp, Come on out and help pass out the ass kicking. Good combat practice."
I had ignored the fight too long, Drazed had managed to get the drop on me. Sharingan was too busy with Foo to help, and the new guys were just launching into space. I mashed a preset message button on my console, informing the crew in the docking bay to ready a Neutron vult for me moments before my reactor went critical.
Ouch, I woke up in the re spawning chamber a little dizzy. I raced to the hanger only to find everybody was back in base. Had the re spawning taken longer than normal? Turned out the turret defenses got a few lucky hits in on the ITAN pilots, Foo's ship was destroyed, sending him back to some station and Drazed took off when it became 3 ships plus a cloud of plasma bolts from the station vs his lone craft, a wise decision, those things are a pain the the ass to haul down here. I grabbed my PDA and punched up an open channel, "Nice work Drazed, leaving so soon?" the replay was near instant, "Yea kicking your ass has worked up quite an appetite, time for a snack break", I coulden't help but laugh at that one. Now to cook up some fake comms chatter...
"YEEEHAA" was all I heard from him before he charged the Valkyrie AGT and flare launchers blazing scoring multiple hit on the small craft. The distraction gave me enough time to punch up a channel to the station's P.A. system, "turret controle, this is Look, Me and Sharingan are under attack, fire up the turret defenses please, Ista, Dangpp, Come on out and help pass out the ass kicking. Good combat practice."
I had ignored the fight too long, Drazed had managed to get the drop on me. Sharingan was too busy with Foo to help, and the new guys were just launching into space. I mashed a preset message button on my console, informing the crew in the docking bay to ready a Neutron vult for me moments before my reactor went critical.
Ouch, I woke up in the re spawning chamber a little dizzy. I raced to the hanger only to find everybody was back in base. Had the re spawning taken longer than normal? Turned out the turret defenses got a few lucky hits in on the ITAN pilots, Foo's ship was destroyed, sending him back to some station and Drazed took off when it became 3 ships plus a cloud of plasma bolts from the station vs his lone craft, a wise decision, those things are a pain the the ass to haul down here. I grabbed my PDA and punched up an open channel, "Nice work Drazed, leaving so soon?" the replay was near instant, "Yea kicking your ass has worked up quite an appetite, time for a snack break", I coulden't help but laugh at that one. Now to cook up some fake comms chatter...
JahelaJ jumped to E-15 but ended up catching a storm in E-12. Her proximity alert went off soon after but she wasn't worried. Storm-bound bots were no match for her in this Raptor. She recalled the make-up of these sectors and decided to throttle-down a tad to keep from nosing up on a big potato-roid. She then remembered that there were a lot of botless sectors in Dau so she punched up her toplist.
"Shit!" she hollered as she spotted Elbryon as the only other pilot in-sector. "How the hell did he find me?!"
JahelaJ saw that Elbryon was only 100 meters from her but the numbers were slowly climbing. She knew that he knew she was here but he didn't know where. She decided to slide further away from his vector and chill until his departure. "If he wants to waste time circling to get a hit, let him get dizzy", she said as she boosted at a right angle to her original heading.
JahelaJ nestled her ship up against a large roid more than 10,000m from the storm exit and waited.
<guild>Elbryon "Hide, pirate scum. I'll find you, take your lens and chip, recover the globe and rob CLM of whatever it holds so dear." crackled over the storm-laiden static.
"This son of a bitch knows way too much", JahelaJ said to herself but she didn't take the bait. She waited.
"Shit!" she hollered as she spotted Elbryon as the only other pilot in-sector. "How the hell did he find me?!"
JahelaJ saw that Elbryon was only 100 meters from her but the numbers were slowly climbing. She knew that he knew she was here but he didn't know where. She decided to slide further away from his vector and chill until his departure. "If he wants to waste time circling to get a hit, let him get dizzy", she said as she boosted at a right angle to her original heading.
JahelaJ nestled her ship up against a large roid more than 10,000m from the storm exit and waited.
<guild>Elbryon "Hide, pirate scum. I'll find you, take your lens and chip, recover the globe and rob CLM of whatever it holds so dear." crackled over the storm-laiden static.
"This son of a bitch knows way too much", JahelaJ said to herself but she didn't take the bait. She waited.
"You always hurt the ones you love.." Nolan hummed to himself. Sleeping on the couch just sucks. And so he volunteered to take some patrols from some of the other Vipers. Space was beckoning.
"Vehement, TGFT's internal security just reported an unauthorized entry into their council's billeting area. We've tracked all departures.."
"And one of them is headed my way. You're the best, darlin."
The Viper dispatcher was caught a little off guard but continued. "It's a raptor, I think you can pick out one of those from the normal traffic. Since you're sweet-talkin' I take it that you're sleeping on the couch again sir?" her accent was priceless.
Dammit. "Basically."
"Good hunting sir."
"There she is." Nolan told himself unnecessarily a few minutes later as a Raptor entered his sector. He was hailing before he even finished scanning the new contact. "Unidentified Raptor this is Viper two-zero, hold your position, I say again, kill those engines now." Oh jackpot, that thing is a hot hull. "Strike my last, I see your vessel is stolen and you're probably not stopping. Final warning, power down or be fired upon." Nolan was already within 1000 meters.
To Nolan's surprise, the vessel slowed. "That any way to speak to a lady, Everson?"
Vehement zipped past the now stationary raptor at 220m/s and executed a 180 degree turn before slowing to answer the reply. "JahelaJ. I know you've got better things to do than snatch raptors, care to tell me what brought this on?"
"Spilling the beans is Mystic's job, you know that. You and she are bonding so nicely."
"Bonding indeed. You coming quietly, then?"
"Yeah, you got me." JahelaJ didn't sound happy, but she knew to pick her battles.
Within a half hour the pirate was out on bail. Unfortunately for CLM it took less than that for Elbryon to call the Vipers asking for help, and Vehement to find Obsidian's chip among JahelaJ's "belongings."
"Sir, I found something you should see." A young tech called after Nolan before he could return to his cockpit.
"That is?"
"This chip you wanted scanned... it has DNA on it."
Nolan frowned. "That is supposed to be surprising?"
"Well no but.. the DNA belongs to one of our allies, TGFT's Obsidian."
A dozen different wheels began to turn in Nolan's head at once. But what should he do first? "Keep scanning. I'm going to call Commander Estenk."
"Vehement, TGFT's internal security just reported an unauthorized entry into their council's billeting area. We've tracked all departures.."
"And one of them is headed my way. You're the best, darlin."
The Viper dispatcher was caught a little off guard but continued. "It's a raptor, I think you can pick out one of those from the normal traffic. Since you're sweet-talkin' I take it that you're sleeping on the couch again sir?" her accent was priceless.
Dammit. "Basically."
"Good hunting sir."
"There she is." Nolan told himself unnecessarily a few minutes later as a Raptor entered his sector. He was hailing before he even finished scanning the new contact. "Unidentified Raptor this is Viper two-zero, hold your position, I say again, kill those engines now." Oh jackpot, that thing is a hot hull. "Strike my last, I see your vessel is stolen and you're probably not stopping. Final warning, power down or be fired upon." Nolan was already within 1000 meters.
To Nolan's surprise, the vessel slowed. "That any way to speak to a lady, Everson?"
Vehement zipped past the now stationary raptor at 220m/s and executed a 180 degree turn before slowing to answer the reply. "JahelaJ. I know you've got better things to do than snatch raptors, care to tell me what brought this on?"
"Spilling the beans is Mystic's job, you know that. You and she are bonding so nicely."
"Bonding indeed. You coming quietly, then?"
"Yeah, you got me." JahelaJ didn't sound happy, but she knew to pick her battles.
Within a half hour the pirate was out on bail. Unfortunately for CLM it took less than that for Elbryon to call the Vipers asking for help, and Vehement to find Obsidian's chip among JahelaJ's "belongings."
"Sir, I found something you should see." A young tech called after Nolan before he could return to his cockpit.
"That is?"
"This chip you wanted scanned... it has DNA on it."
Nolan frowned. "That is supposed to be surprising?"
"Well no but.. the DNA belongs to one of our allies, TGFT's Obsidian."
A dozen different wheels began to turn in Nolan's head at once. But what should he do first? "Keep scanning. I'm going to call Commander Estenk."
Mystic was furious when she got word that JJ had been arrested, not so much the arrest as the fact that Everson had kept the chip. She put in an angry call immediately to him at Viper Headquarters, fairly growling his name to the dispatcher that answered.
“May I ask whose calling please?” the operator asked.
“You can ask but I'm under no obligation to answer, so put Vehement on the line NOW” Mystic almost barked the last word.
A couple seconds later she heard the sounds of the call switching and Everson's voice. “Commander Estenk I...”
Mystic cut him off , “Well you got the Commander part right, now you wanna tell me what the hell you think your doing?“
“May I ask whose calling please?” the operator asked.
“You can ask but I'm under no obligation to answer, so put Vehement on the line NOW” Mystic almost barked the last word.
A couple seconds later she heard the sounds of the call switching and Everson's voice. “Commander Estenk I...”
Mystic cut him off , “Well you got the Commander part right, now you wanna tell me what the hell you think your doing?“
"This is getting old, Boss..." JahelaJ said to MysticRogue as she reported back to the commander's office, "...but I think I have a solution to keep the buttinskies busy."
"I agree...," replied MysticRogue, "...so tell me what's cooking in that devious mind of yours."
"Instead of us coming up with all the answers that Vehement desires, let's have him pester someone else for those answers... Elbryon. He knows way too much concerning our operation. Some, from his interception of our guild-chat but not enough to account for his ability to know as much as he knows. He's been involved in every recovery so, let's make him a pawn."
"Hmmm, I like." MysticRogue said with a wry smile. "Saying that we bought the artifacts from Elbryon would certainly tie both of them up for a while and, that Raptor once graced Itani hangers as well. Let's feed the bait to Vehement and see if he goes fishing somewhere else!"
"Oh, and by the way, have him look closely at processor 63b4 on the chip. I think the CLM stamp on it will boil his oil as well." JahelaJ said.
MysticRogue giggled and slapped JahelaJ on the shoulder. "That's just the info I needed."
"I agree...," replied MysticRogue, "...so tell me what's cooking in that devious mind of yours."
"Instead of us coming up with all the answers that Vehement desires, let's have him pester someone else for those answers... Elbryon. He knows way too much concerning our operation. Some, from his interception of our guild-chat but not enough to account for his ability to know as much as he knows. He's been involved in every recovery so, let's make him a pawn."
"Hmmm, I like." MysticRogue said with a wry smile. "Saying that we bought the artifacts from Elbryon would certainly tie both of them up for a while and, that Raptor once graced Itani hangers as well. Let's feed the bait to Vehement and see if he goes fishing somewhere else!"
"Oh, and by the way, have him look closely at processor 63b4 on the chip. I think the CLM stamp on it will boil his oil as well." JahelaJ said.
MysticRogue giggled and slapped JahelaJ on the shoulder. "That's just the info I needed."
"...the hell you think your doing?" Mystic shouted through the audio only connection.
Vehement paused to try to figure out why Ecka sounded like a woman. His mind caught up after a mild amount of awkwardness. "Perhaps your pilot should have tried to answer that question before trespassing, breaking and entering, assault, and grand theft vessel, Ms. Commander."
"You know what I meant! I want that chip!"
"I'm sorry ma'am, I have someone on the other line. Please hold." Vehement all but punched the hold key just before switching back to Ecka's frequency. "Sorry about that. We found something interesting on a patrol today... a microchip, it has Obsidian's DNA all over it, as if it was implanted in her for a while..."
"Aye?" Ecka pondered a moment. "Hmm.."
"Doesn't ring any bells?"
"Not offhand. I'll investigate."
"I've read up on her a little, from the files yall have shared with us. I can't help but wonder if this is related?" Nolan was leading, and he knew it, but Ecka was usually short of words regardless.
"Probably. Might explain those scars at least. Good to hear from ya lad." Ecka ended the call before Nolan could request that Obsidian give him a call.
Nolan cracked his neck and then reopened the connection with the pirate queen. "What do your people want with a chip that used to be in Obsidian?"
"What's the big idea, putting me on hold for half an hour?!?"
"It was hardly two minutes. Are you having a bad day Mystic, you sound kinda peeved."
Mystic considered another outburst, but managed to get ahold of herself. Everson was an asset despite even his lawful ways. She decided on another tone of voice. "Everson, it is for the globe of course. This is just another hurdle to prove we are CLM. Now can you please explain to me why you confiscated that chip from my pilot?"
"Uh.. yes of course" Nolan didn't expect her to use the sweet tone "the chip had DNA all over it, which is evidence in another case."
"Evidence of what now?"
"The assault case I mentioned."
"Can't you lose the paperwork Everson? Pretty please? I need my chip."
"Mystic.."
"I'll be nice! And I'll be your friend, and maybe I'll let you kiss me again!" Mystic bit her lip a little, deciding she sounded a bit over the top, but it was too late to change that now.
"Let me huh? That isn't how I remember it. Anyways, I'm sorry, but no can do. The law is the law. What I CAN do for you is speed up the paperwork process so you get the chip (assuming you can prove ownership) in a few weeks instead of months. That is, unless the case is closed, such that we don't need evidence." Vehement sort of thought aloud.
"Meaning have JahelaJ plead guilty? Absolutely not!"
"Think about it, you know where to reach me." Vehement closed the connection without urgency. He didn't particularly want to make her quest harder, but she just kept breaking laws to get there..
Vehement paused to try to figure out why Ecka sounded like a woman. His mind caught up after a mild amount of awkwardness. "Perhaps your pilot should have tried to answer that question before trespassing, breaking and entering, assault, and grand theft vessel, Ms. Commander."
"You know what I meant! I want that chip!"
"I'm sorry ma'am, I have someone on the other line. Please hold." Vehement all but punched the hold key just before switching back to Ecka's frequency. "Sorry about that. We found something interesting on a patrol today... a microchip, it has Obsidian's DNA all over it, as if it was implanted in her for a while..."
"Aye?" Ecka pondered a moment. "Hmm.."
"Doesn't ring any bells?"
"Not offhand. I'll investigate."
"I've read up on her a little, from the files yall have shared with us. I can't help but wonder if this is related?" Nolan was leading, and he knew it, but Ecka was usually short of words regardless.
"Probably. Might explain those scars at least. Good to hear from ya lad." Ecka ended the call before Nolan could request that Obsidian give him a call.
Nolan cracked his neck and then reopened the connection with the pirate queen. "What do your people want with a chip that used to be in Obsidian?"
"What's the big idea, putting me on hold for half an hour?!?"
"It was hardly two minutes. Are you having a bad day Mystic, you sound kinda peeved."
Mystic considered another outburst, but managed to get ahold of herself. Everson was an asset despite even his lawful ways. She decided on another tone of voice. "Everson, it is for the globe of course. This is just another hurdle to prove we are CLM. Now can you please explain to me why you confiscated that chip from my pilot?"
"Uh.. yes of course" Nolan didn't expect her to use the sweet tone "the chip had DNA all over it, which is evidence in another case."
"Evidence of what now?"
"The assault case I mentioned."
"Can't you lose the paperwork Everson? Pretty please? I need my chip."
"Mystic.."
"I'll be nice! And I'll be your friend, and maybe I'll let you kiss me again!" Mystic bit her lip a little, deciding she sounded a bit over the top, but it was too late to change that now.
"Let me huh? That isn't how I remember it. Anyways, I'm sorry, but no can do. The law is the law. What I CAN do for you is speed up the paperwork process so you get the chip (assuming you can prove ownership) in a few weeks instead of months. That is, unless the case is closed, such that we don't need evidence." Vehement sort of thought aloud.
"Meaning have JahelaJ plead guilty? Absolutely not!"
"Think about it, you know where to reach me." Vehement closed the connection without urgency. He didn't particularly want to make her quest harder, but she just kept breaking laws to get there..