NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: I decided to take a 1st-person approach to introducing the Colony of Phenia. There's a limited amount of other things I can incorporate into this before it starts to lose coherence so I only ask that you TG me if you wish to join.

1. Nothing Could Go Wrong With This Last Jump, Could It

02-02-09
Captain's Log, Piece Of Scrap
J. Hammer

Wasteland. Nothingness. Void. It just goes on for fucking ever.

That's the future.

Infinity isn't as great as you'd think it would be. Because it's the only part that's infinite. I'm a mortal. Human born and raised. I test my wits against the nothingness, and one day I will lose - it's programmed into my genetics, and although I could transfer my consciousness to wetware (if I really wanted to trust a bunch of corporate hacks fucking with my brain, and was willing to pay to do it) even that won't last forever. The infinite wins. Always.

I'm on a cargo run from Phenia to the only real port of call to go to, our mining station in Sulaxis. The details are readily available, but I can always tell off the top of my head what that cargo run really means - 12,520 in expenses, each way, minimum.

There was a time when you could measure it in terms of profit - take into account your ship (a POS-Class Light Freighter, from the Phenia Security Force trash-barrel) and crew (I have robots, and although they don't give me shit, they still cost) and yield a nice paycheck, just like a steady job.

No more. Now we got pirates. I hate that name - it conjures up images of daring, heroic even, democratic libertarians of Earth lore. It was even mildly humorous and treated so on the nets. Until they got tougher, and important people (i.e., not me) started dying. It was hard to find it funny when they sent videos of hostages being raped and murdered, taunting anyone to just try and catch them.

And they did, but then it was a grim and bloody war of escalating tactics and resources. Eventually they got the worst of the lot - so they tell me. Small comfort when you get raided by a bunch of thugs brandishing god-damned melee weapons, hacking apart robots, destroying them for no reason. Or a buncha stinking stim-heads grabbing everything of value, wiping their junkie snot bubbles on the bulkheads as they leave.

Guess what insurance doesn't cover?

I could and, dammit, will complain uselessly to myself about this for days. But it's not days. Time to make the final jump and then it's to the market I go. Used to be, you could get a decent contract to buy before setting out, but - yeah, then the raiders became a constant factor. Light ships like mine can outrun them about half the times. I've got some other protections I've never used: if you fight back, they are known to simply destroy you.

I'm lucky to never have been cut up too bad. Eye-gouging was something the first pirate was known for. The video he posted was called EYE GOUGE FUCK YOU. You could still find it if you really wanted. It was a big deal for me in high school.

Ah, the good times. But this ore isn't going to sell itself. Already my stomach is churning at the prospect of having to haggle and barter just to make ends meet. At least I can be fairly certain that there won't be an ambush at this last jump point, there's a PSF defense station in a higher orbit. There's that much, at least...

" Anything that can possibly go wrong, does."

-Murphy

Prosperity
Apollo Class Cruiser
Ghost Marches,
Raumreich Oversector

The Raumreich Oversector is a vast region of space, its Inner Marches are populated by strong nation-states whose important systems are connected by a wormhole network. These powerful states were united through a League that would ensure mutual cooperation born from the political and military realties after devastating wars. Yet, for as stable as things in the Inner Marches, on the fringe of the region now existed in increasing numbers the consequences of those conflicts. Former soldiers, with their guns and ships, people who were on the losing sides, had to leave their homes either by force or choice to scratch out an existence wherever and however they could. To some back in their homelands they would be considered patriots to most they were called what they were, Pirates.

Thomas Flannigan used to be a full Commander in the Concordat Space Navy, a combat veteran of the Great March War. He was a god fearing man, commended for his valor and devotion to duty. He had a family, wife and kids, he had almost earned enough years in service to retire, with enough earned credits to ensure his children’s education. All that changed suddenly when violent explosions claimed his home and the Concordat became the Protectorate. He like some others choose not to serve this new government but to resist it. He and those with him that tried lost. Now they fled to the places no Raumreich power cared enough to follow. He and his crew on what was left of his ship would survive how ever they could.

Today that meant ambushing an ore freighter, one from a distant nation ludicrously far from the Raurmeich. Which is why this job would be so successful, nobody would think it was them. The freighters navigational computer was infected with a malware virus. The worm changed a few lines of code that would change its expected location to this nameless barren system on the verge oblivion.

“Skipper, They should be arriving soon.” his former operations office told him.

“Well lets get ready to greet our guest then.”

He made the necessary orders to ready his ship, Intimidation was his goal here, the mark should surrender quickly and quietly and they wouldn’t lose anything but cargo.

The Enterprise-Class Starship Sentinel, and her six ship task group dropped out of warp. They were in a barren system, strange readings could be detected coming from the systems star as they moved forward at impulse.

There was a shower of sparks and the emergency alarm sounded, notices flashing on half a dozen displays, like red flashes of pain. My ship was in pain! And so was I, for that matter, but I knew that scalp wounds looked worse than they were.

But there wasn't any fire, and I looked to be in no immediate danger. My heart practically stopped however, as I realized two things. One, there was a mean-looking and completely unknown Unregistered ship within spitting distance.

Second, unless my optics AND gravimetrics were hallucinating several uninhabited planets and a faint star together, I was nowhere near Sulaxis...

Even before the rest happened I flooded the mining laser capacitors and tried to get a decent lock. Why? Why? Well, sometimes you panic. Sometimes you accidentally jump into an uncharted star system and are stranded there by your damaged FTL and faced with an unknown raider-

-No, not sometimes. Never. You don't just mis-jump into a pirate ambush; far too much coincidence and it adds up to a trap. Sabotage? Assassination? My first instinct was to defend myself and that was exactly what I intended to go with!

OOC: Hope you don't mind me taking part, I've been advised to make sure, if so I'll have my ships be on other side of the star out of sensor range, about a few light hours, and I'll only come and help if/When you send a distress call.

Prosperity
Apollo Class Cruiser
Ghost Marches,
Raumreich Oversector

"Skipper FTL/I exclusion zone established they wont be able to escape." Several of the old CSN superluminal denial drones were deployed they prevented the arrival or escape of anything within six light minutes. "Their coms should also be jammed unless they are in LOS, they will be able to receive and transmit to us." His old XO reported he had just finished when his tactical officer reported.

"Skipper they are charging the capacitors for their mining lasers. Tact assess it at moderate threat."

"Understood, target those hard points with PD Laser clusters, fire on my mark, open a channel to our friend."

"Live mike sir," The communications officer reported.

"Ahoy Vessel. Welcome to the Raumreich, you are under our guns do not resist. Your ship and cargo are now property of the Republic. Comply and you will not be harmed, you will even get free airfare to Yetti's Star." This territory on the fringe of the Inner Marches was much like Las Vagas on old Earth. "Don't do anything stupid, we are good at being bad guys."

Flanagan and his crew were former soldiers forced to flee their homeland because they lost a war. They were not murderers, rapists, or psychopaths. They were thieves, scavengers, and bullies. But with an 800 meter, 140,000 ton warship they could be, If the freighter surrendered a prize crew would be sent over and all the man would lose is his ship and cargo.

If he fired those lasers or attempted to flee he would lose much more.

“Gravitic Footprints!” The gravimetric sensors was the long range detection systems employed by the ship, “Tonnage suggests four to six vessels, 2 light hours distance bearing 0250 by 72.” Who ever had arrived in the system was hours way even at light speed. His crew would have plenty time to secure the hauler ahead of them, and get underway long before the interlopers could arrive. And if not who ever it was would be in for a few nasty surprises. He was not here alone and he always prepared for the worst, just in case Protectorate warships found them.

Even as they charged I realized it was less than completely useless. Oh, my 30 MW mining lasers could cut through the pirate's hull real good.... in about four months. The ship massed over 140,000 tons and it appeared to be all warship. I could still blind some of its sensors, but not all, and in a fight I would die.

Sigh.

I switched off the alarm sounds. Oh, not the alarms. And I didn't actually fix anything. But that bloody sound was not helping.

Then I heard the radio transmission. I replayed the recording when it was done to catch the first. "...ship and cargo are now property of the Republic. Comply and you will not be harmed, you will even get free airfare to Yetti's Star. Don't do anything stupid, we are good at being bad guys."

I tried to think of a snappy comeback.

I fumed silently, and even as my heart pounded I tried to think rationally. Why would anyone conspire to kill me? Ah, but to steal the entire ship. The cargo is insignificant really, but the ship is worth a few million in parts.

The 'Republic' and 'Raumreich' they mentioned didn't fool me for a second - they were pirates, not government. Governments don't go around robbing guys like me all in one dramatic swoop. They let you live, economically - and bleed you, day after day, for the rest of your life. Raiders want it all right now.

Send a distress call? I looked balefully at the emergency transmitter, but only for a moment. Even in familiar territory the PSF can respond to a distress signal days or even weeks after receiving it. I seem to be in the ass-end of nowhere, being threatened exile and poverty....

I decided not to respond. Just let them go on talking at me. The capacitors finished charging and sat patiently waiting next to the mining lasers. The lasers do not so much as prepare to move. They can wait forever. So can I.

They knocked out my FTL drive. Maybe they knocked out my communications too! I can't hear you, mister pirate, or perhaps I just cannot respond. Hell, maybe my scalp just isn't bleeding, I'm unconscious where I am.

I sit quietly for tense moments.

OOC: MAY I JOIN?
IC:
suddenly over all frequencies came the roar of propeller airplane engines and a loud voice "hay pirates, get off that cargo ship its ours now!"shouted the voice in a thick Scottish accent"

and it appeared a huge zeppelin shaped spaceship, with four deceivingly small engine pods jutting out of the red canvas hull, it swung round and stopped on the other side of the cargo ship to the pirate cruiser, its huge shape holding perfectly still the emblem of the pacifica pirates on its tail

OOC - NERV, I think your entry just doesn't fit in with anything else..
All - this is going slow and I am sorta tired of the 1st person non-political aspect. I have a new idea about space pirates which I will probably also do.

yeah it was a busy work week, I will post soon today or later tonight. I like to get a reply up within a day of posting but havent quite managed that this last week sorry. But yeah will get something up within the day.