Third time's the charm.
17 Aug 2022Batterybun
///START OF RECORDING ///Captain's Log [17073308201451]
========================================================
//DATE: 17th of August, 3308 [20:14:51 UCT]
//LOCATION: AILUREMOWO B5| AILUREMOWO| INNER ORION SPUR
//
//COMMANDER: Saryn "Batterybun" Bathory
//SHIP: CHARVETTE [FD-CRV]
//
========================================================
I returned to bubble after my week of battle in HIP 22460 where Instead of fighting against the dangerous xeno threat, I turned my sights towards my own kin. I enlisted in numerous conflict zones in the human bubble, hunted for bounties, cleared settlements out of squatters and today, I was hunting for a known pirate that was hiding in Ailuremowo.
I found the cretin's location from a small planetside agricultural settlement after a while of combing through various signals in the system and landed on the planet.
I was expecting a welcoming party, as the sensor array in my Hud blinked franticly, informing me of several hostile targets directing their fire towards my position. Small arms fire however, did not suffice to make a difference against a engineered shields of my combat ready corvette.
Landing gear locked to place into the planetary surface and with my worn magboots whirring, I made my way down the boarding ramp into the airless exterior.
As the boarding ramp closed and locked with a small hiss, the ship bathed in the light of the rippling forcefield denying the small arms fire outside in making it's way into it's target, and in the light of the rising sun past the horizon. It would almost be serene and peaceful, if not under concentrated fire of a dozen poorly trained pirates.
I unracked my trusty Manticore Executioner, activated my shields and jetboosted myself above the approaching mass of pirates and opened fire.
Couple well placed shots were enough to immobilize the pirates for good, with my targeting sensors repeating the phrase "Target shields offline... Target destroyed" repeatedly. As the last few pirates were left, I saw a vulture dropping around six units of heavily armed reinforcements to the surface.
I dealt with the remnants of the 'original' group and shifted my focus to the new batch, that was quickly reinforced again directly to the opposite side of me from where I was engaging the first set. Like a sitting duck I sat in a crossfire.
[INCOMING MESSAGE]
My suit's commlink flared up with the robotic female voice telling about an incoming message, with the same notification shown as a pop up in the center of my hud. "Not the best time for messages, kind of busy" I grunted and dismissed the notification, focusing myself into the group that would soon surround me.
a moment of gunfire, agile jetpack jumping around the compound and couple close calls, i pulled my trigger for the last time on the last of the reinforcements.
Sensor reading showed only one biological signal coming from the hab-building in the settlement and I knew, that the signal was the target I had came here for. Rowen norton, a second rate pirate that has been terrorizing the local systems in here. Nobody special, but with a bounty on his head, it pays the bills.
[INCOMING MESSAGE]
I opened the message and could read the first letters at best, as the hab-building's door opened and Rowen shot towards my direction. The pirate seemingly had spent more time barking orders or sitting in a cockpit than holding a gun. I however, had done both bit more, resulting to his shot missing me by several feet and my shot hit him in central mass.
Rowen started to limp back in to the hab building, most likely planning to lock the doors and wait until help arrived. or he bled out). I took aim and squeezed the trigger... *click* no ammo.
*click* *click* *click*
I racked the rifle to my back and unholstered my sidearm, as I walked towards the limping pirate in the airlock. The airlock doors closed and Rowen made a sigh of relief and turned towards the doors, seeing me and the sidearm's barrel.
"Who are you, a mercenary? A bounty hunter? no?.... name your price, I'll triple it" the pirate whimpered before a small blast was produced by the manticore tormentor in my hand.
I scanned the corpse of the pirate to confirm it to be the former target and the read the two messages thrown into my comms link in the worst possible moment.
I gasped as I read the first message
Congratulations, Commander. In recognition of your extraordinary successes the Pilots' Federation has awarded you the rank of Elite.
followed by the second message from same sender: the pilots' federation.
Congratulations, Commander - you are now one of the few pilots to have earned the rank of Elite in the fields of combat, trade and exploration.
In recognition of this achievement, the Pilots' Federation has awarded you a special crest, given only to those who earn triple Elite.
I closed the message overlay and gazed at the corpse.
"Who am I?..." I said somberly...
"I am now Elite"