A ship with no name
26 Apr 2019Rikki Sixx
Touching down gingerly at Vess Landing in Quiablinja, I saw the faces of the groundcrew through my shattered canopy. Their grinning faces were distorted by the cracked, ruined glass as they pointed at my battered, as-yet-unnamed ship.I've heard from wizened old pilots that flying a ship without a name brings bad luck. I put their superstitions down to too many hours in zero-G or huffing too many fumes from their gnarly old ships, but maybe there is some truth in it. Or maybe I'm just a terrible combat pilot.
---
I'd picked up an Asp Explorer a week or two ago after a spectacular run of good luck. The upgrade was possible sooner than I'd expected, thanks in part to running some deliveries with CMDR Badd Mongo around Ondi. We were vastly overpaid, and I'd heard of a customer-starved shipyard in the middle of nowhere running a big sale. Climbing into my new Asp Explorer I took off before the dealer realised he'd undercharged, and that old superstition briefly popped into my head.
"Flying a ship without a name is bad luck"
My own spell of good luck continued; I made some excellent deals on the commodities market, ran off some would-be attackers looking to take my cargo and even took some of theirs. I was hired for easy, profitable missions to help with election efforts around Hayimshis. It was all roses.
My Explorer was running like a dream and my few upgrades were performing well. I was ferrying some cargo back to Vess Landing when I dropped in at the Quiablinja Nav Beacon to take a break and soak up some rays from the big, yellow star. The beacon was pretty busy, mostly traders coming and going.
Watching other ships come and go - some solo and some in wings - I noticed laser bursts flickering in the distance. System security had arrived to deal with an incident which had turned into a firefight. Moving closer I scanned one of the ships; he had a bounty. A large bounty.
I deployed my hardpoints, gave the security ships plenty of space and joined the fray. The criminal tried to flee but his ship was quickly reduced to shrapnel even as his wingmates barreled in to help him. I dutifully scanned each one before opening fire, wary of security services on the scene. Within a minute or two the fight was over; system security scanned any onlookers and continued to buzz around the Nav Beacon.
Moments later another firefight was raging, this one breaking out close enough that I could scan the combatants from where I was already drifting. I even had chance to use my Kill Warrant Scanner, again firing at those with bounties while security vessels did most of the heavy lifting. As the offenders were reduced to smouldering debris I took my chance to pick some scraps from the battlefield, including canisters of gold and palladium.
That's when my luck ran out.
A security ship pinged me and placed a bounty on me for picking up the salvage. Swearing under my breath, I watched them leave the area. Then I came under fire.
An Imperial Clipper had thrown some idle threats my way and was demanding the valuables I was now carrying. I turned and fired back, which I now realise was a mistake. With no support from security it was a harder battle than I'd faced in my Explorer. I hadn't realised the size of Clippers until this one shrieked past me.
My shields dropped, right around the time I broke through his. It was a close fight that seemed to go on forever, but I slowly got the better of him. Whether it was the last drops of my good luck, or the knowledge that I was close to losing have a million credits in bounty on top of the rebuy costs of my unnamed ship, I clawed my way ahead. I got some distance, turned and gave one last barrage.
The destruction of a beautiful Imperial Clipper was a sad sight, but it was him or me - and my hull was down to 7%. My shields came back online and I made my exit.
I've since learned how well armoured and armed a Clipper can be. In the hands of a competent pilot I wouldn't have stood a chance. I'd called ahead to Vess Landing to have repair crews on standby, but none of them believed me when I spoke of the Clipper.
The payday from my outing was incredible, even with my own bounty to pay. I bought a round of drinks for the repair team, but couldn't shake how close I'd come to being space-dust.
I think it's time to name my ship.