The Dogtown Run: Part 1/4
04 Nov 2020JB Threepwood
Our pilots were milling around, chatting amongst themselves when I walked onto the station's viewing deck. I had asked them all to get at least 7 hours sleep, here at the station, before we set out on today's job. The guys looked well rested, too early to be drunk and there was a bit of a buzz amongst them in anticipation of the work ahead of us.As my copilot, Panza, and I walked up to them I could smell the Hundred Jump Joe* that most of them were drinking.
[*Hundred Jump Joe- Very strong coffee]
"Alright," I announced to calm the chatter as I switched on my datapad. "We all here?"
My smugglers looked around themselves to see if they noticed anyone missing. I dragged my finger down the list of names to see if I could see if anyone wasn't there. All present and correct.
This was going to be a good ol' fashioned convoy run. We'd been hired by a gang in the Wolfberg System to transport just under a thousand tonnes of weaponry to Dogmaa Station.
The guys hiring us, a bunch of long haired revolutionaries led by a guy named Jeremiah, were stood in the corner. All in long leather jackets and patiently waiting for me to start.
"Right then, this is the run from Alpha To Omega*...
Briggs, Cooper and Davis are taking out the Lucky Trucks*, Briggs has the Front Door*, Davis has the Back Door* and Cooper's sat in the Rocking Chair*.
Hopper and Deezer are the Bandits* out in the two Tw'underbirds*, I want Diego and Wazza watching our Donkey* out in the Jessies* whilst The Tin Man* and I take the Bennies* out in their Backpack*.
This is a straight forward Trip To The Zoo*, we're Eastbound And Down* to Dog Town*... Fingerprint* the Boomsticks* then Turn And Burn* back to Grandma's House*. We're Bobtailing* back so no hanging around... Keep The Left Door Shut* and we'll be done in no time."
[*Alpha To Omega- From collection to delivery]
[*Lucky Trucks- Lakon T7s]
[*Front Door- Lead ship in a convoy]
[*Back Door- Last Ship in a convoy]
[*Rocking Chair- Any ship, other than front or back door, in a convoy]
[*Bandit- B.A.N.D.I.T. (B)ait (AN)d (DI)straction (T)eam]
[*Tw'underbirds- Eagles]
[*Donkey- Your tail, anything behind you]
[*Jessies - Gunships]
[*The Tin Man- Panza, an android I modified to be my copilot]
[*Bennies- Benefactors]
[*Backpack- Adder]
[*Trip To The Zoo- Smuggling job (Zoo = 200... the speed needed to avoid being scanned)]
[*Eastbound And Down- Carrying illicit cargo]
[*Dog Town- Dogmaa Station, Wolfberg System]
[*Fingerprint- Load/Unload]
[*Boomsticks- Guns]
[*Turn And Burn- A fast return journey]
[*Grandma's House- A gang's home station]
[*Bobtail- An empty cargo ship]
[*Keep The Left Door Shut- Don't make any stops on the journey]
The team nodded in unison then left to get ready for the job. I took the hip flask from my inside pocket, took a swig then Panza and I went over to Jeremiah and his boys.
We stood looking through the large viewing windows that looked out onto the station's huge docks. We watched the landing pads as the gang's Rat Rockets*, most of them Swing-Wings*, dropped below the surface and were replaced by the ships that would be used for the job.
[*Rat Rocket- A fast ship that is left to look worn down and beat-up so it's speed is underestimated]
[*Swing-Wings- Keelbacks]
From the window I could see Jeremiah's Adder as it raised to the surface.
"What, in the sweet name of fuck, is that?" I whispered to Panza as the yellowy-green ship came into view. It's gaudy paint job and badly modified bodykit stood out a mile compared to Uncle Jim's* inconspicuous fleet.
[*Uncle Jim/ Sneaky Jim/ Old Sneaky- Slang terms for Jamaica Inn Movement, smuggling faction]
"She's a beauty, is she not?" asked Jeremiah with misplaced pride glowing on his face.
She's a fucking pig, I thought as I looked at the abomination.
"Well, we don't really ride Chicken Trucks* in our line of work," I said as tactfully as I could manage. "Hopefully that... beauty... won't attract too much attention."
[*Chicken Truck- A flashy ship with shiny paint and bodykit]
I lead Panza down towards the docks. Panza wore his battle helmet when we were around clients, they could get a bit jumpy about an android copilot.
"It's a good job this lot are paying a lot of money for this run," I said to Panza, "I'd have charged extra if I knew we were having to fly that ugly piece of shit."
Once aboard Jeremiah's ship, The Bone Breaker, I waited whilst Jeremiah and his cronies got themselves settled into the passenger cabin. Panza sat in the copilot's seat and turned to face me.
"I know, mate," I preempted as I powered the ship up... little lights around the window lit up, illuminating a wash of shite and bric-a-brac that cluttered the console. I struggled to think what I found worse, the exterior or interior of this dog-shit ship.
The only saving grace was a little Saint Malverde* bobblehead, nodding away. You'd often see the same on Uncle Jim ships... a lot of the lads had tattoos of him too.
[*Saint Malverde- Patron Saint of Sinners. Jesus Malverde]
Our pilots had been using our own comms units for years, they only work within the same system but were low-tech so most law enforcement never bothered monitoring this type of communications.
I took the hand-held comms unit out and spoke to the rest of the convoy;
"Ok, get 'em up in the air. I'm gonna go up ahead and Shake The Bushes*. Raise 'em up and roll 'em out."
[*Shake The Bushes- Go ahead to scout for law enforcement]
I got a rally of "10-4*"s back from the other pilots.
[*10-4- Affirmative]
I took Jeremiah's disgusting turd of a ship off the pad. As I pushed The Hammer* forward I passed over the rest of the convoy, watching their engines light up as I coasted by.
[*The Hammer- The Throttle]
The Eagles first, their job was to draw Bears* away. Then the Gunships to protect the T7s. Finally the T7s themselves lifted from their pads.
[*Bears- Law Enforcement]
"They all seem to be falling in line, boss," announced Panza as he looked at the external cameras.
After plotting the first jump into the Nav Screen, I Put The Hammer Down* to power out of the slot. Looking at the HUD I watched the speed go up into the high 200s.
[*Put The Hammer Down- Full Throttle]
I was surprised this piece of crap had a Tiger Engine*... that would at least be useful later on.
[*Tiger Engine/ Tiger In Your Tank- Ship whose base speed can go above 200 without boosting... Got it from the zoo]
"Right then, mate" I said to Panza, "Let's get these wagons rolling."
The team I'd taken were all experienced Bicentennial Men* so, as I boosted out of the slot the team followed suit... each of them boosting out too, simply as a point of pride.
[*Bicentennial Man- Smuggler. One who goes over 200]