Chapter 17. Wars and Ghosts
31 Oct 2020Black Llama
October 30, 3306Vaucanson Hub, Zandu system
The political climate in the Zandu system is once again getting hotter than I would like. In the last few days, Flotta Stellare has expanded into the system; they fought and won a war against the Nandh Purple Allied Interstellar corporation. And as soon as that conflict was over, the Star Chasers took advantage of an improvement in their position due to an economic boom, and renewed their civil war against Zandu Jet Comms Inc over control of the Frimout Horizons orbital outpost.
As I arrived back from LFT 625, after I decided to quit the initiative to support the Marlinists, the war between Flotta Stellare and Nandh Purple Allied Interstellar was at its peak, with active fighting only half a lightsecond away from Vaucanson Hub. This time Skinner and I played it smart, and though we took the opportunity to profit from both sides we managed to end up in reasonably friendly terms with the Nandhs, and became allied to our new neighbours from Flotta Stellare.
We're not sure what to do about the new war between the Chasers and the Jet Comms - the latter still don't trust us too much after I took the side of the Chasers in the last war. However, the Chasers are offering several very lucrative contracts... Will they win this time around?
I have defected from the Aisling Duval faction and joined Zachary Hudson's. Why? Well, because my FAS could really use some Pacifier cannon. And who knows how long will that guy be around - he may lose a vote of no confidence any moment now. That is, if the Empire does not declare war over the whole Marlinist debacle before Congress has a chance to vote him out... For now, I need to watch my sensors every time I go out, because dear Princess Aisling has placed a bounty on my head.
The whole Adamastor ghost ship situation came at the perfect time - Skinner and I took advantage of the opportunity to put some distance between us and both local and intergalactic troubles. It was a fun detective adventure: we tried to figure out most of the mystery on our own, but with so many commanders in the search and so much comms traffic it was impossible to avoid getting spoilers. Well, it was a chance to visit the Coalsack for the first time, plus it was also the first time we ever saw live Thargoid barnacles (the ones I recently visited in the Witch Head Nebula were all dead). We have just returned from the trip, with the added bonus of having over 7 million credits' worth of meta-alloys in the hold. I'm growing very fond of my Anaconda, The Distant Dawn: sure, it does turn like a city block, but it's hard not to like a 75 ly jump range with plenty of internal room.
