Home Again: Zeta Trianguli Australis
24 Oct 2020OmegaPaladin
As I eased the Indigo around Ehecatl after completing my final training mission for the Pilot's Federation, there was only one destination that stood out to me: ZTA, the system I was raised. It had been years since I had been bounding through the hallways of Scobee Prospect or running with my aunt's ice mining crew. ZTA was not a glamorous system - none of the planets were terraformable. A5 was interesting to visit, but the crushing pressure and perpetual hurricanes kept it a curiosity. Hell, it was easier to mine ice for water than use the water world. But you can't choose where you are born. That's your home, like it or not. At least the pirates generally kept their distance.
A few jumps later, I was in the familiar harsh glare of ZTA. I tagged the Nav Beacon then headed for Guest City. I always heard that the Coriolis station here had been named for the outsider corporations that muscled in on the system. I had heard the story countless times growing up - all the corporations like to brag about how they had worked together and taken the system back, while playing up their parts. The Proggies were just corporates with more academics, so they fit in right by ZTAC and ZTAU despite all their preening. Now ZTAC owned Guest City and controlled most of the system. If I needed a reminder, as I dropped out in front of Guest City, the ZTAC operator came on to welcome me.
It wasn't just nostalgia that was bringing me back here, however. I had gotten an offer from an independent carrier that was operating down in Arima. They needed tritium fuel and as many low temp diamonds as I could mine. With some of my bounty hunting cash, I could turn the Indigo into a very capable miner... assuming I avoided any pirates. A few runs should enough to get a dedicated mining ship like a Keellback.
I had been a miner before I was a pilot, so it only seemed natural I would get back to the old laser and scoop.