Unguided, 11: Duality
25 Mar 2021Meowers
( 23.03.3307 - 25.03.3307 )
( He Pora - Cemiess - He Bo - Komotae )
Of course y'all know these cheap orbital motels that give you a contrast shower every time you go to the bathroom, because of backward turd outfit, malfunctioning in every possible way, so half of your time there goes to find an acceptable between. Pretty much describes the experience of the last few days.
So, I participated in another joint effort of the Pilots Federation, that 'delivering medical supplies for victims of superpowers' little cosy playground' thing. As mentioned before, it's an honest way to obtain permits without making your nose brown. Never been used to cargo hauling and steering something that looks like a brick and flies like a brick too, but who am I to complain: dipping myself into some mess I've never been in before to stoically withstand it and then punch my way through is certainly my thing. Turns out that flying this rig for long is kinda exhausting, as I prefer more dynamic activities, but Carmine did surely, without a doubt, well.
(Tired me)
A contribution of 7200 tonnes of various medicine stuff, from cheap bandages to sophisticated medicaments, has been sent to three stations, one in He Bo, one in Cemiess and one in Duamta. Definitely not a sort of heroic working your arse off, but it granted me everything that I was in for. And, maybe, made someone's life easier.
Alliance folks of He Bo have a pair of interesting planets in their place. Let alone they're ringed Earthlikes, which always were a magnet to sightseers, they both rotate around barycentres shared with their respective nearby gas giants. It looks awesome from space, but may be even sweetest eye candy from the surface. Yet a bit of advice for hasty romantics that have gone drooling over liner tickets - the star is blinding and scorching hot white, heating the 4th planet to 340K in average and the 6th to none less fearsome 317K. And the gravity is around 1.5-1.6G, so your honeymoon there is going to be of squeezed and fried type. I would rather enjoy the views from a comfortable warm cockpit, and you know these Lakon glass-greenhouse cockpits.
(Cruising over the rings)
And then the Mackenzie Relay, an Imperial station in Cemiess. Red T-10 was sitting there like an ancient barbarian with a roasted bull leg for a light breakfast in the middle of a glamorous restaurant. One thing from this archetypal scene was missing though - local snobs looking at her in their classic derogatory way. Right here and right now this barbarian came with desperately needed shamanic potions.
Maybe a beautiful place to look at, but like the most of them it was built on slavery - enough information for me to shape an opinion.
(Carmine at Mackenzie Relay)
And while Imperial slavery is a straightforward one, Feds offer a more intricate option of this social structure so beloved by the superpowers. Previous log entry had a few words about me visiting Duamta with a similar kind of cargo, so let's talk about another popular version of human interactions.
I read the news about the Feds tightening their local security and what happened to their vice-president. Things that go boom are an extremely popular choice if you want to replace some political figures more... abruptly. Mr. Hudson, who got his job after the Starship One incident back in 3301, now enjoys a new team that have gotten their new jobs after that recent Nine Martyrs thing. Coincidence? If it really is, it's a peculiar one. Hey, Feds, maybe handing out dynamite to your citizens instead of ballot papers could make your 'democracy' run smoother?
And there are Feds in the He Pora system, and they do usual superpower stuff relative to Independent worlds: He Pora Fortune Co declared a war to local Official He Pora Flag little militarised party. At least they had chosen combatants to be their foes, not some workers union or a bunch of farmers, but you can imagine the odds. What does Mr. Hudson say? "Everyone has the opportunity to work or serve!", "I'm not paying them to lie around all day!" So go, Fedneck, go, don't lie around, serve aboard some FNS Unending Molester, bringing war to those aren't yet working for the sake of Fed corporations and tax money for Mr. Hudson and his happy loyal bunch. You probably came from a muddy backwater planet hoping for a shiny career of vapourising worthless bums, dreaming of owning a Corvette with COVAS voice of some model from a GalNet show, instead of shovelling manure from dawn 'til death. Just don't complain afterwards, spinning through the cold black void in your damaged escape pod, looking at what's left of your standard-issue cheap crap ship through the cracked glass. You had this order, you haven't had a single thought about the cause you're serving and what consequences it may bring. You did well. And there are thousands, even millions of plain folks like you, maybe one or two will get that Corvette eventually.
I was there to turn the tide. Even had one pilot with a similar attitude joined the fighting after reading some previous war stories.
(Marshmallow at the starport)
Feds had a substantial advantage at the day of my arrival, and my raw material reserves were still below acceptable level after last week adventure, but it's 'damn here and damn now' again, I had to read the frontline reports and rush forward, hoping to diminish their lead at least, and these cargo runs too, they were a painful distraction.
Started with lower intensity combat, trying to spare any supplies I had. But patience and managing the stocks are still a thing for me to learn. Even if this calculated assistance saved the first day, I found myself going into the very heat afterwards, joining the most bloody battles this system had going on. Can't keep myself on some leash of numbers being above the thrill. Dozens and dozens of Fed corporate ships were shattered above the water world of He Pora A5, as shattered were their cute little war plans. Day after day their advantage was vanishing, transforming into a solid defeat. Maybe someday I could get a knowledge of this 'enough' amount of local battles won, but I prefer not to look that far: the war is now, and may it be another in-system small conflict, real standings are being formed from hundreds of these. And I have to help with it.
(A positive report)
So now, writing this, I'm docked at Bluford Station in Komotae, rubbing my eyes at the GalMap system description, a bit unhappy about some Imp faction that had nested here recently, like those corpos who overran this place a long ago weren't enough. Damn these little pests, they're all that flatulent, they name themselves Armies, Orders, Legions, whatever possible to make them look stronger than a bunch of arrogant floppers they are. Why can't they just stick to their master's space?
Nevertheless, received an update about medicine cargo runs, have to make another run to these three stations, collecting my permits and cash bonus. Also they promised to place some small-sized engineered trinkets for me in the storage tomorrow: may have a bit of use on my first two ships, Scintilla and Gingerbread. Even heard about a T-6 Transporter as a prize from Alliance: not that I couldn't afford this simple freighter on my own, but it's a sweet little gift and I'm sure I could find some work for a cargo ship, which can land on small outposts.
And maybe I'll find some time to rest.
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Next part: #12: In Search of My Soul
Next part: #12: In Search of My Soul