The Sentinel Fulcrum, 1: Back on Track
27 Oct 2021Meowers
Hello. It's me and my logs about... what's happening. And, I must say, some quite peculiar things are happening around me right now. Okay, I could just ignore it and tell them to go to hell, but, hah, it's me. Can't complain anyway! And it's certainly better than any kind of dull routine or sitting here in Komotae. Keeps your brain gears rolling.
Speaking of 'brain gears'... Yeah, much as expected, Pilots Federation suspended my licence, but, thankfully, not for a long time. Assessment, diagnostics, all that stuff, spent, like, two months on Bluford, doing happy nothing except kicking thoughts all over my head and going to the clinic from time to time. So one day they handed me a pile of papers, told that I'm clear for takeoff, but... Yup, I have to follow my medication plan and should visit them once a month. And damn I will be doing it. Having your own head in your worst enemies list, uh, not the best experience you may have. Okay, okay, let's raid the pharmacy...
So, during that 'mental vacation' I received one interesting message from Herthans Labour representative, even on the private channel... Who are those folks anyway... Ah. Helped them with their little war almost half a year ago. Kicked some Imperial arse pretty hard. Right in the middle of Imperial system, hah. And they still remember me, must've been impressed. And they had a contract... Especially for me, not for a random mission board wannabe-hero. It's about retrieving something from an old abandoned ship, floating in the middle of a damn nowhere, and... Oh, the most funny and promising part, I may encounter resistance, some Imperial figure and a private army of sorts, and using lethal force... Not just 'authorised', but even 'advised'. If not 'required'. Have to eliminate that leader, and other folks will be there to make this little party more entertaining. And that's why they need me. To kick more arse. Ah, that's awesome.
Anyway, had to tell them that I was, kind of, facing temporary difficulties with my licence, so I couldn't just take off and head to Herthans, and had no idea how long it will take... But, huh, that guy instantly replied that I may take my time and resolve my stuff, they're not going to give this contract to anybody else. Hmmm... Like that was expected. So... They may knew about... But how?! All my medical info is kept private, that's the rules, they had no means to know that I'm suspended... Am I watched by someone? Delaine again? Ah, damn them... Bring it on, you little shits!
Or... That was really a sign of interest? This guy has been told to hire me, by all means, not somebody else? Am I getting famous or what? Ah, okay. Whatever it means... I'll keep my rifle close to me.
And, interesting part again... Oh, every part here looks interesting... And suspicious. You know me. Everything that's interesting enough is suspicious! So, when it's about kicking some Imp, Fed or Alliance arse... I'm asking about financial part in the last place. The idea of giving them a beating is a motivation already. And, hell, I should've been asking about it first now. Five. Hundred. Million. Credits. Goddamn half a billion! Asked, like, hey, highest-difficulty contracts are usually about fifty, you must've mistaken, putting too much zeros. No. Five hundred. Five and eight zeros after it. Oooow...
Fuel - check, ammunition - check, systems - check... And here we go. To the Herthans system. Henry Vision station. Turned out they were waiting for me... Even unarmed, hah. Okay, maybe it's not a trap, and I didn't even have to search for their office. You know those independent faction offices, like, in the dingiest dungiest part of some superpower-controlled station and all that stuff. Soooo...
Yep. That guy. Welcomed me and handed the dataslate with the details. And they were heavily encrypted... Deciphering may take hours even using the Marshmallow's onboard computer. They really wanted to keep the data secret... Uh. Okay. Time to lean back, watch the progress bar and have some coffee. At least...
Looks like I'm back on track.
(After two months of being tied to the station... Where do we go now, my faithful soulmate of steel?)