002: Yeah, I'm Sensing a Theme Here
03 Mar 2021Piratescribe
Date: 3-3-3307Locn: The Pillar of Fortitude [SPF-LF 1]
Yeah, I'm in detention again. Well, I just got out and I'm sitting here writing this, thinking about the long, empty, dangerous . . . loooonnnngggg trek before me.
So I took this job to, uhm, abruptly end the career of a known terrorist. Hey, this guy is real garbage and it was for a quarter million creds! So yeah, I took the job! The job sent me one place to make contact with an informant. So far so good. But then he tells me I need to go to some planetside observatory and hack a data terminal to get the target's location? Well, okay. My luck with planets has not been great, and I've never hacked data terminals before . . . (did I mention it was for a quarter million cred?!)
I head that way, and fly in to within a km of the base and scan for data connections. I think I pick one up and I start using my scanner on it, but then I start getting these trespassing warnings. Can't get a lock . . . fine! I fly off and come back for another approach, directly from above this time. Yeah, not a good idea. Coulda used that info the first time. As soon as I get right over the observatory, they open fire. Guess they hadn't forgotten about me yet. I pull up and try to boost out, barrel rolling all the while, but no good. They bring my shields down and seconds later, I'm ejecting. . . .
And once again, wake up in a cell. And it wasn't some measly Cr600 fine this time. Not even counting my insurance payment to get my ship back, I'm out thousands!
Fortunately I didn't do anything stupid like fire on the observatory myself, and I never successfully got a lock on the data terminal, so all they got me on was trespassing. So, fines and insurance paid, they let me go.
. . . and so now I'm looking at my charts and wondering just where in the frackin hells am I??! Where the frack is SPF-LF 1?? I'm like 8 or 12 jumps away from the little sphere of systems I'd made my home, through territory I have no clue, idea, or experience with. And my bank account is pretty slim. No possibility of another insurance rebuy if something happens to me on the way back!
My one hope is that I happen to have some scanned system data from back home that maybe, just . . . oh, no, I guess that got wiped out with my ship.
Okay, so I'll not be stopping for any jobs or cargo on my way back so I'm not much of a target to pirates. This will be a decent opportunity I guess to start that career in interstellar exploring! I fortunately got my Planetary Surface Scanner and a Fuel Scoop back with my replacement ship. Let's see what's out there. . . .
Cmdr Keyton "Piratescribe" Magnusson