The Slippery Bastard Who Got Away: Part 2
02 Sep 2016Nickolas Calhoun
The Slippery Bastard Who Got Away: Part 2 Previous chapter
---Wohler Terminal - Delinquent’s Inn---
What’s there to do while you wait for your buddy to come back with intel? Well, here on Wohler Terminal, it would be hanging out at Delinquent’s Inn, chatting to the lovely bartender.
It was not so busy this time around, despite the late hour. The newjacks must’ve been out flying. It was just myself, Georgia, another bartender and a small group off in a corner booth. Now Georgia and I have a rather- shall I say… Cordial relationship. She tells me things, I tell her things, and god damn does she have a twisted sense of humor. Just peachy.
Georgia was slightly frustrated, wanting to close up the bar and call it a night.
“Wish that damn group would finish up already so I can close,” she uttered.
A cheeky grin crossed my face. “Do I have to leave too, or just them?”
She smirked. “Nah, you can stay darlin’, ‘slong as you help me clean up a little.”
I looked toward the small group of patrons. “So, get rid of the patrons. Got it.”
“Now now. I wouldn’t get any customers if I let you scare ‘em off every time I felt like goin’ home early on a quiet night,” she laughed, taking my empty glass. “You know what you can do though?”
I raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“You can walk me home when they finally do get outta here,” she said as she winked.
Now that’s a service I can definitely offer.
And walk her home, I did. Although it took at least an hour and a half for that group of people to leave. Then it took me an entire night to return to my ship. Turns out Georgia is great company outside the bar as well. But let’s move on, shall we?
Two days after our initial meeting, almost on-the-minute, I received a call from Benny, and we returned to Delinquent’s Inn. As we strolled through the entrance, Georgia shot me a cheeky wink and had a glass of Old Sol ready. I shot her a wink back taking the drink.
Benny nudged me in the ribs as we found ourselves a table.
“I thought you said the ladies can wait, amigo,” he said with a sly grin.
“I may have said something like that,” I responded, sipping my drink and looking in Georgia’s general direction.
“Getting it on with the bartender eh? Not a bad choice if I do say so myself.”
I nodded. “She certainly is a fine woman.”
Benny lit up a cigarette. “Alright Romeo, let’s get to business.”
“Of course. What have you got for me?” I said, turning my attention to Benny.
He leaned in over the table. “A source tells me that your buddy, Rosenberg is in the LTT 18486 system trying to lay low. His ship’s still pretty banged up too.”
My brow furrowed. “Anyone else with him?”
“Apart from his crew, he is alone.”
I raised my hand to my chin. “Hmmm, I’d best not waste any time then. There’s something really off about this whole thing. Might as well kick him while he’s down.”
I stood up, gulping down my drink. Benny nodded. “Good luck, just try and leave some of that ship intact will you, amigo?”
“Maybe I’ll bring you a piece of the bulkhead,” I joked, turning my attention to Georgia as I exited the bar.
“You be careful out there darlin,” she said, giving me a final wink before she moved to serve a patron.
---LTT 18486 - Deep Space---
How do you find a man in deep space who doesn’t want to be found? Turns out it’s pretty easy - a ship’s supercruise signature can be detected from many light seconds away, and ships not in supercruise can still be detected if you get close enough. Of course, space is a big place and tracking one ship down requires patience. Even with the best sensors on the market, a ship is still a needle in the proverbial haystack. Unlucky for Rosenberg, I am a patient man, like the jaguar stalking his prey. I lowered my throttle and cruised near the common flight paths, checking each ship as they left the stations.
You can’t hide forever, Rosenberg.
Bingo!
Four hours of slowly patrolling the system paid off. A blip on my sensors was revealed to be the prize - a Federal Assault Ship, hull at 35% integrity, owned by Tommy Rosenberg himself. It was deviating from the common flight paths toward a small pocket of asteroids in the inner belt of the second star. Keeping my eye on the prize, I throttled up to follow, maintaining a reasonable distance so as not to raise suspicion until the time was right to fire up the interdictor. I wanted him alone, and out of range of local authorities. By the time anyone catches wind, I will be long gone.
Waiting until just out of earshot of the local stations and..
BAM!
Apollo rattled as the interdiction tether connected with Rosenberg’s ship.
You’re mine now, buddy!
Rosenberg fought hard, but his damaged ship was no match for my interdictor module, and we were both violently dropped out of supercruise.
I fought to steady the ship then boosted toward Rosenberg, deploying my weapons and aiming my sights toward the ship’s engines.
The comms crackled and Rosenberg’s distressed and disgruntled voice could be heard cursing.
“What the fuck? You again?! What the hell do you want? I’m just a fucking business man,” he yelled.
“Just a businessman huh? That’s why I’m being offered a healthy sum of credits to bring you down?”
My lasers and multicannons chipped away at the Assault Ship’s shields as the crew desperately struggled to prepare the ship for a jump. It manoeuvred to fire a volley of lasers, causing my own shield to ripple and glow. The ship zoomed past my canopy in a narrow miss and I flipped Apollo over quickly to make another pass.
***Frame Shift charge detected***
“Not this time, Rosenberg!” I yelled as I boosted toward my target again, firing relentlessly at the engines. The port engine erupted into flame and the ship spun out of control. The comms crackled as Rosenberg made one final plea.
“You don’t get it! This is a mistake!” He yelled.
I smirked and lined my crosshair to the canopy of the battered Assault Ship.
“If a mistake is a nice juicy paycheck and one less scumbag like you in the ‘verse, then it’s a mistake I’ll happily make.”
I squeezed the trigger on the joystick, sending a railgun slug tearing through the canopy, sending debris flying out of the ship in many directions as the air was vented. I smiled and set a course back to Kremainn.
Mission accomplished.