What was lost is now found but not here...
12 May 2022Amara Almaflayer
An Eagle MKII jumps out of Witch-space in front of the yellow-orange star, Misir. It quickly navigates to the nearby Nav Beacon and pops into normal space. The Eagle MKII orbits the beacon at a 2km distance. While the ship imports the data, it's pilot keeps her eyes on any nearby ships. No one seemed to come after her and she smirked. With the Nav Beacon's data downloaded the pilot pulls on the flight stick and throttles up. Her smirk turns to a frown as she jumps into supercruise and parses the data. "Shit! F***! Gods damn you, Vidal!" The holograms flicker as she slams her fist on the Eagle's dashboard with every curse. She takes a few moments to breathe making sure not one tear falls from her eyes. She wouldn't cry anymore. Not for this. Not for anyone. Not until she'd had her revenge. The pilot took one last deep breathe and tied her curly red hair back.
Warning: Low Fuel
One more look through the downloaded data. She noticed there were some carriers that were affiliated to Titan Contractors and chose the only one not restricting access to Squadron members only. Hopefully there she could find out where Hecate's Rest might be...
Greeting, Commander. Please be mindful of other ships around this Carrier.
Omicron Lyrae, this is Commander Almaflayer requesting docking.
There was a moment of static before an unfamiliar voice came through.
You're credentials are taking a moment to come through. State your reason for docking, please.
Just in need of some fuel for both the ship and I.
Another moment of static...then a response.
Clearance granted. Please make your way to pad one-three.
The pilot positioned the throttle at zero engaging the auto-dock and made her way to the back of the Eagle. The cabin door slid open revealing the lousy excuse of a personal quarters the former owner of the ship kept. She hadn't stolen it...just...won it from some drunk in an outpost when she made it back to the bubble. She didn't bother fixing it up. It wouldn't be her home for long. Her home was Hecate's Rest and she'd have it soon. The ship jolted as the landing gear mag-locked with the carrier. From the console on her arm pad she chose to take the ship into the hangar before swiping over to the comms panel and looking at the last message received.
Amara,
Or should I say Commander Almaflayer. Strange name you've chosen but I got the papers "rushed" through.
They should work anywhere and be legit. Oh and, I registered that Eagle you "won" as your ship.
Should clear through any system as well. Don't say I never did anything for ya. Chao!
Tex
Amara made a mental note to get back to Tex and ask about that hiccup from earlier. The ship shook once more as the hangar steadied into place. She opened the airlock and made her way to the lifts.
Warning! Low Gravity! Mag-locks enabled! She heard her suit say through her earpiece not bothering to put on a helmet.
Amara walked past the mechanics and re-fuelers on her way to the lifts. As an outsider, her only cleared destination was the concourse which the lift automatically travelled to once she stepped in. Stepping out of the lift and down the hall she noticed there weren't many signs of Titan Contractors if any. Had she chosen the right carrier? Through the doors and to the left into the lounge. The Omicron was filled people who seemed to be celebrating something. Amara found one empty spot at the bar and nodded to the bartender.
"What can I get ya?"
"Tequila and information." Amar said with a forced smile.
"Lucky for you, I've got both." The bartender said with a wink pulling out a bottle from under the bar and pouring into a glass. "What kind of information you looking for?"
Amara picked up the glass and motioned around to the merry people before taking a swig.
"Ah. We're celebrating a safe trip home, pilot!" the bartender exclaimed enthusiastically. "It was quite the long one!"
"Where from?" Amara asked but bartender had scurried away to serve another patron. She took another swig and looked around.
"Sorry about that. It's quite busy tonight."
Amara turned back and raised her glass, "No worries!" she responded with a thin smile.
"We've just returned from Colonia. After heading out there on a Trip with a Squadron we're affiliated with."
"Titan Contractors?"
"Yeah! You looking to join? They're quite the friendly bunch!"
Amara shook her head before taking another swig of the tequila, setting down the glass and tapping it twice. "Not at the moment but...I'm in search of a carrier that was reported to have been in this system a few weeks ago. Ever heard of Hecate's Rest?"
"Oh, yeah! They had come along for the Trip as well. Stuck near the Solaris for most of the trip and in Colonia. Last saw them in Deriso before we came back."
Tch
Amara sucked her teeth in frustration and downed the whole glass. The bartender looked at her curiously.
"Why do you ask?"
"I got separated from it a while back. It's my home." Amara said matter of fact. She knew she'd probably made the bartender suspicious but her response was too true to draw any more unwanted attention.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I'm pretty sure they're sticking with the Solaris for the rest of the trip and should make they're way back in a couple of weeks. That's if nothing else crazy happens on the Solaris with the Federal investigation."
Amara furrowed her brows curiously. What did the Federation want with an independent squadron out in the black? And what, if anything did Hecate's Rest have to do with it? The bartender noticed Amara's face and pointed to the door, "there's a public terminal right outside the lounge. You can read up on Titan's Internal Affairs to catch up!"
Amara nodded and payed for her drinks and information. This was more than she thought she'd get so the tip was double. The bartender nodded, happy with the payment and walked over to another patron. Amara made her way to the terminal and read through the last few articles. Interesting stuff. Weird crew behavior. Heavy militarization before the trip. More weird crew behavior. Strange signal? Oh and their squadron leader was revealed to be a war criminal...Interesting people Hecate's Rest is following around. Unfortunately, there was no mention of Vidal or the carrier in any of these articles. Amara swiped around the terminal in hopes of any other information but all should could find is the Trip's remaining itinerary. Sagittarius A* then back the long way. Without the carrier's frequency she couldn't track it but...she could track the Solaris. However, the center of the galaxy is much too far to get to in an Eagle in time to catch. She'd have to work here to buy something better to get out there or...something better to take the carrier back when it returned.