Easy Job
02 May 2023Vasil Vasilescu
EOL PROU DK-U B18-6, ColoniaThis was supposed to be simple fuel rat operation. A stranded orca with miners bound for Moore’s Charm in Luchtaine needed hydrogen so it could limp close enough to the system star for fuel scooping.
I knew something was wrong when the target did not return my comm query. Usually, pilots sitting on an empty tank get nervous floating around in the nothing and are chatty as hell with anyone they think will help. Not this time.
As soon as I exited super cruise, the sensors lit up with contacts. Forty-two escape pods, each with no active beacon. The ship looked mostly intact but had sustained heavy heat scoring and explosive damage, leaving parts of the superstructure jutting through the ruptured hull like jagged, broken bones.
I deployed a limpet swarm to start pulling in the pods. Jefferson kept the tally. Forty-two pods, each with catastrophic failure, occupant deceased. Whoever attacked the ship while it was helpless decided on some extra target practice. Frag cannons and escape pods--like shotguns and cans of meat sauce. What remained was not pretty, but there are probably families who would want something to bury, and the S&R rep on Jaques Station pays decently enough for recovered remains, so I had Jefferson bio seal the cargo and plotted a course to Colonia.
Something as brutal as this is an act of pure intimidation and meant as a message to others. Whether it was pirates wanting to extort miners, or union busting corporate mercenaries does not matter. Forty-two people were made an example of for no reason other than they were an easy target.
And people wonder why I prefer to spend my time outside of civilized space.