Reverse Trap 22
24 May 2024LIU SHUN
It all started as just another day of station defence. I took off from a surface port, taken out a few interceptors and returned to refill, restock and repair before going back.- Hey buddy! - I said to the mechanic in the hangar. - Fill her up please, reload the guns and take care of the scratches. I've got another sortie to fly soon. Oh, and don't forget to clean the windshield! I hit quite few nasty bugs out there. Heh-heh. Heh.
- How dare you show your face here, traitor? - came a rather suprising response.
- Whoa! You missed the door mate. I just killed a bunch of 'goids so you can survive.
- Yeah? No need to introduce yourself, I know exactly what you did. And I'm sick of it. I'd turn my back on you, if I weren't afraid that you'd stab me.
Well, not quite what I expected, but that's the war. Everyone looses his marbles at one point or another. I decided to let him get away with this, and looked for the station commander. I had to collect a few mission payments anyway. I found him in his office, behind his desk.
- Hi Chuck! I killed the 3 Cyclopses and the Basilisk you ordered. I'm here for the payment.
- 10M credits as agreed. Aaaaand transfer done. There you are, it's all on your account.
- Thanks! You wouldn't believe what just happened to me. A guy in the docks just called me a traitor and refused to work on the ship.
- Sorry to hear that, but after murdering Cmdr Green it's kind of understandable.
Wait. What?
- What the hell are you talking about? My ship is not even equipped with weapons I could use against humans.
- That didn't stop you from ramming that poor guy out of the sky - he replied calmly just as we were discussing grocery lists.
Though my memories were still kind of fuzzy from the intensity of the fight, I started to vaguely remember an accident that just happened.
- You mean that poor, damaged Vulture that impacted into my 'Conda, got hit by the interceptor and blew up immediately?
- Exactly.
- So you did see, that the Interceptor killed him?
- Absolutely. You worked together on that one. You delt a big deal of damage to him, and the Basilisk finished the job. - ha stated with absolute confidence.
- So you think that I colluded with a Thargoid - a species many, inckuding the Guardians tried to communicate with without result - to kill a poor rookie, only to kill him as well 2 minutes after the assasination?
- Actually it makes sense to get rid of any accomplice.
- Have you ever flown an Anaconda? It's just like a space freight train with its mass, speed and handling! I couldn't ever ram a Venture if I wanted to. Heck, I couldn't even avoid him if I saw him coming. But I didn't, the poor guy was so fast coming from somewhere around 3 o' clock.
- Look, I see what you say makes perfect sense, and I understand your confusion. But it's clearly stated in the Intergalactic Penal Code: "Anyone dealing damage to a ship that subsequently gets destroyed should be considered a murderer, and a cr 5.000 bounty should be placed on the ship committing the crime." It doesn't say a word about intention. You dealt damage, the poor guy died, you're a murderer according to the law.
- That makes absolutely no sense.
- Well, look at it this way: the law doesn't care if you intentionally kill someone or just being reckless. I actually find it a good way to discourage pilots from flying unsafe, you know.
- Flying unsafe? Unsafe? Please enlighten me what a safe manouver would look like in an environment full of Thargoids? And I didn't even ram that guy, I was just flying in a straight line as he impacted into me. I got damaged too! Badly in fact! Were my hull in a worse condition, I could have died from the collision easily!
- Well in that case you would have been KIA, while cmdr Green would be the one convicted for murderer, of course. But that's not the case, is it?
- I give up. So now that I am wanted - what are the consequences?
- The Penal Code is totally clear on that: "Anyone with a bounty should be terminated by the police on sight regardless of the amount of the bounty"
- What? You're going to try to kill me now?
- Don't be silly. That's not my job. I'm not the police. And since the system is currently at war with the Thargoids, there are no police forces present. So don't worry, you can fly around safely. Well... except for the Thargoids, maybe.
- Okay, then let's just refill, repair and rearm my ship so I can return to the fight.
- Not so fast! The Code is also clear on this one: "Stations must not provide any services to wanted ships except for mission payments and legal services. At legal services wanted pilots can turn themselves in to clear their records by paying their bounties and serving their sentence in the nearest penal facility."
- Wait, do I have to go to prison too? For how long?
- Don't worry, prison sentences were removed from the code long ago. Yet they didn't change the part where we still have to transfer you to a prison ship appr. 200 lys away according to the law. But then you're free to leave and come back on your own immedietly.
- That's close to the stupidest thing I ever heard. But let's get over it. Here's cr 5.000 for the bounty, and now take me to that prison ship.
- Again, that's not how things are done. I'm starting to loose patience over you not paying attention to me. I can't process you turning yourself in, the legal office can. Unfortunately - as you might noticed - our station is under attack and our services are very limited. Our legal assistant was evacuated 3 days ago. On the bright side you can go to any other station in the system.
- BUT THIS IS THE ONLY STATION IN THE SYSTEM!!!!
- Well that's right, but no need to raise your voice about it as if it was my fault. Look, I understand you, I really do. I shouldn't tell you this, but there's actually a way out. You should just go to a station with Interstellar Factors, pay a little extra, and those shady guys will just clear the databases. Although since you are a notorious murderer now, things heated up a little around you. You should wait for things to settle a bit, a couple of hours would do. But remember things only settle if you actually fly around. Just taking a nap or having a lunch won't do.
- I appreciate your intention to help, but I doubt I can even get out of this system. I'm badly damaged, half of my systems do not work properly and I'm out of repair material. You might have noticed that dozens of Thargoids are out there hunting for an easy prey like that, and damaged space freight trains are not particularly good at running away. And even if I make it to the jump point I have a good chance of getting hyperdicted on my way out, in which case I really just raise my hand and die. Please, let me just repair the ship and I1ll accept my fate and get out of here.
- Unfortunately, I cannot help you. The simple fact that the murder of an ax pilot causes a 5.000 bounty, while killing a single Cyclops gives you over 6M bond should give you an idea how much we care about our pilot's life. Although you might find comfort in the fact, that in case your ship is blown up, your bounty will be cleared too. And the best part: you don't even need to die! You can survive with a clean record, and only have to pay the cr. 23M for the rebuy of your ship. And then you'll be allowed to take part in the glory of fighting and dying for us! You can't say that the law is not forgiving... Good luck, commander!