Who is Hammer Time?
22 Oct 2015Monolith Preacher
CMDR Cpt. Hammer Time and I have been friends since we were both scamps in Gcirthi. I'm from Kent Station, the main hub of the system, and a place which I recently helped the Pirates of Gcirthi, my people, take over. Hammer is from Isherwood Dock, which is owned by Gcirthi Gold United Group, who owned the orphanage that he grew up in.We met at Steakley Port, a place we were both likely to terrorise in our Sidewinders as teenagers, being as it was the only other port in the system. We hit it off because we could consistently out-drink anyone but each other. The way to a man's heart has always been through his stomach, it seems.We came from different sides of the fence, but in Gcirthi, everyone works for Springheel Jake.
Every pirate faction in the galaxy is headed by a pirate king, who serves in office until they are killed by their replacement. Technically one could retire or abdicate if they wished, but so far no-one's done so of their own accord. To make matters simple, every captain to rule a system has the same name, with a descriptive title bearing their legacy. Springheel Jake got his epithet because fifteen people tried to kill him on his way to the top, and each time he sprang back from the jaws of defeat to slay his adversary. Hammer and I had been working for him since we were children.
They called us The Head and The Hands. I always had my head in books or was staring at the stars whilst Hammer always had his hands on guns, money, women....basically anything he could enjoy and/or trade. I tend to have a silver tongue, and he's got iron fists, guts, and an itchy trigger finger. We balance each other out. He can find us things we need and I can talk us into or out of any place we need to go. Works out fine most of the time. If it doesn't, well I can get things anywhere they need to go, and he can kill anyone that doesn't like my banter.
You're probably wondering how we got from Gcirthi to Harma. Well in Gcirthi, when a boy comes of age, he must go on a "cruiseabout". You enter supercruise, leave the system in one direction, and don't come back until you've got something to show for yourself. You may leave in groups of no more than four. Hammer and I left together towards Sol, made it as far a Lave, and heard about The Kumo Crew. I was interested in seeing how their crew ranked against mine, and Hammer heard about the smuggling opportunities. He got there quicker than me due to drink-driving all night. "He whom drinks lastest, flys fastest!" he often told me during our drag races.
On my way there, I met my Master at Kremainn. I was drinking my worries away at the bar when a Monolith Preacher came in. After buying a few rounds, he invited me back to his Cobra. We talked long into the night, and he showed me that the light of the Monolith was the thing I had been looking for in the stars. He was so enamoured by my enthusiasm he offered me his craft. When I protested, he claimed that he wished to upgrade, but that the craft itself was a relic that needed safeguarding. He wasn't giving me a gift, he was entrusting me with guardianship. This was the first time anyone except Hammer had shown faith in me, and it gave me a sense of zealousness.
By the time I made it to Harma, I knew what we would do: I, now the student of my faith as well as the smuggler of my people, would show the light of the Monolith to the galaxy starting with my home system. Hammer, too money-oriented for faith and too bloodthirsty to fly under the radar, would simply trade what he wanted and kill who didn't like it until...he wasn't sure about that last part.
No doubt, over time, our feats will become legendary, and our victories will not easily be counted. But it will be known that this was how we began, with myself struggling to keep up appearances whilst undergoing rigorous religious training, and Hammer Time trading and drinking to the point of having amnesia or existential crises. "What have I been doing for the last 26 years?" he asked me last week. Guess it's time to see how space dementia is treating him....