The Artifact Peddler
19 Jul 2024JoseMose
### Commander Log: CMDR Jose Mose **Date:** 3309-07-19
**Location:** Lave Station, Lave System
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**Entry #327:**
The stars outside the cockpit window never lose their allure, a shimmering blanket that covers the secrets and sins of the galaxy. Another day, another dance with danger. I started this morning with a cup of synthetic joe and the usual hum of Lave Station. Then, a ping. Juno Kaine, an old friend turned high-ranking official, reached out with a job that had "trouble" written all over it.
Her message was as cryptic as a spy's love letter, but the gist was clear: track down a rogue trader named Xander Thorne. Thorne's been peddling illegal Thargoid artifacts, stirring up a hornet's nest among both human and alien factions. His last known hideout was the Diso System, a place where shadows come to play.
I dusted off the *Double Indemnity*, my trusty FDL, and set a course for Diso. On arrival, I tapped into my network of informants, piecing together Thorne's movements. Word on the wire was he’d been lurking in an asteroid belt near Diso 3, hiding among the rocks like a snake in the grass.
Navigating that belt was a tricky business. Asteroids closed in like the walls of a prison, but my ship and I had been through worse. After hours of playing hide-and-seek with the void, I spotted Thorne's vessel, the *Black Mamba*. Sleek, dangerous, and desperate.
The chase was on. Thorne threw every trick he knew at me, but I wasn’t about to let my quarry slip through my fingers. A well-placed railgun shot crippled his engines, and just like that, the hunter became the hunted.
With Thorne trussed up in the cargo hold, I turned back to Lave Station. The credits from this bounty would keep my ship flying and my accounts flush, but it was the thrill of the chase that really paid the bills. Every job, every close call, reminded me why I kept doing this dance with danger.
As I sat in the cockpit, the stars streaking past like silver tears, I thought about the next job. The galaxy’s a big place, full of dark corners and unsolved mysteries. And somewhere out there, another mark was waiting, another wrong that needed righting.
But that’s a problem for tomorrow. Tonight, I’ll savor the small victory, the fleeting peace that comes from a job well done. In this line of work, you take your moments of calm when you can get them. Tomorrow, the stars will call again, and I’ll be ready to answer.
Damn, I'm outta smokes....
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**End of Entry**