A Weaponised Freighter
25 Apr 2016TheDarkLord
Ohm City, LHS 20. Faulcon DeLacey Anaconda “TDL Agamemnon”.March 3302.
The Emperor had rewarded me well for my performance in her covert missions. Income was high, and expenditure was low. Par for the course really, since I spent more than ninety percent of my time in TDL PhotonFlinger. The pace of remaining at Rank 5 was frenetic. Over 180 confirmed kills per week. Many of these had been completed in total secrecy, and the solitude that that entails. There were no real opportunities to relax amongst the rocks.
It was time to take a step back, to drop down to the fourth rank in the ALD’s power. The TDL fleet was in excellent shape and ready for different types of action at a moment’s notice. The only real weakness was in dangerous trading. I needed a large freighter that could handle itself in a fight. I contacted my shipyard dealer Jos. He’d moved from 109 Piscium to Ohm City in LHS 20, but could still do deals, so I grabbed a HaulerTaxi and headed over.
Upon arrival, I could immediately see why Jos had made the move. This shipyard was huge, and had all the awesome metal I could dream of. All of the usual hardware, plus the full set of ships for officials from the Federal Navy. Those for the higher-ranking officials towered over smaller craft. The squat beetle shape of the Type-9 Heavy that was in my own fleet seemed cowed by the mighty Federal Corvette.
Jos caught me looking at the Corvette. “I thought you were here for an Anaconda? I’ll do you a good deal on that if you like.”
“Thanks man, but nah. Just the Conda for now.” The Corvette was in my fleet roadmap, but I couldn’t afford it yet, so I was going to use the Anaconda as an interim step. Get me, I thought. Fleet roadmaps, interim steps. Not really my style at all, or at least not when I’d set out on this stellar journey.
“Sure? Just one sixty for you. You’ve been good to me, I can be good to you. One sixty! I’ve seen your balance, you’ve got the dosh for it!”
“Tempting, Jos.” It was a good price. But it would leave me in an ill-equipped ship with a terrible jump range. Better to take the cheaper Anaconda, then use my remaining money – which wasn’t nearly enough – to spec it into something useful.
I paused, more to give Jos the impression that I was genuinely considering his offer than to actually have thinking time, before responding.
“Thanks, but I’m going to stick with the Anaconda. Can you sort me out with one, and some upgrades for it?”
“’Course man. I’ll even give you the discount on it.”
Jos’s shipyard was great, but outfitting at his new gaff was pretty mediocre. It actually helped me, because I couldn’t afford the A rated powerplant that went in the Conda’s massive size 8 slot, which was needed to power all the high-grade internals and weapons. In turn, that limited my opportunities to over-extend myself financially.
We went through the spec. Classic “Tradeconda” apparently. Big jump drives, life support, and lots of cargo racks. An A-rated class 4 fuel scoop, which would fill my Fer-de-Lance in half a minute, but which felt decidedly under-specced for the Conda’s 32 ton fuel tank. I fitted three large pulse lasers, and multicannons on all the other hardpoints. Anyone interdicting me was in for a nasty surprise. Unlike the Type-9, this Anaconda had real teeth.
As I sat on the command deck of my new ship. I pondered life a little. My view of the Anaconda from the outside had wavered over the months I’d been out in space. Certainly for much of my journey it seemed an impossible goal to be driving an outfitted Conda. But here I was, ready to lift off from the large pad in Ohm City. I triggered the launch, and peered over the deck as the blast shields dropped away.
The 7D thrusters were clearly underpowered for this ship. There was a hysteresis in the control response that was going to take some getting used to. OK, I’ll be honest: I crashed into the mail slot on the way out…