RockWrecker Retirement
06 May 2016TheDarkLord
Charlois City, HIP 21991. Faulcon deLacy Anaconda “TDL Agamemnon”.March 3302.
I spent four days amongst the rocks near Varati, and left with my trade rank now Entrepreneur, and over 125m for Anaconda upgrades. TDL Agamemnon, now back in full trade-fit, had proven its mettle both as a weaponised freighter and a mining vessel. The ability to blow Resource Extraction Site pirates out of space without even moving made for a compelling business case. She had earned her place in the fleet, and in so doing had painfully exposed the weaknesses of the Type-9.
And so, here I was, in Charlois City where my Type-9, TDL RockWrecker, was stationed. I’d come down to release her into the care of another pilot, liberating credits that I could then use to further Agamemnon’s build. I took what I thought would be a last look at her hulking frame, before tapping my Pilot’s Federation licence on the shipyard rep’s datapad. The inbuilt near-field communication chip in my licence authenticated the transaction, the change of ownership, and the deposition of credits into my account. Anders shook my hand, and I thanked him perfunctorily. I hadn’t really anticipated this turn of events, and certainly hadn’t foreseen the strength of my emotional attachment to the hulking Type-9.
TDL RockWrecker in her comfortable habitat, firing mining lasers at nearby rocks
The good times I’d had in RockWrecker had been very good, but it really didn’t fit with my activities. Too many people wanted to have a pop at me because of my status as one of Arissa’s Special Agents. RockWrecker couldn’t cope with this, in exactly the same way that Agamemnon could. I turned on my heel and left the Shipyard Business Centre. I headed to a liquor store, and picked up a fine aged single malt whisky, with which to toast my old friend.
Half an hour later, I walked out onto the jetway across to Agamemnon’s Crew Entrance. My gaze flicked out into the dock area, and there she was. No longer “TDL RockWrecker”, the Type-9 Heavy sat awaiting its new owner. It looked sad. I felt sad. As was customary whenever I felt sad, a snapshot of Ashley fired across my neurons. I shook my head to clear away that thought, and boarded Agamemnon. I was off back down to Li Yong Rui space, with a lot of money to spend.