Becoming an Imperial Courier
18 May 2016TheDarkLord
Multiple Locations, Imperial Space. Lakon Spaceways Asp Explorer “TDL Eratosthenes”.April 3302.
The atmosphere was convivial in the 9th Legion Officers’ Mess. We were trying a selection of ales from microgravity microbreweries that had been collected by one of our logistics officers. Talk had turned to mechanisms to advance the standing of our Emperor, Arissa Lavigny-Duval. Although it looked like the Federation had gone to war with the Alliance, we still faced aggravation from all sides. It was clear that the 9th Legion needed to bolster its credentials on the logistics side, whilst maintaining our fierce reputation for surgical strikes and accomplishment of targets.
I myself had backed off a little bit, and was enjoying life at a slower pace. I’d returned to the semi-nomadic lifestyle that I had in September/October 3301, picking and choosing that day what I was going to do.
We discussed tactics on micro and macro levels. We talked of alliances within the Imperial power base, and of how to put together tactics that would shore up our territorial power. Things were complicated by the conflicting demands on our time of furthering the 9th Legion’s faction powerbase, and of completing Arissa’s missions.
The outcome of the discussions was reasonably clear. We needed to get as many Legionnaires into Gutamaya Imperial Cutters as possible. This would mean pushing to the rank of “Duke” in the Imperial Navy, and acquisition of in the region of 300m Cr to purchase a trade-fit Cutter. A long task for all.
One thing that ignited frustration in the group was that our efforts in furthering the ambitions of the Emperor herself counted for naught in terms of Imperial Navy rank. It seemed scarcely credible that I – with more than 10,000 Federal ship kills to my name – was treated with the same disdain as some wet-behind-the-ears graduate of the Officer Training Corps. Meanwhile, I could get one of my least combat-ready ships, and move some stuff around, to get respect from the Imperial Navy. It would be better if I could just buy it, as I had with the Federal Navy. Still, as with any political system, moaning about it only achieved wasted breath.
I awoke the next morning feeling remarkably chipper. I brewed some fresh coffee and padded through to the office. I spent some time researching options, and decided to take TDL Eratosthenes on a trip through Denton Patreus and Zemina Torval space. I would be an Imperial Navy Courier for a while.
TDL Eratosthenes was a Lakon Spaceways Asp Explorer. Fitted with two class 1 fixed pulse lasers, two class 1 gimballed pulse lasers, and two class 2 Imperial Hammers, she had quite the bite. With 80 tonnes of cargo space, discovery scanners, and a jump drive that could make 30Ly hops, it was the perfect ship for this task. She was named after a Greek mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer and music theorist, who had lived some 3,500 years earlier. It seemed an appropriate moniker, made more so in consideration of the Earth Alliance pioneer-class ship that had been responsible for helping human expansion into space through the early 22nd century. EAS Eratosthenes had been destroyed in early skirmishes of the Shadow war, which had concluded in 2260. TDL Eratosthenes would hopefully not meet such a sticky end as she carried out long-range logistics.
Anders had everything prepped for me down at the shipyard. Eratosthenes was sitting powered up waiting for me to board. After my customary external inspection, I tapped my licence card on Anders’ datapad to sign off his work, then climbed aboard. I initiated launch, and laid in a course for HIP 10716. It was 7 jumps for the Asp’s mighty frame shift drive.
Once I had landed, I got straight to work, surfing the bulletin boards. I picked up 30 or so assignments, all within 30 light years of my current location. Each paid a small stipend and granted a little more Imperial favour.
It wasn’t thrilling work. I learned to ignore my inbound messages panel as delusional morons kept spamming me with “interesting offers” or “useful information.” After the first couple, I realised that these were just timewasters. And as for the ones who claimed “That’s the one I’m after, the one with the big haul,” when my cargo racks were empty… well, they all met swift and unpleasant ends. Some of the courier runs were more lucrative in terms of the bounties earned en route to the destination station than in the mission itself. Nevertheless, it was all a bit of a pittance compared to some of the fee-earning activities I’d been up to over the past few months.
So, fairly safe, but very bored. 8 promotions to go…