04. Haunted by the past
14 Jun 2020Archived
Deep Space Enroute to Eurybia system
Onboard Rex Creen’s Adder
Vadim was in receive mode, listening to the younger pilot’s story with one ear, at the same time trying to figure out his next steps once they arrive at Eurybia.
Rex was talking about his past: how he had grown up on a mining station, how at one point his whole family was kidnapped by pirates and sold to imperial slavery. And how later on he was released by a guy named Turner, who himself wasn’t a saint. That part intrigued Kerensky, and he shot a quick glance as his new companion. He spent last few years with a group of space thugs, until recently he lost his ship and barely made it out in one piece.
“Well, I owe you my life” - Vadim said - “and Kerensky’s word is something you can always rely on. It is rock solid. I will pay back my debt once we get to Eurybia.”
“Yes.. OK. So, what is the plan?”
“First I need to reactivate my licence with the Federation and get a ship. Next, there are some old friends I will try to find. We’ll need to do some jobs for Eurybia Blue Mafia, and these aren’t exactly on the legal side of things..” - he looked at Rex again, but the pilot only smirked.
“Yeah, I hear you. I have no problems with that. No problems at all.”
“Good. Very good.”
Few hours later
You Shou System, Empire
1.5km from Payne Reach, planetside
Vadim was driving carefully towards the installation in the beaten up SRV that was part of inventory on an old hauler he managed to commandeer - together with a fixed rail gun and a small cargo hold. Rex zapped overhead in his Adder.
“OK, I am almost above the target. No turrets.. nobody shoots. Area is clean”.
“Got you. I’m 500 meters away, I have comms hub in sight” - Vadim carefully scanned a small outpost for any signs of skimmers or guns, but didn’t find any. Adder’s thrusters left a long, curved blue trail in the sky as he circled around.
10 minutes later they were leaving the atmosphere of the planet, with downloaded data stored in the memory chip. Rex broke the silence first.
“900 thousand for this? There must be some catch”
“Perhaps. I do not care as long as they pay.”
“Which they haven’t done yet…”
Two hours later
Eurybia System
Asteroid ring of Eurybia 2a
“So.. once again, who are we looking for here?” - Rex clearly had problems keeping up with the tempo of things happening around Vadim. They collected the payment for the previous job and almost immediately set off on the next assignment.
“Meeting my old friend, Tom. He will put us with touch with relevant people of the Mafia”
“Ah.. OK”
Vadim checked his sensors. There was quite a few ships around, but Tom’s red cobra was nowhere to be found. Suddenly he heard a voice on the open comms channel:
“Vadim Kerensky, this is Rear Admiral Blasius Hajdu. If you want to see your friend alive, stand down and prepare to be boarded”
“Is this another acquaintance of yours?” - Rex asked over the comms.
“I think..” - Vadim began to reply, but was cut by another transmission, a harsh voice saying:
“Drop your cargo and you will live”
Kerensky, incredulous, checked the cargo manifest. He had one unit of narcotics in the hold - something he didn’t even notice when he was “borrowing” this ship from his previous owner. He cursed. Fumbling, Vadim tried to jettison the damn box, but as Pilot’s Federation upgraded the UI in all its ships since he last flew, he only managed to fire up galactic map. He frantically searched for the correct switch, but the precious time was ticking and the pirates opened fire.
“We’re under attack!” - Rex cried and almost instantly the shields of the hauler started taking hits. Kerensky deployed his hard point and boosted towards closest asteroid, trying to shake the pursuers. From the corner of his eye he noticed a huge Federal Corvette, so far sitting quietly in the middle of the fray and now opening fire. Thick blue laser beams shot in several directions, almost cutting nearby pirate Eagles in half. Lead by instinct, Vadim disabled flight assisted and turned towards the gargantuan ship, with two aggressors trailing behind.
“Taking damage” - flight computer announced. Sparks erupted from right side of the cockpit. Another pirate ended his life in a fireball after receiving accurate shot from the corvette.
“Hull: critical” - quick glance on the status page has shown that integrity dropped to 9%. Cracks appeared on the canopy.
“Vadim, taking heavy fire, what the hell is going on?” - Rex again. Kerensky didn’t answer, as he desperately rolled his ship away from the laser beam flew in his direction from the Federal vessel. It almost touched him before reaching its target and knocking out one of his pursuers shields - a masterful shot if Vadim ever saw one. Presently both pirates turned tails and fled deeper into the asteroid field. Blasius Hajdu’s voice could be heard again on the open channel:
“Resistance is futile. I have your friend, whom you came here to meet. And I have some questions only you can answer, Vadim Kerensky. Retract your weapons and follow me”.
“Vadim, let’s do what he says” - concern in Rex’s voice was audible. Vadim weighed their options. Hull almost gone, pitiful shields that wouldn’t stop a single shot from this giant. On the other hand - lots of asteroids which would make it almost impossible for the corvette to manoeuvre at speed. He made up his mind in an instant.
“I am sorry, admiral Hajdu, but not today. I am not going back to jail. Rex, buster, we’re getting out of here!” - he pressed the boost command as he was still half way through the sentence. His small ship sprinted towards the sea of rocks and ice, followed by Rex’s Adder...
(To be continued)
Thanks to Blasius and Rex for excellent RP - if anyone likes this kind of thing and want to help build the story, please PM me!