A man sits at a small table in the middle of a tiny apartment. He looks at a torn scrap of paper on the table, his face betrays the flush of emotion he feels. He reaches for the bottle of whiskey on the table and drinks from it to distract himself from the pain. As he suffers the burn of the liquid going down his throat, he sets down the bottle and looks around the room. To his left, a pair of doors, undoubtedly a bedroom and lavatory. On his right, a small kitchenette. The wall across from him is adorned with pictures, some framed, some just tacked on. Many seem to have the same person in them, a child.
The sound of a door sliding open grabs his attention. Before he turns to see the source of the noise, a younger man sits down across from him. The younger man is wearing dirty overalls with the insignia of DSE emblazoned on the chest, just underneath the company logo was a name patch, 'Johnny'. The two stare at each other for a moment until the younger man breaks the silence. "It's been a week since you were told, you couldn't have got here any sooner? It's not like you hang out on the other side of Sirius, hell, it's an open secret that you guys have a hangout here on Pittsburgh."
"I came as soon as I could." The man responds.
"Pirating innocent workers in space is a busy occupation?" Johnny presses the older man, he reaches forward and grabs the whiskey bottle to have a drink himself. "Mother worked ten hours a day mining Boron on this wart of a planet for forty years. Was that work not worthy enough for you?"
The man slams his hand down on the table. "You don't understand!" His eyes are filled with rage at the ignorance. "We're --" He's interrupted by Johnny.
"No! I don't think you understand. Not what you're fighting for, or who you're fighting against." Johnny takes another drink and sets the bottle down. "Trying to stop foreign corporations from doing business in Liberty because they'll influence our already CORRUPT government. Oh yes, such a noble cause. The people you pirate don't control or influence shit. They're the starship crews, the low rungs on the ladder. Hurting them hurts nothing! Certainly not their companies bottom line in any significant way."
"If we do it enough, they'll eventually stop coming to Liberty."
"No they won't. Those shipments are insured, the ships are insured, hell, they take out life insurance policies on their employees so they get paid even if the employees are killed. Just like Deep Space Engineering. They made money off Mother's death. Doesn't matter if they're foreign or domestic, these companies hold too much power."
