EDGE Corporate Channel

[EDG Enterprise]

News 110422: Once upon a time in Poole

Jack Payton was reading a message in a communication room aboard battleship Leviathan. Message was directed to Walter Sobchak. Payton learned about it only after he inquired why Bretonia Police Authority was not paying them for their recent operations in Omega-3. It turned out that Walter directly forbade his subordinates to tell anything to Payton. Now he was reading jeeringly out loud the message once again in the presence of several employees. Message was sent by Bretonia Police Authority representative, someone by the name Henry-George Whitehall.
"This just hit my desk today. A few days ago one of your ships was detected by the crew of a weapons platform tasked with guarding the New London jumphole in the police high security zone of Poole. The ship in question, EDGE|Ea, was contacted by one of my officers about being in the system which is fully well known to be out of bounds for all but the police and on special occasions, the Bretonian Armed Forces. The EDGE vessel also claimed to be, the leader of the EDGE PMC. Tell me, if you are the leader, and you know fully well that Poole is out of bounds, what kind of example are you setting for your newer recruits? You were detected leaving the system via the Omega-50 Jumphole, for what reason did you find it appropriate to use our highest security zone as a thoroughfare? And don't give me the its quicker that way rubbish. We arrest hundreds of trade vessels that try to do the same, so tell me why you shouldn't also be doing time on Newgate for this? Until an answer is given, no bounties may be claimed by the EDGE PMC on our Bounty Board. That will be all."

***

Payton sighed. He looked on someone sitting behind him, opened the comm-link and turned on recording devices. Payton took a letter from a nearby table and started reading it keeping official tone.
"Dear Sir Henry-George Whitehall. This is Enforcer Jack Payton. Executor Walter Sobchak is unavailable at the moment. We would have probably responded earlier to this message if it was send directly to our official Communications Channel and not to our office on Sheffield Station, which is closed during the Easter.
I will be frank with you, Sir. I've consulted one of our lawyers, Alfred Strauss is the name, and he said its a won case. Pardon me being blunt about this. You have neither identification codes nor proper visual footage of our vessel breaching your restricted space. If you decide to take a legal action against Emergency Defense Group Enterprise, we will deny any knowledge about the vessel you're referring to. Also I would like to stress that our Fleet Database contains information and statistics about each and every ship carrying the company's transponder. Basic information is disclosed to lawful and neutral parties with which the Enterprise has ongoing diplomatic and commercial relations, which include Bretonia Police Authority. If a ship is not on that list, then it does not belong to Emergency Defense Group Enterprise. No ship in our database matches description presented in your evidence. As for the alleged communication with Executor Walter Sobchak, without a proper authentication codes anybody could claim to be a leader of this or that group. Lack of proper identification codes of the vessel makes even more plausible scenario that Emergency Defense Group Enterprise is being framed here by a third party. Furthermore, if you will insist on claiming that Executor Walter Sobchack, while flying a ship registered to Emergency Defense Group Enterprise, entered restricted space of Poole System and therefore committed a crime, we will be forced to issue a formal complaint to the Bretonia Government as well as to press charge of malicious falsehood before the High Court on New London. I hope Bretonia Police Authority will have no further doubts concerning this matter."
After reading the letter Jack Payton put it back on a table and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now let us cut the crap and be honest for a moment. You, Sir, obviously have no idea who we are and what we do. When a police officer or navy pilot is captured by pirates he usually ends up beaten in cargo hold and is shortly after ransomed back or left in a pod. When you become a bounty hunter there is no turning back. If a bounty hunter has no guts to eat his gun or cyanide candy upon capture then he will soon regret it. Corsairs tend to hang you naked on a hook and cut out pieces of you slowly. Some of them even eat them afterwards. This isn't really so bad, as you generally die fast due to massive bleeding and following hypothermia. Lane Hackers are far worse. They use neural amplifiers to inflict insane pain on you until you completely lose it. We had reports of whole transports full of catatonic zombies that were once bounty hunters. I think I don't need to further explain what Liberty Rouges or Outcasts are doing to our captured brothers. While the mission of the Emergency Defense Group Enterprise is clear, motivations of our Employees are more complex. Few bounty hunters live long enough to see their retirement pension. You need to be really crazy to choose a career of a bounty hunter. Don't make any mistake. We are no saints. Some of us are ex-criminals who escaped prosecution by joining the Guild, while the others are adrenaline addicts who just can't live without the thrill of battle and constant fear of death. Some of the people who join the Guild are greedy bastards and do it just for the money, while the others feel the need to punish themselves for whatever imagined sins they committed. However, some of us, and I believe this is the case of Executor Walter Sobchak, are motivated by a healthy will of revenge and will do anything to track down and kill their targets. Such strong motivation is the only thing that keeps our employees alive in the Border and Edge worlds. Without it they would not survive a week in this hostile environment."
Jack Payton paused again and took a deep breath.
"Now, if, and I highly stress the conditional tense, our member indeed breached the no fly zone of Poole system, then I am pretty sure he did it as a last resort to track down a dangerous target. If this really happened, then, well, you have our apology and assurance that it won't happen again. However, don't expect us to crawl and beg for mercy. We kill pirates and terrorists, and we will keep doing it whether Bretonia Police Authority pays for it or not. Personally I hope there will be no further misunderstandings between us and our fruitful cooperation will thrive again. Kind regards, Enforcer Jack Payton over and out."

Jack Payton closed the comm-link and turned off all recording devices.
"Thank you, Payton.", said a man sitting behind the chair outside of the recording arc of the camera.
"This was the last time I am cleaning up your mess."
"I am sorry Payton. But I could have done it myself."
"Yeah, I know. You would just tell them to shove off. No, it is enough you ruined our contract with Kusarians. Can you imagine that it is generally bad diplomatic move to tell a guy you want to work for that he is contemptuous xenophobic buffoon?"
"I will try to keep it in mind Payton."
"And one more thing, no more frakkin flying after drinking, you understand me?"
"I promise Payton."
"Now, tell me Walter...", Payton's tone of voice changed from authoritative to cheerful, "How the frakk you managed to fly through a system beset with dozens of automated defenses in an unarmored Starflier and how much Vityaz owes you for doing that?"

***

After a day a reply was sent to Battleship Leviathan.
"Mr. Jack Payton, thank you for quickly responding to this matter. For the record, The Bretonia Police Authority wish to commend you, and your fine group, in your ongoing assistance in ridding Bretonia of pirate activity. Although your methods differ from our own, you have proven a valuable ally in the fight against Corsair activity in our realm. We apologize for any alarm you may have experienced while we temporarily suspended our contract with you. Whenever our sensors in Poole system pick up an unregistered ship, our standard policy is to immediately investigate the matter and determine first hand if our sensors were indeed accurate. As it stands, we were unable to visually identify any unauthorized ships in the Poole system and our investigation is unresolved at this time. This does not mean that our contractual relationship must be suspended indefinitely. Sensors have been known to be faulty at times. They are not always accurate. First hand sightings are far more reliable and these are what we use as evidence in a court of law. Given that we lack this evidence, we must conclude that there is not sufficient grounds to terminate our contract with you and bring up legal charges against you. Therefore, we will resume our contract with you as before. Be advised however, that we will file away these sensor logs. I'm sure that they will never need to be used in any legal proceedings in the future. Anyways, please continue assisting us as you faithfully do, in maintaining law and order within Bretonia. Yours, Rex Easly, BPA Deputy Commissioner."
Message contained hidden part.
"Now off the record... Listen Jack, I want you to tell your Executor that our sensors have never failed us in the past. We know what happened, you know what happened. My desk is loaded with reports, I'm starting to drink heavily and I don't have the time or patience to deal with this crap. Keep your men away from restricted areas and I'll be a happy man. Am I clear? Now that we know a little more about the systems you like to frequent, we will keep a closer eye on you in the future. I'm confident that you will make sure that this won't happen again. Rex out..."
"I am really happy that we understand each other.", Payton said to himself after viewing the message.

written by Guszaban
messages by Garrett Jax and Hidamari

[EDG Enterprise]

[EDG Enterprise]

Ship Profile 110517: Destroyer Svarog

Destroyer Svarog "Where Others Dare Not Tread"

It was 818 A.S.. The Pagan Mercenary Subject Retrieval/Deep Space Exploration Company had been formed by Alfred Strauss, Ryan Freeman, and Ugo Pike in Omega-41 and officially incorporated in Hamburg, Rheinland. Almost four hundred men and women, formerly of various occupations, had entered into service under the banner of the fledgling group of explorers and religious fanatics (for their motto was that of "Purge the Threats - Glory to the Gods"), and within two days the squad had received their first contract from the Independent Communist Miners' Guild in the Tau-23 system, to defend their colony ships from the Outcast pirates. A large down payment allowed them to purchase several aging capital vessels, to which they put to great use.

Tau-23: Destroyer Svarog carrying engineers to an IMG outpost in the deep Taus

Approximately one month later, their first contract expired and the group received their full payment of nine-hundred million credits. They used the money to upgrade their vessels, and to construct a fearsome capital ship ― the battleship Skadi. The leadership of the group, at a suggestion from Commander Alfred Strauss, the owner of the destroyer Svarog, made the bold decision to depart to the deep, uncharted Omicron systems, to explore and chart the furthest reaches of space, and to sell their findings to Sirius's most wealthy men.

Omicron-99: Destroyer Svarog in a small capital fleet, in search of a classified enemy force

This risky venture did not prove to pay off. Though at first, the company was met with incredible luck and success, the battlecruiser Valefor, which carried all of their financial assets, as well as Ryan Freeman, the third founder of the group, was destroyed by a hostile force, and all shipboard personnel were lost. Dismayed at the sudden death of their companions, the Pagan Squad soon disbanded. Shortly after, Commanders Strauss and Pike found employment in the upstart Emergency Defense Group Enterprise, and they brought their most prized possessions with them ― their capital ships. Since then, the Svarog has seen countless battles, from the skies of Malta to the cold, hard vacuum of the deepest Omegas. It is certain that this venerated vessel shall remain a stern, dreaded enforcer of law and order for years to come.



Specifications

Commander Strauss has elected not to publicly disclose the specifications of his vessel.

written by Kaiwren

[EDG Enterprise]