The Further Exploits of Captain Antares

[Binski]

This thread is the sequel to the Exploits of Captain Antares.

On the Rocks

822 A.S.

The 'clink' of ice on glass could be heard over the chatter of voices at the bar on Barrier Gate Station. It was a typical busy night. A man in a thick leather bomber coat and a wide brimmed bush hat sat alone at a booth, his head down with the brim over hanging his face. Expressionless, the mouth of that face never even quivered as a lanky figure slipped his way into the booth across from the stranger.

"We got his reply...sent us some standard intel, warned us about heightened Colonial activity around here, but I think he must be in the Omegas by the sounds of it. He didn't say exactly" Jonas blurted in one breath, and paused bracing for the reaction to his statement.

"He's not far. But that means he's bogged down in his own sandtrap. It's ok, we'll try the others in the meantime, and keep moving. If we hang around one place too long we'll draw too much attention." Antares replied with a deep overtone, cutting through the bar noises.

"What about the upcoming operation cap?" Jonas asked innocently.

"Don't matter. I'm still moving forward. We'll see who has business for us, and go from there. But we're staying out of Liberty for a while. After what happened...I could go a lifetime without laying my eyes on Texas" Antares muttered and followed up by taking a sip from his drink.

"Oh c'mon captain, we can't stay away forever. Besides, Liberty's where the money's at!" Jonas chimed in trying to shed a positive light on the conversation.

"Don't push it Jonas. We'll go where we gotta, when we gotta. Until then..." he said sarcastically "get the ship prepped, we move out in the morning. Tonight I'll be here, reviewing the logs of the last couple weeks." Antares replied.

"Gotcha Cap!" Jonas exclaimed with a half hazard two-fingered 'salute' as he wiggled out of the booth and took to his feet. He made his way through the crowd and disappeared out of Antares' sight. Antares sat there and pulled out his data pad, drinking and reading.

As he read, his thoughts drifted. In the last few months he'd been busy. Defending his Junker kinfolk, pirating any ship worth breathing at, and plenty of espionage missions on bases and their suppliers. A whole slew of new bases had cropped up in Liberty and the Rheinland borderworlds. New bases always meant new supply lines, and transports willing to pay to save their cargo.

After the recent 'incident' in Texas he had hit the 'lamb' and escaped to the borderworlds and Taus for some traditional 'therapy'. It was also a good time to check in on some things out there. He'd had his own privateers out operating for pay, focusing piracy against whole organizations. The Unione Corse, GMG, and of course any Xenos and Hogosha that hung around Kusari and its neighbouring territory. Most of the time the bad blood sprung from skirmishes, acting in defense of Junker traders and friends.

Time had come for a change in routine, some moving on and keeping sharp. Piracy these days was more like running drills for the crew with live targets. Its fun, exciting, and monotonous all in one. The Argo was holding her own, better than expected. She may be old, cross-wired a thousand ways, over drained and patched over, but to Antares the ship was still in its prime. It has performed more than amicably during its tenure as his main ship of operations. Having been heavily modified to mount a Battleship Scanner, it could take advantage of its range to stealthily sneak up on its targets. The ship's cargo bay had been totally re-fitted as one big fuel storage bay, and could support intermediate ranged stealth missions, for a ship of its size and class. With the near maneuverability of a freighter, but firepower of Transport Turrets, she could pack a decent punch.

For now, Antares was up for making cash as always, and was hoping to broaden his business with an offer to be made to the underworld of Sirius. Time would tell if he could find the work he was up for. For now, he scrolled the logs of the recent days content to keep the men hardened and ready.

"Begin Log. After we hit the Taus, we got back to our old prowl for miners and unsuspecting shippers trying to slip though." he began.

* * * *

"Dauman Transport in Hokkaido - The crew did well but the ship managed to get to a nearby miner before we could finish the job"
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"Then there was a miner we ran into on his way through the borderworlds. Caught him coming out of 29. Another refusal, we chased him to Coronado and let him hang by a thread. No point in keeping the small fish. Throw 'em back, next time they'll be worth cooking."
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"Swinging through Nagano, we caught up with a Samura transport. Normally I'd just blast 'em, but being empty, I let him off with a toll. Only Samura gets such a treatment from me. This Captain was smart."
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"For kicks we swung through the Nobium field out in Tau-23. Found another IMG Hegemon miner that needed its 'initiation' to the ways of things out there. He was a reasonable chap and took it well."
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"Then there was this 'pay what you can' Republican transport we intercepted in Nagano. Traders these days..."
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"Later I decided to shift gears and book it for Kepler. The trade route through there into Shikoku is prime territory for catching up to trade ships loaded down with goods. Besides, I like to keep us moving. First thing we came across was an IMG Nanga Parbat. I hate those things. Squirmy ones they are, he made it up to Ames so we broke off. He got the point"
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"Next came a Freelancer with a strange tag in Shikoku. Never seen his kind before, let him off for an easy mil"
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"We cut off this Universal Bison on his way into Kepler. He high tailed it back to Shikoku and we chased him in a running firefight all the way to Deshima. Flew circles around him. Corporate fools..."
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"Speaking of foolish. We are no fans of the Hogosha, for obvious reasons. Even so, this unarmored empty Akegata coming from Shikoku did not take well to my demand for 3 million credits, but I considered it letting him off easy. His reply 'Or how about I kill you' I took as a no, and proceeded to blast the ship to bits after a brief pursuit. Such disrespect cannot be tolerated"
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Not long after that, a kind Freelancer paid a little toll and passed us without incident.
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And again another Universal ship, which did after some 'convincing' pay a little toll as well. The captain seemed rather mortified though, and it made me wonder if I've become rather desensitized to this sort of thing. Oh well, we got what we needed, and were on our way.
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"Close log" Antares dryly coughed out after downing his last shot of whiskey. As he squirmed out of the booth he tucked away the tablet inside his jacket. Giving a glance in both directions, he pulled down the brim of his hat a bit more and walked out of the bar. Hopefully, things would be looking up soon.

...To Be Continued >>>

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The Further Exploits of Captain Antares (August 2015) │ (alt) JonasHudson
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