Operation Code: “Sombra Asunto”

[eigos]

Date: 25-JAN-823; Time: 23:58
ON THE RUN

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There are none more fierce and dangerous groups in Gallia as The Maquis – a fact which the Royal Police knows too well from personal experience. Their very arrival on the battlefield was enough to turn the lawful attention away from the destroyer, because to turn your back on terrorists was equal to suicide. If there were 4 arriving from one side, you can expect this number to triple in a matter of seconds from all other sides too. And this is exactly what happened – the police found themselves swarmed from every direction, which thwarted any chance for them to continue their pursuit on the runaway ex-outcast destroyer.

*Secure Channel* Kadego: Now THAT is what I call some proper mash potatoes right there! The Po-Po ain’t got a chance of getting outta that…. Errrm, dude….? Ghost-man, can you read me….? …guess that’s a no-no, then.

*talking to himself* He did mention he was about to jump to that system, what was its name again… something that sounded like a heavy brand of old-man glasses or some crap. *takes a look at the navmap* That jumpgate should be pretty close now… there it is. Man, that thing is H-U-G-E. Way bigger than what they’ve got in the other houses! *yawns* Wow, it’s almost tomorrow now… I haven’t had anything to eat the whole day, besides that short “breakfast”… *opens some food rations* …and I have no idea when I am getting to sleep. I need caffeine…and I need it fast. Dock….dock..! I said dock now, god damn it!

VOX System: *bleep* Docking sequence engaged. Access codes accepted. Initiating for system jump in 5….4….3….2….1…. commencing. *bleep* Jump successful… welcome to the Lyonnais system, commander.

As the ship exited the wormhole, the horizon ahead revealed the true beauty of the Lyonnais system. For a few seconds, captain Kadego forgot about his drowsiness, rubbed his eyes and a smile crept onto his face. After a very long day, this sight had an exhilarating effect on him and he started his cruise engines, heading in a direction far away from the nearby trade lane.

*Secure Channel* Kadego: This is Kadego to Ghost-man….do you read me? I am currently in the Lyon- whatever the name is- system… do you copy?

*Secure Channel* Unknown: Monsieur Kadego, welcome! I hope you weren’t followed… you should head to the following coordinates that I am sending you right now. It is imperative that you remove yourself as far away from the system’s traffic without delay.

*Secure Channel* Kadego: Way ahead of you, I am already 10k away from anything that resembles civilization. Listen man… I think now it’s a good time for me to say a big THANK YOU for saving my ass out there. If it’s not too much to ask, why are you helping me? And how do you know Diego…?

*Secure Channel* Unknown: Oh, you are very welcome, captain! As I said earlier, your friend Diego is the reason I went to such lengths to keep you alive… you see, I am doing this to repay him for saving my own life a couple of years back. Two days ago, I received a message from monsieur Rojas, asking me to honor my debt and help someone who was about to go on a mission in Gallia. He provided your personal transponder’s signature and secure channel codes and told me to stand by in case it was activated. This would mean you were in trouble and my service would be required. But I never in my wildest dreams imagined you to get into THIS kind of trouble that you currently are.

*Secure Channel* Kadego: And what trouble am I in exactly…? I mean, sure – half the population in Lorraine wanted to kill me and my base command basically told me to kiss my ass goodbye when things hit the fan proper… what else is new?

*Secure Channel* Unknown: He he he, that is a good way to put it. But you are obviously wrong about one thing – it was not “half the population” that was after you. It was going to be “all” of them. Are you aware that the Maquis raiders I sent out to help you are actually the closest allies with the Unione Corse?

*Secure Channel* Kadego: They are…? Why did they let me escape?

*Secure Channel* Unknown: That’s because I did what was required – I paid them. There are two more unlawful bases in the Lorraine system, monsieur. One of them that is close to the minefield from the northern side belongs to the Corse. The other one, Verdun Base – you might have guessed – was in the asteroid field where the raiders found you. I was on that base when I contacted you. I lied to the base commander and told him you were a smuggling armored transport who got caught by the police and paid them quite a hefty sum of money to save your neck AND to leave you alone after.

*Secure Channel* Kadego: And here I was, thinking those guys were warming up to me and wanted us to become best friends…. Pheh. Good thing I didn’t stay there to help ‘em.

*Secure Channel* Unknown: Monsieur, there was a reason I told you to get out of there. If The Maquis found out that you were wanted by the Unione Corse… you have no idea what they are capable of doing. This is also why I had to leave their base before the battle started… if something went wrong and they found out I was helping a runaway outcast, my head would be served on a silver platter with garnish and a glass of champagne for the Corse.

*Secure Channel* Kadego: To think that we let that Anrie guy from the Corse escape… he must be itching to get his pervy hands on me now.

*Secure Channel* Unknown: What makes those shady types so dangerous is their connections throughout Gallia. The only faction that is not really affected by them are The Council. But as you know, those guys have already signed up every outcast on their kill list. The only way for you to stay alive is to remain undetected until you get out of gallic space. You have all the waypoints you need in your navmap right now and the journey should be fairly long for you… a small price to pay for surviving. Put your ship on auto pilot and get some sleep, captain. I will call you tomorrow when I figure out which of the exit points would work best to get you through all this. Good night!