Rotten to the Core

[Implosion]

Chapter 2: Orange Dream
816 A.S.

The alarms on his bomber were going off like it was Christmas, but Jack ignored all of them. The ship was missing a fin, but like a true predator, it kept on going. Daniels knew this was his one and only chance to take out Big Jimmy. The same loaner that also ran a cardamine smuggling ring and dealt with slaves on the side, just to spice things up. He could’ve tipped the police about it, but they were most likely on Jimbo’s payroll. That’s why he opted for a different approach, with a few bribes, the loan shark found himself cornered just between Planet Curacao and California Jumpgate. His Liner didn’t exactly put him in a good place, but Jack had to admit, that thing was tough. Being a decommissioned prison liner, it’s main purpose was to make it through attacks like this one. After he had taken the eagles that were escorting him, Jack focused on Jimmy’s flying resort. The Junker was smart, he had ran off to the asteroid field and attempted to use it for cover. His strategy nearly worked when Daniels’ ship collided with one of the bigger rocks, but the ex-merc was here to kill. The Moray had a very special set of guns, precisely for this situation. Five advanced debilitators, a disruptor and a supernova antimatter cannon. EMP mines were also loaded and ready to go, but he wouldn’t waste them on a moving target just yet.
The pulse guns slowly, but surely, depleted the shields and then the SNAC came into play. The weapon ripped massive holes in the ship’s hull. People, cargo and furniture got sucked into space through them. In a way, the Liner was bleeding. Jack nearly wiped himself out after a huge round table with a stripper pole sticking from it’s center flew got in his way. He had to turn sharply and dodge asteroids as a result. For a moment he lost visual of his prey. Scanners were absolutely useless in this field. He turned them off and looked around the asteroids.

-Come out, you bastard, show yourself. I’m here to repay my debts! WITH THE INTEREST! - The hunter yelled, just as a salvo of overheated projectiles depleted the rear shields. - HA! You could never pick the right fight, Jimmy!

The Moray’s thrusters screamed in pain while the ship dodged the next deadly pair of gunfire. Daniels released a pair of EMP mines to make short work of the pursuing vessel’ shields. The Liner was now behind him and another pair of electromagnetic pulse mines easily found their target and slammed directly into the bridge. They did their intended job, but also temporarily disabled the liner’s control systems. Daniels could see the terror on his victim’s face when he turned around, reduced the distance and fired a supernova into the luxurious bridge from almost point blank range. The violent explosion tossed the Moray out of it’s course and into an asteroid, obliterating it’s entire broadside and cracking the cockpit window. When Jack finally came back to his senses, he saw Jimmy’s ship being torn apart by a series of explosions until nothing but debris, cases of booze and bodies were left floating around. The hunter ran a full range scan to make sure there were no survivors and limped back to Curacao. His ship was in no condition to land on the planet. Curacao's atmosphere would tear the bomber apart. The frame and the windows simply would not hold. Luckily, Cortez was a frequent stop for Luxury Liners and all he had to do was wait and hope Jimmy’s people wouldn’t arrive first.

“Hey Danny boy, check your scanners, we’ve three sabres incoming from California.”

-Odd...how did I saw...or… - He simply couldn’t understand how the dark voice in his head knew that, but it was right. Scanner was showing three boogies, approaching fast. Most likely a lucky guess, Jack knew pirates usually roll three ships at a time. Either way, he had to act, he was still near the planet and the only choice was to use it for cover. He entered high orbit and began moving clockwise around it. -Ah crap.

Someone else had the same idea, a banged up transport vessel, unlike anything Daniels had seen before got in his way. As he narrowly avoided head on collision, he could see the ship’s name painted sloppily on side:

“Pathfinder”

-Oi! Que pasa hombre! Careful out here! - Yelled the captain on the retrofitted slave liner.
-Que pasa amigo! How would you like to earn a few credits! - Jack knew that ship had plenty of space in his cargo hold. He also knew no pirate would look for a hunter on board one of these. They would just assume he made planetfall and that’s that. -Open your docking bays and I promise you a million… plus what’s left of my ship and everything on it!
-Deal cabron! Come on right in! -The docking port opened midway through the sentence and the Moray was out of sight shortly after.

Daniels found himself in a dark docking bay with light shining through the walls. The only thing between him and the vacuum outside were the shield generators. No welcoming party was in sight, so he just started walking towards the bridge.

“Oh my, Danny boy, you’ve really outdid yourself this time! I thought you took a big risk when you went to Alaska to shoot order terrorists back in the day. I thought that would be the end of you. It looks like that was just the beginning. Let’see where your next miserable life choice would take us?”

Daniels remembered the time when he found a pair of order fighters trying to sneak through the badlands. He gave pursuit and ended up flying through Zone-21 and into Alaska. Things got real serious when he extracted the data from the Nephtys’ on-board computers. Targeting solutions for organic ships. Aliens were real and the order weren’t who people said they were. He couldn’t really remember how long he stayed in Alaska. His ship was torn apart when he collided with the second fighter, killing it’s pilot. That’s when he met Jimmy. Smugglers were bold and used whatever backwater routes they could find to move product around. His pod was tractored by one such vessel and he found himself on Rochester, without a ship and out of job. He had to take a loan, so he can buy his Raven Talon and get back to space. The mysterious alien race almost haunted him, but he needed a whole lot of cash if he was going to explore the omicrons.

-Funny, that’s when I first started hearing that dark voice... man, this job has driven me insane, loan sharks, pirates, smugglers, aliens, terrorist… - And then he saw the sabre trio flying by the ship. If nothing else, the holes in the hull made fod good windows. He instinctively hid behind the corner, so the pilots couldn’t see him. They most likely weren’t even looking at the ship, be Jack took cover just in case.

-Amigo! Watchu hidin’ from? - The ship’s captain was standing on the other end of the small hallway. - Horale....a bounty hunter!

-Hey, hey, relax man. I don’t care what you do or where you come from. I just need a ride to Curacao, okay? - Jack knew this could end badly and his hand found it’s way to the plasma revolver on his belt.

-Cabron, do you know how much I would get for a live hunter? - The man tried to keep a straight face but laughed. - Ah, relax horale, it’s cool! I’m Fernando Halsey and this is my ship. You’ll be safe and you’ll get your passage! I'm a man of my word and we made a deal, so feel yourself at home! My rust bucket is your rust bucket. Just don't touch anything,
si?
-Huh, gracias amigo… - Daniels was sure the man was from Malta. The inhaler gave away his heritage, but he couldn’t care less at this point.
-Listen, compadre, I can’t get you down to Curacao, though. It’s either Rochester or a Freeport.
-Get me to Tau-29 and there’s a few more millions for you. - A bold request, but maybe it could work.
-Cabron, that’s the other way around. We’re going to finish this run first. A whole lot of weapons on this ship need to get to their destination. After all, I’ve my reputation on the line! - He laughed again and headed back to the bridge. Looks like he was really a man of his word. That puzzled Jack. He always thought Outcasts were nothing more than two-bit pushers and slavers. Daniels figured it's a bad idea to look a gift horse in the mouth and looked around the battered insides of the so called "Slave Liner"
This was when he realized, the hold was full with crates of military grade weapons. Assault rifles, shotguns, launchers, grenades, mechs, exo suits and a variety of explosives used for demolition. There were even a pair of hover buggies with gatling lasers on them.

“Daaaaaaamn Danny boy, this guy’s the real deal. One proper shot and this nightmare ends. Kill the captain, sell the guns and retire on Baden Baden. Come on D…”

-Shut up. - Said Daniels and found a cozy spot on one of the crates. - I need a nap.

When Daniels woke up, the ship was already mooring with the Freeport. He felt different. Calmer, stronger, more focused. Most likely the leftover adrenaline from the fight. He headed to the bridge and found Captain Halsey sitting in a oversized seat, most likely taken from some luxury freighter.
-Compadre, where do you want the cash? - Asked Daniels, preparing to wire the money from this PDA.
-Cabron, you insult me! I don’t want cash, neither do I need whatever’s left of your ship. You think I don’t know who you are? Mr. Jack Daniels, the runaway bride! You had a date with death and you stood her up! HA! Horale, I wasn’t in Cortez by accident. Every scumbag in Liberty and Bretonia is gunning for you. The bounty boards are insane. Luckily, I’ve had beef with both Jimmy and that other guy that put a price on your face. Sir Gangster as you know him, or Hackett, Michael Hackett, son of an admiral and wanted criminal in three houses. His father disowned him years ago and tried to murder him more than once, but your ex-partner in crime is smart. Unfortunately for him, he messed with the wrong person. Me. That cabron nearly shot down El Pathfinder! Those holes you see, his doing. It’s in my interest to make sure you survive and continue your hunt. My boys patched up your ship. The engines were simple enough, but that frame was a bit...well...let’s just say we had to reinforce with whatever we had.That Moray is now rocking materials from the Falcatas back on Malta. Fortunately for you, we've plenty of spare parts up in here. Oh and uh, there’s another small problem, you see, the astero...

“Look at him, Danny boy. Do you notice anything different? His inhaler, Danny boy. He’s either a fraud or he doesn’t need it. You know what this means, Danny boy? Cardamine’s in the air.”

...and that led to a ship wide blackout. The tanks were ruptured and...yeah. We’ve stashed a few doses of cardamine in your ship. Don’t worry, the addiction should be minor and you wouldn’t need much. Just don’t increase the dosage, okay? Okay, compadre! Rapido, back to the hunt! - Halsey put up an awkward smile, hoping the hunter won’t snap and kill him.

Daniels didn’t really notice when they got to the ship or when Fernando shoved him in his seat. He had become addicted to cardamine. Cardamine of all things. He knew it’s an one way trip. There was no cure, no substitutes, no way out. The docking bay opened and he launched his ship, rotated 180 degrees and clicked the safeties off. But bombing a transport next to a Freeport wasn’t a very good idea at the time. He pulled a furious u-turn again and the Moray hit the tradelanes towards Tau-31
Still struggling to understand what happened, Jack felt a sudden unusual crave. Every muscle in his body was set ablaze as the first stages of abstinence hit him like a train. He remembered what the outcast told him about the stash and frantically looked around the cockpit. To his surprise, he found a small flask next to his climate control panel. It had these ampules filled with some sort of orange dust. As he cracked one open and sniffed the substance, the pain was gone and bliss had taken it’s place.

“Daaaaaaaanny….wake up Danny boy….OI CABRON!”

Jack managed to open his eyes and adjust the course mere moments before running into a Liberty Dreadnought. He rubbed his eyes and realized he had reached Liberty. The fact Battleship Missouri was in front of him was solid proof for that.
-Cabron...do you read? Daniels! - Halsey’s voice was coming loud and clear out of his helmet’s built in headphones.
-Yeah, yeah I hear you, asshole? What’s up?
-Listen up, cazador, you might want to head directly for the badlands. Enter from the destroyed research station. I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for. Oh and uh, mind the siege cruisers. Someone up top launched a sting op on certain gangsters we know. Both LPI and the Liberty Navy are on spot. Rapido, cabron! - The Headphones crackled and the connection was cut.
-Bah, go to hell, sniffer. - Mumbled Daniels and leaned back in his seat.
Eventually, after another dose and another blackout, he set course towards the Badlands. The place was a mess, a pair of siege cruisers were desperately fighting off Barghests while a Rogue Gunship was picking off the Guardians. Missiles flew out of the top mounted launchers and each time, they found their targets. It was a matter of time before they would deplete the Liberty Navy Guardians’ shields and decimate their hulls. Daniels felt confident in his newly acquired inhuman boost and broke another capsule. This time bliss was replaced by pure focus. Things began moving slower than usual, colors became more vivid and saturated and sounds were now much, much louder. Every click on his console felt like a nuclear explosion. He was sure his ear drums were bleeding.

“No sound in space, Danny boy”

The guardians were regrouping as the Moray flew between them and an oversized asteroid. They couldn’t believe their eyes… a bounty hunter bomber without a canopy. But Jack didn’t mind that. There was no sound, not anymore. He zeroed in on the gunship and dropped a mine. But no mine came out of his ship. Instead, a flash of orange light followed by an supercharged pulse projectile grabbed his attention. An Inferno. The outcasts had mounted an Inferno on his ship. One of their best kept secrets, the Inferno was a devastating pulse weapon, designed to overload shields in seconds. Jack changed his strategy, he faced the gunboat head on, slightly strafing from side to side. He knew where the shield generator was and he was going to get a clean shot at them. The pirate was smart, but he was also arrogant and greedy. No serious armor would be present on that gunboat and a single well placed shot would smite it. A pair of missiles missed Daniels’ head by a few meters and he killed the engines, allowing the ship to glide past the gunship. And then he saw it, the shield emitter. He pushed the trigger and the orange ball overloaded the energy field. Not a second later, the supernova violently punched through the gunship’s engine and found it’s designated target deep within the ship. The hunter had learned from his previous mistake and had left enough distance between his ship and the fiery mess that was once a gunship. In the distance, he could see Guardians putting pressure on the Liberty Rogue bombers. He swiftly closed in and fired his supernova again. For a weapon designed to destroy capital ship armor, the antimatter cannons were often used for defense against freighters, bombers and even fighters. It was absolutely devastating when it hit. Almost nothing was left from the Barghest and that gave Jack the chance to bolt. The tradelanes towards Westpoint Academy weren’t too far…

-This is Silver-2, I don’t know who you are, but we thank you for the aid! If you ever find yourself on Fort Bush, have a drink on me, tell the bartender to put it on Detective Holden’s account. - Said the pilot of the second guardian.

Suddenly, Jack snapped out of his narcotic trance. That was Katherine, his Katherine! She had gotten herself into a joint op with the Navy! She most likely did it to save Jack from his past. To erase everyone that wanted him dead. He wanted to turn the ship around and go to her, but then he heard that dark, cheeky voice in his head.

“No! She can’t see you like that. You’ve became an addict, a wreck. You should end this right now, Danny boy, pull your gun and blow your god damned brains out!”

Instead, he just increased the throttle and disappeared into the cloud. The voice was right and Katherine deserved better. For all she knew, Jack Daniels was officially dead. He plotted a course for Baltimore and had his canopy replaced there. He had no future in Liberty or any other house, for that matter. He had heard the Core was hiring, so he grabbed all he had, which was reduced to his flask and the clothes he was wearing, hopped into his ship and set off towards Omicron Delta, or the heart of all evil, if the stolen Order maps could be trusted. The Core would most likely have someway to cure his addiction, after all, they were one of most technically advanced groups in the edges of Sirius. And if all else failed, maybe he could find out more about the elusive aliens.

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