Return of the VCS-Nightmare

[Switchback]

William “Billy” Xae finished his work and locked his workstation. Packing his stuff for the weekend, he left the office and began his walk home. It wasn’t a long walk, probably about 10 minutes. However, it was long enough to reflect. Billy was 37 years old, originally a Libertonian from Los Angeles born into poverty. He got into fights at school and generally was regarded as average in every regard. After finishing grade school, he abandoned his home planet and drifted for a few years. Getting into fights with Rogues, Junkers, and even the odd Lane Hacker, he drifted from place to place. Eventually however, he found his place as a pirate within the Vagrant Raiders.

Originally a Cardamine Smuggling group, the Vagrant Raiders had grown exponentially, and had a vast arsenal of equipment and personnel. People from all parts of the criminal underbelly of Liberty joined the VR, some seeking riches, some seeking fame, and some just looking for a home. As usual, Billy often got into arguments with the other bandits within the ranks. That was until he met then-Raider Blain Spike. Blain Spike was a no-nonsense abrasive man, one who often angered his compratriots. By some miracle he survived the cutthroat world of the Vagrant Raiders, and eventually rose to the rank of Overlord when the founder of the Raiders John Petrucci died from Radiation Poisoning. Blain ran the Raiders with an Iron Fist, angering once-allies and neglecting his duties as Overlord. Over time, the Raiders became stagnant, disorganized.

However, for all his flaws, Overlord Spike had a deep sense of family and comradery. Where he would neglect his responsabilities as Overlord to maintain appearances and forge a path forward for the Raiders externally, he did what he could to keep the Raiders together. As time went on, Blain counseled Billy and gave him the tools for success, training him. During this time they became close, and with the friendship came power. Before long, Billy had risen to the rank of Warlord. Life was good, at least for a while. Billy remembered the day it all went sideways like it was yesterday. Blain had just found out that Taskmaster Escher and Taskmaster Kane had returned to the fold, and Blain had sent them a message. At the time he was not sure what the plan was, but Blain looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Then, Liberty Law Enforcement breached their Safehouse on Barrier Gate Station. Fending them off, Billy and Blain split up, with the plan to rendevous outside Blain’s gunboat the Never Enough. However, in the chaos the persuers found Blain, and gunned him down.

Billy, now unsure what to do, made it to his Scimitar light fighter, and blasted off. As soon as he was clear of the station he received an automated message from Taskmaster Kane. The Vagrant Raiders was to cease all operations and return to the Metropolis. The Era of the Blain Spike Vagrant Raiders was over. Unsure how to proceed, Billy decided to go dark. He found a hidden message from Blain Spike giving Billy all which he owned, which included a large sum of credits hidden “for rainy days”. Using this money, Billy went underground. Deciding to retire, he bought a medium sized apartment on Planet Honshu. To stave off boredom, he educated himself in ship engineering, and took a minor job at a small spacecraft engineering firm. He didn’t need the money, but he wanted to keep busy. 7 Years later, Billy recollected on his time on Planet Honshu. It was boring, but it was life. He didn’t constantly have to look over his shoulder worried someone would stab him in the back, but at the same time there was no excitement. Just the same grind, day in day out. He missed the times when he always carried a gun, ready to get into a firefight over some angry Junker or destroying a rival pirate’s craft.

Once he got home, he kicked off his shoes and walked to his fridge. Grabbing a Liberty Ale, he sat down at his table and popped the bottlecap off. Taking a sip, he heard a small chime sound from his bedroom. Not terribly worried, he pulled out his personal communicator and browsed the Neural Net. Five minutes later he heard another chime. Curious now, he placed his communicator down on his table and walked to his bedroom. Not hearing any further chimes, he searched his room. Opening the closet he used for storage, he looked through some of the boxes. He was about to pull out the last box when something gave him pause. Etched on the side of it in Permanant marker where the letters “VR”. He smiled inwardly, and pulled it out. No way it would have come from in this box. Opening it, he shifted through the contents. A few Sirius Credit Cards, a handgun, and a couple hardcopy log books. Then he saw it, the faint green pulse of a data tablet. This was something he hadn’t thought of in a long time. It was a command tablet, to be used in emergencies. Both Blain Spike and Billy had been given access to the system by some systems engineer on Metropolis.

Activating the screen, he input his 16 digit login code, and stared at the screen. Quickly scanning the alert, a wave of guilt hit him. It was from the VCS-Nightmare. One of Blain’s favorite support ships, the Vagrant Raiders used the Nightmare as a source of fire support when pulling back from an engagement. Billy often hung out onboard the Nightmare, working on plans with Blain Spike to raid convoys and the like. He didn’t like the message details, and the timestamp on the communication was recent. Had the Nightmare gotten into a fight recently it could not win? Where the Vagrant Raiders still around? After pulling out a second datapad from the box, he typed out a rapid-fire message and sent it. Taking a quick look at the last known location listed in the emergency broadcast he walked over to his personal communicator in the living area and initiated a communication call.

“Hello, I’d like to see when the next available flight to Barrier Gate Station is. Yes, that’s correct, Coronado. No, I don’t mind shuttle hopping. Thank you.”