Nomads, Daros and a Bounty Hunter. The same one from the other day.
The comms line came through from Daros. He wanted to check on me, apparently. Well. A bit strange to randomly wanna check on me as i leave for maybe the most dangerous areas of space. But i suppose its reasonable concern. I did leave without saying anything.
Launched after the repairs were complete… to see a Nomad on. Sensors, close to Freeport and the No Fire Zone. Not a good sign. Especially when it was trying to lure me away. Into the purple nebula. Probably to try and kill me away from Freeport. Daros showed up not long after, and we talked a bit about the visitor. He thought it was a dangerous type, and despite my curiosity, i decided against it. We sat and talked a bit, about the Nomads.
He asked me how i was doing, and i told him the truth. My mind wasn’t settled, probably because of stress, overthinking and the like. Talked some about feelings too.. towards these nomads. Then about what Rusty told me about them. Daros told me about one of his encounters, and how the Order know nothing on them. Or at least make out they do. On Harbinger at least. More nomad talk, and moved over to Revenant and how Daros doesn’t trust her approach. Or Harbinger for that matter.
Occasional visitors popped by, one of them called Daros “nomad whisperer.” Guess he couldn’t help trying in front of many others. Our chat led onto the Order and their tech. And possibly finding out what kinds of tech they have. It got to the point where we considered running some contracts for them. Clear out some of the more… dangerous and threatening presences of the system.
Afterwards, he had to do some routine maintenance or something. I chose to look into getting some self-training done. It was going fine. And a Bounty Hunter stopped to watch. It got to the Fourth attack group, and i was suffering immensely. Out of repairs, ship hull deteriorating. They moved in to assist, making quick work of the ships. Afterwards… we got talking. Turns out he was the same one i saw the other day, the one with the Hitman Insignia.
His story, it seemed… intriguing and yet. Didn’t feel totally true. It was probably to do with the distrust i had for most around these parts.. and for the fact that they were aligned with the Core. They seemed to be… more concerned that they were the last of the hitmen alive than anything else, though they had a new recruit in the last few weeks. They told me they were around to see if their other missing hitmen were here in hiding, and to see if there were more who could be recruited to his cause.
When i spoke about the nomads and why i was fighting out here, he showed an immediate suspicion of me, specifically mentioning “infected”. Seems no friendship should be formed here. Especially considering if i let slip what I’ve seen, where I’ve been and what I’ve done… he would probably have me executed. He also told me his name. Lock. No harm in him knowing mine. Not like he can research and find out I’ve communicated with Nomads before.
We parted ways, and i went out on another self-training exercise. More to try and prove I didn’t need help. Well, turned out that was a mistake. They didn’t look like much… but they for certain were not the usual small variant. They didn’t seem to be fazed by my weapons fire, or even damaged. I sent a distress signal out, in the hopes that someone would answer in time. And guess who showed up? Lock.
Together, we singled out each form one after another. It took time, and an attack group of the small craft i was assuming the contract would have been to begin with showed up. Tough, but manageable. Sometimes… just have to be a little more cautious. I thanked Lock for the second time this evening, and heard him speak of the past. Which reminded me… of my own past. Suddenly i didn’t want to be anywhere. So i took my leave to Freeport.
