Bounty Hunter S/D-Breako

[SigCorps]

Agent Breako sat staring out the window at the stars. His Manta, The Rapier, was just eight clicks away form the jump hole. His radar screen showed nothing but the floating rocks drifting back and forth. Even from here the jump hole winked a gold then green light.

He looks down at the picture in his hand. It's old and well used. The picture shows an older gentleman, in a flight suit that is covered with grease stains, standing with a boy of about 12. The ship in the background looks to be a freighter of some kind, maybe a Rhino.

Dad always did love that ship Breako thought

Carl Mako was a freighter pilot based out of California Minor. He made short local runs within Liberty space and the occasional run into Bretonia. For years he braved the trade lanes and border systems to make a live for himself and his wife and child. He planned for his son Brent to take over for him one day. Unfortunately that never got to happen. Carl went out to run a shipment of boron from Newark station to LD-14 in the Leeds system and never returned. Roomer has it he got jumped in the Cortez system.
All Brent new was his father never came home.

Brent's mother Kinley did her best to keep her and her son fed. She worked two jobs to keep clothes on their backs and food in their bellies. At age 14 Brent was at best unruly and angry at the world that took his father. School held no interest for him and the crowd he ran with was know for petty theft and disorderly conduct. Not too bad...but not good either. After several years him and his buddy got caught breaking into a house and were arrested.

Kinley pleaded with the judge to be gentle with her son and promised he would never do it again. The Judge looked down at the three hoodlums and gave them an option. They could join the local Navy patrol wing and do some good, or go to prison for 3 years. Brent and his buddy Jamie Karthal took the deal and the other boys Mirus Dervish decided to do the hard time.

Navy boot was harder then he thought it as going to be. The early mornings and the late nights wore you down till you did what you were told all the time. After testing it was found that he had the potential to be a fighter jock, so off to flight school he went. His buddy Jamie with him they quickly learned the in's and out's of how to fly the Liberty light fighters. Knowing that to get into the bigger ships they need to master the lighter ones, Brent and Jamie gladly took up their Patriots and started working the lanes around California. Call sign Breako and Jester reported for duty.

A year went buy and both boys were upgraded to Liberators. Still a light fighter but much more modern tech. During that time both boys had seen some combat and had been blooded. Still the restrictions of not being able to persue the criminals passed their jump gates or into the asteroid field was starting to get to both of them. Breako had the most trouble with this and wanted to be able to do more instead of just chase the pirates and smugglers off. Jamie on the other had was quite content to do as he was told.

Finally one day after have to pull up short at the Cortez gate as a slaver slipped out of his reach Brent had had enough. Making his way back to Cali Minor he resigned his commission and packed his bags. Jamie caught up with him before he made it on to the transport to Curacao. Brent explained on how sick and tire he was of not being able to make a real difference and how he was gonna go do something about that. Jamie shook his head knowing that Brent was head for the Bounty Hunters Guild. He told Brent to take care and to remember that His buddy Jester would always be there to make him laugh, or watch his back if needed.

Brent sat alone on the transport. His thoughts swirling around as he tried to figure out if he had made the right choice. The pirates and criminals had to pay. To make them pay you had to have the ability to go after them where ever they were and that meant being a Bounty Hunter. He stared down at the picture of his father in front of is freighter and promised not that he would avenge him, but that he would help make the lanes safer for others like his father.

Departing at Curacoa Brent made his way over to the ship dealer. Several shiny new Sea Serpents stood looking proud to be on display. The salesman eyed Brent from his desk. Pushing his chair away he walked over and smiled. Brent explained that he wanted to see the Serpents and was quickly shown the nearest one. The new ship smell wafted out when the door was opened and all the surfaces gleamed. Brent smiled and took the tour and then looked over the spec sheet and test data from the ship. Satisfied he signed the loan paperwork and was the proud new owner of a Bounty Hunter Guild light fighter. A quick jaunt to the weapons dealer brought his new ship up to par and Brent set a course on his nav map for Sheffield station in Manchester.

The flight over to Sheffield was easy and the new ship handled light a dream. She was a quick, lithe, little thing. Her name was The Quillion, after the small dagger of old. He had christened her in the old way by smashing a bottle of Curacaoian wine across her nose. Her flight deck was tiny. No passengers would ride up here Her one cabin, was actually just a bunk set in the wall. Although, she did have a shower and a tiny kitchen. If he really wanted more room he could modify parts of her hold.

His arrival at Sheffield really went without notice. He was checked in with fast, efficient style and left to his own devices. After grabbing a bite to east at a small hole in the wall eatery, Brent wandered over to the Bounty Hunters Guild Hall. Stepping up to the admin desk he asked about how to register. The bored administrator looked up and pushed a booklet at him and waved him over to the terminals on the left wall. Several other folks were there reading over the shining screens. He read through the booklet in about fifteen minutes and worked his way through the forms on the console. After a few hours a message appeared on the screen directing him to report to the main desk.

Walking over to the Administrator he was directed to a door behind the desk for final processing. Final processing turned out to be a body scan and DNA typing to register him the Bounty Hunter Data base. After a short wait he was handed an ID card for himself and an IFF card to load into his ship. Now all he had to do was find some work.

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Formerly Sam Nichols, creator of OSI