Bounty Hunter S/D-Breako

[SigCorps]

Brent scanned the console for news. Seems the Liberty, Rheinland situation was heating up a tad and Kusari was being even more aggressive with Bretonia. Well it was a place and time of strife. A place where a hunter could live large if they survived. Brent had been working hard for a while and while he did not get every bounty he set out for he made enough to upgrade his Sea Serpent to a Manta.

The Manta, christened The Rapier, was a fine ship. It had a proper cabin and mess area. It even had a spare cabin and second seat for a co-pilot or gunner. The old was much nicer also. It even came with separate areas that could be locked down to hold escaped pods or bounties that were caught on station but needed taken else where. A good load of weapons and she was ready for action. He made the journey to Rostock and Capetown to outfit his new ship with the best equipment he could afford.

He soon discovered that while Bretonia had its issue with unlawfuls Rheinland was by far the worst of the houses. You could not go anywhere in Rheinland and not get jumped by LWB, Unioners, Red Hessians, or even the Wild. That place was just crawling with problems. The Rheinland military was over worked at all turns and the local police were even more so. A great place for a Hunter, but the government refused to place and bounties so there was no profit in working there.

Running alone was starting to take a toll on Brent. Tracking down bounties was a difficult job and sometimes you had to go into places that were not real healthy to be if you were not part of the local faction. After avoiding a real close call where he had to dive into a radioactive field and shut down his power core to escape. Thats what happens when the guy your chasing has friends with large ships though. Took almost a month to get the Rapier back into working order after that.

Brent sat at the terminal looking over the recruitment adds for different Bounty Hunter groups. These groups were organized hunters who all worked together so that everyone was safer and got paid all at the same time. Seemed to be a good idea with what had happened in Omega-41. Each group seemed to have its pros and cons. Some seemed to be just a loose band that flew together. Others were more formalized with rank structure and a probation period. Flipping through the list Brent clicked here and there and read about each offer.

One group seemed to stand out above the rest. While they required a probationary period, there was a bonus at the end. They structured themselves with ranks and each rank had a different task. They seemed to have their stuff together. They even had a trader subsidiary that help finance their operation. The Search and Destroy Agency seemed to be what he was looking for. Clicking on their application the pages of questions scrolled by. Settling in he started typing in the answers.

Brent retired to the apartment he rented on Sheffield and relaxed while he awaited a response. A couple days went by while Brent tended to his regular part of his life. Paying bills, checking the latest bounty listings. He even remembered to send off a message and arrange a gift for his moms birthday, promising that he would stop by the next time he was in system. Coming home from shopping his terminal beeped at him indicating a message was waiting.

Logging into his messages he found a response from the HR folks over at the Search and Destroy Agency. He was to turn his Manta in for inspection by S/Ds team and acquire a Hammer Head VHF as a replacement for his probation period. He was then to report to New London for outfitting at the Dog House, S/Ds head quarters.

Brent sighed. Well I hate to give her up even for just a little while, but if its what I have to do He said out loud to no one.

There was contact information for S/Ds folks on station. Hitting the com unit Brent dialed their number.

Search and Destroy Agency how can I help you the person on the other end answered

Yeah this is Brent Mako. I was told to contact you about turning in my ship for inspection

Hold on second. Ahh, Yes. If you can bring it over to hanger 25 we can begin our inspection and store it for you while you are in your probationary period.

OK, will have it over there within the hour.

We will see then Mr. Mako.

Brent put his groceries away and got his paperwork for The Rapier. Heading down to the main hanger he talked with the dock master and let him know of the ship move. Clearing the main doors, Brent move the Manta over to the doors for hanger 25 and contacted their dock master. The doors opened and Brent move his ship inside.

Tractor beams gently grabbed the Rapier and moved he into a berth and settled her intot he locking arms. The atmo doors closed and Brent waited for the all safe indication. Breaking open the hatch he climbed out and met the men waiting for him.

Wearing overalls and pushing a tool chest they smiled at Brent.

Evening. You must be Brent. Said one of the mechanics

Aye, thats me. Here is her paperwork and maintenance records. How long with this take?

Well we go over her real well. Usually a couple stress tests and such. Call it a week, two tops. We will take real good care of her and store her until you can have her back. Sorry but company regs say you must fly a Hammer Head for starters. Here sign here and we can get started.

Brent looked over the paperwork and nodded. OK, just as long as you take good care of her. Will I get a report when your done? As he signed his name

Oh yeah well hand you a small book on the test results and our findings. She will be running like a dream once we are done. We have some new mods we can install to make her purr.

Well alright, I got a transport to catch so see you all later. Brent said as he left.

Brent made his way quickly over to the transport bay and bought passage to Freistadt station in Omega-7. Settling in he waiting for departure.

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Formerly Sam Nichols, creator of OSI