Bounty Hunter S/D-Breako

[SigCorps]

Brent rose from his seat and shuffled to the door like the rest of the passengers. Stretching his arms he worked out the stiffness that had settled in during the long flight. While trade lanes and jump gates made travel faster, it still took hours to get from one side of a system to the other. So a trip through several systems could still take half a day.

Friestadt was nothing like Sheffield. More utilitarian then Sheffield, the Independent Mining Guild set up Friestadt to be functional not pretty. Brent wandered around a bit having been to Friestadt before but never taking the time to look around. He located the ship dealer first and since it was closed for the day, retired to the bar for a bite to eat. The rooms at the hostel were sparse but clean. He would see the ship dealer tomorrow then make his way back to Sheffield for outfitting and his assignment.

Brent woke early and headed to the bar for breakfast. He killed time after eating waiting for the Ship dealer to open. At the proper time Brent walked down the hall to see the ship dealer. He explained what he needed and why. The dealer nodded his head and showed him a message from the Search and Destroy Agency. Seems the Agency had a standing arrangement with the dealer for Hammer Head fighters. After signing a few pieces of paper work and registering his new ship. Brent was ready to go. The dealer explained to him that the ship came with weapons that would get him back to Sheffield. Once there the Agency would outfit as he chose and send the weapons back to Friestadt. Brent thanked the Dealer and made his way to the docking bay. Stowing his bag he climbed in the main seat and fired his new ship to life.

The hammerhead handled well. She was a bit more maneuverable then the Manta, but no where near as armored. Well the gun selection at Friestadt was horrible so he needed to get back to Sheffield station to rearm. Sliding out of the docking bay, he power the engines to full thrust and made for the trade lane. The lanes thrust pushed him bake into his seat as the new ship shot forward. The Thrump sound of the gates as they past shook the ship slightly. Arriving at the jump gate he hit the auto dock and waited for a few trade ships to pass. The gate drew him in and charged. Space bent as he was propelled into the man made wormhole. Blue and white lines of light flew by as his ship navigated the rend in space.

The hammerhead appeared in normal space with a pop and stopped dead. Brent brought the engines back online and seeing the trade lane 3.5 clicks away hit the cruise engines to speed up the trip. Docking he once again listened to the sound as he sped forward. Coming out in the ice field he started to hit the cruise engines when the computer chirp a warning. Crud 4 contacts incoming and the were firing off cruise disrupters.

Farking hessains remarked Brent as he went into evasive maneuvers. Dodging left he hit the thrusters to gain speed and targeted the next trade lane. Weaving back and forth he watched as laser pulses flew by his cockpit and danced over his shields. With the push of a button he placed the shield indicator on the front hud and switched on his rear view camera. Border world dagger ships jockeyed for position behind him. All the while blasts flew by.

Brent balanced his thrusters between draining and recharging pulsing them to make sure he had enough left to get to the trade lane. Brent slammed the thrusters to full and dived between the gate and hit the auto dock button and felt the lane grab his ship and slam it forward. Lasers roasted his rear shield and almost brought it down.

His exit form the lane was much less eventful. Even the Hessians will not break the Freeport no fire zone. Brent sighed and hit the cruise engines. Calling up the damage report he saw a few pieces of armor got scorched. The next lane drew him in and took him to the gate to Cambridge system.

After a few hours Sheffield station in the Manchester system came into view. Once he had entered house space things has been a lot easier. With the Bretonian Navy out in force he glided from lane to lane and gate to gate. He was only stopped and inspected twice, which is not too bad.

Sheffield station. This is Bounty Hunter Brent Marko seeking permission to dock said Brent

Bounty hunter Marko, dock at five and welcome back.

Thanks Control

Brent piloted the hammerhead to dock 5 and waited for he beams to draw him in. Station side he contacted the Agency and reported that he was back from Freistadt with a hammerhead and he needed it kitted out. They told him to hit the station dealer in the morning for their standard equipment load and to choose his guns. Bret signed off and headed to his berth.

In the morning he wandered over to the dealer early and was there when they opened the door. He showed them his Search and Destroy ID and told them he had a new ship he needed outfitted with the standard equipment. They also pulled up the Agencies gun stock and he chose two improved debilitators and the rest buckshots. He mentioned he wanted a mini razor instead of a torpedo launcher or cruise disrupter, but they had none in stock.

The dealer checked the register and said that the closet dealer with some were the zoners down on planet Gran Canaria. Brent looked it up and saw it was in Omega forty nine. Not too long a run, but it ran right through Molly and Corsair territory. Well the gun was worth the trouble. Looks like another trip was in the making.

Brent looked over the standard equipment list and smiled. Top end level ten graviton shield, enhanced thrusters, heavy counter measure launcher, nuclear mine dropper and the advanced cargo scanner. Nice stuff, none too cheep neither. The day went buy and the new systems were in place and tested. Brent took her out for a late night spin and blasted some meteors in the field to test the new guns. With everything in order he headed for bed.

He stopped by the office to make sure they knew where he was headed and grabbed his over night bad and some food stuff. Settling into the pilots seat he turned on the power core and started his checks. Red lights cycled to green as systems came online and the ship was ready.

Sheffield Control, Bounty hunter S/D-Breako requesting permission to leave station.

Roger S/D-Breako. Pattern is clear on five. Warning we have an advanced train coming in on six.

Roger Control. Will watch to my left. Breako out.

The hammerhead moved out of the docking bay and Brent moved her over to the lane. Calling up the nav map, Brent noticed that his maps did not have the jump hole to Omega forty nine. Well he knew about where it was he could just find it when he got there. He set a way point in the lower part of the Dublin system. Arriving at the gate he jumped into the New London system. Taking the lanes he shot down to the planet New London and then onto the Dublin gate. Getting into Dublin was easy, getting out well that was another matter. Since he was flying a bounty hunter ship and ran a hunter IFF any Molly or Corsair he ran into was going to be trouble.

Brent set the auto systems on his way point and hit the cruise engines. Stepping out of the seat he went back to his bag for his container of coffee and a sandwich. Space flew by as his ship cruised on. An asteroid field came up on his left and a beep from the radar came up. An unknown station was in the field. Weapons platforms started to show up as he flew closer.

Great, hope they do not have a welcoming committee. Brent mumbled.

He passed the station and the field fell away as Brent munched his sandwich. He turned on his active scanners as he got close to where he though the jump hole should be. His eyes watched the reading on the screen as he looked for the space anomaly.

Incoming missile warned the computer

Crap said Brent as his eyes shot to the radar. Two contacts incoming. The cruise disrupter missile exploded and shut down his engines, dropping the hammerhead to normal speeds. Brent grabbed the stick and jammed it right while hitting the thrusters. Two Corsair light fighters speed by, guns raking his shields. Brent snarled and snapped on the local communicator

Back off *******s. Unless you want me to collect on your sorry asses.

Heh, Hesse. I think it will be us who gets the payday. Kill this hunter scum Pablo. Replied the Corsair

One of the light fighters broke left and Brent decided to follow. Targeting the smalled space craft, Brent fired his debilitators. Pulsed of energy fire off and slammed into the lighter craft, brining its shields down in one volley. Brent next sent his buckshot particle cannons firing, knocking parts of the fighters armor spinning free.

His computer detected the enemy crafts shield coming back online, so he keyed up the debs again and sent another volley into him. Shields down the buckshots then ripped holes in the fighters structure.

The other Corsair moved in behind and started peppering Brents rear shield. Glancing at the shield display Brent saw he could ignore that guy for a bit and continued to pour streams of fire down on the other craft. Soon flames vented from the other fighter as atmosphere vented from it and then boom pieces everywhere.

Youll pay for that hunter man screamed the Corsair over the comm system.

Incoming missile stated the computer.

Brent swerved left and fired off a few counter measures. The missiles exploded on the counter measure and Brent dropped a few nuke mines. Slamming the thruster to full he took as tight a turn as the ship would handle and tried to get the other fighter into his sights. An explosion ripped off to his left as the Corsair found one of his mines. Parts of the other ship coming loose. The other ship slowed as its thrusters sputtered out, torn to shreds by the mine.

Brent moved the other ship into his hud and lit it up with a full volley of his guns. The shields, already downed by the mine, offered no protection. Particles from the buckshots punched large holes into the interior of the ship. The next volley caused the safety feature of the Corsair vessel to launch its escape pod just before the ship exploded. Brent eyed the pod and his hands moved back to his guns. Eyes staring at the helpless pod, he hit the tractor beam and waited for it to get into the cargo bay. Putting the ship onto auto he went down the ladder to the cargo bay. Grabbing up his welder he walked over to the pod. Taking a few strips of metal he welded them over the seals on the pod and satisfied went back up to the cockpit.

Activating the scanner again he started a search pattern looking for the jump hole. After an hour he found it one sector over from where he was. Marking it on his map he jumped into Omega forty nine.

Bright white light washed through his canopy only to be broken up by floating asteroids.. The sun in this system was a large white star that bathed the whole place in its bright light. Flipping on long range scanners he found and unknown planet and set a course. Dodging asteroids he soon came out of the field and could see the planet. In this light the docking ring was visible and he knew he was headed to the right place.

Planet Gran Canaria was a beautiful place it seemed. Clouds floated over the surface that looked almost idyllic. The docking ring was standard so he flipped on his control channel and hailed the planet.

Gran Canaria docking control, this is S/D-Breako, requesting permission to land.

S/D-Breako, please state the nature of your business and let it be know that this is neural territory and there is a ten kilometer no fire zone around the planet.

Roger Control, ten clicks, business is to see the equipment dealer on planet about some upgrades.

Roger S/D-Breako, permission to dock granted, take vector two five once through and land on pad nine. Please bring your ID to customs at the dock masters office.

Roger Control, vector two five and pad niner. ID to customs

Brent slipped through the docking ring and headed to the indicated pad. Grabbing his day pack and his IDs he headed for the Dock masters office. Inside he showed his IDs and restated his business. He got the nod and a copy of his ID was put on file. One thing about Zoners was they were efficient. Grabbing a taxi he headed over to the ship equipment dealer.

The dealer has a nice shop on the other side of the landing field. Walking into the office he admired the hardware on the walls. Large guns for fighters hung there just waiting to deal death. Brent nodded his head and went to the desk.

The Salesman looked up and smiled one of those easy smiles.

How can we help you today, sir

Well I wanted to get a mini razor outfitted on my ship. Replied Brent

ID please.

Brent slid his ID over and the salesman scanned it on the reader.

Im sorry but your reputation with us is unknown. We have no problems working with friends of the Zoners but you are not even in our network. I can not help you.

Really I though you all sold to anyone?

Actually not true, we have to make sure the folks who buy from us will not use the items against us.

Well heck. Now what am I supposed to do?

I am not sure sir, but while there are some basic items I would gladly sell you, that weapon is not one I can.

Brent sighed and turned away. After leaving the shop he told the taxi to take him to the closest hotel. The ride was short since the there was one right off the landing area. Brent rented a room for two nights and then hit their bar for a beer and a bite to eat.

Sitting at the bar drinking his third beer, trying to come up with a way to win over the dealer, Brent turned his eyes to the crowd. Finishing off his beer he motioned to the bartender for another. The bartender filled up a new glass and walked it over. Placing it in front of Brent he said

You seem to be out of sorts

Well I came in today and was over at the dealer, some of the items I want are not for sale it seems to someone with no ties to the Zoners.

Yeah that can happen. We only like to let certain things go to folks who are know friends of the Zoners. Help from those weapons from being used on us.

Well I can understand that but, being a Hunter, the only thing I am good at is hunting down marks. You all do not post bounties so, kinda leaves me out in the cold. I know and respect the Zoners and their ways, but how do you prove that?

The bartender looked long and hard at Brent and then leaned in. Well you know, for a small fee, I may be able to adjust your rep. This way you get what you want and we can get a bit of what we want.

Small fee huh, how small a fee?

Well how about six hundred? That would cover my time for the deed and the potential trouble I may get into.

Six hundred huh. Like as in six hundred k?

Ayup thats about right. Look at it this way. Its an investment that will continue to pay off for a long time as long as you remain true to us. Its a one time investment.

OK, deal. How do we do this?

Well you drink your drink and transfer over the credits to this chit. I put in a call and with a few hours time your in the system and have a rep that will allow you access to most of our equipment.

Brent nodded and the bartender walked back over to the other end of the bar and grabbed a bag. Brining it back over to Brent he pulled out a credit chit and placed it on the bar. Brent picked it up and connected it to his bank card. He thumbed in the amount of six hundred thousand credits and hit transfer. The bartender smiled and walked away. Getting on one of the local comm. units he placed a call. Then brought Brent another beer.

On me. Give it a few hours and youll know. Anything to eat?

Yeah can I get another burger?

You got it.

Brent shrugged and went pack to his beer. He whiled away the time watching the other patrons, scanning the crowed for know faces he might want to note for later. So far nothing. He could spot a few other hunters in the crowd, along with what appeared to be some Corsairs, and the rest seemed to be locals. Dock workers and porters employed on the landing pads.

After a while Brent noticed the bartender on the comm. unit. He spoke to the person on the other end and looked over at Brent and nodded his head at him. Getting off the unit he came over.

All taken care of. Head back to the dealer tomorrow and you see.

Alright, but if things do not work out, I will be back.

I know, dont worry, its all good.

Brent thanked the bartender and finished off his beer. Heading up to his room he was soon fast asleep.

Early the next morning Brent walked over to the dealer. Reentering the shop he found a different salesman behind the desk. Who smiled not to different from the last one.

Can I help you sir?

Yeah I wanted to look into getting a mini razor for my ship. Brent said while handing over his ID

The salesman took it and scanned it with his computer and nodded.

Not a problem sir, if you will fill out these forms on the data pad in front of you and give us the location of your ship we can have it towed into our hanger for outfitting.

Excellent, She is on pad nine. The hammerhead. Brent replied as he started filling out the forms.

We will get right on it.

Brent spent the rest of the day in the hanger supervising the installation. They were defiantly a well trained crew. They removed the fitting for the launch tube and fabricated the housing for the mini razor. Then slid the cannon home and wired it in to his controls. By the afternoon the gun was ready for test firing. They brought in a large plate of ships hull, which looked like it came off a large capital ship. Setting it out at mid range he thumbed the fire switch and the ship bucked as the deadly energy spat forth at the hull piece. Large chunks of hull plating burst off, raining to the ground.

Brent checked his energy and saw that one shot form this bad boy about killed half of his energy. Well he would have to be careful with energy management with this bad boy. Brent thanked the team and watched as they put it back on pad nine. Brent then headed back to the hotel and checked out. Stopping in the bar he smiled and waved at the bartender.

Heading back to the landing pad he climbed into hammerhead. Stowing his gear he brought the power plant online and called Control. Getting his take off vector he strapped in and gently lifted off the pad. Taking his vector to the lift he waited while it lifted him into the upper atmosphere and then to the docking ring. Exiting the ring he plotted the course for the hole back to Dublin and engaged the cruise engines.

Time passed and Brent made his patrols cruising around California system and Texas he tracked down and put five marks in Sugarland prison. After a few months in Liberty he was given leave to patrol Bretonia. There he found much of the same scum, only they were know by different names. Instead of Lane hackers he had Mollys. The Liberty Rogues were replaced by Gaians. Each fell to his guns and tactics.

After the required test period he was allowed to take his manta out of storage. When the day came he smiled as she slid out of the storage hanger and into the main docking bay. He had the mini razor moved to the manta to replace his train cruise disrupter. He then turned the hammerhead over to the folks at the Agency. Sliding back in to the seat of the Rapier once again made him feel good. The manta had definite advantages over the hammerhead. Its power plant would make using the mini razor a lot easier.

Being allowed to operate in Bretonia also opened up the ability to work more with APM trade ships. The APM was the trade arm of Search and Destroy Agency. They brought in ship parts of all types to the ship builders of the Bounty Hunter ship yards. Since they directly affected the abilities of the Bounty Hunters, they became prime targets for their enemies.

One day while out on patrol in Cambridge system, Brent got a private call on his communicator unit. APM-Aquarius was in system getting ready for a run to the Ring in New Berlin system and then return to planet Cambridge. He wanted Brent to run escort if he was free. Since the Bretonia was quiet that day he agreed. They met up at the IMG base Cardiff station where Aquarius was getting loaded with Beryllium. Aquarius launched and Brent formed up on the left of the heavy tanker. They hit the lanes for the Battleship Norfolk.
A quick turn and they entered the lane to the gate to Omega three.

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Formerly Sam Nichols, creator of OSI