West Rheinland Defense Contract

[EDG Enterprise]

News 110323: West Rheinland Defense Initiative

Business was going slow. With the failed attempt to establish an EDG deployment contract with the IMG, the Enterprise had to find a different place and different conflict soon. It's not that the IMG refused to hire an EDG, but the situation in the Taus left little room for implementing it. The miners relied on the Colonial Republic's military forces reinforced with their own defense wings when things got really grim, otherwise they avoided the Outcasts whenever possible. Eventually the IMG shifted their interests to Dublin and there was little left to do in Tau 23. Business was going slow, but not incredibly bad. The Board's decision to station the main forces in Coronado proved to be a particularly clever maneuver. It allowed the Enterprise to cover almost the entire Barrier Nebula and beyond, enabling quick access to systems where crime was running rampant. Independent worlds, Taus, Liberty and Bretonia became a new and rich hunting ground for the EDGE, and soon the trademark was widely recognized by lawfuls and criminals alike. Particularly good relations were established with the Colonials, who respected the Enterprise's fighting spirit and paid the bounties with no delay, and the Liberty Government which enabled the requisition of military-grade weapons for several fighters and gunships. Nonetheless, business was still going slow, and the Enterprise was growing stagnant. With almost no new pilot recruits and scarce income, the Board of Executives slowly began to realize the hopeless state of the current situation - a situation that called for a new approach, a radical move in order to prevent the Enterprise from collapsing.

Coronado: Planet Pecos

Sitting comfortably at his desk, Payton was busy with paperwork, or pretending to be busy in order to delay the conversation. He could tell that he was not going to like what was ahead, and he tried not to pay attention to Sobchak, who was now sitting in his office onboard the Leviathan, who was drinking whiskey with an angry look and rapidly tapping his fingers. Payton had received no word from him for weeks, and now all of a sudden he shows up in a battlecruiser without notice, requesting to moor. He didn't say anything except "We need to have a conversation, Jack," from the moment he arrived, and the awkward silence was growing more tense each second.
"The..." Payton cleared his throat, still looking at the computer screen, "Liberty Government has finally paid for our bounties, I've transferred your share to..."
"Then transfer it back and tell them to shove it up their ass!" Walter busted out as he habitually does when he's beginning to discuss serious business, this time accompanying this verbal outburst by slamming the armrest with his fist. Payton was convinced now that this cannot be postponed. He shut down the screen, leaned back on his chair and directed his full attention to the angry man, waiting for him to speak.
"I'm ashamed that I'm being paid those dirty credits for what we do!" he said, standing up from his chair. "This whole idea of hunting in Liberty is killing me. All you need to do is take a random tradelane and pull the trigger once you fall out of a hacked sequence. Those punks can't even shoot straight, they might as well just roll over and die! This is not a worthy adversary!" Walter stated angrily, then sat back down and finished his whiskey in one gulp.
"I was just kidding." he added quietly. "I need the money."
"Where have you been?" said Payton, "Let me guess, Curacao? That's how you're fighting crime now? That's how you fight cardamine smugglers?"
"It's none of your damn business!" said Walter. "Goddamn punks, this is not a worthy... Look, if you must know, I was raiding Alpha with the Colonials, at least there's a challenge..."
"Oh great, so instead of dealing with your issues you want to kill yourself, is that right? Come on, tell me what you want or get back to Alpha! You don't like it here now? Might I remind you that it was your idea? Things might be going slow, but they're going forward."
"That's not good enough!" said Walter. "If I wanted to chase punks for a buck I'd have stayed in the Guild! That's not why we formed this Enterprise, dude. The goddamn Emergency Defense Group Enterprise has a mission and a purpose and right now we're accomplishing nothing. This is not 'Nom, there are rules! We need to start doing our job or it's over."
Payton sighed. "I knew it would come to this. You just can't stand the routine, the steady..."
"Damn straight I can't."
"Development of... Look - fine. I have just the thing for you that'll make you happy for a moment, and then we'll all die because..."
"Not if I have anything to say about it." said Walter, folding his arms.
"...we're not entirely ready for this. We don't have the manpower, we're lacking financial reserves." said Payton. "But you'll get what you want, so that when it's over I can say: I told you so. I received an inquiry from Daumann, they're asking for details for an EDG deployment. Apparently there was some mining crisis in the Omegas and now they're having difficulty with all sorts of scum, Hessians, Corsairs..."
"Get it done. We're leaving this hellhole," said Walter, pulling himself up from the chair and heading towards the door.
"Great, I'll just handle everything while you... where are you going now!?" said Payton.
"Curacao. And... maybe Alpha one last time. Don't worry Jack, I won't be long," Walter said, not even looking over his shoulder as he left through the door.
"Yeah right..." said Payton and sighed. He turned his chair around towards the porthole and glanced outside at the Coronado planetary system. He liked this place a lot, but even though he would not admit it before Sobchak, he knew that this is a stalemate, that it's time for the EDGE to move on.
"Computer." he said. "Establish a comlink with Daumann Board or Directors."

Omega-11: Solarius Station

The negotiations didn't take long. Daumann wanted the defense group deployed as soon as possible, and so the Enterprise began the necessary preparations for departure. Walter returned soon enough to help with the fleet relocation, and he also had a permission ready from the Colonial Republic for passage through their space. The route which the Enterprise chose to reach the Omega systems was difficult, hostile, and not entirely charted. It was developed from various bits of information mainly recovered from prisoners, and it involved passing through several systems claimed by Kusari unlawful factions, but it was fast. Fast, and, ironically, easy, because it would take weeks, maybe even months of negotiations and tons of paperwork to arrange a passage of the majority of EDGE fleet through house space. The journey was largely uneventful, as the pirates were completely unprepared for an incursion of this magnitude: two flagships, the Leviathan and Aurora along with battlecruiser Veles, several destroyers, gunboat squadrons and fighter wings, could safely make their way through to the Sigmas, Omicrons and finally to the Omegas without any resistance. It was during the EDG deployment however, that they encountered resistance. Red Hessian presence was strong, especially in Omega-11, and before the fleet could finish the deployment it was already involved in several battles. But the Omegas were not an unknown space for the Enterprise - for some of them, it was almost like returning home after a long journey, and soon the Emergency Defense Group was in position, ready to protect Daumann interests in the area and the lives of their workers.

written by Aeqvinox
corrected by Kaiwren

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