Family Ties

[Knucklehead]

Incoming Transmission
Name: Airom Artnam
Comm ID: Airom_Artnam
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log

The hunt is off, for now.

Let me back up a bit. During the course of my hunts over in New Berlin, I had managed to locate the system The Wild was operating from. It seems they have far more numbers than I realized. I need more firepower if I'm going to beat them.

So I decided to start retooling my relationships with the universe. To start with, I headed to New York to get my IFF computer reset. It wasn't an easy task, because the techs at Pittsburgh told me they needed to send my ship back to the Strausland to get it back into shape. So I took the Starflier they offered me in exchange and headed back to Manhattan to visit the rest of my family while they fixed my ship.

I had given all the expensive gear I had collected to Knucklehead for safe keeping, so when they told me the IFF system was ready, I gathered up the weapons of my choice and headed for Strausland to reclaim my ship.

After a bit of fine tuning with my weaponry, I saw my computer needed a few more tweaks, so I decided I'd go pick on a few Xenos over by Ouray. Things were going well, as their weapons could hardly put a dent in my shields, but the computer wasn't reacting as fast as I thought it would.

I decided to concentrate on the station and the weapon platforms around it, so I had my radar listing just them. This wasn't a problem, until suddenly I spotted what looked like a Nomad fighter heading my way. Seems a Xeno had managed to get a hold of one of the little squid fighters and wasn't too happy with me shooting up the base. Go figure...

Anyway, with the element of surprise belonging to him, I decided I'd better make tracks if I wanted to survive. I managed to get away from the base, but the squid was still on my trail. I darted all over that asteroid field, but I couldn't seem to lose my pursuer. Finally I managed to get to the south side of the field and headed toward the New York Jumpgate. I wanted to see if I could shake him loose, so I looped back around him a few times. He took the bait every time, but was on me quicker than I liked. Finally, he managed to hit me with a disruptor missile, and I wasn't going to be running anymore. So we started to battle.

I was a bit short on shield batteries from the earlier encounter, but I had the agility to match his turns. We tooks turns scoring hits on each other's shields, him managing to nibble more than me. Thank goodness I had the extra layer of armor installed.

As we looped around, I managed to gain ground against him, and he began varying his approach to try and overtake me. Unfortunately for him, his maneuvers backfired, giving me plenty of time to score several solid hits on his shield, finally bringing it down. From there, it only took a few shots to take him out, as his ship was very light on armor.

I made my way around the sector, seeing what I could see and fine tuning my loadout. Eventually, I found myself on Freeport 11.

It was there that I bumped into an old friend of my father. I had seen pictures of them together, but I wasn't sure it was him. My father had told me that they had been stationed together on the Westfalen some time ago, and had become fast friends.

When he noticed I was looking at him, a look of surprise crossed his face.

"Excuse me, son, but you wouldn't happen to be related to a Sgt. Gerald Artnam from the Rheinland Military, would you?"

I answered that I was his son, Airom.

I thought that might be the case. You look just like he did the last time I saw him.

He told me about some of the close calls they had had together, the patrols around the rock fields, run-ins with Unioners and Hessians and even the occasional Rogue. They'd lost contact with each other when Dad got transferred to Frankfurt, and my dad's friend wanted to know what had happened to him.

My face turned somber as I recounted the story of my dad's departure from Rheinland and his years in hiding. About the ill-fated trip home that cost him his life. And finally about The Wild, and what they had done to him.

He noticed the bitterness in my voice whenever I mentioned The Wild.

"You know, Gerald wasn't the only one who noticed what was going on in Rheinland. I also saw the drastic changes in the higher ranks. I left too. But I couldn't just go into hiding. I needed to find a way to stop what was going on." He paused to make sure no Bounty Hunters were listening. "That's why I joined The Order."

"The Order?" I asked, confused. I knew they had something to do with the Nomad invasion, but the information was sketchy at best. Come to think of it, they probably meant for it to be that way...

"That's right, I work for The Order now. We have a base not far from here, where we keep an eye on the hypergate that ended the Nomad War."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"It's simple. The Wild are the remnants of the Nomad-infested Rheinland Military forces. When the Hypergate was activated, they lost contact with their masters and have been roaming that corner of the sector trying to follow their last directive. To kill any humans they encounter.

"You see, your cause is closely linked to ours. We strive to keep the Nomads and their contamination in check, so they cannot threaten anyone again. Just as you seek to eliminate The Wild."

"I'm beginning to think neither task is doable."

"As long as you let your bitterness and anger rule your life, I'm afraid you'll be right about that. Fighting out of anger never solves anything. But if you fight for something worthwhile, like protecting the whole sector, you'll be surprised what you can do."

"I'm not sure I can d..."

"Just keep it in mind. Take some time to find yourself. It's worth it. Trust me."

"I'm not sure I can with Dad's old ship. Everytime I look at the battle scars behind the cockpit, it reminds me of what they did to him. Of how they..." I couldn't finish the thought, I was so choked up at this point.

"Hmm... Tell you what. Go see the ship dealer on the Battleship Isis. They have a ship there that should suit your needs. I'll make sure your father's ship is retired with dignity. I owe him at least that much."

"That sounds like a good idea. Thank you."

"I just think Gerald would have wanted to be remembered for what he had accomplished, not how he died. He raised a fine family by the looks of it, and spent his days trying to protect the things he loved."

"You know, you're right. Thank you for helping me figure this out."

"So what are you going to do with your life?"

"Well, Dad's friend William said he really enjoyed being a mercenary. Helping whoever you can, whenever you can. And not having the Guild to tell you what to do..."

"Sounds like a fine choice to me. Head on out to Toledo. You'll find the Isis in orbit."

"Thanks again. Take care of yourself."

"It was good to meet you, Airom. Good luck. I'm sure we'll meet again sometime."

With that, I set off to find Battleship Isis. When I arrived, the ship dealer told me he'd been told to expect me, and that he'd take good care of my father's old ship. He pointed me toward a ship that I'd never seen before.

"It's called the Talon. She may not be the prettiest ship, or the most maneuverable, but she can pack quite a punch."

I was certainly impressed. I transferred my equipment from my old ship to the Talon and set off. I called up Knucklehead to get a couple of the collectables I had given him ready to go. We met at Manhattan and I loaded the guns onto my ship.

I've been a few other places around the area, keeping my IFF system properly tuned, and generally being a nuisance to the Xenos. I'm still working the bugs out of this new ship, but she's definately one I'm going to keep for a while. And it feels good to not be reminded about sad things all the time.

Who knows, maybe the hunt is off for good.

We'll see.

Airom Artnam, Signing off.

End Transmission

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It's official, I have too few ships now...