The glowing, burning suns of Omicron Delta shone through Marvin James Orphelia's quarters on Freeport 11 with the ferocity of a supernova.
Marvin coughed and sniffed, the light glaring in his face. He sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed, sighing, rubbing his aching head from the party last night.
He could hear the bustle of the crew outside of the door... and a subtle beeping.
He grumbled and got up and went to his desk.
A two-way urgent communication channel opened by... Kaylee Staite
Well, well, well, look who'se come crawling back... Marvin thought.
KAYLEE STAITE, OSD - On the subject of the stabillity of Delta-2
Quote:"During one of our recent assignments, the OSD Research Vessel "Ailuros" was dispatched to perform data collection on solar anomalies in the Omicron Delta System. During that assignment, the crew of the Ailuros discovered anomalies within Delta-2, the system's Medium White star, which indicate that the star may be on the verge of a phase change which could substantially increase it's mass, size, and relative surface temperature to the point of threatening Freeport 11's position. Due to the rate of stability loss within Delta-2's internal reaction process, it is likely that this phase shift will occur sometime within the next year."
"I'm uploading the report on Delta-2 below, the full mission report from the Ailuros may be found HERE. It is our recommendation that the Omicroners establish satellites to keep an eye on Delta-2's destabilization and, if necessary, begin preparations to move Freeport 2 into a higher orbit to avoid any damage from Solar Flares and Gravitation anomalies generated by the shift."
FORWARD TO MARVIN JAMES ORPHELIA, ADMINISTRATOR OF FREEPORT 11 [EYES ONLY]
Marvin read the statement forwarded from an earlier meeting with the Omicroners. Hmmph. He grumbled. He knew one day this would happen... that the massive gravatational pull of the suns would eventually shift something... but hopefully it hadn't shifted his relationship with Kaylee...
The prompt was blinking at him.
OPEN SECURE ENCRYPTION LINE: WAITING FOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...
ACKNOWLEDGE...
ACKNOWLEDGE...
ACKNOWLEDGE...
ACKNOWLEDGE...
"Well, even the power of three suns will never tear us apart." he tapped in smugly.
Several minutes passed with no response.
"No amount of gravity would ever bring us together..." Kaylee spat back.
"I merely wanted to inform you of your station's impending doom..."
"Dont worry, Kaylee, If my place becomes engulfed in a gravity cluster.... it can always be at your place..."
Several seconds passed, and then...
SECURE COMMUNICATION LINE TRANSFER ENDED...
...
...
Marvin smugly smiled and tried to plan what to do next, but his hungover mind could not comprehend what happened last night, let alone this conversation... or how to save his doomed, beloved, Freeport 11...
Marvin James Orphelia looked out of the observation threatre...
The deck of Freeport 11 was awash with the bright lights that hummed above. It was a hive of activity, unusual for such a frontier outpost.
Independent Miners Guild Researchers and crewmen moved about the deck with a hurry, moving boxes to their newly accquired space on Freeport 11. Marvin was quite happy with their presence, after all, they're not the worst people that could want to permanently acquire board here...
On the other side of the deck, equally as busy, the crewmen and Lieutenants from the RNC-Wallenhorst, a Rhienland Battleship that was allowed to use the repair facilities of Freeport 11 for a hefty fee, as all of the spare parts onboard already were only compatible with Zoner, Civillian, Corsair, Bounty Hunter, or Order ships. The Rhienland ship parts had to be imported, however. Marvin was much more uncomfortable with these people and frankly only allowed them to land because they paid. Any other reasonable Zoner would have done the same, but Marvin especially distrusted any House presense on his station, he believed they would try to impose their laws upon him. These Rhienlanders were quite shady, and kept to themselves.
Marvin turned to the opposite side of the observation theatre, the bright suns of Omicron Delta glaring with great intensity. On one side, his beloved Juggernaut, the Glorious Advance, a massive, silent Guardian of Freeport 11. On the other, the RNC-Wallenhorst, a drab green, foreign ship of war. Marvin sighed, and closed the side of the observation deck...
Marvin relaxed on the large puffy sofa in his quarters. He blinked once and the panel on the wall opposite the sofa clicked on.
"This is the Edge News Network, ENN - The Greatest Name in News outside of the Colonies!" it blared.
"We have some very sad news to bring to you today. The radio and long range transmission silence from Omicron Minor was no mistake..." The speaker cut out and lower-resolution guncameras filled the screen. The scene was dark. Depressing. The normally green hue of Omicron Minor was a blood red. The picture then cut to a higher resolution video, zooming and focusing on a redened planetoid. Veins of lava crossed its surface and electrical storms lit up the upper atmosphere... The camera then panned and zoomed back out, a twisted and wrecked Osiris class Light Battleship, crushed and wedged into an asteroid.
Marvin stared aghast. This... was Omicron Minor... and Planet Toledo...
"They had no warning... the force of what all assume to be Nomad 'Battleships' was overwhelming and the Order apparently staged a last ditch defense of the planet... Radio contact with the underground colonies below the surface of Toledo were lost. The population is assumed dead -- the death count numbers at nearly a million souls..."
The broadcast panned over the surface of Toledo as the man spoke, and then cut back to the stuido...
Marvin was awestruck. The Zoner Early Warning Sattelite residing in the vicinity of Freeport 11 was of no help. It detected... nothing. He arose from the sofa with incredible vigor and slammed open the door to his office in replete anger... rage. He sat down in his chair hard, it squeaked underneath him - he flipped open the console and emergency status pinged his closest contact within the Order...
::::[ETS CODE ALPHA, 0666]::::
Emergency Access Verification Password: S - L - A - Y - E - R
Marvin was about to close the console... he sighed heavily but heard a faint, but high pitch beep... beep...
He flipped the screen up reassuringly... to see...
AUTOMATIC RESPONSE: CARRIER BASTET
CAPTAIN: Commander Kaylee Staite
SHIP: BASTET - Geb-CLASS ORDER CARRIER
LAST KNOWN LOCATION: OMICRON MINOR
STATUS: OPERATIONAL - FURTHER DETAILS UNKNOWN
Well, at least her ship is alive... he thought anxiously.
He leaned back in his chair, unsure, yet somehow sure she was still alive...
He opened his desk drawer, looking desperately for his pipe... but he couldn't find it... he went back to the couch... and slept... and dreamed...
Marvin angrily slammed the door to his quarters on his Juggernaut for the 2nd time in a week...
He looked at the archive of the transmission of the Order refusing his transport's food shipments. All out of SECRECY.
He scoffed.
They wont be secret for long when they're dying and eating eachother... I thought they were allies of the Corsairs once... dont they learn?
His newly commissioned transport the Zoner Federation Ship She Looks Like Sex was stopped by Order pilots near the Order's new home base. He's been shipping Synth Paste from Freeport 11 for several weeks with no problems. Apparently a new Order directive had went out from the top man.
I'd like to teach him a thing or two about protecting humanity.
They can start protecting humanity by feeding their people...
He thought, angrily.
Marvin paced around his office, thinking...
How can I get back at them for betraying their true allies?
He thought, plotting.
Marvin sat in his chair, spun around and stared at the large star-chart of Omicron Delta pinned to the wall.
He suddenly arose... invigorated and thoughtfully...
Marvin sighed heavily and looked outside of the double sided observatory... One side, the dark, quiet, flight deck of Freeport 11... and out of the other, the silent, black guardian of Freeport 11... the Glorious Advance. He sat with another sigh, beleagueredly saying to himself
Life is too hard...
He lit up the pipe that was waiting on the side table for him, sighing again as he took in a deep breath... he relaxed as the room filled with the pungent haze. Marvin leaned back and stared at the ceiling... dozing in and out...
A faint beep but with a pronounced pitch resounded through the room and Marvin groggedly arose, it was Freeport 11's sleep cycle and no other crew were awake... Marvin thought it odd that anything would ping his Freeport, as the automatic communication response was switched on, as well as the automatic docking. This must be something important...
He flipped up the console to see a readout of the ship, and he glanced at it out of the observatory, barely making its dark spectre out of the black ambient bands, with the occasional twinkle of stars in Omicron Delta's starground.
:::AUTOMATIC RESPONSE::: HANDSHAKE PRTCL [Welcome to Freeport 11, please dock and visit our bars, recharge your ship, and your spirits!]
SHIP ID: O#143653
CLASS: Hathor-Type Order Heavy Gunboat :::CMD ENBLED - AUTORESPONSE OVERRIDE - URGENT COMLINK SECURED:::
The audio transmission automatically opened after the screen detected Marvin's eyes stopped following at the end of the above line.
A female's voice boomed through the speakers -
"This is OCV-Sohag, requesting urgent special permission to dock on Freeport 11"
"Reports follow..."
Just why special permission was requested (and more important to Marvin, why he was awoken from his somber slumber) was due to particularly active Nomad specimens being aboard the Gunboat.
Marvin silently sent an "Ay Oh Kay" handshake to the ship, and the black outline of the Hathor moved closer and moored with Freeport 11.
Not long after, the dimmed sleep-cycle lights on the flight deck hummed on as a woman in a black suit stepped in followed by several crewmembers...
She was a tall, slender woman with jet black hair, a shock of which fell from her bangs and seemed to seamlessly follow the rest of her hair down to the nape of her neck.
She had a wound on her forehead, still red and swollen. Several of the accompanying crew members had obviously been shaken from whatever they've been through, many nervously looking around, some seemed to not know where to go or what to do. Dumbfoundedness.
Marvin was feeling charitable.
He would show these poor, shaken, tired Order pilots a good time...
And then he remembered his pipe... which had, by now, had turned the metallic side table a funny shade of brown, still smoldering.
Marvin James Orphelia stepped out of the cold, grey steel Restricted Access Security elevator. Not in his usual vertical volure cocoon. Following close behind him, his Science Division liason, Dr. Dorian Ulrich.
--- ::BIOGRAPHY FILE:: OPENING ---
DR. DORIAN QUINCY ULRICH
ACCESS QUERY NUMBER - #194105
ACCESS CODE : #49130 ACCESS AUTHORIZER :ADMINISTRATOR MARVIN JAMES ORPHELIA
BORN: OCT 20, 755 A.S. (AGED 64 YRS)
Planet Stuttgart, Stuttgart System, Rhienland EDUCATED: The New Berlin Academy of Science, The Cambridge Research Institute. MAJORS: Xenobiology, Xenoarcheaology MINORS: Ancient Earth Languages AFFILIATES AND FORMER AFFILIATES: Buro der Marineintelligenz, The Zoners CURRENT PROJECT: Project "DIAMOND DUSK" POSITION: Project Leader, Sub-division 3.
Dr. Dorian Ulrich was born on Planet Stuttgart to the Ulrichs. The family was rather poor and lived in the small farming community of Stannheim. His father, Frederich, was a angry, abusive figure in his life. He was an unsuccesful farmer, his family barely keeping itself afloat. His mother Faedra disappeared when he was very young, investigators at the time blamed Frederich, and he was put in jail. After being convicted of his wife's death, Frederich was placed in Killesburg Prison, where after several years he committed suicide. By this time, Dorian was already fit-in with a foster family, the Zoelczechs. He never really knew his birth parents. The Zoelczechs were in the upper-echelons of the social classes, they owned several farm cooperatives. They had an only-biological son as well, who was quite a lot older than Dorian and was already off to higher education by the time he knew his adoptive brother existed. The Zoelczechs sent Dorian to college as well, he became a doctor of Xenobiology and Xenoarcheaology. A year after his graduation in 783 A.S. he found work with the Buro der Marineintelligenz, on one of their underground bases only known by its codename König unter dem Berg. All of his work for the BDM has been classified by the Rhienland government and not much else is known but he was moved to the large, secure research facility in Frankfurt known as Shatten in 803 A.S., eventually becoming dissatisfied with the dismal pay of the Rhienland Government during the economic crisis following the Nomad War (799 A.S. - 801 A.S.) He moved out to the Edge Worlds where many of the artifacts and other xenoarchealogical finds originated, eventually finding work on the Glorious Advance as part of Marvin's onboard Science team, operating with considerable autonomy, both as individual scientists, and as a group.
::CLOSE BIOGRAPHY FILE::
Marvin periodically checks on his science team's progress on various things... He doesn't exactly keep track of what they do, nor exert any kind of control of it. He prefers to let people with expertise do what they do best, and therefore lets the science division operate with a very high degree of autonomy, only checking on them when something they're working on strikes his fancy. He recieves reports from them every week, but checks on them personally very infrequently. The last time he checked in was 6 months ago. They send him manifests for what they need to continue operating, and he acquires it for them. It is almost a renter/landlord relationship.
The guard at the security checkpoint immediately nodded, and touched the console. The door swished open and Marvin and Dr. Ulrich stepped through. They came in at the end of a long, white-tiled hallway. Marvin squinted as the shine from the lights above reflected from the tiles and seemed to follow his gaze as they walked. The hall linked to offices, workshops, laboratories, and a large door leading to a huge storage warehouse far off at the other end of the hallway. The pair continued down the hallway, dodging scientists pushing sealed cases of Liquid Cardimine on a dolly, pushing past groups of scientists aruing, talking, deciding on what to do with their particular concern. Marvin and Dr. Ulrich turned left when they reached an + junction, and followed the short hall down to another large door labeled AREA 9, with another large security checkpoint.
Dr. Ulrich nodded slightly to them, and put his hand on the palm pad. The large door creaked open, revealing a small observation theatre. Dr. Ulrich hoped that Marvin would find the newest development most interesting, and useful. Perhaps an incentive to invest in the goings on in the underbelly of his ship.
The view from the observation theatre was quite a sight to behold. Dozens of scientists, mechanics, engineers and other personel rushed about. Flares of plasma torches, cutters, scientific instruments, and other equipment lit up the long, yet short tubular structure. Just below the observatory windows, a weird, alien-looking structure jutted out from the very human looking gunmetal grey steel walls of the test chamber. It was odd shaped, almost obliesk like, but curvy and coming to at end at a much more dramatic point. The very dark blue, nearly black in color object glowed a faint blue at the end and was covered in seemingly random, unorganized lines.
Marvin was awestruck. Dr. Ulrich smiled, smugly.
"Do you like it?" He stated, playing Marvin like a book.
"What... What is it? Exactly? Doctor?" Marvin said, still staring out the window at the hive of activity below.
"Well, we believe it is a peice of a Nomad weapon... or perhaps even having a D'aam K'Vosh origin." Dr. Ulrich said, and continued
"Our people have tried to pull it apart, but the material it's outer shell is made of is harder than any material known... and therefore cannot be cut even with the most powerful chemical cutters, diamond-blade saws, or by any other conventional means. We know very little about how it operates... Or how it would operate should it be 'fired'." he said.
"But... What is keeping you from firing it?" Marvin said, excitement and intriuge growing by the minute.
"Well, as I said... We have nearly no clue how it operates, or how it would even get energy to fire. Hell, it could be a firework for all we know!" Dr. Ulrich said, changing his tune.
"Come, I'll show you" Dr. Ulrich said and motioned to the nearby elevator.
Marvin eagerly followed him, as they rode down and the door swished open, Marvin saw exactly what Dr. Ulrich meant.
The room below the observation deck was filled with scientific and exploratory equipment. There were far less people back here then in the main test chamber. They sauntered about, in a much more relaxed manner. The wall seperating the back chamber from the main test chamber was pierced by the Nomad 'weapon'. The back end of the alien 'weapon' nearly mirrored the front, but was much less curvy and was more of a regular, cone shape. It made no sound, and had a far higher density of markings on it than the front of the weapon, and they seemed to be far less random, on this end, occuring in patterns.
Dr. Ulrich noticed Marvin's unrequited stare at the reverse of the weapon and began his scientific analysis again.
"We believe this side's markings are much more meaningful than the fronts'. Although we do not understand them, nor have any way to translate, we find the patterns seen to be similar to many artifacts found throughout xenoarchealogical expeditions on Planet Nauru, and to markings on several experimental Nomad weapon's produced by the Order, acquired by us through our 'eyes' in the organization. Obviously... " he stopped.
Marvin looked quizzically at him.
"Perhaps not obviously." He continued...
"We can therefore extrapolate..." he explained, almost as if he was talking to a small child.
The weapon's research has been on schedule for two weeks now without any foreseeable progress.
Dr. Ulrich said if he gave the team time, it could work...
The weapon may be a pea shooter for all they know
Marvin thought, conflicted.
Time, unfortunately, wasn't the only thing he requested. He also needed nearly $200,000,000.
Dr. Ulrich assured him all of it would go to Project Diamond Dusk but Marvin's been betrayed before, such as the case of Drill Seargent Jeffery Peters...
Marvin paced around his office on Freeport 11. Thinking. It would be quite an achievement... to finally have something to show for the countless millions invested in the Scientific division. Nothing ever panned out. Failure after failure without progress... in any field. Marvin was actually thinking of firing the active research staff and only keeping the very neccesary Nomad specialists who help pull apart the goo that comes out of their ships when they burst into flames.
He decided it would have to happen to continue the project.
Marvin James Orphelia
Freeport 11, Omicron Delta, Eastern Omicrons
Pay to the Order of Doctor Dorian Ulrich
Two Hundred Million Credits and 00/100
Omicron Central Bank and Trust,
Freeport XV, Omicron 74
Signed, Marvin James Orphelia
He handed the check to Dr. Ulrich.
Dr. Ulrich pushed a button on the side of the very thin metal projector that created the hologram, and the money was deposited directly to his nuero-net account. Dr. Dorian explained that if they wanted to keep their project secret, a direct nuero-net to nuero-net transfer was not secure and a check would be much more safe. God forbid the Order find out while they can still stop the development in its infancy.
Marvin passed off using the old format as a indicator of Dr. Ulrich's age.
Dr. Ulrich closed the door to Marvin's office, quietly. He headed back to Sub-Division 3. It was much less hectic than normal as the sleep cycle neared. With the extra money secured from Marvin, he could hire multiple shifts working around the clock to get this weapon working. He could hire graduate students... and drop many of the ignorant so called 'professionals' with a hard head and only 4 years of study in their brains.
It was his baby. Dr. Ulrich was content. He hadn't headed a well-funded research team of any kind since...
Ever.
The weapon's tip glowed like a spectre in the night, as the rows of lights in the test tube shut off one by one with a slight delay in between, it left the erie blue-green glow of the unseen energy of the weapon alit.
Dr. Ulrich suddenly set down his coffee.
He had formulated a hypothesis...
The weapon... draws energy directly from the ship's systems.
With no conventional connections.
It would have to be tested of course, but knowing something about the foreign toy you're playing with is better than knowing nothing...
Marvin calmly walked down the hall, waved to the security guards and entered the small observatory overlooking the massive test chamber. It was strangely quiet.
In fact, there was noone around at all.
What the hell? Marvin thought, incredulously.
He expected the usual hive-of-activity. Nothing was going on. He glanced out of the window. The glowing aqua light of the alien weapon was no longer. The massive test chamber was completely dark. The tools had been left as if there was an evacuation...
Marvin went to a chemical tank attached to supply one of the cutter torches.
The valve was still on. He cranked it to the "off" position, anger growing.
Marvin stormed into Dr. Ulrich's office, but, he found it empty. Dr. Ulrich's framed degrees no longer hung on the wall. In fact, it appeared as if he had never been there... at all. The only thing that remained was his name stenciled on the door and the nameplate of the desk.
Marvin suddenly realized.
It was happening.
Again.
He felt duped, like some kind of rookie pacifist.
Hopefully he could find this swindler... and teach him a lesson...
Heartless appeared on the pedestal near Dr. Ulrich's desk. Her holoform's glow was of a darker red, not the usual transparent or pastel pink color.
Marvin looked at her...
"Do you know about this?" He said, blazing.
"Unfortunately yes... I tried to tell you, but that doctor disabled me... with some kind of virus. I have fought it back and locked it up in a virtual pandoras box, thankfully. God knows what would have happened should it leak into the ship's systems."
"We really need a second AI back here, Wilson was a great buffer against these types of things..." she sighed.
Marvin was fuming, he trusted Dr. Ulrich and he ran away with Marvin's money like some entitled rich kid with their trust fund.
"Do you know when he left?" Marvin said.
"Recently, I believe, I questioned him when I saw his shuttle in today's docking manifests, which is when he injected the virus."
"His shuttle was going to Yaren Base..." she said, with a slight bit of hope in her voice, anger subsiding.
We can catch him... Marvin thought, vengefully.
Marvin raced to the bridge, the bridge staff was relaxing, as usual...
They turned from their consoles and saw the wild-eyed Marvin, knowing immediately what he wanted them to do.
He sat in his puffy, padded chair, not calming any.
Marvin thought I could ping Yaren, and see if they have a shuttle in their manifests... but if Dr. Ulrich can hack into my ship... he could surely hack into a measily Corsair installation's communication system.
He would personally charge in, guns blazing.
Helm, full cruise speed to Yaren. Now.
The helmsman silently accepted and the Glorious Advance jolted forward, stars racing by. Freeport 11 became smaller and smaller in the rearview panels.
The ship reached Yaren Base in the matter of an hour, and Marvin quickly boarded his shuttle, the Stranger In A Strange Land. He also grabbed his Detroit Python Blaster Pistol, and shoved it into his jacket's imperceptible pocket. The shuttle rocketed at full speed to Yaren Base, and arrived in the docking bay. The Corsairs there eyed him wearily, but not with hostillity as he was known in the area for bursting in unannounced when something or someone struck his nerve... or fancy.
He calmly stepped out of the shuttle, the cold deck of the docking bay quaking under his boots. He checked the second docking bay, which was completely occupied by a Corsair Titan, and the third was empty. The fourth, however, had quite an old shuttle in it. It was green in color, shaped almost like a upside down V.
The landing ramp was open, but the ship appeared dark.
Marvin went into it, the old consoles were glowing. He checked the passenger manifests... and found one.
Mister Ulrich.
Hah.
He wasn't even a doctor.
Unless his doctoral thesis was on embezzeling non-profit funds...
Marvin hid behind some large canisters in the dark, silent, cargo bay. He peeked around the canister and pulled out his gun. The ramp was directly in front of him, but he was just out of the light of the deck below, which filtered into the ship in a wide shape.
Ten minutes passed...
Marvin ducked as he heard voices nearing. Whispers.
"We must leave, now!" Marvin heard what sounded like Ulrich say.
The hired captain of the ship didnt appear to be in a hurry... he had a large beer in his hand.
Dr. Ulrich grabbed him, pulled him over to the small window in the docking bay, any larger and the 3 suns of Omicron Delta would burn any foolish enough to pass infront of it.
"See that?" He yelled, and Marvin knew what he was pointing to, the colossus floating in space, vengeantly smiling at Mr. Ulrich.
"That is my former bosses ship, and it isnt here by coincidence." Mr. Ulrich said, inpatiently.
"I will pay you double if we can leave... immediately."
The captain looked convinced, and Marvin slid closer and further behind the large canister he was hiding behind. He turned off the saftey of the blaster and slowly pulled it out.
Marvin heard the footsteps clank up the metal ramp, and near to where he was hiding. He slid on the silencer, hopefully not waking up any Corsairs once the job was done.
First, the Captain, a burly, aged, bearded man, passed Marvin... and then... "Doctor" Ulrich.
Marvin jumped and rolled behind the two.
They began turning, but Marvin squeezed the trigger twice in quick succession. Two bullets passed through Ulrich's head, one continued into the captains, who was directly in front of Ulrich.
Both of them fell, the captain's lifeless body knocking over a canister of oil in the process.
Marvin hit his mark perfectly. Ulrich's forehead had a square-shaped hole in it. Marvin looked around the bloodied floor, and spotted his target.
The nuero-net chip was made of diamond, and, while now it could be sold to a scrapyard as a blood diamond... Marvin pocketed it and quietly left the ship, and non-shilantly walked out of Yaren's Docking Bay #4.
Scientific Ambitions... And... Successes? - Part V
Marvin sat with a sigh... at his desk in his office on the Glorious Advance.
He'd lost all hope in the so-called scientific process.
Nothing ever invested into those bumbling idiots in white coats downstairs brings return Marvin thought, frustratedly.
He got up from his chair with another sigh and sat on the black synthleather sofa in his office and switched on the holopanels.
They hummed in response, but the sound faded as the last watched channel coalesced on the panels covering an entire wall opposite the couch in the office.
"This is the Colony News Network!" The field reporter oh-so-familiarly blared.
"Governments Sirius wide issues declarations today against unauthorized construction of stations in their soverign space."
Marvin sighed once again and thought
I'm so glad I'd never had to submit to such invasive laws...
The field reported turned to speak to a very officially dressed Libertonian Government official. He spoke as most politicians Marvin had experienced spoke...
With arrogance...
"While the Government of Liberty never had to deal with what would've been a silly notion in years past, as only large corporations have ever been able to finance, insure and maintain the sheer logistics of building a space station..." the official continued, in a low, authoritative, holier than thou art type of tone...
"We have information that it has become increasingly easy for small groups, smaller and less organized and financed than we've seen in the pirates and terrorists both domestically and internationally, to construct bases of operation..."
"Henceforth, we've outlawed unauthorized base-building within Liberties borders..."
Marvin shut off the holoTV panels.
It just may be possible... he thought, schemingly.
To get those whitecoat scammers off my ship for good!
Marvin sat at his desk and began looking up contacts in the built in communicator...
He had some serious bargaining and chartering to do...
![[Image: 2u5yyiv.png]](http://i54.tinypic.com/2u5yyiv.png)