Designation: The Vile Scorn Class: RH-GM461 'Hel' Cruiser.
Crew Compliment: 60
Built: 820 AS, Pacifica Base.
Captain: Mathias Grendel
Biography
The Vile Scorn was built at Pacifica base as part of a drive by the Unioners to ensure they could compete with the heavier assets being deployed by corporate entities to guard their most valuable convoys. It was outfitted with a main gun capable of blasting a transport open in a single shot and a plethora of smaller batteries for engaging Gunboat escorts as well as being able to go toe to toe with Federal cruisers.
The ship often operated alone on the fringes of Rheinland, the clouds of the Sigmas and Omegas provided ample cover for ambushing high value targets moving through them, allowing the vessel to remain hidden until the last minute.
It was designed to be operated by a crew of one hundred and fifty, although over the years and through several refits and advancements in automation technologies, the ship is currently operated by a mere sixty people, all expert in keeping the vessel in working order. Commanded by the Captain, Mathias Grendel, the ship has plundered many millions worth of credits and has kept the coffers of the Unioners well stocked for quite some time.
Times have changed, however, piracy has been forbidden by the Unioner leadership, intending to recieve a pardon from the Emperor for their aid in the coup against the Federal Government and returning to what some would consider a normal life, no longer outlawed. The crew of the Vile Scorn have taken exception to this, finding themselves unable to fund their lavish, decadent lifestyles, it has become increasingly difficult for the Captain to maintain order on the promise of better times.
Armaments
TL-4a Cryogenic Antimatter Projector
The main gun, located on the dorsal side of the ship, along the central spine. This weapon draws a great deal of power and as such the Scorn is unable to fire any other weapon after its use. Its prime function is to tear through the hulls of fleeing transports, usually by targetting their engine arrays and obliterating them.
EMP-4a Cruiser Pulse Cannons
Armed with dual pulse cannons, the Scorn is able to rapidly remove the shielding surrounding any potential targets. Transports rarely stand a chance and even gunboat escorts usually find themselves fleeing as their shields are decimated.
UNT Unioner Cruiser Turrets
The primary turrets used for just about everything. These four turrets will tear through even the thickest of armour and are capable of tracking vessels as small as Gunboats. They aren't often employed against fighter craft unless the pilots of these craft are particularly green behind the ears.
C-25 Cruiser Turrets
The second heaviest weaponry equipped on the Scorn, these two turrets are used to pummel heavier vessel, exposing their innards, and the crew, to the vast, cold darkness of the void.
Small Craft
TR4c-T0R "Sichel" Black Market Rheinland Very Heavy Fighter
Armed with a wing of five of these fighter craft, the crew of the Vile Scorn use these ships to chase down targets that are too fast for the Cruiser to keep up with, they prevent an escape while the carrier catches up and proceeds to extort or destroy the hapless victim. All of this is done with a ruthless precision that the crew have spent many years perfecting, ensuring that no target ever escapes their grasp.
203-ARKM-B5 "Humpback" Rheinland Freighter
While technically the Cruiser is capable of housing two wings of fighters, the Vile Scorn instead uses the space for two freighters that it uses to keep the vessel supplied when it is far from a port of call. They're outfitted with high-grade engines to keep them ahead of any would-be assailers in the depths of space, and the two pilots that use them are well aware of what is at risk should they get caught.
Crew
Mathias Grendel
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Role: Captain
Nationality: Rheinlander
Place of Birth: Planet Hamburg
Born on Planet Hamburg before the start of the Nomad War, Grendel's parents both were employed by Republican Shipping at the nearby Alster shipyard. His childhood was rough, as he has a fairly abrasive personality and is incredibly stubborn, he'd often get into fights and usually end up worse for wear. Having followed in his parents footsteps when he came of age, and experiencing the brutality of the Corporate overlords, he found himself gravitating to the Unioners and rose in popularity with the leadership for his part in planning convoy raids, and his ruthless efficiency at carrying them out.
Rebecca Miller
Age: 38
Gender: Female
Role: First Mate
Nationality: Bretonian
Place of Birth: Planet Leeds.
A refugee from the Planet Leeds, having abandoned it at the beginning of the Gallic Invasion. She spent many years scraping by in Liberty before she found her way to Freeport 2 in the Bering system. From her past as a scow Captain on the planet, she had experience in telling people what to do and ensuring they stayed in line. Grendel had met her on the Freeport by chance and had instantly taken a liking to her, noting that while she was tough, she had a kind heart. She was employed originally as a crewman but eventually found herself as first mate to the infamous Captain.
Aidyn Adilov
Nickname: "Chief"
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Role: Engineer
Nationality: Coalition
Place of Birth: Planet Jiangxi
The man who can fix anything. A former subject of the Coalition, he'd been a Unioner for longer than Grendel and was originally assigned to his ship by the leadership. They tend to clash a lot as he very much has the blunt personality that is so typical of people from Jiangxi, he always makes his opinion known regardless of who it may upset and while this is often a source of conflict within the crew, his skill and knowledge of the inner workings of the Scorn make him an asset that Grendel couldn't afford to lose.
Linus Vikström
Nickname: "Bork"
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Role: Chef
Nationality: Rheinlander
Place of Birth: Vogtland Base
A fairly mediocre man, Grendel found him on Freeport 8, serving food at a suspect looking shop. He managed to rustle up something that Grendel described as 'Absolute perfection' and that was the moment he'd offered a job to him. He's often the stand-in as ships counsellor, much to his own dismay.
Viola Kessler
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Role: Supply Runner
Nationality: Rheinlander
Place of Birth: Planet Hamburg
Kessler was an infamous independent smuggler who used to frequent Freeport 2 in Bering. She's well known for being able to coerce information from just about anyone, usually in order to find shortcuts or patrol paths as to best avoid getting caught. She keeps her methods to herself although her incredible tolerance for alcohol is thought to be at least partially responsible for how she can get what she needs. Hired by Grendel for a few runs when they were operating in the area, he took a liking to her and her methods and continues to pay her for her continued efforts in keeping the Scorn well supplied.
Captain Mathias Grendel
Vile Scorn, Sigma 15.
November 29, 827 AS
Adrift
Its been some time since the Emperor returned to Rheinland, the civil war still rages and the Unioner movement continues to support this new government. Our leadership continues paving the way to returning to civil life within the new Empire, yet my crew are uneasy. Our life has been taken from us and we feel lost, we've been instructed to cease our raids against civillian targets and simply wander the fringes of Rheinland, hoping we come across a hapless Federalist vessel or some other enemy of the state.
The crew aren't happy. My second called a meeting, all of us in one room trying to air our grievances and it devolved into my chief engineer swinging at the chef. It's a mess and I'm running out of options. We moved to Freeport 8 today, set up a meeting with a guy who messed with our IFF system, we're no longer broadcasting Unioner codes, might make piracy on the lanes a little easier on us. The ship is still Unioner through and through however, anyone with a half decent scanner knows where we're from and it isn't gonna be easy to rid ourselves of that badge.
Need to find someone who can make the ship disappear, no records, no logs, nothing. We're gonna hang around the Freeport for a few more days, hopefully we'll hear something.
Captain Mathias Grendel
Vile Scorn, Sigma 15.
November 30, 827 AS
Adrift
Freeport 8 is quiet, I suppose the civil war has people shying away from somewhere so close to the heart of it all. The odd Zoner passes through but I've not even managed to hear a rumour of someone who may be able to help with what we need.
I bartered for some luxury food from one of the passer-bys, not our usual style but we felt it was best to stay off the radar as much as possible here, I've no doubt the Zoners would throw us out given the first opportunity or whisper of trouble from us. Chef seems pleased, he's preparing a feast for the crew, hopefully it'll lift their spirits a bit. He's kept some aside in case of emergency, never know when you'll need to pass out something that actually tastes like food rather than the usual paste rations we get by on.
Chief says the ship is in full working order. It's been a while since I could actually walk to my quarters without an internal panel falling off, I've asked him to make sure my ship is ready to go, I might search a bit further afield than Freeport 8. Apparently the Freeports in the Omicrons are more likely to have what we need, although taking the ship out so far would be costly, fuel isn't cheap out on the edges of civilisation. Who knew?
Captain Mathias Grendel
Vile Scorn, Omega-7.
November 30, 827 AS
Baby steps
Paid a guy for some information on the Freeport. Told us about a bunch of independent folks down in the Omegas, trying to carve out something for themselves. Crew all agreed it was worth the fuel to at least investigate so we made our way to Omega 7, found the station right where we were told, Ithaca Base. They're a friendly bunch but a little wary of anyone not in their clique, they appreciated our desire to follow in their footsteps and said our best bet would be to ask a Junker.
Lo and behold, after a short while camping out at the Stuttgart gate, we came across one, the Fortunatus - ancient looking ship, an old Liner by the looks of it, captained by a man named Elias Rostor. Looks like I came to the right place for what we needed, said he'd scour his contacts and see if he couldn't find someone willing to make the ship disappear for us.
He's given us two days to see what he can come up with, then he'll be in touch. Lifted the spirits of the crew when they heard, word travels fast and it looks like Chef's feast tonight will be one to remember, even managed to nab a crate of Gallic wine off a passing Ageira transport. Things are finally looking up.
Captain Mathias Grendel
Vile Scorn, Sigma 13.
December 1, 827 AS
Slim pickings
Spent some time on the Stuttgart gate in Omega 7, we relieved an empty transport of some of his hard earned credits and we had an unusually trigger happy Junker who we made quick work of, otherwise it was fairly sparse on what we managed to take. Decided we'd head on back to the Sigmas once again and see what we could muster.
Ended up accosted by two Golden Chrysanthemums. Said they were looking for their pilots, no idea why they were looking for them near the Frankfurt gate but who am I to judge. They seemed to think they could take on the Scorn. Had they been skilled pilots they might've actually done some damage, one of them took a few direct hits from the heavy guns and decided to cut her losses and flee whilst the other cowered behind the superstructure of the gate. I decided it wasn't worth the effort and left them be.
They kept mentioning a transport. I assume they're probably worth keeping an eye on for valuables in future.
Captain Mathias Grendel
Vile Scorn, New Berlin.
December 2, 827 AS
Jackpot
Looks like it was worth heading to New Berlin after all. After a quite jaunt by the Junker depot in the system for a quick refuel, we hit the lanes over by the Frankfurt jumpgate, Word on the net is Helium-3 is on the uptick toward Bretonia, something about gold prices or somesuch.
We came across a tanker full to the brim with the stuff. The Captain wasn't a particularly bright man and didn't really want to part with his cash, thought he could try and pay me off with an amount less than what I'd asked for, some would call me cruel but I took his money and blasted his transport into pieces - we left the pods drifting in space and handed the cargo off to a passing Junker who gave us half the value. Maybe next time he'll remember to pay the pirate rather than try and outsmart him.
I've sent a message out to the Junkers here in the hope they'll assist with our little predicament, the captain of the Fortunatus hasn't made contact since we saw him last so I thought i'd try a backup plan and ask directly. With the money made today we've got more than enough to pay whatever they ask, if they take the job. Now all we can do is wait.
Captain Mathias Grendel
Vile Scorn, New Berlin.
December 4, 827 AS
Questions
It's been brought to my attention that perhaps sending a wide band transmission to the entirety of the Junker base probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, Chief was yelling for quite a while and eventually wandered off mumbling about doing without thinking first. Maybe he's right but we've had a hit, someone called 'Oxide' has made contact as well as a rather butch looking woman. I've sent Chef off to meet the woman at the bar, looks like someone who'll give him a good time.
I've talked it over with the crew and Oxide's offer is rather enticing although they all believe caution is the way to go, I've asked them for more details about them and their offer before we go any further, it might be we need to make a very hasty exit from the core worlds.
We did manage to hit a rather unlucky transport Captain earlier, had a hold full of Molybdenum from Gallia and had apparently left his ship on autopilot and fallen asleep at the controls. He made it all the way into Omega 7 before realising his mistake and meeting us, unlucky soul, we relieved him of some of his credits and let him on his way.
The air among the crew is one of cautious optimism.
Captain Mathias Grendel
Vile Scorn, New Berlin.
December 5, 827 AS
Heating up
It looks like the Imperials are launching some new offensive to try and end this stalemate they've had going for a while. We've seen a new construction project in the Frankfurt system and there's a lot of transports heading back and forth, more money for us - We've been hitting what we can but there's a very heavy military presence in the system and it won't be long before they start actively trying to hunt us too. It seems like the Feds are doing something of a similar nature so we've been hitting targets of opportunity on both sides while the other cools off, I'd imagine it won't be too long til that tactic stops working.
I'm hoping Oxide will come through for us, we need to get out of here soon - I'd imagine the Unioners won't be too far behind the military.
Captain Mathias Grendel
Vile Scorn, Cologne.
December 7, 827 AS
Dead in the water
After a fairly successful few day, I've decided to relocate ourselves into the Cologne system, there's a base here that doesn't seem to mind who you are as long as you're following their rules. It'll do for now. The Crew agreed we should probably stay out of Rheinland for a bit - The military did take notice of us and the Scorn took a few shots across the bow from their heavy guns, they managed to disable the main gun so Chief is working on getting it repaired, It isn't gonna be cheap.
Still no word from Oxide, I'll give it some more time before we try doing something ourselves. Chief thinks he can get it done but I'm not convinced, the parts we're gonna need are expensive and we don't have access to the kind of facilities required to handle such an extensive refit of the ship. We've still got options, we're not so in danger that I need to resort to such a drastic option just yet.
We'll ride it out for a bit longer, nobody has noticed us here as of yet and hopefully it'll stay that way.
Captain Mathias Grendel
Vile Scorn, Sigma 13.
December 11, 827 AS
Too hot
Looks like this war is finally getting real. The crew aren't having any more excuses and my hand is being forced, Chief is gonna handle the 're-branding' himself. He handed a list of essentials he needs to Viola and she's taken one of the freighters out. Something about some new software and some brand new computers, he said it'll be a rough job but provided nobody boards us it'll be nigh on impossible to tell where the ship originated from.
As Viola has a ways to go, we're gonna hole up in the Crow Nebula while we wait. Chief tells me he'll need to take all the ships systems offline for at least two hours so the further away from patrol routes we are, the better. There's a station in the system that's not too fussy about who docks there, we've loaded up with supplies and we managed to wrangle some outdated but still useful GMG patrol paths, it gives us a better idea of precisely where to hide. Provided everything goes as planned we should be back on our way, if not, we're gonna be up the creek without a paddle for sure.
Oxide never got back to us, maybe they weren't up to the task but we'll have to make do with what we've got. Might actually start trying this 'religion' thing, heck, we're gonna need it if we're to survive this mess.
![[Image: 396px-UnionerLogo.png]](https://discoverygc.com/wiki/images/thumb/e/e0/UnionerLogo.png/396px-UnionerLogo.png)
