A Junker's Travels

[Thexare]

(// Before I begin: If you want to add something, contact me first; most of the time, though, the way the story's being told won't work well with that. If you want to use one of the names in here, I'd also appreciate asking first, as I intend for at least one to become one of my characters, and others already have been.)


Alex Marcello's Gitano-class fighter, equipped for station defense.

My father was a mechanic, like his father, and his grandfather, and... Yeah, you've heard this before. I didn't want to do that, though. It's an important job, don't get me wrong, I just want to get out. I always feel crowded in this station. No room.

So, in the process of fixing ships, he salvaged a few things. Told the original owner they wouldn't work anymore and they'd have to buy a new one. He knew what he was doing, so they did. He fixed up the old ones, and set 'em aside for my ship. A broken Crusader's maneuvering thrusters, a salvaged J7P-7Q-CM2 power core, and a thruster ripped off a Lane Hacker's Dagger. Some guy named Escher. Wasn't too happy, not that I care.

Once the ship was put together and a few Barragers were slapped onto it, I started doing a few odd jobs for the Junkers to prove myself. There was a Xeno that'd been harassing our CSVs out in the Jersey field, Wayne Garrett. Officially, this Xeno is now dead. Unofficially, he's enjoying fine Junker hospitality. Only the best of what a Xeno deserves.

[Thexare]

So there I was, flyin' to some decrepit rock with some fuel when I saw a fight. A Hunter and some pirate, with two Navy pilots watching. From a safe distance, of course. I stuck around until the fight ended, got one picture - not a very good one, mind - and searched the remains of the pirate's ship.


Scans of Solari's Sabre.

Oh, did I mention the Junker salvaging scanners I had installed? Yeah, not very common on a Gitano, but what the hell, why not right?

The ship was a mess. The fight took too long, parts were falling off even before it was over. Maybe - maybe - a Salvager would've been able to do somethin' with it, but I couldn't get more than a few high-grade countermeasure flares. Decent haul, though. Woulda probably gotten more if I had a CSV. My sister Lydia was talkin' about getting one, I'll see what she thinks about sharing it...

The rest of the trip was pretty dull. Some Bloodhounds thought they could steal my fuel, so I blasted 'em. Dropped them back off on Buffalo along with the gas and countermeasures to shut the Rogues up, hopefully they've learned their lesson.

If not, I'll just fry 'em again.

[Thexare]

Oh, man, it's been ages since I updated this thing. Forgot I even had it, I found it in one of the boxes I was sorting through earlier.

Got myself a Percheron today, the Stellar Wind. Beautiful ship, those Brets really know what they're doing. Handles like a dream, too. Of course I celebrated with a bit of blockade running, and the ship came through perfectly.

My salvaging's being put on hold. I need to save up for a while, and the Stellar Wind is the best way I have to do that. I'm just running supplies between Junker depots most of the time, but I'm sure I'll find other stuff to do. Got 'er armed with some Pulse and Charon guns, she oughta be able to take care of herself out there.

I have to say, I'm really starting to like hese Bretonians. Even in Leeds, they're determined and optimistic in the face of those Kusari bastards. I've been running some supplies out to Southampton to help 'em out, hope it goes well. Maybe they'll take Kyushu, great place for us to hit the Hogosha from.

[Thexare]

Hoo, man, been a hell of a week.


Firefly-class Transport Collimare drifting through a cloud.

The Stellar Wind was a great ship, but she just wasn't bringing in enough cash. Not much room for modification either. So, I bought this one, the Collimare. A Firefly-class, whoever designed it must've been a Junker. That big cargo bay in the middle is great for modding - I've got a set of manipulator arms in there now that can be deployed when I've got something to salvage, and they double as cranes to move boxes into and out of the hold.

A nice, modular bridge, too. I completely replaced the glass with somethin' like a one-way mirror. That's for style more than anything, really; doesn't do much to thwart most scanners.

Now, the assorted other upgrades...

First off, there's this pirate, Milton Radley. He's one of the Buccaneers, I don't normally like dealin' with them, but this one's smarter than most. He went through all of my basic computer systems - targeting computers, scanners, standard navigation - and upgraded them with code stolen from Ageira's newest systems. My turrets track better, my scans are faster, and my autonav system handles jump holes without any turbulence at all.

Then there's the cargo bay. Like I said earlier, it's got a module system in place. Here's what it can use so far:

• Various manipulator arms. Four external that can rotate back into the ship, and another two internal for moving things in the hold.
  
• Jammer suite. Bulky as hell, illegal if it's detected... but it jams almost any scanner. Problem is, there's no way it's getting past any docking inspection. Not very useful, I usually leave it at home.
  
• Battery packs and backup fuel tanks. Useful for long trips, but I make pretty frequent stops at Freeports and Junker depots, so it doesn't come up much. Great when it does, though.
  
• Small fighter bay. With a little work, I should be able to modify the cargo bay to support larger fighters, but for now it can just handle a Bulldog, Gitano, or Patriot. I can't use it with the manipulator arms, though, and it takes a while to switch the two mods. On top of that, it takes up almost the entirety of the cargo hold, and there's no way it can handle anything bigger than a fighter. Still, great way to get my old Gitano from place to place.
  

I wonder if I can make the wings of a Guardian fold up. Anyway, the engines were also re-wired for better performance, along with thrust vectoring for quicker turning. Not much, though, the engine configuration just doesn't work well with that, but every little bit helps. On top of that, I managed to convince the Brets to install the thruster from a retired gunship onto the Collimare. After all, they had newer thrusters, and I'd brought them so many supplies for building more, what's one old thruster really?

The weapon system is a pretty basic setup, she's got a pair of forward-firing Pulse cannons and another pair of Charons to deal with larger targets, and an array of four Dulzian turrets covering the rear. Nothing fancy, but it works.

My sister Lydia has been helping me out lately, too. She's not particularly strong or good with a blaster, but she's pretty good with the scanners and can treat most injuries... and she's good for keeping me out of trouble, heh. Sara Elridge, a friend's sister, helps provide the muscle, or at least the stolen military assault rifle and portable rocket launcher, and Hilda Mohr handles whatever odd jobs may be needed.

Pretty good crew overall. Good-looking, too.

[Thexare]

First run to Malta was an eventful one. Saw a Colonial Nyx get destroyed by a Sabre... didn't last long, either. I was goign to salvage it, but Java tractored in all the parts. All I got was the mines. Guess they were worried about them going off in the base.

Then I see, of all things, an Outcast mining for water. Apparently he was on his last couple credits, so - in the interest of future business - I gave him a little loan. We then went on a little Cardamine run so he could show me a quicker Tau route, and I showed him a quicker route through Liberty.

Then of all things we saw... a Xeno Rhino.

What the hell.

Seriously, what?

It got away because... well, partially because I was too surprised to react. It running to the Miners while I had a full load of Cardi may have also had an impact... heh.

Rest of the run went well. No interruptions, outside of that ion storm near Freeport 6.