Incoming Transmission
Name: William "Knucklehead" Modnar
Comm ID: Knucklehead
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
Seeing as how I've been around the galaxy a few times, I thought I'd start making a list of what I've been doing these last few years.
I started my career as a mercenary, with a bit of a taste for rounding up pirates and hauling them to wherever they'd pay for them. I've also been known to park myself around various asteroid fields and shoot the rocks to see what comes out. Of course, not long ago, the license for hunting those pirates also kept me from hauling the rocks around, so I gave up on it for a while.
Life as a mercenary was all well and good, but work got a bit scarce, and I had to give it up. With my oldest boy just about ready to start flying on his own, I decided I'd build up a supply of cash to give him the advantages I didn't have when I started. So I turned in my Mercenary License and became a trader. Fortunately, I knew of a couple places I could grab some valuable stuff from those rocks out there, and where to take them.
In a few months, I managed to scrape together enough credits for a Kushan Freghter to make the job a bit easier. Before long, I had enough saved up for my son, Eman Modnar, to buy himself a brand new Transport over at Pittsburgh. I gave him a few pointers and let him head out to pursue his dream of becoming a Luxury Liner pilot for Spa & Cruise. Personally, I never was one to join the big corporations, but he seems to be doing quite well for himself.
I've always had a soft spot for those who are just starting their exploration of Sirius, and have even put my own routes on hold to help them out. Met a few of them recently; one called himself "LightMan," another, "GerbilZ." Seems LightMan had gotten in over his head out in the Texas system, so GerbilZ and I went out to give him a hand. They were fresh from the pilot school at Manhattan, so after finishing the little scuffle LightMan had gotten himself into, I offered to help them get into some better ships and help watch their backs as they tried another job for the LPI.
We headed over to the New York system, and were joined by another fairly new pilot, this one in a Defender. We decided to get together and head for the California system to pick up some better equipment, after a brief stop at Battleship Missouri to get LightMan and GerbilZ Defenders to fly. Once we got to California, an old friend of mine decided to join us. (I forget the name, my memory isn't the best at times. All I know is the pilot's related to a trader who goes by Caribe.) We met above California Minor and headed out to the Magellan system to see what Freeport 4 had to offer.
Before long, we headed out to take on a couple of weapon platforms and some ships that were sent to guard them. The plan was that the three newer pilots would take on the platforms, while the veterans took on the ships. Unfortunately, some temporal distortions being caused by the weapon platforms proved to be too much for one of the pilots, and even caused significant damage to my vessel. Seeing the problem, I turned my heavy weapons on the platforms, reducing them to scrap and ending the temporal distortions. We quickly mopped up the remaining ships and headed back to the station to regroup and get some repairs.
At this point, GerbilZ and the third rookie pilot went their own ways while the rest of us went on to Rheinland. It was LightMan's first trip that direction, and was quite an experience for him. To mark the occasion, I gave him enough money to buy himself a Falcon at Hamburg. After a little business in the Frankfurt system, we all parted ways and I pulled into Holstein for the night.
A few days later, the third rookie contacted me and asked me how things were going. I decided to give this pilot the same treatment I gave LightMan, but was a little short on funds myself. So I radioed my son, Eman, to meet the pilot at Hamburg and help him out.
I still see the pilots logging into the neural net from time to time, and wish them luck on their journeys. It's always good to see new people enjoying the thrill of spaceflight.
At any rate, I've been in dry dock for a couple days, planning my next trip out to the Tau systems or to Dresden. In the mean time, I've been trying to get my IFF board straightened out, as my computer keeps wanting to link me up to one of the house police or military groups. Must be all the pirates I've blown up over the years. Now it's got me stuck with Cryer Pharmaceuticals, so I've got my work cut out for me. Might have to lay down some credits to get the thing straightened out. Oh well.
Incoming Transmission
Name: Eman Modnar
Comm ID: Eman_Modnar
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
I'm afraid not much is going on with me lately. Not long before my dad called me to go to Hamburg, I spotted a member of the NovaPG while making a food run to the Hawaii. I'd heard about these priates from my father, so I gave him a wide berth. Still, the pirate wanted a little payment for my safe passage, but as he was in no position to catch me, I continued on to the Hawaii. Not willing to risk my ship with a pirate of such skill in the system, I decided to wait at Hawaii, which is where I was when my father called.
Since then, I've been making a number of runs between the various resorts Orbital Spa & Cruise operates. It has been very profitable, and I have been able to upgrade from a standard transport to a large transport. A few more round trips and I should be able to buy that Luxury Liner I've always wanted.
I've heard rumors of a new Gaian ace, but I haven't seen anything to confirm the rumors yet. Even so, I should be able to hold my own should the need arise.
Incoming Transmission
Name: Eman Modnar
Comm ID: Eman_Modnar
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
Not much to mention today. Couldn't spend much time flying yesterday thanks to a couple of Ion storms. Seems I always manage to schedule my flights just before one of them hits. At least I was able to make it back to Curacao before the latest one hit.
Still working on getting that luxury liner they sell here. Still not sure what I'm going to call it when I get it. Been considering "Luxury Liner Seattle." I hear it was a fairly nice place back on old earth. Maybe "Luxury Liner Astoria" would be good too.
I've got plenty of time to think about it, as it looks like my ship may be in dry dock for a bit longer. At least I'm not out on the Gas Miner Naha. Not much to look at there but gas, gas, and more gas.
Incoming Transmission
Name: William "Knucklehead" Modnar
Comm ID: Knucklehead
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
Finally got a chance to fly about, still working on making the computer stop thinking I work for Cryer. I swear, sometimes I take a step forward and about thirty steps back. I took a mission for the IMG to see if I could get their help lining my computer up with theirs. Simple job, bring some Corsair back to Freistadt. Only trouble is, my poor freighter can't turn nearly as well as my old fighter, let alone those little Legionaires the guy was in. Computer couldn't seem to lock in on him with the variety of guns I've picked off various pirates I've bumped heads with and wrecks I've come across. But eventually, I managed to knock out the guy's hull and bring him back to Freistadt for my reward.
Unfortunately, seems that little job didn't really help my computer change its mind and knocking out a couple Corsairs managed to get a few others in the way of me really showing up as IMG. Sometimes you just can't win.
Oh well. Maybe my boy would be willing to help me get back to being a mercenary again. I miss my old Chimaera sometimes. I hear the IMG makes a decent fighter too. We'll see.
Incoming Transmission
Name: Eman Modnar
Comm ID: Eman_Modnar
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
You know you're not the only who reads these things, right pop?
At any rate, a couple of things have been happening lately. First, the central office has sent word that Cambridge Research Institute is looking for ships to haul a bunch of Scientists out to Corfu for something. The trip isn't the safest in the world, but the pay should be quite a bit. As soon as they tell me when, I'll be ready to go.
The other thing that happened occured today. It seems I managed to recruit a new pilot to help out with my route. Guy goes by the name of Darth Uther. Seems like a good kid. He hailed me as I was passing through California on my way back to Curacao. He wanted to know if I knew about Luxury Liner Hawaii in the Sigma 19 system.
Hmm, let's see, Hawaii, Hawaii, that name should ring a bell...
Oh yeah, the place I had just come from. The place the captain of the Shetland told me needed luxury food. The ship that just happened to be owned by the people I work for.
So, I let him know that I knew where it was. Turns out he's been looking for a job hauling something more than prisoners to Houston. He had a nice little Armored Transport he was flying in.
I offered to show him the route I was taking and a job with OSC. He was really excited about the idea.
We made plans to meet at Baden Baden so we could get him started on joining OSC. He apparently hit a few speedbumps, to use an ancient phrase, along the way. He arrived with a hold full of Mining Equipment so I suggested we head for Solarius Station in Omega 11, which isn't far from Baden Baden.
We were just about to land at Stuttgart to pick up a load of Luxury Food for Hawaii when a sudden Ion Storm came up. We barely made it to Stuttgart before the storm hit.
After the storm, I contacted him to let him know I wouldn't be able to leave just yet. He made a few more independant runs while I contacted my higher-ups about the new recruit. When I was finally able to head out from Stuttgart, I recontacted Darth Uther to see where he was at. We made arrangements to meet at Hawaii. He was coming from Manhattan with some Luxury Goods while I headed out with my Luxury Food.
The run to Hawaii was fairly smooth, but there were a couple hiccups. First, I forgot which part of the route I was in and dropped out of the tradelane to the New Berlin gate part way to the gate. Seems I got confused and thought I was in Leeds looking for the shortcut to Omega 3 through the Cambridge Jumphole. Cost me at least 1 unit of food. Then, as I was checking on Darth Uther's progress, I missed the cutoff to the Sigma 13 system in New Berlin. I ended up taking the long way through Frankfurt. Cost me another couple units of food.
At any rate, once I got to Hawaii, I unloaded my cargo and headed out, cursing dock control center in the process. (I mean, really, who sends a Large Transport out a docking port designed for a much smaller freighter?) I checked on my new recruit, who was still making his way through the Galileo system. I asked if he knew how to get to Sigma 19 and gave him directions on how to get there when he admitted that he didn't.
Once he made it to the Shikoku system, I decided to meet him at New Tokyo and guide him the rest of the way in. He must have been having a rough go of it, as he still hadn't made it our of Shikoku by the time I got to New Tokyo. I had just gotten word that Hawaii needed more Luxury Goods than the ones Darth Uther was bringing, so I loaded up and waited for him to arrive.
There were a couple of Blood Dragons that decided to try and make trouble for us, but they couldn't really touch us with our advanced shields. Other than that, the journey back to the Hawaii was pretty much uneventful.
After we had unloaded, he told me he had some more business to take care of and that he was looking into getting a larger ship. I decided to give him the proceeds from the Luxury Goods I had brought in, plus a little bit extra to round out the amount. I gave him directions to where I bought my Large Transport and bid him farewell, after he promised to formalize his job at OSC.
After that, I decided I needed a little time to rest, so I put in at Naha and rented a room while they loaded my ship with H-Fuel. I figured I'd jot this down before I forgot it all. I see a bright future ahead for this guy. Who knows, maybe more will join the OSC ranks.
Incoming Transmission
Name: Eman Modnar
Comm ID: Eman_Modnar
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
Quite an eventful day. Just before I got to the New York system on the tail end of my run from Naha, I got a message from HQ that Curacao needed some Luxury Goods pronto. So I made a detour to Manhattan, unloaded my H-Fuel and loaded up with the needed goods.
When I pulled in to Curacao, the boys in the main office told me I had earned myself a promotion for all the hard work I've been putting in. I thought maybe they meant a little pay raise. Maybe a nicer chair for the bridge of the ship.
Boy was I wrong.
Turns out they had heard from the captain of the Shetland how much I was impressed with the ship. They decided it was only fitting that I be given command of my own, brand new Luxury Liner.
This is easily a dream come true for me. The chance to take people to see the exotic sights of Sirius. Places of unique beauty, excitement, and mystery.
Turns out I was only part right. There's a lot more to consider when flying such a large vessel. Routes that were previously barely passable become nearly impossible to navigate. Simple things we pilots take for granted like tradelanes and jumpgates take extra consideration. To say nothing of providing for the protection of your passengers.
I found this out the hard way during my shakedown run. Just getting from Curacao to the Shetland for my regular Oxygen run proved difficult. Those rocks out there near the shortcut from Manchester to Leeds can send you on a ride more dizzying than anything in the onboard amusement center. Good thing these big boys come with such beefy shields and inertial dampers.
At any rate, as I pull into range of the Shetland, a Gaian pilot by the name of Marburg, who happened to be sitting just off the Shetland's stern, gave me a good long look. He didn't seem to want any trouble, and I was happy to oblige him. I swapped my supply of Oxygen for a supply of Prisoners to take to Baden Baden. We swapped a few more polite words with each other as I headed out for the Leeds system. One thing he said did stick with me though. Said something about "This is my home." Not sure what he meant by that, but I had a run to make and no more time to think about it.
I should have realized the experience in Manchester wasn't going to be unique, but I continued along my usual shortcut through to the Omega 3 system. Now I know what those "Pinball" things they have down in the arcade feels like. (I still can't believe I've got an arcade on my ship...) The rest of the trip was a comedy of errors, as I ran into more rocks than I care to think about, and the autopilot seems to have a few bugs to work out in regards to the tradelanes.
By the time I got to Hawaii with the Luxury Food I picked up in Stuttgart, I decided this ship isn't cut out for the supply runs. As I made my way out of the Honshu gate, some joker commented on seeing a ghost liner. (Remind me to book someone funnier for the comedy lounge.)
As you can probably tell, the trip through the rocks has me a bit agitated. Of course, it didn't help that the boys in corporate thought I should familiarize myself with the route Cambridge Research Institute would insist on taking for their special job they've got coming up.
Long story short, all those rocks make for one nervous wreck of a captain. I did get to show a bunch of VIPs some of the more exotic (and dangerous) locations in Sirius. They seemed rather impressed, but did not enjoy the rocky ride (pardon the pun) any more than I did. We finally pulled into Manhattan just before another of those weird Ion Storms hit.
Maybe one day I'll figure out how to get through those rocks more smoothly. But in the mean time, I need some sleep.
Good night everyone.
PS. Maybe I'll come up with a name for the ship at some point.
Incoming Transmission
Name: Eman Modnar
Comm ID: Eman_Modnar
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
Funny how temporal distortions can take a toll on someone.
Let me back up a bit. Everything started out well enough. I loaded a bunch of passengers at Manhattan who said they wanted to take a look at Gaia. The trip was going well enough, except for a number of hangups in various tradelane entrances and the usual groups of pirates getting in over their heads around the ship. We finally got to the Shetland when the whole lot decided they'd rather stay on for a trip to Baden Baden. On the bright side, they said they'd pay me extra for the longer journey.
Well, it seems the Neural Net was getting a bit crowded about this time, causing mild temporal distortions. At least I thought they were mild. I managed to get partway down the tradelane from Planet Leeds to the New London gate when the temporal distortion showed its might. Knocked me and my whole ship out cold.
When we came to, we found ourselves back on the Leeds side of the Edinburgh Gate. The Neural Net had thinned out a bit, but I knew that wouldn't last long, so I took off, hoping to avoid the effects again. No such luck.
This time around, we managed to get almost to the New London gate when things started getting weird. Ships were flying off in directions they weren't designed to go, and the gate itself refused to respond to our jump signal. All at once, the distortion knocked us out again.
Once again, we found ourselves back at the Edinburgh Gate. Fortunately, the Neural Net had thinned out considerably and the distortions seemed to be gone. We managed to get to Cambridge before another one of those sector-wide Ion Storms was spotted. After the day I'd been having, I put in at Cambridge Research Station and have been parked here since, trying to recover.
What a crazy day that was. So crazy, I couldn't bring myself to record this log about it for a couple more. Who knows, I may make the journey to Baden Baden before the week is through. I just hope the passengers don't get restless with us not going anywhere for a while longer. We've got plenty to do, and Cambridge is one of the prettier settled worlds in the sector, but we all need some time to recover from that ordeal.
Incoming Transmission
Name: Eman Modnar
Comm ID: Eman_Modnar
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
Where to begin...
I suppose I should mention that the Cambridge job I'd been hearing about for a couple weeks now was today. Things went well. The reps at Cambridge provided me with an escort for the journey, an Asgard Warrior. Had a nice little fighter, too. I'm sure Dad would be jealous.
After loading the scientists and their belongings onto my ship, we headed out for the Omega 5 system. We knew the journey would be hazardous, so we kept our eyes out for pirates along the way. Sure enough, there was a group of them on either side of the Omega 5 jumphole. I dodged the pirates on the Cambridge side easily enough, but the Omega 5 side gave me some problems. They managed to get my shields down a couple of times before I managed to get away. From there it was a fairly smooth ride out to Corfu. Except for the asteroids bouncing me around that is...
Once at Corfu, I unloaded the scientists and loaded up with H-Fuel, as the contract stated. I was preparing to leave for California Minor, when all the pirates who had been following us from Omega 5 started swarming the base. I managed to get clear when I noticed one of them was following me. My escort told me to lure the pirate toward him, which I was able to do easily. The two were locked in battle, with me providing cover fire, when without warning a tear in the space-time continuum opened up, sending me back to Corfu and several others back to the Omega 41 jumphole.
We called a truce while we figured out what had happened. Once the rep from Cambridge arrived, my escort and I were paid for the safe delivery of the scientists.
The truce was called off, and we made tracks for the Omicron Gamma system, to follow the route we were contracted for. Getting to the Gamma system was simple enough, but that wouldn't last long, as the entire time we were in the system was spent inside a particularly nasty asteroid field. It's a good thing I had scouted out the route before hand.
After a little while we made it into a strange system that seemed to be home to a large number of Nomads. We didn't spend much time here, but there were some pirates waiting for us. I managed to shake them off and was soon in the Omicron Delta system.
Delta and Minor were fairly simple for me, as my escort was busy keeping the pirates occupied. The rocks in Minor were a bit of a nuisance, but not as bad as in Gamma.
Once I arrived in the Alaska system, I managed to catch three more pirates by surprise, and was well clear of them before they could react. Once I got to the Connecticut system, the path was clear all the way to California Minor, and I didn't even have much trouble with the tradelanes this time.
Back at California Minor, the rep paid the 1 million credits for the delivery of the H-Fuel, but I had to remind him about the 500,000 bonus promised for completing both legs of the journey. Fortunately, after he confirmed it with his boss, I was given the rest of the promised money.
While I was waiting for my escort to make it to California Minor, an important communication came in that pulled me away from the controls. When I returned, my escort and a couple of his allies were under attack from one of the other groups in Sirius and left me to return to Cambridge on my own. Once I got there, I was given the runaround about not having my escort with me. Finally I was given permission to make another run to Corfu, without an escort this time.
Fortunately, it seems the majority of the pirates had become discouraged with their lack of success in the previous run, so my trip to Corfu was fairly quiet. I made the delivery, had gotten paid, and was making another run to California Minor when the word was given that the contract period was over. So I decided to take the H-fuel I still had to Manhattan and rejoin my regular route.
Things were going well until I was on my way out from the Hawaii. Another pirate decided he wanted some of my cargo. The way I saw it, he was in no position to make demands, and so I refused.
He ended up following me all the way to New Berlin, where a handful of other ships were waiting. Normally I don't go through New Berlin, but I knew there were people there who could help me drive him off.
Sure enough, once I arrived over the planet, he engaged and I began my defense. It was a fairly close battle, as he had some fairly tough shield busters on board, but with the help of a container transport who happened to be in the area, I managed to finish off the pirate.
After the fight, I landed on New Berlin to make a few repairs and restock my supplies. As soon as I took off again, a Corsair who also appeared to have followed me was attacking the same container transport who had helped me earlier. So when he called for help, naturally I engaged the Corsair. While I didn't finish the Corsair off, I did manage to keep him busy long enough to let the container transport escape.
It was looking like I might be able to take the Corsair out as well, when a strange vortex swallowed my ship, and I was sent to another dimension for a few moments.
When I finally reappeared, I was polite enough to depart the scene of the battle. The vortex had done a number on my hull, and it would not be fair to return to battle with a rapidly restored shield. I returned to New Berlin for repairs and headed out for the Hamburg system, saluting the Corsair on a well fought, albeit interrupted, battle.
On the way past Alster Shipyard in Hamburg, I decided to acquire a few improvements to the ship's defenses: a new armor upgrade, and a new missile turret for the center hardpoint.
From there, I continued my run up to Manhattan, where I decided to put in for a little rest. It's been a long day, and the temporal distortions have gotten to me a bit.
Incoming Transmission
Name: Eman Modnar
Comm ID: Eman_Modnar
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
Made another trip around the loop last night. Spent some time talking to one of Dad's old friends. Mostly comparing trade runs and recounting the events of the past few weeks. We decided to meet up at Manhattan so I could hook up with one of his friends, a mercenary named Gladius. Nice little fighter, a slipstream. Not really the kind of ship Dad would like, but not bad either. We got together with the intention of flying the route together, but engine trouble forced Gladius to stay behind at Curacao.
I was about 30K away from the Shetland when that Marburg person showed up. He followed me over to the Shetland where I unloaded my cargo. The local defense crew was keeping him busy, but he greatly outclassed them. A quick scan revealed that he had a particularly costly item on board, so I decided to let him go with a warning, which he responded with a warning of his own.
We exchanged a few more words, with him trying to convince me the boys in corporate were harming Gaia. I don't see it that way. We have strict rules on who can go to the surface and what they can do there. The boys in corporate know how to protect the planet.
Meanwhile, he continued to open fire on the OSC patrol ships, so I decided to show him what I could do when a couple of his buddies showed up. Within a few seconds, I had 4 Gaians and a Corsair locked in the brig.
As we continued talking, I began to grow tired, so I started back to the Shetland to drop off my prisoners. Along the way, I decided to give Marburg a nickname my ancestors had given environmentalists in the past, Tree Hugger. He wasn't particularly fond of the name, but was willing to take it in stride, giving me one his ancestors had used, Spa and Cruise Dandy. Interesting name, has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
We said our goodbyes, and I retired to my quarters for a good rest.
Incoming Transmission
Name: Airom Artnam
Comm ID: AiromArtnam
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3... Is this working? Ah, good. Knucklehead told me I could post my logs on his family's system. I see it's working.
Anyway, allow me to introduce myself. I am Airom Artnam, an old friend of Knucklehead and his family. My father was born in Rheinland and was flying for them just before the whole Nomad incident began. He noticed that something was changing in the ranks and began to question what was going on. Soon he found himself at the wrong end of some Firekiss barrels and made tracks for Liberty.
Once he got there, he went into hiding on Manhattan until a couple years after the sudden end of the Kusari/Rheinland war. It was there that he met my mother, and I was born.
He often told me what it was like living on New Berlin and serving the people there. Defending the citizens from the Red Hessians and other pirate groups that were scattered around the House's territory. I could see, even at a young age, that he longed to go back.
One day, he decided to go. He felt it would be too risky to bring my mother and I, so he asked his friend William Modnar to look after us.
He was on his way back to New Berlin when his ship was attacked by a group of ex-Rheinland Military pilots. They were equipped with weapons my father had only heard rumors of, and it took everything he had to try to survive.
He limped his ship to New Berlin, but was overcome with his injuries, and died a few weeks later.
From that day on, I vowed to do everything I could to eliminate these "Das Wilde."
I attended flight school at West Point Naval Academy, and did fairly well. As a graduation gift, Eman, Knucklehead's son, gave me a substantial sum of money, 10 million credits. With this, I was certain that I could make the Wild pay for what they had done.
I was nervous as I prepared the little starflier the Academy gives to freelance pilots, and ended up forgetting to get rid of the freelancer ID when I bought my initial Trader ID. I got all the way to New Berlin before a Rheinland Military officer noticed my mistake.
With that taken care of, I left for the Battleship Strausland, where they kept the ship my father had been flying after the attack. It had been fairly beat up, and with no one to pay for the repairs, it needed extensive work. Some 2 million credits later, the ship was ready and I headed out to Rostock Station to acquire my Mercenary ID.
The Bounty Hunters who run Rostock weren't too enthusiastic about giving me the ID, but a few credits in the right places took care of that problem.
Knucklehead had told me about a fair number of places where pilots whose luck had run out left some high powered weaponry behind. I set out to do a search of these areas to see what was to be had. It took me a while, but I had amassed a fair collection of these Codenamed weapons, and was able to get a shield that would protect me from the high powered plasma guns The Wild used. The time had come for my first hunt.
My father had been attacked near the jumphole that leads to Sigma 13, so I set out for there for my hunt. It didn't take long for a couple of them to show up. If I told you I made quick work of them, it would be a blatant lie. These pilots were well trained and their Valkyries well equipped, but I was better. After a fairly long battle, I emerged victorious.
I spent the next few days alternating between hunting and refining my weaponry. At one point, a couple of pilots in Raven Claws were out hunting as well, one named Tweedledee and another named Qbone. During the battle, I noticed that I kept taking hits from Tweedledee, but didn't think anything of it until the last of The Wild had been taken out. When I continued to recieve fire from Tweedledee's chainguns, I took exception to it and turned to defend myself. Before long, Tweedledee succumbed to my heavy weapons and was sent packing.
Meanwhile, more Wild had shown up, so I turned my attention to them, after explaining the situation to the RM pilot on duty. Suddenly, I noticed more chaingun fire being directed my way, as Qbone started to open fire on me. I gave him a warning to stand down, but he continued to fire on me, including launching one of those Paralyzer missiles at me. It was clear then that he meant to fight, so I engaged him. My skills were clearly superior, and I had his ship fairly beat up when he engaged his cruise engines and left. I turned my attention back to the Wild, but before long, Qbone was back, shield fully charged and flinging more missiles. I reengaged and sent him running again, only to have him return again. As he started to run a third time, I fired my cruise disruptor, only to have it miss slightly. When he returned, I gave him another solid beating, and he tried to run again. Knowing what he was probably going to do, I kept unloading disruptors on him, while pounding his ship with my guns, until his ship exploded.
I went back to my routine of hunting The Wild and new equipment, trading a few items with Knucklehead along the way. During one of my hunts, I overheard a trader talking with an RM pilot, and decided to help escort the trader to New Tokyo. After agreeing upon a price, we set out for New Tokyo. I offered to show the trader a few things, but beyond that, the trip was uneventful. We parted ways, but still kept in touch for a while. She wanted to learn more about mining, so I told her I'd let Knucklehead show her the ropes.
I went back to my routine, and had been doing so until yesterday, when one of the NovaPG people Knucklehead had warned me about showed up in the middle of a hunt. I kept an eye on him, but it quickly became obvious that he meant to hunt me. I gave it a valiant effort, but quickly realized that he outclassed me. Not willing to lose the rare weapons I had in my hold, I made a run for New Berlin. His disruptors didn't make that an easy task, but I managed to get back to safety. I conceded the battle to him, but promised that we would meet again.
After taking a fair sized break while my ship was repaired, I decided that I should give the rare equipment to Knucklehead for safe keeping. After that, I resumed my hunt. Shortly after the hunt began, the Ion Storm warning came on, so I headed back to New Berlin for the night.
