// First story based on the going ons of disco. Hope I don't mess it up :)
CHARACTERS
Alex Drake - Pirate
Alex is a former pilot for the BAF. Following a terrorist incident for which he was framed he fled Bretonia and joined The Society, a group of dissidents who operate as organized pirates. His skills are mostly limited to flight but it should be noted that in his youth he was an accomplished hacker, skills he now puts to use for The Society.
Evan Nilson - Independant Trader
Originally from Liberty Evan was forced to abandon the safety and security of Planet Eerie after it became apparent his job as a cubicle slave would no longer enable him to pay the bills for his girlfriend's continued care in a mental hospital. Trading was clearly the only way he could keep up with her growing medical expenses so he set off into space. He is a common friend of both Emma and Alex.
Emma Lewis - Freelancer
Several weeks after Alex fled Bretonian space his childhood friend, Emma Lewis, left her job as a waitress in a New London club in order to pursue him and bring him to justice. As of yet she has had no luck with her objective.
Part 1
---------------------------------
Episode 1
'Scarecrow this is Raptor do you copy, over?'
'This is Scarecrow, we read loud and clear, over.'
'We've got some unmarked containerships here refusing to identify themselves, break. Requesting assistance, possible Kusari affiliation, over.'
'Roger that Raptor, we're on our way, over.'
'Copy that, Raptor out.'
'Finally we get some action.' Ensign Jones sighed over the airwaves. 'We've been patrolling all damn day and now we finally get to shoot something.'
'I know.' Ensign Alex Drake replied. 'Just when I thought I was going to die old and alone in this Templar without ever getting to shoot something.'
'Yeah, I can't wait to blast some Kusari mother-.'
'Stop nattering and ditch this channel guys. We're not here to chat.' Lieutenant Hall interjected.
'Jeez, you're such a hard ass Hall.'
'That's Lieutenant Hall to you Jones. And I'm only enforcing Bretonian radio discipline. Remember: Your soul may belong to god,'
'But your ass belongs to the fighter corp. We know LT you tell us all the time.' Alex interjected.
'Exactly, you are government property now so you will do it my way and you'd better like it.'
The V-formation of Templars continued their slow flight to Raptor's position. Hall's radio crackled to life when they were nearly there.
'Lieutenant Hall this is Fleet Com, over.'
'Go ahead Fleet Com, over.' Hall replied well aware that they only contacted him when it was something important. They couldn't possibly have heard Scarecrow's lack of radio discipline could they?
'Shoot down Ensign Alex Drake, over.'
That caught him off guard. Fleet Com comes onto the radio to tell him to shoot down his best pilot? It hardly seemed to be protocol.
'Um, can I ask why over?'
'It's supposed to be classified'¦ but between you and me'¦ they have footage of Ensign Drake assisting in the terrorist attacks in Dublin this morning. He's on the shoot on sight list, over.'
'Roger that Fleet Com. Scarecrow out.'
Hall watched the back of Alex's ship for another few moments. Alex? A terrorist? Somehow it didn't seem possible. He'd never put a toe out of line except on the whole 'radio discipline' thing. And now he was on the shoot on sight list?
It didn't make sense. But he wasn't paid to question orders. He made the call to Jones and they both opened up on Alex. The fight was over before it started. Jones and Hall floated through space in their escape pods.
'What the hell LT!' Alex shouted.
'They say you're a terrorist Drake! You're on the shoot on sight list.'
'What!? That's impossible.'
'I agree but I can't go around questioning orders! I'm sorry Alex'¦'
Alex took off leaving the two BAF pilots behind.
'Hey Hall,' Jones said. 'Float over here so I can punch you.'
***
Emma Lewis rubbed the sleep from her eyes at the heavy pounding on her door. She'd had to run the graveyard shift at the club last night and on top of that had to spend her morning with two MI-5 spooks who'¦ briefed (for lack of a better word) her on the current events.
She'd barely gotten two hours of sleep when the pounding started. She muttered curses under her breath as she moved to the door. Finally she undid the latches. No sooner had she than Alex Drake muscled his way in and slammed the door shut.
'Thank god you're okay,' He muttered. She watched him. His hair was dishevelled, and his eyes darted around wildly. She eyed the gun the MI-5 guys had left her with.
'Alex, what are you doing here?' She questioned slowly moving towards the gun.
'They think I'm a terrorist. I need your help Emma. You're the only one I can trust, I've known you since childhood and'¦' He heard the metallic click and knew without looking Emma was pointing a gun at him.
'You'¦ believe them?' He said slowly, disbelievingly.
'Alex, I've seen the video. I saw you kill those people! That isn't the kind of thing you can fake.'
'It must be faked! I didn't do it Emma! You know me!'
'Do I Alex!?' She shouted back. 'The Alex I know wouldn't do something like this!'
'I didn't Emma! I didn't, you've got to believe me'¦' He pleaded in vain with his long time friend.
'I don't know what to believe anymore Alex. I just know that I can't let you continue.'
She shot him. Granted she was a terrible shot. She hit his shoulder, even so, he'd just been shot by his best friend. It hurt. A lot. And not physically either.
He didn't want to hurt her, but it happened. The fight was inevitable when the shot went off. And the fight was brutal. When Alex finally managed to get behind her and choke her into unconsciousness he had a black eye. She'd faired far worse with a black eye, a split lip, and a long cut running up her face.
When she stopped moving Alex gently laid her down and checked her pulse. Normal. She'd be fine.
'I'm sorry Emma.' He whispered as he left her apartment.
There weren't many places for him to go. He stole an Eagle when he left New London and after that'¦ what? The answer was obvious. Everyone thought he was a terrorist. No one believed he wasn't. He fell in with a pirate organization, The Society, he really had nowhere else to go. His days were split between ambushing convoys and trying to find proof of his innocence.
Of course that was only the beginning and many trials awaited the young fugitive pilot.
// This post is a little dated now but it was current when I wrote it. Better late than never right?
Episode 2
He didn't notice the incessant beeping of his console. No, the death metal pouring from the young man's headphones was far too loud for him notice the beeping. The flashing lights didn't catch his attention because his eyes were locked on the devastation before him.
With a final bout of screaming the song came to an abrupt close. The beeping caught his attention in the brief silence while his music player cycled to the next song. He pulled the headphones down letting them rest around his neck.
He hit the 'talk' button on the console.
'Nilson here,' He answered briefly.
'What do you make of it?' Evan sighed recognizing the voice of Alex Drake.
'I don't know what to make of it'¦' Evan cringed as the flash frozen corpse of a young woman bounced off of his ships shields.
'You been on the neural net?'
'Yeah,'
'There's going to be hell to pay for this'¦'
'I know,' Evan adjusted his sunglasses.
'Any survivors?' Alex asked after a short pause his Eagle coming up next to Evan's Gull.
'Not that I can see. Just corpses. Lots of corpses'¦' Evan replied. The two were silent for a long time as their ships slowly cruised through the site of Sigma-13 massacre.
'Where you headed?' Alex asked finally.
'Manhattan'¦ I've almost got enough money for the new ship'¦'
'That's good.' More silence.
'I thought you were a pirate now?' Evan asked.
'I am.' Alex replied.
'Then why haven't you demanded credits?'
'Don't feel like it.' Alex was silent again deftly flying his Eagle around the remains of a hull. 'How's Emma?' He finally asked.
'I haven't talked to her recently.' Evan replied. 'I visited her last time I was in New London but that was a week ago. Physically she's fine but'¦ well she's had a nervous breakdown. The doctors say she's having trouble coping with'¦ recent events.'
Alex sighed.
'She'll be fine'¦' He muttered. 'Eventually. None of this should have ever happened'¦'
'Yeah, I keep my ears open for any word on someone framing you but so far'¦ nothing. The only news is that the BPD closed the case but you knew that already.' Evan replied. Evan stopped his ship by the Frankfurt jumpgate. 'You know, becoming a pirate doesn't exactly scream 'I'm innocent''¦'
'I know. I need money Evan. You can't survive without it out here. If I can clear the terrorism charge I can deal with the piracy charge by joining the BAF to have my sentence revoked. They let a murderer in so'¦ I hope...'
'Yeah,' Evan replied cutting him off. 'How are things in The Society anyway?'
'Fine. We had some internal issues with a pilot pissing off the Unioners and we almost went to war with them but we managed to smooth things over.'
'Which pilot?'
'McCarthy.'
'She was with you guys?'
'Until she almost started a war.'
'Wow'¦'
'You know her?'
'I've seen her around and have heard about her. I don't really 'know' her.'
'She flies for IMG now or something."
'How the hell do you know that?'
'I'm a hacker. I keep tabs on people that intrest me.'
'That's not creepy or unusual at all." Evan replied with a chuckle.
"Shut up dude."
'Alright, look I've got to get going. Sandra's doctors are harassing me for payments.' Evan said with a sigh.
'I'll see you when I see you.' Alex engaged his cruise engines and took off leaving Evan alone to proceed through the gate. He made a mental note to check up on Emma next time he was in New London but right now'¦ he had other worries.
This was it. Emma was standing outside Alex's apartment with a pile of empty cardboard boxes. She was supposed to empty it out. It was supposed to be therapeutic. It was supposed to help her get over the fact that he was gone. Right now she wasn't sure it would do anything of the sort.
It had been a few months since Alex flew off in a stolen Eagle and all she'd done is go through a multitude of mental breakdowns. Even the simple task of cleaning out Alex's apartment could cause her to break down again.
She took a deep breath and slowly pushed the door open. It looked exactly as it had when she had last seen it. Apparently to execution of the BPD's search warrant had left the apartment relatively intact.
Everything was pretty much as Alex had left it. His room was a mess, his bed unmade, clothes strewn everywhere'¦ He'd probably been late for his patrol and had rushed out without cleaning'¦
She decided she'd deal with that last and went back out to the living room. It was in perfect order, the books were stacked neatly, as was his meagre movie collection. Her eyes continued across the contents of the living room before finally resting on Alex's maroon guitar.
She remembered the day she found out Alex could play'¦
'Since when do you play guitar?' She asked taking off her dripping coat and flopping down on the couch next to Alex.
'Since always.'
'You never told me you played,'
'You never asked.'
'You never asked.' She mimicked. Alex sighed and continued to tune the guitar.
'I bet you can't even play.' She shot at him.
'I bet you you're wrong.' He replied nonchalantly.
'Then play.'
'I will'¦' Alex twisted one of the keys with finality and strummed the guitar to make sure everything sounded okay. Then he launched into the opening chords of a song she'd never heard before.
She shook her head to dislodge the memory and continued on. She carefully packed the electric guitar into its case along with the amplifier and patch chords. She set it against the wall where it wouldn't spark anymore painful memories.
Emma continued on to the kitchen to pack up Alex's dishes. At least that was easy. There were no memories to be sparked there. Unfortunately Alex didn't have many dishes and so that could only occupy her for so long. Soon enough she closed the last box and set it on the growing stack that had formed around the guitar.
She couldn't avoid the living room any longer and with a deep breath grabbed a box to begin clearing it out. Unfortunately the first thing she came across was Alex's extensive collection antiquated compact discs and by extension the CD player Alex had built to play them. That too sparked a memory.
Alex was sitting working on the CD player. His desk was strewn with a variety of electronics both new and old in order to make it work. She was leaning against the doorway and sighed.
'Why do you even bother building that thing? You could just get all the songs digitally now.' She questioned picking up one of the cases.
'Some would say that digital downloads don't have the same quality as CDs.' Alex replied carefully manoeuvring a chip into place.
'Well then they're idiots.' Emma replied placing the case back on the pile from whence it came.
'Uh-huh,' Emma sighed and examined another of the cases.
'System of a Down, Hypnotize.' She read aloud. 'Where do you even find these things?'
'It's a secret.' Alex replied playfully.
'You're hopeless. All you've done recently is work on that thing. Nobody even makes CDs anymore. Why would you even bother?'
'Because'¦' Alex paused and sighed. 'I work for the army. I spend all day destroying things so every now and then I feel the need to create something. This time it just so happened to be a CD player.'
Alex cursed profusely as he burned himself on his soldering iron. Emma giggled.
'You're an idiot'¦' She muttered.
Emma sighed and carefully lifted the player off the shelf and put it in another box. Next came all the CDs. Luckily the rest of the clean up went off without the surfacing of anymore painful memories. Finally all of Alex's stuff was packed away in boxes.
Emma surveyed the empty space that was once Alex's apartment. She'd spent a lot of time there since she never really had any other friends. She sat down on Alex's couch for what she was sure would be the last time and finally allowed herself to cry.
She didn't know how long she was there for but when she finally got back to her apartment with the stuff she hadn't sold it was dark. She carried in the box of CDs, the CD player, and the guitar which she set down.
She was emotionally and physically exhausted and lay down on her couch pressing her face into the soft cushions.
She would have gone to sleep right then but her stomach groaned in protest. She sighed and pushed herself up. She took Alex's CD player out of the box, set it up, and popped in the first CD she grabbed. She realized it must have been one of Alex's 'mix' CDs since she never heard the same voice twice.
The song cycled to something quite slow and mellow. She sighed, recognizing the song. Alex had played it once. It was called 'Summertime' but she couldn't remember the name of the band. The song helped her to calm down and focus on making something to eat.
Little did she know that a thousand miles away Alex's music player cycled to the same song.
Evan sighed looking through the glass into the stark white room beyond. He wanted to go in and talk with her but wasn't sure if he should.
'Mr. Nilson?' One of the doctors asked. Evan sighed and nodded. 'You're behind on payments'¦'
'I know, how much?'
'Ten million credits will catch you up and cover next month's payments.' The doctor replied. Evan pulled out his data pad and wired the money.
'How is she?' He asked turning his attention back to the room and the girl within.
'No improvement.' The doctor replied. 'She still thinks her name is Alice and thinks that she lives in the mythical realm of Caladria.'
Evan was silent.
'So no improvements?' He confirmed taking off his sunglasses and cleaning them on his shirt.
'I'm afraid not. She still exhibits all the telltale signs of someone who underwent severe trauma. Her mind has erased everything it knows and replaced it with a fantasy realm to cope with it. If we knew what happened to her'¦'
'I already told you I don't know.' Evan snapped. 'When I found her she was already like this in that warehouse. I know as little about what happened as the LPI does.'
'Uh'¦ yes, of course Mr. Nilson'¦'
'Can I talk to her?' Evan asked.
'Yes, I think that would be alright. I'll stay here to observe.'
Evan nodded and walked in. Sandra's face filled with recognition.
'Nicky!' She cried jumping from her bed and flinging herself into Evan's arms. Evan caught her and embraced her.
'I missed you Sandra.' He whispered.
'Nicky,' Sandra said breaking the embrace, 'I've already told you my name is Alice. Stop getting me confused with this 'Sandra' person. It's irritating.' She said huffily. Evan chuckled.
'Of course Alice, my mistake.' Evan replied.
'It's been so very long since you came Nicky. I was starting to believe you'd never come back'¦'
'I've had business to attend to. Bills don't pay themselves.' Evan replied.
'I wish they would, and then you could be with me all the time!' She practically sung twirling in circles around Evan.
She stopped when she got to his back.
'My word Nick, your hair's gotten so long'¦' She commented running a hand through his shoulder length black hair.
'I know, I keep meaning to get it cut'¦'
'Don't,' She interrupted. 'You look much better this way. Rugged, and tough, definitely deserving of your knighthood.'
'As you command m'lady,'
'Sir Connor, how many times must I tell you that you mustn't be formal with me?'
'Apologies, Sandra.'
'There you go with the Sandra thing again.' She huffed angrily. 'Sandra isn't my name. It's Alice, Alice of Trebond. Get it right or I shall have you imprisoned.'
'Of course Alice.'
'Now, tell me of your travels to distant lands'¦'
A few hours later Evan left. He sighed and leaned against the wall, exhausted. The whole thing had been heartbreaking. After three months Sandra still thought she was Alice of Trebond, lady of the realm of Caladria and she still thought that he was Sir Nicholas Connors, knight of the realm.
'What do you think?' The doctor asked him.
'No improvement.' Evan replied sharply. 'But at least she's happy.'
'Yes'¦ I suppose so'¦ any other observations?'
'Just the same as you. She's built up her world of fantasy because her real life is too tragic to continue living.'
'Indeed, will you be staying on planet for much longer Mr. Nilson?'
'No. I'm afraid I must be off. The gold ore won't move itself.'
'Yes'¦ of course. When can we expect you back?'
'I don't know'¦ when I feel like I can handle it.' Evan made his way out of the hospital and quickly found his ship. He went through the start up sequences and took off from Planet Erie hoping that next time Sandra would be better.
The light vocals mixed together with the cacophony of the pounding drums, distorted guitar, and powerful bass line. Alex turned his headphones up louder hoping the music would drown out his thoughts and he would lose himself in the cadence.
No such luck. The music continued as did his thoughts. Even as the song grew to its inevitable conclusion and Care Failure's, the lead singer, voice became tinged with far more desperation his thoughts continued uninterrupted. The final words were sung and the Die Mannequin song faded to nothing. There was a brief silence until his music player shuffled to a Papa Roach song he couldn't remember the name of.
Alex sighed and checked his watch. It was starting to get late and he was beginning to contemplate calling it a night and returning to base. The trade lane hummed quietly and his ship beeped to alert him to an approaching vessel.
It was a freighter. Small time independent trader. He didn't bother dropping the trade lane and the freighter shot through. Alex flicked his hair out of his eyes and turned down his music as his com system beeped.
He checked who it was, Blain, and hit talk.
'What's up?' He questioned.
'Not much, just making sure the Probie didn't fall asleep on me.' Blain replied. Alex sighed. Blain Spike was The Society's desk jockey. He was the one who had initially approached Alex with a job offer after Alex had traced the Intruder's location. Since Alex signed on Blain had taken to calling him 'Probie' short for 'Probation'.
'I prefer the term NUB if you don't mind.' Alex replied watching a few Starfliers shoot through the trade lane.
'Which stands for?'
'New Useless Bastard.'
'Whatever. How's it going out there?'
'Fine I guess.' Alex replied with a sigh.
'Specifics man, I do have to write a report on this.'
Alex rolled his eyes.
'I can write my own reports you know.'
'Mr. Ex-BAF wants to write his own reports? Don't make me laugh. Rufus wants these things short and to the point if he ever wants them at all. You're overly long overly detailed version will only end up in the pile of unread stuff on his desk.'
'Whatever.' Alex replied.
'Just give me the details.'
'There was an independent trader I hit up for one million and a second one that wouldn't pay and then escaped when I engaged them.'
'This is why you don't operate alone. You're guns are far more menacing when there's a second ship with you.'
'I know. But no one was around and I needed some air.'
'So is that all?'
'Yeah, quiet night.'
'Alright, how much longer are you planning on being out?'
'Thirty minutes tops. Why?'
'So I know whether to call you again or just wait for you to get back. Anyway, that's it. Carry on, Blain out.'
Alex sighed and put his headphones back on. The song had cycled again but he wasn't really listening anymore.
An Orbital Spa and Cruise liner had just showed up on his systems. He acted quickly and dropped the lane. The ship came to a sudden halt.
'Attention all passengers, please remain calm this situation will be resolved shortly.' The Captain of the ship said.
'Evening,' Alex greeted the captain. He was quickly joined by a Liberty Rogue who was flying by.
'Nice ship.' The Rogue commented flying in lazy circles around the stopped liner.
'Indeed, it'd be a shame if something'¦ happened to it.' Alex interjected.
'You've got a nice ship too,' The Captain commented to the Rogue. 'Don't usually see Rouges flying that model.'
'Enough chit chat.' Alex declared. 'Let's talk cash. There's a small tariff for safe travel around here.'
'How much are we talking?' The Captain asked.
'Two million and you can be happily on your way.' Alex replied. The Captain was silent for a moment.
'Alright.' He said finally. Alex checked his data pad and saw that the transaction had been successfully received. The liner began pulling away.
'Thank ye kindly.' Alex called after it with a slight tone of menace. The Rogue angled his ship to fly off.
'You want a cut?' Alex asked since the Rogue had technically assisted him.
'Naw, I'm good. You can keep it.' The Rogue replied as his ship took off. Alex sighed and angled his ship back to its place next to the lane. Then he noticed a system wide update from LPI. Unfortunately for him it included his location as a sight of pirate activity.
He sighed and angled his ship back towards home. So what if he went back fifteen minutes early? It wasn't like anything was going to be coming his way now. He engaged his cruise engines and headed back to base.
Alex's thoughts turned to home as he cruised silently through space. Evan had said that Emma wasn't really getting better when they had talked last. He just hoped she wouldn't fall back into old habits. She'd be far better off forgetting about him and moving on with her life.
Yet at the back of his mind he knew she'd never forget about him, and never forgive him. He could only hope she wouldn't make any rash decisions.
Another day, another hospital. It was starting to seem like that was all Evan did. Bounce from one hospital to the next. Bounce between Sandra and Emma. At least Emma was getting better. The same could not be said for Sandra'¦
Evan shook his head to clear the thoughts, he was supposed to be the air of calm and collectedness to help ground Emma. The doctors had told him she'd had another breakdown after some news relating to the destruction of several transports by Alex.
Evan hoped Alex would tone down the whole 'I'm a pirate and Ima blow up all the traders who don't agree with me' thing. He understood the necessity of Alex continuing to pirate but it was clearly having an adverse effect on Emma.
Evan sighed and pushed open the door to her hospital room.
'Hey Emma,' He called cheerfully.
'Hey.' She replied with no emotion.
'How's it going?'
'How do you bloody think its going? My ex-best friend is off destabilizing the entire sector and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it!' She shouted. Evan smile dropped and he scratched his chin.
'Right. Well'¦ I talked to Alex recently'¦'
'You WHAT?!' Emma shouted. She sprung from her chair and grabbed Evan so fast he couldn't respond. 'Where!? When!?' She shouted.
'Emma'¦'
'Did he pirate you!? If that bastard so much as touched your ship'¦'
'Emma, he didn't pirate me. We just talked.'
Emma seemed to calm down and regain some composure. She released Evan and sat back down with a quiet sigh.
'What about?'
'We didn't talk long. He just asked how you were, and then I asked how he was and that was it.' Evan replied sitting down next to her.
'How is he?'
'Fine. There were some internal issues in The Society but they took care of it.'
'Did they kill anyone?'
'Not as far as I know.' Evan looked over Emma. She really was in a sad state. Her black hair was tangled, her eyes ringed with dark circles, and her finger nails were ragged no doubt from her biting them.
'I need to do something Evan. I need to stop him.'
'Did you talk to the BPA? Maybe they'd'¦'
'I have a criminal record Evan. I'm pretty sure they don't let people with criminal records into the BPA. I didn't even bother contacting them.'
'How about the BAF?'
'I'd end up spending more time fighting the Kusari than finding Alex.' She replied. Her eyes were downcast. 'I've decided to strike out on my own.'
'What!?' Now it was Evan's turn to be shocked.
'Don't try and stop me'¦'
'Emma are you on'¦'
'No! God no Evan. I wouldn't ever'¦'
'Just checking. You can't go out there Emma, you barely know how to fly a ship, you'd get eaten alive by Corsairs, or Mollies, or something.'
'You can't change my mind Evan. Someone needs to take down Alex and I don't trust anyone but me to do it.'
'But'¦'
'No buts Evan.'
''¦ fine. At least let me help you. I'll spot you the money for a ship, some guns, and teach you how to fly them.'
'Evan'¦'
'I'm not taking no for an answer here.'
Emma was silent for a long time.
'Fine.' She said after a long pause. 'After that I need information on Alex'¦ any ex-Society members you know?'
Evan was silent.
'No.' He said after a long pause. The pause was too long. Emma called his bluff.
'Who is it?' She asked.
'I'm not telling.'
'Evan!' She shouted standing up and grabbing him again. 'Give me a bloody name'¦ NOW!'
Another long pause.
'Anna McCarthy.' Evan said finally. Emma released him and sat down again.
'Good'¦ good'¦ I'll talk to her after you get me loaded up'¦'
Evan couldn't help but question the wisdom of giving an emotionally unstable 21 year old the name of the one person who may or may not help her kill another person. He had no idea what Emma could be capable of in her new state. There was a distinct possibility she could harm McCarthy.
'Emma, don't do anything you'll regret'¦ okay?'
// This was based on an RP that happened throughout the day. I didn't screen cap it so I'm relaying it from memory and it might not be exactly word for word correct. But it's close enough.
Episode 7
This was it. Emma had her Virage, it was fully equipped, and ready to kick ass. The thing had burned a serious hole in Evan's chequebook but he'd rather be out twelve million credits than have Emma flying around in a Starflier.
She was on her way to Dublin and to Anna McCarthy. She'd get what she wanted, and then she'd get Alex. Then things could be normal again. She punched it through the jump hole in Leeds.
She was in luck when she arrived in Dublin. Anna was showing up on her scanners and she wouldn't have to go looking for her. Emma flicked her raven hair out of her mind and cruised over to the Hood.
'Mr. Henderson, I've been looking for you.' She commented coming to a stop next to Jack. He was busy talking with someone else about employment. He told her to wait. She had always been impatient but she decided it was better to do what he said.
Luckily she didn't have to wait long for McCarthy to show up.
'Been looking for you too McCarthy.' She commented. McCarthy didn't reply for a moment.
'Mrs. Lewis, what would you want with me?' She asked.
'I know you used to fly for The Society. I want everything you know about Alex Drake.' Emma replied cutting straight to the point.
'My time with them was short and it was a long time ago'¦' McCarthy replied.
'Any information you could give me would appreciated. Where does he usually operate? What ship does he fly? What guns does he use?'
McCarthy was silent for a long time.
'Let me get my Sabre. It has the nav logs.' McCarthy replied with a sigh. Emma waited and then pressed on when McCarthy returned.
'Well?'
'What exactly are you going to do with this information?' McCarthy asked.
'Kill Drake of course.'
'Why would you do that?'
'Why? Because he's a terrorist, a pirate, and he betrayed Bretonia'¦ he betrayed me.' She added as an afterthought.
'Alex is a friend of mine'¦ how do you expect me to do this to him?'
'The same way he did this to me. He betrayed us all! I'll make him pay for it'¦' Emma replied getting angry.
McCarthy was silent for a long time.
'When I flew with them we operated in Rheinland.' She said reluctantly. 'I'd suspect he still operates there.'
'Doubt it considering the near war they had with the Unioners.' Emma shot back calling McCarthy's bluff.
'Well then I don't know where he operates.'
'Have you spoken to him?'
'Occasionally'¦'
'You must know where he operates then.'
'Emma, he's my friend. I can't do this to him.'
'He was my friend too! He still betrayed me. He'll stab you in the back too as soon as you're of no more use to him!'
'I've been with IMG for weeks! I'm straight now'¦ what possible use could he have for me?'
'I'm not him. I don't know. Now where is he?'
Another long silence.
'Alcatraz. He usually operates out of Alcatraz'¦' McCarthy finally said with a sigh. Emma smirked. Alcatraz wasn't far, maybe she could even take Alex out tonight!
'Emma, The Society are not men to be trifled with'¦ if you take them on there's no guarantee you'll live.' McCarthy warned.
'If they get in my way they'll die too. Besides, Drake is the only one who interests me.'
'They'll protect him! They'll protect their own'¦'
'Then they'll die alongside him. I don't care if I die as long as Drake dies with me.'
'Emma'¦ The Society are dangerous people. I've seen them destroy far more dangerous people than you.'
'There's nothing more dangerous than a Bretonian with nothing to lose. What ship does Drake fly?'
'I don't know'¦ it was a long time ago'¦ a Sabre I think'¦ no that was Joseph'¦ he flies an Eagle.'
'Hah, still flying around in the same Eagle he ran away in! Pathetic'¦'
'He handles it well Emma, don't underestimate him.'
'Oh I won't. Thanks for the information. I must be off now.'
'Okay'¦ be safe Emma'¦ please.' McCarthy replied just before cutting the connection. Emma accepted the first job in the list from the Hood and flew to New London to complete it.
***
Alex stretched as his Eagle took off from Alcatraz. He was going to go back to the Intruder after today. He could only handle not being able to sleep at night because of loud drunken rouges for so long.
He scrolled through the list of people connected to the open channel and smiled when he found Anna's name. He hadn't talked to her in a while. He opened a private channel to her ship.
'Top o' the mornin''¦ or whatever time of day it is.' Alex greeted.
'ALEX!' Anna shouted.
'No need to shout'¦' Alex replied.
'We've got a problem hunny,'
'Don't call me hunny.' Alex moaned. Then he cleared his throat. 'What's up?'
'Some girl named Emma was asking questions about you.'
'Emma'¦ bullocks. Was her name Emma Lewis?'
'Yeah'¦ she's trying to kill you Alex.'
'Damn'¦ wait'¦ she WHAT!?' Alex shouted.
'She's trying to kill you, I told her you were operating out of Alcatraz'¦ are you?'
'Yes'¦ damn it. Evan was supposed to keep her from doing something stupid like this!' Alex cursed.
'Alex'¦ what'll you do?'
'It doesn't matter. Don't worry about me Anna, I can take care of myself.'
'It's not you I'm worried about, it's her'¦ what if one of The Society pilots kills her?'
'They won't. I'll see to that.'
'What if she catches you alone Alex'¦'
'I said don't worry, it'll be fine.'
'Just be careful'¦'
'Aren't I always?' Alex replied with a reassuring smile. Anna smiled back.
'Yeah, I guess'¦ why's she after you anyway?'
'Long complicated story. I've got time though so what the hell.' Alex quickly relayed the story of his being framed by'¦ someone'¦ and then fleeing Bretonia and eventually being contacted by Blain Spike with a job offer.
'Alex if you could find who framed you'¦ you could clear your name'¦'
'I could but I don't have a single lead! I mean I've got spyware on every computer system in Sirius looking for the information not to mention several people trying to overhear something in the bars and I've still got nothing.'
'Damn'¦ what about an alibi?'
'I passed up Emma's offer to go to the club to spend some quality time with my video games.' Alex replied sadly. Oh how he wished he'd gone clubbing. Why was it the one night he decided that pwning n00bs in the face with a shotgun was more fun than clubbing with his best friend was the one night he really needed to go clubbing with his best friend?
'Wait'¦ what video games?' Anna asked suddenly.
'I don't know'¦ it was weeks ago. I barely remember what I had for breakfast this morning let alone what games I played'¦'
'Were they online?' Anna asked. Alex caught on to her train of though.
'Maybe'¦ I don't remember'¦'
'Try Alex! If we can get the Admins to look at the server logs and see that you were connected you'll have an alibi!'
'Yeah'¦ okay'¦ I'll hack the servers and pull the logs'¦ god I don't even know if they'd keep logs from six weeks ago'¦ It'll be a long shot.'
'When you're only shot is a long shot you should go for it.'
Alex was already setting course for the Intruder. Screw pirating, this was more important.
'I'll see what I can find and be in touch. Keep your ears open for anything alright?'
'Yeah'¦ good luck Alex.'
'You too.'
Thank god Alex had decided to talk to Anna. If the server logs existed that could clear his name he'd be all set. It was a long shot but at least there was light at the end of the tunnel. And Alex was racing towards it as fast as his stolen Eagle would take him.
Evan was cruising through open space towards Freeport 4 in Magellan. He had a load of gold ore and was hoping not to get pirated. Of course nothing ever went that easy. Just when he thought he was clear his cruise engines were disrupted and his transport ground to a halt. He turned on his radars to scan for the pirate'¦
'EVAN!' Alex shouted bringing his ship to a stop next to him.
'Damn it Alex!' Evan shouted back.
'I need your ship!'
'For what?'
'Too late already hacked it!'
'For the love of god Alex what the hell are you doing!?'
Silence.
'DAMN!' Alex shouted.
'Don't leave me hanging dude.'
'I was reversing an edit.'
'And you needed my ship because'¦?'
'Because you have an ungodly high amount of processing power on board.'
'Because I'm carrying a new server for a friend and I was checking to make sure it worked! What the hell did you do to it!?'
'Nothing, nothing. Your server is fine. I just needed the processing power to reverse the edit on a log file'¦ which then self destructed itself.'
'Did you get anything?'
'Nothing. What a waste.' Alex sighed. 'Whatever. Back to the grind I guess. You hear anything?'
'No. I've been keeping my ears open and harassing all my contacts and they can't give me anything useable.' Evan replied. Alex sighed and rubbed his head.
'Alright then.'
'Another thing Alex, why did you have to fly out of the ice cloud and cruise disrupt me? Why couldn't you just fly up and ask like a normal human being?'
'Come one dude, where's the fun in that?'
Evan shook his head and began flying away.
'One more thing,' Alex said Evan stopped. 'One mil or die.'
Evan was running. It wasn't something he did often, when faced with certain destruction at the hands of four Corsairs he hadn't run. When attacked by two pirate bombers he hadn't run.
When someone he didn't know sends him a message from barrier station to tell him Emma was catatonic he ran. And he ran fast.
He was at Barrier in record time and rushing through the hallways at lightning speed to sick bay. He opened the doors and was instantly stopped by a doctor.
'Mr. Nilson?'
'Yes, that's me.'
'Yes, I'm sorry but she just kept muttering your name and someone else's . That was all we had so we called you'¦'
'Don't worry doc. Where is she?'
'Right this way'¦'
The doctor led Evan too Emma. She was sitting on one of the beds muttering to herself. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot and ringed with dark circles.
'Emma,' Evan said kneeling in front of her. 'Emma,' She didn't reply, just kept muttering the same thing over and over.
'Emma'¦' Evan gently touched her face. She reacted instantly.
'NO!' She shouted and recoiled from his touch. She glanced around and blinked. Then she rubbed her eyes.
'Emma? You alright?' Evan asked. She looked at him.
'No'¦ I'm not okay Evan.' She replied holding back tears.
'What happened? Were you assaulted?'
'No'¦ nothing like that'¦' Her hand was shaking violently and she reached for her pack of cigarettes. She stuck one between her lips and struggled to steady her hands so she could light it.
Evan just watched her as she tried to produce a flame from the lighter. She flicked it and got only sparks, she tried again, and again, and again, and again'¦
'Piece of CRAP!' She yelled throwing the lighter against the wall. 'Why does nothing in my life work!?' She shouted.
'Emma, it's just a lighter,' Evan said. She calmed down for a minute and the doctor handed her his lighter.
She lit the cigarette and took a long drag.
'What the hell happened Emma?' Evan asked.
'Nothing.' She replied.
'This,' Evan motioned around her. 'Isn't nothing.'
'It was nothing!' She snapped.
'Excuse me miss, but do you know where you are?' The doctor interjected. Emma was silent for a long time.
'Freeport four?' She replied not quite sure of the answer.
'No'¦ that's incorrect.' The doctor said with a sigh. 'You're at Barrier Station.'
Emma sighed and took another drag on her cigarette.
'How the hell did I get here?' She asked slowly.
'I'm not quite sure. Some bounty hunters found you stalled near the Cortez jumphole drifting through space. They brought you here'¦'
Emma sighed.
'What happened Emma?' Evan asked again.
'I'¦ I'¦' She stopped. 'I killed someone.' The doctor and Evan exchanged glances and then the doctor left.
'What happened?' Evan asked again. Emma took another drag.
'Yesterday I was in Dublin practicing fighting with McCarthy. We eventually got tired and stopped and started chatting'¦ there was another guy there too'¦ I can't remember his name'¦ Thane'¦ something. A Corsair comes up and starts threatening McCarthy so the three of us decide to go take him out.
'Anyway, after that I'm feeling really psyched up so I decide to go for a ride through Magellan and California to see if I can find Alex. There's no sign of him so I decided to settle for a mission from the LPI.
'They wanted me to go to Magellan and take out some rookie Liberty Rouges that had been causing them trouble. I agreed and off I went'¦ and then'¦' She stopped to take another puff on the cigarette. When she finished she didn't continue.
'What happened next?' Evan implored her gently.
'I'¦ I found them'¦ there were four of them but they were underequipped. I took them out easily. As usual each time I blew one up I tractored the escape pods so I could hand them over to the LPI. But after I blew up the last one'¦ it just said that there was nothing to tractor.
'I didn't understand until I found the Rogue'¦ well half of him anyway. His eject systems must have malfunctioned and he got sliced in half by flying debris. I'¦ I don't remember much after that. I think I vomited and then just hit cruise to be anywhere but there'¦' She sighed and took another drag.
Evan didn't know what to say. He was a trader, shooting people wasn't in his job description. Sure it happened every now and then but he didn't usually stick around to confirm whether or not people were alive or dead. He sighed knowing that if anyone would know what to say it would be Alex.
'Well'¦' Evan began. Emma just shook her head.
'There's nothing you can say Evan.' She told him. She flicked away the remainder of her cigarette.
'I need to get going before I go crazy'¦' She muttered before leaving. Evan sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
Why couldn't anything ever be simple in his life?
Alex tapped away at his keyboard browsing through the neural net for anything of interest. It had been a quiet few days aboard the Intruder. Joseph was MIA, and Rufus had finally given up the search. Alex was sure it was because he'd figured out Joseph hadn't been captured by anyone.
Alex sighed and continued coding some DOS attacks to ease his boredom. A short ways away down the hall he could hear the sounds of Blain playing video games.
"Go left." He ordered some troopers. "I said left'¦ Left you n00b'¦ Your other left!!! Left! THAT'S STILL NOT LEFT!!!"
Alex rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the wall propelling his rolling chair into the hallway.
"Blain!" He shouted.
"What!?"
"Keep it down! I'm trying to work here!"
There was silence for a moment and then Blain's chair rolled out into the hallway.
"Alex, you don't do any work. All you do it fly around and pew stuff." He shot back.
"I do to do work all the time! I just don't do it for you." Alex replied. Blain snorted.
"Oh really? What kind of work?"
"I'¦ er'¦ code'¦ hack stuff'¦ for money." Alex replied unsteadily. Blain raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.
"Who's your client?" Blain asked.
"Shut up dude." Alex replied. Blain gave Alex his 'I'm right and you're wrong now quit complaining and get back to doing nothing' smirk.
"Well it's not like you do any work!" Alex shot back.
"What? I do all kinds of work! Hell I do all the work." Blain replied.
"Yeah? Like what?"
"I arranged a weapons contract earlier."
"And before that?"
Silence.
"At least I'm not some meathead pilot who can barely shoot straight!"
"Meathead! I'll show you how straight I can shoot!"
"Will you now? Alright let's take this outside right now and settle it once and for all!"
Clyde rolled out into the hallway on his own chair.
"Both of you shut the hell up! I'm trying to have a nice meal with my wife and you two squabbling like children isn't helping!"
"Shut up Clyde!" Both replied in unison.
Clyde was about to respond when the door to Rufus's office slammed open. All three men fell silent and turned their attention to Rufus. He walked slowly down the hallway and stopped in front of Alex.
"Hey boss'¦" Alex greeted him. Rufus tossed a one million credit chip at Alex.
"What's this for?" Alex asked.
"You won the bet. Tomasso's not coming back." He threw over his shoulder. Alex was silent. Rufus stopped at the nearest link to the PA system.
"Attention all pilots of The Society." He began. "I'll keep this short: Thirty million to whoever kills Tomasso and twenty million to kill his whore."
There was silence.
"What are you waiting for? Get out there and kill them!" Rufus shouted. The Intruder was enveloped in a flurry of activity as every pilot ran to the hangar. Alex sighed and kicked his chair back into his room. He stopped Clyde.
"You owe me two million." He told him. Clyde rolled his eyes and tossed the credits to Alex. Alex stared at them for a minute while everyone ran for the hangars. With a final sigh he pocketed them and made his way to his Eagle.
![[Image: FrankIero10.jpg]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu56/Pyromaniac275/Freelancer/FrankIero10.jpg)
![[Image: Promotional-Poster-for-Danger-Days-The-T...67-700.jpg]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu56/Pyromaniac275/Freelancer/Promotional-Poster-for-Danger-Days-The-True-Lives-of-the-Fabulous-Killjoys-my-chemical-romance-17018212-467-700.jpg)
![[Image: DieMannequinSingerStarringinHardCoreLogo2.jpg]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu56/Pyromaniac275/Freelancer/DieMannequinSingerStarringinHardCoreLogo2.jpg)
![[Image: next_stop__goodbye_by_dragoroth_stock-d36mbim.jpg]](http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu56/Pyromaniac275/Freelancer/next_stop__goodbye_by_dragoroth_stock-d36mbim.jpg)
![[Image: 11237_s.gif]](http://signavatar.com/11237_s.gif)