// And yet another story that I will probably abandon in a week. Meh.
"This is Universal Black Nine. I am hauling robotic components to Toronto Station."
"Roger that, Universal Black Nine. Safe flying out there."
Douglas sighed and closed the channel. The times when LPI pilots would offer free escorts through the more dangerous sectors of Liberty were long over.
Must be the pay, he thought. Economy's going down with this war going on.
Carefully he maneuvered his Rhino freighter in between two Ageira Technologies transports that were heading towards the trade lane he had just exited. With a side-way glance, he got a glimpse of the left ship's name stenciled onto its hull: Merrimack.
Douglas grinned. He hadn't seen that ship around for a while. In fact, not ever since it had saved his ass from a wing of Rogues near Mojave.
"Watch out, will you!" A high-pitched voice blared through his helmet-speakers. "I don't want to die out here just 'cause you're daydreaming!"
A fighter jerked past him, barely two meters separating it from the Rhino's hull. The unusual shape with the two "wings" swerving forward around the craft's cockpit identified it as a Hammerhead heavy fighter, commonly used by the Bounty Hunters Guild these days.
"Sorry, didn't see you approaching," Douglas muttered into his mic.
"You'd better see me next time, jerk!" The pilot replied before cutting the connection. Arsehole, Douglas thought to himself.
Not wanting to get into the heavier transport-traffic, he edged his ship closer to West Point where only a few other freighters were. One of them flashed its headlight at him as he passed. Douglas returned the gesture, identifying the ship as a fellow Universal freighter.
"Heading to Toronto?" The freighter's pilot asked over a secure channel.
"That's right," Douglas replied while reading over the ship's transponder. "Green Six, eh? Aren't you guys flying around in Kusari?"
"We are, but I was supposed to return to Liberty for some reason." There was a short pause. "Probably some VIP wants to be ferried 'inconspicuously'," the pilot whispered, chuckling.
Douglas grinned and said, "Well, I'd best get on my way now. A wing of LPI fighters is waiting for me at Los Angelas."
"Roger that, good luck!"
A short burst of static washed through the channel as it was closed.
A brilliant flash of light enveloped Douglas' Rhino as it cleared the trade lane together with two Bowex Gulls. As soon as manual control was running again, he jerked his little freighter away from the larger ships before they could accidentally smash him to pulp.
"Forming up for the jump?" One of the transport captains asked.
"Negative. I'll be alright on my own," Douglas replied. He then closed the channel and lay back in his seat to watch the two vessels drop into the spiraling vortex of hyperspace that filled the jump gate ahead. As the last Gull edged into the gate, the Rhino's autopilot kicked in and moved Douglas closer to the structure.
Suddenly, a wing of DSE fighters, followed by two Camara freighters, blinked into existence beside the gate. One of the fighters had lost a wing while another one was trailing a stream of smoke from its engines. One of the Camaras was leaking what seemed to be H-Fuel from its cargo hold.
Casually, Douglas flicked a switch, aborting the jumping sequence. He then hailed the DSE convoy.
"DSE freighter convoy, this is Universal Black Nine. What happened to you?"
For about a minute, there was no response. The beaten ships slowly moved towards the trade lane to West Point. Then, finally, the less-damaged freighter keyed the channel.
"This is DSE Gold Three. We were ambushed by a large group of Rogue and Outcast fighters by the jump gate," the pilot, a woman, took a deep breath. "We lost a freighter and an escort before the Navy support even showed up. From what I could tell, they weren't faring well when we jumped."
Damn it, Douglas though.
"Roger that, thanks for the information," he said after a moment.
"Jumping in there will be suicide, Black Nine."
"I know."
With that, Douglas cut the channel again and restarted the jump sequence. Slowly, the Rhino flew towards the pulsing blue light. A moment later it vanished into the brilliance of hyperspace...
... and reappeared within the explosion of a transport.
A klaxon blared into Douglas' ears as his ship's shields overloaded under the intense energy. Shrapnel pinged against the Rhino's hull, denting it in places and causing the freighter to spin around.
"Shat, shat, shat," Douglas muttered through clenched teeth as he fought for control over his vessel.
Particle bolts and lasers flashed by the cockpit, making the reinforced viewport ring like a gong from the energy scatter. Around the Rhino, chaos ruled.
A Defender fighter rocketed by, closely followed by two Daggers. Banking hard to port, the Navy craft dodged the deadly bolts of energy that its pursuers had fired after him. Killing its engines, the fighter then spun around to face its enemies while momentum carried it on away from them. Blue streams of light shot toward the Outcasts, followed closely by bolts of plasma. The first Dagger lost its starboard wing to the barrage and rolled to the right, out of control. Its wingman barely escaped the near collision, but instead crashed nose-on into the burning wreck of a Gull transport.
Douglas slammed the accelerator hard when the Rhino's computer called "incoming missile" several time. Almost panicking, he launched five countermeasure, hoping that the antiquated piece of equipment would disrupt the missiles flight path.
It didn't.
With the force of a freight train hitting a car, the missile impacted in the freighter's aft section, tearing a hole into the reinforced hull, before exploding directly inside the cargo bay. The shockwave threw Douglas against the cockpit window, dazing him. Several hull plates exploded outwards from the blast, shooting off into space. A dozen alarms went off. The ship's computer automatically sealed the hatch connecting the cockpit to the rest of the ship as the atmosphere within was sucked out into the vacuum through the newly-made breach.
