Sun Jan 30, 2005 5:55 pm by ww2jacob
“Whenever someone tries to kill me, I take it as a personal compliment. For what reason other than that they fear me would they go out of their way to make such an attempt?”
-ww2jacob
Memoirs
At last, he had returned to Deshima, the headquarters of the Bounty Hunters. It had been over a year since he had returned here, to the place of his training. This station was where he grew up, learning the craft of flying a fighter. He had trained at the stick of a Barracuda here for years. Years of flying, but flying was his one true love, so he had been happy. Happier than he had ever been, in fact. An orphan of the stars for years, he had wandered between the care of many of his parents’ old “friends” for the first ten years of his life. He had been helpless, as his custody had been transferred between dozens of different guardians. He was worthless in the eyes of everyone, which is why no one would keep him around for more than a few months. He recalled that all he had ever done back then was work. He had grown up without any enjoyment in his childhood, just a never-ending cycle of work and movement.
Finally, he had been orphaned for good at Deshima Station in Shikoku, Kusari. He had been left, and not expected to live for long, but he had survived long enough for an old Bounty Hunter to find him. The man, Tio Gordon, had taken the cute little ten-year-old kid in, housing him and feeding him in the small apartment he owned on the station. The man was a Bounty Hunter Ace, and was reaching the end of his career. The young boy didn’t even know his own name; having never had his actual name passed down. He didn’t know what happened to his parents, or where he was, or who had brought him there.
So, Tio named the boy Jacob, after his own father, and gave him his own last name, just so the boy could have a full name. The other hunters had made fun of the old ace at first, but eventually softened up to young Jacob, teaching him the tricks of the trade of bounty hunting.
Jacob grew up quickly, and learned even faster. By the age of thirteen, he could beat old Tio in a race around the system. At fourteen, he could beat any man on the station in a race. And at the age of fifteen, he went on his first hunt.
Now, at age twenty-one, Jacob, now called only by his codename ww2jacob, was quite possibly the finest pilot in the Sirius Sector. He had completed countless missions, and had so many kills, that the hull of his personal Hammerhead, the Lightning, was covered with the hundreds of silhouettes of ships he had shot down. He had checked the current kill records for pilots throughout Sirius on the station’s main computer one day, over a month ago, and had been surprised to discover that he was currently on top for the most kills in Sirius. The Outcasts and Corsairs, the Liberty Rogues, the Mollys, and the Red Hessians feared him. Every pirate was afraid of the rumors of the Bounty Hunter Ace that hunted pirates like a lion to a gazelle.
But, no pilot is anything without his squadron, and that was true for ww2jacob as well. His squadron, the Ghosts, was an excellent group. They were fine young men, and their piloting skills were unmatched. And, as a group, these men worked together very well. There was no “best pilot”, they were all equal in each other’s eyes. They were all honorable, the kind of Bounty Hunters who always took their opponents alive, whatever the cost. To them, life was the most important thing that they could have, and they respected their enemies, while their enemies feared them.
So, as Ghost Squadron, led by ww2jacob, approached Deshima, they were well greeted. The title of most successful group in the history of the Guild worked wonders, and they were given the finest apartments and accommodations. They were there along with representative squadrons from every station and planet that had a Bounty Hunter group. The meeting was called because old Boss Rodrigez had died, and the Guild had to gather to elect a new Guild Boss. In a few hours, the nominations would be given, and then the leader would be elected the next morning, and the squadrons would then begin the long journey back to their front-line posts that afternoon. In all, it promised to be a relaxing, easy break from the rigors of front line hunting.
The twelve craft docked with the station, and the group of loyal friends made their way down to their rooms. They were all itching to get a chance to spend their hard-earned credits from their recent hunts. Their success led to tremendous wealth, and every man in the squadron had at least five million credits to his name. They could never spend a fraction of it here, but ww2jacob was looking to buy some of the new Longbeam assassination weapons that were only available here. While Freeport 9 had good Zoner weapons, and the squadron had many of the high-powered pirate weapons that they had as trophies from their various kills, the Longbeam was a new breed, which while it fired very slowly, had a very long range, and tremendous power. It was perfect for assassinating targets at a distance.
As he settled in for a nice nap after his long journey, ww2jacob couldn’t help but speculate as to who would be elected the next Guild Boss.