OOC: Haha! finaly someone with a style like mine

Leion,
Welcome and grats on your first post.

I've made some observations elsewhere OOC, but to respond to your first question - please only write about one character. Thanks!

Edited to add:

Been thinking about this more.

How about you write a post on Amy? Then you decide which one you want to write about.

Everyone else has written about one PC as well as writing about other PCs (but don't "control" 2 PCs). We should attempt to continue this trend

Edited by - Athena on 3/18/2005 6:55:16 AM

Aaaagh! They just keep getting longer!

--------------------------------

Rob managed to escape into the dust field surrounding the Dublin jumphole without any difficulty. He stayed clear from the known pirate patrol paths on his way to the spatial anomaly which would take him out of New London and managed to avoid any hostile contact. Just as he arrived at the softly shimmering gateway a group of Molly fighters shot out, one nearly colliding with Rob's Falcon. A quick scan revealed to the pirates that the fighter before them was barely on the hostile side of neutral. Since Rob had no cargo to speak of the pirates let him be. Thank god for that. Carshalton wouldn't fare well in a furball.

Rob entered the scintillating tunnel of light and was catapulted through space-time towards the Dublin system. He reappeared in normal space seconds later and took a quick scan of his surroundings. There was nobody about. The freelancer punched a series of buttons in his cockpit, calling up his nav-map and setting a waypoint for the Battleship Hood. The IMG-run base was the best place for Rob and Carshalton to work out their next move.

The journey was not a long one and Rob found himself within comm range of the station in a minute's time. He hailed the converted battleship.

“Hood, this is Freelancer Epsilon four dash nine requesting permission to dock.” Rob said over the comm.

“Roger that. Your request to dock is granted.” The controller replied.

Rob kept the connection open. “Control, I was wondering, is Dexter Hovis still around?”

“Um, yes, yes he is.”

“Good.” Rob said, smiling inside his helmet. “Let him know I still think he's an asshat.”

“Uhhhhh...”

“Just do it.” Rob said forcefully and cut the connection. He guided his ship under the belly of the battleship, towards where the docking bay doors had swung open. Then, giving control over to the automated landing system, Rob began to make preparations to leave the craft. The Falcon settled into the docking bay with a slight jar. Rob popped the cockpit hatch and opened his cargo bay that Carshalton might exit as well. The freelancer dropped a few feet to the metal deck and turned to see a groaning marshal climb out of the hold.

“You alright, man?” he asked.

“Huh.” Carshalton grunted. “I don't know what you did back at Southampton but it bruised me something fierce.”

“Yeah, sorry 'bout that,” Rob said somewhat sheepishly, “but I figured we had to leave fast and, well, you know...”

“Not a problem. At least the bruises let me know I'm still alive.” Carshalton smiled graciously.

“Schaefer you good-for-nothing, cheating sonuvab*tch! Get over here so I can kick your sorry ass off my ship!” A voice suddenly barked from the docking bay's airlock.

Rob turned around and grinned at the source of the verbal abuse. “Nice to see you too, Hovis.”

“So, even after all these years I'm still an asshat?” The corners of Hovis' mouth twitched ever so slightly and the old racer raised an eyebrow.

“Well, you know how it is...” Rob replied.

Hovis laughed a raspy staccato laugh. “Yeah, I sure do.” he said, “So, what brings you here again? And, more importantly, why've you been such a stranger? I haven't seen or heard from you for almost a year now.”

“I've been really busy, Hovis.” Rob answered.

“Workin' on your place on Gaia?” Hovis asked, throwing a conspiratorial wink at Rob.

The freelancer chuckled. “You might say that.”

“A-hem.” Carshalton grunted, not too subtly. “When you ladies are finished, I'd like to get down to business.”

“And just who are you?” Hovis asked, looking at the bounty hunter over Rob's shoulder.

“Ah, allow me.” Rob said. “Hovis, meet Marshal Carshalton of the BHG. Carshalton, this is the infamous racer Dexter Hovis.” The two men nodded at each other.

“Now that that's out of the way, I suppose we might as well get down to business. You have any rooms available?” Rob asked. “The good Marshal and I need to go over some things in private. And I mean private. No funny business.”

Hovis laughed. “No way I could pull a fast one on you anyway. 'Cept maybe on the track. Hold on.” The racer pulled a small datapad from one of his pockets and glanced at it briefly.

“Well?”

“You're in luck, buddy.” Hovis said, looking up. “We have a whole bunch of available rooms. You're not going to stay long, are you?”

“Nope.” Rob said. “Long enough for each of us to clean up and go over our plans for the next little while. No more than a few hours.”

“Mmmmkay. Let's see.” Hovis studied the pad once again. “Okay, follow me.”

Rob and Carshalton fell into step behind Hovis as he led them deeper into the decommissioned battleship. Eventually the three men arrived at a small room with the number 263 on the door.

“Enjoy.” Hovis said and keyed the security pad to Rob's and Carshalton's fingerprints. “Oh, and Rob, don't leave without stopping off at the bar first. We're not done catching up.”

“You got it, man.” Rob said. Hovis turned and left.

“So,” Carshalton began, “your name's Rob Schaefer?”

“Ha. Yeah. Guess I never did tell you, did I?”

“No, no you didn't. All you said was that you were a freelancer.” Carshalton said.

“Huh.” Rob said. “Well, I suppose now that we're working together I might as well properly introduce myself. Rob Schaefer, at your service.” Rob extended his hand to the Bounty Hunter.

“Nice to finally put a name to the face and face to the name.” Carshalton said and shook Rob's hand. “I've no doubt you really are who you say you are. That was quite a move you pulled back in Bretonia.”

“Yeah, well, I try.” Rob acknowledged the compliment humbly. “So, you want to clean up first, or should I?”

“You go first.” Carshalton said. “I'll grab a quick nap.”

“What is it with you and naps?” Rob asked.

“It's just one of those things. Lives like ours, they're unpredictable as hell. So whenever I get the chance I sleep, store up the rest so I can go without later.”

“Makes sense.” Rob said as he stepped into the room. It was a good deal nicer than the rooms on Southampton, not that that was saying much. Washroom facilities are much better, though. Rob thought. Though by no means luxurious the shower was clean and had a full compliment of soaps and shampoos.

“Hey, this bed's nice!” Carshalton exclaimed as he settled onto it and closed his eyes.

“I'll wake you when I'm done.” Rob said and closed the door.

Half an hour later a very clean, very refreshed Rob Schaefer stepped out of the washroom, steam pouring our from behind the man. He used a small towel to finish drying his hair before waking Carshalton.

“You take your time.” Rob said as the bounty hunter prepared to wash. “I'm going to meet up with Hovis again. I'll be back in no more than 45 minutes.”

“Okay.” Carshalton said. “See you then.”

The path to the bar/viewing lounge was well signposted so Rob had no trouble finding his way to where Hovis was waiting. The two men caught up with each other. Rob told Hovis bits and pieces of his latest saga and Hovis regaled the freelancer with tales of his most recent string of victories.

After about 35 minutes of swapping stories Rob said his goodbyes to his racing friend and headed back to his room. He hoped Carshalton was ready to talk business. Rob had been thinking about the missing Bretonian ships and had a very interesting theory about what had happened.

Rob found the bounty hunter lying on the bed, flipping through the news datacards left in the room.

“Would you believe it?” he said, clearly indicating he was having a very hard time doing so himself, “A week later and all the media care about are these stupid celebrity marriages. There's not even the smallest mention of the battle in Sigma-19. What the hell?”

“Well, though the pincer move the allied forces pulled was quite brilliant, they still don't come out of it looking good. I mean, for starters they let the Nomads penetrate fairly deep into Sirius without once getting wind of their return, also Bretonia managed to literally lose a large chunk of its fleet and Rheinland's fleet was smashed by the Bundschuh. Until the government spinmasters figure out exactly how they're going to play this we won't be hearing anything on the official channels.”

Carshalton just grunted at this.

“Anyway, that's neither here nor there,” said Rob, taking a seat, “we know, and we need to stop Mason.”

“Yeah, and how are we going to do that?”

“Well, first thing we need to figure out is how Mason managed to survive. Now, I have a theory...” Rob proceeded to explain to Marshal Carshalton his idea that the Nomads hadn't been summoned to destroy anything in particular, rather they had been called to rescue Mason from the House armadas. The Nomads had to make it look like an attack though, so they came in force and made a very convincing approximation of an all-out attack against everything in Sigma-19. As far as Rob could tell, the rescue attempt had been a complete success for the alien invaders but, when they tried to leave the system, the House forces closed in around them and blew them all to pieces. Mason had survived the destruction of the Nomad fleet and was picked up by the Bretonian ships under the command of Commander Price. Mason had somehow - and this was something Rob could not adequately explain - managed to convince the Bretonian to take his ships to Outcast space. Once there, Mason began to regroup and rebuild.

“That's probably the single craziest idea I've ever heard. And I train greenhorns, so that's saying something.” Carshalton said. “But, it's also completely possible and it's the best lead we have now. I guess it's off to Outcast space, then?”

“Looks like it. I was thinking I'd try to get in touch with Tanya and maybe some others and see if we can meet on Planet Harris, maybe.” Rob said. “Though you'll need a ship.”

“Yeah, the way you fly I don't think I'd survive a dogfight with the Outcasts if I was in your hold.”

“Oh, believe me, you haven't seen anything yet.” Rob grinned.

“I'll bet.” Carshalton thought for a second. “So what're we going to do? I'd buy a Cavalier here but I have a sneaking suspicion that my BHG account had been frozen.”

Rob sighed. “Well, I've already shelled out almost one-and-a-half million credits this week, what's another hundred thou, right?”

“You mean..?”

“Yeah, I'll set you up. I've got lots of money stashed away here and there. But you owe me.” Rob said.

“Man, I already owe you for saving me back at Southampton. Before I know it you'll be harvesting my organs or something.” Carshalton did not like the idea of owing anyone so much. “Next time someone needs help, it's going to be you and I'm going to save you, okay?”

Rob laughed. “Sure, buddy, whatever you say. Now, let's go buy you a ship.”

A few minutes later Rob and Carshalton were browsing the ship bazaar on the Hood. The marshal wasn't a particularly big fan of the Bretonian ships which were on offer but he didn't really have much of a choice in the matter. Carshalton picked out four guns for his new craft, Rob noted that the hunter preferred weapons with a high rate of fire over those with particularly high damage potential. Rob understood the choice. In direct combat, playing a sniper is tough; it's much easier to fill as much of the space between your ship and the enemy as possible with as much energy as you can throw at him. At least, that's how Rob looked at it.

Before leaving Rob returned to the room one last time and recorded a message for Tanya.

Tanya, Rob here. I'm recording this message on the Hood but by the time you get it I'll probably be long gone. I managed to find out some interesting things while in Bretonia though. First, a large number of the survivors from Bretonian fleet which was present during the battle of Sigma-19 have gone AWOL. I talked to the commander of the loyal forces and he put me in touch with a former acquaintance of yours, a bounty hunter. We're working together now. Also, I have a theory about what might have happened to you, Mason, the Nomads and the Bretonian ships. I'm going to head into Outcast territory soon to see if I'm right or not. If you want to hear more, or are interested in lending me a hand, let me know where I can meet you. Alternately, if you're not otherwise occupied, head on out to Holman Outpost. I'll be spending some time there before I head into the Omicrons.

Talk to you soon.

Rob encrypted the message and set the key to be Tanya's voice, using her original greeting as the template. Rob activated the room's comm terminal and put in a call to one of his contacts in Kusari. A clean-cut young man's face appeared on the viewscreen.

“Schaefer, you old gaijin, how are you?” The image of Yuta Todo, rising star in Kishiro Technologies, asked with a smile.

“Not bad, man. Listen, I've got a favour to ask you. Do it and I'll say we're square.” Rob said.

“I'm listening.”

“I'm going to send you an encrypted file.” Rob said “It contains a message for a friend of mine and she must get it, ASAP. As far as I know she's in Kusari now so you shouldn't have too much trouble tracking her down. She goes by the name Tanya. She's a great fighter so I'd recommend looking for her wherever there's action. Um, what else? Oh, she'll likely be flying a Falcon.”

“So, you want me to find this ass-kicking chick who flies around in a Falcon, Tanya, and when I find her I should give her a message from you?” Yuta summed up as only he could

“Yep.” Rob said. “Hold on, I'll upload the file.” Rob plugged the recorder into the comm unit and uploaded the file.

“Okay, I got it. Once I get off work I'll see if I can find this 'Tanya' person for you.” Yuta said.

“Thanks, buddy.”

“Anytime.” Yuta cut the connection and the screen went blank. Rob still had one more call to make before he could leave though. He pinged Holman Outpost.

“Hello, you have reached IMG Outpost Holman. If you know the extension of the person you are trying to reach, you may enter it at any time.”

Rob punched a series of keys. The screen went fuzzy for a second and then resolved itself into the image of one of the crew quarters on the space station.

“Uuuunh.” Came a groan from off the screen. “Whozat?”

“WAKE UP GREG!” Rob bellowed into the comm's microphone.

“Gwaaah! Whozere? Whadda ya want?” The flabby, unshaven face of Greg Matthews, bartender on Holman, came into view.

“Hey Greg.” Rob said. “I may need you to do something for me.”

“Yeah, and why should I? I was getting my beauty rest and you woke me up. Bastard.” Greg glowered.

“Beauty rest? Didn't do much good, I'd say.” Rob said with a wide smile. “As for why, well, just think back to that time with the BMM goons.”

“Alright, alright.” Greg relented. “What's it you need?”

“A girl may come looking for me in the next little while. All you need to do is point her in the direction of Harris.” Rob said.

“So, anyone comes looking for you, I send 'em to Harris?” Greg asked.

“No. Just this one girl. Name's Tanya.” Rob answered. “She's the only one you can tell. She'll probably be the only one who comes looking for me, but if anyone else does just tell them you haven't seen me. And if you happen to see a crazy blue-haired kid, keep the hell away from him. Or, better yet, shoot him.”

“Really? You want me to shoot him?”

“Nah.” Rob said. “But if you see him, get out of the bar. He's a walking disaster.”

“O-kay. Anything else?” Greg asked.

“Nope. That's all for now, man. Thanks for the help.”

“No problem. I'll talk to you later.” Greg said.

“Sure thing.” Rob replied as he cut the connection.

Well, that's everything. Rob thought. Time to go. Rob left the room and headed to the docking bay, where Carshalton was waiting.

Summary: Rob and Carshalton go to the Hood in Dublin. Carshalton finds out Rob and Dexter Hovis go way back. Hovis lets slip that Rob has something special - a “place” - on Planet Gaia. THIS IS IMPORTANT; IT WILL REAPPEAR LATER IN THE STORY, SO DON'T FORGET IT! Rob and Carshalton clean up and Rob gives Carshalton his theory about what happened to the Bretonian ships. The two of them decide to head out to Outcast territory via Planet Harris, but don't leave until Rob buys Carshalton a new ship (a Cavalier) and leaves a message for Tanya.

For the purposes of the story you can all assume that Rob and Carshalton have made it to Harris. So - and this is directed mainly at Athena, since she's the only person who's character could plausably find Rob - if you write a bit where they meet and interact, it'll be on Harris.

Edited by - Codename on 3/18/2005 4:10:42 PM

Occ: All right. Now for Amy.
I hope this post doesn’t offend more people.

IC: Liu Zhang was head of Defence for Samora (This Correct?) and was the secret contact between the Hogoshia and Samora.

Life was good. He had lots money, lots of power, was very fit, very smart, and loved women.

He loved women mainly for the fact of sex. Sex was part of his daily life style to stay fit. (It’s a known fact that sex can lead to a healthy life style) Not to mention that he could get them whenever he wanted.

In fact he had a hooker coming in about 5 minutes.

Liu had being working all day with paper work that had to go to a client. And was now looking for some “exercise”.

He had only just finished putting all the paper work away when someone buzz at his door.

“Master Zhang” a man said” your three o’clock appointment is here to see you.”

“Send them in “Liu replied”

The door opened and in stepped a young girl who had only looked like she had reached her twenties about two days wearing a large fur coat, had bright blue eyes and a black hair with a hint of blue in it.

“You seem to have come when I wasn’t ready Miss…….” Liu said

“Ferngate” Amy replied. “Would you like me to take your coat of Mr Zhang?”

“Please do” He said turning around.

Amy walked up behind him and slowly, started removing Liu’s coat, starting from the neck.

“You seem to have a lot of tension in your neck” Amy lied “Let me help”

She grabbed the man’s head and ****ed it quickly to the side, breaking the mans neck in an instant.

“Well that was easy” Amy said to her self. As she walked over to the dead man’s desk and started hacking into the computer mainframe.

Amy and her partner, Leion were both young freelancer that hated corrupt companies. Especially the greedy Samora, that used the Hogoshia to attack Kershio and other companies just for money.

The duo had killed numerous Samora and Hogoshia leaders hoping to force the company to shut down but with no luck so far. So Amy had pretended to be a one of Liu Zhang’s hookers and when she got the chance, kill Liu Zhang, a major player in this problem, and try to find the list of Samora agents in other companies.

At the moment the computer was self hacking, thanks to a device Amy had placed in one of the com ports, and she was looking though his paper work, when she came across a letter.

I want you to use your links in the Hogoshia and persuade them to use full force on Kershio’s main base in New Tokyo when there is a chance. If this assault works out then I will be able to resurface and there for be able to handle more operations.

And if you fail this, you know what the punishment is.
J. Manson

Amy read this four times over before she pulled out a micro camera and took a picture of the letter, just as the computer beep softly, telling her that it had just found what it was looking for and had finished copying it.

“All right” She said to her self again. “Time to go”

Amy pocketed her devices in the inside pocket of the fur coat. And then exited the room.

“He sleeping” Amy said to the two guards standing at the door. And started walking down the hall way.

“Master Zhang doesn’t sleep after he has sex does he?” The guard asked his companion.

“I’ll go check on him just to make shore” he replied and opened the door……….
To find Liu Zhang’s body on the ground, his neck twisted at a wired angle.

OCC: The letter is a plot development that doesn’t have to be used and I have made shore that if it isn’t then there won’t be any plotholes.

Dev Walked to his ship smoking a cigarette as always. He clambered in the ship and made his way to the cargo hold, the smoke from his cigarette rising in wisps. He fumbled around the clutter that decorated his hold. After all thats where he lived, There was a mattress all torn up, a pillow and several blankets. A alarming amount of beer bottles littered around the bed as well.

He found a black suite case and started to fiddle with it. Trying to pick the lock, ti didn't open. He picked up a gun from his floor and shot the lock. Nothing happened, so a annoyed Dev lay back remembering his childhood.

He chuckled at the memories “No blue baby... No blue...” With a sigh he thought about growing up on Freeport 1. Sort of a rough crowd so you don't come out soft, if you do your probably dead. As such Dev hung around a rough crowd, outcasts corsairs and scum drifting through that would pat him on the head and buy him a beer.


He laughed as he though of when he was 17 and he started to date a young outcast women. Her brother didn't fancy that and tried to kill Dev. So Dev trapped him in a all oxygen room and tossed in a match. That ended the relationship rather quickly. By the time he was 18 he boasted of a head filled with a nice deep blue. That was when he took up killing people.

Sighing he chuckled at some of his first missions, and then his first political hit. The man was a rising Bretonian politician. The Bret was waiting for a train with his two guards late at night. Dev Jumped up from the tracks where he was waiting and shot one in the head. The politician took cover behind a pillar as the other Guard pointed his gun at the blue haired bounty hunter. Dev jumped up, just missing the mans shot and tackled the Guard. Before anyone could do anything Dev had killed the man. The politician seeing this made a dash for it but Dev just shot him down.

Dev was about to drift off to sleep with the 'pleasant' memories. when his NN messenger Rang.

“You better have a good reason to be ruining a nice Nap” Dev Grumbled into the phone.”

“Dev” A mans voice said “This is a old friend, you probably don't remember me. We worked together briefly but your all i could find. Can you make it to New Berlin ASAP?”

“No Prob man, meet ya in the Starport bar?” Dev said taking a puff on his cigarette

“You got it, oh can you sneak past a Rhienland Fleet?”

“I got Fake ID, it cost 8 mill it will work.”

“Oh Dev, come VERY heavily armed.”

“You Got it, O and O”

Dev Smirked, And walked back into the Cargo hold and grinned as he pulled a large metal crate from the debris in his cargo hold.

He flipped it open and smiled, Six pistols, Two rifles, And a Grenade belt where there. He Put on the belt, Slipped the pistols into his holster and popped the rifle on his back.

Then he jumped into the cockpit of the ship and shot off.

His Ship dropped out of a trade lane in front of New Berlin. There where several gunboats two cruisers and a Battleship


“Unmarked Ship This is Battle ship Bismark of the Rhienland Navy. Identify yourself and send codes for passage to New Berlin.” The Battleship said in a hail to him.

“Yes sir!” Dev barked “This is Field Operative Derick Hans of the Rhienland Intelligence and Defense Agency. Transmitting code”

“Alright Mr.Hans your in the blue, enjoy your stay on New Berlin.” The Battleship worker replied.

Dev sighed with relief and shot off to the docking Ring.

Dev hopped out of the cockpit and looked around. He strode into the bar and walked up to the Bar tender

“Hey Barkeep, Man have a message for me?” Dev asked, as he light a cigarette.

“Yup, he's over in the back where most cant see, secretive stuff i bet.”

Dev walked up into the back and looked around, no-one waved towards him or anything. He went up to a booth and saw someones head on the table, blood dripping on the floor.

“Sh*t” Dev mumbled as he looked at the mans face, realizing it was a BHG operative that he had worked with.

Dev ran out of the bar and onto the street. He as about to run off when he heard a voice behind him.

“Mr.Dev a pleasure to See you again, Trip went well no?”

"You didn't kill her, Herr Solkovsky."

Mason stood in a luxuriously furnished room, with none but two guards with him--one fiarly fat and homely, the other strong and disgustingly malformed. The room they stood in was even more impressive than the one on Naha where Damien, regrettably, had been introduced to Mason. Portraits of Outcast leaders lined the walls, pillars sprung up from the ground, stretching from the cieling far above down to the marble floor--the floor on which Damien could see his own spittle and blood spattered on.

"Screw you, Mason. I don't kill for capitalist pieces of sh*t." Damien gasped out the words, blood dripping from his mouth. The guard who looked somewhat like a cow had shat on his face threw Damien to the ground, yet again, placing a foot on his spine and digging in roughly. He gasped out in pain.

"But now you'll never see your...."beloved" again. So sad. But it was your choice to make. I'm sure he's not going to thank you for it." Mason slowly strolled across to the other side of the room.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on Nikolai!"

Mason turned to face him again, a sadistic smile straying across his lips. "Me? God, no. I'll be handing him over to the Outcast authorities. We'll see how they treat him." He walked out of the hall, still smiling, closing the brazen doors on Damien and the two guards.

This was the chance the captive had been waiting for. Pulling a discreetly hidden knife out of his boot, he stabbed the man to his left in the leg. His captor released pressure on the Bundschuh's back as Damien sprung up, knifing him in the heart and turning like quicksilver to his right, slitting the second guard across the throat.

Damien frowned, staring at the bodies of the two men. He was going to need a ship out of that place, wherever it was.

Summary: ehh...read the thing, too lazy to give one.

"Ahh,hell no" Hans said as the alarm on Vogtland blared "Warning-Rhienland ships aproaching". The Hessian ran for his ship,while the station began taking fire and shook."Red Hessian Gamma 1-3,go get em!"."Yeah whatever,ah crap 3 gunboats!" Jurgan said as Gamma 2 and 3 got on his wing."Alright lets try and cripple the RNC Bremer" barked the Vogtland Commandre." The Hessians did just that,while destroying one Gunboat and all the fighters,letting the other retreat."That was easy,so they will be back.Well' be ready though" said Hans to Gamma 2 and 3."Right,sir" they both said."But next time,we will get them".

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few hours later,the Hessians did come back.They attacked Leipzig,and succeded.It was a fierce battle,and Hans lost his wingmen.This marked a small point in a war that could go on for years."Good,now we have some weight to throw around". That night the Hessians celebrated and rejoiced

Summary:Hessians win Leipzig from the Rhienland Millatary

Edited by - Stormtrooper110 on 3/21/2005 1:56:45 PM

OOC: Dude, when your posts are that short you don't need summaries.

I'm also tired as hell of waiting for new stuff so I'll grab the bull by the proverbial horns and write something myself. It's mostly violent fluff, though I will try to work in Stormtrooper's plot developments as best I can.

----------------------------------------

Planet Harris wasn't exactly what most people would call a “hotbed of activity”. Its close proximity to Outcast space and various development project did mean, however, that a talented freelancer could make a pretty penny in relatively little time, if he played his cards right. Rob was one such “talented freelancer”. He knew that he'd need to spend some time on Harris if he was to give Tanya a fair chance to meet up with him. Part of him knew this desire to link up with the young woman wasn't just because he wanted to discuss “business” either.

But that's neither here nor there. Rob reminded himself as he angled his ship towards the waypoint. Looking over his right shoulder, Rob checked to make sure Carshalton was still on his wing. The legitimate factions in Tau-31, Planetform and the IMG, had noticed a pronounced increase in Outcast activity recently and needed people to start disrupting the pirates' operations in the system. Rob had been lucky enough to catch a very well-paying job posted by Planetform to take out a space station the Outcasts were building, presumably as a forward base for a full-scale assault on the system and its inhabitants. The intel was a bit sketchier than Rob would have liked but the mission didn't look like anything he and Carshalton couldn't handle.

Suddenly the station appeared in the distance, partially obscured by the ice shards and clouds which filled the system. The voice of Mission Commission crackled over the comms.

“You're approaching visual range of your target. You should be able to see it soon, if you can't already.”

“We see it.” Rob responded.

“Just remember we're only paying you for the station's destruction. Any fighter kills you make are on your own time.” Mission Commission said, and cut the connection.

“No sh*t.” Carshalton muttered over a private channel. “Thanks for reminding us.”

“Okay, look alive.” Rob said. “I'm picking up six, no eight, Stilettos on my long-range scanners.”

“That's it?” Carshalton said. “I was hoping for a real challenge.” Rob could almost see the marshal's sardonic smile.

“Yeah, yeah. Just keep them off my back, okay? I figure four well-placed torps and a generous helping of strafing ought to deal nicely with the station.”

“Roger that.” Rob disengaged his cruise engines and shot a quick glance over his shoulder again, just in time to see Carshalton, still flying on cruise, pull his Cavalier into a tight climb. Hopefully the Outcast scanners only saw the one incoming fighter. Rob checked his threatboard once. It seemed as though he was the only target on the Outcast patrol. Now, let's hope Carshalton comes through.

The bounty hunter did, and with great success, too. The Outcasts, intent on blowing Rob and his ship into so much dust and ionized particulate matter, completely missed the Cavalier which had looped up around and behind them and suddenly began pouring fire on them from behind. One ship seemed to detonate spontaneously, causing the other seven to scatter blindly, searching for their mysterious attacker. Rob picked one fighter and tailed it as best he could, raining fire down on his enemy. The Outcast's shields held for a few seconds, then crumpled and died. Rob's shots began to melt away hull plating. Suddenly the voice of the Outcast pilot came over the radio.

“I hear something... Coolant leak!” There was a hint of desperation in the man's voice. He wrenched his fighter into a series of random twists and turns, meant to throw the freelancer off his tail. It was no use. Rob maintained his fire and eventually scored a critical hit on the fighter's reactor.

“Noooooooo - ” Rob deactivated his radio and cut off the man's dying scream. He saw that the station was undefended. Swinging the Falcon around, Rob activated his torpedoes and gunned his thrusters. He closed the distance quickly and opened fire on the partially built station. Suddenly, after he had released two torps, Rob's Falcon shuddered violently and his shield bar dropped frighteningly.

“Dammit! Carshalton, get these guys offa me!” Rob shouted over his private channel.

“I'm a little busy here, myself.” Carshalton's voice was strained. Rob grunted and made a break for the station. He had an idea. The station loomed large before the freelancer. Rob blasted towards it at top speed, juking out of the Outcast crafts' lines of fire and launching salvos of his own at the station. Then, just when a collision seemed imminent Rob pulled hard on his control column and skimmed the surface of the Outcast base. Two of Rob's three pursuers had decided not to play chicken as he had with the space station, and looped away, preparing for another pass. The other enemy pilot decided to take the risk. It didn't pay off. His fighter slammed into the station at full speed, exploding with incredible force. The station itself didn't fare well either, the impact left a great gaping hole in its as yes unfinished superstructure. The sudden damage somehow caught the attention of the surviving Outcast pilots. The tow who were harassing Carshalton left the bounty hunter alone and turned back towards their now ruined space station.

“Crap! Carshalton!” Rob called over the radio.

“On my way.” The bounty hunter replied as he too turned to join the inevitable furball around the station, guns already blazing.

“All I need is one more torpedo run. If I can dump 'em into the hole the station should come apart from the inside out.” Rob said as he tried to shake the two Outcasts on his tail.

“I'll do my best to deal with them.” Carshalton, in his speedy, manoeuvrable Cavalier practically danced through the dogfight, taking shots when he could and avoiding almost all enemy fire. The Outcasts would not be overly distracted though. They knew Rob and his Falcon were the bigger threat.

“Dammit!” Rob yelled as his shields once again began to drop. “Where's my cover!?”

“I'm working on it!” Carshalton shot back. He settled behind Rob's attackers and gave them hell. One fighter, crippled by Carshalton's original pass, fell quickly to this new barrage. Rob, by this time, was set up for his final run and all out of shield batteries. He loosed two torpedoes as fast as he could and then pulled his fighter off it's course towards the station. The torps flew straight and true, right into the belly of the station. There was a brief flash and then, for a moment, time itself seemed to stand still. The station heaved once and then met its end in a fiery holocaust of destruction

Their prize denied the Outcasts activated their cruise engined and made tracks towards the jumphole. Carshalton was about to give pursuit when Rob told him to stand down.

“Are you crazy?” Carshalton practically screamed. “This is a great chance!”

“And what purpose would it serve?” Rob asked calmly. “We've done our job and kept the Outcasts from establishing a permanent presence here. Killing two or three more won't make any difference. All it does is turn you from a bounty hunter to a murderer. Once your killing is no longer motivated by justice of some sort, you are no better than those you hunt.”

“Ah, quite your babbling.” Carshalton said, “I'm not going anywhere until I get paid anyway.”

“Fine.” Rob said. “You know, if you let me have your cut I think we'll be square on all debts.”

“Really?” Carshalton quickly reviewed the numbers in his head. “Yeah, I suppose you're right.”

“So it's a deal then?”

“Deal.”

----------------------------------------

A little while later Rob and Carshalton were reviewing the battle over a few drinks at the bar on Planet Harris. All in all they couldn't complain about how it went down, though Carshalton was quite interested to know how Rob knew when to “pull up”. He was disappointed when Rob told him it was mostly instinct. For his part, Rob reassured Carshalton that he had no doubt the bounty hunter could have easily pulled the same manoeuvre. Out of the corner of his eye Rob noticed two new people come in, talking to each other sotto voce. He turned his head to take a closer look and wasn't particularly surprised to see tow IMG members walk in.When you spend most of you time on Holman, Rob reflected with a smirk, an outing to Harris must be the highlight of your month.

The two miners took a seat at a booth near where Rob and Carshalton were sitting. Rob, for reasons he couldn't quite explain, felt compelled to eavesdrop. Perhaps it was the discretion they were using that alerted Rob to the fact that whatever they may have been saying was important.

“... hear what happened ... Dresden?”

“... what?”

“I heard ... contact on ... Hessians attacked ... took over Leipzig...”

Rob didn't need to hear any more. He already knew who was behind it. Mason.

“Well, that's interesting.” Rob said quietly to Carshalton.

“Hmmm?” The bounty hunter had evidently been paying more attention to his drink than the newcomers.

“Those two miners there were just talking about some major happenings in Rheinland. Apparently the Hessians attacked, and managed to take over, Leipzig Station is Dresden.” Rob said.

“Damn. Really?” Carshalton looked up from his drink.

“That's what they say.” Rob pointed subtly to the miners sitting nearby.

“That's a Daumann station, right?”

“Yeah.” Rob said. “Damn fool Hessians. Don't even realize they're doing more harm than good. Without the revenues from their operations in Dresden, Daumann will quickly begin to lose money and be open for a buyout from Kruger. The Hessians won't stand a chance against a monolithic organization like that. Especially considering the close ties Kruger and the current Rheinland government share.

“I'll bet good money Mason's behind this. I've heard rumors that the Rheinland military is building itself up again. This attack would be just the excuse the brass needs to declare martial law in all systems. And I'll bet it's not the Chancellor who's in charge of the military anymore either. It's Mason. It's gotta be. He's got his loyal base of supporters and everybody else just gets played off against one-another until no one can oppose him.”

“D'you really think so?” Carshalton asked.

“I hope I'm wrong, man.” Rob said. “But I'm worried that I'm not. If she's going to show, Tanya had better get here soon. Things are rapidly approaching the point of no return and we can't wait around much longer.”

Summary: Rob and Carshalton take on a mission to destroy an unfinished Outcast station in Tau-31 while waiting for Tanya's possible arrival. The two men also hear of the capture of Leipzig from a member of the IMG. Rob thinks Mason is behind the attack and suggests that Rheinland will soon come under the control of the military which is, at least in part, under Mason's control.

Okay people, IT'S YOUR FREAKING TURN NOW!!!!

Occ: Ok not really much plot devlpotment here but hey still pritty intresting.
IC: Amy ran for all she was worth.

After she had left the room, one of the guards went to check on Liu Zhang, Finding him dead.

Now all of Shingawa Station was on high alert.

Amy had gotten ridden of her fur coat and had now revelled a small slender body wearing a leather bikini top, long leather pants, combat boots, with a pistol holster by her thigh, and had a pair of holsters by her hips which contained a pair of rapid fire CMP150’s Sub machine guns.

And now she was currently run down a small corridor trying to find her way back to the launch bay where her Legionnaire waited for her.

She rounded a corner to find a pair of lifts along with a map of the whole base.

“Let’s see were I am” Amy said as she looked at the map.

The map showed he she was on the 5th flour out of 7 flours. And the docking bay was on the 2nd flour so that was were she ha-

BING!

Amy dived around the corner just before the lift doors opened and 7 solders came running out carrying Kusari dragon blasters.

The blasters didn’t fire fast but were extremely powerful. And being laser weapons, could be fire for long periods of time with out recharging.

“Where is she” one the solders yelled. “She was here a second ago”.

“Check around the corners, she can’t be far”

Amy looked around quickly to find any means of escape and noticed a door, moving quietly she opened the door to see that it was a stair well.

Great she thought moving quickly and quietly down the stair.

She was half way down the 1st set of stairs when the door was kicked open. Amy dived over the side of the set of stairs while at the same time whipping out her CMP150’s and pulled the trigger, lead spewing out from the duel guns. Landing on the 2nd set of stairs she got up and started running down the stairs while at the same time, firing up the stair well to discourage any one to follow her. Noticing a door with a big number 2. She opened the door. She burst thought the door and ran straight into a technician.

“Sorry” Amy said pick her self off the ground
“Stay were you are” The technician stammered. “Don’t make me shoot you”

Amy looked at him for the 1st time to see he was holding and old Glock towards her.
With her guns by here side she was defenceless.

‘I don’t want to kill him’. Amy thought but if I don’t do something soon the those solders will get me. I’ll have to shoot him in the leg.

And with lighting speed, she raised one CMP and pulled the trigger aiming for the man’s legs, while at the same time the glock fired.

The man collapsed as his knee was shatter and Amy spun around as the bullet hit her chest.

“I’m sorry” she said to the man on the ground. And ran off down the hallway towards the docking bay which she could now see at the end.

“Ahh” Amy moaned and she looked to see she was hit and was shocked to find she was hit in her left breast.

“Well that’s a 1st” she grimaced reaching the entrance way to the docking bay.

Running over to her Legionnarie and entering her access code on the keypad the cockpit swished open and she climbed in as about 20 solders came running into the docking bay. Amy closed the cockpit quickly and started the engines when a voice boomed over the station loudspeakers.

“Power down your engines, open your cockpit door and put your hands on your head.” The voice boomed.

Amy readied the Legionaries weapons and selected a Adv. Stunpulse and fired it near the group of solders gathered near the floating ship.

“How about you open the docking bay doors and let me out or I blow all of us up.” She responded, her guns weren’t powerful enough to blow open the docking bay doors, but could easily destroy the weaker metal in the base proper.

She also had the feeling that there was going to be a hell of a lot of ships out there.

She patched her ships comms system to Leion’s Dagger.

“Leion are you there.” Amy asked urgently

“Hey babe what’s wrong. Have you got the list.” Leion asked

“Yes, but I got found out and now I am stuck in the hanger seeing if these morons will open the damned doors and let me out, I……“

“You need me to check on how many ships are out there.” Leion finished

“And to help me out if possible because I guess by the amount of time they’re stalling they are calling every ship back to base.” Amy said hurriedly

“Ok I have just left the planet now. I’ll be there soon. Love you.” Leion said worry evident in his voice.

“Love you too” Amy said signing out.

Amy turned her attention back to the solders gathered around her ship and noticed a group of them were moving what looked like a Catapult missile launch on a hover platform. Amy fire her Stunpulse at the launcher, destroying it instantly. She then selected her pair of Pyros type 2 and fired at the wall above the docking tower.

“ I do mean it. I will destroy the base if I have to.” She yelled over her intercom

“Give us a few minutes.” The man on the loudspeaker said.

“You have 5 minute and no funny business or I will turn this place into a floating piece of junk.”

“Ok.”

The minutes ticked slowly by while as she waited for the message from Leion and knew that the commander of the base was planing something.

Amy was about to call Leion to tell him to hurry up when the loudspeaker came to life again.

“All right Freelancer Echo 1-1 you have been cleared for take off.” The loudspeaker man said.

“Amy it’s me” Leion voice came in quickly. “you are better off in there”

“That bad uh” Amy replied. As she angled her ship to take off.

“It’s like a fu*king circus out here” came the replied “ There is every thing from a Starflier to a Falcon. And they just bought in a Kusari gunboat. Plus I’m hearing of a 10 million credit reward for your head. That list must be very important to them if there willing to give up that amount of money.”

“So what’s the plan” She said slowly moving her ship to the airlock.

“Before the docking doors open I will attack the Gunboat drawing the attention to me, you should activate your cruse engines just before the doors are fully open. Then take the trade lane to the Honshu jumpgate and jump out of it half way. Then make your way to Kyoto Base.”

“LEION ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FRIGGEN MIND.”

“I’ll be fine as long as you get to Kyoto. Now are you ready.” Leion said calmly “I’m going to attack the gunboat in 10 seconds.”

Amy knowing that she had no chose but to agree braced her self for the rapid take off she was about to do.

“Ready” she said

“Now” Leion replied

The docking bay doors opened and Amy activated her cruse engines just as her door opened.

Occ: 1,254 words, I think I just did a Code.

Edited by - Leion Xing on 3/21/2005 10:34:15 PM

OOC: Oh, Atheeeeeeeeenaaaaa.. where are you?

IC:

Hahukum Konn found the Falcon belonging to the mysterious Tanya, and satisfying himself that nobody was around, slipped underneath one of the wings, which was bent in such a way as to obscure him from almost anybody passing by. He had thought about trying to enter the ship's cargo bay, but decided against it on the grounds of prudency.

As Konn stood there, mostly in shadow, he thought back to his first year in the BAF...

---

Hahukum Konn had caused some surprise in the Bretonian Armed Forces when he insisted on enlisting through them instead of the Liberty Navy, as would have been expected since he was a citizen of Liberty.

After convincing the recruiting officer, and later a board of inquiry, that he would get on better in Bretonia than in Liberty, the BAF grudgingly approved his enlistment, but warned that there would be no hanky-panky tolerated, and most higher-level security clearances would be permanently barred to Konn unless he became a naturalized Bretonian.

With that, Konn went on to the Academy, completed his training with good results and a decent service record, and was posted to the Battleship Suffolk at first.

There, he found that one of the officers of the ship, Lieutenant Commander Price, was universally disliked because of his habit of second-guessing himself every few sentences, while carefully polishing all the right apples, as it were. Konn's immediate commanding officer, Lieutenant Tom Downing, took him on his first "real" mission: A simple shootout between their patrol and some Mollys that were raising Cain one sector over. There were four BAF ships: Downing's, Konn's and two others who were also Privates.

---

He could still remember that first time. The sweat on his palms, the hammering of his heart against his chest, the rapid breathing; only an idiot wouldn't be afraid going into battle for real for the first time. He also remembered how his focus narrowed so that all he paid attention to was his weapon assembly, contact list, the view forward and aft, and the immediate tools for the task: engine kill, countermeasures, thrusters, engine-kill and nanobots.

The first time his ship had been hit, he felt the shudder, and had barely had the presence of mind to dump a countermeasure, then whip back around and get off a shot at the Molly which had raked his ship. Things were a bit fuzzy after that, because of the adrenalin boost, but he distinctly recalled helping blast the last Molly ship into smithereens and the compliments from Downing to him and the two other people piloting ships on patrol.

-----

Summary: Konn reminisces while he waits for Tanya.

OOC: I don't know if this can be directly used by anyone, but one can assume that if another character gets to know mine well, this story will probably be told along with others.

OOC: Going to write in something a little more interesting...heh heh heh...

The Sabres swarmed silently around Vogtland, unnoticed by the Hessian pilots until they had nearly surrounded the base. Hundreds of them flew through the space around the station shrouded in golden clouds, pouring in out of the surrounding nebulae and asteriod fields, pouring in from every jumphole in the system.

One of the 50 Sabres guarding the base opened up his intercom. "What do you want, Bundschuh?"

"Nothing. We're free to fly where we want."

"Hey, what in hell are you doing? This is a military cou--" The sabre was silenced by 50 guns raining down on his ship, blasting the shield into oblivion and destroying the hull. Another 15 guards were likewise taken out, quick and clean. The remaining Sabres charged with full force at their attackers, firing guns down upon them even as their own shields cracked and their hulls split open, their ships exploding in powerful fireballs that sent shards of metal hurtling through space.

"Good." The Bundschuh leader croaked into his intercom. An image appeared on his communication chanel of a disgruntled, middle aged Hessian.

"Why the hell are your ships attacking Vogtland??!"

"For too long, the Hessians have been too bloodthirsty a faction. You kill simply for the joy of killing. An element this deadly, this sick must be eliminated for Rhineland to grow and prosper. The recent attack on Daumann, a corporation that has never harmed a Hessian or exploited its workers, throws this all into sharp perspective.

We are going to take out your fighting force at Leipzig. 50 of our ships will stay here and guard the base from attackers. Goodbye."

The Bundschuh ships cruised away, heading towards the former Daumann station where the main Hessian armies were stationed. They quickly soared within view of the station, shrouded in a nebula...and found the Hessian ships already engaged. Outcast sabres and stilletos clouded the view, coming from every direction.

"Bundschuh ships, break and attack. Outcasts only!" shouted the leader.

Summary: Bundschuh take Vogtland by surprise, and find Outcast ships already attacking Hessian forces at Leipzig.

Tanya returned to her ship just before nightfall.

On Planet New Tokyo, the nights were almost as bright as the days, the entire surface of the planet would glow from the never-ending array of neon lights and signs. This was a planet that truly never slept, shopping arcades, restaurants, bars, even the parks were all open throughout the twenty-six hour day.

The young woman stood at the front of a lift with a large bundle of bags in each hand. Standing next to her was her long time ally and friend Travis Carter.

Both had spent the day together, speaking of recent events, how Travis was broken out of imprisonment and Tanya's current relaxed state of mind.

The lift descended and they stepped out onto the main hangar concourse, where over a dozen ships and freighters of various designs were being loaded, unloaded or prepared for flight.

Tanya's wrist-mounted Neural Net device started beeping, indicated a new message.

She listened for a while, then halted mid-step and frowned.

"Tanya, this is Rutger.

I hope everything is well. I haven't heard from you in a while so I thought I would tell you a little bit about the events in my life. I have met a wonderful young lady, Jessica, daughter of the highly-decorated Admiral Koenig, Rheinland Navy. I have invited them both to a tour of Leipzig Station, it is one of our very best mineral bases and the sight of the nearby gas clouds is most impressive.

I thought you should know, as my line must continue, I was advised that Jessica would make a good companion. It is the way of the noble houses. You understand the establishment works.

When you receive this message I should be arriving at Leipzig. I hope that you would visit us someday.

You will never leave my thoughts.

Rutger."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Travis watched but didn't say anything, knowing Tanya too well.

When she opened her eyes they were glistening slightly, then continued on towards her ship.

As they approached the Falcon, a man of average build and kindly face appeared from behind the Falcon's nose. She recognised him as the man from the lift.

She waited for him to speak.

OOC: Code good man good man, you have given me something i can really work with. awesome

IC: Dev turned around, clearly not looking amused in the least.

“Alright buddy i just found a friend dead in a bar who was scared sh*tless. This best be good”

The man was was about to reply was a tall typical Rhienlander. A short blond buzz cut, Tall blue eyes.

“Mr.Dev here is a private COM line, you will contacted shortly. I advise you act.... more formal to the man who will contact you.” The Rhienlander said tossing a COM line to Dev.

Dev grabbed it and grumbled something then walked off. He walked into the landing pad bar again, rather disgruntled and no clue what so ever to do but wait.

“Yo! Bar-guy hit me the best Sh*t you got!”

The bartender glanced at him and slide a tall bottle of vodka down to him. His COM line rang making him jump and spill the vodka

“That son of a....” He grumbled “Hello who the hell is this and what the hell do you want!”

“Call me John, your a bounty hunter i am willing to pay you 5 million for you to kill someone... My last bounty hunter was to much of a coward to go through with it... rather depressing for me.”

“Alright you got my Ear johnny boy, who's the catch? And who the hell are you, i don't work for the nameless, security thing.”

“Fine John Mason, and i want you to kill a young woman named Tanya, i know you know her.”

“Listen Johnny Baby, 2 reason why i cant do that. Number one, i think thats not going to be physically possible, morals aside. Number two, i don't do the betraying biz, if you knew anything about me you would know why.”

“Dev m'boy you let me down, the offer is on the table. Feel free to collect anytime.”

“What ever, i gotta role....”

Dev walked out of the bar, people looking at the strange man armed to the teeth. Dev mumbled and grumbled his way back to the ship where he jumped in the cargo hold and fell asleep.

He woke up to a loud voice over the ships man COM.

“Dev?? Dev!! Dev you son of a b*tch wake the hell up!”

“You know... i 've killed for less then waking me up...” Dev mumbled into the COM. “Now what the hell do you want?”

“You know our bud got killed, found dead in New Berlin”

“ I saw” Dev replied sounding very tired and bored

“Wanna know why he is dead?”

“I got time...”

“He knew to much!”

“Good bye.... Now aint the time for your crazy stupidity.... Bye

“Wait!”

“What?

“I can prove it! I can...”

“Okay smarty prove it... go ahead.”

“Its about mason, with the new events he learnt that mason has control over Rhienland. He knew the next the strike he knew what is about to happen... He told me everything Dev.. in a Email.”

“Bull**** man”

“oh? Then why is our friend dead, Rhienland police loved him for all he had done.”

“Ok... i'll take it with a grain of sand, but what is going to happen next?”

“Well... i don't like this Dev but he is going to take out bretonia!”

“Okay my mental man.... why does he want the Brets go bye bye?”

“Because they have someone... i don't know who yet... who knows as much as i do and could turn Bretonia against Rhienland. Its a pre-emptive strike. Its going down in 2 weeks.”

“Oh hell...”

OOC: Yup there... i wrote this when i was a bit tired and had a couple of beers so forgive me if something doesnt make sense.



Edited by - DSQrn on 3/22/2005 6:24:24 AM

Edited by - DSQrn on 3/22/2005 10:27:52 AM

OOC: Just a little bit to make sure Tanya gets Rob's message...

Yuta Todo raced down the corridors of the Narita spaceport complex on New Tokyo. He had only just found out the whereabouts of this "Tanya" girl and, apparently, she was just leaving. A small bribe managed to persuade one of the controllers to give Todo a few minutes to access the docking station terminal where the young Kusari man was able to track down the location of Tanya's ship. It was a Falcon, just as Rob had said it would be.

That was five minutes ago now and Todo had been running full tilt for that entire time. He slowed to turn a corner and almost bumped into a minor Kusari official and his entourage coming from one of the docking bays. Fortunately Todo found the company of his fellow Kishiro executives rather dull so he often spent time with the members of the security force; the young man was far more nimble and fit than his job title might have suggested. He danced around the oncoming traffic and continued barreling down the hallway to the docking bay where he hoped he would at least find Tanya's ship, if not the young woman herself.

Finally arriving at the docking bay door, Todo stopped for a second to catch his breath. He lightly tapped he panel to open the door and the massive metal divider slid away. Before him, not 100 metres away, Todo saw three people standing in front of a Falcon, two men and one woman.

"TANYA!" He shouted, trying to get her attention as he once again began to run. At least, I hope that's Tanya. "I HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOU!"

All three people turned to look at the Kusari man sprinting towards them. None looked particularly amused as Yuta pulled up to a stop in front of the party.

"And you are?" One of the men, a bounty hunter by the looks of him, asked icily. Yuta noticed tha man's hand was hovering dangerously close to a wicked-looking pistol.

"Name's Todo, Yuta Todo. I work for Kishiro Technologies." Yuta said.

"And what does a Kishiro bureaucrat want with the likes of me?" The woman, Tanya, asked.

"So you are Tanya, then?" Yuta responded with a question of his own. "I'm not here on official business, a mutual friend wanted me to give you a message." Yuta reached into his jacket to retrieve the datadisk containing Rob's message.

"Hold it right there!" The bounty hunter yelled. Yuta suddenly found himself looking down the pistol's barrel. The young man froze.

"Hey, whoa!" Yuta said and turned to Tanya. "It's just a datadisk. From Rob."

"I see," Tanya said, "it's okay Travis. You can let the guy live."

Travis grunted and lowered his gun.

"Thanks." Yuta muttered. Travis sneered at the Kishiro executive.

Free from fear of getting his head blown off Yuta reached once again into his jacket and pulled out the datadisk. "It's keyed to your voice." He said to Tanya. "I get the feeling it's pretty important too."

Tanya reached out and plucked the disk delicately from the Kusari man's hand. "Thanks."

"No problem. Just make sure you let Rob know I gave you the message." Todo turned and left.

Now what was that all about? Tanya wondered. She had more pressing concernes at the moment, however, such as the man who had been hiding by her ship. Slipping the disk into her jumpsuit, Tanya once again faced the man and waited for an explanation.