Broadsword finished packing his gear into Juni’s lockers. Out of the Military again, not in such good terms this time though. His last departure was a retirement with full military honours, this time a rather curt dishonourable resignation. He was upset to be leaving Lorell even more so to be leaving Admiral Pope, she had been a great boss and a real human being, a rarity in the Admirals he had known in the UEE. He would send messages to the other friends he was leaving once he was clear, hopefully they will meet again in some bar somewhere and laugh at the circumstances.
He settled into the Pilots seat and powered her up. She was fuelled up, which for a DUR was a significant range, enough to get him… who knows.
He checked all his instruments, all in the green. He opened comms with the Ship Store.
[Lorell Ship Station 2, this is Junko’ Trent, requesting departure clearance.]
No voice reply, just a textual, ‘You are clear to proceed’. The ship stores were mostly automated after all. Broadsword released the clamps and eased Juni away from the station, he was in the third disk, so had a little manoeuvring to do to finally get into clear space.
He looked over the fleet as he headed for the outer limits, he felt choked and shook his head to clear it, Grow up Clark, he said to himself aloud. He fired up the Lorell approach channel for the last time, they would probably change the frequencies after this.
[Arbiter approach, this is Junko’ Trent. Departing the fleet. Good fortune to you all. Broadsword out.]
He dailed up his first quantum jump, and initiated it, as the blue fizz started he took one look back at the huge fleet.
Roan watched from his view deck on the Pittman as the DUR flew away
moments later his Computer lit up with a msgs from Eagle
Roan sighed deeply and slumped to his chair. He was deeply saddened by the turn of events and almost raced to be with the Juni, yet he had to take the time to finish what he and Eagle started.
Broadswords first stop was Arccorp. He had friends there, one of whom was still a serving officer in the UEEN. He needed a blow out to clear his mind and a chat with friends to glean the latest gossip and ‘verse overview. Lorell had been fairly insular in that respect.
He also had investments in the Arccorp business that allowed him access to areas of the financial district usually out of bounds. He needed to do some secure dealing to consolidate the twins joint savings.
He landed at Area 17, where he knew the Hangar manager, an ex Carrier Flight Deck Officer, and set off to make the arrangements for the next stage in his life.
It took him three days on ArcCorp, longer than anticipated, but not a hardship. It was good to relax and enjoy his friends. It was also good to tap into the old UEEN network and get some valid information. What he had found out, did not surprise him but disappointed him. The Lorell Publicity from Blackstone’s folly had worked favourably on their behalf, but there was a cadre of UEE politicians trying their best to squash it. He hoped that the Admiral had his deployment plan ready for a go.
Their financial situation was better than he had realised, Kara’s latest job had paid an awful lot of credits. Which must also mean it was dangerous, he hoped that she was OK.
His pay whilst in Lorell’s employ, was a pittance in comparison, but they never chided each other money, they each paid in half of what they earned. It evened out usually.
So with an upgraded Jump Drive, topped up with fuels, water and O2, a full armoury and magazine, and a cargo of medicines and food. He lifted off from Area 17.
Jonesy, the Hangar Manger had given him the tip that Delamar was going through a little supply crisis, partially due to a UEE clampdown around the jump points but also because some of the Seven Hands gang had taken up residency in one of the orbiting asteroids. So it was Delamar and ultimately Levski he was headed to.
Nyx, where Delamar was situated, was not an arduous trip, but he would have to have at least two stop offs for fuel top offs. The Pyro Jump point was only 2 and a bit AU’s from ArcCorp, so an hour and a half later he was on the brink. He had been scanned twice on the journey which was a little excessive, they were local fuzz though.
He did the Pyro jump manually, Juni had full automated navigation but he had been out of the seat for a while and needed a skill refresh. It was a Medium Jump with a good sized tunnel and lots of good flags for the twist and turns. It went well.
It was a long haul from Jump point to jump point so he took a break at an R&R station as close to the Nyx jump as he could get. He needed full tanks for Nyx, you never know where the next fill up is going to be in these unclaimed systems.
The Nyx Jump was done in Auto, to check systems, Juni was well maintained, but she had spent a long time in that Lorell ship store facility. After that it was the 15 AU trip to Delamar, a 14 hour grind in Quantum. He set her in auto with shields up and proximity scanners on full, and went for a sleep.
The Nav computer alarm woke him up as scheduled. Broadsword was surprised that he had slept that long, must have needed it. He went through to the cockpit and took the pilots seat as the Quantum jump came to an end. He waited for the drive to cycle down and did a quick visual and scan check around the area. If Seven hands were about they were well camouflaged bad in maximum stealth mode. He was surprised to note that one of Nostra Consolidated ships appeared to be in orbit. The flagship indeed.
The Pitman was in geo-stationary orbit above what his Nav computer was telling him was Levski. He cycled up the Quantum drive and did the local jump. He was pleased to see how little the new Quantum fuel his new drive was using, worth the creds obviously. Once over Levski he began his descent.
This wasn’t his first time here so he waited until he could see the whites of the mining crater before he called up Levski Control. The laconic voice answering always made him smile. He was directed to Origin One hanger three as he had cargo they wanted he was very welcome.
Once landed, he opened up the rear door and directed the discharge of his cargo the Stevedore signed off the consignment so that he could clear the credits in the terminal after customs. The Custom guy was totally indifferent to the operation and only spent a few minutes with his scanner around the medicines. It was, of course, all above board.
Once fully discharged, Broadsword changed out of his under suit into some casual black trousers and formal shirt, he shrugged into his leather jacket, adorned with the variety of patches medal ribbons and ship qual badges. He had changed his rank badges back to Captain, but kept the Lorell patch. He knew the jacket rubbed some up the wrong way, mostly with those with an axe to grind with the UEE, it was his past though, and he was proud of it.
He filled a grip with a change of clothes and toiletries, as well as his side arm and holster, Then locked up Juni, paid some creds to the ground crew to look after her and made his way up to customs.