THE DIARY OF KAIN - CHAPTER FOUR
Being cooped up in the ship wasn't as boring as others might think. It's better than a cell at the Institute. I spent the day taking the Institute insignia off of all the clothing and personal gear, familiarizing myself with the vessel and its equipment, and fully stocking the galley with a remaining crate of food packs that Breaker must have overlooked.
At 1600 hours, Breaker and his Belter partner arrived. I took a moment to let Breaker know what had transpired with the bouncer the night before, and he said he'd ask around about any suspicious new arrivals (I mean, aside from myself, of course).
While a service crew painted the hull outside, Breaker and Spanner (that's what Breaker called him) did their work. Then they joined me for dinner - they were grateful for the good chow, and I for the company and conversation. Spanner wasn't much of a talker, but he was an attentive listener. Then we had some whiskey while Breaker outlined the job he needed me to do.
He had some associates on Arrakoth who wished to purchase of a shipment of much-needed water. "But isn't Arrakoth completely uninhabited?" I asked. "Yes, it is," he said, "which is why I need someone discreet for this job." He studied the pendant hanging around my neck. "Will you swear to see it through?"
I held the medallion in my hand and looked him in the eyes. "I swear on Iron to help you acquire this water and deliver it to Arrakoth." We all toasted to it and clinked our cups together.
[Swear an Iron Vow: Complete water delivery to Arrakoth. Dangerous. Roll +Heart, +1 for connection. 6+4 vs 1 and 8. Strong Hit. +2 Momentum (+7)]
"So I'm just hauling some water to some people who don't officially exist there?" I asked. "Well," said Breaker, "it's not as easy as just loading some tanks and sending you on your way. The station charges ridiculous prices for the stuff, and that also creates a paper trail. But I have a way around that."
As it turned out, he needed to locate an undiscovered icy asteroid so that he could stake a claim, and then he could keep his share of whatever they mined (minus the exorbitant processing fee). He figured a scout ship like mine would make it easier to find one. Even the basic scanners on my ship were better than most rock-hoppers. Breaker would be joining me to help point out the right thing. It actually sounded like an interesting job, and I could take the time to get more familiar with my new contact.
When the work was all done the place looked more or less exactly as it had before. But where bulkheads had been labeled "IISS Venture" , they now read "RMC Acheron". Breaker didn't say how he got the ship registered as a Redhaven Mining Company vessel, but there were certain advantages to it. He mentioned that they had tried to paint over the scorch marks in Engineering but they still kept showing through. I told him not to worry about it - it sort of adds character.
* * *
While I was enjoying my coffee the next morning, Breaker rang the panel outside the airlock. I was about to let him in, but he tapped his handcomp on the lock and it opened. Of course he set it up so he could come aboard on his own. He stood politely in the airlock, as the outer hatch closed behind him. He was clad in a vacsuit, helmet tucked under one arm and a satchel under the other, "Permission to come aboard, Captain?" I opened the inner hatch and clapped him on the shoulder. "Sure thing, my friend. Welcome to the RMC Acheron." It felt great to say that. This was finally, truly my ship.
I donned my vacsuit as he took a seat at the sensor station. The Institute suits were lightweight and form-fitting and could be worn like normal clothing. Our maiden voyage - and the first time I was in charge of something. This was going to be a great day!
* * *
[Challenge: Find Unclaimed Ice Asteroid. Rank: Troublesome]
We plotted a route to a more remote area of the Belt. We didn't want to attract undue attention if we could avoid it. Most independent miners worked closer to the station for convenience, efficiency, and most of all security. There were unclaimed rocks to be had in the Deep Belt, but the risks were higher.
[Undertake an Expedition: +Shadow. 3+4 vs. 5 and 8. Weak hit. Envision peril]
We arrived at a location that Breaker thought would have the best chance of ice asteroids, but almost immediately a warning tone began to ring on his panel. "Frak, looks like some asteroid rustlers!" he called to me. "These guys work in pairs. You concentrate on flying, I'll go man the gun. Helmets on!" As Breaker ran aft, I sealed my helmet, plugged into life support and sized up the trap we'd found ourselves in.
[Defeat Asteroid Bandits: Dangerous]
[Enter the Fray: +Wits, +1 from Breaker. 4+2+1 vs 1 and 6. Strong Hit. Take Control, +2 Momentum (+9)]
Thanks to Breaker's quick thinking, we were in an excellent position to confront the bandits. One veered above and to port, while the other dove below and starboard. I rolled to port and pitched up the nose, swinging us into a perfect position for Breaker to take a shot.
[Strike: +Edge, 3+3 vs 4 and 4. Strong Hit with a Match! Envisioning as +1 to next move. Stay in control]
The bandit above us had been completely unprepared for our maneuver and flew right into Breaker's sights. The laser cannon pulsed again and again as the enemy ship blossomed into a ball of fire. Fragments pinged off the hull.
"Son of a bitch! I just painted that last night!" Breaker shouted. I laughed and pulled the yoke back to climb into an inside loop. I played it through in my mind - with my maneuver, the other bandit should be flying past us, directly aft. Right about now, he should be looping back around to take a shot at the engines, and my maneuver would put us head to head. Breaker swiveled the gun to fore.
[Gain Ground: +Edge. 6+3+1 vs 9 and 10. Weak hit. Stay in Control. Mark progress.]
As I came out of the loop, I noticed that the bandit ship had finished their maneuver a little earlier than expected. But we also were not in the position they expected. To avoid our guns, they would have to do an outside loop, expecting to rake our belly. But with our changes in relative position, they were, just as before, still flying past us to aft. Their guns fired into empty space.
Based on their position, they would have to pull an inside loop and roll to starboard, which would let them rake our belly. There wasn't an easy way to get them in our sights.
[Gain Ground: +Edge. 2+3 vs 5 and 9. Burn Momentum (Reset to +2). Weak Hit. Stay In Control. Mark Progress.]
I could only think of one thing to do. I pulled back on the throttle and pushed the yoke forward. If this worked, they'd fly past and would appear above us, flying directly away. If it didn't work, we might collide.
[Gain Ground: +Edge. 1+3 vs 8 and 8. Miss with a Match! In a Bad Spot.]
Good news: We didn't collide. Bad News: It didn't work. They must have arrived at the same conclusion I did, and slowed down to match. Instead of ending with them climbing away from our topside and dead into our sights, our belly was exposed to a direct shot.
[Withstand Damage: -1 Integrity. Resist Damage: +Integrity 6+4 vs 4 and 5. Strong Hit, +1 Integrity]
We felt the impact of the shot, but damage was superficial. "You gotta be kidding me!" Breaker yelled. "I'm gonna have to do the paint job all over again! You didn't even get to see it!"
"Can this wait?" I called back. "We're kind of busy here!" Though the bandit had a taken a wide-open shot, the only way they could avoid collision was to climb. We had to end this now.
[Clash: +Edge. 3+3 vs 1 and 7. Weak Hit. Mark Progress, Pay the Price. Equipment Malfunction.]
The bandit flew into the position I'd expected if our last maneuver had worked. Breaker still had the gun elevated for a shot directly overhead. "Shoot, Breaker!" I called out. "SHOOT!" The laser cannon pulsed once more and I could see the second bandit blossom into a fireball.
[Reach a Milestone: Mark Progress (+3)]
Then an alarm began to chime and the damage control panel flashed red. Had their shot done more damage than I had initially thought? Breaker called me on the comm. I could hear the clanking of tools and a handheld fire extinguisher. "Cap, we got a little problem here. Capacitor overloaded on that last shot. I think I've got it under control though."
"Can you fix it?" I asked. "I might be able to do a field repair," he replied, "but the cannon is going to be out of service until I can." "Do we have a choice?" I inquired. "Don't see as we do," he responded, "I'm on it".
Yeah... this was getting off to a great start.