Smuggler's Luck
This post is a word-for-word transcript of a story my friend Violet told me. Violet is just getting started in the smuggling game, expect to hear more from her as she makes a name for herself.
“So, there I was, in my brand new Viper Mk VIII, shield module traded for more cargo space, a hull full of rare goods and not enough credits to cover the rebuy. Several bad choices, I know, but I was young, and I was desperate. Moving on. I’ve got my course plotted to Zaonce, and have just submitted a Launch Request to Starport Control. There’re a few commanders floating around, but I don’t pay them too much mind. The Rum Runner doesn't usually draw much attention. Well, as Starport Control begins shuffling me into position, I get a message in my terminal, ‘The Code loves smugglers!’ he says. I’m thinking, ‘what the fuck is that supposed to mean? Are they trying to recruit me?’ Whatever. I don’t reply. The lift comes down, and my ship is pushed onto the rails. I keep running diagnostics, when another message comes in. ‘Don’t worry, we'll escort you safely to the next system.’ That sounds shady as fuck! Now, I’m paying attention. There’s no way to stop the undocking procedure, and as you know, you gotta leave the station to request to re-dock. So I gotta go see what’s waiting out there for me. I’m staring in disbelief at radar; two hollow triangles right outside the mail slot. Before I can formulate a plan, the docking couplings are released, and the departure timer starts counting down. I thrust up from the pad, into the center of the station. My mind ticking off bad options while the time until Starport Control vaporizes me for loitering ticks away.
“So, there I was, in my brand new Viper Mk VIII, shield module traded for more cargo space, a hull full of rare goods and not enough credits to cover the rebuy. Several bad choices, I know, but I was young, and I was desperate. Moving on. I’ve got my course plotted to Zaonce, and have just submitted a Launch Request to Starport Control. There’re a few commanders floating around, but I don’t pay them too much mind. The Rum Runner doesn't usually draw much attention. Well, as Starport Control begins shuffling me into position, I get a message in my terminal, ‘The Code loves smugglers!’ he says. I’m thinking, ‘what the fuck is that supposed to mean? Are they trying to recruit me?’ Whatever. I don’t reply. The lift comes down, and my ship is pushed onto the rails. I keep running diagnostics, when another message comes in. ‘Don’t worry, we'll escort you safely to the next system.’ That sounds shady as fuck! Now, I’m paying attention. There’s no way to stop the undocking procedure, and as you know, you gotta leave the station to request to re-dock. So I gotta go see what’s waiting out there for me. I’m staring in disbelief at radar; two hollow triangles right outside the mail slot. Before I can formulate a plan, the docking couplings are released, and the departure timer starts counting down. I thrust up from the pad, into the center of the station. My mind ticking off bad options while the time until Starport Control vaporizes me for loitering ticks away.
I know that trying to leaving the station, requesting docking and turning around will only make me a sitting duck, I’m ill-equipped for combat, and I sure as shit won’t drop the goods. Without this load, I’m grounded. The only option left is to make a break for it. As I thrust towards the station entrance, I check the HUD for the destination icon, and can’t believe my luck. It is almost exactly lined up with the mail slot! If it were possible to jump to hyperspace inside a station, I would be home free. Excited by my change in fortune, I put my plan into action immediately. I check to be sure the slot is clear, divert all power to engines, and push the throttle as far forward as it will go. If I can get through the slot without smashing my Viper to bits, I feel like I’ll have a real chance. I retract the landing gear, check my alignment, and hit the boosters while inside the station.
I’m pushing 200 meters per second by the time I clear the airlock. I align my nose with the destination vector and hammer the boost button while the engines recharge. The pirates are parked on their thumbs outside the station with their noses aimed at the slot, and I’m already behind them by the time their message to stop engines and surrender comes through. It won’t be long before they come about to engage, so I select the firing group with my chaff launchers and squeeze the trigger. Next thing I know, there are streaks of light and laser beams flashing past the cockpit. I keep mashing that boost button, eyes glued to the mass lock indicator, trying to roll and corkscrew without breaking the jump alignment. The ship voice gives me a missile warning. I pull the trigger again to fire off the second chaff launcher and nothing happens! I check the status and they're both reloading. What the hell? I thought I only fired one. Then it dawns on me, I’ve assigned both launchers to the trigger! They both fired when I launched the first time. The missile misses, rips over my right shoulder and detonates in front of me. I roll away and just then I clear mass lock. You better believe I hammered that hyperdrive button as hard as I could.
And what do I hear? “CANNOT COMPLY.” I hit it again, “CANNOT COMPLY.” I check the information panel, “...hardpoints deployed…” what the fuck?! I don’t have any weapons, why are my hardpoints deployed? The fucking chaff! Assigning it to the trigger group made it deploy the hardpoints! I’m an idiot! A sudden explosion suggests the pirates may have the cure for stupidity. Suddenly my speed drops to zero, and before I can figure out what’s happening, a ship slews across the top of my cockpit, barely a meter away, burns its reverse thrusters, and starts turning towards me. “Did he just try to ram me?” I say aloud to no one in particular, and reset my throttle to 100 percent, fire off another round of chaff, and retract hardpoints. I check everything is configured for hyperspace, and punch the button again. “FRAMESHIFT DRIVE CHARGING.” Fucking finally! I’ve still got a few seconds before the ship can jump, so I check my hull status, prepared for the worst. “100%” How is that possible? They didn’t hit me once? I check the comm log, it’s full of threats and ultimatums from the would-be pirates. I give the ship a couple more rolls then realign the trajectory as the hyperdrive reaches full charge. The ship voice counts down, “5….4….3….2…” and I raise my left hand in a one-finger salute over my shoulder as the stars ahead stretch into bright lines and the ship lurches into witchspace.
I melt into the captain’s chair, setting the throttle to zero. The adrenaline being flushed from my system makes me giddy. Several minutes later, I slam back into normal space, facing the first star on my route. Fuck me! There’s already a ship here! I target the next star and turn as tightly around the local sun as I can. My heat levels rise quickly to 80%, smoke coils up from the instrument cluster, and somewhere something pops. The other ship hasn’t hailed me, but I’m not interested in trying my luck a second time. As soon as the Frameshift Drive is cooled enough to use, I start it charging, and align with the next star. “...3…2….1” and I’m gone.
There’s no one waiting at the next star and I thank whatever gods protect fools, pilots, and foolish pilots. I throttle to zero to let the Viper cool down to normal operating limits. The rest of the journey goes without a hitch, I collect my pay and you better believe I parked the Runner for the night and hit the bar. There’s a saying, I never put much stock in it before, but now I understand…’it’s better to be lucky than good.’ You’re goddamn right! Cheers.
Violet
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