The Dev put down his cup of coffee and reviewed the code on his screen. He was satisfied it would fix the issue. His manager came by, they discussed it, it looked fine. It was implemented.
Captain SassBeard sat in his Cobra. A mysterious wave ran through the very fibre of his being, though to look at him externally, he remained as still and as unmoved as the eye of a dead fish washed up on the shore. Eventually, he did move. His hands gripped the controls of his ship, his head rolled back a little. He held this position for a while. Then it was done. The code was bypassed. It was at this precise time, Cmdr TheDL117 came into the same system as SassBeard.
TheDL117 was running a cargo haul. His T9 was filled to the brim with it. He was confident in his ship, he was happy with the pay he would get, what could go wrong?
The details are unknown, almost irrelevant, what we do know is DL117 and SassBeard were now just a couple of hundred metres apart.
SassBeard didn't bother scanning the ship to check the cargo, it was a T9, who flies one of them with no cargo in it? He opened up communications. He always hoped that his words that flashed up on the other person's screen were received in the reader's mind in the voicing of Alan Rickman.
"Give me... 1 ton ...of cargo", SassBeard wrote. His words slunk into DL117's messages like a shark coming into view of a scuba diver. Slowly and menacingly.
DL117's heart was beating a little faster. "What shall I do? What shall I do?" He calmed himself down. "It's ok, I'll give him the one ton and get out of here", he thought to himself as he paddled around the controls to find a way to eject the booty.
SassBeard all this time sat smiling to himself. It was funny because he knew what was coming next.
The notification arrived on the Dev's screen like a slap in the face. "This can't be happening", he shouted, "I damn well fixed this!". Images of changed avatars on the forum and open letters from YouTube creators flashed through his mind. Out of the three involved, he, right now, had the least control which is probably why he was feeling the most fear.
The 1 ton of cargo dribbled out of the T9 and drifted into space. DL117 sat for a few seconds, staring out at SassBeard's ship. In future, he would know to use this time to make good his escape. Today, he did not know this. He did not notice that SassBeard's cargo scoop did not open. He did not notice that no collector limpet was sent from SassBeard's ship. He had noticed that SassBeard was in a measly Cobra. Now he thought about it, he felt foolish. He's in a Cobra and I'm in a T9! It's like trying to rob a freight train whilst riding a bicycle.
"That....is not enough". DL117's eyes were fixed on this message that he had just received from SassBeard. "What does he mean, not enough? That's what he asked for!!" This was SassBeards 2nd favourite bit of the enterprise. Ask them for something and when they give it, reject it. The insanity of it all dripped over the victim like boiling oil. It was delicious. It was a perfect starter fo the the main course, his most favourite part.
The Dev was now screaming at his screen to DL117 who couldn't hear him. "Get out of there, for the love of Obsidian Ant and Dec, just get out of there!"
SassBeard had very little in life. No morals, no sense of justice, no physical form. But he did have a twisted sense of humour that made him feel alive and he had a perfect sense of timing. He had been through this a thousand times. He knew seconds before the victim did, when the victim was going to reach for the throttle. In that moment, SassBeard opened fire. It took seconds to rip through the A-Rated T9. It was over in a flash.The one ton of cargo drifted, uncollected, amongst the wreckage of the mighty A-Rated T9.
The DLL117 sat staring at his rebuy screen, furious.
The Dev sat staring at his screen, fearfully.
Captain SasssBeard melted into the stars
Until next time.
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