[IC] Hope's Revenge

Mai Azuka

Mai Azuka
Prologue​



The galaxy is a cruel mistress. You'd think I would know that being the daughter of a pirate lord. But then again, living in hiding in relative peace for the last ten years made me forget how cold the void can be.

Azuka. You probably recognize that last name. If you were a trader in the Federation or Alliance in the last twenty years you've more than likely heard of my father, Shinn Azuka. He was the leader of the criminal organization The Ten Swords. My father raided the stars for over ten year before he was eventually betrayed and captured by the Federation, who later executed him for his crimes. Since then most of his children, seven sons and two daughters, went into hiding in our native Empire and the Alliance since we were both wanted by the Federation and hunted by the many enemies my father made over the years. That is until five years ago when my eldest brother Jin began to rebuild my father's crew within the safety of the Empire. He and my twin sister Momoka continued to build on my father's legacy. But I chose to take a much different path.

My name is Mai Azuka. I'm but a simple trader leading a simple life for myself and my fiancee Hope. That is I was a simple trader. Up until a few days ago I was minding my own business making an honest living around the Lave cluster. Trying to lay low but still put food on the table. But then the demons of my family's past caught up with me. At this moment I find myself at my brother's base of operations in Beta-1 Tucanae, talking to my best friend from childhood Cammy. A woman very much in the business of making pilots disappear. I need her help. I need a co pilot for the ship I just purchased, a Vulture I've named Hope's Revenge.

I knew one day I would have to put the skills my father taught me to use but I never thought things would turn out like this. Me, a trader, piloting a combat ship and firing shots with the intention to take a life, but if anything is worth fighting for it's this. The curse of the Azuka name has caught up with me and my family, not my brothers or sister, but my fiancee. These people who've come after me have to pay for what they've done to her.

And this ship will be my weapon or revenge.
 

Momoka Azuka

Momoka Azuka
Welcome to the void Sis. Now if we can get Jin to start posting... Silly question for me to ask but are you planning a crossover at any point? Yes that's a dirty tactic to ask this in the thread and not a pm. :D
 

Mai Azuka

Mai Azuka
Taking Up Arms ​



Adams Orbital
Beta-1 Tucanae System: Imperial Jurisdiction



"Okay ma'am, I just need a few things then we're all done here." The man in charge of running the shipyard on the station say to me as I make sure The Minerva was safely stored. I stare at my trusted Type 7 Transporter as the platform moves the ship into the large hanger that houses the countless other ships in the station thinking how much I was going to miss it. "Ma'am?" He says again to get my attention.

"Right... Yes what do you need?"

"Just a quick bio. Standard protocol."

"Err. Okay."

"Name."

"Mai Azuka." I figure I should tell the truth since this place is basically run by my brother.

"Age."

"27."

"Place of birth."

"Adams Market, Eotienses System."

"Height?"

"5 foot 1."

"Okay and I see you have black hair and grey eyes. Okay, The final price comes out to 16,002,440. Is that okay?"

Jeez, that much for a Vulture that isn't even fully kitted. I'll just barely make the insurance. 'A combat ship? I'm really doing this?' I think to myself. But then I think about Hope and those machines keeping her alive.

"Bi Weaves right?" I ask.

"Yes ma'am."

"That's good enough for now. Deal." I reply and transfer the credits to the man.

"You're Vulture will be ready shortly. Pleasure doing business with you ma'am." The man adds and shakes my hand.

I turn to leave the hanger but stop and look back at The Minerva one last time and think about better times before continuing on to The Phoenix Bar run by The Ten Swords. There's no turning back now. I have the ship, the best I could afford without selling The Minerva. I just need one more thing before I can really go about doing this, co-pilot. Which is why I've returned to the Empire. I know the perfect person for the job.
 

Mai Azuka

Mai Azuka
Parners in Crime​



The Ten Swords has always been a diverse group of individuals, ranging from petty thieves to criminal masterminds, rookie bounty hunters gone rouge to assassins born to kill. My best friend fell into the assassins category. Cammy Lockheart, standing 6 foot tall, slim figure, soul piercing blue eyes and long black hair she always seemed to keep in a ponytail. She grew up around the crew and always took an interest to my father's way of life. Once she was old enough to see over the cockpit of the Sidewinder she joined the Ten Swords were she mastered her skills. I hadn't seen her since we fled Federation space when my father was capture but still. If there was anyone I was willing to bring in for this job, it was her.

I enter the Phoenix Bar looking around at the dozens of men drinking beer and playing pool, most of whom were other members of the Ten Swords. A part of me start to feel a bit uneasy being back around this particular band of pirates. I walk over to the corner of the bar and take a seat looking at my wrist comm to check for any messages. The bartender, and older man with with grey hair and a limp in his step comes over to me.

"Vodka straight up?" He says getting my attention.

"Sorry?"

"Your usual poison."

"Oh. Right. I'm not her."

"You're thinking of Momo." A voice echo's from behind me. I turn to Cammy standing over me. She takes a lock of my hair in her hand and holds it forward. "See Rick, the one with black hair is always the older one, Mai. And she'll be drinking Eranin Whiskey. Make that two." she continues.

"Ah. My mistake my lady."

"It's fine." I reply and nod to him.

Cammy takes the bar stool next to me as the bartender preps our drinks.

"Long time no see kid. You had me worried you'd never come back." she says.

"I didn't think I would."

"Seriously? Now you're just trying to make me jealous." she says and lightly taps my shoulder.

"You knew where I was. You could've shown up whenever you wanted."

"To Lave? With my record and with CODE all over the place? I like living." she replies as the bartender hand us our drinks. "So I got your message. What's this big mission you said needed nothing but the best to do."

I pause for a moment, staring at the whiskey glass still unsure I can even do this. I commit and take a deep breath before pulling up a surveillance video from Lave Station on my wrist comm. The video shows a pair of Vultures attacking a Type 6 just outside the station's no fire zone.

"This was recorded three days ago. The Vultures there chased that ship from Ritila to Lave without ever demanding any cargo." The video plays on as shows the Type 6 exploding just as it reached the dock. I freeze the frame on the closes Vulture and zoom in on its hull showing an red Imperial Crest with black crossbones behind it. "Do you recognize that symbol?"

"No. Haven't seen before. You need me to track it down?"

"I need you co-pilot my ship and help me find out who this gang is."

"Co-pilot? A Type 7?"

"A Vulture."

"That's kinda a hard swing from a Type 7."

"Cammy... That Type 6 that blew up there in the video... It was The Second Sun."

"What? You're not saying... That was..."

"Hope..." I say holding back tears. "Who ever these people are. I think they were targeting me. I was tailed on the station by three men on my way to find Hope."

"Wait? She's alive?"

"If you can call it that. Her pod was caught in the blast. If she wasn't so close to the station when it blew... She's in a coma... Her doctors are saying she might not wake up."

"Mai..." Cammy says and downs both glasses of the untouched whiskey. "Why didn't you just lead with that? Where's this Vulture of your?"

"Does that mean..."

"Of course I'm in. Now take me to this new ship of yours."
 

Mai Azuka

Mai Azuka
Revenge​



We board the Vulture and head into the cockpit. I was now wearing a black Remlok suit underneath a pair of blue jeans and black leather jacket. A somewhat casual look for a trader in the void. Cammy on the other hand looks more like she was ready for war, wearing a similar black flight suit, bright red leather jacket, and black military style combat jeans with built in utility pockets to go along with the three holsters housing her guns. I watch her as I follow her into the ship and couldn't feel more out of place, as close as I was ready for a gun fight was my old 9mm pistol I have tucked between the back of the jeans and the flight suit. The there's the Vulture itself. The vessel is so much different from the Lakons I normally fly. Cammy sits at the co-pilot's seat as I stand over the helm, placing my hand on the flight stick and staring at the HUD. My mind starts to flood with doubts. I wasn't ready for this. I had nothing to go on other that a video of the ships. I had no motive. Hell I barely had reason to think these people were after me. All I knew is some out there attacked my dear Hope. And I want, need revenge.

"So what's are first move, Boss?" Cammy asks as she throws her feet up on the panel.

"Boss?"

"She's your ship. I technically work for you. Or should I call you Commander?"

"Save all the fancy titles for people that that matters to. To be honest, I was hoping you had some ideas on where to start."

"I got one. Last name Azuka, first name Jin."

"Yeah, no. I'm not bringing this to my brother's attention."

"Why not? He has the resources to find these guys."

"You know why. Jin is a control freak. He'll claim he'll handle and leave me out of the loop entirely. That is until he gets a chance of a big payday, then he'll drop looking into it all together and the trail goes cold. I can't risk this with him." I explain

"Well lucky for us I have quite a few of my own resources." And sits up, powering up her panel and opening the galaxy map. "I know a guy in Heikegani that specializes in finding ships belonging to people on the wrong side of the law. Plus he owes me a favor for saving his life once."

"Heikegani? Torval space."

"Yeah I think it's still under the old hags control."

"That... Might be an issue. I kinda made a local gang there mad back when I was still running with my brothers. This ship's registered in my real name."

"Good. Might give us a chance to break her in a bit." Typical response from Cammy as usual. I might live to regret this. "I'll get our course laid in."

"You never change do you Cammy."

"If I did you'd be lost by now. Beside, my job's way more fun than hauling beer and scrap around."

"Remind me why I came back here for you?" I say with a bit of a sarcastic tone before taking the helm and powering up the Vulture.

"Because ya love me baby." She says as I power the thrusters. "By the way, You got a name for this bird yet?"

"Yeah... I thought of one..."

I trigger the pad to move the ship out of the hanger into the dock. I receive clearance from the star port to launch. The Vulture lifts of the pad and lines up with the slot. I max out the throttle and rocket out of the station, lining up with the orange ridicule on the HUD to make the jump to the next system. The countdown starts as the Frame Shift Drive charges, sending Hope's Revenge into Hyperspace.
​
 

Mai Azuka

Mai Azuka
Combat​



Heikegani System: Imperial Jurisdiction



We arrive and back for the station in search of Cammy's contact who was held up at a local bar. I set the throttle in the blue zone and line up for Bartelett Gateway. The system traffic turns out to be relatively low, only a few Haulers and a pair of Sidewinders. My earlier thoughts of being attacked subsides for a while. That is it did until we got under 10 light seconds of the station.

"Mai, I think your worries might have been justified." Cammy comments breaking my ease of mind.

"Why?" I ask not liking her tone.

"I just picked up two new contact, Asp scouts heading straight for us. If I'm right about them, it's Vector and his boys."

Vector, the leader of a small time gang known as the Silver Marauders. Back when the Ten Swords were trying to rebuild after my father's death we clashed several times in the sector before Jin eventually gained control of the area. Before I could even to respond Cammy, my new ship is caught by the tether of the interdiction. I max the throttle and aim for the escape vector trying to fight off being pulled into normal space.

"Damn!"

"No Mai, Submit. I know these guys. The harder you fight the more damage you'll take when you drop."

"But I can win this!"

"Ha! No you can't. Trust me, you'd rather fight them. But let me try something first." Cammy casually comments diverting power to weapons.

Against my gut instinct, I do as she says and throttle down, dropping into normal space. The pair of Asps drop in on our six and deploy weapons. I open our own hardpoints and throw the Vulture around to face the two ships.

"Well well well. If it isn't the Mai Azuka. You got a lot of nerve showing up here." The pilot of the green scout states over the comms.

Cammy signals for me to remain quiet before clearing her throat.

"Vector? That you? It's Cammy."

"Cammy? The hell is this?"

"You know I work for the Swords. I'm using Azuka's ship for a job. You don't want to hold me up here."

"Jin knows the deal darling, he keeps clear of Bartelett and we stay off Adams Orbital."

"Yes I know. I'm not working for my boss right now. I just need to meet with Carter. Be a doll and let my pass. I'll make it worth your while."

There's a brief pause and I look back at my co-pilot. She smile at me and shakes her head.

"Alright on one condition. You let my guy board that ship and we escort you to the station. To insure you're being honest with us."

I shake my head cutting at my neck to tell her that's a no go.

"Any other time I'd take you up on that offer. Can't you just follow me to the station?"

"Afraid it's my way or you High Wake out. Unless you're lying about who's ship this is."

Cammy swears under her breath and kills the comm.

"It was worth a shot. Kill his drives." she says to me.

The comms going down was all the Asps needed to open fire on us. I charge ahead exchanging laser as I part the gap between the two. I tuck in behind the green craft and unleash a full volly of Burst Lasers into its shield. The second Asp does it's best to work down our shields, forcing me to break off my attack.

"Cammy, Are they running gimbals?!" I shout as I twist and spin out of the firing arch of the second Asp.

"Vector's crew can't hit a planet without em!" she responds and triggers a disbursement of chaff.

Sure enough they lose their focus on my vessel and I rush back for the first ship, forcing it's shields down before the chaff dissipates. The second Asp forces my attack to stop and loop around to face it. I throw the Vulture into a full reverse and spin shooting at the second ship. Both our shields take a beating but Hope's Revenge's are tougher, lasting long enough to take the second Asp's shields down. I throttle forward and blow past the ship for the first ship, targeting it's drives. The Class 3 Burst make quick work of the thrusters on the green Asp, forcing them to malfunction as the second ship finishes off our shields.

"Cammy, Chaff and Silent Running." I calmly say taking into account the swing in the fight.

The vents on the Vulture close and I bank around to attack the second vessel. The Asp can't strike another shot while my own weapons do a number of its hull. It spin out of my arch and retracts it's weapons, charging its FSD to jump away. I open comms with both ship.

"No hard feelings Vector." I say to the pilot of the green Asp.

"Azuka... I knew I was right."

"Listen, whatever differences we had was a long time ago. I'm done with that life. I'm only here to meet with a contact."

"You think you're words mean anything to me sweetheart?"

"No but the credits I'm sending you now should." I say and transfer more than enough to repair both ships from the fight. "Get you're birds fixed up and buy a couple drinks on me. Once my business here is done you'll never see me again." I add retracting weapons and charging our FSD.

"Tsk. You better hope I don't." He responds as Hope's Revenge jumps back into supercruise.




(OCC: Special thanks to Momoka for writing the fight for me since I've been way too busy with work and family to get this part out sooner. I'll be posting more regularly once work slows down to a normal pace.)
 

Mai Azuka

Mai Azuka
Calling in Old Favors ​




Bartelett Gateway
Heikegani System: Imperial Jurisdiction




Cammy and I arrive at the bar where we were to meet her contact. The place was far more shady than most of the bars I'm used to, being nearly fully loaded with pilots smoking Onionhead, trading illegal firearms in plain sight and cozening up with with the local dock stalkers. I tense up slightly knowing there was an impending bar fight with my name on it ready to start with the first rejection of a drunk who's sure to grab my hand or other parts of my body I'd rather they'd avoid. Cammy looks back to me and sees the look of distaste in my eyes.

"Don't worry, most of these guys know me. If they see you're with me they won't try anything." she says, not really doing much to ease my tension.

We head to the back room of the establishment guarded by a tall dark man with a sub machine gun in hand. He stops us signals for his partner standing in the corner, a shorter bald guy in a suit.

"Ladies. I'm afraid weapons aren't allowed beyond this point." the shorter guy states, making me even more tense. Cammy hands the man her rifle as I hand him my only weapon. "All of them." He adds since Cammy doesn't hand over her pistols.

"Dave It's me. When have I ever giving you Ice & Fire." She replies referring to her guns.

"Tony wants you completely unarmed after last time dear." He says and produces a small briefcase to hold the pistols.

"Fine. But only if Jonah holds them. I trust him more than you." she says and gives the weapons to the bigger man.

We head inside the room which is setup more like a hotel room than a backroom to a bar, with large bed with silk sheets, two love seats opposite of it, and a large hot tub at the back of the room with a man and two women in bikinis sitting together inside waiting for our arrival.

"Cammy my dear. It's been all but two minutes." The man says as he waves us over.

"What are you talking about Tony? It's been at least a month since I've been here."

"Picking up the pace on our little visits. And I see you've brought a very pretty friend this time."

"Ah. She's actually the reason we're here. Anthony Saga, meet Mai Azuka." Cammy says.

"Pleased to meet you." I say and bow to the man as he stands from the hot tub.

"Azuka? I didn't think the Ten Swords has such beautiful leaders." He says and takes my hand his his.

"Easy Tony, she's spoken for. Besides we got business to take care of." Cammy says pull the man's hand away.

"Hm. Always one for business. You used to be more fun." He says and snaps his fingers. The two women stand and grab a robe and cigar. They dress him and light the cigar placing it between his lips.
"Anyway. How can I be of service this time?" he says and takes a quick puff of the cigar.

I bring up the video and show the Vultures to the man.

"We need the name and location of the crew that flies this emblem."

He snaps his fingers again and one of the women hands him a holo pad. He downloads the video and analyzes the film for a moment.

"I don't recognize the crest off the bat but I'm sure this is a known gang. Where was this taken?"

"Lave Station."

"Hm. I can identify them easy enough but tracking them done could take a few days. It's going to cost you."

"How much?" I say and Cammy cuts me off.

"This one is on the house." she says.

"I don't do on the house deals Cammy. Even for the Azuka clan."

"Remember that favor you owe me Tony. The battle in Morgor that cost me my Clipper. I'm cashing that in on this one. Every resource you got goes to this. Not one expense is charged to her. Understood?" She commands.

He looks at me with a slight tilt to his head then back to the serious look on Cammy's face.

"You're sure you want to cash that in now?"

"As serious as a Thargoid attack."

"Okay..." he says and snaps his fingers again. The two women hand him his wrist comms and quickly leave the room. "This must really mean a lot to you if you're going to pull all my resources."

"More than you could ever know..." I whisper under my breath.

"I'll see to it you two have the best hotel rooms in the masters tower. Wait there to hear from one of my contact in a few days."
 

Mai Azuka

Mai Azuka
Memories of Better Times ​



Cammy and I arrive at the hotel room arranged by Anthony Saga. I was taken by surprise by the high end accommodations after meeting in the slum that was the bar we met the man in. The room was more along the lines of imperial taste, the paintings on the walls alone undoubtedly worth more than my ship. Flashes of the life I left behind cross my thoughts as I enter the room. It was much in line with my father's style to be in such a place, which is probably why Saga booked it for us.

"Not bad Tony, I knew that perverted old man was good for something." Cammy says as she tosses her overnight bag onto one of the two king size beds.

"Does he usually not set you up with a room like this?"

"Ha. I'd be lucky if he didn't throw me a pillow and tell me the floor's comfortable this time of year. Like that made any since. He must have taken a liking to you."

"Or is hoping to make a connection to my brother." I respond and sit on the second bed, dropping my own bag on the floor next to it.

I check my comms again for any messages, still nothing. Cammy catches my actions out the corner of her eye as she removes her jacket.

"That's the forth time you've checked that thing since we left the bar."

"Yeah... I know, I'm just."

"Checking on Hope. I'm sure the doctors will let you know if there's any change."

"Yeah..." I reply not really paying my partners words any attention and staring at the comms.

Cammy disarms and sits on the bed to remove her gravity boots, looking up at my eyes which are fixed to the device on my arm.

"You never actually explained that you know." She says breaking my focus.

"Explained what?"

"You and Hope. How the hell did that happen? I mean you and Momo were like boy crazy back in school. Didn't you like Jun?"

"Jun? God no, I couldn't stand Jun. Why was everyone trying to pair me up with him?"

"Cause he's hotter than an O Class star going supernova and he had a thing for you."

"Momoka was boy crazy. I just went along with her as a wingman. I couldn't care one way or another about Jun."

"But his sister you wanted a bite of?"

"Shut up. Baka." I reply chuckling at her comment.

"Gomen Nasai. Just trying to make you laugh."

"Well it worked." I says and look off to the window looking out at the stars for a moment before lying back on the bed. "You know how in the movies when you meet someone for the first time. That moment when their eyes get all big when they stare at the person to show they've instantly have fallen for them."

"You mean the cheesy minute and a half ten minutes in to the movie when they reveal the hot chick in every film? Yeah."

"Cheesy or not, that's what happened to me. I saw her and that was it. KO. I was out for good."

"You just knew? Just like that?"

"Just like that. She had my heart before I knew her name." I say look back out at the stars. "It just took awhile before I knew she felt the same way about me." I explain as my thoughts wander back to the early days of our relationship.

Cammy stands to change out of her flight suit.

"As much as I want to hear more, we should probably get some sleep. Tony tends to work faster than he says. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a lead by morning. You want to use the shower first or should I?"

"Yeah... You go on. I'll be fine." I say back still looking out into space.

"Okay... Mai, we're gonna find these guys. I promise you that." She says.

I respond with a slight nod and shes heads off to the shower. After a few moments in the silence as my thought focused fully on my past, my eyes grow heavy and I slowly drift to sleep.


----


She stood before me, 4 foot 11, very petite, long flowing brown hair with blonde highlights, beautiful green eyes and a smile that could melt Archon Delaine's heart, wearing a pretty white blouse with a black skirt, white thigh highs and black heals. She tucked a few loose strands of her hair out of her face as she turned in my direction to enter the school. She tucked her holopad in her arm as she's met by a boy, giggling at a comment he makes as they make their way towards us.

"Mai, you listening to me?" my twin sister said as she handed me her tablet.

"What? Yeah. I heard you Momo..." My voice trailed off as I continue to stare at the girl.

"Did you... Just call me Momo?" She asked with a stunned pitch in her voice since I never use her nickname to address her before looking in the same direction as the two new kids. "Oh. I see. That's Jun. He started yesterday. They moved here from Alioth last week. He's hot I know."

"Uh huh... Who's the girl with him?"

"Ah that's Hope. She missed yesterday, I think she's in Earth History with us." Momoka explained while taking notice to the look on my face. "Come on, I can introduce you."

"Huh? N-no. That's okay."

"Oh don't give me that shy girl thing, Mai sama. We're Azukas. They're gonna find out about us anyway. Best to get on there good side if you want a chance at him." Momoka said as he walked behind me and pushed me by my shoulders towards them, stopping just in front of them. "Hey Jun. You remember me right, Gym class, you confronted that guy with the sky ball that took my jacket."

"Ah yeah, Momoka right. Nice to see you again. Keeping out of trouble?"

"Hehe, hardly. So this is your sister?"

"Yeah. Momo, meet Hope Parker." The boy said as the girl stepped forward.

"Nice to meet you." she said and shook my sister's hand.

"Kawaii... I mean, nice to meet you too." she responded making me blush.

"Kawaii? I should know that word..." Hope said playing with the loose strands of her hair.

"It means adorable in ancient Japanese." Momoka stated. The understatement of the century I think. "I should introduce my sister. Jun, Hope, this is my twin sister Mai Azuka."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." I responded and bowed to them both.

"Kawaii..." Hope said turning my slightly red face into the fusion of a red giant. "I mean nice to meet you."

I looked up at her and could only slightly smile as my heart started to beat out of my chest.

The first bell rang for class and the students began to scramble for their respected classes.

"We should get to class, I can't be late for Pilot's Ed again." Momoka said.

"Yeah. This school is a lot different from any Alliance school I've been to before. I'm heading to Astro Physics but don't know the way." Hope said.

"I... I'm heading to the same class now. I could take you." I nervously replied.

"Ah that's great. We can go together." she said and walked up to my side.

We headed in the direction of our class and I nervously started to strike of a bit of small talk with the beautiful girl. I was doing everything I possibly could to not let on to the fact she was having a serious effect on my mind. I never felt the feeling I had in that moment before. All I truly knew is I was being strongly pulled to her. I wanted to know absolutely everything about this girl, to be as close as I could possibly be to this girl. I didn't stop to question it or wonder why I had this feeling for her. I just knew in that moment, all that filled my mind was this girl...
 

Mai Azuka

Mai Azuka
The Hunt Begins ​



I awake to Cammy ending a conversation on her comms. She crabs my bag and pulls out my flight suit and tosses it to me while I rub my eyes.

"We got a hit. Get dressed. We need to move out." She says grabbing her weapons.

"Saga found them?" I reply in groggy voice.

"Not them per-se but someone with ties to them. I'll explain everything on the ship. We don't have a lot of time." She states.

That remark and the tone of her voice was plenty to snap me awake. I hurry out of bed grabbing the suit.

"I'll just shower on the ship. You can take the helm right?"

"Ha. That's why you brought me on? To be your chauffeur?"

"Among other things." I jokingly respond pulling on the suit. "Where are we heading?"

"He Bo. Apparently the guy we're after is part of the Sons of Icarus."

"Lovely. Our first lead's taking us to an anarchy."

"Oh you'll love it." Cammy jokes as I follow her out the door heading for the docks.




Once in hyperspace, Cammy pulls up the Galnet profile of the man we're looking for.

"Baal Adamis. Age 22, rumored to have ties with the House of Jera. Current registered ship is an Imperial Eagle."

"You said he wasn't one of the Vulture pilots. So who is he?"

"According it Tony's sources, the House of Jera has been making moves in the Lave Cluster. They sent this guy to handle the deal." She explains and brings up a image of the man boarding a familiar ship.

"And hired an pair of escorts flying Vultures with our mysterious emblem."

I analyze the picture of the man, taking his face into memory. And making the job easier, he's flying an Imperial ship in Alliance space. Spotting and Imperial Eagle in He Bo of all places should be relatively easy. I just hope he's willing to talk without us needing to resort to violence.


----


He Bo System: Anarchy



We arrive in the system in question next to the massive blue white star. We head for the main station Krylov Ring being mindful of our surroundings knowing there was a chance of an attack on us. The Sons of Icarus were a pirate faction who seemingly overnight took over He Bo from the Alliance months ago. Since then the system has fallen into Chaos. I've already had a few chance encounters with their pilots on board the Minerva so I knew their ruthlessness. However I also knew that they had somewhat positive respect for other pirate groups. I have hope that they'd so the same respect to the Azuka name and allow Cammy and I to find this guy in peace.

We reach the station with no trouble but that meant next to nothing since the security force was none existent. Once docked and making our way to a bar popular to local pilots we were quickly reminded of that as gunfire erupts ahead of us. Cammy and I take cover as a gang of pirates exit the establishment and run for the lift taking them to the docks. The seen eerily calms rather quickly and the location returns to a bizarre normal. We glance at each other briefly excepting things had calmed and continue on to the bar. We enter to find the owner of the bar picking up the bar stools, righting them before looking over his shoulder at us.

"We're closed." The old balding man says walking over to sweep up broken beer bottles scattered across his floor.

"I'm sorry. We're just here looking for someone." I reply

"As you can see, no one is here ladies." He states in frustration.

Cammy sighs and I step up to the old man, taking the broom from his hand and continuing his job of cleaning up for him.

"We just need to ask a couple questions sir and we'll be out of your way."

Cammy chuckles to herself for a moment and helps out, flipping a table back to it's feet and setting it's chairs back to their vertical position.

"Fine. What do you need?"

"A few days ago you had a pilot frequent this bar. An Imperial kid, pale skin tone, standing 5'6" spiky blonde hair and green eyes."

"Ah. Yeah he's one of my few regulars I've got left since this Icarus gang moved in. Kid thinks he's some kind of hero around here since he started claiming bounties around the system."

"You have any idea of where we can find him?"

"Find him? I... I don't know..." The man hesitates thinking the worse.

"We just need to talk to him. He might be able to help me find some dangerous people that hurt a friend of mine. I just need his help."

"Yeah... Yeah. He's usually in the extraction sights out near Roddenberry Station. He stops in here when he needs rearming or repairs to his I Eagle."

"Thank you sir." I say and step over to the old man, handing him a data chip with a small amount of credits on it.
 

Mai Azuka

Mai Azuka
In the Rings of He Bo ​



We drop into the ring to find several large crafts going about their business. The larger of the ships being well armed Pythons let loose a swarm of collector drones as their mining lasers work free the metals of the asteroids. Hope's Revenge heads deeper into the rocks in search of its target detecting several other ships of various type, none of which was our Imperial Eagle.

"Anything?" I ask Cammy as my eyes wonder around the ring.

"A few Vipers, three Cobras, more Python than anything. No Eagles though."

I bite down on my tongue thinking we may have missed our target for a moment but then notice that other than the mining lasers, there wasn't any sign of weapons fire anywhere.

"He might be running cold waiting for pirates to make a move. Keep an eye on the sensors. I got a feeling he's here."

Cammy glances up at me as I continue to scan the field of view. She keys in a few commands then looks back to me.

"You know. You kinda surprised me back there."

"What? How?"

"With the old man at the bar. I was sure I was gonna have to sweet talk the man to get a lead. But you just cleaned the place and he spilled."

I turn my head slightly to look back to her.

"It wasn't like there was much to spill. We just needed to know where to find a guy."

"Nah it was more than that. You still got it."

"Got what?"

"That feeling for people. You know how to get people to do what you want."

"I think you're overthinking it."

"Somehow I doubt that." she says and spots laser fire out the corner of her eye. "Contacts three o'clock. Three Vipers attacking one of the Pythons."

I throttle up and bank starboard to head for the fighting. The three ships swarming the Python have no trouble downing its shields before we got within weapons range. A quick scan of all three insures me that they all are wanted in other nearby systems. I let loose an opening volley of burst laser fire, gaining the attention of two of the Vipers. They quickly break off their attack on the mining ship and focus their weapons on the Vulture.

"Mai, Addition contacts! Two Cobra MK IV engaging the Python... And an Imperial Eagle closing in!" Cammy states.

"It's him..." I start to say before the ship OS cuts in with an Under Attack warring.

The two Vipers made their intentions very clear. Working away the first ring of my shields in mere seconds. Hope's Revenge isn't specked out with the best internals, making this fight more difficult than I would prefer, but the agility of a ship of her class made of for that. I order Cammy to disable the fight assist and using the surround asteroids as cover, I dance around incoming fire from the two vessels, taking several shots each time one of the ships came into view to slowly rip away their defense.

The first Viper's shields are down in no time. Rather than doing the same to the second, I throw the Vulture around and boost out from my cover after the first. The heat of the class three burst lasers melt away parts of its hull and sends shards of metal flying out into space. Before I could finish off the first ship, the second Viper boost by our canopy, wildly throwing itself around unleashing a barrage laser fire into our shields. I bank to the left and spiral out of the line of sight of the second ship and boost for cover behind a nearby rock.

"Cammy, the Eagle." I quickly state still focused on the current threat.

"He and the Python are taking on the other three ship." She explains as the the two Vipers boost after us.

I knew the chances a single Imperial Eagle and a mining fitted Python against three ships who sole purpose was combat was slim at best. But if I could manage to finish off these two Vipers, throwing a Vulture in the mix could more than likely even the odds.

"Engines to full. Let the systems idle." I order.

"What are you thinking?"

"You'll see in a sec."

I flip the vessel around and charge head on for the Vipers, putting my full attention on the damaged one. I pull the trigger and empty the weapons charge on its hull, crippling it to nearly nothing. I hit the boost and aim square for the Viper and collide with the craft, sending it spinning into a nearby asteroid and to its doom. The impact collapse the bi weaves but we are now one on one.

Chaff out and silent running on, the gimbals hardpoints of the remaining Viper have no chance of hitting us. My Vulture's class three's on the other hand make quick work of its shields and rips open its armor. A lucky shot to its power plant brings the ship to a dead spin and I do the same to it's drives insuring it couldn't fight.

"Hail the Eagle!" I shout to Cammy as my focus shifts to getting to them as quickly as possible.

The man we came to find appears on my HUD with a look of slight panic on his face. It was clear he was at a disadvantage against the remaining wing.

"You the Vulture pilot?" the kid says over the comms.

"I am. We have your back Commander. Let us worry about the Cobras." I respond and boost into the fight.
 
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