So, I swing into this Empire system to collect on a few bounties. While I’m there I pull up the bully board to see if there’s anything going on, more out of habit than anything. I’ve been trying to ‘do my bit’ for the Federation for a while now, but man...all they ever talk about is combat stabilisers and battle meds. I mean, c’mon guys? There’s more to life. I’m expecting more of the same from the Empire. I mean, you’ve heard the stories? These are the bad guys, right? Instead, there’s this message saying the next system over is mad keen on beer, but they’re running low. Here is 7 tonnes of the stuff, but they need a ship.
A beer run? Now there’s a political message I can get behind!
I’m interested, but the trouble is I’m a Viper pilot. That means barely enough room for a bottle of stout and a pack of pork scratchings. 7 tonnes of beer? Not in my wildest dreams! But it seems a shame to let the poor people go thirsty, so I head for the shipyard. The other trouble is, as a bounty hunter, I don’t tend to run with much petty cash – just enough to cover my insurance - so all I can stretch to is a Sidewinder. Nice runner, good service history. The other, other trouble is there aren’t any 4 tonne cargo holds for sale. To fit the beer in, everything else is going to have to come out.
If I'm doing this, I'm doing it without shields. I’m going back beyond basics. Now I'm really interested.
I take off and I head out, shorn of all my usual swagger. The Sidewinder sounds shrill and feels flimsy. And since when we're these station doors so damn narrow?! I drop out of Frame Shift and the first thing I see is another CMDR approaching in a Cobra. Now, I tend to ply my trade in the sticks. I see other CMDRs once in a blue moon, and I've never had to fight one. Unarmed and naked, this would be an inconvenient time to start. I figure he's most likely to ignore me, but either way, the best thing to do is surely not stick around to find out. I do what I always do and set course for the nearest station. I'm about half way there when I remember I'm not engaged in my usual day-to-day vagrancy here. I can't just head for any station. The nature of the delivery trade is that they're probably expecting this beer at a specific station...
I'm in a bit of a flap from realising I might be heading in entirely the wrong direction and there are sharks in the water. I'm in the Contracts menu when the interdiction starts.
Panic.
What follows is the most intense 2 minutes of ED I've played. To submit is surely to die. The insurance cost would be trivial, but the beer! I'd never be able to show my face in my local again! Twice I'm down to a single blue block. Twice I redouble and fight back. I'm so shaken up on arrival that I request docking in a sort of fugue state, and then crap myself at the letterbox when I think I've forgotten to.
I'm completely hooked. I have a 2nd contract to run some food back to my starting destination, which passes smoothly enough. Then someone on the bully board is looking for a couple of slaves. I don't deal in slaves as a rule, but these Empire types aren't at all like the Feds would have you believe. Pulling a couple of kids out of some anarchy hellhole and giving them a decent life...well, that would be a good thing, wouldn't it?
And so another half dozen hours of ED bathe over me. I know I have my beloved Viper waiting for me like a warm hug, but right now I think I'll take another run in the cold.
A beer run? Now there’s a political message I can get behind!
I’m interested, but the trouble is I’m a Viper pilot. That means barely enough room for a bottle of stout and a pack of pork scratchings. 7 tonnes of beer? Not in my wildest dreams! But it seems a shame to let the poor people go thirsty, so I head for the shipyard. The other trouble is, as a bounty hunter, I don’t tend to run with much petty cash – just enough to cover my insurance - so all I can stretch to is a Sidewinder. Nice runner, good service history. The other, other trouble is there aren’t any 4 tonne cargo holds for sale. To fit the beer in, everything else is going to have to come out.
If I'm doing this, I'm doing it without shields. I’m going back beyond basics. Now I'm really interested.
I take off and I head out, shorn of all my usual swagger. The Sidewinder sounds shrill and feels flimsy. And since when we're these station doors so damn narrow?! I drop out of Frame Shift and the first thing I see is another CMDR approaching in a Cobra. Now, I tend to ply my trade in the sticks. I see other CMDRs once in a blue moon, and I've never had to fight one. Unarmed and naked, this would be an inconvenient time to start. I figure he's most likely to ignore me, but either way, the best thing to do is surely not stick around to find out. I do what I always do and set course for the nearest station. I'm about half way there when I remember I'm not engaged in my usual day-to-day vagrancy here. I can't just head for any station. The nature of the delivery trade is that they're probably expecting this beer at a specific station...
I'm in a bit of a flap from realising I might be heading in entirely the wrong direction and there are sharks in the water. I'm in the Contracts menu when the interdiction starts.
Panic.
What follows is the most intense 2 minutes of ED I've played. To submit is surely to die. The insurance cost would be trivial, but the beer! I'd never be able to show my face in my local again! Twice I'm down to a single blue block. Twice I redouble and fight back. I'm so shaken up on arrival that I request docking in a sort of fugue state, and then crap myself at the letterbox when I think I've forgotten to.
I'm completely hooked. I have a 2nd contract to run some food back to my starting destination, which passes smoothly enough. Then someone on the bully board is looking for a couple of slaves. I don't deal in slaves as a rule, but these Empire types aren't at all like the Feds would have you believe. Pulling a couple of kids out of some anarchy hellhole and giving them a decent life...well, that would be a good thing, wouldn't it?
And so another half dozen hours of ED bathe over me. I know I have my beloved Viper waiting for me like a warm hug, but right now I think I'll take another run in the cold.
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