Poorly

Now, because Life pushes the limits of the rules, and I know there are cracks in them (which makes me wonder if they're intentional, or if the head honcho isn't actually all-knowing…) I figure it's only a matter of time before I'm face to face with my Mystic nominal opponent. No, he's not the real problem. A symptom, not the disease. But I'm not going to be able to treat that until around level nine or so… and it's risky.

Until then, I need to deal with the symptom.

When I'm done preparing, I go looking for another contract. I don't have the cargo space for goods… but I can scout, explore, or escort well enough… and I WANT risky stuff. I look around… ah, a merchant wanting to hire a little more firepower. Works for me. I sign up… go meet them… convince them that no, I'm NOT unarmed (they see my proxy, they hear my telepathy, they watch as I manage documentation without touching…) …get twenty percent down… and head out when the time comes, leaving Skydock behind.

The client's ship is a heavy freighter (the largest base cargo capacity that can still land on a planet) with a Colony Ship mod (which triples the storage space) and a large number of External Expansion Bays besides (adds cargo space, but makes the ship harder to handle), which means it has a LOT of cargo space… and is about as agile as a drunk cow. It has some shields, a turreted point defense weapon, but… well, there's a reason they wanted an escort. I launch with them on schedule, sync our Drift Drives, and off we go.

Three days into the trip, a Starship Drone comes into the edge of sensor range… and then my ship gives me an alert about powering up weapons. A quick scan of the drone confirms it is unarmed and unmanned… and then a twin blast from outside sensor range obliterates my employer's ship. I recognize the type of attack: A Persistent Particle Beam Cannon, a capital weapon… two of them firing together. It's followed immediately by two Masers (‘just’ Heavy weapons) coming from the same direction and hitting my ship, knocking out my shields on that side entirely and zapping half my ship's hull points

Yeah… no thank you. I engage the cloak and turn around… making a slow run for it, focusing my shields in the direction the blasts came from.

Sadly, it doesn't work. More of the drones swarm in. They're all unarmed, but they're just spotters, and while I'm sneaking, they're a lot faster than I am, and they can apparently see me when they get close (as evidenced by another blast). I switch to a flat-out run, but it's too late: My ship is disabled very quickly. Slowly healing, but a few minutes out from being able to move again.

And then the com cackles to life, an insanely attractive human-seeming human with blue eyes and blonde hair scowling at me… or rather, at my decoy. As soon as I see him, my loins burn and my heart thumps… ah, I think I get it. Life's champion. My body was literally built for him, so it responds.

He speaks to my decoy, “So, Dana… or should I say Dan?... my bitch of a patron wants me to collect you. Are you ready to renounce The Devourerer, surrender, and be boarded?”

I stall for time, speaking over the com by way of my data link, “Ah… what's going to happen to me if I do?”

“I'll put you in chains with the rest of my harem, and fuck you whenever I feel like it. Also, I can tell your ship is regenerating.” He pauses, “Stalling won't help, my weapons are hot and I'll just shoot you again.”

Figures, and oh, man do I have a hollow feeling inside that aches to be filled… that ‘offer’ shouldn't sound so good. “So you don't mind if I stall, then?”

“I'm just getting closer as you do,” he confirms, “this ship is slow, you're not getting away.”

“I figured.” I consider, “Hey, while we're waiting, I know why I agree that your patron is an evil bitch, can I ask why you do?”

“Oh good goddess she's abusive,” the man on the screen scowls deeply and rolls his eyes, “always telling me the only reason I can do anything is because she's backing me, ordering me around, letting me know that if I ever leave her I'll drop dead of old age… ugh.” He sighs, “But I'm here…”

Indeed he is. My sensors see him: He's piloting a base ship, the tied for the biggest ship in the game… and he was apparently shooting from the turret. The other four arcs of his ship are full of weapons blisters as well… that thing is a warship, pure and simple. It actually looks a lot like a design I might make if I had an unlimited budget… huh. Yeah, I'm outgunned. “Ah. Well, I guess it's time for my answer:” I take a breath, “No. I will not be a ****.”

“I can respect that,” the man nods as the giant warship's weapons blast my tiny little ship out of the Drift.