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Entry #001:
Minerva Station is not a space station per se. More of a cluster of independent research labs, habitats and mines scattered all over an asteroid belt deep in Lumen Pyre sector. Scientists working in the belt were able to get their independence from the clans - too far away and two loosely populated to keep them under control, but too valuable to wipe them out. For years, they kept the status quo - trading their knowledge and expertise with all interested parties. Still, sometimes they needed some extra help to acquire assets - this time, one of their main algae farms was hit by some weird plague, and they have to restart the production.
Claudius "Mongoose" Huval was recommended as an "independent contractor" by a common friend. He sat in the dark cockpit of his starship "Yatahawal" and waited. For days now, "Yatahawal" was in a parabolic flight on an orbit of one of the largest planets of the system. All systems turned off - except for the life support. There was nothing to do, but wait and Claudius was good at waiting.
A blinking red alarm light of the radar alert - the target was incoming. The route provided by the scientists' leader, dr Abedi, turned out to be true - the merchant container was approaching and "Yatahawal" was on the intercept course. Such containers, launched from carrier ships stopping at Waypoints, flew without any crew, or drag - using gravitational assists of other planets to arrive at destination port. Unless, someone intercepted them in between...
Swear an Iron Vow [Weak Hit: 3 + 2 + 0 = 5 vs 7 | 2]
Claudius fired up the engines and run the diagnostics and recalculated the relative paths of his ship and the approaching container. Something was off - the cargo must have been bigger than expected and thus, had a slightly altered trajectory. Nothing the "Yathawal" couldn't manage, but the discrepancy was worrying. Mongoose launched the thrusters to alter his course.
Face the Danger [Miss: 1 + 1 + 0 = 2 vs 6 | 7]
Suddenly all lights on the cockpit went wild! The alarm sound was drowned in the terrible sound of metal scraping on metal, when "Yatahawal" crashed into the heavy container. Both vessels started spinning wildly, Claudius swore and switched to manual steering trying to even out the flight.
Face the Danger [Miss: 4 + 1 + 0 = 5 vs 8 | 5]
The situation started to look dire. Huval could hear the sound of tearing metal - something was torn off his vessel. His ship's thursters were not powerful enough to fight the container's intertia. The container itself was equiped with more powerful thursters, used to slow it down when it reached it's destiny. If we could get to their controls, he could stabilize the course and get out of this situation alive (and, with some luck, with cargo for Minerva Station).
First, he had to program his own ship to prepare for sudden velocity change. Frantically, he tried to remember which engine sequences and navigational algorithms he should use, he found a library that sounded right and loaded it to computer's memory. He cursed gain, looked up away from the console and slammed the switch to enable auto-pilot.
Secure an Advantage [Miss: 1 + 1 + 0 = 2 vs 5 | 6]
No luck again, one of the stern stabilisers just flew off into space. "Yatahawal" is going to need a longer stay in dry docks when they get back to Minerva. And more damage was coming, when the container's engine would engage. Claudius grabbed his helmet and run to the airlock grabbing his tools along the way. After a quick sequence, the door opened and he saw the hull of the container almost touching his bay door. Stepping onto the other ship was easier than he expected. Holding onto it, while trying to burn through the sealed door to the control compartment - not so much.
[Weak Hit: 3 + 3 + 0 = 6 vs 4 | 6]
He was in! He needed to ditch his tools, in order to crawl into the small compartment, but now he had access to the container's controls. No time to waste, he typed in the emergency break sequence and pushed the button.
[Weak Hit: 6 + 2 + 0 = 8 vs 8 | 3]
Everything slowed down, he could feel the deceleration trying to squash his organs, when at the same time, the diminishing spin made him sick. After 2 agonizing minutes, the burn stopped, and Claudius could assert that he was still alive and in one piece. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about "Yatahawal". Both stabilizers gone, port engine mangled and hooked with he container's hull - it looked almost as bad, as when Mongoose first found it. Still, the cargo was secured.
[Mark Progress: Steal Water shipment and deliver it to Minerva Station :3 boxes]
The original plan assumed, that Claudius would give the container a well calculated "nudge", and the gravitational well of the planet will do the rest - diverting the cargo from it's original path straight towards the Minerva station. Mongoose knew that would be hard, when he realized that the weight, size and course of the container were different from planned. Now, with break thursters depleted, velocity lost, and his shipped mangled - this option was impossible. Instead, he would have to prepare for long haul. Dr Abedi won't be happy for the delay, but she will have to make do.
With the course plotted, and makeshift tow in place, Claudius had the time to survey the container itself.
Gather Information [Miss: 2 + 1 + 0 = 3 vs 10 | 3] => [Fugitive] Strong Hit
Soon, he discovered why the information received from Vida Abedi was off - on top of legitimate algae transport, the transport was used to smuggle quite a few illegal goods as well. Advanced electronics and chemicals - highly regulated cargo under House's Como rule. This will bring a hefty profit and will make up for any delay he will make, but might bring in some unwanted attention. Especially, that some of the gear did bear the mark of House Domhan Artach - former "owners" of Claudius Huval.
With the survey done, Mongoose returned "Yatahawal" and fired up engines. With his ship in such a bad shape and with cargo in tow, the way back will take couple of weeks.
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