BARANCAR, HIGH PARKING ORBIT, SOME DAYS AGO...
"Caution, sensor ping 40 degrees right... get a spotlight on it, will you?"
Helen watched as a light stabbed out from the rented Mu-class shuttle which carried the other members of the "house hunting" expedition. It played silently over an expense of dark, pitted metal, its surface pitted by thousands of years worth of micro-meteor impacts. It wasn't the object they were looking for, but it was in the same ballpark; a chunk of forgotten industrial materiel, evidence of an industry that had been old before the people who had settled Helen's home-world had even set out.
"Kriffing hell, you'd think the local 'OA would at least put some warning blinkers on these big ones, or something! What if our sensors were out?"
Helen, white knuckling the controls of her starhopper, gave a noise of agreement. Really, she and the others should have waited until their destination was back on the daylight side of Barancar, but the Lepi didn't want to waste time; every day the remaining staff of Holcomb Garages spent cooling their heels on their transport ship was more of the company's dwindling capital reserves shoveled into a furnace. Eventually, they wouldn't be able to start back up if they wanted to, and all the effort Helen had spent bringing the team together would be wasted.
"Place is a minefield. Once we get settled, we'll set some beacons ourselves; should be coming up on it soon though... ah, look!"
Emerging from the shadow of the planet, still some distance away, come the massive, curved shape of a space station. Hulk 854 was what the Barancar Orbital Authority called it, and according to what Helen had been able to learn about it, it seemed perfect for what Holcomb Garages intended to do. Long ago, it had been an orbital starfighter factory, supplying its wares to the military of an ancient warlord; these days it was supposed to be abandoned, and according to the Barancese government, free for anyone who could claim it and bring it back to some form of productivity. It and many stations like it were too large, old and historically interesting to be towed away for scrap, but they were becoming hazards to astrogation, and so very favorable terms were offered.
Helen and her employees could hardly argue with free, and so they had come out to take a look at the place.
"Great old gods... it's big, isn't it? Should give us more than enough room for a few production lines, a custom shop or two..."
Helen, staring out at the object, had to agree.
"Definitely big enough. We'll have to see what the inside is like; I get the impression most of these old factory platforms have been picked over by scrappers. There might be major systems to replace, definitely the living spaces will have to be-"
Abruptly, Helen leaned forward in her seat. She thought she had seen several lights detach from the station, flitting off into the dark. They looked like the exhaust flares of distant ships. And they seemed to be getting bigger...
"Oh hell, incoming!!"
Helen watched as a light stabbed out from the rented Mu-class shuttle which carried the other members of the "house hunting" expedition. It played silently over an expense of dark, pitted metal, its surface pitted by thousands of years worth of micro-meteor impacts. It wasn't the object they were looking for, but it was in the same ballpark; a chunk of forgotten industrial materiel, evidence of an industry that had been old before the people who had settled Helen's home-world had even set out.
"Kriffing hell, you'd think the local 'OA would at least put some warning blinkers on these big ones, or something! What if our sensors were out?"
Helen, white knuckling the controls of her starhopper, gave a noise of agreement. Really, she and the others should have waited until their destination was back on the daylight side of Barancar, but the Lepi didn't want to waste time; every day the remaining staff of Holcomb Garages spent cooling their heels on their transport ship was more of the company's dwindling capital reserves shoveled into a furnace. Eventually, they wouldn't be able to start back up if they wanted to, and all the effort Helen had spent bringing the team together would be wasted.
"Place is a minefield. Once we get settled, we'll set some beacons ourselves; should be coming up on it soon though... ah, look!"
Emerging from the shadow of the planet, still some distance away, come the massive, curved shape of a space station. Hulk 854 was what the Barancar Orbital Authority called it, and according to what Helen had been able to learn about it, it seemed perfect for what Holcomb Garages intended to do. Long ago, it had been an orbital starfighter factory, supplying its wares to the military of an ancient warlord; these days it was supposed to be abandoned, and according to the Barancese government, free for anyone who could claim it and bring it back to some form of productivity. It and many stations like it were too large, old and historically interesting to be towed away for scrap, but they were becoming hazards to astrogation, and so very favorable terms were offered.
Helen and her employees could hardly argue with free, and so they had come out to take a look at the place.
"Great old gods... it's big, isn't it? Should give us more than enough room for a few production lines, a custom shop or two..."
Helen, staring out at the object, had to agree.
"Definitely big enough. We'll have to see what the inside is like; I get the impression most of these old factory platforms have been picked over by scrappers. There might be major systems to replace, definitely the living spaces will have to be-"
Abruptly, Helen leaned forward in her seat. She thought she had seen several lights detach from the station, flitting off into the dark. They looked like the exhaust flares of distant ships. And they seemed to be getting bigger...
"Oh hell, incoming!!"
BARANCAR, BARANCAR PORT, CANTINA...
"So, that's the story." Helen said, hands wrapped around a tall mug of ale. "Myself and the shuttle barely got back; normally I could handle a squadron of Uglies, but I happened to be in a starhopper even slower and more poorly armed than they were. At any rate, I went back once I tracked down a proper fighter to snoop around in; turns out there's a reason nobody's claimed that station yet."
Withdrawing a small holoprojector from her pocket, Helen slid the device to the middle of the table, activating it as she did. The image displayed was a TIEhunter, a prominent emblem emblazoned on its fuselage.
"They call themselves the Duinarbulon Neo-Lancers. I gather that used to be some kind of famous military unit in this region of space, but these kriffs are nothing of the kind. What they are is numerous, and they've scraped together enough snubfighters to equip a few squadrons. The local cops can't or won't deal with them; I can't blame them really, this is far from the only pirate den in the system."
Helen shrugged, leaning back in her seat.
"The good news is, the Barancar Orbital Authority has a standard bounty on pirates, dead or alive. If we can clear them out, not only does my company get a place to work out of, but we all stand to make a stack of credits. Plus, once we're finally up and running, I'm willing to give you all first pick of new Holcomb Garages products."
The Lepi pilot looked around hopefully at those gathered.
"What do you think?"
Withdrawing a small holoprojector from her pocket, Helen slid the device to the middle of the table, activating it as she did. The image displayed was a TIEhunter, a prominent emblem emblazoned on its fuselage.
"They call themselves the Duinarbulon Neo-Lancers. I gather that used to be some kind of famous military unit in this region of space, but these kriffs are nothing of the kind. What they are is numerous, and they've scraped together enough snubfighters to equip a few squadrons. The local cops can't or won't deal with them; I can't blame them really, this is far from the only pirate den in the system."
Helen shrugged, leaning back in her seat.
"The good news is, the Barancar Orbital Authority has a standard bounty on pirates, dead or alive. If we can clear them out, not only does my company get a place to work out of, but we all stand to make a stack of credits. Plus, once we're finally up and running, I'm willing to give you all first pick of new Holcomb Garages products."
The Lepi pilot looked around hopefully at those gathered.
"What do you think?"