I didn't find any jobs in the local bars, and soon found myself just outside the Shaula system, where Greenrock is. Independent as I am, and with a fleet more coordinated than that of the Free Worlds, I decide to throw caution to the winds, and jump in. There, I'm almost immediately locked onto by dozens of weapons, as the fleet Tomek encountered is still making its home in the system. I've surprised them, however, popping up in odd places with my jump drives, giving them little warning, and worse yet, giving them no time to launch their fleet.

What passes for a battle is over in minutes, as the ships on the ground are targeted by sunbeams just as they cross city safe zones, typically crashing in the midst of wilderness, or splashing down into oceans. Those in space find the more ordered attacks of my fleet harder to deal with, especially as the sunbeams are continuous weapons, not impact, allowing us to quickly switch between targets, taking out smaller ships first, and working our way up to the largest ones.

When we finally leave, the system is a junkyard, while most of the hulls unable to even get a joule of power out of their reactors. Heck, most will never fly again, thanks to the way we got them. Despite that, not a single one was destroyed, only disabled, and I watched as escape pods and shuttles ejected from the hulks, all going to the planet below. I also heard threats, insults, and other such on the comms, as the pirate captains declared they would get me for this, before I decided to leave.

Once out of system, I was quickly in range of a message from the Council, which told me to meet Alondo on Longjump, where a new mission would await me. With a smile in my heart, I made my way there, finding the field of ships to be mostly cleared away by now, only a few of the largest hulls still floating dead, as smaller ships scavenged them for parts. I ignored most of that while making my way down to the planet, Alondo coming aboard as quickly as he could, before looking at me with a disappointing gaze.

"I have good news, but I also want to know just what in the hell you were thinking? Tomek's still under house arrest for what he pulled, and you go and repeat his stunt. Why?" he demands, and I smile at him.

"His stunt was a bad idea because he went in prepared for a ground war, and was equipped as such. He wanted to hold that world, and that's why his invasion failed. I just wanted to make sure those pirates still in the system were not a threat, and thanks to him, it worked. They never saw me coming, and we've now got even more leverage against the system when we come in saying we can protect them against the pirates," I respond, and he looks almost ready to shout at me, before falling into a chair and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Fine, I can understand your reasoning, and it might actually work out for us. Still, don't do that again, at least not without checking with us first. We need to keep ourselves on the same gameplan, or everything can go south quick," he tells me.

"Alright, I'll at least shoot you a message, but I'm still independent as far as operations go. You don't have veto power over me," I responded, and he seemed to accept that.

"Good, good. Better news than your victory, however comes in the form of three new worlds willing to join us. New Portland, Dancer, and New India are all on the fringe of our space, and apparently think we'll give them a better deal than the Republic at this point," he told me, pulling out a sheet, and showing me the systems he was talking about.

"Hmm, why hasn't this been announced yet? The Senate should see this as a real coup, shouldn't it? I mean, systems are choosing the Free Worlds over the Republic," I ask, concerned about the implications.

"That's the rub. We were hoping to shift the systems to our side quickly and quietly, but Tomek's little stunt damaged or destroyed a large section of our fleet. Worse, the Navy apparently got word of the plan, and now have huge fleets patrolling the three systems, meaning a bloody battle could be in store when we move in, even if we're invited," he explained.

"No way to avoid a fight then?" I ask, and he goes all thoughtful for the moment, stroking his chin and everything, before pointing towards Earth on the map.

"There might be. I've used a few contacts to get safe passage for your fleet through Republic space, which is only possible because of their unique hulls. If you can take me to Earth, I can try to make a plea to Parliament in person. Maybe they'll listen then. If not, we can at least say we tried," he said bluntly, and I had to consider that for a moment. It could, after all, be a trap. My fleet was known to be the largest single force in the Free Worlds, and this would be a perfect opportunity to take out some of my ships, or maybe myself personally. Still, it might help avoid a battle, and I had to admit, that was worth a gamble.

"Okay, get to a bunk, I'm sure you can pick out a favorite. We'll leave in an hour," I tell him, and then make preparations for the journey. We launch out, and then jump through Republic space. Everywhere, the Navy gathers at worlds, weapons hot and ready, but at no point do they even lock onto us, giving us free passage through to Earth itself, where we're given a berth, and as soon as my ship docks, an escort of military uniforms comes up to take Alondo to the Parliament floor.

What follows is hours of waiting, as the closed session isn't broadcast at all, and several times I consider ordering violence, just in case he's been captured, or if it would possibly lead us to Katya. Each time I hold off, however, as I know taking that sort of action would only be a setback in the long run. My waiting game finally ends when Alondo is brought back, his face a twisted thing of both rage and sadness as he stomps on board, and demands a drink, simple milk, to calm his nerves, before finally talking to me.

"It doesn't make any sense. Those worlds barely pay taxes, as far away as they are. Just stationing those ships to defend them has got to be costing more than they'd pay back in years. They should be glad to see them go," he says after a while, and I shrug.

"Maybe their afraid of a domino effect. One system leaves, and others are going to want their freedom from the Parliament as well," I suggest, and he nods at me.

"Possibly. Amazing how callous those idiots can be with the lives of loyal Navy officers and personnel. It makes me sick," he says at last.

"No argument here. Shall we return to Longjump then?" I ask, and he shakes his head, while swallowing the last of his drink.

"Not yet. I refuse to believe this is the will of those who will be fighting. I have one more card to play. New Wales has the largest base in this sector, and houses the ones in charge of military affairs. Maybe they'll see reason, and prevent the politicians from throwing the lives of their men away on pointless gestures," he suggests, and I agree, taking us there with a few jumps. Sadly, we aren't allowed to land on the planet this time, instead, waiting in orbit as they arrange a direct connection. This is a show of faith on both sides, as it fully opens the systems of their base, and my ship, up to each other.

Despite that, the negotiations with them go poorly. They are a group of four Admirals, including the one I encountered with the Andersons, and while they are sympathetic to our cause, heck one of them is from the Free Worlds originally, they are unwilling to go against the Parliament. They do assure us that all steps are being taken to return our people to us, and even name drop Katya, who is currently being held in a Navy Intelligence facility. Still, after an hour of talking, they hang up.

"Well, at least they're willing to talk. Maybe when all this is over, they'll be the voices of reason to the Republic government," says Alondo dejectedly, as we set course for Longjump again. Once there, he transmits to JJ and the Senate the logs of his conversation with the Parliament and the Admirals. We wait onboard as they deliberate for an hour on what to do with the information. It's quickly decided to fly the flag in the three systems, and that my fleet will be the one to do it, as the Free Worlds forces are still recovering.

Alondo leaves the ship, to catch a transport back to Bourne, with his last order being to report to Trinket in the Sargas system. It will be the staging base for our attack on the three systems, though I can tell he's actually hoping the sight of my fleet will somehow unnerve the Navy forces, and maybe make them retreat. I'm less confident of that outcome, but I don't dissuade him of his optimism as I launch for those worlds, and find them crawling with Navy ships, more than I've ever seen before.

The fleets are on full deployment, all the time. Small ships flit about, doing various tricks, and showing off their speed, while the bigger ones fly in tight formations. None of them try to engage, but I know if I decided to, they'd hit me hard. I still think odds would be in my favor, as their fleets mass less than mine individually, but still, that many targets, and in dug in positions is not a good thing. Worse, I can see ground deployments as well, meaning it would be a real slog to take the worlds themselves.

After all that, I jump into Trinket to find it swarmed with ships. The sky of the planet is almost a contiguous cloud of metal, as ships of every size and description orbit around it. Small, single seat scouts, huge cargo vessels, and mid-sized luxury liners all share the space in a constantly spinning mob. Luckily, I'm given a priority berth, and land to find Freya waiting for me. She quickly takes the scans of the Navy ships, and I can hear her clicking her tongue as she scrolls through them, before turning to me.

"Hmm, lots of new models here, probably fast built at the Beetleguise yards. The real kicker though are these new weapons. I'm seeing some modded torpedoes, looks like they're designed with a new head to let them sink into a hull and do internal damage. And these new beams. They're on par with those alien weapons you're using," she said the last while bringing up the scan, and applying stats to it. I whistle at the stats given. The sunbeam I'd gotten from the Wanderers were better, but not by as much as I'd like.

"Does this mean we're calling off the attack?" I ask, and Freya just shakes her head.

"No, we can't afford that. Even if we didn't have uses for the resources of these worlds, we need to show the Navy we're a force to be reckoned with. It'll keep them and the pirates off us long enough to start spitting out ships of our own. Still, we could use some more data. Do you think you can grab one of these for us? I know Ijs says you had access to Navy grade scanners. Would that work for weapons too?" she asks, and it's my turn to shake my head.

"I'm afraid that was a one time deal, even if this probably weren't top secret. Still, I saw a lot of gunboats with those weapons, and my jumpdrives allow me to swipe things easy from those sorts of ships. It will mean engaging them, however. And if they take it as a sign to follow, I might be bringing a lot of enemies with me when I come back," I tell her, and Freya seems to consider this, biting the tip of her thumb a bit, before shrugging.

"It can't be helped. Get me that cannon, and I'll get more data on it. Try to avoid the big fleets, though. Maybe a patrol passing through Wei or Alnasi. They're probably moving convoys through those systems to the three defecting ones daily," she advises. I approve the idea, and set course.