The Beginning of the End

I don't know why he picked me, I really don't. At first it was easy money. They were tests obviously. Like I cared. But then again, as the jobs got harder the rewards got bigger. I remember the first time like it was yesterday and it’s been the same every time. Some courier would show up with a letter about the mission and maybe even some containers with some pretty juicy gear that somehow he knew we would need for the job he wanted done.

Him. He. Mr. X as we call him. Who the hell knows who he really is. Frankly I don’t care anymore. Because of him my little company is a bit bigger and a whole hell of lot richer and better equipped. And this time it was most certainly the same, a courier from a local company with a letter and three crates.

I always read the letter first. Call me superstitious, but I wasn’t going to open the three crates he included without knowing what the hell was going on first.

Dear, Dear Frank,

I hope this letter sees you well my dear boy. This time I have another job for you and believe me when I say that this will be the most difficult task I have ever called on you to accomplish. I wish I had another alternative, but I’m afraid my back is against the wall here.

But enough doom and gloom. Knowing you as I do I’m sure you are reading this thoroughly before you dare open those precious crates so I will save you the suspense. I trust JB (as you have come to call him) has worked out well for you? He should be even more of an asset now.
Crate 1 – GrayMatter Robotics L5 Combat Processing sub-unit.

I believe Zeek is your computer man. I think you will find that this should fit him perfectly.
Crate 2 - Caterpillar Tractor Armored Division; MicroTitan Exo-Armor with integrated VenSys R970 DSD-MS Field Operations Computer.

And of course I would hate for Zak to feel left out, you know how twins can be. Jealousy is so much worse with that spiritual bond.
Crate 3 – Caterpillar Tractor Armored Division; MicroTitan Exo-Armor with integrated Future Arms G74 Auto Laser.

As usual, by the time you are done reading this your “fee” will have already been deposited to your account. I’m sure it will give you pause when you see two million credits are now yours. Don’t worry about it calling any attention to you, I’ve already taken care of everything.

You’re probably asking yourself “What the hell have I gotten myself into.” As I already mentioned, this is not going to be an easy one. In fact, this time our arrangement has an actual option for you. That is, for you to not go. Yes, you read that right. If after you have read this you decide you can’t go through with it then all you have to do is put this letter in your shredder. You can even keep the money and equipment. Of course I would not be able to call upon you again from that point on, but I can't in all good conscious force this mission upon you. However, before you make that decision I want you to know that I believe you can accomplish this task. It’s a task that must be accomplished. Its importance cannot be overstated. It may seem melodramatic, but the truth is that many innocent lives are at risk and that risk grows the longer this mission waits.

I’m sure you recall that many of the tasks you have done for me in the past have, at some level, involved a super-corporate known as Krieg Aerospace. Good old Dagwood Krieg is not, of course, the benevolent CEO and Philanthropist that his image portrays. But more of that when the time comes. For now I believe that one of Krieg’s isolated high security communication facilities holds a key piece to one of his larger and much darker plots. The details are sketchy at best and I’m not going to lead you down a wrong path by speculating needlessly.

What we need is for you to enter the Sirrus Deep Space Communication facility and download the contents of their computer network to the VenSys DSD. It’s a special version developed for us for operations of this type and so it has all the capabilities that Zeek will need to accomplish the task. The facility is on the Dandor peninsula on Sirrus 3, deep in the woods. Besides the usual Krieg rent-a-cops we believe the primary facility to be protected by at least one squad of Krieg’s “secret” combat troops, his self-vaunted "Legionaries". It is highly likely that they will have at least some advanced military weapons but we believe that Krieg feels the isolated location on a backwater planet is the facilities best security feature. After all Krieg has hundreds of comm centers throughout the galaxy, no one would think this one any different.

So, get in, get the info and get out. Use whatever means necessary, just get it done, and the sooner the better. Oh, and be sure and take JB along, I have a suspicion he will be needed.

Yours Truly


It usually makes me laugh, reading that ridiculous “Yours Truly” with no name attached. But this time I just didn’t find it funny. This was serious. Sure he’d given us some good stuff in the past, weapons, ammo, hard body armor, a nice computer upgrade and of course our trusty JobBot 1700, good old JB. But two suits of exo-armor? A friggin’ auto laser? Not to mention a DSD clearly beyond even Zeek’s wildest dreams. He’d always paid us good too, but two million creds is beyond anything I could even imagine, and on the up. No, this was way past serious.

He knew I was going to do the job. There was no question in his mind any more than there was a question in mine. The option to back out was just his way of being polite I think. The fact is that for some reason I trust this guy. And he, whoever he is, clearly trusts me. If he think it’s really that important then so do I.

Sirrus 3. It’s only a few days away using Dignity. I guess I better get Sheila to start prepping her for the trip.