A new update for The Last Angel: Siren’s Song as Lucky prepares a daring and definitely well-planned out data heist on his current employers. Stealing from pirates is a really good idea, but it’s either that or wait for the Ghost to claim him as it has everyone else that laid eyes upon it. Of course, but the end of things, Lucky may just wish that’s what’s going to happen.
There’s a brief snippet below as Lucky and Emp’ta go over the plan to loot his former ship’s remaining data. As to whether they’re successful, check out the link above for the full chapter and enjoy!
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“My people have a saying,” Emp’ta had said. “‘The fastest runner falls hardest.’ Some consider this a warning against rapidity in all situations, but in doing so, they betray their lack of nuance and understanding of our culture.” She looked at him as if expecting the same.
“When you rush, the consequences can be worse than if you didn’t,” Liam told her. “Broken have a saying like that ourselves. ‘Haste makes waste’.”
The Thoughtful gave him a look Redfeather was becoming accustomed to, the one that said she was pleasantly surprised that he wasn’t quite as dumb as he looked. “A hurried operation is one more prone to failure, forgetfulness and a lack of accounting of variables,” she agreed. “But in these circumstances, I believe a hurried operation is our only viable option.”
Liam nodded in accord with Emp’ta’s evaluation. “They won’t leave the wreckage here indefinitely. Unmistakable Threat Display was a big ship. Approsa Drift’s bigger, but there’s only so many places large enough for it and the system doesn’t have a breaker’s yard that can handle something as big as a cruiser. Every day the Claws have the wreckage locked away is hundreds of credits burnt from unusable cargo decks and docks, power allocation and storage fees. They’ll be getting a salvage ship here as soon as they can.”
“You said you are familiar with the Proliferate Claws’ salvage yards?”
“I am.” ‘Yards’ was pushing it, but it was a workable term. The clan had several large high-security cargo levels and docks on Approsa Drift set aside for their operations. Normally it was a place to conceal looted cargo or smaller vessels until they could be sold to local buyers, chopped up for spare parts or dispatched to the clan’s central headquarters.
“Then our plan has its framework.” Emp’ta had downloaded schematics but he’d told her that they weren’t accurate. Approsa Drift, like most of its kindred structures, grew as new pieces were added to it. At any given point in time or space, the conglomerate citadel’s actual layout could differ wildly from blueprints as its inhabitants modified and customized the slowly-growing station. For an Unbound cartel like the Proliferate Claws, there were also security reasons for the layout of their decks not to match what was on the directories.
Liam had been to the yards several times and knew the layout. He could find his way around in the dark, and he might just have to. The Proliferate Claws had shut off gravity and life support in the sections filled with the remains of Unmistakable Threat Display. A dead ship didn’t need gravity, light, warmth or air. That was another problem he’d have to overcome, but he already had a solution in mind.
~
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