Submitting to interdiction is a sound strategy if you are outgunned. You just have to pray you have a faster ship. By submitting, the Frame Shift Drive recharges faster, allowing you to jump away once again in a short amount of time. If you are knocked out of supercruise by interdiction, not only will your ship spin like mad, but your FSD will be useless for longer.

Not what you want when hunted by a ship made up entirely of weapons, like the Vulture.

I had formed a strategy that revolved around running as fast as I could, and screaming for help. Elysium Corp. was doing consulting services one system over, not even 20 light years away, which was why I was here in the first place. There was a good chance they could dispatch help.

The Vulture interdicted me once more, and this time, managed to open fire and land a few shots as I tried to gain distance and charge for a jump. My shields slowly being depleted, I was feeling less and less optimistic about my plan and my chances of surviving this.

This was certainly an unwelcome turn of events. I thought. I was just doing my job, not hurting anybody. At least nobody worth mentioning. I was not sure, but I had a suspicion on why I was being attacked. I recalled Timonthlys briefing before sending me on recon duty.

“As you know, there exist several departments in Elysium Corp.” Timonthly said. Every time he talked about corporate structure, his eyes lit up and his face glowed with the glee of a child talking about his favourite cartoon. “The Department of Commerce, department of Mining, and Department of Diplomacy you know already. They are the public face of Elysium Corp. Other Departments, such as [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] you may have heard about during your time here. Their activities require a certain amount of discretion. Right now we need you to assist what I like to call the Department of Martial Strategies.”

I nodded. “Martial Strategies? Are those the guys with the big ships and all the lasers?”

Timonthly chuckled. “Yes, that would be them. Our intelligence services have been working closely with Martial Strategies, conducting ship scans and ship movement in this sector. No, no, no need to make that face, you won’t be parked outside the station scanning traffic again. It’s similar, but goes a bit further than that. Allow me to explain.”

“There are considerable changes underway in the galaxy, and we are presented with the opportunity to consolidate our control of this particular system. We have been providing our consulting services to [REDACTED], but despite our expert work, they have failed to properly make use of the advice, information, and services we have provided. They continue to disregard our logistics information and implement our suggested changes to their politics and practices. This has led to system instability, a failed war, and their rivals all competing for control, further destabilizing the system.”

“I believe it is our responsibility to restore order, and truly develop [REDACTED] system’s full potential.” He continued. “There are still many steps into achieving this goal, which is why he have developed a comprehensive business strategy that will benefit the system, our clients, and Elysium Corp. bringing a better quality of life and economic prosperity to every station and outpost in this system. Don’t look at me like that, who said we didn’t have a heart?”

It was my turn to chuckle “Always knew you were a true philanthropist.” I said.

“The Department of Commerce has mapped out some very effective trading routes, and we have increased commercial traffic thanks to that. Department of Mining has been working the resource extraction sites and been making quite a profit. But they both have reported ships belonging to the Federation. In particular, they have seen an increase in pilots pledged to Zachary Hudson. That raises concerns.”

The brief time I had spent working for Elysium Corp. was enough to know of the troubled history between EC and those pledged to Zachary Hudson. In particular, their propensity to approach interstellar business with violent force. Nice bunch of guys, truth be told, when they were not shooting anything that would earn them the smallest bit of profit.

“Intelligence wants you to keep a close eye on ship movement, pilot name and rank, and if possible, weapon load-out.” Timonthly said. “If you can scan their cargo hold for illegal products, or if they carry propaganda, that would be a plus. Don’t engage, report them to Martial Strategies, they will deal with them.”

With that, he dismissed me, and I set off on my Asp to peek under other ship’s skirts.

Which is how I presently found myself being shot at. My ship shaking and shuddering, alarm bells blaring, and my FSD not charging fast enough.

My shields dropped and I pushed the throttle as hard as I could, diverting all power to engines. You can tell when you start to take hull damage by the sounds your ship makes. It is not a pleasant sound. It’s the kind of noise that haunts you.

I jumped, ready to suffer another interdiction ordeal. I braced for the gut wrenching feeling of having your atoms yanked from light speed and gritted my teeth.

And then it got quiet. The shooting stopped.

I quickly looked down, and spotted a blue icon on my radar, the Vulture directly between me and the new ship.

Blue means friendly! I though ecstatically.

The Martial Strategies pilot swooped down on a Python, submitting my attacker to the interdiction torture I had been subjected to. If my grin got any wider, I would suffer irreparable facial damage.