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Freeze! This is OP.NET, the alternative source for security and combat professionals. My name’s Conva Maynard and I’m gonna need you to settle in, because we have a great show locked and loaded.

As always, I am legally obligated to remind our viewers that OP.NET is not affiliated with the Mercenary Guild, so you are getting one-hundred percent independent insight.

We’ve got a great show coming up for you. Skiv’s back from his holiday, and I guess he spent it working, because he has a ridiculously thorough breakdown on the age-old energy versus kinetic weapon debate. Feels like something people have been arguing about since the beginning of time: lasers or bullets. Skiv thinks he can put the debate to bed.

We’re also introducing a new segment called Tac-Talk where we’ll bring in working professionals to discuss tactics and strategies, both on foot and in your ship. We’re incredibly fortunate to have Leslie Devian, ex-Marine, current Merc and lifelong badass, come by to give you some tips on making the transition from ship to ground: how to approach and disembark without compromising tactical advantage, or even revealing your presence. I’m not a betting man, but I’ll put all my money on this being a segment you won’t want to miss.

But first, as our long-time listeners know, one of OP.NET’s fixtures has been the Job Board, where we pass along employment opportunities. Now, we always dedicate the intro of that segment to tell you how we do our best to vet each op, but advise you to validate the job lead yourself before committing to anything et cetera, et cetera.

Today, we get to skip all that because we’re getting the job lead from the actual job giver … or at least, an official representative. That’s accurate, right?

ADINA WINSLOW: I hope so.

Good, just like to make sure. Anyway, I am joined by Adina Winslow from Crusader Industries’ Security Division. Welcome.

ADINA WINSLOW: Thanks for having me. Hello out there.

Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself?

ADINA WINSLOW: Not much to tell, really. Came up on Borea, just outside Odyssa. Family had a protection service. Mostly low-end runs guarding haulers and such. When my brother got clipped, my dad retired and I hooked up with Crusader. Been there ever since. That was … eight years now? Jeez, time really goes.

Tell me about it. Hard to believe I’ve already been here a year. So I understand Crusader Industries is looking for a few good fighters.

ADINA WINSLOW: In a matter of speaking, yeah. As you know, Crusader Industries is responsible for the enforcement of UEE Common Laws and maintaining security in the area surrounding the world. Now, while Crusader focuses their Security Divisions to the more populated areas and trade lanes, there’s still a lot of space to cover. I’m in charge of three grids over Cellin which is a lot of space to maintain an acceptable security presence. I’ve only got about fifty security fighters and reserves under my command, so in short, we need help.

For full-time operators?

ADINA WINSLOW: Sadly, no. Crusader’s a signatory company with the Mercenary Guild, so you can’t be salaried security personnel. We have, however, received permission to enlist freelance non-Guild operators to help with additional security for the moons.

Okay, so for those out there who are interested, what should they expect?

ADINA WINSLOW: If you’d asked me a year ago, I’d have said we get all sorts of calls, but it’s pretty low-key. Hell, the highlight of one week was picking up a civilian drifting in open space.

Really? What were they doing?

ADINA WINSLOW: Just drifting. Apparently, he’d inadvertently disembarked before his ship engaged Quantum Travel. I’m lucky I found him.

But obviously you aren’t here to look for help picking up a patrol or watching trade lanes. From what you were telling me before the show, sounds like you’ve been getting hit pretty hard of late.

ADINA WINSLOW: Yeah. I’m not exactly sure when they rolled into the system, but a few months ago we started clashing with this outlaw pack. I initially thought they were just some roamers — you know, pulling hit-and-runs on cargo haulers or shipyards. Then after a week or so, they’d get bored or tired of taking hits from security and move on, but this pack’s been stepping up attacks; knocking out comm arrays, hassling haulers, one raid even targeted a restocking station.

You got any idea who this pack is?

ADINA WINSLOW: One of our pilots managed to pull ID off some tags on a ship during an attack. Linked the pilot to a pack called Nine Tails. Ran the name through a friend of a friend at the Advocacy who said they were pretty low on their list, but if you ask me, this is a professional crew with a lot of numbers and zero hesitancy about opening fire on either civilians or security personnel. It looks to me like they’re trying to stake a claim.

Say we got someone out there who’s just chomping at the bit to jump in and help out. What should they do?

ADINA WINSLOW: Normally, I would say to come out to Port Olisar and have a look around for yourself, but we’re stuck waiting for our new security outpost to come online. It was supposed to have been opened by now, but some kind of ventilation issue pushed the launch date back another week. Until it does, we can’t register any freelancers into the database. However, once we’re up and running, I’m expecting that we’re going to staff up quickly.

All right. Fair enough. If you’ve still got some time, can you stick around and answer some questions?

ADINA WINSLOW: Sure.

Great. We’re going to take a quick break, but when we come back, Adina Winslow will be here to answer your comms, followed by the inaugural edition of Tac-Talk. This is OP.NET.