Ritter

Aspects

 * Pros and cons of kleptomania
 * Where's my dad?
 * I talk a good fight
 * I grew up in the void
 * the best laid plans
 * we can rebuild him
 * more than anything, I love that ship
 * the king can move his own pawns
 * The Finer Things
 * Eye of the Storm

Stunts

 * Military-grade Brokerage (can trade restricted/illegal arms)
 * Have a thing (Diplomacy's Failure)
 * Lucky (2/3/4 for consequences)

Equipment

 * Flight suit - Defense 5, Flexible, Lightweight, Pressure suit
 * Concussion pistol (beam weapon) - Harm 2, Penetration 1, Min Range 1, Max range 2, Disperse, Modal (Alternate focused mode has Penetration 2 instead of Dispersed), Fires concentrated sound waves.
 * Oscillating shiv in belt - Harm 1, Penetration 1, Stealthy, Versatile - can also be thrown to range 1-2,

Growing Up
Loki system, and a story like the majority of others on the fringe worlds - survival first, morals second. Bastard child of a miner and her foreman and while not publicly acknowledged he at least helped keep Ritter fed and clothed. Started learning some mining from my mother but had more fun sneaking off and befriending the other workers - and then returning with pockets full of their coins, rebreather canisters, lunches, and whatever else wasn't bolted down and then welded.

Starting Out
At age 15 or so - keeping track is always hard - Ritter managed to save/steal enough to go to school on Bayou. He packed his duffel, hugged his mom, and wedged himself between crates on a cargo ship as a stowaway. Turns out that the manifest for the ship was hiding something too - they definitely weren't heading for Bayou and from a peek inside a few crates to satisfy his curiosity, the ship definitely wasn't moving books for charity. He was eventually caught by the ship's cargo master and given an option by the captain: join up and learn the ropes or test the airlock the hard way. In return, Ritter gave the captain an option: let him join willingly or find out if the black-market slug pistol he'd uncovered in a crate works as well as advertised. The ship had just found a new negotiator.

Moment of Crisis
Connection: Hovid Working as a smuggler definitely has it's good and bad days. Some days, you can convince yourself it's the high life and that any other existence would be boring. And then some days you screw up real bad. "Boss," I said, "you seen that smug looking brat wandering around near the 'prop shops? Ain't seen anyone with him, but he's been moving lots of credits around." Boss Vice, he says, "So what, Ritter - I don't pay you to think." "You're missing out then. I say we get rid of our cargo fast - I've still got a contact or two here - and take him instead. It should be easy enough to find his ship and sell him back for a few bucks."

Fast forward about six hours: The kid, Hovid, his crew - his family as best we could tell from the short subwave message they sent back laughing at our ploy - went full burn, leaving him behind. Pragmatic decision, really. Boss Vice is about to about to blast him when he asks for a knife. Lot of good that's going to do with our whole ground crew pointing carbines and pistols at him, right? I hand him mine and he gores a high-end credit chip out of his leg. Vice laughs and practically hugs the kid, tells him to get lost. Then turns and shoots my damn knee out. Could'a just told me I was fired. Took me weeks to get the knee replacement done but as always, I managed to swing a deal and got the 'upgraded' versions.

Sidetracked
Connection: Marko Hmm, looks like I've put some inspiring words in someone's ear. One of the engineers (Marko) from a docked ship, the Diplomacy's Failure - I'm a sucker for aptly named ships - dug up some numbers that didn't match. Looks like his Captain has been skimming or otherwise sweetening his own cut for a few trips now, and Marko just caught on now. Not to say that I didn't put a bit of lean on the explanation or anything. I like to watch people come to their own conclusions. He's not the only one at odds with the Skipper it seems. They've got a god-fearer onboard who takes issue with the occasional slaving side trips. And interestingly enough, a genius pilot / captain who crossed the Guild for mining outside his land claim. It's boring here when nobody's in port. I can practically smell the credits coming and going on their ships, can hear the clink of real coins from backwater moons and the solid chuk-chuk of a reliable slugthrower being primed. Saying I can taste the air in a dirty EVA rebreather as I cut loose a cargotainer from a ship in flight, well that might be pushing it... but you're catching my drift, right? Knees are pretty much healed too and dare I say, they're already better than 100% compared to the originals. Time to get a move on.

Updates: So yes, I've put the idea in Marko's head. Same with his engineer Caid. And the loinclothed one, when he bought some supplies at my shop on the station. There's no way to convey in text the feeling of fingertips pressed against eachother as hands steeple. Even if one adds in the obligatory "Excellent..." and mirthless grin. Best I can do. Damn it all, that's a twist. The captain beached Marko on the station. I want that boat. Talked to Marko again. Mutiny's an ugly noun and it still conjures fairy-tales of Earth-Zero with wood boats floating around on it, so that's why I never use the word. The way I put it was that the Captain had broken guild code and more than a few trade laws (besides dumping him here with nothing more than my poor company) and probably ought to be relieved of command long enough to be a guest of honor at a Guild Tribunal. I hear those are fun. He knows that by the time his report reaches Tyr the Failure will be months out of range of their other ships. I've talked to some of the mechs over at the dock. There are some short-haul ships in various states of readiness for sale and within my means. And I've got the guns. Plenty of them.

On Your Own
Bridge of the Diplomacy's Failure In transit from Eden station to the Bayou system's 'southern' slipknot. Everything went better than expected, which is saying quite a bit since we just made off with a Guild ship and most of its cargo without any bloodshed. The former captain and his loyal crew were jettisoned in a cargo can back at the port - but I'm not in the biz of cold murder, I had the guys slap a beacon on it and toss in a few extra tanks of O2 before we blew the bolts. Send a comm to the Guild with a bit of information one of my guys had gleaned about the Captain's side dealings. Hopefully they'll be busy enough dealing with his skimming to give us enough time to clear out and lay low. And yes, 'we' and 'us.' The plan might have been mine, but I certainly had some help with the finer - and coarser - details. They'll be well paid as soon as we offload some cargo (once we figure out what's bolted down out there), and if they work well enough together there's plenty of work to be found. The crew that stayed on with us will get a cut of the proceeds too, probably their first fair pay in a long time. One thing I can say for sure, though. The Captain had a really comfortable chair installed for himself on the command deck and some half-decent coffee stashed away.