I’ve finally started working on the seventh and most likely last story in the Real Live EVN series. Although I still don’t yet have a real title for it I do have the plot scaffolding all laid out. All thats left is to write the story around that scaffolding. Here, for your amusement and anticipation, is what I have written down for the story’s plot structure:

1. Utmost Secrecy
2. Cargo Inspection
3. Unexpected Firefight
4. Should Have Taken A Left
5. The Rebellion
6. A Situation 2.0
7. Word From Codec
8. Power Sharing

I’ve named those chapter titles very specifically to not spoil anything, but at the same time to give a glimpse at what will happen. Though if you’ve memorized EVN’s mission text and my previous stories a few of those titles will make a lot more sense than they otherwise would. Oh and I just want to note that "Power Sharing" is almost certainly what you don't think it is about.

Before I go I would like some opinions on one thing:

In the 4th story in the series Good Intentions Lead To Bad Consequences we got to see what it would be like to be attacked and boarded by pirates. The pirates in that story obviously clicked the “Capture Ship” button on the boarding dialog. I loved writing that sequence and to me it just seemed to make real world sense. But what happens if they press the Credits button? How would that work? Do the pirates force their way onboard and steal you wallet at gunpoint? Do they force the airlock open then just hack your bank account using one of your terminals located just three feet inside your ship? Or is it more complex? Some sort of ransom for them not to destroy your disabled ship? If it’s that what do you do? Wire them some money from your disabled ship, or maybe take a trip over to theirs to do it?

Anyway answer that question if you want. It will be a few weeks before the story is done, but I just wanted to let everybody know that it is now actively being written. Also actively being written, or more correctly rewritten, is story six There & Back Again, An IDA Frigate’s Tale It will be better all the way around and include new late breaking writing techniques such as grammar, correct word usage, and proper tense!

Sounds cool! Good luck. I love short stories.

Regarding your question, Ragashingo, I assume whomever boards a ship and takes credits isn't getting any credits at all at first. What they are doing is taking small things like furniture, devices, and other things they can't use but can sell to make a profit. Basically, the credits being stolen are just resources, it's not until later the credit thief actually turns it into cold hard cash. After all, it's not like anyone's going to fly a ship around carrying a cargo bay full of credit chips, so that can't be it.

I don't think they would "steal your wallet" either, as who would carry 500k+ credits in one? I've gotten that much and more from plundering pirates. Plus, in the space age when everyone has a 'wrist-comp' or some similar device, credits aren't carried like dollar bills and coins are today, rather people access their bank accounts through their wrist-comps and make out a credit chip through that. Or so my theory goes...

Another factor leading me to believe credit thieves are stealing resources from a ship and turning it into credits later is the fact that the amount of credits AI ships carry is dependent on the price of the ship. The more expensive the ship, the more expensive the tech put into it, the more money credit thieves can make off of stealing that tech.

Make sense?