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Contents
General Information
Blackjack Shipping & Salvage was founded in February 3005 by Mika Tachyon and Torr Peredus, former commanding officers aboard the SVD Hyperion. Its flagship, the IND Jackal, was purchased with a generous loan from the DMS Faux, and entered service in March 3005.
While this crew tries to project an image of honest, hardworking shippers and salvors, they are definitely not above ducking over, under, and around the long arm of the law to get what they want. Whether it's the tiniest of trinkets or the largest of spacecraft, the Jackals have no qualms snatching it for themselves if it means a fat stack of credits warming their palms.
Among their more noble exploits are their assistance to Demaria, whose government awarded them a letter of marque and reprisal during the OATO-Parallax War, and to Sivad, when they returned the SVD Hyperion to its rightful owner following its hijacking that same year.
And things went along pretty nominally up until the Jackal made the unfortunate mistake of docking on Odari when the Phyrrian War started. Odarties, at the beginning siding with the Decimator Fleet, destroyed any non-Odari ships. Which included the Jackal. It wasn't until after the war that Mika was able to get her hands on another ship to rebuild.
Jackal 2: Electric Boogaloo
Following the death of wealthy Sivadian captain Benjamin Meiffert, the search-and-rescue vessel Noble Cause was abandoned on Luna and confiscated by the authorities. It survived the tiny world's unfortunate end at the hands of the Phyrrians, and was later purchased from a Vanguard scrapyard in junk condition by an offworld salvor named Jay Reilly.
To what end Reilly intended the vessel to be used remains unknown, but eyewitnesses claim that she spent considerable time renovating it on Vollista before leasing it out. Other sources suggest that Reilly was in fact the latest alias of one Mika Tachyon, a known pirate and felon, and that there was no new buyer at all; rather, the ship was towed to the Junkyard until work could be completed.
Whichever story is true, Tanya's confirms that the starship registered PRI-0703-AP5 was rechristened the IND Raider on November 2nd, 3007, and reclassified as a cargo transport by the same Jay Reilly. No further operational details were released on the part of the owner, though the resubmitted specs indicate heavy modifications to all major systems and interior spaces, including a declaration of an onboard AI -- the last of which, many are quick to note, bears strong resemblance to the Bandit artificial intelligence system declared on the IND Jackal. A reduction in cargo space and the installation of shipboard weaponry and electronic countermeasures likewise do little to curb rumors that the once-noble Cause has been refitted and kitted out for dastardly deeds.
But even that didn't last forever, and the Raider went through another name change during the time it was under the command of Sam Gideon; that to the IND Apollo. It stayed that way through a good portion of it's time in Ancient Expanse until the untimely death of one of the first Jackals, Mika Tachyon. As a way to honor her memory, Vadim, now the last Jackal known to of survived the Rift Crisis renamed it again, the ship that originally was it's inspiration. To the Jackal. After leaving the Presidency of the Orion Confederacy, Vadim decided to take ownership of Blackjack Shipping and Salvage and go back to his roots and the roots of the org itself.
Red Eclipse Mercenaries
Probably the more 'honest' aspect of Blackjack. The company was bought by Vadim and Vicky in late 2653, after an auction of the company run by Comorro station after a fight for the company broke out between multiple parties and the murky legaleese involved. Wanting to give the company a more positive name than just a ragtag group of mercs, changes were made, enough that it caught the eye of the Commander of the newly appeared Sanctuary. Installing REM soldiers to keep the peace while Blackjack itself goes about it's own freewheeling and dealing enterprises was the best option for it's two owners.
OOC Information
Those with Blackjack work and play hard. This group is as active as they come, constantly pushing forward any number of events at any given time, and much of its RP can be dangerous in nature. Therefore, preferred applicants will be experienced, mature, and reliable roleplayers who don't mind IC consequences such as jailtime, hospitalization, or the death of their character.
- IC Contact: @mail Vicky or Vadim with subject "IC"
- OOC Contact: @mail or page Vicky or Vadim