Tugging at the Hems of Power, Part 9

Previously, on MinerBumping... The miners of Tug Industries Corporation grew angry and frustrated after repeatedly losing battles to Agent Kalorned. As they struggled to understand why they were failing so badly, some of the carebears found a scapegoat: a random miner named zellbob.

The atmosphere was thick with hostility. As time went on, the mob grew increasingly convinced that zellbob was to blame for Kalorned's presence.

Agent Kalorned could only stand by and watch as zellbob was condemned by his own silence--once again proving the perils of being AFK.

As for Kalorned, he maintained his innocence while bumping miners away from the ice they craved.

Our Agent tested the miners by claiming that he was not associated with any ganking activities. They didn't believe him. Yet they failed to take the obvious next step: Get right with the Code to avoid being ganked.

Suddenly, Folg3r Tinlan had an epiphany: zellbob had lived in the Gamis neighborhood for years. Maybe his presence wasn't so closely correlated with Kalorned's after all?

Folg3r came to believe that the zellbob conspiracy theory--which his fellow miners had started--was actually part of Kalorned's elaborate scheme to divide and conquer the Gamis system. But Folg3r's corpmate Killxone was still certain of zellbob's guilt.

Agent Kalorned surveyed the scene from his perch in the ice anomaly. The area had become quiet and clean while the miners sat in a station and argued amongst themselves.

The zellbob matter still unresolved, Gold Fingure felt it was a good time to negotiate with Kalorned for access to the ice anomaly.

Unfortunately for Gold Fingure, the Tug Industries pilots lacked leverage: Kalorned had the power of the Code, and they did not.

Thanks to their infighting and general incompetence, Tug Industries lacked a suitable intelligence network. They were at a loss to keep track of Kalorned's movements. Was he in the ice anomaly or docked up?

Finally, zandar Melkan stepped forward with a plan to untie the Gordian knot: He would duel Kalorned for the right to live in Gamis.

The miners all agreed that a duel was the only fair solution. It was settled, then. 'Twould be a fight to the death.

To be continued...