Not ready for combat after all
13 Feb 2023Ember Lacson
Nicole and I decided to finish the engineering on Meershaulk today, and when we were done we headed straight for the AXI's current main target system, HIP 20577, and hit du Fresne Works, a surface port under active attack, for some combat. Nicole tagged along for this one, as well. I picked this one specifically because Interceptors don't deploy Thargon swarms above planetary surfaces. The biggest advantage of combat around a station, planetary or otherwise, is the fact that you can have an active docking request while you fight, then do a quick touch-and-go pit stop for fuel, repairs, and ammo. They've gotten really fast with these. The drawbacks, on the other hand, were a 1.41 G rating and the fact that the outpost is currently on the night side. Plus, combat in an AX conflict zone is extra difficult without a number of highly specialized independent AX ships. The AX contract pilots who were present did a good job of exerting the hearts of the Cyclopes we fought, but it really took my Gauss cannons to knock the hearts out. The high gravity made maneuvering difficult and gave both of us motion sickness that we don't normally deal with. We did take out the first two Cyclopes with no trouble. But when the next wave of Interceptors came, they had a Basilisk leading the charge. We managed to take down three of its hearts before Meershaulk had a computer issue and the contacts panel bugged out and froze. With a threadbare hull and without the ability to dock for repairs, we had no choice but to gtfo. The system where the Morningstar was parked was obstructed by the planet, so we had to either find a system in line—not feasible under the circumstances—or low wake first, which is almost impossible when you have a Basi on your tail like we did. They have a max speed far greater than the other Interceptors at about 530 meters per second. I kept laying on the boost until the drive finally charged up. But before we were out of the planetary SOI, we had an interdiction, the third one today if you count the hyperdiction on the way in. I didn't flip around to get a visual; I just mashed the boost button until the FSD safety cooldown was over and charged the drive immediately.
We made it back to the Morningstar without any further harassment, and the two of us went straight to sickbay for some anti-nausea medication. Nicole took a lot longer in her room than I did, so I'm hoping she didn't have any symptoms or side effects related to the concussion coming back to haunt her. She told me they just wanted to do a few extra tests to be sure. She said everything came out fine, but she also seemed a bit withdrawn. My intuition says she's keeping something from me, but I'm sure she has her reasons.
I think we might pay Asterope a visit to get some more standard combat experience, and maybe the materials to trade for a couple bobbleheads. One for Meershaulk, one for Ouranos, and one for Nicole to take with her if she wants. Then I think I'm going to focus on rescue or Scout/Cyclops killing for a while and leave the tougher interceptors to the other pilots. It's not like this war is going to be over tomorrow, after all. I spoke to Prof. Palin about the Maelstroms while he was working on my FSD, and he said he's still pretty much lost for ideas about how to penetrate the clouds, defeat the repulsion waves, and so on. He has ideas, but they're pre-alpha and they'll need some proof of concept work first.
Until next time.... It's time to sleep again. o7