DECIAT - I couldn't save them
02 Aug 2019Mos Superum
=== BEGIN LOG ===[shuddering breaths]
This is so hard...
[long sigh]
It's been four days since I was outfitting in Deciat with Farseer, Inc., and I still can't stop shaking.
[long sigh]
OK -- so -- there are commanders in the black fighting this growing conflict all around me, and -- I -- I dunno how I can put this...
...how...
[disgusted sigh]
OK -- trying to remain composed here. I watched a tanker full of crew die at the hands of a Thargoid, and I couldn't save them.
[long pause]
I went out to the tanker after I got a distress call. I was running through the FNS Aragon's systems after my Farseer, Inc. engineering refit. Lot of f---ing good THAT did me.
I drop from supercruise and -- honestly -- I thought the ship had suffered a critical engineering failure. Lots of gas and damage to the primary and secondary hulls. It looked bad, but I was in a combat / bounty hunting rigged ship, and I had no gear to try and rescue crew.
I thought at the very least I could download rescue logs / beacons and transfer them to Federation support vessels...
[long sigh, pause]
...then it happened.
Some godawful trumpet sound -- how does that work? -- blasting into my ship / comm system -- I -- I honestly don't know. I checked sensors -- and there it was...
...a g'damn Thargoid interceptor.
I backed off the tanker. I wasn't sure what to do. Moments later, BOOM -- ship going into full shutdown. The fabled Thargoid EMP?! Thankfully, emergency O2 kicked in. Was I a sitting duck? Could I even begin to try and fight this thing if I needed to?
The Thargoid looped around the Aragon -- scanning me? I couldn't tell. I was terrified. I knew I didn't have the AX weapons to touch this thing. Hell -- I couldn't even scan it, and it was making mincemeat out of my electronics.
[sigh]
After a minute or two, the thing lost interest in me -- started staring at -- scanning -- I dunno -- the tanker.
My comms lit up for a moment. That's when I heard it.
The f---ing tanker captain declaring that he was gonna fight the thing. I couldn't respond to ask him what the f--- he was thinking.
Sure enough -- he opens fire. And the Thargoid WAS PISSED.
All I could do was circle the tanker as the Thargoid shot back, doing more and more damage. It was just me, the sound of thrusters, my air recyclers, and this g'damn stupid alien fight in front of me.
[long pause]
After a few minutes, the rest of systems came back up, but barely. I was having all manner of HUD / sensor issues. I debated running out to a system for AX hardware and coming back -- but -- just reading the Commander logs and news net about the Thargoid encounters...
...I'd have been outmatched and outgunned. Dying trying to help the tanker crew and their crazy gun loving captain.
[pause]
I sent out distress calls to system authorities, but I guess they were dealing with xeno events elsewhere.
After a while, the sensor readings I COULD muster broke the bad news -- the power plant was leaking radiation and risking going critical. The readings were well past life pod and EVA suit limits.
I backed off further and powered up the FSD -- slowly. I thought maybe the Thargoid would detect the FSD and come after me, but no. It just kept pounding on the tanker.
I felt terrible -- leaving the site, but -- what could I do? At least the captain got to shoot his guns...
[pause]
...and I couldn't save them. COVAS -- end log.
=== END LOG ===