HEADING TOWARD BACK OF BEYOND // 005 //
15 Sep 2019Godthab
:||: LOGBOOK MODE INITIATED. RECORD STARTS HERE :||:
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System: CELAENO
Place: NON-HUMAN SIGNAL SOURCE
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"Don't be afraid, we're experienced ones, you know."
"Afraid? No kidding. I'm far from it."
The green hair guy next to this one angrily shoot back at the ship head - who was one of the tour leaders, gliding his Krait Mark II over the thin layer of rings surrounding the planet just below Artemis Lodge. Celaeno Star was shining light across the ring so it looked almost like the ship was hovering over a bright ocean. The green hair and this one, two from the tour members were fortunate enough to win the assistant's seats in the lottery. "So where are those Thargoids?" The green hair asked the leader.
"You're gonna get the answer very soon - they are everywhere, literally. Fasten your seat belt, we're dropping off supercruise." The leader looked back at the green hair, smirking.
And boom, there it was.
Upon the safe disengage from supercruise the ship faced what's believed to be a Thargoid, keeping a certain safety distance in between. This one, and perhaps everyone, would know what it would look like as its images, videos were everywhere across the net. Still, there's a huge difference between what you learn through media and what you see with your own two real eyes. They say it's an alien ship, but it looked rather like a gigantic living thing. Something which reminds this one of marine lives. Or flowers. Whatever. If it is a ship indeed, where's the bridge? windows? Or engines?
The state outside the ship was rapidly changing while this one was swept away in the vortex of questions and confusions. Keeping its body color blinking the Thargoid approached one of the tour member's ships then spewed out something like wired limpets aiming at the ship. The scene reminded this one of a spider spitting web strings to capture its target. The leader driving Krait kept calm while his two passengers couldn't help but keep a disturbed eye on the view. "It is 'scanning' the outsider. It is safe, unless you mess with it."
Indeed, the Thargoid remained safe. Once the scanning was done, it stowed the strings and slowly moved toward another outsider entity to perform another scan. Done, then another. Nothing harmful was happening. But one question kept lingering in this one's head.
If it is a friendly entity for sure, then what's those floating ship wrecks?
It didn't take a long time until the answer to this question was revealed. One of tour member's Sidewinder unexpectedly lost control, smashing straight into the back of the Thargoid. The leader's face hardened. "Execute the emergency plan A," he spoke loud to the other leader by the comm, giving a quick pressing onto the specific keys of the cockpit control panel. Before the leader finished pressing the last key the Thargoid started changing its body color from light green, to white then finally fire red.
The behavior of fury-red Thargoid was completely different from that of calm green. It now moved faster, like a tracking missile trying to destroy the target. The leader deployed the weapons, keeping a distance from the angry starfish. Then two ships launched waves of attacks one after the other, like two dancing bees around the enemy. The tour participants were informed in advance that two leaders were experienced Xeno-hunters, but each one never realized the true value of their expertise until this critical moment.
Having gotten a finishing shot the flickering red lights from inside the Thargoid winked out. Soon after it stopped moving, green gas spouted out from inside the core part. "Just a moment or two guys. It's dead now, but we've gotta wait until the gas disappears. Or the ship gets damaged." Must be a corrosive nature of something then, this one thought.
From up close, the inactive Thargoid looked almost like a withered plant. Obviously the structure of it was something that went beyond human being's knowledge and imagination. This one had no idea either, as to which part was its bridge or where the crews were located. "Whew that was close," the leader said wiping his head. "But it's all good now. So it's time to call it a day - we hope everyone enjoyed the tour and we look forward to seeing you again in our other tours!" The leaders made a closing statement as the ships headed back to Artemis. Really worth it, this one thought back. Gotta come back here - next time as a hunter, not as a harmless visitor. For that, a bunch of preparation needed. Which would take time for sure, but worth it. Seriously.
For now, about time to go back to the homebase. This one misses the smells of booze and smoke.
CMDR Godthab out.
:||: LOGBOOK MODE SHUTTING DOWN. RECORD ENDS HERE :||: