Thargoid scouts, Part 1: Recruitment
23 Feb 2020Orodruin
"Incoming message", the ship computer announced without any hint in the voice of the message content as the Thargoid scout was ripped in two parts by the dual gauss cannons. I did not need to look in the inbox, I already knew the message content. The thrusters of The Witch King roared throughout the ship as I boosted away from the caustic cloud left behind by the disintegrating scout while the frame shift drive started to charge. Enough is enough.A couple of weeks earlier, I had run into a Pilots' Federation recruitment officer while visiting the shipyard at Jameson Memorial looking for something productive to do while the market for high-end minerals settles down from the recent turmoil. The Krait mkII had always fascinated me and I had had a good experience scavenging manufactured materials in an all-round Krait Phantom. I had just come back from taking the mark II out for a test run around the station and the vendor was in all-out commercial mode.
-"... and an incredibly strong hull. I also want you to give special attention to the coffee machine that makes this ship a perfect ..."
-"Thargoid killer", the Pilots' Federation recruitment officer interjected.
I had not heard her step into the office so the interjection startled me a little. The vendor lost his trail of thought for a moment.
-"Well, yes ... that." he managed to wrap up.
The recruiter paid him no attention, she had not come for idle chatter with ship salespeople.
-"Commander Orodruin, the Pilots' Federation has noted your services in providing us with new data about the galaxy as well as helping to drive the economies of several local systems by your mining activities. For this, as you know, the Pilots' Federation has honoured you with Elite ranks in exploration and trade. I am here to offer you an opportunity to join the few select commanders we call Triple Elite. Interested?"
Of course I was interested. I had a memory of my first time docking at a Coriolis station in my Sidewinder, an Imperial Cutter emblazoned with the Triple Elite insignia had passed the mail slot on its way out as I was entering. I had felt small and insignificant, left awestruck and with the hope that one day that would be me. It felt like a lifetime ago and I had long since forgotten the name of the Sidewinder, but the memory was clear as water.
-"What exactly would be involved in that?" I tried not to show too much emotion, those recruiters have been known to set you up with a sub-par deal if you do.
-"As I am sure you are aware, commander, there Thargoids have returned and are causing quite some commotion down around the Asterope system." I remembered reading the GalNet articles a few days back and nodded slightly. "We need able bodied pilots such as yourself to join the fight. The Pilots' Federation will offer you 10000 credits for each of your confirmed kills ..."
-"10000!? I would make a better living by mining bromellite!"
-"... and we'll count every kill you contribute to fully towards your combat rank."
Those had been the key words. What she was offering was to count every kill of a Thargoid scout at the same level as a confirmed kill of an Elite pirate or combat pilot. Stranded at the combat rank of Competent for some time, I had been looking for a way to improve my combat rank and this offer was just too good to pass on. Credits be damned. The ship vendor was surprised, but very pleased, with the recruiter providing a sales pitch for him and a couple of hours later the Krait mkII was delivered to my assigned docking pad.
A few visits to different dealers of internal modules later, including the technology broker for the dreaded dual Guardian Gauss Cannons, I had all of the modules necessary. The skills I had picked up from various engineers throughout the Bubble came in handy for upgrading most of the internals to a reasonable state, but still left a couple of things to be desired. With the Krait mkII not offering an amazing jump range, I loaded the majority of the internals on board my Anaconda, Bill the Pony, and quickly drew up a flight plan to revisit a couple of friends.