Thargoid scouts, Part 5: Back in the fight
06 Mar 2020Orodruin
Over and over, the hull of the Type-9 was ripped apart in front of my eyes. Only it gradually morphed into an image of The Witch King. The bulky frame of the Type-9 was replaced by the wedged shape of a Krait mk II, the metallic cover morphing into green paint. The cockpit also seemed to grow out of proportion and I saw myself in third person, face melting away from greenish caustic substance while the vacuum of space sucked the air out of my lungs. That is when I had woken up with a booming headache in the middle of the night a few days after my first encounter with the Thargoid scouts. I wiped the sweat off of my forehead using a corner of the bedsheet and made my way to the bathroom where I washed my face in cold water. Looking in the mirror, I could not see any sign of the experience of that day, but somehow I knew it was there in my memory. I went back to bed but spent the next couple of hours sleepless.The next morning, if it could still be called morning when I woke up, was initially uneventful. On the surface of it all, everybody at Copernicus Observatory seemingly minded their own business. Nobody caring much about what everybody else was up to. I was a little more than half-way through my combined breakfast and lunch and was sipping on my second cup of strong coffee as the news came in. The images of the local GalNet headlines changed to images of Thargoid ships firing their energy weapons and a Coriolis station on fire.
- "Titan's Daughter under heavy Thargoid attack" the healine read. "Experienced pilots required in the Taygeta system for search and rescue as well as system defence."
While I was still shaken by the events of the previous day and despite the fact that people were suffering at the station, I saw the opportunity. Burning stations likely meant several nearby conflict zones where the battle between human and Thargoid would be intense. I drank the last of my coffee, left the rest of the breakfast, and headed towards the hangar where The Witch King was waiting for me.
The mechanics had done an excellent job over night and the Krait mk II was back in fighting shape. While eager to get going, part of me was still hesitant due to the close call.
- "You did some stupid mistakes." I told myself. "But you are alive and you know better now."
I have never done the pre-flight checks more meticulously. Several times I checked the firing settings of the turrets and I physically did a couple of rounds to the cargo hold to make sure that the limpets were aboard and ready to be deployed when needed. After finally reassuring myself that the ship was indeed ready, I contacted the flight control at Copernicus Observatory and requested permission to launch. The automated hangar platform swiftly moved The Witch King into the docking bay and the docking clamps were released. Already gliding through the mail slot I punched in the coordinates of the Taygeta system into the navigation computer and as soon as I had cleared the station's perimeter I engaged the hyperdrive.
The strong and distinct purple glow of the class IV subgiant greeted me as the hyperdrive disengaged. I quickly turned the ship around and headed towards Taygeta 3 and 4, a pair of ringed planets locked in orbit around each other and the location of Titan's Daughter. As I came closer and closer to the pair of planets, I could not help but notice the beauty of the system. The rings of the planets had a distinct bright purple colour from the reflected starlight.
Knowing that Titan's Daughter itself was burning, I steered The Witch King towards the navigation signal of the rescue megaship that had been disposed to survey and coordinate both the in-system battle efforts as well as the search and rescue operations targeting the station. Even though I had already restocked ammunition and double checked all systems, I needed a small amount of time to gather myself before I headed into the thick of it. As I landed on the external landing pad on the megaship, I was immediately contacted by several of the system factions. They were clearly not happy with the state of affairs and were offering significant rewards to pilots willing to help battle the Thargoid threat, everything from millions of credits to different advanced components and data were up for grabs. I accepted a few missions with the intent of initially turning down materialistic rewards to build my reputation with the factions, checked again that the ship was ready for combat, and headed out.
The nearest Thargoid conflict zone was only light seconds away from the rescue megaship and the supercruise journey was over almost as soon as it had begun. As the frame shift drive disengaged I immediately saw the gauss cannons deploy on each side of the cockpit and the HUD crosshairs blinked into action a few moments before that of the beam laser turret and a couple of seconds before those of the AX multicannons. The scanning motion of the turret crosshairs confirmed that their targeting was correctly set up. I boosted towards the laser blasts that could be seen some 10 km away and The Witch King swiftly closed in. A battle involving a large number of human ships and Thargoid scouts was in full bloom. I closed in on a Python and a Thargoid Regenerator that were locked in a dance of death, the Python's multicannons sending swarms of bullets towards the scout while the scout's energy blasts ripped through the Python's shields, which were about to give up. As they both swung around, the Regenerator presented a significant target at a distance of only about 700 meters. The sound of the gauss cannons charging filled The Witch King as I pressed the trigger. The energy of the gauss cannons released straight into the hull of the Thargoid ship at the same time that I engaged the turrets. As I flew past the Thargoid the multicannon shells quickly tore through what remained of the Thargoid's hull. I was already at a safe distance when the Thargoid scout disintegrated and left behind a cloud of corrosive substance. I had learned my lessons.
- "Krait NZG-9, thank you for the assistance." The voice of the female pilot of the Python came through the com system. "Welcome to the fight, commander! Let's kill some Thargoids!"
