Trial by Fire
21 Jul 2015Sigsy
"We're out of shield cell banks!" yelled the engineer, I double checked the shields and gave the console a kick just to be sure it wasn't glitching out.Shields were at about 15%... but dropping.
The 'Cutty Sark' shuddered with every blow it took, every cannon round, every laser pulse that hit the side of the Anaconda class light cruiser, by now the heat was building up on the bridge, sirens were blaring, systems were beginning to spark and short out, the smell of burnt metal was starting to linger in the air.
"I've lost my shields, I'm taking hull damage" was the message over the comms from CMDR 'T', my wingman in his Vulture Heavy Fighter.
I had but one thought... "Shit"
We hadn't expected this, where the hell was the Dynamic Services fleet?
LTT 9180 Dynamic Services Corporation, Empire owned and a valued trade partner of the 6th Interstellar Corps, had been in contact, they had been embroiled in a power struggle for a while with the local organized crime element the Jet Cartel and it had escalated to open war between the two factions. Dynamic Services had offered to pay us a combat bond for each Cartel ship we put down in the war, so naturally we accepted.
We'd most definitely turned up late for the party, or early, either way we had been set upon by multiple Cartel owned Anacondas, Pythons and a plethora of small fry. The few empire ships spotted were jumping out of local space sharpish.
Shields at 5%... I could see from my wing display that 'T' was losing more and more hull integrity.
4 3 2 1 FRAMESHIFT DRIVE ACTIVATED.
The 'Cutty Sark' creaked and groaned then with a sudden boom, lurched out of local space.
I'd made it out, scorched and battered but still in one piece, but what about 'T'?
I was watching the wing display intensely. "My thrusters have malfunctioned!" was the call over the comms, he's a goner.
The wing display changed, his status was showing supercruise! I gave the console another swift kick, still supercruise!
"I'm out" sounded ‘T’ over the comms.
I slumped back into my captain’s chair and breathed out for what felt like the first time in 10 minutes.
The Anaconda class ships truly are solid, and the "Cutty Sark" is a fine example of one, the combat zone had been classed as "High Intensity" and they weren't joking.
"Let's get back to Kerimov ‘T’, we could do with some repairs and I need to have strong words with the Dynamic Services rep."
It was the first time I'd Captained a ship of this class, of this power, years of piloting trade ships and small fighters had prepared me well however, "Cutty Sark" was born and thrown straight into a trial by fire, but she came out the other side and could only improve.