The Exterminatus has begun
10 May 2019Mavrecon
It's been a long couple of months. Ever since waking up from my long hiatus, I've been going non-stop. Upgrades, engineers, trade routes, and missions. I'm feeling the burn of the galaxy. But something has changed recently and I'm finding myself unable to ignore my duty to humanity. My Anaconda has been dethroned. It was a long road to get to her, but I had forgotten that the ground work for her successor had already been laid. About a month after returning, I was sitting over half way through all my engineer unlocks. A few of them really gave me a good run for my money. I don't think I'll be visiting Mr. Qwent again any time soon. Talk about a road block. That guy doesn't even offer G5! I'm happy to support Sirius and their endeavors, but I think they need to re-evaluate who they prop up as their engineer of choice. I think Palin out of Maia would be a wiser option. At least he held up his end of the bargain. Those dirty drives are more than worth the effort. I'd also ventured out to see these "alien ruins" the commanders at the pub had been mumbling about.
We are not alone. That statement feels so silly to me now, since I've had time to live with it. Of course we aren't! Look at the size of this galaxy itself and tell me it makes sense that nothing else but humanity exists in it!? Laughable. Well those Guardians must have been something else, because their toys are still humming away to this day. I've battled through a few hundred of their site defense drones and delved into their blueprints. Came away with some nifty ship upgrades, some kick ass weapons, and two new fighters! Not too bad for a guy that was in deep freeze not but a month before. And let me tell you, that FSD booster is a game changer. Don't know how I got along without it.
Anyway, with the upgrades coming along nicely and having tasted what these Guardian upgrades could do, I decided to expand my fleet a little. Lots of talk around the pubs of how versatile and fun the Krait MkII was. I'll admit, she sounds great and maneuvers very well, but coming from my conda it just isn't enough ship for me. I took it out on a few mining runs, perfecting my void hunting technique and dabbling in LTDs for a while. Nice money to be made, and so satisfying to boot. Got about half a billion in the bank when I was unloading some rocks and decided to check the stations fleet hanger. Then it hit me like a ton of Painite, the Corvette.
See some years back I made the choice to put the nose to the grind stone and grind my way through the Federal Navy's ranks. I think if memory serves I binged watched the entirety of Rick and Morty, all seasons all shows, while board flipping and grinding my rank. Not the most fun, but back then I knew of only once goal, get the best combat ship I could. I was making my entire living then on bounty hunting. My Vulture was all I needed, but the desire to build something better never fully left me. About half way through the rank grind I tried out the Federal Assault Ship, but it just didn't cut it. I'm not sure if it was because I knew I was flying around in a brick, or if I simply hated the way it handled, but either way I sold it as quickly as I could. After reaching Rear Admiral I must have realized it was mostly a waste. Credits were hard to come by back then and the slow progression via combat was even slower. I shelved the dream and all but forgot that I was permitted to own the sexiest ship in the game.
Now, sitting there in my MkII, starring at the Corvette and with over 500mil in the bank, I couldn't believe I'd forgotten about this majestic ship. I quickly transferred the required credits and shelved the Krait. Man oh man. Core Dynamics really didn't leave anything out of this ship! The bleeding edge command deck, the angled armor platting, I just can't express how exhilarating it was to sit in the Corvette for the first time. I love my Anaconda. Really I do. But pulling out of the station the first time and hearing the deep, powerful roar of the vette engines sealed the deal. There's no going back.
Using the remainder of my credits (minus 1 buy back, come on, I'm not a rookie) I headed over to Jameson and outfitted my new flagship with all the goodies. I had even purchased a ship kit and paintjob years ago in anticipation, now it was finally coming together. My goal with this ship was to bring power to any situation full stop. Pallin seemed giddy with excitement when I had him upgrade my thrusters. What a change, I was boosting and handling like a ship 3 times smaller than me. Unparalleled. Even Hera Tani seemed excited to get her hands on my power plant. The ship was excellent when I got it, but after I G5'd everything I could get my hands on, it became legendary.
So you know how I got her, but what is the point in having a ship with two huge hardpoints if you aren't going to use them? Back to that first comment about a duty to humanity. I seem to have upgraded and joined the ranks of combat veterans at just the right time. The Thargoids are moving on us. They are deep inside the bubble and have been striking system after system with no apparent methodology and without any signs of slowing. I won't lie, I'm not officially on version 1 of Gungnir, no, no I had to pay those pesky insurance outfits at least a half dozen times since engaging with the Thargoids. But each time I came away with more knowledge of how they fight. How they try and turn a straight forward battle on it's head half way through. And now, on build #7, I've found my rhythm. Last outing, I destroyed several dozen of their scouts, and 6 Cyclops Interceptors. I'm proud to say that with my help, and those of the other AXI operatives, we managed to clear the Thargoids from Machatkwa. That feeling, of knowing that I made a difference. That I was able to give the rescue ships cover and to push the battle out of a system, is my new drug. We will not be slowing, we will not give in, and we will meet them at every corner to proclaim loudly "you will not ignore us!"
I've recruited a few new commanders and hopefully in a few weeks time I'll have them joining me in the front lines. I've attacked but failed to destroy a Medusa on multiple occasions, maybe with a few more willing commanders on my side we can make short work of them.