Trials of Tickle 24/03/3284
14 Jan 2018TickleStick
They came out of Hyperspace to buzzers and warnings going off. "Taking heat damage Grim" . "No shit Lucy", Grim spouted back at his AI. That was only the second time he had done a Neutron jump. The first was in simulation. Hopefully 75 ly bought him some time. He looked to his left, "You okay love?" Gabriela looked back with those blue eyes that could melt stone, "Im good", She looks in the seat behind her, and starts to laugh, as their son, Duke Gabriel Grimrock, or "Tickle" as she calls him was sound asleep. She dubbed him "Tickle" because he would giggle every time you touched his ribs. He was 18 months old. They were on the run. Grim had picked the right side, just at the wrong time. He was part of the Emperors Dawn. Friends with Patron Damon Clarke. He had been on the front lines for the Empire in the Fed wars. Dubbed a hero by the Senate. None of that mattered now that Andres Blaine had been named Chancellor. Grim was a loose end. He could connect Blaine to Emperors Dawn, and by 6 degrees of separation, the Princess herself. A bounty of 50 mill had been placed on his head. They now had every space jockey with a pulse laser, fancying themselves a bounty hunter, after them.
He lined up his Cutter, the "Lucille" twords their next jump point. That's when he saw them, holo squares. Two of them. "Picking up two Anacondas on attack vector Grim." said Lucille. "Raiders". They were out of fuel. He needed to scoop. Just enough to get gone. He knew in his heart though. this was their stand. That is when the Interdiction started. "Lucille, submit" "WHAT"piped Lucy. "Just do it damn it"! As soon as they dropped out of super cruise, Grim hit boost. He should be able to buy enough time to charge FSD , "Charge FSD Lucille" grim barked. "You don't have to yell sir, I am charging as soon as I cool down.. That is when he heard the to distinct sound of a ship coming out of hyperspace. The proximity alarm goes off as a Imperial Clipper jumps in on top of them. Grim boosts, and jerks the Lucille to starboard. "Clipper deploying hard points Grim", Gabriel states. "Incoming missile!" That is when it happens. A missile volley slammed into the back of Lucille. "FSD Offline" states Lucille. "Thrusters down to 50%, Grim!" yells Gabriel. Grim sees two Taipan Fighters fly past the Lucille. He looks at Gabby, "Tears in her eyes, she says, "Get him to safety love, Ill buy us as much time as possible" With that, she deploys hard points.
Grim unstrapped Tickle and headed to the cargo bay. He could hear the Multi cannons firing and the sound of pack hounds reloading. "Give 'em hell luv" he thought to himself. As he headed down the corridor to the ladder, the ship lists hard to right, as one of the Raider Anacondas slams into the side of Lucille. Grim hears the Shield cells spinning up. Two more cells left. Hold on Gabby he thinks. As he reaches the stairs and heads into the cargo bay a missile volley rocks the Lucille. Grim hears Cells spinning again. One left. Tickle is awake and crying. Grim gets him into his cryo suit. He smiles as he sees the homemade name patch his mother made. Tickle it read. She was never far from her Imperial Slave roots. He looked into his sons eyes. "Always know that we loved you lad" He laid Tickle into the cryo pod and activated it. He watched as his son went from a confused look, to a solemn sleep as the sedative gas kicked in before freezing. Grim then opened a shipping container full of gold. Their life savings. He dumped the crate and placed Tickles cryo pod into it. He stuffed as much gold as possible around the pod and sealed it. He heard the last shield cell spin up. He headed back up the stairs to the bridge when Gabby yells over the comms, "Hurry Grim!, Shields down to 50%. Im out of Cells". Grim reaches the corridor to the bridge when Gabby yells, "Hang on!" As she hits boost, Grim tries to grab onto the rail, misses and rolls into the wall hard. As the g force subsides, he gets to his feet in pain. Broken rib probably. as he makes his way into the bridge, he shuts the door behind him. Just as he gets into his seat, he sees one of the Taipans fly over them. The Clipper is turning for another run. As he straps in, the fighter starts a head on run. Gabby yells as she hits boost heading straight at the fighter. Grim reaches for the lever. As the ships speed starts to level, he vents the cargo bay. Anything, including Tickles container that isn't tied down, is sucked out of the cargo hatch. "Shields offline, as the Clipper slams the side of Lucille. Gabby is yelling and firing multi cannons straight at the Taipan. Gabby hits boost while still firing. Grimm can see the fear in the fighter pilots eyes as he slams into Lucilles canopy, blowing it out. as he explodes. Grim screams her name, but then he sees it. Blood flowing down her long black hair. She's gone. "Im sorry love" "I am so sorry" he says through tears he can not control. Lucy snaps him out of his fog. "GRIM", hull is at 20%. Orders!" Grim looks on the radar. he doesn't see the cargo he dumped. Please, whatever God is out there, take care of him, he whispers under his breath.The Anaconda is still 10 km out. The Clipper is 4 km out and coming with shields recharging. Grim boosts twords them. Multi cannons out of ammo. He has one volley of Pack Hounds left. He lets them fly. Clipper is down to 30%. Grim sticks Lucille's nose straight into the bridge of the Clipper busting her canopy."Orders?" he laughs. "Yes Lucy, I have an order for ya. Fuck 'em. Fuck 'em all. "Including myself?" asks Lucy. "Aye luv, fuck me and you the most". With that, Lucy detonated her power core...