GOODBYE GOODEY
27 Jul 2020Horza Harklosp
WE HIT BACHMAN LAB. THAT ASSAULT CAME OFF A TREAT. I THEN TOOK ON ANOTHER JOB. ONAN ISOLATED MOON, A SMALL OUTPOST NEEDED SCANNING AND THEN THE TURRET GENERATORS TOOK OUT. EASY JOB, IT LOOKED JUST THE SAME AS THE LAST ONE.. IT WAS GOING ALL GOOD, WE'D TAKEN OUT THE GENERATOR FOR THE TURRETS WITH A MISSLE SALVO... DEVASTATING, AS LONG AS THER'S NO AA DEFENCES TO KNOCK OUT YOUR MISSLES BEFORE THEY STRIKE. WHILE I LANDED, GOODY WAS FLYING COVER FOR ME IN THE SLF. I DROVE THE SCARAB TOWARDS THE RUINED TURRETS. ALL GOOD STILL, AS I ROLLED INTO THE OUTPOST. I NEEDED TO HACK INTO THE HUB ACCESS, ''WONT TAKE LONG GOODEY'' I CALLED OUT.THE SCAN COMPLETED. I REVERSED BACK INTO THE SPACE BETWEEN THE BUILDINGS, THEN TURNED AROUND. I'D JUST STARTED BACK TOWARDS THE KRAIT. THEN GOODY CALLS OUT A CONTACT ''HORZA LOOKOUT! ENEMY INBOUND YOUR TWO O CLOCK''. A PYTHON IS SCREAMING DOWN TOWARDS ME AND THE PARKED KRAIT. I SEE THE CRAFT ABOUT FOR Km UP ABOVE ME. THEN THE TAIPAN SCREAMS OVER CLIMBING TOWARDS THE POINTED SHIP. I MANAGE TO JUST GET UNDER THE KRAITS FUSELAGE. BUT THEN IT'S MY TURN TO FEEL THE MISSLE SALVO. EXPLOSIONS SHOOK THE GROUND AND HAMMERED THE RECON VEHICLE. I WAS THROWN SIDEWAYS, THE HELMET SAVING ME FROM A CRACKED SKULL AS I HIT AGAINST THE SIDE OF THE CANOPY. I SAW THE DOCKING LIGHT COME ON AND THREW DOWN THE SWITCH. THE MAGLOCK PULLED ME IN AS A SECOND WAVE OF DUMBFIRE MISSLES CRASHED AND BOOMED ALL ABOUT THE SHIP. BY THE TIME I'D DOCKED WITH THE MOTHER SHIP THE KRAITS SHEILDS WERE DOWN AND THE HULL WAS AT 80%.
ABOVE US I COULD SEE GOODY WAS BLAZING AWAY AT THE PYTHON, MOST OF HIS SHOTS WERE HITTING CANOPY OF THE SHIP. IT'S SHEILDS WERE STILL UP BUT GOODEY HAD OBVIOUSLY DISTRACTED THE PTHONS PILOT, GIVING ME TIME TO TAKE OFF IN THE KRAIT. I TURNED IN MY SEAT TO CHECK ON GOODY IN THE CO PILOTS CHAIR. HE WASN'T IN THE SEAT TO MY LEFT AS HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN.. I SHOUTED OVER THE COMMS ''GOODY? GOOODY YOU FUCK, ARE YOU ACTUALLY INSIDE THAT TAIPAN?''
GRAHAM GOOD ANSWERED ME '' SORRY HORZ YOU KNOW I DO LIKE TO..'' HE PAUSED AND I COULD HEAR HITS THUMPING INTO HIS SHIELD ''HOLD ON.. AH.. OH SHIT ..THEY'RE DOWN, MY SHEILDS ARE''..
FOLLOWED BY THE SOUNDS OF SMASHING, TEARING AND SHATTERING. THEN AN TERRIBLE SCREAM FOLLOWED BY STATIC.
I'D GOTTEN MY KRAIT INTO THE AIR, AND JUST FINISHED MY TURN. I LINED UP MY SIGHTS ON THE ATTACKER, THEN UNLOADED THE DUMBFIRE MISSLES INTO THE PYTHON AT POINT BLANK RANGE. THE PILOT HAD TURNED TO TAKE ON GOODY, WHICH HAD MEANT THAT THE PYTHON WAS SIDE ON TO ME. I KEPT FIRING AND TURNING, WATCHING EACH MISSLE STRIKE THE LONG SHIP. A COUPLE WENT WIDE BUT I JUST KEPT FIRING. WHEN I NEEDED TO RELOAD I OPENED UP WITH BEAM LASER AND MULTI CANNON. I FINISHED BY RAMMING INTO THE PYTHON WITH MY SHIP. AS THE PYTHON EXPLODED. I'D PRETTY MUCH FRIED MY SHIP WITH ALL THE HEAT. I WAS ANGRY. ANGRY WITH THE PYTHON, WITH MYSELF AND ANGRY WITH GOODY. WE ALWAYS FELL OUT OVER HIM FLYING THE SLFS IN PERSON. HE ALWAYS TOLD ME THAT HE ENJOYED THE THRILL. HE'D LAUGH AND SAY THINGS LIKE ''NEVER HAD HOLLI-PRESI SHIT WHEN I WAS A LAD'' OR ''WHERE 'S THE FUN IN FLYIN A DRONE?'' I REMEMBER I'D ALWAYS GONE ON TO ASK IF HE DISAGREED WITH ESCAPE PODS, REMLOK SUITS OR MEDICINE TOO. THE CRAZY BASTARD. HE ALWAYS SAID HE'D DIE IN HIS PILOTS CHAIR HAND ON THE THROTTLE, FINGER ON THE TRIGGER..
AFTER CIRCLING FOR A WHILE TO MAKE SURE OF NO MORE SURPRISES, I AGAIN LANDED. JUMPING FROM THE REAR LADDER I WALKED OVER TO THE RUINED TIAPAN. I COULD'T BELIEVE HOW FAST THING HAD GONE SO WRONG.. USING MY HAND HELD, I SCANNED THE WRECK OF HIS FIGHTER.. IT WAS SHREDDED. NOTHIN BUT FROZEN CARBON. I SCRAPED SOME OF THE BLACK MESS INTO A SMALL TIN THAT GOODEY HAD KEPT TOBBACCO IN.. HE'S GOT A KID IN THE FED NAVY. SHE MIGHT WANT SOMETHING TO BURY OR WHATEVER.. PERHAPS GIVE HIM A KIND OF FUNERAL? I DON'T KNOW. .