Chapter 27. Wake the Devil
10 Aug 2022Black Llama
August 9, 3308In space near Planet 10, HIP 22460 system
1305 hours
Nothing works. Everything's dead. I'm adrift in space, about a million and a half metres away from the position of the INV Audacious Dream. Sending out a distress signal on the system emergency channel - only 20 minutes of oxygen remaining.
1320 hours
I'm still alive. I managed to get the ship underway, with life support, thrusters and FSD operational. Something went horribly wrong with Azimuth's superweapon. Immediately after the Proteus Wave fired, the ship completely shut down. The reboot sequence restored the main functions of the ship, but all Guardian components are completely wrecked, to a point where the AFMU is unable to even begin repairing them. All I have to defend myself is a flak launcher.
The pulse must have also damaged the onboard electronics, because all the displays are glitching badly. The ship's antennae must be out too, because I cannot raise either the Dream or the Bright Sentinel on the comms. I'm headed to rejoin... wait... "anomalous pulse" on the scanners? Oh no. No no no.
1410 hours
It failed. The Proteus Wave failed. It's a complete disaster.
As I was entering my previous log, a Thargoid interceptor jumped to my location. A very much alive, very much functional interceptor. In my current state, all I can do is run away (not that I could do much even with a fully operational ship, as I'm far from good when it comes to fighting interceptors). So it's pop a heatsink, run away and pray.
It wasn't my comms array malfunctioning. The pulse didn't disable the Thargoids, it disabled us. I returned to the last location of the Audacious Dream's battlegroup, only to find it completely destroyed, drifting in a cloud of Thargoid poison. Sensors are picking up debris fields all across the system, and none of the capital ships are responding. But I'm now receiving signals from other survivors, and the magnitude of the disaster is becoming clear. My God. What have we done.
Just received a message: the Pilot's Federation has issued a general evacuation call. But I'm in deep trouble: I left my fuel scoop and FSD booster onboard the Bright Sentinel. Without the scoop, I cannot return to the Bubble. Is the destruction limited to this system? My only hope right now is to return to the Musashi or to the El Centinela Cadejo in Pleiades Sector CW-U b3-2, if any of them are still intact.
Now my sensors are warning of another anomalous pulse. The 'goids must be actively hunting down all of us survivors. I got to get out of here... Let's hope the FSD works and I don't disintegrate during the jump. Here goes nothing.
August 9, 3308
On board the Musashi, Pleiades Sector CW-U b3-2 system
1645 hours
I survived the jump, thank God, and made my way to the Musashi. What a relief to see it still intact, surrounded by survivors from the massacre. I had to wait a while for a landing pad. When I finally docked, the mood on the ship was sombre. An Azimuth official, his voice shaking, informed me that the mission to protect HIP 22460 has been ended.
It turns out that the electronics on the Rogue are fine; the glitches on the HUD are either a residue of the Proteus pulse or some sort of Thargoid jamming. As soon as I left HIP 22460 the cockpit interface started behaving again. Azimuth's techs at the Musashi know their way with Guardian stuff, and were able to restore my weapons and modules back to working order. They were also able to provide me with a fuel scoop salvaged from God knows where. The thing looks decent enough, and should allow me to go back home. There are also quite a few fleet carriers still in the system, and I could try to hitch a ride in one.
August 10, 3308
0435 hours
I just returned from HIP 22460. Yes, I went there again. Yes, I may have a death wish. This is what I found.
- Thargoids are actively hyperdicting ships jumping to HIP 22460. I was yanked out of hyperspace by a pair of Interceptors on my first attempt to jump into the system. Fortunately I was able to run away, they only gave chase for a short while before high waking out.
- As soon as you enter HIP 22460, the HUD starts glitching and all Guardian tech that you have onboard starts receiving damage until it's rendered completely inoperable. This damage cannot be repaired by an AFMU. I don't know if this is caused by the Proteus Wave or by some other type of Thargoid activity. Whatever it is, it spans the whole system.
- I did a recon flyby of the Proteus Wave site on moon 10b. It is still actively emitting radiation 20 or so hours after the event.
- The Bright Sentinel and the Overlook are still on orbit around 10b. They are total losses, with no survivors detected. The Sentinel's orbit may be decaying as it's no longer on station above the Proteus Wave site.
- I checked for survivors at the wrecks of other ships such as the Oath of Tyndareus or the FNS Fortitude. No luck. Lost with all hands.
- The system is absolutely crawling with Thargoids. When entering normal space, you only have about a minute until an Interceptor warps to your location. These Interceptors will immediately fire a disabling pulse. I survived by outrunning the pulse, boosting away as soon as I detected the warp anomaly signal and entering supercruise.
- Interestingly, Thargoids do not seem to have the capability to interdict ships on supercruise. You can roam around the system safely that way.
I don't think there's anything else I can do around here. Everybody is in shock, wondering what will happen next. Did we just wake the Devil?