All haste and no speed - The Cazaril Anniversary - Part 2/2
16 Jan 2022HaypocH
There are times when a Commander would be better off just calling it a day, disabling notifications and sit back in their quarters. This was definitely one such time.(Part 1: https://inara.cz/cmdr-logbook/269208/66264/)
Part 2 - All haste and no speed
A fleeting thought -forgot the ship needed, didn't read the mission details, what else could go wrong- was quickly replaced by the thought of the pizza waiting. It had been a while since it was last on the menu of The Cazaril.
A tightbeam message reached The Fixer as I started orbiting my destination. A stern reminder from Claudia, signed formally as Captain Warden, that the Officers' table would not accept me in my 'working' clothes and that I needed to save sufficient time to change... and shower.
The approach to the settlement was straightforward. Standard military layout, Goliath casually zigzagging, with the added annoyance of system defense ships hovering above. It was the middle of the local night. I landed the DBX just shy of the command building, nothing too unusual even for a remote place like this one.
Given the time constraints, I disembarked directly on foot and enabled the Mav's night vision, reached the closest terminal and tagged my target. Most of these missions tend to be ‘final’ settling of debts of low-ranked grunts. They usually get assigned to the outer perimeter patrol, reflecting their place on the totem pole. Lady luck however kept her gaze clearly away, firmly fixed back 342k ls on a slice of pizza: my target was both indoor and within the security room.
Acquiring the necessary access level, unnoticed from a rooftop, was quick work.
Once in the building, no one really seemed to give me the time of day, or night as it was. At least not until I literally bumped into none other than my 'poor sod'. Past our mutual startlement, he grabbed his scanner to initiate a standard verification. His arm reached a full stretch forward, and his body collapsed like a house of cards. The Tormentor at my belt had briefly blinked in and out of its holster.
Now, I had done hundreds of such missions before. This was definitely the wrong way to go about it, but time was of the essence. The Mav's hud notified me right away that a bounty had been placed on my Id. Expected, but annoying nonetheless. Time to hit the road.
Half-way back to the DBX, I heard the alarms blaring. Unexpectedly quick.
As a result, the Goliath activated its automated threat protocol and decided The Fixer was clearly parked incorrectly. Its shields melted faster than I had any hope of reaching it. Mid-stride, I dismissed it just in time and made a hard right, doubling down on my sprinting.
The Goliath, clearly disappointed to have lost its target practice toy, decided to switch to me. Shield activated, I started shifting in a random pattern, forcing it to re-adjust its aim, direction still firmly away from the base.
The Mav, configured for quick precision work, was not meant for extended sprinting. "You have a Dom for that" my brain unhelpfully reminded me as the visor heavily fogged up, slowing down the escape as rocks became harder to dodge. On the flip-side, its low heat-print and greyness made it much harder for machines and humans alike to track.
The Goliath soon lost me and gave up, its protocol clearly prioritising base protection over goose chase. And I did feel like a bit of a goose at that very moment.
The guards, although quick on the alarm, were seemingly still very confused about their own process. Being so far from the main star, it was not entirely surprising that they placed first year conscripts or got complacent.
A large rock 2km from the base provided a good makeshift shelter. Calling The Fixer back should be safe enough from there.
Or so I thought. The bounty had clearly propagated to the ship, and the hovering system defense ships started attacking it. A quick dismissal was once again the only option, with yours truly nowhere near closer to his pizza or party.
Visiting Lei was clearly off the menu now, just hoping pizza wouldn’t be too.
The Apex driver I called had more luck with the landing. Unfortunately, my presence on board immediately triggered the authorities again. From the loading bay intercom, I screamed to the bewildered driver "Go! I'll explain and pay triple."
The Adder lost its shields just as it freed itself from the mass lock of the 2 Cobra shooting it and jumped into SuperCruise. No words exchanged inside the cabin. Yet.
This would cost me, and likely bring an early onset of grey hairs to my driver.
I studied the galaxy map to redirect my destination to a Low Security, Interstellar Factor and Shipyard equipped outpost or starport. The closest was 5 jumps away in a standard Apex Adder.
This would cost me… a lot, to make it up to Captain Warden.