The Acolytes (Part 1)
29 Oct 20211ndr1d C01d
I don't usually keep logs but what happened a few months back... I have to get it down. I have to get it down while everything is still fresh in my memory because I know I'll look back one day with entirely different eyes... in fact it's already too late for that.A few months ago I was jumping into the Deciat system in my Cobra III. I had always heard about the dangers of the Deciat system and it's reputation for being the playground of killers looking to pad their Combat ranking. My engines were moderately engineered and I had the capability to go cold, hopefully making me hard enough to track until I could get away.
Anyhow, I jumped into the system, eyes glued to my sensor display. My heart jumped into my throat immediately as the main star rushed into view. The first ship my sensors locked onto was a Federal Corvette... Deadly... dead ahead. I relaxed a bit when I noticed it was facing my destination, Farseer Inc. "Probably too busy engineering.".
I throtteled up and aligned my ship as I continued to flip through the other ships in the system. My comms menu pinged as I continued flipping through targets... Adder, Adder, Cobra 3, DBX, back to the initial Corvette... Okay nothing too dangerous or paying attention to me.
I checked my comms. Strange. The Corvette just pinged the whole system with a message. A strange series of numbers and letters. It looked familiar. Two digit numbers sometimes just numbers; sometime a letter mixed in. As I stared at the code I had completely missed that another ship had dropped into the system at the main star and must have taken advantage of the fact that I throttled back as I studied the code. My ship bucked wildly as the interdictor began destabilizing my frame shift drive.
SH!T!!!
I began running through my emergency check list in my head as I fought the interdiction long enough to get my thoughts straight. Full pips to engines, two pips to systems. Check the target as I pulled back the throttle to submit... I began to shake as I realized what was pulling me. An Elite rank FDL. My heart sank. I'm boned... If I throttle down I can't outrun that thing. If I fight it and lose... the likely scenario there's no jumping away. I submitted.
I remembered my training. I pulled back on my stick and boosted, a fraction of a second later I turned the F/A off. My ship whipped around so fast that I was shoved into my chair. The Gs gave me tunnel vision as my Remlok suit quickly reacted and applied pressure to my legs forcing the blood back to where it was needed. As I flipped around I caught site of the FDL struggling to align itself with me. I popped the F\A back on as I came to face my potential killer, dropped a sink, and boosted straight toward him.
So far my execution was flawless. I jammed the boost desperately as I waited for what seemed like an eternity for my FSD to cool down. OH! Almost forgot! I looked at my nav menu and scrolled down to a system; any system to high wake to.
"Your ship is under attack", my ships COVAS stated far too cooly for the situation.
HOLY... WTF was that!!! One volley had my shields down to 71% and even bled through to my hull... 92%.
Locked! "Frameshift drive charging"
I pulled the stick wildly and rolled toward the system I had just randomly locked on to. These guy rarely bother to carry Wake Scanners as a kitted out FDL doesn't have the jump range to pursue much of anything.
My ship shook as the shields lit up under the impact of another volley of what I later surmised was some sort of modded plasma accelerators... at least one of them had phasing. Shields dropped to 43% and I could see the burns on my hull as it dropped to 83%.
COME ON! I screamed at my FSD as I tried my best to keep my ship aligned but somehow stay evasive to an enemy that is... oh god, 1.5 km behind me and closing. Another volley landed on the rear of my ship. Shields drop. Severe hull damage... now sitting at 62%
In my panic I lost track of my target jump system trying desperately to out maneuver the superior ship. The frame shift drive hummed at full bore as the "align with target system" flashed across my HUD.
COME ON! COME ON! I murmured as I tried desperately to align my ship. Then I heard the Plasmas discharge again at incredibly close range.
Frameshift Drive Malfunction flashed across my HUD. Thruster malfunction followed. I began to tumble as I drifted forward maintaining momentum.
This was it. Hull at 22%. FSD rebooting. I let go of the stick and closed my eyes waiting for the final blow. But instead a bright flash appeared overhead and a massive ship dropped nearly on top of us and moved quickly behind me blocking the firing solution of my pursuer.
It was the Corvette from earlier!
I wasn't sure what his intentions were but he just bought me another few seconds of life.
I still had the FDL targeted and noticed his shields took quite a blow; losing around a third of their power as an entire ring turned red. The Corvette dropped directly in its path causing an impact. The Corvette weathered the blow much better than the FDL.
My partially disabled ship slowly tumbled to face the two ships in time to witness a multitude of bright red beam cannons erupt from the hard points of the Corvette. Six beams squarely struck the shields of the FDL. In an instant the massive ship went invisible on my sensors. Even at a solid distance I had to avert my eyes from the brightness of the beams. I could even feel the radiant heat on my face.
I got my wits together and enabled the reboot/repair sequence. My attacker may be distracted but I was still pretty close to the fray... no more than a couple km from it all, it wouldn't take but a stray shot from either to finish me off.
Only about 10 seconds passed before my damaged modules sprang back to life but it felt like an eternity. The Corvette was beginning to struggle to keep it weapons trained on the far more maneuverable target but the massive shields were more than weathering whatever the FDL could throw at it. It was a losing battle for the FDL and he must have realized it because the FDL finally turned away and boosted into the distance a fraction of a second before his shields were about to drop.
By now I could have begun spooling up my drive but I zoned out, transfixed on my savior... who was now turning to face me.
I froze as I heard my COVAS announce, "Scan Detected". At the same time my message center pinged. It was another sequence on two digit numbers and letters. Whether it was the same as the earlier message, I couldn't say. I'm sure it meant something but I couldn't even begin to decipher the message. I was shaking so much due the the adrenaline pumping through my veins that I couldn't even begin to think straight. So I did the only thing I though might save my ass. I retracted my hard points. A second later the giant battleship did the same and then promptly began to move away.
I finally let my body relax as I just began taking long, slow, deep breaths as I thanked whomever might hear me that I was still alive. I just sat there reveling in the fact that, somehow by pure dumb circumstance, that I would live to fight another day. The sound of my shields reactivating snapped me out of my daze.
I quickly located the large ship's FSD wake... it was low. It's still in the system. Against my better judgement I deselected the system I was locked on to and activated my FSD to jump back into supercruise. I jumped into supercruise with just enough time to see the Corvette approaching FarSeer and then drop off sensors as it entered the exclusion zone. I punched the throttle... if he's going to land at Farseer that'll give me an opportunity to get a complete scan on his ship. I might even get a glance at the pilot, who for whatever reason, saved my life.
My battered ship shook, groaned, and rattled as the stresses of atmospheric glide stressed the already damaged frame. As soon as I dropped out of glide I caught view of the monstrous ship as it set down at the base. I contacted the tower and requested docking and to my cautious delight was assigned the pad nearest the Corvette.
I was so eager to get my feet back on solid ground for a multitude of reasons, all fairly obvious, that I'm surprised the rough landing didn't finish off my suffering Cobra. I put in the orders for full repair and rearm and promptly exited the ship as the repair crew began their task. I moved as quickly as I could in the reduced gravity of the small planetary body toward the concourse. I jammed on the elevator button, even though it showed up promptly it was still far too slow for my liking. The 10 second ride seemed like an eternity. I tried to move quickly through the lobby of the station; I don't even know who or what I was looking for but I felt like the pilot of that ship might be fairly conspicuous.
Just a couple roustabouts in the seating area near the elevators. Always looking for someone to do their dirty work... not interested. I darted from store front to store front trying my best not to seem suspicious. No one in Vista... No one in Pioneer... the place was pretty deserted aside from a few obvious drunks in the bar. After the day I've been having that didn't sound like a bad idea. I made my way over to the bar fully intent on ordering a double Lavian Brandy but talked myself down to a glass of Saxon Wine by the time I got to the bar tender.
No sooner had I received my drink I heard what sounded like a voice coming over an intercom but it was right behind me. It was slow, mono-tone, and staccato in diction.
"Why... was that... pilot trying to... kill you?".
I turned in my chair to face him.
"You... aren't wanted... no bounty.", the more I listened the more the voice seemed synthesized.
It was him... I struggled for words, " I... uh... They do that here.".
"Strange... ", he mused.
"Why did you save me?", I asked sheepishly.
"Save? He was... wanted. Large bounty... History of disorder...", he droned.
"History of disorder? Well... let me at least buy you a drink . You may not have meant to save me but you did.", I began talking fast and enthusiastically.
I tried to search his face as he stood there silently, but the more I looked him over the more I noticed I couldn't see a single inch of flesh anywhere. His head seemed to be in a helmet, his eyes cover with an opaque black visor, his nose and mouth were covered by a plastic vented mask. He appeared to be wearing black composite armor.
"Yes... disorder. Illogical... self destructive... behavior. Humans... hinder them... selves destroying... each other. His disorder... my... our benefit.", he continued in the same exact tone.
" So... no drink?", I waited a second for a response as I stood up to face him, "No drink.", I confirmed as I continued to stare into the black visor.
I couldn't help but notice how rigidly he stood as I put my hand his shoulder and invited him over to a small standing table just behind where I was sitting. His shoulder was hard, completely unmoving even as I applied light pressure trying guide him over; it was like pushing on a brick wall... he was completely immovable so I pulled my hand away feeling a little embarrassed for touching him so forcefully.
He looked me up and down... and I don't mean to be vain but I've been ogled a time or two and this wasn't that. It was mechanical; like I had just been cataloged or something. He took a few step over to the table and then stared at me.
"Okay... now what?", I thought to myself as I stepped over to the table and faced him, "I'll start with the obvious I guess.".
"So... What's your name? I'm Elise.", I asked trying to get into this mystery.
"My...designation is... Omega.", the more I listened the more it seemed like I was listening to a synthesizer.
"Omega? What kind of name is that?".
"My... designation.".
"Do you not have a name?", I inquired.
"I'm... not him... anymore. I am... but different...", he pulled back the black composite panel that covered the forearm to reveal a mechanical arm underneath.
I reached out and touch the panel he was holding open, "How much? How much is...", I started but stopped myself not wanting to sound inappropriate.
"Most.", he stated as stoically as before.
"C-can I ask... what happened? I assume one sees some shit getting together the scratch for that beast I saw you flying.", I was starting to prattle again.
"Time.", he stated in his usual tone.
I hadn't even touched my wine and this was far too intriguing to waste a second with a clouded head. To be honest I'm not sure why he even bothered to humor me but that last response vexed me.
"Time? What do you mean? Like... and pardon my candor but you're old?", I pressed.
"They're... much older...", he went silent.
"They? What's that mean?", I asked but he began to move away from the table.
"Time... is short.", his head turned toward the elevators.
"Wait...", I pleaded as I began walking with him, "I... uhhh... I need work... I could help...", I figured big ship, cybernetic tech, old and still kicking... there's a lot to be learned from this guy.
He stopped walking.
"Contribution...", he stated then paused for a few seconds, "Col 285 Sector XN-D a28-2 10", he rattled off the system name quickly and systematically unlike his previous talking diction, "Fleet... Carrier... Final... Contact... QZB-2QB", he turned and walked away briskly.
"Wait!", I shouted after him as he slipped into an elevator and rode away, "Col 285... ", I trailed off not wanting to sound like I was shouting the system name I had already forgotten, "Final Contact... I should be able to look that up.", I raced back down to my ship eager to see if I could locate that carrier.
Within minutes I was logged into my ships systems and running a search for the carrier. Surprisingly it was the only carrier with that name; convenient. It was orbiting Planet 10 in Col 285 Sector XN-D a28-2 which was on the edge of the bubble, no more than 100 ly from my current position. I guess I'm heading to the carrier...