The Universe Provides
21 May 2021User319792
After my engagement with the FDL during the last leg of my most recent trade run, I knew I'd need to put more work into my dog-fighting. It turned out fine, all things considered, and I managed to hold on to my cargo, but the flight video showed me a lot more about how many flechettes I failed to connect with than any hint of elite-level dog-fighting. I'd spent so much time trying to build up my credit count to get Octavian in flight condition, and having to figure out what to do after the man in the black suit dropped the hammer on me that I hadn't thought to run through any training activities. It showed in Cortez, there's no way it wouldn't show in Hobbes and I might as well be flying an occupied escape pod if I tried any of the moves I'd tried in Cortez in Descartes.Luckily, the there's no shortage of danger in the black and I was lucky enough to run into a couple of pilots that were willing to remind me that there's a lot more to being a pilot than being able to mow down pirates in Ovid and Burr, and carry load after load of cargo.
After the trade run I stopped in at Cubeo to see if Coral was ok. She poked her head out from behind one of Keystone's interior panels with the same confused look on her face that I've never not seen her wear.
"He did what?" Her words came slowly and measured, with a tone of the same childlike curiosity she's always had. I'd always thought she was pretty in her own way and her greased hair and ruffled flight suit fit her perfectly in so many different ways. She wouldn't make it a day in the galaxy if she wasn't as constantly lost in her own version of outer space.
I explained what the man in the black suit did after he found out about what we did and she seemed to get lost in her own thoughts again before asking,
"So... are you in trouble?" I wanted to pat her on the head and tell her everything was gonna be ok.
"Yeah, probably. I'm not scared of him. I'll be fine." Her eyes wandered for a few seconds before a huge lightning bolt shot out of the ship panel. It scared me half-to-death as I watched it jump from the behind the panel door to the energy diffusion tower on the other end of the flight deck just as my eyes drifted from her face to her hands. She laughed and, after looking at me, laughed again. I probably made some dumb face. It was like watching my eyes create electricity out of thin air. She asked if I would be ok, and I told her I'd be fine, before excusing herself to get back to the work.
I hopped into Tzu and decided to switch out the plasma accelerators I'd had fitted with a pair of focused accelerators with experimentals that might do some damage to the ship's functions and Bill was, as always, happy to oblige. I hadn't flown her with any regularity for a while, but I definitely love the way she moves
On my way back over I was interdicted by CMDR phD613 and we scrummed a couple of times in. (LOL) Uncivilized was an absolute master class with the accelerators, and the use of railguns left me considering whether or not I should switch out Tzu's lasers. Watching the video, I didn't make much use of them and I might be better off. We parted ways with some suggestions on how I could maximize my use of my shield cells and the promise to meet again.
After that, I ran into CMDR MoosemanSmith, who interdicted me back when I was flying with CMDR Inf3ctd, and I swore it wouldn't be the last time we ran into each other. Lucky enough, we found each other at Jameson Memorial and we went for a few rounds as well. Abysmal was a great way-point as to what I might be able to do to hone any rough edges on Tzu's current fit. After the joust, we parted ways and, as I did to CMDR phD613, I mentioned my business in case they might be interested in working with me at any point.
I got my ass handed to me in a gift-box and I'm gonna be analyzing the videos of the spanking I got for any glaring missteps. They're definitely better dog-fighters and I'm gonna figure out why.