What the heck was that?
10 Mar 2024Carbucketty
It's been a while, but there's been a lot to keep me busy. There are plenty of folks who want things done with no questions asked, and that suits me fine as long as they don't ask any themselves.Settlement missions? No problem, I can operate a station terminal as well as anyone, though I'd rather not be seen doing it. I have a certain advantage when it comes to stealth, and I can be boosting towards orbit with a stolen datapad without anyone even noticing I left my ship. As for reactivations, dragging an arc cutter around is a nuisance, but it's nice and quiet as long as there are no scavengers hanging around... but even if there are, the SRV turret makes short work of them.
Ground combat zones? It's amazing how much damage a grenade batted around a corner or pushed gently off a rooftop at the right moment can do.
And there are still plenty more folks needing a lift out of Thargoid-infested space. They don't care who's in the pilot's seat, just so long as they get far, far away from the front lines.
About that, though... Thargoid hyperdictions used to be a minor irritation at most: the Cheshire Kitten runs cool and can outrun most interceptors, so just a sharp boost away used to do the trick. But things have changed since I was last running evac missions. This time, I popped a heatsink and boosted as usual, but something kept up with me effortlessly, firing off a homing missile that detonated against my shields and rebooted my frame shift drive. The heck? Every hair standing on end, I activated silent running and fired off my remaining heatsinks, the drive's boot sequence seeming to take hours. Thankfully the Thargoid must have lost its lock on me temporarily, buying just enough time for my drive to boot and charge. The whoop of the missile alarm blared again, the alien projectile streaking to within metres of my ship before the jump countdown hit zero. Shouts and cheering from the passenger cabins as we dropped from witchspace into a friendly system. A check of all systems showed only minor damage, but it could easily have gone a lot worse.
A little research later, I find out the Thargoids have hunter craft now, able to keep up with all but the fastest human vessels. I've fitted ECM to my ship for now, which seems to be enough to keep them from knocking out my hyperdrive, but if I can't run it's more than a little tempting to gear up and fight back. I've purchased a Krait Mk. II (name still to be chosen), engineered for speed and cold running, and with enough firepower to (hopefully) chew through any smaller Thargoids that bother me. Next time we'll see who the hunter is around here.