Triple Point: War on 3 Fronts
06 May 2024Streya Jormagdnir
The past months have seen thousands of confirmed kills and orders of magnitude more munitions expended. The path I've taken, one of rifle and weapon hardpoints, provides no rest for the weary. Bonus points if you've been wicked along the way.My usual duties as Arch-Corsair within Black Widow have continued apace, and I even lent some support to the Kumo Crew's successful campaign to expand our reach to the new Pilots Federation testing area of Chamberlain's Rest in HIP 97950. Pirates and outlaws under Archon Delaine's banner rejoiced as the highest-ranking members in his militia were now able to go weapons-free, even in an area the Pilots Fed was issuing new Sidewinders.
Other than that, the political struggles at home have been moderately more intense. Our historical rivals and ankle-biters love to start civil unrest or cause disarray in the election booth, but they do not understand how conflict simply invigorates me. I daresay this is a common attitude among Kumo Nation pilots. We welcome a steady stream of conflicts and warfare to intervene in, or business and training opportunities for fresh recruits. We've become quite the professionals and always walk out with something worthwhile, in one form or another. Still, rumors of big political changes coming abound, which tracks since every summer has seemingly seen more political upheaval than the last.
The Thargoids, on the other hand, are a much less predictable foe when it comes to grand strategy. The development of anti-Titan Guardian Nanite Torpedoes was heralded as our first way to finally strike back at these hives. My usual cautious strategy with any new technology is to let other, braver pilots test it out first. Knowing AXI and the Xeno Strike Force already had Titan Taranis more or less cut off without any fancy new weapons, and not knowing how the Titans would respond to new Guardian-based weaponry, I took the cautious approach of watching from afar as Taranis exploded.
I kicked myself when the Pilots Fed began handing out medal decals and the like. There was no way the Thargoids would just let us congest a whole hive mothership until it overheated, it couldn't be that easy. Nonetheless I joined in on attacks on the subsequent two Titans. Leigong went down without issue using the same strategic formula as before, but it was Titan Oya that confirmed my suspicions. The Thargoids have adapted to us each step of the way, why would this be any different?
Humanity's rapid tactical response to Titan Oya's panicked seeding of dozens of star systems won out. I don't think I've ever collected that many Scout tissue samples before that point, but it was worth it as the cunning Titan fell. Still, I wonder what surprises Titan Hadad will have in store as the collective Xeno Defence forces move camp.
In the shadows I've continued to work in concert with the Anti-Club Accord to suppress Azimuth Biotech's operations and reach. For the most part we keep them limited to just those star systems it owns by permit or has megaships in, having recently ejected them from HIP 5840. The puppet masters pulling the strings can't remain in hiding much longer as the political tensions in the Bubble rise to a fever pitch. The forces that sabotaged the galactic Summit that would have seen the Kumo Nation legitimized were the same forces that started this Thargoid War, which are yet the same forces that CMDR Salomé warned us are profiting off our every move.
Still, when it comes to Azimuth, I prefer to take whatever isn't bolted down for myself and detonate anything I can't carry. Turns out they made a mistake pissing off the Thargoids, because now veterans of the war are asking questions. And after taking out Banshees with small arms fire in the pits of the Spires, do they really think all the paid-off Omnipol and "enhanced" security measures will make a difference? Have fun finding out!
