It's All About the Bobblehead
08 May 2022Haggis Jnr
Well that gave me a shock!Kicking around Maia I've often wondered what those Non Human Signal Sources were so I decided to drop in and have a look. Even after my recent success with the 'condas I thought a Threat 5 might be a little ambitious so dropped into a 4 instead ... then fled ... Holy Moly ... those things are ferocious and there were loads of them.
My brother laughed when I told him and said I'd actually be better in the Threat 5 but didn't really tell me exactly what to expect although he did give me a load of interesting information about these guys. Apparently they were Thargoid Scouts that bombarded us ... they are so fast, too fast to avoid, and poor old Bob just can't tank that kind of damage.
But you know me, can't help myself, so ... yes ... I popped my head into a Threat 5.
WHHAAATTTT!!!! That thing is HUGE!!!
I was not expecting that but I remembered my brother talking about the Thargoid Interceptors and by counting the petals I reckoned it was a Cyclops. Quite threatening and that braying noise it makes is really scary ... I was frozen to the spot at first but then it just turned and went.
For the first time I really looked around. There was a faint green fog everywhere and I realised I was surrounded by bits of what used to be a ship ... Krait Mk II maybe? Poor sod! I recalled some of the stories my brother told me as well and I started to get really angry ... and I mean REALLY angry!!! I deployed Bob's hardpoints and remembered those nine deadly 'condas ... I could do some real good here ... I flashed the laser and fired off a couple of shots with the rails and it felt good. I knew what I needed to do now.
Didn't take long to find another one and it behaved the same way, scanned me, brayed (barked?) at me then left. Except I wasn't having that this time ... I'd snatched a quick look around and amongst other things there was an occupied escape pod ... this pilot was still alive and I could save him ... I understand combat and I know when to run if things get out of hand ... I have nothing to fear here.
I'm not stupid though ... I knew we were up against a different kind of enemy so not sure whether lasers or rails would be best, I let loose with both ... it worked too, that thing got really angry and turned on me, coming closer and when you are up against something that size it's hard to miss ... this was going to be over in no time.
But then everything changed, suddenly I was being mobbed by dozens of little "things" ... I don't know what they were or even where they came from? ... they were like the bloody scouts all coming at me at once. But they were organised, they were flying in formation and attacking us. At first they didn't seem that strong ... but then the missiles came. Bob was crippled in no time, half his systems shut down ... but we were lucky ... Bob's thrusters still worked and he's fast. We simply legged it ... boost, boost, boost and soon we couldn't see that monster any more. I needed to do a little work to get Bob's FSD working but we've been through this before and to cut a long story short we got home safely.
But there was a bigger problem that occurred to me when I thought about it. I realised that our initial attack hadn't actually had any effect at all other than to anger the Cyclops. All the evidence would suggest that we had not actually damaged it at all.
It's late and I won't bore you with the details but I talked all of this over with my brother and he explained we needed specialised weapons but he also told me how to get them ... so that's what we did. Jumped on the fleet carrier, visited a guardian site, danced with a few sentinels, played the game and before you know it we're paying our dues to some tech brokers and fitting two new weapons to Bob. Those things run hot though ... but luckily I've built up quite a network of friends and one of my newer friends Ram Tah fixed us up with a nice pair of heatsink launchers with extra ammo. Sweet!
Next time was a totally different story. Those petals melted under this new weapon ... a gauss cannon. A little awkward to use as you have to charge them up but they fire a potent bolt of lightning. So apparently the Cyclops has a number of hearts and when you inflict enough damage one of them becomes exposed and glows ... it's like a massive target just asking you to hit it. And if you get it just right, that's it, no more heart.
It's a long drawn out process and Bob needs constant repair throughout but we're getting there. As I get better we can take down two hearts most times but we take so much damage we have to flee every time ... and those thargons as I now know they are called, they just cripple us if we don't avoid them.
But then one time we take down the second heart and we're in pretty good shape. Systems in good order and hull largely intact. For the first time we go after the 3rd heart. My heart is beating with adrenaline coursing through my body ... we take a bit of a beating again but we actually do it ... the 3rd heart goes!
We regroup... now is not the time for impatience so we fix everything up and take stock. All systems in good order so with a deep breath we line up for the attack again ... seems too easy. No joke ... its gone! But Bob's hull is 17%, no time for bravado. We fix everything up again, can't do anything about the hull but we can make sure our other defences are good and more importantly make sure our weapons and thrusters are both in good order. We fix them up till they are as good as new.
One last gulp of breath and we turn to face our enemy!
Zap! Zap! Zap! Zap!
There's a small puff of green smoke and then the thing just explodes ... green smoke everywhere and I know I need to run... that stuff will damage Bob and he's had a hard enough time already ... hull is just 10% now, but the fight is over ... don't be stupid and we're safe.
I stare at the heart that remains for ages but there's no room for cargo. I'd love to collect it as a trophy but it's not to be I guess ...
... maybe next time.
When I tell me brother he smiles but I'm sure I detect something else - he talks about the trophy that sits on his dash - the infamous Bobblehead - you got to claim the heart he says ... else it's just hearsay! My brother is changing, he used to be pleased for me but I sometimes get the impression he's trying to put me down now. We used to be so close it's kinda sad.
But I can't refuse this challenge - I'll show him. So it's off to one of my friends again to get a special cargo rack for the heart. I have to sacrifice a bit of armour to fit it though - Bob complains bitterly - he's not happy about this but it has to be done. I'm not letting my brother goad me like this. To make up for the loss of armour though I treat Bob and upgrade the gauss cannons with a little premium ammo, expensive but worth it. Those Cyclops are going to rue the day they crossed our path!
Bob was right though - that extra bit of hull sure makes a difference - we have to flee from a pile more fights but eventually we do it - another Cylops down and this time ... this time I scoop the heart. We get our trophy, nobody can deny us our dues now ... we are bona fide bug hunters!!!
I'm not in the mood to ask my brother any more questions but some guys in the bar tell me about this place out in the Hyades Sector where I can gather Meta Alloys and that's what I need to buy this Bobblehead thingy. I pay it a visit and see another couple of Cyclops whilst I'm there - those thing sure are impressive but I'm not armed to fight them this time so I just watch.
A bit after I have my own Bobblehead sat proudly on my dash. I'm not going to tell me brother - I'll just let him work it out for himself ... arrogant sod that he is!