Thargoid Crusade (RP Story)
10 Jan 2023Darkbeetle
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is not part of my current logbook series (CMDR Darkbeetle). I wrote this story with a slightly modified Elite Dangerous universe. Enjoy!DISCLAIMER: Some may find parts of this story controversial or offensive. This is not intentional and the story doesn't reflect my personal opinions.
Every commander’s first steps are in the Pilot’s Federation Commander Application Hall. The small yet packed space was filled with eager, young applicants. Ornate decorations from the 23rd century lined the walls and ceiling. The floor, however, had evidently been redesigned to be compatible with the magnetic boots of the 34th century. Everybody was here for one thing: signing up to be a commander. It’s no easy task; you have to go through training. But I was pumped-up, and ready for anything the instructors could throw at me.
“Follow me, Commander”, the instructor said. We took the express lift down to the hangar. On the way down, the instructor introduced himself. He was a man in his 40’s with brown hair called Peter. They arrived at Hangar 9. Parked, was a Sidewinder Mk I spacecraft. White with orange stripes, the trapezoid-shaped metal box with thrusters bolted on was famous for being the ship every new commander has ever flown. Released by Faulcon Delacy in 2982 and coming at only 32,000 credits, it is just the price of 60 tons of tea. And it’s also one of the most maneuverable ships in the galaxy! He heard the instructor yell, “I’ll be monitoring from down here, Commander. Get on the ship, and I’ll provide you with instructions!” I complied. When I got on the ship, the automatic docking computer activated and flew me out of the spaceport through the narrow “mailslot”, which was an airlock that allowed ships to pass through, although some ships have trouble fitting.
Over the next few days, I trained with Peter. We flew through asteroid fields, in the atmospheres of planets, and close to the star in supercruise at over 1/3 the speed of light to scoop hydrogen fuel. It wasn’t an easy task: too close and you’ll overheat, too far and they’ll find Raxxla before you fill up. But again, nothing is easy in space, right? We learned how to fuel scoop, how to hyperjump, how to engage in combat (in a simulation), and “most importantly”, how to dock without an automated docking computer. (The latter of which my instructor insisted on teaching even though it wasn’t on the training plan) I suppose it’s a good skill, but nobody flies without a docking computer these days, so I don’t see the purpose. We crashed 3 ships in the simulation, so I’m not planning on ever using that skill in real situations.
Fast forward 3 years, I was at this starport, in the pilot’s lounge, watching the news. Apparently, there were alien attacks on some systems, causing a galaxy-wide alert to be issued.
“Is it really that bad that it has to be aired on the comedic news channel?”, I thought to myself out loud.
The bartender heard me and replied, “Hey pilot, I’ve been there myself, and it truly is a tragedy! Thousands of lives are being lost to the Thargoids as we speak!”
I suddenly felt myself shiver. I had been foolish to assume that this was no big deal. But at the same time, I also felt curious. I asked the bartender if I could leave her contact info.
“Sure,” she said. Later on my ship, I researched the Thargoids on my own codex. As it turns out, in the late 32nd century, there was a war against the Thargoids. However, humanity deployed the Mycoid Virus, a bio-engineered chemical which deals catastrophic damage to the Thargoid vessels and crew. This time, they came back with immunity, and they were here in full force. A person calling himself “Salvation” messed up, and made a superweapon that activated, but failed and managed to awaken some sort of inner force in the insectoid-aliens. Now there were bright glowing dots in the sky resembling their ships, hurtling towards us at over 4000 times the speed of light. All systems their “mothership” passed through were now littered with wreckage and debris. All this info ignited a fury in my heart. “I have to do something about this!”, I thought.
Later during that day, I met the bartender again at Inter Astra while I was buying a ship. You see, I was spending nearly all of my life savings buying an Alliance Chieftain, a nimble ship known for being widely used in the Thargoid war, and outfitting it for combat. Specifically, anti-xeno combat. The bartender introduced herself, a fine lady named “Sarah”. She said, “I’ve been looking for a nice person to introduce me to the world of commanders, but you all are so mysterious! Can I learn your ways?” At first I declined, because I’m not good at flying, and besides, combat was dangerous. Eventually though, after enough begging, she got what she wanted.
I walked to my newly-purchased ship and boarded. My automated co-pilot reminded me that I still had some setup tasks to do. My real-life co-pilot reminded me too, although the task mentioned was a serving of coffee. I quickly made some coffee for the both of us, and I launched the ship. On the way out, guided by the docking computer, the traffic controller noticed me in my new ship. He asked, “What’s up, Commander? You look all geared up! Going to the front lines?”
“Yeah”, I replied. “You should really consult the AXI!”, he exclaimed, “Do you know about them?”
I didn’t know about them, actually. He told me that the AXI, or Anti-Xeno Initiative, were a group of commanders who were working together to coordinate plans for defending humanity. They had a training program for people looking to join their ranks. Later that day, I signed up for training the next day.
The next day, I flew to the AXI headquarters to start training. I got to skip the basic flight training, because I already had over 2 years of experience. However, they revealed some experimental weapons to me, specifically designed to fight the alien menaces. I was impressed, because they were designed using ancient Guardian technology. “Hurry up!”, the training instructor said, “We’re going to a live combat zone!” Now, I was a little terrified. I had always been a trader, and had never seen much combat. “Oh well,” I reassured myself, “what did I expect, signing up to protect humanity?”
I got on the Krait Mk II assigned specifically for trainees. We jumped to a nearby thargoid-infested system, and quickly flew towards the AX conflict zone. I was on the gunner seat this time, while the training instructor was in control. Since the Krait has 3 seats, Sarah was in the cockpit too. She would use telepresence to control the Ship-Launched Fighter, also designed using Guardian technology. We dropped out of supercruise, and were immediately surrounded by 3 Thargoid Scouts. “Hang on tight, we’re in for a bumpy ride!”, the instructor told us, “Commander, shoot at the scouts using the AX multi-cannon! Sarah, deploy the ship-launched fighter!” I tried my best to aim for the nasty bugs, but they were still faster than us. There was a warning on the dashboard: Caustic Missiles Incoming! The missile struck us, penetrating the shields and causing damage. But, the damage did not stop. The enzymes on the missile were digesting our ship alive! Luckily, they can be melted off, but it requires high temperatures. We turned off the heatsinks, and started firing our weapons at full capacity. Soon enough, we were hot enough that the enzymes started to wear off. Simultaneously, the scouts had been defeated, each dropping a thargoid sensor. What was waiting for us next was a little more dangerous.
The Thargoid Interceptor is a menacing giant, with the ability to produce a swarm of tiny yet destructive drones willing to kamikaze your ship on command. Its spiral shaped arms and 4 glowing “hearts” make it instantly recognizable against the backdrop of space, even if the Interceptor itself is also dark-colored. We were about to go against this titan, and our ship shuddered, as if it knew what was about to happen. The instructor had clearly not planned for this, but years of experience appeared to keep him calm. “Let me handle this”, the instructor said, and took over control. I watched as the instructor had a one-to-one battle with the lumbering yet swift leviathan over the course of 10 minutes. It was like a fireworks display, although a slightly nauseating one. As the battle dragged on, the instructor pointed out tactics for defeating an Interceptor. At the end, the instructor’s dashboard showed an 8 million credit combat bond for him. “Still not enough, that was way too dangerous!”, I thought to myself.
We got off the ship, back at headquarters. According to the trainers, I passed! Of course, to much surprise on my end, since I didn’t feel like I did very well. Either way, I left with a lot more confidence in myself. For the next few days, I followed the news and heard that the “stargoids” mentioned before had actually stopped at a system just outside human-occupied space. Now, they are using the “stargoid” as a mobile base, attacking nearby human occupied systems and taking starports. I quickly realized what this meant: Innocent human lives were being lost, and not even planetary bases were safe! This was devastating news to me, because even if I didn’t know anybody from that area, I still felt really, really bad for the people who just happened to be living there, who called those places home, and were now either being killed or crammed onto a ship, separated from their families, bound for an unknown destiny as refugee camps in nearby systems filled up almost immediately.
I tried to focus on my class about Thargoid combat for the next few days. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what I saw that day. The helpless civilians—most trapped in a burning station—were suffering. So without fully completing training, I signed up to be a rescue pilot, which didn’t require an AXI license. I was recommended a Keelback—an armored freighter, which I could just barely afford. I was also allowed to continue training in a different facility while doing rescue jobs part-time. Over the next few weeks, I was a part-time rescue pilot saving people from the alien threat. I met some commanders who helped defend my under-shielded and overloaded ship, but I also met some commanders who at first glance seemed helpful, but started asking me to support “Xeno-Peace”. They explained that we were the ones who started the war, and we should bear the consequences. I didn’t reply there and then, but later I thought to myself, “Of course they’re the ones encouraging us to bear the consequences—they have safety on their multi-billion credit fleet carriers!”
Eventually, I finished my AX training. I was now a pilot who had over 2 hours of experience in real combat. Still not much, but I graduated top of the class. That day, I remembered clearly, the alarms around the station suddenly started ringing. The system had been on Thargoid Watch for a while, and this day was inevitable. I quickly hopped on my Keelback. Other commanders with rescue ships also started their ships. I quickly loaded the unfortunate, as much as I could carry, and launched from the outpost. Immediately, I was met by 2 interceptors firing weapons at the station. My keelback was fast, able to travel at over one earth speed of sound in normal space. However, it wasn’t enough. The Thargoids were catching up fast. “Frame Shift Drive charging. Five. Four. Three. Tw-” Several missiles hit my ship. “Life support malfunctioned. One.” With a nearly dead ship and non-functional life support, I jumped out of the stricken system. Time was running out… only 3 minutes of oxygen for me and the refugees left. The nearest rescue ship was 30 light years away. After that, everything was a blur. All I could remember were the panicked refugees, packed inside the passenger cabins. “1 minute of oxygen remaining.” With only 30 seconds of time to spare, I made it to the rescue ship. My Keelback was badly beaten up, but still flew after some repairs.
After that, I learned some valuable lessons that training didn’t teach me about the aliens. I used that experience to upgrade my combat ship accordingly. Then, it was about time. I headed over to my Chieftain, and boarded. The entirety of humanity’s anti-xeno fleet surrounded me. We met at the system’s main star. Humanity’s whole fleet, and what was most likely a fraction of the Thargoid fleet. Us, versus at least 500 interceptors not counting the seemingly infinite scouts and drones. I took a deep breath, and headed into the sea of Thargoids. Pounded by unknown ammunition, my ship made a noise I hadn’t heard before. The guardian technology was coming to life, and it made sure I knew. I noticed the bullets bouncing off my ship, as if it were just a tiny fish compared to my vessel. This sense of superiority quickly wore off, however, as my dashboard alerted me, “Energy pulse detected!” In a fraction of a second, all human ships within a 50 kilometer radius powered down. Although we were only helpless for about 10 seconds, it still felt like a lifetime. Maybe because we were in the middle of fighting for our lives. Systems online, weapons deployed. I took aim for the drone swarm first—avoiding, then striking before they noticed. After the drones were taken out, the interceptors were effectively on their own. I aimed for one of the five hearts, and fired the ammunition of an unknown race, but not of the enemies’.
The fight continued, with more and more barren wreckage strewn about. There were massive ships that arrived, humanities’ capital ships. What was different this time, was that the ships were multicolored. Not the ships themselves, but rather, the ships together. Federal Gray, Imperial White, Independent Dark. Utilitarian, Sleek, Elegant, and Angular design all came together to form a majestic scene. I’ve never seen an imperial interdictor, lasers steaming, fight alongside a federal battlecruiser, multi-cannons blazing. I fought alongside all of them, our civilization’s collective force. Evidently, the Thargoids were not expecting this. They won at first, but as more and more pilots and military forces trickled in, each capable of destroying at least 3 interceptors before re-arming, they started being pushed back. When fighting one interceptor, a particularly strong caustic missile hit me. I tried to burn it off, but parts of it were still eating through my hull. I was forced to turn back; I jumped into supercruise as usual. What I didn’t expect was to be immediately pulled into an interdiction. Whoever—or whatever—was behind this obviously had a lot of experience. I quickly submitted to it, as I knew there was no chance to escape in my partially-destroyed ship.
As I was pulled out of supercruise, I suddenly felt an unexplained sense of dread. Soon, I became aware that a wing of 2 Anacondas had dropped on me. At first, I wasn’t aware of their intentions, but they made me aware. “Anaconda deployed hardpoints (2)”, my dashboard flashed. Immediately, my dashboard became one flashing thing among others in my ship. The Anacondas were firing at me! I took to the comms to ask what was happening. They replied, “You kill the bugs, we’ll kill you.” Over the next 10 seconds, my ship was obliterated by the violent pro-xeno activists. At least, according to them, the Thargoids were peaceful, and we were the ones who caused the war. I couldn’t think much longer, though. I heard “Eject, Eject, Eject”, and proceeded to be enveloped in darkness.
There was suddenly a light above me. I was laid down on a hospital bed. “He woke up!”, a nurse said. Quickly, they prepared me for discharge from the medical bay. I realized that things weren’t as simple as they seemed. Although the Thargoids had been largely pushed back from multiple systems, the threat wasn’t fully over. There were human supporters of the insects, too. And I knew they wouldn’t give up easily.
Eventually, I made my way back home. It seemed as if I was trying to go back to normal life—and I was, to a limited extent—but mostly, I was trying to rest for a while. I knew that the bubble wouldn’t be the same after all the events that happened. There were so many conflicts, and so much suffering. But I rescued thousands of people, families, children, elderly, and dreams. That kind of thing brought calmness and satisfaction to me. Knowing that I contributed to humanity’s survival, I set my flight suit down and laid on my bed. What comes next—that’s a story for another time.