Strange Accords 4: Into The Dragons Maw
22 Jun 2023Silvia Sharpe
I let out a snorting sound as Vodan and Creamy left the bar in a mocking tone towards Vodan. I walked back around the bar, took a seat and grabbed a couple ice cubes, placing them on the back of my neck.'Phew..... really glad that didn't turn into a full blown fight. I can take a punch but I'm not back at 100%. Most of my display was me bluffing but I definitely would have shot him if it had come to it.'
"Hmmm.... Thank you, but I guess it won't do any good. We need AX combat ships, preferably fast enough to disengage and bug out when it's needed. What I'm going to do is essentially a distracting move", Ina said to Adam who had offered his help at some point.
She gave the bar a quick look as it was unlikely that she was going to return here anytime soon. She put the rifle on her back and the pistol, that was left by Creamy on the table unattended, under her belt.
"Uh. I should go and do a thing. Thank you, and good luck. Take care, Silvia, get well."
I offered a friendly wave to Ina as I saw her leave the bar.
'Ya see ya. Please don't get yourself killed. Ina you let me know if shit hits the fan I'll be there. Sounds like you have someone waiting at home for you. Fly safe, live dangerously. '
"Right, so now what? Did I waste my time staying awake when I really shouldn't be for nothing?"
Kira stood there, hands placed on her hips, finding herself to be a little annoyed, and looking at myseld and Cass. I looked to Kira and offered a welcoming smile.
'I'll be onboard Ripjaw in hangar 02. I really must get some rest. This took a lot out of me. I'll let Eden know you are authorized onboard should you decide to stop by.'
Melli wandered up to Kira, her tail lowered and a look of sorrow on her face. She looked into her eyes, offered a gentle yip and licked her face as if to say sorry. She pranced back over to me and opened up a pouch on my hip. From it she pulled out a small trinket and ran it over to Kira. The trinket in question was a brilliant palm sized teardrop cut tanzanite jewel. She looked back to me and chattered politely.
Melli sorry she bite pretty lady
I smiled at the actions and looked to Kira.
'She apologies for having bit you. I am not sure what she means by that.'
With that I departed the bar and headed back to my ship to catch some sleep, in an attempt to recover like I had been instructed to do. Life had been hard as of late and I really had been neglecting myself. It was time for me to take care of me for a change.
Kira looked at the large tanzanite gem, not sure what to do with the thing, and put it away in one of her pouches. She left the bar, and composed a message to me seemingly explaining why Melli did that.
Your pet decided to bite me so I'd wake up when you passed out. Not that it turned out to be necessary, but whatever. Please do let it know I'm not a big fan of getting licked in the face, much as I like animals. Not sure what to do with that gem either.
Also, I'll sleep in my own ship or some place I've rented out on the station for the night, but thanks for the offer. If those pirates decide to be stupid and try making a mess of the station, I'd rather be on there and have my weapons at hand, if they need a piece of my mind. And a reminder why I shouldn't be pissed off.
Oh, and that angry guy's lucky I wasn't in the mood for a fight, or he'd probably be in the medbay with a broken arm and bad headache right about now.
With people leaving the bar, Cass took it as their signal to sidle out as well, and headed back to their diamondback explorer on the docks.
****
Making my way into hangar 02 I couldn't help but feel like I should do something.
'No time like the present I suppose. What say you Melli? Ready to eat some bugs?'
While I don't agree with killing Thargoids I couldn't allow a fellow commander to fight them alone. I searched the station logs and to my surprise saw Ranger, Venus' AX Challenger.
'Oh you magnificent beast. Melli let's go.'
Melli and I rushed over to the hangar in which Ranger was located. Upon boarding I was greeted by Celeste
'Greetings Commander.'
I smiled at the voice and thought to myself "Of course Venus would choose you."
'Celeste track a ship for me. Designation Marshmallow.'
'Certainly Commander..... jump logs show path to Cephei Sector BV-Y B4 plotting course.'
I listened as the engines spooled up and performed my final checks and balances. I looked at the console and saw a wedding photo of Venus and myself.
'She really did want to protect me at all costs. Melli let's get suited up.'
I rushed to the back and grabbed a set of armor and pulled out a small fox like biomechanical suit specially designed for Melli. We made our way back to the cockpit and set off from the pad. I sent a quick message to Kira.
Change of plans I'm going after Ina. One thing I have learned is to never let someone fight alone. I will let you know of my return.
Silv
Kira arrived at her ship just to see a message from me arrive. Reading it didn’t do much to reduce her annoyance.
Are you seriously going into the Maelstrom system now too? Has everyone gone nuts or decided to do whatever they want? I guess I shouldn’t judge since that’s what I do, but whatever.
I hope whatever ship you’re taking has non-Guardian AX weapons or some kind of support limpet. Because that Titan’s still frying any Guardian tech in system.
Oh, and I sent my carrier to Cephei Sector ZZ-Y b3 anyway. You should be one of the people I added to those allowed to dock at it if you need repairs or something after coming out of that mess. If Creamy chooses to hop on, well, it’ll be gone within the hour. Random destination at max distance, anywhere not in Imperial space.
I’m staying on the station. Too tired. Would just be a liability. Probably also going to be out soon.
Kira hit send and climbed up the stairs into her Cutter, sealing the ship off completely once inside.
****
I boosted out of the station and corkscrewed the ship feeling the controls, while lining up with the first jump point. The FSD engaged and I blipped into witchspace
I couldn't let Ina face them alone. Not when she had someone waiting for her back home. I knew what it was like to lose someone. So I had to help her get home. I made another jump.
Melli sat curled up in her bed in the back of the cockpit. I lined up the next jump and checked over the weapons systems. Everything on board was a perfect loadout for fighting an interceptor. FSD engaged once again.
Come on faster Silvia. I looked down one more jump and shit is about to get real. Come on. This has to work. Cephei Sector BV-Y B4. Perfect. I looked over the contacts panel and plucked out Marshmallow's signal.
'Celeste target a drop point near Marshmallow. We can't expect her to hold them off on her own.'
"Yes commander. Drop point targeted."
I hold my breath as I reach the drop zone. As soon as I dropped in I saw a lone FDL facing off against a basilisk. I wasted no time and deployed weapons and began the onslaught. I unleashed a burst of bright purple rounds as the basilisk fought to target Ina.
I opened a comms line to Ina and called over.
'Hey there. I thought you might like some help. Tell me where to shoot and I'll provide support best I can.'
I deployed a heat sync and rolled out of the damn things path. I switched off FA and took a moment to gain my bearings.
'Haven't done this in a while..' I thought to myself as I fought the controls to keep my flight path stable.
"Ow, Silvia, is that you? On a Challenger?"
'Ya. My wife was fighting on the front lines protecting the planet side ports. She had left this beast on Citi lucky enough for me. Otherwise I'd be here in a cutter ramming that damn beast. Can't let a pilot fight on their own.'
Seeing Gauss rounds with purple tracers ripping off some of the Basilisk's flesh, Ina added more hate from her first pair of Shards, lighting up the third heart and immediately shattering it with a second pair. The Interceptor twitched and roared in pain, helplessly spraying the space with poorly-aimed projectiles.
"Thank you for coming anyway. That thing... Still messes up the Guardian tech, so make sure your maintenance modules are constantly in use. And remember what I said in the bar."
Making a 180 turn after reloading both pairs of cannons, Ina boosted towards the Basilisk again, spiraling in and dropping another heatsink to mess up its aim. Then, a quick change of direction when she entered the firing range, and a flurry of shrapnel left the beast shieldless. Rotating chaotically, totally confused and trying to aim at either Ina or me, unable to get a solid lock due to how cold our ships were, the Thargoid hopelessly roared and sent another long burst into nowhere, whilst she got out of its sights and reloaded. I rolled out of the way again, lined up and fired a volley of gauss rounds.
Ina tapped the left trigger several times, unleashing another portion of shrapnel. Rounds bombarded the body of a beast, leaving jagged holes, cracks, greenish goo gushing out of the wounds, and its four heart started glowing, exerted, unable to regenerate the damage. Placing her crosshair on it, she tapped the right trigger, turning the Basilisk's limb into a shower of debris. The beast emitted a desperate, pained roar, shocked, seeing its own green blood filling the void around it. At that moment, she was already a few kilometres away, recharging and checking her module status.
"So, hit the belly when it doesn't glow. When it glows, hit where it glows. And don't be too aggressive, save some ammo and fuel for Creamy's arrival. Activate your open comm channel, he plays music on it: so that you will know when to get more angry."
'Copy that. Switching to open comms.'
I watched Ina's attack patterns closely and did my best to mimic them following behind her, attacking in an attempt to keep the heat on. Like she had said this was a war of attrition. I needed to conserve my ammunition and watch my modules. I began to fall into the rhythm of things lining up a volley of gauss rounds and keeping temps cool. A few volleys and runs later I managed to expose a heart. I fired off my cannons in an alternating pattern to keep the heat on. As its heart erupted I aimed away from the beast and fired off my boosters.
This was much different than fighting against pirates and bounty hunters but for some reason felt much more simple. I got distracted as Melli jumped into the seat next to me and I slammed into the basilisk. The Challenger began to spin wildly and I reactivated my FA briefly to correct the spin.
'Shit!'
"WARNING! Incoming caustic attack."
I flip off FA, boost and fire off a heat sync in an attempt to break the target lock. Melli watched and chattered as the Thargoid screamed out in pain.
Haha die you stupid bug. Melli want to eat you
"Ow, wow, careful there", said Ina commenting on my collision, but, in general, seeing me smash the last heart was a good thing. "And, yeah, the heart. That's the way to go!"
Making a sharp booster-assisted turn to finish off the Basilisk, Ina saw the void of space covered with ripples here and there, and received a frame-shift anomaly warning from her computer. Then, more red dots appeared on the sensors, but she decided to finish off the first Interceptor before checking them, it wasn't that long. Closing in with an arced trajectory, she let the inertia forces drive Marshmallow closer to the beast and gave her maneuvering thrusters some work to keep it in her crosshairs. A rain of superheated shrapnel stripped off Basilisk's already drained shields, thanks to my thermal vent lasers, and, firing a second pair of cannons, she totally nailed the beast, shattering its body. With an agonizing scream, the Basilisk finally exploded, and Ina was already at the safe distance, recharging the cannons, ready to meet our dear guests.
One Medusa, four Cyclopes. A sugar daddy and his cannon fodder squad. Normally, she would attack the largest one, dragging it away from the crowds, but here and now she wanted to give me a crash course, of sorts, observing me, to make sure I felt okay and confident. The sight of the Medusa was intimidating. I still remember the first time I ever saw one. It was during the gnosis event. I had watched as they destroyed hundreds of ships and left us to rot on board. I still have chills thinking about how Venus had come in to provide rescue evacuations, and even with her being a skilled pilot, nearly lost our ship.
"Pick a Cyclops and do the same thing. They're a lot easier. Stay away from the others, and give it all your hate when you're one on one."
I choked down my fear as Ina called over the comms for me to single out a cyclops. I picked one out of the group and fired a volley into the beasts center. The roar it unleashed was intense and angry. I flipped on my FA to course correct properly then shut it back off and boosted towards the beast letting my lasers tear into the flesh. I hated having to do this but that hatred was nothing compared to my want to ensure Ina made it home.
Ina picked the closest Cyclops to her and tapped the triggers quickly again and again, Ina fired all four cannons at the poor bastard, eviscerating it in mere seconds, until she saw her shrapnel passing through a giant hole in its body. Pure kinetic forces made the show even more gruesome, bending the beast's body inwards and sending its insides flying in a wide cone out of its back. Turning inwards and inside out, the Cyclops emitted a roar that turned into a gurgling, croaking shriek, and fell apart with its limbs still relatively intact. Three fight wasn't over yet though. 3 Cyclops and a Medusa remained on the field. Ina wanted to eviscerate another one while I fought against the Cyclops I had singled out.