The Death of Leigong
17 Mar 2024Cetacean1
As the Titan Leigong grew unstable I approached the system HIP 8887 in the Renfield with a newly engineered low-emission reactor to assist in a stealthier approach. The reactor modifications were not enough to get me past the Thargoid interceptors patrolling the route to the system like hornets around a nest, but did help keep me from getting interdicted more than a couple times after I dropped out near the star. I headed to the fourth planet in the HIP 8887 system, not yet able to set a course for the titan, but knowing it would be there. I was early. Too early.
To conserve fuel I shut down weapons and any unneeded systems. The interdiction on the way caused me to burn twice the fuel getting to the system, and with the armor and systems needed to deal with the caustic cloud, the Renfield only had a small fuel tank. It would be hours before Leigong suffered it's final end, and refueling at the star was not an option with all the interceptors flying around.
After sitting powered down for hours I noticed Thargoid vessels appearing on the far side of the titan and moved to investigate. These interceptors were not attacking, and all appeared to be Orthrus class leaving the titan. That explained why they were not attacking, and why my caustic removal systems suddenly activated again.
I moved back over the reactor on the far side of the titan and waited.
A blast in the center is how it began.
Followed by lightning that started to spread over the surface of the massive structure and grow in intensity.
Finally the lightning became a bright glow, which grew into a blinding blast.
The shock wave of the explosion threw the Renfield back, and completely out of the caustic cloud that had been the size of a moon.
As I gained control on the Renfield I looked to see the final blast as Leigong detonated like a reactor going critical.
Large Thargoid ships are often compared to deadly flowers, so the question remains....
Did we kill a monster, or just help it to spread?
(PS if the images don't start showing, then I guess linking from Imgur doesn't work either- hoping it just takes a little time).
Here are the images on Imgur:
https://imgur.com/a/gqrSFMT