A daring rescue... Also found a security image to attach!
21 Feb 2021CMDR CWolfXUK
This is actually a story from a few years ago, one of the many logs which I have lost I am going to recount it here.
Since returning to the stars after my ten year stay planetside I had been very active in the bounty hunting lifestyle. First working with local authorities to take out criminals in mining sites, moving on to small contracts against pirate leaders. I had upgraded to the Vulture, the Delta Wolf, and was enjoying the two large weapons and unparalleled agility afforded by the massively overpowered lateral thrusters. Initially I had struggled a little with the seemingly underpowered reactor, this was solved fairly easily with some engineering from a well known person, making use of the many materials I had collected on a prior exploratory trip. Now, fully powered and on a roll I took down pirates as they appeared, feeling unstoppable. No longer would I need to do delivery runs, submitting to the demands of people wanting a delivery boy. No, now I was a true Commander, with an increasing combat rank the battle was all that mattered.
That changed the day I went after a pirate lord by the name of Kord Xavier, causing issues in a little known system he had a one million bounty on his head. One million seems a very low contract by modern standards but back then I saw it as a big win. It also meant he would be a greater challenge, a greater chance to hone my skills. I took the contract and headed to the system. Arriving I connected to the navigation beacon and found where the latest attacks had just taken place, entering supercruise and checking systems I was ready for the fight. Dropping back into normal space I was faced with the sight of a federal assault ship blasting chunks off a small civilian class cruiser, a relatively unarmed type six. Lining up and deploying weapons I took on the pirate. Kord was combat rated as Dangerous, a level higher than myself. That did not matter to me, I flew circles around the pirate, melting shields with my large beam laser then rattling his hull with the large multicannon. The engineered rounds superheated the enemy craft to the point where internal systems started to fail. In a last ditch attempt to flee the assault ship fired boosters, rammed the type six out of the way and tore off into space. Kord Xavier nearly escaped but for the lancing beam and hail of bullets that clipped the drive, the ship exploded in a ball of fire. I smiled to myself and retracted guns, setting course back to my home station I paused before spinning up my drive. There was a plume of flame jetting out from the side of the type six and my scanners recorded the damage as fatal from that last ramming blow.
"Can anyone on that type six hear me?"
I got no response. Either the occupant was dead or the comm system was. I flew down to face the ship nose to nose and could see someone in the cockpit. They were desperately trying to put out a fire in there and did not appear to have a remlock suit. If the canopy blew out then they would left floating in space for about five minutes, after which they would be dead as the basic suit they had on was not compatible with a high wake pod, just a standard life support boat. This in itself would not have been an issue if there was a station in this system, there was no station. I started flashing my headlights to get their attention. When they turned to face me I lowered my cargo bay hatch and swung my ship up to show it. Bringing the cockpit back down again I flash my headlights some more. The other pilot got my meaning and jumped back into their seat, activating the life support pod. The slender pod, which looked like a silver coffin, launched from the type six, leaving a hole where the pilot seat used to be. I fired my thrusters and scooped up the pod into my cargo bay, closing the hatch just in time as the type six exploded in a ball of fire and shrapnel. Spinning up my FSD my vulture jumped from the system back to my home base.
Once in the hangar the cargo bay was opened and the pod removed. The door of the pod slid to the floor and out stepped a figure covered in smoke stains from the burning cockpit they had left. The helmet came off and I was greeted by a surprising sight, a familiar female face framed with locks of bright blue hair.
"No way....." I stuttered.
"Not quite," the silky smooth voice came, "I am not actually the Princess, I am one of her special agents - a kind of decoy."
"Does this mean I have to swear to secrecy or get mind wiped or something?"
"No, not at all. It just means that you have a good reason to join the cause, you seem to like the colours. If you do then you will gain access to great fortune. If you don't then, I don't know, maybe you will need to stay silent." she smiled on that last line and I felt it oddly unnerving.
Prismatic shields, a technology that is often sought after, can only be obtained by working for Princess Aisling Duval, so in a way this was not the worst thing that could happen. I was bound to go after them at some point. Faced with the opportunity to do so, or take the option that may mean I never fly... Or breathe again. An easy decision.
"OK then, I guess this bounty hunter is going to be running some errands again!"
As I said at the start, this was some time ago. Since then I have equipped most of my ships with prismatic shielding and it has made a big difference. It was worth both the data haulage missions and keeping my neck. I have parted ways with the Princess' faction for now, I never saw the agent again and I feel that perhaps I was never actually in any danger. Still, it was ok working for them and it did mean thatI progressed through the ranks to get my Imperial Clipper and the Cutter.