Standoff in Nu Mensae
08 Oct 2015Kaocraft
I'm in the Fast Turtle, now decidedly less fast due to the quad mine launchers, dual chaffs, and point defenses I have mounted in my growing paranoia since recently getting interdicted and blown to pieces by an NPC in my OWN CAPITAL SYSTEM of Kamadhenu.As is so often the case these days, I am running fortification supplies for the Empire, or more specifically the newly appointed Emperor Arrissa Lavigny-Duval.
Half of my cargo hold is dedicated to this task, but the remaining 108 tons are filled with Palladium which I will trade at a stopoff at Shen Terminal in the Guuguyni system before continuing to our control system Ngarawe.
En route to Guuguyni, I make my second to last jump and land in front of a large yellow star, one of the only two bodies in the NU MENSAE system; an uninhabited (and hence lawless) spot of no particular interest.
I swoop into the Sun's corona to scan it and top up my fuel reserves, just as a hollow blip appears on my scanners - there's another commander in this system.
I pivot my lumbering, unshielded, palladium-laden piñata of a Type-7 to face the other commander. A few moments later and his data is coming in through my scanners: No faction - shit. Lawless - shit. Piloting a Python - time to get out of here.
Still deep in the corona of the unidentified, unscanned star, I punch the throttle and begin to spool up the Frame Ship Drive as the Python makes a B-line towards me.
At this proximity to the mass of the star, my FSD is charging very slowly, and the ship also begins to heat up rapidly.
A message comes across the comm as CMDR Baboonator bears down on me.
"Are you afraid?"
The answer is "yes," but there's no time to respond. Steam is coming up from my ship's console and sparks are beginning to fly. FSD is about half charged and I'm only just pulling out of the nameless sun's Corona.
The Python swoops into the gap between the star and myself and begins to orient itself towards my engines. At the speed I am going an interdiction would be easy.
More sparks. Alarms Blaring. FSD 75% charged and the progress bar is positively CRAWLING. Hurry up! A small fire ignites inside the cockpit.
I am sure an interdiction is imminent.
Hull is at almost 200% of heat capacity and I fear a module failure any moment now.
FSD is charging faster now. 80%, 85%, 95% - The countdown begins as the ship begins to rattle.
"4"
Whooo! Let's go!
"3"
Yeah I know! Hurry up!
"2"
A single, sinking heartbeat.
"1"
I hold my breath.
"Engage"
Yes!
"Engage" - I've never been so relieved to hear that word. The ship buckles and I am thrown backwards in my seat as the Fast Turtle makes its hyper jump.
We drop out of hyperspace and into Guuguyni just as I am regaining my composure. Shen Terminal is thankfully only a few light seconds away, and we are able to dock unmolested.
Soon I am 271,000 credits richer and 108 tons lighter.
