Back to the Pleiades
14 Jan 2018-ry-
After I concluded my business in Upsilon Aquarii, I discovered that I had accumulated a rather large credit balance and Elite status as a trader. I needed a vacation, so I went sightseeing. First I took in Founder's World, just to see it, swung by Sol to look at our ancestral home, and some of the more renowned systems, in particular, Lave. I spent a little time chasing after engineers' attentions. Mining 500 tons of ore, and 10 tons of Painite was tedious, but worth it to work with Selene Jean; that was just the start. By the time I was done, I had worked with her, Didi Vatermann, Col. Dekker, Juri Ishmaak, and had invitations from The Sarge and Bill Turner.
Just as I was finishing up, I heard about the SAR effort in HIP 17692, and the Thargoid assault on Obsidian Orbital. I think I have made clear before what I think of the Thargoids abducting people; what I may not have made clear is my fondness for Obsidian -- I've had more good times there than I remember, if the stories told the next morning are true. I rescued people from the Oracle because they were fellow humans -- on Obsidian, there are people I know. Once again, the Pleiades were calling me back.
This time, I had had enough work done on Looks Legit that it was feasible to fly out there in the Python. The trip was mostly uneventful. A few jumps from the end, some Thargoids pulled me out of hyperspace, but as usual, if you keep your cool and don't do anything stupid, you'll be okay. I seem to have a harder time than I should following the "don't do anything stupid" advice when it comes to the Goids, but it's pretty easy when your ship's been shut down. It's just freaky, though.
As I got closer to HIP 17692, I started to notice more Threat 5 Non-Human Signal Source alerts. I dropped into several, but the Thargoids had long ago left the scene. I picked up a black box to take to Blackmount Orbital, but that was the only item I found that they would want. I saw a Thargoid Probe at one of the sites, but I DO NOT want to get hyperdicted with one of those in my hold.
I finally got to Blackmount. These asteroid bases never fail to blow my mind. They look strange, but sturdy -- I found myself wondering how they would hold up to a Thargoid attack. While I was there, I registered to help with the SAR and dropped off the black box I had found. I may or may not have unloaded a few tons of Leestian Evil Juice at a massive profit in the black market.
That done, I got ready to possibly die -- I sold off all my exploration data, and made sure all my bounties had been redeemed. This prepared, I loaded up on limpets and headed out.
It wasn't long before I encountered another non-human signal source -- this time a Threat 6. sigh Can't put this off forever. I saw that there was an escape pod, so I programmed a limpet and fired it off.
I'm not sure if the Limpet hit the Thargoid, or if it got mad because it knew I was trying to steal its prize, but did it ever get mad. Fortunately, I was able to high-wake out with some hull left, and soon found myself in Maia.
After The Oracle, I had an idea what to expect with a Maia rescue -- at least I thought. I put passenger cabins everywhere they would fit, and traded my shield boosters for heat sink launchers, then headed to the wreck.
There seemed to be a lot more pilots there this time. I got in, loaded up, and got back out. I noticed a Fer de Lance as I was leaving. I thought that was an odd choice for a rescue ship, but was too busy getting griped at by the refugees to think too much about it. When I returned, I found out how right that first impression was as he opened fire on me. He had me pretty well outmatched -- the FDL handled better, was better-armed, and if I have to be honest, was helmed by a better pilot. I probably wouldn't have survived, had I not had help. Between myself and another commander in an Asp, though, we broke his shield, as well as his appetite for the fight. He ran and waked out.
Now, I hear a lot of rumors, some of them downright insane, but I am starting to take one of them seriously now. You see, nobody knows what the Thargoids are doing with those people they abduct. Some people say they eat them, some people say they are looking for someone, and some people say they are using them as test subjects for the same sort of biological weapon INRA used on them.
The craziest rumor, though, was that the Thargoids are reprogramming these humans to do their bidding -- to attack humanity from within. I never believed it, until that pilot in the FDL said over comms: "They attacked Obsidian. I am here to make sure there are no survivors."
Let's just say that as long as I am here running these rescue missions, those shield boosters are staying back on. I'll get rid of some other module to make room for a heat sink launcher.