14.01.3304--Blackmount Orbital Search and Rescue Efforts; First Thargoid Encounter
16 Jan 2018VictoriaTerpsichore
Today was a strange day for me as a new CMDR. As I've mentioned in my previous logbook, combat is not my specialty and I'm still unsure of how many of my basic ship mechanisms work. For instance, today I learned how to use a collection limpet, which is one of the handiest little tools I've acquired in my short tenure as a CMDR. I returned to Obsidian Orbital to assist with rescue efforts, but it appears that the nefarious Thargoid sympathizers from the day before had cleared, which made way for the best kind of cooperative rescue I have seen to date. One particular CMDR was particularly instrumental in maintaining order as Orca after T7 Transporter barreled with a kind of altruistic fury. He called out his approaches and take-off, as well as the number that he was carrying.
Now that the initial shock of flying into Obsidian had dissipated, I began to think about the inner workings of the rescue missions themselves. My sole mission was to save lives as possible. However, certain factions aboard the station were offering commodities that took up valuable room where more passengers could be stored. I refused all of these, as I wanted to fit as many passengers aboard my small ship as possible. I did take some that offered materials but I continued to think about the Federation corporation that refused to leave my ship until I took it to outfitting and swapped the cargo hold in, wasting valuable moments and likely damning people to their deaths on the Obsidian.
Once, while loading passengers into my ship, I caught a signal from not one, but two, cruise ships that were in the immediate area. I was already hot as hell thanks to the station fires but the thought that there were cruise ships operating (presumably) for rich spacefarers so they could observe a station fire as opposed to running back literally hundreds of refugees made me feel sick. The names of the cruise companies are ABW Galactic Travel Agency and DG Space Tours.
Search and rescue patrols were well in force today. I also saw a lone ship from Obsidian Defense Force.
Today I saved 683 refugees and replaced my ship once (it was empty, so it resulted in no casualties).
After participating in several successful extractions, I believed my talents could be put to better use near Blackmount Orbital, where another kind of search and relief effort was underway.
I had never seen an asteroid station before, and found Blackmount Orbital's landing bay inviting and rustic. Landing is tricky there if you are assigned landing pad 5, which is just past a giant retaining beam. Novice CMDRs might do well to heed this advice.
Unfortunately Blackmount Orbital did not have the appropriate cargo racks for my ship (5 slot), so I was required to spend some time system-hopping. I first stopped by Donar's Oak in Pleiades Sector IR-W d1-55. It had a cold, sterile charm to it, and felt, for the lack of a better term, futuristic.
During my brief travels, I stopped by Hudson Observatory in HIP 17694. I was struck by its beauty, as many of the stations I've visited have been refinery or extraction-based, or, as is the case for Obsidian Orbital and Reed's Rest, on fire.
After finally locating an appropriate high-tech station and outfitting myself with a collector limpet and new cargo racks, I headed out in search of Non-Human Signal Sources. Due to the setup of my modest Keelback and my own novice configuration skills, I only outfitted myself with a single collection limpet and purchased 10 one-time-use limpets. For those who may be asking yourselves, "Where can I buy limpets?" the answer lies in Advanced Maintenance, under the Restock option. From there, you can purchase as many limpets as your cargo racks can hold.
It wasn't long before I came across a USS (unidentified signal source). After a quick scan, it showed as a Non-Human Signal Source [Threat 6]. I steeled myself for something truly terrifying, as I have seen the carnage that the Thargoids have wrought.
As soon as I dropped out of supercruise, I instinctively pulled all the way back on my throttle and let myself glide into the a strange green haze.
All around me was the twisted metal of other, better ships. Fragments glittered by the pale blue light of the nearby star.
Then I saw it, for the first time in my time as a commander. The Thargoid.
I raised my hands up and looked down, as if to avoid eye contact. I wasn't there to fight it--the main reason being that I knew I couldn't win. The outer edge of the thargoid began turning, as if propelling itself. It appears to see and act through the center of the flower structure. My ship's interface distorted. My location panel showed nothing but random strings of numbers. The strange alien beast roared so hard it shook my ship. I could hear the metal straining from the sensation. It shot a strange green light at me, which I have since interpreted to be some sort of scan, as it did not damage my ship in any way.
After it scanned my ship, it returned to scanning the wreckage around us. I counted four canisters or pieces of equipment that could be acquired, and deployed my collection limpet. However, the occupied escape pod that was off to the right of the damaged ship disappeared when the Thargoid scanned it. I feel equal parts guilt and horror at not being able to save that poor soul, whatever their fate may be. It's a sad day for the human race when being disintegrated is a preferable fate to whatever the Thargoids have in store for those they take with them when they disappear, leaving a strange wake behind them.
After understanding the success of keeping a safe distance, I was less terrified of the Thargoids, but still have a deep concern about our general preparedness for Thargoid encounters and what feels like an incipient invasion. Small events can trigger cataclysmic events that will shape our future, and no one knows for sure how any of it will shake out. Until then, I depend on my faith in the goodness of the commanders I've seen at Blackmount, emptying their ships of occupied escape pods and black boxes, and the regular rotation of ships ferrying people safely from burning stations.
After dropping off what would be the last of my high-risk search and rescue attempts, I swapped my passenger cabins back in for my next stop: Reed's Rest.