First Blood outside Polo Harbour
17 Feb 2019Count Iblis
His name was Christopher Fenn and his voice came heavy and macho over the intercom."Ive come a long way for what you're carrying".
I was at Waypoint 5 at the Distant Worlds 2 expedition- I'd just left Polo Harbour and was about to check out an unidentified signal.
All I was carrying was some silver and Gold canisters I'd found on a distant world while prospecting (along with a couple of escape pods).
He was flying a combat Outfitted Type 10 and according to my background search was Deadly and wanted. Recipe to interdict me!
The Imperial Cutter "Indefatigable" had never seen combat. Outfitted primarily as an long range exploration craft I had it quite well shielded with light armament. I myself had seen combat service plenty during my bounty hunter runs board The Conquistador- my Fer De Lance, but that was light years away now. The question remained, when he interdicted me- could I take him on with a reasonable probability of victory?
Or failing that - could I successfully run away?
My Cutter was outfitted for a good turn of speed- not the fastest but ok. The Type 10 was not a fast ship.
Within seconds the klaxons sounded as I got interdicted. I slid the throttle to zero to submit to the interdiction.
Fenn ordered me to drop my cargo. I stayed calm and didn't respond. Within seconds he started firing- while I monitored my shield output. It stayed strong. I targeted him and maneuvered my vessel to take him on.
This was no Clipper- it was slow and cumbersome to maneuver but by the same token the shields were holding very well.
My AI started to fire the Turret lasers vigourously at him.
I continued to evade his fire as best I could. No chaff and no kill warrant scanner on this exploration build. I got him in my sights and fired.
His shields were definitely coming down at a faster rate than mine.
He jibbered some more posturing utterances over the intercom which didn't even register to me while I continued maneuvering this hulking craft behind him targeting his powerplant.
My shields were still at 93% while his were in the high 50s.
I got a good lock and fired multi cannons. That was enough to lower his shields completely. I diverted more power to my shields. Mine were now at 89%.
I gave it some distance and powerslid the craft around for another pass. Battles were psychological warfare using machines. I could only hope that my powerslide techniques would get him into my firing sights before him to me. He was a deadly however and it was best never to underestimate anyone.
I headed straight for him while I did an Alpha strike, firing all beam lasers and multi cannons simultaneously. This jousting occurred another three times during three passes. The final time I'd got his hull down to 20%. The Type10 was a great Hull tanker so I was surprised. My shields still at 80%. I don't know How I'd managed this. I guess through strategic evasions. I'd analyse this after the battle.
Shot after shot, his inane ramblings over the intercom had now changed to beggings for mercy. I didn't relent. He was a looter. He needed to be eliminated for the good of the entire expedition.
His Type 10 exploded into the hard vacuum of space shortly after, fluids spilling into the void, metals burning, atmosphere expelled.....
The Indefatgable passed through before stopping majestically. Surrounded by precious metals, wreckage and cargo canisters, like sycamores around a tree. It was a sight to behold.
I was tired and dizzy. What a fight. What an incredible victory for what was an unproven vessel in combat. I climbed doubt of my chair to catch a breath and almost fell over while I gripped the chair tenaciously!
I was proud of the spec of my craft.
Tonight I would sleep a little sounder knowing my Spacecraft would protect me no matter the odds!