A Unexpected Standoff in the "Jungle"
02 Jan 2025Enchiz Prime
I'm sitting here, inside my quiet office aboard The Seeker, contemplating and recollecting memories about the most unexpected encounter I had in my whole career as a mercenary. This encounter started out as another mundane and normal day in the life of a regular Commander. I woke up on the M. Gorbachev station orbiting Earth with a massive headache after the celebrations that marked the beginning of a hopefully prosperous and "bug"-free new year.After a short recuperation from a hangover, I took on a few jobs that would yield me some materials for the weapon upgrades that I had my eye on for a while. But that is unimportant for this log; the important thing is what happened on one of these jobs, mainly a mission that required me to mercilessly exterminate the "Mob of Groombridge 34" pirates in the... well... Groombridge 34 system. Least to say, I felt an almost immoral excitement at the prospect of obtaining these materials by legally taking the lives of so many people... low-life scum actually, but still, some of them were seemingly innocent "scientists" who didn't happen to have any bounty on them. But the desire for those materials and the opportunity to test my ground combat skills got the better of my moral compass.
Let's skip to the "standoff" part that the title of this log is referring to, so as not to waste time on ethical dilemmas and unimportant details.
As I was approaching the planetary "agricultural" facility called Conteh Hydroponics Market (which I suspect was a massive drug lab in which the pirates were growing, cultivating, and distributing organic-based substances), I noticed something peculiar from the get-go... An already parked ship, a Krait MkII with an interesting paint job (there were roses painted on that Krait, if I recall correctly). It was sitting about 1km from the Conteh settlement, and if not for the sensors on my Anaconda, I would have never noticed it since most of the crater in which the facility was located was enveloped in shadow. The sensors further informed me that the vessel was unmanned and it belonged to another graduate from the Pilot Federation. That CMDR was also pledged to Yuri Grom (important to note that the Groombridge 34 system was in a state of conflict between the powers of Grom and Archer at the time of this log). My interest was greatly piqued by this information, to say the least. A few seconds later, I noticed that the Conteh Market was already shimmering in the red light of the alarms, indicating that my fellow troublemaker had already started the party without me.
I set down my ship much closer to the facility since the other guy had an SRV at his disposal to close the ~1km gap. I wasn't sure if he noticed my arrival or not. I had a thousand thoughts rushing through my head... "What are his intentions?" "Did he take up the same gig as I did?" "Will he prove to be hostile? Deceitful? Or friendly and reasonable?" I could physically feel the increase of adrenaline in my bloodstream as I was planning on what to do.
So, before disembarking, I decided to let myself be known and send an open message through the comms—not to startle the fella and to let him know of my friendly intentions, my mission, and my own amazement caused by the sheer improbability of this chance encounter at this random settlement, planet, and system as a whole. Not sure if he got the message; he very likely might have been very occupied during the firefight with the local pirate security forces, as I didn't receive a response.
As I planted my feet on sandy ground of this crater, I carefully moved through the exteriors of this settlement while scanning the perimeter for any signs of combat. If not for the sounds of the alarm, it would have been eerily quiet. Among the bodies of freshly deceased pirates, I ID'd one of the chemists that worked there, wandering, looking for help most likely, clearly shivering in fear at the sight of the carnage left by my Pilot Federation colleague. I had to do what I came here to do, and I finished the job swiftly..
Next, seemingly led by my instinct, I entered one of the hydroponics domes. What I found inside were more dead bodies—no sight of the mysterious CMDR yet, but surely, just one bloodied room later, in the main circular hall where all the unknown to me plants were peacefully growing in vats, there he was. All decked out in the standard Maverick class gear and with some kind of plasma weapon in hand, he stood there, just by the various consoles that controlled this whole hydroponic operation. I cannot be certain, but I am almost sure he was there for the samples of sorts that these drug-rat pirates were holding in one of the containment units.
It seemed he didn't expect any visitors because he could have easily set up a trap for me in that building. Instead, he seemed startled by my appearance. I do not know whether it was the quite menacingly looking Spectre armour (minus the ugly hooded helmet that comes with it) that caused this Commander to panic at my sight, or the fact that I entered the hall initially with a weapon in hand, but I could almost see the "flight or fight" switch inside his brain being turned on.
My attempts at defusing the situation by waving and saluting a fellow Commander on the mission didn't help. After a short stare-down from across the hall, he initiated the shootout by sending a couple of plasma bolts in my direction, which I defended against by hiding behind one of the flora containment vats. I (foolishly) still did not feel endangered enough to return fire. I was hoping we could still come to an understanding, even after his sudden hostility. I was about to let him know through the comms once again that we could help each other in our respective missions, but he preemptively flanked my position and sent about three plasma bolts that my shields thankfully withstood. Well, they broke, but my suit and my flesh were not harmed.
But that was it. He broke the camel’s back with that dishonourable move of shooting in the back of an unmoving man who only had peaceful intentions in his heart.
It was me or him at this point.
As my survival instincts kicked in, I agilely dodged the next shots he sent at me and increased the gap between us. For the next minute or so, we were circling around the hall, taking potshots at each other and taking cover almost in sync. Me, using my TK Zenith pistol and Karma-C44 carbine, and him, using a semi-auto plasma rifle, we were trying to tear each other apart, like two wild animals that randomly met in the jungle (and it was a jungle to some degree, with all the flora growing around)—two predators fighting over territory.
Finally, I got the upper hand by positioning myself near and behind the only exit from that dome. Now, here is where I could have made a crucial decision. Since I blocked his only way of escape from this place, I had the opportunity to disengage and cease further senseless violence, but I was not thinking as clearly as I am now, during the contemplative writing of this log. Instead of retreating and letting this man get away with his precious samples in peace, baser human instincts took over my reasoning, and I took it as a personal challenge to neutralise the threat. Truthfully, we were pledged to two opposing powers in a lawless environment, but still, as long as he was not one of the Feds, I was open for cooperation up until the moment he broke my shields.
But let's get back to the shootout itself and its great finale. As both of us were positioned on the opposite sides of the door, he being trapped inside the main hall where it all started, I took the tactical opportunity and crouched down behind some cover, aiming at the door. As soon as he opened them, I surprised him with a burst of laser fire that very quickly took care of his shielding. Then, not wasting any time, I rushed at him while he was stepping back with the intent of regrouping and regenerating his shields. As soon as we met around the corner—almost like we connected telepathically and sensed each other’s thoughts—we both took out our frag grenades and threw them at each other at the exact same time, being just 3-4 metres away from each other.
He must have panicked or something because his throw was sloppy at best. His grenade did not even reach me but bounced off the corner he was hiding around and exploded some distance behind him. At the same time, I sent my grenade as much into the ground near him as possible so that it would bounce off vertically and explode just above his head. I did not see how exactly our grenades exploded because I hid immediately after the throw and closed the door separating us.
But after the echoes of explosions ceased, there was only silence that remained. So I slowly and carefully peeked around the corner to check if the direct hit from a frag grenade had done its job, and sure enough, it did.
His body was surprisingly intact but mangled and severely wounded from the shrapnel. I thought he was done for. But even more surprisingly, after scanning him, it seemed there was still some faint pulse, some shallow breathing, some spark of life left in him. Hopefully, someone will rescue him and he will live to see another day. The scan also revealed he was wanted. The bounty was insignificantly small, I had a similar amount on my head as well, so I could not blame him. But it got me thinking... What if he scanned me before he attacked me? Could I have missed that? I would completely understand why he might have thought I was with the pirates and opened fire. But still, he ignored or missed my messages. I wish it could have ended on a much higher note...
Still, I am thankful for my skills, my laser pistol, and most of all, my upgraded Maverick suit—without which, I would most likely not be sitting here, writing this entry, about this unexpected one-in-a-million encounter.
I need to catch some Z's... the hangover is still fresh. Even after what transpired today, on my first day into 3311...
