Not sure how it happened but last night I found myself completely out of fuel and at a dead stop in a nebula in dangerous Pearl. When I remembered where I was I immediately sent out a distress call to other pilots. Out here in this hostile system it wouldn’t be long before some bandits came across me sitting here helpless... an easy target. So Miaz of Independent Alliance clan answers the call and agrees to come and bail me out. He was several systems away so I’d have to just sit tight until he reached me. Several tense minutes dragged slowly by as I nervously looked about from my cockpit for any signs of hostiles.
A message from Miaz came up on my screen, “Hang on there Sinbad, on my way.�
“Don’t be too long, eh?� I replied, beads of sweat starting to form on my brow.
Outside rose-pink clouds of gas swirled silently about my ship. The absence of electrical discharges suggested that it must have been a low-energy nebula. It was certainly a beautiful sight, something I would have appreciated in any other circumstances. I glanced nervously at the radar... the screen was empty.
Then all of a sudden the proximity alarm blared out, making my heart jump almost out of my chest. The radar showed a contact. Red blip. Hostile! The target scanner identified a Rebel centurion frame, distance 6k and closing fast.
“I’ve got company! Where are you Miaz?� I messaged.
“Not long now, couple of minutes.� Came the reply.
The proximity alarm sounded again. Another Rebel, distance 5k. The first was already 4k from my position. Then another, jumping in at a range of 3k. Oh boy, here we go, I thought, as I braced myself for their attack. I switched all available power to shields. I had just bought a new Starmaster frame and now I was going to see how tough it was. They were now in missile range but there was no incoming missile warning from the ship’s computer. Then I realised that with zero fuel my engines were completely cold, making it difficult for the enemy ships to get a missile lock on me. They were closing fast from my rear left flank so I couldn’t get a visual on them. With zilch fuel I couldn’t even turn my ship around to face them and target them. This was about as close as you could get to “sitting duck�. The only things missing were the feathers and quacking.
The first whack of ordnance impact sent a jolt which almost unseated me as my ship lurched violently to one side. My safety harness held up but didn’t prevent me from painfully twisting my neck. Since there was still no missile alarm that must have been a Banshee cannon shot which has enough kinetic punch to displace even a heavy Leviathan frame.
All of a sudden they were on top of me like a swarm of wasps, pounding my ship with their primary weapons. Darting past my forward visual at less than 200 metres away, they were flying too fast for me to be able to target any of them. My ship was smacked from side to side, shields flashing bright blue, deflecting the worst of the attack. In less than a second they broke off to regroup for another pass.
My heart was racing as I frantically checked my checked my ship’s status for any damage. Incredibly the shields were still at full power, and no hull damage. Wow, I love you Starmaster, I thought. I wonder why they didn’t use any missiles? They probably thought they could take me out with just cannons and save a bit of money. I took a deep breath, then started to feel the excruciating pain shooting down my neck and back from the whiplash of being knocked around.
But I didn’t have time to reach for my med kit. Now the incoming missile alert blared out and my HUD registered two inbound missiles, then three, then four. The HUD’s yellow indicators quickly changed to red and the proximity alarm started screeching. Ok, I thought, let’s see how well the anti-missile system performs. For extra effectiveness I smacked away at the countermeasures launch button. Over the blaring of the alarm I heard the sound of some very close detonations, then an almighty boom as one missile got through and impacted on the hull. My ship spun sideways on its axis and I lurched to the side, part of my safety harness ripping out, and hit my head against the control panel. Fortunately I always fly with my helmet on so apart from the jolt I was unharmed. I glanced desperately at the damage status. Shields down to 60%. That must have been an Exodus missile. The hull was still intact though. Boy this Starframe’s a tough old cookey, I thought. Again my shields flashed bright blue as the bandits closed in with their primary weapons, knocking my ship into a twisting spin. Completely disorientated I struggled to determine the positions of the other ships as they flew back and forth at close range unloading their cannons on me. I watched helplessly as the shields dropped to below 50%. Then another alarm warning, as they launched a volley of four more missiles. I had to struggle against the high Gs of my spinning ship to reach the countermeasure button. Just in time as explosions went off around my ship followed by another metal-rending boom as one missile made contact. A conduit in the cockpit burst venting gas, and several red lights on the control panels started flashing as my ship’s computer announced in her sweet calm voice that a hull breach was imminent.
Then the hostiles broke off as they prepared for a third pass. My ship was rolling crazily as I tried to engage the repair systems. I only had the C2 repair system installed but it might at least postpone the moment of my demise. The damage status display was flickering on and off erratically but showed shields at about 30% and hull integrity at 50%. This baby was still holding together... not such an easy kill for those Rebels. I frantically reached for my Duct Tape and hurriedly wrapped it around the burst conduit.
I had barely managed to stop the venting gas when the missile alarm started screeching again indicating dangerously close proximity. I didn’t even look to check the HUD readouts... without thinking I just dived over to the countermeasures button, launching at least nine or ten. Detonations resounded around the ship but without anything impacting. The booms continued, shock waves shuddering through the ship. But there were no more missile alerts. What were those extra booms? I thought. Then all of a sudden the view outside was filled with explosions and searing green flashes of laser fire. A colossal close range boom flared bright white just in front of my view as one of the hostile ships suddenly exploded, ripping apart in a fireball of burning, mangled ship frame.
Eyes wide and mouth a gasp I glanced at the radar. Miaz! I hadn’t had a chance to transmit to him my position... how did he locate me? The two remaining bandits closed attack formation on Miaz. I caught only sporadic glimpses of the ensuing dogfight from my spinning ship. Miaz was making such high speed passes and tight turns the bogeys just couldn’t get a hit on him. Another shock wave from an explosion reverberated through my ship. I caught a fleeting glimpse of fire and smoke flying past my vision. Then another thunderous detonation from somewhere behind my position as one of the red blips disappeared from the radar.
At that moment I felt my ship vibrate briefly. I looked about and saw a shimmer in the nebula as a blanket of silvery blue light spread out over the entire area, surrounding my ship and Miaz. My radar still showed the last hostile buzzing around, but Miaz’s ship had come to a stop. I reached for the radio.
“You couldn’t have cut that timing more fine!� I said, “But there’s still one more bandit!�
“Oh don’t worry about him.� He replied “Are you ok?�
“Yeah, I’m fine� I said, just as the bandit opened fire with his cannons. There was a bright blue flash as his shots bounced harmlessly off the blanket of light enclosing the area where Miaz and I were.
“A shield array!� I exclaimed. “That’s the first time I’ve seen one.�
“Yeah, they come in pretty handy sometimes.�
“I’ll say! You just saved my life! I owe you one Miaz!�
“No problem. Now let’s see what we can do about your ship...�
As the hostile pilot brainlessly continued trying to shoot through the shield, Miaz transported a fuel pod over to me. Moving about in that spinning ship with the increased Gs wasn’t an easy task but once I’d loaded up the fuel tank I was able to bring the inertial dampener system back online and used the manouvering thrusters to steady my ship. I ran a quick diagnostic of ship systems, then switched main power to the repair system. As I waited for it to bring the ship back up to functioning condition, I asked Miaz how he’d found me. He told me that he had headed for the nebula and then deployed a sensor array which showed up all craft within the area. He had seen a group of hostile blips in the nebula and acting on a hunch had decided to head for those.
“So it was a bit of luck really in finding you.� He said.
“Well probably the best bit of luck I’ve ever had!� I replied. “Drinks are definitely on me tonight!�
Once my ship systems were back up to a minimum performance Miaz despatched the last hostile like it was an annoying fly. I plotted a safe jump to the nearest station to refuel and make repairs. Well thanks to Miaz of Independence Alliance clan I lived to see another adventure, and this hardy Starmaster frame had definitely earned my respect.
:P:P:P:P
