It gets a little lonely while exploring space so i wrote a small storey hope you all find it an enjoyable read. I realise i am bending some of teh ED mechanics in here but it makes for better reading!
A familiar noise broke the silence, one that would normally cause everyone to panic but this time the commander was calm. He simply reached for the intercom and pressed the call to systems and asked 'It's started can we get the shields back on or not?'. The response came back 'Well if I take the life support offline we might have enough power to charge them'.
He paused for a moment then replied 'I think air and cooling is the least of our worries at this point'.
A moment later a red indicator on the system panels comes on and the computer chirpily says 'Life support offline you have 7 minutes of air remaining'.
Jimmy pipes up at this point and says 'Commander won't it be shorter than that based on the fact that the cockpit glass is about to break?'. He replies 'probably but depends how quickly the shields come back, you best make your way to a escape pod, but don't eject yet we need to keep him busy'.
Jimmy starts poking his console.
'Don't program a jump Jimmy I don't think we are getting away this time plus I don't want him to get more aggressive we just need to keep him busy'.
The ship jerks suddenly knocking Jimmy to the floor. 'Sorry about that needed to get behind that asteroid' the command shouts.
Jimmy gets up grabs a suit helmet of the rack, then pauses for a moment. 'Commander do you want yours?'. He Replies with 'Not really I need to be-able to see to fly this thing'.
The noise rings out a little louder this time. 'your really sure Commander?'. He replies 'yes now get out before it.
It was to late the cockpit glass blows out. Another indicator comes on the system panel and the computer chirpily says 'Warning cockpit depreasureization. Blast shields will close in 10 seconds'.
The commander shouts 'Can you get out'. The reply comes back 'probably but I would rather wait for the blast shields to come down'.
The commander reaches across to the systems panel and flips open a safety and moves the toggle switch underneath.
Jimmy shouts 'Ah I best get out then'. The computer chirps up with 'Warning blast doors deactivated atmosphere will collapse in 90 seconds.'
The clang of the cockpit door rings in the commanders ears. As he reaches for the intercom the shield status ring blinks back on and starts charging. He pulls the ship into a u-turn but the controls don't let him pull it to fast. Swearing he reaches across to the systems panel and kills the flight assist then pulls the ship over and hits the boost to try and stop. The computer blerts out 'Warning unsafe G-force please re engage the flight assist to prevent ship and crew damage'. It's to late the commanders eyes roll back and he is unconscious.
It was like any other run just dropped out of FSD to the star system taken a sharp pull up to get away from the sun. Swear at the navigation “Eggheads” for placing the beacon to close to the sun and head of to the station. About halfway along a ship buzzes very close in supercruise coming the other way. “Crap!” the commander exclaims as he flips the ship towards the nearest celestial hoping to loose them on a gravity swing by. he's not so lucky the interdiction kicks in almost straight away. “Seriously that guy must a hell of a ship to flip over that fast”. He tries to wrestle out of the interdiction but it's not going so well. He scans down the contacts list to find the nearest ship. It's a Sidewinder, shouldn't be difficult to escape he thinks, then he's registration flags up as wanted, Unsurprising really. He pulls out and lets the interdiction pull him down. As the ship comes out of SC he gets a comms straight away 'STOP or I toast you'. He pulls the ship to a stop and faces what is now obviously a pirate. 'I want all your cargo and you can go'. The commander replies with 'Really but you can only carry 4T in that thing' the reply comes back with 'Not your concern', 'I could just eject my most valuable' the reply comes back 'Eject the platinum'. The commander's heart drops how does he know I have that it was a consigned shipment it's not a goods that is wanted in this sector. He quickly checks the cargo scan log and spots it. As he was coming out of port the ship scan he received wasn't from the local Authority vessels it was from Commander James, the very same as was in front of him. A railgun blast comes flying past the ship 'The next one will hit, eject All the cargo'. The commander goes to cargo management and starts telling the unloader to eject all. 'That's better, start moving back'. The computer suddenly blerts out 'Warning consignment cargo Ejected re secure cargo or cargo will self-destruct'. The commander raises a eyebrow and sets the throttle in reverse max. The Pirate spotting the valuable cargo retracts his weapons and heads straight for all 3 cannisters. While the pirate seems pre occupied he shutdown all systems turns to silent running and extends the weapons, sure their crappy loaned pulse lasers but that doesn't matter. As the pirate scoops the cargo before it brings the shields backup he goes all systesm on and fires a burst at the pirate. It doesn't do much except to annoy the pirate the comms flashes on 'Right your dead'. The computer blerts out again 'Warning cargo has been secured by a different ship self destruct is now armed'. The pirate's shields come online and his weapon's start extending. Then his shields go off. The comms blerts out 'When I find you next you are DEAD'. The pirate's ship suddenly explodes. The computer blerts out 'Bounty paid'. The commander sets about starting to collect back his cargo and hopes that the bounty is at least going to cover the fine for non delivery. He checks the contract, doesn't look like it. Before he has a chance to scoop the first cargo back up a Type-9 suddenly drops in baring what can only be described as pirate paint job. 'Crap' Thinks the commander spinning the ship around to try and get out of the way to not get rammed. As the type-9 starts baring down on him 3 Federal Dropships suddenly drop in and let loose on the type-9. The comms then springs to life video this time! 'Commander! Sorry for the deceit with your little cargo delivery they weren't really what you thought you were carrying, we have been chasing this rogue for a while and we have been unable to get them both at the same time, one or the other always gets away! Once you dock you should find your contract will update and pay you out the promised amount +50%' Stunned the commander replies 'Thank you Sir', the image then continues 'oh and you can keep the bounty payout, that was very sly of you to get credit, should you feel like fighting instead of trading please give us a call'. The Dropships close in on the destroyed ships and seem to dispatch cleanup shuttles. The commander turns around scoops up his remaining cargo and gets the hell out of there to find a bar.
The commander comes back around to the computer announcing 'Shields Online, Atmosphere stabilized' He glances over to the systems panel it shows 2mins 34 seconds of air remaining. He reaches out for intercom to call systems 'Next time I decide to go drinking instead of buying ship upgrades remind me we only get 7 mins of air, well assuming we get out of this' the answer comes back 'We did then you said drinks for everyone so we stopped arguing' He pauses for a moment then asks 'Did the signal get out while he was busy smashing my cockpit up?' the intercom goes quiet for a moment then 'Yes but we didn't get the acknowledgement' The comms lights up and a message comes across 'I said when I find you next you would be DEAD' the ship shakes as blaster fire rattles across the shields. 'And I have found you' . He throttles up the ship and starts taking evasive manuvers and starts returning fire. This ensues for a few mins until the computer chirpy as ever says '30 seconds of oxygen remaining' the intercom flashes on and says 'commander put your helmet on' 'can't to busy up here and don't turn the life support on we need the shields' he screams back. The cockpit door slams open and jimmy runs in with something. 'I told you to get to a escape pod' screams the commander. 'I did' he replies. 'but it had loads of junk in it. At this point the computer buts in with '10 seconds of oxygen remaining'. 'Right' Shouts jimmy 'Bite down on this it will help'. He shoves a scuba regulator in the commanders mouth. 'Should help with the current problem' he states. The commander says something but is completely muffled by the antique diving gear. 'Why is it we had to fight him in these asteroids surely our ship could obliterate him in open space?'.
'warning shields offline hull at 50%' states the computer like this was a good thing. Then suddenly multiple ships drop in from SC, 'Commander I think our message got though' echos the intercom. The pirate realising he was baited suddenly turns away. And the computer chirps out 'FSD spinup detected'. Jimmy yells out 'erm commander should they shoot h' the computer cuts him short with 'FSD spinup failure' The commander reaches over to the systems panel and resets the blast doors switches off the shields and on the life support' the computer echoing out everything the commander does. 'That is why we are in this asteroid belt, it screws with FSD' 'ahhh' sighs jimmy. The video comms lights up with afamiliar face ' Thank you commander we can capture him from here, I think we owe you a bit more than a courier fee this time, but thank you for returning our call'.
The commander turns to Jimmy saying 'Good call Jimmy I did wonder where I put my scuba gear, in the escape pod you found it?' 'Yeah I think that's where the cleaners have been dumping stuff they couldn't store'
A familiar noise broke the silence, one that would normally cause everyone to panic but this time the commander was calm. He simply reached for the intercom and pressed the call to systems and asked 'It's started can we get the shields back on or not?'. The response came back 'Well if I take the life support offline we might have enough power to charge them'.
He paused for a moment then replied 'I think air and cooling is the least of our worries at this point'.
A moment later a red indicator on the system panels comes on and the computer chirpily says 'Life support offline you have 7 minutes of air remaining'.
Jimmy pipes up at this point and says 'Commander won't it be shorter than that based on the fact that the cockpit glass is about to break?'. He replies 'probably but depends how quickly the shields come back, you best make your way to a escape pod, but don't eject yet we need to keep him busy'.
Jimmy starts poking his console.
'Don't program a jump Jimmy I don't think we are getting away this time plus I don't want him to get more aggressive we just need to keep him busy'.
The ship jerks suddenly knocking Jimmy to the floor. 'Sorry about that needed to get behind that asteroid' the command shouts.
Jimmy gets up grabs a suit helmet of the rack, then pauses for a moment. 'Commander do you want yours?'. He Replies with 'Not really I need to be-able to see to fly this thing'.
The noise rings out a little louder this time. 'your really sure Commander?'. He replies 'yes now get out before it.
It was to late the cockpit glass blows out. Another indicator comes on the system panel and the computer chirpily says 'Warning cockpit depreasureization. Blast shields will close in 10 seconds'.
The commander shouts 'Can you get out'. The reply comes back 'probably but I would rather wait for the blast shields to come down'.
The commander reaches across to the systems panel and flips open a safety and moves the toggle switch underneath.
Jimmy shouts 'Ah I best get out then'. The computer chirps up with 'Warning blast doors deactivated atmosphere will collapse in 90 seconds.'
The clang of the cockpit door rings in the commanders ears. As he reaches for the intercom the shield status ring blinks back on and starts charging. He pulls the ship into a u-turn but the controls don't let him pull it to fast. Swearing he reaches across to the systems panel and kills the flight assist then pulls the ship over and hits the boost to try and stop. The computer blerts out 'Warning unsafe G-force please re engage the flight assist to prevent ship and crew damage'. It's to late the commanders eyes roll back and he is unconscious.
It was like any other run just dropped out of FSD to the star system taken a sharp pull up to get away from the sun. Swear at the navigation “Eggheads” for placing the beacon to close to the sun and head of to the station. About halfway along a ship buzzes very close in supercruise coming the other way. “Crap!” the commander exclaims as he flips the ship towards the nearest celestial hoping to loose them on a gravity swing by. he's not so lucky the interdiction kicks in almost straight away. “Seriously that guy must a hell of a ship to flip over that fast”. He tries to wrestle out of the interdiction but it's not going so well. He scans down the contacts list to find the nearest ship. It's a Sidewinder, shouldn't be difficult to escape he thinks, then he's registration flags up as wanted, Unsurprising really. He pulls out and lets the interdiction pull him down. As the ship comes out of SC he gets a comms straight away 'STOP or I toast you'. He pulls the ship to a stop and faces what is now obviously a pirate. 'I want all your cargo and you can go'. The commander replies with 'Really but you can only carry 4T in that thing' the reply comes back with 'Not your concern', 'I could just eject my most valuable' the reply comes back 'Eject the platinum'. The commander's heart drops how does he know I have that it was a consigned shipment it's not a goods that is wanted in this sector. He quickly checks the cargo scan log and spots it. As he was coming out of port the ship scan he received wasn't from the local Authority vessels it was from Commander James, the very same as was in front of him. A railgun blast comes flying past the ship 'The next one will hit, eject All the cargo'. The commander goes to cargo management and starts telling the unloader to eject all. 'That's better, start moving back'. The computer suddenly blerts out 'Warning consignment cargo Ejected re secure cargo or cargo will self-destruct'. The commander raises a eyebrow and sets the throttle in reverse max. The Pirate spotting the valuable cargo retracts his weapons and heads straight for all 3 cannisters. While the pirate seems pre occupied he shutdown all systems turns to silent running and extends the weapons, sure their crappy loaned pulse lasers but that doesn't matter. As the pirate scoops the cargo before it brings the shields backup he goes all systesm on and fires a burst at the pirate. It doesn't do much except to annoy the pirate the comms flashes on 'Right your dead'. The computer blerts out again 'Warning cargo has been secured by a different ship self destruct is now armed'. The pirate's shields come online and his weapon's start extending. Then his shields go off. The comms blerts out 'When I find you next you are DEAD'. The pirate's ship suddenly explodes. The computer blerts out 'Bounty paid'. The commander sets about starting to collect back his cargo and hopes that the bounty is at least going to cover the fine for non delivery. He checks the contract, doesn't look like it. Before he has a chance to scoop the first cargo back up a Type-9 suddenly drops in baring what can only be described as pirate paint job. 'Crap' Thinks the commander spinning the ship around to try and get out of the way to not get rammed. As the type-9 starts baring down on him 3 Federal Dropships suddenly drop in and let loose on the type-9. The comms then springs to life video this time! 'Commander! Sorry for the deceit with your little cargo delivery they weren't really what you thought you were carrying, we have been chasing this rogue for a while and we have been unable to get them both at the same time, one or the other always gets away! Once you dock you should find your contract will update and pay you out the promised amount +50%' Stunned the commander replies 'Thank you Sir', the image then continues 'oh and you can keep the bounty payout, that was very sly of you to get credit, should you feel like fighting instead of trading please give us a call'. The Dropships close in on the destroyed ships and seem to dispatch cleanup shuttles. The commander turns around scoops up his remaining cargo and gets the hell out of there to find a bar.
The commander comes back around to the computer announcing 'Shields Online, Atmosphere stabilized' He glances over to the systems panel it shows 2mins 34 seconds of air remaining. He reaches out for intercom to call systems 'Next time I decide to go drinking instead of buying ship upgrades remind me we only get 7 mins of air, well assuming we get out of this' the answer comes back 'We did then you said drinks for everyone so we stopped arguing' He pauses for a moment then asks 'Did the signal get out while he was busy smashing my cockpit up?' the intercom goes quiet for a moment then 'Yes but we didn't get the acknowledgement' The comms lights up and a message comes across 'I said when I find you next you would be DEAD' the ship shakes as blaster fire rattles across the shields. 'And I have found you' . He throttles up the ship and starts taking evasive manuvers and starts returning fire. This ensues for a few mins until the computer chirpy as ever says '30 seconds of oxygen remaining' the intercom flashes on and says 'commander put your helmet on' 'can't to busy up here and don't turn the life support on we need the shields' he screams back. The cockpit door slams open and jimmy runs in with something. 'I told you to get to a escape pod' screams the commander. 'I did' he replies. 'but it had loads of junk in it. At this point the computer buts in with '10 seconds of oxygen remaining'. 'Right' Shouts jimmy 'Bite down on this it will help'. He shoves a scuba regulator in the commanders mouth. 'Should help with the current problem' he states. The commander says something but is completely muffled by the antique diving gear. 'Why is it we had to fight him in these asteroids surely our ship could obliterate him in open space?'.
'warning shields offline hull at 50%' states the computer like this was a good thing. Then suddenly multiple ships drop in from SC, 'Commander I think our message got though' echos the intercom. The pirate realising he was baited suddenly turns away. And the computer chirps out 'FSD spinup detected'. Jimmy yells out 'erm commander should they shoot h' the computer cuts him short with 'FSD spinup failure' The commander reaches over to the systems panel and resets the blast doors switches off the shields and on the life support' the computer echoing out everything the commander does. 'That is why we are in this asteroid belt, it screws with FSD' 'ahhh' sighs jimmy. The video comms lights up with afamiliar face ' Thank you commander we can capture him from here, I think we owe you a bit more than a courier fee this time, but thank you for returning our call'.
The commander turns to Jimmy saying 'Good call Jimmy I did wonder where I put my scuba gear, in the escape pod you found it?' 'Yeah I think that's where the cleaners have been dumping stuff they couldn't store'