Zakalwe heard the faint hum of the Engine charging sequence finishing
as he carefully disattached a deactivated missile from its firing
tube. He opened vox communication and ordered the space-suited crew
of the Phlebus back to their ship. It was a pity these civilians
hadn't made it but he couldn't conceal his satisfaction at having
crossed another section without taking serious hull damage.
As he arrived back in the cruiser's cockpit and jettisoned his stuffy
atmospheric helmet, he archived the second section of the mission
log:
Jump 1 – Zakalwe had cursed as he had seen the strategic forecasts
of Rebel movements. It seemed the Rebels had quickly encircled the
Federation outpost, leaving him a choice between Rebel space and that
held by their Pirate auxiliaries. He moodily decided to head for the
Pirate sector as he figured it was more likely to be poorly guarded.
With damnable efficiency the Rebels had already blockaded this Entry
point. A crewed Rebel rigger sounded alarms and instantly attacked
the Phlebus. However, it proved little threat and Zakalwe rejected
its surrender before destroying the craft.
Jump 2 – The Phlebus almost collided with a fast moving civilian
ship as its engines powered down. A Slug interceptor was barrelling
after the fleeing craft but quickly turned to attack the Federation ship. A quick scan of the interceptor's markings revealed that it was
from the same clan as the arms dealers they had destroyed in the last
sector. Slugs were notorious not only for telepathy but for bearing a
grudge.
The Phlebus rolled out of firing range and took out the charging
interceptor. Horza danced around the crew's lounge with glee as the
civilian ship teleported over a surplus Burst Laser Mk 3. They would
have to upgrade weapons systems to simultaneously fire it with the missiles but its high firing capacity and heavy damage would surely
come in useful.
Jump 3 – The Phlebus dropped in at a Store located in the patched
together bodies of several discarded shuttles. The Rastafarian owners
hadn't managed to get oxygen working in all areas and after a cursory
look at the goods the crew of the Phlebus left without buying
anything. However, local mechanics were happy to assist in upgrading
the craft's shields.
Jump 4 - The friendly Rastafarians directed the Phlebus to their
sister station. Zion patrols kept the area clear of Pirates and while
the Phlebus had no need for their offered repairs it made a convivial
stopping point.
Jump 5 – Zakalwe took a gamble and headed into a nearby Nebula. An
Autoscout guarding a Rebel space station was quickly despatched. The
crew recovered 22 scrap from the drone but the station turned out to
be mothballed and loot free.
Jump 6 – Going deeper into the Nebula the sensors disengaged and an
eerie silence descended. However, no attackers emerged and the
Phlebus moved on.
Jump 7 – Leaving the Nebula, the Phlebus took a detour to explore
an Asteroid field. This proved profitable as an abandoned mining site
yielded 21 scrap and a drone part. The Phlebus moored itself to the
pithead and upgraded its power systems.
Jump 8 – The Asteroid field thickened and the shield impacts
started to become dangerous. Zakalwe was just considering a judicious
retreat when a Mantis fighter emerged from behind a rock and launched
an attack run. Luckily it was not sufficiently shielded for such a
perilous conflict. A Halberd blast, missile and asteroid collided
with the Mantis simultaneously and blew out its shields and guns.
Horza targeted its engine as it made to escape but asteroids ripped
it apart before another missile could land.
Jump 9 – An Engi patrol immobilised the Phlebus with ion blasts.
The crew scattered to combat station but some quick translation work
by Diziet persuaded them that the Federation crew were not Pirates.
The Engi freed the trapped craft and left to continue their sweep
across the fringes of the sector.
Jump 10 – Zakalwe headed back into the Nebula for one last
exploration. A hiding trader offered to exchange his drone parts for
missiles but Zakalwe declined politely.
Jump 11 – Arriving at the sector exit the Phlebus again detected a
Pirate ship pursuing a civilian craft. Zakalwe banked to intervene
but a laser blast from the Zoltan fighter opened up its victim. The
last of the ship's oxygen and surviving crew members were ejected
into space.
The pre-ignited weapons of the Phlebus were sufficient to knock out
the Zoltan energy shield in a single bombardment. The Pirates fought
back but failed to breach the shield of the Phlebus before succumbing
to Halberd fire. A loot of their ship recovered 2 Fuel, 1 Missile and
18 Scrap. A search of the mangled civilian ship revealed a further 1
Fuel, 2 Missiles and 12 Scrap. They retrieved the goods and then
torched the gutted hulk.
(This is a game report taking a certain level of artistic license from the game 'FTL Faster than Light'. I'm flying a Zoltan cruiser, which I had the good fortune to unlock after only a couple of plays. I've not yet reached the boss or even the final sector but hopefully such a promising start bodes well)
No comments:
Post a Comment