Nik-Note:
I could have sworn I'd posted both this and sequel, 'The Ystarr Border Incident'.
Apparently not...
Given the latter has now serendipitously spawned its own sequel, these should be read before that, which is making very slow progress due to my currently restricted vision.
The new HiVis kbd, APHont and much zooming helps, the first intra-vit injection went well. "Ooh ! Pretty Jellyfish !!"
Beyond the B-movie 'Hammer Horror' aspects, of course, of course...
---
{ Retrieved from station security log archive: Translation incomplete due much 'vernacular'. }
"What have you got, [Watch-Master] ?"
"Damaged ship in-bound, [Boss]. Looks like Captain Grrrk's [Corsair], the 'Grrrk-Grrrk', but Drive is crazy-spiking. There's several leaks, both atmosphere and impeller [juice]. Latest scans show three of the six Drive pylons have lost their [Nacelles]..."
"[NSFW] !! Looks like the old [NSFW] finally broke his luck !
"Do not let him free-dock: Tell him to stand off. Send two tugs.
"And, yes, he'll be furious, pride and cost, but crashing that [NSFW] into my station would earn him a long walk out a short [air-lock]..."
"Security to stand-by ?"
"[NSFW], yes ! I do not think this is a [Trojan Horse], who would dare ? Even so...
"So, scan that old [NSFW] or who-ever is [Ship-Master] down to his [NSFW], clean him up then fetch him to my [Office].
--
"So, Captain Grrrk, what went wrong ?"
"Urrr..."
"A drink ? Some Melcovian [Distillate] ?"
"Urrr..."
"Another ?"
"Thank you...
"We... We'd headed out to Anok-412. Their war between planets #2 and #3 was good for business. The asteroid miners [smuggled] supplies to both sides, could not complain if we [Pirated] them...
"But their war was over: Both [Warlords] were dead, their surviving navies combined to attack us...
"We ran, [Jumped]. Five [Cruisers] followed. We ran again, [Jumped]. Two [Cruisers] followed. A third [Jump], just one [Cruiser]. A fourth [Jump]. No pursuit ? To be safe, we did three [Jumps] to a safe haven...
"It was a small, red star. Nothing of interest beyond two low-end gas-giants. Usually, just a way-stop to do repairs and reckon [Loot]. This time, we were barely in-system when signals came from the outer gas-giant's orbit.
"First-atom RF line and multiple coherent optical, all 'First Contact' code...
"They did not recognise our calls in [StarLangs] One through Five, kept sending their 'First Contact' code...
"So, we repeated those back, approached...
"There was a long [NSFW] in high orbit, small craft going to and from that to moonlets or dipping into atmosphere. It had no impellers, no pylons, no Drive [Nacelles]. A [Station] ? Surely ! We scanned for [Escorts] or [Single Ships], found none. Was there a [Mega-Tug] ? We found none. We scanned for [Pulse Turrets], found none.
"Had we stumbled across [Primitives] ?
"The [Station] configuration was [NSFW] strange: There were a succession of [Hex] boxes joined by legs, many storage pods between successive boxes' three pylons. Which also had obvious [air-locks]. Many [air-locks]...
"So, we attacked. Both eights of [Breacher Craft] detached, went in hot. Three headed for outer storage pods, thinking their contents valuable. No, close scans reported empty or [Cryo-Gas]. Two headed for inner pods, but close scans showed they were just shells, over old-style [Spin Drums]--"
"They were so [Primitive] ?"
"Yes ! Like Breen [Fruit], ripe for picking ! So, our [Breacher Craft] chose [air-locks], clamped on.
"Boarders away !
"Another Melcovian ? Thank you...
"First boarders reported atmospheric alerts: The mix was one part in five of Element Eight, not our one part in nine or ten. It was impossible, surely [alloys] and [materials] would [combust] ?
"Then the boarders were through to the pylons. Long corridors with open safety [air-locks] at intervals, those were undefended...
"We thought...
"Then all boarders reported hearing a high tone, 'EEEEEEEE'...
"Small, fast [NSFW] things began hitting boarders like a [NSFW] [meteoroid shower]: Ripping suits, smashing face-plates, damaging weapons--
"That one in five mix-- Their suits and equipment [Combusted] !
"They tried to escape. When they turned, the [NSFW] things smashed their back-packs...
"Less than one in seven boarders got back to their [Breacher Craft]. Four [Craft] did not detach. The others, now under-crewed, pulled away...
"Coherent light reached from one of the [Spin Drum] shells. It found a [Breacher Craft], pierced clean through. Then, despite [Evasive Action], another. A different turret wrecked three--"
"Not [Pulse Turrets] ?"
"Continuous beam. They fired, then swung the beam across their target--"
"But the energy requirements--"
"It got worse. One of the auxiliary craft came storming out from a moonlet. A [Tug], it had two rings of five small pods joined by thick tubes, a storage pod in the middle, two hung outside. Despite that cargo, it was pulling twice our boost, thrice a [Breacher Craft].
"And, as it passed our fleeing [Craft], it fired on them--"
"Continuous beam ?"
"Two turrets. One-hit kills. From beyond [Pulse Turret] range...
"Oh, the [Craft] did their best, some even got hits with their small [Pulse Turrets]. The [Tug] [Drive Field] just shed those strikes like soft rain off a good roof...
"After tha last [Breacher Craft] blew, from a 'Through and Through', the [Tug] came for us. Our gunners tried, died. [Helm] pulled every dodge and twist we knew, plus a few more we'd seen. Even tried a [Death Ride] charge. The [Tug] just turned aside, circled us again and again as we tried to flee, impellors now at full [emergency throttle].
"Then it burned through a Drive pylon so the [Nacelle] spun away..."
"Another Melcovian ?"
"Thank you. Another shot, a third. We'd given up hope when the [Tug] just turned and went back for those three [Nacelles]. Some-how, some-how, we managed to [Jump] with the three remaining.
"It has taken many, many day-cycles to get here. We did not get stranded in deep space, we did not hit a [Rogue Planet] or get eaten by a [Giant Space Bat]. Yet, we would have starved or begun eating each other had we not lost all our Boarders..."
"That is a [NSFW] [NSFW] story, Captain Grrrk. But, I'm sorry, after the cost of the [Tugs] that brought you in, I don't think you have enough credit for dock fees or consumables, never mind three [Nacelles] or an eight of [Breacher Craft]."
"Not my problem any more, [Boss]. Remaining crew reckon I've lost my [Luck], voted me out. My wonderful [Corsair] is their business now..."
"One air-lock closes, another opens, Captain. Your [NSFW] are new to this region. Your report will be valuable. Perhaps enough to buy passage to some-where that does not want your head on a spike..."
