A/N: This mission was shitloads of fun, lemme tell you.
--
Your scanners turn up only one capital-class signature in the vicinity of the moon. Some evidence of electronic interference is also present. This is enough basis on which to confirm that the stationary NeuroCom vessel is responsible for the drone malfunctions. Pinpointing it is a cakewalk; the center of the interference is a fairly simple matter to determine. Actually reaching the ship, however, will not be so easy.
You glance over the sensor panel once again, this time filtering for the smaller signatures emitted by the mining drones. What you see causes your jaw to hit the dashboard.
Your scanner has found exactly 427 distinct reactor signatures in the corporate ship's vicinity, and is still busy identifying all of the signatures buzzing around the Piglet itself.
"This was a suicide mission from the start", you exclaim as the number of confirmed hostiles around the station enters the four-figure range.
"We may as well kill ourselves right now", Clarent adds.
"I said it was dangerous", the Ronove rookie says in a peppy
we-fucking-warned-you sort of way.
"We have them self-replicate, you see. Really does a lot of good for the work efficiency. We do have the firepower needed to wash all of them out, mind you. It's these RockCrusher torpedoes we carry on mining runs. But it's best if someone tried to slip past the drones and take out the corporate ship directly. To minimize loss of property."
"That's us." You frown disgruntledly.
"Yeah. We don't think we can overtake the thing in these barges. If you tick off the drones, we'll be here waiting for you. Bring those sheep to the slaughter."
"I'm not sure my engines will even last this fight."
"Let's hope they do, freebooter. Let's hope they do."
Several minutes later, the rest of the rag-tag strike force of mining barges arrives on the scene.
"Hmm... the freebooter's not responding. Think we've lost him?"
"Ayup", one of the elder barge captains sighs.
"Well, it was worth a shot. Can't blame him for trying."
Suddenly, a transmission.
"S/N Ronove, please respond!"
"Wait, I'm getting something. Hello? What's your position?"
"Get those torpedoes ready right now, you lazy pricks! We've pissed off the god-damned hornet's nest!"
"Roger! All hands to battle stations!"
"Well, damn. That's a lot of 'bots. Looks like they're sending out a comm signal... wonder what they're saying?"
Ronove opens up the mining drones' frequency, as ill-advised as it may be. What he hears is hundreds of tiny robotic voices singing in a chorus.
"ROCK. ROBOT ROCK.
ROCK. ROBOT ROCK.
ROCK. ROBOT ROCK.
ROCK. ROBOT ROCK."
"WRITE it, CUT it, PASTE it, SAVE it
LOAD it, CHECK it, QUICK-- REWRITE it
PLUG it, PLAY it, BURN it, RIP it
DRAG it, DROP it, ZIP-- UNZIP it."
"Oh, oh, I know this song!", he says excitedly.
"Shut up and arm those torpedoes!", you yell at him as your ship passes his.
"Oh, sorry. Loading tubes one through six..."
"All tubes, launch! Let's hold the line!"
In a split second, the swarm of mining drones turns into a veritable vision of the end times. The drones at the back of the pack smash into the ones disabled by the torpedo barrage, creating a deadly chain reaction comparable to a hundred-car traffic pileup. The mining barges fall back to escape the expanding cloud of debris.
"Whoooooooooo! L-L-L-LUDICROUS KILL!"
"Scanners indicate that another wave is imminent", Clarent says grimly.
"Get ready."
"We've only got enough torpedoes left for a few more barrages, unfortunately. I think it's time you two went and said hello to that corporate fellow."
"...Ah. Hah", you pant wearily, bringing your ship around with both hands locked in a sweaty grip around your flightsticks.
"That push-clock vandal will have a missile shoved so far up his ass that every time he has a thought, it's gonna have to tiptoe past an armed warhead."
"That's the spirit, freebooter! Go get 'em."
After easily plowing through a few thin scores of drones, it doesn't take a lot of chasing for your ship to encounter the dreaded EW vessel face-to-face. It seems to be attempting to make a quick getaway when you arrive. Naturally, you're not pleased with that. You dive headfirst into single combat.
"TAPS maneuvering active. Weapons systems on--"
"--line?"
"This job just keeps getting better and better."
An unusual electromagnetic wave attack from the enemy ship has disabled your fire controls, leaving you open to attack. You quickly bring you ship around to evade the oncoming barrage of plasma cannon fire.
"Systems back online", Clarent sighs.
"That was a close call..."
You exchange shots with the corporate vessel
properly now. You're imagining the silk-suited bastard at its helm dropping his dollars at your sudden comeback.
The damage sustained by the enemy ship has made it less capable of following your movements as you circle it. Your frontal composite armor has taken some damage as well, but not enough to be of immediate worry.
Finally, a well-placed missile shatters the enemy's subsystems, causing it to enter a state of system shock. You take this opportunity to rapidly bring it down.
"You're fired", you quip in a smug-ass manner, grinning alongside Clarent in the darkness of the cockpit.
Suddenly, however, a familiar and annoying voice breaks the silence.
"Hello? The mining drones around here are shutting down! Looks like you've managed to take down the enemy ship. Good job! C'mon over to the Piglet; we're looking for survivors."
"Alright, alright. Don't get your space knickers in a knot."
"That shipwreck is in awfully good condition", Clarent interjects quietly.
"We should probably stay behind and see what we can get out of it first."
"Yeah." You nod in agreement.
"Can't let all that hardware go to waste..."
Current Condition:
Ishtar-class Support Destroyer, MNC Bone Collector
Choose four:
AESA Scanner
"An Active Electronically Scanned Array, generally reserved for military vessels and high-profile mercenary operations. It lets us run active scans without turning ourselves into a giant flashing target."
(70MW, 150kg)
Light Fusion Core II
"Bigger and better, this core will let us put up more high-energy equipment. It will replace our current core when assimilated."
(1500MW output, 1300kg)
EM Disruptor Array
"This array fires a focused electromagnetic pulse to instantly disable an enemy vessel's weapon systems for a certain amount of time. Smaller ships are more heavily affected."
(200MW, 850kg)
Ishtar's Gunwale
"It's large, heavily-armored, and it has three medium hardpoints. While ostensibly offense-focused, this section would be great for patching up one of our flanks."
(1300kg, 3 medium hardpoints)
Two Light Plasma Cannons
"I can assimilate both of these guns at once without doing much damage to the wreck."
(60MW, 400kg, small) each
Medium Engine II
"At this point, you'd be okay with a little less speed, unless you want to build an agility-based vessel."
(90MW, 7,250kgf output)
Well, /bsf/, just choose the parts for now. We know we'll be heading for the Big Pig after this. We'll be chowing down on something
other than parts in the next update. And probably leaving this system for good after that.