... to Xenon 472. Some test drives completed with flying colours. Others were shorter than Titanic had, with less survivors.
The tradition has continued to this day, although there are less and less untested vessels remaining. Debriefing from the latest:
Vessel was ready by the Split buoy in Family Njy. PSP front, Gauss sides, FLAK the rest. Short jump to East Gate of 472.
Semi-predictably, the Xenon had four Qs and a K nearby. The Qs are fast in this context. Without essential bad moves we were in crossfire. Shields did drop rapidly.
I chose a tactical retreat. However, shields failed and JD took a direct hit while Betty was still counting. I hope you all (don't) know that feeling. At the lounge of Goner Insurance Office you have heard numerous tales of how such initial dent surrounded by very red fleet rapidly escalates into total loss of all equipment, hull, and life.
Goner Insurance is a good option, if you wan't to skip the inevitable. (Some Squids on a Mission don't have that.) How do the Goners afford the insurance? It's dirty cheap for the customers.
However, the crew agreed to make a last stand first, before contacting the Goners. Just to see if we could take at least one annoying Q with us. No high hopes, but everyone did what they could.
What followed was relatively short, but longer than expected. Not exactly a furball, considering all the tincans arounds. Then the battle was over; Xenon I did deliver coup de grâce.
Not a Titanic story. Titanic did sink. We did not call the Goners after all. We did call our MORT to deliver a new JumpDrive, for we had no intention to fly to repairs with our behemoth I-01.
Better late than never?
