Post by Hammer on Dec 24, 2010 11:36:51 GMT -5
Okay, since it's that time of year again...Merry Christmas!
To honor the spirit of the game...I have posted my old "Christmas On Titan" short story.
Enjoy the read. And remember: There's a war going on out there, and even on Christmas, it's not easy!
Speed and Greed on Titan!
Hammer
CHRISTMAS ON TITAN
We've all got our stories about Titan. Strange sightings. Great dogfights. The big haul that made the paycheck for the week.
Well, here's one for you. Sometimes things happen that you don't expect, or didn't plan for, or just plain take you by surprise:
I was flying high over the Alpha crater very late one evening. I was looking for prey. Something nice to get my hands on for some extra cash. You can never have too much cash in hand on Titan.
I started picking up garbled radio signals coming from the Alpha tunnel. Something coming through from the mines crater. I headed that way thinking I might be able to scavenge some scrap from this one. Maybe someone would drop a cargo I could sprint in and steal. Hey, things are rough here, I can use the income.
As I reach the end of the tunnel I see things are really happening in Haven. I tear in and head to the ceiling, trying to survey the area and get a feel for the action.
Below me is chaos.
I look down to see some poor slob in a Silver Y running the gauntlet from the mines to Alpha. There's no way he's going to make it through here. I see three pirates making a vector straight for him.
This should be good.
I do a quick target lock to see who this guy is. Take a look at his ship. Yep, I think I recognize the guy. Some young pilot I've seen around the bars before. Nothing special in him. Nothing to set him apart. Just another loser out scavenging for a meal.
But he's got something in his pod this time. Some cargo, and the pirates have taken an interest.
There's flares popping off now, and the shadows in Haven are dancing off the rock, making it hard to see what's going on below.
I drop down to get a better look.
I'm having a hard time believing what I’m seeing here. The kid is fighting like a madman. There are flares and chaff popping off like lightning, and now the plasma discharges are tearing up the air. I can't make anything out on the radio, but something's transmitting out from the "Y". It's just bleed over from his com unit. I can't quite make it out. But he's in a fix, that's for sure, and he's fighting hard. Harder than I thought you could in a "Y". A Silver Y's not much of a ship. And this one's taking an awful beating. I can see the glow from his shields now, they've got to be about gone.
Damn, there goes one of the pirates, he took him on the side, got himself between two of them so they couldn't shoot and slid across with a laser.
I've never seen flying like this. The kid must have something in the pod that's more than just scrap. There must be some real money to be made here.
There goes the second pirate. Damn, what is going on? There can't be much left of the kids ship. It wasn't much to begin with, but now he' really suffering. There go his shields. I can see hull now. He's got chunks of ablative material coming off. There's some bare hull starting to glow. But he's still fighting. What's he got? What's he think he's got in that pod to keep him fighting like this?
Well, I'll be…..the third guys down. The kid got him with his last missile. An offhand shot. He didn’t' even have a lock on the guy. Just slewed the Silver Y around and fired. What a shot!
But he's done. There's nothing left of his ship. What a piece of junk now.
This is going to be easy pickings…for me.
I follow the guy back through the Alpha tunnel. He's got to be heading for a light well. He doesn't possibly have any power left in his cells.
He knows I'm back here too. He keeps turning his head and looking back this way.
Keep looking chump. I want your cargo.
What's he got?
I've go to know.
He finally clears the tunnel, but he doesn't head for the light well. He's heading for the Downtown tunnel. He even passed the Alpha Trading post. He's not going to sell what he's got in the pod.
Now I have to know.
I ease up beside him and take a look over into his cockpit. God what a mess. His diagnostics panel is lit up like a Christmas tree. I can't believe the thing is still in the air, and I keep getting bleed over from his com channels. The wiring must be fried.
He's got no power, the cell levels are blinking on emergency low level. He's got just enough to keep the ship moving. His guns are gone. His missile racks are empty. He's in the shits, for sure.
But he's flying the thing. And he's not stopping. There's gaping holes in his hull, the cockpits' full of smoke, and he's yelling something.
I ease back in behind him and line up for a laser shot. This will be a walk.
There's a tone as the targeting computer takes the lock, and a whirring noise as the laser tubes swivel onto the target. Not much time left for you son.
But he's still flying that wreck. And he's not backing down.
Why doesn’t' he drop the cargo? What's he got?
I can't stand it. The curiosity is getting to me.
So I play with the radio a bit. Force a frame wave onto his com system. I've got to talk to this kid.
You know what I'm hearing? Music. Music for Christ's sake! He's not yelling. He's singing.
The kids setting in his trashed out, shot up, totaled Silver Y, and he's singing at the top of his lungs. I'm trying to make out the tunes, but the static is too bad.
I finally switch channels, and get a voice-through.
I decide to talk to him.
"Hey kid", I say. "I got to know. What do you have in the pod? You don't have much time now. I'm all lined up, and I want what you got. So tell me. What's so important that you'd fight like that? Where are you going and what do you have that's worth dying for? Just drop the cargo, and I'll let you live."
I'm in very close now. There's no way he's going to get away from me. I put my finger on the trigger, bring up the pressure. Cover him close, just in case he tries to pull a fast one. But I don’t' see how. He's spent.
One shot and it's all over.
Through the static I finally hear the kid. He's going to talk to me.
"Presents", he says. "In the pod. I've got presents, and I’m BY GOD going to get them Home. For Christmas. For Love."
What does he have in the pod? What does he have that he's willing to die for?
I roll back out and pull up in a trailing position. I kick a replay switch in my console and bring up the fight on my HUD.
There's the kid, in the Silver Y, taking on three pirates in a battle that'd make any pilot cringe. And I can hear the com now. It's a little clearer on replay. The kid is listening to Beethoven. He's got the 9th Symphony on the ships com system. As loud as it will go, and he's singing.
He's singing at the top of his lungs. He's singing Beethoven's 9th, Ode To Joy, and he's firing, fighting, burning, and keeping his ship alive by sheer will power.
There's a "click" as I slide the weapons back to SAFE.
I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to drop this kid this way. Not now. Not ever.
I’m going to follow this kid home. And I'm going to watch his back.
I'm gonna watch him fly his burnt, broken, ruined, cooked out Silver Y all the way home. Holes in the hull. Smoke pouring from the fuel cells. Power down to nothing.
And "Ode To Joy", pounding out of what's left of his smoking com system.
For presents.
For Christmas.
For Love.
Hammer.
To honor the spirit of the game...I have posted my old "Christmas On Titan" short story.
Enjoy the read. And remember: There's a war going on out there, and even on Christmas, it's not easy!
Speed and Greed on Titan!
Hammer
CHRISTMAS ON TITAN
We've all got our stories about Titan. Strange sightings. Great dogfights. The big haul that made the paycheck for the week.
Well, here's one for you. Sometimes things happen that you don't expect, or didn't plan for, or just plain take you by surprise:
I was flying high over the Alpha crater very late one evening. I was looking for prey. Something nice to get my hands on for some extra cash. You can never have too much cash in hand on Titan.
I started picking up garbled radio signals coming from the Alpha tunnel. Something coming through from the mines crater. I headed that way thinking I might be able to scavenge some scrap from this one. Maybe someone would drop a cargo I could sprint in and steal. Hey, things are rough here, I can use the income.
As I reach the end of the tunnel I see things are really happening in Haven. I tear in and head to the ceiling, trying to survey the area and get a feel for the action.
Below me is chaos.
I look down to see some poor slob in a Silver Y running the gauntlet from the mines to Alpha. There's no way he's going to make it through here. I see three pirates making a vector straight for him.
This should be good.
I do a quick target lock to see who this guy is. Take a look at his ship. Yep, I think I recognize the guy. Some young pilot I've seen around the bars before. Nothing special in him. Nothing to set him apart. Just another loser out scavenging for a meal.
But he's got something in his pod this time. Some cargo, and the pirates have taken an interest.
There's flares popping off now, and the shadows in Haven are dancing off the rock, making it hard to see what's going on below.
I drop down to get a better look.
I'm having a hard time believing what I’m seeing here. The kid is fighting like a madman. There are flares and chaff popping off like lightning, and now the plasma discharges are tearing up the air. I can't make anything out on the radio, but something's transmitting out from the "Y". It's just bleed over from his com unit. I can't quite make it out. But he's in a fix, that's for sure, and he's fighting hard. Harder than I thought you could in a "Y". A Silver Y's not much of a ship. And this one's taking an awful beating. I can see the glow from his shields now, they've got to be about gone.
Damn, there goes one of the pirates, he took him on the side, got himself between two of them so they couldn't shoot and slid across with a laser.
I've never seen flying like this. The kid must have something in the pod that's more than just scrap. There must be some real money to be made here.
There goes the second pirate. Damn, what is going on? There can't be much left of the kids ship. It wasn't much to begin with, but now he' really suffering. There go his shields. I can see hull now. He's got chunks of ablative material coming off. There's some bare hull starting to glow. But he's still fighting. What's he got? What's he think he's got in that pod to keep him fighting like this?
Well, I'll be…..the third guys down. The kid got him with his last missile. An offhand shot. He didn’t' even have a lock on the guy. Just slewed the Silver Y around and fired. What a shot!
But he's done. There's nothing left of his ship. What a piece of junk now.
This is going to be easy pickings…for me.
I follow the guy back through the Alpha tunnel. He's got to be heading for a light well. He doesn't possibly have any power left in his cells.
He knows I'm back here too. He keeps turning his head and looking back this way.
Keep looking chump. I want your cargo.
What's he got?
I've go to know.
He finally clears the tunnel, but he doesn't head for the light well. He's heading for the Downtown tunnel. He even passed the Alpha Trading post. He's not going to sell what he's got in the pod.
Now I have to know.
I ease up beside him and take a look over into his cockpit. God what a mess. His diagnostics panel is lit up like a Christmas tree. I can't believe the thing is still in the air, and I keep getting bleed over from his com channels. The wiring must be fried.
He's got no power, the cell levels are blinking on emergency low level. He's got just enough to keep the ship moving. His guns are gone. His missile racks are empty. He's in the shits, for sure.
But he's flying the thing. And he's not stopping. There's gaping holes in his hull, the cockpits' full of smoke, and he's yelling something.
I ease back in behind him and line up for a laser shot. This will be a walk.
There's a tone as the targeting computer takes the lock, and a whirring noise as the laser tubes swivel onto the target. Not much time left for you son.
But he's still flying that wreck. And he's not backing down.
Why doesn’t' he drop the cargo? What's he got?
I can't stand it. The curiosity is getting to me.
So I play with the radio a bit. Force a frame wave onto his com system. I've got to talk to this kid.
You know what I'm hearing? Music. Music for Christ's sake! He's not yelling. He's singing.
The kids setting in his trashed out, shot up, totaled Silver Y, and he's singing at the top of his lungs. I'm trying to make out the tunes, but the static is too bad.
I finally switch channels, and get a voice-through.
I decide to talk to him.
"Hey kid", I say. "I got to know. What do you have in the pod? You don't have much time now. I'm all lined up, and I want what you got. So tell me. What's so important that you'd fight like that? Where are you going and what do you have that's worth dying for? Just drop the cargo, and I'll let you live."
I'm in very close now. There's no way he's going to get away from me. I put my finger on the trigger, bring up the pressure. Cover him close, just in case he tries to pull a fast one. But I don’t' see how. He's spent.
One shot and it's all over.
Through the static I finally hear the kid. He's going to talk to me.
"Presents", he says. "In the pod. I've got presents, and I’m BY GOD going to get them Home. For Christmas. For Love."
What does he have in the pod? What does he have that he's willing to die for?
I roll back out and pull up in a trailing position. I kick a replay switch in my console and bring up the fight on my HUD.
There's the kid, in the Silver Y, taking on three pirates in a battle that'd make any pilot cringe. And I can hear the com now. It's a little clearer on replay. The kid is listening to Beethoven. He's got the 9th Symphony on the ships com system. As loud as it will go, and he's singing.
He's singing at the top of his lungs. He's singing Beethoven's 9th, Ode To Joy, and he's firing, fighting, burning, and keeping his ship alive by sheer will power.
There's a "click" as I slide the weapons back to SAFE.
I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to drop this kid this way. Not now. Not ever.
I’m going to follow this kid home. And I'm going to watch his back.
I'm gonna watch him fly his burnt, broken, ruined, cooked out Silver Y all the way home. Holes in the hull. Smoke pouring from the fuel cells. Power down to nothing.
And "Ode To Joy", pounding out of what's left of his smoking com system.
For presents.
For Christmas.
For Love.
Hammer.
