Escapades on Xperia Play

Phaserlight

 

I logged in and found myself in Nyrius, right where I left off; a bustling center of trade and commerce.  The giant red sun looked over all ships, coming and going, as they carted their materials and wares to and from the stations, waiting to use them in manufacturing, or simply for profit.  I was trading up to five million credits, an arbitrary goal set by myself, so that I would have a healthy supply when I returned to Sedina, and continued to hone my skills in combat.  When I logged in I received a message from the server telling me my “buddies online” included Lisa201, tsreknor, and IRC.

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:17:25 2011] *Lisa201* Hiya!

 

Came the message from Lisa.  I responded:

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:17:50 2011] ->Lisa201: hey Lis good to see ya

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:17:55 2011] *Lisa201* you too!

 

Then continued on my way.  I had a full XC load of Biomedical Nanites to trade, and as soon as I launched my Personal Data Assistant told me that Nyrius K-14 was offering the highest buying price.  The prices would fluctuate depending on trade activity, and after two or three XC loads of 200 cubic units, trading to that station would undoubtedly no longer be the most profitable venture.  I stuck with the same commodities because, although there were many more lines of widgets to trade, I knew them and understood the demand for them.  Biomedical Nanites, Biotechnology Research Supplies, Civilian Textiles, Valent Robotics Equipment; these were all good to trade in this system.  Each Biomedical Nanite widget occupied 2 cubic units, so my ship could carry 100 crates in a single load.

 

I set my course for Nyrius K-14, and turboed out away from all gravitational objects.  When I reached 3,000 meters clearance, I engaged my intrasystem jump drive.  Upon entering the destination sector, I saw Lisa’s message pop up over sector chat.  I felt surprised to see it, as I did not realize she was in Nyrius also:

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:23:10 2011] Nice to see ya!

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:23:55 2011] ->Lisa201: on my Xperia Play

 

I replied.

 

I was still getting used to the controls and interface, however I was becoming rather adept at quick trading, within Nyrius at least.  The store I was watching was closing in half an hour, and I decided to log in for one or two runs over 3G before closing up, and taking the 45 minute drive home.

 

Although I was unused to the platform, when I got close to the station I knew something was wrong.  There were too many radar contacts on screen, all green by IFF.  It might have been a convoy, but their flight pattern was too erratic.  It looked more like combat maneuvering.

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:24:13 2011] *Lisa201* can you rescue my FCP I dropped there?

 

Her message instantly told me she was no longer using sector chat, which likely meant she had been destroyed.  FCP was a player acronym for “Fused Composite Plating”, a manufacturable widget that itself was used in a variety of manufacturable capital ship components, which were in turn used to craft the Trident Type-M, currently the game’s only player-owned cap ship.  I knew that Lisa was working on a Type-M; I had escorted her Behemoth, together with some other trusted players, to the hidden capital shipyards in Latos M-7 as she delivered a Toroidal Hyper-Plasma Reactor, some months earlier.  A single unit of FCP was pocket change by comparison, and yet it was more than I had managed to accrue in my 40 days spent online.

 

The green contacts would then be the strike force and station guards responding to Lisa’s killer.  I quickly scanned the radar for any purple dots representing dropped cargo widgets, and found a couple.  Laboriously, I hauled my XC’s nose in the direction of the widget.  When it came into view, I thumbed over the “Target” HUD button, dragged it up to “Target In Front”, and selected it again.  The widget’s info popped up on the top right hand corner of the screen: “Fused Composite Plating”.  Jackpot.  Of course, if the strike force and station guards didn’t get to Lisa’s killer in time…

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:25:13 2011] grrrrrrrrrrr

 

The screen flashed red as my hull began taking plasma hits.  When I saw the message over sector chat, I knew who I was dealing with.  The character “pup” was a player who was likely insane, attacking others at whim, all the while roleplaying a misguided preadolescent canine.  How he managed to continue operating within the UIT was a secret beyond me, however it might have had something to do with the fact that he only used the most basic transport / fighter.  Still, an XC was weaponless, and to me that represented a big problem.  My home station was in Sedina, and if I was destroyed I would end up back in that star system many jumps away: too far to respond.  Right away, I engaged the turbo and jettisoned my cargo load: I needed to be as light as possible.  My hull percentage dropped rapidly as I continued to take hits.

 

Slowly, the XC began to pull away.  “pup” was draining his powercell by firing, whereas I could devote all my energy to turbo.  The EC-89 could barely keep pace with an XC at top speed, and soon my screen was no longer flashing red, but I saw the plasma fire fall across my field of view, low and wide.  My acceleration was throwing off his autoaim, which meant he was no longer keeping pace with me.  Just in the nick of time: my hull was at 1%.

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:26:53 2011] *Lisa201* You able to get my fcp that was left when pup blasted me?

 

Lisa asked.

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:27:13 2011] ->Lisa201: rgr

 

I replied.

 

Technically, I didn’t have the FCP, but I was too engaged to write anything else, and I knew pup would not be able to pick up the FCP in his current ship.  A single Fused Composite Plating widget occupied a large number of cubic units, making it too large for an EC-ship to pick up.  The questions of the minute were: would pup or someone else get to the FCP before I did, and would I survive and be able to return, and pick it up before the 15 minute timer was up, and the cargo widget fizzled?

 

Warping out, I spent a tense minute inside of an ion storm as I made my way to an alternate station to repair.  At my current health a single shot from a Hive bot, or graze of an asteroid, would kill me.  Luckily, I made it through the ion storm unscathed, docked at my destination station Asuin Holdings, and repaired.

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:29:25 2011] *Lisa201* did pup shoot at you too?

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:29:37 2011] ->Lisa201: yes

 

I replied.

 

I was pondering a conundrum: if I returned in my XC, I would be weaponless and unable to defend myself against pup.  He had seemingly managed to evade the strike force and station guards, so I wasn’t allowing my luck to lie with them.  A basic Behemoth carried two large weapon ports, which meant I would probably be able to hold my own against a starter ship if it was available.  I scanned the “Select Ship” tab to see if I had anything there; nada.  I selected “Buy Ship” to see if one was available, and turned up nothing again.  However, Asuin Holdings was offering two variants of the Marauder, a light trader with a respectable cargo hold, and three small weapon ports; a hauler that could dogfight with an empty load.

 

 

Quickly, I purchased a Marauder type B, and equipped it with a loadout of three Starflare rocket launchers.  I virtually catapulted out of the exit dock, and headed back to the sector where the dropped, diamond FCP was waiting, making sure to plot an alternate route so as to avoid the ion storm.

 

When I got back to the sector all was quiet.  Pup had left or been destroyed.  I searched for the FCP and found it; luckily it was still there, together with the Biomedical Nanites I had jettisoned.

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:35:30 2011] *Lisa201* Still around? 

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:35:45 2011] ->Lisa201: aye

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:36:10 2011] *Lisa201* Heading to nyrius now.

 

So she was on her way.  Things were starting to look a lot better.  I tried to pick up the FCP by running it over, nothing.  I realized the Marauder couldn’t carry the FCP either; I was going to need a Behemoth class ship.  I returned to Asuin Holdings, switched to my XC, came back to the sector, and collected the plating.  With the FCP loaded, the XC handled like an 18-wheeler on sheet ice, but I managed to guide the ship into the docking bay, stopping to collect some of the forlorn nanites on my way in.

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:38:29 2011] *Lisa201* I'm trapped in Edras by "Blood Thirsty"

 

A regular pirate.  That meant Lisa wouldn’t be able to get to Nyrius without trekking halfway around Greyspace, and that would take a while.  I wasn’t on my gaming rig back home either, and wouldn’t ride in like a white knight.  I glanced up, it was getting dark and it was almost time for me to close.

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:39:07 2011] ->Lisa201: no worries got the plating

 

I replied.

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:39:31 2011] *Lisa201* Well, I guess you can hang onto it...

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:40:03 2011] ->Lisa201: will keep it safe until u need it

 

[Fri Nov 18 17:40:16 2011] *Lisa201* Thanks!

 

So ended a regular twenty-three minute session on Vendetta Online.  What a great game.