Incursio (Oolite Saga Part 3)
Part 1
Incursio
Title
Incursio
A novella based on the space trading game Oolite.
Part 3 of the Oolite Saga by Drew Wagar.
Sequel to ‘Status Quo’ and ‘Mutabilis’.
Ebook Edition
More Ebooks available at
http://www.drewwagar.com
Dedicated to Robert Paul Holdstock (2 August 1948 – 29 November 2009)
Licence
Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0
You are free:
To copy, distribute, display and perform the work
To make derivative works
Under the following conditions:
Attribution: You must give original credit to Drew Wagar
Non-commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes
Share Alike: If you alter, transform, or build upon this work,
you may distribute the resulting work only under a licence identical to this one
For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the licence terms of this work.
Any of these conditions can be waived if you get permission from Drew Wagar
Thanks
To my wife and family: who put up with all the irritating idiosyncrasies that go with being a writer, allow me time to pursue this hobby and still manage to forgive me time and again.
The late, great Robert Holdstock: Robert wrote the Novella that came with the original ‘Elite’ game. This story, ‘The Dark Wheel’, provided the background to the Elite universe upon which my tales are based. Robert also wrote the original Elite manual, further fleshing out the environment in which the game took place. Sadly, Robert passed away on the 29th of November 2009 due to complications following an E. Coli infection a couple of weeks earlier.
To Daddyhoggy: Who just ‘gets’ what this writing lark is all about. Also for the freedom to create a character based on his name in this story. Hope you enjoy ‘Daddyhoggy’, Daddyhoggy!
To Killerwolf : For the loan of another new ship for Rebecca, the latest Mk5 Vampire from the Isis Corporation. Rebecca has flown a Vampire since 3140 and wouldn’t be seen in anything else.
To Clym Angus: For the loan of a ship and a character. The intimidating Caduceus bio-ship described in this story first appeared in the excellent Novella ‘Rise of the Kirin’ written by Clym and Wyvern. Likewise the character of “Udian Foraga Shulth” is Clym’s creation. Clym also provided a number of excellent suggestions for the dialogue. Clym has also created some excellent PDF star maps, available via the Elite Wiki. http://wiki.alioth.net
To Wyvern: For the character of “Derik Roh’i”, a fearsome reptilian bounty hunter. Derik also features in ‘Rise of the Kirin’ – available on the Elite Wiki.
To Coyote: For the character of “Coyote”, an inveterate ‘contrabandista’. Further tales about this wily sombrero toting smuggler can be found in ‘Coyote’- available on the Elite Wiki.
To Hesperus: For the character of “Captain Hesperus”, a foppish feline, reprising his role from Mutabilis. For another story about the good Captain, read ‘Calliope’ on the Elite Wiki.
To Disembodied: For the character of “Blaze O’Glory”, a rather unique individual!
To Cheyd: For the character of “Commander Cheyd Vlos'Oplyn”, an unusual CEO from chart eight.
To Maik: For the character of “Commander Myy’q”, a gourmet from chart five.
To the ‘other’ Rebecca. Who unwittingly came up with the idea of a cross-character story based on the forum personalities, her amusing assassination stories and obsessive hatred of rock-hermits.
To the developers of Oolite, the OXP builders and the general forum contributors. None of this would be here without your creativity. Without doubt the most effective collaboration project I’ve ever been involved with.
The 20,000+ readers who’ve downloaded Status Quo and the 15,000+ who’ve downloaded Mutabilis. Hope you enjoyed the ride!
Shutterstock.com: For the graphics and artwork that form the front cover.
Can you read?
If so, you’re one of the lucky ones.
My Oolite books will always remain free to download and read. I deliberately make no financial gain from them. However if you enjoy them and would like to show your appreciation, I would like to suggest a donation to a charity local to me: the Ashford Dyslexia Centre.
Dyslexic children and adults find it very difficult to access the written word, particularly in the traditional ‘black text on white background’ format adopted for most printed material. This can cause acute ‘visual stress’. It’s been estimated that the dyslexic brain has to work around four to five times as hard to process text when compared to a non-dyslexic. Imagine trying to read a block of text when the words keep shifting position, change size, re-order themselves and go blurred at whim – that’s what traditional books look like to a dyslexic person.
In children this can lead to behavioural problems as they are not able to understand why they can’t access text as easily as others. Schools are typically unequipped to detect or deal with the needs of dyslexic children. As a result children are frequently labelled as ‘stupid’ or ‘slow’ despite overall high intelligence. Given that most teaching and testing focuses around the written word (clearly you have to be able to read the question in order to answer it) dyslexic children are disadvantaged on all sides, unable to demonstrate the abilities they do have. Writing is also problematic.
Often, dyslexic children have far superior non-verbal reasoning, logic and sequencing abilities. They often demonstrate higher degrees of musicianship, creativity, entrepreneurial and empathic abilities. Crucial to getting support to help people with dyslexia is an expert diagnosis and the subsequent recommendations. There are many ways to help; ebook readers, special glasses, additional time for exams and so on.
The Ashford Dyslexia Centre exists to advise, diagnose, support and provide specialist teaching for those affected by dyslexia in my home town. People with dyslexia may have a problem with traditional books, but they still love stories. Please consider helping them to access what we take for granted as book-lovers.
You can donate at http://www.wagar.org.uk
Thank you.
Prologue
The Thargoid warrior is a heavily built, dark-chitin covered insect measuring just over seven feet tall. Thargoids have six limbs, two of which are dedicated walking limbs. The remaining four limbs have jointed hands each possessing three digits, one of which is an opposable thumb.
The head is a triangular ovoid in shape, with prominent faceted eyes mounted to the front. In general, the overall impression is similar to that of a praying mantis. There are two short antennae that protrude from the top of the head. The mouth is on the underside of the front point of the triangular head and is relatively small. It is surrounded by two strong mandibles.
Little information has been obtained about Thargoid society or culture. The only known fact is that the society is hive based, with no sense of close family. It is thought that the society is divided into colonies, possibly reminiscent of old-earth insect species. The Thargoid language is obscure and confounds current translation technology, leading to meaningless (and occasionally amusing) wide-band comm transmissions during engagement.
Nothing is known about internal Thargoid politics. The Galactic Co-operative is officially at war with the Thargoid race and they are constantly under threat of planetary invasion. The Galactic Navy has engaged the Thargoids in a number of interstellar 'war zones', attempting to disrupt their chain of command - so far with little success.
Thargoid invasions usually seem to be p
rompted by the need for either agricultural or mineral resources, rather than a sociological or anthropological need to expand or colonise. In fact, the animal life on an invaded world is largely ignored unless it poses a threat. Thargoids do not colonise invaded planets and always retreat when they have acquired the resources they need.
Thargoids are thought to have a natural affinity with space and with witch-space in particular. Thargoid warriors seem to spend a large amount of time in space. Naval pilots and crews report that the warships in the war zones are encountered on repeated occasions over a period of months - often without respite.
The location of the Thargoid homeworld is unknown, prompting many to speculate that they are a space-born species. How they originated is a mystery.
- Extract from the Elite Webcon Interactive Knowledge Institute (Elite-Wiki)
Thargoids. Insects with a severe attitude problem. Where they come from, no one knows.
Galcop declared war on the Thargoids backs in 2851 but technically it's not a war, as the Thargoids have never responded to any official attempts to broker talks. Some have speculated that this is due to their hive structure and there is no central 'authority' with which to negotiate. We think they just don't care or maybe they just like fighting. They've supposedly had their 'fear-glands' removed, after all.
Thargoids simply attack on sight. What are they trying to achieve? No idea. All we do know is they steal resources, disrupt supply lines and cause havoc wherever they appear. Other than that they seem to have no particular goal in mind, which makes defeating them extremely problematic.
Traders live in fear of encountering these dark and malevolent octagonal vessels and for good reason. Thargoid technology is superior to ours – there, we said it! Thargoid ships have no obvious engine exhausts, yet are remarkably quick and agile. Laser and shield technology is likewise superior. Thargoids don't appear to use missiles but deploy 'Thargons' – small autonomous vessels – which harass attackers from all sides.
Thargoids are blamed for witch-space mis-jumps and are reputed to be able to navigate inside (and rip ships out of) witch-space at will. Few pilots survive the experience of being ambushed by a Thargoid squadron in such a fashion.
Our advice is simple. Unless you have a serious iron-ass and really know what you're doing, run like hell. Don't attempt comms, don't give them the benefit of the doubt. They're implacable, fearless and bent on destruction. Kill the bugs, before they kill us!
- Extract from the Unofficial Galcop Conspiracy Theory Archive, Tianve
A state of war exists between the Galactic Co-operative and the Thargoid race. All pilots are required to log any sightings of Thargoid vessels immediately it is possible to do so. All pilots with a rank of 'Dangerous' or above are required to engage Thargoid vessels whenever directed to do so by Galcop personnel.
- Extract from Lave Space Licensing Authority Log
Chapter 1
Guttural clicks emanated from their mouth parts and light reflected dimly from shiny-slick grey-green chitin as their limbs grasped the crumpled and blackened bits of debris, slowly turning and inspecting them. To ordinary eyes none of it would have been worthy of a second glance; hull plating, smashed equipment, conduits and charred circuitry. The two insectoid creatures were clearly not of this opinion; they were feverously scanning and systematically looking through the wreckage.
It was a crashed vessel, wrecked and ruined many years before. How it had come to be marooned on an asteroid in the depths of space was unclear; clearly the victim of some untold calamity. Much of it was completely missing but there was enough left to make out the vague predatory outlines of a human warship, a catamaran vessel, famed and feared for its prowess in battle many years ago.
The Thargoids had ignored the external hull; they were interested in what remained of the on-board systems. The vessel’s tarnished nameplate, surviving against all odds, was of no consequence to them. They passed the small emblem bearing the moniker Falchion without hesitation or recognition.
Much of the ship had already been salvaged. It had borne a strange and powerful weapon on its forward gun emplacement. Whilst ruined, enough remained for the Thargoids to begin reverse engineering the design. It promised to make a significant difference to their efforts.
Having scanned the immediate area they preceded further along the hull, towards the most intact part of the hapless vessel. The hull was shattered but some elements of the interior still remained in place. Recognisable bulkheads and passageways could be seen, alongside the tattered remains of interior decorations. Beyond this was the core of the vessel, containing the smashed and compacted witch-drive mechanism. The Thargoids were still surprised by how primitive mankind’s grasp of that remarkable technology remained.
One Thargoid carefully examined a shattered segment of computer core and began attaching power conduits to it. It flickered into life. Damaged holofac emitters flashed grainy images of stored information. Figures moved, argued and gestured. The Thargoids downloaded the information, translating it as they went. The images were old, time-stamped from over a decade before.
The images stabilised. A tall human man, with a pale thin face and a hooked nose; a young woman with simple brown hair and wide eyes held in his grasp by the throat, internal fluid seeping from a wound on her face. As the Thargoids watched the man threw the woman to the floor.
The man stepped back whilst speaking to the woman, wiping the unpleasant fluid from his fingers with a small piece of fabric.
The woman tried and failed to stand up, clearly injured. She touched her face, smearing the garish red human ochre across it.
Now the man was laughing as he spoke to the unfortunate woman. Whatever he said it clearly upset her. Liquid was leaking from her eyes. She shouted back defiantly, shaking her head, mouthing a single word.
‘DUX DUCIS, INCOLUMITAS!’ The Thargoids intoned excitedly, having correctly translated the woman’s speech.
They stopped the recording and chittered excitedly amongst themselves for a moment. Then they turned their attention back to the flickering images.
The man’s face showed clear signs of his superior position. He spoke again before being interrupted by something out of sight of the recorder. Both he and the woman turned to look at whatever it was. To the man it was good news, to the woman, very much the opposite.
The recording captured the dismayed expression on the young woman’s face and then froze. The Thargoids scanned it repeatedly, increasing the resolution and then searching throughout the remaining data for any other potentially pertinent information. The Thargoids studied the image intently, analysing the woman’s facial structure; determining, extrapolating.
The second Thargoid moved to the rear of the hull. There was debris here but something else, a dark stain, long since dried. It was quickly scanned and a holofac image of a complex double-helix organic molecule appeared.
A series of clicks, followed by…
‘RAGAZZA!’
'And the topic on everyone's mind is the increasing ferocity of Thargoid attacks on outlying systems. Only last week transport ships travelling via Teorge were raided. Survivors report that the Thargoids destroyed defending escorts within minutes and then ripped the holds out of the freighters, leaving them critically damaged and unable to navigate.’
'Hundreds of lives were lost in this latest incident. Galcop advises all trading convoys to bolster their defenses and only travel on Behemoth patrol routes. Thargoid incursions in the Formidine rift appear to be increasing dramatically. We asked Galcop and the Navy for an interview but, as usual they declined. What's really going on out there? Truth is, we don't know. This is Kiri Mereso, for the Tionisla Chronicle, wideband channel three eighty five point two… '
Commander Myy'q waved his hand vaguely in the direction of the vid-link in order to silence it and relaxed back into the Sargainian-Wax chaise-longue. Soothing music began to gently waft through the room.
'Can't they talk about anything else?' he
complained, contemplating the view in front of him.
It was spectacular. A Leesti-pine table, diamond turned and polished, stretched the length of the gently curving observation deck, dominating the room. It stood upon a Sotiquan redweed plush-pile carpet, woven from strands of the famous plant. Still alive, it caressed and massaged the feet of those lucky enough to walk upon it.
Upon the table was a veritable cornucopia of exotic dishes from the eight charts; colours from all ends of the spectrum, including some that were recommended to be eaten under ultra-violet light for maximum effect. There were morsels, aperitifs, hors d'oeurves and selection of fine cuts aplenty, enough to cause even the fussiest gourmet to salivate in anticipation.
Accompanying this was a sophisticated selection of wines, some brewed traditionally from fruits and berries, others from more esoteric methods including grain, algae and even, in one case, live invertebrates.
Everything was served on the latest trend in cuisine; cutlery and tableware machined from the surface material of a white dwarf. Impossibly thin, unbreakable and ridiculously expensive, it was all the rage.
The eight huge plast-alloy windows that comprised the arching exterior of the deck afforded a stunning backdrop, giving an almost 360 degree view of the space around the restaurant ship. It paled into insignificance when contrasted with the feast laid out within. If he had been bothered to look Myy'q would have seen a flotilla of vessels slowly making their way through the vacuum of space.
'I mean, it's so depressing,' Myy'q continued. 'Thargoids here there and everywhere, looting and killing. What's the galaxy coming to, that's what I want to know.'