Do continue, and, if I may say so, your writing style has improved greatly, I can smell the scrubbed air and feel the tension.[Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Moderator: Outsider Moderators
-
entity2636
- Posts: 339
- Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:53 am
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Hmm, seems like a dull day at the lab just took an unexpected turn Do continue, and, if I may say so, your writing style has improved greatly, I can smell the scrubbed air and feel the tension.
Do continue, and, if I may say so, your writing style has improved greatly, I can smell the scrubbed air and feel the tension.
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Thank you, though I realise I still have much work to do to improve it further. Still, it's good to know I'm on the right track.entity2636 wrote:Hmm, seems like a dull day at the lab just took an unexpected turn
Hope you enjoy it!
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Part III
SpoilerShow
Walking through the long corridor towards the transport ring took a lot less time than she'd thought it would. Though he's running me ragged. Jesus, does he intend to slow down?
Diane looked at the hallway ahead of them. It was darker than usual, as the bright white lights were dimmed to allow the rows of red LED's to be more visible. The hallway was much wider than what would be found on a ship, and she felt thankful for that given the humdrum of people frantically pacing along it.They're scared. And they're right.
The marine in his powered armor was akin to a bulldozer, moving dead straight at a fast power walk rate, with no apparent intent to slow down, regardless of who got in his way. He attracted long panicked stares as he went, occasionally looking behind to make sure Diane was still close and keeping up. Can't blame them for being this scared. He looks about as friendly as a spiked cudgel. Her limited knowledge and experience told her than exoskeletons were generally relegated to logistics tasks planetside, like loading cargo. They were deemed impractical for general military use, especially on board spaceships, where tight spaces and mass meant a lot. She gulped an acrid taste. I wonder what the hell kind of surprises I'm gonna have next.
Her lab was part of a straight corridor that radiated like a spoke from the large central cylindrical structure that made up the core of the base. At the base of the spoke, were it met the cylinder, there were large, high-speed elevators that moved along its' height all the way from the surface to the base. The entryways formed a half-ring that Diane knew would now be jammed with people.
Fast and efficient as the elevators were, it'd still take time to board one, and go to a higher level, especially since the shelters were in the opposite direction, at the bottom of the cylinder, tucked below nearly a mile of rock.
Her prediction proved accurate. As they reached the end of the hallway, there was a small crowd of people waiting anxiously to board. To her surprise, Ortega turned right, ignoring their shocked faces, and approached the only elevator that didn't have anyone standing in front. It's bright red, industrial looking heavy doors bore the message MILITARY USE ONLY. With swift gestures, the soldier passed his forearm above the access control, causing the doors to abruptly open. He reached behind and ushered Diane forward, while keeping an eye on the rest of the crowd that seemed ready to jump in alongside them. He immediately dispelled any notion of that happening with a raised hand, and boarded the elevator as well.
As the doors closed, Diane saw their sad, angry and frightened faces and felt a tinge of guilt, that nearly instantly turned into fear. I'm sorry, but it's probably safer down there either way. Her thoughts jumped to her team, who'd be joining the rest of the civilian staff in the shelters. God, what the hell is happening?
The marine chose their destination, and the elevator jerked and started accelerating upwards. Diane leaned against the wall, suddenly feeling tired and out of breath. It's either the jogging, the fear. Probably both . As she raised her eyes, she saw Ortega sitting as stiff as as a piece of furniture awaiting the opening of the doors. He wasn't kidding then he said on the double. Still, the ride would take a few minutes, and she hoped to coax some useful info out of him.
"So what's a code red?" she ventured.
The marine turned slightly. She could guess his somewhat exasperated face. Still, he answered.
"It means civilians report to the safe rooms, and we gear up and take positions."
"Positions where?"
He gestured: "Everywhere. Our job is to guard sensitive areas."
"From what?"
"Anything...bad trying to come in from outside" he said after a momentary hesitation. He's tense too.
"Has this happened before?"
"No, ma'am. Not once." He paused. "We drill for it every once in a while, but it's considered a low probability scenario."
"So...are we being boarded?". The mere thought of a ship somehow attacking a mammoth base such as this seemed preposterous to her.
"We haven't received any indication or information of that being the case. Otherwise some of us would be sent to secure the breach.I don't know what the other staff and the brass does in a code red, but as for us, right now, we're just glorified guards".
So, nothing spectacular yet. Diane let a sight of relief. The elevator was no longer accelerating. Peering behind her, she took notice of the large glass wall that made up the side that was opposite the doors. It peered inside to a huge cylindrical space.It was black, with little lighting, but she could still make out the massive scaffolds and robotic arms that lined the walls, as well as the large unfinished construct in the middle. She knew the base was big, but the scale of it suddenly became evident. Jesus, they built a goddamned city in here.
Ortega noticed her staring. "Never seen it before?"
"No" she said hesitantly. "Most of the base is off limits to me and my team. Not enough clearance".
"Right now, I'd say it probably doesn't matter" he said in a serious tone. "We're here."
Diane felt the elevator accelerating and coming to a stop. The door swung open Ortage resumed his march, gesturing for the scientist to follow him. The lighting here was even worse, with nothing but a dark tinge of red that reminded her of submarines and stricken starships. The walk was much shorter, before they came upon a door flanked by another pair of armored marines, who proceeded to wave them through.
The chamber they entered reminder her of a control tower. Large screens lined the forward walls. Numerous consoles and workstations were strewn just below those screen, each manned by a person in military attire. Just in front of the screens, there was a raised platform that had a larger console in the middle and was flanked by two smaller ones to the sides.
The commander was sitting at this central console, with a large, serious looking, older man to his left. They both took notice of her arrival.
"Doctor Batra" said the commander tensely. "Glad to have you here. Sorry for the escort, but we knew you didn't have clearance so we sent someone out to fetch you for expediency". He turned to the marine, who sat in expectation. "Good work Ortega. Report to your post. Dismissed."
As he clicked his heels and exited, Diane noticed the small crowd of people that were to her right. She immediately recognised the heads of the other research projects for the briefings. The skeptical woman, the engineer that was supposed to deliver an ample report on the test firing, and mister Ibaka, who sat with his bushy chin in his hand, deep in thought.
"I'll have to bring you up to speed with our situation" continued the commander. "But, first things first. Apollo?"
"Yes, commandant" replied the mechanical voice.
"What level clearance does doctor Batra have?"
"Diane Batra. Level III clearance. Civilian restrictions".
"I'm changing that. Raise her level to eight. Authorisation code: November Tango."
"Code accepted. Identity confirmed. Action performed: security clearance for Diane Batra set to level eight."
The commander then turned to the scientist, who sat stunned: "Now you have access to everywhere the military personnel has, and access to every file in our database from your workstation. Use it at your leisure, it may prove useful."
"Useful for what?!" Diane burst. "No one knows what the hell a code red is and what I'm supposed to be doing here."
"I asked for every team leader to be here, since they're experts in their fields" replied the commander. "A code red is a response code which means battle stations. We gear up for a fight."
"So, are we being attacked? What good could I be for that?"
"Not exactly. We had a code III about half an hour ago. That's a condition that translates to an unscheduled ship jumping into the system."
"So what?" said Diane. She knew they weren't anywhere near Esperanza, though she didn't know the exact system they were in.
As if reading her mind, the commander answered: "We're about three jumps from Alpha Centauri, and two jumps from the nearest trade lane. In theory, this system is in the extreme end of human space, with two jump links to it. One goes towards Alpha Centauri, and the other leads to outside TCA space. The only ship that regularly makes this trip is the fast transport Shiraki, that functions as our tender. And it isn't scheduled to arrive for another two weeks."
Diane thought for a moment. "So, did someone sniff you out? Some corporate ship or tramp miner that's looking for unclaimed roids to exploit?"
"Not the case here" said the commander wearily. "Usually, for a situation in which a civilian ship stumbled upon this system, response is to go to code black. Basically, cease all transmissions, close all apertures, withdraw any ships, and hide. "
Diane seemed incredulous. "How do you expect to hide in space? Even with those mammoth factories down there shut off, something this size gives off a mountain of heat."
"We have heat pipes running straight through the roid. Instead of a hot patch where the base is , the entire asteroid heats up by a few degrees. Unless someone does an albedo analysis on it, or brings along ground penetrating radar, he'd have a hard time spotting us. The system has no ID buoys, or markers, nothing that transmits via radio. Just some passive listening stations that use laser transmission. Jumping in, a civilian ship would see nothing but a poor, small, empty red dwarf system" responded the large man, who Diane guessed was the First Officer.
"So then, why do you need me?" asked the doctor, with a confused look on her face."What with all the battle preparations if you're so sure you're invisible?..."
"Because, Diane", said the commander,"the ship that jumped in didn't come from the direction of Alpha Centauri. It came in via the OTHER jump point. The one that leads OUTSIDE human space."
Diane hesitated for a moment, before a shock of realisation hit her harder than a lightning bolt. "Are you saying?!..."
"Yes" said the commander. "We think it's alien."
Oh my God... OH MY GOD!
Diane looked at the hallway ahead of them. It was darker than usual, as the bright white lights were dimmed to allow the rows of red LED's to be more visible. The hallway was much wider than what would be found on a ship, and she felt thankful for that given the humdrum of people frantically pacing along it.They're scared. And they're right.
The marine in his powered armor was akin to a bulldozer, moving dead straight at a fast power walk rate, with no apparent intent to slow down, regardless of who got in his way. He attracted long panicked stares as he went, occasionally looking behind to make sure Diane was still close and keeping up. Can't blame them for being this scared. He looks about as friendly as a spiked cudgel. Her limited knowledge and experience told her than exoskeletons were generally relegated to logistics tasks planetside, like loading cargo. They were deemed impractical for general military use, especially on board spaceships, where tight spaces and mass meant a lot. She gulped an acrid taste. I wonder what the hell kind of surprises I'm gonna have next.
Her lab was part of a straight corridor that radiated like a spoke from the large central cylindrical structure that made up the core of the base. At the base of the spoke, were it met the cylinder, there were large, high-speed elevators that moved along its' height all the way from the surface to the base. The entryways formed a half-ring that Diane knew would now be jammed with people.
Fast and efficient as the elevators were, it'd still take time to board one, and go to a higher level, especially since the shelters were in the opposite direction, at the bottom of the cylinder, tucked below nearly a mile of rock.
Her prediction proved accurate. As they reached the end of the hallway, there was a small crowd of people waiting anxiously to board. To her surprise, Ortega turned right, ignoring their shocked faces, and approached the only elevator that didn't have anyone standing in front. It's bright red, industrial looking heavy doors bore the message MILITARY USE ONLY. With swift gestures, the soldier passed his forearm above the access control, causing the doors to abruptly open. He reached behind and ushered Diane forward, while keeping an eye on the rest of the crowd that seemed ready to jump in alongside them. He immediately dispelled any notion of that happening with a raised hand, and boarded the elevator as well.
As the doors closed, Diane saw their sad, angry and frightened faces and felt a tinge of guilt, that nearly instantly turned into fear. I'm sorry, but it's probably safer down there either way. Her thoughts jumped to her team, who'd be joining the rest of the civilian staff in the shelters. God, what the hell is happening?
The marine chose their destination, and the elevator jerked and started accelerating upwards. Diane leaned against the wall, suddenly feeling tired and out of breath. It's either the jogging, the fear. Probably both . As she raised her eyes, she saw Ortega sitting as stiff as as a piece of furniture awaiting the opening of the doors. He wasn't kidding then he said on the double. Still, the ride would take a few minutes, and she hoped to coax some useful info out of him.
"So what's a code red?" she ventured.
The marine turned slightly. She could guess his somewhat exasperated face. Still, he answered.
"It means civilians report to the safe rooms, and we gear up and take positions."
"Positions where?"
He gestured: "Everywhere. Our job is to guard sensitive areas."
"From what?"
"Anything...bad trying to come in from outside" he said after a momentary hesitation. He's tense too.
"Has this happened before?"
"No, ma'am. Not once." He paused. "We drill for it every once in a while, but it's considered a low probability scenario."
"So...are we being boarded?". The mere thought of a ship somehow attacking a mammoth base such as this seemed preposterous to her.
"We haven't received any indication or information of that being the case. Otherwise some of us would be sent to secure the breach.I don't know what the other staff and the brass does in a code red, but as for us, right now, we're just glorified guards".
So, nothing spectacular yet. Diane let a sight of relief. The elevator was no longer accelerating. Peering behind her, she took notice of the large glass wall that made up the side that was opposite the doors. It peered inside to a huge cylindrical space.It was black, with little lighting, but she could still make out the massive scaffolds and robotic arms that lined the walls, as well as the large unfinished construct in the middle. She knew the base was big, but the scale of it suddenly became evident. Jesus, they built a goddamned city in here.
Ortega noticed her staring. "Never seen it before?"
"No" she said hesitantly. "Most of the base is off limits to me and my team. Not enough clearance".
"Right now, I'd say it probably doesn't matter" he said in a serious tone. "We're here."
Diane felt the elevator accelerating and coming to a stop. The door swung open Ortage resumed his march, gesturing for the scientist to follow him. The lighting here was even worse, with nothing but a dark tinge of red that reminded her of submarines and stricken starships. The walk was much shorter, before they came upon a door flanked by another pair of armored marines, who proceeded to wave them through.
The chamber they entered reminder her of a control tower. Large screens lined the forward walls. Numerous consoles and workstations were strewn just below those screen, each manned by a person in military attire. Just in front of the screens, there was a raised platform that had a larger console in the middle and was flanked by two smaller ones to the sides.
The commander was sitting at this central console, with a large, serious looking, older man to his left. They both took notice of her arrival.
"Doctor Batra" said the commander tensely. "Glad to have you here. Sorry for the escort, but we knew you didn't have clearance so we sent someone out to fetch you for expediency". He turned to the marine, who sat in expectation. "Good work Ortega. Report to your post. Dismissed."
As he clicked his heels and exited, Diane noticed the small crowd of people that were to her right. She immediately recognised the heads of the other research projects for the briefings. The skeptical woman, the engineer that was supposed to deliver an ample report on the test firing, and mister Ibaka, who sat with his bushy chin in his hand, deep in thought.
"I'll have to bring you up to speed with our situation" continued the commander. "But, first things first. Apollo?"
"Yes, commandant" replied the mechanical voice.
"What level clearance does doctor Batra have?"
"Diane Batra. Level III clearance. Civilian restrictions".
"I'm changing that. Raise her level to eight. Authorisation code: November Tango."
"Code accepted. Identity confirmed. Action performed: security clearance for Diane Batra set to level eight."
The commander then turned to the scientist, who sat stunned: "Now you have access to everywhere the military personnel has, and access to every file in our database from your workstation. Use it at your leisure, it may prove useful."
"Useful for what?!" Diane burst. "No one knows what the hell a code red is and what I'm supposed to be doing here."
"I asked for every team leader to be here, since they're experts in their fields" replied the commander. "A code red is a response code which means battle stations. We gear up for a fight."
"So, are we being attacked? What good could I be for that?"
"Not exactly. We had a code III about half an hour ago. That's a condition that translates to an unscheduled ship jumping into the system."
"So what?" said Diane. She knew they weren't anywhere near Esperanza, though she didn't know the exact system they were in.
As if reading her mind, the commander answered: "We're about three jumps from Alpha Centauri, and two jumps from the nearest trade lane. In theory, this system is in the extreme end of human space, with two jump links to it. One goes towards Alpha Centauri, and the other leads to outside TCA space. The only ship that regularly makes this trip is the fast transport Shiraki, that functions as our tender. And it isn't scheduled to arrive for another two weeks."
Diane thought for a moment. "So, did someone sniff you out? Some corporate ship or tramp miner that's looking for unclaimed roids to exploit?"
"Not the case here" said the commander wearily. "Usually, for a situation in which a civilian ship stumbled upon this system, response is to go to code black. Basically, cease all transmissions, close all apertures, withdraw any ships, and hide. "
Diane seemed incredulous. "How do you expect to hide in space? Even with those mammoth factories down there shut off, something this size gives off a mountain of heat."
"We have heat pipes running straight through the roid. Instead of a hot patch where the base is , the entire asteroid heats up by a few degrees. Unless someone does an albedo analysis on it, or brings along ground penetrating radar, he'd have a hard time spotting us. The system has no ID buoys, or markers, nothing that transmits via radio. Just some passive listening stations that use laser transmission. Jumping in, a civilian ship would see nothing but a poor, small, empty red dwarf system" responded the large man, who Diane guessed was the First Officer.
"So then, why do you need me?" asked the doctor, with a confused look on her face."What with all the battle preparations if you're so sure you're invisible?..."
"Because, Diane", said the commander,"the ship that jumped in didn't come from the direction of Alpha Centauri. It came in via the OTHER jump point. The one that leads OUTSIDE human space."
Diane hesitated for a moment, before a shock of realisation hit her harder than a lightning bolt. "Are you saying?!..."
"Yes" said the commander. "We think it's alien."
Oh my God... OH MY GOD!
-
entity2636
- Posts: 339
- Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:53 am
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Did you say aliens? 
Very good, please continue, I am very curious about what happens next and who'll shoot first
Very good, please continue, I am very curious about what happens next and who'll shoot first
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Part IV
SpoilerShow
The shock of the what she had just heard had hit her like a thunderbolt. Her mind blanked with a combination of panic as well as a heavy dose of fear of the unknown. She stared at the commander blankly, but her suddenly frozen expression did not go unnoticed.
"Doctor Batra" said the commander with a look of focused concern, "keep your wits about you. Panic won't help."
"I..." she said, trying to gather her thoughts. Like a light shining through thick fog, her reasoning started to return. Calm down, Diane. Only when every other explanation is exhausted do we jump to such radical conclusions. "I... are you sure? What...if they're a ship that simply went around the adjacent systems systems, and came through the other jump point?".
The commander leaned back, averting his gaze.
"A ship that first strays outside the commercial lanes by two jumps, then jumps another three systems to come back basically to where it started off?" he said with a tone of neutral skepticism.
"Perhaps a survey ship?"
"Diane, miners and corporations don't lack in roids. There are literally billions of them. Right now, the price for their exploitation is ships, people and distance. There's little reason for anyone, even an independent explorer, to come this far. It means extra pay for jump insurance, loads of fuel and time taken to move the resources to the busy systems and a whole host of costs. Unlikely in the extreme."
"Fair enough" admitted Diane with a heavy heart. "Then perhaps one of the corporations has gotten wind of this place and came looking for it. Happened to find this place in a list of potential spots."
"Doctor" said mister Ibaka,"The problem isn't just where it appeared". He pointed to the central screen. "It's the ship itself."
Diane came to realise that what most of the research heads were staring at was the picture on said screen. It was a collage of stills in what looked to be infrared, an object that was half-bright blob and half sharp structure.
"What about it?" asked Diane with a growing sense of unease.
"That image is just one of many, but we've been monitoring it" responded the first officer. "It's maintaining a constant acceleration ever since jumping in..."
"So?" interrupted the scientist. "Is it coming towa...."
"An constant acceleration of 12G's apparently" finished the large military man with authority.
Diane searched her knowledge base for a moment. She'd been on many starships before, during tours and scientific investigations, from fast, sleek, top of the line corporation vessels, to retrofitted per-starflight miners, to ships that looked assembled together with gum and duct tape. But her knowledge on the matter was not as deep as she'd liked. "12G's?"
"Yup" said one of the research team heads in a heavy australian accent, "more than double what a TCA ship this size can do."
Diane didn't give up. "A missle perhaps? Or some kind of automated spy ship?"
The commander huffed. "Hard to do a sneaky peek into a system when you're giving off the energy of a small nuke by merely jumping. And besides, it's too large to be some kind of experimental, purpose built ship."
Diane felt a shiver. "How big are talking about?"
"About 240 meters. Jump signature analysis determined a rough mass of about eighty kilotons." He paused. "The size of a large destroyer."
The exobiologist could feel a stone drop into her stomach. Suddenly, the entire universe seemed concentrated into a weight that hung on her shoulders. "A destroyer?...". her mind immediately raced to more favorable scenarios. "Another Orgus ship? Maybe military this time?"
Ibaka chuckled. "If the Orgus had shown up in something like this, the first thing they would've heard from Esperanza would've been a surrender plea.... It's too big to be some sort of skiff, and too fast to be a Crusher or some other type of civilian fast transport." He paused, and Diane noticed that while most of the researchers were looking at the image, he was studying a smaller plot diagram in an adjacent screen. "And this drive signature...it doesn't look like anything I've seen before."
The commander turned his attention.
"Anything familiar?".
"Somewhat" said the older African man. "I'm not seeing any particle radiation, just electromagnetic. There are some weird components in this spectrum..."
"What is that chart, exactly?" inquired the doctor.
"It's a breakdown of the emissions given off by that ship's exhaust. I'm seeing a big chunk of hard gamma, along with a lot of infrared and, most intriguingly, a large dose of UV."
"And what does this mean?" asked the commander."I can't remember an engine that gives off UV radiation."
"Hard to say at the moment. That UV component looks familiar from somewhere, but I can't put my finger on it."
"Where are we getting this data?" inquired Diane.
"One of the lookouts nearer the jump zone" answered the first officer. "It doesn't broadcast except to this very asteroid using a laser tight beam. Helps us keep a silent watch without disclosing our location."
"Sir" asked one of the engineers. Sanderson was it? . "do we have any enhanced images of the craft?"
"Apollo, show us a timelapse of the craft before it fired it's engines" responded the commander.
The image on the screen shifted to one of the craft emerging from a bright instant of light and radiation. The moment of jump. . The ship then proceeded to coast some distance before a bright glare and a massive blob of light appeared on it's dorsal area.
"Rewind five seconds" said the engineer, as the image shifted backwards in time. "Stop. There it is."
The picture in question was of the craft from an above and frontal aspect. It looked like some type of sea creature, not unlike the ones in the abyss on Earth or Europa. It's sharp, thin features and wings gave it a decidedly menacing look in Diane's eyes. That doesn't look like a Vulcan science vessel.
"Green paint? That's definitely not common for our military ships" remarked Ibaka.
"Could be some kind of camouflage in an ambient deep space environment" responded Sanderson. "But that's not what's got me worried. See those shapes on it's surface? The ones that have a different hue to them?"
The commander slowly got out of his chair, squinting suspiciously at the image. "Those look like..."
"Weapons emplacements" finished Sanderson. "Pretty large and decently numerous. With engines like those, they probably have enough power to glass this roid."
Crap. So it's armed. "Are we sure those are weapons?" she asked cautiously.
"I've been building them for twenty years, doctor" he mouthed with a slightly indignant tone. "You don't put radiators in turrets."
"Any idea what KIND of weapons?" asked the commander.
"Not until I see one fire and get some readings from it".
"Hopefully that doesn't happen too soon" replied another member of the research staff.
"Where are they headed now?" asked the commander.
"Course unchanged sir" replied one of the people at the forward workstations. "They're accelerating towards the star. Currently calculated trajectory is on screen."
The image that appeared on the third large monitor showed the system they were in, with the star in the center, their roid underneath it, and the mystery ship following a line that brought it very close to the primary, then curved off towards the other jump point.
"Looks like they want to leave the system" responded the commander occupying his seat once again.
"They're using a gravity assist" said the only female member of the research team. "Why would they use a gravity assist ? Why don't they just point their ship towards the next jump zone and change vectors with their engines?"
"Because they're saving fuel" responded Ibaka once more. "Take a look at the infrared image" he said pointing a long finger towards one of the images on the center screen. "One of those...nacelles...is colder than the other. The engines are firing, but I'm guessing only one of their reactors is operational. "
"And I'm seeing what looks like....damage?.... on its surface" replied the australian voice once more. "Fuel might have leaked into space."
"So they're mostly out of fuel?" asked the exobiologist.
"It's a hunch" shrugged Ibaka, "but a decent one. We'd still need to..."
"Commandant!" interrupted one of the military operators from the work stations in an urgent tone.
"Yes, ensign Daniels?"
"We...we have another jump signature" he said, his face a mask of fear. "Same jump zone. Bearing 3-8-1. Seems to be coasting. Initial velocity is four hundred kps ."
"On screen" demanded the commander as all the chatter from the science heads suddenly grew silent.
The image from before was changed to that of a live video feed. It showed another object surrounded in a rapidly dissipating afterglow. Despite the lousy resolution, Diane could make out that this ship was different. It had a stockier build, with large, bulbous features. The image shifted from infrared to visible, and the object appeared in sharper detail, it's surface painted in what looked to be hues of yellow and brown. If the last one looked like an elegant sword, this one reminded her of a lobster. As she watched the feed, the image suddenly was inundated with light, as a bright plume appeared behind the vessel.
"Sir, it's accelerating. Bearing 3-9-2". The young man paused. "Seems to be following the first ship. Acceleration is....15 G, sir" he said, turning towards the commander.
"Another monster?" replied Ibaka.
"Do we have a mass estimate for the second contact?"
"Just coming in" replied the officer."Seems about...170 kilotons, sir."
Jesus Christ, it's twice the size of the last one. Her gaze shifted towards the commander, who sat motionless observing the screen, as if in deep thought.
"We'll have to monitor the situation" he said, finally. "This may sound rather bold, but it looks to me like the second contact is of an entirely different design."
"I'd concur" said Sanderson with caution. "But until we get a closer look, we can't say for sure.Could be different ship classes"
"We're gonna get our chance. Their trajectories should take them relatively close to us, about twice moon distance. How long until the second contact intercepts the first?"
"At current acceleration and vectors, roughly four hours."
"And how long until they enter the star's shadow?"
"First contact in about 95 minutes. Second in about two hours and four minutes. "
"Star's shadow?" inquired Diane.
"I means we have the star between us and them. They'll have no line of sight with this asteroid" replied the XO.
"So far, we seem to be safe. There's no indication they've noticed us here.... " said the commander. "Mister Ibaka, get some of your team up in the lab and take a look at their exhaust plume readings. It's a long shot, but at least try and make your best guess with regards to what type of propulsion they're using. It may give us a clue on how advanced they are."
"Understood, commander" replied the older man, already flicking his wrist-com as he exited the room.
"Mister Sanderson, try and give me a guess as to what kind of weaponry we're dealing with here. I'd like to know what I'm up against."
"I'll try, but without seeing any battle damage, there's almost nothing to go by."
"Use the damage pattern observed on the first ship. I'm willing to bet it came from something like the second contact."
The engineer frowned but left, nonetheless.
"Apollo, retrieve the Orgus reports and debriefings on the war and send them to my workstation."
War?....
"File transfer complete" replied the machine after a few seconds.
"We'll maintain code black, mister Hauser" he said turning towards the officer. "I want no surprises."
"Aye, sir."
"What can I do?" asked Diane meekly.
"For the moment, just observe" responded the commander. "I always try to get into my opponents' heads, but in this case, I first need to know what they can do, and who my opponents are, but.... We deal in heavy metal and things that go boom. You're the only one on this base who actually knows a thing or two about alien life."
Yeah, but my alien life tends to give you colds and sores, not fly stuff into your system. On the one hand, she'd always dreamed of studying one of the alien species, but imagining a specimen on an autopsy table was one thing; SEEING one pilot a military ship right into your backyard is quite another.
"Doctor Batra" said the commander with a look of focused concern, "keep your wits about you. Panic won't help."
"I..." she said, trying to gather her thoughts. Like a light shining through thick fog, her reasoning started to return. Calm down, Diane. Only when every other explanation is exhausted do we jump to such radical conclusions. "I... are you sure? What...if they're a ship that simply went around the adjacent systems systems, and came through the other jump point?".
The commander leaned back, averting his gaze.
"A ship that first strays outside the commercial lanes by two jumps, then jumps another three systems to come back basically to where it started off?" he said with a tone of neutral skepticism.
"Perhaps a survey ship?"
"Diane, miners and corporations don't lack in roids. There are literally billions of them. Right now, the price for their exploitation is ships, people and distance. There's little reason for anyone, even an independent explorer, to come this far. It means extra pay for jump insurance, loads of fuel and time taken to move the resources to the busy systems and a whole host of costs. Unlikely in the extreme."
"Fair enough" admitted Diane with a heavy heart. "Then perhaps one of the corporations has gotten wind of this place and came looking for it. Happened to find this place in a list of potential spots."
"Doctor" said mister Ibaka,"The problem isn't just where it appeared". He pointed to the central screen. "It's the ship itself."
Diane came to realise that what most of the research heads were staring at was the picture on said screen. It was a collage of stills in what looked to be infrared, an object that was half-bright blob and half sharp structure.
"What about it?" asked Diane with a growing sense of unease.
"That image is just one of many, but we've been monitoring it" responded the first officer. "It's maintaining a constant acceleration ever since jumping in..."
"So?" interrupted the scientist. "Is it coming towa...."
"An constant acceleration of 12G's apparently" finished the large military man with authority.
Diane searched her knowledge base for a moment. She'd been on many starships before, during tours and scientific investigations, from fast, sleek, top of the line corporation vessels, to retrofitted per-starflight miners, to ships that looked assembled together with gum and duct tape. But her knowledge on the matter was not as deep as she'd liked. "12G's?"
"Yup" said one of the research team heads in a heavy australian accent, "more than double what a TCA ship this size can do."
Diane didn't give up. "A missle perhaps? Or some kind of automated spy ship?"
The commander huffed. "Hard to do a sneaky peek into a system when you're giving off the energy of a small nuke by merely jumping. And besides, it's too large to be some kind of experimental, purpose built ship."
Diane felt a shiver. "How big are talking about?"
"About 240 meters. Jump signature analysis determined a rough mass of about eighty kilotons." He paused. "The size of a large destroyer."
The exobiologist could feel a stone drop into her stomach. Suddenly, the entire universe seemed concentrated into a weight that hung on her shoulders. "A destroyer?...". her mind immediately raced to more favorable scenarios. "Another Orgus ship? Maybe military this time?"
Ibaka chuckled. "If the Orgus had shown up in something like this, the first thing they would've heard from Esperanza would've been a surrender plea.... It's too big to be some sort of skiff, and too fast to be a Crusher or some other type of civilian fast transport." He paused, and Diane noticed that while most of the researchers were looking at the image, he was studying a smaller plot diagram in an adjacent screen. "And this drive signature...it doesn't look like anything I've seen before."
The commander turned his attention.
"Anything familiar?".
"Somewhat" said the older African man. "I'm not seeing any particle radiation, just electromagnetic. There are some weird components in this spectrum..."
"What is that chart, exactly?" inquired the doctor.
"It's a breakdown of the emissions given off by that ship's exhaust. I'm seeing a big chunk of hard gamma, along with a lot of infrared and, most intriguingly, a large dose of UV."
"And what does this mean?" asked the commander."I can't remember an engine that gives off UV radiation."
"Hard to say at the moment. That UV component looks familiar from somewhere, but I can't put my finger on it."
"Where are we getting this data?" inquired Diane.
"One of the lookouts nearer the jump zone" answered the first officer. "It doesn't broadcast except to this very asteroid using a laser tight beam. Helps us keep a silent watch without disclosing our location."
"Sir" asked one of the engineers. Sanderson was it? . "do we have any enhanced images of the craft?"
"Apollo, show us a timelapse of the craft before it fired it's engines" responded the commander.
The image on the screen shifted to one of the craft emerging from a bright instant of light and radiation. The moment of jump. . The ship then proceeded to coast some distance before a bright glare and a massive blob of light appeared on it's dorsal area.
"Rewind five seconds" said the engineer, as the image shifted backwards in time. "Stop. There it is."
The picture in question was of the craft from an above and frontal aspect. It looked like some type of sea creature, not unlike the ones in the abyss on Earth or Europa. It's sharp, thin features and wings gave it a decidedly menacing look in Diane's eyes. That doesn't look like a Vulcan science vessel.
"Green paint? That's definitely not common for our military ships" remarked Ibaka.
"Could be some kind of camouflage in an ambient deep space environment" responded Sanderson. "But that's not what's got me worried. See those shapes on it's surface? The ones that have a different hue to them?"
The commander slowly got out of his chair, squinting suspiciously at the image. "Those look like..."
"Weapons emplacements" finished Sanderson. "Pretty large and decently numerous. With engines like those, they probably have enough power to glass this roid."
Crap. So it's armed. "Are we sure those are weapons?" she asked cautiously.
"I've been building them for twenty years, doctor" he mouthed with a slightly indignant tone. "You don't put radiators in turrets."
"Any idea what KIND of weapons?" asked the commander.
"Not until I see one fire and get some readings from it".
"Hopefully that doesn't happen too soon" replied another member of the research staff.
"Where are they headed now?" asked the commander.
"Course unchanged sir" replied one of the people at the forward workstations. "They're accelerating towards the star. Currently calculated trajectory is on screen."
The image that appeared on the third large monitor showed the system they were in, with the star in the center, their roid underneath it, and the mystery ship following a line that brought it very close to the primary, then curved off towards the other jump point.
"Looks like they want to leave the system" responded the commander occupying his seat once again.
"They're using a gravity assist" said the only female member of the research team. "Why would they use a gravity assist ? Why don't they just point their ship towards the next jump zone and change vectors with their engines?"
"Because they're saving fuel" responded Ibaka once more. "Take a look at the infrared image" he said pointing a long finger towards one of the images on the center screen. "One of those...nacelles...is colder than the other. The engines are firing, but I'm guessing only one of their reactors is operational. "
"And I'm seeing what looks like....damage?.... on its surface" replied the australian voice once more. "Fuel might have leaked into space."
"So they're mostly out of fuel?" asked the exobiologist.
"It's a hunch" shrugged Ibaka, "but a decent one. We'd still need to..."
"Commandant!" interrupted one of the military operators from the work stations in an urgent tone.
"Yes, ensign Daniels?"
"We...we have another jump signature" he said, his face a mask of fear. "Same jump zone. Bearing 3-8-1. Seems to be coasting. Initial velocity is four hundred kps ."
"On screen" demanded the commander as all the chatter from the science heads suddenly grew silent.
The image from before was changed to that of a live video feed. It showed another object surrounded in a rapidly dissipating afterglow. Despite the lousy resolution, Diane could make out that this ship was different. It had a stockier build, with large, bulbous features. The image shifted from infrared to visible, and the object appeared in sharper detail, it's surface painted in what looked to be hues of yellow and brown. If the last one looked like an elegant sword, this one reminded her of a lobster. As she watched the feed, the image suddenly was inundated with light, as a bright plume appeared behind the vessel.
"Sir, it's accelerating. Bearing 3-9-2". The young man paused. "Seems to be following the first ship. Acceleration is....15 G, sir" he said, turning towards the commander.
"Another monster?" replied Ibaka.
"Do we have a mass estimate for the second contact?"
"Just coming in" replied the officer."Seems about...170 kilotons, sir."
Jesus Christ, it's twice the size of the last one. Her gaze shifted towards the commander, who sat motionless observing the screen, as if in deep thought.
"We'll have to monitor the situation" he said, finally. "This may sound rather bold, but it looks to me like the second contact is of an entirely different design."
"I'd concur" said Sanderson with caution. "But until we get a closer look, we can't say for sure.Could be different ship classes"
"We're gonna get our chance. Their trajectories should take them relatively close to us, about twice moon distance. How long until the second contact intercepts the first?"
"At current acceleration and vectors, roughly four hours."
"And how long until they enter the star's shadow?"
"First contact in about 95 minutes. Second in about two hours and four minutes. "
"Star's shadow?" inquired Diane.
"I means we have the star between us and them. They'll have no line of sight with this asteroid" replied the XO.
"So far, we seem to be safe. There's no indication they've noticed us here.... " said the commander. "Mister Ibaka, get some of your team up in the lab and take a look at their exhaust plume readings. It's a long shot, but at least try and make your best guess with regards to what type of propulsion they're using. It may give us a clue on how advanced they are."
"Understood, commander" replied the older man, already flicking his wrist-com as he exited the room.
"Mister Sanderson, try and give me a guess as to what kind of weaponry we're dealing with here. I'd like to know what I'm up against."
"I'll try, but without seeing any battle damage, there's almost nothing to go by."
"Use the damage pattern observed on the first ship. I'm willing to bet it came from something like the second contact."
The engineer frowned but left, nonetheless.
"Apollo, retrieve the Orgus reports and debriefings on the war and send them to my workstation."
War?....
"File transfer complete" replied the machine after a few seconds.
"We'll maintain code black, mister Hauser" he said turning towards the officer. "I want no surprises."
"Aye, sir."
"What can I do?" asked Diane meekly.
"For the moment, just observe" responded the commander. "I always try to get into my opponents' heads, but in this case, I first need to know what they can do, and who my opponents are, but.... We deal in heavy metal and things that go boom. You're the only one on this base who actually knows a thing or two about alien life."
Yeah, but my alien life tends to give you colds and sores, not fly stuff into your system. On the one hand, she'd always dreamed of studying one of the alien species, but imagining a specimen on an autopsy table was one thing; SEEING one pilot a military ship right into your backyard is quite another.
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Hannelore of course!entity2636 wrote:Did you say aliens?
Very good, please continue, I am very curious about what happens next and who'll shoot first
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Part V
SpoilerShow
It had been a little over an hour since the contact had first jumped into the system. Diane sat at the back of the large control room watching the screens and their ever-shifting images. She saw them move from still to still, slowly changing aspect as the objects they were focused on continued on their way. The left screen contained the feed from the second object, while the right was dedicated to the first.
She shook her head for the millionth time, as the implications of the moments they were living right then slowly crept back into her attention. She'd been fighting the feelings of dread and panic since the moment she'd been told what the situation was. The fight had proven so tiresome, she'd half-mindedly sat herself down on the small row of unused folding seats discreetly tucked near the entrance to the control room, leaving the other department heads to continue bantering and voicing their opinions.
Jesus Christ... how the hell did this happen? she found herself asking. Of all the people, of all the places, why here? Why US?
She knew it was a pointless question. No answers would be forthcoming, and they might never be... historic events often times took place for no reason, and to people who had no idea or expectation of them. Question is: will this be a turn for the best, or a turn for the worse for us? That would depend on their course of action, and that meant she would have an input. It was only logical, but the weight of her responsibility felt like trying to hold back a landslide. A landslide of fear.
Her worries about resource allocation, her projects on yeasts, her disdain of Stephansson or her fascination with the mystery bugs... all of them seemed both small and distant. Like sweet relics of a time long gone, even though the age of normalcy had ended merely a couple of hours before. Change is no longer coming, she though, raising her tired eyes towards the screens. It's already here.
She shifted her gaze to the right, at the commander who had settled into his chair and seemed to be reading information off his holo-screen. He hadn't interacted much with the researchers, or anyone else since handing out his orders an hour before. Instead he seemed to be analysing something intently, occasionally asking the supercomputer to calculate something or retrieve another document, and speaking to his first officer, pointing towards the holo-screen. The first officer would lean in, and speak in the same hushed tone, offering his opinion or commenting on some matter.
What the hell are they cooking up? Are they planning to start a war?
The thought had crossed her mind, but the prospect was too fearful to contemplate at first. As the minutes went by, though, the idea that this could be the opening salvo in a conflict that might lead to the extinction of mankind had grown in her mind like a mold. She was determined not to let that happen, but every time she stopped meditating in her mind, the return to their present, harsh reality made her determination melt like a snowflake in a ship's exhaust.
The prospect of the discoveries that would follow also weighed in on her mind. It felt like they were on the cusp of an age of scientific breakthroughs. Suddenly, innumerable worlds would open up the secrets of life before them, helping to answer age-old questions of meaning and existence. And these would not be the barren worlds of humanity's past and present, but ones teeming with life...and not just mere organisms, but consciousness and intelligence.
That's if there's still anyone to make those discoveries. She felt the cold shivers of dread return, but found herself getting angry and annoyed. Millions of biologists would have dreamed to be here, on the cusp of this age of exploration. Millions died without ever achieving it. I'm NOT letting politics and militarism ruin this. I'm here, and I'll be dammed if I won't take center stage
With newfound vigor, she lofted herself out of her seat and walked towards the commander.
"Commander, I hope you don't intend to keep me here just as a spectator."
He turned with a look of surprise and tiredness.
"Like I said, all I need you to do right now is...."
"Observe" she finished."But you can't expect me to sit idly by while the fate of mankind is at stake."
"No, but I haven't decided on a course of action yet."
"Then tell me straight: do you intend to start a war?" she asked with a pointed tone.
Commander Andrews regarded her for a second.
"I intend to protect this base" he said, "but right now, I'm basically doing exactly what you're doing: observing and trying to make educated guesswork about their intentions. Either way, this war is already going on, and it was bound to come our way sooner or later."
"So I've heard...but that's not everything there is to know, is it?. Officially, the Orgus ran from an invasion, that was part of a larger conflict. The refugees are said traders, and most of them have only an approximate image of this war. But by the way you're parsing through these reports, it looks to me like you know something more."
"Well, I guess since I've already given you high clearance", he said with a slight sigh, "I suppose it's best if I tried to fill in some of the gaps. As you might know, the invasion of the Orgus worlds was carried out by another species, named the Umiak, organised into a polity called the Hierarchy. This polity is one of the two major galactic powers in this region, or so the Orgus claim.That much is known."
"Yes, the Orgus were invaded, and took to the stars as refugees.That's hardly new information. Is any of it true?"
"Everything is true, but some information was omitted. For instance, that the Orgus had better system defences than we did, yet were steamrolled. Or that fleets involved in this conflict range from low hundreds to low thousands. Or that the combatants have massive industries supporting their fleets, and rule over large chunks of territory."
Whelp, I guess I DID ask to be filled in.
"So then, we have a massive conflict raging right on our doorstep, involving star empires that dwarf us in military capability and technology. And the TCA and governments decided it's best not to let the public know?" she said with in a slightly accusatory tone.
"It's not withholding, it's spoon feeding" replied the commander. "It was a shock to have an alien ship stumble into our systems. To know there are civilisations out there, and that they might pose a threat. To know that we're absolutely boned in case we have to take part in said conflict would cause mass unrest, fear and unpredictable political fallout. The heads of the world governments decided that, as time went on, we would divulge more information, all the while gearing up for the inevitable conflict."
"Inevitable?" said Diane with a hoarse intonation. "And why would it be inevitable? As far as I can tell, we have no stake in it. Gearing up for war in case the alien empires decided to be hostile is one thing, but going in, guns blazing seems idiotic."
"Well" said the commander fully turning to face her,"the problem is that we might not have a choice. Here's the classified part: first, our territory is located between these two empires, bordering areas that are lightly guarded. Human space would be a good spot to launch deep strikes into the enemy territory, and destabilise his frontline. "
"Assuming we agree to ally ourselves with one of the empires. Why should we?"
"We might not be given a choice in the matter. You see, the Orgus invasion was precipitated by the fact that, apparently, neither the Umiak nor the Loroi recognise the right to neutrality. You're either with them or against them. "
Jesus Christ, the news just keeps getting better. "So we might be FORCED to take part?"
"Indeed. The Orgus refused to help the Umiak, and got trampled for it, even though apparently, their territory is nowhere near the frontlines. The same happened to the neighbouring species. The Hierarchy apparently forced each and every one of them to submit and assist with the war effort."
"And the Loroi are the same?"
"Somewhat, though information on them is much sketchier than on the Umiak. Our sole source is a single Orgus, who apparently was an itinerant trader, and visited Loroi space shortly before the war started."
Diane's mind suddenly clicked. "The Orgus from whom my mystery bacteria came from?"
Andrews smiled.
"The very same. Which is why I allowed your little side project to carry on. The more information we could gather the better."
Figures.
"So what do we have on them, apart from a very intriguing digestive tract?" she asked.
"Not much. Apparently, they run a sort of imperial confederation of several races. They're militaristic, but also somewhat isolationist. The other races in their region of space are less militaristic, but by the Orgus accounts, are rather well developed. However, it was the Loroi who initiated the non-neutrality clause, and apparently demonstrated their willingness to abide by it by annihilating a neutral race caught between the frontlines."
"Good Lord!!" exclaimed the doctor. "So they're genocidal?!"
"Yes...and no. You have to remember that the Orgus who visited Loroi space visited it nearly thirty years ago. Any more recent information on them was second-hand accounts from the Umiak, and so I suspect them to be somewhat biased."
"Even so, they sound far from good news."
The commander stroked his chin, leaning back in his chair. "You may be right, but the Hierarchy isn't' good news either. Apparently, they impose incredibly harsh conditions on their allies and subjects."
"H...How harsh?"
"Ruinous. Enough to cause mass starvation, gimp innovation, and nearly cause societal collapse." He turned to look her square in the eyes. "A form of indentured servitude if you join them willingly. Slavery if you don't."
Diane could feel her head spinning. Christ, why the hell did I ever get off my chair?
"S..So we're being forced to choose between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union? What can we do?"
"I won't lie: by all accounts, it's bad. Really bad. But we have some things going for us. For instance, the Orgus reported that our systems are still not within easy reach of the empires. It's not easy for them to reach us, and we'd still have some time, however meager, until the fighting got to us."
Oh, joy. Suddenly, she remembered the contact mission that had left human space not long before.
"Then why the hell would we try to initiate diplomatic contact? They don't seem very interested in diplomacy if what we've heard is true."
"It's part of a grander strategy" said the commander. "The Contact Mission is one prong of said strategy. We have an advantage: we are aware of the existence of these empires, and what they've been up to. But they don't know that we exist, or where we are. Which means that we can initiate first contact on OUR terms, and try to negotiate some form of settlement."
"That sounds like the WORST plan in history" said Diane half-heartedly.
"It's the best card we can play at this time" he retorted."These political actors, while belligerent, are not irrational apparently. "
"Must I point out that applying human motivation and reasoning to aliens is foolish?"
"We have reasons to suspect that is the case. After all, the Orgus seem to be reasonable, if quirky."
"So what does this 'Grand Strategy' entail?"
"Making contact on our terms would be the first part. Try to leverage anything we can in negotiations. Simultaneously, we prepare the populace for warfare, by slowly revealing the true scope of the threat.That would be the second prong. Finally, we heavily accelerate warship design, production and development of new technologies in the leanest, most efficient way possible. We turn into Switzerland, to continue your second world war analogy."
"Sounds rather optimistic."
"It is, but it's been done before. Each of these three pathways was assigned to different organisations within human space. The governments of Earth, Mars and the colonies were given the job of spoon feeding the population information on the war, while expanding and harmonising military operations. The Scout Corps was given the task of conducting the Contact Mission, since they have the most experience operating deep space long range missions. The Colonial Navy was given the task of developing new technologies, new ships and new weapons and building them as fast as possible. This required us to centralise as much of our science and technical talent, and give it as many resources as possible, while keeping it secret."
Diane looked puzzled, before a light went off in her head. "You mean...this base?"
"Is the Navy's answer to first contact, just like the Contact mission is the Scout Corps'" he said with a slight tone of pride. "This base is meant to function like a combination of Los Alamos and Area 51: aggregate as much technical talent as possible,build and test new ships, weapons and technologies as fast as can be, investigate all avenues, distribute blueprints to the shipyards and factories. Lean and fast. And if push comes to shove, turn it from a research base into the largest shipyard in human space, and start churning ships. It's not on any star maps that are likely to be found, and the only indication of its existence would be fleets appearing out of nowhere, or the rapid pace of technological advancement." He smiled. "Did you really think that the redesign of the America class battlecruiser, the introduction of the Victory-class, and the rapid pace of new ship development was coincidental?"
Suddenly, it all made sense. The high secrecy, the massive resources and investment, the heavy military presence. This was where it originated.
"So..." she said in a skeptical tone, "what does your grand strategy say about our current situation?"
He frowned in frustration.
"It's like God throwing a monkey wrench in the works. If we make contact here, we lose our cards. They'll know where to find us, and what we can do. What's more, they seem to have stumbled upon our ace-in-the-hole facility, however meager an ace it might be."
"So we lay low?"
"We can't. Look at their trajectory" he said gesturing towards the screen facing them. "The lead ship is making a beeline towards the other jump point...the one that leads TOWARDS human space. "
"But you said the first ship is going to catch up to the second before they make the jump point!"
"Even if it did, and even if one of them was eliminated, we risk either being detected afterwards, or the remaining ship stumbling smack dab into our trade lanes. Can you imagine what a single ship like that could do? To our colonies or outposts?"
"So", Diane remarked despondently,"one again, we're basically forced to act or risk our plans going down the drain. And if we do, they'll go down the drain regardless."
"Perhaps" said the commander turning towards his console. "But it's not all lost. We just need to play our cards right."
May God have mercy on us.
She shook her head for the millionth time, as the implications of the moments they were living right then slowly crept back into her attention. She'd been fighting the feelings of dread and panic since the moment she'd been told what the situation was. The fight had proven so tiresome, she'd half-mindedly sat herself down on the small row of unused folding seats discreetly tucked near the entrance to the control room, leaving the other department heads to continue bantering and voicing their opinions.
Jesus Christ... how the hell did this happen? she found herself asking. Of all the people, of all the places, why here? Why US?
She knew it was a pointless question. No answers would be forthcoming, and they might never be... historic events often times took place for no reason, and to people who had no idea or expectation of them. Question is: will this be a turn for the best, or a turn for the worse for us? That would depend on their course of action, and that meant she would have an input. It was only logical, but the weight of her responsibility felt like trying to hold back a landslide. A landslide of fear.
Her worries about resource allocation, her projects on yeasts, her disdain of Stephansson or her fascination with the mystery bugs... all of them seemed both small and distant. Like sweet relics of a time long gone, even though the age of normalcy had ended merely a couple of hours before. Change is no longer coming, she though, raising her tired eyes towards the screens. It's already here.
She shifted her gaze to the right, at the commander who had settled into his chair and seemed to be reading information off his holo-screen. He hadn't interacted much with the researchers, or anyone else since handing out his orders an hour before. Instead he seemed to be analysing something intently, occasionally asking the supercomputer to calculate something or retrieve another document, and speaking to his first officer, pointing towards the holo-screen. The first officer would lean in, and speak in the same hushed tone, offering his opinion or commenting on some matter.
What the hell are they cooking up? Are they planning to start a war?
The thought had crossed her mind, but the prospect was too fearful to contemplate at first. As the minutes went by, though, the idea that this could be the opening salvo in a conflict that might lead to the extinction of mankind had grown in her mind like a mold. She was determined not to let that happen, but every time she stopped meditating in her mind, the return to their present, harsh reality made her determination melt like a snowflake in a ship's exhaust.
The prospect of the discoveries that would follow also weighed in on her mind. It felt like they were on the cusp of an age of scientific breakthroughs. Suddenly, innumerable worlds would open up the secrets of life before them, helping to answer age-old questions of meaning and existence. And these would not be the barren worlds of humanity's past and present, but ones teeming with life...and not just mere organisms, but consciousness and intelligence.
That's if there's still anyone to make those discoveries. She felt the cold shivers of dread return, but found herself getting angry and annoyed. Millions of biologists would have dreamed to be here, on the cusp of this age of exploration. Millions died without ever achieving it. I'm NOT letting politics and militarism ruin this. I'm here, and I'll be dammed if I won't take center stage
With newfound vigor, she lofted herself out of her seat and walked towards the commander.
"Commander, I hope you don't intend to keep me here just as a spectator."
He turned with a look of surprise and tiredness.
"Like I said, all I need you to do right now is...."
"Observe" she finished."But you can't expect me to sit idly by while the fate of mankind is at stake."
"No, but I haven't decided on a course of action yet."
"Then tell me straight: do you intend to start a war?" she asked with a pointed tone.
Commander Andrews regarded her for a second.
"I intend to protect this base" he said, "but right now, I'm basically doing exactly what you're doing: observing and trying to make educated guesswork about their intentions. Either way, this war is already going on, and it was bound to come our way sooner or later."
"So I've heard...but that's not everything there is to know, is it?. Officially, the Orgus ran from an invasion, that was part of a larger conflict. The refugees are said traders, and most of them have only an approximate image of this war. But by the way you're parsing through these reports, it looks to me like you know something more."
"Well, I guess since I've already given you high clearance", he said with a slight sigh, "I suppose it's best if I tried to fill in some of the gaps. As you might know, the invasion of the Orgus worlds was carried out by another species, named the Umiak, organised into a polity called the Hierarchy. This polity is one of the two major galactic powers in this region, or so the Orgus claim.That much is known."
"Yes, the Orgus were invaded, and took to the stars as refugees.That's hardly new information. Is any of it true?"
"Everything is true, but some information was omitted. For instance, that the Orgus had better system defences than we did, yet were steamrolled. Or that fleets involved in this conflict range from low hundreds to low thousands. Or that the combatants have massive industries supporting their fleets, and rule over large chunks of territory."
Whelp, I guess I DID ask to be filled in.
"So then, we have a massive conflict raging right on our doorstep, involving star empires that dwarf us in military capability and technology. And the TCA and governments decided it's best not to let the public know?" she said with in a slightly accusatory tone.
"It's not withholding, it's spoon feeding" replied the commander. "It was a shock to have an alien ship stumble into our systems. To know there are civilisations out there, and that they might pose a threat. To know that we're absolutely boned in case we have to take part in said conflict would cause mass unrest, fear and unpredictable political fallout. The heads of the world governments decided that, as time went on, we would divulge more information, all the while gearing up for the inevitable conflict."
"Inevitable?" said Diane with a hoarse intonation. "And why would it be inevitable? As far as I can tell, we have no stake in it. Gearing up for war in case the alien empires decided to be hostile is one thing, but going in, guns blazing seems idiotic."
"Well" said the commander fully turning to face her,"the problem is that we might not have a choice. Here's the classified part: first, our territory is located between these two empires, bordering areas that are lightly guarded. Human space would be a good spot to launch deep strikes into the enemy territory, and destabilise his frontline. "
"Assuming we agree to ally ourselves with one of the empires. Why should we?"
"We might not be given a choice in the matter. You see, the Orgus invasion was precipitated by the fact that, apparently, neither the Umiak nor the Loroi recognise the right to neutrality. You're either with them or against them. "
Jesus Christ, the news just keeps getting better. "So we might be FORCED to take part?"
"Indeed. The Orgus refused to help the Umiak, and got trampled for it, even though apparently, their territory is nowhere near the frontlines. The same happened to the neighbouring species. The Hierarchy apparently forced each and every one of them to submit and assist with the war effort."
"And the Loroi are the same?"
"Somewhat, though information on them is much sketchier than on the Umiak. Our sole source is a single Orgus, who apparently was an itinerant trader, and visited Loroi space shortly before the war started."
Diane's mind suddenly clicked. "The Orgus from whom my mystery bacteria came from?"
Andrews smiled.
"The very same. Which is why I allowed your little side project to carry on. The more information we could gather the better."
Figures.
"So what do we have on them, apart from a very intriguing digestive tract?" she asked.
"Not much. Apparently, they run a sort of imperial confederation of several races. They're militaristic, but also somewhat isolationist. The other races in their region of space are less militaristic, but by the Orgus accounts, are rather well developed. However, it was the Loroi who initiated the non-neutrality clause, and apparently demonstrated their willingness to abide by it by annihilating a neutral race caught between the frontlines."
"Good Lord!!" exclaimed the doctor. "So they're genocidal?!"
"Yes...and no. You have to remember that the Orgus who visited Loroi space visited it nearly thirty years ago. Any more recent information on them was second-hand accounts from the Umiak, and so I suspect them to be somewhat biased."
"Even so, they sound far from good news."
The commander stroked his chin, leaning back in his chair. "You may be right, but the Hierarchy isn't' good news either. Apparently, they impose incredibly harsh conditions on their allies and subjects."
"H...How harsh?"
"Ruinous. Enough to cause mass starvation, gimp innovation, and nearly cause societal collapse." He turned to look her square in the eyes. "A form of indentured servitude if you join them willingly. Slavery if you don't."
Diane could feel her head spinning. Christ, why the hell did I ever get off my chair?
"S..So we're being forced to choose between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union? What can we do?"
"I won't lie: by all accounts, it's bad. Really bad. But we have some things going for us. For instance, the Orgus reported that our systems are still not within easy reach of the empires. It's not easy for them to reach us, and we'd still have some time, however meager, until the fighting got to us."
Oh, joy. Suddenly, she remembered the contact mission that had left human space not long before.
"Then why the hell would we try to initiate diplomatic contact? They don't seem very interested in diplomacy if what we've heard is true."
"It's part of a grander strategy" said the commander. "The Contact Mission is one prong of said strategy. We have an advantage: we are aware of the existence of these empires, and what they've been up to. But they don't know that we exist, or where we are. Which means that we can initiate first contact on OUR terms, and try to negotiate some form of settlement."
"That sounds like the WORST plan in history" said Diane half-heartedly.
"It's the best card we can play at this time" he retorted."These political actors, while belligerent, are not irrational apparently. "
"Must I point out that applying human motivation and reasoning to aliens is foolish?"
"We have reasons to suspect that is the case. After all, the Orgus seem to be reasonable, if quirky."
"So what does this 'Grand Strategy' entail?"
"Making contact on our terms would be the first part. Try to leverage anything we can in negotiations. Simultaneously, we prepare the populace for warfare, by slowly revealing the true scope of the threat.That would be the second prong. Finally, we heavily accelerate warship design, production and development of new technologies in the leanest, most efficient way possible. We turn into Switzerland, to continue your second world war analogy."
"Sounds rather optimistic."
"It is, but it's been done before. Each of these three pathways was assigned to different organisations within human space. The governments of Earth, Mars and the colonies were given the job of spoon feeding the population information on the war, while expanding and harmonising military operations. The Scout Corps was given the task of conducting the Contact Mission, since they have the most experience operating deep space long range missions. The Colonial Navy was given the task of developing new technologies, new ships and new weapons and building them as fast as possible. This required us to centralise as much of our science and technical talent, and give it as many resources as possible, while keeping it secret."
Diane looked puzzled, before a light went off in her head. "You mean...this base?"
"Is the Navy's answer to first contact, just like the Contact mission is the Scout Corps'" he said with a slight tone of pride. "This base is meant to function like a combination of Los Alamos and Area 51: aggregate as much technical talent as possible,build and test new ships, weapons and technologies as fast as can be, investigate all avenues, distribute blueprints to the shipyards and factories. Lean and fast. And if push comes to shove, turn it from a research base into the largest shipyard in human space, and start churning ships. It's not on any star maps that are likely to be found, and the only indication of its existence would be fleets appearing out of nowhere, or the rapid pace of technological advancement." He smiled. "Did you really think that the redesign of the America class battlecruiser, the introduction of the Victory-class, and the rapid pace of new ship development was coincidental?"
Suddenly, it all made sense. The high secrecy, the massive resources and investment, the heavy military presence. This was where it originated.
"So..." she said in a skeptical tone, "what does your grand strategy say about our current situation?"
He frowned in frustration.
"It's like God throwing a monkey wrench in the works. If we make contact here, we lose our cards. They'll know where to find us, and what we can do. What's more, they seem to have stumbled upon our ace-in-the-hole facility, however meager an ace it might be."
"So we lay low?"
"We can't. Look at their trajectory" he said gesturing towards the screen facing them. "The lead ship is making a beeline towards the other jump point...the one that leads TOWARDS human space. "
"But you said the first ship is going to catch up to the second before they make the jump point!"
"Even if it did, and even if one of them was eliminated, we risk either being detected afterwards, or the remaining ship stumbling smack dab into our trade lanes. Can you imagine what a single ship like that could do? To our colonies or outposts?"
"So", Diane remarked despondently,"one again, we're basically forced to act or risk our plans going down the drain. And if we do, they'll go down the drain regardless."
"Perhaps" said the commander turning towards his console. "But it's not all lost. We just need to play our cards right."
May God have mercy on us.
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
People often underestimate just what an impact places like Los Alamos or the Copenhagen School had on technological and scientific development. Having the political clout to set them up is generally the issue with such places. Fortunately, being in a state of total war tends to help.
-
entity2636
- Posts: 339
- Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:53 am
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
I like it but was afraid you had abandoned your novel. I like the slow and ominous pace the events are progressing at, sets the mood just right with the implications of a contact scenario like this one. Am waiting for the next part.
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Abandoned? Heaven's no, it's just that real-life issues meant that for some time I had both little time and little energy. I won't abandon it though, it's a creative outlet that I find very rewardingentity2636 wrote:I like it but was afraid you had abandoned your novel. I like the slow and ominous pace the events are progressing at, sets the mood just right with the implications of a contact scenario like this one. Am waiting for the next part.
. Ominous is good. I like ominous
. I plan to release another part during a 5 hour train ride on Friday, but no promises though. I may be too beat at that time.
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
I like it too. Definitely worth the read and wait.
Just two things. They aren't even really critiques.
1. You've introduced a lot of characters already.
2. This is a permutation of first contact. As such you are repeating what a lot of readers of Outsider already have read a hundred times. Maybe concentrate really strongly on what unique perspective your take on it offers?
Just two things. They aren't even really critiques.
1. You've introduced a lot of characters already.
2. This is a permutation of first contact. As such you are repeating what a lot of readers of Outsider already have read a hundred times. Maybe concentrate really strongly on what unique perspective your take on it offers?
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Thank you for your wordsWerra wrote:I like it too. Definitely worth the read and wait.
Just two things. They aren't even really critiques.
1. You've introduced a lot of characters already.
2. This is a permutation of first contact. As such you are repeating what a lot of readers of Outsider already have read a hundred times. Maybe concentrate really strongly on what unique perspective your take on it offers?
. I feared that might be the case but I don't intend to loiter on it. I felt it neccessary to underline that most of the human public doesn't know exactly how dwarfed the TCA is in this conflict. If I were them I would not limit myself to a mere contact mission. Since the story takes place in the Loroi Union, we don't know the full extent of mankind's answer, so I let my imagination run wild .-
entity2636
- Posts: 339
- Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:53 am
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Alright, suppose you could argue that First Contact is an often used trope/plot device in Outsiderverse and Outsider Extended universe created by fans, but that is what all this is about. I don't think it's a problem in itself as long as scenarios don't get outright copy-pasted.
Since there is no FTL communication in Outsiderverse, the war is happening rather close to Terran territory and all three sides are quite active in terms of exploring/scouting/intel gathering, I find it pretty much inevitable that "first contacts" will happen and on more than one occasion, and will remain isolated from each other for a substantial amount of time. Knowing how different people are and how differently they react to similar situations, all those first contacts can each have vastly different scenarios and outcomes both on a local as well as global scale.
Since there is no FTL communication in Outsiderverse, the war is happening rather close to Terran territory and all three sides are quite active in terms of exploring/scouting/intel gathering, I find it pretty much inevitable that "first contacts" will happen and on more than one occasion, and will remain isolated from each other for a substantial amount of time. Knowing how different people are and how differently they react to similar situations, all those first contacts can each have vastly different scenarios and outcomes both on a local as well as global scale.
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
In addtition, there is little else to work with - the starting setting is that both species don't know of each other - yet - but live close to each other that it would happen anytime soon. So some sort of First Contact - where the setting could vary and could put either humans or Loroi at an advantage or disadvantage (shipwreck, in pursuit/being pursued, stranded, found in the Enemy's prison or enslaved...), but the main storyline would remain similar.entity2636 wrote:Alright, suppose you could argue that First Contact is an often used trope/plot device in Outsiderverse and Outsider Extended universe created by fans, but that is what all this is about. I don't think it's a problem in itself as long as scenarios don't get outright copy-pasted.
Since there is no FTL communication in Outsiderverse, the war is happening rather close to Terran territory and all three sides are quite active in terms of exploring/scouting/intel gathering, I find it pretty much inevitable that "first contacts" will happen and on more than one occasion, and will remain isolated from each other for a substantial amount of time. Knowing how different people are and how differently they react to similar situations, all those first contacts can each have vastly different scenarios and outcomes both on a local as well as global scale.
To move away from a First Contact scenario we would either have to forward or backward in the timeline - or sideways, but creating vastly different AU's would be a wholly new matter. Backward, that'd result in stories like Werra's "Shade and Honour," and forward, one famous example would be "What To Do With Jardin", but I myself have another idea in the works.
Though, even moving forward may not completely exclude First Contact scenarios. Before Loroi and human could work together, less to say without friction, that would be a rather arduous process.
Last edited by novius on Thu Oct 04, 2018 8:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Well, it wasn't meant as a critique. An example of what I mean is the reaction of the Loroi once they realise humans are immune to telepathy. It will be earth shattering for them, but a knowledgeable reader already knows, so won't be able to naturally emphatize.
There are ways around it. The author doesn't have to show the immediate aftermath of first contact actually happening. A first-person narrator could for example handwave most of what's found in history books. With a third-person narrator, the busywork of first contact could be skipped or treated as a minor thing happening on the sidelines, instead focusing on the characters.
There are ways around it. The author doesn't have to show the immediate aftermath of first contact actually happening. A first-person narrator could for example handwave most of what's found in history books. With a third-person narrator, the busywork of first contact could be skipped or treated as a minor thing happening on the sidelines, instead focusing on the characters.
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
There is also the possibility events forgotten or events so obscure that few know about them. The Trojan war was long considered a myth until the city's ruins was actually found. Apparently it survived the conflict and was some kind of tourist attraction for the later Romans. Still, it was later forgotten.Werra wrote:Well, it wasn't meant as a critique. An example of what I mean is the reaction of the Loroi once they realise humans are immune to telepathy. It will be earth shattering for them, but a knowledgeable reader already knows, so won't be able to naturally emphatize.
There are ways around it. The author doesn't have to show the immediate aftermath of first contact actually happening. A first-person narrator could for example handwave most of what's found in history books. With a third-person narrator, the busywork of first contact could be skipped or treated as a minor thing happening on the sidelines, instead focusing on the characters.
A contact that are not followed up on may also fall into myth. I learned of Christopher Columbus discovering america before I learned abut Leif Ericsson. But then again, the colony that Leif founded didn't last so it fell into obscurity. Some people may of some reason choose NOT to report a contact because doing so may lead to unwanted implications. So, you saw something odd when you where out transporting some contraband, maybe not mention this would be a good idea. Or maybe you risk loosing your job for reporting fantasies since you only met the aliens, they didn't leave you with any evidence.
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Part VI
SpoilerShow
He might be thinking of some way out of this, but unless he's some kind of miracle worker, I'm not seeing any that would lead to a good outcome.
The infusion of information she'd received made her wish she'd taken up an academic position. At least there, my input doesn't weigh on the survival of the human species. The conversation had ceased, as if the commander was giving her some more time to digest the implications of what she'd heard.
So we have to make a blind choice between two galactic superpowers. And make sure that choice doesn't rob us of our sovereignty or end up whipping us off the face of the universe. It was difficult to comprehend, but suddenly, the only option that she'd vehemently ruled out in her mind beforehand, that of opening hostilities, had remained the logical one. Which was scary, considering the fact that they were outgunned and outmatched.
Still, the breadth and scope of the TCA's plans to ensure their survival was an encouraging sign. Politics tended to leave her tired and apathetic, but in this case, the powers that be seemed to have a decently solid plan of action.
Well, decently solid if one considers that we're pretty much operating blind.
The trajectories of the two objects were not changing, and soon they would enter the star's shadow. She was torn between trying to contact at least one of the parties, and trying to hide, but her indecision seemed unnoticed by all around her.
The commander had resumed his plotting, calculating trajectories, discussing availability of weaponry, figuring out hit probabilities and potential counterfire.
Oddly calm when the fate of everyone you know rests on your shoulders, she thought eyeing him. But I still can't figure out what he hopes to...
Just then, the doors to the control center entered. Ibaka and Sanderson walked in at a brisk pace, still discussing some holographic image the older man was projecting in front of them.
The commander spun around in his chair.
"Mister Ibaka, I'd like some good news if that's possible" he said with a perfect poker face.
The older man gave a faded smile.
"News is news. It's good to some and lousy to others", he said in a tired, amused tone. "We've made some progress along with the team. No reports, but I can tell you what we've figured out so far. In the allotted time frame, it's all we could do."
"It'll have to do. So, what've we got?"
"The ships both use the same systems for propulsion. The percentages of different types of radiation coming from the engines is different, so we suspect that they have different makes, but the working principle seems to be identical". He paused. "And more advanced."
"Specifically?"
"The main component of the exhaust plume is irradiated hydrogen. In terms of emissions, we're seeing mostly hard gamma radiation, alongside electron and positron production in roughly equal amounts. We don't have neutrino detectors on board out watch satellites, but all clues indicate some type of antimatter engine."
The commander's face gave the slightest twitch.
"Well, at least we can estimate a minimum level of technological advancement" he said. "You and me both know that's the logical answer. Though, if I recall, antimatter engines in pure form are low thrust high Isp."
"Indeed, though one wishes such confirmation came at a more opportune time."
"Best time we have is NOW. What do you make of that strange UV component in the radiation spectrum?"
Ibaka's eyes glinted.
"It was the hardest to nail down, honestly. There's no drive that produces that kind of radiation. Then it hit us: what if what we're seeing can be explained by something other than a drive?"
"And?"
"We did a little brainstorming, and came up with the most interesting aspect. It matches Cherenkov radiation", he said with a look of pride.
The commander seemed nonplussed. Diane didn't even know what that kind of radiation was.
"Cherenkov radiation? The blue glow that nuclear FISSION reactors produce?"
"The same...and not the same. CR was discovered in old-school uranium boilers, but that was a long time ago, and was of a different source. The ship is obviously not powered by fission, so we had to think of some other mechanism. Then it hit us: Cherenkov radiation has two other sources. One is ships completing their jump exit, as a side component of the initial high-energy explosion.The other is artificial gravity."
Andrews blinked.
"It's coming from their grav plating?"
"No, rather they have grav plating INSIDE their engine. Or something related to inertial dampening, or in this case, amplification."
"Apologies, mister Ibaka, but you're not making much sense."
"Well, any object moving through an artificial gravity field gives off CR. It's the universe's way of letting us know something is breaking rules it shouldn't, like FTL speeds or gravity gradients with no mass-energy. The higher the speed of the object moving through the field, the higher the frequency of the radiation given off."
"But, mister Ibaka", interrupted Diane, "we're in a gravity field right now, and we're not glowing blue."
"Because we don't move too fast inside of it. At normal human speeds, the energy of the photons given off is very low. It's basically undetectable. Crank up the speed, and you crank up the intensity and wavelength."
"So, what is the gradient inside those engines acting on?"
"On the plume itself!" said Ibaka with glee. "We suspect they're using inertial technology to increase the mass of their plume.They're cheating!It should be a low thrust engine, but they've increased the reaction mass without cutting into their exhaust speed. "
The commander's face lit up.
"They're using inertio-grav technology to turn their high efficiency but snailish engines into torchships."
"Indeed! And because the plume is moving at relativistic speeds, the photons gain massive energy, and thus it churns out UV." He paused. "I'd kill my dog for a chance to get a look at that engine."
"How close would we be to making something like that?"
"Well, the principles are well known, but it's a daunting engineering challenge. Inertial technology is still new, and the energy required to run an engine like this is huge. Hell, they're basically FORCED to use antimatter. "
"And we still have trouble making and containing it", continued the commander stroking his chin. "One tech level ahead of us?"
"At the least. A safer approximation would be two", replied the older researcher. "Well ahead of the Orgus as well."
"Understood", said Andrews, pausing for several seconds. "How would such an engine present itself?"
Ibaka seemed confused.
"Well, it would have magnetic rings and other assorted systems. Probably a plumbing nightmare. The fuel for an antimatter engine would be a massive concern, at least from our point of view. Even a slight leak and they turn into a blip in the cosmic microwave background."
"So battle damage would be catastrophic?"
"Indeed, though I'd expect there to be numerous contingencies in place. It's probably not as simple as shooting a slug into the nozzles."
"But doable", mouthed the commander, before turning to the other scientist. "What about you, mister Sanderson?"
"Well", said the head of the armaments division, "not much to go on. The marks we're seeing seem consistent with some kind of particle cannon."
He tapped the PDU on his wrist and an still image showing the hull of the first ship materialised before him. The metal had a bright large patch, as if paint had been swept aside, and what looked to be a large opening in the centre.
"the central area looks like it was hit pretty hard by some kind of highly energetic particle beam. But these radial patterns are odd."
"How so?"
"They'd indicate, to the beast of our knowledge, some kind of complex...how should I put it...structure to the beam. "
Diane could tell what he was trying to say."Are you saying they shape their beams?"
"We suspect that to be the case. The exact mechanism is unknown to us, but the purpose is to probably increase the range of the weapon....somehow. " He shrugged, with a mix of despondency and frustration. "Without actually seeing one in action, there's not much to go on. "
"And I assume such a weapon system is also one to two tech levels in advance of us? "
"Yes, THIS specific type of mark is. "
The commander frowned, but before he could ask the question, Sanderson interrupted.
"THIS damage, however, seems to be from a different source. " The image being projected from his wrist shifted to reveal another part of the hull. This time, the mark appeared like a shallow crater, with a large gaping orifice .
Diane could feel a chill. Looks like a cosmic jackhammer had a go at it.
"It's and odd pattern. Looks like something both melted and blasted it's way inside the ship. Like some kind of relativistic jet of metal. "
"This damage is in the area of their starboard nacelle", interrupted Ibaka. "The one that's running at a cooler temperature than the other."
"So....this is the hit that's making them move slowly?"
"We think so", said Sanderson, peering at the image. "Whatever hit them, hit them with the force of one of our experimental nukes. That's about the only thing I can think of that can result in this type of damage."
"What about the second ship? All the damage you've shown so far seems to be from the first."
Sanderson frowned.
"The second ship has no visible damage from what we can tell. At least, if it's there, it isn't nearly as substantial as the one on the first vessel."
"So... a heavily damaged Loroi ship, operating at half thrust is making a mad dash from one jump point to another, running away from a second, Umiak ship that seems undamaged and on the chase. "
What?
"How can we be sure it's not the other way around? We can't identify Loroi and umiak ships" asked Diane fearfully. "We've never SEEN one."
"We can't be absolutely sure", admitted the commander. "The Orgus could not give us any descriptions of Loroi ships, but quite a few had at least a vague impression of what Umiak ships looked like and what colour schemes their prefered. The second ship matches those schemes and patterns", he said tapping his console.
So that's what you were looking at. But still.
"None of the refugees had a military background", retorted Diane.
"No, but they had access to media channels." He looked her dead in the eye. "It's sketchy but it's all we have."
Ibaka and Sanderson seemed to concur. "That was our impression as well," said the older male," but we give it only a 60 percent chance."
"The first ship could belong to one of the client races, or be non-affiliated, like the Orgus were", offered Sanderson.
Having reclined, commander Anderson sat silently for a few seconds, his hands clasped in front of him, elbows resting on his armrests.
He's drinking it all in , Diane realised. No wonder. If what they're saying is true, then this confirms our fears: that the combatants have vastly superior technologies.
Finally, Anderson looked at the two researchers standing in front of him. "Thank you gentlemen for your efforts."
Ibaka raised an eyebrow.
"So...what do we do?"
"Apollo, ETA till the first alien ship enters the star's shadow?"
"ETA 10 minutes, commander", responded the disembodied voice. Jesus even IT sounds worried.
"Thank you", he said turning. "I've been mulling over a plan of action, and I think I'm going to put it in motion as soon as the Loroi ship is in the right position. "
"Position?", said Diane, trying to hold back the tsunami of emotions.
"Don't worry, I'm not ordering an attack just yet. But we can't hide for much longer. "
"But if we can't hide and we won't fight, what are going to do?", asked the exobiologist.
"We still have the option of trickery, doctor", said the commander turning towards his console with a half smile.
The infusion of information she'd received made her wish she'd taken up an academic position. At least there, my input doesn't weigh on the survival of the human species. The conversation had ceased, as if the commander was giving her some more time to digest the implications of what she'd heard.
So we have to make a blind choice between two galactic superpowers. And make sure that choice doesn't rob us of our sovereignty or end up whipping us off the face of the universe. It was difficult to comprehend, but suddenly, the only option that she'd vehemently ruled out in her mind beforehand, that of opening hostilities, had remained the logical one. Which was scary, considering the fact that they were outgunned and outmatched.
Still, the breadth and scope of the TCA's plans to ensure their survival was an encouraging sign. Politics tended to leave her tired and apathetic, but in this case, the powers that be seemed to have a decently solid plan of action.
Well, decently solid if one considers that we're pretty much operating blind.
The trajectories of the two objects were not changing, and soon they would enter the star's shadow. She was torn between trying to contact at least one of the parties, and trying to hide, but her indecision seemed unnoticed by all around her.
The commander had resumed his plotting, calculating trajectories, discussing availability of weaponry, figuring out hit probabilities and potential counterfire.
Oddly calm when the fate of everyone you know rests on your shoulders, she thought eyeing him. But I still can't figure out what he hopes to...
Just then, the doors to the control center entered. Ibaka and Sanderson walked in at a brisk pace, still discussing some holographic image the older man was projecting in front of them.
The commander spun around in his chair.
"Mister Ibaka, I'd like some good news if that's possible" he said with a perfect poker face.
The older man gave a faded smile.
"News is news. It's good to some and lousy to others", he said in a tired, amused tone. "We've made some progress along with the team. No reports, but I can tell you what we've figured out so far. In the allotted time frame, it's all we could do."
"It'll have to do. So, what've we got?"
"The ships both use the same systems for propulsion. The percentages of different types of radiation coming from the engines is different, so we suspect that they have different makes, but the working principle seems to be identical". He paused. "And more advanced."
"Specifically?"
"The main component of the exhaust plume is irradiated hydrogen. In terms of emissions, we're seeing mostly hard gamma radiation, alongside electron and positron production in roughly equal amounts. We don't have neutrino detectors on board out watch satellites, but all clues indicate some type of antimatter engine."
The commander's face gave the slightest twitch.
"Well, at least we can estimate a minimum level of technological advancement" he said. "You and me both know that's the logical answer. Though, if I recall, antimatter engines in pure form are low thrust high Isp."
"Indeed, though one wishes such confirmation came at a more opportune time."
"Best time we have is NOW. What do you make of that strange UV component in the radiation spectrum?"
Ibaka's eyes glinted.
"It was the hardest to nail down, honestly. There's no drive that produces that kind of radiation. Then it hit us: what if what we're seeing can be explained by something other than a drive?"
"And?"
"We did a little brainstorming, and came up with the most interesting aspect. It matches Cherenkov radiation", he said with a look of pride.
The commander seemed nonplussed. Diane didn't even know what that kind of radiation was.
"Cherenkov radiation? The blue glow that nuclear FISSION reactors produce?"
"The same...and not the same. CR was discovered in old-school uranium boilers, but that was a long time ago, and was of a different source. The ship is obviously not powered by fission, so we had to think of some other mechanism. Then it hit us: Cherenkov radiation has two other sources. One is ships completing their jump exit, as a side component of the initial high-energy explosion.The other is artificial gravity."
Andrews blinked.
"It's coming from their grav plating?"
"No, rather they have grav plating INSIDE their engine. Or something related to inertial dampening, or in this case, amplification."
"Apologies, mister Ibaka, but you're not making much sense."
"Well, any object moving through an artificial gravity field gives off CR. It's the universe's way of letting us know something is breaking rules it shouldn't, like FTL speeds or gravity gradients with no mass-energy. The higher the speed of the object moving through the field, the higher the frequency of the radiation given off."
"But, mister Ibaka", interrupted Diane, "we're in a gravity field right now, and we're not glowing blue."
"Because we don't move too fast inside of it. At normal human speeds, the energy of the photons given off is very low. It's basically undetectable. Crank up the speed, and you crank up the intensity and wavelength."
"So, what is the gradient inside those engines acting on?"
"On the plume itself!" said Ibaka with glee. "We suspect they're using inertial technology to increase the mass of their plume.They're cheating!It should be a low thrust engine, but they've increased the reaction mass without cutting into their exhaust speed. "
The commander's face lit up.
"They're using inertio-grav technology to turn their high efficiency but snailish engines into torchships."
"Indeed! And because the plume is moving at relativistic speeds, the photons gain massive energy, and thus it churns out UV." He paused. "I'd kill my dog for a chance to get a look at that engine."
"How close would we be to making something like that?"
"Well, the principles are well known, but it's a daunting engineering challenge. Inertial technology is still new, and the energy required to run an engine like this is huge. Hell, they're basically FORCED to use antimatter. "
"And we still have trouble making and containing it", continued the commander stroking his chin. "One tech level ahead of us?"
"At the least. A safer approximation would be two", replied the older researcher. "Well ahead of the Orgus as well."
"Understood", said Andrews, pausing for several seconds. "How would such an engine present itself?"
Ibaka seemed confused.
"Well, it would have magnetic rings and other assorted systems. Probably a plumbing nightmare. The fuel for an antimatter engine would be a massive concern, at least from our point of view. Even a slight leak and they turn into a blip in the cosmic microwave background."
"So battle damage would be catastrophic?"
"Indeed, though I'd expect there to be numerous contingencies in place. It's probably not as simple as shooting a slug into the nozzles."
"But doable", mouthed the commander, before turning to the other scientist. "What about you, mister Sanderson?"
"Well", said the head of the armaments division, "not much to go on. The marks we're seeing seem consistent with some kind of particle cannon."
He tapped the PDU on his wrist and an still image showing the hull of the first ship materialised before him. The metal had a bright large patch, as if paint had been swept aside, and what looked to be a large opening in the centre.
"the central area looks like it was hit pretty hard by some kind of highly energetic particle beam. But these radial patterns are odd."
"How so?"
"They'd indicate, to the beast of our knowledge, some kind of complex...how should I put it...structure to the beam. "
Diane could tell what he was trying to say."Are you saying they shape their beams?"
"We suspect that to be the case. The exact mechanism is unknown to us, but the purpose is to probably increase the range of the weapon....somehow. " He shrugged, with a mix of despondency and frustration. "Without actually seeing one in action, there's not much to go on. "
"And I assume such a weapon system is also one to two tech levels in advance of us? "
"Yes, THIS specific type of mark is. "
The commander frowned, but before he could ask the question, Sanderson interrupted.
"THIS damage, however, seems to be from a different source. " The image being projected from his wrist shifted to reveal another part of the hull. This time, the mark appeared like a shallow crater, with a large gaping orifice .
Diane could feel a chill. Looks like a cosmic jackhammer had a go at it.
"It's and odd pattern. Looks like something both melted and blasted it's way inside the ship. Like some kind of relativistic jet of metal. "
"This damage is in the area of their starboard nacelle", interrupted Ibaka. "The one that's running at a cooler temperature than the other."
"So....this is the hit that's making them move slowly?"
"We think so", said Sanderson, peering at the image. "Whatever hit them, hit them with the force of one of our experimental nukes. That's about the only thing I can think of that can result in this type of damage."
"What about the second ship? All the damage you've shown so far seems to be from the first."
Sanderson frowned.
"The second ship has no visible damage from what we can tell. At least, if it's there, it isn't nearly as substantial as the one on the first vessel."
"So... a heavily damaged Loroi ship, operating at half thrust is making a mad dash from one jump point to another, running away from a second, Umiak ship that seems undamaged and on the chase. "
What?
"How can we be sure it's not the other way around? We can't identify Loroi and umiak ships" asked Diane fearfully. "We've never SEEN one."
"We can't be absolutely sure", admitted the commander. "The Orgus could not give us any descriptions of Loroi ships, but quite a few had at least a vague impression of what Umiak ships looked like and what colour schemes their prefered. The second ship matches those schemes and patterns", he said tapping his console.
So that's what you were looking at. But still.
"None of the refugees had a military background", retorted Diane.
"No, but they had access to media channels." He looked her dead in the eye. "It's sketchy but it's all we have."
Ibaka and Sanderson seemed to concur. "That was our impression as well," said the older male," but we give it only a 60 percent chance."
"The first ship could belong to one of the client races, or be non-affiliated, like the Orgus were", offered Sanderson.
Having reclined, commander Anderson sat silently for a few seconds, his hands clasped in front of him, elbows resting on his armrests.
He's drinking it all in , Diane realised. No wonder. If what they're saying is true, then this confirms our fears: that the combatants have vastly superior technologies.
Finally, Anderson looked at the two researchers standing in front of him. "Thank you gentlemen for your efforts."
Ibaka raised an eyebrow.
"So...what do we do?"
"Apollo, ETA till the first alien ship enters the star's shadow?"
"ETA 10 minutes, commander", responded the disembodied voice. Jesus even IT sounds worried.
"Thank you", he said turning. "I've been mulling over a plan of action, and I think I'm going to put it in motion as soon as the Loroi ship is in the right position. "
"Position?", said Diane, trying to hold back the tsunami of emotions.
"Don't worry, I'm not ordering an attack just yet. But we can't hide for much longer. "
"But if we can't hide and we won't fight, what are going to do?", asked the exobiologist.
"We still have the option of trickery, doctor", said the commander turning towards his console with a half smile.
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
No, I'm not dead, just kept by real life problems from continuing right now... Too tired to write. Will carry on at the first opportunity.
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Part VII
.
SpoilerShow
"We MUST confront them, captain. How long are we to suffer this injustice? How long are we to run with the stench of their breaths breathing down our necks?"
"They haven't loosened their gunboats yet, Swiftalon", replied Razorleaf.
"They seem to be trying more to intimidate us, than to attack." And it's working. The warriors under her command were getting ever more difficult to control. The tenseness and sleep deprivation were doing their number.
Swiftalon fumed.
"They'll be able to do just that once they are out of visual contact. We need to prepare."
"Only as a final measure. We might yet evade them." I just don't know how.
There had been several occasions during their long chase when the shell ship had accelerated menacingly towards them, only to then ease off. Are they hesitating? Are they trying to intimidate us? Do they decide to attack only to change their minds, or are they unsure of what might happen?
She herself was unsure. With half their acceleration gone, they had no way to keep themselves out of range of the enemy plasma foci. The shells would dictate engagement opportunities.
Even so, her gamble had failed. The system had only one entrance and one exit. Even if they could have jumped before the shell ship came into the system, there would be no doubt in the enemy's mind where they had fled to. The enemy, however, had not taken that chance and apparently waited for them to jump before commencing a hard burn, and gaining significant distance on them. That burn was now continuing.
She swiveled her gaze to scan the control room.The smell of burning circuitry was still pungent most likely, though they had all been it it for so long the ends of their neural pathways were probably fried. The starboard control panels were being monitored by only one Gallen. No need to keep more people posted monitoring something that was by all accounts, unusable.
Swiftalon was not averting her eyes from her weapons console. Her mind and visage radiated hatred. She knew, if there was one thing warriors hated more than losing, it was being taunted. And, no doubt, what the enemy ship was doing, doggedly chasing them all the way into the vast unknown, testing their resolve, was nothing short of an insulting taunt. They might break us mentally, before even firing the first shot.
Moonshadow was still monitoring the situation from her console, though she occasionally would scan the room as well. A mizol is a mizol, she thought to herself. Here to ensure both diplomacy, and enforce loyalty if need be. The only question is: loyalty to whom?. She didn't like intelligence operatives, and seeing as many of them now, in the wake of the Emperors' purges, fighting in frontline ships, made her uneasy.
Either way, it doesn't mater. My enemy is behind me, not to my side she thought, glancing at her screen. The Umiak ship was disappearing behind the red glow of the stellar corona, as her vessel was performing it's swing towards the next jump point.
"Any changes before we lost line of sight?", asked Razorleaf as she felt the atmosphere lose some of its' tenseness. Enemies are less intimidating when you can't see them.
"None", replied Swiftalon. "No gunboats, or changes in vector"
"Tactical appraisal, Moonshadow?"
"Given our fuel consumption, the acceleration we're capable of should allow us to keep pace with them to some extent. Though, we'd surely lose any range advantage quickly", answered the mizol. "Our weapon systems are 85 percent operational, but we can only use roughly 60 percent, or risk cutting even more into our acceleration budget." She paused, before continuing. "Most likely we would lose a direct engagement."
As expected.
"Hold course and prepare to swivel. We can't be sure they want to engage now of all times."
"For how long?..." Swiftalon's tone was surprisingly weak. "If we do not decelerate soon, there will be no fuel left to do so. Even after the jump, we'd be left coasting in space....".
She paused, but the thought gave everyone shivers. Razorleaf knew what they feared.
Lost in space, adrift for the rest of our short lives... warriors do not die like that.
"At least let us keep our honor", said Swiftalon. There was no aggression this time, only a plea. "We cannot run. The blood of our comrades demands justice. Even if we die, the shells will pay for their monstrosities."
Razorleaf could feel the anxiety in the room. Everyone was scared. The entire ship is scared... Has my insistence on fleeing really affected them to such an extent that they wish for a swift death?
She herself did not wish to die. It was unexpected. The tension of the chase had been more crushing than the adrenaline of any battle. And, for once, the weapons officer was right. There would be little chance to flee, and even less to maneuver. This was it for them.
So be it.
"Battle stations. Charge the banks, Swiftalon" she said in a commanding tone. A wave of emotions charged the room. Anxiety was replaced with relief and determination. And cold fury.
"Bastobar Cloupeak?"
"Yes, sir" sounded the voice of the chief engineer.
"Prep for damage control. We're joining battle. "
"Understood" replied the technician. Razorleaf could guess her mouthing a "'Bout time" comment, but ignored it.
Swiftalon seemed imbued with energy. Her deft fingers were already issuing commands to the ships' systems. Moonshadow seemed just as impenetrable and eerily stoic as usual. The rest of the crew jostled in their seats, making preparations, both technical and mental.
Such a cruel fate. To die alone in the black, so far from our people. In the eyes of her crew, their flight had been a mistake. Even if ordered to do so, even if they stood no chance, they were willing to die. That's what warriors do best, they used to joke in her diral.
"It's possible the shells expect us to flee a further distance yet. Coming out from behind the star, they might not have kicked loose their gunboats or pre-launched any missiles. Which means the ship itself would be our only target. Prep for burn. We'll try to do a close pass by them."
"Understood" answered the bridge officers.
"Once we are in range of their foci, we can expect..."
"Captain...I'm receiving a transmission" said Senein Eclipse.
A wave of panic flooded over Razorleaf with such fury, she had a difficult time maintaining any sense of Lotai. Could they be capable of burning so hard that they've already caught up to us?
As if guessing her thoughts, Eclipse added: "It's not coming from behind us. It's coming from a close stellar orbit in front of us."
Everything froze. Scenarios raced through Razorleaf's head. A missile on an orbital trajectory from the other side? No... we would have seen the launch... The gunboats were still in tow earlier. Another enemy contact could not have had time time to reach their position...
"What are we dealing with here, Eclipse?"
"I can't say for certain, Captain... looks to be not just a signal, but an actual transmission."
The image on the screen flicked open, revealing an extremely faint object glimmering in the red light of the star. It seemed fragile and packed with communication arrays, light-based power generators, optics...
"A monitoring station of some sort?" said Moonshadow with a glint of interest.
"Out here? In the middle of god-smacked nowhere? How would that even be possible?"
"It does not appear to be one of our models" said Eclipse. "And the signal is amplitude-modulated."
"An AM signal?" said Razorleaf. "That's antiquated technology. Who the hell uses that?"
"Unknown" said Eclipse tensely. "But it seems very simple to decode. There is a data feed and an accompanying audio signal." She paused. "The data feed is gibberish for now, but the audio is playable in our hearing range." Eclipse gave an expectative look.
Still astonished, Razorleaf shook her head, as her officer started the transmission.
The transmission was barely intelligible. The sounds seemed mechanical, as if passed through a translator. The articulations of the language were strangely familiar, however, as if whatever was communicating was trying to imitate something that definitely had a mouth and fleshy lips.
Only...the speech was gibberish. The language was different. Nothing even vaguely familiar. Razorleaf turned towards Moonshadow, who was listening with a look of utmost concentration.
"What language is that?"
"Nothing I've encountered so far. " She paused. "A Listel with a great knowledge of languages would perhaps be of better use."
"Nothing at all?"
"Well, the speech patterns change... as if the language changes. I'm not exactly sure if it..."
She stopped, as did everyone else. The language had changed again... only this time it was transmitting in Trade.
"This is an automated message" wrang the speakers. "This bouy is meant for traffic and solar activity monitoring. If you have any message you wish to relay, please do so by contacting the transmission and relay station currently in position-3-8-1 on this frequency or standard traffic frequency. If you are experiencing potentially threatening conditions, such as loss of power, failing life-support or propulsion, you are encouraged to utilise the facilities on-board the transmission station, which, as a category two automated dock, can facilitate repairs and replenishment activities. Your stay will be taxed according to length of time spent and consumables utilised. Current occupancy rate is zero. System traffic reads two contacts. Thank you, and welcome to colonial space!"
Everyone was close in attent when the transmission ended. The flight, the decision to fight, the preps...this was all too much.
"What...the HELL... is that?" spoke Swiftalon.
"All the indications point towards it being some kind of automated relay" said Eclipse. "A very unusual one... we don't put anything other than telemetry on board our buoys."
"It's not one of ours. Nor our allies" said the mizol. "Or any known species for that matter, judging by the make of it and it's quirks. "
"Is it armed?"
"Doesn't seem like it" said Swiftalon. "Perhaps the shells are playing at some sort of game?"
"Unlikely" said Moonshadow. "What would they be trying to achieve? They know we'll never surrender. And that we'd rather blow ourselves up than be captured or let this vessel be commandeered. "
"Seems like some sort of systems traffic relay. We're passing by it right now" The image on the screen showed the small installation silhouetted against the star.
"How did we miss it?" asked Razorleaf.
"It's quite close to the star. And it seems to not be emitting anything else other than that signal. It's possible it became active when we approached it and started transmitting."
"Could we have stumbled onto... a new species?". The prospect was...incredulous to say the least. The Loroi were a starfaring people, but contact with new species was a rare opportunity.
"In the middle of the Great Wastelands?" said Moonshadow. "It's... possible, I guess, but there have been no indication of habitation in region of space ever since we reached its' borders. Not even ruins. By all accounts, this is a desert."
"And yet, here it is...". Razorleaf paused. "The message said something about a station nearby?"
"Yes," replied Eclipse. "The telemetry from that message indicates there is some sort of larger installation in the system. For now, the decoding is incomplete, since we have no clue how they navigate inside a system, but the coordinates given indicate a region of space that should be coming into line of sight right now. "
"Do a widebeam scan. See what comes up."
"Understood. Initiating radar scan."
The captain watched as Eclipse's fingers danced on her controls. As the waves propagated through space, their reflection would give them a rough estimate of what was out there. Still, there was a lot of space to cover... And it seemed to change nothing regarding their current predicament.
"Found something" said Eclipse.
That fast?
"There is a nearly perfect circular object in the indicated quadrant. Preliminary scans indicate s metallic composition. It's also warmer than background."
The image on the screen shifted again. This time, a large circular object, with a beige surface appeared on screen. It seemed to have no large distinctive features, and near-zero rotation relative to the star.
"Is it moving?"
"Aye. Seems to be doing a very slow burn to change orbits."
"Send a transmission. Use the frequency from the buoy."
"Is that wise, captain?" asked Moonshadow.
"Right now we have nothing to lose. It there IS anything that we can use to repair our vessel there, than that may be our best chance."
"I see nothing that looks like a docking facility" said Swiftalon. "Even if there is one, that structure does not seem large enough to house our ship."
"It might have scaffolds hidden behind that circular section. We won't know unless we take a look"
Swiftalon seemed non-plused. "Take a look, while the shell ship is bearing down on us?"
"We'll still have to fight captain" added the mizol.
"I'm well aware, but this changes our tactical outlook. Perhaps this... installation can offer us some kind of aid."
"I see no indication of armaments. Or much power for that matter" said the weapons officer. Either way, it's unlikely we'd reach it before the Umiak come into range. We'll be joined before we get there."[/i]
"Let's see what it has to say first. Eclipse, record a message then transmit it using the same frequency as used by the buoy."
"What do we transmit captain?" asked Eclipse.
With a hard swallow, Razorleaf spoke : "Attention, unknown installation. This is the Loroi Union vessel ED-295, assigned to strike group 83. We are being chased by an enemy ship, and have suffered damage. Any assistance would be beneficial. Please advise."
"Are YOU INSANE?!" shouted Swiftalon, as the recording ended. "Letting the enemy know our condition?"
"I gave no details. Apart from that, the enemy already knows we are limping and damaged. "
"We have no line of sight to the Umiak ship yet" said Eclipse. "A low power tightbeam might make our message harder to detect. "
"Do it."
As the message was sent, there was bit of time to gouge the situation. Is this an Umiak installation? They were know for being industrious and setting up some kind of depot here was not impossible, even if it was a daunting logistics challenge. Somewhere to launch an assault from? She frowned. No, this is not enough for a full scale invasion. And if this were a secret the shells have kept, why are there no shell ships around?
The possibility that was truly a new species was getting more and more plausible, even as far-fetched as that seemed. That did raise the question of how friendly they would be or how advanced for that matter.
But perhaps...fate has finally given us the faintest of smiles.
"They haven't loosened their gunboats yet, Swiftalon", replied Razorleaf.
"They seem to be trying more to intimidate us, than to attack." And it's working. The warriors under her command were getting ever more difficult to control. The tenseness and sleep deprivation were doing their number.
Swiftalon fumed.
"They'll be able to do just that once they are out of visual contact. We need to prepare."
"Only as a final measure. We might yet evade them." I just don't know how.
There had been several occasions during their long chase when the shell ship had accelerated menacingly towards them, only to then ease off. Are they hesitating? Are they trying to intimidate us? Do they decide to attack only to change their minds, or are they unsure of what might happen?
She herself was unsure. With half their acceleration gone, they had no way to keep themselves out of range of the enemy plasma foci. The shells would dictate engagement opportunities.
Even so, her gamble had failed. The system had only one entrance and one exit. Even if they could have jumped before the shell ship came into the system, there would be no doubt in the enemy's mind where they had fled to. The enemy, however, had not taken that chance and apparently waited for them to jump before commencing a hard burn, and gaining significant distance on them. That burn was now continuing.
She swiveled her gaze to scan the control room.The smell of burning circuitry was still pungent most likely, though they had all been it it for so long the ends of their neural pathways were probably fried. The starboard control panels were being monitored by only one Gallen. No need to keep more people posted monitoring something that was by all accounts, unusable.
Swiftalon was not averting her eyes from her weapons console. Her mind and visage radiated hatred. She knew, if there was one thing warriors hated more than losing, it was being taunted. And, no doubt, what the enemy ship was doing, doggedly chasing them all the way into the vast unknown, testing their resolve, was nothing short of an insulting taunt. They might break us mentally, before even firing the first shot.
Moonshadow was still monitoring the situation from her console, though she occasionally would scan the room as well. A mizol is a mizol, she thought to herself. Here to ensure both diplomacy, and enforce loyalty if need be. The only question is: loyalty to whom?. She didn't like intelligence operatives, and seeing as many of them now, in the wake of the Emperors' purges, fighting in frontline ships, made her uneasy.
Either way, it doesn't mater. My enemy is behind me, not to my side she thought, glancing at her screen. The Umiak ship was disappearing behind the red glow of the stellar corona, as her vessel was performing it's swing towards the next jump point.
"Any changes before we lost line of sight?", asked Razorleaf as she felt the atmosphere lose some of its' tenseness. Enemies are less intimidating when you can't see them.
"None", replied Swiftalon. "No gunboats, or changes in vector"
"Tactical appraisal, Moonshadow?"
"Given our fuel consumption, the acceleration we're capable of should allow us to keep pace with them to some extent. Though, we'd surely lose any range advantage quickly", answered the mizol. "Our weapon systems are 85 percent operational, but we can only use roughly 60 percent, or risk cutting even more into our acceleration budget." She paused, before continuing. "Most likely we would lose a direct engagement."
As expected.
"Hold course and prepare to swivel. We can't be sure they want to engage now of all times."
"For how long?..." Swiftalon's tone was surprisingly weak. "If we do not decelerate soon, there will be no fuel left to do so. Even after the jump, we'd be left coasting in space....".
She paused, but the thought gave everyone shivers. Razorleaf knew what they feared.
Lost in space, adrift for the rest of our short lives... warriors do not die like that.
"At least let us keep our honor", said Swiftalon. There was no aggression this time, only a plea. "We cannot run. The blood of our comrades demands justice. Even if we die, the shells will pay for their monstrosities."
Razorleaf could feel the anxiety in the room. Everyone was scared. The entire ship is scared... Has my insistence on fleeing really affected them to such an extent that they wish for a swift death?
She herself did not wish to die. It was unexpected. The tension of the chase had been more crushing than the adrenaline of any battle. And, for once, the weapons officer was right. There would be little chance to flee, and even less to maneuver. This was it for them.
So be it.
"Battle stations. Charge the banks, Swiftalon" she said in a commanding tone. A wave of emotions charged the room. Anxiety was replaced with relief and determination. And cold fury.
"Bastobar Cloupeak?"
"Yes, sir" sounded the voice of the chief engineer.
"Prep for damage control. We're joining battle. "
"Understood" replied the technician. Razorleaf could guess her mouthing a "'Bout time" comment, but ignored it.
Swiftalon seemed imbued with energy. Her deft fingers were already issuing commands to the ships' systems. Moonshadow seemed just as impenetrable and eerily stoic as usual. The rest of the crew jostled in their seats, making preparations, both technical and mental.
Such a cruel fate. To die alone in the black, so far from our people. In the eyes of her crew, their flight had been a mistake. Even if ordered to do so, even if they stood no chance, they were willing to die. That's what warriors do best, they used to joke in her diral.
"It's possible the shells expect us to flee a further distance yet. Coming out from behind the star, they might not have kicked loose their gunboats or pre-launched any missiles. Which means the ship itself would be our only target. Prep for burn. We'll try to do a close pass by them."
"Understood" answered the bridge officers.
"Once we are in range of their foci, we can expect..."
"Captain...I'm receiving a transmission" said Senein Eclipse.
A wave of panic flooded over Razorleaf with such fury, she had a difficult time maintaining any sense of Lotai. Could they be capable of burning so hard that they've already caught up to us?
As if guessing her thoughts, Eclipse added: "It's not coming from behind us. It's coming from a close stellar orbit in front of us."
Everything froze. Scenarios raced through Razorleaf's head. A missile on an orbital trajectory from the other side? No... we would have seen the launch... The gunboats were still in tow earlier. Another enemy contact could not have had time time to reach their position...
"What are we dealing with here, Eclipse?"
"I can't say for certain, Captain... looks to be not just a signal, but an actual transmission."
The image on the screen flicked open, revealing an extremely faint object glimmering in the red light of the star. It seemed fragile and packed with communication arrays, light-based power generators, optics...
"A monitoring station of some sort?" said Moonshadow with a glint of interest.
"Out here? In the middle of god-smacked nowhere? How would that even be possible?"
"It does not appear to be one of our models" said Eclipse. "And the signal is amplitude-modulated."
"An AM signal?" said Razorleaf. "That's antiquated technology. Who the hell uses that?"
"Unknown" said Eclipse tensely. "But it seems very simple to decode. There is a data feed and an accompanying audio signal." She paused. "The data feed is gibberish for now, but the audio is playable in our hearing range." Eclipse gave an expectative look.
Still astonished, Razorleaf shook her head, as her officer started the transmission.
The transmission was barely intelligible. The sounds seemed mechanical, as if passed through a translator. The articulations of the language were strangely familiar, however, as if whatever was communicating was trying to imitate something that definitely had a mouth and fleshy lips.
Only...the speech was gibberish. The language was different. Nothing even vaguely familiar. Razorleaf turned towards Moonshadow, who was listening with a look of utmost concentration.
"What language is that?"
"Nothing I've encountered so far. " She paused. "A Listel with a great knowledge of languages would perhaps be of better use."
"Nothing at all?"
"Well, the speech patterns change... as if the language changes. I'm not exactly sure if it..."
She stopped, as did everyone else. The language had changed again... only this time it was transmitting in Trade.
"This is an automated message" wrang the speakers. "This bouy is meant for traffic and solar activity monitoring. If you have any message you wish to relay, please do so by contacting the transmission and relay station currently in position-3-8-1 on this frequency or standard traffic frequency. If you are experiencing potentially threatening conditions, such as loss of power, failing life-support or propulsion, you are encouraged to utilise the facilities on-board the transmission station, which, as a category two automated dock, can facilitate repairs and replenishment activities. Your stay will be taxed according to length of time spent and consumables utilised. Current occupancy rate is zero. System traffic reads two contacts. Thank you, and welcome to colonial space!"
Everyone was close in attent when the transmission ended. The flight, the decision to fight, the preps...this was all too much.
"What...the HELL... is that?" spoke Swiftalon.
"All the indications point towards it being some kind of automated relay" said Eclipse. "A very unusual one... we don't put anything other than telemetry on board our buoys."
"It's not one of ours. Nor our allies" said the mizol. "Or any known species for that matter, judging by the make of it and it's quirks. "
"Is it armed?"
"Doesn't seem like it" said Swiftalon. "Perhaps the shells are playing at some sort of game?"
"Unlikely" said Moonshadow. "What would they be trying to achieve? They know we'll never surrender. And that we'd rather blow ourselves up than be captured or let this vessel be commandeered. "
"Seems like some sort of systems traffic relay. We're passing by it right now" The image on the screen showed the small installation silhouetted against the star.
"How did we miss it?" asked Razorleaf.
"It's quite close to the star. And it seems to not be emitting anything else other than that signal. It's possible it became active when we approached it and started transmitting."
"Could we have stumbled onto... a new species?". The prospect was...incredulous to say the least. The Loroi were a starfaring people, but contact with new species was a rare opportunity.
"In the middle of the Great Wastelands?" said Moonshadow. "It's... possible, I guess, but there have been no indication of habitation in region of space ever since we reached its' borders. Not even ruins. By all accounts, this is a desert."
"And yet, here it is...". Razorleaf paused. "The message said something about a station nearby?"
"Yes," replied Eclipse. "The telemetry from that message indicates there is some sort of larger installation in the system. For now, the decoding is incomplete, since we have no clue how they navigate inside a system, but the coordinates given indicate a region of space that should be coming into line of sight right now. "
"Do a widebeam scan. See what comes up."
"Understood. Initiating radar scan."
The captain watched as Eclipse's fingers danced on her controls. As the waves propagated through space, their reflection would give them a rough estimate of what was out there. Still, there was a lot of space to cover... And it seemed to change nothing regarding their current predicament.
"Found something" said Eclipse.
That fast?
"There is a nearly perfect circular object in the indicated quadrant. Preliminary scans indicate s metallic composition. It's also warmer than background."
The image on the screen shifted again. This time, a large circular object, with a beige surface appeared on screen. It seemed to have no large distinctive features, and near-zero rotation relative to the star.
"Is it moving?"
"Aye. Seems to be doing a very slow burn to change orbits."
"Send a transmission. Use the frequency from the buoy."
"Is that wise, captain?" asked Moonshadow.
"Right now we have nothing to lose. It there IS anything that we can use to repair our vessel there, than that may be our best chance."
"I see nothing that looks like a docking facility" said Swiftalon. "Even if there is one, that structure does not seem large enough to house our ship."
"It might have scaffolds hidden behind that circular section. We won't know unless we take a look"
Swiftalon seemed non-plused. "Take a look, while the shell ship is bearing down on us?"
"We'll still have to fight captain" added the mizol.
"I'm well aware, but this changes our tactical outlook. Perhaps this... installation can offer us some kind of aid."
"I see no indication of armaments. Or much power for that matter" said the weapons officer. Either way, it's unlikely we'd reach it before the Umiak come into range. We'll be joined before we get there."[/i]
"Let's see what it has to say first. Eclipse, record a message then transmit it using the same frequency as used by the buoy."
"What do we transmit captain?" asked Eclipse.
With a hard swallow, Razorleaf spoke : "Attention, unknown installation. This is the Loroi Union vessel ED-295, assigned to strike group 83. We are being chased by an enemy ship, and have suffered damage. Any assistance would be beneficial. Please advise."
"Are YOU INSANE?!" shouted Swiftalon, as the recording ended. "Letting the enemy know our condition?"
"I gave no details. Apart from that, the enemy already knows we are limping and damaged. "
"We have no line of sight to the Umiak ship yet" said Eclipse. "A low power tightbeam might make our message harder to detect. "
"Do it."
As the message was sent, there was bit of time to gouge the situation. Is this an Umiak installation? They were know for being industrious and setting up some kind of depot here was not impossible, even if it was a daunting logistics challenge. Somewhere to launch an assault from? She frowned. No, this is not enough for a full scale invasion. And if this were a secret the shells have kept, why are there no shell ships around?
The possibility that was truly a new species was getting more and more plausible, even as far-fetched as that seemed. That did raise the question of how friendly they would be or how advanced for that matter.
But perhaps...fate has finally given us the faintest of smiles.
Last edited by Mr.Tucker on Sat Mar 21, 2020 1:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: [Fanfiction] A Shout in the Dark
Nice chapter! I wonder how the message will sound like in the other end. Something like this:
"Attention, unknown installation
This is the Loroi Union vessel ED-295
assigned to strike group 83.
We are being chased by an enemy ship
and have suffered damage
Any assistance would be beneficial
Please advise
Are YOU INSANE?!"