C. Metagame thinking tells me that it would be a bad idea to just head straight 'home,' and I certenly don't want to stay here, so lets see if this system has some of it's namesake.
Yeah, D does sound a little fun, and since its unknown who knows what we might find. Hell it could be a glaive beam for all we know, or more futa's or strong combat expert aliens and or humans.
The Civilian ships were already at the edge of the gravity well, their FTL drives had been charging for some time, much slower to warm up than the Imperial Scout. As the scout disintegrated into the atmosphere and the Scudo and the Sparrow began collecting its remains, the four ships radioed them. “I regret seeing the Imperial vessel destroyed, but I can’t say I feel regret for their deaths.” The grey haired man said, bowing his head to the captains of the vessels. ”May your journey be swift, we’re traveling to the Realm of the Giants to try to stock up on fuel, not sure if we’ll make it all the way there, but we won’t ask you for more.”
Scarlet nodded to him, “We’re headed to Fortuna, see If the name lives up to the fortune.” Scarlet said with a solemn nod, “May the Goddess be with you.” She said, managing to display a hopeful grin for the civilian pilot.
Yumi shoo’d Mark back to the engine room. He groaned, “Aww, alright,” letting his head drop and roll about his chest as he turned around stepping heavily back the engine room.
Jeana relaxed as well, slumping against her weapons console. She huffed, examining the displays on her weapons read out, watching the flairs from the sun lick across the black void in front of her weapon’s lenses.
Scarlet viewed the readout, of the nearby stars. There was the Montrey system was probably the closest, but who knew what was there… She realized the lack of information was actually the most statling part about this read out. Their sensors picked up a star that was not marked on any of their other star charts. She looked at it curiously. "Kar'rak, your sensors, are they picking something up?"
A pause came from the line, "My sensors indicate an extra solar body. It is located two parsecs galactic north of our current location."
"Hey, thats not too far, we'd have fuel to spare getting there." Scarlet said, looking at the monitor.
"Don't you think it is odd that this system has never been recorded on Imperial Star Maps before?" Kar'rak asked, raising an air of skepticism.
"You should see whats not on Imperial Star Maps." Scarlet sneered, programming her FTL systems. "What do you say Kar'rak, wanna test your sense of adventure and head off into unknown territory?"
"I temporarily agree with your assessments Corporal O'Connor." Kar'rak said, a smirk on his face. "Transmitting FTL coordinates for unknown system.
system."
"Uh Mate, before we go, there's something, uh, odd about this place." Jack said, his hologram sitting atop the console, pushing his fingers together awkwardly, "See, without better sensors I can't tell for sure, but I've honestly never seen this place before... Eva'"
Which is why we're going to examine it for possible usefulness to us. Kar'rak said, the Sparrow getting a fix on the star of the new system.
The sun's rays licked the two ships as windows opened in front of their ships. Circles of violet light began to split open in front of their vessels. The normally blue light now swirling with red light. Space split open in front of them, "Hyperspace windows holding, transmission coordinants locked in." Scarlet acknowledged, and the two ships pulsed into the portals, diving into hyperspace.
Scarlet relaxed once more, laying back in her seat Scarlet watched out the window as the violet flow of space washed past her ship.
Jeana meandered backwards in the ship, her post powered down as the ship slipped through space. It would be nearly two days until they reached the unknown system and they'd have to make due. There were a few places on the Scudo designated for "Crew Quarters." The area behind the Weapon's Room was a mess hall of sorts. With a frustrated swoon she plopped herself down on a seat. She put her head in her hand and groaned, "What is going on here?"
Yumi walked in just as she spoke, "I don't know hun, seems the whole world is on its head." She said, half smile on her face as she walked in. "We've been on the run from our own Emperor, its not supposed to be this way."
"Hey, better one hundred innocent men die than one guilty man go free, right?" Mark sauntered in, sweat still on his brow. "How often do you think stuff like this has happened over the last hundred years?" Mark asked, sitting down, beaconing Yumi to sit beside him.
"More than the four of us realize." Scarlet said, slipping inside, and leaning against the door. "I'll go get some food." She said, averting her eyes and pulling herself from the wall and walking past them through the shield room. The room opposite of the oxygen system was the storage area.
The other three watched her go, Yumi sat down next to Mark, looking over to him, "A hundred years? Has he been around a hundred years?"
Mark shrugged, "At least that long." He said raising his shoulders. "History books say he's been around for at least a thousand."
"What school did you go to?" Yumi chuckled, pushing her elbow into his arm.
"Core Worlds." He said, putting his arms up, flexing his muscles through his engineering suit, "They made me S.M.R.T. Smart!" He said with a confident grin.
Jeana's head thudded against the table, wrapping her arms over her head. Yumi looked from Mark, "Jeana, is something wrong?"
Jeana gave a muffled groan, "No-"
"Yes, that means yes." Mark responded excitedly.
Jeana and Yumi both chuckled, Jeana peeked out from under her arms. "I'm tired of shooting Imperials. I mean, they were someone's family, right?" she asked, a tear in her eye.
"Yeah, but they're also Bastards." Yumi said, leaning back in her chair, a scowl on her face.
Mark's cheery demeanor had faded, "Yeah, but they're still people. Just following orders." He sighed. "I mean, at some point, orders are orders..." He said quietly, "I mean, how often do you get a gun put to your head around here?"
Yumi leaned back, "It doesn't matter, orders are one thing, but what they're doing out there is murder."
Mark sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "I don't disagree, but don't you think that something needs to change? So people like us don't get pitted against people following orders for no reason?" He sighed, putting his elbows on the table.
An awkward silence was preemptively broken as Scarlet returned with a large tray. "Foods up." She said quietly, setting the tray on the table. Four hot plates of reconstituted food was met with welcome and hungry eyes.
The system approached steadily, the two ships floating in tandem towards the anomalous system ahead of them. The two days passed slowly, a sense of isolation continued to grow. On board each of the ships, silence seemed to prevail. Each of the six individuals found less comfort in the company of other individuals. The one thing that kept them comfortable was the fact that the Scudo and Sparrow were equipped for well over a year's worth of food. Jack was the first to speak a full sentence the second day of travel.
His red hologram stretched, "Mate, that star you were looking at is coming up, we'll be there within fifteen minutes or so."
Kar'rak nodded, having been sitting in the cockpit for most of the day. "Alert the Scudo." He ordered.
By the time the ships dropped out of warp, the crew of both ships was on alert. In an explosion of light, two ships fell back into space.
"Scudo here, we've reached the star." Scarlet said, the shield on her cockpit screen barely containing the light from the small white star. "It is really..." She paused, looking at the sensor readout in front of her, "Kar'rak! There are readings all over the gravity well." She shouted, dozens of red dots blipping all over her sensor range.
"I sense them too, its..." Kar'rak's hand reached down and ran across his sensors... "They're gone, all the signals have stopped transmitting."
"Alright, lets get out of here, I'll scan for planets in the system." Scarlet said, pressing a few buttons, the Scudo sweeping for planets.
Jack's face appeared on her monitor, "See, this is what I was trying to tell Kar'rak... You see, all the planets of this system are aligned."
"So I'm seeing, they're... Wait, they're all the same size, I mean, exactly the same size." Scarlet said, raising an eyebrow, "I'll rescan."
"They're all within the size parameters of our scanners." Jack said in a low, synthesized voice. "Six in all."
"I wish we had some time to work on our ships, but doing this around stars is problematic, we need to get around one of the planets to work with our new equipment." Scarlet complained, unable to get a read on what may be waiting for them around the planets of the Unknown star...
Creepy.
What we know:
->Something broadcasted <something> during the first few seconds of arrival, and stopped shortly thereafter.
->The planets are completely aligned, which may or may not have any specific reason. (E.G. one of pluto's moons is always on the same location compared to pluto itself, so if these planets work the same, being aligned would happen 100% of all time. Though if that is not the case, we're witnessing something special).
-> For some reason, either nobody bothered to chart this area, or nobody lived to tell anyone about the system.
->If the map is accurate, all planets have equal distance gaps between them, which probably means little, but could be useful later on.
->If we're going to be sightseeing, there would be a total eclipse-situation on each planet but the first, likely shrouding any but the closest planet in darkness.
My idea: We go and visit the planet closest to the star, why?
-> If whatever was broadcasting is hostile, we can hightail it out of here asap.
->It is the only non-eclipsed planet
->Being so close to the sun would render chances of terrestial life nonexistant, but any signs of space-faring species could be picked up(e.g. satellites, debris, space-junk, et cetera).
->It gives us the biggest timeframe to plan accordingly to whatever we pick up while traversing there, it could be useless, new on the stellar maps, or the homeworlds of the zerg for all I know.
Oh, and we'd better keep one-and-a-half eye glued on our scanners&monitors, something assures me we're not alone.
Endvote: B, assuming 1 is closest to the star, else it would be number 6.
Your reasoning is sound, but not smart in my opinion. Too dangerous to go straight in next to the nearest planet to the star, firstly because the star could be highly unstable or just anything like that, and secondly if we're stuck in the center of the system trying to scan and look around it could be a trap and we would have to fight our way out through every planet area before getting out of the system, it pays to be cautious in unknown space.
My vote, go to the outermost planet and scan it, then go in one by one, scanning each as we go, taking things slowly and cautiously just in case it's a trap, this way at least we have a clear path out behind us. So travel to G if it's the outermost planet, or if it isn't, then choose be B if it is instead.
Your reasoning is sound, but not smart in my opinion. Too dangerous to go straight in next to the nearest planet to the star, firstly because the star could be highly unstable or just anything like that, and secondly if we're stuck in the center of the system trying to scan and look around it could be a trap and we would have to fight our way out through every planet area before getting out of the system, it pays to be cautious in unknown space.
My vote, go to the outermost planet and scan it, then go in one by one, scanning each as we go, taking things slowly and cautiously just in case it's a trap, this way at least we have a clear path out behind us. So travel to G if it's the outermost planet, or if it isn't, then choose be B if it is instead.
Your reasoning is sound, but not smart in my opinion. Too dangerous to go straight in next to the nearest planet to the star, firstly because the star could be highly unstable or just anything like that, and secondly if we're stuck in the center of the system trying to scan and look around it could be a trap and we would have to fight our way out through every planet area before getting out of the system, it pays to be cautious in unknown space.
My vote, go to the outermost planet and scan it, then go in one by one, scanning each as we go, taking things slowly and cautiously just in case it's a trap, this way at least we have a clear path out behind us. So travel to G if it's the outermost planet, or if it isn't, then choose be B if it is instead.
Assuming: We entered at/near the star, rendering the closest planet the one next to it, which means crossing the entire system to go and visit the outer one a death sentence.
:If we indeed did arrive at the star, we have verified the fact that it is not unstable, mainly due to our continued being there.
Should Hali proclaim that we did NOT arrive at the star, and instead at the outer edge of the system(also known as the planet the furthest away from the sun), then I concur and your reasoning is valid, changing my vote to G
Edit: With Hali's confirmed statement that we are indeed at the sun, and not particularly akin to burnt toast, I feel safe to say that picking the closest planet has the least probability of being nommed by angry UFOs. Though I must admit that my curiosity to find out what goodies(or baddies) await on the other planets in this system is stronger than ever.
Summary: Vote remains a firm and solid B.
Reasoning: Now that we know that we're at the sun, flying up and down the line of planets, even when trying to be two sneaky spaceships, will not work, thus I feel content with just saying "hi" to the closest planet and work our way from there.
We did indeed arrive at the star, which is why we can't upgrade our ships right here. The longrange FTL Drives on the ship have to lock on to large solar masses, like stars.
Hope you're not all terribly offended by my last post, I feel I could have delivered better, and shall attempt to do so now!~
The white star's light shone brightly, almost seeming to shine through the thick metal walls of the small frigates. Both captains looked out their viewports, examining the area around them, looking for whatever their sensors had picked up on arrival, but nothing seemed to be appearing. Jeana examined her weapon's readout, and Lawrence examined his drone's view from the hangar. Mark and Yumi didn't have the benefit of exterior views. Even as they searched the white star didn't illuminate anything.
"Kar'rak, I'm not picking up anything around us, but there are six planets in this system." Scarlet said, looking at the aligned planets. "Jack's statistics show that the planets in this system are constantly aligned, all rotating at the same speed relative to each other."
"We plot a course for the first planet in the system." He growled, looking at Jack's read out.
"You mean the first on the outer edge? Or the first on from the sun?" Lawrence asked from the drone room, his voice almost immediately ringing through Kar'rak's cockpit.
"Yeah, what planet exactly are we going to?" Scarlet asked, a smirk on her face, realizing she must be causing at least mild frustration in her domineering companion. For a moment, she wondered if that behavior reflected poorly on her professional behavior, but the moment quickly passed she snickered at Kar'rak's growl.
"I refuse to be annoyed further. Jack, send a coordinates to the Scudo." He snapped, his irritation easily heard over the radio.
"Now was that for the planet closest to the sun or farthest?" He asked, drawing a shout of frustration from the Tutarin. Naw naw mate, dun worry, I'm sending the coordinates now. He said with an accented chuckle.
Without a pause, there was the ring of a transmission on the bridge of the Scudo. "I've got a fix on the first planet." Scarlet said, aligning her vessel to the target. Jump on my mark. She said, opening the power gates to the FTL.
Powering down sublight engines. Mark said, giving the FTL an extra boost in charge. As a result the Scudo was ready to jump well before the Sparrow.
"Sparrow, respond when ready." Scarlet said, flipping open the protected FTL lever.
"Ready to jump." Kar'rak said, replicating Scarlet's practiced motions in his own cockpit.
"Three, two, one, mark." Scarlet already began sliding the lever forwards, Kar'rak following suit. In the instant that their ships engaged their FTL, the pulses began to appear all along their sensor range again! Dozens of unknown signatures appear all about the Star's gravity well. As the windows opened in front of their ships and began to pull them in Scarlet saw a small point of light that began to pulse back upon the body of a massive object, almost like a firefly-
It was gone. In a flash of light marked their entrance into subspace. Scarlet's eyes were still wide, she wasn't sure what she had seen. She heard her own heart beating in her ears. "K-Kar'rak... Did you see anything just now?" She asked breathlessly.
"I believe I witnessed an opponent that would be too challenging to face in our current condition." He said in a deep voice.
Scarlet closed the protective cover over her FTL lever and stood up. "I'm going to consult with my crew." She said quietly, leaving the bridge, her hands trembling.
The room behind her was a security room that doubled as the cryochambers and by the time she reached it Jeana was already there. "Scarlet, Scarlet what the hell was that?" She asked, her body trembling more than Scarlet.
"I can't tell you for sure." She responded quietly, "But I can tell you that whatever it was it made me jump out of my seat." She shuddered, "It wasn't in any of the hostile recognition books from the Academy."
"Or trade recognition models." She shook her head, "I have no heavenly idea what that could have been."
Scarlet put a hand on Jeana's back, "Lets go find Yumi and Mark, see what they think." She lead Jeana back to the dining hall.
Mark and Yumi were seated across from each other at the table, both looked up when they saw the girls walk in. Hey, lookie there. Mark said with a grin as the two entered.
Scarlet waved, "H-hey, do you know of any civilizations out here? Other than our colonies?" She asked, swollowing her anxiety.
Yumi leaned back in her seat, "Well, the Asura home system isn't too far from here, within five or six Parsecs I'd say." She tilted her head to the side, her green hair swaying across her back. "Why do you ask?"
"There's something around here. Something that can hide from our basic sensors." Scarlet said, sitting down at the table, across from the seat that Jeana took. "Something big, like a firefly." She added, clasping her hands in front of her, propping her chin on it as she strained her brain to recall every moment of the experience.
"That's beyond Asura technology, clocking is kinda in its infancy as far as I know. The Imperial Shock Troopers have some basic clocking, but it can be countered by better sensors." He said, nodding to himself, his eyebrow furrowed, "Nothing big enough to hide a ship though." he said, looking back to the table.
The Sparrow had an entirely different scene. The Tutarin stalked down the hall, scowl on his face. His patience barely able to hold long enough for the automated doors to open. He quickly moved down to the spinal bridge.
Jack appeared in the drone room, "Hay, you, short thing!" Jack said, waving to Lawrence. "You, uh, well I was going to suggest hiding, but he's almost here." He suggested to the Asura, quickly vanishing as the door to the room slid open.
"Asura scum!" He shouted, lunging into the room, grabbing Private Lawrency by the collar and swinging him out of his seat to slam him against the wall. "We're so near your people's homeworld, I refuse to believe you don't know what it is we just encountered."
The short legs of the scared crewman flailed, holding himself up on the Tutarin's wrist. "Hey, hey, hey! Wait!" He gasped, "Please, I stop! I swear, its way above my pay grade! I only heard whispers!" He gasped, coughing as the Tutarin Hunter pressed his fists into his neck.
"You only live because your instincts are more efficient than a computer's ability to control a drone." He growled, his maw close to the Asura's trembling snout.
"A-All I know is that there's something." He said, his voice shaking as much as his body, "People on my planet might know something, but I don't, I don't know anythi-hi-hi-hing!" He sobbed.
"We'll discuss this later." Kar'rak said, dropping his victim to the floor and stalking out of the room. Private Lawrence trembled, curling up into a ball on the floor, whimpering.
"I wanna go to the other ship." He whispered to himself.
Scarlet shook her head, the crew of the Scudo totally baffled as to the scenario that had unfolded in front of them. She put her hand on her head and sat in her pilot's seat, "Ahh, I'm getting too old for this." She groaned. The planet was incoming, "Kar'rak, thirty seconds to drop warp." She notified him, preparing her ship to exit warp. She had no idea what she would see on the other side, but at this point it didn't matter...
An explosion of energy preceeded each of the two ships as the appeared in the gravity well of the first planet from the sun. Instantly the planet seemed peculiar, the vibrent green of the planet shone through the sparse clouds above the surface. "Kar'rak, the water on the surface, it looks like its contained to a spiderweb like formation across the entire surface."
"Save for pools at the polls and along the Prime Meridian." Kar'rak pointed out.
"Not quite, that's the equator, the planet is rotating on horizontal axis, its a little like its rolling along its orbital path." Scarlet said, a smile on her face, admiring the uniqueness of the planet's orbit.
"Don't you find it odd that there are no signs of life on the planet?" Kar'rak questioned.
"That is odd, I can't see anything, not a single building, anything." Scarlet observed. "There's nothing reading in orbit, maybe we can take some time to upgrade our ships, now that we're not next to a star for once." Scarlet chuckled.
"We should move in and scan the planet to ensure our safety." Kar'rak said, glaring at the red head through the screen.
They saw a big construct with a tiny light, shaped like a firefly, and it went "poof" within seconds yet again.
Our resident Asura might just have heard some rumours he's not telling us.
I'm going to go on assumptions here yet again:
->Whatever it was, it's significantly bigger and more advanced that we are
->It's not downright hostile per sé, else it would've shot instead of cloaked.
->It either does not desire to be contacted, or deems us unimportant/not a threat and went away.
->Water on a planet this close near a star? That either means someone bothered to dome the entire planet and regulate temperatures remotely, the star really does not pack a punch(Which makes all subsequent planets very, very cold) or we're looking at a technical difficulty and space-time continuüm will correct it soon.
Now, for what I think we should be doing:
->We scan the planet, specifically just below the surface.
Why: Unless space-time continuüm kicks in and alters reality, either someone forced this upon the planet or this is the sole viable planet in the sector. Either way this is the only planet with large amounts of sunlight, which could hint at solar radiation and thus underground building.
->We have a little heart to heart with everyone about what they think our best course of action is now that we know at the least something inhabits this system, makes me wonder why it has never been charted before. Food for thought?
->Should the scanners not reveal massive amounts of habitation underground, I feel safe to say that we at the least fix any damage done during previous fights, and maybe glue the rocketlauncher to the scudo.
->If the scanners DO turn up lifesigns, but at a low rate, we can drop in and say "hi", if it is in large amounts, we could send a message via the ship. Should there eventually be nothing, we pack up and check the next planet, as it will tell us from its composition exactly what we need to know about the system.
