The Nova (IC Thread, FT, Closed Except to Accepted Players)

[Unified Western States]

If there were no signal transmitters or explosives located, however, Varesh would press the play button, hoping to get some answers.

There were none. There was a signal transmitter, but it was short range, not nearly powerful for an explosive detonator.

"Check the walls", Silfer barked to Runt, sending the young man to check for possible trap doors and such, false panels behind which some officers and more travelling-minded merchants hid their valuables. Walking to the holoterminal, Silfer checked it for possible traps before he opened it, deciding to have a look if he could find something of value inside...

There were no false panels, but the console did burst to life when it was opened. The main screen happily read

Code: Select all

Welcome back Mr. Carter

[Northern Rangeria]

Varesh clicked her tongue and nodded one of her team mates to him. "Start a wide-range scan for signal receivers. Whatever this is for, the signal won't carry too far. And I'd rather not find this to be a remote control to the garage door."

Meanwhile in the office Silfer sat down in the surprisingly comfortable chair and attempted to get inside the console's systems. An office meant that this was likely a place where one of the ship's officers had worked. And if he knew anything about ship design, an office this close to cargo bays and so far away from the bridge meant that the previous owner - this is Mr Carter - had likely been the ship's quartermaster (though he did wonder why the computer hadn't greeted him by rank). With any luck, he might find the cargo manifest...

[Unified Western States]

The computer hummed happily, before going to a main menu. Whoever Mr. Carter had been, he hadn't logged off since the last time he was on.

Code: Select all

Welcome
-Ship-Net
-Messages (2 New)
-Cargo Manifest Forms
-Reports on Trihexium
-News Updates

The main menu had these items on it, nothing more.

Back in the cargo bay, the signal receiver had been found to be identical to that of a cell phone or communicator. The cylinder was meant to send and receive messages.

[Northern Rangeria]

Silfer almost purred with delight as he saw the information. Drawing a cable from his wrist panel, he attached the console to his own wrist computer.

"Varesh", he called with the comm in his helm. "I think I found something you might be interested in. Sending data..."

A couple of clicks on the keyboard, and Silfer was copying the Reports on Trihexium and the Cargo Manifest Forms on his wrist computer, transmitting them to Varesh for study. He himself decided to take a glance at Ship-Net, hoping to locate other cargo bays and the armoury. With any luck, there might be something of value there...

[Unified Western States]

Code: Select all

Report On Trihexium
Written: March 24th, 2895
Report Filed By: Jonathan Berkley
File Type: Text Document

So far, the studies of the Trihexium have turned up inconclusive and as a result, this report will be short. From what we know, the Trihexium shares a molecular structure unlike anything we have ever seen before. In fact, the closest substance it comes close to is dark matter. But dark matter cannot, as far as we know, exist in solid form. However, more and more signs are pointing to this very thing. The Trihexium gives off particle emissions, and strange ones too. One of our men touched a piece without protective gear on and he has been in a coma ever since. The doctors say that whatever the particles the Trihexium gives off are, they cause a near instant neural shutdown. Be careful. The only other thing we have learned is that the Trihexium reacts strangely with the Cylinders. This leads us to believe that they might all be from the same ruins....but we're not sure yet. I will continue to send these reports as often as something comes up.

Code: Select all

Cargo Manifest
Written: January 6th, 2895
Document Filed By: UWS Seattle Space Port
File Type: Text Document

The following is the cargo manifest for cargo bay 1A:

-100 crates of weapons and ammunition (to be moved to armory B-9)
-300 barrels of nanites
-40 medical supply crates (to be moved to medical deck)
-5 crates of unknown contents(brought onboard by military, NOT TO BE TOUCHED)
-40 crates of body armor (to be moved to armory C-19)
-300 barrels of secure helium 3

Meanwhile, touching the ShipNet icon brought up a new screen. It showed the Nova's logo. An image of the UWS flag with the Nova superimposed in front of it. Beneath the picture, it read For The Future Of Our People and above it, WSRS Nova. That screen vanished, and a new one appeared.

Code: Select all

Please Enter Query

[F799]

Quickly 7 of the 9 droids moved into the office, the 2 others, staying outside to guard the door. Positioning themselves about the small room they began to scan over the titles of the various books neatly lining the shelves. The command droid and another moved towards the computer, hooking the other droid directly into it, in hopes that it could access the computer's mainframe without having to go through proper login channels and the like. If they could find out what had been on this ship and what was on the bridge, perhaps they stood a chance against this unseen enemy.

[The Ularn]

WSRS Nova, UWS Prototype Research Vessel
Piccolo System

The warriors were silent for a few moments after the recording ended. Eventually someone tentatively asked "What's a DPR?"

Fraudra shrugged, "Dark Particle Reactor; possibly some sort of more advanced variant of our wormhole array. Least that's what command thinks. Some key part of the assembly is meant to be on the bridge which is why Kashack wants it secured."

That made some degree of sense. The message had also mentioned dark matter weapons. Although such technology had never even been considered by the Ularn, dark matter concentrations were one of the most important factors measured in determining where a wormhole opened in a given place would exit. These wormholes were the key to Ularn faster-than-light travel, enabling them to cross vast distances instantaneously, but were limited in that a wormhole opened in a certain place would only ever exit in one other place which was always fixed. Therefore, space travel in the Ularn usually consisted of instantaneous jumps across long distances, interspersed with long, dull transition periods as the ship had to travel the much shorter distances to the next appropriate jump point at sub-light speeds.

Theoretically it might be possible to manipulate dark matter concentrations so as to dictate the exit point of any given wormhole, and if it was then such an achievement could allow a ship to jump from any point in the galaxy to any other in less than the blink of an eye. However, no Ularn scientist had yet figured out how to do so. If the designers of the Nova had, then the ship would have just become of invaluable worth to the Ularn Federation.

"The rest of us," Fraudra continued, "Mission remains the same; scour the ship and look for survivors. Koris, that door should hopefully take you towards the bridge," she pointed to the forward bulkhead, "Check your seals before you go; the bridge deck has been breached to there'll likely be no atmosphere on most of it. Secure the bridge itself but don't enter it, and watch out for any robots.

"As for the rest of you; second squad, take that door to the engines. Fourth squad, follow me into the middle. Maintain constant communications. Now move out!"

The three squads obediently split up, N'tack went with the rest of First Squad heading for the front while Second went for the rear and Fourth followed Fraudra deeper into the ship. All the while the sense of foreboding failed to ease.

[Unified Western States]

If they could find out what had been on this ship and what was on the bridge, perhaps they stood a chance against this unseen enemy.

There was something wrong with the computer. A program inside ordered it to dump a secondary mainframe into the robot instead of its primary one. Thousands of pictures and recordings flashed into the droid, but at such a fast rate that it was near impossible to keep up. The hard drive kept dumping.

[Unified Western States]

The three squads obediently split up, N'tack went with the rest of First Squad heading for the front while Second went for the rear and Fourth followed Fraudra deeper into the ship. All the while the sense of foreboding failed to ease.

The two different doors led in different directions. The sign for the one going deeper into the ship read "To Elevator To Main Decks". The one heading to the front led to a tram system. That would take them to the very front of the ship. As both groups left the cold storage, the bulkheads hissed closed behind them. Lighting in the corridors was minimal, with the light-plates built into the floor and ceiling barely producing enough to read by.

[The Ularn]

WSRS Nova, UWS Prototype Research Vessel
Piccolo System

"Lights on people" Koris instructed, prompting N'tack, along with the other members of the squad, to flick the switched at the back of their helmets to activate the built in torches. A dozen pools of light illuminated the corridor, wavering from side to side with the movements of their owners' heads.

The squad moved cautiously down the corridor, two-dozen metal feet echoing harshly on the ship's gangway, always with three of the warriors covering the rear while the others tread on ahead. Every time they reached a bend in the corridor they used standard procedure; one warrior placing his gauss cannon around the corner and watching the feed from its built in gun cam, displayed on a window on the warrior's HUD. Considering the possibility of encountering the Syndicate robots the manoeuvre made sense. But even if there had been no mention of hostiles, N'tack would have done it anyway. So would the others. The uncharacteristic silence of his squadmates told them this ship creeped the hell out of them as much as it did him.

Why can't we get some damn lights?

Going through another unlocked door, First Squad found itself in a much larger room; on the platform of a transit terminal. Looking around at the space; seemingly cavernous after what felt like hours following the much narrower corridors, they recognised a pair of rails built into the floor leading into tunnel exists at each end of the terminal. Upon the furthest rail was mounted a car. Spotlights darted around the room as the warriors explored it with their eyes, settling momentarily on various features like the rails or the car, or upon the wall notices including directions and numerous propaganda posters. N'tack's eyes shifted from one bearing the slogan "Remember: You're the future of humanity" to another featuring a picture of some strange fur covered mammal he couldn't name hanging from a tree branch. The caption below read "Hang in there baby!"

N'tack wondered whether it was just the translation implant, or whether mankind's sense of humour genuinely was this asinine.

Squad-Leader Koris, having lowered himself onto the rails and then pulled himself up on the other side, was busy studying one of the signs. Eventually he turned around, headtorch swinging past N'tack as he did so and momentarily dazzling the warrior until his visor kicked in to filter of the excess light.

"This way leads to the bridge," Koris stated, pointing at one of the tunnel exits, then looked at the car, "Let's see if this thing will work first. If not, we're walking,"

As a group, the remaining eleven warriors hopped down into the recess and stepped across the rails, lifting each other up onto the far side from which they stepped aboard the car. By torchlight Koris studied a panel of buttons at one end for a moment as they boarded before pushing one marked "Command Decks".

---

Squad Two had taken off towards the engines, and it seemed that there was no other way off this level other than the lift. With the same feeling of dread she had experienced dealing with the computer in the storage room, Fraudra ordered Squad Four to get aboard the lift and thumbed the activation button.

---

Commercial Mining Tug CS-1083B Tug Job
Piccolo System

Tap...Tap...Tap...

By torchlight Basiid had examined every inch of the tug's cargo bay, its engines and its winch assembly and found nothing moving anywhere. Now he as back in the winch assembly room, where the four massive cables used to haul around asteroids were controlled. The sound was loudest here, seeming to come from beneath Basiid's feet, placing the source on the underside of the hull.

Tap...Tap...Tap...

Shivering in spite of his armour's heating systems, the warrior looked around the floor for some sort of access panel. There was none. Whatever was making that noise, it was outside the ship.

Tap...Tap...Tap...

Basiid's eyes then alighted on the controls to the winches. The displays on three of them indicated the cables were fully stowed, while the fourth seemed to be not fully wound in. Could that be the source of the noise?

Tap...

Following his hunch, Basiid quickly found the correct controls to reel in the last cable, and pressed a button. Instantly all other sound was drowned out by agonised screeching. Metal grinding against metal. Hurrying to shut it off, Basiid reversed the controls, letting the cable all the way out. The screeching ceased, to be replaced by the rumbling of motors as several kilometres of metre-thick cabling unwound.

"Basiid!" cackled the enraged voice of his Squad-Leader, "What the hell are you doing,"

As scared of the Lead's abnormal temper as he was of the noise, Basiid immediately hit the cable's emergency stop. The rumbling ceased.

As he went back to the airlock to face the ire of his superior, Basiid almost found himself unable to care. The tapping had stopped.

But now the silence was scaring him.

---

UFS Rapier III, Ularn Stellar class corvette
Piccolo System

Seated in the command throne aboard the bridge of his ship, Kashack stared happily at the orders he had just received. along with the instructions to secure the bridge, command had sent news that in light of his discovery; Kashack's discovery, Command was upping their presence around the Nova. A dozen warships, ranging from corvettes all the way up to frigates, destroyers and cruisers, were being organised to support the "salvage and rescue" effort (previously it had been "rescue and salvage") aboard the strange vessel. They would arrive in twenty-eight hours.

Kashack knew the potential ramifications of this find. His promotion was now assured; there would probably even be medals.

[Unified Western States]

By torchlight Koris studied a panel of buttons at one end for a moment as they boarded before pushing one marked "Command Decks".

The tram spoke.

"Please step back from the doors. The doors are now closing." the doors hissed closed and the Mag-Lev systems lifted the tram up off the tracks and then shot off into the transit tunnel. The tram spoke again.

"Welcome aboard. This tram is destined for the command decks. Please note that these are restricted decks and you will be checked by security upon arrival. The estimated time to arrival is nine minutes. Please take a seat."

The tram whisked them through the tunnels. A holographic map of the ship showed them where they were. About three minutes before reaching their destination, a horrible screeching could be heard and the tram slowed and stopped.

"I'm sorry. There is an obstruction in the tram line. Maintenance crews have been contacted. Please wait while the obstruction is cleared."

Fraudra ordered Squad Four to get aboard the lift and thumbed the activation button.

The lift doors hissed closed and began to ascend. The computer spoke.

"Please note, a security lockdown has been put into place on deck 3. Deck 3 is off limits to unauthorized personnel at this time. This lift will stop at deck 5."

[Unified Western States]

bump

[The Ularn]

WSRS Nova, UWS Prototype Research Vessel
Piccolo System

"Look sharp!" Koris ordered as the tram slowed to a halt, "Firing positions, both sides. I don't want anything to surprise us,"

He didn't elaborate on what "anything" could be.

The warriors scrambled to either side of the tram, N'tack taking position at the front with five others including the Squad-Lead. Two warriors tried to smash the glass, but it seemed to be reinforced. Nonetheless, a few quick slashes with a plasma blade and the window had fallen beneath the rail. N'tack pointed his gauss cannon through the hole towards the darkness, wishing that he's been allowed to take his missile launcher instead.

There was a burst of static on the comms, and then N'tack heard the Sub-Lieutenant's voice in his ear, "Koris, this is Fraudra, do you read?"

Koris leaned back from his position and placed a hand to his helmet. "Read you Sub," he responded in a hushed tone, "We're on the transit line heading for the bridge but our car's broken down. Gonna wait here for a few minutes and then move out on foot if nothing changes, over,"

"Copy that. We're in a lift on our way to deck five. Going smoothly at our end except the ship's saying something about a lockdown on deck three. Listen Koris, I've lost contact with Second Squad."

Everyone in the tram felt a chill. "Confirm Sub," Koris replied, "You've lost contact with Second?"

"Affirmative. Command's been notified. There were some odd readings coming from the engines so it might just be interfering with their comms. the Rapier III's been notified and we're to complete our sweep before coming back to look for them. Just thought you should know to keep on your guard,"

"Yeah, can pretty much guarantee that last part," someone muttered.

Koris nodded, "Thanks for the update, Sub. Koris out,"

Braced against the window ledge, hands on his weapon, peering ahead as far as the spotlights in his helmet would penetrate, N'tack began to pray.

[Unified Western States]

On the tram, a whirring could be heard. There was significant space on either side of the tram and suddenly, light filled the tunnel. Two odd robots on wheels whipped by either side, heading in front of the tram. They pulled into the darkness. Some screeching and wrenching of metal could be heard, but the two robots came back, carrying large chunks of meta in their claws. The robots zipped back away. The tram started up again.

"Thank you for your patience. The obstruction has been cleared." The tram zoomed along silently, the air whistling through the now open windows. Finally, the tram pulled to a stop in front of a well lit lobby. A giant holographic 3D model of the Nova hovered in the center of the room, and a bank of elevators on the far wall said "To Command Decks". There was also a door off to the right, that at read "Security Station".

"We have arrived. Please proceed follow all orders given by the security personnel." The tram doors hissed open. Posters also hung on the walls. It was more motivational stuff.

"Safety is everyone responsibility"

"The UWS is counting on you"

And things to that type. But there was still the same eerie quiet the filled the entire ship. A magazine lay on the ground, the first sing of anyone onboard.

[Vorlon Prime]

Shaarl looked at the Vorlon’s impassive features, reaching up casually to caress her fingertips against the green panels at the top of the suit’s shoulders. “What’s so important about this ship?” she asked, quietly. The other two had returned to the bridge, and for now she had nothing to do, and was therefore at liberty to explore her own interests. The alien passenger interested her. She couldn’t say what about it was so fascinating, but it was exotic, at least.

“What’s so special about this ship?” she said, leaning over the table.

“I do not understand it,” the alien said, turning its head to look at the door. The room wasn’t far from the cockpit. A button clicked and the door shut with a hiss.

Shaarl blinked at that, she’d been wondering how the Vorlon would manipulate things outside its suit without visible limbs beyond puny grapplers. Some kind of force field projector, most likely. “What’s unusual about that?” she said, “why should you be all knowing? The universe doesn’t work that way, no one knows everything.”

“I do not,” Nakosh said.

“Then why should it matter to you?”

There were a number of answers Nakosh considered in a fraction of a second, but none seemed to be able to achieve so much in such a short time without draining her for the struggle that was to come. She didn’t like this idea, but it was the only one she had that would achieve anything.

The head section of the alien’s suit detached completely, allowing a sheet of pure white light to emerge from it.

---

Shaarl returned to the cockpit and sat down at the sensor station, waiting a short time on it before looking at the two humans. “Hey, come look at this,” she said, pointing at a false positive she’d created on the screen.

'Walking' down onto the lower deck, Nakosh bowed her head in shame.

[F799]

There was something wrong with the computer. A program inside ordered it to dump a secondary mainframe into the robot instead of its primary one. Thousands of pictures and recordings flashed into the droid, but at such a fast rate that it was near impossible to keep up. The hard drive kept dumping

As the images flashed through the droids mind they were automatically downloaded and transmitted, after further intensive scanning for viruses or problems, to a central computer aboard the Deathly Sting, where they would be slowed and deeply analyized for any clues pertaining to valuabels aboard the ship, the ship's missions, her residents, and what now was occurring.


The droid at the controls simply stayed plugged in, allowing itself to become little more than a transmitter as the images flashed through it's mind faster and faster. Even if it could not compute what they all were, they were all instantly transferred and saved safely aboard an external drive in the masive Syndicate ship.

OOC: If you could post whatever it is these images display and what info might be gleaned from them I would appreciate it.

[The Ularn]

WSRS Nova, UWS Prototype Research Vessel
Piccolo System

As relieved as he had been to be underway again, the more N'tack thought about those robots the more they worried him. This ship had been here at least a week. Why did the machines only now try to clear the tracks? And what was it that damaged them in the first place?

As the train pulled up the squad cautiously filed out while two of their number covered them from the doorway, alternating their aim from the security station door to the three lift entrances in turn. Keeping her weapon trained on one of the exits, Sub-Leader Sorwiz kicked over the magazine, then picked it up and leafed through it briefly and curiously.

Looking at the door to the security station Koris whispered, "We might be able to find second squad from the security station, or at least download a map of the ship or something. Team Two, check it out; Team Three, cover fire!"

Glad at the distraction offered to the squad by the familiarity of combat manoeuvres, N'tack, Sorwiz and the two other members of Fireteam Two flattened themselves on either side of the station doorway while the two warriors still in the train pointed their gauss cannons at it. Two more warriors dropped off the platform onto the rail bed and took up firing positions from underneath the car. The rest of the squad retreated out of immediate view of the doorway.

Standing opposite him Sorwiz fixed the black tinted gaze of her visor on N'tack and gripped her weapon meaningfully. N'tack did likewise, indicating he was ready. Sorwiz produced her left hand with three fingers extended and began to withdraw them one by one.

Three...Two...One...

As every warrior in the squad watched her with bated breath, Sorwiz pushed the door button.

[Unified Western States]

As every warrior in the squad watched her with bated breath, Sorwiz pushed the door button.

The magazine was something called "Time" magazine. The cover story was familiar. It featured a woman standing on a podium, the presidential seal of the UWS stamped on the podium proudly. Behind her, a massive TV screen was showing the Nova. The title of the story, in the corner of the cover, read:

After 30 Years, Nova Ready To Launch

At the security station, the door beeped, then hissed open. Nothing happened. A little dust drifted out, but besides that, there was no reaction. The interior of the security station was small, just big enough for four people. Two chairs sat facing a row of holoconsoles and windoes out onto the platform, while two other chairs faced away from the door and to more holoconsoles.

Squad Four, Deck 5

The lift softly binged as it reached Deck 5. The doors quietly slid open, revealing a dark, pitch black corridor. Unlike the other parts of this ship they had been to, this deck was not clean and crisp. This one had metal floor plates, pipes that ran along the ceiling, some of which were, leaking, spilling a fine fog that covered the ground. A few of the light plates flickered and spark. But there was something else. Particle rifle marks scarred the walls, the floor, the ceiling. When the elevator doors closed behind them, they saw the burn marks of the particles rifles on the elevator door too.

[The Ularn]

WSRS Nova, UWS Prototype Research Vessel
Piccolo System

Upon the door opening Sorwiz and N'tack had rushed inside; weapons raised; triggers tense. The other two warriors would have done too had there been space, but since there wasn't they merely relaxed the moment Sorwiz shouted "Clear!"

The other warriors relaxed as well, one of them picking up the magazine and giving it a closer inspection while Sorwiz and N'tack studied the security booth's controls and displays.

"See what you can get out of that one," Sorwiz instructed, pointing at the further control set, "A map, or some sign of the other squads. I'll take this one."

Neither of them attempted to sit down. Ularn power armour wasn't well designed for sitting in anything other than a specially shaped jumpseat and testing that rule tended to lead to chafing. The designers clearly had not intended the warriors to be sitting down often and though they didn't it never ceased to be an annoyance whenever the option did arise. Instead each of them unclipped their gauss cannons from the undersides of their forearms to give them another hand to work with, and tried to see what they could get from the terminals.

---

Fraudra swore, "Okay people; stay frosty. Advance slowly and keep your eyes peeled for hostiles,"

"Sub, how? We can't see a thing in this fog!"

Noting the warrior who complained, Fraudra did recognise that he was right. The mist meant they couldn't see where they put their feet, and it seemed to get thicker up ahead. Their helmet torches didn't seem to penetrate it at any rate. And if there was a hole in the floor from damage or just an open panel the first they would know about it was when someone fell through.

"Switch to Infra-red," she ordered, at the same time flicking a switch in her helmet turning rendering the view of the corridor in her visor in a mixture of blues and violets. The red and yellow outline of a warrior stepped cautiously in front of her with its weapon raised. Fraudra then opened another channel with the Rapier III "Sub-Commander, this is Fraudra. We're on deck five of the ship. No signs of life, but there's a lot of small-arms damage in this corridor,"

"Copy that Fraudra. Still no sign of Second Squad?"

"None sir,"

"Very well. Proceed with caution,"

"Willdo. Fraudra out," the Sub-Lieutenant concluded, then switched over the comm to address the squad, "Okay, unless anyone's afraid of the dark, move out!" she ordered, prompting the orange blobs of Fourth squad to begin to edge forward with the same fearful reluctance as they had shown since coming aboard. On this ship, they really were afraid of the dark.

[Unified Western States]

Security Station

The terminals booted up without a problem. They hadn't actually be shut down, they had simply been in dormant mode, so there was no need to log in. The one that was at the far end turned out to be the most useful.

Code: Select all

Welcome Back Colonel Thompson
You have 1 new message from:
Todd Foster

-ShipNet
-Security Systems
-Security Logs

The magazine was full of stories about finances and such, but the thickest part was about the Nova. At least, it should have been. When the guy who had picked it up got to the start of the story, the start was a large picture of a 3D rendering of the Nova. In big red letter beneath it, it read:

Can the Nova change science forever?

But the next page yielded little. Because it wasn't there. Somebody had ripped everything except the first page of the story out of the magazine. And only the first paragraph of the lone page could be read, because somebody had also marked over the entire page with black marker, then in red marker had written "LIES. ALL LIES". The first paragraph read:

It started as a dream. A dream to change the world. What started as a dream soon became a reality as Project New Sight was officially begun by the UWS National Agency for Aeronautics and Space. The project was the dream-child of Albert Reishman, an aeronautical physicist and expert on dark matter research. His dream was that one day, humanity could harness dark matter to make energy, advance space-flight and bring humanity into a new era. A now his dreams are being recognized with the completion of the WSRS Nova, the first ship to be built that utilizes an experimental dark particle reactor proposed by Reishman, who is now ninety years old. The Nova, which will be launching off on its first voyage in a few weeks, is designed to conduct research on the origins on the universe and the effects dark matter and energy have on the universe at large. Among other equipment, the Nova carries an experimental super ion laser collider, which is designed to recreated conditions found only during the big ban...

The rest was too obstructed to see.


Deck Five

A dimly glittering holographic sign above their head flickered to life. In the direction they were going, it read: "To Vehicle Hangar"

A dull clanking noise could be heard all of the sudden, from somewhere up ahead. It sounded like someone striking a piece of metal with a hammer.

[Northern Rangeria]

Code: Select all

Report On Trihexium
Written: March 24th, 2895
Report Filed By: Jonathan Berkley
File Type: Text Document

So far, the studies of the Trihexium have turned up inconclusive and as a result, this report will be short. From what we know, ithe Trihexium shares a molecular structure unlike anything we have ever seen before. In fact, the closest substance it comes close to is dark matter. But dark matter cannot, as far as we know, exist in solid form. However, more and more signs are pointing to this very thing. The Trihexium gives off particle emissions, and strange ones too. One of our men touched a piece without protective gear on and he has been in a coma ever since. The doctors say that whatever the particles the Trihexium gives off are, they cause a near instant neural shutdown. Be careful. The only other thing we have learned is that the Trihexium reacts strangely with the Cylinders. This leads us to believe that they might all be from the same ruins....but we're not sure yet. I will continue to send these reports as often as something comes up.

Code: Select all

Cargo Manifest
Written: January 6th, 2895
Document Filed By: UWS Seattle Space Port
File Type: Text Document

The following is the cargo manifest for cargo bay 1A:

-100 crates of weapons and ammunition (to be moved to armory B-9)
-300 barrels of nanites
-40 medical supply crates (to be moved to medical deck)
-5 crates of unknown contents(brought onboard my military, NOT TO BE TOUCHED)
-40 crates of body armor (to be moved to armory C-19)
-300 barrels of secure helium 3

Meanwhile, touching the ShipNet icon brought up a new screen. It showed the Nova's logo. An image of the UWS flag with the Nova superimposed in front of it. Beneath the picture, it read For The Future Of Our People and above it, WSRS Nova. That screen vanished, and a new one appeared.

Code: Select all

Please Enter Query

A wicked grin split Varesh's face in two. Finally, they were getting somewhere. This black material must be that Trihexium the report spoke about, and judging by how it was lauded in the report, it would definitely fetch a pretty penny. At least, as long as no one laid an unprotected hand on it. But it was the cargo manifest that really made the deserter's day. They had already found the crates... now they needed to find the rest of the cargo. It oughta be somewhere in that cavernous cargo bay, since it was here that they had found the crates. And judging from the wording, whatever had happened to the crew, they had not had the time to relocate the contents as advised.

Weapons, ammo and medical supplies one could always use... but it was the prospect of nanites, military-grade nanites that made the half-breed female squirm inside her suit. With a proper buyer, that kinda amount would have them swimming in credits. With that in mind, Varesh sent her men to scour the cargo bay, and find the precious cargo. Time was of the essence...

In the office, Silfer decided to show a little proactivity, and hearing back from Varesh where the cargo may have been re-located, he started tapping the places onto the Query: armory B-9... armory C-19... medical deck...

[Unified Western States]

In the office, Silfer decided to show a little proactivity, and hearing back from Varesh where the cargo may have been re-located, he started tapping the places onto the Query: armory B-9... armory C-19... medical deck...

The computer whirred and went through its files. Then, it brought up a new screen.

Code: Select all

 Query Results:
 Armory B-9: Storage for weaponry and ammunition
Armory C-19: Body armor, power armor, logistical equipment
Medical Bay: Divided into four parts-
1. Hospital
2. Biomedical research
3. Medical storage
4. Advanced Genetic Research (Restricted section)

[Unified Western States]

bump

[Vorlon Prime]

The Travesty came to rest against the derelict in a relatively obvious place, on the port side, near the front of the craft, the slim blade-like shape settling into position and waiting a short time as its crew found heavy space-suits and put them on, opening the arms locker which stood mostly empty compared to when the vessel was a military ship, a few clean rifles and shotguns were accompanied by a powerful cutting beam projector.

The ship had come to rest on the third deck of the other craft, and as its inhabitants armed themselves, it waited. "Dosimeters on at all times," Menzie reminded his two underlings, as they gathered outside the Travesty's small infirmary, "if these stores are on board, we don't want to poison ourselves."

The ship's passenger stood a little way apart from the group, and he looked at it with interest, "You don't have to come..."

She said nothing, and the group, along with her, trooped towards the airlock, which consisted of a large inner room, and a circular hatch on the floor, leading to the airlock proper. They depressurised the 'lock and the room they were in, setting up the cutting beam, opening inner and outer doors, revealing the 'lock to be a small cylinder clamped onto a section of the Nova's hull.

Gonn Mreat held the device vertically, "Setting one, thirty second burn," he said, and the air between it and the piece of hull did nothing in the vacuum, despite the energies, a small yellow spot beginning to appear before them on the hull.

Small bursts and slow cuts seemed to be the way to do it; a slight extension of Travesty's gravity field was created to make the liquefied metal 'fall' downwards into the ship they were boarding. Eventually, the whole circle of metal they were cutting would do likewise, and some of the Nova's atmosphere would be drawn into the vacuum chamber.

The ochre-and-purple alien watched, waiting for them to gain access to the Nova.

[The Ularn]

WSRS Nova, UWS Prototype Research Vessel
Piccolo System

"Lead! Got something here,"

At N'tack's summons Koris entered the security booth, squeezing around Sorwiz to read the display over the Frektian Warrior's shoulder.

"Amazing the humans don't seem to put timeouts on their terminal log-ins..." Koris muttered as N'tack pressed the icon for the security systems, hoping for a map.

"...Unless someone was just here?" N'tack suggested off handedly.

The Squad-Leader and his warrior shared a nervous glance for a moment. The near-impossibility of the notion made it seem all the more possible on this ship. Trying to put the idea from their minds, the two set about examining the contents of each option in turn. After checking through the security systems, logs and "ShipNet" for useful information and uploading it to his armour's computer N'tack also opened the message.

---

"Look sharp!" Fraudra whispered upon hearing the sound. The order was somewhat redundant though; all thirteen warriors had either dropped to a crouch or taken cover in an alcove at the first sound. All of them had their gauss cannons levelled straight ahead.

"Rapier III, this is Sub-Lieutenant Fraudra. We may have a contact,"

"Copy that. Hostile?"

"Unknown,"

"Very well. Proceed with caution,"

"No need to tell me twice," Fraudra muttered after closing the channel, and the squad began to creep forward through the fog towards the hangar and the sound.