To Let The Clouds Speak (Beyond Earth Only)

[Jovian Coalition]

This is an rp/story for Beyond Earth: A Future Tech Community. If you wish to join, you may apply in the linked thread.

Sol Star System
Station Windkicker, Jupiter
November 20th, 2265

---

Station Windkicker was an oddity, most stations were of course, set in orbit around either the big red planet or one of its moons.

Windkicker was set inside the gas giant’s atmosphere. Keeping a careful altitude with the best equipment and know how’s a bunch of underhanded criminals had formulated back in the days before the Coalition to evade detection of those that would get rid of them, what had been a ‘pirate’ base had quickly been overtaken and folded into service of the nation that had rapidly grown around Jupiter.

These days, at least, the criminal nature was more fluff than anything, that of the station's logo having the very old traditional skull and cross bones of a pirate in it, and the crew stationed here occasionally joking about being pirates themselves. It didn't try to keep itself secret, there was little need, more it just kept low. It wasn't a place to be a tourist, getting out there required clearance not to mention the sheer 'danger' of flying into the atmosphere of Jupiter.

Which made it the perfect place for the Military Council's newest project.

"Thank you for taking the time to come out here Councilor McTavish." Station Commander Outman said with a small smile and polite bow.

Rylan returned the bow. "Of course, are you getting the supplies you need? I know that some of the transports don't like to dock here because of the weather."

"Oh, no one has caused us any troubles, especially since we got the order in from the Military Council. They know if they refuse too much, they'll be hearing from the Councils asking why they are trying to fuck with the project." Outman explained as they walked through the passages. "Of course, we haven't had too much progress yet, so if you're looking for explosive results, temper your expectations now."

Rylan nodded. "Oh of course! I am not here to pressure you, just do a small check up, make sure things are running smoothly. This is pretty important after all!"

It didn't take them long to pass through the station, chatting about a variety of things, the station's employees making sure to keep out of the way of their commander and his guest. It all looked good, the people looked competent and well cared for, the station itself clean and put together. Jovians were usually good about maintaining the equipment that kept them alive in the harsh conditions of living in the shadow of (or indeed in) Jupiter, but sometimes it was easy to overlook a thing a two. A flickering light, a panel that didn't quite close properly due to a bent hinge, a dust bunny in a less-traveled corridor. Rylan saw none of that around, and he was glad he'd decided to gift the project to Outman and Windkicker.

"Here it is." Outman said as they stepped into the viewing area, the hatch cycling shut behind them.

Rylan walked up to the large viewport, looking out onto an enclosed area, protected from the weather outside the station, vast floodlights pouring bright light onto the beginnings of a large frame... larger than anything Jupiter had built before.

"Satisfied Councilor?" Outman asked, trying not to sound like he was gonna start boasting, but his voice held a note of pride. If he did well, there was a good chance he and his station would earn further orders... if this was a ship they wanted more of.

"You are working fast." Rylan watched as a large piece of the frame was guided to connect to the rest. "I didn't expect to see it going this smoothly. First of its kind after all."

"Its true we've never built one before, but our ship-building expertise is second to none. I'd go head to head with Starburst if they weren't a megacorp who would sell their soul for an extra penny." There was disdain in Outman's voice. "Though perhaps I shouldn't be so harsh, if we are going to be making more of these, we might just meet the dictionary definition of a megacorporation."

"I think the Jovians can make one exception in their hatred of corpo scum if we're the ones asking our people to expand for our protection." Rylan smiled. "After all, its about time we got ourselves a dreadnought, don't you think?"

[Jovian Coalition]

Sol Star System
Station Windkicker, Jupiter
November 23th, 2265

---

"Oy. Give me the fucking..."

The man currently requesting the bottle of hot sauce was rejected as the woman he was eating with pulled it away, holding it back just out of reach.

"No way. Last time you ate this stuff, you missed two fucking works shifts Devin because you were 'sick'. I ain't covering your stars-be-damned workload no more." The woman snapped at Devin.

Devin sat back down with a huff, going back to work on his plate. "Jeez Lora, you don't gotta be a dick about it. Just wanna give this meal some life."

Lora relaxed, spreading a little more on her hotdog. "Yea, well I'm saving you from more sickness down the road."

"AYE!"

The pair startled as a third came to sit at their table, a young, spunky looking woman who had to be half their age. "Lora! Devin! Didn't think I'd ever see you again after the training." She sipped from a water bottle, elbows on the table like she was just a school girl. "Did ya'll see those fucking job offers on the job sites?"

Devin snorted. "Hey Irene! Not that we were lacking but damn does Serendipity run a smooth job recruitment. Not gonna lie I almost took one, could of taken up a slot on a ship as maintenance. Hell even the toilet scrubbers had good benefits."

"Have to." Lora said around her food taking a second to chew and swallow. "Or the Unions would bust their ass back to Earth not to mention Vogel probably would go out there and..." She made a finger gun motion, pretending to shoot Irene in the head. The girl giggled.

Its such a shame I was just a glimmer in daddy's eye when the Coalition was founded. Watching some of the historical clips is so fucking surreal. You think we'd be able to do that to Serendipity?"

Devin tapped his fork on the plate. "The megacorps weren't too big out here when we were popping off if I remember my history. Just lots of smaller corps trying to strike something big that would catapult them to the level of their back home breathen. If we did push anyone out before it was probably those Pathfinder tosspots."

Irene leaned in, conspiratorially. "Oh yeah, by the way, before I forget, have you seen the rumors?"

Lora finished off her hotdog, wiping her hands on the napkin. "mmmmm... those things are mid. But what? That the Big Boss is gay for the Advent?"

"What the... no!" Irene made a face. "No this shit about Vogel. I don't care what Outman does in his free time."

"Oh which ones!?" Devin said, leaning in as well. "I heard they're a swinger."

"Mine's juicer." Irene boasted. "I heard from... well its complicated but I got a cousin who has a friend married onto the Gemstone. Real relay-like shit, and they say Vogel has been turning that place upside down."

"They got a lot of stuff to be mad about!" Lora pointed out.

"Nah, this is different. Not rage. Prep. Cousin thinks Vogel's cooking on a new council set of representatives and I can't fucking wait to see if my rep gets on it!" Irene made a small fist pumping motion.

"Oh well I also hard there's been some petition passed around the representatives to ban the Pathfinder Extraction Corporation from Jovian space." Devin said, watching both Irene and Lora choke on their respective drinks.

"No fucking way!" Lora said as she wiped off her mouth. "We didn't even ban any of the later corps we pushed out of Jove, just told them to fuck off with a few guns lazily pointed at them and they did. Banning the PEC is huge even if they don't have the chokehold here they probably do on Dirt."

"Good fucking riddance to them!" Irene spat. "They can go suck on the UN's copium gas, we don't need em."

Devin grinned. "Hey ask your cousin about it if ya can, I'd love to fucking hear about that so I can plan to watch the announcement live."

[Jovian Coalition]

Sol Star System
Station Windkicker, Jupiter
November 30th, 2265

---

"You owe me 20."

Station Commander Lou Outman made an amused snort as he fished a 20 coin out of his pocket and handed it over to Station Sub-Commander Ivan Francesco. The man took it, studying it with a mix of amusement and awe.

"Why did you have that on you?"

"I was aware of how precarious my bet was and was just waiting to gift it to you." Outman responded.

The Jovian 20 coin was a gorgeous thing, silver with gold inlaid in the pattern of Europa's ice striations on one side, the other side proclaiming the amount it was worth and what nation it belonged to. Usually, money was just digital, made it easier to transfer and less likely to lose. But physical money could still be acquired from banks for special occasions.

Ivan flipped the coin in the air. "Good weight, and this one was minted.... wow, this year, impressive. I'll have to add it to my collection."

"See I knew you'd like it." Outman reached for his beer again, the two station commanders just enjoying the evening together, the news on as background noise at least until the breaking news had interrupted their discussion. "I was reviewing our purchase logs, seems other than a few tools, we didn't do a lot of business with the PEC, so we shouldn't be affected by the ban."

Ivan nodded, tucking the Coin away in his pocket. "I'll have to see what those tools are and order replacements probably. Or at least get a good stock of replacement parts since they're here til January 31st, that means their gonna have to sell off whatever is here or haul it out. And I know hauling a bunch of stuff you can sell isn't usually good business. Hope they have good discounts."

Outman sipped at his beer. "One can hope!"

[Jovian Coalition]

Sol Star System
Station Windkicker, Jupiter
December 1st, 2265

---

“No! Shut the sim down!”

The person who had shouted that out, a short stocky guy with graying hairs and what looked like a permanent scowl, rubbed at his face in frustration. Aurel Tauo-Ganymede was one of the lead engineers for the project. He had to know a lot to get here and while the schematics the modelers and designers had provided had been informed by engineers… the simulations kept coming up short.

The Free Coalition was only supposed to have one jump drive at a time. Right now, that was on Advent, another ship he’d worked on, and that ship had one hell one hell of a power source behind it. You needed it for the drive as well as everything else, and the designers had assumed that this newer ship could just take the old drive with little fuss over needing a new one. Aurel wasn’t a political type, but even his layman ass could understand why, perhaps, the designers had missed the power draw requirements for this.

They’d need a new drive scaled to the ship. There was no way around it. He could see the intent, have Advent vanish for a bit then this dreadnought appears in a grand showing, no need to plaster to the entire system they really building a larger ship here. But despite how new and shiny Advent is, it was not going to match this.

Aurel sighed and sat back, knowing the call to Outman was gonna be painful but not as painful as needing to com fucking Serendipity and the Dirt Nations to kindly ask them for a engine most likely made with Q40 for their own deposit.

“Alright.” He finally said, looking at his team. “We’re gonna take an hour break. Eat, get coffee and bathroom break. Then we are gonna come back here and nail out the exact requirements we’ll need for this ship’s jump drive, got it?”

He was pleased with the confidence ayes he got back.

[Jovian Coalition]

Sol Star System
Station Windkicker, Jupiter
December 5th, 2265
Aurel Tauo-Ganymede

“Warning. Station thrusters entering fail safe mode. Warning. Station thrusters entering fail safe mode.”

When you were a ship engineer, you worked with dangerous stuff. Exposed wires, radioactive materials, welding torches and voltages that would fry a man if you looked at them wrong. Little scared him.

That warning though? That was terrifying.

Aurel was up out of his bed and into his protective suit before his vision had truly focused, jamming his helmet on and doing the world’s shortest seal check.

“Warning. Station thrusters fail safe unavailable. Switching to back ups.”

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Aurel swore as he stumbled out of his small room, running full tilt towards the damage control node he served when the station was at alert. There were occasional practice runs and drills about attacks or problems and he’d always hustle during those. But the automated voice doing those warnings made it real.

When he stepped through the hatch, the room was controlled chaos.

“What the fuck?! Why is it reporting 12% functionality on Thrusters 15b and 3.4% on 15c?” Someone asked.

Aurel slid over to his own station. “Looks like we have flickering power failures! Power isn’t routing properly!”

“We just replaced that shit like a month ago! That can’t be right!”

“Hey Tim! Eiru! What you got over there?!”

“We got the replacement wires and the tools but..” Tim’s report was interrupted when a groan echoed through the station. It wasn’t as loud as it felt but the way the room went dead quiet for a split second made any blood Aurel had left in his head want to leave it.

Windkicker was an amazing feat of engineering, as it really made no sense to put a station actively in an atmosphere to a level where it would be hidden by the weather of that planet. It’s thrusters had to constantly balance it against not just the gravity of Jupiter but it’s weather too, and while Windkicker was located in a band that was generally known for its ‘calm’ weather, no weather pattern could ever truly be a defined constant. Occasional storms and weather pattern changes were always a threat, but one the station could usually weather with ease.

That groan meant the station wasn’t taking the stress well. The backups were technically full replacements, in case of battle damage or parts going bad without spares on hand, so that was a very bad sign.

"Alright! come on, grab that stuff and lets GO!" Aurel snapped as he ran over, grabbing a tool kit of his own and running towards the affected parts.

Tim and Eiru dragged the parts after them even as Aurel booked in through the passages, grateful that the path was clear.

---

It didn't take too long to reach the affected service hallway, the only hiccup being an obvious kick from the station and its backups resisting the storm outside.

When the cycled into the passageway, their codes granting them access to areas usually sealed and off limits except for maintenance, they had to pause for a second.

"What the fuck?"

Aurel didn't say it, but he felt it.

The various service panels that should have been closed while the thrusters were active were all wide open, a few hanging at weird angles where something or someone had broken them half off their hinges. The air felt strange even through his suit and he could taste copper at the back of his tongue. Someone had been here before them.

He commed back to damage control. "Cut the power entirely! And send more parts! We have a lot to repair down here!"

After a somewhat confused acknowledgement, the taste of copper faded as did a lot of the alarm bells his finely honed instincts when around exposed high voltage wiring that shouldn't be exposed. He motioned Eiru and Tim inside, checking the first service panel and pulling out his cutters as he saw the frayed wire and burnt metal inside. No time to waste.

---

Station Windkicker, Jupiter
December 7th, 2265
Aurel Tauo-Ganymede
Station Commander Lou Outman

Aurel sat hunched over a can of an energy drink Outman was fairly certain was dancing the line of 'illegal'. The caffeine content he'd peaked when the man has slouched into the chair had been alarming to say the least. If Aurel had slept in the past couple days it couldn't have been restful. No one was getting much sleep when it was all hands on deck to repair the means to which the station stayed afloat in the atmosphere of Jupiter during the worst storm of the year.

Ivan was here, as well as a few of the other department heads.

"So while the initial reports were vague mostly out of panic, we've taken the time to confirm it now." Outman said. "It was purposeful sabotage, trying to sink the station into Jupiter to crush depth."

"They didn't get to the backups properly." Aurel interjected, slamming back the rest of his energy drink. "There were attempts to disable it, but they didn't finish it."

Outman threw a diagram of the station and its various thrusters up on a wall, highlighting the ones that had completely failed in red, others that had been partially working in yellow, and untouched in green. "The thrusters that gave out two days ago were our warning signs, failures of the ones maintenance usually considers 'problem children'. The ones that are on the docket for full replacement. So thankfully they did buckle under their own pressure when they did, or else we might of been pulled to crush depth before we had a chance to even attempt an evac."

"Do we know who sabotaged us?" Ivan asked.

"Not yet. The access logs that would of told us whose card was used were corrupted for some of the data stores and wiped for others. Its going to take us a bit to figure out who did it." Outman looked around at the small gathering of people, all of them looked exhausted and angry. "For now, we have guards posted up on the thruster service passages and are carefully monitoring the maintenance staff for signs they arent following protocols or are acting strange."

"What about the dreadnought?" One of the others asked. Outman looked to Aurel.

"Heh, don't worry." Aurel crushed the can in his hand. "Just got back from a check of what we got built and the teams had it all secured well. Nothing broke, No stress on the assembled frame. Its fine, it'll be fine, just we aren't gonna work on it when the station its floating inside of is at risk of complete thruster collapse."

Ivan looked up from the tablet he'd been staring at. "Good news, Spot's Rest and another benefactor are gonna send over a bunch of what we need to make sure we can replace everything that was broke."

"Another benefactor?" Someone asked, sounding confused.

Ivan grinned. "Clearance is above y'alls head. I can tell you were getting something, but now from who or where. Trust me, it'll get here."

"Fuckin weirdos." Aurel grumbled before standing, trying not to sway on his feet. "I'm gonna go down to the medical bay and pass out under doctor supervison. I think my heart is gonna leap out of my throat."

Outman nodded. "Good idea, and everyone, try your best to get some actual sleep, we're out of the immediate danger period, and if you all die from a lack of sleep that helps no one."

[Jovian Coalition]

Sol Star System
Station Windkicker, Jupiter
December 12th, 2265
Aurel Tauo-Ganymede

Aurel looked out over the frame from the observation viewport, wanting desperately to get back to work on the poor thing. Fixing Windkicker was a priority, but with the all hands on decks nature of the repairs along with the creeping fear it would happen again as the saboteur went unfound.... it was frustrating. The storm that had half caused the panic those few days ago had passed, and the repairs were almost done.

He prayed that he wouldn't be delayed any longer, he had been hoping to start the fabrication of the inner rooms at the very least.

"Aurel?"

He looked back to see one of younger workers in the doorway. "Oh. Hey Rocky, whats up?"

The kid stepped inside and let the hatch shut behind him. "Just finished up some of the repairs on the half damaged back up thrusters. I uh... wanted to chill in the observation room alone and read a book." Rocky held up their tablet. "But I suppose that won't be happening."

"I won't be too long, I'm due for a quick dinner and sleep here shortly anyways." He looked back out at the frame. "Was it bad?"

"Ah... no not as bad as the 15 set." Rocky pushed himself forward so they were looking out the viewport too. "It was scary. You understand why someone would do that?"

Aurel shook his head. "Nah, not really. I can guess it was a rival of the Head Councilor wanting to make this big project go bust in a big way... a way that would be very hard to investigate. Or maybe it was one of the other nations, got a spy employed here."

"But we're friends with Earth and Mars?" They sounded confused.

"Ah its complicated. Yes and no. Though if I had to peg one it'd be Mars. Earth is...." Aurel groped for the right words. He'd never been a political man. "Too tolerant I think. They're find some other way that looked nicer, kind of like Carpo. Mars on the other hand.... well I don't know what the fuck they do beyond suck the dick of that big flower corporation that rules their planet."

"You think they'll ever break glass?" Rocky asked.

Aurel shrugged. "Fuck if I know kid. I would of long been breaking glass if I was a Martian but then again, I was raised here. The disdain for megacorps is alive and well in my life."

"Can't wait to get back to work on it. I've seen the sketches of the final build. That kind of ship being reality..."

Aurel sighed. "Yeah. Its a big dream for us ain't it?"

Rocky nodded.

"I'll leave ya to it kid." Aurel patted Rocky on the shoulder. "Stay safe."

[Jovian Coalition]

Sol Star System
Station Windkicker, Jupiter
December 17th, 2265
Aurel Tauo-Ganymede

He shouldn't be out here.

And yet.

In his work suit that protected him from his work environment and the lack of breathable air, he walked with care across the half finished frame of the dreadnought. They still weren't authorized to work on it, even though the repairs on the thrusters had been finished yesterday, because they still hadn't found who the saboteur was. Aurel desperately wanted to get back to work, but with the threat of a person hanging over them, they really couldn't risk it. Interviews with the crews to try and weed out troublemakers were going well but other than a couple drug users and one person with anger issues getting bundled off the station, there was nothing.

As he bent down to check something, shining a light closer on a seam that was practically invisible, he paused.

A flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye made his hackles raise. He was an old hat at spacer tall tales, and Jovian space was of course laced with the ghosts of its past. You saw something weird and you told a funny story to spook the youngins, all the while knowing it was just your drunk buddy wearing a costume or your own mind overthinking a shadow.

But this registered different.

He stood careful of his movements, trying to register the quiet vibrations and sounds transmitted through his suit and contact with the ground. He looked the direction he'd been wandering, nothing.

Aurel turned, fast, catching the crowbar swinging for his head in instinct he hadn't been aware he'd had.

Another person, their face plate polarized for anonymity, stood there, the pair frozen as they looked at each other, like neither could believe what had happened.

Then the mystery person yanked the bar from his grasp and went in again with another swing. Aurel fumbled the grab but blocked it with an arm, only the padding and muscles in his arm saving him from a broken bone even as pain lanced up his arm from the hit. The adrenaline let him duck under the next swing and charge forward, slamming into the other person with a gasp. Shoving them down to the deck was easy in low gravity but it also meant the other person got in another swing, connecting with Aurel's ribs. He was sure he'd heard a crack of his bones but right now he had no energy to spare towards that. This person was trying to kill him.

He grabbed for the bar, and wrestled with the person, their grip stronger but he drove a knee into their stomach and used the lul his own hit caused to yank the crowbar free.

He kept going. He didn't see anything else on this person but he wasn't sure. The adrenaline pumping made him numb, survive.

He staggered back, ignored pain lancing through his body as he raised the crow bar above his head and brought it down.

The sickening crack as it hit over the helmet made him sweat, the person scrambling to get away.

Again. Crack.
Again. Crack.
Again. Crack.
Again. Crack.

---

Aurel stood over the body, pressing the panic button on his suit to alert the station he needed help as he sunk to his knees, seeing the blood leaking out of the caved in faceplate of his attacker.

He felt his vision swim, and he desperately wanted to throw up. A terrible idea when in a suit you couldn't open. He looked up as he felt the small vibrations of approaching people.

The rescue team rushed forward just as Aurel passed out, slumping over next to the corpse of his would-be killer.

[Jovian Coalition]

Interlude

Sol Star System, Jupiter
JNS Advent of the Risen Moon
December 20th, 2265
Captain Taylor Kawa-Io

It was a usual Wednesday for everyone. Quiet. Boring. As it was supposed to be. The continued state of readiness that Advent needed to maintain as Jupiter's jump ship was sometimes exhausting but even this had it ruts. Of course there was the developing situation at Ceres but ever since he'd broken Rylan's nose his superiors had been extremely quiet. Not wanting to stir the pot.

So, while everyone was busy staring at Ceres and both he and his crew could do next to nothing about it, he wanted to try out a few drills of his own design.

Which were going terrible.

He rubbed his eyes, glancing around at his officers to gauge the mood. His tactical officer looked miserable, comms looked bored with it all, helm looked like she was contemplating murdering him. Which was a fair reaction to the last few 'tests.'

"Commander I just want you to know I don't blame you." He said.

Lieutenant Commander Ash Cobalt sat back at her station, the tension in her body obvious. Putting a fist through a screen or breaking something would probably help her blood pressure. "I know you don't Sir. That doesn't stop this from being an exercise in futility."

Kawa could see a few juniors flinch at such a direct approach to the problem at hand but he preferred it this way. You weren't a captain worth a damn if your crew was scared to tell you something was wrong. That you fucked up.

"I just wanted to try it in the actual simulations. Not just on my personal computer." His tone was apologetic, gaze dropping back down to the miserable spread of statistics on the sims. "I'm sorry."

Cobalt sighed, placing a hand over her screen to pull up the data on the jump drive. "I can see the vision Captain. To have the ability to one hit kill an enemy would be a boon unlike anything the Sol system has seen before. While we would still be limited by the Treaty of Mars to one jump drive, the scare factor that could induce would be wild. With proper fleet support we could do magical things if it came to a fight with Martis Hasta or Omega. But..."

"Its too inaccurate." Kawa finished for her, lacing his fingers so he could rest his chin on them. "And often too risky."

"If it gave us the edge it'd be worth it." The man at tactical argued. "Everyone knows Advent is the smallest of the Sol jump trio. We need something to give us that edge. You see Mars down there, how long before Hasta gets involved because its big and shiny and their Hwaseong CEO starts sweating about losing face so they send their biggest toy?!"

"Well this isn't it!" Cobalt snapped. "Ugh sorry."

Kawa sighed. "Its okay Commander. Try not to argue like children with your fellow crewmates." He didn't put any bite into it, gaze fixed on the final result of their last test. A massive failure as they had only managed to overhsoot their target and then still loss the fight after they caught back up with the digital enemy. He continued to stare, wondering what was stopping the pinpoint precision that might make Advent and the Jovian Fleet something to fear rather than dismiss. Was it the math? Were there not enough decimal points? Did he forget to do the multiplication and division? Was it a computer limitation? Was it simply 'the way we know how to use Q40 doesn't allow it?'

He startled out of his brooding when he heard the telltale chime of the immersive simulation starting back up. He looked around in confusion, not having ordered the start of yet another simulation doomed to fail.

Cobalt chuckled. "Sorry Sir. I thought you heard me. Want to try again?"

Kawa was about to object. He'd been pushing them hard enough and all for nothing.

"Well its too late Sir. Enemy's on screen, how should we approach it?" Cobalt asked.

"Spin up the jump drive Commander. We are going to try something wild."