Commanders log: Cliff Cliffson... 11.06.3302.....
.....
Location: PLAA THUA Sector....
.....
Mission: Deep space survey Perseus Arm and Nebulae...
.....
Recording begins:
Day 3 of the survey. Barnard's Loop is still prominent in the sky, though it now lies hundreds of light years behind me as I begin the crossing to the Perseus Arm towards the Jellyfish Nebula. Clearly I have picked a route less traveled as nearly all of the systems I jump to have no entries in Universal Cartographics. Progress has been slow as I've been carefully cataloging anything of note, not that I mind, always nice to have your name written into the records for years to come.
The last system I have jumped to at the end of my last plot seems unremarkable. Class M star, 6 small planetoids, no atmospheres or signs of life. The third body catches my eye, a high metal content world with a distinctive pale green hue. Surface scans indicate I may find some useful materials down here, the kind that can be used to temporarily overcharge the FSD, which will prove useful as I reach the further out points of this journey. Not least because of how poor my jump range was for a survey ship, I had been kicking myself about not removing my reinforced hull plating or armaments before leaving the bubble, but rumours had been abundant lately about ships not returning from the Barnards loop area and I didn't want to take any chances.
Approaching the planet I see two adjoining craters, each with a central peak. Likely the product of some past volcanic activity or meteor strike, either way I should find something useful on the surface.
I set down my Asp in the left crater and deploy my SRV, although I'm only trading one chair for another it feels good to be out of the cockpit after the past hours of jumping and scanning, scanning and jumping. The surface scans turn out to be true, both Vandium and Cadmium are abundant in the first few rocks I find. Then something strange happens, a high band signal appears on my wave scanner accompanied by an unexpected sound this far out. Not the ticking or scraping associated with valuable rock formations, no, a high pitched electronic chirpping, the kind you find from surface installations or ship beacons, not what you would expect 3000ly from the bubble in the middle of the Orion-Perseus rift.
My heart-rate quickened as I heard it, first due to shock and then remaining from anticipation, what is causing that signal out here. My mind raced, so much had happened during the last year, those strange artifacts appearing and causing ships to malfunction, those creepy barnacle life forms out in the Pleiades and then the strange ship sightings at frontier stations and reports of lost survey vessels. Nervously I pushed up the throttle and began heading towards the signal at speed.
I slowed as the signal became stronger, whatever it was, was just beyond the next rise. I checked that my plasma repeaters were loaded and nervously headed over the crest of the rise ahead of me.
Escape pods? Six of them!? Where did they come from, I saw no signs of a crash on the approach and, aside from a few jagged shards of metal, there is no other wreckage. Whatever brought this ship down didn't leave much evidence. The signal on my wavescanner indicates that they are all still functioning, thankfully, and I deploy my cargo scoop to retrieve the first two for ferrying abck to my ship. After all, if it were me I'd not want to spend my last days in cryo on some unknown rock in the middle of nowhere.
I call down my ship, which lands on autopilot on the nearest stable ground a couple of klicks away, and I set off. I return the first two, then return for the next, cursing the pitiful cargo hold on these SRVs as I do so. As I return for the third I am beginning to feel uneasy. Who are these people? What were they doing out here? More importantly what caused them to be left here on this rock with no hint as to what happened to their craft. As my imagination races through all kinds of scenarios and terrifying unknown threats I realise too late that I had not been paying enough attention to the boulder field I was driving through.
*Crunch*
One of the front, outside wheels whack against solid rock and the entire SRV lurches up and forward and begins spinning all at once. I try to wrestle it back under control but it is bucking wildly and not settling in this low gravity. Suddenly the SRV is no longer bouncing off the surface but is in free fall and I realise in horror I have skidded off a cliff edge. Thrusters are no use to cushion the blow, the Srv is spinning too much I'd be just as likely to hasten the fall as prevent it. The low gravity of this world drags out the fall for what seems an eternity before the SRV slams into the floor, bouncing and rolling and finally settling on its side.
"Chassis integrity compromised" the computer helpfully intones in its flat, calm manner. It's times like this I'm annoyed they never programmed a sense of urgency into its voice circuits. I groggily get my bearings as the SR-Mec kicks in, righting the SRV onto it's wheels and I grab the controls my hands shaking. The displays show no serious damage to the vehicle or the cargo thankfully, and aside from some bruises and minor nausea I as well am fine, anyone you can walk away from eh? I gingerly push up the throttle and resume travelling back to my ship, carefully this time, there'll be time enough in the void for wild theories and paranoia.
As the SRV ascends into the ship I check the cargo panel. 6 Cryopods, how long they would have remained had I not stopped to prospect is anyone's guess. Not to worry, they are all secured in my hold now and will be safely back in the bubble in a few days once I head back. As the engines of my ASP thrum into life and lift me off this planet I begin to wonder again, who? why? how? Most worryingly of all I wonder if this is really a rescue, or whether the next soul out here will find 7 cryopods, waiting for someone to bring them home.
-Recording ends.
.....
Location: PLAA THUA Sector....
.....
Mission: Deep space survey Perseus Arm and Nebulae...
.....
Recording begins:
Day 3 of the survey. Barnard's Loop is still prominent in the sky, though it now lies hundreds of light years behind me as I begin the crossing to the Perseus Arm towards the Jellyfish Nebula. Clearly I have picked a route less traveled as nearly all of the systems I jump to have no entries in Universal Cartographics. Progress has been slow as I've been carefully cataloging anything of note, not that I mind, always nice to have your name written into the records for years to come.
The last system I have jumped to at the end of my last plot seems unremarkable. Class M star, 6 small planetoids, no atmospheres or signs of life. The third body catches my eye, a high metal content world with a distinctive pale green hue. Surface scans indicate I may find some useful materials down here, the kind that can be used to temporarily overcharge the FSD, which will prove useful as I reach the further out points of this journey. Not least because of how poor my jump range was for a survey ship, I had been kicking myself about not removing my reinforced hull plating or armaments before leaving the bubble, but rumours had been abundant lately about ships not returning from the Barnards loop area and I didn't want to take any chances.
Approaching the planet I see two adjoining craters, each with a central peak. Likely the product of some past volcanic activity or meteor strike, either way I should find something useful on the surface.
I set down my Asp in the left crater and deploy my SRV, although I'm only trading one chair for another it feels good to be out of the cockpit after the past hours of jumping and scanning, scanning and jumping. The surface scans turn out to be true, both Vandium and Cadmium are abundant in the first few rocks I find. Then something strange happens, a high band signal appears on my wave scanner accompanied by an unexpected sound this far out. Not the ticking or scraping associated with valuable rock formations, no, a high pitched electronic chirpping, the kind you find from surface installations or ship beacons, not what you would expect 3000ly from the bubble in the middle of the Orion-Perseus rift.
My heart-rate quickened as I heard it, first due to shock and then remaining from anticipation, what is causing that signal out here. My mind raced, so much had happened during the last year, those strange artifacts appearing and causing ships to malfunction, those creepy barnacle life forms out in the Pleiades and then the strange ship sightings at frontier stations and reports of lost survey vessels. Nervously I pushed up the throttle and began heading towards the signal at speed.
I slowed as the signal became stronger, whatever it was, was just beyond the next rise. I checked that my plasma repeaters were loaded and nervously headed over the crest of the rise ahead of me.
Escape pods? Six of them!? Where did they come from, I saw no signs of a crash on the approach and, aside from a few jagged shards of metal, there is no other wreckage. Whatever brought this ship down didn't leave much evidence. The signal on my wavescanner indicates that they are all still functioning, thankfully, and I deploy my cargo scoop to retrieve the first two for ferrying abck to my ship. After all, if it were me I'd not want to spend my last days in cryo on some unknown rock in the middle of nowhere.
I call down my ship, which lands on autopilot on the nearest stable ground a couple of klicks away, and I set off. I return the first two, then return for the next, cursing the pitiful cargo hold on these SRVs as I do so. As I return for the third I am beginning to feel uneasy. Who are these people? What were they doing out here? More importantly what caused them to be left here on this rock with no hint as to what happened to their craft. As my imagination races through all kinds of scenarios and terrifying unknown threats I realise too late that I had not been paying enough attention to the boulder field I was driving through.
*Crunch*
One of the front, outside wheels whack against solid rock and the entire SRV lurches up and forward and begins spinning all at once. I try to wrestle it back under control but it is bucking wildly and not settling in this low gravity. Suddenly the SRV is no longer bouncing off the surface but is in free fall and I realise in horror I have skidded off a cliff edge. Thrusters are no use to cushion the blow, the Srv is spinning too much I'd be just as likely to hasten the fall as prevent it. The low gravity of this world drags out the fall for what seems an eternity before the SRV slams into the floor, bouncing and rolling and finally settling on its side.
"Chassis integrity compromised" the computer helpfully intones in its flat, calm manner. It's times like this I'm annoyed they never programmed a sense of urgency into its voice circuits. I groggily get my bearings as the SR-Mec kicks in, righting the SRV onto it's wheels and I grab the controls my hands shaking. The displays show no serious damage to the vehicle or the cargo thankfully, and aside from some bruises and minor nausea I as well am fine, anyone you can walk away from eh? I gingerly push up the throttle and resume travelling back to my ship, carefully this time, there'll be time enough in the void for wild theories and paranoia.
As the SRV ascends into the ship I check the cargo panel. 6 Cryopods, how long they would have remained had I not stopped to prospect is anyone's guess. Not to worry, they are all secured in my hold now and will be safely back in the bubble in a few days once I head back. As the engines of my ASP thrum into life and lift me off this planet I begin to wonder again, who? why? how? Most worryingly of all I wonder if this is really a rescue, or whether the next soul out here will find 7 cryopods, waiting for someone to bring them home.
-Recording ends.
Last edited: