I wrote a piece about my own CMDR. It's more on the fanfic side, but it did help improve my RP game! It also serves as a neat intro to CMDR and ship. English is not my first language, so I apologise for any mistakes.
The light came infiltered by the ship's canopy, the vast orange galaxy still came inbright through the darkened glass, making even the nebulae a mere kilolight-year away seem faded. It shone bright enough not to contrast starkly with the icy surface of the shadow side of the planet below, the dense bulge of the milky way imparting an eerie glow to it. It was never really night this close to the core, where there is barely any space between the stars.
Around the tiny iceball – not even 800km in diameter – carefully positioned so that the planet blocked most of the light and radiation from the nearby neutron star, orbited a cold and dark ship. It was not black, though it had been once; here and there there were still some painted spots, layer upon layer of black paint, some larger peeled pieces floating inthe microgravity. In its glory days in the Bubble, the ship had been an awesome sight, sporting a polished black metallic sheen, but now most of the hull was the dull, functional gray of bare titanium alloy.
Inside, despite the abandoned look, it was in pristine condition, it was also most certainly cold with all non essential systems shut down and the generator set to minimum output. Frost had set over every surface in the ample flight deck, typical of the Anaconda class. The thin layer of ice spread undisturbed over dark screens and inactive holopanels. The stale air due to the underpowered life support contributed to the stillness of it all. There was no sound, and the entire 152m of hull were undeniably empty.
Two kilometers out,inside a cramped small fighter, Commander Abednego lumped gloomily over the controls. He knew this feeling, he had felt it before, during the first journey to Sagittarius A*, the space madness, they called it. On long journeys one feels claustrophobic in the emptiness and sluggishness of the larger ships, so being out in the confinements of a nimble fighter once in a while helps ease thegloom. It was not working this time, the bareness of the new settlements – few goods, few jobs, few options – and the sheer isolation made it all too dark. And there was also the dream...
Inside the dead flight deck the stillness was broken by the flickering of the shadows under a faint glow, one of the star's steadily spinning blue spiral cones was cresting over the horizon. The sensors picked up on the pattern of the pulsar and air quietly started pumping through the vents, soon the regular whirs and hums resumed in the flight deck anda signal had been sent out on the short range. Outside, the fighter bay doors opened unheard. The star itself would soon appear over the horizon and shower the ship in radiation, the CMDR had been warned it was time to come back.
CMDR Abe watched as the SSV Alexandria grew during the approach; what a sight she was. Fully equipped for continuous exploration, it could go for years between ports, two surface vehicles and an old imperial fighter converted to planetary reconnaissance ship. A series of misfortunes, mistakes and bad decisions had brought it and its CMDR here. Colonia, just a promise built around the misfortune of a station that did not fit in the Bubble, starting to attract all sorts of commanders, who had made mistakes and bad decisions, and who perhaps, also did not fit in near Sol space. It was a long way from perfect, but at least it was new and far enough away from the pettiness and the chasm growing between the so-called great powers of humanity.
As the fighter closed in to dock, the ship went by in its majesty overhead, the massive antenna arrays and sensors suite coming up on the sides dwarfing the small craft. Colonia, he shuddered at the thought of the name. It had not been his original destination, but he was drawn towards it, as if across the great distances of the galaxy the nebula beaconed him, its long tentacles crawling into his head, filling up his dreams. His dream, rather... At least the cyborg's unusual machine made a strong drink – too strong, sometimes, he thought still with the dull ache in his head –and that had been worth the trip.
CMDR Abe was young, but camefrom an old line of old ways, his name was old, as well as the ship he flew. Her name had come from the ancient legends of Earth, a place that once held a great library, a ship fitting of a scientist and explorer. After the brisk walk up from the docking bay, he sat at the central commands on the still thawing flight deck with a shiver – or was it goosebumps?
It didn't matter, only one thing did at that point. He knew what he had to do and sighed at the task at hand. He had to meet them, to make first contact, but for that he had to be Elite, and although he had gone most of the way, there was still some of it left. CMDR Abe plotted a new high wake jump, to a nearby star system, identical to the other thousands he had seen before. He stared at the blue spiral over the horizon, brighter now. It's motion reminded him of the dream, the ever steadily spinning spiral.
After generations worth of research and careful scientific logging, the CMDR knew a thing or two about the old tales and myths of humanity. The old war with the insectoid aliens, the Thargoids, the Generation Ships, launched across the universe millennia ago, before frame shift technology came about,and the rumor of a third sentient race inhabiting the galaxy, lurking in the black. He had heard them all dismissed as wild tales in the watering holes of the Bubble. The thought of the bustling stations in Sol space took his mind of the dream as he turned the ship, lining up for the next jump. They are all true, he was sure.
He also knew that other, more ancient things, more forgotten things also hid in the galaxy. Things that should not be found, but which now, must be found. Frameshift drive charging, announced the ship's computer from nowhere in particular. There was that shiver again. Ready to engage – his hands, mindlessly reacting to the warning, pushed the throttle lever all the way forward.
He had done thousands of jumps, and something surely felt different this time, his vision darkened, the ship's computer started the countdown –Four. - the word filled the flight deck, but no one heard it. In his mind the circle grew, round and round it went. CMDR Abe sensed nothing, his mind fully occupied by the spinning spiral.
Three. The immense circle in his mind expanding, engulfing the galaxy. Spreading and spreading, its shadow cast upon all the worlds colonized by humanity whether they felt it or not, guiding, adjusting, not always helping, but ever moving.
Two. Its movement drove the clockwork of humanity and galaxy, shaping it, the spiral connected far up to the machine of governments, families, scientists and factions. Driving them. Towards something, or perhaps away from it. It was alive. And on it spun and moved, humanity in its draft, sometimes in its path.
One. Well away, hidden from the uninquisitive light of the public and theGalnet, but shining bright in the minds of those who still remembered, the Dark Wheel spun, he knew. As the stars blurred on the canopy, he caught a glimpse of a planet, long lost and forsaken. It lay forgotten for a reason, even as it now floated intact somewhere in the void. It had to be found, had to be remembered.
Engage - and all went black.
He woke to the glare of an unknown sun, looked around dazed and remembered the vision. His fate was to search, and there was no turning away from it. The CMDR smiled at the journey so far, but the smile quickly turned into sight. He had seen the alien ships, the ancient ruins, and the strange abandoned camps spread through the galaxy, but he still had to becomeElite, and thatwould only be the starting point of the longpaththat lay ahead; the real work was yet to begin. For now, there were other stars and planets to discover, soon he would be able to meet them, and maybe, just maybe, along the way he would remember.
The light came infiltered by the ship's canopy, the vast orange galaxy still came inbright through the darkened glass, making even the nebulae a mere kilolight-year away seem faded. It shone bright enough not to contrast starkly with the icy surface of the shadow side of the planet below, the dense bulge of the milky way imparting an eerie glow to it. It was never really night this close to the core, where there is barely any space between the stars.
Around the tiny iceball – not even 800km in diameter – carefully positioned so that the planet blocked most of the light and radiation from the nearby neutron star, orbited a cold and dark ship. It was not black, though it had been once; here and there there were still some painted spots, layer upon layer of black paint, some larger peeled pieces floating inthe microgravity. In its glory days in the Bubble, the ship had been an awesome sight, sporting a polished black metallic sheen, but now most of the hull was the dull, functional gray of bare titanium alloy.
Inside, despite the abandoned look, it was in pristine condition, it was also most certainly cold with all non essential systems shut down and the generator set to minimum output. Frost had set over every surface in the ample flight deck, typical of the Anaconda class. The thin layer of ice spread undisturbed over dark screens and inactive holopanels. The stale air due to the underpowered life support contributed to the stillness of it all. There was no sound, and the entire 152m of hull were undeniably empty.
Two kilometers out,inside a cramped small fighter, Commander Abednego lumped gloomily over the controls. He knew this feeling, he had felt it before, during the first journey to Sagittarius A*, the space madness, they called it. On long journeys one feels claustrophobic in the emptiness and sluggishness of the larger ships, so being out in the confinements of a nimble fighter once in a while helps ease thegloom. It was not working this time, the bareness of the new settlements – few goods, few jobs, few options – and the sheer isolation made it all too dark. And there was also the dream...
Inside the dead flight deck the stillness was broken by the flickering of the shadows under a faint glow, one of the star's steadily spinning blue spiral cones was cresting over the horizon. The sensors picked up on the pattern of the pulsar and air quietly started pumping through the vents, soon the regular whirs and hums resumed in the flight deck anda signal had been sent out on the short range. Outside, the fighter bay doors opened unheard. The star itself would soon appear over the horizon and shower the ship in radiation, the CMDR had been warned it was time to come back.
CMDR Abe watched as the SSV Alexandria grew during the approach; what a sight she was. Fully equipped for continuous exploration, it could go for years between ports, two surface vehicles and an old imperial fighter converted to planetary reconnaissance ship. A series of misfortunes, mistakes and bad decisions had brought it and its CMDR here. Colonia, just a promise built around the misfortune of a station that did not fit in the Bubble, starting to attract all sorts of commanders, who had made mistakes and bad decisions, and who perhaps, also did not fit in near Sol space. It was a long way from perfect, but at least it was new and far enough away from the pettiness and the chasm growing between the so-called great powers of humanity.
As the fighter closed in to dock, the ship went by in its majesty overhead, the massive antenna arrays and sensors suite coming up on the sides dwarfing the small craft. Colonia, he shuddered at the thought of the name. It had not been his original destination, but he was drawn towards it, as if across the great distances of the galaxy the nebula beaconed him, its long tentacles crawling into his head, filling up his dreams. His dream, rather... At least the cyborg's unusual machine made a strong drink – too strong, sometimes, he thought still with the dull ache in his head –and that had been worth the trip.
CMDR Abe was young, but camefrom an old line of old ways, his name was old, as well as the ship he flew. Her name had come from the ancient legends of Earth, a place that once held a great library, a ship fitting of a scientist and explorer. After the brisk walk up from the docking bay, he sat at the central commands on the still thawing flight deck with a shiver – or was it goosebumps?
It didn't matter, only one thing did at that point. He knew what he had to do and sighed at the task at hand. He had to meet them, to make first contact, but for that he had to be Elite, and although he had gone most of the way, there was still some of it left. CMDR Abe plotted a new high wake jump, to a nearby star system, identical to the other thousands he had seen before. He stared at the blue spiral over the horizon, brighter now. It's motion reminded him of the dream, the ever steadily spinning spiral.
After generations worth of research and careful scientific logging, the CMDR knew a thing or two about the old tales and myths of humanity. The old war with the insectoid aliens, the Thargoids, the Generation Ships, launched across the universe millennia ago, before frame shift technology came about,and the rumor of a third sentient race inhabiting the galaxy, lurking in the black. He had heard them all dismissed as wild tales in the watering holes of the Bubble. The thought of the bustling stations in Sol space took his mind of the dream as he turned the ship, lining up for the next jump. They are all true, he was sure.
He also knew that other, more ancient things, more forgotten things also hid in the galaxy. Things that should not be found, but which now, must be found. Frameshift drive charging, announced the ship's computer from nowhere in particular. There was that shiver again. Ready to engage – his hands, mindlessly reacting to the warning, pushed the throttle lever all the way forward.
He had done thousands of jumps, and something surely felt different this time, his vision darkened, the ship's computer started the countdown –Four. - the word filled the flight deck, but no one heard it. In his mind the circle grew, round and round it went. CMDR Abe sensed nothing, his mind fully occupied by the spinning spiral.
Three. The immense circle in his mind expanding, engulfing the galaxy. Spreading and spreading, its shadow cast upon all the worlds colonized by humanity whether they felt it or not, guiding, adjusting, not always helping, but ever moving.
Two. Its movement drove the clockwork of humanity and galaxy, shaping it, the spiral connected far up to the machine of governments, families, scientists and factions. Driving them. Towards something, or perhaps away from it. It was alive. And on it spun and moved, humanity in its draft, sometimes in its path.
One. Well away, hidden from the uninquisitive light of the public and theGalnet, but shining bright in the minds of those who still remembered, the Dark Wheel spun, he knew. As the stars blurred on the canopy, he caught a glimpse of a planet, long lost and forsaken. It lay forgotten for a reason, even as it now floated intact somewhere in the void. It had to be found, had to be remembered.
Engage - and all went black.
He woke to the glare of an unknown sun, looked around dazed and remembered the vision. His fate was to search, and there was no turning away from it. The CMDR smiled at the journey so far, but the smile quickly turned into sight. He had seen the alien ships, the ancient ruins, and the strange abandoned camps spread through the galaxy, but he still had to becomeElite, and thatwould only be the starting point of the longpaththat lay ahead; the real work was yet to begin. For now, there were other stars and planets to discover, soon he would be able to meet them, and maybe, just maybe, along the way he would remember.