Séadna
Legendary Pubber
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2018
- Messages
- 6,435
- Reaction score
- 14,652
Raúl and Potter lie facing each other strapped to opposite walls of a cramped Class-C Strike Sphere. All around them the sphere's hull makes a slight groaning sound as it rapidly decelerates following the jump. The system's primary, a Magnetar dubbed "Old Crow", had precluded a proper navy cruiser from entering the system. Likelihood of catastrophic jump error for any sizeable ship was estimated at 97%. So here they were, the "Assessment & Repair" team. Some AI who knows where had crunched the numbers and decided this was the best course of action.
The Target was the space station Chang-o in orbit around the system's only planet Hou Yi. The planet had been so named by the Chinese discovery team for the mythological hero who had resisted the heat of the ten Sun Crows. And what better name for the station than his wife?
Hou Yi lay just outside the path of Old Crow's twin beams of electromagnetic energy, but contained billions of tons of ancient Neutronium deposits, the mining of which had been Chang-o station's primary purpose. The deposits gave the planet a soft blue glow that Raúl could see out the small window above Potter's head as they flew over the surface.
Contact had been lost with Chang-o three months ago, the transmission beacon that relayed their communications to the nearest settled world hadn't received an expected status update. Any risk to the near 1,000 individuals who lived aboard was obviously a concern, but the disruption of processed Neutronium exports unthinkable for stellar trade in this region of space.
Orders were simple:
Find out what happened.
Get the station back to Production status if possible.
Suddenly the sphere gave a small "Brace yourselves" warning. Unsurprisingly Chang-o's dock was not responding. They felt a slight shake as the sphere drilled and embedded itself into the side of the station.
The sphere's exit hatched opened through which they could see a small office with a messy desk with some papers and a mug, a flickering phosphorescent light, a smashed terminal and a grey plasteel door with a broken card reader.
Out of sight they could hear wiring crackling, a result of their insertion through the wall.
The straps released, leaving the pair free to move.
The Target was the space station Chang-o in orbit around the system's only planet Hou Yi. The planet had been so named by the Chinese discovery team for the mythological hero who had resisted the heat of the ten Sun Crows. And what better name for the station than his wife?
Hou Yi lay just outside the path of Old Crow's twin beams of electromagnetic energy, but contained billions of tons of ancient Neutronium deposits, the mining of which had been Chang-o station's primary purpose. The deposits gave the planet a soft blue glow that Raúl could see out the small window above Potter's head as they flew over the surface.
Contact had been lost with Chang-o three months ago, the transmission beacon that relayed their communications to the nearest settled world hadn't received an expected status update. Any risk to the near 1,000 individuals who lived aboard was obviously a concern, but the disruption of processed Neutronium exports unthinkable for stellar trade in this region of space.
Orders were simple:
Find out what happened.
Get the station back to Production status if possible.
Suddenly the sphere gave a small "Brace yourselves" warning. Unsurprisingly Chang-o's dock was not responding. They felt a slight shake as the sphere drilled and embedded itself into the side of the station.
The sphere's exit hatched opened through which they could see a small office with a messy desk with some papers and a mug, a flickering phosphorescent light, a smashed terminal and a grey plasteel door with a broken card reader.
Out of sight they could hear wiring crackling, a result of their insertion through the wall.
The straps released, leaving the pair free to move.