Vagabond Wakes and Vistas
06 Feb 2023D. James Totendost
It's been one hell of a month but it's a relief to be where we are. To understand where we are you have to understand where we were. Just after the start of the new year I was brought into a meeting with some contacts and policymakers with The Company. It was a little strange to be formally included but this Thargoid threat has created strange bedfellows indeed.When the incursion started the 242 responded. We logged 1000s of kills, we rescued more, we lost a handful, our allies and enemies aligned, we all pushed back, yet the onslaught kept coming. Even with the hope the few victories brought we grew weary and I ordered the 242 to take a step back for a couple days. That's when The Company reached out. My general order had created a window for a hunch. The Company wanted the 242 to scour the Formidine Rift in an effort, which would be an apparent progenitor, to find and analyze Ammonia worlds or atmospheres for data which may help against the Thargoids.
Our exploration team took up the task. We plotted a standard triangle route from our origin to the edge of the Sanguineous Rim through the length of the rift and back to origin. Standard projected timeline was approximately 18 days for each pilot over the cumulative 45kLy of the trip. I ordered the rescue teams to be on standby and stood the rest of the crew down at their own discretion for the duration. It was quite the respite to get back into the black and into the embrace of my first love -exploration.
The amount, diversity, and scope of worlds which met mission criteria was staggering. I was never keen on paying attention to atmospheres during my previous forays into the black. Fungoids, bacterium, aerosol viruses, fish-like creatures in ammonia streams, and wheat-like grain made up some of the diverse lifeforms we encountered. That grain I ground into a flour that made an interesting loaf of bread. I wouldn't recommend it. Without something properly acidic the loaf had a hint of something akin to urine.
I had never really enjoyed being planet-side in these unpopulated areas. Something about the sheer quiet was unsettling. I had always felt the tickle of madness at the edge of my mind beckoning, but, with this mission and a dedicated team I was able to find beauty in the topography of it all. The peaks I scaled, the valleys I traversed, the wild canyons I navigated, were all deeply satisfying. I forgot how truly massive a place can be without the clutter of sapient life. The wonders of geology tried to, but could not, cover the dread of what we found.
Time after time we found, and analyzed, Thargoid probes scattered across the rift in a pattern that paralleled the edge of the bubble. Worlds with ammonia atmospheres of a specific density following this pattern had each been probed. They were tiered in a way which, through analysis, showed a variety of age to indicate that these had slowly advanced in formation toward the center of the bubble. It was if the probes had been the start of a reconnaissance to map humanity's possible encirclement. Additionally, the data indicated that this possible planning had been ongoing for at least 5 years, and with the timeline of their current push, points to the possibility that we are merely in the first step of a long-planned campaign. Their expansion may be nigh.
With a looming, and potentially larger, threat on the horizon The Company has decided that we must push forward with Operation Dawn-Bringer. This mission has since the days of my mentor been the original mission of the 242. Starting now pushes our timeline forward but, luckily for us, I had the foresight to be ahead of the curve so we're not far off. As we head out to parts unknown I remember that which has always pushed me into the unknown. To quote Keats,
"I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die.
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!"
V/R,
D. James Totendost
Commander, Unit 242