THE AFTERMATH
31 Jan 2023Jav Marlo
THE AFTERMATH9 AUG 3308, HIP 22460.
This is commander Jav Marlo, recording this log on board the Perseus with my copilot Ayumi, departing from the carrier Meganeuropsis on HIP 23018 to attempt a recon flight of system HIP 22460. It as been two hours since the Proteus Wave was deployed and all contact was lost with the ships in the system.
The Perseus departing from the Meganeuropsis
Something horrible has happened. I can feel it. Seconds after the deployment of the Proteus Wave I felt something… (deep breath)… I don´t know how to explain it… it was like a screeching sound, like an alien scream. I know I didn’t imagine it. Everybody in the carrier could hear it… And the huge signal was recorded by the ships sensors… but… to me… it was different… (fast breath)… I could hear it inside my head… (fast breath) and it was coming from HIP 23018… that noise… that SCREAM… it sounded like a cry for help… (deep breath) I fainted and woke up minutes later when Ayumi reanimated me with an adrenalin infuser. She tried to take me to the med bay, but I need to know what has happened…
(Frameshift jump in 3, 2, 1…)
The Perseus cockpit view on HIP 22460 right after the deployment of the Proteus Wave
What the…? (Deep grunt)… Arg… It hurts… burns (hard breath) can´t breath…
Jav… Jav… ANSWER ME! ARE YOU HAVING A STROKE? I should not have let you fly. LET ME…
Ayumi… (grunt) WAIT!... I am OK. I didn´t faint. It´s just… hard to breath… my chest… burns…
It may not be the only thing burning… WE ARE TAKING DAMAGE.
(Deep grunt) From where? Sensors are not working… (Hard breath)
There is nothing out there. I mean, our systems are degrading… like melting…
All systems? (Heavy breath)
Guardian modules damage at HIP 22460
It´s hard to say. The interface is glitching. Wait… you are right… just everything based on Guardian tech… wait… your lungs… could it be?
Yes. (Heavy breath) My chest implant has Guardian tech. (Deep grunt)
Are you… DYING?... We need to get out of here… back to the carrier… (fast breath) there…
WAIT! The pain is… passing. I can keep… going… (Heavy breath)… But is still hard to breath.
Our Guardian railguns and hull reinforcements are gone too. We are defenceless here. We need to go now.
WE ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE, until I know what is happening here. (Heavy breath) I need to know what that scream was!
But look at the scan. This system is silent… dead…
(Deep grunt) We are going to the last coordinates of the Bright Sentinel. I need to see…(grunt)
…
The Bright Sentinel right after the deployment of the Proteus Wave
DAMN! It’s torn apart!
(Heavy breath) Look for survivors… any signal… WHERE ARE THE RESCUE SHIPS?
The only signal we get is an automatic alert by the Pilots Federation. It says that after the Proteus Wave activation an energy pulse of unknown energy shut down all human ships. They are advising to retreat from the system… THERE IS NO RESCUE COMING.
Shut down! There might still be survivors on the ships still intact. We have to help them. Let´s get closer.
The Bright Sentinel in flames
Jav… I think we are not alone here… SEE! THARGOID INTERCEPTORS INCOMING! They are back to finish the job.
(Heavy breath) Our weapons… are melted… DAMN!... Brace yourself… we have to run fast…
The Perseus at the Bright Sentinel derelict running away from the Thargoids
Run where?
See that? That shine there… (cough) on the moon. That´s where we are going.
The Proteus Wave site
Is that…?
It has to be… (Heavy breath). The Proteus Wave site.
The Perseus heading for the Proteus Wave site
That place is emitting massive amounts of energy all over the system. The radiation is off the scale. There is no way somebody could have survived down there.
(Heavy breath) That must be what is melting all our Guardian tech. (Deep breath) Are you recording all this?
The Perseus over the Proteus Wave site
Yes, but we should go. I can see two Thargoid interceptors approaching. They are chasing us… hunting us…
Not before checking on the megaships… (heavy breath)… perhaps some of them would have survived.
Jav Marlo observing the Proteus Wave site from above
…
(Deep sigh) Can you get any signal from the Oath of Tyrandeus?
No… Just the same automatic message from the Pilot´s Federation asking us to leave the system. Perhaps we should take their advice.
The Perseus approaching the Oath of Tyrandeus
Let’s go to the FNS Fortitude (grunt), it was the most powerful ship in the system.
…
Its hull is still in one piece but… (deep breath) it is dead… like the Oath of Tyrandeus.
Can you believe it? We held the Thargoids here for weeks, killed thousands of them… and then… in an instant… they wipe out the three fleets combined.
The Perseus approaching the derelict of the FNS Fortitude
It is insane… (cough) let´s see if the Imperials got it better… though I doubt it.
…
That´s it Jav. We have done enough. There are no survivors. No signals coming from those vessels and, like before, the moment we drop out of hypercruise the Thargoids appear.
The derelict of the INV Audacious Dream
We’ve lost this war. This place is graveyard… we should go. You need to see a doctor.
YOU DON´T UNDERSTAND! (Cough) What I have heard… what I have felt… Salvation must have triggered something that could destroy humankind… This place… this system… it is not a graveyard… (cough) IT IS A BEACON… Something is coming… (cough) this war might have yet started.