ATCNet - HAWKING'S GAP-CONFLUX EXPEDITION - Report 6
12 Dec 2020Belexticus
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> ATTACH FILE/33061212HAWKINGS;33061212VIDEOPACKET;
The mission is over. With the loss of the Star Marshal, the members of the Pilots’ Office do not feel they can continue with this noble expedition.
Over the past fortnight, our commanders have been searching every signal source in the vicinity for Commander Eben’s whereabouts but we have been unsuccessful. Our heads have been bowed as no trace or clue can be found. However, we do not yield to failure.
Standing Order 23 of the expedition states that should a pilot be unable to rejoin or contact the carrier, he or she should endeavor to reach the final destination of the journey and await pickup. Somehow, this appears as an impossible task.
As the absentee is the Star Marshal, a nominated council of senior commanders aboard the ATC Sisyphus has taken charge and decreed that the carrier should make all-speed to the final waypoint before heading for Saisiyat, with no further recourse to the aims and objectives of the Conflux Expedition. En route, every effort will be made to find Commander Eben and bring him home.
A final sweep scan was made of the ancient ruins which stand on desolate and haunted worlds in the Skaudai sector, lest the Star Marshal had become stranded at our last objective. Alas, just darkness and silence.
Proceeding to the galactic south, the carrier pushed itself out of the conflux and back on a course towards the Orion Spur, where we encountered many different stellar phenomena. One signal of note, a powerful, majestic pulsar, making its pronouncement on the universe – an astral paintbrush, sweeping its brilliance across the canvas of space.
I have always been fascinated by the duality of the galaxy we live in, where there is beauty and there is death. The pulsar was a potent reminder that they can be one and the same. But here in this sector, there were no signs of our missing friend. We had to press on.
Whereas the pulsar, with its attractive jeopardy, had been readily apparent, some jumps later we encountered a more hidden menace, veiled in the secrecy of the laws of this universe and an adventure from which some had never returned. Like an omnipotent lens, the V1487 Aquilae black hole wrought its distorted pattern across the light.
We had made it to Medusa Rock, a station constructed inside a tiny moon. All the while, I felt the presence of a guiding hand here. Many of our commanders felt it; a voice in witch-space shepherding us to a system not too far away. What we discovered…we could not comprehend.
Grief-stricken, battered and low on power, the forlorn but resolute Krait Mark 2 tumbled through space, floating like a leaf on a breeze. The Artemis Corporation Memorial Board would not be receiving another star. Beyond all our expectations, Commander Eben had made it.
Though he himself was barely alive, the ship had finally been rendered inoperable after thousands of light years travel in deep space without support. Our team executed the necessary rescue plan – repair, refuel and reboot.
Power restored, the thrusters roared into life. A debrief on the circumstances of the Star Marshal’s disappearance and his journey across the gulf of space was for another time. The priority – a course for home.
I am not sure if I believe in that which so many have called God but, whatever powers there may be, we thank them for the safe return of our companion.
Artemis Corporation is my family. It is all our family. And with each other at our sides as the phalanx of rectitude, comradeship and cooperation, there is nothing worth achieving that we cannot attain. Our commanders have done many great deeds and will go on to do more. For that is what we do at Artemis Corporation. We find support. We find success. And we stand together.
And what of the ATC Sisyphus? She certainly is a fine ship and I am sure she shall have many more adventures in the coming years. Brothers and sisters watching from your ships and quarters in the Artemis bubble. The universe is calling you. Why don’t you come with us next time and discover the secret of the world?
This is Commander Belexticus, worn from toil, now to peaceful rest, for ATCNet.