Encountering the Impossible (Collab with Radiumio)
21 Mar 2022Lily Flemmon
(A note: this log and the arc that will follow are still pending confirmation into the lore of Titan Contractors; contradictions may occur.)
I took off from the T.O.C. Solaris in my pursuit-fitted Viper MkIV, and headed to the Generation Ship Artemis, hoping to find evidence that the "wolf among sheep" killer was more creative than Silas. I dropped into local space with the GS Artemis, and scanned it for structural anomalies, rather than data uplinks, expecting to locate the airlocks, but instead the scanner picked up something that wasn't there before, or maybe it was: A small unidentified ship, seemingly docked directly to the hull of the Artemis, near Log Uplink 3, the data array containing the ship's final log. I throttled up to get a closer look, but I had barely even started moving when the ship detached, drifting for a moment before it powered up, and I got a scan of its heat signature, trying to identify what kind of ship it was, with no luck. Its FSD was charging, and it had a canopy, but other than that, the scan didn't identify any sub-targets automatically- all I knew was that it looked more like a Cobra than any other type of ship.
And then, only 150 meters from the GS Artemis, it low-waked out, right into supercruise. How the hell did it avoid the mass lock effect of the carrier?
I was still outside my mass-lock zone, so I started charging my FSD as I came about to try to pursue this strange ship. I entered the frame shift tunnel, and sure enough, there was the wake signature- I was lucky to be in a ship fitted for pursuit operations. I followed it and tried to guess where it was headed, and it appeared to be heading for the Solaris. Figuring I should let the carrier know, I opened a channel.
"TOC Solaris, this is Commander Lily. I'm following an inbound unidentified FSD wake with no transponder codes, and I'm ready to interdict, please advise."
After a small delay, communications opened to the Solaris' Flight Control, the start of the transmission marked with a distinct radio crackle and beep.
"Copy that, Commander. Interrogative - is the vessel approaching the carrier?"
"Affirmative, the vessel is approaching- wait, it just deviated a couple degrees."
The unidentified ship slowed to 100 km/s and began circling the carrier, remaining in supercruise.
"Lily to Solaris control, the vessel appears to be circling the carrier, and I'm still following it."
"Roger that. The Solaris is currently in lawless space, Commander. Engage at your own volition. Should the ship enter normal space around the carrier, normal security protocols and no fire zone remain in effect. Keep us updated."
"Will do, Solaris. Lily out."
I continued to follow the circling signature, and after about a minute, its transponder suddenly came online, but the code it was responding with wasn't able to be resolved automatically.
"Lily to Solaris control, I'm picking up a transponder code, but it's nonstandard, and looking at the raw data readout... Ah, it's showing aplain-text ship ID of alpha-sigma-tau-zero-one-niner."
"Copy. CSF security forces have been notified. Is there any other information about the vessel that you can provide?"
"Lily to Solaris Control, it's now broadcasting some kind of intermittent signal, I'll try to figure out the modulation. Looks like... it's being transmitted by the ship's frame shift drive? It's as if the wake itself is sending the signal."
"Any physical description of the ship, Commander?"
"Affirmative. I was in normal space with it for a few seconds near the generation ship, it appeared to have docked directly to the megaship's hull. and then it released, powered up, and waked out only 150 meters or so from the megaship. I've followed it since then. Visually the ship looks like a Cobra MkIII."
"Copy... uh... that. Keep us updated. Flight control out."
I managed to identify the modulation, it was definitely supposed to be easy to figure out. Ultra-simple, 100+-1 kHz FM audio. I got the feeling this target wasn't threatening, but I still had so many questions. But I'm a diplomat now, it's my job to ask those questions.
"Lily to Solaris Control, I've identified the signal as a 100kHz frequency-modulated transmission, and it's audio.
The pilot is saying 'anakalyftis zero-one-niner, requesting drop.'
I'll attempt to make radio contact, and I'll let you know how it goes."
I managed to get my ship's auxiliary comms array to match the source signal, and attempted to hail it.
"Lily, to, uhh, zero-one-niner, please identify your ship make and model."
Apparently whatever I did worked, and the pilot responded: "This is Anakalyftis 019 to- er- Lily, my ship is an experimental Anakalyftis vessel. Can you relay me into the control of this megaship?"
"Lily to Anakalyftis, I-" My voice hitched. Anakalyftis... that's Greek. Guess I'm still sensitive to that, shit. I took a deep breath and buried my reaction for later- I needed my wits sharp right now. "Lily to Anakalyftis, I will attempt to patch you through my ship."
"Lily to Solaris, I've established contact, the pilot self-reports his vessel to be and experimental Anakalyftis vessel. He's asked me to patch him in to you, please advise.
There was a longer pause before the Solaris ATC responded.
"Commander, there are no records of such a model. If you deem it necessary, patch us in to the vessel."
"Lily to Solaris control, I'm aware there are no records of such a vessel. I can patch you through. Be advised, he seems very non-threatening, but unfamiliar with protocols. He is requesting permission before even dropping to normal space, after all."
"Copy that, Lily. The ship is permitted to drop to local space around the carrier. We can perform direct contact from there."
I set up the patched channel and hailed both 019 and the Solaris.
"Lily to Solaris control and Anakalyftis 019, you are now patched through. Solaris, what minimum drop proximity do you permit?"
"Zero-one-niner, this is the flight control of the T.O.C. Solaris. You may disengage your FSD at standard drop range - approximately 8 kilometers from the carrier."
"Roger that, flight control, will drop at 8 kilometers. 019 out."
"Lily to flight control, I will follow and escort."
"Copy both. Be advised that you will be screened by security forces upon landing. Abide by all security protocols and we won't have an issue."
The vessel dropped at the stated distance and began approaching the carrier at 100m/s, and I followed, taking an inverted escort position above it. I couldn't see anything inside the cockpit, and it appeared to be some sort of Cobra, but it didn't quite match the standard MkIII silhouette.
"Lily to Solaris Control, if I may inform this pilot of the protocols, I would like to do so."
"Go ahead, Commander."
"Lily to 019, sending procedure files over in ten seconds, 115200 baud, 1MHz EM carrier, frequency modulated 0.1%, like before, mark."
After a few seconds, the Cobra-like ship came to a stop, and I began slowly circling it. The files finished transmitting and there was a pause of several minutes before the unidentified pilot called out over standard channels.
"Anakalyftis to Solaris, do you read?"
"This is the Solaris. Affirmative, zero-one-niner."
"This is alpha-sigma-tau 019, requesting fully manual docking. I do not have the necessary transponder systems for automatic alignment as specified."
"Lily to Solaris control, I'd like to dock on an adjacent pad, if possible."
"Copy that, zero-one-niner. Be careful, and take your time. Try maintain central alignment with the pad as much as possible. AST-019, your assigned landing pad is number one-one. Commander Lily, you are assigned to adjacent pad one-two."
"Roger that, Lily out."
"019 to Solaris, understood. Nobody will be allowed to board my ship, and my canopy will be shuttered. You will have to earn my trust."
And we both docked. I watched as this strange Cobra docked- it managed to align perfectly, using laser scanning systems and what appeared to be the same attachment method that it used to cling to the hull of the GS Artemis. Once it was secure, I went below into the hangar, and I hurried to disembark and I ran to bay 11.
I think I've finally crossed the threshold from being a disillusioned freedom fighter to being a diplomat... or at least I'm about to find out if I'm up to snuff.