A Helping Hand: Part 3
14 Jun 2022Fallharbor
This log continues a short series in collaboration with Titan Contractors and it's many Commanders. Thank you CMDR RADIUMIO and everyone else involved for allowing me to be part of this. Special thanks to CMDR Novus for their role in this part!
Part 1 here. Part 2 here.
Part 1 here. Part 2 here.
Location: Sheron on board Hecate's Rest
Date: 03 June 3308
"You can't go there, Vidal" Jenn said as she grabbed my arm to stop me. We'd just learned the Solaris had a failed jump and was stranded. Someone...or something had done this and posted the message 'Nobody can save you. Goodbye' on to the concourse. I paused my leave and turned to Jenn.
"If it was us we'd want...we'd need help." I replied placing a hand on hers.
"I agree but if we lose you..." Jenn responded with furrowed brows.
"I'll take a small wing. You should stay here with Aurelia and protect the carrier in case something else pops up." I said with a slight smile. Jenn let go with a frown before I made my way to the lift. I gave them a reassuring smile and nod as the doors closed.
"Sometimes I think being stranded in the black with Amara on our tail was safer than this..." Aurelia said with a defeated sigh.
"Vidal wouldn't put us in danger at least. They're reckless to a fault but with their own life." Jenn said without turning to look at Aurelia before talking into her wrist comm, "This is Security Chief Jennifer Dixon. Deploy all available fighters...yes even the refugees. If something goes down, this is their chance to prove themselves."
A Krait MKII named Arbmos, along with two Imperial Eagles and an Imperial Clipper deploy from the carrier's pads and jump in the direction of IC 4604 Sector HR-W d1-68. Almost immediately after several ships including a Federal Corvette and many SLFs begin to orbit the carrier in a defensive position.
Location: IC 4604 Sector HR-W d1-68
Date: 03 June 3308
The Arbmos and it's wing jumped out of Witch-space and immediately headed to the fifth moon of the third body in the system. The wing dropped to local space 8km from the carrier and began hailing. There was no response and were denied docking as they flew closer. The wing split up to take in the carrier's condition. The carrier was scorched and sections of it were warped, the landing pads damaged, and all window shutters were closed preventing the wing from seeing inside. Suddenly, a ship appeared on the wing's scanners and then disappeared. It was far but appeared to be closing in.
"Commander there's-"
"I see it...Keep an eye on whoever that might be. I'm going to continue checking for a way in." I interjected.
"Roger" the wing responded as they turned and slowly flew towards the incoming ship.
I continued to zip around the carrier looking for any entrance to no avail.
"Scans indicated the hull is reinforced more than usual. I can't quite get any readings inside nor-" Keep had begun saying before she was interrupted by an incoming hail.
????:// This is commander Novus, does anybody read me?
I'd recognized the name from Titan's roster. They must have not been on board when the ship failed it's jump.
Fallharbor: // This is Commander Fallharbor. My wing and I read you.
Novus: // Ah...good, any signs of life from the Solaris? I was following it and it didn't make the last jump.
Fallharbor: // So far we haven't gotten any responses to hails and are denied landing. We've been looking for another way in.
Novus: // Well there's always the uhhh...straight forward way...
Fallharbor: // What's that?
Novus: // Blowing a hole in the hull.
Novus had said that so nonchalantly, I wasn't sure if they were serious or not...
"I would advise against that, Vidal. Although the exterior may not looked so severe, that warping indicates some unknown internal damage. We could do more harm than good" Keep reported.
Fallharbor: // I uh...maybe as a last resort. We wouldn't want to hurt anyone inside.
As we spoke, the Arbmos had drifted closer to the carrier and there was a sudden noise on the comms channel.
?????: //... k̸͜z̛̕z̶͝͞z̧͝͏z̸̴̨.̨̨͡.͘͠҉.̨̀͡ ̡̧҉-̛́b̢͠ǫ̵͞d̵̨́y͘͠ ̷͢͠h̀͜͞ȩ̴̕l̡͘-̢̀.̨́.͢҉̴̛.̶́͡"
Fallharbor: // Did you all hear that?
Novus: // That I did, trying to maintain contact.
"Keep, can you track where that's coming from?"
"I'll try..." she replied as she began to use the ship's computers to tune into the frequency. "It's...coming from inside the carrier but the thick plating is causing interference."
?????: //... -̕͘-̧̧#͘͞&̶͏̀$̢̕͟-̴̸͘-̵͘͟ļ̕͜e̶̡a̡s̵͜͠e̛͢ ̕͝͝r̴͘e̕͡͏s̷̵̕p͜͡͏ơ͜͝ǹ̵-̴̧.̸̡͢.҉̷̡͡.̧̡͞ ̷̴̢̛͘^͠͏%̡͟$͏̧͝%҉̶̢e҉̷̴͘ ҉̨̛h̸͝á́͝v́͠͝e̷͘͡ ̨͟i̡͏ņ̢̨j͏͏ú̶͡r҉̛è̕͢d̵-̷̧͢.̷͡͏.̵̡.̨̧
Novus: // Solaris this is Oculus, come again?
?????: //... *̢̨&^̴̵^̡̀%-ǹ͡y̸̡o͞͏n͝e̡҉̧ ̵͡ǫ̛u̸t̡ ̸͜͞ţ̶h́ȩ́r̸̢e͏͟?̨͠ ҉Ṕ͝l͏e-̢̀͢.̴̨.͘̕͢.̷͡$$^̧͟7̴̶̴.̸͢͢..̷̶"
Novus and I now drifted even closer to the carrier in an attempt to get a cleaner signal when suddenly I was granted access to dock. One of the least damaged pads flickered online.
Fallharbor: // I-I got clearance. Landing now!
Eagle 1: // Please be careful, Commander.
The Arbmos landed on the designated pad and was clamped down as usual, the pad lowered slowly as it's motors whirred and whined. As the Krait was lowered in, the true state of the Solaris became apparent. Lights flickered and reflected off floating crates, pipes hissed and seeped gases, and the life support field blinked in and out of existence above as the pad finally touched down. Vidal donned a Maverick suit along with an Intimidator and their trusty Tormentor before they exited the ship. As they walked out of the shadow of the Krait they heard a loud groan above and saw Novus' ship, the Oculus, wedge itself between the shutters. Vidal ran off the pad to the safety of the hangars.
Novus: // I'm getting in that carrier.
I left Novus to their own and hoped they wouldn't blow up the hangar in the process while I looked around. There was no one here and no power to the lifts. We were stuck without a way to turn off these hazards. At least, without a way I knew. I'm no engineer and I wasn't about to messing with equipment that could put more lives in danger. After a while of looking around I heard the Oculus' SRV bay open and out came something I'd never seen. A massive machine with arms and legs. The Oculus powered down as soon as it freed the machine which proceeded to maneuver to magnetized itself to the bottom of the shutters.
Fallharbor: // What the hell is that thing, Novus?
Novus: // Just a side project, wheels are so last century.
?????: //...-̩̲͘ǫ͓̗m͈̥̕m̞̯͙a̠͓͉n̶̥̭d̥̼̥e̱̯r͇̭͚s͉̙͚,͏̻̘ ͇͇͢c͚̞͞a̰̭͟n̰͚ ͉̫̪yo̪̝ͅu h̴̠̱e̢̺ͅa̢r͔͇̱ ͎̦͠m̻̦̝-̴͖̼.̖͖̀.̪̟̬.̵̬̩#̟̗͘&̹̬̞$̪͈̕&̨̗̮̰̳͔(̲͚͜9͔̥͖.̩̭͚.̟.̡̭̯ ͍̠͝p̩̥r̀o͟ce͖̤e̟͓̤d̡̟̲ ̳͈͇t̛̼o̮̞̤ ̩͢m̵͓͔ai͍̤n̥̮͡t̘̻̗e̴n̖-̗̬ͅ.͔̖͘.. door 02...--#8... -҉ou should see it n-... ear the lif-... t lob**@0--...
"Keep, any way you can clear that up?"
"Analyzing...Maintenance door 2. Should be somewhere nearby' replied Keep directly into my head.
I looked around and found the maintenance bulkhead near the hangar lifts. I made my way over and began attempting to cut through with my Arc Cutter to no avail. It was too thick. Everything on this damned carrier is reinforced.
Fallharbor: // I think I found a way in but we need a way to open this bulkhead door. Novus, you think that thing you're in can get this door open without blowing us all up?
Novus: // Most probably.
The massive machine had already started walking down the wall and made its way towards me. The machine raised an arm and with a pike attachment began to slowly wedge the door open. It appeared to be working as the door creaked open little by little. Soon enough we saw lights pour out and heard shouting form the other side.
"... Hey! Identify yourself!" someone shouted.
With hands raised, I walked through the parting and responded, "I am Commander Fallharbor of Hecate's Rest! This is Commander Novus! We are here to help!" Unfortunately, Novus seemed to have been startled as the weapon on their machine's other arm began to spool up. The group ran up revealing they were soldiers and raised their rifles at me and then to Novus.
"Hey! What the fuck!?" yelled one.
"Commander, stand down!" yelled another with a more decorated suit. Novus' machine stopped spooling immediately as they responded "Jeez.. you spooked me... standing down."
"... Sheesh, if it isn't the carrier trying to fucking kill us, it's our own Commanders..." one of the soldiers mumbled as they all lowered their weapons. "Well... it's good to see friendly faces, I suppose. Though... not sure how much is left to save" reported the decorated soldier as she holstered her rifle.
"What's the status?" I asked hopefully.
The group came out to the hangar and from the maintenance corridor and motioned to the hangar. "Take this and multiply it by 100. There's several decks we haven't been able to access due to various hazards, and we're estimating hundreds dead... maybe even thousands. And... with the carrier down, we haven't been able to communicate with any elements" the Captain said as she looked between Novus and I. "... The worst of the disaster is around the Frame Shift Drive. There's fuel leaks, ventilation failures, electrical hazards, fire... name it, and you'll find it somewhere around here. Not to mention that some decks near the FSD are entirely inaccessible. There was too much heat dumped into the surrounding area, and we think some of the Tritium fuel ignited and caused a chain reaction. Anyone in those decks I-..." she paused for a moment struggling to end that sentence. She looked to me and shook her head, "This carrier won't fly again." The captain continued with a report of what they've found but it wasn't much. Their network was down and they haven't been able to get doors open to find more survivors. We planned to turn the hangar into a base of operations. Get supplies and power running at least here and then start sending teams in. I sent a message to Hecate's Rest to send an S.O.S. to Tethys for reinforcements on the Captain's request and to join the Solaris in orbit of the moon before Novus and I began to unload spare supplies off the Oculus while the soldiers did their work.
Location: Sheron on board Hecate's Rest
Date: 03 June 3308
Jenn walked into the command deck over to Aurelia and placed an arm on her shoulder. "Vidal sent word. Everything in the vicinity of the Solaris seems alright but the ship is in bad condition. He wants us to jump over and help with security and evacuation efforts." Aurelia turned to face her with a frown, "Jenn, I'm not comfortable get the whole carrier involved..."
"The Solaris helped us when we needed it. I think it only right to return the favor" Jenn responded cupping Aurelia's face with her hand, "we'll be ok." Aurelia sighed and nodded before turning around starting the countdown.
Location: The Solaris in orbit of body 3e in system IC 4604 Sector HR-W d1-68
Date: 10 June 3308
The days passed and even with all the help, the situation barely improved. Novus worked on special equipment to open bulkhead doors which were used by Titan's few remaining CSF forces and the Tethys unit that arrived to help. Additional Commanders part of Titan arrived and also continued to help with network stabilization and dive teams for rescue. I mostly stayed in the bay and helped triage any found survivors. The days passed and hope to find more faltered. Hecate's Rest orbited 3e far enough out of trouble but close enough if we needed them for supplies and ships. Everyday was the same since we boarded until today. The Tethy's Crusader docked in the hangar set out and let a new ship in. CSF forces began to fill the hangar as the pad retracted with a new ship. A Krait Phantom with withered and scratched golden paint. The Tethys officers along with the CSF forces ran up to the ship as the pad settled in. The Phantom's lift began to lower as a slim figure stood at the top with their arms raised. I followed the officer's lead and pulled out my Tormentor in case anything happened. At the bottom of the lift the figure fell to their knees and put their hands behind their helmet. They were unarmed but the soldiers continued to bark orders. The figure yelled out a plea and begged to help, her voice wavering with almost every word. The soldiers held their weapons slightly raised at her but I lowered mine as I recognized the voice from sometime ago on the Titan channels. It was Commander Adair, former Squadron Commander of Titan and supposed war criminal wanted by the Feds. She had returned to the Solaris of her own free will and plead to help her home.