It all went sideways
03 Nov 2024Looted [OAC]
We did a passenger check once the ship’s systems sputtered back online and prepped the repaired jump drives. The nav computer would definitely need replacing when we got back to the bubble—an hour to calculate a route was unacceptable. Regardless, we pressed on.**Earlier that day...**
Things had been going well. Commanders had flown in from deep space just to rendezvous with us. We were a packed ship, 3,500 light-years from Colonia and making incredible time.
The first jump of the day hinted at the chaos to come. As we emerged from witch-space, disaster struck. One of those unpredictable static lightning blasts breached a passenger cabin and punched through into witch-space itself. We were fortunate the passenger had been suited up in an environmental suit—they were suddenly clinging to the exterior hull, caught between survival and the void.
We scrambled to get them back inside, but before we could complete the rescue, the nav computer started the next jump sequence. Alarms screamed, our efforts to shut it down fell short, and we were jumping. The drive spasmed into overdrive, and then—darkness.
I’ve stared into the abyss at the edge of the galaxy, where the black stretches endlessly. But this? This was a nothingness that chilled my core.
We floated, lost in witch-space, for four long hours until it finally spit us out. Systems flickered back, sluggish but operational. The nav computer wheezed along, devoid of any strange errors, and the drive was primed. We performed a head count. Crew and passengers checked in; their ships were accounted for. All clear.
Then came the next jump: 34 minutes to charge, and an hour to calculate. It was too long. That’s when the weak transmission came through.
It was them—the passenger we had forgotten. Still out there, clinging to the carrier’s hull. Alone. No ship.
760 light-years into deep space. The carrier couldn’t afford to turn around, not after what we’d been through. An hour would be too late. I threw together my fastest ship, a rushed, chaotic patchwork of old modules. The Mandalay-class ship roared to life. Neutron boosts propelled me through the void, and I reached them in 12 minutes. Heart pounding, I pushed the SCO drive to the limit and approached.
They were still alive. Relief surged through me as I closed the distance and brought them aboard.
Blasting our way back, the sight of the carrier departing cut through the adrenaline. But we made great time and caught up. I've never seen anyone so relieved as that passenger, setting foot on deck with a stunned, grateful smile.
We were lucky this time.
(We tried a few tricks to get them their ship but they got their 36ly type 6. I met them we landed on a planet and Jumped in my ship and we flew back together. It was pretty crazy, they did get stuck on the hull without a ship. Partly due to them desyncing, then the server crash happened.)
