Trails of the Past - Salvation's Grave
09 Mar 2024Kasumi Goto
“… or what was thought to be it. Once a deluded man’s dream, now millions or even billions, humans and Thargoids alike, suffer for it.”
March 1, 3310
Location : HIP 22460
Above moon 10 B
The Proteus Wave sat beneath me, still spreading a strange stream of unknown energy around through whatever had happened to the mechanism... over a year ago now. No one had yet attempted to make an expedition down to that site, whether it was due to the potentially hazardous nature of the energy field, or because of the extremely aggressive Thargoid presence within the system. Both seemed likely.
In supercruise, like I currently was, there was little threat - unlike the systems affected by the war back in the Bubble - but it seemed likely that the Thargoids which I could hear buzzing in my head in a rather angry way would quickly swoop in on any interloper to dispose of them once they entered 'normal' space. But how would they respond to me?
That, I wasn't sure about. I hadn't been hyperdicted while jumping in, though the anti-Guardian field did not discriminate for the FSD booster I had installed, which had been turned into a melted piece of electronics not long after entry into the system.
I got tired of looking at the old Thargoid mothership - or whatever was still left down there after the firing of the Proteus Wave - and turned around to the Bright Sentinel's location, which was... not quite in view of the site, currently on the night side of the moon, but I didn't want to look at that travesty anyway. All it was, was a monument to a colossal failure, and the obsessive dream of a man who'd lost his sanity a long time ago. A dream which had turned my life completely upside down, and now that of many, many other people, too. And this was his grave.
Or it should have been. I couldn't help but turn my thoughts to the Nemesis failsafe, as the derelict megaship came into view, still surrounded by debris, caught on a stable orbital trajectory that could last another few thousand years with it. Even if, by then, the ship would either have degraded beyond use or been picked completely clean by salvagers already. Assuming the Thargoids ever stopped shooting on sight in here.
I filtered out all of the random salvageable items highlighted by sensors so I could focus on the few log uplinks, quickly scanning all three log uplinks which I could find. Two of them gave me some personal logs of crew members, which were not too interesting, beyond some random person marvelling at the versatility of Guardian technology. The third uplink provided me with two logs, one from a Commodore Morag Halloran, announcing imminent activation of the Proteus Wave, and that its firing would be broadcast across all the relevant major newsfeeds. Because of course, it would be. I'd even seen that footage myself, again. And I just hated it more every time.
The last log was the most interesting to me - because it was recorded by Salvation himself. And I knew I'd find it here, not just because of it being his former flagship, but also my research pointing me to this log recording existing. Though I had, consciously, avoided reading or listening to it on those external sources, so I would get the impression here. Where he was supposed to have died. I began playback and focused, almost entirely blocking out all other sensations.
PERSONAL LOG 27-07-3308; SALVATION
The time of our victory is almost here. My journey has been long. Too long, I think.
I am likely to be the oldest ever living human. The fortune I have spent on cell regeneration and bionic replacements to keep my physical form intact... well, it would make even a Sirius accountant weep.
Every single credit was worthwhile, though. The investments have allowed me to witness this moment. To be our salvation.
The Thargoids are an ancient race, too blind to realise their time has passed. Over the centuries I have, admittedly, found a grudging respect for them. The creatures are equally intelligent and ruthless.
But the lack the ambition and endless potential of humans. I have given my life to ensuring the crown is finally snatched away from them. We are now the dominant civilization in the galaxy.
I shook my head, sighing deeply. He really was just as maniacal as everyone said... and I knew. He'd brought a never witnessed amount of death and destruction not just to one, but two species, in pursuit of an absolutely insane, delusional goal of attempting to replace the Thargoids, who were just so much more advanced than us in almost every way, with humans.
And he sounded so disgustingly convinced of his utterly despicable, mad beliefs, on top of this completely unreasonable hatred for the Thargoids, I almost couldn't believe it. If the definitions of madman or lunatic hadn't yet been rewritten to include him as the example, they definitely needed - or deserved - to be. Whatever could make someone's brain so completely fucked up that they wasted their entire life on such a ludicrously insane pursuit and hold on to a grudge for so long, with this intensity... I really just couldn't understand it.
And he'd refused to die in this cesspit of madness as well. As if bringing the Titans to our doorstep wasn't bad enough already, he was lurking in some stupid, weird Guardian brain machine now, or waiting to be 'reactivated', even though it'd even become obvious that he was not even needed with his idiotic superweapon nonsense. If anything, it seemed like humans were doing better without it.
I felt a shift in the local Thargoid presence, and immediately after, the sensation that they were about to arrive materialized in my body. It was an odd... ability, for sure, to feel Witch Space distortions, and I wasn't too sure how useful this would be. Only that those of human ships were significantly more noticeable than those of Thargoid ships, to the point where I had to shut out those sensations to avoid sensory overload. Especially when my brain was far from its fullest capabilities yet.
Not knowing what the Thargoids dropping in were looking to do, and being unable to sense their intent, I decided to get out of there and reactivate the FSD's supercruise function. Three locations I wanted to check remained, one being right here - a megaship named 'Overlook'. Me being me and curious about it, I dropped by there, and found... one log uplink, but a quick skim of its message contents, without getting the time to think on them, seemed to indicate there was another. Yet I couldn't find it for... a few minutes, only seeing the same 'Ship Log Uplink' in contacts, until I realized the system was being an idiot and didn't have them numbered. Just in time to recover the second message as a Hydra came by to pay a visit. Not a chance that I wanted to take. Back in the safety of supercruise, I took the time to read the messages properly.
DATA NODE 01
ATTENTION BLACK FLIGHT OPERATIVES
Thargoid forces have been reported in numerous systems. Superpower military presence in the Pleiades likely to increase. Major news coverage is imminent. Continued knowledge suppression efforts are untenable. An immediate withdrawal order has been issued. Squadron leaders must ensure all Project Seraph personnel have evacuated HIP 22460. When complete, all operatives are to return to their designated ports for debriefing and reassignment
So this was a Black Flight megaship... no surprise there, knowing how Project Seraph had a presence in this system as well. A fact which made it even more twisted that the Proteus Wave had been installed here. Although, given the messed up state of the megaship and that this transmission log had a tag around the time the project was last known to be active... I had a feeling these guys didn't manage to get out of here. And that the Thargoids had seemingly taken offense at their presence above this moon with two crashed motherships of the first war.
The second log confirmed as much, detailing that the ship suddenly came under attack in a blackbox recording, which ended in a distress call mentioning the Thargoid attack, abruptly cutting off before they got a chance to put it out fully. Or at all, I couldn't be sure. It even amused me a little, in no part thanks to the name 'Clayton' being mentioned in there. I wasn't sure why the name was relevant, or why it was funny, but someone with it being on that ship was just oddly amusing to me. Even though they'd probably died. But anyone with an association to Azimuth at that point in time... probably deserved it. Then, a thought suddenly came to me.
"EDI... did Azimuth have this... Black Flight, group, working for them before?", I asked.
"Unknown.", she replied. "However, it appears likely that both have been acting in concert for the last two centuries. Historical records suggest Azimuth has indeed had a private military when it was known as 'Azimuth Biochemicals', or was at least rumored to. It is entirely possible they continued to act in concert after the supposed dissolution of Azimuth, using shell companies to stay hidden. In fact, Taurus Mining Ventures used to be a front for what we now know as Azimuth Biotech."
"Oh. That's... interesting."
I also didn't know what to do with it... right now, at least. Or ever, since this information was more useful for sating my own curiosity.
"Do you think Black Flight is still active, now?"
"It would be prudent to assume they are. Seo Jin-ae's experience of being attacked by unidentified mercenaries early last year, near Azimuth's headquarters in the Bubble, would suggest that at least some of the organization remains functional. However, given its clandestine nature, it is difficult to provide estimates on how much."
"I think... enough to be careful."
"I agree. But it is unlikely they would be foolish enough to attempt to follow you here."
"I don't expect them to. But... let's - let's just... carry on."
"Kira?"
"It's nothing."
Truthfully, the events surrounding Taranis had taken some of the wind out of my sails, as the expression went. I'd felt oddly demotivated to do... anything, only recovering a few dozen bio pods from Titan Oya, and momentarily helping with regular evacuation work at a damaged station around that same Titan - remotely piloted for the latter, because I was... somewhat aware of what seemed to be a trauma related to Scythes, and I could not be near them in person, like that. But, with my carrier placed close enough to the front, I could focus on the hivemind enough to pick out what which of the individual Thargoid ships were doing, making me quite proficient at avoiding any passenger or life support pod loss. It interfered with the Thargoids' goals, perhaps, but while they kept stealing people for no obvious reason... I definitely did not want to just leave them to do that without opposition.
I wasn't going to stop here, despite the exhaustion which I felt. I checked my system map next, to be sure of what I'd located when entering the system - a signal on the surface of moon 7 C. Once close enough, I targeted "Fort Asch", which had to be the Project Seraph site in system. And upon approaching the planetary surface, it seemed to be built right around the edge of a large crater. At least, it was not difficult to land there, and quickly dismiss the ship before any potentially angry Thargoids made their presence known.
That was limitedly successful. The ship was gone before any Thargoids arrived, but the area soon swarmed with a lot of Scouts rapidly coming and going. Which quickly turned into an obnoxiously annoying repetition of sounds as I started to drive around, making me give off a frustrated sound.
"EDI... please turn that... stupid sound interpreter thing off. This is just... annoying." Silence suddenly filled the Scorpion's cabin, other than the noise of its engine and wheels in contact with the ground, making me breathe out in relief. "Thanks."
At least the Scouts that were swarming everywhere ignored me. I took a good look around before investigating the data storage units - this outpost looked a lot larger than Oaken Point or the old INRA base, but also... quite a lot more wrecked. Several large pieces of... something, both buildings and possibly ships, lay scattered around, and some of it looked unfinished too. A crane was near several pieces of this wrecked something, as if they'd still been building, or just using it to move cargo. I began to wonder what it had to be so big for, but there weren't many possibilities, given the history of the project. And the logs would probably tell me, so I drove around and began to download them, ending up with a total of five.
LOG 1/5
Project Seraph, Log #34. Professor Kaley Orenn reporting.
Following Professor Dorne’s reassignment, I’m responsible for logging the next phase of Project Seraph. The primary objective is acquiring a new Thargoid vessel. Our human pilot integration tests aren’t going to achieve much without one.
The staging facility in HIP 22460 is up and running. Black Flight ships are patrolling in anticipation of non-human activity. Ground teams are examining the system’s two Thargoid surface sites in the hope of attracting a Thargoid vessel. According to Captain Stenson our operation is ‘textbook’. I’m not convinced the Captain could read a textbook. but I’ll take him at his word.
The permit check is still active in this system’s nav beacon. I have to say, the considerable investment in securing that permit is impressive. Pass my thanks on to the relevant donors.
Initial system scans aren’t showing much promise. If the Thargoids are still interested in this system they haven’t left any recent evidence. Reports of strange encounters in the Pleiades sector have increased, though. Multiple pilots have claimed they were pulled out of hyperspace by an alien craft; as you know, this tactic was common during the First Thargoid War.
I hope you understand we’re potentially acting as bait out here. Assuming the surface sites are in ancient Thargoid territory, then our ground teams are trespassing. We don’t yet know how they’ll be received. This risk has been calculated into your plans, I assume?
I’ll report again in a few days.
Not much of a surprise there, in any of the log's contents. Having noticed the other, still inactive Thargoid surface site on the same planet as the Proteus Wave, it was rather evident they were the reason for planting this particular operation here, in this system. I'd need the other logs to get a better picture of how things went - but a Thargoid attack on the outpost seemed unlikely. It missed the hallmark signs of their weapons, unless no caustic missiles had been involved in the destruction.
Either way, it didn't matter. This place was deader than a cold rock at the edges of a system with a Y class dwarf, and would likely never see use again. I was just here for the recordings of its former inhabitants, to see if they'd achieved anything - not that it appeared likely.
LOG 2/5
Project Seraph, Log #37. Professor Kaley Orenn reporting.
Still no Thargoid vessel. The surface sites are providing valuable data on Thargoid architecture and construction methods. I’ve requested a sweep for evidence of Mycoid activity on these relics. I’m sure we’ll find a use for the ground team’s analysis either way.
Dr Granmore has provided a very long essay on his team’s findings at Research Site Amber, which I’ve sent on your preferred channel. You should get comfortable before reading it. A cup of coffee or several would be smart, too. As I said: very long essay.
One interesting development relates to the disappearance of Subject D-2. Our security team found several unauthorised messages which had piggybacked along our encryption network. The datapad that sent these messages belonged to Dr Edmund Pierce; evidently he’s not as good with technology as he is with bioengineering, so it was simply a matter of time until we noticed. Decoding these messages revealed Pierce has assisted D-2’s escape from the Oaken Point infirmary.
Pierce confessed and is now incarcerated. When the interrogation is complete he‘ll be executed. There was talk of making this a public event, but Pierce is popular with his colleagues. I’ll announce the transgression and punishment after the fact. Better to let the traitor’s deed speak for him.
D-2’s whereabouts remain unknown. Pierce’s messages at least confirms she was placed on Commander Hyford’s ship without his knowledge. Hyford’s elimination shouldn’t affect our flow of test subjects.
Until next time. Say hi to Dorne for me.
So this 'Edmund Pierce' was the one who'd helped Seo escape, and those complete morons decided to execute him for it because he refused to "further humanity at all costs" and had at least some shred of morals in his brain. Not that it'd done a lot of good to him when he got shot in the head, or whatever else they did. Knowing Azimuth - they'd likely made him suffer with a poison or some other such thing, and probably tortured him during the interrogation. That company and its "employees" really just became more idiotic by the millisecond. If I ever found this 'Kaley Orenn' - providing the Thargoids hadn't already painfully reduced her to a bunch of melted human gunk, in the most sadistic way possible - I'd definitely have a few words with her. And break a few bones. Or a lot of them. Or all of them. Then dump her on a world at the edge of a system with a suit that had just enough oxygen to last to maybe see the signal of a potential rescuer arrive, and keep her alive in the agony and conscious throughout that whole period.
Maybe then, as her life faded, she'd understand what Azimuth was inflicting on other people.
Not that I held the hope anyone who still worked for those nutjobs now, was even remotely capable of learning any kind of lesson in that regard. Otherwise, they would have ditched them long ago already.
The third log detailed an encounter of a trade ship from Azimuth with a Thargoid, indirect confirmation of Oaken Point's vessel being a Scout, and some speculation and theories of this 'Professor', who would have been stripped of that title long ago in any self-respecting circle. Though there was also a strong chance of her just being dead for six or seven years already, given the state of the Black Flight megaship. To me, it was also now evident the Thargoids were merely observing us for that time, as if to see how we would react to their presence. Which, of course, we did. In the worst way possible, because we clearly deserved to get our greasy handprints smeared all over things which didn't belong to us.
Log 4 detailed an incident involving Black Flight and a few Thargoid ships. Less fortunate for Black Flight - they ended up as scrap floating in space. The only other interesting part being another mention of the hubristic idiot Dorne from Oaken Point who was convinced about human superiority to the Thargoids. Only we never beat them in a 'fair' fight, so much as that definition applied to war or any kind of battle which occurred outside a regulated competition. And an encounter between Thargoids and humans would not be anything slightly regulated, especially when kill bonds were paid out for destroying their ships anywhere, at any time, without reason or discrimination.
If it wasn't for the Guardian weaponry, and dirty tricks such as mycoid or the Proteus Wave, or more recently those stupid nanite torpedoes, we would be completely hopeless against the Thargoids. Titans especially, but even a Medusa would already be a real handful with our standard, self-developed anti-xeno weaponry, let alone Hydras.
I decided to stop thinking and moved on to the final log.
LOG 5/5
Project Seraph, Log #51. Professor Kaley Orenn reporting.
This will probably be the final log for Project Seraph. I don’t see much point in continuing after the withdrawal.
I know, I know: the Witch gave the order. That attack on the Federal convoy is going to draw the superpower’s attention to the Pleiades. And the Thargoid presence is growing stronger each day. We can’t risk exposure so we’re pulling out and taking our research with us. I get it.
It’s just frustrating. I was so sure we were making a difference here. The first human-piloted Thargoid ship will be a huge step in our technological evolution. We were getting closer with each test and then it just…stopped. All the momentum we’d enjoyed ebbed away. People trained to work with hard data have resorted to chasing ghosts.
The objective was to find a new Thargoid vessel. As though it were just a matter of time. I guess you could say they found us instead.
I’ll arrange transport for the remaining test subjects. We have a few locations which could house them for a while. If the Thargoids really are back then there should be an opportunity to obtain another vessel eventually. Assuming they don’t wipe us out first, of course.
I’ll be at Azimuth headquarters for a full debrief within forty-eight hours.
'If you ever made it back there.', I added in my thoughts when the playback ended.
The mention of the remaining test subjects made me wonder. It was possible they were still alive, but at the same time, with at least six, if not seven years since the known end of this nonsensical project... they probably hadn't bothered to keep them alive. Maybe I would've been, if not for Salvation bringing that rogue cell back under wraps and ordering to release me back out 'into the wild' with a mind control chip... so they wouldn't have to waste resources keeping me alive. Judging by data and my own personal logs still saved to the ship's computers, at least.
I was done here. Project Seraph's delusional dream had failed, possibly thanks entirely to one man who found his conscience a little late, but not too late. Seo had escaped, taking the secret of the connection to the hivemind with her for many years, until Salvation and Azimuth re-emerged, and the Proteus Wave failed. Burying it just like Project Seraph had been buried here, and how Salvation himself was supposed to be. And what should have been my own grave.
Yet that stubborn bastard refused to know where to stop and made sure that death was not the end for him, when he should have sunk with his own delusions of grandeur, forced to accept that humans are not the truly superior species. But I knew that, with as fucked up of a brain as that man had, he would never have accepted that he could possibly fail. So when the Proteus Wave was about to fail... he activated the Nemesis Failsafe, either somehow transmitting his mind to it directly, or triggering a backup copy of himself with all the memories up to that point.
And I was still alive too. Biologically, an amalgamation of Thargoid and human, but undoubtedly still alive. Something which, if I'd just know what to do with it, would be better. I was... almost exactly the polar opposite to him, even - favorable to the Thargoids, returned to life by them for... a reason which I yet had to discover, and with little sympathy for humanity, even if I did not want them wiped out. But I wanted Seo to be the one to deliver the final blow, if there was any chance that she could.
I... needed to leave this place behind. There was... nothing good to be found in it any longer, if ever. As if the Thargoids sensed that, a shift occurred in the hivemind, or its local 'reflection', and the Scouts all left, while a break settled into their repeated drop-ins, allowing me to recall my ship without much worry. Interference from the Proteus Wave was... still there, on the surface here, but reduced, and EDI was able to lock on to the Scorpion's signal easily.
One place left to check. And this next spot would... probably take the most energy out of me, today. I took a deep breath and swallowed as I locked the wreck of the FNS Varian Scott as the target, and began heading there, because... it was where it had both ended, and started anew for me. Where I'd been abducted by Thargoids, for a failsafe of Azimuth's mind control chip to trigger and effectively kill me, only for the unknowable alien species to revive me for an unknown purpose. One that I was afraid they had planned for the captives, too, but thankfully there'd been no such signs so far.
I stopped immediately after dropping out near the wrecked capital ship, observing its surroundings, the caustic cloud which surrounded it... and the dead Federal ships. Sending something of a shiver down my spine - that could just as easily have been mine, but... for some reason, I'd been taken alive, with my ship. And the Federation kept the details of my return under very tight wraps, even to me. Which I just... could not understand, especially when I was not given a reason.
I moved closer. Almost immediately, an 'image' flashed through my mind, when I was just two kilometers out, in the process of bringing the ship to a standstill.
Me, fighting the Thargoids around the capital ship, its weapons wildly firing away at any target that remained within range. Tearing apart Scouts and even giving the 'lesser' Interceptors, particularly Cyclops, a run for their money. The memory was... intense. It, or rather variations of similar scenes at different points in that final week of the battle, the most intense one, flashed in front of my eyes in rapid succession. I winced, threatening to almost be overwhelmed, but I... did my best, to hold myself together.
Those memories felt like they were from... this very moment. As if I'd never left this place. The one thing all of them shared in common - a profound sense of questioning, of why I was there, and yet... not leaving. As if something was keeping me there. I steadied my brain out against this 'onslaught', of information, of my past, still holding me firmly in its hold... trying to break me.
But it didn't. It wouldn't. I knew... I knew why I'd been here, when I opposed Salvation and what he stood for, when I never wanted to fight or cared about the Thargoids, if they'd stay in their corner of space. It was all just Azimuth's influence, their megalomaniac dream of bringing down the Thargoids. Or rather, Salvation's, which he passed on to the company and like-minded people serving it. Putting a mind control chip into me so I'd be here when their project could continue, with many thousands of Thargoid ships... or I would have died. But even I wasn't sure if what had actually ended up happening was at all in the possibilities they'd planned for. If at least I knew why the Thargoids had spared me...
One more memory returned, yet again consisting of a set of them. The final day. Thargoid assaults had increased even more, and Hydra appearances had only become ever more frequent. I shouldn't have survived it, I knew, but somehow... I did. Possibly through seeking refuge on the Farragut's internal hangar as an emergency, where repair crews extended the courtesy of getting the ship fixed as well. But that'd only made things worse, as I might have jumped out of the system before facing destruction, and missed the Proteus Wave firing...
Instead, I was right there when the second, counter-pulse fired and disabled everything human in the system for... too long, with the Thargoid ships reactivated by that same pulse. From one moment to the next, a largely successful military operation turned into bedlam, as the disabled capital ship was utterly ravaged by Thargoids. And I got out of it... to have to shut down the Guardian hybrid powerplant, lacking other alternatives to power all weapons and shields on the ship properly, leaving me completely exposed to one of two Hydras of that final assault wave, with three of its hearts destroyed, using the near-magical lightning to grind my ship to a halt. Thne, surrounded by Thargoids. It became black a moment after that.
I breathed rapidly a couple of times when I came out of that... it was almost like coming out of a pool from a long dive where you'd held your air for far too long. But instead of sinking into the darkness completely, I'd come out of this reliving of my past... had it changed me in any way? I really couldn't be sure. But I definitely had survived, and recovered an important, if grim, part of what'd turned me into what I was now. Of my past.
Coming out of that trance-like state allowed me to see the, quite numerous, contacts which were suddenly present. Or rather, not quite so sudden - what I felt through the hive appeared to indicate that these ships were here for a few minutes already. Yet none of them seemed particularly hostile, if giving me somewhat of a wide berth. It was nice to know that even when I was entirely defenseless, the Thargoids didn't just wreck my ship to 'recover' me, and the experience down at Fort Asch wasn't just a fluke.
A Medusa busy circling around the wrecked Farragut made a curious noise after noticing my 'activity' and began to approach, with a few Scouts joining it, as if in case I wasn't as friendly as I looked. It scanned me, gave me a sound telling me I was free to go and had nothing to be concerned about. For a moment, I'd started feeling tempted to turn around and boost away - speed would have been largely sufficient to outrun anything other than a Glaive, and those didn't appear to be here, and my ship would survive for long enough to escape. I felt relieved this was not necessary, however.
Everything suddenly went quiet. But not outside - sound interpretation systems worked flawlessly. It was inside my head. The silence was immediately follwed by a singular, desperate, pained outcry, which the Thargoids near me responded to with an equal mixture of sadness and anger in their voices. And I felt a sudden knot in both my chest and stomach, realizing what had happened, which I was already aware of, but didn't want to think about, would happen soon.
Taranis has fallen.
I needed to be there. Now. And I wasn't the only one leaving - both Scouts and the Medusa were already preparing to enter Witch Space rifts. I really wished I could follow them, but their method of hyperspace transition would likely leave my ship in pieces. And I was not even prepared, nor did I want to take this ship to a Titan.
Suddenly, for just a moment, HIP 22460 was as quiet as the grave it was meant to be.