Aliens! Holy shit!
18 Aug 2023Naomii
One fateful day in 3303, a Galnet report came in referring to strange events in the Pleiades Nebula. She was serendipitously close to home, so the Pleiades was only a few dozen jumps away. A mystery like this was too enthralling not to be investigated personally, even if half the Pilots' Federation and their mothers were already swarming the nebula investigating as well. "WARNING! HYPERSPACE CONDUIT UNSTABLE!"
Her ship's COVAS's calm voice cut through the cacophony of blaring alarms. Her cockpit illuminated in an eerie green. She grit her teeth and clutched Blueberry close to her chest to protect her from the turbulence as the Zoomies tumbled out of Witchspace.
"UNKNOWN SYSTEM MALFUNCTION" was the last thing she heard before her instrument panel went dark. Cabin lights too. She hadn't realized she was holding her breath until startled by the red glow of the emergency light strips that had taken a few moments to activate. It was then that she noticed the quiet. No engine rumble. No Shield hum. Complete silence. Blueberry had puffed up her fur so it was standing on end. Her ears flattened behind her head. A low growl escaped her throat.
She first noticed it in her peripheral vision. It crept into full view, awesome and terrifying. Like a giant flower. Concentric groupings of metallic petals spinning around it's center axis. Glowing wisps of light trailing behind it. Probably it's engine exhaust, but not like any engine she'd ever seen before.
It slowly came about to face her ship. In the center, one enormous obsidian eye. Naomi felt like it was staring into her soul.
It's an alien ship! Holy fuck a real fucking alien! It's got 8 petals. Could this be one of the 8-sided Thargoids that the old spacer tales talk about?
It just hung there in space for what seemed like an eternity. It's wings subtly pulsing with light, like 8 parallel heartbeats.
A flash of light! Naomi instinctively raised her arms to shield her eyes but caught a glimpse of it's petals unfurling. Her ship began to vibrate, making the kind of sound that keeps you up at night when you remember it. It was almost like the alien ship was emitting a haunting, monstrous roar. But that should be impossible to hear across the vacuum of space, unless maybe. . . what if it was emitting gravitational waves?
She felt Blueberry's claws dig into her jacket as Zoomies suddenly rocked sideways. The alien ship was moving away and the DBX was somehow caught briefly in its wake. Moments later "SYSTEM REBOOT SEQUENCE INITIATED". The ship's auto-stabilization cancelled the rotation. Naomi was able to get a partial scan of the ship before it disappeared into Witchspace with the sound of crackling lightning. Unknown Ship Signature. Unknown Wake.
She became obsessed. She devoured every bit of information there was to be learned about the aliens. Later they were confirmed to be the Thargoids of old legend. Why did they appear now? What did they want? They had no qualms with ripping you out of hyperspace, but they weren't hostile by default. They seemed to get upset if you were carrying bits of their tech in your hold, but would otherwise only fire if first provoked. Yet there were reports of them scooping up escape pods from destroyed human ships. She preferred not to speculate on what fate befell those pilots.
There were other discoveries too! Ruins of humanoid civilization that had gone extinct a few million years ago. It seemed that their technology could be reverse engineered by our scientists. Fascinating! Ironic that she had spent all those years looking for alien civilizations out in the black when the discoveries were waiting to be found much closer to home.
Some commanders took it upon themselves to exact a crusade on what they perceived as alien invaders. During that time, Naomi preferred to think of them as a mystery to be solved, rather than a threat. She cashed in her exploration bonds and commissioned Saud Kruger to build her a custom Beluga Liner, the Heart of Gold. Outfitted with state of the art sensors, laboratories, and comfortable quarters, it was a veritable research college in the form of a star cruiser. The sheer size of the ship even allowed for the addition of a small, internal, spinning section with moderate simulated gravity, so that Blueberry would have someplace to play and sleep without having to wear the magnetized booties that she had had to wear on the Zoomies.
Now accompanied by a full crew of scientists, xeno-archaeologists, and engineers, Naomi and the Heart of Gold set out once more to solve the mysteries of the Thargoids and the Guardians.