Trails of the Past - Salomé's Mystery - Rift Madness
31 May 2024Kasumi Goto
"Pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place, shining some light into the unknown. Yet the full picture still eluded me... and the other mystery intensified. Because it became increasingly evident that I was not the only one interested in it... and neither were humans.
"This thing... it looks like, a space bone."
The name of the organism I was looking at was actually "Osseus", but between that and their appearance... I couldn't help it to give them that nickname. EDI made no comment to this, so I just landed the ship nearby and went down. I at least had a little bit of energy in me right now, and there was this small moon with a thin atmosphere which had drawn my attention. So... here I was.
At first, I thought about going out in my Scorpion, but quickly changed my mind and just wandered to the airlock, squeezing out of there. A short hop across some lightly uneven, rocky terrain later - without risking to fall over, because gravity was below .1G, and this being a rocky world, none of that slippery ice nonsense - I stood in front of the 'plant', if it even was one. And... it looked a lot taller than from within the ship. Maybe even twice as much as me.
"It is so big!", I exclaimed, in an... oddly excited manner. "I mean... tall. Taller than me. But, not, as... wide ..."
I paused. That had gotten awkward rather quickly.
"Uh... never... mind."
I pulled the biological scanner out and just got on with that, instead, hoping I wouldn't get berated by my AI for being so weird. Because it definitely wouldn't be the first time. Still... one of those weird ideas had gotten into my head, and so, I jumped... getting a little more height than expected, both from the strength in my legs to carry my extra mass, and how low the gravity was. I definitely went well above the top of the plant, and... floated down rather slowly.
Yet, when I did hit the ground again, I'd picked up enough speed to send a quite noticeable wobble through my enlarged parts, making me put on a slightly silly look for a moment. Nobody around to observe, luckily. No other human, anyway, because that would've been a bit too weird even for me. I hopped back over to the ship, as well as I could while I learned how to handle that type of movement with my shape. Definitely preferred just walking normally...
And, like that, my curiosity about the biological life of this moon turned into an experiment. Primarily one to figure out what worked better, and, by the time I had all three scans of this plant, just using the ship was... less than practical, due to having to squeeze through the airlock doors, walking up and back down every time for a new sample because of the distance between them... taking the Scorpion seemed like a much better option, even with some life forms requiring up to a kilometer of distance between them. This 'Osseus' one, 800 meters, but there was worse.
The only issue I saw was being able to actually spot the things from within the vehicle, but... I could always just have EDI use the ship to spot them for me, then be guided there, with it serving as an improvised navigational marker. For now, though, I didn't actually want to continue poking this moon, because it had already been discovered and mapped, as well as landed on. Plus, all else I could see, or knew was here, were bacterial colonies, the "Stratum" organism, whatever it was, and some space-grass looking stuff called "Tussock"... neither of which really excited me.
And I was only a few thousand light years away from the Formidine Rift sites, now, getting quite eager to finally arrive there by now. It had to hold more answers, if the region was important enough to also send a whole megaship there, rather than just the Anaconda fleet. So, back to the carrier I went, with another jump underway by the time I'd docked. And I had been spared the dreaded berating, too.
Later in the same week ...
April 2, 3310
Eafots EU-R c4-1
Formidine Rift Alpha Site, planet C 2
Finally, I was here. Even if it wasn't quite the end of my journey, I did at least feel like it was a major milestone, and the second-last one at that. Though, despite being at the tertiary star in-system, the journey to it after completing the jump, hadn't been that long. Now, I was down on the surface, my ship still in orbit, and very ready to get started.
I already began to get a better feeling when I accessed the first of the external data storages, and found that it was marked by a "1/6" rather than out of four. More uplinks, more data, more chances it was actually worth something, or what I wanted to learn. Or, maybe, just have confirmed. Whichever it was, I gathered the other five logs, and got myself to reading.
FORMIDINE RIFT ALPHA MISSION 1/6
Expedition Log: 21/08/3270
Why the hell are we out here? No one seems to know. It’s taken months and still we’re not there, wherever ‘there’ is. We’re dropping these beacons. Supposedly nobody knows what they’re for. If they do they ain’t telling. Makes no sense, there’s nothing out here… and who would come all this way anyway?
So, pretty much the same story as previous expeditions. Crew left in the total dark about their mission, and questioning what they were out in the middle of nowhere for. I moved on, not seeing a point in lingering on the text.
FORMIDINE RIFT ALPHA MISSION 2/6
Expedition Log: 28/08/3270
We’re still travelling. Jump drive malfunctioned today, that made an interesting diversion. It’s going to take a while to fix. This area of space is freaking me out. Could have sworn I heard some weird voices in the last jump. We are a long way from home. We’re struggling to plot a course now, we’re leaving the galactic arm and the jumps are getting longer.
Void, or space madness, settling in? Maybe... there was certainly quite a bit of precedent, which I'd read up on and found in my memories, too. Yet, other than occasional boredom, not something that ever seemed to have affected me, maybe because I was used to being alone for extended periods of time. At least, so my memories said, from those times I went out into the deep void, including outer arms in this direction - the galactic "south" - but also toward the core. Other than the very real Thargoid ones, in my head, and inner thoughts - plus, now, my 'original' and sometimes annoying sarcastic self - I'd never heard any "voices" though. Then again, it wasn't as if I'd spent several months out there yet, only one at most.
Someone losing a bolt out here didn't seem to be of much interest to me, anyway, so I stopped thinking on it as much, and continued reading.
FORMIDINE RIFT ALPHA MISSION 3/6
Expedition Log: 07/09/3270
Finally fixed the drive. More monotony. Can’t believe it’s nearly six months since we set out from Riedquat. Did I say Riedquat? I meant Reorte. It’s getting to me, this endless emptiness. The guys are showing the strain. Three more months before we can turn and head back. The stars are thinning out, you can see the whole galaxy just hanging there…
Still not interesting. Though it didn't surprise me to find that the people stuck on that ship with only the goal of travelling from A to B, with absolutely no other stops, were getting a bit numbed by it.
FORMIDINE RIFT ALPHA MISSION 4/6
Expedition Log: 22/09/3270
The darkness grows. The galaxy is faint and dim behind us. I’m told this place has been nicknamed the Formidine Rift. Apparently that means fear in some old Earth language. It’s an apt name, some of the guys are going space crazy out here in the void. We had to sedate one guy, he went completely doolally. We’ve not seen another soul for weeks. Just us and this ship… alone… in the darkness…
So it was space madness. Somehow, I began to doubt this particular story, amidst the many scattered throughout space, ended well.
FORMIDINE RIFT ALPHA MISSION 5/6
Expedition Log: 07/10/3270
I’m scared… help me someone… I can’t bear another jump. The lights in witch-space are coming for me, the lights… always the lights… they’re calling to me… a siren song… I must join them…
... and there it was. I briefly wondered whether those 'voices' and 'lights' were in any way related to the Thargoids, like near the "Conflux" region, or if it really was just that person completely losing it. At least "Randomius" hadn't made an appearance again yet... whatever it was. But I was certain I'd find it here, too, eventually.
The final log, recorded by automated systems on the following day, basically just confirmed that the mad idiot vented everyone or at least the air in the cockpit into space, after which automated systems took over and activated a distress beacon. Which was probably the main reason I was reading this, here, in the first place.
That was the Alpha site done for. Nothing particular to clue me in yet, but I had three more to check off, and a good feeling about at least one of them. So I moved on to the Beta site, on... planet D1 in one of the neighboring systems. Because of course it was. Upon jumping into the system, however, I began to get that feeling of being followed... and there was a 'ghost' on the radar for just a split-second, before it disappeared again. And a followup active scan... yielded nothing. Whatever it was, it seemed to be gone.
“EDI? Did you… see that?”, I asked, out of precaution.
“I am not detecting any signatures nearby, no.”, the AI replied. “Your active scan did not reveal any residual frame shift activity either.”
Had space gotten to me as well? I ‘listened’ for anything nearby, but there was nothing from the Thargoid side either… while I would have suspected them to be keeping an eye on me too. And I couldn’t ‘feel’ the disturbance normally left by a human ship using its FSD either.
I sighed, and set the ship on its course to the relevant planet, after fully scanning the system via FSS… which also didn’t show anything. Yet I couldn’t shake the feeling something was up here. Still, I arrived at the planet, and landed on the surface, without issue. At least, my instinct to keep the ship dismissed and in orbit, until I actually needed it down here, wasn’t entirely out of place.
That same precaution now made me also take my weapons, instead of just the plasma pistol. Anything short of a literal tank, or a ship, would be quickly taken care of with those. And I was reasonably well-disposed to deal with enemies either at range or close up with the railgun and assault rifle - both military grade, not the cheap Pioneer weapons - if it did come to that. I hoped it wouldn’t, though.
Same deal again once out with the Scorpion - find all the logs, park somewhere at the edge or ‘hidden’ to direct view within the outpost, and check what they had to tell me.
FORMIDINE RIFT BETA MISSION 1/6
Expedition Log: 30/08/3270
Been travelling for weeks. Passed this amazing twin nebula just recently, about the only interesting sight on this whole trip. We are a long way out now, I don’t think anyone else has been this far. Still, pay is good!
Now it just felt like I was reading the copy of one of the earlier logs from the other two expedition locations. Except for the mention of the two nebulas nearby - Heart and Soul, as I remembered. I’d seen them on the way, too, getting larger with each carrier jump… and they were quite pretty, I had to admit it.
Not to mention they were plainly in view from here, on the night side of the planet, and that just made them stand out even more, especially with the galaxy in the background. I was almost as far from its center as was possible, and despite the star field being so sparse already, it had a certain beauty of its own, seeing basically the entire galaxy in full.
But, admirable as it was, the beauty wouldn’t get me anywhere. I still took a snapshot with the external camera before getting on with my task… for the memories.
FORMIDINE RIFT BETA MISSION 2/6
Expedition Log: 12/09/3270
Stars have thinned out and we’ve started dropping our cargo. Looks like some kind of long-range beacon to me. It’s all hush-hush, no questions asked stuff. Heard some of the senior bods talking about a Dynasty project. Careless talk and all that…
The Dynasty project… now that was something good. Had to be the expedition’s name, or at least that of the whole endeavor overall. I tried to recall if I’d found out about that particular tidbit before setting off, but couldn’t find it in my memories - though it seemed likely I did, because how else would I have found the locations of these sites by searching the human ‘galactic’ web?
It didn’t matter much now, anyway. If I didn’t know, I now did, and that was the important part.
Once again… I also couldn’t help but wonder if this log unwittingly turned into a death sentence for the person who recorded it. Considering what I’d learned so far and how willing this “Club” was to hide this project… I had to assume so. But then, it was decades ago, so I couldn’t change that part of history anyway… and ultimately, it was just a stranger who I barely had any reason to care for.
At least, my hunch that I’d find some good details here had turned out right.
FORMIDINE RIFT BETA MISSION 3/6
Expedition Log: 18/09/3270
Nothing prepared me for the boredom. It’s very dark out here. Really dark… darker than normal space. There’s hardly any stars ahead of us, it’s just blackness… the void.
I could definitely relate to that sentiment now, and I’d had a few days where I could break up that boredom by actually doing something. It’d not even been a month out here, but I definitely wouldn’t be doing this kind of long trek with a carrier again. Or at the very least, remain more ‘independent’ from it instead of spending most of the time on the thing.
Other than that - the log might as well have been a waste of storage space. Not that I was going to delete it.
FORMIDINE RIFT BETA MISSION 4/6
Expedition Log: 01/10/3270
Picked up some kind of signal yesterday and it looks like the crew weren’t expecting it. Got them proper rattled. There’s definitely something very strange about this area of space. Won’t be sad to turn around and head home.
Thargoids, again? If only it said. Without more details, I could only assume, but seeing their likely presence elsewhere, almost as far away as this from the Bubble, in the galaxy… that seemed fairly likely.
Or maybe the next log would tell. Seemed to always be a pattern, to have a report of something strange, before they showed up.
FORMIDINE RIFT BETA MISSION 5/6
Expedition Log: 11/11/3270
Last batch of cargo due today, but the hyperdrive has malfunctioned. We tried jumping and got yanked straight back out. So we’re stuck here, Randomius knows where…
And there was “Randomius”. Because it was only a question of time, after all. Had almost taken longer than I expected…
I was still left wondering if this’d been a ‘natural’ malfunction, or interference from the “mysterious signal” which these people had picked up earlier. Whatever it was, I’d probably find out.
FORMIDINE RIFT BETA MISSION 6/6
Expedition Log: 29/11/3270
We can’t fix it. Hyperdrive is dead. Lucky we’re in a system with a habitable world. We’ve sent a distress call but who knows if anyone will ever hear it. We’re going to abandon ship. If anyone finds this, we’re in… AUTOMATED TELEMETRY REPORT: POWER FAILURE.
That had to have been discouraging for the crew, to have their hyperdrive fail just before the completion of their mission and ability to return home. Presumed ability, at least… if the drive failure wasn’t intentional sabotage on behalf of the “employer” that didn’t care for survival of the crews in much of a way, it was a total mystery what had caused it, and for the damage to be unrepairable.
I wondered if these people did end up making it to the planet or not. Their location, that was definitely lost to time, and the machinations of those in the shadows… the location of the distress signal being obscured by a convenient power failure was definitely not coincidental. And then, I couldn’t know if the people had actually made it off, because if that “power failure” also disabled ejection systems, or was just the reactor automatically setting to self-destruct…
There was limited worth in further pondering their fate, right now, anyway. The best I could do, would be to get some kind of payback against the creators of this plan, because I had reason to suspect they were responsible for a lot more than just a plan to seed beacons near Earth-like worlds, to an unknown end. So I got my ship back down and took off for the Gamma site, third in line, of course.
The outpost was located on planet 3 of Eafots RA-G B11-0 - I still wanted to know who it was that came up with these designations many years ago, because they were basically impossible to remember - so I at least didn’t have to cover a significant distance before reaching it.
The ‘ghost contact’ was also missing, but despite that, I remained alert. Even if there was nothing supernatural here - or no Thargoids, as the most likely and realistic option - I still wanted to be careful, in case I had to contend with the human element, despite this being many thousands of light years from anywhere populated. Or proper civilization, at least, as deep space outposts did exist.
Nothing there when I arrived at the abandoned structure itself, either, aside from those decaying buildings of course. At least, that meant I could freely gather the local logs… though feeling a little more rushed about it. Still, they were all collected without incident.
FORMIDINE RIFT GAMMA MISSION 1/6
Expedition Log: 30/08/3270
Looks like I drew a short straw somewhere along the line. These long range missions pay well, but it’s a year out in the void. A year! We’re out far beyond the Frontier. The boys call this place the ‘Formidine Rift’. Apparently that means ‘terror’ in some old Earth language. Nice. Just looks like more space to me.
The Rift of Terror… now that could be a good name for a place haunted, but I had a feeling this place was neither haunted, nor supernatural. Or, at least, nothing that couldn’t be explained away by technology, and Thargoids. Or simply human psychology. Because apparently, the sparse field of stars and isolation had a tendency to outright drive people insane.
Meanwhile, I just got bored. And some more bored.
FORMIDINE RIFT GAMMA MISSION 2/6
Expedition Log: 12/09/3270
Finally arrived in place after five months of hyperspace travel. Now we have two months of laying a bunch of beacons before another five months travel back home. At least I’ll have enough credits to retire by then.
Beacons which I evidently couldn’t find, or outright wasn’t bothered to. Equally, I wasn’t bothered to waste my time on that pointless log.
FORMIDINE RIFT GAMMA MISSION 3/6
Expedition Log: 18/09/3270
Supposedly there are a bunch of other ships out here doing the same job as us, but no comms allowed. All a bit strange. It’s vast and lonely out here, pretty much the whole galaxy is behind us. It’s getting to some of the crew.
Just as it was getting to me that I was stuck reading this worthless babble. Certainly not when I had little interest in some random person’s thoughts on what I knew already. At least these ones hadn’t gone insane yet by the third log.
FORMIDINE RIFT GAMMA MISSION 4/6
Expedition Log: 01/10/3270
We picked up some kind of bizarre signal yesterday. Whatever it was it wasn’t human. At least, that’s the scuttlebutt going around the decks. Everyone is looking out of the canopies now. We’re seeing some strange lights during hyperspace transits. Terror? Yeah, we got some of that…
More Thargoids… probably. I had to wonder exactly what they were doing out here, discreetly observing human explorers. More than out by the… Conflux sites, it was, at least. Especially with that time period being between the first war with the mycoid nonsense, and this current ongoing one. They certainly had reasons to be annoyed at humans, but instead… just didn’t seem to have any kind of issue with them. Or not enough to commit to an outright aggression.
Though I would have to see if it also remained there, or went further. The remaining two logs would probably tell me.
FORMIDINE RIFT GAMMA MISSION 5/6
Expedition Log: 11/11/3270
More strange lights. We’ve got equipment malfunctions, scanners dropping in and out, systems resetting. Ship is limping on. Everyone wants to turn about, but if we don’t complete the mission we don’t get paid. No one wants to give up those credits either. You expect to turn around and see…
Thargoids, definitely. That description sounded a lot like the issues caused by their interference, or at least the disrupting effect which their presence caused on human ship systems... if a lot more noticeable. Maybe technology from a few decades ago was less resistant to it, or it - whichever Thargoid ship had been present, then - was doing that on purpose.
No way for me to tell from this, though, and if they were still here, watching me, now... they didn't make it obvious. And maybe just didn't want to, to avoid the risk of startling me. If that was the case... I wouldn't find out, anyway, so I got my mind back to this Dynasty mystery. The Thargoid one could be solved later... if it was even possible to. But the interest they showed for this project and regions otherwise far removed from their usual zones of activity was... intriguing, to say the least.
FORMIDINE RIFT GAMMA MISSION 6/6
Expedition Log: 29/11/3270
We’re done and we’re heading home. We picked up some heat signatures in the last system. Definitely something there and it wasn’t any profile I had seen before. Something was watching us. There’s something evil out here, and it doesn’t like company!
Or maybe it'd just been observing, to clue it in on the human activity. And provided a few warning signs to keep a healthy distance to each other... I assumed that aggression was not the plan unless prompted or caused by the human ships that were being observed. As usual, the log also left the fate of this ship's crew rather ambiguous... not too surprising, given that they wouldn't have left any behind for future 'visitors' like me, after ditching the outpost, because they were done with their task and had no intention of further staying in the middle of nowhere. Couldn't blame them for that ...
I was not yet ready to move on and go back, however. While some of the logs here had proven more informative - like confirming, or at least reminding me, that the name of the project was Dynasty, providing some insight into it being a long-term plan - it didn't quite feel like I knew enough, yet. But the Delta site still awaited me, and if that wasn't enough, then the Zurara would have to actually be what I was after.
On my jump into Eafots GL-Y e2, there was... still no further sign of my ghost contact, and nothing on the Thargoid side either. But the bright A type star, doing its best to try blinding me, prevented me from contemplating if I was really just starting to go void crazy, instead making me want to curse it... and maybe I had a little, under my breath, as I turned the ship away from the source of light, and started scanning the system after the discovery 'pulse'.
I'd kind of gotten past their presence, given its lack of relevance to my endeavor, but there was another of the unregistered comms beacons circling planet 1... which could best be described as a scorching hot mess, being the closest one to the extremely bright star. Whatever made it a "good" rally point for the Delta expedition within the Formidine Rift, I didn't know. And didn't really need to know, either, but maybe they wanted to survey the star to figure out how far along in its life cycle it was, and determine the risk it posed to any nearby habitable worlds. Or terraformable ones, too, maybe. If they were part of the project's scope, which I didn't know yet. But maybe the abandoned outpost, on planet 6, could tell me. So I went over there, rather than feeling like I wanted to turn my eyes off due to the proximity of the bright ball of plasma.
Same procedure as... I was getting to the twelfth time now, no less. At least, this'd be the last surface outpost I had to visit. Dismiss the ship, scan the log uplinks... and keep a particular eye on the scanner. Because, while neither the SRV's nor the ship's showed anything... I just could not shake that distinct feeling of being watched. Though I had my weapons with me, for that reason, so... it could have been worse. Fending off potential attackers would have been a lot more difficult with just a pistol, or the Scorpion, thanks to the buildings restricting how much its mobility advantage could be used.
For now, though, fighting wasn't on my mind, but uncovering what the last of the Formidine Rift outposts had to say for itself.
FORMIDINE RIFT DELTA MISSION 1/6
Expedition Log: 30/08/3270
I should have paid a bit more attention to the mission description. I just saw the credit count and signed up there and then. More money than I’ve ever earned and all in one go, just for taking a year out. What’s a poor girl got to do? A bit of a jaunt into the void, how bad could it be? Didn’t read the bit about several thousand light years. I’ve never even been past Leesti before! Get rich quick scheme – let’s go!
'A lot worse than you could have imagined.', I thought to myself. Because this wasn't just a simple, innocent venture out into the void to catalogue the locations of potentially habitable planets for future reference, far away from any competition.
A saying, "Always read the fine print", came to my mind. Because that was what this woman should have done... and I could feel little sympathy, though slightly more than I would've for a man, just because I had a marked preference for the same, rather than the opposite, gender. Not something I could explain to myself, but maybe I just didn't need to, because... it seemed 'natural'.
I'd made the mistake of 'not reading the fine print' myself, once or twice, too... as it seemed, though of lesser importance and more just inconvenience, having to travel to a very distant secondary star for a delivery of some kind, because I hadn't read the contract offer precisely, either through inattention of the mission accepting routine, or just being too sleepy to do any kind of work. Nothing that could be changed now, though... neither for me, nor what happened to this person. Though my fate of being inconvenienced slightly was probably crumbs compared to what might've happened here.
FORMIDINE RIFT DELTA MISSION 2/6
Expedition Log: 12/09/3270
It’s pretty out here. We’ve seen a gorgeous double nebula called the Heart and Soul. You should see it, lots of bright blue stars nearby, wish we could divert to have a closer look, but our mission is beyond apparently. Really brings back how big the galaxy is. Makes you feel real small and insignificant.
Small and insignificant... which humans were. Yet somehow, they believed themselves to be rulers of the galaxy, and better than a species that roamed space for millions of years and made our technology look like a child's toys. That kind of hubris... had already gotten many people killed, and it would continue to. It could even put the whole species at risk if it was allowed to continue running rampant as it had.
Not if I could do anything about it, but first, I had to know what I was dealing with exactly... and where to start. Neither of which I had yet.
FORMIDINE RIFT DELTA MISSION 3/6
Expedition Log: 18/09/3270
My job is the EVA. Taking out one of our two Sidewinders and dropping beacons out in the void and then making sure they’re activated. Not sure what these things are for. Who needs a beacon this far out anyway? Weird, they all have this code in their BIOS – ‘Exodus’. Still, at least I now have something to do. The journey was so dull! Months of travel to get out here.
'Exodus'... curious, to say the least. Upon seeing the word, it'd 'brought back' exactly what it meant - in a sense, large numbers of people fleeing to rebuild somewhere else. Or, at the very least, in this context. Maybe checking out one of those beacons would actually be worth doing. But only after I was done here.
FORMIDINE RIFT DELTA MISSION 4/6
Expedition Log: 01/10/3270
Something weird happened to day. Unloaded another beacon and set it up, then everything went off line – and l mean everything! Life support too! No comms, nothing. Stayed that way for about two minutes. Then everything was back to normal. Affected our support ship too. No idea what caused it. Going to need new underwear when I get back. Rumours are there is something odd about this area of space.
Sabotage, or Thargoids? No way to tell yet, especially without context on how far the two ships were apart... but the former seemed much more likely, as a Thargoid doing that thing would've been noticed. Saboteurs, on the other hand... given the subject matter and secrecy surrounding it, that seemed quite likely.
In any case, I'd likely find out. Though I definitely thought I didn't need to know about the underwear detail.
FORMIDINE RIFT DELTA MISSION 5/6
Expedition Log: 11/11/3270
Oh my god… someone help me. Where are they… please… this can’t be happening…
... not particularly informative beyond something having gone wrong. And the recorder - presumably, still the same woman - being desperate, in denial, too. Since this wasn't a happy little story where everyone went home safe and sound, I suspected the next - and final - entry, whatever it was, wouldn't be too positive either.
FORMIDINE RIFT DELTA MISSION 6/6
Expedition Log: 29/11/3270
I’ve had time to accept it now. I went out as normal with one of the beacons, set it up. Had that weird power loss again. I waited and it all came back online like before. Signalled my support ship – no response. Flew back and it was gone, just debris. No survivors. Don’t know what happened. It’s just me and this crappy old Sidewinder a zillion miles from home. Should have known it wasn’t going to work out. If it’s too good to be true… There’s an Earth-like world here, going to try and reach it… you never know.
A signal from the beacon itself, maybe? Couldn't be a coincidence that it occurred at the exact same moment as its deployment.
She'd been lucky that the Sidewinder didn't just explode there and then. There wouldn't even have been enough time to reach an escape pod once it started going - having made the experience of shooting down pirating fools who chose to remain in their Sidewinders - or were just too new to the whole deal to really get it, and definitely not good enough to make use of the little ship properly - the tin can tended to explode in less than a second if its reactor took a bad hit. Or it simply broke apart almost instantly in the case of excessive hull stress.
Then again... it would have been a better fate than waiting to pass out from a lack of oxygen, or loss of heat once fuel ran out, and life support failed, if she wasn't able to reach the planet before that happened. Which, also, was something I'd likely never know. I still only felt limited sympathy, because it could've easily been avoided by just... reading.
And... there was nothing left here. Nothing obvious - I'd searched through all four sites, but still didn't feel satisfied. So far, poking these outposts had barely been conclusive, and it... kind of annoyed me. To the point where I decided to get out of the Scorpion, currently parked behind a building, in order to try getting into one of the structures, maybe find some kind of access point with more information in there - out here, at least, I wasn't too worried about raising any kind of alarm. Because I was thousands of light years from civilization, and the only one out here.
Or, at least, so I thought. But I'd only gotten to the door of a building that looked important, and was still at the "How do I get into this" stage - partly thanks to my 'size' - when a noise caught my attention. Or, at least, the simulated noise... of a ship approaching. I took a few steps backward... to see an Anaconda approaching. And not the kind set out for exploration, but with a clearly reinforced hull. And its approach pattern looked more like it was coming in to drop something off, not land nearby.
"EDI?"
There was a hidden question in that... uncertain call for the AI.
"I did not detect any ships approaching the planet. It may have concealed its approach with the star, which is going through a heightened level of stellar activity.", EDI replied. "One moment, I am accessing their communications. In the meantime, I suggest you find a spot for cover. They are unlikely to be friendly."
Of course they weren't going to be. This already didn't have the allure of a welcoming party with balloons and confetti. The only thing 'ballooned' here was me, and it'd make things a bit more complicated... especially thanks to 1.34Gs of gravity, though thankfully a little used to it thanks to my time on Duamta 4. Still, when I already had a breast that weighed five kilograms, easily, on Earth... that could drag me to the ground a little too much here. And not be very helpful with my mobility otherwise, either. Not when I weighed as much as I did, thanks to all the extra down below. Yet the weight also worked as a stabilizing factor... as I tried my best to do more than leisurely walk into cover. Definitely still needed more practice with the running part, too. But I made it into some form of cover away from the Anaconda before it got near the surface. Pilot definitely had to have some experience with flying in gravity, looking at where they stopped the ship, hovering just above buildings, but low enough to not make a drop in this gravity hazardous.
"EDI... vehicle! Take it!"
The Scorpion was somewhere behind me. But I could see its signal on the suit HUD begin to move... somewhere else. Hopefully, also hidden from sensors by the sun's increased activity. It was a good thing that I wore my armored helmet over one with a transparent, retractable glass cover for the face... that usually didn't provide much bullet protection. The other bonus, an attacker couldn't identify me by the face, either. I went on a knee behind the structure which I was using to hide, and poked my head around... would still need to be careful, because I wasn't wearing armor. Nor did I have a suit with a particularly high protection factor... even if the Artemis model was better than the standard flight suit.
One squad of five dropped... then a second one. Maybe it would've been better to try opening up the building and go inside, instead... try to control the engagement in my favor from there. But it was too late now - had I not been so thick, it might've been possible, but I was just too wide to be that mobile any longer. And... I didn't mind, because combat was the exception. Or should be, anyway. I'd favor avoiding surface encounters as it was, too.
Suddenly, there was that familiar 'agitation' in the back of my head. But I knew what - or who - it was, better, this time. And I declined.
No. I would like to... do this myself. To learn, or know that I can do it.
Okay. Fine. But if your big hips get you into trouble, I'm taking over. No arguing.
The presence of my other self withdrew into the usual observer's position again. Not something I was yet fully used to... either. But that also wasn't important right now. The radio ear piece buzzed, coming to life with the chatter of... whoever was down here with me. Seemed to be between a male and female voice.
"Are we sure the target's here now?"
"Pretty sure. Couldn't find her at any of the other three sites, but that carrier nearby's a pretty big giveaway. And you'll recognize her if she is here, alright."
"And if she's not?"
"Then we kill whichever idiot is poking around this place. One less troublemaker for them to worry about, and we'll get to say we got something done. If it is her, orders are to get her in alive. Preferably in one piece. But I told you that already, in case you forgot." A brief pause followed that snarky remark. "Bravo, search the perimeter. We'll take care of the center and interiors."
So those people were... probably, quite deliberately, here for me. Which could also explain the 'ghost contact'... or maybe that was still something else. Hard to say. The woman also appeared to be leading... at least, the first squad. If not both. Currently had no visual contact... but that quickly changed, as I saw them round the corner directly ahead. Thankfully, shadows kept me concealed, for now. I waited for them all to be busy with the building I'd just been near to move, while still overhearing their comms.
"Someone left footprints here recently. Scanner says, anyway. Just a few minutes old - can't have gotten far."
"Where to?"
"Up to the building... but didn't go inside. And they lead over to that little alley in the other direction."
"Then that's where we're going."
It was a good thing I'd decided to move, then. Had to be some fancy scanner if it could tell my footprints apart from the older ones, on a planet with no atmosphere whatsoever. But that also meant my time roaming freely was... limited, for the least. So... a little gift for my 'friends' in the form of a shock mine with a proximity sensor, in my path, attached to a shadowy side of this - it looked like - habitation building. At worst, it'd buy me a little bit of time.
Low gravity would've actually made this a lot easier on me, too... by floating around instead of having to walk, using railings and other parts of structures to push off of, I could have avoided leaving tracks. Or, at least, not as many, and make it hard to follow them. Alternatively, I would've considered using those while fighting, because apparently, that was one part of my brain which had been fixed to working more or less flawlessly, already. Rather ironically... since I often tried to avoid such fighting where possible.
"Bravo's reporting some kind of movement. Vehicle, maybe. Could be she's in that, or not alone."
"Well, she's not leaving while we've got our own ship up above. Wouldn't mind knowing why it didn't pick it up, though."
"It's the damn star. Throwing out a lot of material or something right now, messes with sensors pretty badly."
"Yeah, figures. And speaking of ships, I didn't see anything when we dropped."
"Let that be his concern. That thing's firepower will make anything other than a ship of equal size or the carrier think twice."
They had to mean the Anaconda, of course.
"Look out!"
I saw a positive 'hit' response as my little trap went off, making me look quite smug under the helmet... even if it was just me to know.
"Damn it! Bravo, keep an eye out for mines. Area could be rigged, or someone's throwing them down while luring us around." The channel went quiet briefly, bar someone not feeling too good for themselves. "Yeah, you're not going anywhere. Jeremy's been zapped pretty bad. Get him out, then come back. We'll keep looking."
"Got it."
Only a few seconds... but it might've been enough, and separated the first squad. Partially, anyway. And I was getting a little bored of hide and seek, too, so I pulled my assault rifle out, as the better weapon for the current engagement ranges, after finding a suitably big box to use as cover. And a building nearby if I needed to duck inside. Looking up at the Anaconda, looming over the outpost like an omen... I knew I needed it gone to get out of here, too. Its drop bays had closed, so there was little chance of more reinforcements in the short-term.
"EDI... where are you?"
"I have nearly arrived with the ship. It may distract the soldiers temporarily, so I suggest getting ready to fight them."
"I already am."
They were moving closer to my position. If it took even a few more seconds, I wouldn't have much of an element of surprise left. But... I was in luck. I saw the signal of my ship's transponder appear on the HUD, and strike first, two plasma accelerator rounds striking the other ship's - by all appearances - prismatic shield.
"Inbound vessel is hostile. Need to respond. I'll be a sitting duck here otherwise, over.", I heard the Anaconda's pilot report.
"You're free to engage. We're not going to go anywhere without you, anyway. Swat that thing out of the sky!"
Angry lights emerged from the large ship as its hardpoints deployed. I only had time to recognize one of them as a plasma accelerator, mounted in the huge weapon slot. Hopefully, EDI's programming and the better thrusters and maneuverability of my Phantom would provide it the advantage it needed to win the fight... and compensate for the gravity accordingly, too.
I couldn't really focus on the light show above much, though, having my own troubles down here. At most, I was separated by the remaining three of the squad by... twelve meters, if that. And they didn't look happy.
They were soon going to be even less happy. I waited a little more before I poked out and picked a target, finding it to be the one guy who was facing away at a ninety degree angle, looking down a nearby alleyway. It cost him, by the full-auto rifle quickly taking his shield down... and putting a few holes into his suit, before he dropped onto the ground lifelessly moments later.
"Shit! He's down!"
A few poorly aimed return shots grazed my own shield, as the two ahead tried to close in further, with no other options but that. My shots broke through the shield of the second soldier just before he managed to hide himself behind a crate, narrowly avoiding to take a few killing shots... which made this all the more annoying. Except then, the woman leading the squad decided to try taking me on close up... only to have me slam into her instead, with as much speed and force as I could muster at this close distance.
Wasn't a very heavy one, because I didn't feel the 'impact' nearly as much, and almost fully knocked her over, while a grenade provided a distraction to her squadmate. She regained her balance a bit faster than me, pulling out a knife, but my enhanced reflexes intercepted and twisted it out of her hand before it could do damage. Then I kicked my right knee between her legs - which would be felt even through a protective suit - and followed up with a combat knife of my own, piercing through the suit almost effortlessly. If not an outright kill, that gut stab would keep the woman out of the fight long enough to let me get away. And finish off her other squadmate... who was reeling from a barely evaded grenade, and I didn't really feel like killing him, but didn't want to prolong his pain either. Given just how he looked, I had doubts it was even a survivable injury, and yet ...
The decision became simple when he reached for a pistol of his own in a last-ditch effort, and reflexes kicked in, sending some metal into his chest. Now I didn't really feel sorry any longer.
An explosion somewhere further out drew my attention. Looked like a missile - from the Scorpion, or one of the other squad?
I got my answer when one almost hit me directly, prompting me to 'dive' back behind the crate... probably, with the agility of a drunken swan. Because that really just seemed like the best I could manage for those quick actions... currently, at least, but whether there was any room for hope of improvement seemed outside my control. I'd also have to survive this, first.
Luckily, EDI got the Scorpion into action at that point, more than capable of controlling it and the ship at the same time. It distracted the remaining soldiers - I only counted four, which meant one of them had to have gone down, too - allowing me to help pick them off with the railgun, instead. I was more than happy to assist in that way, considering that I felt much more at ease fighting from a distance... and always had, over the hectic close quarters fighting. Having a less-than-mobile, thick-thighed body, only reinforced that feeling.
That other squad definitely didn't last very long either. Two of them were still out there, though, one feeling kind of sorry for themselves. And the other... could still be a threat, except I saw a woman walking toward me with her hands raised. And a man leaning on her, just about able to walk with said leaning.
"I surrender! Do with me what you like, but don't kill me. Please."
"And... why should I not?", I threw back, keeping the weapon pointed at her chest. It would kill in a single shot pretty much anywhere. Or rip off a limp, and that'd be hard to survive too.
"Alright, look. Yeah, we attacked you, but I'm not suicidal. If you don't gun me down, after killing all those guys without even wearing combat gear, whoever's in your vehicle will."
Her... 'look' was also not exactly directed at my face, but those "features" of mine. I sighed, shook my head, and grabbed her by the neck faster than any ordinary human could react, then pinned the woman to a nearby wall. Her 'companion' was not exactly capable of fighting, so I ignored him.
"No... please ...", she pushed out through the constricted throat.
"You will not die. But I do not need you awake."
With that, I pulled out a pen which would keep her floored for a good few hours. Until I figured out what to do. I injected the sedative and watched as it began to act within seconds. And... that other guy had passed out, laying flat on the ground. There was one other 'problem' down here left, though... the commanding officer. Kind of still alive. Probably with the help of a trauma kit. And a bunch of pain killers, sitting against the side of a wall. Had likely been able to observe all that.
"Shit... never thought... I'd see an idiot like that... fight like you do."
"Why... because of, this?" I nonchalantly pointed at my - excessive - hips.
"What else do you think?" She coughed. No blood, though, so maybe it wouldn't kill her. If anyone arrived to help, anyway. "Bastards warned me you'd be good, but, fuck, you were supposed to be alone. Ten against one... should've been easy."
"It... never is."
"Because you know so well... made yourself fat, and ..."
That remark earned her a - only slightly held back - kick, to the right side of the ribs. And that was also apparently enough to knock the woman out, but, still breathing. Another thing I'd have to deal with, just leaving people to suffocate out here wasn't really my thing. Particularly since they hadn't really done anything personal to me. Or nothing to make it personal, at least.
The Scorpion had come back to where I was, by now. I looked up... to see the fight between the colossus, and whatever my medium ship was in comparison, still going on. It was quite noticeable how the planet's pull was making both ship's thrusters struggle compared to their routine operation. Mine didn't appear to have sustained any particular damage yet, though the shields had taken a bit of a dent... the Anaconda, meanwhile, had more than a few scratches to the paint.
"Do you... need help, up there, EDI?", I inquired, albeit cautiously.
"I have the situation under control. However, you are free to assist with the guided missile launcher if you wish."
I wasn't going to argue against that. First, though... I dumped all three unconscious bodies in the back of the cabin before I squeezed myself into it. Good thing I had no passengers who'd watch, as a result.
Once I was comfortably nested in my big seat, I chose to target the thrusters of the large ship, which had already sustained some damage, but not enough to knock them out. Driving out of the outpost to clear any obstructions, I waited for the right moment, until the Anaconda's movement stalled and its engines were basically pointed directly at the ground, to pull the trigger. Pilot had the instinct to immediately boost away, as if to try avoiding the projectile, but it did little more than expose those already damaged main engines to the Phantom as well. Plasma accelerator projectiles, fired as precisely as only a machine mind could, struck perfectly into one of the rear engine exhausts, and the missile went right into the other, causing a large detonation to occur within, knocking loose external hull panels, and other parts of the internals... which quickly began to take a path to the surface. As did the now crippled ship.
"Where will it crash, EDI?"
"Calculating... under current velocity, the Anaconda may land on the surface roughly twenty kilometers from here.", the AI informed me.
"I guess, I should begin moving."
"I would suggest simply boarding the ship. It will be faster than to drive there yourself."
"Ok. But I may remain in the vehicle, until then."
I waited for her to bring the Phantom close to me, and then went up inside with the Scorpion. Still no 'activity' from my not-quite-welcome passengers, who kind of just lay on top of each other. Not like there were any other seats for them, anyway, since I'd had the gunner's removed to make - more - space for my curves. I observed the Anaconda's demise through the camera suite, up until its nose dug into the ground... but at a shallower angle than expected, even bouncing off the ground once before coming to a halt. Pilot had to have remained inside, and tried to make the descent as stable as possible with the vertical thrusters which remained functional.
My own landed near the newly dug-up 'trench' in the ground, close enough to the wreck. I could see some fires on the hull, which were quickly snuffed out as all the air escaped from the internal compartments, leaving nothing to feed said fire. I stopped just nearby, trying to see if there was an intact airlock somewhere. Anacondas usually had at least one on the side, if my memory was serving me right, for once.
"Is this the only one of them, EDI?", I decided to ask, out of precaution.
"I have not been able to detect any additional signatures in system. However, I cannot determine it with certainty, seeing as solar activity is disrupting scans."
"Oh. That is ..." The words didn't really come to me, so I left the statement unfinished.
"The fleet carrier has moved into orbit above this planet. I believe that should act as a sufficient discouragement to any further attackers, given what it can send as backup."
"I... guess."
'And hope so', I added in thoughts, because one experience like this, was enough already. At the very least, one where I couldn't make the fight go as I wanted, because as good as my form was to me, and maybe my mental well-being... it really left me a lot more vulnerable in combat situations too. At least until I was really fully worked into it.
There was an airlock left to go into, and luckily, at ground level, too. Because I basically would not be able to jump anywhere high. Certainly not when I was getting pulled down with enough force to create a weight of over 150 kilograms. My legs could move and carry that, but jumping... out of the question. Anything above one meter, anyway.
"Life signs inside, EDI?"
"I am not detecting any.", the AI answered. "The pilot either did not survive the crash, or ejected prior to it. Regardless, I would exercise caution, in case other crew members remain."
"I will."
Luckily, other than the whole thing being a bit of a mess on the inside, I didn't encounter any actual issues. Beyond those related to me squeezing past stuff that had fallen into corridors, at least. Quite a few compartments remained intact, reactor and life support were still functional, too... the canopy was shattered, on the other hand, and the pilot's fate was rather gruesome, evidenced by an internal support beam going right through the chest. Would've probably shot me, too, though, so I was mostly just disturbed by the visual.
His demise did offer me easy access to the ship core. Most data had been purged from it leading up to the crash... but I did manage to recover a snippet of data. Apparently, this hadn't been the first time they were dispatched to 'dispose' of some explorers sniffing around the Dynasty Project a little too closely. None of the target files were left available, unfortunately, only a little additional information, which basically told me they had in fact been sent out for me. With a slightly out of date picture, because it only showed me with a partly expanded frame where my hips had, yet, "only" reached the shoulders in width, and my breast size looked significantly more manageable.
I struggled my way back out, to 'deal' with my human "cargo". Which was to just dump them in a sealed compartment for them to wake up in, some time later. The woman I'd sedated looked quite young, pretty too, and I was a little more forgiving to her thanks to her surrendering without any underhanded attempt to try shooting at me, but I couldn't take any risks, if this 'Club' was all it was made out to be. And, I guessed, based on available evidence... they were certainly not to be taken lightly.
Just killing them when they were practically defenseless, however, didn't seem right either, so I'd give those three a chance to be rescued. Or rescue themselves. If they were as involved with an organization as secretive as this "Club", it was unlikely they'd want to risk anything else, either, and run the danger of being "neutralized". If they were, regardless of that, at least they had the memory of seeing what an inappropriate human being I was. Inappropriate in only the best ways, of course.
For now - my search needed to continue. The only lead which I had left in the system was the odd beacon, which apparently had 'EXODUS' in its BIOS... not that I could quite remember what it meant, only vaguely associating it to the term 'firmware'. So I was off to the first planet in the system... nothing happened as I scanned the beacon, reaching it without any kind of signals on the scanner.
"Hm... how does this, work?", I wondered out loud.
"I believe these beacons occasionally leave their standby mode to broadcast a message.", EDI told me. "Canonn database records state that this particular one activates twice at the start of every hour."
"Oh." I glanced at the ship display clock. "That will be soon."
So I waited a few extra - and boring - minutes, occasionally throwing a look at the scorched, partially molten surface of the nearby planet. It had an extreme greenhouse atmosphere - over 300 atmospheres of carbon dioxide. Then the beacon started up, and a cryptic message showed up on a holo-panel.
DYJEPQYUWLUDCQCKJXUEOKJ
DJPQYP6UNL003
NEHHYLKCJQ6
SKNICDCJUNCSQ
UESKQP AH Y U 2
IKDUPQEJDXY
"What... am I to do, with this? It is gibberish.", I pointed out, with my right arm held toward the display.
"Perhaps it requires a key to decrypt the message. It is likely that the word 'exodus' would serve as it.", EDI advised.
"I guess... I could try."
First, I let one of my programs figure out what kind of encryption was used, before I fed the word to it. And... sure enough, I had an actual result sitting there.
DYNASTYEXPEDITIONBEACON
DNSTYS6ERP003
RALLYPOINT6
FORMIDINERIFT
EAFOTS GL Y E 2
MODESTANDBY
Mostly... not an useful message. But then, I noticed the "S6" marker, and began to think from there. S6 could also be written as "SVI", and that was generally the identifier used by Black Flight, who I most prominently knew as Salvation's personal hench men, and by extension Azimuth's. Was he involved with this project?
Some other information I'd found suggested that there had been people preparing for a mass evacuation of the Bubble if it was ever necessary. Most of it referencing the Thargoids. Was this it? That did seem rather likely... but I had nothing to point to Salvation's direct involvement, except for conjecture and what he'd done to attempt defeating the Thargoids, for no reason other than his own ego. But what did the '6' mean? Was he one of six people behind this?
If there were five others with the same power and megalomaniac tendencies... that certainly didn't bode well. But all this was just too much speculation, which I didn't want to keep breaking my head on. I just needed to go to the Zurara and find its answers. If I'd found it important enough to preserve where I could find it, and that it existed, yet not the information found there... it had to be what I needed, for this particular journey. I turned back toward my carrier and, while on the way, set up its next jump. Only three or so thousand light years - one, maybe two days of travel, at my pace.
But as I headed back to the capital ship, I couldn't help to ask myself one question, about something shrouded behind more mystery than the core of a black hole.
Did I really want to know?