3 Days Later
“’Gate activation in ten minutes. Outbound to Teghica.”
“Alright, quick review,” Kevérin turned toward the rest of Hero Machina
shortly after the loudspeaker announcement, “We’re going to Teghica to hunt
down a possible connection to the metallic infection. Teghica’s ‘Gate is housed
in a secondary outpost; I know that the primary outpost is somewhere eastward
of the ‘Gate, but the exact location is unknown. So we need to find it, search
every last corner, and then get back to the ‘Gate in time for the next window
back here, to Damunin. Then we can get back to the comfort of Nimalia.”
“Speaking of comfort…” Christeané scowled, “Is there any
particular reason we had to change out of our nice, fitted uniforms into these
desert rags?”
“We’re going to be on a desert
planet for twenty-four hours at most and you’re already
complaining?” Davídrius
snorted, “You’ll live.”
“Says you, but you never had to change in the first place,” Christeané
retorted before turning back to Kevérin. “I mean, I guess I understand needing
to cover all your skin in a desert, but weren’t our uniforms just fine?”
“…That’s the part even I didn’t learn about until we
got here,” the Transfer Captain sighed, “Teghica is an abandoned Citan colony,
but it was still a Citan colony once, you know? The Commander said that Teghica
isn’t a part of the Citan Observation Network anymore, but because we’re not
sure we have the time to wait for the months – or years, even – that it would
take to formally request a visit, we’re going in unauthorized.”
“That’s, uh,” Kaoné frowned, “…that doesn’t sound good.”
“We’ll be fine,” Kievkenalis assured, “The Citans are long gone. I
think it’s just the Black Suns who we’ll have to worry about.”
“And if we do meet any Black Suns, don’t let on that
we’re from Nimalia,” Kevérin quickly asserted, “Just, uh… try not to run into
any?”
“And if we do?” Rebehka pressed.
“…Run away?”
“Sounds legit,” Davídrius deadpanned.
“Whatever you do, try not to start any fights,” Kevérin ordered, just
as the platform the seven Chaotics were standing on jolted and began
descending. “Looks like it’s almost time to go. But listen, we really can’t
afford to piss off the Citans or the Black Suns, alright?”
“If its stealth and subterfuge that you want, I think you picked the
wrong people…” Siyuakén pointed out.
“Well… we’re the only ones investigating the metallic infection, so…”
the Transfer Captain paused as the platform suddenly stopped and two blast
doors opened sideways, revealing the Interstellar Gate standing twenty meters
away, in the middle of a large, heavily fortified room.
“Fuckin’ Fortress World…” Davídrius muttered, “…really, what’s the
point of all this? Don’t ‘Gates have a blocking mechanism?”
“It’s all precaution,” Rebehka replied, “militaries love caution, after
all.”
“If that’s the case, then they wouldn’t be sending us to random-ass backwater
planets on a ‘stealth’ mission,” Christeané countered, “For better or for
worse, ‘caution’ isn’t really what we’re known for.”
“…Fuck all y’all,” Davídrius scowled when he noticed several of the
others glance his way.
“C’mon,” Kevérin began walking toward the ‘Gate as the emptiness within
the ring suddenly filled with a pitch-black, opaque film. Hero Machina closed
the distance between them and the ‘Gate and, after receiving clearance from the
control room, stepped through the event horizon. The next thing they knew they
were standing amongst the ruins of a small outpost, everything covered with a
layer of dust and sand, with the sun high in the sky and beating down on them
relentlessly.
“Of course it’s stereotypical desert,” Christeané
grumbled.
“And y’all say I like to complain a lot,” Davídrius
retorted.
“Quit it,” Kevérin interjected, “Let’s not get sidetracked. There’s an
outpost to find…”
*
* *
3 Hours Later
“I can really see why the Citans decided to abandon this place…”
“I knew it was dry, but damn,”
Davídrius frowned as he looked down into the metal tub Kaoné had created. The
tub was easily a meter tall and in diameter, but water filled only a negligible
volume. The Superspeed Introtechnic turned to stare at Rebehka incredulously.
“Is that really all of the water in the nearby atmosphere?”
“We walked around the entire complex with Siyuakén while she was
looking for the generator…” Rebehka replied, “This is all I could get.”
“And this is supposed to be how we stay hydrated?” Davídrius crossed
his arms, “Did anyone actually think this through?”
“We’re only gonna be here for a day,” Kevérin pointed out from his seat
in front of a derelict computer console. “At least we found the primary outpost
pretty quickly, so we at least have shade.”
“Don’t you complain about the temperature,” Christeané
scowled, “We can’t all use our powers as temperature
regulators.”
“You seem really pissy today,” Davídrius observed candidly.
“Well excuse me for not being from the desert,” the Superstrength
Introtechnic countered, “Now, don’t get me wrong, deserts are great for
trips of all kinds. But deserts this dry suck, especially when
I’m forced to go and don’t have anything to do except sit around on my ass.”
“There aren’t even any relay points here,” Kaoné added.
“The Citans did abandon this place a couple centuries
ago,” Rebehka mused, “Any relay points they set up would be either massively
outdated or defunct.”
“And even if they weren’t we shouldn’t connect to them,” Kevérin cut
in, “Remember, no one’s supposed to know we’re here.”
“We’re the only ones here,” Davídrius snorted, “There’s no one to alert
to our presence because the only ones within light-years of us is us!”
The conversation was interrupted as the room’s lights suddenly flickered
on. The ventilation system quickly followed, sweeping up surprisingly large
amounts of dust and causing several coughing fits before Kaoné could force all
of the dust into the exhaust vents.
“Ah, she got the generator running,” Rebehka perked up, and then made
for the room’s exit. “I’m going to check on Siyuakén.”
Kevérin glanced at the leaving Cyrotechnic before turning his attention
to the monitor in front of him as the respective computer booted up. “Huh… the
computers still work?”
“Wow, really?” Christeané approached the console as well, “I’d heard
that Citan tech was durable, but I didn’t know their computers could last two
whole centuries without maintenance!”
“Well, that may not be entirely true,” Kevérin replied, “Assuming
Kievkenalis was right about that shipment coming from here, the Black Suns used
Teghica for some amount of time. For all we know, they might’ve replaced all of
the old computers with their own.” He turned to the rest of Hero Machina just
as Kievkenalis arrived though the same doorway Rebehka had left through.
“Anyways, we’ve got a job to do. I’ll stay here and check out the computer; the
rest of you, spread out and search the complex.”
“Why do you get to stay here?” Davídrius challenged.
“Because I’m the only one with an offline version of the visual
translation patch.”
“Oh… right.”
“Um, I’d be careful while looking around,” Kievkenalis spoke up,
“There’s no one around – I checked – but the Chaos Energy in the area still feels… off.
Like… it’s too dense. There’s more than there should be.”
“You can tell that?” Davídrius raised an incredulous eyebrow.
“Well, yeah. I’m a Chaostechnic
after all; any half-decent Chaostechnic
can sense Chaos
Energy,” the
Riveranian replied.
“Do you know what could cause something like this?” Kevérin questioned.
“Not really. But if we aren’t careful, I’m sure one of us could go
berserk. I’d suggest searching the place in pairs, at least.”
“Sounds reasonable,” the Pyrotechnic nodded, “The four of you can split
up and search in pairs. You guys can handle that on your own, right?”
“Yeah, we’re good,” Christeané replied before turning toward the
doorway on the opposite side of the room from the one Kievkenalis and Rebehka
had used. “C’mon, Davídrius, let’s go.”
“Eh? Who said–?” The Tresédian was about to argue the point, but
stopped when he realized that Kaoné and Kievkenalis had already left on their
own. “…Tch. Why am I always stuck with you?”
“Stuck with me? As if. You don’t really mean that.”
“Exhibit A, folks.”
“Mm hmm. Now c’mon, we’ve got a base to check out.”
Kevérin watched the two Introtechnics leave before turning back to the
computer, stretching, and finally getting down to inspecting the data stored
within.
*
* *
“…Oh, hey.”
“Hey,” Rebehka greeted her friend as she stepped into the generator
room. She then glanced around, puzzled, as Siyuakén was nowhere to be seen.
“Up here!”
The Cryotechnic looked up to find the Electrotechnic hanging from the
ceiling near the generator. “Uh… what are you doing?”
“Just checking out the generator…” Siyuakén replied before releasing
her grappling hooks and landing in a roll next to Rebehka. “Something’s off
about it.”
“’Off’?”
“Even if you consider that the Black Suns might’ve been maintaining it
at some point, it works far too well for something that’s two hundred years
old.” She crossed her arms. “I was able to jump start it.”
“…So?”
“Generators aren’t just huge batteries! You shouldn’t be able to simply
‘jump start’ it. Something must have stopped it during operation, or… I don’t
know.”
“Is this something we should be concerned about?”
Siyuakén glanced back at the generator. “…It might be. According to
what I know about Citan power sources – which isn’t really all that much –
activating this generator should’ve caused a feedback loop that’ll eventually
start up the rest of the generators, including the main one buried downstairs.
And with the activation of the generators…”
“…All of the base’s defenses will power up, too,” Rebehka finished, and
then shrugged. “We’re talking about two hundred-year-old tech, here. It’s
nothing we can’t take care of, I’m sure.”
“I hope you’re right,” Siyuakén frowned, “I wish I could at least read
the status displays though. Then we could know when the generator was last activated.”
“Siyuakén, we’ll be fine,” Rebehka placed a reassuring hand on her
friend’s shoulder, “If you think it’s important enough, I can contact Kevérin
and get him to come look at it, but–“
“No, no, it’s not that big of a deal,” the
Electrotechnic quickly replied, “As long as we’re in and out, we should be
fine. But if we’re here longer than the next window back to Damunin then I’d
prefer that someone would look into this. Then again, if we’re here longer than
the next window then we’ve probably more important issues to deal with…”
“Well… you’re probably right,” Rebehka admitted, “I don’t know what’s
here to cause us trouble though. You were there when Kevken used Chaos Detect;
there’s no one here but us.”
“Yeah, I know… I just have a bad feeling about this.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for anything suspicious, then… but once we get
back to Nimalia, you and I are definitely spending the next off-day
in Downtown Nimaliaka Central. You need a break.”
“Heh, I guess I do,” Siyuakén smirked, “…It’s really been non-stop work
for the past few weeks, huh.”
“It’s interesting, but also really tiring. I mean, it’s nice that the
Commander is actually trying to get to the bottom of the infection, but…”
“There’s a lot less downtime than back in Relédiaka, I know.”
“We’ve been in Nimaliaka Central – the interstellar transport hub of
Nimalia! – for over a month, and we’ve still barely seen any of it. Talk about
all work and no play…”
“You know, I heard there’s actually a lot of places that offer
discounts for both military and Chaotics.”
“Really? Hmm, I wonder where?...”
The two continued their idle conversation as the generator hummed
quietly in the background, providing power to the lights, ventilation, and
other systems unknown.
*
* *
“You’re sure something’s here?”
“Somewhere in this area, yeah,” Kievkenalis nodded, “This is where the Chaos Energy is densest.”
“If you say so,” Kaoné frowned, “but I don’t know what we’re looking
for. What could even cause Chaos Energy to, uh, stick together like this?”
“That’s what I hope to find out,” the Chaostechnic replied as he
rounded a corner and stopped. In his way sat a mountain of debris, filling in
the hallway though the collapsed ceiling. Beyond the heap was open air; it
appeared as though a corner of the building had collapsed on itself.
“I’m surprised more of the complex isn’t like this, considering how old
it all is,” Kaoné mused, “…Should we clear this out?”
“You go ahead. I’m a little wary of using my powers without knowing
what’s causing the distortion.”
The Materiatechnic proceeded to mash all of the debris into one mass
before shoving it out of the way, as she had done several times in the past
hour. However, shortly after doing so she paused quizzically and then began
peeling layers off of the mass, discarding each to the side.
“What are you doing?...” Kievkenalis questioned confusedly.
“There’s something that I can’t manipulate in there…” she responded
cautiously, “And so far there’s only been one thing that could do that... …uh…
make that two.”
The two Chaotics paused and stared at the large, dark blue,
diamond-shaped gemstone that Kaoné had just uncovered. After a moment the
Materiatechnic commented, “Well, I guess we know what was causing the
‘distortion’ then.”
“Yeah…” Kievkenalis responded warily, “…one of the Chaos Ayas…”
* * * * *
==================== End of Chapter 22 ====================
* * * * *
Data Entry: Interstellar Gate Network Travel
The galaxy is a large place, and to compensate there are countless Interstellar Gates – the total number lies at least in the thousands, and that only counts all of the ‘Gates in friendly, explored space. However, ‘Gates are only so large – 11 meters in diameter, to be exact – and many of the worlds possessing a ‘Gate are highly populated, and said highly populated worlds are often priority destinations for both tourists and businesses. With so many possible destinations and so much demand for ‘Gate travel, the only way to ensure that everyone can get where they want in a timely manner is to regulate use of the ‘Gate; in particular, establish a constant timetable for all ‘Gates to operate on.
By remarkable convenience, every Homeworld in the galaxy has 24-hour (or near 24-hour) days; as such the CSA established a ‘Galactic Time’ based on a 24-hour clock. All ‘Gate travel operates on this clock, in order to synchronize the galaxy. All ‘Gates work on three-hour cycles: a two-hour connection to another ‘Gate, and then an hour of downtime for maintenance. The downtime also acts as a buffer in case a connection lasts longer than the allotted two hours. This established three-hour cycle is not the only regulation for ‘Gate travel, however – the possible destination for any ‘Gate is also specified by the type of world that it is on, with the exception of two cycles within the 24-hour period that are dedicated to reservations or emergencies. The world types are Homeworld, Fortress World, Transpace World, and Tiers 1 through 5, ordered by population (Tier 1 is highly populated, Tier 5 is barebones colony).
Homeworlds only ever connect to two types of worlds: Transpace Worlds, and the civilization’s primary Fortress World. For civilizations who have few Transpaces, such as the Nimalian Territories, the Homeworld may also connect to a number of Tier 1 worlds.
A civilization’s primary Fortress World only connects to other fortress worlds (as well as the Homeworld, obviously), and regular Fortress Worlds also only connect to other Fortress Worlds, with exception for the two reservation openings. The Fortress World connections allow for military units to travel the galaxy far quicker than a civilian, who would have to take the more time-consuming up-the-tiers to the Homeworld, then down-the-tiers route. For example, Hero Machina can travel from Nimalia to the primary Fortress World Kandieras, and then to the fortress world Damunin, and then travel anywhere from there; the civilian route would have them travel though twice as many ‘Gates before they can go where they want.
Transpace Worlds only connect to the Homeworld, the nearest Fortress World, and Tier 1 Worlds. Tier 1 Worlds only connect to the nearest Transpace World, Tier 2 Worlds, and the nearest Fortress World. Tier 2 Worlds only connect to the nearest Tier 1 World and Tier 3 Worlds. Tier 3 Worlds only connect to the nearest Tier 2 World and Tier 4 Worlds. Tier 4 and 5 Worlds, however, are free to make any connections they want (when available), since they have such a low population.
This system allows galactic denizens to easily travel from one world to another, though it does force a lot of roundabout trips. Particularly, in order to get from the Homeworld of one civilization to another, one would have to follow the chain down to a Tier 4 World and then jump to the network chain of the other civilization, only to work up the chain to the other Homeworld. The three CSA civilizations avert this by having each of their Homeworlds connect to a “hub” Transpace World that borders each of their territory; this planet is known as Oriciid’kas. Otherwise, ‘Gate travel can be rather time-consuming, but most galactic governments would prefer a predictable time table to an unpredictable, possibly more time-consuming “first come first serve” model.
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