2 Weeks Later
– Mondia, Solith 20, 8034 –
“We’ve
almost arrived at Rossindon.”
“About
time,” Kevérin stepped forward to stand next to Captain Krost of the RPF
Frigate Frasis. “I had no idea how
boring it would be to be trapped on a Frigate for two weeks.”
“Trapped, you say?” the Captain glanced
toward the Pyrotechnic incredulously.
“Er…
nothing against your ship, sir,” the Transfer Captain immediately backpedaled.
“Ha,
it’s fine,” Krost smirked, “You planetsiders always say the same thing on your
first real space voyage. I’ve come to expect it.”
“I can
at least appreciate Nimalian design…” a Siion woman remarked as she stepped
next to Krost, across from Kevérin. “Black Suns ships are far more cramped. And
generally not ventilated as well, either.”
“Glad
to know you approve, Commander,” Krost nodded. He glanced back to Kevérin
before taking a seat in the captain’s chair and looking up at the Frigate’s
bridge display. “I take it you two know the drill once we exit FTL, Tyrion,
Krydonin?”
“I get
us clearance to land, we land, then we investigate,” Krydonin responded as she
stretched her double-jointed legs, “There’s not much to it.”
“I
agree, it seems simple enough,” Kevérin replied, “This isn’t like the raid on
Kotak. Did we really need to come here with two Frigates and a Cruiser?”
“The Frasis, Phendris, and Jevnorus go everywhere together,” Krost
stated, “It’s precaution. You’ll have to forgive me for assuming, Commander,
but given the galactic circumstances at the moment I don’t think it’s
far-fetched to assume Sector 2 would try to bully us if we brought only a
Frigate.”
“…You
speak the truth,” Krydonin admitted, “All eyes are on Tyrnaus and the Syraus. I
wouldn’t be surprised if the Rossindon outpost tried to take advantage of the
diverted attention to shrug off our investigation.”
“We’ve
been in FTL for two weeks, so we haven’t heard anything about the situation at
Tyrnaus… what do you think has happened?” Kevérin questioned.
Krost
sighed apprehensively. “Given the Taizen level of tech, the Riaxen fleet will
probably arrive at Tyrnaus in the next day or two. Then they’ll battle it out
with the Syraus and the allied fleet. Hopefully, the Syraus will be able to
hold Tyrnaus, because if they don’t…”
“Then
the Riaxen will be only one Transpace jump from Nimalia…” Kevérin frowned.
“And
more importantly, it means that they’ll have access to the rest of the galaxy,”
Krydonin pointed out, “The Syraus have been the only thing standing between the
Riaxen and their expansionist goals for millennia. If the Riaxen manage to
break through the Syraus, then not only Nimalia but the CSA itself might as
well be doomed. Having to fight off the Drakkars on one side and the Riaxen on
the other would crush them.”
“Here’s
to hoping we won’t have to worry about that,” Krost remarked, “…alright, here
we go. Dropping out of FTL in five… four… three… two…”
The
ship lurched, and almost immediately afterward the bridge display lit up with a
wealth of information accompanied by a display of the planet of Rossindon.
“Frasis to Phendris, Jevnorus,” Krost spoke after flipping on the ship’s
comms, “Everything clear?”
“Everything’s
clear, Krost,” came the reply, “No ships on scan. Orbit’s clean.”
“Alright,”
the Captain nodded before turning to one of the officers on the bridge.
“Connect us to the Rossindon outpost.”
“Yes
sir, connecting to the Rossindon outpost.”
“Well,
Commander,” Krost glanced back to the Siion woman, “You’re up.”
Krydonin
acknowledged the Captain with a slight nod before moving up to the comms
console and leaning down over the mic. “Sector 2 Outpost Rossindon, this is
Sector 1 Commander Sinstis Krydonin, report. Repeat, this is Sector 1 Commander
Sinstis Krydonin. Report.”
“Outpost
Rossindon reporting in. Requesting ID confirmation.”
“Submitting,”
Krydonin tapped a couple keys on the console in front of her, “…sent.”
“…ID
confirmed. What do you want, Commander?”
“I
request outpost ground access for the RPF Frigates Frasis and Phendris.”
“Request
denied.”
The
Commander paused momentarily, her lips pursed. “…Excuse me?”
“Your
request has been denied, Commander.”
“We
carry the authority of Master General Brennon Greant, outpost. The order was
sent before we arrived.”
“The
statute Greant used to override General Regek’s visitation block affords you
access to the planet but does not state that we are forced to allow you access
to the outpost. You have been warned: any attempts to land within a hundred
kilometers of our base will be met with aggression and we will open fire.
Transmission over.”
“…Damn
it,” Krydonin growled, “Leave it to Sector 2 to get pedantic.”
“Well…
what are we supposed to do now?” Kevérin frowned, “There’s supposed to be an
Ayas here.”
“If
they haven’t found it already, then I guarantee they’re looking for it,”
Krydonin responded, “They’ve had at least two weeks. It’s likely that they’ve
forbade us from landing within a hundred kilometers of the outpost because
that’s where they’ve narrowed down the location of the Ayas to.”
“Hmm…”
Krost stood up from his captain’s chair and stepped forward, hands clasped
behind his back as he stared up at the bridge display. “…Start a planet scan,”
he ordered, “Coordinate scanners with the Phendris
and Jevnorus. Initial focal point:
the outpost. Filter results using the retrofitted Ayas scanner.”
“Wait,
we have the Ayas scanner on board?”
Kevérin balked, “Why not just scan down the Ayas?”
“It was
designed for scanning the entire galaxy, not single planets,” the Captain
replied, “It won’t return an accurate result on its own. We can only use it to
better guess where the Ayas is, hopefully before Sector 2.” A nearby console
suddenly beeped twice, drawing Krost’s attention back to the bridge display
where the image of Rossindon had been rotated so that the outpost was in the
center of the display. To flashing dots appeared on either side of the outpost,
marking locations of interest on the planet’s surface. “…Looks like you’re
right, Commander. Both locations of interest are roughly eighty kilometers from
the outpost.”
“One is
a mountain peak… the other seems to be below ground…” Krydonin observed.
“In
caves?” Kevérin glanced between the two, “…it’s definitely the caves. We should
look there.”
“How
are you so sure?”
“Both
the Master Ayas and the Black Ayas were found in caves, and the Black Ayas even
had a pedestal, as if it belonged there,” Kevérin answered, “I think it’s
reasonable that another Ayas would be in caves. Besides, a cave network next to
a clearing is far more easily searched than a mountain peak. We should at least
check there first.”
“He has
a point,” Krost nodded, “...Commander, do the Black Suns have grade three or
higher sensor equipment?”
“We
have the technology, but it’s doubtful that a small outpost like Rossindon
would be equipped with it,” Krydonin remarked, “…So you intend to defy their
warning?”
“It’s
clear they never intended to cooperate in the first place,” Krost returned to
his captain’s chair, “And if they don’t even have grade three sensor equipment
then the Frasis and Phendris can easily slip through. If
we’re fast enough, they won’t even know we were there.”
“And if
they somehow manage to detect you?”
“We
didn’t bring along a Cruiser for nothing, Commander.”
“…Reasonable,”
Krydonin nodded, “So be it. Greant would likely support your decision. If you
intend to make planetfall, do so soon. I’ll gather my team.”
“Ah, so
will I,” Kevérin added.
“Good,”
Krost responded, “Gather in the landing bays when you’re ready. We should be
ground-side within the hour. Good luck, Commander, Transfer Captain.”
* * *
4 Hours Later
“There’s
nothing here.”
“You
can’t say that until we’ve mapped the caves to be all dead-ends,” Kevérin
countered.
“As if
we’re actually going to explore the entirety of the cave network,” Davídrius
drawled, “You don’t know how big this place is. That could take weeks! Months!”
“We’re
not going to search the entirety of
the cave network,” Rebehka rolled her eyes, “We only need to look around the
area where the scanners picked up the Ayas.”
“Though
I’m surprised we haven’t found anything by now…” Kievkenalis mused as Hero
Machina slowly walked through the cave, Kevérin leading with a ball of fire in
his hand to illuminate the way. “We’ve been in this cave for close to an hour,
and it hasn’t forked yet.”
“The
caves on Sunova and Kotak were similarly linear,” Siyuakén remarked, “There
weren’t many forks. I guess that further suggests the Ayas is here?”
“We
won’t actually know until we find anything. Which we haven’t,” Davídrius
deadpanned, “Y’all are jumping to conclusions pretty quickly.”
“We’re
not jumping to conclusions, we’re… spotting patterns,” Kevérin replied cheekily
before stopping suddenly. “…Well, huh. It’s a fork.”
“What
now?...” Kaoné frowned.
“…”
Kevérin glanced back at the group. “…Only two of us can produce light on our
own… alright, we’ll split into two groups. Two of you will follow me, and we’ll
check out one of the paths. Siyuakén and the other three will stay here and
wait for the Black Suns to catch up while they lay down the cave lighting and
comm system. Who’s with me?”
“I am,”
Davídrius immediately volunteered, “I ain’t gonna waste my time just standin’
around.”
“Guess
I’ll go too, then,” Christeané stepped forward.
“We’ll
stick around here,” Siyuakén nodded, “Once the Black Suns have caught up we’ll
check out the path that you don’t.”
“Sounds
good,” Kevérin replied, and then turned to the right as Siyuakén held her hands
close together and began arcing enough electricity across them to create light.
The Pyrotechnic and two Introtechnics proceeded down the cave, leaving the rest
of Hero Machina behind.
“…I really hope the Ayas is here,” Davídrius
grumbled after several minutes of silent walking, “Otherwise we’ll have wasted
four damn hours…”
“Keep
in mind we’re not only here for the
Ayas,” Kevérin commented, “The main reason we’re here is actually to
investigate the Chaos Quake. The Ayas is just a bonus.”
“And
how are we supposed to do that, exactly?” Christeané questioned.
“…Uhhh…”
“Nice
to know you thought this through,” Davídrius deadpanned.
“Look,
I thought that we were going to be able to visit the actual outpost,” Kevérin
countered, “I didn’t expect this bureaucratic bullshit from the Black Suns, so
the Ayas ended up becoming a priority instead. And it’s significant in its own
right, yeah, but we should still try to learn something about the Quake.”
“I’ll
be sure to get right on that. I’m sure inspecting the rock composition of these
caves will provide invaluable
information.”
“Nice
to know you’re being as helpful as ever.”
“I try
my best.”
“…But
actually, Kevérin, what did you expect
to find?” Christeané asked again, “Did you just expect the Black Suns to admit
to causing the Quake?”
“No,”
the Pyrotechnic rolled his eyes, “But they could have important information or
leads. Small as the Rossindon outpost is, it’s been here for over twenty years.
They must have seen or heard something.”
“Assuming
that the fact we’re at the ‘hypocenter’ of the Chaos Quake actually means
anything,” Christeané pointed out.
“Also
assuming that the hypocenter is actually within this solar system and that you
weren’t off by a few light years,” Davídrius added.
“Yeah,
yeah, I get your point,” Kevérin waved their concerns away, “Let’s just look
for the Ayas. Maybe, if we’re, lucky, we’ll stumble across something that will give us the answers we want.”
“What,
like another AI?” Davídrius snorted, “Because the one from Kotak sure helped a
lot.”
“Actually…
that may be it.”
“Oh
no,” Davídrius deadpanned, “We did not
just stumble across another computer. No way.”
“That’s
what it looks like…” Kevérin commented as the three stepped into a fair-sized
rock room. Two more cave pathways left the room, splitting the circular wall
into thirds; in the center of the room stood a thick metallic column. As the
Transfer Captain stepped closer to it a holographic display popped up; a few
seconds later a full holographic Nimalian interface appeared as well.
“Newcomer scan complete. Identified as
post-Aldredas race. Intentions… likely non-malevolent.”
“You’re
kidding,” Christeané let his arms drop in awe, “We actually found another AI?”
“…AI, yes. I suppose that is an adequate description. My true
designation is the Prior Vigilem Mystryth.”
“…Wow.”
Davídrius deadpanned, “…well ain’t this really fuckin’ convenient?
Data Entry: {null}
No comments:
Post a Comment