Discovery Gaming Community

Five days. For five mortal days, it had been raining non-stop on the Goebens' farmstead. If Hans von Goeben didn't rediscover his old hobby, the endless television shows and sitting around in the house would have turned him mad. A distraction from this horrible monotony was urgently needed. And so, he was sifting through all the cardboards filled with collections from past days in order to sort them out and get an overview again. Countless ancient writings, old comics, pamphlets and recordings were scattered on the table, the floor and dusty shelves in his former nursery in the attic.


Despite this distraction, the nagging thoughts of recent events started to unfold in his mind once more:

Five months ago, Hans would have laughed about the idea of living with his parents again. The journies, the work as the head of research in biotechnology and implantation in IRG, one of the most renowned technology enterprise in Sirius, and the bachelor's life in general were WAY too exciting to swap it for the dull perspectives on his home planet Stuttgart.
After the accident had happened, his laughter stopped. One severed arm and a deep shock was the result of a risky experiment which dropped him in the ICU section.
Although the physical damage was ironically repaired with the knowledge of his own area of expertise and a fancy cybernetic prothesis, his superiors suspended Goeben for an unlimited period until he would be fully functional again.
Since prescribed rest and care doesn't equal a groovy vacation of Curacao, the cheapest and also best way was to return to his calm roots on the family farm.

Well, it's not like it was a bad decision after all. With maternal care and recreation, the injured one had completly recovered to this point. But it was a boring decision, for sure. Until his boss thought his wounded employee was ready for work again, time was extremly hard to kill, which brings us back to the start.
For an attempt to kill the time, mentioned collections from his younger days had recently been providing so much joy to Hans that he considered expanding it once more. The old and ancient things had always been his favourite hobby which suffered greatly during the last couple of years. So why not pick it up once more? It's not like there was anything else to do. What would stop him?

The prices, for example. The items of interest had experienced such a tremendous gain in interest that their value had skyrocketed. A dilemma, since there was no income at that time. Additionally, the sickness benefit was needed for something else than collections.
Though he remembered from the days as a Freelancer that the Junkers were a major and rather cheap source for pretty much everything. Surely this hadn't changed ever since! Besides, flying to a Junker base for shopping was a welcomed timeout from cabin fever, rain and the same faces. No sooner said than done, a civil space shuttle was landing in the hangar of Kreuzberg Depot only four hours later. It was the largest base operated by Junkers in Rheinland. If you could not buy it here, it didn't exist.

Like common on such stations, a couple of gloomy corridors led from the docks in the outer section directly to the center, the heart of every base. There, the markets with their hundreds of travelling merchants, bars and shops were waiting for costumers and guests to spend their money on various desires.


While Hans was roaming the market place, an old one-eyed vagabond cought his eye. The man sat behind a wooden stand on and around which, tons of boxes, crates and hatrackes were stored. The man and the place matched each other: Run-down and shabby. But, aren't the most beautiful diamonds hidden in the deepest dirt?
Moreover, the content of those boxes were exactly what Goeben was looking for: Real, illustrated paper. This meant old books, magazines and comics. A rare sight these days.

With an expectant smile, he approached the stand and nods. "Good day, Sir!"
Scrutiny was the merchant's only reaction at first. "...wanna buy somethin', or just gawkin' like everyone else?", he mumbled after a few awkward seconds of silence.
Hans now recalled the average friendliness of Junker merchants. Some things never change.
"Uh...honestly, I would really like to have a look before making a decision. You offer a large selection of printed media, and-"
The old guy frowned. "You talkin' about the comics, eh? Got some more stuff for nerds behind me, like action figures made of ancient plastic, haptic toys and other nerd crap like that. You look like someone who'd be interested in it."
Charming. Without further words, the merchant put more crates on the counter. Indeed, he had a lot of "nerd stuff" to offer!
After only about an hour of searching, his patience ran out. "Ya know, buddy, if I was paid by the hour, I'd be a rich man by now thanks to loafers like you. Take something right now, or leave it!"

A collection of old movies caught the attention of his appreciated costumer thirty minutes ago. "My apologies.", said Hans while still rummaging around in the box, "I'd like to take all of those, please. What's your price?"
One would notice a wolfish smile appearing on the dealer's face.
"That? Those are ancient movies, on M-Discs. Shelf warmers at best. Got 'em from a strange fellow in the Omegas..."

Ancient movies, on ancient discs?! Bingo, better than any comic.

"I give them to ya for...3000 Credits? I want them gone...and I don't watch this botch." Hans bit his lips: "3000? You can't be serious. What..." Again, he was interrupted.
"Calm down, junior. Those are no regular movies. The guy who sold them swore by his mother and honour that those are from Earth! What you're holding in your hands was produced and even watched back there! 3000 is a real bargain for those artifacts."
Hans raised an eyebrow. "From...Earth. Sure thing, pal. And your comics were written an drawn by Nomads, right?"

With one jump, the old man got up and grabbed Hans by the scruff of his neck. With a grim gaze, he hissed: "You don't believe me, greenhorn?! Me, an honorable merchant who already has travelled all over Sirius, traded with thousands of pleased costumers over decades? Never have I ever lied to my costumers! Never was I insulted that deeply before! By my eyepatch, those movies had travelled together with the colonists on the sleeper ships CENTURIES ago, among numberless other cultural testimonials made by our ancestors, so that we will never forget where we come from, and how brilliant our forerunners were! And today, I offer you those wonderful artifacts for such a knocked-down price, and you are making fun of me and my business instead?!"
Everyone around had stopped and was staring at the trader and his client. Irritated by the sudden rage and the awkward situation, Hans was only able to stutter: "I...I only got 2000 on me. And p-please let me breathe again, Sir."

"Hm...2000 Credits. Better than nothing. Deal.", the vagabond grumbled and put Goeben back on the ground. In lightning-speed, Hans paid and left Kreuzberg as fast as possible. What an unpleasent meeting.

Even if the whole "Original movies from ancient Earth" nonsense was pure bull...in every cover were a M-Disc, and most were in original condition. Those which had already been opened could be copies, but the content was what Hans was after: Ancient movies. For him, it was about enjoying the act, not the collector value.
What the crazy man hadn't mentioned was the unpleasent circumstance that our modern media players weren't able to read the M-Discs. A circumstance which Hans first had noticed after his hasty return to Stuttgart and a screwed holo-recorder. Other formats, meter-reading and the sensitivity of those old discs made an old-fashioned DVD-player essential. Compared to the price for such a device, the money spent on the movies was pocket change.

But Hans didn't resign. An ingenious idea arose to post an offer on one of the largest antique-forums of Sirius. Since DVD players were way too expensive, he'd like to give away two or three of those "Earth movies" in exchange for renting the desired player for a couple of weeks...

It was very early in the day when Alessa heard the information signal for an incoming vessel requesting for docking allowance. She looked out of the window and saw the blinking lights of a Geisha yacht passing the Antarctica.
"This must be Hans". She mumbled to herself in happy tone. She instantly moved directly to the docking bay to welcome the guest. In fact she was surprised, but also very happy to have a person in the organization who is very nerdy with ancient and old stuff. Walking through the corridor she still saw the man,she asked an hour ago, cleaning one of her antiques in a hall room. Alessa felt very amused to finally show her collection to a like-minded person. She just noticed Hans and directly walked towards him and shook his hand.
"It has been quite a long time, Hans." Alessa just said.
Hans had a huge smile on his face, shining the true happiness of a man getting a desired toy and answered in his slight Rheinland dialect and pointed on his arm. "Yes Alessa, I was out of order for some time." Alessa noticed it and had a thought of luck that she picked the right hand. "Ye, I read about your accident in our internal journals. Anyway, you are here for something. So, please follow me." Both walked towards the hall room she had passed moments ago. Right after arriving the room Alessa saw the glitter in Hans eyes. There was an old red Mustang car directly in the middle of the room and at the wall stood three gaming stations. Hans also sighted a billard table and something that he had heard of, but never seen, a old television. He was visibly impressed, something that doesn't happen often to him anymore. Alessa gave him some time, but interupted his exploration as she saw him noticing the TV and proudly said. "Exactly, there is the Television with the DVD player you had looked for." She turned around and closed the door for some privacy.

"Ooooh my God, just like the one from the website!" Hans kneeled in front of TV devices, running his hands over every surface. "Even with an ancient SCART-cable! And a cassette recorder on top?! So antique! I'm loving it! Thank you so much for this opportunity, Alessa!"
His enthusiasm was swinging between childish joy and fanatism...an odd sight seeing a grown man getting so excited over a DVD-Player.
"Errrr...yeah." Alessa seemed irritated by her guest's behavior."...just like what was promised. Oh, speaking of promises: Where are the movies you mentioned?" Hans suddenly back-pedaled. "Of course! 'knew I forgot something onboard the shuttle. Uno momento!" An instant later, the man had already disappeared through the double-winged door.

The professor couldn't help but wonder about Goeben's unusual behavior. Either he was one of the most obsessed fans of their shared interest...or the trauma inflicted by the accident messed with his head.
Before she was able to continue those thoughts, Hans had already bursted back into the room with an old, shabby cardboard in his hands. It was filled to the brim with plastic covers. "Here they are!", euphorically presenting her the box. "Your collection is more than impressive, and I will certainly have a closer look at it later, but this is priority number one: 55 DVDs, packed with...", he paused for dramatic effect,"...original movies from Earth!"

Alessas' gaze was shifting between Goeben and the box. A moment later, she finally answered with squinted eyes: "From...Earth. Hans, I know you promised those movies would be old, but...are you really feeling alright?" A short, hearty laughter echoed through the room. "Hah! Exactly my reaction when this queer old stick told me that! Can you believe that nonsense? I bought them nevertheless..."
He grabbed a random cover, wiped off the dust layer and stated its title.

"Titanic"

A black ship's bow was printed on it, with a man and a woman on the horizon. A classy, romatic image.

"Eh, it's not relevant where those things come from, or who made them.", Hans shrugged, "Those are in original packaging, they are old enough to have never been heard of before, and we have the device to watch it. So...wanna make some popcorn before we get started?"
Her worried expression was still showing. Her guest continued in a more serious, calm voice:
"Oh, and, erm...I am fine, Professor. Really. Maybe...I am just really hyped right now to finally do something interesting after being trapped on my farm on Stuttgart for an eternity. Sorry if I, uhm..."
He coughs.
"Then it's all dandy!", Alessas' warm smile returned, obviously filled with anticipation. "I know that cabin fever can mess with you, but...movies from Earth? That sounds way beyond sane. Moreover: Sweet, or salty popcorn?"

Time was passing by quickly while both were consuming the movies and snacks. "Titanic", "The Godfather", "Psycho" and one episode of a strange title called "Star Wars" were already done watching. Despite the lack of holographic options, really bad CGI and some cheesy scenes, the movies for sure were enjoyable and worth their money.
Without the comfy couch and pillows, it would not have been possible to watch all masterpieces in a row. "So, which one next?", asked Hans after taking a sip from his cup. "Iiiit's...", Alessa closed her eyes and presented the new cover she grabbed out of the box.



"..."The Abyss". Sounds like a horror movie. In the recorder it goes!"

“Oh man, it’s an underwater movie! I like these!” Hans pointed out and picked another popcorn, but Alessa just responded in a rather funny tone: “I like these as well. Even more without your constant crunching noises, Mister.”
The duo had much fun watching this interesting flick which took place in the so called “Cold War” between the Soviet Union and the USA in the 20th century back on Earth. Despite their limited knowledge about this particular era, the story appeared promising: The major plot of the movie was about a hurricane threatening an investigation. Therefore, a civil subwater workers team and two Navy seals were ordered to the accident site of an US submarine that was probably attacked by enemies.

Alessa’s face turned worried after understanding this scenario. “Sad, don’t you think? It doesn’t seem a lot has changed ever since. Only names and locations.” Hans nodded and sighed. “Ja, the influence of the military. A story that goes hand in Hans, I mean hand in hand with mankind. “You just waited for a chance to crack this joke, right?” Both childishly grinned at each other for a moment.

After some time into the movie, Alessa raised an eyebrow and looked over to Hans. “Hm. Those monsters are surprising.” Which previously seemed to be a stereotypical east vs west scenario, suddenly turned into another plot when some mysterious glowing creatures appeared. Hans commented with a bitter chuckle: “Hey, this freak-show reminds me of something.” Alessa joined the wondrous moment. “I was about to say the same. This director Cameron must be a foreseer.” Since the plot thickened dramatically, they quickly returned their focus on the movie: The communication to the surface got cut and one of the soldiers started to develop a creepy paranoia. If these weren’t enough issues, this dude had taken down a nuclear weapon with him! Isolated, he believed the soviets were everywhere and those deep ocean creatures had to be some sort of secret Russian weapon that had to be destroyed.

The audience was thrilled, the movie was about to reach its climax. The main male and female character of the civilian crew who certainly were a former couple, only had beared hatred towards each other throughout the movie, but then fell in love again in heartwarming moments. The next scene showed the mad paranoid soldier activating the nuclear bomb to destroy the creatures who apparently dwelled in ocean depths where high pressure made them unreachable. After a dramatic discussion about the situation, the only solution to save the crew was the manual deactivation of the bomb, a prospect which certainly implied the sacrifice of a chosen one for whom it will be one-way fall down to where bomb rested. Unfortunately, the chosen one was the main male character. Alessa and Hans sat tensely on the couch and followed the thrilling scene which was in perfect harmony between the relationship of the main characters and the explosion timer relentlessly ticking down... “This is the wrong wire, cut the other!” Alessa yelled quite loudly. Right at the moment of cutting the wire the image cut to black and she yelled even louder. “Is this the end?”

After a few seconds of pitch black, another scene showed up. The quality of this scene was a little unusual compared to the rest of the movie and it didn’t seem to be a part of the movie. Hans gazed confused to Alessa. “Eh, what’s that? This scumbag of a merchant has diddled me!” Angry about it, Hans stood up, picked a Rheinbeer and wanted to switch off the DVD. As he used to press the button the scene changed back to the original movie. “Well, ok, we can at least see the end.” He admitted disappointed and Alessa tried to calm him down. The final was very dramatic and even philosophical. A little unsettling perhaps, the haunting sense persisted till credits rolled and Alessa continued calming Hans, who still seemed to be slightly angry. “This was a very good movie. You don’t need to be disappointed if it isn’t an original.” But Hans seemed to think about something and answered some seconds later. “Could you please replay this weird scene again?” Relaxed about this reaction Alessa used to find the scene again. [color=#804000]“Of course.”

After the scene was found Hans scratched his head. “Hmm, I think I have seen this uniform somewhere once. Can you replay it again?” Alessa still just followed Hans request and replayed the scene a second time, and even third time. Alessa sighed very noisy. “You know. This device can even pause a movie.” Hans noticed the sarcastic sidekick in her words, but ignored it. [color=#00FF80]“Jaja, please pause it.” Hans still wasn’t lighted but seriously checked his memory about this logo, but he couldn’t capture it. It was somewhere deep within his mind, he seriously knew that. After watching the paused frame finally it dawned on him. “I got it, I have seen this uniform at a small museum uniform once, it was supposed to be a coalition uniform. A coalition uniform from earth.”
Alessa was sceptical about this. “Are you sure, Hans?” Hans nodded in agreement. “Ja, it was definitely an uniform from the Sol wars.”

The screen displayed a pilot wearing a military uniform. The background was blurred with two glowing displays vaguely recognizable. He appeared frightened while pressing numerous buttons on a console, and spoke nervously, almost stuttering into the microphone. Suddenly, a bright flash lit up the entire scene and the clip ended.
Speechless, they both were visibly surprised by this discovery. A moment for processing the input later, Alessa broke the silence. “Did...did you understand what this guy said? I’ve never heard this language before.” Hans denied. “Hmm, no, but I want find out! This is way too weird to ignore it, or let it go unchecked...do you have a translation software on board?” Alessa showed a big smile of realization on her face. “Of course! Just wait a few minutes. I’ll grab it.”
She came back with a device, positioned it right at the television speakers and increased the volume. The scene began playing once more. A green light turned on as the pilot spoke his first word. The two scientists didn’t dare to make any noise “Yes, it’s translating the language! Awesome!” The feeling of being on a treasure hunt came up. Hans jumped towards the device right after the scene had ended and immediately activated the recorded translation: ID code: 39545373ZETAZETA. Requesting Encrypted Data-transfer - Encounter - Enemy squadron sighted - Unknown secret weapon - Communication blocked - Engaging enemy.

Why? How? When?...Questions over questions arose from the clip and the decoded ancient language. With every answer and theory Alessa and Hans came up with, new questions based on previous thoughts demanded explanation. Finally after seemingly endless hours of thinking, theorizing and debating, the mystery was unveiled. As a result, there was only one single conclusion:

They have to create a project which will lead an expedition back to the roots of mankind:
The Sol System.