Discovery Gaming Community

FROM: William "Billy" Xae

TO: Natio Octavarium Taskmasters Escher, Harold Kane

CC:

ENCRYPTION: Pretty good for a Civilian

SUBJECT: She Went Down Fighting

Taskmasters,

Well I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I have found VCS-Nightmare. The bad news, is well...she's dead. After I received no response to my attempts to communicate, I did a few penetrating scans of the ship. There are no active lifesigns, the hull has been breached in a couple dozen places, and the Fusion Reactor is so badly misaligned it'd take the entire crew of the Metropolis banging on it with a sledgehammer for 10 years to get it even close to proper alignment. The weapon mounts that have not been blown off have signs of extreme overload, which if I where to guess was due to some sort of Power Surge in the ships final death throes. From a simple Mark 1 Eyeball point of view, the only weapon mount on the ship that still looks salvageable is the Light Mortar emplacement. The Main Propulsion drives seem fairly unscathed, at least when compared to the rest of the ship. I have attached a full ship system scan to this message.

I have not had the chance to take an EVA over to the ship and see what it looks like internally, but I did sent out a small drone to take some close-in images of the vessel. You will find them attached. Be warned however, that some of the images are....disturbing. Image number 7 shows three crewmembers from one of the Pulse Cannon Batteries dead, likely from when their section was breached to vacuum. I knew them well, they where frequently playing cards in the mess deck. Unfortunately, it appears the ship was disabled and nobody was able to evacuate. The sections leading to the escape pods have all been voided to vacuum by way of a massive hole forward of the Light Mortar emplacement, and scans indicate no Life Pods have been jettisoned. This would probably explain why nobody has heard from the Nightmare all this time. At this time I believe we can safely list the entire crew of VCS-Nightmare as Killed in Action.

Now, I guess the question is what to do moving forward. Personally, I would like to attempt to retrieve the remains of all crewmembers aboard, and have a proper burial service for them, so that any surviving family or friends may pay their respects. After that however, I would like to discuss what should be done. With your blessing, I would like to attempt to get the ship towed to a shipyard and rebuilt, if at all possible. Granted, without a shipyard we won't know if the Nightmare can properly be salvaged, however I believe it to be worth the expense and risk. I am willing to foot the bill for this endeavor, as Blain Spike left me a sizable amount of credits after he died. Unfortunately, given my 7 years of "retirement" I do not have any contacts in the underworld and probably will need a few introductions if I am to succeed in this repair and refit. Once we know what is broken I will be able to know what is needed to complete the repair.

Additionally, If the offer is still on the table any sort of escort presence would be appreciated in securing the Nightmare's current location. With my ship's not-very-stealthy profile I am worried some enterprising individual might discover the Nightmare and claim it as their own. Attached is the Navigation Location of my ship, any assistance you are willing to provide would be highly appreciated.

Regards,
Billy Xae

ATTACHMENTS:
1. Scan-5372436.scan
2. DroneOS-Cam_253.vid
3. NAVLOC_Exported.grid

[ Incoming Transmission ]

Identification: Taskmaster Escher
Affiliation: Octavarium Intelligence Commission

To: Billy Xae
CC: Harold Kane

Subject: Waking Up
Encryption: Who's Asking?
Location: Canberra Star City, Tau-44

Most of that's not a surprise.

So. In order.

We've actually used remote-controlled drones for retrieval of the dead in the past - long story. We can't really provide any burial arrangements, considering our lack of land to bury someone in. Whatever arrangements you choose to make are acceptable. We can send some equipment your way, though. EVA suits, plasma cutters, thermal bores, remote system override tools, that sort. I'll have to source some of that from one of our citizens, but she and I have an understanding.

Now, rebuilding... that will be quite a task. We have maintenance facilities, but nothing expansive enough for reconstruction. When we need something more than what Canberra can manage, we usually borrow a wing of Sabah Shipyard. That... won't work here. Nightmare is and/or was a Storta, and there are political incompatibilities. And frankly, I don't want Crayter knowing any more than they have to. Thankfully, that's usually pretty easy.

The Discordians also don't have much in the way of shipyard facilities, but I believe the Junker Congress can help. Their current Arbiter has been very approachable for business. Keep an eye on him though, no Junker is that friendly without an angle.

I believe we can dispatch a small unit to assist in securing the site and material, but it's probably best to rely more on secrecy than force. Expect a mixed flight of Voyagers and CSFs.

Taskmaster Escher
Octavarium Intelligence Commission

[ Transmission Ended ]

FROM: William "Billy" Xae

TO: Taskmaster Escher

CC: Taskmaster Harold Kane

ENCRYPTION: Standard Civilian Encryption

SUBJECT: Moving Forward

Taskmaster Escher,

On the subject of a Memorial Service, I have reached out to the Temporary Autonomous Zoners to see if they are willing to assist. Only time will tell I guess. However I truely hope they can, as sitting in a morgue on Barrier Gate Station waiting for an unceremonious cremation is not the most honorable way to leave this universe. If/when I hear from the Temporary Autonomous Zoners I will follow up with you.

I can understand the political...sensitivities of certain groups seeing an old Outcast sourced warship in certain organizations facilities, and is something I've been thinking long and hard about. I've been out of the game as it where for a while, however I have heard rumors that the Junkers have a reasonably well outfitted facility...somewhere. I am going to try making contact with the Junkers Congress to see if we can work something out. Credits are king of course, and at the very least they should be able to say whether or not the ship is capable of a rebuild.

Lastly, I wanted to thank you for the patrols. Anyone trustworthy that can keep an eye out for miscreants is appreciated, as it allows me to work on the rather difficult tasks ahead.

Thank you for everything,
Billy Xae

ATTACHMENTS:

Switchback

Thexare

Switchback