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+--- Thread: Echoes (/showthread.php?tid=36768)
Echoes - Zapp - 03-17-2010
The Order flotilla had seen it coming. Isis had not lied. What they had not expected was the craftiness of the ship. Setting a trap at what they perceived to be its destination, they did not realize that there is more than one way to reach a destination.
So the Tundra forsook the Alaska passage for a more roundabout route...
~ ~ ~ ~
Through Omicron 92, Tohoku, Hokkaido. Uncharted systems. The Aoi Iseijin were not consulted. Movement was quick and efficient. No time to waste. A Naval Forces gunboat intercepted in Kyushu, but was dispatched through use of mind tricks after an attempt at boarding was made. Seeds were planted; Nomads hidden aboard to infect others later.
~ ~ ~ ~
Onward, through Kyushu to Shikoku on silent wings. No others heard the ripples it left behind. Shikoku to Galileo, where it was inevitable... the Hackers were too close. Yet they caught nothing but a glance of what they saw as an eccentric Naval cruiser far from home.
![[Image: tundra2b.png]](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q97/Zax_Gentoo/tundra2b.png)
Quick, to Kepler where the hiding place would be found. A pocket of low-radiation. Kuryo cloud. It waited by a lane that was long unused.
![[Image: tundra2a.png]](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q97/Zax_Gentoo/tundra2a.png)
The time would come. Echoes would be felt throughout Sirius. Of what? None could know.
Echoes - Zapp - 03-18-2010
From the Kuryo cloud the Tundra awakened. It marked its position as a safe haven; a dark matter cloud with minimal pirate activity. Then it moved on to Liberty proper, using the Colorado jump hole and then moving on to Ontario. There an Ageira ship was silenced before it could raise cry, and an Outcast Destroyer was found. It was a peaceful encounter.
![[Image: tundra3b.png]](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q97/Zax_Gentoo/tundra3b.png)
They did not suspect that the Tundra was Enlightened. The Archelon Fortress was leaving, and did so. Through Cortez. Then a transmission was received from a Shadow Outcast Brigade ship; Order forces spotted in Tau 23 moving towards Liberty. Perhaps someone had learned of the Tundra's location?
The monster silently moved into the Tahoe cloud, far from prying eyes and the normal space lanes, and engaged cloak.
![[Image: tundra3a.png]](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q97/Zax_Gentoo/tundra3a.png)
Robert Foster watched the Californian sun through the shroud of the ice cloud and smiled to himself. It was a smile felt by all yet by only him.
Echoes - Zapp - 03-24-2010
[color=#6666CC]Journal: Phillip Mason "Head" Scientist
Hmmm. A most interesting discovery today. An Order agent in the Science division! Oh joy, a human scientist with whom to repartee. While I do not regret my decision to join the Nomads in the least, I do sometimes miss matching wits with someone who's thoughts are mysterious to me.
Georgia Brown was her name. Amiable enough, and she seemed to have a different view of Nomads than the other Order agents I've met. I'm glad, too; would have been a damn shame to have to watch Foster turn the dogs loose on her.
![[Image: tundra4a.png]](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q97/Zax_Gentoo/tundra4a.png)
She said she was heading to Kansas. She asked who was the "bad guy" and the "good guy", humans or Nomads? I told her that I didn't involve myself in such moral, qualitative questions, but sometimes I have to ask myself the same thing. Science for science, pure and simple, is a most noble ideal. But is it practical to forgo one's own species in the pursuit of it?
Bah. Questions, once a gain, for philosophers.
Also of note was that the Nomad gunboat "Gamaliel" found us. Apparently it had been sent to help us in whatever our 'mission' is. I find it hard to believe that we're simply out here to infect humans.
![[Image: Tundra4b.png]](http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q97/Zax_Gentoo/Tundra4b.png)
The ship's profile is much too big. Many Nomads are... proud? Yes, I suppose that would be the correct emotion. Between the Nomad's loss of the Dyson sphere and the creation of Durr Shu'rikan, they had precious few events to bolster 'morale', such as it is. Finding Xerna was one such, but the capturing of the Tundra showed them that they still had power over the humans.
And it showed the humans that knew about it the same thing.
Such a shame that such hoopla is made over what was originally (and in some ways still is) a research ship.
And then I have to question Robert Foster. He seems to be on an entirely different page than the rest of us. Keeping secrets? In the mindshare? Unheard of. Yet he has them. No one else, that will admit to it, knows why we're waiting in the Tahoe Cloud. It seems a most peculiar spot. I much preferred the Kuryo. At least there, we could study dark matter and have a nice shroud to protect us. Here, all we have is ice crystal.
Echoes - Zapp - 03-25-2010
Soon it became apparent what the Tundra was waiting for. A few hours after Georgia Brown disappeared into the rolling mist of the Tahoe, everyone on board felt a strange presence. An unaccustomed one; weak, at such range, but it was fast approaching. Then it was familiar, until they recognized the telepathic presence of Scott Lowe and Fe'Lyrna, long removed from the Tundra.
The Nomad light fighter had grown since it had first launched. Robert Foster smiled to himself at the knowledge they were sure to impart; Phillip Mason also smiled to himself for knowledge to be gained, but of a different nature.
The shell slid into the Tundra's docking bay easily, and Phillip was the first to approach with any number of scientific instruments. He was most curious what effect prolonged exposure had had on Scott's physiology. As he scanned, he realized that most of anything that had been human was... gone. The nervous system was still in place, and in fact the Nomad shell had obvious human gene strands throughout.
There were two brains present; the Nomad one and Scott's. They were directly next to each other, and the spinal cord extended from the brain and down the soft interior of the Voidrunner. Nerves shot off it as it would in any human, only it connected the brain to each function of the ship.
Phillip was quite astounded to witness such a thing firsthand. He nodded to himself. Quite astounding, indeed. Wonder how Scott's adjusted?
He shrugged and figured it was a question for someone else, then moved along.
Echoes - Zapp - 04-26-2010
CNS News Bulletin
Norfolk Shipyards, New York
We've just received reports of the LNS Groom Lake, of the Primary Fleet, being towed into space dock. It suffered extensive damage from an unknown source, and the Navy has made no official statement on what happened so far.
However, a confidential source from on-board the ship has contacted us and said that the Groom Lake was attacked while responding to a distress call made by the LNS Tundra, reportedly a Naval Cruiser. On searching the Naval Capital Ship Registrar, there was no mention of any ship matching that name. Furthermore, the weapons damage scarring the Groom Lake's hull is not consistent with anything on record.
Navy spokesmen were unavailable for comment...