Wahoo! - Printable Version

Wahoo! - Printable Version

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Wahoo! - Jayce - 08-03-2011

The year was 500 A.S. The Location: Texas, somewhere around grid C5.

The Liberty Naval Ship "Wahoo" cut quietly through the bleak expanse of open space, her axe-head prow majestically slicing through wisps of gases as they floated aimlessly. The captain, Jessie Kiyone, stood at the command console of the ship. The Wahoo was the last of her kind, the Type-13 Liberty Gunboats, slated to finally be pulled from duty this year. Many of the Type-13's had been lost to mechanical failure, such as the LNS-Tarpon, whos cruise engines exploded shortly after launch. Others were destroyed in freak engagements, such as when the LNS-Carp was taken over by Rogues, and subsequently neutralized by a Navy Patrol. The Wahoo was slated to be scrapped for parts following the lighting of the Texas Supergate, to be replaced by the new Type-14.

"Helm. Put us in position at the mouth of the Supergate, at the coordinates given to us by Jumpgate Control." Said Kiyone quietly. She loved the Wahoo, more than any other ship she had commanded. She always thought the name was cute.

"Aye, ma'am." Replied the helmsman, an ensign just a few years out of the academy. "Coming 20 degrees to port, full stop."

"Good. Now, we wait..."

Twenty minutes later.

Klaxons were blaring. Kiyone picked herself up, a spattering of blood on the deck beneath her. As she stood, pain rocketed up her arm.

"Status report!" Kiyone shouted through the pain of her bruised and twisted arm.

"Ma'am, if my readings are correct... We're more than... No. That can't be right."

"Spit it out, man! Where are we?"

"If we are where I think we are, we have been thrown far enough that it would take us nearly... 300 years to return to Sirius." Replied the navigator, nearly breaking into tears.

"W-what? Three... Hundred..." Kiyone said as she sunk back to her knees. "S-set a course back to Sirius... I-I'll be in my bunk. I suggest you all do the same..."

"Aye, ma'am."

8 hours later.

Kiyone awoke, her head feeling like it would split any second from the pain of hitting the deck. She shambled back out onto the bridge, the Science Officer still sitting at his console.

"What are you doing out of your bunk, Lieutenant?" Kiyone said, her teeth gritted.

"Sir, I have some rather disturbing news." The science officer replied.

"Go on then."

"When we emerged from the supergate, I believe the flow of time around this ship was altered. We appear to be stuck in some sort of distortion field, localized within the shielding of this vessel. This is causing us, and our ships systems, to age at a far slower rate than normal. By my predictions, by the time we get home, only 3 years will have passed aboard the Wahoo."

"So you're saying we have a chance to make it home, then?"

"We can make it home, yes.. However, there is a problem. I'll sum it up as concisely as I can. If we leave this ship, we die.

"What do you mean, 'We die?'"

"I mean just that. The flow of time has been distorted aboard the vessel, specifically within the passive shielding matrix. If we were to set foot outside of that matrix after we reach Sirius, the 300 years that had passed would catch up to you within seconds."

"So you're saying we can't leave, ever?"

"Yes. Nor can anyone ever enter. The forces exerted around the shielding would disintegrate them instantly. In addition, the flow of light has been altered significantly. A probe I launched sent back a few images before degrading into dust, and the results are rather... Disturbing.

"What do you mean, disturbing?"

"I mean that the few images that were transmitted revealed that the Wahoo is nearly invisible to the naked eye. If we do manage to make it back to Sirius, nobody will even notice."

"I-I see. T-Thankyou, Lieutenant..."

Kiyone turned on her heel, head hung low, and returned to her bunk. Maybe, just maybe, they could find a way out. There was -always- a way out.

Wahoo! - Jayce - 08-04-2011

Location and date: Cambridge Research Station, 818 A.S.

Doctor Vespucci, descendant of the ancient explorer Amerigo Vespucci, was coming to the end of a class about ghost ship sightings in Sirius. The previous few days had been about what could be mistaken for ghost ships, such as gaseous anomalies, stars, and floating debris.

"And now, we come to the meat of the lesson! Actual sightings!" Vespucci said. The class all began to give off an air of anticipation, as Vespucci pressed a poor-quality transparency to the overhead projector:

Vespucci started again: "Now, class, what do you think this is?"

"A wisp of gas, doctor. That would seem fairly obvious, as that's all you've been showi-"

"Wrong!" Snapped the doctor, interrupting the young student. "This is an actual sighting of a ghostship. See there, in the highlighted area? That white streak? This is an image of the ghostship "Wahoo," a Type-13 Liberty Gunboat lost after the Texas supergate accident 300 years ago! This is the first image taken of it, about 17 years ago." The class looked skeptical. How could a small white streak be anything but a gas cloud?

"I can see it in your faces now, how can this be a Liberty Gunboat, you ask? Well, if you look to the right side of the wisp, you can see the distinctive blue trim that was placed on the bow of the Type-13. Shortly after, you can see the conning tower, and beyond that the telltale "hump" common to the current Liberty Gunboat, the Type-23." The class "oohed" and "aahed" at the realization that they were seeing an image of an actual Ghostship!

"Now then class, come back tomorrow, and we will discuss the ghostship "Strudelwerfer," a Rheinland Battleship lost in the Sigmas!"