**** Incoming Transmission ****
From: Johnathan Sanders
To: Vinyl Scratch
Subject: Big rocks
Encryption: None
Greetings,
After big rocks, are we? I suppose you'll have to clarify what you mean by "rock". Rock, as in slang for diamond? Rock as in chunk of mostly silicium-oxide? Rock as in whopper of an asteroid out in our charted fields? Rock as in natural, solid spaceborne object?
Diamonds... the Guild archives contain records of a massive 43.12 carat green-hued diamond harvested in our expeditions to the Omega 41 system. It was found on one of the first surveys, and was the reason that Freeport 5 ('though it was called mining station Einheit at the time) was established. However, mining diamonds in Omega 41 proved far too hazardous, even for our most experienced miners, and that operation was abandoned. Zoners later reopened the station as Freeport 5, and it exists to this day. Who knows how many more such diamonds float among that dead star? The diamond in question was sold to fund the Einheit station construction costs - the last record we have of it was it becoming part of the Bretonian Crown jewels.
The largest rock asteroid we've thus far come across was charted in the Omega 7 system, labeled O7SA-445, although on Freistadt people refer to it as "Grosser Greta". Due to it's erratic orbit, mining tugs arrested its movement in space in 742 AS as it's trajectory came dangerously close to Freistadt. It is still in place, a few kilometers south of the station. Conservative estimates put the mass of the fragment at 0.741*10^22 Kg, enough to have it's own small gravity well. If the Omega 7 system had a sun, the object would most likely be a small planet in orbit.
The biggest chunk of rock in space would have to be the Discordian planet Godess Geode, in Baffin. We don't have the particulars on it, but rumor has it the entire planet, to the very core, is comprised of a curious crystal.
Regards,
- Johnathan Sanders, on behalf of the Independent Miners Guild
**** Transmission Closed ****
Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.
Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.
Well. That might be a bit too big. I'm not looking for shiny gems or anything special. Just a large asteroid, or a few large asteroids. Rocks that nobody will miss, and that will hold together with extensive drilling and carving. How many, you ask?
Well, how many do you think it'd take to cover a battleship?
Purely hypothetical, of course.
-Vinyl Scratch
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
**** Incoming Transmission ****
From: Johnathan Sanders
To: Vinyl Scratch
Subject: Big rocks
Encryption: Light
Ah. Wish you'd have said so sooner. You want to camouflage a battleship as a rogue asteroid? Well, several big ones in the Tau 23 debris field come to mind. Those are also pretty dense, so they'll stand up to a fair bit of punishment. Are we "hypothetically" talking about the size of a Bountyhunter Mako, or something like a Zoner Jinkusu?
Regards,
- Johnathan Sanders
Ps. No amount of rock can hide the energy signature of a Battleship-class power core. Neutron emissions are too distinct, and unaffected by most matter. You'd be hidden visually, but lit up like a lightbulb on scanners.
**** Transmission Closed ****
Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.
Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.
Something the general length of a Jinkusu, but not nearly as wide or bulky. More of a...long, shape. The ship in question isn't a battleship in the strictest sense- It's the SBC-Radio.One, my studio. And most of the time, it can't stand up to the weathering of most asteroid fields, see?
Don't worry, by the way. The ship in question was made with invisibility in mind, the power core won't show.
-Vinyl Scratch
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
ICMG would like to inform you of exceptionally large asteroids within Tau-37, larger than Java even. They are very close to the Tau-23 jumphole, I suspect it should not be difficult to pipe high-definition signals through it to the rest of Sirius. In addition, the local freeport base could provide supplies and such.
The only issue I foresee, will be whether your station is stealthy enough to wedge itself between them, without being detected by the frequent passers-by and outcast raids.
Alternatively, I would suggest Kansas. If you know of that system? Our recent mining surveys there discovered a large purple cloud which disrupts sensors. Quite beautiful. However I have heard bad things about that cloud, it appears to be littered with ghost ships, of pilots whom have become lost within it and, without fuel, perished. So please be careful.
All the best Comrade
Comrade O'Connell, ICMG
P.S. Thanks very much for your broadcast regarding our mining operations in Kansas. It was most helpful. Feel free to help yourself to some vodka from the communal bar on Dounby, sometime.
I'm not quite looking to for an asteroid field, perse. I'm looking for an asteroid, or asteroids, with a large enough body and strength that I could build into or around them without making just another cloud of dust. Tau-37 is...well, Isn't it ice? Ice ain't good. It dampens everything, and it doesn't like suns.
You're welcome for the broadcast. I may just drop in sometime, free alcohol isn't something I can just pass up, yeah? Heh..
-Vinyl Scratch
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
Come oonnnnn. What's taking you folks so long? I can't hide out here forever, and the SBC Radio One loses broadcasting power if I need to boost the shields. Asteroids hurt, 'specially when the studio is this big.
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is cool? A basilisk.
![[Image: SBCTransmissionBar.png]](http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy99/Osilon_Photos/Signatures/Catalina%20Hamilton-Comms%20Bars/SBCTransmissionBar.png)
![[Image: SBCBump2.png]](http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy99/Osilon_Photos/Signatures/Catalina%20Hamilton-Comms%20Bars/SBCBump2.png)
