The ship was invisible on radar, and emitted no emissions at all. If not for the fact that I was running from an Ion storm and a particularly tenacious nomad, I would never of flown into the wreckage fields around Toledo in an attempt to throw it off my trail, and in the hopes of finding a wreck sturdy enough to shield me from the storm. And yet, even as my radar pointed out all the wrecks around me, still emitting radiation or signals of one kind or the other, allowing themselves to be found, this carrier was undetectable. It was well hidden by the cloud, and as it gave off no signals, it was impossible to see until you were right on top of it. At first I thought it was a manned ship, hunkering down and hiding in the one place no one would expect human life, but as I took another flyby of the ship, I noticed some details. The ship was barely holding together, heavy battle damage clearly visible on approach to it. The exterior hull had several gaping wounds where heavy cannons must of directly impacted against it.
Well, I needed a place to whether the storm, and this ship was it. Upon landing the true extent of the damage became apparent. The ship was exposed to the void around it, and had no gravity or life support. The damage that had shredded the outside hull was insignificant compared to the damage found inside the ship. The walls were stripped open, wiring and components frayed, small arms fire and scorch marks left from heavier, more alien weapons, had also left their impact on the interior. Judging from the damage done outside and coupled with the signs of a fire fight within the hull itself, it seemed that whatever had attacked the ship had disabled it and breached its hull, before boarding the ship to finish the job.
I was sheltering inside a dead ship from an Ion storm, in the middle of Nomad space. I could only hope I would fare better than its previous occupants. Shaking off the feeling of gloom, I progressed deeper into the ship, looking for answers. It seemed clear to me that the Nomads had attacked it, but why bother boarding? Why not just tear the ship apart like usual? My interest caught, I began to traverse the ship, heading towards the bridge.
The whole ship creaked and shuddered with every step taken. Even with my mag-boots on, I moved slowly, careful not to disturb the damaged ship structure, and hoping I wasn't about to wake anything unexpectedly. Entire sections of the interior had been cleared, almost as if scavengers had found the ship, and ripped its interior walls out for repairs while other sections were almost completely filled with debris, forcing me to find new routes. I had managed to land at the only unblocked hanger, furthest from the bridge, and I groaned as I realized that with the state of the ship, it could take me hours to navigate my way towards it. However, despite this setback, it allowed me to examine the other core features of the ship, namely the Shields, Life Support, and Power Core.
Which as it turned out, were in the same state as the rest of the ship. The power-core was still present and functioning, damaged as it was, I was grateful that it was currently offline. Of the four engine blocks, only one seemed undamaged. The life support system was missing in its entirety, and the shield emitters had been shattered.
And yet, despite the ships near debris state, I couldn't help but smile. I had stumbled onto a carrier frame, not a carrier. This ship was in need of such extensive repairs, that by the time we were done with it, it would essentially have been completely rebuilt from the ground up, allowing us to build our essential modifications directly into the ship, instead of attempting to rig them up with an existing system. A new power core would be needed, as well as shields and life support, but while we installed those, we could take advantage of the damaged ship state to integrate any other modifications directly into the ships design.
I eventually reached the bridge, and for the first time since my arrival, found a corpse. The captain seemed to have gone down with his ship, allowing his men to make a run for it in the escape pods, which had all been missing when I passed by their berths. The uniform the corpse was clad in, despite being aged and worn from its exposure to space, bore no markings of House, Order or Core. This had been a freelancer ship. What were they doing out here in Omicron Minor, and why had the Nomads seen fit to board their ship, instead of destroying it completely?
I rooted through the bridge, looking for its black-box, and couldn't find it anywhere. On the brink of giving up, I turned to ask the long dead captain where he had hidden it, and noticed his frozen hands clutching something against his chest. Carefully prying his hands apart, I had finally found the black-box, and could only hope it would shed some light into the mystery of this ship.
Either way, I had already formulated a plan. The ship was invisible to scanners of passing ships, but not to line of sight contact, and I didn't want to lose it to a scavenger searching through the Toledo field now. So, I sat on the captains chair, and waited for the Ion storm to pass. I can't say how long I waited, as it felt like an eternity. I felt helpless as I waited, aware of my location deep inside Nomad territory and hoping that my hunter had finally given up the chase. Eventually the storm passed, and I decided to attempt to move the ship away from the wreckage fields, and deeper into the cloud, potentially hiding it from unwelcome eyes and hands.
I activated the ships power core, and fired up the engines, only to feel an explosion rock the entire ship. One of the engines had detonated, blowing itself and the next closest engine block apart. However, of the two remaining blocks, one started without a problem, while the other remained dormant. The long engine block barely gave enough thrust to move the ship. Despite this, the ship responded, and slowly inched its way out of the wreckage field and deeper into the nebula. When I was eventually satisfied with the ships new location, I killed the engines, and deactivated the power core once more, before returning to my ship. For the next stages of the plan, I was going to need help, lots of it. I already knew who to contact for a replacement power-cell, but the ship would need extensive repairs before being space-worthy again. I rolled my shoulders as I sat in my own fighters seat again, preparing myself for the flight through the Omicrons, hoping that my pursuer had given up and was not simply lying in wait for me out there.
Taking off from the ship, I turn my fighter around to view it once more, and marking its location down on my navmap, I named the battle-scarred wreck.
Haven.
FILE CLOSED...
Log Submitted Knight Captain Stenn
The Forlorn Hope
The progress on the Haven is slow, as even as I shift its location regularly to ensure it remains hidden, I struggle to find work crews willing to risk the journey to Minor and back. None the less, I will not be discouraged, as even as the ship lies dormant for the moment, I believe it is exactly what the Forlorn Hope needs. A mobile headquarters and base of operations, that gives us the ability to project force to wherever it is needed most. Not all news concerning the Haven is bad however, as we have made several significant leaps forward. The first, being only a formality until the Haven can make extended journeys, is Elena's success in contact the Order about allowing us to use Taba Starbase as a repair point for the ship. I have attached the logs of this below for reference sake.
The second step forward, was the unexpected willingness of our affiliate, Malcolm Haynes, to traverse the Omicrons to bring much needed supplies to Haven, in anticipation of the work needed to get it capable of leaving Minor in one piece. Malcolm brought a full shipment of materials, including hull panels and engine components, to the Haven, leaving us with a single missing component to relocating the Haven from Minor to Taba. The workers. Haven is a carrier class ship, which means not only is it big, but that its too big for a handful of willing souls to repair. Elena has made it known to me that she has some degree of mechanical expertise, and is willing to work on and oversee any repair efforts that take place, but I am afraid that this is far too large a task for a single mechanic. We're going to need extra hands on this one, and I know where to get them. The Zoners don't fear the outer depths of space as much as others do, and an exceptionally well guarded Freeport is but a single jump away. I've already gathered the men needed for the repair work, and in just a few hours, I will have ferried them to the Havens latest hiding point, to begin work.
With my two most immediate concerns around the Haven thus solved, my attention turns to the longer term project at hand. Extensive repairs will be conducted at Taba, including heavy modification of the ship in general. However, for the modifications themselves, we'll need components not easily accessible to the average pilot. To this extent, I will be making contact with the IRG, the ORG, and am considering extending a hand to the Agency 404. Even as I write these words I surprise myself, as the friendliness with the 404 stems from recent encounters and cooperation in Liberty Space, going so far as to have an operative, Call-sign Speedster, make mention of having a shipyard where we could work on Haven. For now we have yet to accept or deny this offer, due to the extreme distance Haven would likely have to travel to make use of this shipyard, and yet, I've witnessed some of the 404's tech first hand. If it could be obtained for our private use, it could make a considerable impact on the Havens capabilities.
The work on Haven is moving along nicely. Today the IRG informed me that our power-cell was ready for collection and by the time I reached Haven with it, the work crews had already pulled the old, damaged cell out, and were waiting to install the new one. When we activated the cell, Haven came to life. Lights flickered on, where they remained, and the blast doors sealed, closing off large portions of the Haven from the void. Due to this development, we canceled further work on the Haven for the day, as we planned how we would extract it from Minor in one piece. We still had no shields and life support, and with only one engine, the Haven would surely be destroyed if found.
We plotted our course, skirting the edges of the Cloud, staying just deep enough for our emissions to be masked, but far out enough that patrols through the cloud, human or otherwise, wouldn't stumble across the ship. Of course, with only one engine firing, the trip took nearly 12 hours, as opposed to the hour or so it should of but at least our plan worked. We managed to evade unwanted attention and reach the jumphole to Mu without event, and praying for our lives that Haven would survive the jump, we began the jump sequence.
Jumping into Mu, even though we had been there countless times before, was a frightening yet exhilarating feeling, as we had never made it with such a badly damaged ship before. But we made it. Only to nearly die of a heart attack at the sight of a Nomad Irra just a few hundred meters away. I was certain we were done for, but our friends in the ORG were expecting us, and came racing to our assistance to save the Haven just in time, driving the Nomad back through the jumphole into Minor. The rest of our journey to Taba was uneventful and Haven has finally been moored to a shipyard capable of mounting large scale repair efforts. As per our agreement, we will be bringing in personal to do the work on Haven ourselves, and will not use any more of the Shipyards facilities than absolutely necessary.
In one regard at least, the arrival of Haven at Taba could not be better timed, as we have just received authorization to purchase the Nyx snub-craft needed for our plans. They'll be arriving at their new home aboard the Haven soon. All we need to do before they do is get the Life Support systems running, and we'll be good to go for repairs and modifications, of both Haven and the Seraphim.
FILE CLOSED...
Log Submitted Knight Captain Stenn
The Forlorn Hope
Everyday brings new trials it seems. Haven is beginning to wake from her slumber as work crews hurry throughout her, dismantling walls and clearing debris in anticipation of the restoration efforts to come. The forward hanger was cleared today, and temporary equipment installed in expectation of Seraphim wings arrival. The eleven snubs fit neatly in the forward hanger, with plenty of room to spare, and Elena has already arrived at Haven waiting to begin work.
Work on the Haven has been slow, but the equipment of Taba Starbase has helped greatly, as we have managed to rig up a makeshift life support system to the IRG power-cell, allowing us to walk the ship outside of our void-suits for the first time since we found it. At least Elena and Gerald, along with their teams, will be able to work on the Nyx's in peace, as the majority of the work for the moment revolves around the shield emitters and engines, at the far side of the ship for them.
On that regard, I almost wish I had never found this damned ship. Apparently its an older model, well, that was obvious, but older than we initially thought. The engineers in the engine room had been struggling to get the state of the art IRG power-cell to supply the engine blocks properly, and after dismantling our only working engine, did they find the problem. Apparently, mark one powerlines that cant be from more recent than the year 600 A.S. coupled with a couple dozen years of rust and radiation all but kill power transfer. In fact, they tell me its nothing short of a miracle that the ship didn't explode every time the engines were fired up. I was careful not to point out that the reason two of the engines were missing was precisely because of that. Either way, the list of parts they requested to repair, or rather, rebuild the engines is staggering. Quantum Converter Arrays, Pulsed Ray Emitters, Harmonic Stabilizers? I've never even heard of these things before, never mind have any idea what they actually do. Either way these parts are needed, and I have to find them, somehow.
In addition, while one of the crews was clearing debris in Deck 4, Corridor C, they reported hearing, and seeing... something. I'm not exactly about to take chances with this, especially not when I consider how long this ship spent in Minor, so I'm withdrawing all personnel from the lower decks and calling for a strike force of marines. They should be arriving in the next few hours, so we'll go on a little hunt to make sure everything's okay then.
So, slow work, but at least there's progress. Once the engines are up and running at 100% we can focus on actually getting the Haven restored. Installing a proper life support system is a priority, as is constructing a proper reactor and containment system to house our new power core. I swear, every time I walk past that part of the ship, I'm worried I'm about to break something it looks so delicate.
Alright, unfortunately that's all I have for the logs today, but hopefully things will pick up speed now that we have finally got breathable air on board. As a side note, I should really see about getting that black-box decrypted at some point soon. Who knows what information it may contain.
FILE CLOSED...
Log Submitted Knight Captain Stenn
The Forlorn Hope
We found the Haven in Minor, which is why when work crews on Deck 4 began reporting strange noises and movement, we evacuated the deck, sealed it and called for one of our Marine units. We weren't taking any chances with whatever was down there. I thought it might of been a trapped Nomad, maybe two, back from when they clearly "boarded" the ship. In retrospect, I wist it had been Nomads.
We arrived on Deck 4, set up perimeters around the elevators that accessed it, and began moving through it. Looking for the source of the strange activity reported. We cleared Corridor A and B without incident, and just as we were moving to Corridor C, we began to hear it. Movement from deeper in. The marines wasted no time, quickly setting up improvised positions and lines of fire as a few of them crept down the corridor. My own rifle at the ready, I watched in surprise as a nearby door in the corridor opened, and a human stumbled out. At first I thought he was one of the work crew who hadn't made it out when I had ordered the evacuation, but no casualties or missing men had been reported.
The figure continued to stumble towards us, barely remaining up right. That's when I saw it. The bullet holes in his chest. The hands covered in long dry blood. The enviro-suit punctured in several places, and part of his helmet missing, showing the white dead skin beneath. How it moved, survived was beyond me, but before I could take more of the situation in, the sound of gunfire at the far end of the corridor demanded my attention. Glancing quickly down the corridor, I saw the marines who had gone to scout the hall out being swarmed by more human shapes, streaming from the rooms around them.
We froze, only for a moment as the reality of the situation hit us. "Open fire!" One of the marine sergeants yelled a moment before my own rifle began sing. The hallway erupted into chaos as the... creatures... charged at us and we desperately tried to cut them down. At first the sheer weight of fire being poured into them seemed to hold them back, but more and more of them streamed from the rooms, and eventually, began pushing towards us, the weight of numbers sufficient to push through our fire. I watched in horror, as some of the creatures we had shoot down slowly stood back up, before renewing their assault.
We fell back, firing into the horde as we ran, desperately trying to break away from them. The team at Elevator B reported heavy casualties, and that they were going to disable the elevator, prevent the creatures from moving deeper into the ship, sacrificing themselves for the rest of us. I contacted Elena, up on Deck 2, with the orders to warn people of the emergency, and to lock down the ship. We had reached Elevator A, and with nowhere left to run, prepared ourselves for the coming swarm. We had been expecting Nomads, so we had heavier weapons here in reserve to use against them, but we were uncertain if our heavy machine guns would have anymore effect on the creatures we faced now than our rifles had. We still had the rockets as well, but that was a risky proposition, especially in such tight spaces.
The elevator rumbled down to us, bringing the rest of my marines, mere moments before the first of the creatures stumbled into view. Soon followed by the swarm, we got back to work holding them off, as we desperately attempted to come up with a plan. Rifles and grenades were being used to hold the swarm back, but we were quickly running out of grenades. One of the marines had a plan. The Welding torches used by the engineers could function as a flamethrower in a pinch, with some minor modifications made to help it along. I sent him and a few others to collect and modify the torches, before sweeping back down here to put them to the test.
The swarm was large enough now that even with the grenades we couldn't hold them back, as we started to take casualties once more. Ravenous, unrelenting, the creatures, feeling no pain or fear drove at us again and again and even as we killed them by the dozens, they started to claim more and more of my men. It was at this time that we noticed that only some of the creatures would rejoin the fight after being "killed" and we were slowly thinning the horde. Too slowly however. We needed those flamethrowers down here now. Even as I contacted the units, I could hear the elevator start to rumble, its centuries old construction groaning as it began its descent to us once more. We used the last of our grenades, those few of us who remained at the base of the elevator, to drive the swarm back momentarily once more.
Slamming home another magazine into my rifle, I saw the horde surge forward, and mentally steeling myself for the end, began to open fire. The elevator doors clang open. Out the corner of my eye, I see marines stride forward, their impromptu flamethrowers sparking. The first of them depresses a trigger. A spray of white hot flame bursts from his weapons nozzle, melting clean through the creatures as he sweeps the flaming liquid through them. The rest of the marines join him, the searing liquid melting through flesh and metal alike as it sweeps them away. The marines are relentless, and over the next hour, comb the entirety of Deck 4 with their new toys, before finally declaring the situation resolved.
We burnt the bodies. All of them. Didn't take the chance that some might be faking it. No idea what those things were, or where they came from. Doesn't matter, maybe the Blackbox will know. For now, I'm consigned to a bed in the medical ward. Didn't get away free of harm. Doctor says I'll be lucky if I don't lose my left arm. Doesn't know how close I came to losing my life back there. Doesn't need to. 70 of my men didn't get out at all.
Aside from the adventure on Deck 4, progress on the Haven is good. Engineering has reported having the engines, all two of them that remain, fully operational, and operating at 120% efficiency. The new life support module arrived a day or so back, and has recently been installed, providing the entire ship with breathable air. Deck 1 is the closest to being completely repaired, needing only a few days more work of hull work and wiring to be complete. Deck 2, where Elena and Gerald are working on the Seraphim is secure, with the particular hanger bay they are working in recently restored to 100% and, with the recent situation on Deck 4 in mind, marines have been posted to every chokepoint and area of importance until we can do a final sweep of Deck 5 and 6, which have both been sealed off in advance. Deck 4 is clear, and Marines are already moving into the barracks there, after having stripped it bare of anything that looks like it could be used to explain what happened down there and what those creatures were. All of that has been deposited in the science labs on Deck 1, and will likely be ignored till we get hold of actual scientists to take a look at it.
All in all, work on Haven is steadily advancing, and will hopefully be at a point where we can launch the ship from dock and give her a test flight. The Seraphim should be able to continue smoothly now that Life Support has been restored as well.
FILE CLOSED...
Log Submitted Knight Captain Stenn
The Forlorn Hope
It's been nearly a week since the incident on Deck 4 and there have been no further causes for concern, at least not from that angle. Decks 5 and 6 and have swept and confirmed clear, and the marines are finally relaxing. I am afraid the good news ends there.
Personally, I've been in the medbay since the incident because of the damage to my arm. Nerve damage, gangrene. I've been in here for the past week because of the cybernetic replacement for my left arm. Should of been more careful down there, now I'm missing an arm. Anyways, onto the real issues for this log.
Haven has, at some point in her long and mysterious past, undergone mainframe alterations, that while previously dormant came online soon after we managed to route power from the IRG Cell to it, and is near impossible to understand. What should be simple readouts of power levels and energy drain, as well as shield and engine readouts are... I have no words to describe it. Alien? Incomprehensible? Displays that should read in Libertonian, Bretonian, Gallic, Rheinlandish, or Kusarian are not. I pray that the mainframe is corrupted and not a result of adapted Nomad tech like I fear.
Aside from that, work has progressed well on Havens hull, and I believe the ship should no longer be a hazard to fly for that reason. Large progress has been made in clearing and patching the Havens interior sections, and Engineering reports that the IRG Cell has finally achieved predicted power output levels while remaining stable. The new shield emitter modules arrived today, and has yet to be progressed further, however, with all our Hanger bays cleared and operational, and with the life support running, Haven is ready to begin test flights.
Interestingly enough, the boys down in Deck 6 found framework already installed for more advanced utility modules, and have urged me to consider acquiring some for testing and experimentation. I'll have to contact our friends in the ORG, and perhaps that new Sol Initiative start up to pursue it further. Finally, Athena arrived with the items ordered from Ageira, so Haven has her own complement of Advanced Security Droids and high end assault weapons for them and our remaining marines.
FILE CLOSED...
Log Submitted Knight Captain Stenn
The Forlorn Hope
Today saw the first test flight of many for the Haven. She managed to get out of dock easily, and with all 4 engine blocks firing, managed to cruise lazily around Taba for nearly 2 hours before we started to get any type of warning readings. The IRG core is holding up, and our life support remained at 100% for the duration of the flight. The only problems is that the damage on Deck 5 and 6 is more extensive than previously thought.
Haven is almost ready to move into regular service, but as it stands she's just a regular carrier. We still need to install the advanced modules, weapons, reinforced armor panels and a proper scanner. I've made contact with the Primes to help us correctly mesh the more advanced components to Havens ancient systems. We're busy making final plans for acquiring a Hyperspace Survey Module and a Jump Drive mark 4, but haven't had much in the way of luck there yet.
The new security droids have been put to good use complementing the normal marine squads, and all reports indicate the ship is completely clean of any unauthorized life. I'll have to remember to ask the Order on Taba to remind its members that the Haven is not a safe, quiet place to sneak off to for some private time between two people. Kids these days.
Aside from this, work on Haven proceeds as planned, with work on the outer hull being down, and Decks 5 and 6 undergoing heavy construction. Malcolm delivered a shipment of reinforced hull panels a few days ago, and the engineers have been hard at work installing them in vital points around the ship. A few more similar shipments and Haven will be a damned lot tougher to sink than before. On that line of thought, while the engineers are working around the engines, I should put a request in for Order engines. They're significantly more durable than the civilian engines currently installed, and will likely have a lower power draw as well.
Nothing exciting this log, but Haven's nearing ready state. Just a few more things to collect before we can begin moving her back to house space.
FILE CLOSED...
Log Submitted Knight Captain Stenn
The Forlorn Hope
It's been a few weeks since the last log was submitted, and for good reason as well. No sooner than had I received the report that the last of the hull repairs had been completed had I relayed the orders for all crew to get ready for Haven's shakedown run, and a mere 2 hours later, we left the dry-dock on Taba and set out for a system nearly half a universe away. The shakedown would be a two part journey, first the journey all the way to Cortez to test basic systems, life support, shields, engines, cruise drives and more. And the second part would be the far more dangerous task. Elena had found a nomad structure out in one of the nebula's of Inverness, and we would need the armor and shields of the recently refurbished Haven to get close enough to scan and survey the structure.
The journey across the Omicrons, through the Sigmas and into Rheinland and Liberty was surprisingly uneventful, and aside from a single encounter with one of the younger nomads, which went about as well for it as could be expected, Haven reached Cortez without issues, and with all systems reading green and shields holding steady. I gave the crew a few hours of shore leave on Curacao while I went over Elena's report on the system, and plotted the course we would take to avoid notice and remain hidden until arriving at our destination near the nomad structure. Once again, the journey was uneventful, which was surprising given the recorded presence of the Order, Auxesia and other groups within system. Even when scanning the structure, the nomads made no attempt to chase me off or interrupt the proceedings in anyway.
With the information gathered, Haven exited the system, and made the longer journey to Freeport 2, where we delivered it to Operative Red. With this, I only had one stop left before Haven's shakedown run would be complete and successful. Turning Haven back towards the independent worlds between Liberty and Bretonia, we made our way to Coronado, mooring the ship at Glendalough and with a successful voyage behind the newly restored Haven, made our way to the bar to celebrate.
There are still many upgrades and lesser maintenance jobs to be done on Haven, but for now, she's capable of taking to the field in a supporting role.
FILE CLOSED...
Log Submitted Knight Captain Stenn
The Forlorn Hope
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