In 831 A.S., the Dreamscape--the Starlight Research Consortium flagship--was ejected from hyperspace and crashed in Omicron Beta. After the crew was evacuated, the ships Hyperspace Drive initiated and jumped the carrier away; taking it's sole inhabitant, Dr. Rose Emery with it. The ship, and the doctor, were presumed lost after an exhaustive search for the vessel. Dr. Sailas Montgomery, Dr. Emery's father, disappeared shortly after the search was called off. It was presumed by many that the grief in losing his daughter to the ether was the final straw which lead to him secluding himself in parts unknown.
However, in 834 A.S., Dr. Rose Emery reached out to Dr. Brandon Wright, the new Director of SLRC, to inform him of her adventure with the Dreamscape. After a hellish three years stuck in Alberta, the large Aquilon jumped after a surge in the Dark Matter field of the lost system, propelling the ship to once again enter hyperspace and emerge in what is now known as Earhart. Dr. Emery abandoned the ship at that point and used one of the many gates to escape the debris field and re-enter civilized space. Citing her desire to pursue other avenutes of employment, she gave Brad the location of the Dreamscape and ventured off to search for her lost father.
Now, Ikarus Station in Tau-23 is in a fervor. Researchers, scientists, engineers, and security teams are preparing to journey into Earhart to recover the lost SLRC flagship. The once shining gem of the Consortium sits in a debris field with three years of sensor logs of Alberta and the other places it jumped to. A treasure trove of information for scientists all over Sirius. The Gryphon, the largest ship in the SLRC fleet, is preparing to take a crew into the hell of Earhart to recover the vessel and bring it back to Tau-23 for repairs and upgrades as necessary.
However, what the team will find onboard the lost flagship might be more than they bargained for...
The weight of this decision sits heavy in my gut. Rose's return, after three years lost in the abyss, was a miracle. Relief battled with a gnawing unease as she recounted her ordeal. Alberta... the name alone sends chills down my spine. But her news, the location of the Dreamscape, overshadowed everything.
The Gryphon may be our pride and joy, but let's face it, it's getting a bit long in the tooth. The Dreamscape, on the other hand? Cutting edge tech, straight from the Consortium's golden age. Sure, it might need some TLC after three years lost in the void, but the potential upgrades... imagine the Gryphon, outfitted with the Dreamscape's hyperdrive core, sensor array, maybe even some of that rumored experimental weaponry Dr. Montgomery was tinkering with back then...
A knock on the door breaks my concentration. "Come in," I sigh, shoving the datapad with preliminary salvage estimates aside.
"Sir." Leo said walking into the office staring at a pad. "I have some qualms about this errant venture into the depths of hell."
He takes a seat in front of the Directors desk, tosses the pad onto it, leans forward and stares him in the eyes. "The Dreamscape is as close as a wet dream as I can get. Getting that ships technology back into our hands is something that I've hoped would eventually occur within my lifetime...but Earhart?" He leans back in the chair. "We're pushing our luck there more than we did in Alberta...and back then we had the help of the Technocracy.
"My team and I can prepare the Gryphon and any other ship you want to send into that hell...but with the weapons platforms in there eviscerating anything that gets close, I doubt even my technical expertise will be enough to prevent deaths."
Leo magics a flask out of his jacket pocket and takes a swig. Before screwing the top back on, he offers it to Brad.
Why are you reading this? Don't you have something else you'd rather be doing? Why are you still reading this? Go out and explore, trade, fight, pirate, or even die thanks to SLRC autopilot. You're still here? What do you want, a poem? Fine. Roses are red, violets are blue, I lose the game, and so did you.
”Forgive my intrusion, I couldn’t help but overhear the chatter.”
The voice belonged to Emily, one of the newest recruits of the Consortium. Emily propped herself up against the wall, arms folded across her chest. At 32 years of age, she had a mix of mostly average skills in piloting and combat, but the thrill of the stars and their secrets were what brought her attention to Starlight and its mission. There was a fire in her eyes, and while she may not have experience in the field yet, she most certainly wanted to learn.
”Is there room for one more in this discussion? Been too long since I had a little excitement.”
She reached a hand up to twiddle her hair a bit, something she had done all her life when she knew she was probably pushing her luck. Being new meant that expecting to do much more than research assignments was likely out of the picture, but if she didn’t ask, she wouldn’t know the real answer.
Brad takes the flask from Leo with a sigh, uncorking it and taking a long whiff. "Freeport 9's finest," he mutters, a hint of longing in his voice. "Whiskey just hasn't been the same since the Corsair occupation shut down production." He takes a swig, grimaces slightly, and hands it back.
"Another knock at the door, huh?" he says, gesturing towards the door with the flask. "Come in!" he calls out, a hint of amusement in his voice.
The door opens to reveal Emily, and Brad offers a tired smile. "Welcome aboard, Emily. Always good to have fresh eyes on a project." He leans back in his chair, internally acknowledging the very real need for extra personnel on this mission. "Though," he thinks to himself, "under normal circumstances I wouldn't throw a new recruit into something like this..."
"Alright, let's get down to brass tacks," Brad continues, addressing both Leo and Emily. "The Gryphon's a marvel, no doubt, but towing the Dreamscape back? Not exactly its forte. I was thinking of bringing along the Leviathan - the heavy lifter we used to haul materials for Ikarus Station. That should give us the muscle we need to bring the old girl home." A wry smile touches his lips. "Though, let's be honest, even with the Leviathan, we won't be able to bring back everything we might want. Just getting into Earhart is going to be a challenge, let alone coming out with a whole starship in tow."
He leans forward, elbows on the desk, and steeples his fingers. "So, that's the situation. Leo, you've got your concerns about the mission itself. Emily, you're eager to prove yourself. Let's hear your thoughts. What are we walking into, and how do we mitigate the risks?"
"You asked for it." Leo sighs. "Getting in won't be the hard part. Getting out will. I've reviewed your sensor logs from when you journeyed in with McCool and Captain Ito of the Eventide. The area around the central pylons is littered with debris. It seems the closer you get to those pylons, the more thick it becomes. I haven't seen the raw data on where the Dreamscape is located, but if it is closer to the middle, it's going to be hell getting out of there alive. Even if it's outside of the pylons range, the sheer amount of foreign objects floating around are going to play hell on the engines and thrusters--of which are no doubt clogged with Dark Matter residue from it's three year stay in Alberta--not to mention the lack of shielding the ship will have. All those pieces of metal are going to be tearing into an already weakened and damaged hull plating.
"Even beyond that, we have to hope to whatever deity you pray to that it makes a jump back into Sirius proper with all the damage that has been done to the ship from the impact in Beta and from the further degradation of the superstructures strength during it's internment in Alberta's radiation fields. Then there is the flight back here and the fact that Ikarus lacks a long term drydock for repairs."
Leo clears his throat before continuing.
"Now, I can read your mind. I'm not trying to be a doomsayer. However, if it comes right down to it and we can't get it out. It's best to pull the goodies off the ship, stash them on whatever we bring in and haul ass out, leaving the ship proper behind.
"As to solutions to what I've already said, we can do a cleaning of the stabilization thrusters and engines as best we can while we're there--but that will take extensive time to do right. That should give us more of a chance of navigating the debris field. So long as we're not close to the pylons and don't get holed from the various weapons systems there, that should give us a better chance. As to piloting it through the rifts around the outside of the system, that will depend on the A.B.A.D.D.O.N. sub-mind. If it determines that the superstructure of the ship is too weak to make the jump, we fall back to taking parts off and bailing. Finally, if it can make a jump through a rift without any major damage, it should--should--make it back to Ikarus provided that we have support craft to be on site to ensure that if we lose engines, life-support, etc., that we have a means of recovery.
"I'm good at what I do, but I'm no magic man. I'll prop up the ship with spit, duct tape, super glue, and gum...but we might have to make the difficult choice to leave her in the graveyard with all those other ships there."
Leo takes another swig of his flask while eyeing Brad for his response.
Why are you reading this? Don't you have something else you'd rather be doing? Why are you still reading this? Go out and explore, trade, fight, pirate, or even die thanks to SLRC autopilot. You're still here? What do you want, a poem? Fine. Roses are red, violets are blue, I lose the game, and so did you.
Karl heard the news about the Dreamscape, and sighs.Welp, I'm just glad it's not in Alberta anymore.He still vividly remembers the last time the gang went in there, even though it was several years ago at this point. He nods as he finishes up some paperwork then heads to the directors office. Upon arrival, he knocks on the doorSo, the Dreamscape, eh? Never thought I'd see it again.
Emily took a moment to realise what had just been said, before her hand dropped from her hair. Now she took on an expression of thought.
”So the first thing we need would be supplies. Spare parts, alloys, wiring and the like.”
Earhart. A place she had only heard rumours and stories about. Danger and thrill, curiosity and trepidation. That sounded like somewhere she would enjoy. At least for awhile. What struck her as odd, though, was the idea of possibly stripping and abandoning such a vessel. Sure, the Consortium had access to others, but the Dreamscape… it had been places. There was a history embedded in that hull, a past pressed into each and every curve. Emily may have not been around that long, but even she didn’t want to give that up.
”If it can’t be fixed, is there not another way to retrieve the Dreamscape? Maybe using our ships to help move her out rather than abandoning? I can’t bear the thought of that…”
She lets her sentence trail off, not really knowing what else to say. She acknowledges Karl as he enters, a nod in his direction while she thought.
Brad takes another swig of the flask, wincing slightly at the harsh aftertaste. "Like you said, Leo, you don't sugarcoat things," he says, setting the flask down with a thud. "And that's exactly why I value your pessimism. Keeps us grounded."
He gestures to Karl, who just entered. "Welcome in, Karl. Glad to see security's taking this seriously."
"The Dreamscape retrieval is more than just a scientific endeavor," Brad continues, addressing the entire room now. "It's a potential turning point for the Consortium. But Leo's right, getting that ship out whole might be a stretch."
A flicker of disappointment crosses Emily's face, and Brad acknowledges it with a nod. "Look, I share your sentiment. That ship's been through hell and back. Ideally, we bring it all home, fixed up and ready to serve again. But preliminary scans of other wrecks in Earhart paint a grim picture. Those defense pylons seem to have done a number on anything that got too close."
"That's why I need both plans fleshed out in detail. Operation Full Recovery, where we tow the Dreamscape back in one piece, and Operation Phoenix, where we focus on salvaging key components."
He leans forward, tapping a data pad on the desk. "Here's the kicker: our window. In five days, an anomaly cluster will open a clearer path into Earhart. We need to be ready to move the moment it does."
The weight of the mission hangs heavy in the air. Brad looks to each member of the impromptu team, their faces reflecting a mix of apprehension and determination. "Alright, let's get to work. We've got a derelict flagship to reclaim, and a Consortium's future riding on it."
Brad strode off the sleek hull of the transport freighter, the metallic groan of the docking clamps echoing behind him. Adjusting his visor, he surveyed the sprawling expanse of the Gryphon's primary flight deck - the Golden Road. Here, the heart of the ship pulsed with a symphony of activity. Pilots in their crimson jumpsuits zipped past, barking orders and expertly maneuvering sleek shuttles onto designated landing pads. Repulsorlifts whined, laden with cargo containers overflowing with supplies vital for their upcoming mission. An almost tangible sense of focused purpose crackled in the air.
"Welcome aboard the Gryphon, everyone," Brad boomed, his voice cutting through the cacophony. He gestured broadly to the bustling scene before them. "This is The Golden Road, the lifeblood of this vessel. Here, we prepare for the unknown, for the challenges and discoveries that lie ahead."
His gaze swept over the assembled crew. Faces, a mix of seasoned veterans and eager rookies, reflected a spectrum of emotions - excitement, trepidation, a healthy dose of nervous energy.
