*The room was packed full of scientists, test pilots, and Order officers, most of them muttering amongst themselves, speculating on the outcome of the recent Hypergate mission; though some chittering about the recent political disputes within the Order's command structure.*
*Aki approached the stand at the front of the room. Despite the disturbing results of the test mission, she was the one that had been given charge of this project, and thus the one who was left to speak when things went wrong; not a weight she particularly liked bearing, especially with so many other tasks on her shoulders at the moment.*
*She flipped on the microphone at the podium and called for silence.*
"I'm afraid I dont come before you today with good news, on the contrary most of it is quite the opposite of what we'd all like to be hearing right now. To start, I suppose I should give a brief recount on the Hypergate project, as some of you are not entirely aware of it's purpose."
"For months now, our scientists and researchers here at Lisbon have been putting time and effort into uncovering the secret of how the alien Hypergate in Minor - and those found elsewhere in Sirius - function. Weeks ago, it was discovered that the only real difference between the hypergates, and our own jump gates, is construction material and power source."
"Now, the key ingredients we required for this mission were high quality superconductors, and a reliable source of energy capable of meeting the gate's needs. With the help of our Hogosha allies in Kusari, we were able to obtain superconductors from a Kishiro research station. As for the power source, our operatives in Omega space were able to retrieve a nomad power cell being used in the construction of one of their own hypergates there."
"Using those two things, our research team was able to develop a small hypergate which was completed several days ago. Now, we had obtained numerous hypergate coordinates to unknown systems from our excavations of Daam K'vosh ruins. A team of three volunteer pilots was selected to investigate one of these coordinates, with the hope that a successful mission would lead to exploring the other coordinates at later dates."
"Unfortunately, none of those three pilots are here today. While their mission was partially successful, they were destroyed by hostile forces at the jump coordinates. Funeral services will be held tomorrow on Toledo for their bravery and loss in action. Despite not fully completing the mission by returning here, their sacrifices were not in vain - sensor logs were obtained before the destruction of their vessels, and was transmitted back to us via long range pulse communications."
*A screen lowers itself from the ceiling behind Aki*
"Here are the few recorded images we obtained from that communication burst. What we did recover is distorted due to extreme radiation and dark matter interference at the target location, but the images are still partly visible"
"The first image was recorded during the transit through the Hypergate tunnel"
"After exiting the hypergate, all we find visible is an extremely large dark matter cloud ahead of the pilots, presumably where they travelled to next"
"Within the cloud, our scout group encountered a patrol of unknown vessels. While the ships were of a design that has never been seen before, communication and weapon signatures from the vessels allowed us to positively identify them as Phantom ships. This leads us to believe that the targeted system was near the northern galactic axis, on the very borders of Sirius. Star readings upon exit of the Hypergate tunnel estimated the system to be just beyond Outcast space. While we have not encountered many Phantoms within Sirius, they are known to be fueled by an extremely powerful alien empire beyond known space. Luckily, our scout group here was able to avoid the Phantom fighters and continue it's mission"
"These last two images show an immense structure, both artificial and natural in origin. It appears to be based on a large asteroid, with numerous structures composed of unknown alloys extend up from the surface. This structure is extremely well armed, and we now know that this 'station' is what destroyed our scout ships."
"During transit, the hypergate prototype we had constructed was damaged due to power overload, the superconductors available to us are still not entirely reliable. Until we can perfect the gate itself, we are holding off all missions to additional Daam K'vosh target systems. I have submitted additional sensor data to Order High Command, and they are analyzing it in an attempt to give our pilots an advantage - or at the very least, even ground - against Phantom ships in future engagements. Until decisions on this subject are made, all Order pilots are advised to exercise extreme caution in the vicinity of Phantom ships."
*The muttering started up almost immediately as Aki left the podium and exited through the rear of the conference room. The grim realization was coming down on the crowd - not only were the Nomads becoming ever more powerful as they gained reinforcements from beyond Sirius, but new enemies were appearing on the edges of the galaxy now... enemies far more powerful than anything they had encountered yet.*
*Once again, the crowd had gathered to listen to the latest reports on the Hypergate mission. Aki approached the podium with a smile, these latest excursions had been far less taxing on the Order's pilot reserve*
"Alright, lets get started. While I did mention during the last debriefing that Hypergate missions would be put on hold until more stable technology could be secured, pressure from both our scientists and leaders has forced the program forward once again. In order to avoid any more deaths, these latest missions were undertaken by unmanned craft. Now, unfortunately this limits the amount of data we can collect from each jump, but at least there will be no more suicide missions until the project is perfected."
"The latest jumps were to six seperate locations pulled from Daam K'vosh records. Fortunately, no hostile forces were encountered by our unmanned scout vessels, and with these jumps we have discovered locations which may be suitable for future human habitation, assuming this technology can be made safe enough for large vessels."
"The first jump was to a system which has been designated XG001. This jump put our scout vessel just outside of a massive dark matter cloud similar to the one encountered during the first mission, though far more radioactive in nature. Scanners were not able to penetrate the outer portion of the cloud, and contact was lost with the scout vessel almost immediately upon entering the cloud. Of note here are the unusual swirl patterns generated by outward explansion of the cloud, an effect which has not been seen on other dark matter clouds within Sirius. This could be an indication that something at the cloud's center is actually producing dark matter, forcing the rest of the matter within the cloud outward over time."
"The second system, designated XG002, was a fairly clear binary star system with one planetary body. Scans of the planet indicate a barren world with extremely high temperatures, most likely due to the intense heat produced by the binary suns at the system's core. Surface analysis of the planet indicates an extremely high level of Boron and Cobalt, making this a prime target for mining operations to fuel our fleets in the future."
"Third up is XG003. This system was found to have no stars within it, the only stellar objects within XG003 are two frozen planets circling one another in a tight gravitational orbit. The system is covered by a large gas nebula, however - a nebula which contains spaceborn microbacterial lifeforms that give off strong bioluminscent light, providing the only lighting source within the system. These lifeforms quickly ate away at the hull of our scout ship, rendering it inoperable within roughly five minutes. Further missions to XG003 are denied until a solution to the ship-eating microbes can be found."
"XG004 is a quadruple star system with no other planetary bodies. This is the first four-sun system we've ever recorded, and all four stars seem to be locked in a fast-spinning orbit, giving off a pulsar effect at a distance. The extreme temperature levels generated by four suns destroyed our scout ship within minutes, but if we can find a way to shield our ships and stations from the solar radiation present in the system, it may be possible to harvest that energy for future projects."
"XG005 is a single star system inhabited by two extremely large gas giants rotating around it, on opposite sides of the sun. One gas giant was found to have high levels of methane in it's atmosphere, while the other giant is composed almost entirely of oxygen with numerous trace gases. Due to orbit speed differential between the two bodies, our scientists estimate that the two planets will collide with one another in approximately five hundred years; and due to stellar location the ensuing explosion may be readily visible to most systems within sirius."
"The final system, XG006, is the most promising of them all. 006 is a Binary star system with one terrestrial planet that has been found capable of supporting human life, and currently holds a vast ecosystem rivaling that of Planet Gaia in Edinburgh. The planet is orbited by two small moons, both of which were found to be rich in Niobium, Silver, and Iron. Both moons lack any atmosphere, but the level of resources found on their surfaces makes mining operations on both moons more than worth the cost of constructing sealed stations planetside."
"I will report once more when we have more information, either on these systems or others still on the list for scouting operations."