Desperation

[Professor Fenway]

-Restitution to Repulse-

Permission granted. Coordinates enclosed in message. Don't get lost out there.-

[Tell]

Is it to late to join? It did just start yesterday...

[Professor Fenway]

Sure. You can join. We can add you in as a ship without any problem right now.

[Tell]

APPLICATION:

[Name] Thomas Hanson

[Species] Human

[Occupation (Before fall)] Tellrim researcher

[Name of Ship] Godspeed

[Type of Ship] Science

[Armament level] Lightly armed

[Defenses level] Moderately armored

[Back-story] Thomas was a researcher at Tellrim with a degree in military science and physics. Before the disaster happened Thomas was out at a small testing facility when pirates attacked. Narrowly escaping with his life Thomas made his way aboard Godspeed where he found the captain siding with the pirates and attacking his own crew. Slowly they pushed them out and escaped into unexplored space vowing never to return to Tellrim in fear they would be killed as traitors for killing the captain.

[Professor Fenway]

I'm assuming we found you at some point while running from the Darkness? If so, added.

If not, elaborate.

[Tell]

I'm assuming we found you at some point while running from the Darkness? If so, added.

Sure...

[Julo]

"MIRU, the next jump will be performed in 4 minutes, are you ready?"
"You should know that it's not me, who has problems with jumping, Lotho, it's the jump drive. And yes, the jump drive is running stable, at the moment. However after the jump I will continue to fix and adjust it and it may take a few days, because I am repairing it all by myself."
"You know that I didn't say the admiral that we are alright to provoke, it was because the darkness came rather close and I can't tell him now that we could need some help now. I mean it runs stable at the moment and if it breaks down again, I will ask him, OK?"
"Of course, but you must know that it is not easy to work with half-organic nanites. to describe it better, it is like you would do a heart operation all by yourself, with the only help being a million tiny fingers.
"I know MIRU, you don't have to tell ME that. Nonetheless run a simulation if we have the time for it, the jump is in 3 minutes.
"Of course, Captain."

[Error]

Repulse's drives warmed, sending her across light-years in an instant.

Valkyrius' first impression of the new system was, for a change, favourable. One habitable world, a dense asteroid belt, two gas giants, and no detectable vessels.

He activated communications to the fleet. "Belavrius, you can come on in. And we might like to stay a while here, too."

The ship's DRADIS swept, finding nothing. Valkyrius activated the jump beacon, highlighting his position for the NeoRoman vessel to follow.

[Professor Fenway]

Belavrius noted the Repulse's message and nodded. He turned to the FTl console behind him, which was beeping. 5 bars were highlighted on the left side, accompanied by a power graph and multiple status reports on the right. Each bar was fluctuating close to full, with minimal discrepancies. The power graph showed a full charge. Belavrius flipped a few switches and the console displayed a large READY button. "Bridging FTL Jump... now," Belavrius said to the fleet as he pushed the button.

Outside the ship, several bridges of lightning jumped from the rotating ring near the back of the Restitution, a complex device serving as the FTL bridge drive. These sparks connected to every ship in the fleet, linking the FTL drives together into one warp tunnel, and the fleet vanished in a flash of light.

[Error]

Valkyrius watched as the flash of light dissolved into the ships of the fleet. He ordered fighters deployed into a patrol scree , and launched a probe to check the asteroid belt.

Satisfied that things were moving, he opened a secure channel to Belavrius.

"Admiral. From my charts, if they survived, the GSA colonies in Long Reach are two jumps away if we push the range a bit. Even if those colonies fell - which I feel is unlikely - we may find something useful there. Should I send a probe, d'you think?"

[cats]

Can I join too?

Name: Kaal Neda

Species: Feles

Occupation (Before fall): Blockade Runner and Mercenary for Karesh Militia

Name of Ship: Slipknot

Type of Ship: Retired Narok-class destroyer, retrofitted with advanced slip-merge FTL drive for running hyperspace blockades

Armament level: Low. Standard missile banks (nonfunctional), a few point defense lasers.

Defenses level: Med. Deflector shield, decent amount of carbon-alloy weave armor.

Back-story: During the civil disputes within the Batiss Combine, Neda found good work running blockades for various Nobles. She and her crew were making a covert delivery in the slip as the subspace wave swept through Batiss territory. Slipknot has been completing a series of pseudo-random jumps, making its way to Andromeda and following emergency protocol for massive subspace disturbances. The crew has been in stasis for most of the past ten years.

[Professor Fenway]

You are accepted. You haven't reached the main fleet yet, though, so we'll have to find you in another system or elsewhere.

BIC:

The sensor console was acting up. Belavrius had obtained the Repulse's initial scan data, but the habitable world didn't match up. He sighed as he completed a tenth DRADIS sweep. Again the same results. The albedo of the planet was unusually high, even for a Selena type world. And this planet wasn't a Selena world. He scanned over the rest of sensor data, noted few anomalies, and then switched his attention over to Valkyrius' channel. He checked the sensor again. No new logs.

"We haven't seen any indication of activity from the colonies. We shouldn't draw unneeded attention to ourselves at the moment." He paused, and looked at the sensor again. "Also, my sensor data is not matching with yours. I'm registering an unusually high albedo from the habitable in this system. It could be cloud cover, but I don't trust it. Send a probe there instead."

[Error]

Valkyrius muttered something and flipped a switch, launching a probe at the planet.

Re-opening the comms, he said, "If I may say so, any attention - provided it's not from that gods-accursed darkness - might well be good. Even with mining and explorations here, supplies are... scarce. And besides, the population of this fleet will start dwindling soon enough. Frankly, the best bets here are the GSA colonies or the Strigiforme worlds."

He flipped his mic off and began monitoring sensor data from the probe. It seemed the planet was fine; just a bit of argon in the atmosphere. He routed the probe data to Belavrius.

[Professor Fenway]

Belavrius listened to Valkyrius' message and shook his head, turning on the channel as he did so. "Very well, I suppose we can do with a probe. But we aren't going to broadcast our location in any capacity. We've done that enough with the warning beacons." He shut off the channel and returned to the fleet channel.

"Since we seem to be relatively secure here, the fleet will be split into four task groups. The Restitution will head to the habitable world with the Polarity, Godspeed, Angel of Eden, and DSR-2 Brittany to restock supplies. The Revengeance will lead the Vespene, Solaris, and Sorceress' Beauty to the gas giants to restock on fuel and some minerals. The Kyyt will lead the SCV-M, Crackerjack, and Impulse to the asteroid belt for mining and materials." He paused for a second.

"The Repulse and the Intrepid will keep watch over they system and alert to any possible threats. Stay safe, we're almost there."

[Error]

Valkyrius nodded, setting and launching the probe. Turning his attention to the DRADIS arrays, he set them on long range and settled the Repulse into a comfortable orbit.