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Post by Tori Jacobs on Aug 18, 2013 4:44:45 GMT 1
 The KKR Midori sat in orbit around the dwarf planet Genesis and has passed all scheduled inspection by the Alliance as the crew was now ready to take off into the unknown and explore this new region of space Genesis found itself in. The Alliance has been working around the clock to ensure that they got their ship out in space before Isafaro. It was inevitable that the Crimson Vulture would spread its wings and fly on a grander scale than what they have been doing on Genesis, but for now it looked like Kari and the Alliance was getting first bragging rights. It's been a long road getting from there to here.
Tori entered the circular bridge room to the bridge officers saluting her in greeting. “At ease,” she replied with her right hand raised before lowering it back down to her side and walking to the center of the bridge. Everyone were dressed in the standard Kari uniform with Genius wearing a modified rendition given her unique circumstances of being turned into a vampire at age twelve. She may not look it but she was both the oldest and smartest thing on the ship. Rival only in intelligence by the artificial intelligence codenamed White Queen. Genius and Nex stood at their stations to Tori's right while June and Shinta stood to her left and Lily right out in front of her at her console. She sat down at the center of the bridge and leaned back in her chair.
“White Queen, replay Kari briefing on screen.”
The view screen at the end of the bridge came on and the avatar for the White Queen appeared dressed in, as her namesake would imply, a white dress with long dark brown hair and matching eyes and pale white skin as she spoke: “Your primary mission objective is to explore this region of space and determine if we are alone in the universe and report back. Should you run into alien life remember that not only do you represent the Alliance on your journey through the galaxy, but you also represent your entire planet. Your actions and decisions reflect not only your crew but an entire civilization waiting for you back home. Remember that and good luck. Prime Minister of Kari and co-founder of the Alliance.”
The view screen went off and showed the stars outside the ship as Tori looked around to the rest of the bridge officers before looking back at the screen.
“You all heard our orders. Our expectations. It's no different than life back on Genesis. We proceed with caution but act in self defense only. The Vulture will already be doing more than enough to muddy up any image we try to project to the rest of the galaxy and we don't need to give them any help. Now, if there aren't any questions... Let's see what's out there.”
The ship's shields raised and primary systems turned online as the engines came to life and left Genesis' orbit, phasing through the stars. |
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Post by Sherwood the Kinda-Great on Aug 18, 2013 5:54:30 GMT 1
"You call that a name?"
That was the first thing Sherwood could remember when he heard about his fielding on the Wolf Goddess, thought back then it was called the Bastigone. That was several months ago, while it was still in drydock. He remembered how he felt, though, when it came to him. Excitement, anticipation, curiosity, and more. This was definitely just the tip of it all. This was one of the brighter moments in his life, that was for sure. But now, now that was all behind him. Supporting him every step of the way, yes, but still behind him. He had a new playground to explore. And that was the great expanse of the galaxy.
"What're we looking at?"
"Looks to be a nebula, sir, judging by the latent radiation in the area. But the last of it. Looks like it didn't get to form what it meant to form. Judging by the scattering, it almost looks like one of those old-Earth fishing trawlers went through."
Sherwood called up the data to the main screen on the bridge of the Wolf Goddess, eyeing it curiously as a three-dimensional holographic image flaoted before him. He flicked it once to send it spinning, then zoomed into the central area of the cloud. "I could agree with that. Though part of me wants to know what exactly they were harvesting. Maybe what they took, or what they left, could be of some use to us."
The man who was talking with Sherwood looked to his little data terminal and punched in a few bits of data, then looked back up to the image. It spun automatically, then refreshed as it now showed various compouds and elements that were in the area. It was far more fuzzy than what was before, though the fuzziness was small points of various colors of light. Only green seemed to be dominant along the rest.
"Whomever hit here wa after the hydrogen, and they got a lot of it, sir. A few of the heavier compounds and elements are still out there, but this is almost empty of hydrogen resources. Itt looks recent, though, given dust swirl patterns, that it was rendered so inert."
"So you think this just happened?" Sherwood folded his arms in a bit of disapproval.
"Perhaps. I'm not quite sure."
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Post by Tori Jacobs on Aug 18, 2013 6:58:17 GMT 1
The Wolf Goddess was about to pick up another ship as the Midori came out of transit near its position. Tori sat up from her chair and took a couple of steps forward as she looked the ship over from the view screen.
“Report?”
“Looks to be a type of carrier,” replied Nex, “human in origin.”
“I'm reading human life signs from within the ship, Captain,” explained Shinta.
“Human?” asked Tori, puzzled. Have they entered another universe where humans were just as common as in their world? “Open a channel.”
June punched in some commands from her console before looking back at Tori, “Channel opened.”
“This is Captain Tori Jacobs of the KKR Midori to the carrier ship, do you copy?” |
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Post by Sherwood the Kinda-Great on Aug 18, 2013 13:30:22 GMT 1
"Well, I want a full scan of the area. Check for anything subspace eddies that would match a recent ship in the area. Until then, I think I'm about due for some lunch. Forgot to eat breakfast today. " Sherwood turned from the central hub and made his way for the door to the rest of the ship, when the Midori jumped out phase-space. Warning klaxons sounded as the ship immediately descended into battlestations. Crewmen scrambled about to ready for the emergency event, railguns spooling up and missile silos priming for maximum effectiveness. So much for that lunch. The Wolf Goddess pivoted in place, coming about to face the newcoming ship as it's shields hummed to life. The dust cloud of the area made the shield light up every so often at tiny points from larger debris from the long-since-gone supernova. He was in the captain's chair oncemore, staring out the main window to see the Federation-style vessel before them. He didn't know what to make of it, that was for sure. No registered configuration in the databanks from the Citadel. Nor a historical record from Earth. Was this the ship that was getting the material? He wasn't sure at all, but it made a lot of sense if he put some thought into it. "Sir, they're haling us." said comms on Sherwood's right. "They... seem to speak English.""You're kidding. Open the channel on the main viewer on the left of the ship's bridge. Weapons, hold unless they charge weapons."Sherwood stared at the viewscreen that Tori's face now occupied. What was he to say? Was this first contact with an alien race that looked a lot like humans? Was this some private industry project from Earth? "KKR Midori, this is the Wolf Goddess. We hear you loud and clear. Somehow. To what do I owe the pleasure?" |
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Post by Tori Jacobs on Aug 18, 2013 21:24:57 GMT 1
“They're charging up their weapons and raising their shields,” noted Genius.
“They're just a little startled,” explained Tori.
“And when they're firing on us I suppose that would just be a gut-wrench reaction?” questioned Genius sarcastically.
Tori shushed the tactical officer just in time for the captain of the other ship to respond to their hail. When the man appeared on the screen he looked as perplexed as Tori did. It was apparent that neither one expected first contact to be with another sect of humans, but then again who in their right mind would?
"KKR Midori, this is the Wolf Goddess. We hear you loud and clear. Somehow. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
“Our homeworld has been pulled through a rift bringing us to this galaxy. That's why when you look you won't be able to find any record of us on file. We come in peace.”
No matter how many times it was used, that line would always be cheesy. |
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Post by Sherwood the Kinda-Great on Aug 19, 2013 1:28:29 GMT 1
So they were coming in peace. Geez, what was this Buzz Lightyear? Though the woman on the other side of the screen, called 'Tori Jacobs', definitely did not seem like someone who really was trying to mess with the Wolf Goddess. Or she just played a mean game of poker. He wasn't sure. "Your homeworld." He repeated with a cocked brow. "What, if I may ask, is this homeworld? And where, roughly, is it in the galaxy?"Sherwood tapped his control set on his chair and sent orders to the conn, who plotted a jump course away from the ship towards the Citadel. He had his orders to run if possible, and he wasn't about to disobey with him being such a green explorer. "Captain, you wante-" "Not now, Lieutenant. This is the second... first contact. Ish. In a mission. I suggest we have a bit of decorum.""But sir, I really think you need to hear this." The captain in the green jumpsuit sighed and turned his head to face the science officer. "Sir, what I've been getting on the nebula indicates that... well, it's not quite done changing." "Say again?""The nebula isn't just a nebula, sir. This was a star that was shredded by a larger star that various ships were collecting data on before it was gone, explaining the various eddies we found." "So you're saying we're in a star's corpse?""Somewhat. There were planetoids that were destroyed as well, judging by the debris in the area, so this probably was a small system. But the star that was torn apart isn't quite dead. We've detected a large orb of dense matter that's still out there, pulling other matter into it. It's getting very unstable." Sherwood scowled slightly, partially perturbed by what he was hearing. "Why didn't we detect this sooner?""The radiation is a bit thick out here, sir. Even from a visual perspective, its hard to cut through the gas and plasma. We're lucky we're as far out as we are. Some of the temperatures could've damaged the ship with our shields down." Sherwood sighed again and turned back to the viewscreen to look upon Tori. "I presume you heard all that. Well, captain, if you'd like to continue talking, I would love to continue our discussion. But I don't think a good stellar nova or whatever's going to happen is going to really play nice with our ships. Do you have a computer we can send rendevous coordinates to? It will only be a short hop away, I assure you. We'll allow you to make the first jump as well, as a gesture of good will. You wont be jumping into a trap." |
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Post by Tori Jacobs on Aug 19, 2013 2:57:10 GMT 1
"Your homeworld. What, if I may ask, is this homeworld? And where, roughly, is it in the galaxy?"
“Just under fifteen light years behind me,” answered Tori.
Their conversation was interrupted by the officer under Sherwood's command who interjected about the nebula that turned out to be a lot more than just a nebula. Tori listened intrigued before the Wolf Goddess' captain turned his attention back to her.
"I presume you heard all that. Well, captain, if you'd like to continue talking, I would love to continue our discussion. But I don't think a good stellar nova or whatever's going to happen is going to really play nice with our ships. Do you have a computer we can send rendevous coordinates to? It will only be a short hop away, I assure you. We'll allow you to make the first jump as well, as a gesture of good will. You wont be jumping into a trap."
“That we do. White Queen, prepare to receive coordinates.”
“Standing by.”
“See you in a flash, Captain.” |
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Post by Sherwood the Kinda-Great on Aug 19, 2013 5:06:45 GMT 1
Coordinates were beamed over to the Midori from the Wolf Goddess, courtesy of the conn officer. It plot a course right out of the bulk of the interference and out of the system, with the course jumping to what was assumed to be the larger star that had torn the smaller one apart, which wasn't only a little ways off.
"Prepare to go to hyperspace."
The ship's warning klaxon's switched to one of alert, and after the Midori made the jump, the Wolf Goddess accelerated out of the dust cloud and made the jump, taking mere moments to spool up the FTL before making the short hop to the new system.
Once out, Sherwood immediately patched in hails and coughed to break whatever weirdness lied in the air.
"Right then, now that the star remains are gone. I presume you'd like to arrange a meeting in person? I can have a small contingent of our fighters dock with your ship, with myself included." A data stream was pumped out from the ship as he spoke, containing the basic specifications of the F-302's currently situated in the port and starboard hangars.
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Post by Tori Jacobs on Aug 19, 2013 15:21:05 GMT 1
“Coordinates received,” notified the White Queen.
The screen went back to the view of space for the time being as Tori returned to her captain chair and looked over to her helmsman, “Double check it.” Tori wasn't about to take any chances as Lily punched in some commands and looked over the coordinates. “They're just a little bit a ways away,” explained Lily. “Just as they said.”
“Lock them in and take us out,” ordered Tori.
The ship powered up after Lily plotted in the course and they made their way out, phasing back into space now with a large star in their view as Tori sat up from her chair again to wait for the Wolf Goddess.
“I want scans of that star just to be on the safe side. Wouldn't hurt to have some data to take back home either.”
“Captain, the Wolf Goddess has just arrived and our hailing us.”
“Patch them through.”
"Right then, now that the star remains are gone. I presume you'd like to arrange a meeting in person? I can have a small contingent of our fighters dock with your ship, with myself included."
“Sounds like a plan to me. I'll have our Launch Bay ready to take you in. Jacobs out.”
The com connection was ended and then Tori started to head for the exit out of the Bridge.
“Lower our shields so they can come through. June, inform the Launch Bay that we're expecting a visitor. Shinta, you're with me.”
The Bridge officers acknowledged the orders as Tori and Shinta left the Bridge and went down to the Launch Bay, waiting by the Launch Bay's doors for the contingent. |
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Post by Sherwood the Kinda-Great on Aug 19, 2013 17:13:15 GMT 1
"You head the lady. All hands to action stations. Hangar, prepare a squadron for transport."Sherwood got out from his chair, an officer taking it and directing orders to the crew for finer moments. He left the bridge in a hurry, already running through various plans of action should things go well, or worse. As per standard crew behaviour, though, he made his way to the armory and procured his own M1D Garand, slinging it on his back along with his Colt Revolver. Many used to chide him for his usage of the primitive technology, it being over five-hundred years old from its creation. But he thought differently, never questioning the power of a solid round. Never could worry about being 'disabled' or 'turned off' like more modern weapons. He ventured on down to the hangar where three F-302's were being prepped for launch. A security officer approached the flightsuit-wearing captain, a frown on his face that seemed rather... fitting for the man. "Sir, I highly recommend you don't go over there. It's completely unknown to us what the hell they got there. You could be walking right into a trap.""That's why I expect you to get me the frak out of there if it is. And if you can't? Make them regret killing me." Sherwood tossed the officer a wry grin, then turned away and put his grey helmet on.  In quick succession, five F-302's rocketed out of the port hangar bay, going right through the Wolf Goddess's shields and towards the Midori. They were in standard V formation, two of the five flanking F-302's dropping back a bit to ensure they did not look like an attacking force rather than an envoy. As two of the fighters broke off to go under the belly, the other three continued in their formation around the Midori before returning to their own hangar. The docking ports came down, and they docked with it and retracted into the Federation-style vessel. The canopies opened once the pressure was equalized by the closing of the hatch, and out came a team of four humans, armed and ready, despite not taking up combat positions. Sherwood looked up the catawalks to see Tori and Shinta, to whom he nodded once in greeting. "I presume you're Tori."
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Post by Tori Jacobs on Aug 19, 2013 19:17:58 GMT 1
“Welcome aboard, Captain,” greeted Tori.
Tori and Shinta came down from the catwalk and approached the four armed men now present in their Launch Bay. So far so good, now all they had to do was keep things running smoothly and they would be finding out more about this new galaxy before much longer.
“This my Number One officer and Head Scientist, Commander Greenaway.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“I'm sure we all have plenty of questions for the other, so let's get the obvious ones out of the way. Where are you guys from?” |
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Post by Sherwood the Kinda-Great on Aug 19, 2013 21:40:31 GMT 1
'Pleasure to make your acquaintance." He responded, nodding to the lady.
Sherwood listened to them for a minute as they spoke, then told his armed escort to lay back a bit and to shoulder their weapons. This was a matter of diplomacy, not brute force.
'We're from the planet Earth, on the Orion arm of the galaxy." He removed a simple datapad from his pocket, held it out, and displayed a holographic image of the galaxy, rotating slowly before zooming into the Orion Arm, then the Sol system, then the planet Earth. No other stars were shown during the shift. A safety precaution in case of hostilities.
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Post by Tori Jacobs on Aug 19, 2013 21:52:51 GMT 1
Earth. The name was familiar to both Tori and Shinta. Many of the people who appeared on Genesis claimed to be from a place called earth, The Genius being among them. Only time and a look into their history would show if it's the same earth or a different one entirely. That was the problem with infinite realities, like looking for a needle in a haystack.
“Looks like we aren't the only humans in the galaxy. What do we need to do to get an audience with your superiors?” |
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Post by Sherwood the Kinda-Great on Aug 19, 2013 23:56:20 GMT 1
The captain frowned slightly at the notion, unused to doctrine for the concept of first contact. However, that did not render him useless to the situation at hand. With a few taps of the datapad, it changed from the image of Earth and made a quick jump to the Citadel, along with coordinates orbiting it's hub.
"Our place of meeting through the galaxy is here, what we like to call the Citadel. I've already taken the liberty of readying a datachip with basic information, docking procedures, and clearance codes, so long as you're escorted by the Wolf Goddess. I can take you there. I believe our buerocracy will adore new life that's human. But, to be honest, this 'first contact' isn't at all what I expected. Perhaps we can discuss this... over dinner? I feel that a more casual approach to this circumstance would be better for our topic. I'm sure simple dietary records can be transferred between ships so as to ascertain whether you folks can eat a good steak or not."
His hazel eyes glanced between the two, then tapped his earpiece.
"Wolf Goddess, this is Ludwig. We're green across the board here. Stand by action stations, we may be returning soon."
From outside, the three F-302's banked away from the Midori and took a training run approach on the hangar, landing smoothly inside andshutting their engines off as the hangar doors closed.
Sherwood suddenly had this weird feeling that he made some cultural faux pas in his casual behavior. But he brushed it aside in favor of confidence. Now was not the time to feel awkward and make even worse of a blunder.
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Post by Tori Jacobs on Aug 20, 2013 0:37:24 GMT 1
The Citadel. Well that simplified things. If it was the meeting place of the galaxy then it was safe to assume that other species met there as well, so the Midori would be able to cover more ground that way. Then Sherwood asked her out to dinner and she looked at him surprised.
“Um... Sure. I have a private dining room on board so that shouldn't be a problem.”
“Have her get something else. She'll just order it well done and ruin a perfectly good steak.”
Tori shot Shinta a glare and Shinta just remained as he was. |
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