1120-058: FSD Transition Spinward

After the excitement of the Hagavo system, the ship is heading onwards to a system with two worlds likely to provide supplies. They are both Dwarf Terrestrial worlds, but both have surface water and show signs of life in the atmosphere.

Meanwhile a new computer system is being installed and configured. The computer is named Kyyransk, and seems to be the equivalent of an Intellect Interface, a type of AI that sits on top of the Droyne data bases. The Mission Division are already fighting over access to Kyyransk, in the home that he will provide insight into these sectors of space.

We managed to have a talk with Dr Erman Nekuna, who is in charge of the configuration of Kyyransk, and he provided us some of his insights into what this will mean for the mission.

The most interesting information that seems to be immediately useful to us concerns the route ahead:

Kyyransk has been around for the last 300,000 years, and though he seems to have a few quirks caused by data corruption across his data stores, he still has a lot of information that he can provide to us.

It turns out that he has had access to a massive amount of astronomical data, which we have already begun feeding into our astrogation plots. Not only were there some very large arrays in the Hagavo system, it seems that the Tresskvuess sent back its own astronomical data, so we have some local information about the route that they took. We just don’t know how accurate, or up to date, it is.

So it seems that plotting a course is going to be easier than it has been. We now have stellar data out as far as part of VS-X sector, which is where our destination lies. A route all the way to the system at 1027 isn’t yet mapped, but we are in sight of our destination.

Starship Status

The Deepnight is holding up, for the most part. We had originally hoped that it would take 10 years to get to point VS-X, but we are already twelve years in. There are some doubts amongst the crew as to whether the ship can survive all the way back home, and there is already talk of taking a short cut through the Solomani Sphere, or even simply returning to the Confederation to finish there. Others are more optimistic.

Very few starships have made as many Jumps as the Deepnight has, especially without access to regular dockyard maintenance. The engineering teams have done a stellar job keeping everything running, but entropy has a way of creeping up on you.

Red Team Reports

The Red Team, led by Lt Jana Irekia, have been making use of information provided by Kyyransk to model the behaviour of the Bioships. There are possible two items of good news, which Jana told us during one of the Red Team briefing sessions:

Assuming Kyyransk can be trusted, the Bioships seem to have limited combat capability. He reported seeing combat between possibly rival ships, and their weaponry seems to be limited to relatively short range systems. They may have some missile-like capability, but the bulk of their direct fire weapons are limited to short or medium range. Unless a Bioship can surprise us at close range, I’m very confident in our ability to survive an engagement with even their large vessels with only minor damage at most.

Assuming Kyyrank can be trusted to have accurate information.

He has also reported that their activity seems to drop off markedly as we head Rimward, and that there are almost no signs of jump activity in the Voidshore Two region.

Finally…

Len Henga, who joined us under unusual circumstances, has announced that she is pregnant. She is due in seven months, and is expecting a boy. Both Len, and the father Sorven May, have said that they are planning to keep the child despite mission policy.

And, it seems to be catching. Dr Zurjar Sezinsi, one of the Mission Team leaders, has also admitted to a pregnancy once it stopped being possible to hide. She has refused to have a parental test, but there are three men who are possible contenders. She is also planning to keep the child, who is also expected to be a boy, due in three months.

That’s it for now. I hope to have more for you when we reach Voidshore Two.

1120-093: Voidshore Two

Entering the Voidshore Two sector brings us even closer to our goal. Our route takes us Rimward to Voidshore Seven, then Spinward to VS-X sector.

The route takes a long diversion around a relatively barren part of the central sector where there are few worlds with gas giants. Even then, it requires a stop off at Epsilon Anot 2113, which has no gas giants but does have an ice belt and a life bearing world with surface water oceans.

A possible short cut would be via Nono 1213, which would shave off several weeks. This system also has no gas giants, and no signs of ice belts. There are two worlds with surface water, but both have either a dense or primordial atmospheres, implying that they could be hot as well. Refuelling may be possible, but might be risky.

Whichever route is taken, a waypoint would seem to be a small cluster of star systems around 1535, which according to the Droyne records has a Kuiper belt suitable for refuelling and a couple of habitable worlds.

After this, the route takes us to Voidshore Seven sector, where there are possible signs of technological civilisations. Kyyransk says that the Tresskvuess found a primitive sophont culture there 300,000 years ago. This was right on the edge of where messages from the Tresskvuess ceased though, and Kyyransk seems to change his description of what was found there each time he is asked. Dr Nekuna thinks he is leaping to conclusions based on insufficient data, and can’t entirely be trusted.

Crew Talk

Once again, we interview some of the crew, asking them the three basic questions:

• Why did you join the mission?
• What did you hope to get out of it?
• What are the highlights so far?

Head of life sciences division, Dr Namaper, provides their own take on the mission.

• I’ve been in the Scout service, but even there, it’s rare to get to see actual new worlds. When I heard about the mission, I wanted to sign up immediately. There’s a whole galaxy to explore of worlds no humans have ever seen.
• Experience, knowledge, something to remember in my old age. I’m hoping to settle down and have something to bore my daughter’s kids about.
• Actually, it’s the microbial tubes we discovered on Ulebat IV back in Deepnight sector. Nothing impressive to most people, but the level of social complexity in what was apparently just bacteria is something we’ve never seen before. That was back in 1111.

Ooma joined us from Tenipal as a stowaway, and has been working with the Maintenance team:

• I didn’t have much choice to be honest. Life on Sanpa IV wasn’t great, and the ‘aliens’ aboard the Sex Thing seemed like they were a better option than starving to death, or being pulled into one of the gangs.
• A better life, where I could actually do something worthwhile.
• Life has been better, and there have been some awesome (and sometimes scary) things to see. But to be honest, the best thing was meeting Shinzaro, who has been so helpful in so many ways.

Jacob is one of our security team, keeping our scientists safe when they go down to unfriendly worlds.

• The mercenary business hadn’t gone as well as I’d planned. I joined the wrong group, and our leaders were boarding on incompetent which had led to several of us getting black listed. When the Deepnight Corporation said they were hiring for a deep space mission, it seemed like just the thing at just the right time.
• A steady job run by competent people. I’ve never been one for high society, so a small group of people to spend the next twenty years with seemed like a good idea.
• The Red Team excercises. They are an awful lot of fun, and really push your skills and thinking to the next level. Jana and Sir Vanaadi have done a great job.

And Finally…

I guess congratulations are in order to Lav Anistai who just announced the she is also pregnant. Much to the shock of the father, Dr Erman Nekuna. He has, shall we say, a bit of a reputation. Will this get him to settle down?

Also, is there something in the water? The rumour is that several crew members have changed their nocturnal activities due to worry that the contraceptives everyone was given have stopped working.