The Secrets' Crusade
- Thread starter Snowfire
- Start date
- Original Sci-Fi
So how this quest doing
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
I have about a third of the next update finished, and will be working on it more tonight and tomorrow. If all goes well, that will be enough to get it finished and out to yourselves. The long silence was due to real-life finals and other end-of-year coursework blended with serious trouble focusing due to COVID. The former has been resolved, and that makes the latter something I can handle well enough to focus on writing again.
The Lonely Star
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
There was no appreciable delay. One moment you were at the edge of Sol's Stellar Exclusion Zone, the next you were somewhere over fifty thousand light-years distant. Half the galaxy in an instant. A high, gentle sound trailed away into nothing as power flow to the drive core was cut and stealth systems came online. Scientists and writers of old had sometimes said that there was no such thing as stealth in space. Even the best ideas for a 'cloaking device' usually relied on breaking the laws of physics somehow. But those people had never heard of the Secrets.
"Stealth systems are fully synchronised." Vega reported, and if her tone was that of one a little distracted, none could fault her. The presence of a drive field had been thought impossible to hide, but Trailblazer had found a way. As with most impossible things humanity had done, the solution required Practice. As had become less common, however, it also needed Potentials. Two of them. Vega and Elil had been ready since long before the Adamant reached safe jump distance. Now, they went to work.
Emitter fields swept the space around you of waste energy, pulling it back into the Adamant for reuse. Reverse-engineered Shiplord stealth plating recovered from the Tombstone platforms drank in incoming light and cosmic radiation. And subtle, subtle manipulation twisted the fabric of reality around you, smoothing away even the faintest trace of a drive field. This was a constant process, and one that neither Vega nor Elil would be able to abandon until you were safely in orbit around your target. At least you'd picked a system where that target should be obvious.
"Passive sensors." Jane ordered. "System display. Let's see what we've got."
A holoimage bloomed at the open centre of the bridge, and despite the information you'd had to go on, your eyes widened. A perfect, immaterial sphere had been wrapped around the entire star system, and there was precious little to view beyond it but blurs. Yet even as you watched, two ships flickered out of FTL transit close to the shell of lensing force. Yet there was something below that, too. Like the Soulbreakers, yet…not. The defences that Tahkel had warned you about, then. And the ones that they'd said would be up to you to bypass. Passive sensors could identify three stations built through the globe, spaced at perfect intervals in the sphere.
"Contacts, ma'am," Jozef called from Sensors, and two ships flickered out of FTL well within weapons range of one of the stations. No human had ever seen Shiplord civilian craft, and you could not deny that the gentle curves of the two vessels held their own subtle beauty. The approached the station ahead of them, its mass dwarfing their hulls, and something shifted in the shield around the system as they did so. Ripples spread out from the station, and you felt the shield thicken ever so subtly around it.
:Sidra, check my math?: You sent to your partnered intelligence. :That thickening, spread out as far as it is, that's enough for a hole in the field, isn't it.: There was a moment's silence, then a swift reply.
:Yes,: they agreed, and you felt the idea of their nodding swiftly. :Which means that station isn't removing the field inside it; it's just manipulating where it is. That seems important, Mandy.:
:Agreed.: You sent. "The field around the system is thickening around the station those ships are approaching," you said. "It's not removing the field, just spreading it out around it. If that's possible, then it might be our way in."
"Jozef?" Jane asked, attention focusing on the man behind the sensor station.
"It's so small that the passives can barely see it, Captain," he replied calmly, dark fingers moving quickly across his panel. "But yes, it's there. Damned odd, if you ask me."
"What do you mean?" You and Jane spoke the question together.
"Well," he paused, gathering his thoughts. "The Shiplords, they've always seemed so in control of everything they do. Even a slight limitation like this, that's different for them."
"I'd like to think that they weren't in control a few months past, Lieutenant," you noted with some amusement, drawing a small ripple of laughter from the deck. "But I do see your point. This isn't like them. Mary?" Your friend was buried at least three layers deep in virtual panels, but as you spoke she swept a section to one side, revealing her face.
"Yes, Mandy?" She asked expectantly, one eye still on a flickering series of steadily altering equations.
"The ring stations, they're manipulating the field, not removing it," you stopped as your friend nodded once, her mouth already moving to reply.
"I'm still working with the readback, but this isn't just a physical effect. There are layers and layers to it, and some of them reach into places that our sensors were never designed to look. I don't think we could track all of them even with active scanning. But it's one hell of a barrier. Disruptive to light flow, but," she flicked a hand, and the holo of the system shifted. The bubble split apart into endless, overlapping patterns, woven through each other so deeply it was hard to tell which was which where they met.
"Each layer feeds into the next, like a massive crystal," Mary explained, her voice gaining strength as a few of the pages around her resolved into something you thought you could understand. "It looks like it has all the weaknesses that come with that sort of strength, but looking at it now I don't think it was ever designed to keep things out. Just stop anyone from seeing it, and make it incredibly obvious if someone tried to get in. If one part of the shell is damaged, the entire structure resonates in response."
"Then why place the onus of getting in on me?" You knew you sounded confused, but you didn't much care. "This is more the arena of a Harmonial."
"Name me one Harmonial who can see as deeply as you whilst remaining properly conscious," Mary pointed out gently. "Vega and those like her are incredibly skilled, but so much of that comes from who they are. You learnt most of this the hard way, inasmuch as Practice lets you." And you'd come out of the Third Battle of Sol innately changed, in a way that the Uninvolved had seen as significant enough to reach out after billions of years of collective silence. But she wasn't going to just say that.
"That's," you sighed heavily, "that's true, Mary. But even so, something like this? I'm not sure," you stopped as you realised that if you continued, your next words would be a lie. Even as you tried to deny it, some part of your mind, separated from the emotions, was already trying to work out a way to make it happen. It was like a crystal, yes, but it was also very obviously not exactly the same.
The ability to shift the structure was enough to tell you that. Shaping versus modification, then. Taken like that, the number of options decreased sharply. And then – you caught yourself short of the full analysis, but the look on Mary's face as you glanced across at her told you all you needed to know.
"Alright," you conceded, before she could capitalise. "So there might be something to it, after all."
Reading the Veil: 69
More ships came and went over the days that followed, and each time they did your understanding of the structure the Shiplords had cast around an entire star system grew. Yet despite their presence being invaluable to your continuing efforts, those ships left their own set of questions that none of you could answer. Only one of them had been a warship; analysis of passive sensor readbacks had pegged it as an FTL capable escort accompanying one of the larger, still presumed civilian, vessels to arrive. All of which did nothing to explain why they were coming here.
Not that you were about to complain. You knew it was driving the ship's Intelligence section up the wall, but you had your own questions to answer, and each transit gave you more precious data to work towards one. There was the obvious lensing effect that scrambled electromagnetic sensors of all stripes, but then there was another, far more complex effect that interfered with lagless on a level no one on the Adamant had ever seen before. Yet even that paled in comparison to the structure of the field itself. Fortunately for your mission, bypassing it didn't require understanding. Mary and the rest of the Adamant's relevant specialists could have spent years trying to decipher it were that the case.
Despite how it bridged the gap between what you knew to be reality and where the Uninvolved existed, Mary's initial analysis still held. It was a quasi-crystalline structure, self-reinforcing across seemingly endless layers and impeccably designed to serve its purpose as a tripwire. Yet for all of that, the Shiplords had included a way to open holes in it, without setting those alarms off. The exact process was utterly beyond your ability to describe, but you didn't need to describe it to know it was possible. And in the end, that was most of what Practice truly needed to replicate something: knowing that it was possible.
"There's still so much we can't decipher," Mary explained for what must feel like the millionth time, the fifth day since your arrival at the edge of the system. The Adamant had been refitted with a highly functional conference room, and the full command staff was here today, listening intently.
"Most of it is topology now, however, and my teams and I are confident that we've isolated the trigger points in the structure. Everything else is just more tripwires, built for beings like the Uninvolved, or concentrated intrusions like Project Insight."
"Do you think there's anything more to find?" Jane asked from beside you. The FSN officer had never been a specialist in scientific fields, especially not ones this complex. But she'd never been unintelligent, either, and dogged persistence had made up for relative inexperience.
"All but certainly," Mary replied. "But we've hit the limit of observable data with passive sensors and," she sighed, "we don't have time to properly analyse everything we have from just the passive sensors. Insight put the War Fleet arrival at Sol a month out as of the last Thoughtcast before we left. We've used up a sixth of that time now, and we're not even into the system yet."
"With that said," you added, not letting the worried hush linger, "Sidra and I feel now feel confident that we can open an aperture in their shield without it being noticed. I won't say either of us understand the process, but we don't really need to. And Mary's right about the time restrictions we're working on. I know that Tahkel said that we wouldn't be able to return before the War Fleet got here, but the least we can do is try."
"You're sure, Mandy?" Vega asked from her own place. The Harmonial was in a permanent half-trance for the moment, keeping the Adamant safely hidden from the sensor coverage that wreathed the system.
"Waiting for another ship isn't going to give me anything that I don't already have," you shrugged. "The last one was close enough that we're lucky I got anything to work with."
"So if we want to go," Jane said, glancing up at the holo of the star system, "then we go now?"
"Yes." Anything more would have been wasteful. "We're at the point where we either try, or we don't. And we can't not try. This is too important."
"Today, then?" Your XO asked, and you nodded.
"The only purpose we serve by waiting is that of our enemy," you smiled to soften the blow that statement could have been. "I think it's time something served our purpose instead."
"I'll pass the orders to bring us in, then," Jane rose, her expression steadfast – yet still containing a hint of uncertainty. "If that is all?" She asked.
"It is," you said thankfully. You'd been worried that she might have wanted more time. Trailblazer had trained her to move slowly, if steadily, and this was anything but. Five days to prepare to crack a shield that had held longer than humanity could be said to even exist. That wasn't without its weight, and it was one you felt very keenly.
"Very well," she turned from the table, flicking the terminal closed from pure reflex, and made for the doors back to the Adamant's bridge. "It shouldn't take us more than a few hours." Time enough to prepare, thank goodness.
Even with everything humanity had discovered, space was still unalterably vast. Reaching the point that you'd chosen for your intrusion would take several hours, even with your stealth systems hiding any trace of your drive field. Which raised another, daily, question.
"How are you and Elil holding together, Vega?" You asked, and the ice-blonde Harmonial chuckled.
"No better nor worse than last you asked, Mandy," she smiled, yet her brown eyes remained hazy. "Trailblazer's systems are unlike anything I'd ever seen, but they were well designed. It's nothing we haven't done before. Almost comfy, really. And it gives us plenty of time to talk with Kagiso."
"Any brilliant insights?" You asked. Vega had a way of finding those and Kagiso, her Unison Intelligence, was masterfully skilled in drawing them out. Yet this challenge had proven beyond even them, only yielding slightly to Insight Focused, and fully to just you. You hoped.
"I'm afraid not," she said, shaking her head amiably. "At least, nothing we can express properly. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing they've made, but anything more is too complex to describe." She paused, then. "Sorry, Mandy."
"It's quite alright," you told her, "you're doing far more right now that I am. Just keep it up."
"Of course," her lips twitched, then she rose more directly from her chair, straight into the air, and floated away towards the door Jane had taken. That left just Mary…and Kalilah. Your relationship with the First Awoken had changed enormously during the Third Battle of Sol, yet even in flux, she remained a steadfast guardian. She felt your attention land on her, and the faintest of smiles traced her mouth.
"I will be ready," she told you simply, then, too, took her leave. And then there was only Mary.
"You're sure about this, Mary?" You asked quietly, softly, the tone only a few ever heard.
"We don't have time for me to be sure," she replied with a heavy sigh. "All we can do is the best we can do, and I know my teams have done that. Iris helped a lot, too. I'll be with her."
"Good." Your daughter's avatar had been absent from the meeting, but you knew she'd listened in. Connected to the systems as she was, it was hard not to in public spaces. "That's good. Wish me luck?"
"As if you need it," Mary laughed, yet it never reached her green eyes. Then her tone steadied. "Good luck, Mandy."
It took just under three hours for the Adamant to reach the coordinates you'd chosen for the attempt. It wasn't surprising. You'd isolated the area several days prior, and Jane had been sure to keep the Adamant close enough to it whilst you observed. To the eye, it looked no different than any other point in space. In reality, it was a point as far from the three transit stations as the shell allowed. Confident you might be, and indeed you were. But you would not be needlessly careless, not with so much on the line.
The Adamant halted exactly on the point you'd designated, and the ship tilted until you were standing 'facing' the shield. It would have no effect on the ship's ability to move, and it might help you. Perspective could matter a great deal.
"We're ready, Commodore," Jane reported from the seat beside you. "The FTL drive is fully charged and we have our escape coordinates locked in. If we start to see a reaction, Iris will jump us out."
"Thank you, Captain," you nodded. You were putting a lot of weight on your daughter for this, but she'd have protested had you tried to give it to anyone else. And despite all your advantages, she still thought faster than any member of the crew.
You almost asked for another system check, despite that. Yet it wouldn't have helped, and would have been exactly what you couldn't afford: stalling. Despite everything, you were worried that you might have missed something. But you couldn't know if you didn't try.
:And if we did miss anything,: Sidra sent, their voice a balm to your nerves, :we'll be gone before they can do more than notice the attempt.:
:I know,: you responded, with a little mental sigh. :You ready?:
:Of course.:
You closed your eyes, screening out the soft sounds of interface panels, tones, voices, even breathing. You withdrew from the world around your body, falling back into the endless beauty of your soul. Down and down you went, the motions well practiced to you now, seeking that same place where power surged into you through your Focus. The last, greatest gift, from the Dragons to humanity. Now it just had to work.
There was a moment like a breath, or the silence before the thunderclap, and then you launched yourself out from the Adamant. Green-gold you became, pouring through the hull of Inviolate Matter and reaching out to trace the shield with phantom fingers. You pressed against it gently, testing for any points of weakness that might reveal a trap in its construction. Then, when none were to be found, you traced a ring of light into its structure. As you'd hoped, and guessed, it offered no resistance.
The Shiplords opened holes in this structure by shifting it around, but to do so they also had to give the opening its own structure. Without doing so, the entire shield would be at risk of failing whenever it was opened. Given how steady traffic back and forth appeared to be, that would have been an all too lethal vulnerability. Yet for you, their method of construction was a blessing. They must have never imagined that anyone would be able to access the structure without a base station. In a world without Practice, they would have certainly been correct. But this wasn't that world, and for you, that left their perfect security even more vulnerable.
:We're not in yet,: Sidra pointed out, their voice strained as more and more energy flooded out through you into the shield. :And this is taking a lot to do. Not worried about running out, but if the interaction is too energetic, Vega won't be able to hide it.:
They were right, but you were past the point of being able to stop. Not that they'd meant it so; you could tell. It was just a warning, making sure you were aware of what the process was taking from you. And it was energy intensive, in a way you'd never felt before. Pulling on you, like some enormous weight. But you weren't trying to open the entire shield. Just move a little of it around.
Opening a Way: 100
Bonus to all rolls involving the system shields.
A limb-analogue moved between you and the shield, more pressing down around the ring you'd made to muffle any ripple of energy. And a point at its very centre flickered, twisted, and then pulled back to reveal empty space. Back aboard the Adamant, you knew, sensors focused and waited for even the slightest reaction. But that wasn't important right now. You dug deeper, the limb of green-gold light spreading the gap before you out further and further. It had to reach the edge of the ring. The Adamant wouldn't be able to make it through otherwise.
It yielded slowly, steadily, and all the while people watched. Part of you wondered how long this system had stood alone, but for the presence of the Shiplords. How many millennia of relative solitude were you breaking in these moments? For a good cause, of course, but the thought lingered.
"Aperture clearance is stable, Captain," you barely heard the report from Sensors through the haze of your focus, yet you felt the response to it. Jane rapped out a set of orders, and the Adamant sprung into motion again. You'd come in very close before making your attempt, and the misty reality of your extended body soaked through the ship as it descended into the door you'd opened.
More calls came from other sections, some monitoring the shell, others already reaching out through the ring to what lay within. And despite your constant awareness, it was almost a surprise when the stern of the ship passed through the hole in the shield. You worked quickly then, as the Adamant hovered just inside the shield, letting the layers you'd thickened stretch back out to seal you in. None of you like this, but leaving a hole in the shield – if it was even possible – would be all too obvious to a stray sensor sweep. Yet for now, you were through. And you were back in your body again.
"That looked difficult," Jane noted as the Adamant's drive hummed back to full power, shaping a course for the single world that still remained in the system.
"It was," you said, a little breathlessly. "But I think, next time, it might be easier. It's…not just one layer, and I think I can use some of them to anchor the rest now that I've been inside the process." You shook your head. "Theories for later. What have we got?"
"Just the one planet," Lieutenant Calahan reported, his voice oddly hushed. "Just the planet, ma'am. If we don't count the star, there's nothing else here. Whatever happened here, the Shiplords were thorough."
"Then why did they leave even the single world?" You mused, reaching forward to focus your own imaging on the planet. You blinked once, then twice, then: "Mary, am I reading these right?"
"If you mean how that world is a perfect sphere," she asked from her own station behind you. "Then yes. And I mean perfect. Down to the micron ."
"That isn't how planets work," you couldn't stop yourself from replying.
"No," she agreed. "It isn't. Iris?"
"The measurements are accurate," your daughter said through the bridge speakers. "I've triple-checked them and run every diagnostic I can think of on the sensors to be sure. And it's not just a perfect sphere, it's utterly smooth, too. We'd need to send down teams to examine it."
"There might be a problem with that," Jane noted sourly. "There's a Shiplord presence down there. Nothing hidden, but why would they need to hide it? They've sealed off the entire star system."
"What does it look like?" You asked sharply. "Mining? Research?"
"No," you felt the headshake in Mary's voice. "It looks, Mandy, it looks civilian. There're no military signatures, and the shuttles going back and forth from the craft in orbit definitely don't have military drives."
"Why on earth would the Shiplords go to all this trouble for a civilian installation?" You exclaimed.
"I have no idea," she chuckled, "I suppose that's what we're here to find out?"
"I'd rather not go bearding the lion in its own den without at least some context," you reproved. "Anything else down there?"
"Something else around it, certainly," Iris piped up again. No surprise that she got there first. "There's a security network built across the entire star system. It's…relatively obvious really, but I don't think it was ever intended to hide. If we could get into a security node, we might be able to find out what this place is for. At the very least, they must keep some sort of log for the ships that come here."
"And there's something else, too," Lieutenant Calahan swept the image he'd been working on out to the main display, filling it with the sphere of the planet. "There's something down there, beneath the surface. I'm not sure how we'd even begin to gain access without being noticed, but it doesn't look Shiplord. The entire planet's dead except for their presence, but dead doesn't mean gone. Hard storage can last for millennia without breaking down according to the G6. And this place," he shook his head. "I don't know, ma'am. But it feels almost like a museum."
"It would be safer than trying to waltz into a Shiplord installation, civilian or not," Mary said darkly, though not without reason. She knew about the systems that Trailblazer had been able to provide with Project Insight's help. A skin of nanomaterial built from observation and what relevant files had were salvageable after the Second Battle of Sol. It had never been tested, but there was a reason you'd been furnished with a full complement of the things.
"We're going to have to go after all of these in time," you sighed. "The real question is which do we go after first?" There were enough specialists aboard to work on all three, but where you started would be important.
Any planetside infiltration would require Vega's presence – fortunately that would be possible once your drive was offline. But would it be safe to start with such blatant action? You had time to decide, the transit to the grey marble of a world would take a full day given that none of you wanted to risk a jump inside the shield. But once you were in orbit, you'd need to have a plan of action.
What was it going to be?
Initial scans have revealed three points of interest in the system. You will by necessity investigate all of these, unless your presence is discovered at some point. To reduce time in-system, this work shall be executed in parallel, however your presence can only be spread so far.
Please rank the following options from 1 to 3 with 1 being the highest. Amanda will focus on that option first, then work down. New developments will allow changes to your priorities. Write-ins are, as always, welcome, however they will require my approval. Tag me with any you come up with.
[] Civilians? – There appears to be a non-military Shiplord installation on the surface of the world, the only part of it that is not a perfectly smooth marble. You have technology that should allow you to blend in, and Trailblazer systems will allow you to approach undetected. Go, and see what might be seen. If nothing else, interaction with Shiplord civilians promises to be fascinating.
[] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
"Stealth systems are fully synchronised." Vega reported, and if her tone was that of one a little distracted, none could fault her. The presence of a drive field had been thought impossible to hide, but Trailblazer had found a way. As with most impossible things humanity had done, the solution required Practice. As had become less common, however, it also needed Potentials. Two of them. Vega and Elil had been ready since long before the Adamant reached safe jump distance. Now, they went to work.
Emitter fields swept the space around you of waste energy, pulling it back into the Adamant for reuse. Reverse-engineered Shiplord stealth plating recovered from the Tombstone platforms drank in incoming light and cosmic radiation. And subtle, subtle manipulation twisted the fabric of reality around you, smoothing away even the faintest trace of a drive field. This was a constant process, and one that neither Vega nor Elil would be able to abandon until you were safely in orbit around your target. At least you'd picked a system where that target should be obvious.
"Passive sensors." Jane ordered. "System display. Let's see what we've got."
A holoimage bloomed at the open centre of the bridge, and despite the information you'd had to go on, your eyes widened. A perfect, immaterial sphere had been wrapped around the entire star system, and there was precious little to view beyond it but blurs. Yet even as you watched, two ships flickered out of FTL transit close to the shell of lensing force. Yet there was something below that, too. Like the Soulbreakers, yet…not. The defences that Tahkel had warned you about, then. And the ones that they'd said would be up to you to bypass. Passive sensors could identify three stations built through the globe, spaced at perfect intervals in the sphere.
"Contacts, ma'am," Jozef called from Sensors, and two ships flickered out of FTL well within weapons range of one of the stations. No human had ever seen Shiplord civilian craft, and you could not deny that the gentle curves of the two vessels held their own subtle beauty. The approached the station ahead of them, its mass dwarfing their hulls, and something shifted in the shield around the system as they did so. Ripples spread out from the station, and you felt the shield thicken ever so subtly around it.
:Sidra, check my math?: You sent to your partnered intelligence. :That thickening, spread out as far as it is, that's enough for a hole in the field, isn't it.: There was a moment's silence, then a swift reply.
:Yes,: they agreed, and you felt the idea of their nodding swiftly. :Which means that station isn't removing the field inside it; it's just manipulating where it is. That seems important, Mandy.:
:Agreed.: You sent. "The field around the system is thickening around the station those ships are approaching," you said. "It's not removing the field, just spreading it out around it. If that's possible, then it might be our way in."
"Jozef?" Jane asked, attention focusing on the man behind the sensor station.
"It's so small that the passives can barely see it, Captain," he replied calmly, dark fingers moving quickly across his panel. "But yes, it's there. Damned odd, if you ask me."
"What do you mean?" You and Jane spoke the question together.
"Well," he paused, gathering his thoughts. "The Shiplords, they've always seemed so in control of everything they do. Even a slight limitation like this, that's different for them."
"I'd like to think that they weren't in control a few months past, Lieutenant," you noted with some amusement, drawing a small ripple of laughter from the deck. "But I do see your point. This isn't like them. Mary?" Your friend was buried at least three layers deep in virtual panels, but as you spoke she swept a section to one side, revealing her face.
"Yes, Mandy?" She asked expectantly, one eye still on a flickering series of steadily altering equations.
"The ring stations, they're manipulating the field, not removing it," you stopped as your friend nodded once, her mouth already moving to reply.
"I'm still working with the readback, but this isn't just a physical effect. There are layers and layers to it, and some of them reach into places that our sensors were never designed to look. I don't think we could track all of them even with active scanning. But it's one hell of a barrier. Disruptive to light flow, but," she flicked a hand, and the holo of the system shifted. The bubble split apart into endless, overlapping patterns, woven through each other so deeply it was hard to tell which was which where they met.
"Each layer feeds into the next, like a massive crystal," Mary explained, her voice gaining strength as a few of the pages around her resolved into something you thought you could understand. "It looks like it has all the weaknesses that come with that sort of strength, but looking at it now I don't think it was ever designed to keep things out. Just stop anyone from seeing it, and make it incredibly obvious if someone tried to get in. If one part of the shell is damaged, the entire structure resonates in response."
"Then why place the onus of getting in on me?" You knew you sounded confused, but you didn't much care. "This is more the arena of a Harmonial."
"Name me one Harmonial who can see as deeply as you whilst remaining properly conscious," Mary pointed out gently. "Vega and those like her are incredibly skilled, but so much of that comes from who they are. You learnt most of this the hard way, inasmuch as Practice lets you." And you'd come out of the Third Battle of Sol innately changed, in a way that the Uninvolved had seen as significant enough to reach out after billions of years of collective silence. But she wasn't going to just say that.
"That's," you sighed heavily, "that's true, Mary. But even so, something like this? I'm not sure," you stopped as you realised that if you continued, your next words would be a lie. Even as you tried to deny it, some part of your mind, separated from the emotions, was already trying to work out a way to make it happen. It was like a crystal, yes, but it was also very obviously not exactly the same.
The ability to shift the structure was enough to tell you that. Shaping versus modification, then. Taken like that, the number of options decreased sharply. And then – you caught yourself short of the full analysis, but the look on Mary's face as you glanced across at her told you all you needed to know.
"Alright," you conceded, before she could capitalise. "So there might be something to it, after all."
Reading the Veil: 69
More ships came and went over the days that followed, and each time they did your understanding of the structure the Shiplords had cast around an entire star system grew. Yet despite their presence being invaluable to your continuing efforts, those ships left their own set of questions that none of you could answer. Only one of them had been a warship; analysis of passive sensor readbacks had pegged it as an FTL capable escort accompanying one of the larger, still presumed civilian, vessels to arrive. All of which did nothing to explain why they were coming here.
Not that you were about to complain. You knew it was driving the ship's Intelligence section up the wall, but you had your own questions to answer, and each transit gave you more precious data to work towards one. There was the obvious lensing effect that scrambled electromagnetic sensors of all stripes, but then there was another, far more complex effect that interfered with lagless on a level no one on the Adamant had ever seen before. Yet even that paled in comparison to the structure of the field itself. Fortunately for your mission, bypassing it didn't require understanding. Mary and the rest of the Adamant's relevant specialists could have spent years trying to decipher it were that the case.
Despite how it bridged the gap between what you knew to be reality and where the Uninvolved existed, Mary's initial analysis still held. It was a quasi-crystalline structure, self-reinforcing across seemingly endless layers and impeccably designed to serve its purpose as a tripwire. Yet for all of that, the Shiplords had included a way to open holes in it, without setting those alarms off. The exact process was utterly beyond your ability to describe, but you didn't need to describe it to know it was possible. And in the end, that was most of what Practice truly needed to replicate something: knowing that it was possible.
"There's still so much we can't decipher," Mary explained for what must feel like the millionth time, the fifth day since your arrival at the edge of the system. The Adamant had been refitted with a highly functional conference room, and the full command staff was here today, listening intently.
"Most of it is topology now, however, and my teams and I are confident that we've isolated the trigger points in the structure. Everything else is just more tripwires, built for beings like the Uninvolved, or concentrated intrusions like Project Insight."
"Do you think there's anything more to find?" Jane asked from beside you. The FSN officer had never been a specialist in scientific fields, especially not ones this complex. But she'd never been unintelligent, either, and dogged persistence had made up for relative inexperience.
"All but certainly," Mary replied. "But we've hit the limit of observable data with passive sensors and," she sighed, "we don't have time to properly analyse everything we have from just the passive sensors. Insight put the War Fleet arrival at Sol a month out as of the last Thoughtcast before we left. We've used up a sixth of that time now, and we're not even into the system yet."
"With that said," you added, not letting the worried hush linger, "Sidra and I feel now feel confident that we can open an aperture in their shield without it being noticed. I won't say either of us understand the process, but we don't really need to. And Mary's right about the time restrictions we're working on. I know that Tahkel said that we wouldn't be able to return before the War Fleet got here, but the least we can do is try."
"You're sure, Mandy?" Vega asked from her own place. The Harmonial was in a permanent half-trance for the moment, keeping the Adamant safely hidden from the sensor coverage that wreathed the system.
"Waiting for another ship isn't going to give me anything that I don't already have," you shrugged. "The last one was close enough that we're lucky I got anything to work with."
"So if we want to go," Jane said, glancing up at the holo of the star system, "then we go now?"
"Yes." Anything more would have been wasteful. "We're at the point where we either try, or we don't. And we can't not try. This is too important."
"Today, then?" Your XO asked, and you nodded.
"The only purpose we serve by waiting is that of our enemy," you smiled to soften the blow that statement could have been. "I think it's time something served our purpose instead."
"I'll pass the orders to bring us in, then," Jane rose, her expression steadfast – yet still containing a hint of uncertainty. "If that is all?" She asked.
"It is," you said thankfully. You'd been worried that she might have wanted more time. Trailblazer had trained her to move slowly, if steadily, and this was anything but. Five days to prepare to crack a shield that had held longer than humanity could be said to even exist. That wasn't without its weight, and it was one you felt very keenly.
"Very well," she turned from the table, flicking the terminal closed from pure reflex, and made for the doors back to the Adamant's bridge. "It shouldn't take us more than a few hours." Time enough to prepare, thank goodness.
Even with everything humanity had discovered, space was still unalterably vast. Reaching the point that you'd chosen for your intrusion would take several hours, even with your stealth systems hiding any trace of your drive field. Which raised another, daily, question.
"How are you and Elil holding together, Vega?" You asked, and the ice-blonde Harmonial chuckled.
"No better nor worse than last you asked, Mandy," she smiled, yet her brown eyes remained hazy. "Trailblazer's systems are unlike anything I'd ever seen, but they were well designed. It's nothing we haven't done before. Almost comfy, really. And it gives us plenty of time to talk with Kagiso."
"Any brilliant insights?" You asked. Vega had a way of finding those and Kagiso, her Unison Intelligence, was masterfully skilled in drawing them out. Yet this challenge had proven beyond even them, only yielding slightly to Insight Focused, and fully to just you. You hoped.
"I'm afraid not," she said, shaking her head amiably. "At least, nothing we can express properly. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing they've made, but anything more is too complex to describe." She paused, then. "Sorry, Mandy."
"It's quite alright," you told her, "you're doing far more right now that I am. Just keep it up."
"Of course," her lips twitched, then she rose more directly from her chair, straight into the air, and floated away towards the door Jane had taken. That left just Mary…and Kalilah. Your relationship with the First Awoken had changed enormously during the Third Battle of Sol, yet even in flux, she remained a steadfast guardian. She felt your attention land on her, and the faintest of smiles traced her mouth.
"I will be ready," she told you simply, then, too, took her leave. And then there was only Mary.
"You're sure about this, Mary?" You asked quietly, softly, the tone only a few ever heard.
"We don't have time for me to be sure," she replied with a heavy sigh. "All we can do is the best we can do, and I know my teams have done that. Iris helped a lot, too. I'll be with her."
"Good." Your daughter's avatar had been absent from the meeting, but you knew she'd listened in. Connected to the systems as she was, it was hard not to in public spaces. "That's good. Wish me luck?"
"As if you need it," Mary laughed, yet it never reached her green eyes. Then her tone steadied. "Good luck, Mandy."
The Adamant halted exactly on the point you'd designated, and the ship tilted until you were standing 'facing' the shield. It would have no effect on the ship's ability to move, and it might help you. Perspective could matter a great deal.
"We're ready, Commodore," Jane reported from the seat beside you. "The FTL drive is fully charged and we have our escape coordinates locked in. If we start to see a reaction, Iris will jump us out."
"Thank you, Captain," you nodded. You were putting a lot of weight on your daughter for this, but she'd have protested had you tried to give it to anyone else. And despite all your advantages, she still thought faster than any member of the crew.
You almost asked for another system check, despite that. Yet it wouldn't have helped, and would have been exactly what you couldn't afford: stalling. Despite everything, you were worried that you might have missed something. But you couldn't know if you didn't try.
:And if we did miss anything,: Sidra sent, their voice a balm to your nerves, :we'll be gone before they can do more than notice the attempt.:
:I know,: you responded, with a little mental sigh. :You ready?:
:Of course.:
You closed your eyes, screening out the soft sounds of interface panels, tones, voices, even breathing. You withdrew from the world around your body, falling back into the endless beauty of your soul. Down and down you went, the motions well practiced to you now, seeking that same place where power surged into you through your Focus. The last, greatest gift, from the Dragons to humanity. Now it just had to work.
There was a moment like a breath, or the silence before the thunderclap, and then you launched yourself out from the Adamant. Green-gold you became, pouring through the hull of Inviolate Matter and reaching out to trace the shield with phantom fingers. You pressed against it gently, testing for any points of weakness that might reveal a trap in its construction. Then, when none were to be found, you traced a ring of light into its structure. As you'd hoped, and guessed, it offered no resistance.
The Shiplords opened holes in this structure by shifting it around, but to do so they also had to give the opening its own structure. Without doing so, the entire shield would be at risk of failing whenever it was opened. Given how steady traffic back and forth appeared to be, that would have been an all too lethal vulnerability. Yet for you, their method of construction was a blessing. They must have never imagined that anyone would be able to access the structure without a base station. In a world without Practice, they would have certainly been correct. But this wasn't that world, and for you, that left their perfect security even more vulnerable.
:We're not in yet,: Sidra pointed out, their voice strained as more and more energy flooded out through you into the shield. :And this is taking a lot to do. Not worried about running out, but if the interaction is too energetic, Vega won't be able to hide it.:
They were right, but you were past the point of being able to stop. Not that they'd meant it so; you could tell. It was just a warning, making sure you were aware of what the process was taking from you. And it was energy intensive, in a way you'd never felt before. Pulling on you, like some enormous weight. But you weren't trying to open the entire shield. Just move a little of it around.
Opening a Way: 100
Bonus to all rolls involving the system shields.
A limb-analogue moved between you and the shield, more pressing down around the ring you'd made to muffle any ripple of energy. And a point at its very centre flickered, twisted, and then pulled back to reveal empty space. Back aboard the Adamant, you knew, sensors focused and waited for even the slightest reaction. But that wasn't important right now. You dug deeper, the limb of green-gold light spreading the gap before you out further and further. It had to reach the edge of the ring. The Adamant wouldn't be able to make it through otherwise.
It yielded slowly, steadily, and all the while people watched. Part of you wondered how long this system had stood alone, but for the presence of the Shiplords. How many millennia of relative solitude were you breaking in these moments? For a good cause, of course, but the thought lingered.
"Aperture clearance is stable, Captain," you barely heard the report from Sensors through the haze of your focus, yet you felt the response to it. Jane rapped out a set of orders, and the Adamant sprung into motion again. You'd come in very close before making your attempt, and the misty reality of your extended body soaked through the ship as it descended into the door you'd opened.
More calls came from other sections, some monitoring the shell, others already reaching out through the ring to what lay within. And despite your constant awareness, it was almost a surprise when the stern of the ship passed through the hole in the shield. You worked quickly then, as the Adamant hovered just inside the shield, letting the layers you'd thickened stretch back out to seal you in. None of you like this, but leaving a hole in the shield – if it was even possible – would be all too obvious to a stray sensor sweep. Yet for now, you were through. And you were back in your body again.
"That looked difficult," Jane noted as the Adamant's drive hummed back to full power, shaping a course for the single world that still remained in the system.
"It was," you said, a little breathlessly. "But I think, next time, it might be easier. It's…not just one layer, and I think I can use some of them to anchor the rest now that I've been inside the process." You shook your head. "Theories for later. What have we got?"
"Just the one planet," Lieutenant Calahan reported, his voice oddly hushed. "Just the planet, ma'am. If we don't count the star, there's nothing else here. Whatever happened here, the Shiplords were thorough."
"Then why did they leave even the single world?" You mused, reaching forward to focus your own imaging on the planet. You blinked once, then twice, then: "Mary, am I reading these right?"
"If you mean how that world is a perfect sphere," she asked from her own station behind you. "Then yes. And I mean perfect. Down to the micron ."
"That isn't how planets work," you couldn't stop yourself from replying.
"No," she agreed. "It isn't. Iris?"
"The measurements are accurate," your daughter said through the bridge speakers. "I've triple-checked them and run every diagnostic I can think of on the sensors to be sure. And it's not just a perfect sphere, it's utterly smooth, too. We'd need to send down teams to examine it."
"There might be a problem with that," Jane noted sourly. "There's a Shiplord presence down there. Nothing hidden, but why would they need to hide it? They've sealed off the entire star system."
"What does it look like?" You asked sharply. "Mining? Research?"
"No," you felt the headshake in Mary's voice. "It looks, Mandy, it looks civilian. There're no military signatures, and the shuttles going back and forth from the craft in orbit definitely don't have military drives."
"Why on earth would the Shiplords go to all this trouble for a civilian installation?" You exclaimed.
"I have no idea," she chuckled, "I suppose that's what we're here to find out?"
"I'd rather not go bearding the lion in its own den without at least some context," you reproved. "Anything else down there?"
"Something else around it, certainly," Iris piped up again. No surprise that she got there first. "There's a security network built across the entire star system. It's…relatively obvious really, but I don't think it was ever intended to hide. If we could get into a security node, we might be able to find out what this place is for. At the very least, they must keep some sort of log for the ships that come here."
"And there's something else, too," Lieutenant Calahan swept the image he'd been working on out to the main display, filling it with the sphere of the planet. "There's something down there, beneath the surface. I'm not sure how we'd even begin to gain access without being noticed, but it doesn't look Shiplord. The entire planet's dead except for their presence, but dead doesn't mean gone. Hard storage can last for millennia without breaking down according to the G6. And this place," he shook his head. "I don't know, ma'am. But it feels almost like a museum."
"It would be safer than trying to waltz into a Shiplord installation, civilian or not," Mary said darkly, though not without reason. She knew about the systems that Trailblazer had been able to provide with Project Insight's help. A skin of nanomaterial built from observation and what relevant files had were salvageable after the Second Battle of Sol. It had never been tested, but there was a reason you'd been furnished with a full complement of the things.
"We're going to have to go after all of these in time," you sighed. "The real question is which do we go after first?" There were enough specialists aboard to work on all three, but where you started would be important.
Any planetside infiltration would require Vega's presence – fortunately that would be possible once your drive was offline. But would it be safe to start with such blatant action? You had time to decide, the transit to the grey marble of a world would take a full day given that none of you wanted to risk a jump inside the shield. But once you were in orbit, you'd need to have a plan of action.
What was it going to be?
Initial scans have revealed three points of interest in the system. You will by necessity investigate all of these, unless your presence is discovered at some point. To reduce time in-system, this work shall be executed in parallel, however your presence can only be spread so far.
Please rank the following options from 1 to 3 with 1 being the highest. Amanda will focus on that option first, then work down. New developments will allow changes to your priorities. Write-ins are, as always, welcome, however they will require my approval. Tag me with any you come up with.
[] Civilians? – There appears to be a non-military Shiplord installation on the surface of the world, the only part of it that is not a perfectly smooth marble. You have technology that should allow you to blend in, and Trailblazer systems will allow you to approach undetected. Go, and see what might be seen. If nothing else, interaction with Shiplord civilians promises to be fascinating.
[] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
There will be an 8 hour Moratorium on this vote. Any write-ins will be included in the vote
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Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
And...here we are. There was intended to be more time spent getting through your first system shell, but given the sheer amount of time spent between this and the last update, I felt that bypassing it to get to the good stuff would be better for the quest. Sorry again about that massive downtime, but I should be better now. Getting back to writing again like this was...wonderful. Thanks go to my betas as always for keeping me on track, and I hope that this update was worth the long wait. Next update you should start getting your first taste of real answers. Questions or comments are, as always, most welcome.
Well, that's a thing. I see that the dice have been up to their shenanigans again...
As regards the Within option, how would the chamber be accessed?
As regards the Within option, how would the chamber be accessed?
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
I'm not sure my dice are capable of not being up to shenanigans, to be honest. Iris' opinion on the subject is that I should just give up trying to predict them.
As for Within, there are a few options there. The most obvious would be to have Kalilah slice open a route, whilst using stealth systems to hide the energy discharge and then go down through the planet to the chamber. It wouldn't be a difficult descent once the path is open, and Mandy could seal it back up as if there was never any damage done before you head down. In other words, it's doable but probably rather risky in terms of long-term potential discovery. The Trailblazer Nanoforge would allow you to replace the mass you'd extract to go down, of course, but a truly detailed sweep would have a chance of picking that up. That said, there'd need to be a reason for a detailed sweep to be run, so...
Looking into the security nodes might help you with that.
Anyway, clearly no-one thought write-ins were necessary, so I'm just going to open the vote now. Remember that it's ranked, folks!
Voting is Open
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- Location
- PA
So here's what I'm thinking:
Within is most likely what we want to know about.
Civilians lets us FINALLY slip past the Shiplord 'Mask' so to speak, and see what they're doing when they're not controlling the narrative. Admittedly I'd say the true point of this is to get a feel for what's 'normal' for this reigon in particular, so we may slip through without disrupting something that will make them go 'hang on, what do we have here?'.
Security is how we get by without getting caught.
Now, from what I've seen, the crystal shield we just snuck through is basically a tripwire. It might do other things but it's primary purpose is to let the Shiplords know SOMEONE is sneaking around this place.
I don't know enough about general security thinking to figure out what sort of defense layout the Shiplords would favor, but I'm guessing harder defenses, if there are any here, will be inside the shield...
But a tentative plan is this:
Civilians get the short stick at 3. This, is because while neat we're going to need lots of data and information in order to figure out the useful stuff. And I don't trust Mandy and the rest of them to not get hung up on Shiplord children books in the meantime.
Security gets a solid focus at 2. We need to know how to dance around it, but we don't need to know the why of it in order to foil it.
Within is the nest egg, the prize we're here for. THIS gets plenty of digging into, since it's basically the reason we're here...
...
Within is most likely what we want to know about.
Civilians lets us FINALLY slip past the Shiplord 'Mask' so to speak, and see what they're doing when they're not controlling the narrative. Admittedly I'd say the true point of this is to get a feel for what's 'normal' for this reigon in particular, so we may slip through without disrupting something that will make them go 'hang on, what do we have here?'.
Security is how we get by without getting caught.
Now, from what I've seen, the crystal shield we just snuck through is basically a tripwire. It might do other things but it's primary purpose is to let the Shiplords know SOMEONE is sneaking around this place.
I don't know enough about general security thinking to figure out what sort of defense layout the Shiplords would favor, but I'm guessing harder defenses, if there are any here, will be inside the shield...
But a tentative plan is this:
Civilians get the short stick at 3. This, is because while neat we're going to need lots of data and information in order to figure out the useful stuff. And I don't trust Mandy and the rest of them to not get hung up on Shiplord children books in the meantime.
Security gets a solid focus at 2. We need to know how to dance around it, but we don't need to know the why of it in order to foil it.
Within is the nest egg, the prize we're here for. THIS gets plenty of digging into, since it's basically the reason we're here...
...
[3] Civilians? – There appears to be a non-military Shiplord installation on the surface of the world, the only part of it that is not a perfectly smooth marble. You have technology that should allow you to blend in, and Trailblazer systems will allow you to approach undetected. Go, and see what might be seen. If nothing else, interaction with Shiplord civilians promises to be fascinating.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[2] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
Let's go for "How not to be seen", first. (Yes, that means don't stand up, and don't hide behind one obvious shrubbery.)
We can investigate the other options, afterwards.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[2] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
Let's go for "How not to be seen", first. (Yes, that means don't stand up, and don't hide behind one obvious shrubbery.)
We can investigate the other options, afterwards.
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- Location
- Minnesota
[3] Civilians? – There appears to be a non-military Shiplord installation on the surface of the world, the only part of it that is not a perfectly smooth marble. You have technology that should allow you to blend in, and Trailblazer systems will allow you to approach undetected. Go, and see what might be seen. If nothing else, interaction with Shiplord civilians promises to be fascinating.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[2] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[2] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
[3] Civilians?
[1] Security
[2] Within
First gain an idea of what scrutiny we'll be dealing with in this system, and hopefully co-opt it to hide us. Then go for the truely unique item. Finally investigate why Shiplords civilians are here and everything to do with them. It might help use with later investigations but it is least likely to give us something essential right now, not to help us stick around for longer do as to obtain more information.
And Snowfire? Does that 100 bonus apply even to future system shields probably around the other mysterious star systems? Because it sounds like it and that is just... So good.
[1] Security
[2] Within
First gain an idea of what scrutiny we'll be dealing with in this system, and hopefully co-opt it to hide us. Then go for the truely unique item. Finally investigate why Shiplords civilians are here and everything to do with them. It might help use with later investigations but it is least likely to give us something essential right now, not to help us stick around for longer do as to obtain more information.
And Snowfire? Does that 100 bonus apply even to future system shields probably around the other mysterious star systems? Because it sounds like it and that is just... So good.
Shwaggy
Weapon of Math Instruction
- Location
- Texas
- Pronouns
- he/him/his
[2] Civilians? – There appears to be a non-military Shiplord installation on the surface of the world, the only part of it that is not a perfectly smooth marble. You have technology that should allow you to blend in, and Trailblazer systems will allow you to approach undetected. Go, and see what might be seen. If nothing else, interaction with Shiplord civilians promises to be fascinating.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[3] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
I have in-character logic for the order, but honestly I'm more motivated by the Doylist reason: what's within sounds the most intriguing, and I want to save the best for last. Building up what we know about this place through the other two steps before actually taking a peek inside.
Also, glad to see this back Snowfire. Hope you're doing okay with everything.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[3] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
I have in-character logic for the order, but honestly I'm more motivated by the Doylist reason: what's within sounds the most intriguing, and I want to save the best for last. Building up what we know about this place through the other two steps before actually taking a peek inside.
Also, glad to see this back Snowfire. Hope you're doing okay with everything.
- Location
- Earth
[2] Civilians? – There appears to be a non-military Shiplord installation on the surface of the world, the only part of it that is not a perfectly smooth marble. You have technology that should allow you to blend in, and Trailblazer systems will allow you to approach undetected. Go, and see what might be seen. If nothing else, interaction with Shiplord civilians promises to be fascinating.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[3] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[3] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
I'm sorry, this just made me giggle because I can totally see that happening and I wanted to say thank you for doing so
It does, yes. It also applies to further analysis attempts.
Yeah, I'm doing much better. Hope you're keeping well too - and that goes out to the entire thread.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
[2] Civilians? – There appears to be a non-military Shiplord installation on the surface of the world, the only part of it that is not a perfectly smooth marble. You have technology that should allow you to blend in, and Trailblazer systems will allow you to approach undetected. Go, and see what might be seen. If nothing else, interaction with Shiplord civilians promises to be fascinating.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[3] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
I'll admit, I'm biased.
I already know what's within, and though it's interesting, what I find by far the most interesting here is the Shiplord perspective on it. Putting security at #1 is just pragmatism.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[3] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
I'll admit, I'm biased.
I already know what's within, and though it's interesting, what I find by far the most interesting here is the Shiplord perspective on it. Putting security at #1 is just pragmatism.
Starman4308
(Unverified Human Being)
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Huh, first time I'm in for a SV quest.
[3] Civilians? – There appears to be a non-military Shiplord installation on the surface of the world, the only part of it that is not a perfectly smooth marble. You have technology that should allow you to blend in, and Trailblazer systems will allow you to approach undetected. Go, and see what might be seen. If nothing else, interaction with Shiplord civilians promises to be fascinating.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[2] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
My reasoning:
Assuming we have to do the security stations, that should help as we approach the planet proper. Frankly, I'd rather not do the security stations at all (one more chance to trip over an alert system), but it's virtually certain that Shiplord detection systems and response elements are most concentrated near the planet, so cutting our teeth on a remote station and learning what we can about what's down there should help.
I would prefer to do civilians last: I feel it's the most risky (we seriously have no clue on Shiplord civilian society, and I feel it's the highest chance of being detected), and if we need to bug out fast, I'd rather do it having gone inside themystery box chamber.
By process of elimination, that leaves the chamber within the planet as the #2 slot.
EDIT: Also, booted up Space Engine and searched for an atmo-bearing world orbiting a white dwarf. Surprisingly flat, too!
[3] Civilians? – There appears to be a non-military Shiplord installation on the surface of the world, the only part of it that is not a perfectly smooth marble. You have technology that should allow you to blend in, and Trailblazer systems will allow you to approach undetected. Go, and see what might be seen. If nothing else, interaction with Shiplord civilians promises to be fascinating.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[2] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
My reasoning:
Assuming we have to do the security stations, that should help as we approach the planet proper. Frankly, I'd rather not do the security stations at all (one more chance to trip over an alert system), but it's virtually certain that Shiplord detection systems and response elements are most concentrated near the planet, so cutting our teeth on a remote station and learning what we can about what's down there should help.
I would prefer to do civilians last: I feel it's the most risky (we seriously have no clue on Shiplord civilian society, and I feel it's the highest chance of being detected), and if we need to bug out fast, I'd rather do it having gone inside the
By process of elimination, that leaves the chamber within the planet as the #2 slot.
EDIT: Also, booted up Space Engine and searched for an atmo-bearing world orbiting a white dwarf. Surprisingly flat, too!
Last edited:
[3] Civilians? – There appears to be a non-military Shiplord installation on the surface of the world, the only part of it that is not a perfectly smooth marble. You have technology that should allow you to blend in, and Trailblazer systems will allow you to approach undetected. Go, and see what might be seen. If nothing else, interaction with Shiplord civilians promises to be fascinating.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[2] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[2] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
Thebigpieman
I've got this, I think.
- Location
- United States
Truly RNGesus giveth, RNGesus fucketh.
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[3] Civilians?
[2] Security
[1] Within
Cannot resist the shiny ...
[2] Security
[1] Within
Cannot resist the shiny ...
Did you mean 'around the stellar exclusion zone', or do you imply that the shield detects a jump through it?
... you've got an improbable relationship with probability.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Like we keep telling him, there's no point in rolling dice for historical events. All of this has already happened.
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Iris: From a certain point of view, at least.
Snowfire: *incoherent screaming sounds*
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
At least somewhere ...
- Location
- Somewhere other than where I am.
The security system seems to be the highest risk and the greatest threat. It needs to be neutralized before anything else.
The civilians may give us important information about what is below. If this is a museum, then at minimum whatever exhibits are here will help us understand what is below and at best may even tell us what we came here to learn.
I'd prefer not to disturb what is below at all if we can get the information we need from the Shiplords directly.
[2] Civilians? – There appears to be a non-military Shiplord installation on the surface of the world, the only part of it that is not a perfectly smooth marble. You have technology that should allow you to blend in, and Trailblazer systems will allow you to approach undetected. Go, and see what might be seen. If nothing else, interaction with Shiplord civilians promises to be fascinating.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[3] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
The civilians may give us important information about what is below. If this is a museum, then at minimum whatever exhibits are here will help us understand what is below and at best may even tell us what we came here to learn.
I'd prefer not to disturb what is below at all if we can get the information we need from the Shiplords directly.
[2] Civilians? – There appears to be a non-military Shiplord installation on the surface of the world, the only part of it that is not a perfectly smooth marble. You have technology that should allow you to blend in, and Trailblazer systems will allow you to approach undetected. Go, and see what might be seen. If nothing else, interaction with Shiplord civilians promises to be fascinating.
[1] Security – Iris has identified a chain of security stations built around the system, and believes it might be possible to tap into them to gain a better understanding of where you've now found yourself. If you're lucky, you might even be able to turn those systems to hiding your presence.
[3] Within – Far below the surface of the planet lies a chamber large enough to be identified from the edge of the system. The Shiplords would not have left it were it capable of doing them harm, but as Jozef said, dead does not mean gone. What secrets might still remain, for those who possess the gifts of Practice?
Somewhen. It's always 5 o'clock somewhere.
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Doing a quick tally for now. I'll probably close this in the next few days. More votes would be nice, though as always, not required. 
Vote Tally : The Secrets' Crusade Original - Sci-Fi | Page 40 | Sufficient Velocity [Posts: 985-999]
##### NetTally 3.0.3
[#1] Security
[#2] Within
[#3] Civilians?
Total No. of Voters: 10
Vote Tally : The Secrets' Crusade Original - Sci-Fi | Page 40 | Sufficient Velocity [Posts: 985-999]
##### NetTally 3.0.3
[#1] Security
[#2] Within
[#3] Civilians?
Total No. of Voters: 10